Izuku POV
I study the tournament card with a hum. Momo will be facing Denki Kaminari in the first round. After that, she will be facing the winner of Hanta Sero and Fumikage Tokoyami. All three of those opponents should be easy victories for her.
The only issue will be if she runs into Katsuki Bakugo or Shoto Todoroki later in the tournament. Both will be remarkably difficult fights for her to win. Facing ranged quirks when you are not allowed to use lethal ammo is not an easy matchup.
Thankfully, Denki Kaminari may be a ranged combatant- but he is one with a very, very obvious weakness. I can only hope that Momo has studied up during her physics lessons.
Who am I kidding, of course she has.
Momo walks out into the ring. Across from her stands one Denki Kaminari.
"Fighters, are you ready?"
The two of them give their affirmations.
"Begin!"
Momo immediately forms two iron rods and stabs them into the ground. Her opponent dashes at her, before discharging his electrical quirk in her general direction.
The lightning arcs through the air before striking the iron rods. There's an audible hum of static electricity as the electrons follow the path of least resistance, channeled straight into the ground.
The boy slumps over as the electricity wanes, his quirk already overexerted. Momo walks forward and wraps a pair of handcuffs around his wrists.
"Momo Yaoyorozu is the winner!"
I lean back in my chair.
"How anti-climatic. I was hoping for more than that, but clearly, Mr. Kaminari lacks the competence to face a fighter like Momo."
Hitoshi scoffs.
"A quirk with no control is just as dangerous to the user as it is to the opponent. Someone with such little skill should not be able to get into the Hero course. Indiscriminately dumping a million volts at god knows what amperage is a sure way to accidentally kill nearby civilians. He represents everything wrong with the Hero School selection process."
I can't help but sigh. Possessing a weak quirk is one thing, but being a complete moron? That is entirely inexcusable. How does he not understand basic electrical science if his entire quirk is built around it? Embarrassing.
Neito Monoma stands across from Tenya Iida. The blond boy has resisted showing his quirk so far throughout the tournament. I am interested to see what he has up his sleeves.
"Ready? Start!"
Iida rockets forward in a blur. He stops at the last possible moment and transfers his momentum into a truly brutal roundhouse kick. Frankly, I'm worried he's about to kill the smaller boy.
There's a clang as Iida's foot strikes against metal. Bizarrely, Monoma's skin appears to have entirely turned into a high chromium steel. Isn't that… Tetsutetsu's quirk?
"Would you look at that, Monoma has turned into metal! Eraserhead, what are your thoughts on that? Eraserhead? Are you awake buddy?"
Iida creates some distance and stares at the metal boy, seemingly unsure what to do. Monoma responds by shifting his hair into thick cords. He shoots forth a wave of steel vines that whistle through the air at blinding speed. Iida, shocked, only barely manages to dodge the incoming onslaught.
Present Mic thankfully explains what the hell is going on.
"Eraserhead appears to be asleep, so I'll take this opportunity to explain! Monoma's quirk is called Copy, it allows him to briefly copy the powers of anyone he touches! It's an amazing quirk and well-suited for being a Hero! Let's see if Iida can keep up with the powerhouse of class 1B!"
Iida darts in and attempts another kick, only for Monoma to literally split apart and float up into the air. Iida, overextended, can only watch as disembodied limbs wrap around his own and pin him to the floor.
"And the winner is Neito Monoma!"
I can't help but grin. Perhaps some of these first-year students aren't so useless after all.
This Monoma boy undoubtedly has the potential to be a future top-one Hero. The sheer versatility of having multiple quirks alone is already enough to make someone a top-level fighter. But being able to select which quirks you want for any given fight, during said fight? His quirk would be the perfect foundation for any strong Hero team.
I can only imagine the things I could do with such a quirk in my repertoire. Alas, All for One would not be able to successfully take such a quirk. Father has tried many, many times over the centuries, all with little success. Our quirk always destroys other similar quirks it comes in contact with.
More importantly, a copied quirk would still count toward my total quirk limit, meaning it wouldn't necessarily make me more powerful than I already am. All it would do is allow me to make use of one of my companion's quirks temporarily.
Admittedly, I could get a lot done with Hitoshi's quirk. Business negotiations would be much easier.
The rest of the fights are nothing of note.
Kirishima fights the metal boy and the two have one of the most boring fights I've ever witnessed.
A pink-haired girl goes on a spiel about her support equipment (an aspiring entrepreneur?).
Bakugo blasts a rather round-faced girl out of the arena.
I zone out at some point after that while waiting for Momo to have her next fight.
Momo walks out and stands across from the Fumikage Tokoyami. She flexes her hands at her sides while Midnight raises a hand in the air.
"Ready? Start!"
Momo creates a searchlight and points it toward Tokoyami. A moment later a blinding light shoots out.
Tokyoami's sentient quirk reacts like a frog that just had boiling acid poured on it. Aka, it freaks out. Albeit, with significantly less blood than my frog metaphor.
Momo charges forward and jabs her opponent with a taser. He falls like a sack of bricks.
"Momo Yaoyorozu is the winner!"
