Izuku watched as teams formed around him, their members eyeing him and likely coming up with a game plan to fight him.
Mei had almost literally jumped at the opportunity to team up with her fellow inventor Momo. Those two could be a problem if Mei could convince Momo to go along with her ideas. Hopefully he wasn't about to see any surface to air missiles firing at him.
Himiko said she wanted to try teaming up with someone else since they did the battle trials together already. It was understandable that she wanted to experience being with other teammates.
Todoroki, Sero, Hitoshi, and Iida had formed a team. Bakugou was voluntold that he was teaming up with Kirishima and Kaminari. Tokoyami, Mezo, The rock faced boy he now knew was named Koda, and the diminutive boy with grape like hair had formed a team. Monoma, Tsuburaba, Kaibara, and Kuroiro were on another team. Tetsutetsu, Juzo, Awase, and Shiozaki had joined up. Kendo, Yanagi, Tokage, and Komori were on the same team. Kodai, Bondo, Manga, and Shoda had teamed up. Shishida, Rin, Kamakiri, and Pony were also on a team.
Izuku glanced over to Rumi who was standing beside him with her arms crossed and looking like she was ready to take on the world. The other students eyeing them like lunch was only serving to lift her spirits further. Her reasoning to stick with him was simple. Everyone was going to be aiming for his team and she wanted to fight everyone. He knew he shouldn't be surprised at this point in their relationship but still.
Tsu and Ochako came walking up to them then.
"Room for two more?" Ochako asked with her adorable accent.
He still couldn't believe people had tried to make fun of her for it when she first moved to the city from the country. He was glad that instead of hiding it she had doubled down, which led to bullying and Ochako getting into a surprising amount of schoolyard scraps.
"For you two? Damn right there is!" Rumi boomed.
"You're not worried about everyone coming after our flag?" Izuku asked.
"I don't run from a fight," Ochako growled with determination that was honestly as frightening as it was attractive.
"All we have to do is play defense and we win, ribbit," Tsu said before pressing her petite frame against his much larger one. "Besides, why wouldn't I want to be with as many of my mates as possible?"
"She gets it," Rumi chimed in.
Izuku glanced at Rumi with a raised eyebrow, but she said…
Rumi's resulting blush and embarrassed expression was enough to tell him that she hadn't told him the whole reason for wanting to be on his team.
Instincts of animal Quirk users were fascinating, he really wished he had a notebook…
"Awww," Ochako squealed, a composure rolling off of her.
Compersion was a fun word Nejire had taught him that essentially meant the opposite of jealousy. It was nice to better describe the feeling of happiness he felt when he saw his girlfriends being in love.
Once the teams had been assembled everyone was ushered off the field for a few minutes while they made 'alterations'.
A short while later they were allowed back into the stadium only to discover a veritable forest where the open grass field had once been.
Midnight handed out a flag with the cumulative point value of the team proudly displayed to each team.
Ectoplasm clones guided each team to their respective 'base' where their flag was to be planted. The trees were plenty thicke enough to conceal where each team had gone. The flag was planted in a concrete base with empty holes for many more flags.
The only real rule was that a team couldn't move a flag once they had planted it, making the strategy of playing keep away null and void. When the timer ran out only the flags that were planted would count for a team's total. The other rule, the one that concerned him, was the rule stating that anyone that was KO'd would be out regardless if their team had won. The rule made sense in a practical way since anyone that was KO'd in the field would be helpless and as good as dead if a villain had anything to say about it.
"So what's the plan?" Rumi asked him as the Ectoplasm clone began to walk away.
"Defense is our best strategy since we already have the points to win and nobody knows where our base is. That being said, we have to plan for our flag getting stolen at some point. Tsu, Ochako, are you two up to going after as many easy to get flags as possible? I'm willing to bet that some lower point teams will all but abandon their flags in favor of going fully on offense," Izuku asked.
"Sounds like a plan," Ochako agreed, the other girls nodding in agreement.
XXX
Himiko kicked off her ill fitting, uncomfortable shoes and flexed her toes, the claws extending and digging into the soft earth.
Her and her team that consisted of Mina, Toru, and Aoyama had just gotten to their flag and were awaiting the start of the round.
"Woah, have you always had claws on your feet!?" Mina asked, pointing at the claws in question.
Himiko hummed an affirmative as she closed her eyes and scented the air of the small forest. She had no clue how UA made a forest spring up in the middle of the stadium but it even smelled real.
"I used to file them down so I could fit into shoes more comfortably," Himiko said after a moment of silence.
"But not anymore?" Toru asked.
