Midoriya groaned as he came to. His head ached and it hurt to open his eyes, but after a moment he managed to force them open and take in the room he was in.
He was laid up on an infirmary bed, while Recovery Girl bustled about looking after he other patient, a groggy looking Todoroki. The heterochromatic teen was the first to notice the Omnitrix bearer had awoken. "Midoriya…."
"Hm? Oh, you're finally awake!" The nurse said relieved, turning and quickly hurrying over to him. "How are you feeling sonny?"
"Like I took a Detroit Smash to the face…." He groaned, rubbing his forehead. "What happened? I remember an explosion but then…."
"I…. I apologize." Todoroki spoke up first, getting the greenette's attention. He seemed genuine as well, a nice surprise. "I wasn't thinking straight…. I used my quirk in an incredibly reckless and destructive way…."
"Oh… right. Super cooled area, rapidly heated up…." Midoriya muttered, suppressing a yawn.
"Both of you got injured because of it, however for different reasons. Mister Todoroki has escaped mostly intact, though no doubt he'll have a few scars and burns that won't be healing any time soon." The nurse explained, causing the greenette to grimace. "As for you, you mostly were just thrown about by the explosion itself. Unfortunately, you somehow managed to get yourself an impressive amount of height, with no safe way to get down."
"O-oh…"
"Yes, you took quite the fall. Fortunately it seems you're alien form saved you once more. You only had a few cuts and bruises, easily healed up. Still, you'll probably be a little tired from everything." Recovery Girl explained, as she took a few readings. "Still, so long as you are healthy, you can return to the spectators stand or remain here. It might be easier to rest here but the choice is yours…."
He took a moment to contemplate that, but shook his head, moving to climb out of the bed. "Should probably let everyone know I'm alright. Who won by the way?"
"I….. You did, Midoriya." Todoroki said, looking up to him with conflicted eyes. Midoriya couldn't help but notice as he properly inspected his classmate, that there was a new cut below his right eye. "Even with using my fire side, even with the unexpected explosion…. You hit me with an attack as you were falling through the air and you won."
Silence fell over the room for a moment, before Midoriya walked over to him and knelt down. Confused, Todoroki met his eye and Midoriya smiled despite himself, as he pointed to the new scar. "Your eye…. It was always a reminder right?"
"Yes… of my promise. I….. I don't know what to do with that now….. I can't….." The fire and ice teen struggled to put his thoughts into words and the Omnitrix bearer sighed.
"Use this one as a reminder as well. Your left eye is a reminder of what you will never become, not because you refuse your left side but because you will control it." He instructed calmly, surprising even himself with the confidence he spoke these instructions. "And this new scar…. Use it to remind you why you must get it under control. You're power doesn't define you, nor does your family."
Midoriya finally stood, turning to leave but before he did, he gave Todoroki one last kind smile.
"Take it from me Todoroki, the only part of your life that defines you…. Is yourself."
He didn't stay to see if his words landed. Somehow, he just felt confident they would.
"Deku!" Uraraka cried out happily as the boy returned to the stands, leaping at him and pulling him into a hug. Yaoyorouzu wrapped her own arms around him a moment later and everyone else gave him at least a thumbs up or a nod. Well except Bakugou of course. "That was amazing! Are you ok? That fall…."
"It looked like it would have hurt." Yaomomo finished and the boy laughed, scratching the back of his head while they walked down to the seats.
"I'm fine, just a little groggy." He said with a shrug, sitting down and looking upon the next match. It was Iida vs a class 1-B girl, Shiozaki. Whoever won would be his next opponent.
He placed a hand to his chin as he leaned forward slightly. 'If Shiozaki wins, I'll be at a disadvantage due to having no real knowledge of her quirk beyond it involved vines. I'll have to rely on pyroform and hope she had a weakness to fire.'
As he continued to think, he completely failed to notice Yaoyorouzu had yet to actually remove her arm from around him. She seemed oblivious to it as well, until the snickering from some of their classmates alerted her and she quickly retracted the arm. Bakugou left, either for his next match or with disgust. Probably both. 'If Iida wins…. I'm conflicted on what to do. I don't want to insult him by not going all out but I still want it to be a fair competition… He's a strong fighter but if I choose someone like Colossus there's no way he'd be able to actually do any proper damage…'
The fight begin, and almost as soon as it did It was over. Shiozaki was simply unable to react in time to Iida's speed, getting behind her in just a few seconds and grabbing her by the shoulders. She was out the ring just a moment later.
