It was a huge, circular hall with a deep fall beyond the iron railings at the outer edges.
In the middle of the hall, Pro Hero Thirteen had her finger pointed outward with the cap on the tip of her finger open.
An incredible suction force pulled everything loose toward her. Whatever direction she pointed her finger at, it was like a hurricane had generated there, its winds rushing toward the Pro Hero.
This was her Quirk — Black Hole!
Right now, she was trying to pin down the two students against her.
However, contrary to all expectations, neither Ochaco Uraraka nor Toru Hagakure was pinned down because of Thirteen's Quirk, yet.
Uraraka was running in circles around Thirteen.
Meanwhile, Toru couldn't be seen anywhere.
Right as the battle had begun, Toru had thrown away her gloves and shoes, going completely nude. Simultaneously, Uraraka had begun running sporadically to distract the teacher as well.
In the middle of the hall, looking around and not finding the invisible girl anywhere, Thirteen lifted her left hand and opened the cap on another finger.
Then, the Pro Hero began circling on her feet, covering as much ground as she could.
Even if Toru couldn't be seen, she wouldn't be able to escape the Black Hole's pull.
Sure enough, as Thirteen began shuffling on her feet, even Uraraka found it difficult to run anymore.
Suddenly, to not get pulled, she grabbed the railing, her feet lifting the ground under the great pull.
It was then that Thirteen noticed something odd.
As Uraraka looked over her shoulder, wind blasting her hair up, her face had gained a blue tinge.
Suddenly, the girl let go of the railing and… put her palms together.
No… Thirteen realized what was happening.
Too late.
The Pro Hero pointed her left hand's finger up, but the invisible Toru fell on Thirteen's face, making her lose her footing.
As Thirteen fell, Uraraka came flying because of the pull and threw handcuffs toward Toru, who put them on the teacher, winning the match.
In the Monitor Room, Luke saw an out-of-breath Uraraka high-fiving Toru.
"When it comes to stealth," Asui said, "Toru is in a league of her own."
Not only Tsuyu, but Momo and Tenya had joined Luke and Midoriya in the Monitor Room as well.
"It's not just about stealth," Recovery Girl, watching everything from her chair in front of the students, pointed out. "Uraraka and Toru played to their strengths, instead of letting Thirteen take the lead. They knew they weren't a match for her Quirk, so they focused on catching her off guard. Uraraka must be running wild to not let Thirteen know when she activated her Quirk on Toru. Both girls have gained quite a coordination during their Internships, it seems."
Uraraka… Midoriya thought, smiling. You have grown strong, too.
On the other side, Nyx had her own thoughts, which she didn't mind speaking out loud. "Wish I was Thirteen…"
"Nyx!" Luke gasped.
Even Recovery Girl, who was old enough to be Luke's grandma, had to look over her shoulder with her mouth open.
Boooooooooooom!
The timely explosion made everyone look at the screen once more.
The fifth match had already begun, pinning Mina and Kaminari against Principal Nezu in an industrial complex.
Mr. Principal was using a crane to demolish structures, causing a chain reaction.
Not only that, he had already blocked all exits and was now actively chasing down the students, laughing out loud with tea in his hands.
"How is he attacking them…?" Midoriya asked, stunned.
"He must have forecast the chain reactions," Momo explained, a pink blush still lingering on her cheeks because of Nyx's comment. "Principal Nezu's Quirk is High Specs. He must have done sophisticated calculations leading to him winning the match already."
"… yeah," Recovery Girl nodded as others looked in shock at Nezu laughing sadistically on the screen. "Humans did a bunch of experiments on him in the past. So, at times like this, he can't help but let out his true self… Hoho…"
As time passed by, it became clear just how powerful Nezu's Quirk could be.
Even Luke believed that Principal's Quirk was equivalent to the Intelligence-like Quirk of Plus Ultra Complexity, or even higher.
And, without ever seeing Principal or the Exit, Mina and Kaminari lost as their time ran out.
As Kyoka and Yuga Aoyama took the stage in a forest against Present Mic, Momo neared Luke, keeping Nyx on the other side.
"Nice strategy," Luke said, smiling. "It isn't easy to fool Sand."
Momo shook her head. "Todoroki said that Sand let us win. He could have easily shot me down…"
"That guy is being too hard on himself," Luke said, looking at the screen. "Even if Sand pulled back his hand at the end, it means he really thought that you two deserved to win. Sand is not a man who pulls back punches for something like mercy. There's nothing wrong in feeling a touch proud now and then, you know."
Momo looked at Luke, who was still looking at the screen… and smiled. "Umu."
On the battlefield, Kyoka used her own Quirk against Present Mic's Quirk, both extreme noises canceling each other out.
Taking advantage of the gap, Yuga fired his beam at the maximum output and went over Present Mic's head, successfully running out and winning the match.
For the eighth match, the team of three boys already ended up with a disadvantageous start as Midnight incapacitated Sero using her Quirk.
Meanwhile, Pro Hero Snipe kept sniping at them from afar, preventing them from rescuing Sero, too.
Seeing a dense purple mist surrounding Midnight coming at them, Shoji looked at Mineta, who was cowering in fear.
"Why us?!" Mineta complained. "Dammit, Luke!!"
Shoji's mouth twitched. "We can still win this," he said. "Mineta, use your sticky balls on me."
Mineta didn't know what Shoji was planning. But one glance at Midnight's sadistic smile was all it took for him to agree, plucking out dozens of balls off his head, going as far as to make himself bleed.
"Go!" Mineta roared, blood covering his face. "Show them my—"
Shoji, covered in purple-colored balls, left the hideout and rushed toward Midnight, shocking her.
She cracked her whip at him, but it got stuck to his body as well.
Meanwhile, Snipe fired bullets at his leg. These weren't rubber ones, but real. However, the layer of sticky balls was so thick that even the bullet couldn't penetrate it, getting stuck in the middle somewhere.
With one great leap, Shoji reached Midnight and put handcuffs on her.
Behind them, Mineta walked out, almost crying. "— Grape Armor!!!"
In the Monitor Room, Luke's lips twitched along with others.
"Silly, but effective," Recovery Girl said, getting up.
Then, she faced Luke and Midoriya. "… Don't get hurt too much, you two."
It was time for the ninth and the last match — Luke, Midoriya, Bakugo vs. All Might and Erasure Head!
And neither Luke nor Midoriya thought they could win this without making it bloody.
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100 Power Stones: +1 Bonus Chapter