Chapter 18: The Lightning Cutter
"THREE!" Present Mic yelled.
"TWO!" The crowd yelled.
"On-" All Might was about to say, when he heard a loud boom, with gust of winds being produced, before something or someone crashed into a wall.
"ZERO!" Present Mic announced, but there was a moment of silence as no one knew who got the ten million points.
He looked at where the three competitors where, only to find Izuku missing, so he looked at the dust that was filling the air in Izuku's area, and slowly fading away. Suddenly, they saw someone coming out of the rubble at Izuku's area, and that person was surrounded by green lightning, it was Izuku, with a broken leg, a broken arm and covered in blood, he was using the flag as a cane to support himself, and was indeed in his area with his flag. His Sharingan and Full Cowl were still activated.
"AAAAHHHH! I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M SEEING! IZUKU MIDORIYA, THE POWERHOUSE HIMSELF OF CLASS-A MADE IT BACK TO HIS AREA SAFELY. HE REALLY DID IT FOLKS, IZUKU MIDORIYA MANAGED TO KEEP THE TEN MILLION POINTS TO HIMSELF!" Present Mic yelled with all his might, with the crowd following and giving their applause.
Izuku gathered all of his strength to lift his broken arm, as a victory sign with a smile on his face, while Ochaco, Momo and Mei also celebrated their victory. He kept his gaze on the crowd who were cheering for him, before Momo and Ochaco approached him to help and support him, but Izuku just shook his head and refused their help.
"Deku?"
"Midoriya?"
Both of them questioned why their friend refused their help and wanted to stay while he was clearly hurt and needed medical attention.
"You know… I was… someone who nobody thought as worth-while. Who never received goodwill… and figured would never get any… I thought it would be fine like that. But… being recognized feels surprisingly good." Izuku exclaimed to both Momo and Ochaco, who were a bit confused by what he said, but decided to leave the questions for later and stood beside him, with Mei tagging along. Soon after, the medics came to take Izuku to Recovery Girl. It was a short moment of victory, but to Izuku it was definitely one of the best moments of his life.
Staff Room:
While every Pro Hero was watching the Sports Festival live from the TV in the room, amazed by the power that Izuku displayed, Kamui Woods had a large grin on his face. "I told you all he would make it to the final round, and now I'm a step closer to fill these empty pockets."
"So what? He made it to the final round, but it still doesn't mean he won the whole thing." Mount Lady replied in annoyance. She was really getting nervous now. She never imagined that Izuku had this much power and seems like she was going to lose the bet, which was something she really hated. After all, she really loved fame and money.
"I have to say that kid might be even at the level of an average pro, maybe even stronger." DeathArms pointed out.
"So, do you believe that he could win now?" Kamui asked.
"Well, I have to see the next match first." He replied.
"What do you mean?" Mount Lady asked, curious of DeathArms' reply. Did he notice something that the others failed to do so? To be honest, after seeing Izuku's capabilities she's starting to think that Izuku's going to win the whole thing, but of course she won't admit it to Kamui.
"You'll see." DeathArms simply replied, while watching Izuku being transported to the infirmary.
Meanwhile, while Izuku was being transported, Shoto was thinking about what happened during the last few seconds of the match.
What the hell… was that? He said in his mind. They think that Bakugo used a surprise attack on me to knock the flag out of my hand? No… this isn't what happened, this isn't what happened at all! He screamed in his mind. How?! How didn't they see it! I only turned my head back for a second, to see if he was coming after me, but he had a different aura, a calm aura, so calm that it was… deadly and… scary… I just froze! I couldn't move! Although, as soon as it appeared, it disappeared. And then… Shoto stopped, for a second and looked at his left hand. I won't use this to attack. That's what I had decided, but I was overwhelmed…
"Todoroki." Tenya's voice called.
And that other power he used at the end… Only one other person I know has that same kind of power… Shoto thought.
"Todoroki!" Tenya called again, which made Shoto snap out of his thoughts. "Are you alright?" He asked.
"Y-Yeah…" Shoto replied, but in reality, he wasn't alright, he had so much on his mind now and- "The match!" Shoto simply said, he forgot about the match. His team did pretty bad and it's all his fault for only focusing on Izuku and letting his anger get the best of him.
"Iida, about the match-" Shoto began but was interrupted by Present Mic.
"NOW, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE TOP FOUR TEAMS RIGHT AWAY! IN FIRST PLACE, YOU KNOW IT FOLKS, THE ONE AND ONLY TEAM MIDORIYA! Present Mic yelled, as the crowd cheered loudly.
"I still have trouble believing that we won, especially with what happened during the last minute of the match." Momo said.
"Yeah, Deku is amazing he… he's the only reason why we won." Ochaco replied, but she felt a bit uneasy. What is this feeling? Even though we won, I feel… guilty. She thought.
"Yeah, Midoriya really did save us, it's thanks… to him that we're advancing to the next round." Momo exclaimed, but she also felt uneasy despite winning the match. Why? Why do I feel like I'm so useless? That I should've done more.
"IN SECOND PLACE, TEAM OJIRO!" Present Mic shouted, as the crowd began cheering again.
"We did it! WOOH!"Itsuka cheered while hugging Ibara, she was happy that she was able to qualify to the third round.
"Yes we did, and we're all going to the third round." Ojiro replied, smiling at his comrades. He then turned to Shinso and said. "I'll keep my end of our deal and as promised I won't tell anyone about your Quirk, but I also have to thank you for cooperating with us, your judgement and Quirk were pretty amazing out there, you managed to take the flag of a whole area by yourself."
"Look at you going all soft on me now, listen I'm not here to play friends alright, if we face each other in the third round, I'll defeat you with everything I have." Shinso replied, before turning his back and walking away. However, he was smiling, smiling for the first time in a long time. He was happy that someone praised his Quirk for once.
"IN THIRD PLACE, TEAM BAKUGO!"
