"And that's the match!" The Announcer shouted, "With that, Shinya Kamihara takes out Shinji Nishiya and passes to the next set of matches!"

The plain arena was overgrown with trees, but above all of them stood the winner, Edgeshot. The ninja looked at his opponent, the defeated Shinji Nishiya, and nodded, "You fought well, Woods."

"Thanks." The younger ninja sighed, "I guess I'm still not on your level."

"It takes time." Kamihara replied, "You are already far stronger than last year."

Nishiya nodded, "I just need to find some new challenge then. Leave to dojo and train on my own."

Shinya Kamihara hummed. He thought back at the conversation he had a few days back with Chojuro, a good fighter he had already faced the previous year.

What he had explained about that young man called Deku. Kamihara had felt sorry for the teen, but he wasn't going to try and contact Deku for it. He had too much to do in his own world already, whether he won or lose the tournament. However…

"I might have a suggestion." Edgeshot said, "If you want to try and face some dangerous risks."

-x-

"Argali is next, right?" Huanli asked, and Revenant nodded.

"What do you think?" Deku asked next, "Is he going to win?"

"… I'm not sure." Revenant admitted, and noticed the look of the two teens, "What, did you expect me to just have an answer? I don't know everything about him and his opponent." He pulled out Samurai Edge, the gun already cleaned back in the interval of two matches that had passed since Revenant's. "Could you tell I can use a gun, before my match with Kaminari?"

"Well, no…"

"My point exactly. All I can tell you from our time training together is that Argali is a close quarter fighter that uses primarily his transformation Quirk to evade attacks and counter. Does he have weapons? Can he transform partially? Does he have different fighting styles?" Revenant shrugged, "My guess is that he uses something like a rope, if the makeshift weapon he made during our fight with the assassin is any indication, primarily for holds and to restrain the opponent. And the same goes for Ryukyu. I've seen her fights in previous tournaments, so I have an understanding of her abilities, but for all I know she might have some move she never pulled."

"So you can't even make a guess?" Huanli asked, "Because if you ask me, Argali is going to lose."

"A fair assessment." Revenant replied.

"But you just said-"

"That I'm not sure. Yes, from what I've seen of both, Argali is going to lose. No, I'm not sure of that. Frankly, I hope he wins."

"Why?"

"Easier opponent of the two. Ryukyu can fly and her scales are bulletproof. Since I can't kill her, that would mean I'd have to find a way to drag her back down. Probably a nasty one." He shrugged, "I mean I can do it, but I'd rather pick the opponent that can turn into a sheep when we are stuck on an open field."

"What about the other two?"

"Shinso fights like Aizawa. He is strong, but nothing special. Ectoplasm made a mistake in choosing a terrain with too many tall walls and covers, not in choosing him as an opponent. Kamihara… He is probably the strongest of the bunch, and he is still not going all out." Revenant glanced to Huanli, who nodded.

"I think in two days Kamihara will beat Shinso, that's for sure." Revenant replied. "For the other one, it depends. If the round after this goes like I anticipate, Monoma wins. Which leaves only Argali's match as a maybe, but I already said what I think of that."

Izuku nodded.

Now it was up to Argali to subvert Revenant's expectation.

-x-

If anyone had told Argali that he would ever feel inadequate after watching himself at sixteen fight Kaminari, he would have laughed. There was no way in a million years that Argali would ever feel envious of the nervous teen that he had been.

Except that now a version of himself was Captain America and another was some other sort of super soldier. That was without counting the zombie one whose real age was hard to guess, the one with One for All, and a girl that knew magic.

'Am I having a middle age crisis? I'm twenty-eight, for crying out loud!' He sighed, fixing his scarf. The weighted hand dangled, designed so he could pull his weapon out in one swift movement. Made of his own wool, the dark green object could almost blend with his hair when put next to each other.

He cracked his neck. "Well, time to see if a sheep can win this." He decided, having no other option. He touched his horns one last time, like Pony did from time to time saying that it was good luck.

Really, strictly speaking he could have just given up. He had found Kendo, and there was nothing else blocking him there, but that would have been a major dick move to the man that had allowed him to reach this place. He owed Nemoto – and wasn't that a weird thing to say, considering who the man was back home? – to at least put in the honest effort.

