Chapter 9

A Heated Battle

Strelitzia and Tsuyu were handed radio earpieces, capture tape, and a floor plan of the building they were to defend against the Hero team. And so the two of them quickly made their way to the building to prepare.

"So this seems like it'll be tough." Tsuyu said. "Three against two. Ribbit."

The odds were stacked against them, true, not the least because she had heard that Shoto was one of the students who got in based on recommendation. From the fact that part of his body was coated it, his Quirk being ice based was clear. She even recalled him using his ice during Aizawa's Quirk test. He had to be very skilled based on that. He clearly wasn't an opponent to face lightly.

The others, she knew less about. Hanta was capable of extruding strong tape from his elbows, while Hiryu could generate scales all over his body and even shoot them out. It was a strong team.

"So, I think it's a good idea to share what we can do, right?" Tsuyu asked.

"Yeah." Strelitzia nodded as they entered the room with the fake nuke. This situation was actually rather new to her. Throughout her career as a Key-Bearer she didn't think she every really had to defend a location. She was always on the offense, hunting down Heartless out in the world to gather Lux or clearing out a location they had taken up root in.

Protecting a point from attackers was a new one to her. Even further was that she was fighting against intelligent opponents. Heartless, even if they looked humanoid, were driven purely by instinct, making them predictible in many ways. Her opponents could think, attempt to outwit her,

"So, as you probably can guess, my Quirk is Frog. Basically anything a frog can do. I can jump really far, stick to walls, swim fast, breath underwater, stretch out my tongue about twenty meters. Oh, I can also expel my stomach to clean it, though that's not really useful. There's also that toxic mucus, though it's just an irritant."

"Hmm… you're-" Strelitzia started, though she was interrupted as apparently Tsuyu wasn't finished.

"Though your Quirk is pretty interesting. I've seen you do a lot of different things, ribbit. I've never seen a Quirk like that before."

"Uh… well… Quirks are weird." Strelitzia said, giving the answer that Artemicion had told her to give when she was pressed.

"Yeah they are." Tsuyu agreed.

"So, anyways, I can seal the windows so they can't get in through there, ." Strelitzia was thinking out loud.

"Seal the windows?" Tsuyu asked.

"Yeah. I can lock them." Strelitzia formed Starlight in her hands and pointed it towards the windows. A thin beam shot out towards them, leaving shimmering motes of light in its wake.

"There." She said. "Now they can't get in through there without a lot of force. Althouh there's no doorway to this room, just an arch so i can't seal that."

"Well either way that's good. So do we just hunker down in here?"

"I'm thinking that might work. We can wait for them to come to us."

"That seems reasonable. I-"

"Alright. Heroes! Villains! Your time begins now!" All Mights voice sounded in their earpieces.

"Well, it looks like were starting, ribbit."

"Right, so let's-" Strelitzia was about to suggest a course of action when she felt an immense wave of cold wash over her. Fortunately, her dress was protected against such environmental issues. However it wasn't long afterwards that the cold grew even deeper, and ice formed unnaturally fast, passing through the door and covering the entire room, floor, walls, and ceiling.

Both girls were frozen to the ground as the ice trapped their feet. It steadily crept up them, though thankfully stopped before reaching their knees.

Was that Shoto? He's even stronger than I thought! Still, Strelitzia wasn't going to be stopped by something like this. She raised her Keyblade.

"Enfire!" Flames rand down the length of her blade. She held it to the ice and it quickly began to melt to the point she could break free of it.

"Ribbiiiit..." She heard Tsuyu say. She turned to see her teammate slumping to the ground. She was curling up and her eyes were drooping, her tongue hanging limply out of her mouth.

"Tsuyu? Tsuyu?! Are you okay?!" Strelitzia asked.

"Call me Tsu. And the cold makes me hibernate. Sorry..." She muttered, growing pale as her voice drifted off.

"Don't worry. I can help." Strelitzia held her blazing blade up close, melting the ice around her enough to pull Tsuyu free. She then cast another spell as she let the blade extinguish. "Barfrost!"

As soon as the protective spell took effect she no longer felt the cold and she watched as the color returned to Tsuyu's face.

"Whoa..." Tsuyu said as she sat up, energy returning to her. "I don't feel cold at all."

"I used one of my speeeeee…cial abilities."

"Special abilities? You mean your Quirk? Is that why I'm not so cold?"

"Yeah, though it's only partial protection."

"Either way, it helps. Thanks, ribbit." Tsuyu stood up, looking around the room. "Huh, he's really strong."

"Yeah, it was really fast. Still, we're not stuck so we can still defend."

"Hmm… y'know, he probably still thinks were frozen." Tsuyu said.

"We can go on the offensive! They won't be expecting it!" Strelitzia finished, a plan forming in her mind.