"Did you know that Yuki hates wearing shoes? She only wears them because she doesn't want to be the only one without them," Himiko said instead of explaining.
"What does that have to do with it?" Aoyama asked, his eyes sparkling as if he knew the answer.
Himiko blushed lightly in realization that she couldn't escape answering.
"I thought that if I stop wearing shoes then Yuki would feel more comfortable not wearing them too…I don't want her to feel ashamed for being different."
"Magnifique mère!" Aoyama exclaimed, his hands framing his face as if for a photo.
Mina crashed into her and squeezed her in a hug, her pink tail wrapping around her, aiding her arms. "You're so sweet my teeth hurt!" She declared very loudly, right in her face, her bubble gum colored hair bouncing with how animated she was being.
The floating uniform that was Toru joined in on the hug. She didn't stay invisible however, as Toru melted into the hug she became visible once more, her prismatic hair and eyes shining in the light as she beamed at her. "Eri and Yuki are lucky to have you as a mom."
"I thought you didn't like to be visible outside of the dorms?" Himiko asked.
Toru shrugged, her prismatic eyes sparkling. "I want you to see me." She explained, making Himiko's light blush grow with the declaration.
"We should think of a plan, no?" Aoyama reasoned.
Himiko broke from the hug reluctantly, already missing the warmth.
"On that note, I wanted to limit myself to only using the blood of my teammates. I know that in the future I will be in a situation where I don't have my pick of blood or even my reserves and I don't want to become complacent. If that's ok…I don't need much."
It felt silly to be nervous but this was different. She knew they didn't despise her for her Quirk the way her Mom had but tolerating her drinking blood and giving their own were two very different things.
Mina didn't even miss a beat. She thrust her arm out and rolled up her sleeve.
"Let me know if it's spicy! I've always been curious…that intrusive thought almost won a few times!" She said, laughing at her own half-joke.
Toru rolled up her sleeve and bounced closer. "Dibs on next!" She rushed out.
Aoyama rolled up his sleeve while making the smuggest look she had ever seen. "First or last, it makes no difference, mine shall taste the best," He declared as if he was stating that water was wet.
Himiko couldn't hold back her laugh, she shouldn't have even worried.
XXX
Mei's breathing was shallow and fast as her, Momo, and Kyoka followed .
She was just so excited!
Ideas were running through Mei's head almost faster than she could comprehend. ALMOST. With Momo at her side the sky was the limit! No, atmosphere! Space? Galaxy? Whatever! They could make anything!
She was brought back to Earth by a tender touch of the back of a hand to her forehead.
"Are you alright? You don't seem to have a fever but your breathing sounds too fast and you haven't been responsive," Momo asked gently.
"I'm just excited! Together we can make anything! Should we make Missiles!? AUTOMATED TURRETS?! A MECH!?" Mei asked, getting louder and louder with each question.
Momo looked relieved at first but quickly returned to worry as Mei voiced her ideas.
"I would rather not violate any international treaties," Momo said.
Those damn demilitarization treaties ruining her fun once again!
"I'll just be over here twiddling my thumbs if you two geniuses need anything I can actually help with," Kyoka said with some sarcasm that went right over Mei's head.
"Dear…" Momo sighed.
"Great! We'll let you know-" Mei began but stopped, her vision zooming in on Kyoka's calloused fingertips. Mei was on her faster than Kyoka could backpedal, holding up her hands for closer inspection. "Do you make things too!? Something small? Circuit boards? NANOMACHINES!?"
While Kyoka was gaping like a fish at Mei's sudden proximity and questions, Momo answered.
"She makes music," Momo said fondly, her lips curling into a closed mouth smile while her eyes became unfocused, as if remembering something pleasant.
"It's not like playing guitar will be helpful right noOW!" Kyoka yelped in surprise as Mei grabbed her by the shoulders, lifted her off the ground with the strength of her power armor and began to spin her around in circles.
"I'VE GOT THE BEST IDEA AND YOU'RE CENTER STAGE!" Mei yelled in excitement.
XXX
The klaxons blared to signal the start of the round. Ochako and Tsu creeped into the forest, already beginning their mission to sneakily grab as many low point flags as possible.
Several minutes passed without anything happening even if he could hear fighting elsewhere, leading Izuku to wonder if they would win this round simply by nobody finding their base. With a time limit of only fifteen minutes it was looking like a real possibility.
"Ugh! This is boring!" Rumi complained loudly, her foot tapping hard enough to compact the dirt beneath it.
Turns out, Rumi only had to wait a few more seconds before a fur-clad beast barreled through the trees.
