Death

by tmb1112

Death is a Quirk that can only kill. A perfect Quirk for a villain, but what if the boy who manifested that power just wanted to be a hero? Enrolling in U.A. might not be enough when all your Quirk can do is kill people. Follow Zach Sazaki from his first day in Class A on a story that spans years, as he learns to be a hero, finds out more about his Quirk, and too much to summarize!

171. Chapter 171

Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia

Chapter 171:

"We need to regroup," Yaoyorozu said with a hand over her comms. "Moving recklessly at this point will only cause us to lose more classmates, and therefore points."

"Should Jirou and I head back to the base now?" Uraraka said. There was no point to guard the jail when they had no one coming back to it with prisoners in tow, nor did it seem like they would get to that point again anytime soon.

"Bakugo, Midoriya, where are you two?" Todoroki questioned.

"Facing Zach," Midoriya replied.

Isn't that what Bakugo was doing? Mineta thought in panic. He had sweat all over his face, and the bruised up boy who had barely managed to keep himself from getting incapacitated during a fight with Inasa (even just his soul version), stared up towards the scoreboard again with a look of disdain. What happened to him? We can't lose him or we're down more than half, and we won't even have a third of the members they do!

"Ignore the scores," Yaoyorozu said in a steady voice from where she was looking down at her classmates on the second floor of their base. The ones down there looked back and up at the windows where their tactician was staring down towards them. "Many of their classmates were incapacitated during the earlier fights. Adashi is sure to be unable to use his Quirk again in the way that caught us so off guard, as he must have been at his limit earlier. Many of the others from Shiketsu were also reported defeated by our classmates, and even if their own classmates and Zach were able to go save them from being put in our jail, most of them will not be up to continue fighting. The score does not matter. They do not yet have 25, and that is all that matters right now."

That's right.

At least nine of them must be down after taking on half our class.

Iida's team took down five on their own at the start. Even if we have to consider their class as having 32 with the three Trabos, I'm sure we've got at least ten or more of them down already!

They might have kept them from the jail, but now they're just going to have to protect them back at their base along with the injured Bakugo left over there. Things are under control.

Calm down! Yaoyoroppai's right! Mineta relaxed and he wiped some sweat from his face before looking to Todoroki, then over at Iida and Kirishima standing next to each other. Both looked angry about the way things had started so far, but neither looked hopeless or like things could not be fixed from this situation.

Remaining for U.A.'s side were Midoriya, Uraraka, Bakugo, Todoroki, Asui, Iida, Jirou, Yaoyorozu, Kirisihima, and Mineta. Mineta felt the strangest about still being left after half of their class had suddenly been wiped out. Even Tokoyami's gone? Mineta thought nervously as Todoroki was calling out who he thought was left for their class. And we don't know what's up with Bakugo anymore either! He won't respond to his comms! What is even happening right now?!

Bakugo had reached the stone area of the training facility and stared up straight towards a cave in the slope he had been led to. There were scattered trees around the lower part of the rocky zone, including near that cave mouth which was why he had been unable to see it earlier just from a look to the north and the mountainous rock wall protruding from the dome's curved glass. All those trees around the cave mouth and for a good distance from it were dead though. The blackened remnants of this part of the forest creaked and cracked, leaving an obvious trail into the cave. Bakugo could not hear anyone over his comms, and those voices had started getting scratchier before disappearing completely.

A trap? Bakugo ground his teeth despite how big a smirk was over his face. He knows I don't give a fuck. He knows I won't back down. Even though his comms were being jammed, even though the path was so obviously leading him to that cave, even though his explosions would not work as well in a cave that could collapse around him, he shot towards it anyway. That visor over his helmet has night vision, Bakugo blasted himself up the steeper part of the wall, and he sprinted up it since his body was close up. He ran up the wall while pointing his hands below him and blasting himself up as well, then he curled his palms in at the last second and exploded away from the edge of the wall.

The attack he predicted might come for right when he was rising over the ledge did not come. Rocks were still lifting up from the edge in the path of where he expected that Death might flood through, when Bakugo's body smashed right back through that lifting debris as he redirected himself at the cave entrance. "Stun Grenade." Bakugo put his hands curled in towards each other near the front of the cave and fired a bright flash of light into the cave, then he immediately shot in without any more pretext.

"I knew you'd come, Bakugo."

Bakugo swung his right arm to his side and fired a blast to light up the darker section of the cave where he suddenly heard Zach's voice come out very calmly. The idea that Zach was not taking this seriously at all to just reveal himself like that enraged the other teen who continuously was blasting small explosions off his hands when he flew himself inside.

"Wrong choice."

Zach's voice came from closer to Bakugo the second time, but Bakugo did not panic or even get unnerved by the sudden new source of Zach's voice. He had reacted too fast to the first thing Zach said. Zach's voice had not been moving either when he said that he knew Bakugo would come, showing he was not sprinting so he could have somehow moved from that spot before the light illuminated where he was. Bakugo looked into his explosion and did not see anything in the empty cave where he had blasted, but when he turned and looked to where his constant explosions illuminated a nearby wall he heard Zach's voice come from again, he saw the small black device there lodged half behind a natural rocky hook in the wall.

Bakugo's teeth grit in the most furious way, which Zach saw in the camera also attached to that device he had left in the cave. Zach stared straight at Midoriya who was shouting at Bakugo over his comms trying to contact him and let him know that he could not be chasing Zach. As Midoriya tried to contact his classmate, Zach set off his trap, and every single one of the devices he placed in that cave beforehand started erupting in loud screeching noises and sirens.

Midoriya darted his eyes to the right as he could hear the sirens faintly from there, even pretty far from the north side of the dome and the cave Bakugo was in. The fact that they could hear it from there was a testament to how loud Zach blasted those noises inside a cave that made them bounce around before escaping out the cave mouth. The teachers watching the feed from inside the cave had to pull back as the images just filled with bright white and nothing else, as all of those devices piercing Bakugo's eardrums were also blinding him with flashes as bright as his Stun Grenades. Those strobe flashes came sporadically and rapidly from all directions, just as the sirens were not blasting at any specific pattern but in a random and disorienting way.

Bakugo had spun a couple of times after initially flying straight into the cave. He also spun as the sirens and flashes began, before raising his hands up to his ears instinctually. He lowered his hands fast though and put his hands in front of him, but his fingers curled in and he continued to stand in place despite how much he needed to get out of the cave.

Zach knew Bakugo would go inside. He knew that Bakugo would take the challenge instead of just blowing it up. But now that Bakugo was inside, in a place not meant for his Quirk, Explosion, he was unable to blast his way out. Even his most powerful explosion straight up above him was not a sure thing to blow apart the mountain, and if he failed it was a sure thing to collapse it on top of him. The pre-recorded audios Zach had for Bakugo were part of the trap as well, and they would have goaded Bakugo into entering if he had hesitated outside of the cave mouth at all. Bakugo was not one to hesitate though, and even as he paused now with the flashes and loud noises all around him, it was not in hesitation but realization. He had spun around too many times. Blasting in the direction opposite where he thought the cave mouth to be could send him backwards straight into a wall, and risk collapsing the cave on top of him anyway.

The flashes came at erratic timings and Bakugo could not keep his eyes open for more than a millisecond each time he tried to suddenly part them and see where he was. The sounds were deafening but he did not think Zach was in the cave anymore, so not being able to see or hear him approaching was not his biggest concern. Without even being there, Zach was attacking Bakugo in a painfully frustrating way. Bakugo stumbled backwards as the moment he tried squinting his eyes he was facing a direction where an especially bright flash happened in that moment. He pointed his right hand forward while covering his eyes with his other gauntlet, but he curled his fingers into a fist again with fury all over his face.

Stuck in the middle of the cave, Bakugo smirked in a crazy way over his entire face. Did he really predict I'd stop, or did he think I might just do it and was willing to let me try!? And if I died, he'd bring me back?! Bakugo's face was enraged but his smirk was lifted so high as he snarled out in a voice he could not hear himself, "Crazy fucker."

Eight dings had rung out through the dome in rapid succession. Midoriya came face to face with his biggest threat, while he heard the sounds of half of his classmates falling. His calls to Bakugo were met with no response except from his other classmates asking what was going on and trying to reach Bakugo themselves. Bakugo's last announcement that he was chasing Zach had not been that long ago, but Midoriya had to believe that it was some other reason that Bakugo was not responding to him rather than Zach just taking him down and rushing straight here. The loud sirens and noises he heard coming from the north on his right, along with how he thought he heard some blasts and felt some rumbling below him before those noises started, and how quickly Zach came to meet him after those blasts, helped convince him that there was another reason other than Bakugo's defeat. It could be his teammates. It could be a trap he left for Kacchan. I have to adapt.

Midoriya's expression dipped and his feet started spreading on the dirt below him. Zach's did as well, his eyes locked on Deku's as his opponent finally focused on him. I can't just fight. I also need to lead here. I know what's going on better than anyone. "Everyone," Midoriya started while putting a hand quickly up to his ear. The fact that Zach reacted to Midoriya getting into a stance instead of moving forward himself told Deku that his old classmate was here to stall him. The initial reason was likely to prevent me from stopping his classmates from capturing ours. Now, why wouldn't he just move in for the attack? Midoriya did not yet understand that part of Zach's plan, but he had other things to focus on first.

"Regroup all together at the base so they can't pick us off. We need-"

"Ignore that!" Zach countered, his voice coming out sounding like Midoriya's into the headset. His tone sounded more frustrated and upset too, while Midoriya stared at him with an expression starting to look like Zach's voice sounded. "Zach has a voice modulator just like Shinso's!"

"W-Wait! That's Zach-" Midoriya stopped himself and cursed in his head as there was no way just saying that would work. "Todoroki, this is the one who told you-"

"Don't listen to him!"

"LALALALALALA!"

"OOGA BOOGA BOO!"

"AAAAAHHHH!"

Voices flooded into the U.A.'s headsets before Midoriya could tell Todoroki something only they knew along with his orders. Zach smirked more at Midoriya as his classmates used the other earpieces they had stolen from their downed opponents. Disrupting the enemies' communications. Vital to any operation taking place over a large area or over a long period of time.

"What should we do?" Uraraka asked the other girl at the U.A. team's jail with her.

Jirou disconnected her earphone jacks from the ground and turned to run back for the base. "Back to base," Jirou said, her friend running up behind her even though Deku's last order to her was still to reroute herself back to the jail.

"Are you sure?" Uraraka asked confusedly, wondering how Jirou knew which of the Midoriya's was the one they were supposed to listen to.

"Because we need new earpieces," Jirou responded, and Uraraka's eyes widened at the response but then nodded quickly as that made a lot of sense to her. Plus, Jirou thought, it's only Midoriya and Bakugo out there still un-captured for our team. Not even sure about Bakugo- but he's fine. Especially if Zach's actually facing Midoriya. He doesn't want us leaving the jail, which means he'd rather we be here to get picked off instead of close to Todoroki. Momo's probably already making new earpieces but hasn't said anything over the comms about it so that we can use the fact that they're listening to our old comms to our advantage. If Midoriya or Bakugo need to bring any prisoners back here, they won't get caught by an ambush… but if it's a really good one. "We're going back to base!" Jirou reported before quickly moving her hand back from her earpiece that filled with noise a second later as the Shiketsus shouted to try and drown her out.

Just in case Bakugo or Midoriya were bringing someone back now, they would know neither Jirou nor Uraraka would be there to help them against a potential ambush. She knew she was also letting the Shiketsus know that they were leaving their jail unguarded so that they could go set up an ambush now, but she recalled what she just thought about Yaoyorozu's plan to use their old comms to their advantage. If it's Zach, he'll know that's a possible strategy of ours and won't send anyone over there on what could be an obvious trap.

Good move on Jirou's part, whatever it is she's really doing, Zach thought, as he did not know what her strategy was as there could have been many reasons for her shouting out that response.

"Everyone remove your earpieces, I've made new ones that are on a new channel," Yaoyorozu called out.

Not even going to risk it, Zach thought, humming to himself and lowering his lips flat at what Yaoyorozu just announced. Despite lowering his smile down like that, he looked satisfied anyway hearing it.

Midoriya realized why it was that Zach looked that way and even why he let him see it too. Even if they lose their ability to hear their enemies' comms, it's clear that our team would adapt to their having our earpieces anyway. They might even have a plan revolving around them that Yaoyorozu doesn't want to risk walking into. But, by forcing us to start up new comms now, we waste time regrouping so that we can do it. Forcing everyone to go back to Yaoyorozu thus showing exactly where she is based on the movements of the U.A. students, and revealing our reactions while their plan must be…

Midoriya's thoughts were fast, but he steadied his expression and did not look flustered even at the dark revelation he was having. We're moving at Zach's pace. No longer. Midoriya's body coursed with One For All. It flooded with it and his legs glowed and sparked with light as he bent his knees. Zach's body erupted in darkness and the ground below his feet broke apart as he shot forward. Midoriya did the same less than half a second after.

