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Chapter 9

Who Covers The Club Duties

Izuku watched as a petite girl walked over and hugged the taller, bustier girl like old friends greeting each other. The greenet was kind enough to give them time to catch up before Momo finally introduced him to her little friend.

"This is Jirou, she has been a good friend of mine since I first came to this school!"

The punk rocker gave a friendly wave as she greeted Izuku.

"Hey, so you're the infamous new member. In all honesty, I expected you to look more like a femboy if you got past Saiko's pesky rules about new members. Maybe she finally loosened up," she then leaned in closer to whisper something that only Izuku caught, "or you're packing something she wants to test drive."

The emerald greenet gave a similarly kind greeting gesture before chuckling, "Haha, no she hates my guts with a burning passion. I'm walking along eggshells to make sure I don't give her the opportunity to chuck me to the streets. It is nice to meet another friend of Momo's who doesn't carry a boatload of spite toward me."

"We've both been so busy with our clubs and everything that we haven't been able to hang out recently," Momo explained, turning to her friend, "Which reminds me, why are you here?"

Jirou smirked, stating, "You know why. I'm here to listen in on your little meeting."

"Clubs are sending scouts already? How? We just got this challenge recently."

"Seems like someone leaked the information. It hasn't become widespread thought so you can take a breather for now. I will warn you though, it seems to me that things are moving a lot faster this time around. You better prepare yourself."

Surprised at the news, Momo shook off the feeling and gave an assertive but thankful nod to her friend.

"Thank you for the valuable information."

The raven-hair girl turned away from the pair before walking off saying, "Don't mention it, we may be on different teams but that doesn't mean there needs to be any hospitality between us. Good luck in your meeting, by the way, you won't be able to see me so I'll let you know now that I'm rooting for you."

Though it was short, that small interaction gave Momo the confidence boost she needed for the upcoming events.

As the door creaked open, a tense silence befalls a room previously filled with lively chat. Entering into the room was a staid-looking Momo, followed behind by Izuku who was holding the papers and equipment Momo had taken with her when they left the clubroom.

Unlike their own, the clubroom of The Tapers wasn't as home renovated as the Queens were. It looked like the members here barely touched the room, only moving in tables and chairs they might've looted off of the classrooms in the school. The members seemed to have brought in things to help make being there comfortable, such as coolers, a TV set, and a game system. It reminded Izuku that he had to somehow convince Saiko to put a TV in the Killer Queens clubhouse so Eri could watch her favorite shows there.

As the pair walked toward the seats in the middle that were open and obviously meant for them, Izuku took a quick scan in the room of all the members. With two exceptions, no one in the room seemed to stick out to him, just a bunch of boys. The only interesting thing was that he noticed quite a few familiar faces that were among the thirty boys that had cornered him on his second day.

'Saiko was right after all, a bigger game was already being played. I did find it weird that in a top-class school based around intelligence that I would face such a barbaric approach from a big group of students so soon after arrival,' pondered Izuku. During his observation, it would seem that none of these guys had forgotten his face as well, "With how secretive Saiko is about the club's business, there shouldn't have been much information out about me that could have spawned that amount of prejudice before any one of them even properly saw me in class. No wonder Saiko was so aggressive with stomping out my insubordination herself, she probably anticipated that the other clubs had hidden scouts all over.'

Once the invading pair were seated in front of a table, a boy from the group stepped out. He was tall and pretty lean with blacker hair than Momo. His hair was medium level and spiked downward, and his straight-toothed smile on his plain face just didn't seem right. As he approached, he gave a casual greeting.

"Why if it isn't Yaoyorozu, good to see you're doing well," the boy's almond-shaped eyes shifted its attention over to Izuku, "And you brought along the infamous new student I've been hearing about, thanks, now I don't need to look around campus to see him for myself. This may be late but welcome to our school, I'm Hanta Sero, club president of The Tapers. You can just call me Sero, people found it the simplest to say and remember."

"Good to you again as well Sero," Momo told him, giving a polite greeting bow. She then flashed her eyes over to Izuku.

Remembering what they talked about, Izuku did the same kind of greeting and said, "Nice to meet you Sero, I'm Izuku Midoriya. Thank you for the welcoming."

"If you don't mind, I would like to get right to business," stated Momo, the tone in her voice was similar to how she talked before in the hallway. She held out a hand toward Izuku with an open palm, as signaled, the greenet went through the pile of paper she was carrying to get out the folder he was earlier instructed to bring out first and placed it in her hand. As Momo looked through the file she continued, "About the details of the Game that should be our challenge match, I've already taken the liberty of making a proposal for rules and what we'll be betting. Izuku, I need the sheet for what we'll be offering."

