More sports festival shenanigans, as well as the beginning of the finals match!

One more chapter and I can kiss this arc GOODBYE!

Chapter 37

Sports Festival Part 5:

Blast from the Past

Ten minutes.

For ten solid minutes, everyone watching from the stadium seats and the safety of their TV screens across Japan would witness a most spectacular sight and battle.

From the stands made for special seating for VIP guests as well as teaching staff, Inko and Eri watched on as Izuku would dodge and weave past the fiery blasts and icy obstacles with how own abilities that just seemed to manifest from the orb upon the garbled and, admittedly dark looking staff.

While Inko looked on in worry at the rather destructive force her baby boy had become, her surrogate granddaughter looked on in amazement. Her excitement was not only due to how "cool" her papa looked while he flung fire and ice spells at the dual-colored-haired boy but also to how similar the boy looked to one of her favorite cartoon characters. To help Eri catch up in her studies and learning everyday things, the parental guardians in her life had taken to showing her educational shows with cute little characters to help teach the fundamentals of early education. At the same time, they watched the show with her and participated in the show's call-outs with the little girl.

One such show featured a little girl dressed similarly to Izuku's outfit, though the character had a giant broomstick and a much standard pointed hat. It was a show suggested by Tsuyu and Kyoka called "Witch Hazel's Spooky Time Learning".

Eri had fallen in love with the show, with the main character having white hair and big red eyes similar to herself. Honestly, Eri watched it just as much as Izuku loved to watch the Hero News Network, which they both did together as well, the small unicorn mimicking her papa and taking down notes while she watched the educational adventures of the witch and her companions.

"Grandma!" Eri called out, turning her gaze away from one particular fiery explosion caused by Izuku casting a spell at an incoming ice attack from Shoto. Inko looked down to the small girl, bouncing in her seat with one big smile on her lips. (the only other time Eri had smiled larger was when she discovered candy apples.) "Papa looks like Witchy Hazel!"

Inko softly smiled, gently patting Eri's head as the child giggled gently, "Yes, yes, he certainly does look like that little witch you like, dear."

"Do you think Papa can teach me how to cast spells and dress up like Witchy Hazel?" Eri asked with an excited tone of voice, her wide eyes sparkling at the thought of her and her papa flying around on broomsticks and using magic to save everyone dancing through her head.

Another explosion briefly put Inko's response at a pause as both the small child and older woman looked down to see Izuku suddenly levitate towards a prominent symbol hovering above the platform's surface, dodging a massive spout of fire coming from Todoroki, before he retaliated with his own.

Inko kept looking at the carnage her son and his classmate were causing before slowly turning towards Eri with a weak little smile, "E-Erm… I'm sure he would love to dress up with you as Witchy Hazel, dear, but I think the casting spells will have to wait until you're a little older."

Izuku was panting hard; parts of his cloth robes were charred and covered in frost as he weakly held up his staff towards Todoroki, who was similarly in just as rough shape.

The son of the number two hero slowly smirked, spouts of fire bursting from his left side of his body as part of his costume was burnt off from not only the use of the newly reacquired half of his quirk but also from the rather explosive fiery attacks from his green-haired counterpart, "You look winded, Midoriya…" he panted out, reading himself into another stance, "I… I think it's time we ended this fight."

"Agreed… though I have to admit, I get the appeal of weaving both ice and fire now…." Izuku panted out as he gripped the shaft of the staff a little tighter, "You have… an amazing quirk, Todoroki… and I look forward to being a hero with you."

"Same… would be nice… to have more practice, though."

Izuku chuckled gently with a huff, "Don't… glacier our classmates then…."

Shoto huffed and shook his head with a smirk, afterward he looked to see a rather dark and severe look fall upon Izuku's face, his pupil's shrunken into tiny pinpricks as the black mage was staring coldly at him, "If you so much as even think of using that move or something similar against Tsuyu, you will face my full wrath."

The fire and ice user slowly nodded, which caused Izuku to brighten up again as the darkly clothed boy readied into a stance, "Good, I know accidents can happen in practice and there will be times you two will have to fight one another, I just worry that the sudden temperature shift would harm her is all."

"You… care about her," Todoroki said, his breathing calming down as ice slowly began to form on his right side while the spouts of fire started to burn more brightly.

"Of course I do; she is my frog queen after all." Izuku smiled as his free hand close to the orb on the staff began to glow, causing the object to shift between a bright orange hue or a cool blue, "I have to look out for her like she looks out for me."

