Chapter 4: The Sports Festival: Disaster
The first match of the second round, the fight between Reikokuna and the 1-A student, Akamachi, had dragged on for over fifteen minutes. Neither of the two seemed to be able to gain an advantage over the other; despite Akamachi sending thick nets of vines and thorns at Reikokuna, he would transform into different animals to escape. Akamachi had quickly learned that creating a forest, as he had in the first match, was a bad idea; Reikokuna, in gorilla form, was a master of the thick brush. Neither of them had managed to get close to their opponent, and it seemed as though the battle would drag on forever. Suddenly, the crowd roared as Reikokuna managed to sneak through the thick vines as a mantis and transform into a massive bear right behind Akamachi, who promptly surrendered. The plants disappeared, and Reikokuna bowed to his opponent, returning to his human form. He bowed to the audience as they cheered, then exited the stage as Cementoss began to repair the holes produced by Akamachi's plants.
Moki stood up and stretched her wings, leaping from her seat in a powerful flurry of wind and soaring over the stadium. She circled the stage for a minute, waiting for Cementoss to finish, then folded her wings back and streaked towards the ground. Her wings flew out to the sides, and she leveled off mere inches from the ground, to the delight of the crowd. She flew over to Shikora, who was watching her in awe, and greeted her friend with a hug. Moki and Shikora had formed a strong bond over their mutual love for "cute things", and were very close to one another. Shikora smiled at her friend. "I know this is going to sound bad, but I'm totally gonna lose to you." She pointed down at Moki's talons. "Those can cut through glass like it's paper; actual paper wouldn't even faze you." Moki laughed at her.
"Shikora, you can make your paper bulletproof; even my claws would have a hard time getting through that." She waved and flew over to her side, where she fitted her beak shroud and talon blades. Midnight raised her whip, and Shikora narrowed her eyes, smirking. I've got you trapped, Moki.The whip cracked, and instantly a flurry of tiny paper cranes shot forth. Moki shot into the air, but the cranes surrounded her, blocking her vision. She swatted at them, but they were so small and so numerous that she couldn't clear them out. Something wrapped around her neck, and she was yanked towards the ground, squawking. A paper lasso fed into the hands of Shikora, who pulled her down towards the stage. Moki flashed her talons, and a cut appeared on the paper, but it held. She frantically sliced at the paper string, until it finally gave and snapped. She skidded to a halt on the ground, her steel-reinforced talons digging into the cement. Shikora gulped as she saw the menacing claws shred the concrete like foam. Moki rubbed her neck, and a few broken feathers floated to the ground. She gasped and her eyes narrowed. She shot towards Shikora, an ear-piercing screech coming from her mouth. Shikora threw up a massive wall of paper, two feet thick, but Moki's claws sliced through it and latched around her arm. She screamed as Moki dragged her into the sky and threw her. She sailed up for a few seconds, then began to hurtle towards the ground. A wave of paper flew up to her, slowing her fall, but she still hit the ground hard enough to be knocked out. Midnight snapped her whip.
"Shikora retires due to losing consciousness!" she yelled. "Tsubasa wins!" The crowd roared as Moki fluttered over to her friend, who was beginning to stir. She helped the medical robots move her onto the stretcher, then waved to the crowd before leaping into the sky, flying back to her seat as the next two contestants entered the stadium. Sasaki tossed the last piece of gravel into his mouth and slammed his foot down, the heavy iron boot shaking the stage. Kushiro flipped her chisels down and raised her arms. As Midnight raised her whip, Netsuke turned to Toschi.
"Who do you think is going to win, Hatsume?" she asked. "I'd really be okay with either of them winning, but it's you that would have to go up against them if you win your match." Toschi stood up to head to the waiting room, but paused while he responded to her.
"I think Sasaki might win," he said. "Even though Kushiro can tunnel through his lava when it hardens, if he keeps it hot enough it'll stay molten, and she would have to go on the defensive. She packs a punch, but he's an immovable object, and we've already seen how strong he is. I think that if Kushiro wants to win, it'll have to be a ranged fight where he can't hit her." He walked down the stairs as the crowd cheered, and Netsuke turned to the battle.
Sasaki had covered the stage in a thick layer of what looked to be a light grey sponge-like substance. Kushiro burst out of the ground and landed in the middle of it. Her foot sank into it, and she punched at it. It shattered into dust, and she dove back down, destroying more of the substance as Sasaki continued to spout lava all over the stage. The lava was bubbly and cooled extremely fast into more of the grey rock, and Kushiro burst one hand out through the seven-foot-thick layer of rock, panting. Her chisels were completely worn down, and she had numerous scrapes and cuts all over her body, her suit torn in multiple places.
