Hello again, everyone! I want to try and keep this part brief, since this is a real hefty chapter. I've really been wracking my brain for creative extensions to what the character of Maja Kieslowska can do with her Wax Quirk, based on what we've seen her be able to do during the Hokkaido Arc. I hope what I came up with here will leave you all satisfied.

I want to thank you all for your continued readership, and I especially would like to thank those of you out there who went above and beyond to finally share your thoughts and feelings on this story as a whole thus far. That kind of engagement and care means so, so much to me; seriously!

I would also like to thank my beta readers and consultants Mizu, Jonny and Carlos for all their constant support and assistance; just as much as I'd like to once more thank the current roster of contributing fan-artists on DA: Syyndev, Akane Kahomi, AliceKuroCross, Suki-Chan2509, effasempai, Eliza-Frost, Vanera-Taro and Yumake.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters and the original events surrounding them.

A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian.

Chapter 116

Wax and Flames

(Воск И Пламя)

With the first match of today's Joint Battle exercise between Classes 1-A and 1-B finally finished with 1-A's victory, Aizawa and Vlad King immediately had their respective classes' teams line up, with the 1-A homeroom teacher staring each of his students and Hitoshi Shinso down intensely, even despite their having come out on top. "Go on. Tell us all what you learned from this experience."

Eijirou, removing his face guard with a clearly disappointed grimace, was the first: "If my opponent doesn't want to engage in a fight, then my Quirk is pretty darn useless! In a real fight, I'd be dead meat the second I got caught!"

Next was Kouji, who even with his mask still on, couldn't hide the same disappointment in his eyes: "I need to give more specific instructions to my bugs…"

Similarly, even if Tsuyu wasn't showing nearly as much expression as her peers, even her normally monotone voice had a lowered lilt to it: "We lost two. I wanted to win with our whole team intact. It all got a bit chaotic cause I didn't plan ahead enough."

By sharp contrast, though, Denki looked like he was completely on top of the world, much to the utterances of the rest of his class for not being able to read the room: "I was awesome, right? Go on, feel free to heap on the praise, everybody! Don't hold back; show me some love; you know you want to!"

Finally, Aizawa's eyes fell upon Hitoshi, who by now had finally removed his mask and was already starting to unwrap the cloth bindings around his neck; his dark eyes reflecting an even more intense sense of self-resentment. "After everything I learned, I wasn't able to put even a fraction of it to good use. It's frustrating."

"Nobody's a Pro straight out of the gate." Aizawa suddenly replied with just the tiniest hint of personal intensity, catching the ears of more than a few of his students, including Hitoshi. "It took me six whole years to master the Binding Cloth. Remember that frustration you're feeling and use it as motivation."

While everyone else couldn't decide if they could feel the tingles of some kind of personal connection being made between their teacher and Hitoshi in that moment; his words still seemed to really strike a chord with the 1-C boy, as he gave a humble nod of acceptance. "Right."

While Midnight was already swooning over Hitoshi's youthful spirit and Aizawa's compassion; watching all of this among his classmates; Nikolay couldn't help but speak his mind to Mina after seeing how the team members all conducted themselves. "Am I the only one who finds it weird that the ones who actually got to do Field Training are the ones beating themselves up, while the one guy who didn't is the one riding high right now?"

And with a good-humored chuckle, his girlfriend quickly replied: "I know, right? Kaminari-kun's so, like, 'ignorance is bliss'-like, it's almost kinda admirable."

Of course, with that being said, Nikolay likewise couldn't help but comment regretfully: "Still, that all being said; Eijirou-san really keeps getting the brunt of it all in these training exercises, doesn't he? It's like he keeps getting put in situations he can't work with, just when he keeps finding out what he's good at."

As though he could just read his foreign student's mind in that moment, Aizawa finally decided to wrap up this last-minute evaluation of the 1-A team: "Kirishima; you clearly understand what your Quirk is suitable for, and more importantly what it isn't. From now on, focus on setting up direct encounters where you get to brawl, where you have the advantage." "YES, SIR!"

At Eijirou's determined reply, Aizawa proceeded on to the rest of the team: "Kouda; as you suggested, you need to work on your strategizing. Save precious seconds by truncating your orders to your animals while you're at it. Kaminari; your early game was a mess! Does it really take losing your allies for you to finally put your talents to actual use? Asui; you might've messed up, but you reacted quickly and changed course. You're on the right track so far."

With Aizawa having finally finished judging his student team; Vlad King was now the one to step forward, keeping his large arms crossed while his own students had their heads bowed down in shame. "You all already know what I'm about to say, don't you?"

Then before any of them could even say anything, his stern glare ignited with anger. "WAS SHISHIDA YOUR CENTRAL PILLAR, OR WAS IT SHIOZAKI?! WITH CONSOLIDATED LEADERSHIP, YOU COULD'VE WON THIS!"

Being scolded by their own homeroom teacher was bad enough, but Neito deciding to step in to the forlorn Jurota Shishida, as though he were Vlad King's own personal second-in-command, brought the initial dread of yet further lambasting…until he gave a sympathetic nod and grin to his classmates. "Shiozaki-san just isn't capable of deceiving others. Failing to take that into consideration ultimately cost you."

While the hairy and fanged 1-B student subsequently proceeded to apologize to the similarly down Ibara in the wake of their team's scolding; Neito had his dark blue eyes now set upon Hitoshi alone. "But someone else did indeed show their worth. I'm looking forward to our Joint Battle."

Then, like he became an entirely different person from this composed and observant sort; Neito proceeded to gleefully nearly pounce on the annoyed-looking Hitoshi. "SHINSO-SAN; LET'S COOK UP A PLAN TO REALLY MAKE CLASS A CRY!"

And with Neito saying those cryptic and threatening words; it was like a switch of grim realization had flipped within every one of the other students present, as within seconds, everyone had started to split off into their confirmed teams in order to start putting together their own strategies in preparation for their rounds; whether it was Mina eagerly proposing her team with Izuku, Minoru and Ochako start compiling a list of increasingly absurd combo moves with their Quirks; Mezo and Mashirao trying to decide if their team with Tenya and Shoto was going to rely on the red-white-haired boy being their pillar of command or not; or Momo simply trying to decide what Creations, if any, would be able to help her team with Maja, Fumikage, Yuga and Tooru.

But even for as energetic and determined as those group meetings already were, by far the most intense was the meeting between Nikolay and his team of Bakugo, Kyouka, Hanta and Rikido…primarily because Bakugo had immediately taken the reins and outright stated what was going to happen, no matter what any of them thought or felt like saying: "I'M TAKING THE LEAD, SO DON'T ANY OF YOU GET IN MY WAY, GOT IT?!"

However, even for as naturally intimidating as Bakugo's temper to his teammates was, Nikolay didn't let his words go back down his throat: "Bakugo, by now everyone in Class B would be expecting you to have that kind of approach. If we want to win, then we're going to have to actually work together, and that means discussing an actual plan."

Turning right back around on his heels, Bakugo immediately snapped back: "THERE DOESN'T NEED TO BE A DAMN DISCUSSION, BECAUSE I ALREADY KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH ALL OF YOU!"

With his fiery red eyes suddenly landing on a visibly startled Kyouka, he fired off: "YOU, EARLOBES! YOUR QUIRK CAN HELP YOU TRACK PEOPLE BY THEIR HEARTBEATS, RIGHT?! USE IT TO HELP US KNOW WHERE OUR ENEMIES ARE HIDING!"

As Kyouka realized that plan actually did make sense from where she stood, any protests she had quickly vanished; while Bakugo then pointed to Nikolay himself, jabbing his commanding finger hard against his chest. "YOUR QUIRK IS NOW ABLE TO BE SENT TO DISTANT SPOTS AND FIRE OFF FROM THERE AT COMMAND; THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN HEARING ABOUT YOU LATELY! SO WHEREVER EARLOBES TELLS US THE OTHER TEAM IS HIDING, YOU USE THAT MOVE TO FORCE THEM OUT INTO THE OPEN! THEN SOY SAUCE FACE OVER THERE CAN USE HIS TAPE TO TRAP THE WEAKER ONES, WHILE BIG LIPS IS THERE TO ACT AS A RESCUE OPTION IF ANY OF YOU GET GANGED UP ON, AND I PUMMEL THE FIGHTERS INTO THE DIRT! THAT'S ALL ANY OF YOU NEED TO DO FOR US TO WIN, GOT IT?!"

But while Nikolay, Rikido and Kyouka were already exchanging nervous glances that all but shouted 'If he keeps yelling our plans out loud like that, then we've pretty much already lost'; Hanta's own uncertainty was well-hidden under his tinted visor helmet. "You make it sound simple enough, man; but it's still way too straightforward a strategy! I hear that Tokage-san in Class B's some kind of strategizing genius; makes sense with how she blindsided us at the end of that Cavalry Battle at the Sports Festival! She's probably gonna be counting on a plan like this!"

Rikido likewise wasn't far behind: "Plus, if the fight ends up getting drawn out and anyone else on the team gets in trouble, my Sugar Rush doesn't last forever, and once it's run out, then so have I. I really can't act unless I know for sure I can end any confrontation quick, just like Kirishima-san."

Nikolay, already nodding in full agreement with Hanta's concerns, quickly followed up: "Besides, I already mentioned when telling you all about Hokkaido, how Maja's Quirk allows her to make decoys of herself with her Wax. How can we possibly know she won't just do that to try and lure one of us out so they can attack then?"

With his fists clenched to the point of white knuckles, and his teeth grinding with festering rage, Bakugo immediately shot back: "STRAIGHTFORWARD ATTACKS ARE THE ONLY REAL SHOT WE HAVE AGAINST THIS BUNCH OF ASSHOLES AND THEIR LOW-LIFE TAG-ALONG! IF THEY THINK THEY CAN OUTSMART US, THEN I JUST NEED TO REEDUCATE THEM ON THAT WITH A WELL-PLACED EXPLOSION OR A HUNDRED!"

Not able to stay silent at the sound of something so reckless, Kyouka firmly stated: "Bakugo, that impatience is a handicap to this whole plan. If we're going up against a team that has brains and Quirk strength behind it, we gotta be patient and work around them."

With a deafening slam of his boot to the floor, Bakugo ultimately put the final pin in this so-called discussion: "If we aren't the ones making the first move, then we have no chance at winning this damn thing! There's plenty of situations that call for taking precautions, but this isn't one of them! This is a time when all we have to do is act right from the start! We do that, and victory is goddamned certain for us! And besides; if for whatever reason Big Lips isn't able to get you out of whatever jam you're in…then depending who can intercept first; either I or Commie here will save you, since we're both a damn sight faster than any of you three…and, if I end up in trouble, then any or all of you come cover me."

Naturally, Nikolay and the others were utterly dumbfounded that Bakugo was actually acknowledging his teammates' presence enough to even consider stepping in to save them; let alone the fact he was actually conceding that Nikolay could actually be useful for something on anywhere near the same level as himself. But of course his abrasive attitude prevented any of them from lingering on the matter, or even worse, prodding him further with it.

As the multiple student teams continued to chatter away and throw one strategy after another between themselves; Midnight was practically trembling from head to toe with the most satisfied smile on her face. "Ooooh, this is it! The springtime of youth; God, I love it!"

Of course, with the Art History teacher already having long since left for her own little mental world; Toshinori, Oleg and Headmaster Nezu were similarly observing the visible comradery between the students of both classes with intent. Especially watching his son engage with Bakugo, instead of simply stepping back or engaging in a shouting match with the hotheaded boy, had Oleg smiling with a distinct tremble of emotion on his lips, which Toshinori quickly noticed, and understood. "It hasn't even been a full year yet, and Bezpalov-shonen's made quite a bit of headway so far, hasn't he?"

"Indeed he has. Not only has he managed to make so much progress with training and mastering his Quirk in so little time, but to see him engage so actively with all his classmates, and even be civil to those who've otherwise given him nothing but attitude…I hate to say it, but there are sometimes moments where I struggle to accept that the withdrawn boy that once was, is still the same person. But nevertheless, I still couldn't be prouder of him."

Listening to the emotion hanging off of Oleg's every word, Toshinori nodded. "Neither could I with Midoriya-shonen, honestly. Even for as determined as I was when I was his age, it took me a great deal of time longer to get to where he is now with One For All. But even with that being said, the progress all of these students have made so far has been nothing short of staggering. This year will be out before we know it, and their first years will soon follow. These kids have all pushed their Quirks to their limits, developed their own Special Moves, and conquered every disaster and situation that has come their way so far, practical, mental and emotional, whether by themselves, or through the support and compassion of each other. Through it all, they pressed forward.

"Here, they get to finally measure their strength against their peers for a clear picture of where they really stand, especially alongside those they either aren't used to working with, or have never faced before. In a way, this Joint Battle exercise is also a comprehensive review."

No sooner than Toshinori finished expressing these long held thoughts and feelings of his; Aizawa and Vlad King suddenly came with a purposeful stride; the hulking 1-B teacher wasting no time with formalities. "All Might, Midnight, Tunguska, Nezu-san. There's still a bit of time, but…Shinso-kun; what do you all think of him so far?"

Of course, with the reminder of the two ultimately neutral participants in the exercise, Toshinori quickly answered: "Honestly, I think he did great. He's certainly no coward. And I'm personally impressed that he was able to feel frustrated."

Oleg, eyeing Hitoshi among his future Class B teammates, kept his arms crossed in contemplation as he added on: "He's certainly an enigmatic one. His immediate demeanor gives the impression of someone who's completely antisocial and unwilling to work with anyone, especially with those comments he made before and after the match…and yet his actions and mentality in the field clearly show otherwise; an unwillingness to abandon his teammates for a potential shot at glory. With a little adjusting, he could prove to be as charismatic as he clearly is brave."

Following his fellow teacher's gaze, Aizawa likewise kept his arms crossed, his distant eyes betraying nothing akin to attachment or sentimentality, but still studying everything he could in Hitoshi's subtle body language all the same. "For now, honing the practical side of his abilities is most important. After all, this is essentially the main test for his being able to transfer to the Hero Course. Now that he's gotten his first taste of action, I expect he'll really start to step his game up in his next match."

However, even with everyone being in full agreement of this, Nezu was lightly chuckling to himself. "Let's not neglect our other potential Hero Course candidate as well, everyone. Unlike Shinso-kun; Kieslowska-chan has an impressive amount of field experience with her Quirk already, for better and for worse. For her, this exercise will be all about testing her spirit and mentality, to see if she truly has what it takes to make the cut as a Yuuei student."

With that, Vlad King started smirking in anticipation. "Acting as something like a Vigilante may provide physical experience, but it also leads to a lacking in moral fortitude and restraint when a situation arises. Heroes have rules to play by to a far stricter degree. This is going to be her chance to prove she can work with that as well as our students can. Whichever way this turns out, my class will be getting a promising new addition by the time this is all over. You better cherish your spot at the top for what little time it has left now, Eraserhead."

With that, it looked as though the student teams had all finally finished putting their strategies together, and thus Vlad King once more took the reins: "ALL RIGHT! THE SECOND MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! TEAMS 2-B AND 2-A REPORT TO YOUR HOME BASES!"

Ignoring the childish show of class favoritism, the two respective teams immediately took their leave; their respective classmates all enthusiastically wishing them luck until they were no longer in sight.

And as they delved further and further into the mechanical labyrinth, Tooru noticed the rigid way with which Maja Kieslowska's Wax-dressed legs were moving as her eyes were busily scanning the layout of their surroundings. "Hey, hey, you nervous, Maja-chan? You ready to get to it already?!"

The invisible girl's voice suddenly all-but ringing in her ears thankfully snapped Maja out of her head with a jolt; her whole body still shaking despite her attempt at a confident smirk. "What? N-no…maybe? Yes? To both? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm really psyched to finally be doing something actually Hero-like with at least one familiar face; talking about you, Yaoyorozu-san. Plus with how tough Tetsutetsu-san, Tsunotori-san, Monoma-san, Yanagi-san and Kodai-san proved themselves to be, I'm really excited to see what more of these two classes of Heroes are like for myself."

The eagerness in Tooru's little visible body language and excited squeal was unmistakable, just like Momo's appreciative smile for the familiarity given her. With that, Itsuka Kendo; dressed in a black eye mask and a teal-colored Chinese dress with short sleeves for her Hero costume, gave the Polish girl a supportive wink and a thumb up. "That makes two of us, then, Maja-san. Tetsutetsu-kun and Pony-chan both said you're quite tough, so I hope you don't even think of holding back once the match starts."

Reading the sincerity in the orange-haired girl's tone and expression, Maja gave a thumb up right back, rolling her shoulders in an attempt to loosen them up as she quietly muttered in confirmation to herself: "Nie ma szans (Not a chance)."

With that all having been said, Itsuka cast a probing sideways glance to the ever pensive-looking Momo; smiling in certainty that the 1-A vice president was even now running a thousand different strategies through her head. "Oi, Yaoyorozu."

The way Momo shook with the sudden break in her concentration, only to immediately look embarrassed and apologetic for potentially ignoring her peer was undeniably adorable on a girl as elegant and proper as Momo, which just made Itsuka's amused smile that much warmer. "I was just wondering; how come you never bothered entering the beauty pageant during the School Festival? With your looks and natural feminine aura, I would've thought for sure you would."

With a bashful blush and a dismissive hand, Momo giggled in embarrassment. "Honestly, Aizawa-sensei never thought to mention it. It's not like I would've had a chance to anyway, thanks to all our musical practice."

To this, and her subsequent surprise, Itsuka could only chuckle wryly to herself. "Y'know, ever since we did that commercial together with Uwabami-sensei at Field Training, people see us as equals. Basically putting us in the same box, you could say."

While Momo still looked utterly confused, Tooru was already wriggling with knowing excitement. "OH, YEAH! Lotsa people really seem to like the combo of you two! I swear I even heard a ton of people calling your names together all throughout the Festival, even!"

Momo could already spy how Maja, now learning all of this, was now looking her and Itsuka over before giving a conceding nod of agreement to their apparent similarities; an instance that only made Itsuka's persistent grin that much more unreadable. "My point exactly. Your Quirk and grades are ultimately way better than mine, but they still lump us together. Honestly, I don't like it. Personally, I've just been itching for a chance for us to go head-to-head and settle this."

But even despite such intimidating words, there was no true sign of malice in Itsuka's heart; Momo could simply feel it; hence why instead of giving any sign of feeling fear, she instead did the proper thing as she'd always been taught, and simply gave her grinning peer a humble bow of her head. "And I wholeheartedly accept your challenge."

While the two team leaders officially issued their declarations to battle; mere feet back, Fumikage and the literally black-bodied Shihai Kuroiro, had unwittingly found themselves stuck at each other's sides as well; neither of the two boys willing to break the lingering silence between them…until Shihai ultimately did so, unable to silence the feeling in his chest he received, courtesy of the crow-headed boy. "Tokoyami…you're…like me."

Never breaking his focused stride, Fumikage shot a discerning glare to his soon-to-be opponent: a boy with literally no discernible physical features than a head of semi-long white hair, and a pair of piercing eyes and a razor sharp grinning mouth. Indeed, even if he hadn't been the one to say so first, he could not deny understanding exactly what drove Shihai to say something so bold and surprising. "Kuroiro Shihai…your Black Quirk…allows you to meld with the darkness and move within it."

And as though that were all the confirmation he needed to know that Fumikage was indeed on the same page as him, Shihai's already fearsome grin only became that much more so. "Me and you…we're connected by fate."

