Chapter Nineteen: Elimination
"Coming in like lightning from the business course, we have Izuku Midoriya. On the other end of the field, class 1-B's power girl, Itsuka Kendo!"
Itsuka swallowed as she stepped onto the greet. Walking to the ring was something akin to walking to the gallows, apprehension doing its best at clawing away at her. The replays from both of their previous matches wasn't helping.
Her next opponent was skilled, powerful, and plenty brutal when it came down to it. Out of the contestants who had gone up against him, he was two for two on "sent to Recovery Girl on a stretcher".
Settling and centering herself was a task made more difficult by the smug smirk he sent her way.
"Got any other comments to make on my chest?" she asked, hoping the banter would distract her from her nerves.
Midoriya blinked, and then broke into a giggle-fit. "He actually asked that question!"
"So you are the one who put him up to it," Itsuka groaned. "Why would you even ask that?"
The boy composed himself and shrugged. "Mostly scientific curiosity," he answered, idly flicking his hand back. "I study Quirks as a hobby, and I was wondering if it was even possible, or just something you didn't advertise. For perfectly valid reasons, I imagine."
"The answer's no." I think? She honestly never found reason to try. Her list of questions and theories was growing by the minute.
"Figured as much, but I didn't want to assume." Humor was fleeting, and his eyes narrowed. "Though I am curious about some other aspects, like strength and speed. And then there's your breaking out of Hitoshi's Quirk, when I know it took."
Cold sweat beaded along Itsuka's back, and she hoped it wasn't showing on her face. She knew it was a possibility that someone might cotton onto the changes One for All had brought on, but she was expecting those questions from her dad, not a school peer she barely knew.
Those answers were not hers to give. And there were plenty she didn't have the answers for in the first place.
"Physical shock from density shifting," she answered. It was the alibi she had been planning for any questioning her father might have. Especially after today. "Beyond that, you'll have to figure it out yourself."
Midoriya inclined his head. "Looking forward to it. Speaking of which..." An unnatural light glinted from his eyes as he looked her in the eye. "You've been holding back."
Back in familiar territory, she mentally sighed. "So have you."
"True, but that was a matter of making a point to those involved. Will you require the same lessons?"
"I'd prefer not to pound you into a pulp on live television."
Midoriya's eyes turned black, flickering green at the edges. "Don't worry. I don't break easily."
He sank into a vaguely recognizable stance – MMA, perhaps? – this time with his right foot leading.
Itsuka took a breath. Midoriya asked for her to cut loose, so she would. Everything she had seen of him thus far indicated she had to deny him the chance to entrench while also keeping him on the backfoot. Ultimately, it was to both of their benefit she end the fight quickly.
One for All hummed beneath her skin as she prepared to launch forward. Only…she greatly underestimated exactly the forces gathering at her command. Tension welling and coiling, a force held back and now demanding a release. And the built up pressure was about to make its escape.
When Midnight signaled the match to begin, Itsuka exploded forward, crossing the ring and flying right at Midoriya, his eyes widened in surprise. Something pushed against her, dispersing the surge of energy pushing through every muscle, every vein. Midoriya leaned away from the resulting pressure wave, the brackish green flare around his eyes as he swung around behind her.
Taking the sight in at a moment's time, she tried slowing herself down, or hitting the emergency shutoff on One for All, but none of it worked. Having been held down and shaken, the cork was now off, and the Quirk refused to be pushed back into its cage, and all she could do was ride the current to its conclusion.
Pavement cracked as she made her stop. Bits of concrete cut into her palm as she planted a hand on the ground, then swung her legs around and pushed, expanding her hand and launching herself at her opponent. Her momentum was diverted, aimed to steer her out of the ring, and then caught him in her hands. The resulting contest saw them spin, letting her dig her heels down and swing him overhead before he broke away.
Why was he smiling?
[IB]
Izuku couldn't help the smile breaking out across his face.
It had been a long time since he felt a physical strain in a spar. The pressure to adapt and improvise. Put in a position where he had no time to plan, only react. He had only been planning on Gear 5, at most. Instead, he had been forced into Gear 6 before he had realized it. Time Dilation ran as high as he dared, and Izuku braced for the next impact.
Yuri would be berating him once the day was done, but for the moment, he loosened the leash for someone who could hold up against, if not surpass him. He had worried he'd need to find a Nomu to practice on before facing off against Gigantomachia again, let alone his old man.
No dealing with All for One's inscrutably calculating gaze, no worrying about Gigantomachia's barely constrained temper if he somehow pushed too hard. None of the Doctor's rejects, mindless beasts that would keep coming after him until he removed their ability to do so entirely. No impossible goals or life-or-death challenges that demanded him to bend lest he break.
