EP 15 (Patreon)

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Chapter XV:

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Katsuki’s face lit up in a grin, “Finally.” He clenched a fist, his eyes seeking Izuku’s. He wanted to see that trepidation – that fear – in Izuku’s eyes. But contrary to what he would have believed, Izuku was already walking away with his friends and girlfriends for the break. He didn’t pay Katsuki any attention at all. And that lit the blonde bomber’s fuse like nothing else. He had to spin around and stomp away before he went and got himself disqualified for starting their battle early.

“You okay, Zu?” Setsuna asked, feeling tense.

Mina looked a little stressed as well, “I’m still mad I didn’t get in, but yeah, are you good Midori? Looks like that childhood-friend-turned-enemy subplot is coming to roost.”

Izuku smiled, and let out a chuckle. “Yeah, I think I’m fine.” He said, surprising himself and his friends too.

Melissa’s eyes narrowed, “Izuku…” She said softly, grabbing his hand, “Come on. This can’t not be affecting you.  Everything you’ve told us…”

Momo had been silent, but now she gave a growl as she took his other hand, “I wish I was the one fighting him.” She’d love to introduce One For All directly to his damn nose.

Izuku kept walking, and merely gave them a small squeeze, “You know… I’m not sure when it happened, but I realized something recently.”

“What’s that, fam?” Camie asked.

“I just… don’t care about him anymore.” They all stopped short, looking at him wide-eyed. “I spent so long wanting things to go back to how they used to be. Before all the bad things. So long wanting things to just go back to normal. For us to be friends. For him to watch my back while I watched his. And for years, I hurt myself and let him hurt me to make that happen. Because he was all I had.” He smiled at them, “And now I have friends. Actual friends. Real friends. And the best girlfriends in the world.” The sudden compliment had all his girlfriends blushing in surprise. “And I just… don’t need him anymore.”

“But…” Camie still looked worried. “Still tho, he’s like, been kicking you down for so long.  That’s gotta be rough. You’re not trying to hide it, are you?

Izuku stopped for a moment, and they all looked at him. He looked away, towards the sky, “Honestly?” He looked down and they all started feeling better when they saw the smirk on his face, “You’re worrying too much.” He resumed walking and took Camie and Setsuna’s hands, “You all have given me all the support I needed. I’m not the same scared little Quirkless kid constantly getting bullied anymore. I thought he’d be happy for me when my Quirk came in, but if anything, he just doubled down on being awful. And when he tried to accuse Melissa of cheating her way in here, I was ready to throw down with him then and there.” His eyes sharpened, “I don’t want revenge or anything. I don’t want him to be a failure or give up on his dreams. But after facing off against Villains, after everything we’ve been through, he’s just… not scary anymore. I hope there’s still a Hero in there somewhere, sure, but I’m not going to waste my time or energy catering to his ego anymore.” He raised his hand and squeezed his fist, cracking his knuckles. “If you really want to know what I’m feeling right now about this upcoming fight?” He grinned, “I’m eager to win.”

His friends and girlfriends finally relaxed, and they walked through the tunnel and towards the cafeteria.

…

Lunch was delicious as usual, though all of the remaining competitors kept things light. No one wanted to be the one that barfed on national television because they stuffed their faces too much. The polycule was pouting a bit because Nejire couldn’t join them after her role in the previous event was complete, but they would catch up with their fairy later. Of course, it wouldn’t have been U.A. without some shenanigans being afoot.

“Excuse me?” Momo said flatly.

Kaminari and Tsuburaba shrugged, “That’s what sensei told us.”

“Yeah, Kin-chan is pumped to do it.” Kaminari said.

Mina snorted, “Sure, and I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Real nice beachfront property.”

“Ehh, I believe him about Kinoko. She’d definitely be into this.” Setsuna giggled. Yui nodded, a very small smile on her face.

“Don’t believe us then.” Tsuburaba started to walk away, “See you later.”

Itsuka raised an eyebrow, “They think we’re stupid, right?” She snorted, “What do they think Eraser and Vlad King will do to them when we ask for confirmation?”

Inasa grinned, “My man could probably just telepathically ask Aizawa-sensei right now.” He leered at Itsuka just a bit, “Though I think you’d look cute in a cheerleading uniform.” Itsuka flushed bright red.

“What do you say, Zuku?” Camie grinned, “Wanna ping sensei?”

“Honestly, I kinda wanna see you as cheerleaders too.” Izuku blushed, something which Momo mirrored.

“Hn.” Yui agreed with a nod. She was still sad she missed French Maid Momo!

“Yeah, but do you want others to see us as cheerleaders?” Melissa raised an eyebrow at him.

“Nope.avi.” He said, and they all giggled, “Aizawa-sensei.” He reached out after closing his eyes.

Aizawa jerked, “Problem child.” He let out a groan, “What is it? You woke me up.”

“No, I didn’t.” Izuku deadpanned, having felt the man was awake before speaking, “Kaminari and Tsuburaba told us that you said the girls had to participate in the cheer battle. On a scale of ‘detention for a week’ to ‘extra homework,’ how much trouble would they be in?”

Aizawa snorted, “I didn’t know they wanted to run laps around campus.” Izuku projected amusement at him.

Izuku smirked at his classmates, “Grade-A bullshit. Or Grade-F, I suppose, seeing as how no one fell for it.”

Momo scoffed, “Honestly, what were they thinking? If we fell for it they’d be in even more trouble.”

“Honestly, the U.A. Cheerleading Uniforms are pretty cute.” Camie grinned, “You should make us some, Yaomomo. We can give Zuku a private cheer.” She grinned lewdly as Momo blushed. Yui nodded, looking eager. Izuku’s face was bright red as Inasa cackled.

…

The extracurriculars were much more fitting a sports festival, with the Gen Ed kids and the Hero Course students who failed to make the final dance getting to do things like dodgeball, scavenger hunts, and other assorted activities for the crowds. They even got to show off their Quirks, though it was much more lighthearted with nothing to play for. Almost everyone had fun, barring the ultra-competitive few like Kamakiri or those like Shinsō and Hatsume Mei from the Support Course, who still felt devastated over failing so harshly in the previous rounds to stand out. Though in Mei’s case, it was because she wasn’t going to get a chance to show off any of her ‘babies’ in the finals.

But the fun had to end at some point, and the main event had to begin. Cementoss pumping in hundreds of cubic meters of concrete into the middle of the arena and rapidly transforming it into a raised ring for the finale was that point.

“You’ve been through hell to get to this point, and it’s finally time!” Present Mic roared out, “It’s time for the main event! This time, there’s no team-ups, no objectives, just a mano-a-mano fight against your peers! You’ve only got yourself to rely on. Spirit, technique, strength, wisdom, and knowledge! Use ‘em all and show us what you’ve got!”

Aizawa chimed in, sounding bored, “Your paths towards victory are knockout, immobilization, surrender, and ring out. The first three are self-explanatory, with Midnight confirming whether or not you can move for the second option. As for the ring out: you must get them to touch something not on the ring itself, such as the grass. As far as we’re concerned, the ring itself extends infinitely down. Even if the ring breaks and you touch the ground beneath it, you will not be considered out.” Honenuki smiled a little bit in relief, over in the tunnel.

Midnight grinned and cracked her whip, “Time to get bloody! For our first match, we’ve got one of the two recommended students of Class 1-B! Let’s hear it for Mudman!” She jerked her flogger towards the ‘red corner,’ where Honenuki emerged. You couldn’t really tell he was nervous, what with his teeth being completely exposed. The nerves were getting to him a little bit. Still, he made sure to wave and not let his nervousness show. “And from the blue corner, we have 1-A’s mistress of gravity: Uravity!”

Ochako decided to show off, and launched herself out of the tunnel, landing on the ring in a single bound. Everyone cheered as she waved. She was going to do her very best! “Good luck, Mudman.” She smiled at him in excitement.

He mistook it for intimidation, “I think I’ll need it. Your Quirk is rough for mine.” He got ready, knowing he would need to act fast to have a chance against her.

“It looks like we’re all ready for action!” Midnight raised her arm, “Match One, START!” She cracked her whip.

Immediately, Honenuki stomped a foot onto the ring, and it visibly got a little darker in color. A small wave of that darker color raced forward, looking to sink Ochako down. She dodged out of the way and raced forward, knowing all she had to do was get a hand on him and she could take him down.

Honenuki knew it too, and so he changed tactics, expanding his Softening across the entire ring. Ochako skidded to a stop and leapt up, removing her own gravity, and allowing her to float. Honenuki clicked his teeth as he allowed himself to dive into the ring and into the ground below. He did have to be careful not to swim outside the ring though, as that would be an immediate disqualification.

“It appears that Mudman has made the first moves!” Present Mic crowed, “His ability to soften the ring completely has completely removed Uravity’s footing!”

“Logical, though that doesn’t actually help him win with Uravity’s ability to float.” Aizawa commented, “This matchup is a stalemate. Mudman can’t get too close to her, or she’ll remove his gravity and beat him with experience in Zero-G. But she can’t get close enough to use her Quirk on him.”

Up above, Ochako scowled, ‘Smarty-pants!’ She groaned, ‘I can’t stay up here forever and that would be boring anyway. He can just stay down there as long as he-’ She stopped, ‘No, that’s not right. He needs to breathe. He’ll need to surface eventually.’ She put a hand on her stomach, willing herself to not start feeling nauseous. ‘Why isn’t he attacking? Can he not control any of the softened ring?’ She smirked at the thought.

She was looking around but gasped as an eruption behind her heralded him breaching like a whale, reaching for her ankle so that he could drag her under.

“WOAH, MUDMAN PULLED A FAST ONE! LOOK AT THAT MAJESTIC BREACH! GANG ORCA, ARE YOU WATCHING?!” Present Mic yelled loudly as the crowd cheered, finally excited after a bit of a boring start.

Ochako would have been caught and pulled down then and there, but she had far too much experience in Zero-G. She tucked into a ball and rolled back, getting her ankle out of the way of his hand. Her own hand snapped out like lightning, trying to grab his forearm to activate her own Quirk. She managed to get three fingers on him, but then gravity reasserted itself and he started falling back down. He flipped down and dove perfectly into the ring. A splash rose up, before falling down with a wet plop. It was really a perfect dive… with only the fact that it was into concrete that had been turned into liquid to mark it as weird.

“It looks like Mudman’s first attempt on Uravity almost backfired! Our Gravity Mistress almost turned his maneuver back on him! What will Mudman do now?!”

What would Ochako do now was a better question. She was already starting to feel queasy, and she knew she was either going to lose her lunch or have to deactivate her Quirk sooner than later. Honenuki didn’t seem to have as many problems as she hoped. What was she going to do?

He surfaced, “Jeez, I thought I had you there, Uravity.” He said, and she realized he was breathing heavier. “So, what now, huh?”

Ochako wasn’t sure she liked the answer that she came to. But she had quickly realized that this was not going to go in her favor unless she did something drastic. This was going to have to be an all or nothing move… and she really hoped her legs didn’t break.

“Ooooh, what’s this?! Uravity is going even higher up?! She’s far outside of Mudman’s range now! What could she be planning?”

“I think I feel my blood pressure rising with her.” Aizawa deadpanned, knowing Ochako could be one of his crazier brats.

“Here goes nothing.” Ochako muttered, before seizing her Quirk and reversing its polarity. Instantly, she went from floating like a balloon to falling like a shooting star. ‘Please be tough enough, please be tough enough, please be tough enough!’ She chanted in her head, putting all of her hopes on the increased durability she seemed to get whenever she turned gravity up on herself.

“What the hell?!” Mudman rapidly moved out of the strike zone, watching her drop out of the sky even faster than terminal velocity.

“URAVITY IS CRAZY EVERYONE! WE’VE GOT A METEOR COMING DOWN!” Present Mic yelled in shock.

“U-Ryūsei!” Ochako yelled out right before smashing into the center of the ring with both feet. Immediately, a gigantic wave of softened concrete spread out in every direction.

“Oh shit!” Honenuki gasped as he finally figured out her plan. “I should have-bbnuybgvruyfobu”  The wave smashed into him and carried him out of the ring. The white of the ring splashed down on the grass along with him. He sputtered as he rolled on the grass before getting washed onto the stadium walls and crashing into them.

