Chapter 11: Quarterfinals

And here's the next round! I still don't know when this all will go up, apparently FFN's inundated cause everyone decided to upload Halloween specials.

Well, guess that just means there'll be more to read when it finally catches up.

Anyways, enjoy!

Feel free to review, but don't just rip into me. I'm doing this for fun, not excessive criticism.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen! It's time for the quarter-finals round!" Present Mic announced, as the crowd erupted into roaring cheers.

"First up, we've got Class 1-A's Tsuyu Asui versus her classmate, Katsuki Bakugo!" Present Mic told everyone.

"Actually… I'd like to forfeit." Tsuyu raised her hand.

"Wait, what?!" Present Mic shouted.

"Asui, are you sure?" Midnight asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Tsuyu nodded.

"Alright, then Bakugo wins by forfeit!" Midnight announces. Unsurprisingly, the crowd didn't exactly cheer for Bakugo.

"What a cop out." Moxie groaned.

"A-At least she knows her limits…" Hiryu mumbled.

"Better hurry Moxie, you're next." Kirishima grinned, "Good luck!"

"Right!" Moxie bounced out of his seat, running off to the prep room.

.

"Well, I guess it's time for the real first fight of the quarterfinals, and this one promises to be a real brawl!" Present Mic announced, "It's Class 1-B's Itsuka Kendo versus Class 1-A's Moxie Usagi! Our fighters are getting ready, so Aizawa, any insight for the Pros watching?"

"Kendo and Moxie both possess Quirks that are simple on the surface, Kendo's Big Fist and Moxie's Bounce, but the nuance is how they use them." Aizawa explained, "They're both trained in hand to hand combat, and they mix their Quirks into that. Pay attention to this match, they may just surprise you."

"And here they are now!"

Kendo and Moxie walked out onto the field, staring across at each other.

"Hope you're ready Moxie!" Kendo grinned.

"Of course I am!" Moxie grabbed his jacket, flinging it off dramatically, "I'll crush this, just watch me!"

"Begin!"

Moxie leapt off the mark, rocketing towards Kendo, who dove out of the way, rolling to her feet. She expanded her right fist and threw a punch towards Moxie as he landed.

Moxie flipped over her fist and brought his right leg down towards her head. Kendo shifted to the left, taking the blow to her shoulder instead. Bringing her left fist up next to his stomach, she expanded it, nearly throwing him out of bounds.

"Wait, how'd she take that blow? Moxie's kicks are super powerful!" Ashido asked.

"I see… Moxie's biggest strength is his unpredictability, but in an open area like this, without walls to bounce off of, he becomes more predictable…" Midoriya muttered, "And without walls or a ceiling, he has to land before he can activate his Quirk for a kick… so in a fight with Moxie, it's best to take him outside where he can't use his Quirk as well…"

"Gotta get some distance from the edge of the ring." Moxie realized, leaping towards the middle of the ring.

Kendo rushed forward, shrinking her fists back to normal, and met him in the middle of the ring, throwing a punch towards his chest. Moxie twisted to the left to dodge and fell to his back, bringing his foot up towards her chin.

Kendo caught his foot and threw him back, forcing him to twist and catch himself, sliding to a stop on his feet.

Instead of leaping, Moxie ran towards Kendo, activating his Bounce in the trailing foot with each step until he was barreling towards her at lightning speed. He got right in front of her with his left foot leading, activating his Bounce in his right foot and driving his knee up into her stomach before she could grab him, sending her skidding back.

"What was that?" Kendo coughed, expanding her fists to catch herself, digging her fingers into the ground.

She looked up, looking for Moxie, but couldn't see him. She knew what that meant, and looked up just in time to catch Moxie as he went in for an axe kick, throwing him towards the edge of the ring.

Moxie tumbled across the ring, flipping to his feet and stopping himself before he could fall out of bounds. Kendo was the aggressor this time, charging in to try and force him out of bounds.

Moxie waited until the last moment and Bounced to the right, twisting his body to kick her in the back of the head and knocking her out of bounds.

"Moxie… wins!" Midnight announced, as the crowd erupted into cheers.

"It was a good fight, you nearly had me." Moxie smiled, offering Kendo a hand.

"Thanks, I wasn't expecting that knee to the stomach, caught me off guard." Kendo admitted, clutching her bruised stomach.

"Right. Let's get you to Recovery Girl." Moxie laughed, picking up his jacket and leading Kendo off the field.

.

"Remind me why you're waiting in here with me? You're missing Midoriya and Todoroki's match." Kendo pointed out, holding an ice pack to her stomach.

"Yeah, but it'll be recorded later." Moxie shrugged, "Also, I gotta wait for my legs to feel normal again."

"What do you mean?" Kendo asked.

"Well, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, right?" Moxie tried to explain, "Well, when I push my Bounce like I did for that knee to the stomach, my Quirk sends shockwaves through my legs when I push off the ground. Pushing my Bounce to the limit repeatedly makes my legs feel all funky, and if I go too far the recoil can really hurt me."

"I didn't think your Quirk had any drawbacks." Kendo told him.

"It wouldn't do any good to let everyone know about the drawback." Moxie pointed out, "And it's not too bad. Mostly I just end up walking funny if I push it too hard."

"I see…"

Suddenly, the door was flung open, and Midoriya was rushed into the nurse's office. His body was bruised, bloody and battered, his arms clearly broken.

"What the hell happened?" Moxie demanded.

"He used his Quirk, what does it look like?" Midnight shot back.

"Like he got into a fight with a freight train." Kendo commented, as the curtains were pulled shut around Midoriya.

.

After an intermission to fix the ring, during which some of the classmates went to check on Midoriya, it was time for Hiryu and Iida's match.

Hiryu was terrified about following up after Todoroki and Midoriya, and wasn't really conscious about what Present Mic was saying. All she knew was that Midnight shouted 'Begin!' and Iida was rushing towards her.

Spreading her wings, Hiryu tried to take off, but Iida caught her leg, throwing her towards the middle of the ring.

Hiryu rolled over as Iida charged towards her again, smacking him with her tail and knocking him to the side. She tried to take off again, but Iida charged in once more, striking her in the back.

Spinning around, she slammed her tail into him, knocking him to the ground. She stumbled and fell on top of him, her right knee slamming into his stomach, before she exhaled and breath of frost that froze him to the ground.

Flapping her wings, she leapt back away from Iida as he was pinned to the ground.

"Iida, can you move?" Midnight asked.

Iida struggled for a minute before sighing and shaking his head no.

"Hiryu… wins!" Midnight announces.

"S-Sorry…" Hiryu uses her tail to smash through the ice, "A-Are you alright? You seem… distracted."

"I'm fine." Iida walked away.

"O-Oh… okay." Hiryu nodded, walking off the ring as well.

She knew one thing as she left, and that was that Iida was not okay.

And there's the whole thing! Got to reveal a little more about how Moxie's Quirk works, and laid some more seeds for the future, so that's fun.

See you next time. Enigma, signing off.