I didn't wait for Present Mic or Eraserhead to call for us. I stepped out of the booth, and walked towards the stage. As I did, I noticed something.
"Are you up for this, Shimooka-san?" I asked her evenly.
Because she wasn't. I considered her an opponent, so the Battle Scan side of Analyze kicked in, even though I hadn't analyzed her. I wasn't sure when it started doing that, because I had already scanned my classmates and was pretty quick to check on enemies in Dungeons.
Regardless of why, what it was showing me was that Shimooka-san's Health was barely over half. If it was sixty percent, I needed to get my eyes checked. Her Stamina was closer to full, but the purple bar representing her Psions was only about one third full. I don't know where she was before, how draining the Labyrinth and Cavalry Battle had been for her. But it seemed like Mikoto had taken a good chunk out of Shimooka.
I had almost full HP, having only lost a few to Ami. It had taken me almost nothing to fight Hitoshi. After the two potions and resting, my Energy was well over half. My biggest worry was how my TK Armor would fair against her lasers.
"Why?" she asked, trying to sound confident, "worried?"
"I would be," I said earnestly, "But after the jolt Mikoto gave you, you are barely standing. So yes, I am worried for you, Shimooka-san."
"Well, maybe you should worry for yourself," she countered sharply. Then her eyes softened and she said, "And you might as well keep calling me Hikari."
Cementoss studied us both, especially Hikari.
"Are you both ready?" he asked, with a little more caution and emotion then when he asked before the earlier matches.
"Yes," Hikari said firmly.
"I am," I agreed.
He looked at us a moment longer. Then finally he repeated, "Then begin."
I resisted the urge to charge in. Given what she had said about guarding herself with a layer of light so dense it was effectively solid and hot enough to melt gold. Or was I misremembering that part? I'd have to check my notes or maybe ask her later.
Hikari didn't make a move either. She watched me cautiously. I watched her hands, ready for her to shoot from her palms again. But was she limited to that? There wasn't a reason for her to be. She was a photokinetic, not someone who shoots lasers from her hands. Just shooting lasers from her hands would be simpler and faster, but manipulating light was much more flexible. And she did mention automatically drawing light into her eyes.
"You know," she relaxed, and smiled, "I am willing to give you as much time as you want to analyze the situation. It only helps me. But the crowd might get a bit bored."
"Maybe I'm just waiting for you to make the first move," I shot back, "Maybe I already know exactly what I am going to do."
She wasn't convinced. Neither was I.
"Sensei?" I glanced quickly to the side, "Present Mic didn't say anything about us damaging the platform. So if I do something that breaks it, that's not a problem, right?"
"If you break through the concrete and touch the packed earth underneath, that will count as a ring out," Cementoss told me, "If you are willing to risk that, there is no issue."
'Cell Games rules,' Mikoto commented silently, 'stay in the ring until there isn't a ring left.'
I knelt down, still watching Hikari. I placed my fingers into the seams between the blocks of the floor. They were not just decorative or measuring lines. The floor was made up of individual concrete blocks. Probably to make it easier to repair.
I grabbed two of the blocks with my Tactile TK. Both Cementoss and Hikari looked surprised when I pulled them out, cracking the edges. I held them in front of me as an improvised shield.
Of course, that meant I also couldn't see Hikari. But with Ki Detection still up, I knew where she was. I was expecting she would either use my supposed blocked vision to try to use her mirage or Photon Jump to get the drop on me. Her other option was to attack the blocks. She should be able to cut the concrete with a laser. Or heat it with normal focused light until I had to drop it.
I was caught off guard when she ran straight at me. I had the blocks angled back about thirty degrees, so if she tried to heat them, the heat would be deflected up. Hikari used that, jumping onto the stones. She grabbed the edge. Pulled herself up while kicking off. Vaulted over the top. Over me. I made the mistake of looking up. Her hands were both pointed down at me.
And then my vision was a field of fuzzy white.
