A Hero's World - CH 047

Breakthrough: Side A

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- U.A. UNIVERSITY, TRAINING GROUNDS COMMAND CENTER -

Izuku listened to the flurry of questions aimed at him as he kept his eyes glued to the multiple screens displaying the various training grounds across U.A.

He kept his eyes on two in particular, watching Shoka and Momo working alongside their teams. His two girlfriends had objectives that granted them time to plan out their defenses and strategies since their opponents would be the attackers. He could see Momo directing her team to the letter, the gears of her mind turning with various plans, contingencies, and sub-contingencies. With their objective of protecting a VIP, Momo’s team would need it, especially against Snipe and Edgeshot. With Shoka and her team, they simply had to hold the line. It was a much simpler objective, but he didn’t know what Aizawa and Rhyme would bring to the fight.

It’s possible they could easily flip whatever plan Shoka and her team had on its head.

As he kept his eyes on the screen, Shinso gave him a nudge, breaking him from his thoughts. Izuku’s glowing eyes blinked owlishly for a moment before he registered that the questions that were sent his way had died out, and now the waiting eyes of his coursemates were all on him.

From his right, he could feel the questioning gazes from his teammates, Pony and Awase on him as well. Her confusion apparent and curiosity growing, Pony finally broke the sudden silence with a question directed at Izuku, “Uh, why’re they all starin’ at ya?”

Bakugo scoffed. “Because they are waiting for the Nerd to do his thing,” he stated.

Before Pony or Awase could ask what that meant, Izuku had pulled out several sheets of paper from his person, making the two 2-B students wonder where they were hiding and how low Izuku was carrying those notes.

“Gran Torino and Beat are highly mobile, so capturing them will be difficult,” Izuku said to his friend while handing him two pages of notes. As Shinso took them with a grateful nod, Izuku continued explaining, “Beat can be a little hot-headed, so use that to your advantage. Torino will be much harder since he is more experienced.”

Shinso nodded along as he read over the highly-detailed notes Izuku made. “Got it.” He then looked at his team and waved them over. “Group huddle.”

Next up was Mina, who bounded up to Izuku within seconds. “Please tell me you got something for us, Midori?” She pleaded with him.

Izuku chuckled, flipping through his notes while he answered her, “Of course, Mina.”

Seeing the rest of 1-A crowd around the rabbit-themed hero student, the students of 1-B finally realized what was happening and soon joined their 1-A teammates in the large huddle.

As that was happening, the heroes within the room watched on, those not in the know surprised by the reveal that someone had information on them, with those outside of U.A. being slightly worried by that.

“Yo, I know Link is all prepared ‘n stuff, but is that legal?” Beat asked his elderly mentor/superior.

“I’d allow it,” Torino answered. “Besides, we were given the run-through about all of them. Turnabout is fair play.”

“As impressive as it is, I’m worried how a student was able to get such detailed information about us,” Endeavor said after spotting a few key notes in one of the students’ hands.

Nezu’s cackling drew their attention to him, as the dean of the university had already expected this. “That’s just something that young Midoriya is quite known for. In fact, I already explained to him my expectations.” Nezu turned around in his chair, his beady eyes landing on Izuku who was still distributing notes to his friends and coursemates.

Feeling the tiny chimera’s gaze upon him, Izuku spoke up, loudly enough for every hero student to hear him, “All notes are to be turned in directly to Dean Nezu before the students leave for their assigned training grounds for proper disposal.”

Nezu’s eyes swept the room, making sure every one of his students understood that point before turning his attention back to the heroes. “See? Nothing to worry about.”

While the staff of U.A. simply rolled with it, several of the visiting heroes still looked unsure but weren’t willing to push the matter.

Back over with the students, Eri, who had been relatively quiet while Izuku handed out his notes, spoke up. “But what about Miss Momo and Miss Shoka?” She asked Izuku, worried about the two raven-haired beauties.

Izuku smiled at the little girl’s concerns and gently patted the top of her head. “I wouldn’t worry too much about them, Eri. Shoka and Momo know how much of a hero nerd I am and have learned plenty about their opponents just because I like talking about heroes. It’s just like how Shoka and I learn more about chemistry and physics because those are Momo’s interests and how Momo and I learn about games and fashion because that’s what Shoka likes.”

“And how the three of you get a bit more technical when talking about support gear or engineering because of Melissa,” Shinso added helpfully, not once taking his eyes of the notes Izuku gave him and his team.

Izuku slowly nodded at his friend’s words. “That too,” he replied. Izuku did notice that he and Momo had been growing a bit more technical since Melissa entered their group. Even Shoka picked up on some lingo.

The thought just made him grow more excited to finally meet his old pen-pal and new girlfriend in person. While having video chats or the random message here and there was fine, being face-to-face with her was what he really wanted at this point. It was something he noticed looking back at his first meetings with Shoka and Momo. Being able to see them in person, to hear their voices and see their smiles made things more real. It was something he was sure many people probably felt when meeting online friends for the first time, but that didn’t make those first meetings any less special to him.

A faint rustling drew his attention to Eri, who was digging through the bag Momo had handed her before heading to her battle zone. Growing curious, Izuku leaned to look over Eri’s head to sneak a peak inside the bag. “Finally going to show us what Momo left with you?” He asked her.

The little girl pulled out two flags, one black with a pink ‘S’ on both sides of its triangular faces with the other flag sporting a red field with a white ‘M’ on its sides. Eri’s tiny hands gripped them tightly as she proudly showed them off. “Miss Momo told me that I can use these to cheer you all on,” she said before holding out the flags for Izuku to take them.

Izuku did so with a smile and a grateful nod. Eri returned to her bag and pulled out another pair of flags for herself and set them down on her chair before digging through the bag once more. This time she pulled out a green flag with a white ‘I’ printed on its faces, clutching the tiny stick it was attached to tightly.

Himiko had silently joined them, catching Izuku off guard with her sudden appearance. She gave Eri a fanged smile as she crouched down and pointed at the bag. “Did Momo make you some extra so I can cheer for them too?”

Eri nodded at the question and set down her green flag to pull out more flags from her bag. She handed the cat-eyed young woman her own set of flags and added a fourth flag, one colored a flat indigo with a white ‘S’ within the field. “Miss Momo said you’d like to cheer on Mister Shinso too,” she explained while taking out her own indigo flag.

Himiko’s smile grew wider at that. She turned to look over her shoulder, playfully waving the indigo flag as she gazed happily at Shinso. The indigo-haired hero student had turned his body slightly to better hide the blush he was sporting behind his capture scarf.

As Eri took her seat, she carefully placed Izuku and Shinso’s flags on her lap while holding Shoka and Momo’s flags at the ready. Izuku chuckled at the intensity the little girl exhibited and gently rubbed the top of her head, causing her to look up at him. “Then we better cheer loud enough so they can hear us, right?” He asked her while waving the two flags in his other hand.

Himiko slid up next to them, her fanged smile still wide and bright as she held up her own flags for Shoka and Momo. Izuku noticed that she placed Shinso’s flags in one of her hair buns and had sneakily grabbed one of his own and placed it in the other messy buns. She looked at Eri, her excitement becoming infectious as she spoke to the little girl, “Ready?”

Eri’s red eyes lit up, her head bobbing up and down as she nodded in response. She looked back at the screens and held her arms up high, raising her voice as she cheered for the two young women ready to tackle their exams with their teams. “Go Miss Shoka! Go Miss Momo!”

- TRAINING GROUND BETA -

Shoka felt a smile appearing on her face, feeling a small boost of confidence filling her being. Itsuka seemed to notice and nudged her teammate with her elbow. “Feeling good there, Shokat?” She asked.

Shoka’s smile turned into a confident smirk as she turned her head to look at the martial artist. The one of the lenses of her mask closed, signifying that she gave her teammate a wink. “Yeah,” she replied. “Feels like I can solo this if I wanted.”

Itsuka smirked back at her. “Make sure to save enough for me. I can’t have you doing all the work, you know?”

Shoka gave Itsuka a lazy salute in response. “I’ll try, boss. You just gotta keep up.”

“You mind sharing whatever’s got you pumped?” Their third teammate, Tsuburaba chimed in. “I feel like I may need some.”

“Coffee,” Shoka replied. “Izzy’s coffee and a good feeling all the sudden. Can’t help you with the second one, but you just gotta ask Izzy for the first.”

“Izuku’s coffee certainly does make facing the day a little easier,” Shoto commented as he stared intensely at the map of the training ground they had been provided.

