The time has come for the second-to-final chapter of this arc! Lots of big things happen in this fight, I suggest you pay extra attention to detail. Bakugo moving his hands around can help you grasp what's happening. And I hope it's to your liking.
The biggest events of this chapter have been kinda imagined by me since I started this fic, so I hope I lived up to my vision as well as I live up to everyone else's expectations. This also feels like one of those chapters I'll go back and revise a lot, so I'll see how it goes. This is about 6,000 words of fighting, and 30,000 characters, followed by the rest being well... the rest. I'll try to answer some questions at the end of the chapter.
Enjoy, hopefully.
As both of the students walked out on the field, the loudest cheering that either of them had heard erupted.
Hearn groaned on the inside. The attention, the light and everything were still a bother that put stress on her. But there was a silver lining to it, which was the person she was about to meet. Taking her first step up the staircase to the main battlefield constructed by Cementoss, the blonde raised her head and slowly awaited the enemy she was about to face. Bit by bit, her excitement exploded to make to let Maribel forget the stress of all that was around her. Soon enough, the smile she had before she entered the arena came back to her.
Bakugo waltzed with his hands lazily hanging to his sides. He seemed to be caught up in his thoughts, but steeled his sight toward the girl who'd appear in front of him. It was strange to see him like that.
A battle was to commence within moments. The final one of the first year's sports festival.
Midoriya held his broken arm as it hung by his gut. Wrapped in bandage, he couldn't move it around. Thankfully though, his legs were nowhere near as hurt as the rest of his body. As a result he had been allowed to go watch the final fight upon his own request after getting a slight schooling from Recovery Girl. Before Maribel had arrived and specifically questioned him about Bakugo, All Might had also left to watch the final battle. Before he did, he had told Midoriya that he'd been forced to tell Hearn about One For All, but thankfully she did not bring that up with Izuku for whatever reason. Izuku could only wonder why. It wasn't long after that Shouto woke up, and he seemed quite tame compared to how he'd handled Midoriya earlier. Perhaps it was too early to tell with how exhausted he seemed, but Shouto told him about how Maribel fought with him.
His concern, coupled with the strange development of her powers, made it all an opportunity he couldn't pass up. He had to see this battle.
Stepping out onto the spectator's seats for 1-A, he got there in just the right moment. He arrived just in time to see the Maribel and Katsuki make their way to the middle of the battlefield.
Present Mic loudly exclaimed to the audience to get even more excitement going. "IT'S TIME FOR EXCITEMENT TO HIT THE HIGHEST POINT! THE FINAL BATTLE OF THE U.A. HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS FESTIVAL IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!"
Both of the contestants took their initial step up to the main level of the battlefield. The smooth concrete bright like the sun that was shining on it. Bakugo trod forward with clenched fists and furrowed brows.
Hearn looked supremely confident, coupled with her usual feminine body language as she walked. Her hair seemed longer than when Izuku fought her, one odd detail he could pick up on. It flowed in the open air of the arena. Tied together on the tips of the hair behind her head, and into two pigtails that reached down to her collarbone. Shined upon by the sun, she looked like a golden diva. The colorization was aesthetically pleasing.
Bakugo looked like he was on his guard. Midoriya could tell he was taking this fight very seriously.
"Both from the hero course..." He continued.
"The girl who bends both expectations and the boundaries, MARIBEL HEARN!" Present Mic continued, pronouncing her name correctly this time for some odd reason. Having been around her a bit, he knew Maribel didn't like it when people didn't.
"And the unmatched, with skill as powerful as his explosive temper! KATSUKI BAKUGO!" The announcer finished. Spectators roared, some booed him, some were just excited for the brawl, uncaring. The business course had their eyes on this fight, all of the hero agencies. It was safe to say these two were the stars of it all, right now.
Midoriya walked down the seats and plomped himself down next to Ochaco. "Hey, Deku-kun." She was quick to say.
"U-Uraraka-san!" He twitched his head to her a little, caught off guard by her jumpiness. Speaking somewhat worryingly, he asked her about their fight earlier. "I hope everything's fine from earlier?"
She rubbed the back of her head, parting her eyes from him. "W-well, you kind of defeated me and everything... B-but it's fine!" She exclaimed, looking down at the battlefield. "With those two around, I don't think I was going to get far anyway."
"Uh... Well, I'm still sorry..." Midoriya said.
"Apology accepted." She replied, giving him a lovely smile as they locked eyes. Both of them felt a little stirred when talking to each other. But neither of them were courageous enough to admit it.
Deku sighed, relaxing, as he put his thumb to his chin and stared down at the two of them. Maribel looked comparatively grizzled by all the fighting she'd done today. With how she was earlier, you really wouldn't assume Hearn could have a fight with Katsuki. "Merry-san asked me about Kacchan earlier, how long he's been bothering me. I just hope she doesn't let loose."
"Hmm? A-are you worried about Kacchan?" The brunette found herself a little dumbfounded, and deadpanned.
"I look up to Kacchan. He's a wonder, looking at how far he's pushed himself. His drive, his quirk, his technique, it's all admirable." He said, looking over at Uraraka. "I'd fight him to prove how strong I am, but I don't think Merry is going to fight him with that on her mind. She's just angry, and you've seen her when she's like that."
His female friend pondered what he said for a bit. She hadn't seen much of how Maribel took to Bakugo, but she saw their little scuffle a while back. And while he lingered in the background, he never seemed to take a liking to her either. The friction was about to give way to an earthquake! "...I think you're right. Let's hope she doesn't take it too far, though... I can't say I appreciate how Bakugo has treated you, though."
"Hm..." Midoriya hummed as he looked back to the fight.
Something's different from before. Kasen Ibara thought to herself as he chewed on a dumpling. It had a delicious meat filling, and a nice consistency. The hermit and hero, noticed the power emanating from Maribel. She couldn't see it, but the vibe that the blonde gave off was more threatening than before. Either she had gotten more of a grip on using it, her bloodlust was especially high, or both.
From the hero-exclusive seats, Kasen pondered at the situation. The hermit definitely wanted to meet Maribel again after all of this was over.
Clad in more modern clothing, colored pink and green respectively, the two dancers sat in one of the commercially available spectator seats. Their attention was of course on the battlefield, but not just because of the fight itself. Maribel was their prime interest. Acting as the eyes and hands of the golden mask, they were the douji of Okina.
"I wonder how she'll handle herself now." Satono wondered out loud.
Her fellow dancer, Mai, let her green hair swing about a little as she turned to look at her discreet accomplice. "There won't be any trouble. She's plenty strong... At least, I hope so."
Putting her hands together, Satono confidently stared down at Maribel. "Well, we don't have to worry ourselves about it anymore, at least."
From the seats furthest up, one of the teacher's sections, All Might scouted the battlefield below.