Fumikage's expression may have remained as unflinching as ever, but the rest of his body was a different story, as the Class B boy's words and expression together made him flinch but slightly; unwittingly conceding his point; as their two teams had finally reached the point where they would have to now go their separate ways to their respective home bases.

And all the while, the two overly-dramatic and edgy students were still muttering in recognition of each other to themselves, much to Tooru's observant delight and Maja's silent amusement: "I see…another who convenes with the abyss." "A fellow resident of perpetual darkness."

As the whole of Team 2-A hurriedly regrouped and made the rest of the way to their home base, Maja could feel her heart starting to pound with anticipation, but not enough to stop her from taking advantage of these last few seconds of peace before the match would begin. "Alright, I'm all prepared and my Quirk is powered up enough…but do you think you could do me a favor while we still got time, Yaoyorozu-san?"

"LET THE SECOND JOINT BATTLE BEGIN! GOOD LUCK TO KENDO AND TEAM 2-A!" "NO MORE BIASED COMMENTARY!"

Once Vlad King had once again kicked off the second match, and got subsequently hit with a wall of protest from the rest of Class 1-A in unison; everyone once again had their eyes glued to the screens, all hearts racing in excitement; Hanta's to the point that he simply couldn't stay quiet once noticing Tetsutetsu nearby, who was already grinning from ear to ear. "Hey, exactly what kind of role does Kendo-san have among you guys?"

The swiftness and volume with which Tetsutetsu answered made it all too obvious he had just been waiting for someone in their rival class to ask. "OH, SHE'S THE KINDA GAL WHO GETS THE JOB DONE, NO MATTER WHAT! I MEAN, SHE'S OUR CLASS PRESIDENT, AFTER ALL! SMART AS ALL HECK, ALONG WITH QUICK, LEVEL-HEADED DECISION-MAKING SKILLS! AND SHE PULLS THE WHOLE CLASS TOETHER WITH AN A-PLUS ATTITUDE! WITHOUT HER, WE'D ALL HAVE BEEN SUCKED INTO MONOMA-SAN'S ORBIT BY NOW! SHE'S BASICALLY CLASS B'S BIG SISTER!"

It was impossible for nearly everyone else not to hear Tetsutetsu's proud proclamation of Itsuka Kendo's virtues as a classmate, and while such commendation of her raw skills had more than a few of the 1-A students openly wondering how Momo's leadership skills and Quirk would be able to measure up; for Nikolay, his own excitement and anxiety for his own coming fight were melding into one; unable to keep his eyes off of the movements of the Class B team on screen in preparation to see just what their Quirks and teamwork skills were going to be like.

So great was his anticipation, in fact, that as soon as Eijirou spied how tight his fists were clenched, he immediately stepped in with an affirming grin on his face. "Hey, take a breath and try to chill, Kolya-san. You still got a whole other match after this before you and Bakugo have to go out there! I'm telling you, you got this! He hasn't tried to blow you up since you two built the dorms, after all! That sounds like real progress to me!"

Overhearing the one-sided chatter, Mina likewise jumped in with that same energetic grin across her face. "Aww, Kolya-kun's just supes excited to see how Maja-chan's gonna do out there! I know I am, and I know you definitely are too, Kiri! Maybe if you cheer loud enough, she'll hear you!"

Before Eijirou could do a double take and ask what the heck she had meant by that, Nikolay finally intervened: "I'm not trying to focus on the whole Bakugo aspect right now, okay? And yes, of course I'm eager to see how she does, we all are! After everything we went through with her, why wouldn't any of us be? Plus, I haven't studied up on all of Class B's Quirks as much as I'm sure Yaoyorozu-san, Iida-san, Todoroki-san or Midoriya-san already somehow have, so I just don't want to miss anything we could be able to work with one day, that's all."

Before either of them could go on to compliment him for thinking ahead, Nikolay suddenly felt a whole other arm come resting itself across his shoulders by surprise, as Setsuna leaned in between himself and Mina with a sly fanged grin on her face. "Trying to gauge how well my classmates do teamwork ahead of time? That's smart; Bezpalov-kun, but it still won't do you and your team any good. I've been aching to test you and that Bakugo out for a long time, and getting to see what Maja-chan can do so I can hit you both hard with it will just be all the better. So, you better bring me you're A-games, cause we'll definitely be bringing you ours!"

Nikolay could just feel the electrical jolt of Bakugo's ire through sheer osmosis, as though he could just hear Setsuna's taunts, and was simply directing his anger into his teammate for the sheer misfortunate of being near her.

But Setsuna wasn't finished just yet; grinning cheekily to herself still; as she suddenly went on, while this time having the good graces to keep her voice low. "But just because I'm all geared up for our match, doesn't mean I'm not without all the faith in Itsuka-chan's skills. Frankly, my class needs the win, and with Kinoko-chan on the field now, they're damn lucky you're not there right now. Poor girl's focus would be right out the window, otherwise."

Nikolay's immediate double take at such unexpected information was perfectly mirrored by the similarly blindsided Mina; while Setsuna herself was just chuckling knowingly in response. "What can I say? She wants to be an idol-like Hero, so obviously she's a romantic…and she took a shine to those boyish good looks of yours after I'd introduced her and Yui-chan to you guys after Field Training. Why else do you think she went out of her way to grow mushrooms for you after Bakugo blew your dinner up in your face back at camp?"

Nikolay was left wide-eyed and blushing wildly with embarrassed realization over a moment he had frankly completely forgotten. But before he could even say as much, let alone even ask if Setsuna was just messing with him and was really good at hiding it; he suddenly felt Mina's elbow lightly nudging at his ribs. Upon looking her way, he could see her cheeks were similarly blushing heavily, but her eyes and the teasing grin on her face betrayed not even a hint of defensiveness or even jealousy. "Looks like you better start watching your back, Kolya-kun. You're starting to get the girls all looking at you without even trying. I should know."

That last part now left Setsuna being the one to do a double take to make sure she was hearing things right, before Mina happily hugging Nikolay's arm tight, and seeing the silent and deeply supportive smile on Eijirou's face when seeing this common moment of affection between his two best friends, all finally spelled it out for the lizard-like girl…with her own smile of understanding quickly forming on her face. "So, you two finally went and confessed? Well, it's about time, that's all I'll say." "I know, right?!"

As Eijirou happily echoed Setsuna's support, the four students finally were able to bring their focus back to the screens displaying the second match; all of them quickly noticing how, in the little time that had passed, Maja now looked to have what looked like two wiry-looking brass vambraces around her forearms with tiny funnels forming a circle around her wrists.

With Momo having confirmed her teammates had what all they possibly could have needed on such short notice, the time had finally come for them to get on the move, or better. Having taken Tsuyu's example of not planning far enough ahead to heart, she was quick to take charge everywhere she could think of. "Tokoyami-san, your Dark Shadow gives you the widest range in terms of scouting ahead, as well as acting as a decoy. As such, I think Aoyama-san, Kieslowska-san and I should take to the high ground so we can observe Team B's Quirks once they're pushed. Hagakure-san, if you can stay close to Tokoyami-san, you can act to help if he ends up in trouble."

At the exact same moment, though; Itsuka had the very same train of thought once the word had been given for the match to begin, directing her teammates into the right positions for them to have the most effective formation for immediate combat. "Alright; don't forget, they know all about our Quirks already, for the most part. But we've still improved, and we might surprise them with some of our new Special Moves, so the first thing they'll likely do…"

Before she could even finish, though, the sound of something tearing through the air ahead quickly caught Itsuka and her team's attention; just before the hulking shadowy mass of a fierce and aggressive Dark Shadow came erupting from within the corridors of pipes right towards them.

Leaving her completely unshaken. "…is try to scope us out! ALL YOURS, KUROIRO-SAN!"

As Shihai grinned in manic excitement at being given the go-ahead, Dark Shadow itself came barreling towards him and the rest of his teammates; a deep and inhuman voice billowing out its gaping beaked maw as it raised its clawed hands to attack. "SCOPE YOU?! NO! I'M HERE TO TAKE YOU OUT!"

All the way back at the 1-A home base, Fumikage was still in position; a large connecting strand emanating from beneath his cloak where he had sent Dark Shadow to try and force Team 2-B to scatter; all the while utilizing their connection to keep his own teammates posted. "Dark Shadow has spotted them ahead. It seems they're directly in front of that towering smoke stack straight ahead."

As Momo, Maja and Yuga all began to start ascending to the roofs, while Tooru tried to make sure to keep herself out of the open for Fumikage's sake; the crow-headed young Hero's whole body suddenly went rigid once he'd began to move forward to make the connection to his Quirk remain as strong as it needed to be; a sudden jolt of what felt like frightened shock suddenly snapping in his brain as Dark Shadow's voice cried out for only him to hear: "FUMIKAGE, THEY GOT ME!"

"EVERYONE SCATTER! RETURN TO ME, DARK SHADOW!" The utter intensity in his booming voice, spurred a unanimous jump of shock and apprehension from his teammates; all of them knowing he would not be losing his cold and distant demeanor like this for no reason. Within seconds he could see his Quirk's manifestation reeling back to him from whence it had gone…but just as he was about to breathe easy, knowing he had gotten it back before any extensive damage could be done…

WHAM!

Out of nowhere, Dark Shadow; as though it had done so completely outside its own will; suddenly plowed a powerful shadowy fist straight into his abdomen, knocking the air right out of Fumikage before he was sent tumbling across the ground, to his team's disbelieving shock.

A shock that turned to horror the moment Shihai Kuroiro popped out of its black mass, with Momo's fortunate positioning on the field being the only reason she acted on reflex fast enough, flinging two quickly expanding nets she had Created in the beginning moments of the match, right at him.

But Shihai's own reflexes and Quirk quickly proved to make him untouchable, as he already leapt high up into the side of a large black horizontal pipeline overhead; his lower half already melding straight into it while Momo's nets flew by harmlessly. Despite her actions, she wasn't even a secondary concern in the eyes of the grinning young boy of shadows, as his predatory eyes were solely focused on Fumikage.; by now finally getting back onto his feet while trying to regain his breath. "Tokoyami Fumikage…I'm going to wear you like a suit!"

But even as the pain still radiated in his midsection, Fumikage was not deaf to his enemy's threats; instead keep his own eyes focused right back at him as he quickly tore away his billowing black cloak. 'I understand now. Darkness is both our ally…therefore, he's my natural foil.'

Revealing the short-sleeved all-black combat uniform underneath, Fumikage's answer was resolute and unflinching; knowing he was the only one capable of taking on this particular threat for the good of his teammates. "Very well; I shall stand against you with the technique Hawks-sensei helped me to create: BLACK FALLEN ANGEL!"

With his Number Two Hero mentor's name hanging on his beak as his heart pounded with determination; Fumikage's already racing mind couldn't help but look back, knowing this next action would be the deciding point as to whether he'd truly grown and come as far as he'd hoped by now.

'Yes…Hawks-sensei…for so long, I wondered if I ever even deserved to have a Hero like you to teach me. You always did things at your own pace; a pace I could never hope to match, and you always got the job done that way. With this being the first year you'd ever scouted someone from the Sports Festival, I felt honored…but always being left behind with the rest of your sidekicks to clean up after your every mission, I'd come to wonder why you ever even bothered picking me at all.'

"Why? Isn't it obvious, Tsukuyomi-kun? We're birds of a feather, aren't we?"

The day Fumikage had finally worked up the will to finally express his slowly building and lingering self doubt to his teacher; the fact that Hawks had decided to answer him with such a disingenuous joke just felt like an insult, making him feel even worse, regardless whether it was from his lack of a sense of humor or not.

And all the while, no matter what tone Hawks took up next, the casual and laid back grin on his face never faltered, simply serving to make him even harder for his young charge to read. "Relax, I'm just being about twenty percent serious. Another fifty percent of me also really wanted to talk to anyone from Class 1-A; mainly about that band of punks that attacked you all earlier this year, the League of Villains. I was hoping to get that chance from one of the ones that made it big at the Sports Festival, of course. That Bakugo one was too hair trigger-tempered for my taste, so I was eyeing you, Endeavor's kid and that Russian Hero's boy the most.

"But, in the end, I'm actually glad it was you I picked at the end of the day. I mean, there you were on that podium, looking the coolest out of the whole skilled cream of the crop; a fellow bird who could probably match my pace."

To listen to Hawks speak so coyly about his reasons for picking him as his intern, it all ultimately left Fumikage that much more frustrated, constantly being hammered down with one question after another regarding USJ, and each day coming up with nothing new to be learned. By the time that week of Field Training had ended, he had returned to Yuuei the most disheartened he had ever been, especially when hearing of the Stain and Vukodlak incidents so many of his classmates had gotten involved in at the same time.

But despite that frustration; by the time the actual period for Hero Internships had rolled around, and he had received yet another invite to rejoin Hawks as an official intern; for a lack of any better or more fitting options for himself, Fumikage had returned begrudgingly at best; cynically expecting to waste all that time being subjected to any of Hawks' impromptu interrogations about things he simply had no meaningful answers for.

It had ultimately led him into a deep pit of self-doubt, frustration and outright offense, as though Hawks was simply testing him for his own amusement. And with all those feelings came an ever growing urge to somehow prove himself as more than just a meaningless tag-along to the Number Two Hero.

With that desire constantly aflame in his heart, Fumikage spent every moment he could when out on patrol, utilizing Dark Shadow the best he possibly could in order to try and somehow keep up with his mentor's lightning-fast pace, forcing himself to try and use his Quirk in ways he hadn't considered before, just to somehow try and prove to the Wing Hero and himself that he was indeed worth something.

But with every day that passed that Hawks never acknowledged any such thing, he left his self-chosen intern leaving with his spirits withered and his heart made that much colder on his way out those doors, with ultimately nothing but more of the same to await him with each day he came back.

But then, one night, when Fumikage had let himself sink deeper into this inner malaise of complete lack of self-worth and direction…something had decided to then suddenly change; all when Hawks had suddenly invited him for a nighttime flight.

With no idea as to how else to answer, he had naturally accepted his mentor's invitation, feeling that as an intern he had no actual choice. It was only once the Wing Hero had gotten him high up over the Kyushu skyline in his arms, that some of Fumikage's previous energy had decided to come back, out of both natural fear and exhilaration.

Exactly what Hawks had been hoping for. "This is your first time really flying, I take it?"

Even with the wind being so intense so high up, he could easily see how vigorously his tense intern was as they continued to fly over this veritable sea of lights. So, with his eyes watching the infinite horizon, Hawks went on, and what he had decided to say that night had taken a hold within Fumikage that he had long since given up on ever being able to receive from his teacher.

"Y'know, you never got around to asking me what that last thirty percent was that I picked you as my intern for. The fact is, that last thirty percent was because when I saw you in action at that Festival, all I could think was 'What a waste.' One thing I've learned for a fact in my time so far, Tokoyami-kun, is that being up in the sky is a truly great thing. It gives you a much wider perspective of the world. I mean, that's just the way I've come to see it. It's not exactly like I'm much for training the next generation of Heroes or whatever."

Fumikage had been left expectedly surprised that Hawks had taken this as the opportunity to open up to him even this much; his past frustration finally giving way to the curiosity expected of the student to his master. "'A waste'? What do you mean by that?"

With an especially dry chuckle, Hawks quickly flew them to a small perc at the top of a broadcasting tower, leaving himself and his intern to once more gaze out upon this expansive view of what had once felt like such an enclosing city; an almost literal birds'-eye view. "Focusing on close-quarters combat. It's fine to cover for your weakness, but don't forget to improve on your real talents. Let yourself move freely from now on. Just listen to me, bud; from one bird to another…those that can fly, should. Why keep yourself grounded?"

Even if Fumikage had never known then how to answer such a simplistic yet profound sentiment; he couldn't deny that there was a great point that Hawks had made with him that night, and ever since then, he had tried to keep those words close to his heart in every bit of intern work and subsequent training he did, even if only to see if the Wing Hero was right, and he indeed could free himself that same way for the good of himself and others in the future.

"Hehehe…'Black Fallen Angel'? Sounds really interesting. Why don'tcha show me?!"

Anyone else who had heard the sheer determination in Fumikage's voice when announcing his new Special Move, would have been overwhelmingly intimidated. But Shihai Kuroiro was the exact opposite. With his eyes honing in on his crow-headed opponent, the smile on his shadow of a face was nothing short of pure glee.

With no further hesitation, the rest of his body proceeded to sink into the shadow of the black pipe at last, putting the rest of Team 2-A on immediate alert; Momo immediately warning her comrades: "HE'S SHIFTING THROUGH THE SHADOWS! IN AN ENVIRONMENT LIKE THIS, PINNING HIS LOCATION IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

With that, she, Tooru and Maja were already dashing in the first direction they could that was in direct sunlight; the foreign newcomer simply following her teammate's lead on instinct. And all the while, Fumikage was defiantly standing his ground, keeping his cloak in hand as his eyes barely shifted, watching the shadows around him intently, like an animal ready to fight off its natural predator.

But as he waited for his enemy's first move; Shihai himself had to give his all to keep from laughing and potentially giving away his position. Seeing his outwardly grim opponent stand his ground like this was simply too entertaining. 'He's going after me. I'm his natural prey. That would be what you're thinking right now, wouldn't it, Tokoyami? Class A? All of you think so much alike, it's embarrassing. I set this psychological trap on you all before the match even began! That's just how I work!'

With everyone still urgently trying to look for the first possible sign of movement within the shadows, Yuga's costume proved just bulky enough to keep him from turning around in time, providing just enough of an opportunity for Shihai to suddenly reach out from the shadow of a low pipe behind his back and grab tight onto his cape, before swiftly sinking back into the shadows and taking the yelping blonde twinkling Hero on a breakneck-fast flight along the pipes, and soon all the way up the walls and across more, as Shihai flew seamlessly from the shadow of one object to another.

As he continued to drag Yuga along with no mercy, Shihai's victorious laughter was just begging to be let out as he continued further and further inward in his rush for ultimately his team's home base and the 1-A jail. 'With my speed and this tangled maze of a battleground, the physical tether between Tokoyami and Dark Shadow will make it impossible to chase me down!'

"'Those Class A fools have no way of catching me!' Is that what you were thinking?!"

The sudden sound of Fumikage's voice coming up from as close behind him as it was, hit Shihai's head harder than he ever could've expected, as in his continued escape, he chanced a look back, and couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Contrary to everything he'd counted on, Fumikage was instead flying with ease through the twisting and winding pipes blocking the majority of this narrow passage; his fierce eyes focused solely on Shihai and Yuga together; with the large arms of Dark Shadow emanating from beneath his cloak on his back; which was acting now like a cover from the beams of sunlight overhead; wrapping firmly around his midsection like a bear hug so its large hands could flap like a massive pair of wings, keeping him airborne and moving like the wind in his pursuit. "THIS IS MY DARK SHADOW: BLACK FALLEN ANGEL!" 'Thank you for giving me this example and pushing me to finally fly, Hawks-sensei!'

"BUT HOW?!" This was all Shihai could think to ask as he desperately tried to roll his body around the width of the pipe, in the hopes of getting himself and Yuga out of his pursuer's trajectory. But Dark Shadow's flight was just that bit too fast, as at the last moment, Fumikage managed to get his own arms around Yuga's torso just like his Quirk was doing for him, thus causing his teammate's cloak to tear asunder, ultimately freeing him and leaving Shihai with nothing. "Dammit! Plan A is a bust!"

Seeing that Fumikage's rescue was a success, Momo was instantly in action: AOYAMA-SAN, USE YOUR NAVEL BUFFET! KEEP FLYING ABOUT, TOKOYAMI-SAN!"