Zach's right arm swung with darkness over it, creating a Death Wind that came out of his arm at Midoriya who slid below. Then Deku pushed off the ground with his right hand to dodge the fist of darkness coming off of Zach's left arm he punched below his swinging right. As Midoriya lifted up moving to the left but still forward, he punched his left hand across the front of his body and darkness around Zach blew off leaving only a thin veneer of Death over his lifting form. Zach was sent flying backwards as the ground below him shredded, and he smashed into a tree that would have been broken down by the punch anyway, as would have the next two behind it that Zach's body went smashing through.

Midoriya hit the third tree right as Zach was smashing through it still with darkness around him that had been blackening each of the trunks around where he smashed through them. Those trees were still falling behind them to the east, but all three of them suddenly rose up instead of falling. They rose into the air like Deku who was off the ground in the leap he had made towards where Zach was about to be, so that he could slam his former classmate into the ground hard enough to hopefully take him down. His kick lost all force and his body was sent spinning into the air, trees smashing into him inside massive winds more powerful than any he had felt earlier back at his own base.

Zach hit the ground and rolled backwards for a second before flipping up onto his legs and with his left hand dragging through the dirt below him. Then he hit something hard that stopped his skid gentler than had he slammed into the next tree behind him. Zach turned his head and nodded in appreciation at Dendo and Hisashi who had both gotten up behind him and held their arms out to stop him with less of a jolt. He had removed his darkness while skidding back at the end there, having seen them as he flipped over on the ground so he knew where they were and that they could catch him like that if he was not covered in blackness. "Let's do this," Zach said, stepping forward from the other two whose hands fell from his back so they could step around his sides and look up in the air.

Dendo held out his right and left hands in front of him. White veils covered his green gloves that were a darker shade of green than most of his costume and his hair, more like his dark green eyes that darted to his left. He twisted his body and used his Quirk Slicer with a pair of powerful Slices through dozens of trees on his left side. Hisashi meanwhile turned back into a Golden Eagle, the fastest eagle in the world with a wingspan of seven feet. Those wings flapped down as a path in the wind funnels formed above him on Zach's right. At the same time, all the trees on Zach's left lifted up as more wind focused over there and sent all the loose trees into the air with less effort than would have been needed to rip them fully from their roots, not that Inasa did not say he could have done that too beforehand.

Deku stared down from the middle of wind gusts he was being slammed around with, as much as he was redirecting himself too with finger flicks in other directions while still using One For All. He stared down at an eagle shooting up in the sky towards him, and at a large muscular boy flying up and around to his back with the winds he was creating moving through his costume to keep him going faster that Midoriya was. Both attacks from them will be more distracting than anything. It's Zach who's going to use their attacks to take me down. He showed he would use Death on me. I don't know if he used it on anyone else. He must have to have taken down so many of them! It's not just Zach and Death I'm facing now though, but him plus the top three in Shiketsu who don't feel like they're as weak as they were with Adashi's Quirk. How'd they get back here so quickly? How'd he coordinate this plan with Bakugo on their comms- unless, he had this all planned out? Even this far into the training, he had it planned from the beginning to not even have to make new plans?!

"Let's get up there," Zach suggested, looking next to him at his classmate and comrade who turned back and nodded intensely at his friend.

Dendo twisted his wrists and he shrugged his shoulders, taking in a deep breath while the back of his costume started to glow. "It's not easy tech to make, and even harder to use… Alright. Give me a week, I'll see what I can do…" Blue light glowed out the back of the thicker section of Dendo's green costume, the same area it glowed on Zach's back under a blue protrusion that had four small circles under it. Dendo pointed his palms down, just as Zach did while his boots were glowing on the soles. The undersides of Dendo's boots actually glowed green, but other than that, the flight mechanisms looked almost identical despite the differences in their costumes. Zach could not use his black wings while the air was so full of Inasa's Whirlwind, but he didn't need them to fly up using only his costume.

His classmate had not had the tech for very long. His costume was only recently adapted. Dendo rose up into the air though with a confident and steady look on his stern face. He flew into the sky with the person whose private teaching was responsible for how fast Dendo had learned how to use his new tech. Only Ms. Anastasia and Hazano knew how hard Dendo had put into mastering his new gear, as Hazano had supervised them and Ms. Anastasia was needed many times when the green-haired teen took dives from up high. It was not just learning to fly that he required, but also the ability to fight while up there, and both of those teachers had been frustrated as Zach had knocked the inexperienced flyer out of the air over and over again. They weren't frustrated at him now though. As Dendo rose into a windy sky with his Quirk covering both hands, allowing him to join in the fight with the rest of the top of his class, and the top fighter of U.A.'s Class A.

"Not a good spot your class is in, huh?" Kimona asked, turning back to Ectoplasm after the teachers had stayed mostly quiet for a little after all Hazano had to say about Lifebringer's contribution to their class.

Ectoplasm frowned in at Kimona who said that to him trying to get back into the competitive mood. He turned back to the screens himself with a low frown and no response this time. "Deku's got this."

I wish that were true, All Might thought, frowning deeper than Ectoplasm was. On his own against the top four of Shiketsu's Class 1. Even with all my power- even if that were myself down there, Sazaki and Young Inasa both have too much power in the air. Young Inasa has the ability to move them even faster too, and the Quirk to slow down One For All's holder. I cannot fly. Four on one is difficult for anyone when the four are all powerful enemies. More difficult in a setting that the four decided themselves. Most difficult when the four are working together under a single leadership. And under Sazaki's experienced command, someone who knows Young Midoriya better than anyone, knows One For All inside and out, even I cannot say that he 'has got this.' However! He did not expect to come into this and not be pressed. Young Midoriya, you knew better than anyone how difficult this would be. Show him how you will respond!

"The tides have not turned either," Midnight brought up, speaking towards Kimona and Ectoplasm from Hazano's other side. "The score matters little really, this early at least." The men turned towards the sexy female hero who looked at one of the screens instead of just staring through the glass at the fight in the air near the center of the dome. As much as the score was still a shut-out, Kimona had to admit that Midnight was right.

Class 1 was in a bad state. U.A.'s students felt they were in a bad spot, down half of their classmates and needing to regroup to restore a safe communications' line. There was a reason Shiketsu was happy to give up the fact that they were on the comms though that Midoriya realized but did not fully understand. Deku knew that the Shiketsus wanted them to waste time regrouping and putting back together their communications, but most of the Shiketsu students who took part in that did so because they felt the need for more time to recuperate. Unlike the attack on U.A.'s flag base that resulted in minor injuries for only a couple of U.A.'s remaining students, the first wave of attacks had resulted in bad injuries for many of the Shiketsus who could have been in the U.A. jail for all they counted for now.

The Shiketsu students did not want to let even one of their comrades get captured, so despite the fact that several of their comrades were unconscious, they had been dragged all the way back to the base and were laid out on the first floor of the building. Rubble from the first floor's ceiling and some support pillars had to be cleared to the side for all the injured. The wounded and incapacitated were carried and dragged like the unconscious or tied-up U.A. students, some of whom had stirred before getting thrown into the large cage of metal bars out in the forest in a straight line from east-to-west from U.A.'s jail.

Manzo stood outside of the jail cell at the back of it, handing inside more of her black bandages to the invisible girl who she had carried back that whole way naked. Hagakure had wrapped up her waist and her chest with the black bandages and tape that were wrapped all around Manzo making her look like a ninja. Her mask was gone since those were the bandages she was most fine with giving up just to help out the naked invisible girl, and the U.A. students were still mostly surprised that Manzo was a girl with a pretty face and breasts pushing into the front of her costume.

Shoji was still unconscious, just like Ojiro, Sero, and Tokoyami. Sato and Ashido had lasted longer than all of their classmates, but when it was down to just them and Zach, several other Shiketsu students swarmed them at once and overwhelmed the two who had been taken down and tied up before getting quickly dragged out of there. They had been gagged until they made it inside the jail, where the Shiketsus finally felt safe untying and un-gagging them since the rules were explicit about how students could not keep fighting or try escaping once they had been put inside the opposite team's jail. Aoyama and Koda were awake too, with both of them sporting wounds they rubbed in pain, and in some frustration as they could see between the bars above them up to the scoreboard on the western wall's glass that showed how they were part of the only points scored in the training so far.

"Anyone here feel like they need Recovery Girl right now?" Manzo wondered after Hagakure hoarsely thanked her for the last bandages.

She received only shakes of heads back, and Manzo nodded before turning and heading off herself. She had gone alone to the jail, and as she turned and headed off she held her breath to run through the woods as an invisible person herself. When she neared their team's base, she spoke into her earpiece that Iida had never felt the need to remove earlier when he thought she was unconscious. Manzo alerted her friends that she was approaching and then appeared inside of their perimeter to head to the broken down doors of their first floor. She moved slower only surrounded by her own classmates who noticed that her brick-red hair was exposed falling down to her shoulders but did not say anything to their comrade who never fought with her hair down like that uncovered by her costume.

Manzo did not let it show on her expression, but she had to walk slow and force her hands to stay down instead of reaching up for her left side. She winced when she was sure no one was looking, and she stopped walking for a second to close her eyes in the pain she felt on her back and left side from Iida's powerful kick. Manzo shook her head around though and then kept walking for the building's opening. Did he hold back at the end? I swear it got slower, and I was able to stay conscious and just pretend. It was because he discovered I was a girl… but that's a good thing, she reminded herself after thinking that in frustration at the start. It's not a bad thing if my enemies underestimate me for that. It just shows their own stupidity.

Manzo Elia ignored the pain she was in as she had been since Imino set off all his smoke pellets and allowed her the opportunity to slip out undetected. Manzo had one of her own team's headsets on, and she listened to the other four who had them in too with only one of their comms' devices lost currently. Zach had told them through his helmet that Bakugo could not currently hear their comms, giving them time to regroup even though that was the last Zach communicated with them as he was in the middle of a fight with Deku they could hear from their base. Manzo and seven others at their base had U.A.'s earpieces on them too, and they were all still listening closely to that open channel for any noise from their U.A. counterparts.

The earpieces that Yaoyorozu created at the start of the match had another use though when they figured out how to work them. The private communications' lines that could be created between individuals on the network allowed more of the students to talk to each other from around the base as they created different channels and locked in with each other before breaking off to stay somewhere else around the base in mostly silence. A limping Kotsumura was one of the few (still standing) without an earpiece, but because of that he did not need one. His new task was to stay with the other three in the new group guarding the flag and injured with Kameko.

Manzo walked into the base and saw Kotsumura and the three others besides Kameko dealing with their injured while their outer perimeter was still up. Even with that outer perimeter steady, Kameko was in half-Tortoise Fortress, his shell still surrounding the flag and his entire body except for his legs from the knees down. His mobility increased a bit while his shell was smaller like this, the large two feet sticking out the bottom of the shell able to move him around unlike when he was twice the size and filled much more of the floor. Even though he might have to expand again during the next attack, they were not worried about keeping their injured comrades in the room with him. Inside of Kameko's shell might be the only place where they could not be taken from, after all.

"What do we do if Deku takes down Inasa and the others?" Hanodo muttered next to him at Subara. They were watching the north side of their base for enemies, neither of them looking damaged at all as they had been in forward group 4 that rerouted back to the base initially and only arrived after Bakugo had caused his damage and left. The base behind them had broken walls on the outside of the second floor which they knew barely existed on the inside of the building now. The stairs inside led up to a tiny platform with jagged edges before the huge hole where the second floor had been collapsed.

The two students who had been the first to check out the inside of the building to find Kameko still inside awaiting Bakugo to try a sneak attack on him knew their base was hardly holding up anymore. The slightly shorter girl with pure white skin and hair who Hanodo asked that shrugged her shoulders but then responded, "Then there's not much we're going to be able to do. You saw the two of them in the Sports Festival finals, and that was last year," Subara added at the end as she figured both Bakugo and Midoriya had gotten even stronger since then. "Deku gets over here and the game might as well be over."

"It's not a…" Hanodo started, but Subara nodded at him with a serious look coming back to her face that got him to stop saying how it wasn't a game. The two of them regained focus, and Hanodo said in a lower voice, "Even if they lose, we can't give up. If he beats all four of them, I'm sure they'll have at least put a lot of damage on him first. We can still do it."

"Yeah," Subara replied, saying it like she agreed but actually staring at the side of Hanodo's face in more surprise at what he just said. Is it because of what we all agreed to do? That one of us getting caught is like us dying? You're that serious, so you must actually be treating it that way… But still, I've never really seen, that side of you before. Subara Carina looked up at the five foot seven boy who despite being short was one of the most muscular in their class. She felt strange all of a sudden, because for some reason the barista at Rafaielo's appeared in her mind. Tanaka's, really not that attractive… Now that she thought about it, Subara didn't really know why she had been flirting with that guy at all. It's not like I even know what he's like from just talking across the counter. Whereas there was someone else at that cafe after school all the time as we headed home together.

Hanodo glanced to his side and wondered why Subara was staring at him like that. "You focused?" He questioned the girl who nodded back at him in a reassuring way that had Hanodo looking back forward, thinking it must have been nothing.

