'I don't have many options here...' I thought, 'With my Quirk, the only thing I can do is rush him with everything I've got. But, if he has a Quirk that can counter me... then I'm screwed...'
"Round 1, Match 3! Ready..?" Mr. Tanner said.
'I can't overestimate him... just like Chris said,' I continued to think, 'All I need to do is overwhelm him..! That's my best option if I want to win this!'
"Set..." Mr. Tanner continued.
'I gotta make a good first impression to the class!' I thought again, determination flowing through me.
"Go!" Mr. Tanner shouted.
『No. 3 - Passion of Youth』
The instant Mr. Tanner shouted I placed my hand on the stone platform and sprinted towards Kason.
'Don't give him time to think..!' I thought. As I got closer, Kason pointed up and did a circular motion with his index finger. Then, a red and slightly transparent orb appeared out of thin air and fell into his hand.
Kason Hawkins. Quirk, Death Orb. The Kason can conjure red transparent orbs out of thin air. At full power, these orbs have the force of a semi-truck driving at full speed. But, at their lowest power, they have the force of a ping pong ball. However, each orb created takes up some of Kason's vitality.
'So, that's his quirk, huh..? Is he gonna throw it at me..?' I thought, still charging at him. The result that followed after my thought was nothing that I expected. Smoothly, Kason raised his left foot and cupped the ball into his hands around his head area, like getting ready to pitch a baseball. He took a deep breath then lunged his left foot forward, sliding it across the ground. During this, he pulled his right arm back and launched the orb forward. The force that was released when he threw the orb was so immense that it shook the entire gym.
The orb barrelled towards me, going so fast that I couldn't even dodge it. 'Oh. I'm dead,' I thought. But, the orb went right past my head. 'It missed..?' I thought as I quickly turned my head around. But, the orb wasn't behind me. '...No...' I thought again. I quickly spun my head to the right to see the orb had curved around and was now coming straight towards my shoulder. As fast as I could, I transformed the skin on my shoulder to the stone that the platform was made out of. The orb slammed into my shoulder with great force, slowly cracking the stone and making me slide across the platform. 'This force..! It's gonna push me out!' I thought. In order to slow myself down, I changed the skin on my feet to stone, tearing my shoes up from the force. The immense power of the orb never stopped. With any other orb-like object, its force would stop after coming in contact with something, but with this orb... there was no stopping it. My feet broke through the surface of the platform, digging my feet into the ground and giving me a foothold. I grit my teeth as I got closer and closer to the edge. 'I can't lose right off the bat..!' I thought. But then, the orb shrank and vanished. Everyone in the bleachers just stared in silence at what had just transpired. Then, Elizabeth quickly stood up and gasped.
"He withstood it!" Elizabeth shouted, "Nice job, Tucker!" I tried to smile in response, but it was difficult to smile after the beating that orb gave me. I glanced at my shoulder and saw a huge burn where the orb had collided.
"Damn..." I muttered.
"Not enough, huh?" Kason said. He quickly pointed up with both of his fingers and did the circular motion with them like he did before. This time, two red orbs appeared and fell into his hands. I stared at him, worry flowing through my body. Honestly, I don't remember what I was even thinking at this moment, but suddenly, I charged towards Kason again. When the orb hit me, I was about halfway down the platform, so I was getting very close at this point. He took a step back and launched the two orbs in my direction but with less power this time. They were closer to the ground than the previous orb, so they collided with the platform beneath me, launching me forward. Kason took another step back with hesitation. Once I got close enough, I pulled back my left fist and transformed it into stone.
"I'm not losing this!" I shouted. I didn't notice at the time, but Kason formed an orb down by his leg and started to raise his arm up with the orb in hand. I unleashed my punch directly into his face, but he threw his arm up as I punched and I noticed too late. The orb showed up in the corner of my eye and it slammed into my face... That's the last thing I remember from that fight. I'm not really sure why I got so into it when there were no stakes involved, but I feel like the pressure of making a good first impression was coursing through me. After what seemed like only mere seconds, I woke up while laying on the bleachers.
"You're finally up, huh?" Chris said. I rose slowly and scratched my head.
"Wh-what happened..?" I asked.
"Kason's ball thing hit you square in the face and threw you out of the ring," Chris explained. I sighed.
"I thought as much," I whispered as I turned to look at the platform. The boy who was taller than 10 feet was standing there along with a girl who looked like an ant compared to him. "Wait, how long was I out..?" I asked. Chris shrugged.
"We're halfway through the second round now," he said, nonchalantly. I jumped back in shock.
"What?! I missed that much?!" I shouted.
"Yeah, I already went and won, so I'm going into the semi-finals," Chris mentioned.
"Woah, cool! I wish I would've been awake to see it," I said. I looked around the bleachers and noticed something weird. "Hey, where's Elizabeth..?" I asked.
"Oh, right. She's in the nurse's office right now. Mr. Tanner wasn't able to heal all of her wounds in time," Chris said. I scrambled towards him and put my hands on his shoulders.
"Is she okay?!" I shouted.
"Y-yeah, she's fine. Calm down," he murmured. I let go of him and turned back towards the platform.
"Sorry... What happened anyway?" I questioned. Chris then pointed to the girl who was on the platform right now, waiting to start the match.
