Chapter 25 - Righteous Soul
The next fight was going to be between Matthew and Leila, of which Matthew had a feeling there was going to be trouble. Not only did Leila have her brother, Umbra, but she also signed some paperwork to use her sword, which was called 'Moonshard', as a legal weapon in the match. But Matthew liked having a disadvantage; it meant that this was going to be a challenge, and he loved a challenge.
As he was getting ready in the locker room, Matthew heard a knocking at the door. He then got up from the bench he was sitting on, walked over to the door, and opened it. Umbra, the shadow-person with glowing yellow eyes, was standing there, and carrying a sheathed longsword. Matthew knew that Leila was in the other locker room, so her brother didn't have far to travel.
The longsword was sheathed in a leather scabbard, which was colored brown with gold fittings. The hilt of the longsword was colored a brilliant shining gold, and had a black leather grip around it.
"Oh hey, Umbra." Matthew greeted nonchalantly. "How you doing?"
Umbra held up the sheathed longsword, which made Matthew tilt his head in confusion. The shadow-person then held it out, which meant that he was offering it to him.
"For me?" Matthew asked, to which Umbra nodded. "That's a very nice gesture on the part of you and Leila, but I can't. I didn't plan on using anything while I was in the Sports Festival, so I didn't bother to sign the paperwork…"
Umbra still offered the longsword to him, and made a motion with his hand that meant 'no problem'. Matthew understood the gesture, and reluctantly took the longsword from the shadow-person. He then leaned his head out and looked down the hall; the door of the other locker room was opened, and a shadowy trail was coming from it, meaning that Umbra had just come from Leila.
"Umbra, I got a quick question, so just nod or shake your head to answer me." said Matthew, pulling back to his original stance. "Was it your idea, or your sister's idea, to give me the sword?"
In response to this, Umbra looked down at his wrist, as if he was wearing a watch, and then he waved goodbye before melting into the floor. The shadow trail then went back into the other locker room, and the door closed. With a bewildered expression on his face, Matthew stepped back and closed the locker room door.
"Thanks for the answer…" Matthew replied, his tone joking. "And for the sword…"
With his left hand holding the sheath, Matthew put his right hand on the handle of the sword, and unsheathed it. He then held it up, finding the blade to be a bright silver color, and examined it for a brief few seconds. Once he was done examining it, he sheathed it and sat back down, waiting for when he would be called out to compete.
Cain was on his way back to the stands, where the rest of the remaining competitors were seated, when he was confronted by Endeavor. He was coming up some stairs, and was about to go down a hall, when Endeavor came up from behind and called out to him.
"Hey, you!" Endeavor yelled, as he stomped towards Cain.
With slow movements, Cain turned around with a bored look on his face and asked, "What?"
"You have a lot of nerve fighting like you did." Endeavor replied, his tone angered, as he stood a couple of feet away from Cain.
"Do I? And why do I have a lot of nerve?"
"That boy you almost killed just happens to be my son."
"And this is why parents shouldn't be allowed at sporting events. If you don't want to watch your son get killed, don't come to the event…"
"Not only do you have a lot of nerve, but you also have a real respect problem…"
"Only towards over-protective parents and their children…" Cain replied, his tone annoyed.
Endeavor let out a low growl and then said, "You're going to pay for what you did to my son, you monster…"
When Endeavor said that, Cain instantly felt threatened. Dirt slowly began seeping from his arms and hands, falling onto the ground as menacing look came onto his face.
"Are you threatening me, Endeavor?" Cain snarled. "Are you?"
Now Endeavor was feeling threatened, as he saw the dirt began to gather around Cain's feet; it seemed to move and breathe with a life of its own. Seeing the dirt come from Cain's arms and legs, it was almost as if he was generating his own soil! And maybe he was, Endeavor didn't know! Fortunately, before anything could happen between them, Eon suddenly came from a hallway and got in between them.
