I am back, sorta of, I'm still working on the full set of chapters. It's taking awhile for two reasons. One, is an annoying string of writers block I've been having from time to time. The second reason is that I'm working on eight chapters in stead of the normal six. I'm doing this for a now belated celebration of this story running for two years now and to fully cover one of the big fights I had planned so I wouldn't leave any cliff hangers. That means once the whole set is none it'll be a total of six main story chapters and two chapters of the side stories, counting this one. I'm posting this early because everyone's waited long enough and I want to update everyone on what I was planning.
Another thing to note is that I've slightly edited the very beginning scene. It won't really change anything as far as my plans for this story go, but it'll clear somethings up for events that happen later on. Now, I've got reviews to reply to.
Dragon lord Syed 101, Joanne Frances Tiano Cajilig: Replying to what both of you said at the same time since I'll be saying the same thing. Weiss isn't taking her hero exam, it is stated in the beginning of the chapter that it is the preliminaries for the ICHS.
KiddoIsTheBest: As this new chapter shows, the story is still ongoing. Don't worry though, I know I've mixed up the 'Updated' date and the 'Published' date due to the site's formatting. Just read things carefully next time.
Now, on to the chapter.
Sports Festival Arc
Chapter 41: Battle for the Top, Part 2
"Alright! After that ah… match… and with the arena cleared, we've got another one. That hopefully won't be as one sided." Mic noted. "Can I get a yeah!"
"YEAAAHHH!" The crowd roared.
"Alright then, with the arena cleared let's get on with it! In one corner we've got the engine-legged speedster from the 1-A hero course, Tenya Iida!" Mic shouted. "In the other corner, we've got the support department's manic master of machines, Mei Hatsume!"
"Huh…" Ruby expressed as she noticed as Tenya put on some support equipment. "Why does Tenya have suporrooh no…"
"What?" Kyoka questioned.
"Oh gods… I feel bad for what's about to happen to Tenya." Ruby muttered.
"Uh… Ruby… uh… w-what's going on?" Jaune asked.
After some debate about Tenya's ability to have support gear, which was resolved since Hatsume insisted earnestly and Tenya refused to deny it, the match went underway. Tenya charged forward right towards Hatsume. Who used her gear to easily move out of the way and trip him up.
"Mei tricked Tenya into using support gear so she could advertise it didn't she?" Ren noted.
"Yeah…" Ruby sighed.
"D-d-d-didn't she bring like… a lot of support gear." Ochako pointed out.
"Weeeeee might be here a little while." Izuku noted.
After ten long minutes of Hatsume advertising her creations, the match came to an end with her stepping out of the ring.
"And that's all folks!" She exclaimed.
"YOU DECEIVED ME!" Tenya bellowed.
"Ah… Mei Hatusme loses by… ring out. The winner is Tenya Iida." Midnight announced.
Hatsume turned her face away.
"Sorry about using you like that." She muttered out before walking away.
"I REALLY dislike you!" Tenya shouted.
He left the field in indignation, grumbling along the way.
"All right then ah… well… that was something." Mic noted awkwardly.
"Dat's one way of describings it." Splinter noted.
"Let's just move on." Qrow breathed out in annoyance.
"Good idea, I'm sure this next match will be something good so let's get on to it!" Mic shouted.
The crowd cheered.
"For our next match we have two lovely ladies from class 1-A, making this the first match between students from the same class in the finals." Mic declared.
Momo and Itsuka made their way towards the arena.
"For this match, we've got the mistress of martial arts, Itsuka Kendo!" Mic shouted.
"That sounds a little pretentious." She noted.
"And… the queen of creation herself, Momo Yaoyorozu!" Mic shouted.
"This is embarrassing." She muttered, her face flushed red.
The two girls walked up onto the arena and stood a cross from each other.
"May the best student win." Momo expressed.
"I plan to." Itsuka replied with a smirk.
"Well see." Momo replied.
"Enough talk! Begin!" Mic shouted.
Itsuka took the initiative and charged forward. A shield formed in Momo's right arm and staff in her left. She took up a defensive position. Itsuka's eyes narrowed She's planning something. I know she has more up her sleeve then just something simple like that, and the time to make it. Once she was on Momo, She stepped forward and pulled back her right hand, as if reading a palm strike. Momo made no moves, simply keeping her defensive position. Itsuka sent her palm forward, enlarging it near the point of impact. It slammed into Momo's shield. Momo struggled against the force of the attack, as Itsuka gripped onto the shield. What's she planning? Momo mentally questioned. Such a telegraphed attack. It's too amaturious for her. Her eyes went to Itsuka's free arm. She felt something slam into her knees causing her to cry out in pain.
