Viridian: The Green Guide

Chapter 106: Attack

"Focus on fighting." Izuku said firmly. "I'll see if I can't get you some back up."

"Um..." Iida looked between Kaminari and Izuku in concern and confusion, "What's happening. The third round is supposed to start soon, but..."

"Go." Izuku said firmly, eyes still glued to the computer. "You worry about winning, I'll worry about your brother. Same goes for you, Denki. Don't go over your limits and make yourself a complete idiot, though."

"Right." Denki gave him a reassuring smile, but Izuku could tell he was nervous underneath. "Just a partial idiot. Got it."

"Good." Eraser jerked his head toward the rest of the student areas. "You boys go fight and leave the heroism to us."

Shigaraki didn't stop grinning as he stalked down the hall toward Nedzu, "Kurogiri, you go take care of the vigilante brat. I'll squash the bug. Now, rat, hand her over."

"I do not believe that I will." Nedzu said calmly. "Queen Bee has been arrested, so giving her back to the villains would be rather counterproductive. I'm sure you understand."

"Nice try." Shigaraki's grin got wider. "But killing a few npcs is always a fun part of any quest."

He lunged forward and Nedzu dropped, protecting the jar with queen bee as Shigaraki disintegrated part of the wall behind him. Nedzu immediately went for his ankles, biting and scratching at the exposed skin and just managing to scramble backwards as Shigaraki grabbed his waistcoat. It ripped and dissolved into dust and scraps as Kurogiri disappeared and in the split second that Nedzu was distracted trying to figure out a way to get him to stay put, Shigaraki grabbed the jar.

They both reached for Queen Bee as she tried to flutter away from her ruined prison, but Shigaraki was taller and reached her first as she flew toward the ceiling. Nedzu watched in horror as his hand closed around her and the last remnant of the hive dissolved into a small handful of dust and blood. Shigaraki wiped his hand on his pants and turned to him, "Main quest: completed. Side quest unlocked: Cat and Mouse."

Nedzu gasped. He'd never been the best in physical fights, his intellect and small stature making him much more effective as a strategist rather than a head on fighter. It didn't make him any less of a hero, but it did mean that he had to know when backup was necessary and now definitely qualified. Nedzu ran down the hall, pressing a secret combination on the floor tiles that only he knew and Shigaraki's hand closed on air as a trap door opened and Nedzu dropped down into a tunnel. He slammed the door behind him and used the brief reprieve to turn on his comms and radio the heroes on duty, "Hero team C, report to the student tunnels. Hero B, standby for possible evacuations of sections F through M. Present Mic. Midnight. Contact the backup announcers and report to my location. We have a security breach."

Shouta had to firmly make sure that Kaminari and Iida were well on their way toward the festival before he was able to turn his attention back to Viridian, but he knew the kid wasn't going to run right now, not when there were people to save. He hadn't even noticed Shout'as capture weapon loosening. The kid's attention was completely on the screen and he seemed to be giving a report of the situation to Crawler, although he would interrupt himself occasionally with observations about Stain's quirk or strategies that Ingenium could use to keep himself alive and uninjured until back up arrived. It was ridiculously impressive, but Shouta could see the way Viridian was vibrating restlessly, body practically begging to be involved in the fight himself. No wonder the kid had chosen to go back to fighting on the streets instead of staying virtual after breaking his arm. He wanted to fight and save people like a real hero.

"Sho!" Hizashi ran up toward him, only briefly glancing toward Viridian on the floor. "Nedzu said you were probably busy with the kid. We have a problem."

"Obviously." Shouta snorted. "What are you doing away from the announcement booth?"

"I had Amplifier take over." Hizashi panted. "There's been a security breach. Shou...it's him."

Shouta frowned, hoping that he was misunderstanding, "Who?"

Nemuri joined the conversation, jogging toward them with her whip at the ready and sections of her costume already ripped for easy access to her quirk, "The league of villains, the villain factory. Whatever you call them. Whoever they are, they got in with Kurogiri."

"Kurogiri?" Shouto breathed.

Hizashi nodded, "Oboro is here."

Shouta glanced toward Viridian. The kid was so in the zone, he hadn't even realized the others had arrived, "I can't..."

"Shouta." Nemuri pleaded. "We might not get another chance to save him."

He cursed under his breath. The kid would stay put for as long as it took to save Tensei, so if they could save Shirakumo quickly enough...Nemuri was right, with a teleportation quirk in the equation, they wouldn't ever get another chance to save him.

"Fine." He forced himself to turn away from his problem child. "Let's get this over with quickly."

There had been a weird delay before the third round. Hitoshi wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he assumed that Present Mic had gotten sick or something, because some woman was doing the announcing right now. His first match was against Inasa, the wind guy he'd brainwashed during the cavalry battle, which meant that he might have figured out how his quirk worked. He was stronger than he'd been before, but that wasn't going to do much good against a literal tornado. How was he still screwed?

The announcer lady sounded excited as her voice echoed over the speakers, "Is everybody ready to watch these epic battles?! First round is the 1A's human tornado, Yoarashi Inasa who'll be fighting the underdog from General Studies, Hitoshi Shinso!!!"

Hitoshi took a deep breath and took a step forward when he felt something wrap around his wrist and hold him back. He swallowed a yelp and whirled around to see Eraserhead staring at him intensely, "You're forfeiting the match. Come with me."

"What?" Hitoshi was suddenly filled with rage, "Look, I know it's not the best matchup and I might not win, but you're not even going to give me a chance?! This is my last chance to get in the hero course and you're not even going to let me try?!"

Eraserhead gave him a look, "You're already guaranteed entry into the hero course, getting far enough in the sports festival was just a formality, and it's better to not advertise your quirk anyway. You have to understand that I wouldn't be asking you to do this if it wasn't an emergency."

Hitoshi blinked, "I'm already guaranteed...wait, what do you mean an emergency?"

"Do you remember when Kacchan took you to break the brainwashing on a friend of his?" Eraser asked. When Hitoshi hesitantly nodded, he continued. "What if I were to tell you that Ogawa wasn't the only victim?"

Hitoshi's eyes widened as he realized what Aizawa was getting at. He wasn't quite sure he was ready, but when Eraserhead looked at him, there was a challenge in his eyes that Hitoshi couldn't turn down.

"So, Shinso." Eraserhead raised an eyebrow. "Are you ready to be a hero?"