Chapter 11 - Cold Medicine
Compared to the first battle, the second ended much quicker.
Beginning the match, Jiro used her powers in order to figure out where the heroes were. Sero and Kirishima rushed downwards, following Jiro's directions to find Ashido, Tokoyami, and Asui. Once they arrived into the 3v2, the combined might of the three heroes allowed them to take out Kirishima, but Sero used his mobility to get out of there. Ashido and Asui, however, followed due to their equally speedy mobility in order to find out where the weapon was, while Tokoyami followed close behind.
Ashido and Asui made their way into the weapon room alongside Sero, but Kaminari and Jiro were stationed and waiting. Kaminari, first and foremost, shocked Ashido as soon as she entered the door. Asui tried to use her tongue to make contact with the weapon in front of her, but Jiro used her quirk to launch a massive soundwave attack which stopped Asui from doing so, unfortunately also mildly damaging Kaminari in the process.
They'd tie up Ashido quickly, and then also take out Asui in a similarly quick fashion, which caused a 1v3 against Tokoyami to commence. Tokoyami put up a good effort with Dark Shadow, going as far as to take out Sero, but thanks to the injured Kaminari's electricity, which produced light, he and Jiro were able to take out Tokoyami, securing the villain's victory. Jiro would be crowned the match's VIP due to her brilliant usage of her quirk, as well as her being able to take out many of the key figures in the match.
Finally, it was time for Team C versus Team F… but this match was to be even shorter than the last.
Team F entered the building first, as they were the villains, while Team C stood outside and formulated a plan.
"Sato, Shoji, what quirks do you both have?" Chopper asked, working on some sort of potion as he did so.
"My quirk," Shoji began, "Is known as 'Dupli-Arms'. It gives me this set of arm-like tentacles, which can sprout duplicates of my other body parts, such as eyes, hands, you name it. The body parts I sprout also are enhanced, so they have more than just typical human capabilities."
"And my quirk," Sato began, "Is 'Sugar Rush', which allows me to convert sugar into pure power… but I'll become less intelligent when I use it."
"Hm…"
"You got a plan?" Shoji asked Chopper, who was deep in thought.
"I think I just might!" Chopper excitedly answered, "And you guys are the perfect fit to execute it!"
Meanwhile, inside their hideout, Team F was having an entirely different discussion, as Todoroki had already analyzed each of his team's quirks.
"One second." Todoroki stated with a cold confidence, as he used his quirk in order to block off the weapon entirely with a massive ice wall. Since he did so in such a casual manner, Ojiro and Hagakure both looked at Todoroki with slight fear and slight awe (not that you could tell with the latter), but Aoyama was too distracted by his own beauty to be fearful.
Todoroki began to state his plan.
"The plan is simple." Todoroki stated, "Hagakure, you'll watch the floor below. Alert us once you spot the heroes, and keep eyes on anyone who escapes."
"Got it! The gloves are coming off!" Hagakure responded, taking off her gloves and shoes, to the slight embarrassment of Ojiro.
"Ojiro, Aoyama," Todoroki began, addressing both in unison, "You'll act as back-up here near the weapon, making sure that any of the heroes don't get near it."
"And what'll you be doing, Todoroki?" Ojiro asked.
"I'll be stationed here as well, at least at the beginning." Todoroki explained, before he elaborated further, "Since none of you can take him, I'll pursue Chopper once Hagakure gets a read on his position and take him out myself."
"Are you sure you can handle that, Todoroki?" Hagakure asked.
"Of course." the icy-hot boy tactically responded, without a single doubt in himself despite the fact that he was only going to use half of his power.
"That could work…" Shoji responded after listening to Chopper's plan, "But we'd have to be careful not to accidentally target the weapon."
"Oh crap, you're right!" Chopper said, shock entering into his face.
"It's fine." Shoji stated, quickly improvising, "I'll come with you to guide your aim."