[Status Resistance failed. Ailment Blindness (Flash Burn) inflicted.]
She had flashed burned my retinas. Presumably a short term version. Not that it let her escape me. Especially since she couldn't be sure it worked. I continued to track her normally as she tucked her body. She landed in an ugly somersault and rolled back to her feet.
I also noted that even though I was blind, I could still 'see' The Gamer notices.
Hikari looked at me, still apparently looking right at her. Her shoulder slumped in defeat.
"I wasn't sure that would work," she admitted. Part of me wanted to tell her it did. Instead I slammed the block in my right hand down, shattering it. I turned the rest of my body to face her. I threw the remaining lump of concrete at her sidearm. It didn't hit her, but did tear the sleeve of her jersey.
"It wasn't completely ineffective," I told her, "I can still see blobs of color. Enough to pick you out. But also enough to make me cautious."
At that, the block under my left hand slid around and attached to my wrist like a large shield. Then I crouched, using it to cover most of my body. I ran at her. She held her hand up. She must have fired a laser, because the upper right corner of my improvised barrier felt a lot lighter. She had to be careful about that, not to get disqualified for excessive force. And I had to be careful because TK Armor hadn't stopped the blinding light, so I was more dubious it would stop the lased version. But as long as I was above half HP, it would look like TK Armor stopped the laser. Which could be trouble in multiple ways.
I also needed to be careful about going out of bounds. I couldn't see, so I didn't know where the edge was or the gap I had created by pulling up the blocks. I just had my best guess from memory and where Hikari was. And not putting my foot down if I didn't feel the concrete at the right level.
I had nearly reached her. Released my psychic grip on the concrete, and pushed it with both muscle and telekinesis. Not enough to count as an actual TK Attack. It tumbled towards Hikari. I darted left. If she didn't move I would save and capture her. If not...
She did dodge, to her right. So we met. I grabbed her arm. I felt my hands heat up, and I got alerts that my Health was dropping. I pulled her closer. Stepped in. Drove my elbow into her stomach. I heard her exhale in pain. I hopped up, driving my shoulder into her chin. Then as I dropped, I continued down. I pivoted, sweeping her legs. She went down. I had expected her to catch herself, or at least protect her head. She did not. So instead I dove to the side, and let her cranium land on my relaxed arm.
"Ki Diagnostic," I whispered. Only after my skill told me that she was fine, did I withdraw my arm and move away. Fine, but unconscious. I think I jostled her skull harder than I intended with my shoulder. Still, from what Ki Diagnostic and my First Aid knowledge told me, she didn't have a concussion.
I stood up, and draw back. Cementoss stepped down from his seat. I could make out his form moving a bit. I blinked fiercely, willing my rods and cones to reset and my eyes to moisten.
"Shimooka is out cold," he announced, "But does not appear hurt. Midoriya wins."
Then he pressed a button and said just to me, "I will take her to the nurse, but you come with to get checked out."
"Ki Regeneration," I said under my breath.
"Alright," Present Mic proclaimed, "We have one match left. The finale. But it is also almost one PM, so we'll take a thirty minute break for lunch. That way you don't have to hurry, and our contestants will be refreshed."
I faced Todoroki Shouto. My vision was restored. So were the blocks I had torn out. I hadn't bought any more potions. I just had a small snack and meditated during the break. A full lunch could have been a problem in the upcoming match.
Todoroki-kun's eyes were blazing as he glared at me. Not that different from his father, despite his desire to not be like that man.
"Are you both ready?" Ishiyama-sensei asked for the final time of the day.
"I am," Todoroki answered. He was trying to sound emotionless, like normal. But there was a chill to his voice.
I merely nodded, focusing.
"Then begin."
