Chapter 53: The Phantom Fortress

"Playtime is over."

Shoto Todoroki's declaration, as cold as the wall of ice he had just erected, froze the air. Isolated from the rest of the chaotic battle, the two teams found themselves in their own private arena. The duel for the top had begun.

"No more distractions," Todoroki continued, his gaze fixed on Ochako, though his order was for his entire team. "Now, Uraraka, hand over those forty million points. Iida, prepare to advance. Kaminari, on my signal."

"You got it!" Denki Kaminari responded with a predatory grin, sparks crackling between his fingers.

"Izuku!" Ochako's voice was tense.

"Stay calm," he answered from Toru's back, his voice a strange calm in the middle of the storm. "We're exactly where we wanted to be. We knew this would happen."

Todoroki raised a hand. "Kaminari, now. Area discharge."

"Time to fry 'em!"

Kaminari unleashed a massive discharge of electricity; not a concentrated bolt, but a crackling, one-million-volt net designed to paralyze and stun everyone inside the ice dome.

"Momo, now!" Izuku's command came an instant faster than Todoroki's. "Insulation protocol!"

With a speed that defied logic, the skin on Momo's arm and back glowed. She didn't create a weapon. She created a thick blanket of a dense, black, insulating rubber polymer. With a fluid motion, she spread it over their formation, covering them completely like a protective shell.

The net of electricity slammed against the blanket with a deafening, furious BZZZZZZT! Blue and white sparks sizzled harmlessly over the rubbery surface, unable to penetrate it.

"WHAT?! My electricity isn't doing anything to them!" Kaminari shouted, incredulous.

"It's useless, Todoroki!" Izuku yelled from under the blanket, his voice muffled but clear. "We knew you'd use Kaminari for an area attack! It's your only long-range option that doesn't interfere with your ice!"

After the taunt, his voice shifted to a precise command for his team.

"Now, move! Left flank! Exploit his blind spot!"

The blanket retracted back into Momo's body just as the turbines on their skates fired up. The team slid to Todoroki's left—the side of his fire, the side he refused to use. They moved in a constant circle, forcing him to turn, preventing him from using his ice effectively without freezing his own teammates.

"Damn it! I can't get a clean shot!" Kaminari complained.

"Don't let them surround you, Shoto," Iida said, his engines humming as he moved with precision to keep pace.

In the stands, the imposing figure of Endeavor gripped the armrests of his VIP seat, his fists clenched in a silent fury.

"Idiot," he muttered, his voice a low growl that made the hero next to him flinch. "Stop playing around with that useless power from your mother. They're exploiting your weakness, your stupid, childish rebellion. Crush them! Use your left side and burn them to the ground! Prove why I created you, Shoto! STOP BEING A DISAPPOINTMENT!"

Elsewhere in the arena, the chaos had a different rhythm. It was a hunt.

"You can't catch me, Bakugo!" Neito Monoma taunted, his team narrowly dodging an explosion that left a crater in the ground. "Your style is so predictable! Explosion, yell, explosion, more yelling! It's boring!"

Monoma touched his own shoulder, then one of his teammates. His skin hardened, copying Kirishima's Quirk.

"A frontal assault won't work against my steel defense! They don't call me the Copycat for nothing!" he retorted, and his palm glowed with a small explosion, a perfect, albeit weaker, imitation of Bakugo's Quirk.

Bakugo, instead of exploding with blind rage as Monoma expected, smirked. It was a cold, calculating, and utterly terrifying smile. He had learned his lesson. Anger was a tool, not a cage.

"Shitty Hair, to the right! Cut him off!" he ordered, his voice an authoritative bark.

"On it!" Kirishima replied, moving to intercept.

"Tape Face! When he dodges Kirishima, grab him! Don't let him get away!"

"Got it!" Sero yelled, firing his tapes.

"Raccoon Eyes! As soon as Sero stops him, melt the ground under his feet! I want him sunk!"

"What an evil plan! I love it!" Mina exclaimed, preparing her acid.

Monoma, overwhelmed by the coordinated strategy, watched his escape routes close one by one. He dodged Kirishima only to be stopped by Sero's tapes. The ground beneath him turned into a pool of bubbling acid.

That's when Bakugo struck.

With an explosion that was pure power and precision, he blasted through Monoma's weakened defenses and, with a swift, brutal movement, snatched not only the main headband from his forehead but all the headbands he had collected.

"Game over, clown," Bakugo growled, smoke rising from his palms.

In the broadcast booth, Aizawa watched with a hint of… something that could almost be approval.

"Class B had a good provocation strategy," he commented in his monotone voice. "But they failed to account for Bakugo's overwhelming, tenacious will. His desire to reach the top is absolute. He will stop at nothing."

"LESS THAN A MINUTE REMAINS!" Present Mic's voice echoed through the arena, adding a new layer of panic to the battle. "THE BATTLE IS ABOUT TO REACH ITS CLIMAX!"

Back in the ice fortress, Izuku's team continued their deadly dance with Todoroki's. They had dodged, blocked, and repelled every attempted attack, but they hadn't been able to escape.

"It's not working," Todoroki said, his voice strained with frustration. "We can't break their defense. Their coordination is perfect."

"Then, we will no longer play defensively," Iida replied, his expression grave. "Todoroki-kun, you know what this means for my engines. I can only do this once."

Todoroki looked at him. The acknowledgment of a necessary sacrifice passed between them.

"Iida. It's now or never. Do it."

Iida closed his eyes for an instant. Forgive me, Tensei, my friends.

When he opened them, they were blazing with a blue light. The exhaust pipes on his calves began to roar, emitting a thick smoke.

