1,166AN: So hello all, here I am back again with another chapter, can't say I'm exactly happy with it, but when am I ever :D
But anyway, hope you enjoy, and please leave a review etc. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to PM me.
Another thing while I am at it, is this. I am a part of a discord group, there's tons of others there, plenty of writers, admittedly mainly PJO, but other stuff too, including a growing number of MHA writers. Feel free to pop along and say hi, I'm always happy to chat about the stuff I am writing. So if you fancy it please do to join by sticking this: discord .gg / elibrary into discord, with no spaces, or using the link on my bio.
Thanks for reading and please do leave a review, that or feel free to PM, I am usually much better at answering those!
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Attack on Titan.
( - )
(Last Time)
"And in turn, you suspect that Midoriya might be a successful experiment. Another Nomu, only less monstrous, and more… refined…?" Nezu asked, his dark eyes narrowing.
"I didn't say that!" Toshinori shot back defensively.
"But you think it, though." Nezu stated bluntly.
Toshinori didn't respond, his gaze instead shifting to the large screen above, even as Midnight raised her crop and the names and pictures of sixteens students – the members of the four successful teams – appeared overhead.
It was going to be an interesting line-up for the third round, which, like every year, would be a one-on-one knockout tournament.
( - )
Chapter 19
( - )
(With Izuku)
Watching from the side-lines, Izuku slowly went through a few standard leg and arm stretches as he patiently waited for the next, and final, round of the Sports Festival to take place.
Only a couple of dozen metres away, in the middle of the stadium, both Cementoss and Powerloader were currently working in tandem to finish setting up the final event. With the cement wielding Pro-Hero created a large, rectangular platform, even Powerloader installed some kind of technological doodads around the edges of the stage.
Around the stage he could already see several drones already flying through the air, recording both the two Pro Heroes as they finished setting up the stage, and the sixteen students that would be going on to the final round as they waited off to one side and made their preparations, all while waiting for Midnight to officially announce the first round pairings.
In the background, Present Mic was hyping up the crowd as much as he could, running through a brief bio of each of the remaining competitors, even as Aizawa occasionally spoke up correcting him about one thing or another. With Present Mic's bombastic energy constantly seeming to clash quite violently against Aizawa's dry, dour personality, much to the amusement of the listening crowd.
As he and most of the other final round competitors made their final preparations or psyched themselves up for the tournament, most of the other students – those that weren't a part of the final event – participated in a series of other recreational activities that were dotted around the large stadium.
Glancing over at their antics, a part of him suspected that they took part in the side events, not necessarily because the events looked fun, and they were bored, nor to entertain the watching crowd, but instead so that they could use this last chance to showcase their own abilities to the watch Pro Heroes.
After all, just because they had been knocked out of the Sports Festival, didn't mean it was the end of the road for either the Hero Course Students or for the General Education students with heroic aspirations. In fact in some ways the side events at the U.A. Sports Festival were just as good a stage as any other, when it came to the assembled students showing off their abilities and potential.
Looking over at his fellow finalists, he noted that, like him, none of the others had chosen to participate in the side events either. With them instead opting to rest, prepare, polish their strategies, sharpen their senses, or relax their nerves, as they all waited patiently for the tournament stage of the festival to begin.
Noticeably absent amongst the finalists, was Bakugo.
Grimacing, Izuku looked up at the Class 1B student box and saw the red eyed teen in question currently glaring at him.
Like twenty six others, the explosion user hadn't made the cut, and although he hadn't yet said anything or exploded with anger. It was clear to see that he was currently simmering with barely suppressed rage. It might have been a long time since he had spent any meaningful time with his old bully, but even now he could read him like a book.
Scowling back at the glaring teen, he gave him one last look, before he quickly tore his gaze away from his childhood frenemy as he instead felt several other sets of eyes boring into him.
Looking over at the other finalists, he frowned as he saw Monomo Neito smirking at him. The smarmy blond was going through his own set of stretches, his left leg bent beneath him, and his other splaying out in front of him. Not that his attention was on what he was doing, as he instead continued to stare him out. His lips curving up into a smirk, as he noted that he had finally gotten his attention
"Hey, Midoriya, are you thinking of quitting?" Monoma called out loudly.