He wasn't sure what to expect anymore. Maribel was far more powerful than she was when they trained, that much he understood after she'd fought Todoroki. In the beginning of the bout, she didn't seem very out of the ordinary, but when that other ability came into play... All Might was perplexed by this. Was this a result of quirk evolution?
The evolution of a quirk was a touchy subject. It was documented, but how it happens and whether it's good for you was hotly debated. Heroes, being the biggest practitioners of quirks, were usually at a big center of quirk evolution examples. He'd known a couple of heroes who evolved. Training couldn't take them far enough to reach the results that they did, at least not often.
As part of the school staff of a school supported directly by the government, All Might had partial access to the quirk registry for help in teaching. So back when she requested his help in preparation for the festival, he'd looked through her entry to understand how he could help her a little. He was no masterful teacher, but he was sure about the results he'd made at the end of it all, but how that he thought back to the quirk registry he recalled something.
Her quirk used to be the ability to see through boundaries, coupled with a quirk to feel the vibe of things and people around her. A perfect meld and evolution of two quirks. Similar to Todoroki. Yet the boundary specific part of it was unheard of in her family. A mutation. It had changed further into Boundary Manipulation just a year before she took the entrance exam.
So he read about the entry regarding this. Reportedly, she'd had an episode of extreme emotional anguish over matters relating to school, and as a result her quirk evolved from a merely useful quirk. Something that could serve as an ultimate identifier, lie detector, spy, and more if used correctly became an even more nebulous quirk. A dangerous one. Where the strings and boundaries of reality couldn't be pulled on or shifted before, they now could. There was nothing more on her quirk evolution after that.
But now she stood here, possessing another ability that she did not hold before. Where did it come from? All Might was sure that it all happened after USJ, but he couldn't know if something spurred it. Maybe he'll have to ask, later.
The hero couldn't help but feel a suspicion in the back of his mind, but she was but a schoolgirl. In all likelyhood, Maribel was just dealt a good hand as far as her quirk's ability went.
Toshinori's thoughts were interrupted as he heard a door open to the teacher's seats. Barely audible footsteps could be heard, and Yagi looked over his shoulder.
"All Might. Who do you think will be victorious?" A mouse, Principal Nezu asked as he arrived. He must just have arrived from another of the stadiums, for the second and third years.
The old hero thought about it for a bit, but he just couldn't find any outcome other than the one that he came up with. "...Merry."
"THIS WILL THE BE FINAL, FOLKS! GIVE THEM A ROAR!"
The spectators roared.
"THREE, TWO, ONE!"
Maribel didn't move an inch, perfectly still like a statue.
Bakugo entered an odd posture, but similar enough to one of his usual fighting postures. One hand behind him, one facing forward. However, the latter had its palm facing diagonally down.
"STAAAAAAAAAAAAAART!"
Yuki Hayashi - My Hero Academia - Bombing King
Expecting his assault, Maribel allowed Bakugo the first act. And it was a sudden blast off, within mere moments, the place where he was at before had become a cone of smoke reaching off the stage. While the feisty boy was within a meter of Maribel. Following his movement, Hearn still refused to act.
"ARE YOU MOCKING ME?!" He yelled as he blew off behind himself again, using one hand to enter a spin. Travelling faster than the exhaust of his blast, Bakugo sought to deliver a hard kneeing to the blonde's head. It produced a whipping sound as the boy approached the speed of sound in this one spin. His body hardy enough to handle the pressure, as per the oddities of humanity after quirks. The girl shifted her torso back a little in the middle of his movement, bending back to let his leg and the trail of smoke that came with his hand pass harmlessly above her.
Bakugo was not fast enough to react to what she just did, but he knew he didn't hit her. Acting on trained instinct, his hand blew him around again, shifting his trajectory to point down at the ground and moving his spin to be vertical. Katsuki's intent was no longer to kick. But using his momentum to let him face Maribel again. Upside down, he rotated at a speed that few people could handle without throwing up, and as Hearn came into view for a split second. Bakugo's had preemptively made his hands point at his front. Bunched together into one attack, his hands released a thunderous explosion. It engulfed his entire vision.
It was also supposed to blow Bakugo away, but this was when something bizarre occurred. His explosion traveled forwards, and the ash blond flew away, landing safely on the other side of the arena. However, the fireball that coursed through the air along with most of the smog from it, was quickly devoured as if cleaned up by a vacuum cleaner. He couldn't see the edges of it because it was obscured by the smoke, but she was using a gap to get rid of his explosion. That was for sure.
The gap tore out of existence, the smoke that went into it disappearing and leaving only gray traces of floating clouds between the two. Maribel was untouched and held a hand up to her mouth. He couldn't exactly tell what she was doing. A few seconds more of observation and a subtle but idle shake from the girl indicated him all he needed to know. "STOP GIGGLING YOU BITCH!" He yelled. She's probably thinking I'll keep fighting like this... I don't think she's judged my ability to fight smart just yet. I'm not just good at fighting, mysterio-eyes!
Bakugo needed to get ready to have a chance at overcoming her. More action meant more sweat, bigger explosions and faster speed. He already had the battle sense to fight close to his best potential, all he required was more fire.
"Let's test-" He heard Maribel say, but it wasn't from far away. Right behind him, actually. He wouldn't hear a word of what she'd say. His hand moved swiftly, pointing down diagonally in front of himself. A smaller blast hurled him to the air, but not spinning. A quick glance let him see that she was right below. Coming out of a gap, the girl twisted on her heel in an attempt to follow Bakugo after he rose into the air. The gap she used covered most of her body, but her head was clearly visible. Half of her was on his side of the arena and half of her on the other.
She can't stop me if I do this quick!
Bringing his legs together to become more aerodynamic, Bakugo let loose several blasts above himself, sending himself down at an intense speed. The air brushing against his body almost condensed, and just before he was above her. With her piercing, terrifying gaze landing on him much faster than she herself could rotate. Maribel was once again met by a powerful explosion. His hands clasped together below himself to release what might as well have been a heat beam. It must've made a crater into the ground with how much smoke and dust erupted from it. And also with how far up it sent Bakugo flying. His hands would sweat, and his arms felt the recoil. "Hnngh..." He stared down. The smoke from his explosion still lingering, but light erupted from within it. The flame of his own explosions. Following was a sonic boom.
Huh?
He held his jaw open in confusion. Smoke and fire exploded from below again, like a volcano blowing up. A miniature updraft was made as Bakugo found himself getting sucked down for a moment, and then facing the heat of his own attack. It had been focused into a pillar of condensed heat and flame by her gaps. SHIT! He thought, blasting himself to the side to narrowly dodge the remains of his own attack. The bombing king fell to the arena again, the side at which Hearn started off from and landed himself safely. He did not see her on the side he was on now. So she'd still be where she was hitherto. The smoke of Bakugo's intense explosions now rose far into the air and out of the arena, looking almost like a mushroom cloud. And slightly obscured by transparent strands of smog on the ground-level, the girl wandered out of the mess of an attack. She stopped and held her hand to her mouth again. Giggling a little to herself.
