And we are back with chapter 23 people! I love how so many of you enjoy this story as the liked and favourite number keeps on rising and for that, thank you for your support. One thing I didn't factor in(which was stupid in hindsight) was just how much content there is for season two alone as I was able to not only set things up but complete season 1 in only 12 chapters. I haven't even finish the sports festival yet and already, I've posted 11 chapters(12 if you count this one) and there's still the Stain Arc and Final Exams arc to worry about so this will be a very….very long thing for me.

For that reason, the Two Heroes movie will be its own separate arc. From what we see on screen, we can place the movie after the Final Exams and prior to the Summer camp raid, meaning its in-between season 2 and 3 so it's gonna be a while before that happens.

One thing I've been waiting for was this next match-up, Todoroki vs Bakugo which I've put a lot of thought into so it would be not only original but entertaining as well as unexpected. If all goes well, I'll be able to include the entire thing in this chapter so that next chapter we can begin the semi-finals.

D3lph0xL0v3r – Thank you for the compliment. I didn't want the fights to be boring or too similar to cannon so whenever I could help it, I made changes. So I'll put you down for Tetsutetsu then.

Zukafew119 – First of all. I love your long review. This is what I enjoy reading when I log onto fanfiction and check my story reviews. I did admit that both Donny from TNMT (2012) and Crane (Kung Fu Panda) were characters I moulded Midoriya off so roasting comes with the territory. It was seemed like something a more confident Midoriya would do (roasting Bakugo to get his head back into the game), after-all. The kid wants to be a hero not only to show the quirkless aren't weak but because he simply wants to help people.
As for Inko and Mitsuki, I've planned some more reveals for them so just you wait.
Yaoyorozu's loss was sad but necessary as she had no way of knowing how to avoid Shinso's quirk. Tsuyu and Jiro looking for her and comforting her was me trying to show that their class is very close knit. It was odd that no-one approach her about it as Midoriya sought out Uraraka after her loss but no-one went to speak with Yaoyorozu? Even though both Midoriya and Ojiro were able to pick up on how low her mood was?
As for Yui and Izuku, I like the two as a pairing but since he's already happily shipped with Yu, I'll just make them friends so having them bond was natural. As for the backstory joke, I based if off real life as I had a friend I met in 1
st grade. The only reason I approached him was because he had a sweet looking (remember, I was 6 at the time) Ben Ten watch…that's it, and we stayed good friends up till eighth grade. People forms bonds with another and animals like dogs and cats over stupid reasons all the time.
I enjoy obscure pairing since if I wanted the cannon one, I'll read and/or read cannon. But I hate it when pairings are made with next to no reason for on-screen/mentioned shared experiences.
He and others will bring in more DC and Marvel tech but I don't want to introduce too much at once so like the MCU, I'll bring them in slowly so they feel like rewards or new challenges for someone to overcome.
Lastly, I'll put you down for Uraraka as I myself aren't completely against the idea of her having it. You're the first to suggest her actually.

GunBlade2020 – Already said when. Thanks for the compliment.

tacktician – The fact you refer to him by that nick-name and offer up that suggestion-tells me you got the idea from another story on this site, a certain Iron Man x My Hero Academia crossover? As for your story idea, go for it. I've never watched Mega-man but I've read crossovers where I haven't watch/read one or more of the franchises making up the story but still enjoyed the fanfiction nonetheless. Just don't rush things and seriously think about how the flow of things will work as I hate when stories start going in random directions with no real meaning or motives.

dmafia ruler – What do you mean?


Chapter 23: Icy Supernova

(Previously)

"Speaking of, Midoriya. I have a question." Tsuyu said out of the blue as she looked at him.

"Fire away." Midoriya replied. Though he did wonder what was it she wanted to know.

"Why were you here so early?(Kero) I thought the plan was to meet up in class and arrive as a group." And she had to ask the one question he wasn't to answer. At her request, he froze up as he recalled why he did so when it was his suggestion to meet up and make the trip as a group.

'Shit!' He thought to himself as he recalled how he had spent the night with Yu. How they had fallen asleep watching crappy 'made-for-TV' American films on her couch. How they only realised this the next morning when her alarm awoke the both of them and he barely had time to ran home to get his sports uniform and gear. "It was nothing," He shot out, trying to make a good reason on the spot. "I…I couldn't sleep so I decided why not?" Oh God, that was pathetic.

"Really, you couldn't sleep?" And clearly he wasn't the only one to think so on this as Bakugo turned to question him. "That's one of the shittiest reasons I've ever heard Deku. Aren't you supposed to be smart?" And for once, he didn't have a comeback for that. Damn that living bomb, he'll have to get him back later.

"Shut it. I was nervous, alright!" Midoriya threw back at him as he turned to look down to the arena, waiting for the next match to start.


(And now)

"Alright people, let's keep this show on the road! Onto the next match!" Present Mic announced as the crowd was still cheering for the last match-up.

"Yes while the last match was certainly entertaining, we do have a schedule to keep." Vlad added in as the screen changed to show not only the names of their next battlers but also clips of their first matches from multiple angles.

Itsuka Kendo vs Fumikage Tokoyami

"And just like the last match-up, this one will pit 1-A vs 1-B, maybe we'll see a repeat of the second match and 1-B will score another flawless victory. Man I can't wait!" Present Mic said as another pop-up screen shored Tokage's quick victory over Sero, much to the tape user's embarrassment.


(With the pros)

"So the next match will have two hero course students fighting again?" Mt. Lady asked her two work colleagues as they sat down in the rest area again. Much to her enjoyment, it was their time to sit back and relax again.

"Seems so. From what we heard happened in the first round, this Tokoyami kid sure knows how to think on his feet." Death Arms noted as he drank from his cup of water.

"You're saying Kendo doesn't have a shot?" Yu asked him as she turned to face him.

"No, she really didn't get a chance to shine in single combat due to her opponent….okay I'll say it, she was used like a sponge. The point is we have yet to see what she can really do." Death Arms replied to her question.

"So we get a surprise then, oh I love surprises." Yu answered with a tone and attitude that wouldn't be out of place for an 8 year old. The two males didn't know where she got the energy or why she acted like this but they chose never to question it so long as it didn't affect her performance in the field.

"Only you…" Kamui Woods muttered to himself.

"Hmmm, you say something?" Yu turned to him to hear him better.

"It was nothing." The Wood hero replied as he didn't wish to start something with someone so immature in his eyes.

"If you say so, Woodsie." Mt. Lady replied to him, unknown to the both of them was the fact she heard what he said and already knew what both were thinking but she didn't see the need in telling them that. 'Hmmm, if I remember it right, he's one of Izu-kun's friends. Wonder how he'll stack up.' She thought to herself as she recalled her boyfriend bringing him up in conversation. From what she could see about him, he was right about the dark feathered boy looking all serious, maybe she can help him out of his shell.

On a side note, both Tokoyami and Midoriya felt a chill go down their spines but for different reason. One felt like he would need to keep his girlfriend from embarrassing someone and the other felt like he should run for the hills.


(With the combatants)

"She didn't get much screen time to shrine but I have a good feeling about her! From the hero course, Itsuka Kendo!" Present Mic named as he waved over to the girl in question. Though at the reminder of her last match, she didn't get as much love from the crowd as she would have wanted.

"I don't know what's worse, the fact that he said that or the fact that's it true." Kendo muttered to herself as she willed herself to appear much more confident than she actually felt.

"Vs-!" Their blonde teacher turned to the other side of the field. "He's a tricky one folks, we all saw that! The knight cloaked by shadows, from the hero course-Fumikage Tokoyami." And much to her ire, he got much more applause and cheers from the crowd, though she couldn't tell if he liked it or not.


