Hi again! A New Pencil returns to the desk!
Underline is for Japanese this time round!
Italics is either thoughts, a flashback, or a song/poem.
I do not own Kingdom Hearts, My Hero Academia, OMORI, Final Fantasy, or any of its characters or music. They all belong to their respective companies and owners.
Chapter 25: More Than One Key
To find someone you can relate to… won't that be an interesting encounter?
(Silence)
Sora was running as fast as he could towards the nurse's office, and following him were Ochaco, Tenya, Tsuyu, and Minoru. All five of them wanted to make sure Izuku was doing okay.
As they made it to the office, Sora was about to knock, but the four behind him just barged in and called for their friend. Sighing, Sora walked in and found something interesting.
Izuku was indeed in there, with his arms and leg in a cast as Recovery Girl was examining him, but what caught Sora's eye was that the skinny blond guy from after the U.S.J. incident was there too, and he looked ready to freak out.
Strange. What was he doing here?
"He is in no state for visitors." Recovery Girl told the four.
"Hey, you guys." Izuku looked over, waking up from the commotion, "Shouldn't you be watching the matches?"
"The stage is far too damaged," Iida told him, "They're taking a break to repair it for Sora-kun's match."
Oh yeah. His match with Hanabi was going to start after the arena was fixed. Sora frowned at that. This wouldn't be an easy fight.
"That match was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life, Midoriya!" Mineta said, "What Pro's gonna want a sidekick that hurts himself?"
That earned him a slap from Tsuyu's tongue, "Now you're rubbing salt on his wounds. Not a good time."
"Hey! I'm just speaking the truth!"
Sora sighed at that.
"You're much too noisy!" Recovery Girl spoke up and pushed the five of them out, "I know you're worried, but I've got to focus on surgery now."
"SURGERY?!" The five of them gawked.
Now the five of them were out of the door as it closed in on their face. Asui croaked sadly before the five left. She and the others went back to the bleachers, but Sora decided to go to the waiting room.
After all, he had to prepare for a fight that might be one of the toughest he's faced.
(Play: KH OST - Villains of a Sort)
Back in the bar, Tomura, the figure, and the man teaching Shigaraki, were simply waiting for the next match to continue. During that time, Shigaraki was printing out pictures of the two that had fought, including the person who had stabbed him without remorse. If this meant anything, it was that he was simply figuring out who was on his kill list.
"It seems as though you've learned more about your enemies," the man noted, "Remember, Tomura, they are just one of many things that you will need to deal with in order to achieve your goal."
"I can see that." Tomura nodded, "Now I know who I want to destroy."
The figure sighed, "It's not… that simple…"
"Yes it is. I am finding obstacles that I need to get rid of," He remarked, "What else should I bother looking for?"
"You didn't notice… the condition of… the ice?"
"It was cold. Nothing too special."
"Oh, but it is." the figure replied, "He tapped… into a dark power… You should be… looking for allies… who harbor darkness in them. You cannot conquer… this world… all by yourself."
"I am not recruiting that brat who froze Nomu half to death."
"It is… too late for that…" the figure told him, "His opponent… helped him temper his darkness… there is no chance… to recruit him now."
"Oh-ho…" the man sounded impressed, "You wish for Tomura to find those who don't show heroic qualities, and then turn them to our side."
"Exactly." the figure said, "Now… the next match… approaches. Let us see… how well the mask holds…"
(Play: KH Union X OST - Game Central Station)
"OKAY!" Mic shouted, "Now that the ring's been fixed up, let's get this next match started!"
Sora knew from that that it was time to fight. He walked up deep in thought.
Hanabi Zinnia. A girl from Class B who could use magic, which actually seemed to outdo his own. Neito had said that the two had similar Quirks, and she had proven that… but now he would be facing her head on, and had little idea of what to expect from her.
But if her magic was like his, he might be able to fight her on equal footing.
Sora came up with a plan: If she could only use magic, then he'll have to draw out the fight until she runs out of magic power, and then rush in for a decisive blow. Not a very original plan, but it'll work if she doesn't have other tricks up her sleeve.
But that begged the question. How proficient was she in magic and how much could she cast?
He stepped up to the arena, and so did Hanabi, who looked rather nervous as Mic continued, "Looks like it's another 1-A vs 1-B fight! On one corner, we've got a girl who outwitted an electrifying foe, Hanabi Zinnia!" she looked up and smiled at the adjusted description while twirling her orange hair, "Verses, a boy with a smile who could keep up with a speedster. Sora Nakajima!"
Sora waved to the crowd as they cheered, before looking to Hanabi and smiling, "Let's make this fight one for the books, okay?"
Hanabi looked at him surprised, before nodding and returning the smile, "Yeah! Let's give them something to remember, Sora!"
Meanwhile, Class A was discussing the upcoming fight amongst themselves.
"So who do you think will win this one?" Eijiro asked.
"Sora all the way, ya know!" Hanta cheered.
Shoto, who had returned to the bleachers, didn't seem to care much, but did say, "He is a capable fighter. But can the same be said for Zinnia, considering how quickly she took out Kaminari in his match."
"Yes." Momo agreed, surprised that Shoto was in on the conversation, "I'd say this might be just as interesting as yours was, Todoroki-san."
Shoto merely grunted.
"Let the second match of the quarterfinal…" Mic said, "BEGIN!"
(Play: KH Union X OST - I'm Gonna Wreck It!)
Hanabi and Sora stared at one another, the two initially not moving. Then, suddenly, Hanabi reared her hand back, and flames flared to life in them, before she thrusted forward and launched the fireball towards Sora.
Sora gasped and summoned his Keyblade, rushing in and cutting it into two. The two halves flew behind him and landed on the ground exploding. Sora looked up to see that his opponent had vanished yet again.
Behind!
Sora turned around quickly to his left and swung his weapon, and was met with a blade of energy from Hanabi, who looked surprised and impressed that Sora knew what she was going to do. She grinned before ducking and dismissing the blade, making Sora overswing as she readied another fireball.
Sora barely had any time to react as Hanabi quickly cast another Fire spell which hit him in the chest, knocking him into the air and back onto the ground as he rolled to his feet.
"And with the first exchange, Zinnia deals the first blow!" Mic commented.
Sora lay on the ground. That was Fira, no doubt. So she knew how to cast that tier of magic. He got up to see that Hanabi was standing there in a defensive stance. She was waiting for him to attack, huh? In that case…
Sora reared his left hand back, flames engulfing it before he shot it out towards her, "Fire!" As he launched the fireball, he also reared his weapon back and threw it towards Hanabi, spinning right after the fireball as Sora took that chance to charge in.
Hanabi reacted just as he expected: She put her hands together and launched a large shard of ice to negate the fireball, before leaping over the Keyblade to avoid it.
