Hey everyone! We're back again with another chapter of "Through the Rough"! We've still got a long way to go before we're caught up with the rest of the story on Ao3, but I'm certain that we'll get there by late April or early May. Right now, let's continue the tournament portion of the Sports Festival! Enjoy!
"Ha! Missed me!" Setsuna laughed, splitting herself up into pieces to evade the laser beam shot her way by Yuga. After Shoto had cleared away his large mass of ice, the tournament battles were allowed to continue. The Lizard Tail Splitter Quirk user had such a wide grin on her face as she avoided each of her opponent's beams, splitting her body up into various pieces. Meanwhile, Yuga was grimacing in agony from using his laser for so long
"Tokage's Quirk is so unique..." Tsuyu commented from the stands.
"Yeah, you can do all kinds of things with it!" Denki mentioned.
"It's... kinda creepy..." Rebecca admitted as a drop of sweat rolled down the side of his head. She looked over to Izuku, who had surprisingly stopped taking notes. He had been thinking a lot about Shoto's match. They would get matched up if they both won in the next round. "Hey," the Leaper Quirk user said, putting a hand onto his shoulder, "you're gonna be just fine," she assured with a wink, "Just enjoy seeing all these matches and take notes!" she insisted.
"O-Okay..." her best friend stuttered in response, blushing a little.
"Midoriya," Mezo's voice chimed in, getting his attention, "did you need help coming up with a plan to deal with Rutherford?" he asked of him.
"Oh, thanks Shoji!" the One For All inheritor said with gratitude. Rebecca giggled, glad for him. In the meantime, Setsuna won her match, managing to bring Yuga to his limit before knocking him out with a right hook. She seemed pretty happy for someone who was going to face Shoto next.
"Now we're halfway through the first round!" Mic announced, "Time to start the second half of matches!" he declared excitedly.
"Oh yeah, you're up next, Shiki!" Ochaco realized, looking over to the Satan Gravity Quirk user.
"Shouldn't you already be down there, man?" Minoru asked the dark-haired boy.
"Oh, right!" he exclaimed, hopping up from his seat. His green-glowing markings appeared along his arms before he floated up and flew out toward the stage below. Everyone watched in surprise as he fell onto the field. "Ready to go!" he declared with a bright smile. Midnight stared at him in surprise, along with his opponent in Yosetsu.
"Um... Miss Midnight?" he began to the referee, getting her attention, "Can I withdraw...?" he requested meekly, "I don't think I stand a ghost of a chance..." he admitted as beads of sweat had formed upon his head.
"Uh, very well then..." the R-Rated Hero replied, raising her left hand, "Awase has withdrawn!" she announced, "Therefore, Granbell wins and advances to the next round!" she declared.
"Alright!" Shiki exclaimed delightedly with his fists raised.
'He didn't even have to do anything...' his classmates all thought in that moment.
The matches continued. Momo was able to catch Reiko off guard before she could use her Quirk, knocking her out of the ring with a strike from a metal staff she had created. As much as she enjoyed her victory, she was dreading the thought of facing Shiki next. After seeing how just a demonstration of what he could do could make an opponent surrender, she was very nervous.
Next, Itsuka was up against Mina. The match looked to be in the latter's favor thanks to her acid allowing her to slide around swiftly. But when her opponent enlarged her hands, she backhanded the Acid Quirk user right out of the ring before she could stop herself in time.
Eijiro and Fumikage's battle was an even match. Thanks to the former's Hardening, he was enduring a lot of his foe's attacks. The only problem was that he couldn't counter. The Dark Shadow Quirk user's shadowy entity was pushing him back. And finally, it managed to send him out of bounds with one strong blow.
"We've had some pretty amazing matches, huh Eraser?!" Mic exclaimed over the loudspeaker.
"Compared to the others, I'd say the best ones so far have been from the Rutherfords," Shota commented, "Their wind Ether-Type Quirks were very impressive in defeating their opponents," he pointed out.
"Guess you don't have too soft of a spot for Class A?" the announcer assumed, earning an irritated glance from the bandaged hero, "Moving on, it's time for the thirteenth match!" he declared, "From the Hero Course's Class B, we've got the toothy smile on the face of Juzo Honenuki!" he announced as the Softening Quirk user made his way onto the stage, "And his opponent, who hails from the Hero Course's Class A, is Weisz Steiner, a guy who usually would show up packing!" he added as the Machina Maker Quirk user arrived as well.
