"Dear listeners, I cannot express the amount of excitement felt here inside the press box at this very moment-"
"Get off the table." Mumbled Aizawa.
"-To be the first ones to witness not one, but three matches of which our top students will face off against U.A.'s designated world champions is truly a historic day to behold-"
"-You're going to fall."
"-And who better to start us off other than the up-and-coming heroes of Class 3-A!"
As the crowd erupted into quaking shouts of excitement, the two teams began to make their way towards center stage.
"Tamaki, are you okay? You look like you're about to puke!" Nejire innocently pointed out.
"Of course, I'm not okay," he quivered, "This is essentially my worst nightmare come to life . . . But, with Mirio not out here, there was no way I was going to allow you to face these guys by yourself. You're my friend too- we stick together, no matter what."
"Gee, it doesn't sound like you have a whole lot of faith in us." Commented Ryu Himejima: Blind Faith was the second to complete The Gauntlet in their class. A student who worked his way up despite his blindness was the brawler hero Japan was about to prepare for. With his quirk, Perspiring Armor, his skin hardened the more he secreted sweat; with his keen senses and passionate fighting skills, he wasn't an opponent to take lightly.
"Seriously? That was awful- even for someone as lame as you." Chided Minako Meioh: Accelerator was able to dominate The Gauntlet, coming in first place with the help of her quirk, Void Runner. By moving forwards and backward through space she can move in any direction and appear up to several yards away; while phasing, her 'past' self remains cognitive, allowing her to call out any changes before repositioning. Quick on her feet, she could run circles around anyone.
When the international students reached the steps of the arena, Omar took the hands of Chelsea and Fatima as they walked up the stairs, but as soon as Bassam took his hand, catching him off guard, he quickly turned his head in the opposite direction, pretending to be bashful; Omar moved his hand away, swatting at his shoulder as Bassam giggled on his way up. Then, the playfulness began to fade, and the two groups were standing together a few feet apart from each other- the crowd catching onto the atmosphere.
In the moment of silence, a couple of devious glances were shared, "Get ready, it's show time!" Present Mic made his call, but the students were left shuffling in place, waiting for the first one to strike.
"Man, you guys-!" Meioh blurted out as she dashed forward in a zigzag pattern using her quirk, "-are too slow!"
With a dive kick from above, Meioh's attack was blocked by a rapier held by Chelsea, a sword not meant to block heavy attacks but sturdy enough to protect Omar and allow him to sidestep in the opposite direction.
"Starting early with that fencing shtick, are ya'?" She admonished before being swept away by the swipe of her sword. "You'd be surprised how far you'd get if you actually learned a thing or two, Meioh." Chelsea sneered.
"-Or paid attention," Tamaki murmured, an octopus tentacle wrapping around Chelsea's ankle and swinging her up in the air. As Fatima went to her rescue, Himejima charged in to prevent her from using her quirk- but Omar lunged forward, evading his initial attack to strike his hand onto his bicep while activating his quirk; when he went to pull back Himejima, he pumped his muscular arm and jerked Omar forward, grasping onto his hero costume to catch his fall.
"Your quirk may be stronger than mine, but you sure as hell ain't stronger than me!" He exclaimed while slamming Omar to the ground, but before he could struggle, he disappeared into the ground, "Shi-!" Just as he went to dodge, Fatima's knee had already made contact with his forehead; Himejima heard her approaching attack. However, with her quirk, it was difficult to determine how far along she'd appear, with or without sight.
"Oh hell yeah, I'm starving!" Bassam shouted gleefully, jumping towards Tamaki's tentacles with his large mouth already open wide.
In fear of his sharp teeth, Tamaki let go of Chelsea's ankle and lurched back his appendages, "Oh no, you don't!" Nejire countered, conjuring shockwaves from the palm of her hand toward her opponent.
"Sorry, Nejire..." Chelsea relented under her breath, removing her top hat mid-air and waving her wand above the underbrim, pulling out a white rabbit and gingerly floating them between the two fighters. Once she saw a live animal in her peripheral, she exerted her energy to prevent the attack from landing, throwing off her balance for a moment as the waves landed off stage; floating down slowly, the rabbit safely landed back in Chelsea's hat, shaken but unscathed.
