Ticked Off [Boku No Hero Academia]

24: TARGETS

Discord server, if you're interested: https://discord.gg/DSBF4dP 

~ 

Izuku shot into the air, wreathed in emerald lightning, shifting his hips and twisting around with a leg to slam his shin into an oncoming ball, fighting against the propulsion and flinging it away. Ribbons of disturbed air currents tore around his form in the aftermath of his powerful kick, swirling around him like a protective bubble and sending the balls spinning off in all directions.

Tokoyami utilised his new special move and guided Dark Shadow to smack away anything aiming for them with clawed paws. Ochako pressed her fingers together and lifted into the sky, out of range of the attack. Sero drew back his arms and sent out whips of tape, hitting the balls into Ashido's acid as she sprayed it skyward.

The green-haired boy watched them all fight for a moment longer with pride glittering in his radioactive gaze, turning around to fix their opponents with a menacing smile as he saw the nervous realisation cast across their features; because this wasn't the inexperienced Class 1-A they saw on TV, and their talent and cohesion in successfully negating attacks with terrifying swiftness was entirely unexpected. These students were clearly showing the promising beginnings of true Pro Heroes: a far cry from the simple fights displayed during the Sports Festival.

Jirou jammed her fists into the ground and countered a sneak attack, breaking the earth and flinging the Quirk-hardened balls back into the air, safely away from the gathered group. Shindo grinned, going down on his hands and knees to press his palms against the ground, sending out a dark shockwave of energy that caused cracks to spread out along the ground, rapidly rushing towards the UA students. Izuku bit his tongue to stop himself from calling out a warning and a strategy to his friends, because that wouldn't be fair for anyone; besides, he had faith in the talents of his classmates, and if they passed before they could definitely pass again.

Large chunks of sun-baked soil rose into the air under the turbulence caused by Shindo's Quirk. The students were separated, rising and wobbling on their own islands, calling out to one another in a panic. Ochako reached out to her friend, her face a picture of fear, but he merely offered an encouraging smile as he widened his stance and dug his cleated boots into the shaking ground. He crouched down then pushed off with enough force to slam his small island to the ground as he leapt upwards, doing a backflip to avoid some flying debris and skidding to a halt at the edge of the ruined earth, staring out across the chaos.

His posture was deceptively relaxed as he stood out in the open, lazily casting his eyes across his surroundings. A timid smile pulled at his lips as he let the excitement of a casual fight flow over him – something that was rare when he was a Pro Hero, since the villains never seemed to sleep. He pressed his sole into the dirt and suddenly shifted his centre of gravity to lean aside an attack as a girl in a skin-tight leather bodysuit seemed to appear out of nowhere, her hand landing on his shoulder as she used him to correct her trajectory after the unexpected dodge. She dropped down in a roll through the dust, languidly pulling herself back to her feet with one hand clasped around the brim of her Shiketsu cap, deliberately staying bent over for a moment longer than necessary to give the boy an uncomfortably candid view of her exposed cleavage.