Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. Original characters are in a sort of grey area but whatever.

Villain Notebook 56 - Support Items, Students Only, Final Destination

At the gates to U.A, Izuku turned and beamed at his partners. "Well, this is it, isn't it? Your Practical Exams?"

Melissa beamed at him. "Yeah - it really is!" Mei just sighed despondently.

Melissa shook her head fondly and continued, "Honestly, if you told me a year ago that I would be standing here at U.A, ready to go into finals like this… I would have called you a liar."

His pink haired partner sighed. "And if you told me that I would give up on inventing Babies for the Support Practical…"

"Exactly! There's no way to predict everything that's going to happen in the future!" Izuku just grinned.

Mei's customary smile made its way back onto her face, scaring some students making their way in. "I sure didn't think that I'd be in a relationship with you or Melissa, that's for sure!"

They laughed at that, Izuku especially. No, he really hadn't intended to jeopardise his secret identity by entering a relationship like this, after all.

As they left, Izuku watched them go anxiously, before chuckling to himself, a darker grin on his face. "...Man, I can't believe that they're gonna have all the fun today!"

Cackling to himself, Izuku's Double went to Izuku's Support exam, ready for whatever came there. After all, there's no way to predict exactly what was going to happen. U.A might surprise him!

Melissa looked over the rest of her classmates as they assembled on the bus, some more confident than others.

"Just beat a couple of robots, and then we're going to summer camp!" Ashido whispered excitedly.

"Oh man, there's no way we can possibly fail!" Kaminari nodded with a happy grin on his face.

Case in point, Ashido and Kaminari were over the moon about destroying robots.

Others did not share their enthusiasm.

Jirou just sighed loudly when they said that. "And like that, you've doomed us," she snarked to their dismay.

"Attention everyone! Line up in class order!" Iida shouted, gesturing to the parking lot. As they started getting on, he provided gentle encouragement by tweeting his whistle and frequent gestures to a diagram of the bus' layout.

Still, Melissa couldn't help but agree with Jirou's statement - if half the things Uncle Might said about Nezu were accurate, then there was no way it was going to be that easy. An uneasy feeling in her gut told her that things were about to get more intense.

The rest of the busride was uneventful, mostly calming her nerves and making sure that Mei didn't tear the bus apart from the inside to build a new piece of Support Gear. And soon enough, they were at the exam site, where they were greeted by the teachers.

"Welcome to your practical exam," Mr. Aizawa said blandly, sweeping a flat look over all of them. "Now it is, of course, possible to fail this exam. If you want to attend the summer training camp, then don't take this lightly and give it your all."

Flanking him, Thirteen and Snipe stared at them with attentive stances, while Present Mic and Midnight grinned at them. Melissa's mind spun - what was going on here?

And she wasn't the only one wondering about the current circumstances.

"Huh, there's nine teachers here," Jirou commented. "...And also one old guy in a Hero costume."

Melissa blinked, before looking. Indeed, there was a small old man in a white and yellow Hero costume, leaning on his cane and giving them all a happily confused look. "Who are you whippersnappers?" he quavered.

For some reason, an icy dread filled her stomach upon seeing him.

"That's Sorahiko! What's he doing here? Wait, don't tell me that he's involved with the Practical exam?"

"Nedzu let that deranged lunatic back into his school?! What was he thinking?!"

"I know, right?! We never trained with the guy, yet I've still got phantom pains just looking at him!"

Melissa shook her head to try and get rid of the buzzing while Eraserhead continued talking, his scarf twitching as he stared at them with tired eyes. "Now, since I know you hellions, I can guess that you asked around, and as a result of that, you think you've got an idea of what's coming."

Melissa and most of the class tensed at those words. They could pick up on the subtext, after all.

"Heck yeah we do - it's a robot rumble like the Entrance Exams!" Kaminari crowed, making what he thought was a cool pose.

"Fireworks! Curry! Truth or dare!" Mina cheered, energetically pumping her arms.

A few of her classmates, obviously, did not pick up on it.

Eraserhead's scarf squirmed, wriggled, and then the Principal popped out. "In a technical sense, yes!"

Mina and Kaminari froze. "T-technical sense?" Mina said weakly.

The Principal just nodded, a huge grin on his face. "Well, if this was a regular school year, then we would have tested you with the robots from the exam! However, various circumstances have demanded that we change the exam format! Rest assured, we take your education quite seriously!"