"Don't think we'll be taken down so easily!" Himejima yelled as he came for Bassam- who, alerted beforehand, was able to rotate the multi-chamber of his barrel and attach his prosthetic arm, catching Himejima's hands with only a slight push back. The two strong students struggled against each other, falling into a complete stalemate until Bassam tried to sideswipe Himajima's leg, feeling acute pain upon impact. "It sure is hot today, isn't it, chum?" He jested with a grin, throwing the other down on the ground, ready to stomp heavily on his body. Bassam, despite his sea creature quirk, was no amateur when fighting on land; while he wasn't as fast as he would've been in the water, he was able to tumble sideways and evade the attack. Jumping back to his feet, he dove low and successfully tackled Himejima to the ground.
Meanwhile, Fatima and Meioh were phasing and teleporting across the stage, bursting in and out of thin air as they pursued each other.
"C'mon, Fatima, I can chase you around all day, but you're going to have to make a move at some point!" While both girls weren't built for offensive fighting, Fatima knew that Meioh had an edge over her; catching her off guard somehow was the only way she was going to get a hit on her.
"Oh, Amajiki~" Chelsea sang in his ear as she appeared behind him, floating slightly above ground with her biceps resting on his shoulders and her hands clasped together in front of him.
"You know, for someone who was adamant about paying attention, you sure screwed yourself over. In fact, I think you should throw in the towel right now-" When she opened her hands, a pair of yellow, short-cut boxer briefs unfolded while being held at the waistband with both her thumb and index fingers.
"Oh! That's not a towel!" She retorted, acting playfully oblivious.
"C-Chelseeeeeaaaaa!" He exclaimed, completely red in the face as he tried to grab them from her, "Those are mine!"
Despite his efforts, he couldn't catch her, or rather, he was too embarrassed to move- knowing that he was still fully dressed. When Chelsea folded his garment back in her hand, "Oops!" A white dove flew out when her hands opened back up. Confounded beyond words, Tamaki crouched down with his hood shoved over his face, mumbling abashedly to himself.
"Don't you think that was a little much?" Omar queried, Nejire wrapped in the threading of his quirk.
"Tamaki, it's okay! You still have clothes on!" Nejire assured while struggling to free herself.
"W-We're in a fight- we're supposed to be on the same team, Omar!"
"So I'm not allowed to question the decisions my friends make?"
"Watch out!" Bassam yelled; during his one one-on-one spare with Himejima, he had accidentally changed his prosthetic to a spear gun, suddenly relying on the possibility that his quirk hadn't made his skin impenetrable yet. Still, Himejima became wise quickly and was able to veer the direction of his shot, which was heading towards the others. All four of them were able to elude the misfire; however, Meioh had just phased in a second too late, not being able to warn herself of the impending danger, and was pierced in the shoulder. With a cry of pain, Fatima gasped at the sight of her injured classmate as she appeared, yet Meioh wasn't unwavering; for a moment, she staggered in place, then caught Fatima off guard with her abrupt attack. In retaliation, Himejima punched Bassam in the jaw but ended up hurting himself on contact.
"Will someone do something with this guy?!" Bassam called once more as he shoved Himejima off of him. In the thoroughness of combat, Fatima head-butted Meioh to disorient her, then used her quirk to switch places between Meioh and Himejima. Meioh, landing back on her feet, immediately serpentined Bassam while making quick jabs in vulnerable areas. Himejima, on the other hand, took his time to recollect himself, "I don't want to hurt you, Fatima, but-" After taking a swing at her, his fist phased out of existence and ended up punching himself in the head when his hand reappeared, but because of his quirk, he wasn't hurt by the attack.