Shoka turned her eyes to the map as well. They had already chosen their defensive position long before entering the area, spending a little over a minute to reach their designated area quickly enough to have plenty of time to plan their defenses but at a brisk enough pace to not waste their energy beforehand. They had set up near the borders of their zone, using one of the smaller buildings as their base. The building’s location made it easier to defend, but it had three lanes leading towards it. The biggest positive was that it had its own walled-off area and was far enough from the other buildings that Eraser Head would have difficulty reaching it from the rooftops of the other buildings.

Itsuka tapped the two side-lanes on the map. “Shoto, can you create a thick enough ice wall to close off these two?” She asked him. “It’ll limit Eraser Head and CodeR’s movements enough and possibly force them down the middle.”

Shoto gave her an affirmative grunt and stood up, breaking off from the group to do as asked, leaving a chill in the air in his wake. As he worked, Itsuka and Tsuburaba turned their attention to Shoka. “Shokat, what can you tell us about Eraser Head and CodeR.”

“Yeah, your boyfriend is the big hero nerd, right?” Tsuburaba asked for clarity.

The raven-haired girl nodded. “That he is. I can tell you plenty about Eraser Head-sensei, both from experience from training under him for about a year before coming to UA and from what Izzy has already told me.” She held up a hand, extending her pinkie finger as she started listing off what she thought would be the most important points to have in mind going into their scenario. “Martial artist for one. He can easily work a crowd and he knows how to use his Quirk to the max. Best bet would be that me and Itsuka handle him since I’m kinda familiar with his style because of Shinso and Itsuka helping out by being the badass she is.”

The auburn-haired hero student raised up his hands in surrender and smirked. “I’m cool with that. Guess that means me and Shoto work on defending the base.”

Shoka bobbed her head and extended her ring finger next. “Next point, Eraser Head-sensei is a parkour expert and an ambush specialist. He might use the buildings as cover while messing with our Quirks.”

The sound of ice forming and a snapping cold drew the attention of the three students to their fourth teammate who had effectively frozen the whole left street leading to their base. Several large chunks of ice even jutted over the buildings, ensuring that no one could easily traverse it from one building to the next.

While Itsuka and Tsuburaba were still getting used to the sight of Shoto generating a glacier, the sight sparked an idea with Shoka. “Yo! Shoto!” She called out to her stoic teammate. Seeing him turn around at her address, she continued, “Think you can freeze a building or two if you’re not too cold? Kinda like you did in our first training sesh?”

Shoto’s mix-matched eyes stared at her briefly before a flash of understanding appeared within them. “I can, though I can’t do them all,” he answered as steam wafted off his body. “Pick out the buildings that would be the most troublesome.”

Shoka gave him a thumbs-up and went back to conversing with her sister-classmates. “That should help us a bit. Let’s figure out what buildings to freeze while we talk,” she said, gesturing to their map.

Itsuka’s teal eyes studied the map before she raised her head and scanned the area. She repeated the process several times before bringing up the other problem they faced, “What about CodeR? Did Izuku ever tell you anything about her?”

Shoka’s dark-red lips puckered as she went into deep thought. “Not much. She’s a tech-based hero and she can take over anything that runs on code. Most of the fighting Izzy did back in Shibuya was done by him and her brother, Beat.” She felt slightly irked by the fact she really didn’t have anything to go on for the young blonde. She was trying her best to think how CodeR’s Quirk would even be helpful in this case.

Itsuka seemed to have the same issues Shoka had as she tried to think on how CodeR’s expertise would even help Eraser Head. Try as the two young women might, neither were seeing an answer.

That was until Tsuburaba casually threw out a suggestion, “What if she’s allowed to use the Villain-bots? Those things have dummy AI, right?”

Shoka blinked in surprise, an action mimicked by the lenses of her mask. “... We’re totally going to get rushed,” she said with a resigned sigh. She let out an even more annoyed groan as she reached for her mask and took it off, stowing it safely into her battlecoat. “Guess this means I have to ditch my mask too. It runs on Melissa’s own OS, meaning it can get hacked. I don’t want CodeR to mess with it.”

Itsuka saw her teammate’s frown and reached over to give her shoulder a comforting squeeze. “Hey, even without it, you’re still gonna try and solo this, right? Can’t have you being all sulky when I take the lead on smashing bots.”

A playful scoff escaped Shoka’s lips. “As if,” she said, her frown disappearing.

Not wanting to feel left out, Tsuburaba chimed in, a confident smile on his face, “Oi! Don’t think I’ll just let you two outshine me.”

Another wall of ice appeared on their right. As they all looked over at their fourth teammate, they saw Shoto sporting a small, challenging smile of his own. “It may be too early to claim victory, but I think I shall be claiming first.”

The nearby klaxons broke Team B from their early revelry, drawing their attention to the noisy device as a robotic voice rang out from it.

[Five minutes remaining.]

- TRAINING GROUND GAMMA -

Momo listened as the alert rang through the industrial landscape she found herself in. Despite some worry in her heart, her mind was sharp. She smiled as she still felt the small rush of confidence that ran through her body only minutes earlier as she was directing her team, making sure everyone understood their roles. Her main plan was a risky one, but she felt it was one that provided her team the best odds of success.

She knew Edgeshot was already a difficult opponent from her time training with him not too long ago. Add on Snipe as his teammate and you had a rather dangerous combo for a scenario like hers. Waiting out the clock wasn’t impossible, but highly improbable, meaning that capturing the two was their best option. The added difficulty was protecting their VIP, a simple robotic dummy that resided in a room deep within the building Momo found herself standing on.

Bringing a hand up to her earpiece, the Yaoyorozu heiress called out to her teammates. “Status?”

“Got the sensors set up like you asked for, Materia,” Tetsutetsu replied.

“Same on my end. The speakers are ready to go,” Manga chimed in.

“... I have my friends ready…” Koda added meekly.

Momo smiled. “Good. Remember, we need to corral Edgeshot-sensei and Snipe-sensei into fighting on our terms. Edgeshot-sensei will be the hardest to catch, but I know we can do it.”

“Do you really think he will act as the bait for us?” Testutetsu asked, still unsure of the whole thing.

“Positive. While Snipe-sensei is an excellent shot, this training ground limits his effectiveness. If he sees us, he will take the shot, but we can use the coverage of the pipes and buildings to our advantage,” she replied assuredly. “Edgeshot-sensei is an infiltration specialist, meaning he is the more immediate danger, making us focus on him while Snipe-sensei would use the chaos he creates to find our VIP.”

“And with this place being a confusing maze…” Manga added with a hint of dread.

“That is why we need to use misdirection and tactics to move them to be exactly where we want them,” Momo said before taking a nutrition bar from her pouch. “We also cannot be caught unawares. We will use my speakers, Manga’s onomatopoeias, and Anivoice’s birds to direct them, wasting their time and energy before we strike.”

“And the bugs?” Testsutetsu asked. Momo could hear the slight grimace in his voice and the tiny squeak from Koda’s radio at the mention of the animal-lover’s even smaller friends.

Even she couldn’t repress the shiver that ran down her spine as she removed the wrapper from her nutrition bar. “Just another means of locating our current foes and possibly disabling them for a moment. After all, who wouldn’t have a minor moment of surprise and panic when swarmed by a horde of insects?”

The radios were silent for a moment, granting Momo a brief few seconds to quickly -but daintily- scarf down her bar to replenish her lipids.

“... Point taken,” came Tetsutetsu’s begrudging reply.

“That being said, thank you for pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, Anivoice,” Momo quickly added, her tone gently as she spoke through her team's comms. She smiled when a very quiet ‘You’re welcome’ came through.

[Two minute warning.]

Placing the empty wrapper to the pouch it came from, Momo inhaled deeply, holding her breath for several seconds before slowly exhaling. With her nerves calmed and mind focused, she used her Quirk to create a grapple gun from her right thigh, quickly taking it into her hand, and aimed at a series of pipes to her right. As she sailed through the air with the aid of her feathered cloak, she looked at her mini-computer attached to her left wrist, happily noting that all the speakers she created were syncing up perfectly with her device and the three radios she made, one she kept for herself and one she gave to Koda and Manga.

As she stared at the device, she couldn’t help but frown a bit, still wishing to have a working omni-tool that Melissa had hoped to make. After completing an extensive playthrough of the first game such devices came from and starting on the second game with Shoka, she had been desperately wishing to have one for herself. Melissa had promised good news on that end, but teased her thoroughly, saying she would show them her progress when they met up for the I-Island Expo. It was one of the many things Momo was excited about aside from meeting Melissa face-to-face.

That and to thoroughly defend her reasoning why she set on romancing Miranda. Apparently Melissa had strong feelings about that and voiced her opinions and reasons why Tali was ‘best girl’ and was surprised that Momo didn’t go for Liara like the blonde thought she would.

Momo pushed those thoughts away for later as she stepped into the shadows that the series of pipes overhead cast down on the rooftop she stood upon.

