12

"Shinso, I swear to fuck, if you don't beat Midoriya like he owes you money, I'm never gonna let you live it down." Michael said as he watched the match unfold.

The first match had begun well enough for the brainwasher, with Midoriya quickly falling under Shinso's control. At the very last second, he'd managed to snap himself free, and now the two were in a slugfest. Shinso desperately throwing fists and elbows as Midoriya walked him back. The purple-haired teen had even managed to draw blood with a blow to his opponent's nose. The crunch of bone was audible even over the crowd's cheers, and the sight of blood had Michael standing in his seat. "Stand your fucking ground! Make him bleed for every goddamn inch, Shinso!" Michael screamed to his friend.

The intensity and growl of Michael's voice had drawn a few eyes from the rest of his general studies class. A few faces hid in embarrassment while others grinned at the ferocity their classmates were showing. Slowly but surely, the general support class had begun chanting for Shinso to prevail as both students traded blows to the body and face. Break his fucking face, Shinso!" He yelled out.

Hearing that line had drawn the attention of some of Class 1A, with Ochako eyes widening at the mental image. Kaminari, Jiro, and Momo relived brief flashes of their time in the USJ as they had seen the same feral look in his eyes there. Bakugo's constant grimace was slowly replaced with a smirk at the thought, and Mina cheered both boys on as well.

Finally, Midoriya had thrown Shinso out of bounds and began to gingerly touch his nose. From his seat, Midoriya could be seen talking to the brainwasher about something. Coming back to the stands with a defeated look in his eyes, Michael stood up and pointed at him. "Hell motherfucking yeah, Shinso! One lesson with me, and you're already throwing hands like that? Goddamn, that was some good work out there, boy!"

The rest of the support class joined in with shouts of approval for the boy, who couldn't help but smile and shake his head. The second fight had started when Shinso had finally made his way up to his seat next to Michael. The class had given him multiple pats on the back and compliments as he sat down. He looked to his left to see Michael looking back at him with a massive grin on his face. "I lost." Shinso said.

"No shit, sherlock."

"Then why are you so happy?"

"Because you fought. You fought hard. I had a feeling you weren't gonna win this whole thing with just your quirk after all. If one person figured it out, then that would've been it for the whole tournament. So I'm not even stressing about that, but what I can't help but be excited about is you broke the nose of the guy who one-shot the zero-pointer. If that's not a fuck you to just going quietly, then I don't know what is. That was so fucking awesome that I'm at half chub right now."

Shinso broke out in a fit of laughter before saying, "You're fucking disgusting, dude."

It was Michael's turn to laugh as the two celebrated the brainwasher's battle. "So who's up next?" Shinso asked as he finally calmed down.

"Todoroki and the tape guy. I don't see it going in favor of discount Spiderman either."

"Who is Todoroki?"

"See the guy with the half and half hair? That's him."

"So when do you go up?"

"I fight Kaminari after them. Kaminari is basically a walking taser, so we'll see how that goes."

"You don't have a plan?" Shinso asked with a raised brow.

Michael shook his head and muttered, "Clothes don't turn invisible with me, so there's not much that will really help. I'm just gonna do what I can."

"What's that?"

"Punch him in the fucking face."

Shinso chuckled at his friend's aggressive words and looked down to see the start of the next match.

Todoroki and Sero took their places on opposite sides of the arena, waiting for the crack of Midnight's whip. With a flourish and a pose, her whip snapped, and the match began. "Holy shit." was all Michael could say at the sight of what happened.

Sero had tried to fling Todoroki out of the arena. In midair, ice had erupted from nothing, forming itself into a frozen mountain that completely encased Sero and caught Shoto. Todoroki stood motionless in his starting position, coldly looking on at his trapped classmate. Half of the arena was frozen solid, along with Midnight in her referee booth. The match was over as fast as it had begun, leaving the crowd in shock and slight pity for the tape user. Shoto thawed his classmate out while Present Mic announced the next fight. "Our second matchup is going to be between another one of Class 1A and General Studies course students. We have from the Hero Course, Denki Kaminari! He's got quite an electric aura about him, and I'm sure his performance will be quite the shocker! Facing him will be General Studies' own, Michael Farron! This serpentine American dream is poised to strike his way to victory!"

