I am back with another chapter. This chapter brings an end to the preliminaries. Honestly happy with how everything turned out with this. The preliminaries along with Kumoko, Karen, and Hans were somewhat last minute additions to add some more variety to the sports festival. Originally I had planned to write out every single fight in the preliminaries but decided against because mainly due to time and that it would have bogged down the pacing of the story too much. In the end I decided that focusing on a small group of characters was for the best. But enough rambling, on to the chapter.
Sports Festival Arc
Chapter 39: Road to the Finals
Kumoko and Fumikage stood across from one another. Sweat was dripping down her face, she took deep breaths to calm herself. This is gonna be my toughest match yet I know it. I saw that shadow entity of his in the cavalry battle and caught glimpses of it during the preliminaries. It's powerful. But I can't lose here. I worked hard too get here. I won't fail again! I can do this! I can do this!
"Round Four, BEGIN!" Mic shouted.
"[Dark Shadow]!" Fumikage shouted.
The shadow entity came charging out from his body towards Kumoko. I CAN DO THIS! She ran to her left and Dark Shadow chased her. It was quickly catching up. He fights from a range, so likely weak at close range combat. [Dark Shadow] had caught up barely a few moments later. It swung a claw at her, which she narrowly dodged. Another claw was swung at her and she blocked it with two arms. The force of the attack sent her flying back. She was quick to recover, her feet skidding across the ground as they touched down. I have to pin down black bird in a way to keep him from just ripping up the ground below his restraints. [Dark Shadow] was already on top of her. She rolled out of the way of another attack. Then another, and a third. All the while, carefully laying thread down on the ground. Another attack came and she flipped back. [Dark Shadow] charged her and she answered with a charge of her own. As it's two arms came down to grab her, she deftly leapt over them. The thread she had planted with both of her hands came to life and wrapped around [Dark Shadow]'s claws. She twisted in mid air to tie the threads around each other. However before she could cut the threads from the glands that produced them, [Dark Shadow] began to swing her around.
"Crap, I was a second too late!" She shouted.
Kumoko slammed into the ground, she cried out in pain before she was slammed into the ground again. She cut the threads at that moment. She bounced off the ground and landed on her stomach. She pushed herself up off the ground. She looked up to see [Dark Shadow] about to crush her with it's tied claws. Her eyes widened. She quickly rolled out of the way. She shot out some thread that connected with the thread around the entity's claws. She brought it to the ground and shot out another strand of thread that was sticky to get it stuck to the ground. She looked to Fumikage, who had yet to move from his spot. The bird-headed boy looked perturbed but ready to fight her. She rushed towards him, and [Dark Shadow] tried to follow. The minute it went fair enough, it yanked on the string stopping it's movements. Before it could do anything, Kumoko tied it down in the same way as before. She smirked at the entity before rushing off towards Fumikage. [Dark Shadow] tried to free itself to aid its master, however the thread's stickiness was far too great for it to overcome. Fumikage prepared himself for a fight. He tried and failed to fight her and was quickly tied up.
"The winner is Kumoko." The faculty member announced.
Said girl breathed out a sigh of relief.
"That was closer than I had liked." She muttered before turning to Tokoyami. "Here let me get you and the bird thing out of your bindings."
"I'd appreciate that, though I must commend you on being able to restrain [Dark Shadow]." Fumikage expressed.
"It was pretty touch-and-go to be honest. I wanted to break off the thread before getting flung around like that. Not only that…" She began, becoming serious. "I had to use my sticky threads."
Her face showed a clear lament as she finished her statement, she was even crying a bit.
"They're incredibly annoying and embarrassing to clean up." She expressed.
"I… see…" Fumikage replied.
Meanwhile…
Ren and Karen stood across from one another. A neutral expression on Ren's face. A serious expression on Karen that came of as incredibly cute.
"Round Four, BEGIN!" Mic shouted.
Ren and Karen charged at one another. As he neared her, Ren took a breath and vanished. Karen stopped but remained on guard. She felt the pain of being struck and tried to lash out against it to no avail. There was a period in which no attacks occurred. Ren reappeared a minute later. He was a little ways away from Karen.
