Transformers MHA, Arc 2: Earthrise

by The Omni-Remnant

After a rather intense adventure and the U.A. Sports Festival approaching fast, Izuku and his friends have two important things to do; improve their Quirks in time for the festival… and hide a bunch of giant alien robots. That proves to be easier said than done, especially when enemies on Earth and from beyond the stars end up coming for them…

31. Fight On, Challengers!

A/N: Hey there, everybody, how's it going? Well, we've got one final stop here before the Semi-Finals, and while this might be another short chapter, it DOES have something toward the end that makes it a fairly important one as well. And well, for those of you who remember what happened while the Sports Festival was happening, you know exactly what that is. So, let's not waste any more time. This is…

Chapter 31: Fight On, Challengers!

…..

"Hah, well, it would seem that my tenure at this Sports Festival has come to an end."

Izuku glanced over to Tenya as they made their way back to their seats, giving him a sympathetic smile. "H-Hey, don't worry, Iida, you honestly did really great to make it this far. And besides, there IS always next year, remember."

Tenya returned the grin and nodded, though his voice seemed more unsure than anything. "Hm, yes, you are correct… though to be frank, I can only imagine where YOU will be in terms of power by next year. You might be running circles around all of us if you keep this pace up."

"I-I don't know about that…" Izuku scratched his cheek.

A chuckle came from the Class Rep as they made it to their floor. "Haha, well either way, I had an exceptional time competing against you. Perhaps we should make it a regular thing during our training sessions."

"Actually, that sounds like a great idea!" Izuku concurred. "We'd make progress a lot faster if we constantly had goal posts to—oof! H-Huh?" The boy was taken aback when he suddenly bumped into something that was oddly soft, causing him to bring his eyes forward. "O-Oh, sorry, I—" Izuku's voice was caught in his throat… as the first thing he saw was a thick, black tank top being pressed against his chest… as well as the cleavage that occupied it. He quickly snapped his eyes up, only to be met with another familiar set that had crosshairs inside them.

"Hiya, Muscles!"

"AAAAH!" The Quirk Inheritor yelped and hopped back several feet, his face ripening like a tomato while Tenya flinched as well. "H-H-Hatsume?! W-What're you doing here?!"

Tenya raised his chin at the inventor. "Indeed, this is Class 1-A's seating box. Why are you not with your own class?" He also raised a brow at her suddenly changing back into her usual attire. "And… when did you change into your shop clothes?"

Mei beamed widely, placing her gloves hands on her hips. "Ha! Did that the second our match ended, Iida. I honestly can't stand wearing thin clothes like that. Might as well be wearin' nothin'." That description made Izuku tremble even more as he hid in his shirt. "But to your first point, I actually came to see you!"

That made Tenya's eyes widen as he pointed to himself. "Wait… me?"

"Yeah, you!" Mei extended her hand. "I know what I did to ya in the first round was a lot, but to be honest, I was gunnin' to root for ya after making you my guinea pig." Her smile became more sympathetic at the last part; "That said… sorry that you didn't make it. But I saw your match, and you guys killed it!"

"O-Oh! I'm quite flattered, Hatsume. Thank you." Tenya brought his own hand in and shook the pink-haired inventor's. "It honors me that you would continue to cheer me on. Hopefully I can to better next year."

"Hm, here's hopin'." Mei sent him a wink. "Oh, and don't worry, I've got every intention of working out a way to integrate those stabilizers I made into your costume. With those babies, you'll be unstoppable, literally!"

And just like that, Tenya's expression became much more worried. "W-Why don't we pump the breaks on that a little, hm? I'd rather use THEM rather than have THEM using me."

Mei gave a thumbs up. "I'll take it!"

"Hey, there you guys are." Izuku and Tenya's sights moved past Mei, where Kyoka, Ochako, Mina and Denki were standing. Brian was also with them as well, who wasted no time in coming up and giving a congratulatory clasp to Izuku's shoulder. Kyoka also came up, playfully jabbing Izuku in the arm. "You're on a ROLL, Celery Stick! Haha, congrats on gettin' into the semis!"

The greenette rubbed his arm bashfully while Brian nodded in support. "H-Hah, thanks, Kyoka. Though to be honest, I didn't know if I'd make it this far…" He set his gaze up toward the screen, where the brackets for the tournament were being displayed. "I mean, if things had fallen differently… maybe I would've been eliminated sooner than this."

But then, Ochako piped up, balling her fists with a determined smile. "Hey, don't sell yourself short, Deku! You've been awesome so far! That Full Cowling of yours has really come in handy!"

"It IS pretty useful." Mina noted. "Combining speed with power in a way that balances out. You're pretty lucky, Midori!"

Denki gave him a salute. "Plus, your planning's been top notch. You've got a knack for this stuff, Midoriya."

Izuku shrunk back a bit, rubbing his neck. "Aw, you guys…"

"Hey, let's not go praising him TOO much, eh?" The teens craned their heads back to see Stella and Sadie approaching, too, the latter smirking over to Izuku. "We don't want Mr. Power over there to get a big head, now do we?" Sadie saw Izuku wince a little, which she was quick to reassure him. "Hah, don't worry, Izuku, I'm only kidding. Still, nice job out there."

"Yes, you were quite impressive." Stella agreed before going up to Tenya, putting her hands on his shoulders. "But Tenya, you were remarkable all on your own. Don't take shame in this loss, but see it as an opportunity to work harder. I know you'll do better next year."

Tenya nodded firmly at her words. "Hm! I will! I'll make certain of it!"

"Atta boy!" Strongarm gave a firm chop to Iida's shoulder. "Come see me when you're ready. I've got more techniques I want to share with you."

"Ma'am!" Tenya saluted.

