I was lying crushed beneath a mountain of softened sludge, trying desperately to move.
"Ouch!"
My left arm and left leg! They're too heavy! I don't have enough power with just one leg!
Todoroki!
He was lying unconscious, just out of my reach.
I'm sorry! If only - if only I'd been one step faster in reaching you!
At least Shoji and Ojiro are still in play! And they're fighting Tsunotori together - if they capture her or keep her busy until the end, we'll win with Kaibara in jail...
But still - in a real fight, Todoroki would sitll not have been saved -
Three horns flew past me and scooped Todoroki, Tetsutetsu and Honenuki off the ground. Tsunotori was flying on the remaining one, pursued by Shoji - Shoji alone.
But Ojiro would not abandon Shoji - does that mean he's been captured!?
No - if Tsunotori can get Todoroki into jail -
Shoji was hot in pursuit, though, refusing to let up, as she was flying up out of his reach.
Carrying Todoroki in her arms, she ahd flown too high for Shoji.
"Sorry, Tentacole! I can't bear the thought of leading my team to defeat!"
One for each team, and no way to capture anyone else...
BUZZZZ
"TWENTY MINUTES HAVE ELAPSED! MATCH 3 IS OVER! THE SCORE STANDS AT 1 TO 1! ITS' A DRAW!"
No...after all that work...just a draw?
The school nursing robots had come to our aid and were attempting to dig me out of the softened mess. My hand was clenched in sheer frustration and disappointment; my body was aching all over and something was definitely wrong with my other arm. I was taken straight to the nurse's office, where Todoroki, Tetsutetsu and Honenuki were already lying down.
Recovery Girl shook her head as she bandaged up my arm. "This Joint Training exercise is really putting a strain on my quirk," she complained. "You children need to be more careful!"
"Apologies, ma'am! In future, I will -"
"Now now, don't blame yourself too much!" She handed me a snickers bar and smiled. "Focus on healing, and on supporting your classmates in the next round."
I nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"
She bustled over to Todoroki's bed and kissed him, bringing him out of his stupor.
"Eat a snickers. Ojiro already had one and is headed back."
"Todoroki!" called Tetsutetsu as he headed out. "Our teams might've tied, but I'm taking this as a loss. That heat was something else! I can't wait to rumble again.!"
"Pipe down!"
Todoroki looked rather melancholy. I was seated now at the foot of his bed, my arm in bandages, attempting to massage the pain in my back.
"Essentially, if I'd been faster we could have won. "
"Iida," he said, looking at me sadly.
"I was still too slow. And utterly helpless against Honenuki's softening tactics!"
"I vaguely remember you saving me, though," said Todoroki. "No, you were plenty fast. I was too slow. I was slow and it wound up being your problem. I've got to become a hero who's actually reassuring."
"NONSENSE! You? Unreliable? I won't hear of it - ouch!" I gasped as I attempted to raise my injured arm. "I'm meant to run towards those in need...wherever, whenever. Especially since I'm determined to inherit Ingenium's mantle."
The curtain opened and Honenuki looked us over, his mask off.
"Your fire? And your recipro? In my mind, those are challenges I've yet to overcome. How about a rematch someday?"
"Sure!" we said together.
"If you boys are feeling better, then get back to teh grounds!" said Recovery girl. "This is no time for chitter-chatter!"
"AH, YES MA'AM!"
We rejoined the class as the two teams of match 4 were preparing to go into battle.
"Match 4 Start!"
"Yikes! You're seriously suggesting that!?" Jirou asked Bakugou.
"That sorta strategy? No way, man," said Sato.
"Did I stutter?" Bakugou smirked at his gloved fingers.
"THIS IS IT!" Gloated Monoma. "Each class has a single win, so if you lose or tie this next one, you guys can no longer say you beat us! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Chill out, man," Kaminari frowned at him.
"And ohhh, I've been waiting for Match 4 in particular, yes siree! Why you ask? Because Tokage is in the mix! Bakugou had better be ready!"
"On this terrain, Sero and Jirou are definitely gonna be trouble," Bondo was saying.
"Then there's SAto and Bakugou," Awase counted them off on his fingers, "who both pack a punch! Their team is super balanced. If we lose the initiative in this fight, we're dead meat."
"Who cares about all that? Lemme carve em up!" Kamakiri snarled.
"That's enough outta you," Awase replied.
"Early bird gets the worm! Victory is simple as that," smiled Tokage.
"TIME FOR MATCH 4! EACH CLASS HAS ONE WIN AND A TIE FROM THE LAST MATCH. BUT IF YOU'RE THINKING THEY'RE EVENLY MATCHED, GUESS AGAIN! BECAUSE CLASS A'S SINGLE WIN WAS MOSTLY THANKS TO SHINSO! EVENLY MATCHED? I THINK NOT!" Vlad King sensei was gloating.
"That's just mean, Vlad sensei!" Kaminari and Kirishima protested. I hung my head in shame.
"That's enough," Aizawa sensei reprimanded them.
"But Sensei! This is a legit protest!"
