Chapter 12: Festival Finals

Hey howdy hey hello, welcome to the show! It's ya boi Enigma, back with the twelfth chapter! This one wraps up the Sports Festival.

I'm pretty happy with this one, hopefully you are too.

Enjoy!

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

"Sorry for the wait ladies and gentlemen, but the arena is fixed now, so we can get the semi-finals underway!" Present Mic announced, causing he crowd to cheer loudly in response.

"He's shown incredibly explosive power, from Class 1-A it's Katsuki Bakugo!" Present Mic said, as Bakugo took the field, "And his opponent! Also from Class 1-A, he lived up to his promise and crushed it last round, it's Moxie Usagi!"

Moxie shrugged off his jacket, taking a fighting stance.

"I told you. Brush me off and I'll take home the gold myself." Moxie grinned.

"Shut up and die already." Bakugo growled, small explosions going off in his palms.

"Begin!"

Moxie and Bakugo both blasted off the mark, each of them looking to draw the first blood. Bakugo opened with a powerful explosion from his right hand, which Moxie front-flipped over, slamming his right heel into the back of Bakugo's head.

Bakugo grabbed Moxie's leg and held on tight, firing off an explosion point blank, directly in his face.

"Moxie!" Kendo shouted, leaning forward in her seat.

"Bakugo… what the hell?" Kirishima yelled.

"You're fast, right? So the trick… is just to pin you down!" Bakugo grinned like a madman.

Moxie bounced his other foot straight into Bakugo's chin, forcing him to let go, and fell back onto his hands. Spinning around, Moxie slammed his leg into Bakugo's side, sending him stumbling off, but Bakugo countered with another point black explosion as he was hit.

Moxie's shirt was already torn up, and he decided to just ditch it entirely, tearing off the scraps and tossing it to the side.

"I can still crush this!" Moxie declared, launching towards Bakugo.

Moxie skidded to a halt in front of Bakugo and dodged to the side when he fired off an explosion, bouncing his right foot off the ground for a powerful kick to Bakugo's knee, bringing the blonde down before flipping around for another kick to the head, trying to knock Bakugo out.

Bakugo took the blow like a champion and fired off an even bigger explosion than before, sending Moxie skidding back.

"D#mn… every time I hit him, he gets me back with another of those blasts…" Moxie grit his teeth, a smile on his face despite the odds.

"There's no reason to keep smiling, you d#mn extra!" Bakugo roared, launching himself towards Moxie.

"That's exactly why I can't afford not to!" Moxie shouted, meeting Bakugo head on with a knee to the stomach.

The two clashed in the center of the ring, Moxie taking blast after blast in his efforts to bring down Bakugo, kicking up all kinds of dust and smoke.

In the end, the smoke cleared… and Moxie collapsed, falling to his back in front of Bakugo, his body burned and battered. Bakugo stood over him, breathing heavily, his nose dripping with blood, his body covered in bruises.

"D#mn… rabbit…" Bakugo panted.

"Bakugo… wins!" Midnight announced, as a stretcher was brought out for Moxie and Bakugo each. Moxie was lifted onto the stretcher and carted off the field, but Bakugo refused to lay on his own stretcher, walking off the field by himself.

"I'm going to check on Moxie." Kirishima said, jumping out of his seat.

"Right, let us know how he is." Sero nodded as the red-haired boy left.

In the nurse's office, Moxie was resting on a bed, heavily bandaged. Recovery Girl's healing had really taken it out of him, but he'd be alright after some sleep.

"Come on, you gotta let us see him!" Kirishima groaned.

"At least so we can make sure he's alright." Kendo sighed.

"No! He needs sleep, you're too loud! You can see him once he wakes up." Recovery Girl told them, shooing them off.

"Darn!" Kirishima heaved a heavy sigh, making his way back to the seats.

"Hey, that was quick! How's Moxie?" Sero asked.

"Recovery Girl wouldn't let me see him, but she said he'll be alright." Kirishima told him.

"You're just in time for the next fight." Ashido smiled.

"He's still a little banged up, but he's back again, it's Shoto Todoroki!" Present Mic announced, "And his opponent! She hasn't made too much of a splash, but she's still worthy enough to reach the semi-finals! It's Wyva Hiryu."

Midnight paused for the usual pre-match banter, but neither side said a word. With a shrug, she shouted "Begin!"

Todoroki didn't hesitate before launching another giant glacier of ice at Hiryu, who barely took to the air in time to dodge, rocketing towards Todoroki. He sent several more waves of ice her way, all of which she narrowly managed to dodge before crashing into him, grabbing him by the head and attempting to pull him out of bounds.

Gritting his teeth, Todoroki sent a pillar of ice upwards which froze Hiryu in place, partially trapping himself as well, though he managed to melt himself out.

"Hiryu, can you move?" Midnight asked.

Hiryu thrashed about for a minute, her tail smashing against the ice, but Todoroki just added more ice to keep her there. With a heavy sigh, she hung her head and gave Midnight a thumbs down.

"Todoroki… wins!"

Hiryu wasn't even really conscious of Todoroki melting her out of the ice pillar. She just sighed again and walked off the field. Todoroki felt a twinge of guilt as he watched her leave.

"He took me down so quickly…" Hiryu thought to herself, glancing back at Todoroki before rounding the corner, vanishing from sight.

"We'll be right back, after a quick break!" Present Mic announced.

In the nurse's office, Moxie was just waking up again.

"Ugh…" Moxie rubbed his eyes, "What year it is?"

"How are you feeling?" Aizawa asked, entering the room alongside Recovery Girl.

"Like I picked a fight with a freight train…" Moxie groaned.

"Not too far off the mark." Aizawa sighed, "Glad to see you're doing better."