I started to move, but Todoroki had learned from Cassandra. The advancing glacier covered almost the entire width of the platform. And while his previous attempt had been meant to capture his opponents from the neck down, this one towered over me, at least four times my height. Rather than being smooth on top, it was covered in jagged blades and spikes. So even if I tried to jump it, my landing would be dangerous. Not that I had the time to do so. It was only thanks to my High Speed Vision that I could see it advance. It was moving at three times as fast as Todoroki's prior deep freezes. I barely had a moment to flex my TK Armor as far as it would go. But Todoroki-kun had also learned from Kirishima, and the ice pressed down on me, giving me as little space as possible to move.
In less than a quarter second, my starting half of the field was engulfed in about a hundred cubic meters of ice. And me with it.
"Well?" Shouto turned to the grey Hero. Unlike the previous matches, he wasn't forcing his opponent to surrender. Midoriya was incapacitated. The attack was excessive, but technically not lethal. At least not if the judges declared him the winner before the other boy froze or suffocated. He didn't want All Might's son to die, but believed the teachers would stop the match well before then.
Cementoss just stared at Shouto for a moment. Then lifted his blocky hand, and pointed at Midoriya. Shouto whirled back, worried that his opponent had dodged. But the green haired boy was still trapped.
Then he noticed that Cementoss hadn't pointed just at Midoriya, but at his feet. He looked down, and then his jaw dropped.
Four years after the Rhode Island 7 were revealed to the world, Superman, in a solo fight with the Villain Barrage, ended up saving the lives of the entire Boston Pops orchestra. Their conductor, inspired by gratitude and awe, composed a theme for the Hero. The simply named 'Superman March'. This also started the trend of Heroes asking composers to write music for them, or composers trying to gain attention and fame by creating a work for a Hero. Including, not long before I was born, Hayashi Yuki composing 'I Am Here!' based on All Might.
I thought of that, because the opening trumpet fanfare to the march was echoing inside my head. It was one of my favorite pieces, and thanks to fan videos on youTube, I associated it with Kent-san performing incredible feats of strength.
"Drive 4. Ki Reinforcement: Strength. Tactile Telekinesis."
As the first crescendo sounded inside me, I PUSHED. Lifted upwards with every bit of muscle I had. With every power. My arms and legs ached. Damage notices littered my vision. But I pushed. And the glacier moved.
Higher. A few centimeters up. Higher. I could see light underneath it. Higher. My limbs protested. Then the second crescendo approached. I dug my fingers into the ice. Got ready.
"Gondor SMASH!" I shouted. Flung my arms to the side. And the iceberg above and around me split cleanly in two, and went flying away.
Which was a bit of a miscalculation on my part. I wasn't sure how much the ice weighed, but there was a lot of it. And while I hadn't thrown it that far, it was off the stage and still moving. It wasn't fast, but it only had to tip over, onto the audience.
Ami was already out of her booth. She lifted her hands. The ice on the left side froze in mid air. The watching Heroes, some of whom had forgotten her performance in the Cavalry Battle and dismissed her based on her loss to me, were paying attention to her. She suddenly made fists and pulled her hands down. The glacier shattered into snow, and dropped onto the grass. Cementoss studied her for a moment, then nodded. She returned to her pod, blushing slightly.
On the other side, Ryukyu had assumed her dragon form. She and Crust stepped forward, and caught the other side of the iceberg. It looked like they would lose it, until Hawks' feather hit the ice. Gang Orca was also standing, and opened his mouth. Waves of hypersound shook the ice, and it shattered, though not as thoroughly as Ami's block. I also recognized that, while she did not appear to have moved, the American had tensed. Once she saw it was handled, she relaxed.
"Well," I panted, frowning at Todoroki-kun and ignoring my screaming muscles. That display had cost me a lot of Health and Energy. It was worth it, for the uncertainty on my opponent's face.
"Now what?" I asked, composing myself.