"Oh, awesome then!" Chopper stated, "Any other complaints?"
Both Shoji and Sato shook their heads.
"Alright! Then let's get ready to go!"
"Hagakure… they've entered. Be on your guard." Todoroki warned.
"Alright." Hagakure whispered.
Hagakure would be stationed on the sixth floor of the building, far to the right and closer to the back than the front, but mostly in the center. The staircase to the next floor, which housed the weapon, was right behind her, and to her left, there was an open door into an empty room, which Hagakure was to enter when she spotted any of the heroes.
On the floor above, the weapon was housed at the far left near the front; the opposite of the staircase Hagakure was guarding. There, Todoroki stood straight ahead, on his guard and ready to fight any who were to oppose him. Behind him were both Aoyama and Ojiro, who were similarly on their guard, despite them believing they wouldn't have to do that much due to the strength of Todoroki's quirk. Plus, Todoroki's ice wall was also right behind them, blocking the weapon from even being in any foe's line of sight.
A few seconds passed without anything, but suddenly, a cautious figure rounded the corner to enter into the hallway Hagakure was guarding with a bag of something in his hand. He looked around, and began to approach the staircase that Hagakure was guarding. Stealthily, Hagakure ducked into the room on the left, and whispered loudly into her communications device,
"Sato is coming up alone, with a bit of cotton candy in his hand!"
Todoroki, upon hearing this, was confused, "Alone? Best be prepared regardless-"
But as he said this, suddenly, the floor fell out from under him.
"W-what?!" Todoroki thought, as he fell through the floor. While he did so, he was quickly attacked by Chopper, who rammed into the boy with his Walk Point, knocking him back.
"How the hell did he target me and only me?" Todoroki thought, as he looked upwards to see that Sato, who was holding something pink, was above, rushing towards Ojiro and Aoyama, who were both guarding the weapon.
Todoroki, fearful of any potential plan which Sato might have had, quickly unleashed a massive burst of thin ice (similar to the one used in canon against Ojiro's team), immobilizing everyone except Chopper, who had dodged using his Jump Point.
Chopper then used his position to leap at Todoroki, as Todoroki, quickly reacting to this turn of events, launched a pillar of ice straight towards Chopper.
"Todoroki, unfreeze us!" Ojiro's voice shouted from the top floor.
"Busy now!" Todoroki shouted back, focused.
Despite Todoroki's previous attack blocking Chopper from progressing further towards him, with a "CLOVEN CROSS!", he was able to force his hooves forwards, and break through Todoroki's ice, catching him off guard, but… he couldn't do anything, not while he was suspended in midair!
"If I wanna capitalize on this, then I have to use that form!" Chopper thought, "KUNG FU POINT!"
The new Kung Fu Point was an entirely new transformation Chopper found he had once he mastered the usage of his Devil Fruit without the Rumble Ball. With his new transformation, Chopper's weight increased, allowing him to quickly make his way onto the ground. This placed him directly in front of Todoroki, in a keen position to strike the boy.
Todoroki, now cornered, momentarily turned on his flames, causing Chopper to hesitate, as although he was used to the cold temperatures of the Drum Kingdom, if Todoroki cranked up the heat, he was done for! But… Todoroki turned them off the instant afterwards… he couldn't use that now.
Todoroki attempted to use another ice pillar to hit Chopper, but beyond just his hesitation, Chopper's Kung Fu Point was just too fast!
Todoroki was hit square in the chest, staggering backwards Todoroki.
"It's… it's not over yet!" Todoroki stated.
"THE HERO TEAM… WINS!" All Might shouted, to the surprise of Todoroki, but not to anyone on the hero team… this went all according to Chopper's plan.
"Basically," Chopper began explaining the plan to both Shoji and Sato, as he was working on what looked to be a chemistry experiment in the middle of explaining, "I was thinking, Todoroki's going to be our main problem on the enemy team, right?"
