*Midoriya's P.O.V*
I headed over to center stage. Once I exited the stair well, I saw Mineta and Thunderdolt being chewed out by the girls. Oh this I gotta listen to.
"AND FURTHER MO-" Yaoyorozu said before looking up at me, "Oh, Midoriya, how are you? ANYWAY!"
"Okay okay... we're sorry." Thunderdolt muttered.
"Yeah, come on it was just a prank." Mineta commented.
"Then your sense of humor is vastly different from mine..." I said, then I glanced over to Hagakure, "Wait... Hagakure, why are you still wearing the uniform?" I asked.
"O-Oh, well Yao-momo put some much work into making them, and they're kinda cute, so I'm rolling with it!" She exclaimed waving her pompom around.
"... You know what? To each their own." I said simply, "Anyway, lay off them you 5." I said.
"Why? They almost saw us in cheering uniforms, in fact you were the one who stopped us." Jirou said.
"You what?!" Mineta yelled.
"I'm sorry for being a decent human being. Anyway, you'll get your chance to even the score, poor Thunderdolt over here, has about... ehh like a 40%-ish chance to face death in the tournament." I said.
"W-What?" He stuttered as beads of sweat rolled off his face.
"It's true, you have me... and I don't have any plans on easing up on you, Bakugou which is death in an instant, Todoroki which is self-explanatory, and these 4." I said, "So, I would apologize... right now."
"I-I'm sorry!" He exclaimed getting on his knees and apologizing.
"Huh... that was easier than I thought." I muttered under my breath, "Well so long you learned your lesson about respect, and stuff." I said walking away from that whole interaction.
"Oh, Midoriya!"
I turned around to see Uraraka rushing toward me, "Yeah? What's up?" I asked.
"I, wanted to say thanks." She said.
"... For?" I asked.
"For? What do you mean for? You stopped Kaminari and Mineta's 'prank'. You also carried me on your back when I broke my ankle during the race, I never said thanks." She said.
"... Okay 2, no 3 things. First, you already said thanks. Second, he deserved it. Third, don't worry about it, if you were in my shoes you would have done the same." I said, "So if you really want to thanks me, do me a solid, and don't lose the first round." I said patting her head, "I want to fight you eventually."
"W-Well what makes you think I'll make it?" She asked, "It's not like I-"
"What did I say about confidence?" I asked.
"H-Huh?"
"If you're not confident, then you're setting yourself up to lose." I said, "Your Quirk isn't an offensive Quirk, I'll concede that much, however you have a brain in that skull of yours, use it ad make some battle winning strategies."
"B-But I was Thirte-"
"On a midterm. Which was all pen and paper s**t about academics." I said, "Unless I missed the portion where you create your own battle plan, then don't compare your intellect to a stupid test."
"Easy for you to say, you are ranked number one." She retorted.
"Don't get caught up on semantics. Ugh look, the point being that you shouldn't bring yourself down, instead think about how you will beat the crap out of the others, especially Thunderdolt over there." I said half jokingly.
"B-Bu-"
"No buts!" I exclaimed, as Midnight took the podium, "Now come on, the brackets are being formed."
She nodded and we headed towards the podium. Midnight stated that we will be drawing lots to determine our placing in the tournament bracket. Starting with first then all the way down to forth. Since the top 4 has 4 members, it's a 16 player bracket. The matches are as follows.
The first match, is Sero vs Uraraka.
Second, is Todoroki vs Tetsutetsu, that's an interesting one.
Third, is Kendou vs Asui, they're both intellegent, so it could go either way.
Forth, is Mina vs Shinsou, I know absolutely nothing about him, so it'll be interesting.
Fifth, is Kirishima vs Iida, an unstoppable force vs an immovable object, fitting.
Sixth, is Tokoyami vs Shiozaki, both specialize in range, could be a long drawn out match.
Seventh, is Yaoyorozu vs Kaminari, the most livid person as well as the worst person he could possibly fight, brutal.
