Match Two

There were many ways for a person to react to their team losing. For Aurdel, he would have chosen to console them and point them in the right direction to avoid the same mistakes and loss the next time around. As for Vlad… Well, he certainly didn’t appear to be as open minded when it came to his class losing. “How could you have been tricked into believing that I was the one talking to you?! You should know that in an exercise like this we’re not allowed to participate or intervene unless it’s absolutely necessary! And while I would have loved to ensure a victory, I would not have unfairly aided you to get it.”

“Mr. Vlad, the act that he put up was extremely convincing!” One of the students from team one for Class 1-B protested, “He didn’t just mimic your voice, he set up a whole scenario that made it really seem like we were being talked to. How could we have known we were being gaslit?!”

“It may be true that it was hard to differentiate between what happened and the real thing, but that doesn’t excuse your failure in this match. I expect you to train harder for the next time we perform a joint exercise, and make up for this loss.”

Aurdel would have given the team a look of sympathy, but the gesture would be lost behind his helmet. As for his students he was happy with the results, and made sure that they knew that, though tried not to spoil them with heavy amounts of praise. “You all performed incredibly well, however there are a number of changes and improvements that could be made to have better increased your chances of victory. Can any of you tell me what they are?”

Koda went first, “I need to have better situational awareness and control on my nerves. if I was paying attention and spoke to the bugs, then I would have known that Ibara was coming to catch me.”

He nodded, “That’s good. If you’re up to it then I can offer you some extra lessons on that, you just need to make the time. However, something you should make sure is that you’re not over-critical of yourself. You are always your own worst critic, and that leads to overanalyzing situations. Now, Kaminari?”

“I really don’t think that I could have done much different,” he put his arms behind his head, “We won four to one, so I’d say that we did pretty well.”

Aurdel narrowed his eyes, “You’re the opposite of what I just said, you’re not being critical enough. Just because you won this time doesn’t mean the same tricks will work in the future, you need to make the necessary improvements no matter what outcome. The all out brawl at the end of the match wouldn’t haven’t worked if it weren’t for the fact that one of the opposing team members were captured and one was incapacitated, you should have fought more strategically and set up traps and ambush points. At the very least, even if you were out of range you could have used your pointer and shooter to ward Hiryu off and keep him at a safer stand-off distance.” Kaminari only shrugged in response, apparently he hadn’t thought of that. “Kirishima?”

“I obviously think I need to build up my strength more, but I also could have put a little more thought into flanking. We could have attacked them from every possible side if I had thought to come barreling through one of the walls.”

“Flanking is good, but unnecessarily barreling your way through things before a fight drains your energy and has the potential to reduce the amount of effort you can put into that fight. You’re right to think of tactics like that, but you should always consider a more gentle approach. Asui?”

“I wasn’t able to react and come up with a plan as quickly as I should have, I think I was too focused on the immediate situation and not able to move past it. Ribbit.”

“It's good for you to notice that, coming up with ideas in a tough spot is a good skill to have. However it’s like you said, getting caught up and too focused on the immediate situation can seriously hinder any longer term planning capabilities. Shinso?”

“While it worked this time, being able to trick Villains with the voices of people they know and trust isn’t something that I’ll be able to do once I’m a Hero. I shouldn’t rely on it. Instead I should practice more with reverse psychology, trick them into responding.”

“Very good. If you need some of the basics, then I can provide you with some reading material after class ends. All in all, both teams performed well and I doubt that aside from a few of those minor differences there is very little else that could be done.” Aurdel straightened up, “Now, team two for both classes will move to the training area and wait for my signal."

Yaoyorozu took a deep breath, then left the foyer where all the other teams were waiting for their chance to fight. Her team was the one that would be fighting in the second round, and unlike those who’d fought in the first round they had had a chance to come up with a plan beforehand. If they won, it would be almost solely due to the fact that they had that chance. They were fighting four members of Class 1-B: Itsuka Kendo, Manga Fukidashi, Kinoko Komori and Shihai Kuroiro. All of them presented a great threat due to the quite flexible nature of their quirks, but she had several precautions prepared. First, she produced several brightly colored gas masks that were capable of filtering out fungal spores. If Komori tried to attack any of them directly then they would be safe from the effects of her mushrooms. Next, she’d handed out several flares, flashbangs and fireworks, all things she’d been taught to make by her teacher previously. Those were to counter the use of Kuroiro’s quirk, forcing him out of any dark object or space when his presence was known and to signal each other if they were separated. The last thing that she handed out to every member of her team were backpacks they could use in case nothing went to plan and they were on the verge of losing, denying the victory to the other team by any teams. She herself would additionally be carrying a reinforced reflective surface she could use in tandem with Aoyama, using it to bend his attacks around corners or other obstacles. “Do we all understand the plan?” She asked, wanting one last confirmation before the match began.

