Howdy, folks, how's it going?
Let's get down to it.
As always, shout out to Chaos Productions for his input and aid.
And as always, I own neither WH 40K nor BNHA.
Now, without further ado, enjoy!
/
The sheer spike of annoyance at hearing that most despised voice, amidst the confused rumbles of the crowd, would probably have been enough by itself to snap Katsuki out of his addled state. In fact, whether that had been exactly the case, or his opponent had just released his hold at that exact moment, would forever be a matter of academic debate.
Point was, the ashen blond boy suddenly found himself coming back to awareness. For a brief moment, sheer confusion was all he could feel, but then the relative positions of himself and the extra he should be fighting registered, and with that the hazy memory of the last few seconds hit him like a sledgehammer.
"Wow, now THAT was a match that was over in a flash! Seems like the match up wasn't unfavorable to Shinsou this time around!"
…
…
…
…He'd lost.
No, he hadn't lost, it was even worse, he hadn't even been allowed to fight.
There was no fucking way this noddle-armed general course extra, who looked like he didn't know the meaning of a good night's sleep, could've taken the best of the hero course in a straight fight. So instead, the fucker had caught him in some bullshit cheap shot with whatever the fuck creepy ass quirk he had before Bakugou could even let off a blast.
And now the piece of shit was just standing there, staring up towards the crowds like a fucking brain dead moron as people in the stands stopped wondering about what the fuck just happened and started cheering for him, cheers he had in no way earned.
A searing rage like no other that Bakugou had ever felt surged through his entire being. Never had he been so thoroughly disrespected, so utterly humiliated, by some random fucker that didn't even have what it takes to be a hero, someone who was never even a contender. For a split second, the thought of unleashing this rage, of blasting this piece of shit to smithereens for the insult of being denied, was tempting…
…But for all his wrath, Bakugou was not an idiot, and knew to listen to common sense. Assaulting the motherfucker, after the match had already been called, with the eyes of the world upon him, would do more damage to his goals than whatever setbacks would result from this indignity. And otherwise defying Midnight's call would just make him seem like a whiny bitch.
And so, with crackling pops from fists clenched so tight that they almost drew blood, a glare of such focused hatred toward the purple-haired extra that it doubled as a prayer for him to spontaneously explode, Katsuki about turned and stomped for the exit without a word.
The pitying, mocking bellows from fucking Deku only rubbed salt in the wound.
It was only when he found himself in the privacy of his prep room that he allowed himself to bellow out his rage, alongside a few contained explosions to vent. The few tears that followed he'd deny to his dying breath.
/
"BOOOOOH! BOOOOOOOH! DAH ZOG KINDA MATCH IS DIS?!" Midoriya was yelling, leaning so far over the railing as he angrily shook a fist at the arena that Momo was genuinely worried he might fall into it. "DAT ONE DIDN'T COUNT! DO OVAH! LET'EM FITE GUD'N PROPPAH!"
Momo looked around, and none of the students present seemed too keen on saying anything to the class loose cannon when he was so incensed. Iida might have, if he hadn't already left to prepare for their own upcoming match, and some of the others were even slowly inching away from the angry tirade, prompting the pony tailed girl to sigh. Being class president shouldn't equate to being class handler…
"Midoriya, please, calm down." She hesitantly tried. "Yelling like that is not gonna do anything, the match has already been decided…"
"But it'z unfair!" The green-haired boy turned to glare at her. "In wot zoggin' way can dat be allowed?! Wuzn't dah whole point tah let gitz show wot dey could do?! Even Sparky got tah let loose before going down! Winnin' without a fite ain't winnin'!"
"I… kind of understand your point, Midoriya…" Momo lied, for wont of a better reply to the rant. "But be that as it may, the call has been made. Shinsou-san did not cheat, far as I can tell, and if Bakugou lost, it was through no one's fault but his own,-"
Sato made an effort to not let the vindication he was feeling show, lest it draw the irate boy's attention.
