Chapter 99 - 37-39

Ch. 37: Victory or Defeat

Up in the sky above the stadium, a young man with silver hair and cool blue eyes watched the Sports Festival, floating on a pair of wings of blue energy. This was the first time he ever paid attention to the U.A. Sports Festival, as before, he had no interest in it. Then, his destined rival being among the competitors changed things.

His eyes turned orange in excitement at how the Welsh Dragon blew through the first two events.

(Ddraig certainly has an interesting host.) Albion, the dragon sealed within his Sacred Gear, commented. (Wouldn't you agree, Vali?)

Vali nodded. "Yes. He is."

"Mmwah! That should do it," Recovery Girl healed up the puncture wound on Izuku's leg and wrapped bandages around it.

Izuku eyed up toward Toshinori, who was leaning against Recovery Girl's desk. "That match with Shinso, I couldn't smile through it like you would."

"I heard some of the things he said to you," Toshinori said with a sigh. "It must've been painful, knowing how much you could relate to him."

"Yeah. But I still couldn't go easy on him. I have to keep my eye on the prize. Aiming for the top. Just like you've said."

"You poor little darling," Recovery Girl sighed before turning toward Toshinori. "Have you been putting too much pressure on him?!" She then backhanded Toshinori on the ribs, making him yelp in pain, to Izuku's shock.

"It was necessary, and that hurt!" Toshinori countered.

While Ddraig chuckled at the Number One Hero's expense, Izuku remembered something he's been meaning to talk to his mentor about. "Oh, yeah. All Might! I had some kind of vision in the match," he said, getting Toshinori's attention. "There were… people. Maybe eight or nine of them? I'm not sure. When I was under Shinso's control, it felt like my brain was full of fog or something. But when the vision appeared, it completely drove the fog away. That's when I was finally able to move for a second. And that's when One For All moved all on its own!" Thinking back on it, Izuku remembered how one of the figures seemed to have sunken eyes and a rather thin frame. "One of the figures had eyes just like yours, All Might. Do you think… all the people who've used One For All in the past were there, pushing me on? Like spirits?"

"Spooky. I'm a ghost?" Toshinori shivered.

"HUH?! I thought you'd have answers!" Izuku exclaimed.

"Actually, I saw something like that, too," Toshinori said after calming down. "In my younger days."

"Huh?"

"It's a sign that One For All is becoming your own power."

"What was it?"

"I think it's like a trace of the user's spirit that's left behind in One For All when it's passed on. Don't worry. Whatever you saw, it won't be interfering with you or your progress in the future, I'm sure. In other words, that vision wasn't what got rid of the Brainwashing effects. Regardless of what you saw out there, it was your passion that allowed you to overcome Shinso's power. Even if it was only long enough for you to move your hand."

Izuku thought about it, but he still couldn't make heads or tails. "Man, that explanation is so not satisfying."

"Forget about it!" Toshinori said. "More importantly, shouldn't you be worrying about who you're fighting next?"

Izuku's eyes widened, realizing that he'd totally forgotten about that. Chacha and Hagakure were fighting next. "You're right! Thank you both very much!"

"You're welcome!" Recovery Girl called out.

"Goodbye!"

As they heard his footsteps become softer and softer before being unable to be heard, there was a stark silence in the office. "So, he saw you there, too."

"That's a good thing," Toshinori said.

As Izuku hurried toward the Hero Course students' seats, he realized something. 'Ddraig, why didn't you try to help fight off Shinso's Quirk? We do share the same head, in a sense.'

[If I could, I would've. However, God designed the Sacred Gears in a way that the beings sealed inside them, myself for instance, can't affect their hosts. Like a safeguard to prevent us from possessing them. The most we can manage is communication between our hosts and other beings sealed inside other Gears.]

'I see…' Izuku sighed as he climbed the stairs. 'But the Boosted Gear reacting… If that wasn't you, then was it because of One For All?'

[Yes, quite likely.] Ddraig answered. [What All Might said about the previous users' spirits lingering within the Quirk, I think it's a feasible theory. Considering there's something similar with the Boosted Gear.]

"Wait, REALLY!?" Izuku exclaimed.

[When a host of the Boosted Gear dies, a fragment of their consciousness is stored inside, where it mostly stays dormant. Anyway, if All Might is correct, I believe the spirits in your Quirk acted to trigger the Boosted Gear and snap you out of the trance.]

"You think something like this will happen again?"

[Who knows? I'm just as much of an expert on your Quirk as you are, which is to say, not much. Though perhaps we'll get our answer in the future.]

Then, Izuku arrived at the shared balcony.

"Ah! There you are, Deku!" Ochaco called out. "You did good!"

"Come on down here, we saved a seat for you!" Tenya said, pointing to the seat right next to him.

"Ha! Thanks, guys!" Izuku said.

"Man, I don't know what you did, but that was pretty awesome," Ojiro said.

"I nearly had a heart attack," Asia said.

"Yeah. We really thought you were done for, back there," Itsuka said.

"Yet somehow, you made a comeback and won," Xenovia said.

Izuku smiled before taking his seat. "Next up, it's Hagakure versus Chacha."

["Enough standing around! Now welcome to the ring, our next players!] Present Mic announced.

Then, the Jumbotron changed to display Toru and Chacha.

["First up, it's the invisible girl who may also have some hidden strengths. From Class 1-A, Hero Course, it's Toru Hagakure!]

Toru was currently dressed in only her PE jacket and shoes so that she could quickly disappear as soon as the match started.

["Versus, the adorable bunny who just might be a killer rabbit in disguise, it's Hero Course, Class 1-B's Chacha Akaninjin!"]

Chacha was eagerly anticipating for the match to start, eyeing her invisible opponent.

["Ready!? Begin!"]

As soon as Present Mic announced it, Chacha dashed toward Toru to grab her and throw her out. Seeing this, Toru quickly removed her jacket and threw her shoes off, and when Chacha lunged at the spot Toru was, she only felt empty air, making it clear that Toru managed to get away.

Seeing this, Chacha closed her eyes to focus and solely rely on her hearing to locate Toru. Her ears moved around to adjust her range, and then, she heard the faint sound of feet scraping against the ground from behind her right side.

"There!" Chacha quickly transformed into her wererabbit form and leapt at the spot, much to Toru's surprise, who couldn't react in time this time. Feeling a body, Chacha knew that she had found her mark and promptly dragged Toru to the edge of the ring and threw her out, where she hit the ground with a thud.

"Owie, my butt," Toru groaned, presumably rubbing her sore rear.

Midnight took that to mean that Hagakure had possibly been thrown out, but she still had to confirm. "Hagakure, are you out of bounds?"

Toru knew there was no point in denying it, even if it stung to admit it. "Yeah, I'm out…"

"Toru Hagakure is out of bounds. The winner is Chacha Akaninjin!" Midnight announced.

"Alright, Akaninjin! Way to start us off with a win for 1-B!" Tetsutetsu cheered.

"Next is Meguri versus Honenuki, isn't it?" Jurota asked.

"Come on, Honenuki! Show 'em what our class is made of!" Tetsutetsu said, even though the next match hadn't even started yet.

"Easy there, save it for when the match actually begins," Itsuka reminded.

And they didn't have to wait long, as the third match got underway pretty quickly and Present Mic started the introductions.

["She may be cheerful and full of energy, but get on her bad side and she'll roll you right over! Give it up for Tomoe Meguri from Class 1-A! Versus… He might look like he could rattle you to your bones, but he's actually a pretty hip dude, it's Class 1-B's Juzo Honenuki!"]

"FIGHT!" Midnight announced.

Tomoe quickly turned into her ball form and started rolling toward Juzo. Juzo softened the ground in her path, but she quickly maneuvered out of the way, swerving around the area of softened concrete.

"Nice try!" Ball-Tomoe said as she resumed her charge.

Juzo tried to block her path by softening the ground again, but this time, Ball-Tomoe leaped over the quagmire, changing back midair, and landed a dropkick on Juzo.

["Whoa! Meguri makes a daring jump and dropkicks Honenuki!"] Present Mic commented.

As Juzo got back up after Tomoe's kick, he tried to soften the ground beneath Tomoe, but she quickly got in close before he could and kicked his legs out underneath him, making him fall back down.

As Juzo got up again, Tomoe landed a left hook on his chest and forced him out of the ring.

"Honenuki is out! Meguri advances!" Midnight announced.

"Yeah! That's our girl!" Toru cheered.

