Chapter 12: Round Two: This Time It Is Not Round One
"AND THE HAMMER MAN WITH THE HAMMER PLAN, MIDORIYA IZUKU!"
Deku grimaced at the terrible way Present Mic had introduced him, but stepped out into the sunlight. He set Mjolnir down at the entrance as asked of him, running through what he knew of Ashido's Quirk in his head.
"AND THE ACIDIC HEROINE THAT CAN MELT HEARTS AND STEEL BEAMS, ASHIDO MINA!"
Wow, he's really bad at this, Deku thought, a bit sidetracked.
As he stared at his opponent, a plan was formulating already in his mind. She could use her acid to slide, sure, but her mobility was nowhere near as good as Iida's. He could summon Mjolnir and zap her, for sure.
Midnight signaled the beginning of the match and Ashido began charging towards Midoriya, using her acid to create a slide for herself. For as fast as she was, Midoriya was still able to summon Mjolnir and send a bolt of lightning right towards her.
But she curved her the flow of acid of her upwards and stopped a wall of it in front of her with her hands. It turned thick and rubbery and the lightning struck it ineffectively.
Shit, Deku thought.
She immediately jumped to another slide and began making towards Deku again. He tried another bolt of lightning but she again created a shield of a thick, rubbery basic solution to stop the lightning.
Midoriya began circle strafing the arena as she started to surf again.
"Come on Midoriya, you didn't really think I wouldn't figure out a way to stop your lightning, did you?" She taunted as she began sliding up to him.
Acids and bases conduct electricity as an aqueous solution, he realized, but if they're rubbery like that, they're going to be terrible conductors.
Before he could think of a counter strategy, Ashido was already on him and ducked low. She went for a breakdancing leg sweep kick. Midoriya was able to backflip over the attack and used a gust of wind to both knock her away and launch himself upwards.
Ashido skid along the pavement but was able to create an acid slide to steer herself away from the edge of the ring.
Deku landed a good twenty feet away and, as soon as he did, threw Mjolnir at Ashido, hoping he could knock her out of the ring.
But as Mjolnir approached her, she threw a wall of acid up and turned it thick and sludge-like to encase the hammer. She stopped and looked at it for a second. "Huh, that should totally be melting."
Deku panicked for a second and tried to recall Mjolnir. It began pulling against the thick sludge but it was taking some time to free itself.
Mina noticed right away and took off towards Midoriya once more, hoping to catch him defenseless.
Need to keep her at bay, he realized, backpedaling with his right hand extended for his hammer. Just need to make her pause.
He strained internally as she drew near, trying to draw the flow of lightning within himself. Without Mjolnir it was a lot harder to feel the electricity in his veins. Still, he was able to thrust his left hand forward and shoot a weak jolt of electricity - enough to make Mina have to stop in her tracks and throw up a shield for herself.
With a loud, "pop," of suction, Mjolnir unjammed itself from the goop and flew back into Midoriya's hand. "Gross," he muttered, seeing the thick, pink sludge on top of it and shaking it off a bit.
Mina broke into a quick slide and tried to uppercut Midoriya as she got close, but he jumped backwards out of the way. Before he could attack again, Mina did a spinning kick in the air, shooting acid at Deku. He was barely able to roll out of the way, the liquid sizzling against the pavement just where he had been.
Her attack pattern is predictable, Midoriya realized. Maybe I can...
As Ashido skated towards him again, he spun the hammer in preparation. While she was a few feet away, he slammed Mjolnir against the pavement as hard as he could, shattering the cement and sending a deep fissure down the arena.
Ashido's balance was lost as her acid slipped down the crack and she crashed on the ground. Midoriya unleashed a large blast of lightning from Mjolnir, knocking her out.
"AND MIDORIYA IZUKU WITH THAT ELECTRIFYING VICTORY!" Present Mic screamed for the crowd, who cheered.
Midoriya let out a sigh of relief. "Good thing that worked..."
As Recovery Girl came out to help Ashido off the field, Midoriya made his way back into the stadium, ready for a break before heading to the semi finals.
What he wasn't expecting was to pass Endeavor, staring right at him. If he had met Endeavor literally any other day, he'd be going into fanboy Hero mode, but now he was stuck with a wide-eyed expression, unsure of how to feel.
"Good job," Endeavor said, his tone somewhat condescending. Midoriya reasoned he could just be imagining the tone.
"Th-thanks," Izuku replied, shakily.
"You're a powerhouse, coming out here like some historical Hero," Endeavor chuckled. "What was the hammer Avenger? Poseidon?"