“Yep!” Hagakure said, “I’ll get to my spot and wait for you all to give me the signal. If I don’t then I’ll capture Komori and wait for you all to come back.”

“And I shall fight Kuroiro. With quirks like ours, it’s almost as if we were destined to eventually come to blows one day.”

“I still believe that moi should go with Tokoyami,” Aoyama gestured to himself, “It would only make sense given that moi can already counter the quirk he will be facing.”

“That may be true, but I’ve already explained that our plan hinges on splitting them up. Tokoyami will deal with the Kuroiro because he can ambush us from any position, Hagakure will deal with Komori because she acts as their nuclear option and can take all of us down at the same time if they deem it necessary and we will be attacking Kendo and Fukidashi because we will have the ranged firepower that’s needed to take them down. However if all that fails we will have to settle for leaving them unable to win.”

“We won't fail you.” The sound of an air pistol firing sounded, the match had begun.

“Black Fallen Angel!” Dark Shadow moved under Tokoyami’s cloak, then lifted him into the air. Of his team he was the first to move forward, heading straight for the opposing base. More likely than not they were waiting for them to arrive and then attack as a group. He could not afford them that chance. It took some time but from above he was able to see the members of Class 1-B below him. Komori was staying in the rear, cultivating a large mass of mushrooms with spray bottles to better initiate their spread. Fukidashi and Kendo were near each other, with the latter seemingly standing guard as Fukidashi used his quirk. Theoretically he could swoop down, try and take both of them out at the same time… No, it was too high of a risk and they already had a plan in motion. He simply had to follow through on what he and the others had agreed upon doing. It- Damn, Kendo had looked up and seen him out of the corner of her eye. They began their attack, with Kendo breaking apart a nearby wall and beginning to lob the chunks of debris at him. Tokoyami weaved through the projectiles, dodging back and forth to avoid being struck by any of the large pieces of concrete. None had actually hit him, but a number had come extremely close to doing so.

“There’s a bigger problem than just them throwing rocks at us!” Dark Shadow suddenly commented, Tokoyami looked up. They’d been even more clever than any of his team had thought… Scrawled across the bottom of the concrete chunks flying about his head were words of onomatopoeia, Fukidashi’s quirk. Boom, crash, fwoosh. They then activated and became real, an explosion going off in his face followed up by a massive gust of wind that forced him to plummet towards the ground. The force was so strong in fact that his cloak was thrown off of him, meaning that Dark Shadow was no longer carrying him. It had also caught itself on his backpack, dragging it off of him as it flew and hit the roof below. Dark Shadow quickly went below him, bracing him as the two of them crashed through the roof of one of the field’s buildings. A few moments later he stood back up, dusting himself off and a little worse for wear due to the crash. Dark Shadow was a little weaker too.

“That was too close…”

“Well it’s about to get much closer,” a voice said, he couldn’t pinpoint its location. Tokoyami and Dark Shadow rapidly scanned around. He knew that it was Kuroiro, but he had no way to anticipate where he would be attacked from. “You should try over here.” Tokoyami was struck from the back, nearly throwing him off of his feet. “Or maybe over here.” He was struck again, this time from the front. He stumbled backwards.

“Dark Shadow, don’t let him run free!”

“Roger!” Dark Shadow began denying Kuroiro the darkness needed to use his quirk, tearing chunks out of the ceiling and the walls to let light in. Slowly but surely he was reducing the places he could be attacked from, but Dark Shadow suddenly froze.

“Why have you stopped?”

“I can’t move,” Dark Shadow gritted out awkwardly.

“And I can’t have you taking me out like that, so I’ll just have to borrow your power.” So that’s what had happened, Kuroiro had entered Dark Shadow. And if he’d done that… Kuroiro attacked him with Dark Shadow, using as much power as he could. He braced himself for each hit, running and trying to drag him towards the light where Kuroiro would be forced out. But Dark Shadow was too fast, batting him away from every opening before he could get close. As things stood there was no way for him to physically overcome it. Very well, he’d fall back on the other plan.

