Chapter 11:

"PIECE OF SHIT!" Bakugou launched himself at the goddess and grabbed her face. He blew it up, launching Artio into the wall of the arena. "DIE! STUPID GODDESS!"

He launched himself again to finish her, but Artio crouched low and caught him by the torso. She hit him with a barrage of punches in the air before sending him hurtling with an overhead kick. Bakugou skidded on the ground, never being this hurt before. He dealt with scrapes and scratches before, but never any bruises.

"HOW THE HELL ARE YOU HITTING ME?!" Bakugou asked the goddess. Artio shrugged, thinking of this fight as any other death match she had been in.

A long time ago...

Artio was born a goddess, yet her mother kept her hidden from the other gods. From what she could remember, her power was something else entirely. It was something that even Lugh would be attentive to. Her foster father raised her as a human, and so she lived like a human. Artio was a fierce warrior, with her strength and temper surpassing even the clan chiefs. Slowly, she realized that everyone she knew was growing old while she was staying young.

"Dad." She asked the now old man on his deathbed. "What am I?"

The old man was weak, but he remembered vividly the night he received his would be daughter. The unknown goddess floated down from the heavens and handed to him a child. She instructed him to raise her as a human and train her as a warrior. As the child grew, she became more stubborn and gained more power because of her godhood. Nothing controls her. Nothing could defeat her. The old man smiled as he told her the truth in his dying breath before the claws of the underworld pulled his soul downwards for breaking the secret oath.

In her anger, Artio challenged the Celtic Pantheon, taking down any god or goddess in her path until she finally reached Lugh. It was a fierce and close battle between the two, with Lugh eventually coming out on top. Even then, Artio would not give up, standing up again and again and again until Lugh grew tired. He struck her with the Gae Bulg but she survived like it was nothing and kept attacking him. It was then that Lugh unleashed all he had and knocked her out. To his surprise, she was still standing, defiant as ever, while unconscious.

"This kid." Lugh smiled, finally finding someone who could challenge his power. "Those hardships she must have experienced in her human life strengthened her. I wonder what her domain is."

Using his magic, he looked into Artio's mind and realized what she was the goddess of. He was impressed by her domain but was confused by the involvement of bears. He restrained her by using a magical rope to keep her still and waited for her to wake up.

"I'm gonna kill you." Artio threatened Lugh as soon as she woke up. Lugh chuckled despite the situation. Artio was not amused. "Which goddess here abandoned me?"

"Long dead. Killed in a bar fight at a pub down the hall." Lugh pointed down the direction where Artio's mother died. "Anyway, she gave you away to avoid your fate of overthrowing Dagda and having a life of misery soon after. Well, it backfired and now you're here. It's a good thing you only knocked out everybody else, otherwise, that would be a point of no return if you killed them."

"What the hell is this fate you even speak of, you fat gommy." Artio questioned one of the head honchos of the Celtic Pantheon. She spat at him before he could even answer. Even Lugh had limits, so he smacked her lightly on the head.

"I see you're raised in Alba. That's good. The women over there were always more high-spirited than the Britons. How about this: I tell you the full story and, in exchange, be my student? You have little choice in the matter. I could call one of my friends and they'll pull you straight to Helheim." Lugh proposed the deal to Artio. After a long time of thinking, she finally agreed in exchange for knowing who she was.

Lugh helped Artio hide her true dominion as a goddess and used the title of Bear Goddess as a front. He taught her everything he knew and gave her every advice he could. Since they trained in secret, nobody knew that she was second only to Lugh and coming close to his power. All the Celtic gods know of Artio were her nature to defy fate and simply do as she pleases.

"The answer is simple, arrogant wanker. I can hit you simply because I could." Artio didn't give Bakugou time to process her words when she kicked him into the ground. She sat on him and started punching his face. He tried to block but she simply brute forced through his defense with her pure strength.

"How is she beating me?!" Bakugou thought to himself as he was getting beaten up. He grew angrier and angrier, resulting in his Mary Sue aura growing more intense. His defense suddenly became perfection. He grabbed Artio's face and blew it up using his quirk, sending her one hundred meters into the air. "I'M KATSUKI BAKUGOU!"

Dagda was trying to find her from the air while Lugh was casually chewing on his gum. "Should we be worried, Lugh?"

"Nah. The lass got this." Lugh made a gum balloon before popping it. He opted out of the tournament, knowing it was an entire scam, but he made Artio enter since it looked like she really wanted to. "Besides, if she dies, you don't have to worry about anyone overpowering you."

"Don't say things like that!"

"Why do you have anything to worry about? She's not interested in ruling, anyway." Lugh said while watching Bakugou fly after her with his explosion.

Bakugou started spinning and surrounding himself with smoke and fire. Everyone who knew him instantly knew it was his signature move, Howitzer Impact. They all guessed it was the end of the line for Artio.

"HOWITZER IMPA-gch!"

In the middle of Bakugou's move, Artio transformed into a bear and bit his arm, leaving a large wound. This caused the explosion to miss her. She turned back into her humanoid form and locked him in a grapple a few people could recognize, with Andre the Giant being one of them. "Muscle Buster?!"

Artio successfully executed the move, effectively injuring Bakugou from the neck down. She stood up, waiting for him to stand up, but all she witnessed was silent seething. The Bear Goddess tilted her head in confusion.

"ME?! LOSING?! FUCK THIS! FUCK YOU! AND FUCK OFF! I'M SUPPOSED TO WIN HERE! I'M THE STRONGEST! I'M THE GIFT OF GOD TO MY UNIVERSE! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO SHIT!" Slowly he stood up as if the muscle buster did nothing to him. All his injuries were suddenly healed. Bakugou simply didn't know he used another ability of a Mary Sue: The Anime Power-Up. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

He launched himself and kneed Artio in the face before she could even react. It knocked a few teeth off the Bear Goddess and launched her into the wall. He went after her and continued hitting her with multiple explosions. All Artio could do was to block the attacks. "YOU LIKE THAT? HUH?! I KNOW YOU DO, YOU STUPID WHORE!"

