Powerless - A My Hero Academia/ DC Crossover

Chapter 53: What Would Midoria Do?

Todoroki stood in the shadows of the factory terrain section of the testing arena. He had to play this smart. While he was alone, separated from his classmates, the other schools were sticking together, moving around in groups of ten or more. This meant he was at a disadvantage. He could attack one of them, but the others might rush to defend them, and they had quirks he could not anticipate. He was hoping the schools would fight each other until their numbers were thinned, allowing for Todoroki to swoop in and pick them off.

"Let's see," Said the voice of Mera over the speaker. "Where are we now? It looks like 52 - no, make that 53 students have passed. Things are moving a lot more quickly. It also looks like 230 examinees have already failed. With less than half the spots left open, now is the time to move. Don't dally now, kids!"

Todoroki no longer had the luxury of waiting and strategizing. He had to move. Leaving his cover, he began to run further into the factory until he reached an open area. As soon as he was exposed, he saw in his peripheral vision one of the orange orbs careening towards him at a fast pace. Instinctively, he used his fire to torch the orb until it was nothing but a charred lump on the ground.

"Nice moves!" Came a voice from above. Todoroki looked to see that he was surrounded by a group of other students, all wearing different colored ninja-like costumes. Izuku recognized them from Seijin High School, one of UA's rival hero schools.

"Just what we'd expect from the champion of the UA Sports Festival," continued his attacker, a ninja clad in a red suit. "I can't believe the great Todoroki is wandering around here all by yourself. You must be really confident."

"But even if he is from UA High, acting alone is just asking for trouble," Said one of the green ninjas.

"10 against one? He doesn't stand a chance," Said one of the blue ninjas.

"This is great," Said Todoroki, dropping into a defensive stance. "Now I don't have to look for opponents."

"Well, aren't you cool?" Said the red ninja. In an instant, the other ninjas advanced on Todoroki, throwing several orange orbs at him. Todoroki threw up a wall of ice to defend himself, and the orbs bounced off harmlessly. Without hesitation, Todoroki used his ice to encase the other ninja's up to their knees, restricting their movements. He didn't dare cover anymore, as it might prevent him from accessing their targets.

The red ninja, who was the apparent ringleader of the group, pulled out a small object from his pocket and began to twirl it in his fingers. Todoroki realized it was a bolt fastener. In a flash, the ninja threw the bolt fastener towards Todoroki, who looked in shock as it began to rapidly grow in size. He threw up another wall of ice, which collided with the object just before it hit him. Todoroki surmised that enlarging objects was the ninja's quirk. The ninja began to throw more objects at him: nails, bolts, fasteners, all of which began to grow to immense sizes as they collided with his ice wall. Todoroki dared not use an attack until he was sure the ninja was out of objects to throw at him. He jumped back as the crack in the ice wall grew larger before crumbling beneath the weight of the attack. One of the bolt fasteners flew past the broken ice wall, directly at Todoroki, who used his fire quirk in an attempt to destroy it. The bolt fastener resisted his heat, causing Todoroki to leap out of the way before it struck him.

Even if it didn't melt the object, it should have at least left a mark, thought Todoroki, but the bolt fastener was undamaged. Then it occurred to him that it was made of tungsten, a metal with an extremely high melting point. These students were prepared for them. He looked up at the ninjas above him, and the red ninja had already used his quirk to break through the ice that encased him and his allies.

"It's over Todoroki," Said the red ninja. "You thought you could pass this test alone. Your pride will now be your downfall."

The other ninjas began to advance on Todoroki. They were all using their quirks at once in an attempt to overwhelm Todoroki, using water to quench his fire quirk, and heavy physical attacks to break his ice defense. They worked out a way to counter everything he had. If he did not come up with an alternative strategy quickly, he would fail. Absently, a thought began to formulate in the back of his mind: what would Midoriya do?