"Listeners, despite last match's results, we can't lose hope now; Class 1-B needs you now more than ever! Let your support be heard!" Present Mic proclaimed as he emphasized his words with his hands, knees sitting on the tabletop as Aizawa pinched a portion of his clothing in an ineffectual attempt to keep him from falling.
On one side of the arena, the international students of Class 1-B were making their way toward the center stage in an ostentatious manner.
"...U-Um, you guys," Ximena spoke softly, holding her hat in front of her chest and gripping the brim nervously, "I don't think this plan is such a good idea..."
"What are ya' on about?" Mickey asked.
"If it doesn't work out and we end up losing because of it, it'll be all my fault. . ."
"Aw, she'll be right, cobber. You're just overthinkin' things again!"
"Mick's right, and besides, you're definitely the smartest one out of the four of us- you always score the highest points during test scenarios!" Estelle reaffirmed.
"And even if we don't win, that doesn't mean we didn't try our best," Javier divulged further, "we're here because we proved we're already great heroes."
Concurrently, on the opposite side:
"I don't think this is the appropriate time to be acting presumptuous considering what awaits you once Kaibara gets his hands on you for what you did." Shishida articulated.
"I appreciate your concern, but you have nothing to worry about because when we win, it'll all be thanks to me," Monoma boasted, "and Kaibara will forget ever mentioning wringing my neck."
"Is that why you were so eager to get ahead of everyone else?" Murmured Tetsutetsu.
"You have yet to explain exactly what your plan is," Kendo interjected, "Don't forget it's the four of us against the four of them; if we screw around, we'll end up losing miserably again."
"Ah yes, of course. You see, all we'll have to do is distract the three of them while luring the one with the strongest quirk close enough so that I can copy it with mine- it's become quite apparent that none of them possess the ability to escape such a strong build, and once I use their quirk, we'll be declared the winners in minutes!" Arrogantly proposed Monoma.
"And just how do you suggest we trick Javier?" Asked Kendo.
"Huh? Wait, you can't be serious, right? Mickey's practically untouchable!" Claimed Tetsutetsu.
"As I recall, Ximena has explicitly said that her venomous bites have the potential to kill in less than five minutes, not to mention anyone would suffocate if swallowed whole." Shishida quietly contented.
"I...I was talking about Estelle." Monoma fretted.
The confusion sparked an argument that continued even when they had reached the stage, the uncertainty rattling them individually and making a clear decision improbable.
"What do you think they're talking about over there?" Estelle pondered out loud.
Reaching into one of their odd hammerspace pockets, Mickey pulled out a fanciful ear trumpet and pressed their ear at the end of the funnel-shaped device, "Hmm..."
"Can you actually hear with that thing?" Javier wearily questioned.
"...Well, whatever it is, it just sounds like a bunch'a earbash to me." They sighed as they tossed the ear trumpet over their shoulder, an audible glass shattering and cat screech sound effect following afterward.
"That's not very informative," Ximena uttered.
"It's not over yet. Let's get this show back on the road!" Present Mic called out.
With a leap in their step, they diverged away from each other, "We'll just have to go with what we got, you know what to do!" Shouted Kendo, keeping her feet moving while scanning the initial area.
"Hey, Ximena, how about a piece of this?" Tetsutetsu playfully teased, pettily distracting her with comical, seductive gestures.
"My instincts say danger, but everything else says otherwise," Ximena mumbled quietly to herself, lurching her serpent body back defensively as the tip of her tail rattled. As Tetsutetsu lunged towards her while activating his quirk, he was suddenly pushed away by a jagged, diamond gauntlet before she could strike, "Estelle!"
"Aw, what's the matter? I thought you said you wanted to fight me?" She sneered, throwing him away with vigorous force, "Got cold feet?"
His steel skin only scratched the surface of his body as he slid across the concrete, grunting while rolling over on his side and jumping back on his feet; he hadn't anticipated the valor use of her quirk. "Cold feet?! Ha! I'll make you regret picking a fight with me!"
