One of the first teams to go out was Iida and Ojiro versus Ximena and Tokage. Both students from class 1-A were quick on their feet and evaded obstacles without hesitancy. However, with Tokage's and Ximena's strengths combined, the boys soon found themselves in a reptilian conundrum; because of Tokage's quirk, she was able to follow the duo every step of the way, contracting Ximena with strategic updates the closer they approached their base location. When Tokage purposely miscalculated, making herself present and drawing awareness from their opponents, Ximena struck from the darkness faster than they could fully articulate; thanks to her subfamily, crotaline, her infrared-detecting organs made any warm-blooded being impossible to miss.
As she opened her mouth, her hollow fangs erected and spritzed venom onto Ojiro's neck and torso, causing an intense burning sensation that stunned him, allowing Tokage to capture him before Iida had time to react. On the other hand, Iida was stopped in his tracks by Ximena's muscular tail and coiled along the length until they were face to face, "¿Qué pasa, cariño?" She giggled as she tensed her grip around his body, flicking her tongue near him, "I like your hero costume. You look almost like a knight, but I must wonder- is it stronger than I am?" With that, Ximena curled her tail tighter and tighter until his costume cracked open from the neck down, leaving him completely vulnerable.
After the two 1-A students were bound and apprehended, the girls celebrated;
"You were amazing! Your quirk is so strong!" They exclaimed together, their hands occupying each other's while they stood cheek to cheek.
"H-Hey! What about me?! What's going to happen to me?!" Whined Ojiro, whose exposed skin was searing and blistering.
"Y-You'll be okay!" Ximena explained, "I'm sorry; I didn't want to catch you in my mouth because you could've accidentally suffocate o-or punctured by my fangs!"
There was a moment of silence, and then, "...This is fine." Ojiro solemnly agonized.
Ximena cried, "I'm so sorry!"
A few more teams had filtered out before it was Keali'i and Hagakure's team versus Pony and Honenuki. Neither of the pairs was in fighting distance at the start of their assignment, leaving them to formulate plans on their own accord. Hagakure, however, had no idea how to address Keali'i given that they had never spoken or could ever be heard speaking, so while they hunkered down in a confined space, she attempted to think of a strategy, "Let's see- Pony has her horns, and Honenuki can make things soft, so..."As she mumbled to herself, Keali'i got her attention by holding out his hand, repeating the motion until Hagakure did the same; reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a tiny tuning fork and placed it in her hand.
"O-Oh! I know what this is, but why-?"
Before she could ask her question, he pointed at her. Then he made a pulling motion at his hands and feet, following through until she verbally responded, "You want me to go completely invisible...?" Keali'i gestured to the building next to them, pointed at the tuning fork, then made a diagonal striking action with his arm. "And then go inside and hit this," he held up three fingers, then balled his hand into a fist and slammed it against the palm of his other hand, "Three times- hard?" Finishing his thought by walking away, his index and middle fingers, "Then leave...B-But wait, what are you going to do?" Hagakure asked, watching as Keali'i placed his hand on his chest- as if reassuring her she had nothing to worry about. "...Well, I-I suppose we don't have anything else to go on."
"Hey, Pony, you know anything about this guy?"
"Other than his quirk is similar to Tsuburaba's? Nah, either way, we got this."
As Hagakure went over the plan repeatedly in her head, she was careful to follow through subsequently. Once their opponents were in earshot, she hit the large metal pipes with the instrument, which emitted a piercing pitch that faded and echoed throughout the building; the acoustics created by the steel fork made calculating a direct position challenging. The sound, which also spooked Hagakure, caused her to run while the others covered their ears in their standing positions; when the vibrations started to die down, she struck the pipes like before, completely disorienting Pony and Honenuki.
"Argh, what's going on?! This isn't one of their quirks, is it?!"
"Just get us out of here, Honenuki!"
When Honenuki pressed his palms onto the concrete walls to activate his quirk, a sharp whistle bellowed inside from the top of the structure, where a strong force of air launched them up out of the building only to be grabbed by none other than Keali'i- the same being who caused them to be flung into the air. With both of them held in his arms at their waists, he lanced himself in Hagakure's estimated direction using his quirk and spiraled downward as Pony and Honenuki yelled. Noticing that a screaming, spinning torpedo of air was darting toward her, Hagakure screeched and attempted to outrun the impact. However, everything had happened so fast that she didn't know how she ended up cradled in Keali'i's big, strong arms while being shielded from the burst of violent winds.
