Here it is, the ninety-sixth full chapter of Miraculous Quirks released on the right day as promised. It's time for the third battle of the Joint Training arc and the only one without Adrien and Marinette in it so it's going to look a little different from the others as it's the only one without their influence in it. That is all the administrative stuff I have for now though and as there are no review questions to answer or guest reviews to respond to I will end this note here. Do keep the reviews coming as I enjoy hearing from y'all. Now, though, it is time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the 96th full chapter of Miraculous Quirks.
Disclaimer: I do not own either of these great works of fiction.
Chapter 96: Steel, Fire, Ice, and Speed
There was a slight delay before the third match began while Vlad and Aizawa discussed where to put them as the area that had just been used wouldn't be usable for at least 2-3 hours thanks to Komori's mushrooms. Add in the sheer destruction that Fukidashi and Adrien had wrought upon it, and it was for the best to move to a new area.
Well, that and to tell all of the students to try and avoid causing that much damage in the future if they could avoid it. They were going to be heroes one day and learning to keep damage to a minimum, as seen by how Endeavor recently dispatched that Nomu in Kyushu, was important. The one exception was Adrien as his Quirk was literally pure destruction so he kinda couldn't avoid it as much as the others could but his control over Cataclysm was significantly better than it had been in the past which was a good sign.
During that time the members of Class B's second team, Mizosa, Momo, and Tokoyami got the aid they needed from Recovery Girl and were able to return while the rest chatted amongst each other. It was already becoming apparent how little both classes truly knew of each other as they discussed what had happened so far, something they planned to rectify in the future for sure.
Class A had underestimated some of the powers in Class B, mainly the raw strength of Shishida and Fukidashi's ability to create large words, though as he told Hagakure after he'd been healed it made his throat scratchy when he did that, but he was learning to push through it. Meanwhile, the biggest underestimation had been of Adrien, even some of his own class had been surprised by his new level of control and power, not to mention his leadership and quick thinking. He had been the one to turn the tide on Class B in the second match, without him it would have been an utter defeat for Class A.
Naturally he was mobbed a bit by his class in the wake of the match as they celebrated a second win, but it was Kendo, when she'd been healed of the concussion and hairline skull fracture she'd received from Adrien, who approached him with a serious look. She'd been her team's leader and had let them down by underestimating Adrien Agreste so now it was time to understand why.
"Agreste." Kendo said as she reached him where he was being congratulated by Kirishima and Todoroki though both left as she arrived with the latter grouping with his team that would be moving out to their starting point in a moment. "That was some impressive fighting out there. The others told me what happened after I went down, how'd you manage that and I'm not talking about that patch of Field Gamma you reduced to dust. I thought we had a good plan and backups in place but that all fell apart the moment Yaoyorozu was beaten."
"That's because you made the mistake of letting your own personal feelings cloud your judgement." Adrien said simply, it wasn't hard to tell Kendo why she'd failed because he and Momo had in effect exploited it in their own way as part of their winning strategy. "Had you thought past that you would have understood that I was a wildcard out there. You could have prepared for the threat I possessed even without knowing how much I've grown Cataclysm since the Sports Festival."
"My personal feelings?" Kendo asked as she thought on Agreste's words. "You mean my rivalry with Yaoyorozu and desire to challenge her to prove that I am my own hero, right?"
"Yes, that was what blinded you." Adrien said. "It's all good to have those rivalries and you used yours well to counter all that Momo had, put faith in your team to be able to handle the others and understood how lethal Komori can be with her Quirk which produced strong results. Had I not been there then I'm sure you would have won but you let your focus remain on Momo as our leader and main threat to your team without factoring in what I can do."
"I did factor you in, it's why I sent Mizosa after you to distract you so that we could capture the other 4 for the win." Kendo said. "It was when Yaoyorozu spoke French that I realized things weren't as solid as I expected."
"Your plan to occupy me and focus on the others was a good one as you clearly understood that I'd be sparing with Cataclysm at the start given the time limit I have with it, even if you didn't plan for my limit having been extended." Adrien admitted. "Even with Momo's versatility, which you should have factored in more as com devices are a possibility with her Quirk, you set it up to favor you in a straightforward brawl where you had the advantage. After that, you still had the strength to deal with Momo's final obstacle but not to break free from it."
"I'll admit I didn't see the canon or her self sacrifice." Kendo said. "Or expect her to tie me to the canon but what was the point that everything shifted away from us."
"The moment you didn't prevent Momo from tying herself to you and her canon." Adrien said. "Sure, you have the physical strength with your Quirk, but it slowed you down too much which was her plan. Momo knew that even distracted; I would retreat from that distraction if it meant taking out the opposing team's leader so she set it up so that I could do that. Momo had, before the battle began, made a tracker on her body and gave me the corresponding device, so I could find her easily and with an anchor slowing you down, you'd not break free before I reached you to beat you."
"And she no doubt made another in that grab bag of hers." Kendo said as she got the bigger picture of what Yaoyorozu had done. "She understood that you were the real force of the team, that you could take over in a pinch and had the power to win it almost solo. She foresaw all of that and had plans in place to ensure it and even adapted on the fly when she was beaten to make sure her loss wasn't in vain. Her intellect really is amazing."
