I do not own MHA or Ben 10, all rights reserved to their respective owners.
This is the last chapter before the internship arc. Try to guess who'se agency will Izuku apply to. Let me give you a clue: This character's quirk is similiar to Izuku's. At the level of how it works, at least.
Chapter 12: The Final Countdown
"Ugh, where am I?"
This was the only thing that Izuku Midoriya was able to think about in that moment. The room he found himself in was one that he has never seen in this school before.
But before he received an answer, he received a hit on his forehead with a cane.
"Where do you think you are?" asked a voice of an elderly woman sitting on a chair next to his bed "The infirmary, of course. Where do you think you'd end up after roughing yourself up like that?"
He took a look around. Yes, that was certainly an infirmary, but in his dazed state he couldn't notice. And surely, he now remembered what went down in the arena. No wonder why she was so angry. He and Todoroki could badly hurt each other with their power combined. Wait a second, Todoroki. He was escorted out of the arena alongside him. So why isn't he here?
"Uhmm, sorry, but where is Todoroki?" he asked
"Oh, Endeavor's son?" she said "He left a little while ago, not soon before you woke up"
Izuku touched the back of his head. Sure enough, it was heavily bruised, courtesy of the impact of their last incursion at the arena.
The arena
The arena.
The arena..
The arena...
Oh right. He still didn't know who won the previous round. He was unconscious when they announced the results of the round.
"Execuse me, but can you please tell me who won the last round?" he asked, scratching his cheek
That question earned him not an answer, but another smack with a cane.
"Your little last ditch effort destroyed half of the arena, melted down the concrete on the ring and put both you and that boy in a possibility of irrecoverable damage to your bodies, and all you care about is who won?" asked Recovery Girl, irritated "My, what is with you young people nowadays?"
She sighed, before opening a drawer next to the boy's bed and pulling out a remote.
"But since you both didn't die and you managed to get by with your injuries without specialist treatment, then I believe that you deserve the answer to your question"
She pressed a red "ON" button on the remote and a TV in an upper corner of the room turned on.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE, THE JUDGES, TOGETHER WITH THE REST OF THE FACULTY HAVE REVIEWED THE FOOTAGE OF THE BATTLE AND CAME TO A CONCLUSION" shouted Mic "BUT SINCE ANNOUNCING SUCH AN EPIC VICTORY WITHOUT SHOWING YOU WHAT WENT DOWN WOULD BE BORING, WE WILL SHOW YOU EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LAST SECONDS OF THE FIGHT!"
Suddenly, the footage changed, from showing Mic in his booth, to the moment that Humungosaur's and Todoroki's attacks connected.
"WATCH CLOSELY, AUDIENCE. SINCE THE REAL THING WENT OFF TOO FAST, WE SLOWED IT DOWN FOR YOU!"
The footage showed how the concrete walls that Cementoss put up for the protection of the participants (and the audience) broke into tiny pieces in a matter of miliseconds.
Upon breaking the barriers between them, their outstretched hands collided, creating a shockwave of pure force from the point their fists collided.
They held their fists together for a few seconds, before the wave of energy they created suddenly bursted sending them both backward with incredible force.
"LOOK CLOSELY, THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT!" announced Mic
The screen was then divided in half, each half showing each of the contestants flying backwards in slow motion. But even though they were slowed, the speed was still noticable.
They both flew through the air like they were nothing. Even Humungosaur, a huge mass of muscles of almost 30 feet of height.
The footage then turned even slower, as both of them approached the bounds of the ring. A timer, counting seconds appeared over each one of them.
It froze the moment both of them finally crossed the bounds.
The timer over Todoroki displayed "5 seconds"
The timer over Humungosaur displayed "6 seconds"
Izuku was silent. The crowd was silent. So was the announcer.
And suddenly, the crowd flared to life, cheering loudly for the victor.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE REVIEWED FOOTAGE, IT'S SHOWING THE AMOUNT OF SECONDS EACH CONTESTANT TOOK BEFORE CROSSING THE BOUNDS. AND AS YOU CAN SEE, A CLEAR WIN, WITH 1 SECOND APART GOES TO IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
Izuku's eyes went wide. He actually won that round? He didn't anticipate that he would make it as far, and he actually wouldn't mind if it was Todoroki who scored the win. But now he was in the final stage of the most important sport event of the country.
