Authors note:
Speaking: "…"
Thinking: '…'
___
Three Days Later
U.A. High
Walking through the corridors of Japan's most famous hero school were Izuku Midoriya and Toshinori Yagi. The former, deep in thought about his next combat lesson for Class 1-A, mused to himself ' I'm interested to see how he'll try to tackle our battle. A wildcard like him surely won't disappoint me, especially since he's been hoarding an ability for the past two days. Haruki Masaki, I hope you live up to my expectations.' He smiled brightly at the thought.
Noticing his superior's pleasant expression, Toshinori asked, "Young Midoriya, what's got you so excited?"
Lightly chuckling, the dragon user continued forward, answering, "It's nothing. I'm just interested in what Haruki will try today. Because other than your successor, that boy has never received your horrible attempts at teaching."
Stopping in his tracks and slumping forward, the former Symbol of Peace sighed. "Come on, cut me some slack. Teaching is way harder than hero work ever was. I'm slowly getting there."
"Emphasis on slowly, Toshi. Just because something doesn't involve punching up bad guys doesn't make it any less important," the experienced professional clarified before stopping at the door labeled 1-A.
Opening the door and stepping inside, the two teachers made their way to the podium.
"Alright, class. Today, we'll finish what we started last time. Haruki, I hope you're ready and won't turn into a chicken on the way!" the teacher teased, looking at the class clown, whose forearms glowed in his signature neon green and blue.
"You're worried about lil' ol' me, prof? Don't sweat it. I've got the greatest show you'll ever see planned," the gambler announced with a wide grin.
"I see. Well then, I hope you don't disappoint. After his evaluation, we'll start working on your individual combat abilities. For now, we'll leave teamwork training for when you can fight at an acceptable level," the green-haired teen explained, looking over the class as they nodded in understanding.
"Good, then let's go," the space user announced before tapping his cane on the ground twice. A portal appeared beside him, its edges glowing green, revealing Ground Alpha on the other side.
Stepping through, he gestured for the students and Toshinori to follow. Once everyone had arrived on the other side, he and Haruki stepped onto the large training field, facing each other.
Pulling out his card, the prankster activated his costume. The class watched as a suit of light Norse armor materialized around him, brown and dark green leather with a black fur cape draped over one shoulder. His stomach and forearms remained uncovered, revealing the glowing markings etched across his body. A golden headband adorned his head, featuring metallic, curved golden horns.
Striking a pose before giving a playful bow, he grinned. "Now, let the God of Mischief show you the greatest battle you shall ever witness!"
Spectator Area
The students began chattering.
"I'm confused. What's his costume supposed to be?" Kaminari asked, arms crossed.
"He modeled it after the traditional depiction of Loki from Norse mythology," Ayato explained in a quiet voice.
"Yes, now that you mention it, it does make sense for him, considering his... personality traits," Tokoyami stated calmly.
"Indeed. His trickster nature is truly befitting of the title God of Mischief. I would even go as far as to say he is perfect for it," Iida declared, almost sounding proud.
"Oh please, you're just trying to get him to stop annoying you, Iida. We all know you're his favorite victim," Jiro pointed out, making the engine user freeze in shock.
"That said, does he really think he has a shot at taking down the professor?" she added, crossing her arms.
"If he says he's putting on a good show, you better believe he will," Ayato said with full seriousness, just as Izuku gave the starting signal.
"You may begin."
As soon as those words left his mouth, the prankster charged at him, his smile never faltering. 'Looks like he intends to touch me. Considering he's prepared something, I'm curious what has him so confident' the space user thought while dodging Haruki's attempts to make contact. This continued for about thirty seconds until curiosity finally got the better of him, and he allowed himself to be touched.
The moment Haruki's fingers made contact, a puff of blue and green smoke erupted from Izuku's body. Forced to close his eyes, the first thing he noticed was how his cane suddenly became incredibly heavy. Unable to lift it, he let it drop to the floor. Then, other changes became apparent, his aura was gone, along with the familiar feeling of his usual body.
When the smoke cleared, he looked down to see that his body had... changed.
"Arghhh!" Izuku cried out as a full-force punch from Haruki struck his abdomen. Unexpectedly, it hurt a lot, sending him flying several meters. Landing on the field, he felt something strange, or rather, three strange sensations.