"Most of it Momo set up." Adrien said. "I just added to it when I saw the second tracker blip by making sure that Tokoyami understood to drop his coms device and googles, the latter had the tracker in it based on what Hagakure had told me, so that I could hear Kuroiro and Komori's plans as well as find them the moment I had you in prison. Without that, I may have missed Kuroiro and while I could handle the other three, if he snuck up on me and got into my costume, that could have been a problem. Even deactivating my costume, I, um, am wearing special underwear that is black as well, so he'd still have an angle of attack on me."
"I see." Kendo said deciding not to think too much on what Agreste had just said and focus on how he beat them. "And you had a counter for Kinoko's mushrooms, what was it? They are organic and you can't affect organic materials so I thought that they wouldn't be an issue."
"True, I can't but my mask is a balance to that." Adrien said holding up his mask that he'd taken off after the battle so that he could replenish his energy with his cheese, retaken from Momo as she was carted off to be healed, and restock the protein tubes in it from the backups he had in a pouch on his belt. "After the gas villain I figured I needed a way to avoid an attack that can penetrate my lungs as that is a weakness I realized I had while also giving me a quicker way to recharge and this was what Hatsume and me came up with. The mask filters out anything it would consider to be a harmful pathogen if it got into a human's lungs and likely recorded Komori's mushroom spores as such."
"Impressive." Kendo said and she meant it as no one else seemed to have really learned from that gas villain she and Tetsutetsu had taken down at the Summer Camp, but Agreste clearly had and used it to overcome a weakness. "Well, thank you for showing me some of my own shortcomings. I won't lose next time."
"I look forward to that." Adrien said as he noticed that the third match was going to start soon, and Monoma was in full rant about it. "But you should probably deal with your classmate, he's getting more unhinged by the round."
"Monoma." Kendo said with a sigh as she went over to chop his neck. "What will we do with you? Be quiet for a moment will you. Sorry guys."
As all this was happening and Class A were grateful for Kendo's actions, Toru had managed to break free of her chat and approached Marinette, who hadn't really been chatting with anyone following the second match. That was to be expected, after the first match most of Class B were rightfully wary of her and she would have already predicted the second one well, but Toru did have to make sure she wasn't on her friend's bad side. With Marinette's power and skills that was a place that Toru really didn't want to be.
"Marinette." Toru said nervously as she reached the French girl her hands rubbing together in front of her. "Um, you're not upset after the last match, are you?"
"Huh, why would I be, Toru?" Marinette asked her friend giving Toru a confused looked before it hit her. "Oh, the ending, right?"
"Yup." Toru said with a nod that Marinette didn't see. "It was the best way and I made sure to be respectful, it's just, you know, it was a princess carry with your man, and I am a girl as well so it might come off the wrong way, but I want you to know that it didn't, I swear it."
"Sometimes in battle you have to make do with what is best for the situation." Marinette said simply, she'd honestly not thought much about it beyond the battlefield application of it as she was just watching the match as a battle so assessed the actions in it as such. "There Adrien knew that the best way to quickly and safely carry you to your final destination was like that and he was respectful given your attire in combat, so that's how I saw it. Plus, it's not like I haven't done that with others as well, I've carried Kaminari, Momo, and you like princesses in the past so it's fine."
"Kaminari's was funny, and he deserved that." Toru said with a giggle though she didn't know when that had happened to Momo but as Momo had done her work study with Marinette and Agreste it was likely during that. "Though you did throw me in the air before you caught me, I haven't forgotten that."
"Again, battlefield assessment required it so I used the best person for the job at the time." Marinette said with a shrug, but she was smiling as she spoke. "I needed to get those beasts to converge on a single spot to allow for Sero and myself the moment we needed to take them out and what better way than to toss something, or more precisely someone given that they were Pixie Bob's Quirk, at them. In that situation you were the only one who made sense as an offering, you're skilled Toru but your uses were limited in that situation hence why you were the best for that role. Besides, I knew I could catch you, so you were always in safe hands."
"Offering is an accurate word there, but I did trust you to catch me." Toru admitted with a sigh, and she couldn't fault Marinette's logic, she was great at scouting and intel but direct battle against dirt monsters wasn't exactly a situation Toru would shine in. "But good, I just wanted to make sure we were good, I don't want to upset you."
"Don't worry Toru, you're fine." Marinette said before she put a hand carefully on Toru's shoulder, she had to use the invisible girl's gloves to estimate it and go high before bringing her hand down and lent in to whisper softly in what she presumed was Toru's ear. "Plus, remember I am French so I can sniff out amour really easily, especially now that I'm no longer distracted by trying to get my own love to like me back. I'm sure if you asked, Ojiro would be more than willing to carry you like that."
"Marinette!" Toru gasped going bright red though of course no one saw that, and she tried to avoid drawing attention to herself.
"I know, you've not admitted it to yourself yet, so I won't push it." Marinette said as she backed away with a chuckle. "And when you do, I'm here for you should you need it."
"Th, thank you." Toru mumbled though she was still nowhere near ready to admit it to herself yet.
"Now let's watch the match." Marinette said as Adrien joined her for the only match one of them wasn't in, and they all turned their attention to the screen. "It's going to be good."
"That it will be." Adrien said with a nod as he analyzed their class's team. "This is a pretty even matchup I'd say."