"Yay, we got third place and qualified to the third round." Mina cheered along with Sero, before Kirishima interrupted them.
"Do you really think that's how he feels?"
"AAAAHHH! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! THIRD PLACE AGAIN! I DIDN'T ONLY LOSE TO DEKU TWICE NOW! BUT TO MONKEY TAIL TOO! FUCK!" Bakugo yelled with all his might while smashing his head with the ground, and cursing his existence.
"AND FINALLY, IN FOURTH PLACE, TEAM TODOROKI!"
"What? How?" Todoroki questioned, but felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned back to see Awase, grinning and pointing at Tokoyami.
"When Present Mic said that only five minutes where left, we waited for another few moments before we began to worry and decided to get some flags ourselves. Luckily since our team's points were pretty high to begin with, two flags were enough to secure a spot to the third round." Tokoyami explained. "I know you wanted to get the ten million points, but things don't always go your way Todoroki…. Well at least fate gave us another chance now."
"Yes, I understand… Thank you, though." Shoto simply replied.
"THESE ARE THE FOUR TEAMS WHO WILL ADVANCE TO THE FINAL ROUND!" Present Mic announced. "NOW, WE'LL TAKE AN HOUR'S BREAK FOR LUNCH BEFORE WE START THE AFTERNOON FESTIVITIES! SEE YA! Hey, Eraser Head, let's go grab food." Present Mic added.
"I'm sleeping." The lazy teacher simply replied.
"Sheesh, you're always sleeping." Mic pointed out.
"And you're always yelling." His lazy friend replied.
"No, I'm-" Mic began, but found that Aizawa was already snoring. "Too fast!" He added as his eyes bulged out comically.
*KISS*
"You're all patched up now, but it'll be better if you rest in the bed for a little bit. Thank god that you didn't use 100% of One for All and that we had an hour break, or else you would've not been able to participate in the final round. Also, I'm not here to heal these kinds of injuries, so stop breaking your bones as if you can regrow them. Is that clear?" Recovery Girl, scolded the green haired boy. She was watching the match from a monitor, and as soon as she saw what happened she facepalmed.
"Yes Ma'am." Izuku quickly replied.
"For god sake, you're just like Toshinori. You broke your bones, so that these girls can make it to the final round, didn't you?" Recovery Girl questioned.
"They decided to trust me and join my team, despite me having the ten million points. It felt so wrong to let them down." Izuku exclaimed, as he looked with an intense gaze at Recovery Girl, that showed his unfaltering will.
Recovery Girl sighed, before saying. "And looks like your Harem is already here." The door to the infirmary opened as Momo, Ochaco, Mei and Itsuka came in to check on Izuku.
"Izuku!"
"Deku!"
They called him, while he was just going to ask Recovery Girl what she meant by Harem.
"Oh, hey girls." He replied, with a smile.
"Are you okay now?" Mei asked with a worried tone.
"Yeah, I'm all patched up now. Recovery Girl said that I'll be back to full health before the final event." He cheered.
"Good now… HOW DARE YOU DESTROY MY BABY LIKE THAT!" Mei yelled as she grabbed Izuku by his shirt and started to shake him violently, while everyone decided to take a step back.
"H-Hat-Hatsume calmed down, we all weren't sure if the glove was going to work in the first place." Izuku quickly replied, while being shaken back and forth.
"IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAD TO BREAK IT!" She replied, before catching him in a headlock position.
"Alright I'm so-sorry! I'll let you make my new H-Hero Cos-Costume! How about that?" Izuku said, as he gasped for air.
"Then why didn't you say so from the beginning?" Mei said, letting him go. "If that's the case then I do forgive you. Tell me what do you need?!" She added and got closer to him, interested by his offer, which made the other three girls a bit uncomfortable.
Mental note to add, never break Mei's inventions. Izuku thought, as he finally started to breath again. "I'll tell you about my new costume after the Sports Festival if that's alright."
"Sure." she replied with fire in her eyes, with different costume ideas flashing in front of her.
Just then, the door of the infirmary re-opened, and Shoto appeared, before looking at Izuku in his eyes.
"Everyone, go to the cafeteria, I'll catch up to you there later." Izuku said, as he got out of his bed and followed Shoto.
"I wonder what Todoroki wanted with Deku?" Ochaco asked.
"I don't know but these two have been at each other's throats since the morning, with each confrontation getting more and more intense. I hope they don't battle each other today, or it might not end well." Momo replied. She was really worried about the amount of destruction that could happen if these two fought.
"What do you mean?" Itsuka asked.
"Todoroki declared a war on Izuku this morning, and Izuku well, he said that he's not going down without a fight, and as you see they've been at each other's neck in every event, with Bakugo tagging along." Momo replied, as they were walking out of the infirmary and heading to the cafeteria. However, Itsuka got curious and decided to go after Izuku and Shoto.
"Itsuka, where are you going?" Ochaco asked.
"I'm sorry I need to check something." She replied, as she went on her way.
Meanwhile, Shoto was just standing in silence for a while and didn't speak a word, so Izuku decided to speak first. "Whatever you have to say, say it now. I don't have the time to wait much longer, I need to eat and resupply my energy before the final round." Honestly what is he thinking? Is he trying to intimidate me with his silence? Izuku thought.
Shoto, now not wanting to waste more time, decided to finally speak. "I'm sorry, it's just that I want to ask you a lot of things, and there's something I would also like to tell you about." Shoto said, grabbing the Sharingan's user attention.
Izuku now feeling that this was an important matter said. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I was overpowered. So much that I broke my pledge." Shoto replied.
He never used his fire even if it would be to his advantage… Izuku thought as he analyzed Shoto's words.
"Iida, Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, Bakugo or that pink haired girl… None of them felt it. At that last instant, I was the only one who was overpowered. Only me, who had experienced All Might's full power up close." Shoto exclaimed, as Izuku began to worry that his secret was finally exposed.
