บท 2321: 63
Chapter 63: Assault
A/N: And we start off with the Joint Training Battles this time around! I'll be splitting it off into two chapters (just so you all know) so be prepared for that! Also, I didn't actually pace out the other battles (also so you all know) - just the main A5 vs B5 battle. Sorry if any of you wanted them, but I didn't see any reason to write them out. Lack of story importance and stuff, you know. Anyways, on to the chapter!
"Hey, bro. I have a question for you."
Izuku looked over to Manga, who had taken up the space beside him. With the first match still in the process of getting started, the rest of the students were left with a brief amount of time to converse. As such, Izuku freely answered the call of his friend.
"It's not going to be another underhanded method of undermining my team, is it?" Izuku asked.
(゜-゜)
"What do you mean, Izuku?"
Izuku gave Manga a flat look.
"Okay, okay," Manga relented. "But seriously, I was wondering about your classmates."
"Which ones?"
"'Well, you know. There's that Kirishima fellow, that Uraraka girl, Tokoyami… I was wondering—"
"Nope," Izuku interrupted. "You can figure that out yourself. I'm sure that you can do it."
"But Izuku—"
"Nope."
Izuku looked back onto the screen. A1 was starting to move towards B3, the match nearing the cusp of its initiation. As per Aizawa's instructions, conversation would be limited to between everyone's groups. Talking would consist of breaking down the match, and nothing off topic. His conversation with Manga would need to end soon.
"Well?" Izuku asked.
( ^ v ^ )
Manga tilted his head back in amusement. "Yeah, alright. I guess I don't really need anything."
"Honestly you two," Izuku exasperated. "At least Setsuna has the decency to stick with her group."
"Well yeah, that's because she isn't even here right now! They're about to fight." Manga sent off an indifferent wave. "Besides, she didn't spend a couple years with your muttering and analysis while Mei scarfed her inventions down our throats. She's still a newbie."
"And that's an excuse for trying to sabotage me?" Izuku let out a stifled laugh, a smirk appearing on his face. "Wow, such a wonderful friend you are."
Manga patted Izuku on the back. "Yeah yeah. I appreciate you too. Well, wish you luck then. Better get back before your teacher gets mad at me."
"Yeah, that'd be best," Izuku nodded. "Luck to you as well."
With that, Manga walked off. Izuku in turn was able to face his attention back on screen, just in time. Already, the two teams had clashed.
Koda's birds were off chasing Setsuna's pieces, Bondo and Ashido were off fighting some sort of battle of attrition with their liquids, and Monoma going against Bakugo, Shinso, and… Awase.
"Huh. Nice voice mimicry," Izuku muttered. The consecutive nods of his nearby teammates showed that they shared similar sentiments.
"Indeed," Momo agreed. "In fact, it's a good thing that we got to see Shinso's capabilities before our own fight with him. We can plan ahead for possible counters beforehand."
"I wonder if I might be able to catch the audio differences between the two voices?" Shoji mused. "It might be worth trying."
Izuku shrugged in response. "Perhaps," he said, eyeing the scene on the screen.
On screen, Bakugo blasted off his explosions as per his usual self. Setsuna ended up being held off, the combo of birds and explosions readily fending her off from making much of a move.
I feel bad for Setsuna and the rest of them, Izuku thought. They really got a bad matchup, especially with Shinso as an unknown quality. Don't you think?
"Eh, it could be worse. Uraraka could have been teamed up with Bakugou again."
Izuku blinked, his mind thinking back to the final exams.
Heh. Yeah, that's true.
The rest of the matches passed by in a blur.
If the events of the first match were of any consideration, it wasn't much of a surprise to find team A1 winning, giving the first win to class 1-A.
The second match, with teams B4 and A2 facing off, ended up being an odd mix of even matchups and complete counters. Shiozaki easily countered Kaminari's electricity, but in turn Todoroki countered Shiozaki with both sides of his quirk. Aoyoma sent down suppressing fire against B4's muscle that consisted of Kendo and Shishida, while Iida went behind enemy lines. In the end, Class 1-A received another win.
It took a turn from there. In the battle between A3 and B2, 1-B took the win. Kodai and Yanagi's synergy of using suddenly enlarging thrown objects ended up catching A3 by surprise. Jirou, Mineta, Sero, and Sato ended up standing no chance; Sato ended up being less experienced than Tetsutetsu and Tsuburaba's strengthened air barriers were able to catch Sero before he could make much ground.
