Chapter 24 - Dirt and Ice

The final thirty-seven competitors had gathered onto the arena grounds, to take part in the final event of the U.A World Sports Festival. Unfortunately for them, there was some trouble going on, mainly from Minoru Mineta. What had happened was that he decided to pull a joke, one that he and Kaminari pulled on the girls at last year's Sports Festival. But Kaminari had been eliminated in the Dodgeball Battle Royale, so now it was just Mineta, who was able to pull it off by himself.

Because they already knew what had happened, Mineta decided not to tell the girls from Class 1-A or Class 1-B. Instead, he told the girls from the other countries, such as Ruby, Charlotte, Shay Adam, and Sunshine. He also told Hikari as well; since she was in Class 1-C, she didn't know anything about the little prank that Mineta had pulled before, so she was now going to be a victim of it.

The prank was that Mineta told them the last event was going to be a 'cheer battle', and the girls had to dress in cheerleader outfits. So they did, complete with yellow pom-poms and everything. The cheerleader outfits were colored orange and white, and had the letters 'U.A' boldly emblazoned on the top. Upon seeing the girls like that, confused at why there was no 'cheer battle', the girls of Class 1-A and Class 1-B instantly knew what had happened, and felt sorry for them.

"Where's the cheer battle, mate?" Ruby asked, coming over to Milo and Ashido.

"Uh, Ruby… there's no cheer battle." Ashido replied, keeping her tone of voice gentle. "Mineta just wanted to see you and the other girls in cheerleader uniforms…"

"What?!" Ruby snarled, dropping her pom-poms in a fit of anger.

"If it's all the same to you, we were fooled as well last year!" Ashido continued, trying to keep her calm. "The main thing is just to breathe and-"

"I'm gonna kill him!" Ruby yelled, literally hopping over Milo and Ashido and at Mineta. "I'm gonna pound him into a puddle of wine!"

"Matthew, Iida, heads up!" Milo yelled.

Ruby landed next to Matthew and Iida, who were both scolding Mineta for his prank, and was about to grab the little grape-head! Fortunately, Matthew and Iida stopped her, along with Milo and Ashido, who ran over to help! Matthew and Iida held her arms, Milo held her shoulders, and Ashido held her tail, all pulling and trying to keep her from attacking Mineta, who was standing there shaking in fear!

"Ruby, control yourself!" said Matthew, as he struggled to keep her sedate.

"Ms. Dundee, I suggest you listen to him!" Iida added, also struggling as well. "The last thing you want is to be held in contempt!"

"I don't care, I'm gonna pound him like a vineyard worker!" Ruby replied. "Nobody tricks 'Ruby the Roo' and gets away with it!"

As they were struggling, Kumba walked on over to Ruby, who instantly paused her attack attempts when he appeared. He took a look at her, and said something that made her stop what she was doing.

"You look really cute in that outfit, Ruby." said Kumba, his tone soft and respectful.

Ruby's face began burning red, and an usually bashful look appeared on her face. Upon seeing that she was now soothed, the others let her go.

"Aw, gee…" Ruby spoke, her tone bashful and shy, as she adjusted her bushwalker hat. "That's really sweet of you to say, Kumba. I mean, no guy's ever told me that before…"

While Ruby was fluttering over being complemented, Iida picked up Mineta and took him away, intent on seeing that he would be properly punished for his actions. As for the other competitors, they went over to the rest of the girls who were tricked, and either gave them sympathetic compliments, or apologies for what happened to them.

"Sorry about Mineta…" Yaoyaorozu spoke, her tone apologetic, as she and Todoroki were talking with Lelia. "That little sneak pulled the same trick on us last year…"

Lelia, who was also wearing a cheerleader outfit, had her cloak wrapped around her like a shield, as she was both embarrassed and annoyed at what had occurred.

