76 Chapter 75
Reaching his Point C2 in less than a minute, the first things Izuku noticed were the melted building he assumed was Class 1-B's base, countless mushrooms, and the twin channels cutting through the goopy terrain. He assumed the latter was the result of Ida running through the area, a notion that was quickly confirmed when a clangorous 'kapow' reached his ears, accompanied by the appearance of the word itself, shattering the glass panels of a nearby skyscraper.
Making a beeline toward the destruction, Izuku found Ida in the middle of battling against a boy with a two-dimensional speech bubble in place of a head and another one with spiky black hair and a costume comprised of thick leather and metal plates.
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Name: [Manga Fukidashi]
Title: Party Invitation Required
Quirk: Comic
Bond Level: 52
Current Level: 22
Effective Level: 43
[Attributes]
Strength: 28
Agility: 31
Vitality: 218
Intelligence: 53
Dexterity: 35
Luck: 71
Free Attributes: 110
[Perks]
Party Invitation Required
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Name: [Yosetsu Awase]
Title: Party Invitation Required
Quirk: Weld
Bond Level: 59
Current Level: 23
Effective Level: 35
[Attributes]
Strength: 61
Agility: 35
Vitality: 92
Intelligence: 61
Dexterity: 44
Luck: 58
Free Attributes: 110
[Perks]
Party Invitation Required
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With Awase's Quirk allowing him to fuse both organic and inorganic matter at the subatomic level, Ida was at a disadvantage after having a series of heavy tungsten 'logs' fused to his costume. Most of them were on the left side of his body, including one in his calf, so while the weight wasn't that great, they ruined his balance and made it impossible for him to take full advantage of his speed.
"Mind if I join the party!?" shouted Izuku, dropping in on Fukidashi and Awase before they noticed his presence. The former blasted a 'gasp' at him, emerging from his startled speech bubble of a head like a train car, but Izuku pulled a Dr. Octavius, sidestepping with the use of Blackwhip as he teased, "I wonder if you produce effects when you take hits...?"
Without waiting for Fukidashi to respond, Izuku sent a fist-sized tendril crashing into the youth's stomach, causing his head to abruptly turn into an exclamation point before he collapsed to his knees. Blackwhip could extend up to a hundred meters in the blink of an eye, so it was virtually impossible for inexperienced students of Class 1-B to react to, much less evade. Not without a speed or perception-based Quirk.
Seeing how effortlessly Fukidashi was defeated, Awase abruptly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, smiling awkwardly as he said, "Let's not be too hasty now..."
"Sure," replied Izuku. "Remove the tungsten logs from Mach Turbo's body, and I'll allow you to surrender peacefully. Refuse, and we'll stress-test the durability of that metal plate covering your torso."
Emphasizing his point, Izuku picked up a piece of debris with Blackwhip, crushing it with ease. Thus, while Awase was fairly confident in both his strength and his Quirk, he made the very smart decision to concede. His Quirk required him to make physical contact with his target, so with Izuku able to move around and attack at blinding speeds, he knew there wasn't much he could do to flip the odds in his favor...Izuku was just too strong...
Freed from his restraints, Ida gave a very steep bow to Izuku, exclaiming, "I thank you for your assistance, Paragon! Please, allow me to take these two ne'er-do-wells off your hands and escort them to the prison!"
Responding with a casual, two-fingered salute, Izuku replied, "Then I'll entrust them to your capable hands," before abruptly launching himself into the air and rushing toward the sounds of destruction emanating from a few buildings away. He was starting to feel like his presence in the exam was cheating, but this was simply the reality of a Quirk-based society. Not everyone was created equally, so when incomprehensible outliers like All-for-One and All Might appeared, everyone else was reduced to rendering support or serving as a background character...
Reaching the building where Ojiro was locked in a fairly close battle with the beast-like Shishida, Izuku unhesitantly intruded on the battle, moving through the building's interior like a dark green blur, grabbing and pinning the muscular furry to one of the building's support pillars with Blackwhip.
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Name: [Jurota Shishida]
Title: Party Invitation Required
Quirk: Beast
Bond Level: 48
Current Level: 28
Effective Level: 75
[Attributes]
Strength: 153
Agility: 54
Vitality: 315
Intelligence: 40
Dexterity: 72
Luck: 119
Free Attributes: 140
[Perks]
Party Invitation Required
------------------------
("Pretty strong...") thought Izuku, even though he had no trouble keeping Shishida pinned to the support pillar.
Tugging his bindings futilely, Shishida unleashed a loud, unintelligible roar that caused his body to swell visibly. More impressively, his Strength shot up to around 200 and kept climbing, but it came at the cost of his Vitality and Intelligence.
Just as Izuku was thinking Shishida was going to exhaust himself, the fur-covered youth abruptly canceled his transformation, shrinking in size just enough to allow him to escape Blackwhip's binding.
With Shishida immediately resuming his transformation after breaking free, Izuku exhaled an impressed "Hoooo?" as he evaded the powerful but increasingly slow youth.
"You're quite strong," remarked Izuku. "By the time we graduate, you may very well be at the top of your Class..."
Punctuating his words, Izuku dodged one of Shishida's highly telegraphed punches, burying his fist into the surprisingly soft fur of the youth's gut as he confidently asserted, "But the person who will stand at the very top is me..."
As even those with strength and durability-enhancing Quirks needed to breathe, Shishida toppled over just like anyone else who had had their diaphragm forcibly compressed, forcing the air from their lungs. He would have recovered much faster, but Izuku was fully aware of that, following up the initial blow with a weakened but effective knee strike to the center of Shishida's forehead, shattering his fairly expensive sunglasses.