The beast, who he now recognized as an enlarged and more bestial Shishida, was not alone.
Hopping off his back, Kamakiri announced his arrival by growing blades along his arms and beyond. He swung one bladed arm through a tree's trunk as if it wasn't even there. Instead of toppling, the tree stood upright until Shishida grabbed it and swung it like an oversized baseball bat.
Izuku and Rumi jumped over the wild swing and rushed forward to meet the attackers head on but gave pause when the ground in front of them exploded.
Above, Pony sat side saddle on one of her own detached horns while she made fake horns with her index fingers. Countless horns shot downward and exploded in small concussive blasts.
Rin was once again covered in green scales with his similarly-scaled wings beating in the air. He had both arms pointed downward, an endless stream of scales shooting at them from his forearms even if they weren't very accurate.
"I'll go high!" Izuku shouted to Rumi.
"I'll go low!" Rumi replied.
Izuku shot into the air, he knew how to deal with projectiles, his training with Gran Torino made sure of that. Hundreds of energy tendrils lashed out from his body in every direction, Danger Sense guiding the Blackwhip Tendrils in intercepting the barrage from Rin and Pony.
"Shit!" Pony swore in English as Izuku quickly closed the gap.
Izuku lunged for Pony but the constant explosions from her horns were obscuring his vision, causing her to successfully evade him.
Deciding that it was time to pull out all the stops, he tapped into Empathy and began to channel despair into the entire team while taking a mental note to correct the emotion after the fight. Finally seeing a chance to use Smokescreen, he released a cloud of it big enough to conceal the tree tops without hindering Rumi on the ground.
XXX
Ok. Pony was no longer having fun. This was hopeless.
She couldn't see anything through the black smoke that suddenly enveloped everything. Not trying to cause friendly fire, she stopped her horn cannon and listened carefully for her airborne opponent. The fight on the ground made it difficult to make out but she could barely hear the whistling of wind.
Then, there was a faint glow of green followed by the sudden boom of a blow that cleared some of the smoke. Izuku floated at the center of the pocket of clean air, Rin's limp body held up by one hand, the other was coated in blood and cocked back in a fist ready to deliver another blow if needed. Izuku's glowing green eyes snapped to her as the smoke once again obscured her vision.
Pony screamed in fear and resumed her Horn Cannon in the direction she had seen Izuku. She hit nothing but air. She was beginning to panic as she whirled in search of Izuku.
Viridian lightning flared to life mere feet away, illuminating a humanoid form in the dark and countless writhing tendrils as well as two glowing eyes that were boring into her very soul. The Lovecraftian horror shot forward faster than she could control her horns, she closed her eyes in fear of the blow to come, a boom sounded.
Nothing hurt.
Heh?
She cracked an eye open to see that she had caught Izuku's fist on reflex and by the wide eyed look he was giving her, he was just as surprised as she was. Animalistic instincts taking over once again, she lashed out with a hoof aimed for his chin. Black tendrils of energy wrapped around her leg, stopping it before it could reach him. More and more tendrils wrapped around her leg as she struggled against them.
"I underestimated both of you," Izuku said before his other fist snapped forward in a blur of color that was the last thing she would remember.
XXX
Izuku lowered Pony to the ground and leaned her up against the same tree he had placed Rin against only to find medic bots carting Rin off on a stretcher and down a metal ramp that had not been there before. It made sense that they would be carted off the field once they were out since if they were left on the field they would be in danger while defenseless.
Izuku rose into the air again to better surprise the other attackers while idly thinking about those he had just defeated.
Pony had surprised him, she was much stronger physically than he had anticipated for a backliner. Pulling his first punch was a mistake that could have cost him his life in the real world.
Then there was Rin. He punched him without Black Cowl on the assumption that Full Cowl provided enough durability to withstand his scaled armor. He was not expecting the scales of his armor to change direction and point outwards, making it like punching razor blades. Izuku clenched his fist as Cell Activation finished healing the cuts left from the punch.
"Motherfucker!" Rumi shouted from below him.
Surprised she was having any difficulties, he looked down with infrared vision and saw Shishida looming in front of Rumi while she was tournequating her arm just below the shoulder with her own hair, below it was a deep cut with bone just barely exposed. Hot blood ran down her arm and dripped into the earth next to an unconscious and battered Kamakiri.
Izuku cratered the ground and had glowing hands on her wound faster than his brain could consciously order the chain of commands. Her bleeding was slowing and her flesh was knitting itself back together but much too slowly. He pushed Cell Activation well beyond its limits until all of Rumi was glowing green and her flesh was pulling itself together faster than he ever thought was possible with the limited healing of his Quirk. The moment that she began to glow he felt himself begin to calm, the panic bleeding away unnaturally fast.