The girl whose place was not far from his, in the same direction from Shiketsu so they took the same train for the past 3 years now, blinked a few times in shock while staring forward again just like he was. I'm not really into… holy shit. Three fucking years and he's been sitting next to- "Subara, can you come back in here? I want to clean out Yurinosuke's wound."

"Yeah, right there," Subara replied, glad to have something to distract her from that weird train of thought. Her Quirk was Soap, and though it did have its use in combat she understood why Flugeru called her back.

As Subara headed inside and walked over towards Flugeru and the injured, Manzo was looking over at the line of their unmoving or badly injured comrades with a look of unease. Kotsumura and Porrolo had come up to her and they were speaking without using their headsets so it was just between them for now. "Could really use your lead right now," Kotsumura said, hoping the ninja girl would speak up more as she had been recently. The fact that she was ranked 7th in their class added to the idea that they would follow her, considering Reika at 6th and the usually outspoken Yamamoto at 8th were both unconscious after facing Bakugo. The top four in their class were all out fighting Deku, and Kameko was less introversive as he used to be but had not gotten to the level of Manzo who had gone out of her way to help some of her classmates with their training over the previous few weeks.

Porrolo had noticed it too. Ever since Ranking Day, Manzo's been watching Zach and acting more and more like him. I guess we're all learning a lot from him, but she and Dendo have really taken to the leading thing that he's been doing too. I don't think you even had to mention it, Keiji. It was the reason Porrolo was already over there standing waiting to hear what Manzo thought they should do. As much as he trusted Kameko to lead their new group in protecting the flag, Kameko was stuck in his Tortoise Fortress in their base while Manzo was all over the training arena. "With five of us staying to protect the flag, four of us guarding Kameko really," Porrolo corrected himself. "And 12 of us down, if we're being generous," Porrolo paused for a second and looked to the side of the room where a few of their friends were resting but had said they were not out of it yet.

Manzo and Kotsumura looked over too past Flugeru and Subara who were bent down next to the unconscious Yurinosuke, who was ranked 14th in their class but had a Quirk they all knew worked particularly well against Bakugo and Todoroki. They were disappointed to see he had fallen when the U.A.'s had surrounded most of their class before Zach finally moved in to rescue them. There were others that they were disheartened to see down too though, though they hoped the three sitting together in the not-out group would get themselves back up soon. Himazuri and Elinari were exhausted and bruised up, having fought twice: before being captured and again after being released in the smoke by their comrades. Adashi had been exhausted too after splitting himself and separating the souls from three others for an extended period of time, along with keeping those three strong enough to trick Midoriya and Todoroki into thinking they were the real things. He had said that he could keep going after Dendo quickly dropped him off before rushing out again, but soon after Dendo left, Adashi had fallen asleep. They had not woken him back up yet as they were hoping to let him get some rest and only wake him when they next needed his Quirk.

Manzo hummed to herself and shifted her eyes from Himazuri and Elinari whose recoveries she was hopeful for. She looked to the others down on the ground, Kerushi and Yamamoto being down is bad. I lost Enjino and one of the Trabos too out there, and now all three of them are down. Trabo X being down is bad for morale too. Everyone's being real quiet on the comms. As serious as we got, it was good to have him keeping the mood up. They shouldn't have gone for Tailman, especially not in the smoke. With a name like the Martial Arts Hero, you all should have been more cautious and waited for Imino and Zach. They're the ones who ultimately got him anyway.

She grit her teeth and looked away from the sole Trabo laying on the ground since they had put his other two bodies on him back near the clearing to only have to carry one injured comrade away from there. We lost Satoshi on him too, and Tentacole did a number on Himazuri and Elinari too. They're saying they're good, but I saw them out there once they were released. That guy's built like a beast. Our own beast could have taken him, probably, but Dimarko didn't last long against Sugarman. He wasn't angry enough. If we had lost someone already and it felt like they were really dead- shit. We could have used Rage Fiend much better- Wait! What am I thinking? We aren't going to lose anyone. So there wouldn't have been a chance for that anyway. Zach's not even thinking about that. If we had kept him back for an 'in-case' scenario, then we would have been accepting the possibility we were going to lose someone!

Manzo looked to the other two next to her and motioned up at her earpiece. They reached up and held the buttons while watching each other, doing the technique Himazuri explained to them in a raspy tone earlier as they were dragging her and one of their injured and tied-up enemies away. Thanks to her Mindreading, they knew all about their enemies' plans, at least the ones they started out with. Manzo spoke in a low voice to the other two next to her, "I over-exaggerated how much we got thanks to Himazuri. Their plans are changing if they have not already changed, and they're sure to have new earpieces already. The only one without one might be Deku, though hopefully Bakugo is still occupied too."

Kotsumura nodded, his smile that rose when Manzo started speaking in that serious tone getting back to a flat lip himself as he gained a more serious expression. "So we need to know what they're up to now?" Porrolo wondered.

"Yes," Manzo replied. "And we can't wait until they fully regroup, if Deku does back off. Let's start back up on small-time recon. We have Shoji, so Jirou's the one we have to be most cautious of now." Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack. Currently working with the Tracking Hero: Ms. Clue. Was the partner of Kaminari Denki in the second round of the Sports Festival two years back. Zach treated her like one to be very careful of. She's the one who got me last year. There's only one person who can counter her, other than Zach that is…

Back closer to the middle of the dome but on the south side now near lower trees and on wet ground, Zach kicked off a tree and then flipped himself over a branch behind him. He flipped around it and got his feet up on top in a crouching position, his eyes darting to the right as he thought, Wouldn't expect anything less. His eyes moved back forward from the two falling trees that Dendo was just sent flying through. Zach locked his gaze on Midoriya who landed so hard he blew a crater larger than the one Sato made by smashing down with both fists as hard as he could earlier. Zach wished he could blame the ground being softer around here, but Midoriya just landing had more strength than one of his other strongest opponents' strongest attack.

Midoriya's green costume remained intact too, no damage to it so far unlike Dendo's that sparked in the back and would not glow again just like his right boot. Zach could see it in the corner of his vision, and though Midoriya frowned deeply too because Dendo just got back up again, Zach frowned too with an annoyed look flashing over his face for a moment. I know I had his gear adjusted to allow for flight, but I guess it's not made of the same protective material my costume is to withstand blows like those. Zach's costume still worked with his flight controls despite having been smashed through several trees himself by the same student. It's a waste, Zach thought, though his eyes locked on Midoriya back in an intense way again. But I can repair the tech on my own even if I can't make it from scratch.

Damn it! Midoriya realized while staring up towards the branch Zach was on. I'm still moving at his pace! His decision to rush at Zach before had been his attempt to end Zach's plans and move past them. Three other Shiketsus were waiting for him though, and Inasa had caught up and was flying up above him, while he heard barreling coming through the trees behind Zach. Hisashi had been his target several times now, but it was like Zach predicted that too and wanted Midoriya to go for the weakest link among them. He had those three behind him ready to back him up when I attacked him. He had those Death traps ready that I almost fell into when I went after Hisashi. Dendo took a hit that was from a distance but still! It's been enough to take down several villains before. He's strong. All four of them are- and this is exactly what Zach wants me spending all my strength on! Is Bakugo out of the picture? Is it the rest of our class without the two of us and the 9 who are out right now, against the rest of Shiketsu? I don't know because I'm not on the new comms!

"Attack him."

"Midoriya, come back for…"

"MIDORIYA!"

"Eat a- um, BANANA!"

"RABBLE RABBLE-"

As soon as Yaoyorozu got out 'Midoriya,' the old comms burst out in loud chatter again that blocked out the rest of what she said. Midoriya was already thinking about it though, and the only thing she was telling him was the thing he already wanted to go back for.

"Don't let him run," Zach said.

"Wind WALL!" Inasa roared, and all the wind currents around him redirected to one area-

BOOM!

Inasa spun his head, and then all the wind currents moving to make a massive wall had to redirect in two different directions. Half of the wall split off to try and stop that fast-moving projectile flying at him, while the other half shot him a different direction towards his classmates. BOO-BOOM! Bakugo redirected himself away from the initial huge force of winds coming at him, then he redirected away again from the wind of Death rising towards where he dodge-blasted himself after Inasa.

Midoriya leapt up towards Bakugo, and he shouted towards his classmate, "Back to base!"

Inasa spun himself around just over the top of the canopies and looked higher towards Bakugo and Deku. Below him, Zach landed on a branch and stared up towards the two from U.A. Hisashi and Dendo were on the ground level down below him, and the four at the top of Shiketsu stared at the two who had faced off in the finals of the Sports Festival at the start of that school year. "We can take them," Bakugo growled.

"That's exactly what Zach wants," Midoriya replied. He glanced to his side nervously as he said it. "Whatever he did to you, it was to make you rush in at him in a fury like this."

"Shut up," Bakugo snarled. Just because you're right… doesn't mean… Bakugo curled his fists so furiously, then he slammed his exploding hands forward and shot himself to the east without a word.

Zach kept up his smug look, even though he felt like frowning since Bakugo did not take the bait. Don't give him the satisfaction- he's not watching! Guess it's for Midoriya then. Zach knew Bakugo was more frustrated by winning there, running away and not taking the bait, and somehow the idea of that made up for the fact that his two biggest threats were retreating when he wanted to keep them there. Midoriya rushed off without reacting to that look on his face too, and Zach finally frowned as he thought about the way Midoriya just looked down at him. He's treating this like a warm-up for our real fight. I shouldn't fight him one-on-one in case that fight does come. Why not? I don't want to beat him. If he comes after me, I'll probably deserve it. I should just let him take me. And if I do decide to fight him. If by then, I've decided to fight him… then I definitely need to show him more of my cards now, while I still think… but what if that's not the right move? Darling was right, about certain things. Didn't I do more out there? If Midoriya came for me, should I really just accept a life in prison? Forever? Luckily, I don't need to think about this now. Just win. It's all that matters today.

"What do we do?" Hisashi wondered, lifting his head and asking the black-haired teen on the branch above him.

"Head back to base," Zach replied. The way he said it sounded like he was not going with the three of them, but Zach looked ahead and hummed as he refocused on the mission at hand he was readjusting his tactics for. "They'll be making another run for our flag, and you three need to protect it this time. I'll get their flag. Then it's just six of them we have to capture…"

He provoked me, Midoriya thought as he faced his classmates. They were all gathered in front of him in the flag room except for an annoyed Bakugo standing on the roof and Jirou who was outside and listening in but from their front lawn.

Bakugo's ears were still ringing, and he could see little dots in his vision, lasting reminders of the waste of his time that was the trap in the cave. He thought about the smug way Zach was looking up at him back in the forest though, and he tried to calm down at the idea of it. Was it too clear that he wanted me to attack though? What if this was part of his plan too? No. He wanted me to think that. He knew I'd see through him looking smug about it like he had me in a way to get me to attack him, so he wouldn't look that way if he actually wanted me to run, which meant it was two more, right back to he actually wanted me to attack him. Deku's right. But if I don't get to fight him here… Bakugo ground his teeth frustratedly. Did Deku really face off against all four of them? He looked fine. I haven't been overestimating Zach. He must still be underestimating us though. Or, he really doesn't want to show us… He fucking tricked me. Again. How many times am I going to fall for his shit?!

"…I know it doesn't seem very organized, but this plan will work," Midoriya told his classmates who had varying looks as they stared back at their classmate who told them his new plan quickly and confidently. It was vastly different from their calm, organized, well-thought-out plan from the start. It also took each of their strengths and weaknesses into account though in a more individual way than their plan did back when there were nineteen of them and a more equal fight to still have.

The confident way in which Midoriya said it made Yaoyorozu nod firmly after a second. "That is a great plan, Midoriya." Her vote of confidence assured others who wondered what their other tactician thought of it, and the plan was decided on in that moment. "Go, Kyoka."

Jirou's earphone jacks came out of the ground and she sprinted forward.

"Get out now the rest of you," Todoroki told the others in front of him besides Yaoyorozu. He glanced next to him at the girl with the spiky ponytail and added, "I'll leave some air holes."

"Thank you," Yaoyorozu said as he mentioned it.

"I hope this thing looks cool from outside," Mineta said, while he sprinted for the stairs after the others who were all quicker to get out of there.

Asui hopped out of the building, then she turned her head to the south and her tongue extended out towards the closest tree that was tilted diagonally over another fallen one. Her tongue wrapped around a thin branch but one sturdy enough to hold her weight as she flung herself towards it.

Bakugo leapt off the roof and landed down next to Deku who quickly spoke to his classmate who he wanted to know his part of the plan in case Bakugo had not been listening to him from the roof, despite the front windows of their base being shattered so his voice should have reached. The two of them ran forward into the forest, the same direction Jirou had headed just a little before them.

Kirishima and Iida moved farther out on the front lawn than Mineta, Iida holding a device in his right hand with a white line that moved out in semicircle from the small white dot that indicated his position. He saw three green dots moving away from him just ahead and one to the edge of the left side of the rectangle on the screen. He looked next to him at Kirishima who was leaning over to see how it worked, and Kirishima nodded at Iida after the taller boy looked him in the eyes. They moved forward and made more to the right back for the northern clearing their classmates had fought in earlier.

