And we are back with the quarter-finals of the sports festival. And unlike cannon, I not only swapped the match-ups but I also put in three characters who never made it this far in cannon while swapping three others out. Now since this is the quarter-finals, I'm gonna try to make the fights much more interesting to show that these students aren't holding back.
TheLethalSperg500 – That was already done in another so I'm afraid I won't do that. Besides, I have something already planned. With Endeavour, why would Midoriya even do that, he doesn't know how much of a cunt he is.
NinjaFang1331 – Thank you.
Blaze1992 – Oh yes, yes it is. I have much more moments like this planned.
Shadowkragg – As some of you have pointed out, Midoriya bringing Yu makes sense as not only would it be a great vacation/date with his waifu but he doesn't know and didn't know that his friends and classmates were also going to attend. Also, as far as Yu being recognized, she is a rising hero but not a household name yet, and that's only in Japan so I can't see the two of them getting too much attention so long as they don't do something too risky in public. Tokoyami is also a good bet as in this story, he takes Uraraka's place as Midoriya's best friend. With Mirio, if he isn't the successor of All Might, then I can't see him going to I-Island alone, someone like Nejire would want to come, and knowing those two, they'll drag Tamaki with them. You also have a point with your argument about OFA, first or seconds years would have an easier time with it but at this time, we don't know any students in their 2nd year at UA. Lastly, thank you for the compliment, writing their conversations and reactions is a treat.
tiguylerobot – And that's why Shinso has made it as far as he has.
ocomhdhain1 – I already know of it but I don't read it all that often since like 7 out of 10 times in it, Hiro pulls crazy stunts and plot-armor power-ups and wins out of his ass. It's like the slower and more realistic progression of the character's strengths, narrative, personal growth, and plot of the earlier volumes and episodes was forgotten. At this point, I won't be surprised if they beat the White Mage because….Lucy or something just happens to have a rare skill that no-one knew about(nor had she ever used or trained with) that she used to one-shot this new enemy the same way Wendy enchanted all the dragon slayer's powers into Natsu so he could use a super dragon slayer magic technique to one-shot Acnologia(even though it was already established before that plot armor win that the black dragon was immune to magic-based attacks)
D3lph0xL0v3r – What can I say, it was a good suggestion though I do plan on fleshing out the relationship between more as the story progresses. So you've read Entropy then? I hope you found the latest chapter as exciting as I did, though pls ignore the review I left for it, I hit send before I was done writing and checking the spelling. As for Mirio, the dude's a 3rd year so getting a whole new power at this point would set him back quite a bit because he would need to get used to it and then think of ways to add it to his arsenal. I mean, in the first three seasons of BNHA-we see how Midoriya has to not only learn how to hold back to also how to create his fighting style. As for his next match, you'll just have to sit back and read the chapter to find out.
tacktician – I've already mapped out the fights but you sure have confidence that Todoroki will beat Bakugo. It could easily go the other way. As for the gear his classmates and friends use, he can't help them all, he has his issues to deal with but I'll take your suggestion under consideration. It might prove quite handy.
Thflash – I was upset because I already wrote the fight between them but then re-watched the episode and realized an angry Todoroki would never give a chance if he wasn't pissed with his douche of a father-maybe she could have lasted longer.
Bastidaswilliam2005 – If she had thought of that, she would have done it in cannon. Someone like Jiro would have made a steel beam.
Reptil – As already stated, he can't help everyone. He might get a pet, IDK and for the I-island thing, don't worry about it.
– She would send in her offer but she already has something planned for who I picked for her.
Chapter 23: Take to the Skies
(Previously)
"Guy…your class has issues…" Honenuki spoke as he got his wits back.
"I'm not gonna argue there, that was too much." Hagakure agreed with him as she got back into her seat.
"What the hell was he planning to do? Bring about the next ice age?" Kamikiri yelled, pissed off that Kodai wasn't even given a fair fight.
"I don't know but I'll kick his ass if we meet in the tournament." Midoriya said as he got up and started to head towards his waiting room.
"Dude, he'll bury you in what looked to be tons of ice, no offense but I doubt a hammer will help all that much." Kaminari said as he pointed towards his gear, to which Midoriya just showed him how a grin that said he knew more than you did was on his face.
"Hmmm…well then," Midoriya started. "That shows how little you know if he thinks he can get away with a stunt like that, he has another thing coming."
"Good luck in your match man, Tokage is the real deal, you know?" Sero said with a wave to him.
"Oh I'm well aware, I'm not gonna take any chances with her. I can tell you that." Midoriya said as he jogged off to go get ready.
(And now)
'So my opponent is Tokage, she a slippery one. I don't know much about her aside from what little I could observe during the rep meetings, I know that's not only a great planner but she also has a versatile quirk.' Midoriya thought to himself as he sat in his waiting room, listening for when the time came for him to be called up. He had taken the time to consult his info on Tokage off the file of 1-B he had on his phone and safe to say, she was going to be a challenge.
"Still, this is only a distraction till the league can be found and destroyed….There was something…something about that hand freak," Midoriya thought aloud as he struggled to understand what was going on in hand fetish's head but since he wasn't crazy, he found that to be a lost cause.