Only to find Sora right in front of her with a grin on his face.
He summoned his weapon back to him and prepared to deliver an overhead strike. In the air, Hanabi couldn't dodge, so she had to either take the hit, or use another spell to defend against or counter it.
And she chose the latter. To Sora's surprise, she summoned a barrier around herself, which repelled Sora's attack and knocked him off balance. She then removed it, before summoning another blade of energy to slam her opponent down onto the ground.
He slowly got up to his feet. He was not expecting that. What kind of spell was that? It was definitely stronger than a Reflect Spell, but it was similar to Aqua and Riku's magical barrier. Though with that strike after she repelled his attack, it was clear she was physically weaker than him, if only by a little.
He had no time to think as Hanabi was moving again. She was running to the side to try and get behind Sora while he was recovering, but he knew that she was not going to make it if he had any say.
Quickly, he aimed his Keyblade at the spot she was rushing towards, and said, "Strike!"
Hanabi looked confused as she got to the spot, but her eyes widened as rumbling came from above. She barely had any time to roll away as Sora's Thunder Magic as it made a dent in the place she was just standing.
Sora watched as she took note of where the thunderbolt struck, before looking back at Sora with an intrigued gaze. Sora returned it by tilting his head a little with a small grin.
"Eh? They've stopped fighting?" Mic commented, "They were going head to head a few seconds ago! Now the two are just staring at each other! What's this all about?"
"Are you serious?" Denki asked, "What are you doing out there, Sora?"
"It's weird." Ochaco said, "Why'd they stop fighting?"
"They could be sizing each other up." Iida guessed, "I'm surprised though. Zinnia-san's definitely giving Sora-kun a hard time right now. He hasn't managed to land a single hit on her yet."
"Her Quirk does appear to be similar to Sora-san's." Momo deduced, "But it looks as though she has a better grasp of its elemental properties than he does."
"And since he prefers close-range if his weapon of choice is of any implication, he'll have to move in quickly to land a decisive blow." Ojiro said, "Maybe that's why he stopped. Zinnia-san's preventing him from getting too close, so he's trying to find the best possible opening he can exploit."
"Or he's realizing he has no chance at winning against Zinnia."
Monoma's voice prompted everyone in 1-A to look at him, as he said, "After all, he has yet to prove that he's as strong as some of my colleagues claim he is."
"Come on, just drop it, Monoma." Setsuna told him, "It's just friendly competition, nothing else. I doubt Nakajima's out of options just yet."
Neito merely hummed, as much of Class A glanced towards one another. Would it be as Neito said?
(Silence)
"You're pretty good." Sora said after a moment's silence to Hanabi, "I wasn't expecting you to pull out a barrier that quickly to block my attack."
"Same with you." came the reply, "You figured out where I was going to strike unlike your friend, Kaminari."
Class A and B gawked. They were… complementing one another? In the middle of a fight?
"U-Unbelievable!" Neito said, "How can you just do that, Zinnia?!"
"Zinnia is always respectful to others." Yotetsu told him, "There's nothing wrong with that."
"Look!" Ibara called out, "They are moving yet again."
(Play: KH 3 OST - The Star Fortress)
"Well… I guess we shouldn't be complimenting one another in a situation like this." Sora said while scratching his head, "So should we keep going?"
Hanabi nodded, "I'm ready when you are."
Sora returned her gesture, and took a running start. He was rushing in this time, his left hand now covered in a misty aura.
"Freeze!" he called out, before raising his Keyblade, "Water!"
A shard of ice came out of Sora's left hand, and an orb of water came right after from the Keyblade's tip.
"Using an attack from the front and another from above. Just like Uraraka, huh?" Hanabi said, before widening her stance, "Smart."
In response, Hanabi raised her arm up, the same misty aura coming from her hand as well, "Ice Barrage!"
To Sora's surprise, three large crystals of ice appeared from the ground and stopped both the ice shard and the water orb in their tracks. It wasn't as big as Shoto's ice attacks, but it clearly served its purpose as a shield. Sora had to stop in his tracks so he didn't run into it, while Hanabi immediately dashed to his left, this time with electricity primed and ready in her palms.
Not good! Sora thought, as he raised his blade to block the next attack, which actually knocked him back a good distance despite deflecting the bolt of lightning away, where it exploded out of the ring and made the audience gasp. Sora rolled back onto his feet. It was definitely a stronger thunder attack than Thundara was, meaning she was taking him more seriously. After all, the only person he knew who could cast 3rd tier magic with just their hands was Aqua.
Not to mention, her magic pool appeared to be much greater than his own, considering she was now casting 3rd tier magic on him AFTER casting several 2nd tier spells earlier.
And the blade she was wielding earlier against him and Kaminari… now that he saw it close up, it looked… incomplete. As if something else was trying to come to her hand, but for some reason, couldn't come out all the way.
Regardless of that, Cloud was right. She HAD been holding back. A drawn-out battle would do him no good now, if she could cast 3rd tier magic while he was in this state. Not to mention he had yet to deal a single blow to her, which meant he lacked any stockpiled energy to turn into Second Form. She was really making sure he didn't get in close to attack with his blade. If this kept up, he would be on the losing end of this battle.
Guess that means he should stop holding back himself.
Sora got onto the balls of his feet, before sprinting full-force towards Hanabi. She looked surprised as Sora appeared to be much faster than before. She barely had any time to react as Sora thrusted his blade forward. His blade struck her barrier, but this time with much more force than before. Her barrier cracked as she found herself being pushed back by Sora, who was using his physical strength to move the barrier as much as he could, the blade of his weapon glowing golden.
Then, with a yell, Sora thrusted one more time, and moved Hanabi's barrier, knocking her off-balance and causing her to lose focus, which made her barrier drop. Sora jumped back to finish the fight as quickly as possible. It was the only shot he had of taking the win.
"So long!" he shouted, dilating his eyes again to prepare a Shotlock attack towards her, aiming the tip of his Keyblade towards her, "King of Hearts!"
He fired 17 heart-shaped bullets or light towards her, all of them intent on knocking her off the edge as she frantically tried to right herself back to her feet. Sora quickly took the moment to take a breather.
But a moment was all Hanabi needed.
She quickly summoned a fireball in her right hand, before throwing it down on her feet. It exploded, sending her into the air and over the bullets, before she landed on the ground and sprinted towards Sora as fast as she could.
The bullets continued to follow her, and Sora realized she was going to make them hit him. He initially panicked, but then stopped as he remembered that he had a spell just for this. He brought his Keyblade up to prepare for the assault.
"Oh man! Looks like they've kicked it up a notch, listeners!" Mic commented, "I don't believe it! Have they finally found their matches already?"
