"Reciprico, Burst!"
'Like I thought'
Iida's first decision, was to not give Jin-woo the chance to pull out any shadows, hoping for a quick knockout via head kick.
The Korean saw right through this, and when his mechanical friend sped across the arena, he rose his arm and slammed his fist into the ground, sending harsh tremors through massive cracks that appeared in the concrete. Disorienting Iida, and creating the perfect smokescreen with the kicked up debris.
While risky, he only had seconds before his engines stalled. Iida ran straight into the dust cloud, hoping the speed and lack of sight would give him an edge for his next plan: to personally escort his rival to the grass by the back of his neck.
The crowd grew loud as from within the smoke, out came both fighters, one dragging the other by the arm roughly.
'Close enough!'
He was slightly unnerved by the lack of resistance, but focused up the moment he reached the edge. Stopping cold turkey, and with a powerful heave, he tossed Jin-woo into the open air above the grass. With a few more seconds left in his engines, Iida would be sure to end any possible attempts to return.
'It's my win'
Iida let his guard down as Jin-woo was mere inches from the ground, and froze up as he felt a pair of hands grab at his ankle from below.
"Shadow exchange."
Suddenly and harshly, he was pulled into his own shadow into a space of total darkness. Then he was spit back out into the sunlight with enough force to take the air out of him. At least the floor wasn't hard, but that just made it all the worse.
"Your reciprico burst has a time limit. I knew I could bait you into a physical attack by testing your patience with an obvious trap. The moment you entered the cloud, unaware of your surroundings, I attached one of my shadows on you. I just had to wait for you to do the work for me."
'At the last possible second he switched positions with me…I didn't really go into this fully confident i'd win but. Damn it, i'm sorry I couldn't win brother.'
Jin-woo wanted to tell him to hold his head up high, but it'd probably just make the moment worse. He had to keep his focus up for the final match, which in his humble opinion, was obviously going to be his old rival. From there he had to deduce how he would approach the victory.
Keeping his distance wasn't a good idea, Bakugo wants distance, allowing him to fire off salvos of explosives. And unlike ice, you can't punch back an explosion.
Rushing from the start was also a tricky move, while he was most definitely faster than Bakugo, he was not faster than the ignition of his attacks. Bakugo might go the same route as Todoroki and use a massive blast at the very beginning to try and counter any quick movements.
This would easily be his most tricky match of the day. Beyond that, was his excitement to see just how far Bakugo had pushed himself to reach this point.
As the the penultimate match began to wrap up, those all over Japan made any last minute preparations for their house parties. This was the event that had largely replaced the olympics after all. Hero agencies were going to be battling it out to get the next two contestants.
While all that was going on, within a roughly lit barracks style room, a peculiar duo wielding interesting weapons and armor tuned in for the first time.
"I thought you weren't interested in the first years?"
"Things are different this year. Haven't you heard the reports on the USJ attack?"
"The classified ones?"
"Thats's right. That Sung Jin-woo, I think he'll be the next one they try to recruit."
"From three to four huh?"
This time a third voice butted in, "Yeah well no matter how many of us there are, there's only room for a single true number one hero!"
"Isn't that technically All Might?" rebutted one.
"The best heroes do their work behind the scenes."
Jin-woo, like before, took the downtime to sit alongside his mother and little Jin-ah. She was especially scared for him this next match, the "scary loud boy" was next. It seems no matter how good her big brother was, she was going to worry for him regardless. A trait their mother shares just the same.
The loud boy in question, took the time to do the exact opposite from what his moniker would suggest. Despite his outward personality, he needed to get away and calm himself. Though it could have been going better.
From the depths of the stadium, in his lonely locker room, he was trying his best to keep his hands from shaking. He truly wished he could blame it on his quirk use, overdoing it without his gloves would give him pained shaky hands for a bit. But this was different, it was pure nerves. The very vendetta of his short hero career was next, and he hadn't even struggled against opponents that Bakugo himself respected.
