Hello, it's RLeb10. It's time to get started with the second round of the Battle Tournaments in the Sports Festivals. And it's gonna go off with a big bang. Leave a review and to continue reading this story, favorite and follow.

Chapter 25: A Battle Between Generations

Inside Waiting Room 2:

Kazume was able to catch up with Midoriya as they reached the waiting room to check on the bruised Uraraka. She wore a bandage on her left cheek and still had a bit of burn marks on her arms, yet she was still able to smile when she saw her friends arrive.

"Oh hi guys. Glad to see you two drop by to check up on me, but I'm fine. I just can't believe I lost. I almost had it," she sighed, a little bit of a warble in her tone, a watery smile, almost keeping back tears.

"Well I'm glad you're feeling alright Uraraka. I guess Kacchan really did a number on you, and almost twisted the knife…" Izuku mumbled, a cold slice of hatred for Kacchan took root, he almost seriously hurt her. How could he still roll over about that? Kazume looked ready to kick his ass.

"Are you sure you look 'okay' Uraraka? I mean… Bakugo wiped the fucking floor with ya and almost put an exclamation point on you if Cementoss didn't stop him. You went through all that shit and you're smiling? I'm sorry but I don't buy that," explained Kazume, knowing that something is up with Uraraka.

Uraraka sighed, "I guess I can't get anything past you, huh?"

"I got past Denki in 2.5 seconds, what makes you think you could do the same to me?" Kazume replied.

"It's just… I was really hoping that my strategy would work… now it's… ugh, it's…" Uraraka was crumbling down, her watery voice and shaking shoulders showed how she was really feeling. Kazume remembered her drive to be a hero…

"I want to become a pro. I'll sign up to a big agency and make lots of money so my parents can live an easier life," said Uraraka (From Chapter 19).

Even if Kazume didn't know what exactly drove him aside from sticking it to his shitty brother, there was something about that motive that made the inner child that was still clinging to him start to cry. He forgot all about his own parents, something about that motive was oddly pure when he thought about it again.

She wasn't doing it for herself, but her parents. Even though his childhood was worse to about fine, with David and Melissa making it a little brighter, he still never understood why someone would go this far for their parents.

But he still knew that one day he'd get to understand on his own. He wasn't good with words or feelings or anything like that, but he just put his hand on her uninjured shoulder and let her cry it out.

That's the least he could do, but he had a feeling he'd fuck it up if he spoke. Never again, after that lash out a while back.

"You really think a life-threatening job like being a hero is gonna help your worthless family live easy lives?! SET YOUR FUCKING PRIORITIES STRAIGHT, URARAKA! You could possibly die out there in the hero world and your parents would be more devastated than they already are!" lashed out Pain towards Uraraka. (from Chapter 19)

"Uh, Midoriya? Don't you have a matchup coming up with that half and half piece of shit? Better get going. The two of us will be there to cheer you on," said Kazume.

"Yeah… great…." Izuku mumbled.

Meanwhile, Kazume and Uraraka headed back with the rest of the class. Tenya was of course worried about Uraraka, in fact, everyone was. After that barbaric display of power from Bakugo, everyone was relieved that she could still move and breathe. And speak of the devil, Bakugo had just arrived to take his seat.

"Wow, who knew Bakugo would play so good as the villain in that fight," said Sero.

"Yeah…. It kinda scared me," Denki admitted.

"Definitely not manly at all. Uraraka would've gotten seriously hurt if he kept on goin',"

"OH WILL YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP, YA IDIOTS?! I GAVE HER MULTIPLE CHANCES TO JUST FUCKING SURRENDER, BUT SHE DIDN'T BOTHER STANDING DOWN! IT'S LIKE SHE HAD SOMETHING TO FIGHT FOR OR SOMETHING!" yelled Bakugo.

"Good thing too, 'cause she almost could've had her fingerprints on you and made you fly away. You're not as strong as you think, isn't that right, Uraraka?" said Kazume, trying to cheer his friend up.

"Tch, whatever," Bakugo scoffed.