Midoriya's eyebrow twitched, somewhat angrily. THAT was definitely condescending.
"Give my boy a good fight," Endeavor laughed. "He won't live up to my potential without one."
As Endeavor turned to leave, Midoriya blurted out. "I'm not an Avenger."
Endeavor turned and gave Deku a small sneer. "Obviously, you're just a -"
"And Todoroki isn't you," Midoriya added, calming his wild nerves. "He already has way more potential than you anyway."
He turned and walked down the corridor towards the stands before Endeavor could answer, fuming.
--
Loki and Valkyrie exchanged confused glances; Inko was sobbing tears of joy in a near-hysterical level, while Thor just pat her back like this was the most normal thing in the world.
"I'm kind of glad I don't have kids," Loki muttered under his breath.
"I'm also glad you don't have kids," Valkyrie smirked.
--
As Midoriya rejoined his friends in the stands, a few of his friends gave him a cheer.
"That was pretty awesome," Uraraka said as he took his seat.
"Thanks," he replied, out of breath. He looked around a bit. "Where did Tsuyu go?"
"Her match is right after Todoroki and Kirishima, so she's getting herself ready to take on Kendo," his brunette friend answered.
Deku tried to hide his disappointment. "Well that makes sense. You and Aoyama had a pretty cool fight too, where's he?"
Uraraka gave a small frown. "He stayed in Recovery Girl's office for his stomach pains. He might have overdone it a bit."
Deku nodded as Present Mic introduced Todoroki and Kirishima to do combat in the next round.
"Think Kirishima will have better luck than you, Sero?" Asked Kaminari, who had gotten his brain back in working order. Sero looked none too pleased.
"You're one to talk," Jirou scoffed, drawing a few chuckles from the rest.
"GO!" Midnight yelled.
Todoroki sent wave of ice with his foot, looking to make a wall to trap Kirishima in. But what he, and half the crowd, was not expecting was for the laid back and calm Kirishima to make a roaring sound and begin charging through the ice, fully hardened.
"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME, MAN!" Kirishima screamed, "THAT'S NOT MANLY!"
Todoroki's usually composed face briefly flashed with concern as Kirishima continued to smash through the ice he sent his way. His brow furrowed and as Kirishima approached, he threw out his hand and froze Kirishima's legs.
Kirishima punched the ice around his legs as Todoroki slid away.
"GET HIM KIRISHIMA!" Ashido yelled from the stairs as she rejoined the rest of class 1-A in the stands.
"That spiky-haired extra is tougher than he looks," Bakugou snorted.
"Hey, Uraraka," Midoriya asked, "does it look like Todoroki's slowing down a bit?"
Uraraka turned to him, brows furrowed, and looked back out to the arena. "I mean, maybe a bit? It's hard to really tell from here."
Deku pulled out his phone and zoomed in down towards the fight. Kirishima was pressing the attack, lunging for Todoroki, who was backpedaling away from the redhead, throwing up ice walls with his left hand. It was no use, Kirishima was breaking through every single one.
"STOP RUNNING AWAY!" Kirishima yelled. He threw a right haymaker for Todoroki's face, but Todoroki caught it with his left hand and froze their arms together. For a brief moment his right hand twitched and a small spark emerged.
But he recalled the flames almost immediately.
Kirishima grunted in anger and broke free and Todoroki created a slide of ice to create some distance.
The crowd was going nuts; Todoroki was a sure favorite to win the Sports Favorable, according to all betting odds. To see him on the ropes from this assault was exhilarating.
As Kirishima punched through another thin wall of ice, Todoroki pounced. He grabbed Kirishima's face with his left hand and froze him from the top down.
Midoriya could tell, through his zoomed camera that Torodoki's left arm, all the way up to his jaw line, was starting to frost up.
The ice covered Kirishima completely, though Todoroki left a hole for his face. He struggled, but he couldn't bring his body to Harden enough to break free from the hold.
"Damn it," Kirishima groaned, "... you got me." He looked Todoroki in the eye. "I'm out of juice, man. You win."
"THAT'S THE MATCH!" Present Mic screamed for the crowd, and they exploded with excitement.
--
"So this Ice Guy, he's the one who called out Midoriya?" Valkyrie asked.
"Right," Inko confirmed.
"And he has a Fire ability from his right hand side as well?"
"Right," Thor said.
"So everyone knows about it, why isn't he using it?" Valkyrie questioned. "It's not like it's some secret weapon or something. He could have toasted that guy really quickly."