His words attracted the attention of some of the other competitors.
"No," Izuku replied curtly, his heart beating a little faster than before as he felt all eyes on him.
"Well, you probably should." Monoma replied, snidely. "You don't deserve to be here. In fact, your presence here is an abomination. The way I see it, you should still be in prison, like you deserve."
Izuku felt anger flash through him at those words, even as several of the other watching students, those from Class 1B, muttered at the blonde's words, or sent one another unreadable expressions.
His gut churned as he saw several more eyes boring into him, judging him.
It pissed him off.
"Shove it up your ass, asshole!" Hagakure snapped back in response, swiftly coming to his defence.
"Yeah, stop stirring the pot!" Kirishima tagged on. "You don't know what you're talking about!"
Both Kirishima and Hagakure moved to stand at his side.
"It's easy to judge," Ibara added, her normally serene expression unusually intense as she glared at Monoma. "But if you stepped out from behind your prejudices and actually got to know Midoriya as a person and not as a news headline, then you would probably think differently. He is a good and kind person, who was just unlucky enough to have had a tragic start in life. He made it into U.A. through his own talent and abilities, and has just as much right to be here as the rest of us."
"Yeah dick, besides, he was like five when that shit happened! I don't know about you, but when I first awakened my Quirk, I didn't have perfect control. Actually, it was the opposite, as I accidentally caused a four block wide power cut once when I was playing around with my Quirk." Kaminari added.
"Yeah, to be honest, I accidently shattered all the windows in our tower block when I was younger and messing around with my Quirk." Jiro added in with a shrug. "Like Pikachu said, shit happens. Midoriya had it worse than most, but he's not the first person to lose control of their Quirk when he awakened in, and he probably won't be the last, ya know."
Several of the Class 1B students shifted and looked at one another uncertainly. Others however, scowled.
"Killing five hundred innocent people is a little different to causing a power cut or breaking a few windows…" Honenuki replied stoically, his skull like face twisting into a grimace. "Some people are just too dangerous to live in civilised society."
"Too true, Juuzo," Monoma nodded, his smirk widening. "Although Midoriya's heroic aspirations are admirable. If he had any integrity or sense of responsibility, he would never have crawled out of the hole they locked him in. I mean he was five years old the last time he went on a rampage, and he killed five hundred plus people and trashed several city blocks, how bad will it be the next time it happens? He's what, fifteen now, and his Quirk is probably many times stronger than it was. How many will die the next time he loses control? Hundreds, thousands?"
Izuku's hands clenched into fists.
At his side, his classmates bristled.
"You're talking in hypotheticals," A cold, bored voice suddenly interrupted, cutting through the tension. "Which is idiotic."
Izuku turned and saw that the speaker was Todoroki.
"There is no point obsessing over what could and what could not happen. That way lies only madness. All you can do is prepare for the worst. Which, I suspect, is probably why All Might has been added to the staff this year. He defeated Midoriya last time, and he can probably do so again quite easily." Todoroki continued, his tone bored as he tilted his head to the side and eyed Monoma up and down. He didn't look impressed. "Midoriya represents a real and present danger, I don't think any of the staff are stupid enough to not see that, and they're certainly not incompetent enough not take the proper precautions."
Izuku scowled as he processed Todoroki's words, even as a memory of All Might leaping up in the air with a fierce smile on his face appeared in his mind. In his mind's eye, he could see All Might's arm already reared back as he prepared to punch Izuku's head off.
"Hn, maybe, but what happens when he leaves U.A., and is allowed back into polite society?" Monoma spat back.
Todoroki smiled coldly. "He will probably only be allowed to graduate if he has proven he can control himself, and if he can't…." He trailed off, allowing everyone else to come to their own conclusion on what might happen then.
"Hey Todoroki, what are you doing? I mean, whose side are you even on?" Kaminari scowled.
"Yeah, you're not helping," Hagakure tagged on, her arms gesticulating wildly to show her displeasure.
"What makes you think I'm taking sides? Because I'm not. I'm just saying it how it is." Todoroki replied blandly, his cold gaze shifting from Monoma, and instead onto his classmates. "In my opinion, Monoma has a point…"
Monoma noticeably preened at that comment, even as the surrounding students, frowned and muttered. At this point the ongoing side events, and the teacher's preparations for the finals, were completely forgotten.