"Yeah… so how do you plan on dealing with him?" Shoji asked.
"Simple. First, we want to scout out the position of Todoroki and the weapon, which you'll be able to do with your quirk before we enter, Shoji." Chopper explained, "Once we get that, I'll get into position on the floor below Todoroki is. I'll break the floor below, and then he'll be isolated."
"That could work…" Shoji responded after listening to Chopper's plan, "But we'd have to be careful not to accidentally target the weapon."
"Oh crap, you're right!" Chopper said, shock entering into his face.
"It's fine." Shoji stated, quickly improvising, "I'll come with you to guide your aim. I'll extend my arms out the window and search for a window in the room above us to keep an eye on Todoroki."
"That works out great then!" Chopper said, "Just make sure to run off and try to join Sato after the floor's broken."
"Got it." Shoji responded.
"What'll I be doing then?" Sato asked.
"You've got the most important part!" Chopper noted, "While me and Shoji will be focused on getting down Todoroki, you'll run ahead, and get to the room with the weapon!"
"What about the other three besides Todoroki?" Sato questioned, as once he finished, Chopper handed Sato a piece of cotton candy he kept in his backpack filled with other medical equipment.
"Take this if you feel threatened. Once Shoji's done with me, he'll come to help you out with them." Chopper explained, "Of course, we can't be sure that everything will go to plan, that's why I made this!"
Chopper gave a vial of an unknown substance to both Shoji and Sato.
"What's this supposed to be?" Sato questioned.
"It's a sort of antidote which is meant to combat those with ice De- I mean, quirks, sorry." Chopper explained, "It'll take a little bit, but it should melt any ice in your path."
"How did you know how to prepare this?" Shoji asked.
"Back in the Grand Line, I encountered someone with who had a logia-type quirk which allowed him to turn into ice and use it for combat, and that ice is pretty similar to Todoroki's quirk," Chopper explained, capturing both Shoji and Sato's attention, "They hurt a lot of my friends back then… which is why I've gotta become stronger, and learn of new medicines and treatments, so that I can protect them."
Upon hearing Chopper's motivation, Sato and Shoji both smiled, the latter underneath his mask.
"Sounds like you've got the spirit of a true hero." Shoji said through his aforementioned smile.
"What?! Are you trying to make-"
"Infiltration successful!" Sato said, as the heroes had just entered the hideout alongside Chopper.
"Shoji! Do you know where the missile is yet?" Chopper asked outside the window.
"Yeah… seventh floor, far left hand side. The stairs on the fifth floor leading to the sixth will take us to the center room, so we'll split up from Sato after we exit it." Shoji stated, adding on a bit at the end, "Todoroki seems to be playing defense, but let's still be careful."
Having just split up from his friends, Sato rounded the corner which would lead him up the stairs and up to the seventh floor. He continued to walk forwards, and then, heard a noise, which he assumed to be nothing.
Meanwhile, Chopper and Shoji were together. Shoji had positioned his eyes outside of the weapon room, and was staring at Todoroki.
"Adjust your aim a little bit forwards." Shoji stated, speaking to Chopper in his current Jump Point form.
"Like this?" Chopper asked.
"Perfect." Shoji responded, as he was prepared to run, "Go whenever you're ready!"
"Right!" Chopper stated, as he jumped into the air, transforming into his Arm Point once he reached the ceiling to create a massive hole in it, reaction dropping Todoroki in the process. Shoji then ran away, intent on joining the others.
Back with Sato, he ran into the weapon room, cotton candy in hand, prepared to take on both Ojiro and Aoyama.
"Can't see Hagakure… but, I gotta have faith that Shoji'll have my back!"
"Get ready Aoyama!" Ojiro yelled.
"Oui!" Aoyama responded
"It's now or never!" Sato thought, as he decided to rush in and throw caution to the wind, however, within seconds his body was frozen over, as he was stuck, but thankfully, so were both Aoyama and Ojiro.