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked a bit nervously.
"It means I felt something similar coming from you." Shoto added, as now Izuku started to panic. "Midoriya, you know that my Quirk is a combination of my parents… You know that sometimes children inherit both their parents Quirks. So, are you one of those children? Are you… All Might's secret love child or something?" Shoto asked.
What?! Izuku has the same power as All Might? He even might be his child?! Itsuka who was hiding behind a wall thought, as million questions began to form in her head. But that impos- not impossible. She said in her head, as many clues were being pieced together. Izuku's super strength that even Hatsume's glove wasn't able to contain, and that was able to knock all the participants away, without even touching them, Izuku rushing to save All Might despite his injuries and the cafeteria meeting the other day. Her thoughts were interrupted by Izuku who was… laughing?
Izuku was really laughing hard and clenching his stomach right now. He was so worried earlier because of this. This made him have a good laugh. "Todoroki, man I didn't know you were so good at telling jokes. Of course, I'm not All Might's son, that's not it. In the first place let me ask you something? Why do you think that about me?" Izuku exclaimed, but unfortunately by dropping his guard made a great mistake.
"Since you said, that's not it. That means there's a connection between you two that you can't talk about, right?" Shoto replied, while Izuku began to worry again.
Shit! I'm an idiot, I didn't think carefully. Izuku thought.
Izuku's not All Might's son but there's something else? What could it be?! Itsuka thought, but felt a hand grabbing her by her shoulder. She looked back; it was Bakugo! He put his hand on her mouth to silence her, and moved a finger in front of his mouth to tell her to be quiet.
"Endeavor's my old man. I'm sure you know that he's been stuck as the Number Two Hero for forever. If you have something from the Number One Hero, then I… have even more reason to beat you. My old man has a strong desire to rise in the world. As a hero, he won a name for himself with crushing force. Because of that, the living legend, All Might, is a great eyesore to him. Since he couldn't surpass All Might, he moved onto his next plan." Todoroki explained, as his body began to fill with rage for what he was going to say next.
"What are you talking about, Todoroki? What are you trying to tell me now?" Izuku asked.
"You've heard of Quirk marriages, right? That thing that became a problem for the second and third generation after superpowers appeared. Choosing a spouse based only on strengthening your own Quirk and passing it onto your children, forcing people into marriage. The old-fashioned way of thinking brought about by a lack of ethics. He is a man with both accomplishments and money. He won over my mother's relatives and got a hold of my mother's Quirk. He is trying to fulfill his own desire by raising me to be a hero to surpass All Might. It's so annoying…" Shoto said with disgust and so much hatred.
"You mean…" Izuku began but was interrupted.
"I won't become the tool of scum like that. In my memories, my mother is always crying. Your left side is unsightly, my mother said as she poured boiling water on me." Shoto added as he put his hand on his scarred face, while Izuku was shocked and didn't know what to say. "Basically, I picked a fight with you to show him what I can do, without using his damn Quirk… No… I'll reject him completely by winning first place without using it." Todoroki finished, as the three listeners were all silent, none of them knew what to say or what to do? Even Itsuka and Bakugo were wondering if it was right to eavesdrop on this conversation.
We… We're so different… While I suffered because I was Quirkless… He suffered because his Quirk. His Quirk that is one of the strongest and most awesome I've ever seen. Izuku thought.
"That's why when I put two and two together, I thought that All Might also decided to have you to create a stronger Quirk than his own. I guess All Might is different though, he's really a true hero." Shoto said, as he walked away. "I don't care if you can't tell me how are you connected to All Might, but no matter what, I'll rise above you with just my right side. Sorry for wasting your time."
"Wait." Izuku said, as Todoroki stopped and turned around. "I won't pretend to understand what you've been through because I can't, but just know that if you come at me with half of your power then you'll lose. Because I won't let anyone disrespect the amount of effort I've put in my training, by holding back." Izuku replied as memories of his training flashed before him. He then looked at Todoroki with determined eyes and added. "All Might… A hero who saves everyone with a smile. I'll become just like him, and in order to that I'll get stronger and rise above everyone, to become the Number One Hero. So, I won't lose." Izuku finished as both teenagers stared at each other for a while, before both of them went on separate ways.
"I don't think I have to remind you that what we just heard must be kept to ourselves, right?" Itsuka reminded Bakugo.
"Whatever, this was a waste of time." Bakugo replied before leaving Itsuka alone. I wonder what Half and Half Bastard meant by Deku having something from All Might… Deku you bastard what else have you been hiding from me? Bakugo thought.
I have to find the truth about the connection between Izuku and All Might. But what could it be? I need more clues. Itsuka mentally told herself. For now, I'll keep an eye on him.
"Hey, Endeavor! It's been a long time." All Might greeted the Number Two Hero. "Let's have some tea."
"All Might…" Endeavor coldly called his rival's name. "What do you want?" He asked with visible annoyance in his voice.
"I saw you, so I wanted to greet you and say hello." All Might replied.
"I see. Well, you've already done that. Now leave me- No, wait." He quickly changed his mind, which made All Might confused, he knew that this man hated his guts, but now he wants to talk? Interesting. "That kid, Izuku Midoriya… he's his grandson, right? He's Hajime Midoriya-sensei's grandson." Endeavor pointed out.
"Well… yes." All Might nervously replied, knowing where was this going. I didn't imagine that he'll notice right away, but I guess the Sharingan and the resemblance gave it all. He mentally thought.
"You knew about this, didn't you?" Endeavor asked with an angry tone.
"No… yes, I knew." All Might replied, deciding that it was better not to lie.
"How dare you hide his existence from me, All Might?! You know that it was my duty to train him, to make it up to Midoriya-sensei for failing him!" Endeavor nearly shouted.
"Endeavor, calm down. Look it's complicated and the boy knows nothing about his family, since it was his father's wish. He only had his mother in his life so far, and lately so much has been going on with his life, so I just didn't want to pressure him." All Might replied.