"Right."

"Then let's get ready." Strelitzia raised Starlight again. "Protect! Bravery!"

With two more enhancing spells cast on them, the two girls made their way out into the ice encrusted hallways. As they continued, following the floor plan of the building they had been given, they reached a staircase, where they eventually heard footsteps crunching on the ice, and conversation below. The two of them took up positions on the opposite side of the staircase entrance.

"...I mean, this is still so crazy! He can freeze an entire building, just like that!" Hanta said.

"Well he did get in on recommendation." Hiryu said back.

"Yeah, I guess the recommendation students are just on a whole different level from us." Hanta said.

"Yeah."

"And here I was planning to tie them to the walls." Hanta said. "Really wanted a chance to show my stuff."

"Don't waste your energy. With my Quirk they're frozen fast. This fight is already over. We just need to get to the nuke and get this over with."

The footsteps began to rise, indicating they were making their ascent. The two of them turned towards each other and nodded. It was time to act. Strelitzia leaped out from concealment, a spell ready to cast.

"Fire!" Shoto's Quirk was ice based, so this had to be a good counter for it. It should weaken him. A jet of flame streaked down the staircase. The boys flinched, though the fire wasn't directly aimed at them. This was still a training exercise after all. She could heal them afterwards, but she didn't want to cause such pain if she could avoid it.

Instead, she ran the flames along the frozen ceiling. The heat melted the ice, sending water to drip down onto the staircase. The formerly fresh ice was now made slick and the boys went tumbling down.

"What the-"

"Augh! Ow! Ow!"

"They're not frozen!"

Hiryu was the first to recover, rolling to his feet as he shot scales at the floor, cracking the slick ice to give himself traction. Meanwhile, Hanta strung his tape across the area, creating hand grips.

Hiryu then opened fire, a volley of scales being fired off like bullets. Strelitzia blocked the initial shots with her Keyblade before taking cover around the corner.

"Grab on!" She heard Hanta say. There was a pause before Hanta spoke again. "Fine! We'll go then!"

Suddenly, a strand of tape shot up the staircase before attaching to the wall opposite it. Then, Hanta, with Hiryu held in his other arm shot up and out of the staircase, to land in between the girls. They immediately sprung into action, with Hiryu opening fire on Strelitzia while Hanta shot tape at Tsuyu.

Both dodged, Strelitzia throwing Starlight at the same time she rolled out of the way while Tsuyu clung to the ceiling before lashing out with her tongue.

Hiryu sidestepped the throw of her weapon and continued to fire, though Strelitzia used Flowmotion to aid in her dodging of the scale shots.

Hiryu, frustrated, drew closer, thinking she was unarmed. However, Strelitzia immediately re-summoned Starlight back to her hands, and struck him before he could react.

Hiryu was sent flying back across the hallway, past the staircase. Strelitzia made to pursue, only to suddenly notice as she passed the stairwell a barrage of ice chunks rapidly advancing towards her. She leaped out of the way, though not entirely, as a clump of ice clipped her side, sending her spiraling to the ground.

Meanwhile, Hiryu switched targets to Tsuyu while Hanta tried to tie down Strelitzia with his tape. She was quick however, rolling out of the way of the shot and pointing Starlight at him.

"Aero!" Strelitzia chanted. A burst of wind sent Hanta flying backwards down the hallway all the way to being sent flying out the window. As he was defenestrated, a strand of tape shot back in, sticking to the windowsill.

Meanwhile, Shoto had made it back up the stairs, and was currently rushing down the hallway past the girls. Strelitzia quickly rose to her feet and cast another spell.

"Gravity!" A dark sphere formed around Shoto and he found himself forced to his knees, suddenly far heavier than he had been before.

"What the-?" He struggled, but found his movement greatly slowed.

Unfortunately, it couldn't last as while Strelitzia was concentrating on the spell, Hiryu shot his scales at her. She shrieked as she was struck, though the Protect spell she had cast as armor absorbed most of the impact. She was still knocked off her feet, losing focus on the magic.

As Shoto rose, he formed a wall of ice in the hallway behind him. Meanwhile, as Strelitzia rose to her feet, she saw Tsuyu leap forwards to strike Hiryu with her powerful legs, sending him careening into a wall with a grunt.

"Go! I've got these guys!" Tsuyu said. Strelitzia nodded and then aimed at the ice wall.

"Fire!" A ball of fire struck the ice melting it to the point of collapse. She leaped over the rubble, and with flowmotion kicked off the walls to intercept Shoto. The nuke was still another floor up, but there was no reason to let him get any closer.

He attempted to hurl more ice chunks at her though she used Flowmotion to jump over them and come crashing down in front of him, unleashing a shockwave that sent him flying back.