(With a certain family)

"I ponder how he'll handle this." A skinny but fair skinned women thought to herself. She herself would be considered to be a beautiful person going by the flowing and silk-like shoulder length black hair and piercing but gentle ruby red eyes. She also wore the standard garbs of a hospital patient, which fits as she was currently in one watching the festival with the rest of her family.

Her name was Miyako Tokoyami, the elder and sickly sister of one Fumikage Tokoyami.

"Maybe he'll have Dark Shadow pound her into the ground!" A small child with short black hair, light red eyes and a birdlike beak for a mouth suggested.

"Maybe he'll have Dark Shadow throw her to the Moon!" Another child, nearly identical to the first except in her beak being lighter shade of yellow.

"The Moon!" They both yelled in childish joy as they ran around the place, someone would have tried to stop them but the 7 year twins had more energy than they knew what to do with,

"Will you two please keep it down? This is a hospital." One of the elder relatives scolded them from her own seat. Unlike Miyako, it was a given she married into the family as she had neither the bird like features, dark hair colour nor red eyes but instead was a dark skinned woman with dyed blonde hair and brown eyes. The wrinkles on her face a testament to her age.

"Sorry auntie!" The twins giggled as they ran to one of the tables where some of their relatives were seated. The room offering enough space for everyone to stay together but still branch off into smaller groups.

"I shudder to think what those two will be like when they turn 10, never mind when they start puberty." The man seated by Miyako's bedside said to himself as he turned his red eyes to one of the groups which was mostly their teenage members of the bunch.

"When that happens, I'm dumping then at your house on the weekends, mama needs her sleep." A woman answered him as she took the seat on the opposite side of the bed. She didn't have the red eyes-hers being yellow instead but she bird talons for hands and a sharper than average nose, she also had dark purple hair. Like the gentlemen she was speaking to, her age was quite visible going by the small amount of wrinkles and the few strands of grey hair sticking out of her hair bun.

"What do I look like, a day-care centre? I just sent my own children to university, I don't think I can handle more." The man laughed as he looked around to the area where their elder children were seated. His worn eyes taking in the site of their youth, seemingly lost in a good memory.

"To answer your question, sweetie," A women said as she walked up to the three of them with two cups of water in hand. She had the red eyes but straight purple hair instead of black. "I'm sure he'll do just fine. Fumi always was a hard worker." She said as she handed the bed-bound girl on of the cups of water.

"Yes, your right mother. Little Fumi has always been so headstrong and serious but lately he has been more…relaxed. Maybe we shall organise something of a gathering to meet his classmates, it would be wonderful to meet the people who helped our Fumi out of his shell." Miyako thought aloud as she could only imagine how embarrassed he would be.

"Oh yes, that does sound like a wonderful idea but," Her mother agreed with her as she always did enjoy meeting new people. "Cleaning the family home will take some time. My brother's dwelling isn't sufficient for such a large group."

"I do wonder how he'll take such an announcement." The only male of the trio asked himself as they all turned back to the TV screen to continue watching.


(Back on the field)

'I can't afford to mess around now. I need to really show what I can do.' Kendo thought to herself as she eyed Tokoyami for any obvious flaws in his stance or weaknesses she can exploit but like she had expected coming into this, she could see none.

'What is he thinking? That face sure doesn't give anything away.' She continued that line of thought as she tried to gage what might be going through his head from his eyes but from what she could tell, he was laser focused and quite clam

"Ready?" Present Mic called out as Kendo got into a combat stance, though oddly enough Tokoyami didn't move a muscle.

'No matter, I just need to keep my head in the game.' Kendo thought to herself as she resolved to win this match and save some face from her last duel.

"Start!" Present Mic called out and in that same second, Tokoyami reacted.

"Dark Shadow!" The edge lord of 1-A said as his quirk manifested into being and went on the attack. Catching Kendo off guard at the speed of such.

"Right!" Dark Shadow replied to its master before he reared back a clawed fist. "Bye bye, girly!" the living quirk called out as it fired off an punch towards the redhead from 1-B but luckily for her, she was able to easily dodge to attack thanks to years of martial arts training.

"Not," Kendo started as she began her own assault. "Quite!" She finished as she activated her quirk and landed a brutal backhand to Dark Shadow.

"And Kendo lands the first blow, a real improvement over her last match!" Present Mic called it as the crowd started to cheer louder for her now that she wasn't being used a test doll.

"That was harsh but not inaccurate." Vlad said from Present Mic's side.

'I need to end this quickly, before he can mount a strong attack!' Kendo thought to herself as he moved out of the way of a tackle from Dark Shadow. "Come on!" She called out as she used one hand to knock herself into the air and the other to bat aside an attack from behind courtesy of Dark Shadow.

'Her hands are quite nimble, even with her quirk active.' Tokoyami thought to himself as he observed how the class rep from their sister class was able to keep Dark Shadow at bay and land a few good hits. "Keep on her!"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Dark Shadow shot back as he used on forearm to block a punch from Kendo before knocking her back with the other.

'I need to get close to him!' Kendo realized as she noticed that Tokoyami himself was undefended. If she could get close to him, she could take him out before Dark Shadow could react. "Too slow!" She said as he blocked a strike with both arms, though the strength behind it did knock her back some distance.

Seeing that she had limited time to try her plan, she sprinted towards Tokoyami who looked surprised by a head-on tactic. As she thought, Dark Shadow got in between the two of them and tried to attack her but before it can, she grabbed one arm and its head before bashing the two together. "Arg!" Dark Shadow yelled in pain from the attack, the living quirk dazed from it.

"What!" Tokoyami asked in shock, but before both he and his quirk could react, Kendo now with both hands gripping Dark Shadow's head and 'neck' drove it as hard into the ground as she could manage.

"Sorry but why don't you," Kendo started as he ignored how much pain her hands were in as she picked up the now thoroughly out of it Dark Shadow and threw him right back at its master. "Sit down!" Before Tokoyami could pull back Dark Shadow into his body, the quirk collided with him with enough force to knock the air out of him. The unexpected attack on his person also painfully knocked him on his ass.

"That was…truly a surprise." Tokoyami said to himself as he worked to get back up, it was these moments when he thought that he should have put more time in the gym to gain more bulk. As he did so, he suddenly felt a weight on his chest, almost as if.

Someone was on top of him. "Yeah no kidding, thought it up in the fly, now." Kendo told him from her position right on top of him. One hand (which was normal size now) holding his shirt and the other (which was still enlarged but not to its full extent) posed to come down on his head. "Do you surrender?" She asked him.

"….Yes." Tokoyami closed his eyes and conceded. As much as he wished it false, he knew when it was beat.

"That's the match! Tokoyami surrenders!" Midnight called as she whipped her thing(still haven't googled it) towards the two of them. "Kendo moves to the semi-finals!" She finished as the crowd cheered for her victory as she got back to her feet.

"And what a come-back win if I ever seen one, wouldn't you agree?" Present Mic asked as Kendo offered a hand to Tokoyami, a friendly gesture he accepted as the taller girl helped him to his feet.

"Yes, she was able to think on her feet and turn the situation around into her favour." Vlad noted as they two exchange some words before walking off the arena in separate directions.

"And in the same move, she secured her spot in the semi-finals against Midoriya later. I can tell that match will be epic!" Mic replied so loudly as Vlad winced from the volume of it, he also questioned once more how did he let Aizawa trick him into this?


(With the students)

"Damn that was brutal." Kaibara commented as he never thought Kendo would take that approach.