Hagakure couldn't help but ogle at the majestic way Keali'i's long hair blew through the wind, the genuine concern in his eyes, the warmth of his body- he had gone out of his way to protect her from the impact. Behind them, Pony and Honenuki were flat on the ground as they attempted to help each other get back on their feet until a commercial dumpster slammed down on them from above, trapping them inside. After letting go of Hagakure, Keali'i hopped over to the dumpster, placing the tips of his fingers against the metal. Then, with one abrupt punch, he created an opening in the bottom big enough to pull out each opponent by their belts; Keali'i delivered the defeated upperclassmen to Hagakure so that she could adequately tie them up.
"H-How are you so fast?" Pony whined.
"I think you knocked the wind out of me, dude." Honenuki lamented.
"W-We did it, Keali'i! Your plan worked!" Hagakure cheered, going in for a high five and then pulling back cautiously as she caught herself in her excitement.
Keali'i, just as he was finishing fixing his hair, gingerly slapped his palm against hers, reciprocating the high five without saying a word and then strolling ahead of her.
"...Eeeehhh?!"
Right after the previous fight, there was the match-up between Sero and Shoji versus Javier and Bondo; four heroes, both teams with adjacent quirks, were ready for one exciting battle. Sero and Shoji lunged through the concrete landscape, searching for wherever their opponents positioned themselves. However, it didn't take long for them to articulate where they may be; judging the intensity of the heat from varying distances, Sero and Shoji were led to a desolate area of the training field enclosed in a large factory building.
Inside, a children's game was turned into a real-life obstacle: the entire floor had become bubbling lava because Javier was queasy from using his quirk. Above them were webs of the substance exuded from Bondo's quirk, threaded through the beams and industrial equipment, and slathered onto surfaces that made mobility frustrating. Right in the middle of the blazing, tacky mess were Javier and Bondo, sitting together on a broken cement block floating in molten, semi-fluid rock, looking carefree and relaxed.
"You've got to be kidding me." Said Shoji and Sero simultaneously.
"Heeey! Hey, 1-A students! Sorry about the mess. We didn't want you to catch us, you know?" Javier gleamed.
"Are you sure we didn't do too much?" Stammered Bondo.
"Nah, we're fine; our bodies can handle it!"
"T-That's not what I meant."
"Yeah, well, we'll see about that!" Sero exclaimed as he moved in to attack, using the tape dispensed from his elbows to pivot through any openings.
"Sero, wait! Javier—!" But Shoji was too late. When he maneuvered himself closer to them, Javier hocked back the moisture in his mouth and spat out magma that instantaneously burned through his tape, causing Sero to lose momentum and become entangled in Bondo's glue.
"Gah! Shoji! Help!"
"Help how? I'm in no better position than you are!"
"D-Do something!"
With a sigh, Shoji extended his appendages to reach Sero from their original location, branching out his arms and hands to create a chain. In a cleaner manner, Bondo followed a similar technique as his partner and enmeshed his limbs in gummy liquid that slowed down his movement speed. To make matters worse, the humidity condensing inside the building had caused the metal to sweat, making the surface that Shoji was standing on incredibly slippery; with just a few small tugs, he was off his feet and sliding down into Bondo's web, unable to navigate through the trap.
"...Soooo, we did win, right?" Asked Javier.
"Yeah, I-I think so." Concluded Bondo.
"Oy! You boys better clean that mess of yours!" Vlad shouted from the stands.
"Yessir!" They both responded.
Once the training facility had returned to its normal state, Yemi and Yaoyoruza were up to face Karibara and Kamakiri. Without hesitation, the boys darted out full force, searching for the girls on the opposing team.
"Are you sure you heard right? You never get like this right off the bat." Karibara commented, trying to keep up with Kamakiri.
"It's like I said, those foreign kids totally have it out for 1-A! There's no way we're going to lose, especially with Yaoyoruza on their team." Kamakiri sneered, pushing forward without much regard for his partner.
