AN: Professor Donger: New Chapter! Have fun I'm going to bed, but before I do someone made us a Tvtropes page! /Fanfic/TheGunslingerHeroFlintlock
Damian: I've got nothing to say either. It's late and I'm tired and sick. Enjoy the fights! They were a bitch to write.
Kyouka was freaking out.
Not externally, never externally. She was naturally a pretty calm person, her face always a mask of either uncaring indifference or neutrality.
That fact remained true unless she was in the absolute worst circumstances or someone knew how to press her buttons the right way to get her to act out. Her external features would remain calm through some of the worst torture she could think of. Most of the time her outside emotive state matched her internal, calm-within, calm-without, and all that Buddhist shit.
Her dad tickling her? No problem.
Aizawa-Sensei's ice-cold glare because she dared ask him a stupid question? She could handle it.
Midoriya-Sensei firing the loudest gun she had as part of her hell training? It took a while but she conquered that too.
However, her internal dialogue did not match her external one.
On the outside, she was the epitome of cool, calm, and collected. The only sign of her internal struggle was the slight, rhythmic tapping of her finger on her thigh as she sat in the waiting room, as well as the twirling of her right jack with one finger.
Internally though she was screaming.
'I have to fight Katsuki!? The Blood Knight, the best fighter in our class, loud and explosive Katsuki!?'
"This... Is... Bullshit!" She glanced at Katsuki who was doing push-ups, and Momo sitting on his back counting.
"Why the hell are you doing pushups?" Kyouka asked with a raised eyebrow. "Actually why the hell are you two here? We have our own separate waiting rooms."
"Screw the rules, I'm angry." He didn't even flinch as Momo slapped him on the back of the head.
Kyouka sighed through her nose before responding to him. "I gathered that."
"I work out when I'm angry."
"You work out all the time."
"Exactly."
Kyouka shook her head and then looked at Momo. "And you?"
Momo shrugged, "I just followed him. I wanted to make sure he didn't do something stupid."
"That and she's gonna make you new support gear," Katsuki added.
"No, I'm not. I may be alright with breaking the rules to visit our friend, but that is completely out of the question." Momo stepped off him and allowed the boy to get up, he didn't even look winded.
"We both know Kyouka is gonna get her ass handed to her by me if you don't."
"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence," Kyouka rolled her eyes with a grin. She honestly didn't mind, he was right after all.
"I'm right and you know it. I aint even being a dick about it, you've gotten better thanks to Deku, but I've been training to be a frontline hero since before my Quirk came in, the only people in our class who could probably fuck me up are Glasses and IcyHot, and maybe Momo but that's if she has prep-time or stops with the hesitation bullshit."
Momo snapped her head towards him. "I don't hesitate!"
Both Katsuki and Kyouka gave her a look that said "Really?"
"...Much?"
"..."
"I'm working on it." Momo crossed her arms and turned away. She didn't have time to deal with this.
Katsuki nodded. "So give her some support gear."
"Still not doing it."
Katsuki ground his teeth and looked like he was about to literally explode when knocking was heard at the door.
The trio turned and saw Izumi standing in the open doorway, leaning against the frame. "Am I interrupting the threesome?"
"Never fucking call it that." Katsuki scowled while the two girls blushed.
"Ménage à trois?" She asked with a grin.
"Don't call it that either. Never again."
"I'm totally gonna do it again." Izumi crossed her arms. "By the way, you do know you have a separate waiting room, right, Kacchan?"
"Don't fucking care."
"That's fair." Izumi shrugged as she stepped through and let the door close. "Anyway, The Rat wanted me to see what the hold up was. They called your names but you both didn't respond."
Kyouka looked at Katsuki who shrugged. "I muted the intercom when I came in here."
"How the fuck?" Kyouka muttered.
"You blew it up, didn't you?" Izumi asked.
"Yep!"
"How didn't I notice!?" Kyouka asked with a frown.
"I was sneaky," Katsuki replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"That… what!?" Kyouka looked so confused, and Momo just patted her on the back, because she also couldn't really comprehend what Katsuki had done either.
"Well that makes sense, but you two need to get out there. The crowd's getting antsy."
"Nope," Katsuki sat cross-legged on the floor with his arms crossed over his chest. "I refuse, not until she gets support gear to make it an actual fight."
"You're…" Izumi frowned, "Protesting a matchup? Because you think it's unfair…" She trailed off before continuing "Unfair for your opponent?"
"Yes."
"..." Izumi stared at him for a long time before drawing her Glock and pointing it at him. "Who are you, and where is my Kacchan?!"
"What the hell does that mean?!"
"You fuckin' put me in headlocks all the time when I was a scrawny little shit and when I asked you to stop you told me, and I quote, 'git fucking gud!'"
"Well, you needed to git gud! You were fuckin small!"
"I was a ten-year-old girl!"
"I was fuckin five!"
Kyouka and Momo gave him a weird look. "What kind of a five-year-old were you?"
"The best kind!" He scowled at them.
"He's not wrong." Izumi smiled fondly as she put away her gun. "He was a firecracker, it was great." She looked at him, her human eye showing a bit of pride as she asked, "You're dead set on this? On wanting to make it fair for your opponent?"
Katsuki nodded as he thumped his leg with a hand. "Yep!"
"Cool, because I had a hunch that this would happen," Izumi said as she kicked the door open again. "Mel, get your fine ass in here!"
"Leave my fine ass out of this!"A voice sounded from the other side as a gorgeous blonde walked in, a robotic cat on her shoulder.
"Wait, hold on, what?" Kyouka looked at the two older women, confused. "What's happening?"
"Why is Melissa Shield in our waiting room?" Momo asked.
"The sports festival is ultimately about sportsmanship and getting you kiddos noticed by the wider heroic community," Izumi began, her teaching voice coming out as she raised a finger. "If both combatants want to do something special for their match, as long as it's within reason and both competitors agree to it, the school will allow it." She gestured to Melissa. "She is here to get you," Izumi pointed at Kyouka, "Set up with some equipment that should at least help even everything for you a little bit, that is if you agree."
"You better fucking say yes," Katsuki side-eyed Kyouka.
"I am tempted to say no just to flex on you…"
"But you won't." Katsuki nodded matter-of-factly.
"But I won't," Kyouka conceded as she looked back at Izumi. "I know I'm not nearly tough enough to handle him on my own." she ignored Izumi's snicker though Melissa didn't, because she elbowed her in the ribs. "I accept, if only so I can get something to protect my ears from his bullshit."
"That's all I needed to hear." Izumi nodded for Melissa to proceed.
Melissa nodded back and looked at her feline companion. "Cat, if you would?"
Cat's eyes glowed before shooting a beam at the table. A moment later some items were suddenly teleported into the room, presented for them all to see.
Before anyone could say anything, Katsuki held up his hand in a wave and headed for the door. "You guys do your thing. I don't wanna get spoiled, it'll ruin the fun."
"I know I met him at your family dinner, but I still can't believe he's that supposedly cute baby brother you bragged about constantly," Melissa muttered.
"Bitch, I am adorable," Katsuki shouted from outside the door, Momo and Kyouka chuckled, and honestly so did Melissa.
Izumi didn't.
"I'll be right back." She muttered as she once again pulled out her Glock.
"Where are you going?" Melissa asked with a raised eyebrow.
"To shove my boot up his ass for calling you a bitch." Izumi said with a sweet smile and tone.