"That's still no reason to hide his existence from me. Wait a minute… he's Hisashi's kid? When did it even happen?" Endeavor questioned.
"Before he left, I guess." All Might said and shrugged. "Look if it makes it better, even I didn't know about his existence until last year." All Might replied, trying to ease the tension.
"That makes it even worse." Endeavor said. "Judging by what I've seen of him so far, I guess the elders are the ones who trained him, didn't they?" Endeavor said trying to put two and two together.
"Three of the four did, Kendo-san, Mori-san and Kurogane-san." All Might pointed out.
"Then for your information, I'll be the one to train him from now on. And don't worry I won't reveal any secrets you and the elders are hiding. Although, I have to say he's going to be a great test to Shoto today." Endeavor explained with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" All Might questioned.
"You see, I created Shoto to become a Hero, who will surpass you one day, and after watching little Midoriya's matches I realized that he doesn't have the same Sharingan Midoriya-sensei had. For one, after seeing his face closely on screen, he lacks the third tomoe. However, he also can't produce fire like the rest of his family, but instead has super strength and super speed, and it even might be close to your level of strength." Endeavor explained, while All Might got nervous and started to worry about his secret. "If I remember correctly his mother's Quirk is Telekinesis, so where did the super strength and speed came from?" He asked.
"Well, maybe a mutation. I mean you heard the story; he got his Quirk last year." All Might shrugged, while trying to maintain a Poker face.
"Yes, his Sharingan is definitely not like his ancestors, but anyway as I was saying before, with a close level of strength to yours, he'll be the greatest test to Shoto, who will surpass you, me and everyone." Endeavor said with a grin, before walking away.
Young Midoriya, I'm afraid we'll need to do a better job at hiding your Quirk, or else danger might come after you. All Might said in his mind, with visible worry on his face.
"Now, now don't worry we'll get our food now." Izuku murmured to his growling stomach, as he went to the cafeteria, only to say Denki with a stupid expression on his face and giving thumbs up, while Jiro, Hanta and Awase snapping photos of him to create some memes and post on every social media app that existed.
"Whey!" Denki exclaimed, as he looked at Izuku and gave him the thumbs up.
"What's wrong with him?" Izuku asked.
"The idiot overused his Quirk and short circuited his brain." Jiro replied, trying her best to stop laughing, but it was no use, Denki right now was too much for her to handle.
"EVERYONE I HOPE YOU'RE ALL READY BECAUSE WE'RE RESUMING THE SPORTS FESTIVAL IN TEN MINUTES!" Present Mic announced with his loud voice.
"WHAT?! Ten minutes, I didn't eat anything yet! Excuse me!" Izuku shouted as he ran to grab a sandwich from the crowded cafeteria.
"NOW THAT LUNCH IS OVER, IT'S FINALLY TIME TO REVEAL THE LAST GAME! BUT BEFORE THAT, THERE'S GOOD NEWS FOR ALL OF YOU WHO DIDN'T MAKE IT TO THE FINALS! THIS IS A SPORTS FESTIVAL! SO, WE'VE PREPARED RECREATIONAL GAMES THAT EVERYONE CAN PARTICIPATE IN, TOO! WE'VE EVEN BROUGHT REAL CHEERLEADERS FROM AMERICA TO LIVEN THINGS UP!" Present Mic was announcing, but stopped when he saw the girls from Class-A and B, in cheerleaders' costumes.
"Huh? What are they doing?" Aizawa asked, weirded out by what was happening in front of him.
"WHAT'S THE MATTER, HERO COURSE STUDENTS? WHAT KIND OF FAN SERVICE IS THAT?" Present Mic questioned.
"Mineta! Kaminari! you tricked us, didn't you?!" Momo yelled at the two perverts of Class-A. "Why am I always caught up in Mineta's schemes? I even used Creation to make the outfits…" Momo said, as she fell on her knees and sighed.
"Those guys are so dumb!" Jiro angrily said with visible embarrassment.
"Allow me to punish these sinners." Ibara exclaimed as she looked at Itsuka who was spaced out. She was staring at Izuku, who was eating the sandwich he bought earlier. She was still wondering about the connection between him and All Might.
"Itsuka?" Ibara called her.
"Yes." Itsuka responded.
"Is something wrong, are you sick?" Ibara asked.
"It's nothing, sorry I was just thinking about the next event." She replied.
"Alright, just don't stress yourself out, alright?"
"Yeah." She simply replied.
Meanwhile, Izuku was still happily eating his sandwich when he noticed the girls in the cheerleaders' costumes. Wow, Itsuka, Uraraka and Momo look so amazing. He thought. No, no, no Izuku you can't focus on these kinds of stuff, remember don't be like Mineta and focus on the task at hand. But… He said in his mind as he began to stare at them again. His eyes made contact with Itsuka's and they both blushed. However, shortly after Izuku felt shivers being sent down his spine, as he looked behind him and found Himiko looking like she was going to suck all of his blood at any given moment. As I was saying before, focus on the task at hand, and that's eating my chicken fajita sandwich. He said, as he took a big bite from the sandwich, afraid of looking back at Himiko. Itsuka, however sighed, as she thought that Izuku was only interested in his sandwich, while Momo and Ochaco felt a bit annoyed for some reason.
"ALL RIGHT, EVERYONE! LET'S HAVE FUN COMPETING IN THE RECREATIONAL GAMES! WHEN THAT'S OVER, THE SIXTEEN FROM THE FOUR TEAMS THAT MADE IT TO THE FINAL ROUND WILL DUKE IT OUT TOURNAMENT STYLE, ONE-ON-ONE!" Present Mic announced.
"The last round is a tournament where we fight one-on-one, huh? I'm gonna stand on the stage that I watch every year on TV!" Kirishima said, with visible excitement. He was proud of himself to make it that far.
"Was it a tournament last year?" Mina asked.