The two took their positions, and from her perch, Midnight asked, "Are you two ready?"

A nod from Michael and two thumbs up from Kaminari was all she needed as she cracked her whip to begin the fight. Michael put his hands in his pockets and calmly walked halfway across the arena while Kaminari watched with sparks flying off him. "Hey, Kaminari. Do you remember back to what happened to the last electric guy who tried something on the girls?"

The electric teen nodded in confusion before his actions dawned on him. Fear quickly showed on his face at the fuzzy memories of Farron bludgeoning the other electric user to death in a frenzied rage. "It was just a joke, dude, I swear!"

"I know. I want to know why you went along with it. Especially since Mina was a part of it."

"Bro, seriously, I'm sorry. Please can we talk about this after the festival?" He pleaded.

"Fair enough." Michael shrugged as he took a ready stance. His fists balled while his muscles felt as if they were coiling up to spring out at a moment's notice. Kaminari took no chances and yelled, "Indiscriminate shock!"

Lightning erupted out from him in erratic patterns and washed over Michael. Muscles contracted while skin and hair singed, and all Michael could feel was pain as he rode the lightning. Fighting through the pain and muscle spasms, he was able to hold onto consciousness as he felt himself beginning to cook. The twenty-second shock felt like hours to him as he fought to keep his body from lashing out and hurting himself any further. Finally, the electricity cut out, and Michael fell to the ground as a smoking mess. "Jesus fucking christ. Punch him in the fucking face, I said. Bad idea. That was a bad idea. Shinso is going to have a field day with this." Michael muttered to himself as his muscles slowly quit spasming and his heart slowed down.

"Michael Farron. Can you continue?" asked Midnight, who hid her shock at seeing her student fry.

The dark-haired teen shakily pushed himself upright and slowly got to his feet. "Yeah. I'm a little well done for my taste, but I can go on."

A look-up revealed that Kaminari had reverted to his stupid phase and held up two thumbs as he walked around. "I guess that's one way to do it." Michael said as he limped over to the mentally incapacitated teen and grabbed his shoulder.

Farron walked his opponent to the edge of the ring and gave him a little push to send him stumbling out of bounds. "Michael Farron wins! That match was quite electrifying! It's a good thing Michael was able to survive the surge and cut the power!" Yelled Present Mic over the speakers as Michael limped to the locker rooms.

He sat down on a bench and let out a deep strained breath of relief as he took his gym top off. The singed top was blackened, and the edges had been slightly burnt. A few wisps of smoke still trailed off it as he tossed it to the side in a huff. "Michael!" The voice of Iida shouted, startling Michael.

"Fucking what!"

"You need to go see Recovery Girl! Your body is an absolute mess. I was surprised to see you even conscious after taking that." He yelled as he chopped the air.

Looking down at himself, Michael could see his body covered in skin lesions. The burst blood vessels in his body had covered his chest in Lichtenberg figures and various burn wounds. "Oh fuck. Well, would you look at that. I'm gonna go to the nurse now. Good luck in your fight out there, man."

"Thank you, and to you as well." Iida said before making his way out to the arena.

The walk to Recovery Girl's office was short and only took a few minutes of strained breathing and limping on Michael's part. The door was open, and he could see Sero being treated. "Hey, it's Sero, right?"

"Yeah. You're that Farron guy, right? I watched your fight with Kaminari. Looks like he did a number on you." He said, pointing to the wounds on Michael's chest.

Recovery Girl was looking at Michael in annoyance while Sero talked. She didn't even say a word as she just pointed to the bed next to Sero. "This class is going to be the death of me. I can feel it." She said with a sigh.

"You and the Midoriya boy are going to be repeat offenders, and all I can do is tell you to stop. Thankfully, you have some time to recover until your next fight, so take a seat."

