Chapter 206 - 18

Chapter 18

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle."

– General Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Army

"TIME'S UP! Let the match begin NOW!" Midnight announced from a platform outside the arena.

Cheers roared across the stadium as on-field competitors tried to tune them out, focusing on their respective tasks. Offenders charged forward while defenders prepared to defend their territories.

"And they're off! All of you listeners prepare yourselves! This is going to be a wild ride!" Present Mic shouted, earning excited cheers in response. "We'll try and keep you updated with everything happening on the battlefield!" 

"LET'S CRUSH 'EM!" Tetsutetsu vehemently shouted.

"YEAH!" He, Kaibara, and Sato charged forward to the Green side.

"Everyone hold strong!" Kirishima yelled feverishly. "LET'S CRUSH 'EM!" The spiky redhead, however, was met with more subdued yet determined responses by Tokoyami, Kodai, and Yanagi.

Upon crossing the Red-Green border, Tetsutetsu spotted a couple Nodes. Blocking his path towards them though was Kirishima. Perfect!

Covering his body in gunmetal-grey steel, Tetsutetsu charged toward the redhead, albeit at a reduced speed. "Get outta my way, Class A copycat!"

"ME!? You're the copycat here!" Kirishima activated his Hardening, punching his fists together before running to meet his foe head-on. Like a real man!

"HRAAGH!" Giving their respective battle cries, Kirishima's Hardening and Tetsutetsu's Steel fists collided.

As the battle between the Class A and B's manly bros began, the other Green Team defenders had their hands full keeping the Red Team's offense at bay.

Popping a vial of sugar into his mouth–which had been approved by the All-Star Games committee–Sato's muscles bulged as he raced forward. Yanagi levitated a small rock towards Kodai, who touched and increased its size into a massive boulder. The ghost girl tossed the boulder towards Sato before releasing her hold on it.

Sato was forced to stop as he reared back his fist and punched the boulder, shattering it into pieces. However, this only served as more ammunition for Yanagi as she levitated the smaller rocks and pelted Sato with them. The big-lipped man was forced to cover his face and retreat.

"Damn… They can increase the size of stuff and throw them?" Sato grumbled. "We got our work cut out for us…"

"I ain't giving up yet! Those points are ours!" Kaibara's arms spun rapidly akin to a drill as he jumped at an unprotected Node. However, at the last moment, a purple glow shone off the cylinder as it was suddenly pulled out of his reach. "Dammit Yanagi-san!"

Across the field, Yanagi used her Quirk to levitate the Node and set it down by her. "My apologies. But these points must remain with us, Kaibara-san."

"We'll see about–OOF!" Without warning, Kaibara went hurtling back by an enlarged shadowy claw-hand.

"Beat it! You Red losers don't have a chance against us!" Dark Shadow taunted, looking smug.

"Even if that's true, please be more respectful, Dark Shadow." Tokoyami lightly chastised, standing calmly in front of the Red-Green border. Dark Shadow's arms were outstretched to prevent anyone from getting past him.

Sato reached up and caught Kaibara before he hit the ground and set him down. "Thanks man. Ugh…" He grimaced from the hit he took by the sentient shadow.

"No problem. You good to keep fighting?" Sato asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kaibara replied, rubbing the sore spot on his torso where Dark Shadow struck him. "Besides," he lowered his voice and grinned, "we just gotta keep 'em distracted for a little bit longer."

Shoji, who had taken cover in the fort to observe the battlefield, overheard Kaibara's whispers. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. 'What are they up to? Wait… Did the Red Team really only send three offenders? That doesn't seem right.' He glanced over to the Red territory and observed didn't spot very many of the Red members themselves. 'Where are they? They couldn't have all gone after the Blue Team, right? They must be up to something…' 

Before Shoji could ponder further, the ground shook and the temperature plummeted. The cause was a massive ice wall forming along the Blue Team's border.

Everyone paused to look up at the imposing glacier in awed shock.

"WHAAAA?! What's this?! Todoroki is forming a barrier around the Blue Team? What could he be up to?"

"That was unexpected." Yanagi noted while Kodai simply nodded in agreement.

"Hmm…" Tokoyami glanced at the ice wall dubiously. "I sense something is amiss here…"

"Yeah! Our strongest member's gone wacko!" Dark Shadow followed up.

"Todoroki… Man, what the heck are you trying to pull?" Kirishima grunted while blocking a haymaker from Tetsutetsu.

Across the border, the Green Team's offenders Tokage, Sero, Asui, Ashido, and Shishida were currently caught in a stalemate against the Red Team's defense. Shiozaki's thorny vines had formed a tangled web surrounding their four Nodes. They lashed out and entangled anyone who got too close. Thankfully, Ashido's acid and Shishida's brute strength enabled them to free each other if they were caught by the tendrils.

However, the vines were not the Green Team's only hurdle to cross.

Tokage had split her body and was flying over the Red Team's fort, holding Sero with both of her detached arms. She had hoped that they could use her flight and Sero's tape to steal a Node or HVIs from above. However, they spotted zero openings so far.

"Geez… They really have it locked down, huh?" Sero noted. "We can't even get close to them."

Positioned atop the fort was Yaoyorozu armed with an airsoft gun, firing capture glue at anyone who got too close. Standing alongside her was Jiro, firing concentrated sound-blasts from the speakers on her legs. They weren't as powerful as her Costumes, but they were good enough to do damage to someone's eardrums if they got too close.

"Make sense. They can't afford to skimp on defense." Tokage commented. "We just have to make an opening. WHOA!" The greenette narrowly dodged several projectiles from Yaomomo's gun while making sure not to drop Sero.

"Any ideas?" Sero asked.

"Hmph." She smirked, showing off sharp teeth. "Well, if it works out…. Our Class B friend may be able to make one."

Meanwhile, located behind the Red Team's fort (close to the stadium walls), was the square safe zone marked by a red platform completely covered by a dome of vines. Most would not be able or have extreme difficulty getting through, but Monoma simply held out his right arm to spray acid from his palm, killing and dissolving the vines around him.

He casually walked forward while forging a path with a relaxed, confident smirk. 'I suppose shielding the safe zones is legal as Midnight-sensei hasn't called the Red Team out yet.' He thought. 'I'll give the Red Team credit for taking advantage of that loophole. But still… It won't be enough.' 

Just meters away from reaching the safe zone, someone jumped out of the green jungle. "GOTCHA!" Before Monoma could react, he was suddenly tackled to the ground and felt cold metal on his body. He looked up to see Awase kneeling before him with a cocky grin.

"Sorry, Monoma-san. But you're not going anywhere now." He pointed to Monoma's arms and legs, which were restrained by steel cuffs welded to the ground by Awase's Quirk.

"An excellent ambush, Awase. I suppose these vines are detached from Shiozaki-san?"

Awase nodded. "Yeah. We figured your team would try to go for the easy points first. So, I volunteered to guard the safe zone while the others focused on safeguarding the Nodes."

"My, my. You certainly are a team player. I see you even had Class A's Vice make you some support items." Monoma pointed out.

"Course I did. Hate to break it to yah, dude, but this ain't Class A versus Class B right now." Awase retorted. "It's our team versus everyone else. Now, tell me where you're hiding that f**king red ball?"

"Oh… That?" Monoma's limps suddenly detached; much to Awase's shock. Pulling out of the cuffs, his body parts levitated in the air. With a floating hand, he pulled out the red orb from his pants pocket. "Why…it's right here." His floating head was smiling haughtily.

"What the FU–OOF!" Awase was cut off from a sharp pain in his neck, courtesy of a chop by Monoma's other hand. The welder's eyes rolled back as he collapsed forward, unconscious.

"Though it pains me to defeat my fellow classmates, I must do what I can to ensure I represent Class 101-B in the Finals." Monoma declared.

Using his other hand, the blonde guided the red ball through the vines blocking the safe zone. Once it was safely through, he dropped the orb inside.

"And just like that Green Team scores the first points by delivering their Red HVI!" Present Mic announced.

"Good stealth and capture techniques by Awase, but he'll need to learn to be wary of unconventional methods of escape like Monoma just demonstrated." Aizawa remarked.

"Green Team remains in second place with 95 points. But that could change with–" Mic was cut off when the temperature suddenly plummeted in the arena as an enormous ice wall formed along the Blue Team's border.

"WHAAAA?! What's this?! Todoroki is forming a barrier around the Blue Team? What could he be put to?"

"Looks like Blue Team had a wildcard on their team."

Monoma looked out at the wall, his smile gave way to a bitter frown. 'Of course that showoff would try to upstage my victory. Typical of Class A…' He then looked around at the vines surrounding him and a smirk crossed his face, a devious idea coming to mind.

"Midoriya…" Iida straightened up and directed a serious look at the verdette. "I respect you. You are my friend…but you're also my rival. I will not hold back against you." He got into a sprinter's stance, preparing to shoot himself forward.

Midoriya smiled. "That's good to hear." He widened his own stance.

"As if you could beat us!" Kamikiri yelled back.

"I like your bravado." Kendo grinned and got into a Karate-esque fighting stance, enlarging her fists to nearly quadruple their normal size. "But don't underestimate us!"

"We're trained in melee combat, and we have you outnumbered." Ojiro followed up, getting into a Judo stance.

Iida, Kendo, Kamakiri, and Ojiro positioned themselves to effectively surround Midoriya on four sides.