Katsuki snorted and looked away at the comment, while the rest of Class A (minus Shoto) looked on in concern. Tenya was right. Sora seemed to be struggling much more than when he was fighting Iida. In fact, Hanabi actually seemed to be slowly overwhelming him. The same thought was in all of their minds.
Could she actually beat him?
Sora moved his weapon arm and placed the Keyblade behind him, ready to attack, but just as he predicted, Hanabi leapt backwards at the last second, and now he was facing his own King of Hearts attack, which was seconds away from hitting him full force.
But not this time.
"Defense!" Sora shouted, raising his Keyblade defensively.
A hexagonal dome made of light suddenly appeared around him, and to Hanabi's shock, the bullets actually ricocheted off the dome and headed straight back at her. She had no time to react as the bullets, now moving faster than before, hit her one after the other in the air, leaving her unable to recover as Sora leapt up again. This time, his aerial assault hit its mark, hitting her four times before sending her back down into the ground.
"Oh baby! Looks like Nakajima's finally answered back!" Present Mic said, "He's deflected his own attack toward Zinnia, and that definitely did a huge amount of damage!" Sora frowned at that as he landed on the ground. If Hanabi can cast magic like he can, then that damage he inflicted didn't really matter, if she also had that magic.
To his surprise, as the dust settled, she didn't actually use it, merely choosing to get back on her feet while grimacing in pain. I see… he thought. So she also knew that healing magic took up the entirety of her magic pool too. Or maybe she wasn't planning on using it for this fight, since healing magic did give her and Sora an unfair advantage over most of the contestants here at the Sports Festival.
He grit his teeth, frustrated. Even after everything, he still didn't have a good read on Hanabi's full strength. And he was already out of magic, too. He'd have to be very careful from here on out while his magic recharged, and that would take a while.
(Silence)
Cloud watched the battle with great interest. So far, his suspicions about the new girl were correct. She was giving Sora a run for his money, and was actually keeping him on his toes compared to when he fought his class representative. Iida, was it?
"Surprised?" Tifa asked, looking over to him.
"Hardly," He said, "Anything that relates to her ma- I mean, power can prove to be troublesome for the kid,"
"Yeah. Not to mention… I've never seen it take the form of a blade of energy before…" Tifa put a hand on her chin, "It feels like she's a lot more versed in her power than he is. Not even Aerith could do something like that."
Cloud's eyes narrowed at that. She had a point, since Aerith was perhaps the strongest mage the both of them knew due to her special heritage. But that didn't mean Hanabi was going to call out white magic and blast Sora with a giant ray of light, right? Hopefully it didn't come to that.
But… if she could use magic like that… could she possibly be…?
Kid… you better make sure to watch your step. Cloud thought, You actually might meet your match if she is who I think she is.
Meanwhile, back in the arena…
"Whew." Sora said, wiping off a bead of sweat, "You're a lot stronger than you look, Hanabi."
"I'm glad you noticed." Hanabi replied, "Not a lot of people do."
"Yeah. Guess that makes two of us." Sora grinned, before wincing in pain and clutching his stomach area where Hanabi's fireball had hit him, "Ow. Man, you really do pack a punch. That fireball and lightning bolt hurt."
"Good to know. Your combo attack from earlier also did the same for me." She giggled, wincing herself, "But we both know this is far from over. Shall we continue?"
"Yeah," Sora said, dismissing his Keyblade. Hanabi cocked her head in confusion before her eyes widened in surprise. Sora had now summoned a brand new sword, this time white with vibrant colors and wings for handguards.
"Hanabi," he told her with a smile, "You've really pushed me into a corner here, so as a sign of respect…" he lowered his stance and gripped Oathkeeper hard, his face becoming stern, "I'll fight you for real."
(Play KH 2.5 Remix OST - Deep Anxiety)
Sora quickly charged in once again, much to Hanabi's surprise at how fast he was running, and she rolled away from his thrust before conjuring a blade of magic from her left hand. She quickly went in for a thrust of her own, but Sora was quick to block it, before swinging his Keyblade upwards to knock Hanabi off balance as he sent her weapon arm upwards.
She staggered, but was just barely able to bring her weapon arm down to block Sora's next swing, which sent her tumbling back to the center of the arena.
"Now THAT'S what I like to see!" Mic declared, "First it was hand to hand, then a flashy explosion of two great powers, and now we've got swordplay! Are you loving this festival now, listeners?!"
The crowd roared in response.
"Sora-kun's getting serious again!" Ochaco said.
"Eh? You sure?" Mina asked.
"He's going as fast as he was when his clothes changed color. And that last strike was definitely harder than normal." Fumikage observed, "He is definitely taking Zinnia-san a lot more seriously now."
"So he's no longer holding back, because if he does," Ojiro concluded, "He won't be able to win against her."
"Not to mention, is that a new sword?" Momo said, "I've never seen that one before."
"That spiky bastard…!" Katsuki snarled, "Where the fuck did he get that from!?"
"Well, I ain't complaining! You can do it, Sora!" Kirishima cheered.
Sora's eyes dilated again, but instead of launching a big attack like with Ragnarok, his body was enveloped in a blue aura, before he quickly dashed towards Hanabi, who was again surprised at his speed. She pulled up her barrier once again as Sora's blade slammed into it, making the barrier crack this time.
But he wasn't done. He bounced off her barrier and towards the ice pillar Hanbi had made earlier to block his Blizzard-Water combo, before using his Keyblade to spin around and around before rocketing back towards her and striking the barrier at another angle, this time shattering it and making her stagger again.
The Keyblade wielder then landed on the ground, before rushing in with that light blue aura, before swinging his blade for an attack. Hanabi barely was able to duck under the horizontal swing, and was just barely able to block the second one with the same magical energy blade.
Sora noted that she was actually putting more force into the blade to keep herself from being knocked away, and that its shape appeared to be… changing?
Hanabi then dismissed her blade, before she raised her hands in front of her, "Fire!"
Sora's eyes widened, and he was too late as he was hit with that magic point-blank, separating him from his opponent and giving her precious moments to recover from Sora's blitz. Sora himself tumbled to the ground, but planted Oathkeeper into the earth at the last second to stop his momentum from sending him out of the ring, feet inches away from the line.
Okay, that was NOT Fire magic, Sora thought as he clutched his chest in pain, coughing. As far as he could tell, Fire magic did not result in a massive explosion unless it was of 5th tier, and even then the explosion would only be meant to damage a single target. An attack like Hanabi's just now could've easily decimated Shadows in an area farther than a normal Fire spell would've done.
There was only one conclusion: Hanabi had casted Flare magic.
And getting hit by it point blank hurts. A lot.
Guess I know what to expect when I fight Katsuki… ow. Sora grimaced, closing his eyes in pain. Unlike the last two attacks that hit him, this one actually hurt.