"That isn't going to be his only attack on us, but the question is if whether those who are supporting him from the shadows would approve of such a thing." Midoriya said as he tried to get into the motives of a person supporting this…Tomura joker. As far as he knew, they wished to kill All Might but in his decade's long career, the dude made a ton of enemies. Sure he could easily beat most of them but from the near-crippling injury he sported, there were some criminals out there that even he can't defeat, at least not without help. The problem with that line of thinking is that it still leaves a pretty big pool of suspects all with their plans and goals. It could be from anything from some super villain who was crazy and/or powerful to some yakuza boss that wanted the power and influence they had back in the days before All Might.
'The school must have improved security since then, would they attack the festival? No, there are too many pros, even if they bring fodder, they'll be slaughtered.' He concluded as no one would ever assault the UA Sports festival. The place used to have security on par with the Olympics but now, times that by two. Still, he found himself worrying more over the fact he knew one of the heroes on guard as Yu, if this place was attacked, she would be in the thick of it, and although he put absolute faith in her skills as a pro hero, he still worried. His thoughts were pushed aside when he heard his name being called over the intercom.
'I'm thinking about this too hard. Right now I need to focus on the here and now, if Mellissa and David-sensei found anything from the evidence I sent them, we move on it. If not, we prepare the next.' He said in his head as he got up from his chair and put his phone in the locker.
'League of Villains, I wonder…what are your true goals?' He reflected as he closed the locker door before grabbing his gear and leaving the room.
(With Tomura)
"Interesting….very interesting." Clearly, Midoriya wasn't the only one thinking about their opponent as Tomura sat in front of his computer reviewing both the cavalry battle and Midoriya's match with Tetsutetsu.
"Hmm?" Kurogiri sounded as he cleaned one of the wine glasses.
"How he fights, he has a very unusual combat pattern. He doesn't move like a regular NPC…he's going to be a challenge. I can tell." Tomura said calmly as he just sat there and watched the events, making notes with his finger on a cracked datapad screen, though he was careful to type with one finger.
"Yes, he was quite the unknown during the USJ operation. How do you plan on taking him out?" Kurogiri agreed with him, quite impressed that his young charge wasn't acting up like normal. Their loss must have forced him to clean up his act.
"Don't know yet you idiot. I don't even know what the hell his quirk is." Tomura shot back, showing his agitation at the fact this little shit had yet to show any conclusive signs of quirk use.
"I can't imagine it's that powerful seeing how he used support gear in its place," Their master/teacher spoke up for the first time, like the last time. He was talking to them through a TV with the message 'Audio Only" in pinkish-red letters. "That said, I've known quite the number of heroes with remarkable but very hard to guess quirks."
"Sensei…" Tomura uttered, his frustration forgotten in its place, awe at his master's voice.
"Tomura. It is good that you are paying such close attention to your enemies. Knowledge is power and knowing more about your foes never hurts. But I would like for you to also pay closer attention to the others." The faceless voice advised.
"Of course master, I'll keep an eye on those brats." Tomura replied, ready to start once the call ended.
"Sir, what shall we do for the meantime? Tomura's injuries have nearly finished healing and we are lacking in manpower at present." Kurogiri inquired as they at this point, had only 4 members, two of which weren't field agents or publically affiliated with them.
"That is a good question Kurogiri. For now, lay low. But once Tomura is back to full strength, have Giran look for potential recruits." The voice instructed.
"Hopefully they won't be so useless." Tomura muttered as even though he didn't have high hopes for the thugs they picked up for the USJ attack, for the love of God, they outnumbered a bunch of teens like 15 to one and still lost. How they hadn't been caught or killed yet was beyond him.
"Indeed. Your league needs competent members Tomura. If Giran cannot supply them, at the very least-their quirks may prove quite….useful." The voice said, the underlying message implying something sinister.
"Yes master, I use my spare time to plan our next raid. These brats are quite the mini-bosses. But if we can kill them, it'll make All Might's death so much sweeter." Tomura replied as a cruel smile formed on his face at the prospect of such death and agony.
"Yes, it will my pupil. I can almost see the despair on his face when he realizes he couldn't save his precious students." The voice replied, encouraging his cruel and villain tendencies as he thought to himself. 'Yes Tomura, you are growing, from your single plan for the USJ, you're already starting to think of back-ups and planning for more than one target.'
'Hard to believe a few months ago, all he did was play those stupid games of his and destroy stuff. I wonder how he'll grow from here.' Kurogiri thought to himself as he wisely kept his thoughts to himself. All he knew was this was going to end with more chaos and bloodshed.
(Meanwhile)
"Hello, fans and spectators! Things are sure gonna heat up now!" Present Mic announced as the fans watching cheered for the next match.
"Yes, the quarter-finals are about to start and from past years' experience, we can expect to see some intense matches. Speaking which, let's start with our first one." Vlad stated as the screen change from the tournament bracket to show the following match-up.
Izuku Midoriya vs Setsuna Tokage
(With the teachers)
"So," Power Loader spoke as he looked up at the screen. "Those two are about to go head to head?"