Also, if his students heard their teacher had thrown a match, what kind of example would he set for them?

'I mean, I did against Todoroki back at the Sports Festival, but that was that and this is this.'

And with that, he entered the Arena, just as the Announcer shouted at the crowd to welcome Argali. The crowd cheered, and then Argali noticed the ground. "Well, that's new."

The arena, aside from the small area he was standing on, had been replaced by a six meters deep pit, the only way down a small elevator to his left, mirrored on the opposite side. He was still wondering what the point of pushing the terrain further down was, when the Announcer turned to the other entrance.

"And now, a well-known contender here at the Arena. She is as fierce as the greatest warriors and as regal as the most powerful queen. The dragon that makes its enemy tremble raining attacks on her opponents or fighting them with claws and teeth as sharp and hard as the best blade. Hail to the Queen! Hail to the Fire! Hail to Ryuko Tatsuma!"

"Of course…" Yeah, that made sense. There was a rule that established how far into the sky someone could go, but by pushing down the Arena, Ryukyu was essentially extending that limit, since it was based on the height of the normal floor and most likely didn't scale with it.

He sighed, stepping forward and glancing down. A six meters fall was enough to make it at least dangerous, considering the ground below was the same of the normal arena, stone and nothing else, smooth walls on all sides. This arena was entirely designed to make it impossible for him to win.

He would at least try though. Effort and all that.

Surprisingly, Ryukyu imitated him when he moved for the elevator, the moment the match started. They descended together and touched the ground almost in sync. Izuku stepped forward carefully, knowing the fight had already started, tugging his scarf.

"To a good match." Ryukyu said when they stood five meters from each other. Argali nodded.

And then Ryukyu transformed her arm, turning it into at giant limb with pearl white scales covering it. Only the limb transformed, the rest of her body remaining unchanged, but when she took her stance, arm moved like a shield in front of her, claws ready to spring into action, Argali could tell she moved it without any difficulty.

Meanwhile, however, he had already transformed, the smoke lingering behind him as he rushed forward in sheep form. Five meters were plenty to charge, and his head bash slammed against the scales covering the arm.

It pushed back a step or two Ryukyu, but the arm didn't break or budge. The scales, however, did crack, splinters of keratin falling all around the two fighters. Argali didn't wait for Ryukyu's retaliation, instead switching to his human form, the cloud of green smoke surrounding both of them as he pulled his scarf off and threw the weighted end toward Ryukyu's still human arm… only for the scarf's end to bounce off the suddenly transforming arm, Ryukyu's claws reaching toward him. He pulled back the scarf and took several steps back, managing barely to dodge the incoming attack. A second clawed limb reached for him as Ryukyu emerged from the smoke, now with both arms transformed, the draconic limbs feeling out of place on the woman.

"It's been a while since someone managed to crack my scales." She admitted.

Argali could well believe it. His horns were hard but he was sure he didn't want to put them to the test against those scales too much. Last thing he needed were broken horns, this early in the tournament too. He tapped on them again for good luck, and dove back in.

The truth was, Argali wasn't a complex fighter. He had a smoke screen on command, a transformation, and his scarf as support.

He had made it be enough.

With a sudden burst of green smoke, adding to the still lingering amount, he rushed forward, knowing full well what Ryukyu expected. Argali turned back into a human as he saw the shadow of the claws reach toward him, and in that form he slid on the ground, rolling to dodge the incoming attack and then turning once more into a sheep, aiming for Ryukyu's abdomen.

He impacted against it, but the sound that came of it wasn't horn hitting flesh, but rather horn hitting armor.

Or keratin.

"Oh, did you think I couldn't manifest just the scales." The woman asked from above, and Izuku gulped as he realized she had covered her body, under her clothes, in dragon scales. She had purposefully left the head and the few other body parts that were uncovered by her dress human, while transforming her arms completely, all to goad him into thinking she had to transform noticeably.

He still had done some damage – her voice showed a hint of pain – but before Argali could build on it, a fist hit his flank. He was sent flying to the right, slamming against the arena wall. Panting, he looked ahead to see Ryukyu, her right arm seeming to have reverted back… no, she had only transformed it differently, as he noticed when the left arm also diminished in size.

