"Well done, both teams!" Comes the announcement from their teacher as they arrive at the observation room.
"Was it?" Mina says, scratching her head. She gestures to Uraraka, who had gone back for her helmet and jet pack. "Because she whooped my butt."
"Are you kidding? I thought I just had to get one touch on you, but you kept fighting no matter what!" Ochako objects.
"Well, yeah!" She protests. "I was trying to win!"
"And that determination is a key factor in being heroes!" All Might interjects. "I think you each learned something with who you were facing, but no matter what, none of you gave up, and that is perhaps the most important overall lesson you can take from today!"
Izuku nods, smiling at their teacher.
Mina hops in place. "Ooh, are you going to name an MVP like last time? Who is it?"
All Might rubs his chin. "To be honest, you were all relatively equal when it came to pros and cons of your performances. I could assign MVP to one of you, but perhaps you could instead think of it like this: what about your own performance would prevent you from being the MVP? Self-reflection is important alongside peer-reflection."
Mina crosses her arms, frowning a bit. "...would losing my battle stop me from getting it?"
"Not necessarily if you performed well against long odds." All Might gives her that. "But while you think on that, let's announce our next pair!"
She looks at the others, a hand on her hip. "Do you think this counts as homework?"
"Maybe... I think it's more of a life lesson." Ochako guesses.
Izuku is rubbing his chin as he thinks. "…maybe not making the most of my changes… or possibly forgetting to check everywhere… maybe hesitating with the tape?"
"Next is: Hero Team Hozarou Gingawa and Nirengeki Shoda versus Villain Team Kyoka Jiro and Tenya Ida!"
Iida immediately collapses against a wall, a hand on his chest. "Woe be me, for I must play a villain…"
"It's just for the class..." His teammate says, eyeing his drama with a small wince.
Nirengeki scratches the side of his head. "So… is that normal for him…?"
"I always thought he enjoyed rules, so I'm not quite sure why this one has him hung up." Hozarou shrugs.
"Might be due to being a villain," he says, shrugging a bit and messing with the screen on the back of his hand. "Must not like the idea of acting like one."
"Maybe. I'm more excited about this." The star-eyed boy grins. "Everyone seems to push themselves, so maybe we'll even surprise ourselves with what we can do."
"Well at least you're having fun," he mildly comments, watching the ones from the last time as he starts making his way to the exit.
"Are you not?"
"I'm on the fence," he admits.
"Huh... guess both teams have someone unsure then." Hozarou hums. "I think we'll be fine."
He raises an eyebrow. "If you're sure…"
Ochako is inspecting her equipment as she chats with Izuku. "How do you think Iida will do?"
Izuku hums thoughtfully, pulling his goggles off as he stares at the screen. "I think it might depend on if he can surprise them. I'm not entirely sure what Jiro-san's ability does, but it might have to do with hearing? So she could possibly help him locate them?"
"So you think they'll actively hunt instead of waiting for the other team?"
"It might be the best idea, or set up a trap of some sort," he suggests.
"But I'm curious how the other two will try to counter. We've gotten a few strange combinations in this event."
He nods, humming thoughtfully.
"The heroes have the distance advantage," the ponytailed girl on the other side of Ochako says. "Gingawa-san and Shoda-san can both apply their quirks at a distance."
"Sure, but that didn't help in the first match." The gravity girl counters, curious.
"That is true," Izuku muses. "Intelligence and practical application both matter..."
"Hopefully Iida gets over his mental block before the match starts." Ochako murmurs.
"It looks like he might have?" Yaoyorozu points out uncertainly, directing their attention to a camera where Iida is doing a classic villain laugh.
Ochako's cheeks quickly puff up as she tries to hold in a laugh.
Izuku just looks lost at that. "I've never seen a villain act like that," he says.
They also see his partner holding the ear closest to him with one hand. Iida immediately stops and tries to make sure she's alright, arms held out in an attempt to help. She mutters something about trying to hear. At least, that's what they assume, since Iida immediately stops gesticulating.
Izuku nods, thoughtful. "She's already trying to keep an ear out for them."
They look to the camera of the other team with their prep, seeing Hozarou emitting some kind of sparkling wisps of smoke from his hands as he chats with his partner.
The green-haired boy's eyes sparkle. "Is he actually making a nebula? That's so cool…"
"Might just be stardust," Yaoyorozu points out.