As he hit the ground Shoto felt his frustration growing. He had assumed this would be an easy battle. He had though he could simply freeze the building and it would be over. He could simply walk in and lay his hand on the nuke to win, however, the villain team had, despite his expections, broken free and were now making him look like a fool.

This should have been over quick, but now he was getting bogged down in a fight he never wanted.

His mother's Quirk should have been enough for this. It should be enough for him to be a Hero. He was never going to rely on that man's powers. Yet despite this, at his failure he could see that man's smug smile in his mind's eye.

No! He'd show that man that he was wrong. That he wasn't necessary.

As Shoto rose to his feet, he took his stock of his opponent. Despite how powerful she was, Shoto had never heard of her before starting class at U.A.. Which was strange. She had seemingly come out of nowhere to get the highest score on the general entrance exam. Where had she come from? Who was she? Strelitzia. No last name. Was she a foreigner?

He swung his arm, unleashing more ice, and feeling the growing chill that filled him as he did so, a reminder of the limitations of this Quirk. Yet, when Strelitzia countered with fire, the hallway filled with heat, warming him up, allowing him to use his Quirk more.

Another wave of ice was unleashed, and another burst of flame countered it. Screw frustration, he was growing outright irritated at the conundrum before him. The heat from Strelitzia's flames was staving off his frostbite, invigorating him to use his mothers Quirk more. At the same time, however, it was also preventing him from making full use of said Quirk.

He launched another wave of ice and cold, only for it to again be countered by fire. He couldn't afford to get bogged down here. The Hero team had a time limit and this fight was running down the clock.

More ice, more fire.

And what was worse, her flames were unintentionally reminding him of that man. He growled, and felt a further heat build up in him. Once he noticed, however, he ruthlessly forced it down, chilling his own body.

Unfortunately, this distraction came at the worst possible moment. He felt something strike him in the back and pull him off balance. He quickly realized that it was Tsuyu's tongue and tried to rapidly freeze it to get her to let go, only for Strelitzia to throw her giant key at his feet, knocking him flat on the ground, aided by the pull of Tsuyu's tongue. He attempted to freeze her again as he rose.

Tsuyu let go of him in response but at the same time, Strelitzia held out her key which had somehow reappeared in her hands. Water blasted out of the tip washing over him just in time to be frozen.

Shoto had just frozen himself to the ground. He clenched his teeth, realizing that he had just lost. He immediately felt Tsuyi leap on top of him and wrap the capture tape around him.

This defeat was further capped off by hearing All Mights voice over his earpiece. "THE VILLAIN TEAM WINS!"

Strelitzia had heard over her radio that Tsuyu had managed to subdue the other two boys, and so she was ready to take advantage of Tsuyu's surprise attack against Shoto. The impromptu plan was a success, and All Might's announcement cinched it. They had won. With the fight over, Strelitzia dismissed her Keyblade and breathed a sigh of relief. She'd had some other plans she could have attempted, but she was glad she had been able to stop him here.

There was a slight hiss of steam emanating from Shoto as the ice around him began to slowly melt. He slumped to the ground as the ice binding him was melted. Strelitzia knelt before him, offering her hand.

Shoto seemed to hesitate, gritting his teeth slightly, before brushing her hand away, standing up on his own, and walking off.


Back in the conference room, All Might was now addressing the class in the aftermath of the most recent battle.

"Now that this trial is over, I'm going to have name the MVP of this battle as young Strelitzia!"

"M-me?" Strelitzia stammered. Truth be told, she had completely forgotten about that, her thoughts being consumed by the battle.

"Yes, you!" All Might said. "Now could any of the observers tell me why?"

At this, Izuku raised his hand.

"Of course! Young Midoriya."

"Well, All Might, sir, I think it has to do with how she managed to adapt. Her Quirk is strong, but it's more than just strength. Her fighting took full advantage of the versatility she had, allowing her to quickly respond to changing circumstances, and catch her enemies off guard, especially when Shoto had assumed team H would be frozen. Also, she used his own ice against him, first by melting it to make the stairs slippery, and then tricking him into freezing himself long enough to get captured." Izuku then began to mutter. "With her versatility, she could keep an opponent off balance by changing up her method of attack, while also negating the injuries she suffers and with her kinetic abilities she is very maneuverable with a speed of-"

"And there you have it!" All Might said, cutting off Izuku before he could get lost in his own thought. "Congratulations, Young Strelitzia for a job well done."

"Uh… t-thanks." She said. She wasn't sure if it was truly fair. She had a good deal more experience than her peers, giving her a major edge. Still, it was a good feeling to be recognized like that.

"Alright." All Might said. "Time for the next match!"

And that's the battle trials done and dusted. The fight scene was pretty fun to write, coming up with creative scenarios and strategies for the battle.

~Dragonexx