The crowd was disgusted by his attitude, but they were once again cheering against their will. Most of them already figured out that this was part of his ability. Even Zeus himself was affected by Bakugou's Mary Sue aura. The humiliation angered the god as each of his claps created more and more shockwaves, slowly leaving cracks on the ground near him.

This new type of pain was new to Artio. She wasn't like Baldr, who couldn't feel pain. She was simply the type to ignore them while fighting. This was one she couldn't pinpoint nor figure out. The pain was dull but active at the same time. It pierced her skin more than the Gae Bulg. Artio figured this was part of Bakugou's ability that even he wasn't aware of. She knew from his personality alone that he thought his quirk was enough, never knowing his own true nature. He lacked self-awareness. Still, she couldn't afford to keep getting hit. Her old man silently was watching after she and Lugh broke him out of the underworld.

"Like I'll lose to someone like you." Artio moved her head to the side, making Bakugou destroy the wall and create a bigger hole. It made enough space for her to move out of the way and grab Bakugou by the hair. She once again overtook the Mary Sue aura's influence.

She pounded his head into the ground and kept at it before spinning around until a chunk of his hair was ripped out. Bakugou was thrown across the arena and landed roughly on the ground. He touched his head, only to notice a bald spot. People were laughing at him.

"They're… they're laughing at me…" Bakugou could not comprehend the situation. He was humiliated. His hair was no longer perfect. There was only one thing left he had. Sheer Anger. He gritted his teeth, seething at the situation that was supposed to be a cakewalk for him. He felt pain. The explosive hero is losing, and now everyone is laughing at him. Bakugou peeked at the human crowd, only to see his version of Deku also chuckling. His scream would soon be heard for the next few years in the afterlife. Even Artio fell silent at the pure rage of Bakugou. "I CAN'T LOSE! I WON'T LOSE! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE NOTHING TO ME!"

His invisible aura flared, which only The Void noticed.

"Ah crap."

"What is it?!" Endeavour looked at The Void, mildly concerned at the being's exasperation.

"His power is continually increasing, with no signs of stopping. He won't reach infinity, but it will keep going up. I'm gonna have to strengthen the barrier. That Mary Sue aura of his is nothing but trouble." The Void waved their hand. Nothing changed in the barrier's appearance, but its defensive power is increasing faster than Bakugou's power.

"There's no way that dickhead will lose now. Seriously, fams, I prefer my Bakugou over him. Though, I guess my Bakugou turned into a little bitch after seeing some unseen horrors in the Abyss." Camie said while watching Mary Sue Bakugou.

*bzztt… Mine turned… bzztt… relatively nice… wvlilclockybzztt… after thinking I'm dead… bzztt* Civil War Izuku said his piece. Everyone in the room collectively agreed they preferred their version of Bakugou over this.

"Wankstain." That was all the word Artio could say before Bakugou hit her with an explosion like no other. Now she's bleeding for real and some of her teeth were missing.

"I'LL KILL YOU THEN YOUR LOVED ONES!" Bakugou had finally snapped. Artio, now knowing what's truly at stake that isn't just 25 bucks, prepared to fight the hardest she could. "SUCK MY DICK, YOU PIECE OF SHIT GODDESS!"

Artio blocked another explosion, which only damaged her arms further. She could feel the stinging pain as she was pushed back by Bakugou's attacks. His attacks were slowly eating away at her stamina. She hit him with a counterpunch to no effect until she was finally on her knees. Bakugou smiled, finally putting the goddess in her place, or so he believed. Artio was simply hurt and tired.

"Say it. Tell everyone I'm the goddamn best." Bakugou spread his arms, and the light shined down on him. Another one of the Mary Sue's effects. A bird and a puppy got near him and he immediately adopted them. He sang one of Freddie Mercury's songs perfectly with an angelic voice, as expected of him. His orbs(eyes) changed colours into a perfect heterochromia. It was all in celebration of taking down Artio.

Artio was extremely annoyed. The one she's already fighting is the most shallow person she knew. Not only that, but he's an arrogant piece of shit. She could always see his aura and how it empowers him. Like what her mentor would have done, she was curious enough to let it slide. Now that his true intentions are apparent to her, including killing everything, she just couldn't let it slide.

While Bakugou was still busy gloating, she slowly stood up. Artio removed her gauntlets and dropped them on the ground. The moment the gauntlets hit the ground, it left an enormous crater. It had always been weighted for her strength training.

Lugh was now worried for his student and was nervously biting his thumb. Being another god of light, he could sense the ever-growing aura of Bakugou. "She wouldn't remove those unless absolutely necessary. This is a worrying situation."

"The lass is in trouble?" Dagda asked.

"Most likely, yes." Lugh answered. Their worries were a bit toned down when Artio moved at light speed and kneed Bakugou at the back of the head, sending the fighter stumbling across the ground.

"AND WITH A KNEE TO THE HEAD, ARTIO IS BACK ON TRACK!" Hermes yelled excitedly while watching the match.

It didn't matter though as Bakugou was already back on his feet, more powerful than ever before, and reached Artio before she could react. He held her by the neck, choking the life out of her. The Bear Goddess felt heat escaping Bakugou's palm as a massive explosion sent her to the wall while breaking the barrier set-up by The Void. "Give up, bitch. I'm better than all of you."

{- To Be Continued...

Mary Sue Bakugou unsurprisingly gains the upper hand even after Artio's power-up. Will she be able to rise above or become just another victim of a Mary Sue?