"Fun, isn't it?" Sasaki called to her as she pulled herself out. "It's pumice; relatively fragile, but extremely abrasive. It's so light, it can float on water. And it doesn't take much lava to make either." His cheeks puffed out. "I could go all day." He spit forth more lava that cooled nearly instantly into the pumice, burying Kushiro up to her neck. She grunted and the pumice began to rattle, then it shattered as her arms slowly stopped jackhammering. Her forearms were bloody and covered in a mess of scrapes, her suit nearly nonexistent from the shoulders down to her fingers. She took a step forwards, then slipped and crashed through the pumice, a cloud of grey dust billowing into the air as it shattered under her. A low groan came from the pit.
"I give up…" Kushiro said, coughing from the amount of dust in the air. As the crowd roared, Sasaki leaned down and sunk his hands into the pumice. He picked up the entire stage-sized block as Kushiro looked at him in shock.
"Pumice is super light," he said, "a block like this only weighs around seventy kilos or something. It's nothing to me." He tossed it in the air, and it gently floated down outside the stage. Cementoss placed his hand on it, and it melted into a flow of cement, rolling up the stage and filling in the holes Kushiro had dug. As the two left to their respective sides, the stadium shook slightly. The cheering quieted down as the heroes looked up, feeling something was wrong. Moki flew up above the stadium, then swooped down to the press box, where Present Mic had rushed outside.
"I think it's an earthquake," she told him. "It doesn't seem big, but there's a bunch of broken windows all down the streets and the ponds are swaying."
"Thanks, little lady!" Present Mic turned back to the booth and picked up the microphone as Moki flew back to her class. "Nothing to worry about people," he shouted, "it was just a minor earthquake! Let's keep this Sports Festival going!"
The cheers returned as the final two students in the quarterfinals stepped out into the light. Akijaso walked onto the stage, smiling at the crowd. Toschi waved to the cheering spectators and raised his fists, beckoning Akijaso to come closer. The two grinned and readied themselves as Midnight brought down her whip. Toschi instantly pressed a combination of buttons as Akijaso bobbed side to side, prepared to dodge any attacks. Two yellow spikes shot into the ground, popping up on either side of Akijaso and wrapping around him. As he struggled, Toschi ran, fist raised. He tapped the side of Akijaso's head, freezing him, then delivered several punches to his frozen opponent. The glow disappeared, and Akijaso flew backwards, falling over the side of the stage just as the ground rumbled again, stronger than before. Midnight cracked her whip, ignoring it.
"Akijaso is out of bounds! Hatsume wins!" The crowd cheered, and Akijaso stood up, a defeated smile on his face. Toschi, on the other hand, was not smiling. He was still suspicious about the earthquake, and as a small aftershock ran up his legs, an alert popped up in his visor. He pressed a button on his chest, and a live video feed appeared in his vision. It was footage from a security camera by the ports, and as he watched, the tide in the harbor began rushing out, leaving the seafloor bare. His eyes widened and he ran to Midnight. "Midnight!" he called, grabbing her attention. "There's a tsunami approaching the coast! The heroes need to go help people!"
Akijaso heard him, and turned to the press booth, cupping his hands to his mouth. "Hatsume says there's a tsunami coming! The heroes need to go help!" As the crowd heard the news, hundreds of pro heroes got up and ran out of the stadium. Those that could fly took to the skies, heading east to the harbors. As nervous chatter spread through the stadium, Midnight turned to Toschi.
"That was a very noble thing you did, Hatsume," she told him. "Putting other people before your own desires, that is what makes a hero."
He looked at her, a determined fire in his eye. "I made myself a vow to help those that I can reach. I could help people, and I chose to put them in front of me. That is why I will become a hero; so that innocent people won't have to die."