["Alright, loyal listeners, let's start the fourth match!"] Present Mic announced. ["First, we have the girl who's the entire animal kingdom merged into one, it's Rebecca Riku from Class 1-B! And her opponent, she may look round as a ball, but underneath it's muscle, y'all! Give it up for Hilda Shirakabe from Class 1-A!"]

"AND BEGIN!"

"Animal Soul: Toro!" Rebecca's appearance changed; her hands became covered in brown fur and her fingers gained a hoof-like coating, her feet became bull hooves, and she had a tail growing from her tailbone with a pair of bull horns on her head.

Rebecca surged with speed and headbutted Hilda, forcing her back towards the border before the latter regained her footing and started resisting.

["What a bullfight! It's like a case of unstoppable force versus immovable object! The question is, who will give in first?!"]

"Not bad, catching me off guard at first," Hilda commented. "However, even with all the extra strength you might have, I have another resource at my disposal: my weight!"

Hilda then proceeded to suck in her gut before thrusting it back out to belly gong Rebecca, who was bounced back a short distance.

["Looks like the immovable object wins this one! How will Riku fight back?"]

"Animal Soul: Hippopotamus!" Rebecca transformed again; her physique became stout as a hippopotamus with a bottom-heavy figure and plump arms and legs, her ears, hands, and feet became hippolike, and she had a hippo tail protruding from her tailbone.

Rebecca rushed at Hilda, throwing her own weight at the other girl by launching herself butt-first toward the other girl, making her stagger back.

Then, both girls got into a grapple as they exerted their strength on each other like sumo wrestlers.

["Wow! Now this fight's become a sumo match! Look at those lovely, large ladies exert their power!"]

Hilda and Rebecca stared at each other competitively. The hippo girl pulled back her arm before trying to strike Hilda with a palm thrust, which the other girthy girl managed to block.

"Not bad, but now it's my turn!" Hilda proceeded to slam her full weight into her opponent, who was pushed back a bit from the blow.

"You are a formidable opponent, chica. But that alone won't be enough to win against me!" Rebecca exclaimed before pushing back with equal force, nearly pushing Hilda out of the ring.

Hilda grunted, but then, she got an idea. As Rebecca prepared for a final push, Hilda caught her and, with a flourish, performed a toss as she used the animalshifter's girth against her. The hippo girl then fell out of the ring and landed on her huge belly, officially defeated.

"Rebecca Riku is out of bounds! The winner is Hilda Shirakabe!" Midnight announced.

Rebecca undid her transformation and picked herself up to face Hilda. "Well done. I wish you luck in your next battle."

'Of course Midoriya won…' Shoto thought back to Izuku's match as he headed toward the arena for his own upcoming match. When he turned a corner, he saw a face that he really didn't want to see: his father. "What do you want?"

"You're acting disgracefully, Shoto," Endeavor said.

Shoto paid his father no mind and continued walking.

"You can't keep this up forever. One day, you'll come face-first with a hurdle that your ice will be no match for. That nearly happened during the Obstacle Course and the Cavalry Battle. Do you want to spend the rest of your life not living up to your full potential? It's time to stop this childish rebellion of yours."

"Is that all you have to say to me, you bastard?" Shoto shot back without turning back. "I'll win this match and advance using only Mom's Quirk. I won't give you the pleasure of seeing me use yours."

Endeavor sighed as he watched his youngest child walk away. "Even if that works for you in this tournament, it's only a matter of time until you hit the limits of that power."

["It's now time for the fifth match, listeners! Give it up for these two!"] Present Mic announced as the two competitors, Shoto and Hanta, entered the ring. ["He's got skills! But at the expense of some really creepy-looking elbows. From the Hero Course, it's Hanta Sero!"]

"That was uncalled for," Hanta, while doing some stretches, noted about Present Mic's backhanded commentary about his elbows.

["Versus, an early frontrunner in the competition who's way too strong for his own good! Someone who rightfully got into the Hero Course based on recommendations! It's Shoto Todoroki!"]

Shoto stood in silence with his head hung low, causing his bangs to create a shadow over his eyes.

["And now, for the fifth match of the finals! Ready?"] Present Mic started the countdown.

"Well, I don't really feel I can win this fight…" Hanta finished stretching.

["Begin!"]

As soon as Present Mic called for the fight to start, Hanta immediately shot strips of tape at Shoto, ensnaring him. "But, man, I don't feel like losing, either!" He then pulled hard on the tape to whip Shoto toward the boundary line.

["That attack could throw his opponent out of bounds! A brilliant, surprise opening from the underdog! Way to start off strong, Sero!"]

However, before Shoto could be thrown out of bounds, his icy glare stared right through Hanta. "Apologies…" Ice rushed forward from his right foot towards Hanta before exploding.

In her office, Recovery Girl felt a rumble. "Is that… an earthquake?"

"What the heck is goin' on?" Toshinori asked. "Was that–"

In the following moments, silence took over the stadium. Not even Present Mic said a peep as he stared at the sight before him, eyes and mouth both wide open. Even Eraserhead was staring wide-eyed in shock.

The Hero Course students gasped and backed away from the giant, spiky glacier that was only inches from their faces.

The Pro Heroes serving as guards outside, such as Death Arms and Kamui Woods, were nearly speechless from the strong earthquake and the spiky glacier hanging off the top of the stadium. "Holy crap…" In just two words, Death Arms summed up what everyone was thinking.

The glacier stood almost twice as high as the stadium, casting a shadow over one side.

In their seating area, the Pureblood Devils were especially shocked.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing this," Rias said.

"I'm seeing, but I'm having a hard time believing!" Ravel said.

"I heard there are powerful Quirks out there, but power like this is far beyond my imagination," Latia muttered.

"Even if he is the son of Japan's Number 2 Hero, it's still dumbfounding that one human boy did this, without any magic and near-instantaneous, no less," Sona said, still in shock.

Shoto exhaled a deep breath as frost covered his left side. It didn't take him much effort to break free of the frozen tape. Up in the stand, Endeavor seemed disappointed by this display.

As for Hanta, his entire body was frozen, immobilized in the giant mass of ice. "Um… Don't you think you went overboard?"

"Tell the truth, Sero. Can you move at all?" Midnight asked, the R-Rated Hero was shivering due to the right side of her body being encased in ice.

"Are you kidding? Obviously not!" The Tape user said through chattering teeth. "My body is freezing!"

"Sero has been immobilized! Todoroki advances to the second round!" Midnight announced, though she couldn't whip her flogger, with it being held in her frozen side, and all.

At Midnight's announcement, the crowd stared in silence before one Pro Hero started trying to console Hanta. "Um… Well, nice try!"

"Nice try!" A female Pro sitting right next to him joined in.

And then, more from the audience tried to join in the consolation cheer as well. "Nice try! Nice try! Nice try!"

Unbeknownst to the Pros, their efforts to reassure Hanta were just making him feel worse.

"Sorry about that. It was a bit much…" Shoto said as he approached the still-frozen Hanta before releasing heat from his left hand to thaw him out. "I was angry, is all."

As Izuku watched from up in the stands, he noticed the look in Todoroki's eyes and how sad he seemed.

It took a while to clear all the ice Shoto had created, but once it was all gone, the sixth match proceeded as scheduled.

["Welcome back to the finals, everyone! Sorry for the long wait. The insane amount of ice from the fifth match has finally been cleared, though, so it's time to welcome new competitors! First up, it's the girl who proves that having a green thumb can be a cool and thorny power! From Class 1-B, Hero Course, Asia Argento! Versus, the boy with the electric personality! Another Hero in the making, Denki Kaminari!"]

As Present Mic did the introductions, Asia and Denki made their way into the battlefield.

["Keep those eyes peeled! I wanna see a super-flashy battle this time!"]

'Look at those big, beautiful eyes. Man, Midoriya's such a lucky guy to have a girl like that crushing on him…' Denki thought as he glanced at Asia, before snapping out of it. 'Come on, you idiot. Remember, this is a competition! But, oh, man, she's so cute.'

["Okay. BEGIN!"]

"Nothing personal, 'cause this is gonna be over in two seconds!" Denki declared as he started crackling with electricity. "Indiscriminate Shock: 1.3 Million Volts!" He then unleashed the bolts in Asia's direction.

Asia, however, simply responded by changing her hair into vines and then turning around to plant them into the ground, creating a barrier that shielded her from the shock.

"Huh?" Denki asked as he went into his dumb state. But that wasn't the end, as the ground cracked from underneath. "Uh, what?"