"You're right. You do outnumber me." He admitted.

Midoriya then pressed a red button on the gadget strapped to his left arm. All of a sudden, a red-colored projection shaped like a triangular heater's shield appeared in front of him. It was partially see-through and shielded its wearer from the chest-to-knees.

The four Red Team members were baffled by the reveal of the Energy Shield construct.

"That's why I pity you." The Captain declared.

Midoriya nodded and paid close attention as Hatsume showcased her support items from her metal briefcase. 

Hatsume then pulled out a small projector with a black strap attached to it. "And this is a prototype of mine dubbed the Limited-Range Photon-Accelerator…or Energy Shield in layman terms. It's a force-field synth; meaning that it's supposed to be a shield that's composed of light particles. In theory, it could even be configured to form other shapes too!" She excitedly explained. "I was inspired to make this one night after hearing about that Hero Student who supposedly has an indestructible shield and all."

"I see…" Midoriya looked at the device with intrigue. "How strong is the shield?"

"Heck if I know!" Hatsume smiled wildly, making Midoriya sweat-drop. "Guess we'll find out today!"

Kendo, Ojiro, and Kamakiri were stunned by Midoriya's bold, admittedly awesome statement. Was he that confident or just arrogant?

"Hold on, is that thing even allowed?" Ojiro pointed out.

"Whatever support gear Hatsume-san has, we have permission to use as a team." The super-soldier answered.

"Who cares?! Doesn't matter if you have a shield or not, Freckles!" Kamakiri exclaimed. "You're still going down!" He swiftly rushed forward with Kendo and Ojiro deciding to follow his lead.

The Captain studied their movements and immediately predicted what their strategy was. Kamakiri slashes with his blades, forcing him to block with his shield while Ojiro uses his tail to smack his blind side. Kendo then comes in to finish him off with an oversized punch.

Smart move and good coordination, he thought. Still, the trio needed more training and experience. After all, revealing what their Quirks were right off the bat was a very poor decision.

As Kamikiri jumped up to bring his forearm blades down, the Captain disabled his energy shield, much to the others' surprise, turned and ducked under the strike and stepped behind Kamakiri, swiftly kicking him in the back. This sent Kamakiri falling directly into Ojiro's tail swipe, which had been aimed at the verdette super-soldier.

"OOF!" Kamakiri coughed up as he was sent tumbling back across the ground.

Kendo's eyes widened. 'He saw through our attack?!' She quickly stopped and jumped back, abandoning her initial attack.

"Sorry!" Ojiro immediately apologized before turning his sights on the Captain. He quickly charged at him and threw a few jabs aimed at his central vital points. However, the super-soldier easily blocked and parried the moves and jabbed Ojiro directly in the throat, stunning him long enough for the Captain to swipe his feet out from underneath him. Grabbing Ojiro by his tail, he spun around and tossed him into Kamakiri off to the side.

The duo grunted painfully as they comically slammed into each other.

"You're not bad!" Kendo rushed forward and reared back her enlarged fists.

Activating the shield, the Captain blocked the enlarged punch. Kendo wasn't deterred as she began rapidly punching the energy shield, but the shield remained strong and held her back.

"Fancy toy! Gotta admit, I'm impressed that it can hold up!" Kendo remarked. "I hope you don't just plan on hiding behind it though!"

"You may wish I did." The Captain cooly retorted.

Catching on to Kendo's punching speed, he deactivated the shield and ducked beneath her right hook. Kendo was too stunned to react when the verdette came up and delivered a powerful palm strike into her diaphragm. The orange-haired girl felt the air leave her lungs as she went flying and landed on her back hard, coughing badly.

Hearing engines revving, the Captain turned to see Iida making a beeline towards a few nearby Nodes. 'Smart.' He nodded in approval. 'He hasn't lost sight of the game.' 

Reactivating the shield, Captain Midoriya spun and swiped his left forearm forward. Shockingly, this resulted in the triangular energy shield to go flying!

Iida was taken off guard as the red construct hit the back of his knees, resulting in him tumbling across the ground. The red shield bounced off the ground and dematerialized into nothingness.

"Bastard!" The verdette turned to see Kamakiri charging at him with blades protruding from his forearms and hands. "Try blocking these!"

Timing it right, the Captain sidestepped to his left and ducked under Kamakiri's frontal attack, delivering a strong elbow into his side. Distracted by the painful kidney shot, the super-soldier then grabbed his praying mantis-like opponent from his upper left arm (which didn't have blades on them), and judo flipped him.

As Kamakiri was falling head-first, Captain Midoriya immediately dropped down to deliver a powerful axe kick into the side of his head. Immediately knocked out by the blow, Kamakiri bounced across the ground like a tumbleweed and rolled on top of Iida–who was just starting to get up.

'That's one.' 

Hearing footsteps, he turned around to see Ojiro jumping at him and spinning in midair to deliver a tail swipe. The Captain swiftly brought up his arm and activated the shield, effectively blocking the attack. Pushing back, Ojiro kicked off and landed a few meters away. Ojiro took a breath and got in a judo stance with his tail at the ready.

The Captain smirked and turned to expertly throw the heater shield at him. Ojiro quickly reacted by knocking the energy shield away, which dematerialized as it landed on the ground. This, however, gave the war veteran time to get in close and unleash a barrage.

Ojiro and the Captain exchanged a series of jabs and punches with the latter landing more. Getting desperate, the Tail-user tried a right roundhouse kick, which the verdette simply ducked under. Spinning back around on his pivot leg, Ojiro tried to lash out with his tail. Surprisingly, the Captain was quick enough to reactivate the shield in time to block the appendage.

Captain Midoriya then delivered a kick right above Ojiro's right knee, dislocating it. "GRAGGH!" Falling to his left knee in intense pain, Ojiro was unable to dodge the spinning roundhouse kick to his face. The plain-looking man collapsed onto his back, instantly slipping into unconsciousness with blood leaking from his nose.

'Two.' 

The super-soldier turned to see Kendo coming at him with her hands over quadruple their size. He quickly dove to the side as she shattered the ground where he had been standing and rolled back to his feet.

"You could've seriously hurt Kamikiri-san and Ojiro-san just then." Kendo pointed out, her hands returning to normal size.

"They'll live. Besides, Recovery Girl can easily heal those injuries." The Captain countered.

"I guess." Kendo smirked while using her thumb to whip a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth. "Glad to know you're not afraid to hit a girl at least."

"I've learned not to underestimate anyone. Regardless of gender."

Kendo smiled at that. "Tell me, you're trained. Right?"

"Very."

"I'm curious to see how much." She got into a karate stance. "Mind showing me?"

"I can. You may regret it though."

Kendo grinned confidently. "We'll see. I'm Kendo Itsuka, by the way. President of Class 101-B. Nice to meet you."

"Midoriya Izuku. President of Class 101-A." He raised his energy shield up and widened his stance. "Pleasure's mine."

With pleasantries out of the way, the green-haired man and ginger woman charged at each other.

Kendo started off by unleashing a series of punches and jabs at her green-haired opponent using a mix of normal and enlarged hands. The super-soldier backpedaled as he expertly blocked and parried Kendo's attacks, internally impressed by her Karate skills.

'She's not bad for a civilian. Definitely earned that black belt. Combined with her Quirk and more experience, she'll be a tough opponent for most Villains.' 

"HRAGH!" Kendo continued her offensive but the Captain skillfully managed to counter her. After exchanging several sets of martial arts moves, the duo now stood a few meters apart.

"Your moves… I recognize them. Ninjutsu? Kung Fu? Krav Maga?" Kendo panted slightly.

"All of the above." He smirked.

Kendo gapped, gobsmacked. "How…?"

"Carefully."

He wasn't lying. Between SHIELD's training and his own personal research in his downtime, he had learned quite a few martial arts styles since waking up from the ice to supplement the fighting styles he had already learned while in the military. Having an enhanced mind also sped up the learning process.

"Tch!" The Big Fist-user clicked her tongue, annoyed by his wry remark. "Fine then. HRAGH!" She charged forward and pressed her attack, forcing her opponent to step back toward a nearby boulder.

'Perfect. Once he's pinned, he'll have nowhere to dodge.' Kendo reared back her right fist and threw a haymaker at the Captain, which he deflected away with his shield. She followed up with a left jab, which he easily dodged also; however, the ginger anticipated this and suddenly enlarged her left hand. 'I have him! Once he's down, I'll finish him off with a Double Jumbo Fist!' 

Kendo's growing hand caused him to stumble but he quickly recovered by latching onto her large thumb. Using his enhanced strength, he twisted his body and dislocated the appendage with a loud crack.

"AAWWWW!" She painfully cried out.

She was distracted long enough by her broken thumb for the Captain to pull her forward by the arm and knee her hard in the gut. Kendo bent over a spat up saliva mixed with blood.

'He's too–' Kendo didn't complete her thought as he slammed the edge of his energy shield into the back of her head–not hard enough to seriously injure her though. Like a sack of potatoes, she limply collapsed to the ground unconscious.

'Three.' 

"MIDORIYA!"

The verdette turned to see Iida blitzing him to deliver an Engine-boosted left roundhouse kick at his head, which Captain Midoriya was quick to duck under. He then grabbed Iida by his leg and, using impressive strength and Iida's own momentum, pulled him off the ground and swung him into the boulder behind him. Cracks were left from the impact as he fell to the ground, rock chips falling around him.