"Shishida is still out there," Rumi wearrily..
Looking up, he saw that Shishida was indeed nowhere to be seen.
"How did-"
"I don't know. He fights like a wild animal. If that animal had a 200 IQ, that is. He's a problem," Rumi interrupted.
Well anyone that Rumi deemed a problem was certainly worthy of the title.
"He's hunting us," Rumi whispered, her ears twitching in every direction.
Izuku summoned Black Cowl and switched to infrared to scan the forest, the second he caught sight of a large emission of heat it was blocked by something cold. Danger Sense blared, he dragged Rumi flat to the ground as an entire tree sailed over them like a missile.
Izuku stood as Shishida was upon them, he was fast for his size! Faster than Izuku could react, a huge hand slapped his entire torso, the blunt force of the blow echoing past his carapace of faux muscle and throughout his entire body, sending him careening through a tree.
Coughing up a small amount of blood, Izuku hastily got to his feet in time to see Rumi engage Shishida. Rumi ducked an open hand swipe and kicked the hulking opponent in the side of the knee, causing him to roar in pain as he dropped to a knee. His other hand however, was not idle. Even as he was dropping it reached down and scooped up a huge handful of soil that he whipped into Rumi's face, blinding her.
"You're so annoying to fight!" Rumi bellowed as she kicked blindly into the cloud of dirt, clearing the air with the force and revealing that Shishida was no longer there.
Behind Rumi, Shishida towered, about to strike.
A black tendril of energy cracked through the air faster than the speed of sound and sliced into Shishida's thick hide, making him retreat backwards.
Izuku kept his eyes on Shishida as Rumi tried to get the dirt out of her eyes. By sacrificing the area of Black Cowl that protected and strengthened his hands, he was able to create whips of energy that he held in each hand. His arms were at his sides, tendrils of Blackwhip trailing behind him as he approached Shishida.
"Midnight Cowl!" He roared the name of the super move that paid homage to his Mama.
Both whips snapped out several times faster than the speed of sound in rapid succession, each strike just barely nicking at Shishida's hide, causing him to wince and try to retreat. Each time Shishida tried to get out of range Izuku would circle him and crack the whip where he was going.
If he wanted to, he could probably dismember the boy with the powerful whips, but that, of course, wasn't the goal.
The goal was to corral and distract.
When Izuku intentionally left an opening Shishida was quick to take the bait, desperate as he was.
Rumi was there waiting.
"Luna Tijeras!" She roared as her legs wrapped tightly around Shishida's thick neck in a scissor lock.
Shishida was quick to reach for her and tear her off but was stopped when whips of energy lashed securely around his wrists and began to dig into the flesh.
Rumi's legs bulged as she squeezed the breath from the boy, the seams on her uniform pants splitting once again. Seconds later, the ten foot tall behemoth crashed to the ground unconscious, Rumi backflipping off of him and landing gracefully.
"Thanks," Rumi said.
"Anytime," Izuku said.
"How did Cell Activation heal me that quick and why were your eyes glowing? You weren't using Empathy since you weren't even paying attention to Shishida," She reasoned.
How DID he do that? WAIT. Eyes glowing without using Empathy? Cell Activation suddenly being stronger? Did he just evolve Cell Activation?
He was cut off by the deafening boom and crunch of heavy footsteps. The tree canopy was parted by the biggest hand he had ever seen.
"MM!" Yui boomed from far above the trees.
XXX
Several minutes ago…
Mineta huffed and puffed as he tried to keep up with Shoji. Moments ago, someone wearing some kind of metal armor flew right past his sticky traps and snatched their flag right from under their noses. The cackling he could hear as the armored figure flew away would probably haunt his dreams.
After what felt like an eternity later, he caught up to Shoji who had mercifully stopped at the tree line of a small clearing. Shoji turned to him and motioned to be quiet.
At the center of the clearing was a steel cage placed over the top of the flag capture area. The cage was surrounded on all sides by the biggest speakers he had ever seen. Standing on the roof of the cage were two people and one absolute babe. Maybe during the coming fight he could sneak in a feel? The armored one was finishing securing their flag into the slot and relocking the cage. The babe with the biggest milkers he had ever seen was checking over some wires. The flattest girl he had ever seen was holding a purple electric guitar. One of the girl's earlobes was connected to the guitar while the other was connected to some kind of switchboard.