The group shared a short chuckle before making their way back over to their seats, where Izuku and Tenya were met with more words of encouragement from the Autobots as well as their peers. Before long, though, the big screen changed once again, showing the next match graphic. "Alright folks, after that speedy first battle, it's time for a fight between the elements!" From each end of the stadium, the competitors emerged… "With his impressively quick win in the first round, it's time for this icy competitor to show some REAL competitive heat! From Class 1-A, it's Shoto Todoroki!"

Izuku pursed his lips, seeing Shoto's more relaxed expression. The Half and Half user didn't seem to be aggravated anymore, so that was a good sign. 'Wonder if anyone said anything to him…' But his thought was caught short when Shoto moved his sights up, the two boys briefly making eye contact before Izuku quickly glanced away. "Ah! Darn, he saw me…"

"Ah, don't worry 'bout him, Izuku." Kyoka gave him a supportive pat on the shoulder. "Ya can't let him psyche you out, otherwise, he's already won."

"Hm… yeah, you're right." Izuku steeled his resolve, balling his fists. "Todoroki… I won't let you get in my head."

"Versus… after proving herself strong against lightning in the last round, this Thorn Princess is gonna have to whether another big storm! It's 1-B's Ibara Shiozaki!" By the time introductions were over, the opponents had taken to the field, awaiting the call to begin the match.

Despite herself, Kyoka couldn't help but snicker at that nickname. "Hehe, she goes through the trouble of askin' Present Mic to NOT call her an assassin… only to call her an assassin again. Oh, the irony."

Buck, who had returned along with Mina, tilted his head down to her. "Whaddya mean by that, Kyoka?"

"Oh, just a little inside joke." Kyoka winked. "If you ever watched Spy X Family, you'd know EXACTLY what "Thorn Princess" means." Her sights went down to the battlefield, where Ibara didn't seem the wiser. "And somethin' tells me she doesn't watch much classic anime."

While the Autobots remained oblivious, though, Denki immediately shot up out of his seat and began cheering… though not for the person everyone was expecting. "WOO! Yeah! C'mon Shiozaki! You got this!" Both Class 1-A and 1-B were utterly floored by this, needless to say, with some from the latter class even peaking their heads over the wall separating their boxes.

"Hold up, wait just a sec." A young woman with long, straggly, dark green hair piped up. Her dark eyes were confused as she spoke, exposing her sharp teeth. "Did I just hear that right?"

"Someone from 1-A's cheerin' for Ibara?" said a boy with sandy white hair and—a little jarringly—no lips as well. "Huh, never woulda guessed that." He focused onto Denki with an amused tone. "And wait a sec, ain't you the guy she beat last round? And you're cheerin' for her?"

"Well, yeah." Denki affirmed, his smile unwavering. "I know, kinda surprising, but honestly, she won a lot more than just the last round, she won a lot of respect from me." His hand brushed the back of his head sheepishly. "To tell you guys the truth, I was kinda put off by you guys at first, 'specially in the lead-up to the festival. But in the end, we're essentially ALL the same; we're just here tryin' to become heroes, ain't we? Sure, our experiences have been different, but at the end of the day, our goals at this school are the same." His cheeks became a light shade of pink as he scratched his face. "A-At least… I'd like to think so."

The girl and boy were both staring slack-jawed at Denki for a few seconds, only for another voice to enter the conversation. "Now THAT is quite mature of you to say." Sticking her head up over the wall herself, Itsuka Kendo had returned, the teal-eyed, pony-tailed redhead smiling brightly at the blond. "Gotta say, the last thing I expected today was to have THIS kinda conversation. Kaminari, right?" Her eyes then traveled across the front row, where she was nearest. "And you guys are… Jiro, Midoriya, Iida, Uraraka and Ashido, right?"

"Yes, on all accounts." Iida stood up, giving Kendo a bow. "And you are Kendo from Class 1-B. I heard you're their class representative?"

"Exactly. And you're the Class Rep of 1-A. Nice to formally meet you." Kendo directed her gaze up to her two classmates. "You guys wanna introduce yourselves, or should I?"

"…Oh, o-okay, Kendo." The boy with no lips coughed into his hand and greeted them first. "Name's Honenuki."

Then, the green-haired girl gave a toothy grin and sent them a wink. "And I'm Setsuna Tokage. Please, just call me by my first name, everyone does."

Tenya brought up his hand in his usual stiff manner. "It's truly a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I… apologize if our classes got off on the wrong foot."

But Kendo just waved that off. "Oh, don't be. Honestly, between THAT one's constant badgering…" She pointed to the still unconscious Monoma, his lip body laying limp on the floor. "And Tetsutetsu's… er… passion, we haven't been the most welcoming. Hopefully we can change that going forward, though."

"Agreed!" Izuku smiled eagerly. "After seeing your Quirks in the Cavalry Battle, there's no question that you guys have quite a bit of awesome power! I'd like to see you guys in action better sometime, if possible."

As the conversation went on, Denki couldn't help but beam with pride. 'Shiozaki… things are going WAY better than we thought already!' He glanced down to the battlefield, where he saw Ibara's eyes locked on to the conversation happening, even at such a far distance. Denki's smile widened and he gave her a thumbs up… and while she smiled back, he could've sworn he saw her face redden a little. 'Hm? What the—'

"HEY!" The group gasped as they heard the bark of a familiar voice, making their heads snap up to the top of 1-B's stands. There, standing atop the stairs, was Tetsutetsu… and he didn't seem all that happy. The Heavy Metal user was showing his sharp teeth in a snarl, keeping his head lowered as he glared directly at Denki. "Just what's goin' on here, eh?"

Itsuka's eyes widened in alarm. "T-Tetsutetsu, wait, hold on a sec—"

"Kendo, lemme speak to the guy, please!" The white-haired boy marched down and looked Denki directly in the eye, which only made Denki all the more worried. "Yer Kaminari, am I right?"