"There you are!" She shouted before charging at him.
Karen attempted to attack him, but he easily dodged each of her strikes. He backed away as she continued her attempts at attacking him. She then tripped and fell, which Ren avoided. The ground cracked upon impact. Ren hopped away to his left. Karen pushed herself off the ground, her face was red from embarrassment. She got up and continued to attack Ren who continued to dodge her, and on occasion trip her. As this occurred, Ren covertly led her near the edge of the Arena. Once he was close enough, he tripped up Karen again. Her eyes went wide when she saw the ground outside the arena below her. She flailed her arms as she fell outside the arena, and landed with an ungraceful plop.
"Winner, Lie Ren!" The faculty member announced.
"Dammit…" Karen groaned as she began to cry.
She quickly whipped the tears from her eyes.
"I just have to do better next year." She declared.
Ren nodded with approvely at her conviction.
Later, in the hallways of the stadium…
"I'm so happy you won Kumoko, though it sucks that I won't be moving up with you." Karen expressed.
"Don't worry Karen, I'll be sure to win this thing for the both of us." Kumoko stated. "Besides remember what that one guy in the booth said, we're already guaranteed to be in the Hero Transfer Course. Another step forward on the path to being a hero."
"Yeah your right, though depending on how far you go you might get the fast trip to the hero course." Karen noted.
"Only time will tell, but…" She began as she clenched her fist.
She looked at it with a gentle smile.
"To me, this tournament means more than being in the hero course." She declared.
Karen smiled at her friend before looking forward.
"I know." She replied.
She tripped and fell on her face. Kumoko stopped to look down at her. Before she could say anything, Karen raised up her arm and held up her finger.
"Not. A. Word." Karen grumbled.
Kumoko merely nodded.
Meanwhile…
"Alright the fourth round is over. As I'm sure you're aware by now we'll take a quick break before we move on. In the meantime let's see what the next round entails." Mic stated.
Kumoko vs. Mina Ashido
Lie Ren vs. Katsuki Bakugo
"Whatta go Ren!" Nora cheered.
"Another win for team RNJR!" Ruby shouted.
"Our rise to glory begins!" Jaune shouted.
"And so goes my 6,000 yen." Itsuka sighed.
"Actually you still have a chance, should no one get a perfect guess on who wins, those closest will be winners." Kyoka pointed out. "Though depending on the circumstances you might not win much."
"I've been meaning to ask, how do you plan on splitting it up the earnings?" Momo questioned.
"Didn't you hear me explain it during the matches?" Kyoka replied.
Momo blushed.
"I'll admit, I was a bit preoccupied with the matches. I have to make sure I have effective counter strategies for whoever I might face." Momo admitted.
"An effective and PROPER use of her time." Tenya pointed out.
"No need to say it like that Iida." Kyoka replied. "And to answer your question Yaomomo, all those who lose will pool their money together and it'll be split amongst the winners."
"I see…" Momo replied.
"Which means if you lose it's gonna be some of us' lucky day." Kyoka pointed out.
Momo could only sigh.
"Please do not remind me of my bet." She expressed.
Later…
"Alright everybody!" Mic shouted. "Round five is about to get under way, and I think our competitors have earned a proper Present Mic introduction."
They four students made their way onto the field.
"First, the rising star of the Gen-ed course, Kumoko!" He shouted.
The crowd roared with excitement.
"Her opponent, 1-A's acid slinging mistress of mordant, Mina Ashido!" He shouted.
The crowd cheered.
"In our other match we have the silent assassin, the Ninja of 1-A, LIE REN!" Mic shouted. "Fun fact, Ren is not his given name."
The crowd's roar continued.
"Last but certainly not least, his opponent! The explosive expert himself, Katsuki Bakugo!" Mic shouted.
The roar of the crowd continued as the students stood ready to face one another.
"Round Five, START!" He shouted.