Then, dozens of vines erupted from the cracks, wrapping themselves around Denki and suspending him in the air.

["He's immobilized! That's all, folks! It was over in an instant!"]

"The winner is Argento! She advances on!" Midnight declared.

"I did it. Just like Izuku," Asia said as Denki was taken away by a pair of medic bots on a stretcher.

Outside the stadium, Mt. Lady got Kamui Woods's attention as she watched the recent match on the screen. "Kamui, did you watch that? Wouldn't she make, like, the perfect sidekick for you?" She asked, referring to Asia.

"Yeah, wish I coulda seen more," Kamui Woods agreed.

"She's great for your brand. You need someone cute!" Mt. Lady added.

"Just get back to work," Kamui Woods said.

["Let's keep pumpin' out these hits and move on! Time for the seventh match! Get ready to watch two new players duke it out!"]

The crowd roared in excitement as the next competitors made their way into the ring.

["He's the kid with engines in his legs. Tenya Iida from the Hero Course. Versus, a fully-equipped gadget dynamo. The Support Course's Mei Hatsume!"]

"So it's Hero class versus Support," Kyoka commented.

"I have no idea what this fight will look like," Tsuyu added.

"Uh, what's up with Iida?" Rikido asked, noticing Tenya was doing something unexpected.

Indeed, Tenya had suddenly equipped himself with some strange technical gear.

"Yeah, where the heck did he get all that weird gear from?" Tomoe wondered.

"Hero Course students can't use Support gear unless they have to," Midnight said to Tenya. "And you didn't fill out any of the official paperwork for that."

"I didn't know that was the rule! Aoyama got to wear his belt, so I thought it was fine!" Tenya said.

"He turned in the proper forms," Midnight explained, and as she was saying this, the Franco-Japanese boy in question was pointing at his belt.

"I apologize, ma'am," Tenya bowed. "It's just that, my heart was moved by my opponent's sportsmanship. Even though she's from the Support Course, she wanted this to be as even a match as possible since she made it this far. To have a fair fight! So she offered to give me this equipment." He clenched his fist in determination of his respect for his opponent. "I respect her integrity. That's why, to honor her, I would like to wear this gear!"

The only way Midnight's face could be described was… eager. "SUCH YOUTHFUL VIGOR! Ooohoohoohoo!" She practically squirmed in place as she giggled before quickly regaining her composure to give her ruling. "I'll allow it!"

["Really?"] Present Mic asked.

"I guess if everyone's in agreement, then it's okay. Right?" Aizawa theorized.

"So they're really allowing it, just like that?" Ravel questioned.

"I guess if the ref says it's okay, anything goes," Koneko said.

Izuku felt uneasy about the situation. 'Weird, that doesn't seem like something Hatsume would do. Unless…' He then took notice of the small ear-mounted mic that Mei had on, and the fact that she was smirking giddily. He had a bad feeling about this.

["Well, if everyone's on the same page, let's begin the seventh match!"]

At Present Mic's call, Tenya sprinted toward Mei, but as he started getting close, Mei spoke into her mic. ["Bet you love how fast that gear makes you! Huh, Iida?"]

"She's got a mic?" Tenya questioned, surprised to hear her over the PA system.

"Hey, now?" Present Mic said in confusion.

"Is she wearing speakers?" Aizawa wondered.

["Don't your legs feel lighter than usual? That's to be expected. I designed those leg parts specifically to increase the wearer's speed and mobility!"] Mei said as Tenya was almost about to make contact. ["But, of course…"] Mei's backpack suddenly extended struts at a diagonal angle from both sides, lifting her into the air out of Tenya's reach, while also nearly tripping up the Engine Quirk user unintentionally. ["I can easily evade you with my hydraulic attachments!"]

Then, she turned her gaze toward the audience, at a specific set of boxes. 'Those are boxes for Support companies. They love my babies! I've got this in the bag!'

[Mei Hatsume. Her Quirk: Zoom. If she gets serious, she can see up to five kilometers away!]

Then, Tenya started running toward Mei from behind, but her backpack beeped and lifted her with another hydraulic pole, foiling Tenya's sneak attack.

["Since I've got sensors in every direction, it's impossible for an opponent to sneak up on me!"]

Tenya tripped again, but the devices on his wing-like apparatus let out puffs of air to straighten him back up. "What the heck is going on?"

["Look at how adeptly Iida just changed his course! It's all thanks to the ingenious Auto Balancer I created."]

Back in the commentator's booth, Present Mic and his co-host were utterly baffled at what was happening.

"This is weird," Present Mic said.

"She's turning the Festival into one big commercial," Aizawa groaned while facepalming.

["Best of all, there's absolutely no lag time!"]

At this point, Tenya was starting to get irritated as he tried to rush Hatsume again, only to be tripped by the hydraulic pipe yet again, sending him stumbling toward the boundary line, but before he could accidentally wander out, the Auto Balancer activated, spinning Tenya around like a top and stopping him from crossing. ["The Auto Balancer is equipped with a custom 32-axis gyro sensor! As you can see, it can keep the user from falling unless they actually want to."]

After recovering from the dizziness, Tenya blasted forward again. "I thought you said you wanted this to be a FAIR fight!"

Then, the metal disks in Mei's boots started spinning and glowing, sending Mei into the air and out of Tenya's reach. ["Ahahaha! That's right, I'm practically flying through the air! These Electromagnetic Soles use electromagnetic induction on both feet. They're perfect for evasive maneuvers or just keeping things light!"]

Tenya fired off his Engines and ran after Mei again. "As soon as she lands, I'll stop her!"

But as Mei's feet touched the ground again, she quickly turned around and held up a gun, which fired a small capsule that expanded into a large red net.

Tenya was completely ensnared by the net and fell to the ground, struggling to get free. "Huh? What is this?"

["A Capture Gun to use against Villains!"] Mei explained, winking as she held her gun up. ["The nets are loaded into small cartridges. You can fire up to five before having to reload!"] She spun around, making sure she was facing the boxes with the Support companies in them. "And all of these items were developed by yours truly, Mei Hatsume! Support Course prodigy!" She spread her arms out to present herself. "So, to any Support companies out there searching for strong new recruits, the choice is clear. You want ME! Again, I'm Mei Hatsume, that's H-A-T-S-U-M-E!"

"She's something," one Support company representative commented.

["And now, let me introduce you to a few more of my babies!"]

"Wait, there's more?" Another representative questioned.

Ten minutes later

Mei, finally having finished her "advertisement," stepped out of bounds. "Phew. That was fun, but I think now I've shown off everything I wanted to. I suppose it's time for me to wrap this show up," she said while wiping the sweat off her brow.

Midnight was briefly in a moment of shock before resuming her referee duties. "Uh, Hatsume stepped out of bounds. So Iida advances to the next round."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I LET YOU TRICK MEEEEE!" Tenya exclaimed. To say that he was angry would be an understatement; he was downright furious.

"Sorry about that. I needed to use you to make a name for myself," Mei apologized, but Tenya wasn't having it.

"I looked like a fool!" He shouted while crying and chopping the air.

"That was… different," Rias commented, the best she could think to describe the "match."

"Poor Iida, seems he's not taking it that well," Latia added.

"Naturally, since he was led on believing his opponent wanted to offer him goodwill, only to be taken advantage of as a marketing tool. Does that Hatsume have no shame?" Sona questioned as she cleaned her glasses.

"Iida's so sincere, he trusted her motives. She probably made it sound like she was doing him a favor," Izuku said as he started writing in his notebook. "She's so driven. She's forward about her goals. From what I can tell, she'll do whatever it takes to reach them."

["Alrighty, folks! With that unusual match behind us, let's move on to the eighth match of the first round!"] Present Mic announced as the next pair of competitors entered the ring. ["First up, it's the girl who's got an entire armory in her arsenal, it's Ethel Ginzan from the Hero Course! Versus, an equine girl from America with a pair of impressive horns on her head, also from the Hero Course, Pony Tsunotori!"]

"FIGHT!"

Pony quickly got into an aiming stance and fired a pair of horns at Ethel, who also quickly reacted and summoned a sword to strike the projectiles.

Pony was unfettered and leveled up her game, shooting off even more horns at Ethel, who summoned a shield to help block off some of the horns while continuing to cut down the horns. She then went on the move, approaching Pony from an angle while moving in a zigzag pattern to force her to change her aim often.

Pony became slightly frustrated as Ethel skillfully evaded and/or blocked her horns. While Pony continued to shoot at her, Ethel summoned a metal baton, hidden behind her shield. Then, when she got the chance, she threw the baton at Pony's leg, causing her to yelp in pain and stop shooting.