"I…I should've seen that coming." Iida chastised himself, shakily getting his feet underneath him.

The Captain didn't respond, keeping his eyes trained on the navy-haired teen.

Adjusting his glasses, Iida turned to glare at his opponent. "Still…I refuse to give up!"

Iida rushed forward to deliver a series of high-speed, powerful kicks. Though his speed had incrementally improved thanks to their training, the Captain was able to keep up with his speedster classmate. He expertly ducked, pivoted, and blocked using his heater shield.

'I can't get past his defenses. So…' When Iida's roundhouse kick missed, he pivoted on his left leg and activated his right Engine while dragging his foot on the ground. This caused him to spin back around and kick up a wall of dirt at his opponent. 'I'll improvise!' 

"Argh!" Blinded by the dirt, the Captain missed the jab that Iida hit him with. Iida followed up with driving his foot into his midsection, and finally a right cross into his temple. Dazed and temporarily blinded, the super-soldier backward somersaulted and narrowly avoided a powerful roundhouse kick from Iida.

Landing on his feet, Captain Midoriya rubbed his eyes clear and looked at Iida with a proud smirk. 'Learning to play a little dirty, huh? Good Tenya.' He internally appraised.

"I see you picked up on my Savate moves."

Iida smirked back. "I thought it would be poetic to defeat you with your moves. But perhaps that wishful thinking! So, I'll win my way!"

Revving his Engines, Iida rushed forward and jumped up to deliver a full-powered kick. Though Captain Midoriya brought up his shield to block the attack, the force behind it caused him to stumble back. Iida pressed on and kicked again with all of his strength, causing him to fall down.

Seeing his chance, Iida cartwheeled and fired up his Engines to bring down another full-powered kick. Captain Midoriya quickly pushed himself away just as Iida's right leg came down in front of him, shattering the ground.

As the Captain stood back up, Iida lashed out with a kick to his head–which was blocked. Iida sprung back up to his own feet and flipped himself in the air to aim a kick at the verdette's head. The war veteran ducked and rolled underneath it and returned to his feet. Iida turned and continued relentlessly pressing his attack.

Captain Midoriya backpedaled as he dodged and blocked Iida's kicks and punches. 'Gotta admit, he has improved. Still…' Picking up on Iida's pattern, he brought up his shield to block one of Iida's kicks and pushed him back, sending him landing on his back several meters away. '...he has a ways to go.' 

"Midoriya-kun, I can only get stronger if you're giving me your all!" Iida shouted while standing back up. "So give me that!" He rushed forward, intending to tackle his friend/rival into the boulder behind him.

The Captain responded by rushing forward to take Iida head-on. The Engine user recognized this strategy from the training exercises, and dropped down to slide across the ground–aiming to trip his opponent. The super-soldier responded by somersaulting over the Iida's dive and landed smoothly on his feet.

'He's learning. Good.' Captain Midoriya thought, reminded of their combat training weeks prior.

Iida popped back to his feet and followed up with another series of kicks, crosses, and jabs pushed to a higher speed than before. Much to Iida's shock though, the verdette was still able to keep up with his increased speed. After missing on a jab, the Captain responded with a swift right cross at Iida's temple that temporarily stunned him.

The bespeckled teen stopped and backed up before pressing forward. The Captain had caught on to the blue-haired speedster's moves, however, and kicked the spot right above Iida's right knee.

"AARGH!" He painfully shouted.

While Iida was momentarily distracted, Captain Midoriya followed up by kicking him straight in the midsection and making him stagger back. He then immediately jumped in the air and flipped to deliver a solid 360 Crescent kick into Iida's head.

With that, Iida was instantly knocked out and collapsed to the ground.

Captain Midoriya looked down at his down opponent and remained alert, watching for any sign of a quick recovery. Seeing that Iida was fully unconscious, he loosened up a bit.

'Four. Sorry Tenya.' Midoriya thought apologetically.

"Unreal!" Present Mic's voice blared through the speakers. "Midoriya showcases incredible combat skills by taking down four opponents at once in barely a minute!" 

"Midoriya was highly trained in America's armed forces, so this outcome was expected." Aizawa tiredly stated.

Many audience members, particularly the Pro Heroes in attendance, murmured and discussed with each other at this stunning revelation. There was a former soldier in UA's Hero Course? That was a surprise!

"A soldier, huh? Yeah… I can see it." Midoriya turned to see Shinso casually walking towards him, hands stuffed in his pockets. "You got that vibe around you."

"Thanks…?" Feeling the temperature drop and hearing the crackling of ice, Midoriya looked over to see Todoroki forming giant icy spikes around the Castle Node and the area surrounding it. Even from a distance, the super-soldier didn't miss the blank expression on his scarred face.

"I see you've got Todoroki-san to work already."

"SHOOOOTOOOOO!" The pair turned to the source of the yell. Endeavor could be seen in the stands, fire raging off of him and forcing anyone near him to vacate. A few Pro Heroes, presumably his Sidekicks, tried to pull him away. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHY ARE YOU HELPING YOUR ENEMIES?! SHOOOOTOOOO!"

"Well, he's pissed." Shinso sardonically remarked.

Midoriya was undeterred. "Let him. Where's Bakugo-san?"

Shinso pointed his thumb towards the wall where a motionless Bakugo stood atop the icy structure, acting as a sentry. "For now, he's on standby. I ordered him to blast away anyone who tries to climb or fly over the wall."

Midoriya nodded in satisfaction. 'Phase 1 will be underway shortly then.' 

"Phase 1 will revolve sowing discord amongst the Red and Green teams." Midoriya explained. "Shinso-san's Brainwashing will be very instrumental with that task. Once Todoroki-san is finished fortifying our defenses, we can deploy him, Bakugo-san, and potentially anyone else that Shinso-san can brainwash to attack the other teams." 

"But couldn't we just keep Todoroki-san and Bakugo-san over here as extra defense?" Kaminari asked.

"I like where your head's at Kaminari-kun, but between the ice fortifications, Occhan's meteor ammunition, Hatsume-san's gadgets, and myself it's unnecessary." Midoriya replied. "Besides, deploying Todoroki-san and Bakugo-san against the other teams will keep the fighting focused on the Red and Green sides, at least for a while. Long enough for us to prepare for Phase 2." 

"What's Phase 2?" Uraraka questioned, tilting her head. 

Midoriya smiled confidently.

Shinso spotted the four Red Team members lying scattered on the ground unconscious behind the verdette. "I see you have extra puppets for me back there." He dryly noted.

'I'd…rather not call them that.' Midoriya thought sheepishly. "If you can wake them up and brainwash them, we can deploy them alongside Todoroki and Bakugo."

Shinso nodded in understanding. "Shouldn't be an issue." The disheveled young man nonchalantly sauntered toward the knocked out Red group.

Unbeknownst to Shinso and Midoriya, one of the Red members had begun to wake up. Upon overhearing the pair's conversation, they had remained motionless and acted like they were still unconscious–quietly eavesdropping.

'Puppets? Brainwash?' Iida's eyes widened as they connected the dots. 'I see… So that's why Todoroki formed the ice barrier…and why Bakugo is uncharacteristically quiet.' 

"Hey! Wake up!"

A groggy groan slipped out of Ojiro's mouth as his eyes fluttered open. He grimaced as he felt a sharp pain flare on his face. It felt like his nose was broken!

"Ah good, you're awake." Ojiro was confused to see a disheveled purple-haired student kneeling by him with tired eyes. "You okay there, Monkey boy?

"Huh? Who are—" Ojiro's eyes immediately glazed over.

Shinso smirked. 'That's one.' 

He then walked over to Kamakiri and repeatedly slapped the side of his face. "Wakey-wakey, Bug!'

"Ugh… My head…" Kamakiri painfully groaned. As his eyes slowly opened, he was alarmed to see Shinso kneeling in front of him.

"Looks like you took quite the beating. Eh, Bug?" Shinso remarked.

"What'd you call me bas–" Kamakiri was cut off when his eyes glazed over.

'That's two.' 

Shinso then stepped towards Kendo, who was lying on her front. "Yo! Red!" He patted the side of her face. "Nap time's over!"

Kendo's face contorted in pained discomfort as she was roughly knocked out of her sleep. "Huh…?" She gasped as her blue eyes then snapped open. It was all coming back to her now! She quickly pushed herself off the ground and turned towards Shinso.

"You sure got your a** kicked. Huh, Red?" Shinso taunted. "Maybe leave the fighting to the professionals next time. Huh, toots?"

Kendo angrily growled as she glared daggers at the indigo-haired teen. "Hey! I'll show–" She stopped as her expression went blank.

"I swear it's too easy." Shinso commented.

Iida kept his eyes closed, his breathing shallow, and his body limp. He was doing his best to–what did the Americans call it? Playing possum?

'I see. So that's how his Quirk works. He has to get someone to verbally respond to him.' Iida internally deduced. 'I just need to act like I'm still knocked out for now.' 

Shinso stepped toward Iida and tried nudging his side with his foot. "Hey! Glasses! You still alive, yeah? Your pride isn't too bruised by that beating you took, is it?"

Iida did not react.

Shinso tried several more times, but the bespeckled teen remained unresponsive–doing his best to act unconscious. Although he couldn't help but slightly wince when Shinso rammed the tip of his shoe into his side.