"Right, sorry for the wait" Izuku nodded, taking out the sheet and giving it to her. His docile nature and compliance to Momo's requests without even a word in defiance threw even Sero off. Exactly as expected, 'Having me be in open rebellion against the Queens so soon after infamously getting in would make them look like the sick-man of clubs unless they managed to get me under control quickly. That's probably why Saiko didn't even attempt to push that I must resign from the Killer Queens during the whole club president fiasco, she didn't want me gone, just silenced so it looked like they tamed the rowdy dog. If I had been kicked out of the club and joined another one then I would have a chance to talk about all sorts of things to their competitors. Even if she felt like I didn't deserve it, having someone that can get into the Queens by tricking three of the core members at once go to a competing club would be more humiliating to them in the long run.'

It was this line of thinking that led him and Momo to come up with a scheme. If Izuku didn't leave the Killer Queens, all the other clubs would still be curious to see the talent of the man who challenged the queens so directly. So, why not give them an underwhelming first showing?

'For the sake of taking some attention away from me, for both the club and my personal life, I'll dutifully serve Momo on our little diplomatic mission like a good servant. When they see me acting so compliant after all the rumors of my rebellious deeds, they'll undoubtedly think the Queens pacified me. Indicating that all the steam I was blowing up before was no match for them and in turn, having them underestimate my capabilities, my favored position.'

"Something the matter?" questioned Momo seeing Sero's dumbfounded expression.

The jet-black-haired boy slowly responded, "...no, sorry I just expected more of a show from your newest member. Heard he caused quite a bit of ruckus for you guys."

Still keeping her calm stern demeanor, Momo gestured to Izuku before stating, "Maybe at first, but we ironed out any issues we had with each other, we wouldn't want it to be a distraction to us."

Izuku slowly nodded, keeping his eyes low like he was at a parent-teacher conference. The boy can feel the eyes falling on him, judging his passive display. Despite this, Izuku was internally laughing at them.

'Hahahaaa! Look down on me all you want, I don't care! When it's time to play, you'll be crushed! I'm playing duty for now but I'm no simple servant, I'll proudly take my position as the Queen's personal Knight!'

"That's enough derailment, let's return to the proposal," Momo states, sliding the paper over for The Taper's president to read, "I'm sure you'll find it fair."

While Sero was preoccupied, Izuku could still feel eyes glaring at him but he couldn't track where. He knew Jirou was one of them but not the rest, they must be hidden in the crowd or are spying on them via another method.

When the plain-faced leader put down the proposal he commented, "Is this a joke!?"

"No, humor at this moment would be inappropriate," Momo replied, she motioned to the paper, "We're completely serious about everything we jotted down."

"Everything would be unsatisfying for us, from the Game we'll be playing to the arrangements and even spoils of victory. It just isn't worth it for us!"

"I disagree, maybe you don't find them favorable because you want to be greedy with the conditions."

"So what? You were invited here to discuss these things, I'm not accepting a prepared proposal. If you pitch some of this you may convince me to agree to a few things on here."

"There's a misunderstanding here, YOU challenged US," Momo declared, looking at Sero straight on, "Doing so in such a disrespectful manner, do you think we'll just forget about that and negotiate as if we are equals in any capacity. No, you'll be unconditionally playing by our rules. Any discussion that'll be had here today will be me explaining the details of the proposal to avoid any misinterpretation."

Her onyx eyes glared at the club president in front of her, he seemed aggravated about not moving an inch before stating, "If you object to this, then I'll have to take action to get you to comply."

Sero stared back at Momo, pondering something in his mind. He then looked to the side where some of The Tapers were sitting down and called out, "Tsuburaba!"

"Right!" called out a voice in the back, while the entire meeting was happening, one boy in particular never stopped playing games.

The Tapers leader turned back to Momo and said, "We'll take you up on that offer. I'll find it fitting that I should have my second in command fight the Killer Queens' second in command. If you win, we'll wholeheartedly accept this proposal of yours, but I expect full compliance to our demands when we win."

With a nod, Momo agreed to the terms.

"Perfect. How you don't mind but since this Game was challenged by you we'll be picking the game we'll play," Sero says, getting up from his seat and walking away, "She's all yours."

"All right!" shouted a boy with short brown hair, he slammed the table with his hands as he sat down. He sported a cocky smirk as he looked up at Momo with his big pupil eyes, "Are you ready?"

Momo looked at Izuku, motioning for him to depart from the table so it was only her and her opponent. As the greenet got up, he shared a quick word of encouragement to Mom before taking position behind her.

"Let's play VUMMA!" declared Tsuburaba, "You ever played it before, it's similar to playing a video game."

Respectfully, Momo answered, "No, I don't play video games."

"Seems like I got a noob on my hands, didn't expect that," chuckled the brown-haired boy.

Izuku squinted his eyes as he thought, 'Liar, they probably expected this and are trying to have her play a Game in a style she's not familiar with. With the wide variety a Game could be played, people adopt different styles of playing them. The most respected forms are Games like chess that truly show off the traditional sense of intelligence most people think of, but playing Games through video games has been a growing style for many common folks. In a formal place like this, you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who actively trains themself in the method of video games.'

Tsuburaba then states, "The rules are simple."

GAME - VIRTUAL UNDERGROUND MIXED MARTIAL ARTS(VUMMA) - Running off the Avatar Deployment System(ADS) - a system only implemented in a few schools for testing.