She was now covered head to toe in pearl white scales. Her teeth, already sharp, had grown a bit, and her eyes had become yellow with a slit pupil. Her fingers ended in claws, and she was taller, about two meters and counting in height.

'Alright, that's not something Ryukyu can do.' He sighed. Of course he had to fight the superior version of her. He tried to analyze the situation. This was the same kind of transformation people like Muscular had. The hardening made her resistant to damage, and it strengthened any attack. Which meant… 'That this is going to be a huge pain.'

He moved forward, and Ryukyu responded in kind, stepping forward. As he walked, he wrapped his scarf around his hand, tying the weighted end in a makeshift knuckleduster, and then they were at range. Ryukyu punched, a straight right aimed for his face, but at the last second she opened her hand, extending her range with the claws, sharp as a knife.

But Argali was ready, sidestepping and punching with his own fist, aimed at her jaw. The metal impacted the scales and Ryukyu grunted in surprise, before answering with another attack with her claws, a straight aimed for his chest. Argali, knowing he couldn't stop it, turned into a sheep instead, and blocked the attack with his horn, before headbutting forward. Without a proper charge it was hardly as effective, but it still drove the air out of Ryukyu's chest. And he did it again.

Again.

Again.

Ryukyu finally regained some control, grabbing him with both hands from both sides, and then pulling him up. Despite a bit of strain, the strength of a dragon, even in this humanoid form, was clearly enough since she managed to raise him above her head, and then slam him back down.

Argali instead transformed back, finding himself free from her grasp due to his change in position, and with his now free hands grabbed onto her arm, ignoring the stinging pain of the scales through the skin, wrapping the scarf around it, examining it for a second before letting himself go, just in time for the large dragon-like woman to miss him with her other arm. He then turned into a sheep and pulled on the scarf, using his own weight to unbalance his opponent and drag her into a new headbutt, horns and skull impacting on the keratin that covered her. She winced, and he took a few steps back, while she pulled the scarf free and threw it away, the metallic end clattering on the stony soil.

"You are putting up a good fight." She admitted, "But this is over now."

Argali watched her transform completely. Abandoning any pretense of putting up a fight, Ryukyu turned completely into a dragon, a pearl white beast with yellow eyes that roared a challenge toward him.

A dragon roaring at a sheep.

Yeah, most people wouldn't put a bet on the sheep.

His eyes trailed on her arms, her jaw, and he nodded. The signs of the cracks on the armor he had inflicted were still there, grown in size rather than repairing. Alright. That was good. It meant she couldn't just repair her own damage by transforming over and over. It would stick. At least in that she was the same as the Ryukyu he knew.

"Anything you want to say?" Ryukyu asked.

"… Baaa?"

"Yes, I figured."

The dragon took flight, the wings beating and dispersing the green smoke that still lingered inside the pit. Argali grit his teeth.

Yeah, this wasn't good.

And then Ryukyu opened her mouth, fire streaming out.

-x-

"She can spit fire too…" Deku bit his lip, watching Argali start to run, briefly turn into a human to pick up his scarf before reverting into a sheep. He had to basically keep dodging out of the way of bursts of fire – or ice, as it turned out that was on the menu too – emitting from Ryukyu's mouth.

"… There is something wrong." Revenant said.

"Why?"

"Because Ryukyu changed strategy abruptly." He replied, "She was planning to fight in close quarters, but she switched tactic after that first bout."

"You think it's because she wanted Argali to think he had a chance."

"She doesn't seem to be the type." Huanli replied, from what I've seen, she is fighting efficiently, Without using unnecessary moves in any given combat style."

"So you are saying there is a reason if she changed tactic." Izumi asked.

"Didn't you say you wanted to avoid watching?" Deku asked.

"Oh give me a break and answer."

"Well…" Revenant thought, "All I can think is that Argali has been switching a lot between forms. Maybe her objective…"

"She wanted to tire him." Huanli replied.

"Bingo. And I can only think of a reason why." Revenant pointed at her, at how she was switching between fire and ice, "She can't keep this attack up for long. fought Argali hand to hand first to make sure of how strong he was, and then I guess she judged she could attack longer than he could escape. All she needs to do is hit him once to end this match, with those powers of hers."

Huanli nodded, "I fought an opponent with a similar power before. Long-range fighter, but he could only use his ability for a few minutes, so he did the same thing, forcing the opponent to waste their energy."

