My Hero Academia - Under Pressure- Chapter 5 - Test Your Might
Tonen stared at a building in front of him, it was a brown building for the most part with pillars of white holding up the building. This was one of many dorm room buildings that U.A. High School had, and it was the one dedicated to his class. Despite being confident in most things, a nervous tension showed on Tonen's face.
"You ever have to do something where you know it's going to be ok for the most part, and that you need to do it...but you still don't want to? Yeah, dorm life was that for me early on. It's not that I didn't trust most of my classmates, it was that I grew up in a certain area of a city where it was quiet and I knew everyone around me, and they were all good to me. This...didn't feel that way. I was about to bunk, figuratively speaking, with 19 other superpowered teens with egos and hormones that were at best...unpredictable. So yeah, I was nervous. But what can you do when a school orders you to do this? Do what you're supposed to, put one foot in front of the other...and hope you don't fall on your face."
With an angry sigh Tonen entered the dorm. It was a very simple design inside the building, but that was the point more than likely. The "customization" if you will would come from the students in their own rooms, not the "outer layers" of it that were meant for simplicity and yet comfort.
As he went deeper into the dorm and looked around he noticed many of the students from his class either walking around, sitting at a table, or going in and out of their rooms as they set them up. Many waved to Tonen or said hi, a few ignored him or didn't notice him. He wasn't bothered by that as they were likely in their own worlds.
He went up to the third floor where he was told his assigned room was. He looked for room No.3 and found it easily.
"Heh," said Tonen with a small laugh, "Third floor, room three, my lucky number twice. Let's hope that luck carries through."
He pulled out a key given to him by Angel Wings previously and entered the room. For the most part, the room was basic outside of the boxes that held his stuff that he sent over the day before. His teacher had told the class in orientation that they could request certain things for their rooms and then fill it up with their own items and design things to their hearts content should they desire.
For Tonen, he knew what he wanted to do with his stuff and only needed a few things. He quickly went to the desk and examined it to make sure it both fit him and would be able to hold various art supplies. Content, he looked around and saw multiple shelves that nearly touched the roof of the room. They were similar to what he had in his room.
He smiled contently at them, "That'll work. How about the bed...?"
The bed was a few feet away from the desk. He had requested a very basic bed with a soft mattress and noted he'd bring his own pillows. He went to a long suitcase he had and pulled out a dual-set of pillows and put them at the head of the bed before laying down on it.
Even Tonen was surprised by its comfort, "Dang, that's better than my mattress! Perks of lodging in an academy I guess."
He let out of a hearty laugh before closing his eyes and just letting the relative silence of his room consume him for a bit.
Eventually though he rose and looked around once again at his mostly bare room. He checked his watch and mulled over his time available.
"Ok, two hours before class starts, I can get everything unpacked by then. And after that...well...let's just get this done first..."
Now on a mission, Tonen set out to unpack everything and get it all situated. He started basic, setting up his bed in terms of covers and pillows and such. After that he went to a very big square box and started to pull out a series of notebooks and sketchbooks and sketchpads and lined his shelves with them. He at times paused to flip through them and see the art he had made in them. Often he smiled and laughed at what he saw as memories flooded back into them.
After the books were stacked he went to a series of smaller boxes and carefully pulled out a variety of art supplies and put them just as carefully on the other set of shelves that were available to them. He arranged them by item and put each one on a different shelf so that it wouldn't get lost in the shuffle.
"I should've thought of this for my actual room," he muttered to himself as he put them away.
He picked up some specific supplies though including a massive sketchpad, pencils, pens, and coloring tools and put them on his desk. This included his special colored pen he got for his birthday. Tonen was incredibly meticulous as he went about arranging it the right way. He paused for a sec as something didn't feel right.
"Oh, my light..."
Tonen raced towards a set of boxes and flipped them open until eventually he found an adjustable light and put it into position after plugging it in.
He adjusted the light to perfectly hit the pad, "Perfect."
Now done with his supplies, he went to his clothes and sorted them into his drawers and closet. He wasn't nearly as careful with this and at times just threw things into his drawers to be done with it. Finished with that, he went and put up his accessories to his room. Including his solo hero poster, some odds and ends, and finally, his dancing crystal music box.
Tonen gazed at it for a while and reached out to turn it on but stopped just short, "Probably shouldn't right now...tonight though...I'll need it. Ok, what's left?"
As he looked around, he was amazed at how much work he had done and how different the room looked now compared to where he entered. It was much more homely...and yet something felt off.
"What's missing?"
He looked at his shelves and drawers but the feeling didn't go away. His eyes eventually locked onto the wall in front of him and that's when it hit him.
"The walls...they're way too drab. But how to fix that...?"
An idea came across his mind and he smiled evilly, "Oh, mom and dad would kill me if I did this to my room...but it's not actually my room, is it? Hehe... But how to make it work...?"
Tonen strummed his desk for a bit as he looked at the walls and eventually returned to his sketchbook. He flipped it open quickly and grabbed a pencil and started to sketch the room itself until he had matched everything in it point for point. Once done, he grabbed his coloring tools and started to go to work.
After one picture was done he crumpled it up and threw it away. He did this several more times. Each one not giving him the contentment he desired.
Many minutes and MANY sketches later he held a fully-rendered picture in front of him, "Perfect! Let's put that new pen to the test!"
Tonen laughed happily as he reached out for it, but just before he got it, his phone went off. He picked it up and groaned angrily. It was his alarm for school.
"Darn it, time for school. To be continued... Alright, let's get my uniform on and go."
He quickly got his school uniform on that was provided for him and grabbed his bag before heading out the door.
Minutes later, he arrived at the 1-B classroom and was relieved he wasn't the last to enter, he noticed Azujima at his desk and sat down in his own, "Hey Azu."
Azu looked up and beamed at his friend, "Hey TK! How's your morning?"
"Busy, I was setting up my room. You do yours? Or you doing it tomorrow?"
"Heh...I have a lot of stuff to line my room with so I need an extra day...and some help to put it up."
"Well, I'm done with my room for the most part so just let me know when you need assistance and I'll help. Wait, line your room with what?"
Slowly, Azujima tapped his nose, ears, and mouth, "My senses. At night, I can't focus on them, else I won't sleep. So I have to line my room with things else I'll hear and smell and even taste everything around me. With 19 other students...that's a lot."
Tonen shivered at the thought of that, "Wow, you're a tough cookie Azu for surviving that for years on end."
"You're too kind to me, TK. But thanks."
"No problem. But seriously though, I'll help you out when you're ready. Just let me know."
They both nodded to one another and Tonen turned to the rest of the class to see who was all there. He still hadn't gotten on a first name basis with some of the students, but others he could tell would be cool to hang out with once they were all in the dorm.
A noise caught his ear and when he turned to the door Chuya walked in, dressed in her school uniform like all the others. She turned as she closed the door and saw Tonen looking at her. Feeling devious, he smiled falsely and waved at her. Chuya scoffed and stomped away.
Azujima tapped Tonen's shoulder, "What's her problem with you again?"
"She hates me for helping her in the entrance exam. Forgive me for trying to help lives in danger, Aquagirl," he replied with a scoff of his own.
A few minutes passed and eventually the rest of the class filled in. After that, the door opened one last time and a man walked in that they hadn't seen before.
He was covered head to toe in armor, making him resemble a Knight of old save for the fact that he didn't have a knights helmet. What really got everyone's attention though, was that despite his imposing figure...he only had one arm. No one dared look at it for long though given the glare he was giving the class.