The setting is similar to the name, in an underground mixed martial arts arena where the rules are a lot more laxed for more brutal fighting. Both players will be controlling a blank avatar(either mentally, with a controller, or whatever method was agreed on) whose body they could augment to get the stats they want for their desired playstyle. The player will then select what ability their cheat will grant for them from a variety of options, they'll be based on their capabilities with their Quirk. Victory is achieved by the knockout of the other's avatar.

"That should be a simple enough explanation, right," Tsuburaba said, stretching his arms to prepare for the match. He had optioned to let them control their Avatar mentally, "Ah you should have no problem picking up on the rest."

The elegant Momo had her eyes closed for a moment, digesting the explanation given and surfing her mind for other information. Once she opened them she asked, "Shall we begin?"

Her brown-haired opponent nodded.

"GAME SET!"

In front of the two of them, a hologram screen appeared for both players. There, the two of them customized their avatars.

While Izuku watched on he thought, 'Not only is she playing in a style she's not used to, there's no doubt the guy knows a lot of the tech this game has that Momo won't know about or will be unable to use during her first time timing. Why would Momo put herself in a disadvantageous position so willingly?'

When the two were finished, the screens disappeared, and a virtual field of the fighting arena appeared between the two. It was a standard arena field with sand serving as the foundation, a virtual crowd was also created to serve as audience members.

Their avatar was quickly coded onto both entrances of the arena. Izuku was amazed at how accurate the avatars were to their controllers, his well-trained eyes could barely see any disparities that would make this not a one-to-one visualization. The only difference was their attire, the avatars were dressed in clothing more appropriate for a fight compared to their school uniforms.

The experience Tsuburaba had showed in his Avatar, from a glance Izuku could tell it was optimized in complete coordination to Tsuburaba's playstyle, not a single aspect of the customization was wasted. For the short bit of time Izuku had to study the customization process from over Momo's shoulder, which he noticed she went extra slow to give her clubmate a chance to see this fairly new system, he spotted the many design choices most might overlook but can play an integral role in this game. This guy Sero sent out, he knew how integral this system can be utilized because he set them all to fit the specific style he was aiming for.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, known for being one of the deadliest martial arts styles, which is why many people think of it as the best martial art. Its recreation from the original for sport didn't turn it into a showman's craft.

It'll certainly be a tough match.

Unease sat with Izuku because of his clubmate's choice for this battle. A completely standard build, while it was understandable why Momo would go for such a setup, the decision wouldn't give many benefits for the machine. In this scenario, it's only a step above choosing a style Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu completely counter. In these types of games, people have a natural drive to balance out every aspect when in truth it isn't necessary, in many cases it may even be counterproductive. While experts learn all the fundamentals, they usually specialize in a specific aspect to advance themself ahead of the rest, even at the cost of other basics. Against such force, an average approach would get slaughtered.

Izuku would assume that Momo planned to make up the skill difference through the use of her quirks, but with this match-up, whatever Cheat she would get could only get her on the level of having an advanced style. Her fight will be with someone whose base is already advanced along with a cheat.

'These are odds I'm used to facing,' Izuku thought after assessing the situation. Being quirkless in this world has brought a lot of disadvantages that Izuku had to adapt to surviving the way he did, adversity isn't anything new. The only concern was that it wasn't him at the controls, someone else is operating the steering wheel on this uphill road, and Izuku wasn't used to being in the backseat for these types of journeys. There was an earlier attempt from Izuku to be the spearhead of this operation but it was shot down.

"Are you sure about this Momo? I'm all for what you're trying to do but I don't mind throwing my hat into the ring for this one. Might help show more control," suggested Izuku as they crafted their game plan for entering the Tapers' room.

Momo shook her head, "No, this is something I need to do."

Their conversation echoed in Izuku's mind, he can still remember his ponytail clubmate's face looking at him, 'Haven't seen her eyes that fierce since our game. Since my personal stakes are low, I don't mind yielding to her request. Especially since she had that charming expression.'

The emerald gamer will have to leave this to Momo. That doesn't mean he wasn't scheming up any contingency plans, he didn't need complete trust in his clubmate to go along with it.

For now, he'll watch idly like a predator, waiting for his opportune moment.

"You better be ready, because I'm going all-in when the ref calls it!" Tsuburaba announced, raring to go.

Still keeping her composed posture, Momo quipped back, "You're not even going to give a first-timer a chance to check her controls? Quite impolite don't you think?"

"The controls are simple, we're doing it with our minds anyways. You'll get used to it real quick," the bug-eyed player replied.

'Tch, no surprise they're being relentless. When actual stakes are on the line people will do whatever they can to increase their chance of victory, or lower their opponent's, even simple things like a button check need to be negotiated beforehand to ensure it'll happen. It was a bad move to say outright that she has never done this before, now they know for sure you don't know a lot of the mechanics. They're going to exploit that now,' thought Izuku, he dipped his supposed submitted voice in some assertiveness when she said, "That's willfully cruel. You can spare a few seconds for her, not like it'll matter."