Mina, thanks to her specialized shoes, created acid at her feet to help her slide along towards Kumoko. Said girl brought her upper hands together and formed a whip from her thread. Mina smirked as she neared Kumoko. She danced around the spider-like, keeping her distance as she flung weak acid at her. The goal is to irritate Kumoko's skin to distract her. Using her whip, she swiped the acid apart in mid air. Mina continued to dance around Kumoko, deftly avoiding and attempting strikes from Kumoko's whip. Both ignored the large explosion coming from Bakugo's match. This continued until eventually some acid got through and onto Kumoko's gym uniform.
"Sorry in advance girl." Mina stated.
The acid began to corrode her top. Kumoko, appearing panicked, tried to brush the acid away. Mina took this opportunity to charge her and attack. Then Kumoko smirked. Unbeknownst to Mina, Kumoko had clothing made from her threads underneath her gym uniform which were resistant to the weak acid. She nailed Mina in the stomach.
"My other eyes aren't just for show." She stated.
The other pair of eyes Kumoko possesses do not greatly enhance her field vision. However, while they appear stationary, their field of view can be shifted somewhat independently of her main set of eyes. Thus, she can see more than she let's one.
Kumoko stepped forward and swung her fist. She nailed Mina squarely in the jaw, knocking her out cold. Ten seconds passed.
"Mina Ashido is unconscious, the winner is Kumoko!" The faculty member announced.
Kumoko pumped her fist victoriously.
"One more win and I'm in the final event." She expressed.
Meanwhile…
"Round Five, START!" Mic shouted.
Katsuki blasted forward as Ren took in a breath and vanished.
"That won't work on me!" Katsuki roared.
He blasted into the air. I'm not taking any chances with Mr. Ninja here. He spun himself around, creating something similar to a tornado.
"Howitzer..." He began.
He eventually released it in the form of a powerful explosion.
"IMPACT!" He shouted.
Ren reappeared as he was sent flying out of the arena. He landed outside of it on his back.
"Winner Katsuki Bakugo." The faculty member announced.
Ren groaned as he sat up.
"I'll take some solace in that he had to use such a powerful attack to defeat me." He muttered.
Later…
"Alright! Round Five is over and you know what that means?!" Mic exclaimed. "It's almost time to move on to the final round of the preliminaries. Let's take a look at who will be facing who."
Kumoko vs. Yuga Aoyama
Katsuki Bakugo vs. Shun Usagiyama
"For a quick reminder, the winner of these two matches will determine who will move on to the final event of the sports festival this year." Mic shouted. "Now then… huh…"
The sound of people talking could be heard for a bit before it became silent.
"Well… unfortunately we are a bit short on time so we won't be having a break, can't have the other students who failed to qualify for the finals miss out on any of the fun we have planned for them." Mic stated. "Thankfully we have two still good arenas which weren't used after the last two matches, So we'll be moving right along to the preliminary finals!"
The crowd roared in excitement.
"For one match we have the magnificent spider mistress of class 1-C, Kumoko! Verses, the sparkling faux-frenchmen of 1-A, Yuga Aoyama!" Mic shouted.
"But I am french." Yuga protested.
"And we can't forget about our other match between the master of massive explosions, Katsuki Bakugo, and the high kicking bunny of 1-B, Shun Usagiyama!" Mic shouted.
"KICK HIS ASS COUS!" The voice of the Rabbit hero Mirko could be heard shouting over the roar of the crowd.
"Will the rising star continue her meteoric rise to the top, or will Aoyama burn too brightly for her to surpass?" Mic declared. "And what of the match up between two powerhouses? They scored second and third place in the entrance exam respectively and within a narrow margin of one another. Will the explosive king come out on top like he did in the entrance exam, or will the swift rabbit rise to knock him off his silver throne. Well you don't have to wait till next chapter…"
"What do you mean next chapter?" Qrow questioned.
"Cause the match is going to happen right here and now!" Mic continued.
"Wes gots to stop dis, mys [Gag Character] quirk is rubbing offs on him." Splinter expressed.
"[Gag Character] quirk?" Aizawa questioned.