Micheal shakily sat down and wheezed as the pressure lifted off his bad leg. A tv was set up in the corner, showing a live recording of the tournament. Iida seemed to be having trouble with the support girl as she made a show of dodging him with her special equipment. "Wait a minute… Is she… Is she advertising that stuff?" Asked Micheal as the nurse walked over to heal him.

Her lips made contact with his forehead, and he could feel the burning pains fade while his lungs freely expanded. The lack of pain was instantly replaced by a wave of drowsiness that threatened to put him under. The nurse was quick to give him a heated blanket, the heat warming his body back awake. Looking down at himself, he could see the Lichtenberg figures had remained but was looking perfectly fine otherwise. "Those marks will remain for a few days, but they should completely fade over time. Now, I know you're going to completely ignore me, but please be more careful."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll try at the very least." Michael said with a laugh.

She sighed in resignation before waving him off to get ready for the next patient. On his way back to the stands, he was ambushed by a pink blur. He'd been slammed against the wall and wrapped tightly in before getting a look at his assailant. "Mina?"

The girl was silent as she hugged him and buried her face into his bare chest. It only took a moment for him to feel the tears rolling down his chest and the girl's breath heaving as she sobbed. "I'm okay, Mina. I'm okay."

"I heard you screaming. I saw you smoking on the ground." She whispered, looking up at him.

"Well, now you see me standing here and smiling at you. So just take a deep breath and talk to me."

The girl wiped her eyes as she calmed down and held him. "I wanna melt him."

"No. I knew going into that, I was probably gonna get a little electrocuted. He just did what he thought would stop me. Damn near worked too."

"Your body… Why are you covered in those marks?"

"Lichtenberg figures. They're just burst blood vessels, and they should fade in a few days. So, I'm okay. Just look at me and listen, okay?"

Mina sniffled as she looked into his cold grey snake eyes. The slit pupil staring kindly back into her own golden eyes. "Fine. I still wanna melt him, though."

"Wanting to do something is different from actually doing it. I'm not going to tell you what not to want, but I am going to tell you that you aren't allowed to do it."

The traces of her usual smile began making their way back on her face as he spoke to her in a calm voice. The two embraced each other in another quiet hug that lasted until the door to the arena slammed open. Breaking apart, the two looked at the class president of 1A storm through the hallway. "Hey Iida, you look pissed." Michael commented.

"She just used me for advertising. I was a fool out there as she just danced around and spouted off on her how her gadgets were the next big thing."

"But you won, right?" Mina asked as she wrapped an arm around Farron's waist.

Iida took a moment to take a deep breath and answered, "Yes. Once she'd gone through her… Extensive catalog of items, she conceded and stepped out of the ring."

"Damn. That sucks. Hey, at least you're still in the tournament." Michael said as the door opened again.

Yaoyorozu smiled at the three of them and walked over with a smile. "Hey, guys. Good job out there in both of your fights."

Michael rolled his eyes and smiled, "I literally got fried out there."

"I was used as a living advertisement," Iida added on.

Momo narrowed her eyes at the two of them and their negative outlook on themselves. "Regardless, you both still won. So just use your next fight to better show what you can do."

"Well, who are you fighting?" Mina asked as she focused on the tall girl.

"I'll be facing Tokoyami."

"Oh, that sounds like a good matchup. I hope you do well out there." The pink girl encouraged.

"The bird, huh? Well, good luck out there. We'll be cheering for you." Said,3 Michael.

Momo smiled and gave the three a small bow before heading out to the arena. "Let's get you another shirt first." Iida said as he ran to the locker room.

A few seconds passed in silence before the class president burst through the door, a white cotton shirt in his hands. "Thanks." Michael said as he slipped it on and headed back to the stands.

Sitting down back next to Shinso, he was immediately set upon by his friend. "So… How'd that whole punching him in the fucking face thing work out for you?"

"Not the best plan, but it worked out." He answered as he rubbed one of the more prominent marks left on him.

"Yeah, not gonna lie. I really thought you were gonna die out there. That was a lot of electricity, and you just took it to the face and everything." Shinso said, pointing at one of the marks that trailed up his neck and along his jawline.