The cheers of the crowds caught their attention as they began to chant out a countdown, obviously hitting a sort of time limit unknown to the two fighters. The people were shouting out the word "thirty" when Izuku looked back at Todoroki with his manic smile once again, "One last big attack?"

"Sounds good… and I'll be the one to win this fight." Todoroki smiled back at him, the fire on his arm growing larger. Izuku's smile grew at the declaration from his classmate before cackling once again as the staff began to shake with the power building from within the orb.

"HA! We shall see, Todoroki! Now face the full might of a BLACK MAGE!"

As Izuku shouted this out, a large blast of fire shot out from Todoroki, hurtling towards the staff-wielding student whose eyes shone with a bright green for just a moment, as he thrust out his hand and staff out towards the incoming inferno of fire.

Appearing in front of the encroaching attack was an enormous blackened crystal, hanging in the air and radiating a vast amount of aether within it, pulsing with the raw magic building inside of it. Just as Izuku was about to finish casting the spell, giant cement walls surrounded the two attacks before they reached one another.

With a maddening look of glee, Izuku shouted at the top of his lungs, "XENOGLOSSY!"

"If you're here to see the dummy, I'll warn you it's not a pretty sight," Krile spoke in a monotone voice as she looked up from her clipboard to Momo, who looked quite upset. They were standing outside of one of the private medical rooms afforded to students needing to be quarantined for whatever reason, or their injuries were that extensive, and they needed the privacy to recuperate.

Momo turned her gaze to the door; her left hand brought up as she looked down to her smaller elder, "I-Is Izuku alright? He didn't look that injured after his match with Todoroki."

"Aside from a few patches of his skin where he got burned or partially frozen, he's… fine… for the lack of a better term, I've already healed those wounds, but now we have a new issue," Krile said cryptically, her brows furrowing as Momo looked even more in worry.

"What's wrong with Izuku? Is he sick?"

"It's… hmm…." The more petite woman quickly looked around to make sure they were alone with no eavesdroppers, the ponytailed student doing the same thing as Krile spoke in a low whisper, "To be honest, this is one of those kits we feared if it was unlocked too soon, it would either have horrific consequences on his body or possibly kill him. Black mages are powerful spellcasters back in Eorzea, but the problem being is that their spells require an enormous amount of aether to cast. Some novice mages would often die due to them depleting their entire aether within their bodies."

The look of horror on the student's face made Krile sigh, "The black mages were able to figure out ways to prevent this sort of thing, hence why you saw the boy weave between the fire and ice spells he cast."

"S-so he's not going to die?"

"Thankfully no, but this has brought its own set of problems. You see, Quinn's first job was a thaumaturgist, or "lesser" black mage if you will. This was a way for a person's body to acclimate to the sudden loss and regaining of aether in their body, as thaumaturgist's spells didn't command such high costs to cast."

"There were still side effects, though, and one way Quinn was able to keep himself … 'normal' was to partake in inhaling the smoke of fauna known as 'Gaelicatnip'. While it had its effects on the feline beastkin of the land, Quinn had used it since it was filled with an abundance of aether, leveling out his own reserves."

As Krile was explaining all of this, Momo had brought her hand up to her chin and began to think; after mulling over it for a few moments, she looked back to Krile, "Would these plants have the same effect on Izuku?"

"Doubtful, for one thing, the plant doesn't exist here, and the closest equivalent would be basic catnip, but that is poisonous to humans after a certain amount. Plus, Midoriya is a human, and we still don't know if Quinn's aether within his body is going to affect him physically yet."

This had got Momo's attention, having never heard about this before, as she slowly furrowed her brows gently, "Wait… what will the aether do to Izuku?"

Krile sighed, though internally she was cackling like a banshee, "He's not going to suddenly sprout cat ears or a tail if that is what you are worried about. It's more the subtle changes I'm concerned about."

"Subtle changes?"

"Yes, Miqo'te were very well known for their increased levels of stamina and endurance, especially in the males."

Momo blinked at that, tilting her head slightly, "Why the males specifically?"

"Possibly due to their culture, you remember when the five of you learned what Miqo'te were, correct?" Krile asked as Momo gently nodded, but looking quite obviously interested in learning more, "Miqo'te culture was… unique in a sense. They had been split into two different tribes. The patriarchal Seekers of the Sun and the matriarchal Keepers of the Moon. You can tell which was which as the Seekers had irises like a cat, while the Keepers had fangs."

