"Next up: Midoriya and Uraraka vs Todoroki and Ashido!"
The words repeat in the green-haired teen's mind, his mouth popping open for a second before the words actually sink in to his grey matter. When it does, Izuku jolts slightly, surprised. "What? Already?"
"What!" Mina whines, her shoulders slumping, "I have to play a villain?"
"I'm sure you'll do fine!" Ochako reassures them both.
"I guess…" She narrows her eyes at Izuku. "…will I even get to show off?" She says, leaning towards Ochako.
She looks at the boy who half froze himself at ice, then back to her colorful clad pink friend. "I'm sure you'll find your moment!" Her smile is slightly forced.
She nods, seeming a bit doubtful. "If you're sure…"
Izuku approaches her with a smile, his mask off his face to try and reassure her. "I'm sure you'll do great! I'll probably be busy with your teammate, if I'm being honest," he admits sheepishly.
Said teammate is already halfway to the door, having not even looked at the conversation.
"He's so serious…" Ochako mutters.
"...I'm not sure what happened to him," Mina muses, heading out after him.
The Pokémorph scratches his head, frowning a bit. "It might not be something wrong with him. He could just be an introvert..."
"Head in the game, young heroes." Comes his teacher's voice.
Ochako straightens up. "Right! Sorry sir!"
"Yes sir!" Izuku blurts out, hurrying out towards the building.
As Ochako follows, she looks to him. "So... do we have a plan?"
"I think I'll distract Todoroki-san, while you try and get the bomb." He cups his chin as he thinks aloud. "Maybe you should stay on my back at first, just in case. He seems like he uses his ice to solve most problems, but it also looks like it needs to come from a surface, so if you can avoid it, then we should be good... but then what about Ashido-san..." He trails off into mumbling, considering everything he saw yesterday. "...avoid acid on your equipment, just in case..."
She winces, looking at her gloves and helmet. "Yeah, just got these, wouldn't want them broken already." She hums as she processes the rest. "If I can get to the bomb I can definitely get it out if I know which way to go."
"I think you just have to grab the bomb to win, actually?" He says, glancing up at the building. "Ice type… weak to fighting and fire… Lucario or Raboot?" He looks at her for her thoughts.
"You seem to be able to punch forever, but how long can you make fire?" She asks.
He shrugs helplessly. "I don't really know? I've never tried…"
"Well, maybe trust your instincts then." She nods, holding up a fist. "I believe in you!"
He nods, smiling and holding up a fist as well. "I believe in us. Let's do this!"
"Yeah!" She cheers with him.
They stand there a moment before Izuku scratches his head. "So... how long until we're allowed inside?"
"I think there's a buzzer or something that lets us know."
"Alright, then." He messes with his ear, making sure that his earpiece is still in place.
"Do you think there's an exit we should aim for when I leave?" She asks him.
"If we have you make it weightless, we can always try taking it out of a window," he points out.
She nods. "And should I get on you before ro after you change?"
"I'd say right as we're told to get in to keep yourself safe." He nods, turning towards the door. "Alright, so if I'm doing that... I think I know that move now... Hmm..."
Behind him, she stretches a bit as she examines the building.
"…five stories…" He looks at her, an eyebrow raised. "Do you think you can go that high?"
She nods. "No problem! Unless you mean me floating, but I'll do my best in that case!"
He smiles at her. "Let's see if that's necessary, first."
She nods with determination.
He puts his goggles and mask back into place just as All Might's voice comes over their earpieces.
"Preparations are complete, heroes, the operation begins now!" There's the sound of a buzzer.
Izuku immediately braces himself, arms ready to support his friend.
She steps up to him and arranged herself on his back, arms wrapped loosely around his neck for support.
He grips her thighs briefly, kicking open the front door and rushing inside.
They are instantly greeted by walls and floors covered in ice. "This really does look like a lair..." Ochako murmurs. Further in they can see a sheer wall made of ice as well.