He suddenly jumped out of his bed, surprising Recovery Girl.
"Please tell me, how long have I been asleep?"
"Well" said the nurse "By now, the time for recreation and rest after the second round should be halfway through. If I were you, I'd probably go to your class and announce you are not dead"
"Thank you so much" said Midoriya, bowing "Thank you for taking care of me!"
And before she could react, or officially dissmiss him, he turned on his heel and ran through the doors of the infirmary.
The nurse shook her head.
"If that boy knew who managed to get to the finals besides him, he probably wouldn't be half as hyped to get out of here..."
LINE BREAK
No
No
No
Why did it always come down to this?
Why did it always come down to him?
He certainly didn't want that and sure as hell he didn't like that.
But the scoreboard didn't lie.
And it was clearly showing the participants of the upcoming last round.
Izuku Midoriya
Versus Katsuki Bakugou
He swallowed nervously. If the last time Bakugou was out for his blood, then this time, given the fact that no restrictions were placed on him, he would probably go all the way, not stopping before his rival laid defeated and broken under his feet. And he didn't like to picture himself as the guy underneath Bakugou's feet.
LINE BREAK
"LET ME HEAR YOU SCREAMS, PEOPLE!" shouted Mic from his booth "I HOPE YOU'RE AS HYPED FOR THIS AS I AM. TIME FOR THE THIRD AND THE LAST ROUND OF THE U.A'S SPORTS FESTIVAL!"
"FROM CLASS 1-A. YOU PROBABLY KNOW HIM FROM THE EARLIER ROUNDS, IN WHICH HE MANAGED NOT ONLY TO BREAK AWAY FROM MIND CONTROL, BUT ALSO WREAKED HAVOC SO GREAT THAT WE HAD TO REBUILD THE RING FROM SCRATCH AFTERWARDS! LET US WELCOME IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
Izuku walked towards the ring from his corridor, accompanied by a mass of loud cheers from the audience. Huh, to think they'd adore him for humiliating a fellow student and destroying the arena. People have weird tastes.
"ALSO FROM CLASS 1-A. YOU MIGHT REMEMBER HIM FOR BLASTING HIS WAY UP TO THE TOP FROM THE VERY START OF THE FESTIVAL, WHILE ALSO BLOWING THROUGH THE COMPETITON IN THE LAST ROUND. LET US WELCOME KATSUKI BAKUGOU!"
Bakugou walked towards the ring from his corridor. But unlike Izuku, he was not met with cheers. Quite the opposite, he was booed by the audience. Him going ham on Uraraka probably didn't sit well with them. Not like Izuku could blame them.
The two boys stood in front of each other. What striked Izuku about his rival was the fact that he, probably for the only time ever, looked calm.
"ARE YOU READY?" shouted Mic "START!"
Izuku immediately jumped backwards and pressed the button on the shield, anticipating an attack from Bakugou.
But the attack never came.
Izuku was shocked. Bakugou had an easy opening, a free hand to do anything, and he would rather be standing there? Not even menancingly, just standing still, lustering Izuku with his gaze. Like he was anticipating the attack.
"What, not gonna come and try to blow me into smithereens? Not gonna tell me how you're gonna kill me and how I should know my place?" asked Izuku
But Bakugou didn't answer.
"Fine, if you don't want to start, then I will" he said "So let me introduce you to our mutual old friend, Frankenstrike!"
He slammed his hand on the shield, as the hologram of the Transylian was projected.
In a blast of green, Izuku Midoriya was replaced by an alien.
But not Frankenstrike.
The alien looked at Bakugou with his green eyes and blinked a few times. Then, his cat-like face turned into an angry scowl.
