"Oooooh, it's been such a long daaaaaay," Present Mic groaned with his back on the floor and his legs raised straight up, leaning them against the table, "This is the one I've been dreading the most. We're going to end up with a real bloodbath on our hands."
"Would you get back up here already? I came here to help, not do your job for you." Aizawa grumbled.
"Alright, alright," he retorted while climbing back into his chair, "Families, students, Pro Heroes, this is it, the final match of this year's first-ever U.A. Battle Royale! We've seen some impressive quirk use and footwork from out there from both sides, but I think we're in for a real treat with this one; the notorious 1-A might have their hands full trying to tame these wild cards."
The atmosphere was thick- the dullest blade could slice through the tension between these two teams as they stared down one another from opposite sides of the stage. Midoriya was the only one without qualms on their side, and despite their masquerade, he could tell the other team was anxious, as well. He didn't want them to get hurt, but he didn't want to lose, either. If he could somehow get Shelby to use her quirk again, perhaps she could straighten things out before the match intensified, but what were the limitations of her quirk? She wouldn't have used her abilities up in their one one-on-one moment, would she? No, he'd be foolish to mix kindness with stupidity. Whatever they had, they needed to prepare for the outcome.
"Don't quit now; believe in the announcer who believes in you!"
Unhesitantly, Bakugo, Todoroki, and Iida lunged right for them, leaving Midoriya caught in their dust, but like previous fights, the results were identical:
Iida could not bypass the barrier put up by Yemi without bouncing back.
Todoroki's ice and fire felt inept to Keali'i's quirk that divided and diverged his elements.
Bakugo's speed was no match for Arjan's, regardless of how aggressive he was.
With Yemi on Shelby's shoulders in the back line, Keali'i and Arjan were keeping Todoroki and Bakugo on the ropes as Midoriya and Iida lingered back.
"Midoriya, what's wrong?" Iida loudly asked over the tumultuous upheaval.
"I-It's nothing- I-I mean it's not nothing, it's-"Before he could respond, Iida quickly darted towards Midoriya and shoved him out of the way of a lobbed ice form that landed in his previous spot.
"Dammit," Todoroki mumbled quietly under his breath as he slid across the stage from Keali'i's knockback. "How does he deflect my attacks so easily?" As he weighed on his train of thought, he continued to propel calculated mixtures of fire and ice directly at his opponent, but each attack shattered and pushed away. He hardly broke a sweat, obstructing his quirks.
On Bakugo's end, "Why won't you die already?!" He yelled while rapidly blasting explosives against Arjan, who was blocking every shot with pieces of concrete and debris. Their movements could only be meagerly tracked as their celerity was ruthless. Still, their proximity would lead to calamity, which Arjan displayed as he managed to clobber Bakugo directly in the face with a jagged piece of cement. The hit caught him off-guard, as did the pool of blood he spat from his mouth onto the ground, "Who the hell do you think you are?!"
Normally, neither of them would react to an impact like that, but Arjan ducked his back into his shoulders with visible anguish as Keali'i scolded his name in a stressed whisper- yet Midoriya was the only one to notice. They were being optative with their approach as they didn't appear to desire causing excessive harm; their actions were certainly solidifying their joint confession but in itself made the victory more inconclusive. There was something to this, and it needed to be done- now.
In a fit of disoriented rage, Bakugo sped back into the fray with full force, but something had been altered without their knowledge: the barrier set by Yemi had decreased in solidity, making it possible to pass through sluggishly with resistance. This tactic was completely out of character, so much so that Bakugo was stupefied and taken aback for a brief second, but the revelation sparked an opportunity that needed to be taken quickly as Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki rushed forward. With this sudden adjustment, not much had changed offensively as Keali'i and Arjan continued to protect themselves and the girls behind them with their coordinated defenses. Still, they were getting closer and their chances of faulting had increased meagerly.
It wasn't enough; their pace was too slow, and they were only hurting themselves more by fronting their impending defenses. They weren't getting anywhere. This was more teasing than forbearing and not accomplishing anything, if not making things worse-
"If you're going to something, just do it already!"
Through excoriated, clashing rang neutrality through Midoriya's voice, loud enough to cause tentative actions on both sides. The two boys snapped their heads back towards their partners for their next course of action while the other four were in transitional confusion.