...She'll get tired of sucking up all the smoke eventually, until then, I just have to force her on a defensive!
"Stop laughing!" He roared at her as she broke out into a sprint. He needed to sweat even more, he wasn't ready to enter the main phase of his strategy just yet. For the present, he needed to get her accustomed to his usual fighting ability. After that, he'd break out as many small firecrackers as possible, and then use one of his super moves to disorient her. After that, he'd get a free action! The certain victory. Approaching midway, he blasted off toward her. For a moment, he entered a sort of tunnel vision as he aimed for her and the next, he found himself over the field over to the side of the arena. The bombing king was familiar with what just happened. One of those god damn warp gates!
A meter from the ground, Bakugo's eyes shot to the ground in mid-fall, his hands flowing from behind him to down. Almost skimming the ground, Katsuki then shot off just in time to send himself flying diagonally back onto the arena. He rolled on his back until he caught himself with his hand and stood up again. Maribel wasn't giggling anymore, instead staring at him with more of a curious look as her hand moved to her chin, her other arm clasped around her waist.
That Maribel hadn't even moved yet irritated Bakugo, but maybe he should force that to happen. He felt like he could read the emotion of this fight, though. All this playing is just a passive-aggressive way of saying she is stronger than him. Which really vexed the boy. He'd about had it with this. Sweating, he straightened himself up again and looked at her disappointingly. "Are you just going to stand around and giggle at me you little shit? You can't even throw my attacks back at me!" He yelled at her again, walking slowly toward the center of the arena as the girl regarded him from the far end of it. He braced himself a little, and stared furiously at her. Vehemently declaring his challenge. "COME CLOSE! I'LL SHOW YOU SOME FOOTSIES YOU NEWBIE!"
Song End
The blonde sighed and started walking toward him. The way Hearn walked wasn't different from when she came into the arena, so he could tell she still didn't want to take him seriously just yet. Her arms fell to her sides, however. Giving a mixed signal.
S.S.H - Critical Unbalance - Illusionary Night ～ Ghostly Eyes
All of a sudden, her foot shot against the ground, sounding almost like a bullet as she cracked the concrete for almost two meters around her. Following this short display was swiping kick, done exactly in the way that she had exercised it with All Might. Kicking leg four dozen degrees to the side, moved into position in a blur, while she rotated on her left leg. The balance was exquisite, her execution seemed perfect. An audible crack rang out through the arena as she performed it, indicating she was moving much faster than a quirkless human could. She turned into a blur. Her attention steeled itself on letting the kick pass through a gap, as well. It was aimed through this gap to hit Bakugo right in the head from his left.
He seemed to be underestimated in his response time, however. Not sure exactly which direction it would come from. Bakugo bent backwards, lowering himself by a head's length and shot himself to the right with a blast. All the while swiping it in front of him to send its explosive contents flying in the path of her leg. And he just so happened to chance right, her attack came from the front, almost faster than he could catch it. Large parts of her right leg was as a result blasted with his explosive might, and smoke erupted through the gap, where Maribel stood. The girl was sent into a short spin, almost falling over before catching herself, while the gap she had used ceased being. It took a second for her to get exactly what happened, but when she did, she steeled her expression. Irritation.
"COME AND GET IT!" He hunched again, blasting repeatedly from his palms to intimidate or taunt her.
I know he's taunting me, I know he's taunting me. But he deserves to be played with! He's an unlikable jerk, and I've nothing to fear, I can keep going until the teachers stop me!
Waltzing forwards, her body language no different from before, Maribel started to let some of her anger get to her. She wanted this victory to teach him something. Halfway to him, she pushed off of the ground again. Creating a smaller crack this time. But instead of kicking, she was sent gliding toward Bakugo, which initially seemed to take him off guard as he too blasted himself away. They entered a short chase.
Katsuki Bakugo's hands spewed black billowing clouds as he blew himself about, his aerial control was far better than the blonde simply out of experience. As he blasted himself up into the air. Maribel flew after him, turning slower, but flying faster. Moving with his back facing the sky, the bombing king was quick to notice this and blasted into the heavens above. Putting an abrupt stop to his momentum, while Maribel attempted to slow down to meet him. He rotated on his vertical axis after he had stopped his momentum, letting gravity allow him to face her smoothly. Bakugo did this to throw her off, as he knew she'd probably expect him to use an explosion to rotate. When she about to pass, she rotated and became a blur as she kicked. A similar whip-like crack to what came before rang out, and it was only centimeters from breaking Katsuki's nose and cracking it into pieces.
A breeze blew Bakugo down and away following the attack, the feisty boy sweating from the sheer strength she just displayed. It wasn't as noticeable on the ground, maybe because he moved to dodge it preemptively, but those kicks might've been straight up deadly. Reacting quickly, the ash blonde propelled himself down toward the battlefield again as Maribel attempted to stop her momentum. He never turned his back on the girl, wary of her sudden approach and an attack she hadn't used yet.
A whistle reverberated through the arena as streaks of light flew down from the sky, two of them at first. Barely obscured by the sun above him. They moved from both left and right, trajectory pointed right at Bakugo. On the verge of entering the zone, the ash blond blew himself from below and flew above the projectiles. Two explosions behind him uprooted lots of concrete out of the arena, creating dust clouds that lingered all the way out to the staircase you took to enter it. After that, the whistling didn't stop, although it was quieter than before. Blowing with one hand, the bombing king spun himself and blew off in a random direction. His entire vision filled with violet light for a second as he dodged the last projectile with a hair's breadth. It detonated upon hitting the ground, creating yet another cloud of dust on the field, while blowing away the two that came before.
On instinct, Bakugo landed himself with several weaker blasts. Clearing his surroundings of the dust and leaving three jagged, shallow craters visible on the arena field just behind him. Wary of his enemy's return, Katsuki put one hand on his forehead to get a better visual on the girl. Meanwhile holding one hand out to the sky to allow him to swiftly maneuver out of her way, or hit her if she was going to come back. That was if she just dropped from the sky.
Grasping his arm as he put it into position and holding it still, Maribel had maneuvered behind him with a gap. He had a lapse in thought for but a moment, at first seeming to attempt to swerve around to face her. Yanking his arm with her powerful grip, he did nothing. "I've got you."
"...Do you?!" He spat with venom, moving the hand he held over his brow to just above his shoulder. The flat of his palm facing her head and detonating with absolute force. Loosening her grip and knocking her away. His arm felt yanked after the fact, and hurt very badly. He bent forward a little to hold it. "Gnghrgh...!" Thick smoke again covered the place where she stood, and he took the opportunity to turn around to look where she was before. Keeping his ears perked for absolutely anything he could hear in the wake of his echoing explosion.