Itsuka had slammed her foot into Momo's knee. It bent her leg at an awkward angle causing her to lose her footing. Darn it I was so worried about her hands the power they can punch when enlarged, that I forgot about her legs. It's only natural you'd use such an obvious strength to blind an opponent into focusing on it. Itsuka pulled Momo towards her and sent a palm strike towards Momo. She enlarged it upon impact, slamming her opponent with even greater force. Momo cried out in pain, but held fast. She clicked a button on the grip of her shield.
Itsuka felt an electric shock surge from the shield into her, causing her to cry out in pain. She released her grip on the shield. Momo recovered quickly and slammed her staff into Itsuka's stomach. She gagged and slowly backed away, holding her stomach. Momo wasted no time and stepped forward, thrusting her staff forward. Itsuka recovered even quicker and parried the thrust away. She moved to close the distance. She thrusted a palm forward. Momo quickly moved to block it. Itsuka enlarged it upon impact. The force, along with her poor footing due to attacking, caused Momo to be knocked slightly off balance. Itsuka continued her assault forcing Momo back and giving her little opportunity to find her footing. For each palm strike she performed she enlarged her hands right before contact and then shrunk them as she pulled back and sent the next one forward. However her rate of attack was slow since she still had trouble rapidly enlarging and shrinking her hands. Due to this Momo was eventually able to regain her footing. Itsuka's palm slammed into Momo's shield, but the black-haired girl held firm.
She knocked it to the side and retaliated with a thrust of her own. Itsuka quickly knocked it away. Momo released her hold on it, letting it fly away. She charged and slammed her shield into Itsuka's stomach. As she did, She dropped a needle down into her now free hand, which had a tranquilizing agent in it. She activated the electro shock function of her shield, causing electricity to course through Itsuka. Nows my chance, before the shield runs out of power. She went to inject the tranquilizer into Itsuka's leg. Itsuka, fighting through the pain, slammed her palms on Momo's ears as hard as she could. Momo screamed out in pain. Everyone in the crowd, including the pros winced. Her grip loosened on her shield, stopping the electrical shock, and the tranquilizer, dropping it to the ground. Before she could recover, a well placed punch to the jaw knocked her out cold. Ten seconds passed.
"Momo Yaoyorozu is down, Itsuka Kendo moves on to the next round!" Midnight announces.
Itsuka breathed out a sigh of relief as the crowd roared.
"Now here are the kind of fights we were looking for!" Mic shouted. "And a close one at that, it looked like it could have gone either way for a good while."
Momo began to stir. She groaned as she pushed herself off the ground.
"That hurt." She muttered.
"Here let me help you help up." Itsuka expressed, reaching her hand down towards Momo.
"Thanks." Momo expressed as she took hold of it.
Itsuka helped her to her feet.
"Good match out there." Itsuka expressed.
"You as well. Though I feel ashamed I could not win it even though it was within my reach." Momo expressed somewhat downcast. "If I had been just a bit faster I would have got you with the tranquilizer."
"So that's what you had up your sleeve." Itsuka muttered.
She shook her head.
"Don't worry too much about it." Itsuka expressed with a smile. "You fought well, and made it hard to win. Besides, so long as you learn from this it's not really too bad of a loss."
"I suppose that's one way to look at it." Momo expressed with a soft smile.
The two made their way out of the arena.
"What a show of sportsmanship ladies and gentlemen!" Mic exclaimed. "And what a match as well. It wasn't too long but there was an impressive display of fighting skill on both sides."
"Both Kendo and Yaoyorozu both came up with good strategies and counter strategies for each other. Each also had clever tricks up their sleeves to try and take the edge in the match." Qrow pointed out.
"In the end, it came down to Kendo's being a split second faster in her attack that netted her the win. Without that, Yaoyorozu would have been the victor." Aizawa added.
"I's couldn't agrees more." Splinter spoke.
"What, got nothing witty to say?" Qrow questioned.
"Da Author couldn't dink of anyding." Splinter replied.
"Again who do you even… *sighs*... you know what, nevermind. I'm just going to stop now before I start wanting to drink again." Qrow replied.
"Alright, no more of this, because we've got the next match to get to!" Mic shouted.