“I would like to apologize for this prematurely.”

“What are you-” Tokoyami pulled the pin off one of the flashbangs, counted to three, threw it at Dark Shadow and Kuroiro and then quickly turned around while covering his eyes. A bright light burst through the room and a ringing filled his ears, but when he opened his eyes he found that Kuroiro was forced out of Dark Shadow. Tokoyami quickly followed up on his attack and charged forward, kicking out his legs before stunning him and restraining him on the ground.

“My darkness has won out,” Tokoyami said with a sigh. Without his cape there was no way to safely and quickly get back to their base to capture Kuroiro, he would simply instead need to keep him restrained and out of the fight for as long as possible. More than that, he simply couldn’t do.

Yaoyorozu and Aoyama had watched Tokoyami be knocked out of the sky, they knew where Kendo and Fukidashi were. Once the two of them were in position Yaoyorozu gave Aoyama a thumbs up, heaving up the reinforced mirror she’d made. Aoyama then fired his Navel Laser with Yaoyorozu redirecting the blasts. Having previously fought in environments made by the school they knew that they weren’t as strong as the real thing, meaning that Aoyama could scale down the power of his laser for each blast and still achieve the same intended results without causing him cramps. Yaoyorozu angled the mirror over and over,attacking the numerous exposed supports that made up the building they stood on. And with the supports destroyed the building began sliding to one side and falling apart right beneath the feet of their two targets. Yaoyorozu kept angling the laser fire, this time towards them as they tried to escape. She and Kendo locked eyes as she grabbed and threw Fukidashi to safety, not good. She would be coming straight for her. “Aoyama, we need to change our tactics. Kendo is coming to attack me, you’re going to fight Fukidashi by yourself. Make sure to keep him at arm's length.”

“But what about the plan?”

“It won’t work. Kendo seems a lot more keen on meeting me head on than I initially thought.” Aoyama gave her an odd look, then nodded. He went in the direction that he knew Fukidashi was, a one on one match between the two of them should be fine. Yaoyorozu set down the mirror and created a steel staff, producing grips to put on the staff for movement and protective padding on the ends to prevent Kendo from being too injured by her blows. Yaoyorozu then moved forward from her location and took a path towards the direction that Kendo was heading, taking her through the inside of a building as she cut through open doors and windows. But she eventually came into a wide open courtyard, the perfect place for an ambush…

Yaoyorozu had a quick look around, Kendo would attack her from above. Normally in this type of situation you would do one of two things, though it depended on the mentality of who you were fighting. You could walk straight into their trap and engage them on their terms, or you could sneak around and ambush them yourself. However sneaking around could easily lead to falling into another trap, as they might not expect anyone to actually fall for the one they initially set up. Ultimately it was circular logic and would get her nowhere, so instead she would use her own Method to draw Kendo out. It took a moment to make but she produced a dummy that was around her size and build with a copy of her outfit, then stuck one of her matryoshka dolls to it. She also made a capture net she could use. Then she sprung the trap, shoving the dummy out the door and into the courtyard. Almost immediately Kendo attacked, grabbing the dummy with her large hands. “Got you! No use trying to-“ The matryoshka doll then blew up, popping the dummy with it, “What the heck?!” Kendo slightly recoiled back, dropping the remains of the dummy as a result of the blast singing her hands. Yaoyorozu then stepped out and threw the net at Kendo, but it was easily swatted aside.

“I knew that you would try an ambush.”

“Then you’re as bright as everyone says you are,” Yaoyorozu didn’t say anything to that. “Well, sometimes brains alone aren't enough to win a battle. I have the brawn to go with it.”

“We’ll see about that” Yaoyorozu used the staff to push back Kendo’s hands as she went in to slam with her fists, forcing it into the ground instead. Then she followed up by striking her in the abdomen with the padded end, causing her to stumble back and knock the wind out of her. Yaoyorozu went to attack again but Kendo was ready this time, using one hand to protect herself and the other to slam against the metal staff. There was a loud creak as the staff bent down the middle at a forty five degree angle, leaving it almost unusable as a weapon. But perhaps… This was an opportunity. With the metal weakened, Yaoyorozu folded the staff all the way and used it to catch Kendo’s hand. Then she lifted with all of her strength, using the staff as a vice to lift her over her head and slam her into the ground.