"Okay, that's enough." said Eon, keeping his tone calm. "Cain, good job on your battle, now gather yourself and walk, please…"
Despite the look of rebellion on his face, Cain let out a low growl and obeyed. As he walked away, he left behind a trail of dirt, which began following him. Once he was well enough away, Eon let out a sigh of relief.
"He's fortunate you stepped in." Endeavor snapped.
"Your fortunate I didn't let him kill you." Eon replied, his tone somewhat annoyed.
"What?" Endeavor scoffed. "You seriously think that he could defeat me?"
"I don't think, I know." said Eon, his tone now serious. "You saw how he destroyed your son, and he's going to destroy all other opponents who get in his way, including you if you get involved. So, you're welcome…"
"Who are you?" Endeavor asked, before Eon was about to walk away.
"Just a kid who wants to save the world." Eon replied. "I know what you're worried about, and don't worry; your son is going to recover."
Eon walked away, leaving Endeavor standing in the hallway and processing what had happened. Then Endeavor continued on his way down the halls; he needed to check up on his son, and then watch the next match that was coming up. This match was going to be of special interest to him, because it involved a certain quirkless kid who was making a name for himself in the Sports Festival.
Matthew and Leila both had ascended the stairs of the fighting platform, and were now standing on opposite sides. Matthew was armed with his own sheathed longsword, while Leila had her own sheathed sword, which was called 'Moonshard'.
Moonshard was a brilliant and powerful looking sword, yet surprisingly lightweight. It's blade was made of paragon metal, which was a bright silver color, and it's handle was even more impressive. The black cross-guard looked like blooming petals and had three shields on the center of it, the grip was made of wood and had midnight-blue colored leather around it, and the pommel of the sword looked like a regal crown. The scabbard of the sword had midnight-blue colored leather, and antique metal fittings. Needless to say, those who saw it were impressed by the craftsmanship it yielded.
"Introducing first, from Justice High and representing himself, the Quirkless Wonder, Matthew Noble!" Present Mic announced over the loudspeakers. "And his opponent, also from Justice High and representing the American Team, a vision of both darkness and loveliness, Leila Blackwood!"
The crowd cheered wildly for the two competitors, to which Simba raised his hands to quiet them down. As Present Mic was readying to do a play-by-play of the battle, Simba raised his left hand into the air.
"Let the battle commence!" Simba announced, throwing his hand down in a knife motion.
Much to surprise of everyone, Matthew and Leila did not go rushing and swinging at each other. Instead, the two met in the middle of the arena and drew their swords. With respectful nods, they both unsheathed their swords, threw the scabbards away, held out their swords, tapped their blades twice together, and then took fighting stances. After a few seconds of circling and sizing each other up, the two collided and began dueling with their blades!
Before their match, Leila had told Matthew that she wasn't going to go easy on him, which Matthew was fine with. But while they were dueling, Umbra hadn't shown up to interfere. Matthew had a keen feeling that Leila wasn't allowing her brother to get in his way, so in order to keep the match on equal footing, he decided not to use any of his underground fighting tactics, such as using his fists or tripping up his opponent. Instead, he just stuck to what he knew about sword-fighting (which mostly came from watching sword-fights in different movies), and kept to using his sword in combat.
Leila was proving to be a difficult opponent, as she was trained in sword-fighting, and Matthew knew that was one of her greatest strengths. He also knew that he had to avoid getting pushed out of bounds, or losing his sword, as that would spell certain defeat for him. Fortunately, whatever hits she was able to deal out were non-lethal ones, and were not meant to draw any blood. The same went for Matthew, as any attacks he made were meant not to hurt, but rather to stun.
At one point, Matthew and Leila got into a standoff against each other, holding their swords and pushing against each other. It was at that point that Matthew made a small misjudgment of Leila's strength, since she was a girl and all, and he only used one hand on his sword's handle to push against her. This resulted in Matthew tripping back a little bit and dropping his sword, causing him to jump back in order to regain his footing. Fortunately, Leila was a good-sport and, using her foot, she tossed Matthew's sword back to him.