"RAAAAAAATH!" it screamed, before turning his head to the symbol of the watch on his chest "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, NEWLY UPGRADED OMNITRIX. WHEN RATH WANTS TO GO FRANKENSTRIKE AND BREAK A LIMB OR TWO, THEN RATH WANST TO GO FRANKENSTRIKE AND BREAK A LIMB OR TWO! BUT SINCE YOU GAVE RATH SOMEONE WHO WON'T TRY TO KICK HIM IN THE CROTCH AS AN OPPONENT, HE WILL FORGIVE YOU!"
"AND YOU" he said, turning his attention to his stoic rival "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, KATSUKI BAKUGOU, FORMER CHILDHOOD FRIEND TURNED BULLY. RATH DOESN'T LIKE HOW YOU TRY TO KICK HIM OFF HIS GAME BY ACTING LIKE A POLAR OPPOSITE OF YOUR NORMAL SELF! SO RATH WILL PUNCH YOU SO MANY TIMES THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO GO BACK TO NORMAL AND FIGHT BACK!"
The tiger broke into sprint, charging at Bakugou, preparing a right hook.
But when his fist was close to Bakugou's unmoving face, the teen ducked to the side, evading the attack and fired off an explosion at the alien's side in retaliation.
"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, KATSUKI BAKUGOU" screamed Rath "RATH DOESN'T LIKE WHEN PEOPLE ONLY ATTACK AFTER THEY DODGE HIS HITS LIKE A COWARD! COME AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN!"
The alien repeated the attack multiple times. But every single time, Bakugou dodged, firing a medium powered explosion in retaliation every time.
"I SAID STOP DODGING!" screamed the tiger "IF YOU WANT RATH DO GET ANGRIER BY YOUR DISPLAY OF COWARDICE, THEN YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED!"
The alien jumped a few feet into the air, before puncturing the ground with the claw on his hand.
Upon stabbing the ground, a shockwave rippled through the ring, cracking the concrete as it went.
When Rath was certain that the attack will connect, his rival simply boosted himself into the air with explosions, evading it eassily.
"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, KATSUKI BAKUGOU. RATH IS GETTING BORED BY YOU NOT DOING ANYTHING ELSE THAN EVADING. AND RATH DOESN'T LIKE TO BE BORED! SINCE YOU HAVE NO REAL FIGHT IN YOU, I WILL FINISH THIS QUICKLY!"
"LENOPAN HAMMER!" screamed Rath, as he jumped high into the air, preparing an attack with his elbow.
But Bakugou didn't move. He didn't even dodge.
The Appoplexian finally hit the blonde. He delivered a strong blow with his elbow to the boy's shoulder. How it didn't break upon hit was a mystery.
He was knocked back a few feet, nearing the bounds.
"CEREBROCRUSTACEAN METEOR!" screamed Rath, as he quickly continued the assault, headbutting Bakugou in the chest.
The hit knocked the air out of the boy's lungs, pushing him a few feet back and making him lose balance.
Seeing as his enemy was nearly defeated, Rath prepared the final part of his combination.
"VAXASAURIAN DEATH GRIP!" he screamed, as he jumped flat with his body on top of Bakugou.
His plan was to roll over his opponent, grab him by the shoulders with his hands from the back, and throw him over his head and out of the bounds with all of his force.
But what the self proclamed tactical genius didn't predict, was the fact that Bakugou changed his positioning, as he was no longer laying flat on the ground.
He curled up his legs to his chest.
The moment the alien's chest landed on top of him, he used all of his remaining strength to kick him forward. When he made sure that the Appoplexian was no longer on top of him, he fired a double handed explosion, bigger than even the one he used in a battle against Uraraka.
The alien sored through the air propelled by the force of his rivals last ditched attack.
When he finally landed and got back on his legs, he was ready to beat the everloving shit out of him in revenge. But suddenly the voice of Present Mic echoed through the stadium.
"UNBELIEVABLE, LADIES AND GETNLEMEN! IZUKU MIDORIYA IS OUT OF BOUNDS! KATSUKI BAKUGOU IS THE WINNER!"
Rath didn't know what was going on. He didn't loose, that blonde shrimp didn't do anything even remotely close to hurting him.
But then he looked down to the ground.