The staff snapped in two, Yaoyorozu used the half she still had in her hands to start being on Kendo, “I won’t be beaten that easily!” Kendo swiped at her with one hand, sending her flying across the courtyard. She stood back up, the two of them staring each other down. She sure hoped that the others were having an easier time than her…

Aoyama carefully crept through the area he knew that Fukidashi was hiding in, preparing to fire his laser the moment that he appeared in front of him. That’s when he realized that he was walking into a trap. He hadn’t noticed it at first since he was purposefully stepping slowly and quietly, but the floor wasn’t making any noise when stepped on. In fact he could now tell that it was soft to the touch, meaning Fukidashi had used his quirk to somehow soften it. Aoyama ducked and dove forward, a beam of light barely missing his head as he did. He stood back up the moment he had his feet back on the ground, nearly tripping over his cape in the process. “That’s an underhanded way of trying to get a blow in.”

“Is your team really qualified to say something like that? Pew!” Then, in almost a mockery of his quirk, Fukidashi uses his words to create a laser-like projectile, Aoyama then fired his own and the two met before dissipating in the middle.

“And this is a great disrespect, to copy moi! I’ll show you the power of a true laser!” Aoyama began firing his Navel Laser off rapidly, still making sure to watch his power so he didn’t cause himself to cramp. This was a test of endurance, because both of them had a limit to their quirks.

“Pew, pew!” Fukidashi sounded like he was beginning to get hoarse, his words were less powerful and ended up missing him by a long shot. This was his chance.

“Your throat is getting tired isn’t it? You’ve been speaking for so long that it has become dry, and you can barely get the words out.” Fukidashi reached for a water bottle to try and have something to drink, but Aoyama blasted it out of his hand. “And not so fast!” Not letting him say another word, Aoayama fired his laser at Fukidashi before charging forward and tackling him to the ground. Aoayama quickly flipped him around and started to restrain him, “Do you have anything left to say for yourself?”

He turned his head, “Crack…”

“Crac-?” In the moment that Aoyama turned his head to look up, Fukidashi managed to slip out of his and push Aoyama into the middle of the room. Then less than a second later his words went into effect, touching the ceiling before cracking open and collapsing on top of him. He was trapped underneath the rubble.

“I was getting tired, but not as badly as you think,” Fukidashi sat down to catch his breath, “And since you’re trapped and won’t be going anymore, I’ll be able to help the others fight and capture your team.” Not good… It was time to give his signal.

“Uh, are they even fighting over there?” Kaminari asked, “The time is almost up, none of them have managed to capture each other and we can’t even see them on any of the cameras!”

“Have some faith in your classmates,” Aurdel said, his arms folded. Though he himself had to admit that he was a little concerned. Sure, given the teams that were being put against each other he had expected a prolonged match. However- He was stopped mid-thought, as he saw three flares go up from the places the students were supposed to be.

“What are those?” Sero asked.

“Signal flares, they’re meant to be used to relay information that usually depends on whatever was decided before an operation. Though why…”

His mind trailed off, It took him a moment to realize what was going on. He saw the distortions in the air, then he noticed when the sound seemed to be sucked away for a moment. “Exhale and get down!” He threw the students closest to him down to the ground, the others ducked for cover. Eraserhead, Vlad, All Might and Midnight did the same, though he himself was still standing when a massive change in pressure occurred and a wave of heavy winds slammed into him. It was like standing in the middle of a hurricane. It persisted for a few seconds before things calmed down.

“What the heck was that?!” Most of the students were shouting, disoriented and still laying on the ground before a few of them mustered the courage to stand up. Most were coughing.

“That… that is what happens when you take the phrase ‘If i can’t win, then no one will’ seriously.” He put a hand on his visor, and let out a deep sigh. “The backpacks that Yaoyorozu made were filled with pressure charges, something I taught her to make. Simplest explanation is that they’re effectively explosives designed to cause as little physical damage as possible… when used in small quantities. Usually they’re used in the form of shaped charges and made to blow holes through doors and walls. Those were not shaped charges, and there was a large enough quantity of them to blow through several buildings.” He turned, “I’m going to make sure they’re not dead and bring them all to Recovery Girl. Eraserhead, can you handle a ten minute recess and then send the third teams out?”