"Hello, students", said the man with a growl of a voice.
"Hello," they all said back with varying levels of nervousness.
"Today will be different from your last one, because I will have you for the day. And today...you will train. I am your combat training teacher, Armed Guard."
"Hirota Yasuhiro. Pro-Hero and Teacher. Quirk: Guard. His body can tell when he's in a defensive position and when he is...he's untouchable. No, really, nothing can hurt him. What's that? How did he lose an arm then? That's...not an easy story to tell...so let's just move on".
The class didn't react to his proclamation, many were too afraid to do anything, let alone talk. He noticed this and gave a low laugh.
"My presence intimidates you, good. Or perhaps...you just want to know about my arm...or lack thereof...IS THAT IT?!"
Most of the class burst into talks of not wanting to know that, or waving him off, or avoiding all eye contact at all.
This seemed to please him, "Good. Because it's my story, and my injury. And anyone caught asking about it or talking about it near me will face...consequences...do you understand?"
"Yes sir!" the class said all at once.
"Good. Now, today we're going to put you through some real paces. Not that silly Quirk assessment you did with Angel Wings, but a REAL test. A combat test. Today, we begin your Hero Basic Training class course. I expect you to give it your all because it's here that I'll determine how valuable you'll be in certain instances...who needs to be...culled..."
Another long pause of fear came from the class.
"Ha, ha, ha. Relax. I don't have the authority to kick any of you out. But do know that how you perform in training classes like this will affect you going forward. So you WILL give it your all, else I WILL push you until you break. Understood?"
"Yes sir!" said the class in unison.
"Adequate. Now, for this particular test your uniforms you wear won't do, so put these on."
He reached into his desk and pulled out a button, when he pressed it, compartments came out of the wall.
"You all sent in designs for your hero outfits, and I do hope you picked good designs and materials for them because the training I'm putting you through today will test them to the limit. Get changed and meet me at Grounds B, you have 20 minutes. Do NOT be late."
With a small nod he left the classroom. The students watched him leave, then looked at one another, and one by one, smiles broke out between them and eventually they shouted at the top of their lungs, "HERO COSTUMES!"
They all raced to their compartments and grabbed their outfits and raced just as quickly to the changing room.
As Tonen put on his costume he could feel a sense of anticipation. It was true that he wanted to be a different kind of hero, but he knew that his hero costume would help him be what he wanted to be. Plus, there are always points to be given out for being stylish.
"A bit snug in the neck," Tonen grimaced once he had it on. "Why is it always something? Eh, whatever, I'll adjust it later, time to go to work."
Tonen was one of the last to get out of the changing room, but as he stepped out to the room with the others many were gazing at his outfit.
It was a skin-tight outfit for the most part. Its coloring was a mix of the outfit that Tonen loved to wear with its red, orange, black and blue coloring. What stood out though was not just the fabric, which seemed to resemble a veined-like structure at points, but there were armored slits on various parts of his body. This included one on each shoulder, two on his back, and the back of his legs. There was also a circular kind of slit on the front of his chest as well. Tonen had red and blue gloves on, while the boots he had were as bright orange as his favorite shoes. Though the boots felt more heavy duty than anything else on his body. The only thing not touched upon was his head area.
"Nice suit, TK!" came a voice.
He turned and saw a helmeted person in front of him. The helmet looked like something from an alien movie, it had various lights going on with it and the suit that was below it had various symbols mixed in with a variety of colors.
"...Azu?" asked Tonen a bit confused.
Azujima pulled off his helmet to reveal his smiling face to his friend, "Yeah, it's me. Sorry about that, I must look a little weird with the helmet."
"Just took me aback a bit, don't worry. Though, I do feel I have to ask..."
"Why the helmet? This was specially designed by someone to help me in the field. With this helmet on? I can harness my abilities in a way I can't regularly. The heads-up display lets me go and access data and things I'm sensing even when I don't realize it fully or am trying to focus on something else. Plus, it dulls my senses a bit when I need to focus on a shorter range."
Tonen was shocked by the ingenuity and forward-thinking of the helmet, "That's awesome, Azu! Nice job! I look forward to seeing you out in the field today."
A familiar nervous laugh came from Azujima at this, "Yeah...we'll see how I do."
"Hey, enough of that! You have your senses, and they're awesome, use them to do whatever is required today. Whether it's supporting others or leading a charge. You're here for a reason, Azu, show everyone why today."
"Thanks, TK, same to you."
Tonen made to speak again, but a buzzer came across some nearby loudspeakers and it made it clear that time was up and they needed to get to the area.
As a group they went to Grounds B of the training area. Armed Guard was standing in the street waiting for them, but had his back turned as they arrived.
"Good, you're here," Armed Guard noted with a grunt, "I honestly thought you would be late, but I'm glad you're not."
He turned and looked at them all, a knowing smile grew as he did. For in front of him was potentially the next generation of heroes. Each one had a costume that accentuated who they were both inside and outside. From their powers to their personalities to their style choices, each one was special and unique in its own way.
"Well, look at you all. I know I show my age at saying this, but I remember being where you were decades ago and suiting up for the first time. It was a special moment, and I do hope you cherish this."
The students all smiled and reacted to this in their own way.
Something about this returned the angry look of Armed Guard, "I said cherish, not get arrogant, remove those cocky looks off your face, NOW!"
Quick as a flash their smiles and expressions were gone.
"Your hero costumes are a part of who you are, but while you may like how they are now, don't get too attached to them. Because in the future you may realize that you need an upgrade, a change to better suit you in the field. When I was in your position, I had a less-armored look because I felt my Quirk was enough of a defense. After some combat practice I realized that the more armor I had on my body the stronger my defense. A unique offshoot of my ability. Some of you might realize something like that and need to upgrade. If that is the case, head to the Development Studio, they'll work with you to adjust your costumes. Do it as many times as you need to be the best versions of yourself. Do you UNDERSTAND!?"
"Yes sir!" roared the class back.
"...good. Because today is the first day to test out all you can do in them. Usually, teachers do 1-v-1 or 2-v-2 scenarios. These are meant to test out your skills and your ability to work in pairs. However, I feel a more...intense regiment is needed on your first day."
Many in the class gulped as a wicked smile grew upon Armed Guard's face, "Oh yes, you should be nervous, because I want to show you the chaos that can happen on the battlefield. Therefore, since there are twenty of you, we will be doing two 5-v-5 battles!"
The class murmured amongst themselves as they wondered who would be fighting who.
"Did I say I was DONE?!"
"No sir! Sorry sir!" answered the class.
"Glad we understand one another. Now, the fights will be done here in this city landscape. A perfect example of what a fight could look like throughout the main areas of Japan. The rules will be simple, so listen well. Five of you will remain in one spot, while the other five will have a small headstart in order to get into a position they feel is best."
"Sir! A question!" came a voice, and Tonen turned to see Chuya raising her hand.
"Yes? What is your question?"
"Sir, what is the intended purpose of the headstart and having the two groups spaced out at first?"
"The intent is simple," replied Armed Guard with a motion to the area. "While you will sometimes fight villains head-on, you sometimes have to go and be ready for an ambush, or a situation where both sides know the other is around, but may not know their exact location. This will be a test of strategy and teamwork. To see who can use what they have in the best way to secure victory."
"And what is the exercises definition of victory, sir?"
