A man looked up at sprig- who was in a VERY basic hero costume- light reflecting from his goggles lenses. "Now, frog..." He began, before raising his arms, the right one being a robotic four-fingered arm, leaning back. "Let's settle this!" He declared, launching his arm towards Sprig, who dodged with a backflip and back handspring as the hand slammed to the ground where Sprig had been standing.
"Oh, is this from when he was visiting you, Tsu?" Uraraka asked.
"But what is he wearing?" Ashido asked.
"Is... is that supposed to be a superhero costume? That looks more low-budget and homemade than Midoriya's fist suit." Kaminari said.
"Hey! My mom made that suit for me!" Midoriya said indignantly.
"Oh, yeah. I remember this. Anne showed him a cheap superhero movie and I showed him some All Might stuff and he wanted to be a hero himself. I had to kick his butt for being a vigilante without a license." Asui explained.
"Yes! My very own supervillain! People are going to love me even MORE!" Sprig cheered, pumping his arms into the air. "Just like Tarantulad! Or even All Might!" He said eagerly, pointing to the sky with his left hand as he looked to the sky.
"Oh, god. Another glory hound. I thought Mt. Lady was enough." Midnight groaned.
"Tarantulad? Really? That was such a lame movie. No one would really want to be a hero like how he was." Mineta said.
"Hey! Tarantulad was awesome! His webs were just like my tape! He felt like a hero I could model myself after!" Sero insisted, Midoriya nodding resolutely as well.
"Don't just sit there! Attack the villain already!" Sato yelled.
"This is no longer a popularity contest! This is a battle for the soul of the city!" Otto declared, crushing a piece of rubble in his hand from where he slammed it into the ground. "A battle I intend to win!" He declared once again, launching his arm towards Sprig again, the frog boy narrowly dodging it as the arm flew past him and slammed into a parked van.
"What the heck is he complaining about?" Bakugo asked.
"Oh. He's our community's safety officer, but Sprig kept overshadowing him, so he got super petty and wanted revenge. He was never that great at his job, though. He tried to stop a speeding bus by just holding his hand out. And he's Quirkless." Asui explained again.
"Sounds like he's delusional and let his authority go to his head." Aizawa groaned.
"And he seriously wanted revenge against a ten year old? How lame can you get?" Hagakure asked.
"Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely." Tokoyami declared.
"Wow, cool robot arm! Where'd you get it?" Sprig asked curiously.
"Forget where he got it! Get him while his only weapon is out of the way!" Ojiro shouted.
"Agreed. The longer he is conscious and unrestrained is more time he could hurt someone or cause mass property damage!" Iida agreed.
"But you do have to admit, it is tres chique." Aoyama admitted.
"Nobody cares!" The other students shouted at him.
"That Hatsume girl might disagree." All Might pointed out, wondering how the Support Class girl would handle the robotic appendage.
However, Otto used this distraction to grab the van his metal fist smashed into, lifting it up and pulling it back to him. "Wouldn't YOU like to know!?" He snapped, raising the car to crush Sprig, who thankfully moved out of the way by grappling to a lamppost with his tongue and reeling himself in. He then glared up at the boy as he stood atop the post. "Frog-Man, you are but a wart on the face of this city! Get ready for some laser surgery!" extending his robotic arm at Sprig, the palm charging up with red energy as he fired it at Sprig, who leapt out of the way as the blast hit the pole, causing an explosion. Sprig then swung away with his tongue as Otto pursued, firing lasers at the boy haphazardly.
Everyone's jaw dropped at just how far this man was willing to go. "Oh, my gosh! He's just a kid! That is so not manly!" Kirishima snapped.
"And is he crazy?! Look at all the damage he's doing throwing cars around and shooting his laser! If he's battling for the soul of the city, it's for the soul to LEAVE the city! Because he's gonna kill everyone!" Jiro exclaimed in horror.
"But, with any luck, that arm has a limited power source and his reckless firing is draining its power source." Yaoyorozu said.
"Not a bad theory, but there's no way to tell if there is a limited source or how long that source would take to drain." Todoroki pointed out.
Sprig gasped as he swung through the city, because he realized he was coming right towards a semi-truck. But he reacted quickly and crossed his arms, holding them tightly to his chest and extending his legs to make himself as narrow as possible, sliding between the gap between the truck and the cargo trailer, sliding across the road on his feet, before springing back into the air. Meanwhile, Otto simply blasted the truck's trailer to put a giant hole in it, which he then jumped through, laughing maniacally.
"Innocent civilians could get hurt if he keeps shooting that laser like that!" Koda said worriedly.
"How does he think this is even gonna go? Okay, he got rid of Sprig. So what? He still has next to no authority to do anything AND everyone will know he caused tons of damage and almost killed people." Shoji asked.
"The mind of a villain is a strange thing, young listeners! We can only hope that they have SOME level of reason and AREN'T totally insane like this." Present Mic said.
Sprig then ran up the wall of a building as Otto rolled up to the wall, extending his arm to the top of the building and latching onto the top, reeling himself up while rolling up the wall on his roller skates. The two glared at each other as the neared the top of the building, launching themselves high into the air and throwing a kick, their legs clashing against each other dramatically... before they both fell down towards the ground, holding their legs and exclaiming in pain.
A resounding smack echoed through the room as everyone collectively facepalmed at this. "That makes both of them a lot harder to take seriously." Kaminari said.
"Then just remember one of them is shooting lasers and blowing up cars." Bakugo reminded him.
"Even when he's acting like a hero, Sprig can't help but act like a kid." Asui sighed.
"To be fair, getting kicked in the shin does hurt a lot." Todoroki said as he remembered his and Bakugo's provisional license classes.