"Midoriya, what are you-!"
Before Todoroki could finish his question, the four of them were pushed back by the strong force of Yemi's barrier, knocking them to the ground as Arjan used his quirk to roll away the debris off-stage. As Yemi raised her hands, she promptly made a tight fist, the stadium lights shattering into pieces and falling downward, but with both his palms flat, Keali'i made a hefty pushing motion with his arms that changed the direction from down to up. Their distraction wasn't finished yet. Yemi then made a small, upward arching gesture with her palms that stifled the glass shards in a specific position between the stadium lights, and by creating a wavy, circular motion above her, the glass began to spin around as they sparkled in the sunlight. Just when things couldn't get any more confusing, upbeat, energetic techno music started coming through the stadium speakers without any implication, and directly on stage, Shelby, Keali'i, Yemi, and Arjan were standing in formation- the effect above them simulating a rotating disco ball.
"What?" Went the other international students.
"What?" Went Aizawa and Present Mic.
"What?" Went Class 1-A.
"What?" Went Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida.
"What the hell is this?!" Interjected Bakugo.
The Pro Heroes were mutually clamoring and awing in fascination.
"-Love is genderless," Arjan spoke as he suggestively removed the metal ring from around his thigh.
Metal ring? Wait- they all had metal rings around their thighs. Those weren't there before. Did they put them on before their match, and what is their purpose and function?
"Love is abundant," Followed up Yemi as she took the metal ring off her thigh in the same suggestive manner as Arjan . . . Yemi spoke? She had a normal, human voice this whole time?
"Eros, Philia, Storge, Agape, Philautia," Keali'i aptly pronounced, continuing the motion his friends had presented previously.
"In a world of superhuman abilities, love is the strongest of them all!" Shouted Shelby; once they had all removed the rings from their thighs, they simultaneously spun them around in their hands and fingers, lightly tossed them up in the air, and slammed them down as they each became shrouded in a bright light of a different color: blue, yellow, green, and pink.
"O' celestial Dike, bestower of law and order;"
Their words were synchronous as were their actions: clicking together their heels, the shroud at their feet had transformed into boots of various lengths and heel heights, white-based with color-corresponding accents and decorated with their small ornaments- blue spades, yellow diamonds, green clubs, and pink hearts. With a three-sixty spin, stockings of the same pattern appeared on the girls' legs while pants of dissimilar lengths formed around the boys' legs, and with a shake of their hips, circle skirts of nonidentical lengths accentuated with petticoats plumed out from the girls' hips and refined belts on the boys';
"grace us as your valiant servants of justice and integrity to our corrupt world,"
With their arms crossed over and hands settled at the base of their torsos, they pulled upwards, similar to removing a garment overhead, to reveal shape-oriented tops: diamond and heart-shaped corsets for the girls and blue and green vests with gold spade and club trimmings on top of white regency shirts for the boys, each covered with dress coats and coat dresses of varying lengths and styles;
"scourged by misguided immoralist;"
Shaking their heads from side to side, their real hair became apparent: short, light blond hair with blue tips; boisterous, yellow, naturally afro-textured hair with a blacked-out hairline; thick, brunette hair with a single green streak; and medium, light pink hair. With their arms still in the air, they crossed their wrists overhead and then finessed them apart with a snap of their fingers, their hands now covered with gloves; they then brought their hands together side by side with their palms facing back toward them;
"we will prove ourselves victoriously; evildoers eat your hearts out!"
Bringing their hands down briskly over their faces- small, distinctive crowns had materialized on each of their heads through said action, they turned their hands out and touched together their wrists while keeping their palms hovering below their jawlines, revealing their freshly made-up faces: delicately contoured face complimented with blue- hued eyeshadow, luxe eyeliner and mascara with a blue spade stamp at each outer eye corner accenting blue eyes, fair skin, and silver facial piercings; richly contoured face complimented with yellow-hued eyeshadow, smooth eyeliner and mascara with a yellow diamond stamp at each outer eye corner accenting gold eyes, dark skin, gold facial piercings and glasses; lushly contoured face complimented with green-hued eyeshadow, classic eyeliner and mascara with a green club stamp at each outer eye corner accenting green eyes and medium skin; softly contoured face complimented with pink-hued eyeshadow, bold eyeliner and mascara with a pink heart stamp at each outer eye corner accenting magenta eyes and neutral skin. Then, pressing their fingers to their lips, they blew out a kiss, revealing moderately tinted lips with a head tilt and a wink.