"But not for the asinine reasons he stated." Todoroki continued, removing Monoma's smirk with just a few words. "If Midoriya is unable to control himself, he'll just be locked back up. I doubt either the government or U.A. would allow him to graduate, let alone to walk about in public, if he proved himself to be unstable or a threat. So, no, his reasoning is hollow. But his initial point is valid. Midoriya shouldn't be here, and he shouldn't be trying to be a hero…."
"What the hell!" Hagakure exploded angrily.
"Not manly man!" Kirishima added.
"Not cool," Kaminari muttered, with Jiro nodding her agreement.
Ibara meanwhile frowned, her intense gaze shifting onto Todoroki.
On the other side of the argument, Monoma smirked as he regained some of his bluster.
"And what do you mean by that, Todoroki?" Izuku finally spoke up, his voice cold.
The support of most of his classmates had buoyed him up, and filled him with feelings of warmth.
But Todoroki's condemnation was like a cold, iron weight, dragging him back down to earth and leeching the warmth out of him, leaving him frigid and brittle inside.
"There is more to being a hero than just being strong and powerful. It's not just about who the best fighter is, or who has the best Quirk. All too often, society put's too much weight on superficial nonsense like who is the strongest, or who is the most powerful. No, being a hero is about being a role model. Someone people can look up too. All Might is the Number One Hero not just because he's strong or captures lots of villains, but because he inspires people, and gives them hope. You, Midiorya, will never do that. All you will inspire is fear, caution and anxiety. Your actions, even if they weren't necessarily your fault, have forever tarred your image. You won't be a good hero, Midoriya, because you won't be a good role model, just a walking reminder of the hundreds of people that died when you lost control of your Quirk. If you become a Pro Hero, you'll just be another case study that shows how much more weight people give to a person's Quirk then they do to their actions and personality." Todoroki said, a hint of anger and passion entering his words now.
"That's a very narrow minded view of things," Izuku replied, his temper flaring, even as he tried to ignore how much sense Todoroki was making.
The tension in the air heightened, as Todoroki's narrowed his eyes.
Monoma's smirk widened.
Izuku's hands, meanwhile, clenched into fists at his side.
All around them, the other competitors shifted about nervously, giving one another uncertain looks, as they waited for something to snap the building bubble of tension within the group.
"All right everybody!" Announced Midnight with a whip crack of her crop, making all the assembled students flinch. "It's time for the final event… and you all know what that means!"
In response, the crowd roared its approval.
Glancing around at the howling masses, Izuku could feel his head pounding, and his heart beating quickly in his chest. The flesh on his face felt too tight all of a sudden, and a feeling that was both hot and cold rushed through him as he looked around.
He didn't know what he was feeling right now as he was battered from all sides by Monoma's spiteful words, Todoroki's cold monologue, his friend's bracing support, and the cries and roars of the uncaring crowd that bayed for flashy displays of violence to satiate their hunger for entertainment.
"That's right everyone! It's time for the one-on-one battle tournament!" Midnight continued loudly, speaking over the hooting and hollering of the crowd, "Sixteen students will enter, but only one will have the opportunity to be crowned the winner of the U.A. Sports Festival!"
The cheering reached a crescendo at her words.
People were standing and shouting, and, even as the other students were ushered out of the stadium and into their class's box to watch the remainder of the festival – some of them called out good luck as they filtered past the remaining sixteen – he could feel the tension and anticipation rise.
"Now to determine the match ups!" Midnight pressed on, once again cracking her crop to draw all eyes on her. Her smile widening as she turned and thrust her riding crop up at one of the jumbotrons that dotted the stadium.
The U.A. logo on the screens disappeared at her actions, even as a tournament bracket suddenly appeared in its stead.
Their names and associated student I.D. pictures then suddenly appeared on the screens, before moments later they began to shuffle around, before suddenly coming to a stop as the tournament's combatants were finally decided.
Looking up at the screen, he tried to ignore everything else going on around him, as he instead looked at who he would be fighting.
His was the first match.