Yaoyorozu held up a hand as Nezu used Eraserhead's scarf as a rope ladder to land on the ground. "Is this change a result of the League of Supervillains' actions?"

Nezu cackled at that. "Oh, you are good, Yaoyorozu!"

Then he sobered up. "Indeed, it is! As a result of the League of Supervillains, counter-Villain activity has quadrupled in the past year, and as long as they and the similarly named League of Villains are active, it will continue to increase! Unfortunately, this means that our normal practical exam is no longer so practical."

As one, 1-A shuddered at the look in Nezu's eye. "So from now on, our focus will be on fights against flesh and blood opponents as well as machines! Our teaching will simulate real life conditions as accurately as possible! As such…"

He threw his hands up in the air dramatically. "For this exam, you have been placed into small groups in a simulated Villain encounter!"

Melissa blinked. "We're fighting the teachers?" Looking around, everybody else was similarly anxious - after all, they were just studying to be Heroes, while their teachers were experienced and respected Pro Heroes in their own rights. Even teaming up, it seemed a bit unfair.

Nedzu giggled. Then he chuckled. And finally, burst into manic laughter. As one, the teachers and students backed away from the ambiguous mammal.

Eraserhead pinched the bridge of his nose. "In a sane world, yes. Unfortunately, the Principal cares more about chaos than sanity."

Iida was about to ask what he meant when loud music started playing, along with a loud grinding sound. Melissa's eyes widened, as did everybody else's as a familiar sea green and red car rose from an opening in the ground.

"No," Iida whispered. "It can't be!"

Eraserhead gave Iida a tired, despairing look as the Principal's laughter doubled. "Unfortunately, it is."

"MWAHAHA!"

Green smoke poured from the vehicle as Mastermind burst out, flanked by Gentle Criminal and Inkblot. On the other side, Lady de Winter and Golden Grin came out in a similarly dramatic fashion, flower petals being launched into the air on their exit. Finally, with a puff of purple smoke Mr. Warp and Twice appeared, taking a theatrical bow.

Mastermind posed dramatically with the rest of his group, his combined cowl and hood fluttering in his trademark artificial wind, waistcoat and shirt freshly pressed. "PREPARE YOURSELVES, 1-A, FOR THE LEAGUE OF SUPERVILLAINS IS HERE…"

He then gestured to the Principal, his metallic grin seeming even more manic than it normally did. "BY REQUEST FROM PRINCIPAL NEDZU!"

At that statement, everybody froze. Iida and Mei's faces in particular looked quite comical, as if they were unsure whether Mastermind and the League of Supervillains was actually there. Melissa's gaze latched onto the Principal, who seemed quite cheerful about this. Her mouth opened and closed, trying to form words.

Eventually, she found her voice. "...What."

In her subconscious, the vestiges stared at the Villains as well, mystified. "...Well, this is a first," Yoichi muttered.

"Indeed," Shinomori nodded. "Danger Sense isn't being triggered either."

He paused. "Strange as it is to say, he doesn't seem to mean any harm at the moment. "

The Second sighed. "And we don't have any choice but to watch things play out. That's rather frustrating."

"Better him than Shigaraki, at least," Nana sighed. The rest of the Vestiges couldn't help but agree.

Everybody else was frozen as well, staring at the impossible display before them. Then Mei, a fighting smile on her face, tried to sucker punch Mastermind with her robot arm.

Mastermind couldn't help but grin behind his mask when Mei tried to attack him. Even though it was directed at him, he couldn't help but love that energy of hers! "Now, now, there'll be time for that later!" he cheerfully dodged her robot arm, before turning to the Principal. "Could you explain, please?"

"Oh, certainly!" Nedzu replied, managing to get a hold of himself. Turning back to the Heroes in training, Nedzu gave Mei a Look. "Would you kindly refrain from attacking Mastermind? You will have a chance to fight him today, after all."

Mei froze, then with a reluctant whimper she pulled her arm back. "Yes, Principal Nedzu…" She mumbled, customary energy swept away from the Principal's presence.

He clapped cheerfully, looking over at Mastermind. "Good! Now, as I was saying, this exercise is a simple one - the League of Supervillains will face you in combat, and you will play the role of Heroes trying to capture the League! To make things fair, we have chosen to divide you into six teams of three and one of four."

Eraserhead shook his head but continued. "We will grade you on how you respond to your opponents - though if you do manage to incapacitate Mastermind or any member of the League of Supervillains, then that will automatically give you a pass for your combat lessons for your entire education here at U.A."