Speaking of…
"EH?! DID THAT EXTRA JUST FUCKING COPY ME?!" Katsuki shouted, standing up with fury in his eyes, "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL HER DAMMIT!"
"Bakugo-kun, calm down!" Iida told him, "That is NOT how you should be acting here in such an event!"
"Even so… that did look suspiciously like Bakugo-san's Quirk…" Momo muttered, "But looking at it in more detail… she just actually launched a fireball that blew up in both of their faces…"
"She's definitely getting desperate." Ojiro said, as Hanabi shook her head from getting knocked away with that last attack.
With Class B…
"Geez Louise!" Pony said in English, "I never thought Hanabi had that much firepower!"
"Neither did I…" Kendo shook her head, "Has she been holding back this whole time?"
"I doubt it. Look at her." Setsuna glanced at the big screen, where Hanabi was looking at her hands confused, "She clearly didn't expect that fire attack of hers to be that powerful. Nakajima's really pushing her to her limit. Maybe that attack was only so strong because she was under pressure."
"But at this rate… she'll overuse her Quirk. And Nakajima is still getting back up." Yotetsu said, pointing to Sora.
Sure enough, the Keyblade wielder, although the point where Hanabi had blasted him was still smoking, was able to get back onto his feet, while she was barely keeping her balance on her own two feet.
Sora knew that Flare magic takes a lot of magic power to cast, so it was likely she was beginning to run low on magic herself. Now was his chance.
"Darn…" he grunted, "You really are something, Hanabi. That last attack almost knocked me out."
She grimaced at how Sora was still standing, but said, "Thanks for the compliment…"
"No problem… ow…" he winced as his chest was still stinging, "But I mean it. You're very, very good." He said, before finally he was able to tolerate the pain and grip Oathkeeper hard.
He had stockpiled enough energy to tap into that form again, but it seemed like he didn't need it. So he chose to switch back to the Kingdom Key to save energy. Hanabi was simply standing there, looking at Sora with a frustrated expression.
Looks like you're out of magic. Time to finish this, he thought.
Without a word, he dashed towards Hanabi and readied an horizontal swing mid-dash.
"Holy smokes! Nakajima seems to be going for a final blow! Is this where Zinnia's trip ends?"
Hanabi furrowed her brow in determination, before raising her arms out, seemingly in hopes of casting a barrier. But even then, it wouldn't save her from being thrown out of the ring. Sora knew that either way, she had put up a very good fight, enough for her to be recognized by the Heroes.
You did a good job, Hanabi, Sora thought as he swung his weapon to end it. Most of Class A stood up in anticipation, while Class B did the same, but with nervous expressions and eyes covered as Sora's blade inched closer and closer until…
SHING!
...
CLANG!
(Silence)
A flash of light and the sound of metal colliding with metal echoed in everybody's ears as a dust cloud covered the two fighters.
"Eh?! What happened?" Toru asked.
"So much dust! Did Sora do it?!" Sato squinted his eyes.
"I can't tell…" Mezo said, squinting his eyes.
Sora meanwhile, was confused as his blade was being met by some opposing force. He tried to push forward, but found resistance as Hanabi grunted. He could barely see her through the dust.
But when it faded, his eyes widened with shock.
It wasn't because Hanabi had managed to block his attack.
It was what she was holding to block it in the first place.
A golden shaft was locked with the silver shaft of his Kingdom Key, and its tip bore a crescent moon. Just underneath it, was a shooting star with ten points that acted as the teeth on one, with the trail of the star on the other side. The place where she was holding the weapon had a handguard very similar to his, the main difference being its purple color and a golden star at the hilt with two shooting star trails to its left and right. And to top it off, there was a keychain at the bottom of the hilt, with its charm being a golden falling star.
To put it simply, it was a weapon that was nearly identical to Sora's own.
Sora was speechless. How? How was this possible?
Hanabi herself looked surprised as well, but it was more out of realization compared to Sora's own, as if something inside of her clicked. She then used this moment to push Sora back with her weapon, reinvigorated by this new occurrence, as Sora flew from the air and landed back on the ground, eyes still widened in shock.
"Is that…" Sora said, looking at Hanabi's weapon arm, housing the nearly identical weapon in her grasp as golden sparks flew from it. She was panting in exhaustion, but a new glint was in her eyes.
"No way… A Keyblade?!"
Cloud got up from his seat with wide eyes too, "You've gotta be kidding…"
"She's got one too?" Tifa gasped, while still seated, "No wonder… it all makes sense now…"
With Class A, they were also just as shocked as Sora.
"That weapon… that looks like Sora-kun's!" Ochaco said.
"But how? How could she produce such a similar construct to his own?" Iida questioned.
"I… I don't know…" Momo commented, "But given how similar the two of their Quirks happen to be… she might have been able to summon something similar… a replica summoned to counter Sora-san's weapon."
"This is bad…" Eijiro said, "She definitely looks more energized than earlier… She might actually turn the tides of this fight now."
Class B was equally as surprised.
"Did any of you know she could do that?" Setsuna looked around at her classmates in shock.
"Nope! But it's got me pumped up!" Tetsutetsu grinned, "Now she can fight him on equal footing!"
"And now Nakajima will know the fury of Class 1-B!" Neito grinned gleefully "With his fall, Class A will learn again the bitter taste of def-ACK!" Neito yelped as soon as his comment ended, no thanks to Kendo.
"Please just stop." she groaned.
Meanwhile, Sora was still trying to process what he just saw, while Hanabi readjusted her footing and walked a few steps forward. She was definitely re-energized from summoning that Keyblade.
Sora still couldn't believe it. Another Keyblade wielder was here too?
"But… how…?" He managed to get out. She looked at him apologetically.
"I'm sorry… I'm trying to... process this too." she said, "I promise I'll explain everything… but now's not the time."
She sounded a lot more serious now, meaning that she was ready to go all out, as she gripped her Keyblade tightly, "But before we talk… we should finish things up here, right?"
Her tone made Sora snap out of his trance. Seeing that she was ready for another round, he steeled himself and got ready too. "Sure… we'll talk later, then. For now..." Sora smiled wide, "Let's give the crowd the match we promised!"
(Play: Death Battle - Unlocking Heaven Mashup 2017 & 2020)
"You bet!" Hanabi returned the smile, before twirling her Keyblade around a bit before placing both hands on the hilt, bringing the weapon right in front of her. In response, Sora lowered his weapon as he got into his own stance.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THEY'VE BEEN GOING AT IT LIKE A GAME OF INTENSE PING PONG AND THEY AREN'T EVEN DONE!" Mic shouted, "IT LOOKS LIKE WE'VE GOT OURSELVES A LIGHTNING ROUND, LISTENERS!"
