Holy crap, it's been about a year since I touched this. I've been trying to get back into my works and finally got a short chapter done.
Thanks to anyone that's still following this and hasn't given up on waiting. I might be able to get a bit more consistent in the future.
Still don't own MHA or Marvel. If I did I would have a lot more time to write.
"This isn't going to be fun," Sero whispered as his classmate stared him down from the other side of the arena. The feeling he was getting was not quite hatred, but more of an overall rage that he despised being on the receiving end of.
"Begin!"
And just like that, it was over. With remarkable speed, Bakugo launched himself at Sero and blew him out of the ring with a surprisingly gentle explosion.
"Sorry Tape Face. You weren't going to beat me this time," Bakugo sneered before hopping off the arena and walking into the halls beneath the audience.
"Did he actually apologize?" the loser questioned internally as he hopped up to the bleachers and found a seat by Kaminari and Sato.
Uraraka's palms wouldn't stop shaking. Why did she have to go up against Todoroki out of everyone for her first match?
Sure, Mina would have been a tad difficult, and Kirishima had her outmatched when it came to defense, and Izuku might have gone easy on her despite the sheer difference in power.
But Shoto was not as personable and gave off an uncaring air that made her very uncomfortable. She had also seen his performance during the fake hero-villain fights All Might had them do, so she was well aware of how much power and speed his ice had.
Just to add to the pile, everyone was aware that he was the son of the second rated hero in Japan, Endeavor. So even without his quirk, he undoubtedly had training in physical combat.
The walk from the hallways and into the light felt like a casual stroll to her doom. It took everything she had to steel herself.
A glimpse of her parents cheering her on reminded her of why she was here. Of how far she was capable of going despite their current situation.
She met the boy's eyes from across the arena and did her best to glare back, completely unaware that Present Mic had been introducing her and her opponent to the spectators.
She could tell that Midnight was about to begin the match and prepared herself.
"Holy shit," Ojiro muttered. Where there had once been warm air and spectators now stood an actual glacier that towered over the stadium.
"Suddenly, I don't mind the fact that I was knocked out in the first round."
"Does anyone see Uraraka? Ribbit."
As if on cue, the girl suddenly appeared near the top of the mountain of ice, likely shivering to no end. Not that anyone could tell if she was injured from the distance though.
"Uhhh…one sec everyone." The sound of a mildly frantic search was picked up by the announcer's speakers, with the occasional self-mutterings of Present Mic.
"Found 'em. Hey Uraraka, you okay up there? No injuries or anythin'?"
Aizawa could not find it in him to sigh as Present Mic stared at his student with a pair of binoculars that had been left behind for who knows what reason.
"Hey Midnight, just got a thumbs-up from the little listener."
"Uraraka is technically still in bounds, the match will continue," Midnight announced for the crowds.
Which led to the realization that until either Uraraka could get to the ground or Todoroki could climb the glacier, neither had much hope to effectively attack the other.
"Maybe if I…" Uraraka thought aloud as she pressed her fingertips together and let gravity take over. She had been hoping to completely dodge the first attack by floating over it but ended up getting caught in it regardless.
Despite the setback, she was still in the fight, which meant she needed a new plan. Even one as crazy as the one she had at the moment would have to do.
Everyone watching the fight saw the pink glow shimmer through the giant mass of ice, followed by the entire glacier slowly but surely lift into the air. It was only an inch at most before it crashed back down, but that inch was enough for the glacier to begin cracking under its own weight.
Todoroki watched, admittedly surprised, as his ice began to lift again, then came back down and shattered.
While the ice fell quickly and loudly and violently, Uraraka fell slowly and gracefully, landing on the ground with little more than a bend in the knees to bring her to a stop amongst the piles and shards of frozen water.
"Release," the girl muttered while touching all ten fingertips together.
She wanted so much to take a moment to soak in the crowd screaming and cheering, to look at her parents that were somewhere to one of her sides and flash them a smile, but she couldn't. Todoroki was still standing there. Unhurt and mostly unfazed.
She, on the other hand, was already feeling the nausea of using her quirk to move several tons of ice, even if only for a cumulative few short seconds.
"Not bad," the son of Endeavor stated. Another wall of ice advanced on the girl, this one much smaller and more direct.
She could feel the edge of a crystal cut into her shin as she jumped out of the way. She winced but kept her focus on her opponent.
While floating in the air, she was vulnerable and had little control of her movement, and it was only a matter of time before Todoroki fully realized that.
Whether or not he did realize, Ochaco was not sure. What she was sure of was that there was no time to dodge the new wall of ice rushing at her. A powerful wave of coldness washed over her as the attack caught her and pushed her out of bounds.