"Izumi, no…"
"Izumi, yes!" She was already out the door. "He's my brother. I get to punish him however I want! Aunty Mitsuki said so!"
Melissa sighed and pinched her nose before looking at the two girls. "She's the best thing that's ever happened to me but she's a bit much sometimes." She once again gestured to the items Cat had called in and was keeping hovered over the table. "These are the items you had during the last event, correct?"
Kyouka looked closer and noticed that they were indeed the same items. "Hey, they are! I thought they got thrown with everything else! They were busted after all."
"They were busted." Melissa nodded.
"How'd you get them back?" Momo asked, her awe at being in the presence of the famous Melissa Shield stymied by her curiosity
"Well… I didn't."
Earlier…
"I found Mei!" Himiko marched into the family booth, dragging a positively filthy girl behind her. She was covered in oil, dirt, and hydraulic fluid.
"What the heck, Assistant Girl? I getting parts for my babies!" Mei whined before immediately forgetting about being upset and going back to working on a pair of gloves.
"Where was she?" Melissa asked as she bounced Eri on her knee.
"She was digging through the Recycler behind the arena, where all those robots were dumped." Himiko shrugged as she walked over to the sink to wash her hands.
"...She was digging through the trash and making support equipment from spare parts?"
"Yep," Himiko flopped into her chair, laying her body over the armrests. "She does that."
Nezu spoke up from the bar. "Ah, yes, Miss Hatsume, the girl Power Loader is mentoring after she made that laser out of duct tape, string, and glue."
Melissa paused in her bouncing and picked Eri up, handing her to Inko. "Stay with Granny Inko for a second, Eri," Melissa said sweetly before she began walking toward the blissfully unaware girl before her.
"Mei, was it?" She kept her tone calm and collected, even as Jin and Himiko began looking for places to hide, recognizing what was about to happen.
Mei looked up at the woman who was looming over her "Yeah?" She then registered who exactly was talking and her eyes blew wide. "Holy crap! You're Melissa Shield! You make the best babies!"
Melissa ignored the compliment and put a hand on the girl's shoulder, ignoring the oil and other fluids. "How about you come with me and I'll get you cleaned up, we can talk about what the terms trade secrets and corporate espionage mean."
"But that's boooring."
Melissa smiled sweetly at her. "Well if you're going to be part-time learning from me you have to learn the boring stuff."
"I'm in!"
Himiko shouted from behind Jin's cooking counter "She already has a mentor!"
"He can share," Melissa stated matter-of-factly.
"Melissa already has a student!" Himiko protested. "She doesn't need another!"
"Oh, don't be jealous," Melissa said with a roll of her eyes. "It's only temporary."
Himiko sulked in her seat, and Melissa sighed as she walked over to her. "You wanna come along and mess with whatever she's working on with us?"
"...Apology accepted." Himiko, from her lying position, flipped herself over her seat and stood up.
"Awesome!" Mei grabbed Himiko's arm and started dragging her off. "Come on, Assistant Girl! It's baby-making time!"
"I regret my decision already!"
"I had to make sure she respected my designs and didn't try to copy them. And we were also lucky Hisashi wasn't in the room, otherwise, we'd still be there right now." Melissa finished her story off with a nod. "But enough about that, you're already late as it is."
"Uhm…" Kyouka looked at the equipment. "These things were sanitized, right? If they were made from garbage, I don't wanna…"
Melissa waved off her concern. "Cat cleaned them when she digitized them. You're good."
"Alright, rock on." Kyouka immediately went to put her gloves on first, smiling at the feeling. "They feel… better?"
"A few modifications were made by the girls," Melissa explained. "As well as a few… additions to their utility. I told the girls to make them better as a test. Guess we'll see if they pass."
"Experimental stuff, huh?" Kyouka grabbed the headphones next. "You said they added some new things to them?"
Melissa nodded, Cat nodding in sync. "Right, I'll explain real quick, but after you gotta get down to the stadium. We're behind schedule."
"Welcome back, everyone!" Izumi announced cheerfully, "Sorry for the delay! I won't explain the reasoning behind the delay, but the rest of the contestants have been told how to avoid similar issues in the future!"
"The first match is sure to be a banger!" Yu continued after her friend. "Our first two contestants are two very different people, coming together to deliver one helluva match! In one corner we have the calm, collected, and cool Mistress of Sound! Kyouka Jiro!"
The crowd cheered as Kyouka walked out and waved awkwardly. She had some earphones around her neck and gloves on her hands.
"And from the other side of the arena, we have our favorite explosive contestant, he's brash, foulmouthed, and loud! But we love him anyway! Katsuki Bakugou!" Izumi gushed with pride, trying not to let her bias toward the explosive teen show.
The crowd didn't seem to care and cheered even louder for him as Katsuki walked out, hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face.
"Now, I'm sure some have noticed that one of our combatants is sporting some support gear," Yu mentioned. "Let it be known that both contestants agreed to the usage of support gear and that neither saw it as unfair, therefore it was allowed."
Midnight crossed her arms with an unimpressed look on her face. "I could have explained that myself, Mount Lady."
"But you didn't, because age has made you slow."
Midnight snapped her head to the commentator booth. "Say that again! I dare you!"
"Slow and old, you should never have come to Midgard!"
"Ladies, neither of you are students scheduled to fight, so quit it!" Izumi, again, put an end to their arguing. "Let's get to the actual event, the audience is waiting!"
"Right, of course," Midnight turned to the arena, acting like nothing happened. "You both know the rules. The first to yield or is unable to move for more than twenty seconds or gets knocked out of the arena loses. No lethal attacks. Are both fighters ready?"
Katsuki took his stance and let off a few small explosions. "That's up to her," Katsuki nodded his head at Kyouka.
Kyouka took a deep breath before plugging her jacks into her gloves and taking her own stance. "Let's rock and roll." She muttered to herself.
She ignored Katsuki's smirk.
Midnight raised her whip into the air. "Let the match… BEGIN!" She brought the whip down, a crack sounding out through the stadium.
Neither combatant moved for a moment before in true Kacchan fashion, Katsuki burst forward. Kyouka squeaked as she managed to duck under a right hook only to be kicked in the side across the arena.
"Kacchan, what did I tell you about starting with a right hook!" Izumi shouted but was ignored, as Katsuki bounced on his heels. Waiting for Kyouka to recover.
Kyouka flinched as she stood back up, the kick didn't break any of her ribs but she sure was gonna be bruised after this.
So he obviously wasn't holding back…
Kyouka growled and raised her hands.
Stupid mismatch.
She pumped sound through her gloves and grinned as one of the features Miss Shield had told her about activated. She flexed her fingers and enjoyed the feel of her heartbeat covering her hands before she did something most would consider very, very stupid.
She moved to engage Katsuki in close combat.
Katsuki grinned and charged forward as well.
Kyouka narrowly avoided an explosive punch and caught the knee he had aimed at her gut with one of her hands. Her grin turned malicious as she pumped his leg full of vibrations.
Not enough to truly injure him but enough to hurt and fuck with his balance.
Katsuki hissed and back-handed her away from him with the assist of an explosion. The crowd hissed and spat at him for daring to strike a woman that way.
Normally Katsuki wouldn't care. But this was one of his friends and while he didn't want to hurt her too badly, he'd see it as insulting to Kyouka if he "took it easy" on her.