"Steiner making it this far is kind of a surprise..." Toru noted aloud.
"Well, there was the Robo Inferno during the obstacle race..." Ochaco recalled, "Maybe he remodeled one of them into a machine he could use to move faster," she suggested, glancing up in thought.
"Hmmm..." Izuku hummed, putting his right hand onto his chin.
"That guy Weisz is fighting is the one we saw during the cavalry battle, right?" Rebecca guessed, getting his attention.
"Yeah..." he responded, remembering how Juzo had tried to sink them into the ground earlier.
'Steiner's at a huge disadvantage, especially since he doesn't have any machines on hand to use...' he noted inwardly, 'He could try remodeling the ground like I heard he did in combat training...' he continued through his thoughts, 'but I doubt that would work either...' he realized, knowing that Juzo would likely soften anything he attempted.
"I saw that Jinn wound up on your team," the Softening Quirk user noted, getting his opponent's attention, "Honestly, I'm not sure what the heck he was thinking back in that cavalry battle, but it seemed to work well for him..." he pointed out, taking on a ready stance, "That said, I doubt you'll be much trouble for me," he declared. Weisz cracked a grin.
"You know... I found out I could only bring in machines if I made them myself..." he told his foe.
"And begin!" Midnight exclaimed, swinging down her flail.
"Gotcha'!" Juzo exclaimed, palming the ground with both of his hands. It softened up immediately, with Weisz starting to sink down into it.
"Already, Honenuki's about to settle this match in one fell swoop!" Mic exclaimed, "Can Steiner break free?!" he wondered loudly. The Machina Maker Quirk user had his yellow Ether lines glow upon his body.
"Arsenal... REQUIP!" he bellowed. All of a sudden, his watch expelled what appeared to be metal panels along his body, spreading about to form a silver-and-black suit with a green core at the chest, and a helmet with horn-like protrusions. Everyone widened their eyes.
"WHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!" Mic screamed in disbelief.
"So that's what Steiner was working on..." Shota commented from the announcer's booth, grinning underneath his bandages. The Machina Maker Quirk user leapt out from the softened ground, landing down in front of his opponent.
"An... armored suit?!" he exclaimed out of shock as his eyes shook, "But... that's cheating!" he noted aloud.
"Yeah, guess it would be..." Weisz admitted in reply, "unless I made it myself..." he remarked, causing Juzo to widen his eyes. It was a tiring effort, but the Machina Maker Quirk user did make the suit under Power Loader's watchful eye. Thus, it was approved as a support item for him.
"Weisz actually made that?!" Rebecca exclaimed from the stands.
"It looks so cool!" Shiki added with sparkling eyes of amazement.
"Man, I didn't think he'd get any more hardcore..." Eijiro commented as he grinned while clenching his fists.
"Hmph," Katsuki scoffed uncaringly.
"Now then..." Weisz began, remodeling the back of his suit's legs to include jet boosters, making him zip right behind Juzo. He gasped, turning around too late to see his opponent reconfiguring the right forearm of his suit into a cannon. "The legend of the Armored Hero Arsenal begins now!" he declared, slamming the cannon against his foe and firing a powerful blast of red light onto him, "DRUM BUSTER!" he bellowed as an explosion erupted. After a few moments, the dust settled to reveal the Softening Quirk user lying upon the grass outside of the stage, unconscious as his shirt had been mostly torn off from the blast.
"Honenuki is out of bounds!" Midnight declared, waving her flail towards the armored Weisz, "Steiner wins! He advances to the second round!" she announced as the Machina Maker Quirk user held up his right fist in victory. His suit dematerialized back into a watch as he panted heavily.
'That used up a lot more energy than I thought it would've...' he noted to himself, 'Oh well...' he sighed through his thoughts, keeping a confident grin upon his face, 'I doubt anyone'll top that,' he inwardly said, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he heard the crowd cheer.
And there you have Arsenal's debut! There's still a lot for us to get through, but I'm sure you'll love what's ahead! Next time, we'll get to see more of Rebecca's Quirk in action! Stay tuned!