"I was just getting to that. Victory is two-fold. You either subdue your opponents so that they can't move or use their Quirk. That's the first way to win. The other way, and the way I expect many of you to do...is to knockout your opponent. Some would say that's violent, but you need to learn your current limits for pain, else you won't improve. I know from experience in that matter."
Many nervously looked at the missing arm of Armed Guard, he seemed to pick up on this, "Are you looking at my ARM?!"
"No sir!" the class quickly replied.
"That's what I thought. As for how your teams will be picked, to make it a true test it'll be randomly selected by computer. Observe."
He pulled out a remote and pushed a button. A holographic screen appeared on a nearby wall and the twenty pictures of the class appeared.
"And...sort..."
Another button was pressed and the pictures shuffled and wove in and out of one another until they were put into brackets showing who would face who. While Tonen recognized his team in Group A, he was sad that he wasn't with Azujima.
"So sorted. Group A and B, remain here, Groups C and D follow me to the observation area. Group B, you will be the ones with the head start. When the alarm sounds you'll have five minutes to get into place. Don't waste that time. No talking amongst yourselves until the alarm sounds. I'll know if you break that rule."
With a smirk and a grunt he proceeded away from the battlefield, the other groups following him as he did. Azujima looked back at Tonen and gave him a thumbs up for good luck. Tonen answered with a small salute of his own.
As instructed, the groups didn't talk as the others left, Tonen looked at the rival team and saw some potential heavy hitters, and some familiar faces like The Twins. But as he gazed at them, he noticed that one dark-haired girl with a curiously simple one-piece outfit was looking at him like he was prey. He didn't flinch at her gaze, and didn't look away until an alarm started.
"You may disperse," came the voice of Armed Guard. "The second alarm will come in five minutes. Make the most of your time."
Group B walked away, the Twins waved goodbye at Tonen as they did. When they were a few feet away, Ebirima made to speak to Tonen but he held up a hand to get her to stop. He eyed the other group for a couple seconds longer until they were out of range.
"Sorry Bubble Gum," said Tonen with a smile to her, "wanted to make sure they couldn't hear us confer."
Ebirima tried to contain a laugh, "Bubble Gum? Really?"
"I like nicknames, and your first name is a bit hard to say."
She signed knowingly at this, "Yeah...you can blame my mom for that."
"I won't use the nickname if you don't want me to."
"No no, it's fine. Just...surprised no one called me that before."
"I'm creative, what can I say," Tonen joked with a pose. He then turned to another familiar face in the simple-speaking Iha. "Hey there."
"Hi," she replied simply.
"Nice outfit."
"Thanks."
"...Nice use of arrows on it."
"Up Down...remember?"
She cracked a small smile and Tonen laughed at that, "How could I forget?"
He turned once again and was dismayed at the wobbly sight of Ueno, "Dude, you going to be ok? You're making me dizzy."
Ueno continued to wobble in place, "Is that my nickname? Dizzy?"
"Do you want it to be?"
"I've heard worse...and I'll be fine, thanks for asking though, Tonen."
"I want my team ready to go for what's coming. Now...you I don't know in full."
He spoke to the fiery redhead that was before him. Her outfit had a sleeveless top and pants that were a very colorful kind of plaid. But what got Tonen's attention was her arms. They were covered in sigils and runes.
She looked at him with a wry smile, "Fenella Merida, at your service."
"Fenella Merida. Quirk: Rune. Her arms are covered in a variety of symbols as you can see. What she can do is summon them off of her body. This can be used to attack, defend, hold things up, whatever she wants. She has a limit on how many runes she can use at once though."
Her heavy accent surprised Tonen for a moment, but then a light bulb went off, "Oh! I remember now, you were that transfer that came recommended to UA."
"Yah, it's a living, been all around the world in fact. Family said UA would be the best place for me to train, so here I am."
"Indeed, let's talk strategy."
They formed up around him, Ebirima was the first to speak, "With your power, Tonen, you could easily just wipe them all out."
"Not without leaving myself open, and some of them might be tough to blow away with a big blast."
"Sanda will be a problem," noted Ueno, still wobbling. "I saw him in action in the entrance exam, he can swallow us whole with his earth moving. I saw him do that to multiple robots at once."
"Good point. If we can take him out first, let's do so."
"Do ya think 'ell be the first they send out? Tryna stop us before we start?" asked Fenella.
Tonen thought about it, but shook his head with uncertainty, "Too many variables. I don't know all their personalities so it's hard to tell who will take charge, who will go alone and such. The Twins will work together, they're literally on the same wavelength. The rest I can't say."
"Eh, it was worth a thought, then what's the plan big man?"
"Easy, Red, I'm getting there."
Eribima laughed at this but was shut down by a look from Fenella.
"Ok, with that earth-guy on the playing field I say we spread out as we head down the street. That way he's have to use a pretty big earth moving technique to swallow us whole like Dizzy warned us about."
"Heh," laughed Ueno, "Dizzy...I actually do like that...I'm so Dizzy...my head is spinning..."
Tonen snapped his fingers, "Focus, man! Anyway, we'll keep a good distance between all of us. The moment that someone sees any trouble, warn the group and fan out. Bubble Gum? If you can, get to a higher vantage point with your strands, none of them can get airborne that easily and that can give us an advantage."
"Sounds like fun. And if I get a chance to subdue them, I'll wrap them up, they won't be able to get out and that'll take them out," said Ebirima confidently.
"Yes! Definitely do that. I'd rather not knock them out if we can help it...Armed Guard kind of freaked me out with that talk about taking hits. We can save that for later. Red, can you pin people with your runes and sigils?"
"Oh yah, big time," boasted Fenella with a flexing of her arms. "I can literally make them big enough to pin them down, or use certain ones to trap'em against walls."
"Sounds...painful."
"A wee bit."
She smiled with clear evil intent and Tonen looked away, "Ok... So, Red and Bubble Gum are our subdue experts. Dizzy, if you can, try and force the other group in their direction. Just make sure to give the ladies a heads-up before you send them flying towards them."
Ueno paused his movements and thought about it, then he nodded and his wobble continued, "I can do that. What about you?"
"I'm the battering ram. I'll take on Sanda and the others if they come right at us. I know one of them will come directly at me, call it a gut instinct. So I'll try and take her out and then get to Sanda. The Twins are the wild card because of their special talents, especially in a city-scape. Then again...so is Hana because she can shapeshift a bit...gah! Sorry, I tend to overthink. We'll do what we can and try to separate them so they can be subdued. Once one or two of them are out, converge with the others and we'll focus on taking down the rest."
Tonen felt a prodding at his side and there was Iha, looking at him with her deadpan expression, "What about me?"
He leaned down to look at her eye-level, "They may have wild cards, but you're my ace in the hole. Your dampening field can be used to take away their advantage. So, when you get the chance to do so, make it happen. Especially for Sanda, and maybe the male twin. We may also need you to power one of us up to help get things wrapped up. So to start, hang back, find a good spot to hide in, then wait for your chance to lower their power. Sound good, Up Down?"
She stared at him blankly, then shrugged, "Ok."
"Are you always so brisk in your speaking, wee one?" asked Fenella a bit put off.
"Yep."
Tonen laughed, "You should've saw that one coming, Red. Alright, any questions before we-"
Before he could finish, another alarm sounded, this one even louder than before.
"Begin the combat test," rang the voice of Armed Guard.