"So was the culture between the two that much different? Aside from the obvious 'who was in charge of the tribe'."

"Funnily enough, not really… the only difference was when it came to 'mates'." Krile said with a shit-eating grin, watching as Momo suddenly blushed up like a tomato, similar to a certain green-haired boy resting in the room not far from them, "For the Seekers, it was ten females to one male, and for the Keepers, it was one male to every ten females."

Momo slowly frowned once again, thinking for a moment before she looked like she was about to speak, but then went back to thinking. All the while, Krile was smugly smiling at the student, "Odd, I know, but that's how things were done."

"Then... What was Quinn? Was he a Seeker or a Keeper?"

"He was neither; he was a 'hybrid', for his parents were a Seeker AND a Keeper, a union that was considered taboo by both tribes."

Momo looked stunned and more confused than she was before, "Why was that taboo? I thought they were the same race of people."

"Well, there was a reason for the tribes to split up, though they forgot why centuries before. It has always been like that since then." Krile then cleared her throat, "To get back on the topic, because of how they procreated, the males had built up an incredible amount of stamina and endurance, especially during their 'mating season'."

Now that gave Momo a deep blush, blinking as her mind came to that grinding halt at the implications if Izuku had such a thing, "Now, we are not sure if Midoriya will have these same urges but don't fret, it's not like he'd just sudden pounce the closest woman he comes across." Krile had said as she walked past Momo, heading back to the main infirmary and leaving her up to her own devices.

The heiress, with a deep blush on her cheeks, watched the "backbone" of UA head off before turning her gaze over to the door that led to Izuku's private room. While she knew time was short, Momo needed to see Izuku, check up on him at the very least, and stay by his side until it was time for him to go back out for the final match.

Slowly opening the door, the room was practically dark, aside from the relatively large glowing crystals floating in the air and spinning slowly in the four corners of the room. Oddly, she could see streams of sparkles slowly flowing towards the center of the room, where Izuku was currently placed on top of a medical gurney.

Gently closing the door so as not to wake him, Momo carefully walked towards the still sleeping boy, her hands resting upon his arm gently as her onyx eyes looked upon his still-sleeping face. While she believed the diagnosis that he was alright, seeing him here like he was hadn't given her much hope in that belief. As Momo's eyes slowly traveled down his torso, her eyes gazed upon the descending sparkles that seemed to be flowing into the middle of his chest. Curiosity took the better of the heiress as she tenderly moved the blanket down slowly to reveal two things to her.

One was that nothing was connecting the aether beam to collect into his body; the mysterious force was just slowly disappearing into his body. And second of all, what really made Momo blush up more was the fact that Izuku was shirtless underneath the blanket.

Trying to focus on the beam of light and not her boyfriend's very chiseled and muscular body, Momo slowly moved her delicate hands across his broad chest, inching closer towards where the aetherial trial ended.

As her fingers eventually reached their destination, she could feel a soft tingling sensation as well as a gentle warmth flowing down her arm. She watched on in fascination as she gently moved her hand off of Izuku's body and held her hand up inside of the beam. She could feel more of the warming sensation travel into her body, making her feel more heated up than before.

A deep groan escaping from Izuku's lips scared Momo to quickly pull back her hand from the beam, just in time to see the emerald irises she was so accustomed to gaze upon her, "M...Momo?"

"Shhh… it's ok, you're in a private medical room, and Krile set up some sort of "system" to regulate your aether flow… I think." replied Momo as she gently moved her hand to cup his cheek, "How are you feeling otherwise? You made all of us worried when you collapsed after knocking Todoroki off the platform with that last explosion the two of you caused."

"... Is he ok?" Izuku asked, looking a little worried, which caused Momo to smile and gently nod her head. Internally, the heiress was giggling in her mind at the fact that, of course, Izuku would think of others before himself.

"I think he's still out cold, but I know Krile is looking after him, and he didn't seem that injured, similar to yourself." Momo continued to smile before leaning in and gently kissing his lips softly, causing the boy to blush at the sudden romantic gesture before returning it a little weakly since he was still recovering.

Once the kiss had ended, Izuku was smiling as he lifted a hand to gently cup her cheek as well, "... also how are you doing? I wish I could've talked to you after your match-" Izuku had begun to say before a single finger rested on his lips.

Momo smiled down as she removed her finger, "I'm fine; Kyoka talked some sense into me and also mentioned how Mina and Tsuyu had to literally drag you to your second match."