"You out Uraraka?" Todoroki asked.

"Floating above," Uraraka replied from above their base, still rising and now more than twice as high as the building itself. "I'd appreciate a floor soon."

Todoroki breathed out a cold breath of air and then placed his right hand on the wall of the first floor next to where he was standing. Above him on the second floor, Yaoyorozu slid her arms through the sleeves of a nice warm coat, right before the entire building around her encased with ice. The broken windows ahead of her that gave her a view out into the forest was blocked by a massive thick wall of ice that rose so much higher than where Uraraka was currently floating. The floor of the top of the ice castle pushed Uraraka up after it touched her, and she had to release her gravity quickly so as not to be sent flying all the way up to the top of the dome.

Once Uraraka started falling again, she quickly removed her gravity when she was at the lowest amount of acceleration downwards. She fell with that start of gravity and no more, before finally giving herself her weight back only a few feet above the top of the fortress though still shorter than the top of the tallest parts of the top wall around her. When Uraraka Ochaco walked between two of the taller sections though, the ice wall was only up to her mid-stomach so she could see over the ledge and down to the forest below and all the way across the dome. She glanced back and saw the dome's curved wall rising just above the back of the fortress she was on the other side of, while it was higher above her own head but not that high that someone could get a good drop on her from above without her noticing. I can see the whole training zone from here. There's their base. Looks like… Bakugo really messed the place up. Can't really make anyone out all the way over there… Is that their jail? They took everyone's communicators. I still can't believe they were all taken down so early. What happened out there?

"Ignore the collateral damage to our base. This is about victory now. Nothing else." Todoroki frowned but he kept a steady expression like he did through Midoriya's fast-paced explanation of their plan. In a real situation, locking myself down in here inside an ice base… there could be situations where it would be necessary. I admit. But, this is not my ideal- it's not what I wanted from today. "Zach is going to win unless we start countering in ways he won't expect. Things that would be out of character for the us's he knew before."

I get that that makes sense, Midoriya, Mineta thought as he was remembering the same line Todoroki just thought inside. But why does that mean I have to be our front line of defense?! I can't pull of a cocky Bakugo look! That's a ridiculous expectation to have for me!

Midoriya didn't even tell Mineta what the real plan is, that's how much he wants to win this, Yaoyorozu thought, while glancing down through some ice at the front of the base towards where she imagined Mineta was standing outside. Zach would never expect Mineta to really be our front line of defense, so he, and anyone else, would of course suspect some kind of trap. It has nothing to do with going against your normal. It is just a trap without actually having a trap set. The bluff of a trap. Same with Tsuyu. I believe she might have seen through Midoriya's plan, though I am glad she followed along instead of calling him out.

Midoriya-chan, this is pretty mean of you, Asui Tsuyu thought. She was swimming around the bottom of the lake on the far south of the dome that she had just dove into. If you believe that yourself, Bakugo-chan, and Todoroki-chan will not be captured, then even with myself down here, they could still get 25 points. I understand how much you want to win, but I am not a liability. "Gero," Tsuyu croaked underwater in a disappointed way, bubbles coming out of her mouth and her feet kicking down to swim her back to the surface for a moment.

Maybe I am wrong though, Tsuyu thought while going back down for a dive. It is possible my post here could be to stop them if they take the flag and move around the south side. Pincer them between those chasing and myself. If Reika is already defeated like Midoriya-chan says she is, it is not the worst for me to be here. Things could come down to a final hunt at the end. Even Zach-ch… he couldn't get me down here.

"I really don't think you guys should be up there," Kotsumura said, while looking up at the ceiling above him that he swore shook when Inasa landed on it.

On the west side of the dome, Shiketsu's team was feeling more confident as they prepared their defenses around the flag. The earpieces Zach gave out had a different channel on them that Zach finally switched his helmet's network too. His classmates knew about the backup channel from the start, and they had all gone to it because Bakugo stole one of their earpieces. They only stayed on the channel earlier after Bakugo had taken it to give him a few minutes of thinking he had broken their communications' line before they stopped using it out of fear of him listening. Either way, Bakugo had tinkered around with his own earpiece and came across chatter on another channel by chance when two of his enemies were speaking.

Bakugo listening in to their enemies' chatter on one line was not the only recon their team was managing at the moment though. Near the outskirts of the east side of Shiketsu's base area, Bibi Reina had her head on a swivel and was watching the forest ahead of her closely. She darted her eyes to the left again though in a hesitant way, which her partner at her side noticed and gave her a strange look for. Taiyuro whispered towards the shorter girl with gray hair and long bangs, "What's up?"

"I'm just thinking," Bibi replied softly. "If Todoroki put a huge ice cage around our jail, we wouldn't be able to get anyone else into it."

Taiyuro lifted his eyebrows up, then he turned back and stared out into the forest ahead of them in a focused way. "Well, I hope he doesn't think of that."

"As long as five of the injured and the flag stay inside Kameko's shell," Porrolo continued saying to Kotsumura back on the first floor of their base. "There's no way we could lose. That's an assured 16 points right there and we could only lose 24."

"I'm not so sure," Kotsumura replied, though he kept his voice lower so Kameko would not hear him at his back. "If Zach with just his metal fist can break it, then I think Deku could too…"

"Alright, Imino's definitely not here," Jirou said to her comrades through her new earpiece that the enemies could not be on the channel of. "And I'm hearing them talking about a lot. It seems like Zach's broken through Kameko's shell before, and they think you could do it, Midoriya. Also, someone else mentioned a pretty good idea about putting a huge ice cage around their jail. Keep them from tossing any of us in there. Even if they find a way past it-"

"It would take them longer, enough time that I could get over there," Midoriya finished for her, realizing where Jirou was going with that. When I was going to try and save the others earlier, I would have rushed right past Zach. I should have, but I wouldn't have been fast enough to stop them all from being caught anyway. Next time though I'll have to be, but if Todoroki puts a massive ice block, with some air holes, around our captured classmates then we should be good. I just hope Hagakure doesn't get too cold inside it.

What the hell does "metal fist" mean? Jirou stopped her report and continued listening to her enemies, but she was still unnerved by something Kotsumura mentioned. Do, the others in our class know about that?

That's one hell of a fortress. Why would they leave Mineta as the only guard? Obviously a trap. Too obvious. Too obvious that it's too obvious? Nah.

Midoriya and Bakugo ran around the outer perimeter of the Shiketsu students, Bakugo looking pissed but keeping quiet about it and keeping quiet in general. Their movements were slow as the two of them moving any faster would draw too much attention to themselves. Midoriya slowed and looked around, and he turned to Bakugo with a nod at this area. Bakugo growled and looked angrily at his classmate, "I hate this plan."

"Please Kacchan, stick to the strategy. I know it will work."

"Go," Bakugo said, not going to argue about it but not going to agree with Deku either. Midoriya ran off after what Bakugo said, moving a little faster as he was able to go unlike Bakugo without making too much noise.

Across the arena, Imino Kurinou watched the ice fortress grow with his eyes wide as entire new sections appeared off the corners. Towers formed, and small platforms appeared for the weightless scout who swung on ice poles to make her way around it. Imino listened carefully with his Echolocation, while he scouted out the enemy base that did not look that fortified despite all the ice. They're making it look like an actual fortress. Discourages a head-on struggle. Unfortunately for you, I know how many of you are in there…

Imino's eyes shifted over to his right farther into the forest's center. Only four guard the base. Practically our whole team is back at ours. Then again, four is basically half of their team already. These two would be able to get back over there quickly once Zach starts attacking. That's when I could get them from behind, though then we could possibly lose my tactical strength. Should I just support Zach by telling him their positions and what they're saying?

"Kirishima and Iida both heading towards the northeast in the direction of the first fight's location. Behind them Todoroki's talking to Yaoyorozu…" Imino trailed off as even speaking in a lower voice he was worried about being heard now. He lowered his hand from his earpiece, and he just kept listening in to the two closest to him who were getting closer despite moving on a line that was going to make them move straight past the thicket he was hiding in.

"…I'm ready to take on the rest of those Shiketsus," Kirishima punched his hands together with a pissed look covering his face. "They've got no idea how hard I can get now."

"I am sure they have prepared for an increase in your strength. With Zach at their lead…" Iida's eyes shifted from the small device he was holding down near his waist. He darted his gaze towards some trees densely packed together with foliage around them. His hand in his steel glove lowered down and he clipped the radio tracker Yaoyorozu made for them to his waist. They knew Imino was here from Bakugo and Jirou's combined information, and Yaoyorozu's device made the location that much more specific. Imino had no idea what they were planning.

But Iida trailed off too early. A long-term manipulation like this was unlike him or Kirishima. Iida turned his head and body while the backs of his calves ignited. Imino jumped backwards as he adapted, though Iida was already sprinting forward by that point. Imino got out more smoke pellets though, slamming them down as he was coming down for his own landing. The smoke pellets exploded before Iida could reach him, but Iida had seen them dropping. He scanned his terrain around where he was going all the way to where Imino was landing, and Iida sprinted through the smoke to right behind where Imino should be about to land.

Imino turned his body and lifted his arms, crossing them as the leg covered in steel came flying through his smoke. An Imino-sized hole blew through the smoke all the way into a tree that was already halfway broken-apart. Kirishima's arms finished breaking through it, and he smashed those into Imino's other side as where his arms were blocking. The tree took most of the force of Kirishima's attack, but the redhead still slammed Imino so hard that the breath Imino just tried to gasp in came shooting back out.

Imino hit the ground and bounced, then skid across the dirt and dragged up a bunch of it. The blue-skinned teen kept skidding and then pushed his hands down and flipped himself over, spinning around and facing his opponents who came out of his smoke they intentionally hit him away from already. Imino reached to his waist and pulled out a pair of bat-knives he threw forward at the two who came out and looked towards him. He had a bloody nose and his side ached like hell, and his right leg was wobbly which showed in the strange way he was crouching. Iida and Kirishima both expected more smoke pellets though and so both came sprinting full speed forward at Imino when he reached for his belt.

Iida curved away quickly, then he made for a sharp angle to cut back in at Imino. Kirishima ducked instead, while focusing his hardening on his hands and smirking at his opponent who was actually going to keep fighting them here instead of try to run away. This time against someone real! Not a half-assed copy! Kirishima hated how his fight against Dendo earlier did not even matter, as Dendo could always claim it was only because he was at half power that he lost. Kirishima rushed at Imino, only for the bat-knife that flew past him to glow red in the middle and suddenly pull backwards.

Boomerang, Iida shot back towards Kirishima instead of continuing at Imino, and he slammed his fist into the side of the knife while running past his classmate's back. "They come back around," Iida said, his voice coming out high-pitched and quickly as he continued sprinting around Kirishima and then over towards Imino's right side.

Iida rushed at him from his right side. Kirishima hardened more of his body and made a strong move with his right that showed his curling left fist was what he was really going for. Imino's breath let out in a slow exhale, and he closed his eyes.

"What do I think of you? No, I get what you mean. I'm just surprised… Well, when it comes to Ranking Day, we all know: Not to get in a close fight with Imino."

"Yeah. Your Quirk's one of the weakest in the class. Doesn't stop you though. You never would'a lost to Kotsumura like that, I'll tell you that much…"

"Dude, you kidding me? You nailed Lifebringer with that awesome kick! And we watched him take down the entire Subspace Devils on his own!"

Imino was already in a crouched position, so Iida did not expect him to get any lower than that on a kick that was already swinging around low. Imino flattened out to the ground though in the second Iida's kick was coming around still with the regular flames coming out of his Engines. Iida reacted fast though, and his right leg slammed down on the ground for his left leg to come around this time.

He can't back-heel because the Engines are on his calves. Imino saw how Iida could have gotten a nice kick on him, but Iida was only using kicks that had the power of his Engines behind them and not ones that would smash those hot engines into his opponents as he could too just with slower kicks.

Imino pointed two bat-knives towards Iida's shin, and Iida had to Recipro with his eyes opening wide behind his visor. He used his special move just to dodge, as he almost kicked his leg right into those knives Imino rose up at his even lower kick that he adjusted when Imino first flattened out. The only way to get a powerful kick that low was to crouch himself, and so he was not in a good position to just yank his leg away normally. He had to Reciproburst and kick up in the air which actually took him off of other foot and sent him flying backwards. Iida tried to continue the flip he had started by kicking up that hard, while Imino shot up to his feet and rushed forward at the redhead who did not expect Imino to close in the distance at all.

Kirishima's distracted eyes darted back from a flipping Iida to the teen rushing straight at him. He punched his right fist forward, nearly forgetting that it was a feint in the first place. As he tried to focus on that left fist he had lowered down to his own waist and hardened, ready to punch into Imino's gut, Imino caught the right arm that he dodged towards instead of in from to a spot that would have put him in too easy a position to be hit by that gut punch. Now, Kirishima would have to cross his body with that left hand of his in order to hit Imino, but as he thought about doing that anyway, Imino was wrapping his right arm around Kirishima's extended right so that he could not pull it back. Imino wrapped his left arm around Kirishima's back as he had not stopped running forward, now getting past the point that Kirishima would have been able to punch the left across anyway.

