"Sorry there, Tokoyami," Mushroom girl on the back as he kept on coughing. "Want a throat lozenge?"
"Keep your pity!"
"You can get some medicine from Recovery Girl."
Meanwhile, the robots were taking Ponytail to Recovery Girl as Big Fist hovered over her, looking worried.
"WE MUST SUMMON THE SCHOOL NURSE. HUMANS ARE SO UTTERLY INEFFICIENT."
"They wrecked the place real good," Brainwash observed to Mr. Aizawa. "Total opposite of the first match.
"That's just how training is in the hero course. They went overboard with the destruction, though."
Vlad King turned to his team. "Fukidashi! Kendo! You should know to keep damage to a minimum!"
"Hmmm. Since we should probably switch sectors," Aizawa-sensei murmured to Vlad King.
"You're thinking we should take a breather? Sure."
Everyone sat down again in their group forms, chatting about the last match.
"Class B sure is full of tough customers."
"Right back atcha."
"Those were some huge moves you pulled off, Fukidashi."
"Needless to say, it's not just their quirks," said Deku, head in notebook. "They've grown mentally too, which further enhances their abilities."
"Writing it all down, huh?" Asked Uraraka. "You've grown too, Deku."
"I hope so."
"Midoriya!" Said All Might, abruptly coming up behind them.
What are you two doing?
"Yes?"
"I am here…unremarkably! Got a minute?" He waved Deku over to a corner to talk.
"Those two're chummy," noticed Raccoon Eyes, her head in her hands, while Uraraka watched after them.
You gotta be kidding me. What's so important you're risking getting caught? Or is it something really bad...
I got up and headed over to where they were talking. All Might was saying,
"…In match 5, you'll face Shinsou again, who triggered those vestiges before."
"Right."
"Hey!" I popped up behind them and Deku jumped.
"WAA-acchan, you startled me!"
"For guys who made me swear not to blab, y'sure do sneak around out in the open. You're gonna get found out!"
"Ahem…"
"Don't 'Ahem' me!" I snapped, then turned to Deku. "So? Something happened? With One For All?"
He explained. Apparently he'd had a dream last night seeing all the former users and his quirk had shot off in the middle of the night.
"The power misfired? Hah. Sounds like one step forward, two steps back! So how long before this power is really yours, huh? Cuz I'm already stronger than the last time we rumbled."
"That…makes me even more eager," he nodded at me. And smiled.
"THAT STUPID GRIN GRINDS MY GEARS SO KNOCK IT OFF!" I snapped.
The third match was about to start as we transferred to a new arena.
"Erm, now that we've moved to a new area, onto the next match! Participants for the third match, please prepare yourselves!"
The teams had lined up and were headed into battle.
"Todoroki," said Tokoyami, approaching him. "I shamed myself out there. It's up to you now."
"Why me?"
"Hawks and Endeavor…we've apprenticed under the top two heroes, who fought that last battle. We are honor bound to uphold their reputation."
"Ah…"
IcyHot got a long, glazed expression, like he was doing some serious thinking.
"Todoroki!?" Said Glasses. "Are you okay? You looked particularly troubled for a moment."
"Did I?"
"Yes! Something weighing on your mind?"
"It's nothing, but thanks."
"I didn't even notice, since his face barely changes," said Ojiro.
"The Class President must always observe his peers and reach out to those in need."
"You're in high spirits, as usual."
"Actually, it's because my dear brother has been doing better recently!"
"Oh, glad to hear it."
"And as I am the one aiming to inherit Ingenium's mantle, everyone also has their eyes on me. Though I was absent for the ceremony, I too took third place at the Sports Festival! I must once again show that I have the mettle to be my brother's successor."
On the other side, Kirishima's clone from 1B was talking to his team. "I know everyone treats me like an idiot. But I'm still a dude who got into UA, y'know? Not like I never use my head."
"Where's this coming from?"
"This team we're up against! They'll be all 'search and destroy', yeah?"
"True enough."
"So what's our move? Well!? Should be obvious!"
"As we already discussed -"
"We level the playing field, literally!"
And he began breaking through the equipment around him.
Moron.
"That's idiotic!"
The 1A team looked up at the crashing sounds.
"Did he listen to the last critique at all?" Cried Vlad King.
"Tricks n' schemes won't work here! Gonna be a straight-up brawl, so let's bring the pain!"
Not bad gumption, though. Better respect it, IcyHot.
"Ugh!" Cried the Gyrate-drill weirdo. "Didja forget they have Todoroki on their side?"
"Well, we can probably work with this," said Softening kid Juzo.
"That's some soft and flexible thinking, Juzo!"
"Geez! Don't keep us in the dark like that!" Said Horn girl, in English.
"See! Pony's bursting out with the English! That's how you know she's mad!" Said Drill face.
"Tetsutetsu doesn't mean any harm. In fact, his approach plays to our strengths." said Softener.
"That's some soft and flexible adapting, Juzo!"
"Seems like they want a head-on battle," said IcyHot, as the announcement came:
"Come now, Class A! Time for Match 3!"
"AH-CHOO!" IcyHot sneezed as the 1A team ran towards the B group's location.
"Are you suck!?" Asked Glasses. "I didn't realize you could catch colds!"
"I'm fine, I think."
"Almost there. Let's spread out," said Tail.
"Tetsutetsu, they'd have to be idiots to come charging right at us! And they might set traps!" Said Horn Girl.