"Are you planning to complain over every little failure once you go pro? Class B came up with better strategies. That much is evident. And Vlad is really showing me up!"
"Did we expect any better from the troublemakers?" Monoma gloated. "I mean, it's no wonder that your inexperience gets you caught up in so many disasters!"
"Hurry it up, slowpokes!" Bakugou was shouting at his teammates.
"But I'm trying to listen as we move!" Jirou complained.
"Whatever! Just keep up!'
"It's always follow the leader with him," grumbled Sato.
"Guy hasn't changed since the Sports Festival," sighed Sero.
"And to think it almost seemed like he was ready to cooperate," said Jirou. "Hope this works."
"Stop! They're here!" Bakugou shouted. "Ears!"
"I have a name, you know!" Shouted Jirou.
"They've gotta be close. Find em!"
Jirou plugged her jacks into the ground and sat listening.
"What's the holdup!?" Bakugou demanded.
"Hang on - oh, no! They've got us!" Jirou cried.
"Yes, it's all over now," said Tokage's floating mouth behind Bakugou.
He turned around to throw a blast at her, which she avoided. Tokage's quirk, allowing her to split up her body into independently moving pieces, had allowed her to sneak up on Bakugou and beat him up with her detached body parts.
These hits ain't too strong, but ugh! They're too small to target!
"In here, Bakugou!" Screamed Sero, creating a tape prison to barricade out Tokage.
"Like I said, it's all over now!" Came Tokage's gloating remark from above.
GLUE SQUALL! Screamed Bondo as glue spread out over the trapped 1A students.
"Arch, we're trapped!" Cried Sato.
"Woo, I did it! Just like Setsuna planned!" Said Bondo.
"This way," Sero directed the others. From above, Kamakiri was planning to jump down upon the trapped students.
"Ha ha ha, too slow, too slow!"
"They're using all of our moves against us!" Said Midoriya.
"At least you two can get away!" Sato said, holding up his hands. Bakugou's blast came from above, throwing all the glue away. And leaving them with no cover from Kamakiri, who leapt down towards Jirou.
"Let's start with the biggest nuisance, Jirou!" Said Tokage.
In a flash, Bakugou was between Jirou and Kamakiri, kicking Jirou out of the way to safety and blasting Kamakiri in the face.
League of Villains Hideout
"First the Yakuza, now the liberation army...all these retro freaks are trying to make a comeback. Is this cuz of that book that came out a little while back? Are you trying to ride that wave straight to the headlines?" asked Shigaraki.
"How well-informed you are! But no, it's the other way around. We Created the wave."
"WEll good for you!" snapped Twice. "Now where's Giran? Adn waddaya want? You better not've touched a hair on that wonderful man's head!"
"Oh, he's here. Alive of course. And we seek to liberate all meta humans! WE will tear down the existing framework andrebuild this world asa place where people are free to be themselves and use their abilities as they see fit."
"I don't see any reason we should oppose that," said Compress.
"Are we gonna lend these guys the League's rep just like with the Yakuza?" asked Toga.
Shigaraki said, "How about you liberate our broker and then ring me again. I'm busy now. Once I'm done with my business here I'll listen to you and your merry band of revolutionaries."
"That could very well come back to bite us," said Compress.
"Take a break and hear me out, why don't you? Because first of all we will not liberate our hostage. From him we've come to learn how tight-knit you people are. Your broker is an impressive man, someone who takes a lot of pride in his work. Someone able to sink into the shadows, always sure to evade the attention of the authorities and heroes. Too bad for you he was unprepared for an attack from those same sahdows. I commend him for deleting his client lists before we got to him, and whe nwe started severing fingers, the man not only refused to give up, he wouldn't even cry out in pain!"
A new voice added, "As for that client data he deleted, we've finally recovered it."
"I commend his resistence, though it was futile! Because you see, we liberation warriors have prepared long and hard over many generations for this! WE've bided our time and spread our roots far and wide! A merry band of revolutionaries you say? I'm no fan of such jokes. There are 116,516 of our fellow liberation warriors lying in wait ready to rise to action! I would be loath to make such a self-depricating comment, League of Villains!"
"This guy's gotta be bluffing!" said Spinner.
"Hm, it seems you're in Niigata? Perhaps deep in the mountains?"
Twice tossed the phone away, but the voice said, "Too late, I'm afraid! We have a lock on you via satellite imaging. Wherever you run, we'll have eyes on the notorious League of villains! Endeavor, Hawks, Edgeshot, Mirko, Crust, all those heroes would be upon you with just one little calll to the authorities!"
"So generous, giving us advance warning. What doyou really want?"
"Destro must be the one to lead this revolution, and your name has gotten too big. Your destruction at our hands will signal the second advent of the liberation army! Consider those fingers as proof of our resolve. No need to draw matters otu, right? We will fight to liberate the metas of this world, so make your way to Deika city in Aichi prefecture! That is, if you hope to see poor Giran freed! Stand against us and be destroyed or do nothing and be captured by heroes! The choice is yours, Tomura Shigaraki!