The redhead tried leaning backwards so that he could have that room to punch the left across, but that just worked to Imino's advantage as he slammed his body into Kirishima's right shoulder. The right arm Imino threw around the inside of Kirishima's arm also went around his head, and he locked it in with his left hand that went around Kirishima's side. Kirishima was leaning back while Imino slammed his left foot that he got past Kirishima first behind his own legs. Kirishima felt something blocking his legs as he tried stepping back, while pressure slammed into his shoulder and knocked him backwards over that obstacle behind him. Imino threw his own legs back up as Kirishima started falling, but before they hit the ground hard enough for Imino to take the wind out of his opponent, Kirishima's body hardened to make it so Imino was the one who slammed down on a hard object with his body wrapped around it in an even more painful way.

Kirishima spread his arms with a yell, "RAA!" He kicked up, but Imino leapt backwards with blood coming out of his blue arms anyway from what Kirishima's hardened body just did to him. This is that same timid guy from last year? Kirishima thought while lifting up to one foot and looking ahead of him at the teen who wiped under his bloody nose with a forearm bloody itself so more blood just smeared to the right side of Imino's intense expression. Red Riot and Ingenium. Dendo beat one last year, and Inasa took down the other. Rising heroes. Faces of Class A. It doesn't matter though. Imino felt his confidence soar and his fists balled so much harder at his sides as the right corner of his lip curled up.

Iida had not rushed back in at his opponent yet after watching the way he took Kirishima down there. From the smoke back there earlier, he's the reason we lost half our team. Whatever signal he gave or strategy their class used, it revolved around him. Iida's eyes narrowed on his opponent who was more impressive than he already thought. "Kirishima, go for his left and I will-"

Imino dropped smoke pellets, flicking them off his fingers at the end so they would not just drop with gravity which wouldn't be enough against Ingenium. "Now!" Kirishima yelled before Iida could finish, seeing those pellets fall just like his classmate did. The two of them sprinted forward and judged Imino's reactions before the smoke could erupt around them.

Kirishima jumped up and watched the smoke move backwards while it was still pluming up and before it covered his face. He brought both hands up in fists and came down hard in front of where he thought Imino would be, smashing his hands into the ground and cracking the dirt with swings hard enough to swirl down all the smoke after him. The smoke cleared a bit, showing Iida the form of Imino who tried to dodge to the left after seeing that his form was visible in the light cover of smoke. Not enough! Imino grabbed out more smoke pellets, but he grit his teeth as he was at the bottom of that next pouch and only had a couple to toss. He was quick to pop the third pouch while throwing the last of the second at Iida, but Iida sprinted through the smoke that exploded around him and he brought a knee up at Imino.

The Shiketsu student's left hand that just released those pellets snapped down to where he heard that leg coming up harder, and his hand pressed down on the top of Iida's knee. Flames shot out of Iida's right Engine, kicking the bottom of his leg up and nailing Imino in the gut so hard he skid to the edge of his smoke. Iida was chasing right after him, and Imino knew his silhouette was still too clear near that edge that he could be seen by his enemies. There was so much thick smoke in front of him, but moving closer to them while they were both running his way like this was not going to give him any time to come up with a plan or dodge. Instead he pulled out nearly half of his third pouch with his right hand gripping around all the pellets so hard that some exploded in the pouch and already started to engulf him in smoke.

A massive plume of smoke erupted around Imino, and Iida yelled out in a booming voice for Kirishima, "RECIPRO-" His calves glowed bright blue out of his exhaust ports, and Iida planted his left leg so hard in the ground it cracked around him. "BURSTO!" His body spun like a top because of how fast his right leg moved around him, sucking in all the smoke in the vicinity so the explosion turned into more of a spinning pillar around Iida's body and shooting up into the sky over the canopies.

Imino's head snapped to the left and his body ducked down as Kirishima leapt at him and punched his right fist forward. Imino did not try to use the same attack as before, though he spun away from the punch and tried punching back. Kirishima did not even flinch though as Imino pulled back at the last second to not destroy his knuckles, and he leapt backwards instead as Kirishima's hardened face ran into his fist. As he was landing, Kirishima punched his left as he had run to where Imino was coming down. The two of them were face-to-face and close quarters, and Imino leaned away but only far enough that Kirishima's left hand left a bloody mark across the right side of Imino's face.

Imino kicked his right leg up at Kirishima's left side, and Kirishima hardened only to still skid a few feet away as the steel boot Imino had on packed more of a punch than he was expecting. Kirishima stopped his skid and pushed forward to sprint right back at his opponent, making sure not to let him pull out smoke pellets with that short distance he had gained between them. Imino knew that would be Kirishima's idea though, and he sprinted forward an instant before Kirishima started, his momentum increasing while Kirishima's eyes widened for a moment. The redhead had fast reaction times too though, and his right hand hardened and punched forward as Imino's fist was coming for him. Imino leaned his body away, and he redirected his punch as Kirishima changed the aim so he still would have been hit in the chest anyway.

Their fists collided instead. Imino pushed into it, but Kirishima pushed back into the sound of cracking knuckles and blood splashing out from Imino's fist. Imino reeled backwards and yanked his arm up while trying to twist his body away, but Kirishima followed-through the splashing blood and hit Imino in the right side of his chest with a blow that sent him stumbling backwards and barely maintaining his footing. Imino's left hand snapped down to his waist, as despite his panting, he needed a bat knife now as he saw the hole break through the smoke funnel Iida was inside of. Kirishima grit his teeth but the corners of his lips pulled up despite his enemy remaining on his feet. "Alright then!" Kirishima yelled, and he sprinted forward like Iida at their Shiketsu opponent whose legs shook for a second only to steady while his hands gripped around smoke pellets and a bat knife.

"LET'S DO THIS!" Imino shouted right back twice as loudly as Kirishima, his own lips curling up despite the blood coming down the right side of his face and dripping off his knuckles.

Across the arena back at Shiketsu's base, a huge explosion just went off on the south side of it that had three Shiketsu's being blown back from the wind and force of the explosion alone.

"Bakugo's back!"

"All of you, go!" Inasa shouted at the others around him.

"What about you?"

"It's probably a diversion," Inasa replied, his expression still calm despite how much he wanted to go fight Bakugo right now.

The others nodded at their powerful classmate, and then they all ran off to leave him and Kameko alone with the flag. It was not three seconds after they started running off that the base's back wall came blowing apart towards Imino and Kameko's Tortoise Fortress that grew larger in a sudden defense. Spikes emerged from it in the direction of the breaking wall, but the figure who smashed through that wall bent his knees and pulled his right hand down as a fist at his side. If Zach can do it…

"SMASH!"

Inasa had pulled in all his wind to push that debris away from him and directed much of it around where he knew Kameko's face was on the outer plating of his shell. He tried to redirect. Midoriya was too fast.

"AHHH!" Kameko bellowed in an agonized voice. His hands came out of the top of his shell, and he jumped up from the feet holes on the bottom of it. Despite the agony he was in, he ran forward in his suddenly shrinking shell towards where the flag was laying on the bottom of it. Midoriya spun around so fast that the shockwave from his turn sent Kameko flying to the opposite side of his shell though. Deku picked up the flag and flew back out the hole he just made in the shell.

BAM! Midoriya's body smashed into the ground right after he got out of the shell.

"JUST TRY TO MOVE!" Inasa roared down, having to be heard over the sound of a gale force smashing everything around them apart. "EVER HEARD OF A CATEGORY 6 HURRICANE?! WELL YOU'VE GOT ONE SMASHING ON TOP OF YOUR HEAD-" Inasa stopped shouting, focusing instead on pinpointing Whirlwind even more exactly down on Deku's back. He was able to direct it so perfectly because he knew where Deku was going to escape from, and Midoriya had a visible tunnel of huge wind force slamming on his back and pushing him deeper and deeper into the hole Inasa's wind had created in the ground below their breaking base.

"Get Kameko out of here!" Inasa yelled to his side as a classmate dared to get close to the breaking wall. Roger ran in and grabbed their shrunken classmate who was moaning and trying to get up on their own, and the American teen sprinted out the other side and dove for cover as the walls broke apart and pulled towards that huge hurricane Inasa had condensed into a single point.

"SUPER MOVE! SKYFALL!" Inasa slammed both of his hands down. Even though Midoriya's arms were curling up, his body pushing up above them, his whole form flinched and lost half of the distance he had raised as the wind pushing on his back intensified twice as hard. Inasa stopped focusing on the rest of the base as there was no one left in it, which was a good thing as the entire building came down with debris pulling into the wind funnel and getting ripped apart by the powerful winds slamming onto Midoriya's back so powerfully that his costume could no longer take it.

I have to get up. Midoriya's right hand was still curled around the shaft of the flag, and he pushed down harder with that fist and with his other hand that was open with all of his fingers dug into the ground. His right knee slid up the cracking ground, as chunks of ceiling slammed down on his sides and broke apart. One big piece smashed down into his back and the debris got pushed into him harder, but it was turning to dust before breaking through his body as he flooded himself with One For All. His other knee skid up, and his elbows unbent again after buckling for a second as Inasa powered-up his Super Move. Even more force came down on him and he heard Inasa yelling over all of it. I just, need to get out from underneath, Midoriya changed his strategy, and his left hand that was already curled at the fingers started pushing up harder than the rest of his body that looked closer to buckling now as he put all his strength there.

Midoriya pushed up hard with his left hand, his fingers bouncing off the ground and his arm rising for long enough that his hand was able to curl into a fist. Inasa saw it and tried to adjust- and Midoriya's fist smashed down into the ground and blew apart a hole Inasa's crater had nothing on. His small half-punch from already on the ground created five huge cracks that split off from him out through the lawns around the collapsing building. Parts of that building blew to the sides too from the force of the Smash that had most of the teachers staring at the cameras gawking as well, as all the cameras they had been watching through were destroyed.

A section of the lawn between two of the cracks lifted up, and Kotsumura and Porrolo looked left and right before sprinting as fast as they could towards the ledge ahead of them. They dove off before the section rose any higher, though just a little higher was the highest it would get before breaking in five different sections and falling apart back down to the same level. Kotsumura looked over his shoulder as he got back up, staring past Porrolo still down on his knees who was looking back himself. "Geez," the blond muttered, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. And I thought that attack Inasa was using was devastating. "Guess it's a good thing Manzo took the injured away."

Shiketsu's base had been completely destroyed. Over the crumbled ruins of it floated Inasa who scanned his eyes across the rubble searching for the movement of the most powerful teen below it. He rose his arms to start moving the debris- then a hole smashed in one large chunk of wall. Deku flew out of it and right between Porrolo and Kotsumura who turned inwards in shock only to see each other as that blur was gone already. The gust of wind then slammed into them, and then they heard Inasa's warning yell, "DUCK!" They turned back and then dropped flat to the floor, as half of their destroyed base came flying their way and smashed through trees as Inasa chased after Deku. Neither of the others were fast enough to see it, but Inasa had seen the flag firmly held in Deku's hand as he made that bee-line away.

After Inasa had flown over them, the two teens in Shiketsu finally got back up to their feet in a steady way again. "Well, that's not good-" Kotsumura started.

KA-BOOM! The two of them turned back the other way from the path of fallen trees leading away from them. They looked to another side of their fallen base, where a giant explosion was followed by the sounds of their classmates' screams. Porrolo grimaced but started moving that direction, muttering under his breath, "Neither is that."

I'm no decoy. You get the ten points, Deku. I'll get the other fifteen.

Around the same time that Midoriya and Bakugo started their attack on Shiketsu's base, only seconds after actually, Zach sprinted at U.A.'s base. "Zach's here!" Mineta yelled, his face covered in panic and fear as Zach came out from behind a tree much too close to him that he would have thought he would notice Zach getting behind in the first place.

Zach leapt over a fallen trunk and he adjusted in midair to not fall where the Pop-Offs were hidden around the lawn. He had watched Mineta set up half of these anyway, but he was still cautious of others he might not have seen planted. Mineta expected Zach to be able to dodge the one he left there though, and he aimed in the spots Zach was coming down. He threw his Pop-Offs while stepping backwards closer to the ice fortress at his back. "Make me a door!" Mineta yelled in fear.

Mineta was cautious with his throws, aiming specifically at locations he thought Zach to be dodging to. Zach did not appear cautious at all. He sprinted forward straight at Mineta with only the most minimal dodges to either side, his body mainly just leaning to one side or the other. Mineta's eyes widened and he pulled off way more Pop-Offs that he threw in a flurry at Zach. It's seemingly in panic, Zach thought, as several of those attacks were missing him and he knew how Mineta could only use a certain amount. But you're better than that. I can see you're aiming, and you look more panicked than you are.

The purple balls were all around Zach, and suddenly there were two on line to hit him that he could not dodge without getting the ones on his sides stuck to him. Zach punched both fists forward, one at his neck level and the other just below the left side of his chest. Mineta's eyes opened huge as his purple Pop-Offs stuck to Zach's fists, and Zach did not slow down at all. Mineta picked up the pace and threw faster, but Zach sprinted closer and weaved better without getting hit again. He let himself get hit?! WHY!? Mineta really was panicking now as Zach so easily let himself get hit, something that to Mineta had felt like it would have been a win in itself if he could have just stuck Zach.