Meanwhile, as the teachers stayed behind to ensure the students were safe, hundreds of heroes rushed to the ports. As they arrived, they could see a massive wall of water approaching from the distance. Dozens began evacuating the civilians, and those that could create and manipulate began forming large walls to block the surge of water. As they worked, a massive shockwave scattered the heroes, the ground quaking and rolling like ripples on a pond. From the air, flying heroes saw the tsunami increase in size, nearly double the height of the walls the heroes had built. The water barreled down on the coast, and the heroes tried to grab as many civilians as they could, but there was no way they could-
"DETROIT SMASH!" a deep voice yelled. A blue streak blasted over their heads and struck the tsunami. The water instantly exploded in the opposite direction, racing back over the ocean. The streak shot out and picked up a massive container ship, lifting it out of the path of the wave, then set it back down. All Might landed on the dock, his usual grin present. "It's fine now," he said, eyes glimmering. "I am here!" The citizens cheered, thanking him for saving their lives. As he responded to his fans, something caught his ear. He held out a hand to shush the crowd and looked into the air, scowling. Suddenly, he leapt into the air, soaring over the city. He landed in the stadium, still packed with people. As they gasped in shock at his arrival, they felt the ground begin to rumble, and a massive gash opened in the earth. The stadium trembled and creaked as it began to split in half, and the crowd screamed. All Might turned to the students. "Young heroes!" he called, "this is your moment to shine! Do your duty, and help these people evacuate!"
As All Might leapt into the crowd, the students looked at each other and sprang into action. Omakase scuttled along the wall and began stringing webs in the cracks, trying to hold the stadium together. Shikora made a large ramp out of paper and she, Moki, Katakana, and Murasashe started directing people to the emergency slide and other escapes. Sasaki leapt down from the stands, crashing into the ground below, and puffed out his cheeks. A massive wave of lava burst forth, and he began trying to fill in the massive gash in the earth. As the lava cooled, it melded to the walls of the gaping chasm and held fast. The ground shook, fighting the resistance, until the rock finally shattered, shockwaves snapping across the earth and shaking the stadium. People screamed, and as the crowds started to run out of the stadium, a rushing sound brought the heroes' attention to the sky.
Their jaws dropped as they saw dozens of meteors raining down on them. All Might shot into the air, smashing through the asteroids left and right, but they continued to come. From the air, he could see that they were everywhere, smashing into the city. A lone figure stood in the middle of all of the carnage, hands. All Might shot after it, fearing it might be a civilian in danger, and Toschi ran up to Moki.
"I need you to take me where All Might is going!" he yelled, and Moki stared at him in horror.
"Why? What's happening?" she asked. Toschi held out his wrist, and a hologram appeared. It showed a man with glowing hands standing in the middle of the destruction, grinning maniacally.
"I think this guy's causing all of this damage!" Toschi said. "I need to tell All Might!" Moki looked back at her friends, worried, but Netsuke waved her off.
"Go!" she said, "If All Might finds that guy, then all of this destruction will end!" Moki sighed, then grabbed Toschi in her claws and flew into the air. She hovered above the stadium, eyes dashing around, until she saw All Might, two miles away. She took off after him, flapping her wings harder and harder, until she had caught up to the hero.
"All Might!" Toschi screamed, and All Might looked over, surprised. "That guy's causing all of the damage! You need to stop him!" All Might glanced at the hologram, then gave a thumbs up, grinning.
"Fear not, young hero! I shall take this villain to a swift-" He suddenly grabbed Moki, pulling her down as a meteor rushed past, exactly where she had been flying just moments before. The three hurtled towards the ground, and All Might pulled the two students to his chest, rotating so that he was between them and the ground. He landed, legs digging into the ground as he heard a psychotic laugh. He turned, glaring at the villain, who was sauntering towards them, hands raised. He had dirty, matted grey hair and dark purple eyes, and seemed nearly as muscular as All Might. He was equipped with black and red body armor, and All Might could see two pistols on his waist.
"Who do we have here," the villain said to himself, "two kids, and All Might himself? This is great! Not only will I kill the symbol of peace, I can get a bit of warmup in by killing those brats!" He placed his hand on the ground, and it shook, a chasm splitting the earth under All Might as he leapt away. He set the two students down, then turned and sprinted towards the villain. A massive wall of magma leapt up in his face, causing him to screech to a halt. The villain laughed, floating on top of a slab of stone on top of the lava. Moki and Toschi looked at each other, terrified, and Toschi gave her a nod. Her gaze hardened, and she clipped on her beak shroud and pulled out a different set of talon covers. Whereas the other ones were more like steel blades, these were jagged and black. She took off, circling behind the distracted villain as he launched a meteor at All Might. He braced his arms, but Toschi leapt in front, freezing the boulder. He punched it a few times, then the glow faded, the boulder shooting back at the villain, narrowly missing him. As he turned his head to look at the rock that nearly killed him, a glint of metal caught his eye as Moki's reinforced talons raked across his armor. He yelled as the jagged blades sliced through his armor and scored his chest, only to be knocked down by Moki's wing slamming into his neck. He landed on the ground and saw All Might raising a fist, then snarled and his hands grew brighter. A strong wind picked up, sending the heroes flying. As All Might stood up, the villain held his hands in the air, glowing even brighter.
