The first match of the finals has already happened, but Izuku stood stunned in the middle of the ring from Shinso's Quirk that left the crowd and Class 1-A students watching him in complete surprise.
"I'm not believing what I'm seeing folks, but it seems as if Shinso is indeed very powerful." Present Mic attributed.
"This is a perfect example of why the entrance exam isn't rational." Aizawa commented. "Shinso flunked the hero course exam, but he also applied to general studies, so he probably figured that would happen. His Quirk is incredibly powerful, but the exam consisted of fighting faux villains. It gave a huge advantage to those with physical powers. Shinso never stood a chance in the exam."
"Do me a favor and walk out of the ring like a good little hero." Shinso commanded.
Izuku robotically turned around and slowly walked towards the exit of the arena.
"What's this?! Midoriya is walking out of the ring! He's obeying Shinso's commands!" Present Mic said.
In the stands, all Class 1-A students watched Izuku with worried looks on their faces.
"What's Midoriya doing?!" Diana exclaimed with an astonished face.
Luna watched Izuku steadily walked towards the edge of the ring with wide, worrying eyes.
This is not good! Luna thought shockingly. It's almost like he's being mind-controlled somehow. Her eyes widened even wider in realization. Wait a minute! Earlier, Mashirao said that he didn't remember anything from the Cavalry Battle until it was over and he was partnered up with Shinso, so it could be his Quirk! Shinso can control anyone that talks to him and Midoriya fell right into his trap! Come on, Midoriya! You can fight this! You can't let All Might down!
Then, Shinso's words started to capture Luna's attention.
"You've lasted longer than I expected, I'll give you that." Shinso spoke with a smile. "However, I have my own dreams of becoming a great hero, but first I need you to lose for me."
Luna gasped at Shinso's words. She didn't expect someone like him who declared war to Class 1-A to admit of having dreams of becoming a hero. But she quickly looked at Izuku with concern eyes.
Come on, Midoriya. Come on. Luna pleaded.
As Izuku edged closer to the out of bounds line, he suddenly stopped from his tracks as if he mysteriously started to resist Shinso's Quirk.
Wait, what? Did he just stop all of sudden? Luna wondered.
Luna saw Izuku charging up his fingers and unleashing a shockwave powerful enough to free himself from Shinso's Quirk just before he disqualified himself out of the ring.
"What's this? Midoriya has somehow broken Shinso's mind control!" Present Mic cried.
The entire crowd cheered for Izuku's successful attempt to break free from Shinso's brainwashing Quirk.
"Nice going, Midoriya!" Diana cheered.
"I was about to freak out." Selene said.
Wow, he did it! Luna thought with a relieved smile. I don't know how, but he managed to break free in a nick of time!
A dismayed Shinso was utterly surprised at Izuku's accomplishment to break through his own Quirk.
"Impossible. How did he do that?" Shinso muttered.
Shinso wanted to get Izuku to talk to him again, but this time there was no answer. That made Shinso fully aware that Izuku have now figured out his Quirk from Ojiro, but that doesn't stop him from continuing to try and force a reaction out of Izuku.
"I had no idea you had so much power in your fingers. I'm kind of jealous of you. You're so lucky. Because of the way my Quirk works, I never had a shot at being a hero." Shinso said.
But Izuku stayed silent to prevent Shinso from getting him again.
"Someone as blessed as you will have no problem achieving your goals!" Shinso yelled.
In a matter of seconds, Izuku kept ignoring Shino's words. He rushed forward and started pushing Shinso out of the bounds.
"Say something, damn it!" Shinso yelled.
Shinso punched Izuku in the face that drew blood from his nose, but Izuku looked back at Shinso with a fierce look and continued to keep pushing him out of bounds. Shinso then punched Izuku's broken fingers, forcing Izuku to wince in pain and break his hold. That was enough for Shinso to quickly change position and tried to push Izuku from behind right near the edge of the arena. Unfortunately, Izuku swiftly countered Shinso's move when he grabbed his chest and arm, and then tossed him over his shoulder that slammed him out of bounds with a shoulder throw. Shinso landed hard on his back in defeat.
Everyone, mostly All Might, Luna, Iida, Uraraka, and Ojiro, just watched the match with complete speechless faces and gaping mouths.