“Yeah…” Eraserhead still seemed a little shaken by the sudden destruction, but he managed to regain his composure. “You heard what he said. Ten minute recess, then team three will proceed to the field.”

Match Three

Midoriya really wasn’t sure how to feel about that last match. There were a lot of things that he personally felt were off. For starters, he would have thought that given the quirks that the team from Class1- B had, they would be much more aggressive in their fighting. Instead they ended up using what he assumed was Yaoyorozu’s plan, separating everyone and then taking them out in a series of ambushes. And seemingly it had worked to a great degree, which is why Yaoyorozu had chosen to deny victory to the opposing team at the cost of possibly injuring everyone involved. “She must have been really focused on not ruining our chances at winning the whole exercise…”

“Of course, I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that we wish to win this battle against Class 1-B,” Ida said, “Certainly we respect our rival class, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll lay down and lose to them because of it.”

“Ida, you better not be planning something crazy too,” Uraraka chided.

“Of course not. We will simply do what we do best, and secure victory for our class.”

Ida certainly seemed determined to win, and Midoriya knew that he would obviously do his best to win. But he still couldn’t help but feel worried. Even with him and Todoroki serving as powerhouses on their team, the chance was still there for them to lose. “Ida, I do think that you should be careful with this match. After the last one they’re bound to fight much more aggressively, to try and make up for their losses. They’ll go for Shoji and Ojiro first since-”

“Midoriya, I appreciate your concern. But as a member of Class 1-A and a future Hero, I cannot allow myself to rely on someone else. I must rely on the skills and knowledge that have been taught to me. And as class representative I promise you that I will not do anything to tarnish the reputation of our class.”

“Alright,” Tetsutetsu said, “Let's go over the plan one more time just so we’re all sure of what to do. Tsunotori, you’re going to deploy your horns and carry each of us. Once we’re in the air we’ll distract and get 1-A’s attention, then Honenuki and Kaibara will attack from below and take them by surprise. Honenuki, you’ll soften the ground to make the beeline for Ojiro and Shoji. Kaibara will help you with fighting since those two are relatively competent fighters. But wait until Tsunotori and I have Todoroki and Ida distracted before you try grabbing them, that way they won’t figure out what we’re doing until it’s too late.” He looked around quickly, the recess was up and it was time for them to head to the field. “Once they’re in the cage we all go for Ida and Todoroki together. No matter how strong they are, they won’t be able to win against our advantage in numbers.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Tsunotori exclaimed.

“Alright then, let’s get to it!”

Todoroki looked around, Mr. Aizawa fired the air pistol. The match had begun. “Shoji, keep watch like we planned. I’ll wait for their arrival.” Shoji nodded and began to climb up the many structures of the training ground as Todoroki prepared his ice wall to be created at a moment's notice. Ida waited with him, while Ojiro also began climbing and took up a position higher up to set up an ambush.

“I don’t see any of them yet, so it doesn’t look like they’re-” Shoji cut himself mid-sentence as he spotted them. “No, wait! There’s two of them. Tetsutetsu and Tsunotori, they’re using her horns to move through the air. I don’t see any signs of the other though.”

“Keep looking Shoji!” Ida looked up, using his hand to block the sun from hitting his eyes. “None of us have enough range to pick them off from this kind of distance normally, we’ll need to use that supermove we came up with and practiced.”

“Get into position, I’ll signal you when to start running.” Ida ran over to the far side of the courtyard, giving himself a large distance to work with. The move was called ‘Glacial Cannon.’ As the name implied, Todoroki was using it to launch Ida high into the air. He created a platform for Ida to stand on, along with a downward ramp. “Now!

“Recipro Turbo!” The first platform and ramp was for Ida to build up momentum, that way when he reached the end of the ramp he would be easily traveling at his top speed and have no trouble reaching Tetsutesu or Tsunotori. Carefully he watched the timing of his ice, not wanting to accidentally catch or trip Ida up with it. A few seconds later the upward ramp was made and Ida was shooting off into the sky towards the opposing team. Tsunotori was able to move before he made it, but Tetsutetsu wouldn’t be as lucky as Ida ended up using the move he’d created with help from Ojiro. “Barreling Kick!” Ida spun and slammed Tetsutetsu and the horns multiple times with his leg on full power, destroying the horns and sending both of them plummeting towards the ground.