"Got you!" Ethel brought out a bola and threw it at Pony, tying her up. Pony struggled in her binds, trying to get free, but that left her open to Ethel, who snuck up behind her before delivering a quick chop to her neck, knocking her out.

"Tsunotori has been knocked out! The winner is Ginzan!" Midnight announced.

Showing respect to her opponent, Ethel gently helped the equine girl onto the medic bots' stretcher.

Ch. 38: The Second Bracket

["We're gonna charge right into the ninth match!"] Present Mic announced. ["Let's hope that gaudy belt serves some kinda purpose. It's Yuga Aoyama from the Hero Course!"]

"Bonjour," Yuga winked.

["Versus… Is there some kinda purpose for those things sticking out of her head? From the same class, Mina Ashido!"]

"This match is gonna be a piece of cake," Mina chuckled.

"I do believe you're going to be eating those words, mademoiselle," Yuga retorted.

"Come on, Mina, you can do it," Tsuyu encouraged.

"Give 'im hell, Ashido!" Eijiro cheered.

"Don't show her any mercy, Aoyama!" Mineta cheered loudly with a lust-filled expression. "Fight like you're in one of those video games where everyone's clothes get beaten off!"

"You pervert!" Kyoka chided.

Meanwhile, Izuku was busy analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of both combatants. "A match between Aoyama and Ashido. Let's see, considering what their powers are, Aoyama will probably keep his distance and try to attack with his laser from far away. So it'll all depend on whether or not Ashido can dodge his attacks and manage to use her power against him in close combat. Problem is, there's nothing much for her to use as cover in this ring, so she's at a slight disadvantage."

["Now, let's get started! Ninth match… Begin!"] Present Mic announced.

Yuga immediately took his shot. "Navel Laser, activate!"

"Think again!" Mina said as she expertly maneuvered out of the beam's path. She then released a spray of acid from her feet to skate around the ring. "You'll have to do better than that to beat me, Aoyama!"

"I assure you, there's plenty more where that came from," Yuga said as he continued to fire, though there was a small falter in his confident grin.

"Sure, but I remember something you said!" The Acid girl retorted as she continued to dodge the lasers.

"Shooting my beautiful beam for more than a second hurts my tummy."

"I know your weakness!"

Yuga continued to fire beam after beam, but it was evident something was wrong with him as the uneasy expression in his grin started becoming more obvious.

"Here's a big one!" Yuga shot out a big laser fire, but Mina managed to slide out of the way before speeding toward Yuga. And with his big attack having failed, all Yuga had to show for it was a growing stomachache. "Ow. My tummy."

Seeing this, Mina took the chance. "There's my shot!" She threw a glob of acid at Yuga's belt, melting it, causing the Navel Laser boy to panic. "Oh, no! Oh, no, no, no! Not my precious belt!" Then, his pants slid down, revealing his briefs, much to his further horror. "My pants!"

As Yuga was distracted trying to pull his pants back up, Mina came right up to him, ready to end it.

"For my finishing move…" She got her fist ready. "An uppercut!" Mina landed a clean blow on her opponent's lower jaw, causing him to let out a pained whimper as he fell to his back, knocked unconscious.

"Aoyama has fainted! The winner of this match is Ashido!" Midnight pointed her whip toward Mina.

["Dang, Aoyama went down hard! That's an indisputable victory if I've ever seen one, sports fans!"] Present Mic commented.

"Aw, yeah! She won!" Eijiro shouted.

"Wow, Mina's amazing!" Tsu remarked before a thud was heard, causing a few students to look in that direction to see the cause, which was Mineta.

"I got to see panties, but why were they his?" He whined.

"For crying out loud," Kyoka sighed as Mineta made a whining face while whimpering.

As Yuga was wheeled away, Mina realized how she might have been a bit too excessive in embarrassing him and made a silent apology.

After another small break to get the acid off the arena, the next contenders made their way to the ring.

["Now let's not let this hot streak cool!"] Present Mic announced. ["Time to move on to the tenth match!"]

Outside, Mt. Lady was distracted watching the Festival again, to Kamui Woods's annoyance.

"We're not here to watch TV!" He angrily reminded.

["First up, the Great Creator! She was admitted because of recommendations, and I think we can all see why. From Class 1-A, Momo Hanakai! Versus… the Lizardy Splitter! Also admitted because of recommendations, from Class 1-B, it's Setsuna Tokage!"]

Setsuna wore an eager grin as she popped the muscles in her neck. "Kehehe. Let's get this show on the road."

"Good. Because I'm ready for this," Momo said, sticking her arm out to the side in preparation to create a weapon.

["Ready? BEGIN!"]

The two girls charged at each other, with Momo creating a metal staff in her hand, and right as they got close, Setsuna got the drop on Momo by detaching her fist and sending it flying to land a literal sucker punch to the face.

Setsuna then split herself up into more pieces and shot them at Momo, who recovered from the punch in time to create a shield to block them.

It was then Momo's turn to go on the offensive, striking at Setsuna with her staff, but the green-haired girl simply dodged by splitting herself up before Momo's attacks could hit her.

["And just like that, Tokage is keeping her cool, dodging everything that Hanakai has to throw at her!"] Present Mic commented. ["If Hanakai doesn't think of something soon, it might be all over for her!"]

After a few more swings and misses, Momo backed up, coming up with a new strategy to use against Setsuna.

"This has been fun, but I think it's about time we finish this!" Setsuna said as she rushed at Momo, splitting herself into many pieces as she did.

"I couldn't agree more!" Momo responded, creating a round item in her hand before throwing it at Setsuna.

Setsuna was about to maneuver out of the way when the device suddenly exploded, covering all of Setsuna's parts in some viscous liquid.

"Ugh! What is this?!" Setsuna asked as she tried to move, only to realize that all her parts were stuck to each other randomly. "No way! Is this some kinda super glue?"

"That's right. This way I can stop you from using your body parts to attack," Momo replied, then she rammed into Setsuna with her shield, knocking her to the ground, where she became stuck thanks to the glue. "Augh! This bites!"

"Tokage has been immobilized. Hanakai will advance to the next round!" Midnight ruled.

As the crowd cheered, Momo created some glue remover to help Setsuna out of her (literal) sticky situation.

["Is it really the eleventh match already? We're on a roll here, folks!"] Present Mic commented. ["She's got lots of hidden tricks up her sleeves! What will this preppy girl surprise us with? It's Asuka Koukawa from Class 1-B! Versus… He's every construction company's best friend! From the same class, Yosetsu Awase!"]

Right as the match started, Awase quickly charged at Asuka, intent on immobilizing her by binding her to the ground.

Asuka, knowing Awase's Quirk, had an idea what his strategy was and kept her distance from him.

And so began a game of cat and mouse, in which Asuka was trying to stay away from Awase. However, what he didn't know was that she was leading him on.

"Nice try, sucker!" Asuka taunted, turning around to shake and smack her butt at him.

"Stop running and fight me!" Awase demanded as he reached out to try and grab Asuka, to no avail.

"How about you try and catch me?" Asuka goaded, making a face at him.

And like that, Asuka continued leading Awase toward the boundary while taunting him the whole time to get him riled up and stay focused on her. Right as they were close enough to the edge, Asuka sidestepped another one of Awase's attempts to grab her and quickly moved to put him between herself and the boundary line.

Asuka smirked as she activated her energy blades and started channeling wind through them. That was when Awase finally realized he had been led on, but it was too late at that point.

"Aw, crap…!"

Asuka swung her arms, sending out a rush of wind at Awase, knocking him off his feet and blowing him right out of the ring, where he landed on the grass.

"Awase is out of bounds! Koukawa moves on!" Midnight judged.

"Super!" Asuka struck a victory pose, leaning to one side and bending her knee while her arms were stretched out over her head.

["Would you look at that, folks! It seemed like an ordinary cat and mouse game, but the 'mouse' tripped up the 'cat' at the last minute, like they do in a certain classic American cartoon!"] Present Mic commented.

"That was smart. Koukawa kept Awase focused on her while leading him right where she wanted him, and that's when she acted on her plan," Izuku observed. "And those energy blades are an interesting choice for Support Gear that works really well with her Quirk."

["Who else is ready for the twelfth match, because I am! First up, it's the girl with multicolored eyes and hair who has the powers of an icy wolf. From Class 1-B, Orihime Yamasaki! Versus… The cool beauty from Italy who can become any material she touches, give it up for Xenovia Quarta of Class 1-A!"]

