Izuku Midoriya stumbled around the hallway in preparation for his next duel with the fearsome Shoto Todoroki. Although he may have the very same quirk the world's greatest hero has, his skills were barely a fraction of Shoto Todoroki's prodigal abilities. Hearing Uraraka's sobs in the room nearby did nothing to calm his worries. She gave it her best shot, even employing a strategy more brilliant than any he could've come up with for that moment. Yet, she still fell short.
As discomforting as that may be, this was not the time to be moping. For him, this was the time to show the world that 'I am here!'
Suddenly, a fiery figure appeared before him. Tall and bulky, Midoriya found himself staring at the infamous flame hero himself.
"ENDEAVOR?" the green fanboy yelped.
The elder Todoroki turned and looked below to find a small boy beneath him.
"Ah, there you are," he replied. He couldn't outright say it to him, but the contrast between the boy's appearance and his quirk was immense.
"W-What are you doing here?" Midoriya asked. Seeing one of the top heroes just wander in front of him wasn't a daily occurrence, after all.
Endeavor pointed to the boy, clearly viewing him as someone of importance.
"I saw what you did out there," he answered. "That's quite an amazing quirk you have. Creating such a massive gust of wind with just a flick of your fingers! I'd say it might even be on par with All Might's powers."
This observation was the last thing the boy wanted to hear. The spite Endeavor had towards All Might was notorious to the public. He could not tell him the truth behind all of this.
"Um, I have to get going!" Midoriya fidgeted.
"My son, Shoto," Endeavor continued. "I've entrusted him to surpass All Might. His match against you shall prove to be quite a valuable test. I suggest for your sake, give it your all and don't go easy on him."
Midoriya paused for a moment to reflect on the hero's rhetoric. He knew that his classmate seemed to harbor a resentment towards his father but he wasn't sure why. After that brief interaction however, he could see why that would be the case. But if he were to be a hero, wouldn't it be his responsibility to free his classmate from the shackles of his heritage?
"I'm not All Might…" he stated.
"What? Well, of course you're not," Endeavor replied.
"Right, of course I'm not," Midoriya continued. "I'm not Hawks, I'm not Mr. Aizawa, and heck, I'm not even Goku. But I'm me. And Todoroki is also neither of them. And he isn't you!"
A flare sparked across Endeavor's face, hearing those words. Having stood to the Number 2, the green haired boy started to realize that his and his adversary may not be as different as he initially thought.
He stepped out of the halls and was greeted once again by the fresh air of the arena. Crowds of spectators deafened his ears while he made his final steps towards his fateful match.
Shoto Todoroki glared at Midoriya, eyes sharpened. For some reason, All Might seemed to have his eye on this boy. The half-hot, half-cold boy was determined to find the truth behind this random kid with strength few have seen in recorded history.
Up in the announcer box, Goku Black observed the extra tension on both of the participants' faces, each of them seeming much more anxious than they were previously in the tournament. The Saiyan was grinning from ear to ear as some of the strongest mortals in this universe were about to clash. The two hero students may not be Gokus or Vegetas, but this world of quirks, heroes, and villains has shown him quite a few things he had never even considered in his old universe.
"Goku," Mic observed the Saiyan's ravenous face. "Uhhhh, you look like Midnight when she fights a villain…"
Black turned his head to the DJ hero and quickly reverted back to his usual resting face of a scowl and glare. That was an unexpectedly embarrassing moment for the Saiyan.
"Mic, let's just start the round and get it over with," Aizawa said sleepily. "It's irrational to stall the festival especially when we're so close to finishing it."
"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that!" Mic enthusiastically replied, much to the annoyance of Aizawa. "For this round of the festival, we got two competitors who are at the top of their class! We got both Midoriya and Todoroki who have made it this far through some incredible means! Without further ado, LET'S START!"
A giant blast of ice immediately shot out of Todoroki, quickly making its way across the stage. Seeing how quickly Sero was eliminated by this very attack, Midoriya held out his fingers, aiming for an attack.
"SMASH!" Midoriya yelled, flicking his middle finger on his thumb, creating a massive gust of wind that obliterated all the ice in front of him. The crowd had to cower away to avoid accidental impact from the debris that the attack might have picked up.