Tonen gave one last look at his team before giving a nod of confidence and assurance, "We got this. Work together, ask for help if you need it, and let's end this before we all get injured, ok?"
They all gave him various motions of approval and as a unit they headed down the street.
Nearby, a camera watched them as they went on their way. The footage was being viewed in the observation room where Armed Guard and the others watched the various monitor feeds closely.
"I'm not a betting man...," noted Armed Guard, "But I am curious, whom do you place your faith in for this tussle?"
"TK and his crew, no doubt!" piped up Azujima.
"I concur," added a familiar shield-based hero. "In my short time with him in the entrance exam he showed poise, power and strategic thinking. And he had more time to plan today than he did then. He'll lead his team to victory."
"He'll fail," came a voice full of arrogance.
They turned and it was Goya who spoke. He leaned against a nearby wall and twirled his silver spheres without even looking at the monitors.
"He got lucky in the entrance exams, and he's not as great as you two think."
"You're just mad because he showed you up in the Quirk Apprehension Test," bit back Azujima. "You want him to fail just so you can look better in your fight."
"And if that were true...?" Goya posed with an equally arrogant smile.
"Then you should SILENCE your MOUTH," barked Armed Guard, gaining a glare from Goya in the process. "Your petty rivalries mean nothing to me, nor do they matter on a true battlefield. If you put your personal feelings over what needs to get done you'll fail. Or worse, you'll die. Or someone else will die. Consider this a fortunate circumstance for you, Goya. Because had you been paired against Tonen and you went after him alone at the cost of your team I would've failed you on the spot."
Goya bared his teeth at his teacher for a bit before regaining his cocky composure and returned to spinning his spheres without further comment.
"As for the rest of you, let's see how this goes..."
They all returned their gaze to the monitors, where Tonen and his party carefully walked down the main area. Tonen led the party, Ebirima and Fenella were on his left and right respectively, Ueno was right behind him and Ina was behind Ueno.
Tonen carefully looked around from right to left and back again, looking for anything that could indicate where they were. Even the slightest noise grabbed his attention and made him wonder when and where one of them would attack.
They passed a dark alley and Tonen made sure to look down it before he proceeded. As they all passed by it, a shadow emerged from it and dissolved into the form of a dirty-blonde-haired girl with an oddly shifting attire. She touched the nearby metal building and her arms suddenly became the same material as the building.
She waited a few more moments before she rushed at them. Tonen heard her footsteps and quickly turned around and exhaled sharply to send out an air blast at her from his hands.
It hit her square and sent her flying backward, getting the team's attention and they all went into combat positions.
"Quick reaction, I'll remember that," said the girl. "How about a change of...scenery?"
She touched the ground, and her body dissolved in front of their eyes until nothing but dust was left and floated down onto the ground.
"What the...? Where did she go?" asked Ebirima as she gazed at where the girl was. "Her powers couldn't kill her-"
Before she could finish the girl popped up behind her and drilled her in the back with an elbow. Fenella reacted first and pulled out a rune from her arm and sent it at the girl. But she smiled and dissolved back into the ground before it reached her.
"Blast," Fennela said as she retracted her rune back to her arm.
Tonen groaned in frustration, "Right, she can tailor her abilities to her surroundings...that means that she can-"
"Sneak up behind you? Yep!" shouted the girl as she appeared behind him.
"Hana Yasuyomi. Quirk: Environment Adaptation. She can go and alter her body and abilities to best fit the terrain she's in. So she can perfectly blend into the shadows, or, move along the ground as a piece of the very earth. She can only hold one "form" at a time though, so she has to be careful when she lets her Quirk take hold. For example..."
Tonen didn't budge from his spot, but instead just exhaled sharply as she threw a punch at him. From both of his back slits in his costume, two focused blasts of air shot forth and his her in the chest and stomach. Sending her backward one more, but this time rolling on the ground. She didn't get up from it.
"Nice shot," admired Fenella.
"Thanks," acknowledged Tonen, "I had my costume not just be able to send out wide bursts of my air pressure, but also allow me to focus them through my air vents for more controlled and powerful blasts. I got a few more tricks up my sleeve as well. But for now, let's take care of her. Bubble Gum, you alright?"
Ebirima slowly rose back to her feet and stretched out a bit, "Yeah, she caught me off guard. That's a really clever trick."
"Praise her afterward, you might get another friend. For now, tie her up with your gum. Make sure that no part of her body touches the terrain. That will let her transform."
"You got it."
Tonen lifted up Hana's body, Ebirima summoned massive strands of her bubble gum and quickly wrapped it around Hana top to bottom, making sure that her limbs wouldn't be able to get free and touch anything.
"Done, where do we place her to make sure she doesn't try anything?"
Fenella raised her hand, "I can handle that! Watch this, you lot."
She pulled out another rune, a rounder one this time and grew it on the ground and then lifted it into the air a bit.
"Put her 'ere. She won't be able to touch anything because there's nothing to touch but a rune, and I doubt her body can handle can transform by touching it."
"That'll work," noted Tonen happily as he put Hana on the rune's surface. "So, now we-"
"Does anyone else feel that, or is it just me?" asked Ueno as he wobbled and looked around.
"Feel what, Dizzy? Do you...wait...everyone move!"
No sooner did they all jump away than a giant fissure opened up in the area they were standing in. They all recovered quickly and looked at the source, and sure enough, Sanda was there, alongside the rest of his team.
"Nice job getting Hana!" he shouted at them, "But you'll find we're a bit tougher to get rid of!"
He slammed his fists onto the ground and a wave of earth moved towards them. Tonen got up and faced it head on.
"KAH!" he roared at the wave and a massive air wall blew out from his body and shattered the earth, breaking apart and touching down right in front of them. "We're pretty tough too, Quake."
"I think that names taken, I appreciate it though, I'm still thinking of my hero name and-"
The mysterious girl from before slapped him in the back of the head to make him stop and rushed ahead, "Enough jabbering, you know your jobs, do them!"
"Oh, right, sorry."
He again slammed the ground and sent mini-waves of earth to separate them.
Tonen smiled at this and roll dodged one of the waves, "They're trying to split us up, that'll work in our favor. Dizzy, take that one girl, Bubble and Red, take The Twins, I'll fight Quake and get him off the board."
"Ok!" acknowledged Ebirima.
"Let's go bust'em up!" exclaimed Fenella.
"If I must..." lamented Ueno, "But you notice she's heading for you, right?"
Sure enough, the girl was indeed headed for him, she jumped and made to kick him, but suddenly got pulled away and slid onto the ground before Ueno.
"Sorry...I'm supposed to fight you. Let's make this quick though, I might have to hurl soon."
"Ugh, disgusting," remarked the girl before lunging at him.
Following their orders, Ebirama and Fenella rushed the twins. Neither of whom seemed particularly worried about this.
"Competition, sister," said the boy with a smile as he summoned his robotic armor.
"Someone to play with, brother," corrected the girl with an equal smile as her arms glowed with her cybernetic veins.
"Ryu and Ryo Jurou. Quirks: Mech Body and Mechanical Control. Ryu can summon a robotic body straight out of Gundam, which allows him heightened power, strength, and even the ability to fly. Ryo can control any kind of machinery, even her own brother's armor should she need to. Their powers are as in sync as their personalities, which makes them a perfect combination."
Ryu used his thrusters to charge forward, Fenella quickly summoned a rune and threw it in front of them and Ryu clashed with it. The rune didn't budge, but neither did he.