Class 1-A and Class 1-B were on the edge of their seats again, because now it seemed like this would be the final showdown between the two. The rest of the crowd was cheering loudly, ready for this final round.
Hanabi started off with an opening attack, bringing her Keyblade up and conjuring an orb of light. She then launched it, before following it up with several more that were all aimed for Sora. The Hero of Light responded by jumping over the first orb, ducking through the second and weaving through the third and fourth, before leaping into the air for an overhead strike.
It was blocked by Hanabi, who pushed him off and back onto the ground. He recovered quickly, and continued his assault, swinging his Keyblade to strike Hanabi, but each strike he attempted was quickly blocked by her, before she moved past his guard and hit him four times with her own Keyblade, before jumping up and sending him flying with an upwards strike.
Grunting, Sora reared his left arm back as flames engulfed them. He managed to stop himself as the flames grew brighter.
"Take this! Fire!" Sora shouted as he casted Fire towards Hanabi. In response, she swung her Keyblade to dispel it before launching a fireball of her own. Sora grimaced and aimed his Keyblade forward, launching his own fireball toward Hanabi's. The two collided, resulting in an explosion of smoke and dust that made it hard for Sora to see his opponent.
Then his eyes caught movement from his left, but he was too slow to react as Hanabi's Keyblade slammed into his midsection, knocking him away.
"It's my turn, Sora!" she said as she rushed for another attack. Sora saw it and barely raised his Kingdom Key in time to block her own weapon, but this time, there was much more force behind her attack as he nearly got knocked off his feet. He barely managed to hang on and lock blades with her as she began to push him towards the edge.
Class A was shocked. Was Hanabi actually overwhelming Sora? This was just absurd!
In truth, the only reason she was beating him in strength was because she had already done damage to him and exhausted him. Not to mention the strange second wind she had when she summoned the lookalike weapon.
But Sora wasn't giving up, as he decided to take a leaf out of Hanabi's book and dismiss his Keyblade, forcing her to lose balance as she became the one to overswing. He resummoned the Keyblade to try and go for an upward slash, but to his shock, Hanabi vanished, just like how she dodged Kaminari's lightning.
"GAH!" he yelped as Hanabi's blade struck him yet again, sending him flying into the air before hitting the ground hard, where he rolled to a stop, just shy of the edge. He struggled to get to his feet this time, panting out of exhaustion.
"Sora!" Most of Class A shouted in concern.
"Looks like Nakajima is gonna go down hard, eh? Such a wonderful day for Class 1-B!" Monoma cackled, before being knocked out cold by an annoyed Kendo.
As Sora got to his feet, Hanabi had landed, and this time aimed her Keyblade towards him, but instead of an elemental blast, she fired magical light blue bullets straight toward him as she leapt into the air. The Keyblade wielder responded by dodging the first bullet, ducking under another, before sprinting to the right to avoid them and forcing Hanabi to change her aim to follow him. Sora then rolled to the left, getting grazed by one of the bullets, before jumping into the air to strike at one of the bullets, landing around the same time as Hanabi. She then launched another barrage of bullets, and Sora charged towards them, swinging his Keyblade three times to repel most of the bullets, before answering with a barrage of magical blasts of his own.
"Uh oh!" Hanabi stopped shooting and dodged the first series of blasts, before rolling away from the second. She then leapt back, the tip of her Keyblade charged with magic, before she launched two crescent shaped waves towards Sora. They hit the ground in front of him, making the portion of the arena explode.
"WHOOOAAAAAAA!" Sora yelped as he was sent into the air again as debris surrounded him.
"See ya!" Hanabi shouted, raising her Keyblade as fire came from its tip. She then launched the fireball towards him, seeing no way for him to dodge this attack.
A mighty explosion occured as the Flare Magic nailed the spot Sora was at. "Hanabi uses the same explosive blast from before, and it seems like a direct hit! Could she have turned the tides of this fight?"
"Is Sora-kun alright?" Ochaco asked frantically.
"There was no way he could have dodged it…!" Ojiro said, "This is bad."
Hanabi landed on the ground to see if Sora would be seen flying out of the ring from the dust cloud.
But it turns out, he didn't.
"Nice trick!"
Hanabi's eyes widened at the voice behind her, and she quickly turned around to see Sora aiming his Keyblade at her some distance away as the tip crackled with energy. To make things more surprising, he looked relatively unharmed, as if the Flare spell did absolutely nothing to him.
"Now let's see what you think of this!" Sora shouted as he launched his attack straight at her. The bullets, unlike King of Hearts, began spiraling in their attempt to hit Hanabi, who was forced to dodge between those bullets, which proved much more difficult due to their spiral rotation compared to the King of Hearts attack. Some even made tears in her gym uniform.
"That was too close," she muttered, before looking to Sora and dashing towards him, the fellow Keyblade wielder responding in kind. The two clash their blades in the center of the arena, before they push one another back as Sora leaps into the air. Hanabi follows suit as suddenly, she flung her Keyblade towards Sora before launching another Fire spell.
"Huh?!" Sora looked shocked, but deflected the weapon nonetheless and negated the fireball with his own, making a dust cloud. As it flew in the opposite direction, Sora looked over to where Hanabi was still in the air.
Only to find that her silhouette was gone.
"Over here!" Her words made Sora turn around to see Hanabi's Keyblade spinning again towards him. Sora deflected it a second time, knocking it to the right, but this time his eyes followed where the Keyblade was going. Suddenly, Hanabi appeared out of thin air to grab it by the handle, while Sora landed on the ground.
Hanabi threw the weapon again a third time, and Sora rolled away as it did an arc before going into the air again, where she appeared to grab it again.
I can't dodge forever! Sora thought, as the Keyblade came spinning after him again, forcing him to deflect it once more. She wasn't letting up, as she kept repeating that same process over and over, until she grabbed it and yelled out a battle cry, prepping for an overhead strike.
Instinctively, Sora raised his Keyblade up to block the attack, and the weapons clashed once more, but the impact cratered the ground underneath him. With a grunt, he pushed Hanabi up into the air, before leaping up to meet her.
A big mistake.
Hanabi had quickly recovered in the air, dodging Sora's thrust, before slashing him across the chest, sending him back into the crater.
"This better work…" she mutters, before summoning several orbs of light around her, "Pearl!"
At her command, the orbs of light proceeded to rain down towards the downed Sora. Several of Class A leapt out of their seats in fear, while Ochaco covered her eyes. This didn't look good for Sora at all, and at the rate this was going, he was going to get KO'd. Just as the orbs were about to hit him…
"Stop!"