"Which means, it's up to Argali now." Revenant watched the other Izuku revert into a human, kick a wall to launch himself out of the way of an icicle as large as his arm, roll on the ground, turn into a sheep and start running again, "He needs to outlast the barrage. If he can do that, he has a chance."

-x-

Argali panted. How long had he been running up and down the Arena to dodge Ryukyu's attacks?

Argali could jog for hours normally, of course, but there was a difference between that and having to keep dodging attacks and switch form. He was running low on stamina, and knew he couldn't hold much longer. He had stayed as close to the center of the Arena as possible, making sure to never get bottled at the two extremes or in the angles near the entrances, but Rykyu hadn't chosen a pit randomly: he had nowhere to go. Moreover, as she kept attacking, puddles of water would form as the fire melted the ice, and then would turn into steam or freeze over into a sheet of ice he had to steer clear of.

'Really wish I had Pony in support right now.' He thought. She could snipe Ryukyu's wings and force her to land. For that matter, Tokage could have reached for the dragon, Todoroki fought both types of attack with his own, Mineta would have stuck her down to the ground, Ashido… 'Thank you brain, I don't need strategies for my friends right now, do you mind giving me something?'

Truth was, Argali's options were limited. He was a good climber, but the walls of the arena were too smooth to climb. Not to mention that would have made him a sitting duck. Or sitting sheep. And his scarf wasn't long enough to grab on Ryukyu, he had already tried and been almost hit by an icicle for it.

He dodged out of the way of yet another burst of fire and then of another icicle, panting. How long could she keep going? There had to be a limit somewhere, or she wouldn't have fought him in close quarters in the first place. He had done well against her there, and Ryukyu had to have figured out that he was a fighter focused on close quarters, if she picked him specifically as the opponent.

Not for the first time, Argali found a part of his mind, the one not thinking about the fight, reflecting on the shortcomings of his Quirk. While it was a good one – and he would die on that hill, turning into a sheep was awesome – he also was aware that he had holes in his power. A long-range fighter like this one was a weakness he couldn't just headbutt into submission, or jump on in human form to then trap them after turning into a fully grown mutton.

Ryukyu's transformation was awesome. This Ryukyu was even better. They were dragons, they were larger, stronger, could fly…

He had horns and wool. And a scarf. And sometimes smoke-

'Oh well that's a thing I can do, I suppose.'

He started running around, transforming back and forth from human to sheep and viceversa. He had noticed even before that his smoke tended to linger in the arena pit, since unlike the normal height, here there was nothing to disperse it. Even when earlier Ryukyu had pushed it away with her wings, it was already resettling.

So all he needed to do was obscure the arena entirely. Dodging more attacks from the air, he kept switching back and forth, making the green smoke thicker and thicker. He panted, but didn't stop. Turning so many times from one form to another took a tax on his body, but he had to do his best.

Finally, surrounded by green smoke that made it impossible to see where he was, he turned into a human once more and pulled out his scarf. Looking up while staying low and trying to not move the green haze. The dragon tried to take random potshots in the general direction he had been heading toward, but Argali remained still, scarf in hand.

Ryukyu swoop lower to disperse the fog with her wings, her shadow no more than four or so meters in the hair, the tail even lower, just a meter or so.

Perfect.

Argali tied his scarf in a makeshift lasso – thank goodness Pony had thought him that during their honeymoon, when- that was not important right now – and threw it. He would never say he was as good as a proper cowboy, but when most of your wife extended family lives on a ranch its either getting good enough to not embarrass yourself or suffer the pity looks.

The moment the green mist was moved away, he threw. The lasso closed around the tail and Izuku pulled, closing it tight and making sure it got stuck in the scales.

Ryukyu saw it, of course, and whipped her tail to detach it. Izuku cursed but didn't let go, instead getting thrown around the arena, cutting through the mist-like green smoke and trying to not get splattered on a wall. Not an easy task, considering that he couldn't turn into a sheep, which meant the very squishy human was getting thrown around mid-air.

It was probably abusing the rules, really. Ryukyu couldn't kill him, so she couldn't just whip her tail at full force to slam him against a wall. Instead, she had to try to either burn him – not easy since he was dangling and was more than capable to swing out of the way while in midair or runaway while scraping on the ground – or try to cut the cord, which however required her to land.

