Chapter 46: Cavalry Battle
A/N: Thank you for the reviews the last chapter around.
Shouji stared at the Kaminari, Izuku, and Watanabe like they had grown a pair of extra ears, "To clarify, you want me to be the rider?"
"For the billionth time, yes! Why's that so hard to believe?" Watanabe lost his patience.
Shouji rolled his eyes, "Maybe because I'm taller and heavier than you?" he said sarcastically.
"Ah, he needs proof," Kaminari grinned. Izuku smiled devilishly and walked up to Shouji, wrapping his arms around him, "Oi what are you-" Shouji started to say and screamed as he was lifted into the air easily by Izuku. Izuku laughed, "Watanabe your turn," Izuku said and threw Shouji towards Watanabe. Shouji yelped but was caught firmly by Watanabe who threw Shouji to Kaminari. The three started to play a game of catch, ignoring Shouji's cries for help until Midnight cracked her whip in between them. Kaminari became startled and dropped Shouji onto the floor, "QUIT JUGGLING YOUR TEAMMATE!" Midnight ordered.
"Sorry sensei," Watanabe grinned, "So, still think we can't carry you?" he asked Shouji cheekily. Shouji groaned and stood up, "Fine, I concede. What's the plan?"
"Well I have two, but one of them depends on a definition," Izuku replied. Shouji did not like the sound of that and his instincts were right as Izuku turned to Midnight, "Sensei, you said we have to wear the headband on our forehead. But what do you define as a head?"
Midnight twitched. She knew Shouji's quirk so it wasn't hard to see what they were planning to do. It was amusing to watch but it gave her a headache to be the proctor for this crazy bunch of kids, "You know what, I'm not qualified enough for answering that," Midnight said and texted someone on her phone.
Soon, Recovery Girl walked to the stage, "What is it?" she asked.
"Midoriya wants to know the definition of a 'head,'" Kayama said.
Chiyo stared at the group with unimpressed eyes but gave the definition, "The upper part of the human body, or the front or upper part of the body of an animal, typically separated from the rest of the body by a neck and containing the brain, mouth, and sense organs. That is what the head or skull is,"
"Hmm, Shouji can you make a brain and eyes on your extensions?" Izuku whispered to Shouji who facepalmed.
"Midoriya," Chiyo said causing the boy to turn at her with full attention, "You do know that Shouji still can't touch the ground because he is a direct extension of the other head?"
Izuku stared at Recovery Girl for a while and cursed, "I forgot about that! Sorry for bothering you sensei!" he bowed respectfully. Chiyo chuckled and moved off the stage. Meanwhile, Aizawa was sitting in the commentator's box and watched with bewilderment. Recovery Girl had just squashed Izuku's plan with pre-existing rules! Every time he tried to do that, he'd just be confronted with a loophole of a loophole. He needed to learn how to squash their attempts at using loopholes from Chiyo.
"Well that's not gonna work, so I guess we'll go with the other plan," Izuku chirped happily.
Shouji gulped, "And what is the other plan?"
"You will wear the points and then cover your head with a cartilage and muscle extension," Izuku said simply.
Shouji sighed, "That will require me to start forming extensions from my tentacles to my head!"
"Yes, but you can do it, right?"
Shouji sighed, "Yes, I can. It will add a lot more weight though," he warned.
"Do you need another demonstration?" Watanabe asked. Shouji paled and rapidly shook his head.
"Team Tokoyami, what are you doing?" Midnight asked.
Watanabe turned and started cackling loudly. Tokoyami's entire team was on the ground, while Dark Shadow was acting as the rider, wearing the headband, "We decided that Dark Shadow will be the rider," Tokoyami said, "It's not against the rules,"
Midnight twitched for what seemed like the hundredth time today, "Is Dark Shadow even a living being?"
"Well, he can talk and move," Tokoyami defended.
"Fine! But that means you have put together a team of 5! You must leave out one member," Midnight declared. Seeing the scowl on Tokoyami's face, she knew she had won. Tokoyami looked at his teammates; Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Hitoshi. He grumbled and brought back Dark Shadow while motioning Hitoshi to climb up above them, "Since Dark Shadow doesn't need to eat, I guess he can't really be classified as living," he excused himself lamely.
Watanabe chuckled at the scene while Kaminari shook his head, "You've got the entire class to become crazy,"
"Crazy is a mental state of insanity. This is just unlocking potential!" Watanabe cackled maniacally. Shouji wanted to cry.