He raised his right hand again. This time he shot at me with cannonballs of ice. Too bad I had already dealt with cannonballs today. I dodged just enough, and as they brushed past, I caught the attacks with my Tactile TK. I kept one, balancing on my shoulder. But I shot the second one back at him. I wasn't actually aiming for him. The frozen chunk passed within a centimeter of his ear, ruffling his hair. His worry turned to fear.
"Was this your plan?" I asked, not really trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice, "What would you have done if you were facing Ami? Or Mikoto, who has already shown she can shatter your ice? Or Hikari, her lasers and magnified light would have melted that."
"Why does it matter?" Todoroki-kun shot back, annoyed. He shivered, and I saw frost creeping over his hand.
"It shouldn't," I admitted, "I should just take advantage of this, and throw you out of the ring. That would be the logical move. But remember the first day?"
"Why are you helping them?" Todoroki-san asked.
"They are my classmates," I said, a bit confused.
"And what if helping everyone else somehow puts you into last place?" the scarred boy asked.
"In that case, I win," I told him with a big, open smile.
"I don't need a reason to help my classmates, even if it might hurt me," I reminded him. Then I glared slightly, "But also, the fact that we are all trying our hardest, within the rules and individual restrictions given to us, while you deliberately hold back... It's annoying. And frankly, insulting."
I felt a little hypocritical and guilty saying that. But I did have restrictions preventing me from cutting loose with The Gamer.
"I will not use his power," Todoroki-kun hissed at me.
"Why is it his power?" I asked, "It isn't like if he died tomorrow, you wouldn't lose the ability to project fire, would you?"
He blinked in surprise.
"And you haven't shaved the red half of your head," I pressed, "or had surgery so your eyes don't look like his. Half of what you are came from him. Not just your Quirk. But that is all yours now, not his. Your hair. Your eyes. Your Quirk. Not his."
He frowned, and touched his hair.
"And do you think this is hurting him? Really? He might be annoyed, but based on what I've seen, annoyed seems to be his default state."
Todoroki-kun snorted a quick laugh in spite of himself.
"You are hurting yourself more. And at the same time, if you fail by rejecting him, does that make him look bad? Or just you?"
Now he was angry at me again.
"Wouldn't it be better to take what he gave you, through random genetic draw, and prove that you are better? A better fire user? A better man? A better Hero?"
His lips twisted up. But it wasn't a happy smile. And flames licked around his left hand.
"It might be worth breaking my promise," he said darkly, "Just to shut you up."
His left hand shot forward, and this time flames engulfed me. My shirt burned. My pants smoldered. My Health fell below half, and my skin began to blister.
[Heat Resistance Skill unlock, condition 3/3 met (be reduced below 1/2 Health by a Fire attack). Skill Heat Resistance (lvl 1) unlocked.]
The elemental resistance skill had two benefits. It both gave me the normal, small amount of passive damage reduction, similar to Physical Resistance. But it also reinforced my active defenses. My TK Armor flared, and the fire stopped touching me.
[That's hot. Heat Resistance improved (lvl 3).]
Of course, it was also draining my Energy faster.
I charged him, running straight into the flame. He switched arms, and fired another ice shot at me. The second cannonball I had captured had lost almost seventy percent of its volume, but with the fire gone, I used it to counter. The two frozen orbs slammed into each other and shattered. The spray of ice shards continued towards me, because of physics. But they bounced off my barrier.
I was on him. I punched at his face. He pushed himself to the side with his ice. Then punched at me with a burning fist. I knocked it away. Kicked him in the side. He defended with more ice. It shattered, but part of the force of my attack got through, and he grunted in pain.
He fired another gout of flame at my face. But I slid under it, taking advantage of the now slick floor. As I passed him, I snapped out a backfist. It missed his knee, but hit his calf. He flinched in pain. I turned up, into a rabbit punch at his back. If this were a real fight, I would have aimed for his kidney. But instead I hit the bone and muscle closer to his spine.
Todoroki-kun use the fire to jet to the side, also turning to face me. Then he wrapped my head in ice. Just my head this time. I snapped it easily, and through the large pieces back at him.