"Geez, what kinda attacks are these," a spectating hero wearing what appeared to be blue pajamas wondered out loud. "This kind of power is more than enough to go pro on its own!"
"You're not wrong, but if heroics were just a power game, many of us wouldn't have jobs," a cat hero next to him replied. "They've got power but the question is, do they have the skill and will for it?"
The blue hero nodded in agreement, figuring it was valid justification and continued watching the fight.
The half-hot, half-cold boy staggered backwards slightly at the force of this attack. Fortunately for him, it seemed that his opponent broke a finger launching that attack, which reassured his faith in the final victory. Still, in his years of being trained by his father, he never accounted for such an adversary; one that would harm himself even if it meant winning.
Figuring that he would simply have to outlast the green haired boy, Todoroki launched yet another massive ice attack. Midoriya, in a desperate frenzy, sacrificed another finger to create a massive gust of wind much like before.
The Saiyan observed these events above, writing notes excitedly. Yet, for some reason, this fight doesn't seem to be living out his expectations. "Midoriya's power perplexes me and not in a right way," Black muttered. "The way his power works, it's almost as if he wasn't even born for that quirk."
"Well, that wouldn't be unheard of," Aizawa replied. "If you remember, especially during early quirk history, many people had quirks that they were unable to handle, much like Midoriya's case. Thankfully, plenty of generations have passed to allow us to properly train the future generation of quirk usage, especially in heroics."
"Hmm," Black mumbled. Down on stage, as Midoriya blasted ice attack after ice attack, the Saiyan noticed that it seemed like the boy was always using full powered attacks against his adversary. Noticing how he was running out of fingers to use, Black closed his eyes and tried his hardest to think of a strategy that could help him out.
As he pondered about the boy's lack of control, his right index finger started to vibrate slightly, disturbing his concentration. Although it was concerning that his Time Ring would suddenly act once again, Black tried his hardest to focus on a thought that could help Midoriya's training.
"You did it dad!" the voice of a small boy said. "You've ascended to the next level!"
A chuckle could be heard from an older, much more familiar voice.
"I could go one step further if I wanted to," a voice that sounded almost like Black's said. A lengthy scream was then made, followed by crackling sounds of power.
Black kept his eyes shut, wanting to unravel the mystery behind these voices. Unlike his previous vision with Zamasu, this one didn't have any emotional damage attached. He pressed on further, beginning to see a new world until he was suddenly sucked into it entirely.
The Saiyan looked around, puzzled with the purpose of such a place. It was a realm devoid of almost any semblance of creation, just infinite stretches of white nothingness for lightyears. The Saiyan flew around, trying to sense if anyone or anything could be found.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" the voice from before continued.
Sensing both a loud power up and a spike in energy, Black used instant transmission to go to the source of the disturbance.
"No wonder…" Black mumbled, ignoring the shaking of his right hand due to such a fascinating sight below him. As it turns out, the familiar voice from before sort of was his own; only it was that of the original body's owner, the real Goku himself. Observing the sight below him, Black deduced that Super Saiyan Goku was with his son, though it clearly was not Goten due to the very different hairstyles. Both were wearing the Saiyan armor that Vegeta usually wore, with the son looking at his father's achievements with awe.
"They can't see or hear me, it would seem," the faux-Saiyan observed. He descended to ground level of those two and still seemed to have no presence on the duo's activities. He glanced at his right hand again, which was glowing slightly now.
"The Time Ring…" Black said, beginning to connect the dots. "I must be seeing these past memories due to this ring! So this was when Goku was still trying to master Super Saiyan…"
Goku finished powering up, with his muscles bulging as if they were balloons. This was clearly a considerable increase in power, which intrigued Black until he inspected the form more closely.
"Those muscles seem peculiar," the faux-Saiyan said, noticing this abnormal appearance. "Even with this boost in power, there must be a reason why Super Saiyan Blue doesn't have such bulk when they use it in the modern era."
"Wow!" his son exclaimed. "You're more than a Super Saiyan now! You're the greatest! Nobody can beat you! I know you can beat Cell!"