"Not as much as I would have thought," Tokage said from her seat, she may still be missing a foot but Recovery girl gave her some crutches to use for the meantime, after she chewed out Midoriya for basically destroying her foot. "I would have thought she would throw the both of them out of the arena, instead she wins via submission."

"Maybe it was pay-back for Shiozaki." Honenuki suggested, catching the girl in question's attention.

"She doesn't strike me as the vengeful type but you could be right about that." Kamikiri threw in his own opinion on the matter.

"I'm more interested in her battle prowess. I can tell she had some years of combat training under her belt. Makes me want to fight her just for fun." Midoriya said as he looked over his notes with an expectant smirk.

"Since when are you battle crazy?" Shoji asked him.

"I'm competitive, so putting another martial artist right there as my next opponent really brings that side of me out." Midoriya answered as he shrugged his shoulders.

"You mean in the same way seeing pinkie from the support course makes you want to bury her with your own tech?" Tetsutetsu asked as he pointed to the support class seating.

"Why yes." Midoriya answered him as a wicked smile broke out across his face, he just had a revelation! "Yes it does." He turned his attention back to his notes as he wrote them down before he forget, as unlikely as that was.

"What's the next match-up again?" Kaminari asked as he had forgotten.

"Its Kirishima vs that kid from general studies, Shinso I think is his name." Sato answered him as he thought back to how the bracket worked.

"Any advice Yaoyorozu?" Kirishima asked as he got up from his seat so he could go get ready.

"None I'm afraid but I do hope you have better luck then I did." Yaoyorozu gave him apologetic smile and a pat on the back.

"Thanks, that means a lot." Kirishima said as he gave her a bright smile and a thumbs-up as he made his way towards the waiting but a comment from Jiro froze and Yaoyorozu in their tracks.

"It would mean even more if you gave him a kiss on the cheek, for good luck of course." Jiro joked as the two turned white as snow before the blood started to flow to their faces in embarrassment, the laughter of Ashido, Kaminari, Midoriya and Hagakure not helping them in the least.

"Jiro!" Yaoyorozu yelled at her friend.

"What, people do that all the time, where is your mind jumping to?" Hagakure teased the two of them, she got her answer when both teen's faces got even more blood rushed, Kirishima didn't even say anything as he all but dashed towards the waiting room. As the class got their laugh from their embarrassment, Mineta sat and stewed in his own perverted fantasies based off that exchange.

'Why is it always the muscle-bond ones that get the girl!?' Mineta asked himself, wisely keeping his thoughts to himself lest he tempt the green beast seated two seats down. 'Even then, a kiss of the cheek is slow tame...well maybe if she kissed the other type of cheek, hehehehe' Unknown to him, one member of 1-A did notice where his thoughts might be going.

'Why do I have the feeling his mind is as filthy as ever?' Koda asked himself as he could feel the perverted energy coming off the guy, how such a small body produced such high levels of sexual desire was both beyond him and scared him. The little purple-boy nearly matched that of male lions he had seen at Tokyo zoo that one time.

"Yaoyorozu, may I ask for a bit of your time?" Todoroki asked, breaking the mood of the class as they all quieted down to hear what their classmate had to say.

"Hmm, I don't see why not, what is it you wish to discuss?" Yaoyorozu asked him, finding his inquiry odd as he rarely ever interacted with them. She's had more interactions with their sister class then with their duel haired coloured classmate.

"I rather not speak about in in the open, may we talk in private?" Okay, now that got everyone's attention as even though they knew better, it sounded like he was asking her out on a date but too shy to say in aloud.

"Sure…" And Yaoyorozu was one of those who believed he was asking her out but still chose to go with him. "I'll be back soon, please keep my seat warm." She said to Jiro and Asui as she got up from her chair and started to walk towards Todoroki.

"And if you don't get back in 10 minutes, we'll send a search party for you!" Midoriya joked as the two walked off to some quiet corner to talk.

"Oh come on, there's no way Todoroki gonna try anything." Ashido said in his defence. He didn't seem like a creep to her, well maybe socially awkward but not a creep.

"You never know, and we all know the saying, it's the quiet ones you gotta watch out for." Midoriya defended his stance as he puffed out his chest.

"Speaking from experience, Deku?" Bakugo asked him, his face telling all he wasn't pleased with this discussion.

"No but I've read sufficient material to back up my claims." Midoriya said as he turned away while scratching his cheek.

"You mean those shitty murder-mystery novels." Bakugo asked/stated, revealing another tid-bit about Midoriya and his hobbies.

"Don't knock it till you try it. But I can see why a primitive creature such as yourself isn't able to grasp their worth since you can't eat them or used them as weapons so you can secure the best coconuts and bananas for yourself." Midoriya shot right on back, showing off that sharp tongue and quick wit that his classmates were becoming more accustomed to.

"Don't even fucking start with you, Deku!" Bakugo yelled at him and for all their sakes, Midoriya chose to listen and didn't continue.


(With Todoroki and Yaoyorozu)

"Sorry for bringing here but I wanted to ask you some questions." Todoroki told her as they both stood in the hallway leading up to their seats. It was just them so they had their privacy.

"On what?" Yaoyorozu asked him, curious as to what he wanted from her, she could at least tell he wasn't trying to ask her out.

"On Shinso, I think I may have figured out something about his quirk." Todoroki revealed as he looked her in the eye, letting her see that he was serious about this.


(With the Bakugo and Midoriya's)

"Oooohh, I'm so proud of him!" Inko cheered as they showed a replay of the last match as they waited for the competitors to get ready.

"What was a rather stellar victory, I'll give him that, though I wish he didn't have to break her leg like that." Masaru asked as he flinched when they saw the scene where he brought down a frickin hammer on her foot, which was brutal!

"Oh hush, she didn't even look that upset about it. Maybe she'll grow it back or something." Mitsuki wrote it off as from where she was sitting, you wouldn't be throwing around your limbs if you couldn't grow them back, if you're a hero without the regeneration part, you'll be short half your parts by the end of a busy working day.

'That's a bold assessment.' Hisashi thought to himself but wisely kept his opinions to himself. "Any way, I didn't expect anything less, that boy's mind is his greatest weapon after-all."

"And soon our two boys will face off, right after he teaches that iceberg a lesson." Mitsuki said with a smile as could already see their boys duke it out on such a grand stage.

"I don't know," Masaru started as a contemplative look crossed his face. "Bakugo might be at a disadvantage with all the ice that's bond to be flying around, not a good environment to sweat.

"Why do you think that brats spends so much time training in winter? He ain't an idiot, loud but not an idiot so he's gonna win, that I can guarantee." Mitsuki replied as she couldn't count the number of times she walked into his room to find the thermostat had been set to something as low as 14oC, even during winter!

"Does he still like hiking and spicy food?" Inko asked as she recalled hot whenever they had dinners together in years past, Katsuki would always put a ridiculous amount of hot sauce on his food.

"Oh yeah, damn brat spends every Saturday up in the mountains. Says it helps to promote sweat production and strong muscles." Mitsuki replied as she waved her hand at her before a smirk came to her face. "At least there's peace at home, plenty of time for the two of us to fuck without worrying bout the shit walking in on us." She finished as her husband blushed up a storm and started to look anywhere but the knowing look of Inko and the surprised look on Hisashi.

"Dear, please don't say stuff like that out loud." Masaru said as he looked around and luckily for him, no-one was paying them mind. The loud area muffling out his wife crude words.

"What, its true ain't it? Married couples fuck all the time, if ass-wipes can't get over that, they can go eat a dick." And some parents did turn this time, oh for the love of-sometimes he wished his wife had a better filter.

'I almost forget that Bakugo gets his sailor mouth from his mother, she's was just like in growing up!' Inko thought to herself as she remembered all the detentions and fights Mitsuki got throughout their school life together, more them once did she beat the ever loving crap outta of some guy just cause he implied she was easy.