Sprig was now put on the defensive, landing on a car and hopping away as Otto smashed it with a punch, leaping onto a building and just narrowly avoiding a laser blast with a scream, jumping away as Otto smashed the road where he once stood and evading a laser beam that cut a palm tree in half.
"Come on, dude! If you care about the city, stop blowing it up!" Kirishima snapped.
"At this point, his anger and power have likely given him tunnel vision. His goal is to take down Young Sprig. And nothing else will matter to him until he does so." All Might theorized.
"To be fair, Sprig isn't exactly trying to end the fight, either. He has a chance to close the distance and attack any time Otto misses, but he's only tried to attack once as far as we've seen. He's treating this like a game and trying to make the fight big and climactic instead of ending it quickly to ensure the safety of the people." Midnight pointed out.
"But to be even more fair, he is just a kid, like Asui said. He's probably not thinking straight and just trying to avoid the danger." Midoriya suggested.
"Interesting theory, Midoriya... But TOTALLY wrong." Sandra said, gesturing to the screen to suggest the watch further.
All the civilians ran away screaming as a girl with blonde hair with pink and blue highlights exited a coffee shop, texting a friend how Frogman was her absolute favorite. However, she was snapped back to reality as a car slammed down directly beside her.
She then looked up and noticed Sprig swinging past her. "Na, na, you can't get me!" The false hero taunted childishly as he continued to evade the crazed safety officer, who continued to shoot lasers at him.
"Okay, yeah, I'm definitely leaning towards Ms. Midnight's theory." Uraraka said with a sweatdrop.
"This is no time to act like a child! There is a threat that must be taken care of!" Iida shouted, chopping robotically.
"Who's the girl? I feel like its important if she's being focused on." Ashido asked.
"Good catch, Mina. That's Molly Jo, Otto's granddaughter." The celestial answered.
"Then that's even worse, that he's recklessly damaging a city he KNOWS his granddaughter could be in!" Sero cried out.
"His rage has blinded him. And now it may well cost him everything." Tokoyami said in concern.
"Get off the phone, girl! Your life is in danger!" Hagakure screamed.
"Why won't you just sit STILL!" Otto demanded, flinging a car at Sprig, but the young vigilante latched onto something with his tongue, swinging out of the way and landing on a traffic light pole.
"Crime doesn't sit still and neither shall I!" Sprig declared, before falling as Otto threw a mailbox that crashed into the pole next to him.
"He really has been watching too many All Might videos. That sounds JUST like some cheesy line YOU'D say." Aizawa said, looking to the former Number One, who huffed in annoyance.
"How is he still not taking this seriously! He's almost gotten blown up or smashed like ten times EACH!" Mineta exclaimed.
"Looks like he's having the same problem as Otto. His ego is blinding him to all that's happening around him. He's just drinking in the adrenaline from all the excitement and not taking into consideration the damage and potential injury happening around him." Yaoyorozu noted.
"That's perhaps one of the most important lessons you can learn, listeners: check you ego." Present Mic told them all.
This caused the light to fall to the ground not too far from Molly Jo. "Whoa!" She exclaimed, before diving out of the way as Otto threw another car, which flew past where she was just stood, crashing into another lamppost. However, this caused the post to come loose, teetering back and forth before starting to fall towards the downed girl.
"Is he not even realizing where he's throwing these things?! How did he not notice he almost threw A CAR at his own granddaughter!?" Ojiro cried out.
"His blind anger TRULY is an ugly thing." Aoyama said distastefully.
Molly Jo screamed at the danger approaching her, finally attracting the attention of the two vigilantes as they devolved into a comedic battle, Otto holding Sprig with his human arm and punching down on the top of his head with the robotic arm, which brought Sprig's head down enough to where his mouth could bit the human hand holding him as he tried to push back with his left hand and foot. "Molly Jo!" Sprig exclaimed.
"Okay, this is just getting embarrassing now." Jiro said.
"Yeah. This is how I'd expect children to fight." Shoji agreed, before seeing Koda opening his mouth. "I know Sprig's still a kid. I meant children at least half his age, like toddlers." He elaborated.
"Granddaughter!" Otto cried out as well. Thankfully, he had enough smarts to let Sprig go so he could leap over and get her out of danger just before the post crashed down on her. "Oh, good one, Frog-Man!" Otto said emotionally as he rolled up.
"Well, at least he still did the right thing in the end." Sato said in relief.
"Yeah. Part of him really WAS genuine about being a hero, he just got too caught up in the excitement." Koda agreed.
"Thanks! It was no problem for Frog-Man, Defender of Jus-" Sprig began to say triumphantly, before Molly Jo pushed him away.
"Jerk!" The girl snapped at the false hero.
Sprig looked on in surprise at this. "No. Justice." He corrected.
"That wasn't justice, Young Sprig. That was you seeking to be a hero only for personal glory. It's important to learn the difference and not let the pursuit of glory blind you to what's important." All Might said.
Bakugo looked down in shame at this as he realized that was indeed his original goal when aiming to be the number one hero. "God, was I really that childish wanting to be a hero like that?" He questioned.
But Midoriya put a hand on his childhood friend's shoulder at this. "But you learned to be better than that. You've grown and matured." He said supportively. Bakugo looked at him for a minute, before nodding and looking back at the screen. Midoriya then did the same. "And now Sprig's learning that lesson, too. So now both of you can grow into better heroes." He said, smiling at the frog boy.
"Not showing the kid in the best lighting, but at least he did the right thing in the end. And I gotta admit, he did a good job avoiding Otto's attacks." Present Mic admitted.
"When he wasn't stopping to spew out some cheesy superhero lines." Ashido pointed out.