"It's different every year, but there's a one-on-one competition every year. Last year, it was a sports chanbara match." Hanta replied.
"Now, let's draw lots to determine the bracket. Once the bracket is determined, we'll have the recreational games and then start! The sixteen finalists can choose whether or not they want to participate in the recreation. I'm sure some of you want to rest or save your strength." Midnight explained their current situation. "Now from the first team, Izuku Midoriya!" She called his name.
Izuku went up to the stage, with his sandwich in his hand. I wonder which number I'll get? He mentally asked himself.
"Umm, Midoriya, you can't come here with your food, you know?" Midnight said.
"Oh, sorry about that, but you see I got to replenish my energy back before the last round." Midoriya bluntly replied.
"Ooohh this is it! This is youth! I can't say no when you say it like that." Midnight exclaimed as she blushed and squealed.
"Midnight I would like to stop behaving like that in front of my student, please." Aizawa quickly replied to stop the R-Rated Hero from doing something well… R-Rated.
After this embarrassing moment, everyone went up to the stage to draw lots to determine the brackets, while the stadium's monitor showed who would fight who.
The Tournament's Brackets:
Izuku Midoriya vs Ibara Shiozaki
Itsuka Kendo vs Hitoshi Shinso
Katsuki Bakugo vs Ochaco Uraraka
Tenya Iida vs Mei Hatsume
Momo Yaoyorozu vs Mina Ashido
Shoto Todoroki vs Hanta Sero
Fumikage Tokoyami vs Ejiro Kirishima
Mashirao Ojiro vs Yosetsu Awase
"The first match of the first round, huh? If both Itsuka and I win, then we'll fight each other in the second round, I better not hold back then, but I'll also have to fight Ibara…" Izuku murmured, as he looked at his right, bandaged hand. Tsk, I haven't fully recovered yet… this isn't going to be easy. He thought to himself.
Yes, this is it, this is my moment. All I have to do is defeat Shinso, and then I'll face Izuku. I already promised myself a year ago, that if I ever make it that far in the Sports Festival and face Izuku, I'll tell him how I feel after the match! Itsuka mentally cheered. "Although, I still don't know anything about Shinso's Quirk, and despite being together on the same team in the second round, he refused to tell us his Quirk. Ojiro was the only one who knew about it, and said that he had a pretty good reason to hide it. Maybe, it's pretty easy to figure out its weakness?" Itsuka murmured.
"Hmph, so I get to crush Deku before Half and Half Bastard, fine with me." Bakugo exclaimed.
I'll be waiting for you at the top Midoriya... And then, I'll defeat you without using his power, and show him that I'm better than him. Shoto mentally thought, as he looked at the screen.
Meanwhile, Ochaco was feeling down a bit, having to fight Bakugo at the first round. If she was honest with herself, she knew that her chances to win were close to zero.
"ALRIGHT! LET'S LEAVE THE TOURNAMENT ASIDE FOR A MOMENTARY INTERLUDE! LET'S HAVE FUN WITH THE RECREATION!" Present Mic announced.
Even if they were told to have fun, those who were in the tournament couldn't relax. Some polished their strategy against their opponent. Some tried to keep their presence of mind. Some prepared for the fight. Some sharpened their senses. And some tried to relax their nerves. As they thought their respective thoughts, it was time to start before they knew it.
"HEY GUYS, ARE YOU READY?!" Present Mic asked, pumping up the crowd, who began cheering with so much intensity. "A LOT'S HAPPENED, BUT IT'S NOW COME TO THIS! A SERIOUS BATTLE! YOU CAN ONLY DEPEND ON YOURSELF! EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT A HERO, YOU'LL FACE LOTS OF SITUATIONS LIKE THAT! YOU GET IT RIGHT! HEART, SKILL, BODY, WISDOM, AND KNOWLEDGE!" Present Mic gave the heroes in training a piece of advice.
Let's see what you've got in store for us in this round Young Man. All Might mentally thought.
"AUDIENCE! THE FINALS THAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR ARE FINALLY STARTING! MATCH NUMBER ONE, YOU KNOW HIM, YOU LOVE HIM, IT'S THE ONE PUNCH MAN BUT WITH HAIR! FROM THE HERO COURSE, IT'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!" Present Mic announced, as the crowd roared with cheers for one if not their favorite competitor, while Izuku went up to the arena.
"VERSUS! THE ASSASSIN FROM CLASS B! PRETTY THINGS HAVE THORNS, YOU KNOW! FROM THE HERO COURSE, IT'S IBARA SHIOZAKI! Present Mic announced, as Ibara made her way to the arena.
"Um… Please excuse the interruption. What do you mean by assassin? I have only come to find victory, not to take my opponent's life." Ibara corrected Present Mic's earlier statement.
"I-I'M SORRY!" He replied quickly replied, feeling bad, but unfortunately for him she continued.
"In the first place, I wished to enter UA High School not for wicked reasons, but for salvation of others…" Ibara added, as holy light from a mysterious source shone upon her.
"I SAID, I'M SORRY! MY BAD OKAY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME BIG GUY!" Present Mic replied, as he looked at the sky.
"She's not a saint you know." Aizawa reminded his friend.
"Oh right, I almost forgot with the whole lights effects and stuff." Present Mic said to his fellow friend.
"I thank you for your understanding." Ibara exclaimed as she bowed in respect.
"ANYWAYS, THE RULES ARE SIMPLE. FORCE YOUR OPPONENT OUT OF BOUNDS, OR IMMOBILIZE THEM! YOU CAN ALSO WIN BY MAKING YOUR OPPONENT SAY, I GIVE UP! BRING ON THE INJURIES! BECAUSE WE'VE GOT OUR OWN RECOVERY GIRL WAITING ON STANDBY!"
"You know the old lady will smack you for this." Aizawa lazily said.
