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Chapter 23: Portent
"Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!"
Kingsdog struggled against the leash chaining him to the tree, trying to get to CheerySadAngel's side. He didn't know why but he needed to be there! Hopefully, SmokyYellingBlaster was near her at the moment.
Even so, Kingsdog had to be a good boy and be at CheerySadAngel's side soon. Something bad was coming and Kingsdog must. Be. There!
*SNAP!*
With a bark of triumph, Kingsdog promptly escaped through the hole in the wooden wall, using his trusty nose to lead him as the broken leash trailed behind him.
"Everybody, sorry for the long wait!" Present Mic (a.k.a. Hizashi Yamada) roared as the frozen arena was now fixed for others to use again. "Let's head on to the 5th match!"
Flames burst out of the battle ring's corners.
"The assassin from Class 1-A! How're you gonna fight what you can't see?! From the Hero Course, it's Invisible Girl!"
Invisible as usual, Toru Hagakure's sleeves were the only indication of how enthusiastically she was waving her arms as she approached the battle ring.
"Versus... It's our third recommended student of the day, so you know you gotta watch out! From the Hero Course, it's Lizardy!"
Setsuna Tokage sent up kisses to the screaming crowds as she approached the battle ring.
"Midoriya, how do think this match is going to go?" Mashirao Ojiro leaned forward over the seats.
Pausing in his notetaking, Izuku Midoriya turned slightly to reply without looking away. "Time."
"Time?"
"If Hagakure-san wants to win, she'll need to do so as quickly as possible." Izuku opened to the pages he had for the two girls. "Tokage-san's Quirk and fighting style are a very strong counter against Hagakure's own."
"Ready... START!"
"Say cheese!" Toru cheered for snapping her fingers, causing her invisible skin to suddenly flare out blinding light.
"Gah!" Setsuna instinctively blocked her face with her arms, wincing as the light seemed to burn through her eyelids.
"My eeeeeeeeeeyes!" Present Mic shrieked. "My sunglasses did nothiiiiiiiiiing!"
"Damnit!" Setsuna blinked as the light finally faded away, allowing to open her arms and... "Where'd she go?!"
"HAHAHA! Invisible Girl's gone and proved her name!" Present Mic screamed as he gingerly blinked and rubbed his eyes. "How's Lizardy going to deal with this?!"
Eraser Head (a.k.a. Shota Aizawa) frowned at the sight. 'When did Hagakure become capable of turning things other than herself invisible? Then again, it's not like she would've been allowed to strip right there.'
*POW!*
Setsuna choked as a fist slammed into her stomach, before reeling as a second punch smashed into her cheek.
'That's quite the fist she's got.' Despite the swelling bruise and her cut lip, Setsuna still had it in her to smirk at Toru's tactics. Swiping out cautiously, Setsuna got a hit to her hip for her trouble and then a knee into her rib with the intention of forcing her back.
However, at the impact, Setsuna for a lack of better expression... burst apart into something out of a fantasy nightmare.
With her clothes dropping down beneath her, what emerged was almost human in shape and appearance, from the misty, see-through appearance of her black red flesh; to the way her body seemed to expand and contract, pieces of it detaching and reattaching randomly as it seemingly struggled to maintain a corporeal form; to the fact that she was no longer making contact with the ground and floating a few feet in the air.
"Peak-a-boo!" The mass screamed, a reverberating caricature of Setsuna's voice resounding through the air as it suddenly started to spin around wildly around the battle ring, before congregating on a now blurry form-
Wait, it was Toru, now visible (at least her thankfully still worn clothes) and held down against the ground as Setsuna's disembodied hands held her own flat to the ground.
With that done, the mass of 'specks' started to congregate, somehow lifting her clothes and slipping into them as they spun in a tornado-like motion before fading away to reveal the smirking Setsuna. "I see you!"
"Damn." Toru couldn't help but mutter.
"Invisible Girl!" Midnight (a.k.a. Nemuri Kayama) called out. "Are you able to break free and keep fighting?"
Toru strained against the hands holding her and felt no give. "I can't!"
"Invisible Girl is immobilized!" Midnight declared with her standard whiplash. "Lizardy advances to the next round!"
"WOW! What a performance from Lizardy! As expected from a recommended student! Can someone like her even be stopped?!"
"Of course not!" Setsuna pumped up her hands in triumph, making the screaming crowd scream even louder. "Just who the hell do you think I am?!"
"So this is what you meant by Tokage being a perfect counter for Hagakure-san." Mashirao sighed.