"Alright, the cavalry battle will start soon. Take your positions," Cementoss ordered, "I'll be stopping the fights if it gets too violent," he said.
Mic took this opportunity to start announcing the teams, "Hattori Watanabe came first in the obstacle course and has 10 million attached to it. But he has given Mezou Shouji the role of the rider. Oh! And he has created an extension to protect and hide his headband! A wonderful strategy. His team also consists of Midoriya Izuku and Kaminari Denki!"
The crowd roared its appreciation.
"Next, we have Todoroki Shouto who has teamed up with the two deputy class reps, Yaoyorozu Momo and Iida Tenya. And he has surprisingly also taken the support department star, Hatsume MeI!"
"The world will adore my babies!"
"SHOUTO!" Enji yelled in anger having heard that Mei was from the support department but he quickly stepped back as Yagi gave home a piercing look, smile plastered over his face, "You wouldn't want to be thrown out, now would you, Enji-san?" he asked sweetly.
Enji gulped and stepped back. Nedzu had already warned him and had given him a detailed plan of what he would do to him if he broke the peace again.
"Next up, we have, Team Tokoyami who also tried to exploit the rules like Team Watanabe but failed miserably!"
The team in question scowled and booed but Mic went on, "Their team consists of Shinsou Hitoshi as the rider, and Uraraka Ochaco, Asui Tsuyu, and Tokoyami Fumikage as the carriers!" Mic said, "Next up, we have the loud-mouthed Bakugou Katsuki. He has assembled Sero Hanta, Kirishima Eijiro, and Ashido Mina as his carriers!"
"Who are you calling loud-mouthed!?" Bakugou exploded.
"The last team from 1A has Aoyama as the rider and Koda, Jiro, and Hagakure as the carriers. Now moving onto 1B! Monoma has put together arguably the strongest team of their class with Shiozaki, TetsuTetsu, and Tsuburaba as his carriers! The other team is Team Kendo with Juzo Honenuki, Yosetsu Awase, and Sen Kaibara!" Mic declared
The crowd roared again. Team Watanabe drowned out the noises and set to discuss their plans deeper, "Remember, even if we fall, we can still participate as long as we are not separated," Izuku reminded.
"I got it. But is this cartilage going to be enough to protect the headband?" Shouji pointed to his extension of bone and muscle. Izuku grinned, "That's the best part! Midnight sensei said that red cards will be given for violent attacks. Even though your extension is weak, people will still need to blast or cut through it which will warrant a red card!"
The rest of the team stared at Izuku, "Aren't I the sadist?" Watanabe asked.
"Wait, so you chose me as a meat shield!?" Shouji demanded.
"Um, kinda?" Izuku said shakily. Shouji shook his head in disbelief.
"Now for the other aspects of our plan!" Watanabe grinned, "Shouji... try not to puke during the cavalry battle!"
Yup, Shouji did not like this one bit.
"The teams have taken their positions. You have 15 minutes to compete after which the timer will ring and you'll stop," Midnight said, "Ready...3...2...1... GO!"
Immediately, Team Kendo acted. Juzo turned the ground below them into slush, catching the team off-guard, "The 10 million... is ours!" Kendo yelled excitedly and extended her hand with her quirk. She drove her hand through the extension but had just broken through the surface when her hands were caught by cement, "Team Kendo disqualified!" Cementoss announced.
"H-huh? I thought you said anything goes?"
"I also said that violent attacks get you disqualified," Midnight said. The rest of the teams had also paused along with the timer, "But how else can we get the headband? It's behind bones! We have to break through!"
"That I don't care about. There are alternative ways," Midnight said and motioned them to leave. Team Kendo was dejected but they left hurriedly.
"You ok, Shouji?" Kaminari asked.
"Yeah, after Izuku told me about the red card plan, I deformed the blood vessels and nerves leading through the extensions," Shouji said, "Didn't feel much pain," he told them and reformed the broken part quickly.
"Is Team Watanabe ok to move or does Shouji require treatment?" Midnight asked.
"He's fine sensei! We're good to go!"
Kayama nodded, "Then, START!" She yelled as the timer unpaused. Immediately the teams rushed at them once more from all directions. This time they knew that tearing through Shouji's extended body parts was not an option.
"Alright, let's carry out the first step!" Watanabe yelled to his teammates. Shouto resisted the urge to facepalm. Watanabe and Kaminari detached themselves from Shouji and left Izuku to carry him, "There was nothing about the carrier detaching themselves!" Watanabe cackled and easily slipped through the teams due to his increased mobility. Kaminari took the chance to knock out some of the weaker teams from the competition.