The father shook his head and looked at his son.
"I know I look like I can, Gohan," Goku replied. "but these bulky muscles make it hard to move fast, and if I'm going to beat Cell, I can't have anything slowing me down. I may have great power, but what good is it if I can't catch my enemy? It takes more than brute strength to win a fight."
That wrung to Black, who mainly used brute strength to win his fights. If Goku didn't use power alone to conquer his battles, what was his philosophy?
The faux-Saiyan tried to listen more to their discussion when he was suddenly warped away to another setting, this time, on a floating island with a domed building.
He walked a little to find that Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, and many of the Z-fighters were also there. The father-son duo from the other memory seemed to be enjoying an enormous meal while Vegeta looked on with jealousy.
"Oh hello, Trunks," Black waved to the past version of the hybrid he tormented so greatly. As expected, Black was simply a figment of a spectator in these past events, making anything he did completely negligible.
He walked over next to Vegeta, who seemed angrier than usual.
"I don't get it," Vegeta said, gritting his teeth. "They appear to be Super Saiyan and yet, they're acting so calm and natural…"
The faux-Saiyan observed the variation of Super Saiyan that the father-son duo used. Unlike the previous form, this was much leaner and was essentially identical to Blue in physique. Although they currently had less power than the muscled form, Black could tell that they could easily use even more power in their current form than before.
With that, the faux-Saiyan came to a realization concerning Midoriya: he was using full powered attacks all the time! He came to grips with the reality of Midoriya's quirk, figuring out a way to fix the boy's abilities immediately.
"SHOTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"UIHOPJIHJBJ WHAT?" Black exasperated, returning back to the real world completely. Down on stage, Shoto Todoroki set himself half ablaze, wearing a beaming smile. Midoriya looked to his opponent with fear, admiration, and happiness. Endeavor then started to shout about his son using fire for the first time. The Saiyan had a hard time distinguishing whether or not they were words of a proud father or that of a tiger parent.
"Goku, this was a bad time to nap," Aizawa said, annoyed. "Remember that this is broadcasted to the entire world and it's bad press for one of our representatives to do such actions."
"Yeah, I kinda agree," Mic added on. "Can't believe Shota's the one saying this given how much he naps, but this is supposed to be really fun for the world to see and I'm pretty sure the cameras caught sight of you with your head lying down. Not sure why your right hand seemed to just vibrate though. I think this might tank our ratings too…"
"It's always with the damn ratings!" Aizawa exclaimed, giving himself a facepalm. "AND I DON'T NAP THAT MUCH!"
Midoriya looked onward to Todoroki, with the two powering up for a final clash. A large amount of cement and some pinkish-purple fragrance started to surround the fighting area in an attempt to mitigate the possible damage.
The green haired boy, fired up with determination, ran towards his opponent, dodging the massive stream of ice. The apprentice of two elements in front of him raised his left arm, preparing to use the power his father gave him for the first time in his life.
"Midoriya," Todoroki said with some gratitude in his voice. "I thank you."
As the green haired boy reached closer and closer, time stood still for the two of them. For Midoriya, this would determine whether or not he really showed the world that "I am here!" For Todoroki, this would be an eye-opening case as to what he could accomplish without shackles placed onto himself. Both boys were determined to win; for they both were here to show the world.
An incredible explosion louder than anything Black heard in this universe erupted, dissipating much of the original stage. The current of wind practically formed a small tornado as spectators clutched tight in their seats to not end up like Midnight, who was tossed in the air from the resulting blast.
Once the dust settled, the two competitors were on completely opposite sides of the field. On one side, Shoto Todoroki stood, having his PE uniform's left half destroyed, exposing his well-conditioned physique. On the other side, Izuku Midoriya slumped down, having broken all his fingers and an arm.
"Izuku Midoriya is out of bounds," Midnight called once she regained her footing. "Shoto Todoroki is the winner!"
The Saiyan immediately wrote everything he could about this moment, filling up as many details as possible.
"Wow, for someone who missed most of the fight, you do have a lot to say," Aizawa noted.