In the match between A-4 and B-1, A4 was unmatched. Despite the strong team up of Tokoyami's shadow, Uraraka's ingenuity, Ojiro's martial arts, and Kirishima's bold nature, B-1 had better synergy. Manga's jack-of-all-trades capability melded well with Komori's mushrooms, spreading them far and wide through the battlefield. Rin's and Kaibara's skills played a part as well, holding off Ojiro and Kirishima together.
All in all, the four matches left two wins for 1-A, and two wins for 1-B. And thus, before Izuku knew it, Team A5 was up to battle.
The end of the match between A-4 and B-1 signaled for the start of the fifth and final match. With both classes equally tied on the scoreboard of win-to-loss ratios, Izuku and his team were met with differing shouts that hoped for fortune and wished for failure.
And as a result, Shoji, Momo, Tsu, and Izuku were dismissed off to their battleground. With all four of them set off towards their designated area in preparation for their battle, they had time to strategize and prepare.
"I've been meaning to ask Tsu," Momo asked, "what does the new addition to your costume do?"
"Oh, you mean this?" Tsu asked, gesturing to the accessory around her neck. "It's my new Froggy Cheek Neck Wrap. It just helps in regulating my temperature, kero. I suppose like with your cape. It's nothing all too special."
"Hmm… it won't really help with this fight," Izuku mused. "If we were fighting Todoroki maybe. But none of the people on the opposing team have any quirks that might mess with your internal thermoregulation."
"True that may be, but Tsu does have her invisibility," Shoji said. "1-B isn't yet aware of her capability to do that yet."
"True, true," Izuku mumbled. "Though, considering that, the rest of us haven't really changed all too much…" Izuku turned towards Momo and Shoji. "Right?"
"Nope."
"Nothing new here."
"Right, right… Aha! Bug communicators!" Izuku exclaimed, calling forth four small individual swarms. "The swarms would have to be a bit small for talking purposes and for mobility, but they should be able to work. I might have a bit of trouble controlling four all at once, but I can—"
"No need Izuku," Momo interrupted. "I can make communicators myself, remember? That way, we'd be less reliant on you and you'd be more free for other tasks."
Izuku blinked. "Oh yeah. Duh. I'm an idiot. Okay then, strategy and traps. I already got my spiders making some silk, so… Surveillance? In that case we have three members for quick and unnoticeable observation."
"Right," Shoji said. "With my ears, your bugs, and Tsu's stealth capabilities, we have that base covered."
"But you're also our muscle, Shoji," Momo said. "Your role will be crucial against the likes of Tsunotori and such."
"Right," Shoji nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
"That means that I should start off with being invisible, correct?" Tsu asked.
"Probably," Izuku said. But then, before anyone else could speak, Izuku's eyes suddenly widened."Oh! I've got!" Izuku turned to the group at large. "Momo, do you mind making me a cloak?"
"A cloak?"
"Mhm. Any color should be f— Actually, can it be black?"
Momo nodded, already beginning to produce the cloak from her arm. "Any particular reason for the color?"
Izuku smirked behind his mask. "No. Not really."
Momo handed Izuku the cloak, which he in turn filled up with bugs — much to the surprise of his teammates.
"Since Tsu is going to be going ahead while hidden, we can keep Sni— uh, Cloaky here to confuse our opponents. That way Tsu can set up an ambush."
"Oh, kero. That's a good idea, Midoriya."
"Thanks," Izuku said. "And with that, I'll scout with my bugs while Shoji listens out for someone like Kuroiro sneaking up on us. Meanwhile, Momo can make anything that we might need."
The four of them continued talking of their tactics, doing so all the way to until they reached their designated starting point.
"Huh," Izuku muttered, walking towards the cage that was designated for the placement of captured opponents. "So, this is the 'cutesy-wootsy-lock-'em-up prison' that Aizawa was telling us about?"
"'99,999 years of hard labor?'" Shoji read aloud. "'Eternal regret?'"
"Ha!" Izuku laughed. That's pure Nezu right there."
"Of course you would know," Momo quietly muttered.
Tsu tilted her head as she herself read the words on the cage. "Yeah, kero. The principal is scary. I still remember your final exam with him, Midoriya."
Izuku gave an involuntary shiver. "A process I wouldn't want a repeat of."
"One minute until the match commences!" Vlad King's voice informed over the speakers.
"Ah, shoot!" Izuku planted his goggles over his face, and then made sure the straps of his flightpack were secure. "Looks like we've ran out of time. Everybody ready?"
Izuku's ears were met with a trio of affirmative shouts.
"Alright!" Momo exclaimed. "One thing that I'd suggest, if you all of you are alright with it."