Feelings sucked.
Kyouka got up and rubbed her jaw, flinching at what would surely be another bruise to add to the collection. She looked up and saw Katsuki's concerned look and frowned. Why the hell was he so worried? Then she heard the crowd and everything clicked.
That just wouldn't do.
She got back into her fighting stance and spat on the ground, blood landing near her feet as she grinned at him. "Hey, Kacchan?" She mocked, causing the concerned frown to turn into a very annoyed one.
"Don't fuckin' call me that."
"Make me!" With that, she lunged at him again only to narrowly dodge an explosion sent her way. She slid along the ground under the fire of the explosion, once again reaching Katsuki's legs, and grabbed them with vibrating hands.
This time she put a lot of oomph into the vibrations causing the explosive teen to scream as pins and needles turned into sharp stabs of vibrating pain across his body.
She let go after a second and dodged backward out of the way of another explosion. She smiled sweetly at him. "Scream for me!" She put her hands out in front of her and let loose sound waves that caused Katsuki to fall to his knees.
She'd show him what happens when you hold back.
"Fuckin' Noise Marines!" Katsuki shouted as he held his ears. His ears weren't bleeding, yet, so that was a good sign but he knew he couldn't stay like this forever.
While this was happening, Yu spoke up over the speakers. "We just got a text from Present Mic saying, quote, 'She stole my move!' End quote. Mic, all you do is literally scream, I don't wanna hear it, and besides, this is pretty cool. You go, girl!"
Izumi chimed in. "It really is. Bakugou is up there as one of the better fighters in 1-A, so seeing him on the backfoot from someone who is, self-admittedly, not as great of a combatant is something I wasn't expecting to see today."
Unfortunately for Kyouka, the gloves had to stop at some point since they could only handle so much continuous usage before they needed a break.
The sound waves stopped exactly ten seconds after they had begun.
Katsuki took a moment to get his bearings before raising both hands and launching an explosion at her immediately.
Kyouka's eyes went wide as she saw no way to dodge the explosion. Luckily for her, the gloves beeped, which she assumed meant they were ready for use again, and she prayed that Miss Shield wasn't wrong about one of the other functions. She aimed her hands directly down and sent a very concentrated blast of sound out of the gloves as she jumped. She felt the heat of the explosion on her feet but managed to avoid getting hit as she jumped above the blast zone, and instead of falling straight down to the ground she continued to use the gloves to glide down, the sound slowing her fall.
'It worked!'
"It worked!" Melissa said with a wide smile. She then turned to the girls sitting next to her in the booth they commandeered for their observations. "Well done girls."
Himiko gave a fanged smile while Mei's grin was crazed. "I knew our baby would work! We're great mothers!"
"My joy over a successful gadget right now is overshadowing my regret for my life choices that led me to meet you, Mei!"
The crowd cheered, but Kyouka wasn't able to savor the sounds as she focused on keeping her balance in the air as she glided down to the ground. She was told the gloves could be used for assisted jumping and gliding, and while she wasn't planning on using it in this fight, she was glad it was she did, it really saved her ass.
However, it couldn't exactly save her from the explosive blonde that crashed into her before she even hit the ground.
They landed on the floor of the arena, Katsuki on top of Kyouka, and he reared back his fist to deliver a punch to the head. Kyouka on reflex punched him in the gut, her glove letting off a blast of sound on impact and launching Katsuki off of her and across the arena.
Katsuki rolled to a stop and slowly lifted himself back up, holding his stomach. That fucking hurt…
And it was awesome!
He let out a laugh. "Fucking… YES!"
Kyouka had gotten back on her feet as well and was looking at Katsuki in confusion. "You good?"
"I'm fan-fucking-tastic!" He gave her his signature geral grin. "This is what I was talking about! This is what I wanted! A fight! Not an easy win!"
Kyouka blinked before a prideful smile graced her face. "Glad I didn't disappoint you."
Katsuki chuckled. "I think it's about time we end it." He concentrated his sweat in his palms, pooling it all and preparing for a final attack. "I'll give you everything I've got! I'd say you earned it."
Kyouka looked nervous as she took a step back. "Uh, I don't think we need to go that far!"
"We definitely need to go that far! It'd be an insult if we didn't!" Katsuki brought his hands forward, and they began to glow red.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Katsuki, I'm not Kirishima!"
"Don't worry, it'll be more blast than fire!" And with that, he let off the attack, an explosion ripping across the arena and straight for Kyouka.
Kyouka acted quickly and raised her hands and put them together, letting as much sound as she could pump into the gloves and using the last function: Sound Barrier.
A wall of sound was produced in front of Kyouka, acting as a shield that caught the initial force of the explosion. The Sound Barrier held help for a moment before suddenly collapsing as the gloves gave in to the stress. The rest of the explosion slammed into Kyouka, launching her back and past the boundary line of the ring.
She landed flat on her back with an oof, her hands shaking from the vibrations and explosion she had deflected.
Midnight raised her hand as the buzzer sounded. "Kyouka Jiro is out of bounds! Katsuki Bakugou is the winner!"
She lay there for a second, ignoring the sound of the crowd as they cheered her friend on, her brain running a mile a minute. Did she do good enough? Did she put on a good show? Were her parents disappointed? Were they watc –
Her errant thoughts were cut off as Katsuki walked over to her and stuck his hand out. Shakely she accepted it and was hoisted up to her feet, to the cheers of the crowd. "You doin' alright, Earlobes?" Katsuki asked, eyes showing a surprising amount of concern.
She felt a small smile form on her face, even if it stung with the bruises, "Yeah. Gave you a run for your money didn't I, Splodey?" she teased as they walked back toward the exit.
She swore she saw Katsuki blush as he looked away from her "Shut up. I must've hit you too damn hard, you're delusional."
"Sure, sure, whatever you say." She knocked him with her shoulder and laughed as he grumbled.
"What an explosive match!" Izumi joked.
"I'll say. I'm not sure if my ears are ringing because of Katsuki's explosions or Jiro's sound-based attacks!" Yu rubbed her finger in her ear.
"What?!" Izumi spoke louder than necessary, laughing when Yu smacked her in the shoulder. "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" After pushing Yu off of her she continued. "Anyway, up next we have Fumikage Tokoyami versus Hitoshi Shinso! So don't go anywhere and stay tuned!"
"That fight was a lot better than I thought it'd be," Ochako commented with a surprised frown as her and Pony entered the waiting room. Since the latter's fight was next they decided to just head to the room early. "I would have thought it'd be more one-sided." Ocahko squeaked before looking at Pony "Was that rude? I didn't mean to be rude to Jiro!"
Pony shrugged and was about to answer when the door opened and Twice walked in.
"My fellow Americans! I bring firepower!" The clone gestured to the door, as another clone came in lugging Sweet Business and a canister of ammunition with him. "DEATH MACHINE!"
Pony leaped up and immediately squealed, "Twice! You are best!" She reached for the gun but stopped when the clone raised up his hand to stop her.
"Hold your horses!" He said.
"Is that racist?" The other clone asked.
"...Is it?" Clone 1 looked at Pony with concern.
"I think it's funny," She admitted. "Just hear too many."
Clone 1 gasped. "Did we just end racism?"
Clone 2 raised his fist triumphantly, and Sweet Business would have fallen to the floor if the other clone hadn't caught it. "We cured racism!"
