30. Collapse!

"Momo-san, Asui-san...."

"Call me Tsuyu." Tsuyu interjected.

"Sure." I continued taking it in stride, "How confident are you in dealing with the bomb threat? Can you handle Bakugo and Mina?"

"I think we can handle Mina, but Bakugo....." Momo said, trailing hesitantly, pulling her shoulders inwards.

"You've never had to deal with someone so overtly hostile and violent have you?" I asked.

"...yes. Bakugo-san is .... I don't know how to say it..."

"No need. I get it. He's a dickhead." I stated plainly, patting her shoulder.

Her eyes jumped up at my slur, as she fidgeted a bit, eyes darting across the others for some social cue, only to find none.

How cute! And sheltered.

Can't she decide for herself how she should behave?

Thankfully for her, I wasn't the only one who noticed her discomfort.

Tsuyu, taking a good look at Momo, answered in her stead, progressing the conversation.

"Do you have any ideas on how to deal with Bakugo, Yuji-kun?"

"Call me Yuji." I said, mirroring her, "And when it comes to dealing with Bakugo, what you do depends on the results you want.

But, in this case, I'd advise stalling for time till we come up and take him down together.

Once you get into the building, Bakugo will no doubt launch himself at you, leaving his teammate alone.

Now there's a 50/50 chance that Mina will follow him, but even if she doesn't, you'll find it easy to deal with her if you have acid resistant clothing or a shield of sorts.

Momo, can you make something like that? A granite slab perhaps, if you want something simple."

"Yes. A granite slab will do." She said, checking her notebook.

"Then, first, Momo will make a fire extinguisher for Tsuyu, then have her lead Bakugo away from the bomb. Try to get him to leave the building if possible. The farther the better.

Then, if Tsuyu is able to evade Bakugo on her own, Momo can go and deal Mina.

If not, the both of you should lead him to us, and we'll take him down together." I explained, in detail.

"As for us, we'll catch the robbers and return here, so we can catch Bakugo as well." I said, turning to Ojiro.

"Ojiro." I said, getting his attention.

"Huh, yea-yeah?" He stuttered, having zoned out.

"Focus, bud. Can you distract Iida and Aoyama for a while?" I asked.

"I can try." He answered.

"That'll be good enough. Go for Aoyama. He'll be easier to catch. So long as you can disable his laser, he'll be less than useless." I said, handing him a smoke bomb from my pocket.

"Pinch and throw. The smoke should disable his laser for a moment, long enough for you to knock him out. I'll get Iida."

Just as I finished explaining, the horn rang out, signalling the start of the scenario.

We nodded at each other and bolted for our respective posts, Momo handing Tsuyu the fire extinguisher, as they turned the corner.

As soon as the horn stopped, am alarm soubded out to the east, near the edge of ground Beta.

"There!" I pointed out, and pulled up Iida's book.

His plan was simple. Aoyama was to stay and distract us, while he made for the exit.

Just as I predicted.

Iida was too preoccupied with his grades to see the more logical option if sending Aoyama to escape the gate and stalling us with his superspeed.

But I knew his type. They didn't trust anyone else to do the job right. They had to do it themselves.

And in this case it worked to my benefit, seeing as I would be in range of the gate before he was even halfway there.

"Ojiro, take the bank, I'll take the gate." I ordered and changed directions as he nodded in agreement.

A dust cloud approached in the distance, storming straight towards the gate, a blue haze trailing behind it, refracting off the dust.

He was using Recipro Burst.

Well shit. I thought, bursting into a sprint, pushing my legs to a peak.

Now sure, I could just teleport over and end this right now or write in his book and make him trip, but that would reveal my powers a bit too early, inevitably hurting my future prospects.

No, I had to do this the old school way.

I reached into my pockets and pulled out the capture tape, stretching it out, before mass summoning a mountain of shelves at the gate, piled up in neat pyramidal rows, back facing into the arena, like a giant, polished bulwark, hiding myslef among the shelves.

Not seconds later, the dust cloud thundered to a stop.

Iida looked at the massive wall covering nearly half of the 40 foot gate in disbelief, gawking like a chicken.