"Hmm… You may have hit this one a little too hard." Shinso glanced back at Midoriya.

"Yeah…" The verdette rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I probably could've held back a little more. We'll just have to make due with those three for now."

"What about him?" Shinso gestured to the unconscious Iida.

"I doubt he'll be waking up any time soon if he's that out of it." Midoriya responded, shrugging.

"Red Team strikes first, folks! They've taken out one of the Green Team's Nodes!" 

"C'mon." Midoriya gestured for Shinso to follow him. "It's time to kick off Phase 1."

"Right. You three, follow us. And keep up!" Shinso commanded Kendo, Ojiro, and Kamikiri. The trio robotically obeyed the order, albeit at a slower pace than Midoriya and Shinso.

Iida slowly peaked his eyes open and shifted his gaze to see the group sauntering away towards the ice wall. His body tensed up as he prepared himself to act!

'I know what I must do.' Iida had decided on his next move. He just needed to wait for the right moment to execute it.

Moments earlier…

Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were still locked in a melee. Sparks flew off from every solid blow each combatants exchanged. If it weren't for their respective armors, both opponents would've certainly knocked each other out. The pair were locked in a stalemate for several minutes. It was to the point that most of the audience had decided to ignore their melee.

"Ready to give in, Class A copycat!?" Tetsutetsu yelled.

"Hell no, dude! I'll never give in! Especially to you!" Kirishima shot back.

Both young men passionately yelled out, increasing the speed of their punches.

"And just like that Green Team scores the first points by delivering their Red HVI!" 

The scoreboard on the large screens updated.

Blue: 120

Green: 95

Red: 40

"HA! How do you like that, Class B copycat!?" Kirishima taunted, delivering a solid punch into Tetsutetsu's chest that sent him sliding back on the ground.

Tetsutetsu growled. "Don't get cocky! Red Team's just getting started!"

"HRAGGH!" Both young men charged at each other like raging bulls. For the umpteenth time, their fists collided. However, cracks began to appear along Tetsutetsu's right fist.

"HUH?! What the–" Tetsutetsu was shocked. His steel had actually cracked?!

"HA!" Kirishima grinned confidently. "You may be made out of steel, bro…but I've been training my a** off the last few weeks…by hitting something much harder than steel!"

With all his might, Kirishima reared back his arm and delivered a powerful uppercut into a stunned Tetsutetsu's chin. The silver-haired young man went careening back and bounced along the ground.

"Hell yeah!" Kirishima excitedly pumped his fist. "Round 1 is mine!"

'All those hours of blood, sweat, and tears hitting Midori-bro's shield have paid off.' He mused proudly.

"And it looks like the Kirishima and Tetsutetsu brawl finally has a winner!" Mic sounded a bit relieved. "A solid knockout punch delivered by Class 101-A's Kirishima!"

The crowd cheered loudly.

"Ergh…" Tetsutetsu slowly sat up from the dirt, his steel armor fading away. "Dammit." He hated to admit it, but that last punch by Kirishima really hurt. What did he mean by hitting something harder than steel though?

"Unreal!" Present Mic sounded shocked. "Midoriya showcases incredible combat skills by taking down four opponents at once in barely a minute!" 

"That's Midori-bro for yah." Kirishima remarked, grinning roguishly. "The guy knows his way around a fight."

Tetsutetsu's eyes widened, his mouth gapping in shock. "No way… Kendo-san couldn't have lost. Could she?"

"Don't worry, Tetsutetsu-san." A familiar voice whispered to him. "We'll have the advantage shortly…"

"Huh…?" Tetstuetsu looked around, seeing no one else. "Was that–" He didn't get the chance to complete his sentence before it happened.

"HUH!? What the!?" Kirishima suddenly started sinking into the ground as it had turned into mud. He tried to step out of it, but it was very thick and viscous. "Quick sand?!"

Suddenly, the ground all around the Green Team's territory suddenly turned into quicksand. Anything on the ground began to sink into the liquified ground.

"Incredible! In a shocking turn of events, the Green Team is finally breaking the stalemate against the Red Team's defense–OH WAIT!?" Present Mic gasped. "What's this!? The Green Team's territory is sinking into the earth?!" 

As Tokoyami began sinking into the ground, he immediately responded. "Dark Shadow, get us to the fort!"

"Right!" The sentient shadow extended out and grabbed onto one of the fort's support beams, pulling his host to the top.

"Tokoyami-kun!" Shoji uses the bars to swing himself up. "The others are sinking too!"

"Dark Shadow!"

"On it!" The shadow stretched out to rescue their teammates.

Yanagi stumbled forward and used her hands to catch herself, splattering mud all over her tracksuit. "This is not pleasant…" She cooly stated.

Before the silver-haired girl could sink any further, Dark Shadow's hand reached out to gently grab and pull her out. He went back to drop her off at the fort alongside Tokoyami and Shoji. The shadow repeated this process with Kodai and Kirishima, moments before they would've been fully submerged.

The Green Team defenders steadied themselves by holding onto the fort's metal bars as it slowly sank into the mud too.

"We find ourselves in a precarious predicament." Yanagi pointed out.

"That's putting it mildly." Shoji dryly replied. "So this is what they were planning. How are they pulling it off?"

"Honenuki-san." Kodai answered. "He can soften anything he touches."

"That would've been useful information to know earlier." Tokoyami said tersely.

Kodai shrugged, remaining emotionless. "You never asked."

Tokoyami sighed, exasperated. "I suppose it doesn't matter now."

Meanwhile, Sato, Tetsutetsu, and Kaibara were standing on the rim of the quicksand lake within the Green Team's territory.

"Hell yeah! Now the real fun begins!" Kaibara's arms started gyrating as he dove into the mud, drilling himself through it.

"Think this plan'll work out?" Sato glanced at Tetsutetsu questioningly.

"Well, I'll be honest…forming strategies ain't my forte." Tetsutetsu admitted. "But I trust my classmates though, and that's good enough for me. I'll let others more capable come up with the plans and stuff while I'll focus on being their shield and weapon!"

Sato blinked before a confident smile crossed his face. "Same here, dude." He could relate to the Steel-user's statement.

Across the field, Kaibara shot out of the mud like a dolphin and rammed his spinning arms into a Node, fully reducing it to scrape metal. "Hell yeah! That's one!" He dove back into the mud.

"Red Team strikes first, folks! They've taken out one of the Green Team's Nodes!" Present Mic announced, earning rambunctious cheers from the stadium.

"Green Team will lose even more if they don't regroup…and quickly." Aizawa cautioned, sounding dour.

"Dark Shadow, pull our Nodes back to us!" Tokoyami quickly ordered.

"I'm on it!" The shadow stretched and went to carry out the order.

"Yanagi-san, would you lend your aid?"

"Mhmm." The ghostly girl nodded and focused on a nearby Node. A purple glow shone off it as she levitated it towards the fort. Moments before it arrived, Kaibara jumped out of the mud and drilled straight through it.

"Ha! Easy pickings!" He shouted victoriously before sinking back into the liquid ground.

"My apologies…" Yanagi sounded dejected.

"Don't beat yourself up. Can you bring in more than one at a time though?" Shoji inquired.

She shook her head. "Given my weight limit, I can only apply my Quirk to one Node at a time, unfortunately."

"Red Team destroys another Node, earning them an additional 10 points and stealing 10 from–Oh wait! Red Team has just delivered their Green HVI. That's another 15 points tallied to their score! Green and Red are now tied for second!" Cheers echoed throughout the stadium from the building excitement.

The Green defenders turned to see Honenuki holding onto the safe zone's concrete ledge, placing a green orb in the rectangle. He turned back and shot the group with a V-sign before sinking back into the ground.

The scoreboard updated again.

Blue: 120

Green: 75

Red: 75

"Heh! Told yah the Red Team was just getting started!" Tetsutetsu shouted out, sounding smug.

"Crap!" Kirishima angrily gripped a bar, contorting it. "We can't defend like this!"

The fortress creaked and groaned as it continued sinking into the mud. "This isn't good."

"One second." Kodai grabbed onto one of the fort's beams and activated her Quirk.

All of a sudden, the fort over quadrupled in size as it extended out of the mud. The enlarged fort's foundation was pushed down until it reached the solid bottom of the quicksand lake, stopping any further sinking. The Green Team defenders were surprised to now find themselves over four stories above the liquified ground.

"Nice work!" Kirishima appraised.

Kodai wordlessly nodded in return.

"We need reinforcements." Shoji pulled out an object from his pocket. A human ear. "Hey, Tokage-san, I'm sure you've heard already, but we're in a pickle here! We need backup ASAP!" He reported into the ear.

"Your classmate, Todoroki-san, would've been helpful in this situation." Yanagi calmly mentioned, telekinetically floating a Node to their floor and setting it down next to four more that Dark Shadow had just recovered. "He could've countered Honenuki-san's Quirk by freezing the ground."

"Seriously…" Kirishima turned to the ice wall blocking the Blue Team's territory from view. "What the heck is that guy doing over there?!"

"No sense in worrying about a rogue player." Tokoyami said sagely. "Although, I'll admit…I am curious myself as to what's become of him."

As Dark Shadow grabbed onto the last remaining Node, Kaibara burst from the mud and aimed his drills for the Node. "That's mine, bird!"