"-just… please settle down? Your next fight will be coming soon enough. Surely, you'll have your fun then?"
To her surprise and mild relief, Midoriya seemed to still, clearly considering her words with an extremely grumpy frown.
"First, dah frosty git dun wanna take fings serious," He grumbled, ignoring the icy stare from the boy in question. "Now Katsu don'even get tah have fun. Dis whole' tournament is stoopid!"
Momo was about to reply when an all too smug and condescending 'Ah!' drew everyone's attention towards the barrier separating their booth from 1-B's, where Monoma was once again peeking out.
"What a truly pathetic display! For the brute to be so easily beaten by someone not even of our classes! You lot will have to do better if you-you…"
The boy's words died in his mouth and his smug demeanour wilted under the absolutely withering glare Midoriya threw his way. Such was the feeling of impending doom that crawled up Monoma's spine at the sight, that for once, self-preservation won over his obsessive, one-sided rivalry, the boy just slowly vanishing back into the relative protection of his side of the stands without another word.
…Momo had the feeling Kendo-san would be quite interested in knowing what had brought him to heel so swiftly next time there was a class president meeting.
Either way, it seemed like Midoriya's outrage had finally lost steam, the boy just stomping back to his seat and plopping down with his harms crossed, grumbling incoherently all the while. Considering that as good a sign that her job was done as any, Momo proceeded to make her way down to the prep rooms, mind racing with ways to deal with the upcoming challenge.
/
"Alright folks, let's get this ball rolling and move on to the next match!" Present Mic declared, his words washing way the last remnants of confusion and disappointment of the previous match from the crowd. "In this corner, straight from the ranks of the recommended students, underestimate her and you'll be the one falling apart, it's Setsuna Tokage of 1-B!"
The green-haired girl grinned at the introduction, flashing sharp, sharklike teeth at her unmoved opponent.
"And her opponent, the girl with a spring in her step that will land in your face, it's Tsuyu Asui of 1-A! Who will prevail in this match of reptile vs. amphibian? Let's find out!"
"Alright ladies, I am expecting a clean fight here." Midnight said as she looked between the two. "Are you ready?"
"Oh yeah." Setsuna replied, her wide grin gaining a taunting edge.
"Yes, ribbit." Tsuyu replied impassively, which made her opponent double take.
"Then begin!"
The frog-like girl did not waste time, her legs bending as she leapt forward, lashing out at her opponent with a kick, the other girl dodging out of the way, her grin now seeming amused.
"Ribbit? Damn girl, really sticking to the theme, aren't we?" She commented casually as she stepped back, making some distance between them. "Feels kinda forced, don't you think?"
Tsuyu did not bother with a retort as she dropped down on all fours, opening her mouth only to allow her long tongue to lash out like a whip, wrapping around her opponent's ankle before the girl could react and pulling, seeking to trip her up. Her face didn't show it, but she was surprised when the limb simply popped off from the knee down, leaving her opponent standing on one leg.
"Aaaaah! My leg! My leg!" Setsuna cried out dramatically, before cutting off with theatrics and smirking teasingly at her perplexed opponent. "Nah, just messing with you, Froggy. Though I gotta say, guess you're not keeping to the theme that hard after all. I mean, I'm more of a dinosaur kinda gal myself, but I'm pretty sure frogs don't actually have tongues that long and-"
Tsuyu, ever a pragmatic girl, simply lashed out once again with her newly obtained makeshift club, the other greenette's casual comments cut short as she yelped in genuine surprise from being thrown back by her own leg smacking her across the face, somehow managing a perfectly balanced landing as if she still had two legs under her.
"Ooof, seems like Asui's surprise didn't last! I dare say Setsuna never had her quirk turned on her like that before!"
"Adapting on the fly to unexpected circumstances is a necessary skill to any hero." Eraserhead helpfully supplied, with as close to approval as his usual, dour demeanour allowed.
"You, you hit me with my own leg." Setsuna voiced incredulously, before bursting into laughter. "Well played, Froggy, well played. You caught me off guard, but now I can't let that happen again."