Allowing the youth to crumple to the ground, Izuku adopted a wry smile as he remarked, "I'll be sure to buy you a replacement pair once this is over." Then, turning his attention to the astonished Ojiro, he asked, "You okay?"
Startling when Izuku addressed him, Ojiro adopted a smile of his own, replying, "Yeah..." before rubbing the back of his head. He wasn't sure of his chances against Shishida, but he was determined to keep fighting to the very end. Having Izuku come out of nowhere, blitzing and defeating his opponent with tremendous ease, felt...uncomfortable...
Causing Ojiro to feel even more awkward, Toru abruptly appeared out of nowhere, pouncing on Izuku as she exclaimed, "Izukuuuuuu, help me~!" in a frustrated, tearful-sounding tone.
Seeing the innumerable mushrooms covering Toru's body, a frown marred Izuku's face as he plucked one from her invisible shoulder. As he did so, several smaller mushrooms sprouted in its place, growing slowly but at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Recalling that Komori should possess a disinfectant that could negate the
endlessly proliferating spores, Izuku asserted, "Give me a few minutes. I'll catch the person responsible for this..."
Releasing Izuku's body, Toru sounded even more frustrated as she said, "Please just hurry it up...". The feeling of being covered in mushrooms was awful, especially when there were more than a few growing in areas that weren't appropriate to mention in public...
Not wanting to prolong Toru's suffering, Izuku exited through the hole created by Shishida, racing in the direction of a petite but surprisingly busty girl with honey-brown hair bobbed to resemble a mushroom. Her Hero Costume was also mushroom-themed, consisting of a turtleneck dress with long sleeves and furred cuffs. Its base was toadstool red, and it was covered in white polka dots, matching the frilly, three-tiered socks she wore over her pink stompers...
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Name: [Kinoko Komori]
Title: Party Invitation Required
Quirk: Mushroom
Bond Level: 94
Current Level: 20
Effective Level: 35
[Attributes]
Strength: 18
Agility: 24
Vitality: 59
Intelligence: 58
Dexterity: 19
Luck: 103
Free Attributes: 100
[Perks]
Party Invitation Required
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Seeing Komori's Bond Level, Izuku nearly did a double-take. The two had never spoken before, but she apparently had quite a favorable impression of him...
Charging toward the mushroom-themed Heroine with his mask in place, Izuku stopped just short of trampling her, crossing his arms and stating, "I would rather not harm you. Hand over the antifungal spray to negate your mushroom spores..."
Adopting a somewhat creepy smile, Komori gazed up at Izuku, suspended a few meters off the ground with Blackwhip. Her single visible eye looked like the brown cap of a shitake mushroom, complete with white, x-shaped pupils. There was a perceptible glimmer of excitement within their depths, causing Izuku's serious expression to cramp as she happily replied, "Hey, there, Izuku-kun! My name is Kinoko Komori! I'm, like, one of your biggest fans...!"
Not doubting Komori's words in the least, Izuku, somewhat shamelessly, proposed, "Then that makes things simpler. If you give me the antifungal spray, I'll shake your hand or sign one of your personal effects."
Catching Izuku a little off guard, Komori cutely replied, "Ehhhhh, I don't know if that's enough of an incentive~. I could get in a lot of trouble with my classmates if I gave up without a fight..." while spreading even more of her spores using the pistol-like dispensers in her hands.
Resisting the urge to point out that he could capture and take the spray, Izuku crossed his arms and asked, "Then, what would it take for you to surrender and hand over the spray...?"
Adopting a broad smile, Komori replied, "Oh, it's simple, really. You just need to locate and retrieve the spray directly. Do that, and I'm–I mean, the spray is yours."
As Komori didn't have any visible pockets or pouches on her costume, the only places she could be keeping the spray were within her fluffy sleeves, between her breasts, or inside her skirt. Komori's flared skirt resembled the cap of a mushroom with a broad hem, a design that would doubtlessly make her very popular among her fans, so there was a 'very' good chance she had the spray strapped to her thigh.
Smiling wryly, Izuku asked, "Are you trying to get me expelled? Searching the body of a female student during an exam, even with her permission, is a good way to get reprimanded by our Senseis..."
Tapping her chin with her index finger, Komori conceded, "Hmmm...you're probably right. I might have gotten a little ahead of myself since this was our first time speaking directly. Now you probably think I'm weird, huh...?"
Instead of refuting Komori's words, Izuku gave a weak shrug, responding, "There's nothing wrong with being a little quirky. Just keep in mind there's a time and a place for everything. Coaxing a male student to search your body in the middle of an exam isn't the wisest idea..."
Laughing with a nervous, slightly bashful smile, Komori replied, "When you put it that way...it's kind of embarrassing..."
Following her words, Komori half-turned away, revealing that the spray bottle was, in fact, within her skirt as she reached beneath it to pull out a tiny container of clear liquid, holding it up as she said, "This is what you're looking for. I'll give it to you if you do me a little service first..."
Furrowing his brows slightly, Izuku replied, "That depends on what this 'service' you're referring to entails..."
Smiling radiantly, Komori replied, "Oh, it's pretty simple. Just make a heart shape with your hands and say, "Kinoko-chan is the cutest~! Mushrooms are the best~!" and I'll hand it over."
Since he would rather not beat a girl whose height barely came up to his chest, Izuku exhaled a faintly exasperated sigh before doing as Komori asked, albeit with limited enthusiasm. He might have if she were a villain or had malicious intentions, but he couldn't be overtly cruel to one of his self-professed 'biggest fans'...
...
..
.
(A/N: This damned Riajuu...)
