Watching Shoto be forced to fight outside his comfort zone was cool, don't get me wrong.
[Gift from beyond the veil, 1x Random Gold Ticket] (Boltbit77)
That was a bit more interesting, however. Spin it!
[Spinning, spinning, spinning, done!]
[Arid Hell]
|Elite Ability|
Allows you to conjure Superheated Sand from your body and control it telekinetically, shaping it into walls or weapons, or melting targets with a wave of superheated sand—the quantity and heat of the sand scale with the amount of energy you expend.
Ooh, this one would be pretty cool. If I ever ended up in Egypt, or in Marvel helping the X-Men deal with Apocalypse, then this would be really useful. For now, it would probably just sit around until it became useful.
Turning back to the round, I could already see that it would be a draw. Yes, Shoto was really strong and had gotten better at using his fire and working together, but Class B hadn't needed to learn that from scratch.
Since the beginning, and because Monoma can't shut up, Class B had felt the need to prove that they weren't any weaker than Class A. Even Itsuka wasn't beyond this, shown when she went toe to toe with Momo.
Now, thanks to this joint training exercise, they had a chance to prove that they were stronger than anyone thought they were. A key facet of that was their teamwork. Where Class A had been forced to survive on their own in every attack, Class B had known from the start they needed each other.
So, they always did everything together. Training, eating, studying- they did it all to learn about their classmates and their strengths and weaknesses. That also translated well to combat; since they already knew how to adjust to each person's weakness, there wasn't much Class A could do to catch them off guard.
Of course, there were always wildcards like Shinso, Sasha, and me, but barring that, not many things could get them off their game. Even still, they'd lost one match already. Itsuka had clutched up and barely won the second, but things didn't look so easy against the raw power Shoto wielded.
At least until Juzo Honenuki revealed his plan. Each step of the way, he was able to counter everything Shoto, Ida, Ojiro, and Shoji threw at him. If I didn't know any better, I'd think this guy had an intellect quirk like Nezu.
Yet, even with all of that stacked in their favor, Shoto still balanced things out. Unlike in the canon, I'd borderline forced Shoto to grow and use his fire more. I didn't do much to help him with Endeavor; words aren't my strong suit, but power? I got that in spades.
So, despite Juzo bringing out the ultimate battle plan to counter everything they might do, Shoto was still able to even things out enough that they would end up drawing. My attention was drawn from the round as Alariella came up to me.
"Do you have a moment?" She said politely as I started to refuse, only for Sasha to jab my side. "Yeah, what's up?"
"I've been told by the instructors that you will be an additional obstacle during the fifth round, correct?" I nodded, and she continued. "Would you be willing to face me in a duel in the wide space currently being made?"
As if on cue, Shoto and Juzo nearly buried their teammates in mud and ice as they clashed. It wasn't a bad idea, to be honest. I had no doubt she would be me with blades, so no lightsaber today.
A duel of abilities would be much closer overall. We were both monsters when it came to that; I could probably drown the entire world if pushed far enough, and I'm sure Alarielle would be horrifying to face in a forest or the Amazon.
"Sure, sounds good," I said as she smiled and left without another word.
"You know you can't just burn a princess, right?" Sasha slid up behind me as I sighed. "What if she really deserves it? I know it's childish, but she just gets on my nerves for some reason!" It wasn't even on purpose; I just felt agitated every time I was in the same room as her for some reason.
It got more noticeable when she stood near me, or when I looked at the second sword she had yet to use, so I started sticking even closer to Sasha than usual; she certainly didn't complain.
"You'll be fine." Sasha patted my back as I nodded and moved to help treat Shoto and the others. Just like I'd said, it ended up being a draw, thanks to Pony, actually- who'd have thought. I followed Recovery Girl to keep treating them since several had burns and minor frostbite from Shoto letting loose.
None serious enough to need a Stimpack, but enough to where Recovery Girl treated them some before kissing them and using her quirk. As unfortunate as it was to get her help in such a way, Recovery Girl was probably the most important staff member.
"Hello, do you need help as well?" Aries chimed in as she appeared before them. It was funny to see them react to her, but I didn't stick around long to see what they did. I still wanted to see how Bakugo would perform.
When I got back, Round Four had already started, and Bakugo had done something no one expected. He rushed forward, without screaming. Despite his mouth not yelling, the sound of his explosions still gave him away as he flew towards the Class B ambush.
'Not a bad strategy. Ambush the obvious berserker to separate him from the others, then pick them off one by one. Setsuna is scary smart. A shame Bakugo is as well.' I mused as Bakugo blasted through a wave of glue thrown at him.
"Ah, how nice to see the arrogant leader of Class A get what's been coming for him!" Monoma said loudly as Itsuka smacked him. Normally that was the end of it, but it seems that wasn't the case today.
"Hey man, what's your problem?" Krishima demanded as he marched up to Monoma. "We've done nothing to you; we've trained together, eaten, fought against the league, and still you keep attacking us. Why?"
Monoma glanced at Ituska, but seeing she wasn't going to stop him, he turned back to Kirishima with a grin that made me pissed.
"It's simple, really." Monoma started, "No matter what we, Class B, do, we'll always be seen as the backups to you guys, always having to fight twice as hard to be seen when everything is given to you on a silver platter."
"That's not true." Mina scoffed, "We've done the work; we've trained and studied hard for months to get to where we are. Not to mention we got attacked by villains twice, and they tried to kill us with a monster the first time."
"Yet, you still don't see us as equals, do you?" Monoma had prepared well, it seems. "You guys survived dealing with villains, but so did we. You were attacked by the USJ Nomu; we got attacked by two Nomus at the training camp.
The media didn't bother worrying about us, however; no, they were more focused on how Class 1-A, the darlings of the hero school, defeated the villains once again! Not to mention how the media still hasn't shut up about your class's pet murderer over there."
Ok, enough is enough.
"Are you done throwing a tantrum, Monoma?" I looked him in the eye, ignoring Aizawa's pointed stare. "What, don't like it when people call you out for your crimes?" Monoma sneered as I scoffed, as if.
"Do you know who I killed? Not what the media says, not what everyone thinks I did, but who I really killed." I watched him think, but he had no answer. I'll bet he didn't even bother looking into it beyond seeing it was me involved.
"I killed the one villain All Might himself felt had to die. A monster whose hands were slick with the blood of thousands of innocent lives. That man had been killing since the advent of quirks, and All Might had been the closest to killing him, the first time.
Kamino showed just how dangerous he was, capable of leveling city blocks like child's play. I will not be shamed by ignorant twerps like you who have nothing better to do but whine about how life isn't fair, that no one takes them seriously, while doing nothing to change that.
Class B is full of some of the most intelligent students I've met. They are all capable of being amazing heroes; each has shown that they are capable of growing beyond what life has dealt them.
Except you.
You're the only one who keeps dragging out this 'rivalry' between us. I've put up with you because I know Itsuka has been trying her best to make amends and to get along as schoolmates so we can continue to work together once we graduate.
But it's like you can't help but spit on everything she's done to keep the peace. I get it, it's not fun being slotted into second place without even getting the chance to show how great you can be, but if you do nothing but whine and complain without actually trying to change things, then you're doomed to stay right where you are now. Beneath everyone."
I looked away from Monoma as Bakugo and his team returned, almost unscathed other than a few bruises. "I'll meet you on the field." I nodded to Alarielle before spreading my wings and leaving for the ruined city.