"Yes but there others, so why don't try to keep our private lives private?" Masaru pleaded with her but sadly for him, she was not in a forgiving mood this day.

"Funny, I recall you saying that I should be louder about it last night." She replied with a smirk that just screamed superiority as some of the other parents nearby blushed and turned away, except one pair as both amphibians looking adults kept their eyes on them, though the husband's gaze seemed more disapproving than anything else. "Oh I love how your such a beast behind closed doors but why don't you show off that backbone more." And with that, the mother looking at that croaked in what sounded like a…giggle? But as if the gods themselves were taking pity on him, he got a lifeline in the form of Hisashi's phone going off.

"As entertaining as hearing about all the kinky stuff you two get up to is, I got a call." Hisashi said as he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his phone.

"From who?" Inko asked as he touched the screen to unlock it and see who the caller was.

"The university, wonder what they want." He answered as he wondered what they could need him for. It wasn't scheduled to leave for his trip to eastern Africa for another two weeks. "I'm going to take this, you can tell me what I missed later." He said as he answered the call and quickly got out of his seat so he could speak in an area that wasn't so loud.


(On the field)

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have the next two players ready!" Present Mic called out as the two competitors made it the arena where they stared each other down. "We have the dark horse of the tournament, he pulled a win out a hat like I once did as a magic trick! From General Studies, Hitoshi Shinso!" He presented though Shinso kept quiet.

"And his opponent, the redhead made of passion and manliness with a touch of good old metapod genes! From the hero course, Eijiro Kirishima!" He turned to the other boy and luckily for him, Kirishima did have a vocal reaction thought it wasn't a positive one.

"Metapod? Really? That's so lame!" Kirishima said as he clenched his fist with a few tears in his closed eyes. He couldn't tell how many times someone made that joke but it got annoying after the 20th.

Alright folks, let's get this show on the road!" Present Mic started as the two eyed each other down. "Ready?!"

"I wonder if you're going to be as easy an opponent as your classmate." Shinso said as he tiredly rubbed the back of his neck. He words doing exactly-angering his foe.

"Start!" Present Mic, unknowingly announcing his victory.

"We'll see abou-!" Kirishima found himself unable to move, to speak. He was trapped in his own mind. 'What the hell!'

"Too easy, if your one the best the hero course have, then this will be a walk in the park." Shinso said as he opened his eyes and pointed towards the other side of the line. "Turn around and walk out of the boundaries." He ordered as Kirishima found himself unable to do anything but obey as he robotically turned around and marched towards the edge of the ring.


(With Todoroki)

'So I was right, he seems to need his target to speak. If I keep quiet, I should be safe from his quirk.' Todoroki thought to himself as he sat in his waiting room. He had come here after his talk with Yaoyorozu and he left her quite surprised with him as he had proposed a theory none of them had figured out. But now watching as fiery red-head of his class walk out of boundaries after exchanging some words with the general studies student just confirmed his theory.


(On the field)

"Goddammit!" Kirishima said as he punched his fist into the ground as he kneeled in shame. The boundary line behind him-he had crossed it.

"Kirishima is out of bounds!" Midnight called it as Shinso turned to walk away. "Shinso advances to the semi-finals!" This time, the crowd cheered for the purple haired boy, something he wasn't used to but was able to hide.

"And with another effortless victory, Shinso gains a spot in the semi-finals." Present Mic commented as the screen changed to show the bracket as it currently was and how Shinso's name moved up a notch while Kirishima went red and got crossed out.

"Yes, not many students from General can boast about that. The boy is quite the force to be reckon with." Vlad noted as it was quite the rare event when the hero course wasn't the shining star of the festival.

"Your right there, but we must press on. We have the last match of the quarter finals coming up so I hope these two give a good show!" The blonde changed the subject as the screens changed to show the next match-up.

Katsuki Bakugo vs Shoto Todoroki


(With Bakugo)

'Am…I am turning into a monster?' Bakugo asked him. He sat alone in his waiting room as he contemplated this notion. This idea that even a previous day would have disgusted him as he would have thought not. But now, as he thought back on his life with a critical eye, he couldn't help but see the truth.

'That wasn't too bad was it, I was strong and they wanted to fight me…did they want to fight me?' he thought to himself as he remembered one special memory from when he was 7 and how he won against three other kids…only didn't even want to fight, they just said they'll stop him picking on one of them and he took that as a challenge. He didn't stop till he break one of their nosed for God's sake! 'Oh fucking God.' He fell deeper into his guilt, his self-loathing as all the times he abused and beat up others rushed through his mind's eye.

'All these years, all this time. I wanted to become a hero, but for what?' he asked himself. What was his goal? Did he really only want to be number one just for the title alone? Pathetic! If all he sought was the title, was he even worthy of being in the top 100! 'All I've ever done is push and beat on those around me, even those extras in the boxing club walked on eggshells around me, but why didn't I see it?!'

"Deku…."He spoke aloud, as if the very mentioning of that guy usher him to him. 'Thinking back on that day…' He recalled that time he fall in a stream when they were 4, it was just a few weeks after his quirk manifested and he was still riding on the high of it(Now that he thought about it, he didn't think he ever stopped). He remembered all he fell into the water and the only one there who run to see if he as alright, the only one who reached out a hand of assistance, would later become the boy be pushed around the most. 'I can't believe I thought you were looking down on me! He was….he was just trying to help.' He concluded as he felt his heart ache at all the terrible things he did. The beating, the taunting, name-calling, it was as if all he could do when interacting with others was act aggressive.

'How many….how many times has he tried to help me? Why, I see it in his eyes, he hates my fuckin guts and yet the nerd still helps me! Why!' He thinks back when he first saw it. The rage, an anger, the fury of his soul burning behind those forest green eyes. It was a look that honestly scared the 10 year old him that saw it. He didn't even have the peace of mind to wonder how a 10 year old boy could have such hatred in him. Even now he wondered how he despite hating his guts, could still reach out to help him.

'How can he handle all that hate? How does he never lose his cool?' He continued the thought, or more accurately, would have if not for the intercom going off and informing him it was time for his own match up, against the teen who represented that hatred-only he had visible scars because of it.


(With the students)

"Midoriya, how do you think things will play out?" Uraraka asked their class rep who had been rather silent as he waited for the match to begin.

"It's all in the time." Midoriya responded, his eyes never leaving the stage.

"Time?" Uraraka asked. The matches didn't have time limits, did they?

"I believe you are referring to their quirks?" Yaoyorozu asked as she joined the conversation, having come to the same conclusion.

"Right on the money." Midoriya said as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"What are you two talking about?" Ojiro asked as he chose to speak up for those who were lost, himself included.

"Bakugo's quirk is entirely reliant on his sweat, the more he secretes, the larger and more powerful his blasts. So an endurance match will naturally swing in bus favour as combat brings exercise and exercise," Midoriya started as he had long since recorded Bakugo's abilities to file and memorised that info.

"Means more sweat, that gross as hell but I can see the advantage." Jiro finished as she thought about if she would ever want such a quirk and decided that no, she wouldn't.

"Todoroki is the opposite. He can let loose glaciers from the get-go no problem but from what I saw during the USJ, he builds up ice and slows down the more he uses his quirk. If he uses too long, he may even begin to suffer from hyperthermia or frostbite. Meaning he needs to end things quickly." He further explained, looking towards Yaoyorozu who nodded her head. It seems they really were thinking the same thing.

"So one is like a character in RPG with a fixed amount of MP, and the other build up his MP via combat bonuses?" Kaminari asked them, using simpler terms so that he could follow.