Charging toward Estelle in terrestrial locomotion, Shishida transformed and then followed up with a heavy roar only to be subdued by Ximena's elongated, massive tail; with a lack of upper body strength, Ximena made up for it with the rest of her body. Monoma, who was left alone, fell victim to Mickey's relentless teasing. They appeared popping in and out of his pockets, shirt collar, and sleeves, pinching and prodding at his skin with practical joke devices to discombobulate him, intentionally having him stagger around and keep his focus on them.
In a suspicious moment of solace, Monoma promptly looked around with labored breathing, "Just let me get my hands on you-"
In a split second, he turned his head straight; Mickey jumped out and spooked him while wearing a cheap pair of plastic vampire fangs, causing him to falter back and drop into a hole that wasn't there before. With a prolonged shout, a crashing sound came from inside the hole, "W-What did you do with me?! Where am I?!" Monoma distressingly begged.
"Ah, quit whingin', will ya'?!" Mickey groaned, peeling the portable hole off the ground and crumpling it into a ball between their gloved hands. Before they could move out of the way, however, an increasing shadow fell over them as Kendo's giant fist came hurling toward them. Their eyes popped out of their head imminently. Then they began rapidly running in place, but they were unable to move out of the way in time, and as soon as she raised her fist, Mickey had flattened down into a paper-thin state; peeling themselves from the ground, they dawdled away by rocking their feet side to side.
"I'm...not even going to question what I just saw." Present Mic mumbled into his microphone.
"Dammit, Mickey..." Kendo growled quietly between gritted teeth, swiping up the contorted phenomenon and clutching it carefully in her hand. Suddenly, she felt something rapidly approaching her blind spot and evaded the initial attack, then the second, but the third one was unavoidable, and she was struck on the cheek.
"You'll have to be quicker than that, Kendo~" Javier chuckled, twirling his spear above and to the side as he rolled the weaponry over his thumb and off of his fingertips.
Javier's agility and coordination with his equipment are immaculate; he already knew I'd be the only opponent to give him a real fight. This has to be the time I finally get the upper thought as she continued to dodge his moves while seeking to get some hits on him.
Their flexibility and intuition were nearly equivalent; both were a lot stronger than they perceived and ultimately locked themselves impasse. Strike left, swing right, smack high, sweep low; they continued to trade hits until Javier fabricated an attack that resulted in brushing Kendo off her feet and pinning her to the ground using the majority of his weight.
"C'mon, at least try to hit me back!" Tetsutetsu provoked Estelle as he pummeled away at her diamond defenses, deviating back with each blow and pushing him back when he had gotten too close to her.
"You should be careful what you wish for. You might end up regretting it." She remarked, pivoting her foot against the ground in front of him, creating scads of spikes to separate herself from him in an instant. Tetsutetsu could only scrape the surface of her crystal material, but breaking it apart was impossible regardless of how aggressive his steel offenses were, and her ability to skate along her smooth, generated diamonds increased her speed well above his, keeping him running in circles around the stage.
With a hefty swing, Shishida had his arm clamped down between Ximena's jaws, her fangs forcefully folded against her palette as venom leaked from the venom ducts in her upper jaw; the pain was tolerable, but her anxiety left her perturbed. She would never forgive herself for bringing serious harm to him, especially under these circumstances. As they struggled out of each other's bind, Ximena held his mouth away from her to prevent him from biting as he continued to pull his arm out of her grasp; with the weight of her thick body, she subdued his knees and brought him to the ground, attempting to get the upper hand.
"Tetsutetsu," Estelle breathlessly appealed, inflicting counters against him that became vigorously assertive, "I really admire your energy; despite our respective differences, we connect really well." As her combative forcefulness pushed further, his footing became unsteady- each word she spoke made his chest feel heavier, "But there's one thing that'll never change no matter how hard you try," Estelle revved her arm back, using her whole body to follow through the motion, "and that is-"the crystal clear gemstone built quickly and abundantly over her fist and forearm, glistening elegantly in the sun's rays.