Sero then spoke up from his seat, "This ain't a playground. There is no obligation to spare you guys anything here."

Adding on to that statement, Tsuburaba stated, "Yeah, we're trying to have fun here. We're not going to do anything just because."

This was followed by a wave of the other Tapers throwing in their comments of wanting their visitor to shut up and play.

'There it is.' Izuku thought he had to hold back the smile that was creeping on his face to not break character, 'They're all set to be incentivized if we raise something in the bet. Your bargaining skills should be adequate Momo, because if I'm going to keep on with our little act then I can only set up this exchange.'

Much to the greenet's surprise, before he could speak another word Momo spoke up, "That's fine."

'The fuck!?' Izuku internally shouted, his body tensed up, 'What are you thinking?"

"Don't worry, I can work with these conditions," Momo told Izuku, feeling her clubmate's hidden frustration she had turned around. Facing front again, she continued, "We can begin whenever you want."

Tsuburaba was quick to respond, "Alright, let's get started already!"

'You better know what you're doing to give up on what I was trying to get you,' Izuku thought, it took a bit before he found himself grinding his teeth. A bad habit he hasn't done in a long while, 'This is stressing me out? How petty. This is why I prefer being the driving force, makes things a lot easier.'

After a few deep breaths, Izuku calms himself to stop his habit, 'Let's watch for now. None of this matters to me except keeping the school's awareness to me at a minimum.'

It was just in time for the countdown.

5

4

3

2

1

"START!"

Just as promised, Tsuburaba started the match fist blazing. Thankfully, Momo was smart enough to keep her distance, staying out of range to any of Tsuburaba's attempts for a grapple. While her avatar sustained some hits from striking, none of it was heavy for concern. Izuku was quite surprised at how light on its feet Momo's avatar was, if she kept it up, she could buy herself enough time to get used to the controls. It'll be a start.

Tsuburaba taunted them, his avatar hasn't taken a bit of damage yet, "Running already? Go ahead, this arena is only so big. You can at least throw a punch."

Momo didn't respond, continuing with her strategy. There were a few close calls where it looked like Momo attempted to strike but instead got countered with Tsuburaba's own. The hits were strong but Momo never allowed a chance for a combo to get off.

'Not yet. He has a few openings but I can't attack yet,' Momo thought, she was working up a lot of concentration to maintain the distance her avatar was at. A misstep could spell the end of this match.

Izuku put a hand on his chin, rubbing as he pondered, 'This ain't bad, she's getting Tsuburaba to drain a lot of his avatar's stamina from the relentless attacks. Tiring him out is a solid move, something I'll even do but it would be supplemented with something else. If you only dodge they're going to catch on soon. Your true intentions should be the quiet part, the things you say out loud as the distraction.'

His examination was spot on, after a few more seconds of low contact battling, Tsuburaba suddenly stopped moving.

"I didn't think you'll be this scared shitless," the bug-eyed gamer stated, leaving his avatar wide open, "It's a snoozefest if you only run away. If it'll spice things up, I won't mind letting you take a free hit."

Both Izuku and Momo shared a bewildered look at this.

"Don't be shy, build your confidence a bit," Tsuburaba says, stepping forward with his avatar. He fully intends on approaching without a guard.

Neither of them was falling for this, it was obviously a trap. The question is how?

Izuku immediately concluded, 'Must be his Cheat. One that works best on defense if he has to bait someone to use in this scenario. I saw his face when Momo kept denying him a chance to get in a combo, he's no patient type.'

Even for an expert like himself, the emerald greenet knew this was one of the deadliest stages of a game. Discovering the opponent's Cheat. With how unpredictable quirks can be and the vast amount of Cheats that can be created from them, one should never underestimate the advantages that can turn the tides. A quirkless people like Izuku who had to win many games without any Cheats available knew this rule of nature well. While he has his interesting take on the Killer Queens, there was enough respect for their intelligence.

'Momo won't fall for that trap, right? But she'll need to discover what his Cheat is somehow. You gotta drag it out safely so you know how to counter it.'

He was right about Momo not taking the bait, she stayed her distance instead of rushing in. But this wasn't a careful approach, it was passivity. It didn't look like Momo was preparing to do anything.

'Don't just stand there. It doesn't have to be hyper-aggressive, but you should always be keeping the gears moving. Shit, this is annoying to do since I can't even openly advise her!'

With a smug grin, Tsubarau taunted, "Don't be shy, I promise to not raise a finger."

This 'supportive' claim only confirmed Momo's choice to not engage, instead, she had her avatar back up. Along the way, she kept an active guard, gradually moving her arms and legs.

Still observing from the side, Izuku thought, 'It was a good opportunity lost to find out his quirk now, it'll give you less time to think about ways to get around it once he begins using it more seriously. Oh well, someone with a lack of patience like him will quickly lose his cool since his plan isn't working. She can… wait-'

Izuku immediately sensed something was wrong.