But he wasn't free. Not yet. And there was a mystery in the shape of the redhead experiencing a runaway Quirk reaction.
Lure her in for a strike and- Too late, she's already on him, fist pulled back. Duck, lean to the side, then Push off. She pivots and leaps up at him, he Pulls back down. Try and Push her out of the ring, and she makes an oversized clap that shoots her back to the ground, forcing him to evade before the enlarged fists slammed into him.
Time Dilation was incredibly useful, but it mean a body capable of moving in line with the information it conveyed. While his other Quirks compensated, if there were ever an instance where he was still outpaced, he got to see it coming in slow motion.
Such as Kendo immediately rebounding out of a kinetic impact to swipe at him. Her hand caught him in the side, and Izuku kept Pulling against it until she spun around and swung overhead into the ground.
Her hands had returned to something close to their base size, but they were still flickering with that teal lightning. Whatever gave her strength, that was probably the indicator, whether it was one Quirk or two.
Pushing off of the ground, he regained his footing and waited for Kendo to break the standoff, which she obliged by barreling towards him like a runaway freight train.
Izuku Pulled at her, breaking her stance and momentum. Without a beat of hesitation, she twisted, executing a split as she dropped, planting her hands on the ground, and then kicked up, lifting Izuku to his toes.
The road rash had to have hurt her, but she didn't show it, he noted. He could launch upward, take the fight to the skies where he could negate many of her advantages. But that would be too easy.
So he reset his anchor just as Kendo's hand explosively enlarged, sending her colliding into him. As Izuku was refusing to move, the energy sent her rebounding across the...ring…
Clever girl.
With a running start, Kendo blurred across the ring again, but instead of slamming into him, she grabbed him and shot-put him into the air.
Izuku allow himself a moment of disappointment for not having a larger ring for both of them to punch out in. The need to stay in the ring was probably hampering both of their preferred styles, as well.
Finding an anchor in the ring, and away from her, Pull flared and he began to reel himself in when Kendo clapped again. Wind ripped at his uniform. Reinforcement channeled through his sports uniform kept it from tearing at him. Landing dead-center in the ring, he looked up in time for the redhead to clip him.
Shifting his weight, he turned in time to take the blow to the ribs. His reinforced clothing barely blunted the force. Rather than tank the whole force of that punch, he let himself roll along with motion, circling around to her left side.
Whatever strength she had, she also had the sense and reflexes to stop herself, making breakneck turns, practically on a dime. Strong, fast, agile, and reasonably tough, and in no way that could be attributed to a single Quirk.
It was almost what he imagined if he ever had to fight All Might.
Another blow, this one cutting across his face, and Izuku grit his teeth. Research would have to wait. But the theories were already formulating, fed by each second the fight dragged on.
Will you stand with me in this fight, Kendo? Or will you be the one to meet me in the end?
The blood-tinted smile became wild.
Will you be the one to kill me if I go astray?
[IB]
Itsuka was coming up short on strategies. Midoriya was tanking blows that should have been crippling. Fear of rendering her peer into a greasy smear had been displaced by stung pride as her strafing did little but rock and knock him around. The ring was clear enough for her to run unimpeded…
But he just. Wouldn't. Budge!
And he still had the audacity to smile! Those punches weren't exactly light, so they were clearly doing something. But none have them had been the knockout blow.
Coming back around, Itsuka charged back in and nearly ran face first into a barrier of light. It was fragile, shattering beneath her hand in a single blow, but it slowed her down, and Midoriya wheeled around to retaliate. She jumped back, only to be ripped off of her feet, straight towards her opponent's waiting punch.
Itsuka doubled over at the impact, projecting what remained of her lunch over Midoriya's shoulder.
"Gotcha!" Midoriya rasped.
The energy carried through, throwing her back across the ring. Her concentration on Full Cowl was momentarily broken.
Midoriya looked mildly confused. Or perhaps irritated. He straightened up, looking her dead in the eye.
"Now, then." Brackish lightning settled around him sinking back into his clothes. "Shall we try that again?"
Resummoning Full Cowl, Itsuka rose back to her feet. It didn't feel like any internal damage had been dealt, but she'd probably be sporting a nice bruise after this. To her relief, One for All was a little more settled and back under her control in a steady and stable hum.
Both raced towards the other, meeting in the middle with an explosive clash.
[IB]
Toshinori watched with a sense of fascinated dread, and no small degree of sympathy after that last punch.
His successor, the current holder for One for All…was being matched, punch for punch. Sure, she had only tapped into maybe 10% of the total power One for All provided, but the fact that her opponent was still standing, still fighting, brought back some bad memories. Namely the fight that left him crippled.