With a hard swallow, Denki nodded. "Urp, y-yeah…"

"I see ya hang around Kirishima a lot." Tetsutetsu's brows furrowed even more. "An' I'm hearin' ya cheerin' on OUR classmate up here?" Denki began trembling the same time that Tetsu's fists did, the latter lowering his head and uttering; "That… that makes me just so…" The blond screwed his eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable… only for Tetsutetsu to suddenly burst into a fountain of tears. "AAAAH! That makes me so freakin' happy!"

"…Huh?"

"For once, I'm gonna agree with Jamming Yay; huh?" Kyoka echoed.

Izuku couldn't believe it himself. 'Wow, and here I thought my mom and I could cry a lot… oh jeez, I hope the apartment's not flooded.'

As Tetsutetsu got a hold of himself, he gave a big grin to Denki and extended a fist. "Hey man, yer support's appreciated, really. Any friend a' Kirishima's a pal a' mine. An' please, call me Tetsu."

"Oh, uh… thanks!" Denki returned the fist bump.

Itsuka, on the other hand, sighed and gave Tetsu a hard chop to the head. "Seriously, Tetsu? Ya had to scare the hell out of us after we've been playing nice?"

"Gah! Ow!" Tetsu rubbed the new lump on his head, bowing to his class rep. "Sorry, Kendo, I kinda got caught up in the moment there…"

Setsuna put her hands behind her head. "Yeah, ya tend to do that a LOT."

Honenuki shook his head before waving to the 1-A students. "Anyway, point is, glad to get to know you guys. Hopefully—provided we can get a handle on Monoma—our classes will be able to interact more in the future." He brought his hand over the wall, extending it to Izuku. "Sound good, guy?"

Izuku returned the gesture without question. "Y-Yeah, sounds really good. …Hey, wait a minute." The greenette's eyes moved back down to the battlefield… where Shoto and Ibara were still standing, rather awkwardly so at this point. "Uh… how has the battle not started yet?"

At present, Midnight was trying to find that out herself. "Mic, what the hell is going on up there?!" she whispered harshly into her earpiece.

"Gah! Sorry, Midnight, had a freak short-circuit." Present Mic responded before flipping the switch on his microphone. "Uh, testing. Testing 1-2-3? Ah, good, we're back. Apologies for the delay there, folks! Just had a weird technical issue that needed clearing up." The teacher snapped his fingers, pointing finger guns down to the two students below. "Alright, so now that we go that cleared up… let's begin the match! GO!"

Shoto's movements were quick and without hesitance as he pressed his foot to the ground and sent a surge of ice spikes out at Ibara, only for the vine-haired girl to immediately send some of her hair into the ground. Within seconds, it grew out to create a thick, prickly wall in front of her, shielding her from the impact. "Woah! Now THAT'S a strong start!" Mic said. "To think, some grass is actually sturdy enough to protect from the harsh winter!"

"Oh, hell ya!" Tetsu cheered on. "Great first move, Shiozaki!"

Denki clapped his hands to show his support. "You got this, Shiozaki! Show 'im the thorns!"

'Hm, smart first move, but it's not enough to save—' "H-huh?!" Shoto exclaimed as he suddenly felt something wrapping around his legs. His head snapped down to see a set of thick, prickly vines ensnaring him, just as they had with Kaminari, before they immediately hoisted him into the air. But then, Ibara followed up by repeatedly slamming Shoto into the ground, much to his surprise.

"My god! Shiozaki's actually giving Todoroki a run for his money!" Present Mic commented. "Just goes to show ya that the test scores don't lie; she didn't rank fourth overall on the entrance exam for nothin'!"

The students were left rather stunned by Shiozaki's sudden display of power, especially those from 1-A. "…Wow, she IS good." Ochako whispered.

"You think she could actually win?" Mina added.

Izuku furrowed his brow a bit. "Maybe…" But in his mind, he wasn't one-hundred percent positive. 'In the end, while Shiozaki's Quirk is amazing, the raw power behind Todoroki's can't be denied. I predict he'll probably come up with a plan to—' Just then, Izuku let out a gasp as, as he predicted, quickly Shoto made his move.

Ibara was about to throw him clean out of the ring… when the vine around him completely froze over, right down to the root. Ibara gasped as Todoroki flexed his arms and broke out of his prison, exposing several new cuts in his arms. "A bold strategy. I commend you, Shiozaki." the Half and Half user said as he hit the ground, a cool mist coming from his right hand. "But sorry, this victory WILL be mine."

The second his hand touched the cement, a wave of thick ice burst forth and quickly made its way to Ibara, encasing her feet up to her shins. The girl gasped and immediately tried to move, but to no avail. 'No! This is bad!' Her vines went straight down to try and pull away at the ice, but after a few seconds, she felt her hair begin to stiffen up from the cold. 'This… this cannot be! S-So… cold…'

"Miss Shiozaki." The young woman brought her attention to Midnight, who wore a serious expression. "Can you move? Be honest, please."

"I-I…" Ibara glanced around, hoping to find a nearby spot to try and plant her vines. …But unfortunately, her entire half of the field was covered in the sheet of ice, and she couldn't shoot her vines across the field to Todoroki's side, either. Ibara couldn't lie to herself; it was frustrating seeing that she had no other option… but Shoto had trapped her, fair and square. "I… cannot. I yield."

Midnight nodded in understanding, raising her arm to Shoto's side of the field. "Shiozaki has been immobilized! Todoroki advances!"

"Incredible! Talk about defying expectations!" Present Mic praised as Shoto went over to Ibara, thawing her out with his fire. "We were probably all thinking that the ice would stop Shiozaki in her tracks immediately, but she definitely gave us all more than what we were expecting! She is NO push-over!"

Despite her blush at his comments, Ibara still couldn't help but feel a little sorry for herself, hanging her head in shame. 'My classmates… I'm truly sorry.'