[One minute warning.]

Momo pulled up the hood of her cloak, her spiky ponytail slipping through the small gap in the back, allowing it to fan out freely. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath before slowly exhaling, steadying her breathing. Her onyx-colored eyes snapped open, gaining a sharp edge to them as she moved with a silent gait, seemingly blending with the shadows, her bright cloak absorbing the darkness as she did.

She was thankful for the help Himiko and Shinso provided her. It certainly helped compound the stealth training she received from Edgeshot.

Under the cover of the darkness of the pipes, Momo entered the building, intent on setting up for the final stages of the plan.

“Materia, going silent,” she said before seemingly vanishing from sight.

“Real Steel, going loud!”

“Comicman is ready to start with a bang.”

“A-Anivoice is r-ready…”

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[START!]

Aizawa took off in a sprint, kicking loose bits of rock of dirt from the rooftop he waited atop of as he made his way to the defensive zone Team B had been assigned to. His hands moved to his capture scarf, and in one smooth motion, he flicked his wrist, sending out one end towards a pole hanging off the side of the building ahead of him.

As he swung through the air, he tapped his earpiece, contacting his partner. “CodeR, status?”

“Our little heroes have set up shop on the southwest side of their zone, claiming one of the municipal buildings as their base,” his partner replied instantly. “They even set up some heavy defenses. Two lanes of traffic are blocked off and several buildings have been frozen up entirely.”

Aizawa landed smoothly on another rooftop, rolling across its surface and right into another sprint. “Smart. Can your units get through?” He asked.

“Only if I had a Zero-Pointer on standby. Shoto froze up to a block from what I can see through the cameras,” Rhyme relayed back to him, completely unbothered by what she learned. “Even if they give us a single lane to work with, my forces won’t be bothered too much. While they may have an idea about me, I’m still an unknown. I’m already moving my units accordingly.”

Aizawa simply let out a pleased hum at his partner’s words. While he never had Rhyme as a student -though he greatly wished he did- he trusted her completely as a hero and his partner in this exercise.

“I would be more worried for you. The buildings they froze are all close to their base. If you want eyes on without getting noticed, you’re still going to strain your eyes,” she added.

The Underground Hero could hear the concern in Rhyme’s voice and was quick to alleviate her concerns. “It won’t be an issue. Nezu may have restricted me to my old goggles for this, but all I need to do is cause chaos while you tire them out.”

“You got it, Eraser Head. My units are closing in and the first wave is ready on your go,” Rhyme remarked, the cheery tone in her voice laced with an undertone of cold professionalism.

It was something Aizawa was surprised by but appreciated at the same time. As he neared the borders of the defensive zone, he readied himself to begin his part in the attack. “Go!”

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Shoka’s Quirked ears twitched and angled themselves to the faint sounds of metal against stone echoing off the empty buildings. There was nothing to narrow down where the sound was coming from as her eyes darted left and right as the noise grew closer.

“We got movement,” she called out to her team, warning them of the approaching threat. “All around us.”

Itsuka scanned the area with her eyes, keeping her body at the ready, her muscles coiled like springs. She maintained a standard guard, all while keeping her body facing the middle lane that led straight to their base. “Can you take a guess as to how many are coming, Shokat?”

“Hard to tell,” the cat-themed hero student answered her. “Probably around twenty. I hear some wheels and a lot of moving legs.” She paused, the abyssal-colored ears on the top of her hood flicking sporadically as if listening for something in particular. “I can’t pick up on Eraser Head with all the noise going on. Either he’s hiding his movements with the horde or they’re moving ahead of him.”

“We’ll have to figure that out later,” Tsuburaba cut in. “We got some One-Pointers coming down the middle.”

The team of four turned their attention to the middle lane as ten One-Pointers rushed down the street, their tires spinning rapidly as they did. The air around the hero students grew cold as Shoto took a step forward. He placed his right foot ahead of him as the road beneath his feet started freezing over. “I will slow them down.”

With his calm declaration, ice raced forward, covering the street from sidewalk to sidewalk, and freezing the lance as the One-Pointers continued their rush. While two of the One-Pointers slipped and spun out of control, the others hopped onto the sidewalk on either side of the road, avoiding the ice.

“That’s new,” Shoka dryly commented.

The klaxons crackled to life just then. Instead of the robotic droning voice that usually filtered through them was a much gentler, if not slightly threatening, one.

[That’s because…]

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“We are legion.”

Sitting on the edge of a rooftop far from the defensive zone was Rhyme, who wore a happy smile on her face. Her fingers danced through the air, the blue sections on her gloves and fingers glowing faintly with her movements. Her visor covered her eyes, closing off her vision to the physical world as she immersed herself in the digital sea of code.

It was a sight she loved seeing when her Quirk was active. Seeing the world of code, of ones and zeroes forming simple lines while much more complex codes all coming together created an intricate language. While Rhyme often worked well-under her Quirk’s capabilities, there were times she was allowed to stretch her digital legs so to speak. This was one of those rare moments.

She could already imagine her older brother hyping her up to the other pros back in the control room, singing her praises to the high heavens. It made her smile grow a fraction wider, knowing how much her brother was her biggest supporter. Not wanting to disappoint him and her former teachers, Rhyme’s eyes sharpened as she focused intently on her task.

Multiple screens filled her vision. Ninety-nine camera feeds, each one a different POV from the Villain Bots under her direct control. Forty-eight One Pointers, thirty Two-Pointers, and twenty Three-Pointers, with a special unit reserved if every other bot was deemed terminated. As her initial force of One-Pointers pushed against Team B’s first defensive move, she began directing several Two and Three-Pointers to either scale the buildings or to push through the middle lane.

Her deep-blue eyes took note of Team B’s movements. Tsuburaba rushed past Shoto, inhaling deeply before using his Quirk to generate a wall of air that three of her One-Pointers crashed into. Shoka and Itsuka slipped past him, using their Quirks to effortlessly tear through the others. With the remaining two One-Pointers she had left, Rhyme took control, moving them around to flank the group of hero students.

Her plan didn’t last long as Shoto used the fire half of his Quirk to melt them into slag. She counted them as acceptable losses, as they simply bought time for her other units to be in position.

“Time for the next step.”

----------

Itsuka felt her instincts blare. She turned her gaze upward, her eyes widening in surprise at the sight of a wave of Two and Three-Pointers lining up along the edge of the rooftops. The Three-Pointers seemed to brace themselves and the hero student could feel her stomach turning into knots at the sight of dummy missiles suddenly raining down on them.

In a split second, she pushed down her worries, letting her mind and honed battle instincts take over. “Shoto! Up high!”

Shoto silently complied and swiped his right hand through the air. Ice crackled in its wake, freezing the air as a wall of clear blue ice appeared in time to shield Team B from the salvo.

As the ice shattered and fell away, Itsuka was already on the move, ready to face the Two-Pointers that touched down onto the street. She neared the first Two-Pointer and committed to her charge, raising her hand high into the air. Her Quirk flared to life, her right hand enlarging drastically mid-swing. The sudden shift in mass meant that she tore through the Two-Pointer with ease, effectively caving in its head before crushing its body.

When she turned to deal with another Villain Bot that sought to surprise her, Itsuka suddenly felt her Quirk turn off. While a minor twinge of panic rushed through her, she maintained a level head and dodged a strike from the robot’s tail. She effortlessly wrapped her arms around the tail and used it to clamber up onto the robot’s back. Her teal eyes landed on her target, a small switch near its neck, and flipped it. The Two-Pointer deactivated mid-step, causing it to stumble and fall to the ground, but not before Itsuka hopped off it.

“Eraser Head’s here!” She warned her teammates.

Shoka, in a display of skillful acrobatics, slipped under the legs of a Two-Pointer and leaped onto a second one, all without missing a step as her Quirk suddenly shut off. Much like Itsuka, Shoka simply went for the deactivation switch, taking down another Villain Bot.

“I noticed!” The gray-eyed girl remarked before rushing the Two-Pointer she slid under.

Itsuka watched as Tsuburaba and Shoto worked together, covering each other as at random intervals their Quirks would suddenly stop working as they defended themselves from the remaining Two-Pointers. The sounds of rolling tires and metal crashing against concrete drew her attention to the entrance of the middle lane, as a large group composed of One, Two, and a few Three-Pointers moved in sync with one another.

Clicking her tongue, Itsuka couldn’t help but feel slightly frustrated at the approaching horde, only to remember there were still several Three-Pointers up on the rooftops. Add on the fact Eraser Head was nearby and messing with their Quirks, Team B was in for a fight.

Knowing what needed to be done, Itsuka called out to her cat-themed teammate, “Shokat! Plan A!”