"Is there a difference?" Ochako asks.
"Nebulas are clouds of stardust, if I'm not mistaken?" Izuku says, rubbing his chin.
"I guess that's why he has the scarf as part of his costume, so the pattern makes it hard to tell when he's doing that." She guesses.
"That makes sense," he agrees, nodding once and eyeing the costume. "Do you think there's any other surprises in their outfits? Like that Dragon Radar-like device on Shoda's glove?"
Kaminari looks at him with an appalled expression. "Hey, are we allowed to say that?"
"Maybe... I wonder if both teams can see each other then." Ochako asks.
"He's not looking at it, right now," Momo points out, a finger on her chin.
The brunette looks to see if she can tell how much longer before they start.
She manages to catch that there's ten seconds left before they start.
"It's almost time." She tells the others.
Izuku immediately pays more attention, whipping out his notebook.
The two on the hero team seem to nod at each other before the buzzer goes off and they head in, sticking together.
Izuku tilts his head, tapping the page with a pen. "Different start than us, but to be fair, they're also facing different opponents…"
Ochako nods, seeing what the other team is doing to prepare. "I don't think Iida can set traps, so maybe they're going to wait in ambush?"
"Most likely," Momo says, considering the groups. "I'm still impressed that Todoroki-san was able to use as much ice as he did…"
"Yeah, imagine if he'd been on offense instead..." Ochako murmurs.
"…how long did it take him to freeze the inside?" Izuku asks.
"Ten seconds," the ponytailed girl responds.
The brunette winces. "Glad that didn't happen."
"I'm glad he didn't do it while we were inside," the green-eyed teen mumbles.
"Yeah..." She suddenly winces as light fills one of their screens, making it completely unable to see through it.
Izuku winces, glancing at Momo who put on shades from… somewhere. "What just happened?" He asks.
"Gingawa-san just made a flash bang with his quirk," she supplies, being the only one who isn't blind.
"That could make using iida's quirk difficult," murmurs Ochako.
"...I wonder if Iida-san's costume could use some eye protection," Izuku mumbles, moving to write that down to suggest later.
"I think it's coming into focus." Ochako points.
They manage to catch Iida clotheslining Shoda before zooming out of sight.
Hozarou helps his partner up, seeming to be muttering something to him questioningly.
He shakes his head, glancing at the back of his hand and the screen there.
Hozarou frowns, but nods and takes a breath as a small amount of sparkling mist comes out.
Izuku rubs his chin, eyeing the mist. "I wonder what he's planning..."
"Well, they can't exactly chase after Iida, so... maybe a trap?" Ochako guesses.
"We might just find out," Mina says, pointing at Iida who is coming around for another pass.
Hozarou stands in front of his partner, eyes narrowed. Suddenly he swipes his hands forward in front of himself creating a sparkling smokescreen that completely blocks them from Iida.
"Wait, how is that different from the-" A nearby invisible girl starts asking before they see a glint in the mist suddenly explode with a burst of force. In fact, almost every sparkle goes off in a chain reaction of small colorful explosions.
Iida barely stops in time, jerking backwards from all of the explosions.
Bakugou scoffs. "Wow. What a ripoff."
"You could think of it more as inspired by!" Toru says to him.
He scoffs. "Shut up, Bare Air."
"Hey!" Her gloves ball up and stick straight down as one can hear her huff.
Denki scratches his head in confusion. "...was that an insult?"
Turning back to the screen shows Iida trying to avoid punches from Shoda and projectiles from Gingawa.
The star boy seems to be preferring baseball sized red stars, tossing them at IIda to try and keep him off balance.
Iida jumps when one suddenly changes course, going at his feet much faster than the others. He hurries away, becoming even more wary.
Izuku blinks. "What just happened?"
"He had that star tucked away in his scarf," Momo mutters, tapping her chin. "Shoda-san had punched it earlier at Gingawa-san's direction... it seems he can affect projectiles."
"Plus he was fighting two on one." Ochako points out. "Does that mean he left Jiro as the last line of defense...?"
On the screen Iida slowly raises his fists... and then turns to run away, rounding a corner to escape their attacks.
As Hozarou's scarf moves down, they see a huge toothy grin on his slightly gaunt face. He turns and offers a fist bump to his partner.
Nirengeki sags in relief, bumping his partner's fist in return.