"Don't feel bad… please." Ibara was shocked out of her stupor after Shoto said that, the boy having finished melting the ice. He stood and turned to leave, but not before bowing to her in acknowledgement. "You had me going in that match, I genuinely wasn't expecting that."

"I-I… thank you." Ibara bowed back before Shoto proceeded toward his tunnel.

As both competitors left the field, though, the students from 1-B continued to cheer for Ibara's effort, even though she lost. "Hey, Shiozaki!" Tetsu belted out, catching the vine-haired girl's attention. "Way to represent Class 1-B! You were freakin' amazing!"

"Heck yeah, girl!" Setsuna waved. "You'll get 'em next time!"

Itsuka cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled; "We're so proud of you, Ibara! Awesome effort!"

With all of this praise being heaped up on her, Ibara couldn't help but feel a few tears starting to brim her eyes. She reached her hand up over her chest as she saw that, not only were her own classmates cheering her on, but also several students from 1-A were doing so, too. …And Denki in particular was wearing a very bright smile, giving her a wink and a thumbs up. She wasn't sure why… but she could've sworn her heart skipped a beat.

She took a deep breath, collecting herself before she lost it. 'Come now, Ibara, this is no time to lose composure. Simply go up and thank your friends for their support.'

…..

As the next match was about to begin, Kyoka glanced over to Izuku in concern. The greenette had been rather quiet since Shoto's win, and she knew exactly why that was the case. "So… you and him are gonna be facing off in the next round." Izuku gave a simple nod, closing his eyes in thought. "You nervous?"

"More concerned, if anything." Izuku muttered. "Todoroki's motivation for winning is showing his dad that he can win without having to use his fire quirk…" He lowered his head, cupping his hands together to rest his chin. "But I've been thinking… Todoroki's left side isn't his dad's Quirk. Half-Cold-Half-Hot is HIS Quirk, and his alone."

"Well, it's kinda hard to disassociate something from someone when it's probably been literally beaten into him." Kyoka whispered with a sneer. "After all, Todoroki knows exactly why he was born; because Endeavor WANTED to have the perfect All Might usurper, so what better way to get payback than to show off his mom's ice more than daddy's fire?"

Izuku sighed, hanging his head back and setting his sights on the sky. "I know, but… it doesn't matter WHO he got that side of his Quirk from. When two parent's Quirks combine, they create something unique, not just a repeat." He glanced down at his side, meeting Kyoka's eyes. "Todoroki may think it's part of his dad's Quirk, but that's FAR from the truth."

Kyoka was about to respond, but Present Mic cut her off. "Alright, alright, ALRIGHT! Time to get crackin' on the next big match up!" Class 1-A immediately set all eyes onto the battlefield as the two black-haired girls took their places opposite one another, both of them seemingly quite confident. "This round is gonna be a battle of creation versus extinction! From the West gate, it's Kaida Kiryu! And from the East gate, it's Momo Yaoyorozu!"

In the ring, Kaida had her arms folded, wearing an eager smile as she popped the muscles in her neck. "You ready for this, Yaomomo?" She widened her stance, bringing out her Raptor Claws. "Let's give it everything we got!"

"You don't have to tell me twice, Kaida." Momo created a metal spear from her arm, taking up arms without a second thought. "I'm ready for you!"

"Ready… BEGIN!"

With the word given, both girls let out simultaneous battle cries as they charged forward, ready to engage. Momo made her move first, swinging her spear forward, but Kaida was quick to counter with a swipe from her claws. The sharp end of the spear was knocked back, but Momo quickly took it in both hands again as she dove in, avoiding another swipe from Kaida. The creator jumped back to her feet and whirled around, bringing her weapon up to stop the Sauro-Parts user from getting another strike.

Suffice to say, Kaida was impressed. "Woo! Look at you go, girl! Do you take time to breathe, at least?"

As they struggled against one another, Momo retorted; "Hmph, of course, but if I don't keep going, that leads to hesitation. And hesitation leads to DEFEAT!" Momo suddenly dropped, taking Kaida by surprise before doing a low sweep to her legs.

"WOAH!" CRASH! Kaida ended up landing onto the concrete, which definitely wasn't pleasant. "…Oph coursh you know, thish meansh war!" she muffled. Kaida picked her head up and called out; "Tyrannosaurus Legs!" before her lower appendages began shifting shape, becoming three-toed, digitigrade towers of muscle that she hoisted herself up on before leaping straight up into the air.

"Goddamn!" Present Mic exclaimed, all while Momo was left speechless. "Kiryu's takin' advantage of her proportional weight compared to the amped up strength in her legs, increasing her jumping power! What a maneuver!"

With one leg extended while the other was pulled back, Kaida came down at Momo with a diving kick, leaving the raven-haired girl to think of what to do next. 'Come on, something where she can't see you coming… I got it!' From her palm, Momo created a tiny, black ball before tossing it straight to the ground before Kaida made landfall… where a plume of smoke enveloped her completely.

"W-What the hell?!" Kaida couldn't stop herself from kicking the floor as she fell into the smoke, with Momo absolutely no where to be see. "W-Where did she—" WHA-PING! "AUGH!" She wasn't able to turn around in time to see the creator reappear behind her, rearing her spear before striking the weapon on the small of her back.

"Holy Toledo! Yaoyorozu just used a good ol' fashioned ninja vanishing technique to get the drop on Kiryu!" Kaida's hands instinctively went to her back, wincing in pain as she pulled her Sauro-Parts back in. "Could the resident Dino Girl actually be in trouble?!"

"Man… not bad, Yaomomo." Kaida grinned through the pain. "It's obvious; you've been training pretty hard." She straightened herself up and balled her fists, still ready for a fight. "But I still don't intend to lose this match, I hope you know that."

Momo spun her spear, standing tall as she brought it down to her side. "Hm, indeed. I'm not aiming to give up either. Let's keep at it!"