The crowd erupted in cheers, though some of them had a bit disgusted looks on seeing as the stadium interior looked like a very unfortunate bit of artwork with white splattered everywhere. The internet was going to go stupid with it, no doubt.

“Mudman is out of the ring!” Midnight declared, “Uravity, you alive in there?!”

“OWWWWWWW!!!!!” Ochako cried out, holding both of her legs, which were broken. Her entire body felt like one giant mass of pain. Which was admittedly better than her being dead, as she should have been.

Off in her office, Recovery Girl was practically snarling, “THESE FOOL CHILDREN! THE SPORTS FESTIVAL IS NO REASON TO GET YOURSELVES KILLED OR CRIPPLED! I’M GOING TO HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE MYSELF IMMORTAL, AREN’T I?! THESE DAMN IDIOTS ARE ALL GOING TO DIE THE SECOND I DO!”

“Well, Uravity is okay!” Midnight stopped, opened her mouth, closed her mouth, and said, “For a given value of ‘okay.’ She advances to the next round… though whether she’ll be up to participate is probably up in the air.” The crowd cheered, though it was a little subdued. Ochako was indeed nuts about competitions.

“I’ve got her, sensei.” Izuku jumped down from the stands and floated to Ochako. “I’ll bring her to Recovery Girl.” He gently picked the sniffling girl in his arms and floated for the tunnels.

“Thank you, Eon!” Midnight called out. “You okay, Mudman?”

“My pride is splattered.” He deadpanned, “Thanks sensei.”

“Pride will recover!” She cracked her whip, “Unfortunately, Cementoss will have to repair the ring, so sit tight folks! It’s time for an intermission!”

…

“Honestly, Uraraka-chan, why?” Izuku set her down before allowing his healing flames to burst forth.

She let out a relieved (and somewhat lewd) moan as his healing flames bathed her in relief. “Oh gosh, that feels gooood…” She was practically a puddle of goo under his flames. “Ya can heal others too?”

“And you have an accent.” She froze as he grinned, “It’s cute. Don’t worry.”

She blushed harder than usual, “It’s embarrassin’.” He cut off the flames and she took his offered hand.

“Don’t do that move again, Uraraka-chan. It’s too dangerous. Or at least don’t do it without equipment to help you survive it.”

She nodded rapidly, “Honestly, I kind of panicked. There was nothing I could do to him.” She tucked her accent away even if he said it was cute.

“And there’s going to be occasions where that happens.” ‘Like against Nōmu.’ He didn’t say. “You should make sure you just fight like normal in the next round. Pros might even get a bit turned away from scouting you even if you win if they think you’re too unconcerned with your own safety.”

Ochako froze, “Shit!” She cursed.

“Still though…” He grinned, “That might just impress others. I think I heard Miruko saying you had ‘bigger balls than Best Jeanist.’”

Ochako squealed.

“Now, get going to Recovery Girl before she chases you down. She’s going to want to check and make sure I didn’t miss anything. And then whack you with her cane a bit.” Izuku told her, smirking lightly, and her excitement turned to ash. Her poor shins.

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“Was Uraraka okay?” Camie looked a little pale. “I don’t think legs are supposed to bend like that.”

“It’s just the Sports Festival… she did fine just making it here.” Yui said quietly. “Why?”

“Uraraka-chan is ultra-competitive.” Momo pursed her lips, “But that was way overboard.”

“Yes, she was fine.” Izuku said, “Well, after a little healing.” He quirked his lips, “Though I’m not sure that’ll remain the case once Recovery Girl gets a hold of her.”

“F’s for her shins.” Setsuna chuckled, relieved she was fine.

“F.” Yui, Mina, Camie, Melissa, and Izuku all said.

Momo pouted, “I still don’t understand that one.”

“It’s an ancient meme.” Mina patted her on the shoulder. “Anyway, what do we think about the next match?”

“Itsuka wins it.” Setsuna said confidently at the same as Momo said, “I am confident in Tsu.” The two looked at each other in surprise, before Setsuna playfully narrowed her eyes, “Oho? Counting our Pres out, huh?”

Momo giggled, “Not at all, I just think that you haven’t seen how strong Tsu is, and in terms of mobility I think we can all agree she has the edge.”

“Hmmm, we’ll just have to see then.” They all turned to watch now that Cementoss had finished the first repair of the day.

…

“AND AFTER THAT WILD START, CAN THE NEXT SET OF MATCHES EVEN HOPE TO LIVE UP TO THE FIRST MATCH?! TIME TO FIND OUT, FOLKS!” Present Mic belted out, “From 1-A, our froggy Princess, Froppy!” The crowd all cheered as Tsuyu hopped onto the ring.

“Kero, I thought the frog was usually the Prince?” She tapped her chin, wondering if she liked being called a Princess.

“And from 1-B, you all know her by now! Class B’s president and the one you better hope you don’t ever get punched by: BATTLE FIST!”

Itsuka frowned, “Do you have to make me seem like a violent maniac?” She grumbled as she got onto the stage, before putting a smile on and waving for the crowd.

“Alright girls!” Midnight raised her whip, “Time to show the crowd some fight!” With the last word, she cracked her whip down.

“Kero, good luck, Itsuka-chan.” Tsuyu bent her knees and put a palm on the ground.

“You as well, Tsuyu-chan!” Itsuka cracked her knuckles, before enlarging her fists to about medium size. She took off, aiming to close the distance between her and Tsuyu in a flash.

“Kero, you’re fast!” Tsuyu sounded surprised, before she shot her tongue out of her mouth directly at her charging opponent’s face.

Itsuka looked surprised at how fast the ballistic appendage was, and she skidded to a halt and crossed her fists in front of her. “Oof!” She gasped as the tongue smacked into her fists and forced her to slide back about a meter. “Holy, that’s some power!” She grunted out as she uncrossed her arms, and her eyes widened when she realized Tsuyu was gone.

She instinctively dodged, rolling forward, and was glad she did so. Tsuyu had used the moment her eyesight was blocked to jump to one of the four pillars that framed each corner of the ring. She then jumped to the one behind Itsuka and immediately springboarded off of it, did a somersault in the air, and came spearing down legs first at Itsuka’s back. She just barely missed Itsuka due to the class rep’s excellent instincts.

“Wooo! What an explosive start! Froppy not only opens with an aggressive attack, but uses her opponent’s block to get around her and attempt to take her out in one shot! An excellent play by Froppy!” The crowd cheered them on, already finding this match more fun than the last just from the opening.

Itsuka grinned, “Damn, you’re good.” She raised her fist and made it even larger, “Let’s have some fun!” This time, she was the one that sprang forward with surprising speed. Tsuyu croaked in shock as she dodged back, and Itsuka’s fist crushed the ring beneath them. She raised her arm and tried again, and again, with Tsuyu only able to hop backwards until she was at the edge of the ring. With a croak, she jumped to the side as Itsuka changed her punching motion, afraid of missing and touching the grass. It gave the froggy girl just enough time to change her direction.

“And Froppy has taken this fight to the air!” Present Mic called out in surprise, “What will Battle Fist do now that she’s out of range?!”

“According to whom?!” Itsuka roared out, a blinding grin on her face as she raised her right arm so that she had an axe-hand formed to the side of her left ear. With an excited grunt, she swung her giant arm and chopped the pillar cleanly in half.

The crowd roared in approval as Tsuyu croaked in shock. “Kero!” She rapidly crawled and repositioned, and then leapt over Itsuka’s head. The pillar crashed onto the grass as Tsuyu landed, and immediately sprang forward. She kicked out at Itsuka, and the ginger-haired girl cried out in shock at the surprising amount of power in Tsuyu’s kick.

“Yeow!” Itsuka rapidly shook her fist out as she backed away from the edge, having barely avoided a ring-out from defending against that last impact, “Holy shit, girl!” She gasped out, “Those legs are killer! I thought it was only your tongue!”

“Kerokero.” Tsuyu laughed lightly, “Frog legs are some of the strongest in the world, you know.”

“I do now! You planning on being a combat Hero?” Itsuka asked during the lull as they repositioned.

“Nah, water rescues.” Tsuyu replied, “I’m far more useful in the water, kero.” Off in the stands, a Hero who actually had ears good enough to hear what they were saying frowned a little, finding that to be a bit of a waste of potential.

“Hmmm…” Itsuka hummed, “Should have guessed. You’ve got skill but you don’t exactly move like a trained martial artist.” Her fists shrunk as she grinned, “Let’s see how you handle this!” She sprang forward, putting all of her Karate skills to use. She led off with a roundhouse kick that Tsuyu quickly ducked under, but Itsuka only picked up the pace. She used her momentum to turn it into a sweep, which Tsuyu hopped over.

“Kero!” Tsuyu quickly lost control of the fight, with Itsuka pressing her hard with punches, kicks, and a blistering pace she had never encountered before. Tsuyu tried to find her own little moments to counter, but then Itsuka started mixing in growing and shrinking her fists with her strikes, and it was all Tsuyu could do to not get hit. It turned from a fight to a chase.

“UNBELIEVABLE, FOLKS! Froppy can’t even seem to find a moment to breathe, much less counter! And Battle Fist is proving her mettle, pushing Froppy to the brink! Is this it for her?!”

“Kero!” Tsuyu croaked as she leapt back as hard as she could, landing on one of the remaining three pillars.

“This again?!” Itsuka roared, chopping the pillar in half just as she had the first time, not noticing that this time, Tsuyu was prepared for it.

“Take this!” Tsuyu raised her voice a little, even if she sounded funny with her huge tongue sticking out of her mouth. Just before Itsuka could chop the pillar, she leapt, leaving her tongue wrapped around it. Itsuka only had a moment to realize her mistake before the large block of concrete was flying through the air and then thrown at her by Tsuyu.

“SHIT!” Itsuka screamed as she enlarged her hands to their max size and durability. The pillar smashed into her and shattered into concrete shards. Itsuka hissed in pain and yelped as she was almost thrown from the ring by the hit. Her hands ached as she shook them out.

“UNBELIEVABLE! IT SEEMS FROPPY TURNED BATTLE FIST’S UNRELENTING ASSAULT BACK ON HER!” Present Mic shouted, much to the approval of the crowd.

“An excellent use of her surroundings against an opponent pushing her beyond her comfort zone. Froppy is not only cool under pressure but very intelligent, even if she is noticeably out of her element.” Aizawa agreed and provided some actual analysis.

“Shit Tsuyu, that was nuts!” Itsuka gave her opponent a pained grin. “Definitely not doing that again.”

“You’re overwhelmingly strong, Itsuka-chan.” Tsuyu panted a little.

“You too! That pillar was heavy as hell!” She winced, shaking her hands out again. “Hit like a truck.”

The two smiled at one another but regarded each other silently from now on. Each of them was trying to analyze the other, wondering how they could win the match. ‘Tsuyu’s mobility is her greatest strength. Plus, she has her tongue, which means she has one more appendage to fight with than I do. But her arms don’t seem that strong, and she fights mostly with kicks and her tongue. She also doesn’t have a highly trained battle instinct.’ She eyed her opponent seriously.

‘Kero, Itsuka-chan is tough. She’s faster and more skilled than me.’ Tsuyu thought to herself, ‘However, even if she’s faster, she’s not as mobile. She’s tougher and can take hits better than I can for sure. If she hits me directly, I’m probably out of the fight. Kero. I need to slow her down. Maybe I could do that?’

‘I have to take away her mobility, but if I start breaking the ring then I’ll lose my sure footing too.’ Itsuka smiled as she had an idea, ‘Maybe…’

Tsuyu squeezed her stomach, allowing some of her paralytic toxins to regurgitate and coat her tongue in a somewhat goopy layer of mucus. ‘Kero, this is always so nasty.’ She hid her grimace, not wanting to give the game away. Judging she had enough, she fired her tongue out without any warning. Predictably, Itsuka raised her fists to block rather than dodge, and the mucus splattered, coating the back of both of her fists.