Momo frowns, crossing her arms. "No, what are they doing? He's not retreating, hes-"
She's interrupted by the reappearance of Iida on the other side of the hallway, behind the hero team. He rushes forward and lashes out with both legs before either can react properly to his presence, having gained speed from his lap around the first floor.
"Whoo! Go Iida!" Ochako cheers.
Izuku cheers as well, though he gasps when his friend grabs the star-boy's scarf and starts dragging him away, still at full speed. "Wait, is that safe for a training exercise?"
It turns out to be a moot question as Hozarou starts freeing himself from the garment, revealing the similar but darker outfit underneath.
Iida runs clear and rounds the corner once more, leaving them by themselves. He hurries up the stairs, dropping the scarf out a window.
Hozarou shakes his head, eyes narrowed as they see a small bit of light clenched in one of his hands. He glances at his partner once more quizzically.
Shoda smiles and nods, giving him a thumbs up. There appears to be a dot on the back of his glove, and it's moving.
Hozarou nods and rolls his shoulders, starting to move onward as he looks around.
Momo leans forward as Nirengeki starts following him, frowning at the screen. "…interesting. I wonder what he uses that glove for?"
"It's the first time it's popped up, so what changed?" Toru asks.
"...I think he tagged Iida-san," Izuku mutters, rubbing his chin.
Ochako nods. "Iida's been the one making contact, not the other way around."
"Maybe he snuck it in somewhere?" Mina says, shrugging a bit. "How sneaky is that guy?"
"I don't think he's that sneaky." The local invisible girl comments.
"Not as sneaky as you," she retorts, making finger guns at her.
They hear a small giggle.
Denki bites his lip to stop himself from reacting to this.
"Between whatever's going on there and in Gingawa-san's hand, I hope Iida has his guard up." Ochako comments to Izuku.
"I think he does," he says, pointing to the speedster as the teen in question touches his ear. "I think he's relaying what he witnessed to Jiro-san."
"Do you think she's tracking them?" She asks.
"She might be," the Pokémorph replies, looking at each screen. "I can't find her, though... I can see the bomb, though," he says, pointing at a screen of the top floor.
"Huh? Aren't we supposed to see everyone?"
"The villain of sound hides where we are blind," Tokoyami says, arms crossed and staring at the bomb.
There's a giggle from a pair of gloves. "You make her sound so ominous!"
He gives the general location of her invisible head a frown. "Behind the device of steel and wires."
A shadowy beak pokes out of his belly, between the folds of his cape. "She's hiding behind the bomb."
He turns and tries to get his quirk back into his body.
"Oh." She nods at this while the vine-haired girl nearby nods.
"Such clairvoyance."
Tokoyami glances at her, then averts his gaze. "Simple observation."
"An earlobe was poking out!" Dark Shadow says before he goes back inside.
"A very… honest demon you have there." She says to Tokoyami.
"Yes. Too honest," he quietly mumbles, embarrassed.
She smiles. "It is nothing to be ashamed of."
He gives her a confused look, then stares at the screens behind her. "They're almost at their destination."
She turns to look.
She sees the two on the fourth floor, having to cross to get to yet another staircase that hasn't collapsed.
Hozarou has an excited but intense look in his face as they prowl forward, still holding whatever it is in his hand.
Shoda keeps one eye on his hand, the other on the area around them.
On the screens, those watching can barely see an audio jack against the ground near the bomb.
They also see the blur of Iida running around one of the floors, though it's not clear which one.
"Things are about to get crazy again." Ochako murmurs.
"Most likely," Momo agrees, rubbing her chin.
"... did we ever figure out what happens if the bomb is destroyed?" The gravity girl suddenly asks.
Izuku blinks, looking back through his memories. "...I don't remember All Might ever mentioning it." He looks to the hero in question. "What happens in that case?"
The hero rubs his chin. "Hmm... I'm afraid I have to disqualify the team that does so. There are specific objectives with the bomb and destruction is not one."
Mina blinks, grimacing slightly. "I am so glad that Shoto-san didn't freeze the bomb…"
"That wouldn't have broken it." The otherwise quiet boy comments to her.
"We didn't know if that would count!" She points out, gesturing to him.
"He could also break ice, and I didn't want to make it obvious." Shoto continues.
She quietly huffs, crossing her arms. "...at least we won."
