Chapter 9
Several minutes later, Oliver and Bakugo were standing several meters away from each other in the arena. After several attempts of being convinced by Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, and Kirishima not to forfeit out of terror, he was finally ready to face him.
"Ojiro handed me the chance to advance this far into the finals. I won't let this go to waste..." Oliver thought. "Hopefully he'll stick to what he knows. He's kept a pretty consistent fighting style, so maybe he'll stick with it now."
He looked at Bakugo. He had a sneer on his face, like he was pissed off. It wasn't one of those uncaring glares or overconfident grimaces, but rather one of the more targeted looks that Bakugo seemed to gain when a classmate talked trash about him.
"I hope Oliver can handle it," Yaoyorozu said in concern. "Bakugo's won all fights so far."
"Yeah, but Bakugo's a master at kicking ass! It won't be easy!" Mineta commented.
"Oliver isn't that much of a pushover himself, you know," Shoji said.
"Still, you can't deny Kacchan's skills," Midoriya said. "He may be hot-headed but he isn't stupid. Maybe Oliver will have a plan, but Kacchan will likely counter anything he's already seen."
"Let's hope Oliver has something special planned then, ribbit," Asui said.
Oliver cracked his neck. "OK, I got this, I can do this...just a normal fight...easy peasy..." he whispered.
Bakugo cracked his knuckles, small explosions rippling out of his hands. Snarling, he lowered his stance. "You're dead," he said.
"..."
"...wait, what?"
"BEGIN!" Midnight yelled.
"C'mere!" Bakugo yelled as he rushed Oliver immediately. Squeaking in surprise, Oliver snapped his fingers and switched positions with him, putting him behind Bakugo, before an explosion tore through the back of his P.E. jacket, sending him flying.
"Agh, he's already planned for that?!" Oliver coughed as Bakugo swerved around, propelling himself to him with a fist ready to connect with his nose.
Ducking, Bakugo soared over him, but he got a kick to his face, sending him flying back as Bakugo landed. "I know all your moves!" he said, a cocky smirk on his face. "Betcha thought I was the idiotic loudmouth, huh? Well, you're wrong!"
The wind was forced out of Oliver's gut as Bakugo landed a punch into his diaphragm. "You don't get to judge me!" he yelled. "I'll win this time, not you!"
"Whoa, what's he doing?!" Ashido cried.
"Looks like Kacchan is trying to overwhelm him at the start of the round! He knows a drawn out battle would leave him vulnerable but he's clearly not holding back," Midoriya said.
"What do you mean?" Kirishima said. "He was in favor of a drawn out battle with me when he figured out my time limit."
"It's different here. Kacchan normally relies on his explosions for shock and awe, but he's using physical attacks as well. It's like...he has a grudge or something…but why?" Midoriya said.
Oliver wiped the blood from his mouth as Bakugo rubbed his hands together. "He's much more vicious than I've seen before...I don't understand!" Oliver thought.
"You think you're so much better just cus you have a bright cheat as a quirk?!" Bakugo yelled, sending an explosion towards Oliver, who easily dodged. "Think again! You're nothing you damn transfer!"
He sent a blast to the ground that Oliver flew back from, before recovering by flipping to his feet and dashing forward again, only for an explosion to halt his advance. When he opened his stunned eyes, Bakugo was closing in with a hand ready to grab him.
Bringing up his arm, the spiky haired hothead grabbed Oliver's wrist and detonated. Screaming, Oliver's hand felt like it was in a blender as he stumbled backwards. "You had the nerve to just ignore my fight?! Chatting with those losers in 1-B?!" he spat, before kicking Oliver across the face.
"You didn't fight those damn robots to get here! You didn't take an entrance test!" Bakugo yelled, dodging a punch before being elbowed in the gut. "You took a shortcut! You didn't earn your place here!" Taking the elbow, he flipped Oliver and slammed him to the concrete, cracking it.
Crying out, Oliver grabbed his leg and twisted, sending Bakugo toppling. It was all for naught however, as Bakugo sent an explosion that lifted him upright while sending Oliver and a chunk of the ground rolling away.