"Still, for being one of Sprig's 'fights', there wasn't much actual fighting in this one. He was really just fooling around more than anything." Midoriya admitted.
"Yeah. There was more fighting against those love doves." Bakugo agreed.
"Very well. This next one has significantly more action." Sandra declared.
A muscular toad man began to claw his way up a stone wall, before raising a hand to block the sun in his one good eye. "Head's up!" Sprig declared as he plummeted down towards the toad, limbs fully spread out as he belly flopped onto the toad's face, causing them both to fall down the immense height to the rooftops below.
"Whoa! That's a heck of a way to start watching something!" Kaminari said in surprise.
"Context, please?" Uraraka asked.
"So, Anne and the Plantars are in the capital city of Newtopia, working with the king with her friends who transferred with her. But Sasha, the leader of their clique, is working with Grime, the toad Sprig just tackled, to lead a revolution and take over Amphibia. They've taken over the city and their army is coming to seize total control. Anne and Sprig are working to close the gates to the city so the army can't get in. And Sasha and Grime are trying to stop them. So, Anne is taking on Sasha and Sprig is taking on Grime." Sandra explained.
Everyone is shocked at this. "A teenager caused a revolution!?" They all asked in shock.
"Why couldn't Sprig take on Anne's friend?! Why does he have to take on that huge toad?!" Asui practically shrieked.
"I mean, we saw the height difference between Sprig and Anne, so Sasha's probably the same height or taller, so either way, Sprig's fighting someone bigger than him." Ojiro said.
"But I doubt she's anywhere near as strong as that guy. Toads are usually a lot bigger and stronger than frogs." Asui explained her worried.
They bounced off the wall a few times and even bouncing off a newt man's house, much to his shock and fear, before they finally crashed down on a rooftop, sliding across several more, Grime taking all the hits and damage before they finally came to a stop, Sprig being launched to the other side of the roof from the former gladiator.
"I almost feel bad about this, little frog." Grime declared as he stood up and drew a warhammer with rockets on the back to add speed and power to the swings, as well a strange pink runes that caused pink lightning to crackle across the weapon.
"Oh, man! That hammer is awesome!" Kirishima said.
"So, this Grime guy can't be all that tough, right?" Uraraka asked, worried for her best friend's brother.
"He's a gladiator and often referred to as the strongest and fiercest warrior of the coliseum. So even among the toads, who are the strongest between frogs, newts and toads, he's one of the strongest there is. And a highly-skilled warrior with decares of experience." Sandra explained.
The group became paler and paler with each feat they heard of the Toad's. "Yeah, Tsu, I think your brother's doomed." Hagakure said worriedly.
"Uh-oh." Sprig said quickly, before hopping out of the way as the hammer was brought down on where he once stood. He then leapt forward and got behind Grime as the hammer was brought down where he had been only moments before once again. He ducked a vertical swing and leapt out of the way as Grime tried to hit him with a lunging knee, leaping up, over and behind Grime and he lunged and thrusted the hammer forward, Sprig rolling forward as he landed to get some extra distance from the burly warrior.
"Well, Sprig is surprisingly quick and agile. And his small size helps to make him a smaller target." Yaoyorozu noted.
"So, as long as he keeps his distance, he should be fine." Ashido said.
"Yeah, but that doesn't help him actually beat that fighting freak, does it?" Jiro questioned.
Sprig then got into a kneeling position and pulling out a slingshot. "Ha! Too slow, toad!" He declared confidently firing the rock into the back of Grime's head, bouncing off with no ill effect to the former gladiator.
"A slingshot!? Are you kidding me!?" Bakugo demanded in disbelief.
"Grime's hide looks pretty thick. It's gonna take a lot more than little rocks to bring him down." Midnight agreed.
"Or hitting him somewhere more sensitive." Aizawa said.
"You mean kicking him in the balls?" Mineta asked.
Once again, facepalms rang out through the room at the child-sized boy's question. "That COULD work, but I MEANT something like his eyes or throat." The insomniac teacher explained.
The toad growled at this as he turned to face the boy, throwing a sword at him. "Whoa!" The boy exclaimed, falling onto his back to avoid the blade. But this left him open vulnerable as Grime now loomed over him.
"You never stood a chance-" Grime told him, before Sprig launched another rock at him, this time hitting him directly in the non-blinded eye. "Oh! My one good eye!" The toad groaned, holding his injured eye, swinging around blindly (quite literally) as Sprig leapt away to a safe distance. "Where are you!? You'll pay for this!" The former gladiator snapped.
"Ha! Nice! Looks like he heard you, teach!" Kirishima laughed.
"Looks like Sprig and Otto weren't the only ones with ego problems." Ojiro noted.
"You'd think he'd be more careful with that eye if it's the only working one he has." Todoroki said.
However, with his final blind swing, he stepped back close enough to wear Sprig was lying in wait, the young frog kicking his back leg as hard as he could with both of his legs, knocking Grime's leg out from underneath him and causing him to fall onto his back. He had also lost his grip on his hammer as he fell onto his back, causing the massive weapon to fall down as well, directly onto the one-eyed warrior's face, pretty much caving his entire face in.
Sprig lifted the hammer up to reveal that, while his face had been painfully smooshed in, Grime was miraculously still alive and EVEN still conscious. "But, you're just a little frog..." He weakly said in disbelief.
"Ooh!" Everyone said with a wince as the hammer all but caved in Grim's head. "That had to hurt." Sato said.
"I'm not even sure your Hardening could tank that, Kiri." Ashido said to her boyfriend.
But that wincing quickly turned to cheering as they celebrated Sprig's victory. "He's not JUST a little frog! He's my brother!" Asui cheered.