Match 1: Izuku Midoriya vs. Mezo Shoji
Match 2: Shoto Todoroki vs. Mei Hatsume
Match 3: Juuzo Honenuki vs. Ibara Shiozaki
Match 4: Setsuna Tokage vs. Itsuka Kendo
Match 5: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu vs. Kyoka Jiro
Match 6: Eijiro Kirishima vs. Denki Kaminari
Match 7: Toru Hagakure vs. Monoma Neito
Match 8: Minouu Mineta vs. Pony Tsunotori
Relief flooded through him as he locked onto the familiar name he would be facing.
Glancing sideways, he saw Shoji frown for a moment, before he turned and looked at him. His expression all but unreadable due to the mask he wore.
"Good luck," Shoji said after a long moment, nodding his head. "Fight well, and don't hold back."
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he nodded in return.
"You too," Izuku said, his gaze shifting down the names, as he saw some of the other match ups.
Todoroki would be facing off with the overexcited Support Student, Mei Hatsume. As bad as it might sound, a part of him felt sorry for the pink haired girl. Todoroki, as much as he hated to admit it, was just in another league when compared to most of the other Hero Course students, let alone a Support Course student.
Scanning further down the bracket, he spotted that Shizoaki would have to fight Honenuki, the frontrunner in the first event. That, he suspected, would be an interesting matchup, and one that could go either way.
Following Shiozaki's match was Jiro's. Only, she had been paired off with Kirishima's opposite number from Class 1B, Testutetsu Tetsutetsu. Tetsutetsu, from what he had seen from the angry, grey haired teen, was pretty similar to Kirishima in that he was able to harden his entire body, which in turn probably enhanced his physical strength, even as it gave him incredible durability. Considering Jiro's Quirk, it was not an ideal match up for her.
Following on from her match was Kirishima and Kaminari's match. Which was unfortunate for Kaminari, as, considering his Quirk, Kirishima was probably going to be the electric user's perfect counter. Their fight would be as one-sided as he suspected Jiro's would be.
Scowling as he saw the match after theirs, he glanced sideways at Hagakure. She was not much of a straight up combatant. Instead, her Quirk was more suited to reconnaissance, and hit and run sneak attacks. On top of which, from what she'd said in the past, she didn't have much in the way of CQC training either, which would probably put her at a disadvantage against a power copier who could take away her one advantage with just a touch. The match up was very lopsided.
Though the same could be said for several of the other first round matchups.
It made him wonder whether the pairings were truly random…
Looking at the final pair of names on the jumbotron, he frowned as he saw his former classmate Mineta also had a difficult match ahead of him. After all, he would be facing off with a fast moving, airborne opponent, one that could easily hover out of range of his sticky balls and snipe him from afar.
His match, like several of the other upcoming matches, would be swift and very one-sided.
"So, let the tournament begin!" Midnight continued speaking, her arms raised as she continued to play to the crowd, "Izuku Midoriya, Mezo Shoji, step on up to the stage. I'll give you both five minutes to prepare yourselves for your match! As for the rest of you, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to all vacate the area, and head up to your class's box until you're called up for your match!"
Izuku gritted his teeth in anticipation, his gaze shifting over to the other competitors, all of whom had looked confident and resolute, even as they quickly followed Midnight's instruction.
It was good that they knew who they would be facing ahead of time, and had some time to come up with a strategy. But it was unfortunate that neither he nor Shoji would have the same opportunity. Still, the positive would be that the winner of their match had more time to rest, and would be able to watch all the others fight.
"Come on Midoriya, Shoji, it's time for you to both step up to the stage," Midnight smiled, as she quietly stepped down from her podium, and gestured for the pair of them – the last remaining students on the field – to walk up to the raised stage. "You've got about four minutes left before I start the fight. I'd use that time wisely if I were you." She continued with a smile.
Nodding curtly, he shared a look with Shoji, before, after sending him a weak smile, he turned and started walking up the steps nearest him.
Responding to his smile with a nod of his own, Shoji did the same on the other side of the stage.
All around him, he could hear the noisy, indistinct rumble of the crowd. It almost felt like the stadium itself was shaking as he stepped onto the stage and looked around.
Any thought of strategy completely left his mind as he took his place on the stage and suddenly found himself become the centre of attention for the tens of thousands of people in the stadium's stands, and the millions more that were watching him on the TV.
