"Wow! This tournament is amazing. " Affirmed Kaminari. "They're all amazing."
"And the semi-finals are going to be even more breathtaking." Sero affirmed. "Todoroki Vs Galadriel and Bakugo Vs Mugiwara! I can't wait."
"Huh...guys." Jiro said.
Silenced, the duo turned to see Tokoyami leaving his seat and heading towards the halls, knowing that he was going to be called soon.
"I remind you that he still hasn't fought Mugiwara."
"Huh...sorry." Sero apologized. " It's just that ... "
Pulling out his cell phone, Kaminari pointed to a betting site.
"For betting, the odds are 91 if Tokoyami wins, and only 1.1 if Mugiwara wins! So no one believes in a miracle."
"Bet?" Galadriel wondered.
Thinking she had an idea to amuse herself a little, the Empress left her place and went down the hall. And no sooner did she find herself alone than she teleported out of the arena.
" For the last match of these quarter-finals, we will have the right to see the rubber man, who allowed his team to finish first in the second event ... this is Lucy. "
Immediately, Luffy showed up, while waving at the audience, as he made two V's with his fingers.
"YAAAAH! YAAAAH!" He cried, flashing a big smile.
" And here is his opponent! Some call him the Master of Darkness, while he possesses a real monster inside his body! Here is... Tokoyami. "
The young boy was seen in his turn. However, compared to Luffy, he paid no attention to the public. Staring at Luffy seriously, he tried to come up with a valid strategy to win. Unfortunately, everything was against him. Luffy seemed stronger than him. And he seemed faster too. But the worst ...
Raising his gaze, Tokoyami looked at the beautiful blue sky above him. Sure, he hated fighting at night, but with such sun, he had no chance of harnessing Dark Shadow's power properly.
"Tssss! I'm in really bad luck."
Thinking the same thing as him, Galadriel was quietly sitting on the roof of a building which was not far from the arena. With her phone in hand, she made a last-minute bet and decided to bet 12,000 yen on a Tokoyami victory.
"If he wins, I win a million yen." She remarked, finishing her bet.
However, knowing full well that the boy didn't stand a chance, she decided to give him a shot at victory. Therefore, putting away her laptop, she then raised her arm in the air, before creating a magic circle.
Waiting for Tokoyami to show up in front of him, Luffy ends up pointing at him.
"I recognize you! It was you who tried to block me during the first trial."
"So what?" The boy asked. "Fighting an opponent was not against the rules."
Then, Dark Shadow appeared around him, while Tokoyami wanted to try to attack Luffy at full speed.
" My only chance...is to manage to hit him as soon as the game starts. "
"Ready?" Midnight asked. "Begin."
" DARK SHADOW ! "
Immediately, Dark shadow swooped down on Luffy. But already, the pirate ran towards him, while stretching his arms back.
" BAZOOKA ! "
Hit in the face, the shadow dispersed into particles of darkness, while its head vanished in an instant.
" WHIP ! "
Then, Luffy's leg stretched out and lunged at Tokoyami. Bending down in extremis, the boy felt Luffy's foot pass just above him. Then, he immediately jumped back, while Luffy rushed towards him.
Leaping into the air, Luffy stretched his leg skyward, before knocking him down on the ground.
" AXE ! "
Rolling to the side, Tokoyami avoided getting hit. Nevertheless, Luffy's foot pulverized part of the ground and hundreds of debris hit the crow-man's body, along with a cloud of dust.
Grimacing, while positioning his arms in front of his face to shield him from the debris, Tokoyami backed away again. However, turning around, his eyes widened as he saw the edge of the arena. Luffy had already backed him up there. And the worst was when Luffy landed two meters in front of him, still smiling confidently.
"I wonder if you could dodge my next attack."
Simply growling, Tokoyami tried to face him, while wondering what he could. And already, Luffy closed his fist.
" GUM GUM ... "
Suddenly, the pirate froze and, together with Tokoyami, he looked up at the sky. As surprised as the public, the duo saw a huge black cloud cover the sky. The cloud was so dark it looked like those seen in storms, and it darkened the area within seconds.
"Huh?" Luffy wondered. " The storm ? "
However, not a drop of rain fell, while the cloud now remained still, above the arena.
At first as surprised as Luffy, Tokoyami ends up feeling his Quirk's powers grow. To win, he needed a miracle. And this miracle, he had just obtained it.
" DARK SHADOW ! "
Having regenerated its head, the shadow erupted from his body and its size tripled compared to before. Growing taller, it squealed hoarsely, while Tokoyami remained motionless. Groaning, Tokoyami felt the power of his shadow try to take control of him and he had to concentrate to the maximum to maintain his concentration. The darkness was less imposing than when it was night and this allowed the boy to be able to exploit the power of his Quirk to the maximum without crossing the forbidden limit.