"PUT YOUR MORALS AND ETHICS ASIDE FOR A MOMENT! I WANT TO SEE BLOOD TOD-" Present Mic was explaining the rules, but go hit by a jab from Aizawa. "I MEAN, OF COURSE ANYTHING LIFE-THREATNING IS CRAP! IT'S NOT ALLOWED! BUT A LITTLE BLOOD IS MAYBE OK-" He continued but got hit by Aizawa again. "WHAT?!"
"Are we really going to have this talk again?" Aizawa asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"I like it when the arena is a bloodbath!" Present Mic said to his co-announcer.
"No, no bloodbath." Aizawa firmly said.
"Fine!" Present Mic replied, before he sighed. "ANYWAYS, READY?! START!"
Izuku closed his eyes for a second, before activating his Sharingan with the two tomoes giving a quick spin. He also didn't waste any time and activated his Full Cowl. However, Ibara did something else, she surrounded herself with vines and created what seems to be a big ball of vines, shutting herself in it.
"I see, so you're playing defensive Shiozaki." Izuku exclaimed, as he analyzed his opponent's moves.
"I had to take countermeasures against your mind control power." She replied.
"Fair enough, but you should know that there's more to my power than mind control." Izuku said, as he rushed at Ibara to break her vines shield, only to see some vines coming out of the ground trying to attack him, to which he managed to dodge.
"Of course I know that Midoriya, it will be a grave mistake to underestimate you after all. However, I think you shouldn't underestimate me too." Ibara said from inside her vines, before another vine came out of the ground and tried to capture him. Thankfully, Izuku managed to dodge but the vine managed to graze his cheek.
Damn it, I can't get close to her if these vines keep attacking me. Not to mention, it seems she's using the vines from inside the shield to attack me, by making them travel under the ground, which gives me limited time to dodge since I can't predict where the vines will come out from. Izuku said in his head as he dodged more incoming vines.
"Damn it, that fucking nerd better not lose." Bakugo murmured angrily. From Bakugo's perspective this Sports Festival isn't worth it if he doesn't battle Izuku.
Meanwhile, Izuku was trying to get closer to Ibara, while dodging the vines as best as he could, he was actually getting closer, but then a vine came towards so he decided to catch it with both hands.
"WHAT IS THIS?! MIDORIYA CAUGHT SHIOZAKI'S VINE WITH HIS BARE HANDS?! IS HE CRAZY! THESE THINGS ARE POINTY YOU KNOW!" Present Mic shouted.
"Damn I have to say this is a bit painful." Izuku said as he looked at his bloody hands. "But now that I got you…" Izuku began, as the lightning of One for All began to intensify and fill the air. "I'll throw you out of the arena." Izuku exclaimed, as he pulled the vine, ready to swung Ibara and throw her out of bounds. However, before he could, four vines appeared out of the ground and quickly grabbed each of his limbs.
"The tables have turned Midoriya, I'm the one who got you now." Ibara said with confidence, thinking that now the match was over since she immobilized Izuku.
"Izuku Midoriya is immobilized in such a… kinky way." Midnight announced as blood was coming out of her nose while she squealed. "Theref-" Midnight added, but was interrupted as Izuku stomped the ground shoving his feet in the arena.
"Not yet, I won't lose!" He said with determination, as he used all of his strength to move his arms despite them being tied by Shiozaki's vines.
"What how can he move his arms, while being restrained by my vines?" Shiozaki said with visible shock in her voice. She snapped out of her shock quickly and used more vines to bind Izuku who was now clearly struggling.
"I said… I won't lose!" Izuku shouted, while mustering all his strength. He finally grabbed the vines that tied his left hand and pulled them off, before pulling the one binding his right and then his legs.
"UNBELIEVABLE FOLKS! DID YOU SEE THIS! WITH HIS MONSTOROUS STRENGHT IZUKU MIDORIYA MANAGED TO PULL OFF SHIOZAKI'S VINES!" Present Mic announced while he was clearly amazed by Izuku's power. "BUT NOW WE'RE BACK AT SQAURE ONE!"
Damn it, this isn't going anywhere, as this rate I'll just lose. It's like she has a counter for everything I can do. Izuku thought as he was taking his breath, and also sweating a lot.
"Deku isn't doing so well…" Ochaco said from the stands.
"Yes, it's so weird, he was doing much better in the first two events." Tenya said, as he put a hand on his chin, trying to think why Izuku wasn't at his best like usual.
Izuku then rushed again dodging the vines coming towards him. Come on Izuku, you don't have much time left, you need to push further. He mentally said, as he ducked underneath two incoming vines, then jumped over another two, before making his way to Ibara's vines shield.
"WHAT IS THIS?! IT SEEMS LIKE MIDORIYA IS FINALLY MANAGING TO GET CLOSER, WILL THIS BE THE END FOR SHIOZAKI?!" Present Mic announced to get the crowd on edge.
Finally, after dodging her last vine, Izuku jumped on the ball of vines, and tried to separate the vines to make his way in. Unfortunately though, the vines that formed the ball began reshaping again before trying to capture him. Luckily for him, he managed to predict this with his Sharingan, and barely managed to move out of the way. However, he took a couple of steps back and fell on one knee while trying to catch his breath.
"HaHaHaHa, that's because we Class-B studied each one of your Quirks Class-A; strengths, weaknesses, uses, you name it. We developed counter strategies to counter each one of your Quirks. However, when we came to Midoriya's Quirk, I have to say that none of us had a good strategy against his Quirk, except Shiozaki." Monoma said, showing up from behind a wall while laughing like a maniac. Luckily, Itsuka quickly came to smack him on the back of his head.
"Man, what is it that you have with our Class?" Kirishima said with visible annoyance.
"I just hate how you Class-A seems to be getting more attention than the rest of us, while we're also attacked by villains. However, my goals for Midoriya are different, I want to see his full capabilities, I want to see how truly strong and heroic he is? I want to push my rival to be the best, I want him to go beyond his limits. That's what we agreed on when we became the copy-cat duo." Monoma finished.
