My Hero Academia - Hero League Baseball

Hero League Baseball (ヒーローリーグベースボール) is one of two special episodes released in 2022, and the sixth OVA for the My Hero Academia series.

Summary
The "Hero League Baseball" is an organization set-up by several Pro Heroes to allow them the chance to play and compete in their spare time. For this year, the "Orcas", led by Gang Orca, and the "Lionels", led by Shishido, have made it to the finals. Present Mic narrates the game, accompanied by an extremely apathetic Eraser Head.

Gang Orca's team consists of his internees, Tentacole and Earphone Jack, with assistance from Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, and their internees, Chargebolt, Grape Juice, Cellophane, and Vine. Shishido's team consists of his internees, Tailman, Sugarman, Gevaudan, and Mines, in adddition to Fat Gum and his internees, Suneater, Red Riot, and Real Steel.

Gang Orca and Shishido butt heads, each declaring themselves to be the victor, while ridiculing each other for receiving help from other hero agencies. The rest of their teams exasperate over their actions, with Earphone Jack wondering if they should be slacking off during their Work-Studies, while Fat Gum says they'll get all-you-can-eat takoyaki if they win; Suneater meanwhile doesn't want to be there at all.

Present Mic explains the rules of "HLB" baseball: each team is made up of 9 players, substitutions during the game is not allowed but swapping positions is. If a catcher or batter is taken out of commission in any way, they are considered out and no longer can play. Full Quirk use is also completely allowed too.

Gang Orca is first up to bat, with Sugarman pitching; he swallows some sugar, using his Quirk to power up his throw, but Gang Orca is easily able to hit it, knocking it out of the park for a home run. A furious Shishido punishes Sugarman for his failure, replacing the pitcher with Mines. He uses his Twin Impact Quirk on the ball, giving an underhanded throw to catch Chargebolt off guard, activating the Quirk at the last moment, getting a strike. He proceeds to do it two more times, completely striking him out, to his befuddlement. Gang Orca promptly punishes him for the failure.

Tentacole is up next, using three bats with his Dupli-Arms. He attempts to compromise for the ball's changing speed, but instead Mines has the ball shoot upwards, creating a curveball he is unable to hit. He strikes him out, and does the same thing to Cellophane, resulting in Gang Orca punishing the two of them.

The Lionels are now up to bat, with Tailman as the first batter. Kamui Woods is the pitcher, and using his Lacquered Chain Prison, entraps Tailman, and simply throws the ball to the umpire three times, striking him out. He then does the same to Gevaudan, enraging Shishido and punishing the both of them. He is then up to bat, and using his Lion Quirk, successfully combats Kamui's attack, pounding away at his Quirk until he is able to strike the ball, sending it and Kamui himself flying.

Vine attempts to use her Quirk to stop him but he's flung right through it. Mt. Lady uses her Titan Cliff to try and catch him, but she misses and he smacks right into her face, knocking her out. Cellophane is able to use his Quirk to grab the ball, getting Shishido out, only for the unconscious Mt. Lady to fall directly on top of him, crushing him. Even despite not getting the home run, Shishido's hit managed to take out three of the Orcas' teammates, with Mt. Lady, Cellophane, and Kamui Woods no longer able to play.

The Orcas are back up to bat, but Mines is easily able to strike out both Vine and Grape Juice, further infuriating Gang Orca. Earphone Jack is up next, and using her Quirk is able to hear when Mines activates the Twin Impact, responding with a High-Frequency attack, blowing the ball back through the air, however Shishido is able to catch it before she can take the base, getting her out. Earphone Jack is disappointed and expecting a punishment from Gang Orca, but he instead compliments her for a good effort.

The Lionels are at bat again, with Grape Juice now as the pitcher. He throws the ball at Sugarman, who successfully hits it, but instead of being swung, the ball stretches while stuck to the bat, recoiling back and smacking Sugarman in the privates, knocking him out of commission. Grape Juice had used one of his Pop Off balls covered in powder to disguise it. He then strikes Mines out, causing Red Riot to wonder how they can stop him, with Real Steel stepping up with an idea of how to deal with.