And finally...
"Okay... now that, is funny." I said pointing to the last bracket.
It was Me vs Bakugou. The atmosphere tensed up as Bakugou made his way to me.
"I hope you realize... that I have no intention on going easy on you." Bakugou said.
"Heh, of couse you aren't. If you did then I'd rush you to the mental hospital immediately." I joked, "I wonder how this will go? We both have fighting capabilities in both the air and on the ground."
"Well, one thing is for certain... that you'll get a full course meal of explosions." He commented with the biggest smirk in his face.
"Well, I know how much you like spicy things." I said as I sent a small ember towards his face, it dissipated before it could hit him.
"You've gotten better with your comebacks." He said before walking away.
I took a deep breath to calm my shaky nerves. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about the match, but I still needed to be confident. After Midnight finished her statement on the tournament, the recreational games started. As much as I wanted to play and win, I needed to come up with a plan for Bakugou. I headed up the stairs to the Class 1-A spectators seat. To my complete surprise, I saw Yaoyorozu sitting up here too.
"What are you doing here? And how did you get here before me?" I asked.
"I was thinking of a strategy for Kaminari, and I left before Midnight finished." She said.
"Okay." I said sitting next to her, "But I don't think you need to worry about Thunderdolt." I said, "Knowing him, he'll just 1.3 Million Volt his way out of his problems, and lose that way." I joked, "And it's not like he'll be making some genius strategies for the battle, you got this in the bag."
"How can you be so certain?" She asked.
"Easy, 1.) We've beat him before, well he more so beat himself. 2.) He only outclasses you in pure strength. Let's be honest, you're way smarter than him, the only one who beat you was me. The only way he could beat you was if you couldn't make something fast enough." I said.
"But still..."
"In fact I'll belt you out a strategy." I said, "You can either A.) Make a smaller insulation sheet like last time, B.) Make a rubber suit. C.) Jam a metal rod into the ground. Or D.) Which is my favorite, make springs and launch yourself over the voltage."
"...Those plans aren't good." She commented.
"Okay smart alek, that's not the point. The point, is that you are worrying too much over practially nothing." I said.
"Bu-"
"Now if you want difficulty, look at my match up." I said, "Bakugou is equal with me in the air, and superior on the ground." I said.
"Right..." She muttered.
"I'd be lying dead to your face if I said I wasn't worried. I'd be lying even more if I said I wasn't excited."
"I don't follow."
"Well, to get to my goal of winning this thing, I'll have to fight some powerful opponents. Look at the bracket ahead, when I beat Bakugou, I'll fight you or Thundedolt. Spoilers I'll probably fight you. Then I'll fight either Kirishima, Iida, Tokoyami, or Shiozaki. If I fought some extras to win, then it'd be a lame hollow victory. So fighting such strong opponents is a thrill." I said, "And it'll make you look good for the scouts."
"...Don't you mean, make US look good for the scouts?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"What you kidding? What kind of hero will offer an internship to an ex-criminal who burned down another hero agency?" I asked.
"Well, you did save Uraraka from falling down an abyss." She pointed out.
"Well, labels don't leave you, ever." I said leaning into my seat, "I'll be lucky if I get one." I said as the crowd cheered, "Guess the games are over." I commented.
"...So they are." Yaoyorozu said glancing at center field, "Anyway, you never told me your strategy for dealing with Bakugou." She said.
"Ahh, you've noticed it, not bad. To be honest, I would tell you, but where's the fun in that?" I said with a smile, "I may not get a offer, but I'll still give the audience a good show, and what's more fun, then not knowing what to expect?"
"You sound confident." She commented.
"Yeah, not having confidence at all, is way worse than throwing in the towel during a fight." I said, "With throwing in the towel, you at least gave it your all and know when you've been beaten. Not having confidence at all will lead to you not giving it your all and thus ruining the match."
