Sports festival time! Long chapter! Very long, as I made the sports festival in only one chapter. Features smart Ace in this one. And next chapter we meet one of my favorite BNHA characters ever. He'll be in the story a lot from the next chapter on. Look forward to it! Oh, and I posted another story and finished writing 3 more. -_- So, now it's at 840,000 words to post! Anyways, enjoy~
When he arrived, Ace noticed just how many presences were on campus, some large crowds around stands in the distance. He was about to walk over there when he felt a mass of strong presences. Familiar ones, All Might and the other teachers, along with some others. In the large stadium where Ace had fought both All Might and the kids.
Something big was going on, and he sprinted in that direction, not wanting to miss out on anything going on with so many strong people. He arrived at the stadium to see there were guards and heroes guarding the entrance. He ran up to them and tried to get past.
"Whoa, you're not getting inside. Everything is filled up," the woman said, blonde hair with a purple mask and horns on either side. Ace frowned, and said he was a helper on campus, and helped All Might train with the kids. "Do you have anything to prove this?" Ace grumbled that he didn't. "Then you aren't entering."
Ace huffed. "Fine, I'll just listen," he mumbled, walking away, grinning. He was getting inside. He wasn't going to miss whatever was happening. The heroes didn't think twice about him, and he walked around the other side of the stadium. It was a huge wall, but he could make it. He crouched and then shot out enough flames up to propel himself to the top. He crawled on his belly to not be seen to the edge of the stadium. He'd been there before, but not when it was packed.
He was peeking his head over the side to look down at what was going on. It was packed full, like the heroes had said. It was loud, everyone cheering. He spotted the teachers in a glass box across from him, and saw All Might. He looked up at the right moment, and Ace sent him a thumbs up with a grin.
All Might clearly laughed, though Ace couldn't hear it, and sent a thumbs up back. Ace couldn't get over there without bringing attention to himself. Well, maybe he could. Ace made a movement with his fingers in a walking motion, pointing around the stadium. There were multiple empty seats in the glass box. All Might nodded, and Ace got up, crouching so the heroes didn't spot him, and made his way around the stadium. He got on his belly when the heroes looked up, and crawled along, bringing no attention to himself. He sprinted the last couple of feet before dropping down onto the staircase and running up them to the glass box, which opened for him.
"What's going on? How long have I been gone?" Ace wonders. This was a much better view than high up above. Everything was larger, easier to make out. The people weren't tiny anymore.
All Might replied, "You've been gone almost two weeks, and this is the U.A. Sports Festival. It's good to have you back." Ace grinned.
He looked up and said, "Things will be different from now on. I'm not gonna mope or pout anymore. I know I'll go back home, and why not enjoy this adventure that no one else has experienced?" All Might laughed, and said that was a wonderful attitude. "So, what's a sports festival? Is it a party where people play games?"
All Might explained what it was, more like a competition to show who was the strongest of them. "If they do well, they may get hero mentors who offer to train them to better themselves. It should be exciting, I think you'll enjoy it," he said with a his signature smile, arms crossed. Ace wanted to ask if his mouth hurt, and since nothing was happening, so he did. All Might just laughed. "It is stuck like this."
Ace burst into laughter, but All Might said, "I'm joking. Smiling gives people hope, knowing things aren't as bad as they seem. And I have gotten used to the feeling, so it doesn't cramp anymore. It's beginning," he said, and Ace looked out of the window in interest, wondering what would happen next. It was nice to appear when something cool was happening.
Present Mic announced some stuff, but Ace wasn't really paying attention, just there to watch the action, and he wished he had a snack. Then his class came out. Well, not his, but those he had gotten to know more. He saw Freckles looking the most nervous. Ace worried about him. "Are there battles? Against other students?" Ace asked.
A couple heroes had entered the box, and looked at Ace strangely for a moment before they seemed to recognize him and sit in their own spots. "Yes, they will battle in one on one matches as the last activity."
"Ohh, I hope Freckles doesn't hurt himself again," Ace mumbled. All Might looked down at him with a strange look.
"You mean young Midoriya?" Ace nodded. "He will be at a disadvantage, but I believe he will show his resilience. He may not win, but he has determination like no student I've ever met before."
Ace said, "Still, I don't want him to break any more fingers." All Might agreed with that. It had been against Ace last time he hurt himself. And, well, Ace hurt him too by dislocating his shoulder by accident. But, Freckles hadn't been upset with him afterwards.
"Why is Bakugo the one representing?" Ace wondered when the kid with the worst temper Ace had ever seen was called in to speak. All Might said he'd finished number one in the entrance exam.
"I pledge to be number one," he said in a bored voice. Ace laughed. It sounded like him as a kid. Maybe that's why he disliked him, not just because he was a rude brat, but because he reminded Ace of a part of him he never wanted to be again. He wasn't angry and hostile anymore, trying to kill people without a thought. Trying to kill someone who posed no threat. That just wasn't him anymore.
When all of the students started calling Bakugo names and just generally seeming to hate him, Ace said, "He doesn't have many friends, does he?" All Might sighed, but said nothing. When the first activity was announced, Ace crossed his arms. "This looks fun." All Might laughed.
"It will be fun for some, but hell for others. It is quite harsh in some parts. I hope for everyone to do their best." Ace wished he could take part. But it wouldn't really be fair. Well, the world isn't fair. Not even this one. He would decimate most of them. And he wasn't being cocky. He was just more experienced and his devil fruit and haki put him at a great advantage. So he knew he wouldn't ever take part in this without ruining it for everyone else.
Seeing the obstacle course through the floating screens was a bit disappointing. He couldn't see them in person, but he could feel with his haki that some of them were going all out. The main one was Todoroki, the son of Ace's least biggest fan. The kid was strong, he looked forward to seeing him at work when he wasn't against Ace and he could just observe while not fighting him. He leaned forward in his seat a bit.