"This calls for a celebration!" Clone 1 pulled out a gun from nowhere and aimed it towards the ceiling.
"Wait!" Ochako panicked and held her hands out. "We're indoors!"
"...Right, of course." Twice threw the gun behind him and out of sight, where it somehow just stopped existing. "Someone remind me why we're here."
The other clone held his finger up. "Big Sis wanted us to let Pony know about the deal."
"Ah, yes, thank you, me."
"Anytime, me!"
"Deal?" Pony tilted her head in curiosity.
"I'll let her explain!" The two Twices took up a pose and made a "behold!" pose to the space between them as a mass of goo formed before shaping itself into-
"Flintlock!" Pony yelled in excitement as her hero appeared before her.
The Izumi clone blinked in confusion before taking in her surroundings. "What the fuuu… Why am I here?" She then noticed her students. "Oh! Hey, girls. What- Wait… am I a clone?"
She started patting herself down before groaning as she slapped her hand against her face. "Hello existential dread, we meet again. Thought I broke up with you back in college," she said to herself. "Well, time to do what I do best: ignore it!"
"That's not healthy, sis." The remaining Twice clone muttered but flinched as Clonzumi glanced at him.
Clonezumi scoffed and flipped him off, "I don't wanna hear it from you."
Ochako quickly interjected before the two started getting out of hand. "Umm, so you were going to explain this "deal" to Pony?"
Clonezumi blinked for a moment before grinning and snapping a finger at Ochako, "Thank you for reminding me!" She gestured to Pony and then Sweet Business. "Nezu has decided that it's unfair to not give the students the option of fighting with some support equipment if they choose, so we're giving each fighter the option of taking one piece of support equipment out onto the battlefield! But both contestants have to agree to it, if one doesn't want it then it won't happen."
"What about Bakugou?" Ochako frowned. "He didn't have any support equipment on?"
Clonezumi frowned and shook her head. "He was a special case, he was straight up refusing to fight if Miss Jiro wasn't given support equipment to make up the firepower difference. Not to brag about Kacchan –" She pushed Twice when he snorted. "But outside of maybe Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, or Iida, he's the best fighter in your class by a wide margin, but he's also been training since he was like five so it's a bit unfair to compare you guys."
"So I can take gun and shoot with it?" Pony asked, her smile bright enough to replicate the sun.
Clonezumi nodded. "Neither Shinso nor Tokoyami wanted weapons for their match, but since Miss Kodai asked for a weapon, the offer has been extended to you, so you can take Sweet Business with you when your fight comes up if you want. Kodai has already picked her weapon."
"What'd she get?" Ochako asked.
"Nope, not telling you, that would be cheating." Clonezumi waved her finger at the girls. "So, Pony, it's your call-"
"Hell yes!" Pony swiped Sweet Business from Twice and hugged it. "Oh my sweet baby, Mama has missed you!"
"Alrighty then," Clonezumi chuckled at Pony's antics. "Well, we'll leave you be." She then spread her arms and started falling backwards. "Take me sweet death!"
When she hit the ground she exploded into a mass of goo which quickly began to evaporate.
The girls and the Twice clones stared at where she had been for a long moment of silence.
"...We really need to get her therapy." One of the clones said.
"Agreed… anyway, let's go sell some churros!"
"Churros! Churros! Churros!" The clones shouted as they began marching out of the room. Then one poked his head back into the room, churros in hand. "Do you girls want some?"
Ochako and Pony smiled at each other before turning back to Twice and nodded. "Yes please!"
"For our second match, Coming out of the west gate! We have the darkest dude around! The guy who makes The Dark Knight seem bright in comparison, Fumikage Tokoyami!" The crowd cheered the bird-headed boy on as he tried to calmly walk to the arena, Dark Shadow was making that difficult though.
"Fumi! They're cheering for us!"
"I can hear that Dark Shadow, stay focused." He admonished, though he couldn't deny that the cheering raised his confidence levels some, causing him to stand up a little taller.
"Versus! From the east gate! We have a kid so sleepy he'd give Eraser Head a run for his money! His mouth writes checks his enemies will have to cash! Hitoshi Shinso!"
Hitoshi walked out with his hands in his pockets, his eyes focused forward. If he heard the crowd he didn't give any indication that they had any real effect on his mental state, if anything he seemed disinterested.
His resting bitch face was on par with Aizawa's.
Both fighters stopped at their respective ends of the ring and slightly bowed to each other in respect. Midnight stepped forward from her referee platform to address them.
"You both know the rules?" Upon confirmation that she didn't need to repeat herself she raised her whip. "Fighters, ready!"
"Good luck," Hitoshi said to Fumikage.
Fumikage felt Dark Shadow writhe within him, ready to be let out. "I mean no offense, but why would I be the one to need luck?"
"Let the match begin!"
Hitoshi smirked. "Because I've already won."
Fumikage didn't even flinch as his eyes glazed over and his body relaxed.
"Turn around and walk off the stage." Was all Hitoshi said, his hands still in his pockets.
Fumikage began to slowly and almost robotically move, his body turning to comply with Hitoshi's command.
That is, until Fumikage just stopped.
"What?" Hitoshi blinked in surprise. "I said walk off the stage."
His opponent didn't move.
Hitoshi was confused. He knew his quirk had taken affect, he could sense that Fumikage was under his control. So why wasn't he…
"You…" a low growl escaped from Fumikage's beak, a dark mist seeping out as well.
And that's when realization hit Hitoshi like a truck. "Oh shit…"
Unfortunately for Hitoshi, he had never used his quirk on anyone with a truly sentient quirk before, and Dark Shadow was pissed.
A dark, pitch-black mass began to emerge from all over Fumikage and cover him. Like a dark suit of armor, Dark Shadow covered its host and took control, puppeteering Fumikage's body to turn around where it glared at Hitoshi with toxic yellow eyes and bared its beak which was coated in sharp teeth, looking absolutely monstrous.
"What the fuck did you just do to Fumi!" Dark Shadow roared before it leaped across the arena and was about to land right on top of Hitoshi.
Hitoshi's eyes widened before he quickly dove out of the way as Dark Shadow punched the ground where he had been standing, cracking the concrete. He rolled to his feet just in time to dodge again as Dark Shadow's beak snapped at him.
"Let him go!" Dark Shadow threw its fist forward where it extended like a tendril and nailed Hitoshi in the chest who was caught off guard by the unexpected reach of the attack. "Give him back!"
Hitoshi was launched across the arena towards the other side where he rolled to a crouched position just before the boundary line. He looked back at the line and sighed in relief when he realized he was still in. "Shit, that was close…"
Hitoshi looked back at Dark Shadow and forced a smug grin onto his face. "What? You want your master back?"
"He's not my master, he's my friend!" Dark Shadow roared as it charged across the arena, rapidly closing the distance. "Give him back or I'll break you!"
Hitoshi grinned as he tried to activate his quirk, Dark Shadow having responded to him. His grin soon fell when he felt… nothing.
His quirk didn't work on Dark Shadow.
The monstrous quirk closed in on him and tried to grab Hitoshi in one of its claws. He acted quickly and jumped over the claw, using it as a ledge to throw himself the rest of the way over Dark Shadow and behind it. Before hitting the ground he planted both feet on the back of Dark Shadow's head and kicked with all he had, making Dark Shadow stumble forward and towards the boundary line.