He crunches on something in his mouth, soon turning into Lucario. "…I didn't quite expect the wall," he admits, rushing forward and kicking it into pieces. "I was more expecting him to try and freeze us in place."
"It doesn't mean he won't know that we're inside." She whispers as she holds on.
"Which is why I suggested this," he agrees without being specific, just in case either of the other two are nearby. He kicks down a couple doors to find empty rooms.
"Do you want me to make myself lighter?"
"Not right now, you're perfectly fine." He clears the last room and heads for the stairs before pausing, realization crossing his face. "...oh, right, aura."
She tries to scoot up enough to be able to see his face, unsure what he means.
She is treated to the sight of his furry face tinting red. "Please don't do that."
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to throw off your balance!" She scoots back down.
"Not what happened," he responds, closing his eyes as the large black appendages on the sides of his head start to float. "...alright, I can sense them, but I can't sense the bomb."
"Are they together?"
"It doesn't appear that way," he says, hurrying towards the stairs. "I don't think they know I can sense them. What's the likelihood that one of them is guarding the bomb?"
"Pretty high? It's one of their objectives."
"True. I'll see who is the closer one." He turns towards the nearest and closes his eyes once more. "…I think it's Todoroki-san? He's still one floor above, and the other is another above that."
"Right, so you keep him busy and I scout somewhere different?"
"Of course." He gives her a smile that shows how much he trusts her. "I will keep him off your back."
"Split at the next stairs?"
"Makes sense to me." He pauses on the landing to the third floor, peeking out to see if it's a hallway or an open floor.
If anything, the place is even icier than before. The sheets seem to make the hallway smaller with how thick they are.
Izuku looks over his shoulder, nodding to her. "Good luck."
She nods, looking determined as she dismounts and keeps heading up the stairs.
He looks at the icy hallway, cracking his paws in anticipation. "Let's do this." He charges in, intent on distracting the ice user.
Meanwhile, one floor up, Ochako tries her best to keep her steps light as she looks around for the objective.
She can hear boots crunching on the ice nearby, soon followed by the grumbling of Ashido, though not quite intelligible, just yet.
She ducks behind a corner, trying to use the reflections in the ice to get a good view.
"Freezing the whole place… almost froze me…" she continues to grumble, rubbing her arms to try and warm herself up. "…clothes aren't helping…"
Ochako frowns sympathetically, but keeps her eyes on the prize to see if she can spot the bomb at all.
It appears she pokes her head out too far, because the other girl shouts, "Hey!" Throwing a ball of acid in her direction, trickling down the ice where it hits.
Remembering the critiques from the first round, she pats her cheeks to psych herself up before she touches a palm with a finger. As she starts to lift, she grabs onto the floor and small vents open up on her backpack.
Mina stops mid-throw, staring at her in confusion. "Huh?"
Suddenly a burst of air comes from the pack, propelling her forward as she pulls along the ice, zipping forward just above the ground.
"What!" Wide-eyed, she tries to catch her with her acid, throwing ball after ball.
Ochako's eyes stay focused as she uses her hands to claw onto the ice, pushing herself in different directions in the air while staying close enough to the ground to not trigger her nausea as much.
"Stay still!" She chases after her, acid spraying from holes in her boots to propel her forward.
The pink and black suited girl's eyes widen at her foe's mobility. She tries zipping past her to get a layout and form a plan.
Izuku peers around the nearest corner, feeling the chill of the ice against his paws but determined not to let it distract him.
"Do you always go head on into problems?" Asks a calm voice.
"Car!" He jumps and turns around, paws raised. Then he realizes he was asked a question by the other boy. "...I prefer to analyze, really?" He supplies, searching for him.
"So I've noticed." Comes a response before a literal wall of ice taking up the entire corridor shoots towards him.
[Lucario's Inner Focus]
Somehow not panicking, he immediately shoves both palms forward, glowing blue. "Force Palm!" The ice shatters, but only enough to prevent him from getting hit. He follows running forward and repeatedly punching the ice to pieces so he can get closer.