He simply makes a thoughtful noise at that.
"…you're not gonna say you thought we should've lost, are you?" She asks him with a dropped jaw, nearly missing the sight of Nirengeki laying down some rubble he'd gathered.
"If it only came down to time, it doesn't feel like a win." He says.
She points a finger in his face, ready to argue, but the brightness from one of the screens makes her turn to them instead.
They all see a small source of bright light coming from Hozarou's hand that rapidly seems to grow as it goes forward. Like a looming dawn the small star rapidly expands until it becomes a burning red giant star that takes up all but the corners of the hallway. The star almost feels like a burning boulder as it roars down the path.
Izuku stares at it with his jaw dropped. "…holy…"
Shoda seems to give his partner an uncertain look, but he nods and punches the star anyways.
The star-maker still has that grin on his face as he actually runs right after the star, flames almost licking him.
Iida rushes up from behind, leg pulled back as he leaps to intercept Hozarou. He doesn't notice the other hero thrust his fist in his direction, but he does notice when his leg suddenly jerks off-course, going high over the star-eyed boy's head.
Hozarou continues his charge with a grin to his teammate.
"…that was actually smart," Mina says, sulking a bit.
"Umm... anyone else concerned about the giant ball of fire hurtling down the hall?" Toru pipes up.
"Red Giants are supposed to be less hot than other stars," Momo replies, shaking her head. "They're simply much bigger."
"Oh is that all?!" One can practically hear the disbelief on her invisible face.
"I'm sure he's being careful," Izuku gently argues. "I don't think he'd purposely hurt others... or at least not too much?" He starts sounding uncertain. "We do have to battle in this class..."
"I don't think any of us would really try to cause harm to the others." Ochako agrees.
Bakugou actually has to think about this idea for a bit before shrugging, though only Ochako really sees it through the crowd of students.
She narrows her eyes, but is distracted as they see the star and the creator approaching the bomb.
Jiro looks increasingly nervous as she starts messing with her shoes.
Iida touched the side of his helmet, likely talking to his teammate. He tries to get up, surprised that they just left him. He tries to see if he has capture tape anywhere on him, since he can't feel it through the armor.
As the other team charges, Jiro plugs her jacks into her shoes and twists a knob on them, suddenly the feed seems to start shaking as she holds her ears.
Shoda immediately collapses, holding his ears in pain. He clearly didn't know what he was running into.
Hozarou stumbles in his charge, feet still moving, but more shaky now as he grins his teeth and squints his eyes. The ball in front of him seems to warp and become unstable.
"...is that a bad thing?" Mina asks, eyeing the red giant in concern.
"Depends if it blows or fizzles!" Manga assesses.
"I'm more impressed he's still standing," Momo admits, rubbing her chin.
"He's pushing himself." All Might adds in a rare comment not to the participants of a current match.
"What, like Ashido-san did against Ochako-san?" Denki asks, jerking a thumb in their direction.
"Each has their own way, but you will find perseverance and going beyond what you thought you could do to be quite the trait to have as a hero." He replies, form and heroic pose silhouetted as one of the monitors flares bright once more before the star on it dissipates.
Izuku stares at the man in awe before pulling out his notebook to write the words down verbatim.
Ochako glances at him before silently laughing.
"…not bad advice," Denki mumbles, shoving his hands in his pockets as he watches Gingawa get dragged away from the others by Iida.
Jiro breathes a small sigh of relief as she watches the gaunt star shooter be forced to make distance.
Shoda clenches his fist, raising his head enough to see her. Something bright reveals itself for a split second in the window before he punches forward, the object hurtling at Kyoka rapidly.
She tries to direct her soundwaves at this now, hoping to dissipate it like the least one.
Shoda takes the chance to charge at her, now that her attention is elsewhere. Fate, however, seems to be looking out for her, as the star seems to curve from the sound waves. The students in the viewing room see his eyes widen in surprise for a split second before it smacks him in the face, knocking him flat on his back.
She smiles in relief, now placing herself in front of the bomb as she scans for the next target.
Iida stumbles his way back over to her, a hand feeling along one of the walls.
Jiro gives him a look before jumping as a loud buzzer goes off. "Time's up! Villain team Wins! Another time victory, this means the teams are roughly even, good job!"
Blinking a few times, Iida gives a thumbs up to the bomb behind Kyoka, drawing a bit of concern from Izuku in the observation room.