A step could be heard. Then a whoosh.
Bakugo ducked in almost perfect anticipation. He had no idea how he was handling her super fast attacks. Lucky guesses.
The girl's arm flew through the smoke in a swing, followed by her entire body. Aiming down at the ground, Bakugo blew himself away again and blew away Maribel's footing as a result. He flew backwards before landing, somersaulting backwards about two meters until he managed to stop himself. Giving him the space of five meters.
There was much less smoke from his latest attack, as such, he could clearly see when Maribel rose up to her feet. She groaned, as she straightened herself out. It was unbelievable, even his mighty blast from earlier seemed to leave little mark on her. There were a few soot marks on her clothing most particularly, but she seemed oddly unharmed. She had withstood Todoroki's massive rip-off of his own attack, but that was from a distance. This one was up close. His expression spoke for itself, as he was dumbfounded by her sheer ability again. He didn't believe that someone this strong was actually a student. The ash blonde sweat, and droplets hit the ground, igniting. Creating small, drop-sized pillars of smoke on the ground where he stood. His hands smoke as well, arms sore from the fierce attacks he'd done before.
Maribel looked at him angrily for a moment, she didn't seem interested in delivering a speech or anything. This time, it was just an insult. "You trash. You're going to make me start using my entire skillset."
This caught his interest more than anything else she'd seemed to have done in the fight. "THAT'S WHAT I WANTED FROM THE START, YOU IDIOT!"
Through a gap, another breeze of air came as Maribel attempted to backhand Bakugo in the face. Bringing his hands in front of himself, he narrowly seemed to clutch her arm with both of his hands. But even so, he wasn't physically strong enough to push her arm away. "How the hell is a girl like you so strong?!" He asked himself more than anyone. The bombing king let loose another blast, large in scale, and with his arms braced for it there was little to no hurt. The force divided itself across the both of them, and her sight was once again obscured.
Caught in a sudden darkness where she was forced to hold her eyes and her breath, the blonde staggered back, her arm feeling a sting from the attack. The spiritual power she possessed did more than just increase strength, when coursing through the body like this, it also heightened her durability. Though, it only seemed to reach full effectiveness after Okina intervened in the middle of Todoroki's fight. Not something fair, but she couldn't accept losing that battle.
Tired of constantly sucking his attacks into gaps and spitting them out, the girl recollected herself and began to wander through the smoke. She could feel where Katsukiwas, and her boundary seeing eyes were also an indicator, even if the things they showed were abstract. It did not let her know exactly where he stood, but the general location was enough. She walked over to where he was. When Hearn emerged from his smokescreen, she created a gap leading behind him with little thought and wildly flailed her arm at him. A frustrated look on her face. Bakugo laid witness to all of this, and could only guess where the attack would come from, but every prior experience told the ash blond that it was from behind. So he turned on his heel and with a blast, and was slapped as a result. Almost breaking his concentration, but not enough to stop him from swinging another explosion into her face to blow her back. Bakugo received a heavy bruise on the side of his face and proceeded to stumble almost a meter until he stopped himself with an explosion, now bleeding.
What am I doing? I'm fighting so lazily. I need to be more thorough. Maribel thought, laying down in the midst of all the smoke Bakugo's attacks constantly released. With a single push of her hands, she shot to a standing stance. Subsequently she jumped back and flew out of the cloud of smoke, which covered what was now half of the arena. Seemingly not having to worry about tension on her legs, Hearn landed safely on the other end of the battlefield and quickly brainstormed an idea. I could merely pretend to fight him... I'll have to make it like a tunnel.
The girl had actually attempted something like this during the two weeks of exercise, just before having another scuffle with her current enemy. But she has never had the time to exercise with it. Still, her quirk was a creative one, it was possible to get this to work. She knew it.
Moving her arm up in a slightly flamboyant way, the girl created a border space. One end was right in front of her, while the other was just ahead of that. She would be standing in the middle of a border space, the middle of a tunnel. And as light warped through it, Maribel would appear to be physically present from most directions, while she was actually standing somewhere else. She leaned forward and began to "walk" through the tunnel as it expanded. Hearn saw it in a different light compared to everyone else, as the boundaries all around the place shifted. Many of them unknowns to her. The frontal end of the border space moved forward at the same pace that she usually walked, making it appear so that she was actually approaching.
"DON'T BAIL ON ME YOU BITCH!" Bakugo shouted as he flew through the smoke, not disturbing it in the process. Maribel's projection stood still and she 'looked up' at Katsuki as he came flying. He blasted off with terrifying power and made a similar crackle through the air as he attempted to knee her in the side of her face. She expanded the border space on the inside of the gap and...
Nothing happened. The impact did not feel like anything. Maribel turned to look at him as he blasted away from her and gained some distance from her again. More smoke laying over the ground and in the air. "I wasn't hitting skin, that's for sure. What the hell...?" He muttered. Rearing her head toward him, the golden-haired girl took one step and moved the front end of the border space toward Bakugo in the blink of an eye. He visibly jumped at how fast she moved and tried to bring his forward to let off one more huge blast. But she moved the gap around him in a half-circle as if on instinct. Not even giving him a moment to react as she put both arms around his waist, making a quick spin and throw that attempted to send the bombing king rocketing to the ground at an impressive speed.
Thrown down, Bakugo attempted to catch himself with his hands and blew away from the ground. When he flew up, he was head-level with Maribel and eye-to-eye. Ignoring the usual emotion that her eyes stirred.
"DIE!"
The boy reflexively blasted at her face, only to receive it back a second after in a focused and dense blast. Via the work of another gap, a border space most specifically, it struck his chest. Katsuki was sent flying to the other end of the arena's broadside. He was quick to catch himself, but there was now a visible hole in his uniform. Bakugo felt like a heavy punch had just landed straight in his chest. "Pah... Hoooh..." He breathed deeply as he stood upright. Flowing his hands to point behind him, Bakugo blasted off toward Maribel, angry. The girl could catch the change in his attitude beyond this. He had entered a state of flow. Just as he got close, the blonde attempted moving forward, but the boy didn't follow through on his approach.
Doing a mid-air flip with the help of his explosions, the ash blond blew another smoke cloud onto the arena floor. Consuming one end of her gap in a thick cloud, she couldn't see through. The girl wasn't phased, though, the tunnel was too long to let the smoke reach her. But it hampered her sight enough to make her leave it out the back, causing her to appear at the far end of the arena. The airborne Bakugo's spin ended, and he blew himself back to the broadside of the arena he was at earlier. Leaving even more clouds as he traveled, and being quick to shift his attention to Hearn as she appeared again. As if his arms were just rotating around himself, like some sort of robot, he pointed them to his left and traveled in a half-circle using shorter bursts. The sheer speed of the fight reminded many the spectators of animated shows they used to watch as kids. Regardless of the intentions, it was a great spectacle to behold.