"Grime may have been bigger, stronger, more skilled AND more experienced, but Sprig was smarter. And sometimes, that's all you need." All Might said with a smile.
"He had an opening and he took it. That's how you do it, listeners!" Present Mic declared.
But perhaps the second most surprising thing of all, was Sprig was managing to hold up the full weight of the massive war hammer. "Guess I'm not so little after a-" He started to say triumphantly, before the weight of the hammer was finally too much for him, causing him to fall back, before the thrusters on the back of the hammer caused him to spiral in the air several times while screaming, before he was sent flying, the hammer falling down and hitting Grime in the head AGAIN as he tried to get up, finally causing him to fall to his side, unconscious.
Everyone couldn't help but laugh as Sprig was sent flying. "No, I'd say you're still pretty little." Yaoyorozu giggled.
"Still, it's pretty cool he could lift that thing for a little bit." Sato admitted.
But then, they couldn't help but wince once more as the hammer crashed down on Grime's head for a second time. "AGAIN!?" They all cried out.
"I'm amazed his head isn't just mush at this point." Tokoyami said.
"Gotta admit, little guy's got some moves!" Kirishima said in amazement.
"He's using his natural advantages in his favor. Grime may be bigger and more muscular, but that big frame weighs him down, so Sprig can dance around him with his tinier size." Midnight praised with a nod.
"Hm... Maybe I could get some ideas from that." Mineta pondered.
"But I still say he could use something better than a slingshot." Kaminari said.
"Or at least some better ammo." Tokoyami agreed.
"Alright, then. Now brace yourselves, because this one's gonna get a little dark." Their hostess warned them, causing Asui to stiffen a bit and several of her friends putting comforting hands on her hands, arms or shoulders.
Anne glared ahead at Andrias as he sat on his throne. "The three of us have made some mistakes... But you? You're evil!" She snapped as she looked at the king.
"Here we go." Andrias said in a rather bored tone, rolling his eyes.
"Whoa, he's huge!" Sato exclaimed.
"Who is that?" Koda asked fearfully.
"That's Andrias, they're appointed 'king'. But why would Anne be saying he's evil?" All Might wondered.
"Because, through their exploits, Anne and her friends uncovered an ancient artifact for him that would allow him to take over the world." The celestial informed them.
Everyone was shocked at this. "No way. Y-you're joking, right?" Jiro asked in concern.
To which Sandra showed a clip of Andrias using the power of the artifact to shoot a laser from his castle that OBLITERATED a giant stone tower. "And that's just the tip of the iceberg. He's also got an army of laser-shooting robots, some of which have stealth technology and collars that use a special mushroom spore as mind control he can use to control the countless giant monsters of Amphibia." The hostess added.
"Why didn't our leaders keep tabs on him? They should've known he was a war monger!" Present Mic said fearfully.
"And I'm gonna stop you! Right here, right now!" Anne declared, drawing a sword, before looking to the side. "Sasha!" She called out to a blonde girl in restraints.
Sasha seemed surprised at this, but quickly looked more than ready to join her friend. "I've got your back." She said, allowing Anne to slice her restraints free.
"And I've got yours!" Grime declared, tearing free of his restraints. A frog-like robot then tossed a pair of swords to Sasha, one silver and one red.
Sprig and Polly then hopped up beside Anne as Hop Pop stood ready behind them. "We're with you, Anne. 'Til the end." Sprig declared.
"W-well, at least Sasha and Grime are on their side. I mean, they practically succeeded in taking the whole place over, right?!" Asui asked worriedly.
"Yes, but they had the element of surprise. AND Grime and Sasha just got their asses kicked by Anne and Sprig, so they aren't at 100%." The celestial reminded them.
"And, again, he's got an army of laser-shooting robots. This isn't going to be easy." Yaoyorozu said worriedly.
"You guys are serious! Okay..." Andrias said, impressed, before he took a lowered fighting stance and pulled out a laser sword [1]. "Let's have some fun!" He declared.
"Oh, come on! A laser sword, too!?" Iida freaked out.
"But I will admit, it is quite the elegant weapon." Aoyama said in awe.
"Bro, now is not the time! That just means he's more dangerous!" Jiro told him.
The heroes all rushed forward as Andrias sent his robots forward, but Anne as Sasha sliced through a few of them with relative ease.
"Well, these robots can't be all that tough, if these Quirkless teenage girls can slice through them like butter." Bakugo said.
"Agreed. Unless they're made of some sort of special metal, they should've bounced right off. Or at least not gone all the way through." Todoroki admitted.
"Or, maybe those girls are just that awesome!" Hagakure cheered.
Hop Pop ran forward and punched one in the face, knocking it down, but also hurting his hand.
Another robot rose up and prepared to fry Hop Pop with a laser, but Grime leapt up from behind with his hammer and smashed it. Another robot landed off to their side, but Hop Pop uppercutted it into the air, allowing Grime to smash it away with his hammer.
Asui facepalmed at her grandfather. "Hop Pop, what were you thinking?" She groaned.
"Still, it's rather impressive he was able to knock that robot down at his age." All Might praised.
Everyone became worried when another robot was about to fry Hop Pop, but sighed in relief when Grime showed up. "Man, that was close." Kirishima said.
"But the two of them did manage to work together quite well there." Tokoyami admitted.
A newt noblewoman looked around in horror at what was happening, before a robot was sent flying towards her. Thankfully, it was sliced in half by a newt woman in armor and gauntlets with a pair of blades coming from them.
"Whoa! That chick ins awesome!" Jiro said, amazed.
"General Yunan. The youngest newt ever to be a general in their army." Sandra explained.