Everyone seems to breathe a sigh of relief now that it's done, all four slowly filtering out of the building.
Noting his friend leaning on a wall, the green-haired teen speaks up. "All Might-sensei? I think Iida-san might be having vision problems..."
"I believe you're correct, young Midoriya." The teacher nods. "I think most of the participants of this last round are going to need a bit of care from our nurse." He gestures to one screen where they can see a bit of blood coming from Shoda's ears and a much more skeletal-appearing Hozarou who still is sporting a grin.
Mina frowns, eyeing the screens. "…I'm surprised at how happy they look," she finally says.
"You could always ask him." Pipes up the air next to her.
She looks at the general area of Toru's voice. "What? Ask who?"
"Hozarou! He's the grinning one." She says simply.
"Oh, right." She looks at the screens, then at the door, frowning a bit. "…do you think he'll be here soon?"
"Why so eager~?" Toru asks, gloves folded. The two can't see it, but a certain gravity girl gives a small smirk at the reversal of fortune from barely hearing this exchange.
Her brow furrows. "Because he lost, while I won and feel like I don't deserve it?"
"… you lost me." Replies a now confused voice.
"Forget it." She hurries over to Kirishima. "Hey, can you tell me how to get better?"
"…that was confusing," Izuku says, scratching his head. "And a bit loud."
He sees as their teacher intercepts the last batch of students, directing them to the nurse's office before returning to the main group. "They should be rejoining us before the next match concludes." All Might assures them.
Momo politely raises her hand. "All Might-sensei, who is going to be in the next match?"
"Funny you should ask," he clears his throat, "our next matchup shall be the hero team of Tsuyu Asui and Momo Yaoyorozu versus the villain team of Ibara Shiozaki and Fumikage Tokoyami!"
Her mouth pops open in surprise for a couple seconds. "Oh." She blinks and nods, looking to her partner. "Greetings, you are Asui-san, yes?"
"You can just call me Tsu." The frog girl replies casually.
She nods and smiles at her. "Tsu-chan, then. You may call me Momo."
She gives a wide smile. "Good to be working with you, Momo-chan."
One member of the villain team seems slightly less enthused as she clasps her hands together. "I hope this role of villainy is not the first sign of my forsaken soul."
Tokoyami glances in her direction, then crosses his arms. "Surely my partner is made of more sturdy resolution, that we can consider our mission to be heroes keeping sojourn over a target of interest?"
She seems to ponder this before smiling softly. "A worthy revelation to shine on the situation."
He grunts in agreement, turning slightly away to try and hide his blush.
"Go ahead and start your prep time, teams! Try to apply what you've gleamed from watching the others."
Momo rubs her chin, frowning a bit. "Be willing to fight hard... remember we can use capture tape. I don't know why they forgot that so often..."
"... adrenaline?" Tsu guesses.
"Entirely possible," she concedes, watching the other group leave before them. "Do you think we should plan on our way over?"
"We could just chat if you prefer." Tsu says as she crouches.
She blinks, surprise crossing her features. "Chat?"
"You'll wear out if you're serious all the time." She quips.
"But I have my family name to uphold," she tries to refute, frowning slightly.
"Well, I don't really know about that, but you live your life how you want to." She does a mid hop shrug.
Momo quietly considers this as they walk, looking down at her new friend's costume. "…so are you planning to be a rescue hero?"
Tsu nods. "Yep. I want to help wherever I can."
"That sounds wonderful." She smiles at Tsuyu. "I plan to be a ranking hero," she quietly admits as they reach the building the other team is in, "but I never truly decided on what kind I wanted to be."
"Well, that's something to learn here, right?"
"That's true," she agrees, cupping her chin as she stares at the building. "Before solving that, however, we should solve this."
She nods in agreement. "Yep. It hasn't been easy for anyone."
She hums softly, fingers tracing the ear with her communication device. "I have a few ideas, but maybe I should run them by All Might-sensei to make sure they aren't too much. I would feel horrible if I injured someone seriously."
"... I don't know if we have time for that. He's watching, so I'm sure he'd stop it if he thought it'd be dangerous."
Momo quietly nods. "You're probably right. So here's my plan…"
Tsu listens with wide eyes, nodding slowly.