The frog girl barely had the time to process the statement before she found her tongue tensing from unexpected strain as the limb she held seemed to gain a mind of its own, trying to pull away from her grip. And moments after that, she caught from the corner of her eye something speeding towards her.
Tsuyu promptly let go of the sudden tug of war and leapt upwards, allowing her to see that the projectile passing where she had just stood was a clenched fist. A quick glance towards her opponent showed her that the other green-haired girl was now lacking the other leg and both arms, suddenly just a limbless head and torso somehow floating in place.
That glance was all she needed to realize what was coming, shooting her tongue towards the arena floor to pull herself out of the way in midair as two more projectiles came blitzing past where she'd just been.
What an odd quirk, the frog girl couldn't help but feel, but then again she was hardly in any position to judge. Swiftly realizing that allowing the current situation to continue would get her nowhere fast, she promptly decided to go for the head.
And so Tsuyu leapt straight towards her opponent, closing the gap in a split second, feet first, ready for a diving kick straight into her opponent's face.
The smug grin that she glimpsed as she went was all the warning she had to realize she'd been played.
Seconds before impact, Tsuyu's eyes went wide as her target's face split in half from ear to ear, floating apart and causing her to fly harmlessly by, straight off the edge of the arena. She made a last second attempt to turn and use her tongue to pull herself back, only for floating hands to clamp her mouth shut and push her further out, until she had no choice but let her feet hit the grass.
"Asui is out of bounds, the winner is Tokage!" Midnight immediately called out, and the crowd broke out in cheers.
"Well, dang, ribbit." Tsuyu commented without much heat as soon as her mouth was free, immediately dropping her combat readiness. Her opponent, quite literally pulling herself back together, stepped out of the arena, walking up towards her.
"Hey, that was a good effort." The other greenette genuinely praised, her toothy grin looking much friendlier. "It was good thinking. You would have given me a lot of trouble if you'd known that I could do that."
"Well, now I am aware of it for next time, ribbit." Tsuyu replied mildly, staring at the girl in a slightly more deadpan than usual manner. "Calling me out on my theme when yours is much less evocative feels kinda hypocritical, though."
"Yeah, about that, I was really just trying to get a rise out of you, throw you off your game. Didn't work out, you really know to keep a cool head, which isn't really a surprise, given what you guys went through." Setsuna replied apologetically, extending her arm. "No hard feelings?"
"Eh, I've heard far worse, ribbit. We'll call it even with that smack I gave you." Tsuyu stated gracefully and reached to shake hands, to the growing cheers of a crowd approving of the sportsmanship.
/
"Oh, Tsu-chan…" Momo couldn't help but breathe out, feeling bad for her friend and classmate, the monitor in her waiting room allowing to see the full match.
The frog-like girl's conduct had been exemplary, she couldn't help but feel, it was just a shame that her opponent had a trick like that up her sleeve. Even Momo herself hadn't know Tokage-san's splitting could be that extreme, despite having seen it in action in the recommendation exams. In hindsight, perhaps some discussions in strategy and intel sharing might have benefited the class. Might be too late now, but it was certainly an idea for later.
For now, however, she needed to concentrate on her own fight, and how exactly was she going to handle Iida-san. His speed was a massive issue, but she had some…
"Attention, spectators and participants." The voice of Present Mic suddenly spoke through the room's comms, and Momo couldn't help but find it odd how uncharacteristically lacking in bombastic flair it was. "Unfortunately, Tenya Iida will be unable to participate in the next match, and thus forfeits by default. This being so sudden, Yaoyoruzu will be moving towards the next round."
…Wait, what?
/
Not gonna lie, I actually had some plans for how the Momo vs Iida match would have played out, but after giving it some thought, I somewhat reluctantly decided that this would work better for how I intend things to play out.
Anyway, next time, the final match of the round.
But before that, in two weeks we got the next update to Through the Eternities, so look forward to that.
Cya all on the next one, stay safe and take care.