That little tidbit made the boy in bed chuckle weakly, his other hand moving to scratch his cheek, "Y...yea… I just wanted to cheer you up and tell you that I thought you did quite well against Tokoyami. I-I know his attacks were quick and all that, but Mina even did the same to me… so I know how you feel, at least."

"As our lovely musician told me, 'We are still learning, so mistakes can happen, and we can only learn and improve upon them.'. Besides, Mina was happy you were taking her seriously, even after the little performance you two did." Momo giggled gently, as did Izuku, his thumb gently rubbing her cheek.

"So, did Krile say how long I need to stay here?"

"No, but I'm sure she'll come to get you for the last match; they were still thawing out parts of the battle area, then the potholes you and Todoroki put into it still need to be fixed by Mr. Cementoss."

"... Nezu really needs to give him a raise." Izuku said somberly with a smirk, which caused Momo to nod and giggle as well, "Momo… could you stay here with me?"

"Of course, Izuku… Oh! I should tell you about the message Kyoka got from your mother!" Momo said with some excitement, pulling a chair up to sit beside him.

"Is it anything bad?" Izuku said with a bit of worry, raising up a little before being gently pushed back down onto the bed.

"No, silly…" Momo smiled gently, "Apparently, our daughter has really taken to your latest kit and wishes to wear a costume similar to yours the next time we watch her show together."

"...Ah, you know… I had a feeling that may happen." Izuku chuckled gently, "anything else? Has she and Eri been enjoying the sports festival?"

"Well, aside from the new outfit idea, the fight with Shinsou really frightened her… that is something we will talk about with her, so she doesn't get scared like that again," Momo said with a somber look, and then crestfallen when she noticed Izuku's expression turned to one of sadness at the fact he had scared Eri.

Softly rubbing his cheek, getting his attention once again, Momo gently smiled and leaned down to kiss him once more, their lips lingering. The heiress pressed a little harder into the embrace before slowly pulling her lips off of his. Izuku blinked in a daze with a somewhat goofy looking smile on his face as Momo giggled gently, continuing in her response, "Aside from that one instance, Eri has been cheering her heart out for all of us and seemed to really like the performance you had with Mina."

Izuku sighed and rested once again in the bed, watching the aether travel across the ceiling with a tired-looking smile, "That's good then… I was worried that the crowds and all the fights would be frightening for her."

Momo sat beside the gurney, her hand resting on his as Izuku looked towards her, still beaming a gentle smile, "I had my worries too, but thankfully your mother has been keeping our little unicorn up in the special VIP seats with all the teachers, people she is used to at the very least."

"Good thing too, you know my mom wanted to invite Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru up with them into the VIP suites with them?" Izuku said with an incredulous smirk and shaking of his head, which Momo found a little shocking to see that Izuku was against such an idea.

"I thought you were alright with them?"

"Oh! I am!" Izuku rose up, only to wince and fall back down; obviously, his ribs were still a little sore, "Ow… just I don't think I should bring Auntie Mitsuki around Eri just yet… Not like she would do anything to frighten her on purpose, but if Bakugo was walking around…."

"Ah… that makes sense, plus I can gather she would be yelling quite a lot while he was performing." Momo stated as Izuku nodded, watching his expression shift from the pained wince to a more determined look in his eyes while looking up at the ceiling. Momo's hand gently squeezed his in worry as he was silent, causing Izuku to look at her.

"S-sorry… was just thinking about the final match."

"You think you will have to face Bakugo again? I know All Might and the other teachers have been making sure not to pair the two of you up in training."

Izuku gently nodded, which saddened Momo a little, "Not that I don't think Tenya is weak or anything, but Bakugo... " he sighed, looking back up, "For the longest time, I actually admired him… almost as much as I did All Might truthfully. I'll admit his attitude and personality is garbage, but lately, he seems to have mellowed out a little… I don't know if it's Kirishima constantly around him and reeling Bakugo in or the counseling classes he's been taking. But he's changing, slowly."

The stadium's roar of excitement could be heard from above the roof, catching both students' attention. Momo pouted gently, looking down at Izuku and coming to a decision, "Izuku, move over."

The green-haired boy's gaze whipped around to her, a bright red blush on his cheeks, "M-Momo?"

"I want to comfort you before your final match, so I wish to cuddle with you to do so." Momo stated as she stood up, looking down at him with half-lidded eyes, "And I also wish to discuss with you the ideas for Eri's room decorations I and the others had, so move over Izuku." she said with all seriousness in her voice.