Yet another equally fast and anticlimactic win. Momo's supreme versatility makes her a near-impossible matchup for anyone without overwhelming power. I can only hope this trend continues until the finals.
Bakugo stands across from Momo. His eyes are narrowed, concentrating. Momo stands easy with her arms relaxed by her sides.
"Fighters, are you ready?"
They both yell out their affirmations. The crowd cheers.
"Begin!"
Bakugo dashes forward. Momo flicks her wrist and throws a black orb at the ground. The smoke grenade explodes into a cloud that expands between them. From this angle, I get a clear view as Momo dashes to the side and drops to the ground.
There's a flash of light as Bakugo dissipates most of the black fog with an explosion. The boy sneers as he walks forward, trying to spot her in the lingering smoke.
Momo suddenly dashes out from the smoke with a taser in hand. She pulls the trigger.
In a feat of extraordinary acrobatics, the boy leaps and does a twist mid-air, using his blasts to spiral himself out of the way of her taser shots.
Momo follows up by firing darts at him, but it's too late. He destroys each projectile with the same effort one would use to step on an ant. The boy crouches to the ground and prepares to lunge. He blasts his hands back-
Momo opens fire. Rubber bullets strike the boy and dig bleeding welts into his skin. Bakugo is forced to whip his hands around and create explosions for defence, rather than using them to propel himself.
The two of them are suddenly at an impasse.
Bakugo tries to dash forward but takes a nonlethal round to the face as a result. Momo tries to move closer to use a taser but is blasted back for her efforts. Neither fighter can make use of their offense without risking a brutal counterattack.
There's a long moment where neither of them moves a muscle. Then, Bakugo makes a bold move.
He leaps into the air and rockets overtop Momo, his arms pointed downward. She fires up at him, but the explosions deflect her bullets. The intent of his plan becomes rather obvious a moment later.
"Would you look at this, Bakugo has become a bomber!"
There's nothing she can do. All of her attacks get reflected into the ground below, while Bakugo flies overhead and blasts her downward. Momo tries to run but it's ultimately pointless. Bakugo can fly faster than she can move on foot.
"And Momo Yaoyorozu surrenders, the winner is Katsuki Bakugo!"
She gives a wave to the crowd before moving over to Midnight. Bakugo lands on the ground with rage in his eyes, probably frustrated over the unsatisfying ending to the fight.
He dashes over to Midnight and grabs the mic out of her hand.
"THAT'S IT? SHE JUST FUCKING SURRENDERS BEFORE I CAN PUNCH HER INTO THE DIRT? HOW DARE YOU, HOW DARE YOU! I DEMAND A REMATCH! I DEMAND-"
Midnight yanks the microphone out of his hand. Bakugo rants for a while, before eventually stomping off. I can't help but snort.
"It was the only logical move. She was in a losing position and had no practical way of defeating him. It's not a battle to the death, there is no need for her to risk broken bones by continuing a fight she is losing."
Midnight takes the opportunity to address the audience.
"And wow, what a fight! I guess? Stay tuned for the next grand final, Katsuki Bakugo vs Shoto Todoroki! Who will win?"
I make a note to keep an eye on the Bakugo boy. He seems… unhinged.
Todoroki and Bakugo stand at opposite sides of the arena. Todoroki looks bored, while Bakugo looks like someone just ate his pet goldfish.
"Ready, fight!"
Todoroki opens with a massive wave of ice. Bakugo tries his best to blast away the incoming iceberg, but it just isn't enough. He's promptly encased in a glacier that takes up almost the entirety of the arena.
The fight is clearly over.
"Woah-ho, is Bakugo already out? Midnight will start the countdown!"
Hitoshi leans back in his chair.
"Hey, do you see how Todoroki is panting? I think he's just depleted most of his stamina in his opening move, now he's screwed."
I raise an eyebrow at that. Surely Bakugo can't escape the iceberg he is now contained within?
"Bakugo is frozen solid. Stamina is irrelevant when Todorki has already won-"
A series of blasts ring out. Then, a moment of silence. A second later the iceberg is split in half in a blast that echoes around the arena. Bakugo flies forward like a bullet from a gun and begins launching attacks at his opponent.
The two students exchange blasts and ice plumes that create vast air currents in the arena. The cold air is rather refreshing, the scalding hot air, however, not so much.
"Look at this, Bakugo is going in for melee!"
Bakugo, a ranged fighter with a quirk that does not work in melee, decides to…
Punch.
He decides to punch Todoroki.
The two boys engage in a back-and-forth fistfight. Todoroki repeatedly attempts to use his ice but is unable to get enough time between attacks to summon it. The pale teen is quickly overpowered and wrestled to the floor.
Perhaps Bakugo is sharper than I initially estimated? Being able to Intuit that his opponent requires his hands to be free to guide his quirk is a fantastic piece of analysis. He has a powerful quirk, and the brain to back it up.
"Bakugo has Todoroki in a submission hold! What will Todoroki do, is this the end of the fight?"
A burst of fire comes from Todoroki's side, forcing his opponent to let go.