With each move he made at her directed back at him, every punch and kick became more of an annoyance rather than tiresome. Himejima could hear her soft footsteps and smell her perfumed products—he always knew where she was and wasn't going to stop until he caught her slipping up. While Bassam and Fatima were keeping them busy, Chelsea and Omar had their hands full with Tamaki and Nejire. Though he wasn't the quickest, Omar knew how to forestall and dodge- using his body type to his advantage against Tamaki's strikes; the threading of his quirk was strong enough to sever and pluck at his animalia extremities but unable to exceed being snapped or cut from sharp claws and fangs. With the ability to levitate, both Nejire and Chelsea elevated above the stage to fight one another; circumventing her shock waves in Chelsea's direction, her charge time was too slow for her movements, eluding Nejire's offenses and applying her own with stylized barrages of playing cards. In a poof of smoke, Chelsea suddenly disappeared, leaving no indication of her location until she reappeared behind her with a lasso chain of colorful scarves- looping Nejire's wrist before she could respond, pulling her towards and kneeing her in her side.
At the other end of the stage, Bassam continued to take Meioh's rapid blows, and though it seemed like she had him outmatched, he wouldn't have earned his place here if he quickly succumbed to quirks more potent than his.
"Hey Meioh," Bassam spoke, his tone bubbly while blocking her attacks, "did you know there are over thirty-two thousand species of fish? Each one has their own set of traits and senses that makes them unique."
It seemed like the more he distracted both of them, the more coordinated he became.
"I'd like to think I'm pretty different myself- you could even say I have a lot going for me. I am a world wonder, after all."
The more he prattled on, the more frustrated and aggressive Meioh became. She couldn't get him to stop talking, and what did he mean by that?
"Like, did you know sharks can smell blood up to a quarter mile and that they're capable of hearing heartbeats within a three-hundred-foot radius?"
Sharks? The choice to share those facts specifically was peculiar but not unusual, even for Bassam. Still, the uneasy feeling brought upon the sight of his powerful jaw and glamorized serrated teeth soon developed to a realization . . . But it was too late.
With a trick of the eye and sleight of hand, he was able to deceive her previous self using his right arm with the assistance from an unattached prosthetic tool; by successfully baiting her, she drove herself directly into the crown of his anchor and inevitably knocking the wind out of her. There was a collective shock amongst the rest of the participating students, along with the audience themselves, in a state of disheartenment. As he pointed his net gun prosthetic in her direction, past his wide-mouthed grimace, he uttered softly in his native tongue,".الهروب ولكن لا یمكن ِك الاختباء."
Bang.
The net burst from the gun barrel and enveloped her body as she flew off the stage and onto the field; her body wriggled sluggishly under the mesh while regaining consciousness- exasperated and weakened, Meioh wallowed in her defeat.
"-And we have our first casualty, ladies and gentlemen!" Present Mic loudly emphasized.
"Meioh!" Himejima yelled.
Amid the commotion, Fatima shoved Himejima forward and teleported him to the edge of the stage to join alongside Meioh, but he wasn't going alone. On his way through, he grabbed her sleeve and pulled her in, both of them now teetering over the field; acting quickly before they both were eliminated, Fatima teleported randomly onto the stage, but unfortunately for her, Himejima finally had her.
"Fatima!" Her team shouted as they went to her aid- but Bassam had gotten caught up by the asperity of Tamaki's quirk while Nejire barricaded Chelsea and Omar. She desperately wriggled in his arms, unable to free herself from his stronghold and bite or scratch her way out, not without cracking her teeth.
"It's alright. I'm not going to throw your unconscious body off stage like Bassam did." Himejima lightly assured, flexing his arm around her neck.
Bassam was gnawing his way through Tamaki's animal appendages to get directly to him, Nejire was keeping Chelsea and Omar's eyes on her with her flares of energy waves, and Fatima could only anxiously watch. It was becoming more difficult to breathe. In a last-ditch effort, just as Nejire was charging up, she formed one small singularity, large enough for her arm to slide through as she went to release another spiral of waves. Then suddenly, Himejima and Fatima flew backward, both of them crashing onto the concrete and separating from each other; by phasing Nejire's arm in front of them, her quirk continued to expand, inevitably releasing in their direction.
"Chelsea, I'm giving this one to you!" Fatima cried out, undertaking her feebleness to teleport Himejima closer to Chelsea.
"I'm on it!" She loudly responded before leaping into the air with her arms out and top hat in hand.