"Diamonds are unbreakable!"
All it took was a single blow. The sheer impact to his abdomen shattered his steel form, breaking off into numerous pieces that flew back along with him; hauling him into the line of trajectory, Tetsutetsu made contact with Shishida and threw both of them back, cracking the concrete underneath them.
"You didn't have to do that. I would've been fine." Tetsutetsu coughed, clutching his abdomen.
"I-I didn't. I didn't even see you coming."
"Huh?...!"
"I believe I've underestimated the strength of Ximena's venom."
"Ahem! Do I need to throw a hissy fit for you to notice me?!" Mickey seethed, still flattened as they bounced up and down on the ground, papping at Ximena's tail with their fingers.
"Sorry, sorry!" She anxiously apologized, picking up her teammate as she placed the balloon-shaped opening manually protruding from their body into her mouth, blowing in the air until Mickey was back to normal.
"Mickey, go long!" Javier shouted while keeping Kendo from apprehending him. The object in question that he whipped with his sling was the portable hole that they had trapped Monoma in.
"I got it, I got it!" They loudly responded, running in the opposite direction with a giant baseball mitt on their hand raised in the air. Once caught, they offhandedly plopped the hole on the ground and dug inside with their other hand, "'Ay dipsticks, ya' ever hear the joke about the baseball?" Mickey jeered, revealing a dripping Monoma as they reared back with one leg raised slightly above the other, spinning their arm inanely before expeditiously pitching him towards his team.
"It'll leave ya' institches!"
In an overwhelming quantity of shouts, their opponents on the opposite side of the stage had been deliberately piled on top of one another, groaning from their difficult endeavor.
"Wh- are you wet, Momoma?" Kendo stammered.
"I saw hell. I've been too literal, actual, hell." He deadpanned.
"Looks like they're going fight on this one, huh?" Estelle queried.
"What's wrong with that? The best fights are the sweaty ones." Javier chimed in, bouncing on the pads of his feet to keep himself moving.
"Anybody got any more bright ideas-?" Grumbled Tetsutetsu.
"I'm assuming giving up isn't an option?" Inquired undoubtedly by Shishida, scratching and picking at his arm where Ximena had clamped down.
"Well, Monoma . . . ?" Asked Kendo.
"My friends, there's no need to fret," he lightly chuckled, his hand hovering horizontally over his eyes and obscuring a quarter of his face, "things may not have gone the way they should've. However, all hope is not lost. At least Tetsutetsu will get the satisfaction of having his conjecture tested." As he revealed his eyes, the same shape of their eyes had been applied to his own, retaining his eye color rather than the classic black. His body became rounder and loopier, conforming to the style Mickey's body had taken due to their quirk.
"Man, this is not as satisfying as I thought it'd be." Tetsutetsu concurred.
"What are you talking about? Are you saying I'm not zany and wacky enough to be an iconic cartoon character?!" Monoma cried, attempting to do something spontaneous and hilarious.
"Those are the last two words I'd use to describe you, at least in that context." Softly opinionated Shishida.
"We're still in this, and we have to do whatever it takes to win." Finalized Kendo, "Let's beat them at their own game."
Suddenly, the international students of their class were besieged by a cluster of caricature weaponry of various shapes, sizes, and types, haphazardly arranged by an assemblage of arms burgeoning from Monoma's body with all ends pointed directly at them.
"F*k me dead." Mickey groused under their breath.
"...How did you make that noise with your mouth?" Whispered Javier in response.
"What an artillery! You're keeping us at the edge of our seats here!" Hollered Present Mic.
"M-Mickey, what do we do now?" Ximena whimpered as she hid alongside her teammates behind Mickey.
At the hub of the competition, they miraculously pulled out a large tin can and popped open the top by squeezing the cylindrical container, launching a glob of spinach in the air and catching the contents in their mouth. Making a continuous, back-and-forth wave with their arms to carry their muscle mass, they flexed their arms in an abduction motion as large, meaty muscles burst from underneath their sleeves.