Looking up at one of the jumbotrons he could see massive blown up versions of both himself and Shoji shown on alternative screens all around the stadium.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could also see Midnight getting back on her podium, a fierce smile on her face as she turned and basked in the attention of the roaring crowd.
It was time.
"Mezo Shoji, Izuku Midoriya, I hope you're both ready!" Midnight shouted, her crop raised in the air like a starting pistol. "Because if not, then you better be, as the first match will be starting in 5….. 4…. 3… 2.. 1. Begin!"
( - )
(In the stands)
From where she was stood, Yuu could only click her teeth impatiently as she waited for the first event to start. It had always irritated, even when she was at U.A. herself, that the organisers of the Sports Festival continuously dragged things out, and made a circus of the entire thing.
For all that she respected both Midnight and Present Mic for their past work as Pro Heroes, their posturing, posing and propensity for dramatizing things, were beginning to get on her nerves.
If anyone idealised the hammy, showboating culture of modern day Pro Heroes, it was those two.
They weren't quite as bad as the vapid, sell-out, corporate heroes that were slowly but surely infesting the entire industry, but they were only a step above those leeches.
But still, the both of them, for all their competence and past glories, had still been amongst the first of the older generation of heroes to embrace the new celebrity culture that surrounded modern-day Pro Heroes.
Before their Midnight and Present Mic's generation, heroism was a far more danger and serious profession, more akin to how the underground heroes of the current age acted.
But then again, that was likely because the stakes were higher back then, as too were the mortality rates for new heroes.
The heroes back then, the ones she had looked up to as a younger teen, didn't wear showy, attention grabbing outfits, except when they were on parade or at ceremonies. Instead, their costumes were focussed on protection and efficiency first, and aesthetic second.
Nowadays, things were different, though.
The hard-core villain organisations of yesteryear were gone. They had been worn away with time, as the hero industry boomed, and more and more Pro Heroes took to the streets.
The established and highly organised underworld were now but a shadow of its former self.
In the end, All Might had delivered the last death knell to the dying criminal empires of old half a decade ago when he finally defeated the illusive ruler of Japan's villainous underbelly.
All the big names, and the major threats that had once haunted the streets of Japan, were either dead or imprisoned. Leaving only the posers, street thugs, and the shattered remnants of those once feared organisations were left for the Pro Heroes to deal with.
Admittedly, the new age villains were still a threat, and thankfully a number of heroes still treated them as such, like All Might, Endeavour, and Eraserhead.
But there were many heroes, both old and new, who didn't take the remnants of those organisations, or the new generation of villains seriously.
Instead, they thought they were in an era of peace and stability, and thus acted as such.
It had only been just over five years since All Might had shattered the back of the criminal underworld, and cemented himself as the undisputed Number One Hero, but in that time the entire culture around Pro Heroes had changed as they moved from the role of inspirational protectors of society to celebrities and socialites.
It grated on her.
She had become a hero because she wanted to both save people, and to become an inspirational role model to young girls, and those with Gigantification Quirks. That, and she had also wanted to do something meaningful with her life, and what could be more meaningful than putting her life on the line to save others?
But instead of being taken seriously, she was instead seen as the next fad.
PR agents and tabloid journalists constantly buzzed around her agency squawking about how she should be playing up for the different demographics, or taking advantage of her appearance to maximise her screen time and gain sponsorship. They wanted her to become some kind of vapid, corporate barbie.
It was all so vain, and vacuous, and above all insulting.
She hated it, and others she knew, those that had chosen to become Pro Heroes for similar reasons to her, hated it too.
Villains were still a threat, one only had to look at the attack on U.A. and the death of Thirteen to see that much, and yet a good proportion of Pro Heroes turned a blind eye to it as they instead focussed on maximising their time on camera, signing advertising deals, and chasing after hero groupies.
In addition, there were other threats too.
With the continued merging and cross-breeding of Quirks, the Quirk Doomsday Theory was slowly but surely becoming a reality. Which meant, that soon enough, heroes wouldn't just have to protect civilians from those that deliberately abused their Quirks for personal profit, but also from innocent civilians who had been born with Quirks that were just too powerful to control or properly use.
The times were changing, and yet instead of recognising the issues and making contingency plans, many Pro Heroes had stagnated as they instead focussed on their ratings and on seeking attention.