"Get around that if you can!" bragged Fenella with a teasing gesture.
"Don't have to, right sister?" bit back Ryu.
Ryo lifted her left arm and pointed it at the building right next two where the rest were, then did a quick motion.
Ebirima noticed this and looked at the building, and her eyes went wide, "Get down!"
She knocked Fenella down just as a plethora of wires of wires shout out of the nearby windows and barely missed the two.
Fenella grimaced mightily at this, "I'm sick and tired of getting knocked to the ground today!"
"Well then let's tie them up and get this over with!"
"Now you're talking! He's mine, you can take her."
Ebirima nodded and used her gum strands to attach herself to a building and get around Ryu so she could focus on Ryo. Who happily used her abilities to launch other machines at the window at her bulk and all.
Fenella summoned various runes to surround her and a twisted her finger at her foe, "Come on over, boyo."
"My pleasure!" Ryu shouted as he rushed towards her once more.
Not so far away, Sanda and Tonen were clashing with their various elements. Sanda's earth vs Tonen's air. Their attacks varied from direct assaults to wide-ranging rushes.
The other groups in the observation room were watching in awe as they clashed, as they were very much the biggest visual on their screens. Even Armed Guard was entranced.
"Hmm...who will win? The earth can withstand the air, but the air can erode the earth," he mused to himself in his mind. "One of them will have to make a move to go and help their remaining teammates."
Tonen shot a blast of air at Sanda, who blocked it and then shot multiple mounds of earth in reply. Tonen was able to block some of them, but a few hit his legs and seriously tripped him up.
Sanda smiled as he saw his opening and picked up two larger rocks, "I may not have a hero name yet, but I do know some great technique titles. Check this out, Earth Shot!"
He put the rocks in front of him and blasted them forth directly at Tonen, who tried to put up a wall of air to stop it, but was unable to do so. The rocks came through and broadsided him, which forced him to stumble backwards.
A funny feeling on his head got his attention. He touched it to see he was bleeding, "Dang it."
"Didn't mean to make you bleed man, my bad! You're tough though to withstand that! I destroyed a few robots that way in our exams, cool huh?"
"Yeah...that's one word for it." Tonen replied with a forced smile, "I can't keep taking hits like this, and I can't do my full blast without putting the others in danger. I need to distract him and go for the KO. But how...?"
He grew frustrated and instantly went through various scenarios before shaking his head to snap out of it.
"Don't overthink, just use what's around you. What's...around...me?"
His eyes quickly examined the buildings on the side of them, all of them had windows. Windows that were breakable. This brought his smile back and he held out his hands in front of them and cupped them to make it look like he was aiming at Sanda.
"Nice Earth Shot, I approve of the name. Want to see my Air Shot?"
Sanda bounced up and down at the challenge, "Bring it! My earth can block anything you give me!"
"Good, block all these then!"
As quick as he could, he broke off his pose, lowered his arms and body and then with a roar sent a dual-side wave of air upward. The pressure shattered the glass and flung it upward until gravity brought it racing down towards them.
"What are you, crazy?" asked Sanda as he raised an earth barrier to protect himself.
The glass rained down on it, but the earth held firm. When Sanda couldn't hear the glass touching down anymore he lowered the front half of the barrier and was shocked to see Tonen before him with the same pose as before.
"Air Shot."
With a sharp exhale, Tonen focused his blast through his gloves and a sphere of air collided with Sanda, shooting him into his own barrier and knocking him out.
Tonen sighed in relief at Sanda being done, "I have a feeling we'll be sparring in the future. Thanks for the fun. Better check on-"
He turned around just in time to see the girl from before throwing a punch at him. He tried to dodge, but was too slow and got hit with most of it. Tonen went into the earth barrier but was able to stay upright.
"Nice reflexes," admitted the girl, "you're going to be a good challenge after all."
"You? But if you're here, where's Ueno?"
She motioned over her shoulder and Ueno was propped up against a building, his eyes rolling non-stop.
"He was a challenge too, but I got him, and now I'll get you."
"We'll see about that."
With a roar he sent an air wall at her. She jumped incredibly high into the air to dodge it and rushed him head-on.
Meanwhile, the Twins were continuing the battle against Ebirima and Fenella. Both sides were holding their own and taking hits. Ebirima tried to get her gum to stick to Ryo, but her foe would just summon a machine to take the hit, and even Ebirima swinging it around wasn't enough to get a worthy hit on her.
"You're going to have to do better than that!" teased Ryo with a grin as she summoned more computer wires.
"How are these wires so long?" asked Ebirima flabbergasted at the recurring attack.
"Technology! Ain't it great!"
With a cackle she sent the wires at Ebirima once again, forcing her to flee and get out of their range by any means necessary.
As this happened, a little bit away, Ryu and Fenella clashed. His armor collided with her runes multiple times as they tried to outpace one another. Fenella tried several times to use her runes to pin down Ryu, but he either got out of the way or simply overpowered them.
"I'm unstoppable in my armor, call me Wing Zero!" Ryu said with a laugh as he broke through another rune.
Fenella put up a pair to hold him back, "Oh please, you're going to be absolute zero when I'm done with you!"
The two clashed once more, and this time the runes exploded, enveloping the area in smoke.
Coughing heavily, Fenella covered her mouth as she tried to wait out the smoke, "Blast, that hasn't happened in a while. Can't see him...but he can't see me...bless me kilt! That might work!"
She crossed her arms and they glowed brightly before several of them shot in various directions.
A loud clap caught her attention and a tunnel appeared in the smoke, revealing Ryu.
His robotic eyes narrowed, "There you are! Now I got you!"
He rushed forward, and Fenella didn't bother to move, she just smirked and held up a hand, "No, boyo, I got you."
With a snap of her fingers, six runes suddenly appeared, all of them surrounding Ryu on all sides. They slammed into him simultaneously. He tried to fight, but the pressure was too much. Once Fanella saw he was passed out, she loosened the runes and had them form more of a box to keep him in place.
"Sorry if I rune-d your day. Ha! That's a good one."
Ebirima was still battling Ryo and neither side was making much progress. Every time one side attacked the other was able to counter or dodge.
"I have to end this!" Ebirima said to herself, "I need to get in close but she keeps dodging my strands! I need to end it quick before she rebounds...I got it!"
Dodging a machine thrown at her, Ebirima rushed at Ryo and then launched two large strands of gum at her. Ryo simply knelt down to dodge them and then prepped some computer wires for counter attack.
"Well that was easy to dodge! Let's see if you can dodge this!" mocked Ryo as she sent the wires towards her.
Stilling holding onto the strands, Ebirima took the brunt of the attack and was sent flying backwards, but eventually her momentum slowed down as the elastic of the gum reached its limit.
Ryo say this and looked at the strands again, noticing that they were attached to the building right behind her.
"Uh-oh..."
"Hi-yaaah!" shouted Ebirima as the strands bounced her back and she kicked Ryo at full power to the extent that she crashed through the building.
Not wasting and opportunity, Ebirima pinned Ryo to the ground with her gum, "Stick around. Oh! My first battle pun, that was nice!"
"That was a good one!" piped in Fenella as she joined her combat partner. "I did one too! Let's talk about it as we rejoin the boys, I'm sure they're doing fine."
A bit away, Tonen was not doing fine. The girl he was fighting wasn't just able to dodge his attacks, but she was fighting with skills reserved for masters of their craft, not something a teenager should know. Every time he tried to get an advantage she would take it away almost immediately.