They suddenly stopped inches away from their target as a purple aura surrounded them. Hanabi looked surprised, before she noticed Sora holding his hand out with a determined gaze, a purplish aura surrounding his hand. With a yell, Sora switched his Keyblade into reverse grip, knocking the orbs right back at Hanabi.
"Whoa!" she yelped as some of the orbs made contact with her. She was so focused on blocking them that she didn't notice Sora leaping into the air till the last second, appearing above her with an overhead strike ready to knock her down. She barely managed to block it with her own weapon as gravity brought the two down to earth with a crash, dust from the impact covering their figures.
"This is crazy! When will this match end?" Mic said, "I'm on the balls of my feet right now in anticipation!"
Sure enough, so was everyone else. The battle had gone back and forth more often than not, and even the lightning round showed no signs of ending.
Who was going to take the win?
A figure was knocked back before skidding to a stop just near the edge, revealing itself to be Sora. He grunted as he slowly got back up, seeing that Hanabi was pointing her Keyblade high. To his surprise, an orb of light was being conjured above her, and it was growing bigger.
Guess he'll have to respond in kind.
"Let's finish this, Hanabi!" he declared, pointing his Keyblade towards her as light emitted from its tip.
"You bet!" She said, before launching the large orb straight at Sora. In response, Sora fired a beam of light to collide with the orb, as the two attacks hit one another, creating a shockwave even larger than that of Sora and Tenya's clash.
"AHHHHHHH!" Class A and B were struggling to stay in their seats as the wind created rivaled that of the previous match.
"Goddamn it…!" Cloud said as he raised his arm up, "Are you trying to kill everyone in this arena, kid?!"
Back in the fight, Sora tried desperately to keep the beam out as the orb began to inch closer and closer towards him. At the rate he was going, he would get hit, and then he would be out of the tournament.
"Come on, Sora!"
"Don't give up!"
Sora gasped. For a second, he could've sworn he heard Donald and Goofy just now, but they weren't standing beside him here.
Wait...
That's right… Donald and Goofy… they're right here with me fighting too! Sora grinned, before looking back to face the orb.
"GOOOOOOO!" with a battle cry, Sora poured everything he had left into the beam of light, amplifying it and suddenly pushing the orb of light back. Suddenly, after moments of struggle, the beam tore through the orb and straight at Hanabi.
"Uh oh!" Hanabi raised her Keyblade to block the beam, and succeeded in keeping it from hitting her. She grit her teeth as she struggled to try and knock it back, but the damage was already done. With a triumphant yell, Sora used the last of his strength to place one final push!
The result was an explosion that covered Hanabi's figure for a moment, before she was seen flying off the ring and slammed into the wall behind her, before collapsing to the ground.
(Silence)
A long period of silence came after that, as Sora, who was still the ring, flopped onto his back and was breathing heavily, having exhausted his power completely as the Kingdom Key disappeared from his hand. Even so, he managed to raise his right hand to form a thumbs up.
The silence held for a few moments, before Midnight raised her baton and announced, "Zinnia is out of bounds! Nakajima will advance to the semifinals!"
(Play: KH3 OST - Olympus Coliseum - The Shining Summit)
The crowd roared in satisfaction. That was perhaps the most impressive battle of them all, rivaled only by Izuku and Shoto's fight and Kirishima and Tetsutetsu's slugfest. A clash that will be remembered for ages to come. Not that the others were not memorable in their own right, but this was the battle where the two were so evenly matched, it was hard to tell who would overtake the other.
Most of Class A was ecstatic. Mina and Toru were hugging each other and cheering; Eijiro was whooping; Ochaco was clapping and cheering; and Kaminari and Hanta fist-bumped. Others, like Momo, Tsuyu, and Ojiro, were simply relieved that the fight was over. It kept going back and forth too many times to count; Shoto simply eyed Hanabi suspiciously. Tenya, of course, was trying to calm everybody down.
Class 1-B was… less than happy.
"Aww man…" Manga muttered, "Hanabi-chan lost."
"She did keep Nakajima on his toes though," Kendo observed, while Monoma was still out cold, "Considering his fight with Iida, that's no small feat."
"Yeah, she did! She was so awesome out there!" Tetsutetsu said, "You rock, Hanabi!"
"Who'd have thought she'd summon a weapon like Nakajima. Kinda spooky, huh?" Reiko turned to Yui.
"Mm." was the reply.
"That aside, Nakajima really is something else." Setsuna grinned, "Not only is he a nice fella, he's even given Hanabi-chan a run for her money while complimenting her."
"I suppose that means there aren't as many egotistical students in 1-A as we thought, is that right?" Ibara asked.
"Nah. He gets a pass,"
"Same here. He's a really decent guy." Tetsutetsu grinned, "Both he and Hanabi were so cool!"
"You just said that,"
"So what? I can't say that again?"
"That's fair."
In the arena, Sora finally got to his feet, albeit barely, before slowly walking to where Hanabi was still on the ground. She had recovered, and was in a sitting position as he approached.
"You did great out there, Hanabi," Sora smiled, lending her a hand, "I actually almost lost there."
She looked surprised, before she giggled and said, "You're not too bad yourself, Sora. I was really surprised that you were able to take that Flare spell without damage back there."
Sora chuckled with a sheepish look, "Actually, I used a piece of the large debris made from your previous attack to dodge the Flare spell in the air. I would've been toast if it actually connected."
"Ohhhh. That makes more sense. It was a wonderful tactic either way."
She took his hand and he helped her up, before raising it up to show good sportsmanship. The crowd let out another cheer at that. Sora smiled and waved to the crowd, before looking at Hanabi.
"So… about that thing."
"Yeah. Let's go someplace private, okay? I don't want us to be overheard."
"Got it."
With that, the two walked away, leaving the crowd to discuss amongst themselves. Cementoss sighed as he observed the damage done by their battle. Though it wasn't as ridiculous as Izuku and Shoto's fight was, there was still much to clean up.
He really needed a raise once this was all over.
(Play: KH Unchained X OST - Dearly Beloved)
Sora and Hanabi eventually found a quiet place in one of the waiting rooms, Sora with his arms behind his head as he leaned on the wall, while Hanabi was sitting on one of the chairs.
The two were silent. Neither one knew what they wanted to say to the other. This was the first time for them to actually meet a Keyblade wielder they had no knowledge of.
"So… you have a Keyblade too, huh?" Sora said, breaking the silence.
"...Mm-hmm." she nodded.
"That's really cool." he smiled, "I didn't think there were other Keyblade wielders out there."
"What do you mean?" Hanabi asked curiously, "How many are there?"
"As far as I know, not too many," Sora admitted, "There's Ven, Aqua, Terra… Roxas, Axel, Xion… Riku, the King, Kairi, and me. That makes… ten of us."