Coming close, Bakugo swerved around, abruptly stopping his momentum in the middle of his turn. One hand behind his back, mysteriously, while the other one was held out in front right by his waist. The girl retalliated in a non-analytical and kneejerk fashion. Hearn attempted to sail through the air with her ill-understood method of flight to land a smash straight in his chest. As per how All Might had trained with her. In a series of blasts, Bakugo spun right over her attack, despite her superior speed. Preemptively moving, Bakugo had a better understanding of the battle flow than she did, in spite of her impressive on-the-fly thinking. As he barely evaded the attack, which was followed by a short one-meter blast of air, he made a full vertical revolution and brought his hands together. The girl had been quick to begin grinding to a halt compared to before, and tracked Bakugo with her head as he flew over her.
"STUN GRENADE!" His hands burst into life, the sheer amount of sweat he had ready now ignited simultaneously, and at the close range it was too bright to handle.
Song End
Maribel's senses became dulled, disorientated and the world became white.
Suddenly, she was smacked in the side of the head, feeling herself tumble through the air.
The wind felt unpleasant as it brushed against her body. Maribel tried to breath and inhaled the smoke from earlier, coughing. A boot collided with her head, sending her spinning onto the ground. She found her footing, but could not see.
A blast to the back of her head, sent the girl stumbling forward. And he kept going.
It hurt like hell, but Hearn took much less damage than her opponent seemed to have anticipated. No thanks to the spiritual power coursing through her body. Nevertheless, Bakugo's strategy had paid off, and now he seemed to be rag-dolling the girl around.
Then came a moment where nothing seemed to happen, and she shot to her feet a little slowly. Frowning as best as she could while holding her breath. I HAVE TO GET RID OF THIS! She yelled in her mind, opening up a border space close by to begin cleansing the air of the explosive quirk's exhaust. It went by quickly, but Maribel was finally allowed to open her eyes as Katsuki descended upon her from above. "HOWITZER IMPACT!" He roared as he came from above and extremely close. Detonating all the air that he and her border space pulled in to create a massive fireball covering more than half of the battlefield.
Boom.
The sonic boom rang out through the entire stadium and could be heard far outside of it. Many windows around the place cracked, the entire place shook, and the black and unsightly vapor of his attack emanated out of the main battlefield. Bakugo spun through the air, blasting himself down to ground-level like usual, weary and tired from trying to lay down pain on Maribel. He wasn't certain if she was sent out of the arena entirely, or knocked out. Even the announcers did not know, so it was up to when the smoke cleared or not.
Damn it all...Thegirlweakly thought up as she laid somewhere on the cold floor of theground. The ground wasn't even or smooth any longer, so he'd blown out a hefty chunk of the arena. Maribel felt pain as well, bleeding. I've just been trying to play down his strengths, and look where it got me... I hate this guy. Why should I be holding back for whatever reason? He's right to ask me to fight him for real.
Pushing herself up onto her feet. Maribel's thoughts ran wild, she thought to what could make her stronger. And it took a while, as the smoke slowly parted. She took a few steps forward, being able to see the ground now. She wasn't done.
I'm going to give this my all, and if I want to do that... I need it! Every trick I can think of, tested or no. I'd like... the moon, to look upon me. I'm always happier when the moon is around.
Maribel focused her aura, in spite of it already being focused. The air tightly around her body seemed to flare up, and the girl took on a violet glow. Parting the smoke around her. It was still too thick for anyone to see.
Boundary between... night and day.
Yuki Hayashi - My Hero Academia - Jet Set Run
The sky opened, the edges glowing a faint violet as the night seemed to take over. It spread far and wide, covering the entire stadium and more. Maribel felt an enormous toll on her powers from doing this, more specifically, the power that she felt she had borrowed from someone else. The god. But now, she used it like her own. And she'd see this battle through with that.
Every spectator and civilian for many kilometers around were stupefied. Her own class, Bakugo, the teachers, the heroes, even Kasen seemed kind of baffled at this development.
As her spirit continued to overflow, the girl fell under the influence of the last quarter moon and felt renewed all of a sudden. The smoke cloud around herself parted to much shock from the audience.
A boundary to a world of my imagination.
The wounds Hearn had sustained, bleeding bruises, cuts against the rock and sore skin from Bakugo's relentless chain attack from earlier found itself covered in gaps. They were black, voids outlined by the purple light that could be seen in the sky as well. Some of the gaps trailed into the air, as if they were smoke, running across her body like water as Maribel tried to find an appropriate usage.
After that, she'd only say one more thing for the entire fight. Hard to grasp, but she understood it clearly. It was something she didn't want to say, and maybe something she wouldn't hold true to after it all, but for this fight it would.
"I guess it's about time I go with the flow of things and make it all natural."
The black gaps spawned a set of red eyes. And soon enough, the gaps ran off of Maribel like water, evaporating into nothing. She had healed, and now she saw things like she thought would be best for her. The blonde reared her head forward and smiled at Bakugo, the various ribbon-tied tips of her hair blowing in a sudden breeze.
0:31
In a blur, Maribel appeared next to Bakugo. Her arm pushed itself into his abdomen without any warning in the slightest. The enemy student couldn't even see what the hell happened, and spat blood, all he attempted to do to counter was blow himself away. Another explosion erupted onto Maribel, but she was unmoved despite the size of it. A rather energetic wave of her hand and the wind dispersed the black vapor that enveloped her.
Her hair blew in the wind, for a moment looking she looked like some sort of fairytale demon than a mere schoolgirl. Her smile had been coupled with a furrowed brow as she watched Bakugo sail into the air, and she leaped after him.
Taking into account the distance, Maribel correctly decelerated in time to appear right in front of him again. He swiped at her, wildly and with another powerful blast, but not thrusting him much farther back. In the process, Maribel reappeared close to his side and gave him a push under his jaw. His head jerked, it hurt terribly, but he wasn't injured from this odd attack. Angered, he blew another explosion, spinning to quickly retaliate with a fully extended kick. Miliseconds before it hit, the girl's eyes locked with the kick. With a poker face, she sped away and retreated down to the ground again, effectively disappearing in a blur and down on the ground within two seconds. Far long side of the arena. She straightened out again, a deadpan expression.
Bakugo, enraged beyond comprehension, spun about blasting himself into creating a vortex of air that would crash down upon Maribel in seconds. He detonated it. He put all the will to win behind this attack. "HOWITZER... IMPAAAACT!"