"Get lost!" With his other hand, Dark Shadow smacked Kaibara away–sending him bouncing across the quicksand's surface like a flat rock skipping atop the water.

"Tokoyami's Dark Shadow smacks Class 101-B's Kaibara away to protect a Node! But how long can the Green Team defend their area as it continues to sink away?!" Present Mic exclaimed, sounding very hyped.

A smug grin crossed Kaibara's expression as he sank back into the mud. 'We win.' 

As Dark Shadow was about to reach for another Node, its yellow eyes shot open. "H-Huh?! What's going on–" The sentient shadow felt something completely override its control. Before Dark Shadow knew it, he dropped the Node in its hand back into the mud and started flying back to the fort.

Tokoyami was confused. "Dark Shadow, what are you–?!"

"Fumikage! Look out!" Dark Shadow cried out as he rushed in and suddenly slammed his clawed hands into the fort. The force was strong enough to tear apart the floor the defenders were standing on and send them flying.

Shoji swiftly formed several arms and reached out to grab Yanagi and Kodai before latching onto a support beam. Despite his best efforts though, he was unable to catch Kirishima as he splashed into the mud.

"What's this!? Tokoyami's Dark Shadow has suddenly turned on the Green Team?!" 

Everyone in the stands and watching from afar were equally befuddled.

"Dark Shadow!?" Tokoyami shouted, desperately holding on to the edge. The muddy lake four stories beneath him. "What're you doing?!"

"I can't…control myself…Fumikage!" Dark Shadow's voice was strained, trying to fight back against whatever unknown force had possessed him.

Kuroiro smiled smugly from within the bird-shaped shadow. 'Tokoyami Fumikage…' 

"Kuroiro-san," Yaoyorozu approached him, "Tokoyami's Dark Shadow will be a major obstacle to clear. I believe your ability to move through darkness will be instrumental in crippling the Green Team. Are you up to that task?" 

A wide smile spread across Kuroiro's pitch black expression. "Leave it to me." 

'You and I share a destiny in darkness.' He then recalled how the plan was established.

"I talked it over with Yaoyorozu-san. I'll liquify the Green Team's territory." Honenuki whispered into Kuroiro's ear, a minute before the event was scheduled to begin. "You can cling to me until then. It'll also be dark underground so there will be plenty of space for you to move freely. Kaibara-san will be using his Gyrate to move through the ground too. When you see a chance to take over the dark bird, take it." 

'And, as a fellow comrade of the abyss, it is only natural that we be fated rivals!' Kuroiro internally rationalized.

"Hell yeah!" Sato fist-pumped. "It worked!"

"Bird brain's under our control now!" Tetsutetsu added in.

Overhearing the young men, both Yanagi and Kodai's eyes widened in realization.

"This must be Kuroiro-san's doing." Yanagi deduced.

"Kuroiro?" Shoji repeated.

"He's capable of moving and merging himself in anything that's dark." Kodai said calmly. "He must've been hiding in Kaibara's clothing…and taken possession of your classmate's shadow after he struck him."

"That's not good…" Shoji was starting to get worried.

It was bad enough that Todoroki had gone rogue, and now Tokoyami's Dark Shadow was compromised? If things didn't change fast, they'd be eliminated shortly!

"I'm going…to…strike! LOOK OUT!" Dark Shadow balls its fists together and prepared to bring them down on the fort, specifically the spot where the six Nodes were stashed.

"Dark Shadow, no!" Tokoyami cried out.

Then, without warning, a mass of vines suddenly entangled themselves around the enlarged fort and blocked Dark Shadow's strike.

"No need to worry, my compatriots." A familiar haughty voice called out. "Your savior has arrived."

Moments Earlier… 

The Green Team's offenders were still locked in a stalemate against the Red Team's defense. Shiozaki's vine fortress was proving to be too difficult to overcome. Though Ashido's acid could melt through the vines, Shiozaki rapidly grew more to replace the ones she lost.

Tokage and Sero were having little luck from the air as well. In short, the Red Team's defenses were ironclad.

"We're not getting anywhere here." Sero called out, still suspended in the air thanks to Tokage's floating arm. He glanced over to her detached head floating nearby. "You said that Monoma jerk could make a distraction for us."

"Well, to be fair, I said 'if it works out' that he could—"

The greenette was cut off by Present Mic's loud voice. "And just like that Green Team scores the first points by delivering their Red HVI!" 

"Ha! That smug d**che pulled it off!" Tokage cheered.

Jiro was surprised. "How the heck did they get past Awase and the vines?!"

Standing behind her, with her head bowed and hands clasped together in prayer, Shiozaki responded. "My most sincere apologies. But the vines covering our safe haven were detached, outside of my control." Her bottom lip quivered. "...I was unaware of an intruder…"

"It's alright!" Yaoyorozu ceased firing, creating more cartridges full of paste from her exposed abdomen. "It's no one's fault. Let's just regroup and–"

WAM!

The Red Team's fort suddenly shook, causing Yaoyorozu and Jiro to stagger to their knees while Shiozaki kept herself upright using her vine-hair.

"What was that?!"

Shiozaki uttered, eyes widening. "It can't be…"

"What's happening, Shiozaki-san?" Yaoyorozu returned to her feet, reclaiming her rifle.

"My vines… They're coming up against… more vines?"

Sure enough, a mass of pale-green vines were wrapping and tussling against Shiozaki's darker vibrant green vines. The audience looked on in awed confusion at the spectacle.

Monoma nonchalantly strolled away from the Red Team's safe zone with a sh*t-eating grin plastered on his face. Shockingly, all of the pale vines were sprouting out of his head.

"Monoma-san!?" Shiozaki gasped in realization.

"Monoma?" Jiro was confused.

"He has the ability to copy other's Quirks."

"That would've been useful to know." Jiro murmured dryly.

"Forgive me…" Shiozaki bowed her head apologetically.

Meanwhile, Monoma's copied version of Shiozaki's Quirk spread out across the Red Team's green fortifications and started to pull and wrestle against it. "Your Quirk truly is a blessing, Shiozaki-san. Which is why I'll be taking it for the time being." Monoma declared snidely.

Shiozaki narrowed her gaze. "Wretched sinner! You will not prosper!"

Everyone watched on as the green foliage tousled and ripped each other apart, resulting in gaps to finally appear in the Red Team's defenses.

"Now's our chance!" Tokage shouted out. "Move in!"

"Right!" The other Green Team offenders yelled.

Still carrying Sero, Tokage's detached body parts descended from above. Their targets were the four Nodes that were now partially revealed behind the green barrier's gaps.

"Incredible! In a shocking turn of events, the Green Team is finally breaking the stalemate against the Red Team's defense–OH WAIT!?" 

Tokage was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts.

"What's this!? The Green Team's territory is sinking into the earth?!" 

"What?!" Tokage stopped and looked back.

Much to her shock, the ground on the Green side had been turned into mud. From the distance, she could see her teammates struggling.

"Huh?! What the heck's going on over there!" Ashido exclaimed, surprised.

Shishida's eyes widened behind his glasses. "Honenuki… Of course. I should've suspected this. Curses!" He clenched his fists angrily.

"Red Team strikes first, folks!" Present Mic continued. "They've taken out one of the Green Team's Nodes!"

Aizawa added in. "Green Team will lose even more if they don't regroup…and quickly." 

"Aizawa-sensei's right! We need to help them!" Asui shouted.

Tokage looked frantically between her sinking territory and the Red Team's compromised vine fort. The Nodes were right there!

"Tokage!" Sero shouted out to her. "We need to fall back!"

"I know, but–"

"Red Team destroys another Node, earning them an additional 10 points and–Oh wait! Red Team has just delivered their Green HVI. That's another 15 points tallied to their score! Green and Red are now tied for second!"

Tokage panicked. 'Are you freaking serious!?' She looked back and was surprised to see their fort growing in size, likely Kodai using her Quirk to keep it from fully sinking in the mud.

"Hey, Tokage-san, I'm sure you've heard already, but we're in a pickle here! We need backup ASAP!" Shoji reported into her left ear. She had left it behind in case of emergencies.

Well… This definitely counted as an emergency.

Tokage shook her head. "Alright, everyone! Fallback!" She commanded. "Our teammates need us!"

The Green Team offenders didn't argue and immediately retreated back to the Red-Green border.

"Tsk!" Monoma clicked his tongue, annoyed. "Just when I was about to have the spotlight on me…" He then exhaled heavily. "Well, at least it's my classmates who are causing trouble and receiving the accolades." He assured himself.

With that, Monoma detached the pale-green vines from his head and immediately sprinted for the border. Shiozaki's vines were so focused on overwhelming the invading vines that Monoma and the other Green members were ignored as they promptly retreated.

"They're retreating." A victorious grin crossed Jiro's face. "Looks like your plan worked."

Yaoyorozu simply nodded. "So far." She then turned her gaze on the large ice wall. "However… I am worried about the status of our comrades on the Blue side."

"Have you tried contacting them?" Jiro asked.

Yaoyorozu nodded. "I have. But no one has responded as of yet, and Bakugo-san refused to accept an earpiece." She gestured to the communication earbud in her left ear.

"Mic-sensei did mention that they had fallen earlier." Shiozaki sadly pointed out.