Meanwhile, just a few miles away, "Karibara can rotate any part of his body quickly and has excellent control over his quirk- it may be difficult to take him on in close combat, as for Kamakiri, it appears he can produce blades from anywhere on his body- he's also pretty fast, which means we have to be faster at slowing them down." Yaoyoruza explained out loud to Yemi as they walked alongside each other.
With a gentle tap from Yemi, which made Yaoyoruza jump, she held out a pair of headphones attached to her headpiece, "You're giving me these?" She questioned as she cautiously took them and placed them on her head, "I could've made my own if you asked, but thank you." Yaoyoruza had no idea what Yemi's intentions were nor that her body parts were detachable, but she had no time to think as the boys suddenly made their volatile appearance.
Yemi bunted Yaoyoruza out of the way with her arm as she moved back, taking a second to realize they were gliding a few inches above the ground. "Y-Yemi...?"
Yaoyoruza inquired as they gently landed back onto the ground, and Karibara and Kamakiri rushed after them. Yemi darted towards the duo and managed to slide past both of them, holding out both her hands and stopping Kamakiri in his place but not Kaibara, who was still gyrating straight for Yaoyoruza.
"Kaibara! Hey! I'm stuck!" He shouted, indirectly getting his partner's attention, which prompted Yemi to aim her other hand towards Yaoyoruza, who was in the process of creating a shield.
When the charge from Kaibara made an impact on her creation, she was sent a couple of feet back as he continued to drill into the barrier that was beginning to give way; before breakage, Yemi pulled Yaoyoruza out of the way then threw Kamakiri at Karibara while changing direction.
"Ack! Kamakiri, you're stabbing me!"
"Sorry! I don't know what happened!"
Once the girls were reunited, they stood side by side as the boys serpentine around them, attempting to baffle them. Still, with their twist, Yemi delivered a stunning blow that dropped Karibara while Yaoyoruza quickly created a blockade that shattered Kamakiri's blades.
After distancing themselves between them, "Alright, now I'm mad." Karibara grunted behind clenched teeth.
As they charged up to relinquish another push, Yemi weightlessly picked up Yaoyoruza in her arms and carried her princess-style while dashing in the opposite direction of the boys coming straight for them. With every twist and turn throughout the facility, the girls were quickly found and were made to escape, "Yemi, I have an idea, turn up ahead here." Yaoyoruza asserted while creating an object from her chest.
As Kamakiri and Karibara were nearing Yemi and Yaoyoruza, Yemi surprisingly followed through with Yaoyoruza's plan and sharply turned while Yaoyoruza whipped the device at the boys- which turned out to be a powder bomb that discombobulated them for the moment.
Finally, with some time to recollect themselves, Yemi darted upwards, with Yaoyoruza still in her arms, on top of the nearest building that happened to be embedded with lightning rods. Acting quickly, Yemi attached small nodes pulled from a compartment in her body chassis onto each rod while Yaoyoruza cautiously watched. However, it wasn't long before Karibara and Kamakiri came after them with a joint battle cry. By kneeling and slamming her hands on the ground in between the lighting rods, once the boys dove in to attack, they unknowingly activated the makeshift electric fence that Yemi created using her own body. Yaoyoruza ducked behind Yemi when the electricity began to crackle, unable to articulate how they were not being electrocuted. As Kamakiri and Karibara twitched on the ground like flies dazed by an electric bug zapper, they were each tied up tightly- too shocked to speak.
"While we may not fully understand each other," Yaoyoruza spoke softly as she placed the headphones back onto Yemi's head, "I appreciate you working with me."
Yemi, in response, didn't speak any words; however, a slight whirling noise was emitted from her headpiece.
"Hm? Were you trying to say something?"
Frantic, Yemi waved her hands side to side while shaking her head in denial, beeping in various tones as if trying to justify herself, only to give up halfway through her fretting and awkwardly rub the back of her neck.
Up next, Kaminari and Jiro versus Mickey and Manga, the kooky duo of 1-B. As each team started from different ends of the training facility, they made their way closer to the center- hoping to potentially meet unexpectedly;
"So what's the plan, Man'? You know these blokes better than I do." Mickey sought, their hands folded at the nape of their neck.