At their team leader's command, both boys knew exactly what to do, with Fumikage taking the most immediate precaution: "UNDER MY CAPE, DARK SHADOW!" And the moment he heard his rescuer play his part, Yuga was just as quick: "Right, enough to alter every shadow around!"

BZBZBZBZBZBZT!

Yuga immediately proceeded to unleash a blinding barrage of split-second Navel Laser blasts from his stomach and the openings in the elbows and knees of his costume, instantly illuminating this entire dark corridor like a New year's fireworks show, instantly erasing every single shadow, and ultimately forcing Shihai out into the open air, an almost literal sitting duck whom Momo already had eyes on. "There he is, Hagakure-san!"

"AWESOME! He's mine now!" Tooru exclaimed, breaking into a mad dash to try and tackle Shihai before he could try to escape, leaving Momo to watch her plan play out flawlessly, and Maja to watch her back while at the same time marveling at their perfect teamwork. "Once you know to expect the unexpected, Maja-san, nobody can truly get the drop on you!"

POP!

In the blink of an eye, Momo's whole body froze, much to Maja's momentary confusion, until she actually looked and saw the vice president was looking with visible surprise at the sight of a tiny mushroom having suddenly sprouted on the tip of her nose.

POPOPOPOPOPOP!

Within seconds of this strange sound filling her ears, Maja looked down and immediately felt her heart kick start into a horrified rush at the sight of multiple more mushrooms of varying size starting to pop up all over Momo's body and her own, as well as the whole environment all around them; this whole industrial battleground turning into a fungi forest in a matter of seconds. "CO DO CHOLERY (WHOA, WHAT THE HELL)?!"

At the same time, even Tooru, Fumikage and Yuga were now finding themselves suddenly becoming utterly engulfed with sprouting mushrooms, just like the entirety of their surroundings.

But where the whole of Team 2-A was blinded by confused panic, Shihai was instead grinning knowingly to himself as he dove freely into one especially blackened mushroom among the bunch, providing for a miraculous escape route. "I knew it. Kendo-san is always one step ahead."

And on the other side of the training ground, Kinoko Komori was watching as her mushrooms grew and spread beyond any hope of escape; her shiitake hanagiri-looking eyes alight with a satisfaction to match the cheerful smile on her face and the spring in her step as she pranced and skipped all about, shooting a far-reaching spray of water into the air all around her from the two spray bottles in her hands, causing more and more and more mushrooms to sprout within seconds. "All that light has to mean Kuroiro-kun failed. Now for Plan B: mushrooms for all! Everyone, everywhere, everyshroom! Black Wood Cauliflower shroom! Yellow Knight shroom! Enoki shroom, Inky Cap shroom! Grow, grow! Cover the earth with me! Let the wind carry my spores with the water and make it all shroomtastic!"

The moment Kinoko's mushrooms had started to sprout all over their classmates; virtually all of Class 1-A had felt their skin start to crawl, while Izuku was instead still just frantically jotting down in his notebook in an admirable show of single-mindedness.

Just the fact that Kinoko herself was so cheerful as she continued to spread her Quirk all over the place, just provided a sharp contrast that felt right at home in a horror movie, as Minoru was trembling from head to toe the more he saw it. "Ugh, she can even make them grow on people's bodies? That's horrifying!"

But the bandana-wearing spiky black-haired 1-B boy, Yosetsu Awase; having overheard the grape-haired student at his side, was still grinning eagerly. "Don't get the wrong idea; her mushrooms all disappear after two or three hours once the moisture evaporates. That's why she always goes for the buckshot approach with those bottles of hers."

Nikolay, unable to stop his own imagination from running wild, impulsively asked Setsuna, who was still at his and Mina's side all this time: "You once said she could make any kind of mushroom she wanted with her Quirk; right, Setsuna-san? Does that mean she could make toxic mushrooms if she wanted?"

But despite the nervousness that was clear on his and his friends' faces; Setsuna still had that confident fanged smirk. "Well, if Kinoko-chan were to have become a Villain, I'm sure she'd have tried that by now. But why waste time with what if's, right? So far, every mushroom she's made that I've seen has been totally edible and harmless…depending on how she uses them, of course. So far, her Quirk has mainly been used as a means of distraction, slowing down targets, and in Kuroiro-kun's case, an easy escape. Now c'mon, we don't wanna miss the rest of the show."

"Plan A involves you hijacking Dark Shadow for a sneak attack, Kuroiro-san. They will definitely send Dark Shadow to hunt us down as their first move. It's a strong, low-risk move. They don't know that Dark Shadow can be manipulated, so hurry up and capture somebody with it if you can. One they come face-to-face with you, they'll start using light attacks, which will tell us exactly where you're at. And Dark Shadow won't be much of an asset if the entire area is all lit up. Worst case scenario, they may try to use Hagakure or Maja-san's Quirks to try and ensnare you if they force you out into the open. But even if you can't manage to pull it off, the rest of us will still be ready to close in and take them all out."

Itsuka had been absolutely confident in the rock solid nature of this fool-proof strategy of hers, making up for every possible contingency. Knowing that her teammates were exactly where they needed to be now that the likeliest hindrance was happening, she moved unperturbed through the openings in the pipes, until she finally was where she needed to be in order to bring the whole of Team 2-A to their knees.

At the same time, Momo, Maja and Tooru were all anxiously trying to tear away the mushroom growing all over their bodies; the invisible girl sounding like she was on the verge of a complete panic attack: "GAAAH! THEY JUST KEEP GROWING BACK AS FAST AS I TAKE THEM OFF! THEY'RE SHOWING OFF MY CURVES! SO EMBARRASSING!"

Finally, once Maja stopped trying to do the same and pry the mushrooms off of herself, she spied the faintest glistening of what looked like moisture upon not only her arms, but also upon what very little of the environment wasn't already overgrown with mushrooms. And just like that, an idea came to her mind. 'Of course, how could I have forgotten?! Fungus primarily grows in moisture!'

Looking upon the last-second brass vambraces on her forearms she asked Momo to make for her; especially the tiny little canisters lining the ends just short of her elbows; she knew what her team's best chance was. "CANDLELIGHT!"

FWOOSH!

With a click of her forearms together, the nozzles circling her wrists suddenly ignited, sending a multitude of far-reaching thin flames in an outward circle away from her hands, which Maja proceeded to hurriedly aim high into the air. Within seconds, the radiating heat finally caused the moisture all around herself and Momo to evaporate, and the mushrooms to ultimately dry out and crumble away; finally giving the two girls some much needed breathing room. Unfortunately, Tooru was still just too far out of Maja's range to get the same kind of relief.

Maja knew she only had a precious amount of fuel with which to use these vambraces, and she couldn't afford to let the heat start melting the Wax of her hands away already, so with another timely clicking together of her arms, the flames quickly extinguished. Momo; realizing the chance Maja had just bought them both with the tool she had asked for just before the match had begun; took that opportunity to call out to her struggling teammates: "EVERYONE REMAIN CALM! WE JUST NEED TO REGROUP!"

"KRASH! BOOM! Um…WHAMABAM!"

The echoing of an unfamiliar male voice barely reached either Momo or Maja's ears, before it was replaced with what sounded like the oncoming charge of an out of control train tearing through the industrial landscape. And the moment they both looked, they barely had any time to jump out of the way of a speeding wall that nearly tore the whole area asunder; unintentionally separating from each other in their momentary panic.

With her ears still ringing, Maja slowly got back to her feet, and upon looking at what had nearly laid herself and Momo out, she couldn't believe what she was actually seeing: a towering wall of what looked like katakana onomatopoeia words from manga, even matching what she thought she'd heard the male voice say mere moments ago.

And if only she'd known just how right that assumption was; for several yards away, the boy with a literal comic book page and speech bubble for a head, known as Manga Fukidashi, was watching with skyrocketing enthusiasm at just how well his Quirk had worked to further take away Team 2-A's hopes for an advantage, just as Itsuka had ordered for him to do if things got troublesome once Kinoko had stepped into action.

From their side of the wall, completely cut off from their teammates, Fumikage had to ignore the persistently growing mushrooms on himself and Yuga, trying instead to focus on keeping them airborne, while Yuga himself hurriedly fired a fully powered blast from his Navel Laser in an attempt to cut a way through to the other side, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, Maja could only naturally assume that if she was on her own on this side of this literal wall of words, then Momo had to still be on the other side. Looking up, and already starting to focus her Quirk into her forearms, she took a couple steps back in preparation to move. "Hang on, Creatie, I'm coming to you!"

"BOING! BOING!"

The moment she'd begun to run in preparation to reach her half-melted and stretching Wax arms to the top of the wall to fling herself over to the other side; Maja heard that same boy's voice echoing from the same direction of the wall itself, but before she could look to see what was going on, she suddenly saw a fast-flying smaller set of katakana come flying her way, coming in low, and ultimately slapping itself on the floor just where her feet were about to step.

BOING!

In seconds, Maja's feet sank right into the word on the ground, before the ground itself literally sprang right back up, sending the panicking Polish girl flying and flipping high up into the air like it was the world's strongest trampoline.

With Momo's closest ally and hope for support removed from the equation for now, Manga hurriedly focused his Quirk before hurriedly exclaiming: "JIME, JIME!"

In an instant, the very words themselves were literally flying right out of his mouth, and as they flew across the wall towards Momo and Tooru at breakneck speed; both girls quickly felt the air around them subsequently grow that much more humid, just as the words actually translated to; thus causing the already absurd amount of mushrooms around and on themselves, to start growing that much faster.

Up in the air, Maja was desperately trying to regain her bearings as she flipped all around, all while feeling the faintest tingling of moisture in the air start landing on her body, thus causing mushrooms to start growing all over herself again. Knowing she had precious seconds to actually react enough to keep from utterly wrecking herself; she hurriedly clicked her forearms together, spraying the thin flames all around herself as quick and thoroughly as she could without risking melting her Wax too soon or too much, once again drying herself out enough for the moisture to evaporate and the mushrooms to dry right off of her.

The moment she clicked her arms together again to save what precious little fuel her tools still had, Maja spied a nearby vertical pipe that somehow looked to have been lucky enough to avoid the spreading mushroom spores. She then immediately proceeded to focus on making her reaching left hand melt enough, just in time to slap that huge glob of thick melted Wax straight into it, before just as quickly focusing on making it completely dry, thus keeping herself propped up against it so she could finally get her position within the training ground again.

Right now, the most important thing she could hope to do was regroup with her teammates and hopefully find some place they could get away from Kinoko and Manga's joint suppression tactics, then try to put their heads together to find a winning strategy out of this whole mess.

'Excellent! Fukidashi-san's wall has completely separated Yaoyorozu from her team! We've completely isolated Team 2-A's brains from the brawn. NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE PHYSICAL ATTACK!'

The moment Momo realized she'd been completely cut off from the rest of her team, that was when Itsuka had finally decided to make her move; having snuck her way all across the training ground to this very spot just for this chance.

The moment she made her move, Momo could somehow just feel that primal sensation of incoming danger, and her reflexes with her body and Quirk would've otherwise been enough to impress even an experienced martial artist like Itsuka Kendo, as mid-turn, Momo quickly created a large tungsten slab of a shield from out her arm; just in time to meet Itsuka's incoming gigantic palm head-on; the whole thing completely crumpling under the insane force of her precision strike, and sending the black-haired girl tumbling back at the same time.

But even a miracle block like this did nothing to deter Itsuka, who still had a smile of pure determination on her face; her teal eyes almost aflame with intensity as she zeroed in on her rival. "You may be a powerhouse when it comes to brains, Yaoyorozu, but hand-to-hand combat is my area of expertise! In this scenario, I might actually be the one who comes out on top! I'M NOT GIVING YOU TIME TO THINK! NO WAY!"

With that, Momo found herself having to focus and burn through the energy stores in her body as fast as she ever had before, Creating one tungsten shield after another in order to try and buy herself even a moment to plan further, while Itsuka relentlessly continued slamming each one away as fast as she could make them, forcing her to step further and further back with every single hit.

As all the other students continued to watch the tables continuously turn for both classes; Mina, Rikido and Hanta were all equally anxious in their expressed concerns for their classmates.

"Oh, man, what the heck is Yaomomo supposed to do all on her own? It's not like she's ever been real standout in actual combat!" "And what about that Maja girl with those crazy little flamethrowers? I thought her Quirk was Wax! Wouldn't that be a total detriment to her?" "Who cares about that now? What can she even do to help anybody with those mushrooms, if everyone's been scattered? If Aoyama-san's Navel Laser can't even break through that wall, then the whole team is screwed!"

But whereas the whole of Class 1-A was watching with an anxious and bated breath for some kind of miracle to come around; Tetsutetsu and his classmates were the exact opposite; the sharp-toothed young Hero looking like he was one fired synapse away from cheering on a mountaintop. "YEAH! She worked the whole situation to her advantage in an instant! THAT'S OUR KENDO-SAN FOR YA!"

"It's not necessarily the best tactic." Shoto's straightforward commentary, a far contrast from the over-expressions of his classmates; rendered Tetsutetsu inwardly confused and outwardly surprised; all while Shoto himself was still observing the on-screen battle intently. "If Kendo-san isolated Yaoyorozu-san because she's wary of her; she might've misread things. If she and her team knew the threat she really posed, all four of them would've teamed up and crushed her right off the bat. Because rising to the challenge is Yaoyorozu Momo-san's specialty."

With every single otherwise crippling strike that Itsuka rammed into her shields, slowly but surely whittling away her defenses and the capacity for Creating her Quirk had left; Momo could still feel every ounce of that raw, dogged determination fueling her every hit; every moment of that slowly building frustration and desire to prove herself that made her the considerable force she clearly was.

'Kendo-san…you're wrong. I'm still no more than a fool; an utter novice! So when you go talking as though I'm somehow superior to you, I cannot afford to disgrace myself! Come on, Momo; pull it together and show her everything you've learned!'

WHAM!

With one final precise and devastating strike with her enlarged hand, Itsuka not only finally took away Momo's last means of defense, but she'd even managed to get her down to one knee to boot. Now all it would take was one last coup de grace, and Team 2-A's defeat would be all but certain.

But even as this absolute certainty ran through Itsuka's mind while she reeled her next attacking hand back; she could still only watch in bewilderment as, still on one knee and with a similarly determined smile on her face, Momo was already in the middle of Creating something out of her free arm was the very last bit of energy for her Quirk she had left. For Momo Yaoyorozu, this was her do-or-die moment. Once she did this, then everything else that would unfold in this match would be out of her hands, and in those of her teammates.

"OH, COME ON! A CANNON?!" This was all Itsuka could even think to say in the face of what Momo had just done in this final moment of desperation: an elongated cannon having emanated from out her hand, that was now in the process of aiming right in her direction mid-strike.

"It takes me a little extra time to Create something this big," Momo replied so straightforwardly, knowing she had nothing left in her to be able to Create after this. And after Itsuka had forced her into this position so efficiently, her sense of courtesy practically compelled her to let her opponent know this.

Itsuka already knew her current attacking momentum would make it impossible for her to dodge out of the way of this inevitable cannon blast in time. Just when she'd thought she'd proven herself, Momo had ultimately roped her into a last-second trap beautifully. 'No, no, no, this has to be a bluff! Wait…could she be aiming at…THE WALL?!'

And in a moment of true mental synchronicity, Momo's next move proved Itsuka's panicked intuition to be true, as she swiftly turned her cannon away from the orange-haired martial artist, and instead directly towards Manga's wall. "My apologies for frightening you, Kendo-san!"

And in a heartbeat, Itsuka's panic at the thought of getting blasted turned into that familiar surgical precision as she swiftly turned her body and the direction of her attack completely around, knowing that if she enlarged her striking hand at the last possible moment, she would be able to knock Momo out before she could destroy the wall and give her teammates an opening to regroup.

"DOUBLE JUMBO FIST!" BOOOM!

The moment Itsuka slammed her fist straight into Momo and ultimately smashed her against her own cannon into unconsciousness was the very same moment she had finally opened fire, herself. Looking the way Momo had fired now that she knew she was out for the count, Itsuka looked in grim preparation…only to instead be met not by the sight of her team's dividing wall being destroyed, but of a small object she couldn't make out being shot directly over it. 'What?! You weren't trying to blow it up? What did you just do?!'

And all the while, in her last moments of consciousness after having gotten the wind knocked out of her, Momo silently conceded: 'In a battle of pure physical strength in combat, I know I don't stand a chance against you, Kendo-san. However…at least with this…my teammates can still have a chance.'

"CAN'T STOP TWINKLING!"

The moment the overwhelming forest of mushrooms had ultimately grown to the point of blocking out the sunlight, as well as continuously growing on his body to weigh him down and slow down his flight; Fumikage suddenly felt Yuga get yanked right out of his arms, thanks to Shihai having now had a new route with which to move and escape, with the twinkling young Hero once more helplessly being dragged along.

And no matter how hard Fumikage tried to pick up his flying speed with Dark Shadow while prying the mushrooms off himself, they simply would not stop, ultimately breaking his focus.

"BOING! ZOOM!"

And with Fumikage too distracted to listen well to his surroundings, he didn't catch the sound of Manga's voice sending out yet more of his physical sound effect words his way; the first one flying up from below, just in time for the second one to bounce right off of it and immediately after slam hard into Fumikage, sending him rolling hard across the ground, thus buying Shihai that much more of a window to get Yuga into the Team 2-A jail.

As he fought to pick himself back up, the slightest movement out the corner of his eye had Fumikage already jumping back in preparation to fight, only to quickly realize by the gloves and boots still visible, that the entirely mushroom-covered monstrosity before him was simply Tooru, having long since given up on trying to tear them off herself, her miserable cries muffled under the countless fungi.

Looking upon this fungus forest abomination they were deep in the belly of, Fumikage could feel his blood boiling with frustration all over again. 'They've taken Aoyama-san, and they've separated Yaoyorozu-san and Maja-san from us as well. They hide and employ siege tactics in order to try and slowly squeeze the fighting will right out of us. Class B is indeed strong. Obnoxiously so. Komori, Fukidashi and Kuroiro…if we can't locate and remove them fast, then this battle is already over.'

"LOOK OUT BELOW!" Suddenly, the sound of Maja's rapidly approaching voice from up above snapped Fumikage and Tooru to attention, just in time to get out of the way of her crash landing on the ground between them; hurriedly scrambling back to her feet and clicking her forearms together to activate her tiny flamethrowers again. "Tokoyami-san, Hagakure-san, get close to me!"

With no time to ask just what she was thinking, the two hurriedly did as Maja asked, and within seconds of basking in the intense heat of the last of her fuel being spent, they both watched as the mushrooms all over their bodies dried out and crumbled away.

"I see; fungus can't survive in intense dry heat. We simply need to try and avoid the moisture Komori is spreading around." Fumikage surmised in his own subtle show of relief and gratitude, while Tooru was still visibly shaking in her boots from that horrifying sensation of mushrooms growing all over her body…before her body language became much more alert. "But how do we do that if Maja-chan's all out of fuel? And look, it's already caused one of her arms to melt!"

Indeed, Maja's whole left hand had not only completely melted away, but upon looking, her whole left forearms was completely hollowed out of her Wax, like a candle whose wick had burned deep into its center. Likewise, her right forearm was already starting to look like it was running her Wax down it as well. But despite Tooru's panic, Maja herself was quick to give a reassuring shake of her head. "Don't worry, I let that start happening right before I headed over here once I heard you two. I found a spot near the edge of the training ground that avoided getting that fungus spray, so I just let it start melting down from there…I just really hope my backup plan there will pay off, just so long as I stay focused."