Thirteen was sitting next to him, and had said hi. He wouldn't forget when she was kind to him when he was incredibly upset and feeling alone. He didn't pay much attention to what they were all saying, he could see for himself that those who had gotten past were all from class 1-A, the one he'd been with when the villain assholes had appeared.
He also didn't feel right to speak in the glass box now that there were other teachers and pros. He wasn't even supposed to be there, he was just lucky there was an empty spot and All Might saw him up on the roof.
He was interested when they all arrived at the cliff area with strategically placed rocks to get across. Unsurprisingly, Todoroki and Bakugo got there first. Ace felt something Bakugo didn't do was out of character. "Bakugo could have stopped many of them by topping the rocks or burning the ropes, but he went ahead. Was it to catch up to Todoroki?" he mused.
Thirteen said, "Most likely. He can't afford to lose time or momentum to doom the others." Ace was surprised he'd said anything out loud, but was glad they didn't get mad at him for speaking.
"He could have also taken advantage of Todoroki's ice and shattered the ropes. Or Todoroki could have iced them up anyways. It wouldn't have been hard for him," the fire user added. He knew he'd have burnt the ropes to stop the others if he was in Bakugo's shoes. But he understood the time crunch.
Snipe, one of the teachers Ace hadn't talked to much, asked how Ace knew this. "In my world, I worked with strategies. Plus, I've read up about the kids since being here, seen them fight me first hand. But this is more interesting, I get to pay attention closer to them."
The next obstacle was mine traps. Not deadly, Ace could tell by their explosions even if Present Mic hadn't assured the audience that they were not lethal. He shook his head when Bakugo started attacking Todoroki while they were still in the mine area, with others catching up. They were both slowing themselves down by doing this, and risking someone else usurping them while they squabbled.
Unsurprisingly, Bakugo was the instigator. But then there was a huge explosion from the back, and Ace knew someone was in the blast. He grinned when Freckles came out of it. He was smart. Hopefully that made up for his terrible weakness with his own quirk. And Ace hoped he still remembered some of the tips he'd given him.
He felt bad that he promised to give him another lesson by disappearing before he could. "Freckles is smart. I definitely wouldn't have thought of that. He didn't use his quirk and instead took advantage of his surroundings. That is quite impressive." All Might grinned proudly at this.
Thirteen nodded in agreement. Watching Freckles think in real time was interesting, even if it was through a screen. Bakugo and Todoroki stopped squabbling and ruining their chances and now the three of them were neck and neck. Ace was sure Freckles would have gotten third place, which is still awesome. Better than second place, but then he flipped and slammed his makeshift sled/shield into the ground and caused another explosion.
He was reckless and risking hurting himself to get to first place, but pretty damn brave.
When he became first place, Ace noticed a change in All Might. He glanced to him out of the corner of his eye, and saw he was grinning brighter than usual, his fist up slightly. So, he had a soft spot from Freckles. It wasn't hard to see why. Then he looked at Bakugo, who seemed to be having a fit all by his lonesome.
"All Might, is there beef between Freckles and Bakugo?" Ace asked. "He seems the angriest with Freckles more than anyone else. It's none of my business, but I'm just curious. I understand if you don't want to say."
All Might answered, though, and said, "They've known each other since childhood, and I think there is a very unfriendly rivalry between them. They are polar opposites, it seems. I assume they had a falling out some time and it's made them less friendly with one another. Bakugo also wants to be the strongest, so he's more hostile than others."
Ace wondered what kind of hero he'd make if he was so hostile with other people. But he didn't peg Bakugo as a villain or an actual "bad guy". Just a bratty little hothead with a temper he needed to watch. "Hmm," was Ace's response.
The next competition was named, and Ace had never heard of it. What was a cavalry battle? When the process was explained, Ace made sure to memorize it so he could play it with his brothers and they would be ridiculous and cheat and have a blast. When he heard the point system, it was as if the kids had bounties on their heads, some more valuable than the others. Poor Freckles had taken the first place. That wasn't so good for him anymore.
So, get more headbands or the top value to win. Based on what Ace had seen of the class 1-A, he would team up with Todoroki and Freckles. He and Todoroki would have been the brawn and Freckles would be the brain. He was sure that Todoroki would have been able to protect Freckles even if Ace wasn't there.
He could just imagine how unfair the game would be back home, with some of the crew being big enough to carry both others easily.
They had 15 minutes to form teams, and in that time, Ace got up to use the bathroom and get some water. He had to make sure that the lady who rejected his entry didn't see him.
He walked through the crowds easily and found the bathroom before a stand of free water bottles. Nice. He took one and drank a lot of it before sticking it in his pocket and walking out. He walked along the railing to try and get back to the glass box. "Hey! Ace came back!" he heard Kirishima shout. Others' attentions snapped to where the redhead was pointing. Ace waved and smiled, shouting at them for good luck. Not just class 1-A, but 1-B as well. He'd worked with both, even if one was more memorable, so he didn't just make eye contact with the favorite class.
People were looking by now, but nobody recognized him. After all, he wasn't on camera, and his name wasn't told after the villain incident. Just that someone who used fire had helped out. So, people looked and then grew tired of him as he walked back to the glass box and sat down. When he looked back, he symptahized with Freckles. He wasn't especially strong, but he was smart.
But even smart people would have trouble with everyone being the enemy, even friends. Poor guy. Well, the last activity had been a surprise win for him, maybe this one will be as well. All Might started talking since there were still five minutes until the match began. "How was your time back home?"
"Great. I told them all about what had happened. We made some inside jokes about it that I don't really think anybody would find funny, but we're weird like that. Oh, Marco was very happy with hearing about your health improving and not just the major stuff. They made me feel a lot better about being back here. To have fun while I can, and that they would find a way to fix it even if the current plan didn't work. So, I promise I won't mope.