"Only ten?" Sora saw that Hanabi looked visibly shocked, "Hold on, hold on… there's only ten of you?"
"Like I said, that's all the Keyblade wielders I know. Most of them died in a Keyblade War, according to Master Yen Sid. But that was a long time ago."
Surprisingly, Hanabi actually looked down with a solemn face, "So it really did happen…"
"Huh?" Sora cocked his head, "What happened? The War? Wait…" he lowered his arms and looked at her, "Do you know about that too?"
Hanabi flinched at the response, which was a clear indicator that she knew something about it, but was a sensitive topic.
"O-Oh. Sorry. You don't have to answer." He told her.
"N-No… it's fine…" she reassured him, "L-Let's start over. You're Sora, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay…" She took a deep breath, before asking him nervously, "Do you know about Daybreak Town?"
"Daybreak Town?" Sora asked, putting a hand to his chin. For some reason, the name seemed to ring a bell. Why did that name sound familiar?
"Yes. It's a place where all Keyblade wielders live, under the guidance of our Union Leaders." Hanabi explained, "Does that ring a bell?"
Sora now looked lost as he shook his head, "Nope. It doesn't."
Hanabi looked even more surprised, before asking, "What? T-That's impossible…"
"Well… if that's the case, then I guess it's another world my friends and I haven't found," Sora said with a shrug.
"'Another world?' You mean…?" Hanabi looked at Sora, "No… you're from the world outside?"
"Uh… You're not making sense, Hanabi. Is this your first time being in the outside world?"
"O-Oh. My apologies. No, it's not my first time," Hanabi said, rubbing her temples, "It's just… a lot to take in…"
"What? The fact that you're not the only Keyblade wielder here?"
"That, and… well…" she sighed, "I just can't believe that it really happened."
"The Keyblade War?"
"...Yes. My Master told me about it, and…" she looked frustrated as she tried to form the words, "She told me and several others that instead of fighting that war… that we flee to the world outside. To make sure the light survived when the war reached its end."
Sora took several seconds to process that. Then something flashed in his mind. An old tale told to him… no… Kairi… when she was a little girl. A tale of light and darkness.
"Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of light survived...in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now."
Then, Sora remembered how back in the Keyblade Graveyard, a swarm of Keyblades came to his aid after he encountered a mysterious boy around his age.
"What was that?" Mickey asked when the weapons disappeared.
"Keyblade wielders… from long ago…" Aqua answered.
"It's the light of the past…" Ventus smiled.
When Sora remembered both of those things, it finally clicked, hopefully, of who the girl sitting in front of him was.
"Wait… then that means…" Sora said with a slow pace, "You're a Keyblade wielder from a long time ago?! One of the people who helped keep the light alive after the first Keyblade War?"
Hanabi looked rather embarrassed by Sora's question, before saying, "Uh… if you really are from the future… then yes. I guess I am."
"Wow! How are you… not an old lady or something?" Sora asked, before he received a slap from a red-faced Hanabi, making him flinch and rear back, "OW!"
"One, I'm not an old lady. Two, do NOT ask that again," She puffed her cheeks, "And three, I don't know why I haven't aged if you being from the future is actually the truth."
"Okay, okay, owww…." Sora rubbed his sore cheek, "Still… It's pretty cool to be actually talking to one of you guys in person. It's like traveling through time!"
"The feeling is mutual, I guess…" she said, "But… You said that what my master told me was… the first Keyblade War, right?"
(Play: Project Destati: DARKNESS - Daybreak Town)
Sora looked a little downcast, "Yeah…"
"This might be too much to ask… please tell me… if there are other Keyblade wielders like you still around… Was there another Keyblade War that took place?"
"...There was. I was a part of it." Sora said.
"Oh…" she looked down, "How many lives were lost?"
"We didn't lose any from our side. And the people on the other side were gonna be recompleted, either way. They had been controlled by a man who wanted to claim the power of Kingdom Hearts for himself." Sora admitted, "What I do know is that we managed to save the ones we cared about. We stopped the darkness from taking over and purging the worlds."
Hanabi immediately sighed in relief, "I see… then the light did survive. That's good."
"Yeah. Your efforts weren't wasted, Hanabi. You and the other Keyblade wielders from long ago. My friends and I made sure of that." Sora smiled. She looked down a bit, hiding her face, before she looked up and returned the smile herself, though it was softer than his own.
"Thank you… for doing that for us," she said.
"No. Thank you for keeping the light alive." Sora smiled, "If it wasn't for you and the other Keyblade wielders, I probably wouldn't be here, right?"
"...You could say that, yeah."
Something about the way Hanabi said that felt off. Similar to how she had been hiding the fact that she was a Keyblade wielder like he was. Even so, Sora decided not to pry further. It was already enough to know that she was a Keyblade wielder who had lived before the first Keyblade War, and another by the fact she didn't even age AT ALL.
"Well… It certainly was a discovery for both of us, huh?" he said after a moment's silence.
"Yeah. It was. I didn't dislike it though," she smiled, "I'm really happy to know that the efforts our master put in weren't in vain."
"Yeah. You should tell me about them sometime. The other Keyblade wielders." Sora smiled, "And about Daybreak Town too. Really didn't expect there to be a town full of people like us back in the day."
"Considering how few in number we are now, it would be," She nodded, "It would be nice to talk about. But not today."
"Fine be me. We should get going, though. I don't wanna miss the next matches." Sora said, "Coming with, Hanabi?"
"Oh! Yeah, I'll come." she nodded, before pausing in thought. As Sora went for the door, she looked up, "Oh, and one other thing."
"Yeah?" Sora turned back to her.
"Hanabi… it actually isn't my real name."
"Really?" Sora looked at her surprised, "Then… what is it?"
She looked down again, as if contemplating on telling him or not, before she looked up with a soft smile.
"Strelitzia. That's my name." she tilted her head with that same soft smile, "It's nice to finally meet you, Sora."
Sora's mouth opened a bit, before it closed into a smile of his own, "Yeah. Nice to finally meet you too, Strelitzia."
And with that, the two Keyblade wielders took their leave, the smile on each of their faces not fading in the slightest.
"Wait… why did you use a different name if your real name is Strelitzia?"
"I… I'd prefer not to say…"
"Okay… You can tell me when you feel up to it though."
"Thank you."
"...So… should I call you Strelitzia now, or keep calling you Hanabi?"
"For now, just stick with the latter. I might use my real name as my Hero Name."
"Got it. You sure about that, though?"
"Yeah. I'm… not ready to tell them my real name yet. But I've got no problem with you calling me by my real name after we decide those Hero names."
"Sounds like a plan."
"...I don't mean to be intrusive, but how did you get your Keyblade in the first place? Surely you inherited one."