Once Himejima was visible, the duration he spent in full view was less than seconds as he disappeared again into Chelsea's hat in one firm swoop. As she slowly pulled up her hat from the ground, a wooden cabinet emerged from beneath with Himejima's hands and face shown through the proportionally designed holes: comically enough, the design painted beautifully on the front was of a risqué, burlesque woman.
"W-What the hell?! What did you do to me? Why can't I move?! Chelsea!"
Chelsea leaned in close to his face and whispered, "Now you know how Fatima felt-"then began projecting to the audience, "Ladies and gentlemen, give a round of applause for our lovely volunteer here!"
The crowd was amazed by the spectacle of her quirk, easily being drawn in and following along with her performance. Continuing to combat the confines of the device, Tamaki and Nejire attempted to stop her until-
"Whoa, hey now, it'd be rude to interrupt the trick, don't you think?" Bassam mused, stepping in front of them along with Omar and Fatima, who were resting on Omar's back and blocking their path, "Just sit back and enjoy the show!"
"You know, there's like a good ol' fashion saw blade to really excite things, but you know what would be better?" Chelsea asked out loud as she unfolded two saw blades similar to a hand of playing cards,
"If there were two, but you know what'd be even better?" She snapped her fingers, the blades bursting into flames, "If they were on fire."
"Chelsea, wait!" Himejima stuttered, "I'm sorry for what I did, but it's a competition, y-you know?"
Chelsea rolled her eyes to look over at him; eyebrows furrowed with the right corner of her lips drawn back.
"You do know I can't see the face you're making, right?"
With a soft groan, Chelsea added the first blade into the slit at the base of the neck. The audience gasped and winced as Himejima held his breath, his body rattling with terror; finally, she added the second blade in the slit just above his hips. The outcome, however, was not what he expected: he was sweating heavily, and his skin would be unbreakable by now, but even then, he felt nothing. Did the impact break the blades? Did they even go through? Judging by the reactions of his surroundings, it didn't seem like the case. Just then, she pulled her wand out from underneath her tailcoat and tapped the cabinet three times, and when following the length upwards and arching her wand above her head, the cabinet split into three pieces and began floating above her along with the ignited saw blades.
"What's going on? What's happening to me?!" Though he couldn't see what was going on, he felt dissociative and lightheaded, which only increased his anxiety.
The entire crowd applauded at the marvelous display before them, a rare sight that dazzled citizens and heroes alike. Chelsea lightly circled her wand around, moving the boxes and blades along with her, "You've been a terrific audience, truly, but unfortunately, this concludes our performance- Let's hear it again for our volunteer, ladies and gentlemen!"
Among the enthusiastic ovation, Chelsea brought down her arm as she bowed, keeping Himejima and her props floating in front of her; then, as the rest of her team parted, Tamaki and Nejire pushed forward to his rescue. With a devious smirk, Chelsea quickly drove her wand in their direction, flinging the boxes and blades at an alarming speed; the materials were not linear; they rebounded off of the stage, making his capture more difficult. In their best efforts, the results failed- injuring themselves in the process while ultimately losing another teammate.
As the boxes began tumbling onto the field, they collided with one another and reformed back into the full cabinet Chelsea had presented earlier. With a hard slam, the doors popped open, and Himejima sprung out from the inside, unharmed and in one piece, onto the terrain. Silent, unmoving, Himejima lay there in shock and devastation.
"-And U.A. Japan's 3-A loses another team member! Things are coming down to the wire here, folks!" Present Mic spectated.
Two teams. Four members on one, the other- only two. Totaling six very exhausted, beaten students. At the end of each side of the stage, they stood short-winded, injured, and worn, but the fight was not over yet.
"This sucks." Bassam heaved as he plunged his anchor into the ground to lean on.
"We were already prepared for the worst," Omar replied, "If it comes down to it, I will use my quirk to its full extent."
"Omar, no," Fatima's voice trembled, "you promised yourself you wouldn't."
"I know what I said; however, I cannot allow my friends to be senselessly defeated over some meaningless competition. I may not be able to forgive myself for doing it, but it may be all we have left."
"Omar..." Chelsea breathed softly.
In unification, as Omar held out his palms, the other three followed suit by placing their hands on top of the others and forming a chain.
