Chapter 34 - Izuku Vs. All Might

Izuku stood in the observation room with Recovery Girl. The first exam was about to start, and Izuku didn't want to miss it. Many of the other students were off preparing themselves for the exams and strategizing with their partners. Since Izuku would be taking his exam alone, he figured his time would be best spent by observing the other exams.

The practical exam was fairly straightforward: either capture the teacher using the restraining cuffs provided to them, or escape the zone before the time runs out. The exams relied heavily on strategy, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities. Izuku would be lying if he said that he wasn't nervous. All the teachers were given heavy restraints to restrict their movements in battle, so as to level the playing field. Still, Izuku had been studying All Might his entire life, and knew what he was capable of, even with this handicap, he knew his chances of taking down All Might in a one-on-one fight were slim. What's more, Izuku knew his biggest weakness was his injury from his fight with All For One, but he couldn't risk exploiting it without the risk of exposing All Might's secret. He figured his best bet would be to utilize his stealth skills and try to escape before the time ran out. But he had a feeling that regardless of his preparation, he would be forced into a confrontation with his former hero, and he had to be ready.

"Looks like I have my work cut out for me today," Said Recovery Girl. Uraraka had joined her and Izuku in the monitor room to observe the battles. The first match was starting: Kirishima and Sato against Cementoss. This exam took place in a city environment, like the Entrance Exam and the Battle Training. Izuku realized that this sort of environment was brimming with cement, giving Cementoss a strong advantage against the students. Sato and Kirishima appeared on the monitor before them, and they began running down the vacant street of the city. A few seconds later, they stopped short in their tracks as the pavement before them morphed into a large wall in front of them. Sato and Kirishima decided on a full-frontal assault, rushing and breaking through the cement walls that formed before them.

Izuku was amazed at his classmate's combined strength, knocking down wall after wall with incredible speed and power. Cementoss knelt several meters in front of them. He didn't appear particularly worried, generating more cement walls as fast as they could knock them down. In the end, their chosen tactic had proved to be ineffective against their opponent, who was able to produce a seemingly endless supply of cement walls. Eventually, Sato and Kirishima hit a wall of their own, unable to keep up with the physical demands of their quirks, and were soon defeated.

Next up, Tokoyami and Asui against Ectoplasm, taking place inside a building environment. Ectoplasm is an intimidating Pro Hero who is able to make over thirty copies of himself at a time. On top of that, he is a formidable martial artist and tactician. Izuku knew that his classmates had their work cut out for them. When the match began, however, Tokoyami and Asui displayed impressive teamwork right off the bat, advancing past Ectoplasm's copies and further into the building towards the exit. Izuku was thoroughly impressed by their communication and teamwork. Soon, they reached the exit gate, and Ectoplasm was waiting for them. After defeating a few more of his copies, he demonstrated to the students the sheer immense power of his quirk by making a huge copy of himself. Tokoyami and Asui were quickly swallowed by the giant copy and encased in the plasma. They were restrained, but not beaten. Tokoyami threw forth Dark Shadow to fight against the real Ectoplasm while Tsuyu utilized a rarely-used aspect of her quirk: she had swallowed and regurgitated the capture cuffs to get them past Ectoplasm undetected, and then used Dark Shadow to place them on Ectoplasm. Tokoyami and Asui passed with flying colors.

The next two matches were as followed: Iida and Ojiro against Power Loader, and Todoroki and Yaoyarozu against Aizawa. Iida and Ojiro passed relatively quickly with Iida using his Reciproburst to launch Ojiro towards the exit gate. It was the next battle with Aizawa that Izuku was looking forward to the most. Izuku had noticed that since her loss at the Sports Festival, Yaoyarozu seemed to have lost a lot of her confidence. This put the team at a serious disadvantage, as she had an amazing quirk and was fiercely intelligent. Coupled with Todoroki's talent and intelligence they promised to be an unstoppable team.

Right out of the gate, Aizawa proved to be a formidable opponent. Despite the injuries he sustained during the USJ attack, he didn't appear to have lost a step. He was able to immobilize Todoroki and lay a trap to prevent him from escaping his bindings, then pursuing Yaoyarozu, who Todoroki had told to run to the exit gate. She had managed to lose Aizawa briefly and return to Todoroki, freeing him from his restraints, before launching an attack of her own. She had been producing nesting dolls with her quirk continuously as a way to determine Aizawa's wearabouts. Inside these nesting dolls, however, were small flash-bang grenades, temporarily blinding Aizawa and allowing them to escape. Once they had gotten away, Todoroki had used his ice wall to offer them some protection against Aizawa while they carried out the rest of their plan: using bindings similar to Aizawa's (created by Yaoyorozu on the fly) to entrap him. Thanks to Yaoyorozu's strategic thinking, the exam was passed and her confidence restored.