"It seems so, I wonder which will come out on top." Thirteen added in, quite excited to see how those two would tackle this problem.
"If I had to garner a guess, it'll be Tokage. I've seen that girl use her quirk in some interesting ways. Add to the fact she's as sharp as they came, then this match is hers." Snipe voiced his opinion. He didn't have anything against Midoriya and certainly didn't look down on the quirkless as for the most part, a quirkless marksmen could match if not outperform him if they trained hard enough but he had seen just how resourceful Tokage could be during training.
"I wouldn't be too sure Snipe. If there's anything young Midoriya has shown us so far is that with him-expect the unexpected. I'll say that he and Tokage match up in the battle instincts though." All Might interjected as he knew that when pushed, the young boy coming up to the stage could do amazing things.
"So one has unpredictability on his side and the other has an unconventional but versatile quirk. This will be interesting to watch." Aizawa noted as he lazily gazed at the two. He had a feeling those two were going to be a source of many headaches in the future.
(With the combatants)
"And here folks were the first to make it to the next rounds after thrashing their opponent's last round! This will be a battle of the greenheads!" Present Mic yelled over the mic as they made it to the arena and stood facing the other.
"She bested her opponent without breaking a sweat! She'll take you apart almost as easily as she can herself. From the hero course, Setsuna Tokage!" Present Mic announced as the crowd cheered for her as she waved to the audience.
"Oh boy, I've been waiting for this one, get ready to lose wonder-boy." Tokage taunted with an easy-going smile as she swayed back and forth.
"And the other hand, her opponent is no slouch! He challenged everybody to do their best and gave his last challenger a Suplex and a hammer bash to the face. From the hero course, Izuku Midoriya!" With his intro, the crowd cheered just as loudly as many wrestling enthusiasts loved his last match and were hoping he'll pull something like it again.
"I'm gonna show you a little tech can go a long way, my dear 1-B foe." Midoriya shot back with a smirk as he rolled his right arm in its shoulder joint, he had put on his gear just before entering the field.
(With the students)
"So they're trading barbs now?" Awase asked as he sat down after returning from the nurse's office.
"Well, Tokage is a bit of a tease." Kendo weakly chuckled.
"A bit? Remember the first day of school?" Honenuki asked his class as a whole. A chill went down their collective backs as she all recalled the stunt she pulled.
"…I don't think I'll ever forget." Shouda said as he rubbed his arms to get some warmth back in them.
"What happened?" Ashido asked them.
"We don't like to talk about it." They all said as one. Scaring those in 1-B as they tried to imagine what prank the girl pulled that was that bad.
"Staying with the topic of the conversation." Tokoyami drew the group's attention back to the matter at hand. "I find myself struggling to predict an outcome. On the one hand, Tokage blasted through Sero with little effort, whereas Midoriya defeated a foe a quirkless person should have been defeated by."
"So basically, you're saying we don't have the slightest idea of who's gonna win?" Jiro summed up as she could see the logic in his points. They didn't have a sure-fire way of telling who would win this.
"Deku better win." Bakugo said to himself, though not quietly enough as a certain electricity-based quirk user heard him.
"What's this, does Bakugo care for his classmates?" Kaminari asked as he put more force into the 'care' part of his sentence.
"Fuck you! I only said that because I want to be the one to beat the shit outta him! I didn't forget his insults." Bakugo yelled back at him, not caring about Iida trying to scold him for his language.
"Sure buddy, whatever you say." Kirishima butted in, though he was less in it to make fun of the blonde and more because he genuinely believed that Bakugo cared.
"Well, either way, Kodai and I are gonna root for the both of them." Tetsutetsu said, surprising both groups. "Ain't that right?"
"Hmm." Kodai nodded her head as they both turned to look at the two about to fight.
"Why? And please don't say because you both like trains." Rin asked while begging them to not give a stupid answer as Midoriya did.
"Well that was part of it but not the whole reason." Kodai disappointed them as she confirmed that Midoriya was right, they did bond over trains.
"We worked well together in the second round, kinda hit it off. So we don't want to pick a side with those two." Tetsutetsu explained further, giving a much more reasonable…well reason.
"That's understandable. They're both really fun people." Shishida agreed with them as Midoriya didn't seem too uptight like Iida but he also got a more responsible vibe off him than the one like someone like Ashido.
"Yeah and both like embarrassing others." Sero muttered to himself as he had a feeling that from that short exchange between the two of them that they could team up to make the lives of both classes a living hell.
(With the combatants)
"Hey." Midoriya called out to Tokage.
"Hmm?" The green-haired girl responded, she wasn't expecting a small chit chat but, hey, go with the flow.
"Remember what I said earlier. Do your best. I expect nothing less." Midoriya instructed her as he got into a combat stance.
"You sure? I heard you broke some bones against Tetsutetsu. You might not be able to handle me." Tokage took that as a chance to tease him and see how he reacted. If she could have seen his parents, she would have seen how both of them and some of the crowd the rather adult second meaning of her response. However, what she didn't know was that she was talking to one of her kind as he didn't react like she thought he would.