"I mean, it's good that she's not, but shouldn't she be fighting the kids who just threatened her king?" Midoriya asked.
"I think she was probably surprised her king just took a heel turn to being an evil tyrant." Uraraka theorized.
"Nice she protected that other woman, though." Ashido praised, then smirked. "I'm sensing some chemistry there." She said.
A black-haired girl in a ranger-like outfit wiped some tears from her eyes, before readying an arm-mounted crossbow as Frobo stepped up beside her with Polly on his shoulder, readying his own lasers against a trio of robots. The girl fired her crossbow and destroyed the right-most robot and Frobo's lasers destroying the left-most robot.
"I guess that's Marcy?" Midoriya asked, to which Sandra nodded.
"Yes. She was the one working closest with Andrias. He even made her his personal advisor, so it was a hard hit for her when he did his heel turn." Sandra confirmed.
"Making a teenager his advisor. Is he insane?" Aizawa questioned.
"To be fair, Anne said she's a literal genius." Asui informed them.
"Again, though. A simple arrow took out one of those robots! They can't be that well-made." Mineta noted.
"True, but it seems they have quantity far exceeding their quality." Iida pointed out.
"But wait, they have their own robot?!" Sero asked.
"Frobo, yes. He was made before the temples producing the robots were in proper working order, so he doesn't have his normal obedience programs to Andrias or whatever. Then he bonded with Polly, so he's her faithful friend and bodyguard." The hostess explained.
"Awesome! They have a laser-shooting robot on their side! And everyone knows being on the good guy's side makes you better!" Kaminari said.
"Not necessarily." Midnight said in concern.
The last one readied some bigger lasers, but it was hit in the back of the head by a rock, drawing its attention to Sprig.
"The rocks again!?" Bakugo shouted.
"To be fair, with what else we've seen take out these robots, I'm surprised the rock DIDN'T work." Present Mic said.
It fired several laser bolts at Sprig, who deftly evaded each one, before leaping high into the air and firing three balls of mud into the robots weapons, causing them to jam and make the robot explode as Sprig landed beside the group.
"Seriously?! Mud clogging them up stopped them?" Midnight asked, unimpressed.
"I'm starting to think that giant laser is the only good thing he's got. Maybe those collars, too, but we haven't seen them being useful yet." Kaminari said.
"Yeah, we could probably take those things down easy. Probably even the big king, too, if we got a decent shot at him." Sero agreed.
"Enough!" Andrias snapped, stabbing his sword into the ground and sending an energy wave towards the group, blasting them all back in different directions, Sprig slamming into a pillar and Polly crashing to the floor and rolling several times before stopping, holding her head in a daze.
"Whoa! Okay, nevermind! The big king means business!" Sero said worriedly.
"Sprig, Polly!" Asui cried out worriedly.
"Man, I hate enemies that have AOE attacks!" Mineta complained.
"So his sword has long-range capabilities. So you're not safe up close or at a distance. That makes him tricky." Midoriya said.
However, the massive shadow looming over her quickly snapping her back to reality as she realized Andrias stood before her, raising his foot to stomp on her.
"Polly! No!" Anne cried out, reaching out for the polliwog.
"No! Don't do it!" Asui shrieked.
"Do something, don't just stand there!" Ashido cried out.
"I can't look!" Koda said worriedly, covering his eyes.
However, before Andrias could crush Polly under his foot, he suddenly found himself restrained by Frobo, the robot's arms wrapped around his legs and chest to keep him restrained. "Polly! I will save you!" The robot declared.
"Yeah! Way to go, robot!" Ojiro cheered.
"Now throw that guy into a wall or something! You got this!" Shoji declared.
"That would stun him and give them a good chance to ambush him. Not a bad plan." Iida agreed.
Andrias was rather surprised by this, deactivating his sword. "Oh, look at that, one of my robots. Must be defective." He said simply, smashing the robot with his fist and freeing himself, the robot's head sliding over to a horrified Hop Pop, who held it close as the rest of the group was shocked by the suddenness of the execution.
"Oh!" Everyone shouted in horror.
"He smashed him like he was nothing!" Sato said worriedly.
"That went South SO fast!" Uraraka said in fear.
"Frobo!" Polly cried out in horror, her eyes watering as she threatened to cry over her loss, before anger overtook her instead. "You... You monster!" She snapped.
"Don't worry..." The king assured her, turning his attention back to her. "You're up next." He told her simply, bringing his fist down on her, everyone gasping in further horror.
"No!" Asui screamed.
"Jeez, he's team-wiping so quick! They gotta do something or they're toast!" Sero said worriedly.
"Rush him all at once! Stop just sitting there!" Bakugo snapped.
"But the robots have them surrounded." Yaoyorozu pointed out, something everyone just realized worriedly.
However, Andrias raised his fist and was shocked to discover no body in the crater his punch left. "What the?!" He asked in confusion.
"What?" Everyone asked in both confusion and hope.
"Over here, ya big bozo!" Polly's voice rang out as she could be seen in the dust cloud from the punch but looked slightly different. The source was revealed when the dust cleared to reveal the tadpole's legs had come in. "Guess who just got her le- Whoa!" She tried to boast, but leaned back on her left leg and lost her balance, just barely managing to get back on both feet.
"My little baby's got legs!" Hop Pop cried out in pride.
"This is weird!" Sprig declared.
"She's alive! And she's finally got her legs!" Asui said, overjoyed, hopping in her seat.
"A proud moment to be sure. If only it wasn't in such a dire situation." Tokoyami said.
But before Polly could fully get used to her legs, Sasha called out to her. "Polly! Get the box! Get the box!" The blonde usurper instructed.