Her hands clenched into fists at her side at that thought, even as she looked down at the raised stage below.
Both Present Mic and Midnight had been true heroes once. They had been in their primes when All Might and his allies had struck the final blow that broke the criminal underworld into disorganised fragments it was today.
Now, though, they were just shadows of the heroes they had once been.
It was a shame, especially since she had once looked up to Midnight, back when the X-Rated hero had been a bold, unrepentant trailblazer for female heroes, instead of the gaudy, tasteless, overly sexualised joke she was now.
Frowning at that uncharitable thought, she tore her gaze away from the main stage and instead looked over at the rest of the heroes in the spectator's box.
Of those present, under half of them still treated the profession with the seriousness it deserved.
The rest acted more like clowns than actual heroes.
Yes, it was important to inspire people and give them hope.
But it was also equally as important to actually investigate, and actively root out crime, and destroy it at its source as opposed to going on highly published patrols, and only dealing with the symptoms and not the underlying cause.
"And here we are ladies and gentlemen, the first match is soon to begin!" Present Mic's voice boomed out, drawing her attention.
Looking up at the jumbotron, Yuu tuned back in as she saw the names in the bracket.
Match 1: Izuku Midoriya vs. Mezo Shoji
Interestingly, the first person to fight, happened to be the student she was most interested in.
Smiling in spite of herself, she leant forwards with anticipation.
This would be the first time she witnessed the Titan of Mustafa in combat.
Sure, she had seen him in action during both the obstacle race and the rescue operation. She'd even seen the majestic glory that was his titan form. But she'd yet to actually see him in a stressful, and active combat situation.
She was equal parts excited and nervous to see how he would do.
Looking over to the box the more high ranking heroes were watching from, she quickly noticed that All Might had reappeared, his ever present smile on his face looking slightly stiffer than usual, even as he intensely watched the first bout.
From what she could see, she wasn't the only one feeling both excited and tense about what was to come.
"On the one side, we have Mezo Shoji. Standing at nearly seven feet tall, he is three times handier than the average man! This teen is an up and coming hero in Class 1A! I know I'm excited to see him prove his mettle!" Present Mic shouted, as the hulking, six-armed teen stepped forward.
With his mutant type Quirk, the teen cut quite the intimidating figure, one that didn't outright scream hero. Which was a shame, as some of the more shallow people in society would probably judge him by his appearance alone.
She scowled at that thought.
Those who were born with mutant type Quirks often faced the most prejudice, more so than even those with Gigantification Quirks. Which was frustrating, as it was exactly that prejudice that often marginalised and alienated those individuals, and thus robbed them of opportunities, and stopped them from reaching their full potential.
How many incredible Pro Heroes, or talented workers had flown under the radar due to the petty, small-minded views of the loud and bigoted minority?
Thankfully, there were people like Shoji stepping up and proving the naysayers wrong.
Smiling, she clapped loudly along with the rest of the crowd.
"And facing off with him, we have Class 1A's Izuku Midoriya, a cool, calm and collected hero in training, one brimming with confidence and the desire to prove himself! Now, which of these two will come out the winner?"
Shifting her gaze around the box, Yuu frowned as she saw the other Pro Heroes surge forwards in interest, several of them standing up from their seats, so they had a better view of the upcoming match.
Their interest was palpable.
As too was the interest of the crowd, as a number of people booed and jeered, with some actually unfurling derogatory banners. Still, the reaction wasn't all negative, as some people quietly clapped, or cheered. Either way, it all eventually merged into a loud, indistinct roar of noise.
Looking around, her frown deepened.
The response was mixed to say the least.
Not entirely as negative as she had thought, but nowhere near warm either.
She could already see some of the Pro Heroes frowning or shaking their heads in disapproval, even as others looked on with interest and excitement.
The Titan of Mustafa's decision to become a Pro Hero was as divisive as she had suspected it would be.
"Mezo Shoji, Izuku Midoriya, I hope you're both ready!" Midnight shouted, her magnified voice cutting through the noise of the crowd as it boomed out of all the surrounding speakers. "Because if not, then you better be, as the first match will be starting in 5….. 4…. 3… 2.. 1. Begin!"
As she counted down, Yuu couldn't help but lean forwards in anticipation, her gaze fixed entirely on Izuku Midoriya.