Mastermind couldn't help but feel a bit nervous when he saw Kacchan's face light up like that. And he wasn't the only one - Kaminari and Ashido were giving him the same look that a drowning man gives a lifering. Next to him, Gentle and Inkblot looked uneasy, before hiding it behind their typical confident smiles.

Still, he put his hands on his hips, looking confident to the world. "Well, of course! You're going to have a hard time taking down me and my friends, after all!"

The Hero students collectively shuddered. A couple of them glared at Ashido and Kaminari as they looked dismayed. "You had to tempt fate, dumbass," Jirou sighed, shooting the electric blonde a flat glare.

While Kaminari whimpered, the Principal pointed to the projector behind him. "Now, let's find your opponents!" He cackled gleefully.

Hatsume Mei, Bakugou Katsuki and Melissa Shield VS Mastermind

Todoroki Shouto, Satou Rikido and Kirishima Eijirou VS Lady de Winter

Koji Koda, Iida Tenya, Sero Hanta and Ojiro Mashirao VS Gentle Criminal and La Brava

Yaoyorozu Momo, Jirou Kyoka and Uraraka Ochako VS Inkblot

Kaminari Denki, Ashido Mina and Mineta Minoru VS Mr. Warp

Aoyama Yuuga, Asui Tsuyu and Shouji Mezou VS Golden Grin

Shinsou Hitoshi, Tokoyami Fumikage and Tohru Hagakure VS Twice

Mastermind bowed theatrically. "While we only know what you can do based on the Sports Festival, these teams have been chosen to be tried and tested against the best we can offer! Since Gentle Criminal and La Brava work together very closely on our jobs, we felt that they should team up and that the team of four should fight them."

Shinsou winced, patting Ashido on the back. "I'd say good luck, but I think I need it more than you do."

"Traitor," she half heartedly grumbled, before flashing a smile. "You'd better win, alright?"

While Shinsou wordlessly nodded, Kacchan gave him a menacing grin as small explosions danced on his palms. "I'm going to FUCKING destroy you, Mastermind!"

Aw, he does care!

Inkblot idly tapped her communicator while the Hero students fretted over their chosen groups. "I just hope your plan to get out works," she mumbled.

"We wouldn't be here if I didn't think we could do it," he nodded. Sure, bad ideas hadn't stopped him from surviving and thriving. Though he had to admit, this one was definitely the worst he had ever had.

And it had all started with a letter dropped near their base.

Two weeks earlier…

Izuku looked at the letter addressed to the League of Supervillains, printed with Nedzu's cheesy logo. "Where was this found?"

"In the Docks of Musutafu, near the warehouses." La Brava handed it over to him slightly shakily. "No bugs or trackers of any kind, and I've been checking it all over for hours."

"Oh, that's reassuring!" Golden Grin practically screamed. "Come on, even I know that Nedzu's terrifying!"

Gentle Criminal nodded, pale faced. "Principal Nedzu isn't somebody I would cross unless I had no other choice, Mastermind. Though breaking into U.A would be a truly impressive crime worthy of our name, it's unlikely I or La Brava would have been able to stay out of prison long enough to enjoy the infamy."

Izuku shook his head. "Oh, I doubt that, Gentle!"

Then he winced. "But I do agree that Nedzu is not a Hero who I want to mess with."

He took a deep breath, snapping on a pair of gloves. "Still, if he is trying to get in touch with us…"

Opening it, he started to read, eyebrow raising further with each word.

Hello League of Supervillains, this is Principal Nedzu. I am reaching out to you to ask for your help for U.A's Hero Course Final! Due to your goal to improve Hero Society as a whole, (Izuku and the League exchanged uneasy glances upon reading that)I feel that you and your League of Supervillains would be the ideal opponents for my students to face in simulated combat.

If you are interested in a frank discussion about the future of Heroics, meet me in two days in Musutafu Park. I prefer to do business with people face to face anyway.

Yours respectfully, Nedzu the Principal of U.A!

With a stunned look on his face, Izuku lowered the letter.

"...How is this not a trap?" Izuku muttered to the Aiba and the rest of the League.

Coming back to the present, Mastermind bowed politely to the teachers. "I hope we can work alongside you!"

Eraserhead glared at him. "You're still a Villain, Mastermind."

"Super Villain, thank you," Mastermind politely corrected.

The dark haired Hero just gave him a tired glare. "I don't care."