A wave of silence washed over the four until Loki cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Daddy issues," he muttered.
"What?" Thor asked.
Loki just turned and gave him a serious look. "That kid's family is messed up worse than ours. Trust me, I can tell."
The two fell quiet and turned back towards the stadium.
"Oof." Thor said, quietly.
--
Deku and Uraraka sat on the edges of their seats as Present Mic announced Kendo out first.
The section of students for class 1-B stood up and cheered loudly. As they sat down, Present Mic shouted Asui's name, introducing her as the fleet-footed frog heroine.
Deku and a few others in Class 1-A stood up and cheered for her, but after a moment Midoriya realized he never sat back down with the rest of them.
"DOWN IN FRONT, DORK!" Bakugou shouted, throwing an empty water bottle at Midoriya's head. He missed by a foot, because it was empty and got caught by the wind. The message was still received though and Izuku sat back down, embarrassed, as a few of his classmates snickered.
"I think we know who Midoriya is rooting for!" Ashido said teasingly.
"O-o-of course I'm going to c-cheer f-f-for our classmate!" Deku replied, hoping his face wasn't turning red.
"Look how red your face is!" Ashido laughed. "I'm just teasing you because you won our match." She stuck her tongue out at him, playfully.
The match began, drawing everyone's attention to the arena itself. Asui started things off the way she finished the last match; she shot her tongue out and wrapped it around Kendo's knee, and used that to rappel towards her opponent.
Though Kendo's knee buckled, she was prepared, enlarging both her hands and covering her body with them. Asui's dropkick was blocked by Kendo's hands and the president of class 1-B flung them apart quickly, sending the frog heroine flying.
Tsuyu was almost flung out of the ring but was able to shoot her tongue out, catch the side of the ring, and pull herself inside of it as her classmates cheered.
But as Asui landed, Kendo had already closed the gap, hoping she could force Asui out of the ring with her giant fists. As she got close, Tsuyu jumped to the side, clearing a good ten meters away from Kendo, who had to stop herself from running out of the ring. Tsuyu took the opportunity to grab her opponent's leg with her tongue again, but Kendo immediately turned, grabbed Tsuyu's tongue with her enlarged fists, and pulled her in with a large tug.
Asui left her feet, unprepared, and got clubbed with a giant right hook from Kendo. Asui bounced across the pavement to the middle of the ring.
Kendo charged the center of the ring and slammed her enlarged right hand down onto the ground, Tsuyu just barely rolling out of the way and onto all fours. The frog-like girl sprang forward, thrusting her feet forward and kicked against Kendo's shoulder and midsection, throwing the redhead back across the ring.
Kendo bounced off the pavement, turned in the air, and enlarged her hands against it to catch herself in a handstand as Tsuyu charged towards her. Kendo flipped forward onto her feet and then used both hands to grab Tsuyu. Asui's head poked out from the top of Kendo's clenched hands, struggling.
"Give up!" Kendo commanded, squeezing lightly to put the pressure on Asui.
Asui croaked defiantly.
--
From the stands Midoriya's mind was whirring. "If only they were in their Hero costumes, this would be a lot easier for Tsuyu."
"What do you mean?" Uraraka asked.
Midoriya blushed, realizing he'd have to explain. "W-well, as a frog, her body would be able to naturally lubricate and slip out of the situation. But the gym clothes restrict that."
"Mmm, self-lubricating Tsuyu," Mineta moaned from a few seats back. Again, the rest of class 1-A turned to give him a disgusted look.
"You always take things too far, man," Kaminari sighed.
"Shut up, Mineta," Bakugou scoffed.
"...Hey, Uraraka, isn't your match with Bakugou next?" Midoriya asked, turning back and realizing the two were still present in the stands.
She nodded, nervously. "Y-yeah. I should go get ready..." She stood up and shakily made her way towards the stands.
Midoriya stared after her for a moment, a bit taken aback by her change in attitude. She was so ready for her match with Aoyama but...
He turned back and stole a glance at Bakugou, who looked just as intimidating as ever.
I hope she's alright, he thought, putting his attention back on Asui.
--
"Come on, I don't think you want to see how hard I can squeeze here!" Kendo growled.
Asui ribbited again defiantly, reared her head back, and spit some low-level poison at her opponent's face. The sickly-yellow liquid hit Kendo's face with a splat and Kendo immediately yelped in pain, dropping her opponent.
Tsuyu reared back on all fours for another leaping kick, but the blinded Kendo was not going to leave herself open long; she began swinging wildly, forcing Asui to back up to avoid the blows.