Kumoko and Ochako made their way towards the arena.
"For this match we've got another set of lovely ladies. From the hero course, we have the governess of gravity herself, 1-A Ochako Uraraka!" Mic shouted.
The crowd roared to life. Ochako blushed from the introduction she received.
"Come on Ochako!" Ruby shouted.
"You can do it!" Izuku shouted.
"But we can't forget the rising star of the gen-ed classes. She fought from the bottom of the preliminaries all the way here. The web-weaving wonder herself, Kumoko!" Mic shouted.
The crowd continued to roar. Kumoko, put on a bold confident face as she marched towards the arena. Internally she was an embarrassed blushing mess from Mic's introduction. The two girls stepped onto the field and faced one another. Ochako cooled her nerves and mentally prepared herself for the match ahead. Kumoko stood confidently before her.
"START!" MIc shouted.
Neither side made no sudden moves, each waiting for the other to pull the trigger. Damn, I still haven't figured out a way to beat her. Ochako thought to herself. I don't really have anything I can use to immobilize her, my quirk's useless because she can just tether herself to the ground with her silk. She also beats me in a straight up fist fight. What can I do to win? Kumoko was the one to make the first move. She charged forwards. Ochako readied herself for battle. Once Kumoko was close enough, Ochako sent forward a punch. Kumoko dipped under it and quickly retaliated with a punch from her lower, left arm to the stomach. She quickly followed up with several more punches in quick succession. Ochako barely managed to defend before quickly breaking away to try and gain some distance. Kumoko kept on her and gave her little time to get her barring straight. Ochako did her best to defend, or dodge Kumoko's attacks, but could never get into a position to counter attack. Eventually Kumoko got in a good hit and knocked Ochako out.
"Ochako Uraraka is unconscious, Kumoko moves on to the next round." Midnight announced after ten seconds.
Kumoko breathed out a sigh of relief. That was good. I was able to win without using my threads. I need to conserve as much nutrients as I can for the next round. She looked to both Ruby and Amai. Whoever wins that fight will probably be a tough opponent. Ochako's groans brought her out of her thoughts.
"Here let me help you up." Kumoko expressed.
She bent down and helped Ochako to her feet.
"Thanks," Ochako expressed before looking melancholic.
Kumoko noticed this.
"Hey don't look so down. It's just a loss. I'm sure you'll do better next year." Kumoko offer.
"Huh… o-o-oh… no I'm fine it's just…" Ochako began.
There was a brief moment of silence.
"I see… you have something you fight for as well." Kumoko noted.
Ochako's eyes went wide in surprise. She blinked a couple times. Kumoko smiled.
"Like I said don't let this loss get you down. You'll have more opportunities to achieve whatever you're fighting for. So don't give up and keep pressing forward." Kumoko declared with a thumbs up. "It's how I got here after all, so I'm sure you'll achieve whatever you set out to do."
Ochako didn't say anything for a bit before smiling.
"Yeah, your right thanks." She replied.
"No, problem." Kumoko replied.
The two left the arena to the respective areas then entered from. The cheers of the crowd were largely ignored by Ochako as she headed back to the prep room. While she was still sad at the results, the sincerity of Kumoko's words along with their truths helped to ease it. She looked down to her hand and clenched it into fist.
"Next year." She whispered.
"Uraraka!" She heard a familiar voice call to her.
She looked up to see her friends; Izuku, Ruby, Itsuka, Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Tenya, all waiting for her. There was a brief moment of shock, before she smiled.
"Should have figured you guys would meet me on the way." She noted as she walked up to them.
"Of course silly, that's what friends are for." Nora expressed.
"She is correct, though I expected you to be a bit more upset at your loss." Tenya noted.
"Yeah, especially with everything this tournament meant to you." Izuku added."It's part of the reason we're here."
"It doesn't even look like she's hiding it." Ren noted.
"How can you tell?" Itsuka questioned.
"I have my ways." Ren replied.
Ochako giggled.
"Thanks guys, but I'm fine. A little sad but fine. There's always next year right." Ochako expressed.
"Well you're taking this well." Itsuka noted.
"Yeah, it's good to see." Ruby expressed.
"Well, Kumoko offered some words of encouragement, which helped." Ochako explained. "She's something else. I feel like she'll be a great hero when she makes it into the hero course."
"Well hopefully I'll get a chance to fight her and she's what she's made of myself." Ruby expressed. "First I have to do my best to win my first match."