"How so?" Toru asked curious as Mina fell to the ground for some reason floating though given that she was in a team with Ochaco and Midoriya, and she was their biggest ship captain in the class because it was blatant to all that those two liked each other she'd likely mentioned something along those line which got her floated by Ochaco though Midoriya himself was chatting in a corner with Bakugo and All Might for some reason. "Our team is pretty solid, but Class B's isn't well balanced I'd say, not with those Quirks."
"Balance wise we have the better team, that is for sure." Adrien agreeded. "We've got raw range and power with Shoto, Ida's the speed which as heroes like Hawks have proven can be better than raw power and in a capture match like this his speed will be a decisive factor, Shoji has the scouting and alert system with his Quirk that is arguably the best in the class as it is more versatile than Jiro's, and Ojiro is the close combat specialist for them. On paper, this is arguably our most balanced team."
"Our next team in similarly balanced though." Marinette pointed out. "Bakugo has the range and brains, Sato the close combat raw power, Jiro the scouting with some range as well, and Sero is a capture specialist. I'd say that team 4 could be the most balanced in our class all things considered."
"And they have you." Toru said as the match began. "You're going to be the force of that team and lead them to victory."
"Not necessarily." Marinette said giving Class B a side glance. "But wait until the next match, we'll show it."
"Ok." Toru said eager to see what Marinette meant by that.
"That said." Adrien continued as the third match officially began. "On paper is just that, on paper. In a battle, as we just showed, the key is leadership and understanding how to adapt to any situation and Class B has that on us. Anything can happen in a battle and being flexible to that is important."
"They do?" Toru asked as people started listening to Adrien. "How?"
"Their leader from what I can gather is Honenuki." Adrien said simply as they watched Honenuki suddenly adapt his plan to some destruction that Tetsutetsu was doing which was against what they'd just been told about keeping destruction to a minimum after and then explain how it actually worked to their advantage in lightly accented, English to Tsunotori who'd gotten so worked up she'd defaulted into her native tongue. "And from what I've seen that guy's mind is as malleable as what his Softening Quirk does to inorganic material. Well, that and Kaibara did just say that he was too flexible in his thinking which isn't a bad thing."
"He's a recommended student, each class had two slots for recommended students, and he got one of Class B's." A fully healed Momo said joining in the conversation as the match began as it became clear to everyone that Tetsutetsu had completely destroyed his team's initial plan, and a good portion of the surrounding battlefield, but that Honenuki was adapting to it with ease. "So, he's got to have some battle smarts to get in that way."
"Honenuki is our most flexible member that's for sure." Monoma gloated. "He can adapt and change to any situation which is why we are going to win this battle."
"Exactly, that's not what we have here." Adrien said not rising to Monoma's bait as he spoke. "Ida is the team leader but he's more a planner and organized than a battlefield commander. In a lot of ways, he's like you Momo only you can adapt slightly more on the battlefield thanks to your Quirk as its versatility lends to a versatile mind to maximize it. Ida is pure speed and power in his kicks, he'll do well, and I know he'll make the right calls when needed but in terms of adapting to his opponents or planning around what they can do, I don't think so. As for the others, Shoto isn't a natural leader yet but will be in time while Shoji and Ojiro are specialized in their areas to the point that they lack leadership experience."
"Ha, see." Monoma said laughing. "Even your class acknowledges how you will lose this match."
"No, I'm just saying that in terms of leadership we're lacking in this one." Adrien said calmly. "We have the power and if you can't stop us right at the start this will devolve into a slugfest that could go anyway depending on how much stronger the other class has gotten and the decisions we make in response to what happens."
"Huh?" Toru asked starting to get confused. "What do you mean?"
"Let me put it this way." Adrien said. "Honenuki's Quirk is best as a supportive Quirk, it's got offensive capabilities, but he's got to attack from a distance. Tsunotori has the mobility as she can fly on her horns, but she can only control 4 at once and again it is a ranged Quirk. Kaibara is the counter to Ojiro, he's got the martial background to match based on what I saw at the Summer Camp and his Gyrate Quirk with those support items will be a great matchup for Ojiro's tail, so I expect them to duke it out at some point. Lastly there's Tetsutetsu, he may be one note in a lot of ways, but he's also got the perfect matchup now."
"What do you mean?" Kirishima said as Tetsutetsu's actions got Class A's attention and they spread out before charging towards the area he was destroying.
"You'll see in a moment." Adrien said before sighing as the sudden wave of ice shot out from Todoroki and bore down on the 4 of Class B and froze all four of them in place where they stood. "Because Shoto just made the very mistake I knew he'd make."
"Wait what?" Momo asked staring at Adrien while others praised it but as Adrien was now commentating without any emotion in his voice they were a bit muted there. "You saw that coming?"
"I know Shoto well and of the class his Quirk is the one I've noted the most mainly because he's arguably one of the worst against mine though anything that creates inorganic materials isn't a great matchup for Cataclysm." Adrien said. "So, I understand how it works and I understand his mind better than even he might understand it. Ida should have ordered Shoto to use his fire, that's what I would have done if I was on a team with Shoto."
"Why?" Toru asked now really confused by what Adrien was saying. "It looks like Todoroki has improved as he's frozen all four of them in place without obscuring his line of sight and now they can take all 4 of them at once."
