27 Trials

I let out a sigh directly into the mugger's face- slightly burning it in the process. I used my senses to check the surrounding 300 meters for any electrical signals leading to cameras and to see if this idiot had any friends… Nothing.

We were alone, away from surveillance and people… and I was still pissed from earlier. I wanted nothing more than to simply burn him to ashes, the notion itself surprised me with how… easy it seemed…

I'm not a righteous idiot, I did want to be a hero- to protect the weak and innocent… but scum like this? they didn't know how good they had it. I looked over the guy again- skinny, late 30's to early 40's, tattoo's along his arms and neck… with 3 wallets in his pockets.

I was planning to break his hands in such a way he wouldn't be an effective threat to anyone else… but my enhanced senses picked up on the bloody smell from the knife, that plus the wallets removed my only shred of mercy.

While still scanning the area I knocked him out and brought him to a nearby trash can- it was full of charcoal and obviously used by the homeless. I shoved him in and while my arm was still inside I tried creating the lightning from earlier… a quick zap and the world was made a tiny bit better.

I doubted there'd be any evidence of my actions but I still double and triple checked to make sure everything he had was also vaporized. It didn't make me feel any better but did make me wonder… why'd I feel nothing?

The rest of the day was uneventful with me getting home and seeing Rumi already asleep. I stayed awake for a while just thinking. That bug was a threat… one I wasn't confident I could kill instantly, I didn't like that. If she came for someone or something I cared about I didn't want to be unable to stop her.

So against my promise with Rumi I spent the early hours increasing my resistances (in the bathroom), I don't know all of her abilities but I think that so long as I'm tough enough to survive her initial attacks I'll be able to adapt to kill her.

I bit into my own arm to get better piercing and crush resistance, I used some of the red lightning on myself and vaporized my fingers, I tore off some of my spikes to make them able to grow faster… I also had to eat them to remove evidence.

By far the worst one was what I was currently attempting- My eyes. I didn't want any obvious weaknesses, my neck wasn't much of a weakness since I didn't need to breathe, eat or keep blood flow to my brain. My groin was still a weakness but I was gonna try and get a cloaca or something to fix that later, back to my eyes though…

There were only 2 ways to improve fast, that is- tearing them out or poking them. So I poked away! "MMMPH!" The pain was excruciating! I covered my mouth to stop an agonizing scream leaving my lips. I actually ended up biting into my hand to deal with the pain. I tried my best to combine the efforts of passive and controlled adaptation to grow them back stronger than ever.

This adaptation took longer than average, I felt the area behind my eyes shifting and I actually blacked out momentarily. When I got back up it surprised me with its method. My sight came back, and as I saw myself in the mirror I grinned, everything had been improved!

The rest of my body had always lagged behind my eyes… now even more so! I felt now that I could change my already enhanced perception to an even higher speed, x-ray vision was strong enough that I could now see every tenant in the building… Did I get t-rex eyes as well? I noticed that I could pick people out from their surroundings much easier as the movement of their hearts stood out like a light in the dark.

I also went to poke my eyes again- *tink*. My fingers felt as if they'd touched metal… I hadn't had to use all of my force to poke them the first time… may as well get this over with.

Several pokes, improvements and suffering later and the sun was coming up, my eyes were now impossible for me to destroy (without boosting myself) and damn near every improvement possible was added on them. My skin before was tough, but I could still make indents by pressing on it… not anymore, now it reminded me of touching smooth stones.

I sprayed some air freshener all over the bathroom and started having a shower to wipe away the bloody smell and get ready for the day. Once I was certain I was strong enough… I'd make sure to finish what I couldn't in my last life.

Just to cover my ass in case Rumi picked up on the smell anyway I emptied the shampoo into the drain with the ready excuse of it going in my eyes and that I'd scratched my face trying to remove it.

Seems I needn't have worried too much since Rumi was still asleep when I left. I remember it being strange for everyone about how normal the classes were, not the case for me. I'd never had a formal education in either life so the class was novel if still extremely easy.

Not much else interesting happened before the battle trials other than eating the food from Lunch-Rush, I ended up trying out the chili prank I thought of way earlier (after adding some flakes to my curry) and breathing a short burst of fire while proclaiming it as spicy- I think I may have startled a good part of the room but at least Mina and Eijiro had a laugh.

Then the big moment- "I AM…" *pause for dramatic tension* "...coming through the door like a normal person." All Might sure knew how to make a normal entrance look inspiring. *queue several comments about his costume being so silver age*

I didn't pay as much attention since I was waiting to receive my own costume… I was kinda wondering if they'd taken my request seriously. The moment the side panels opened I bolted over and grabbed mine, seems like they'd listened!

"After you change, gather in Ground Beta!"

Everyone grabbed their own costumes and went to change, I finished way before anyone else… I mean my costume was literally just pants… Really tough pants but still just pants. No armor would be tougher than my own body, I'd likely be standing in front of massive attacks regularly and didn't want a useless shirt which would be destroyed instantly.