“Ugh!” Itsuka grimaced, shaking her hands off, “Why was it so wet this time?!” She grumbled as she leapt into the air. “Take this!” She roared, enlarging her right fist to its maximum size. Tsuyu leapt to the right as Itsuka landed, pulverizing the concrete beneath in a large area. “I’m not done yet!” She yelled, leaping after Tsuyu, and crushing the ring once again. Right now, the concrete was utterly destroyed on that side, forming what looked almost like a half-circle of clean ring near the middle that was barely over two meters wide.

Tsuyu realized it immediately, ‘She’s trying to crush the ring except in the center so I can’t jump as well unless I’m in her range. I have to end this quickly!’ She spat her tongue out again, having regurgitated another dose. Again, she splattered Itsuka’s fists in it, and retracted her tongue, before immediately firing it out again. This time, she aimed not for her center of mass, but at her ankles.

Itsuka, not expecting the change, cried out a loud, “Shit!” As Tsuyu’s tongue wrapped around her ankle. ‘Why couldn’t I block that?!’ She wondered to herself as Tsuyu whipped her head around. “AAAAAAAHHHH!” Itsuka screamed in shock as Tsuyu started spinning her around and around over her head. The froggy girl let out a croak as she let go, sending Itsuka flying out of the ring.

“INCREDIBLE! In an incredible turn of events, it appears that Battle Fist was unable to block Froppy’s tongue forever! Her clever plan of trying to box our froggy Princess into the center of the ring with awful footing appears to have backfired! Is this the end for class B’s president?!” Present Mic screamed in excitement.

“NO WAY!” Itsuka roared, throwing her hand out and catching one of the remaining two pillars.

“KERO?!” Tsuyu practically and uncharacteristically began to gape as Itsuka used the pillar to change her momentum around, swinging herself around the pillar a few times before flying directly at Tsuyu! 1-A’s frog was unable to dodge and took a large hit from Itsuka’s fist that sent her grunting to the floor. She rolled a few times and stopped just before she would have flown off the ring. “Keroooo…” She let out a pained wheeze.

“It’s over, Froppy!” Itsuka roared out (using her Hero name just in case she was loud enough for the microphones to pick up), running at Tsuyu so she could finish rolling her off. And then it was like something had hit her as she tripped on seemingly nothing. “Wh-what?!” She looked at her right leg, which was numb and couldn’t move.

“WHAT’S THIS?! It looked like 1-B’s sure victory, but Battle Fist has fallen!” The crowd roared out in confusion along with Present Mic.

“It appears this battle is Froppy’s to lose.” Aizawa smirked, “Clever girl.”

“But what happened?!” Mic bounced off of him.

“Th-that’s what I want to know!” Itsuka yelled, feeling her hands start to grow numb too. “Wait…” She gasped, thinking back to the last few exchanges, “Don’t tell me!”

“K-Kero.” Tsuyu forced herself up on shaky arms, “You hit like a truck, Itsuka-chan.” She smiled and wiped a bit of blood from her lips, “It finally took effect.”

“Your tongue.” Itsuka groaned, “Those ‘wet’ hits. You poisoned me!” The crowd roared out in shock.

“Kero, just a weak paralytic.” She responded as she got to her feet, “It’ll wear off soon.”

“Oh my, perhaps we were a bit early in calling her a princess! Froppy appears to be well equipped to fight even physically superior foes! I wonder what else she has in her bag of tricks!”

“This is weak?!” Itsuka gasped, “I can’t even move my leg, and my hands are shaking like crazy!”

“Kero, a strong paralytic would have you completely unable to move, and could last for weeks.” Tsuyu responded, “Not sure I even have anything that strong, kero. And not sure I want to find out.”

“Battle Fist, can you fight?” Midnight asked the ginger.

Itsuka ground her teeth, “I sure as hell am not going down by giving up!” She tried to force herself up.

“Kero.” Tsuyu croaked, shooting her tongue out. This time, Itsuka dodged and didn’t even try to enlarge her fists. They were so weak right now she couldn’t even make a fist. Tsuyu’s tongue continued on, wrapping around the pillar Itsuka had swung on.

“Oh, shi-” Itsuka didn’t even get to finish her curse as Tsuyu used her new anchor to pull herself forward. Her feet landed square in Itsuka’s stomach and sent the girl flying out of the ring and onto the grass.

“VICTORY! VICTORY FOR FROPPY!” The crowds ROARED as they cheered for Tsuyu. “After an incredibly entertaining, back and forth match, Battle Fist has been defeated by ring out with a devastating anchored dropkick! And look at this sportsmanship! Froppy immediately goes to help her opponent!” Tsuyu had jumped off the ring with zero grandstanding and went to go help her friend. “What wonderful young ladies we have in the Hero Course this year! Someone had to win, but after an unbelievable bout, both of these combatants deserve your applause! Let them hear it!”

Neither Itsuka nor Tsuyu could even hear one another from the roaring.

-]|[-

“Drat!” Setsuna pouted, “I was so sure that ‘Tsuka-chan would at least get to the second round!”

“Not looking good for 1-B, fam. That’s 0-2, and we have more members in the finals too.” Camie needled her a bit, smirking.

Setsuna scoffed, “Just you wait! Nirengeki will show Kirishima what’s up.”

Mina blinked, “Uhhh, you do know he’s our Tetsutetsu, right?” She grinned, “I know his Twin Impact rocks, but can it break rocks?”

Setsuna gave a reptilian grin, all teeth, “Good thing Nirengeki trained against Tetsu, then. He figured out a new trick with that Quirk of his, and it’s OP!”

“Oooh.” Izuku’s eyes lit up, and his notebook materialized in his hand, “Should be a good showing, then. I wonder what trick this is…”

“Where did that notebook come from?” Melissa blinked, “I didn’t know Izuku could teleport things.”

“Huh?” Izuku blinked, “It was already here?”

“No, it wasn’t!” Melissa protested, as the rest of the girls (sans Yui, who looked equally confused) started growing amused.

“Uhhh, yes it was? I always have it with me.” Izuku retorted, “Dunno why no one ever notices it.”

“Am I getting gaslit?” Melissa looked around for help, and almost everyone else just burst out laughing. ‘Note to self… keep an eye on that notebook.’ Her eyebrow twitched slightly. She eyed the ring which Cementoss was able to repair much faster this go around, ‘I do wonder what this new trick is. It must be really cool if Setsu-chan is so confident. Looks like it’s time to find out.’

…

“IIIIIIIIIII hope you’re ready!” The crowd cheered at Present Mic’s call, “That didn’t sound very enthusiastic! Come on folks, give these kids some cheers!” The crowd roared, “That’s what I’m talking about! Here we have one of 1-B’s strongest! You better not find yourself down, otherwise you’ll get Double Tapped!”

“Jeez… does he have to make it sound like I have a couple guns?” Shōda grumbled as he waved at the crowds, forcing a smile.

“And from the blue corner, it’s 1-A’s ultra-sturdy wall! Give it up for Red Riot!” Present Mic introduced Kirishima, who rushed onto the stage, grinning widely.

“Hehehe, I’m raring to go! You ready, Double Tap?” He held a fist up for his opponent to see.

“Are you?” Nirengeki shot back, getting into a boxing stance with a small smile.

“Oh, this youth is getting to me! Better start!” Midnight cracked her whip, and Kirishima turned into his stony form.

“You better be, Double Tap!” Kirishima took off with a grin. He had massively improved his speed and mobility, having focused heavily on it after his loss in the Battle Trials two months ago. He’d taken that loss to heart, and with Unbreakable, he felt he had already probably maxed out his toughness. He really wished he had been on I-Island to help his friends during their fight!

“Oh, you better believe it.” Nirengeki let out a slow exhale, tightened up his muscles, and then threw a devastating left cross that Kirishima tried to tank right through.

Keyword there being ‘tried.’

With a crack that sounded like a gunshot, Kirishima was knocked back, hitting the ring hard and rolling a few times. The crowd roared.

…

Off in the stands, Mina, Camie, and Izuku all gaped, “What the hell?!” The pinkette yelped, “That looked just like a regular ass punch! How the fuck did he knock Kiri on his ass?!”

“Hehehehe!” Setsuna cackled, “Told ya! He figured-”

“Ahp, ahp, ahp!” Izuku stopped her, “I want to see if I can figure it out, Set.” He mumbled, his pen already flying across the pages, “Impact was much louder than a normal punch. Have seen Kirishima get hit plenty of times in spars, and it never sounded like that. Twin Impact normally allows for a discrete second hit, which hasn’t happened yet. Mumble, mumble, mumble.” Those who had not seen him do this yet stood there in bemusement, listening as his words slowly started flowing into one another and becoming nearly unintelligible.

…

Kirishima got up quickly, shaking his head, “Holy hell dude. That hit like the flu.” He shook his head again, “What the hell was that?”

Shōda smirked, “You don’t expect me to explain my powers during the fight, right?”

Kirishima paused for a moment, before revealing his shark-like teeth, “Nah, you’re right! I can worry about that stuff later!” He punched his fists together, “Let’s try this again!” He charged, much more focused this time and ready for anything. Shōda again tried to punch him, but he was better prepared this time. He blocked it sharply, and the impact still made him slide back a few feet. “Grh.” He grunted, looking down at his arm and seeing that it looked slightly cracked. “Your punches are hard as hell, but your knuckles don’t look too great, huh?”

Shōda grunted, “Tetsu might be harder than you, but he’s smooth. Your skin is all jagged and rocky.” He had a very slight cut on his knuckle. He was very grateful that he was soft-spoken because he was one hundred percent sure that Setsuna would have been yelling, ‘That’s what she said!’ from the stands if she had heard him.

Kirishima almost felt obligated to say it anyway, seeing as Mina was one of his besties. Time and place though. Trying to sound ominous, he rumbled, “You haven’t even begun to see how hard I can get!”

Midnight bit down on her fist, resolving to talk to Vlad and Eraser about having the ‘what the hell did you say???’ class a bit early. She spasmed trying to keep her laughter down.

…

Off in the stands, Mina was pouting that they weren’t getting enough volume from the ring, because she felt like she was missing out somehow. And then Izuku and Melissa both gasped, “I’ve got it!”

“Hmm?” Momo turned to them, “Got what?”

Melissa smiled at Izuku, and nodded at him to go ahead. “I’ve figured out Nirengeki-san’s trick!” He said resolutely, “Instead of letting out a discrete Twin Impact after the first, he’s letting them out so close together that they’re almost concurrent! With both impacts so close to one another, they’re pretty much merging together and multiplying the effect!”

“Holy shit Zu…” Setsuna gaped, “You figured that out after two punches???”

Momo, Mina, and Camie all laughed as Izuku blushed, “That’s our president for you!”

Setsuna laughed, “Well, shit!” Her grin widened, “I’ll remember that if we ever face off then, Zu. Can’t let you think!” Izuku blushed a bit harder, “The detail was a bit off, but you got the gist. Every impact wastes some power because every object has its own level of resistance.” Izuku was speedwriting again, wide-eyed.

“Hold on a second.” Mina and Camie’s eyes narrowed. “That sounds familiar. I’ve heard that before!” The two said.

Setsuna’s grin widened, “Essentially, he’s letting off the second impact a microsecond after the first. His first impact eliminates the resistance of the object he’s hitting for that microsecond, and then the second impact lands with full force.”

“Get the fuck out fam!” Camie’s eyes widened, “Bro got the Futae No Kiwami?!” Setsuna burst out laughing.

“Why is it every time we get together like this, I miss out on a bunch of references?” Momo asked rhetorically. Yui patted her shoulder reassuringly.

…

“What the hell?!” Shōda’s question was repeated and roared out by Present Mic, “It appears Red Riot was holding out on us!”

Kirishima now looked monstrous. His skin was jagged and even harder than it had been before. He wasn’t just a shield now. He was a sword. “UNBREAKABLE!” He roared out for the world to hear.

“Tch.” Shōda clicked his teeth, “Damn, I wish we were allowed gear.” He mumbled too low for Kirishima to overhear. ‘Looks like I’m going to need to get hurt if I want to win.’ He kicked off the ground, and to all observers, he seemed to almost teleport into Kirishima’s guard, before hammering a kick into Kirishima’s chest.