Inside the building, Tokoyami leans against the door to the room he and his teammate are in, frowning as he stares at her. "So you mean to tell me there's no way either of us can set remote traps?"
She nods solemnly, eyes closed. "I'm afraid I just actively use my blessing as it is part of me."
Dark Shadow emerges, placing his elbow on the bird-headed teen's shoulder. "And I'm pretty attached to Fumi, here," he says, yellow eyes focused on the girl across from them. "...interesting get up you got there."
She looks down at her almost toga-like outfit. "Is there a problem with my chosen vestments?"
"Nothing," he replies, even as Tokoyami frowns at his quirk, "just wondering how it protects you."
"Do they need to? I don't believe any of the girls' outfits do that."
"And ours provides no protection either, Dark Shadow," the feathered teen says, finally speaking back up.
"It at least won't tear, right?" He continues, ignoring Fumikage.
"They are surprisingly durable." She assures him.
"Right!" He gives her a shadowy thumbs up. "I'll protect you like I do Fumi. Bird's honor!"
She lets out a small laugh. "Quite the generous one, thank you."
"While she appreciates your consideration," Tokoyami points out, "you have to admit she would not be present among our class if she did not have sufficient skill to protect herself."
"I know that, but it's still polite to offer," he rebukes the teenager. "Besides, you know you-"
"Do I need to recall you?" He says evenly to his quirk.
"I'll be good," he says, immediately shutting up.
"Perhaps we should change topics to the trial at hand?" She offers.
"Right!" Dark Shadow glances around and stretches over to her. "Please keep me away from bright lights," the living quirk whispers to her.
"I shall pray the cleansing light from above does not find you." She nods with closed eyes and clasped hands.
Dark Shadow humors her by clasping his claws together. Tokoyami stares at him, his expression flat.
"Now, I do believe as the ones given the role of villains in this, perhaps we should endeavor to construct a sort of lair between our quirks if we must wait for them to come to us? This way we may make our limited range an advantage." Ibara says as though she's receiving the advice from meditation.
The bird-headed teen nods, seeing the wisdom of her words.
The sentient quirk stares at her blankly. "…what kind of lair?"
"A place that blesses us and curses them." She answers as her green mass of vines begins to extend and crawl across all the surfaces of the room.
"Ooh, I like that idea," he crows, clapping his hands together.
Izuku finds himself staring at the screen, his hand covering his mouth as he starts mumbling. "His quirk seems to be alive... is he solid? Is he a fragment of Fumikage-san's psyche? How far away can he get from..."
As their friend continues, Iida sighs, shaking his head. "I think we lost him again, Uraraka-san."
"Maybe we need to strategize ourselves... to think of how to get him out of it when he's like this." She shakes her head before blinking and quickly turning to the taller teen. "Oh, hey! Iida, you're back!"
"Just got back," he says, offering her a smile. "Recovery Girl-sensei is amazing at her job."
"I think she barely spent a minute on each of us." Jiro adds from behind him.
"And she just gave Gingawa-san some sort of candy bar," Shoda says from behind her, gesturing to the boy that's holding mochi Kit Kats.
The star boy munches. "I definitely don't mind. This is doing more for me than the time I tried coffee."
Denki gives him an odd look before the ringing of the start timer catches his attention.
They see that the area even relatively near the villains and bomb is now covered entirely in green thorny vines ankle deep at the very least.
"...is that a good idea?" Mina asks, frowning a bit. "Aren't they guiding them in?"
"Right where they want them." Kirishima crosses his arms.
"But we don't know Yaoyorozu-san's quirk," Izuku says, looking over at the heroes side. "It might be able to counter theirs, somehow... after all, she made a scooter appear..." He starts muttering, rubbing his chin.
"Maybe she'll make a lawnmower this time!" Ochako jokes.
"Or she can make a fire sword," Denki says, pointing at the weapon everyone can now see as they rush past a camera. In the hand of the ponytailed girl they can see what appears to be a machete with a tank attached, fire along the edge.
"... that is awesome." Kirishima says quietly.
"Heck yeah! So awesome!" Mina says while thrusting her fist in the air, glad they have a fighting chance. "Now they can take Shio's vines!"
The source of the vines either doesn't notice or isn't worried.
"I wonder if Shiozaki-san can feel things through her hair..." Izuku mutters, watching her hack her way through.
"I know I'd dread haircuts if I could." Ochako comments.