Surprisingly though, Shoji was the first to make a move, as like a shot, the taller teen exploded across the stage, his wing-like arms extending as he bull rushed Midoriya's shorter, yet still stocky form.
The larger teen wasn't fast enough, though.
Despite seizing the advantage first, he had only made it a few steps forward before Midoriya got his head in the game and reacted.
With Midoriya rapidly covering the same amount of distance as Shoji in moments, his shorter legs moving fast, even as he exploded forward from his stationary position, his enhanced strength cracking the concrete beneath him with every step he took.
Leaning back, she smiled. A part of her was pleased to see that he didn't resort to his titan form straight away. Instead, he remained in his base form as he swiftly avoided several rapid punches from Shoji, his arms gaining a faint blue shimmer as he easily weaved through Shoji's blisteringly fast strikes. Which in itself was an impressive feat. One that showed a well-honed awareness of his surroundings, and some decent CQC training.
Following the action, she frowned as she easily analysed Shoji's tactics. They were simplistic, yet probably the best choice for him. After all, he was relying on sheer force in order to overwhelm his opponent as fast as he could. Which, considering Midoriya's versatility, and regenerative healing factor, was probably his best choice for victory.
Midoriya meanwhile was more patient, as he avoided and weathered Shoji's assault for as long as had too, all while he waited for the right moment to strike.
Which was at that exact moment. As barely a minute into the fight, he deftly avoided Shoji's sudden lunge as the much larger teen gave up on trying to beat him down, and instead tried to catch him in a hold, so he could leverage his great size and hurl from him off the stage. Only for Midoriya to deftly avoid the initial lunge with a simple, yet graceful side step, before moments later, when Shoji was off balance, he moved in with a blisteringly fast right hook.
The impact of his shimmering blue fist hitting the area, where Shoji's kidneys likely were, was brutal to see.
She could almost feel it from where she was standing.
With a groan, Shoji staggered to the side, only for Midoriya to follow his first blow up with a kick to the back of the taller teen's leg, bringing him down to one knee. After which he delivered a swift right punch and then a left, before finally he grabbed his clenched right fist with his left hand, and slammed his tensed up elbow into Shoji's skull, poleaxing him.
It was a swift and brutal combo, one which ended the fight in an instant.
So fast, in fact, that it took the roaring and jeering crowd several moments of confusion before they realised it was over.
The fight had lasted less than a minute, and Midoriya hadn't even needed to resort to using his Titan form to finish it.
As far as debut fights went, it was admittedly anticlimactic, but still otherwise quite impressive.
( - )
(With Izuku)
Walking down the tunnel, and back towards the changing rooms, Izuku desperately tried to ignore the cheering and jeering of the crowd behind him.
A part of himself was pissed off that he'd allowed himself to be so distracted by the crowd that he'd actually almost lost the match. The moment Midnight had said 'begin' he should have been moving, but instead he just stood there gawping like an idiot, even as Shoji took the initiative and almost steamrollered him.
He grimaced at that thought.
He hadn't held back at all.
There had been no showboating or pageantry. He hadn't drawn it out like he could have, and allowed both Shoji and himself to show off what they could do.
Instead, he'd hit Shoji like a truck, tanked his best shots, and then KOed him as fast as he could.
A part of him felt bad about it.
He didn't know Shoji all well, but he still liked him. He didn't want the larger boy to be angry with him, or to resent him. Which was a distinct possibility, considering how fast he'd ended their fight.
Hell, he hadn't even been able to talk it out with him after, as his last combo had knocked Shoji out. In the end, a pair of medical support robots had had to stretcher him off the stage.
Biting his lip, he turned and hazarded a glance back at the entrance to the stadium.
He'd need to talk it out with Shoji later to make sure there weren't any bad feelings over what had gone down in the match.
Turning back around, Izuku paused mid-step as he suddenly found himself looking at Todoroki, the ice wielding teen's steely-gaze boring into him.
"Todoroki," He said, his stomach roiling with discomfort. "You here to have another go at me?"
"I wish to speak to you," Todoroki said coolly, his eyes narrowing. "In private."
Izuku scowled in response.
He hadn't forgotten Todoroki's previous declarations, nor what he had said about him before the third event started.