"I see..." She commented, "Which reminds me... why are you so hard on Kaminari?"
"Thunderdolt? Well, he hasn't proven that he is pro material... not that I'm one to talk."
"But why?" She asked.
"I'll give you 3 reasons. 1.) Was that he keeps calling me a criminal so I'm being petty and calling him a nickname as well. 2.) He isn't smart, like strategically smart. Both times I've seen him in combat, he's fried his brain. 3.) He joined forces with a pervert." I said, "Did I forget anything?" I asked.
"..."
"Look, I'll stop calling him Thunderdolt, until he does something to warrent me changing that." I said sitting back up, "Till that millennia comes, he's Thunderdolt to me."
She decided to not continue the conversation, so I watched Cementoss make the stage. In a weird way... it was rather satisfying seeing the cement turn into a stage. Once he finished the first round started, with Sero vs Uraraka.
"Sero has this in the bag." Kirishima commented sitting next to me.
"Yeah, he got the range advantage, all he has to do is swing her out of the ring." Thunderdolt said.
"Heh... spoken like a true Thunderdolt."
"What did you say?" He asked.
"Look, I'll concede that Sero has the range advantage." I said as the match started, Sero wrapped her in his tape and started pulling her towards him for a punch, "But you forget one thing..." I said as she wiggled one hand free, "She just has to touch him once."
She touched him and he soon started floating, she gripped the tape around her body and tore it off.
"Game." She ran towards him, "Set." He launched more tape ar her, but she dodged, "Match." She pushed him out of bounds.
"Sero is out of bounds, Uraraka is the winner!" Midnight yelled.
"What he did, though it wasn't a bad idea, was the most obvious move." I said cracking my knuckles, "What I would have done, was launched a tape, pulled myself towards and punched, she would have been caught off guard and in turn dazed after the hit." I explained.
"Thanks for the advice, AFTER the match ended." Sero said collapsing onto the empty seat.
"You are welcome." I said with a smirk, he groaned and buried his face into his hands, "Look you're the top 16 don't complain."
"Yeah, but they saw me get my butt beat."
"Yeah, and they will see 8 others who will probably get beat worse than you." I said nudging towards Thunderdolt.
"I'm going to ignore that gesture."
"Moving on, you fought hard to get here, and the pros noticed that, so chin up and enjoy the next match. I'm interested in this one." I said as I saw Todoroki and Tetsutetsu step onto center stage.
"Hey Midoriya." Uraraka said sitting next to me.
"Hey..." I said as I still kept my attention to the field, "This is an endurance match."
"How so?" She asked.
"Quirks are physical abilites." I said, "Todoroki can only use his ice for so long, until it takes a toll on him, same goes for Tetsutetsu." I said.
"Oh right, can't he turn into Iron?"
"Correct."
Unless he uses his fire, he's going to have a long match, especially against Tetsutetsu. Midnight asked if they were ready, then the match begun. Todoroki struck first sending a wave if ice towards Tetsutetsu, but with his strength and his iron body, shattered the wave with one punch. Todoroki was a bit shaken, not that I blame him, Tetsutetsu did just shatter his attack with one punch, but he sent another, then another , then another, and Tetsutetus shattered all of them. It was a long drawn out battle, neither side budging... until Tetsutetsu gripped his arm, he has reached his limit. Todoroki seizing his opportunity, rushed in and encased him in ice. Thus ending the battle.
"Yup, an endurance battle, and Todoroki out lasted Tetsutetsu." I commented.
After Todoroki deforsted the battle field, the third match is going to begin shortly.
"DAMN IT!" A loud voice, who I can theorize belongs to Tetsutetsu, was heard on the other side of the wall.
"It's okay Tetsutetsu." A meldoious voice that I can infer is Shiozaki said, trying to cheer him up, "It was a close fight."
"Close my a**! He wiped the floor with me." He said.
"Not exactly." I said as I climbed up the wall.