"That's who she went up against," Chris said, "She's really strong." I gulped and stared at the girl. "But, she's going up against David, the big guy," Chris mentioned, "From what I've seen, he's one of the strongest here..."
"This'll be interesting then," I whispered.
"Alright! Round 2, Match 3! June Graham VS. David Grant!" Mr. Tanner yelled, "Ready..? Set..." June, the girl on the platform, started to move her hand up as Mr. Tanner was shouting the countdown. I stared and wondered what she was going to do. "Go!" Mr. Tanner yelled. Once he yelled go, June pointed a finger gun at David and a blue orb of energy started to form around the tips of her fingers. I leaned forward in the bleachers with a surprised look on my face.
'What could her Quirk be..?' I thought. David started to walk slowly in June's direction with a loud thud with every step. The energy on the ends of June's fingers continued to grow and grow, and eventually the energy shot like a bullet off of her fingers, barrelling towards David.
June Graham. Quirk, Finger Cannon. June can create immense energy from her index fingers and fire it off as a projectile. However, the more energy that is released, the more stamina that June loses.
David quickly crossed his arms in order to block the blast, which collided right into him, exploding on impact. June stumbled back a bit from the sudden loss of stamina but was able to stay standing. Smoke and dust from the explosion covered David's side of the platform, leaving him cloaked by it. Eventually, the smoke cleared and David didn't move an inch, but he did have a few scratches on his arm.
David Grant. Quirk, Behemoth. David is more than double the height of the average human. Every physical trait is also doubled, muscle, weight, etc. He can't revert to a normal form, however.
June took a step back in hesitation and pointed her finger at David again, shooting multiple smaller blasts. David just kept walking, taking blast after blast with nothing happening. After shooting more blasts, June stumbled over and fell to the ground.
"Wha-?" I questioned. I quickly turned to Chris and pointed at June. "What happened?" I asked.
"I'm assuming every time she fires off some energy, the energy is actually her stamina. She got so scared about David being able to take the hits that she wasn't paying attention to her stamina usage," Chris explained.
"Ooooohhh... That makes sense," I said.
"June is unable to continue! David advances to the next round!" Mr. Tanner shouted. "Next match is Emi Olsen VS. Hai Ren! Please move over to the platform!" A girl who was seated to my left suddenly stood up. She had blue hair and turquoise eyes like some kind of water goddess.
"What are their Quirks?" I asked Chris.
"Well, the girl with the blue hair has a water-type Quirk," he said.
"What about the other girl... Hai Ren?" I asked again.
"I won't spoil her Quirk, but I will say that it's very strong," he responded. I shuffled to the side and turned back to the platform.
"Last time you said someone was strong they passed out in the middle of the match," I said under my breath.
"What did you say?" Chris asked while clenching his fist in a threatening manner.
"Oh, nothing..!" I exclaimed.
Both Emi and Hai walked over to the platform and got in their respective positions.
"Here we go! Round 2, Match 4! Emi Olsen VS. Hai Ren!" Mr. Tanner shouted. I noticed that Hai seemed very calm, staring straight into her opponent's eyes.
"She seems really serious..." I said. Chris nodded.
"Ready..? Set... Go!" shouted Mr. Tanner. Hai took a deep breath and got into a karate stance. Before Emi could even activate her Quirk, Hai swiftly took her right hand and chopped down, hitting her hand on the platform. After one long second of anticipation, the platform was cut entirely in half in an instant.
Hai Ren. Quirk, Cleave. Hai's chops are leagues stronger than an average human's. The power of the chops can be altered by her. However, there's nothing that signifies the power of the chop. The only person who knows the power is the Hai. The more the Quirk is used, the more the user's hand will strain. If used too much, their hand could potentially break.
Emi's footing was broken up with the chop, and she was thrown off the side of the platform after losing her balance. Everyone stared in shock, even Mr. Tanner. Chris nudged my arm with his elbow and scoffed.
"Told'ya she was strong," he joked. I just sat there, silent. Hai bowed and walked off of the destroyed platform.
"U-uh... Hai is the winner..!" Mr. Tanner stuttered. "That marks the end of the second round! Let me replace this broken platform with a new one and then we can start the third round!" he exclaimed.
"...Watching everyone fight..." I muttered, "...really makes me realize the rush I got while fighting Kason..." Chris turned to me slowly.
"Is that so?" he asked. I nodded, stared down at the bleachers, and smiled.
"Yeah, I really want to fight him again," I said with a serious tone.
"Alright, the start of the third round is Chris Sanders and Kason Hawkins!" Mr. Tanner said. Right as I heard that, a wave of worry washed over me and I quickly turned to Chris, who was already standing up.
"W-wait! You're fighting Kason?!" I shouted. Chris nodded and started walking down the bleachers.
"I'll beat him for you," he whispered with a smirk.
I watched him as he walked away, anxious to see how this fight would turn out. Then, I noticed Kason walking down the bleachers as well, staring at the ground. They both arrived at the platform and awaited Mr. Tanner's starting words.
"Round 3, Match 1! Christoph- Chris Sanders VS. Kason Hawkins!" Mr. Tanner announced. I gulped and could feel cold sweat running down my body.
'Why am I so nervous..?' I thought. Chris yawned while standing on the platform, looking like he was about to fall asleep. 'I shouldn't be worried if he isn't worried, but...' I thought again.
"Ready..? Set... Go!" shouted Mr. Tanner.
『No. 3 - END』