Chapter 22 - Lance Til You Drop
The teams that were attempting to go up against Team Shemesh were: Team Blackwood, which consisted of Leila, Adena, and Melody, Team Gensai, which consisted of Hikari, Yaoyaorozu, Kendo, and Asui, and Team Wilton, which consisted of Jace, Drago, and Sunshine.
Upon seeing that they were being confronted by three teams, Cain let his dirt fist dissipate, and began preparing to use a very powerful attack against them. He raised his arms, and the teams that were going to confront him stopped, wondering what was going on. Shay Adam and Malachi began tensing up, preparing for the worst.
Suddenly, from all around the stadium, dirt began seeping onto the arena grounds, and crawling towards Cain! It soon covered most of the arena grounds, and the teams began backing away from Team Shemesh, as they were being surrounded by medium sized dunes of dirt! Once they were surrounded, Cain threw his arms down and letting out a loud noise, which had started as a low growl but now turned into full-blown yell!
The dirt exploded to life, turning into a large tsunami that began moving towards the three teams at a rapid speed! Upon seeing the large wave of dirt, the teams began making a break for it, afraid of getting sucked in and drowned!
Team Noble, which consisted of Matthew, Ibara, Ruby, and Charlotte, watched this furious spectacle unfold, as they were a good distance away from the action. Watching along with them was Team Bakugo, which consisted of Bakugo, Kirishima, Ashido, and Sero, and Team Midoriya, which consisted of Midoriya, Uraraka, Todoroki, and Iida. The three teams were not fighting, as they were focused on the action that was before them.
"Now that's scary." said Matthew, his tone somewhat worried.
"Looks like there's more power to his quirk than we've realized." Midoriya. "Maybe Todoroki's ice could counter it and-"
"I tried that." Todoroki spoke up. "But his dirt seeps through the cracks, and when I try hitting with fire, two things happen: the dirt combusts, or when I hit my ice, it melts and turns it into a sludge."
"Then we'll need to be smart about this." Bakugo snarled. "We can't just go charging head-on."
"Since when have you been one to think of a plan?" asked Sero, his tone comical.
"Shut it, soy sauce!" Bakugo shouted. "We have to-"
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Team Shiloh, which consisted of Milo, Murdock, V, and Yusuf, came charging at Team Bakugo, intent on eliminating them! Bakugo ducked at the last second, readied an explosive fist, and fired at Milo, who blocked it with his arm, which he coated in a layer of orange slime!
"Change of plans." said Bakugo, his tone angered. "I'm gonna kill the orange snot-hands!"
"Take it easy, Bakugo." Ashido piped up. "Don't kill Milo too bad."
"Shut it, Raccoon Eyes!" Bakugo replied. "I'm gonna-"
Next thing Bakugo knew, the lance had been driven and skewed off his shoulder, which caused him to let out a loud yell of pain as Team Shiloh came around again to finish him off!
"Nobody calls my girlfriend 'Raccoon Eyes' but me!" said Milo. "Prepare to get eliminated, Bakugo!"
Team Bakugo turned to face Team Shiloh, and both teams charged at each other, with Kirishima and Murdock, who were the heads of their horses, colliding into each other! When they did that, Milo and Bakugo began hitting at each other with their lances, blocking and dodging while giving blows of their own!
Using Cain's waves of dirt, Team Shemesh had just eliminated Team Mineta, which consisted of Minoru Mineta, Shiloh Morrison, Koton Rekhoha, and Kamari Yama. The next to go were Team King, which consisted of Alastair King, Kumba Marx, Andre McDowell, and Simon Cooper Garcia; Cain used a dirt based confusion attack to trip them over, causing the horse to crumble from underneath Alastair.
Now Team Shemesh was facing off against Team Gensai, who were moving quickly after them; Yaoyaorozu had used her quirk to create skates for herself, Kendo, and Asui, who made up the horse. Aside from the skates, Hikari was also using her telekinesis quirk to throw her lance, causing it to fly at Team Shemesh and back like a boomerang! Team Wilton was also coming after Team Shemesh, with Jace emitting mist around Cain in order to confuse him and throw off his senses.