1:40
A blast of air and violet energies blew Bakugo's attack to smithereens, echoing throughout the arena for a moment. Fire and smog fragmented into the air as he himself soared to the other side of the arena. Mighty and powerful, the Double Boundary seemed to lack the necessary wind-up time from before. Originating from her palm, seemingly. With a heavy breath, Maribel wiped her brow with the previously mentioned arm, snickering to herself as Bakugo stabilized himself again. A huge blast bringing him to his feet quickly, and somewhat violently, ready to begin his attack anew. His body couldn't last much longer. He made a leap for it and flew off again. She smiled.
The glowing fire of Bakugo's explosions and the eerie, purple light that constantly emanated from Maribel were the only visible things in the middle of the arena. The twist of the boundary that made night had made it very dark, and the stadium's lights had not yet been turned on.
Her smile shifted, now displaying the peak of aggression
After I'm done here, everything can return to normal, and I won't have to bother with INSUFFERABLE PEOPLE LIKE YOU!
2:05
Swinging her arm through the air, Maribel's aura exploded in potency. A gap filled with eyes opened up alongside her to let loose a disorderly, almost lightning-like beam of spiritual power. Similar in consistency to the bullets she had used earlier. It illuminated the entire stage. Bakugo was barely able to defend himself in time, letting loose a massive explosion that hurt his arms badly. The two colliding to make a massive and bright explosion at his end of the arena. Showering everyone around in intense, storm-like winds for but a moment and a flashy, almost blinding explosion. Bakugo flew farther away, while Maribel stood untouched.
Instants passed. The teachers thought it be appropriate to intervene, but the sudden levels of power being thrown around took them off-guard, and the sheer air pressure deterred them.
With another swing, Maribel opened another gap. Red eyes peering through, just to be obscured by another bright flash from the gap. Another projectile. It coursed like a bolt of electricity as it penetrated through the clouds of Bakugo's explosion. Struggling to respond, the bombing king let out another explosion to collide with it, sending him flying even farther out of the main battlefield. Approaching the ring, he'd hit it within seconds. So all he could do now was attempt to stop his momentum with yet another detonation. The sound of them almost gone in everyone's ears because of the wind.
"Gnaaaaaah!" Katsuki shouted, with all the willpower he had left. He must've been breaking his arms trying to detonate those explosions. They almost rivaled his super move.
2:30
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ME NOW, BAKUGO?! Maribel rhetorically belittled him in her mind and zapped the last of her available stamina into her next attack. Blood running from her mouth as she sent a final beam over the battlefield. Accurately pinpointing Bakugo's location in spite of the smokescreen. It collided, dead-on, Bakugo being given but a moment to blast both back and forward. He was subsequently overwhelmed by her power and blown into the side of the arena. Sending a humongous dust cloud over the arena and into some of the spectator seats.
The winds slowly died down, and Maribel relinquished control over the gap in the sky. Falling forward, she held her mouth. Spitting out a bit of blood for a moment. It took everything she had not to lay down, so she stood up. Looking over at the massive cloud of dust until it settled.
Song End
"K-Katsuki Bakugo is out of bounds..." Midnight stammered over the microphone. Too afraid to get close to any of the action. Cementoss did not have the time to stop anything that happened, too. "This means that Maribel Hearn wins!"
The whole battlefield looked ripped to pieces. A huge scar running across the middle of its length and blowing off a huge portion of it toward the end. There were several large cracks in the concrete structure, with three smaller craters lining the other end of it. It looked as if All Might himself had fought.
Maribel closed her eyes and took several breaths. Unsure what to think of what just transpired. But there was a big tension she'd eased herself of, even if she couldn't place her finger on what exactly it was. "Y-yes... Finally..." She stuttered in her exhaustion, falling back onto her behind and merely... relaxing.
"ALL OF THE EVENTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED! THE WINNER OF THIS YEAR'S FIRST-YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL IS..."
Maribel waited for it. Would he pronounce it right?
"From Class A, MARIBEL HEAAAAAAAAARN!" He yelled.
She was happy.
Kasen sat still in her seat with an open mouth, flabbergasted at how strong this human girl was as far as they normally went. She looked to the sky as the gap above them closed up, giving way to the sun.
Manipulating the night and the day? She must be stronger in the night.
Midoriya looked on just as amazed by what just happened as anyone else. "W-w-w-w-what...?" I'm gonna have to write this down!
His brunette friend seemed just as excited as he was, with the difference being that she couldn't bring herself to say anything. Most of the class was like that in fact, most of the stadium was in total silence after the spectacle that they just witnessed.
By the doorway into 1-A's seats stood a patched-up Todoroki. He was eyeing the remains of the battle that had just taken place as paramedics and several drones arrived on site to help with both clean-up and medical help. "She was holding back that much?" He muttered to himself.
The unconscious Bakugo, who laid close to the large indentation in the arena wall, was bleeding quite heavily. But it seemed that he had softened the impact with the help of his explosions to prevent deadly results. His opponent did her best, but the teachers simply weren't good enough to stop her from tapping every single ounce of power she could. Recovery Girl was also quick on the scene, and he was carried away.
"We never stood a chance..." Someone among Class 1-B muttered. None of them took that well. None of them took this victory well, either.
Shinso stared down at Maribel as she sat alone on the arena battlefield. He wasn't sure what to think. Though, the sheer power of her quirk and how she fought reminded him of a villain, in a very superficial way. And so, in a superficial way, they could relate about something. But that depended on what the media and everyone else thought, didn't it?
Far away, on a train, Tenya Iida sat and watched this last battle on his phone. He wanted to have his mind on his family, but if Hearn had gotten so far, he'd at least had wanted to see if she won or not.
"You see?" All Might said, pointing down at Maribel, who had now leaned back to bask in the sun. Hard to tell how she felt right now. "There's some oddity to her power."
Nezu had his mouse-like hand close to his chin as he pondered. "This is an odd world, though? I think we should've come to expect this, especially after the USJ incident. What's most important is that we meld her into a great hero."
"And if he's still out there, keep her away from him." All Might replied, placing emphasis on the last word.
"Mhm. Still, you can't deny that they both fought their hardest."
"The sports festival is over, folks! Stick around to see the prizes being handed out. WE'LL BE BACK IN THIRTY MINUTES!" Present Mic announced to both viewers over television and the spectators all around. After that was just an endless stream of conversation between almost everyone that was in and outside the arena. All over Japan.
After a while of blabber, even the two hosts began speaking to each other.
"Do you think she pushed that as far as she could this time, Eraserhead?" Present Mic inquired to his partner.
"We can just ask her, you scatterbrain. Hey, Merry-san, did you go past your limits?"
Maribel perked her ears and pushed herself up, having regained enough energy to do that at the very least. She held a thumb up. Because quite technically, she did. Her quirk's stamina were greater than ever. With her power skyrocketing beyond that which she thought was possible before. Though, she supposed that being able to handle creating the Double Boundary was a good indicator. Whether that was inevitable in her progression, or because of that god's power backing her up, she could not know. But right now, the girl felt incredibly spent, even as she carried herself normally. Most likely, she was just that strong now. That is, under the right conditions.