"I don't blame you or any of the others for what happened; only that little insect is the one to blame…" Leila replied, her tone dark. "But, nothing that a couple of black widow spiders can't fix…"

Upon her saying that, both Todoroki and Yaoyaorozu took a step back, a little bit unnerved at what Lelia was scheming to do with Mineta. Not to say that he didn't deserve it, though…

Once the whole 'cheerleader' debacle was sorted out, and the girls who were tricked were back in their tracksuits, Simba decided that Mineta should be disqualified for his little prank. Mineta was promptly told to hit the showers, and was sent to the stands with the rest of the eliminated. Now there were thirty-six competitors left…

"Okay, we are down to the final event of the U.A World Sports Festival!" said Simba, speaking into the mic. "Please direct your attention to the screen!"

The students looked to a large screen that was set up near the referee platform. A randomizer appeared on the screen, and after a few seconds, it stopped on the name of the event:

HAND-TO-HAND BATTLE!

The crowd let out a cheer upon seeing the name of the event, as it appeared on the bigger screens around the arena!

"Hand-to-hand battle!" Simba announced. "Here's how it's going to play out: the remaining thirty-six competitors will be facing each other in one-on-one, hand-to-hand, anything-goes battles. The only way to win is to either make your opponent admit defeat, incapacitate them, or throw them out of bounds. The last remaining competitor, who has won all of his fights, will be the winner of the U.A World Sports Festival, while the four others who come in close will be in second, third, fourth, and fifth place."

The crowd cheered, pumped and ready for the finale of the U.A World Sports Festival, which caused Simba to raise his hands to quiet them.

"Before we begin, Cementoss is going to build the platform you all will be fighting on." Simba spoke. "This will take a couple of minutes, so use this time to prepare yourselves. In the meantime, your fights will be chosen by random selection, so begin studying the most powerful fighters; you may end up going against them…"

After saying that, Simba stepped down off the platform, while Cementoss came forward. With a large pipe that began pouring out concrete, he began creating the fighting platform. The platform was going to be a large, open, and wide space, perfect for fighters to use their quirks and battle against each other.

Meanwhile, the students began psyching themselves up, studying each other and wondering who they were going to face off against. There were many heavy-hitters, especially with Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki. But Cain was also a heavy-hitter, and considering his current track record in the Sports Festival, a lot of the students were nervous about going up against him.

But Cain wasn't studying any of the students; he was focusing on the seat where Eon was, a look of contempt and pride on his face. He had made it this far, and he would show him; he was going to win the Sports Festival and prove him dead wrong…

With the fighting arena finished, the randomizer began going, to determine who were going to be the first to fight battling against each other. After ten seconds of nail-biting tension passed, the randomizer stopped, and this is what it showed:

CAIN SHEMESH VS. SHOTO TODOROKI

"Cain Shemesh and Shoto Todoroki, please step up to the platform." Simba announced. "And as for the rest of you students, go back to the stands, where you will watch and wait your turn."

The two students obeyed, walking over to the opposite stairs of the fighting platform. The rest of competitors began heading out of the arena and into the stands, where they would be going up to seats that were set aside for them. These seats were up higher, while the lower seats were set aside for the students that had been defeated and eliminated.

Once the students were settled in their seats, Cain and Todoroki both ascended the stairs of the fighting platform; Todoroki had a cool and concentrated look on his face, while Cain had the look of an assassin on his own face. They both stood on opposite sides, waiting for Simba to give the command to start fighting.

"Introducing first, from U.A and representing Team Japan, the son of Endeavor, Shoto Todoroki!" Present Mic announced over the loudspeakers. "And his opponent, from the Nazareth Hero Academy and representing Team Israel, Cain Shemesh!"

The crowd cheered wildly for the two competitors, to which Simba raised his hands to quiet them down. Present Mic was readying to do a play-by-play of the battle, while Simba raised his left hand into the air.

"Let the battle commence!" Simba announced, throwing his hand down in a knife motion.

Remembering how Cain took him out during the Dodgeball Battle Royale, Todoroki fired a huge wall of ice at him, hoping to finish him off quickly! But when there was no response from Cain, Todoroki began looking around, wondering where Cain was going to attack from! Then, he saw him up at the top of the ice wall; he had used his dirt to propel himself to the top! He was about use a fire blast, but he remembered the ice melting and mixing with the dirt, so he raised his hand and fired an ice blast at Cain!