After Grape Juice throws the ball, knowing it'll just come back, Real Steel throws the bat at the same time of his swing, sending it right toward Grape Juice and sending them both flying. Real Steel cheers on his success, only to instead be taken out of the game due to "fowl play" by attacking the pitcher. Shishido punishes him by slamming him into the ground.

Gang Orca heads up for bat with Fat Gum now as the Lionels' pitcher. Before throwing, Shishido pummels Fat Gum with a hoard of punches to his stomach, allowing him to use his Fat Absorption Quirk to absorb Shishido's punches and create a stronger throw. Fat Gum powers up, reminding Shishido of his promise of takoyaki, while Suneater prays that the ball does not come to him if Orca does hit in.

Sure enough, Gang Orca successfully hits the ball, sending it right to Suneater, who catches it but is flung off his base. Red Riot grabs it from him and tosses it to Mines, but he is blown away by Gang Orca's Orcinus supersonic wave. Tailman throws the ball to Shishido at third base, prepared to get him out. He tries another supersonic wave, but Shishido counters with his Lion roar, enough to tag Orca and get him out. However as a result of the round, Suneater, Mines, and Fat Gum are all taken out of commission, with Vine also fainting due to all the "drama".

Shishido takes charge as pitcher, with Chargebolt at the bat. Shishido doesn’t think he'll be an issue, but doesn't want to underestimate him so puts his full force in the throw. The resulting powerful attack knocks out both Chargebolt and Gevaudan, putting them out of the game. Earphone Jack is exasperated by the insanity, leading Tentacole to tell her to "take a dive" to get out of the game; she feigns unconsciousness to do so. Sugarman is the next umpire and Tentacole is the next pitcher, lamenting how the game is just torture. Shishido executes another full power throw, once again knocking out the two of them.

By the bottom of the third inning, it is still 1-0 favoring the Orcas, but now Gang Orca is the only player remaining on the team. Red Riot takes the stand to bat, Hardening himself just as Orca throws the ball, making it faster with his supersonic waves. Red Riot gives it his all to prevent himself from being blown away by the ball, successfully executing a bunt, allowing him to take the first base. Seeing Red Riot about to pass out due to overexerting himself, Shishido tells Tailman to swap places as the pitch runner, allowing him to rest.

Now with Shishido at bat and Gang Orca as pitching, the final confrontation can begin. In order to make things interesting, Shishido lets himself get two strikes, and Gang Orca allows Tailman to steal the bases, giving the Lionels a point and tying the game 1-1. The two prepare not to hold back anymore, but are then caught off guard when the sirens go off, warning of a bank robbing villain on the streets nearby. Without even hesitating, the two Pro Heroes speed off toward the location.

The robber is faced off against Gang Orca and Shishido waiting for him in the streets, with Shishido stopping the truck and Gang Orca jumping in to grab the villain. He tries to escape and attack with his Drill Quirk, but Shishido stops them, with Orca following suit with his Orcnius. Demonstrating their teamwork, the two overpower him and promptly knock him out. Eraser Head, Earphone Jack, and Tailman arrive to check up on them, as the two say to keep watch of the villain and wait for the Police, as they leave to return to their game.

Back on the field, the two are ready to finally finish things off, as Gang Orca throws his supersonic-enhanced ball, while Shishido attempts to push back with his strength on the bat. He successfully hits the ball, breaking his bat in the process, however the broken pieces smack right into his face, while the ball slams right into Gang Orca's face, knocking them both out cold. With both players out of commission, and Tailman away, Present Mic declares that both teams have forfeited with the final results being a tie. Before passing out, Gang Orca and Shishido declare that baseball is the greatest.

Later, the rest of the Orcas and the Lionels are on the train headed back home, all completely exhausted over the whole experience, while by nighttime, Real Steel is still stuck in the ground, crying out for someone to help.

Trivia

 * Gang Orca and Shishido's rivalry may be a reference to both characters originating from Horikoshi's previous work Oumagadoki Zoo.