"That's one way to put things but wouldn't Todoroki's ice bring down the temperature?" Yaoyorozu said as she asked herself the question that popped into her mind due to this match.

"It will but I don't think he'll try it as he'll need to create a lot of ice and spread them around the place, even then. With the temperature and Sun as it is, as well as Bakugo's explosions-it shouldn't be too much of a problem." Honenuki said as he threw in his own opinion.

"Man, you would think the son of Endeavour would have a fire based quirk." Tokage said as she laid back into her seat.

'Yes, yes you would. I wonder why he doesn't use it. He's holding back half of his power and handicapping himself, I want to know what reason he could have for this.' Midoriya thought to himself as he felt his eye narrow. "Either way, we'll see what they are capable of soon enough." He spoke as he kept his eyes sharp and focused. 'And I'll see how far you can be pushed before you let loose some flames.'


(With Bakugo)

"Hmm?" A certain flame hero said as he turned the corner and walked into Bakugo's path.

"The hell you want?" And clearly, Bakugo wasn't in a respectful mood as he addressed Endeavour.

"You there, I'm been looking for you." Endeavour said as he pointed at him as if he were property, something that didn't sit well with the dirty blonde.

"Me?" Bakugo asked, holding back his irritation with this guy.

"You have quite the impressive quirk there. Being able to create explosions of such varying power with a mind as shape as yours, you will be quite the powerful pro." Endeavour complimented him, thought from the look in his eyes, he didn't really mean it-more like he was posturing to try and butter him up.

"You think I need some old guy to tell me that?" Shame he didn't know Bakugo hated such behaviour and was brutally honest in both his opinions and methods. "I gotta go, my match is up." Bakugo said as he brushed passed him on his way to the ring.

"Yes your match," Either Endeavour had a better temper then he thought or he expected this kind of behaviour. The experienced pro turned his head to face him and spoke. "Do your best. I can't have Shoto face off against the weak, not if he's to surpass All Might."

"What?" Bakugo asked him. That half and half bastard was right, this guy was obsessed with All Might!

"Your match will be an informative test for you, don't screw it up. That's all I came to say. I apologise for taking up your time." And with that, Endeavour said his piece and begun to walk away, presumable back to way he could watch the match. He was about to turn the corner when Bakugo spoke up.

"I ain't some instructor, and I ain't some damn bench mark either! I don't care what you want and I give two shits for what that half and half bastard wants." Bakugo told him, slightly surprising the man over the fact he spoke as if he knew of the training he put Shoto through. "I'm gunning for the number one and if he wants to hold back cause he's getting back at his bitchy old man, he can suck it." Bakugo said as he turned to walk away.

"I plan on winning, and I'll give it everything I have to do so." Bakugo said as he disappeared around the bend, trying to get away from the image of his future if he doesn't change his ways. Unknown to Endeavour, the aura he put out reminded Bakugo of his own so much it made him sick to his stomach.

"Hmph, the youth are so disrespectful." Endeavour said to himself as he kept on walking away. Either way, he'll see the results for himself.


(Later)

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are at the end of the quarter final and man, some of those matches were ones to remember!" Present Mic announced as the screens changed to show how the endings of each of the quarter final matches up till this point.

"Yes but we still have one more match before it's all said and done. These two are going to give us quite the show." Vlad added in as the screens changed once more to show off the pictures of the next two competitors.

"Right on there, this match is a clash of two power-houses. And here they are!" Present Mic replied as the two boys made their way to the stage.

"He is a living dynamo and a walking multi-purpose explosive charge! From the hero course, Katsuki Bakugo!" The blonde hero announced as Bakugo stood at the ready, though he wasn't making his regular aggressive face but looked more…conflicted.

"His opponent is the cool headed student who can brings on the Ice Age! From the hero course, Shoto Todoroki!" Shoto looked much calmer then he did in his first match but nonetheless, he looked ready for action.

"I hope you're ready to lose." Todoroki told him, confident that he will come our victorious in this and take the first step in ensuring another Endeavour comes to being.

"Like Hell you half and half bastard. You better use everything you got otherwise this will mean nothing." Bakugo responded as he got into a combative stance.

"Ready?" Present Mic asked as the two stayed silent, the tension in the air was palpable as even the crowd could feel that this was going to be big fight.

"Start!" And with the announcement, Todoroki didn't waste anything as he slammed his hand onto the ground, creating a massive wave of ice which was heading right for Bakugo.

"This shit again!?" Bakugo yelled as he used his quirk to blast apart the ice as it come for him in rapid succession but within seconds, he found himself overwhelmed by the sheer volume of ice and buried in it.

"And the first and very cold blow, goes to Todoroki!" Present Mic called it as the very stadium shook from the force of the ice hitting home.

"Just like his last match, he pulls no punches! Does he want to keep Bakugo at bay? Is this the end of the match!?" He asked again as they saw no movement from the ice but unless Bakugo vocally or visible surrendered or they could confirm him unfit for more, the match would go on.


(With the students)

"It's not on the same scale as the one he used against Kodai, which was an aimed and planned attack." Honenuki pointed as he noticed that although stupidly big, it wasn't as large as the first one he made earlier.

"Yes, but he's a fool if he thinks that will win him the match." Midoriya said and just as he finished his sentence, they started to both hear and feel something. Something very bad.

"What's with that sound?" Mineta asked as they could feel the distant sounding blasts in their bones.

"It must be Bakugo's doing." Tsuyu suggested as the blasts were slowly but surely getting louder, meaning that they were getting closer.

"The hell he doing in there?" Awase asked as the ice itself started to crack and moan under the strain of this internal assault.

"I have a feeling, we're about to find out." Shoji said and not a moment later, Bakugo blew a hole large enough for him to escape out of the ice. Even from their seats, they could see that he had used his quirk and dug a near perfect circular hole to freedom.

"Did he seriously pull a mole move and dig his way out with his explosions?!" Sero asked, scared out of his mind at the genius but really unconventional tactics of his loudmouth classmate.

"That is weird as hell man!" Kaminari was in full agreement with him on that regard.


(Back on the field)

"Asshole, the stronger the quirk…" Bakugo started as the ice his hands were gripping started to melt from the mini blasts it was setting off. "The less accurate the attacks!" He finished as he blasted himself towards Todoroki, who responded as he tried to grab him with his right hand but Bakugo let loose another explosion, knocking himself to his left before he grabbed onto both his face and shoulder mid-flight.

"He avoided his right side and went straight for his left?" Midoriya asked as he didn't expect Bakugo would adapt so quickly.

"Wow!" Uraraka said as she was amazed that he could make such quick turns while in the air like that.

"You think you can win this whole fucking thing holding back?" Bakugo yelled as he feet came down to the floor, and with a show of strength of outside the box thinking, he threw Todoroki towards the edge of the ring with the added boost of an duel explosion from both hands, slightly burning his face and shoulder. "Get real!" Todoroki, used to the pain of burns, was able to react fast enough by waving his right hand towards the flow, creating a curved wave of ice that not only caught him and allowed him to surf it to a safer spot on the field.

"Despite getting an explosive send-off, Todoroki manages to stay in the ring with a wall of ice!" Present Mic said as Todoroki rode the wave till he deemed himself safe and jumped off it. "Looks like fun!" As soon as he landed, he sent off a wave of pikes towards Bakugo to try and corner him.

"And there it is again! Fight me for real!" Bakugo yelled at him as he used his quirk to blast himself over the icy attack as he blasted one of the spikes off the rest, grabbed it and threw it back to its maker.

"Dammit!" Todoroki said as he was forced to create small shield of ice to protect himself but with his lack of vision, he never saw Bakugo rocketing towards him.