“Woah!” Kirishima yelped as he was forced back from the kick, but his grin was wide and sharp, “Heh, you’re fast, but that didn’t hurt at all!” He pounded a fist into his chest, “It’s going to take harder hits than that to crack me open!”

“I’ll just have to try harder, then!” Shōda retorted, and the two rushed one another, and their fists landed on each other in the middle of the ring. Again, that gunshot-like sound rang through the air, with Kirishima getting recoiled back from Shōda’s much stronger punch. Yet again, it was Shōda who took more damage, with his knuckles tearing a bit more.

He kicked the ground three times, with the third impact launching him into the air. At the apex, another TWACK rang out from Twin Impact, and he recoiled down in a picture-perfect axe kick. Kirishima took it, crossing his arms over his head.

A shockwave rushed out, making little bits of grit on the ring fly apart. Kirishima grinned and grabbed Shōda’s leg, before swinging Shōda around and around, with the boy looking like he was starting to turn a bit green. “WAAAAaaaaAAAAaaaaAAAA!” And then Kirishima let go, and Shōda flew out of the ring.

“AFTER AN ELECTRIFYING MATCH, IT APPEARS TO BE RED RIOT’S WIN!” Present Mic roared out, sitting at the edge of his seat.

And then Shōda, still green, yelled out, “TWIN IMPACT!” His third saved impact rebounded him off the air and sent him back into the ring, where he landed, panting a little.

“Maybe you should quit while you’re ahead, Mic?” Aizawa sounded vaguely amused for once.

Mic grumbled, “I’m shutting up now.”

Kirishima grinned, punching his fists together again, “Right on! Screw ring outs! Let’s fight until one of us drops, bro!”

Shōda groaned, “You really are 1-A’s Tetsutetsu.” He shook his head in bemusement, “I’m going to win, no matter what!” He got into his stance again, revealing his lightly-bleeding fist.

“That’s the spirit!” The two charged, with Kirishima getting launched across the ring and into one of the four pillars. Shōda crashed into it a second later, with Kirishima having rolled out of the way and raised a fist of his own. His fist crashed into Shōda’s face a second later, bloodying his nose and smashing the back of his head into the pillar.

Shōda growled and threw his head forward, smashing his forehead into Kirishima’s and ringing his bell. Kirishima fell back after backpedaling a few steps and landed on his back. Shōda shook his head slightly, before running forward and punching down at Kirishima. Kirishima rolled to the right, so the punch landed on the ring itself and put a small crater into it. Shōda raised his fist and chased Kirishima before he could get up, forcing the redhead to roll again, and then again, and then again. Soon, Shōda had put three more craters into the ring, but Kirishima finally managed to get to his feet.

Kirishima unloaded a punch that took Shōda in the gut, shredding his gym uniform slightly. Shōda coughed out a bunch of spittle as he folded forward, but managed to throw an elbow that smashed Kirishima in the face, revealing he could use his technique with more than just his fists and feet.

He then managed to hit Kirishima twice more, aiming for his jaw each time. He had realized he wasn’t going to get anywhere if he just threw random hits. He needed multiple hits to the same target if he was going to crack Kirishima open. ‘Or…’ he thought to himself, before switching tactics.

He blocked a punch from Kirishima and then kicked him in the leg. That gunshot rang out again, and Kirishima stood strong. The redhead swung his arm with his claws pointed, and Shōda had to quickly back away, getting his uniform clawed and torn for his trouble. Kirishima swung again, and this time Shōda slapped the blow as it passed him.

“SHIT!” Kirishima yelped as he was forcibly overextended, spinning almost like a top, and then Shōda landed another kick on his leg, in the same place he had hit the last time! “Why you!” He growled, before lunging for Shōda.

Shōda fell back and planted both of his feet on Kirishima’s chest, launching him up and over and almost off the ring. “Damn! So close!”

“UNBELIEVABLE!” Present Mic howled out, “What a bloody fight! Neither Hero-in-training is willing to give up an inch and is giving as good as he’s getting! We’ve got punches, we’ve got kicks, we’ve got BLOOD! Who will fall first?!” The crowd cheered the two boys on, nearly shaking the stadium again.

And about a quarter of them were too busy feeling faint over how bloody this one had actually ended up being! They weren’t even out of the first round!

“Shit bro, big props! I can’t believe I’m actually feeling these hits.” Kirishima rubbed his leg with a wince.

“I can’t believe you’re still standing.” Shōda shot back, “Respect dude. Tetsu is totally on catch-up duty now.”

“Heh, I’m willing to train with him any time! Let’s do this, bro!” Kirishima jumped at Shōda, burying his fingers into the ring when he tried to swipe down at Shōda.

Shōda took advantage quickly, kicking Kirishima square in the face again, and then again before the redhead could free his hand. Shōda grunted as he again ate another brutal uppercut from his opponent that made him nearly cough up some blood.

Kirishima reared back for a haymaker, and Shōda, grimacing and tearing up from the pain, kicked the ground and flew forward, smashing the crown of his head directly into Kirishima’s nose.

Both boys fell to the floor, unconscious. Kirishima even lost hold on Unbreakable.

Midnight rushed onto the ring the second it looked like neither was moving. She quickly checked their pulses, and sighed in relief. “BOTH FIGHTERS ARE DOWN! IT LOOKS LIKE ROUND THREE IS A TIE!” She grinned sheepishly, “MEDIC!”

The crowd roared, having gotten an actually fun slugfest.

…

“A fucking tie?!” Setsuna steamed a bit, “Do they give you guys different water or something?! Holy hell, Kirishima is so damn tough!”

Mina laughed, “Kiri trained by jumping off our school’s tallest building. Nearly killed him myself when I found out.”

“I wonder how they will handle a tie?” Momo asked, tapping her chin lightly.

“They usually have some sort of easy and quick tiebreaker like arm wrestling or Janken.”

Setsuna groaned, “There goes Shōda if it ends up being arm wrestling.”

“Also,” Camie chimed in, “Yaomomo, shouldn’t you be, like, heading out?”

Momo’s eyes widened, “Oh dear, I am next, aren’t I?” She stood, and smiled at all of them. “Wish me luck?”

“Should cheer for Shio-chan… but you won’t need it.” Yui said flatly as the busty girl got hugs from all her beaus.

“Oi!” Setsuna harrumphed, “Just cuz it’s true doesn’t mean you should say it.” She smirked, before popping her mouth off and stealing a kiss from Momo, “Good luck, babe.”

Momo blushed to her ears as she left.

-]|[-

“And now that the ring is yet again rebuilt,” Present Mic’s grin was a bit strained.

“I did warn you all to expect it this year.” Aizawa got in a rare needle on Mic.

Mic gamely ignored him, “It’s time for the next match! It’s class B’s Assassin, Gloriosa! Pretty things have thorns, you know!” Ibara was stone-faced as she entered the ring. “And from the other end, we have the deadly Izanami! Don’t let her creations fool you, she packs a wallop!”

Momo sighed before she stepped into the light, “Shiozaki-chan isn’t going to like that nickname.”

“And I’d like to remind you all, Izanami is wearing her hero suit because she created it herself with her Quirk.” Aizawa threw in tiredly, with Mic getting ready to begin the match despite the grumbles from some of the audience.

“Now, we’ll have a super flashy battle this time too-”

“Uhh, pardon me?” Ibara had a hand up as she stared at the teacher’s booth, “Please excuse the interruption, but what do you mean by ‘Assassin?’ I have only come to find victory, not to take my opponent’s life.” She looked like someone had just kicked her kitten.

As Aizawa lightly rubbed his forehead in exasperation, Mic stammered, “S-Sorry, Gloriosa-chan.”

Momo hid some giggles behind her hand as Ibara continued, “In the first place, I wished to enter U.A. not for wicked reasons, but for the salvation of others.” She said as she brought her hands together in a prayer motion. Even a light seemed to shine on her from the heavens.

“I said sorry! My bad!” Mic belted out, a little harried now. “Go ahead and begin!”

Ibara smiled, “Thank you for your understanding.” She bowed, before turning back to Momo. “And thank you for waiting.”

“Present Mic really needs to buy a better filter, doesn’t he?” Momo allowed her amusement to show, something that got Ibara to smile again as well.

“Indeed.” She replied, before her expression closed up, ‘I truly do not know how I can overcome this wall. Tokage-san warned us of how powerful 1-A is, and Yaoyorozu stands near the top of that pyramid.’ She bowed her head, ‘I do not wish to use excessive force, but it may be the only chance I have.’ Clasping her hands in prayer again, Ibara declared, “Via Dolorosa!” Immediately, her vines started to snake out like little creepers, expanding rapidly and covering the entire ring and even the areas beyond.

Momo kept her cool, having expected as much. She raised her hand and One For All flashed, disgorging a naginata into her hand. The five percent she was limiting herself to may not have sounded like much, but with how strong her Quirk truly was, it was more than enough for this. Expertly spinning the weapon, she sent out a few weak air slashes as the vines, slicing and dicing them to hundreds of tiny pieces that flopped uselessly to the floor of the ring.

Ibara’s eyes were wide as she regarded her hair, which was now cut much shorter than she was accustomed to except for what had been behind her neck. “That was quite dangerous.” She said faintly.

Momo smirked as she slammed the butt of her naginata into the ring, “I assure you, my aim is quite good.”

“Holy cow! Izanami instantly shreds through Gloriosa’s opening salvo! What will the gardening queen do now?!”

“She has now seen quite clearly that her usual tactics will not work. It is an opportunity to see how she performs under pressure.” Aizawa stated, “Though it appears that Izanami is not pressing her advantage.”

Momo winced at the edge in her homeroom teacher’s voice. She did not want to appear arrogant, and would be devastated if she lost to anyone except her love, but was she wrong to allow her opponent to show off a little if she was confident in her victory?

Ibara frowned a little, “I do hope this is not overconfidence. Pride goeth before the fall. A sin in my religion.”

“Not at all.” Momo stated, “I merely wish for both of us to get the chance to show off. We are trying to get scouted, after all.”

“My, my, it appears that Izanami is trying to be a good sportswoman! Let’s see if she regrets it!”

“I see.” Ibara’s hair had not grown back, but the mass that remained behind her back had started burrowing into the ring behind her, “You are perhaps not overconfident, but you are certainly sure of your own victory.” She smiled somewhat ominously, “I do pray you do not have cause to regret that.”

Upon finishing her sentence, the ground around her and Momo started to crack and shatter. Giant masses of the ring rose up, ensnared by her vines. Ibara formed a protective shield around her, while also using the rocks and boulders to both reinforce her hair as well as to form massive clubs.

Momo’s eyes widened as one of the giant masses swung, aiming to crush her right then and there. She raised her naginata and speared it forwards with red lightning surrounding her. Her thrust shattered the boulder Ibara’s hair was carrying, and then the masses of thorny vines spazzed out, whipping to capture her. The boulders had just been a distraction.

Momo’s naginata started to glow before splitting apart into two lightly curved blades. The eagle-eyed nerds in the crowd (like her partners) all squealed at her reveal of two perfect replicas of Orcrist from the Lord of the Rings. Before Ibara’s disbelieving eyes, she sliced and diced her way through the mass of thorns, spinning her blades and herself in a deadly dance. The ring was littered with the remains of Ibara’s vines as Momo slid to a stop, with more and more vines splatting on the ring.

The crowd erupted in cheers, “HOLY-! Izanami is proving that her choice of name isn’t for show! Not only creating, but destroying at will!”

Momo straightened up, “It appears that your vines are insufficient to capture me.” Or hold her for very long if she did get captured, “Unless you have some way of hardening them, of course.”

Ibara did not, in fact, have a method of hardening them. Nor, for that matter, did she have the time to waste in this battle. She had never had to expend her vines so much, so quickly, and regrowing them was clearly taking a toll. She could already feel herself starting to dehydrate, something she hadn’t experienced from pure Quirk use in years. “It appears you are correct.”

“I will be happy to accept your surrender.” Momo smiled at her, “You’ve fought well, and surely you’ve been noticed by the Pros.”