"Well, you did say I'd have some time to finalize my notes when you offered me this position," Black replied. "Doubt that the other fights would nearly be as exciting after this though."
Sure enough, the rest of the quarter finals went by like a blur. IIda simply pushed Shiozaki out of bounds, Bakugo eventually detonated Kirishima with overwhelming firepower, and Tokoyami's Dark Shadow made quick work of Mina Ashido.
"Hmm, against that creature, I can see why Yaoyorozu was unable to properly combat him," Black noted. "If even Ashido's quick reflexes were unable to outmaneuver the beast, it never felt fair to match those two in the first round of fights in the first place."
"Unfortunately, as heroes, there are many situations where we find ourselves in 'unfair' circumstances," Aizawa replied. "Even if a student doesn't do as well as they had hoped, their experiences should be informative enough for themselves in the future."
Black nodded as the semi-finals started. Todoroki used his old ice powers to halt IIda. Immediately after the fight, the Saiyan's phone gave a news notification, which he read. He then looked at the turbo-calf boy with a bit of concern.
The Saiyan ended up being completely distracted by the thought of the Hero Killer, who seemed to be more of a figure than he had originally thought. He even showed no interest when discovering Dark Shadow's weakness to light as Bakugo launched explosions.
The finals ended up being a rather intriguing matchup of Katsuki Bakugo against Shoto Todoroki. This helped Black take his mind off the Hero Killer for a little bit, becoming more focused.
"Goku, this fight is gonna be so exciting I'm absolutely gonna murderize you if you fall asleep again!" Mic said while laughing. Black looked at him awkwardly.
"MIC!" Aizawa yelled. "You broadcasted that message to the whole stage!"
"Whoops!" Mic yelped, still laughing. "Anyway, we've reached the finale right here! The top student among UA's freshmen will be determined right here! This final battle of Todoroki vs Bakugo starts…NOW!"
Bakugo grinned at his opponent, who launched a massive ice attack once again. The Saiyan noticed the difference in power of Todoroki before and noticed that this ice block was rather weaker in comparison. The explosive boy launched many defensive explosions against this frozen onslaught.
"What's that scary noise?" Mineta asked with the rest of Class 1-A looking just as horrified as him.
A hole emerged out of the ice, with Bakugo completely unscathed. He then jumped above Todoroki, grabbing him by his hair, slamming him down.
"Is my power not enough for you?" Bakugo taunted, enraged that his adversary didn't seem to find him worthy enough to use fire for.
"I wouldn't exactly say that Todoroki's doing badly," Aizawa commented on the announcer box. "But his attacks are far too straight forward."
"It's almost as if he lost all motivation after fighting Midoriya," Black agreed. "And he's not using fire as well."
Bakugo would continue to shriek more vulgarities to Todoroki, who kept a cool but defeated looking demeanor. He then jumped towards Todoroki, much like his childhood friend had.
"DON'T GIVE UP!"
Todoroki looked above and saw the same person who unshackled him from his heritage was also giving him words of encouragement. He looked at his opponent in front of him more fiercely and ignited his left side.
"HOWITZER IMPACT!"
With that super move, the stage was engulfed in fire, which concerned many of the heroes watching. Once the dust was settled, Todoroki laid unconscious as Bakugo ran up to him and hollered at his body.
"YOU DIDN'T EVEN USE YOUR FULL POWER!" Bakugo screamed. "THAT WASN'T A REAL FIGHT! I CO-"
As pinkish-purple gas entered his body, he fell asleep immediately.
"Todoroki is immobilized," Midnight called. "Bakugo is the winner!"
The crowd erupted, cheering the new UA freshman champion.
"Wow, that took a while," Black said. "I know it was just a single day but that felt like it took months."
"Well, we're almost done," Aizawa pressed on. "There's still the awards ceremony to attend to."
After the arena below was cleaned up, Midnight made her way to the podium area as the students swarmed the arena.
"Now, it's time for the awards ceremony!" Midnight jovially announced. The podium itself was raised to reveal Tokoyami in third, Todoroki in second, and a chained up blonde person in first.
"Oh dear, Bakugo…" the Saiyan commented. "What the hell have you done now?"
