Chapter 28: Fly Like an Eagle

"Wait for it…" I muttered as almost all of the nineteen other teams either charged at us or chased after those who did so.

My finger hovered over the jetpack's launch button as I watched the other students approach. Once they had closed within a few dozen yards, Dark Shadow unfurled from within Tokoyami, the shadowy duo watching diligently for any ranged assaults that may come after we took flight.

"Now!" I yelled over the crowd.

I pushed the button and Hatsume's equipment roared to life, propelling us through the air and over our flabbergasted opposition. Rin, Jiro, Pony, and Sero took pot shots as we flew over but Dark Shadow batted them away easily. Noticing a glint out of the corner of my eye, I lashed out with my hand, tossing Pony's boomeranging horns away in a gust of wind, earning a shout of frustration from the American exchange student.

So far so good.

Soaring across the battlefield, the hover boots on Uraraka's feet whirred to life, cushioning our landing. I grinned as most of the teams we had left behind on the other end of the arena abandoned their chase, opting instead to turn upon one another.

In fictional media like anime or manga, the dimensions of the battlefield are constantly changing in accordance with the whims of whoever is drawing the scene, but here it's fixed. This arena is massive, so it makes sense to cover all of it in order to give ourselves some breathing room.

The unexpected use of Hatsume's support equipment bought us several minutes while the various teams that bothered with pursuit jostled for position or were intercepted by other groups. The first to make their way over to us was Shoji, who admittedly looked quite intimidating with his appendages formed into a kind of turtle shell over his back.

"There, Dark Shadow! Shoji is carrying Mineta, watch out for any balls he throws at us!" I called out, receiving an acknowledgement from the bird as it expanded to completely shield us from the approaching heteromorph.

This is easier than I expected. The sheer size of the field enables us to buy far more time than in the anime, and most of the teams probably realize that we can just do the exact same thing as soon as they run all the way back over here. That said, with the fighting beginning to spread out, we'll have to be careful not to land on top of a team that is able to pin us down.

With several teams closing on our position and Mineta beginning to throw his balls at a prodigious rate, I aimed as far away from Todoroki's lurking team as possible and launched us back into the sky, Dark Shadow hissing in annoyance as he swatted away yet another volley of Mineta's balls.

Before we even made it halfway across the field, my jetpack began to splutter, and we rapidly descended.

"Baby!" Hatsume cried out worriedly. "Does it need some upgrades?" She questioned tenderly.

Shit, already? Didn't that happen later? Is it because we're covering more distance?

A sudden explosion erupted from below and I whipped my head around to see Katsuki rocketing towards us.

"Don't think for a second you're safe!" He roared, reaching a hand out as rippling explosions began to appear on his hands.

Narrowing my eyes in irritation, I channeled One for All through me and slammed my palms together between myself and Bakugou.

Idaho Smash!

The shockwave sent us careening away and ragdolled Katsuki back towards the ground. As we hurtled towards the Earth, Uraraka frantically reoriented us so that her hover boots could slow our descent.

I watched Sero catch Bakugou with his tape an instant before the latter crashed into the dirt before turning my attention back to my team. "Only six more minutes, guys! Uraraka, how are you holding up?"

Though her face was pale and the nausea was severe enough for her to remain silent, Uraraka nevertheless gave a determined thumbs up as we raced across the field, attempting to keep as much distance between Todoroki's team and our own as possible.

I shouldn't have done that. I wanted to keep Dark Shadow at full strength, but I sent us off course, and it's hard on Uraraka when she has to do midair maneuvers levitating so much weight, especially with the extra equipment I had Hatsume bring. Now we're practically surrounded. I realized apprehensively as several teams began to box us in towards the edge of the field.

I grimaced when I realized that not only had my mistake put us down too close to several other groups, but we were well within engagement range of Todoroki, who had spent the first few minutes of the event fighting off a cluster of non-hero teams. As they beelined straight for us, I saw the tell-tale glow of Creation light up Yaoyorozu's right arm and stomach while arcs of electricity simultaneously began to flicker across Kaminari's body.

"Here it comes! Hatsume, now!" I cried out as a massive tarp emerged from Momo's torso, Todoroki yanking it across to cover the two of them and Iida.

With a maniacal laugh, Hatsume reached over her shoulder, grasping the long metal rod attached to her backpack and throwing it out just in front of us.