As soon as Midnight cracked her whip to signal the start of the match, Orihime transformed into her Makami form and breathed a gust of cold air at Xenovia, who dodged.

Right after dodging, Xenovia charged right at Orihime, who did things differently and froze the ground in front of Xenovia, causing her to slip and slide on the ice, to which Orihime followed up by freezing more of the ground, leading toward the border. However, Xenovia managed to touch a part of the ring that wasn't frozen to absorb the concrete and used that to smash the ice, stopping herself from sliding out.

["That was a close call, folks. Quarta almost slid right out of the ring, but thanks to some quick thinking on her part, she is still in this game!"] Present Mic said.

"Heh, should've known it would take more than that to beat you," Orihime said. "No matter, let's duke this out." She then formed a studded kanabō out of ice.

"Yes, let's," Xenovia responded as she clenched her concrete fists.

The girls ran and started to strike at each other, hitting and deflecting each other's blows, with neither of them giving an inch.

["Look at that, peeps! Whoever said women were fragile clearly never met these two, and of course, we're not forgetting the other talented female fighters from earlier!"] Present Mic commented. ["For any misogynists out there, here are living proofs that your outdated ideals belong in the past!"]

Meanwhile, back with Xenovia and Orihime, the two had backed up to catch their breath.

Orihime then charged on all fours and pounced on Xenovia, but she managed to kick the Astaroth Rook off her and quickly got back up. The girls then rushed toward each other, ready to strike.

Orihime managed to hit first, landing a fist on Xenovia's face, but the Gremory Knight managed to retaliate with a roundhouse kick to Orihime's abdomen, making her gag from the blow. Then, before Orihime could recover, Xenovia managed to grab her by the arm and threw her over her shoulder, where Orihime landed with her legs outside the ring.

"Yamasaki is out of bounds! Quarta wins!" Midnight announced.

["What a show! It had me on the edge of my seat! I wonder how the next match will go? Will we see some more action-packed battles?"]

["Take it down a notch…"] Aizawa groaned.

Orihime growled but then smiled, accepting that she had lost as she picked herself up to give a nod to Xenovia. "You're an impressive fighter."

"Indeed. You gave me quite the fight there."

["Let's keep those hits coming and move right into our thirteenth match. First up, it's the Big Sis of Class 1-B, the girl who will give you two giant hands when you're in a pinch, she's Itsuka Kendo! Versus… The martial artist with a tail that can pack a wallop, it's Mashirao Ojiro from Class 1-A!"]

"Let's have a good match, one martial artist to another," Itsuka said.

"Likewise."

"Give 'im hell, Kendo!" Tetsutetsu cheered.

"They're both experienced in martial arts, which works well with both their Quirks, which are both suited for melee combat. You'd think with her Big Fist Quirk, Kendo might have the advantage, but Ojiro's tail is prehensile and strong, almost like a third arm. When one takes both factors into account, if either of them can incapacitate the other at a critical moment, then that will probably be the decisive blow needed to take the win," Izuku observed.

As soon as the match began, both fighters charged at each other. Ojiro flicked his tail like a whip at Itsuka, who managed to duck underneath the appendage. Itsuka then moved in for a chop to his ribs, but Ojiro managed to block and landed a kick on Itsuka's side.

"Oof!" Itsuka recoiled a bit. She could tell that Ojiro had a good grasp of his defense. Perhaps it was about time to stop gauging him and fight.

Then, she charged at him again, throwing her fist forward, but as Ojiro tried to block the seemingly normal punch, Itsuka enlarged her fist in the blink of an eye, and Ojiro was thrown back from the sudden expansion of her hand.

Ojiro then leaped into the air and swung his tail at Itsuka again, but this time, she caught the tail with a big hand and brought him down to the ground, but that was what Ojiro intended as he swept his leg in a circle to kick Itsuka's leg from underneath her, which also caused her to lose her grip on his tail. He then attempted to whip her with his tail again, but she quickly rolled out of the way.

Getting up, Itsuka then opened up her hand to strike out with a palm strike, to which Ojiro anticipated that she would enlarge her hand at the last moment like last time and made the movement to dodge, but surprisingly, she didn't enlarge her palm. But then, he soon found out the hard way that the palm strike was really just a feint as he felt a foot slam into one of his knees.

As Ojiro fell on one knee, Itsuka took the opportunity to expand her open hand and strike with a palm strike before pinning him down on the ground. He struggled to get free, but between Itsuka's immense grip strength and the way he was pinned down on his back, he wasn't able to get much leverage to lift the giant hand off of himself.

Ojiro had to admit, she got him good; even so, it was an outcome he could be proud of.

"Ojiro, are you able to get up?" Midnight asked.

"No, I can't. I'm done," Ojiro conceded.

Midnight threw her hand into the air. "Ojiro admits defeat! Kendo is the winner!"

As the stadium cheered for Itsuka's efforts, Present Mic's voice cut in for some last commentary. ["And with a well-timed finishing move, Kendo of Class 1-B takes the win! But way to fight for it, Ojiro. Better luck next time."]

"You were pretty good. You almost had me a few times," Itsuka said. "I would like to spar with you again sometime."

"Likewise. It was my honor as a fellow martial artist," Ojiro said.

The two bowed respectfully before they exited the arena.

["The fourteenth match is sure to be a spectral spectacle! First up, it's the American Phantom, the Ghost Girl who's still lively as ever, it's Dani Fenton of Class 1-A! Versus… Offense and defense in one! The dark samurai and his darker shadow! From the same class, Fumikage Tokoyami!"]

"Alright, show me what you can do, Bird Boy!" Dani smiled.

Fumikage nodded. "Behold your own ghastly powers, Fenton. I expect nothing less."

["Fourteenth match… BEGIN!"]

The moment Present Mic announced the start of the match, Fumikage called out his shadowy familiar into battle. "Go, Dark Shadow!"

"I've got her!" Dark Shadow cried out as it emerged, ready for some action.

"Going Ghost!" Dani transformed into her Phantom form.

Dani zoomed right towards Fumikage, and he proceeded to send Dark Shadow forward.

The two met in the middle, Dani and Dark Shadow throwing punches that connected with each other.

Seeing how the two were evenly matched in strength, Dani backed up a bit. Time to rethink her strategy. Then, just as quickly, she figured that she just had to take out Fumikage. After all, he was her real opponent, not Dark Shadow.

She then flew straight towards Fumikage, dodging a clawed swipe from Dark Shadow, and got ready to strike, but she was suddenly hit from behind by Dark Shadow.

"Hands off of Fumi!" Dark Shadow growled as it grabbed Dani and pinned her to the ground.

["Yikes! Just as Fenton zeroes in on Tokoyami, Dark Shadow counters swiftly and efficiently!"] Present Mic commented.

Dani then proceeded to escape from Dark Shadow's grasp by turning intangible and phasing into the ground before emerging right behind Fumikage, turning solid again to attack, but Dark Shadow was fast, forcing Dani to dodge.

["Yikes! Dark Shadow's giving Fenton no openings to attack! Is it possible that Tokoyami's Dark Shadow is the greatest Quirk ever? I think so!"]

Tokoyami's Dark Shadow is so amazing. Ribbit," Tsuyu said.

And it wasn't just them, as the Devils thought so too.

"A Quirk that, in a nutshell, grants a familiar with great offensive and defensive capabilities, Tokoyami truly is a force to be reckoned with," Sona observed.

"If he were to be reincarnated as a Devil, I think he would make a decent Rook," Latia said.

"Okay, if a direct confrontation won't work, how about this?!" Dani fired a Ghost Ray at Fumikage, which Dark Shadow moved to intercept. However, blocking against the glowing attack seemed to have caused Dark Shadow a good deal of harm, judging by the way it screamed.

Dani picked up on this strange reaction. 'I didn't expect it to do that much damage. I need to test it…'

Charging ectoplasmic energy in her hands, Dani waited as Dark Shadow came charging in again, and then unleashed a burst of green flash, causing Dark Shadow to yelp and back off, shrinking slightly in size by a few centimeters.

'I see…' Dani grinned. 'Light is his weakness, huh? Makes sense if you think about it.'

Fumikage didn't like that grin on his opponent's face. "End her!"

"Raaah!" The dark familiar raced towards the phantom girl.

Dani turned intangible and disappeared into the ground, and right as Dark Shadow was about to back up, she reappeared, turned tangible, and shined another green flash, causing the sentient shadow to howl in pain as it began to get smaller.