He barely sees movement before suddenly the ice comes from below instead of forward.
His arm glows with brown energy as he swings it downwards, shattering the ice before it can hit him. "Rock Smash!" He vaults off what is left as he continues searching. "Do you know where the bomb is?"
"Doesn't really matter if you'll never get to it." A pillar of ice shoots from the wall.
He slides underneath it, smashing it as he goes to make sure he doesn't bodily slam into it. "Then that means you don't care about sharing it. So share!" He rounds a corner as he finishes that thought.
He finally spots the boy who's been the source of the ice, seeing him giving him a flat yet slightly annoyed look.
"Not a chance."
With that, he finds himself almost instantly covered in ice.
"C-cold…" He feels like shivering, but there's barely room in there. Instead, his body flashes white, muscles tensing as he tries to get free. "Work Up… come on, you can do this… so cold…"
Ochako zips towards a wall, the other girl right behind her.
"You aren't going anywhere!" Mina declares, chancing a leap at the floating hero.
"Neither are you!" Ochako tries to flip in midair and impact the wall with her feet to rebound back at her classmate, hands outstretched.
The pink-skinned girl manages to twist out of the way, showing remarkable flexibility. She pivots on her heel, sliding due to the ice as she tries to grab the gravity girl.
Ochako tries to correct herself, but the now melted floor doesn't provide the solid necessary to adjust her trajectory.
Ashido ends up falling flat on her face as her boots lose traction, her hand only managing to make the brown-haired girl spin.
'Whoa whoa whoa!" Ochako tries to readjust herself with her backpack, but is soon holding her stomach as the spinning gets to her.
"...this is a tragedy," Mina moans from her spot on the floor.
"Hey come on... we're not done yet." Ochako encourages her.
"Right!" She suddenly lunges up and grabs the other girl. "Going down!" She bodily slams her back into the ground, making her bounce off it as her jetpack impacts it. The straps melt on her shoulders, and the attached device skitters away. "Villains don't play fair! Just a warning!"
"Why you-!" Ochako touches her fingers together and lands on her feet, shaking for a moment before she grits her teeth. "Alright, old fashioned way, then."
"Yep!" She grins and holds her arms up, acid pooling in her palms. "Though it's really not that hard. I just need to avoid your hands."
"What makes you think that?" The brunette grins as she takes a stance. Suddenly she darts into a nearby hall.
"Wh- hey!" She runs after her, arms dropping for a lower center of gravity on the slippery ice.
Shoto looks at his opponent trapped in ice. He nods after a moment and turns to start walking towards the stairs.
He hears a cracking noise from behind him. "Work Up." The cracking gets louder, followed by a shuddering groan. "Force Palm." The noise turns into a cacophony of shattering ice as the blast frees his torso. His arms slam into the ice around his legs, shattering that as well, but without using a move. He raises his arms and forms a blue ball between them, eyes narrowing. "Let's try this again. Aura Sphere!"
The blue orb of energy leaves his paws a split second before he turns back into himself, startling the boy as he looks at his hands. "Shoot."
Shoto jumps to the side to avoid the sphere, looking to where it hit the wall.
It punches a hole through the ice, spiderweb cracks forming from the point of impact as it turns the area about two inches around it into ice shards.
He eyes this briefly before turning back to Izuku and sending ice at the other boy's feet even as he backs up.
Izuku stops himself from crunching on something, quickly turning into Raboot and melting the ice as it makes contact. "Rab!" He jumps into the air, brown energy coalescing around his form as he nears the apex of his arc.
Shoto grits his teeth, breath visible as he backs up.
White energy mixes with the brown, and he gains a sudden, brief boost of speed, managing to slam his shin into Todoroki's knee before bouncing away, hitting the ground and wall with his body.
The boy grunts and falls to one knee, notable frost patches on his non-frozen side.
He hears the sound of boots crunching on ice as Izuku walks over, holding his shoulder. "…are you okay? Your quirk seems to be…"
"You should worry more about yourself." He breathes for a moment more before more ice starts to emerge.