Uraraka excused herself from the monitor room after this match. It was time for her and Aoyama to take their practical against Thirteen. Izuku was looking forward to seeing Uraraka in action again since her training with Gunhead. She had asked him to spar with her on occasion, and coupled with her training against the Amazo robots, she had really improved in hand-to-hand combat. The problem with this match-up, however, was that it was difficult to get close to Thirteen due to his quirk. Soon, she and Aoyama were holding on for dear life as Thirteen threatened to suck them up with his quirk. However, in a surprising twist, Uraraka seemed to let go of the structure she was holding onto and came rushing towards Thirteen, startling him into stopping his quirk. Uraraka used this opportunity to make use of her combat training and attached the restraining cuffs to her captor, passing the exam. Izuku had to admit for a minute he was worried, and was happy for her that they had passed. When Uraraka had returned to the Monitor room, she seemed rather flustered and embarrassed about something, but quickly changed the subject when pressed about it.

It was time for the sixth match: Kaminari and Ashido against Principal Nezu inside the factory setting they fought Batman in. Izuku had done a lot of research on Nezu after learning about him. Many people developed animal-like quirks that gave them the appearance and natural abilities of the animals they personified, such as with Asui and her frog quirk. However, Principal Nezu was simply the opposite of that: an animal of unknown origin who developed a quirk that made him hyper-intelligent. This afforded him the ability to develop sentience and an intellect that surpassed most men on the planet. Even Bruce admitted that it was a strong possibility that Nezu was more intelligent than both he and Lex Luthor, arguably the most intelligent people on the planet. Izuku hoped for Kaminari and Ashido to emerge victorious, but privately he wasn't sure if they stood a chance.

His fears were later confirmed during the match. The principal had commandeered a tractor with a wrecking ball and was knocking over buildings in such a way that would cause a chain-reaction, causing other buildings to fall. Kaminari and Ashido had no idea that he was using the falling buildings to sequester them away from the escape gate, one step ahead of them the entire time. Eventually, time expired and they failed the exam.

Koda and Jiro were up next against Present Mic. Both were at a heavy disadvantage considering Koda's soft-spoken nature and Jiro's sensitivity to sound. However, both were able to demonstrate strength of mind and strategic thinking by utilizing Koda's ability to talk to animals to communicate with bugs, making them able to crawl through the ground where Present Mic's soundwaves couldn't reach them, buying them enough of a distraction to make it to the escape gate.

After Koda and Jiro were Hagakure and Shoji. Their adversary, Snipe, had a unique quirk called "Homing" that allowed him to change and control the trajectory of the bullets from his guns, allowing him superb accuracy. When the villains attacked the USJ, he was able to shoot many of them from anywhere within the facility while he stood at the entrance. This was made possible because his quirk also allowed him to sense the presence of individuals, even if they were hidden, assisting him in directing his shots to his target. Hagakure and Shoji's quirks allowed them to develop advanced skills in stealth and espionage, but Snipe's unique quirk would allow him to be able to find them easily. During the match, Snipe had used a smoke grenade in an attempt to conceal himself from Hagakure and Shoji, hoping to draw them out. However, the duo were able to adapt their plan with Shoji serving as a distraction while Hagakure placed the capture cuff on Snipe.

Finally, they reached the final two exams: Mineta and Sero against Midnight, and then Izuku against All Might. Izuku could honestly say that he was surprised at how much Mineta had grown as a hero-in-training since the incident at the USJ. While Sero was quickly apprehended by Midnight, Mineta was able to use his knowledge of their teacher's sadistic disposition to his advantage, using his sticky balls quirk to trap her to her whip, allowing time for Mineta to rescue the unconscious Sero and escape the arena, passing the exam.

"All right, they did it!" Said Iida.

"Wow, they actually had a solid plan," Said Yaoyorozu.

"Now you're next Deku-" Said Uraraka. Izuku was gone.

Izuku stood at the starting gate, the final exam of the day. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't terrified. He was about to face the number one hero in the world, his former hero, in one-on-one combat. Even if he was hindered by the weights, and was pulling his punches, Izuku had seen what All Might could do all his life. The odds were stacked against him.

He would be fighting in an urban environment. He should have plenty of places to hide, as he wanted to avoid a confrontation with All Might. He figured his best bet would be to use stealth and subterfuge to his advantage to make it to the escape gate. He would have to -

Izuku's thoughts were interrupted by a huge gust of wind and debris coming straight for him. He ducked in cover just in time as it rushed over him. Had he been standing, it would have knocked him off his feet. He heard deafening crashes as the debris smashed into the buildings around him. After what seemed like an eternity, the dust and smoke began to dissipate.

