52 - ||

(X)

Shoji's ears were screaming at him from every direction.

The fight with Orca was destroying the building like children knocking down sandcastles, and his own situation was barely any better.

The villain minions weren't strong, but there were a lot of them; as if to emphasize his point a globule of pinkish foam splattered across the edge of the corner he was using as cover and he could hear more of them moving into position under their allies' covering fire.

Shiozaki arrived, but he could see several 'strands' of her hair getting clumped and stuck together by the now hardened cement-like foam coating them.

"The civilians are finally clear!" She shouted

Shoji nodded. Good. One less problem, now all they had to do was beat the villains.

"We're really running the clock here. We may not have time to disarm the bomb! What do we do?" Shindo yelled.

The multi-armed boy bit down a curse. Right… the bomb.

"I have a plan." Shiozaki said, and Shoji turned, as did everyone else.

"What is it?" He inquired and the girl smirked lightly.

"My classmate Tsunotori passed our final of bomb disposal by carrying it away using her horns. I will attempt the same… but I will need time. She had a suitcase bomb. That bomb is attached to that vehicle however…" He heard yelling and saw Elle skid across the ground before getting up with grit teeth and sheer spite, her eyes flashing.

A fresh volley of fire forced them all to duck back into cover. Shiozaki looked at him. "If much more of my quirk gets tangled up I won't be able to get rid of the bomb."

He nodded.

"You all heard her." He shouted. "We're punching through them and getting her to that tank!"

"Right on!" Shindo gave him a thumbs-up. "Let's kick their asses!"

"Utsushimi, stay back, make a glamor cloud to give us cover and make illusionary clones!"

"Can do!" The air-headed blonde brought her hands to her lips, blowing out another kiss. More rainbow-like mist escaped, forming around them and expanding as mirage-like doppelgangers of Mezo and his teammates appeared.

The multi-armed boy ran first, the army of clones all around him, Shindo, Utsushimi, Shiozaki and Monoma. They bolted across the lobby under the cover of Shiozaki's vines and Utsushimi's illusions, bypassing the battle against Orca entirely as they charged the soldiers.

He expanded his arms as far as they would reach, using them as large, fin-like shields, providing cover to the others behind him.

The clones began to dissipate, little more than dust and sound- but it was enough.

He slammed into the first group of men like a rampaging train, arms lashing out, cracking helmets and sending grown men flying. Shiozaki's vines darted around him, slapping away rifles and tripping soldiers as they tried to line up a shot.

Shindo and Monoma's quakes sent whole walls of jagged stone up as obstacles and shields, cutting off enemies from their sightlines and covering positions as Shoji rushed with Ibara towards the tank.

(X)

Approaching the tank, Shoji heard the danger before he saw it, giving him enough warning to dive into cover as a line of soldiers emerged from the rubble in a crude firing line, laying down a volley of faux bullets and pink foam that caught Monoma with a startled scream. He went down before Shindo could quake another wall into existence to shield them.

The Drill Tank started to move, its motor roaring as caterpillar treads adjusted its position, providing a mobile cover platform for the soldiers to advance.

Mezo's ear twitched, and he heard the crunch of something coming closer. The muzzle of a gun came around the side of his cover, the soldier trying to flush him out. The white-haired boy's hand snapped up, grabbing hold of the gun and squeezing it for all he was worth. The metal crumpled in his hand, and the bullet that was about to be fired jammed in the barrel.

Surprise let Mezo rip the gun out of his enemy's hand and use it like a baseball bat. It cracked against his head, throwing him down, and in the same moment, he turned and threw it. Metal cracked against the metal of a helmet belonging to another armored minion that dared to come around to his position.

Another groundquake and this time, when Shoji heard the rocks spear out of the ground they were accompanied by the sound of rending metal and groaning steel. Men screamed, and he dared a look around the cover he was standing behind to see a lance of obsidian goring the tank like a boar, its drill pointed up, and its caterpillar treads spun uselessly as it was hoisted off the ground to the point of nearly tipping sideways.

"Rush them now!" He shouted. He didn't care if he was heard, he wasn't even sure how many of his own teammates could follow up on his orders, all he knew was that this was probably their best chance.

He charged in, leaping across rubble and debris to close the distance as the men tried to find their feet.

Then he was on top of them.

His arms were moving again, rapidfire punches taking down six men before he had to grab one and use him as a shield. Vines slammed into a cordon of people across the firing line and more groundquakes opened up fissures and crags in the earth that sent men reeling.

Mezo heard a call, and his head snapped towards the tank. The men were regrouping, focusing their foam guns and stun guns now that their men were no longer in the friendly fire zone.

The tall boy tensed, ready to move, only for vines to appear in front of him. They were shredded in the stun bullet hailstorm, but they were stopped, just barely enough. Mezo moved back behind cover as Shiozaki moved her arms.

"Repent." She said, cold enough that even the white-haired boy felt a shiver down his spine.

Before he could even ask what she was doing, he heard the screams. Shiozaki's vines came down like tentacles, wrapping around the remaining men. Their guns were ripped out of their hands, and the men were pulled up into the air, dangling and yelling before she threw them all aside in different directions.

Shoji didn't even take a second to congratulate his classmate.

"The bomb!" He shouted, rushing to get to the tank's top hatch. Who knew how much longer they had? He had an eye glance towards Orca. He was being assailed on all sides with Midoriya and Elle up close. Parker fired web bullets at a distance but he was limping. And Bakugo was going back and forth. They were applying pressure, holding him.

Before he made it though, Shiozaki's vines snagged him, holding him back.

"Don't concern yourself." She said. "I've got it."

He was confused, but only for a moment.

Vines moved from the men she'd incapacitated to the tank itself, coiling around the large transport vehicle like serpents.

Shoji's eyes widened, hearing the metal groaning under a steady, crushing pressure.

Like a tin can it actually began to buckle, bolts and divots breaking off like bullets, more of Shiozaki's vines taking hold of the machine and crumpling it like a can.

Then, it started sinking.

Shoji didn't feel the ground shaking beneath him, but rather saw more vines travel into the breach, literally splitting the earth under the behemoth transport and pulling the thing underground.

Like a massive, chewing maw the vines crumpled the metal and forced it downward with a steel-groaning crunch, other vines shoving debris and earth on top of it.

In thirty seconds it was buried, or crushed, or both.

Shoji made a mental note that if Shiozaki was ever mad… don't bother looking for a body.

"PRACTICAL EXAM SECTION: BUILDING ASSAULT. COMPLETE. VILLAIN OBJECTIVE: BOMBING: UNSUCCESSFUL. CIVILIAN STATUS: EVACUATED." Said a robotic voice.

Shoji Mezo heard that, and for the life of him, he just let his head fall back.

It was done.