"Be careful out there. Amai looks to be a tough opponent to beat." Jaune stated.
"Yeah, I know. I gotta make sure I'm ready for anything." Ruby stated. "Wish me luck."
She rushed off down a hall.
"Good luck!" They all yelled.
"Anyways, I should go check my phone in the prep room. My parents are probably gonna call me. I'll meet you all back in the stands." Ochako expressed.
They went their separate ways with brief parting words. Ochako entered the prep room and grabbed her flip-phone from her container. She saw a missed call from her father. She dialed his number and the phone rang for a bit.
"Hey dad, sorry I missed your call." She stated.
"It's fine dear. I know ya must be busy." Her father replied. "Yur Ma and I saw yur match on TV. I know it… didn't go… great, but ya did yur best out there."
"Yeah…" Ochako expressed with a sigh. "But… there's always next year. It just sucks the scouts didn't get to see much of what I had to offer.
"Hahaha… well… it looks like yur handlin' this well. That's good to see." Her father replied.
"Yeah, that Kumoko girl saw I was feeling down and offered some words of encouragement. I guess it struck accord with me." Ochako answered. "I just have to keep pressing forward till this set back means nothing."
Tears began to fall down Ochako's face.
"I hope you and Mom can wait a bit for…" Ochako began.
"Ochako… we'll be fine. Just focus on being a great hero, my kind beautiful little girl." Her father.
Tears continued to fall down Ochako's face as sadness and happiness blended together. She tried her best to wipe them away.
Meanwhile…
As Ochako had her talk with her father, Izuku and the rest of the group made their way back to the stands to watch Ruby's match.
"Alright! Let's get on with it. It's time for the sixth match!" Mic shouted as Ruby and Amai made their way towards the arena. "We've got the rose petal speedster of 1-A, Ruby Rose! Verses, the top dog of the whole tournament if we're going by the Entrance Exam. The powerhouse of 1-B, Mei Amai!"
The crowd roared to life.
"Do your best big sis!" Eri yelled out.
"You can do it Ruby!" Jaune yelled.
"Do Your best!" Ren and Nora yelled.
"You got this Ruby!" Itsuka shouted.
"So far in the finals it's been 1-A that's come out over 1-B in their bouts, but that just may change with this one!" Mic shouted. "So let's get to it, BEGIN!"
They all watched Ruby burst forwards. She fainted like she was going for a frontal assault before flying around to Amai's rear. Then a large blast from Amai sent her out of bounds in a near instant. Ruby had slammed into the walls of the stadium before falling down to the ground. Her gym uniform was singed and practically destroyed, smoke was coming off of her.
"Ruby Rose is out of bounds. The winner is Mei Amai!" Midnight announced.
Silence fell over the stadium. All of 1-A was in shock. Izuku was looking at the unconscious body of Ruby. She was taken out in an instant, like she was nothing. Katsuki looked at Amai, barely masking his fear with rage. I don't think I can beat her. Shoto's eyes were also on Amai. Could she be even stronger than me? If I use my left side then… no… even if I face her, I'll use only my right. He clenched his fist. I will deny him. From her class' stand, Kumoko's eyes were also on Amai. I have to face her… Her fist tightened as sweet began to pour down her face. Karen looked to her friend nervously. She's way stronger than I was expecting. It'll take everything I have to win. Can I even… no… don't think like that Kumoko! You fought your way here! You can't lose now! No more setbacks! I'll win!
"I'll fight with everything I have AND WIN!" She shouted.
Meanwhile, in America…
A pin drop could be heard in Blitz's family's TV room. They were all stunned into silence by Ruby's defeat.
"I could take her." Blitz finally spoke up.
"THAT'S YOUR REACTION TO THIS?!" Yang shrieked.
"Would you expect any less from me?" Blitz questioned.
"Fair…" Yang sighed.
Izuku: Ahhhh... well... that happened.
Jaune: Can't believe Ruby lost like that. It was so bad it forced me to take her place in the next chapter preview.
Izuku: Too soon.
Jaune: R-r-right ah... Anyways, next time we do our best to cheer Ruby up.
Izuku: And Flash and Kacchan go at it in their match. I wonder, how Flash is going to do. I mean, he's no slouch but Kacchan is Kacchan.
Jaune: I'm sure he'll have some interesting tricks up his sleeve.
Izuku: Next time, Chapter 42: Battle for the Top, Part 3.
Jaune: Good luck meeting Endeavor Midoriya.
Izuku: Wait what?
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