"If your anything like metal-head then it means this is gonna be quite the fun match. Besides, we'll see who's too much for who." Midoriya said with a chuckle as his flight-pack popped out the end of his stance, allowing him to firmly grab it and pull it out like one would a sword. His response seemed to please the greenette facing him down.
"Alright, challenger accepted Wonder-boy but don't say I didn't warn you about playing with the big girls." Tokage joked as she cracked her head side to side to make sure she was flexible.
"Who, you mean Midnight?" Midoriya shot back as both laughed at that one, completely missing the angry-looking veins on the elder's brow. She already knew both wouldn't fall for her usual tricks but dammit, they liked to rub it in. she'll have to get them back soon, this was a matter of her pride. If she could get the sourpuss Aizawa to blush and stutter once a blue moon, then she can do much worse to a couple of teenagers.
"Start!" As soon as Present Mic uttered those words, both hero course students kicked it into high gear. Tokage detaches both her arms and sent them flying towards Midoriya who responds with a twist from his staff, knocking one arm away and quickly blasting off into the air to avoid the second one.
'Just as a thought.' Tokage thinks to herself with a smile as she sees that Midoriya did exactly as she predicted and quickly separated herself into 15 different pieces before each one of them raced towards him.
"Shit." Midoriya cursed as he saw the incoming attack. He found himself on the defensive as Tokage would throw piece after piece of herself at him at impressive speeds. His position in the air didn't help things as it meant she could even strike from below.
"What's this? Tokage has Midoriya on the ropes already?!" Present Mic yelled as the crowd watched in the fascination of how she was able to keep him from attacking. Hell, it looked like he was struggling to hold her back.
"Yes, I do." Tokage agreed with the commentator as she separated her fist into four pieces and sent her two fingers right for Midoriya's eyes. They hit home and, blinding him as he waved around his arms to try to keep her back as his eyes watered through the pain.
"Shit, that was a dirty move!" Midoriya yelled as he rubbed his eyes to try to soothe the pain, not noticing that Tokage took the chance.
"Not as dirty as this!" She yelled as he opened his eyes to look up only to be met with a hard punch to the face, knocking him down. The blow, by all accounts should have been enough to send him back to the floor but after a few meters, he righted himself. "Hmm?" Tokage sounded.
"What can I say, built-in OS and AI of my design keeps track of my position. I admit that hurt." Midoriya said as he looked up at her with tears in his eyes but a competitive grin on his face as he morphed his staff into its hammer form. "But now, it's my turn." He yelled as he flew towards her.
"First form-!" He started as his wings flared up, alerting her and the audience to his plans. Plans she wanted to stop in their tracks.
"Oh no, you don't!" Tokage counted as she sent off about half a dozen pieces of herself to intercept him from four different directions.
"Electric feathers!" Sadly for her, they reach too late and five of the pieces of her struck his now electrified wings and pack, shocking them. She had a feeling that will leave a mark. "Let's take this higher." Midoriya taunted as she blasted himself into the sky, leaving behind a surprised Tokage to pursue.
"Get back here!" She yelled at him as she gave chase which led to the two of them flying all over the place, firing attacks while either dodging, deflecting, or blocking any aimed at themselves. At one point it got even more out of hand when they both flew right over the boundary line but acted like they either didn't notice or care. Something that some in the audience noticed.
"And the combatants take to the air to continue their battle!" Present Mic called out as they two started to fly higher and higher, leaving those watching this at home in the dark as most of the cameras UA was using couldn't tilt that high up to continue the feed, leaving only a few photo cameras and the odd spare camera to keep up the action.
"As far as I know, this kind of thing is rare since not a lot of people have quirks that allow them to fly." Vlad threw in his own opinion as contrary to the popular belief, most pros could not fly, making flight enabling quirks the fourth most rare, just behind healing quirks.
"Hold on a minute, they're flying outside the boundary lines!" One of the pros asked as they saw the two regularly cross the line into and out of the arena.
"Are they both eliminated?" Another asked as it seemed like they didn't even care about the actual fight now, just trying to one-up the other.
"No they're not, so long as they don't touch the ground outside the boundary lines, they're safe." Midnight confirmed for the audience as it was a small loophole but a loophole nonetheless as the rules stated if you 'step, ran or fell out and/or touch the ground outside the boundary lines.' There was no actual rule that said you had to stay within the arena itself.
"Saved by a technicality." Vlad noted as he guessed that both knew of this and were making ample use of this gap in the rules. "Talk about the small stuff."
"Speaking of, it looks like Midoriya's finally going on the attack!" Present Mic called out bringing attention back to the fight where they could all see that Midoriya was pushing her back as he got into the grove of things. By grove of things, I mean that he was firing off weak powered Falcon Strikers in quick succession at Tokage, forcing her to keep her distance and only try to attack when there was an opening to do so.
"Sorry but as long as we stay at a distance, I got you beat." Midoriya said with a smirk as made the numerous pieces of the girl dance around the blasts, though he was careful to keep track and where she was and what was behind her. The last thing he needed was for a stray blast to hit someone in the crowd, even if he had set them a power setting that wouldn't cause serious damage and act more like hot punches than anything else.