"Honenuki's Quirk." Marinette said getting it as they saw the results and Honenuki himself openly chided Todoroki for it while the others began to break free. "Softening works on solid, inorganic material."
"Exactly and he could easily have guessed that Shoto would use ice to freeze them, it's his go to opener which makes Shoto way too predictable in battle." Adrien said as Ojiro slipped on some softened pipes on the side that clearly had been prepared in advance while the other members of Class B escaped the ice with ease. "And Honenuki's no idiot, he's prepared for this by taking out the footing in random places around them as well as the ground in general to counter Ida's speed and Ojiro's mobility that he has from training and his Quirk. The only one they really can't counter is Shoji but both sides know it so I expect Tsunotori will be assigned to deal with him."
"I get that." Toru said as Kaibara used that to launch his own attack on Ojiro and the pair began a close combat, martial arts, duel that backed away from the ice and into the bowls of the pipes that continued to force Ojiro away from the main battle. "But what about Todoroki? He's one of the best in the class for a reason."
"He is and while Honenuki can assist from a far he's not the best to face Todoroki." Adrien said as Honenuki successfully caught Ida while Ida showed how much he got into the scenario by ranting at Honenuki, using his hero name Mudman, and accusing him of villainy. "But he could tone it down a bit."
"They've negated Todoroki's ice." Izuku said having returned from his conversation with All Might to sit next to Uraraka and comment on what was going on. "So that's half his Quirk rendered almost useless."
"It will take Shoto a moment to think what to do, he's not great at quickly overcoming hinderances to his ice, and that will cost them." Adrien said as they watched Todoroki pause which led to a pair of horns suddenly shooting at them and catching Shoji who was standing behind Todoroki for safety without piercing his skin before lifting him away. "And there it is. She's got some good control over them."
That was proven a moment later when she used another pair of horns to grab Tetsutetsu by the back of his costume and lift him clear of the ice and softened ground to ram him, still in steel form, through a shield of ice to grab a shocked Todoroki's face. It was a clever move and more coordinated that Adrien had expected but it also set up what he had known Class B's team would do.
"Woah so manly." Kirishima said as Tetsutetsu tossed Todoroki down while Tsunotori managed to pin Shoji to a pipe with her horns to hold him there. "He's creating a brawl to use his Quirk at its fullest just like I should have done in the first match."
"It's more than that." Adrien said simply as Ida was now fully encased in the new solidified ground up to his neck and Honenuki made some comment about the time limit of Recipro before going to help Tetsutetsu deal with Todoroki. "He's Class B's…oh ok that's new and completely changes everything."
Everyone watching either gasped, went wide eyed, or just grunted in Bakugo's case, as the ice and ground holding Ida suddenly burst outwards and he was free, his engines roaring at a level none of them had seen before. That was when Ida revealed his new and improved Ultimate Move, Recipro Turbo, the result of tuning his engine using family secrets he didn't share in his rant to the point that he'd maximized horsepower while minimizing fuel consumption. He'd been at full throttle this entire time and could now go at full speed for 10 minutes but in that time he was the fastest out there.
That really changed things, though the fight between Ojiro and Kaibara was still going on elsewhere with Kaibara holding the upper hand and Ojiro only able to block, parry, and counter but against Gyrate and the support items Kaibara wore he was losing it slowly. Still, now the momentum had shifted again as Ida bore down on a stunned Honenuki at full speed, a speed too fast for even Softening to stop.
There was one thing that they all could see; Ida had limited control over his raw speed and the ice wasn't the best footing for him. The trade off though was pure power, the sheer force of which was enough to buffet Honenuki around as Ida kept shooting past him in various staffing runs trying to land a blow but just missing. Finally, Ida managed to stop and line up perfectly on Honenuki but at the same time the full helmet the latter boy wore revealed that it could cover his mouth as well, likely containing a breathing apparatus, so that he could sink directly into the ground as Ida shot past him.
"That was a wise move." Adrien said as Ida shot over where Honenuki had been, and the ice returned to normal as Honenuki left the area which caused Ida to pause. "Not a great idea to leave Ida alone while he's at full speed so can still run to where he's needed the most but there's no way Honenuki can beat that speed so he did the right thing and left a battle he knew he couldn't win. His helmet must allow him to breath so he's likely swimming through the ground underneath Ida's feet to get away before he gets his bearings and goes to help the others in his teak. That is a useful Quirk and smart application of it. I can see why he's a recommended student."
"That's our Honenuki for you." Rin said as Izuku made more notes on all the developments that he was seeing regarding Class B's Quirks and Ida's new level of speed. "No one is as flexible as he is."
"That's our speedster there though." Ochaco said excited for Ida's new move. "He forced Honenuki to flee so now he can got and help the others without hinderance."
"Using Recipro Turbo, he's even faster than Gran Torino is." Izuku said amazed at what his friend had come up with. "Impressive. Ida's been really improving his Quirk lately."
"Well, it's because you started going shoot style and incorporating Ida's kicking techniques, so he had to work hard to stand out as well." Mineta said. "You've pushed him to get better Midoriya."
"As it should be." Marinette said. "We must support and push each other to be the best heroes we can be."
"Hmm, I should ask if he has any new pointers." Izuku said missing the important things but somehow still getting the general gist of it.