"No something's wrong." Ojiro said from his feet.
"What do you mean?" Momo asked, as everybody turned to look at Ojiro, even some kids from Class-B were interested and stood beside Monoma to hear what Ojiro was about to say.
"This is not Midoriya's real strength and I know it. I sparred with him many times, I fought with him in the USJ, I know exactly what he's capable of, and right now I know that he's not at his best." Ojiro explained, while everyone was listening attentively.
"Are you trying to say that he's holding back?" Jiro asked.
"No, what I'm saying is that he's tired." Ojiro simply replied.
"Tired? Are you serious? Him getting tired? This is Midoriya who we're talking about, he's tank, a powerhouse like how Present Mic called him." Denki replied, while Mineta just nodded.
"Take a good look at him, he panting a lot and his movements are sloppy, if Midoriya was at his best, then against a strategy to counter his Quirk or not, he would've destroyed that vines shield and knocked Shiozaki out by now." Ojiro further exclaimed, while everyone looked at Izuku and see if what Ojiro said was right.
"But how? How is he tired? Midori was completely fine in the first two rounds." Mina asked.
"Midori?" Itsuka suddenly popped out in Class-A sitting area, after hearing the nickname.
"Yeah, I gave him a nickname. What? Are you jealous?" Mina asked.
"What?! Jealous?! Of course not, what do you mean by that?" Itsuka quickly replied as she got all flustered.
"Oh please, you were always taking care, no extra care of him when he was injured, not to mention I always noticed your interactions with him. You can't fool Mina, the love expert of Class-A." Mina said, as she took a lot of pride in the role she just gave herself, while Itsuka became more embarrassed.
"Ahem!" Ojiro interrupted before neither can continue. "Ashido, did you really think that defending a ten million flag for fifteen minutes was something easy for him. He had to give it his all to do it, you even saw how injured he was after the second match."
"But Recovery Girl healed him." Sato replied.
"Yeah, she even said that he would be alright." Ochaco added.
"And that's what makes it weird, Recovery Girl is an expert doctor and she should've been right." Ojiro said, as he put a hand on his chin and began to think about the situation.
"Do you think she overused her Quirk on him and now he's tired because of that?" Tokoyami questioned.
"Yeah, it could be it." Awase added, agreeing with the Black Shadow Quirk user.
"I don't think so, as I said this can't happen with Recovery Girl. In fact, I think that only Midoriya himself knows why." Ojiro deduced.
"You know why, don't you?" A calm voice pointed out, as everyone looked at that said voice owner to see that it was Yui Kodai from Class-B. "Todoroki, you know why Midoriya is truly tired." The girl said again, as all the attention was shifted towards Todoroki now, even Bakugo who was only observing the fight looked at the bi-color haired teen.
"I'm not sure, but I think I have an idea." Shoto said. With all eyes locked on him, he thought that he did have to reply.
"What is it?" Sero asked.
Meanwhile, Izuku was dodging the vines attack coming from left and right, but barely making it. He knew that if this match continued any longer, he would lose. I never expected that even nearly using it, would make me that tired. This is bad, as I see it, there's only one way now to win this match, otherwise I'll just lose. I wanted to save until I faced Todoroki, but I guess I have no choice now. Izuku said, in his head as his worried face changed to a newfound smirk covering his face.
You have a plan don't you Young Midoriya. All Might thought in his head, as he saw Izuku's smile.
"You see during the last minute when I took the ten million flag Midoriya…" Shoto began but was interrupted by Present Mic's loud voice.
"WHAT IS THIS?! EVEN THOUGH MIDORIYA APPEARS TO BE OVERWHELMED BY SHIOZAKI'S VINES HE'S SMILING! PAY ATTENTION FOLKS, IT SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING BIG IS GOING TO HAPPEN!" Present Mic exclaimed, which made everyone look at the arena.
*Music: Number One -Bleach OST*
Izuku dodged more incoming vines attack, before taking a couple of steps back. He then stooped and started to charge all of his energy, with the lightning of One for All intensifying and filling the air, along with the scent of ozone.
What?! He took a couple of steps back, what is he planning? Ibara thought from inside her vines shield.
Izuku kept charging his energy more, before kneeling down and grabbing his right wrist with his left hand, concentrating on gathering the lightning of One for All to his right hand.
"Uumm guys, is Midoriya holding lightning in his hand, or am I going crazy?" Jiro asked, completely clueless about what was happening right now with the Sharingan user.
Bakugo stood up from his seat to take a closer look, as anger washed all over his face, while the other students were just shocked, including Todoroki whose eyes were widening. "No, you idiot, his hand… is covered in lightning!" Bakugo exclaimed, while the others' eyes were fixed on Izuku's hand.
Izuku's Sharingan began to spin so fast, as the green lightning in his hand began to glow stronger, while a sound that sounded like several eagle's crying as they divebombed could be heard through the whole stadium, and just then the bandages that covered his hand quickly disintegrated.
"What is this sound?" Awase murmured nervously, as this weird bird cry sound made him feel uneasy.
"I don't know… It's like… the cry of a thousand birds!" Monoma replied, as he couldn't take off his eyes off his rival.
I can't believe what I'm seeing! Don't tell me you really did it YOUND MIDORIYA! All Might screamed in his head, with his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. He recalled his talk with Izuku about shooting lightning using One for All. He never thought it was possible.
"ERASER, WHAT IS EXACTLY MIDORIYA DOING?" Present Mic asked his friend.
"I-I don't know… I don't even understand." Aizawa replied, with visible shock on his face. Was this a new power…? He thought.
What is this weird lightning? I know that this is something that All Might can't do, but what is this? What are you Izuku Midoriya? Itsuka mentally asked.
I can only use this for an instant, so I need to use the Sharingan to verify her position and estimate the optimal point of attack. Izuku said in his head.