Still, these things were nice! No idea what they're made out of but my only requests were to be as close to indestructible as possible- particularly toward heat and physical force and to have at least a small degree of movement, they were stiff but a perfect fit. Anyone else wearing them probably wouldn't be able to walk… but super strength and all that.

Not like I needed much else when I was kinda recognizable.

By now most of the class had gathered together in their costumes, I seriously have no idea how Momo got away with wearing that… WHY IN THE HELL IS THAT BLUE HAIRED GIRL NAKED?! I noticed she was only in gloves and boots… oh. Well that confirms I can see Toru.

Dilemna, do I tell her and embarrass her and myself to no end or do I say nothing and try to ignore her? I mean if she figures it out later it'll be way worse. I decided to leave it as is but switched my vision to thermal so everyone ended up looking like a blob of heat.

And here comes Deku, I mean I see the resemblance to All Might but it looks more like bunny ears than hair… The mouth cover was a little too obvious though.

Eijiro also came within my line of sight. I saw his costume. He saw mine. We clasped hands- "SO FRIGGIN MANLY!" we both exclaimed. Tough as nails crew rise up.

All Might then drew our attention as he started informing us about what was going on. Battle trials between 'heroes' and 'villains' over the securement and protection of a 'nuclear warhead'.

And the random team-ups. Please don't be toru please don't be toru please don't be- fucks sake. Well… guess who was teamed up with Toru? I'd even used x-ray vision to try and cheat but the damn box must have been made with lead!

If I remember correctly she fought Doctor Freeze and Mezo?

Most of the rest of the teams were about the same- exceptions being Momo now had Ant bitch and sugar hulk now had tail guy. Not enough to change the fateful clash between broccoli and anger issues incarnate it seems.

Shortly after being herded into the observation room we got to witness their battle. Katsuki tries to blow Izuku's face off, Izuku counters with a judo throw and Ochaco leaves while they're having a moment.

Iida was honestly the only one here who I was enjoying the performance of… and not for the reason you might think. He'd literally cleaned the room spotless before adopting a villainous persona for the sake of… immersion maybe? Either way I was enjoying watching him take his role so seriously. Then I looked back at Katsuki.

"What a dumbass." I mean it was stating the obvious but the more I saw Katsuki chase Izuku around and ignore the goal of this exercise the more exasperated I became. It got even worse at the part where he let off the massive explosion that destroyed a big portion of the building and could have possibly killed Izuku.

All Might gave him a warning so he reverted to regular combat, he beat the snot out of Izuku anyway but… Izuku still used their clash to create an opening for Ochaco… leading to a win for the hero team! Just seeing the look on Katsuki's face was already making me feel so much better.

Izuku got hauled away and the other 3 got brought into the observation room. "THE BEST IN THE MATCH WAS YOUNG IIDA!!!" Oh yeah, I forgot All Might basically nominated an MVP every round, he continued- "I wonder why I could pooossibly think so? WHO KNOWS WHY!!?"

Momo started her long ass response which could be summed up as- Katsuki was a dumbass, Ochaco and Izuku were too reckless, even if the 'bomb' was paper mache it should have been treated like it was real (which it wasn't) and Iida was basically a perfect evil mastermind who didn't make any actual bad decisions.

Well… she certainly got it all. After a shaky thumbs up from All Might it was time for the main event! Me and Toru vs Shoto and Mezo!

We were sent to a different building and given a short reprieve before they entered… Toru of course chose to remove the boots and gloves but I stopped her from immediately leaving, saying to just wait a moment since I had some knowledge about one of our opponents.

And of course as I was saying this to her Shoto tried to freeze the building! I had the 'bomb' in one hand and quickly picked up Toru (never gonna hear the end of it if Rumi gets wind of this) with the other as the ground beneath us froze solid… for maybe 2 seconds before it became steam as I started glowing orange.

"That's why I said to wait… also… I placed back down the 'bomb' and covered her ears with my hands. If we're supposed to be villains I wanna sound like one!" *Deep breath*- "RAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" I let out a yell loud enough to easily be heard outside and scare the crap out of both of the 'heroes'.

Shoto POV

"They're both on the north side of the fourth floor, are they barricading the room?" Mezo told me, not that it mattered. I responded- "This'll get hairy, so go outside. If they intend to make this a defensive game…" I froze the entire building- "Then this won't be much for me."

I started walking in the building when an inhuman yell loud enough to make me stumble was heard! What the hell! I could also feel that my ice was melting! I tried to refreeze as much as I could but I noticed that all the ice leading toward me… was evaporating faster than I could stop!

Then it rounded the corner… what the fuck is that! I saw both my opponents before this but the big bruiser looking one was now glowing orange and letting off enough heat plus steam to make me feel like I was in a sauna.

"Found you" The monstrous looking thing said in a deep rumbling voice as flames left their mouth.