"Yeah." Izuku nodded as he rapidly updated Toru's page in his journal, amazed at her new abilities. "While the ability to turn invisible is pretty valuable for stealth missions and the like, it's useless against an opponent who is not only capable of rendering physical attacks useless on themselves, but also capable of covering a wide area all at once. This was a bad match up."
"A very bad match up." Momo Yaoyorozu agreed despondently. "Just like mine."
"Ah, well..." Izuku staggered at the sight of his depressed vice class rep. "Cheer up, Yaoyorozu-san. Even if you lost, you still gave a good showing during the dodgeball game. I'm sure you already impressed several pros already back then."
"Don't bother with her, Izuku." Katsuki Bakugo scoffed from his seat. "Your advice is fucking wasted on somebody like Ponytail if she's so depressed about a single loss."
"Katsuki, that's enough." Izuku chided. "Yaoyorozu-san went up against-"
"Fucking Icy Hot, I know." Katsuki cut him off, glaring at the two leaders of their class. "But what you don't seem to get is that Ponytail's too cocky for believing that someone as slow as her could win against him."
"Should you of all people be saying that?" Kyoka Jiro snarked.
"Zip it, punkster." Katsuki flipped her off. "If a single loss is enough to knock her down like that, then she's better off quitting the Hero Course entirely. This ain't a place for fragile ego."
"Are you forgetting your own ego?!" Izuku shot back. "Also, I'm cheering her up as a friend, not just a fellow aspiring hero. When your friend feels down, you've got to pull them back up, not belittle them!"
"Well said, Midoriya-kun!" Tenya Iida chopped his hands in approval.
"Midoriya-san..." Momo whispered before shaking her head and looking at Katsuki with renewed resolve. "Bakugo-san, what did you mean when you called me too slow against Todoroki-san?"
Katsuki looked her right in the eyes. He must have approved of whatever he saw because he instantly crossed his arms and answered. "Your Quirk allows you to create anything from your skin, right? Why the fuck didn't you create something to at least break the ice covering you? Why the fuck did you surrender so quickly besides literally being the only person with the most chance of beating Icy Hot? You're slow because you gave up the moment you got overwhelmed."
"Ah..." Momo gaped... because she had nothing to reply.
"Izuku, if you had her Quirk, how would you have broken out of that ice geyser trap?" Katsuki suddenly asked. "Answer me in five seconds."
"Um, er, hot water to weaken the ice." Izuku started answering after two seconds. "Large solid objects to break the ice's hold, maybe something with strong vibrations..."
With every fact Izuku spouted, Momo could feel an imaginary arrow hit her, especially as he kept stating simple items that wouldn't have taken Momo more than a literal second to make. Seriously, hot water would've easily gotten her out of the ice in seconds. "I feel so foolish."
"Then, don't be foolish next time." Katsuki huffed and looked away, apparently done.
"Next time...?" Momo looked at Izuku for confirmation, only to receive a supportive smile from him.
"There's still another sports festival next year, Yaoyorozu-san." Izuku encouraged. "Just be better by then."
Momo blinked before smiling in renewed self confidence. "I will, Midoriya-san."
She then turned to Katsuki and bowed in gratitude. "Thank you for your advice, Bakugo-san."
"Whatever."
"Wow, looks like Bakugo-chan is actually capable of motivating people-kero." Tsuyu Asui commented.
"What did you just say?!" Katsuki snapped. "I'm perfectly capable of motivating people! Tell her, Izuku!"
"No, you're not." Izuku instantly replied. "Not in a calm manner, at least. Unless maybe you're with Ayako-chan."
"Gkrl..." Katsuki made an interesting sound in his throat before sitting down just as Present Mic announced the sixth match.
"Finally, we've two 1-B fighters against each other! One of them's a warrior of passion with fists of steel! From the Hero Course, it's Real Steel!"
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu punched his fists together with a metallic clang. "Yeah! Bring it!"
"His opponent's a spirited maiden of skill and action! It's Class 1-B's own Onee-sama, Battle Fist!"
Itsuka Kendo kindly waved up at the cheering audience, appreciating their support. "Does anybody in the class actually call me that?"
"There's actually been a little vote on it among us guys." Tetsutetsu revealed.
"Oi, go for it, Tetsutetsu!" Eijiro Kirishima cheered.
"Do your best, Kendo-san!" Izuku cheered along.
"They're cheering for our classmates?" Shihai Kuroiro asked in confusion.
"Well, it's not like they've got anybody else to cheer on at the moment." Togaru Kamakiri shrugged.