She looked up to the sun, which had just recently been the moon, lowering her hand.
"Plus ultra."
"Amazing! I've never seen that kind of display from the sports festival in my entire life!" Present Mic praised her.
Aizawa asked some more, too far away to actually talk. It was quite nice to see a teacher interacting with a student like this, anyway. "Are you happy that you won, too? All that hard work and hurt seems to have been rewarded."
Maribel had begun to feel genuinely cheery for a bit, so she couldn't lie. She jumped ecstatically, balling her hands up into fists and holding them high up into the air. A yes, if anything.
"Good, good. By the way, you've a friend behind you."
"Hehe... Stop it, Eraserhead." Cementoss had come up not far behind her while she wasn't paying attention. Clearing his throat, the teacher asked her nicely. "I'm going to have to demolish the battlefield, could you follow me down?"
"Right away." Maribel bowed a little erratically, like a certain someone does. But she didn't linger on this absorbed behavior and instead just begin to walk her way down. In defiance of the battle before, Maribel had walked out surprisingly unscathed. Part of why everyone was so amazed was she seemed to be healing herself using her quirk right on the spot. The girl herself didn't know exactly how she did it, because admittedly, she was also into the state of flow toward the end. You can forget how you pull some things off when that happens. By chance, it might stick into muscle memory, however.
Jollier than before, Hearn walked down the stairs of the arena. Why exactly she felt joyous, the girl couldn't put a finger on. Being able to let loose on Bakugo like that and do what she actually felt like might've been it. But she also couldn't deny that victory was sweet. She would also finally get to go without a million eyes on her. Even if people will keep an eye out for her everywhere she goes now. It isn't the same as being broadcast, or watched by a huge arena.
"There are less than a handful of pros like her..."
"I'm gonna give her an invitation to my agency, but it's probably just going to be a game of chance as to who gets her."
"And this is just a first year...? Quirks get crazier every year. It seems."
Kasen Ibara had lingered on her thoughts for a moment, but now they were stolen by the people around her. What's this? Is everyone placing a bet on her to do an internship now? How troublesome, I guess I'll have to get her first! Quickly nibbling down on the last sweets and small snacks-like food she had, Kasen thought about leaving and catching up to Maribel later when she left as well.
"That Bakugo was pretty terrific as well, did you see the power he had? And that technique!"
"I guess even this story has a silver lining." She said to no one in particular, but received a host of replies anyway.
The simplest way it could be summed up as was a resounding "Yeah!" coming as if from nowhere. The hermit had a blank look on her face, and quietly slunk back into her seat.
After that, Maribel stayed put, relaxing herself and having some mild small talk with the teachers that came down. They seemed to realize she did not want any serious talk right now, so they let her go on that and the matter of not controlling herself when it would've been appropriate. But everything seemed to have ended well in the end.
Thirty minutes later, Maribel had retreated into the halls. The majority of the students were gathered on the red colored stone-like floor that covered the center of the arena. There were members of the media around as well, separated from the classes by a large net.
"All of the first-year events of this year's U.A. Sports Festival have been completed!" Midnight's voice echoed out of her microphone.
With a crack of her whip, Midnight made an announcement. "That means, it's time for the award ceremony!"
The screens around the arena shifted to be appropriate event, and fireworks blasted into the sky. From the arena's roof, and even outside of it.
Pwooooooof~
A set of pneumatic devices activated to spew out water vapor, smoke, as to hide the victors on their podiums. Confetti rained all over the place.
On podium number three, Shouto Todoroki and Rikido Sato. Both seemed a little weirded out over sharing the spot, but it was no big deal. "Oi, great fighting out there." Sato complimented Todoroki, patting him on the back. Who gave him an accepting hum. "You too." Oddly enough, Todoroki was being friendly.
On podium number two, Katsuki Bakugo. One of his arms was completely bandaged, while the other seemed more or less fine, aside from bandaging around his wrist. He looked... depressed, if anything.
And finally, podium number one. Maribel Hearn was taking all of this rather leisurely, it seemed that she'd stopped caring what happened next. Instead, she seemed to be tending to her hair using her hands. She was squinting, just a little, as if the sun was being especially irritating.
"This was quite eventful wasn't it. Are we sure Bakugo is alright?" Eijiro wondered as he stood with his classmates.
Kaminari cursed himself. "That Hearn tricked me, too."
"Girls our age don't give kisses that easily, kero." Asui retorted. The electrical boy's voltage lowered, and he looked almost as disappointed as Bakugo.
"Don't be afraid! Keep trying!" Mineta encouraged him.
Momo had her arms crossed. "That coming from a pervert..." She sighed. "Merry-san already seems pro-level, like Todoroki-san."
"I had no idea she could do all of that, though! I have to write that down, later." Midoriya chimed in, and found himself surprised when a strange face butted in.
Hitoshi Shinso was usually a bit of a recluse due to his quirk, but since he knew Maribel to a degree, he wanted to say something as well. "She did what she intended to do. I think she should be proud of that."
"I-It's you!" Mineta called him out, but Shinso didn't seem to care. The watchful eyes of Class 1-B lingered on him from across the line, especially Shishida's, and they were not happy.
With an outstretched hand and a microphone, Midnight commanded everyone's attention. "Now, we will begin awarding the medals! The presentation of the medals will of course be carried out by none other than..."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" A boisterous laugh erupted from high above. Aside from the fight beforehand, this was the moment the crowd was wildest. All Might somersaulted through the air from high above, having jumped from the arena roof. Without interruption, he yelled. "I HAVE COME TO DELIVER THE MEDALS!"
"All Might!" Many of the students let out. Midoriya kept shut out of respect for the moment. Out of the finalists, only Sato seemed to take a big notice to the number one hero. Straightening himself out and doing his best soldier-meets-officer impression, with him being the soldier.
Shouto looked at him, idly. He looked kind of lost, but based on what he'd said earlier he wasn't trying to be as locked in as he used to be.
Bakugo stared tiredly at All Might, more so in anticipation for his prize. Something he knew would disappoint him.
Maribel let go of her hair. The ribbon-tipped hair of hers were left to hang as they did before. She had fixed her bangs a little bit, though. The blonde clasped her hands together, holding them by her thighs and eagerly awaited her prize. Purposefully making herself look a little cute, now that the height of attention was back on her.
"Now then, All Might, please present the medals. Third place first." Midnight said, now carrying a board with four medals in total. Two of the bronze kind, one silver, and one gold.
A friendly laugh from All Might, who sounded almost like an old grandpa, eased the situation for all but one of the finalists. A drone-controlled staircase rolled across the grass, allowing All Might to easily walk up to each contestant. He first came with two bronze medals, putting one over his arm as he went to give Sato the first one. The muscular student was quick to accept it.