Seeing the shadow appear in front of him, Luffy jumped back to avoid being crushed.
"Hey, he's grown up."
Continuing to try to hit him, Dark Shadow pulverized the ground and sent debris flying around him. Landing on his feet, Luffy felt a half slab hit his face, ringing him for a few moments. Seeing this, the huge shadow hand hit him with all its might.
Feeling his feet slipping back, Luffy managed to stop, as he also found himself just in front of the edge of the field.
"Tsss!" He said, massaging her sore cheek. "He has become much more powerful."
Roaring again, Dark Shadow charged at Luffy ready to finish him off. Nevertheless, keeping his composure perfectly, Luffy positioned his arms back, before starting to move them at full speed. Punching hundreds of times into the void, without touching anything, Luffy surprised everyone as he let Dark Shadow close in on him.
" GUM GUM ... "
"IT'S THE END!" The shadow asserted, again pointing its huge hand at Luffy.
" ... CANNON ! "
Closing both his hands, Luffy then swung his arms forward and let his fists hit the shadow's abdomen. Seeming to feel pure pain, Dark Shadow froze, with the half of its body disintegrating upon impact.
Seeing only the head and lower body of his creation, Tokoyami thought he was dreaming and remained as shocked as his shadow. Unfortunately, Luffy was much more reactive than him and found himself already in front of him, arm back.
" BULLET ! "
Not even having time to see his fist come to him, Tokoyami's pupils disappeared, when a shock struck his stomach. Then, everyone saw his body leave the field before falling to the ground.
Seeing him out of the arena and passed out, Midnight had to state the obvious.
"Tokoyami has left the field! The winner is Lucy."
" YAAAAAHHHHHH!" Luffy shouted, throwing both of his fists in the air.
"There were no surprises." Brook affirmed.
"Gotta admit though, the raven boy fought better than expected." Franky remarked.
"It's still strange." Robin remarked, looking at the dark cloud, which was still above the stadium.
And her surprise grew when she saw the cloud shrink, before disappearing as quickly as it had arrived.
" It's strange ... "
For her part, pouting, Galadriel affirmed.
"Tokoyami...you owe me 12,000 yen."
Then, knowing perfectly well that her magical spell wouldn't have changed anything, she resigned herself and teleported back to the halls of the arena. However, no sooner had she put her feet on the ground than she heard a startled cry.
Standing right next to her as he was about to return to the stands, Usopp was startled by Galadriel's sudden appearance.
" What ? Nazarick ? "
As surprised as he was, Galadriel hadn't expected to teleport in front of anyone. However, thinking it was the right time to settle a detail, she positioned her hand in front of Usopp's face and a magic circle appeared there.
Just like before, Usopp felt like there was a flash in his mind, and when he opened his eyes again, his appearance was back to how it was before, while Galadriel was gone.
"Wha...?" he wondered, as Galadriel had to lock part of his memory again, while suppressing his transformation.
Being again unable to explain how he had managed to rejuvenate, Usopp preferred, this time not to dwell on this question, knowing full well that his memory was failing him.
instead, now eliminated, he decided to walk away and join Nami and the others in the spectator stands.
" And the four fighters who will face off in the semi-finals have been decided, " Present Mic affirmed. " First of all, we will have Todoroki who will face Galadriel! And while I must remain impartial, I wish good luck to the son of Endeavor, who will have to face one of the favorites of this tournament! And for the second match, the wild beast by the name of Bakugo who, after the abandonment of Usopp, will be the one who will face the unstoppable Lucy! Among these four people, who will be the ones who will reach the final? You will find out soon. "
"We're still going to be bored for half an hour watching matches that have already been predicted." Zoro remarked, yawning.
"Do you really think the winners are already decided?" Asked Brook. "I think the first game will be interesting."
"Unfortunately for Todoroki, I don't think he's strong enough to deal with Nazarick." Jinbe retorted. "Using her teleportation power, added to being able to create magic shields, there's no denying that she can deal with Todoroki's powers and try to tire him out! Once her Quirk runs out, she'll just have to attack it to win."
Behind the fish-man, Sanji remained silent, knowing full well that he was right. However, a miracle could take place. But for it to appear, Todoroki has to make an effort. And that effort comes down to using his father's powers.
"Todoroki...it doesn't matter if you win or lose...make the right choice."
Looking also at the arena, from the top of the bleachers, Endeavor moved his eyes a little, seeing two figures arrive beside him.