Shoji morphed his limbs, shifting two of his arms into ears and another two into eyes. All four of his extra limbs went off searching in different directions. "Of course, Yaoyorozu, What is it?"
"I suggest code words for when we speak," Momo said as she began passing out the communicators. "That way we can distinguish between ourselves and Shinso if he ends up getting one of our communicators."
"I like it," Izuku agreed. "I call Arachnid."
"Of course you would," Momo stifled a laugh.
"Apricot," Tsu said.
"Any particular reason?" Shoji asked.
"Midoriya started with the 'A' theme. So I only continued it, kero."
"Huh," Shoji grunted, one of his mouth arms forming a thin line. "Well, in that case… Artillery?"
Momo nodded. "I'll go with Arbalest then."
"Match Start!"
"And just in time," Izuku said, setting his bugs off towards the enemy base.
Tsu activated his camouflage within the moment, scampering off into the pipes as the cloaked figure of bugs took her place and her stance.
"Perfect," Momo said. "Let's hope that they fall for it." She turned towards Shoji. Do you hear anything Shoji?"
"Negative. Nothing so far."
"Alright," Izuku said. "And with my bugs…" he watched his bugs as they arrived at the enemies' designated starting zone. "Okay, let's see here. I see… Shinso."
"Just Shinso?" Momo asked, taking a metal bo staff out from the palm of her hand.
"Mhm," Izuku hummed. "He's making our way to us… I'm guessing that Kuroiro is hiding somewhere within the pipes, but the others I have no sign of. Shoji, do you have anything on Kuro—"
Shoji twitched, his ears jerking towards the ground just beneath their feet. "There's something—!"
A pair of hands shot out from the ground, wrapping around and taking a hold of Izuku's ankles.
"What—"
And then he was pulled under.
Izuku held his breath.
He found himself floating. The sensation was strange, the substance surrounding him consisting of an odd mixture of being sloshy and thick. And with the heavy brown hue that took up his surroundings, it was only thanks to his goggles that Izuku was able to see.
Of course, it still wasn't enough. The murkiness was what made him miss the fist that collided with his face. Another hand came up immediately after; but instead of a punch, Izuku felt something being placed over his face. And before he could even make a move in retaliation, he felt his pack being pulled off of him from behind. And then the hands were back on his ankles pulling him further down.
And then a huge force collided with his back, a pressure sucking him in and pushing against his back. But it suddenly stopped, and then there was air, and Izuku could catch his breath. And then he found his feet back on firm solid ground.
"Sorry if that was a bit rough, Midoriya," a voice called out. "But I hate to lose, you know? We had to make sure that the biggest threat was neutralized, so I'm going to go all out on you. I'm sure that you can handle it."
Izuku shot his head back up, and came face to face with Honenuki. He was in a ready stance, fists up and feet spread apart. But his body was tense, and his breathing a bit quick paced.
"He's nervous… Probably because he's going against you?"
Shush, trying to concentrate here… I wonder if their team has communicators as well?
"Mudman…" Izuku muttered. He looked around, and found that he was surrounded by dirt walls on all sides. It was just him and Honenuki, trapped in some sort of inescapable room.
But… if he's hesitant, then I'll let that be for now. I need to figure out a way to escape first.
"Dragonfly," Honenuki said, playing along with the use of their hero names. "I see that you've noticed the predicament that you're in?"
Izuku connected to the bugs back on the surface. Shoji had ended up against Pony. Though, he was somewhat hindered, keeping two of his arms transformed into ears and keeping them low to the ground. He was probably still worried about Honenuki then.
Momo was up against a combination of Kamakiri and hit-and-run tactics Kuroiro. She was doing alright, but Izuku wasn't sure if she would be able to last for long.
Shinso wasn't in the immediate area, and Tsu wasn't anywhere that he could immediately see.
And then he noticed that the cloak of the Tsu decoy was completely empty. The bugs within it having spread across the area, his control having been lost the moment he was pulled underground.
"Well, there goes that idea."
And when Izuku used his bugs to gauge where he himself was, he estimated that he was around five feet under the ground.
Izuku met Honenuki's eyes. "Nice strategy. Sure had me by surprise," he breathed. "How much of this was Pony's idea?"
Izuku couldn't exactly see it behind the mask, but he could tell that Honenuki was smirking. "Just this chasm part actually. The 'swimming underground' thing was mine."
Izuku didn't use his communicator — he didn't want to tip off Honenuki and his team to his own team's communicator.