"Isn't this better?" I asked, "Not having to suppress your powers and instincts?"
"Shut up," he panted. But he was grinning. And this time it was happy.
I grabbed his wrists, and forced his hands up. If he used either element, it would go up, and then fall back on us both. He tried to kick me in the stomach, but I blocked with my knee. I stepped forward, pushing him towards the edge. His wrist got slick, and he pulled free. He placed both hands on my chest. Pushed against me and prepared to burn or freeze me. I twisted at the last second, sliding between his arms as the fire and ice flew away. Then I slammed my forehead into his nose. His eyes crossed, but he stayed standing. I grabbed his biceps. Spun us both. And threw him out of the arena.
Before he hit the grass, Todoroki-kun created a slide of ice under himself. He skidded down it, and would have landed back in the ring. It was a good, outside the box save. Except...
"Asgard SMASH!"
I punched the ice, and unleashed my Ki into it. The slide broke, and Todoroki hit the turf.
"Winner, Midoriya Izuku," Cementoss announced. The crowd cheered. As did a more fulfilling and personal group inside my head.
The teachers put us on a pedestal. I was highest, Todoroki-kun was second, and Hikari was third, because she had lost to me. There weren't any medals. I gave another speech. But it was off the cuff, and pretty bad. Or at least inane. So I didn't bother to remember it.
I had something else on my mind.
Once they released us, I hurried to the teacher's lounge. Advisory-sensei was there. She was in a swimsuit for some reason. But that didn't matter. She returned Speed Force to me, and nodded.
"You have my permission as your teacher, to use your Quirk to keep up," she said slyly, "Go."
I ran back to the arena, drinking one more potion on the way. I looked at the crowd filtering out. I spotted her. She spotted me. The she grinned. Winked. And zipped away.
"Jet Set Run," I declared, "Drive 3."
I took off after her. We raced through the streets of Mustafa, challenging the speed limit. Then she glanced back, and smirked again. And accelerated.
"Drive 4."
She looked a bit impressed. She kicked it up again.
"Ki: Quickness," I said, over the protest of my legs. I actually started to gain on her. She looked at me again. Snorted in amusement. And began to pull away.
It was at that point I recognized that we were almost to the ocean. She was headed for the beach. Dagobah Beach, to be precise.
It was just as dirty as it had been in my dungeon. We each had to dodge trash. I did so using parkour. The blonde just ran around it, the sudden turns not seeming to cost her any speed.
She hit the water and kept going. There was a towering spray on either side, as she continued without sinking.
I skidded to a stop. My smoking sneakers cooled in the water, which was up to my ankles. I watched as her wake vanished into the distance.
"Why'd you stop?"
I jumped as an unfamiliar voice addressed me from behind. Her Japanese was good, if slightly accented. I turned to face her.
"I'm sorry," I bowed, "I can't run on water, Allen-dono."
She frowned prettily in confusion, "But don't you have Tactile Telekinesis? You should be able to stand on water."
"I can't do that, yet, either," I admitted thoughtfully. Then added sheepishly, "And I'm also tired after today. So even if I could run on water, I'd probably have to turned back after a few hundred meters."
"Yeah, that makes sense," she shrugged, "So, what can I do you for, Midoriya-kun?"
"Please, call me Izuku," I said hopefully. Then I extended the book to her.
"Huh, should have guessed," she grinned, "But this is a first printing, right?"
She skimmed it at super-speed, then added, "Yup. It's been read a lot, but has been cared for pretty well."
"It's one of my favorites," I told her.
"Got a pen?"
I reached into my pocket, and then into my Inventory. I handed her the Pencil of Solitude.
"I guess that will work," she said, one eyebrow twitching. I knew pencil wasn't the best choice, but I would cover it with tape later.
"To Izuku Midoriya, keep working so you can give me a better race some day. Berri Allen."