"Next time try using two hands, Matthew." said Leila, her tone dark.
Matthew responded with a grin; she wasn't comical in tone, but he knew that was her way of joking with him. But once he readied himself, his grin went away, and he was all business once again. He began attacking again, to which Leila blocked, and the two were going at it again. Then, once again, Matthew and Leila got into a standoff against each other, to which Matthew used both hands on his sword handle to push against Leila. He then backed off and tried to attack again, but Leila went on the attack, making Matthew go on the defensive.
"Hey, do you guys know where Murdock ran off to?" asked Sunshine, as she and the remaining competitors were watching the battle.
"He, Yaoyaorozu, and Melody are going to check up on Tokage, Todoroki, Randall, and the others in the medical area." Yusuf replied. "Looks like Leila is keeping Umbra out of this battle."
"She wants to keep it fair." said Adena, her tone somewhat pleased. "That's why it's only her and Matthew that are fighting."
"It's amazing how Blackwood's able to handle that sword, despite the complexness of it's design." Midoriya muttered to himself. "And despite seemingly having no knowledge of sword-fighting, Noble is quickly adapting to her technique while keeping himself from being knocked out of bounds. There may yet be a method to his randomness, but that is yet to be discovered…"
Milo smirked at Midoriya's muttering and rolled his eyes, before turning to Ashido and saying, "So you're match is up next, Mina, and you're going to be fighting against Ruby. How do you feel about that?"
"I think I can win, but I just hope she's gracious with being defeated." Ashido replied, her tone somewhat concerned.
"Just as long you be gracious towards her with your winning or defeat." said Milo. "Anyway, I've got a right to be worried as well; I'm going up against Kirishima."
"Slime versus hardening!" Ashido spoke, her tone now excited. "That'll be an interesting match!"
Milo cracked a grin at his girlfriend; he could always count on her cheerful excitement to brighten his day.
For several long minutes, both Matthew and Leila clashed back and forth against each other, both seemingly even match against each other. But while they were dueling, Matthew came up with a non-painful strategy to defeat Leila and win the match. Aside from being a pro hand-to-hand fighter and being extremely agile, Matthew was a smart strategist. He was able to predict his opponents moves (most of which were right), and was able to quickly plan a counter attack against them. It wasn't a quirk, but it was a fine ability to have. The strategy went like this:
Go on the hard defensive and fake getting beaten. Let self get knocked back near the edge by opponent. Dodge out of the way and push opponent out of bounds.
With the strategy planned, Matthew put it into action. He went on the hard defensive and let Leila attack him over and over, moving towards the white-line that separated the arena from the out of bounds. Leila could sense Matthew had a trick up his sleeve, but she couldn't really figure what he was planning, and probably wouldn't until he completed it.
When they came near the edge, Matthew pitted himself so that Leila would need only one strong hit to knock him back, hoping that she would take that chance. Leila did and went for it, and that's when Matthew dodge out of the way. However, Leila caught herself before her foot went out, and she spun around and tried to hit Matthew with a quick strike! Matthew blocked and gave a quick shove, knocking Leila back and making her sit on the ground, out of bounds.
"Leila Blackwood is out of bounds." Simba announced. "The winner, Matthew Noble!"
Matthew looked at Leila apologetically, as she stood up, brushed herself off, and went over to retrieve her sword sheath. The crowd, except for Matthew's friends and those who respected him, began booing and jeering in his direction! Much to his Matthew's annoyance, they weren't happy that he was moving on, while some with a quirk wasn't. They started calling names, and yelling that he shouldn't be in the Sports Festival. From the looks of things, they looked about ready to riot!
In response to this, Matthew just stood there and stared at the booing masses, a look of contempt on his face. Leila was also looking at the crowds with a look of utter disgust, but then she did something that no one saw coming! She marched over to the platform Simba was on, and walked up the stairs.