So Argali instead took the chance to climb up. His wool was really resistant, and it was reinforced with polymers courtesy of Professor Aizawa and Mei to make it heat, laceration and cold resistant. The laceration part was what came in handy here, as he finally reached the tail and grabbed onto it, ignoring the scraps and bruises covering his entire body. A few bones had also broken, but what was new? You didn't work as a Hero and a UA teacher without breaking at least five bones a year.

Now he just had to climb up the dragon. Ryukyu, of course, didn't take particularly well his climb, and so she did what he expected her to do: she started to try and kick him down, maneuvering in the air, bucking her back and even spiraling midair.

Holding on tight, slowly moving from one scale to the next, Izuku had one thought in his mind.

'Pony forcing me into those rodeos is really coming in handy right now.' He thought. To think the first time the mere sight of a bull had made him scream for months to come.

Survival really made people grow.

Finally, he climbed up a few of the spikes on Ryukyu's back, and reached the wing. He grabbed onto it, finding that indeed, the membrane was as hard as he expected it to be, then, when a moment came for Ryukyu to let go her spin before she crashed, he did the obvious thing.

He grabbed on the wing's base and turned into a sheep.

Yes, Ryukyu was strong enough to hold him up as a dragon. She could still fly while carrying him.

Her wing, however, wasn't ready to the sudden added weight, and lurched to the side. Before he could fell off, Izuku then turned into a human, hanging on the bone right in front of the wing, and headbutted forward, before letting himself go. The horns planted themselves in the wing and, he hanged there for a moment.

"Don't you dare!" Ryukyu shouted.

He turned into a sheep, and that was the final straw. The membrane of the wings started to rip under the extra weight of the animal form, a long, the two sides of the growing tear in the leather-like cover growing loose and flapping like an untied sail.

The wing was also already tipped off by the weight, and Ryukyu had been distracted.

All that meant that they slammed right on the side of the arena.

Izuku as a sheep hit the ground first. Thankfully, his wool made for a decent airbag and his skull was hard enough to resist a six meters fall.

And then Ryukyu followed him, unable to fly now that one of her two wings had lost half of its membrane. Standing back up, the dragon woman looked in horror at the now broken wind she had fallen on.

-x-

"Did… Did he just ground a dragon as a sheep?" Fuyumi asked.

"Yes!" Captain Kamino shouted, raising both arms, "Go Argali!"

-x-

"Alright, kid gloves are off!" Ryukyu shouted, rushing forward as the towering dragon she still was.

"Wait, they are off now?!" Argali shouted back, doing the same in sheep form, wading through the smoke. Alright, he had grounded her, what now? Frankly, he had kinda hoped she would just get knocked unconscious by it, but nope.

'I have only a couple of transformations left, then I will be to exhausted to keep up.' He thought. He was running on fumes at this point.

He dove under the swipe of the left front arm of the dragon, dodged the claws coming from the right one, and then just impacted against the woman's sternum. She hissed, keratin cracking, but she didn't seem that hurt. Argali jumped back in time to dodge a torrent of fire and turned around, running away to avoid the flames, before he heard Ryukyu take a sharp breath. He turned to see her mouth emit smoke instead, and with a grunt she started to shrink, going back to her woman-dragon hybrid form.

-x-

"As I thought, she has a limit on how long she can keep up the full transformation. I guess something has to go in the exchange for all the extra power." Huanli said. "Argali has a chance."

Revenant hummed. 'He is good. A lot better than I thought.'

-x-

Really, Argali wasn't sure about what the dragon lady was doing, but if she wanted to fight him hand-to-hand, he would oblige her. He rushed forward again, without transforming back, and impacted with her arms as she raised them in a defensive position. She was still two meters tall and with scales covering her whole body, so he didn't really do more than push her a few steps back and break more scales off her body, but she seemed to be feeling it.

"I guess I'm not the only one that is running on fumes." She commented, and he just gritted his teeth, an expression weird to see on a sheep's face. He looked around, but his scarf was too far. So much for grabbing a weapon, he supposed.

Only one way to end this.