"I will kill you, All Might," he grunted, "Kill you! The world will know the name of the one who ended the Symbol of Peace! The world will know of Cataclysm!" He flung his hands down, and an orange glow in the sky caught All Might's eye. It looked like there was a second moon, but it was growing, glowing orange as it hurtled towards the Earth. As the planet-sized meteor raced closer, All Might braced himself, preparing to leap at it, and Toschi saw a hint of fear in his eyes.
"If that asteroid strikes us, it'll annihilate the city!" All Might said. "At that size, it could kill everyone on Earth!"
Inside Toschi, a small spark caught, quickly growing into a conflagration of pure power. He raised his arms, eyes glowing yellow. The meteor grew closer, filling the sky, then when it was only a few hundred feet above the ground, he yelled, and a blinding yellow light filled the city.
At the stadium, the students saw the flash and rushed outside to see what had happened. They gasped at the planet filling the sky, glowing yellow. It was completely frozen. Their jaws dropped as they recognized the glow as Toschi's Quirk. "No way…" Omakase muttered, running his hand through his hair.
The planet hovered just feet above them. Cataclysm and Moki were absolutely dumbfounded, and Toschi collapsed to one knee, sweating profusely. All Might leapt into the air and sent a flurry of punches at the meteor, hitting it over a hundred times in less than three seconds. Toschi's eyes drooped shut, and he collapsed, exhausted. The yellow light shattered, and the meteor blasted off into the sky, a massive shockwave racing across the land from the sheer acceleration of it. It flew off, disappearing into the sunlight as the sky cleared up. All Might set his sights on Cataclysm, who was still staring at where the meteor used to be. Cataclysm brought his eyes down to Toschi, who was unconscious, then raised them as a massive fist slammed into his face.
In the week after Cataclysm's attack, the city began to recover. Along with the pro heroes, the U.A. students helped with fixing the damage. Cementoss and Sasaki helped to fill in the deep rifts caused by the earthquakes, and Takeyama, in her giant form, and Kushiro helped move and break large pieces of rubble and debris. Students with tracking abilities, such as Omakase, Reikokuna, Moki, and Kaiza helped search for civilians trapped in collapsed buildings, while others worked on repairs. Shikora had discovered that she could make a kind of plaster mixed with paper, and she helped patch up broken walls, while Ayatsuru helped reduce flooding from broken water mains and pipes. Toschi had woken up a few days after he had stopped the meteor, and was busy rebuilding his strength. Freezing such a colossal object had taken an immense toll on his body, and he had exhausted a lot of his power. He needed to be ready for when the school resumed the Sports Festival.
A week and a half after the attack, the U.A. students were back in the stadium, ready to finish the Sports Festival. In order to extend the event longer than the three matches left, the school decided to hold various recreational activities while the fighters prepared themselves. After two hours of fun and games, the arena was cleared while Cementoss built the stage. The speakers crackled to life.
"Are you ready for the first match of the semifinals?" Present Mic yelled. The crowd cheered. "The man of many beasts versus the fastest student we've ever seen, it's Jokan Reikokuna versus Moki Tsubasa!"
The crowd roared as they entered the arena, waving. Reikokuna respectfully bowed to his opponent, who laughed. Midnight stepped up to the judge's platform and held out her whip.
"The first match of the semifinal, Reikokuna versus Tsubasa, is about to begin!" she called. "Contestants, on my mark." She raised the whip into the air, the two students tensing up. The whip cracked down. "Begin!"
Moki shot into the air like a bullet while Reikokuna got down on all fours. His form grew, thick fur sprouting out all around his body, and he roared as he transformed into a massive tiger. Moki swooped down towards him, steel claws flashing, and Reikokuna leapt. He swatted her out of the air, slamming her down onto the ground. She quickly rolled out of the way as his massive claws tore through the cement, right where her head had been. She kicked up, and her claws raked across his belly. He roared in pain, his eyes flaming as his attacks tripled in speed. Moki got out from under him and took to the skies, panting. Reikokuna changed into a massive eagle and leapt after her, drops of blood splashing onto the ground. The two circled each other, clicking their talons as they stared each other down.
Reikokuna dove towards her, and she flapped out of his way. Before she could react, a powerful hand grabbed her leg. He had transformed into a gorilla, and was now pulling her down as he fell to the earth. He pushed her in front of him as they streaked down, aiming to slam her into the ground. She frantically began slashing at his arms, but he roared through the pain and held on tight. As they approached the ground, he transformed again, a few feet before impact. Moki slammed into the ground, a massive cloud of dust shooting into the air. The crowd grew silent in suspense, trying to see through the veil. Midnight coughed, fanning away the dust as she approached the crater. Looking down, she saw Moki lying unconscious, a mouse sitting on her chest. It hopped off of her, and Reikokuna grew into a human.
