Chapter 23: The Semifinals
Dipper returned to the box and everyone stared at him.
"Was Mabel laughing evilly here?" asked Dipper.
Everyone nodded yes.
"What is she planning?" asked Mineta.
"Oh you don't have to worry about it…" said Dipper in a dark tone.
"They're going to haunt Endeavor again, aren't they?" whispered Ochaco to Izuku .
Izuku nodded, the rest of Team Zodiac had gotten word about the Pines first haunting of Endeavor, they just didn't know the reason.
"All right! So we're at the semi-finals! It's time for the best to show off their skills!" yelled Present Mic.
On the battlefield Katsuki and Tenya were facing off against each other.
"Bakugo… we're friends so I wanted to let you know that whoever wins no hard feelings." Said Tenya.
Bakugo grunted… not because he didn't agree with the sentiment he felt much like with Ochaco he wasn't his friend, he was Izuku's friend and he was just a drag along.
"And begin!" yelled Present Mic.
Immediately Tenya ran towards Katsuki with a kick however Katsuki was ready with an explosion right hook.
The to two attacks collided sending both fighters back a bit but not enough to knock either out of bounds.
"Quite impressive Bakugo." Said Tenya.
"I'm just getting started." Said Katsuki.
Katsuki launched himself into the air ready to fight.
Katsuki while airborne decided to let loose another explosion.
Tenya managed to hold his ground and gave another engine powered kick to the gut.
Katsuki started coughing because of that, however once he recovered he started to grin.
"I wasn't expecting you to give me a fight." Said Katsuki.
In the stands, Izuku got that feeling.
"Deku what is it?" asked Ochaco.
"Kacchan is getting way into it." Said Izuku.
"Yeah…" said Dipper.
"Sounds about right." Laughed Mabel.
Back on the battlefield, Katsuki launched himself towards Tenya, who seemed to be ready for him.
Right when Katsuki got close to him, Tenya managed to dodge.
Katsuki was surprised but smirked.
But he stood his ground realizes that he should let Tenya come to him.
After all it was a smart move considering how fast he could move.
Tenya noticed it.
His eyes narrowed and realized it was the only way.
"There's a move I have yet to use because I've been saving it up." Said Tenya.
"Really?" asked Katsuki with grin.
Tenya didn't want to bring up the drawback, that it causes his engines to overheat and cause them to stall for a while.
"Recipro Burst!" called out Tenya.
The burst was quite impressive, Katsuki however flung himself into the air at the right moment.
Tenya's eyes widened as he passed Katsuki. He managed to stop himself before he could get out of bounds.
Katsuki smirked.
"I don't know if Deku told you but I have an advantage when it comes to longer fights." Said Katsuki.
Tenya turned around, only to get a face full for explosion sending him tumbling out of bounds and clearly quite a bit injured.
"Tenya Iida is out of bounds! The winner is Katsuki Bakugo." Called out Midnight.
Katsuki walked over where Tenya landed.
"You better do better next time." Said Katsuki with a smirk.
Tenya smiled knowing it was his way of saying it was a good fight, but he was still disappointed that he lost.
Due to Tenya's injuries he was taken away via robots with gurneys to see Recovery Girl.
The battlefield was also wrecked from the explosions so there was a going to be a slightly longer than usual break.
The class 1-A box.
"Is Mina here?" asked Dipper.
"No she never returned after her last match." Said Kirishima.
"That's good." Said Mabel.
"Hey I have a question." Said Kaminari, "Does acid freeze?"
Everyone stared at Kaminari.
"Are you for real?" asked Jiro.
"What I'm actually being serious…" said Kaminari.
"Ever have frozen lemonade?" asked Mabel.
"Yeah… what about it?" asked Kaminari.
"Lemon juice is a type of acid." Said Dipper.
"What seriously!" said Kaminari.
"So Todoroki has the advantage in the next fight." Said Tsuyu.
"I'm surprised you knew that Mabel." Said Mineta.
Mabel pouted, "I'm not an idiot… I'm a weirdo… they're completely different things."
That was when Tenya arrived, though he did have a few bandages.
"Iida! That last match looked like it hurt, should you be here?" asked Izuku.
"As a member of the Iida family I should watch the rest of the matches." Said Tenya.
Everyone stared at Tenya.
"Plus Recovery Girl gave me the okay to come up here." Said Tenya, "I'm fine."
However that was when suddenly he started shaking.
"See that's what happens when you do something while injured." Said Mabel staring at him.
"It's my phone." Said Tenya which was on vibrate, "It's my brother."
He left to take the call.
"Tensei… I'm sorry I didn't win." Said Tenya as he took the call.
"I understand." Said Tensei deciding to comfort his brother first, "Hey I didn't win my first Sports Festival either. From what I can tell you still did a good job."
"Thank you." Said Tenya.
"Unfortunately this call isn't about that." Sighed Tensei.
"Then why did you call me?" asked Tenya.