BOOM!

The sound of a distant explosion made all three teammates jump in surprise, looking back the way it had come in preparation for another of Manga's attacks. However, Fumikage's sharp ears quickly realized something. "Wait, that sound came from behind that giant wall."

"You think it could be Yaomomo?" Tooru asked worriedly, before Fumikage glanced up, his eyes immediately going wide as Dark Shadow emerged from out his back again. "There's something in the air! She must've shot it for us to try and grab! Invisible Girl, Candelabra-san, with me!"

With no hesitation, just as Dark Shadow wrapped its arms around him in order to carry him with its flight; so too did Tooru hurriedly jump so Fumikage could carry her the same; the two of them rapidly rising high into the air as Dark Shadow flapped its hands for dear life. Following their lead, Maja quickly took off into a desperate sprint of her own; using her half-melted right forearm to stretch so she could grab onto one pipe after another, either swinging herself forward, or grabbing and then pulling so her arm could retract, pull her along like a zip line, and re-solidify so she could quickly do it again, step by step, in order to try and keep up. With so much of her left arm melted and gone for the sake of her mystery backup plan, this was the best she could do.

Emotions among the rest of the 1-A students were incredibly mixed; ranging from both admiration for Momo's quick thinking, and disappointment in her getting beaten; to horror at how thoroughly Fumikage, Tooru and Yuga had gotten handicapped and separated respectively; all the way down to overwhelming excitement when Maja had rejoined the former two and helped get rid of their mushrooms.

And now, watching their three classmates rush for the mysterious airborne object Momo had shot their way; everyone's hearts were racing just as quickly as some of their supportive fists were pumping. At the forefront, Eijirou and Hanta were especially enthusiastic; the latter watching the way Maja was moving with what almost felt like a sense of flattery. "Man, who would've thought somebody with a Wax Quirk would be able to move anything like that? I'd almost think Nezu-sensei showed her footage of how I move in training. Geez, how can she actually halfway keep up with Tokoyami-san like that?"

Likewise, Eijirou was all smiles. "Not just that, but she's super quick to adapt and figure out what to do, even when surrounded by people she's never worked with before! That's some seriously manly resilience, dude, I swear!"

A short ways away, Tsuyu once again had a thoughtful finger to her lip as she simply considered all the factors at play here. "No matter how quick on her feet she is, though, if she's already used up the fuel for those vambraces, and nearly a whole arm's worth of her Wax along with what still runs off her last arm as she swings, then what all will she actually still be able to do if it comes down to a prolonged fight-kero?"

…

"GOTCHA!" In a matter of seconds, fighting through the sensation of mushrooms starting to grow on their bodies again as they flew higher and higher; Fumikage and Tooru had finally managed to intercept the object that Momo had clearly shot their way for a reason; the invisible girl in his arms managing to fully catch it herself.

"H-hey, Tokoyami-kun…could this actually be…?" Upon realizing just what it was; all potential doubts in their ability to win were vanished. And as Maja finally swung herself up high enough to fully catch up with her two teammates; she too felt her heart spring right back up at the sight of a large sack in Tooru's arms labeled 'Yaoyorozu's Lucky Bag'!

In one of the lower confines of the training ground, Kinoko was still happily spraying her water and spreading her spores without a care in the world, while Shihai suddenly pocked out from the side of a nearby vertical pipe; all his outward energy now replaced with a withdrawn sort of malaise. "H-hey…Komori-san."

"Huh? Speak up!" Kinoko immediately exclaimed upon realizing she was no longer alone, while Shihai visibly had trouble maintaining eye contact.

"I-I…I caught him…Aoyama." The moment he said so, Kinoko's smile grew nearly as wide as her whole head; her joyful hopping somehow only serving to embarrass her classmate that much more.

"Really? Good going! That's our Kuroiro-kun! Now you MUSHT get the other two! No doubt Itsuka-chan's already gotten Yaoyorozu no sweat! The rest still can't pinpoint our locations, so I'll just keep up my SHROOMERRIFIC attack!" With that, she continued to spray to her hearts content, while Shihai was already meekly starting to retreat back into the shadow, but not before taking the chance to check their surroundings one last time; his whole body going stiff at the last possible moment.

"H-hey, Komori-san…you sure they don't know where we are?" The moment she heard this deathly serious edge in her classmate's tone; Komori's carefree demeanor came to an immediate stop, turning his way in curiosity, only to see where he was looking. And when she looked down the expansive tunnel of pipes and girders ahead with him, she felt her heart jump just the same as he did. "Because it looks like they're headed straight our way!"

At the far opposite end of the tunnel, flying and bouncing and swinging in side-by-side at the speed of the wind, Fumikage and Maja were both charging forward; their mutually intense gazes focused on the two now-exposed Class B students, courtesy of the pair of thermal goggles Fumikage had drawn from Momo's emergency bag of supplies. With their heat signatures in sight, they had lost all possible elements of surprise and prolonged escape.

As Fumikage flew like a Hero possessed; Maja similarly couldn't help but think in gratitude: 'Those goggles, that fungicide spray; all those supplies, they're a true miracle just when we needed them. Yaoyorozu-san, we couldn't hear your words…but we got your message loud and clear! You were already planning for a situation like this! You really are an awesome leader!'

But as the two advanced, Manga was keeping himself well hidden in a dark alcove that granted him a perfect window on his two teammates and their rapidly approaching attackers. And as his honed in on Maja as she continued to swing with her half-melting arm; he knew exactly what to do. "BOIL!"

The physical word that came flying out from between the pipes was too close and fast for Maja to effectively dodge, so it ended up hitting her extended arm dead center; melting that Wax down into a pure liquid state in the blink of an eye, throwing off her momentum and sending her tumbling down, leaving Fumikage on his own.

"HE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE COMING FOR YOU, Y'KNOW!" Before Manga could try to come up with another word to intercept Fumikage's approach, the sound of Tooru's voice suddenly called out from right behind him. And the moment he turned around in both shock and an attempt to attack; he felt a heavy invisible fist come slamming straight across his page of a face; knocking him down and out cold at her feet. "I was wondering why it was that none of you were growing mushrooms on you like the rest of us! Must've sterilized yourselves ahead of time, huh? Good eye there, Yaomomo!"

The fact that he hadn't been cut off or knocked down by another of Manga's word attacks like Maja had; ultimately clued Fumikage in that he was good to go. And so, as Dark Shadow proceeded to fly them both forward that much faster, he could feel his adrenaline rushing evermore through his veins as he saw the looks of lingering shock on Shihai and Kinoko's faces. 'With your positions revealed, you're in my crosshairs; and there's no avoiding the coming storm! As Hawks-sensei would say: SPEED BEATS POWER! ABYSSAL BLACK BODY SABBATH!'

With his momentum picked up enough, Fumikage suddenly focused, and Dark Shadow proceeded to encapsulate itself over his head, spreading its clawed hands along the backs of his own. With his own body gliding with that momentum, and his eyes focused solely on Kinoko and Shihai; he came in like a black-clad bullet, swinging both Dark Shadow's extending arms at his sides, slamming hard into both of them enough to knock Kinoko off her feet, and Shihai out of the rest of his hiding place.

Slamming his feet down hard as Dark Shadow retracted from his body, Fumikage immediately spun around, grabbed his cloak, and threw it entirely over Shihai's body; forcing him into it before he hurriedly bundled it into a small ball from which he couldn't escape.

Realizing the bad position she'd suddenly ended up in, Kinoko focused her one visible eye on Fumikage in the precious moment he had his back turned before he'd no doubt send Dark Shadow after her; extending her tongue in order to send some more of her spores his way in what had to be the perfect move to break his concentration from being able to capture her. "I usually keep these under wraps cause they're not quite as cute, but if we're about to lose, then I guess I got no choice. Sorry for this, Tokoyami. Go, my little Splitgill Shrooms!"

Within seconds she would be hearing the sound of Fumikage hacking and wheezing as he'd struggle to breathe. As unpleasant as this Special Move of hers was, it was very effective in completely disorienting and draining her opponents, and he would prove no different.

But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. And when Fumikage finally turned around to look in her direction; just at the same time as the sound of a hand grabbing the edge of the platform back the way he had come reached their ears and forced them both to look to see Maja struggling to pull herself up over the edge with her finally re-solidified right hand; Kinoko realized why.

To both their discomfort but overall understanding of the risks if they did otherwise; Fumikage and Maja both had their mouths and nostrils covered under a faint dried-on strip of her Wax, thus preventing any of the mushroom Hero's spores from getting into their lungs. As far as Maja was concerned, she'd only ever heard of fungus doing something so horrific in old medical textbooks. But considering just what Kinoko could supposedly do, she wasn't willing to take any chances, which Fumikage was very quick to be convinced of, likewise.

Realizing her last ditch attempt at taking Fumikage down was for nothing, especially with Maja now back to semi-normal and at his side again; Kinoko was about to make a mad dash for the nearest opening she knew she could reach.

But just as she was about to push her body forward into that run, she suddenly realized she couldn't go anywhere, as though her hands and feet were completely stuck to where they were. And upon looking down; to her surprise, she found herself kneeling in a large and building pool of thick melted Wax that had already engulfed her hands and feet, before just as quickly working its way up her arms and legs; thanks to the continuing flow of the stuff coming from within one of the narrower openings in the walls; before ultimately swallowing up her whole body except for her head.

And with the comforting knowledge that there was no way for her to escape and cause them any further trouble, Fumikage finally delivered the coup de grace, as Dark Shadow quickly shot out from his back and quickly hit Kinoko in the back of the neck in just the right spot to knock her out cold without seriously hurting her. With that done, Maja let the Wax blocking her orifices melt back down her face and into her costume, and finally did just the same to the Wax that had trapped Kinoko, quickly flowing back towards the Polish girl and melding into her foot and up her leg before finally reconstituting inside of and onto her half-left arm, until the last drop returned finally had her back in one whole piece, letting out a sigh of immense relief.

As Fumikage likewise breathed in deep in order to catch his breath, Dark Shadow hastily wrapped itself around Kinoko's body in case she were to somehow wake back up, while he himself still had his bundled up cape in hand, keeping Shihai trapped. One he'd stopped gasping and finally had his breathing back to normal, he looked as imploringly as someone like him could to Maja, who just had complete relief on her face. "That…I've been running all kinds of potential names for my moves while I was in jail. That one, so far the one that sounds coolest to me has been 'Pułapka Na Wosk Venus'…er, 'Venus Wax Trap'."

"And the Wax you needed for it was clearly where your arm had gone to. But how did you know it would even get here for you to pull such a desperate move off in time?" Fumikage less asked and more demanded, thanks to his naturally off-putting intense tone.

But her teammate's curiosity was all Maja was taking away from that, as she couldn't hide the proud smile on her face. "I guess you could say my Quirk gives me a kind of telekinetic link with the Wax I run off from myself. Thankfully this training ground as a whole isn't too big, because there's obviously a limit to how far I can make it go, just so long as I keep myself at least half-focused on driving it in a general direction around me…and try to keep it not too complicated. That's pretty much what I'd been trying to do from the moment I got separated from Yaoyorozu-san and came across you and Hagakure-san. Speaking of whom…"

Knowing that their plan had ultimately been supposed to amount to the three of them regrouping once their opponents had been neutralized, it immediately became apparent that Tooru hadn't come out with Manga Fukidashi in tow. But with their knowledge of the terrain being what it was, they at least had a backup plan, as Dark Shadow quickly turned to Maja; its clawed hands open. "Come here and I'll throw you!"

Without hesitation, and knowing that Fumikage had Kinoko and Shihai under control on his way back to the Team 2-B jail back at base, Maja broke into a dash, and upon springing up from the ground, met Dark Shadow's folded hands with her other foot, allowing it to fling her high up into the air in just enough of an arc to where she could get a view down to where she knew Manga had to be hiding, and Tooru had to have taken him out by now.

Instead, what she saw was Manga unconscious, and Itsuka Kendo with an unconscious Momo and her cannon thoroughly tied to her side; and with one of her enlarged hands clearly holding a squirming Tooru prisoner in her grasp.

Just as gravity was finally starting to take effect, so too did Maja know it was time for her to make use of her own little tool she'd grabbed out of Momo's Lucky Sack: a single cylindrical smoke grenade she'd taken care to hide within the Wax of her costume; hurriedly pulling it out as she fell through the openings between the pipes and beams on her way down, and quickly pulling the pin and throwing it straight down to where Itsuka stood below with all the desperate strength she could muster so soon.

BOOOSH!

Itsuka didn't even heard the grenade hit the ground by her side before it exploded in a blinding cloud of white; completely obscuring Manga and everything else from her sight as she struggled to breathe and regain her bearings. But just as she was about ready to swipe her hand with Tooru in tow across in order to clear the smoke away; she quickly spotted two silhouettes through the haze that were unmistakable. In an utterly reckless act of desperation, Maja and Fumikage had tried to get the drop on her with a smoke screen. It was actually enough to get an appreciative smile out of her, but not a laugh just yet.

"You're all going to have to try a lot harder than that to get me off-guard, Maja-san, Tokoyami. Better luck next time!" With that defiant declaration, knowing she couldn't risk having Tooru make a break for it if she let go, Itsuka decided to swing her still semi-free left hand right for the two, aiming to knock them both straight into the wall and out of their senses.

SPLOOSH!

But instead of the sound of skin smacking against skin and the ringing sound of people crashing against metal upon meeting her rapidly growing hand; Itsuka was instead met with the gross sensation of a thick slimy substance suddenly engulfing the whole of her hand, before just as quickly drying around it with enough sturdiness that she couldn't pull it free. In fact, the stuff was even dried up to halfway up her forearm, so she couldn't even simply shrink her hand back down and slip it out that way.

What little distance she'd managed to swipe her hand had at least managed to clear away most of the smoke, and what Itsuka saw to confirm her surprise and suspicions, had all her skin tingling. Where she had once thought she'd seen Maja and Fumikage trying to sneak up on her; there was now just a sickening huge pile of dried melted Wax that had now trapped her arm.

"Say hello to my Wabik Rzeźby, or 'Sculpture Decoy' Special Move…Kendo-san. Takes pretty much everything out of me to make it…but you can't deny it's…effective."

The sound of Maja's voice from above immediately had Itsuka looking up in preparation for a direct attack, only to find a visibly exhausted Maja atop the last steel beam just above her head; both her arms and legs melted down completely to her shoulders and hips; leaving herself ultimately nothing more than a head and a Wax-suited torso.

As she'd said; using all of her Wax available to do such an elaborate trick was exhausting, so when Maja saw the look of astonishment and frustration on Itsuka's face, she was simply too tired to laugh. But not too tired to speak up when she saw how Momo's eyes were starting to flutter as she was on the fringe of consciousness. "I can't do anymore from here…but you've still got a chance…Yaoyorozu-san."

A simple call to action from her teammate; even this deep in the haze of semi-consciousness after having gotten hit so hard by Itsuka's Quirk; that was all it took to stir awareness and just a twinge of energy back into Momo's head and body. And with that simple imploring of the chance she'd been given by her Polish teammate, Momo knew it was now her responsibility to capitalize on it.

Creating the cannon that she'd tried to tie along with herself to Itsuka's body to try and weigh her down, had indeed taken nearly everything out of Momo. But if there was one thing all of her training thus far had taught her, it was that a Hero always held onto one last tiny reserve when even the tiniest opportunity for victory over their enemies was there.

And that was exactly what Momo did, as before she could even manage to find the energy to keep her eyes open while teetering on the edge between waking up and blacking out again; she focused the last little pinch of energy in her Quirk to Create a tiny, single-use taser from the palm of her right hand; clutching it tight and not squeezing the trigger until she knew she had it prongs flush to Itsuka's leg.

BZZZZZT!

And with that one squeeze, Momo sent a discharge from her last Creation into Itsuka, so powerful that it had her immediately letting go of Tooru and going into a couple seconds of uncontrollable spasms, before it finally drained what little power it had, and the orange-haired girl was left shaking listless and unconscious on the ground with her other hand still trapped, and Momo still helplessly tied to her side.

Upon seeing Itsuka was finally out cold and Tooru was free, Maja focused on making all of her usable Wax melt from off of the former's hand; rolling her body off the beam and down onto the ground with a hard slam, so it could all come flowing back to her so she could reconstitute all her limbs again. Once that had been done, Tooru had been quick to get her back on her feet before hoisting Manga's unconscious body over her shoulders. "Thanks for the miracle save there, Maja-chan! Are you sure you're okay to move around after all that?"

Maja had just finished untying the ropes Momo had tried to bind herself to Itsuka with; likewise helping her back up, before hurriedly getting Itsuka's arm over her shoulders as well. "for now…for now I'm okay, thanks. Let's just focus on…getting Aoyama-san back…getting these two to the cell with Tokoyami-san…and ending this thing."

Fortunately, all of their efforts over the course of this battle had proven effective enough to keep all four of the Team 2-B members out cold just long enough for the three girls to finally reunite with Fumikage with their last two prisoners in tow. The moment they had Yuga free, and Manga and Itsuka locked up in the cell; a clearly fuming-sounding Vlad King's voice immediately echoed across the grounds, having watched everything unfold in blinding disbelief. "MATCH 2…IS OVER! CLASS…GRRR…CLASS A WINS…4-0!"

With that announcement, all five of the Class A students let out a simultaneous sigh of indescribable relief, before Maja and Tooru started ecstatically jumping and cheering where they stood; with the multitudinous cheers of the rest of Class A quickly echoing out to their ears seconds later. And as those youthful cries of excitement echoed; Momo had at least regained the energy enough to approach Maja, who was still hunched over trying to catch her breath from all the adrenaline.

"Maja-san, I just wanted to take the chance to thank you for all your help. Even despite our fighting together before, I must admit I had my fair share of doubts as to how well your skills and your Quirk could be utilized here in the context of being a Hero. Thankfully, though, you proved that I was truly worrying over nothing…and I humbly apologize for having doubted you."

As Momo bowed respectfully to her; Maja had finally started catching her breath again, before placing a friendly hand on her shoulder. "Skills as even a novice soldier, and skills as a Hero, are two totally different things, Yaoyorozu-san; you had every right to doubt me. I was honestly doubting myself for a while all the way till today. I'd be lying if I said a lot of my own victory here didn't come down to plain dumb luck. But thank you, all the same. I can only hope, if I end up making the cut when this is all over, that maybe you'd be willing to help me practice. That goes for any one of you, for that matter. You were all amazing out there; even you, Aoyama-san."

While Yuga's expression remained unchanged; the slightly dimmed twinkle in his eyes gave the impression he felt he was being patronized to. But thankfully, neither Tooru nor Fumikage looked to be resistant to the proposition Maja was making, made especially evident when Tooru was already grabbing her by the shoulders, bouncing in excitement.

As the medical evacuation robots quickly made their way onto the scene of the 2-A home base to take Momo and the whole of Team 2-B to Recovery Girl's office; Itsuka herself now had thankfully regained consciousness, and was already looking aside to her woozy-looking fellow ponytail-wearing peer with a wry smile on her face.

"Kendo-san, I wish I knew a better way to say this, but…thank you, for giving us all a good battle. Your talent for strategizing was truly incredible. You really did keep me constantly guessing, and in the end I wasn't able to measure up to you on my own. I can't claim to understand your feelings going into this, and I don't know how much this may mean to you, coming from me, if anything at all…but you still deserve to know that you do excel past me in your own ways that I simply can't compare to. While you had accounted for everything…the best I could do was react on impulse and hope for the best."