Tsuburaba has yet to be visually disturbed by Momo not taking his taunt. No eye twitches, no grunts, not even an impatient movement. He had clear genuine frustration when Momo kept dodging his attacks but not here! This seemingly complete puzzle has a part that doesn't sit right.

If Izuku was playing this himself or had a more active role, he wouldn't recognize it much earlier, but his focus on Momo kept his mind partly distracted. But now that he got the tail-end scent, he can quickly trail it to the source in the nick of time.

'It never made sense why he'd wait in the first place, even if Momo was running I'm sure he had enough experience in this game to counter such a simple tactic! Why would he be so calm about having to wait if he's impatient unless he wanted to wait! No….oh crap, it's not waiting!'

He was going to break character for a moment, but Izuku felt like it was necessary, consequences be damned. It'll be much easier, for him, to find a way out of it afterward anyways than for Momo to go on without this information.

He blurts out, "Momo! He's baiting you away, not in, he wants to catch his breath!"

For a split moment, Momo looked back, surprised by the revelation.

It wasn't overtly obvious, but Izuku concluded that there must be an exhaustion gauge that runs alongside the stamina bar to prevent people from mindlessly spamming strong attacks in quick succession.

'Similar to humans, we have the energy or stamina to do a lot. It's how we're about to have eight-hour workdays with many people still doing other activities on top of that. But that's only possible because we take breaks between and during all of them. If we tried to do them all without a second to at least stand idly, we'd faint from exhaustion. Tsuburaba from the start was throwing out attack after attack trying to get in to deal heavy damage, his stamina showed it took a toll on him to use up that much so quickly. He'll need a moment before he can start again.'

A small frown appeared on Tsuburaba's face as he grumbled, "That ruins the fun a bit, no matter!"

Tsuburaba's avatar dashed forward to strike while Momo was mentally still staggered by the news. At first, it looked like a repeat of before but quickly Tsuburaba had switched up his tactics to striking with long-range attacks. The extra focus increased the effectiveness of each hit that landed even if it was just a graze.

While the match itself seemed to be heating up, Sero's eyes were dead-set on Izuku.

'Their mutt had some fangs after all?' Sero thought, now intrigued not because of Izuku's deduction but the speed, 'I know what gave it away, the avatar's panting. The Devs put it in as a subtle way to show when someone is getting exhausted, something most beginners would overlook, especially if they didn't know the game would keep track of such a thing. But Tsuburaba needed about twenty-five seconds for a full recovery but this guy recognized what he was doing at the count of five.'

The black-haired leader cracked a smile, 'Did he notice the slight change of breathing or came to this conclusion quickly through another means. It was smart he told his clubmate as soon as he did but it won't be enough, Tsuburaba got back about enough to finish this.'

Blow to blow, Tsuburaba pressed Momo back. This was where Tsuburaba's other plan came into play, before Momo knew it, her avatar's back was against the wall. Her retreat had made it easier to corner her where she can no longer dabble within his attack range.

'Shit, he's in range to grab her,' Izuku thought, he knew this wasn't good.

Sero's smile grew, 'She can't run away anymore. Looks like we're nearing the end of this.'

With the range finally closed, Tsuburaba pushed his Avatar forward for a grapple to end the match declaring, "We've all grown tired of this snoozefest!"

Izuku's eyes sharped as he began to step back, 'I'll have to step in now. If I remembered, they left-'

The greenet's shenanigans were stopped suddenly when he felt someone grab him. For a moment he thought one of the Tapers had grabbed him but he was surprised to see that it was Momo's hand keeping him there. Her grip was firm and didn't let go, the timing said it all, she didn't want him to move a muscle.

"Yes, this has gotten tedious," Momo stated, her eyes looking much fiercer than they were before. Before Tsuburaba's avatar could lay his hand on her, Momo's own knocked its hand away with the swipe of an elbow, "Let's start to end this."

The emerald eyes of the casuist mastermind widened that elegant move she just pulled off, surge electricity went through his brain just from witnessing it, he recognized the movement. Most importantly, if Momo was pulling off that move, it means she's familiar with the controls now!

Tsuburaba didn't stop with his assault after his grab was parried, though a bit staggered, he still managed to throw out a hard strike with his other hand. With the same fluid movement that'll make dancers jealous, Momo used her Avatar's forearms to attack near his wrist, waving it away as well. With both his arms knocked away, it left Tsuburaba wide open for Momo to land an open palm strike on his chest, staggering him back.

Clutching his controller, Tsuburaba growled, "Lucky shot, let's see you do that again!"

Without giving himself a second for evaluation, he rushed back into a patiently waiting Momo. He exhausted his arsenal, from kicks to punches, and even grapples. Each kick was parried or dodge, every punch was followed up with a counter, and all grapples were denied before they could begin. The frustration built up in Tsuburaba to the point where he abandoned anything formal and tried to slam his avatar's body into hers to shove her to the wall. He wasn't expecting her to slip out of the way and chopping his throat with her entire forearm, making his avatar hacking over into a coughing fit.

"Damn it," Tsuburaba exclaimed, trying to get his avatar to recover.