["Oh, no! What's happening to Dark Shadow?! It's like he's wilting away!"] Present Mic noticed.

'Curses! She knows our weakness!' Fumikage silently realized, as Dark Shadow reeled back with a single tear in its eyes. If he didn't stop her now, then he would most certainly lose. "Go, attack with all your might!"

Dark Shadow soared into action. "I'll give it my best shot!"

Seeing how Fumikage wasn't giving up, Dani decided to bring out the big guns. "Okay, you asked for it. Phantom Flash!"

Dani charged up the biggest burst of green ectoplasmic energy she could, creating an even brighter flash of light than the ones before. It was so bright that Fumikage had to cover his eyes, lest he be blinded.

As for Dark Shadow, it wheezed as it shrank down to a nearly insignificant size; it was clear that Dark Shadow wouldn't be recovering from this anytime soon.

"Violence solves nothing," Dark Shadow whimpered.

"Dark Shadow…" Fumikage gazed down as Dark Shadow's tiny head stuck out from his midsection. At this point, there was no meaning in dragging out a losing battle. "I surrender…"

"Tokoyami gives up. Fenton's the winner of this match!" Midnight announced.

As the audience cheered, Dani deactivated her Quirk, transforming back to normal.

Fumikage sighed, accepting his loss. "How'd you know? I only ever told Sato of this weakness during the Battle Trials."

"Honestly, it wasn't that hard to figure out the moment Dark Shadow reacted to my first Ghost Ray," Dani admitted.

"Well, you have certainly earned this victory," Fumikage said.

As the combatants departed from the arena, Izuku noticed that Ochaco had disappeared while he wasn't looking, with only her drink left behind.

["Okay, let's see who we've got for ya next."] Present Mic said. ["The fifteenth matchup includes two completely redundant Quirks! One of them's a passionate, manly fighter made of steel. The Hero Course's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu!"]

"BRING IT!" Tetsutetsu shouted.

["Versus… a passionate, manly fighter made of rock. The Hero Course's Eijiro Kirishima!"]

'"Seriously, even our intros are the same?" Eijiro lamented.

"Make us proud, Tetsutetsu! Win just like Chacha, Asia, Asuka, and I did!" Itsuka cheered.

Mineta, uninterested in watching, was dozing off while snoring. One couldn't exactly call him out for not being interested in the match, but the blatant way he was showing it was rather disrespectful.

And it seemed Kyoka didn't tolerate his attitude either. "Look alive, shorty." She then jabbed him in the head with her jack, shocking him awake.

["Can't wait to see how this one ends!"]

"Why do I feel like this is gonna be a draw?" Saji wondered.

"It's funny 'cause I can see that happening too," Ruruko agreed.

["Begin!"]

With a cry, Eijiro and Tetsutetsu charged at each other, hardening their bodies with their Quirks, and collided fists with each other.

Meanwhile, Tenya walked into one of the waiting rooms.

"Hey, Iida, you did great out there," Ochaco's voice greeted him.

"Oh, Urara–" Tenya was about to greet her back, only to be shocked by the tense face Ochaco had: a combination of nervousness and tension that somehow formed into a glaring smile. "Whoa, what's with that face?! Ugh!"

"My face? Oh, nothing," Ochaco shrugged. "I guess I'm not great at hiding how nervous I am."

"I get that. You are up against Bakugo after all," Tenya concurred, imagining said explosive blond with a manic grin. "Not exactly an easy match."

"Yeah, I'm kinda scared," Oacho admitted. "But y'know, after seeing your match, I feel a little better."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tenya inquired.

Then, the door opened, and Izuku entered. "Uraraka!"

"Deku!" Ochaco called. "Why aren't you out there watching the matches?"

"Well, most of them ended how I expected them to," Izuku replied. "And it's looking like Kirishima's fight's going to drag on for quite a while."

Back in the ring, Eijiro and Tetsutetsu yelled at the top of their lungs as they continued to punch the crap out of each other.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE STRONG!" Tetsutetsu shouted as he landed a punch on Eijiro's face, sending him staggering back a bit.

"FUNNY, I BELIEVED THE SAME LIE ABOUT YOU!" Eijiro retorted as he regained his footing and retaliated.

"I'm next. So this is it. My fight," Ochaco said.

"It'll be okay! I don't think Bakugo would use the full power of his explosions on a girl, right?" Tenya said, glancing toward Izuku.

"Yeah, he would," Izuku confirmed bluntly, causing Ochaco to whimper. "And besides, everyone's trying to get the top spot in these games. Even if she wasn't fighting Kacchan, I don't think anyone would hold back." Then, he took out his notebook and showed it to Ochaco. "You've helped me out so much. It's my turn to help you. Maybe I can repay you a little bit with this. I've got a plan for how you can use your Quirk against Kacchan. It's not much, but I did my best."

"Hey! Well, alright! This is perfect!" Tenya smiled and gave two thumbs-up.

"Thank you so much for doing that," Ochaco said before giving Izuku an apologetic smile. "But, no. Sorry."

Ochaco's answer stunned both Izuku and Tenya.

"What?" Izuku asked.

"You're wonderful, Deku. I keep seeing that over and over again," Ochaco said. "For example, the Cavalry Battle. To be honest, I was kinda hoping I could get a chance to team up with you then. But now that I think about it, I feel like I might've been trying to rely on you to get by. That's why… when I overheard Iida say that he was trying his best to beat you, I actually felt kind of embarrassed for myself."

"Uraraka…" Izuku voiced his concerns.

"So it's fine. Really," Ochaco reassured as she got up and headed toward the door. "Everyone's facing their future and giving this their best. That means we're all rivals. Even you and me, Deku. So…" She then turned to him, giving him a thumbs-up with a nervous smile. "Guess I'll see you in the finals."

Back in the match, Eijiro and Tetsutetsu continued to throw punches at one another with everything they had.

Tetsutetsu crossed his arms to guard his face, but Eijiro surprised him with an uppercut. As Tetsutetsu recovered, Eijiro put up his arms to guard his left, only for his metallic counterpart to get around that with a right hook.

The rock-hard fighter then slammed his fist into Tetsutetsu's gut, to which the strong-as-steel combatant countered with another hook to his rocky equivalent's cheek.

Then, determined to finish the fight once and for all, both sturdy teens charged at one another, forgoing any form of defense for a pure offensive attack, letting out another battle cry as they met in the middle before landing one last punch on each other at the same time, the force of their blows knocking them both back as they collapsed onto the ground, their Quirks deactivating.

["Wow, that hurt me, and all I'm doin' is watchin' these guys! Is it over?"] Present Mic questioned. ["The hardheads look like they're KO'd! But who is the winner?!"]

Midnight ran over to check on the status of the two and saw that both were thoroughly knocked out, unable to continue. "They're both down! It's a draw! When the contestants recover from this battle, the winner will be determined by a simple contest. Perhaps arm wrestling."

As Eijiro and Tetsutetsu were wheeled away by the medical bots, several Pros voiced their thoughts about the match.

"Weird, they're basically copies of each other, but they both proved how determined they were to win."

"Yeah, you gotta appreciate the passion they brought to the ring. It's inspiring, really. I could use a good sidekick like that."

"Mmm-hmm."

["While we wait for Tetsutetsu and Kirishima to recover, we'll move on to the next battle!"] Present Mic announced.

The jumbotron screen changed to display images of the combatants of the sixteenth and final matchup of the first round of the Sports Festival finals: Ochaco and Katsuki.

The crowd roared in excitement, looking forward to the next match.

However, there were some, particularly in Class 1-A, who did not share the same enthusiasm.

"Ribbit. This might be the most disturbing matchup," Tsuyu said with a bit of worry.

"I know. I almost don't wanna watch it," Kyoka agreed, hugging her arms.

"Hey now, have a little faith in our girl," Hilda encouraged.

"Yeah, I'm sure Ochaco's got some secret plan in mind," Tomoe added.

Izuku and Tenya gasped as they saw Ochaco enter the arena.

'Do your best. You got this,' Izuku rooted.

["The sixteenth and final battle in the first round of matches!"] Present Mic declared. ["He was kind of a hot shot in middle school, and just look at that determined face! From the Hero Course, Katsuki Bakugo! Versus… The one I'm personally rooting for, also from Class 1-A, Ochaco Uraraka!"]

Ochaco took a deep breath and put on a resolute expression against Katsuki's death glare.

["Let the sixteenth match begin!"]