"Everyone, Ojiro's in trouble." Mina suddenly said and they all looked to the part of the screen showing his battle with Kaibara that they'd kinda forgotten about in all the other excitement going on. "It's not looking good for him."
It was clear that Kaibara had the upper hand and while Ojiro had the technical talent and mobility on Kaibara, Kaibara had the power and speed advantage over Ojiro. In this fight it was the latter that was winning as Kaibara continued to force Ojiro to only parry and counter and with his speed Ojiro couldn't flee, not that he wasn't trying.
Then, it happened. Ojiro used his tail to grab onto a pipe and swing away but Kaibara slammed his gyrating right arm into a connected pipe to send enough vibrations through it to dislodge Ojiro from his pipe. He then fell back to Kaibara's spinning left hand for the finishing move to take Ojiro out of the battle.
Or at least that would have been the case had Ida not suddenly shot through the pipes at full speed having clearly deduced that he couldn't track Honenuki once he sank into the ground so went to help where he was most needed and grabbed a distracted Kaibara around the waist right before he could hit Ojiro. Then he shot off with a rushed statement about helping the others as Honenuki was going to help his class, so they needed back up while he dumped Kaibara in jail. All Ojiro could do was just hang there for a moment clearly relieved from being saved.
"Good job Ida." Adrien said with a nod of approval as Ida charged off with Kaibara spinning his whole body to try and break free while taunting Ida the entire time but only managing to slow Ida down a bit before he was tossed in Class A's jail. "You've learned a lot since then."
Of those present only Izuku knew what Adrien was referring to and he agreed, it was clear that Ida had learned a lot from Hosu and was no longer jeopardizing his principals in battle for personal reasons. He was focused on the bigger picture, on doing what was right, and had done so by saving Ojiro when he needed it and tossing Kaibara in jail to take the lead rather than hunt down and deal with Honenuki.
What none of them knew was that as Kaibara was dropped off in the prison Ida said as much to Kaibara when he finally responded to Kaibara's taunts. He told the other boy that it was what his brother would have done, that he was doing what he learned from Agreste to do in such a situation. Kaibara responded by calling him a stick in the mud which Ida agreed with before leaving to return to the fight where he was needed the most and boy was he needed.
That was because as all this was going on, Tetsutetsu was showing his skill by punching through any ice that was thrown at him by Todoroki and plowing on until he broke through the last bit and slammed a fist into Todoroki's chest. The force of the blow sent Todoroki flying back but showed his toughness as he slowly got up to face Tetsutetsu as the latter closed in on him.
"That Steel Quirk's really resistant." Sato said as they watched. "He must be freezing but he can still move because of it and it's protecting him from the ice as well so his skin isn't ripped off from it."
"So manly, I'll learn from you Tetsutetsu." Kirishima said seriously.
"Only an idiot would keep blasting ice when it's clearly pointless." Bakugo laughed.
"That's why he's about to change it up." Adrien said calmly as he watched Todoroki prepare his left side. "Which is the right course of action, but he'll now show why this is a great matchup for Tetsutetsu."
A second later Todoroki unleashed a wall of flames right at Tetsutetsu as he approached him. The only times anyone had ever seen Todoroki use his flames on a classmate had been against Midoriya where it was blocked by Cementoss as the battle had gotten out of hand, and against Marinette one match later. Only the second time had anyone actually been hit by the flames and Marinette instinctively grasped her left arm with her right as she recalled the searing heat of the attack she'd taken.
This time, however, it was a full body shot at a cold but still metal covered Tetsutetsu. As it was fire, it tore past Tetsutetsu after engulfing him and caused Tsunotori to run away wailing in English as she did. At that Todoroki sent Shoji after her, a wise move as he could handle her, and it would get him away so that Todoroki could go all out against Tetsutetsu without worrying about hurting his allies. As was about to be seen, he'd need to do that to win this fight.
"As I expected." Adrien said as Tetsutetsu, now glowing red from the heat, burst from the flames with a laugh though the roar of the flames cut out any sound for them, and reached Todoroki in seconds where he began to punch the two-toned boy though it was clear that despite claims otherwise, Tetsutetsu was slowed by the flames. "Shoto's Quirk isn't the best against Tetsutetsu when he's in full steel mode. This match was always going to see this matchup within it, Tetsutetsu is the perfect counter to Shoto."
"How is that possible?" Momo asked as they watched. "That heat looks intense."
"It is intense." Marinette said though she was sure that it was hotter now which only added to her reminder of how much it had hurt to take that fire blast even if she'd managed to keep fighting afterwards. "It's not something you want to experience, trust me. Todoroki's flames easily burned me, and I have an enhanced constitution. Tetsutetsu's steel must be super durable and have a high melting point to withstand them."
"It's a testament to Tetsutetsu's training that he's been able to forge his steel to the point that it has reached at the moment." Adrien said as Tetsutetsu landed a heavy punched to Todoroki's gut. "In a fight, Shoto is one of the strongest in the class but he's not unbeatable. My Quirk is perfectly suited for taking him down as Cataclysm will destroy fire and ice with ease which will allow me to get close to beat Shoto in hand-to-hand combat. Tetsutetsu is similar but blunter, he's so tough that Shoto's average attacks can't affect him right now and thanks to that fire, his ice which is his best precision as he showed against Marinette will melt on Tetsutetsu's hot body."