"You're worse than that quirkless bastard Deku!" Bakugo snarled as he jumped forward and destroyed the large concrete chunk, shattering it and pelting Oliver with tiny rocks. Oliver groaned as he felt the rocks graze his body, blood going down his arms and face before he leapt forward. "You looked down on me. Now you're gonna pay," the explosion quirk user growled.
"I can't do it yet, there isn't enough!" he thought before grabbing a big chunk of rock and throwing it, snapping his fingers.
"You're a loser, an extra! Think you're better than me because you got a scar? That proves you're weak!" Bakugo roared. He shook the ground with another violent blast.
In the stands, Shiozake gasped in horror as Oliver was beaten down relentlessly. Yaoyorozu and Jiro were frozen as they watched, and Midoriya was panicking, now trying to think of a way Oliver could be planning to end the fight and stop this torture.
Oliver braced as Bakugo rocketed forward. "A fake! You've been stealing the spotlight for this entire damn festival and you didn't earn it!" he shouted as he punched Oliver square in the nose. "You don't get to steal my thunder!"
Oliver ached from head to toe as another explosion sent him sprawling. "You're nothing! Everyone here is nothing! My class is nothing! I will be the greatest hero, you got that?!" the explosive student demanded. "You aren't gonna win, not against me!"
"So he wants to be the best...no wonder his pride is like that. I can't hold back now. Or else I may not last much longer," Oliver thought as he coughed. Looking up, he glared at Bakugo. "That's why you wanna be a hero? That's stupid!" he shouted.
"What?" Bakugo growled.
"You want recognition? Fame?" Oliver asked. "You're the fake here!"
"What's he doing?" Kirishima asked, scratching his head. "Is he...taunting him?"
"Whoa, I didn't think he'd be the type for that," Mineta said.
"Maybe he's snapped. Bakugo has been insulting him this entire time, ribbit," Asui commented.
"Or, Oliver's fighting back. Maybe he'll hope to get Bakugo off guard," Midoriya said.
"You really gonna say that?!" Bakugo yelled. "You don't get to judge me! My motives! My reasons! All you've ever done is steal the spotlight!"
"I had to work harder than anyone to get to where I am!" Oliver shouted, dodging an explosion at point blank range and dealing an uppercut to the cheek. Bakugo stumbled before swinging his arm and sending Oliver up into the air.
"Shut up! Bakugo roared. "You don't get to talk like that! You didn't come here for that! All you want is attention! You wanna be a hero? You wanna be a damn celebrity!"
"What's Bakugo doing?" Yaoyorozu said in concern. "Doesn't he know how much Oliver's had?"
"He isn't holding back," Iida said.
"Oliver's getting beat up pretty bad," Sato said.
"Yeah, that looks pretty bad," Shoji said.
"Midoriya, please tell me he has some sort of plan in mind!" Uraraka cried.
"I...I don't know," Midoriya said. "He can't use his quirk as well as he can, and Bakugo has him on the ropes. I think Bakugo's just taking his time..."
"Still, Oliver's talking back. Is he buying time?" Iida asked.
"Yeah, anyone would if they wanna avoid dying-AAAAAA!" Mineta screeched as Jiro angrily stuck one of her jacks into his ear.
"I wanna be a hero to help people! That's the only reason needed to be a hero!" Oliver yelled as he threw a small chunk of the arena up above him before teleporting to its position, even higher in the air. "I wanna make the world a better place!" he continued as he glared down at Bakugo, the ground rapidly approaching. "Why're you talking like that when you wanna be famous too?!"
Throwing out his leg, he began to spin, in a manner that seemed very familiar.
"No way, that's Ojiro's fighting style!" Midoriya cried.
"You're kidding!" Kaminari said.
Bakugo dodged as Oliver's leg slammed into the ground. Spinning on one hand, he sent his other leg into Bakugo's face. "You walk over everyone you deem unworthy, but we all had to get here from someone else's missed chance, someone else's failures and mistakes!" Oliver yelled as he jumped to his two feet, standing tall. "Maybe I didn't earn my advancement here, my friend gave me his spot!"