He then turned back to his students, a surprisingly contrite look on his face. "It would be more logical for us to have the teachers test you directly like originally planned, but Nedu thought this would be more educational."

Nedzu grinned cheekily. "And this is more amusing!"

While Eraserhead let out a long suffering sigh, Iida held up a hand. "So would the teams be different if we were going against the teachers?"

The Principal nodded, still smiling. "Oh, yes! You would be paired up and go against us teachers and our advisor here, Gran Torino!"

Iida shuddered slightly when Nedzu beamed directly at him. "Do you wish to try fighting us teachers instead?"

Mastermind turned to the old man, who seemed to be looking at him with a wide grin. "I don't mind if you do, sonny… Who are you again?"

Watching the old Hero, Mastermind found himself getting ready for a fight. Truthfully, Mastermind would have dismissed the little old man, and would have been truly concerned about his health. However, he knew that Nedzu would not have asked for him to be here if he was weak.

1-A looked among themselves, before the vaguely familiar guy with a tail shook his head. "Oh, no. I'm taking my chances with the Villains, if it's all the same to you."

The others in his class gave him odd looks. "Why would you want this, Ojiro?!" Kaminari screeched.

Oh, that was his name! Ojiro!

Ashido nodded frantically. "Yeah! We could be fighting the teachers-"

"You and Kaminari would be going against me if you do not wish to fight Mr. Warp," Nedzu said cheerfully.

"-but it's completely understandable why you would want to fight the Villains!" Ashido finished without missing a beat.

Kaminari nodded frantically. "Yep, fighting the League is A-Ok with me!" He laughed shrilly while Nedzu gave him a knowing smile.

"It's the first rule of karate," Ojiro said, a bead of sweat dripping down his face. "Never fight a small, smiling old person if you can help it."

1-A stared at him as if he'd spontaneously grown a second head. He crossed his arms defensively. "Trust me, you learn that rule very quickly."

"You betcha, young fella!" The old man in question grinned. The tailed boy shuddered, retreating.

I should definitely watch out for Gran Torino, Izuku decided, the sense of imminent danger not leaving. From the wary glances his comrades shared, he wasn't the only one.

Nedzu looked over at the students, then clapped his paws together. "Splendid! Now, get on your bus and get ready for your exam. Break a leg!"

Kyoka grit her teeth as the bus drew close to the combat site. "This is going to be hell, isn't it?"

"Hey, maybe it won't be so bad!" Uraraka piped up cheerfully. "I mean, the League isn't so bad - they've helped a lot of people. And it's not like the USJ - the teachers actually planned for the League."

"That's very true - we're also more prepared for what's coming, since we know who we're fighting," Yaoyorozu said with a charming smile. Then she turned to Kyoka directly. "By the way, Jirou, I was just wondering… After Finals are over, do you want to go see a movie with me?"

Kyoka froze, before managing to recover some of her composure. "S-sure! That sounds fun!"

She means as friends, right? Kyoka thought to herself, before deciding that yes, Yaoyorozu must have meant it like that. Obviously. Because there was absolutely no way that Yaoyorozu could have meant it in any other way. No way in hell did Kyoka think she would get anywhere with somebody as smart and amazing as her.

But the taller girl just smiled sunnily, then tensed as the bus came to a halt. "Looks like we're here."

Outside the gates, Inkblot cheerfully waved, massive mallet at the ready. "Ready to get your exam on?"

Kyoka swallowed, thoughts turning back to the task at hand - managing to thwart one of Japan's most notorious Villains. "Let's give them a show," she muttered.

Mei glared daggers at the projected hologram of Mastermind, her robot arms flexing with restrained energy. Next to her, Melissa and Bakugou were similarly tense as they sat at the gates.

The image of Mastermind clapped his hands, giving the impression he was beaming behind his mask. "MWA-HAHAHA! Good to see you, future Superheroes! Are you ready for your exam?"

She glared at him, reaching to her utility belt to grab a Baby. "Why the hologram? Were you afraid we were going to attack you?"

Mastermind tilted his head. "Were you not going to try it?"

She tsked, looking away. Bakugou just grinned at the Villain's image, drawing a finger across his throat. Mastermind knew her and Bakugou too well. Damn his precautions!

That display over, Bakugou stomped up to the hologram with a scowl on his face. "Enough talk! I want to fight you already!"