"Keeping active and distracted helps a lot, though, so thanks for keeping me busy by letting me assist you," Ace finished sincerely, smiling brightly. All Might nodded, saying he was a great assistant.
"You must be a great leader. Smart, strong and charismatic. You'd make a great hero," but then he laughed. "In different circumstances, that is." Since Ace was a criminal, he wouldn't really make a hero.
Then he remembered something he wanted to ask. "Do heroes only deal with villains, or do they tackle small crimes like theft and other minor crimes that aren't destuctive or murder?"
All Might said that the heroes dealt with the big incidents while law enforcement dealt with smaller crimes that could be taken care of more easily. "Common criminals aren't seen as villains. Villains were those who use their quirks for evil."
"Interesting," Ace said simply. Then the match began and Ace watched closely, hoping it would be more entertaining than the obstacle race. He wasn't rooting for anyone specific. Well, he was rooting against Bakugo. He really disliked him.
Ace glanced to the other side of the stadium and saw Endeavor there, looking as cranky as ever, though he wasn't glaring at Ace. "Does Endeavor always glare?" Thirteen nodded. "Oh." Ace was glad it wasn't just at him. Though he could see why he disliked Ace a lot. Even though he wasn't there to take his place.
When the match started, everyone rushed at Freckles' group, which wasn't surprising. But Ace was surprised when their group was suddenly flying. "What's that? They're fly…in..." and he was asleep. All Might caught him before he fell forward and leaned him against the back of his chair. He snored through much of the match, not waking to any of the noise around him and outside.
"Ace-san," All Might said, tapping Ace, who woke with a start, and then realized what had happened.
"Damnit. How long was I out," he asked angrily.
Thirteen said, "You were asleep all through the calvary and half of the hour long break. We tried to wake you, but you weren't budging." Ace knew it was probably because his nap was interrupted by Thatch earlier that day. Well, earlier that day for him. Ace put his face in his hands. "Don't worry, you didn't miss the one vs one battles."
Snipe said, "You sure are a heavy sleeper."
Ace blushed. "I have narcolepsy, I need a certain amount of sleep each day or I'll have sleep attacks," he explained. "It doesn't hit during battles because of adrenaline. I had been low on sleep for the USJ incident, but I made it until after the fight to wake."
All Might said, "It's not in your control. Besides, the fun really starts next. And not falling asleep during important events is lucky." Ace knew that was the truth. He could never be a commander if he had so little control of his condition when in battle. He wouldn't be allowed on any missions as a leader, or even just as a normal member.
Ace asked who had won, who had made it. He wasn't surprised by what he heard. And he knew that class 1-B was talented, too. Everyone just seemed to forget them, so he was glad at least one team had made it. He knew most of their quirks, but didn't share them between classes. In many cases, class 1-B was more powerful quirk wise, but they lacked more drive. There were a lot of very determined students in class 1-A. So he was rooting for all them, but against only a few.
But he was glad he wasn't going to miss out on the matches. Those were the ones he was looking forward to most. When everyone had gathered, and two dropped out, he knew who was the cause of their memory loss. Shinso, who Ace had never said a word to after reading up about his quirk before he started assisting All Might. His quirk was powerful, if used correctly. Ace had read up on everyone, not just the classes he'd be working with.
And Freckles had to deal with him. But the kid was smart, he might be able to realize what was happening and do something about it. But he also knew he was friendly to his classmates. He was too nice to deal with Shinso, who pulled no punches.
But he looked forward to seeing the match. It would be boring if Shinso won easily, so he hoped Freckles figured something out to deal with the power. Ace only knew about his power by glancing at other students' bios after both hero courses. So nobody in the courses he helped out sometimes would know of his powers.
He was a dangerous opponent and it would be an embarrassing defeat if Freckles was told to walk out of the ring from Shinso's brainwashing. "Poor Freckles," Ace said to himself, but All Might was there and replied.
"Young Midoriya is smart. It will be a tough fight, but I think he will do fine." Ace looked at All Might, now sure something was up between him and Freckles. But it didn't matter to him, and it wasn't his business. He wasn't going to poke his nose where it didn't belong. In his world, that would be different. A lot of things were different, and he had to adapt. Even if that meant crushing his curiosity and turning into a more sensible person. Ugh, boring.
He was bored during the recreational activities, so messed around with his fire, trying to spell words in his finger flames or arm flames. It was difficult but rewarding when he was able to make words and symbols.
Snipe said, "You sure have good control over your flames."
Ace thanked him. "It's a good distraction. Fire doesn't only have to be for destroying things. Can make food, dry myself off without a towel, burn off sweat, keep warm in the winter. Sure, fire is helpful when fighting, but it's also relaxing to use for trivial things," he explained, making a cat of fire walk along his arm.
"Who were you trained by?" Snipe asked again.
Ace had been asked this by students as well. "By myself, mostly," he said honestly. "I learned haki from my brothers, but my fire was mostly trial and error. And a lot of burnt and charred furniture."
All Might laughed at that. Ace was lucky he didn't start any fires too big to put out. "And I can put out fires as well. I can suck the flames into my hands. I don't like it when people think my fruit is just pure destruction."
The others in the box were paying attention, those who Ace hadn't spoken to often at all. Vlad King was one of them. "You're very talented. It's too bad you don't live here so you can't become a hero."
"I don't want to be a hero even if I was from here or stayed permanently. I'm not that good of a person," Ace replied simply. Before anyone else could reply to that, the next event was starting. Present Mic explained the rules. Simple, knock the opponent out of the ring, incapacitate them or have them say "I give up".
All Might was leaning forward, and when he heard the commentator say Recovery Girl was waiting, Ace said, "Was that a good idea? To tell them that, so now they can be needlessly hard on their body? We both know Recovery Girl can't fix any injury." All Might's hands tightened.