Shoka heard the orange-haired martial artist over the growing din of battle and nodded. Her Quirk activated, the color draining from her raven-colored locks as she focused on minimizing her transformation. The ears of her coat sprung to life, becoming a mix of an abyssal-black and blinding white, with fiber-life swirls appearing in the dark void. Shoka frowned as she focused her hearing, trying to hear the equivalent of a pin dropping in a group of nails.

Even as she dodged and weaved through the attacks of various Villain Bots, she kept her ears open.

----------

“Shoto and Tsuburaba are holding up,” Izuku stated as he watched the action happening on several monitors. He had seen the pair of hero students use their Quirks to dismantle a surrounding group of One and Two-Pointers that attempted to swarm them, covering for the other when Eraser Head used his Quirk to disrupt theirs.

Even with the chaos Aizawa brought with cancelling their Quirks, the two managed to work well together.

From the corner of his eye, Izuku noticed Endeavor seemed to stand a bit taller as he watched his son. There was even a fatherly smile on the man’s face, a far cry from the first time Izuku interacted with the man.

“Miss Shoka isn’t fighting the robots,” Eri pointed out, drawing Izuku’s attention back to the screen.

Before he could answer her, Bakugo did it for him, “She’s listening for Eraser Head. While her and the extras are fighting, he’s messing with them. Big Hands obviously told her to look for him.”

Eri sent Izuku a questioning look, silently asking him if Bakugo was right. Izuku nodded, having already thought the same. “Shoka’s team probably already planned for Eraser Head-sensei interrupting their Quirks. Shoka’s looking for him so she can go and keep him busy, meaning the others will have an easier time dealing with the Villain Bots,” he explained.

“Oh,” came Eri's simple reply, following along easily enough. Learning what Shoka was doing only caused the little girl to cheer harder for the cat-themed hero student. “Go Miss Shoka! You can do it!”

Izuku smiled at Eri's growing enthusiasm, finding it endearing how much she was coming out of her shell.

His glowing green eyes returned to the monitors, watching the various camera angles displaying the action happening in the two training grounds. Feeling secure in his belief in Shoka and her team, he turned his attention to his other girlfriend and her team.

He spotted a flicker of movement on one of the monitors, catching a glimpse of a white and gold cloak. The camera kept track of Momo, though at times seemed to falter momentarily before she seemed to reappear in another camera's view.

“Her breathing is off, but she's doing better than earlier,” Izuku heard Himiko state.

Confused, he turned to look at her, hoping she would elaborate. Thankfully, she more than happily obliged. “Momo wanted to learn to be a bit sneakier so she came to the best,” the ash-blonde explained with a wide, fanged smile on her face. “Gave her a few tips, like how to keep her breathing steady and her footsteps light, but she's messing up her tempo.”

“Give her a few more days and she'll have the basics down,” Shinso said, joining the conversation. “Shoka had an easier time with it, but it helps that her Quirk does a lot of the work for her. Momo luckily has some training from Edgeshot to fall back on.”

“Bet I can still sneak up on Mister Ninja-Man,” Himiko said, completely sure that her stealth skills were above the Pro Hero's.

Shinso didn't argue with her, instead he simply started scratching her head near one of her hair buns, causing her to purr in content with his actions.

Chuckling at the playful byplay happening next to him, he turned his attention back to monitors, keeping Momo's growing stealth skills in mind as he worked through several plans he thought she and her team created, paying attention to everyone's movements as he narrowed down what exactly Team A was working towards. Seeing Tetsutetsu suddenly halt his patrol and start banging his arms together, Izuku saw on another screen Snipe reacting to something.

On another screen, a thin red thread suddenly folded together as Edgeshot appeared, his head on a swivel. Something must have grabbed his attention as his head snapped to the entrance of a nearby building. Izuku watched as the Pro Hero made a call to his partner through their headset radios and entered the building through one of the second-storey windows. A moment later, Snipe appeared and entered the main entrance.

Izuku then saw Manga speak into a radio on a different screen. He noted the radio wasn’t the ones the university provided the students. Seeing Manga create an onomatopoeia and holding the radio at it, a realization struck him.

“Momo’s using strategies from our first training session,” he stated confidently.

“Whaddya mean?” Pony asked him.

“During our first Heroics lesson with All Might-sensei, I was on a team with Koda. He was one of our key players because he can talk to and command animals,” Izuku explained as he saw said student standing with the robotic VIP while holding a mouse in his hand. As the mouse scurried away, he watched Edgeshot entering a room, obviously confused to find no one there, only to have his attention drawn further into the building while Snipe spotted Tetsutetsu rushing down an empty hall.

“The rest of her team is spreading out, but running distraction to keep Snipe-sensei and Edgeshot busy,” he continued to explain. Izuku paused, bringing a finger to his chin and tapping it as he thought about everything Team A had done and how it all connected. “Momo also made a series of speakers and what I assume are sensors to keep track of their opponents’ movements while the speakers add to the distraction and lead them in circles.”

“Sorta like how she and I used speakers during our first run,” Shinso added with an appreciative smirk. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Kaminari shiver, obviously overhearing the conversation and remembering that day.

Pony nodded her head as she followed along. “So they got the extra numbers and a way to make Snipe and Edgeshot chase their own tails?”

Izuku smiled as his eyes landed on Momo, who dipped out of the shadows and followed after Edgeshot, who was getting closer to Manga’s position. “In a sense. Her and her team are playing a bit more aggressively than I expected them to, but we all may have to do that during our turns.”

While he was confident Momo had more up her sleeve, he knew no play survived contact with the enemy. It was more than likely that Momo would have to adapt on the fly. Feeling a tug on his battlecoat, he looked down to see Eri waving her red flag. Pushing down his worries, Izuku held up both the red and black ones the little girl gave him and followed her example to cheer for both his girlfriends.

----------

Another corner turned, another empty hall. One dash through an open door, leading to a large room filled with empty containers, various large wire spools, but no hero students. A sudden bang echoed through the building, alerting Edgeshot to either another false alarm or Snipe encountering one of their opponents. Ever since the exam started, the hero had used his speed and maneuverability to clear as much ground as he could, only to come up short in his search for Team A.

Snipe had tried to provide overwatch, hoping to spot one of the members of Team A patrolling, helping them narrow down their search. While that worked to a degree, Edgeshot had expected his former intern to pull a clever stunt or two.

And she had, making the two Pro Heroes run around in circles while her teammates led them on a merry chase. While they wasted enough time as it was, he felt that Materia was ready to play her full hand.

If she was ready to play, then he would step up his game, even with the stipulations and restraints Nezu had given him.

In the silence of the large storage room, Edgeshot managed to hear a faint ‘ping’, as if a pin had been pulled. Reacting instantly, he contorted his body and moved towards the roof, landing on a cross-beam. He expected a flash and bang to go off, yet nothing happened.

To his surprise, his former intern had appeared from behind a large storage container. His eyes then narrowed at the sight of the confident smile barely hidden under the hood of her cloak. The next thing Edgeshot saw was a blinding flash as a loud bang filled his ears.

As Edgeshot suffered the surprise Momo had left for him, she attempted to go for the capture, only for her sensei to use his Quirk to evade her attempts.

“A fair attempt, Materia, but it will take more than that to capture me,” he said, taunting the young woman. As his sight slowly returned, he was already on the move, pushing through the disorientation he was suffering, and exited the room. “It’s time for me to lead you on a merry chase. Pray you catch me before your VIP suffers an untimely end!”

As the hero disappeared from sight, Momo moved after him, breaking off into a sprint. She brought a hand to her earpiece and called out to her teammates, speaking loudly and clearly enough that even Edgeshot could hear her. “Edgeshot is on the move. I will pursue and hopefully direct him towards your position, Steel.”

“Got it, Materia!” Came Tetsutetsu’s short reply. Momo’s ears caught the sound of gunfire as the transmission cut out, alerting her to the fact that her teammate was currently engaging Snipe.

With that in mind, Momo pulled out a different radio and spoke into it.

----------

“Edgeshot, moving down hallway H-Nine. Comicman, cut him off.”

Manga heard Momo’s orders through the crackling speaker next to him. As the nearby sounds of his coursemate’s skirmish with Snipe continued on, he turned his attention to the small tablet Momo had made for him before their exam started.

On the display was a simple map of the building, with multiple sensors and speakers dotting several rooms and hallways, each one labeled accordingly. It was amazing that Momo had made such a device, but he was glad she did as it made tracking Edgeshot easier with the help of Koda’s little friends.

Unbeknownst to the Pro Heroes, they were not the ones triggering the sensors. While they were being tracked as soon as they entered this building, various birds and rodents had eyes on them. Each movement was noted by the tiny animals, who were told to trigger the sensors as soon as Edgeshot or Snipe passed them by.

