ASPIRATION

Team D was slowly closing in on Buli. He was still down from the last blow but they were cautious. It had taken a single blow at close range to throw them out of the building and now they were intentionally closing in on him. Dean had never thought of using his sand for something like binding another. He didn't have the control or finesse required for the little things and Gumi clearly lacked the ability for long range attacks. Covering him in sand had seemed like a good idea but Gumi was against them going in blind so he restrained the opponent's limbs with sand, heaping them over his hands and feet, just enough to slow him down and give them a chance to react. They had their tape ready when a large pole came at them, sweeping from right to left. It was unexpected, Buli only ever turned his limbs into weapons but this came from his chest. Fortunately, they were ready, avoiding the attack swiftly. Dean charged at the man right after. They just needed to wrap the tape on any part of his body and it would be over. Now on his feet, Buli didn't give him the chance. He was tired. Turning his limbs to weapons was easiest and took the least energy, but that was limited to regular sized weaponry. The bigger and more irregular it was, the more energy it required. Not to mention where it came from. He had started big for an instant TKO. It went well, though he didn't expect they'd be thrown out of the building. Even then, he hadn't managed to knock either of them out. For now, he was still capable of fighting back though just barely. If he was being honest, he would rather just collapse but just remembering his teammate had him putting more strength in his legs to stay standing. He was hurt. They knew that. He was tired, drawing on all he could for that last attack after being hit so hard he thought his insides had turned to mush. He had very little energy left,but they didn't know that.

Dean was an arm's length away when he saw Buli cock his arm back and immediately ducked, going for a tackle to avoid whatever weapon was coming at him. A knee to the face had him flung to the side and disoriented. Gumi came at Buli right after from the other side lunging at his arm only for his hand to turn into a machine screw coming right at her face. It had no sharp pointy edge but what the hell. Were screws blunt weapons too? Dodging the blow to her face, she looped the tape over his arm only for the nails thread to start rotating, tearing the tape and living her facing his arm swinging at her face. A handful of sand at his face had him changing targets restoring his hand to normal as he tried to wipe of the sand. The sand reinforced kick to his gut that followed had Buli almost blacking out. It was the same spot as before. But he couldn't fall, not yet.

A mish mash of poles came at team D as they zeroed in on Buli. They were no longer as fully formed or as fast as Buli's previous attack but that just made it more difficult to avoid. The sizes varied and so did the speeds, making it all the more unpredictable. It was obvious to both Dean and Gumi at this point that Buli didn't have much left in the tank. With how wildly he fought to keep them away together with the frequency and strength of his attacks, they could tell that these were the last kicks of a dying horse. Obviously not literally but they needed to be cautious or one of them would be taken out of the fight. Worst case scenario, both of them but he wasn't particularly panicked. Dean knew they would win this fight for sure. He didn't have as much gas in the tank either but he could still use his quirk for a lot longer. For such a short fight to take so much out of him, the need to improve his physical stats was that much stronger.

Gumi had managed to get her gum on some of the weapons, sticking them to the ground making maneuverability that much harder for Buli. With every attack that got close to her, some pink gum worked to stick it together. It had limited the number of directions he could now attack from. Good, Dean thought, as he used sand to distract Buli and make it easier for Gumi to restrain him. It was a short-term solution but it would deal with the problem for now. All they needed to do was keep at it and wait it out.

Wait it out….

"HE'S DELAYING US!!" Dean yelled in a mix of shock and anger. How could he be so stupid. This was a time challenge more than it was a brawl. Looking at his watch, he could see just a bit more than 5 minutes left of the exercise. Gumi was clearly just as shocked as he was as her eyebrows shot up in realization. Blunt weaponry. It was an accurate yet completely useless explanation for Buli's quirk that clearly could do so much more. This was not a fight against just Buli but heroes vs villains but they had been too focused on just taking one man out. It made him shake, completely astonished at his oversight. They needed to find the missile, pronto. They had to win this fight, no matter what.

"Go," Gumi said softly, "I'll handle him."

He barely spared her a glance as he took off running up the steps to find their primary target. Other than for the first attack, he had been mostly unhelpful for this fight. It had been Gumi who saved them when they were free falling off a building. She was also the one most effective in restraining Buli. No doubt, she was the MVP on their team. She came for the win and actually did something that would help them get it. He would believe in her and trust her to handle Buli. Telling her otherwise would only serve to discredit all that she had done so far. Now, it was his turn to pull his weight. He came to this fight with an agenda. To present himself as a threat. As someone the entire class would have to fight to conquer. It was time for him to prove it.