Mineta pulled off a cluster more and threw them at Zach's face, and Zach slid down below the whole cluster without slowing down. He rose out of the slide in a crouch just in front of Mineta who pulled his upper body back in so much fear as Zach rose up with the right corner of his lips curling up and both fists punching forward. He double-punched Mineta straight in the chest. Since Mineta bounced off his own Pop-Offs, the balls pressed into Mineta's chest and then sent him flying backwards super fast. "AHH-Guh-" Mineta let out a grunt of pain as he smashed into the wall of ice behind him.

Zach flicked his hands to the sides. The Pop-Offs came off his knuckles that had turned into darkness there for a second. There was so much precision in it that when the darkness faded his gloves were still there perfectly fine, having turned to darkness as well with only the thinnest veil between Zach's body and the balls falling away when he flicked those Pop-Offs off of him. Zach walked up to the ice fortress, and then his body surrounded in a black aura from head to toe right as he saw the ice start moving in front of him.

Todoroki froze and held back. Zach did not. He smashed his fists forward and broke holes in the ice, and he smashed again and again with his arms moving in a flurry, darkness pouring out of his back and slamming him forward faster so that each punch did more damage. Zach pounded his way through the outer layer into a gap, then he stopped and looked towards the doors and the stairs behind them where ice just filled up the entire path in his way. He turned his head to the right and ran around the inner front of the building, crossing his arms in front of him and smashing through a wall of ice and stone behind it that was thinner than the thick path of ice Todoroki just put in front of him to slow him down.

The ceiling above Zach glowed, and he dove forward right before a pillar of flames shot down through the roof. The flames vanished quickly, and the entire roof above Zach's head became frozen with ice. Ice pillars dropped off of that ceiling all over the room to support the floor above. The thickest pillar of ice formed below where that hole in the ceiling was though that Todoroki created himself by firing a pillar of flames down. Zach looked around the ceiling above him, and the whole building shook again while he stared up. Creating a hole to the roof. He didn't make one earlier because I could have dropped in from above. They all know I can fly. Zach's eyes were red and they darted straight to where he thought the hole all the way to the roof was. He crouched down and the bottoms of his boots glowed blue, as did the bottom of his jetpack out all four holes on the back of his costume there. He pointed his palms down at his sides with blue light glowing from them, and he saw the warning for his energy readings hitting the max on his visor at what he was planning. Six wings ripped out of Zach's back, and a point of darkness formed above his head and started hardening while at the same time spinning around.

Uraraka's up there. She already has the flag and is getting out of here. Todoroki's going to stop me on the floor above. So before he freezes the hole he just created. While she's still in that hole and rising up back to the roof. Zach broke through the floor with a spinning drill of Death over the top of his head that broke apart along with the ice and ceiling. Zach needed more speed, as the layer of ice below the ceiling was nothing compared to how thick the ice layer over the second floor already was. All four of his bottom wings flapped down like the top two just did, and his energy readings soared and hit max potential with his helmet filling with a ringing as he sped up to dodge the flames Todoroki fired towards him between the exploding ice and stone and Death.

Zach pointed his left hand up, and he fired a blast of blue light at the ice wall behind Uraraka who was turning to the side towards him. The beam came close to her face and made her flinch in fear. Then the ice behind her exploded outwards at her back and slammed her with a few ice chunks, forcing her to drop the flag that she was holding in her left hand while climbing as fast as she could with Zero Gravity. He let Uraraka drop while flying up himself with flag in hand, and Todoroki had to cut off his own attacks to create an ice slide for the girl instead to get her safely to the side.

No escape. Todoroki knew that by the time he got Uraraka to safety, Zach would already be out of the fortress. So while he was using his ice to pull her to one side, he used it at the same time to close up the hole at the top of the fortress where the tunnel he just made ended. Todoroki pointed his left hand down below him at the same time, and with a jet of flames below him he rose after Zach even faster than Zach had just been flying up.

The tunnel closed in above Zach. Todoroki rose up from below him. Zach turned to the wall next to him and smashed through while leaving a thin net of darkness in the tunnel just below his feet where that veil emerged from. Todoroki's tunnel might have only been as wide as the flames he shot up through it, but the top of the fortress was wider than the section rising to that top section. He was in a more narrow part of the ice fortress that was already weaker having lost its core structural stability. Zach smashed through the wall like he did the first one outside of the building, and he flapped the only two wings behind him now that had a much wider wingspan, to send him down towards the forest so he was able to duck down below the huge beam of fire that flew out after him.

The teachers who had just stared in shock at the massive Smash Midoriya just made, pulled back as a beam of flames flew all the way across the dome and hit the glass just above them to the left. Bakugo set off huge explosions down below them to the south side of Shiketsu's destroyed base, Todoroki's Half-Cold Half-Hot seemed like the best of both offense and defense, and Midoriya had just escaped from Inasa's Super Move with barely a scratch on him as he continued running back towards his own side of the dome. And despite all of that, the score was still 9-0 for Shiketsu, and although the U.A.'s now had Shiketsu's flag, Zach had U.A.'s flag as well.

Zach sprinted out into the forest back towards the west side of the dome. He ran straight but with the occasional serpentine to one side, his body barely covered in Death anymore as he did not want to leave an easy-to-follow black trail through the woods. His eyes did dart to his side and up in the air though, as he saw Todoroki flying through the air with his left hand pointed behind him and a wave of ice constantly moving ahead of his feet. It was like he was on a slide of ice that appeared wherever he went, and he was flying along it as fast as Zach was running with his leg joints surrounded in darkness and the blue lights on his shoulder-blades speeding him up even more.

Todoroki was not the only one giving chase, and Zach darted his eyes to his right as a huge chunk of ice just came falling out of the air and broke down several trees. Uraraka too, Zach thought, glancing behind him back towards the fortress where Uraraka grabbed two huge pieces of ice that weighed nothing, and threw them forward like they were baseballs. She returned the weight to them, and those slow moving weightless objects skyrocketed in speed as they flew down towards where she thought Zach was running. Not even worried about me being alright, Zach thought, as a huge ice chunk broke down four trees ahead of him. Smart.

Trees ripped out from their roots and flew into other trees near where Midoriya was running. He dove through one tree as trees were moving to either side of it to block him in and corner him, then he had to quickly redirect with a flick of his whole left hand out to his left side. Inasa knew he would go through that tree and had another huge blast of wind coming down in the spot right behind it that Midoriya only just avoided. A huge hole blew apart in the ground where Midoriya would have been had he kept going straight. Midoriya flicked behind him this time and sped up even more away from Inasa before even landing, where his feet picked up and moved him fast again though his flying enemy tried to keep up…

Midoriya's head turned to the left.

Zach's head turned to his own left.

The boys running on each other's lefts saw their counterpart holding a flag, Midoriya's a blue one that was ripped and in tatters, and Zach's a pristine red one taken without any damage to it. The back of Midoriya's costume was ripped up, revealing a scar on it that Zach remembered him getting back at Breakneck's lab against an enemy they still had out there. Wind and ice and now flames all came down at the same spot in the woods, and Zach turned around.

Midoriya bent his knees and shot off as fast as he could back for his own base. He's coming back around. They want a shut-out! Midoriya realized their plan in the moment Zach turned. Then he realized as he was nearing his own base, NO! That's exactly- damn it! Midoriya spun, but he cursed and he turned his head towards the direction of his own jail.

After Zach turned to make it out like he was attacking Midoriya first, he spun right back around and continued for his own side of the arena. "Inasa! Turn back!" Zach called up over his head at his classmate who was speeding through the air like a blur and barely heard that order.

Inasa slowed down and he glared forward towards a boy with half white and half red hair who stopped on top of his ice slide. That slide snaked around the east side of the arena with support pillars breaking off below it every so often that it stayed up looking like a roller coaster. Todoroki's flames stopped coming out of his left hand, and his eyes narrowed towards Inasa, his real body this time. The trees between them had ignited with the fire blast Todoroki shot when he knew he had seen where Zach was in the woods. Inasa floated up higher from those flames and the smoke they were giving off, then he shot backwards towards his own base while at the same time creating a wind that pushed those flames to the east and ignited another dozen trees.

"Bakugo. Get out of there. Everyone's heading back to you," Todoroki warned. He did not pull back himself yet, instead glaring after his opponents who were drawing him in too close to their base. His eyes shifted up towards the scoreboard over the west side of the arena where the black wall rose up higher with their teachers inside that spectators' room.

"And why do you know that?" Bakugo growled in a low voice. "You shouldn't be out of the base. As long as the flag's still there?" Bakugo growled the last part in a darker, angrier voice directed at Todoroki.

Todoroki's fists clenched shamefully and in fury at how quickly Zach had swept in and out of their base without him being able to stop it. "It was Zach," Midoriya's voice filled their earpieces.

That's no excuse, Todoroki thought, even angrier at himself that Midoriya would give him an out because of that. He's the only one it really matters against. What if that was a hostage and Zach… Or what if it was, something important that he just took from me. Todoroki was able to focus on that "something," even though trying to imagine it as a real situation with Zach and then picturing it as a hostage did not fit well in his mind. An already captured villain, Todoroki finally corrected in his head while heading back towards his base. In his head he saw a fleeing villain screaming out in fear, running for the woods as the black ball of Death came down at his back, as Zach roared how none of them could flee. He saw that man's face as he died in so much fear, and his head turned a bit with his eyes glaring so darkly back the direction of the other team's base.

"Everyone surround the jail with me. Bakugo's going to be coming to stop me," Zach ordered his classmates through their comms.

Zach sprinted for the jail, and he was cautious as he got close as he doubted what he just said would actually stop Bakugo from coming for him. No, it wasn't me, Zach thought after considering it for a moment as he came into the clearing and saw only comrades with no Bakugo around them. Whatever caused Bakugo not to come this way, Zach did not fool himself into thinking it was that half-assed effort at the end. He let out a heavy breath to stop panting, then he jogged towards the base with his head on a swivel watching what was around him.

"We lost another six of us fighting Bakugo," Porrolo said while running up to Zach near the front of the cage.

Zach tossed the flag towards the open door of the cage where a few of their enemies were standing. They were not allowed out of there as was one of the few rules the teachers gave them at the start of the training, so Shiketsu just left their gate open. Even though in reality they would not be able to do something like that, they had already decided that being put in the cage meant someone was dead. They were treating it like that for their own classmates, and even though if they were capturing villains it would not be like that too, it was hard to take it seriously the idea that their captured opponents would be free to move around and use their Quirks at this stage.

"Oh man," Hagakure looked down at the flag that landed in front of her.

BRRRINNG!

BRRRINNG!

As soon as the first flag-capture noise was made, another one rang out through the arena. Only those who had been watching the scoreboard like Todoroki saw the score go to 19-0 for a second before changing up to 19-10. The U.A. students feeling dejected at the sight of such a bad shut-out suddenly felt hopeful again as their team captured Shiketsu's flag.

Zach already expected their own flag's capture when he saw Midoriya in the woods, and he was on top of the new situation already. He had seen himself being in this spot for a minute now. In front of all his remaining comrades with the need for an adjustment to their plan in order to reach that necessary 25-point mark. I went all out with the power I have on me right now. I should drop Limiter 1 to fight Midoriya next time. Too much Death though and his attacks are going to send gusts too strong in every direction. No, it's too risky. Even with it dropped though, Midoriya's too strong and could blow it all away and I'm sure that's his strategy. It's on me to hold back Death and not on him. I absolutely can't expect him to not go all out against me just because my Death could hurt others. That's exactly why he's going all out. Todoroki too. He's worried that while controlling his ice if he hits me while I have Death if it will affect him. It's possible, but as long as he's expanding the ice or the flames from behind the point that hits me I don't think it should hurt him. It's smart of him to be cautious, but I needed to move fast while he was still showing that caution, before things seemed too dire for him. Where was Momo during all of that? I moved in fast and escaped fast. She was probably just on another section of the fortress and was never able to attack me. Moved from the flag so Todoroki could use AOE attacks-

Ding.

The Shiketsu class was recovering their bearings at their jail. Different classmates of Zach's were telling him about their situation: their destroyed base, their downed comrades, and their ideas for the next strategy. None of that mattered anymore. All of the Shiketsus rose their heads back up and stared at the scoreboard in shock, as the score was now 19-11. Zach's bottom lip lowered a centimeter and his heart sped up, his cut-off thoughts filling with the name, Imino.

On the east side of the domed training area, Kirishima and Iida had arrived right after Midoriya slid the flag through the bars of the cage. They pushed Imino into the cage that he was still weakly struggling away from, then Kirishima finally slashed the binds on him and let out a heavy breath. "Damn man," Kirishima muttered. He shook his head and then said in an impressed way, "Nice fight."