Uraraka smiled a little bit, feeling a little better, 'I tried my best, that's all that matters…' she thought.

Uraraka's flip phone was buzzing, with the contact name of the caller 'Daddy'.

"Hold on, I gotta go make a call," said Uraraka, as she walked out on Kazume and her classmates to chat with her dad.

Somewhere in the Hallway

Izuku was walking down the long hallway to get ready for his match against Todoroki. However, as he approached an intersecting hallway on his right, Endeavor walked in on him, looking forward to having a chat with the future One For All user.

"U-uh… h-hi E-Endeavor," Izuku stuttered at the large fiery hero. He came out of nowhere.

"Oh, there you are. I've been wanting to talk to you, young man," said Endeavor.

"W-what is it t-that you want to talk a-about?" asked Midoriya.

"While I was watching my son being a complete disappointment, I was surprised by your quirk that you used on that Punisher wannabe. It almost looked quite similar to the Symbol of Peace himself. Either way, you could be an excellent test that will determine how much he has left on fulfilling his purpose to surpass All Might," explained the flaming bastard.

"I'm sorry but you've got it all wrong. I'm not like All Might, and Todoroki isn't like you either. And Kazume… he's just Kazume. I must get going, it was a good talk," said Midoriya as he walked past Endeavor.

He scooched away. Keeping his head down.

"Hold it," Endeavor stated, "I think you're the push my disappointment needs to get back in my good graces. Make him use his left side,"

Izuku continued to walk away, leaving the number two hero feeling satisfied. Finally his youngest creation would realize his full potential.

Izuku gulped, nervousness coursing through his system like ice water, seeing his name next to Todoroki's was… a shock. More than a shock, it was a horror show waiting to happen. He didn't want to become an Izu-sicle! What was his mom going to do to thaw him out?! And what Endeavor said… it made his stomach turn into stone, do jumping jacks, and do a flying leap into an active volcano.

He had to force one of the strongest students in his class to use his other side? Was the Number Two Hero insane?! He'd be toast! No, worse than that… HE'D BE BLACKENED! All he could do was be nervous. If he didn't do it… who knows what'll happen?

It was even worse when he factored in that maybe he'd fight Kazume, too. So it was a trial by ice and fire, and after that… nothing short of a massacre.

Round 2, Match 1: Izuku Midoriya vs. Shoto Todoroki

"Phew, glad the match hasn't started yet," said Uraraka, as she finished with her phone call with her dad. She had tear tracks on her face and was still sniveling a little bit.

"Uh Uraraka, what happened to you? Do you need to see Recovery Girl?" asked Iida.

"No, I'm fine. I was just… chatting with daddy, that's all," replied Uraraka.

"I see," said Kazume, understanding what went down with her chat. He felt bad for her, unable to continue impressing the employers.

"So I know Deku isn't around to predict the outcomes for us, since he's fighting and all. So Kazume, how do you think the fight will go down? Any chance Deku comes out on top?" asked Uraraka.

"Uhh… I'm not quite sure. Todoroki would go all out with freezing Izuku until he can't move, or… until he fucks every single bone in his body. I think there could be a chance," replied Kazume.

"You really think so?" asked Uraraka.

"Sure…" replied Kazume, feeling unsure about his chances.

'He's so fucked!' said Pain inside Kazume's head.

'Shut up! But… I just hope not' replied Kazume to his other form.

"AALLLL RIGHT FOLKS! IT'S TIME FOR THE SECOND ROUND TO BEGIN WITH A BIG BANG! WE GOT OURSELVES A CLASH OF TITANS! THE BONE-SHATTERER IZUKU MIDORIYA VS. THE LOVECHILD OF THE HUMAN TORCH AND ICEMAN SHOTO TODOROKI! WHOEVER WINS IS ANYONE'S GUESS!" announced Mic on the loudspeakers.

The crowd went wild. Not only did the son of Endeavor, who'd already shown them a taste of his power was fighting. But the plucky green underdog was fighting, too?! It made them ecstatic. It wasn't echoed in either fighter, however.