"Hmph" even though I was slightly shaken, I didn't think they'd be an actual threat to me, I created a wave of ice and sent it toward them, the monster opened its mouth and spewed a torrent of flame.

Both attacks met in the middle… and mine obviously lost! The ice was instantly vaporized and the flames continued on… I had to create several thick walls of ice between it and myself before it finally petered out.

By then the monster had gotten close to me, I reached out a hand and tried to freeze their arm… and while it partially worked he didn't slow down at all as despite all the ice leaving my body they were simply too fast and the surroundings had become too hot!

He unwrapped my capture tape and proceeded to wrap me in it. I was going to freeze it when- "You've already been caught, I'd rather not knock you out." He had a point but I was still extremely angry at myself for my inability to harm him. "Sorry, the difference in our ability was too great." This bastard!

"1 down, 1 to go." As the monster said this I realized- I never should have left my teammate behind!"

Back in the observation area

"What the hell was that?!" - Mashiro. "He looks like a demon from one of those old Diablo games!" - Kyoka. The entire class was in an uproar- first when Shoto froze the building, then when Alex let out a roar which cracked several windows and finally when he started rampaging through the hallway and beat shoto in such an oppressive manner! All Might looked at the screen- Alex was a good kid, but damn if he didn't look like a villain!

Alex POV

I'd like to fight icy pop here a bit more, his freezing of my arm was appreciated since I hadn't run into anything in a long while that was cold enough to harm me. Sadly I had to go deal with his teammate… maybe he'd get mad and demand to fight me later though?

"VILLAINS WIN!" I heard All Might say over the earpiece. Huh? What about his teammate?

With my eyes it was easy to find out where he was… still outside? He was on the ground and bleeding?! I quickly ran towards him- the test was important but like hell I wouldn't help if he actually needed it!

I was stopping myself from breaking the building (much) earlier, I didn't anymore as I just broke through anything in my way. I radioed Toru- "Hey listen, Ice guy is down and his teammate is outside and injured, I can't tell what hurt him but be careful since we could be under attack!" After saying this I burst through the wall to where he was. With my speed and 'shortcuts' I was next to Mezo in under 5 seconds.

4 of his hands were bleeding and he was crouching in place moaning, his injured hands were morphed into ears and… oh, well shit. "My bad, it seems this is my fault." I picked him up and spoke on the communicator- "All Might, I know you're listening, I can get him to the nurses office way faster than these bots, I'll be over to the observation room right after."

One of Mezo's uninjured hands turned into a mouth- "Ow." kinda short but it got the message across clear enough. I did the motion for hearing before pointing to his hand, he hesitated but did turn it into an ear.

"Sorry about that, I got too into the whole villain role, I did the roar thing as psychological warfare- I wouldn't have done it (as loud) if I knew it'd mess you up to this degree."

He just nodded which I hoped meant he wouldn't hold a grudge. I placed him on a bed in the nurse's office where he instantly got healed (he didn't really do much to exhaust himself) before bouncing outta there and making my way back.

I ran back and entered the observation room, the place was quiet as I entered- "MAN, THAT WAS MANLY AS HELL!"- but it didn't last long as Eijiro came up and started patting me on the shoulder.

All Might then got myself, Toru and Shoto lined up- "WHO DO YOU ALL THINK WAS THE BEST IN THE MATCH?" All Might this time questioned the whole class.

"I mean there really is only one option…" said… What's the tape guy's name again? The rest of the class echoed it before Momo started talking- "While Alex obviously played a major part, he mostly overcame this challenge through raw power- not that I'm discounting it but I'd also like to remind everyone of Mezo's scouting and Shoto's freezing of the building. The villain team prevailed through sheer offensive power, I'd be surprised if anyone here would be able to actually counter them."

She looked at All Might- "Alex is the best in this match when we compare only strength, Mezo is the best when it came to planning and intel gathering, Shoto shouldn't have split off from his teammate and Toru didn't get any chance to do anything… but I'd still say Alex overall was the best in the match."

Shoto looked angry when his mistake was brought up and even though nobody else noticed I could see Toru's face look sad at the mention of her inability to contribute during the match.

"CORRECT!" All Might again looked a bit flustered at her perfect description before starting the next matches.

The other matches proceeded with the only other major part being Ant bitch finishing the match in a similar way to me, that is- with overwhelming strength.

"GOOD WORK EVERYONE!!" Said All Might once all the matches drew to a close- "WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY MAJOR INJURIES OTHER THAN YOUNG MIDORIYA AND SHOJI! NEVERTHELESS, NO HOLDS WERE BARRED!! FOR YOUR FIRST FULL TRAINING EXERCISE, YOU ALL DID WONDERFULLY!"

He then made his hasty getaway since his time in Buff Might form was probably coming to an end. Well this was fun… though what Rumi said hit the mark- this was a damn cakewalk!

For once Katsuki was silent so at least I'd gained something.