"You are very strong, Sato-shounen, to stand among these three is a good testament to that."
"Thank you, All Might!" He earnestly thanked him for the praise. Then he was enveloped in a light hug from his teacher.
All Might gave him some advice. "If you need help training, don't be afraid to request my help. I'm the go-to close-quarters teacher, after all. With enough effort, I'm sure you can overcome your quirk's weakness."
The muscular student smiled and nodded thankfully. All Might withdrew and pulled off the other medal, walking over to Todoroki and setting it atop his head. The child of Enji did not hold much back now that All Might appeared before him, he was stern like usual, but he didn't bottle himself up. "Todoroki-shounen. You were so adamant about not using your fire until the end. Was it out of desperation?"
"Partially, but... I also did it because she..." He looked on over to Maribel, who glanced down at the hero and the student. "...beat a bad attitude out of me. I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't get to me again." He declared, resolute. "There's still something bothering me, but I won't let it hold me down, not here."
All Might placed the bronze medal on him, and then gave him a hug, much like Sato before him. "I'm glad to hear that. I won't ask you about the details. Keep pushing past whatever limits you have and achieve your dream. Look at how strong you are already."
As the hero loosened his grasp on Todoroki and pulled away. The boy thought back through the day, the past, the words he'd just spoken and more. He couldn't help but have his eyes be a little watery. But he did not cry.
Next, All Might took a hold of the silver medal. The staircase moved over to his podium while on wheels. The number one hero walked up to Bakugo, who looked down at him with a frown. It wasn't the furious anger that he usually had, but the anger of someone who was mad with themselves. He was quick to send the hero a witty comment. "I came here for the number one, not the number two."
"Bakugo-shounen, you can't always win... But in cases like these, there is always a second chance. You were pushed to your current limit and swept through almost the entire school until the end. From a viewpoint of experience, you haven't lived until you lost. There is an entire sea of potential in you."
"Pff." Bakugo scoffed. All Might approached him anyway, and for a moment, Bakugo tried to pull his head away. But All Might quickly caught onto this and put it on him much faster than he could even notice himself. Groaning as the piece of silver flopped about from his neck.
"I said that I don't want it! ...-gngh!" Bakugo groaned as he received a hug like the others did.
"You carried both your team and yourself strategically, and despite being faced with a number of quirks of greater power, you never faltered. I am proud."
The ash blond groaned.
All Might pulled back once again, and the staircase rolled on over to the number one podium. The staircase expanded to reach higher, and All Might walked up. Maribel felt herself embarrassed over the amount of attention being put on her, but bore with it.
"Hearn-shoujo. You seem to have showed those who doubted you, just like you promised." All Might replied. The girl herself knew that it was more of an act to help the school more than anything, but it seems to have worked out for everyone. Maribel herself had gotten to meet that one strange character as a result of it all. She can't deny this mess of a day had helped her in a way. What would happen next, she had to wait and see, however. She simply wasn't as sure of herself as before.
"You had both strategy, power, skill, and a host of abilities from your quirk to help you get here. Not to mention, a lot of hard work. You came back to school much later than the others, with your injury fresh in memory, yet here you stand. If you fought those villains like you are now, they wouldn't stand a chance." He held out the gold medal. Maribel bowed forward a little to let him put it on her. The ribbon it was put together with laying over her hair somewhat. He then gave her a hug, and she thought she was getting a little too close, and reddened as a result in a more comical fashion. "As a veteran, I am extremely impressed by how strong you are. And you are only just a first-year. I hope that for everyone's good that you do well. Become one of the star heroes of the future."
"T-t-thank you!" She yelped under the heap of praise she was awarded. Maribel did not have the same assurance in her growth, feeling it was actually a huge weakness with how things were going. But the girl had a hard time even manifesting those feelings as she was right now. "I'll do my best!"
Inspiring! She genuinely thought.
All Might pulled away and nodded to her. The hero turned around and held a hand out to all the students. Whatever microphone that was cleverly hidden on All Might began to pick up what he said once again. "These were the winners of this year! But listen well. Anyone could've ended up on these podiums! Through clever strategy, application, fighting, intense training, competition and challenge you will all improve each other! This festival has taught us that! THE NEXT GENERATION OF HEROES IS ALREADY SPROUTING!"
The greatest hero of Japan pointed to the sky.
"Everyone, please say it with me! Three, two, one..."
"PLUS ULTRA!" Roared most of the stadium.
Among the heroes' spectator seats, Kasen stared down, deadpan.
"Loud as usual."
Among the darkness of a room that was only dimly lit by a computer screen, Tomura Shigaraki watched the festival. But frankly, he could barely stand doing that. A mechanical index finger tapped the mouse he used to browse. As he scratched himself with his other hand. This villain had pondered on invading the festival, but without any preparation or people to help him, he just didn't feel ready. He needed another Noumu, maybe.
"Already sprouting? Then maybe I should just cut the plant before it becomes too tough, like a tree... Starting with..." He scratched his mechanical replacement finger against the screen, particularly at Maribel's face. A face that he'd dreamed of quite a lot recently. "Or maybe..." He plinked the face of Midoriya, who could be seen in the next shot.
The chapter got really freaking long, so I couldn't cram the final ending of the Sports Festival Arc. But it's basically a wrap, all that's left is to let it flow into the internships. I feel relieved that I can focus less on fighting now. You'll get her hero name next chapter.
Anyway, the dancers and Okina were behind Maribel's extreme stamina throughout the arc. Their motives are unclear, it is both in relation to Maribel's character and her power. This is because Okina happens to be a god of certain things, out of many. Her being a ton of gods is extremely interesting for the story, too, since I'll get to do much more with her down the line if I can think well enough.
Doremy being bullied by Okina is a fun thing I kind of decided on the fly, but it will also let me tie in something else much later.
Maribel increasing her power during night was not a tested theory until the moment she had with Renko about ten chapters ago. Other than that, she's always felt energetic in the moon, it was a hidden aspect to her. Here, the thought to take that route came on the fly.
Bakugo might've had a (much more reasonable) chance against Maribel if she wasn't ready to let loose from the beginning of the fight. He lasted much longer than he should've at the beginning both due to lucky guesses, his battle sense, and Maribel wanting to play him down, in her own words. Her dislike for him is very real. In fact, one of the reasons why she feels relieved is that she just up and acted however she wanted during this fight (and especially at the end). Safety be damned.
Maribel was kind of planned to eclipse most of the class from the start, but I wanted it to be gradual, but also not a slog to anyone. I'll have Maribel hover around this level of power for now, but honestly, the power is not what's most relevant to her character. She's evolved in the way I want, and I feel that it makes sense as the writer, if at least barely.
I'll probably answer some reviews in PMs, if the questions feel appropriate enough. But I hope that everyone found at least some enjoyment in this chapter.