"Not if I can close it!" Tokage shot back as she managed to send one of her feet towards him but he had seen it coming.
"Too slow!" Midoriya yelled as he performed an impressive front flip to avoid the dismembered foot's strike before using the momentum to strike it with his hammer, the cracking of bone his reward. "Come on, show me what you got!" he called out to the girl who winced when she felt that. Her dulled sense of pain whenever she detaches a limb was a blessing right now.
"You kidding? I'm just getting started!" She would just have to turn the anger she felt at having to regrow the thing later into fuel for this fight. Even if she was down a piece, she had no intention of losing.
(With the students)
"Man, they're sure are putting up a fight." Kamikiri noted as Tokage avoided one of Midoriya's blasts before sending off a fist that hit his shoulder, knocking off balance.
"Indeed. It appears our 1-B sister is more skilled we originally believed." Tokoyami stated as his friend was able to use both his wing and staff to block the second and third attacks from Tokage who most likely hoped he was still reeling from the strike to the face.
"Well, yeah. It's Tokage we're talking about here." Tsuburaba mentioned offhandedly.
"How so?" Yaoyorozu asked them.
"Well," And as luck(whether if it be good or bad depends on her opinion) would have it, Monoma was able to answer this one as he had successfully moved the rag out of his mouth. "If I had to make a statement. I'll say that she's the best all-around fighter in the class. She's also the smartest one of us."
"Hey Yaoyorozu," Sato asked as he looked at the girl in question. "Aren't you the smartest in our class?"
"Not exactly, over-all I'm the most capable but when it comes to science and engineering-Midoriya takes the cake." Yaoyorozu admitted as she recalled how in her acceptance letter, she also got the results for the written portion of the entry exam and saw just how well Midoriya performed since they saw fit to include his results and three others with the recommendation student's written exam.
"There is also the fact that both Tokage and Midoriya are capable fighters with unconventional approaches to combat." Kodai threw in her opinion on the matter.
"Dude, if I didn't know any better-I'll say those two are related." Kaibara joked as he rubbed his eye as Tokage moved her torso out of the way of one of Midoriya's hammer blows.
"Well, they both have green hair and eyes…" Clearly, some actually took his words seriously as Kaminari and Tetsutetsu looked like they were thinking about it.
"Oh please, by that logic them Tsu and Shiozaki would be on that family tree." Jiro said as she waved off the steel quirk user observation. But sadly for her, something didn't see it like that. At the same time, she found an opening and was able to send her hand to grab onto his face blocking his field of view and allowing her to send her knee at his side, knocking the air out of him.
"It's not impossible. You don't know much about our families, do you?" Tsuyu stated as she gave the punk rock girl her usual stare which could be quite unnerving. Yes, Tsuyu knew she and Midoriya weren't related but hey, she grew up with siblings, making jokes like this was something she was good at.
"Not to be rude but how can a girl with vine hair, another with frog-like abilities, a lizard, and a quirkless boy all fit into a family tree?" Kirishima asked as he tried to make sense of such a statement but he just couldn't put them together, not unless he involved the notion of one or more being adopted.
"Distant relatives?" Tsunotori said with a chuckle, playing on the old stereotype that all Americans had family so distant that they removed once or twice from the family itself.
"I can't believe this is an actual topic of discussion." Yanagi said as she just sighed at the foolishness.
"Excuse me but," Shiozaki rose her hand to get the group's attention. "Should we not focus on the match?"
"Right, right. Thanks for the reminder Shiozaki." Shishida agreed with her before they turned back to the action.
(With the combatants)
'Damn, she's persistent.' Midoriya thought to himself as he bashed away another one of Tokage's assaults, he could tell that each one was getting closer and closer. 'I need a new plan of attack. I can't just try to keep her back, sooner or later, she'll get the jump on me if I give her too much time.' He reasoned as he knew that if he slipped up, he found wind up on the floor, beaten. He continued to keep her at bay for another few moments before he realized just how close to the ground they were, and that gave him an idea.
'There! I got it.' He thought to himself as he could feel the gears in his head turning as he thought about the approach, distraction, execution, and a back-up just in case but before that. 'Just need to set her up.' He concluded as he eyed her as he batted aside another piece of her with his wings, giving it a shock.
"[whistling] Damn Wonder-boy, you sure got some good aim." Tokage complimented as she reassembled her torso and reattached her head to her neck, though she kept the other pieces of her detached and ready.
"What kind of hero would I be if I harmed the crowd? So be a good girl and don't use them as shields." Midoriya shot right back as he gripped his hammer and got ready for his plan of action.
"Still, you can't hit all of me!" Tokage counted as she sent out about one-third of her pieces towards him as the offense while keeping the other two-thirds at the ready for defense. It was smart on her path as most would put all their eggs into the attack, leaving themselves vulnerable.
"I can hit enough of you to make it count." Midoriya replied as he flew higher up and started to fire off both shockwaves from his boots to give him extra 3D maneuverability but also his weak powered Falcon Strikers to keep her from grouping up and sending out more coordinated attacks.