"Yep! I'm ready to get back to trai-" Moxie went to sit up, but winced and laid back down, "Ow, ah, okay… maybe not quite yet."

"You need to take it easy for at least another day." Recovery Girl told him, "Now, your friends are here to see you."

Kirishima burst through the door, followed by Kendo.

"Can we even be in here yet…?" Kendo asked, receiving a nod from Recovery Girl.

"Moxie, bro!" Kirishima ran to Moxie's bed, "Hey, glad you're awake! That fight with Bakugo… it was so manly, dude!"

"Thanks! I got kinda pumped up there…" Moxie scratched the back of his head.

"I heard what you said too, that was super manly!" Kirishima slammed his hardened fists together, grinning.

"Hey… you doing alright?" Kendo asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "You got pretty battered there, we all saw you collapse."

"Yeah, I'm doin' fine, just gotta take it easy for a bit." Moxie nodded, "How's Bakugo? I got him pretty good there."

"He didn't have it nearly as bad as you did, he's been healed and is prepping for the final round." Recovery Girl explained.

"I gotta go watch!" Moxie decided, trying to get up.

"Here, let me help you." Kendo helped him up, placing his arm around her shoulders.

"We've got a few minutes before the final round, take your time!" Kirishima said, "I'll go get you a good seat!" He grinned, rushing off.

Elsewhere, Hiryu wandered out of the main arena to the stalls outside. The area was packed with people getting food and watching the fights on the huge screens outside. She saw a number of Pros acting as security.

She took a seat at a dessert booth, ordering a meringue for herself. As she went to take out her wallet, someone sat down next to her.

"I got it."

The Pro Hero Gang Orca sat next to her, holding out cash to pay for the meringue, which the clerk accepted.

"Th-Thank you." Hiryu mumbled.

"Don't mention it." Gang Orca shook his head, "You lost pretty bad back there."

"Uh… y-yeah." Hiryu nodded nervously, not really sure where this conversation was going.

"Try not to let it get you down, alright? Use it as motivation to keep moving forwards." Gang Orca advised her, "You made it to the semi-finals, you ought to be proud of that."

"Y-you're right." Hiryu nodded, "I-I did make it to the semi-finals, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did, kid." Gang Orca smiled, "That's just my two cents, though. Enjoy your meringue." He told her, getting up and walking away, "You ought to get back though, the award ceremony will be happening soon."

"R-Right! Thank you!" Hiryu called after him, rushing back towards the stadium.

The Awards Ceremony

"Sorry for such a long wait folks!" Present Mic exclaimed, "But it's finally time to announce the winners! And here they are!"

All of the students were on the field again and they were standing in blocks by Class. Moxie and Hiryu stood together on the third-place podium. Well, Hiryu stood, Moxie was sitting by her feet.

Todoroki stood on the second-place podium, and Bakugo was chained to a cement wall on the first-place one. It made Moxie snicker every time he glanced up at Bakugo, thrashing about.

"You have a bit of meringue on your lip." Moxie told Hiryu, looking up at her.

"O-Oh! Thank you." Hiryu wiped her mouth quickly.

"Now, we will award the medals!" Midnight announced, "The presentation of the medals will, of course, be done by this man…"

A loud, familiar laugh echoed as a figure appeared on the top of the stadium. The crowd went wild when they recognized the Top Hero.

"I have brought the medals here!" Shouted All Might, jumping down to where the podiums were.

"Our very own Hero, All Might!" Presented Midnight.

He landed and there was a moment of silence, Midnight quickly apologized for talking over him, and a wave of excitement washed over the audience.

"Now then, All Might, please present the medals, starting with the third places." Midnight said.

"Yes, yes." All Might responded, he grabbed the medals and went to over to the third-place podium.

"Hiryu… you fought well, and proved that you deserve to be here just as much as anyone else." All Might told her, placing the third-place medal over her neck, "Try not to let your loss against Todoroki get you down."

"I-I won't, sir!" Hiryu nodded determinedly, catching a glimpse of Gang Orca in the stands and smiling to herself.

"And young Moxie… how are you feeling?" All Might asked.

"Like I got into a fight with a freight train and won." Moxie grinned.

"Well, at least you don't feel like you lost!" All Might laughed, placing the third-place medal over Moxie's neck, "I heard what you said, about smiling because there's no reason to smile, and I have to say I was impressed! That outlook is one every Hero should have, don't let anyone ever convince you otherwise!"

"I won't!" Moxie grinned, "And I'll crush it next year, promise!"

"I trust you will!" All Might laughed, going on to bestow Todoroki the second-place medal, with some hushed words of advice, before moving on to Bakugo.

All Might then went to the first-place podium, he removed Bakugo's muzzle, and Bakugo immediately dropped a massive F-bomb, All Might said something no one could hear to Bakugo.

"You don't get it, if I don't accept it… then it doesn't count!" Bakugo roared.

"Now, now. Don't say that! You deserve this medal!" All Might insisted, trying to put the medal on Bakugo's neck.

"I told you! I. Don't. Want. It!" Bakugo shouted, struggling.

After tying the medal in Bakugo's mouth, All Might turned to face the crowd.

"Well, they were the winners this time!" He said, "But listen here! Anyone here could have ended up on these podiums. It's just as you saw… Competing! Improving each other! And climbing even further! The next generation of Heroes is definitely sprouting! And so, I just have one more thing to say! Everyone, please say it with me… ready… go!"

"Plus Ultra!" The crowd cheered.

"Thank you for your hard work!" All Might yelled.

There was a moment of silence. Then, most started laughing, as All Might apologized profusely for the misunderstanding.

And that's the whole thing! Next time, hero names, and the start of internships! Can you guess who they'll be going to for their internships?

Poor Hiryu only had the time/money for a single meringue though, festival food gets pricy.

I'll see you all next time.

Enigma, signing off.