"TENYA IIDA WINS!"
Midoriya sighed with a grin, sitting back. He'd just have to cross that bridge when he got into the ring with him. "So who's next?"
"I think Kirishima and Bakugou." The raven haired girl beside him said, with a furrowed brow. "I…. don't really know how to call that fight."
"Well…. It will probably come down to if Bakugou figures out Kirishima's weakness or not." The greenette commented with a frown. He would probably rather face his red headed friend in the finals than the explosive blonde but…. Somehow he knew that wouldn't happen.
"I suppose so…" His tall friend nodded, before leaning back with a frown. Then she noticed his concerned look and hesitantly she placed her hand on top of the greenette's that sat on his arm rest. He looked over to her surprised but seemed to feel better at her smile, even if he did blush a little.
They missed Jirou and Mina rolling their eyes above them. Not that Midoriya really would have cared… for once he felt calm.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The moment was ruined however, when Bakugou let out a relentless assault on Kirishima. An assault that saw him declared the winner of the match. Midoriya's body stiffened just a little, and Yaoyorouzu's grip got tighter.
She didn't let go until it was time for the greenette's own match. Unfortunately, there was only one match before that. And sadly, Tokoyami versus Mina hadn't been a long fight.
"ALRIGHT SPORTS FANS! HE'S THE KID WITH ENGINES IN HIS LEGS AND A PASSION THAT BURNS JUST AS HOT AS THOSE ENGINES FLAMES! IT'S 1-A'S IIDA TENYA!"
Midoriya took a steadying breathe as he walked up the platform to the Arena. Iida's face slowly coming up the other side as the flames of the arena danced. If he won this fight…. Then he'd either be up against Tokoyami or Bakugou.
Shaking his head, he decided to put that thought aside for now. He could worry about his childhood friend later. For now, he had to focus on his real friend. "I hope you'll do your best Iida!"
"AND ALSO FROM 1-A, HE MAY BE QUIRKLESS BUT HE'S NO ORDINARY KID! IT'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
"And I hope the same of you, though I have one request." Iida said, getting Midoriya's attention as he cycled through his forms. "I understand if you won't listen to my request, but I would like to fight Blink if at all possible, It is only right…."
Midoriya smirked, setting the watch to said alien's silhouette. The possibility of a trap went through his mind for a moment, but he decided he'd take the risk.
"BEGIN!"
A green flash immediately engulfed the greenette and when it dissipated Blink stared down his friend. He grinned, talking in his raspy voice as his visor came down. "May the best speedster win."
"Yes, of course."
BWOOSH!
"RECIPRO BURST!"
To the spectators, the two became naught more than blurs as they rushed one another, but with their own eyes trained to see such faster objects, and their reflexes honed by their powers, the two boys saw each other coming.
Midoriya wasn't using his full speed of course, the risk of flying right off the arena was far to high if he didn't stop. His reflexes were good, not perfect. The two met in the middle and the alien side stepped, trying to use the teens own previous move against him.
Instead however, the blue haired teen seemed to anticipate this and planted one of his feet into the ground, lifting the other and using his flames to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick to Blink's head.
The alien was thrown to the side, flying towards the arena boundary but he managed to right himself just in time, immediately leaping back into action. Iida's flames started to flicker and the alien grinned. Iida couldn't keep such constant high speed movement going like he could.
Still, his taller friend wasn't done yet, capitalizing on every moment he could. The two rushed each other again and this time the transformed teen wasted no time on fancy movements, aiming a claw right at Iida's stomach. Unfortunately, he made a miscalculation as Iida's arms reached farther than his own, and he was knocked down by a punch to a face, even if he did trip Iida up in the process.
"YO ERASERHEAD, YOU WANNA SHARE THIS ONE?!"