"So how can he best Tetsutetsu?" Kirishima asked as Tetsutetsu kept hitting Todoroki going for the KO, but Todoroki was still standing despite the blows he was taking.
"He's going to get hotter, hotter than he's ever gotten before." Adrien said as suddenly Todoroki did just that and Tetsutetsu backed off. "It's going to get really intense in a moment."
Adrien was right as a second later flames exploded from Todoroki's left side that were so hot they fried the nearest cameras causing the image to go out for a moment. The other cameras kicked in and they all saw that Todoroki was burning even hotter than before, his right-side steaming as he used the ice there to cool him down.
It was unreal to watch, and many saw the same intensity as Endeavor in his son before them but Adrien just grinned. This was Shoto Todoroki breaking past his limits, both his physical ones and the ones his scumbag father had put on him and becoming a hero in his own right. No doubt Todoroki himself knew that he was doing this as well.
That was very true. At that moment, down in the Field Gamma in the midst of a sea of flames so hot that even Tetsutetsu was nearing the limit of the heat he could take as he struggled against them, Todoroki was going beyond as he pushed himself to the point that he'd burn even himself if he had to. He was remembering all that he'd been through from his father's training, through the matches in the Sports Festival where Midoriya broke down his walls and Dupain-Cheng forced him to use his flames on another human for the first time, to what Adrien had told him after his failure in the Licensing Exam.
He was going to be a hero and a hero in his own right, not one made by his father but one like All Might, like the best out there. He'd surpass them and live up to it all his own way, live up to his friends' expectations of him. He'd seen how Dupain-Cheng had controlled the first fight, how Adrien had shown his own true potential in the second and he knew that Bakugo and Midoriya were still to go and those two could never be taken lightly. This fight was his and Todoroki was going to prove it to the whole Hero Course.
At the same time, Tetsutetsu was showing his own resilience as he slowly pushed through the flames to reach Todoroki, an impressive feat in its own right, and reach him once again. This time it was an endurance match, one that was potentially deadly as Tetsutetsu grabbed Todoroki's left arm and began to knee him in the gut repeatedly as he continued to try and bring Todoroki down. This slug fest was still going on.
Meanwhile, as the class was watching the main battle, Shoji had reached Tsunotori and cornered her though both could feel the heat of the other fight from where they were. This was a team battle, and this was their individual fight as Tsunotori got the high ground, knowing that she'd not outrun Shoji so was determined to best him. Both were fighting to win and after a little banter they attacked each other with their Ultimate Moves.
For Tsunotori it was her Thunder Horn attack, a rapid firing of her horns as fast as she could replace them at a fixed target. Shoji defended against this with his melee move, Octoblow, where he used his Dupli-Arms to create a forest of fists that could punch all at the same time and had the strength to break Tsunotori's horns while also showing that he was more than just a scout and recon specialist.
What came next was a slow walk forward for Shoji as he closed in on Tsunotori, but she was just distracting him as she sent one horn out to go for his back. Alas for her, Shoji wasn't the best scout in the class for nothing. While he'd made many fists, he hadn't used all his tentacles on hands but had made eyes and ears as well to keep up a full 360-degree view around him. As such, he saw both the horn and his backup arriving.
Using this knowledge, he was able to catch the horn with one of his hands behind his back before thanking his backup for arriving. At that, Ojiro, who'd come to aid now that Kaibara was in jail, leapt down at Tsunotori with his own Ultimate Move, Twirling Tail Dance.
Tsunotori tried to counter him, but he broke through the two horns she'd sent at him with his Ultimate Move, grabbed the new ones that grew before she could fire them, and then wrapped his legs and tail around her upper body to hold her in place. Without her horns she wasn't a threat to them, and he could hold her long enough for Shoji to use his many hands to replace him and take her to the prison.
Course this all got Tsunotori so flustered that she started speaking in English at her predicament and complained about how ordinary it was. However, even with this, she knew that she would be ok as she too had been holding off her opponent long enough for backup to arrive, in her case it was Honenuki.
Suddenly the entire area was softened, and they all fell into it, along with the thing that Tsunotori and Ojiro were on top of, as Honenuki appeared from the ground behind Shoji to rescue Tsunotori. He controlled his Quirk long enough that all three of the others sank into the ground to their necks before he dove into the ground again and swam to Ojiro's tail to pull it off and free Tsunotori.
Naturally that was when Ojiro revealed his second Ultimate Move, Fist of the Tail: Swamp Smack Spin to create so much centrifugal force, all while still holding Tsunotori's horns, that he was able to expel Honenuki from the ground as well as Shoji. Shoji used his Dupli-Arms to grab a beam and pull himself to safety, as well as lift Ojiro and a still captured Tsunotori out of the ground by Ojiro's collar, but Honenuki wasn't as lucky as he was hurled back first into a large, vertical pipe. The only thing that kept the boy in the fight was the protective armor on his costume.
Still, it all played to Tsunotori who had somehow found four of her horns that she could control that hadn't been broken. First a pair burst from the softened ground and lodged point first into Ojiro's tail that was he'd wrapped back around her upper body the moment his move was over.
"I won't let you go." Ojiro said through the pain. "This won't stop me."