"King of Spades!" Proclaimed Arjan,
"Queen of Diamonds!" Proclaimed Yemi,
"King of Clubs!" Proclaimed Keali'i,
"Queen of Hearts!" Proclaimed Shelby,
Arranging themselves closer together, they posed energetically in another organized formation with their hands fashioned into a gesture unique to their character, and once more, simultaneously;
"We are- Suit As Sugar!"
When the lighting effect stopped, and the music came to an end, everyone was completely awestruck. This was them? The real international students of Class 1-A? How were they able to keep those dreary, melancholy personas' for this long when they were radiant and amiable in appearance? Their costume coordination made them look like an idol group, individually having their friendly flair that could win over anyone's heart, but if this was the energy they presented, why would they pretend to be other people? Was the effort worth the length of avoidance?
These answers, much like many others, would be answered in due time if they keep their promise. What they do next will determine how they'll be treated for the next five and a half months- and they knew that.
Shelby twirled a cutesy, pink microphone in her hand and playfully posed with the screen close to her lips, "Now, let's party up!"
"Here we go . . . "Aizawa sighed as he slid a large pair of headphones on his head, pressing down each speaker with his hands.
With a simple arm pose and hand gesture, Yemi's actions not only made the stadium speakers play music again but a different song entirely; the upbeat, electronic big-band jazz-style tune had already piqued the crowd's interest.
"Lick your lips, take a bite,
know that you're in for a real fight,
a taste you know you can't resist.
Are we sour, are we sweet?
Just another team that you can beat?
Guess you'll have to see what we're made of;"
Apprehensively, the four boys moved forward during their first verse but were unable to get close to them as they were swung and slid both on the ground and in midair in all directions, and when that wasn't irritating enough, the concrete on stage was restless as well. Like before, they were untouchable, but something was different this time; they weren't using traditional gestures to maneuver their quirks; in fact, all four of them were just dancing concertedly as though they were performing a show rather than participating in a sports festival.
"Oh, there's no need to sugarcoat your appetite.
We'll give you exactly what you want
Now come on up, join the sugar rush,
oh yeah!;"
They could hardly catch their footing; every second felt too late when they were crushed together or slammed onto the stage; the glass above then came hurling down towards them and shattering.
"It's time to rise up to the fight
fight with all our might
fight like our lives are on the line,
and if your hope begins to melt,
don't fear, don't shed a tear 'cause
winning's a piece cake!;"
The words weren't necessarily clicking with them, although the lyrics were admittedly catchy; did they have something to do with what was going on, or was this song a tactic to diverge the real reason? It was difficult to determine as their faces were being dragged across the cement and their bodies contorted against plausible air against their will; a few pieces from Iida's hero costume even began to scrap off.
"So let's all rise up. Don't be shy,
insatiable as apple pie
give into your ambitious temptations.
You know we're the rising stars.
We're the ones who've gotten this far
we're not gonna stop
until we reach the top
Oh, experience the sugar rush!;"
They had been throwing out their quirks in hopes of disrupting their rhythm, but their moves were as smooth as Shelby's singing voice, and while being thrown and bounced around, their aim was not up to par- barely able to get a word out without being smacked with concrete or each other's limbs.
"We're too sweet, we'll rot your teeth.
We're too sweet, we'll rot your teeth.
We're too sweet, we'll rot your teeth.
We're too sweet, we'll rot your teeth.
We're too sweet, we'll rot your teeth
We're too sweet, we'll rot your teeth
We're too sweet, we'll rot your teeth
We're too sweet, too sweet!;"
With each new line, the remaining members of their team harmonized along with Shelby and sang the rest of the lines together except for the final one, showing that all four of them were capable of singing.
"Wipe your mouth, unwrap us.
There's no need to make a fuss
we've always been the cherry on top.
Indulge in brownies and milkshakes.
Don't quit now from a bellyache
We have so many more treats for you;"
Their stomachs weren't the only parts of their bodies that were hurting. They were drafting and lugging them around with what seemed like little effort. How was this happening? They knew they were better than this- after everything they've been through prior, this win should have been theirs, but now? The outcome was becoming bleaker with each step, rock, and swing.