"You see, I'm on the Stain case right now." Said Tensei, "And I had found him. However he used his quirk on me and I was about to be one of his victims. Then someone saved me. But it wasn't a hero or one of my sidekicks."
"Who was it?" asked Tenya.
"A villain." Said Tensei.
"Why would a villain rescue you?" asked Tenya.
Tensei sighed.
"The villain isn't a well-known villain." Explained Tensei, "A little more than a year ago, he attacked a boy your age and stole his body."
Tenya felt his insides turn cold.
"The police had contacted me to see if I had heard of the villain either myself or my sidekicks. None of us had, but I did get word that someone knew his name and took over the investigation." Said Tensei.
Tenya began to sweat, he wanted to say something but didn't want to interrupt his brother.
"When he saved me, he told me that the reason he did so was because he wanted you to suffer by his hands." Said Tensei.
"IT was Bill Cipher wasn't it?" asked Tenya.
"Tenya… why is he after you?" Said Tensei.
"I don't know if I can properly explain it right now." Said Tenya begging to rub his forehead.
"What do you mean?" asked Tensei.
"He's not a normal villain." Said Tenya, "As I said, I don't know if I can properly explain it right now."
Tensei sighed getting the feeling that it was indeed more complicated than it seemed.
"Once I'm done here, I'll head home and we'll talk in person when I get there." Said Tensei.
"All right." Said Tenya unsure what else to say.
With the call over he knew that he had talk to the others.
On the battle field the match was getting underway.
"And begin!" yelled Present Mic.
"Do you really want to try to freeze my acid?" asked Mina, "After all you don't know what could happen!"
"Acid freezes like any liquid." Said Shoto.
"Are you sure?" asked Mina.
Shoto didn't say anything.
"You googled it before the match." Said Mina.
Shoto didn't say anything as he froze the ground.
Mina decided to try to skate away.
"Crud." She muttered.
Once again it was a one-sided match for sure.
Class 1-A just watched the match knowing that Mina stood no chance.
That was when Tenya returned to the box.
"Midoriya, Uraraka, Shoji, Dipper, Mabel… there's something I need to talk to you about." Said Tenya.
They all looked at each other and realized it was something to do with Bill.
They all went into the hallway.
"What did Bill do?" asked Dipper.
"He saved my brother's life." Said Tenya.
"WHAT!" yelled the others in shock.
Tenya however was expecting that reaction and decided to explain what happened.
By the end of it, everyone was still surprised but Dipper realized something.
"That's probably the reason why he didn't visit your dreams." Said Dipper.
Tenya's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yeah he can see the future." Said Mabel.
"It's not perfect though, he can see possibilities." Said Dipper, "So he doesn't know what's going to happen 100 percent. But he must have known it was going to happen."
"That's concerning." Said Shoji.
"So he doesn't know the exact future." Said Izuku.
"No…" sighed Dipper, "I'm guessing that attack happened in multiple possible futures that's why he was able to stop it."
"Every time I learn something about him he gets creepier." Said Ochaco.
"But still..." Said Tenya.
"Don't let…" said Dipper.
"Bill use this." Said Tenya, "He might have saved my brother and I am grateful that, he already said that the reason to save me is that if I suffer it will because of him."
"He's probably going to visit you tonight." Said Izuku.
"He will." Agreed Tenya.
"We'll tell Katsuki and Shoto after the finals." Said Dipper.
"But the match between Todoroki and Ashido is still going on." Said Tenya.
"Acid freezes." Said Mabel.
"Oh right." Said Tenya, "You should also tell your uncles."
"We've learned how to telepath and talk at the same time." Said Mabel.
"So yeah… we already informed them." Said Dipper.
In the faculty box.
"Is everything all right?" asked Toshinori.
"Bill just made a move." Said Ford, "I'll explain another time."
At the Midoriya apartment. Stan explained what happened to Inko.
"Oh no…" she cried.
"Figures that's why he'd been waiting." Muttered Stan.
Inko nodded.
Back at the arena.
"We'll talk about it again when everything's over." Said Dipper.
"We really should watch the match." Said Izuku.
The others nodded in agreement.
Thankfully the match wasn't over yet.
As Ashido just tried to spray acid at his, which he just froze.
"There's no way you can keep this up." Said Ashido.
Shoto sighed and decided that maybe it was time to end this.
"Apologies. "he said.
That was when she was completely covered in ice.
"Ashido can you move?" asked Midnight.
"No…" she replied.
"Main Ashido is unable to move, Shoto Todoroki goes on to the next round!" called out Midnight.
"And with that we have our final competitors!" yelled Present Mic, "Let's take a short break before the final match!"
And indeed it was true. The final match was upon them… though the irony of the situation that both members were part of the team were unaware of the latest move that Bill did.
But still it was the two strongest members of the class against each in the final round and no one knew who would come out on top.
Next Time: It's the final match of the Sports Festival! However Katsuki hopes that Shoto won't hold back... will he? Also the two learn about Bill's latest move as well as the fact that Tenya talks with his brother about it. What will happen? Find out next time!