"Your guess is as good as mine, we haven't trained with 1-A since before winter break," Manga answered.
"Aw, what good are ya' anyways?
"Hey, hey, hey, c'mon now! We'll just do it the way we always do it: the old-fashioned way."
"As if there was any other way."
While Mickey and Manga were devising their strategy to perfection, Kaminari and Jiro aimlessly roamed while lost in their observation;
"-But like I was saying, shirts are just long necklaces," Kaminari concluded.
"Denki, you're an idiot..." Jiro groaned.
"Wha-? I just-"
"...How can shirts be necklaces if most of them have sleeves? Also, not all shirts have the same neckline, so how do you explain that?"
"There are different kinds of necklaces."
"When have you ever seen a necklace that goes around your arms? Or one that doesn't drop down or go around your neck?"
"I was just thinking in general, I didn't think you'd get specific!" "Then why even bring it up?!"
"I-I was trying to make conversation!"
During their discussion, Manga positioned himself without being detected in an area where his quirk would be most effective; pursuing his pages together tightly, he let out a steady stream of Whooshes that flowed through the air and swept Kaminari and Jiro off their feet. Jiro, whose quirk was inapplicable airborne, prompted Kaminari to launch two conducting discs directly towards Manga; however, with a loudBANG, the projectiles were shattered upon impact. As they fell back onto the ground, they began sprinting away from Manga but were suddenly stopped by an impassable force.
"H-Huh? What's this?" Kaminari questioned as he touched what he assumed was an open space, only to discover the wet paint on his hands.
"Oy!" Shouted Mickey from above with a plunger detonator in hand, "I hate to interrupt ya'- but if you think that's impressive, then this'll really *blow* your mind!"
Once the handle was pushed down, a comical explosion blasted the two backward while Manga unleashed a few *BOOMs* to emphasize their zany dramatics.
Springing up in the air with coiled legs, they pulled out a comically oversized mallet and slammed it down between Jiro and Kaminari; Manga followed with someWHAMsthat flustered the two.
"Knock it off!" Yelled Jiro, inserting her jacks into her sound-amplifying equipment and aiming them toward her opponents, channeling a loud heartbeat directly at them.
The attack affected the both of them and while Manga tumbled off his perch, Mickey stuffed huge cotton balls into their ears, "Ugh, c'mon now!" They yanked out a pie tin and whipped cream from their hammerspace, creating a cream pie with a cherry on top, then threw the dessert at the offender.
Jiro, quick on her reflexes, ducked down despite the projectile missing- or so she thought, "Hah! You didn't seriously think that'd-!" Before she knew it, the pie slammed into the back of Jiro's head, the abundance of cream toppling over her. Kaminari attempted to hold back his laughter but failed miserably.
Extremely embarrassed, she growled, "Y-You're gonna pay for that!"
Softly quaking, "Uh oh," Mickey sprung out of the way and over to her partner, helping him stay on his feet, "Alright, Manga, your time to shine!" Reeling to let out a powerful onomatopoeia, as he went to project, nothing came out; despite his recent vocal training, he had lost his voice.
"S-Seriously? Now?!" Mickey babbled.
"Sorry, Mick." Manga apologized hoarsely.
They sighed, "You're fine. Besides, I'd belionif I said I didn't want to end this already."
With their words, interrupting the joint effort of cleaning Jiro's hair, they suddenly braced themselves and stood their ground, preparing for their attack. Digging frantically through their top with a hefty grunt, Mickey pulled out a life-size male lion wearing a funny hat; extending their noodle arm, they lightly placed the creature a fair distance from their opponents.
"That's not-..."
"There's no way-..."
Emanating a roar, Kaminari and Jiro screamed in terror, "I-It is a real lion!"
The moment they started running away (the most inappropriate response) the lion followed right after them, the large mammal already hot on their trail; because the training field was primarily industrial, they had a slightly better chance of surviving. With their fight or flight on high, they could quickly scale the water piping system on a nearby building, to which the lion could neither climb nor jump high enough to reach them due to the material of the pipes.
"M-Mr. Aizawa! Please don't make me hurt a real animal!" Wailed Kaminari.
"Nobody said we had to deal with this!" Cried Jiro.