Izuku ordered his bugs off against Kuroiro to ease the pressure on Momo, and he sent off a message towards Shoji to tell of Honenuki's preoccupation. He considered sending another message to either of the two, asking for a save from his predicament. But they were both busy, and fighting enemies that may or may not have communicators that would allow them to relay Izuku's plans to Honenuki. He needed a moment when they were free. He needed to wait.
And then Izuku reached up for his face, remembering the item that was placed on it earlier, and was hit with an odd sense of familiarity.
"...These are the oxygen masks that Mei had me testing. And that pressure from a while ago… Huh. I was wondering why somebody wanted air grenades of all things."
Honenuki tilted his head. "Oh. That's right. I keep forgetting that Hatsume essentially has you and Fukidashi as her guinea pigs."
Izuku narrowed his eyes. He went to take the mask off, but Honenuki interrupted him midway.
"I suggest keeping it on, Dragonfly. For your safety, of course. The air down here won't last forever."
Izuku raised an eye. "But it's not even on yet?"
"Because you don't need it yet," Honenuki added.
The two remained unmoving, staring across at each other within the confines of the earth-made room.
Izuku sighed. "Ah, fuck it."
He dashed forward.
Honenuki tensed, his arms moving into a defensive position.
Izuku struck, his hand striking against Honenuki's right forearm. Honenuki's left hand rose in a fist, but Izuku easily dodged the oncoming attack. The fist met nothing but air, Izuku making space between himself and his opponent.
"It's too bad that I had my eskrima sticks in my pack," Izuku said. He zoomed forward again, forming a fist that collided with Honenuki's side. "Same with the bugs. I'll just have to go with martial arts this time around."
Honenuki took the fist, and raised his own fist himself. His right hand did connect this time, connecting with Izuku's side.
Honenuki went ahead and threw another fist, but this time it was caught by Izuku's open palm. Izuku struck, a fist colliding with Honenuki faceshield.
"Ow!" Honenuko stepped back. "Sheesh. I think you broke—"
Izuku dashed forward again, swiping a foot under Honenuki's own, causing the boy to tumble down.
As Honenuki hit the ground, his hand swiped against the floor, his quirk activating. Izuku immediately sunk, knee-deep into the grow.
Honenuki grunted as he lifted himself up, reactivating his quirk and hardening the floor.
"Try breaking out of that," Honenuki said. "Now it's my turn."
Honenuki marched forward, raising his hands ready to attack. He swung a fist forward, which Izuku still dodged despite his current predicament of being stuck in the ground.
Honenuki swung another fist — which Izuku countered with his own punch — and then Honenuki chained together a kick. That was his mistake.
Izuku grabbed the leg, and elbowed it in its side, ever so slightly. Honenuki let out a hiss, which was accented by Izuku pushing back, causing Honenuki to fall to the ground again.
"Agh! Damn it!" Honenuki shouted. "You're restrained and yet you're still beating me! Damn, Tsunotori wasn't kidding." He shook his head, his hand going to the side of his helmet. "I can't handle him guys. I'm going ahead with plan B."
"Well, I suppose that answers that question."
Honenuki stood up, taking a deep breath before staring down Izuku. "Sorry about this, Dragonfly. Don't worry about the mask," he held up a remote, "I'll activate it for you."
Izuku readied himself for whatever Honenuki had planned.
Honenuki backed away, all the way to the back of the room and against the wall. He slowly bent down and went to touch the ground, but before he did so, he sent a glance at Izuku.
"And with this," Honenuki announced, "'you are entrapped within my mud chamber."
"Is it really mud if it's just liquified dirt and sediments?"
Really?
Izuku readied himself, taking up a stance that allowed him to move the moment Honenuki used his quirk. However, when he ended up watching Honenuki's position, an uneasy feeling came over him.
Honenuki pressed the button.
A steady stream of gas came up around the bubble that made up Izuku's.
And then Honenuki's hand touched the ground, his quirk activating.
Izuku tensed, ready to remove himself from the ground. However, instead of the ground, the entire room collapsed into a slurry mix.
Izuku found himself yet again in the murky liquid. And before he knew it, it all hardened up again, capturing and surrounding his entire body in dirt. Five feet underground, in complete darkness.
"Oh, are you freaking kidding me!"
"Hmm. Well, this is quite a predicament that we've found ourselves in."
Izuku sighed.
A/N: And there's the first part of the battle! I hope you all enjoyed it! The second half comes around next time, so stay tuned! (P.S. I worked late on this one. There may or may not be a few errors sprinkled around. Don't be afraid to point them out!)
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