Melissa paused. "How is this exam going to be decided if we can't defeat you? Nedzu doesn't expect us to try and beat you…" She gave the Baby Thief a tense glare. "Though I'm pretty sure we could manage it."

The Supervillain laughed at that. "I like your optimism, Shield! Worry not, for U.A and the League of Supervillains have thought of everything!"

He pulled out a huge sack emblazoned with a yen symbol on it. "The premise of the exercise is that each of us is taking a comically large sack of money to our Evil Lair (trademarked)! You students can achieve victory by taking this away from me, or stopping me from leaving the testing area, or running and calling for help!"

"No way are we gonna run from your nerd ass!" Bakugou roared.

Mei clapped, robot arms waving. "Hear, hear!"

Mastermind posed, pinky by his mouth. "Yes, that's a very Superheroic stance to take… Truly excellent! Now, you have been provided with Quirk suppressant cuffs to try and slap on me to make a capture… But I doubt it will come to that!"

His mechanical grin seemed to widen. "So, those are your options! Though I have additional criteria for a pass, I sincerely doubt you will need those!"

Mei grinned at that. Her mechanical arms readied into combat positions, while she pulled out a couple of Babies. "Don't get cocky, Mastermind! After all, you've never fought me before!"

Melissa stepped up to the plate as well, a determined look on her face sending a shiver down Mei's spine. "Nothing's impossible, Mastermind. Sooner or later, you're going to be defeated."

"Put your money where your mouth is then!" Mastermind waved a hand, and the gates opened.

"You have thirty minutes to try and find me! Just be aware," And here Mastermind seemed to leer, "You're not dealing with an ordinary Villain here. You're trying to deal with a true Supervillain!"

Bakugou wore a feral smirk on his face as he shot forwards. Mei and Melissa followed a scant moment later, intent on finding the nefarious Supervillain.

Eraserhead sighed, looking over at the principal. "Well, sir, you have what you wanted, at least. Though it would have been better if we had actually acted the part of Villains."

Present Mic sighed in despair. "I know, right? I had such a cool evil act planned! I even had a rocking costume ready!"

Ignoring his friend's whinging, he glared at the Principal. "Why have them here in the middle of campus? And for that matter, why are they testing the first year students rather than the second or third years?"

Gran Torino nodded, all traces of senility gone. "True. Mirio alone could have captured Mastermind at least. With Tamaki and Nejire backing him up with the rest of 3-A and B…"

"Several reasons! But the first reason is that Mastermind agreed to meet with me in the first place!" Nedzu's eyes glimmered. "He wouldn't have done it if he wasn't absolutely sure he could get away. Having him test the first years is likely to make them overconfident!"

"I can see the logic in that," Eraserhead muttered. "But I am worried about the injuries they might suffer. They are Villains, after all."

"Oh, I'm aware of that. Rest assured though," and here the ambiguous mammal's tone changed to something darker, "if any of our students are seriously hurt, the League won't enter Tartarus with the same number of limbs."

The rest of the teachers stared at the Principal. Seemingly unaware of the stares, he grinned. "In any case, these matchups should challenge your students' weak spots!"

Shaking himself, Eraserhead nodded. "True enough." He nodded to a monitor, where Yaoyorozu and Jirou had just engaged Inkblot. "Yaoyorozu could stand to build a bit more confidence, but also needs to improve her flexibility in the field, so her fighting an opponent with a similar Quirk will be good for her."

Nedzu grinned as Uraraka delivered a flurry of blows to the Villainess, only for Inkblot to grab her and throw her into the approaching Jirou "And the other two?"

Eraserhead watched as the brown haired girl pushed herself up, Yaoyorozu trying to drive Inkblot back with a staff she had pulled out from her stomach. "Uraraka doesn't have much experience fighting opponents who use weapons like Inkblot, and Jirou doesn't have much experience with friendly fire."

Present Mic winced when he saw Jirou go to jam her Earjacks into her boots, only to hesitate when she saw the other girls in the way. "Yeah, been there, done that."

Eraserhead nodded, then pointed to the screen where Todoroki was leading his teammates to try and find Lady de Winter. "As for them, Kirishima and Sato have limits to how long they can effectively use their Quirks, so we've put them against a Villain who can delay them near indefinitely-"

"-And Todoroki is facing an opponent who can match his ice," Midnight finished. "He's really going to have to try and bloom under pressure. Still, it's only under pressure that their youthful vigour can shine through!"

"Please never say that about students again."