Once again, as he landed on the ground in a crouch, Hitoshi was thankful for the hell he was put through by his teachers to be able to actually pull off the stunt he had just done. A genuine smile spread across his face as he saw Dark Shadow about to cross the line and out of bounds.
His smile fell immediately as dark tendrils erupted from the back of the beast and latched onto the ground, pulling Dark Shadow back and away from the line.
"Oh, come on!" He yelled in frustration.
"Should we… do something?" Yu could be heard asking over the speakers. "I mean, it looks like Dark Shadow is trying to-"
"Shhh!" Izumi was heard shushing her friend. "Just… let him cook."
"Izumi!"
"Great, I've been thrown to the wolves by my own teacher," Hitoshi grumbled. "Or in this case, the vultures."
Dark Shadow turned and snarled at Hitoshi. "I will drag you to the depths of hell for this!" Before Hitoshi's very eyes, Dark Shadow burrowed into the ground, disappearing beneath the earth before anyone could fully register what happened.
Hitoshi gasped and looked at the ground, expecting a claw made of shadow to emerge and swipe at him. Instead, he heard the ground break behind him, and he turned around to see a giant tendril of darkness erupt from the concrete.
"What the fuck!?" Hitoshi shouted as he backed up a step.
"Dark Shadow used Dig!" Izumi shouted excitedly.
"What the heck is wrong with your students!?" Yu screamed.
The crowd flinched as the tendril of darkness rushed Hitoshi, the sunlight now not even seeming to bother it.
"Besides me being their teacher?" Izumi hummed. "Couldn't say. If you're referring to how Dark Shadow is doing all this, we actually found out something last week during training and testing. Dark Shadow's 'true form' isn't actually the bird-like form we've been seeing, it just chooses to take that form because it likes to look like Tokoyami."
"That's… actually really wholesome," Yu admitted. "So what is its true form?"
"You don't wanna know."
Hitoshi dodged backward, but his leg was caught by Dark Shadow and his momentum halted. He slammed into the concrete hard, knocking the wind out of him as another tendril cracked a hole into the floor near him and wrapped around his legs.
He was then dragged toward it, slow enough to give him time to contemplate his life choices, but fast enough that he really didn't have any time to think of and execute a plan to escape his fate. He didn't bother trying to use his hands to prevent himself from being dragged, he'd rather not fuck up his fingers and it'd be pointless with the amount of force Dark Shadow was putting on his legs.
He really only had one option he supposed. He was halfway down the hole, his head and arms still sticking out when he did the only two things that would save him.
He released his hold on Fumikage, and he shouted out "I forfeit!"
A buzzer sounded and almost immediately Midnight announced, "Hitoshi Shinso has forfeited! Tokoyami is the winner!"
Hitoshi's burial was halted, and from the ground in front of him emerged the head of Dark Shadow, which glared at him one last time, whispering "Do that again and no forfeit will save you." It gave one last roar right into Hitoshi's face before receding back into the ground. A moment later, Fumikage emerged, assisted in his ascent by Dark Shadow who pulled him up and out of the ground.
He dusted off his clothes as he was breathing heavily. "That… was unpleasant." He looked at Hitoshi, who was still buried in the ground. "I only apologize for Dark Shadow's aggressiveness, but will not lie and say I did not take some pleasure in seeing you fend for your life after you took hold of my mind."
"Yeah," Hitoshi shrugged. "In hindsight, I probably should have let you go after I realized there was no point."
"Indeed." Fumikage nodded. "Dark Shadow, free him."
Dark Shadow emerged from behind Fumikage. "Do I have to?"
"Dark Shadow…" Fumikage warned.
"Fiiine!" With that, the quirk got to work digging Hitoshi out.
"By the way," he asked. "How come you didn't snap out of my quirk that whole time? It isn't exactly hard, it just takes some pain or even someone jostling you a bit roughly."
"Truthfully, I didn't feel a thing," Fumikage admitted. "Dark Shadow protected my body the whole time. It didn't even feel like I was moving despite my body trying to obey your commands from before."
"Huh, freaky," Hitoshi said, but there was no disturbance in his tone, only curiosity. "With how much he was thrashing around, I would have thought you'd feel something."
As Dark Shadow dug out enough wiggle room to allow Hitoshi to pull himself up, he was met with the hand of Fumikage offering him assistance.
"In a way, I must thank you. Our battle today has given me much to think about in regard to what Dark Shadow is truly capable of. I have much to explore." Fumikage said.
"Uhm, yeah," Hitoshi took the offered hand and allowed himself to be pulled up. "You're welcome… I guess."
Fumikage nodded and turned, walking towards the tunnel to leave the arena. Dark Shadow emerged from his back and made an "I'm watching you" gesture with his wings, causing Hitoshi to pale a little as he remembered how easily the quirk could kill him if it wanted to.
"Mental note: don't fuck with those two," he whispered as he quickly fled the arena and the cheering of the crowd.
"Woo!" Yu said into the microphone. "I don't wanna say that match was one-sided but…"
"Yeah, unfortunately, there wasn't much Shinso could have done against Dark Shadow," Izumi explained, leaning back into her chair. "But honestly, props to Shinso for lasting as long as he did. He has much more room to grow, and this match showed it."
"And I'm sure you're gonna beat the training into him after today?"
"No comment."
"Anyway, up next we've got quite an interesting match-up, so don't go anywhere!"
Pony stood nervously in the tunnel, Sweet Business slung across her back. So far she had done fine throughout the whole Festival. The adrenaline and simulated life-or-death situations had done a great job of keeping her mind busy. She didn't have to worry about the crowd focusing on her, they were watching everyone, cheering on everyone…
Now though, as she waited for her name to be called so that she could make her way out onto the battlefield, her nerves were being sent into overdrive. She could hear the crowd just outside the tunnel and the idea that they'd be watching just her and her opponent… It was super nerve-wracking.
"Knew you'd jump at the chance to use that thing."
Pony gasped and turned around to see Izumi walking up to her from further down the tunnel. "Flintlock? Wait, another clone? Is something wrong?"
Izumi chuckled. "Actually, I'm not a clone. I went on a quick restroom break and decided I'd drop by before heading back up." She moved to stand next to Pony looking at the exit of the tunnel to the outside world. "So, how are you feeling kid?"
Pony wanted to say she was fine, to act cool and pretend nothing bothered her, especially in front of her idol… but she knew she couldn't lie to Izumi.
"Nervous," she admitted. "This isn't like the last event where we were fighting robots in a building and I forgot the crowd existed. I'll be in an arena, fighting someone else, just the two of us, everyone judging me."
"Ah, good ol' case of anxiety," Izumi nodded. "Yeah, I feel that energy."
Pony blinked and looked up at Izumi in disbelief. "You do?"
"Yep!"
"But you're… you!" Pony gestured to all of Izumi.
"Oh don't let my false bravado and wit fool you, I was and still am an anxiety-ridden little shit."Izumi sighed. "I'm a quirkless hero, Pony. I've been looked down on for most of my life, and when I reached my dream of becoming a hero people started to depend on me to give my very best at all times, and I can't afford to give them any less. I gotta give one hundred and ten percent at all times just to keep up. It gets to you."
Pony looked down. "I… didn't know that."
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Izumi giving her a bright smile. "Eh, it comes with the job, quirk or no quirk. Just give it your absolute best out there, and no one can ask you for more."