At one point she did a combination attack that he couldn't block and he crashed into the nearby building.
"Wait a minute," he groaned as he pulled himself out of the building. "I know that technique, that boxing champ did that move last month to win his match!"
The girl gave a small bow to him, "It's effective as you can see, and an excellent addition to my list of moves."
"You're a copycat? That explains a lot..."
"Eri Ogata. Quirk: Copycat. Her brain works on such a high level that she can use any physical technique that she sees without any practice. Sports skills, martial art, body language, gymnastic abilities, doesn't matter. If it's physical, she can learn it. And as you're seeing...it's a pain in the butt to deal with in combat."
Tonen tried to get back into the fight, but Eri was right on him, not allowing him to use his usual tactics. Getting creative, he exhaled and used his back vents to propel himself forward, grabbing onto her and sending them both to the ground.
He tried to hold her down, but with eerie efficiency she rotated her body to get out of the hold as if she was a contortionist.
"That's creepy," Tonen said as he got back to his feet.
Eri popped her body back into place, "Don't be jealous."
"Why would I be jealous of that? People shouldn't move that way."
"Then you'll hate what I do next."
She bounded forth and did a series of front flips until she jumped into the air, landed behind him and hit him with a series of prodded jabs. He tried to turn around afterward but found he couldn't twist.
"What the...?"
Eri raced back in front of him, and Tonen tried to strike her with a punch. She grabbed his arm and again did prodded jabs and his arm fell to his side and he couldn't move it. Eri then did it again to his other arm. Basically defenseless, she did a roundhouse kick to the check and he was sent to the ground in a heap.
The best he could do as she approached was get up onto his side. She again bowed to him as she lorded over him, "That was fun. Any last words?"
Tonen's face grew angry at the thought of the loss he was about to take, but something got his eye and he smiled instead, "Three. You got her?"
Confused, Eri turned around and in front of her was Iha, who had re-emerged and her eyes were glowing, "Yes, I have her."
Not fazed, Eri rushed ahead, "You don't have...woah!"
Uncharacteristically, Eri tripped over her own feet and landed on the ground with a thud.
Iha looked down upon her with her blank expression, "You're done. Tonen?"
She went to the side while still looking at Eri, who turned to Tonen who had righted himself just enough to aim his chest vent at her, "You should've knocked me out instead of playing with your food."
He gave a loud roar and a might column of air came from his chestpiece and launched Eri into the air where she landed awkwardly and was knocked out.
Foe down, Iha went to Tonen, "You ok?"
"I'll live. Thanks Up Down. Like I said, you're my ace in the hole."
"Yep."
Tonen laughed at her simple answer and she sat down next to him to keep him company, small smile on her face.
A buzzer sounded and the voice of Armed Guard rang out, "Congrats, Group A. You succeeded in defeating your foes. Those who are injured, remain in place, the nurses will help you get back to the observation area so you can watch the other groups fight. We'll analyze what you all did later on."
A crew came to help them all. A tall nurse with bright blue hair went to each student to ensure they were alright. Tonen was one of the first due to his paralyzed state. An aura of blue shined around her and she held her hands over Tonen to examine him.
"Oh dear," she said, "Eri did a number on you."
"Yeah...I kind of noticed..." Tonen replied snarkily as he remained unable to move much.
"Now now, no need to be snarky. I'm just amazed that she used pressure point combat on you."
"Oh, THAT's what she did to me, dang copycat."
"I wouldn't tell her that to her face unless want to end up like this again. Hold still while I heal you."
She held her hands higher into the air and her aura poured down over Tonen's body. Slowly but surely he felt his energy return and his muscles could be felt again. After a few seconds Tonen sprang upright and checked to make everything still worked, and they did.
"Wow, thank you."
"Happy to help."
"Fumiko Chie. Rescue Hero. Hero name: Life Force. She has an abundance of life energy within her, and she uses that energy to heal others wounds. Making her the perfect healer."
Life Force stood up and looked around, "You should be good now, head to the observation area, I need to go find the others who need my help."
Tonen rose and gave her a small bow, "Thank you. I'm pretty sure some of the others you need to see are down there, four of us clashed over there."
"Excellent, take care now and let me know if you need any more healing."
"Right. Come on, Up Down, let's head out."
"Alright," she replied following him.
As the two headed for the observation area the other groups of students emerged. Some of them gave praise to Iha and Tonen for their victory. Others like Chuya and Goya didn't even acknowledge him. Upon entering the observation area, Armed Guard gave a motion to sit down, so the two did so.
A few minutes passed and the rest of the groups who battled first piled in. Ebirima, Ueno and Fenella joined Tonen and Iha in their area while the other group clumped together for the most part. Save for the Twins who sat in between the two groups and waved happily at Tonen, who just as happily returned the gesture.
"You performed well," noted Armed Guard with looking at them. "All of you performed admirably in one form or another, even if it was in defeat. I was amazed at some of your teamwork, your creativity, and having a strategy. I will have more comprehensive notes for all of you later. But for now...let's see who rises to the task in the next battle."
With an eager look on all their faces they looked at the monitors and watched as a buzzer sounded and one of the groups headed into a separate section of the combat zone.
In Group C, Azujima was there alongside Kuroda, Kanagita, Oshibu and the shield Quirk user who sided with him earlier. Via his helmet he searched for the other group.
"You see them yet?" asked Kuroda.
"See? No," answered Azujima as he looked around. He stopped and pointed down the street. "I hear them though, they're lightly talking, probably think that won't trip my senses."
"Clearly they're wrong," said the shield hero with a light laugh and an approving pat on his teammates shoulders. "Where are they exactly?"
"Three of them are hiding behind the building. One is hiding in the alley right behind them...it's the shark, Anno Mako. Can't see Goya...wait, there he is. He's in one of the higher parts of that building over there."
"Ah, I dig it," said Oshibu as he stepped forward in his flashy speed-style suit and adjusted his glasses. They'll use three to distract us, the psychic rains havoc from above and the shark is their trump card in case things go wrong."
"Or a surprise attack while we're distracted," added Kuroda. "What do you think Kanagita?"
She turned to the petite girl with the brick monster within, she was nervous, not unlike Azujima was at that same moment. She shrugged and looked, "I, I don't know. I'll follow your lead, Kuroda."
"It's going to be fine, just be ready to transform, ok?"
"Ok."
The shield hero stepped forward and gave a confident thumbs up to Kanagita, "Agreed, and with your brick skin and my shield we'll have a defensive presence that's pretty hard to beat!"
"Wakuse Bohiko. Quirk: Shield. You remember him from before, right? He has a half shield naturally grafted to each of his arms. When fused together it's nearly unbreakable, he can even grow its size to help stop bigger attacks. When in their half forms they can slice through things pretty well. Offense and defense all in one package."
Azujima smiled within his helmet, they were comforting Kanagita like Tonen did for him, it was good to know that there were others like Tonen in the group, looking out for one another.
Kuroda turned around and gained an authoritative stance, "Alright, let's approach with caution, but try to end this quick. As none of our quirks are particularly good at capturing, we'll have to go for KOs. Any objections?"
They all shook their heads and this pleased Kuroda, "Excellent, now let's go get-"
"Look out!"
Sensing something, Azujima rushed forward and knocked Kuroda to the ground. No sooner had he done so than a metal sphere plunged into the ground where she once stood. It was quickly retracted.