He rushed forward and attack again, taking a hit to his flank but letting the wool absorb the majority of it before leading up with an headbutt against the woman's chin. She saw it coming, using her free hand to dampen the blow and then deliver an hammer fist to his back. Argali snorted at the blow and then twisted his head, slamming in her abdomen once more. The keratin was giving way, he could feel it, but before it could he had to jump away before she could grab him with both arms, knowing full well she could drag him up and slam him down. 'That was close.' He thought, before rushing forward again.

This would be the final confrontation, he decided.

Whether he won or lost, he couldn't push himself any more in a competition like this one.

Ryukyu attacked, claws trying to slash past his wool. Argali transformed into a human, grabbing both arms with his hands and, ignoring the scratching of the scales, lowered his head and pulled Ryukyu forward.

His head slammed against hers.

And Argali's skull was harder. Bakugo knew it from the Sports Festival.

Now the Multiverse would learn about it too.

Ryukyu stepped back, dazed, but he still had her arms. With a shout, he dragged her in again, and their skulls bashed against one another.

Again.

Again.

And then, one of them fell to the ground.

-x-

The Announcer stared at the scene.

'What the hell…'

"We have a winner!" He declared.

He watched Izuku Midoriya, horned head bloodied by the wounds caused by Ryukyu's face hitting it over and over, and Ryukyu on the ground, face bloodied by hitting said head.

"Izuku Midoriya, The Wooly Hero: Argali, moves forward to Top 32!"

The crowd cheered.

-x-

Deku finally breathed, something he hadn't done in a few long minutes. "He won."

"He did." Revenant said, seemingly deep in thought.

"I want to fight him!" Huanli on contrast was bouncing up and down on her chair, "I want to fight him, I want to fight him, I want to fight him."

"I don't think he will be fighting anyone for the rest of the night. Or for tomorrow, for that matter." Izuku pointed out, as Argali was dragged out of the arena on a stretcher next to Ryukyu. That had been close.

"That isn't a no…" Huanli pointed out, and Deku chuckled.

They spent the next two matches waiting normally. A version of Monoma beat a fighter called Muscle Man Izuku didn't recognize, and then Shishikura from Shiketsu was beaten by a Tenya, the man defeating him with a power armor that made him both faster and stronger.

And then…

"Izumi Midoriya." A voice called from the hall, "Three minutes."

They all turned to look at Izumi, the teen putting her weapons away as she took a deep breath and stood up. "Well." She said, "Good to know it's my turn." She looked at them, "Can't tell me who I'm up against, right?"

"You got at least a description of everyone. Argali already got one of the most dangerous fighters and Ruin already passed by. You will be fine." Revenant replied. Deku wanted to say that he was basically telling her she wasn't fighting one of the top fighters, but he was doing it in a way that at least left the interpretation open. Glancing at Izumi, though, he was fairly sure she had caught the meaning.

"Well, I guess I will find out then." She replied, "See ya."

Deku nodded as she walked out. "Good luck Izumi."

And with that, she was gone toward the Arena.

(XX)

Guests in this chapter:
Argali from Sheep go to Heaven by Dramatic_Spoon
Revenant from Locked in Digital by Rogue Druid
Captain Kamino from Kamino's Ward by Tunafishprincess

You thought you would get Ironblood's full story? You fools! It is not time yet for the Vampire to spill the beans.
Instead you get something else. I figured that it was time to show that people in the Tournament are starting to spread the word about Izuku's quest, and not everyone is against helping. Just that the vast majority have stuff to do.

Tell me a year ago that I would write a sheep Izuku beating Ryukyu and I would have laughed.
But damn, Argali is nothing but resourceful.

So, coming up with the whole fight was admittedly really fun, especially when I got to fully embrace the insanity of it all. Argali's fighting style is, all things considered, pretty straightforward, but the scarf and the smoke of the transformation are both quite useful to add to the mix of what's otherwise "Turn into a sheep, headbutt, turn into human, punch, stay human, headbutt, sometimes use the horns".
Also, him having a lasso-like weapon was too juicy of an option to not make some jokes at the fact he married Pony, the Texas girl.
Real thanks to Dramatic_Spoon, Argali was a really fun addition to the Tournament.

Also five rounds gone today, for those keeping track this means we are at round ten of sixteen.

Next up, Izumi, our last alternate Izuku for this set of matches. Will the Delinquent President win her fight against another version of Geten? Find out next week!