"Congrats, Mo! You were amazing!"
She blushed at Izuku's statement, as well as the look he was giving her as if she had just pulled off the most amazing thing he had ever seen. She looked away from him just to see Itsuka giving her a shit-eating grin.
"You really did do well out there Momo! Is Sero alright? I would guess that getting tased isn't particularly pleasant." Momo shrugged but had a worried look on her face.
"I'm sure he's fine. The bullets didn't have a high charge, just enough to knock him unconscious. While this is a tournament, I would never aim to injure a classmate." Izuku and Itsuka nodded in agreement.
Izuku smiled at her before turning away and walking back over to Kirishima, who he had been talking too before Momo had shown up. Itsuka just wrapped her arm around Momo's shoulder.
"So, Momo. You talked to Izuku yet? Or are you waiting until the end of the festival?" Momo sighed and shook her head.
"I haven't talked to him yet. It's just so nerve-wracking! What if you and Mirio miss-read how he feels about me? What if I ruin our friendship and make things awkward between us? I know it's unlikely, but I still worry."
Itsuka just nodded at her and was seemingly about to start talking again when Present Mic's voice erupted over the field again.
"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! WE ARE MOVING ON TO THE NEXT MATCH! EVERYONE CLASP YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR THE LEAN MEAN GREEN MACHINE, IBARA SHIOZAKI!"
Ibara walked out onto the field looking a little confused and upset about her introduction, but forgave Present Mic and waved to the crowd with a smile.
"And next we have the winner of the first event, the Pink Queen of Gadgets, welcome Mei Hatsume!"
Mei walked out onto the stage covered in the tech, waving at the crowd with both hands while giving them the biggest grin they had ever seen. Surely someone's face stretching that much was unhealthy!
Midnight stepped up to the arena and looked at both of the girls.
Alright you two! You both understand the rules?
Getting nods from both of the girls, she smiled and raised her whip.
Excellent! Then you may… BEGIN!
Ibara immediately shot a few vines forward in an attack very similar to what Sero had tried. She was disappointed when they whipped past Mei as the pink-haired girl was lifted by some stilts from her backpack.
"Normally I would have just used this as an advertisement, but Izuku said it would look better if I got further! I reckon he made a good point! So I'll get to show off more babies next round! Sorry about this plant-hair!"
Mei used her stilts to dodge Ibara's vines, before pulling something out of her backpack. She spent a second fiddling with some valves before the front of the contraption lit up with a small blue flame.
"IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?!"
Mei was holding a flamethrower, obviously of her own design, and was currently using it to enclose her opponent in a circle of fire.
She was about to finish enclosing Ibara when vines erupted from the ground below her wrapping around the front of the flamethrower and crushing it.
Now that Mei wasn't shooting fire everywhere, Ibara used her vines to shoot forward out of the gap in the ring of fire. She flung her vines out while Mei was looking at her flamethrower, looking like she was in pain, and caught her around the ankle.
Using her vines, she flung Mei to the right, heading towards the side of the ring. Mei smiled as she grabbed something off of her belt, and cut through the vines on her legs, using the stilts to stay in the field.
"I guess this is a good showing as well! You're really letting me show off how good my babies are to all the investors!"
Ibara furrowed her brow and glared at the girl. "Please treat this as an actual battle! If you don't, you will see how your pride will condemn you!"
Mei just cackled in response. She dodged another swipe from the vines before reaching into her backpack again, bringing out two blue orbs. She threw one at Ibara's feet, and she dodged, expecting an explosion.
Instead, ice spread from the point of impact, rooting (heh) Ibara to the floor. Before she was able to use her vines to break the ice, the other orb landed, surrounding her torso, pinning her vines to her sides and stomach.
"MEI HATSUME PUTS HER OPPONENT ON ICE! WHAT WILL SHIOZAKI DO NEXT?"
Ibara started struggling, trying to get out of the Ice, when Mei appeared in her field of vision, a metal pole ready to smack her. Wanting to avoid both getting a concussion and making more work for Recovery Girl, Ibara stilled.
Midnight smiled at the girl apologetically. Ibara Shiozaki! Are you able to move?
Ibara shook her head. "No, I am not, not without being hit by my opponent with their weapon. I forfeit."
Midnight cracked her whip and smiled up at Present Mic, who started yelling again.
"AND THERE WE HAVE IT! WITH THIS BATTLE'S CHILLING CONCLUSION, MEI HATSUME HAS MOVED ONTO THE NEXT ROUND!"
Mei walked over to Ibara and broke the ice around her feet and torso with her staff. "Sorry if you have a bit of chill plant-hair! I reckoned that my cryo-babies would be best to immobilise you!"
Ibara merely smiled sadly as the two girls walked off the stage. "I must commend you for your performance Hatsume, you performed exceptionally well."
Mei just smiled at her as she skipped off to her seat.
"Just remember my name when you're asking for support equipment!"
Nezu's paws blurred slightly as he tapped away at his keyboard.
He had been looking into the history of the Todoroki family since Aizawa left. He had already noted down a few things. Medical records for the children, including Shoto's burn scar and the eldest, Touya's, multiple 4th-degree burns.
Luckily it seemed like the other two children, Fuyumi and Natsuo, had avoided major injuries over their life.
He frowned as he read through Rei Todoroki's medical reports. Her initial report stated that she had entered a state of psychosis, and was the cause of Shoto's burn. His frown deepened as he started reading more up to date reports.