Ch. 39: Bakugo vs. Uraraka

["The sixteenth and final battle in the first round of matches!"] Present Mic declared. ["He was kind of a hot shot in middle school, and just look at that determined face! From the Hero Course, Katsuki Bakugo! Versus… The one I'm personally rooting for, also from Class 1-A, Ochaco Uraraka!"]

"You're the one who screws around with gravity. Right, Pink Cheeks?" Katsuki inquired.

"Pink Cheeks?!" Ochaco repeated.

"Well, if you're gonna give up, do it now. 'Cause I'm not gonna hold anything back," Katsuki warned.

Ochaco refused to be intimidated by such a blunt threat and showed it by matching his gaze.

Up in the stands, Tenya turned to speak to Izuku. "Midoriya…"

"Huh?"

"…I'm curious. What was that strategy you came up with that would give Uraraka an advantage against Bakugo?"

"Honestly, it wasn't really that much of a plan," Izuku admitted as he took out his notebook. "Kacchan's so strong. When it comes to close combat, he almost never has any openings. And the more he moves, the more he sweats, which just makes his Quirk more powerful. He's gotten really good at using his explosions to move around in the air. But if Uraraka is able to touch him, she can use her Quirk to make him float. She could send him out of bounds. That's why, it's obvious what Uraraka needs to do to get the upper hand."

Taking another breath to calm her nerves, Ochaco faced her opponent with determination.

"I hope she'll do well," Yumi said.

Rias honestly didn't know if Uraraka would be a match for Bakugo, but she hoped that the brunette could take down the mad bomber somehow.

["Let the sixteenth match begin!"]

The moment Present Mic gave the word to start, Ochaco rushed toward Katsuki, keeping herself bent down low toward the ground with her hands open.

"Giving up isn't an option for me!" Ochaco hollered.

"Whoa, look at her go! That's a good start, and all she has to do is touch him one time!" Izuku remarked.

"But it won't be easy. You know Bakugo's not gonna let her get too close to him," Tenya reminded.

"Which is why he won't dodge. He'll focus his energy on counterattacking," Izuku added.

Katsuki raised his right hand and narrowed his eyes at Ochaco. "And now you die."

'Kacchan. You always use a big right hook to start a fight.' Izuku observed as he noticed Katsuki bringing his right arm back.

'There!' Ochaco noticed it as well. 'Here it comes!' She then moved to dodge the attack. 'If I can dodge this move–'

*BOOOM!*

Contrary to Ochaco and Izuku's expectations, Katsuki let loose an explosive blast, the fire and smoke forcing her backwards.

"Uraraka!" Izuku and Tenya called out.

"He blasted her," Mineta stated.

"Looks like Bakugo's not planning on showing her any mercy," Tsuyu commented.

Back with Ochaco, she was revealed to be unharmed for the most part as the smoke and dust cleared up. "Stupid. Saw it coming and I still couldn't get out of the way."

"You shoulda dropped outta the match," Katsuki warned. Then, he saw a figure coming from behind the smoke, and saw a glimpse of Ochaco's jacket coming into view. "There's no way you can beat me!" He then sent out an explosive palm strike in that direction, but when the dust cleared, there was no Ochaco, just her jacket.

As Katsuki gasped in surprise, Ochaco emerged from behind, out of the smoke, her hand held out to strike.

["Whoa! She flew her jacket over as a decoy! What incredibly quick thinking!"] Present Mic shouted.

'This is my chance, I can make him float!' Right as Ochaco's fingers were inches away from Katsuki's back, he noticed and reacted quickly, blasting her back with a forward wave of explosions. Thankfully, the Zero Gravity user was able to tumble onto her feet.

"Look at that reaction time!" Hanta said.

"Seriously, the dude's insane. You can't get the drop on him," Denki added. "And since Uraraka can't use her Quirk unless she touches him, his lightning-fast reflexes put her at a huge disadvantage."

Katsuki then blew the smoke away with a wave of his arms, and Ochaco charged at him again.

"TOO SLOW!" Katsuki dragged his hand across the ground, tearing it up with his explosions, as he arched his arm up to hit his target, sending rubble and debris flying.

The audience could only watch in horror as the girl was consumed again… only to reemerge with only minor scrapes.

"I'VE GOT YOU!"

*BOOOM!*

Katsukli unleashed an even bigger blast that sent Ochaco flying back a bit further.

"Is she okay?" Tsuyu asked in concern.

"I can't watch this!" Kyoka cried as she covered her eyes.

"Like I always suspected, Bakugo's a total sadist," Mineta muttered.

Just like that, Ochaco continued to charge at Katsuki in an attempt to tag him and float him out of the ring, only for Katsuki to stop her with his explosions, destroying the ground around them. "THIS ISN'T OVER YET!"

*BOOOM! BOOOM!*

More explosions rang out, creating more smoke and rubble, which Ochaco fortunately managed to avoid.

Then, Katsuki noticed Ochaco coming out of the smoke behind him, persistently charging at him. He was surprised that she was still able to keep going, not that he was going to let up any time soon.

He threw out another explosion, and this time, he was able to land a direct hit, sending her flying back further than the last time.

Present Mic was starting to get concerned about Ochaco's well-being as he continued to watch her charge unrelentingly, only to get blasted back by explosions. ["Looks like she's not resting between attacks despite being exploded. The poor girl."]

Izuku had the same feeling as he tried to figure out the meaning behind her actions. 'Uraraka…'

And it wasn't just them, as the Pro Heroes in the audience were also starting to find it unbearable to watch.

"Her feint earlier didn't work, so now she's getting desperate," one Pro said.

Many around him were in agreement as they started talking amongst themselves.

Monoma happened to overhear their chatter and sighed at the so-called Pros' cluelessness. "You idiots. Look closer."

A few of the 1-A and 1-B students wondered what he meant by that, but before they could ponder on it further, the sound of explosions drew their attention back to the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Sona, like Monoma, seemed to be aware of something that the audience did not know, as her focus alternated between the battlefield and the sky.

This strange pattern caught everyone else's attention.

"President, is something the matter?" Tsubaki asked.

"What are you looking at?" Rias also questioned.

"See for yourselves," Sona paid another glance toward the sky.

All the Devils around her looked up, and the sight awaiting them caused all their jaws to drop; even Koneko became wide-eyed at what she saw.

"What is… Oh. My. Word." Latia gasped, a hand covering her mouth in shock.

"Mmhm," the Sitri heiress nodded. "That's what's been going on."

"Wow. Uraraka is one smart little cookie," Akeno praised.

However, the general audience continued to be unaware, only noticing what was in front of them. Some couldn't bear to stay silent for much longer, as they proceeded to get vocal with their thoughts.

"Hey, shouldn't one of the teachers step in?"

"Yeah, this is too much."

Neither Midnight nor Cementoss bothered responding to their comments. If anything, they seemed annoyed by their cluelessness.

The burnt and exhausted Ochaco panted as she was on her hands and knees, with the figure of Katsuki looming over her in the smoke. Despite that, she proceeded to get back up and charged him again.

*BOOM!*

Another explosion sent her flying back.

"This is shameful!" The one who spoke up was a Hero with blond hair, donned in a white, yellow, and green suit with a long yellow cape flowing behind him. He also wore a distinct, winged headpiece over his forehead. "Listen, kid, you really want to be a Hero? Then stop acting like a bully!" He demanded, delivering what he thinks are the words of a Hero. "If you're so good, then just send her out of bounds!"

Katsuki either ignored or didn't hear him, not keeping his eyes off Ochaco.

"Stop toying with the girl and end this match!" He continued on with the tirade.

"Yeah, you heard the guy!" Next to him, a Heroine dressed like a poodle stood up and raised her fists in ire, and before long, the majority of the audience was jeering at Katsuki.

["The crowd is now BOOING Bakugo!"] Inside the commentary box, Present Mic nodded his head. ["And honestly, I kinda agree with what they're sayin–!"] Without warning, Aizawa elbowed Present Mic in the face and took the mic. "AUGH! Hey, woah! What the crap?!"

Aizawa ignored him to instead address the audience, specifically the crowd booing Bakugo. ["Where is the man who started this uproar? Are you a Pro?"]

That question, though brief, was enough to stop all the jeering, replacing it with pin-drop silence. ["Because if you're being serious, you can go home and hang up your cape. I'd suggest… looking into another career."] With that, the Hero who started the ruckus suddenly felt very small from being aimed at.

"You know what he's talking about?" Izuku asked, looking up at the commentator's box in confusion.