These attacks weren't not only making Cain dumbfounded, but they were also making him furious! Once his anger reached a certain peak, he used his dirt to clamp Shay Adam and Malachi's hands around his feet! And then he began growing the dirt tentacles on his back, like during the end of the dodgeball Battle Royale! The dirt also began covering his head, rendering him faceless, and scaring his opponents even more! All Shay Adam and Malachi could do was close their eyes and pray for the best, as they were now attached to this thing that was once Cain Shemesh!
The dirt tentacles, ten in all, began going into action: six were used to lift Team Shemesh from the ground, while four were used to strike at the opponents! The strikes were quick and devastating, as only two or three hits were able to incapacitate someone, and that someone being Yaoyaorozu and Kendo, who were the back of the horse! Cain had fired his tendrils and hit them hard in the solar plexus (the area between the chest and stomach), which caused them to collapse, and Team Gensai was eliminated. Hikari and Asui had to help Yaoyaorozu and Kendo up and out, because they were coughing from getting hit so hard.
Team Wilton tried to attack next, but despite the mist surrounding him, and even though his face was covered, Cain could still sense their movements. They came charging at him, but three of the tendrils came at the team, striking all three of them and sending them crumpling to the ground! And with that, Team Wilton was eliminated from the extreme calvary battle.
While Team Bakugo was facing off against Team Shiloh, Team Blackwood had joined with Team Noble and Team Midoriya. Team Shemesh had turned their attention to the three teams, and Cain was now attacking them with fierce and long attacks from his ten tendrils! The three teams had to really pick up the pace to avoid getting hit, but even then, they were starting to get worn out!
"Okay, I think I have a strategy to defeat Team Shemesh." said Matthew, as the three teams ran together. "I'll go around and distract him, while Todoroki fires ice at him and immobilizes him. Once he's immobilized, Team Blackwood will go in, and Melody will sing them a song to put them all to sleep."
"Brilliant plan, Matthew." Leila replied. "Okay, let us get into position."
In that moment, the three teams split up and went into action: Team Midoriya lined up their shot, while Team Noble went over to distract Team Shemesh. Team Blackwood stood by, waiting for their cue to run in and knock out their targets.
"Hey, dirt-bag!" Matthew yelled. "If you have any guts, you'll come over and face me!"
Team Shemesh turned to face Team Noble, but Cain had a feeling that it was a trap. He moved forward to face Matthew's team, and came right in the line of fire from Team Midoriya. As soon as he stepped into Todoroki's sights, Matthew made a motion with his head for the ice to be fired at him!
Todoroki put his foot down and fired a large stream of ice at Team Shemesh, but they instantly dodged out of the way! Instead, Team Noble, who barely had time to react, were the ones that were caught in the ice attack! Ice surrounded Shiozaki, Ruby, and Charlotte's bodies, and Matthew's legs were also frozen as well! But while Matthew, Shiozaki, and Ruby were just extremely cold, Charlotte suddenly let out a choking sound and went into shock, much to Matthew's horror!
"What's up with her?" Ruby asked, her tone confused and somewhat shocked.
"She's eco-thermic, that's what's up with her!" Matthew replied, trying to get free. "She goes into shock whenever there's an extreme temperature drop! If we don't warm her up, her heart's gonna stop beating and she could die!"
As Team Shemesh started attacking Team Midoriya, Team Blackwood quickly came over to where Team Noble was, and Adena used her green flames to melt the ice away. Once the ice had fully melted away, Charlotte collapsed to the ground, while Shiozaki and Ruby kept Matthew from falling on the ground.
"Why hasn't she awakened from her slumber?" Shiozaki asked, her tone concerned.
"She's still in her frozen state." Lelia replied, her tone grim. "To save our friend, we must abandon the Calvary battle."
"I'm fine with that." Melody added. "We're moving on anyway, and I want to go and check if Randall's alright."
"I'll be able to revive Charlotte." said Adena. "Let's break ourselves up."
Upon saying that, Leila climbed down off of Melody and Adena, who broke apart from being the horse. The other members of Team Blackwood quickly rushed off the field, while Adena knelt down and cradled Charlotte in her arms. Using her increased body heat to revive her, Charlotte started coming out of her shock, and waking back up.
"Wha…?" Charlotte asked, her tone drowsy. "What happened?"
"You almost got went 'cactus' on us!" Ruby replied, her tone amazed.
"You almost were put on ice, Charlotte." Matthew added. "Fortunately, Adena here was able to revive you. Though you do realize that you just lost the calvary battle, right?"