"Vlad—!" Aizawa grunted as he elbowed the larger man next to him.
"Wha-? Huh-? Oh, uh, right- Mickey! Get rid of the lion!"
"Get rid of it?" Mickey squeaked as large droplets of sweat began to pour down their face, "Uh, haha, um, well, you see—"
"Mickey!"
"I don't know how!"
"What do you mean you don't know how?!"
"W-W-Well stuff just eventually disappears when it's not in frame-!"
"What does that even mean?! MICKEY!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll fix it!" In a frenzy, Mickey searched through their top, tossing out random, comical objects of varying sizes, weights, and types; once they reached into their pockets, they marveled at the sight of the giant ball of yarn in their hand.
With a crisp whistle, they tossed the yarn in the commotion's general direction and caught the lion's attention. Curiously batting the ball, the fierce king of the jungle had become a gentle kitten- twirling the yarn between its claws and entangling itself in the soft synthetic fibers.
There was a sigh of relief, but tension was still prominent; Jiro and Kaminari were still too afraid to come down. However, Mickey and Manga were holding a net below, waiting patiently to capture them with cheeky grins.
Once the lion had been adequately captured and transported to the Tama Zoological Gardens, Arjan and Midoriya were ready to verse Kodai and Yanagi, and it wasn't long before they were unexpectedly face-to-face on the training field.
Creating a sudden diversion, Arjan dug the heel of his foot into the ground and swiped his leg ninety degrees, brushing up dirt, dust, and rubble, powdering the girls in filth before lunging backward with Midoriya following. As they pushed through the debris to chase after them, Arjan rhythmically knocked on the ground before slamming down his fist to create a wall between them to continue their escape; the unexpected barrier caused Kodai and Yanagi to crash into the solid earth lightly.
Swiftly blasting through Arjan's wall were miniature versions of industrial equipment that instantly became larger than average, crashing around the boys to barricade them from the conjoined effort of the girl's quirks. Before they could be wholly entrapped, Arjan grabbed Midoriya by the arm and swung him around to his front as he fell back; with the other in his arms, he tucked and rolled backward while the earth around them conformed and sealed them in a ball.
Shocked, Yanagi and Kodai reformed their strategy and followed through with the same attack, only to discover the large hole in the ground concealed by the ball.
"Where the hell did they go?" Fretted Yanagi as she and Kodai searched around them until suddenly, two mucky arms rose from the ground and clasped the girls together in their hands.
It was only moments later that a large explosion threw the team captured and the team hiding up in the air with great force; Midoriya, who was quickly running out of oxygen underground, used full cowl to break both of them out as he now clung to Arjan's back, hacking up dirt and mud from inside his mouth. Despite the fight going airborne, neither persons involved were deterred by the outcome. Arjan, who manipulated the fragments, threw and deflected them as Yanagi moved around the smaller pieces, and Kodai fluctuated the sizes to increase the damage inflicted on Arjan and Midoriya.
"A-Arjan- wait! I can't-!" Because the fight had been moving so fast, Midoriya found he could not relinquish himself from Arjan's body, "Ahh! S-Stop! You're moving too faaaAAAH-!"
Regardless of his pleas, the fight continued until a large clump of dirt hit Arjan on the leg and unbalanced him, prompting Midoriya to use full cowl once more to distance themselves and bring everyone closer to the ground. As the girls were falling, Arjan grabbed onto a window ledge within arm's reach, tapping his foot in catchy tune before striking into the concrete, which started to extend directly towards Kodai and Yanagi. Before they could be pinned, the girls swiveled over on top of the pillar and kept their bodies in motion to ready themselves, "Okay, now let me get down- No, wait- Arjan, no!"
Midoriya tried but was still attached as he jumped down and darted towards the other team. Then, he slid in as his foot's friction built up the concrete while he was simultaneously wearing underneath them.
As Yanagi and Kodai burst through the debris with ease, Arjan brought his leg up and slammed his foot down before they could even realize they were once again falling, only this time, he attached himself to the other half of the pillar before hurling it down amongst the forming rubble pile. Through the thick clouds of dust, the boys trudged over the aftermath of their fight until they were finally planted back on the ground; Arjan grasped his knees and panted heavily as sweat dripped off his head- the extra weight of the other on his back made him exert more energy than usual. With a shaking sigh of relief, Midoriya loosened his grip around his neck and waist, barely holding on as is- yet Arjan was preventing him from falling off.