The one in the armor flew off again and Shoji signaled that it was time. Mineta and his teammate burst from the tree line to the sound of…music? The girl with the purple hair had her eyes closed while she bit her bottom lip in concentration as her fingers flew over the guitar strings. The ground shook with each plucked string of the guitar as they raced forward. Tried. Tried to race forward. Soundwaves blasted from the speakers with each note played, the rhythm only increasing in intensity.
He tried to throw a Pop Off ball but it just came flying back and over his shoulder. The skin on his face rippled from the force of the soundwaves hitting him.
Shoji's arms combined together on each side and stretched for the distracted guitarist. Just when it looked like he was going to succeed, the ravenette leveled a grenade launcher and fired. The rubber buck shot blasted Shoji's hand away from its target.
A pyrotechnic display of flames shot upwards, temporarily blocking the two opponents from sight.
It was at this exact moment that the already quick pace of the guitar became a frantic pace no human should be capable of. The ground shook with the force of an earthquake, the nearby trees rocked away from the epicenter of sound. The soundwaves that already made forward movement almost impossible now sent them flying backwards, tumbling ass over tea kettle.
Then, he heard the purple haired girl sing into the mic…
"On a cold winter morning, in the time before the light~"
XXX
Mei could not stop cackling as she flew through the sky to the fading sounds of Kyoka's guitar.
"I call dibs on the little rocker for internships!" Present Mic yelled over the stadium's speakers.
"That's not how it works," Aizawa drawled.
"Respect the dibs!" Present Mic countered.
Mei's cackling redoubled, her plan was a success!
She continued to fly around the arena while avoiding the giant girl. Other than her, she was unopposed in the sky. Either Izuku had already been defeated or more likely he was defending.
Switching through Infrared and x-ray vision, she zoomed in and out in search of poorly defended flags. She saw Drill Hands and Monoma being carted away by cute little robots. She couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the mean blonde being unconscious. Her heart sank when she saw Tsu and Ochako struggling to stand with mushrooms covering every inch of their bodies. Next to them was a mushroom with arms and legs aiming said arms into the air and spraying a mist of water.
Mei had to remind herself that they weren't on her team and therefore shouldn't be helped. It might be the hardest thing she had ever done. They were her partners. Partners protected each other. Breaking that rule felt wrong.
Going against her own rules, she flew on.
Nearby, she spotted the flag that her partners were likely trying for. There was nobody near it so she swooped down and grabbed the flag. When she did, the leaves of a nearby tree rustled. Out of the tree flew a head leading many pieces of a body. The head gave chase, it wasn't as fast as her but she didn't want any competition in the air.
"Mei-fly," She said enthusiastically, while pressing the button on the canister on her lower back.
The miniature drones flew straight for the head and its associated pieces. The sharp toothed girl tried to dodge the drones, but was only partly successful. The drones exploded on impact, sealing large clumps of the swarm of pieces and successfully capturing the head.
Mei drew her pistol and shot, the round striking the riot foam clump of body parts, the shock from the Electrogel round proving too much for the sharp toothed girl.
Turning from the now earthbound and unconscious body, she flew towards her base to plant the flag.
For some reason, Mei didn't feel like laughing.
XXX
Tsu could barely stand, let alone fight. The mushrooms that covered her regrew no matter how many times she swiped them off. What was worse is that the mushrooms seemed to be parasitic. Every second the things remained on her the more tired she felt. The little mushroom familiars would just reanimate every time she squashed one, rendering fighting them utterly useless. Believing the flag to be undefended just because they didn't see anyone was a mistake, they fell right into Komori's trap.
"Ah don' think ah can go on…" Ochako slurred next to her.
"Are you..giving up?" Tsu struggled out.
Ochako's face took on a look of defiance as she stubbornly raised herself from her kneeling position with shaking limbs.
"Oh? You two are made of sterner stuff than the others," Someone said from nearby.
Tsu looked to see Komori waltzing out from her hiding spot, her eyes hiding behind brown bangs, her smile wide and confident.
Ochako needed no prompting, she lunged for the opponent on wobbly legs, falling face first at the mushroom girl's feet. While Ochako was no longer moving, Komori began to gently float upwards, free from the chains of gravity.
Ochako had landed a hit.
"What?" Komori asked, bewildered.
Tsu couldn't find the second wind that Ochako had but she had other options. Her tongue lashed out and wrapped around Komori's ankle. With her last bit of energy, Tsu jerked her prey to the side and into a tree with a satisfying thunk. With her last moments of consciousness, she took solace knowing Komori was out cold.