"We have to say that for the sake of clarity. But you are right, having Recovery Girl there to fix anything without much work is not a good outlook. You should care for your body as much as you can, not always take shortcuts," All Might admitted. He was looking nervous now, his smile more of a half-grimace. Concerned for Freckles. He'd already hurt himself from his quirk and had that fixed, it would be bad if he now had a fixed mindset, that any injury he gave himself could heal.
All Might was proof that Recovery Girl can't work miracles. Marco could, but that was Marco and took him decades to figure out. "Hopefully they won't hurt themselves too much."
Thirteen pointed out that Cementos was there to stop if anything got out of hand. "How fast is he? An injury could take seconds to happen, right? How could he block that fast? Is he psychic?" The others shook their heads, and now looked apprehensive. Oops.
It was literally three seconds into the first fight that Freckles fucked up. He replied to Shinso the first thing he said. Ace put his hand to his forehead. All Might was worried, too. Well, maybe he could figure out a way to get around it. Ace couldn't think of any other way than hurting himself. He knew the kid would do that. And it was even worse now that they knew the nurse was there to patch him up.
Usually he wouldn't give a shit about someone else getting hurt from their own mistakes (unless they were family), but he didn't like people looking for shortcuts in life. If Freckles got injured fighting valiantly, then Ace would think he deserved to be healed. Who knows, he was getting ahead of himself.
Ace did feel bad when Present Mic started pointing out that the match just started and yet Freckles wasn't moving or doing anything. Then he started walking to the edge of the stage. Ace sighed. What an embarrassing defeat. Poor guy, if he lost he'd be demoralized and humiliated. Ace remembered feeling that way after losing so badly to Whitebeard. He had been so angry, but also very embarrassed. But the situations were completely different. Ace had been near death by the end of the fight, Freckles was just walking off the stage. Both were defeats and both were embarrassing.
"Aaaand he's already broken some fingers," Ace sighed. But that had been the only way to get out of the trance himself. But still, he hadn't even started fighting and was already injured. His power sucked. Well, his current power sucked. But he was back in action. And angry.
Though he stayed silent. Ace couldn't hear what Shinso was saying from there, or what he'd said in the beginning, but he could tell Freckles wasn't saying anything as he attempted to push him out of the ring. And he got close before Shinso switched the roles around and was now pushing the other out.
And then Freckles kicked the side of his knee before swiping his foot behind his ankle and shoving him one last time so he both fell and was pushed out. "I taught him that move!" Ace shouted, standing up. He was grinning before he realized how much noise he'd made. "Sorry," he said, and sat down, but was still grinning, proud. Of himself and Freckles. He must have been practicing and memorized it since that happened weeks ago.
All Might got up during the break, and Ace said, "Tell him I'm proud he remembered what I taught him." The man stopped, and sent an uneasy glace at Ace, who grinned. "I'm not an idiot." Obviously there was some favoritism on the pro-heros part with Freckles. It didn't matter to him, but it was obvious. Ace was stupid in some ways, but he could notice tell emotions all right. And the man always looked more proud or more nervous when Freckles succeeded or failed. Ace didn't know how others hadn't seen it. At least, others that Ace knew of.
All Might wasn't back before the next match. Todoroki vs Sero. Tape-kid. Ace knew who would win, but was curious as to how hard the former would go. Tape just couldn't win against fire or ice. But Todoroki was acting kind of weird. The silent-angry type who just got in an argument and refused to speak afterwards.
Sero made the first move, wrapping tape around Todoroki to make him go out of the ring before he acted, sending a huge wall of ice spikes in Sero's direction, slamming into the mostly empty stands and through the roof. What the hell? There had been a barrier when Ace was fighting? Ooh, maybe they thought Ace was stronger than these kids, so they made more precautions for him.
But damn, was he trying to kill him? Even that would have thrown Ace off. Midnight was half frozen as well. But Ace scowled when the crowd started cheering for Sero. Saying "Don't mind" was nice and all, but they were completely ignoring Todoroki's accomplishment, and he was already in a sour mood. If Ace wasn't in this box, he would shout out something encouraging.
He formed words saying "Nice Victory!" that covered the entire window, even though it was burning nothing. Todoroki just barely managed to glimpse up at just the right time and saw Ace's message. He didn't smile, but his frown softened just a little.
Thirteen said, "And you say you're not a good person?"
"You can be a nice person without being inherently good," Ace replied, and sat down. He looked up again and saw Endeavor glaring at him in rage, more rage than usual, and Ace didn't know why. Oh well, there was nothing he would be able to do about the man's nasty attitude towards him. He wasn't competition, when would anyone realize that?
Ectoplasm asked, "Why do you insist you're not good enough to be a hero? From what we've seen, your kind, respectful and powerful. Surely you fit the requirements."
Ace replied, "It doesn't matter anyways. I won't be here all the time, and I have my own responsibilities as a leading figure on my ship. I don't need more in a different world. Besides, I'm selfish. I do what I want, I save people if I want to. To be a hero in your world, I'd have to want to save everyone, not pick and choose." He explained it honestly, without hinting that he was a criminal. "I'm just not that selfless of a person," he finished and sat back down. They didn't have a reply to that, and Ace relaxed into his seat. Then he added one last thing. "My world has no heroes. The government and military are corrupt, there are no heroes. You fend for yourself against everyone you can't trust."
Snipe said, "It is difficult to be as selfless as heroes are. I think most of us have struggled with that before. Whether we are good enough, selfless enough, to be relied on for strangers. There's nothing wrong with not wanting to go out of your way to help strangers. I don't think it's wrong, and I'm sure many other heroes feel the same. But you're right, it doesn't matter as this isn't your world, and being a hero would need dedication that you just can't give."
Ace smiled, glad he summed it up pretty well. "Thanks," he said simply. Ace wasn't even paying attention enough to see what happened before that match was over and Kaminari was wrapped in plants. He knew who won, but it happened so fast. Poor guy. Ace felt pity for the ones who lost immediately.
