Mei worked with a speed she hadn't had in years, replacing every single broken and busted component of Flo with a level of precision and certainty that could only have been attained through countless hours of tinkering and building.
The speed at which she worked was something she had only experienced once before in her life. A mad mix of brilliance, insanity, and diligence that had come over her not long after she was first told she had maybe 3-4 years left to live.
She had been utterly desperate back then. Desperate to make some kind of mark on the world before she died. Terrified that she would become nothing more than a footnote in history, not worth being remembered by anyone.
That had been a fruitful period, full of innovations, and discoveries. But it had also been the foolish madness of a child, who had jumped from invention to invention, without fine-tuning every single one to perfection.
She had created a lot of babies she was proud of back then, but she had come a long way in 2 years.
For one, she had been forced to realize that she needed to focus her efforts if she was to achieve her goals. The feverish madness had passed and given way to a more… Methodical direction.
Today, however… That mad brilliance began to sneak back in through the cracks.
He had awoken something in her that she hadn't truly felt in years. Pure, seething hate.
She had never stopped hating him, not for one second through the many years since he had come into her life and obliterated everything. But actually seeing him again… was something else.
She wanted him to Hurt . Hurt as much as she did all the time, anytime she wasn't on painkillers. She wanted him to Suffer. She wanted to strip him of any chance of achieving his dreams and becoming the Victor of this tournament. She wanted him to Scream as he broke, before the eyes of all the world.
Everything had become secondary compared to that, one singular goal.
And she had the perfect weapon for achieving that beautiful goal.
She had Eren.
She would beat him black and blue to maximize the effects, then she would destroy him.
---
Black Cat had been right in a way. The actual fight between Kirishima and Uraraka was very short, not even lasting a minute before Uraraka ended it.
Actually cleaning up the mess left behind by the previous match, however, took a whooping 15 minutes.
That had given him a lot of extra time to think. However, rather than being able to focus on the match, he had instead spent the entire time worrying about Mina.
He had been so worried in fact, that he pretty much had been unable to focus on said match before Kirishima finally went out to fight, then lost in quick succession.
Venom finally reemerged as he finally walked out of the preparation room.
"Time to finally put that bitch down Eh, Izuku?"
He didn't answer. Right now he honestly didn't care that much about the upcoming match. He was way too worried about Mina.
His one attempt to sense her emotions hadn't helped with his worry, given the girl was intensely filled with nausea and pain.
And so, it was as he honestly didn't care much about the match he was walking into, that he walked out into the sunlight once more.
This time to face Someone who hated him more than anything.
As he stepped up unto the arena, Hatsune Mei stepped up at the opposite end of the arena, still wearing that same, eternal smile.
For a moment, they just stood there in silence, looking at each other.
Izuku with nervousness, and the fact he wasn't fully invested in this fight, despite his previous proclamations that if you stepped up into this arena, you should give it your all.
Mei, with a look of true madness in her eyes, hidden by a set of thick Goggles and a fake, eerie smile. Around her hands, she wore the lightning gauntlets, and in her right hand, she held her unlit sword. Up and around her body, her big, tentacle-like arms moved, like snapping snake's, just waiting for the battle to start. If one hadn't seen the previous bout, one would be forgiven for not knowing that
And fastened to her belt on the back, was a small, metal sphere, it's surface covered with lines, and a black, circular button.
Midnight, unlike most of the other fights, did not look eager to see this match start. Her eyes went from Izuku to Mei, and back again.
"So, just so you kids know, if this begins to turn into a bloodbath like the last one, we're ending it early. Just thought I'd let you know that now."
"That's fine." Mei said In a lackadaisical tone. "Midori is pretty durable. Why, you could try and cave his head in with a wrench, and it wouldn't even crack his skull. Maybe give him a horrible, painful concussion sure, but he'd walk it off. As for me, I once walked off being hit by a speeding minivan."
"... You're kinda creepy kid, anyone ever tell you that?"
"263 people so far that I know."
"We cannot imagine why that would be."
Mei didn't answer, instead fixing her hidden eyes at Izuku's, as Present Mic began his pre-battle speech.
"AND NOW, FOR A MATCH BETWEEN THESE TWO, THAT HAS INTRIGUED MOST PEOPLE TODAY AS THEY HAVE CLASHED AND ALLIED UPON THE FIELD TO REACH THIS SUMMIT OF CHAMPIONS!"
"IN ONE CORNER, WE HAVE IZUKU MIDORIYA, THE SPIDERMAN OF 1-A! FRESH OFF HIS VICTORY OVER THE BOY MOST PEOPLE PEGGED AS THE FAVORITE TO BE VICTOR OF THIS YEAR'S TOURNAMENT!"
"AND IN THE OTHER CORNER, WE HAVE HATSUNE MEI, AN UNLIKELY RISING STAR WHO SMASHED WAY UNTO THE SCENE, AND CRUSHED THE HOPES OF ALL THOSE WHO HAS OPPOSED HER TODAY, NOW STANDING READY TO UNLEASH HER MECHANICAL TENDRILS AGAINST THE BOY SHE SO DETESTS! WHO WILL BE VICTORIOUS FOR THIS BATTLE! WHO WILL WIN, AND GO ON TO REACH THE FINAL BOUT! WHICH RIVAL SHALL CONQUER?!"
"3!"
"2!!"
"1!!!"
"GO!!!!!"
The moment the g from the word go reached their ears, both contestants began their opening gambit.
Izuku was much, much faster, and with way better reaction time though, so even as Mei brought up her hand to blast him with lighting, Izuku slammed both his hands down into the ground and ripped out chunks of cement the size of grapefruit.
One chunk of that cement was immediately sent flying, straight into the path of the lightning bolt, slamming into it, and taking the entire thing, making the substance explode into chunks.
Izuku had hoped that it would slam into the gauntlet and break it, but he took the opportunity the cement chunk had granted him to make a leap towards Mei to cut their distance short.
Mei, clearly expecting this, brought her tentacles forth, and Izuku barely avoided being grabbed by them, as he slammed into her.
His left hand shot up and closed around the lightsaber, and with a "Crunch" he broke it in his fist. One horrible device down.
His right hand shot out to-
"CRACK!"
Searing hot pain shot through both Izuku's entire body, as well as the black skin that was Venom.
Izuku screamed in pain, and Venom screamed inside his head.
Instinctually, he lashed out, and with his right hand, he brained Mei across the head with the piece of artificial rock, so hard the chunk splintered to pieces upon the impact.
A metal arm shot down and closed around his midsection, then, harshly, threw him across the arena.
For a second, Izuku just lay there, then he forced himself back up, and got into a fighting position.
...
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