"Bring it!" exclaimed Todoroki.

"Right back at ya," replied Midoriya.

"BEGIN!" yelled

In an instant, Todoroki formed a row of ice shards towards Midoriya, which he countered back with a Delaware Smash, shattering the ice. The wind force from Midoriya's smash knocked Todoroki back, so he quickly restrained himself by forming ice behind to prevent being knocked out of bounds.

'Of course, he won't hesitate to break his fingers to break my ice, which means it won't be long until he breaks all of his fingers,' thought Todoroki, seeing Izuku's index finger on his right hand go red, meaning the bones inside it were shattered from his quirk.

Todoroki formed another row of ice towards Midoriya once again, and once again the same result, this time breaking his middle finger.

'Gotta keep going. He's gonna run out of bones in no time,' thought Todoroki.

'Crap, at this pace, I won't have any fingers left! Gotta find an opening, quick!' thought Midoriya.

For the third time, Todoroki sends a row of ice shards, Izuku had to use his right ring finger to break it once again. All that was left in Izuku's mind is his pinkie, since he had yet to find a way to do a Delaware Smash with his thumb.

"I see you're trying to endure through my ice attacks. Well it's time for me to end this real quick," said Todoroki.

He didn't hesitate to form another row of ice, but this time, he rode on top of it to engage on the One For All user. Izuku used the remaining pinkie finger to form a Delaware Smash on the ice. Todoroki closed in on Midoriya, slamming his right fist on the ground where Midoriya was… if he didn't jump out the way. Without hesitating, he formed a large shard on the airborne Midoriya, almost freezing his entire left leg. Izuku had to think quickly before he got immobilized. Izuku formed a fist with his left hand and used a Detroit Smash to break the ice as well as knock Todoroki all the way back to the other side. Todoroki formed ice behind him to form a wall to prevent himself from being knocked out of bounds.

Izuku bit back the pain, he was rapidly losing more and more fingers to flick at Todoroki. His left arm fell limply by his side, he was internally screeching. More from pain and misery. Even more from nervousness and fear.

Then, a lucky break came in when he saw Todoroki's right arm starting to frost over. He didn't know what else to do, but he knew that if he stood his ground a little more, he could eventually take out Todoroki.

"It seems that your luck is about to run out. Good thing too because I can see my bastard of a dad staring down at me in disappointment as I refuse to use his cursed power," said Todoroki, glancing to his right where Endeavor was watching.

Todoroki launched another row of ice to make his finishing move to a broken Midoriya, but he refused to quit. Midoriya countered with a Delaware Smash on his already broken index finger on his right hand. The finger changed color from red to purple, causing more internal damage.

"With your broken finger? Why do you want to go on? What are you trying to prove?!" exclaimed Todoroki in frustration.

"Look at yourself. You're starting to frost and shiver on your arm. Everyone has a limit with their quirk, but you have two combined into one that can compliment each other. However, you refused to use your fire to burn off the frost forming on your arm. We're giving it our all to be here and win while you only want to use half your strength. You think I'm done yet? You didn't even land a single blow on me," Izuku formed a fist on his damaged right hand, "SO GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOT!"

"What has gotten into you, Midoriya? You really want my fire? Let me guess, did that piece of shit paying you or something to lash out my flames?! FUCK THAT!" Todoroki charged towards Midoriya at a bit of a slower speed than usual.

The frost was straining his muscles a bit on his right side, thus making his movement slower. As he closed in on the One For All user, Izuku was ready to counterattack with a Detroit Smash charged up on his right fingers as he formed a fist. Midoriya successfully punched Todoroki on his chest, knocking him back, however, the son of Endeavor was able to freeze his left arm before taking the hit.

Todoroki this time was able to stay in bounds without forming ice behind him since Midoriya held back with his smash in order to not fatally hurt Todoroki. Midoriya's purple fingers on his right hand started to bleed out.