"Oh Midoriya." Tetsutetsu greeted, "Sorry for the disappointing finish."
"I wouldn't call that disappointing. It was an endurance match, and you fought long and hard, though you should have loaded up on iron before this." I said, "Might I recommend shellfish?" I said, as I habitually glanced around... then I saw him. "Oh... it's you."
"Heh, why the sour tone, you Class 1-A nobody." Monoma said with the same smug face from when he hurt Uraraka.
"I'm sour because you are back from orbit. Maybe I should have packed more punch." I said as I turned to Kendou, "Was he always this big of a a**hole?"
"It's... more confidence." She said.
"Well, there's confident, there's over confident, and then there's being a cocky f**k." I said shooting him a glare, "Well, at least he's out of the tournament... though I would have liked to have beat him in a gradios scale... but eliminating him while propelling Uraraka and I to first was worth it." I said... then it hit me, "Wait... shouldn't you be heading down? Your match against Asui is...right now."
"... Oh right! Sorry about that." She said as she got up and ran.
"Good luck!" I yelled.
"Beat those Class 1-A idiots!" Monoma yelled, until Kendou ran back to chop him in the neck, knocking him out completely.
"They're not the idiots..." She muttered as she left.
After that interaction, I sat back down. Kendou just ran onto the stage, they waited a few seconds for Kendou to catch her breath, then the battle started. Asui started the battle by jumping into the air and using her tongue to wrap around Kendou. Kendou on the other hand, pun totally intended, used her Quirk to make her hands gigantic, with that she gripped her tongue and pulled her in closer. Knowing what she's trying to do, Asui, waited for the right moment then swiftly unwrapped her tongue and kicked off her enlarged hand.
If she does that again, I'm not certain she'll be able to get out as easily. Asui out classes Kendou in terms of speed, but in terms of raw power, Kendou is superior. How this match will go, depends on how Asui moves. Kendou however, decided to attack first, she rushed towards Asui, reverting her hands to normal size to maximize her speed, but Asui saw through that and hopped out of the way. Now that she was in Kendou's blindspot, she wrapped her tongue around Kendou's waste and pulled herself towards Kendou ready to knock her out of bounds.
But that was Kendou's feint. Once she was certain she was getting closer, she gripped her tongue, pulled it off of her, and swung her out of bounds.
"Asui is out of bounds. The winner is Kendou." Midnight said, as the crowd cheered.
"She put up a good fight, but got to hasty at the end." I commented, "She had the speed advantage, instead of going for the quick victory, stall her with quick and frequent hits, then she would have had the victory." I said, leaning back into my seat, "But what are you gonna do?"
"You just have all the answers don't you?" Thunderdolt commented.
"It's called analyzing the battle, I'm going to fight one of them soon, so I might as well make note of their strengths and weaknesses." I said, "Something you could stand to do."
"He has a point, ribbit." Asui said sitting with us, "Had I done that, instead of wanting to finish it quickly, I would have won."
"Yeah, it's almost as if he should give us this advice BEFORE the battle starts." Sero commented.
"What? You should have noticed the flaw in your plans Mr. Scotch-Tape." I said, "You should have known Uraraka's Quirk and how it worked."
"..."
"I'll take your silence as a surrender." I said as I noticed who was fighting next, Ashido and that purple haired guy... Shinso. I have no idea what this guy's Quirk is, but now is a good time more than any to learn.
The match started and Ashido rushed towards him with her acid. Then... she stopped, dead in her tracks. What's even weirder... was the fact that she stepped out of bounds, of her own volition.
"Mina... is out of bounds." Midnight said clearly confused by what happened, "The winner is Shinso."
Once the match was declared over, Ashido shook her head and looked around. She seemed extremely confused.
"What happened...?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"I don't know... Midoriya, do you know what happened?" Uraraka asked.
"...I can't say for certain, but it has to be his Quirk." I said, "What is his Quirk... I don't know, but Ashido seemed... out of it, she even looked shocked herself once the match was over. It must be a Quirk that allows him to control other people." I said.