“I thank you for the offer, but you will have to defeat me if you want to win.” Ibara bowed to her opponent, “Please forgive me, for this is further than I ever wish to take a fight. You leave me no choice.” With that, her hair surged once more, not as great masses or clumps, but as individual strands aiming both to grab Momo to throw her out of the ring as well as just physically whip her like their Art History teacher would have. Where quality had not worked, she would now try quantity. It was already straining her, but she had control over each individual strand of her hair. Her jaw was clenched, but she was going to use that to the fullest effect and stagger her blows, giving Momo so many things to think about that she would never be capable of stopping all of it!

“It appears Gloriosa is refusing to throw in the towel, and it appears she’s actually landing some blows!” Indeed, Momo was grimacing in slight pain as a vine she couldn’t evade entirely gave her a small cut on her forearm.

“This is what she gets for not simply trying to win her match and allowing her opponent to breathe.” Aizawa said ruthlessly.

‘Fine then.’ Momo thought to herself in irritation, before she held her two blades tip to pommel and allowed them to glow. Where first she had a naginata and then she had two fantasy blades, she now had a positively massive Warhammer whose head was bigger than her torso. A completely unwieldy and suboptimal weapon that only someone with extreme strength could even pretend to use. Hissing as a vine again scratched her, this time her thigh, she spiked her strength up.

Rearing it behind her head even as a vine snaked around her ankle to try (and fail!) to move her, she let out a yell as she slammed the hammer into the ring with One For All sparking around her and her weapon.

It was like a directional charge had gone off. The ring in front of her erupted in a wave that traveled forward towards a wide-eyed Ibara. “AHHH!” She yelled as the shockwave blasted her back and off the ring. She desperately wrapped her hair around the pillars to keep from being ringed out, and was then peppered and hit with the chunks of the collapsing ring. She looked wide-eyed at the destruction and realized she couldn’t see Momo.

She could certainly see her shadow though. Momo floated above with her costume in its brand-new Jetpack Mode. It looked mostly like her usual costume, except with Melissa’s nanotech forming a jetpack powered directly by One For All on her back. She floated there menacingly, with One For All and Creation combining to create some truly massive blades. Things no human could possibly wield.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE?!” Present Mic gaped at the sight, his face pressed against the glass.

Luckily, she wasn’t planning to actually wield them.

The blades slammed down into the ring and still engulfed by One For All, started to gouge out the ring as they moved forward. Ibara’s vines were sliced clean through before the blades vanished, leaving Ibara to fall right at the edge of the ring and windmill her arms in an attempt to not fall out of bounds. She quickly ran to the middle of the ring, but even as the old blades disappeared and were sucked back into Momo, new blades started falling out of the sky and crisscrossing on the ring. Ibara looked slightly panicked as the relatively slow-moving blades were nonetheless still dangerous as hell, and then Momo added yet another wrinkle for her. Forming tiny rocks with her Quirk, she started throwing them. The pebbles were small, but contained enough force that they cratered the broken remains of the ring even more, throwing bits of it up and at Ibara every time she dodged. Any attempt to use her vines was instantly cut through by the blades.

Something had to give besides the ring, and Ibara found herself chased to the edge again. She summoned the biggest shield of vines she could, pretty much her final move as she was really feeling the dehydration and exhaustion now. The blades and pebbles stopped falling as Momo ended her attack.

She was able to reabsorb most of the energy with her creations still bound by One For All’s lightning, and she landed in the center of the ring. With her speed and her Quirk’s energy crackling around her, she looked like a red lightning bolt as her foot smashed into Ibara’s shield and went right through it, landing firmly in her stomach and launching her five meters back and onto the grass.

“HOLY CANOLI!” Present Mic was gaping at the sight, “VICTORY FOR IZANAMI! SHE MAY HAVE GIVEN HER OPPONENT A GOOD CHANCE TO STRUT HER STUFF, BUT WHEN THE CHIPS WERE DOWN, IT LOOKED EFFORTLESS! I’D SAY WE HAVE A STRONG CONTENDER FOR OUR CHAMP HERE!”

“An overwhelming attack to attain victory. She’s come quite far from her first Battle Trial when classes first started.” Aizawa said, “I’d say any opponent that faces her should be quite wary.” An understatement if there ever was one. At least one of her prospective opponents on Momo’s side of the bracket was wishing the U.A. gym uniform had brown pants instead of blue, and several others were actually relieved to have already lost.

But Momo didn’t hear any of that, and instead landed near the grimacing Ibara, “Are you okay, Shiozaki-chan?”

Ibara stared at her blankly, “Forgive me for saying it, but I hope I never have to fight you again.” Her voice quaked. “That was terrifying.”

“S-Sorry. I went overboard with that new move.” Momo held her hands together as if praying, and bowed to Ibara.

“You did what you needed to win. It is I that should have taken your grace and forfeited when you requested it.” Ibara said, before taking Momo’s hand and allowing the taller girl to help her up, “I said that Pride was a sin, and yet it was my own Pride and refusal to acknowledge that victory could not be had which led to this. I will have much to pray on and contemplate tonight.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re not hurt.” Momo said, “That was obviously never my intention. Please allow me to bring you to Recovery Girl. I know you must be dehydrated with all of those vines you grew.”

“That would be much appreciated.” Ibara allowed Momo to lead her away as she focused on rubbing her aching forehead. She rather despised any form of headache, and dehydration headaches were especially awful.

-]|[-

“…Guess Eraser must have pissed Yaomomo off.” Setsuna looked a little blue as she watched their girlfriend walk Ibara into the stadium tunnels.

Melissa whimpered a bit, “I forgot she could even do that because she hasn’t been showing it off in class much. What the heck were those giant blades?!”

“RIP Ibara.” Yui mumbled, “What was that? I thought her creation came out of her skin.” She said, remembering when Momo had made that chain cannon at the Tower.

Izuku smiled a little, “She felt she was neglecting her Creation a little bit, so she asked me to help her train a bit in secret. It took a bit of work to get her to learn to decouple her prior knowledge of her Quirk, but now, she can make objects of basically any size.”

“Zukuuuu…” Camie whined, “How you gonna go and make our OP ass babe even more OP?!”

“Yeah! How are we supposed to keep up?” Mina pouted.

Izuku hugged them both, “Hey, not like I didn’t train with everyone, right? You all improved massively with your Quirks since the Tower.”

“I suppose.” Setsuna popped her head off and snuggled it into his fluff, “Too bad we can’t all share One For All.” She whispered since Yui was still there.

“I’d like to be able to actually use my Quirk.” He mumbled back.

“So, who’s winning the next one?” Melissa asked curiously, “I don’t think I’ve met Pony, but I know Kaminari is pretty strong.”

“Kaminari is definitely going to have a hard time, but I think he takes it in the end.” Izuku said.

Setsuna scowled a bit, “Hey, come on. 1-B has to win at least one, right? Besides me, I mean.” She said, smirking slightly.

“Well, Tsunotori is going to have a slight advantage because her horns and hooves will likely be able to disperse Kaminari’s electricity. He can amp up pretty high, but not ‘actual lightning bolt’ high, as far as I’m aware. He also won’t have any electricity to siphon off to heal and charge back up.” Izuku said, “That said, Tsunotori’s Quirk is fairly linear and very destructive, meaning she’s going to have to be careful actually firing anything off, lest she hit the stands.”

“Shit, that’s true. A tournament-style fight like this puts her on the back foot.” Setsuna cursed as she followed his line of thinking.

“Hm.” Yui hummed, “So the question is, can she overpower Kaminari before he can knock her out with his Quirk? She’s strong. And fast.”

Setsuna smiled and collected parts of her torso, joining them back with her head. She went behind Yui and wrapped her arms around her, “You’re being unusually talkative, Yui-chan! I like it!”

Yui smiled slightly, “Still not comfortable.” She said quietly, “But lots of the students I rescued said that I needed to practice so I could reassure people I rescue.”

“They’re right.” Izuku smiled at her, “Think of All Might. Every time he saves someone, he has a smile on his face and in his heart. And remember what he told us that day after we captured those Villains at I-Island.”

“I see.” Yui said. She did indeed remember all of that. She pouted, “Guess I really will have to practice.”

“You can talk to us any time, Yui-chan.” Mina hugged her from the left.

Camie got up and hugged her from the right, “Yeah fam, don’t worry. We got enough extravert energy to fill you up.”

Yui smiled, “Kinky.”

“Pffft!” Melissa, Izuku, and the arriving Momo all performed spittakes.

…

Pony stood cheerfully in the middle of the ring, waving to the crowd as Present Mic introduced her, “-mpeding Hero, Rocketti, proof that big things can come in small packages! Careful not to piss her off! Those horns will hurt!”

In the stands, Setsuna, Mina, and Camie groaned, “Does he even listen to the things that come out of his mouth?”

“And hailing from the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs flow, we’ve got our very own god of thunder! Give it up for Conduit!”

Kaminari grinned, “Hell yeah dude! He even picked my favorite song!” He grinned at Pony, “You ready to rock this?”

“Mm!” Pony smiled back at him with a fist held up in front of her, before replying something that had Kaminari and Midnight even dropping their jaws. She blinked, her smile falling, “…Did I say it wrong?”

Kaminari looked a little bewildered, “…Who told you to say that?”

“Monoma-kun.” Pony replied.

“Oh, him.” Kaminari sighed, “Man, Kin-chan is going to kill him. That was very rude.”

Pony gasped, “I’m so sorry!”

“It’s cool. You didn’t mean it.” Kaminari gave her a thumbs up.

Pony smiled back, “Still gonna kick your ass though.”

“Atta girl!” Kaminari grinned back fiercely as they took their combat stances.

“Looks like we’re ready to go here! Begin!” Midnight whipped her flogger.

“Lightning Rockets!” Kaminari yelled, his arms arcing with electricity as he shot a bunch of balls of crackling electricity at Pony. He spaced them out so that she wouldn’t be able to dodge right or left to avoid the ones in the center.

Only Pony didn’t do anything he had expected. Instead of dodging, she raised her right leg high, and then brought her hoof down sharply on the balls that were about to hit her. She literally stomped his lightning flat, allowing them to disperse harmlessly on the ring’s now-cracked surface. She gave him an absolutely mad smirk before yellow light started to outshine her face.

Present Mic was loving it, “AND ROCKETTI HAS ALREADY PROVEN HER METTLE! WHO STOMPS ON LIGHTNING?! I love this chick!”

“It is likely that her hooves are resistant.” Aizawa commented, “She’s certainly not wearing rubber soles. And thankfully, she’s not wearing horseshoes either. What will Conduit do now?”

“Ahaha…I’m in danger.” Meme was apparently the answer. The unnerved Kaminari spent his time meme-ing before the colossal energy beam fired at him. He got into a slight horse stance as he held both palms in front of him, “Electro Barrier!” The translucent shield formed just in time to block the blast.

BOOM!

An explosion that had even Bakugō gaping rocked the stadium. The fireball and backblast nearly knocked Miss Midnight off her podium, and she rapidly had it back away as she held on.

“Is this already the end for Conduit?” Mic belted out once the shaking started to settle, “After a boom that would make even Blast green with envy, I wouldn’t be surprised!”

“Did I win?” She wondered, trying to stay on high alert. But she wasn’t exactly immune to explosions, and had to shield her face slightly from the smoke and the light.

So, she was caught by surprise when her response was a lightning bolt straight to the gut. “EEEEE!” She spasmed as her body locked up for a moment as the electricity coursed through her, leaving her smoking slightly when it dissipated.

She glared as the smoke cleared and revealed Kaminari no worse for wear. The ring, not so much. Most of that half of the ring was missing, with only a small island having survived due to Kaminari’s shield. Everything else around him was down to bare dirt, and the pillars on that side of the ring had already been demolished. “Hey, uhhh, this is still safe ground, right?” Kaminari pointed to the dirt.

“Yes. The ring might be gone, but you can pretend it’s still there.” Midnight confirmed.

“Good.” It was not Kaminari who replied, but Pony. She was off like a shot, making Kaminari yelp as he ducked under her flying roundhouse kick. She landed before him, making her look even shorter than she actually was before she practically flew forward and speared him with her shoulder.