"That's actually a funny story. So I lived on this world called the Destiny Islands, right? It began the day before my friends and I were planning to set sail…"
TA-DA! We finally have the match you've been waiting for. Sora triumphs over Hanabi, and advances to the semis, but not after a very heated match.
For those who believed that Hanabi was Strelitzia all along, congratulations! Strelitzia is here as a recurring character, and a member of Class 1-B no less! Isn't that a surprise?
But that begs the question. Why was she using a fake name? Why couldn't she summon her Keyblade until now? And why the heck is she so out of character? Something's fishy, but you'll have to find out later! For now, I hope you enjoy Strelitzia's inclusion in this story!
I also made some references to some of the attacks introduced from her home game, Kingdom Hearts Union X (may this mobile game's former glory rest in peace). I'll let you guess which attacks and Medals were referenced!
And yeah, I took a ton of inspiration from the Sora vs. Pit Death Battle, especially with the soundtrack and action for their lightning round. Plus, we now know the third magic spell Sora was trying to learn before the Festival!
And also, please let me know on your thoughts for the flow of the story. It would be helpful to know how I'm doing overall with this story as I go on. Criticisms and reviews involving improvement on the story's structure are welcome, and I'll try see if I can improve based off those criticisms.
Onto Reviews!
PUBLISH: True. Donald and Goofy weren't wielders of the Keyblade, but they do have experience with the darkness enough to know what the signs look like. In the public view, they'd likely see it as a mist emitted due to Todoroki's ice.
Gamelover41592: Thank you.
megakdre100: You'll probably just ignore this, considering you said that you were done with this story, but I agree with all of your points. A severely weakened Sora in KH3 could fight 3 Titans along with his friends and both parties still ended up fine after they clashed (Rock Titan came back even after getting pummeled too). Sora in this crossover would likely be at the same level, if not slightly stronger. Like Saitama in his home series, he's a god among men in MHA (Creepy to think about). Yeah, it's boring to see the same story over and over and over, especially when you know a protagonist is super OP and can do much to change the story, and I feel that. Perhaps eventually I'll get to that level of writing, but for now, this is what I've got. I'm not confident enough to try and go for the OP character approach yet where they don't care about what people think when showing off their power. Sorry if it doesn't satisfy you.
As for Sora getting arrested, I agree that he hardly cares for the law, because he's doing what's right, but resisting arrest in front of people? That's not a good first impression. But remember what he said during Chapter 6 after being released. If the Heartless showed up in Mustafu again, he was going to protect the others with his powers regardless of what the law said. But other than that, the Exam, and U.S.J., there have been no major Heartless sightings. At least in Japan.
On a side note, it would be interesting to see what would happen if Sora chose a Vigilante path (though I haven't got the time to write such a thing since I'm already deep into this one. I think Xerayn is going down that path partially in their fic, You Can Be A Hero. Check it out if you want.)
In terms of point value, you're right about that. Sora would have definitely gotten more points if the Heartless hadn't shown up. He could have multitasked, yeah, but that's a bit much, even for Sora, because dealing with the Heartless is much more difficult than dealing with simple robots. Being the only Keyblade wielder there, he needs to make sure they're down and out. One Heartless getting away is like letting a single Flood spore from the Halo series live. Eventually, they'll infect others, and since they're very quick and efficient buggers, that doesn't end well for their victims. And Sora knows it. So going down to either Heartless or bots, he has no choice.
Though I do admit that it would be cool to see where the story would go if the Heartless didn't show up at all in the Entrance Exam and Sora took first place. One thing's for sure, he and Katsuki would be butting heads a lot more.
Yeah, I suck as a writer, and I won't deny it. I can't expect to make the perfect story the first time around, and I'm aware that this story isn't for everyone. I've seen a lot of stories where the author falls flat on many aspects, and I'm likely one of them. Some people may like this story, but others may not, and they, like you, are free to voice those criticisms and their reasons why. I'll respect that. Besides, there's always room to improve, especially in the parts you said.
I'm really sorry that you didn't enjoy the story, but I'm glad you read it when you did. I appreciate your feedback megakdre. I might find some use for it. I hope you'll find better stories than mine here!
Jaded671: Nice. Glad to see you're starting to catch on. Perhaps it will happen, perhaps it won't. Stay tuned!
Shadow Tiger24: Welp. You just found out.
Zach Flare SOLDIER Class S: Thanks for clarifying, and you've got a point, Zach Flare. Katsuki pre-development needed a reality check. He changed the moment he got his Quirk, and his mindset only grew to what it was because of the influence of those around him, praising him for his flashy Quirk. If anyone's to blame, it's the ones who encourage such behavior, and I personally think Aizawa is NOT one of them. Aizawa doesn't step in because it's a similar situation with Momo during her exam: Katsuki has to learn by himself that his violent mindset won't solve everything, because obviously words from others, especially Aizawa, ain't gonna cut it. Action's the only way to show him. Even if it is beating him to a bloody pulp like All Might did.
I think the point of the final exam wasn't just to show that there's always a bigger fish and that you'd have no choice but to fall back (evidenced by Tenya and Mashirao's match). Each teacher that the students went up against had an advantage over them, not to mention that the students themselves had their own shortcomings. In order to pass, they have to escape and fall back, like you said, or overcome both their disadvantage and their shortcomings to capture the enemy. Either way, they would pass.
Katsuki wanted to do the latter, while Izuku wanted the former. The issue they had within their own team was their lack of cooperation, which only led to their poor start against All Might. What the teachers wanted out of this was to see if the two would even cooperate at all. Even the smallest bit of cooperation between the two was progress. If not, they would likely be doomed to fail before they started, and show that their cooperation still had a long way to go. Katsuki wants to do everything himself and prove he's the best (and he hates Izuku to hell and back at this point), but that alone isn't enough for victory. He realizes this after Izuku rescues him from completely giving up, but he only works reluctantly with Izuku when he realizes he has no other choice. Either that, or he literally goes down in flames against All Might.
And you're right on Mirko. Perhaps Katsuki could learn something from her, depending on the circumstances.
The OC Maniac: On that, we can both agree, OC, but there are good fanfictions that do change the setup of the story completely and it still works out fine, but I haven't exactly gotten to that level yet. As for the vision Cloud had, it is a memory, but whether or not he's experienced it already has, like you said, yet to be determined.
keybladelight: Dude, I am NOT skipping two whole arcs just to do that. I told you to be patient, and don't get your hopes up. I won't guarantee that'll happen.
Guest: Thank you, and stay safe!
What are your thoughts on this chapter? I'm glad if you enjoyed it, but if not, I'm sorry for not meeting expectations.
Whew. Pencil down. I'm out. 4 more chapters to go, and the sweetness of a break will come at last.
Thanks for reading my story, and until our paths cross again!