"Makes sense in theory." Yaoyorozu said, "But how does it work?"
"I couldn't tell you, I never seen it before, but ask Ashido I'm sure she'll have some insight." I said as I glanced to the center stage, "Now this... is gonna be a good fight." I said as I took a handful of popcorn.
"...Where did you get that?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"Oh, I snagged it from Monoma, he's too knocked out to care." I said eating a handful, "Mmm... you know for a complete a**hole, he can butter popcorn perfectly." I said shifting the tub to Uraraka, "Want some?"
*Uraraka's P.O.V*
"Yeah." I said as I grabbed a handful of stolen popcorn. He was right... this was perfectly buttered. "Anyway, who do you think is going to win, Iida or Kirishima?" I asked.
"Hmm, it's literally a battle of an unstoppable force, being Iida, and an immovable object, that being Kirishima. The difference is that Kirishima's quirk gets weaker the more he gets hit while using it." He explained, "So just watch and see." He said eating more popcorn.
I nodded and turned my attention back to center stage. Midnight started the battle and Kirishima immediately hardened his body and braced himself, while Iida rushed towards him delivering a kick to his arms, he skidded back but didn't waver. However, Iida just kept coming a Kirishima, delivering kick after kick, while Kirishima blocked each and every attack. It seemed to go on forever... until.
"... I surrender, we'll be here forever." Kirishima said, as Iida stopped his onslaught. Midnight declared that Kirishima forfeited and that Iida was the winner.
"The irresistable force paradox is always a fun one." Midoriya said.
"... The Irre-What-Now?" I asked as he laughed.
"The Irresistable Force Paradox, or in simpler words, what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object." He explained, "It states that both the unstoppable force and the immovable object are both indestructable, so that battle would go on forever." Midoriya said, "Which reminds me of a comic All Might gave me a little while ago, about some hero names 'Superman' he was asked the same question of 'What happens when an unstoppable force, meets an immovable object'. He responds by saying 'they surrender'." He explained, "Though there are a ton of flaws about this, an immovable object would imply that the object has infinite inertia and as such infinite mass, which no such object exists."
"... I don't get it..." I muttered.
He sighed, "Look, all you need to know was that a surrender was innevitable, it all came down to who would cave first." He explained, "Kirishima was probably reaching his limit as well, so his defeat was also inevitable."
Hmm... I kinda get what he's saying. It would be a constant battle with no end in sight, assuming these two don't have a limit it would have gone on for eternity. So a surrender was not only inevitable but manditory to progress the tournament. I bet the pros will respect his decision.
The next fight was Tokoyami and Shiozaki, the vine girl who fought with Midoriya during the cavalry battle... and it was a clash. Dark Shadow fought back her vines, slashing them in half. Though it was only a matter of time before Dark Shadow slashed all the vines, rendering her defenseless. All he had to do was shove her out of bounds.
Next was Yaoyorozu and Kaminari... and it was, yeah it wasn't pretty. Kaminari decided to use his 1.3 Million Volt attack to finish this quickly, but Yaoyorozu countered with... and I mean this, wooded shoes. Anyway he was dazed, so she lightly pushed him out of bounds.
Now... it's time for the final match.
"Well, guess I'm up." Midoriya said standind up and began heading towards center stage.
"Good luck!" I yelled giving him a thumbs up, he returned the gesture... I hope he'll be alright.
*Midoriya's P.O.V*
Okay... deep breaths. I'll be fine! I got this! He may have the advantage on the ground, but I have the advantage in the air. So it can go either way. I made it to center stage, I saw Bakugou standing there ready for me.
"Hey." I greeted standing on the other end.
"Hey." He greeted back, "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." I said as I adjusted my bandana, "Let's give the people a good show."
"Begin!" Midnight yelled, as the match started.