XXX
Bakugou pushed through the searing pain in his arms as he chased after Iida with the added speed of his explosions, leaving Kirishima and Kaminari in the dust. It took a mental effort not to refer to them as Shitty Hair and Dunce Face. The speedster bastard had his flag and the one he had just planted, he wouldn't stand for it. He wasn't about to be shown up yet again.
Iida was slowly but surely losing him through the trees, the added maneuverability from the thrusters in his arms proving enough to navigate the rough terrain with ease.
Bakugou entered a small clearing with Zero and Hitoshi waiting for him and Iida nowhere to be seen.
"I'd call you a bombshell, but bullies aren't really my type," Hitoshi lazilly said while inspecting his fingernails.
"You know nothing," Bakugou sneered as his entire body tensed, ready to attack.
Hitoshi snapped his fingers and winked at him.
"Leave," Hitoshi commanded.
Bakugou's body was suddenly not his own. In an act of betrayal, his body did an about face and began to march back towards his own, flagless, base.
Was this really how he was going to lose? Without even being able to fight back?
XXX
Himiko dropped Toru's form as she planted the unguarded flag she and Toru had found when she sensed someone nearby.
Whirling, she saw two cuties breaking from the tree line.
Kendo finished rolling up the sleeves of her uniform to reveal well muscled arms, smiling confidently as she did so.
Yanagi held her hands in front of her much like Tsu while stepping so lightly it was almost as if she glided over the ground.
"2 versus 3? Doesn't seem very fair," Mina lied.
"Oui," Aoyama agreed.
Kendo's smile grew, as did her entire body until the previously average height girl towered over them at twenty feet tall. She then shifted into a wide stance, one leg in front and one behind with the foot turned slightly out. Her arms snapped into position so fast that it caused the air to displace, one arm high with a closed fist in front of her forehead while the other was positioned over her front thigh.
Himiko knew that stance. It was Karate in origin and was called the immovable stance. It was an advanced stance that you didn't even begin to learn until you were a black belt.
"How about now?" Kendo asked, a confident smile still affixed to her face.
A tense silence filled the small clearing as the two teams faced off. The silence stretched on until the sound of a tree limb snapping broke.
All hell broke loose.
First to fire off an attack was Yanagi. Branches from nearby trees snapped and launched at the team, seemingly of their own accord.
Mina acted fast, swiping at the air while acid sprayed from her palm. The wooden missiles hit the wall of acid and melted into it.
"Acid Veil!"
Himiko quickly took on Aoyama's form and shouted, "Toru!"
"Now!" Called the voice from the invisible Toru right in front of the gargantuan Kendo.
Both Aoyamas unleashed three beams of energy each, one from each palm and another from their belly button. The beams converged at their intended target; Toru.
"Say cheese!" Toru yelled as the six beams of light hit her back, refracted through her and shot out of her chest as a wide, single beam more powerful than the sum of its parts and struck Kendo full on.
When the intense light faded enough for Himiko to see, she saw Kendo still standing with her forearms drawn together in front of her. The skin on her forearms was scorched and dribbling blood down to her elbows, but she had tanked the combined attack nonetheless.
Kendo's front leg flashed forward almost faster than Himiko could see and struck the still invisible Toru in an expertly executed snap kick. The kick, which was intended for pure speed rather than power, sent Toru ragdolling all the way to the other side of the clearing. Toru's uniform became visible when she finally came to a rest, the control over her invisibility field failing as she lost consciousness.
"TORU!" Mina shrieked in a gut wrenching cry.
Yanagi moved for the first time, lifting off the ground with arms still positioned sedately in front of her as she glided closer to Mina. Himiko couldn't be sure if she was seeing things or not but she would later swear that she could see human hand prints in the soil below Yanagi as she floated forward.
Mina gave a war cry and launched a large globule of glue at Yanagi. The glob of rubber-cement-like substance was stopped mid air before reaching its target. At first, it looked as if caught by telekinesis but that was not the case, it had struck something unseen.
As the glue dripped down, the shape of a hand could be made out, rotating as if to better inspect the glue that coated it. Then, the hand simply ceased to exist and the glob of hand shaped glue dropped to the ground.
"Acid-Man!" The garbled voice of Mina cried as her acid coated her entire body in a thick layer.
Mina charged, a dozen invisible arms speared into the acid, arresting Mina's forward momentum. The arms, now more visible, were long, jointless, and arching directly from Yanagi. Mina was lifted into the air by the invisible arms as they wrestled through the acid. Mina was helpless as she watched the hands burrow to her and wrap tightly around her neck in sleeper hold.
"Spirit Shackle," Yanagi murmured, barely above a whisper.