Sero spoke out to him, "Calm down and think."

'She's using Silat,' concluded Izuku, after that display, he was sure of it, 'That's a martial art similar to Muay Thai in using their elbows and knees to fight through a much softer style. Often they use their forearms and open palms for combat, allowing them a chance to control how much harm they do to their opponent.'

While he was impressed that Momo decided to use a lesser-known martial art and combine it with the speed she gave her avatar, he was curious as to why she wasn't taking advantage of the situation. Tsuburaba's avatar is wide open while recovering from the damage done to his throat, yet Momo kept to her stance.

Izuku relaxed, assuring Momo that he wasn't going to move so she could let his hand go and focus on her match. He'll just stand back and watch, if she wants to handle this so much, then so be it.

Although he was aggravated, Tsuburaba did take in his leader's word. Once he got his avatar back in full control, he took a different approach. While the bug-eyed boy was still engaging first, he knew what Momo's game was. Declaring in his mind 'You may think you're slick parrying like that but you're still just a novice! I'll defeat your next counter!'

He moved forward with a straight right. As expected, when Tsuburaba starts charging up for his attack, Momo's avatar starts preparing itself as well, showing the fluid movement it was doing before.

'That won't work again!' Tsuburaba said, feinting that punch with another strike from his other arm. Parries only work if you get the timing right! Feints can easily mess with the time leaving the person disorientated for what comes next, "Get wrecked!"

Right then the gears of the match switched, before anyone noticed it, Momo was grappling at Tsuburaba's avatar's waist. Grabbing at his legs, Momo took him down to the ground.

Izuku was surprised, 'That was wrestling!'

The two avatars scrambled on the floor, trying to gain dominance over the other. With Momo being the one who took the other down first, she had enough leverage to straddle Tsuburaba and pound away at his exposed face. The other Tapers were yelling at Tsuburaba for getting outdone in grappling when he's using Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

Tsuburaba having trouble didn't surpriseIzuku as he already knew something most people here didn't, 'Wrestling is considered a kind of counter to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, especially when it's combined with another martial art. But how is she using both Silat and Wrestling this effectively? She didn't optimize her stats for either much less for a hybrid.'

The Tapers' uproar increased, telling Tsuburaba to break out of it already.

"I'm trying!" Tsuburaba yelled back at him, having his avatar struggle the best it could.

Sero glared at the fight unfolding, thinking, 'That avatar is way too sturdy for how it was moving before. Pulling off a simple takedown is one thing, but winning in the scramble like this as well is far-fetched for someone who used their customization for speed. Unless...'

Izuku had come to the same conclusion, grinning to himself, 'So that's it. If I didn't have to play a role I would openly applaud you Momo.'

"Are you guys getting it now?" Saiko asked the two little girls who've been bothering her for help for so long. They've been cooped up in the Killer Queen's clubroom for so long playing video games. Well, Mina isn't a child but based on her actions Saiko can easily see her as such.

Eri simply nodded while Mina said, "Yeah, we're starting to get a hang of these puzzles. We barely have to ask you for help anymore."

The lavender-haired girl sat back, partaking in her cold drink before saying, "That's the benefit of surrounding yourself with smart people."

"Really!" Mina exclaimed, looking excited, "Wow I must've gotten a lot smarter since I hang out with you girls all the time!"

"No, you're the one anomaly to it," Saiko harshly told her.

"Hey!"

"But outside of you, it's always beneficial to surround yourself with other ambitious people that'll serve to motivate you where you want to go."

Setsuna snickered from her position, "Is that you only hang out with like one other person."

"A- yes! So what?" snapped Saiko, turning to the greenette who's always been a bother to her.

"I don't know, sounds like a lonely life," Setsuna told her, shrugging as she gave her club leader a smug smile, "No wonder this place can be a ghost town."

Letting out a silent growl, Saiko informs her, "I don't need a hundred mindless dolts around me. If they're all dumb, unambitious, and mindless then I'm only wasting my time and bringing myself down to hang around them all the time. All I need is a small handful of people at least close to my level that I can depend on and I'm perfectly fine."

Mina spoke up to ask, "Is that why you've been friends with Momo for so long?"

"Of course!" exclaimed Saiko, a bright smile appearing on her face. She cockily brushed her hair with a hand before continuing, "As capable as I am, I can only do so much at once. Thankfully I have Momo. There's no one whose skills I trust more, that's why she'll always be my second in command AND my friend! She can cover anything I can't"

'She certainly has a hell of a quirk,' Izuku thought as he continued looking over Momo.

As the avatars fought, Tsuburaba managed to get out of the incredibly difficult position he was in but he was still in trouble. He couldn't get his rhyme in the fight. He couldn't stand as he couldn't get Momo's avatar off of him, his attempts to strike were swatted away like a bug, and when he went for grapples he found himself the one getting slammed. None of it made sense, he didn't see a weakness or anything in any one of Momo's actions. They all felt expertly executed!