"Give it your best shot, otherwise get off the fucking stage!" Bakugo yelled at him as he hit with him a sick right hook to the face, breaking his nose on impact and knocking him back. That would be that for most but not Bakugo, oh no. even as Todoroki flew through the air from the strike, he let loose rapid fore blasts towards him. Forcing him to instinctively create barriers of ice to shield himself from them.

"And Bakugo brings down the pressure with his rapid fire blasts, is he trying to scorch him?" Present Mic called it as Todoroki was forced on the defensive as anytime he tried to create an attack, he was blown to bits long before it hit its mark.

"He's trying to keep Todoroki on his toes so he can hold the advantage, nothing out of the ordinary there." Vlad explained as Bakugo intensified the attack as the blasts grew in power.

"You really are some one trick pony! It'll take more than some ice fucking cubes to take me down!" Bakugo yelled at him as he begun to close the distance while keeping up the fire.

"You're really," Todoroki started as he wiped the blood leaking from his nose off his face before he created a pillar of ice which he stayed on while he created three spears of ice directed towards Bakugo. Getting him to stop his advance to as to not get ran through. "Starting to bug me." He finished as he jumped off the ice pillar towards Bakugo.

"From above?!" Bakugo said surprised that Todoroki would risk leaving the ground just to get the jump on him. He tried to jump back but Todoroki was able to land fast enough to fire off more ice towards him, the wave catching on the side of his face. "Fuck!"

"Man, I don't think I've ever seen an icy side slap like that!" Present Mic winced as Bakugo was hit back by what was amounted to a bitchslap done with ice.

"Todoroki is thinking outside the ox since it's blatantly clear a direct assault will do nothing." Vlad analysed the fight for the less informed. One the field, Bakugo was able to see that Todoroki was sending another large wave office towards him while he created a wall of ice to shield himself from harm. Sure it blocked his vision but with things as they were, he'll have to think fast to stay in this.

'Shit, he's too close! He planned this!' Bakugo yelled in his head as he saw the incoming ice. It would take more them his regular blasts to destroy it so he made a choice to go beyond. "No choice, no guts," He said as he brought back his right hand and prepped to do something that will hurt like hell. "No glory!" He finished as he let loose a blast much…much stronger than any he had used up till this point. The closest comparison would be the kind of power his gauntlets offer him.

BOOM!

"Jesus, he upped the power to 11!" Midoriya yelled as the blast come into contract with the ice wave and destroyed it in its entirety. Like seriously, the force behind it was still strong enough to impact with Todoroki's icy shield and destroy it as well, knocking him quite the distance away.

"Is he trying to destroy the stage?!" Kaminari asked as the arena looked like a battlefield with blast trenches and isolated melting ice pillars and blocks.

"Fuck that hurts, ass-wipe's really getting creative with that ice." Bakugo said to himself as he could feel main shooting up his right arm. It had been years since he had gone over his limit like that.

"That one was much more powerful than the others," Todoroki started, speaking from behind the screen of smoke and mist. It soon became clear how it was still in this.

'He used the ice as shock absorber!' Bakugo thought to himself as he saw how Todoroki was leaning against three ice blocks he must have created to keep himself from flying out of bounds.

"I didn't picture you as the type to want to keep their distance in a fight." Todoroki finished as he slowly got to his feet.

"Don't worry bout me you half and half bastard," Bakugo said as he rose both arms for combat, though it looked like he was favouring his left side. "I can keep this up all day." And with that, the two went at it again, exchanging ice and blasts, fists and elbows as their quirks ran rampant across the arena.


(With the audience)

"They're already stronger than most pros." One of the people in the crowd said as they watch these two power-houses exchange attacks like this.

"Well what would you expect when one of them is the son of the number two hero?" Another said as Bakugo used his quirk to blast out of the way of an ice attack and fire off his own which was intercepted.

"The other guys no joke either, I wouldn't want to fight him in a dark alleyway." One pro joked, though he was legitimately afraid of the power of the youth these days.


(With the combatants)

"I was expecting more out of this but thanks," Todoroki said as he breathed in more air than usual, this was starting to take its toll on him. Off on the side, Endeavour was watching this match with an expression that screamed displeasure. "His face is all clouded over thanks to you so why don't we end this?" Todoroki said as he laid down his hand on the ground and with his foot still firmly planted, fired off two icy attacks towards Bakugo, one curing around to strike his side and the other dead-on.

"Oh! Todoroki goes on the offensive again!" Present Mic announced as Bakugo didn't move from his spot, most would assume he was giving in due to exhaustion but those who knew him thought otherwise. The former was proven wrong.

"Fuck that!" Bakugo said as he turned both hands towards the ice and going over his limit again, he fired off not one but two extremely powerful blasts, destroying them and blowing Todoroki once more.

"What!" Mitsuki yelled in surprise, she thought her boy was out of his mind, what was he thinking pushing his limits like that?

"How!?" Midoriya was of the same mind as the blonde's mother. In all his years, he had never seen Bakugo be pushed to this extreme before. Was Todoroki that much of a threat, or was there something more to it?

"Oh my." Yaoyorozu spoke up as she could imagine this wouldn't be healthy for the two of them as she had been present when they fought in the USJ.

"Bastard…" Todoroki said as he slowly got to his feet. The frost build-up was really setting in. he could feel the icy burn already. "How the hell did your create that blast?" He asked the other. He had watched him for the entire event, he knew that someone like Bakugo would no doubt make it to the tournament so he watched him from afar but none of his observations accounted for him being able to produce such power without the aid of his gauntlets.

"Look at you, you're trembling." Bakugo breathed out harshly out of the blue, catching the dual haired coloured teen off guard. "Quirks are physical abilities too, you dumb-ass." He went on as he grabbed a hold of his right arm as the pain from before was intensifying. He really went overboard with that one. "There's a limit to how cold your body can get before it can't go any further. And yet here you are with a fuckin ability to solve all that and you don't think you need it?" He asked him, now he had Shoto's full attention as he could only be referring to his other half, the half he had sworn to never use in combat.

"Didn't you hear Deku's damn speech? Every other extra here got the message and is giving this thing everything they have!" And even though he was in a match, Bakugo still was making enemies as just about everyone took offense to that. "If you think you can beat me with just half your power, then get your ass over here so you can lose already!" Bakugo yelled as he stood straight up, his arms may be in serious pain but he was still ready to fight for this.

"Damn you, did my father put you up to this-!" Todoroki started, incensed by the possibility of this being another one of his father's vain attempts to control his life but he was interrupted, by Bakugo letting off a duel blast to draw his attention.

"Shut it, this is between you and me, you icy-hot bastard!" he said as he formed a 'come get me' gesture with one hand and flipped the bird with the other. Though the bird was aimed at the audience where a certain 'Asshole of the Year' stood. Enraged by this, Todoroki ran as fast as he could towards Bakugo to try and end this. However there was a difference between now and the start of the match.

'Just as I thought, his movements…' Bakugo thought to himself as he observed his opponent's sluggish movements.

'Slow. All that frost covering his body must be impeding muscle movements. Just like the USJ.' Midoriya saw it too as he tried to explain how this works to himself. 'So the more he uses, his power, the less combat effective he becomes, just like most magic based characters in RPGs.' He recalled how whenever he played the strictly magic role in the newer version of Elder Scrolls, he would have that problem. The only way to overcome it was to carry magic potions to replenish yourself, use another skill to be a part of a party to cover you while you built up your power. They already knew Todoroki had the second of those options so why wasn't he using it?

'What he used against Kodai must be near his upper limits then.' He asked himself as he recalled how large that attack had been.