Shouto glanced over at the rest of his team as they made their way through the suburban area. "Alright, Kirishima. How much ice do you think you can break at once?"

After the Sports Festival, as well as working on his conspiracy boards he was also trying to talk to people more. That, and trying to get used to using the fire side of his Quirk.

Though it still felt awkward to use after neglecting it for so long, it was feeling more natural to use.

The redhead clenched a fist in a manly way. "Pretty sure I can break a whole bunch - though honestly, I'd want some fire to melt it."

"Same here," Sato nodded. His hand strayed to his utility belt, checking over his different sugars.

Shouto nodded, then stopped. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Kirishima looked at him oddly. "Uh-"

"Fimbulwinter," a female voice rang.

The world chilled. He barely threw his fire up in time to block the worst of the attack, his partners wincing at the steam coiling around them. The ice themed Supervillain strode up to them slowly, an oversized bag slung over her shoulder. Kirishima threw himself forwards with a manly roar, fists turning hard and rocky, only for her hand to twitch.

A wall of ice sprang up from the still frozen ground to block the red haired boy, coming up so quickly he was knocked down. A blast of his fire melted it, only for another wave of her hand to almost instantly repair the damage.

"It's not going to be that easy, Shouto-chan," Lady de Winter chided gently, strolling off.

Shouto stared as she left. "...How did she know my name?" He said dumbly.

Sato gave him an odd look. "It's your Hero name?"

His cheeks coloured. "...Oh. Right."

"Kaminari and Ashido are single minded and action orientated, for better or worse. Mineta's a new transfer student with a Quirk greatly suited to immobilising others. So, having them fight a Warper will test all of their capabilities."

As soon as he spotted the top hatted Villain in the middle of the industrial area, Minoru threw a ball at him, hoping to stick Mr. Warp in place and restrict his movement. Sure, it was a long shot, but if he could just grab that sack-!

Unfortunately, purple smoke sprung from the Villain's hands, enveloping his Quirk. When it cleared, it was gone. Minoru mentally swore - of course the Warper teleported it away before it could touch him! "It won't be that easy, Heroes. Try something more original."

Ashido shot a jet of acid to try and hit him, the Villain barely twisting out of the way. "Darn it!"

More smoke came from his hands, and a baseball sized sphere shot towards the pink girl. Minoru barely tackled her out of the way as it hit the tanker behind him, expanding into a pile of light green foam. Oh man, that was way too close-"

Ashido pushed herself up, and her breast touched the side of his head. He flushed tomato red, then managed to recover.

Heh. Fortunately, I've touched boobs before, so this won't incapacitate me!

Wow, I feel like a loser.

Meanwhile, Kaminari tried to grab the Warping Villain with an electrically charged hand, only for the Villain to dodge. "My, our future exploits are going to be easy if you keep rushing in without a plan," he chided.

"Yeah, well, uh…" Kaminari tried to think of a good comeback. "Uh… Takes one to know one!"

Minoru slapped a hand to his face. This was going to be tougher than he thought.

"Iida's still rather rigid in his approach to fighting Villains, as is Ojiro, so hopefully Sero can help them unwind. As for Koda, truthfully I'm a bit worried about his confidence and that refusal to use insects. Fighting Gentle Criminal and La Brava in the woods should build a different kind of spatial awareness and flexibility."

"Halt, Villain!"

Gentle Criminal couldn't help but grin at the energetic response from the Iida boy as he shot through the woods. "I'm afraid I cannot do that, young man!"

He couldn't help but smile when the armoured speedster ran into his barrier, trying to overpower its natural stretch. Iida struggled to get free as the sound of rubber stretching filled the air. "You fiend-"

At that point, the barrier snapped back, catapulting the young man back in an undignified way. Gentle winced. "Be more careful, Ingenium! Who knows where more of these barriers-"

"On your left, Gentle!" La Brava cried. A spider-shaped robot chittered next to her, causing the rock headed boy to shriek and run to hide behind a tree like the last three times he had tried to come near.

Gentle managed to block the blonde boy's tail with his cane. "Not bad!"

The boy barely leapt back to avoid being shocked by his cane. Tape sprung from the treetops to grab La Brava's own sack of money, only for the diminutive Villainess to shoot forwards from her jetpack. "Dang it!" The Hero in training shouted.

Gentle's face hardened as he glared the Hero down. "You shouldn't treat a lady so improperly, my boy."