“Looks like we have you right where we want to!” A voice said.

“Todoroki, to your right!” Ojiro shouted to him, he reflexively fired off his wall of ice.

“It’s quite foolish of you to try and take us head on!” Ida said with one hand on Tetsutetsu, firing off his engines to slow his descent towards the ground. Ultimately they were going too fast and the two of them slammed through a series of pipes before landing on the ground.

“You sure about that? Because my quirk is pretty well suited for a head on attack!” Tetsutetsu turned himself to steel and charged Ida. Ida fired off his engines in response, kicking and blocking the first attack with his leg. Doing so was somewhat painful but nothing he couldn’t fight through. “Besides, we need a victory against you guys, otherwise we’ll always be behind you and you’ll keep looking down on us! First the USJ, then the festival, the internships, the training camp and most recently the work studies! We’re just as strong as you but we never get our chance to prove it!” He came in with a barrage of attacks, Ida ran past them. Then Ida kicked out a nearby wall, throwing it at Tetsutetsu as a sort of distraction. Then while Tetsutetsu was busy breaking apart the wall being thrown at him, Ida went around and attacked from behind.

“There are many things to be envious of our class for, but those negative situations are not one of them.” He struck Tetsutetsu in the back, using a kick that sent him flying forward. “Saying that they were just ‘chances’ diminished the true threat of the situations we were in. For the members of our class they were life or death situations, and a great deal of stress and responsibility was placed on our shoulders. If one wrong thing had happened then tragedy would have struck, and that is not something to be jealous of!” He struck again as Tetsutetsu tried to stand up, this time kicking him across the jaw and sending him through a wall.

“Maybe not, but look how much you all grew because of it!” Tetsutetsu built up his strength again as Ida came at him. His fist met Ida’s leg as he went to kick, causing both of them to momentarily stumble after they connected. Tetsutetsu was the first to recover, this time using his dominant arm and fist to strike him across the helmet. He stumbled back from the strike, his helmet partially turned and his glasses cracked by the attack. Then he was punched again and again, this time aiming for his midsection. It was a painful barrage, but one that he endured.

“You are sorely mistaken if you think that our class has only gotten to its position by a few sheer coincidences!” He swung his right leg hard, crashing it into Tetsutetsu’s side and forcing him to momentarily stop his attack. That provided him enough time to make his move, sprinting some distance away. Then he came back at full speed, kicking Tetsutetsu in the back again. Then on the next pass be attacked from the front, kicking him in the stomach. And on the next he attacked him from the side. Each time he could tell that he was knocking the wind of Tetsutetsu, he just needed one strong attack to put him down. “Our class has put in tireless effort to become the greatest Heroes that anyone can become!” He attacked again from behind. But instead of kicking him, he instead grabbed the back of his head. Ida then went back into full power, slamming Tetsutetsu through wall after wall. Slowly he could feel that he was losing his grip on consciousness. “And I will not fail them!” Ida then lowered him, dragging him through the pavement for what felt like half a minute. Tetsutetsu’s steel disappeared, he was done for this match. Now all Ida had to do was put him in the cell and then he’d go back to help the others.

“Dammit Ida, where did you go?” Todoroki muttered to himself as he fought. Tetsutetsu and Tsunotori attacking from above had all been a ruse. Their real plan had been to distract himself and Ida, allowing the others to attack from an unexpected angle and grab Ojiro and Shoji. And they were able to do just that. While Kaibara attacked Ojiro, Honenuki had softened the ground under Shoji. Then Tsunotori used her horns to attack and carry away Shoji. His immediate reaction had been to throw up an ice wall and attempt to block the capture, but Honenuki had defied his expectations and was capable of softening his ice. Every time he tried to put up another barrier it would be softened again and again, fighting in a never ending game of back and forth. The most he could do was try and keep blocking attacks as they came.

“How long do you think you can keep going?” Honenuki asked him, hiding somewhere in the ground. “You can use the other half of your quirk to keep yourself from freezing completely, but that won’t stop you from becoming tired.” He could see Kaibara and Ojiro fighting in the background as he tried to get a grip on Honenuki’s location, Ojiro was losing. Again he tried multiple times to put up a wall, this time in between Ojiro and Kaibara, but again he failed as they were softened.