"No shit. Props to the dude, though. I'm not really sure how I managed to hold on during all that myself."

As the next match was being announced, Michael took a subtle look at his hand and groaned. His cut had been healed over, leaving a large angry scar across his palm. "What's wrong?" Shinso asked, looking at his friend's annoyance.

"Nothing. Just remembered that I'm out of coffee grounds at home."

"Oh. Alright then." The brainwasher said, focusing back on the arena.

Momo had a shield raised and seemed to be struggling to fend off the power of Tokoyami's shadow. Each time it came out to strike, it seemed to flinch at being exposed to something. If the shadowy nature was anything to go by, it was probably weak to direct exposure to light. Michael wasted no time standing up and screaming as loud as he could at the girl, "Light his ass up! Light! Light! Light! Drop the sun on that motherfucker!"

The girl could barely hear him over the roar of the massive crowd but managed to pick out his distinctly deep growl of a voice amongst them. Figuring that she was running out of options otherwise, she waited until Dark Shadow withdrew before creating a small cylinder in hand. The avian teen sent his spectral counterpart out once more, and this time, Momo Yaoyorozu was ready for him. With a pair of shades forming over her eyes, a small pop was heard before a loud crash, and blinding light enveloped the field. The shadow screeched as it quickly withdrew back into its counterpart. "Holy shit, she just made a fucking flashbang. First that big ass anti-material rifle, and now this. How does she know what all this stuff is? Does Momo play Call of Duty? No, she's definitely a Battlefield type of girl… Maybe she plays Siege. Either way, I have questions because there is no fucking way." Michael muttered excitedly to himself as he watched the fight continue.

Momo was now on equal ground with the shade as she created flashbangs whenever Tokoyami's quirk began forcing her back. The boy had resorted to quickly sending out the shadow and recalling him before being assaulted by the light any further. The two were locked in a stalemate of blinding light and crushing darkness. Momo had backed Tokoyami against the edge before she had finally made a mistake. A flashbang had fallen short of its target, and the ensuing explosion had completely blindsided the girl. Between the blinding white clouding her vision and the ringing of her eardrums, she'd hardly noticed Tokoyami make his move. The shadow monster took hold of the girl and sent her flying, letting her crash into the ground outside of the playing field. The shadow regarded her with a hateful look in its smoky yellow eyes as the boy fought to control it.

Finally retracting his shadow back into himself, Tokoyami bowed to Momo in respect before leaving the arena. "Fumikage Tokoyami wins!" Screamed Present Mic as Momo struggled to regain her senses on the ground.

The vice president struggled to her feet as her vision cleared, and she found herself the loser. A look of disappointment flashed across her face before quickly being replaced by a stoic smile. She hurriedly made her way off the battlefield and disappeared from sight as the crowd cheered on. "Next up in our tournament is Mina Ashido and Yuga Aoyama. Both students are from Class 1A and tend to steal the show. Give it up for them, everybody!" Present Mic shouted as the two took their places.

"Get her Aoyama! Tear her clothes off!" Yelled a nasal voice from the Class 1A seating section.

The entirety of Class 1A and General Studies class 1C had fallen completely and utterly silent at the outburst. Murderous intent flooded the air as Michael's steel eyes bore into Mineta's very being. Fists balled as a long pink tongue licked over a set of fangs that dripped venom. Farron stood tall amongst the seated crowd as he made his way over to the purple midget. Seeing the imminent danger, a boy slightly taller than Michael stood in his way, only a few feet away from Mineta. He had a mask over his face and six webbed arms blocking Michael from sidestepping the boy in his way. "Move."

"He's not worth it."

"He's not worth dogshit, but that's not the issue here." Micheal shot back.

"We'll deal with him."

"Fine, you can when I'm done. Now get the hell out of my way so I can thrash the little bastard."

"I can't let you do that."

"What seems to be the problem here, Shoji?" Asked Yaoyorozu as she finally made it back to the stands.

"Mineta has made a rather inappropriate outburst concerning Ashido. It was loud enough that Farron overheard, and he's…."