The crowd gasped all at once as Izuku screamed out in pain, mixed with cornered rage. Blood rained down on the cement, his teeth gritted. He hated being cornered like this, all that bottled-up pain and rage from seeing what Kacchan did to Uraraka and the frustration at not being strong enough to at least control his power was getting to him. All Might was watching. His dream was right there. Right there over the next challenge and the one after that.

And Izuku Midoriya had enough. Tired of being pushed around, seeing the writing on the wall from how Shoto referred to his father, he was being pushed so that Shoto could be used as a tool.

Izuku couldn't truly understand, but he could empathize. They both had something to prove. Something they were both fighting for, breaking the molds they were placed in and proving their doubters or torturers wrong.

Izuku knew that he had to give it his all, and it wasn't because Todoroki's father told him to. It was because he wanted this. He wanted to prove something to Kacchan, he wanted to prove something to All Might and his mother who was watching from home…

That he could take it. That he could stand at the pinnacle and not be stopped. He screamed again, a roar of challenge to all his foes past and future, screaming out that he'd break himself to build another, screaming that he'd bear the weight of One For All and screaming that he'd even die to see the world he wanted to make.

He charged in, tears streaming down his face, screaming… feeling the wind scream with him against his face, he had the spirit and drive of a hero…

And he felt heat. Blazing, burning, baking the air, even if Izuku didn't make contact, he felt what he did.

"Why? Why do you wanna go this far? Just for me to light up a fire? You know what that bastard did to me!" asked Todoroki.

"STILL! IT'S YOUR POWER! YOURS! ALL YOURS! HE ONLY HAS THE ONE POWER, BUT YOU HAVE TWO! YOU'RE ALREADY BETTER THAN HIM! YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE HIM!" Izuku roared, even if he didn't understand he related Kacchan to Endeavor, how they were similar. How they both wanted to become heroes despite their pasts. They both buried the pain, and there was nothing but Izuku and Shoto, two sides of the same coin.

They both wanted to be great heroes like All Might, and Izuku could see it in Shoto's eyes, see that inner desire to become better than his past. Yet he also had a small smile, as if remembering something or someone important to him that wasn't there.

Izuku charged in, "SMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as a stream of flame roared out to meet him, he plowed through a cement block, completely finished.

Shoto's flames extinguished and Izuku fell to the arena floor, finished off. Yet he had a smile on his face, knowing that he could help Shoto build himself up. If he could help Kazume?

Then he could help Shoto, too. Laying on the out of bounds line was Izuku, bloodied and pulverized, but still smiling.

A true hero.

Shoto stood, gasping, a shattered column of ice had broken his skid, leaving him still inside the arena. Still shocked that Izuku pushed so far just to get his old man to shut the hell up. He internally thanked the green-haired boy as he pushed off the shattered pillar to leave.

"Izuku Midoriya has been knocked out. Shoto Todoroki will advance!" announced Midnight.

"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! THAT FIGHT WAS THE BEST ONE YET, WASN'T IT FOLKS! However, I hope Izuku Midoriya is alright. He appears to have overstrained himself," announced Present Mic.

In the Nurse's office…

Kazume sighed, leave it to Midoriya to shatter his own bones for the zillionth time. He had his own concerns to worry about, that immature, 'threat' he got just didn't sit well in his mind. He kept on staring at it, hoping that he could just yank that bastard right through the phone and beat his ass.

Bastard: THE DEATHS OF HEROES WILL BE ON YOUR HANDS! I'LL BE SEEING YOU SOON! HEHEHE!

Seriously, who makes it that terrible? Of course, Kazume couldn't help but groan at how his brother used to manipulate and still manipulate him. Still, he needed to win, he had quite the fight ahead of him and couldn't afford any more distractions.

But Uraraka and Iida grabbed him unceremoniously and dragged him to the infirmary to check on their hapless friend. With Kazume's mood rather stormy. The minute he saw Mineta, his mood got even worse. But he dared not say anything, because there'd be a body.

"So, there's the bone-crusher himself! How are ya? Feelin' good? Yeah, breakin' shit's a son of a bitch to deal with," Kazume greeted.