Sero sucked in his teeth, disappointed in his clubmate's performance, 'He hasn't noticed. Damn, this is why you don't sweat things or else you miss the important part.'

What was occurring was Momo's Cheat.

Tsuburaba hadn't noticed as he hadn't experienced a Cheat being used this way in this game before. Momo's avatar's clothes had been inconsistent in form, changing depending on what Momo was doing.

What looked like a simple aesthetic change was Momo changing her gears to affect her stats. There was a reason why Momo made her avatar build completely standard to not exceed in anything but have no overt weakness, she can easily make up the distance with the gear she makes from her Cheat. With her quirk being able to produce whatever she wants, she made it her Cheat that she can switch between any set of gear at will. This is how she was able to perform both Silat and Wrestling with maximum efficiency, her Cheat-crafted gear will just increase whatever stats she needs to perform the move.

Momo was truly running wild.

Izuku commented, 'She's like a swiss army knife, able to switch between blows, throws, holds, and locks for whatever is needed. Our polymath is like the perfect all arounder.'

Emotions ran up in Tsuburaba, unable to take being humiliated so hard by someone who has never played the game. With a final burst of strength, he managed to break fully away from Momo after being locked on the ground, shouting, "GET OFF OF ME!"

As he sought to get up, he made sure to crawl away backward before Momo tried anything funny again.

That was when Sero yelled, "Don't back up, the wall!"

Advice given too late as Tsuburaba found his avatar had his back to the wall.

"Shit," hissed Tsuburaba, wanting his avatar to leave that position as quick as possible but his avatar was sluggish, unable to get on his feet, "What wrong with this thing! Oh no-!"

Exhaustion, the gauge hit its limit and the effects are seething in.

The closing act of this match began as Momo's avatar was already on its feet, approaching Tsuburaba who couldn't protect himself.

"Let's end this!" Momo declared, moving in.

Letting out a final scream of adrenaline, Tsuburaba gave a desperate last attempt for a two-handed grapple. If he could grab her, he could hold on until his avatar caught its breath again. But this was denied, by two elbows from a feminine body crashing down on it.

This was what Momo wanted, for him to come to her.

Now she can deliver the coup de grace.

'First, discombobulate.'

Two of Momo's avatar's hands slammed themself on both sides of Tsuburaba's ear, sending a deafening paralyzation through his body as his ears went haywire.

'Now gear switch, I'm putting everything into power.'

There was another change of Momo's outfit, and her avatar's strength had become more visible.

'Let's weaken him up a bit.'

Taking a step forward, she hit him with an upward elbow swing to the front of his face. The force drove Tsuburaba's back, knocking the back of its head against the wall and bouncing it back forward.

'Now break.'

There was a full-force knee waiting for Tsuburaba avatar when its head fell forward, blasting it back to the rock-hard wall for another rebound. The audience, both in virtual and reality could just feel the bones that were fractured.

'Now the end!'

Putting her whole body into the final strike, Momo practically collapsed on Tsuburaba's skull when she threw a punch that forced it crashing down to the ground.

A boom echoed throughout the stadium as the sand on the floor flew up and just as it came back to rest on the ground, so did all the noises in the room.

…

"WINNER!"

Along with the announcement, the virtual crowd cheered.

Momo's avatar gave a final look at the unconscious body of its opponent before walking away, leaving her controller to declare the end of this game.

"GAME OVER!"

With that, the virtual arena disappeared.

Momo picked up her things and stood up as she addressed the Tapers leader, "I take it you have no other objections to our offered arrangements, not that you have much of a choice now."

The ponytail then looked at Tsuburaba before asking, "Or do you want a rematch? I don't mind giving you a second chance if you have any issues with the match. Though it won't be an exact repeat, I'll have a hang on the controls from the beginning this time."

The bug-eyed player only clenched his fist, growling from the irritable fire lit in his body as he met her eye.

"No, that won't be needed," Sero said, rubbing the back of his head, "You won this Game, so we accept your terms."

"Then we'll be on our way," Momo replied, signaling to Izuku that they were going to take their leave. Before they left the room, Momo looked back to say, "Please be sure to read every word so we can avoid any misunderstanding."

Then silence when Momo closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry for losing," apologized Tsuburaba, looking down disappointed.

Sero waved it off, "Don't sweat it, that's why you lost. We got what we needed anyways."

The black-haired leader's thoughts drifted to what he was focused on, 'Tsuburaba defeat was his hubris, but there was no denying that there was a hiccup that changed the balance which led to him getting exhausted. Izuku Midoriya, we were right to inspect you. He'll be happy to hear this.'

As Izuku and Momo made their way back to the clubroom, Izuku noticed Momo was awfully silent. She hasn't spoken a word since they left.

At first Izuku's curiosity led him to think maybe she was mad at him when she suddenly looked back at him after they turned a corner. It went back to confusion when Momo looked beyond where Izuku was standing and then back in the direction she was facing before.

Izuku tilted his head, 'What is she thinking?'

The emerald greenet eyes widened a bit when he saw Momo begin to shudder.