Manga saw one of the sensors going off in the room designated R-6, one that was connected to H-9. Knowing where Edgeshot would head to next, Manga picked up another device Momo had created for him, a radio connected specifically to the speakers she created, the same kind of radio she just used to call out Edgeshot’s movements.

Holding the radio up to his paneled-face, Manga tapped a speaker on the tablet and used his Quirk.

----------

[PING! BANG! FLASH!]

Momo’s onyx eyes narrowed at the flash erupting from the far end of the room she just entered as she continued to tail Edgeshot. She noticed a small mouse scurrying away from the hallway entrance opposite of her, running straight towards her. Knowing what was coming, Momo created a capture grenade from her thigh and triggered it, holding the release button and waited for the right moment to let it go.

Spotting a red thread with a silver tip racing around the corner, Momo tossed the grenade forward. The release button flashed several times before the grenade suddenly burst open, releasing a splatter of blue foam that expanded instantaneously. Before the folded Edgeshot could even get hit by the capture foam, he took a sharp right, going down a branching hallway.

Smiling to herself, Momo gave chase. She raised her left arm, her eyes landing on her personal wrist-mounted computer and watched the map. Seeing one of the sensors go off in the room next to the hallway Edgeshot raced down, Momo made a call to Manga. “Edgeshot is in R-Twelve. I shall push him towards H-Fifteen.”

“Got it, Materia. I’ll give him that last push towards the capture point,” Manga replied.

“Excellent. How is Real Steel handling Snipe-sensei?” She asked after tapping a point on the map.

Manga didn’t answer right away, causing Momo to grow worried. When he did finally answer, her worries weren’t alleviated in the slightest. “He’s sporting a fresh coat of paint. Orange isn’t exactly his color. It makes him look a little rusty.”

“Is he fine though?” She asked, trying to keep the conversation focused on the matter at hand.

“I’ll need to step in and help soon. Even though he’s in a cramped space, Snipe-sensei is pulling off some really cool trickshots,” the teammate replied.

Momo’s lips curled in on themselves. As she turned the corner, she kept track of Edgeshot’s movements. Committing herself to the plan, she took in a deep breath and increased her pace, breaking off her chase and heading off elsewhere in the building. “Acknowledged. Assist Real Steel when you activate your last speaker.”

Her headset let out a chirp, signalling that Manga understood the plan. With one problem addressed, Momo called her silent teammate. “Koda, we may need you to be brave for a moment.”

Koda didn’t answer right away, something Momo understood. A few seconds of radio silence later, Koda responded, “I-I Understand, M-Materia.”

“Thank you again, Anivoice.” With everything set, Momo stood in front of a pair of doors. The doors themselves were nothing special, but it was their location and the effort Team A made to guide Edgeshot here that sold the illusion.

It was now on Momo’s shoulders to finish selling that illusion and hope their plan succeeded. Her nerves blared in her mind, a tiny voice within her making her second-guess herself. It took effort to silence that unwanted noise, but she managed to do so in time to hear one of Manga’s speakers go off. She gave her computer a quick check, tracking Edgeshot’s movements while sparing a glance at Manga and Tetsutetsu’s location. She pressed one more button and let her arm drop.

As she counted down the seconds, Momo started to look around the hallway frantically, starting the next step of the plan. She nearly did a double take when Edgeshot appeared on her right further down the hall. The Ninja Hero’s eyes narrowed when he saw her. Momo held her place for a moment, letting a stifling silence fill the air before she hastily made a show of making a call on her headset radio.

“Anivoice! Hold position. Comicman, come to my location, H-Twenty-three. I’ve engaged Edgeshot and require support.” With a flourish, Momo used her Quirk to create a metal bo staff, taking a defensive guard in front of the double doors. She saw the subtle shift in her mentor’s eyes. It was quick, but she knew he focused on the doors she was protecting for just a moment.

The two didn’t share a single word. In a flash, Edgeshot lunged, using his Quirk to fold his body and fly at Momo at an impressive speed. She barely had enough time to use her staff to counter his attack, forcing him to redirect himself around her. Knowing what would happen next, Momo rolled forward, narrowly dodging Edgeshot’s attempt to capture her and take her out of the match. In her wake, Momo left a pair of matryoshka dolls, one which popped a second later with a blinding flash.

Edgeshot let out a surprised yelp and quickly retreated back several steps, blinking away the spots from his vision. Momo pushed her advantage, skillfully pressing a series of attacks with her staff against the Pro Hero. While Momo was highly skilled with her weapon of choice, Edgeshot continued to show her how skilled of a fighter he was, dodging her attacks with some ease. While she scored a few grazing hits and two lucky strikes against him, her time ran out as Edgeshot’s hand shot out and grabbed hold of the metal staff.

Momo struggled against the man’s vice-like grip before deeming it a loss and let go. As Edgeshot’s vision recovered, Momo found herself on the backfoot, trying everything she could to keep from suffering too many hits or give Edgeshot an opening.

As the Ninja Hero pushed Momo to the edge, he started to notice that his movements were growing slightly sluggish. His eyes grew faintly weary, making him wonder what had happened. It was then he noticed the second matryoshka doll and the light pink smoke emanating from it. Realizing time was now of the essence, Edgeshot pushed Momo back, though not before congratulating his former intern’s efforts.

“A wonderful strategy, Materia, though it seems you have overplayed your hand,” he stated as his ears picked up the sound of footsteps making their way towards them.

Folding his body into a thin thread with his Quirk, he made a move for the doors, slipping under the gaps. The last thing he saw was Momo’s worried expression shift into one of triumph before pink clouds filled his vision.

Momo stood outside the room she was guarding for several moments, taking the time to catch her breath and make a call to her teammates, “Edgeshot fell for the ruse. I will confirm his capture in a moment.”

Seeing no signs of movement from under the doors aside from the pink smoke wafting under the gap, Momo quickly made herself a respirator mask to protect herself from her own trap and cautiously opened the doors. Relief washed over her when she noticed Edgeshot struggling to stand on his feet. As Momo approached him with a roll of capture tape in her hands, she spotted the proud smirk her mentor wore underneath his cloth half-mask.

“W-well played, Materia,” he said before succumbing to the sweet call of slumber.

Momo was already beside him when his body crumpled, preventing him from hitting the ground. She quickly wrapped him several times with her capture tape and dragged him back outside the room and further down the halls.

[Edgeshot captured.]

When she was far enough away, Momo took off her mask, taking in a deep breath of fresh air and smiled.

“As soon as we are all together, I will be smothering Zuzu and Melissa with as many kisses as it takes to show them how much I love them right now.”

----------

As several heroes stared at the monitors, surprised and trying to make sense of the quick turnaround at Team A’s exam sight, Nemuri and Nezu were cackling madly together.

Endeavor was the first one to speak up. “Rather impressive with how far Yaoyorozu’s plans went. To think she could even recreate Midnight’s Quirk…” He turned his head slightly, asking the silent question on everyone’s mind as the rest of the heroes turned their attention to the R-Rated Hero.

Nemuri simply shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t look at me. All I know about my Quirk is that it’s impossible to synthesize.” While she didn’t have a real answer as to how Momo learned to create something similar to her Somnambulist, she had an inkling of an idea as she turned her attention to one freckled student of hers whose eyes were currently sparkling with awe and delight at his girlfriend’s showing.

“Impressive creativity and planning aside, Team A has shown forethought, adaptability, and utilizing their Quirks in creative ways to gain an edge over their opponents,” Nezu stated, judging his students’ performance so far.

“And based on the Yaoyorozu girl’s comms chatter, they specifically targeted Edgeshot to keep him separated from Snipe. Because of that, her plan to capture him worked and now they just gotta deal with our trigger-happy coworker,” Torino added as he kept his eyes trained on the monitor displaying Manga and Tetsutetsu working together to deal with Snipe.

Mic let out a low whistle as he watched Tetsutetsu jump to protect Manga from one of Snipe’s trickshots with his steel-coated body. “Our shiny listener is going for that MVP stat with all that fancy defense of his. He’s taken so many paintballs already.”

Before anyone could comment further, a loud scream erupted from the speakers in front of them, drawing their attention to the monitor displaying an out of breath Koda. None of them knew what to make of it and wondered what they should be looking for regarding the animal lover and his Quirk.

Beat narrowed his eyes and leaned closer, trying to make sense of it all but coming up short. “Aight, so the kid’s got a pair o’ lungs on him, what’s that even suppo-”

He was interrupted by another round of manic cackling from Nezu, who was visibly shaking at this point. Nemuri saw it first. First, a flicker of movement on the monitors, so small you wouldn’t have noticed it.