"I rather lose the calvary battle than lose my friend." Adena replied, helping Charlotte up. "Think you can continue without her?"
"No problem." said Matthew. "I hope that Midoriya was able to-"
Matthew didn't even get to finish his sentence, as Cain had come out of nowhere with his dirt lance, and drilled it right into his chest! Matthew was sent flying several feet, before hitting the ground hard, rolling around several times, and then coming to a complete stop. Not only had Team Shemesh now eliminated Team Noble, but they were also able to eliminate Team Midoriya; Cain had used his dirt to incapacitate Iida and Todoroki, prevent Uraraka from using her quirk, and trick Midoriya into using a smash attack on his own team!
Shiozaki, Ruby, Charlotte, and Adena quickly rushed over to where Matthew had landed, wanting to make sure their friend was alright. Fortunately, Matthew was just stunned, and a little annoyed at himself for dropping his guard.
Team Shiloh had given their all to try and defeat Team Bakugo, but Bakugo's team proved too strong for them. After trading blows with Bakugo, Milo ended up getting blasted right off the horse made up of his team, resulting in his and his team's elimination. But, Milo felt no hard feelings, as Ashido was on Bakugo's team, and he was glad for her making it that far.
And then there were two: Team Bakugo and Team Shemesh. The entire arena for the extreme calvary battle was cleared, save for them. The two were both several meters away from each other, both readying for what might be their final joust against each other. No words were needed in this moment, though expressions were shown from their riders: Bakugo had a sneer on his face, while Cain kept his expression stoic. The two also readied their lances, with Bakugo having a normal lance, and Cain having a lance made out of dirt.
Bakugo then tapped Kirishima on the shoulder, and they were off! Kirishima, Ashido, and Sero ran as fast and hard as they could, hoping that Bakugo could get in a good hit on their opponents! As for Team Shemesh, they were just standing there, until Cain made a motion for them to go forward. But instead of running forward, Shay Adam used her quirk to propel them forward with momentum she had stored up!
The two remaining teams collided, with both Bakugo and Cain hitting each other with their lances! It took all strength from both teams to prevent their respected riders from falling off, as Bakugo and Cain pushed against each other! When lances weren't working out for either rider, the two decided to fight hand-to-hand! Bakugo delivered explosive punches to Cain, who returned blows with his hands coated in shifting dirt that acted as makeshift knuckledusters! Back and forth the two fought, with neither side giving up or falling over!
Unfortunately, things started to go bad for Team Bakugo, as Cain's dirt had spread all around them, and was attacking Bakugo from different angles! Bakugo, in his anger and desperation, began firing off large explosions, hoping to completely destroy the dirt and gain the victory over Cain! It worked, and after having finished off a large dirt tendril, Bakugo turned and fired a large blast at Cain, disintegrating him right off of Shay Adam and Malachi!
Wait a minute, disintegrating him completely?
Suddenly, right from the sky, Cain came flying down at Bakugo, readying two large fists of dirt, and ten dirt tendrils from his back! Bakugo raised his arm and fired, but Cain threw both fists of dirt past the large blasts, which hit Bakugo square in the face! Bakugo wobbled but stayed on, until Cain came flying down at him with five of the tendrils, knocking Bakugo off of his horse!
In a last ditch effort, Bakugo fired a blast at the ground, propelling him at Cain! But then, Cain readied his fist and punched Bakugo as hard as he could, stunning him and causing him to fall to the ground; Team Bakugo was eliminated, and Team Shemesh were the winners of the extreme calvary battle. Cain then use his dirt tendrils to prop himself up from the ground, preventing him touching it.
"And the winners of the extreme calvary battle, Team Shemesh!" Simba announced over the mic. "They have won first place in the extreme calvary battle! Congratulations!"
The crowd cheered for Team Shemesh, and Cain responded by letting out a victorious yell. Once he finished, he looked up and saw Eon looking at him from one of the lower stands; the expression on his face was thoughtful, like he was pondering how things were going to turn out. But in that moment, Cain didn't care what Eon was thinking about him; he was still going to bask in this minor victory, and thought of himself as on his way to winning the U.A World Sports Festival.
The extreme calvary battle was over, and now, with thirty-seven competitors left, there was only one more event to go…
Author's Notes: Special thanks to 'bluebarnowl' for the scene idea in which Team Noble gets frozen, and Adena saves Charlotte from her cold coma.
R&R,
Heroboy005