The whole next match, Ace could not stop snickering, trying so hard to not laugh out loud, but the support girl was advertising her equipment while fighting and he just found it hilarious. All Might walked in during that and Ace covered his mouth and looked away. He was a helper for now, but funny is funny. Man he wished Haruta was here, he would be laughing his ass off.
"'M sorry," Ace muttered. Think of dead puppies, think of dead puppies. But then that morbid image just made him sad. At least he wasn't laughing anymore. Then the support girl excused herself from the match, making poor Iida the winner. Wining like that was almost worse than losing.
After that one, he left to go get some fresh air, stiff from sitting in the plastic chair for a while. He excused himself from the box and then left through the stadium and headed out to the back exit where the pro-heroes shouldn't be.
He ran into a not friendly face down there, walking around the corner to see Endeavor. He clearly hadn't been waiting for Ace to be there, and they met by accident. Ace didn't shrink away from his glare and walked past him easily. But then he stopped. "I really hope you don't still think I'm competition, because I'm not a hero and won't be one, so you can relax about that. Devil fruits and quirks are incomparable, so saying yours is better, mine is better, is pretty useless." And he walked outside.
Ace had no reason to show respect to someone who wasn't showing it back. He wasn't intimidated by Endeavor's power, demeanor or position in this society. None of it mattered to him, and the constant glares were just kind of unnecessary. He walked around a bit, stretching before heading back in. Endeavor was gone by then, but there were scorched footsteps on the ground. He sighed and shook his head.
Jealousy was fun sometimes, but this was just extra. He gained nothing from it, and he wasn't looking for anything from it. When he walked back to the box, he found the door was locked. He knocked on it and it was opened for him. The match had already been finished, the acid girl, Ashido had taken out lazer boy in a couple minutes. He honestly for the life of him could not remember all of their names. Only a handful.
He'd always been bad with names and faces, not even knowing the names of many of his own brothers. Well, he wasn't the teacher, so he didn't need to know all of them. Saying "you" and making eye contact bypasses having to say a name.
The next match would be interesting, and All Might told him something before it started. "Did you talk to Endeavor, by any chance?"
Ace nodded. "I told him I wasn't compeittin to him and comparing quirks to devil fruits was useless. I wish he'd stop glaring at me. It's unnecessary. Why?" All Might just said he was in an even worse mood than before.
Before Ace reponsed, the next match started. Ace wasn't sure who would win in this one, since Momo and Tokoyami were both powerful in their own way. But Momo's quirk took time to utilize while the other's Dark Shadow was fast and strong.
It was over in a second. Momo was pushed out of the ring with only being able to create a useless shield. Ace frowned, feeling pity for her. More than he did with Sero since he was able to lead the match, even if it was for a second. Here, she had lost almost instantly, and there was a depressed look on her face. It was just a bad match up.
Next was an interesting match up between to kids with similar quirks. Kirishima who could harden his body and Tetsutetsu who could coat his own body in steel. Ace knew haki had broken through both from experience fighting them, but he wondered which would prevail now. He noticed some people in the stand growing bored by the fifth minute of straight punches. They were both stubborn and barely taking any visible damage. Ace didn't see either being a winner or a loser based on their quirk, but probably by their stamina. Both were very physically fit, though. This could honestly go on for forever.
There was one final punch that outed both of them, knocked out at the same time. To be honest, that was Ace's favorite fight so far. It wasn't predictable and both were equally fired up. It wasn't an easy win or easy defeat and it wasn't hard to look at. Ace leaned back after it was declared a draw, and said, "That was honestly the most interesting fight. There was no obvious winner or surprise attack." Ace was feeling very talkative with the teachers in there, and they didn't seem to mind much.
The next match might be painful, but Ace was honestly insulted for Uraraka, the gravity girl, who was fighting Bakugo. He would feel bad for her based on how far apart their levels were, but he could hear people saying he shouldn't fight full force against a woman. Ace was surprised since there were many female heroes in this world.
He had never understood why men underestimate women so much, there were many strong female pirates out there that got overshadowed by the males. Ace had fought multiple hard opponents who were women.
"Is this how it always is here? People thinking men should go easy on women?" Ace asked. The others didn't answer, giving Ace an answer enough. "That's so stupid."
All Might asked, "You wouldn't go easy on a woman?"
"If anyone challenged me, then I'd go all out against them. They're the ones with enough courage to challenge me, why would I spit in their face about it and pull punches. If it was a real match, it wouldn't matter to me. The only reason I think Uraraka doesn't have a chance is because of their quirks and how ruthless Bakugo will be. Not because she's a girl," Ace replied honestly. All Might smiled.
"That's a good opinion, there, Ace-san," he said simply and the match started.
Ace was sure no one was surprised by Bakugo's tactics towards Uraraka. He clearly didn't discriminate because she was a woman, and though Ace genuinely didn't like him, he could respect that he wasn't going easy just because of that reason.
He was sure Bakugo didn't know what it was to "go easy" on someone, but still. And when the audience started booing about him being too harsh on her, he looked up at the many rocks she'd made float and scoffed. Then Eraser Head scolded them. The man was boring and cold, but at least he was right on what he said, about Bakugo not going easy because he wanted to be number one, and if they didn't get that then to pack up and go home.
But, he was never expecting her to win, no matter what tricks she pulled. And one explosion was enough for all of her plans to be for naught, and she was thrown backwards from the explosion.
Ace was a bit surprised that he went this hard against her but had seemed to be weaker against him. It was interesting. Maybe he learned from Ace's fight that he had to go all out or he'd lose, no matter who the opponent was or what their ability was. But she still didn't give up, even though Ace could tell her body was exhausted and she wouldn't last much longer. He sighed when she collapsed.