“GUH!” Kaminari groaned even as he reached out, grabbing her shoulder and letting his electricity flow. The two crashed to the floor with Pony on top of him, squealing as yet more electricity flowed through her. But she wasn’t completely locked up and managed to close a fist and slug him in the jaw. She rolled off of him as the electricity stopped flowing. “Damn it, how are you doing that?!”

“Hehehe.” Pony giggled, “Feet may look like horse, but strong as ox!” She declared, pounding a fist into her chest. Of in the stands, Kirishima and Tetsutetsu both burst into manly tears.

“Yeah, no kidding.” He rubbed his aching jaw, “Guess I’m going to have to turn this up a notch. Planetary Lightning!” After focusing a good amount of his remaining charge, nine balls of lightning started to form and circle his body.

“Tch. Good shield.” Pony grumbled, backing off and lowering her head. Her Quirk started to charge.

“Oh no you don’t!” Kaminari yelled, raising his arm, and shooting off a rapid shot at Pony’s face. Pony smirked and changed the angle of her head, allowing the lightning bolt to hit her horns and dissipate harmlessly as it failed to flow through the material. “Oh shit!”

“Stampeding Doom!” Rather than firing the energy beam, Pony charged forward.

Kaminari screamed like a girl as he leapt into the air, dodging the pint-sized blonde by a hair. His Lightning Thrusters rocketed him up, helped along a bit by the explosion that erupted when Pony’s horns struck the cement ring. All around her, the rest of the ruined ring exploded in a massive burst, forming a gigantic crater, and throwing bits of debris everywhere.

Immediately, the safety systems sprang into action. Force Fields activated, shielding the crowds with nearly impenetrable defenses. The rocks smashed into the fields and stopped cold, breaking apart even more and falling to the first inside the stadium field.

Cementoss let out a keening noise as he saw that his ring had basically been completely destroyed, “…Please stop wrecking my ring.” He whined. He had needed to remake it at least partially after every single fight so far. This had never happened in all the years he’d been working here!

“Rocketti has utterly demolished the ring!” Present Mic was living for this shit. “I hope she goes all the way! This pint-sized powerhouse is amazing!”

“Conduit is bound to be running low on charge now.” Aizawa said, “And he’s wasting even more floating up there.”

“Shit, he’s right.” Kaminari grunted, “Does she even have an energy limit? What the fuck is that Quirk?” He squinted, and realized Pony looked fairly tired, “No, she has to. Quirks aren’t magic. I have to-” his eyes bugged out as Pony launched herself up at him, and before he could even react, both of her hooves had landed squarely in his torso, breaking a few of his ribs.

“HACHHH!” He hacked out as his Planetary Lightning balls all ran into Pony and started electrocuting her one after the other.

“EEEEEEEE!!!!”  Pony’s nerves flashed and she started to scream as she was again electrocuted. This time was too much. She fell out of the sky and smashed hard into the ground, same as him.

“Both competitors have landed roughly and don’t seem to be getting up!” Mic yelled out. “What’s the verdict, Midnight!”

“Medics!” the Umpire yelled, “I don’t think there’s any need for a count! Both competitors are unable to battle! It’s our second tie of the day!”

The crowds cheered for the awesome battle, though most of them were starting to wonder how these ties were going to be handled. Would someone end up with a free ride to the finals? And what would happen if the finals themselves ended up being a tie as well?

Midoriya Inko, on the other hand, was just a sweating pool of anxiety chewing on her fingernails, dreading seeing her son up on stage.

-]|[-

“Guess it’s my turn!” Setsuna stood and arched her back when the next round was finally ready to start. Cementoss had needed almost ten minutes to fill in the crater and then rebuild the ring. She let out a pleased groan as her back popped, before detaching her lips and pecking her boyfriend and girlfriends on the lips. Smirking as Momo blushed a bit, she leapt from the stands and split, flying her pieces and reassembling on the ring. She grinned toothily as she waved at the cheering crowds, and even blew a few kisses.

“Well, it looks like Automata is ready to go with that stylish entrance! And after that, she needs no introduction!” She grinned cheerfully as Mic introduced her, “Let’s fetch her opponent, shall we? From the red corner, he is speed itself! Jet Drive!”

Iida apparently decided to follow her lead and sped out of the entry. He cleared the distance in a bare few steps, and then somersaulted into the ring. He slid across the stage, his feet skidding as he did so, and came to a stop directly opposite of her. She clapped along with the cheering, “Extra points dude. That was slick!”

Iida chopped the air, “Thank you, Automata-kun!” He adjusted his glasses with his arm and hands incredibly rigid.

She grinned more sharply, “Bit of a dweeb though.” She chuckled at his look of shocked affront, “Kidding, big guy.” She set her feet, “Hope you’re ready to lose!”

“Well, you kids sure seem eager!” Midnight smiled, “I suppose you’re ready then!”

“Yes, sensei!” Iida took his stance as well.

“Uhhh, actually!” Setsuna blinked, before turning to Midnight, “Uhh, just so I know, what would be considered a ring out for me? Because if I split myself up a bunch and all he needs to do is kick a finger out of bounds, that’s gonna suck.”

“Hmmm.” Midnight mused, “Yes, I suppose it would, Automata-chan. However, all anyone needs is a toe on the grass and they’re out, so we can’t exactly give you special treatment just because it puts you at a disadvantage.” She grinned sadistically, “So Plus Ultra.”

Setsuna let out a sigh, “Well, drat. Looks like I’ll have to keep to bigger splits then. Don’t beat me up too badly, Jet-kun.”

“I will make it quick!” Iida declared. Not arrogantly, as Iida was too pure for that, but that’s how it came across.

“Let’s get this show cracking then! FIGHT!” Present Mic declared.

The second he did so, Iida’s engines extended out of his calves, and he put his hands on the ring’s floor. Blue flames started to shoot out of his exhausts, and Setsuna focused as hard as she could. Her eyes were sharp enough to catch the color of the flames and she knew that wasn’t normal for the boy. If this wasn’t a super move she’d eat her favorite sweaterdress.

She got exactly what she bargained for. “RECIPRO BURST!” Iida roared, and he took off so fast that the crowd was shocked silent, stunned at the result.

“WHAT’S THIS?!” Present Mic roared, standing out of his seat, “JET DRIVE IS OUT OF BOUNDS?!”

In the time it had taken to blink, Iida had vacated his position on the ring, passed by Setsuna entirely, tripped on something, smashed into the ring, and then continued sliding forward, gouging out the grass until he almost impacted the stadium walls. He was thankfully alright, being built out of sterner stuff than most, but now he was just sitting on the grass, looking completely and utterly flabbergasted.

Setsuna was panting, “Holy shit dude, that was insane!” She rapidly shook out her hands, her face clearly displaying pain, “Owowowowow! You’re so fucking FAST!”

“Automata is the winner!” Midnight looked completely confused, “And I’m going to need a special replay, stat! Hit it, Eraser!” She pointed her whip at the monitors.

Everyone turned their attention to the screen, which showed Iida’s takeoff in ultra-HD slow motion. He took one massive step towards Setsuna, and the splitting girl’s eyes widened in a panic. She split right down the middle while her hands shot to near her feet. The two halves of her separated just in time for Iida to blitz through the space she had just been occupying, and then her hands grabbed both of his shoes by the laces.

She cried out in pain as most of her reassembled, while Iida tripped, smashed almost face-first into the ring, and then turned into a trowel as he gouged out the grass.

The crowd erupted into cheers as Iida facepalmed, “WELP, THAT SETTLES IT! THESE KIDS ARE INSANE!” Present Mic roared as the crowd cheered for Setsuna. “IT WAS OVER IN AN INSTANT! WAS AUTOMATA’S QUESTION JUST A MIND GAME TO PSYCH JET DRIVE OUT?!”

“Yeah, kind of.” She grinned weakly as she offered Iida a hand. “Knew you’d beat me straight up, so I wanted to make sure you’d be a bit overconfident and just charge me. Sorry, Iida-kun. Hope you’re not hurt, and no hard feelings?”

Iida shook his head in bemusement as he allowed her to help him stand, “Do not apologize! You beat me fair and square, Tokage-kun! I fell for your trap, and you had me beat before the match even started. The only injury is my pride!” He stared down at her, “The only thing more shocking is that you were able to actually pull it off.” He started chopping rapidly, nervously, “How did you possibly react to that?! I haven’t even shown my classmates that move yet!”

She grinned sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head, “Uhh, sorry dude, but I’ve been sparring with Yaomomo, Zuku, and Nejire-chan for weeks, and they’re all faster.”

Iida reared back as if struck, before slumping over, “Beaten at my own game again! I have much to work on!” He started rapidly chopping, “Our next battle will not end the same way!”

“Ha!” Setsuna grinned, “Bring it, Robo-boi!” She offered him a fist bump, while he offered her a handshake. Her smile grew a bit strange as he ended up being the paper to her rock, “Seriously though, we gotta, like, un-dweebify you a bit.”

Iida looked scandalized.

-]|[-

Shōto walked towards the entrances, no longer wishing to sit still in the waiting room. He knew that most of the competitors hadn’t even been using them, but honestly, it was probably his best bet for avoiding his father. He was looking forward to the fight with Inasa, though if he was perfectly honest with himself, he would have preferred to face Izuku instead. He felt he was well prepared to face either of them now. He’d been far more relaxed in classes and had started doing much, much better during all of the Hero 101 spars. He was eager to put what he had learned so far into practice.

Of course, that was obviously when Endeavor had to show up and cut him off before he could enter the field. “Shōto.”

“Endeavor.” Shōto’s good mood evaporated.

His father looked pleased, “I saw you use your fire. It’s about time you stopped throwing your tantrum. You’re ready to take that next step to surpass me. Soon after, you’ll surpass even All Might.”

“Is that what you think?” Shōto asked, and Endeavor stopped short, his smile dimming, “I didn’t stop throwing my ‘tantrum,’ as you called it.” Shōto glared at him, “I-Island just made me see the truth: that I didn’t want to be anything like you.” Endeavor’s jaw set as his teeth clenched, “I had fooled myself into thinking that if I just never used your fire, that it was all it would take. But that wasn’t it, was it? It’s my fire, not yours. It was the way I was acting that was making me like you.” He started walking past his old man, all of a sudden in a better mood. He smirked as he passed him, “And you know what, old man? One day you’re going to get that last accolade you always hoped for, and all you’re going to taste is ash.”  He left his father behind, not seeing the look of confused shock on the man’s face.

…

“Jeez, this one is going to be nuts.” Izuku said. “Todoroki-kun and Inasa are both super strong. This is probably going to be the flashiest fight of the first round, if not the tournament.”

“I hope that’s confidence that you’re going to wreck the Nitrogremlin talking.” Setsuna commented.

Izuku snorted lightly, but didn’t get to respond as Momo asked, “Who do you think will take it?”

“Honestly, I think it’s anyone’s game.” Melissa said, “As Izuku said, both of them are super strong. Todoroki-kun’s fire will be able to mess with Yoarashi’s wind, but at the same time, Yoarashi already has experience with that from what you’ve told me about the USJ. He managed to overcome it then.”

“True, but Todoroki-kun has progressed quite a bit, and his attacks could become pretty explosive if he’s figured that combo out.” Izuku agreed.

“Superheating then supercooling?” Momo asked him.

Izuku smirked slightly, “Boom.”

…

“IT’S TIME TO GET HYPED!” Present Mic roared out, “IT’S TIME FOR ONE OF THE MOST HOTLY ANTICIPATED MATCHES OF THE DAY! IN THE RED CORNER, WE HAVE THE RAGING TORNADO OF 1-A: GALE FORCE!”

Inasa burst from the tunnels at speed, spinning through the air in that same Sheev Spin he’d done during the Quirk Assessments all those months ago. He landed on the ring, twirled a few times as he burned his momentum, and then stilled with his fists in the air, roaring, “HELL YEAH!” The crowd roared for the showboating, now super eager to see this fight.

“YEAH! AND FROM THE BLUE CORNER, AND NO, THAT WASN’T PLANNED, IT’S THE ICE PRINCE OF 1-A: FROZONE!”