To see one of his feet outside of the ring.
"HOW DID YOU-" screamed Rath, before he was timed out and turned back into his human form.
"All this time, you thought you were the best because you got a flashy fucking quirk" said Bakugou, picking himself off ground "You don't even know how much willpower I needed to use not to rush and kill you the moment the match started"
"You think I never learn" he continued "It took me two broken limbs to finally figure you out. You think just because you have a quirk with more usages than one that you are automatically the best and you don't even have to try and pull your weight. You just go through this school on auto pilot"
Izuku's eyes went wide. It dawned on him. For once in his life Bakugou was right. He felt ashamed of himself. True, since he got the watch and gained proficiency with his forms he become too reliant on them, automatically thinking that it doesn't matter what alien he goes, he will win just because of his raw power. In some ways, he acted more like Bakugou than Bakugou ever acted. And if it wasn't for that, he would probably win.
"But guess what?!" screamed Bakugou "Now it's over! You're no longer the best! I knocked you down from your shiny little pedestal! You better know your place, trash!"
Blood boiled in Izuku's veins. He wanted to jump at his rival and make him spit out those words and-
No, no, he couldn't.
This is not how a hero should act.
He got too proud, too reliant on his false sense of security that his abilities provided and this is the outcome of that. He failed, he needed to live with the consequences. No matter how hard he wanted to kick Bakugou's ass, he couldn't do that.
He still scored second. It's not a bad spot. It's not like he's gonna get less offers just because of a one place difference.
God, he hoped he got any. After all, pros might not want to have someone who toyed with a human being for the crowd's pleasure and posed a real threat to their life and security in their agencies.
All left to do was to survive the awards ceremony.
LINE BREAK
As the media gathered and the ceremony was about to begin, a puff of white smoke covered a part of the arena.
Out of a hole in the ground, a podium on which the victors of the top 3 places stood, rose from the ground.
The podium consisted of 3 white pedestals. They varried in height, depending on the place.
The highest pedestal, being that of the first place was the one Bakugou stood one. He grinned from ear to ear with his maniacal smile.
On the second highest pedestal, belonging to the winner of the second place stood Izuku. He was trying to put on his best smiling face, despite still being angry at himself and Bakugou for messing up the final round.
And one the last, shortest pedestal, belonging to third place stood... Tokoyami.
Logically, it probably should have been Todoroki. After all, he gave quite a performance in the second round.
But Izuku knew that Todoroki actually refused the third place. His reasoning being that he didn't want to give Endeavor the satisfaction of seeing his son win just because he used his flame side. At least that's what he told Midoriya in private. And since he dropped out of the ceremony, the third place went to the next person in line, that being Tokoyami.
Midnight, the chief umpire overseeing the ceremony swatted the air with her whip. "Now let's bring up the rewards. Of course there is only one single person worthy of distributing the awards"
As she was in the middle of the sentence, a character was elevated to the top of the stadium, chuckling heartily, gathering the attention and cheers of the viewers. They couldn't mistake that laugh for any other.
"CITIZENS, I AM HERE!" he screamed, as he jumped to the air from his spot on the top of the stadium.
"Make way for the #1 Hero!" exclaimed Midnight, as All Might landed besides her, whipping up dust where he landed.
People in the audience fussed about the luck the first years at U.A posses to have the #1 Hero both teach them on a daily basis and hand out rewards for their achievements.
"So now that you are here All Might, why don't you start the celebration?" said Midnight, handing the Symbol of Peace the medals.
"Young Tokoyami" said the hero, putting the bronze medal for the third place around the boy's neck, chuckling "Congratulations, you showed great strength out there!"
"Your words humble me, sir" he responded, bowing his head
"However" continued the hero, giving him a pat on the back "You still have more training to do. Not in every situation you will be able to rely on your quirk alone"
The last sentence left Tokoyami pondering, gazing at his medal as the hero went to deliver the second medal.
