Once More (My Hero Academia)

37: Ketsubutsu

Attacks converged upon him.

Arrows, blades, fists, blasts, rocks, spikes, and light beams from the wristbands blurred together and met at the place where Izuku stood.

He zipped from side to side, dodged the projectiles, ducked under a swinging punch, tripped three people in a row with a low kick, leaped into the air, brought his heel crashing down on someone with silver armor, backflipped to avoid an intersection of wristband light beams, shot Blackwhip toward the air, grabbed someone with seagull-like wings, and pulled down, making the person slam into someone else who flashed right beside him in a flicker of gold.

Then, he noticed his surroundings brighten and realized that a group of candidates had coordinated and pointed their wristband lights at him from all directions, focusing on him like spotlights on a stage actor.

One light beam was nothing to fear. But all of them together? It would only take two seconds to get him eliminated.

He heightened his power and darted away, but with every turn he met a wall of opponents, allowing some of the light beams to keep up.

"Let's try something else, then..." Izuku sprung up high into the air, the attackers below whipping their heads at the sky in confusion.

As he started to fall, he spun forward, and a split second later he was somersaulting downward like a green comet, building up momentum. When he neared the ground, he pulled back his fist and wrapped Blackwhip around his arm for reinforcement.

"California... SMASH!"

His fist collided with the ground and shattered the surface. Cracks exploded outward, the ground shook violently, and combined with a gust of wind, the force sent his attackers tumbling.

Straightening himself, Izuku studied the sprawling candidates through the dust, then spotted an opening -- a group of disoriented students wearing ninja-like hero costumes, slightly removed from the greater crowd.

"Ugh..." A ninja in the group pushed himself off the ground, "This first-year... How is he this strong?!"

"He's probably better than a lot of pros by now..." Another ninja groaned and coughed in the dust. "... What a monster."

Suddenly, Izuku appeared above them, eliciting surprised yelps from the bewildered ninjas. Strands of blackwhip converged upon the group like a cage of darkness.

But, as quickly as he appeared, Izuku vanished, leaving nothing but a gaping hole in the cloud of dust above the ninjas.

"...Where'd he go?"

Izuku was wondering the same thing.

He was falling and all he could hear was the sound of air rushing past his ears. His field of vision shifted from the sky to the stadium bleachers to the cityscape below him.

A teleportation quirk.

After quickly reorienting himself, he realized that he was the target of a dozen projectiles -- some green, some metallic gray -- coming from a dozen directions, and he had nowhere to hide.

"Air Force!"

Aiming down, he flicked his finger, decelerating his fall and avoiding the projectiles, which collided together with a sharp clang below him.

Then, his surroundings slowed down as he activated Zenith Focus and observed his situation. There was a girl on top of the building to his right, but there were probably more of them hidden.

He shot a long thread of blackwhip to the rightward building and hauled himself toward the girl. When he landed on the rooftop, a storm of miniature green blades that he realized were leaves flew at him, and long vines tore through the rooftop and grasped at his wrists and ankles. He easily dodged the vines and leaves and closed the distance between him and the girl.