"Oh non!" Aoyama cried.
"We can't move, otherwise we'll lose our feet!" Ojiro exclaimed, as the entire room was covered in frost.
However, Sato knew that Chopper had already thought of the perfect solution. With cotton candy still in his hand, Sato awkwardly fumbled around in his belt, where he obtained the antidote which firmly rested there. Before he could do anything with it, Aoyama shot his laser, destroying the antidote and splashing it right between Sato's feet, as the ice in between slowly melted away, but not the ice on his feet itself.
"Nice moves, Aoyama!" Ojiro stated, as Aoyama simply flipped his hair and said.
"Merci!"
"Now all we have to do is get free oureslves…" Ojiro began, before shouting down in the hole below, "Todoroki! Unfreeze us!"
"Busy now!" Todoroki shouted back.
"Dang! If he couldn't unfreeze us, then maybe he shouldn't have in the first place!" Ojiro nervously stated, "We just have to hope that Hagakure…"
Ojiro's voice trailed off, as walking straight through the door to the weapon room was none other than Shoji, who had used the potion that Chopper had given him earlier in order to escape from Todoroki's ice, just as Sato would have if Aoyama hadn't acted quickly.
Aoyama attempted to act again, but Sato quickly warned Shoji, shouting,
"Shoji! Look out for Aoyama!"
Shoji then began running towards the weapon, dodging Aoyama's laser in the process. In mere moments, his enhanced strength allowed him to break through the wall of ice that Todoroki had placed, allowing him to put his hand firmly on the weapon a moment later. It was all over.
"THE HERO TEAM… WINS!" All Might shouted yet again.
The building which contained the fight between Team C and Team F was completely frosted over. Up on the top floor, Todoroki's teammates, Ojiro and Aoyama, were frozen while meanwhile, despite the fact that Sato was still frozen, Shoji had his hand on the weapon. Hagakure was also frozen over on the side, and Todoroki, despite not being the victim of his own ice, was also frozen in place.
"How did I lose? I…" Todoroki thought to himself, in shock.
"For this match… I'd say there was no standout VIP!" All Might stated, "May anyone explain why I think this?"
Momo raised her hand, but on top of this, Ryuko did as well, and seeing as Momo had answered the last time as well, All Might decided to change things up.
"Yes, Miss Matoi!" All Might stated with enthusiasm.
"In the match…" Ryuko began, "Chopper, Shoji, and Sato all worked together and created a plan, one that made full use of everyone's strengths, and exploited the other team's power dynamic."
"Absolutely correct!" All Might replied, continuing, "It seems you're working hard to improve after your last match! Can anyone tell me what the core flaw of Team F was, on the other hand?"
Momo raised her hand yet again, but Kirishima did as well, so All Might decided to choose Kirishima to answer.
"Was it because Todoroki focused harder on the fight than protecting the missile?" Kirishima asked, as All Might exclaimed,
"Correct! But, there is a little bit more to it than that, can you think of it, m'boy?" All Might asked, but Kirishima shook his head.
"Uh… sorry, but I can't really think of anything."
"Worry not! Miss Yaoyorozu, care to explain?"
"Of course! Team F's main flaw in this match was a lack of focus on teamwork. When Todoroki froze over the top floor to stop Sato, he also trapped his own teammates as well, who would've potentially been able to defeat Sato and even Shoji in a 3 on 2 fight. Todoroki could've also utilized their aid in his fight against Chopper, who was mostly unaffected by most of Todoroki's ice attacks!"
"Besides my strength," Chopper added on, "I was also raised on an island which had a frozen climate, so cold temperatures don't affect me, but hot ones do! That's why I was shocked when Todoroki revealed that he had a fire quirk… he could've probably defeated me in an instant if he used it!"
Todoroki flinched when he heard that. While Chopper didn't mean it in this way, Todoroki interpreted it as Chopper telling him that the barrier that was between him and victory… was his father's power. He was going to prove him wrong.