"That's true…but he stated that Midoriya had only defeated four. That still leaves one unaccounted for. If it were Bakugo though, we'd be hearing more explosions going off. So who…?" Yaoyorozu tapped her chin contemplatively. 'Izuku… What are you planning? How could you have convinced Todoroki to form an ice wall around your border?' 

Meanwhile, Midoriya and Shinso and the opponents under the latter's control were standing atop the ice barrier. Shinso had ordered Todoroki to form a pillar to take them to the top, akin to an elevator. Midoriya knelt down and keenly observed the battle between the Green and Red Teams.

"Gotta give Yaomomo credit. She came up with a solid plan to handicap the Green Team." Midoriya commented. 'She must've anticipated that Bakugo and Todoroki would go rogue, which is why she's focused on eliminating the Green Team first before fully focusing on us. Clever girl.' 

He watched as the Green Team retreated to aid their defenders. 'Still though… Had Todoroki not gone rogue, Green Team could've easily overcome this assault and wouldn't have lost any points.' 

Midoriya was mildly surprised to see the blonde from Class 101-B, Monoma Neito, had vines growing out of his head like the Class 101-B girl, Shiozaki Ibara. They didn't share the same Quirk, did they? Perhaps Monoma had the ability to copy it?

He watched as the vines rapidly grew and spread out across the muddy terrain, weaving themselves into solid ground that allowed the other Green members to run across. The vines climbed up the Green Team's fort to cover the structure, shielding it from a devastating blow by Dark Shadow.

Midoriya rubbed his chin. 'Strange. There's plenty of light out here for Tokoyami to be in control of Dark Shadow. The Red Team must've found a way to possess it then. Meta-Abilities these days never cease to amaze me…' 

The war veteran keenly analyzed the battle below, noting that Green Team's six remaining Nodes were stored in their fort–shielded by the vines Monoma had produced.

"That guy with the vine-head is turning the tide in Green Team's favor." Shinso pointed out.

"Yeah." Midoriya nodded and stood up. "Let's shake things up. Deploy the Reds."

The Brainwash-user smirked slyly. "I like your style, soldier boy." He then turned to four specific people. "You four! Listen up! I got tasks for you."

"I'm going…to…strike! LOOK OUT!" Dark Shadow balls its fists together and prepared to bring them down on the fort, specifically the spot where the six Nodes were stashed.

"Dark Shadow, no!" Tokoyami cried out.

Then, without warning, a mass of vines suddenly entangled themselves around the enlarged fort and blocked Dark Shadow's strike.

"No need to worry, my compatriots." A familiar haughty voice called out. "Your savior has arrived."

Shoji, Kodai, and Yanagi were surprised to see Monoma being held up in the air by tendrils of pale-green vines. The tendrils reached out carefully wrapped around the trio to set them down on the ground, which now had a layer of woven vines to prevent them from sinking.

"Monoma-san, you copied Shiozaki's Quirk." Kodai nodded. "Good choice."

"The Green Team regroups in just the nick of time! Class 101-B Monoma's ability to copy others' Quirks is on full display! But will it be enough to overcome the assault on their territory?" 

"HRAGH!" Dark Shadow yelled as it uses its clawed hands to rip into the viney fortification. Tendrils lashed out at the sentient shadow trying to keep it at bay.

"Shoji!" The multi-appendaged student was nearly freaked out to see Tokage's detached mouth floating next to him. "What's the situation? Why's Dark Shadow going crazy?"

"Apparently the Red Team has someone who can merge with darkness. He's taken control of Dark Shadow." He responded.

'We need someone to shine some light on him then. Too bad Aoyama didn't get past the Prelims. Really could've used that Naval Laser of his.' Tokage mused.

"There's no need to fret." Monoma announced, his grin somehow becoming smugger. He gestured to the side where Honenuki and Kaibara were lifted out of the ground. Both were wrapped in vines with their arms pinned against their sides. Kaibara tried to drill himself free, but suddenly found himself wrapped in a strong interwoven ball of vines. "With these two restrained, we can easily take back control."

"Crap! They got Honenuki-san and Kaibara-san!" Tetsutetsu yelled.

"C'mon! We gotta help 'em!" Sato added.

"RAGGH!" The muscled duo was suddenly taken aback when Shishida came charging at them; his body nearly tripled in size. "Roaring Rage!" Leaping into the air, the monstrous Shishida sent Tetsutetsu and Sato flying through the air with a swipe of his claws.

At the last second, Sato had bulked up while Tetsutetsu covered his body in steel to shield themselves from serious harm. However, the incredible force behind Shishida's attack sent them careening back towards the border.

With Honenuki and Kaibara currently restrained and Tetsutetsu and Sato sent flying, that left only one Red Team invader to deal with.

Tokage shouted out. "Everyone! Let's lend a hand in dealing with Dark Shadow!"

KA-BOOM!

An explosion suddenly erupted in the Green territory; specifically, near the fort. Dark Shadow cried out as the light and force behind the explosion caused him to recoil and sent him careening back. Tokoyami painfully grunted as he rolled on his front, unconscious.

"AGH!" Taking the blunt of the explosion, Kuroiro un-merged from Dark Shadow and went limp on the ground as the lights went out.

Monoma was startled by the explosion just enough for him to have a brief lapse in concentration, resulting in loosening his hold on Honenuki and Kaibara. Honenuki swiftly acted by pulling his arm free and liquifying the vines around him, allowing him to fall safely to his feet. He stepped over to the vines restraining Kaibara and softened them too, allowing the Gyrate user to free himself.

"Thanks, man!" Kaibara said appreciatively.

"Don't thank me." Honenuki pointed up. "Thank him."

"An explosion is unleashed upon the Green side! Could it be–?!"

The smoke cleared to reveal Bakugo standing atop the fort, holding onto the flagpole waving a triangular green flag. However, he wasn't yelling nor did he have a scowl etched onto his face. He was quiet and his countenance was blank.

It was surreal for the Class 101-A members of the Green Team.

"It's the Red Team's Bakugo Katsuki!"

"The heck's he doing here?" Kaibara cocked a brow. "I thought he was going after the Blue Team?!"

"No clue." Honenuki calmly replied. "But he ruined our plan by blasting Dark Shadow."

"That dumba**!" Kaibara snapped.

"Hold on, we have an announcement by Miss Midnight!" 

Activating her microphone, Midnight yelled, "Injury timeout! Green Team's Tokoyami Fumikage and Red Team's Kuroiro Shihai are injured and unconscious. They are being pulled from the event for their safety! Please pause the game timer!" 

With that, two pairs of medical robots rolled onto the field, hugging the arena wall, and placed the two men on stretchers and proceeded to take them to the medical ward. The two men received rounds of applause from the audience.

Tokage winced at the sight. 'Hope he's alright. Still… Losing Tokoyami is a big blow.' 

Once the robots disappeared in the tunnel, Midnight declared, "With the injured escorted away, let the game resume!" 

The event timer resumed counting down.

"Losing Tokoyami is certainly a blow for the Green Team, and now they have Bakugo to worry about!" Mic continued. "Wait! He's not alone!" 

Kendo, Ojiro, and Kamikiri suddenly jumped down from the ice wall and landed on the vine-covered ground, which absorbed most of their fall akin to a trampoline. The trio immediately stood up and spread out across the territory.

"Huh?!" Kirishima perked up. "What the heck are those guys doing here?!"

"Why are they attacking us all of a sudden?!" Ashido cried out, frantic.

"Kero. It's an ambush." Asui answered plainly.

"Kendo, Ojiro, and Kamikiri of the Red Team are also here! What is going on!? Weren't they attacking the Blue Team earlier?!" Present Mic sounded confused. "Shota! Help me out here!" 

"No. I'd rather not ruin the surprise." Aizawa grumbled into his microphone. "Besides, if you go through the files for Blue Team's Quirks right in front of you, it's not hard to determine what happened." 

"I don't have time to read! Stop keeping us in suspense and just tell us!" Mic argued.

"Later." 

"C'mon, Red Team!" Kaibara called out. "Their Nodes are in the fort! Let's work together and finish them off!"

"Right!" Tetsutetsu, Sato, and Honenuki replied. Bakugo, Kendo, Ojiro, and Kamikiri did not respond but continued to attack.

With that, the Red Team's invaders pressed onward and charged towards the fort.

Tokage bared her teeth angrily. 'Now I get it! The Red Team's initial assault on the Blue Team was a red herring. To cover up for this ambush. Yaomomo's trying to take us out first!' 

"Everyone, defend the fort!" Tokage commanded.

From there, the Green territory descended into chaos.

Yaoyorozu keenly gazed at the Green Team's territory with a pair of binoculars she had created.

"Okay, I'm stumped. What the heck's going on over there?" Jiro turned to the ravenette heiress. "Did you order them to ambush the Green side or something?"

"No…" Yaoyorozu lowered the binoculars, looking confused. She tapped her communication-earpiece. "Kendo-san, do you read me?"

No response.

"Ojiro-san?... Kamakiri-san?"

No response.

"Why aren't they responding?" Jiro wondered. "We can clearly see them over there."

"And your other classmate, Iida-san, isn't with them. There is deception of some kind in the air." Shiozaki sounded suspicious.

Yaoyorozu furrowed her brows thoughtfully. "I believe you may be right, Shiozaki-san…"

'Izuku, what did you do? What are you planning?' She wracked her brain for possibilities.