"On it!" Polly acknowledged, racing for a pedestal where a strange music box rested with strange jewels on it.
"Stop that little brat!" Andrias instructed.
The robots all fired at Polly, but she managed to strafe and evade all their shots, even while nearly stumbling once, but managed to recover, sliding under one robot's legs and leaping onto one robot's chest, backflipping away as the robot next to her target fired, putting a hole in its comrade's chest where Polly once was, landing on the head of the friendly firing robot, before leaping away as the one that had been blasted tried one last time to blast her, but took out the one who had blasted it instead, Polly landing on the platform and recovering the box. "Got it!" She declared as she held the box above her head, causing Andrias' moving castle to start coming down.
"She did it!" Hagakure cheered.
"Man, that kid's good. Especially since she JUST got those legs." Jiro praised.
"A trial by fire as they say. And she cleared it gloriously!" All Might cheered.
"Go, Polly, go!" Hop Pop cheered.
"You did it, girl!" Anne cheered as well.
"Not so fast!" Andrias declared, everyone looking to him. "You've all got spunk, REAL chutzpah..." He praised, before becoming serious. "But this ends now..." He declared as it was revealed he now had Sprig tightly grasped in his right hand.
Everyone gasped at this. "Sprig, no!" Asui shrieked once again.
"Putting kids in danger like that. I wouldn't mind giving this guy a concert, up close and personal." Present Mic growled, wanting nothing more than to scream in this guy's ear until his ears completely exploded.
"Someone definitely has to stop him. He might actually be more dangerous than All For One." Midoriya said in concern.
Sprig groaned in Andrias' grip, before looking to the others. "Guys! Don't listen to this bully! I'll be fine!" He assured the group.
"We'll see... Now put back the box, or this twerp learns how to fly." Andrias threatened, holding Sprig out of an open window.
"Anne! Don't!" Sprig urged her, before gagging as Andrias squeezed him tighter.
"In this situation, I really don't think there's anything to do other than what he wants." Koda said.
"What!? No way! There has to be something they can do!" Kirishima insisted.
"Not without putting Sprig's life on the line." Midnight said sadly.
"Sometimes in these situations, you have to concede in order to try for the best outcome and hope you get an opportunity to turn the situation around later." Aizawa agreed.
"Sprig!" Anne cried out worriedly, looking to the polliwog. "Polly, do as he says!" She instructed urgently, Polly sadly complying with the order.
Andrias looked at the box with a nod, before looking back at Sprig and Polly was set down beside her grandfather. "Frobo..." She said sadly, hugging the fallen robot's head.
"Poor Polly." Ashido said sadly.
"But it's a robot. At least he can probably be fixed." Yaoyorozu offered.
"Yeah. The important software's ALWAYS in the head. As long as they have that, he's sure to be fine." Kaminari said, despite being clueless about robot functionality.
"Okay, dude. You have what you want. Now please, just put him down. He's my best friend. In this land, or any other land." Anne pleaded with the tyrant.
"Anne..." Sprig said emotionally.
Andrias, however, had other plans. "That's the thing about friends, isn't it? The more you love them, the more it hurts when they go..." He began.
"I really don't like the way he said that." Uraraka said.
"Agreed. Someone needs to take action now!" Iida agreed urgently.
"Sprig..." Asui said in horror as he eyes widened fearfully.
"Allow me to demonstrate." The tyrant said, opening his hand and letting Sprig fall out of the window from the massive height they were at, ensuring the frog's doom without any outside help.
"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Asui cried out, tears starting to fall from her eyes.
"Someone has to be able to do something! Sprig has a long tongue like Asui, so Hop Pop probably does, too, right?! Maybe even Grime?! If they work quick enough, they could maybe save him!" Kirishima cried out.
"They're still surrounded by robots. They'd be vaporized before they even got close." Bakugo said in frustration, angry and disappointed he or the others couldn't do anything to help.
Asui was on the verge of a panic attack as her friends quickly tried to calm her. "W-what happened?! Is he okay?!" Ashido asked.
"I assure you, he is fine. Marcy has a sparrow the size of a smart car that she flew after him with and saved him." The celestial assured them.
"Thank goodness." Asui sighed in relief.
"I can't believe this whole time their king was a tyrant bent on world domination." All Might said.
"I can't believe our government didn't check in and keep things properly enforced so it never reached this point." Aizawa added.
"Still, Sprig put in some work there." Jiro admitted.
"I know, right!? He was dodging laser beams! Point blank!" Uraraka said in amazement.
"Right?! Just imagine how good he'd be if he went to UA!" Hagakure agreed.
Sprig slowly approached a female toad very similar to Grime, missing the opposite eye from him with a mohawk, wielding a pair of single-handed battle axes as the two were in a cage for a battle. "Don't worry, little frog. I'll make this quick." She told him, readying the axes.
Everyone looked surprised at this new toad. "What the? Is that a genderbent Grime?" Mineta asked.
"That's his older sister, Beatrix. And she's considered to be THE strongest toad out there. Even Grime regularly gets beaten by her." Sandra explained.
"Oh, COME ON!" Asui cried out in both fear and exasperation her brother keeps getting put up against super warriors.
"But why's he even fighting her?" Koda asked.
"They want her and her army to join the resistance against Andrias. She didn't respect the frogs, so she said no. Grime challenged her to a duel, but she chose to fight Sprig instead after hearing he beat Grime." The celestial informed them.
"But Sprig got lucky and the hammer did most the work for him!" Yaoyorozu said worriedly.
"Yet, but thankfully Grime trained him to use a Toad's strength with his natural Frog abilities." Their hostess elaborated.