"Oh, I'm fucking pissed, Momo!" Michael interrupted.

Momo looked to the side to see Mineta being smacked around by the other girls of the class while the boys shielded him from the view of the rest of the crowd. Even Iida had decided to turn a blind eye to the group, preferring instead to focus on Shoji and Farron. "Michael, please go sit down. I'd rather you two have a bit more distance from each other at the moment.

The serpentine teen took a deep breath before unballing his fists, his fangs folding back into place as he calmed down. The venom in his mouth tasted of sour candy to him as his tongue caught any stray droplets. "Fine. This happens again, and I'm doing what's necessary."

"We understand. Aizawa will be informed of the situation, and we'll just have to go from there. Now, let us handle Mineta." She said as the next fight started.

Michael walked back to his seat without a word as he kept his eyes on the battle. Mina was untouchable as she expertly dodged each laser from Aoyama's belt with the acid at her feet, letting her nimbly slide away. He could even make out her happy smile as she spun and twirled only inches away from being hit. She even managed to spot him in the crowd, blowing him a kiss that nearly cost her a hit. The pink acrobat flawlessly backflipped over a larger burst that had almost brought the french teen to his knees in pain. A cartwheel to close the distance and a jumping uppercut had the blonde boy unconscious in the air, his pants unfortunately not going with him. Mina cheered in victory as Aoyama fell to the ground in a heap.

"Mina Ashido wins with an absolute knockout of an uppercut! It looks like Aoyama came down hard with that one! She will be moving on while our next fight consists of our two resident hardheads, Ejiro Kirishima and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu." Screamed Present Mic as medical bots wheeled Aoyama off.

"You better go congratulate her. The next matchups haven't been decided yet, and I'm sure you'd like to get another hug before she puts you in the doghouse." Shinso said to Michael as the girl skipped into the locker room.

"Why would she put me in the doghouse?"

Shinso lost himself in a fit of giggles before realizing he was in public and quickly regained his serious demeanor. "Because if I know you any, and I do… You're not gonna play nice at all."

"Why do you say that?" Michael asked.

"I got out of bed the day after we sparred, and my entire existence was pain. Not a muscle was spared from being sore or bruised to the point of being useless. Fuck you for that, by the way." Shinso explained with a light punch to his friend's shoulder.

Michael smiled as he shook his head. "Hey, can't deny that it was good training if Midoriya's face is anything to go by. I suppose you're right on that, though. Keep me updated on the fights while I'm gone then." He said as he took off to the locker room.

It didn't take long for Michael to spot the pink skin of his high school sweetheart. Mina's squeal of happiness was his alert that the girl was currently rushing towards him. Seeing her coming, Michael braced himself and readied his hands to catch the pink ballistic missile as she launched herself at him. She crashed into him a giggling mess as her legs wrapped around his waist, locking her in place. Her arms were wrapped around his head and neck in a vice grip as they hugged each other. "Did you see me out there? That was so much fun, and I felt so cool out there in front of the crowd! I was all like Shoryuken! Poor Aoyama, I kinda feel bad for him… Nah, he's fine." She excitedly said as she uppercutted the air. "Yeah, hon. I saw you. A pretty pink little bundle of badass."

The girl looked down at the boy and smiled before bending down to give him a soft kiss on the lips. The two broke apart, looking into each other's eyes. The silence between them was only broken when Michael's phone hissed with a message for him. With the moment ruined, Michael held the girl with one arm as he checked his phone with the other.

Shinso had sent him a text saying, "The two hardheads literally just punched each other for three minutes straight. The red one won an arm wrestle."

Michael growled at the interruption before texting back, "That's it?"

"Bomberman is taking on the walking crime against Newton's law of gravity. You need to get up here and take a look at this."

"Hey, Pinks?"

"Yeah, Mikey?"

For a split second, Himiko had taken the place of Mina before snapping back to reality. Shaking it off, Michael continued, "Wanna go watch Uraraka duke it out with your class' future felon?"