"RECIPRO… BURST!"

He shot forward.

It wasn't a sprint. It was teleportation. The sound arrived an instant after he did. He became a blur, a human missile heading straight for Team Izuku's tower, his speed so overwhelming that it was impossible to react in time.

But Izuku wasn't reacting.

He had been waiting for this exact moment since Iida joined Todoroki's team.

"NOW!" his shout was a thunderclap, a command that contained weeks of preparation. "PHANTOM PLAN!"

The countermeasure was a symphony of coordination executed in a fraction of a second.

"One!" Izuku yelled.

Toru, at the top, released the most powerful flash she had ever created. She didn't aim it at Iida, who was moving too fast to be affected. She aimed it directly at Todoroki and Kaminari. The blast of pure light blinded them completely, shattering their team's coordination at the crucial instant.

"My eyes!" Kaminari screamed.

"Two!" Izuku roared.

Momo, who already had the object ready in her hands, didn't create a shield. She created a launcher. A complex device that fired a capture net made of an incredibly durable metal alloy. But the net wasn't empty: it was coated with an instant-dry adhesive she had designed specifically for this contingency.

"Three!" was Izuku's final cry.

Ochako, at the exact moment the blur that was Iida passed by her, didn't try to touch him. She used a focused pulse of repulsion, not on Iida, but on Momo's launcher. The pulse acted like a particle accelerator, firing the sticky net directly into Iida's calculated path with inhuman speed and precision.

Iida, moving at a velocity that prevented him from changing direction or even processing the trap, ran head-on into his fate.

The net enveloped him completely. The metal fibers tangled around his legs and torso, and the adhesive solidified on contact, bonding to his armor with industrial strength. The Recipro Burst died with a whine from his overloaded engines, and he crashed to the ground in a tangle of metal and glue, completely immobilized and neutralized.

"UN-BE-LIEVABLE!!" Present Mic's voice cracked with sheer disbelief. "TEAM TODOROKI'S ACE IN THE HOLE, THEIR SECRET SPEED MOVE, HAS BEEN COMPLETELY NEUTRALIZED! THEY DIDN'T DODGE IT! THEY DIDN'T BLOCK IT! THEY TRAPPED IT! TEAM MIDORIYA HAD A COUNTERMEASURE PREPARED SPECIFICALLY FOR HIM! THAT'S A PRO-LEVEL STRATEGY! AN ABSOLUTELY PERFECT READ ON THE BATTLE!"

"TEN SECONDS REMAINING!"

Todoroki, blinking away the spots of light from his eyes, saw Iida on the ground, defeated. He saw Team Izuku, intact. He saw his plan, his perfect strategy, shattered to pieces.

His father's voice echoed in his head. "STOP BEING A DISAPPOINTMENT!"

The frustration, the humiliation, the rage against his father and against himself… it all coalesced into a torrent of pure instinct.

And for the first time in a battle, without thinking, his left side erupted.

A whirlwind of orange and red flames burst from his body in a furious roar, melting the ice wall around him.

"FIRE! HE'S FINALLY USING HIS FIRE!" Present Mic screamed.

Across the arena, Bakugo, having defeated Monoma, saw the explosion of flames. He saw Team Midoriya, momentarily exposed after using their trap. He saw his last chance.

"NOW! LET'S GO GET 'EM!" he roared, and his team launched into one last, desperate charge.

"FIVE! FOUR! THREE!"

The three strongest teams in the arena were about to collide in a final, cataclysmic clash. Fire, explosions, gravity, and creation.

"TWO! ONE!"

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!

The clock hit zero. The buzzer sounded, deafening, its final note freezing the battle an instant before its apocalyptic conclusion.

The dust settled. Silence fell over the arena.

Midnight cracked her whip. "TIME'S… UP!!"

The giant screen flickered, calculating the final results.

"Let's see the rankings! In third place, with an impressive number of points… Team Todoroki!"

Todoroki stared at his left hand, from which a wisp of steam still rose. His face was a mask of shock and self-loathing. He had used his father's power. He had failed.

"In second place, making a spectacular comeback in the final minute… Team Bakugo!"

"DAMN IT!!" Bakugo yelled, slamming his fist on the ground. "A few more seconds! I just needed a few more seconds!"

"AND THAT MEANS…!!" Midnight's voice rose to a crescendo. "WITH A TOTAL OF FORTY MILLION AND SEVENTY-FIVE POINTS, AND WITHOUT HAVING LOST THEIR HEADBAND EVEN ONCE… FIRST PLACE GOES TO… TEAM MIDORIYA!!"

In the VIP box, Mt. Lady jumped to her feet, applauding with a fervor that turned heads.

"YES! THEY DID IT! STRATEGY BEAT RAW POWER! PREPARATION DEFEATED NATURAL TALENT!" she shouted, completely ignoring professional etiquette. "I LOVE THESE KIDS! Kamui, get me the contact info for that green-haired kid's agent! I want him as a strategist at my agency, right now!"

In the arena, the winning team finally relaxed. Izuku, with a sigh of pure relief, broke contact with Toru. She, with a triumphant smile, brought a hand to her forehead, and the forty-million-point headband materialized again, visible to everyone. She held it up in the air like a trophy, and the stadium erupted in the loudest applause of the day.

The four of them looked at each other, exhausted, covered in sweat and dirt. There was no wild euphoria on their faces, but rather the quiet, profound satisfaction of a perfect plan, perfectly executed. They had been the prey, the fortress, and the phantom. And they had proven their point.

And silently, the entire world of pro heroes had taken note.