Thankfully the reason why was explained when Momo began to jump around and squeal like a child who just won his first competition.

'Ah, so the exhilaration from victory hit here.'

Though it was something he couldn't relate to when it came to Games, he did find some form of humor seeing her celebrate.

"Happy?" Izuku asked when Momo turned back to him.

Momo answered, "Yes! It went off wonderfully! Aren't you the same!?"

The greenet shrugged, "Honestly I was more excited seeing you in all those outfits, glad to see my earlier statement of your behind being worthy of its royalty status was correct."

That lit up Momo's face bright red as she gasped. In her embarrassment, she started pounding away at her chest stating, "How could you? I was celebrating and you ruined it! Hooligan!"

Izuku stared up at the roof with a nonchalant face, barely guarding Momo's flustered assault. He mumbled, "Ah, if only you were as strong as your virtual counterpart."

"You can't expect things in video games to translate to real life," huffed Momo, pulling away and crossing her arms, "It'll give you a poor concept of how things really work."

"Really? Huh, then do you mind going out with me to the market this weekend? I need to get you in some MMA clothes!" Izuku tauntingly told her.

"STOOOOOP!" Momo whined, failing her arms in the air.

"Come on, things are always better in real life."

"I won't help you anymore with schoolwork if you keep teasing!"

"Fine, fine."

Their conversation stopped when Momo got a text message from Jirou.

Nice work there, great to see you've improved since last year.

Izuku commented, "She's right, you did amazing back there."

"Thanks, I'm just happy I didn't disappoint," Momo replied, smiling at the message.

"You didn't, you really seem to know what you were doing back there."

"Well… Mina is a big MMA fan and she often makes me and some of the others watch with her. So I used what I learned there and combined it with aspects I learned from all of you."

"Really? Like what?"

"Well, Saiko often uses defense to keep control in a Game. Threw in a bit of Setsuna's provoking nature as well."

"And me?"

"You…." Momo giggled to herself, "I only took a few notes."

"What kind?"

"Not telling."

"Come on! Well if you took notes from me that'll explain why I was scratching my head at a few decisions."

"Oh, are you referring to how patient I was? I assumed his Cheat gave him a strong defensive option that needed me to attack him or else he would've just used it when he was attacking me at the beginning. So I made him frustrated enough to keep coming to me first so he can't use his Cheat. Once he was exhausted and stunned, I could do whatever I wanted."

"Impressive, you didn't need me after all."

"I wouldn't say that, though you should trust me more."

"Maybe."

Entering back into the clubroom, Izuku said, "We're back."

"How did it go?" Mina asked, turning to them. The rest of the group huddled toward the victorious pair.

Momo answered, "It went swimmingly."

Saiko smiled, "Excellent, knew I could count on you."

Holding up her copy of the conditions, Momo started telling them about it, "Thank you, now I need to start preparing us for the match. The details are in this envelope, I only need a few days to create a-"

"You won't be creating anything," Setsuna said as her disconnected hand snatched the envelope out of Momo's hand, "You did enough today, let someone else do it."

Amused, Saiko scoffed, "Oh, are you going to do more work than the bare minimum."

A toothy grin appeared on Setsuna, "No not me, you."

The greenette pressed the envelope against her president's chest.

"What!?" exclaimed Saiko.

"It's only fair, you were the one who wanted this match in the first place. You should be the one to make the plan," Setsuna told her as she began shoving her president to the door.

Cockily, Izuku chuckled, "Sounds like a fair deal, you are our glorious leader."

"You as well," stated Setsuna, pushing Saiko into him as both of them were shoved out the room, "You voted for this as well."

"Wait but I just got back."

"Too bad!"

Saiko shouted, "You're not going to just push this on me and not with him!"

The devious trickster gave them both a farewell wave, closing them out with a phrase, "This'll be a great time to get along! Have you two!"

Pouncing on the door, Saiko tried hissed at her clubmate, "Setsuna, you seaweed-haired harlot! You open this door right now or so help me, when I get my hands on you I'll rip you limb from limb!"

"That's quite literally my quirk," Setsuna called out from behind the door.

"I'LL DIP THEM IN ACID AFTERWARDS!"

Izuku commented, "Excessive much?"

Saiko glared back at him before banging her head against the door, Setsuna pushed this on her and she didn't think there'll be a way out of it.

'I'm going to get that girl one day,' she thought to herself, before sighing, "This is going to be a long couple of days."

"You're telling me," replied Izuku, crossing his arms, "I'm going to be both annoyed and aroused throughout the entire thing."

"What?"

"What?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"So should we meet at my place later orrrr-"

Saiko let out a disgruntled groan.

TO BE CONTINUED

Next Time Teaser: A unlikely pair now has to work together, will they get along? There's only one certainly, and it's how one of them finds the other extremely attractive! Can Izuku work with Saiko's attractive ass being around him?

((Don't you hate being aroused and annoyed at the same time. Like damn it body it's uncomfortable to feel both!

Hope you enjoyed the story, follow it if it interests you, and leave a review on what you thought of the chapter.

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