The chuckle that Itsuka let out as a first response, perfectly matched the thoughtful and semi-bitter grin on her face as she met Momo's cat-like gaze. "Part of me wants to say you're just pouring on a bunch of flattery…but honestly, I think you might be too earnest for your own good, Yaoyorozu…and for that, I have to thank you. But…but even if I was able to best you alone, I still ended up losing the battle. Maja-san's Quirk proved just that bit more versatile than I expected. Only when my planning can take you and your whole team down with no issues…can I truly say I've earned a worthwhile victory. I hope you'll all be waiting for that opportunity with me…and don't go slacking off on getting yourselves stronger until then, cause you can bet we won't."

To that, Momo's smile grew warmer with empathy for Itsuka's true feelings, as she gave her rival and overall friend a promising nod, before the first-aid robots finally went on to take them both, and the rest of Itsuka's team, to the school nurse's office; leaving the rest of the victorious Team 2-A to finally return to the observation platform where everyone else was still eagerly waiting for them.

As the rest of Team 2-A finally returned to the raucous applause of their classmates; Aizawa, Vlad King and Hitoshi were simply looking at how thoroughly destroyed they had left half of the training ground in their wake. "They really wrecked the place good, didn't they?" Hitoshi ultimately asking rhetorically, while Aizawa bluntly nodded. "That's just the way training goes in the Hero Course. They really went overboard with the destruction this time around, though."

At that notice, even though he knew his students from the match were currently being tended to, Vlad King grumbled in frustration to himself: Honestly, Kendo and Fukidashi especially should know to keep these damages to a minimum by now."

Exchanging glances with his fellow homeroom teacher, Aizawa muttered: "We're obviously going to need to get this sector repaired, so…" "You think we should take a short breather? Sure. Our students look like they have a lot to get off their chests for your winners, anyway."

Looking back to the whole congregation of students; Aizawa could see just how enthusiastically his own class was cheering for their friends, crowding them from all around with congratulations, compliments and the like. And when it came to Maja, she was being approached by excited students from both their classes.

"You're a real bag of surprises, aren't you, Maja-san? Working with you later is gonna be tons of fun, I can already tell!" Setsuna exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear, with Tetsutetsu and Pony both likewise crowding in with congratulatory fist bumps of their own, which Maja was more than happy to reciprocate. "Lookin' at you out dere, I would've thought you'da been a Hero student just as long as da rest of us! Are you, like, one a dose super genius students who, like, picks up and memorizes everythin' super fast-like?"

But even for as enthusiastic as most of Class 1-B was for her; the reception with which Class 1-A greeted her was somehow even more explosive; with several of them impulsively nearly flinging her into the air and catching her while deep in a mixture of cheers, laughter and congratulations; only stopping when Ochako inadvertently took away her gravity when helping toss her back up, and quickly bringing it back so she nearly came slamming back down.

Once they'd stopped tossing her up and down, Maja was quickly caught in an over-the-shoulder hug from Eijirou. "That Quirk of yours is AWESOME, Maja-san! Even without limbs, you just keep on finding new ways to fight! You're, like, insanely manly-feeling right now, it's amazing!"

"You made all those fancy moves of yours so much stronger so quickly, Maja-chan! Did they, like, let you actually practice while you were in jail! For realsies?!" Mina was far too excited for their friend, to notice how she was nearly screaming in Maja's ears in her enthusiasm, while Nikolay was likewise visibly trembling with anticipation for her…for more than one reason, she could quickly guess. "That was…damn, that was some impressive action you showed us out there. I thought you were a real scary opponent when we had to fight you before, but with your skills improving this much already, I don't even want to guess how our match will go later. Don't want to jinx it."

With a good-natured chuckle, Maja was smiling brightly from ear to ear between all her friends here. "Of course not. You and Jirou-san just promise me you won't hold back once we meet each other out there. I wanna see how you and your new teammates conduct yourselves in action like it's the real deal."

Before either Nikolay or Kyouka could answer her request in kind, Bakugo suddenly came shoulder-checking his way into this little celebration circle; his face tightened with simmering anger and aggressive anticipation. "You bet your ASS we're not holding back; and you better not, either, you hear me?! We still got a score to settle from the damn Festival! I'm not letting some glorified criminal keep one win over my head, got it?!"

With that, he turned back around on his heels and took off stomping impatiently, spurring Eijirou to hurriedly follow after him in an attempt to try and talk him back down. Watching the whole thing unfold, Maja let out a wary chuckle. "That…that Bakugo guy, he's really…er, he's really the type to hold a grudge, isn't he?"

With a regretful sigh, Nikolay answered: "Yeah…he is. And yet this is still an improvement from how he was at the start of the year. He would've just blown you up right here on the spot then."

But in sharp contrast, Mina was still positively glowing, pulling both her boyfriend and Polish friend into another group hug by their shoulders. "Don't let Bakugo's threats get you down, Maja-chan! With Kolya-kun on his team, he might just be able to help reel him in enough. And with Kyouka-chan, Sero-kun and Sato-kun in the mix, and you on Setsuna-chan's team, you're all gonna have a totally amazing match one way or the other! I'll be cheering you all on the whole time!"

With grateful chuckles of their own, Maja and Nikolay did at least feel a touch more assured, even if Nikolay didn't believe for a second he would ever have any luck keeping Bakugo from fighting however the hell he wanted to.

Mirroring Mina's enthusiasm, though, Maja went on: "Well, we still got one match to go before it's you and me out there, Nikolay Bezpalov. Though, even if I still have all my available Wax; that last match really knocked the wind out of me. You two wouldn't happen to have, or know anyone, who would have something with some good fatty meat on it, would you? That especially really helps get my energy back up; fat being an ingredient used for candle-making for such a long time, and all."

With not a moment to lose, Nikolay was already on the move. "I can go and get it; the dining hall may still be open. If the next match starts before I return, fill me in on whatever I might've missed, please."

And like that, and after asking permission from Aizawa to leave but briefly, Nikolay was gone; and with nothing more substantial or urgent immediately needing to be said; Ochako urged Mina to rejoin their teammates, Izuku and Minoru, while Kyouka returned to Bakugo, Hanta and Rikido, and Maja decided it was high time for her to finally introduce herself properly to her next teammates, Setsuna, Yosetsu Awase, Kojiro Bondo and Togaru Kamakiri.

As soon as Ochako and Mina returned to their teammates; comfortably taking their seats on the floor in patient wait for the repairs to the training ground to be finished so the third match could start; the rosy cheeked young Hero chanced a glance to see Izuku was once again busily scribbling away into his notebook; clearly having just finished writing what looked like two full pages worth over Maja's Quirk and what she'd shown she was able to do in comparison to the old notes he'd made based on the stories from Hokkaido.

"You really don't waste any opportunities, do you, Deku-kun?" Ochako finally asked, gaining a momentary flinch of notice from Izuku that he was now being spoken to by her, while still not stopping with his writing.

"With all of Class B's Quirks finally being revealed to us in a way we can actually observe and not have to worry about avoiding at the same time, it's just too exciting for me not to. Some of the combinations I'm imagining they could be able to do together, or even alongside our own, could be history-making in how powerful and effective they could be on the field. And it's not even just their Quirks, but also those of our own classmates and their mental capabilities as well. Everyone's grown so much mentally over all this time, it's only natural for their Quirks to grow with them."

Even when explaining himself to her personally, Ochako couldn't mistake the almost obsessive edge in Izuku's voice whenever he was like this. But in all honesty, it had become such an adorably endearing part of him, that she couldn't help but giggle in acknowledgment of his point. "You're no different in that regard, y'know? You've grown just as much as the rest of us have."

"I certainly hope so." Izuku admitted with a slight upturned corner in his mouth at her sentiments. But shorltly after, a shadow fell upon him and his notebook, spurring him to look up and find Toshinori looming over him. "Oh, All Might!"

"I am here…*ahem* unremarkably. Forgive my intrusion, everyone. Midoriya-shonen, do you perhaps have a minute? We all need to talk." At his request, Izuku was immediately on his feet; leaving his teammates to watch as the two quickly joined up with Oleg alone at a far corner of the platform.

With her chin resting in her hands as she lay lackadaisically on the floor, Mina murmured: "Midori-kun, All Might-sensei and Tunguska-sensei all sure are chummy. I wonder if Kolya-kun ever feels lonely cause of that…I mean, like, the kind of lonely that a kid feels towards their parents and stuff."

Laying back and kicking his feet nonchalantly in his wait, Minoru replied: "Considering you two are a couple who can't keep their hands and whatnot off each other, I'm pretty sure that could do away with any loneliness Bezpalov-san could possibly be feeling."

With him not making any effort to hide the envy lacing his tone, Mina simply rolled her eyes and ignored Minoru, while Ochako now likewise found herself watching Izuku, Toshinori and Oleg talk so secretively amongst themselves. "I really don't feel like Sensei is deliberately ignoring or neglecting Kolya-san. Anyone who watches the two of them together can tell they love each other dearly like any family. But it is weird that he's so thoroughly involved with All Might-sensei and Deku-kun like that. At least All Might-sensei alone, I can understand, with how much Deku-kun practically worships him."

As the three continued to simply wait for Izuku to return and for the third match to begin; and at the same time as Nikolay returned just as quickly as he'd left, with a large courtesy beef bowl in hand for Maja to quickly chow down on before reuniting with his own team; Toshinori and Oleg were both visibly rigid with seriousness while speaking to Izuku with their voices low: "So, it's been a while now, Midoriya-shonen. Has there been any more weirdness with…you know what?" "Yes, and have you noticed anything similarly odd out of Kolya at all today?"

Looking back to watch as Nikolay was clearly trying to mingle with his teammates while Bakugo was around, Izuku shook his head. "No and no. Everything with Kolya-san seems perfectly normal, and I haven't felt anything weird so far today."

With only the slightest nod did Toshinori mutter half to himself: "I see. Well, I'm planning to reach out to Gran Torino to see if my master might have ever mentioned anything similar to what you described to him before. In the meantime, watch yourself, okay? In Match 5, you'll be going up against Shinso-shonen again; and it was the last time you two fought when you started first seeing these visages, remember?"

And Oleg, continuously shifting his focus from Izuku to Nikolay as well; added on: "And up until your match…let's both do our part and keep an eye on Kolya as well, alright? After everything you told us and what he'd told me, I'm not willing to label anything as a coincidence or leave anything to chance right now."

"Right; neither do I." Izuku had no trace of confusion or uncertainty about Toshinori or Oleg's reasoning that he could see. Indeed, the green-haired boy had long since made the same connection, and as best as he'd been trying to hide it from anyone else; the fact that he would inevitably be facing the same person that started these visions of his in the first place, had Izuku feeling the most anxious he'd ever been.

And regarding the mind-blowing potentiality of Nikolay somehow having a connection to his dream last night and how it made his Quirk act out, Izuku couldn't simply brush off those simultaneous instances between them at all. This was a matter that needed to be observed and ultimately approached with incredible care. And if this was a liable risk to his friend, then he was going to join Tunguska in doing whatever he could to try and either protect him from it…or perhaps try and ease him into this same inner circle of information that he and his two teachers shared.

"Hey."

"WAAA—acchan, you startled me!" Izuku exclaimed after he nearly jumped at the sudden intrusion of Bakugo's voice right behind his back; the spiky blonde-haired boy staring at his classmate and two teachers with a non-angry but no less intense edge in his eyes.

"For guys who made me swear not to blab, you sure do sneak around out in the open a lot. You're gonna get yourselves found out in no time, carrying on like that." Bakugo stated, borderline shouting as Izuku bowed his head in realization of his logic.

From there, Bakugo suddenly shifted his piercing gaze towards Oleg. "Anyway, I'd come here to tell you to go and make sure you talk Bezpalov up before our match begins. I don't need him getting cold feet at the last second."

*Ahem*

"Don't 'ahem' me, All Might!" Bakugo quickly snapped back once Toshinori tried to redirect the whole conversation now that the hotheaded boy in their secret circle had forced himself back in. With a quick breath to get himself back to his razor sharp focus and calm, Bakugo continued: "So, you all were clearly deep in discussion about something before I got here. Did something happen? Something with One For All?"

All three of them let out a simultaneous heavy sigh, knowing that by bringing him into this secret, they couldn't dare leave him in the dark. And so, just as he had done for his two teachers before, Izuku proceeded to detail everything about his dream last night to Bakugo, all the way down to waking up to find his room destroyed by One For All activating on its own. And by the end of it all, Bakugo hardly looked remotely pensive, let alone worried. "So, the power misfired? Geez, it sounds like one step forward and two steps back!"

"That's not all, though, malenkii Bakugo." Oleg quickly interjected, catching the impatient young Hero's attention; now visibly confused when he saw the distinct worry on the teacher's face. "It…it wasn't just malenkii Midoriya that this happened to last night. This morning, Kolya told me about a dream he had of being chased by some unknown presence all the way back to our Motherland; of a voice speaking directly to him that he'd never heard before that mentioned something about a bridge between himself and another person—

"And how do you know he wasn't just making up some bullshit nightmare story to get you to be around him more? With how much time you spend with All Might and Deku, it'd make sense he'd start feeling left out, wouldn't it?" Bakugo's accusation was swift and all too self-assured. Hence why the physical intensity with which Oleg's body rippled with barely restrained anxious anger was enough to render him silent and looking cautious.

"You don't know Kolya like I do…clearly not enough to know that he isn't nearly as good a liar as to come up with a story that elaborate, that matches so many details of what malenkii Midoriya explained to all three of us now, and looking as nervous as he did; as though he'd genuinely gone through it. And if that still doesn't somehow convince you…he went on to tell me how when was stirred awake from this dream of his; his Quirk had likewise built up enough power that he had to flee outside in order to release it all. You can call yourself a skeptic as much as you like, but those two things happening simultaneously like that can't possibly just be a coincidence; not to me."

Oleg could see the light of recognition flash across Bakugo's eyes as he heard these last details. He could tell that the boy finally understood that this was real; and that was indeed the case for Bakugo himself. But it wasn't for Oleg's recounting of his son's story.

It was the memory of the brief earthquake last night. Like everyone else, he'd likewise been confused as to why the earthquake alert on his phone hadn't gone off before the tremor had hit, along with the fact that none of the rest of Musutafu City or even Yuuei campus had reported feeling any such thing. But now, hearing what Oleg had just described, it all seemed to just miraculously come together in his head; to where Bakugo was now looking back towards his team, to Nikolay specifically; his red eyes staring at him with a chilling intensity.

Seeing this confirmation in Bakugo's eyes, Oleg breathed in deep, sighing with regret. "It isn't fair for me to ask this of you, malenkii Bakugo; I know that…but since you're in on all of this information with us, you clearly deserve to know all developments as they come along…just as much as you have a right to the responsibilities we all take on with it. That's why…I can only ask you to please do your best and keep a watchful eye on Kolya when you're all out there later. There's no telling what could trigger him or his Quirk next, if anything at all, but if a situation was to arise, you'd be the one most capable of handling it and keeping him safe."

The look that Bakugo gave Oleg as he turned to face his three partners was not that of his usual vitriolic anger, but more of that bristling anger just under his skin, when he was truly deathly serious. "If you're really worried about keeping your own son safe, then if you ask me, you should let him in on this secret with us. That way we don't run nearly as big a risk of him freaking the hell out the next time his or Deku's Quirks decide to start acting up."

This time, neither Oleg nor Toshinori spared a moment to even communicate their thoughts on his suggestion, as Toshinori quickly replied: "You should know very well by now why we can't risk that right now, Bakugo-shonen. As much as I hate to say it; Bezpalov-shonen simply doesn't have the concrete mental fortitude that you and Midoriya-shonen have right now. It sounds as though he was frightened enough by what he dreamt and how his Quirk reacted as it is. If he was to suddenly get pulled into our circle and learn all about such things as an inheritable Quirk; the truth about myself and Midoriya-shonen, One For All's connection to All For One, and he himself having a potential genuine connection to it, it could very likely lead to him having a complete mental and emotional breakdown, and that's not even considering the fact that his own father has known this truth for as long as he now has without telling him. Your intentions are understandable, but this is a very delicate situation that needs to be handled as such."

With an aggravated sneer, Bakugo turned his back to the trio. "If I'm a part of this thing, then I'll give my opinion where I can give it. If you don't wanna follow through on it, that's your own damn choice."

Before any of them could respond, he then turned his attention back to Izuku, making him go frigid stiff with tension. "And you! Tell me, Deku; how long is it gonna be before this power is really all yours, huh? Because I'm already way stronger than I was the last time we rumbled. You better believe I'm gonna be getting a rematch out of you before long."

Izuku couldn't help but visibly shiver when under Bakugo's gaze, but he likewise couldn't bring himself to show the fear he used to feel; instead giving a semi-nervous smile in return. "Knowing how tough you were already…that makes me extremely nervous, Kacchan."

As Bakugo proceeded to berate Izuku for his ridiculous expression; Toshinori and Oleg continued to watch the two boys, and the blissfully unaware Nikolay at the other end of the platform. Finally, Toshinori mused to his comrade and friend: "You know, for as abrasive and standoffish as Bakugo-shonen always displays himself to be…the fact he asks Midoriya-shonen about the goings on of One For All must be his own individual way of showing he actually cares."

By now, Bakugo was finally stomping off to rejoin the rest of the students, with Izuku quickly following suit, while Oleg was smiling faintly to himself. "I agree…and not just in that regard, either. After all…he never actually said 'no' to my request that he watch after Kolya on the field today."

And with perfect timing, Vlad King and Aizawa finally took their places at the head of the platform; the 1-A homeroom teacher addressing the students. "Alright, everyone. Now that repairs to the industrial sector have been finished, we can get on to the third match of the Joint Battle exercises. Teams 3-A and 3-B, prepare yourselves."

With a multitude of supportive cheers from both classes; the aforementioned teams finally proceeded to descend the steps into the training grounds; Tetsutetsu's team of Pony, Juzo Honenuki and Sen Kaibara all sporting an especially bold and determined energy in their step as they took the lead, while Shoto's team of Tenya, Mezo and Mashirao followed closely after.

But with Shoto trailing behind his teammates, he was suddenly stopped when Fumikage hurried after him: "Todoroki-san, please wait."

As soon as Shoto looked back his way, Fumikage continued, bowing his head. "I did my best to represent our class to the best of my abilities…but I know it still wasn't the best it could've been…and for that I am ashamed…and that is why the responsibility falls to you now."

"Why me?" Shoto immediately asked; earning himself an almost empathetic and respectful look from Fumikage. "Hawks-sensei and Endeavor…we've both apprenticed under the top two Heroes, who fought that last recent battle. We are honor-bound to uphold their reputations."

Shoto's expression of remembrance barely differed from his normal stoic expression; but that didn't mean his mind wasn't still racing with memories of watching that unbelievable recent fight. And the more he thought about the utter arsenal of techniques his father had unleashed over the course of it…the much further back his mind proceeded to go from there, until he could distinctly recall Endeavor's voice from a much farther gone time.

"You will learn all of these moves, Shoto! There is no running from me, just as there is no running from yourself. Stand when you are stricken down! Don't be so damned soft! Toya came the closest before you. His fire was even greater than mine…but…he took after Rei, through his constitution. Yes…he came close. But at last, I have you, Shoto. It has to be you. Only you can perform this technique. Only you can finally fulfill my ambitions."

"Todoroki-san!"

Tenya's naturally loud voice snapped Shoto out of his reminiscing, now finding he was already a good ways into the training ground with the bespectacled class president and Mashirao; Tenya looking visibly concerned. "Are you okay? You looked particularly troubled there for a moment."