Izuku gave him a small smile, "Yeah, I'm okay…" Izuku replied.

"Good, 'cause you scared Major Tom over here half to death…" Kazume teased, nudging Uraraka.

"That's because you were screaming bloody murder…" Uraraka sighed, gently squeezing Izuku in a hug, making Kazume nudge Tsuyu.

"My money's on Uraraka asking him out," Kazume muttered.

"So that's one more for Ochaco, Ribbit," Tsuyu croaked.

Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder, Iida stood there, his eyes intense. Kazume looked over his shoulder.

"May this be a fair fight, Shield. I won't hold back, even if my engines stall out," Iida said.

"That's good, I was waiting for a real fight before I pound Explosion Boy's face into the fucking concrete,"Kazume answered.

"Now, now. This isn't a good time for poor young Midoriya to be having visitors at this moment. I need some peace and quiet for me to do some surgery before I go heal him up," Recovery Girl entered the office and shooed off the guests.

"Aww!"

"C'mon!" Mineta and Iida sighed.

"Just a little longer…?" Uraraka mumbled.

"Now's not the time to cuddle him, you might just make it worse, ribbit," Tsuyu commented.

"Yeah, remember my skull? That little shit Nomu fractured the hell outta it… at least he broke his fingers and arm, so that'd be quick," Kazume sighed, smirking and leaving to wait for everything to be readied for his and Iida's match.

Somewhere in Hosu City…

Stain knelt atop a roof, scarf and bandage billowing. Watching, waiting, choosing an alleyway far from the main roads so his victim would be lost in the labyrinthine maze. He was being chased, but good things come to those who waited.

*Zoom* A gust of wind from below signaled his pursuer's coming. He smiled, seeing the dully shining metal armor of Ingenium,

He smiled and silently slinked down, the hero was a huge, shining target. He fell down the wall, slowing down with his fist, he stopped, making sure he had a knife ready to knock against a trash can to make some noise, like a fighting bell.

He threw it, *CLANG!* Ingenium sped right past him into the alley that was going to be his grave. Stain smiled and rounded the corner, closing in on his target, he was facing the wall.

*Sssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnngggg….* Stain sharpened his blade on the wall next to him, and Ingenium whirled around, seeing him stepping slowly, the sparks from the blade lighting up his face.

"Stain… this is for all the heroes you killed, all the families you tore apart, all the children you took away from their parents by killing them… YOUR POEM ENDS HERE!" Ingenium vowed.

"Ah, I see my reputation precedes me… that's good! At least you all know who the real hero is!" Stain laughed, "It's me, I'm the goddamn hero!"

Round 2, Match 2: Kazume Shield vs. Tenya Iida

"IT'S A BATTLE OF SPEED AN' POWER THIS TIME, FOLKS! A NINJA VS. A FERRARI OF A MAN! OR A LAMBO! OR WHATEVER YOU WANT HIM TO BE IN TERMS OF A SPORTS CAR! IT'S IIIIIIIIDDAAAAAA… VS! SHIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEELLLLLDDDDD!" announced Present Mic.

Uraraka looked down at her feet, she didn't like this. She didn't like seeing her friends fight or Izuku so hurt. As much as she wanted to be peppy and cheery for her friends. She knew Iida and Kazume wouldn't give up even if Midnight intervened.

"Uraraka, it's okay, Izuku's going to be alright, ribbit," Tsuyu assured.

"That's not all I'm worried about, look at Kazume and Iida…" she said, pointing.

There was something about them that made the crowd go quiet, almost as if two armies were waiting for the go-ahead from their commander to start the fight. Kazume stood tall, claws out, pacing and prowling, growling and snarling almost in a war-dance of sorts.

Iida lowered himself into a running stance, engines firing up, the crowd dead quiet, everything slowed down. Everything was tense, about to burst.

Midnight raised her whip, no words, no sound, and….

*CRACK!* The whip went down.