Ojiro's eyes widened as Oliver began to walk towards Bakugo. "He gave me this opportunity. This chance. I won't waste it!" he cried, his voice cracking as it reached the loudest he ever yelled in his life.
"WHOA, WHAT'S THIS?! HAS THE RESIDENT SHY GUY OF CLASS 1-A COMPLETELY LOST IT? EVEN THE MOST QUIET HAVE LIMITS, EH ERASERHEAD?" Present Mic asked.
"Shut up and focus on the match," Aizawa's voice over the speaker said. "And Koda's the shy guy of class."
"Leave it to Mr. Aizawa to put the spotlight on the most unwilling of students," Midoriya said, as Koda tried to hide behind Sato.
"DIE!" Bakugo yelled as he rushed forward, only for Oliver to kick a rock into his face. As Bakugo stumbled, Oliver transported himself there in a flash, slamming his heel into Bakugo's face before landing, in the same way Ojiro recovered when landing at a great height. The crowd roared as Bakugo was sprawled out to the ground.
"You'll pay for that! TEN TIMES OVER!" Bakugo yelled as he propelled himself up, blasting at Oliver at top speed once again, Oliver fighting back with the same amount of speed.
"Incredible..." Ashido said, quietly .
"Indeed. I feel honored to lose to someone with as much strength and conviction as he," Tokoyami said with Dark Shadow beside him nodding, having come out to watch.
"So manly!" Kirishima sobbed in a manly manner.
"Still, this is pretty new of him. Wasn't he the shy guy?" Sato said.
"Maybe. But even those closed off still have the ambition to perform their passions," Yaoyorozu said. "He's not like anyone else in this class."
"Why, however do you mean?" Aoyama asked. Yaoyorozu didn't answer.
Meanwhile, Ojiro was holding back tears. "Oliver...thank you..." he thought as he wiped his eyes.
Bakugo threw Oliver to the ground as he flipped back up, before jumping to the air, building up altitude as he exploded his hands downward. As he dove to the ground, he began creating explosions, his left hand pointing to one side and his right hand pointing to the opposite side, small booms alternating between each hand.
"HOWITZER IMPACT!" Bakugo roared as he began to propel himself sideways, spinning at an outrageous speed as he turned into a nosedive directed at the stunned Oliver.
"WHOA, A SUPER MOVE!" Present Mic yelled. The crowd watched as a maelstrom of air began to swirl around Bakugo as he flew down directly to his opponent.
"I can't watch!" Hagakure cried.
"I can!" Kirishima said excitedly.
Oliver growled before leaping to the side, reaching for the concrete chunks on the ground, only for Bakugo to slam down in front of him, palm accelerating for the ground.
"You trying to copy Round Face's strategy?! Think I can be so worn down and distracted?! Well guess what, it ain't gonna work!" Bakugo yelled. "Your quirk won't work on me, trying to sneak up on my explosions is useless!"
Oliver leapt to his feet as the massive boom sent him tumbling across the cracked ground. Air shot up into and around him as the impact shook the ground. A massive hole took the place where Bakugo had landed, the boy himself storming up, a bit slower than before.
"Midnight?" Cementoss said, ready to intervene.
"Not yet," Midnight said. "Both of them aren't too badly hurt."
"But Bakugo could-" Cementoss protested.
"If he tries anything too drastic, I'll step in," Midnight assured.
"I know what you've been planning. You wanted me to break the ground into smaller chunks and use that to outflank me. But you're not fast enough," Bakugo said, advancing on the American transfer. "I'll be able to counter anything you try."
"I know that, but I have to try! Here I go!" he said before transporting himself behind Bakugo, then to his right, then behind him again. When Bakugo turned to face him, he got a fist to the cheek before Oliver vanished and kicked him in his thigh.
"Shit, he's teleporting much quicker now! But he can't keep this up for long," Bakugo thought as he grunted from the relatively weak blows. "I wore him down enough that his hits won't even scratch me! Either way, he's finished!"
"No way, he's overusing his quirk!" Midoriya cried in panic.
"Oliver, be careful!" Iida yelled.