"Quite the light show, eh Vladdy?" Present Mic asked as he nudged Vlad King's side as the crowd watched this match go on with a sense of amazement and awed at the impromptu aerial laser show.
"One, don't call me that…like ever. And two, yes-this is quite the experience." Vlad King said bluntly. Meanwhile, the two of the field were still going at it, trying to land that finishing blow that would secure them the match and for Midoriya, he was the one who saw an opening first.
"You're open!" Midoriya yelled as he launched himself towards her like a human bullet. Though from the distance he was coming from, it was quite easy for Tokage to see him coming.
"Nice try-arg!" She started till she felt a sharp pain in her gut as Midoriya, faster than she expected, flipped himself and fired a double shockwave towards her in a similar manner to a double dropkick.
"I didn't say that was the true attack. Eat smoke!" He grunted as he hadn't set himself up probable for that one with the result being one leg fired a blast stronger than the other, throwing him off. But that was an issue for later he quick as he could, he pulled out a smoke grenade and tossed it in her general direction. The thing exploding in mid-air.
"And you call me out for a dirty move…" Tokage muttered to herself as she tried to gather herself(literally) and take stock of the situation. At least, that was the plan as she felt herself missing her other foot. 'Why is he…wait a minute?!'
"Tokage is eliminated!" Midnight's call cut through any thoughts she and the rest of those watching had.
"What!" Honenuki yelled.
"When?!" Someone in the crowd asked as they wondered why she was eliminated. She was still in the air!
"Look down." Mitsuki said to her group as she had caught spotted something moving towards the ground moments earlier and knew the match had been decided. True to her words, when the three other parents look down to the grass below the hovering Midoriya, they could see a human foot laying on the ground. Which meant…
"Midoriya advances to the semi-finals!" Midnight announced to the stunned crowd as they slowly started to clap and cheer for his victory.
'When did…when he started that charge and the hit. They weren't meant to take me out, it was to distract me from the feeling of my leg being thrown to the ground!' Tokage realized as she thought over that last sequence and could see how he, as much as she didn't like it, had played her.
"Man looks like Midoriya took to heart the phrase 'smoke and mirrors'!" Present Mic commentated as Midoriya came down to the ground once more and walked back into the arena.
"Yet be forgot the mirror part but knowing that lucky packet of a student, he'll bring something like that out next round." Vlad added as Tokage came closer to earth but couldn't walk now that she was missing both feet. He already figured out the boy knowing about her healing otherwise he wouldn't have done it or would have been disqualified.
"But let's not focus on that right now, why don't we clap our hands for them?!" Present Mic asked as the crowd continued to cheer but now they cheered for the both of them as they met face to face in the center.
"That was underhanded," Tokage said bluntly as she couldn't even stand right now and wouldn't be able to for the rest at least 36 hours.
"This coming from the girl who poked me in the eyes?" Midoriya threw right back into her face with a raised brow.
.
.
.
"Hahahaha, true, true. I'll get you back for this." Tokage chuckled as she replied, the two of them finding humor in their little stand-off which must have looked super serious.
"I'm looking forward to it. One can't improve without challengers or obstacles." Midoriya replied as they gave each other a friendly handshake.
"You're not wrong." Tokage agreed with him as they let go of each other's hands. "I can see why metal gear brain likes you so much. You got heart."
"Thank you, you're not too shabby yourself. By the way, I heard that you are something of a prankster." Midoriya brought up, the change of topic driving an ice-pick of ice through those in 1-B.
"Oh no…" Yanagi uttered, her eyes widening ever so slightly at the implications.
"What of it, you have a problem with that?" Tokage asked. She didn't peg him for a stickler for the rules. Her class on the other hand prayed he was.
"Oh nononono, quite the opposite. I was wondering if you would share some of your tricks of the trade-in exchange for some…" He paused as he searched for the right words to describe it. "Equipment you could use for future projects?"
(With the students)
"Oh lord have mercy!" Awase swore as he could already see the chaos.
"Equipment hey," The grin that grew on Tokage's face was something Midnight would be proud of(and was as she could only imagine their plans) while now both hero classes paled at when they envisioned someone like Midoriya having an ally to call on. Not even Tokoyami liked the idea. "You got yourself a deal, I have a feeling you and I will give birth to some wonderful pranks." She said as she threw her arm around his shoulder as they both left the stage towards the exit, appearing to discuss something really important to them.
"…Annnnnd, we're all gonna die! Why did they have to create an alliance?!" Rin cried as he fell out of his seat in despair.
"Now nothing will stop them!" Tsunotori soon joined in. Those two as prank war allies? They were doomed.
"Calm down, I can't imagine that things will get that bad…." Shishida tried to reign them in but clearly, they didn't but it going by the looks they were given him. "Okay they can but!" He increased the volume of his voice when he noted he was losing them. "But, we can overcome this." 'I hope.' He kept that thought to himself.
"Let's hope the next match can help us calm down then." Shiozaki said as she prayed that those two mad geniuses will reign in their more eccentric personalities.
(With the Shields)
"That was quite the battle." David said as the fight just finished, now begun the small break in-between matches.