"Correct, Ms. Yaoyorozu, and thank you for your additional input, Chopper!" All Might exclaimed, "Just remember students that there's a reason this is practice, and there's no reason to feel bad about doing bad! That just means you have all the more room to grow!"
Such a line motivated his students, yet Todoroki still was unable to accept his defeat. Chopper, however, came up to him, attempting to make conversation.
"Those were some really good moves out there, Todoroki!" Chopper remarked, "If you want, why don't we train together sometime? You're really good!"
The words that Chopper gave, however warm they were, became seemingly nullified once they reached Todoroki's chilled atmosphere. He couldn't hear them, and he couldn't accept them at this point.
"I'll have to pass." Todoroki coldly stated.
Chopper momentarily seemed demotivated, but after remembering what Luffy would do, he confidently stated, "Some other time then!"
At this current moment, it felt to Todoroki like that time would never come. (edgy)
At the end of school that day, Izuku, finally having his earlier injuries healed, returned to his classroom to try and pick up any materials he left.
"Mr. Aizawa's really gonna let me have it…" Izuku thought, moping to a degree, but once he opened the door, he found something that he didn't quite expect.
"Oh, Midoriya's back!" The excited Kirishima proclaimed, as together he, Ashido, and Sato all quickly swarmed Izuku, "I don't know what you were saying back there, but that was an awesome battle!"
"That burst of energy you and Bakugo let off back there was super awesome!" Mina asked inquisitively.
"We were all super pumped after that first round thanks to you!" Sato exclaimed.
"O-oh! Thanks, you guys…" Izuku said with a smile on his face.
"I'm Eijiro Kirishima! We were all just discussing the battle training!" Kirishima professed, introducing himself in the process.
"I'm Tsuyu Asui, but you can just call me Tsuyu." the frog-quirked Tsuyu said, also introducing herself.
"I'm Mina Ashido! You sure seem strong!" Mina said… introducing herself like the others.
"And I'm Sato!" …jeez I wonder who said this.
"But actually, what was that energy you guys let off earlier?!" Mina questioned.
"Yeah, I don't know what it was, but it was crazy when everyone got knocked out by it! Only Ryuko was left standing!" Kirishima added on.
"P-pardon?" The befuddled Izuku muttered.
"Huh? You know, you and Bakugo let off a massive wave of some sort of energy fighting against each other!" Kirishima questioned.
"Are you guys kidding or something, cause I really don't know what you mean!" Izuku said, still not knowing what the group was talking about, and they had no idea how Izuku didn't know either.
While everyone wanted to talk to Izuku after his engaging earlier battle, Bakugo just decided to go home, having a lot to mull over from his last battle.
Izuku, having a lot to say to who he thought was his friend, rocketed outside to meet Bakugo the second he left class, regardless of whether or not he thought Bakugo wanted to be confronted.
"Kacchan!" Izuku shouted, meeting up to him, as Bakugo turned around to meet Deku, still wearing a somewhat grumpy expression.
"What do you want, nerd?"
There, Izuku breathed in… he hadn't even told his Mom about this yet, but he believed that Bakugo needed to know more right now.
"My power… I can't say much, but I figure you should know this at least!" Izuku stated, "I got it from someone else!"
This line pissed off Bakugo, who believed that Izuku was trying to take pity on him… and make a joke out of him again! But, Izuku wasn't finished.
"I can't say from who! I can't even use it without breaking my limbs yet… in that last fight, I tried to not use my full power to beat you, but I couldn't!" Izuku monologued, as he finished with one final line, "Which is why, next time we fight… I'll make this power my own, and defeat you!"
Bakugo was still angry, but at the very least, Izuku's speech forced him back to his usual aggressive demeanor, and not one that was unusual for him.
