Katherine Ride: Battlefield *BOOK TWO*

Season Four- It's Showtime, Folks!

After the announcement, Katherine called Ectoplasm and notified him of the situation, hoping that Hound Dog would be able to sniff Midoriya out. But now that they had done all they could do, the class stood in silence, not sure what to say to make this situation better. Kaminari looked around as he forced Bakugo's orange shirt over his head. "C'mon, guys, we can't mope around like this! The show must go on, right?"

Mina nodded, trying to steel herself. "Yeah! We'll work something out; we always do! Sero, maybe you could just grab Aoyama with your tape?"

"Yeah, maybe. And I could still swing him around like a disco ball!" Sero added.

While they were trying to cheer each other up, Shoto glanced at Katherine, who was nervously pacing the stage. "Darling?"

"I'm fine," she said quickly. "I'm just—ugh! Of all the days he chooses to ditch, this was the worst! Plus, I know how much he doesn't want to let Eri down, so the only reason I can come up with for him being late is something I don't even want to consider."

"You think the League is behind this?" he questioned.

Katherine felt the rest of 1-A turn to her. She opened her mouth to reassure them, then thought better of it, shaking her head. "I don't know. But I can't think of anything else."

They were all silent again, now facing a truth they were all too familiar with. Suddenly, Katherine's phone buzzed, nearly scaring her out of her skin. She answered without so much as a glance at the caller ID. "Hello?"

The class watched her with bated breath. "You found him! Oh, Ectoplasm, thank you so much," she exclaimed, sighing with relief. "Can I speak to him real quick, please?"

The others sighed with her, smiling at each other. "Thank the gods for that. Now we can relax a little," Kirishima commented.

"IZUKU MIDORIYA. What the hell happened to you? We've been calling nonstop! Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Get your ass to Gym Gamma right now, or I will kill you."

"...Great, we just found out he's fine and now Katherine's gonna murder him."

She ended the call and turned to the class. "They're by the woods outside the school. Aoyama, take Midoriya's uniform and meet them at the gates. He's got forty-five minutes to get his act together, so don't let him loiter. Move, move, move!"

Aoyama nodded and raced out of the gym with the uniform. "Everyone else, let's get in our places," she instructed. "We don't have time to waste! We've gotta blow them away, so let's give it our all!"

"Yeah, we've gotta Go Beyond!" Kaminari shouted.

"PLUS ULTRA!" the others chorused.

By 9:45, students had begun filing into the gym, and Katherine—who had finished tuning her guitar and had time to kill—was organizing them into two categories. There were those who were eager to see them perform and those who were eager to see them crash and burn. Kaminari tiptoed over to the curtain and peeked through, smiling widely. "Woah, so many people! We're gonna have a party!"

"Kaminari!" Katherine teleported over and gently pulled him away, then moved to straighten the curtain. "If you can see the audience, the audience can see–"

She cut herself off as she spotted a group of people toward the back of the gym. As she stepped away from the curtain, she turned to the rest of the band. "Hey, guys? You remember how EraserDad mentioned there would be a few outsiders at the festival?"

Jiro narrowed her eyes, confused. "Yeah? Why?"

"It's a group of Pro Heroes that were on Eri's rescue mission."