Azujima brought Kuroda back to her feet, her expression now one of fury, "Why that little... Ok, playtime is over. Wakuse, can you chop off that pipe over there and give it to me?"
Curious, but not denying the request, he used his shield to chop off a nearby pipe and handed it to her. Kuroda used her ability and turned the metal pipe into solid diamond.
"Kanagita?"
"Yes?" she replied both scared and nervous.
"Do you like that he did a sneak attack on us?"
"...no."
"Good. Transform and get Goya out of that building, don't be gentle."
Kanagita closed her eyes and bared her teeth. Her skin changed colors and her monstrous form emerged. Unlike in her previous tests her outfit grew with her and didn't rip.
"You dare try to hurt my friend!?" the brick form of Kanagita roared at the building Goya was in. "I'll show who the strongest is!"
She bounded into the air with incredible strength and crashed into the building. Leaving most of the others stunned, save for Kuroda.
"Come on, boys, let's get to work!"
Kuroda and Wasuke took the lead, Azujima stayed a bit behind, while Oshibu got into his running stance and stared off into the distance.
Whether reacting to Kanagita crashing through the building to go after Goya or their own instincts, Chuya and the two with her rushed out of their hiding place to see what was going on, and then noticed the others charging them.
Chuya transformed into her water body and headed for Kuroda and Wasuke, she launched a torrent of water at each of them. Kuroda dodged out of the way while Wasuke put together his shield and endured the attack.
Seeing some loose rocks near her, Kuroda picked them up, transformed them into metal, and tossed them into the air just enough so she could swing her diamond pipe like a bat at them, "Catch this!"
The metal rocks launched at Chuya and pierced her water body. While it didn't seem to do damage, Chuya was no less annoyed, "Fine! You have my attention!"
As she raced towards her new foe, Wasuke started to break apart his shield when something caught his eye and he formed it again. A stream of black hit his shield and he once again had to endure.
The stream came from a kid with black hair and hands that had patches of black on them in various shapes and sizes, "Darn! I thought I would catch you with that!"
"Ikaim San. Quirk: Ink. Not unlike an octopus or squid, he has ink within his body and he can squirt it out of his hands with impressive accuracy. He has a limit to how much ink his body can hold at one time, but trust me when I say you DON'T want that stuff in your eyes."
Ikaim continued the pressure, and his other teammate headed for Wasuke. Azujima watched from afar, unsure of what to do.
"Hey Azujima!" came a voice.
He turned to see it was Oshibu who called him, he was still in his racing position.
"Get him to focus his stream to HIS left, he's blocking my sight. Do that and I'll get him."
"Ok!" Azujima replied and he raced to a side of Oshibu, "You call that a blast, inky! That wouldn't even cover my helmet!"
A vein in Ikaim's head bulged at this, "Who asked you?!"
He turned the stream to Azujima who remained in place as it came towards him.
"Got ya!" said Oshibu with a smirk and he blinked out of sight as he raced towards his target. Before Ikaim could even think of what was going on, Oshibu got him right in the stomach and sent him flying down the street. Doing so made the stream of ink just miss Azujima.
Oshibu went and stood over Ikaim's KO'd body for a bit, "Oh, I'm sorry, was that too fast for you?"
"It wasn't too fast for a shark!" roared someone nearby.
Oshibu didn't move or turn, but Anno Mako emerged from his hiding spot and attempted to slam the speedster with his massive fists. But Oshibu blitzed away before he could even hope of hitting him.
"I'll admit, I forgot you were there Mako, but now you're in my sight!"
Quick as a flash, he blizted out of sight and did a series of strikes on the almighty shark. Despite being in his bulked up state, Anno was taking damage, and he bared his shark teeth as he swung wildly to try and get Oshibu.
Oshibu paused after one speed burst and mocked him, "Come on, man, keep up!"
He continued his speed bursts, and Anno went to one knee. His mind raced as he thought of what to do, "Dang it! I need to get a clear shot on him but this punk's too fast! Think, dang it! You're a shark! You can do this, think! Wait, he may be too fast for me to see, but not sense. My shark senses aren't just the five main ones, I have electroreception! I can sense the electricity between his muscles when he moves! Ok, focus and wait for the shot..."
Anno closed his eyes and took a few hits to dial in his senses.
Oshibu again paused as Anno didn't fight back, "Giving up? Very unlike a shark. But oh well, even the apex predators have to fall!"
He got into racing position and blinked out of sight, but this time, Anno could sense every movement in slow-motion, and just when Oshibu made to attack, Anno reached out, lifted the speedster up via a hand to the chest and slammed him to the ground hard.
"Like you said, sharks don't give up, that's why you don't toy with them," said Anno as he walked away from his KO'd foe.
In a nearby building, Kanagita dueled with Goya. Goya used his psychic abilities to throw numerous projectiles at Kanagita, but because of her tough skin they just bounced off.
"Is that all you got?" questioned Kanagita as she rushed in.
"Hardly," stated Goya as he held up a hand.
Kanagita stopped in place, frozen, all but her eyes, which moved around and tried to determine what was going on.
"I'll admit, stopping a thing like you is a strain, but for my mind and abilities, I'll make it work. I'll just move you out the window and drop you to the ground. Now let's...what?"
Before he could attempt such an act, Kanagita started to move. Slowly at first, but then, whole steps, each one taking her closer to Goya.
"No! That shouldn't happen! I'm stronger than you!"
"No one...stronger...than...ME!"
She roared and again rushed at Goya, she grabbed him and then raced towards the windows of the building and lunged out of them. They hovered in midair for a moment, causing everyone on the ground and in the observation room to watch in amazement.
"And...this is my stop," boasted Goya, who froze both her and himself in midair. Then moved her arms away and slowly pushed her back. "You were impressive, but a psychic's mind is always better than primal strength. Bye."
With a playful flick of his finger he sent Kanagita careening to the ground right below him. She hid with a massive impact and a cloud of dust grew as a result.
Goya held out his hands in victory, "Behold my grandness! Now, who is next-"
A blur shot out of the ground and grabbed Goya in midair, it was Kanagita. This time she gripped him so tight that he couldn't move or think, or even breathe. They kept going higher into the air until eventually her momentum stopped and they went back to the ground.
Goya's face grew to show clear fear at what was about to happen to him, but Kanagita just smirked and twisted her body just before impact so that she would take the brunt of the damage.
A second cloud of dust and rubble grew, but when it cleared, Kanagita limped back to her feet and scoffed at the dazed and beaten Goya, "Puny psychic."
"If you want a real challenge, how about a shark?" challenged a voice.
She turned to see Anno facing her, she smiled widely, "Brick can break a shark."
"And a shark can shatter brick, let's go!""
They two charged at the other and locked up for a test of strength.
Nearby, Kuroda was dazed from the two impacts and slowly rose to her feet, she saw her pipe right in front of her and picked it up, then swung it around and into the hands of a slightly heavyset brown-haired kid. He held onto the pipe tightly and his hands vibrated. The pipe shook violently and then shattered, sending pieces of diamond everywhere.
Kuroda looked on in shock, "That's not possible, that was solid diamond!"
The boy laughed lowly, "Everything breaks at the right frequency."
"Doza Risuke. Quirk: Resonant Frequency. Confused? Everything in our world has a 'natural frequency' to it. If you can find it? You can literally make anything break apart, and this guy has the ability to find ANY resonate frequency."