"No I mean, about the looking down on you bit…"
Izumi blinked before chuckling nervously. "Japan and a few other places around the globe don't look upon the quirkless too favorably, even a few places in the States aren't the kindness to us, but Texas is nice, which is why I stuck around after graduation, so no worries." She waved off Pony's concern "This isn't my therapy session, it's yours. You need to just nut up and punch Miss Kodai really hard! That's how I fix my anxiety. I punch my problems in the face… or shoot them… mostly shoot them."
"Well, it's a good thing I have a big gun, right?" Pony joked, patting Sweet Business on her back.
Izumi snorted. "Damn straight. You've got this. And I'm not the only one who knows that. A hundred bucks says there's a certain gal in her waiting room who is cheering you on." She winked, causing Pony to sputter and blush.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" She laughed nervously, sweating bullets.
Before Izumi could respond to that, a song started playing outside, causing both of them to pause their conversation in confusion.
"Is… that Hulk Hogan's Third WWE theme?" Izumi asked with a frown.
"Who?" Pony tilted her head only to get waved off by her teacher.
"Old pre-quirk wrestler, don't worry abou –" but she was cut off by Jin's voice echoing throughout the arena.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Coming out of the west entrance, Coming here all the way from Texas with the horns of a bull and the heart of a true, hot-blooded American! The Tiny Wonder with a lot of horsepower! Pony Tsunotori!"
Izumi didn't have time to process how much she was going to absolutely murder and/or kiss Jin for this stunt, she quickly pushed Pony toward the exit of the tunnel with a thumbs up.
"Beat her ass, Young Tsunotori!" She exclaimed in a deep voice that was supposed to be an All Might impression. Pony stared back at Izumi before dawning a determined expression and nodding. She turned and marched her way out of the tunnel.
As Pony made her way up to the arena, the music changed to a much more foreboding theme, causing Pony to giggle as she heard Izumi shout, "Really guys!? The Undertakers theme!?"
Yu's voice echoed through the stadium. "Versus! From the east exit, representing class 1-B and all of the introverts of the world, all the way from Shimante Prefecture, the girl whose actions speak louder than her words! Yui Kodai!"
As Pony ascended the steps of the arena, she saw Yui on the other side making her way to her starting position. Pony attempted to see just which weapon Yui had chosen for the match, but couldn't see anything on the quiet girl as she took her position.
Midnight stepped forward and assessed both fighters, before humming in confusion. "I was told both competitors received weapons. Kodai, where is yours?"
Yui turned her head to Midnight and simply let out a quiet hum that the hero couldn't even hear from where she was standing. Yui then lifted her hand as if she was holding something when suddenly a small cylinder-like object appeared in her hand before rapidly expanding into a staff.
Midnight eyed the staff, then looked at Pony and the gun on her back. She then looked towards Izumi who was still in the tunnel, and raised an eyebrow as if asking "You sure this is fair?"
Izumi just waved it off and urged Midnight to continue with a thumbs-up. She furrowed her brow in concern but trusted her teacher's judgment.
Midnight shrugged and raised her whip. "Fighters, ready!"
Pony took Sweet Business off her back and readied it, a confident smile on her face strengthened by her pep talk with her favorite hero, and reinforced by seeing that all her opponent had for a weapon was a stick. "This'll be quick."
Izumi cringed from the tunnel. "Oh, Pony, don't get cocky. Ugh, I'm a horrible influence."
Yui from her end of the arena twirled her staff before taking a stance. She narrowed her eyes in concentration.
Pony stiffened when it felt like a bolt of lightning passed through her. Yui's gaze was by no means intense, and yet Pony felt like she was being sent the death glare. That alone caused her built-up confidence to falter, and then as if her brain hated her, it reminded her that Yui's gaze wasn't the only one on her. Thousands of eyes were watching her. Millions more on television were watching her. Flintlock was watching her!
It was all almost enough to make her run out of the arena then and there, to rather be a coward than embarrass herself by giving a crap performance. Until…
"YOU GOT THIS, PONY!" A familiar voice yelled out.
"Huh?" Pony looked towards the 1-A seats and saw Ochako standing right at the railing, cheering her on.
"D'ya think I was gonna miss seeing this match in person?!" Ochako smiled brightly in encouragement. "Hell no! Kick 'er ass!"
Pony's eyes widened and a faint blush dusted her cheeks. One would think having the girl she was crushing on also watching would add to the anxiety, but no. In fact, it actually helped Pony hyperfocus on her one, singular objective.
Kick her opponent's ass.
The crowd no longer existed, the world outside the arena no longer existed. It was just Pony and Yui.
And of course, Midnight, because Pony needed to focus and wait for her to say-
"BEGIN!"
Pony acted immediately, sending a mental apology to Yui as she slapped Sweet Business' barrels to spin it up, took aim, and opened fire. She sent a quick burst of rubber bullets at her opponent, letting up on the trigger after a second. She didn't want to absolutely pepper Yui with bruises, she wasn't heartless.
Fortunately for her conscience, and unfortunately for her overconfidence, Yui didn't get hit by the rubber bullets.
In fact… she didn't get hit at all.
Something people forget about modern rubber bullets is that they are much, much, heavier than regular bullets. Because of this, they move a lot slower, and because of that are much easier for heroes or talented heroes in training to deal with compared to regular bullets.
The moment the hail of gunfire started, Yui dodged, and what she couldn't dodge she batted away with her staff like it was nothing but a minor inconvenience.
"...Eh?" Pony blinked in confusion, not expecting Yui to be so fast. They may have been rubber bullets but there were still a lot of them and they had enough force to bruise someone. Dodging them? Sure. Straight up deflecting them? What the fuck?
Before Pony could wrap her head around what Yui was doing, the silent girl moved, rushing toward her so fast that Pony barely had enough time to sling Sweet Business over her shoulder and dodge out of the way.
Yui's staff hit the arena floor with a loud crack, and before Pony could find her balance Yui had already turned to strike at her once again.
Pony leaned her body back, barely avoiding the end of the staff as it came down and hit the ground. She then tried to ready Sweet Business to fire at Yui while she was open, but Yui immediately pushed forward and swung the end of her staff in an upward motion, catching Pony in the jaw and sending her stumbling back.
Yui then swung her staff, aiming for Pony's head. She couldn't get her balance back in time to properly dodge, so Pony decided to just let herself fall backward, firing off two horns and using them to catch her before she hit the ground and carry herself away from Yui before she could attack again.
As Pony flew away she adjusted herself on her horns so that she was standing on them like she usually did. She closed her eyes and sighed as she had a moment to breathe, being out of Yui's reach in the air. When she opened her eyes, they widened immediately as she saw the end of the staff swinging right for her. She rolled out the way, barely keeping her balance on her horns as she tried to figure out how the hell Yui managed to reach her.
Turns out, Yui was still on the ground, it was her staff that had elongated in order to give Yui the reach she needed to attack Pony. As Yui finished her swing, the staff returned to normal size and Yui stared down Pony.
Pony huffed and took aim with Sweet Business, and began raining down bullet hell on Yui. The silent girl began to expertly dodge the barrage of bullets, displaying some impressive acrobatics, she also continued to deflect any bullets she couldn't dodge with her staff.
Up in the stands, Class 1-A watched the fight below. They expected Pony to secure the win easily when it was revealed she had her Sweet Business and Yui just had a staff. Needless to say, their minds were blown as they watched Yui dodge or block every bullet sent her way.