"Young Midoriya" said the hero, putting the silver medal for the second place around his neck "Congratulations. You showed not only a great deal of strength, but also helped your classmate break down one of his barriers that he shielded himself with from the world, hindering his abilities as a hero in training"
"Thank you, sir" he responded, forcing a smile
"However" said the hero, patting Midoriya on the back "You must learn that relying on a strong feeling such as rage can get you only so far and as a hero you must learn how to control your emotions and not let them cloud your judgement, if you are to utilize your abilities to their full extent in your hero career"
Izuku just bowed his head in response. It's not like it wasn't untrue, he just had this kind of Deja Vu of All Might telling him harsh truth he needed to hear.
"Young Bakugou" said the hero, placing the golden medal for the first place around Bakugou's neck "Congratulations. You not only showed that a quirk is not to be used one dimensionally and that a rational calculation is an efficient way to secure the success of your plan"
Bakugou just grinned in response. He was too full of himself at the moment to even respond.
"However" said the hero, pulling closer to the boy "A good advice for the future; try not to use such explicit violence against your fellow students. The public may like that to some extent, but roughing up a female student doesn't sit well with most of them"
Bakugou still didn't answer nor did he acknowledged the advice of the hero.
"HERE THEY ARE, THE WINNERS OF THIS YEAR'S SPORTS FESTIVAL!"
"BUT LISTEN CLOSELY" he continued "ANY OF YOU FIRST YEARS COULD END UP STANDING ON THESE PODIUMS. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU DID TODAY; YOU CHALLENGED EACH OTHER, LEARNED, AND CLIMBED EVEN CLOSER IN YOUR WAY TO BEING PROS. I THINK THE NEXT GENERATION OF HEROES IS PROVING TO BE THE MOST PROMISING ONE YET!"
"SO I HAVE ONE THING LEFT TO SAY! I WANT TO HEAR EVERYONE REPEAT WITH ME!"
"THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK!" screamed the hero
"PLUS ULTRA!" screamed the audience
.
..
…
Huh.
That was the perfect time to say "Plus Ultra"
So thought the audience. And they weren't shy about showing All Might their dissatisfaction with it.
Guess even the #1 Hero gets to have awkward moments.
LINE BREAK
"Mom, is everything all right? I could see water spilling through the hole under the front door and I-" said Izuku, with his silver medal dangling from his neck as he opened the door to his apartament, before a huge wave of water washed through it.
He instinctively moved to the side, evading being completely soaked in the process.
"Let me tell you something, Izuku Midoriya, winner of the 2nd place award of the U.A sports festival!" shouted his mother, drifting on top of their living room sofa on one of the waves of water, before jumping off of it and embracing her son in a tight hug "Your mother is very proud of you! You showed them what you are made of!"
Tears formed in Izuku's eyes. He returned the hug, hugging his mother tightly.
"T-thank you mom, this means so much for me" he said, holding back sobs. This was one of the only times that he remembered his mother being so happy, and especially happy for him.
"But please tell me, where did this water come from?" he asked, pulling himself out of the hug a little
"Oh" she responded, sniffing "I got so emotional watching you on the TV and I couldn't stop the waterworks and-"
"Mom" he interrupted, breaking her from her apolegetic monologue "You want me to help cleaning it up?"
"Yes honey, that would mean a bunch to me" she said, sniffing less "You're my little hero, son"
"Don't mention it, mum" he said, finally breaking from the hug
He went to their closet, looking for some dry cloth to dry some of the leftover tears. It was going to be a long process...
LINE BREAK
In a barren room, with nothing but a chair and a TV sat a man in black spandex, looking at the screen of one of his gloves. It was showing a large amount of text.
"Hmm, very interesting" he said, reading parts of the text "Kineceleran and Ectonurite during the villain attack, Necrofriggian and Nosedeenian during the first round of the tournament, a Galvanic Mechamorph and a Thep Khufan during the second, and an Appoplexian, Methanosian and Vaxasaurian in the third? This incursion might be the most entertaining of them all"
Eon stood from his chair and clenched his fist.
"Just as entertaining will be crumbling him down, one alien after another, untill there's nothing left. Mark my words, Izuku Midoriya. We will meet soon, and I will get you, dead or alive"