But that wasn't quite right, was it? All for One acted as a monolithic entity. He could move fast, hit hard, and take just as much punishment as he dealt out. He was either the unrelenting force or the immovable object. But Midoriya treated the fight like a dance. He moved, flowed, throwing himself into the fight with a precise balance that All for One never exhibited; he never needed to.
Yes, All for One's style was mostly different from Midoriya's, just as Kendo's fighting style differed from All Might's. There were other things he recognized from young Midoriya's performance, something familiar, but couldn't quite put a finger on.
Memory failed to supply the answers he was looking for, and the thought was abandoned as the two contestants recovered and squared off once more.
[IB]
By normal conventions and schools of thought relating to martial arts, a kick was telegraphed as hell, making it easy to dodge, catch, or deflect. It left you balancing on a single point, or if you made a flying kick, left you with no ground to hold your stance. In most cases, it was a risky gambit you wouldn't make unless you were sure it was going to hit.
That didn't apply when your opponent could just pull himself back down. Midoriya had jumped up, and Itsuka thought she might have a chance. Then he dropped, not even really falling, but outright accelerating to the ground. The amplified axe-kick sent Itsuka down to one knee and her shoulder flared in pain.
Itsuka pushed back and reversed the motion, taking a kick when Midoriya spun in the air, catching her before it struck her head. She still had a hold of his leg, and she threw him back, where he corrected the motion and landed in a crouch. Rather than let him recover, Itsuka began to give chase, but stopped short of a sudden barrier of wind whipping around him
The current gained speed and intensity, picking up the fragmented concrete and whipping their clothes around. Partially obscured from view, Midoriya stood with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.
Itsuka bit the inside of her mouth. Time to try something different.
One for All at full blast would break her, especially if she focused it into a single point. And Full Cowl kept it diffused and dispersed, but would require her getting close. She needed something in between.
Her hands enlarged, just slightly, and she curled her good index finger, aimed it at the whirlwind, then flicked out, letting One for All course through like flicking a garden hose. It was hard to tell, but she was guessing it was at least double of what she was capable with One for All. Regardless, the resulting air pressure hit, splitting the maelstrom, leaving a break in the cohesion that was soon patched up as the winds intensified.
Midoriya was on guard, but no less confident as Itsuka brought up both hands. Another flick, this time with her left ring finger, and bits of the concrete scattered up and back, denting. Switch to the right for a third flick was aimed down and focused a little more, leaving a furrow on the ring, but did little but add more debris to be collected.
Her middle finger curled and tensed against her thumb, then snapped out. The fourth hit home, the whirlwind discharging. Ducking down, Itsuka dug her fingers into the ground, holding against the tide.
The storm soon passed, and Itsuka throws herself towards her opponent, running straight into a concussive blast that struck her enlarged hands. She spun, keeping her momentum to the best of her ability, driving her foot down to push out and forward again, closing the distance into Midoriya's guard and smacking his wrist aside.
As the second compressive burst went high, her fist connected with another barrier, and Midoriya prepared to bring his elbow down on her in retaliation. The barrier shattered upon impact, and her momentum carried her forward.
Midoriya dropped back, rolling and using his legs to throw her overhead. Careening through the air, Itsuka twisted and enlarged her hands, clapping to send herself back into the ring.
Resetting her Quirk, she came down and violently enlarged them at the last second. Twin plumes of dust rose from her impact, Midoriya clearing the strike. Itsuka rebounded off of the ground and charged in, tackling him in a bear hug, and he quickly broke her her hold and flipped her over again.
"Not this time!"
She seized him by the leg, spinning around to launch him upward. Mid-swing, he curled up to grab her arm and pulled himself forward, and then putting a hand to her chest, smashed her into the ground and pinning her in place.
Between gasping breaths, Itsuka struggled to push back, He was strong, holding steady where he was. She would have thought he was heavy, but he was probably anchoring himself to the ring to keep above her. He wouldn't need to actually choke her, but the interruption of her breathing pattern would be nearly as debilitating.
"Say 'uncle'?" Midoriya asked, smiling. The blood staining his teeth and the blackened eyes should have been far more unsettling, but that seemed less important than the need to keep herself breathing.
In a single, mad moment, Itsuka took stock of their positions. He hadn't meant it to come out quite so suggestive, but between that and how he was on top of her, also not intended to be remotely provocative, she pushed up against Midoriya for some breathing room and made the only play she could think of on the spot.
"At least buy me dinner first," she quipped.
Midoriya made a face. Shock? Surprise? Embarrassment? Itsuka filed that thought for later review. What was important was that it was enough for her to twist around and start kneeing him in the side. A kick to stagger her opponent, another to break his hold and push him back with an enlarged hand, she slid free and rolled to her feet. Her opponent didn't give her time to recover, racing towards her.