Imino stayed where he was sitting on the ground, his head bowed and a sad look spread over his face as he heard that ding echo across the mock battleground. "Hey," Kirishima said to the blue-skinned teen who did not look alright with that look on his face. "You need Recovery Girl or something?" The redhead wondered.

"No," Imino said, though his voice cracked as he said it, and he had to raise his right arm up to his face and rub it over his eyes.

"Imino?! Was that you?"

"Imino!"

Iida listened to the tone of the voices shouting in his ear in confusion. He now had the same earpiece as Bakugo who was up in a tree closer to the west side of the arena though he had stopped his assault for now. "Did you all think you were going to win without losing a single classmate?" Iida questioned their new prisoner in front of them who sat up more after rubbing his eyes hard there for a second. "You really believed-"

"We did," Imino said. His voice was steadier than when it cracked a moment ago. He rose his gaze to his three enemies on the other side of the cage bars all looking in at him. "Because right now, I'm dead. I just-" Imino shook his head at the weird ways they were looking at him. "You don't get it." His eyes hardened and Imino pulled himself up onto his knees, and he leaned forward with a determined look. "Every one of us is treating this like to be captured means we died, and allowing our comrades get captured means we let them die too. You don't have a chance at winning here." Imino finally lifted a corner of his lip into a smile again, not going to get dejected because of this as he hoped the rest of his class wouldn't. He stared down his opponents who were looking at him with wide-eyes at how determined he was while saying this seemingly simple thing. "Because our resolve to not lose a single other comrade, is much stronger than yours."

"Oh you think so?!" Kirishima shouted.

Iida just pulled back more at the glint in Imino's eyes, the determined expression even from one of their already captured opponents. Did Zach do this? Was this his plan? He, made them all believe something like that?

"I don't accept that," Midoriya replied. Imino's look faltered, and Midoriya's classmates turned to him too. They saw he was taking it as seriously as Iida who was realizing how much of a difference this made, while also denying what Imino said just like Kirishima. "I have a new plan," Midoriya said while tapping his earpiece in a more focused and determined way than anytime else throughout the training. "Everyone listen up. They really did plan on winning without losing a single classmate. Not winning without losing any points, just keeping their whole class in it…"

On the west side of the dome, a girl limped forward up to Zach in as strong a way as she could, which meant her limp was still very noticeable. "I can take Imino's spot," Himazuri offered.

"No way," Dendo said, stepping forward and making the shorter girl glance towards him to see him frowning at her in disagreement but also worry at the way she looked. He had just been facing off against Bakugo and did not look much better, but he turned to Zach and said in a firm voice, "We can't send anyone out alone right now. Especially not with Jirou still out there somewhere listening to our plans. That must be how they found Imino."

"We shouldn't use our comms either," Hisashi said, even though he was saying it over one of the few communications' devices they had left for their team anyway. "With Reika and Imino both losing theirs, they could have figured out the channels and are still listening in."

Bakugo and Iida heard Hisashi's concern over the sound of Midoriya's plan, and Iida relayed what he just heard to their primary tactician. Yaoyorozu chimed in herself with an addition, but Midoriya just accepted that part of it and then continued on with the plan he was coming up with that the remainder of his team listened in closely to.

Zach was not as quickly spoken as his counterpart on U.A.'s side. Even now. Even after everything, I still lost someone. How do I do that? Why didn't I realize it? I focused on the flag while Imino was closeby fighting Kirishima and Iida. Even if Death wouldn't work on either of them, the two of us together could have taken them. With Bakugo attacking our base, Todoroki guarding theirs, and Midoriya running back with the flag, we would've gotten away cleanly. We still would have been in the lead at 11-10. And holding the lead doesn't matter! All that mattered was winning with everyone still alive, and I failed. I let everyone down…

Zach rose his gaze and stared at the classmates closest to him who were still giving him information and suggesting theories for what their opponents were going to do and plans for what they should do to counter them. Even though I lost someone. Even though I told them I wouldn't let any of them die- Did I say that? Did I make that promise, today? I said it was possible. I told them we could do it, and we could have! But, but I failed to make that into a reality. And yet, Zach looked into Dendo's eyes, and Dendo stopped speaking for a second while looking back confusedly at him.

"What do you think?" Dendo asked, talking about the plan he was just suggesting to their team leader and the top ranked of their Class 1.

They still follow me. Even when I don't believe I have the right to lead anymore, they know it, and I trust that they know it. They know that I'm still the best for this job. And as long as I still see that trust in their expressions, Zach's gaze hardened and he nodded at Dendo. I have to lead to the bitter end.

"Alright, everyone listen up-" Zach started.

"Midoriya's here!" Hisashi shouted.

He and two other classmates were the outer perimeter guarding their current base. His body transformed and he stepped forward, and Midoriya appeared on his right side and punched forward before his head had even started turning to him. "Whoa!" Roger yelled as Hisashi's whole body slammed to the side and almost hit him.

"HELP!" Jaime called out behind her for their classmates who were not that far away.

"W-Wait!" Roger yelled the other direction. Jaime spun around, and her eyes opened wide as she saw Hisashi's large body being dragged back through the woods too fast for either her or Roger to chase.

Other Shiketsu students came running forward, and Zach yelled towards them, "What happened?"

"Deku just hit-and-ran! He took Hisashi!"

"We have to go after him!" Inasa yelled down.

"NO!" Zach yelled back up.

Everyone looked towards Zach in shock at that belayed order. "They just figured out what's happening after getting Imino! Bringing us close to their jail is exactly what Midoriya wants so there's not as much of a distance between where he catches us and has to take us back to!"

"What are you talking about?! He's not that far!" Dendo yelled right at Zach who he stomped up to with a furious look. "We're going to lose him!"

"We are!" Zach yelled right back, and Dendo's eyes opened huge at Zach's yell straight into his face.

The others stared over at the two of them with wide eyes too. They were already stunned that Hisashi was the one taken so quickly like that. One of the strongest in their class whisked away like it was nothing for Deku, the same person who had destroyed their base and stolen their flag. Zach spoke loudly at all his comrades around him before that panic could fester anymore within them, "Deku knows he's faster than anyone, so his new plan is to go around grabbing us and dragging us to their jail as fast as he can! He's going to take us all down like that with support from the rest!"

"How do you know-"

"Because it's a plan I thought of earlier too!" Zach yelled right back over at Himazuri who had not been able to read Deku's mind. Even if she had tried, which she did not because of shock and because of who it was, he had come in and out so fast she doubted she would have heard a single full coherent thought. She stared at Zach in surprise though from where she came up behind, having been slower than most of the rest of her classmates. A loud Ding rang out across the dome making so many of the Shiketsu glare angrily at Zach, but they eased up at the bared teeth of their classmate as he heard that noise too. They listened to him instead as he called out, "Rushing around taking them all out and bringing them back to jail? It's an exact plan I had, and I knew the only ones who could do something like that were Deku and myself! I didn't think he would do it, but I have a counter-strategy for if he does too-"

"What is it?!" Inasa yelled down, though he was keeping his eyes peeled ahead of him ready to stop any high-speed people about to fly out of the woods up at him for a single blow knock-out.

Zach took in a deep breath, and then he yelled out at everyone, "Scatter! Capture the U.A.'s and bring them to our jail!"

"Splitting up instead of staying in a group at a time like this-" Porrolo began.

"That doesn't matter to Deku! He'll just pick us off or carry us all in a group, and if we don't keep attacking to only stay on defense then we'll lose this anyway! We have to keep getting points or they'll catch up in a minute!"

Inasa lowered down closer to the ground and stared towards Zach's face with his expression shaken at this strategy. He still doesn't want us fighting Deku? Even here, at the endgame? Is this the end, or is he still making plans to prepare us for later and when the final fights come? Inasa did not know, but he started nodding his head at what Zach shouted around at all his comrades who could still fight.

"…Use your strengths and split up so the tides can't be flipped in a second! This is a last ditch strategy I had, which means they're feeling pressed! To rush around their enemies haphazardly to take them all down. It's what we need to go for now too though, to reach that 25 points before our opponents!" Zach stopped giving out commands as his classmates finally listened and started splitting up, sprinting away before Midoriya could get back over there.

Jirou finished relaying information and then turned to run away herself, as she heard Himazuri turn and start heading her direction and did not know how long it would be before she was caught in that mind reader's range. I hate hearing his stupid voice… but I can't deny, he's impressive… But fuck him! Damn it. "Midoriya, get back over here quicker. They're completely on to your plan."

"That doesn't mean they can stop it," Midoriya replied while heading back towards his own jail, another Shiketsu student in hand who was conscious but too shocked and disoriented to do anything as she moved faster than she ever had through the forest.

This strategy is harder for us, Zach thought as he ran through the woods on his own away from all his classmates. He led by example, not taking a single person along with him as he sprinted away. Because we have more classmates so since both flags are taken, our team could only lose half and still lose. Only half? A frustrated look crossed Zach's face and he cursed under his breath. I don't want to lose anyone else- "Fuck." Ding. His curse came out at the same time as the dinging noise that filled the dome. He did not need to check the scoreboard to know which team had lost someone. He can't grab me or I use Death on him, but he knows that. If Jirou's around here she can alert him to wherever I am from a far enough distance that I wouldn't be able to catch her surveilling from.

The most range of anyone in this dome. Keeping our opponents off our comms' lines barely matters when she can hear our voices from the earpiece of a single classmate. It's why having earpieces for everyone wouldn't have been ideal even from the start. But even without going for it as a direct strategy, they disrupted our communications from the start with Bakugo's attack that took out Reika. The level of normal Class A students is already at the highest they could be, but there are a select few who are above even the tops of the hero world and my comrades can't keep up with them! But, to have lost three of them now- Ding. He's too fast! Then, I have to counter with increased speed of my own.

Inasa Yoarashi flew threw the air of the dome towards the south side of the arena. He was all on his own and heading far from the northwest side where his jail was along with most of his classmates who had not made it very far from there yet. Manzo was hidden in another section with over half of their class who could not fight anymore, and their enemies now had four of them captured too. Inasa could see the scores on both scoreboards across from each other in the room, but he knew those scores meant nothing even if they were still holding their lead. The teams are about even right now. We still have our top three and they have theirs. They have Jirou though. New comms with Yaoyorozu able to make more at any time. And let's face it, Deku's the strongest in this dome right now. He took Skyfall at full power for ten seconds and got out of there still strong enough to be taking us out one by one like it's sport for him.

Well you're not the only one with a crazy power gap in here, Imino brought back up his smile and he stopped flying over the southern section of the dome. He looked down with an idea based on Zach's counter, I wonder if Deku predicted it. If he knew how we would respond, then he would have needed enough classmates to keep in it until the end. Inasa rose up his arms, and he emptied out the entire lake down below him into the air. Huge gusts of his Whirlwind cut chunks of the lake off and dropped it back down, and he lost more and more of the lake as a single figure inside the water swam back and forth avoiding the huge gusts of wind surrounding her.

Asui shot through the water from one side opposite Inasa all the way to the side he was on in an instant. She emerged from the water like a missile, and her tongue snapped out of her mouth even faster than she was going. Her tongue flew straight out at Inasa and came within centimeters of his grinning face, before a gust flew at the side of it in that instant before it was going to hit him. The wind sent her tongue flying off to the side with Tsuyu unable to yank it back at him. Her own body was spun around and around in the air, and a tornado of wind appeared below Inasa to send him back towards his jail on the other side of the room much too fast for anyone besides Deku to give chase if they did see him.

Ding. Ding Ding.

"Zach's at our base!" Uraraka shouted.

"Keep him there as long as you can!" Deku shouted, not changing his own strategy for the chance to go after Zach. Bakugo ground his teeth, but he also blasted explosions behind him to head a different direction back in the training grounds instead of towards their own base and a fight he wanted to have. The two he just tossed inside the jail with the one Midoriya got were burnt and unconscious unlike the student who Midoriya just grabbed and ran back through the arena holding without stopping.

Good, he's not coming back here, Zach thought while listening in with Mineta's second earpiece now in his own right ear. His visor was pushed up on his black hair with the helmet receded back inside it, showing Uraraka his hazel eyes that flashed red before he bounced over to the right and then to the ceiling then the floor. His moves were familiar, his movements just like Deku's fighting style that caused Uraraka to stare in extra surprise at the appearance of. Then Zach bounced straight at her, and he punched the chunk of wall to pieces as she threw it at him and tried to return its weight. The weight only came back after Zach had punched it, and debris flew at Uraraka to make her pull her arms up to defend herself- Zach slammed his left foot into Uraraka's stomach and sent her flying backwards and then rolling across the entire floor.

Zach thought about the last time they played capture the flag together. Last time he had been on Mineta's team and Uraraka was his enemy, but he remembered the fight between the two of them being much closer back then. The small moment of nostalgia pushed away as he remembered the sounds of those last three dings that came in rapid succession. 17-19. Two is enough though.

Zach ignored the voice he heard calling out to him from above. She has a plan to stop me. He flew back out of a hole he smashed in U.A.'s base and wings flapped out of his back as he held Mineta and Uraraka close to his chest.