"Arjan..." He spoke while still catching his breath, "That was incredible! I had no idea you could do all that with your quirk- your moves are totally unpredictable, and your speed-"
As he was babbling praise towards his partner, the other's bottom lip quivered while the corner of his mouth twitched, unable to form a smile, "...T-Thank you..." Arjan mumbled softly, hoping Midoriya wouldn't hear him; unfortunately, because this was the first time he had ever heard him speak, "D-Did you just thank me?!" Blubbered Midoriya as he began to cry, which prompted Arjan to abruptly drop him from his hold and leave him on the ground, walking away with his hands shoved in his pockets while grumbling angrily to himself.
"W- Wait! No, please, come back! I'm sorry, come back, I'm sorry! Arjan!" It was hopeless; he was left on all fours, pounding his fist into the ground in frustration, "You're really living up to your hero name, aren't you?"
"Why do you even care what that creep thinks, anyways?" Groaned Yanagi, who was joined by Kodai under the heavy pile next to him, unabashedly accepting their defeat.
With the training field now more decrepitude than initially laid out, there was nothing that could be done for the time being aside from allowing the students to continue to train. Mina and Kirishima versus Estelle and Tetsutetsu were up next, and given the team match-up, it was expected to be a short fight.
In an area that managed to go unscathed- no more than the structure was initially designed, Estelle and Tetsutetsu had based themselves in a semi-secluded location, planning their attack while taking an opportunity for some one-on-one idle chit-chat. As he sat on the ground in the dirt, his hands folded on the back of his head, and he leaned back against the short concrete wall behind him while she was above him practicing gymnastic front scales.
"-Seriously, what could you possibly have in common with those weirdos?" Tetsutetsu continued, "Is it a language thing? Or some kind of foreigner thing?"
Estelle sighed, "I told you, it's complicated."
"I just don't see why you'd wanna be friends with people who treat others like crap."
"I know it's hard to believe, but they're far from bad people."
"You're right, I don't believe you."
"Look, we talked to them again earlier at lunch. Hopefully, things'll end up working out the way they should've from the start- and soon."
"Tch, whatever."
"Also, speaking of weirdos, you're one to talk." Estelle teased, dropping to her knees with her hands gripping the edge of the wall, bending over Tetsutetsu so that their faces were only a few inches away.
"H-Hey! Who are you calling a weirdo? I'm nothing like them!" Tetsutetsu, who was usually confident and outspokenly straightforward, had become pliable steel when their eyes met, "Aren't you a little close?" He questioned softly, turning his head slightly on the opposite side with an apparent blush.
"Hmm? What was that? Do I need to get a little closer?"
Before she could continue to poke fun at Tetsutetsu, they could both hear voices in their proximity, "They're here!" They gasped in unison before scrambling to find better hiding spots. While Kirishima and Mina were walking side by side and casually conversing, Tetsutetsu stormed in from out of nowhere with a war cry, landing right in front of them while pointing at Kirishima, "Rargh! We meet again on the battlefield, adversary!"
Kirishima quickly picked up on his role and followed up, "So it would seem! Brothers at arms, once again made to fight for their kingdoms!"
"May you fight with your absolute potential!"
"As do you, my fated rival!"
The boys both let out a roar before activating their quirks and charging directly at each other, clashing into one another without either of them faltering. As they fiercely threw punches and kicks at each other's armored bodies, they resumed their dramatic dialogue that only seemed to grow in theatrics the harder they went.
Meanwhile, Estelle was recording the entire fight on her phone that she snuck in from inside her hero costume, "Are they always like this?" She asked as Mina came up beside her and joined the seat next to her,
"Yeah, pretty much...Oh, hey! I don't think we've properly met! I'm Mina Ashido!"
"It's so nice to finally meet you! To be honest, I've wanted to meet you for the longest time."
"Ehh?! Y-You wanted to meet me?! You're the one I've been dying to talk to, but I was too nervous!"
"You had nothing to be nervous about! Although I'm one to talk, I was using the same excuse."