Itsuka raised her guard to block an incoming strike, a driving punch that, followed by a blast of compressed air. The burst rocked her back, but she kept her footing this time. Answering with an elbow across the face, she slid back and made a supercharged clap. Dust and debris flew out, but Midoriya kept advancing, seemingly unhindered by the blows against his side.
If anything, he sped up. His punches were somewhat weaker than before, but they came at her in a steady barrage, relentlessly hammering against her hands. Hands that were already throbbing from the abuse they had undergone throughout the Sports Festival.
The punches continued like rolling thunder, then switched to a mixture of elbows, knees, and generally slamming into her, an intensifying glow coming from his hands as the blows rained in.
Enlarging one hand, Itsuka pulled the other fist back, rearing for a punch. Midoriya cleared the swing, landing with his hands back.
"It's been fun, Kendo," he said as a green corona burst behind him. "But it ends now."
Itsuka jumped up and channeled One for All into her arm, facing down the incoming beam. This would be the last shot of the match, one way or another. If it did nothing, she would forfeit. She wasn't ready for this level of combat yet.
The last time she had done something like this was during the entrance exam, and that had broken her arm. The flicks she had done earlier were manageable. That was what she needed to do here. Nothing more.
Adrenaline rushing through her system and blood pounding in her ears, all of this taking in the time it took for Midoriya's hands to come around, slamming the palms together. The two charges from his hands building off of one another and then combining.
One for All surged through as Itsuka punched out. Inexperience with a new technique and the earlier strains had taken their toll. In that moment of desperation, her hold of One for All slipped, and the energy buildup lost cohesion. The rush wind split the incoming stream, splitting it down the middle and striking at Midoriya, wind and dust whipping around the stadium.
And then came the blowback.
[IB]
Izuku raised his arms before impact, reinforced against the imminent impact and touching a little on his energy reserves. The sudden discharge of force threw him back, nearly into a tumble as he struggled to regain his footing. All of his anchors failed, and he was flung off up and away by the current.
The wall to his back would have to suffice as a stopping point. He wasn't getting back into the ring at this rate. So he oriented his feet to land and Pushed to cushion the impact, then outward for the wave of debris. Sinking to a crouch, he let the wave of pressurized air wash over him. Once it had subsided, he relaxed and eased himself to the ground.
Time Dilation was starting to burn his a little. His ears were ringing, and his sense of balance was all off. He eased himself to the ground and made to stand upright and brushed off the smoking parts of his sports uniform.
A scream tore from the ring, and Izuku looked up in time to see Kendo drop to her knees, clutching her arm. Broken, bruised, parts of her arm had been torn apart from the force of her own punch.
All thoughts of preserving his dignity were cast aside and Izuku began running towards the ring. At least, he tried running. His inner ear had to been damage from that last pressure wave, because he kept losing his balance along the way. Midnight had already abandoned her cover and was at the girl's side, calling for a medic.
His ambling got him back onto the ring. Midnight looked at him, impressed and maybe a little concerned by his appearance.
Ah, right. A quick self-examination give him a laundry lists of injuries he had sustained.
Nosebleed, and maybe a little blood around the eyes and ears, a multitude of slivered cuts crisscrossing his uniform (he knew he had reinforced it, and it had barely held). Micro-fractures from trying to hold himself together and then worsened by the landings, most notably that last one. He was fairly certain there would be bruising when he settled down after all of the kicks Kendo had aimed at his ribs.
"Yeah," he grumbled to himself. "That's pretty bad, isn't it?"
Letting himself sink down to sit, Izuku focused on staying awake while he and Itsuka were carried off of the field. A moment of rest seemed like a good idea…
A/N: There! Another chapter done for this series. For once, the fight in of itself wasn't hard to write. In fact, it was fairly easy to do so, which may have been part of the problem. There were just so many ways this fight could go, but I could only go with one, and one outcome in particular I was looking for in the final product.Long story short, there was an abundance of story beats that were never going to fit, in addition to the ones that had to be cut from the original draft.
If you want music to play to this fight,look up "Fall" from the RWBY Vol. 3 soundtrack, starting at about the 4:00 mark. For the initiated, it's the same track that plays for the Yang vs. Mercury fight during the Vytal Festival.
Next up, the conclusion of the semi-finals, Uraraka versus Yoarashi, and onward to the final tally of the Sports Festival!
Questions? Comments? Concerns? A bungled line or missing paragraph? More theories on the conclusion of the Sports Festival? Let me know with a review or PM. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.
Until next time!
Winterman, out.