They were on the fourth floor. It hadn't been long since the start of the exam before they met Buli. They came in running. The building had a total of seven floors including the ground floor. With how far up they met Buli, he definitely was not rushing to meet them. Meaning the weapon was most likely either on this floor or the one above. If it was on the same floor, Buli's teammate would have probably come to help him capture the hero team. They weren't exactly quiet with all the shattered glass. Not to mention the building design was fairly simple and Buli would probably have behaved in a more defensive way otherwise. He would have preferred to be more meticulous, going through every room on both the fourth and fifth floor but there was no time.

Kiyoshi, Buli's teammate, was definitely left to defend the missile. A lanky teenager, especially when seen next to Buli. Buli was definitely the main fire power for the villain team. But he had no clue what Kiyoshi's quirk was. He had scored low on both tests. The only thing he was sure of was he wasn't particularly athletic and his quirk did not change this. Dashing up to the 5th floor, he quickly went through every room on his path. Yelling or loud noises would only serve to warn his opponent so he avoided it. He needed to be swift and silent. So, he was. Going through rooms as fast as he was capable and doing so quietly.

Starting from the fifth floor, he quickly made his way through multiple rooms, opening the door only slightly to see in before taking off for the next one. He was more than halfway through when he approached the next door. He silently opened the door, briefly glancing inside before preparing to head for the next one. What he saw made him pause. He had found it. A humungous missile stood at the centre of the room with a timer attached below showing just shy of four minutes left. To think he'd moved that fast. It had been a bit over a minute since he left Gumi to capture Buli. It wasn't much but 3 minutes should be enough to get his hands on the missile. A dark-haired boy, slender for his size, who was dressed like an unmasked Sub-Zero was standing a bit away from the missile, watching the window. The costume looked a bulky on his slim frame with a belt that could only be described as reflective.

His focus wasn't on him so Dean seriously considered just making a mad dash for the missile. The closer he was the better especially if brawl broke out. But everything seemed just a bit too convenient. There were no traps in sight, but it would be pointless if the traps were obviously placed. Gathering his sand around him, he lifted himself off the ground, silently prying the door open as he made his way in. The gritting of sand alerted Kiyoshi who turned his way with shock plastered on his face. Mad dash it is. Dean quickly accelerated towards the missile, aiming to shorten the distance regardless of whatever battle was to happen. He had barely made it far into the room when a blow to the side of his face had his sand carpet scattering with him dropping to the ground completely disoriented. The blow hadn't been heavy. In all honesty, Gumi had smacked his back harder. But its effect had him concerned. Still dizzy from the blow, he quickly gathered his sand around him. He wasn't sure where the attack came from and was still a bit loopy. First, he needed to stay conscious. There was no possibility of making an effective attack on the villain. Whatever defense he set up would be flimsy at best. So he settled on locting the source of his loopiness.

A large-scale attack blew away from him. Multiple sand spikes jutted outwards like a poisonous flower blooming, sharp and lethal, with him at the center. Well, lethal when he was at his best. His Sand Cascade was barely capable of breaking skin, but it was enough. The sound of broken glass and the shriek of surprise to his right had him turning that way with a weakly compressed sand fist flying at the villain who appeared next to him, shoving his opponent back. He turned to the missile, wondering how Kiyoshi had suddenly gotten so close and checking to see if there was another him only to see nothing there. That had him sobering up quick with his mouth agape as he turned to look for the missile. Some kind of illusion quirk? The question briefly passed through his mind when his eyes finally settled on his target. The missile was now located at the farthest corner away from both the large floor to ceiling windows and door. It wasn't a distance that could quickly be covered, especially if he was to fight to get there like he knew he was about to. A frown marred his face as he turned to the villain who was chuckling softly, while looking his way, eyes sharp and focused. He stood right between him and the missile. He could feel the scorn in his gaze. It made sense now, how Buli was able to get that close to them and attack without them noticing. It had to do with Kiyoshi's quirk. His belt was like a mirror, and the sound of broken glass when he used Sand Cascade. Something related to mirrors. If the last blow was anything to go by, he only needed one solid attack to put Kiyoshi out of commission. He was definitely on the weaker side. Either he knew how to use his strength effectively or he had had a bit of head trauma from his fight with Buli. He was leaning towards the latter. Well, he had no qualms with a quick brawl. Time was moving, so he charged.