While this was happening, the others were not idle. When Yanagi moved, so did was an explosion of dirt as she launched forward at the same time both Aoyamas fired their lasers once again. This time the lasers were more narrow, more focused, and more dangerous.
Kendo shrank mid air as the lasers traveled towards her, the lasers hitting nothing but air as they missed her now much smaller body. She rolled and stood just to the side of Aoyama and swiftly delivered a knife hand strike to the nerve center at the curve of his neck, dropping him like a sack of potatoes.
Frustrated, Himiko dropped Aoyama's form and lunged for Kendo on all fours, claws extended. She aimed for the tendons at the backside of the knee but Kendo's reflexes were enough for her to turn just enough that the swipe struck the meat of her thigh.
Kendo winced as she bounced back, away from Himiko, narrowly avoiding a second swipe. Much faster than the first time, she grew to her full height of twenty feet and readied to counter attack.
Himiko threw a rock at Kendo's head, which she easily swatted away. At the same time, she held her breath and cleared her mind. With her presence successfully erased at the critical moment of distraction, she let her body do as it will.
Kendo turned her huge head from side to side in search of the opponent that was previously right in front of her.
Himiko struck.
Her claws cleaved through the skin over Kendo's gigantic achilles tendon but failed to cut all the way through the tendon itself.
Kendo yelled a guttural cry of pain as she swiped Himiko away with a gargantuan hand that only grazed her but had her tumbling backwards nonetheless.
Himiko came to a sliding stop on all fours, blood ran down face and into her eyes from a head wound. She raised her bloodied claws to her mouth and licked the blood clean with a wide smile on her face.
Invisible hands wrapped around her limbs and lifted her into the air, Yanagi had set her sights on her.
Himiko laughed sickly sweet despite her predicament. Her laugh changed as did her appearance. Himi-Kendo laughed and laughed as she began to swell in size until the hands that tethered her could no longer keep her bound. As she grew, she felt stronger and stronger to the point that it rivaled the strength she felt as Rumi. It was intoxicating.
"I know my body better than anyone, it'll take more than that to beat me!" Kendo declared as she lunged forward with a limp.
The two titans clashed in a resounding thunder clap of flesh. Himiko folded her fingers back to strike with the middle knuckle, the leopard punches aimed for Kendo's throat. Kendo was on the backfoot as she redirected the blows away over and over again until she found the opening she had been looking for. With Himiko over committed to offense, Kendo switched from defense to offense in a flash just as she parried a blow. Double knife hand blows struck Himi-Kendo at the slope of her neck.
Himiko collapsed to the ground, taking on her own form again, her eyes blinking shut as she saw Yanagi grabbing her flags.
XXX
"MM!"
"Oh she's mine!" Rumi claimed and prepared to run forward but stopped, her ears twitching in almost every direction.
"Incoming, lots!" She yelled.
Tokoyami as well as Koda came into view through the trees.
Iida raced into view, Todoroki sliding into view on a patch of ice right behind him.
Tsuburaba and Kuroiro showed up on the other side, Kuroiro slipping out of a shadow and Tsuburaba floating on what looked to be a moving platform of solid air.
Tetsutetsu and Awase barreled into view, Awase looking to be wearing a suit of armor composed of rock.
"One minute warning!" Present Mic announced.
"The girls should have been back by now," Rumi said.
"We have to assume they were taken out. Nobody touches our flag. No holding back," He instructed.
Rumi grinned in a way that many would describe as frightening, but not him. To him it was beautiful.
Chaos erupted as everyone raced for either his flag, him, or Rumi.
The first to move of course was Iida.
"Recipro Overdrive!"
Flames erupted from the mufflers extending out of Iida's calves and elbows as he became a blur making a B-line straight for Izuku's flag.
He was fast, faster than almost anyone could counter, but he was not faster than the speed of sound.
Using Midnight Cowl, Izuku snapped a whip faster than mach one. The whip of energy coiled tight around Iida's ankle, causing him to trip and go flying back into the trees.
Using Empathy, despair exploded off Izuku in every direction, affecting everyone in the general area except for Rumi.
The titanic Yui snatched up the fallen tree that Shishida had thrown, the tree growing in her hand until it was a titanic baseball bat. She made to swing, seemingly aiming to thin the competition for the flag.
The sky darkened as the sound of countless beating wings could be heard overhead.
"Ragnarok!" Tokoyami yelled as Dark Shadow roared and grew to monstrous dimensions, catching Yui's makeshift bat and struggling for control of the weapon.
A glacier exploded into being, headed straight for Izuku and Rumi. Not even needing a signal, He and his girlfriend kicked in perfect unison, the ice exploding out and away.