"Whoa."
"You're gonna hang onto to me like your life depends on it while I keep us from losin' is what you're gonna do," Mickey grunted, draping Ximena over their neck, then taking Estelle and Javier into each hulking arm.
"It's useless! You'll never get out of this; it's over for you. We've already won!" Monoma maniacally jested. Guns. Knives. Bombs. Hammers. Flamethrowers. There was nothing Momoma couldn't think of that he wouldn't throw their way, anything to stop them from reaching the opposite side. Mickey sprang, stretched, pulled, and warped their body in all directions, gymnastically performed over projectiles, bent and tied firearm barrels, lobbed explosives, fractured ammunition, wrecked improvised and melee weapons- they had what it took to lampoon with the best of them, and there was no backing down regardless of where the stakes lie; both sides had their fair share of bodily hits.
"Now what?" Estelle demanded, using her quirk to block any scattered fragments.
"No worries, mate, it's a piece of piss!" They replied, cartwheeling then sprinting across a dummy missile.
"What are you even saying?!" Cried Javier.
"Alright, look, look, look, look- the knob's clever, I'll give him that much, but he's got the humor of a nun's nasty." Mickey casually responded while bumping a large bomb similar to a volleyball.
"Which means...?!" Ximena frantically urged, tightening her body around her teammates out of fear.
"Which meeeeaannns copyin' my quirk was as useful as tits on a bull- he's a stubby short of a six-pack! Ximena's plan is still on!"
After the dust had cleared and the commotion discontinued, both teams were divided by fragments of one-sided warfare while covered in soot, sweat, and lacerations. Their utter disbelief went beyond center stage.
"You've got to be kidding me," Monoma murmured under his breath.
"Unbelievable! All eight students remain on stage after such a hostile attack! Looks like we're in for a double feature, folks!" Declared Present Mic.
"Thought ya' had that one, didn't ya'?" Mickey chided, deflating their arms back into their original state, "Unlike you, I got a hammy sense of humor; I can entertain the lot of ya' for days."
As Monoma's face turned bright red while smoke blew out from his ears, "See? What did I tell you?!" Blurted out Tetsutetsu.
"It doesn't make a difference now," Kendo retorted, wiping the ash from around her mouth, "The sooner we get inside Mickey's head and figure out how they think, the easier this'll be."
"I guess now's as good a time as any?" Asked Estelle.
Once Ximena nodded, the four of them dashed through the obstacles of debris, surprising their opponents, who wound up following through with the same tactic. Shishida and Tetsutetsu, however, had the most difficulty fighting their one-on-ones as they were still disgruntled from their previous engagements.
It didn't take Ximena long to take down Shishida and constrict around his body, bringing him down to the ground once more and watching him struggle to push and scratch his way out of her grasp. *Even just from pricking him, my venom has taken a toll on him.* Cautiously, she tightened her body around him, subjecting herself to hear his growls of pain and frustration.* I'm sorry, Shishida, you'll live through this. You'll be okay.*
He was determined, that Tetsutetsu wasn't going to stop distributing hits to Estelle even though she was quicker and using her quirk to protect her from his attacks.
"What happened to all that fight you had in you earlier, huh?" He taunted.
"If I hit you like that again, I'll end up breaking your bones or worse!"
"So what?! This is a competition, you're supposed to hurt me! Just take a swing already! What are you afraid of?!"
"-Knock it off, goddammit!"
Oh.He couldn't tell whether those dainty sparkles were from her shattering the diamond shield from her cheek or her tears, but his stomach dropped. The heavy fluttering in his chest took his breath away for a moment, and it was the first time he had seen her worked up to the point of tears. It was then he realized, just as his body froze and Estelle lowered herself to lock her arms around his waist, whether she was smiling or crying, he found her pretty.
"Don't be this kind of idiot." She whispered, encasing the lower half of his body in pure diamond.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, "That was a pretty good hit; looks like you're getting better at this." Javier professed, successfully evading Kendo's strike by horizontally dodging rolling.