"So, how does it feel to not be in your own skin anymore? Huhuhu. I think my body looks really sharp in that suit you're wearing," Haruki teased, his ever-present smile unshaken.
Standing up, Izuku finally understood. "I see. So you turned me into a perfect copy of you. That explains why I can feel this new sensation, your Trinity Roulette, right?"
"Ding, ding, ding! One hundred points for Mr. Joker. Now we can truly have an equal fight. Hahaha! Get it? Equal, because we're both me!" Loki confirmed, laughing.
"Oh, I get it." Izuku smirked. "In that case, let's change the rules a bit. This is no longer just me dodging you for two minutes before attacking, this is a real fight. No holding back. Pure chaos. I'm sure you don't mind?"
The Harukified teacher grinned.
"Sure! I was hoping you'd say that. Now let's have a true battle between the Joker and Loki, a fight for the comedy history books!" Haruki agreed, charging in again.
"So be it." Izuku muttered as he tried his luck at gambling. 'I don't know what abilities the three roulettes will give me, so I'll just start with Core Gambit and see what luck has in store.'
He felt the wheel spinning in the back of his mind.
As he did, he heard Haruki taunt, "Now you see me, now you Don't..." before disappearing into his own shadow and reappearing from Izuku's back. "... I'm in the shadows, like a ninja with a better punchline." He grinned, fist raised.
Feeling the wheel of fortune land, the fake Haruki narrowly dodged the punch and countered with an upward kick while flipping backward, just barely missing his student's face.
"Missed me, missed me, now you gotta...shit," Haruki deadpanned while still smiling.
Izuku's face was right below him mid-flip, sound waves gathering in his mouth. Haruki knew what was coming.
"Bu."
A massive shockwave erupted from Izuku's mouth, sending Haruki flying back.
Both Harukis caught themselves before grinning at each other and charging in again.
"You're good, prof, but no one's beating me at my own game."
"We'll see about that."
As they were about to clash, Haruki's tattoos briefly glowed red, but nothing seemed to happen. Izuku activated the Elemental Surge ability he got, encasing himself in a thick armor of ice, hoping to take advantage of whatever negative effect had just occurred.
His fist struck Haruki's face head-on, but the teen didn't even flinch.
Then, just as he prepared his next move, Haruki suddenly arched back in pain, dodging an attack that didn't exist, before continuing to move erratically.
Izuku's ice armor dissipated, and he spun the last wheel, Arcane Vault, while observing his opponent. "You look confused. Got your senses messed up?" he asked.
Haruki ignored him completely.
Izuku's ability landed 'Time Warp. Oh? Well, isn't this interesting? Seems like I finally get to see Kacchan's world.'
He watched as Haruki continued dodging invisible strikes and getting hit by attacks that weren't even there.
"Don't worry about me, prof, I'm aye okay. I'll just keep evading you," Haruki said, though his movement pattern had changed.
'So his perception has a delay of thirty seconds? Interesting... but also incredibly inconvenient.'
Seizing his chance, Izuku activated Time Warp in a small radius, slowing everything around him. He unleashed a Gatling of punches, hammering the slowed student with every strike.
As the bubble dissipated, Haruki was sent flying but stood up immediately, only to fall half a minute later.
Landing on his feet, he grinned. "Time Warp Gatling, huh? I'd have done the same."
Then he lagged for a second.
"Ah, finally! Normal perception again. I'm ready for round two, prof!" Charging back into the action.
'The strikes I can dish out using this body are laughably weak. He must not have trained his muscles very much.' His new spin landed on Tsunami Force. And so, he reeled his head back and spat out a torrent of water, which unexpectedly passed through his opponent.
"Ghosting you harder than that date you never heard back from. Except I'll reappear," the prankster joked, his fist centimeters away from the teacher's face.
'Shit, I'm too slow to dodge,' Izuku thought, before receiving the full-force strike right to his face, sending him flying back several meters.
Not letting up, the god of mischief continued to charge. And once he got close, he reeled his head back again, spitting out a torrent of flames point-blank at Izuku.
Hissing in pain, the teacher staggered back, spinning the Core Gambit wheel, landing once again on Echo Voice. This time, he aimed the shockwave at the ground, launching himself up and blasting Haruki away from him.
"I'm not letting you retreat that easily," he said as his markings lit up in neon green and blue before blinking slightly lighter for a brief second.