"I don't think I've ever seen a quirk that splits your apart like that." Mellissa noted from her seat.
"That's the thing about quirks, these days you can find one for just about everything." David explained as he had seen a lot of heroes come and go through I-island looking for gear. "My father had one which allowed him to bend his fingers further than is humanly possible. It wasn't much but it helped him around the house from what I recall."
"That was grandfather's quirk?" Mellissa asked as it was the first time he had mentioned it.
"Oh yes, we Shields got the short end of the stick when he came to quirks, didn't we?" David joked seeing how both were quirkless. Sure his late wife and mother of his only daughter had a quirk but she didn't pass on those genes.
"Yes we did but when has that ever stopped us?" Mellissa cheered, having long since accepted her status and decided to move on with her life.
"Never." David agreed with her. "The next match-up is between that Kendo girl and….Tokoyama, right?"
"Tokoyami, dad. His name isn't that hard to remember." Mellissa laughed as it was rare that her father got people's names wrong and when he did, he always said them funny.
"Hey give me a break, I got a lot on my mind. Anyway. Who'd you think is going to win?" David tried to defend himself as he waved his hands.
"Don't know, Kendo didn't much of a chance to show off her combat skills…" Mellissa paused as both she and her dad had cringed when that little moment came up. Sure as fellow inventors they knew the need to market themselves but that was something really out of the blue.
"Yeah, her last opponent was quite…eccentric." David tried to defend but realized it was a losing battle. She did what she did and from the smile, she had walking out, didn't regret it.
"Were you like that once?" Mellissa asked him, curious if he was as…passionate about his craft once upon a time.
"Me? Oh no. I had a lot more tack even at my worse….okay not at my worst but I'm pretty sure I never dared to do that." David replied before he corrected himself. The last thing he needed was for her to ask All Might about their adventures together as although well-meaning, sometimes he said far too much. She didn't need to know about the time they got arrested by the Canadian border. That was something that will forever remain buried.
"She's an inventor obsessed with hero support gear. Chances are she's going to try and come here for the expo." Mellissa stated as they always got that kind of crowd here. The expo was like an anime convention in the US, it was like a magnet for weebs.
"Well at least she won't stick out as much with all that weirdness in one place-" David started but was interrupted by his phone going off so he quickly fished it out of his pocket and saw who was calling. "Hold one sweetie, I need to take this."
"Hello Sam, how have you been? You'd called in sick twice in as many days." David asked as he accepted the call.
"Sorry about that. I've been having a nasty stomach bug. Was there something you needed me for?" He heard his assistant reply on the other end.
"Just checking up on you. You didn't answer any of my messengers and I was getting worried. If you hadn't called, I was going to send security to check up on you." David started as both he and his daughter were concerned that he missed work. It wasn't typical behavior for him.
"I appreciate the thought Mr. Shield but it's cleared up. I'll be coming into the office tomorrow." Sam replied over the line.
"You sure you're okay for work? You know that I don't tolerate self-destructive behaviors from my employees." David reminded him as more than once, he had to order interns to relax since they were always so uptight about working here.
"I'm sure, I had the doctor check it and everything. But there was another more pressing reason why I called you." Sam brought the main conversation of the phone call into the light.
"What was it then?" David asked him.
"Our regular security contractor called in, they won't be able to offer their services for the expo." Sam informed him.
"What! What do you mean they canceled?" David asked as he got up from his seat. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all.
"They say something came up in their home state of Washington that needs their attention." Sam informed him.
"We've been hiring them for security for the past 9 nine years, can't they reschedule? I'm sure we can get the committee to increase the pay" This was not a time for them to bail on them. If they did, they'll be short 60 trained security personal.
"Afraid not. Apparently, some villain with a fire quirk went on the rampage through the woodlands and now they got a massive forest fire. They need all the help they can get." Sam told him.
"I see, well then it can't be helped, send them my regards then." David replied as he fell back into his seat, missing the commercials their broadcaster had switched to. Okay, that was a good reason not to show. He should watch more American news. That felt like something he should have known.
"Lucky for us, I've already looked through some info for another security contractor." Sam told him and even though he couldn't see it, he had a feeling the rather large man was smiling.
"You do?" David asked him. Once more he thanked the heavens for his lab assistant.
"Yes, I've got a promising one in my hands right now, they're called Northern Steel Security and Protection." Sam told him, sounding quite proud of himself but finding a good agency this quickly was a feat to clap for.
"Are they any good?" David asked. He didn't distrust his assistant's judgment but this Expo was set to be much more important for both him and I-island than any other one.
"They have a good track record. Mostly for jobs in North American but they have promise." Sam replied, sounding like he was going through papers.
"Thanks, Sam, well I trust your judgment. Just make sure they can be ready before the expo. They'll need time to set up." David thanked the man over the phone, grateful that he was always so organized.
"Will do Mr. Shield. Tell Melissa I said hi." Sam asked him, making it obvious that the call was almost over.
"I will, you're the best." David answered before he hung up the call and put his phone on the table. "Sam says hello."
"What was the call about?" Mellissa asked, having only heard her father's side of the conversation.