"This is it, Nejire. There's not a whole lot they can do now. We can do this." Tamaki grunted while holding onto his bicep.
"Right!" Nejire affirmed.
Running out first, Chelsea, Bassam, and Fatima darted directly toward them while Omar stood back, immediately splitting up in different directions once they were several centimeters from Tamaki and Nejire, "They're planning something! Don't let them get away!" Nejire instructed, leading Tamaki as they followed after them.
The three of them kept themselves close to the ground, periodically tagging the ground and, when they got close enough, their two opponents; they appeared to be making little effort to eliminate them and claim their win, which stirred up suspicion in both of them. In a misfortune of clumsiness, Bassam slid over a small pile of rubble on the ground and became in direct line with Nejire's energy wave that flung him in the opposite direction, landing back on stage face first. Fatima, who was already incredibly weakened from her confrontation with Himejima, faltered easily to Tamaki's chimera form, and to prevent her from being knocked out completely, Chelsea jumped in and used herself as a human cushion for Fatima to land on. With his teammates struggling to get back to their feet, Omar had not seen the debris heading his way from Chelsea's body smashing into the concrete with Fatima on top of her.
The force of the wreckage was enough to snap off Omar's eyepatch, "That's enough!" He yelled furiously; the tone of his voice, the surge of emotion, struck fear in Tamaki and Nejire. No one had ever witnessed or heard Omar express anger before.
As he straightened his neck out, everyone was in full view of what he had been hiding underneath his facial coverings: his right eye appeared completely white, and his scar, which was widespread and prominent, was convened closer to the eye then subdivided into eight large branches that traversed over the radius of his eyes. Nejire unintentionally gasped out loud while Tamaki was lost for words, "I will not allow this idiotic fight to continue any further! I'm ending this now!" Omar snarled, lifting his arms and then swiftly drawing back his hands. The wrath of his movements was felt as Tamaki and Nejire were suddenly tightly entangled in a web threaded by Omar's quirk,
"No hero should ever be subjected to the vengeance of Blood Marionette," bringing his right hand up to his mouth, he curled his lip upwards and sunk his canine tooth into his hand until he drew blood, the strings from his fingertips trickling into a blistering, dark red as the same color pooled into his whitened eye, "but if this is what is demanded of me, then so be it!" After his subliminal threat, he brought his hands forward and slightly curled in his fingers.
"Because of our acquaintanceship as allies and classmates, I will warn you of the dangers of my quirk: right now, our blood is coalesced within my threads, and unlike normal, they're far deadlier. The more you move, the more blood you release, making the threads more difficult to break. The further I close my fingers," for the sake of demonstration, Omar tugged on the threads by twitching his fingers, the sharp, tightening sensation causing Tamaki and Nejire to cry out, "If I make a closed fist, every part of your body tied to my quirk will be severed."
"And don't forget about us." Bassam chimed in, flipping one of his teeth with his thumb like a coin, "You know, you're lucky my teeth grow back."
"We didn't want Omar to use his quirk-" Chelsea followed up with Fatima's arm slung over her shoulders.
"-We know that it's dangerous." Fatima weakly mewled.
"As I've said, I am doing this on my own accord; anything that happens will fall on me. With that being said, please, do not take this as a bluff and act irrationally- do not kill yourselves for the sake of meaningless competition: your lives are more valuable than victory."
What were they supposed to do? What was any hero supposed to do? Here they were, in front of thousands of people- their friends, their families, their idols all staring down at them, wondering what they were going to do next, but their peers surrounded them, people their age who had shown and proved that they were skillfully superior compared to them. All options lead to death even though they trusted Omar, but the death they're most fearful of was of their reputation: two of The Big Three had become trapped, and this led to their defeat because they had underestimated their opponent and the extent of their quirks—the very pride of U.A. Japan had fallen at the feet of its very own.
"It seems U.A. Japan's Big Three are in a bit of a bind here! Will they be able to escape, or is this the end for our young heroes?!" Present Mic fretted into his microphone.