"She fought well, despite her quirks disadvantage," All Might said. "Young Uraraka is tough and strong willed. She didn't give up." Ace nodded, along with the others in the box, some had left earlier but Thirteen, Ectoplasm, and Snipe were still there while Vlad King had left a while ago. The others were either commentating or doing other jobs regarding the festival. Ace was glad he was allowed to sit in there.
He felt welcome here, which was good. If he'd landed somewhere horrible, it would have sucked and he'd have been even more miserable. At least here he had something to do and free food and shelter. And free fights. He wanted to fight All Might again.
But sometimes, All Might's presence faltered just a bit. Grew a small or a lot weaker before it went back to normal. Ace had a feeling something more than a missing stomach had been done to him. Hopefully it would get better for him. Ace didn't know if he could be a pro-hero if he was weaker than he was now.
He was shaken out of his thoughts when the real matches began. He leaned forward when Todoroki and Freckles came on stage, both looking determined while Todoroki also looked hollow and angry at the same time. Freckles looked nervous, but after the other's show of power earlier, it was to be expected. Especially since the ice user had lost control earlier.
And Freckles was way out of his league, but he'd managed the first match despite being at a disadvantage. He looked to the side briefly to see All Might looking worried, his smile just a little bit less than usual. He was worried about Freckles, too.
He turned back to watch the match, hoping the kid didn't hurt himself too bad. His fingers were already injured. Not healed all the way yet. Other teachers had filed in, and Ace ended up losing his seat, since he wasn't supposed to be there in the first place, so he watched while leaning against the side wall.
The literal first second the match started, Freckles sacrificed the use of one of his fingers. Ace put his hand to his face and sighed. If that was the only way for him to keep a distance and safe from the ice, his hands were going to be mangled by the end. If all of them were broken, could Recovery Girl even heal them fully? Or wouldn't there be long term damage?
Hopefully this didn't backfire for him badly. But it showed he was damn determined. And desperate. Another finger was broken and useless on the second attack. He had 10 fingers. Two gone, eight to go. Well, he'd already broken two of them in the previous fight. And if he ended up using a full arm, he couldn't believe that damage or pain it would cause.
Ace was reckless, but he also had control over his powers to back his recklessness up. He'd gotten better at controlling his impulses over the years and time of being a commander, but still. Like the whole cave thing, he charged right on it without thinking. Not that any of them expected this to happen just from walking through a cave entrance.
Another finger. And another. All fingers on one hand were gone except the thumb. He hoped he wouldn't use his thumb. Seems like that would be the most detrimental to lose. He wasn't losing them completely, but he was messing them up, relying too much on Recovery Girl. "He relies too much on Recovery Girl's power," Ace commented. All Might sighed and a few teachers agreed.
Ace grumbled that Freckles used a finger that was already injured and healing from his last match! What was he thinking! But, what else could he do? This wasn't a match where he could use the tips Ace had given him. He couldn't get close to Todoroki enough to be able to use them.
But then, his foot got caught in the ice, and he used his entire arm to push Todoroki away. Then Ace gasped, totally recognizing that move from when he fought All Might, being pushed back by that kind of wind. Somehow their quirks were the same, though the pro-hero could control his and Freckles couldn't.
All Might looked to the side and saw Ace's recognition face, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. He looked worried. But Ace would tell no one. He knew tons of important information about Ace that he didn't say. His water weakness, being a pirate, his bounty, what actions he'd done that heroes detested.
Ace turned his gaze away and muttered, "Your secret is safe with me," before he turned back to the match, and saw that Freckles' entire left arm was out of commission. Todoroki attacked again, though one of his arms looked a bit injured. Nowhere near as bad as Freckles.
When another lance of ice went towards the disadvantaged teen, Ace asked what the hell he was doing when he used an already broken finger. He couldn't keep it in, and All Might was sweating badly by now. His smile was forced, looking hard to keep up anymore. The other teachers were concerned as well with how Freckles was treating his body. It was what you should protect most! You can't be as good a hero if your fingers and arms are mangled so badly Recovery Girl can't fix them!
Ace could barely hear what Freckles was saying down there, but whatever it was, he was angry and determined. Not about the match it seemed, but about something else that shocked Todoroki. And pissed Endeavor off on the other side of the stadium.
Whatever Freckles said got on Todoroki's bad side and he rushed forward, only slower and slightly off balance. It was easy to see by looking at his right side, the one he favored. And Ace winced when Freckles used the not-already broken arm to punch, hurting his fingers in the process, though he landed a solid blow that threw the ice user back, though not far enough to be out of the ring. Todoroki attacked again, but was slower.
Then Freckles used his broken fingers again. Which had been mangled twice already. "Shouldn't someone stop him?" Ace asked, eyes wide. "Can Recovery Girl even fix something like this?" He looked to All Might, who looked incredibly conflicted. It was clear he cared about the kid a lot, and his success, but was it worth the price of permanently damaging his fingers? Which matters more, his health and safety or his pride. So he asked that question. Nobody answered, though they all looked concerned. Nobody looked more conflicted than All Might, though.
But then Ace felt like a hypocrite. He fought with terrible wounds all the time. But there was a big difference. Ace fought injured when it mattered, when he was up against an opponent who wanted to take his life. Ace had no other option, he couldn't run away just because he was hurt. But here, it was a competition. Sure, his pride was on the line, but Ace disagreed with this. Ignoring pain isn't always the good thing to do.
In desperate situations, it was a must. Definitely, but this was not! Why wasn't anybody stopping him?! That little idiot! Ace couldn't help think when Freckles ran out of fingers that were usable, he went to using his thumb and his mouth, making it so his thumb snapped forward from the outside of his mouth to blow another attack at Todoroki.
Their conversation continued, but this time he was loud enough to hear, and was telling his opponent he should go all out? And he wasn't saying it in a cocky voice like Ace would have, he sounded angry but not in the way Ace ever got. It was hard to explain, and he wasn't sure what the point of it was. If Todoroki went any harder, there was no doubt that Freckles would lose this match.