"Deploying grounding anchors!" She announced gleefully as small cables shot out of the belts attached to all three of our teams 'horses' and into the ground.

"Indiscriminate Shock, One Point Three Million Volts!" Kaminari screamed as electricity lanced out in all directions.

The makeshift lightning rod between ourselves and Kaminari spared us most of the shock that ravaged the other teams nearby, but I still felt my muscles twitch and my hair stand on end.

"Your plan worked, Midoriya. Dark Shadow remains largely unharmed." Tokoyami informed me, the frazzled feathers on his head giving him a rather humorous appearance.

An instant later, ice swept across the field, trapping the stunned teams that had been pursuing us. Iida increased the power to his engines and began rapidly closing the distance between our teams while Todoroki put up walls of ice to enclose the area and lock out any aspiring interlopers.

"Oh, no! They're too fast! We can't get away!" Uraraka exclaimed as she attempted to propel us backwards with the hover boots.

Dark Shadow lashed out towards Iida and Yaoyorozu, but the latter immediately created a pair of shields that deflected the shadow's strikes.

Tokoyami tensed beneath me and his voice became slightly strained. "Dark Shadow can't get past Yaoyorozu and we can't attack Kaminari directly or he'll use his quirk again!"

"Deku, we're almost at the edge of the arena!" Uraraka shouted.

Thinking quickly, I decided on our plan of action. My team doesn't know about Recipro, but I can recognize the signs when Iida is about to use it. We just need to delay long enough that Iida plays his trump card. If we can negate that, this is effectively over.

"Uraraka, keep us on Todoroki's left side so he and Yaoyorozu can't use their quirks to attack us. We'll also need to keep our distance from Kaminari. Expect Iida to push his speed to the limit in order to close the distance as quickly as possible."

As Present Mic announced that the event had entered its final minute, Todoroki's team came to a halt and Iida looked back to say something to his teammates.

"Here they come! Hatsume, caltrops!" I yelled.

With a wicked grin, a small tube extended from Hatsume's backpack and fired a shell out in front of us, the casing exploding a second later to scatter razor sharp caltrops across the field.

I saw Iida blink in surprise at the unexpected obstacle, but instead of hesitating, his expression set with deep determination and he lowered into his Recipro stance.

He isn't backing down. Time for Plan B, then.

"Dark Shadow, surround my head!" I cried out as Iida's engines flared to life.

My heartbeat thundered in my ears and time slowed to a crawl. Todoroki's team catapulted forward, Yaoyorozu and Kaminari left completely at the mercy of their rollerblades as Iida dragged them along after him. A fraction of a second before they reached us, my vision was engulfed in darkness. An instant later, a searing heat scorched the left side of my body and I heard a shriek of pain before Dark Shadow recoiled away from me, whimpering pitifully as it curled itself against Tokoyami's chest.

Blinking both in surprise and from the rapid changes in light exposure, I checked to ensure that my headband was still in place. Confirming that it was, I looked down to ask my teammates what had happened only to find them staring wide-eyed behind us. Turning to follow their gaze, I watched Iida come to a screeching halt at the edge of the field as the last flickers of fire dissipated from Todoroki's left arm.

He used his fire on Dark Shadow?

Quickly shaking off my surprise, I hurriedly instructed my team to turn and face our opponent, only to relax somewhat when Todoroki remained motionless, staring in disgust at his left arm.

"Todoroki, what do we do now?" Yaoyorozu questioned in panic.

When she received no response, Momo turned to Iida with the same question, only to find that he too was rooted to the spot, gaping at me in stunned silence.

Rumbling booms from behind us drew our attention away from Todoroki's paralyzed team just as Bakugou demolished a section of the ice wall entrapping us. The blonde's eyes immediately focused on me and he blasted forward, his teammates desperately attempting to catch up.

"Deku!" Katsuki bellowed as he descended towards us.

Finally snapping out of his haze, Todoroki commanded his team forward, but with Iida's engines stalled and his feet pierced by multiple caltrops each, they were all but immobilized.

With Bakugou approaching rapidly, I prepared another Idaho Smash, channeling One for All throughout my body.

The buzzer blared and Present Mic's booming voice echoed through the stadium. "Time's up!"


Author's Note:

Next chapter, we get the first of several 'Therapy with Izuku!' sessions.