Oliver wouldn't hear, being preoccupied with landing hit and run attacks on Bakugo for the next minute, Oliver's movements slowly being more sluggish after each use of his quirk. And Bakugo noticed.
"You American bastard!" Bakugo roared as he let loose a mighty explosion that cracked most of the stadium and sent Oliver in the air, stunned. Bakugo leapt up before slamming him down with enough force to create another crater within the several craters.
The dust that billowed blocked everyone's sight for a minute, and Class 1-A was nervous that Oliver might have lost. When it cleared, Bakugo was on top of Oliver, pinning him down. He was right next to the left side boundary of the arena.
"Got any last words, you idiot?" Bakugo sneered, one hand clenching his collar with the other dangerously close to his face. Bruised and bemused, Oliver only coughed before smiling.
"Say cheese," he whispered, closing his eyes before snapping his fingers. Suddenly, hundreds of tiny flashes of light from the ground blinded Bakugo as well as most of everyone in the stadium watching. Cries and groans of shock filled the air as nearly the entire combat arena was engulfed in flashing lights.
"What is this?!" Iida yelled.
"So bright, it hurts!" Mineta wailed.
"AAAAAAAAAAA!" Kaminari blared.
Midnight and Cementoss covered their eyes as well, unable to try and intervene with so much illuminosity.
"MY EYES! AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaa-" Present Mic screamed into the mic, Mr. Aizawa presumably having erased his quirk temporarily to prevent him from blowing out everyone's eardrums in the panic.
"The hell?!" Kendo groaned from Class 1-B.
"Too bright!" Tetsutetsu yelled.
"It hurts!" Shiozake cried.
Meanwhile, Bakugo had stumbled back, both arms over his eyes as the lights incessantly attacked him.
"What the hell did you do you damn transfer?!" Bakugo roared over the flashes, before two hands grabbed him and shoved him hard to the side. Still helplessly blinded, Bakugo tumbled and tripped before landing on the ground.
When the lights finally died down, Bakugo blinked the lasting haziness from his eyes and looked up to Oliver, who was panting as he stood over him. "Just needed to distract you," he said. "While you created my trump card for me."
Bakugo growled before looking down to see his entire right side lying outside of the arena. Eyes wide in pure disbelief, Bakugo roared and punched the ground in frustration.
"Katsuki Bakugo is out of bounds! Oliver Rowe advances to the next round!" Midnight yelled, still wiping her hands over her eyes one at a time. "Damn, that was flashy!"
Aoyama cheered from the stands. "I'm proud of you, Oliver! Shine, SHINE!" he yelled, somehow being the only one not affected by that light. Though that didn't surprise anyone in Class 1-A.
"No way, he did adapt Uraraka's strategy, but he used it in such a different way. He must have been training really hard to be able to transport hundreds to thousands of small materials like those broken up pieces of concrete back and forth, the lights being enough to blindside anyone. Was that some sort of super move he was saving up? Incredible!" Midoriya rattled as he broke down what just happened, once he recovered from the lights. "He had to have planned on Kacchan's explosions being extremely powerful, and only had to tank the hits long enough to pull through, but that had to have been lots of strain on his body, getting hit and overusing his quirk like that. I can't believe he was able to handle all that, but it might've been easier with such tiny objects so close to each other, meaning the distance would've been a negligible drawback, and-"
"Midoriya, I l enjoy those little ramblings you do, but MY EYES HURT!" Uraraka cried, wiping her face which was streaming with tears.
"I hope everyone else is OK," Jiro said as Midoriya attempted to help Uraraka. "No way that could've been painless for so many people."
"I know," Tokoyami said, attempting to soothe Dark Shadow, who'd weakened by the light so much he fit into the palm of his hand now.
Todoroki, who had recovered quickly, simply frowned. Oliver's words had resonated with him, and was thinking about what he'd do when his time came to face the transfer student.
Cementoss had taken aside the silent Bakugo and battered Oliver to speak with them. "Rowe, I do understand your plan, but it's important not to try any tricks that could potentially harm others. Luckily, the camera crew managed to tint their cameras when the first flashes appeared, but I'm afraid I cannot say much else for the people watching here."