"Imagine if your hair was steel instead," Mina says, patting her pink hair. "How'd you get haircuts then?"
The brunette seems to consider this, going quiet except for the gears whirring in her head. "That… could be bad." She strokes one of her own locks.
Kaminari thinks for a bit, frowning softly as he messes with his headset. "…maybe you can just buff the metal, instead?"
"Doesn't that just shine it?" The air next to him asks.
"I don't know?" He shrugs. "It'd look better than being dirty, right?"
"Maybe... I'm kind of jealous that her hair grows so fast so she can try different styles."
Izuku mutters, hand covering his mouth as his gaze unfocuses. "How fast does it grow? Can she control the growth? If it can be separated without pain, can she use it in ways besides an obstacle?"
"... should we find him an outlet for this?" Ochako asks Iida quietly.
"I thought he had notebooks for this," the glasses-wearing teen admits, frowning a bit. "Maybe his current one ran out of room?"
"Oooh, that might be it." She taps a fist into her other palm.
"What are you talking about?" Mina asks, peeking around the Engine user.
"Oh!" she quickly waves her hand. "Nothing big!"
She glances between the three of them, clearly unconvinced.
Iida speaks up. "Are they wearing sunglasses?" He asks, gesturing with a knife hand towards the hero team.
"Huh... wouldn't that make it harder to see Tokoyami's quirk?" Hozarou asks.
"…maybe it's not for that," Izuku says, eyeing the canister barely peeking out of Tsuyu's hand.
"Huh.. they really geared up." The star boy observes.
"Where are they getting these things?" Mina asks, mussing her hair up as she tries to puzzle this out.
"Scooter girl?" Pony offers.
"But he said it was a portal quirk!" She exclaims pointing at a bewildered Izuku.
"I'm probably wrong!" He exclaims, holding his hands up in surrender. "M-maybe she makes them from her body, instead?"
"What, like a 3D printer?" Denki says, an eyebrow raised.
"What if-" the speaker is quickly cut off as they see a literal wave of vines launching down the hall towards the heroes.
Momo stares for a second before yanking Asui into a side room, closing the door behind them.
Aoyama, having apparently finally recovered, pipes up. "That's not elegant. Did she panic?"
They see the owner of the vines quickly growing her quirk back as she glances at her partner.
He nods and sends Dark Shadow down under the remaining vines, using their shadows to hide his approach.
On the other team, Tsu mutters something and climbs to the walls.
Momo nods and pulls the door open, slashing through the vines that cover the entrance.
Tsu crawls out, the vines being noticeably harder to attach to than smooth walls.
Her partner pauses to place a hand on her abdomen, a canister falling out into her palm. She uses it to replace the one attached to her blade and hurries along.
"…infinite ammo cheat?" Denki mutters.
"Cool!" Kirishima laughs. "She'll never be caught without it."
"Oh, so she does create them," Izuku mutters. "But what are they made from?"
His musing is quiet enough amid the chatter at the sight of the battle that it goes unnoticed. Many more seem interested as the shadow and heroes get closer and closer.
Eventually Dark Shadow pops out and grabs Tsuyu, dragging her towards the ground and the tangle of vines there.
The frog girl proves herself to be not that easy to keep hold of as she wriggles and slips out of his grip even as they both still head for the ground.
The living quirk disappears into the greenery, which are soon chopped apart by Momo's machete.
Tsu shakes a few thorns out of her hands before nodding to her partner.
She nods back and offers her salve, turning back to the hallway before them.
"They are doing rather well," Mina says, humming softly.
"Yeah... but what happens when the others can see to get clear shots?" Jiro asks.
"They have that can," Denki points out. "Maybe it's to blind them?"
"Maybe... How'd she even know how to make that?" The rocker hums.
"Probably the book on her back?" Ojiro points out, gesturing at her back. "Or she could be that smart."
She opens her mouth but is cut off as the two teams finally make eye contact and the villains take full advantage. The vines on the floor lift up and quickly attempt to bind the other team, starting with the hand holding the fiery weapon.
She jumps back and swings down on reflex, slicing with her blade. She barely has time to realize what she did before Dark Shadow grabs her around the waist and shoulders. She quickly turns to Tsuyu.
Her partner hops to the ceiling, sticking to it and tossing the cylinder from earlier right at the villains.