Cain quickly slid down the ice wall and too the ground, where he fired a small stream of dirt at Todoroki, who dodged and fired some shards of ice! Cain created a dirt wall to block it, which absorbed the ice shards and crushed them! Cain then fired another stream of dirt at Todoroki, who jumped into the air and used a fire blast! Once again, Cain's wall of dirt blocked that attack, and more streams of dirt continued attacking Todoroki, who laid down a path of ice so he dodge quicker! He then used the path of ice to get a good distance away from Cain, and began planning out a strategy in his head.

"There's dirt all around me, from the grassy areas of the arena grounds." Todoroki said to himself in his head. "But he has a limited amount of dirt he can use, which can prove to be an advantage. However, if he transforms into the monster form, like he did during the Battle Royale and the Calvary Battle, I won't be able to defeat him; it took seven people to take him down. I'll just have to keep him moving…"

Suddenly, more streams of dirt began firing at Todoroki, who used ice to block it, and then fired a stream of fire at Cain. Cain dodged, and the fire hit the wall of ice, causing it to melt a little.

Almost as if he could read Todoroki's mind, Cain asked aloud, "So, you think that I have a limited amount of dirt, huh? You'd be surprised; I have a little something planned for you."

Cain then raised his right hand to the sky, and suddenly, dirt began pouring out of the entrances to the arena! Tons and tons of dirt were pouring forward, entering into the arena and then spilling onto the fighting platform! Todoroki quickly made himself an island of ice to stand on, as a foot deep layer of dirt surrounded him! While this was happening, Cain began taking off his shoes and socks, so that he was now barefoot. He then put his socks inside his shoes, and then threw them off the platform.

"My radius for controlling dirt can span up to five or six miles." Cain continued, as he shifted his feet in the dirt. "I've been collecting dirt for such a time as this, when I would need it. How do you think I got this much dirt in the Dodgeball Battle Royale, or during the Calvary Battle? It had to come from somewhere. And outside the U.A stadium, outside the maze, there's a large forest with trees, grass, but mostly importantly, there's dirt. Lots and lots of dirt, which means lots and lots of ammunition…"

Instantly, Todoroki remembered last year's Sports Festival, and the obstacle course that Midoriya won. He remembered how there was a forest beside it, and he muttered an expletive under his breath at how stupid he could've been to forget it. But, Todoroki didn't make this far for nothing; he was a student of Class 1-A, and students of Class 1-A always had a plan!

Cain then fired several large streams of dirt at Todoroki, who leapt off his island and ice and landed on the ground, using his ice to move around the arena! He then began skating towards the wall of ice, his plan to melt the bottom of it and cause it to fall on Cain! He fired a large fire blast at it and melted it, causing it to begin falling in Cain's direction! The wall of ice collapsed and hit the dirt, sending up and into the air in a large spray!

"Bad move…" Cain snarled, having dodged out of the way of the falling wall of ice. "You're going to have a bad time…"

After saying that, Cain punched the dirt with both hands, causing several dirt spikes to pop out of it! Todoroki quickly jumped into the air, but one of the dirt spikes cut his leg, causing him to groan in pain! He grabbed onto the fallen ice wall, but Cain fired several several tendrils of dirt at him, which he responded by using a fire blast!

Eon had gone up to sit with the remaining competitors, reuniting with his friends and being introduced to those who didn't know him. He then sat in the front row between Matthew and Milo; Milo was sitting beside Ashido, while Matthew was sitting beside Midoriya and Charlotte. They were all watching the battle before them, as Cain had created some dirt tendrils on his back to climb up the fallen ice wall!

"Seems like Cain has mastered full control over his quirk." said Matthew, his tone calculating. "It's rare to see someone at his age get to that point."

"It looks as if the dirt he uses with his quirk obeys his thoughts and movements." Midoriya added, muttering a little bit. "That allows his quirk to be adaptable in endless ways, such as combat and transportation. And with the added knowledge of how to control his quirk, Shemesh can make up multiple tactics on how to defend and fight against Todoroki…"

Midoriya continued his muttering, much to Matthew's amusement, who turned to Eon and asked, "So, what's Cain's story?"

"Cain came from a broken background, and his parents thought it would be funny to give him his name." Eon replied, his tone dark. "He has a brother, named Abel, and they are the top students of the Nazareth Hero Academy."