His classmate was a massive asshole.
He was the kind of toxic personality that he didn't want around him.
"Later, maybe," Izuku replied shortly, his brow furrowing.
Todoroki's expression hardened.
"Your match is about to start," Izuku pressed on, ignoring his classmate's icy glare. "So I'd hurry if I were you. Unless you want to forfeit."
Scowling, Todoroki sent him one last look, before he angrily swept past him.
"Asshole," Izuku muttered, not caring if the other teen heard him, as he instead headed for the changing rooms.
( - )
(In the stands)
Tapping his foot impatiently, Katsuki scowled as he waited for the next fight to start.
He'd been in a foul mood ever since the Second Event ended, and he'd found out that he hadn't made it to the third and final round.
It pissed him off.
Not only was it a massive setback for his future career, but it also robbed him of his long awaited chance to decimate Midoriya.
He was supposed to be The Avenging Hero: Nemesis, one of the greatest heroes of his generation, and yet he hadn't even made it to the third round in his first Sports Festival.
It was humiliating.
Growling under his breath, he glared daggers at Shoto Todoroki, Endeavour's son, as he stepped up onto the stage.
The other teen's expression was cold and remote, and his posture was stiff and uncaring.
The spoilt scrub didn't even look excited to be on the stage.
Instead, he just looked pissed off as he glared around at the cheering crowd.
Supressing his desire to shout at the ungrateful shit, he took a deep breath instead, his red eyes boring in Todoroki.
On the other side of the stage, the pink haired nutcase from the Support Course took her own place, a large smile on her face as she turned and waved to the crowd. The weirdo had already started spouting off on a spiel about her 'babies'.
Still, he thought, at least one of the people fighting seemed to appreciate the opportunity they had been given.
"I wouldn't get too worked up," Monoma said calmly, as he stepped up to his side. "You might not be the one to deal out the punishment, but Midoriya will still get his in the end."
Katsuki glanced sideways at the smarmy blonde.
The guy might be his friend, but that didn't mean he couldn't be an insufferable asshole sometimes.
"I want to be the one that humiliates that little shit," Katsuki replied harshly.
"Well, you still could, or at least vicariously that is." Monoma smirked.
Katsuki narrowed his eyes in response, but didn't reply as he instead returned his attention to the ongoing match as Midnight raised her riding crop in the air, and prepared to start the fight.
"Shouldn't you be preparing for your own fight?" He asked, his gaze still on Todoroki as Midnight swept her crop through the air and shouted 'begin'.
"No need," Monoma replied. "I already know what I'm going to do. Let's just say I'm going to make an example out of that little 1A bitch."
Katsuki frowned at Monoma's callous words.
Before he had a chance to respond, however, he was cut off by the colossal wave of ice that swept across the field and froze the pink haired manic in a sixty foot tall mountain of ice.
"The fuck…" Katsuki muttered, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape as he looked up in shock at the sheer size and scale of Todoroki's attack.
He'd heard that Endeavour's son was in a league of his own. But he hadn't expected him to be this powerful.
"Huh, interesting," Monoma muttered, his eyes alight with interest.
( - )
(With Izuku)
Entering Class 1A's box, Izuku smiled as he was met by absolute silence as all his classmates stared at the mountain of ice in front of them.
Frowning at the twisting spires of ice, he slipped past his classmates and made it to the front of the box, his eyes wide as he looked down at the stage, only to find himself locking eyes with a glaring Todoroki.
"Well shit," He muttered, his brow furrowing as Midnight, half coated in frost, called the match in Todoroki's favour.
( - )
AN: So real question. How much of the other fights do you lot want to see? I can do very brief summaries, and move through the remainder third event in two chapters. Or I can do more detailed fights for a couple of the more important characters, and get through the rest of this arc in 3 chapters. OR can do slightly more detailed fights for all of them, and finish the arc in 4 chapters. I don't mind either option, so I leave the decision up to you lot.
Either way I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Also I am on a discord with a load of other writers, so if you fancy popping over to ask questions or offer suggestions about this story, or any of my other ones, or to find new authors you might not have come across yet, please feel free to use the link in my bio.
Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions or questions feel free to PM me or find me on Discord.
Catch you later.
Greed720.