"Deku-kun, why are you cheering for her?" Ochako Uraraka asked with a smile, even as Tenya recoiled from the dark aura she was giving off.
"Between her and Tetsutetsu-san, I know her more." Izuku didn't seem to notice her dark aura as he fished out his journal again. "Besides, there's nothing wrong in me cheering for people other than my classmates."
"Little Ninth, I think you need to learn to be a bit more perceptive." Daisy August smirked.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Izuku tilted his head.
"Ignore them. Just pay attention to the match and your book." Hikage Shinomori waved him out.
"Midoriya." To everyone's surprise, Neito Monoma dropped right in the empty seat next to Izuku. "How do you think this match will go? Give me an estimate."
Izuku readied his pencil. "Tetsutetsu-san definitely has the advantage considering his high defense stats. And his Quirk can allow him to use his arms like flexible iron clubs. Basically, he's a walking suit of armor without the drawback of clumsiness, and if he could land even a single hit, it would definitely cause some major damage. But Kendo-san's got better martial art skills than Tetsutetsu-san, so I can't dismiss her so casually. Add in her Quirk, she might actually be able to hit hard enough to dent-"
Ochako tapped his shoulder, interrupting Izuku's rapid muttering. "Um, Deku-kun, breathe. Also, you're overwriting on your book…"
Izuku blinked and stared at his journal in horror as he had unfortunately just finished the last page of it. "NOOOOOO!"
Neito shook his head. "Listen, Midoriya. I just want to know who you think is most likely to win between the two."
"Um..." Izuku thought it over as he gave his journal a sorrowful gaze. "Kendo-san, I guess."
"Thanks." Neito got up and returned to Yosetsu Awase. "I'm betting my entire lunch money on Kendo."
"Hope you're prepared to lose it."
"Ready... START!"
"Oh, yeah!" Tetsutetsu took off in a full sprint. "Let's make this a real manly fight, Kendo!"
Rolling her eyes in a fond manner, Itsuka assumed a ready stance.
"Oraa!" Tetsutetsu threw his steel fist at her, but she ducked down, evading it with ease and went in for her own karate chop to his ribs, only to flinch at the metallic thump she heard from the ineffective attack.
"Oh, boy."
"Hehe, come on." Tetsutetsu smirked. "I know that isn't all you've got!"
Itsuka smirked back. "No, it's not."
She thrusted her open hand up in an uppercut but just as her palm clapped with his chin, her entire hand expanded to be nearly match her entire body in size, hitting his entire upper half.
"Gahh!" Tetsutetsu recoiled as he was lifted into the air and slammed down heavily onto the ground hard enough to crack it. Groaning heavily, he checked and rubbed his aching jaw. "Damn, that hurt!"
With a growl, he got up and charged at her again. This time however, Itsuka shrunk her hands and charged forward as well, leaping into a roundhouse kick that slammed home into his face and disoriented him.
"C'mon, Tetsutetsu-kun!" Itsuka beckoned at him as she threw his words back at him. "I know that isn't all you've got!"
Slapping his cheeks to reorient himself, Tetsutetsu charged forward again, throwing forward many punches that Itsuka easily evaded.
For every two or three punches he missed, Itsuka enlarged her fists and struck back, aiming for brief critical strikes to wear him down.
"Just! Let! Me! Hit! You!" The irritated steel mimic demanded with each punch.
"That's! Not! How! It! Works!" Itsuka snapped back with every dodge before suddenly diverting his punch and slapping her palm into his face.
"Woohoo! Bring it on, you two!" Present Mic roared in approval along with the cheering crowd. "Now this is a fist fight! It's power vs precision! Strength vs skill! Raw defensive power vs offensive martial arts!"
Itsuka landed another hit before she barely had time to dodge out of the way from a brutal axe kick that broke the ground beneath Tetsutetsu's heel.
"Even so, Battle Fist can't afford to take a single hit from Real Steel." Eraser Head commented. "The moment she does, she'll lose a significant amount of her offensive capabilities. On the other hand, Real Steel's just too slow and easy to bait."
Itsuka leapt forward and threw an own enlarged punch at Tetsutetsu's chest, sending him flying as he was struck with a fist almost as large as his entire body.
After almost reaching the edge of the battle ring, Tetsutetsu slammed his fist into the ground in rage, breaking it instantly. "Goddamnit!"
"You gotta calm down." Itsuka called over to him.
"I am calm!" Tetsutetsu roared as he charged towards her again.
Eyeing his charge, Itsuka crouched a bit before frontflipping and using the sudden expansion of her hands to leap over and land on Tetsutetsu's shoulders.