"I'm so glad we met- because I've wanted to ask you about your makeup secrets; you look stunning with all that glitter on!"
"Oh, thank you, and yeah, ask me anything!"
While the girls shared makeup and the boys were reaching the epic climax of their duet, Aizawa lurched onto the field in front of them, his expression perceived as an annoyance, "Hey! You came here to train, not screw around. Either get serious or get off."
The two groups looked at each other, collectively scheming with just the looks in their eyes; then, Mina playfully punched Estelle in the shoulder. She grabbed her shoulder and comically cried out, "Wah, my shoulder! I think it's dislocated!"
It was then that Kirishima followed suit and punched Tetsutetsu in the stomach in the same manner, "Gaargh! He crushed my insides!" He dramatically groaned as he clutched his stomach.
Estelle raised her leg and gently pushed up against Mina's side in a kicking motion, "My ribs! Broken! Shattered!" Mina theatrically cried out while holding her side with both hands.
Tetsutetsu couldn't help but grimace as he went into bop Kirishima's face with his fist, "How could you?! My face, my beautiful faaaace!" He melodramatically gasped, clasping his cheeks with his hands.
"Oh no! I suddenly discovered I can vaporize my acid, and now we've all been poisoned!" Mina strikingly improvised with her hand up to justify her words. The four of them cried out before putting their hands around their necks, pretending to choke and gag, pleading for help as they fell on the ground together in a group, dying.
"...You have ten seconds to get out of here or fail indefinitely." Aizawa, who watched the entire performance, was not having it.
"Sorry, Mr. Aizawa!" They collectively apologized as they jumped up and scurried out of his sight, giggling after finishing their final act.
Once the rest of the teams had gone, the only ones left to go were Shelby and Todoroki versus Komori and Kuroiro; anticipation had built up around the last fight of the day as opponents with powerful quirks were going head to head- although Shelby's quirk was still unknown. As they began searching out in the open, Todoroki briefly explained to Shelby their situation, "While my ice can incapacitate both of them, Komori's mushrooms can still form on the surface, and Kuroiro's blackness makes him difficult to capture if I'm not quick enough. My fire, despite being a strong counter against the darkness, the spores from burning the mushrooms would end up suffocating or poisoning us, at the very least. We have to act carefully." He wasn't sure if she was listening to him, but for both their sake, he hoped so.
It wasn't until they had reached an enclosed area of the training facility that the atmosphere changed: the air had become heavier, the humidity making breathing difficult, and the overt obscurity of opaque obsidian made navigating nearly impossible. To preserve his energy and proceed with caution, Todoroki only lit the tip of his thumb, "Stay close." He mumbled softly, unsure of where the other team was possibly hiding.
As she looked around, Shelby tucked her index finger inside her mask and slid it down past her chin while chewing on something, "What are you doing?" He asked, figuring it was too late and he was unlikely to get a response. Pursing her lips together, she blew a giant bubble of pink bubble gum, allowing it to pop as it echoed throughout the space; she paused until the echoes vanished, then blew another bubble, letting that one pop, as well.
Still having no clue as to what she was doing, Todoroki watched as she dug through the top of her hero costume and pulled out what appeared to be a small, dull blade, flicked it in the air, and launched the weaponry by twisting her hips and hitting it with her butt cheek; the speed and trajectory was enough to directly hit Kuroiro who was hiding in a corner on the ceiling.
"W- What the hell?!" Kuroiro shouted as the blackness from his quirk dissipated, revealing Komori's whereabouts in the process.
"K-Kuroio!" Scolded Komori loudly.
As he slumped closer to the ground, he observed and poked at the piece of metal sticking out between his eyes, "Ahh! Komori! It's stuck!"
"So what do you want me to do about it?!-...D-Don't pull it out, idiot!"
"But it really hurts!"
"Um- good job...?" Todoroki said softly, still trying to process what just happened.
"Ugh, whatever! You just got lucky!" Called out Komori, "But let's see what you do about this!" She slapped her hands on the ground, and full-grown mushrooms swiftly began to appear sporadically; as the various fungi spread further, they covered the ground and walls around them.