But he was distracted and Freckles landed another hit. Whatever he shouted next, made Todoroki look shocked. Ace sensed a sudden shift in his presence. "He's going to start using more of his power. I think this fight is over already," Ace mumbled, not really saying it for anyone else to listen to. Then Todoroki erupted into flames, and Ace grinned. He never got to see other people using flames, of course, and pressed his hands against the window.
While they weren't refined and were on his body and not made of it, they were strong and would definitely cause major burns. Ace was pretty impressed. This fight had lots of twists and turns, even if he was frustrated with Freckles' detrimental tactics. "Wow," he muttered.
"Weird to see someone else using a flame ability?" Thirteen asked. Ace nodded.
"Our flames are different, but those are some pretty strong ones. He's smiling, so it might be different from mine. My flames get real nasty if I'm angry. Maybe his flames get nasty if he's happy. Hopefully he can control it alright."
Snipe asked, "You can't control them when you're angry?" in worry, like Ace had a temper that could burn something down on the spot.
Ace shook his head and replied, "They get hotter when I'm angry, I don't lose control. As hot as I can go before the flame turns white. I've never been able to get that hot." But he couldn't say anything else before all of them looked worried. Todoroki had definitely powered up now, and clearly wasn't going to hold back. Ace was sure that Freckles would have long term, first degree burns if he took the brunt of that flame attack.
Even flames not as hot as the ones he was using would cause lifelong, debilitating burns. Ace knew that first hand after doing it himself many times. "They need to stop them," Thirteen said, and the others all agreed, their hands clenching. Recovery Girl wouldn't be able to fix the burns. Not completely.
Finally, Cementos interfered, putting up multiple walls to block the moves, which then were shattered by the force of both attacks, throwing Midnight and Cementos from the stage. Wind pushed against everything and everyone, but not through the glass window that Ace was behind.
Once the dust cleared, Freckles was sadly out of bounds, and passed out. Good. There was no way he'd be able to fight another match. Todoroki seemed shocked. The fight was more intense than he thought it'd be, but the result was still the same. Freckles did have a strategy, but it was a dangerous one that he probably didn't think through completely, relying on Recovery Girl to fix him up later. "He fought valiantly. Both of them," Ace muttered. "I just hope Freckles will be okay."
All Might got up, probably to go check on his favorite. Ace took his seat now that there was one open. "Even though he doesn't live here, and you don't want to be a hero and save people you don't know or care about, why are you so concerned and invested in the kids? And All Might." Ectoplasm asked behind him.
"They are good distractions, but it's also fun to see people improve in front of your eyes. But, I won't be here long enough to really see much improvement, though Freckles used a move I showed him, so that was nice to see," Ace replied honestly. None of them got upset for calling the kids a distraction, probably knowing how he felt while being separated by his family.
They seemed to get him and his personality, and weren't annoyed with his presence. That was nice. "So you're helping them for free?"
Ace turned and said, "Money isn't the best thing in the world. I think good experiences are more important and cause more long term happiness than money does. You can always get more money, but you can't get an experience you just passed up on." He added, "My family has a lot of money, but we value other things more." Nobody asked what the other things were.
He asked a question this time, seeing Todoroki's fire side of his outfit was burnt away. "So your clothes don't change with your quirk? His clothes are burned away, and the girl with the invisible power has to wear special clothes to be completely invisible."
"No, you need special clothes to use with your quirks. That's why some costumes are different from others," Thirteen said. Ace hummed.
"Well that's inconvenient. Devil fruit users' clothes change with them. That's why nothing I wear burns, and why zoans can turn into animals and their clothes stretch or shrink with them." Then he stood up and went to walk out. "I'm gonna go talk to Todoroki about his flames," so they knew where he went if All Might came back.
Everyone was distracted after the last fight, so it was easy to get down and head to where he could tell Todoroki was now that he was more powered up it seemed. He passed a somehow more cranky Endeavor, and ignored him, walking to the break rooms to find Todoroki sitting in the chair, looking exhausted.
Ace sat across from him. "I know I don't have a right to be in here, but I wanted to tell you your flames were really impressive. I think you'll become super strong with them, and with the ice it'll make you even stronger. I just wanted to tell you, as a fellow fire user, I was impressed," Ace said with a grin.
Todoroki smiled a small smile. "That was by far the most interesting match so far, even if I don't like how much Freckles hurt himself," he added.
"I know you helped Midoiya with his hand to hand. Will you… help me control my flames?" he asked awkwardly. "While you're still here?"
Ace said, "I promised Freckles I was gonna help him out but then I disappeared for awhile, but I have nothing to do here, so I'd be happy to help you out. You don't want to learn from Endeavor?" Todoroki shook his head. "Well, I don't blame you. He always looks cranky and like he has a stick shoved up his ass."
Todoroki started laughing, the first time Ace had seen or heard him say that. "Nobody would dare say that here."
"Well, I'm just passing by. I have no reason to be polite to him if he doesn't return the favor. I'm not nice like that," Ace said honestly. Todoroki said he seemed pretty nice. "In this world I have to be. In the other world, I can be quite the ass to enemies. But it's fun. I know it's immature, but it's fun to piss off an enemy as long as you know you can take them while they're furious.
"I can tell that's not exactly how the heroes here think, but I have no desire to be one, so it's fine for me," Ace finished. Todoroki nodded and said he'd never come across someone with the mindset like Ace. Ace said it was probably because of the difference between where they lived. That was obvious. He said he was going to go watch the next match. "I get to sit in the teacher's box. It's pretty cool. Nobody would let me in since I came late so I chilled on the roof for a few minutes before All Might let me in."
Todoroki asked if he was always a rule breaker. "Depends on the rules," Ace said simply. "I'll see you later and we can figure out when to train. It'll be boring at first, I'll tell you that," he added with a grin.