"Heh, that means the rider can detach as long as they don't fall too!" Bakugou shouted and used his explosions to fly at Izuku who smiled, "Wrong place to give your attention," he commented and threw Shouji over the converging teams to Watanabe who had already escaped the blockade.
The teams gaped at the sheer absurdity of their plan as well as the muscle strength that would be required to pull something like that off.
"Tokoyami, you big cheat!" Kaminari yelled. Dark shadow had sneakily stolen the headbands of the teams that Kaminari had electrocuted, "The vulture preys on the remains," Tokoyami said.
Kaminari was about to retort but Tsuyu's tongue came flying at him. He yelped and ran away from her proximity.
Now that all eyes were on Watanabe as he was carrying Shouji, Izuku took the opportunity to flank Shouto from behind. But Momo knew that he would try to do something like that, "It's not going to be that easy, Izuku," she said as she hastily created an aluminum sheet to protect her team. Izuku narrowly jumped over it, but his eyes widened, "Is that a fucking rocket?"
"Don't worry, it won't kill you!" Hatsume cackled and fired it towards Izuku who was hit face-first, "Oi, idiots! Izuku's in trouble," Shouji told his teammates who were still juggling him in mid-air, "Can't... do... anything," Kaminari panted, "We've gotta get away from them," Kaminari pointed to the teams that were rushing towards them.
"Don't worry," Watanabe caught Shouji and started zigzagging through the teams. Shouji helped by forming some more extensions and moving them in between the teams to force them to move aside, "He'll be alright," Watanabe reassured and threw Shouji back to Kaminari.
Izuku had somehow not fallen unconscious from the force of the rocket, but he did fall backward. Thankfully, he managed to get away from Shouto's team who didn't bother to chase him since he didn't have the points.
Meanwhile, Watanabe nearly dropped Shouji as he slammed into the air, "Hehe, that's what you get for underestimating 1B!" Monoma shouted as Tsuburaba created some more air walls to make sure Watanabe couldn't escape.
Watanabe almost panicked but remained calm and felt around him but could not find a way out. There wasn't enough space for him to throw Shouji either. Izuku was still concussed and far away while Kaminari probably wouldn't make it back in time.
"The points are ours!" Monoma said as he put his hand through the only opening, above. Monoma's grin, however, was short-lived as Shouji caught Monoma by the hand and yeeted him, "Just because I'm being thrown around doesn't mean I'm a ragdoll!" Shouji yelled.
Monoma was lucky enough to be caught by Shiozaki's vines and was placed back on top. "Nice Shouji. Now, grab on to an end of the barrier," Watanabe said. Shouji did as he was told. Watanabe clambered over Shouji and escaped, "Jump back on!" Shouji nodded and heaved himself up but right at that moment, the air wall disappeared. Shouji yelped with surprise and groaned as he landed on someone else.
Shouji looked down to see a mop of green hair. Izuku switched to his full cowling and jumped back, trying to escape. Meanwhile, Kaminari flanked from behind and unleashed an electric attack that was quickly grounded by Shiozaki.
"Damn it!" Monoma muttered and then reached his hand out towards Watanabe, "No problem, I'll just copy your quirk," he grinned and touched Watanabe. He was shocked that he didn't put up a fight and instead was grinning back.
Monoma tried to ignore the unsettling grin but at that moment, his vision shifted. At first, he screamed as a flash of red lights hit him.
"Dude, you alright?" TetsuTetsu asked.
"What the hell?" Monoma asked himself. He yelped as his vision shifted once more. He screamed as he saw everyone became bones, "WHAT THE HELL?" he panicked, "WHY ARE YOU ALL SKELETONS!?" He yelled in fear.
"Monoma, get rid of the quirk you took!" Tsuburaba advised. Monoma quickly did so and his vision returned to normal, "What the hell is that guy's quirk?" Monoma panted and stared at Watanabe's retreating back.
"I don't know, he hit me on my arms while he was escaping, and now, I can't move my arms. My arms aren't turning into metal either," TetsuTetsu said worriedly.
Monoma cursed, "I think it's some sort of vision change,"
"Does that mean he can change his vision to erasure like Aizawa-sensei? Maybe that's why my quirk won't activate on my hands," TetsuTesu offered.