"Indeed!" Iida boomed, before realising he had, technically, agreed with a Villain. While he had a minor existential crisis, Ojiro tried to sweep Gentle's legs from under him.

Bouncing off the ground while tape tried to tag him, Tobita couldn't help but smile with joy. Maybe it hadn't meant to be, but he couldn't help but feel happy to be back in a Hero school - if only on the other side of the law.

"Shinsou is quite competent with his Quirk and physical training-"

"You're just saying that cause he's your protege-"

Eraserhead ignored that comment. "-But he still needs more experience with teamwork and different fighters. Tokoyami has some… problems with socialising-"

"He's an edgelord."

"-So having Tohru there to provide backup and support against a relative unknown will help. While Mastermind said that this… Twice only has Minor Object Duplication, I'm not going to trust the word of a Villain."

From their cover behind a pillar, Fumikage took a deep breath, Dark Shadow coiling around him. "Okay. I am vengeance. I am the night. I am-"

"-Gonna be shot! No he isn't, you can't hit the broad side of a barn."

Cursing, Fumikage rolled out of the way as a blast of fire hit where he was sitting. The rogue pouted. "I can't believe you warned him!"

He then turned to a window, a frown on his face. "No, you warned him, moron!"

"Wow, that guy's got issues," Dark Shadow commented while the Villain started yelling at himself. Fumikage had to agree - he seemed to be a bit more stable than he had been the last time he had seen the talkative man, but that wasn't much considering how crazy he had been then.

Shinsou sighed, shaking his head. He had tried to bind Twice earlier and been acquainted with a flamethrower gauntlet the Villain had created on the fly, the durable Capture Tape being scorched and weakened enough for the slippery Villain to break free and start randomly attacking. "This may not work but… Hey, Twice. Your shoe's untied."

"It is?"

Fumikage blinked as the Villain stopped, a glazed look entering his eyes as he fell under Shinsou's hypnotic spell. Tohru shimmered into view behind the Villain, a pair of cuffs in hand. "Okay, that was easy. Now, I just got to-"

BA-BAM!

Twice suddenly twisted around and smacked her in her stomach, sending her flying. Shinsou gaped, and Fumikage had to match him. "What-"

"Man, I've got the body to myself! Great," Twice grunted in his deeper voice, stretching. He then jolted. "Hey! You don't pilot the body, bud! I wear the pants in this relationship!"

Shinsou stared at Twice as he started to argue with himself once more. "...Wait, what?" He then glared at the Villain. "There's no way you could have broken free of my Quirk!"

"Why not?" Twice said, before once again falling under Shinsou's control. Then he jolted again. "Seriously, why can't I? I didn't even answer your question! Yes, you did, you idiot. That was you, jerkface!"

The purple haired boy pitched the bridge of his nose with a frustrated sigh while Tohru got up, holding her ribs with a wince. "Okay, apparently I can only brainwash one personality at a time. That's…"

Fumikage winced. "Pretty aggravating." Seeing one of his teammates' Quirks so easily nullified was unusual, but then that was why Shinsou had built up such fearsome close combat skills. "Truly, this Janus is a more terrifying foe than expected-"

Dark Shadow giggled. "Hehe, you said Janus!"

He glared at his own Quirk. "Oh, grow up!"

"Shoji has great sensory abilities and strength but not a lot of speed, while Asui is good anywhere - and they both suffer at range. So fighting a ranged attacker like Golden Grin will be good for their development. Aoyama needs to build his own stamina for ranged attacks as well."

Yuuga yelped as Tsuyu narrowly pulled him away from the scorching golden light of Golden Grin's blast. "Merci, Tsuyu!" He cried.

"That's not a problem, kero. But your spacing out is." The frog girl pointed out bluntly.

He winced, watching Shoji try to get the drop on the VIllain. "I-I know, madame. It's just…"

The gold coloured Villain managed to roll away from Shoji's fists, before locking eyes with Yuuga. And he couldn't help but shiver at that unseen expression. For most of the exercise, the Villain had been focusing on him, though admittedly with some quips thrown in here or there.

This feels like deja vu. Like I've known him for a long time. But apart from seeing him at the USJ, I've never interacted with him!

Then he shook himself. He could have an emotional breakdown about betraying his classmates later. "Tsuyu, I'll cover for you!"

As she charged forwards, he fired a blast at the Villain, forcing him to duck behind a wall. No matter what, All for One wanted him at that camp. There was no choice but to beat this Villain. HIs family's lives were at stake.