"You're too slow!" Meanwhile on the field, Bakugo launched himself towards Todoroki and once more avoided his right side and let off an explosion left side.

"A solid hit!" Present Mic said as Todoroki let out a pained groan from the hit but Bakugo didn't let up. He landed behind Todoroki, grabbed his left arm and using the force of his blast to swing himself around with more force then he normally had, slammed Todoroki into the ground before laying into him with a wicked kick to the gut. Knocking the wind and some spit out of him.

"Fight like you want to win dammit!" He yelled at the boy as he picked him up again and with an explosion to boot, threw him into one of his own left-over ice blocks. The impact causing the ice to form spider-web cracks. "Fight with everything you have!"

"Sound I stop the fight, Midnight." Cementoss asked as he watched as the match slowly devolved into a very violent affair. "Those two are just exchanging blow after blow. Todoroki is obviously started to suffer the drawback of his quirk and it can't be good for Bakugo to just keep blasting off ice." He said with a nervous sweat down his brow as Todoroki was able to grab onto Bakugo's shirt and start to freeze him only for the blonde to counter with a knee to the gut and back-hand to the ear. He didn't think it was a good idea when Bakugo blow off his own shirt to get rid of the ice, injuring himself in the process with light burns. "Even if one wins, at the rate they're going, they'll be unable to compete in the next round."

"Your thoughts on this is noted but they haven't broken any of the rules yet. They also seem to be quite ready for me, even if they just keep pummelling each other like this." Midnight said with an air of serious business nature to her as she had the same sentiments. "Let them continue, at least a little longer."

"Why…?" Todoroki asked as he felt his frostbite build up to dangerous levels. "Why are you going this far?"

"Isn't it obvious, you half and half bastard?" Bakugo answered as he narrowed his eyes at him. "Everyone here, we all want to achieve our dreams. To see them realized. I always been a terrible person but even I know that. Deku is fucking quirkless and look at him!" He said as he pointed towards their booth, getting some of the cameras to focus there as well fast enough for them to catch the surprised look on the green haired boy's face.

"The hell did he have to say that for?" Midoriya asked as he held the bridge of his nose as he could feel this will cause him a hell of a lot of issues down the line.

"He's our class rep, the smartest one of us and even though he can't spit acid or make lighting pop out his ass, he's still standing among us, why?" Bakugo asked as he let loose some small blasts to get the feeling back in his hands, touching all this ice was starting to get to him. "Because he puts in more time, more effort, more blood, sweat and tears than any of us!"

"I won't let you win this shit if you didn't put your all into it!" Bakugo said as he took a running start towards Todoroki, it was time he used his trump card.

"I won't use it, do you hear me!" Todoroki responded, showing more anger and frustration than his class(or anyone, really)was used to seeing from the boy as he knelt down as if getting ready for something big.

"Then I'll make you!" Bakugo answered as he took to the skies with a painful but powerful blast with his quirk. In response to this, Todoroki put everything he had left and then some into his next attack as he slammed his hand down onto the stage and let loose a tidal wave of ice and frost that was not only the largest one of his match but even larger than the one he used against Kodai earlier.

"What the hell is that? Is his super-move from before making a comeback?" Present Mic yelled as his eyes nearly fell out of his head from the shock, though he was also concerned about Shoto's health as he like the rest of the teachers knew about how he suffers from frostbite when he overuses the one half of his quirk, hell before Shoto even launched the mega ice attack-he looked like he was a half snow-cone.

'If you're gonna stand on this stage,' Bakugo thought to himself as he brought his arms to his chest and started to fire off his quick in slowly increasing succession, causing his body to start to rotate and gain even speed, how impossible that may have sounded. 'Then do so with the fucking drive to stand at the top!' He finished the thought as he pushed through the pain in his hands and palms as he willed his quirk to activate.

"Howitzer," He started as the palms of his hands begun to glow as the sweat closest to his skin ignited. "Impact!" he yelled as he drove head first into the overwhelming torrent of ice and slammed both hands onto the surface of the frost. The blast created from his super move was one many in the crowd had never laid witness to before and most likely would never see again.

BOOM!

"Oh-oh! He added momentum and rotation to the huge blast! A human High Explosive Shell!" Present Mic yelled as he fell out of his chair from the shockwave as the ice was blown to bits or melted. But he quickly got back up.

"And not even Todoroki's Ship killer iceberg could stand up to that power of it!" He went on as he looked towards the cloud and ash, smoke and frost to see that for all intents and purposes, the ice wave Todoroki unleashed had been destroyed in its entirety.

"But the question remains, who's still standing?" Vlad said as not even Cementoss and Midnight, who had both been knocked back by the force of the explosion, could see a thing through all the cover. Like the many pros, parents, civilians and students watching, they would have to wait and see.


(With the students)

"Oh Lord." Shiozaki breathed out as she had laid witness to what she never thought she would ever see. Her class was with her on the unbelieving part, even though they had all seen it with their own eyes.

"Jesus Christ, he can do that?" Awase asked weakly as he recalled how he was teamed up with that guy.

"Just much power to do have, Katsuki?" Midoriya asked quietly as not even he, who had known the fiery blonde their whole lives could have foreseen such a devastating attack, not without aid from somewhere.

"How is it possible one person have the power to carpet bomb an area like that?" Tsunotori asked, unknowingly switching to her native tongue in her shock and slight fear.

"Explain to me again why he wasn't a recommendations student?" Kirishima asked though he didn't look at Yaoyorozu, who like him was stunned by this level of power.

"The smoke's clearing." Jiro pointed out as the smoke and frost begun to clear up to allow them to see that both were still standing, thought Todoroki looked like he couldn't even more with his right side all but covered in ice.


(On the field)

"Amazing folks, despite it all, both are still standing!" Present Mic announced as he could see that Cementoss was about to call the match, but it looked like he was waiting to see if they tried to continue as one student had gone far beyond his limits and was paying for it while the other's arms were handing limply from his side, almost as if he could barely use them.

"I(huff) going to(huff) ask you(huff) one more fucking time(huff). Are you going to use that fire already(huff)?" Bakugo huffed out as the pain shooting through his arms was near unbearable. He had never, ever! Pushed himself to such a degree but it was what was needed to get him to this point. Though he would have to see the damn nurse again after this.

"(huff)….(huff)…Never." Todoroki got out thought it was obvious that he was ironically really feeling the cold as his entire right side appeared to be covered in frost and ice. Even speaking looked to be a challenge for him as the right cheek was looking to be as stiff as a board. His answer at this point didn't surprise Bakugo, it didn't even anger him, no. All it did was bring about a sense of pity he didn't know he'll feel for him.

.

.

.

"I see." Bakugo said as he felt the fires of his competitive spirit die out at the lack of resolve for win in his opponent. "Then this is pointless." He said as he tiredly turned around and started to walk away.

"What are you…" Todoroki asked him but paused mid-way as he felt his vision blur. But he could hear the finals words of his opponent for this fight.

"If you're not going to live by the school motto then I don't see the damn purpose in fighting someone who isn't taking this seriously like everyone else here." Bakugo said as he reached the boundary line and looked at it before turning his head to look at Todoroki in the eye. "I won't become him, not anymore…and as much as I hate to admit, I have you to thank you….but I refuse to accept a victory if you'll pulling your punches." He finished his little speech as he stepped out of the line and started to limp away, leaving a stunned crowd and confused Todoroki who soon fell down and passed out.

"Huh…Bakugo is out of bounds….Todoroki wins?" Midnight called it but like everyone else, she didn't have frickin clue as to what the hell just happened. Hell, the only person left in the ring was unconscious and was about to wheeled off by the medical bots.