He wanted this victory more than anything, but he knew if he was going to get it, he'd need to sacrifice a bit of himself to get it, good thing he had been practicing that move just incase. It was his only shot.
The nerves had been beaten. He was here in his element, all around him, his cheering fans. Across from him, regardless of who it was now, it was always the same. Just someone else to beat. He was going to end this off like his hero. Because No matter who All Might faces, he always wins. That didn't change then or now. So why should he let it be that way for him?
He gave his best scowl, in the same vein as a heroes smile, it was his way of getting rid of any last minute fears he might have stowed inside, he was going face this problem with the same aggression he always would.
And so, when he heard that very same "STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAART" And the corner flames died out, he…did nothing.
Across from him Jin-woo, also did nothing.
'What a change in pace. Both Todoroki and Iida hit me from the start'
Jin-woo was going to comment on his lack of readiness, but noted that Katsuki's palms were always faced his direction. He was actually watching for an opening.
'Guess he's going at this more patient than i expected'
"Guess i'll start things off then."
Breaking out into a full sprint, when he saw the familiar sparks light up in both hands, he leapt upwards and high into the sky.
"Are you being stupid? You can't dodge in mid air!" Bakugo raised his hands up and smiled, sure that his opponents misstep would be his victory. But in the moment he let off the blast, he saw a little blotch of darkness where the Korean was.
"Forgot i could do this?" With a voice that came from right below him, he cursed the current position of his hands as a fist turned his world upside down.
'He took my attention away from the ground so that I wouldn't see the little bastard he planted on me'
"I'm not letting you get back up."
"That's not up to you!" From the ground and even turned away, his hands let loose a powerful explosion similar to the one he used in his match with Uraraka, forcing his opponent back considerably.
"Tch, I don't want to get hit with that head on." The Korean stated, once again sporting his black cloak.
"That fucking cape again!?"
"It only protects from heat and fire, concussive force still goes right through."
They stood across from each other and watched for slight movements. Hoping the other would make a mistake.
"Ari-"
"DIE" Once again another blast of similar size was set off, interrupting Jin-woo's summoning.
'This is insane. Those attacks are going to break his arms soon. I didn't think he'd be using them like this'
He was even more shocked to feel a kick barely miss his right leg when the smoke cleared. Bakugo was opting for close combat?
Obliging him, he felt his first attack miss, then another, and another. For the first time in this school, he was unable to land a single hit.
"I've been developing this movement style just for you edge lord!"
While Bakugo would normally use his explosions to propel him around or over opponents, here he was using powerful precise explosions to launch him in specific directions at a high speed. While not fast enough to overwhelm the necromancer by any means, it made it so that he could at the very least block and weave attacks he wouldn't normally be able to. Giving him the time to slip in a-
"BOOM" Another well packaged and delivered hand bomb from mere inches away.
Jin-woo was stunned, he nearly was blown away and onto his back had it not been for him bracing at the last moment. Taking an explosion like that point blank still hurt way more than he expected.
This was the moment he needed, now he knew those attacks can HURT the bastard, and after landing a single one, he wasn't going to let up. This could be it, his chance at finally claiming a victory over this unclimbable wall.
"IT'S TIME YOU LAY IN YOUR GRAVE FOR GOOD! DIE ONE THOUSAND TIMES! BOMB BLITZ BARRAGE!"
With a speed not seen before, Bakugo's arms were like those of a machine gun, releasing explosion after explosion at a rate that was no doubt going to shatter the bones in his arms. All he had to do was force his arms forward, as the blast would send them back.
"MORE! MORE! MOOOOORE! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!"
"AIZAWA! WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOUR STUDENT!?"
Even Erasure head was left with wide eyes over the spectacle. The proctors had made an attempt here or there to get inside, with no success.
The entire crowd watched with their ears nearly blown out as a full auto artillery was in attack mode down below.
"What is Bakugo doing? Does he want to kill Jin-woo?" Asked Uraraka.
"He's the one who wants to win more than anyone else. This is his way of going plus ultra." Replied Tokoyami, right alongside everyone else in gawking.