Kaida slammed her fist into her palm. "That's exactly what I wanna hear! Time to go all out! CEPHALOSAURUS HEAD!" The moment she said that, Kaida's dark hair actually began to retract into her scalp, before her grey skin began to give way to the thick, dense cranium that began to protrude. Along with that, several sharp spikes began popping out around the sides of her head as well, along with a few around her eyes and nose area, too. "GYAAAAAH!"

By the time she was done, Momo was left with an uncomfortable churning feeling in her stomach after seeing the transformation… namely due to the fact that it looked absolutely painful. "Oh… my god."

"Hah… hah… yeah, this one takes some effort. After this, I can't make any additional Sauro-Parts…" Kaida breathed heavily as she padded the ground with her foot. "But with a skull like this, it's gonna be worth it!" With a mad sprint, she charged head-long straight to Momo, screaming; "HEADBUTT ATTACK!"

'Agh! Come on, get your defenses up!' On her arm, Momo created a large, circular shield made of solid steel, holding both it and the spear up to intercept the attack. The moment Kaida was within range, she thrust the spear… and it immediately broke against Kaida's head. "AH!" Momo brought up her shield to block, but… BAM! "GAH!" With one hit, Momo was sent skidding across the field, her arm now filled with a pins and needles feeling from her elbow down. 'N-No! Can't stop now!' Using her other arm, she took the shield off and threw it like a frisbee at Kaida, only for her to headbutt it away.

"Hah! That trick works in comics, but not so much here, Yaomomo!"

But Momo just shook her head. "If you think I'm done, you're sorely mistaken!" From her hand, she created several more tiny balls, but instead of throwing them at her feet, she threw them at Kaida's, where they blew up upon impact with the ground. With a new cloud of smoke erupting from the battlefield, Momo could only wait for it to clear and see the result… but she didn't have to wait that long.

Kaida simply came sauntering out, shaking her head as she cleaned out her ringing ears. "Hak-hak! Man, you just tryin' to smoke me out or somethin'?" She popped a muscle in her shoulder before resuming her charge. "Ah well, HERE I COME!"

At this point, Momo was left without many ideas left. The sight of Kaida about to ram into her was almost overwhelming her train of thought. All she could do is run… but even then, she didn't have many places TO run. 'Come on, Momo, think, you've gotta find something to stop her or else I'm stuck—wait! That's it; glue! If I can make an adhesive substance, I could—' WHAM! "URK!"

It was too late. Before she knew it, Momo found herself on the business end of Kaida's charge. Though thankfully, it wasn't Kaida's cranium that she was hit with, rather, her shoulder. Still, the impact served to take the wind out of her, and it was there she knew that she had taken too much time to think up a plan. Momo was about to enact her plan, though, producing a thick adhesive from her hands… but then Kaida tossed her out of bounds before she could.

"Yaoyorozu is out! Kiryu advances!" Midnight declared.

"And that's it, folks!" Present Mic exclaimed as the entire crowd erupted into excited cheers "Yaoyorozu sure as heck pulled off a fantastic fight, but once again, we witnessed the explosive power of Kiryu's Dino-MIGHT!"

Momo herself was still processing what had happened, staring into space with disbelief. 'No, I… lost?' She lowered her head and screwed her eyes shut, clenching her teeth in frustration. 'Damn it, I panicked! The one thing I promised myself I wouldn't do and I did it! …And after all of my training with Windblade, too…'

"Hey, Momo." The creator was snapped out of her thoughts and brought her head up, seeing Kaida having turned her cranium back to normal as she knelt in front of her. With a big smile upon her face, she extended her hand. "That was great, seriously! I honestly wasn't prepared for a lot of your tricks, I had no idea what you'd throw at me."

"I… thank you, but I wasn't all THAT great." Momo clenched her hand over her chest, feeling unsure of herself. "After all, you were able to power through all of that stuff I sent at you."

Kaida sat down next to Momo, nudging her arm. "Yeah, but still, what you did throw at me, I wasn't expecting. You've got an eye for creativity, Momo, and I've got a feelin' you're gonna get WAY better the more you open your mind up."

Her words served to lighten Momo's spirits, if only by a little bit. "You really think so?"

"I KNOW so." Kaida affirmed with a smirk before pointing down at Momo's hand. "Now, uh… could I have my jacket back, please?"

"Hm?" Momo blinked, only now noticing that Kaida was just wearing the black undershirt of her uniform. She glanced down to her hand… to see the other girl's gym jacket stuck to it via the adhesive she had created. "AH! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" With an embarrassed blush, Momo brought her other hand up and to the sticky substance. "H-Here, let me make something to get the adhesive off."

Kaida could only laugh as Momo did her thing. "Hahaha! Oh man, now if you'd gotten THAT attack off, then I probably would've been stopped. …Wow, it's really stuck there, huh?"

"…I used rubber cement."

…..

Up in the stands, the students of 1-A were both quite happy and a little upset at the outcome, especially Kyoka. "Hah, man… Momo lost, but Kaida won. Talk about feeling conflicted."

"I can certainly see why." Orion piped up, the Autobot leader focusing on her. "After all, she did best you in the previous round, so it stands to reason you wished for her to move on."

"Yeah, hit the nail on the head there, OP." Kyoka affirmed before smiling down to the duo on the field, all while both of them made their way back into the tunnels. "But hey, I'm at least happy for Kaida that she's moving on, and I'm sure Momo is, too."

In the seats higher up, Mei was currently scribbling down ideas in a small notepad after having watched that battle. Her manic cackles and giggles were definitely attracting the attention of the other 1-A students, who were staring at her as if she had a second head. "Eeeheehee! Oh, I've just gotten TONS of ideas for some new babies, for sure! Dino-Girl's got so much going on for her already, but perhaps some stimulating items could help ease the stress on her Quirk to make those more complex transformations easier…"

Tsuyu leaned forward, glancing to Mina in confusion. "Say, uh, Mina? I get how you guys know these heroes here, but… how did you get to know her?"