"We need a new security service since the usual one is pre-occupied." David informed her as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Oh, is that a good idea?" Mellissa asked. She knew how important security had to be since no nation on earth had the rights to the island. This also meant that they had to fend for themselves more often than not as an aid only ever came so long if they were willing to give something in return.
"Yes, you know as well as I do that we don't have the manpower in hand to police the entire expo. They'll simply be too many people and a lot of VIPS." David explained.
"Yes, I heard a prince will be showing as well." Mellissa said as she thought back to the gossip floating around her class.
"More like the son of a Prime Minister. From Latvia actually." David confirmed for her as he had already spoken with the Prime Minister about it. She couldn't come but her eldest son could in her place. It wasn't protocol but no one had voiced a complaint.
"Oh, that's quite the surprise." Mellissa answered as she thought about such a thing, they never got political guests, just industry and heroes.
"Yes. All the more reason things have to run smoothly. They too have large metal ore deposits. Having access to such could prove to be beneficial to humanity." David said as it was a great opportunity for them to learn more about this new ore.
"Yeah. I can't wait." Mellissa said as they both turned back to the TV to continue watching the festival and cheer for their student/friend.
(Back at the stadium)
"Yo." Midoriya said as he finally got back to his class.
"Midoriya, good match out there." Kaminari greeted with a wave.
"Thanks for avenging me." Sero said with a smile and a high-five.
"No problem, Sero but she wasn't an easy opponent." Midoriya answered him as he gave the tape user a high-five before he made his way for his seat.
"Yeah, looked like she kept you on your toes." Hagakure noted.
"Sure did. Don't know how hard the semis are gonna be though if this was the quarter-finals." The green-haired replied boy as he thought about how fierce the competition would get if he had to face either Tokoyami or Kendo. She may have not made a good showing but he recalled their combat training.
"Just do your best." Shoji told him with a nod of the head.
"Yeah, we still got three others in this." Uraraka said as he pointed over to Todoroki and Bakugo. Tokoyami was absent.
"So Tokoyami already left?" Midoriya, noticing this absence asked them.
"Yep. Not too long ago. I'm surprised you didn't see each other on the way here." Ojiro said as he felt they should have met each other on the way here.
"Oh well, I was with Tokage for a while so he must have gone to the other waiting room." Midoriya explained as that girl was just a golden treasure when it came to tips on pranks.
"You were with Tokage hmmm?" Ashido asked, seeing an opening.
"Get your head out of the gutter. I don't have a perverted mind like Kaminari here." Sadly for her, Midoriya has been around a tease for a while now and knew how to work around their attempts.
"Hey, I resent that!" Kaminari yelled at him, looking offended by the comment.
"It's true, ain't it?" And once more, Jiro smelt blood in the water and took the chance to roast him.
"Speaking of, Midoriya. I have a question." Tsuyu said out of the blue as she looked at him.
"Fire away." Midoriya replied. Though he did wonder what was it she wanted to know.
"Why were you here so early?(Kero) I thought the plan was to meet up in class and arrive as a group." And she had to ask the one question he wasn't to answer. At her request, he froze up as he recalled why he did so when it was his suggestion to meet up and make the trip as a group.
'Shit!' He thought to himself as he recalled how he had spent the night with Yu. How they had fallen asleep watching crappy 'made-for-TV' American films on her couch. How they only realized this the next morning when her alarm awoke the both of them and he barely had time to ran home to get his sports uniform and gear. "It was nothing," He shot out, trying to make a good reason on the spot. "I…I couldn't sleep so I decided why not?" Oh God, that was pathetic.
"You couldn't sleep?" And clearly, he wasn't the only one to think so on this as Bakugo turned to question him. "That's one of the shittiest reasons I've ever heard Deku. Aren't you supposed to be smart?" And for once, he didn't have a comeback for that. Damn that living bomb, he'll have to get him back later.
"Shut it. I was nervous, alright!" Midoriya threw back at him as he turned to look down to the arena, waiting for the next match to start.
And with that, this chapter draws to a close. I was saddened that I couldn't fit in Tokoyami and Kendo's fight as it wasn't too long but once I crossed the 8K mark, I knew I would have to save it for the next chapter. As for Todoroki vs Bakugo fight. That's already been written and is just waiting for the moment I need to publish it along with what I assume will be chapter 25. I won't say much but I will say that I'm quite proud of it as it does something I haven't seen in other stories.
One thing I'm also proud of was the scene with the league as I'm trying to show how Tomura is growing due to his failure. Many authors don't do much with this as we see losing AFO forced him to change himself to better fit his role as the leader of the league. So it stands to reason that having an even bigger loss at the USJ would encourage similar results, though why AFO didn't do this himself is anyone's guess as you would think such a character would do so.
One funny thing added was the fact Midoriya wasn't bulshitting his class when he said he and Kodai like trains. What can I say, I've bonded with people who later become my friends over stupid stuff too. As for the fight itself, I never planned for either of them to gain a KO victory as both are really good students but I can tell you that Tokage isn't going to fall for the same trick twice, this will become important later down the line.