"Shinso is out of bounds!" Midnight announced. "Midoriya advances to the next match!"
The entire crowd immediately cheered for Izuku's victory.
"Well, that was an uneventful fight! But Midoriya moves on to the 2nd round!" Present Mic exclaimed as the crowd cheered.
"Phew, that was nerve wracking." Uraraka sighed in relief.
"A last-minute comeback victory. A classic Midoriya maneuver." Iida said.
"He used that shoulder throw on you, Bakugo." Kaminari teased.
"Shut your damn face, sparky." Katsuki snapped.
He did it! Luna cheered. Well done, Midoriya! You managed to pick up a few tricks, but it was totally worth it!
As Shinso started walking towards the exit, Luna stood up and ran into the halls to check on Midoriya at Recovery Girl's office.
In Recovery Girl's office, Izuku's broken fingers were healed as Recovery Girl wrapped them in bandages. All Might and Luna stood between Izuku and Recovery Girl.
"That should do it." Recovery Girl said.
"That match with Shinso. I couldn't smile through like you could." Izuku said to All Might.
"I heard some of the things he said to you." All Might said with a sigh. "It must have been painful knowing how much you can relate to him."
"Yeah, but I still couldn't go easy on him." Izuku stated. "I have to keep my eye on the prize just like you said."
"True, but you can't risk your own body to win." Luna pointed out. "But all in all, it was a good match."
"You poor little darling." Recovery Girl sighed. She turned to All Might with a scolding expression. "Have you been pushing him too much on him again?"
Recovery Girl punched All Might's side with her cane.
"It was necessary." All Might reassured as he rubbed his side in pain. "And that hurt."
"Oh, yeah, All Might, I had some kind of vision in the match." Izuku said. "There were people. Maybe eight or nine of them. I'm not sure. When I was under Shinso's control, it felt like my brain was full of fog or something. But when the vision appeared, it completely drove the fog away, that's when I was finally able to move for a second. Just my fingertips. Could those people have been the previous One For All users in my case?"
All Might stared at Izuku and Luna with a terrified look.
"Whoa. Am I a ghost?" All Might shivered.
"I thought you'd have answers!" Izuku shouted.
"Chill, dad. I'm sure the vision Midoriya saw was not you as a ghost." Luna said. She looked back to Izuku. "But you mean to tell us that this vision of One of All help you fight off Shinso's Quirk?"
"Yeah." Izuku replied.
"Actually, I saw something like that too in my younger days." All Might stated. "It's a clear sign that young Midoriya is getting closer to making One For All your own."
"What was it?" Izuku asked.
"I think it's a trace of the user's power that's left behind." All Might explained. "Don't worry, whatever you saw won't interfere with you or your progress in the future. I'm sure, in other words, that vision you saw, wasn't what got rid of the brainwashing effects, regardless of what you saw out there. It was your passion that helped you overcome Shinso's power, even if it was only long enough for you to wiggle your fingertips and expel some energy."
"Man, that explanation is so not satisfying." Izuku complained with an unsatisfied face.
"Really, Midoriya?" Luna sweatdropped.
"Forget about it. More importantly, shouldn't you be worried about who you're fighting next?" All Might asked.
"You're right. Thank you both very much." Izuku said.
"You're welcome." Recovery Girl replied.
"See ya." Luna said with a wave.
Izuku and Luna exited the office.
"So, he saw you there too." Recovery Girl spoke.
"That's a good thing." All Might said with a serious face.
Meanwhile, Shoto walked down through the hallway on his way to the ring. He indeed predicted Izuku won his first match against Shinso, but he now has to wait patiently for either Luna or Aisha to move on to the next round. As he walked towards his match, Amora was following behind him through levitation.
Shoto began having an uncanny feeling that he was being followed. He stopped walking and whipped his head around to catch the sight of whatever was watching him. But Amora immediately phased intangibly to avoid being seen. Shoto narrowed his eyes as he saw nothing there and continued walking forward. Amora let out a relived sigh and kept following him in her ghostly body.
Shoto turned to the corner and stopped when he saw his father leaning against the wall in front of him. Amora stopped dead at her tracks upon witnessing the father and son conversation.
"What do you want?" Shoto asked coldly.