"Did I?" Shoto asked; his naturally blunt tone still somehow managing to hide his own surprise with himself.

"Yes! Is there something weighing on your mind?" Tenya's concern as a friend was clear as day, but from where Shoto was standing, it was even more so concern as his teammate. Out of all of them, nobody could argue that Shoto was the strongest, and ultimately had the best grades out of them, and would therefore naturally be looked to as the leader; and if there was now any reason to doubt his capability in that respect, then this match might as well have already been lost.

And so with that, Shoto simply lowered his gaze. "It's nothing…but thanks."

"That's really intuitive of you, Iida-san. I didn't even notice he was troubled, since his face rarely ever changes." Mashirao admitted; a clear look of impression towards Tenya evident on his face, while Tenya himself looked especially encouraged. "The class president must always observe his peers and reach out to those in need!"

"You're certainly in high spirits…as usual." Mezo noted in the wake of their president's overly energetic demeanor.

Even as he proceeded to don the masked helmet of his costume, Tenya's smile was still as bright as the high noon sun. "Actually, it's because my brother has been making significant headway in his recovery recently! And as I am the one aiming to ultimately inherit Ingenium's mantle, everyone also has their eyes on me! Although I was absent for the ceremony, I too took third place at the Sports Festival! I must once again show that I possess the mettle to be my brother's successor!"

Meanwhile, Team 3-B, having long since reached their designated home base, were taking this chance to put together their own strategy for when the match would finally begin…or at least that's what would have otherwise been happening, had Tetsutetsu not immediately taken to silently stewing in a corner while Pony, Juzo and Sen were all trying to get themselves respectively hyped up.

"I know…that everyone treats me like an idiot, but I'm still a dude who was good enough to get into Yuuei, right?! I mean, it's not like I never use my head!" As Tetsutetsu began frustratedly thumping his hand against the nearest pipe as he vented; his three teammates were watching him with minor trepidation between them; Sen finally outright asking: "You don't usually get all introspective and moody like this, Tetsutetsu-san. Where's this all suddenly coming from?"

Gritting his sharp teeth and focusing on the activation of his Quirk turning his skin into Iron; Tetsutetsu growled in growing determination: "This team we're up against; they're gonna be all like 'search and destroy', yeah? So with that in mind, what's OUR move gonna be? That should be obvious, right?! We LEVEL the playing field, literally! This ain't the kind of battle where tricks and schemes work! It's gonna be a straight-up brawl, so let's bring the pain!"

With that, he suddenly proceeded to start sending out jabs and kicks against every walls and pipe he could reach, already proceeding to start breaking every support for the huge metal works over their heads before they all proceeded to start anxiously beckoning him to stop.

But it was already too late, as not only could Team 3-A clearly see the smoke stacks and structures ahead collapse in on themselves, easily identifying where Team 3-B was; thus sending them into a cautious and coordinated beeline for that same location; while all the students on the observation deck could only mutter variously among themselves at the logic of what Tetsutetsu had just done, with Maja being one of the most utterly confused.

"I don't get it, why would Tetsutetsu-san go for an approach that blunt and straightforward and…well, just plain reckless? He didn't come across nearly that meat-headed back in Gagaringrad."

But before any of the Class B students on her next team could answer, Eijirou's voice suddenly answered at her side; spurring her to turn and see the look of almost total admiration in his red eyes as he stood steadfast. "Don't sell him so short, Maja-san. A lot of people might not think so, and if it were coming from a lot of people with different Quirks, they'd be right. But I know Tetsutetsu well enough to know that his brave and confident forward approach alongside his Quirk makes him a true force of manliness to be reckoned with; even against real powerhouse manly dudes like Todoroki and Shouji-san."

Maja's amused smirk didn't even catch Eijirou's eye, as he was so dead center-focused on watching how the match was going to play out. With a chuckle, she uttered a reply: "Whether you barely really know them, or they're in your rival class, you're always so quick to jump in and be somebody's hype man, aren't you? Man…if my friends back up in Hokkaido were to meet you, I know they'd all get along with you like a house on fire, Kirishima-san."

"Ugh! Oi, Tetsutetsu-san, did you just happen to forget that it's Todoroki we're going up against here?!" Sen Kaibara's frustration with Tetsutetsu's reckless forward charge through what was supposed to be their fortified homebase was completely falling on deaf ears, as the young Iron-skinned Hero just continued charging on his way; spurring the reluctant and masked Juzo Honenuki to closely follow his lead with a shrug. "I think we can still work with this."

All the while, Pony, hurriedly trying to keep up with her teammates, was positively fuming as she watched Tetsutetsu's back. "Hey, don't be keepin' us in the dark like that when you do stupid things!"

"SEE?! Pony-san even broke out the full English; that's how you know she's mad!" Sen vented further, only for Tetsutetsu to continue charging on, deaf to the world, and Juzo hurriedly tried to talk their half-American classmate's temper down with flawless English of his own: "Tetsutetsu-san doesn't mean any harm, Tsunotori-san. In fact, his approach plays to our strengths."

But even one of her classmates speaking to her in her native tongue, didn't do anything to quell Pony's frustration as she watched Tetsutetsu keep knocking down more and more of the course as he went. "Tetsutetsu-kun; dey'd have to be idiots to just come chargin' right at us! Besides, dey could just set up traps for you if you keep goin' like dat!"

"Maybe not! I mean, I'd go charging in if I were them; given the Quirks they have. Their strongest strategy is to have Shouji assess the situation, with Todoroki as the main attacker. If we stay grouped up in this wide-open space…" Juzo countered, sounding as though it were truly the best approach any team could possibly have, to the disbelief of his two disagreeing classmates.

But the time for any further discussion from there swiftly came to an end, as over the last several seconds from the other side of the training ground; Tenya, Mezo and Mashirao were likewise starting to charge in the direction of their opponents, while Shoto came to the same conclusion after such a bombastic start: "So, it looks like they're aiming for a head-on battle after all."

And that was the approach he immediately proceeded to follow through on, for by now he and his team had finally reached the very same area that Team 3-B now was; and without a moment for any one of them to process Team 3-A's arrival, Shoto proceeded to stomp his right foot down, and alongside a precisely aimed sweep of his right arm, he proceeded to unleash a glacier-sized cold front that immediately plowed face-first into Tetsutetsu, encasing him and the entire area in a deep freeze of instant Ice; all while Shoto's teammates had done the smart thing and hidden up on some of the higher alcoves and pipes lining the area so he could simply focus on his attack.

And the moment he saw Shoto's attack have the desired effect in slowing Tetsutetsu and his teammates down, Tenya immediately bolted into action with a roaring Recipro Burst. But that very same roar of his Engine Quirk brought an emboldened sharp-toothed grin to Tetsutetsu's face. "JUST TRY US!"

Before the eyes of all of Team 3-A, all of the ice that had stopped Tetsutetsu and Sen in their tracks, instantly turned into a soft liquid that both boys could easily move around in again; all courtesy of Juzo, who had likewise taken to the high ground in order to get the best view of what was now their battlefield. "That Ice Blast is nothing! If you'd come at us all hell-bent with your Fire, then I wouldn't have been able to fight back!"

Up above, Mashirao watched as his team leader's supposed one-hit-victory attack was completely nullified, wasting no time in prepping his Tail to spring him from his hiding spot to a more advantageous position. 'Damn, he must've used his Quirk to Soften the whole environment right before Tetsutetsu could be stopped in his tracks! That Honenuki's definitely fast, and his reflexes are no joke!'

GLOOP!

But the moment he put any weight on the pipe below with his Tail, the whole thing suddenly caved in like a deflated balloon, completely knocking Mashirao off-balance; all while Juzo was already eyeing his position across the field. "Found you, Ojiro! I took the opportunity to Soften the whole surrounding area! Be sure to watch your footing!"

"OJIRO'S ALL MINE!" With that driven declaration, Sen Kaibara immediately sprang himself up and after Mashirao, with all of his fingers, both hands, and both forearms all individually yet simultaneously spinning like drills as he made his aggressive approach. The moment Mashirao saw him coming, he quickly swung his Tail to act as a block against him, but the seriously painful sensation of his Drill fingers slamming into it made it immediately clear to the blonde Tailed Hero that there ultimately was no blocking against Sen's attacks.

"OJI…RO…SAN…!" Across the field, Tenya had likewise seen the detrimental situation Mashirao was now in, and given that he was ultimately the closest, he wasted no time taking off with his still-active Recipro Burst to try and help. Unfortunately, Juzo's widespread Softening Quirk rendered the speedster Hero as slow as anybody else as his feet struggled to gain traction, before he ultimately ended up sinking into the ground up to his waist.

"Your feet are only as fast as the ground is solid, Iida! Did you notice that I've Softened the ground beneath the ice, too? You could potentially be a pain later on, so I'd better sink you down now and leave you for later." Confident that his Quirk had Tenya completely trapped, Juzo actually took the risk of approaching him as he was already nearly up to his head in the softened ground, trying fruitlessly to keep himself above it all. "ARE YOU TRYING TO PUT AN END TO OUR TEAMWORK?! YOU VILLAINS TRULY ARE THE EMBODIMENT OF CUNNING!"

All the while; Shoto, having seen how effectively Juzo had countered his Ice attack, wasted no time before creating a multitude of Ice Walls between himself and Mezo, and Tetsutetsu and the rest of his team. But just as quickly as he had, did several fast-flying detached Horns from Pony come swerving in around every spike and hooking around Mezo's arms, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying before ultimately pinning him to the wall at his back; leaving Shoto on his own, while Pony herself was all smiles. "We were sure dat yer scout, Shouji, would hang back in safety! Like, say, right behind Todoroki!"

KRRRRSSSHH! "HORN DASH HAMMER!" The moment Shoto realized he was now on his own; his Ice Wall suddenly exploded in his face, courtesy of Tetsutetsu charging through it like the human battering ram he now was, boosted in speed by two of Pony's Horns hooked under his arms, before ultimately plowing hard into Shoto himself. "YOU AND YOUR STUPID ICE, ALWAYS SO FREAKIN' COLD! YOU'RE FREEZING MY STEEL BUTT OFF, TODOROKI! NO MORE! SO I'M COMING AT YOU BARE-HANDED, OKAY?! YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME ON?!"

And this sudden shift in the playing field between the two teams had both classes of watchful students instinctively holding their breaths as to how this was all ultimately going to play out. While among the Class A students, Eijirou could only observe in admiration at how quickly Tetsutetsu had learned from his mistakes in the first match; among the Class B students, Maja was especially watching with wide-eyed excitement, busily scribbling some sloppy notes on the palm of her hand with a pen when observing the similarities between her Quirk and Juzo's.

While Mezo was pinned, Mashirao was still trying to fend off and avoid Sen's attacks, and Shoto was now being relentlessly rushed by Tetsutetsu; Juzo had taken the further precaution of re-solidifying the ground he had made Tenya sink into; trapping him up to his head in it. "Sorry, Iida; that Recipro Burst of yours is on a timer, right? Maybe you shouldn't have used it right from the start. Anyway, I'd better go back up Tetsutetsu-san."

With that, Juzo was already halfway to leaving Tenya on his own, fully confident that he had no means of escaping such a hopeless position. "A timer? Who told you that, Mudman?"

Juzo jolted to a stop at the defiance in Tenya's voice while calling him by his chosen Hero name. "Ingenium is always ready to run…wherever, whenever! These legs get the job done, and I've been at full throttle this whole time!"

KRKRKRKRKRK!

With the muffled but powerful roaring of what sounded like a whole new engine; to Juzo's disbelief, Tenya's whole body actually began to charge forward through the ground, breaking through it with every quickening step like a human icebreaker. And with every step, as his blood burned and his vision zeroed in on Juzo before him; Tenya could hear the encouraging words of his brother urging him on, just like it had long before up until this very defining moment of truth.

"Tenya! Congrats on the Provisional License! You must really be overworking those Engines of yours, huh? And since you're so grown up now, I'm thinking it's about time you need one: AN ENGINE TUNE-UP! If you rip out your own exhaust pipes and continue to train, new ones will regenerate; ones that can withstand the increased burden. Grandpa decided to start this family of Heroes so that we could race toward anyone and everyone in need. He decided to pass down this bit of knowledge. You'll have to endure some excruciating pain, but if you're determined to run farther and faster…"

Every moment since that fated meeting, and every moment since he'd taken up his brother's request, Tenya never forgot that very same pain…using it and his brother's words to drive him ever forward, even now, as his speed continued to build and build, tearing through the ground like it was nothing as he closed further and further in on his target. "I've maximized Recipro's horsepower and minimized fuel consumption! Where it once lasted ten seconds…NOW IT LASTS TEN MINUTES! FOR TEN MINUTES, NOBODY CAN STOP ME! NEW STYLE: RECIPRO TURBO!"

BOOOM! VRRRRRM!

With that, Tenya finally erupted freely from out of the ground; the armor for his legs now far larger and more intricate, to match the new extended and sleeker-looking tailpipes extending from his legs; all of them roaring to a deafening degree as they sent him flying across the ground towards Juzo, who was already looking halfway ready to counter…only for Tenya to literally go flying from his own horsepower right around him and behind his back.

"HOWEVER…I MOVE A BIT TOO FAST…TO RETAIN FULL CONTROL! END OF THE ROAD, MUDMAN!" It was a genuine struggle for Tenya to maintain speaking while he moved in a growingly chaotic circle around Juzo faster than he could keep his eyes on him. It was becoming increasingly clear just how outmatched he now was in the face of Tenya's new and improved Quirk. And so, once he finally found a kicking-off point to send himself into a flying kick for Juzo's body; the Softening Hero quickly let his whole body sink beneath the floor and out of harm's way; desperately swimming his way through the Softened underground in an attempt to further escape; re-solidifying the ground behind him so Tenya couldn't pursue.

'This is really bad! There's no way I can step up to him right now! Good thing I'm not stubborn enough to keep fighting when I know I'm outmatched. Though I hate to leave unfinished business behind, this doesn't feel like a fight I can win. In which case, I oughta hurry over and support Tetsutetsu-san and the rest.'

And right behind him, Tenya had no choice but to come to the same conclusion, before the echoing heavy impact sounds of further fighting from within the rest of the training grounds snapped him to attention; knowing that there were further and more urgent matters for him to attend to while his new technique was going strong.

Back on the observation platform; everyone in both classes couldn't help but feel their breath catch in their throats at the marvel of Tenya's insane new speed and ability, and how it had forced the once-perceived unstoppable Juzo into having to retreat.

Seeing this, Izuku was clutching his notebook in a trembling grip, while Minoru was just so blown away by the comeback that he couldn't help frantically pointing at the screen to make sure he wasn't just seeing things. "Wow…'Recipro Turbo', huh? Iida-san is moving so much faster than even Gran Torino-sensei now." "No kidding! Ever since you started developing that Shoot Style of yours, he seems to have finally gotten his mojo back!"

All the while, Nikolay was instinctively clutching his sleeves tight while his arms were crossed; his heart racing in excitement at how much faster Tenya could move now. "My god…and I thought his kicks during the Sports Festival were devastating enough already. I wonder if I could ever even be able to launch myself anywhere near as fast as that!"

But before he could admire such a display any longer; Mina's voice suddenly came in with a clear edge of panic: "HEY, LOOK AT OJIRO-KUN!"

Everyone shifted their attention to the screen displaying the ongoing battle between Mashirao and Sen Kaibara. The Drill-Quirked student's movements were speedy, relentless and brimming with aggression and power. By contrast, all of Mashirao's movements were no different than what he usually did when fighting…only this time they also had a clear sense of desperation, as his body was badly battered and bruised up after having been stuck in this slowly losing battle against him for the past minute.

Watching him get pushed further and further back, Kyouka and Hanta simply couldn't believe the gist of what they were seeing: "What is going on with Ojiro-san? He's fighting so…normally!" "Even the way he's getting beat is so ordinary! It's like he hasn't changed at all! C'mon, man!"

"Dodging alone won't win you this fight, Ojiro!"

And Sen Kaibara couldn't have been more right. It was taking everything Mashirao could pull out of his lifelong martial arts skill set to just keep himself on his feet and out of Sen's grasp. With the aid of the dark caps adorning his fingers, Sen was matching him step for step, strike for strike, and was in multiple instances proving to be superior in terms of maneuverability and speed. By now, Mashirao's whole body was covered in lacerations and bruises as a result of his constant deflections, strikes and counters, while Sen had hardly any marks on him to show for it.

And now, Mashirao's whole body was aching with building pain from his injuries as he was drawing a mental blank for any new tricks he could possibly pull. 'What…what is this heavy feeling in my chest? All of my attacks keep getting deflected! And whenever I do defend, those hardened Support tools on his fingers grind me down! Talk about brutal, Kaibara!'

With another desperate upward spring with his Tail, Mashirao tried to leap over a horizontal pipe in order to put just a little distance between them. But Sen could see that there was a practical wall at the blonde boy's back, and thus he sent his Drills running into a deafening overdrive as he prepared to finally take him down. "IT'S OVER FOR YOU!"

But then, in an instantaneous white blur, Sen's whole body nearly folded at the waist, as Tenya came bolting in with his left arm extended to catch him in a devastating clothesline; carrying Sen along helplessly with him as he continued to practically fly on his feet; ultimately leaving Mashirao astounded and alone. "IIDA-SAN?!"

"I'LL PUT SPIRAL IN PRISON, SO I MUST LEAVE THE BATTLEFIELD FOR NOW! I'LL BE BACK SHORTLY! IN THE MEANTIME, SUPPORT TODOROKI-SAN, BECAUSE MUDMAN IS PROBABLY HEADED HIS WAY! I'LL BE BACK IN A FLASH!" Tenya's knowledge of Sen's Hero name and subsequent call back to his teammate was about as lightning fast as the rest of his speed, as he was already here and gone in the blink of an eye. Thankfully, though, Mashirao had gotten enough of the gist of his instructions, and was soon hurrying on his way to where he'd last seen Shoto and Tetsutetsu fight.

"LET ME GO! I HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO REALLY SHOW OFF YET!" Sen protested as he, despite being caught tight in Tenya's capturing grip, was already trying to make as much of his body Drill as possible in order to try and get free, but Tenya was more persistent than ever, fighting through the friction of his lightning fast spiraling motions against his hands. "OWWWW! Settle down, you! Why should I allow a Villain to show off?!"

But Sen could easily match Tenya for persistence, refusing to give up on his Drilling while still trying to get into his captor's head: "If you're here, then Honenuki-san must've given you the slip, right? You saw what a pain he can be, so shouldn't you go after him instead? This is no time for you to be interrupting a one-on-one fight, Ingenium!"

But Tenya's mind was on a whole other level of focus; his eyes simply burning into the ever elusive horizon of destiny as he continued to run with everything he had with what time he had left. "THIS IS HOW MY BROTHER WOULD PROCEED, SO I WILL DO THE SAME! IF I CANNOT TAKE PROPER ACTION DURING TRAINING, THEN HOW CAN I HOPE TO ACT WHEN IT COUNTS?!"

By now, Shoto's continuous use of his Ice against Tetsutetsu had left much of their battleground caked in frost as though it had been left in the Arctic for several years. And for all his efforts, he had nothing to show for it, as no matter how hard he tried, Tetsutetsu kept powering through every Ice attack and defense he could throw his way; continuously forcing Shoto back.

Among all the students watching this surprise clash of powerhouses continue; Eijirou was still watching how consistently well Tetsutetsu was carrying himself with obvious admiration, while Bakugo was watching Shoto's continuing struggle with a near manic grin on his face. "That iron lug-head keeps proving his Ice doesn't do squat, yet he keeps trying it?! Talk about a rookie move!"