Mina rolled her eyes before pointing in the direction of the stands and saying, "Bakugo isn't all that bad. He's a bit on the… Explosive side of things, but I'm sure the two of you'd hit it off. Now, carry me?" She asked with a sheepish grin.

Michael sighed as he began the walk back to the stands with a pink girl clinging to his chest.

The arena was a mess. A giant dust cloud had overtaken the majority of the playing field and obscured the vision of all looking inside. The only thing visible from the outside were the flashes of explosions erupting from varying spots. A few explosions had occurred when a figure came flying out from the cloud. Uraraka had certainly looked like she had been having a rough time of it as she peeled herself off the ground, charging back in after tossing a rock in the air. While everyone else had focused on the explosions erupting from inside, Michael's gaze followed the rock to see something that widened his snake eyes to the limits. "Oh… Fuck."

"What is it, Mikey?" Asked Mina while Shinso listened in.

A finger pointed in the sky had the two of them look to see what he was pointing at and found themselves mimicking the serpentine teen. A massive cloud of rocks floated aimlessly in the air, with stones adding to the grouping with each explosion. "Oh, fuck... They're both insane."

Shinso snapped his gaze to his friend before asking, "What?"

"Ochako and Izuku. Both of them are fucking crazy. That bitch is about to make it rain on him." Michael said as the explosions finally came to a stop.

A gentle breeze slowly cleared away the dust and revealed an absolutely ragged Uraraka, with Bakugo sweating and holding a wrist in one hand. Her cry was heard throughout the arena. "RELEASE!"

The rocks had quickly begun their descent as the explosive teen looked up in surprise. With a defiant roar, he rose a wrist to the sky and let loose a deafening blast that encompassed the entire stadium in blinding light. The explosion unleashed a shockwave that smacked the crowds before finally dissipating to nothing. The cloud of rocks had disappeared and left Bakugo panting hard. He clutched his wrist close to his chest as scorch marks had decorated his body. Ochako took two steps before collapsing in a heap on the ground, and the match was decided.

Breaking for a half-hour, the crowd was in an uproar as they screamed and shouted for more. Ribbons and banners flew while camera flashes flickered through the masses. That was only the first round, and the next matchups had been decided. Todoroki and Midoriya were up first while he'd be facing Mina. Tokoyami and Iida would be going at it, with Bakugo gunning for Kirishima. As everyone settled into their seats, the first match began with the temperature dropping to near zero.

A wall of ice rushed towards him, only to be blown back by a finger flick. The entire match was a back and forth of Izuku slowly crippling himself while Todoroki struggled to keep up the pressure. Eventually, they began screaming at each other while trading punches and desperate quirk attacks. One final scream from Izuku shook something inside of Todoroki, and from the frozen cage of ice that surrounded the two, flames roared to life and threatened to envelop half of the boy. A quick thermal scan of the boy had revealed he was split down the middle in terms of body heat, with one side a deep dark blue and the other a glowing orange. A final attack from both sides saw the temperatures fluctuate and blew the stadium apart even with interference from the teachers.

Michael ran down to the nurse's office as fast as he possibly could. A quick break to fix the arena would give him enough time to check on his green-haired friend and see how bad the damage was. He stuck his head in the door to see Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Iida standing in the room with a gaunt blonde man beside Izuku's bed. "Hey, Izuku. How's that arm?" He said, stepping in to get a better look.

"Oh, hey, Michael. I'm not going to lie. It's seen better days."

"Yeah, no shit. Jesus Christ, kid. I told you that you're fucking insane. What were you even talking to him about out there?"

"It's not really my place to say. You'd have to ask Todoroki himself when you get a chance."

"I might have to do that… Do I know you?" Michael asked, pointing to the thin blonde man.

His face looked around in worry before stammering out, "Me? No, I don't think so. I get that a lot, soo… Yeah."

Farron's snake eyes narrowed in suspicion for a few moments before he backed off. "Yeah… I guess so. Alright, well, I just came to check on you. Try to go easier on your arms, dude. I mean, damn… Have you even tried to kick someone yet?" Michael asked with a laugh before heading out the door.

He didn't see it, but Izuku had an epiphany at his suggestion.