Izuku stared at her for a few moments in silence before stiffly sliding himself over to allow Momo to climb onto the bed and lay herself down next to him, cuddling close to him with one hand resting on his right pectoral and her head placed onto his bare chest. She looked up to him with the brightest smile he had ever seen on Momo's lips as she began to discuss the ideas with him.

"ALLL RIGHT, LISTENERS! THE MOMENT YOU ALL BEEN WAITING FOR, IT'S TODAY'S FINAL MATCH!" Present Mic blasted through the speakers of the stadium as the crowd roared in excitement.

"We have seen many great and rather odd matches today, but don't think for a second that today's final match isn't going to keep that energy flowing! Now, coming in from the right side of the arena… He's ferocious; his personality is explosive as all get out and with a quirk to match! It's KATSUKI BAKUGOOOO!"

Bakugo had already begun his journey towards the battle platform, looking even more ticked off than usual as the crowd gave off some cheers towards the blond bomber. However, their excitement seemed more muted than before.

While many had taken an interest in Bakugo, to say that his rather vicious and overall dismissal of his other classmates did leave a bad taste in their mouth. However, despite his rather crude attitude, they could not doubt the boy's skill and determination to show that he would be a mighty hero in the future.

Many of them thought he would be the next Endeavor if his attitude wouldn't change by the time he graduated.

"-AND on the left side of the Arena! It's the boy with a quirk that literally breaks everything we know about them and the main reason Cementoss has been overworked for most of these matches! It's IZUKU MIDORIYA!" Present Mic shouted through the speakers, and once again, the crowd had given off a muted round of cheers for the green-haired student, who was looking off towards his opponent and locking his gaze with his.

Admittedly, while Izuku had been a fan favorite with his performances during the first two main events and his first fight with Mina, the incidents where his quirk went berserk during his second match, as well as the somewhat crazed sort of chaos he caused during his match up with Todoroki were still fresh in their minds. Though, out of the final two combatants for the first years, Izuku was clearly the fan-favorite.

As Izuku reached his spot on the battle platform, he watched as from the other side that Bakugo was staring at him with a snarl, which he frowned at in return when the crack of a whip caught their attention.

"Now, we are going to keep this fight nice and clean! If either of you goes overboard, you will be disqualified, am I clear?" Midnight said with a rather ominous tone of voice, her usual perky personality nowhere to be seen. The R-rated hero knew of the animosity between the two, and she was well aware of how bloody and brutal this would get if they got out of hand. Giving both of the boys a rather stern look as they nodded towards her before focusing once again on either, Midnight huffed gently and walked back towards her spot to referee the match.

The two students remained silent, both staring hard at one another as the crowds slowly got quiet. The tension between the two could be felt in the air as Bakugo grunted, causing Izuku to lift his head slightly and raise an eyebrow, "What is it, Bakugo?"

The blond remained silent, his eyes squinting down as he slowly readied himself for battle. Izuku frowned as he, too slowly moved into a fighting stance and prepared himself for whatever the blonde was going to do. As the cracking of Midnight's whip rang out in the air, as well as the voice calling for them to start, Bakugo was already on him, using his explosions to propel himself at breakneck speeds with a heavy right-handed swing heading for Izuku's face. As if by pure instinct, Izuku had raised his arm up to block the incoming strike, only to get kicked at his side caused by Bakuo's heavy foot connecting with his rib cage and sent the green-haired body to the side. At the same time, Bakugo used his explosions to keep himself on the attack, propelling him to go after his foe.

A small flash of light temporarily blocked Bakugo's version when he made another swing of his leg to kick the boy, only to find that his ankle was grabbed. He was sent around and overhead, smashing into the platform by Izuku, who was wearing the familiar monk outfit he had on during those joint heroics classes. Raising his foot up, Izuku brought it down hard and close to Bakugo's body, only for him to roll and dodge out of the way as Izuku shouted, "ARM OF THE DESTROYER!"

As his foot connected with the ground, a massive cascade of broken and cracked cement formed, causing Bakugo to be sent tumbling, grunting in pain. The explosive quirk user was further sent across the platform when Izuku charged towards him, flipping onto his hands and helicopter kicking around as he spun on his palms and shouted once more, "FOUR-POINT FURY!"