Bakugo fidgeted around his chains and shackles like a pomeranian reaching a sugar high. Furious beyond belief, the two next to him were glad that they were spared from the many obscenities that he would've said.
"Of course, the presentation of the medals will be made by none other than our very own hero, All Might!"
There was an awkward moment of silence as All Might had already landed next to her.
"Whoops!" Midnight playfully noted much to All Might's embarrassment. "Anyway, now that you're here, please start presenting the medals starting with third."
All Might obliged, keeping his smile.
Black looked onwards at All Might. Feeling his energy, it was still the same dying presence he felt at the USJ. Examining All Might's face, he tried comparing it to that of Toshinori Yagi but was unsure whether or not the scrawny face exactly translated into this form when buffed up. Even more curiously, this power felt rather similar to someone who competed in the Festival. His eyes then moved onto Izuku Midoriya's.
"A successor?" Black mumbled.
"A successor?" Aizawa repeated. "What do you mean by that?"
"Shota, you gotta give Goku some slack when he says weird things," the DJ hero chipped in. "It's like you're investigating his every move!"
Aizawa put his binding scarf around Mic's mouth, prohibiting him from speaking.
"Wow, that seems a bit harsh," the Saiyan said, noticing Mic trying to speak. The scarf loosened up afterwards.
"Anyway, wow, uh, Bakugo," Mic said, observing the champion's face. "He uh…hmm…"
Bakugo's face was almost impossible to All Might. Completely like that of an angry wolf's All Might barely managed to put the medal's strap in the champion's mouth.
"Well, these were the winners of this year's Festival," All Might would say. "But listen! Anyone here could have ended up on these podiums. By competing and improving each other, the next generation of heroes is sure to sprout! But just before I go, I have one more thing to ask of you:"
His finger raised up in the sky as he did a victory pose.
"Everyone, please say it with me!" he bellowed.
"PLUS ULTRA" screamed the crowd while All Might yelled "Thank you for your hard work!"
A deafening boo thundered in the arena as the spectators yelled at All Might for not saying 'Plus Ultra' as well.
"What is 'Plus Ultra?'" Black asked. "Is it the school motto?"
"Yes, it is," Aizawa nonchalantly replied and gave a sigh. Mic fell out of his seat at the sound of this question.
Damn, guess I should learn more about this world outside of a combat perspective, Black assessed. It would definitely be a good way for him to determine whether or not showing mercy towards mortals was truly the right direction for him."
After the ceremony, people left in droves. Black found himself yet again with a car ride next to Aizawa.
"Anyway, you'll be typing up what you wrote in a formal report," Aizawa said. "I understand that while technology is not your strong suit, I've let the Hottas know that they can help you out in writing these. The kids have the next few days off so I would like to have them back by then."
"Understood," Black said, yawning and completely reclined against the car seat. Who knew that reviewing the combat performances of students would be more exhausting than fighting three beings with enough power to threaten the multiverse? From his mishaps with the Time Ring to the presence of a Hero Killer, being a Supreme Kai really would be an easier job.
Author's note: And there's the end of the sports festival! It's a really long chapter but I think it wraps up this crossover's version of the arc pretty nicely. I'd say that the way I wrote this arc makes things as logical as I can given what I've set up previously. I admit, I was a bit lazy and tried to rush the end of this arc but the action itself is pretty much the same in canon and I think I've developed Black's character more here. Fortunately for me, many of the other arcs do include villains so it shouldn't be as hard compared to this.
As for my writing schedule, it seems like I'll be writing about a chapter a month, although I do have a pretty fat break from personal life late next month so I might be able to crank out a few more chapters. I still intend to make this a rather long story (in fact, I already know how it ends!) and it'll take place up to the same time as the Tartarus Escapees arc (note: the events that happen itself may be very different but you can expect that the story will end around the time that this arc is supposed to happen in canon.) For the next chapter, well, I did have Goku Black make analogies to Super Saiyan mastery for Deku's One For All so I'll just say that much for the immediate future. And of course, Hero Killer stuff is gonna start! Anyway, it's still awesome to see that people are actually still reading this! Thank you all so much!