After changing into my hero costume, a simple black and white bodysuit with intricate designs, I make my way to Ground Beta for training.
All-Might and Aizawa are already there, waiting for my classmates and me. We're still missing a few students, so I admire the fake city while I wait.
I wonder what our teachers have planned for us today. It's always something different, and usually something dangerous.
"All right, let's get straight to it, shall we?" All-Might announces, his voice booming as usual.
Everyone agrees, most buzzing with excitement. Aizawa explains the training exercise, and it's definitely going to go wrong.
In theory, it's simple:
We'll be split up into teams of four based on quirks. Who we don't work with often is also taken into consideration.
Each of the teams will have to explore a building to find a 'victim' of the building's collapse, which is being played by a pro hero.
Some of the teams could run into a 'villain', also played by a pro, and will have to work together to rescue the victim and capture the villain. That makes the task much more difficult.
Aizawa calls out our teams. I get put into team 4 with Sato, Mineta, and Momo.
We make our way to our assigned section. Our first task is to find the building.
Momo leads the way. We run down the streets at a steady pace until we spot the cardboard cutouts of police officers. The moment we do we run towards them.
On one of the cutouts, a piece of paper is taped to its face. I grab it and read it out loud to my group.
"Thank you so much for coming, heroes," it begins, "we have the building surrounded, but we can't get anywhere near the victim. From what we've found, it seems that the building is unstable. An unknown villain is inside, holding a young child hostage from the basement. We're counting on you to get him out, safely."
"Does it say anything about the villain's quirk?" Sato asks. I reread the note a couple of times and turn it over to check the back, but I can't find anything.
"Then, we'll have to be cautious. The moment we spot the villain, we'll know their quirk. Until then, we have to stick together." Momo observes, "Our priority is getting the hostage out safely. Don't forget."
We all nod and follow her into the building.
Inside, cracks line the walls. Some debris can be found littering the halls of what seems to be an apartment building. We start on the ground floor, so we're only one flight of stairs from the basement.
Unfortunately, there are no stairs.
"So...how do we get down?" Sato questions, staring at the empty void that leads to the very large basement level.
"I can make a rope ladder," Momo suggests.
"No," I object, pushing Mineta away from her behind with my leg, "it'll take too much energy. You need to be able to create larger objects later depending on who we have to fight or rescue."
Momo nods in agreement.
"What do you propose?"
I look down again, and then around the space.
"How good is your rope climbing?" I ask.
"Decent."
"Pretty good."
"Not great."
"That's fine Momo," I say, "but you'll have to go down first."
Momo nods and I walk to the open doors. Sato helps me stay steady as a vine shoots out from my hand. I wrap it around one of the support bars. I give it a few tugs to make sure it's stable before gesturing to Momo. I wrap the free end of the vine around Momo's waist.
I make the vine gradually longer as Momo and I lower down to the basement floor. Sato and Mineta follow us closely. Once we all hit the ground, I retract the vine.
The basement has no power, no windows, and no sources of light. Momo creates a few flashlights for us. They make it much easier for us to search the debris-filled basement.
Unfortunately, they also make it easier to see us.
From the darkness, a figure emerges to attack. We all move in different directions, barely dodging the attack.
It seems our opponent is Ectoplasm.
Fantastic.
The cloaked man emerges, sending constant attacks. His many clones quickly overwhelm us.
I catch something that Momo throws at me and use my vines to defend Sato as he eats a container of sugar. His quirk activates and he immediately starts punching the clones with immense power.
My quirk doesn't have as much physical strength as Sato's, so I have to be more strategic with my attacks.
I create a few vines from my hips that attach themselves to the ceiling, pulling me up. From this height, along with the night-vision goggles Momo made, I have a perfect view of the scene below.
Scanning the room, I spot Nezu tied to a chair. It doesn't take long to realize that he's the victim we have to rescue.
Using my vines, I quietly make my way towards the rat-bear creature. I slowly lower myself near him and immediately tell him to stay quiet. He nods, letting me know her understands. I make a wooden knife with my quirk and use it to cut the ropes.
If this were a real crisis, and Nezu was actually a small child, I wouldn't allow him to run on his own. Acting on this thought, I have Nezu get on my back, securing him there with some more vines. After checking that he won't fall, I swiftly make my way to the entrance.
I resist looking at my teammates. If I do, I'll be inclined to stop and help them, which will put Nezu in a position to be put in 'danger' again. My first priority, as Momo said before, is to rescue the hostage.
My team is doing a great job, I'm sure.
Just one problem.
There are only four of us,
And Ectoplasm can make twenty clones.