"RECIPRO BURST!" Iida yelled

Both ran in a straight line towards each other, clashing viciously. Both of their momentums stopping each other to a halt at the center of the arena. Kazume just needed to cut him, just deep enough to draw blood. Iida clashed with one of his gauntlets, feeling the hard metal and leather and jerking back harshly, stumbling. Kazume had upgraded them since the last time he'd used them, offering some protection to his arms and spring-loading the claws to deploy with a trigger on his thumb.

Iida countered by rebounding, scanning him with his eyes for any weakness, anything he could exploit. Iida grabbed his arm, throwing Kazume down to the solid ground. He ran around the stadium in a circle, twice to catch the stumbling Kazume bouncing back up.

He takes this opportunity and successfully lands a kick, using his Recipro Burst on his right leg to knock Kazume back almost out of bounds. But at the last second, he took out a katana and stabbed the edge line and balanced his entire body upside down, holding the hilt of his blade on his right hand.

The crowd was impressed, Kazume was bringing the essence of a Shinobi back into the modern age, as the last master had died, yet this was a more modern interpretation of such skill and artistry. Kazume stared upside down towards Iida, impressed with his special attack, which caused his right engine to start to overheat.

"Such strength, Iida. I can tell you went all out with your quirk on that one attack," said Kazume, as he fell forward back into the arena, "I'm kinda gettin' excited!" he exclaimed.

He pulled the katana from the edge line and charged toward Iida, ready to clash once again.

Stain clashed his katana on Tensei's silver leggings. Ingenium quickly countered with a Recipro Burst roundhouse kick on Stain's arm, disarming the katana.

"Damn you!" exclaimed Stain.

Stain quickly pulled out a knife and tackled Tensei into a wall, as he was about to stab the pro hero in the neck. Ingenium grabbed his wrist tightly and twisted the knife out, slamming his helmeted head into Stain's face, making him skid back from the force.

Ingenium jump kicks but Stain dodged toward his left, as he saw where his katana lied next to a dumpster. Ingenium then wall jumped aside to close in on the Hero Killer, ready to pin him down. However, Stain saw this coming.

As Ingenium was about to finish him off by pouncing on top of him with his feet, Stain countered as he grabbed on one of his feet, and slammed him to the ground.

Kazume was awaiting for the rapidly oncoming Iida as he was about to bicycle kick him on the head to knock him out. For a normal, average hero, this would've been hard to dodge due to Iida's elite velocity; he was approaching him at over 96 kilometers an hour (60 MPH) with his Recipro burst on both feet and using his remaining fuel on his engines.

But this isn't an average future hero Iida was facing. He was facing the most skilled student in UA, Kazume Shield.

Kazume countered and grabbed his left leg, slinging him, or trying to. The engines burned his hand, but he slammed him brutally to the ground, his anger seething. Mostly from the pain.

Iida struggled to get back up on his feet.

Looming over him was an odd sight. A morose Kazume, a hurt expression on his face, seeming to be connecting some sort of dots.

Ingenium struggled to get back up on his feet.

Looming over him was the crimson specter of his oncoming doom, no matter how much he tried to get up… there was nothing.

Kazume lifted up his katana.

"I'm really sorry about this, Iida…" he said as he rapidly lowered the blade.

Stain lifted up his katana.

"Next time… keep your business to yourself… there's always going to be more fools like you. Farewell, you fake piece of pot metal!" Stain yelled as he rapidly lowered the large blade.

Kazume stabbed through the solid ground, a few centimeters away from Iida's face.

The Hero Killer stabbed through the spinal cord of the now fallen hero, Ingenium.

"Alright. Iida, do you admit defeat? It's clear you can't keep going, you burned most of your fuel, so… I'm askin' ya, and if you say no, I'll admit it, and you can head on," Kazume said, 'It doesn't matter now. I had a bad feeling. Considering the area that bastard is in… he was going after Ingenium… shit…' he thought.

"I'm… not done… yet…" Iida snarled.

"THAT'S NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE, FOUR EYES!" Pain yelled.