"I don't need you to let go of me; in fact, this works better." Tsunotori said with a grin as two more horns rose from the much and slammed into Ojiro's tail as well and the force of all four being moved at the same time was too much for Shoji's grip and they were blasted back and towards Class B's prison as Shoji just hung there with a shocked look on his face. "With the power of my four horns, I'll send you straight to the slammer!"
Tsunotori had shown incredible coordination and knowledge as she used the horns to direct them through the maze of pipes as she spoke and then into an open area that had her class's prison. Without slowing down they slammed back first into and then through the door of Class B's prison with enough force to rip it from its hinges the wrong way as Tsunotori finished her rant. There was a boom and a cloud of smoke but as Vlad noted this counted as a capture as Ojiro was now in the prison, so it was now 1-1.
That end of that exchange had been watched by the classes in amazement as it distracted them from the slight distance footage, all the nearby cameras had been fried by the heat, that showed the continued battle between Tetsutetsu and Todoroki. They boys were more or less grappling now as their moves were slow and sluggish on screen from all the damage they'd taken or in Tetsutetsu's case the heat he was keeping in his body. No one spoke as they watched them face off, Todoroki taking another blow, before suddenly the heat was again increased as Todoroki embraced his father's words on fire.
This time it was as if all the fire had been coalesced to Todoroki's left fist as he raised his hand, and the heat was such that Tetsutetsu backed away again as it was finally beyond what his steel could handle. There was an explosion and suddenly the only flames were in Todoroki's fist while a lot of the surrounding area was blown away. It looked like he had it now and Tetsutetsu was past his own limits as his metal had finally fallen.
Naturally that was the moment that Todoroki's left foot suddenly sank into the softened ground as once again Honenuki showed his skills as a support specialist by popping up from the ground behind Todoroki as he began to sink into the ground. The support was just what Tetsutetsu needed as he swayed where he stood while things around them were destabilizing by the softened ground. Suddenly, a pipe fell down and struck Todoroki in the back of the head. That was it for him after all the blows and they watched as Todoroki passed out as he fell face first into the softened ground.
It seemed like Honenuki had come at just the right time to best Todoroki and trap him in hardened ground but a second before he could do that so that they could properly capture him there was a flash on the screen from behind him. Before anyone could react, Ida, still at full speed, finally made contact with Honenuki, kicking him in the side of the head with a glance blow but the power of it was so great that it obliterated half of Honenuki's helmet.
The biggest upside was now Honenuki now couldn't dive but he had more pressing concerns, mainly that the blow was so strong that he was almost knocked clean out from it. It wasn't even a direct hit, but the power afforded Ida by his speed and reinforced by the armor of his costume had been enough to destroy the left half of Honenuki's helmet and bring him the edge of unconsciousness. In fact, Honenuki knew that he'd pass out from it very soon.
Thankfully for Todoroki, who was face down in the softened ground, Honenuki was still conscious at the moment because once the Class B boy lost consciousness anything softened went hard again. As such, Ida was able to skid into it to pick up an unconscious, steaming, Todoroki. Tetsutetsu was annoyed at this interruption of their fight, but Ida had learned, and his priority was rescue. Tetsutetsu and Honenuki were on the brink of unconsciousness themselves so he could get Todoroki clear and come back for them.
"Ida's really learned." Adrien said as they watched Ida shoot off, past a battered Tetsutetsu and to safety carrying Todoroki. "But he's not out of it yet."
"He isn't?" Marinette asked.
"Look at Honenuki." Adrien said pointing and they saw Honenuki on all fours clearly struggling to stay conscious but pushing his limits for one last move, a parting shot before he passed out. "He's going to do all he can to stop Ida before he passes out. This is the Hero Course after all."
That was proven as Honenuki crawled to a large silo thing and placed his hand on it to soften the entire thing and the contents inside it. He then called out to Tetsutetsu who also used the last of his strength to turn to steel again and run head first into it. Literally, he used his head as a battering ran as he slammed into the silo thing, the force of the impact causing the softened structure to shiver and then topple over.
Thanks to how Ida was running, the structure would fall down on top of him and spill its contents over him in a large soften pile of goop that would then harden the second Honenuki lost consciousness. Ida was running as fast as he could, but he just wasn't fast enough, Kaibara's efforts to slow him down en route to prison had worked as Ida's timing was such that he couldn't outrun the structure. It was close but the thing collapsed on top of him and there was a huge plume of dust from it that had everyone waiting with bated breath for the results.
"This…is a fight." Vlad said from his commentary position his grip on the microphone in his hand tightening as they all waited for the images to appear.
That came a moment later when they saw that all 4 boys were down. Honenuki, Tetsutetsu, and Todoroki were all unconscious, the first two on their chests and the latter on his side after Ida had tossed him to safety.
As for Ida, he was still conscious but the only parts of him visible were his head, right arm, and left-hand fingers as he'd just failed to outrun the structure, that was now hard again but an amorphous blob on top of him with bits of silo wall and piping lodged into it. Only Adrien, Sato, Shishida, and Izuku had the raw power to free him from such confines, while Mina, Marinette, and Momo likely could get them out with their Quirks but as none of them were in this battle Ida was official stuck and out of the fight.
This whole thing was compounded by the fact that despite 4 combatants now clearly unable to continue they weren't technically out in terms of the score as none were in prison. There wasn't much time left but there were still two combatants active and able to fight. Everyone turned to watch Tsunotori and Shoji finish the match themselves. All the while there was still the biased commentary about how Kaibara was the real MVP of the match for slowing Ida down enough to ensure he got trapped.