"I don't know, but let's go after the small fries. That guy is dangerous,"
Meanwhile, Mirai was watching with wide eyes, greedily like a baby eyeing candy. The way Watanabe weaved in and out of the other teams proved that he had to have foresight as his quirk. On top of that, he showed that he had immense strength in order to throw Shouji and also catch them. That meant that on a physical level, Watanabe was already stronger than him.
However, there was a small problem that had captivated the audience, he included. When Watanabe had moved past TetsuTetsu, his eyes had flashed dark red before he hit TetsuTetsu. Immediately after, Mirai noticed that TetsuTetsu couldn't use his quirk in his arms. That made Nighteye think, "Aizawa's eyes flash a similar shade when he uses his quirk too!" Mirai thought, "Does that mean his quirk is actually erasure? Maybe that's why Aizawa was so defensive of him," Mirai argued in his mind. "But then how did he seem to know where everything was?"
That's when it hit Mirai. His quirk was listed as eye color changing. That possibly meant he could change his eye color to various shades. Perhaps, when it turned purple, it was foresight and when it was red, it was erasure? Mirai gasped once more, "What if it's a merge of the two and his quirk is erasure of the future!?"
The thought had seemingly hit the other heroes who had also worked with Aizawa, "Oi that looks just like Eraserhead," Rock Lock commented about Watanabe's sudden change in eye color.
"Maybe he's Aizawa's son? Haha," Emi laughed to herself.
"Idiot, if it's erasure, how would he know where every single thing is and dodge things like he knew what's about to happen? It's obviously foresight!"
And so, the pro-heroes started to bicker amongst themselves about what Watanabe's quirk was.
Mic laughed and shut off his mic. He already knew about Watanabe's quirk since Aizawa often found himself ranting about him to his best friend, "What vision was that?"
"Infrared," Aizawa replied hoarsely.
"I thought you would be proud of Watanabe for successfully tricking people on what his quirk is. He wants to be an underground hero, so he needs to keep his quirk under wraps, and here he is tricking even fellow heroes," Mic said.
"Yes, but he's also becoming a bigger target. Remember that this is completely open to the public. There might even be commission agents here and if they believe this, they might try to go after him," Aizawa said worriedly.
"You really worry about your kids huh?" Mic said warmly, careful not to sound unkind, "Don't worry, Nedzu is interested in those kids too. No way he lets the commission do shit!"
"Yeah, but still… there's the league too, you know," Aizawa said as Mic's face also darkened at the thought.
"OI, WHERE'S THE COMMENTATOR!?" Sections of the crowd yelled.
Mic sighed, "They really don't give us a break huh," he whispered, clearly annoyed that their conversation was interrupted. \
Mic got a message and chuckled, "Some of the crowd thinks that Watanabe's quirk is Erasure and thinks that you are his father!" Mic told his friend.
Aizawa did a spit take, "What?"
"Yup, thirteen is in one of the sections for crowd control. Apparently, the foresight theory came from Mirai,"
Aizawa shook his head, "I mean, I can see why but I'm still disappointed. What about the erasure theory?"
"Mirai's been quiet about it," Mic read through his texts, "But since people thought he has foresight, there are eyes on him, and they noticed his eyes flashing red before TetsuTetsu lost the ability to use his quirk temporarily. How did he do that?" Mic asked Aizawa.
"No clue," Aizawa said honestly, "He never did anything like that in any of the classes," he hummed to himself, clearly puzzled as well. He had no clue why TetsuTesu lost his quirk, let alone why it was temporary. Sure, his quirk also had a temporary effect, but Watanabe had already moved his vision away by then.
Honestly, he didn't think it was erasure at all. Watanabe seemed to find various uses for his quirk after all. He wouldn't be surprised if he just used a form of martial arts or something, though the thought of it did sound frightening, "What about the other theory?"
"Hmm," Mic said innocently, "What other theory?"
"You know which one!"
"I do?"
Aizawa gritted his teeth and looked away, "The theory that Watanabe is my son,"
"Oh," Mic grinned, happy that he got Aizawa to acknowledge it, "It was Emi,"
"That little-" Aizawa started when the crowd interrupted, "WHERE'S THE COMMENTARY?" This time the entire audience yelled at them.
Mic scowled a bit was happy that he had an excuse to disregard Aizawa's rants about Ms. Joke, "Sorry folks! We had a bit of an issue," Mic excused himself,
He switched to his commentary voice, "Let's see what we've missed- OH! WHAT DID TEAM TOKOYAMI JUST DO!?"
A/N: Any guesses?