Izuku quickly turns into Lucario, backhanding it into pieces. "…it's getting slower… are you getting colder?" He takes a step forward, his good arm reaching out. "I'll… I'll wrap the tape and get you heated back up."
"I haven't... lost..." He says before the ceiling starts to lower with ice and he moves away.
Izuku throws his arm up, a Force Palm shattering the ice and forcing him to change back. He feels the shards pelt his body, cradling his hand to his chest. "Todoroki-san," he says, stepping forward in concern. "Your quirk is reaching its limits. Please, let me help you."
"Limitations can... be broken." He grunts.
"I guess," he admits, frowning slightly. "But during training isn't the right time to push it," he says, pulling out his capture tape.
Shoto breathes deeply a few more times before ice suddenly emerges and encases the other boy. "Seems... the perfect time... to me..."
Izuku shivers, the cold permeating his jumpsuit. "…so s-stubborn…"
Ochako dodges around another corner as her mind and eyes race, trying to find something.
Mina scrambles after her. "How come you're so fast!" She whines. "I had a quicker time in the sprint!"
"Corners aren't sprinting!" She counters.
"Potato pohtahto!" She shouts back, trying to nail her with an acid ball. This almost unbalances her on the slippery surface. "I should still be faster!"
"Come on..." She goes around another corner before suddenly stopping, waiting, and springing out at Mina.
She yelps as they both tumble onto the cold, partially melted floor, sliding down the hall in the direction opposite the one Ochako first took. Mina quickly shoves the other girl away, scrambling to get back to her feet.
She finds she can't quite get her footing, or her balance as she hears Ochako mutter quietly. "Phew... finally."
Ashido frowns, going limp and scowling at the other girl. "Not cool! I was only acting the part!"
"And I was doing my part, now come here, you." She takes out her tape and debates tying her up. "Hmm... nah, don't want more of my costume melted. You hang there while I go complete the mission."
She barely turns away before she's tackled from behind, hands starting to turn red from irritation. "You aren't going anywhere!" She declares.
"What the- get off!" The brunette tries to shake her off, wiggling her body.
"No!" The pink-haired student wraps her legs around the girl, pinning her arms to her body. "I'm going to do my part, dang it!"
"So am I! Even if it's with you as a backpack!" She keeps walking.
"Hah! You'd slip on the stairs!" She jeers at her, tightening her grip.
"Not a chance." She huffs and keeps searching.
"Whatever. I'm slowing you down, at least." Mina settles in to her new spot.
"You're weightless, right now you're like a... chatty balloon."
"At least I don't need a diet!" She jokes, grinning.
Ochako stops where she is.
"...I'm saying that because I'm weightless," she says, voice quiet.
"I know." She says simply before she whips out the tape, tossing it and making it float as she attempts to whip it around Mina like a yo-yo.
Mina yelps, trying to let go and scramble away. This only succeeds in getting her partially tangled, though she rips it off her body before it completely loops around her. Now, holding the tape, she is stuck floating in midair.
Ochako jumps and grabs the roll of tape, attempting to swing it around her once more, but as it wraps around the other girl's horn and starts going for more, she darts off.
"Hey! Don't leave! I need to beat you!" She calls after her. She forms a ball of acid and flings it at Ochako, the reaction sending the pink girl flailing in the other direction.
"You did great, but maybe next time!" She calls back, hoping she didn't use up all her time and not giving thought to the stray acid ball.
"I said get back here!" Mina tugs on the tape, and the acid ball, which had started to pass Ochako, starts to curve, revealing tape inside of it. "Zero Grav Acid Curve!"
"What-" Ochako tries her best to duck under it.
She manages to avoid most of it, but it splashes against her helmet, sticking the tape there.
"Gotcha!" She tugs on it, zipping back towards her opponent.
The brunette quickly undoes the helmet and floats it before tossing it around her opponent like a tetherball.
Mina tugs on the tape again, getting the helmet close enough to spring off. "Nice try!"