Pain stabbed four centimeters deep into Iida's left shoulder, licked the blood off his blade, and threw the paralyzed Iida into the walls of the stadium.

As he crashed into the wall, Pain threw two knives just a centimeter away from his face, adding insult to injury to his defeat.

"Tenya Iida has been knocked out of bounds, the winner is Kazume Shield!" announced Midnight.

The crowd cheered, but Kazume snapped back into reality, his eyes wide, if he was just a centimeter closer… he could've hurt Iida.

"What the hell was that for?" said Kazume, talking to his other self.

'I should be asking you the same fucking thing! You tried to throw the match?! You're gonna pussy out on the biggest stage in the world, JUST BECAUSE OF A FAKE HERO WHO PROBABLY GOT TAKEN DOWN BY OUR GREAT BROTHER?!' Pain lashed out inside Kazume's head.

Uraraka recognized the difference between the two. She saw him pale and grew worried. Iida was okay, but Kazume looked like he was going to be sick, as the transport bots carried the paralyzed engine user to Recovery Girl's office.

Kazume marched slowly out, empty-eyed and heart dropping to his stomach. He knew. He knew it was going to happen. Next on the list… was Ingenium. That's what he was going to atone. He was going to end his brother's reign of terror. Seeing Iida paralyzed just cemented it further. Kazume didn't feel guilty.

He felt rage. He was angry at his brother. He was angry at his stupid other self for deciding things for him.

He felt his phone buzz. He ignored it. Kazume felt like the world was against him, that he was just being cheered for because he gave them a good show.

"Pickup the phone, Kazume," said Pain.

"Hell no," Kazume snarled, "I don't care," He felt empty. The last thing he wanted was to face Him again, or Melissa. He knew she was watching.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! One moment, you wanted to go win it all, the next you want to throw it all away!" said Pain.

"It's just a stupid medal! That's all it is! And some vague-ass bragging rights… It'd be better if I didn't have a blade at my neck or you in my head…"

PICK UP THE FUCKING PHONE AND GET YOUR ASS BACK IN THE STADIUM, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" yelled Pain.

Kazume growled, picking up the phone, ripping the bandage off to face whoever was on the other side. He looked at the home screen and was shocked to see what it showed.

The 'Bastard' sent an image of a paralyzed Ingenium lying on top of a pool of blood. And then came another a few seconds after looking at the picture.

Bastard: YOU NEVER WERE A HERO! YOU'RE DEAD TO ME AND TO THE ENTIRE SOCIETY! GIVE UP AND DIE LIKE THIS PIECE OF SHIT!

'No! NO! I'm just imagining things,' Kazume thought.

'Kazume, dear…. It's real, painfully real…' Pain took the form of Melissa again, 'It'd take a long time to replicate fake blood of that amount anyway…'

'NO! I DON'T FUCKING BELIEVE IT! I NEVER WILL! HE'LL SURVIVE JUST FINE, IT'S JUST A FLESH WOUND!' Kazume started to have an internal panic attack.

"Wow, Monty Python, nice… either way, I'll be takin' over since you're being a little bitch' said Pain.

'NO THAT'S THE LAST FUCKING THING I'LL WANT RIGHT NOW!' Kazume shouted.

'I'm your only chance of defeating your brother, Kazume. Isn't that what you want?' asked Pain.

Kazume was silent.

'I am your only salvation at this point, once Stain's gone, I'm gone. The nightmares, the sleepless nights, all of it will be over. Either way, if you live, Melissa will be yours, if you die, you'll never have to worry about him ever again, it's a win either way for you! Do we have a deal?' Pain continued.

Kazume thought about it for a few seconds, he knows he has no shot at fighting Stain all by himself. He was never able to beat him at all throughout his entire life. He doesn't want anyone else to suffer anymore. He made his decision.

"Yes" answered Kazume as he gave in to the darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Once again, thank you all for reading this chapter. Please leave a review of your thoughts of how I did in this chapter. If you really loved this chapter and want to stay alert for new releases, please follow and/or favorite this story. I'll see you all soon with the next part of the second round.