The whip snapped. "Tsubasa is unconscious! Reikokuna wins!" The crowd cheered as Reikokuna bowed down. The medical robots came out, and he lifted Moki onto the stretcher. As they departed for Recovery Girl's office, Reikokuna left to return to the waiting room as Cementoss repaired the stage.
"The first finalist has been determined!" Present Mic announced. "Jokan Reikokuna advances to the final round! Now, the next two semifinalists! It's one of the physically strongest students in the class against the hero who saved the city! It's Yakuna Sasaki versus Toschi Hatsume!" The crowd exploded as the two stars of the festival walked onto the stage. Sasaki had gained recognition for not only his incredible brute strength, but also for his incredibly versatile and powerful Quirk. Toschi had been labeled a hero for his part in defeating Cataclysm, and his Quirk was nearly impossible to fight against. Many of their classmates believed this fight would be the best one yet.
"Contestants, ready!" Midnight called, then cracked her whip. "Fight!" Sasaki shot a river of lava at the center of the stage, and it quickly cooled into a massive three-foot-thick wall, stretching almost eleven feet in the air. He grinned, then his expression turned to surprise as the wall flashed yellow. He heard a rapid thudding sound, then the wall exploded, gravel spraying all over him as he shielded his face. Through his fingers, he saw Toschi sprinting towards him, pressing a button on his chest. His suit glowed, and a mass of glowing nanobots formed around his fist as he reared back, then a burst of flame from a rocket motor on his elbow sprouted forth and his reinforced fist slammed into Sasaki's nose. A massive cloud of dust, stirred up by the shockwave of the hit, shot into the sky, and the crowd roared. As the smoke settled, their classmates watched closely, eagerly waiting for one of them to emerge. The dust cleared, and the stadium gasped.
Toschi's reinforced fist was caught in Sasaki's massive hand, cracks spidering through the metal. Sasaki grinned at Toschi's stunned face and swung, slamming his left fist into Toschi's nose. He struck Toschi on the side of the nose, his knuckle getting caught between the bridge of his nose and his orbital socket. Toschi rocketed back from the force of the punch, smashing into the ground near the edge of the stage. His head spun as he tried to roll over. His nose was shattered, and his right eye was swollen shut. He grimaced in pain, clambering up onto his knees. Sasaki watched him in shock; not only had Toschi survived one of the hardest punches ever thrown in the Sports Festival, but he was trying to stand up. Toschi panted, blood streaming from his nose. Sasaki charged, fist flying, and Toschi's clubbed fist vanished. On his other arm, a shield materialized, and he jammed the bottom of it into the ground. Sasaki's fist collided with the shield, echoing like a gong on New Year's. Toschi held firm, grunting as he felt the tremor run through his bones. Sasaki swung his other fist, but froze, glowing yellow; Toschi's free hand was on his chest. Toschi slipped around him and clubs formed over his fists. He swung them into the back of Sasaki's head, just as the glow disappeared. Sasaki barely moved, but he fell to his knees, eyes rolling back in his head as he slumped to the ground.
The whip cracked. "Sasaki retires due to losing consciousness!" Midnight yelled. "Hatsume wins!" The crowd exploded, cheering and whistling. Toschi fell to one knee, holding his nose as the medical robots came out. They managed to lift Sasaki onto the stretcher (with some difficulty; he was over 400 pounds of rock and muscle), and Toschi sat on the other end of it as the robots carted the two away to Recovery Girl. Cementoss began repairing the stage, and Present Mic's voice crackled through the loudspeakers.
"What an incredible match!" he yelled, the crowd cheering harder. "Toschi Hatsume moves on to the finals! Stick around, we'll wait a few minutes for Recovery Girl to do her thing, and then we will hold the third-place match between Moki Tsubasa and Yakuna Sasaki! After those two students battle for a respectable third place, Jokan Reikokuna and Toschi Hatsume will duke it out in an intense, death-defying battle for the grand prize!"
Author's Note:
Whew! Another 4,500 word chapter down the hole! I hope you all didn't mind Moki and Toschi's hero debuts, I was wondering how to incorporate Cataclysm into the story and I feel like it was kinda rushed, like he wasn't as strong as I was intending for him to be. Don't worry, he'll be back someday ;). The championship round should be out in the next few days, so stick around if you enjoy the story!