They couldn't just give up, could they? How would they be seen: would the people be sympathetic, or unhopeful for the future? They had to do something, right? But what? Tamaki and Nejire looked over at one another, seeing both fear and uncertainty in each other eye's. What was Mirio thinking, watching from up there in the stands? Hurt? Disappointed? They wouldn't blame him. They had no options, and the ones they did were less than desired. Then again, was anything better than nothing? But their placements, Nejire and Tamaki, were both tagged on their arms and legs, which were vital parts to both their quirks. Maybe, just maybe, though...
With what little movement he had, Tamaki turned his fingers into octopus tentacles and carefully wrapped them around one of the threads. The only problem was the tentacle didn't remain attached for long; when his appendage made direct contact with the reddened thread, it seared off in pieces. "Hado," Omar began, "do you remember the first day we met? You asked me why I wore a mask, and I told you it was from a quirk accident? I was referring to my own. My blood isn't normal because of my quirk, and when activated, it becomes scalding, like a hot knife to butter. The more blood you give, the stronger the bond, and the only relief is by my own hands."
Any possible theories had vanished. Desperation was the only choice left. With a shaken sigh, Nejire forced what little energy she had into charging up energy waves from all fours.
"No, please- I beg you!" Omar shouted just as she released her quirk and jutted in place. For a brief moment, there was a shriek of agony and then silence. Everyone's heart sank at the sight of her unmoving body that hung lifeless on strings, eerily similar to a marionette.
Cautiously, Chelsea placed two fingers on the side of Nejire's neck, ". . . She's still alive. She must've just passed out from the pain."
Tamaki was all who was left. Of all people, he wondered to himself, why did it have to be him? He was intimidated by them the moment he first saw them being introduced in front of everybody. He'd already overheard of their achievements and what they had done to get here from his classmates, all that he would've never put himself through. They were model heroes and students who everyone fawned over and wanted to befriend, something he was far from achieving. Jealous? No, but inspired? As much as he didn't want to admit it, part of him had gravitated towards their energy, as well. What he wouldn't give to be just confident enough to speak to them; he'd hoped that when this was all over, they wouldn't think less of him.
"Oy, you good there, snack bar?" Bassam asked, waving his stub arm in front of his face.
Trembling in place, he deeply inhaled and then held his breath as he transformed into an onslaught of animalia. "Amajiki!" Omar was loudly distressed, tightly closing his right eye to deactivate the vicious effect of his quirk; a tear of red hues ran down his cheek, cleansing and restoring the original coloration of his eye. The blood that soaked into the threads had now dripped onto the stage while the threads themselves listlessly unraveled. As Tamaki's unconscious body began to slump down, Omar sprinted over and caught him in his arms, holding him close to his own body; Chelsea followed through similarly to catch Nejire's body, then daintily fixed her hair and removed any excess threading.
After a moment of behind-the-scenes speculation, an announcement was finally made, "It appears the remaining members of U.A. Japan's team has been rendered incapacitated and is declaring the International team the winner!" Publicized Present Mic, the stadium bursting with vociferous, congratulatory applause.
Before the medical aide arrived, Chelsea and Omar stood center stage with Tamaki and Nejire in their arms; behind them, Fatima was helping Meioh untangle herself from Bassam's net while Bassam was helping Himejima back to his feet from another end, "Oh? What's this? It seems the International students have decided to stand in solidarity with Japan's students in the winner's circle- an unprecedented act of fellowship amongst young heroes makes our future look brighter!" Together, despite their current conditions, they stood above those who viewed them as inequitable rather than equal.
"I'm sorry . . . " Tamaki mumbled softly as he and the rest of his teammates were being carried to the automated stretchers.
"You have nothing to apologize for," Omar addressed, "you got to where you are because you've proved that you're capable of maintaining justice and protecting the innocent, but just because we have quirks and are granted the title Hero doesn't mean we aren't still human; we make mistakes, we fall into depressions, we don't always get things our way or what we want, and we lose." Carefully setting Tamaki's body on the stretcher, his worn disposition faded for a brief moment; the look in his eye, the smile on his face, was sentimental and dreamy.
"You have an amazing quirk, and you're already well on your way to becoming a Pro Hero that people will look up to and be inspired by. So please, be kind to your mind."