Before the surprised Tetsutetsu could react, Itsuka wrapped her thighs tight around his head and used the momentum to slam the boy into the ground.
"Ouch!" Maishi Shigaraki recoiled in phantom pain, idly rubbing her own neck. "If that guy wasn't metal, he'd have gotten a broken neck from that."
"I believe that was the point." Kurogiri pointed out. "I doubt she'd easily do the same for anybody else in her class."
Itsuka could've soaked in the praise, but there was little time. As expected, Tetsutetsu was already getting back up to his feet.
Acting quickly, Itsuka rushed him and as soon as Tetsutetsu shoved his shoulder into her stomach to tackle her, Itsuka brought up her legs and circled them around his back, wrapping her right arm around his head. "Either you surrender or give me your neck!"
"Let go of me, will ya?!" Tetsutetsu struggled to break free, hoping his steel body did something to deter her, but she was far too tough for something like that to make her lose her advantage.
"I don't think so!" Itsuka struggled to keep him from breaking free as Tetsutetsu grabbed her leg. "Give!"
Tetsutetsu tried to move his arm but all he could do was wiggle it in place, her hold far too strong as Itsuka easily surpassed him in flexibility.
Kendo strengthened her grip. "Give. It. Up."
"No... way!" Tetsutetsu refused to let it end here. Summoning all of his strength and forcing his legs to comply despite the odd angle, he propped his feet against the ground and shakily began to lift his body off the ground just with the power in his legs alone.
"Woah..." Itsuka could only hang on as she was slowly lifted up with just Tetsutetsu's bound arm and unstable shoulders.
"WOW! There's fighting spirit and then there's whatever powering Real Steel! Talk about muscle power!"
"Not bad, Tetsutetsu-kun. Unfortunately, you're fighting me, remember?" Itsuka twisted Tetsutetsu's arm further, switching up the position of her legs to bring him down and smash his face into the ground hard enough to crack them.
Both his face and the ground.
With that done, Tetsutetsu slumped and fell unconscious.
Midnight flourished her flogger in response to that victory. "Real Steel is no longer able to battle! Battle Fist is the winner!"
The entire stadium applauded Itsuka's efforts as Present Mic's voice cut through their supportive sheers. "Talk about a dramatic finish! Real Steel kept at it all the way to the end! But he just couldn't measure up to Battle Fist! Hurray to martial arts everywhere!"
"Yeah!" Mashirao cheered to that, smiling widely as a fellow martial artist.
"Ha!" Neito cockily cackled. "What did I say?! Of course, Kendo was going to win! Now give me my money!"
Yosetsu grumbled a bit before forking over the cash.
"Wow!" Ochako gushed. "Kendo-san won just as you said she would! How did you know?"
"From what Tokage-san told me and her movements during the Dodgeball Pandemonium, I deduced that Kendo-san was likely to have martial arts experience fighting extremely durable guys." Izuku muttered before gesturing to Eijiro. "Plus, Tetsutetsu-san acts a lot like Kirishima-kun. Maybe it's how their Quirks affects their fighting style, but they've grown into the type that's used to rushing into the fray headlong."
"You hear that, shitty hair?" Katsuki smirked. "You're predictable."
"Damnit!" Eijiro cried.
"Now, now! Let's head on to the 7th match!"
"Look out, 'cause he's here to bring the thunder! From the Hero Course, it's Chargebolt!"
Denki Kaminari pumped his fist up at his classmates as he climbed to the battle ring.
"We got an assassin from 1-A and now we've got the one from 1-B! Pretty things have thorns, you know! From the Hero Course, it's Maria!"
Ibara Shiozaki stoically climbed up to the battle ring as well, a frown on her pretty features from Present Mic's introduction.
"It's lightning vs plants! Two separate forces of nature are here to-"
"Um…"
Present Mic looked down to see Ibara raising her hand.
"Please excuse the interruption." Ibara beseeched. "What do you mean 'assassin'? I have only come to find victory, not to take my opponent's life."
'She's more literal than I thought.' Aizawa thought as Present Mic hastily apologized.
'Am I imagining that spotlight on that girl?' Toshinori Yagi blinked at how the sun seemed to shine extra brightly on Ibara.
"Class B's got people like this in it, too, huh?" Denki whispered as Ibara turned back to the battle ring. 'She's got nice eyes and a pretty face, but it looks like she's really strong. I've gotta discharge all my electricity here, huh?'
"A-Anyway, START!"