"We'll see who's quick!" Sprig declared, moving side to side, clearly planning to be swift and mobile in this fight.
Polly banged a small mallet against Frobo's head, as the robot had been converted into something akin to an RC car, much like ringing a bell for a wrestling match... While also significantly rattling Frobo. "Begin match!" Anne announced.
"Hey, cool! Frobo's okay!" Ashido said happily.
"Not looking like too much anymore, though." Kaminari said.
"Better than being a piece of scrap metal." Todoroki told him.
"Still, that's rather rude to use him as a bell like that. It clearly rattled him." Iida chastised.
Beatrix let out a battle cry and brought the axes on Sprig, but the spry little frog rushed forward and slid between her legs and getting behind her, much not her surprise. She turned and tried to bring the axes down again, one after the other, but Sprig rolled out of the way. Beatrix switched to horizontal strikes now, going low with the right axe and high with the left, but Sprig deftly leapt over the first axe while spreading out and falling to the ground to go under the other axe. He then extended his arms above his leg and extended his leg down, going totally vertical and rolling out of the way of two more slams. "Can't dodge every hit!" She snapped as Sprig lashed out his tongue and reeled himself up into the air.
"Axes!? I thought this wasn't supposed to be life-threatening! Don't they want each other's help!?" Asui shrieked again.
"Well, at least she's having a hard time hitting him." Hagakure said.
"Good. He's putting his small size, speed and agility to good use again. That should keep him safe as long as he doesn't get caught." Midnight said.
"But they're smaller and easier to wield than Grime's giant hammer. It's gonna be a lot harder to turn those against her." Tokoyami noted.
Now high up out of her reach, sprig pulled out his slingshot and launched several berries(?) at Beatrix, but they bounced harmlessly off her chest. "All that speed, but no strength behind it!" The toad woman taunted.
"What the heck was that!? At least you were using rocks on Grime!" Bakugo snapped.
"Yeah, unless those were supposed to be cherry bombs, I don't see those doing too much." Shoji agreed.
"Maybe they were meant to be a distraction?" Uraraka said, trying to give Sprig the benefit of the doubt.
"Or maybe they're to lower her guard. If she doesn't consider Sprig a threat, he can surprise her later." Midoriya added to Uraraka's theory.
Sprig now began to swing around the cage as Beatrix watched on, unimpressed. "This is why you don't stand a chance!" She continued to taunt, lowering her guard while not realizing Sprig was in her (literal) blind spot. Something she would soon regret as Sprig swung in from the side and kicked her in the face with both feet, directly in the side of her eye.
"Ooh! Just like with Grime, going for the good eye! That's gotta hurt!" Ojiro said.
"But at least he didn't hit the actual eye with her." Aoyama pointed out.
"A kick to the head like that should definitely rattle her a good bit, though. Enough of those and she'll HAVE to drop eventually." Mineta said.
"What the!?" She questioned in anger and disbelief as Sprig leapt or reeled himself across the arena at insane speeds, making him very difficult to keep track of, especially with only one eye. "I've never seen this before. From Frog OR Toad!" She exclaimed.
Sprig then launched himself high into the air, even leaving the confines of the cage. "That's because it's Frog AND Toad!" He declared, launching his tongue out again and reeling himself back in, swinging around the cage and landing to more kicks to her head, one right between her eyes and another to her cheek, as well as an elbow to her left temple.
"Alright, Sprig! Show her how it's done!" Asui cheered.
"But shouldn't leaving the ring like that be illegal?" Kirishima asked.
"No one seems to care, so it must be fine." Yaoyorozu noted.
"It DOES beg the question what the point of the cage was, though." Aizawa said.
He landed a punch to her cheek, swinging out of the limits of the cage once again, before wrapping his tongue around one of the bars and began swinging around and around to build up speed and momentum. "Impressive... But you forget one thing." She said, tossing down the axes and readying her arms.
"Oh, no! She's getting ready to grab him!" Koda said worriedly.
"If she gets her hands on him, that takes away EVERY ONE of Sprig's advantages! He's basically finished then!" Jiro said in concern.
"Don't go in, Sprig! Stay away!" Sero called to the boy.
Sprig launched himself at her at maximum speed, leg extended for a kick, but she caught him and spun a few times, now holding him tightly in a bear hug. "We Toads love a good wrestle!" She declared, starting to squeeze the small frog boy in her arms, the audience gasping in shock.
"Sprig!" Anne cried out in concern.
"Let him go!" Asui snapped.
"He's going to crush him like that!" Midoriya said worriedly.
"It's time to call the fight! Clearly, she won!" Present Mic said in concern.
"No. The kid's not done yet. Don't count someone out until they're down for good." Bakugo declared.
Beatrix laughed as she squeezed him even tighter, to the point his eyes began to bug out a bit. "Looks like you let everyone down, Frog! Surprising no one!" The toad woman taunted.
"Hey! He tried his best! Definitely gave you a bigger run for your money than you expected!" Koda defended the boy, surprising everyone with his outburst.
"But yeah, you show him some respect! He had WAY more speed and strength than you expected!" Ashido agreed.
"And it's not over yet. If he's smart, he could still figure a way out." Aoyama said hopefully.
Sprig looked out at the crowd depending on him to win, before his eyes landed on Grime at ring- er, cage side, looking on sternly. (Let rage give you strength! If you funnel it correctly, it can be a secret weapon!) The toad's voice echoed in Sprig's mind as the toad himself raised his hands and clenched his fists in encouragement.
"Grime has some good wisdom there. Anger isn't always good for you, but it's an emotion, just like all our other ones. It has it's proper place and if you channel it correctly, it can make you unstoppable." All Might admitted.