Frantically, he looked around for any leeway, or ambush.

Finding none, he thought for a moment, hand to his chin, looking up and down the wall of shelves, considering his options.

Briefly, he cast a glance at the 45 foot walls surounding the grounds, before shaking his head.

Even at full power, he knew he couldn't cross it upright.

So he had only one option left, an avenue I had left open just for him.

That is, to break through the shelf wall.

Iida took a deep breath and tied the money bag to his back, before getting into a runner's pose.

Steam ejected from his pipes, muscles roaring, until a faint jet of blue appeared in a halo at it's end.

His eyes focused on the spot he had chosen, and he let out a breath, as tge ground cracked beneath his feet.

BOOM!

He shot forth, the wind crackling behind him, arms held up like a battering ram, right at my position behind the shelves.

I closed his book, and stretched my perception to it's maximum, and time appeared to slow down.

As Iida barreled into the shelves, his skin barely grazing the lacquered hardwood, the shelves disappeared, throwing him for a loop.

In shock, his muscles loosened, his form teetered, and his eyes went wide in realization.

A trap!

The realization however came too late, as I leapt out from my hiding place, my capture tape spread like a garrotte wire strapping around his neck.

He attempted to twist himself mid air, trying to counter his momentum, but found his leg hampered by another shelf he could have sworn wasn't there a moment ago!

I chuckled at the stupid look on his face, when the pain registered to him, both from his twisted leg and the choker on his neck, and he fell to the floor coughing and wincing, unsure what to grab.

"Khyaghug!" He intoned, vomitting onto the floor, emptying put his stomach.

He looked at me with pained eyes and begged for help, but the acid from his stomach had burnt his throat, causing him to elicit only raspy groans as he massaged his neck.

"Here." I handed him a water bottle, which he almost swallowed whole.

Meanwhile, I took off his money bag, and threw it far, onto a nearby roof, before pulling him back to his feet.

"You okay?" I asked, supporting him by his shoulder.

"Yes. Just a sprain, I think. Thanks." He replied, looking at the water bottle.

"Don't mention it, bud." I patted his back, unsummoning the shelves, revealing the situation to the cameras.

"Team robbers has been captured!" All Might's voice announced over the speakers.

"7 minutes left." He added as a courtesy.

In the distance, a smoke cloud dissipated in the breeze, as the silhouettes of Ojiro and Aoyama appeared out of it.

Ojiro dumped Aoyama by the bank and gave me a thumbs up.

I nodded, pointing to the bomb scenario.

"Shall we?" I asked.

"What about them?"

"I don't think they're going anywhere, right Iida?" I remarked, smiling.

"Not with a sprained ankle, no." He answered, miffed.

"There we go." I said, as an explosion rocked the arena, and a mushroom cloud of cement dust cornated the sky above.

As we reached the bomb building, a terrifying sight greeted us.

The top two floors of the building had collapsed, rubble filling the street before us.

"What monstrous power!" Ojiro exclaimed, looking at the edge of the third floor, where the panting form of Bakugo stood, brows creased, blood on his hands.

No sooner had we spotted him, did he do the same.

And rage filled his eyes, all sense draining from them, as a primal nature emerged in him. Or so his book told.

And I wasn't about to refute it, given the sight before me.

"Is that blood?" Ojiro muttered, afraid.

Blood. Right!

"Where-"

"Bakugo-shounen, STOP RIGHT NOW!" All Might shouted over the mic, to no avail.

BOOM!

Bakugo exploded from his perch, aiming for my head.

Yup. He has officially gone crazy!

"DIE YOU BASTARD!" He screamed, sending a blob of sweat at me, sparking at his fingertips.

"Nyope!" I said, slamming a shelf into him, before I leapt back.

Pulling Ojiro into a hug, I surrounded us in a bunker of shelves, when the explosion occured, shattering the street below us, alongside a good two dozen of my shelves.

Cracks sank into the ground as it imploded, opening up a cavity below, dragging us all into the robot stoarge beneath.

Noooooo!

A cry came and then darkness.