"Blink. If you ask me, he seems to be a favorite. His power is simple, he's fast. Faster than any pro hero currently on record in fact, though utilizing that in this small area may be difficult. He isn't that bad in the physical strength department either. He's certainly not as strong as some others, but he does possess at least a little enhanced strength."
"SOUNDS SUPER HANDY!"
Finally, Iida's flames died down and the teen's speed was cancelled. Midoriya grinned as he stood up, aiming for one last strike. 'He thought he had a chance if he ended it fast. Sorry Iida, I-'
His thought was cut off as he came up on the blue haired teen, only to have his legs swept out from under him and to go skidding across the arena. Sitting back up, having barely avoided going out he looked to Iida in surprise.
The blue haired teen was grinning. And Midoriya understood, shaking his head in amusement. 'I get it now. I can only move so fast here, and it's just slow enough that Iida's enhanced reaction time….. he can attack me. Smart idea…. Shame it relies on a misinformed notion. I CAN attack from a distance.'
He lifted his visor for just a moment, so Iida could see his grin before he rushed to one of the corners and began circling his friend. Iida's head whipped around, trying to keep up but with the teen's path in a circle he could get faster than before.
Before he knew it, the blue and black blur started to rise into the air with the wind, creating a forceful tornado that the engine teen found himself stuck within. Try though he might, Iida's feet were quickly lifted off the ground and he was lifted into the air.
Finally, Midoriya stopped, time almost seeming to slow as he watched Iida fall and he slid across the floor. Right at the last moment, he acted.
BWOOSH!
His claws curled up, he hit the teen in the chest and the hit struck true, catching Iida off guard and throwing him to the edge of the ring. He slid back, and silence fell for a moment.
Iida's head was over the boundary.
"TENYA IIDA IS OUT OF BOUNDS! IZUKU MIDORIYA ADVANCES TO THE FINAL ROUND!"
Smiling softly, Blink tapped his Omnitrix symbol and in a flash, Midoriya returned. He ran over to Iida, offering him a hand. "You ok?"
"Physically, I'm fine." The tall teen groaned, accepting the helping hand up. His face wore a look of shame however. "I am ashamed that I couldn't win for my brother however."
"Oh hey, come on. I'm sure it would be awesome if you won but if he's your brother, then I'm sure he's still proud of you for getting this far." Midoriya laughed as the two made their way to the exits. Iida nodded, quietly. "So… let me guess, didn't expect I could hit from a distance?"
"Yes, I was under the impression you would have needed to attack me physically. I suppose I should of considered the possibility your speed would have generated wind…." The engine teen nodded, when a set of footsteps got the two boys attention. A moment later, Ectoplasm, one of their teachers hurried around the corner. "Sir? Are you alright?"
"I…. I'm fine. It's you I'm concerned about. Come with me, Mister Iida. There was an…. Incident in Hosu city." The teacher explained and the teen froze up for a moment.
"I…. excuse me Midoriya." Iida said quietly, following the pro. As they left, Midoriya could only stand their confused. 'What was that about?'
"NEXT UP SPORTS FANS, HE'S AN EXPLOSIVE FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH! IT'S KATSUKI BAKUGOU FROM 1-A!"
Midoriya blinked, looking back. 'Guess…. Guess I might as well just wait here. No point going back up to the stands now….'
"ALSO FROM 1-A, STRIKING FROM THE SHADOWS, SHROUDED IN THEIR DARKNESS, IT'S TOKOYAMI FUMIKAGE!"
The next few minutes were filled with bright lights and explosions as Midoriya tried his best to ignore them and think. 'I don't want to use Goop so…. Who? Crystalize was effective but…. He was able to pull me out. He knows my weakness. I doubt I can just rush him as Blink either, Iida already proved that won't be effective….Dammit, with his explosions he's way to powerful against most of my forms….'
Then it hit him.
'But…. What if I could turn his power into a disadvantage…? I don't have to worry as much about property damage here.' He looked down, pulling up his watch and cycling through his forms. Funnily enough, though he didn't know it, he would have been relying on the same alien regardless of who won the fight.
"FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI IS DEFEATED! KATSUKI BAKUGOU ADVANCES TO THE FINAL ROUND!"
Midoriya sighed. 'Of course he did…'