"Maybe not! I'd go charging in, if I were them," said Softener. "Their strongest strategy is to have Shoji assess the situation, with Todoroki as the main attacker. If we stay grouped up in this wide-open space -"
Ice overwhelmed them all, IcyHot in action.
"That big blast is as strong as ever! No fair!" Cried Ballhead.
"Well, you can tell he's improved cuz this pile of ice isn't blocking his view," observed Uraraka. Smart chick.
"So Todoroki's on the other side of the ice," said Kirishima's clone. "Where's everyone else?"
"RECIPROBURST!" Cried Glasses, heading towards them.
"Just try us!" Yelled Kirishima's clone.
GLOP
The ice was turned, from solid to liquid.
"That ice blast is nothing," said Softener. "If you'd come at us all hell-bent with your fire, I wouldn't have been able to fight back."
You're still limiting yourself, IcyHot.
"Thanks, Juzo! That's one soft and flexible counterattack!" Cried Gyrate.
Tail, standing, suddenly slipped on a softened pipe.
"I took the opportunity to soften the surrounding area. Be careful with your footing, okay?" Said Softener.
"He improvised that!?" Asked Sugar Man. "Or is Honenuki that good at predicting? They don't call hime flexible for nothing."
"Ojiro's all mine!" Cried Drill, activating his gyrate quirk.
"OJIRO!" Cried Glasses, as the pipes and ground softened under his feet.
"Your feet are only as fast as the ground is solid. Did you notice that I've softened the ground beneath the ice, took?" Said Honenuki. "You could potentially be a pain later on, so I'd better sink you down and keep you trapped."
"Are you attempting to put an end to our teamwork? You villains are the embodiment of cunning!" yelled Glasses.
"He's really getting into the role-play, huh?" Asked Shinsou.
Horns came flying over IcyHot's shoulders and swept Mutli Arms away.
"Shoji!"
"We were sure that your scout, Shoji, would hang back in safety. Like say, right behind Todoroki!" Said Horn Girl.
Crack! Kirishima's clone - Tetsutetsu - came crashing, helped by the Pony girl's horns, into IcyHot.
"HORN DASH HAMMER! You and your stupid ice, always so freaking cold! You're freezing my steel butt off, Todoroki! So I'm coming at you bare-handed, okay? You think you can take me on? "
Not Bad, Real Steel. Let's see you back it up.
"That Tetsutetsu…he learned from my mistakes," murmured Kirishima.
"Nah, I doubt he's thinking that hard," said Kaminari. "Honenuki's really running the show.
"You jerk!" Cried Glasses as the hardened ice had trapped him up to his head.
"Sorry," said Softener. "Recipro's on a timer, right? Maybe you should't have used it at the start. Anyway, I'd better go back up Tetsutetsu."
"A timer? Who told you that, Mud man? Ingenium is always ready to run…wherever, whenever! These legs get the job done, and I've been at full throttle this whole time! New style: RECIPRO TURBO!"
And the ice began to chip away around Iida.
League of Villains Hideout
"He wants us at Aichi Precture within an hour? HE must know we can only pull that off by warping. And he's watching us from space, tracking our every move? Not a ton of people have their own private spy Satellites. If it's true, then we're in big trouble!"
"Sadly, we haven't housebroken our pet gorilla yet. Whatever shall we do?"
"Is that even a question? This aint up for debate! We're all familiar with that intestine-like scarf and those tinted sunnies. Nobody else in the world's go gross taste like that! Giran gave me a place to belong! We gotta go save him now!"
"They might've killed him already," Toga pointed out. "Maybe every word was a lie. And those words are all we have to go on."
"But if there's even a slim chance he's still alive we gotta make a move!"
"You're suggesting we plunge headlong into unknown danger? Calm down. Getting so attached to people, so buddy-buddy…it's a habit of yours."
"Cuz I'm a stray myself!" Cried Twice, as Shigaraki removed his mask he began screaming.
"I have a plan. Doctor? Did you catch all that?"
"Listening to villain radio is my new favorite hobby, so yes. So the Meta Liberation army is back from the dead! What a surprise! The waves you are making in the underworld keep dredging these people up!"
"How about we deploy a high-end Nomu, like the one Dabi used?" Asked Compress.
"Not happening. My other little ones aren't at the testing stage just yet! Perhaps if Dabi had succeeded in retrieving Hood's body, but alas…without All for One around, producing more of them is no small feat!"
"So the doctor isn't as multitalented as we assumed," said Compress.
"It's fine. I wasn't about to rely on those things anyway."
"So why trouble the doctor at all?" Asked Compress.
"How long until that massive oaf wakes up?" Shigaraki asked.
"If left undisturbed, two hours and 35 minutes."
"Great. And doctor, where's Dabi right now?"
"At the moment…on the border between Mine and Shiga prefectures."
"Great. How convenient for us. Warp us over, then."
"We're taking the bait?" Cried Spinner. "Without knowing squat about what we're up against? They could send anyone! And what if he wasn't kidding about having 110,000 loyal followers?"
"After more than a month of fighting, it's clear to me. The big guy isn't invincible, he's just got way too much HP."
"What. I get it. Wherever you go, Shigaraki…he'll sniff you out and hunt you down," said Spinner.
"That's right. We're going to send Gigantomachia right into the fray! And a fight against those revolutionaries is sure to grind that meathead down!"
"How underhanded! And what if the CEO was bluffing!?"
"Then the fool dies. Plain and simple."
"WE're really going then?" Said Spinner.
"That's what I said." He pulled Twice's mask back down.
"They won't know what hit them," smiled Shigaraki.