So Sebas stood perfectly straight, while he and Solution watched the next game as well.
"Nazarick's family?" Endeavor wondered.
"And here is the entry of the two participants of the first semi-final."
Indeed, Todoroki and Galadriel entered with perfect synchronization. But while Todoroki's face tried to remain stoic, Galadriel put on a confident smile, showing that defeat didn't even cross her mind.
Everyone across the country was watching that last game. And not just pro-heroes and civilians. But so are the bad guys. Especially the one who keeps scratching his neck. Whispering Galadriel over and over...Thinking of the golden-eyed girl with unhealthy fascination...Remembering that look on her face, the last time he saw her, thinking she was something else thing. Something closer to a monster than a hero.
" Ready ? " Asked Midnight. " And… Begin! »
Todoroki wasted no time attacking the girl, using his powerful ice to freeze the ground. Seeming not to have time to react, Galadriel saw the ice reach her feet, before freezing them, just like the rest of her body. In an instant, Todoroki had managed to immobilize her.
But he knew it. He should do something more to stop her. And, indeed, from within the ice prison, a beam of light appeared. Without the slightest difficulty, Galadriel had sliced the ice in half, using a sword of light and was looking at the boy with an amused look on her face.
"Uwa, he wasted no time attacking me. These kids are dangerous." Galadriel thought.
"Teleport, magic shield, fly, create light weapons..." Todoroki remarked. "How many Quirks does she have?"
" LIGHT SWORD ! "
This time, Todoroki froze all around him, while creating many ice spikes that came out of the ground and whose usefulness was to protect him from Galadriel's attacks. Yet the Empress only smiled. Indeed, this change of terrain could prove difficult to counter for someone normal. But she was not just anyone.
" FLY ! "
Leaving her feet off the ground just a few inches, Galadriel flew at full speed towards her opponent, unafraid of slipping on the ground, which looked like a giant ice rink.
Then, making movements with her sword of light, she cut through the surrounding ice and smiled as she came face to face with Todoroki. However, seeming to foresee her movements, the boy had already reached his hand towards her and created spears of ice. Considering the small distance between them, he was certain that Galadriel couldn't use her sword or a shield before getting hit.
Unfortunately, Galadriel performed her specialty and teleported away again. Then, the next moment, Todoroki felt the heel of her foot hit the top of his head. Groaning in pain, the boy dropped to one knee as Galadriel landed in front of him.
"Too slow." She affirmed.
Then, using her sword to slash another ice spike, which lay next to her, she watched as the top of the spike crumbled to the ground, shattering into pieces.
"Todoroki, if you want a chance, you better use your other hand." Said Galadriel.
Todoroki didn't answer, but that annoyed Galadriel even more. Even though she knew she was going to win, she hated being looked down upon or underestimated.
When playing Yggdrasil, she was a very competitive person and loved a challenge. She won several tournaments, while using her best equipment, put together with difficulty. She was the 1-on-1 world champion. Three times she won this title, due to her efforts to learn as much as possible about other players. Think about strategies, gear, magic items and more. That's one of the reasons she was so paranoid. She didn't want to give her opponents any information about her abilities. She wanted to keep them in the dark, as much as possible.
Galadriel won't take any risks. But, when she saw Todoroki refusing to use her fire hand, she got angry because she felt like she was underestimated. Todoroki seemed to believe that he can win against her without using his maximum. That was what she thought.
"Todoroki, if you don't fight to give your best… I'm going to be crazy… really crazy." Galadriel hissed.
In response, managing to get up, Todoroki created new spears of ice. Unfortunately, creating a magical shield, Galadriel threw it forward and let it pulverize the spears, which shattered on contact, before slamming into Todoroki's face.
Thrown back, Todoroki felt his feet slip several meters. Nevertheless managing to stop, before falling out of the arena, he coughed several times while spitting a few drops of blood.
Then raising his face, while a trickle of blood ran from his forehead, he groaned, while staring at Galadriel, who didn't even seem to have fought. Everyone could see who was winning this fight.
"Todoroki gets completely dominated." Chopper remarked.
"No one can defeat this girl." Franky stated.
For his part, letting his chin rest on his hands, Sanji was struggling not to show annoyance and anger in his gaze. He wasn't mad at Galadriel, who played by the rules perfectly. Rather, his anger was directed at Todoroki, who seemed to be still undecided about using his other power.
" Todoroki...you're just a fool. "
Galadriel knocked a little harder than before, pushing him away. Todoroki moaned, feeling more pain than before. He realizes it , she becomes more violent with him. Hurting him more than before.