"What the fuck?" Ochako stared in disbelief.
Katsuki from his seat turned to look at Momo sitting next to him. "Can you do that?"
"..."
"I'll take that as a 'no'."
"Katsuki, I will make a spray bottle, don't test me."
"I mean, is it that unbelievable?" Denki asked. "I deflected blaster bolts in the last event."
"You deflected one," Kyouka corrected. "And you were juiced up because of your quirk."
"And she… isn't?" Denki scratched his head.
"...Actually, that's a good question," Kyouka admitted. "What is Kodai's quirk?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
The entire class groaned immediately recognizing the voice.
Momo took a deep, calming breath and went to her happy place. She was someone who didn't want to deal with this shit but had no choice. She put a lid on her emotions and looked up at the divider between the 1-A seats and 1-B seats. "Hello, Monoma. What do you want?"
"Me? I don't want anything. Though, I couldn't help but notice how in awe you are of Kodai's skills. She asked Midoriya-Sensei for weapon training during our two-week training, and this is the fruit of her labor! She'll show you 1-A hooligans just what 1-B can- eep!" He flinched as he was pulled away by Itsuka who glared at him.
"What have I told you about bothering 1-A? What did Flintlock tell you about bothering 1-A ?" She growled.
Momo sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Hello, Kendo, he was saying something about her quirk?"
"I wasn't!"
"Quiet," Itsuka shut him down sternly before turning back to Momo with a kind smile. "I doubt he was going to tell you, but I will. Kodai's quirk is called Size, it lets her change the size of objects. Length, width, stuff like that."
Right when Itsuka said that the staff in Yui's hand extended toward Pony, forcing her to dodge.
Katsuki whistled in appreciation, "Holy shit, it's like she has the Nyoibō from Dragon Ball."
Denki raised a finger. "Actually, the Nyoibō was based on Sun Wukong's staff, Ruyi Jingu Bang, which could change size and shape at his will."
"Seriously, what's with you having these random bits of knowledge? Kero..." Tsuyu muttered.
"Random obsessions over the years resulted in me picking up random shit."
"Bro, you literally hotwired a boat." Minoru sputtered.
Denki nodded his head. "I am a man of many talents."
Before anyone could respond they heard Ochako hiss as she stood, gripping the railing nervously. They turned back to the fight and winced at what they saw.
Pony was back on the ground, and Yui was moving in for the kill.
A few moments earlier.
Pony kept the hail of bullets coming, if she could just tire her opponent out, she reasoned she'd be able to go in and end it properly!
Her eyes widened as Yui's staff started rapidly extending toward her, forcing her to dodge as quickly as she could. She was about to try and bring her gun back up to continue her barrage when she noticed the staff start retracting…
But not back toward Yui, instead, it pulled the quiet girl through the air, and before Pony could respond she was knocked off her horns by a vicious elbow to the stomach, sending her tumbling down onto the concrete below.
Yui then positioned one end of the staff and elongated it making it more of a pole now really, so that she was crouched, balancing on top of the upright staff by the tips of her toes.
Pony tried to stand, but she was still recovering from the blow to her chest, coughing and breathing heavily.
Yui watched the girl struggle and sighed, she wasn't going to be able to knock Pony out of the ring from her position, so she needed to go for a knockout or get Pony to forfeit.
Luckily she was in a prime position to do just that and finish the fight. Yui jumped off the staff into the air, shrinking it back down to its regular size before falling toward Pony with it raised above her head, ready to strike.
Pony looked up and gasped as she saw Yui bringing the staff down right toward her head. She didn't even think as she reacted and lifted Sweet Business to block the strike that surely would have knocked her out cold.
There was a great crack! and the world moved as if it was in slow motion as Pony was sent back by the force of the strike. She gasped as she watched the two halves of Sweet Business slowly fly to the sides of the arena, split down the middle by Yui's strike, which had also bent her staff at an awkward angle, causing the other girl to discard it as if it meant nothing to her.
Pony fell on her ass and rolled onto her stomach. She looked up and her breath hitched as she fully processed that Sweet Business had been destroyed. The sound of everything was drowned out, her ears started ringing, her hands trembling as adrenaline and blood rushed throughout her body.
Sweet Business wasn't something meaningless to Pony though, it was a gift from her Idol, from a person who believed in her…
She stood up on trembling legs and ignored Yui as she got into some hand-to-hand stance that Pony could care less about.
She blinked the forming tears away and instead sneered at her opponent. Tears could come later, right now all that Yui Kodai deserved from Pony was the full brunt of her pure, unbridled rage.
Pony stomped one of her hooves, cracking the concrete below from the force of it. She kept repeating in her mind that this was a school event, she shouldn't kill her classmate, she couldn't kill her classmate.
Instead, she focused on ending this as fast as possible. She dragged her hoof across the floor, readying herself before charging her enemy with blinding speed.
Against a goat or something similar with horns, it's generally a good idea when you can't get out of the way of a charge to grab the horns and twist, forcing them to the ground by grappling their heads.
Yui tried to do this to Pony, grabbing her by the horns and trying to force her to the ground, unfortunately for Yui, Pony wasn't a goat that didn't know how to stop her momentum or react in any way other than panic when forced to the ground.
She was a human girl, who was very, very angry. The moment she felt Yui try to grapple her, she ground herself to a stop and lifted her head, pulling Yui off the ground. She then threw her head forward and slammed Yui into the ground.
She then shot two horns hard into the ground next to Yui's hands, causing them to burrow into the concrete, the angular middle of her horns pinning the girl's wrists to the arena floor. She then did the same thing to her legs by the ankles before standing over her opponent's chest.
She lifted her hoof into the air, right above the silent girl's chest, and looked down at her, eyes filled with rage as she huffed out a puff of smoke from her nose and hissed out, "Forfeit."
Yui gulped and quietly breathed out, "I… I yield."
Midnight, who had walked closer to possibly prevent Pony from doing something stupid raised her hand. "Yui Kodai has forfeited! Pony Tsunotori is the winner!"
Pony tsked and willed her horns out of the ground, freeing Yui before turning and walking over to Sweet Business. She tenderly picked the pieces of her beloved gun up off the ground and held them in her arms as she quietly walked out of the arena.
The crowd cheered as she left, but she ignored them.
She didn't feel like a winner.
She made her way to the tunnel where Izumi was still standing, having watched the match from there rather than heading back to the commentator booth. She didn't get a chance to say anything as Pony collapsed onto her knees, the pieces of Sweet Business clattering to the floor as the tears she had held back finally crashed through her fragile emotional state.
Izumi quickly snapped her prosthetic finger, sending Sweet Business' pieces back to the armory, before her big sister instincts took over and she crouched down and brought Pony into her arms.
"I'm sorry!"
"It's okay. It's okay. You did great." Izumi whispered as she ran her fingers through Pony's hair
"Y-you trusted me and I-" Pony couldn't even finish her sentence as another sob cut her off.
"Shh, it's alright." She helped Pony up and rubbed her back "Let's get you to Recovery Girl and get you looked at, you can rest up a bit before your next fight."
Izumi raised her finger to her ear and spoke into her earpiece. "JinJin, would you mind bringing some milk and cookies down to Recovery Girls infirmary? I think we'll need some."