It was all down to those two who were both moving towards the crash site. Tsunotori had the lead as she was flying on two of her horns that were under her hooves and she reached it first, acting without hesitation as she sent out two more horns to grab Todoroki and carry him to her so that she could carry him as she flew. She then sent the same horns back to pick up Honenuki and Tetsutetsu by their costumes to keep them from Shoji.
"What's she going to do?" Marinette asked as they watched.
"Stall." Adrien said simply as he saw Tsunotori's dilemma in her eyes and worried face as she flew away from a rapidly approaching Shoji. "As we saw earlier, in a battle of brute force she can't beat Shoji and with all that weight she can't outrun him before she puts Todoroki her prison, or at least before Shoji can grab Honenuki and Tetsutetsu and take them to our prison which would give us the win."
"Oh, so she's…" Marinette began before she was cut off by Tsunotori going high into the sky and out of Shoji's reach. "Going to do that."
"Ah man." Kirishima said.
"Shoji can't fly with his Quirk." Sato said as Bakugo just tisked at the whole thing. "So now what?"
"She waits the time out." Adrien said simply. "She has all the cards in this situation and knows that she can just ride it out from where she is seeing as Shoji can't reach her. She can ensure that Shoto stays unconscious or at least is dropped should he come too and protect herself and her teammates from Shoji at the same time."
"What but the whole purpose is to throw the other team into training jail." Mina said annoyed.
"Tsunotori won't win." Izuku said as he pointed to the timer. "But she's made it so that they don't lose either. This match will be a draw."
All they could do now was watch as the last 15 seconds ticked down on the timer with frustration. It was an anticlimactic way to end an epic match but in the end it came to that as the timer hit zero and a claxon sounded to signal the end of the third battle.
"The third match has ended in a tie." Vlad announced as Shoji clenched his actual left fist in frustration and Tsunotori landed atop one of the silo things in that area with the three unconscious boys. "Each team put away one person and that is it so it's officially a draw. Um, can we get the droids there to help out, we've got more injured and unconscious kids to take care of."
"Ah man that's so unsatisfying." Kaminari said.
"In an actual encounter running away and awaiting rescue is a reasonable option." Shishida said. "One I myself didn't heed when I should have."
"Admittedly, you had the power on me, so I understand why you stayed." Marinette said. "You just didn't knock me out fast enough."
Shishida just nodded at that. He'd discuss his loss to Dupain-Cheng and where he went wrong so that he could improve himself with her when he had a moment but for now there was still some cleanup to do, and the fourth teams had to go get to their spots in yet another new sector of the training field given a second match with serious destruction in it.
"Fourth teams, head to your starting points." Aizawa said before looking to Mage. "Mage, I assume you can clear that debris from Ida faster than the robots can so please assist there so that he can be quickly healed."
"Sure." Mage said as he headed off into the battlefield to free Ida while the others were being taken to the medical center. "I'll give it to him; he did the right thing tossing Todoroki to safety rather than try and finish outrunning that falling silo. I see a lot of his brother in him."
"Ida was so cool at the end." Izuku said as the fourth teams headed off.
"Yeah and as, that was a tie we are certain that we can't lose the overall score." Ochaco said.
"That may be the case." Monoma said as he began to laugh, his back arched and his eyes crazier than they'd been all day. "Oh, you have no idea how much I've been looking forward to this next matchup, it's going to be fantastic. Why might you ask? Well, I'll tell you, it's because our beloved Setsuna Tokage is in it, so Bakugo best watch out. She's our other recommended student and she can be a real nasty piece of work."
"True." Adrien said as Izuku tensed at that ready to see Kacchan in the coming match. "But as this is a 5 on 5 again you're forgetting one thing. My lady is also in this match and in a head-to-head Tokage can't beat Marinette. Just watch Monoma, this next match won't last 10 minutes, I promise it."
That silenced Monoma as they all settled in to watch the fourth match the moment everyone was in position. So far things had been interesting to say the least but that would pale to what was about to come as the joint training exercise continued.
Well, there it is, the one match that is unchanged from the anime only this time more or less told through the eyes of Adrien and the others watching it rather than focusing on the battle itself hence why this chapter is so much shorter than the last two and different in style. Y'all know what is coming next so there's no point in mentioning it, just look forward to next week's chapter and how the additions of Marinette and an OC trying to make it into Class B factor into Bakugo's match. Lastly, just as a fun aside as this on the third match where it was revealed that Honenuki was one of the two recommended Class B students, his status as recommended was actually revealed back in season 3 during the Provisional Licensing Exam as during the whole Todoroki and Yoarashi debacle a flashback to the recommended exam is seen and Honenuki is one of the 4 other kids with those two in the practical. Just thought I'd mention that as I myself missed it the first time around. Anyway, that is all I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. As always, if you like it or have any questions please let me know in reviews or PMs, I will try to answer them as best I could and post any questions asked between uploads at the start of the next chapter and do follow and favorite this, so you are alerted to future uploads. Do keep the reviews coming as I like hearing from y'all as you enjoy my work, it motivates me to keep producing the best work I can for y'all to enjoy. Until next time.
Stringdog