Then that flicker grew to a mass.

A powerful shiver ran through her body, causing her to shake violently and grimace as she spotted a horde of cockroaches storming the halls towards Snipe’s position. Not wanting to see her friend and colleague getting swarmed, she quickly diverted her attention to Team B’s monitors, trying to get her mind off the bone chilling image and realization that one of her most soft-spoken and kind students could unleash such a horror.

Much to her relief, she noticed that Shoka seemed to focus intently on something important, like a cat spotting a juicy mouse that was unaware of them. “Look,” she said, trying her best to save Snipe’s dignity and prevent everyone from watching him deal with the horde of insects. “It looks like Shokat has found our grumpy cat!”

When she heard Snipe’s surprised cries begin to shift into ones of panic, she chose not to risk checking in on her coworker and instead kept her attention on Team B. The shaky smile on her face strained even further when she heard his cries turn into desperate pleas as he fled the hallway.

----------

Shoto raised his left arm and attempted to unleash a stream of fire upon a Three-Pointer taking aim on Tsuburaba, only to find out he couldn’t even generate a spark. While he was growing increasingly annoyed at his sensei’s continued interference, he didn’t let it get to him. Shoka had already slipped away and Itsuka followed after her a moment later.

Now, it was up to him and Tsuburaba to take down the remaining Villain Bots while their two teammates dealt with Aizawa.

He was broken out of his thoughts when Tsuburaba breathed a wall of air and protected him from the Three-Pointer’s salvo. As soon as the dummy missiles hit the wall, Shoto felt his Quirk again and quickly moved to create a steam of fire like he intended. As fire shot out of the palm of his hand, turning the robot into molten slag, he pivoted on his feet and sent a wave of ice along the ground, generating a pair of ice spikes that impaled a One-Pointer and tore another nearly in half as it tried to avoid the attack.

Tsuburaba let out an appreciative whistle at the sight before turning his gaze upon another horde of Villain Bots encroaching on his and Shoto’s position. “How many have you taken down so far?” He asked his teammate.

Shoto didn’t answer right away. Instead he sent a wave of ice towards a Two-Pointer that attempted to ambush them. After hearing the sounds of ice shearing through metal, he spared Tsuburaba a glance. “Nineteen now.”

Tsuburaba hummed in response, obviously surprised by the number. “Figured you would have gotten more by now.” His eyes narrowed on a pair of One-Pointers with a Two-Pointer lagging behind them.

Shoto silently agreed, knowing exactly why that was the case. As he was about to aid Tsuburaba, his ears picked up the sound of a Three-Pointer on the ground launching a salvo of dummy missiles. Shoto was quick to react, generating a hasty wall of ice to block the attack. Tsuburaba took in a deep breath before exhaling, creating a second wall behind the ice to provide support.

The ice cracked and shattered a second later from the impact of the missiles, leaving Tsuburaba’s air shield the only thing remaining, though even that sported so visible damage. Cutting off his flow, Tsuburaba surprised Shoto by holding his hand in front of his mouth, curling his fingers into an ‘O’ shape, and blew air into a hole in the remaining ice.

As the air expanded, the ice shot outward from the pressure. Sharp shards rocketed through the air and pierced the Three-Pointer. One of the shards struck the left side missile carriage, triggering a series of explosions that blew the Three-Pointer apart.

Taking a second to admire his work, wearing a proud smirk on his face, the auburn-haired hero student turned to look at his teammate. “That’s fifteen for me, but I gotta get bonus points for that one, right?”

Shoto didn’t answer him. Instead, he slid his right foot behind him. Tsuburaba watched as the two One-Pointers and single Two-Pointer were impaled on towering spikes of ice. Shoto hadn't even turned to look at the robots he just destroyed. He simply kept his heterochromatic eyes linger on Tsuburaba.

“Twenty-Two,” he said in his usual dry demeanor. As Tsuburaba stared blankly at his teammate, Shoto gave him a small smirk. “How many bonus points for that?”

Tsuburaba stared at Shoto. He was struggling. Struggling to hold back his laughter at the absurdity of it all. From Shoto’s blind skill to his dry delivery, Tsuburaba found himself laughing as it became too much for him.

“We’ll-” He tried to say before a bout of laughter cut him off. “We’ll figure it out after we pass.”

That seemed to work for Shoto. Giving Tsuburaba a nod, he turned his attention back to the horde of Villain Bots encroaching on their position. Idly, he noted that his Quirk hadn’t been turned off the last few minutes as he and Tsuburaba defended themselves.

His eyes scanned the battlefield before turning upward, looking for any flashes of movement in the open windows of the buildings. He thought he briefly glimpsed the sight of orange locks in one, but his attention was drawn back to the Villain Bots as he was suddenly forced to deal with a One-Pointer that attempted to punish his lapse in attention.

Shoto chided himself as he used his Quirk to burn down the One-Pointer. He had a job to do, and he trusted Shoka and Itsuka to do theirs.

----------

As Shoto and Tsuburaba battled the remaining Villain Bots unabated, Shoka and Itsuka had to deal with the full attention of Aizawa.

After two minutes of fighting, the pair of students were wishing they were fighting the bots.

Shoka leaned back, her torso perfectly parallel to the ground, and watched the end of Aizawa’s capture scarf sail over her. Using her flexibility, she planted her hands on the ground beneath her and flipped herself out of his immediate range. When she spotted Itsuka going in for a distraction, she dashed forward in order to join her teammate.

Even while trying to attack the Pro Hero on two fronts to limit him using his Quirk, Shoka and Itsuka felt like they were on the backfoot most of the skirmish. As was apparent at this moment as Aizawa easily fended off the two-front attack, keeping the two students on their toes the entire time.

When Itsuka forced his attention on her and Shoka attacked from the rear, he managed to catch the raven-haired young woman off guard with his capture scarf.

When Shoka led the attack with Itsuka’s support, Aizawa managed to counter the martial artist while keeping Shoka occupied.

With each attempt to gain the advantage, the two young women were met with equal resistance.

Shoka attempted to blindside her sensei with a powerful kick, Aizawa managed to loop his capture scarf around her leg. When the scarf was taut around Shoka’s leg, he gave it a powerful tug, throwing her off balance and flung her into Itsuka. Their only solace was that their opponent was kind enough not to cut off Itsuka’s Quirk, allowing her to enlarge her hands in time to soften the blow.

Rubbing her lower back, Shoka couldn’t help but grumble about her and Itsuka’s seemingly one-sided fight. “Getting real tired of you tossing me around like a sack of rice, sensei.” After catching her breath and reentering her primed guard, Shoka spared a glance at Itsuka, giving her teammate a nod. “Thanks for the save, boss.”

“Don’t mention it, Shokat,” Itsuka replied while keeping her eyes on the disheveled hero. She studied the man’s form, looking for any weakness they could exploit. Unfortunately, their opponent was highly skilled in his style. While such a realization did excite the martial artist in Itsuka, she was still annoyed by it.

Especially when she noticed something that made the whole endeavor worse depending on how one looked at it. “He’s not even attacking. He’s only been reacting and countering us this entire time,” she remarked with a frown on her face.

Shoka’s lips began forming a pout at the news. “Of course,” she growled. “Gotta make it seem like we actually have a chance.”

Itsuka nearly let out a snort at the comment. “We just need to give Shoto and Tsuburaba enough time to deal with CodeR’s bots.”

[And they’re doing good so far on that end. I’m down to twenty percent of my forces left.]

Shoka and Itsuka blinked owlishly at Rhyme's announcement, taken completely by surprise by her doing so.

[Oh, it looks like Shoto decided to drop a glacier on some of them. Fourteen percent left.]

Hearing that last bit caused Shoka and Itsuka to experience a second wind. With renewed vigor, the two hero students readied themselves to reengage Aizawa.

[Aaaand now we’re at ten percent. Sweetness!]

Only for that wind to suddenly die in their sails. When they saw the amused smirk on Aizawa’s face, they both felt a bit forming in their stomachs.

“Why is CodeR happy that all her robots are trashed?” Shoka asked, hoping for an answer.

[Because now I can start activating the Starkiller. Congratulations, Team B. To put it simply, you just triggered the final boss event.]

Shoka clicked her tongue in annoyance, finding the Technomancer Hero’s rather chipper responses to be oddly terrifying. “Figures.”

Itsuka grumbled something under her breath in response before speaking up, “It’s starting to get annoying, yeah.” Shaking away any negative thoughts, she spared her partner a glance. “Well, I’m not going down without a fight.”

Shoka felt the corner of her lips tugging into a smirk in response. “Same. I’m nothing if not stubborn.” Her eyes then landed on Aizawa, her smirk slowly turning into a grin as she did. “Ain’t that right, Eraser Head-sensei?”