"Yes, sir," Oliver said, shamefully. "I can't believe I had to resort to a tactic like that...I feel like I broke my own promise..." he thought sadly. "This doesn't feel like a victory..."
Looking up to the stands, he saw Class 1-A watching. "And I might have to fight Todoroki next. I hope I have enough time to recover."
"Up next is Iida versus Todoroki!" Midnight announced as Oliver slowly limped to the nurse's office. Sure enough, Recovery Girl was there, healing his body while the arena was being repaired, again. At this rate, Oliver wouldn't heal quick enough to be able to see the next match, which was Todoroki against Iida.
"You're just like Midoriya," Recovery Girl sighed. "You overclock yourselves and cause more damage than I've ever seen. Your injuries may be on par with Midoriya's last match. Your wrist was fractured in four places, broken fingers in your left hand, three broken ribs, and bruises up and down. I can heal the bones and bruises, but your wrist won't be so quickly repaired. It'll have to be in a cast for the next few days."
"But...I still have to fight," Oliver said.
"Well then, you won't be able to use that right hand of yours," Recovery Girl said. "I'm sure you can snap with your left hand, correct?"
"Oliver, are you OK?!" a voice cried. Oliver turned to see Iida, Ashido, Aoyama, Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, and Midoriya.
"Hey guys...lemme guess, stadium's being repaired?" Oliver asked tiredly.
"Heh, yeah. Cementoss is getting real sick of that happening," Ashido laughed. "You could see him grumbling as he's lugging the cement hose around."
"Plus you do need medical attention, so we'll be taking a three hour break. It's the last match afterwards, so they aren't too worried," Iida said.
"I'll apologize again after the festival," Oliver croaked. "Can't believe I won that."
"Yeah. no doubt Bakugo will remember that. Maybe he'll learn to stop underestimating his opponents and start treating them with more respect," Yaoyorozu said.
"Actually, I think he'll only get worse," Uraraka said.
Oliver sighed. "Either way, I don't think I really won..." he said.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Iida asked. "You defeated Bakugo with a powerful super move! Which could've hurt people with how bright that was, so you really should've shown some restraint for the sake of others! Heroes don't harm others, intentional or not!"
"S-sorry. But...he kept taunting me and I lost it...I fell to his words," Oliver said. "For a moment, when he kept insulting...belittling me..."
"Yeah, we heard you. Ojiro's emotional by the way. He was touched when he saw you using one of his trained kicks on him," Midoriya said.
"Is that so?" Oliver said, chuckling. "Well...that fight brought out a lot in me...a lot of things I wanted hidden."
"Like your passion?" Yaoyorozu asked. Oliver blushed as he looked down. "What you're fighting for isn't embarrassing. It's beautiful, really. It only proves how much you deserve to graduate and be a hero."
"It's not that...it's my voice," Oliver said quietly.
"What about it?" Uraraka asked.
"It's so ugly when I yell...I'll never hear the end of it!" Oliver cried.
"Seriously, that's what he's worried about?" the people in the room thought simultaneously.
"Well, people are going over the fight itself. Many didn't even hear what was being said, so you should be good. Speaking of the match, you were holding out on us!" Midoriya cried.
"W-what?" Oliver asked.
"That massive barrage of lights, it was incredible! How did you do it? Was it the shattered bits of concrete you were using to switch back and forth?" he asked.
"Y-yeah...and I wasn't holding out," Oliver said. "I actually...came up with that at the last second..."
"No way, ribbit," Asui said.
"Yeah, that looked like something you planned for way ahead of time," Midoriya said.
"Heh...I was just panicking...the whole fight, I was scared shitless..." Oliver said. "I really thought I was gonna die..."
"OK, you're too close and nosy! Leave now so I can operate on his wrist," Recovery Girl said, waving her hands. "Go on, scoot!"
"Get well soon!" the teens called as the nurse closed the door. Sighing, the elderly woman looked to Oliver and smiled kindly.
"Such worrying kids, I swear they'll be the death of me. You're lucky to have such kind if not reckless friends," Recovery Girl said. Oliver sighed and closed his eyes, letting himself drift off to sleep.