Jumping up, the student began falling back down when his body suddenly repeated the jumping motion, catapulting him up towards the teacher. Spinning Arcane Vault, Izuku received Time Warp again and activated it as soon as his student, who was currently throwing a punch, got into range.
Stopping Loki in his tracks, the Harukified teacher dodged the blow, but to his surprise, even through Time Warp, Haruki's body repeated the punching motion almost immediately afterward, this time hitting the teacher dead on and sending him crashing to the ground.
Impacting the ground with a hard thud, the teacher's body cracked the concrete, receiving severe back damage in the process. Seeing his student land and prepare to repeat the motion again, he finally figured out what his Wild Card was.
'So every movement he makes will happen twice regardless of his current position and physics. I'll have to watch out. Now, Illusion Weaver.'
He thought, and multiple copies of his own appearance stepped out of him.
Looking around, the student saw all the clones in a hunched position, mimicking the teacher's injury.
"Not bad, incorporating the injury to keep me guessing. But it doesn't matter, I'll just rampage through!" Haruki announced as he began spinning.
"Not bad, incorporating the injury to keep me guessing. But it doesn't matter, I'll just rampage through!"
His voice echoed again as his spinning began to increase exponentially, mowing through the illusions and dispelling them at incredible speed.
Spinning Core Gambit again, he hoped for something that could get him out of this situation, but instead, he felt a new sensation along with the markings on his body glowing neon green and blue. Smiling as he realized what ability he had received, he charged towards the storm.
Colliding with the flurry of fists, Haruki could be heard laughing indefinitely. He thought that was the end, but to his surprise, any damage the teacher received was reversed at the same rate his punches inflicted it, locking them in a stalemate.
After about ten more seconds, they were both launched back as their Wild Card abilities ran out. Panting heavily from the damage received, they locked eyes, brimming with excitement, before both spun Elemental Surge one last time.
Haruki's arms glowed neon green and blue again, while Izuku landed on Gale Wings.
"You wanna get to the grand finale, Mr. Joker? I'm sure you're just dying to finish this spectacle," Loki suggested, grinning.
"Says the one with a Wild Card in his back pocket, but sure, I'll go along with your request. After all, what kind of teacher would I be if I didn't grant a hardworking student's request?" Izuku answered.
"Great, then let's invite another student to our party," Haruki said as his body split in two, forming two identical copies of himself.
'It's a Wild Card, so that clone can probably attack, but even so, it doesn't matter.'
Activating Gale Wings, Izuku sent a large torrent of wind towards the two Harukis, making them cover their faces while being driven back. Propelling himself forward with a powerful gust of wind, he landed punches on both pranksters, sending them back a bit before engaging in close combat with them.
Using the wind as a means to sense his surroundings and increase his speed, the Harukified teacher was finally able to fight at a somewhat decent level. Dodging all the strikes thrown at him and hitting weak spots left and right, he slowly wore them down until one of them disappeared, leaving only the original.
Quickly grappling Haruki, Izuku threw him over his shoulder, smashing the teen's stomach onto the ground before locking both of his arms behind his back, effectively immobilizing him.
"That's it. This fight is over. Huh... Huh..." the teacher declared, panting heavily.
"Oww, damn. I got beat by my own Quirk. How the heck are you so strong? You should be equal to me!" the bi-colored teen complained as he was let go.
"Physically, we might be equal, but you forgot to consider that I'm much more experienced in fighting than you, by a long shot." Izuku said as he got off the student.
Now, as for your evaluation, putting you in any concrete category would just hinder your overall performance given what your ability is. Now that I actually know how you have to battle, using my own body, I feel like the only category you fit into is the Wild Card. Someone who acts outside the spectrum and has to decide what to do in every circumstance depending on the situation."
"I think it fits you just fine," Izuku explained to him.
This earned a joyous laugh from the student.
"Yes! That's exactly what I wanted! No boring role to follow, hello chaos of gambling!" he celebrated.
"Now, could you please undo this body morph? I have to continue teaching," Izuku sighed.
"Oh, sorry, man, but that lasts until midnight today. Can't help you with that," the prankster said with a devilish smile before heading back to the other students.
"Well, that's just great, isn't it?" the still Harukified teacher complained, slowly treading back to the other students with his back injury hurting like hell.