From what these were telling him, Rei Todoroki had been well enough to leave for almost 10 years now, but had been held for 'monitoring' and 'safety reasons'. Nezu called bullshit.
He cracked his neck as he prepared to start some deep research into the group of doctors that held her in the hospital. If Endeavour was going down, Nezu needed proof, lots of it.
Luckily, this was what he did best.
Izuku gave a quick wave as he walked down to the waiting rooms.
He could vaguely hear roaring fire, meaning Mei was using her flamethrower. He worried for Ibara and gave her a brief prayer so she didn't get her hair all burnt off before arriving at the waiting room.
He wasn't there for long. He got to see Mei use ice on Ibara, and then Ibara had forfeited. Izuku saw Cementoss step up to the field and start to reshape it, so all Izuku really had to wait for was the ring to be fixed.
He was pumped and ready for this fight. His opponent for this match? Monoma Neito. Also known as the blonde douchebag that pissed him off after the USJ.
Eventually, the field was fixed, and Present Mic's voice came over the intercom. "ALRIGHT YOU GUYS, CAN MONOMA NEITO AND IZUKU MIDORIYA HEAD TOWARDS THE FIELD!"
Izuku jumped up, hyping himself up, and started jogging towards the field, smirking.
He was so ready to make good on his promise to crush the boy in this fight.
"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! OUR FIRST CONTESTANT FOR THIS MATCH IS NEITO MONOMA! NO-ONE KNOWS WHAT TRICKS HE HAS UP HIS SLEEVES!"
Monoma sauntered up to the stage with his hands in his pockets, smirking. Right before this fight, he had tapped Reiko, Honenuki and Kamakiri, and had copied their Quirks. He was sure that with the combos he could do using their quirks , he would easily overpower Izuku.
AND OUR OTHER CONTESTANT IS IZUKU MIDORIYA! HE CAME SECOND IN THE OBSTACLE COURSE, AS WELL AS THE MANHUNT, BUT HASN'T REALLY SHOWN OFF HIS QUIRK!"
Izuku stepped onto the stage and bowed towards Monoma, attempting to throw the boy off-guard. Monoma was probably expecting an angry fighter, due to the 'incident' after the USJ.
It seemed to work, as Monoma gave a half-hearted bow back, looking slightly confused. As he did so, Midnight cracked her whip.
You both understand the rules? Wonderful. You may… BEGIN!
Izuku grabbed onto Monoma's Quirk and smothered it, nearly laughing out loud when Monoma slammed his foot to the ground behind yelping in confusion. He ran forward, intent on ending this fight quickly.
Monoma seemed to take a second before recovering and got his guard up right as Izuku's punch slammed into it. He was pushed back a few centimetres and hissed as he shook his arms while Izuku just smirked.
"What's the matter Monoma? Having a bit of trouble with your Quirk? That's such a shame!" He laughed as Monoma glared at him.
Monoma just shrugged while giving an obviously fake laugh."You 1-A bastard, you didn't think you could take me in a fight, so you resorted to trickery! Just what I would expect from-"
Smack!
He was cut off mid-sentence by a punch to his cheek that put him on his ass. His hand snapped up to his cheek to hold it as he growled. "You sly dog! You got me monologuing!"
Izuku just nodded as Monoma stood back up, and got himself into a fighting stance. Just from the stance, Izuku could tell that Monoma had no formal training.
"No Monoma, the stance you're going for looks like this-" putting himself into the stance that Monoma had been attempting to do, and internally laughed when the boy huffed in anger and charged at him.
He easily sidestepped the clumsy charge and kneed the boy in the gut, taking a step back when Monoma collapsed. He then grabbed the boy's collar and dragged him to the side of the field.
"There, I fulfilled my promise to you Monoma, now pull your head out of your ass, alright? 1-B is meant to be 1-A's 'sister class', not our enemy." Finished with his speech, he threw Monoma over the edge of the field.
Midnight was silent for a second, before joining the crowd in cheering.
Monoma Neito is out of bounds! Izuku Midoriya wins!
Izuku waited for the medi-bots to arrive and placed Monoma down on the stretcher. He waved to the robot at the front. "Tell Recovery Girl I'm sorry alright? I was just proving a point, didn't wanna hurt him this much."
The robot made a noise that could be taken as a huff, and its head bobbed as it nodded. Izuku followed them off the field and into the hallways.
He smiled as he heard the crowd cheering for him. He wondered if anyone had figured out what his Quirk was yet…
"Boss, you gotta see this!"
The man looked away from his microscope and looked over to his underling. He was holding a tablet with a video from the UA sports festival on it. It was showcasing a plain-looking blonde boy with light green roots in his hair.
The man huffed. "What is it? I am busy right now and have no time for distractions." The underling shook his head.
"Don't worry boss, this is worth your time, just watch this fight." So the man did. And he saw why his underling brought this to him.
He saw the other blond boy attempt to use his Quirk at the start of the match, only for it to fail. The plain-looking one… Izuku Midoriya turned his Quirk off.
"Well done my friend, you did well bringing this to my attention. Go get something to eat, leave the tablet here." The underling nodded and placed the tablet down on the table.
Overhaul smiled as he re-watched the recording of the fight.
'Izuku Midoriya…'
'Your Quirk might be just what I need for my designs…"