She narrated the autograph, which she signed on the page containing a hand drawn picture of her in full costume. With the mask, which is why I knew her chin better than the rest of her face. She looked at the picture wistfully for a moment. I wondered if she was thinking of Manhunter, whose artwork had been posthumously included in Speed Force.
"Did you really come all the way to Japan for the Sports Festival, Allen-dono?"
"You can just call me Berri, Izuku," she suddenly switched to English, "And I did help set up UA, even if Clark, Bruce, and Kendra did most of the work and get all of the credit for RI7's contributions. But no, I was in Korea to drop something off with Shin Sun-il. And when I remembered the UA Sports Fest started today, I figured I would stop on the way back and have a look."
"You were meeting Captain Korea again?" I prompted, also in her native language. My mind was spinning with the possibilities, "Why?"
"Well, Tim and Terry..." she started to answer, and then trailed off.
"I shouldn't have said that. Any of that," she mumbled, "I should ask you to forget it. But..."
Then she paused, as if remembering or considering something. She leaned down. Not far, because she wasn't that much taller than me. She looked deeply into my eyes, as if studying me. I made sure not to blink, or look away.
"You are All Might's student, right?" she asked. I nodded.
"Okay..." she decided, "I should tell him. But I think I can trust you. So I will tell you, if you promise to tell All Might, and no-one else. Can you do that?"
She put her right hand over her heart, and raised her left hand in the Boy Scouts of America's three fingered salute.
"I promise," I said, mirroring her motions.
"Okay. So, anyway, T... some of my contacts who are still active Heroes found out that the granddaughter of the original Yellow Head of Tiamat is assembling her own version of the group. And they are still fixated on Korea."
"The granddaughter of the Yellow Head," I mused, then realized something, "Is she also a technopath?"
"Got it in one," Berri nodded, "That's why we couldn't risk sending the data electronically. Instead we decided to bring Sun-il hard copies. And I was the most natural courier. Which is also why I'm asking you to tell All Might, instead of calling or texting him."
"And you want All Might to know, in case Captain Korea asks for his help," I mused.
"Actually, I was just thinking the Heads might also try something in Japan," she told me with a chuckle, "But what you said works, too."
"I'll see if I can talk to All Might tonight," I told her firmly. Since I also had something I needed to talk to him about.
"It's not that urgent yet. They still don't have a Purple Head yet... Oh, tell him that, too."
"I will Miss... Berri."
"Thanks, Izuku," she reached over and ruffled my hair, "Now I better get going. Great job at the Sports Festival. I look forward to seeing what kind of Hero you become."
Then, exponentially faster than she had been running when leading me, so fast I couldn't see it, the Flash vanished into the horizon over the Pacific.
"Party Invite, Toshinori Yagi," I said, then silently to the only one currently in my Party continued, 'All Might-sensei, do you have time tonight? There are a couple of things I need to talk to you about.'
Status Changes for Midoriya Izuku:
Health: 749 → 772 (Plus Ultra penalty -90)
Energy: 1448 → 1471
Attributes:
(S)trength: 56 → 57
(E)ndurance: 58 → 59
(I)ntuition: 58 → 59
(D)etermination: 67 → 68
Skills:
Strength Training (S): 21 → 23
Basic Karate (A): 44 → 45
Running (Q/E) – Jet Set Run: 36 → 37
Ki Detection (D/I): 34 → 40
Telekinetic Attack (I/A) LB: 28 → 29
First Aid (W/A): 8 → 9
Tactile TK (I/D): 32 → 40
Telekinetic Armor (I/E): 35 → 37
Telekinetic Aura (I) LB: 41 → 44
Wing Chun Quan (A/Q): 17 → 18
Physics, Basic (W): 8 → 9
Ki Diagnosis (D/W): 11 → 12
High Speed Vision (W/Q) 15 → 17
Public Speaking (C/D): 2 → 3
Heat Resistance (E/D) → 3