I started my taking to the air, Bakugou however stayed on the ground launching explosions at me in hopes of shooting me out of the sky. After dodging and weaving away from his explosions, it was time to go on the offensive. I flew around, then I suddenly dive bombed from on top of him, he noticed and dodged accordingly, causing me to punch a crater into the stage... and hurt my hand.
"That was a ballsy move Deku... but it's time to finish this." Bakugou said.
"My sentiments exactly." I said as I put my wrists together, "I shall unleash! MY Ultimate Move!" I exclaimed, causing him to stop in his tracks.
Then he smirked, "Well bring it!" He yelled cupping his hands together creating small explosions.
"Alright here it comes!" I yelled, "FINAL FLASH!" I yelled as both funnels erupted fire causing it to form one massive flame burst, but Bakugou countered with a bigger explosion.
"Wait a minute... did you really just-"
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" I yelled as I flew through the smoke delivering a knee to his jaw.
"Gah!" He yelled as he slowly skidded to a halt, "You bastard! You did that on purpose!" He yelled.
"Not on purpose, but the opportunity was there so I took it." I said as a smirk formed on my face.
"That's it... time for my ultimate move!" Bakugou yelled sounding incredibly pi**ed, right... he hated when people joked around in battle. He suddenly launched himself in the air and used his explosions to spin himself in the air, creating a bright orange cyclone. Oh crap, that looks bad. I could fly away? No he would chase me in the air. I could slow him down with my fire? No... that would add to his cyclone... I have to use it.
I surged One for All through my arm, and got ready for the biggest punch I've ever thrown.
"HOWITZER IMPACT!" Bakugou yelled.
"HAH!" I yelled.
Our fists collided as a massive shockwave was sent surging through out the stadium, I felt myself be sent flying away from the source of impact. I had to slow myself down or else I'll be knocked out of bounds. Using my left arm, I used my flight to slow down to a stop, but the debri and dust was circling around us and I couldn't see s**t!
The dust and debri slowly settled, as I stood there not moving a muscle. The minute I could see again, I looked down to see where I was. Thank goodness I was in bounds! But what ab-
"Bakugou... is out of bounds!" Midnight yelled pointing to the unconscious Bakugou who was sitting against the wall, "The winner is Midoriya!" Midnight yelled.
I was in shock... then the pain of my broken right arm pricked my brain, I need to go see Recovery Girl. I exited center stage to go see Recovery Girl, as I was walking the robot nurses walked past me, probably to go get Bakugou. Anyway, I made it to Recovery Girl's office, I knocked on the door and walked in.
"Hey... Recovery Gi-"
She sighed loudly, "Fine, sit on the bed." She said as I did as told, after a quick kiss, and a quick stamina healing pellet, I headed back to the spectator seats.
"Midoriya you won!" Uraraka exclaimed.
"That was crazy! You two destroyed everything!" Kirishima exclaimed.
"Well... Bakugou did all the work on that department." I commented, then my eyes widened in realization, "Hey I'm fighting Yaoyoorzu next." I said.
"That is right." Yaoyorozu muttered.
"Well, I expect a good battle." I said.
She blinked a few times before smiling back, "Well I won't disappoint."
Then the air got warmer and more tense. Bakugou walked over to the spectator seats. Everyone looked afraid... however... he's just brooding.
"Good match Bakugou." I said extending my hand.
He looked at it for a few seconds... then shook it.
"I should have known you would have done a cheap trick like that." He commented.
"Cheap Trick are such strong words... I like to call that, a 'Tactical Ruse'." I said with a big smirk on my face.
"Well wipe that s**t eating grin off your face, you still have a long way to go." Bakugou said sitting back down.
"...I won't let you down." I muttered as I headed back down to my own seat.
"I know..." He muttered as well.
Then Kirishima started tearing up, "So... manly!" He exclaimed.
I decided to ignore his comment, while Cementoss was busy fixing the shattered stage.
This... might take a while.
*End of Chapter*