"Who? Mei?" Mina grinned and waved her hand. "Oh, don't you worry about her. We met while getting our uniforms upgraded. She's really nice… despite her being a bit over the top."

"Heh, "a bit" is a little exaggerating." Buck chortled before jabbing his thumb over his shoulder. "Oh, and don't look now, but we've got a visitor over here."

With a collective "huh?", the students all craned their heads back, and were surprised to be greeted by none other than Ibara. The vine-haired student bowed courteously to them all. "Greetings, everyone. I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Sh-Shiozaki!" Denki abruptly stood up, shocked to see her there. "I-I didn't think you'd—GAH!" …But then he ended up tripping over the seats, falling flat on his face right in the walkway, much to the amusement of his classmates. "Hmph… dammit."

Ibara let out a gasp, making her way down to see if he was alright. "Kaminari, oh my goodness, are you hurt?"

As if suddenly receiving a ton of energy, Denki pulled his head up and gave a thumbs up… despite a few scratches and a bloody nose. "Ha! Who, me? Never felt better." By her expression alone, Denki could tell she wasn't convinced, but he decided to change the subject quickly. "S-So, uh, anyway, what're you doing here? Your class is—"

"I know, and I greeted them already." Ibara informed, sending him a soft smile. "However, I wanted to thank all of you for cheering for me, even if I was against your classmate. It was… very thoughtful."

"O-Oh, um, yeah! Of course!" Denki affirmed, his cheeks flushing a faint shade of red. "It's honestly no problem at all. A-And hey, we even got our classes on the same page… at least I think. Jury still stands on Monoma."

Ibara deadpanned at that. "Hmph, yes, he's rather… persistent on his views." She shook her head and put her smile back on. "But regardless, I'm glad that hostilities between our classes have been lowered." The young woman brushed some of her vines behind her ear as she turned to leave, not once taking her eyes off the blonde. "But I suppose I really should be headed back to my seat… um… I suppose I'll see you later?"

Denki wasted no time in nodding. "U-Uh, yeah, of course!" He could've sworn he saw Ibara's eyes lighten up just the tiniest bit before she went off, and the moment she was out of sight… Denki collapsed again, his cheeks beat red. "OH MY GOD, that was so stressful."

"…You saw that, right?" Izuku muttered.

"I did, and I'm still kind of processing the fact that Jamming Yay himself apparently has game." Kyoka replied.

Sunstreaker stood up from his seat and walked over to his charge, offering a hand. "What'd I tell ya, Denki? To win the hearts of ladies, all ya gotta do is be yourself." He offered a wink and added; "No pick-up lines required."

The Electrification user sighed, facepalming at the situation. "Man… to think I've been goin' about it all wrong all these years…" But then, he took a deep breath, steeling himself. 'Well, not anymore. That changes, starting now.' He glanced over to see Ibara conversing with Setsuna… who appeared to be teasing her considering that she was blushing. '…Yeah, no doubt about it.'

…..

"Alright, folks, time for the final match of the quarter semis, and this one's gonna be an endurance run, I can already tell!" Down on the battlefield, Bakugo and Eijiro stood opposite of one another, the former wearing an eager grin while Present Mic introduced them; "First up, it's the rock-hard guy who managed to overcome his equal in many ways to get this far! From Class 1-A, it's Eijiro Kirishima! Versus… the blonde bomb boy with absolutely no regard for how far he's willing to go to win! From the same class; Katsuki Bakugo!"

"COME ON, KIRISHIMA! YOU GOT THIS!"

The stands of 1-A and 1-B went silent as both Sideswipe and Tetsu practically echoed one another, leading both of them to eye the other in surprise. "Hey, what gives man?" Tetsu irritably said first. "Ya copying me or somethin'?"

"Oh, look who's talkin'." Sid retorted.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

Sid narrowed his eyes right back at him. "Oh, you know what I mean. Bein' a copycat to Eijiro ain't cool, bro."

Tetsu clenched his teeth and furrowed his brow. "Hey, come on, dude! Not my fault that we basically have similar Quirks!" He crossed his arms and faced away from the Autobot warrior. "And besides, I've gotten over it. He and I actually have a lot more in common than just our Quirks, so to me an' him, everything's cool."

Stella suddenly stood up and grasped Sid by the shoulder with a tight squeeze. "Yeah, and besides, Sid, weren't you acting all emotional by their handshake earlier?" She forced a smile whilst also giving him a death glare. "So why don't you learn to play nice, HUH?" Stella increased her grip, making Sid cry out and fall to his kness.

"AAAH! Okay, okay, you're right! I'm bein' a hypocrite!" Sid bowed his head to Tetsu apologetically. "Sorry for gettin' in your grill about that. Eijiro's basically my best friend, so I kinda felt like I should defend him, ya know?"

"You're… his best friend?" Tetsu uttered before smiling as well. "Hah, well why didn't ya say so?" Tetsu reached across the barrier and extended his hand to Sid. "I said this before, but any friend of Kirishima's is a friend of mine. So why don't we both cheer for 'im as hard as we can?!"

Sid blinked in surprise, but quickly smiled and gave a chuckle, accepting the handshake. "Hmhm, you've got a deal. Let's do it!"

"…That was surprisingly fast." Mina commented.

Buck nodded in surprise. "Yeah, I mean, they pretty much talked over the first part of the battle."

The Heavy Metal user and Autobot warrior were taken aback by that. "…Huh?" Their heads snapped down to the battlefield where, indeed, Kirishima and Bakugo were duking it out in close quarters combat, much to their shock. "AH! NO WAY!" Sideswipe shouted.

"KIRISHIMA! Go straight for his chin!" Tetsu advised.