"You're acting disgracefully, Shoto." Endeavor said. He watched his silent son walking past him with a scowl. "If you had simply used the power in your left side, you would have had an overwhelming victory in both of the first rounds. It's time to end this childish rebellion of yours. Do you understand what I'm saying? You're different from your siblings. You're my greatest masterpiece."
"Is that all you have to say to me, you bastard? I'll win this match and advance using only mom's Quirk. I won't give you the pleasure of seeing me use yours." Todoroki retorted angrily as he continued walking away from his father.
"Even if that works for you in this tournament, you'll soon find the limits of that power." Endeavor informed.
Endeavor's words greatly angered Shoto, who exited out of the hallway and headed outside.
All Amora can do is stare at Shoto with worry.
Poor Shoto. Amora thought worriedly. I would never believe his own father would treat him like a human science experiment. Guess Aisha isn't the only one with a troubled past.
Amora soared towards the hallway ceiling and phased outside to watch the next match.
Izuku and Luna returned to the stands as they started walking toward their own row to join their friends.
"There you are, Deku. You did good." Uraraka said happily.
"Come down here. We saved a seat for you." Iida said.
"Thanks, guys." Izuku replied happily.
Izuku looked up to see Ojiro smiling at him with a congratulatory nod, making Izuku return with the same gesture.
Aisha quietly caught the intangible Amora floating next to her on the left side. But she turned her attention to the field stage to watch the next match.
Then suddenly, the torches lit up around the stadium for the second round of the tournament match as Sero and Shoto made their way onto the field stage.
"Enough standing around! Now welcome to the ring, the next player!" Present Mic announced. "He's got skills but at the expensed of some really creepy looking elbows! It's Hanta Sero! Versus a front runner in the competition, who's way too strong for his well-being! He got into the Hero Course based on Recommendations. It's Shoto Todoroki! Now for the second match of the finals!"
"I don't really think I can win this." Sero said as he began stretching his arms.
Sero swiftly released his tape from his elbows and wrapped it around Shoto to restrain him.
"But I don't really feel like losing either!" Sero declared.
Sero wasted no time swinging Shoto around out of bounds.
"One attack and he throws his opponent out of bound!" Present Mic announced. "A surprise attack from the underdog, where to start off strong, Sero!"
Amora gasped and Aisha's eyes widened almost shockingly as they both saw the terrifying glare on Shoto's face.
"Apologies." Shoto muttered with a glare.
Shoto took out his aforementioned anger and slammed his foot on the ground with amazing force. His Quirk released an enormous mass of ice that froze the ground and quickly traveled up towards Sero in a threatening manner. That attack instantly created a burst to shake the entire arena to the max.
Everyone silently watched Shoto's devastating display of power in awe and in disbelief. Present Mic and Aizawa observed with wide, shocking eyes. Midoriya, Iida, Uraraka, Selene, Diana, Luna, and Aisha gasped collectively as they nearly got crushed by the giant ice shard from the stands.
Shoto then broke free from the frozen tape restraints as the shivering Sero was immobilized in a giant ice prison that left half the entire festival arena frozen. Shoto's Quirk even frozen Midnight halfway.
"Uh, don't you think you went overboard?" Sero asked Shoto.
"Tell the truth, Sero. Can you move at all?" Midnight asked Sero.
"Are you kidding? Obviously not. My body is freezing." Sero answered.
"Sero has been immobilized! Todoroki advances to the next round!" Midnight confirmed.
"Um, nice try?" A male pro hero shouted nervously.
"Nice try!" A female pro hero yelled.
Then, the entire crowd started chanting the words "Nice Try!" as a way to acclaim Sero for his effort.
Shoto simply walked forward and approached towards the shivering Sero.
"Sorry. It's a bit much. I was angry, that's all." Shoto admitted.
With an expression of sadness, Shoto lifted his left arm and channeled the heat to melt away the ice to unfreeze Sero from the ice prison.
As the crowd continued shouting to cheer Sero up from his defeat, not only Izuku and Luna were aware that Shoto was looking immensely sad, but Aisha and Amora as well. Aisha expressed no emotions to Shoto's sadness, but Amora fell deep in thought and already knew the reason for Shoto's anger.
His ice became overpowered compared to the obstacle and cavalry battles. Amora thought. He's not only angry but very sad with a hint of despair.