"Is…Is that it…?" One of the people watching asked, confused as all hell.

"I…think so….why he quit?" Another asked as it was clear to them that if he had stayed in the ring about few seconds, he would have won after Todoroki collapsed. It's not like he didn't noticed, the guy looked like a strong wind would knock him down with all stiff he appeared to be.

"Vladdy, have we ever had s forfeit cause I sure don't recall such a thing?" Present Mic asked as he removed his glasses to make sure he was seeing things right.

"Not in the last 15 years. This is very unusual. But that fact is that Todoroki will move on to the Semi-finals." Vlad said as he looked this up on his phone for goodness sake as this wasn't one of things they thought they would need pre-prepared notes for.

"Yeah but from the looks of things," Present Mic said as the medical bots picked up Todoroki and carried off their apocalyptically war-torn arena. "I don't think he'll be cleared for it in time."


(With the students)

"Did he just…?" Kaminari asked.

"Yes." Yaoyorozu answered the unasked question.

"And Todoroki will…?" Sero asked as he didn't think what he saw was right, it couldn't be.

"Yes." Shoji answered him but he himself looked like he didn't believe what he had just witness.

"This is fucked up." Midoriya said as he could have never seen such a brutal and….emotional charged? Match between the two of them. That the hell had happened between the two of them since they never dropped any good details other than the fact Todoroki refused to use his fire. He had an idea but the consequences of such an idea being true…..

"And yes again." Jiro said as he leaned back into her seat as she tried to process that…bout.

"As much as I would love to stay and talk about this, I'm due to make a call to my brother." Iida, trying to distract himself from this-stood up and pulled out his phone.

"Give him our love." Uraraka said waved at him as he walked off, though she did think him walking off to call his brother was out of no-where.

"I will be sure to inform him that my classmates have passed greetings!" Iida answered as he chopped his hands before he walked off to find a quiet spot.

"Man he's really stiff." Hagakure said, seeing a chance to change the tone of the conversation.

"Needs a girl in his life." Kaminari said with a weak chuckle as he thought of ways he could avoid setting off Bakugo and Todoroki.

"Probably but who?" Asui asked as she would have thought he and Uraraka would end up a thing but then again, it hadn't been too long since they all met and Uraraka was just one of his friends.

(Later)

"Hmmm, wonder what he's doing? He said he'll take a break today to watch the festival with mother and father." Iida thought to himself as he looked down at his phone. He had tried his brother's cell three separate times. He had called the family agency and they had informed him that he had come in for work, but why? "It's probable nothing." He said as he tried to calm himself. He didn't know how but for some reason…

He felt like something very bad was going to happen.

.

.

.


(Meanwhile, in the city of Hosu)

"Squad A, take the north side. Squad B, the west area is yours. We'll handle the east side and all meet up for the south." Iida Tensei, the current Ingenium said over his com-link as he and two of his side-kicks ran along the rather empty streets of the city of Hosu.

"Squad A, roger!"

"Squad B, roger!"

In the distance they could hear the sirens of the police as they too conducted their own search. Their target was a villain who had recently killed 3 pros in Hosu alone. Tensei would have left this to the local heroes and police but after the chief of the Police personally asked him to help, he decided to do so. They had been searching for around 20 minutes now and were about to try another area when one of his side-kicks noticed movement in one of the alleyways.

"What was that?" He asked as they came to a halt with Ingenium being quick on his feet, activating his quirk and jetting off in the direction he was spotted. He jumped up a building and looked onto the alley and sure enough, he saw someone matching the admittedly vague description standing over a body.

"There's no mistaking that appearance, it's him!" Ingenium said as he landed in the alley way and quickly turned to the threat. He could hear his side-kicks catching up meaning he'll have support in about a minute or so.

"Call it in, we've located him," Ingenium said as he was able to see that the body was another pro, and the suspect was clearly the killer going by the bloodied sword he was still wielding. "The Hero Killer!" He finished as the Hero Killer turned to face him as he braced for combat. He couldn't see much but he could make out what little light in the alley way as it reflected off the chirp but deadly blade. He didn't know it but…

This wasn't going to be a usual hero villain fight. Not a usual one at all.


And there you have it, the chapter is done and I was able to cover the rest of the quarter finals so next chapter we can move onto the final four. I admit that I was planning to make this chapter a regular one at around 7.5 to 8k words but then I got on a role and saw that I still needed to put in the main event from which the chapter got its name(That part alone took over 4k words to complete). The Kendo vs Tokoyami match was a little challenging to write as the you have yet to fight each other so I had to create the entire thing from scratch, also I know that Tokoyami could have called back Dark Shadow but he was surprised by her tactic which gave her the time to do her own attack as I can't imagine anyone has ever used his quirk against him in such a fashion.

Kirishima's own fight was nothing to worry about as Shinso from what we see during the festival, has a way of getting under people's skin and since they had no idea how his quirk is triggered. Eijiro had no chance. I was able to add more to the characters I was able to reveal more on my version of both Izuku himself but also their parents. Mitsuki being like that is my way of showing that like her son, she can be extremely blunt and uncaring about the audience, she's also little but prideful in her looks as many a fan had shipped her with Midoriya for God knows why(Izuku is younger than Katsuki by almost a full 2 mouths!) There was also a cameo of another pair of parents which looked kinda homely on the BNHA ova so I thought, why not add them?

Another moment I was proud of was introducing the Tokoyami family which yes, all have visible markers such as the red eyes and/or dark hair/feathers. Since Tokoyami plays a larger role here than in cannon, I wanted to flush out his home life and family much like the main characters in cannon so expect them to make more appearances soon but not too much as their part in the story is down the line. Like season 3 down the line. I did throw in the whole 'Bakugo announcing to the world that Midoriya is quickless' which will came back to bite him, I assure you but not in the ways you would expect.

Now with the Katsuki affair. I feel like his redemption in cannon wasn't really done as he never made amends or even apologise to any of the people he picked on and his last exchange with Izuku ended with more a cease fire where he stopped picking on him…that's it. So I'm trying to give him a proper redemption as we all read how he realizes his faults and his flaws but he hasn't figured out how to handle them all as you can't just know that. His encounter with Endeavour was to reinforce this was he sees for himself what he could become if he doesn't watch himself…and it scares him. He does take a page from Midoriya and tries to help Shoto(a victim of the type of thinking he has coming to hate) to use his full power but unlike Midoriya, he doesn't break himself doing it nor lose but rather he gives up…he still has pride so he walks away. Since he doesn't say the same things as Izuku he didn't achieve his goal of him using fie but he did make progress as Shoto will have to deal with his own issues soon. Namely how Bakugo thanked him and promised he wouldn't become the next Endeavour, he will be conflicted like cannon because of this change of things.

Lastly, I set up the beginnings of the stain arc with the only change being, Ingenium wasn't alone as I found it strange that the pro who believed in teamwork was alone when he was searching for Stain. He had over 50 side-kicks working at his agency and there must have been many more pros around Hosu as he see like over a dozen fighting the Nomu who attack the place, surely he could have had one of them with him at the time. It can't because they don't want to give stain a higher body count as according to the wiki page, Stain had quite the rap sheet with around 17 known Pro heroes he had killed and another 23 that he crippled to the point where would never make a full recovery-like Tensei. This isn't mentioned in the anime from what I remember(If I'm wrong, please say so and mentioned which episode said this). This man had a trail of blood and bodies in his wake with the added bonus of no-on knowing what his quirk was or how it worked so why would Ingenium, who wasn't even in the top ten pro heroes prior to his retirement from active hero work, a man who believed in working in a team, search for such a target by his lonesome?

It's gonna end the same way as cannon but it's the principle dammit.