Back down with the fight, Eijiro belted out a roar as he threw a hardened punch at Bakugo's face, thought the ashen blond was able to just barely get out of the way. He still got a scrape on his cheek, but it could've been far worse. Bakugo then quickly flung his hand up at Eijiro's side and let a blast loose, blowing off part of Kirishima's gym uniform… and nothing else. "Ha! Nice try, but that's not gonna work on me, Explosion Boy!"

'Hmph, he's still goin' strong.' Bakugo thought to himself. 'But how long can he keep his Hardening up?' He didn't have much time to think about that as Eijiro kept going in for more blows, so Bakugo had no choice but to keep on avoiding the hits.

"Bakugo's having a heck of a time dodging Kirishima's fierce attacks!" Present Mic exclaimed.

Kyoka, for her part, was rather surprised. "Huh, I don't think I've ever seen Bakugo on the defensive like this."

Izuku nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's a rare sight, for sure. But while Kirishima's Quirk seems simple on the surface, it's still both effective in terms of defense AND offense." He focused on Bakugo's movements, memorizing them in case he needed to later. "But I have no doubt that he's going to try and counter soon. As good as Kirishima is, I doubt he can keep his hardening up for long."

Sure enough, Bakugo suddenly ducked another swing and smashed his hand into Eijiro's other side, blowing him back with a strong explosion. This time, however, there was blood visibly trickling out of tiny cracks in his hardened skin. "Woah! Bakugo's countering again!" Present Mic leaned forward in his seat after seeing the blood. "But what's this? It seems to be working this time!"

"Heh, I knew it." Bakugo smirked at his opponent. "You've been straining to keep your body rock-hard, and after a full day's worth of doin' it, you're startin' to slow down." Eijiro breathed hard as he was lectured, wincing at the truth. "But this fight is what's testing that. You've been overusing your Quirk, and sooner or later, you'll fall apart!" BOOOM! With a powerful thrust of his arms, Bakugo sent an explosion straight at Eijiro, the redhead bringing his arms up to block it… only for the ashen blond to let loose with a volley of smaller ones.

"Gah! No! TOO MUCH!" Eijiro howled, his clothes being ripped apart by the blasts.

"This is… THE FINISHING BLOW! DIE!" With one more swipe, Bakugo blasted Kirishima back, his body finally unhardening as he fell unconscious. As Kirishima landed, Bakugo breathed hard, supporting himself with his hands on his knees. "Hah… there… now I understand why you were tryin' to avoid a drawn-out fight with me."

Midnight gave her ruling soon after; "Kirishima has been knocked out. Bakugo is the winner!"

A displeased groan came from both Hero Course stands, with Tetsu taking more issue with the outcome than most. "What were you doing, you idiot?! I thought you had more guts than that, Kirishima!"

Sid double facepalmed, running his hands across his eyelids in frustration. "Apparently, do did I, kid. Well, I know what he and I are doin' over his two-day break." He gave a sigh as he watched Eijiro get stretchered out… again. "Ah well, ya did good anyway, man. Great effort."

With that, Present Mic spoke up to the crowd once again as they watched Bakugo move up the bracket. "And with that vicious carpet bombing, Bakugo advances to the third round!" On the big screen, the visages of Izuku, Shoto, Kaida and Bakugo all appeared, leading the audience to cheer even louder. "Ladies and Gentlemen; our Final Four!"

"Hah… well, I guess that's my cue." Izuku stood up, giving his friends a smile. "Wish me luck, everybody."

"Hey!" Without warning, Izuku suddenly felt a jack wrap around his arm and spin him around, bringing him face to face with Kyoka giving him a serious look. "Just keep in mind; this has been Todoroki's goal ever since he called you out, so make sure to not back down, 'kay?"

"I-I… well…"

"And also…" Kyoka bumped her fist against his chest, giving him a wink and a smile. "Sock him once for me, would ya?"

For the second time in an hour, Izuku's cheeks ripened and he quickly felt weak in the knees. 'She… she's so close…' However, as that thought crossed his mind, his thoughts also returned to Kaminari and Shiozaki's interaction just a few minutes before, and that's when he steeled himself. 'C'mon, Midoriya, if Kaminari can talk like that to a girl he just met, what does that say about you having trouble speaking to your best friend?!' He breathed deeply and put on a determined smile, raising his own fist to hers. "Right, I'll do my best."

"That's the spirit." Kyoka gave him a fist bump before he went off. "Good luck, Izuku."

With a nod, Izuku made his way through the seats, only for Iida to stand up as well. "Oh no! I nearly forgot!" The spectacled student reached into his pocket, procuring his cell phone. "I meant to give my brother a call earlier!" He spun around and bowed to his class. "My apologies, everyone, please excuse me."

"Oh, it's no problem, Tenya!" Stella waved. "Go call your brother, I'm sure you won't miss a thing."

Up in the top row of seats, Mei also gave him a thumbs up. "Yeah, go ahead, Specs. If the round starts and you're not here, one of us will come and get ya."

"Thank you, Hatsume, Stella." With that, Tenya rushed off after Izuku, briefly stopping next to his friend before he went down. "And Midoriya, I have the utmost faith in your victory."

"Hm, right, thanks Iida. Have a good call with your brother."

…..

Once the two had parted ways, Izuku proceeded down into the lower corridors of the stadium, walking the familiar path toward the entry tunnels into the stadium proper. All the while, his mind was racing, trying to think up strategies that could potentially take Shoto off his game… while also trying to get the Half and Half user on the ball as well. 'He won't use his fire, so that's something I have to rectify. I need to show him that it's HIS Quirk not… not…' His train of thought was halted… by the arrival of the very man he was about to think of.

From around the nearest corner, the Flame Hero himself came walking, not even noticing Izuku at first. …But that quickly changed. "E-ENDEAVOR?!"

"Hm? Ah, I was looking for you." Endeavor said in a surprisingly calm voice. "Midoriya, correct? I believe we met a couple months prior."