"And, finally, there's Mastermind himself." Eraserhead paused. "...Truthfully, I would have had Kaminari and Ashido face him to really test their brains-"

"-But Hatsume has a personal reason for wanting to face him, and Bakugou wants nothing less than the best!" Nedzu finished.

Eraserhead reluctantly nodded. "That's a fair point - in fact, Hatsume's whole reason for wanting to be a Hero is to defeat Mastermind. But with Shield balancing their personalities…"

"...They stand the best chance of defeating Mastermind," Gran Torono nodded.

Earlier…

Melissa glanced over at her girlfriend and Bakugou as they walked through the industrial area. Her ears were straining for any possible sound that would herald Mastermind's coming. "What's our plan to defeat him?"

Bakugou stopped in place.

Mei nodded seriously, adjusting her costume. "Yeah. Much as I hate to admit it, Mastermind's a genius. I've got a lot of Babies," and she gestured to a couple of new pieces she carried, "but he's probably made some improvements as well. Be prepared for anything."

He scoffed. "Please. There's no gadget that could defeat me-"

KRAKATHOOM!

From up on top of a high rise, Melissa could see the familiar figure of Mastermind, hilariously oversized sack of money in hand and cloak billowing dramatically. "MWA-HAHAHA! HERE I AM!"

He jumped down into a superhero landing, holding the position for a few seconds before staggering up. "Okay, that's bad for my knees," the Supervillain muttered.

On instinct, Melissa's eyes glanced down to his gauntlets, which had been redesigned. Glowing lines traced up his gauntlets, and lead up to his palms, a pair of green crystalline structures in the palms. "You've upgraded, haven't you?"

Mastermind did a little clap. "You noticed!"

Bakugou's grin turned feral. "Fucking FINALLY! GET READY TO DIE YOU ASSHOLE!"

Melissa's eyes widened. "Wait-"

KABOOM!

With a mighty explosion he flew towards Mastermind, bringing his gauntlet around to strike-!

PWSSH!

Call me sentimental… but I really wanted my first successful scanned Quirk in my gear for a long, long time. A Quirk that I've known for most of my life. Maybe it wasn't the strongest Quirk around… but I knew it inside and out.

Ironically, the imperfect nature of the Quirk Modulator actually made such a weak Quirk stronger - the light that the modulator emitted as waste product helped make it more effective. With a few extra tricks, a changed variable or two and testing to make sure it didn't irradiate anything, I was finally able to use it effectively. And I could make it look good.

Man.

Who would have thought that my mother's Object Attraction could become so potent?

Melissa stared at the green light that had sprung from Mastermind's gauntlet, locking Bakugou in midair. The blonde struggled, eyes darting as he tried to reach the Supervillain to no avail.

"MWAHAHAHA! DO YOU LIKE MY STASIS GRAB?!" With a wave, he flung Bakugou into the side of a building, then put his hands on his hips. "REMEMBER THIS: YOU'RE DEALING WITH A SUPERVILLAIN! ARE YOU GOING TO RISE TO THE CHALLENGE?! ARE YOU GOING TO GO PLUS ULTRA?!"

Without a word, Melissa activated Full Armour, burgundy sparks lighting along her arms. Mei grit her teeth, robot arms curling into fists as she pulled out a plasma cannon. With a battle cry on her lips, she threw a punch, Mastermind meeting her fist.

As the wind from their colliding punches shook the ground, Melissa could swear that the Villain seemed to be smiling. "Excellent answer! Your test starts now!"

And the battle was on.

AN: Apologies for this taking so long!

The main reason this took so long was because I changed my mind about my original plan. Originally, it was going to be the standard exam with two students going against a teacher. I had jokes and combinations worked out and everything! (Well, actually it was only one or two but that's more thought than usual.) Then I thought, 'well, that's an entire chapter without Mastermind shenanigans,' and that wasn't going to do. So I decided to switch to a mass exam where they're fighting Mastermind and the League of Supervillains.

I might write an omake where the staff have to act like the League of Supervillains and ham it up. But not for a while.

So, we're in the middle of some fights right now. Who will pass? Who will fail? Will the League get captured? Can I finally get to I-Island in two chapters? Who can say at this point!

Big thank you to Banchoking for editing my work and ensuring that it is high quality! And another thank you to my supporter W C Purdy for your continuing financial support! If anybody wants to chip in for that, I appreciate it!

Next time… we shall finish the exams!