The intercom came to life as Michael walked the hall. "Mina Ashido and Michael Farron. The arena is repaired. Please report to your entrances." Said the slightly distorted voice of Aizawa.

Adjusting his shirt, Michael jogged down the hall to the locker room and took a moment to calm his mind. He would be fighting Mina, and while he didn't want to hit her, he knew that taking it easier on her would just be disrespecting her. Staring in the mirror, he splashed water on his face and murmured to himself, "I gotta do this. I have to fight her, and I have to win. I can't let my feelings get in the way of work… How much have I already let that happen? Fuck… Something, something, mom's spaghetti."

The walk to the arena square was too short for his taste as he was shortly staring at Mina across the field. She stood with one hand on her hip and grinning devilishly. The crowd was screaming and shouting support for either participant. Looking towards Class 1A's seating area, he could make out cheers for Mina. A look to the side where Class 1C sat, and he could even make out the purple hair of Shinso shouting in support of him. Deep down inside, he liked the attention. He felt like a gladiator that had already secured the win, and it was almost intoxicating to him. He was so lost in the experience that he could barely hear the starting bell, and Mina had shot towards him.

Skating on her acid trails, she quickly closed the distance and struck first with a spinning hook kick. Michael jumped back and began to circle the girl who kept sending jumping spin kicks aimed for his face. "Certainly having fun with this, aren't you?" He taunted as the girl missed another kick.

"Come on, Mike! You can't tell me you aren't enjoying this!" She laughed with a splash of acid from her foot.

He was stuck evading while she danced him around the ring with kicks and strikes. He finally began noticing a pattern when she went to throw her kicks. A quick glance at the ground to gauge her distance would always be followed by a roundhouse leaving her exposed for a small window of time. His attention to the finer details earned him a splash of her acid to his exposed arms, and while it wasn't melting him, his arms felt as if they were on fire. Seeing the girl look to the ground and begin her spin, he lunged forward and intercepted her. One of his arms snaked around her throat as the other gently pressed her head forward.

"Give, or I'll choke you out in front of everyone here and now." Michael whispered to Mina as he slowly began squeezing.

"You into that kinda thing, Mikey?"

Once again, Himiko had replaced Mina for a second in his mind. His grip slackened at the image before reality flashed back in, and Mina had broken free of his hold. The ground was the next thing he felt as she swept his feet out from under him. Straddling him, she raised a dripping hand over his face and smiled. "Not gonna lie, beating you up has really got me going." She said with a cute laugh.

"Well, I'm glad you're having fun. Hey, can I tell you something while I've got you here?"

The girl looked at him in suspicion before biting. "What is it?"

"I love you."

Mina's face erupted in a furious purple blush as she looked down at the boy. She bent down to plant a quick kiss on his lips, much to Midnight's delight as she fanned herself from her spot in the referee's stand. Aizawa's voice came over the loudspeaker, saying, "Public displays of affection are not allowed between students during the festival."

Grabbing Mina's shoulders, Michael looked at the girl with a sad smile before saying, "While I meant what I just said, I apologize for using it to do this."

"What?" That was all the girl could say before Michael yanked her into a savage headbutt. The girl was unconscious immediately upon impact and fell to the ground beside him as the crowd cheered and jeered Michael for his underhanded tactics. "Before you criticize him any further, Mr. Farron does not have a quirk inherently suited for direct combat. The use of such methods is necessary for him to take on and defeat more capable opponents. His battle with Kaminari demonstrated this perfectly, as he was unable to do anything except endure it."Aizawa explained to the crowd.

Michael stood up and brushed himself off before kneeling down to an unconscious Mina. He gently picked her up into a bridal carry and looked over her to make sure she was okay. Besides a small bump on her head, she seemed no worse for wear as he began his walkout. She looked peaceful as she slept in his arms and even snuggled into his chest. He'd never admit to it, but a few pictures taken by the crowd caught a faint blush splashed across his cheeks as she softly snored into his chest.