He turned up the heat on his left side to try and flush him out of the ground, but all the liquified material made it hard to do anything. It didn’t help either that he could only use his left side half-heartedly. He grit his teeth, “Damnit…” He no longer rejected that it was his power, but a part of him still couldn’t accept it. He’d just have to do things his way. Plus Ultra. He took a deep breath and then sprinted forward, diving straight into softened ground.

“Wait, what are you doing?!” Once in the ground he spread out his hands and released his right side. The ice began building up along the bottom and the sides of the pool, before softening as a result of Hanenuki’s quirk. But bit by bit, wave after wave, it would begin building up. Soon enough Honenuki was trapped within his own pool in the ground, unable to escape. “You’re crazy, you know that?!” As the bottom of the pool began rapidly shrinking the two of them were forced upwards and back onto the surface. There some of the ice popped out with them, giving him the perfect basis to end this fight.

“Bummock Frozen Prison.” Todoroki used all of the ice that has risen to the top as a way to shape his creation, forming a large bubble. It then surrounded Honenuki, filling it with packed ice that would be difficult to soften a path through. Then he went further, encasing it in another layer before shrouding the entire area in ice. Honenuki was trapped, he was no longer a threat. Todoroki let out a deep breath, a foggy mist. Then he collapsed.

“Todoroki!” Ida sprinted forward, boosting his engine. By the time he’d put Tetsutetsu into the cage and navigated the destruction, he’d found that everything was in a total state of disarray. Shoji was missing, Ojiro was fighting desperately and Todoroki had collapsed onto the ground. Time was running out on the exercise and at this rate it was possible that they might lose. With Shoji alone they could win the match, but if they captured Todoroki then that victory would be guaranteed even further. He had to stop them. “Recipro Extend!” He was pushing himself to his limits, essentially working with the last dregs of power he could muster from his engines. Tsunotori fired her horns, reaching Todoroki and grabbing him before Ida could.

“We only have two minutes left, Tsunotori, I’ll try and stall them while you get Todoroki into the cage!” Kaibara and Ojiro continued to fight, a stalemate ensuing.

“Roger that!” Tsunotori increased her speed, focusing on carrying her and Todoroki back to the other side of the battlefield.

“I cannot allow you to win this match!” Ida sprinted after her, picking up speed as he went. He had to dodge walls, pipes and anything that was thrown at him. In what felt like the longest two minutes of his life he chased after them, going from only matching their speed to ultimately gaining on them.

“You’re way too fast!” Ida grabbed Todoroki and pulled him off of the horns.

“Now I just-”

“So let me give you a push!” As Ida went to turn, Tsunotori used all her horns to bodyslam herself into them. And so instead of turning away from the cage like he intended, all three of them were sent flying through the side of it, smashing through the bars.

“I’ve… been tricked…” Ida lowered his head in shame, the score was now three to one.

“You know, you can’t win if you just keep parrying my attacks!” Kaibara said, spinning his arms and coming with blow after blow.

“I know that,” Ojiro said, tired. For most of the match they’d been grappling against each other without end, with the only difference between now and then being that he didn’t need to worry about Honenuki’s softening quirk or Tsunotori’s horns picking him off.

“Then attack!” A sharp pain went up through his body as Kaibara’s fingers dug into his tail. Ida had gone after Todoroki, meaning that he’d likely get him back and stop them from scoring any more points. That meant their only chance of winning this match rested on his shoulders alone.

He sharpened his resolve. “I’ll do just that!” Ojiro became more aggressive, swinging his tail and kicking Kaibara over and over no matter how much pain it caused him. It was enough to put him on the backfoot.

“N-Now hold on!” Ojiro managed to get one solid blow against his head, making him stumble backwards into a series of pipes that had been dislodged and moved around by Honenuki.

“I won’t be the reason we don’t win this exercise!” Ojiro slammed his tail into the loose pipes, causing them to collapse onto Kaibara. He was only able to drill through a few of them, the rest were too much. That gave Ojiro the ample opportunity to grab him with his tail, wrapping it around Kaibara’s neck. “If you try to spin like this, you’ll snap your own neck,” he said, exhausted.

“Damnit, we’ve-”

The siren sounded over the loudspeakers, the end of the match. “Match three complete, Class B wins three to one. Return to the foyer for post-match analysis.”

“...Won?”

Ojiro dropped Kaibara, they’d lost.