Shōto erupted from the tunnels, skating on an ice slide that was forming right before him before he slid to a stop atop the ring. Inasa grinned, “You look like you’re in a good mood!”

Shōto smiled lightly back, “Well, you know how it is when I get to take my old man down a peg.”

“Boy, do I.” Inasa replied darkly.

Midnight cracked her whip, “Are you boys ready?!”

“You got it!” Inasa punched his fists together.

“Actually.” Shōto walked over to Midnight, “I have a request. Hope it’s not too much of a bother.” He said softly, before Midnight’s face lit up.

“Well now, how could I refuse such a request?!” Midnight roared, “Well folks, we’re doing it live! As you’re about to see, ‘Frozone’ isn’t exactly the most appropriate Hero name for this strapping young lad! As such, from this moment on, let’s call him the Thermic Hero: Heatsink!”

The crowd murmured in confusion, “The hell?” One of the guys asked, “A live Hero Name change? Why the hell would he do that? Frozone looked so appropriate… He even skated onto the ring…”

Shōto smirked slightly as he heard all of the comments, “Ready?”

“You betcha.” Inasa grinned back.

“THEN LET’S GET IT ON! GALE FORCE VS HEATSINK! FIGHT!”

Shōto raised his left arm as flames started to erupt from him. With a yell, he blasted a wall of flames at Inasa.

“WHAT THE FUCK HE HAS FIRE TOO?!” No one was sure where exactly that came from… mostly because the sentiment was coming from most of the stadium who hadn’t noticed it during the previous events.

“RIGHT ON!” Inasa roared, elated to see Shōto start with his fire for once. “TOO BAD I PLANNED AHEAD!” He rammed his fists onto the ring, and a gale force befitting his Hero name turned into a massive tornado ahead of him.

The two attacks met in the middle of the ring, and the tornado became a firenado, erupting into the air and blasting above the top of the stadium’s walls. Screams erupted both from the fright as well as the insane heat generated from the combination. The grass surrounding the ring started to wilt, and the force fields sprang into action. Midnight had luckily fallen back immediately upon starting the fight and was able to activate her own defenses.

Shōto cut off his fire as he saw it wasn’t going to work, and it took a few seconds for the firenado to expire. He saw that Inasa was sweating from the heat, despite the visible shimmers surrounding him denoting his Quirk circulating the air around him. But it was still hot enough for his purposes. He stomped with his right foot, almost moaning at the amazing cool feeling that ripped through him as ice covered the ring.

Inasa’s eyes widened, and he leapt into the air, avoiding the carpet of ice that tried to grab his feet. He flew, and was sure glad he did when the superheated ring supercooled, and all that thermal energy needed somewhere to go.

BOOM!

Shrieks of shock and fear erupted from the crowds as the ring detonated as if a bomb had gone off. Blistering winds that had nothing to do with Inasa’s Quirk smashed into the force fields and made them flicker. Even Shōto himself had needed to root himself inside an ice coffin to avoid the blast. It shattered, but left him unharmed. He still shielded himself with his arms until the eruption ended.

Inasa was glad he played so much dodgeball as a kid, because he had put those skills to good use to avoid taking multiple chunks of the ring to the face.

“WOOOOAH! This match has been even more wild than I expected! A flaming tornado followed by an explosion that utterly demolished the ring! Gale Force is in the air, and Heatsink doesn’t have much ring left to stand on! What will they do now?!”

“It was an incredibly clever and dangerous use of Heatsink’s Quirk.” Aizawa analyzed for the slower members of the crowd, “Superheating then supercooling the ring left a whole lot of energy that couldn’t just vanish, leading to the explosion we saw. I can’t help but wonder if Heatsink didn’t perhaps underestimate his own attack, with the flames so enhanced by Gale Force’s winds.”

Shōto grimaced slightly. That wasn’t exactly wrong. He had practiced that move a ton in private, and it had been far more explosive than any of the times he had used it previously. Still, this was an opportunity. Inasa was in the air, and he doubted that the boy would be able to evade this. “Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall!” He yelled, stomping his foot down on the wrecked ring. Jagged spikes of ice started to erupt in front of him, forming into a massive glacier that aimed to freeze Inasa right where he flew.

Except Inasa hadn’t been idle. No, he had been gathering his own power, his hands cupped and compressing a massive amount of wind between them. He was much faster at it than he had been back at the USJ, and with that extra practice, he was able to make the attack much stronger as well. “URSUS SHOCK!” He yelled, thrusting the glowing ball of compressed air at the glacier.

This time, when the two attacks struck one another, the explosion straight up rocked the stadium, registering on the Richter Scale as a minor earthquake eclipsing the one the crowd had generated hours ago from pure sound. The glacier exploded into a billion tiny shards, leaving them to float down almost like snow.

“Holy crap man, they’re changing the weather in the area!” One of the watching Heroes gaped as a snowflake landed on his palm.

“Don’t be ridiculous. All that ice had to go somewhere.” Another one scoffed, “It’s not like they’re making clouds.” She would later eat her words, though for now, she was correct.

“So pretty!” Most of the female students and heroes beamed as the snow started to land around them. Though, with it being summer, it all quickly melted. And then they got ticked off because their uniforms got all wet.

Shōto knelt and placed his hand on the floor. Fire erupted from him, burning in a massive conflagration around him. This time, he spread it out as much as possible, but kept it as hot as he could. The heat rose, and rose, and visible heatwaves started to reach Inasa.

“Woah!” Inasa grunted, suddenly finding it hard to stay in the air. “Clever guy! He’s messing with the air currents!” Inasa started releasing more wind to try to counter it, but it was like trying to keep standing on top of a bucking bronco. He constantly ‘slipped,’ dipped, and rolled. “Shit!”

“Clever again from Heatsink. Instead of trying to create another explosion, he’s messing with Gale Force’s ability to fly.” Aizawa smiled, feeling incredible satisfaction. It was a feeling he was quite unfamiliar with. He had thought it to himself before, but it bore thinking again. ‘This is a good class.’

“Heatsink’s clever change of strategy seems to have put Gale Force in quite a bind! What will he do now?!”

Inasa started to churn his wind around his arms and legs, “Well, range is clearly getting us nowhere anyway. Fine. Fists.” He dive-bombed at Shōto, making the heterochromic boy’s eyes widen. Shōto dodged back to avoid Inasa straight up crashing into him, and Inasa slammed into the ground.

A massive burst of wind erupted from him, blowing out in a ring that pushed the flames away and extinguished them. “WHAT A RESPONSE! GALE FORCE LITERALLY BLEW THE FLAMES AWAY!”

“Thank you, my man!” Inasa roared, remembering Izuku’s explanation that a strong enough wind could snuff out a flame. If an explosion could do it, then he only needed to overpower his wind to get the same effect. He shot himself at Shōto, “Tornado Fists!”

Shōto set his feet as best he could with the wrecked ring, “Burning Fist!”

The two clashed in the middle of the annihilated ring, their techniques creating a blistering ball of fire and wind that exploded much more gently than the previous blasts, blowing the two apart. “Argh!” Inasa groaned, shaking out his hand. It was now very crispy, and his sleeve had been blown off.

Shōto stomped on the ground, forming a much smaller wave of ice that raced beneath Inasa’s feet as he leapt into the air. He then quickly allowed his left side to erupt, superheating the air directly in front of him, “Flashfreeze Heatwave!” He yelled out. A miniature explosion blew Inasa back, forcing him to grind his feet into the destroyed rocks below to come to a stop.

“Shit dude, your Quirk is so damn awesome!” He yelled, “THIS IS IT! THIS IS WHAT BATTLE’S ALL ABOUT, HEATSINK!” He might have been excited as hell, but damn if he wasn’t starting to tire out. Without his costume to aid in his control, this was draining him a lot faster than normal.

Shōto was panting, having discovered something Endeavor had overlooked in all of his attempts to make the perfect Quirk. Shōto might not have been overheating, and he may not have been developing frostbite, but that did not mean that he wasn’t feeling the incredible strain of a fight like this. He was clearly starting to get dehydrated, and his head was starting to hurt because of it, and he had already expended a lot of energy. Half of him wondered if either of them would have enough gas left in the tank to face Izuku in the next round.

The thought of Izuku losing did not even cross his mind.

‘He’s been using his wind to propel himself around. I know my old man has a similar technique.’ He knew better than to use an untested technique in the middle of a fight, but at this rate, he needed to pull out a surprise to have any hope of victory. He set his feet and allowed flames to erupt from his left.

“Woah!” Inasa gasped as Shōto shot forward at him way faster than he had ever seen the dual-toned boy move. A single trail of fire followed on the ground almost like a Tron line from one of those ancient movies. Inasa dodged to the side, and just barely was still in range for Shōto to grab with his right arm. Ice formed on Inasa’s left side, even as the taller boy managed to make another Tornado Fist with his right hand and smash it square into Shōto’s cheek. He had been off balance, so he didn’t actually manage to put a whole lot of strength into it, but his tornado still managed to do the job.

Shōto’s face distended as the winds flung him back, his body spinning through the air. If Inasa had managed to hit him just a few feet to the right, he would have landed out of bounds. As it was, he just barely managed to stay where the ring’s edge once sat.

“Owowowowow!” Inasa grabbed his left arm and hissed from the pain of the sheer cold affecting him. His left leg was also frozen stiff, though thankfully not solid. “Shit, I need to end this now! Before he manages to freeze the rest of me!” Seeing that Shōto was still getting to his feet and looking a little worse for wear, Inasa forced himself to fly awkwardly at Shōto. “It’s over!” He had one last Tornado Fist whirling rapidly around his right arm.

Shōto almost sighed in relief. Turning on his afterburner again, he dodged around Inasa and stomped with his right leg before the heat could melt Inasa free. A block of ice slammed into Inasa’s back. The screaming boy slammed into the stadium wall, crushed by the ice block behind him.

The crowd erupted in cheers as Shōto quickly hurried to melt the block and make sure Inasa was alright. “WHAT AN ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE BOUT! HOW CAN ANY MATCH HOPE TO TOP THAT?! HEATSINK TAKES THE VICTORY AFTER USING GALE FORCE’S DESPERATION PLAY AGAINST HIM!”

Inasa wheezed, “Owww…”

Shōto sighed in relief, before smiling down at him and offering a hand, “Good match.”

Inasa let out a pained chuckle, “Heh, looks like you beat me this time. That’s 1-1.”

The crowd was still roaring in approval as Shōto helped Inasa up and the two limped into the tunnels, heading straight for Recovery Girl.

-]|[-

“You sure you’re ready for this, Izu?” Momo asked him softly as the battle below was ending. Izuku smiled at her and pulled her close for a gentle kiss. He pulled back, smiling at seeing her blush.

“Once upon a time, this would have been one of the most important moments of my life.” He said softly, still holding her, “Now?” He stepped back, “Either he’s leaving that ring a better person, or there really is nothing left of the kid who was once my best friend.”

Camie hugged him from behind, “And we all know what I think, fam. Prickly bastard.”

Mina sighed, “Can’t believe Kiri didn’t see it from the start. He hates bullies as much as I do.” She sighed, before she and Camie both smooched him on the cheek.

Setsuna huffed, “I’m honestly kind of mad you drew him. I wanted to fuck him up myself.” She wrapped her arms around him and gave him an absolutely searing kiss that made Momo, Melissa, and even Yui blush a little. Mina was fairly certain that the last one was a sign of the apocalypse. Izuku was looking like a tomato when she pulled away, and his eyes were slightly glazed over. Setsuna grinned, “Heh, nailed it.”

Melissa jumped in, “But what if he loses now that he’s so hot and bothered and distracted?” She asked innocently, though the grin on her face was a bit too saccharine for that.

“Oh please.” Mina laughed, “We all know Midori flips a switch when he fights.” She gave him a sharp spank to jolt him out of his daze, “Go get that bitch, tiger.” She smirked at him. He shook himself, blushing still.

“Izuku.” Melissa stood as Izuku shook himself out of his stupor. She walked to him, and he smiled, opening his arms for her to embrace him.