Inasa rushed back towards their team's jail with Tsuyu stuck in a wind funnel behind him. He was seconds away from reaching it, when a mountain of ice rose up around the jail they were approaching. Todoroki rose up a giant mountain with his eyes locked straight on with Inasa whose winds were moving too fast for him to have heard Asui's warning behind him in the second wind funnel he had moving with his own. Inasa looked down to the front of the jail where Todoroki was standing alone, as the rest of the Shiketsus had all scattered from around there.

Todoroki did not just create the ice mountain to stop Inasa, as it was part of Midoriya's plan to use the strategy Jirou relayed back to them. Todoroki created a cage around Shiketsu's cage to prevent them from carrying out the same strategy Midoriya and Bakugo were currently attempting around the dome. Deku was being more effective about it, but Todoroki did hear Bakugo's voice in the background of Midoriya and Uraraka's conversation yelling at Deku that he was going to catch up.

The ice was thinnest right in front of Todoroki at the moment, where he had left some air holes above the actual cage's door. "I feel bad for Hagakure, but we need to make it impossible for Zach to counter us." Todoroki heard Midoriya's voice echo in his head but felt better about it right before he had made the mountain as their opponents had given Hagakure something to wrap herself up in. There was another reason for the ice being that thin in front of them though, and Todoroki's classmates continued shouting out to him all the information they had heard from inside the cell after their opponents had taken their earpieces from them.

Todoroki was barely listening to them anymore though, as his whole focus locked on Inasa who started dive-bombing towards him with multiple tornadoes growing at his sides and Asui still stuck in a funnel at his back. Unfortunately, Todoroki's sudden focus on Inasa got him distracted, and a metal fist flew out of the trees closest to him moving insanely fast to nail him in the side. Todoroki's body hunched over the fist with his eyes turning and growing huge, spit gasping out of his mouth as the rocket arm slammed into him. The second gasp came an instant later as he smashed into the ice of his mountain, the arm speeding up just beforehand to make the wall crack all around him.

The ice had not shattered yet though, but wires shot out of the arm that just gripped around Todoroki's shirt. Skin ripped from the arm that the costume was already ripped through, as metal wires came out of the arm with sharp points at the end of them and imbedded into the ice wall around Todoroki like a net to hold him there. And then Zach flapped his black wings behind him and flew out of the forest while bear-hugging the three in his arms even tighter, preventing Kirishima from hardening as he would surely hurt Uraraka and Mineta. All I need is Midoriya's speed, Zach thought, the reason he was able to grab Kirishima between him and Iida who he just ran into in the woods.

Iida had dodged, but Kirishima was too slow. Kirishima's eyes also darted nervously to the left arm that was gripping tightly in his back and keeping a crooked elbow away from Uraraka. The black arm was so compact it looked solid, and yet Zach had his left leg lifted and hooked around Uraraka's midsection to prevent her from falling and to keep that Death black arm from touching her. That was mainly to mess with Kirishima though as the Death was so condensed that none of it would even be absorbing into her and it would take a much longer time to have knocked her out let alone kill her. Kirishima was still hesitating to even struggle in Zach's arms though, and during that hesitation Zach extended his right leg while flying full speed at Todoroki and his own arm.

The U.A. students inside the cage all moved away from the entrance, some of them yelling out in panic and a couple diving to the sides and pulling away knocked-out classmates as they did. The pre-cracked ice wall broke apart when Zach's leg slammed into Todoroki. So a second later, Todoroki, Zach, Mineta, Uraraka, and Kirishima all came tumbling into the Shiketsu team's jail full of four new U.A. students. Zach released everyone and grabbed his left arm off the ground as he staggered forward up to his feet and stumbled to the front bars of the cage. He locked his left arm into his shoulder no longer with his costume on any of it so his scars were revealed on the fake skin that still remained on his upper arm (though all the skin had been ripped off with the wire net that emerged from just above his elbow-down).

A few of Zach's classmates stared with enormous eyes as Zach just locked in a robot arm to his own shoulder and winced as he twisted it on and started curling his fingers again. He ran out of the cage while four consecutive Dings rang out around them. Then Zach leaned to the side, and he allowed a fifth Ding to fill the training zone as Asui flew by him. Her tongue flew out of her mouth towards the closest tree to try and slingshot herself back away, but Inasa created another wind near that tree and just pushed her tongue into the cage with her.

Midoriya's face was full of panic as all those dings came out rapidly. He dropped the Shiketsu student he had dragged away, and he kicked off the ground as hard as he could back to the west. He tried to steady his look even as five dings meant just about the worst thing it could mean in that situation where he had been so close to his own jail already that he could see it. There was no time to even capture that last person he was grabbing. He had thought they were catching up. It was what he was just thinking with the score at 19-17 and how it was about to be a one point game- before his thoughts had cut off with all those point-scored sounds.

They beat Todoroki. I need to guard the front of their base. Preventing them from getting more points is more important than scoring them! Bakugo can get the last points out of their remaining classmates. They have injured comrades all over the place in hiding right now. Their numbers are low! As low as ours! "Everyone get points faster and don't get caught!" Midoriya yelled out while grabbing at his ear quickly.

"They see me!" Jirou yelled back into Midoriya's headset. "They're chasing me near the jail- AH!"

Midoriya did not care about anyone hearing which way he was coming in from anymore. His next step came down and the ground below his foot shattered just from him bending his knee. Trees around him broke at the roots and tilted to the sides, the trunks cracking as Midoriya's other foot hit the ground and bent down fully. The ground split apart and a shockwave rippled out from Midoriya's body in all directions, and then all those tilting trees broke down and smashed into the floor. Three nearby Shiketsus spun their heads towards the sound of the sonic boom, then they stumbled backwards or fell to the ground as the force whipped through the forest and smashed into them.

24-17! One point and they win! It was the only thought on Midoriya's mind, as well as most of U.A.'s though they all knew where Midoriya was going and focused on capturing enemies now as were his last orders.

There was one U.A. student who was not thinking it though. A single U.A. student who brought her hand up to her ear and screamed into it after the shock of hearing her own voice right there, "THAT'S NOT ME! THAT WASN'T MY VOICE!"

Midoriya was moving too fast out of the trees when he heard it. A massive force of wind came up behind him as his enemies knew exactly how he was going to be rushing in at full speed. They knew right where he was going to emerge from too after that shockwave in the forest ahead of them, and three students had reacted quickly enough. Dendo, who had run back at the sight of the ice cage around the jail that he thought he should go break, stood on the right side of the front of it with both hands risen and covered in glowing white auras. He slashed back and forth over and over again above him and to his sides, making a giant line of Slices that formed a huge wall up above him. Inasa was above, with all of his own wind coming in behind Midoriya as strong as he could make it. Zach stood on the opposite side as Dendo, with a huge wall of Death emerging from him and blowing up into the sky and towards Deku but on his left side like the Slices were on his right.

Midoriya's own momentum was way too much to just stop suddenly. His feet stopped moving though, and with the force behind him he dragged a trench through the ground that blasted rocks and dirt in every direction. The Death and Slices made it seem like there was only one escape: up. Yet when Midoriya darted a look up towards Inasa, he had to look through a thin netting of Death that was wrapping around above his head like Zach was preparing to make it much thicker and just wanted Midoriya to try up there first. Midoriya's backwards force trying to stop his momentum might have been enough, but Inasa did not have to focus his Whirlwind on a very wide area. He slammed back so hard as he used his Super Move in an attack solely meant to push someone. Then, Zach whipped out some Death in front of where Midoriya was skidding in that trench across the ground which got him to try and lift one foot to dodge it.

Midoriya was pushing too hard back on his heels in that second he came out of the trees to lift up a foot like that. He lost half of his force pushing him back from skidding all the way towards that opening in the ice mountain, and the opening in the cage, between his classmates all looking hopefully and desperately out at him. The wind behind him slammed him forward when he took that foot off the ground the smallest amount, and Midoriya slammed forward into the ground and bounced at over a hundred miles per hour forward. His back slammed into the back of the cage and dented all the bars outwards. All of the U.A.'s inside the cage turned their heads and looked behind them, into the back of the cage where their strongest classmate was indented into the bars only to fall off them to the ground once they had looked back his way.

Ding.

---

A/N Ding! Thanks for reading! I hope you guys all enjoyed the chapter. A lot of fights and strategies and counters to the counters of strategies! It was an intense battle and got close there for a little, but Shiketsu pulls out the W as they get their 25th point with Deku. Zach uses voice changing tech along with all the other tech he's got on him, like his strobe/siren/cameras that he used to take Bakugo out of commission for a minute earlier in the fight. Imino shows some skill but gets captured along with another 6 Shiketsu students, while more than half are down for the count anyway, but Shiketsu still gets that win under Zach's leadership. Next time we're picking up right where this one ends, so look forward to that! Quick update this time unlike the long wait last time, and I'll try to get up the next chapter soon too! Leave a review below telling me what you thought of the chapter, questions, predictions, etc. Review response time:

DarkJokes chapter 170 . Aug 5

Yo! Finally the long awaited battle and by the looks of it was damn well pleasing. I love the idea of how Hanzo defined Zach's fighting style and his role in the battle. He is so right that they are Still underestimating Zach. Being apart of so many battles he fights as if it is a death battle which means he will make sure to secure a win with no casualties or to keep it to the minimum. Unlike UA that might take risks, Zach goes in for one purpose to win and no casualties which he told the others as well for them to comprehend cause he is right. In a real fight with villains they will come after your life.
Also the stuff about flashbacks is great and I wouldn't want to change a thing about it. Honestly that's what makes this Oc so different and why we love him. A messed up kid who suffers from so many mental health issues and all of its causes are shown to us through flashbacks.
Great chapter again and boi that last sentence from Hanzo gave me goosebumpsLifebringer is likely to be the closest person to being the number 1 hero including the pros"

The UA's thought they were taking Zach seriously enough... but it takes Midoriya a little while here to stop moving at Zach's pace. Zach also knows better than anyone not to underestimate the UA's, but ultimately he was just too good. Zach loses some of his comrades here, and I'm glad you like all the flashbacks and the structure of this story! And finally I'm happy those lines sounded cool, because before I had any idea for what to do for the joint training, probably back while I was writing about the Army of Death and just had the idea for after Zach got back to have a joint training day with UA, I thought of having his teacher say all that stuff. If anything, I built these chapters up from there, so I'm glad that part stuck out to you! Thanks for the review!

lolmyster42 chapter 170 . 12h ago

Hazano: Zach taught my students at an unprecedented level due to his overwhelming natural charisma, vast experience, and overall desire to see them improve as much as possible.
-Previously-
Imino: Hey, Zach, so what do you think I-
Zach: More smoke.
Imino: Sorry?
Zach: MORE SMOKE.
(I know he did a lot more than that; a lot of the development he put the class through was shown in ch 150. I'm just pokin' fun.)

He can never have too much smoke! Imino uses up a lot of smoke pellets this time, and I was laughing when I saw this review 'cause it's time for even more Imino char development! Anyway, this was funny XD so thanks for reviewing! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Guesssst chapter 170 . Aug 6

Yes! New chapter! Please continue the amazing work you're doing, and the frequent updates are extremely appreciated.

Very well. Frequent update it is! Thanks and hope you enjoyed the new one!

Grayson chapter 170 . Aug 6

This is what happens when you face off agaist the MHA version of Big Boss with a bit of Lelouch : you get outsmarted and outplayed.
Can't believe Zach did that to Bakugo(he was probably so eager to fight him, he will explote once he finds out he wasted time. Or maybe it is a trap specifically made for him?
I'M HYPED UP! Next chap : Rising Symbol of Peace Vs Ex- Symbol of Fear(for the villains ofc)

Lol you totally called it. Bakugo gets led into a waste of time trap and gets pissed about it, but he surprises and somewhat annoys Zach by not just rushing at him afterwards. Hope you enjoyed Midoriya and Zach's face-off, as much as it was them facing off against each other mentally rather than in a direct fight for much of it. Thanks for reviewing!

Menzhang chapter 170 . 13h ago

Idk why but I randomly decided to draw Zach post-jenny pre-escape. Basically when he was still stuck to the chair listening to jenny screams.
Thing is, I've never drawn before, and I couldn't find the right chapter so I'm going off of memory :P And I also have no clue what either of them look like, other than Zach had black spiky hair and jenny had orange(red?) hair. Basically, I drew Zach looking very emotionally dead while nailed and strapped to a chair, jenny(Toga) helping clean up some of his blood.
I'll share it here if I can make it good enough, its nowhere near comparable to the current story image. I love this fic, never end.

Cool! I have been looking out for someone to draw a pic of Zach's updated appearance, so I'd always be happy to get PMs with fanart if you guys draw it. You can always hop back to chapter 25? 28? to check what Zach looked like back then in that chair. Anyway, do what you do and if you like drawing I'm glad this story gave you motivation! Thanks for the review!

3 3 chapter 170 . 9h ago

I love you

Love you back!

Derodero chapter 99 . Aug 7

I know it might be late, but do you know if is there any artwork of Zach and his army of death?

I don't think there is. Looked around after you mentioned it, but really doesn't seem like this has that big of a fanbase for it... yet ;)