As they backed towards the corner of the ring, Asui got an idea; she jumped forward, low to the ground. "DOWN HERE, KERO!"
Kendo instinctively slammed her fists down onto the pavement, dislodging chunks of cement as Asui jumped backwards to dodge. Asui used her tongue to grab the biggest chunk of cement she could and, with a spin, threw the piece of pavement back at Kendo. It struck the president of class 1-B's legs and sent her face-first onto the ground, her hands shrinking momentarily.
That was all it took though; Asui shot her tongue out and wrapped them around Kendo's forearms, picking her up and tossing her a few feet to the side, out of the ring, and out the grass.
"Ring out!" Midnight called, "That's the match!"
The crowd erupted into cheers as Asui sighed in relief.
"WHAT A RIBBITING MATCH, WOULDN'T YOU SAY ERASER?!" Present Mic shouted.
"I hate you," Aizawa sighed.
--
Deku stood up and cheered with the rest of class 1-A, except for Bakugou, who took off to make it to the arena below.
"You going to get her flowers for that win, Midoriya," Ashido teased, causing him to blush fiercely.
"Leave him alone!" Hagakure laughed, "They might have to fight in the finals, after all!"
Midoriya's blush subsided and he realized that this was true; provided he could make it past Todoroki in the semi-finals, Asui would be facing the winner of the upcoming Bakugou and Uraraka match to determine the finalist.
He watched as Asui helped Kendo up and gave her pointers on getting the poison out of her eyes. The crowd cheered again and Cementoss repaired the arena for the next match.
"AND FOR OUR NEXT MATCH, THE GIRL THAT WILL BE DEFYING GRAVITY, URARAKA OCHAKO!"
Uraraka marched out to the ring, practically looking like a different woman; Midoriya was shocked to see all traces of nervousness gone from her face. In its place was a steely determination.
"AND THE STUDENT WITH THE EXPLOSIVE PERSONALITY, BAKUGOU KATSUKI!"
From the hallway to the back, Bakugou used a single explosion to throw himself into the ring.
Midnight signaled the match to begin and Uraraka took off running, keeping low to the ground, just as she had done against Aoyama. Bakugou took a defensive stance and raised his hands. As Ochako approached, Bakugou unleaded a blast, sending rubble and debris everywhere.
This repeated, sending dust and concrete everywhere, Bakugou tearing up the arena to keep Uraraka at bay.
Deku was on the edge of his seat, exhilarated as his friend kept Bakugou on the defensive. At one point, she had thrown her jacket into the air as a diversion and tried to tag Bakugou, but he was able to see through the tactic.
He jumped as Asui sat down next to him. "Sorry, kero. Didn't mean to startle you."
"No worries," he assured her, "you were too cool against Kendo!"
"She was pretty tough," Asui smiled slightly, but turned to the match. "Uraraka is looking great out there."
After an unrelenting attack, Uraraka suddenly jumped back from Bakugou and put her hands together. "Release!"
Midoriya looked up to see he wasn't the only one who could create weather; Uraraka had spent the match making as much rubble and rock levitate as possible. At her command, cement began raining from the sky down towards Bakugou in a makeshift meteor shower. "Whoa..."
"That's so cool!" Tsuyu ribbited.
They watched in awe, expecting Bakugou to get pelted -
BOOM!
But instead Bakugou unleaded a flurry of explosions, bigger than Deku had ever seen him use before, blasting the chunks of rock from the sky.
Unfazed, Bakugou looked to Uraraka... Who collapsed from exhaustion.
"THAT'S THE MATCH!" Present Mic yelled, "WHAT A SHOWING!"
As the crowd cheered, Asui and Midoriya leaned back, somewhat disappointed. But as they did, they down to see Bakugou was staring right at Asui specifically.
"You're next," he mouthed to the frog-like girl.
Deku gulped, but Asui scoffed. "You know, kero, Bakugou thinks he's so scary."
Midoriya chuckled a bit as the ring was cleared for the next round, which would begin after an intermission and some side events. "You don't think he is?"
"I mean, he kind of is," Tsuyu admitted. "But if he thinks I'm going to let him get to me, he's got another thing coming." She turned to Deku. "I know you grew up with him but cheer for me to kick his ass, okay?"
Midoriya turned bright red once more. Behind Asui, Ashido was making kissy faces at the two to embarrass him.
"O-of course Asui - I mean, T-Tsuyu!" He stuttered.
He looked out at the crowd, knowing that his mom and Thor were there to watch him.
But first I need to get past Todoroki...