"Who really cares if I destroy this city?" Came a bellowing voice from the billowing dust. Izuku recognized the voice as All Might, but it was different. It wasn't the haughty, laughing voice he was used to. It was coarse and intimidating. Izuku rose to his feet as the Pro Hero walked through the dust into view.

"If you think of this as an exam and not a real fight, you'll be sorry, Young Midoriya," Said All Might. He stomped his foot into the ground, causing another gust of wind and a tremor to shoot towards Izuku. "I'm a villain now, Hero. Remember that. You better come at me with everything you've got. I won't hold back!"

Izuku swallowed. I am so fucked, he thought glumly.

Izuku threw down a smoke bomb, trying to conceal himself. All Might rushed forward with blinding speed, through the smoke, grabbing Izuku squarely by the face. Izuku instinctively raised his explosive gauntlets and began launching rapid-fire attacks at All Might. The Hero shielded himself from the blasts, but then slammed Izuku head-first into the ground below, knocking the wind out of him.

"Hardly worse than a sting," Said All Might. Izuku recovered and threw an explosive batarang at All Might's face, who caught it effortlessly. He didn't even react as the batarang exploded in his closed fist. "That's not going to work, Young Midoriya." All Might then used his extended fist and delivered a crushing blow into Izuku's solar plexus. He flew backwards at least several feet, crashing hard into the building behind him.

Izuku tried to stand up, dazed. All Might had knocked him into some sort of fake office building. This was bad. Izuku realized that All Might wasn't just powerful. He is power. He tried to clear his head. He had little time to correct his strategy. He couldn't get close enough to All Might to do any real damage, and he moved too fast for Izuku to counter his attacks. He had to trap All Might somehow, just long enough for him to make it to the escape gate. But his explosives were not effective against him. He had to use something else.

"Come out, little hero!" Izuku heard All Might saying. "You can't hide forever." Then Izuku heard it. A faint cough. Looking out the window of the building, he saw All Might wiping blood from his mouth.

That's it, thought Izuku. That's my window. He would have to get close to him. Much too close for comfort. Izuku braced himself. This was going to hurt.

All Might was patrolling outside the building where his attack launched Midoriya. He wasn't going to bother going after him. He knew that Midoriya would either come to him, or try to escape towards the gate. He only had a few minutes left in the exam, so whatever he was going to do, he had to make it quick.

"Come on, hero!" Said All Might. "I haven't got all -" All Might started in surprise. The side of the building Midoriya was in just exploded, debris raining down on him as he shielded himself from the blast. Looking upward, he saw the form of Midoriya leaping from the building directly towards him. It seemed to All Might that Midoriya was going for the direct approach.

Izuku used his explosive gauntlets and let loose a massive explosion towards his foe, forcing him to shield himself from the blast. Izuku took that moment to make his escape, running towards the exit gate. All Might coughed as the smoke around him dissipated. He noticed that Midoriya had limited the damage he did to buildings that All Might had already destroyed. He was impressed at the boy's innate sense of self-control and how knowledgeable and creative he had become to using his explosives.

But now, it was time for the teacher to take him to school.

Izuku was running as fast as his legs could carry him. All Might's blast had destroyed the buildings around him, so he had nowhere to grapple to. He didn't expect his blast to stop All Might, and he knew that he would be on him any moment -

"A valiant effort," Said All Might, appearing suddenly beside Izuku. He quickly grabbed Izuku by his explosive gauntlets, who struggled in vain against the Hero's grasp. He heard a loud crunch, pain shooting up his arms. Both his hands and his gauntlets were broken. "Without your gauntlets, you've lost your heavy attack. What will you do now, hero?"

Izuku was trembling, kneeling and hanging his head. All Might began to wonder if maybe he had gone a little overboard with destroying his gauntlets and injuring his hands. But to his surprise, Midoriya began to laugh. "You may have everyone else here fooled, All Might," He said. "But I know the truth. I know your weakness." All Might instinctively reached for the scar on his side. It was still healing after the fight with the Nomu.

"Not that," said Izuku, looking up finally. He was wearing his mask. "Its hubris. Pure, unmitigated hubris. Easy to have when you're the toughest guy in the room. It allowed me to get close to you, and now, you're mine."

A large puff of smoke erupted into All Might's face. It burned his eyes and lungs, and he began coughing violently. All Might's head began to swim as he steadied himself, his vision blurring. "Anesthetic gas," he heard Izuku say. "Not enough to knock you out, but it'll buy me the time I need to get the hell out of here."

All Might's eyes began to clear, watching Midoriya run towards the escape gate. He tried to stand, but his lungs were weakened by the gas. He coughed, wiping blood from his mouth. "Not bad, kid," he said, smiling. "Not bad."