He got a bit more than he bargained for. “Mppph!” his eyes popped out as she kissed him just as hungrily as Setsuna had, while the girls gasped, before smiles lit up on their faces. Camie and Mina cheered, throwing their arms into the air. The kiss continued for a few seconds more, before they pulled back, breathing a little roughly, “You, buster, owe me a date.”

Izuku said something that none of them were sure was an actual language, and Melissa laughed lightly as she pecked him again.

“Does this mean…?” Momo was smiling as Melissa lightly slapped him back awake a few times, grinning.

“I think it does, girls.” The blonde smirked as she returned to her seat, “Which means you owe me some dates as well.”

“Hope you like dinosaurs!” Setsuna chimed in, laughing lightly.

“Don’t become a cliché, Set!” Mina laughed, glomping the 1-B girl from behind.

“Tch.” The others all laughed. (Or smiled, in Yui’s case.)

As Izuku got ready to leave, smiling in amusement, Yui leapt to her feet. She settled for a hug, which Izuku returned, and she didn’t let go for a bit longer than necessary. As Izuku teleported out, she turned to the other girls, “What don’t I know?” She asked, “That was like you were seeing him off for war.”

Setsuna scowled, “Too much bullshit, Yui-chan. Zu can tell you himself later. Suffice it to say that every single one of us would gleefully bust Bakugō’s balls if we got the chance. And I mean that literally. Full impact, right to the nads. Make the bitch sing soprano.”

Yui frowned, and focused on the ring.

…

As Izuku waited on the ring, he tuned out Present Mic’s announcing and focused on what was about to happen. His moments with the girls hadn’t been just bravado, though he could hardly imagine how big of a ball of nerves and anxiety he would have been without their love and Inasa’s friendship.

He still wasn’t sure when he had stopped caring, but if he had to guess, it was when Melissa arrived, and he saw Katsuki’s thoughts about her. He cared about her too much, and he felt like something had snapped for him at that moment. He still remembered the cheerful-if-overly-aggressive boy Katsuki had been, but now he understood that his old friend Kacchan had been swallowed up by Bakugō Katsuki. He should have realized it back when the ash-blonde had told him to jump off a roof.

But Izuku had been like an abused puppy at the time and had no one to turn to. He had been desperate for someone other than his mom in his life. He loved her, obviously, but she was his mom. She couldn’t be the only person who cared for him for the rest of his life.

Now? Now he understood that quite frankly, he didn’t need Katsuki in his life any longer. He didn’t need him as a friend. Katsuki was just… not important anymore. To him, at least. Izuku didn’t want revenge or anything, even if breaking Bakugō’s nose for the Roof would probably make him feel good for a few minutes. But he wasn’t going to continue enabling him, and he definitely wasn’t going to be Katsuki’s stepping stone any longer.

It took a few moments more for Katsuki to emerge, to raucous cheering from the crowds who were completely unaware of the bad blood between these two.

All except for a few. “Oooh, I don’t know if I can watch…” Inko moaned next to Toshinori.

“What do you mean?” Toshinori turned slightly to look at her.

Inko swallowed, “Just my anxiety. Katsuki was Izuku’s best friend, years and years ago. And I know Izuku tried to hide from me just how bad it actually got, but I know it got toxic years ago. I just… I…”

Toshinori tried to reassure her, “Midoriya-shōnen is a very different person than he was even two months and change ago when school started. I think you’re worrying about nothing. He’s had much better friends and an excellent support group, and that’s without even considering his little girlfriends.” He grinned lightly.

“Gosh, I still can’t believe that’s real. All of those girls are such a delight!” She turned weepy, “I wish even one of them had been there for him when they were children.”

“Near as I can tell,” Toshinori grinned, “Tokage-shōjo would have fought god himself if he was bullying someone.”

Inko took a deep breath, before slapping her own cheeks lightly, “If Izuku can go down there and face him, then I can watch.”

“I’ve got the tissues handy.” Toshinori chuckled as she flushed.

“This is bound to be a wild one folks! Two of room 1-A’s powerhouses! This could perhaps have been a finals match on its own, but the brackets weren’t that kind! From the red corner, the explosive bomber: Blast!”

Katsuki’s hands crackled with small explosions, just enough to show off and allow the crowd to ooh and aaah. “Hope you’re ready to die, Deku.” He growled out, his eyes completely focused and intense. This was it. After everything from the past few months, and after the previous event especially, the tension in him was so taut that it was a miracle it hadn’t snapped already. Being beaten over and over and over in school events had his inferiority and superiority complexes throwing fucking fits. Watching a girl who was unashamedly Quirkless doing so well and then being defended by a Deku who had apparently grown a spine had been like a punch in the gut. And now, barely making it to the third-round while being fucking berated by everyone he rescued had his throat feeling so tight it was like he was having an allergic reaction.

And so, Katsuki was putting everything on this next fight. His ideals, his goals, his motivations… everything was going to get left out on the ring, because the one thing he had never done was lose to Deku in an actual, all-out fight. U.A. had never actually let the two face off. He would claim his fucking undisputed victory and put that fucking nerd back in his place.

Izuku didn’t have to try very hard to read Katsuki’s mind. The blonde was practically broadcasting his thoughts at him. He let out a small sigh, ‘So… this is it, huh Kacchan? You haven’t even dared to let yourself contemplate what you’d do if you lose. Hopefully, this doesn’t break you completely… because I’m not the one going home today.’

Present Mic then introduced Izuku, “And in the blue corner, we have our two-event winner! Will 1-A’s president make it for a three-peat to take all three events?! We’ll have to wait and see! Give it up for EON!”

Izuku didn’t say anything as the crowds cheered. He didn’t show off. He didn’t even take his eyes off of Katsuki. He didn’t even speak. All he did was stare dispassionately at his old bully. And that obviously pissed the blonde bomber off. His teeth ground as he glared at Izuku, “What, are you fucking mute now, Deku? Always thinking you’re fucking better than me.”

Ah, right. That delusion. Honestly, it was even more infuriating now than it had been that day back in Aldera.

“Well, while you were off sucking face with those fucking sluts,” Izuku’s gaze sharpened at the insult to his girlfriends. With that, Izuku’s path forward was clear. He could take Bakugō’s vitriol directed at him. But talking about his girls like that? As far as he was concerned, that was way too far. “-I was fucking training till it felt like my arms were going to fall off. I’m not going to fuck around like the Rich Bitch did with Vines. Give me your best, you fucking piece of shit. I’m going to crush you at your absolute strongest!” Katsuki glared, “You’re just a pebble in my path. I’m going to be the next number one, not you!”

“Oh, for fucks sake. A grudge match.” Midnight grumbled under her breath as Izuku’s resolve solidified, before looking at Cementoss, “Be ready to intervene. This might get ugly.” The anthropomorphic block of cement nodded, sitting forward in his chair, and keeping his eyes squarely on the two boys. “You may begin!” She started the match against her better judgement.

“Before we get started, I have a question for you, Bakugō.” Izuku shot at his opponent.

Katsuki twitched as he had been about to rush forward. “What the fuck is it?”

“You’re obsessed with being the Number One Hero. Like All Might. Our beloved Symbol of Peace for over forty years. That sound right?”

“Fucking what about it?” Katsuki spat, his crackles increasing in intensity.

Izuku glared back at him, “How are you supposed to be the Number One Hero when no one fucking likes you?”

‘Oof…’ Midnight couldn’t help but wince. Izuku had not bothered keeping his voice down, but thankfully the stadium was too loud for their voices to carry too far.

And much as she predicted, Izuku’s question made Katsuki so utterly furious he almost looped back around to being calm. “DIE!” He roared, exploding out of his gym shoes, and shooting towards Izuku with a manic look of rage on his face, his right arm reared back to swipe with a massive blast.

Izuku raised his arm with his fingers splayed out.

WHAM

A visible shockwave churned the air as it erupted from his palm. With all of the growth he’d accomplished over the past year of constant effort, and then magnified by all the times he’d been forced to go Plus Ultra, Izuku’s Force Blasts were now fully comparable with the force behind One For All. The air warped and churned and screamed as sonic booms ripped through the stadium.

Katsuki didn’t have a chance. The shockwaves impacted him and blasted him back as if he’d been shot out of a cannon. He smashed into the ring and shattered it, digging underneath the rock and then gouging out an even bigger furrow in the soil than Iida had. And he went further too. He only stopped after skipping on the grass once and smashing right into the stadium wall, putting hairline cracks throughout the wall. As he lay embedded there for a moment, the only thing the world saw was the utter confusion and disbelief.

And then the wall shattered as he fell forward off of it, and the rocks fell with him, ready to bury the blonde. Right up until they glowed green, and Izuku calmly moved them away from the boy and dropped them to the side.

“…” The entire stadium was struck silent. One could have heard a pin fall. There was no need for a replay, unlike the fight Setsuna had with Iida. It wasn’t something that happened so fast that no one could tell what had happened. Quite simply, the fight had started, and then the fight had ended.

Finally, as Bakugō forced himself up with shaking arms, everyone was able to see the stunned despair on his face as he realized what had happened. And then someone in the crowd made it worse, when she called out, “D-Don’t worry about it!” And then the entire crowd started chanting it. Bakugō’s trembling increased.

Midnight swallowed, ‘…Shit… I think Midoriya just broke Bakugō…’ Of course, it wasn’t his body she was talking about. Katsuki was quite literally built to take shockwaves like that. Recovery Girl would have him fixed up in seconds if he had any real injuries. But his pride? His ego? No shot those were surviving. She raised her arm, “Winner, Eon.” She said lamely, almost needlessly.

Even Mic wasn’t commenting, just letting the crowd chant, “Holy shit, Shō, what the hell was that!? The little listener is normally so friendly and considerate. He didn’t even give Bakugō a chance to do anything!” He turned off the mic so they could talk.

Aizawa said, “Those two have history.” He looked down at Izuku, who was walking to Bakugō, “Most of it not good, from what I know. Not sure what Bakugō said to him before Nemuri started the match, but unless I miss my guess? He finally pushed Midoriya too far.”

“Shit.” Mic replied softly as Izuku finally reached Katsuki.

Katsuki was still on his knees, staring blankly at nothing. “What?” He choked out as Izuku arrived, not daring to look at the boy who had once been his best friend. The boy who had just shattered everything that Katsuki was. The only reason he wasn’t crying like a baby right now was that he was still on live TV.

“When we were kids, even more than All Might, you always were like a symbol of victory.” Izuku said softly, also not looking at Katsuki. And that just made it worse. Katsuki’s breathing sped up as the medical bots arrived and started to coax him onto the stretcher. Katsuki didn’t even have it in him to protest. “You always won at everything. You were the best at everything. First in the class to learn your kanji. First in the class to get your Quirk. The best Quirk in the class. Best at sports, best at academics… I thought that I’d be happy to just get one win over you. And for the longest time, I think I would have been. And more than that, was the hope that if I ever did win, things could go back to what they were before you got your Quirk, and I didn’t.” Katsuki’s throat was feeling tighter and tighter, and still, Izuku didn’t even look at him. “Now? I don’t feel anything.” If Izuku had stabbed him in the chest with his Psycho Blade, it probably would have hurt less, “I just feel sad I wasted so much time trying to get you to be my friend again.” And with that, Izuku was gone in a flash of green.

As the medic bots carried him into the tunnel, Katsuki finally let out his despair.

-]|[-

And that’s a wrap! Truth be told, that last fight came out completely differently from what I had originally planned for, because the closer I got to writing it, the more I realized that my plan totally went against Izuku’s personality. See, Bakugō vs Izuku was intended to be a long, drawn-out slog that Bakugō was going to win. Except the whole thing was a jebait. The entire fight of Bakugō slowly overwhelming Izuku and knocking him off the ring was going to end up being a mind trick by Izuku, meaning that to everyone else, Bakugō would have just looked like an asshole getting into a fight with the air. And then channeling my inner Hellsing Abridged, it would have finished off with Izuku channeling his inner troll.

Except, yeah, it REALLY didn’t make sense for Izuku to do it. There’s no way Izuku would completely and utterly humiliate someone like that – even Bakugō – on national TV. And I’m sad because I really wanted to end this chapter with Bakugō’s ‘victory’ and farm all the rage at Izuku losing. I was going to be laughing my fucking head off. LOL