"You bit off more than you could chew, didn't you?
That's just how the cookie crumbles
Now come on up, join the sugar rush, oh yeah!;"
When was this song going to end? This had become a torturous, calculated gladiator battle in a full stadium.
"Come on and rise up. It's okay
tower like a parfait
rise up 'cause you'll find your in for a surprise
and if you're feeling bitter and burnt
don't fret, just don't forget that
winning's easy as pie;"
Rhythmic stepping, swinging, swaying, and sliding, there was no movement they could outmaneuver as their choreographed dancing had them trapped; they couldn't even communicate they were moving around too quickly.
"So go on, treat yourself, chow down.
There's no need to frown this song of ours is homemade.
Don't forget we're the rising stars.
No one else could've made it this far.
Work together as a team
don't freeze like ice cream
Oh, let's do the sugar rush!;"
How long have they planned this? When did they have time to practice, and where? More importantly, how did they know this would work so efficiently out of everything else?
"It's time to rise up to the fight
fight with all our might
fight like our lives are on the line
and if your hope begins to melt
don't fear don't shed a tear 'cause
winning's a piece of cake!
Now listen, all you boys and girls and heroes of the world
Don't be afraid to get up and move.
You know we're all rising stars. We're the ones who made it this far.
Put a smile on that face
There's no time to waste,
so let's do the sugar rush!"
Was this considered Plus Ultra? Everyone else put up a fight, unlike them, who fell right into their scheme without thinking twice. They must've been seen as hopeless, everyone watching had to be disappointed in their performance and given up on them all together, and the Pro Heroes? Why would they want anything to do with them after this? Who would like to work with failures? Though it was difficult to see from their current angle, everyone in the stands could be heard cheering and dancing along with the other team, completely enthralled by their concert. Although they were the same age, they had already locked down the formula of powerful and charismatic heroes. Suit As Sugar was setting new standards for Japan.
On the last note, the music carried on for a few more beats before cutting out as the four of them stood in the same arrangement they had when they started, panting while smiling out toward the crowd. On the other side, the four boys were lying flat out on the stage, unmoving, hardly concessions, but alive. There was a moment of silence in astonishment, the audience then loudly gushing with enthusiasm and congratulations- louder than they could recall them cheering throughout the day.
"Talented! Brilliant! Incredible! Amazing! Show-stopping! Never'll be the same! Totally unique! Completely never been done before! International 1-A wins, INTERNATIONAL 1- A WINS!" Present Mic squawked, slamming his hand repeatedly on the table while moving around fanatically, calming down only when he tripped onto his chair and fell backward. Aizawa, dredging through the ordeal, was simply relieved the U.A. Battle Royale was finally over.
Shelby, Keali'i, Yemi, and Arjan walked across the stage as a group carefully and stopped right in front of Midoriya who was the furthest out; "Thank you, Deku." Shelby whispered with her hand hovering over the corner of her mouth, leaning down so that he could properly hear her.
When Midoriya managed to pick his head up to look at her, it was the first time she saw her real self in natural lighting. She was stunning, all of them were. He couldn't believe a beautiful girl like that had kissed his cheek- him, of all people!
"U-Uh, y-you're welcome, Shelby...!" His stuttering made him feel his gratitude wasn't endearing enough, not to mention faltering over someone who just defeated him.
In the background, even through the roaring of the crowd, someone mumbling 'kill' and 'die' could be heard under a strained whisper; "Kacchan?"
"Goddammit, I hate you! I hate every single one of you! I'm going to kill all of you! How dare you beat me with your stupid singing and dancing?! You're all dead!"
"It's over, Bakugo..." Iida sternly spoke as he feebly sat up.
"We lost." Todoroki integrated while he, too, was getting up.
"Never! I won't be beaten like this! You won't make it out of here alive, you hear me?! You won't-!" Bakugo couldn't finish his berating; his body was too weak to stand up, and when he attempted to get up faster than his body could comprehend, he passed out.
While they were focusing on Bakugo's tongue lashing, their classmates were making their exit, showering in flowers the audience was throwing into the center while the winners acknowledged their praise.
"International 1-A, everybody!"