She received a snort in response from the Underground Hero. “Yes. You definitely are a problem child, just like Midoriya.”

“Aww, thanks, sensei,” she remarked with a hint of humor and playfulness in her words. “Izzy’s a real good influence on me.”

Before she could say anything else, Aizawa responded by lashing out his capture scarf at her. As Shoka dodged, Itsuka activated her Quirk and attempted to catch the cloth before Aizawa could reel it back to him, only to be met with glowing red eyes. Even with her Quirk deactivating, Itsuka followed through, her hand clamping tightly around the scarf and giving it a tug.

Aizawa did the same, trying to yank his equipment out of Itsuka's hands. Their tug-of-war caused the scarf to go taut, giving Shoka a unique chance to flex her balance as she ran across it. Aizawa was now in a bind, as Shoka blocked Itsuka from his vision. He could feel much more force from the other side of his scarf, a sure sign that Itsuka had used her Quirk to boost her strength to keep him from reclaiming his equipment. With Shoka closing the gap, Aizawa did what he thought was the best option.

Let his grip loosen a bit, he used the sudden shift to catch Shoka and Itsuka off guard. His student nearly stumbled and fell to the floor as he rushed forward. He then attempted to loop his end of his scarf around Shoka, only for her to slip through the gap. He didn’t let that bother him as he kept running forward, directly at Itsuka.

He felt the strain on his eyes as he activated his Quirk, his red orbs glowing ominously behind his yellow goggles as his disheveled hair rose up haunting in the air. As he quickly neared Itsuka, the orange-haired martial artist held her end of the capture scarf firmly, even as her Quirk deactivated, almost causing Aizawa to stumble a little from the unexpected action. When the two engaged in a skirmish and trading blows, Aizawa had to appreciate the skill the young woman had. Even if he had to limit his actions, Itsuka had shown quick thinking and adaptability as she managed to use his own equipment against him, mirroring his own form of martial arts to a degree.

That just meant she allowed gaps in her form, giving him a chance to counter her with a kick and regain full control of his capture scarf. He wasn’t given a chance to breathe as Shoka used his own Quirk against him, waiting for him to blink as she appeared from behind Itsuka and slashed at him with her claws. Already in motion, Aizawa kept her in his line of sight, shutting off her Quirk before she could do some damage to him as he leaned back to avoid getting grazed. He watched as her claws reverted back to her glove-covered hands as they sailed close to his chest.

Shoka used her momentum to carry her arm to the ground, where she planted her hand and used it to springboard herself into a second attack, lashing out her leg in a powerful arch. When Aiwaza dodged that attack, Itsuka immediately rushed in from his blindspot and scored a hit against him with a powerful palm thrust amplified by her Quirk.

Aizawa’s body tumbled and rolled across the floor. He was quick to stabilize himself and pushed off the floor. He got his feet right under him, the soles of his boots skidding across the floor as Aizawa found his balance.

The three fighters were now in the middle of an intense standoff, with Aizawa on one side of the room and Shoka and Itsuka on the other.

Feeling a hint of accomplishment, even for something that seemed as small as landing a hit on an opponent, Itsuka couldn’t help but smile broadly that she did so. Especially against an opponent like Aizawa. Even then, she knew that she and Shoka were barely making progress.

With that in mind, Itsuka spoke to Shoka, “Hey, Shokat. I think we may need to switch things up…”

----------

Rhyme watched through her digital sight as Shoto and Tsuburaba were whittling down her robotic forces to zero. Only three Villain Bots remained, and the Technomancer Hero was under no illusion they would survive.

That point was proven as the two dealt a final, devastating combined attack that created a hotbox thanks to Tsuburaba’s Quirk containing the fire from Shoto’s Quirk.

As she watched the pair -mostly Tsuburaba- celebrate and discuss their point totals, Rhyme found herself smiling, both proud that Team B was doing so well and happy she would give them the final challenge before she would be counted out due to Nezu’s stipulations for her.

Tapping into the faux-city’s klaxon system, Rhyme conveyed her final message, “Conditions met. All Victory, Imperial, and Venator-Class villains are defeated. Initiating Starkiller.”

She turned and looked over her shoulder, lifting the visor from her eyes as she gazed at the humanoid robot standing next to her.

The Starkiller stood at an even six feet tall, with a sleek, athletic build and shiny gun-metal gray parts. Powerful hydraulics powered its limbs, making it the most mobile Villain Bot in U.A.’s line-up. While it had no weapons, it didn’t need any. It was simply designed for this scenario, acting as an empty shell for Rhyme to completely control as she saw fit. The most unique part was the sleek, samuraiesque head it had, with a thin dark visor running across its face for its eyes and a menacing mask-like mouth.

The young blonde hero had been practically giddy when Nezu told her about its creation and she had spent the last few days fine-tuning every bit of the simple code that ran it to ensure she could push it to its absolute best.

Flipping her visor back down, Rhyme entwined her fingers together and popped them. As her fingers tapped the keyboard in her digital vision, Starkiller’s visor glowed blue.

“This is where the fun begins.”

----------

Tsuburaba felt his body shiver, something he might have attributed to the ice littering the battlefield on any other day, but with Rhyme’s last message, he just felt like something was coming.

From the corner of his eye, he was glad to see Shoto being just as on edge as he was. It made him feel a sense of relief amidst the growing pit in his stomach. Staying on his toes, Tsuburaba kept his head on a swivel, his eyes scanning every bit of empty space that remained among the ice and wrecked Villain Bots.

“What do you think this Starkiller is,” he asked his teammate.

Shoto regarded the question for a moment, considering any possibility that came to his mind. “I’m unsure. If it was anything like the Zero-Pointers, we would know already.”

Tsuburaba grimaced as he remembered the Zero-Pointers. When he remembered what Shoto had done to a Zero-Pointer during the sports festival, he had a glimmer of hope, thinking that maybe his partner could just do the same, especially if this Starkiller was smaller than a Zero-Pointer.

“I can’t risk using large attacks,” Shoto suddenly said, cutting off Tsuburaba’s thoughts. Feeling his partner’s eyes on him, Shoto continued to explain, “If I freeze a large area, I risk getting Shokat and Battle Fist in the crossfire, not to mention the collateral damage it could cause.”

A frown found its way onto Tsuburaba’s face at Shoto’s words.

“I’m also running too cold. My control with my fire still isn’t as good as it should be, but that is my fault. I’m hitting the point that warming myself up can end up burning me,” Shoto added.

“Ah,” Tsuburaba said dumbly. He started running a hand through his spiky hair and grumbled, “I gotta say, it’s starting to get hard to breathe on my end. I need to rest my respiratory system before I start coughing every two seconds.”

“Then save your breath as much as you can,” Shoto remarked sharply.

Before Tsuburaba could question the peppermint-haired young man, he spotted what Shoto seemed to notice and involuntarily gulped at the sight of a humanoid robot at the far end of the middle lane. As the two readied themselves, the robot began sprinting down the road, leaping over downed Villain Bots and weaving through the lingering ice.

When Starkiller stepped into his range, Shoto created a stream of fire, aimed at the robot’s center mass. To his and Tsuburaba’s surprise, the robot reached for a downed Three-Pointer and casually ripped off a large chunk of its armor and protected itself, all in one smooth motion. It kept moving forward and waited for Shoto to cut off his jet of flames. When the heat finally subsided, Starkiller threw the molten slag of metal at the pair of hero students.

Tsuburaba acted quickly though, and created a hasty air shield that barely withstood the projectile attack. Before either he or Shoto could recover, Starkiller leaped in between them, pushing them away with forceful palm thrusts before heading towards the capture zone of Team B’s base.

It was only due to Shoto’s quick actions that Starkiller was stopped, blocked off by a thick wall of ice that stood several meters tall, with a curved end at the top looming over the street.

“Quick thinking, Shoto,” came Rhyme’s voice through Starkiller’s vocal speakers. “I knew you had a good reaction time, but that was something else.”

Starkiller turned to face its opponents, its visor taking note of Shoto’s shivering form and the misty breath escaping his lips. Before Rhyme could observe more through Starkiller, she was forced to dodge as metal shrapnel was launched its way, courtesy of Tsuburaba.

“D-damn,” Tsuburaba said through a heavy cough. “Almost had you there…” He went quiet as he heard his comms crackle to life.

“Almost doesn’t cut it, sadly. You still have a bit of time left before the timer runs out.” Starkiller seemed to pause, most likely mirroring Rhymes own actions. “Nine minutes to be exact, so plenty of chances to push you all to your limits and plenty of time for me to simply exploit your exhaustion and claim victory.”