"Guess it's because you're not too bad of an instructor." Lurching outwards to body-block him from retreating in the opposite direction, her smirk disappeared as soon as he knocked her off her feet and used his legs to throw her back.
"Wouldn't be the first time someone's underestimated the goofy fat kid." He quipped before getting back on his feet and reciprocated his opponent's offenses.
"So ya' think ya' have what it takes to be a cartoon, do ya'?" Mickey sneered, lightly bending a humorously-sized broadsword over their head, "Ha! That's like tryin' get a laugh in a graveyard."
"Well, I figured if you could do it, then any troglodyte could learn how!" Monoma answered with a contempt expression, matching their equipment and tousling the sword around as he spoke.
"Grr- rack off, already!" And they were off. When one's sword broke, they pulled out a knife, then a baseball bat, chainsaw, pitchfork, mallet, boxing gloves, club- anything they could draw out of their hammerspaces they punished each other with, and, unfortunately, anyone else who may be in their way. While focusing on one-upping one another, their stiff concentration would soon be their inevitable dissolution.
Kendo had Javier toe-to-tip as they exchanged blows in hand-to-hand combat; they kept themselves tightly-knit to avoid involving anyone else in their confrontation as much as possible. It was then that Kendo had presumed she'd broken their stalemate as she tripped him up faster than he could return, and if she could disqualify him by knocking him off stage, the odds would be more favorable for their team. What about the others? Would they retaliate harder than they already have? Javier was an indispensable part of their team whether he knew that or not, but the idea was imperfectly tantalizing. All it would take is one solid punch with her quirk.
"Javier!"
There was no going back; if she didn't take the chance now, what could it say about her decisions in the future? His defenses hadn't diminished, but there was an opening somewhere, and she was going to take full advantage of her execution...There it is! After a brief juncture of calculated steps and hard deflects, her large fist made contact with his torso and sent him incessantly. Then it hit her, just as he flew in their line of attack-
"Hey, Monoma," Mickey grimaced, revealing an oversized axe that held significant weight over their own, "Ya' mind if Iaxeyou a question?!"
It wouldn't slow down, and they couldn't make it stop- the moment they brought down their weapon was the beginning of a harrowing memory. It was as though time had slowed down the way their entire team's breath hitched and eyes widened in horror simultaneously; those few seconds felt like an eternity. The most dreadful factor of it all? No one was capable of stopping it. It was too late.
Slash!
His arms from below the elbows- severed, falling lumber on the stage as Ximena and Estelle caught the rest of his body; using her quirk to prevent any acute knockback, Ximena used her poncho to help safely catch him.
There was silence, everybody was frozen in place...
"Ahuevo! We did it!" Javier cheered, his stub arms raised in the air.
"J-Javi'..?" Kendo whispered, trembling with her knees on the uneven concrete.
"What the hell?" Tetsutetsu spoke under his breath as the diamond enclosure crumbled against his legs.
"Hm? I don't understand," he lilted, jumping back onto his feet and standing upright, "you've seen me without my fingers and toes before to use my quirk."
"But your arms..." Agonized Monoma, who was no longer in possession of Mickey's quirk.
"Well, it wouldn't make much sense if lava only came out of some parts of my body, now would it?" As Javier spoke, organic crust began forging from his open gashes and reconfiguring into igneous arms and hands as lava trickled from the layers in between, "I don't normally hack off my body parts unless it's an emergency since the regrowing part is slow and gross-looking, and painful, but since I need to cover a large surface and keep it flowing-" with his hands placed below his knee, he blasted lava from his hands at high velocity until his legs went through the same course of operation. "Besides, Omar shouldn't be the only one to have to use his quirk all the way!"
It was like staring at an effusive rupture, or so they inferred, with the intense heat of molten rock oozing from the crevasses of his limbs forming viscous layers at his feet, watching the pieces of excess skin of their friend begin to shrivel and melt as vog plumed against his sweltering body. If this was only a fraction of what Javier could do, what he could become, what else was his quirk capable of?