Shiozaki, who had maintained the same pose with hands clasped the entire fight, still doesn't move. Instead her hair vines rise up behind her as they rapidly try to form a shield.
The vines get shot, preventing them from forming anything and in fact breaking some of them off. The observers take notice of the cannon that fell out of Momo's abdomen and the slightly stretched state of her uniform.
"She's like a walking arsenal!" Kirishima whistles.
"But if she uses it too much, then won't her costume fall off?" Mina asks, pointing at the stretched part of the clothes.
Every single boy in the class keeps their mouth strategically shut after that statement.
She stares at each in turn with narrowed eyes, arms crossed. "...how many of you are hoping for that?" While silence reigns, a bright flash from the screens distracts her and has her eyes facing forward.
As a few of the cameras go white, All Might presses a button and switches to thermal vision.
They barely catch Momo getting free and rushing the vine-haired girl.
They see Shiozaki actually take a reflexive step back as she tries to have her vines overwhelm the other girl from the side opposite her armed hand.
Momo stops at the sight of this and runs to the side, tackling a stunned Tokoyami to the ground.
A forgotten Tsu takes the distraction opportunity to wrap her tongue around the vine girl and toss her through the air behind them, getting a surprised yelp.
Momo gets up, whipping out her capture tape and quickly wrapping it around the sole male in the building. "Got him!" She calls to her partner.
Tsu withdraws her tongue, shaking it as there are a few thorns in it now. "She's not making it easy."
Even as she says that, down the hall vines are almost pouring from their foe's head into an ever increasing mass.
"I'll try to slow her down," Momo declares, bringing her sword up to bear. She steps around the shrunken form of Dark Shadow as he returns to Tokoyami. "Try to find the bomb, if you would please."
"If you're sure you got this." Tsu takes another look and blanches at just the eyes she can see in the green.
"I'm not," she admits, "but you would have better luck than I searching."
"Right." She hops off quickly.
"Good luck," Momo says. "Please take Fumikage-san with you so we don't hurt him by accident."
"Got-" Whatever she said after that is covered by an almost thunder-level of rustling as the entire hallway erupts forward in a wave of angry and determined nature.
The Creation user quickly forms another canister, tossing it directly at Shiozaki's face.
A trio of vines quickly wrap around it this time, cocooning it while the others continue.
Momo stares, determined, as she slips on a gas mask. Her eyes narrow as she raises her weapon, cutting down vines that try to grab her.
Tokoyami blinks spots out of his eyes, raising his head just enough to see smoke coming out of the floral cocoon.
The eyes beyond the curtain of vines narrow as the entire mass approaches, attempting to overwhelm.
It is with a loud bang the can explodes, causing the vines to wither between them. Of course, it also makes a huge cloud that neither can see through.
Through the thermal vision, the class can see Shiozaki covering her mouth and coughing.
Momo stumbles forward, blindly searching with one hand while the other still holds up her weapon.
A trio of vines suddenly swipe through the cloud, trying to clear it and her simultaneously.
It doesn't work on the smoke, but the attack does slam her into a wall. Groaning, the ponytailed girl slices the vines and tries to stumble away, checking her mask with her free hand to make sure it isn't damaged.
As she manages to find the wall, a sudden buzzer spooks both of them. "And it's over! With a successful bomb capture, the heroes win!"
Momo sighs in relief, then calls out. "Shiozaki-san, where are you? I've got a mask!" Her voice comes out muffled, but hopefully loud enough to be heard regardless.
"That would be a great blessing, thank you..." Comes a slightly sniffly voice. "Though I worry I may not be able to see well even with it."
"At least you can breathe easier with it," she points out, making her way over and poking her shoulder with an outstretched hand. "Ah, found you." She presses the gas mask into her hands. "We should be able to see in about thirty seconds, though."
There's rustling as she fastens it on, followed by filtered breathing. "That's a bit better... now my eyes just need to stop watering."
"I don't have anything for that, I'm afraid. Especially since you'd have to remove the mask to wipe your eyes," Momo apologizes.
"Yes... perhaps I'll just keep them closed for now."
The two of them slowly make their way out of the smoke-filled room, leaning on each other to help support their former opponent.
So while I know this takes much less time in the original story, I wanted to make sure everyone got their chance to shine.
Who do you think are the MVPs of these battles? What do you think they could improve on?
Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a nice day!