"FINAL ROUND, START!" Mic shouted.
Kumoko charged forward.
"Be dazzled." Yuga declared as he fired a laser at Kumoko.
She deftly avoided it. Yuga fired again and again. Each time she danced around the attacks as she drew near to him. However one proved impossible for her to dodge. She raised up four arms to block the attack. Her silk that made up her gloves held strong against the onslaught. Once the beam died down she resumed her charge. Due to repeated uses of his quirk, Yuga's stomach was in knots and he couldn't fire any more. Kumoko took the opportunity to lay him out with a single uppercut.
"Winner, Kumoko!" The faculty member announced.
She brought two hands to her chest and breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you lord." She muttered.
As she walked off the stage, she took time to observe the match between Katsuki and Shun. She stopped to observe it more carefully. The two were fiercely battling it out. Eventually Katsuki narrowly got the edge in the battle and was able to blast Shun out of bounds.
"Shun Usagiyama is out of bounds, Katsuki Bakugo is the winner!" The faculty member in charge announced.
"You'll get 'im next year Shunny!" Mirko shouted.
Katsuki turned to Kumoko. Their eyes met. The drive to win shone in their eyes. Like a raging fire.
"And with that the preliminaries are over. The two participates moving on are Katsuki Bakugo and Kumoko!" Mic shouted.
Kumoko turned away and walked off the field. Katuski followed suit not long after.
"We'll take a little time to get the field cleared and get things set up for the drawing." Mic announced. "After that it's we'll hold the drawing for the final event. Once this is done we'll move on to some recreational events for those who failed to qualify. Once that's out of the way however, it'll be time for the final event. Much like the preliminaries, it'll be a series of one-on-one fights to determine who the winner of this year's Sports Festival will be!"
With Class 1-A, when Katsuki won…
"YES!" Izuku, Ochako, and Kyoka cheered as they leapt to their feet.
"It's payday!" Kyoka exclaimed.
Izuku and Ochako started performing an impromptu victory dance. Tenya merely shook his head in disappointment. This died down during Present Mic's explanation on how the rest of the tournament was going to proceed. Then picked back up again.
"Yeah yeah rub it in you guys won your little bet. Thanks for betting on me by the way Toru, it's nice to know someone had confidence in me." Mina expressed.
"You betcha." The invisible girl replied.
"What about me?!" Minoru cried.
"You don't count." Mina replied.
"Anyways, you guys know what to do, pool together what you bet and we'll split it evenly amongst the winners." Kyoka stated.
Everyone, begrudgingly complied. The result, Kyoka now had a large amount of cash in her arms. Momo created bands with her quirk so they could be bundled together easily.
"Alright now this is a total of…" Kyoka began.
"222,000 yen." Momo answered.
"And that split amongst three people is…" Kyoka began.
"74,000 yen." Momo answered, again.
"Thank you." Kyoka replied.
"Your welcome." Momo returned.
"Now then…" Kyoka muttered as she handed Izuku and Ochako their winnings.
"I still disapprove." Tenya voiced.
"Well I approve of the dinner I'm treating myself to. Jiro, Deku, want to come too? Celebrate the earnings?" Ochako asked.
"OH… ah… s-sure…" Izuku replied.
"Nah I'm good, you two enjoy your date." Kyoka replied.
"D-d-d-d-d-daTE!" Izuku and Ochako exclaimed.
"I knew you two were a couple!" Mina exclaimed.
Ruby: Aah ha haaaa Izuku... finally making a move on Ochako I see.
Izuku: I don't abada I mean daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... *Izuku . exe(Yes I have to do it this way or it'll not save properly.) has crashed*
Ruby: *giggles* Don't worry I've got you covered.
Izuku: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...
Ruby: Next time we move onto the finals. Sorry to the everyone else we won't be seeing your games.
Karen: YOUR NOT MISS MUCH! EEP! *trips and falls*
Ruby: And something weird goes on with Izuku, though I think we all know what it is.
Izuku: Next time, Chapter 40: Battle for the Top, Part 1.
Ruby: Oh your back.
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