Seeing Shoto visibly being slowly brought to heel by his onslaught, Tetsutetsu was feeling an absolutely overwhelming rush of encouraged adrenaline rushing through his body as he refused to let up. "MY STEEL FIST OF JUSTICE IS GONNA MAKE ICE CUBES OUTTA YOUR DEFENSE!"

With his back finally to the wall, and hearing just how driven his opponent was to deliver on those words, Shoto finally dug in and focused on his incoming opponent. "Then how about…

"…A WALL OF FLAMES?!" FWOOOOSH!

In the blink of an eye, Tetsutetsu was met with a lightning-fast wall of Fire erupting from Shoto's left arm and leg, completely filling the interior of their battleground, and ultimately forcing Pony to jump out of the way, leaving Tetsutetsu entirely on his own.

With his Fire continuing to rage as he kept laying down tis offensive upon Tetsutetsu, Shoto hurriedly turned his attention to the nearby Mezo, who by now had finally gotten himself un-pinned to the wall. "Shouji, you handle Tsunotori!"

Mezo didn't hesitate to even give a verbal response, instead taking off after her while Shoto resettled his full focus on making is Fire rush out and burn as hot as it could to bring Tetsutetsu to his knees. 'C'mon…retreat. Give me some distance.'

"Do you have any clue as to why I decided to take you on?! Have you figured it out yet, Todoroki?!" The defiant and confident tone with which Tetsutetsu's voice was emanating from out of the fire was the last thing even Shoto expected…until he could finally make out the Iron Hero within the flames; his entire body glowing bright red as his Iron was now literally glowing hot from his flames.

And the eager wide grin on his face made it clear that he wasn't even remotely perturbed, being in this kind of state. "CAUSE NEITHER SIDE OF YOUR QUIRK WORKS ON ME! NOW, TIME TO STRIKE WHILE THE IRON'S HOT!"

With that, he took off into another mad bull rush through Shoto's Fire. "THIS KINDA THING WAS PART OF MY TRAINING, Y'KNOW?! YOU EVER SPEND A WHOLE DAY INSIDE A FURNACE?!"

"TETSUTETSU-SAN, PIN DOWN TODOROKI! DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY! OVERWHELM HIM IN CLOSE COMBAT SO HE CAN'T PULL ANY BIG MOVES!"

Vlad King and the whole of Class B were all shouting such encouraging cheers in the naïve hope that Tetsutetsu could hear them while continuing to push Shoto back one step at a time.

And among the Class A students, a good number of them were similarly trying to call for Shoto to do something to get himself out of this pinch. But among them, Eijirou was still primarily watching Tetsutetsu power through both sides of his Quirk with such ease. "MAN, TETSUTETSU, YOU'RE SUPER COOL RIGHT NOW! I really got a lot to learn from you!"

Hearing him say so in contrast to the rest of his class, Maja leaned in curiously: "You really don't mind standing out from a crowd, do you? And why do you sound so amazed? The way I see it, your Quirks are practically identical."

Blindsided by her sudden arrival in the middle of so much excitement, Eijirou looked down humbly. "Honestly, I wish that were true. Yeah, my Quirk helps a ton when dealing with physical attacks like his does; but mine doesn't protect me nearly as well when it comes to super intense temperatures. Just more reasons why I need to learn to pick my battles more carefully."

Seeing how much this clearly weighed on the red-haired boy at her side, Maja now found herself looking back to the screen and seeing just how intensely Shoto's Fire was blazing. "Clearly that goes for both of us. Hot, cold, doesn't make a difference to me; I definitely wouldn't wanna be fighting that Todoroki guy if I could help it."

To this, Eijirou couldn't hide his surprise at the admission of fear from someone who'd left such a good impression on him in so little time. "Really? I mean, I know heat makes wax melt and everything, but that looked like the whole gimmick to your Quirk. I'd think fighting Todoroki would be no problem for you."

To this, Maja simply rolled her eyes. "Remember what happened to me during my match, when that Fukidashi guy hit me with that heat-based word, and it turned my already melting arm into pure liquid Wax? That was just a momentary effect, but it still really threw me off. If I were to go up against a hot enough fire like Todoroki is making right now, it would cause my already-liquidated Wax to evaporate, and then I'd really be screwed. Same goes for frigid cold; it'd ultimately cause me to slow down and eventually stop completely. As far as I know, so far that's the only real weakness to my Quirk besides just the energy it takes for me to use it so consistently."

Eijirou was now eyeing the intricate vambraces on her arms. "But if fire does that to you, then why'd you have Yaoyorozu-san make you those little wrist flamethrower things?"

Looking at them herself, Maja smirked as she pointed out the directions away from her hands the nozzles were pointing. "I asked her to make it so they don't burn super strong in heat, and that they point away from my hands, so I can still be able to grab things while my arms are half-melted and able to stretch and such. I had to be really careful when describing what I was looking for."

With no further questions about her Quirk that he could think of, Eijirou looked to fully understand, and soon the duo returned their attention to the screen, just as Tetsutetsu had finally powered his way through the brunt of Shoto's flames, and had now grabbed him by the collar.

"HALF-N-HALF CAN'T PUT A DENT IN ME! I BULLDOZED PAST MY LIMITS TO STEEL MYSELF LIKE THIS! NOW I JUST GOTTA KEEP POUNDING AWAY TILL YOU'RE OUT COLD!" As Tetsutetsu clutched Shoto's collar in a death grip, ready to finally take him down with one righteous hit; Shoto himself couldn't believe just how resilient his opponent was proving himself to be; having been certain that his flames would be enough to put him out of commission.

And as his mind raced with potential ideas on how to turn things around; he once more found the distant echoes of his father's past voice scratching away into the forefront of his mind, almost as though his memories were consciously reacting to his troubling circumstances in an attempt to save him: "Raise your body heat right to the limit! And then surpass that limit! Of course you can do it; you just haven't TRIED! Remember this: you possess a hidden power greater than any other!"

As those past images of his father's stern and unforgiving instruction played out so clearly before his mind's eye, Shoto could only momentarily wonder to himself: 'Why am I thinking of that now?'

But that was when he suddenly realized something at the same time as he instinctively brought his arm up to try and defend himself from Tetsutetsu's incoming fist: his whole body was quickly growing hotter inside than normal, even when having his fires burn this hot. It was almost as thought thinking back on Endeavor's words from back then, had given his body the physical push needed to actually follow through.

And with that realization of just what his father's instructions from all the way back then were driving him to finally do now, the only thing Shoto could bring himself to say was a defeated: "Aw, crap…if neither cold nor heat fazes him…"

As Shoto came closer and closer to the realization of what his body was urging him to do, he could distinctly recall one of the more recent discussions between himself and his father, specifically after he'd finally broken his rule and used his father's power during his match with Izuku; the infuriating sense of undeserved pride that hung on Endeavor's every word back then: "Without control over your flames, going all out is dangerous! But you've finally put aside your childish rebellion! You're ready to replace me. To surpass me, even!"

But with those memories came all of the persistent and most painful ones from so much further back; the memories that plagued Shoto every day of his life, that still to this day continued to feed and fester his persistent anger towards his father…and with all of those memories and his vicious shouted instructions, ultimately came the sound of Izuku and Nikolay's voices together, both ringing loud and true: "Your power is your own!" "Is it that you CAN'T move past it…or that you WON'T?"

The more his two classmates' voices rang louder and louder within his head, the more Shoto found himself now reflecting on everything that had come to pass since that fateful day; every minute of every hour of effort he made to not only make his Quirk entirely his own, but also to even begin to try and move on and make some semblance of peace with all that had happened to him through Endeavor before; not for the sake of fulfilling his father's ambitions, but simply his own. And the more he thought about it, the hotter he could feel his flames grow; to the point that finally, even Tetsutetsu had no choice but to finally let go of him and try to step back, all the while shouting in pained shock at how hot it was suddenly becoming.

'More…rise up more…heat up more! Even hotter…I can grow even hotter! I can ignite myself…'

And with this heat only continuing to rise and spread, Shoto stood tall and defiant within his own inferno, staring his opponent down as his once conflicted mind and heart both finally came to a place of ease, of acceptance. If this was the only way he was going to come out the victor here, then he was going to have to do exactly as he was once told…and surpass his greatest limit. And with the continuous guiding voices of his friends continuing to push him forward alongside his own steadfast will, he knew he could finally be able to do just that. "Get back…unless you wanna melt!"

'…in order to become the man…the Hero I want to be!'

The air of clear amazement among the students watching as Shoto's already terrifyingly powerful Fire only continued to grow more and more in temperature and power was thick enough. But by the time it started causing several of the cameras depicting the battle to black out, half of them were hanging on with breaths all caught in their lungs with anticipation; Vlad King having come to the same grim conclusion of just how powerful a flame Shoto had by now become. "His heat is even causing the cameras to melt!"

Among the other teachers watching, Toshinori and Oleg were both instinctively clutching their fists tight in their own impression at just how far Shoto was pushing himself; Toshinori being the first one willing to break this tense silence: "Todoroki-shonen…incredible, at such a young age, to already possess firepower on par with Endeavor now."

However, Oleg, while similarly amazed at Shoto's willpower and strength, couldn't hide the distinctive look of concern in his blue eyes. "But remember how even Endeavor started to suffer from heat exhaustion during his recent battle with that Nomu? How can we possibly think malenkii Todoroki won't suffer the same if he pushes himself much further than this?"

Even for as much as Tetsutetsu had prepared himself to face one extreme temperature or the other when going up against Shoto, even he didn't expect him to suddenly pull out an insane temperature like this. This was making the furnace within which he'd been training himself, look like nothing more than a sweat lodge by comparison. But despite all of that, he wasn't going to allow himself to retreat, not now. With so many of his classmates and his teacher watching; to do so would be a mark of shame he would never be able to live down, no matter how well he would do anywhere else from here on.

And so, with the flames continuing to only grow hotter and hotter, and his Iron body glowing brighter and brighter with heat, he kept forcing himself to put one foot in front of the other; his intense beady eyes staring Shoto down through the blaze the whole way. 'Heat! Insane heat! I get it, Todoroki! I really do! Because I'm holding all that heat inside me, too! I get how rough this is on you! There's no way you can keep this up! And if that's the case…'

With that and a defiant roar, Tetsutetsu forced himself into another mad rush, his Iron fist reeled back in preparation to clock one across Shoto's head if he could get in close enough. The closer he got, the hotter it all became around him. But he still wouldn't let that stop him. When he finally got within striking distance, he and Shoto locked eyes; the latter hurriedly bringing up an arm to block his assault; Tetsutetsu grabbing onto it just as a multitude of increasingly hot flames began emanating from out of Shoto's arm directly into him.

"An endurance battle?! That's my specialty! GO…FREAKIN' BEYOND!" SMACK!

With another defiant battle cry, Tetsutetsu proceeded to send a flying Iron knee directly into Shoto's stomach, nearly causing him to double over as the impact reverberated all across his body. But even with the wind almost entirely being knocked out of him, Shoto's feet remained firmly planted to the ground; his piercing eyes staring Tetsutetsu down through the pain. "Listen! This'll end up being a lot worse…than just a few burns for you!"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! ANYONE WHO ISN'T READY TO DIE IN TRAINING WON'T RISK IT ALL WHEN IT MATTERS, EITHER! LIMITS ARE THERE TO BE BROKEN!" The sheer power and emotion with which Tetsutetsu snapped back was on a different level than all his previous boasting. There was a genuine pain to this one, and not just physical. Shoto could see that, just as much as the watching and listening students all could, when they saw a look of genuine anguish twisting across his face; the beginnings of tears immediately evaporating from his face as soon as they could even begin to form in his eyes.

"HEROES ARE SUPPOSED TO GO ALL OUT IN THE FACE OF DANGER, SURPASS THEIR LIMITS! IF I…I COULD'VE DONE THAT BACK IN HOKKAIDO, THEN MAYBE…MAYBE KNIGHTFALL-SENSEI WOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO DIE FOR ME AND IIDA! IF I DON'T PUSH MYSELF PAST MY LIMIT, THEN SOMEONE ELSE OUT THERE MAY END UP MAKING THAT SAME CHOICE BECAUSE OF ME AGAIN! I'LL GO AS FAR BEYOND MY LIMIT AS POSSIBLE TO KEEP ANYONE FROM DOING THAT!"

Up on the observation deck, where there had once been all-around excitement and anxiety alike for how the match would turn out; having listened to Tetsutetsu's impassioned declaration of undeserved guilt, defiance and self-drive, there was now a much more prevalent air of sympathy and admiration among them all towards his and Shoto's identical resilience and inner strength to keep pushing further and further against each other.

Staring each other down, and seeing the true inner anguish and subsequent determination that was driving Tetsutetsu to this very moment, even as Shoto's own blood burned with determination towards his own goals, he couldn't rightfully deny that there was a twinge of respect growing in his chest towards his opponent, even if his words conveyed no such thing while the fires around them only continued to grow ever larger and ever hotter. "Do you ever shut up?"

Over all this time, Mezo's pursuit of Pony had been relentless, as too had her attempts to try and somehow shake him off her trail; continuously throwing her Horns his way in the hopes of pinning him to a wall again. But now that he'd personally seen her Quirk in action; he knew what to expect, and how to fight back against it, keeping his tentacles expanded and moving all around him to either knock them away or simply catch and break them, forcing Pony to continuously be on the retreat with the aid of two of her Horns under her feet carrying her along as fast as she could make them go.

And all the while, the entire environment around them had become nothing short of sweltering, as she by now had definitely noticed. 'The heat is seriously reaching us all the way over here? Tetsutetsu-kun must be in big trouble, then. I better find a way back and help.'

With this in mind, Pony proceeded to suddenly turn the Horns under her feet in a complete 180, hopping off of it while directing her pointing fingers to her pursuer, briefly recalling what she'd read his Hero name as being: "Sorry, Tentacole, but I always trot right by da octopus tank at da aquarium. I can't stand da things!"

"I'm no stranger to being feared!" Mezo immediately argued back, even in the face of his opponent now sending all of her flying Horns at him en masse. "So it's time to end dis! I'm gonna lock you up! THUNDER HORN!"

To this, Mezo's eyes widened as all of his tentacles suddenly sprouted a multitude of fists at every end. "I expected nothing less from you! OCTOBLOW!"

What ensued was a lightning fast and fierce battle of attrition, as Pony kept firing a sheer volley of her Horns from her head, one after the other, while keeping her fingers at the side of her head pointed in Mezo's directions; who was likewise keeping her volley at bay with the sheer storm of fists he was now firing in a relentless blur, parrying every single one that came his way.

After several seconds of this nail-biting stalemate offense/defense scenario, Mezo's one visible eye finally widened as he spotted the fraction of a second he needed to gain himself the advantage, throwing one fist through this miracle opening in the storm of Horns, ready to drive it into his opponent to finally knock her off her feet. "GOT—

"—YOU!" Pony's simultaneous declaration of victory came at the sight of one of her Horns she'd sent flying just outside of the focused barrage she'd been sending in order to keep Mezo distracted; as it came zipping right around in preparation to slam straight into his back while he'd been so focused on his front. In less than a couple of seconds; one way or another, this standoff was finally going to end.

GRAB!

But just when Pony was ready to see him go down, Mezo was still standing, and this came as enough of a surprise to make her stop firing her Horns, only now seeing that one of his tentacles behind his back had grabbed her sneak attack Horn, thanks to another tentacle in the same spot that had a watchful eye sprouting out the end of it, thus alerting him to what she'd just tried to do. "Thanks for the assist, Ojiro-san."

"TORNADO TAIL DANCE!"

From out of nowhere, Mashirao suddenly came spinning from up above, wrapping his arms, legs and Tail around Pony's whole midsection, while gripping her Horns tight in his hands, completely incapacitating her. "You're not much of a threat if you can't fire your horns!"

Struggling fruitlessly against the thorough grip he had on her, Pony couldn't help but groan out in frustration in English: "Gaah! Even the way you caught me is so darn ordinary!"

Mezo, fully confident that Mashirao had Pony taken care of, finally recalled his attack-ready tentacles. "Good work. I'll tie her up and get her to jail. Todoroki-san needs your..."

But as he began to approach, he saw how Mashirao's normally plain expression visibly grew with shock, before he suddenly felt his own feet start sinking into the ground the moment his last word of "help" escaped; Mashirao exclaiming at the sight of what was now rising from behind his classmate's back. "Oh, crap; it's Honenuki!"

Indeed, from out of nowhere like the Tailed boy mere moments ago, Juzo was now slowly rising from the quicksand-like ground he'd made out of the battlefield. "I'll be taking Tsunotori-san back now. We're actually friends, y'know?"

Within the raging hellfire that was now the battlefield between Shoto and Tetsutetsu; the Iron-skinned boy was continuously slamming his glowing hot fists against Shoto's constantly crossed defending arms; all the while exclaiming with every move he made: "YOOOOWCH! HOTHOTHOTHOTHOT! WUZZA MATTER, TODOROKIII?! SLOWING DOWN?!"

But even in the face of Tetsutetsu's relentless barrage of fists, Shoto likewise wasn't backing down or allowing his flames to lower even a single degree; still instead trying to focus on somehow making it burn even hotter. "You're not as quick as before, either!"

However, even for as assured as his words sounded, in his head, it was a much different reality. 'I'm getting dizzy, and my body's not listening to me…I have to disengage for a bit and cool off! But I won't get that chance if I can't get him to back off!'

"SURPASS THAT LIMIT!"

But like the world's most persistent bad itch, Endeavor's voice kept breaking through, somehow managing to now push Shoto's physical limit further and further. With those words continuously hammering away at any semblance of self-doubt in his limits, Shoto quickly reared his left fist back, channeling all the heat he could into the flames emerging from it, as though he could just tell this would be his deciding move, his coup de grace.

But just as he was about to throw it forward, he suddenly realized he could feel his legs becoming engulfed in a thick molasses; proven by the sound of Juzo's voice intruding from behind his back. "I can't have you melting our Tetsutetsu-san!"

WHAAM!

Just as soon as Shoto even realized what was happening, the Softening of the rest of the environment suddenly caused several of the beams overhead to come loose, raining down on him hard; and ultimately leaving Tetsutetsu the one still standing, glowing white hot and struggling to catch his breath.

Upon seeing his teammate was officially saved, Juzo had his eyes focused again on Shoto, whom even from here he could already tell was about to lose consciousness. But after everything he'd experienced already, he wasn't about to let that convince him everything was fine. "Now to harden the—

WRAAAM!

"THIS TIME YOU WON'T GET AWAY FROM ME, MUDMAN!" In a flash, a single white blur came zipping in, slamming hard enough into one side of Juzo's head to not only make the whole opposite side of his mask shatter, revealing his shaggy long blonde hair and skeletal mouth; but also enough to send him flying listlessly through the air; as Tenya had come roaring like the wind onto the scene, running off the wall and ricocheting off the ceiling before finally landing by Shoto and plucking him out from under all the rubble. 'You're out cold, Todoroki-san! I'm sorry I'm late!'

Tetsutetsu, despite having been brought down to one knee after the sheer endurance test he'd just been put through, immediately realized what had just happened, and was already trying to fight through the heat burning inside him as he tried to chase after Tenya and Shoto. "YOU…WAIT…NO RUNNING AWAY!"