"Hey, you can't-" Simba was about to protest, but stopped when Leila glared at him intimidatingly.
Leila walked up to the mic, and shouted into it as loud as she could, "Enough of your drivel!"
Instantly, the entire stadium went quiet, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Up in the stands, all students who saw this were shocked by Leila's eruption; she was usually very calm and dark, so seeing her yell was a rare event. Matthew, on the other hand, was covering his hands with his mouth, trying his hardest not to burst out laughing!
Leila then continued, saying, "To the unseen moderators of this farce spectacle, I have this to say: your bias against those you deem worthless has not gone undetected by me nor my peers. For so long, the idea that our false idols must born with a Quirk that is regarded as a blessing from the heavens, that you have neglected those who do good without the urge to bask in the limelight of your cameras. I would rather lose to a pure heart with a righteous soul, than be equated to a golden calf infected by egomania that no absurd moral stance could ever justify! Accept that Matthew won this round, whether you like it or not!"
Then, to make her point, Leila picked up the mic off the stand, and performed a mic drop. She then got down from the platform, and began walking back to the locker rooms. Matthew followed after a minute, having collected his sword sheath and giving into the laughing fit that came over him.
"I've never seen her act like that before." said Melody. "I mean, Leila's always had a flare for the dramatic, but I've never seen her yell like that."
"You mean to tell me she's never been like that before?" Simon Garcia Cooper asked, his tone puzzled.
"Yeah." Melody replied. "All that booing and jeering in Matthew's direction must've really angered her."
Asui then noticed Tokoyami, who had an infatuated look on his face, and asked, "Hey Tokoyami, are you alright? You look a little strange, ribbit…"
"I think she just put a spell on me…" Tokoyami replied, sounding breathless, and keeping a hand on his chest.
Tokoyami's quirk, Dark Shadow, began chuckling, while the reaction from the students was mixed. The boys were confused at what he said, while the girls were giggling that Tokoyami, who was one of the darkest students in their group, now had a crush.
Leila had gone past the locker rooms, and was going down a hallway, when Matthew came running up behind her.
"Hey Leila, wait up!" said Matthew, as he caught up to her.
"Yes, Matthew?" Leila asked, her tone calm and polite.
"God bless you and keep you, Leila Blackwood." Matthew replied, his tone kind. "Blessed be you and brother, for helping and defending me."
A small and grateful smile came on Leila's face, and she asked, "Is that all you wanted to say?"
"Oh, and I wanted to return the sword." Matthew replied, holding up the sword.
"It's alright, you can keep it."
"You sure?"
"You have earned it, and it is the sister blade to Moonshard, made from the same block of Paragon metal as my own. Use it with the same righteousness I have seen in your heart. But, there is one small thing…"
"What's that?"
A dark look appeared over Leila's face, and she said, "If you give your sword a ridiculous name, I will skewer you with Moonshard."
"I promise you, I will not it a bad name." Matthew replied, a small and wary smile on his face. "In fact, I'll give it a name right now. How about we call her… Pureblade?"
"Pureblade…" Leila spoke, the small smile on her face returning. "That's a lovely name."
"Though, I'm not usually one to fight with a sword, since I have Manriki-Gusari and all. But, I will keep 'Pureblade' as a memento, and who knows? Maybe I'll have use for her. But tell me, what is paragon metal? I've never heard of it before."
"Let's head to our seats, and I'll tell you all about what it is."
The two (or three, counting Umbra) started heading up the stairs, with Leila explaining the origins of Paragon metal, and Matthew listening intently. Leila may have lost, and Matthew was moving on, but this could definitely count as a morale victory for the two of them.
It was a victory, no matter what…
Author's Notes: Special thanks to 'Bluebarnowl' for the scene idea of Matthew fighting Leila, Matthew getting his own sword, and Leila's speech. 'Paragon Metal' was created and is owned by 'Bluebarnowl'.
R&R,
Heroboy005