"Wow, my lava is usually never this hot! I guess I have Kendo to thank for that!" Mused Javier.
"Looks like things are starting to heat up! How will the U.A. students of Japan get out of this one?!" With his body practically pressed up against the glass, Present Mic questioned out towards the audience.
"Nobody would happen to have a solution for stopping volcanic activity, would they?" Shishida weakly trembled, leaning against his teammates to keep himself upright.
The way Javier moved eloquently through the lava was terrifying yet perplexing, almost as if he was born to handle his dangerous quirk giftedly. With every step and movement, more lava poured out of his body, slowly blanketing the stage and creeping to the other side. With a swift upward kick, a wide cascade of lava bedecked the sky and splattered adjacent to their opponents, moving as fast as they could to prevent the scorching splash back; the measured flow of his arms scattered abundant batches of molten rock in every direction causing the advancement progress to speed up as isolated secretions had started to drip off stage.
"Give 'em a gobful, Javi'! Pompeii those dropkicks!" Shouted Mickey, who, like the rest of their team, was sitting upon a ridged dome of diamonds.
"Fèmen dyol ou, kalmason! Don't act up!" Estelle scolded, lightly smacking Mickey upside the head.
What options did they have left, Kendo thought. Shishida and Tetsutetsu were not in fighting condition but could still move if they needed to. Monoma couldn't copy a quirk without touching the person- even if they'd accomplish getting him over there, Mickey, Ximena, or Estelle could easily counter any of them before they had a chance to retaliate, and what could she do that no one else was competent enough to do? There were only a few choices remaining, and none of them were ideal.
The increasing heat was becoming irritatingly strenuous as sweat drenched their bodies and made breathing onerous, moving together firmly as a group to avoid the hazardous silicate that was shrinking the stage; the edges were already coated, the surface was being laminated at an accelerated pace, and they were being pushed into an unforgiving corner. As Javier raised his hands over his mouth to form a teardrop-shape with the tips of his thumbs, index and middle fingers touching, he deeply inhaled to launch a forcible gush of lava from his mouth and hands that copiously surged the opposite side of the stage. The large, opaque spread was too thick to see past, making the determination of the match unknown, but when he finally ceased his attack, the answer was clear.
They were gone—nothing but banks of lava and melting refuge and no bodies. There was a split second of confusion before the faint sound of whimpers and cries could be heard off to the side where the source was discovered. In his large arms, Shishida exerted the last bit of energy he had to use his quirk to save Kendo, Monoma, and Tetsutetsu- their sheer fright interfering with their mixed emotions.
"All four students on U.A. Japan's team has left the stage on their accord, giving the International team an indisputable win!" Present Mic officiated.
With a smile that gradually stretched from ear to ear, Javier softly gasped as tears began to swell in his eyes until Mickey fished their hand out and grabbed him by the yacolla, bringing him over to the rest of their group. The four of them basked in the roar of victory while gloriously displayed on top of their glimmering podium, showing their appreciation for the audience's emphatic congratulations: Estelle virtuously waved out to the crowd as Ximena emphasized her praise by waving her sombrero in the air, Javier waved meekly to prevent any more lava from spilling out, and Mickey yanked out a flag of Chile from the collar of their hero costume and flew it over Javier, knowing that him holding the fabric would potentially burn the material.
"Dammit, Monoma, this wouldn't have happened if you let Kaibara take fourth place, you selfish prick!" Tetsutetsu snapped.
"You know, last time I checked, this fight was a four versus four." He replied without an ounce of irony in his voice.
Kendo, Shishida, and Tetsutetsu couldn't believe- completely appalled that this was where he stood and what he chose to say after everything that had happened- "Get him!"
"Whew, that certainly was a match, wasn't it, ladies and gentlemen?! Thank goodness I'm not on the cleaning crew 'cause that looks like a hot mess down there, but don't tune out just yet because the final match of the U.A. Battle Royale will commence momentarily!"