Himiko Toga sat quietly on the bed as she watched Michael carry the girl out of sight and into the locker room. Emotions cycled through her, ranging from jealous anger to curious excitement. The most infuriating part to her was that the longer she looked at Mina, the more she saw herself. Himiko quietly resolved that she would be seeing her counterpart in person, and she'd twist Michael's arm to do so if necessary. The girl huffed at the thought of the boy before grumbling to herself, "He'd better get bloody before this is over. I paid his hard-earned yen on this after all."

Meanwhile, the next few matches had progressed, leaving just Farron against Bakugo and Todoroki fighting Iida. "Well, I hate to be the one to doubt you after how far you've come, but I think you're fucked on this one." Shinso said as Iida and Todoroki went at it.

"Yeah, I don't think I got all that much of a chance either."

"You got another brilliant plan? Ooh, I know. How about you go punch him in the fucking face." Shinso said as he fought the laughter threatening to spill out from him.

Michael flipped the brainwasher off before replying, "Well, I don't have much choice otherwise, now do I?"

Shinso shrugged as Iida was frozen over by the dual quirk user. "Looks like it's about that time." Michael sighed as he started his trip down to the arena.

He could faintly hear Shinso call out to him, "I'll let Recovery Girl know to be on standby."

Shaking his head, he walked on in silence. The arena square was empty, save for the snarling blonde on the other side. Small flashes of light popped off in his hands as he stared in silent fury at the last boy in his way before he could get a shot at Todoroki. The

The whip cracked, and Michael sprinted forward, Bakugo blasting off to meet him in the middle. A fist rushed out from Bakugo, an explosion driving its power into nothing as Michael slid under without a scratch. The serpentine teen twisted before springing off the ground and sending a kick into Bakugo's confused face. "You and that damn nerd have an annoying habit of pretending to be weak. This whole festival, you've just sat there and taken it or tricked your way through. Now that you're fighting me, you suddenly get really good at this kinda thing. Is that it? Well fine… No mercy." Bakugo growled as he wiped the blood off his lip.

Explosions drove him back to Michael with both fists raised and one swinging. It connected with Michael's ribcage, and he could swear he felt something crack. "Get bent, you edgy bitch!" Michael retorted as he sent an elbow into Bakugo's cheek.

Another cut opened up on Bakugo, who aimed a blast directly for Michael's face. Heat and sound enveloped the boy as he took the explosion head-on. His nose had been broken and busted while his left orbital cracked from the overpressure, and he was hurting. The only thing keeping him in the fight was the adrenaline rush that flooded his system and pushed him to fight back.

Something deep inside Michael woke up as the vision in his left eye flickered in and out. A feeling of anger that had been the driving force for him being here had been bothered to come out after all the punishment he'd endured over the course of the day. All of his wounds began to itch horribly as his mind clouded over, and Michael swung another elbow. It connected cleanly into Bakugo's neck who quickly broke off to try and breathe. Farron could tell that he hadn't managed to break anything but figured that he should press on while the bomber was too busy choking to fight back. He ran over and grabbed the back of the blonde's head before slamming it down onto his knee. With him reeling back, Michael ran up again before dropkicking his opponent onto his back.

Dazed and struggling to breathe, Bakugo began blasting in Michael's general direction to get some time to recuperate. Bits of the arena blew off and became shrapnel that bit into and cut Michael as he walked up. Farron could feel his body begin to fail him; the only thing keeping him up was the feral rage he'd built up inside. A large chunk of cement had broken off and cracked him in his already fractured left orbital. The pain had finally begun to register in Michael's mind, who came to a kneeling stop. All vision in his left eye had left him, and with his right eye, he looked at the damage. His arms were bloodied, and his white shirt was torn and bloodstained. A few small pieces of cement had buried themselves in his burned arms, and he was sure his face was trashed. Looking back up, he could see Bakugo stand and look at him with a mix of respect and hatred. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Katsuki muttered one word to his newest rival. "Die."

Michael could only watch as the blonde braced himself and shot a massive explosion towards him. The last thing he saw was a thick wall of cement shoot from the ground before passing out on his feet and toppling over.