"Uraraka is out of bounds, Todoroki will continue."
Said boy was walking over to his former opponent who was trapped in his ice. His right hand touched the ice and an equally powerful wave of warmth relieved her of her prison. Even after she was fully free, the heat washed over until her clothes were dried of the ice that had melted on to her.
"I underestimated you. I won't be making that mistake again."
Todoroki then walked away, not even looking back or waiting for a retort of any kind.
Kirishima was pumped. The whole day had been an absolute dream for him. Sure, there had been some bumps along the way, but even still he could barely contain his enthusiasm. Everyone was going all out today and now it was his turn to step up to the plate.
He knew Momo was intelligent and her quirk was arguably overpowered with sheer versatility, but it would be anything but manly not to give it his all.
He hoped Yaoyorozu was just as eager as he was.
On the other side of the stadium, Momo was preparing a plan for her opponent. She knew he was not a tactician in battle and preferred to rush in and bulldoze his way through his enemies. All she had to do was tire him out or hit him with something harder than he could make himself.
Part of her was wishing that she had taken any kind of martial arts classes or exercised a bit more often, but wishful thinking was pointless when the alternative was practical thinking.
She made her way into the light and let the cheers spur her on. She could see Kirishima excitedly waiting for the match to begin, if him punching his fists together was any indication.
"-vice president of 1-A, Momo Yaoyorozu!"
She vaguely heard the end of her introduction via Present Mic and locked eyes with Kirishima.
"Begin!"
As she expected, Eijiro immediately dashed forward with his fists hardened. Even though Momo did not know him as well as Mina did, she knew he would never go easy on her just for being a girl; "manliness" to him meant always giving it your all without going too far.
A collection of sporadically shimmering pink and blue spots gave birth to a metal pole from her left arm.
Crack
Kirishima and Momo both staggered from the force of the blow. Her staff had a little bend where it had connected with her classmate's shoulder, but his Hardening had withstood the blow.
"That's one hell of a swing, Momo."
"Most intriguing. Most intriguing indeed."
Pure intimidation was one way Doctor Garaki could describe his master. Terror incarnate would more than do as well. Both were so cliche he could die, but accurate nevertheless.
But Garaki served his master well and had earned his trust, so he felt little fear being so close to the man that nearly killed All Might.
"It's an incredibly powerful quirk master. The one that killed Nomu."
All For One felt a strange sensation pass through him. Was this excitement? Or joy? Maybe even anxiety of a sort?
His fingers slid against the screen that displayed Izuku Midoriya and his companion. While All Might had taken his eyes in that one fight, the doctor had found a quick that let him "see" digital media on any screen by physical contact.
The sound of an argument made its way through the speaker that All For One used to listen in on the bar; presumably Toga and Shigaraki were arguing with Twice and Dabi.
The newest recruits were truly unique. Tomura was destined to be his successor, but Twice's quirk gave him almost more priority in terms of surveillance. As the name of the quirk suggested, the strangely acting man could replicate almost anything he touched as long as he had accurate data.
How accurate the data needed to be or how much he needed was still undermined. Tomura had asked the man when they first met and was told Twice needed "enough." Disregarding the nearly useless answer, All For One knew just how important a cloning quirk could be, so he had decided to keep an extra eye on the strange man.
Dabi, on the other hand, was much more silent than the others. He talked a fair amount, but usually in the form of retorts or smart remarks mixed with some logic.
His quirk, Cremation, almost certainly was related to Endeavor, but no one had gotten a definite yes or no from the man. He clearly did not want to talk about it, so talk about it he would not.
All For One sighed the best he could with his injuries and turned down the volume on the speaker. His attention was soon returned to the boy who had killed what he thought was the doctor's greatest creation.
So much work to build a perfect weapon; gone without a chance to fulfill its purpose. All because of one boy with a quirk unlike anything seen before.
"Doctor, do you think a quirk like this would be compatible? If needed, I could shed some less useful quirks to the next batch of Nomus."
The short, old man that had been beside him pet his little "Johnny" in deep thought.
"I believe you have yet to near the limit of quirks you can hold. Your resilience and aptitude is remarkable. Yet, I do understand the fear of taking on a quirk that could wreck the balance of your quirks. Perhaps it would be best to create a little extra room."
All For One nodded at the man, trusting his judgment as much as he would trust his own.
"Very well then. Let me know when the next Nomu are ready. I do have another combination I wish to try."
Sorry it's short. Let me know what you thought. Have a good day everyone