"You are so persistent!" She cries out.
"I want to win!" She reiterates.
"I can tell!" She touches her fingers together as she moves away once more.
Mina drops to the floor at her feet with a thud, but manages to sweep her leg out at Ochako as she hits the ground.
Ochako lets out a small yelp as she tries to keep balance on one foot on the ice, arms flailing.
The Acid girl manages to catch the foot still in the air, sitting up and grinning at the brunette. "This will be my comeback!"
Izuku shivers, the cold of the ice starting to settle deep into his skin. He wiggles slightly, feeling the wetness against his skin. He presses his tongue around his mouth. "…you know, there's one thing most people forget…"
Shoto looks up from where he was defrosting in the light from a window.
"Most people forget... ice... is fragile." He parts his lips in a small grin before he turns into Toxel, falling out of his encasement onto the slowly-thawing floor. He immediately props himself up, a silver glow forming in his throat as he lets out a cacophonous Metal Sound in the cramped hallway.
Shoto covers both his ears as the ice around him shatters.
Nodding once, Izuku rushes through the room, crossing the short distance between them, and latches on to Shoto's wet leg. Fighting back the embarrassment, he starts to Nuzzle the cloth.
"Hey what the- get off!" Shoto tries to shake him off.
The electric toddler panics, rubbing his entire face against the pants leg until the horn touches, immediately glowing a bright yellow that sinks into the scarred teen's body.
Shoto quickly stops moving and falls over, eyes wide.
Izuku immediately changes back, holding his head. "Gah, headache." He shakes his head, fishing out his capture tape once more. "Please stay still."
There's a quiet growl from Shoto. "Not... funny."
He blinks, the loop nearly around the other boy's wrist, and blushes. "S-sorry, I wasn't trying to make a joke..."
The other boy clearly seems to be struggling against whatever is hindering him.
Not wanting to see him hurt himself, he closes the loop. "All Might," he asks, bringing his hand up to his earpiece, "should I take him with me? Or heat him up? He's freezing..."
"Worry not, we have trained medical staff. Focus on your mission."
He nods, crunching down on the jellybean he'd hidden in his mouth and turning into Raboot, rushing off to find the bomb. He pauses and rushes back to kick every door on the floor open to make sure the bomb isn't in any of those rooms.
Mina grins, abruptly standing and flipping the leg she's holding, forcing Ochako to turn so she doesn't fall over. Then she raises the leg further up into the air, slowly stepping forward.
Ochako windmills her arms and hops backward as she tries not to let her close the distance.
Mina reaches up, balls her fist, and punches right in the brunette's belly.
Ochako gasps, collapsing with her hands around her stomach.
She nods, reaching for her pockets. "Right! Now I just... umm..." She starts patting herself down, twisting this way and that. "Where... where is my tape? Did I lose it?"
As she looks away, she doesn't see the small smile on her opponent's face. Suddenly a hand plants itself squarely in her back and pushes her tumbling through the air.
"Not again!" She shouts, flailing and kicking out at Ochako's face with a boot.
Ochako just smiles at her as the boot misses and only makes her tumble more. "I recall gloating being a villain trait too."
She pouts at the other girl, arms crossed and glaring at her upside-down.
"I don't suppose you'd tell me where the bomb is if I asked nicely?" She asks with a hand behind her head.
"Eat my shorts!" She seethes at her.
"You're wearing tights!" She says slightly sheepishly. "Well, I guess it was a long shot."
She nods, feeling a bit woozy. "...I think blood's rushing to my head..."
"I'm not falling for that."
She flails her arms. "Dang it!"
"Anyway, good game, gotta go!" She waves and heads off.
"Hey!" She cries after her. "Come back here and face me like a woman!"
"I did!" She calls back, shaking her head.
"Noooo!" She can hear her voice echo.
Ochako rounds the corner to the stairwell, nearly tripping over the rabbit on his way up.
"Hey!" She looks at him. "I haven't had any luck so far on finding it, you?"