"U-Uh… y-yeah, we did." Izuku gulped, his throat feeling very dry. He was taken aback by the fact that the hero even REMEMBERED meeting him at Sector Seven, if he was being honest. "It's been a while. So, uh… w-why're you back here?"

Endeavor responded by pointing directly at the boy. "I watched your fight against that brainwashing guy, as well as your match with your other classmate. Your power is pretty impressive. To create so much wind pressure just by flexing your fingers… it reminds me of another Quirk." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "You seem to have much in common with All Might, if I'm not mistaken."

Izuku was about to freeze at the accusation, but he reminded himself not to. Otherwise, Endeavor would've gotten more suspicious. "Oh… well, I honestly never thought of it that way."

"I've had my suspicions since we met at that base, especially since All Might was there with your and your friends." Endeavor raised a single brow. "Tell me, are you All Might's pupil?"

"I-If you mean he often gives me pointers on how I can control my power during class, then… I suppose." Izuku bowed curtly to the hero before continuing through the hall. "I'm sorry, but I should be going." As he walked, Izuku couldn't help but start thinking a mile a minute, specifically about how bad it'd be if Endeavor ever found out about One for All…

"…Whatever the case may be, it is my Shoto's duty to surpass All Might as the Number One Hero." Those words made Izuku stop in his tracks, listening as Endeavor made his case. "And this match with you will be a good testing ground for how much training he has left. So hit him hard. Don't disgrace yourself OR him by holding back."

In that moment, Izuku flashed back to what Shoto had said about wanting to reject his father's Quirk, only using his mother's power to win the festival. And, after experiencing the man first hand here… he was starting to really get where the resentment came from. And, before he knew it, the Number Two Hero was about to take his leave. "That's all I wanted to say. I apologize for bothering you."

Endeavor didn't get very far, however, before Izuku spoke up. "…Endeavor. I am not All Might."

"What? What are you talking about—"

"And the same goes for Todoroki." Izuku peered over his shoulder, meeting Endeavor's gaze with a hard stare. "He may be your son, but he isn't you. I'm going to give it my all, but not because you asked me to. Now please, excuse me." And with that, Izuku made for the entry tunnel, all while Endeavor stared after him. '…Why do I suddenly feel a million pounds lighter?'

…..

Back up in the higher levels, Tenya had found a secluded spot to make his call, patiently waiting as the other end of the line kept ringing. After the fourth ring, he heard a click, and he automatically spoke; "Hey, are you there, Tensei? It's Tenya—"

"I am currently on a mission and cannot answer the phone. Please leave a message."

"Oh, voicemail." Tenya muttered in disappointment, choosing to hang up rather than leave a message as he went back to his seat. "Ah well, it was worth a try. We'll talk soon, brother."

…..

Little did the younger Iida sibling know that his brother's mission was of the utmost importance. Dashing through the streets of Hosu City, the armored hero, Ingenium, kept a sharp eye out for the target that he was searching for, all while emergency sirens blared around him. As he ran, he was also coordinating his sidekicks, who were separated into their own search teams. "Squad A, head north. Squad B, check the west side!" he ordered through his helmet's comm device.

After receiving affirming replies from his sidekicks, Ingenium blasted past an alleyway… only for a chill to go up his spine at the feeling of being watched. He stopped on a dime, his head whipping back around. "Back there!" Using his booster engines, Ingenium leapt up and did a kickflip off the side of one of the buildings, in order to vault over to the opposite side of the alley. "No doubt about it… it's him!"

He landed on his feet and spun toward his target. He couldn't see him in the darkened space, but there was no doubt about it; he had found him. The hunched frame, the unruly hair, the tattered scarves and bandages tied all around his body… and the piercing glare that seemed to glow red in the darkness. "I've found you…" Tensei hollered at his target getting his full attention.

"…Hero Killer!"

…..

A/N: Aaaand there's the tease for the future story arc. Full disclosure; I'm REALLY looking forward to the Hero Killer arc. It might be a while before we get there, but when we do, I've definitely got some plans that I anticipate putting into motion. Honestly, can't wait for it.

But, before we DO get there, we've still got a Sports Festival to wrap up, along with a few more Transformer-related events to go through. And, on the topic of the former, it seems that Kaida, Todoroki and Bakugo have all advanced to the Semi-Finals along with Izuku, so be prepared for two awesome battles in the coming chapters!

Though of course, while Ibara, Eijiro and Momo lost, they still did very well in those matches. And Ibara's in particular helped bring Classes 1-A and 1-B a bit closer than they had been, and thankfully, ended any hostilities between the two… aside from Monoma, who was still unconscious. …And even then, that jerk probably wouldn't have let go of his animosity considering the type of person he is, as sad as it is to say. Hopefully one day, he'll learn his lesson, but hey, on the bright side, it seems Ibara and Denki are continuing to get rather chummy with one another. Again, hmm… oh yeah, and Sideswipe and Tetsutetsu have come to a truce as well. Hooray for common friendships!

And of course, we get Izuku's encounter with Endeavor in the hallway like in the original, though this time, it's actually their SECOND meeting. It goes down pretty much the same way, though Izuku ends up saying a bit more in Shoto's defense… and Endeavor gets a bit closer to the truth thanks to his prior meeting with Izuku already raising his suspicions. Gotta be careful around him from here on. With all that said…

And now, the Preview! It's the match between Midoriya and Todoroki, and considering that Izuku's got Full Cowling this time around, you can probably expect fewer broken bones this time around. But, during the match, things do still go down, and Izuku manages to get through using his words. What memories will be dug up deep in Shoto's mind… okay, we all know the answer, but still, this is a big moment nonetheless, so best not to miss it! Next time; Shoto Todoroki: Origin! Thanks for reading everybody, and I'll catch you all later. Stay safe out there, and remember;

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!