"Is that what let you beat Nomu and All For One?" Shoji asked with interest, to which All Might nodded with an "uh-huh".
"You know, Sprig is right next to her face. If he gets some good leverage, he's in the perfect position for a solid headbutt." Uraraka pointed out.
Sprig growled in anger and determination while also straining, using his arms and legs to push back away from Beatrix, much to her shock. Once at full extension, Sprig let out a cry of rage and lunged forward, slamming his head into Beatrix's face in a devastating headbutt, knocking her to the ground in a daze.
"Yeah, Sprig!" Asui cheered.
"You did it, little dude! Way to go!" Kaminari praised.
"Yeah! Show that warty bitch you aren't someone to mess with!" Bakugo called out as well.
Everyone gasped in amazement at this. "Sprig wins! Sprig wins!" Polly declared, banging her little mallet on Frobo's head as the crowd cheered.
"Alright! So that means Sprig has beaten the TWO strongest Toads out there! That's gotta make him the strongest in Amphibia! By default, if anything!" Kirishima cheered.
"I don't know. Andrias is way bigger than all of them. That probably means he's stronger, too. And he has that laser sword to worry about." Midoriya pointed out.
"Midoriya has a point. If he was that easy to take down, it wouldn't have taken so long for Grime and the Toads to try and overthrow him." Iida agreed.
"But now if they have a whole army of Toads, their chances probably just went WAY up!" Hagakure said hopefully.
"So, yeah, that's what Sprig's been up to since the last time you saw him, Tsu. What do you think?" The celestial asked the frog girl.
"I think I never want to see my baby brother in that much danger again." Asui said simply, a blank look on her face as she struggled to process the numerous life-threatening her little brother had been in. Almost as many as she had, maybe more! "C-can you bring him here, please?" She asked.
"Of course." Sandra confirmed, a small light appearing in front of the crowd, before the small pink frog boy appeared in front of them.
Sprig groaned and he shook his head to clear his sight from the blinding light that brought him here. "Whoa, where am I?" He questioned, before looking up and seeing his sister. "Tsu?" He asked in surprise. But before he could say or do anything else, his sister quickly leapt forward, grabbed him under his arms and picked him up, pulling him close to his chest. "Whee!" He exclaimed cheerfully, before hugging his sister back. But then he noticed the frog girl was trembling a big. "Tsu? Is something wrong?" He asked.
Asui managed to stop herself from crying, before pulling away from her brother. "I just saw all the fights you've been in. How those two toads tried to crush you... And how that newt guy dropped you out a window." She explained, struggling with the fear she was feeling from those events.
Sprig's mood fell at this. "Oh... Yeah. It turns out, Kind Andrias is totally evil and basically declared war on the whole world and wants to conquer it. So we have to stop him." Sprig explained.
"But why you? Why can't you, Polly and Hop Pop leave it up to the adults, or the toads, or... Anyone else who is stronger and capable of fighting?" Asui asked.
"Because it's our home he's threatening. We have to fight for it. And it's more than that. It's the whole WORLD that's in danger, too. That means you and your friends are in danger, too. I HAVE to do this. For you and the rest of our family, too. And everyone else you care about." He said.
Many were surprised at his words, but all of them soon smiled and nodded at what he said. "Wise words, Young Sprig. That is a response I'd expect from a TRUE hero." All Might praised.
Sprig was surprised at this. "Whoa, All Might! Tsu showed me a bunch of videos about you last time I was here! Big fan. And the rest of you guys look awesome, too" He said.
"Always happy to meet a fan." All Might said.
"And thanks for the praise. It's not easy to look this awesome!" Kaminari said, sparking up his Quirk to look more impressive.
Asui smiled at her brother's response as well. "All Might's right. That is something a hero would say. And what they'd do. They wouldn't hesitate, or walk away and leave someone in trouble." She said sadly, remembering how she refused to join the group to save Bakugo.
"But Anne showed us the Sports Festival on her phone. That was really cool! You did great, sis. All of you did. And you three were REALLY awesome." Sprig said, pointing to Bakugo, Midoriya and Todoroki. "Even if it was kinda weird and crazy at they end when they chained and muzzled you." He said to Bakugo.
"Hey! You wanna go, kid!?" Bakugo snapped, but Jiro held him back.
Sprig raised his hands in concern. "Uh, the point is, you all seem like you'll be great heroes! And I hope I can be a hero one day, just like you guys!" He said nervously.
Asui just sighed at this. "Just be careful fighting against that crazy king, okay. And if things ever get too crazy, make sure you message us. We'll send all the help we can. And I'll definitely be there." She assured her brother.
Sprig smiled at this and hugged her once more. "I know you will, sis. Thanks." He said. "And you be careful against those villains, too. And, you know, if it gets SUPER crazy, I'd be willing to come over and help out, too. I kind of miss wearing my Frog Man costume." He admitted.
"Yeah, not happening." Asui told him.
"Worth a shot." The frog boy said, before hopping back away from his sister, the light returning him to where he came from.
"So, who's next?" Uraraka asked.
"Well, I think I kept everyone waiting long enough. I think it's time you guys see Midoriya's sisters." Sandra explained, everyone quickly growing interesting. Everyone except Bakugo, who became pale at this.
"Finally! I've been wondering who they were since I first heard he has sisters!" Iida exclaimed.
"I think you'll all be quite surprised. Not just that he has sisters, but because you have all likely heard of them before. They're actually Pro Heroes as well. Maybe not household names, but I think you've all probably seen or heard the names Hellish Blizzard and Tornado of Terror before." Sandra declared.
[1] Yes, it's a laser sword, not a fire sword. The wiki says so.