He shakes his head, pointing upstairs with a questioning expression.
"Maybe... hopefully." He nods and hurries up the stairs. She follows, eyes shifting side to side. She manages to catch him kicking the door wide open, revealing a room with pillars.
In the middle of the room is an ice pillar with an etched doodle of Mina's face, tongue sticking out tauntingly.
"Oh come on!" Ochako throws her hands up.
Izuku frowns, stepping closer and examining the pillar from all sides. He then looks to Ochako and shakes his head, confirming that this is not ice surrounding the bomb, nor is it in here.
"So they delay us and now they used fake ones? ... they are good at this."
He nods, then tilts his head, humming softly. "Rab rab boot?"
"I... don't know what you said." She says with a small smile.
He holds one paw flat, then lays the other over it. He switches which is on top, climbing higher. "Rab boot?"
"Oh, check the other floors, right?"
He nods, then taps his foot three times before making an x with his arms.
"Not the third one."
He nods, then taps one more time, pointing up and looking at her curiously.
"I didn't see any up there, but I may have missed one of two when I was fighting Mina."
He nods, taps four times and points to her, then two more and points at himself. "Rab Rab?"
"Yeah, sure, okay!" She nods, determined.
He pumps his paw in the air and runs off, grinning brightly.
She only manages to check one more room before a buzzer goes off and she hears an announcement. "That's time! Villain team wins!"
"Boot!" A voice echoes through the building in despair.
"Quite the interesting match we had. Excellent effort for both teams. Report back to the surveillance room so we can prepare for the next round!"
Ochako sighs and touches her hands together.
She can hear the yelp from behind her as Mina slams into the ground, not prepared for that.
Now that the round is over, she goes and helps her up. "Remind me not to fight with you again. You're scrappy."
"Thanks!" The pink girl places her hands on her hips. "I learned it from my friend!"
"Your friend?" She echoes.
"Yeah, Eijiro!" She grins, then nods towards the door. "I bet you can meet him if you're quick enough."
"Oh right, the red spiky guy!" She nods. "I'm actually going to be enrolling in some self-defense classes, but thanks for the offer!"
She tilts her head. "Really? Who are you learning it from?"
"Gun-head! I was recommended to his class by a trainer."
She blinks a couple times. "...do you mean the hero?" She asks.
Ochako nods excitedly. "Yep! I was going to start after school got going."
The pink-skinned girl looks even more perplexed. "What trainer do you have to get that chance?"
"It was more like I didn't know he had them." She admits.
"Oh, so it isn't exclusive?" She asks, heading down the stairs.
"The class size seemed a bit small, but maybe because that was the beginner course." She muses. "I'm not in yet."
"I guess that makes sense?" She says, watching Shoto meet them in the stairwell with a downtrodden Raboot.
"Hey, um, good game?" The brunette says to Shoto.
"You didn't make it easy." He says quietly.
"Rab ra glad I could defrost you," Izuku says, suddenly back to himself and nearly taking a tumble down the stairs due to the sudden transformation.
"Somehow it makes it better that those transformations surprise you as much as me," comments Shoto.
Mina looks at him with raised eyebrows. "Was that sarcasm?"
The look he gives her somehow manages to be both flat and confused, despite the deadpan response. "Why would I be sarcastic?"
She waves her hand dismissively. "Not important. So… we lost, but still won?" She tries to change the subject, curious.
"I think so, we didn't get your bomb." Ochako says.
Izuku looks mildly confused, but decides to keep his thoughts to himself, forcing his mouth to stay closed.
Mina pauses in the exit, glancing back and forth. "...what's the quickest way back?"
Sorry for the wait! I may have been distracted by work, lately...
Anyways! Thank you for over four hundred follows! I know that I may write these, but the time you take to read these is what really matters, right?
You'll notice a bit of an interjection in the middle, there. I figured I might as well have their abilities become known, and who better to start with than our favorite jackal?
Thank you all for reading, and I hope you have a nice day!