"You're… you're just gonna keep making a fool out of me, aren't you, Deku?" Bakugo said, gritting his teeth, "Even back when you were quirkless… even then, you were fighting to surpass me…"
Bakugo then remembered the Sludge Villain incident, "No… you weren't just fighting, you were able to surpass me, time and time again!" he corrected, "And ever since I've got this stupid school, I've been shown time and time again guys that I just can't measure up to! That reindeer… that icy bastard, and even you Deku!"
Bakugo then thought back to that day when after he had fallen down, Izuku had reached his hand out to him. He understood that while he pushed Izuku down a pit of despair every day, he only got back up even stronger every time, honing himself for that day he would become mighty.
Meanwhile, Bakugo himself, who was constantly trying to climb out of that very same pit of despair, but was never able to, because he was never able to confront what was at the very bottom; his own weakness, and accept becoming strong not in spite of it, but alongside it.
But no more!
"Next time we fight, I'm gonna get rid of that weakness… and surpass all of them… and then, I'm gonna BEAT YOU, DEKU!" Bakugo yelled back at Izuku, as the boy returned Bakugo's intense declaration with a stern expression.
Bakugo then turned back around, as he yelled out, "Enjoy your win! It'll never happen again!"
After Bakugo left, Izuku breathed a sigh of relief… It was good to know that Bakugo felt the same way he did. Before Izuku could relax himself, someone sped right past him.
"Young Bakugo!" All Might yelled out, quickly speeding towards the boy, and grabbing him by the shoulders, "Kid! That sort of self-respect is important! Without a doubt, you've got the makings of a hero. From now on, you just have to-"
"Get off me All Might… I can't walk." Bakugo stated firmly. All Might looked mildly shook, as Bakugo then looked back at All Might, "Don't think I won't surpass you as well."
"A-ah." All Might noted, letting go of Bakugo, "And now, he's back… just like that? Being a teacher sure is hard work…"
Bakugo's fuse was now lit. These two rivals, Izuku Midoriya, and Katsuki Bakugo, were sure to go head to head in battle sooner or later… and that time would come sooner than either thought.
After a long day of school, Ryuko just wanted to go home and take a nap.
"Man… today sucked." she muttered out loud in the school's main foyer, "I gotta find some way to get stronger, cause in that fight, all I could do was rely on Deku… damn it would be nice to have a quirk like his!"
Suddenly, Todoroki, who was coincidentally leaving school alongside her, walked by and opened his own locker. Todoroki didn't even look at her, and neither did Ryuko at him, but the latter felt awkward since no words were being shared between the two.
"H-hey there!" Ryuko awkwardly said, causing Todoroki to look at Ryuko, not knowing what her motive was, and then look away after closing his locker, "Okay, fine, be that way you jackass!"
Todoroki looked back at Ryuko, clearly upset by her words and shooting her a death glare in the process. In response, Ryuko simply stuck out her tongue at Todoroki, shocking the boy, and as he turned around, he laughed slightly.
AUTHORS NOTE
"Why didn't Todoroki just freeze the entire building when the heroes entered? / Why didn't Todoroki freeze the entire building so that none of the hero team could find the weapon?"
Because neither of these strategies would have worked.
For one, Todoroki could have hypothetically frozen the entire building, but Chopper (Todoroki's main target) would be fast enough to dodge, and Todoroki would be consuming a massive amount of stamina in the process.
Due to stamina again, Todoroki couldn't create ice walls all around the building to prevent the bomb from being found, plus, Shoji already knew where the bomb was with his quirk, so Todoroki would just be consuming needless stamina.
NEXT ARC SYNOPSIS / SNEAK PEAK
Next time on Kill One Hero, an event with stakes greater than any other which has occurred before begins.
It's supposed to be just a normal class excursion... but an attack from real villains changes all of that. Not only that, but the villains take out Ida, guaranteeing they can't call for help... and the Nomu seems even stronger than they normally would be?!
Join us next time on Kill One Hero, where these future heroes will face their first true test in the USJ Arc!