Kuroiro stepped out of a shadow right next to his Izuku's flag. At the same time, Rumi and Izuku were encased in a box of solid air that quickly began to shrink.
Rumi was faster than him, literally charging headfirst through the container and drop kicking Kuroro far faster than the boy had anticipated. The boy was sent sprawling all the way into the trees.
The instant the box of air shattered, Izuku snapped a whip at Tsuburaya only for it to be blocked by a shield of air that shattered but stopped the whip anyway. Not wanting to deal with a battle of attrition, Izuku retracted his whips and covered his hands in Black Cowl again. He leaned forward and with a mighty jump, he exploded forward and through several barriers of air to connect his fist with the air user's jaw. Tsuburaba was still crumpling to the ground as Izuku turned away in search of a new target.
Rumi kicked Awase in his stone armor, causing it to shatter upon impact and send him tumbling. As he began to stand, he touched a tree and Izuku watched as wood migrated from the tree to form a new set of armor. Upon a closer look, the armor wasn't just being worn, it moved as if it was part of his body without hindering him with its weight.
Rumi didn't seem to share his fascination as she was on the poor boy before he could even fully stand.
"Luna Fall!" She roared as she delivered a powerful ax-kick that collapsed him into the ground.
A punch to the side of the head was Izuku's punishment for becoming momentarily distracted. Tetsutetsu's punch felt much stronger than the one that Monoma had delivered with the same Quirk, it felt more solid.
Izuku performed a cross counter against the next punch and hit the boy square in the jaw. Instead of striking hard steel like he had anticipated, his fist sank into Tetsutetsu's face that was suddenly behaving much more like mercury than steel.
"Pretty cool, right!?" Tetsutetsu asked proudly, his head warping the side as he threw a punch at Izuku.
"Very!" Izuku agreed, grabbing the incoming fist with ease and whirling, using the punches' momentum to toss the boy bodily at Todoroki who looked about to fire off another glacier.
The two boys went sprawling in a heap of twisted limbs. Honestly, Izuku was surprised that Todoroki had taken what amounted to over five feet of solid metal head on and still managed to grab the boy. The metal boy frosted over, becoming slower and slower until he was frozen solid.
Rats came swarming in from every direction at the same time that the swarm of birds dived downwards, all heading straight for his flag.
The sound of trees shattering sounded as Yui slammed Dark Shadow into the forest, her titanic foot pinning Tokoyami to the ground at the same time.
The tide of small animals were almost at his flag and obviously being controlled somehow. He felt bad for what he had to do, but he wasn't left with many options.
"Cover your ears!" He called out Rumi, knowing she would do so.
With all the power Black Cowl at 40% provided him, he CLAPPED.
The resulting shockwave of sound was far too much for the small animals as the horde of rats and birds fell to the ground either dead or stunned, he wasn't sure.
Yui was on the move, but so was Rumi.
As Yui lunged for his flag Rumi was already mid jump, the earth cratering beneath her. Rumi collided with Yui's stomach in another dropkick that had the titan reeling. Rumi wasn't done however as she began to sprint up Yui's body, kicking off and beginning a backflip.
"Bloodmoon Rising!" She yelled as she spun into a kick that connected with Yui's jaw. The sickening sound of clacking teeth echoed through the stadium as Yui dropped to a knee, but still conscious.
"MM!" She articulated in frustration, shaking the blow off.
"Izuku!" Rumi yelled in warning.
Todoroki was almost on his flag.
Izuku launched for Todoroki, flying just barely above the ground, a sonic boom sounding as he broke the sound barrier.
As expected, a glacier appeared in his path. Izuku punched with every single muscle faux or not, every percentage of Black Cowl that he could muster, every bit of momentum he had built. The forming glacier didn't so much explode as it simply ceased to be.
Izuku reared back his other fist as he closed in on Todoroki, the boy's mismatched eyes going wide as the fist closed in.
The klaxons blared again, signaling the end of the round.
Izuku's fist halted mere inches from Todoroki's face, the resulting wind snuffing out the small flames that wafted off the boy's left side.
Flames?
Did he imagine them?
Izuku had the presence of mind to send out a tidal wave of calm with Empathy while he thoughtfully watched Todoroki stalk off.
"That's the round and what a round it was!" Present Mic declared.
"The one's moving on are Midoriya, Oguro, Yaoyorozu, Jirou, Hatsume, Kendo, Yanagi, Todoroki, Aizawa, Sero, Honenuki, Shiozaki, Kodai, Shoda, Bondo, and Fukidashi," Aizawa announced with zero fanfare.