Bakugo shouted in pain as he tumbled head over heel until he was on his feet, a trickle of blood running down from the side of his mouth. Bakugo's hand slowly moved his arm across his lips, seeing the smear of blood on his arm now before his red eyes gazed upon Izuku, who was panting gently but still in a fighting stance. The sparks of small explosions coming from Bakugo's hands began to pop from his fingers as he shouted with a loud roar of anger, lunging towards his opponent, "DIE, YOU FUCKIN' NERD!"

Far above the open stadium, where the largest of explosions could be seen from its center. Floating in the middle of the bright blue sky stood Nabriales, his dark cloak and hood billowing from the winds that passed by him as he crossed his arms and looked down to the carnage happening from the fight between Bakugo and Midoriya. His lips slowly curled into a fiendish smirk, revealing a fanged canine tooth as his deep red mask hid his eyes.

"Well, well… to think that blood sports were a common thing in this society as well. You'd think they would have better things to do than watch two brats beat the life out of one another." mused the being with a gentle shrug, speaking to himself as he slowly reached into the depths of his wide-open sleeves with the clawed gauntlets covering his hands.

He held a somewhat decently sized crystal in one hand, though its color had a rather dark purple shine to it. The other hand was holding what looked like a sizeable ornate dagger, covered in gold and silver on its grip, as well as the rather fine and sharp edge it had.

Taking the hand holding the crystal, he shook it to cast the gauntlet off and reveal the rather pale hand that had rather sharp or sharpened fingernails and held it over the dagger as its tip was pointed up. Quickly slicing the end of his finger and not wincing from the cut, Nabriales continued to smirk as he tossed the dagger away over his shoulder, causing it to disappear into a small black portal behind him.

He dropped the crystal into his now open hand and let the few drops of blackish-looking blood land on the relatively pristine surface of the object. He spoke in a low tone of voice, the language native to his kind, as the crystal began to pulse with life, the blood beginning to bubble and boil on the surface like oil on a frying pan.

The ascian let go of the crystal, allowing it to plummet down towards the stadium below as the crystal began to glow more brightly before being consumed with the black fluid and growing in size as it fell from the sky. Nabriales chuckled darkly, a dark portal enveloping his body as he spoke his departing words to those down below him.

"I do hope they enjoy the additional entertainment and hope it isn't TOO frightening for you, Warrior of Light."

"STUN GRENADE!" Bakugo shouted loudly, causing a massive and bright explosion to erupt from his hands. Upon hearing the sudden cry of pain from Izuku, Bakugo smiled and rushed in, sweat running down his forehead and hair as he brought another kick towards Izuku's midsection, which caused the boy to grunt in pain and sent flying backward.

As Izuku blinked quickly to get his sight back, the audience around them could see the toll of the fight evident on his clothes and skin, what with the burn and scorch marks littering his body and on some of his face. Bakugo wasn't doing so well either, however, as several bruises could be seen on his arms and face. At the same time, parts of his gym outfit were torn and ripped to see the cuts and tiny bits of blood on his body.

The two boys panted heavily, getting their second win before continuing their fight, only for a rather large shadow slowly began to form from the center of the platform. The audience screamed loudly as a mass of what looked like black sludge collided into the very middle of the platform, kicking up a large dust cloud as it landed and blinding all to what it was, also knocking back Bakugo and Izuku onto their butts while knocking Midnight off of the platform entirely.

Bakugo and Izuku began to cough loudly, being the closest to the epicenter of the crash. However, both boys started to have their nostrils invaded by a somewhat foul stench. It smelled like pure rot, like that of decaying leaves or other plant matter.

As the enormous dust cloud slowly began to dissipate, though not fully being able to be seen by everyone yet, a large shadow slowly began to stir, raising itself up and towering over the two students who had not yet gotten off the platform. A loud bestial roar with a shockwave of rotting air burst forth from the shadow, and what it revealed made Izuku freeze on the spot.

Standing before him was a large creature with very odd proportions. A rather large, bulbous body covered in what could be best described as thick and sharpened jagged tree bark covered its stomach, while its stubby legs and elongated arms looked like withered tree trunks. Its head was just as large as the body, with a wide maw that almost looked like it was smiling, had it not been lined with razor-sharp teeth and its lips either curled up from the decay or simply falling off.

Where once its eyes would have been, nothing but deep void-filled sockets as the lumbering creature slowly turned its head towards Izuku, with the creaking of an old tree in a storm, and looked down at him. And with its next roar directly at Izuku, showing off even more teeth within its rotting mouth, the green-haired boy knew what that meant.

It had found its first meal in a VERY long time.