The crowd started murmuring to themselves and Izuku even heard some of his friends whispering, but he couldn't afford to lose concentration, before his final attack was finally ready.
"This is the end."Izuku simply said.
Concentrating Full Cowl in his legs to go at maximum speed, Izuku pulled back his arm, causing the cement to shatter beneath his crackling hand. And he took off, appearing like a lightning bolt more so than a human, while the whole crowd just gasped in shock.
"So fast!" Both Kirishima and Denki yelled.
"I can't even see him!" Tenya added.
"I won't let you!" Ibara tried to defend herself, by sending vines towards him to attack him, but once they came close to him, they simply disintegrated. "Impossible!" She shouted with visible shock in her voice.
"Chidori!" Izuku yelled.
Izuku thrust his right hand into the brambles, which crumpled before his attack. Then there was a crack like thunder and Ibara's shield blew apart, sending up a cloud of smoke and dust that filled the entire stadium.
"What… the fuck?" Bakugo hissed, his eyes widening at the last attack, while everyone's jaws fell to the floor, including the spectators. Even Shoto and his father were taken aback with surprise by the destructive force behind the attack.
"NOT YET!" Izuku shouted, as the smoke dispersed showing his right hand that was still covered in lightning. He clenched his fist, and uppercut Ibara's jaw sending a jolt of electricity to her body and paralyzing her, before the strength of the punch sent her outside the arena.
"So, this… this is the power of Midoriya of Class-A… I'm sorry everyone, it seems like we're the one who underestimated him and Class-A." She murmured before hitting the ground and losing consciousness.
Midnight stared in awe for a couple of seconds, she couldn't take her eyes off Izuku with all the lightning dancing around him. She then remembered that she has to check on Ibara. She went to check on her and cracked her whip down at Ibara's prone body laying outside the ring. "Shiozaki is unconscious!" She raised her whip towards Midoriya, who was still holding his right wrist and panting. "Midoriya wins!"
It took a couple of seconds for the crowd to fully grasp what had just transpired in front of them, but soonly afterwards, the crowd erupted into cheers and applause as Present Mic screamed. "LOOK AT THAT EVERYBODY! IZUKU MIDORIYA FROM CLASS-A WON, AND WITH HIS ELITE MOVES JUST KICKED SHIOZAKI'S ASS LIKE NOTHING! MAN, HE IS NO SIMP!
"If you're going to the commenting do it properly." Aizawa sternly said, before smacking Present Mic on his head.
Meanwhile, Izuku just smirked at Bakugo and Todoroki. He loved the look they had on their faces.
"YAHOO! AND WITH THIS SUPER AMAZING MATCH FINISHED, LET'S MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ONE!" Present Mic announced, as Ibara was being carried away on a stretcher to Recovery Girl.
Izuku also decided that he should exit the arena and go to Recovery Girl, but once he made it to the corridors, he tripped and fell on the floor. He was so tired, and using the Chidori while he was already tired sapped the rest of his stamina.
"No… it can't end like this." Izuku said with a weak voice as he began to faint. "I-I promised All Might… that I would win the Sports Festival… that I would tell the world I'm here." He added as he tried his best to crawl to the nursery office, that was still far away.
"I wonder where is Deku?" Ochaco questioned.
"I'm sure he's at Recovery Girl's office to heal his injuries." Tenya replied, trying to assure her that nothing was wrong.
"It's just I think he's taking a lot of time. The second match is about to begin." Ochaco exclaimed, while Momo who overheard this began to feel that something was wrong.
"Damn it, this can't be the end… there's still so much I wanted to do… I wanted to save Todoroki… settle things with Kacchan… But most importantly, I wanted to show everyone the power of the Uchihas… the power of my bloodline." Izuku said as he tried to lift his arm, but he couldn't, he couldn't move at all.
Momo stood up and decided to check on Izuku, something was worrying her and didn't feel right with her. With his injuries, he should've been back with them by now.
Staff Room:
"What the hell was that!" Mount Lady screamed. "Did you guys see this… this… whatever this lightning explosive thing was!" She added, while the rest of the Pro Heroes were just lost for words, as the highlights of the fight showing Izuku's Chidori was being replayed for God knows how many times on the TV.
"Do you think that we're the ones who should be sending him internships, not the other way?" A Pro Hero asked.
"I don't know, I feel like I'm becoming one of his fans." Another one replied.
"See? See? I told you that kid was amazing. He's definitely going places when he grows up, but today he'll win the Sports Festival." Kamui cheered, with a smug face. "I have to say, I'm definitely sending him an offer to intern with me." He added.
"He's definitely going places in the future, but I'm afraid this is the end for him." DeathArms replied, as he lit a cigarette, before he grabbed everyone's attention. "But… I'll definitely send him an offer too." He added.
"What do you mean?" Mount Lady asked. If she was honest with herself, she wanted DeathArms to be right so that she doesn't lose her savings, but that didn't mean that she wasn't going to send the Sharingan user an offer too. "Do you think that Endeavor's son will win?"
"It's not about their capabilities anymore." He pointed out. "That Midoriya kid, he's tired. He gave it his all. During the whole match he was so tired and his movements were sloppy. That last attack was probably something he wanted to save for the finals, but maybe he knew that he wouldn't make it, so he instead decided to give it his all in this last match. It's truly unfortunate, but no one said that maintaining the number one spot is easy, while it's a good mindset to have, it's easier said than done. However, I think we can all agree that he's strong kid." The veteran Hero explained to the others.
However, Kamui felt DeathArms words drop on him harder than any punch he ever took, as his mind drifted to his poor bank account. "No… it can't be." He silently murmured, while the other Heroes present in the room, were looking forward to collect their friend's money.
Meanwhile, Izuku was just lying on the floor in the corridors, he was trying his best not to lose his consciousness as this was all he could do right now. However, he suddenly heard footsteps coming towards him.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" A familiar voice said.