Steam wafted off of Shoto’s form as he fought off the growing frostbite. Standing on shaky legs, his gray and teal eyes narrowed on Starkiller, almost as if willing the machine to freeze in place. “Then we will win in six minutes,” he said coldly, yet with a hint of fire in his words.

----------

Rhyme quirked a brow at Shoto’s statement, taking it as simple bravado.

As she shook her head to refocus herself, Aizawa’s voice rang through their comms, laced with urgency and worry as he called out to her. “CodeR! Shokat is engaging your Starkiller!”

Instantly accessing the cameras, Rhyme was only able to spot a fast moving black blur that was headed towards Starkiller. With haste, she piloted Starkiller out of the path of the blur, surprised to fully Quirked Shoka using the ice wall Shoto created to halt her movement. Rhyme saw the deep trenches Shoka’s claws carved into the ice and found herself swallowing a lump in her throat at the thought of those claws tearing through her Starkiller.

Needing to see what happened, Rhyme was quick to scan through the camera footage capturing Aizawa’s engagement between the two female members of Team B. Her eyes widened as she replayed the scene of Itsuka using her Quirk to toss Shoka towards Aizawa, only for him to dodge in time to watch Shoka rocket out the window he was near.

Acting as if she didn’t come in like a comet, Shoka gave the Starkiller a casual chin toss. “Sup!”

----------

“Gonna tag in,” Shoka said as she dropped down to the ground. She spared Shoto a glance before keeping her eyes on Starkiller and addressed her teammate, “Gotta enough in the tank, Shoto?”

“Of course,” he replied, getting ready to move.

“Good,” she replied before lowering herself, taking up the posture of a cat ready to pounce. “Let’s wreck some shit.”

Starkiller tilted its head at that statement. “Three on one may give you better odds, but it doesn’t mean victory is certain for you guys,” Rhyme stated matter-of-factly.

“We know,” Tsuburaba said as his body grew tenser by the second.

“That’s why we’re waiting for our fourth,” Shoka added. “Gotta have the full squad." One of Shoka’s ears twitched at that moment as she, Shoto, and Tsuburaba all received a call on their radios.

“CLEAR!”

In a split second, Shoto poured as much power as he could into his Quirk. Rhyme watched through Starkiller’s cameras as a trail of ice raced towards the building Aizawa and Itsuka were in. She saw the orange-haired hero student leap out of a window and cushioned her landing by sliding along the ice that formed to give her a slide. The ice then encased the building, leaving it completely frozen with the afternoon sun glittering off its surface.

[Eraser Head captured.]

Starkiller’s robotic shoulders slumped slightly at the announcement. “Crapbaskets…”

Itsuka quickly joined her teammates, her Quirk at the ready as the four hero students encircled the robot. No one made a move. All of them simply stood at the ready.

----------

Knowing the odds were against her, Rhyme spoke up through Starkiller, having the robot ‘crack’ its knuckles as she looked for her first target. “Seven minutes left. That’s all I have left to give you all.”

With surprising speed, Starkiller rushed Shoto, as Rhyme noticed he was the most sluggish after his last attack. Before the speedy machine could reach him however, Shoka appeared in front of him, brandishing her claws as she swiped at the robot. Rhyme made Starkiller avoid the deadly attack by leaping backwards.

Picking up movements on the cameras, she noticed that Tsuburaba attempted to have her slam into an air wall he created. Rhyme simply reoriented Starkiller’s body to have it plant its feet on the air wall and used it to springboard itself towards the ground.

Itsuka gave her no time to rest as she immediately was on top of Starkiller, using her enlarged hands to score a hit on the robot. Rhyme deftly controlled Starkiller’s movements, making Itsuka fight for it. When the martial artist finally struck a blow, she learned how dense Starkiller’s armor was, barely leaving a dent in it.

She was then put on the back foot as Rhyme pushed her new advantage. With great skill, she made Starkiller unleash a powerful combo, one Rhyme was greatly familiar with from her leisure time gaming with her brother. Itsuka was forced to simply defend herself or suffer blows in an attempt to counter the robot.

When she chose to risk tanking hits and weaving through Starkiller’s punches, it caught Rhyme by surprise. It just reminded her that Itsuka was a highly skilled martial artist that could read the flow of a battle despite her age. When Shoka joined in, Rhyme was finding herself hard-pressed to keep the two from doing damage to Starkiller.

Warnings blared on her readouts as Starkiller’s diagnostics started displaying damage all across its body. Rhyme noted it all with a calm mind and pushed Starkiller’s systems to the best she could. After ducking under a heavy chop from Itsuka, Rhyme made Starkiller slip behind her and wrap its arms around her. As she lifted Itsuka off the ground, Rhyme had Starkiller toss her towards Shoka, forcing the cat-themed hero student to catch her teammate.

Before Rhyme could take a moment to breathe, Starkiller’s thermal sensors began fluctuating. A powerful stream of fire shot towards the robot. As she attempted to jump out of the stream’s path, she found that Starkiller hit an invisible wall, courtesy of Tsuburaba. Rhyme was forced to have Starkiller tank the blast, crossing its arms as a first level of defense against the flames. She was banking on Shoto being too exhausted to use his Quirk to keep up an attack like this. Her theory proved to be correct as the fire dissipated soon after, though not before leaving Starkiller’s left arm in ruin while the right was barely holding on.

When Starkiller’s cameras picked on Shoka closing in with Itsuka right behind her, Rhyme decided to go down swinging. Using Starkiller’s ruined left arm to shield itself from Shoka’s swipes resulting in it being completely useless now, Rhyme used the right one to quickly grab the young woman by her battlecoat and slammed her down onto the ground. With the wind knocked out of Shoka, Rhyme was quick to turn her attention to Itsuka.

When Itsuka went for a punch, Rhyme made Starkiller respond in kind with its legs, deflecting the attack but causing it to be thrown off balance. Itsuka was quicker to recover and was already unleashing her next attack.

One powerful punch to Starkiller’s chest nearly caved it in. Another punch knocked it back into an air wall, preventing Rhyme from moving her robot out of the way. Itsuka proved relentless, letting out a battler’s howl as she unleashed fury onto Starkiller.

Rhyme watched as the damage continued to build up on her robot. Any defense her counter she attempted was easily dealt with by the orange-haired martial artist, meaning Starkiller was close to being done. When Itsuka launched the robot into the air, Rhyme, with a heavy heart, accepted defeat as Shoka appeared above Starkiller. The last thing Rhyme saw through Starkiller’s visor was Shoka’s foot slamming into its face.

Flipping her visor up, Rhyme had to blink several times to reacquaint herself with the sun’s natural light. As much as she loved swimming her consciousness through the digital sea, having to readjust her eyesight was always a pain.

[CodeR defeated. All villain forces have been terminated. Team B is victorious.]

Even though she lost, Rhyme couldn’t help but smile at that announcement, happy that her kouhais had done as well as they did.

----------

The control room was in an uproar. The students of 1-A and 1-B were cheering for their coursemates, everyone feeling excitement for them as they succeeded with their scenarios.

Izuku in particular was quite pleased with how well Shoka and Momo did.

He watched as Shoka celebrated with her team, even dragging Shoto into the group. He even spotted a rare smile on the stoic young man’s face as he lazily pumped his fist into the air, mimicking Tsuburaba’s actions.

Izuku then turned his attention to Momo’s test sight, catching a glimpse of a proud and well-earned smile on her face as she, Tetsutetsu, and Manga stood over a captured Snipe. While the Pro Hero had turned his capture into a game of cat and mouse after escaping Koda’s bug swarm, Momo and her teammates worked flawlessly together in order to capture him.

And he could see that, despite being drenched in paint rounds, Tetsutetsu was more than proud with taking those shots if it meant protecting his team as neither Momo or Manga had any paint on them.

Feeling a tug on his battlecoat, Izuku looked down to see a starry-eyed Eri looking up at him. “They did it!” She exclaimed while pointed at the screens. “Miss Shoka and Miss Momo did it!”

Chuckling in response, Izuku turned his eyes to the monitors and saw the proud and tired smiles on his girlfriends’ faces. “Yep. They totally nailed it.”

Determination flashed through Eri’s eyes as she turned back to look at Izuku. She put down Shoka and Momo’s flags and grabbed Izuku's, raising it high into the air. “I’ll cheer hard for you too, Izuku! Just like I did for Miss Shoka and Miss Momo!”

Ego let out a pleased hum as Izuku took in Eri’s words. “I’m glad you’re in my corner, Eri. I better do my best then,” he said to her before his eyes landed on Sir Nighteye.

As if knowing Izuku was looking at him, Nighteye turned to look over his shoulder and met Izuku’s gaze. Ego’s pleasant hum was soon replaced with one of determination as Izuku readied himself for his next challenge.

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