"Green Team's defenses are holding steady for now! But how long can they hold out against the Red Team's onslaught?" Mic announced, sounding curious.

Tetsutetsu and Sato challenged Kirishima and Shishida respectively.

Kendo was using basic fighting moves against Shoji, who grew multiple arms to block and parry her blows. He was weirded by the fact that she had a weird emotionless expression on her face though.

Yanagi was using her telekinesis to keep Kaibara suspended in the air while Tokage, Sero, Asui, Kodai, and Ashido focused on defending the fort from anyone else.

Feeling fatigued, Tokage reattached her body parts to momentarily rest and reset her Quirk. 'This isn't going well! We're losing ground!' 

Near the top of the enlarged fort, Monoma was trying to keep Bakugo at bay.

"You…are…annoyingly…persistent." Monoma panted heavily. He was concentrating hard on using vines to block Bakugo's unrelenting explosions. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but the ash-blonde was proving difficult to handle. Fire and plants naturally didn't mix very well. The fact his copied vines were becoming weaker due to his own dehydration also didn't bode well.

Bakugo was unresponsive to anything Monoma said so far. He used his explosions to propel himself away from Monoma's vines and back towards the fort only for more vines to intercept him, wrapping around his waist.

"Curious… I…heard…you were…quite mouthy…in battle." Monoma commented. 'His expression is also weirding me out. What's going on here?' 

Then, Bakugo robotically held out both arms in Monoma's direction and ignited his palms.

KA–BOOM!

The ash-blonde unleashed an explosion far more powerful than his previous ones. The fiery force completely overwhelmed Monoma's vines and sent the Copy-user crashing to the ground below. Additionally, the vines protecting the fort also burst into flames. Making matters worse, one of the six Nodes stashed inside had been damaged by the shockwave.

The scoreboard then updated.

Blue: 120

Red: 85

Green: 65

"Bakugo unleashes a massive explosion that has set the Green Team's fort ablaze! I can confirm that one of their Nodes has been lost! With that, the Red Team breaks the tie and claims second place!" Mic's voice blared through the speakers. "Is this the end of the Green Team!?"

The crowd watched with bated breath.

Bakugo himself was sent careening back by the explosive force, his eyes and countenance suddenly snapping back to normal. "Huh?! What the fu—OOF?!" He couldn't complete his exclamation as he crashed into the vine-laced ground.

The Green Team immediately shifted their attention to their burning fort.

"Sh*t!" Tokage cursed, splitting her body apart. "Everyone, we need to–"

All of a sudden, the vines on the fort that were not ablaze became viscous, turning into a green gooey sludge.

Honenuki was standing by the base of the enlarged base with his hands on it. "Hehehe!" He snickered. "It's over, Green!"

The fort's structure slowly leaned and was on the verge of collapsing…with all five of the remaining Nodes stashed inside.

"NO!" Tokage cried out, horrified.

Just when it seemed over for the Green Team, a surge of ice suddenly expanded across the vine-laced ground–completely bypassing the Green Team members. The ice sheet rapidly grew up the towering fort and extinguished the flames while simultaneously solidifying the structure.

"What a surprise, people! Todoroki has stopped building barriers and obstacles for the Blue Team and has returned to save his team from the brink of elimination!" Present Mic yelled out.

"Impeccable timing." Aizawa dryly remarked.

"SHOTO! IT'S ABOUT TIME!" Endeavor shouted, melting the railing in his grasp. "NOW STOP EMBARRASSING YOURSELF AND SHOW THEM WHAT YOU CAN DO!"

Todoroki did not react.

"SHOOOOTOOOOOO!"

"What a supportive father Endeavor is." Mic cheekily remarked.

"C-c-c-crap…!" Honenuki shivered madly, his legs and feet were trapped in ice.

Tokage blinked twice, stunned by Todoroki's sudden arrival. 'Pretty Boy sure has a crappy sense of timing.' Shaking her head, the greenette immediately refocused on the situation. "Yanagi-san! Sero-san! Help me get our Nodes out! Everyone else, cover us!"

"On it!" After trapping Ojiro in several rounds of tape and kicking him aside, Sero sprinted back to the fort.

"Huh…?" Ojiro looked around, dumbfounded. "What?"

Yanagi nodded as she telekinetically comically tossed Kaibara into Kamikiri, sending the pair tumbling across the ground. She turned and started running toward the fort.

"Ugh…!" Kamikiri groaned, his expression returning to normal. "The hell…?!"

"RRRAAAGGHHH!" Shishida roared viciously. With a swipe of his arm, the hairy brute sent both Tetsutetsu and Sato flying back.

Shoji avoided a roundhouse kick to his head and wrapped multiple arms around Kendo's leg. He lifted her up and spun around to toss her away.

Kendo bounced off the ground a few times before settling on her back. "Agh… My head? Huh…?" She shakily sat up, looking around at the battle unfolding around in confusion. "What's going on?"

Meanwhile, Honenuki tried to pull himself free from the ice his hands and feet were trapped in…until it hit him. "Oh wait… What am I doing?" Activating his Softening Quirk, he drastically reduced the viscosity of the ice and pulled himself free, though his appendages were still burning from the cold. "There. Okay, let's try this–OOF!"

A sharp pain flared up his neck as his eyes rolled back and collapsed forward, knocked out. The cause was a karate chop from Tokage's floating hand.

'That guy's too much of a risk. Better to take him out immediately.' Tokage rationalized. She then returned her attention to pulling their five remaining Nodes out of the compromised fort.

"Ugh…" Meanwhile, Bakugo sat up as he rubbed his right shoulder, wincing from the sharp pain. 'Damn! Did I overdo it or something?' 

His gaze then shifted to the right where Todoroki was slowly walking away from him.

"HEY! Icy-Hot!" Bakugo yelled. "What happened? Why are we over here!?"

Todoroki didn't respond, continuing to stroll forward.

Bakugo growled, baring his teeth. "DON'T IGNORE ME!"

Todoroki then stopped, remaining momentarily motionless. Bakugo cocked a brow. What was he doing?

Exhaling a breath of chilled air, the dual-haired young man placed his right foot forward. Giant spikes of ice suddenly burst out of the ground and surged forward! The ice plowed through the earth and extended into the Red Team's territory.

Yaoyorozu gasped in alarm. "Shiozaki!"

Shiozaki immediately acted by erecting a massive wall of vines to block the ice. "Faith's Shield!" The green barrier impeded the ice for only a brief moment before the vines were frozen solid and shattered.

That moment, however, gave Jiro enough time to plug her jacks into the speakers on her legs. "Heartbeat Wall!" The purplette channeled her heartbeat to create a powerful soundwave that shattered a portion of the ice. However, the icy wall was too big and moving too fast to stop completely as it tore through Red Team's vine barrier like paper.

In the process, one of the Nodes had been destroyed by an ice spike.

"Moments after saving his team from elimination, Todoroki plows through the Red Team's defenses and takes out a Node!" Present Mic exclaimed. "Green and Red are once again tied!" 

Cheers increased throughout the stadium at the exciting display of power.

The scoreboard updated again.

Blue: 120

Red: 75

Green: 75

After evacuating the Nodes from their fort, Tokage paused to analyze her team's situation. Thanks to Todoroki's arrival, her team had regained its momentum and managed to land a blow against the Red Team. She decided it was time to take full advantage of this momentum. 'If Yaomomo wants a fight, she'll get one!' 

"Everyone, listen up! We're attacking the Red Team!"

The team–sans Todoroki–looked at their mossy-head leader.

"Kero. Setsuna-chan, are you sure that's–"

"I'm in!" Kirishima exclaimed, cutting off Asui. "No more playing defense! Let's crush 'em!"

"Heck yeah!" Ashido glared defiantly at the Red side. "They'll pay for trying to mess with us!"

Shoji formed a mouth on one of his tentacles. "I won't lie… It'd be nice to put the pressure on them for a change." The mouth grinned creepily.

"Ergh…" Monoma picked himself off the ground, charred vines falling off his head and revealed his disheveled blonde hair. "Count me in."

"RRAAGGHH!" Shishida roared while pounding his big, hairy chest. "CRUSH RED TEAM!"

"You go ahead." Yanagi spoke up. "Kodai-chan and I will stay to guard the Nodes we have…"

Tokage nodded in acknowledgment. "Roger! Alright, let's move!"

"RIGHT!"

With that, the Green Team offenders mobilized and charged towards the Red Team's border.

"Crap…" Kaibara grimaced. "Red Team, fallback!"

Kaibara, Tetsutetsu, Sato, Kendo, Ojiro, and Kamikiri listened and retreated back to their territory.

"I don't even know what's happening!" Kamikiri shouted angrily. "What happened?! Why are we on the Green side?!"

"Join the club." Ojiro added, frowning. "But I think that purple-haired guy had something to do with it!"

"Later!" Kendo yelled back. "Right now we need to regroup with the others!"

From there, the Red Team retreated back to their side as the Green Team charged forward.

"The battle between the Greens and Red is reignited! With just over seven minutes remaining, who will win?" Mic hyped up.

Aizawa sighed heavily. "You're forgetting about the elephant in the room." 

"What elephant?"

"Nothing. You can find out for yourself."

"C'mon man!" 

Midoriya and Shinso knelt at the edge of the ice wall, looking down on the ensuing battle between the Red and Green Teams. The super-soldier was currently pointing out a couple of students of interest to the Brainwash-user.