"So if Cain's the dark, does that mean Abel's the light?" Matthew asked.

"Unfortunately, yeah." Eon replied.

"What does that mean?" Ashido asked, as she hadn't been told of the story of Cain and Abel yet.

"Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve, the first people on the planet." Milo replied. "They were required to bring sacrifices for God, and while God was pleased with Abel's sacrifice, which was the best of his flock, God was not pleased with Cain's, which was the worst of his produce. You see, Abel was a shepherd, meaning he worked with sheep, and Cain was a farmer, meaning he worked with fruit."

"So, what happened?"

"Cain got angry, and despite God's warnings, he killed Abel out of his own anger and pride. Because of this, Cain was cursed to never be able to farm again. His greatest gift, and he squandered it for revenge."

"That was the first recorded murder in the Bible." Eon spoke up, his tone dark. "Did you ever read the Bible, or the Torah, by any chance, Ashido?"

"Mina actually accepted Christ a couple of weeks ago, back before the whole concert incident." Milo replied, his tone proud and adoring. "So did Joshua, Shoji, Yanagi, Kaminari, and Jiro as well."

"That's good to hear." said Eon. "Seems like a couple of the other Class 1-A members could use God as well."

"Yeah, especially Bakugo, Mineta, and Todoroki." Matthew replied. "Speaking of Todoroki, looks like he's heading for trouble."

Todoroki and Cain were both battling on the ice wall, with Todoroki only using ice based attacks. Because if he used fire, it would melt the ice into water, and Cain would be able to mix his dirt with it, creating sludge! Unfortunately, this meant that his attacks were limited, and Cain was able to keep from sliding around on the ice by covering his feet with dirt. And thanks to the grassy areas from the outside of the arena, he had a nearly limitless supply of dirt for his own use!

"Okay, I'm getting bored with you." Cain snarled. "Time to finish this battle."

Cain produced several dirt tendrils from his feet, which went into the ice wall that he and Todoroki were on, and began breaking it up! The wall began to crack, the ice began to splinter apart, and the dirt began to grind it back into water! When it did, the water mixed with the dirt, creating the sludge! Todoroki quickly blasted himself into the air with a fire blast from his foot, and began firing streams of fire at Cain, hoping that it would cause the dirt to dry up and begin crusting! After a few seconds of doing that, Todoroki created a pillar of ice and landed on it, as Cain began walking across the sea of dark brown sludge, a menacing look on his face.

"You lost the moment that you fired that ice wall." said Cain. "Now all that's left is to finish you off. This is only one of my many special attacks, and it's one of my most powerful! Dirt Sludge Attack: Field of Thorns!"

Todoroki didn't even have time to blink; several tendrils shot out at him and instantly turned dry! He tried to dodge to the best of his ability, but they shot into his arms, legs, body, and neck, incapacitating him like acupuncture needles! Todoroki let out a loud yell of pain when that happened, and then Cain made a motion with his fingers, putting them in a position like he was about to snap them! But before he was about do it, he remembered what Eon had said:

"You kill, and you will never succeed. No matter what happens, you take a life, you take two lives, and your fate will be sealed."

With a low growl, Cain put his hand down, and the dirt began fading and moving away from the arena, completely clearing it. Todoroki was rested on the ground, with several red puncture marks all over his body, and a look of defeat on his face; he couldn't move, he was soaking wet from the sludge, and he had been royally defeated.

"Todoroki is incapacitated." Simba announced. "The winner, Cain Shemesh!"

Some of the crowd cheered, while others just stood in there in shocked silence at what had just occurred. Two medical robots were sent out to carry Todoroki off the platform on a stretcher, while Cain just stalked off and down the stairs.

Up in the stands, the students who were still competing had shocked looks on their faces, while Eon wore an unsettled expression. He then looked down the stands, and noticed Endeavor sitting in one of the rows. Endeavor had an angered and appalled look on his face, shocked that his son, his successor, had been demolished by this abnormality! Wanting to get even, and find out more about who this kid was, Endeavor got up from his seat and began leaving. Knowing where he was going, Eon excused himself and began leaving as well.

He needed to make sure that Cain wasn't going to kill Endeavor, because he could've done that if he wanted…