But as Tenya refused to stop, all he could hear right now was the driving and uplifting words of his brother, not simply from their last meeting, but some of the first pieces of advice and belief he'd ever given him, that had ultimately driven him all this time on his personal journey towards becoming a Hero. The very same altruistic sentiments he'd still been ashamed to have let himself forget in the days of his obsession with finding and defeating the Hero Killer Stain, so long ago.

And it was the reminder of those feelings that spurred Tenya to defiantly declare for all to hear: "TAKE THIS TO HEART, VILLAINS! NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY OR DO TO BREAK US DOWN, THE RESCUE TAKES TOP PRIORITY!"

Several feet away, with his ears still ringing and his vision still blurred as a result of the devastating hit he'd received to his head, Juzo couldn't bring himself to get back to his feet; only able to barely crawl in these last few moments he had the strength to stay conscious, only able to try and listen for the departing roar of Tenya's engines ahead, with Tetsutetsu trying to chase after them.

'Dammit…I'm done for! From just one hit! Even though he claimed he couldn't fully handle that speed…I never should've put off dealing with Iida! Have we seriously lost again?! Once I black out, my Softening gets undone! Unlike Yaoyorozu, I can't leave anything behind as a memento!'

But trying to lift himself up, and realizing what incredibly few viable options he had left, Juzo instead started focusing his Quirk. 'No regrets! If we lose, we lose! But…are my friends losing because of me? I won't let that happen!'

With that determination, Juzo kept one hand flush to the floor, and pressed his other hand to the support column of the nearby water tower he'd had the good fortunate of ending up next to. And with his Quirk channeling into both, he used the last of his strength to cry out to his one remaining standing teammate: "PUSH IT DOWN, TETSUTETSU-SAN!"

With his blood almost literally burning and his frustration overflowing, Tetsutetsu simply heard the sound of Juzo's voice, and in a blind rush proceeded to do exactly as he'd been asked, plowing his Iron-strengthened momentum into the softened support; causing the entire water tower to come collapsing down right on top of Tenya and Shoto; the timing of it all having just been fortunate enough to outrace even the last moments of Tenya's Recipro Turbo; a metallic crashing impact so powerful and deafening that it could actually be heard echoing all the way to the observation deck.

When the dust all finally cleared, all anyone could see was Tetsutetsu and Juzo both laid out flat and completely out cold on the floor, with Tenya and Shoto both similarly motionless and trapped underneath all of the rubble. The sight of Shoto, of all people, having actually been outdone had left many of his classmates completely speechless, while many of the Class B students likewise couldn't even bring themselves to mutter their thoughts and ideas to each other; having never expected this kind of situation once in this whole exercise.

And while Aizawa for once was at a loss as to what else to do; Vlad King ultimately took command of the microphone again: "LOOK AT THAT! ALL TEAMS' FIGHTERS ARE DOWN FOR THE COUNT! BUT THEY'RE NOT TECHNICALLY OUT OF THE GAME UNTIL THEY'VE BEEN THROWN IN PRISON! HOW WILL THIS PLAY OUT?!"

Among them all, Tenya was the only one still even remotely moving. But it was immediately clear to himself and all those watching him, that the rubble weighing him down was too much for him to escape from, especially once he realized how thoroughly pinned he truly was, and saw Shoto's motionless body mere feet away. 'OUUUCH! My left arm and left leg…I can't move them! I don't have enough power with just one leg! Forgive me, Todoroki-san. If only…if only I'd been one step faster in reaching you!'

Watching as Tenya continued futilely trying to free himself; Vlad King's outward enthusiasm just kept building more and more. "IIDA'S STILL CONSCIOUS, BUT HE'S NOT GETTING ANYWHERE FAST! IT APPEARS THAT KAIBARA'S HUMBLE RESISTANCE HAS LEFT A MARK, AFTER ALL! OUR SPINNING BOY DID ALL HE COULD TO SLOW DOWN HIS JAILER JUST BEFORE BEING THROWN IN THE SLAMMER! WELL DONE, KAIBARA! YOU'RE THE REAL MVP OF THIS MATCH!"

Naturally, his increasingly biased commentary was doing nothing to ease the minds and spirits of the rest of the 1-A students, all silently trying to urge Tenya to get free or Shoto to wake back up. Ultimately, unable to take this downturn in mood among her friends, Mina stepped up; maintaining the same upbeat and confident attitude and smile she always did. "C'mon, guys, it's not over till it's over, right?! So long as Shouji-kun and Ojiro-kun both keep their heads down, then our class still has a 1-0 lead!"

"I'm afraid not, Ashido-chan." Momo suddenly pointed out; spurring her and the rest of the class to follow her gaze to the screens that had been recording the rest of Team 3-A and Team 3-B's fight, and what they saw only further cemented the grim feeling of inevitable defeat in many of their stomachs…and naturally only made Neito laugh psychotically. "HAVE YOU BEEN TOO DISTRACTED BY THAT BOMBASTIC BATTLE TO SEE THE REST OF WHAT WAS GOING ON?! WHILE TETSUTETSU-SAN AND TODOROKI'S INTENSE FIGHT RAGED ON, THE TIDES OF THE WAR ITSELF HAVE SHIFTED!"

On those last remaining screens, where there had once been Mezo and Mashirao up against Pony and Juzo, now it was only down to Mezo and Pony alone; catching Mina by total surprise (and embarrassment at how she'd been so thoroughly distracted as to not even notice this). "SHOUJI-KUN AND PONY-CHAN?! I THOUGHT SHE WAS ALL TIED UP WITH OJIRO-KUN'S TAIL! WHERE IS HE?!"

Mere minutes ago, from the moment Mashirao had noticed and tried to warn Mezo of Juzo's arrival; his Quirk had already caused both Class A boys and Pony to start sinking. And once Mashirao had gotten up to his neck; Juzo had craftily swam across in preparation to free Pony from his grip, leaving him once again completely without anything to show for his work. 'The more you struggle and sink, the looser your grip on her becomes. I'll get you out of there in no time, Tsunotori-san.'

But once Mashirao felt Pony start to slip out of his grip, he already knew there was nothing he could do to free himself. But with Mezo being bigger and having more versatility for movement, there was one thing he could do. "FIST OF THE TAIL: SWAMP SMACK SPIN!"

With what little maneuverability he still had left, Mashirao proceeded to start throwing his body into an increasingly fast spin; the additional reach and weight of his Tail behind him allowing for the Softened ground to start splashing and spreading away; ultimately enough to where Mezo could get some of his tentacles out and reach them up to grab onto the pipes overhead, successfully pulling himself out. "That did it, Ojiro-san!"

With that, he proceeded to reach the rest of his tentacles over; latching onto Mashirao and yanking him and Pony both out of the ground just before Juzo could grab onto her.

"YOU RUN ON AHEAD, HONENUKI-KUN!" Pony suddenly shouted, and before either Mashirao or Mezo could react or brace themselves for whatever was about to happen; two of her Horns suddenly burst out from the Softened ground just outside the Tailed Hero's field of view, allowing Pony to direct them so they ended up stabbing into his Tail he still had around her, leaving him grimacing in pain, but refusing to release his hold. "Go ahead and skewer me all you want! I'm not letting g-!"

Before the very last syllable could pass, Mashirao suddenly found his whole body getting yanked out of Mezo's hold with incredible force; ultimately causing him to release Pony, who quickly had her feet on the same two Horns that she'd previously attacked with, allowing the other two to carry Mashirao helplessly away. "Fine by me if you don't let go! Quad Horn Power will just take you straight to jail!"

With perfect timing as Mashirao came slamming into the jail for Team 3-A at the 3-B home base, Vlad King's voice bellowed out once more: "AGAIN, FIGHTERS ARE STILL IN THE GAME AS LONG AS THEY ARE OUTSIDE OF THE CAGE! BY THE SAME TOKEN, ONCE THEY'RE LOCKED UP, IT'S OVER! IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW THEY'RE THROWN IN THERE! WILL THE BINDING HOLD LONG ENOUGH!? THE SCORE IS NOW 1-1!"

All the while, with Mezo still doggedly pursuing her; Pony was ultimately forced to forego one of the Horns carrying her feet so she could only keep herself balanced on one; using the other and her two returning Horns after imprisoning Mashirao, to handily pick up the unconscious Shoto, Juzo and Tetsutetsu, leaving Tenya helplessly buried. 'These four are all incapacitated. What about Kaibara-kun? If they captured him, that means it's 1-1! I can't let Shouji catch me!

'I couldn't beat Shouji with all four of my Horns available to attack, so I don't stand a chance against him now if I can't even attack at all! Getting Todoroki to our prison would give us the lead, but carrying all three of these guys is gonna slow me down! Shouji will catch up before I even reach the cage! And if I lose now, we all lose! So in that case…'

With all three boys secured on her Horns, she proceeded to focus them all into lifting herself and her human cargo as high up into the air as possible, well out of Mezo's reach, as he and Tenya could both only look up at her in dismay. "Sorry, Tentacole! I can't bear da thought of leading my team to defeat!"

'From way up high, outta your reach, I'll bide my time! We may not win, but I refuse to let us lose!' This was all Pony had to say and think to herself, silently mocking her two helpless opponents down below by simply wasting what little time was left in the match floating far above them, until at last, the klaxon alarms around the training grounds rang as the last second of the 20-minute limit passed, and Vlad King's voice, tinged with a simmering aggravation, echoed out: "TWENTY MINUTES HAVE ELAPSED! MATCH 3 IS OVER! THE SCORE STANDS AT 1-1! IT'S A DRAW!"

While Vlad King was visibly upset at his class once again being deprived of a genuine victory; Neito was far more optimistic towards the rest of his classmates. "THIS IS NO LOSS ON OUR PART! INSTEAD THINK OF IT AS OUR THROWING AN INCESSANT WRENCH INTO THE GEARS OF CLASS A'S ARROGANT BELIEF IN A PERFECT WINNING STREAK! THIS ACTION OF OURS WILL HAUNT THEIR FRAGILE LITTLE EGOS FOREVER NOW!"

Among the Class A students, Denki was similarly frustrated by the cheap means by which Class B had decided to keep themselves from losing, while Momo, Mina and Kyouka were just as worried about the conditions of Shoto, Tenya and Mashirao, as they were all being wheeled away to Recovery Girl's office.

All the while, Nikolay, Ochako and Izuku were all watching as Shoto and Tenya specifically were getting picked up; Ochako looking especially dismayed for their class president. "Iida-san…he must be so frustrated, pushing himself to get that much stronger…and still end up losing."

"But…he was truly awesome out there, regardless." Izuku mused, watching as the first-aid robots cleared away the rubble to finally get Tenya free.

At the same time, Nikolay was watching Shoto in particular, keeping his arms crossed while his mouth was taut with silent tension and consideration. "Todoroki-san…he seriously pushed himself above and beyond with his Fire today. That can't simply have been from his desire to win, can it?"

Watching him get carted away as well, Izuku's furrowed brow already made it clear that he didn't think so, any more than Nikolay did. "No…I don't think so. After having been so adamant against using his Fire for so long, I don't think Todoroki-san would be the kind of person to ease into pushing it for so simple a reason as that. At least…not fully. Accepting the Fire as his own Quirk is only half his struggle."

With an understanding sigh, Nikolay nodded in agreement. "Yeah…I think, if anything, him pushing that side so far…may just be as good a sign of his true willingness to move on from…well, you know what; as we could ever ask for."

"H-hey, Maja-san, are you alright?" The sound of Eijirou's clearly concerned-sounding voice quickly snapped Nikolay to attention, and once he hurried over, he could see his red-haired friend trying to tend to Maja, who for all intents and purposes looked fine, other than the fact that she was visibly trembling. Noticing Nikolay's sudden arrival, with Mina and Setsuna both quickly following after; he explained: "I don't get it; she was doing fine until just now."

"Maja-san, what's the matter?" Nikolay quickly tried to take charge, only for the young Polish Hero student to stubbornly shake her head. "I'm okay, seriously; don't worry about me! It's just those realization shivers that our match is up next, that's all. I'm honestly surprised you're not shaking too, Bezpalov."

Of course, now that she'd hurriedly tried to explain herself, Nikolay realized that his feet and hands alone were starting to shake as well. But while he hurriedly tried to get that out of his system, Maja further elaborated: "It's just all pretty overwhelming, seeing some of the Quirks I've gotten used to among you guys, now being that much stronger than they already were. Even for how I did in my last match, it's hard not to still feel like I'm not prepared enough, yeah? Especially considering what I have to go back to if I don't measure up and all."

As soon as Nikolay had finally gotten his own shivers to stop, Mina quickly stepped in, planting an affirming hand on Maja's shoulder. "Don't think like that, Maja-chan! You were already crazy strong with an awesome Quirk before you came here, and you already showed tons of improvement last time! You're gonna do amazing out there, all of you are!"

Nikolay, already appreciating her sentiments as much as Maja and Setsuna both clearly were; decided to step in as well. "Exactly; as long as you focus on doing your best, then that's all anyone can ask you to do. Honestly, I should be the most nervous one here; not just because of going against your Quirk and Setsuna-san's brains…and Quirk; but mainly cause of my own teammate. As far as I'm concerned, you're the one getting off lucky here."

Before Nikolay could even look back to the last spot he'd seen Bakugo, in the hopes that he hadn't been listening in; he felt Mina's free hand grab onto his own, just at the same time that the ever-confidently grinning Eijirou laid an arm on his shoulder. "Aww, don't start letting Bakugo get you down before you guys have even started, Kolya-kun! You're just as smart, tough, and you've improved just as much as he, Kyouka-chan, Sato-kun and Sero-kun have. That's what this is all about, isn't it? Showing everybody how much better we've gotten?"

"That's right, and I'm really looking forward to showing just as much to you all firsthand. And I'm looking forward to seeing what you've got up your sleeves by now too, Bezpalov-kun; you and that Bakugo together." Setsuna chimed in with an especially confident fanged grin; leaving Nikolay both anxious to face her in action, and appreciative of her friendly eagerness to see his skills in kind.

"Yeah, man; you've gotten a lot better at standing tough whenever Bakugo's gotten in your face lately; you keep that up and I'll bet you two could totally clean house with anybody! You know we'll all be rooting for you out there…I mean, all of you, of course, Maja-san, Tokage-san."

Just as Eijirou quickly bowed in childish apology for having unintentionally neglected his Polish new friend and the amusedly grinning Setsuna; Neito's obnoxious voice suddenly cut in like nails on a chalkboard; having observed this perceived heinous meeting between opposing classes: "WHAT'S THIS?! IS CLASS A ALREADY STARTING TO COME TO ONE OF OUR STARS TO BEG FOR MERCY?! HAS OUR DAMAGING YOUR PERFECT STREAK ALREADY LEFT YOU QUAKING IN YOUR BOOTS?!

"WELL, TOO BAD! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS MATCH ESPECIALLY! WHY, YOU ASK?! BECAUSE NOW WE GET TO SEE YOU ALL WRITHE IN PAIN AS YOUR FORMER FRIEND TWISTS THE KNIFE OF DEFEAT IN YOUR BACKS, AND TOKAGE-SAN GETS TO PUT YOUR LOUDMOUTHED BAKUGO IN HIS PLACE! YOU'D ALL BETTER BE READY! SHE'S THE ONLY OTHER ONE IN OUR CLASS TO GET INTO YUUEI ON RECOMMENDATION! YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE ON HE RECEIVING END OF JUST WHAT A NASTY PIECE OF WORK SHE CAN BE!"

Before Setsuna herself could either fill in for Itsuka and knock Neito down before he could run his mouth any further; the sight of Vlad King and Aizawa once again taking their place at the head of the observation deck, had all students at attention. But this time, there was a noticeable trepidation visible on both their faces, before Aizawa ultimately spoke up:

"Alright, everyone. I know how much you've all been looking forward to the next match. However, considering the levels of destruction to the training grounds that the last two matches have left behind, and the overall limited time table we're still working with; it has been decided that there's going to be a slight change-up in the rest of the Joint Battle exercise. We're going to be having our 4th and final 5th matches carried out simultaneously."

In an instant, the two teachers were met with a cacophonous wall of wide-eyed disbelieving cries from the students all yet to have gone. Following behind his colleague, Vlad King continued: "You'll recall we mentioned that this whole industrial training ground is but one section of Gamma Gym, and that is indeed true. It is comprised of a modest number of different training environments, with different sectors to each one. However, considering some of the widespread effects of some of the Quirks of the participants of our next match; we have come to the conclusion that the risk of interceding in each other's matches by confining them to one environment is currently too high. So, we are having the match between Teams 4-A and 4-B carried out in the forest training ground just west of here, while the match between Teams 5-A and 5-B will be carried out in a different sector of the industrial training ground. We will wait for all four teams to reach their assigned starting points before we have them both begin."

With that, and realizing there was no more prolonging the inevitable on top of this incredibly surprising change in plans; the members of both teams for both matches looked anxiously from their watching peers, then ultimately to each other; with Maja initially extending a friendly hand to Nikolay and his team. "Well…I guess this is it. May the best team win…and we intend to."

While Nikolay and Kyouka both had the courtesy to meet her kind gesture; Bakugo spitefully ignored it, instead casting an intense but knowing glare that Izuku caught, before just as quickly turning his attention to the rest of Class A. "Don't you dare give anything less than your all, Deku. I'm not. And the rest of you, watch and learn."

With that, he aggressively took the lead of guiding his team to their assigned training ground, locking eyes intently with Nikolay. "You do as I say, when I say, no questions asked. Don't do anything stupid that gets your ass put out of commission or gets in my way, understand?"

Nikolay didn't even finish giving the half-stoic nod before Bakugo proceeded onward; Rikido and Hanta both hurrying after him once they'd been wished good luck by Eijirou and Denki respectively, and Kyouka was wished and extended her own wishes of good luck from and to Ochako and Mina together.

And as Nikolay began to follow after the rest of his teammates with his heart pounding hard against his chest; he never noticed how Izuku was watching him depart from behind his back with a notable worried look in his eyes; while Eijirou was taking the chance to send him off with another hearty and encouraging smack on the upper back. "You got this in the bag, dude! You and Bakugo show those guys how Class A men get it done!"

But even both their teams needing to leave didn't stop Mina from quickly hurrying after Nikolay while both homeroom teachers had their backs turned; whereupon she quickly placed a hand on his shoulder in order to get him to turn around, and once he did, he was met with a brief but no less electrifying kiss on his cheek from her. The smile on Mina's face once she stepped back was so sweet, it was almost literally heart-melting. "For luck, though I don't think you'll need it, Kolya-kun."

"Alright, you two, save the sweet nothings for later, alright?" Setsuna suddenly called out teasingly from further ahead; quickly spurring Nikolay to practically sprint in order to keep from falling too far behind. And it wasn't long after the two 4th match teams had left, that it was finally time for both 5th match teams to likewise depart for their own starting points; everyone's hearts and minds likewise racing with nervous anticipation.

And as Oleg and Toshinori watched both teams with both their most precious youngsters depart for this potentially incredible test; neither of them could shake the squeezing sensation of anxiety in their chests that built with every passing second before the two matches would ultimately begin.

And there you all have it, folks! I normally want to avoid making chapters this long; but I figured that since nothing fundamental about the third match is changed by the involvement of any new characters; that to release a chapter solely focusing on that would be cheap. So I guess if you want to think of it that way, you're essentially getting two chapters' worth of content for the price of one.

I hope the whole experience, especially with Maja's involvement in the second match, was satisfying. Please do let me know your thoughts.

I hope you all have a pleasant rest of your week; let us all give our thoughts and prayers to the peoples of Ukraine and East Palestine, Ohio.

I will see you all with the next chapter on 03/11!