Denki narrowed his eyes as he matched Ibara's stare, neither of them moving an inch as they tried to gauge each other. 'Well, if she's not making a move, let's test out something new that I cooked up!'
Denki raised his arm and started to wind it up, yellow electricity following the movements until a good amount of gathered up in his hand.
'Good thing I remembered Kyoka-chan asking why I didn't have a way to aim my lightning back at the USJ!' Denki flung his arm forward like he'd just thrown a softball instead of a spear of lightning that streaked towards Ibara. 'Let's see how she reacts to this!'
Clasping her hands together, Ibara's hair surged forward to stab into the ground and create a barrier between her and the lightning bolt.
"Tch! She's making use of the grounding, huh?" Denki crossed his arms before having to dodge as thorny whips swiftly reached for him, using his {Volt Armor} to surpass Ibara's attacking speed. "If that's how it is..."
Leaping high and far until he landed right at the extreme edge of the battle ring, Denki took a runner's position with his Quirk charging up high until-
*BOOM!*
-Denki literally shot forward, cracking the ground he kicked off, closing the distance between him and Ibara at subsonic speed and slamming into her barrier with the literal power of a thunderbolt.
The hastily thickened vine barrier stood no chance, it's destruction blasting Ibara off her feet and sent tumbling away.
The moment she stood up-
"Maria is out of bounds!" Midnight declared before gesturing to Denki. "Chargebolt advances to the second round!"
"Ah..." Ibara blinked in surprise as she looked down to see herself outside the line.
"Good job, Kaminari-kun!" Ochako cheered.
"Not bad, idiot." Kyoka smirked.
"Kodai-san!"
Yui turned to see Izuku approaching her and Setsuna. "Izuku."
"Well, good luck, Yui-chan." Setsuna patted Yui's shoulder before walking off, giving a wink to Izuku.
"I came as soon as Kendo-san told me where you were." Izuku panted against the wall. "I just- I just want you to know that Katsuki isn't the type that'll hold back just because you're a girl."
Yui nodded. "I know."
"...okay, then." Izuku awkwardly toed the ground. "I-I'll cheer for you. For your match, I mean!"
"Thank you." Yui didn't ask why he wasn't cheering for his classmate. "I want something if I win, though."
"Hm?" Izuku blinked. "What do you want?"
Yui tapped her cheek. "I want a kiss from you."
Just like she did to him back then. Predictably, the boy turned tomato red, stammering feverishly while trying to cover his face.
'So adorable.' Yui smiled before turning as she heard Present Mic. "Watch my fight, Izuku."
"The eighth and last match of the first round! The final member of Deku's dodgeball team and a queen who made it rain meteors! From the Hero Course, it's Rule!"
Yui paid no attention to the crowd, giving all of her attention to the boy opposite her.
"Versus! He's the guy you want if you wanna lose your eardrums! Get ready for the Lord of Detonations! From the Hero Course, it's King Explosion!"
Katsuki looked over to where he knew Ayako was seating and gave a little wave before looking back to Round Face's partner from the dodgeball game.
"Who did Bakugo just wave at?" Eijiro asked.
"Maybe it was Ayako-chan!" Mina Ashido gasped.
"That makes sense, I guess..." Hanta Sero said.
"Yo, Tenya!"
Along with his class, Tenya turned his head only to gasp at the sight of a man who looked like a laidback, older version of him in casual wear. "Nii-san?!"
"I took time off to come visit!" Tensei Iida (a.k.a. Ingenium) waved his hand in greeting as Tenya approached him.
"I'm sorry, Nii-san!" Tenya bowed his head in shame. "I got knocked off early and couldn't show you how much I've grown!"
"That's alright, Tenya." Tensei patted Tenya's shoulder. "I saw how well you did during that dodgeball game! You really shouldn't keep trying to make me proud of you, when I'm already proud of how far you've come!"
"N-Nii-san!" Tenya launched himself into his brother's chest and started to bawl, even as Tensei hugged him back.
"For how much they resemble each other, Ingenium is way more laidback." Minoru Mineta noted.
"I wonder where Deku-kun went." Ochako looked around. "He'll be so sad he missed Ingenium coming here!"
Fumikage Tokoyami blinked as Dark Shadow suddenly increased slightly in size and presence, causing him to note the darkened sky. "Are those rain clouds?"
"Eighth match, START!"
KingVessel: I hope y'all got a good look at Setsuna 'Lizardy' Tokage, because that's how Buggy's gonna be in my one piece fic. Also, check out Masked Spider's MHA/Re:Zero Fanfic "Spiral Flames in Lugnica". Awesome stuff, that is.