1-A was quiet as they watched Pony make her way off the field after going berserk. They could tell that she was really upset just based on her body language. Everyone to some capacity wanted to offer some form of support. But before they could even talk to Momo about figuring out who should go to do just that, they flinched as the sound of metal creaking reached their ears.
Ochako was staring blankly ahead as she let go of the guard railing, revealing indents in the metal where her fingers had been. She didn't say anything to her classmates, she just removed her gravity before lifting herself over the railing and kicking off of it, launching herself down to the grass below. She returned her gravity right before she hit the ground, landing in a roll before standing and making her way onto the arena.
"Get that motherfucker out here, now." She demanded of Midnight as she took her starting position.
"Uh…" Midnight blinked before talking into her radio "Can you announce the next fight? I guess?"
Twice's voice rang out a moment later, announcing the fight between Tenya and Ochako.
Ochako didn't care though, she just kept her eyes laser-focused on the east gate, where Tenya was taking his sweet ass time getting to the arena.
She vaguely noted Mount Lady's and Twice's introduction of the fighters, but she didn't care.
After a moment he was standing before her, and in any other circumstance she'd be worried about fighting him, he was one of the students that had been trained to fight from a young age, and she was just some country bumpkin from Mie.
Unfortunately for Tenya, this country bumpkin was out for blood.
"Let's have a great match, Uraraka," Tenya said as Midnight called the beginning of the fight, he quickly got into his running pose, ready to strike.
"I'm not in the mood for niceties, Iida. And it's nothing against you." She unzipped her sports jacket, then flexed her fingers and got into the grappling stance Flintlock had drilled into her head over the last two weeks.
Tenya blinked at the ordinarily bubbly girl's angry response but shrugged it off and decided to make the first move. He moved, rushing forward punching her in the stomach, before dodging Ochako's counter-attack, she didn't try and grab him though, instead swinging at him with her elbow, which missed. He made distance between them and then returned for another blow, hitting her in the cheek, which she responded to with a missed kick.
The blows didn't hurt as much as Ochako thought they should have. One of the things that Flintlock had drilled into her head during their spars during hell week was recognizing the tempo a battle would take, how much force an enemy was using or when the enemy's heart wasn't dedicated to the fight, etcetera.
That's how she realized that Tenya was holding back. His punches hurt, but they didn't debilitate, and Ochako made use of that. She recovered and watched as Tenya slid to the far side of the arena, getting into a classic runner's stance, ready to rush her and probably shove her out of bounds with a push combined with his momentum.
She didn't have to wait long for him to come at her, his speed cracking the concrete as he kicked forward. Ochako had been paying attention to the speed it took him to cross the arena the whole time and knew how long it would take for him to reach her.
If he had made himself faster her plan wouldn't have worked, but Tenya was nothing if not consistent, if he thought a strategy was working he'd stick to it to the smallest detail, it was one of the things Flintlock and Aizawa had tried to both metaphorically, and sometimes literally, beat out of him during the hell week. He was rather stubborn though about breaking habits.
He was a great combatant, but he was rigid and set in his ways.
So in his mind, he charged her, expecting another sloppy performance on her part, a half-assed swipe or kick.
What he got instead was a face full of her sports jacket. He skidded to a stop and reached up to grab it but she didn't give him the chance to pull the jacket off. She ran and grabbed his arm, before kicking behind his knees and forcing him to the ground. She wrapped her legs around his midsection, his free arm pinned to his side by her leg and his other arm gripped strongly in her hand.
She pulled the jacket off his face and wrapped her other arm around his neck, not hard, but enough for him to get the point.
"Give up, now." Was all she hissed at him. He tried to struggle, tried to leverage his larger frame against her, he even tried to fire off his engines, but in his position, they couldn't help him, and he didn't want to scorch his classmate either. She squeezed his neck with her arm and he realized it was futile.
He had lost.
"I yield," He sighed.
Midnight declared Ochako the winner and the crowd cheered. The gravity girl let Tenya go, grabbing her jacket off the ground before turning and marching out of the arena looking pissed.
"Uh, what just happened?" Jin sputtered as the two combatants made their way off the field.
"I don't know but that fight lasted all of like, thirty seconds. That…uh, wow." Yu chuckled. "Izumi's gonna be mad she missed seeing that."
Yu shook off the surprise of the last match and announced, "Well, folks, we're at the halfway point of Round One. So far the matches have been nothing short of spectacular, and I can't wait to see what the latter half of the bracket has in store for us!"
Jin took over. "Up next we have Momo Yaoyorozu versus Toru Hagakure, We'll give them ten minutes to prepare, and give you all some time to go refill your drinks and use the restroom! Stay seated and hold it in!"
Yu blinked at him before shaking her head and standing, muting her microphone as she did so. "That's a good idea. I'm going to go find Izumi as well… No offense Jin, you've been great, but it is her job to commentate with me."
Jin muted his own mic and then raised an eyebrow at Yu. "Didn't you guys steal the job from Mic and Aizawa?"
Yu frowned at him and crossed her arms. "Is that a problem?"
He shook his head. "No, I think it's hilarious. So mean!" He stood up and stretched. "I need to get back to cooking anyway. My clones tend to start getting… creative with their recipes if I'm not giving them any oversight. Peanut Butter and Salmon is a great combo!"
Yu frowned as they made their way out of the booth."Wait, aren't they clones of you? Shouldn't they just…kinda do what you want them to do or what you would normally do?"
Jin shook his head with a sigh. "My psyche is all kinds of fucked," He muttered, glad that Eri was with Melissa so he could curse. "I'm not as bad as I used to be, but I'm sure you've noticed the verbal tick. You definitely haven't. I'm sneaky like that." He blinked and groaned, "It's gotten better over the years, but it's still there. For the longest time, I was basically living in an existential crisis. I didn't know if I was me or if the clones I made were me, and it…it messed me up bad."
Yu looked at him with sympathy in her eyes. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that."
He waved her off. "Like I said, I'm better now, but my screwed-up mental state had the side effect of permanently screwing up my quirk, at least as far as we can tell. My clones are me, but they tend to wander and have a mind of their own. Usually, we're in consensus with each other, and they have to listen to me when I'm in their presence, but when they're away from me they can act out in their own ways, even if it's in ways people who know me can predict."
"Do I get three guesses on who helped you out?" Yu playfully asked.
"Do you need three? You'll need a million!"
"Yeah, she is pretty awesome, isn't she?"
The two laughed and walked down the hall, enjoying each other's company, before going their separate ways. Jin went back toward the Midoriya family booth, and Yu made her way toward the Infirmary, intent on making sure Izumi wasn't being too much of a therapist to do her actual job.
Yu grinned. She needed to get Izumi out of there before Miss Uraraka got there. Izumi's big sister energy was formidable from what Yu had seen and remembered from her childhood, but sometimes someone upset didn't need a big sister, but a friend, and she knew that if Izumi stayed she'd probably try and push her two students to a level of friendship they weren't emotionally ready for…
Or maybe they were, Yu couldn't really tell, after all, they weren't her students.
Still, though, she better go play interference for the two kiddos, Izumi meant well but she was a little much after all…
She snorted out a laugh as realization hit her. "They let Miss 'I'm going to break you with a desk chair' be a teacher. I can't fucking believe it. God help the villains those kids fight."
With that cheerful thought in mind, she walked a little bit faster toward the infirmary, she had some students to save.
A hero's work was never done.