"Hmm." Shinso hummed, nodding. "I understand. Although, if the guys on the Red Team see me, they'll come after me. Particularly the angry Pomeranian."

"I'll keep the heat off you." Midoriya assured him. "That way you can focus on doing your part."

Shinso nodded in understanding, and then looked back down. They had to be over sixty meters (~200 feet) in the air. "By the way, I'm not sure if this Jet Pack can hold us both. So how do you wanna–"

"I'll manage." Without warning, the verdette crouched down and leapt off the ledge. Doing a couple of spins, he dove to the ground.

The indigo-haired teen sighed. "Dammit… That was cool." Activating the Jet Pack, Shinso flew off the wall and descended toward the battlefield.

It was time to sow some more discord!

"Oy! Icy-Hot!" Bakugo called out. "You think you can ignore me and take away my points!?" His palms crackled with mini-explosions. "I'll kill–" His rant was cut off when Midoriya suddenly dropped and rolled over ten meters (~30 feet) away from him. The verdette immediately popped back up to his feet and glanced at the ash-blonde.

A coy smirk crossed Midoriya's face as he gave Bakugo a lazy salute before running away in the opposite direction.

Bakugo bared his teeth, his temple throbbing madly. "Midoriya…" He snarled.

"HRAGHH!" Ignoring the pain in his right shoulder, Bakugo launched himself in pursuit of the super-soldier. "GET BACK HERE! I'LL KILL YOU!"

As Bakugo proceeded to chase down Midoriya, Shinso flew in and landed near the Green Team's compromised fort. There was a person there of interest that he really wanted to talk to.

"Hey." Shinso shook the student. "Are you doing okay there, friend? Need any assistance?"

The student was roused from sleep. "Huh? Yeah… Um, who are—" His brainwashing took immediate effect.

"Glad you're okay. Because I have a mission for you, pal." Shinso grinned smugly.

As Midoriya, Shinso, and the brainwashed group disappeared over the ice wall, Iida decided it was time to act!

'Now's my chance!' The blue-haired young man swiftly popped up to his feet and dashed forward.

"Wait! Hold on, folks! The Red Team's Iida Tenya is back on his feet!" Present Mic sounded surprised.

"He wasn't as knocked out as we thought." Aizawa commented.

Iida navigated around and in-between the rocks and glaciers spanning the Blue territory. He could see the safe zone in the distance, and there were a few Nodes in his path too! He just needed to be quick!

"Thunder Horn!" 

A barrage of lyre-shaped horns suddenly rained down on the ground in front of him. This forced Iida to dive to the right, narrowly avoiding the bombardment. He rolled head-over-heels a few times before returning to his feet.

"Tsunotori!?"

Tsunotori flew into view on a pair of her horns, wearing a confident grin. "Izuku warned us you may be playing possum!" She hopped off her horns and landed on top of a nearby boulder. "You're too earnest to fool us!"

"I'll concede that." Iida broke out into a sprint, trying to avoid the horn salvo Tsunotori was firing at him.

"Iida is now on the run from Class 101-A's Tsunotori Pony! And with no backup, the poor guy's on his own in enemy territory!" 

Iida looked ahead to see a couple of Nodes positioned nearby. 'If I can be quick about it…' Increasing running speed, he aimed his trajectory toward the silver barrels. Tsunotori had anticipated this and aimed for the area in front of Iida, forcing him to make a sudden sharp turn and avoid the ankle-breaking obstacles.

"Sorry, Iida-kun! No way are we letting you nab our points!" Tsunotori exclaimed determinedly.

"I admire your resolve… But you'll find that I am not one to give up either!" Iida strongly declared.

Shifting his target to several other Nodes, Iida performed a zigzag maneuver to avoid Tsunotori's horns. His ability to make sharp turns was put to the test as he narrowly dodged the horns being shot at him.

'I have to make this quick, I'll have to–' He gasped when he spotted several boulders flying toward his location.

The young man came to an immediate stop, sliding on his heels and falling on his rear. Much to Iida's surprise, the bounders fell injunction to form two makeshift walls on either side of him.

Near the Castle Node, Uraraka grinned proudly to herself as she rested her hands on her knees. 'I did it! Izuku was right about working on my aim when throwing stuff.' 

Iida stood back up and turned to see Tsunotori blocking the exit with four horns hovering behind her, ready to fire. He then studied the boulders around him to see they were too jagged and high for him to attempt scaling over. Looking at the other end, he saw Kaminari blocking the path with peculiar equipment strapped onto his feet and arms.

"Nowhere to run, dude." He held up a hand with electricity cracking off of it.

Iida remained calm and looked past Kaminari and the makeshift rock walls to spot a Node positioned off to the side. Beyond that he could see the Blue territory's safe zone near the arena wall. It had to be at least 60 meters away though.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Mad cackling snapped Iida out of his thoughts. "What do we have here!?"

He titled his head up to see Hatsume flying toward him via a pair of boots discharging bluish-white light from the soles. Additionally, she was wielding an intricate pistol with a funnel-like muzzle. "It looks like target practice for my super-cute Capture Gun!" Pulling the trigger, a metal cartridge fired out and suddenly expanded into a wide net.

Iida immediately reacted by diving to his left, barely avoiding the capture net as it hit the spot where he had been standing.

"Quick reflexes, Legs!" Hatsume took aim again. "But I won't miss again!"

"Sorry, Iida-kun, but it's over!" Tsunotori shouted.

"Iida is pinned from both sides! Is this the end for the Red Team's speedster?!" Present Mic hyped up.

Looking between the incoming attacks on both sides, Iida realized what he had to do. Focusing on his engines, he reeved them up well over his regular limits, positioning his legs to achieve maximum lift.

'To have any chance of advancing…I have to go beyond!'

Midoriya's words echoed in his mind. "One moment is all it takes… One moment to rise to a challenge… To conquer a flaw… One selfless moment is all it takes for anyone to be a Hero." 

Hatsume pulled the Capture Gun's trigger while Tsunotori shot her horns forward.

Iida's expression became determined. 'This is my moment! My moment to help my team achieve victory!'

"Recipro… BURST!" With blue flames shooting out of his mufflers, Iida blasted forward at an incredibly fast speed. He moved so quickly that he outran Tsunotori's horns and Hatsume's capture net.

Kaminari had no time to react as Iida zoomed past him within the blink of an eye. He was like a bullet!

Not bothering to slow down, Iida collided into the Node and completely destroyed it–reducing it to scrap. The impact hardly slowed him down as he continued speeding forward. Within a few seconds, Iida crossed the distance and arrived at the safe zone.

"At this speed…no one can catch me." Iida pulled out his team's Blue HVI and dropped it on the platform.

"Oh my goodness!" Present Mic could barely be heard over the excited screams of the audience. "Iida blitzes his attackers and manages to take out a Node AND delivers the Red Team's Blue HVI! Shota, did you know your student could run so fast!?"

"Iida pushed his Quirk past his limits, granting him a short burst of incredible speed. But it looks like he'll be out of commission for a while." 

Tsunotori, Kaminari, and Uraraka were dumbstruck.

"Whoa…" Uraraka breathed out, amazed. "I had no Iida could move that fast."

"Holy crap…" Kaminari was equally surprised. "The dude was holding out on us."

"Shoot…" Tsunotori deflated. "We lost a Node."

The electric blonde looked back at her, grinning confidently. "Hey, don't worry about it! We still have the lead. Besides," he gave her a thumbs-up, "we'll make up for those 10 points soon."

Tsunotori blinked before regaining her determined smile. "Right!"

The scoreboards across the stadium were updated.

Blue: 110

Red: 100

Green: 75

"Even so, thanks to Iida's efforts, the Red Team has reached the triple digits club and are only ten points away from tying first place. With just over five minutes remaining, can the Blue Team maintain their lead? Or is another team destined for a dramatic upset? Don't you dare look away, dear viewers!" 

Iida promptly collapsed to his hands and knees, wincing. Black smoke poured out of his Engine mufflers. The strain of his Engines stalling was never a pleasant feeling.

"I hate to reveal that move so soon…but at least I aided my team." Iida panted slightly. 'A shame I could only destroy one Node though.' 

POW!

Iida was surprised when he suddenly found himself trapped in a capture net. He tried to wiggle himself free, but it only further entangled him.

"Wow!" Hatsume flew in and landed right by him. She pocketed her Capture Gun on her utility belt, looking down at him with a maniacal grin. "That was an incredible move!"

Iida was perturbed when she suddenly leaned down and invaded his personal space. "You should stop by the Support Department and let me study your legs!" Her eyes brightened. "The babies I could make for you!"

Iida was utterly aghast, his face turning beet red. "P-P-Pardon!?"

"COME BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!" Bakugo raged, firing off various explosions that tore apart the earth.

Midoriya demonstrated expert acrobatic skills while out maneuvering the angry Pomeranian's blasts. 'That's right. Focus on me, Short Fuse.' After doing a somersault, the verdette resumed dashing forward.

As he ran away, Midoriya didn't miss Present Mic and Aizawa's announcement of Iida taking out a Node while delivering his team's Blue HVI. 'He managed to get past our defenses, huh? Must've been moving very fast for the others to miss.' Despite losing some points, the veteran couldn't help but grin a little. 'Well done, Tenya.'