'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 creations 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 extraverted 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 it 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 floor 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 an extra 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 prove once and for all that his ideals were the right ones. He would 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. Most popular man in the world. That sound about 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.