Bakugo flies to the opposite side of the arena and sinks into a low stance. The two lock eyes, neither willing to make the first move. Todoroki stands with fire pouring from one half of his body, and frost from the other half.
"Would you look at this! Todoroki is using the other half of his quirk; Half Cold Half Hot!"
What.
WHAT?
His quirk was capable of producing both ice and fire this entire time?
If his fire output is proportional to his ice output… his quirk has no thermal regulation weakness! That's incredible! The possibilities are endless, he could spam his iceberg attacks nonstop without ever having to worry about quirk overuse.
The question is, why hasn't he been doing exactly that? Why has he avoided using the other half of his quirk the entire tournament? I simply can't think of any logical reason.
"Uh oh, looks like he's decided to stop using his fire!"
Todoroki's fire stutters out.
Bakugo leaps into the air and begins to spiral. A tornado forms as his explosions channel more and more air around him. Todoroki crouches to the floor and spreads his feet as frost climbs around him.
An explosion. A glacier. The two meet in the middle of the arena.
When the smoke clears, Bakugo is the only one left standing.
"And Bakugo wins the UA sports festival tournament!"
The crowd cheers. I lean back in my seat with a frown on my face. I take a sip of my beautiful Cheval Blanc and turn to my friends.
"What on Earth was happening with Todoroki's quirk? Why did he avoid using his fire the entire tournament, only to briefly use it at the end? He had a direct shot at winning if he didn't snuff it out arbitrarily."
Hitoshi shrugs.
"Stress activation. He probably has some limitation that stops him from using both halves of his quirk at full power."
Aki shakes her head.
"I was keeping an eye on his line of sight throughout the fight. Before he deactivated his fire he turned to look directly at his father in the crowd. I think he may be doing this as part of some effort to spite Endeavour. Teenage rebellion and all that."
Teenage rebellion is one thing. Refusing to use half of your quirk for no apparent reason seems like a rather extreme way of doing it. Perhaps something bigger is going on between Todoroki and his father? Worth keeping an eye on, but unimportant for now.
I climb to my feet and stretch my arms overhead.
"Well, I wish to catch up with Momo before I head back. What will you two be doing?"
The two discuss things briefly. Hitoshi turns to me.
"Eh, we'll head off soon. There's not much to do here and I need to get back to my work. The Hero Killer is up to something and I want to keep an eye on it before he accidentally starts a civil war or something."
We part ways. I open my phone and send a quick text to Momo.
'my friends have left, would you like to grab something to eat?'
It doesn't take her long to respond.
'I will message you the coordinates of a restaurant nearby'
I finish up the last of my drink and head off.
"What is it with you and underage drinking?"
I roll my eyes at her.
"Momo, a good whisky heals the mind and soul. Additionally, it helps build my image as a mature, sophisticated young man."
She gives me a rather incredulous look.
"Is this the same 'sophisticated young man' that loves to watch American B-rated action films? Because I recall you proudly regaling to me the virtues of 'Hero versus Monsters - part eight' last night. It has a two-star rating on IMDB."
I wince.
"Let's ah, not talk about my taste in cinema. In more distracting news, are you happy with how you did in the tournament?"
She snorts, choosing to play along with my not-so-subtle efforts to change the conversation.
"Well, I did better than I expected, if I must be honest. I just wish I could have thought of something to beat Bakugo. I thought I had him in a stalemate, but I was too busy panicking to realise that he could just fly overhead. Ugh."
The waiter places my steak au poivre on the table. I give him my thanks before continuing on with the conversation.
"Well, you did your best. I'm sure you'll get plenty of internship offers. In more pressing news, have you seen episode thirty yet?"
Her eyes light up.
"Oh my gosh, yes! It was amazing, far better than you described. The casting for Star And Stripe was perfect! I was worried that they were going to cheap out on the CGI, but the fight scene with the Ash Beast was magnificent. Although, a bit too many explosions for my taste."
The two of us discuss our favourite TV show until the sun goes down.
Rikiya Yotsubashi POV
I push myself up from the dirt and take a look at the monster before me. My most precious men and women lay at my side. Defeated with the same effort one would use to step on an ant. We never stood any chance of stopping him.
"Well, are you done yet? I've beaten every one of your soldiers without so much as lifting a finger."
I climb to my feet and stand before the man who has bested me. Nine floats in the air, a lazy expression on his face. I take a shaky breath and let my Stress fade away. There is no point in fighting any longer.
"You have won. What will you do of me and my army?"
Nine lands on the concrete before me, his subordinates at his side. He looks over the destruction around us. Thousands stand around the crater, watching us with bated breath.
"I want your subordination. From now on, I am the leader of the Meta Liberation Army. You will do as I say. Under my command, we will issue a new age of quirks. The Japanese government will fall, and we will take its place. A world where the strong survive, and the weak are made to suffer; as they deserve."
I lower myself to my knees and press my forehead against the concrete.
"The Meta Liberation Army will follow you."
The man before me lets out a slow chuckle.
"Well then, let us begin. We have much to do, and little time to do it. Do you have anyone in this city who possesses a strong regeneration quirk? My current one is rather lacking."