When it was over, he fell onto both knees, hands planted onto the ground. Trying his best to stare ahead, watching for signs of movement, even now refusing to drop his guard.
"AFTER A NON STOP ATTACK FROM BAKUGO, PERHAPS EVEN JIN-WOO IS DEFEATED?!"
"My arms are almost completely limp, but at least he's finally…"
"Beaten?"
The dust settled to revealed a heavily marked and bruised Jin-woo. Arms singed red and soot all over. His clothes in tatters and blood trailing down his nose.
'One attack, that was his goal with his close combat technique. By landing one single attack, it phased me just enough and blocked my sight, that it gave him the go ahead to unleash a whole torrent at me'
Lowering his arms, his injuries and tattered clothes were immediately healed/repaired with a glow of purple light.
"WHAT AMAZING HEALING ABILITY! CAN NOTHING STOP THIS MONSTER!?"
Noting the unchanged expression on Bakugo's face, he took it as a sign of acceptance. He was on his last limbs, nothing left in the tank.
'You did your best'
He carefully strolled up to his rival. There really was nothing left, everyone watched from the edge of their seats as the Korean reeled back a hand, a single chop to the back of the head will do it.
As it reached its peak height, the blonde maniac began to smile, making the mistake of wanting to hear his words, Jin-woo held his arm up longer than he should have, giving him time to hear:
"Chicxulub."
Knowing what that could possible mean, Jin-woo's eyes widened with a hint of fear as the ground below them glowed with ignition. The last thing he saw was a brilliant light and a thundering boom.
Bakugo was shot straight up, much higher than even the stadium. While Jin-woo was expelled directly sideward.
The concrete arena in its entirety, had been replaced with a massive crater, befitting the name of the attack. There was no safe zone anymore, the first to hit the ground would be deemed the loser.
Knowing that a fall from this height would be fatal, he made sure that he had just enough left to time an explosion that would soften his fall. He did not see his opponent anywhere in the air near him, but didn't focus on that as he set off one final attack to dampen his still painful impact. Now with nothing else left in to keep him going, he quietly declared his victory and fell unconscious.
And from far above, where no one else had noticed, a lone Korean watched the spectacle occur from the the top of the stadium. Before the match had even begun, he left shadows in several spots. A ring out victory was impossible. However,
"Maybe, just this once, we let him have it."
'But my liege, such an insect doesn't deserve to parade around a victory over you!'
"That's ironic coming from you. And besides, it's just a medal. He gave me everything he had, if I was limited to a single power like he was, even I'm not so sure I could win."
Angry grumblings of an ant king aside, he swapped back with his earlier location, standing up and dusting himself off from the sidelines.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! SUNG JIN-WOO HAS LOST, HE LOST!"
As Bakugo rose up, the thousands in attendance roared with ferocity that matched his own, chanting his name. It was a true underdog victory, a David beats goliath. Jin-woo, was more than content to be sidelined. He lived a life of luxury and popularity, he wasn't exactly attention starved.
"Hahahah! I finally beat you, you bastard!"
"Yeah, you definitely did." He responded with a smile.
Taken slightly aback and annoyed by his calm attitude, he simply gave him a "Go to hell!" and stomped off to get his trophy.
'We should be devouring his entrails for disrespect'
"He's 14, we're in our thirties…"
From the stands where class A and B sat, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Although for the more astute observers, they knew what actually happened, but they weren't about to blow the lid on it if this is how Jin-woo wanted it to go.
While there was supposed to be a match to determine third place, Iida was no where to be found, many suspected the youth had gone off to meditate or clear his head, something the necromancer made a note of to ask about later.
Midnight made the announcement of Iida's absence, then segwayed into the end of the festivities.
"Alright, let's move onto the medals!"
Back at the grayish barracks, the group intently watched as the final match came and went. Before one of them turned it off.
"Guess you were wrong about him. He was totally blown away at the end there."
"You must be losing it if you couldn't tell, he was holding back the entire time."
"That's what you like to tell yourself during our sparring matches huh?"
"...hmph."