Todoroki quickly put up a wall of ice; however, as he stated previously, the mushrooms started to grow on top of the ice, "Nice try, but with the humidity in here, that wall of yours won't last!" Komori boasted with a smirk as she chuckled.
All of a sudden, Shelby came vaulting over the melting barricade, surprising both Kuroiro and Komori; as she swung through the air with her pink, weaponized whip adorned with a bird-shaped blade tied to the popper, Kuroiro darted back into the shadows and lunged forward to capture her midair. As the grapple was forcefully released, Shelby whipped the sharp end at Kuroiro's face, sliced his cheek, causing him to flinch, and then drew the wire back upwards to keep herself from falling as he came reeling forward once again.
Komori couldn't help but lose focus on what was going on above her, only to realize there was still another person that needed to be dealt with. When her gaze fell back towards the ice wall, it had melted to the point where anyone visible would appear- except there was no hiding behind there. Frantically, she looked all around her, and finally, after looking up, she saw that Todoroki had scaled upwards using his ice and had then been using his quirk to cover the upper walls and beams where Kuroiro had been branching off from.
"Kuroiro!" Komori called out, but Kuroiro had been too late; during their fight, he had been getting some good hits on Shelby. However, she always retaliated harder.
She was stronger and faster, more than he could keep a handle on, but he was determined- and distracted. Once the ice had reached over from where he was based, he had to decide whether to get frozen or release himself from the shadows and in a split decision, he had gone for the latter, which would lead to his downfall.
While aimlessly floating in the air, Shelby delivered a knee so hard to his stomach that it caused Kuroiro to vomit. As he twisted from the impact, she grabbed onto him from behind and pulled him towards her front side: wrapping her arms around his waist- she held onto his wrists, keeping them in place as she dove backward, spinning the both of them while aiming towards the mushroom-covered ground, then finishing him off by slamming him down on his shoulders and upper back in an aerial german suplex. Komori whimpered in fright as she saw her partner's legs slowly fall over. At the same time, her opponent emerged from the shallow crater she had created upon impact- unharmed, and Todoroki, who was watching from a different angle, was in complete awe.
As she took a step forward, the other let out a cry, "Stay away from me!" She yelled before running away in the other direction and chasing after her.
"Shelby, wait up!" Todoroki called out before proceeding to follow both of them.
The mushrooms that had stuck onto Shelby from landing earlier created a bridge from the ground to her legs as the abundance of fungi started to slow her down and trap her; however, despite tugging at her skin, she ripped her legs from the clusters that caused tears in her nylons and lacerations on her skin. The fungus that grew on other parts of her body was scratched and dug out with her manicured nails- continuing to harm herself to keep up with Komori, who was already falling behind, "You're insane!" The other girl wailed before comprehending that she had reached a dead end.
Todoroki, who was right behind Shelby, was dealing with the same dilemma. Still, he used his ice to shield himself from the growth rather than shattering the ice, repeating the same process when the fungus continued to attach itself to his body. With her back against the wall, with no help from her unconscious companion, she threw her arms out and placed her hands on the surface to create a cocoon of mushrooms,
"I-I won't be taken out this easily!"
Before she could completely encapsulate herself, Shelby leaped towards Komori as she took her hair out of her ponytail, swiftly crouching down and using her long, thick locks of white hair as a distraction cover for Todoroki to use his quirk and apprehend their opponent. While attempting to free herself, Shelby pushed herself back up and brought a jumping double high kick to Komori's face, knocking her out instantly; the ooze produced by her mushrooms caught her fall, blood from her nose and mouth dripping down. Unable to catch herself due to her injuries, Shelby collapsed onto the ground with a huff,
"Here, I got you," Todoroki announced but was lightly brushed off by his injured partner.
Slowly, Shelby got up from the ground, brushing the grime from her skin and clothes, and started to walk away, but before distancing herself too far, she pulled her mask to the side and turned to look back at him, and for the first time, witness her smile. Something about that smile- the way her plump lips curved upward to highlight youthful, rosy cheeks brought upon a feeling of tender warmth and mixed feelings from within the other that he did not understand- or thought he even had. When the breeze from an opening on the side of the wall blew through, her bangs brushed forward slightly, also revealing her large, gentle eyes that managed to compliment her smile harmoniously.
. . .Magenta.