Doza reached out to Kuroda, but was stopped when Wasuke arrived and decked him in the head with a half of his shield, "No you don't! Come on, Kuroda, go and find something else to make a weapon, I'll deal with this guy, you take Chuya!"
Kuroda arose and gave a nod, "I appreciate the assist!"
Doza squared off with Wasuke, "I can shatter your shield you know, it's metal, it's not that hard."
"That would complicate things..."
Azujima appeared by his side, "Only if he touches you with his hands."
"Got an idea?"
"Let me guide you, do as I say and I'll let you know when an opening appears."
"Sounds like fun."
Doza lunged, "You won't say that in a few seconds!"
The two got out of the way, and then Doza reared around and charged once more.
Azujima used his senses to detect every move, "Right, now left, kick to the stomach!"
Wasuke did so and was able to get a shot on his foe. Azujima continued to guide him and blow by blow, they whittled Doza down until he could barely move.
"I do apologize, but we're trying to win here!" noted Wasuke bore bashing his shield into the side of Doza's head to end the fight. He then turned to his teammate, "Well done, Azujima!"
"I'm just glad you were willing to listen," admitted Azujima with a nervous laugh.
"We need to help each other, simple as that. Now, do we go for the shark, or Aquagirl?"
"I don't think that's her name...but let's take the shark, the last thing we need is to be blindsided by him."
"Off we go!"
The two headed towards the battle of the titans and when they arrived it was a stalemate. Kanagita and Anno were still locked in a strength match and neither side was gaining a serious advantage.
Kanagita bared her teeth, "I'm stronger..."
Anno matched it with a snarl of his own, "Sharks are always stronger..."
"I'll help tip the scales!" Wasuke said heroically and then jumped into the air to attack his foe.
"No wait!" Azujima shouted as he sensed something, but it was too late.
Anno kicked Kanagita back just enough to open his line of sight. He grabbed Wasuke and threw him hard through the nearby building window. He crashed into the next wall and fell flat on his face, knocking him out of the fight.
"Sneak attack a shark? Don't make me laugh," mocked Anno, who turned his attention to Azujima. "You, stay there. This is between me and the brick."
Azujima was frozen in fear at the comment and the sight he just witnessed. Regaining some of his composure he turned to see Kuroda struggling with Chuya. Kanagita locked up with Anno and their test of might began once more.
"What do I do?" he asked himself.
He started to panic, fear flooding his senses and overloading his Quirk. But as he started to fade, a voice came forth, "AZU!"
Azujima snapped back and remembered what Tonen had said after they had suited up, "You have your senses, and they're awesome, use them to do whatever is required today. Whether it's supporting others or leading a charge. You're here for a reason, Azu, show everyone why today."
"Right, TK, I will. Ok, what are my senses telling me?"
He paused and let every sense he could scan his two foes and see what they were like.
"Chuya doesn't have an obvious weakness with her water body, none that I can see right now anyway. But a shark does...it's his gills! But a sneak attack won't work, but a misdirect might. But I don't have anything good to throw at...him...oh, that'll work."
Kanagita and Anno were still eternally locked in their struggle. Anno's head turned slightly though and he reacted just in time to see Azujima throw the metal rock from before at him. Anno dodged by leaning backward, opening up the space between him and his foe.
His plan in action, Azujima turned to Kanagita, "Hit him in the gills!"
With a smile, Kanagita broke off the handlock and threw a punch at his gills, because Anno was off balance by dodging, she was able to make direct contact on one side. Anno choked on air at the strike, and that left him open to her doing another blow on his other side. Stunned, she finished him off with a knee to the face. Once on the ground, he reverted back to his smaller former.
Victory in hand, she roared at the sky, "Brick break shark!"
"Kanagita, pull it together!" shouted Azujima, "We're not done, we have to help Kuroda!"
Kuroda was indeed in trouble, she had gotten a pair of small tubes and transformed them into metal and was swinging wildly at Chuya who was still in her water body form. When she did make contact, her strikes went right through without apparent damage. When this happened, Chuya would fight back with a burst of water aimed right at Kuroda.
After one volley Kuroda was propelled along the ground until Azujima stopped her, "I got you!"
"Well aren't you my hero, today?" noted Kuroda with a painful groan. "You all we have left?"
"No, we have her."
Chuya marched towards the two, but before she raised a hand to strike Kanagita raged in and blasted her with her bulky brick hand. Chuya reacted to this one as her whole torso was vaporized for a moment before recollecting. Chuya elongated her form a bit to escape and start hitting Kanagita back.
Kuroda punched the ground in frustration, "That's not fair! We can't do damage if we can't truly hit her!"
Azujima saw something different though, "Her...her body..."
"Dude, come on, I know we're at that age of hormones but can you keep it together?"
Azujima reacted wildly and raced his hands around to show that's not what he meant, "No, no no no! I mean, her body is getting damaged!"
"...go on."
"Quirks are physical manifestations, which means her water has to come from somewhere to make her aqua body! The more we damage her water form, the more her body has to manifest it."
Kuoda started to put the pieces together in her head, "So if we do enough strikes...she'll have to revert!"
"Right!"
"Huh, like I said, you're my hero for the day. Come on!"
They raced to join the fight, and Azujima's theory was proving to be correct as she was doing a game of keep away with Kanagita.
But when Kuroda arrived she turned anything and everything she could pick up into weapons, and whatever she didn't throw she gave to Azujima to give her another arm.
Chuya got hit repeatedly and the toll started to show, "Dang it, they figured it out... Oh well, no surrender, that's not what soldiers do!"
She charged up her water and launched herself at the others.
"Keep pouring it on, Kanagita!" ordered Kuroda as she fired more projectiles. "She me your strength! Show the world your strength!"
Kanagita did so and slammed the ground to break up the street and create massive chunks for her to throw.
Between the three of them they boxed in Chuya and slowly peppered her with objects until Kanagita hit her with one big shard that reverted her back to her human form. She hit the ground hard and struggled to get up.
Kuroda kneeled before her and looked at her with clear sympathy, "Just stop, it's over."
Chuya again tried to rise up, but failed and hit the ground once more.
A buzzer sounded and Armed Guard spoke, "Group C is the victor. As before, anyone seriously injured wait for Life Force and the other medical staff to heal you. Once cleared, return to the observation area.
The remaining members happily stopped their fighting and relaxed on the ground, Kuroda went to Kanagita and got her to power down and then praised her for her efforts, as well as gave Azujima a thumbs up for his help.
Ten minutes later the groups reunited in the observation room. Armed Guard pulled up the feeds of both fights and observed them side by side as the students talked to one another.
"You were great, Azu," Tonen said to his friend with a smile.
"Maybe, but you took out three people!" Azujima answered back with amazement.
"I had help, and you helped get four people knocked out if you recall."
"Yeah...I guess I did."
"Told you, you're here for a reason."
The two beamed at one another, but stopped when someone cleared their throat, it was Armed Guard.
"I looked at these fights and I see many impressive things, but I also see room for improvement. I aimed to tell you all the pros and cons of your fights now...but that will take too long. You will each receive messages from me breaking down each of your roles in the fight tomorrow. For now...rest. Rest knowing that many of you did...adequately. Others should not rest well as they know they didn't. But that's part of the process. You're dismissed, get changed and prepare for your next class."
A bit shaken by his bluntness, each of them got up and headed out. Their first true test of their schooling was over, and each of them knew...it was only going to get rougher from here.
*credits*