" LIGHT SWORD ! "
Jumping back, Todoroki escaped the strange sword that hit the ground, but already Galadriel kicked him in the chin. Pushing him away, the Empress waited his reaction. However, other than ice, the boy didn't use any other powers to defend himself.
Because of this, Galadriel grew more and more pissed off. And she decided that, if Todoroki will refuse to use all his power, then she will beat him harder than before.
The public worried about the boy. His right side was almost frozen and his limit almost reached. On the contrary, Galadriel appeared to be completely unscathed. Teleporting to dodge a new spear of ice, Galadriel appeared behind him and struck his back.
Moaning again, Todoroki still refused to fall again and, using his icy arm, spun around, before trying to punch her. Unfortunately, hitting his fist with his elbow, Galadriel stopped him, before kicking him in the stomach with his knee.
Feeling like his diaphragm had just been crushed, the boy fell to the ground, gasping for air. Seeing him like this, Galadriel concludes that the fight was over. Thinking the same as her, Midnight declared.
"Todoroki is unable to fight! The winner is Gala..."
However, she fell silent when she saw Todoroki getting up. Then, teeth clenched, he reached his hand towards Galadriel, before creating another spear of ice. Not yet using a magic spell, the Empress simply reached out and gripped the attack between her fingers, before shattering it to pieces.
"I see… It's what you choose," Galadriel hissed. " However you want. "
Then, she raised her hand in the air before creating a magic circle.
"Arcane Barrage I !" Said Galadriel, and from the sky, everyone saw several shooting stars.
They looked small, but when they hit the ground. The arena rumbles and everyone is blinded by the power of the Galadriel spell. Fortunately, they only saw the first level. Everyone saw the complete destruction of the arena.
But while everyone was worried about Todoroki, they saw an ice dome forming. The top of the construction had been destroyed in the attack and because of this, Todoroki had felt part of the explosion.
Nevertheless, still standing, he faced Galadriel. However, he quickly dropped to one knee, his vision blurring. Trying to catch his breath, he felt a trickle of blood trickle out of his forehead, while a headache began to set in.
"It's over for you." Galadriel affirmed, no longer amused to fight him.
Growling, she declared.
"Finally, you're even dumber than Midoriya! You have the power of fire, so what? How many heroes have the same power as your father? Do you believe that all people with firebending are destined to be assholes? like him ? "
" SHUT UP ! " Shouted Todoroki.
"What are you waiting for to show me what you are really capable of doing?" Galadriel retorted. "Todoroki...a hero always uses his powers to save people! There will come a day when a person will die because you decided not to use your two Quirks to help them! When that day comes, what will "What are you going to tell his family? That you didn't do your best not to risk looking like your father? You moron."
Truly putting on an angry face, she declared.
"If it's to act like you would now, you better give up right now about being able to become a hero! If you're afraid of your own powers, you'll never be able to save people."
Eyes widening, Todoroki reached both hands towards her, before roaring.
" SHUUUUTTTTTTT UUUUUUPPPPPP ! "
And in an instant, a storm of flames mixed with spears of ice rocketed towards Galadriel. Feeling the power of the two combined attacks, Galadriel regained her smile, before directing her hand towards the attack.
" LET'S GO ! "
And a moment later, a powerful flash lit up the arena before being followed by a violent explosion shook the entire arena. Seeing debris flying towards them, onlookers rushed to position their arms in front of their faces for protection. Imitating them, the pirates could not see anything because of the debris and the smoke which engulfed the whole stadium.
However, having risen, Sanji continued to fix the arena, while waiting long seconds to see the result of this confrontation.
"What is this uncontrollable duel? Who won? Who?"
Being coughed, Midnight looked back at the pitch, before seeing a figure through the smoke.
And finally, only Galadriel was the only one left standing, without the slightest scratch on her. She watched the destruction of her power, while a crater was visible ahead. And Todoroki was visible in that crater, unconscious.
Even though he had used his two powers, it hadn't been enough for him to win. However, having felt her anger subside, Galadriel tilted her head to the side to scratch the muscles in her neck, she declared.
"It's been a good workout."
"Shoto Todoroki can't go on! Galadriel Nazarick is the winner of this first semi-final!"
Looking at the boy as well, Sanji sat down in his seat again, before sighing.
" If you had used your power from the start, you might have won. "
Nevertheless, thinking this was the second time the boy had used his second Quirk, he thought.
" All that remains is to make him understand that the same power does not mean the same personality. "
In the locker room, hearing the outcome of the match, Bakugo had a towel laid over his face. Looking at his hands, which were still shaking slightly, the boy thinking back to his match against Usopp, before growling in rage.
Finally, standing up, he tossed his towel aside.
"Mugiwara...I will defeat you."