"Fine by me," the new-fire user said. Ace walked out and back to the stadium where he got to sit. When he was back, Thirteen asked how it went. "He asked me to help him get control of the flames."
"Oh, Endeavor won't like that," Vlad King said, having come back from wherever he was for the last hour. Ace shrugged, saying it wasn't his problem and that Todoroki had been the one to ask in the first place.
"I'm just helping a student, right?" Ace asked with a smirk. "Helping them is what workers here do, correct? Even if I'm not permanent, it's nice helping out here. So as long as I'm welcome I'll do it." Then he turned back to the stage, which was mostly fixed by then. Cementos was pretty useful.
He did wonder how Freckles was doing. Based on what he'd seen from a distance, of his arms that weren't even straight anymore and were purple like he was internally bleeding, Ace could tell it would be a hard recovery. He sighed. He did his best, even if it hurt him badly. He would need to get control of the quirk before he could dream of being a hero. Surely you had to have control over your power to use it to help others?
It was another short match, even though it was round two as Iida easily pushed Shiozaki, the girl with vines for hair, out of the ring. Well, he didn't think anything could compare to the last match. Another was out of bounds immediately with Dark Shadow from Tokoyami pushing Ashido out before she could do anything, the shadow monster dodging her acid.
The next match was Bakugo and Kirishima, and they were both doing well. But then, unsurprisingly, Bakugo became ruthless and Kirishima was losing the constant explosions. "Why does he keep telling others to die?" Ace wondered.
All Might walked in and Ace gave up his seat again, even though the man offered for Ace to continue to sit while he stood. "Young Bakugo gets too enthusiastic sometimes. I doubt he'd actually kill anyone who is not a villain. But even then, killing villains is not the right thing to do here." Ace noticed the "here", meaning it was this world that had that rule.
He knew Ace's world had a lot of death.
Bakugo won when Kirishima couldn't move anymore, and made it to the last round, meaning he was going up against Todoroki. Ace had no doubt. But during the match with Sero and Todoroki, the fire and ice user was angry and determined. Now, whatever Freckles said got to him, and he wondered if he was still aiming for the top, or he had lost his drive for that day.
Well, they'd all see soon enough. And he felt he was right when Todoroki took a hit that he could have avoided easily when Iida supercharged his pipe legs - engine! It was called an engine! - and made a very swift kick. But then Ace saw he'd frozen the pipes without Iida noticing. The match was over once he was frozen and unable to move or fight anymore.
Ace wondered why all of the matches seemed so short compared to Freckles and Todoroki's. Hopefully the last match wouldn't be too disappointing, even if he saw less resolve in Todoroki's body language.
Bakugo fought Tokoyami next. And he won by being ruthless. Ace would not want to be a villain in this world and fight Bakugo. If Ace hadn't been through so much and so many enemies, he would be apprehensive about even being near the hot head. But he was strong. Though he really needed to work on his temper.
Professionals were watching, right? If he was so pissed, it might look bad for him. It didn't seem like he had an off switch. Even when he wasn't fighting or arguing, he looked pissed off at the air. There was nothing he didn't seem to be pissed off by. But, he won quickly again. Next was the final fight. Bakugo was super charged up, wanting to be number one. Ace felt Todoroki was not.
Finally, the last match, and Ace was closer to the window now as he saw Todoroki and Bakugo standing on the stage. Again, his suspicions were back about both of their attitudes. Todoroki always looked a bit bored and blank, but now he didn't look anything like his demeanor in previous matches. And Bakugo was the opposite.
But the former did form an ice coffin so to speak that covered one third of the stage. Only he was clearly more focused and being careful than last time when he almost impaled part of the audience. Bakugo blew his way out. He threw Todoroki, but he caught himself and slid on a sort of ramp he made of ice.
He was able to grab Bakugo with his left hand, but he hesitated, and Ace could tell he wasn't going to use his flames, and he didn't, just throwing his opponent away. By doing that, he proved he respected Freckles more as a rival, going all out on him but not Bakugo. Maybe a friendship had been formed between them. After all, it was something Freckles said that caused Todoroki to use his flames for what he assumed was the first time based on his reaction.
Then Eraser Head said what Ace was thinking. Todoroki was not giving his all, had dulled. He just wasn't into the fight like Bakugo demanded he be. And after a short burst of flames, they dissipated and he stopped fighting. And he lost by a huge explosion coming from Bakugo, and ended up out of bounds.
"Uh oh," Ace couldn't help but say. The others nodded. Bakugo was pissed now. More than he was before. He had that rivalry between himself and Freckles, and having Todoroki go all out on him and not Bakugo probably wounded his sensitive pride. So sensitive if it was touched with too much pressure it would explode.
He went to harass the unconscious Todoroki, shouting at him about not fighting fair, but then Midnight used her sleeping gas on him. It was kind of pathetic, and Ace knew that he himself wouldn't be happy with winning a match where the other didn't try. But still, going off about it in front of thousands, maybe millions, was a bit embarrassing.
But he couldn't help feel for his frustration. "That must be so frustrating, to win like that," he said.
"Especially since young Todoroki went so hard at young Midoriya, only to not do all he could against young Bakugo. How frustrating indeed," All Might agreed, also clearly feeling sympathetic. Then he left the box to go to the field and give the awards. After jumping off the roof.
When the three winners were shown, Ace snorted at Bakugo. He was in chains, thick chains, and thrashing around. He even had some sort of muzzle. If Ace was a kid still, he would have probably killed or beaten up whoever tried to chain him. But he wouldn't be this furious, explosive behavior, he'd give cold stares promising death on whoever had done that to him.
Bakugo was entertaining when he was mad, but he wouldn't say that. He could just think it privately. And the sport's festival was over, and he had another fun story to tell his brothers when he next got home.