["Bakugo's fierceness is an acknowledgement of his opponent's strength."] Aizawa explained to the morons who could only see things at face-value. ["He knows she deserves to have made it this far, so he's making sure he does whatever it takes to keep her at bay and come out on top."]

Katsuki exhaled in surprise as Ochaco stood before him: she was exhausted, beaten, and burned, but still standing. 'We're not finished. She's still standing…'

The panting Ochaco glared at him with furious determination. She wiped away the sweat from her permanently rosy cheeks, but somehow, not even that could alleviate the fierce look on her face.

'She's not dead yet!'

["And not only that, you're trying way too hard to act 'heroic,' especially with the way you told Bakugo to 'stop toying' with Uraraka."] Aizawa continued. ["Is that what you thought, that Uraraka is helpless, weak, being tormented? Why aren't the teachers intervening to end her 'suffering?' You know nothing and thought Uraraka's charges were out of desperation, oblivious to her true intention and determination."]

That last part made the tryhard Hero's confidence shrink to its lowest point.

Down on the field, Ochaco breathed hard as she collected herself, having done the best of her ability up to this point. "I think… It's about time." Her words made Katsuki do a double-take as she prepared to bring her hands together. "Thank you, Bakugo… for keeping your eyes focused on me!"

That declaration took Katsuki by surprise. "What?"

"I don't blame Bakugo for not noticing, but it's embarrassing for a Pro to boo and not realize what's going on from the stands," Monoma commented.

"Huh?" Izuku wondered as he turned in Monoma's direction.

"She kept low to the ground as she moved, which meant Bakugo's blasts tore up the floor of the ring, creating weapons for her. And then she kept him focused on her by attacking relentlessly without rest." He then glanced up at the sky. "Rendering him oblivious."

Both classes followed the blond's gaze, and they were completely astonished by what they found.

High above the battlefield in the sky, there was all the debris kicked up by Katsuki's explosion. Hundreds, maybe thousands, all of various sizes, floated in the air: some tiny like pebbles, and some even as big as boulders.

"Uraraka is truly a force to be reckoned with, not just some defenseless girl who needs the help of some so-called Pro Heroes standing up for her," Sona commented.

Suddenly, the rest of the crowd that pitied Ochaco felt their self-esteem go down, even though they didn't even hear Sona's comment.

"YAHHHHH!" With a mighty yell, Ochaco brought her fingers together, nullifying the effect of her Zero Gravity Quirk.

With that, the effects of gravity took hold of all the stones once more, dragging them all down toward the battlefield.

["A METEOR SHOWER!"] Present Mic shouted.

"NOW you notice…" Aizawa grumbled.

Izuku shot up from his seat. "Hey, she had a plan all along!"

The makeshift meteors rained down like bullets toward Katsuki. Despite this, he didn't show much reaction and simply got into a stance.

With his eyes off her, Ochaco made one more charge toward her opponent, dashing past the smaller debris to finish this once and for all. 'With this much debris, whether he's evading or counterattacking, there will be an opening! In that moment, I'll finally get close to him!' Using her Quirk on herself to make herself weightless, Ochaco got ready to tag Katsuki, who brought his hand up. 'This is it! My shot! I'll win and be just like Deku!'

*KA-BOOOOOOOM!*

Sparks climbed up Katsuki's arm to his palm, at which point, a massive explosion burst into existence, colliding with Ochaco's meteor shower.

Ochaco stood no chance against the force of the blast as she was sent back, even though she wasn't the target, and it wasn't just her as the sudden gust and heat whipped across the stadium, past the audience members, invoking yelps of surprise from them.

But that wasn't even the biggest kicker, as all that was left of the meteor shower were now reduced to dust and a few stray pieces falling harmlessly to the ground or the stadium roof.

As Ochaco regained her bearings and looked up, she noticed Katsuki's figure among the smoke.

"I figured you'd have some sorta stupid plan to beat me," his voice sent a chill down Ochaco's body. "You are friends with that damn nerd, after all."

The look on Ochaco's face was pure horror. "I-It took him one shot."

He was that powerful? She spent the entire match preparing that attack; she had it all planned out…and he countered it with just one shot!

Everyone in the stands was also gutted to see that happen. Several members of 1-A, Izuku included, were left slack-jawed.

The Devils were once again caught off guard by the demonstration of another incredibly powerful Quirk.

"Man! That dude's scary strong! I mean, that huge blast was freakin' OP! How the hell is it fair?!" Saji exclaimed.

Rias agreed with him in silence. It was bad enough that Bakugo used to bully her Izuku, and now this too?!

["Bakugo bangs out a huge demonstration of power! He blasted apart Uraraka's finishing move and remains untouched!"]

"That was close," Katsuki panted as he firmly kept his hand from trembling due to the power he exerted to stop the meteor shower.

'I put everything I could into that, but I wasn't good enough…' Ochaco lowered her head in disappointment. Even so, she willed herself to get back on her feet. 'I can still stand, though.'

This made Katsuki smile, not out of malice but exhilaration. "Alright, then. Time for us to get serious. URARAKA!" He charged in, ready to meet her head-on.

'If Deku were in the ring, he wouldn't give up yet!' Ochaco clenched her fist and turned to face Katsuki… but at that moment, her legs gave in, and she collapsed.

Katsuki's eyes widened at this and came to a stop a small distance from her.

["Uraraka is down!"] Present Mic shouted.

However, even with her falling, Ochaco still desperately attempted to move, even if her body refused to move. 'No… Come on. Get up… I want to keep going…'

"It's too much," Tenya observed.

"Yeah. She's way past her limit," Izuku added.

"I can do this. I can still fight," Ochaco crawled towards Katsuki, who kept his guard up in case. "I can!" As she kept going, a significant memory from her childhood came back to her.

"When I grow up all big and strong, I'll help you and Mommy out any way that I can!"

Her father simply patted her head gently and said, "I appreciate you wanting to help us, Ochaco. But as your father, I'd be happier if you achieved your own dreams. That'd make us perfectly happy! And, well, if you DO make money, just take us on a vacation!"

It was at that moment that Ochaco's vision began to become a blur, her head slowly falling as she struggled to continue. "I'll become… a Hero." And with that, the Zero Gravity user finally fell.

Midnight arrived on the field and raised a hand to Katsuki to hold him off as she checked on Ochaco's condition.

"D… Daddy…" That was the only thing she managed to utter before she finally lost consciousness.

Closing her eyes, the R-Rated Hero announced the result of the match. "Uraraka is KO'd. Bakugo advances to the second round!"

All at once, the whole stadium erupted into a massive uproar of cheers, no doubt still in awe of what had transpired before them.

Soon, medic bots arrived, and Ochaco was placed on a stretcher.

"Take her to Recovery Girl," Midnight instructed the medic bots.

Back in the ring, Katsuki, who had stayed to watch Ochaco get taken away, turned to leave.

["And that's it for the first round!"] Present Mic gave a sigh. ["Hah, I was really pullin' for her. Oh, yeah, I guess Bakugo's moving on."]

"You're supposed to be unbiased, y'know," Aizawa criticized.

["Let's try to forget that depressing outcome!"]

"...Or not."

["With that, the first round is complete! We're taking a quick break, and then we're back with more matches!"]

Izuku walked through the corridor on the way to the waiting room. As he continued on his way, he couldn't help but think back to Ochaco. 'I'm so sorry…'

Then, right as he was walking past a flight of stairs, he was caught by surprise by someone who happened to be ascending them, who was clearly not happy to see him. "Kacchan!"

"What the hell are you doing here?!" The ash blond questioned.

"Well, I'm up next soon, so I was gonna hang in the waiting room," Izuku replied as he turned to go on his way. "Anyway, congrats on winning your match. See you 'round."

But before he got far, Katsuki spoke up. "It was your idea, wasn't it? That stupid, desperate plan of hers." This got Izuku to pause in his tracks. "You would come up with something that annoying. If we end up–"

"You're wrong," Izuku corrected as he turned to face his former childhood friend. "That plan, Uraraka came up with it all on her own. I didn't know anything about it. If that battle was harder than you thought it would be, then it's because of her strategy, not mine."

Katsuki growled at Izuku before turning around to head back to the stands. "Doesn't matter what comes my way, I'm still gonna make it to the finals, so I suggest you be prepared, Deku!"

Izuku had wanted to stay silent… but he couldn't. "And I suggest you start giving people proper credit."

That made the Explosion user peer over his shoulder, locking eyes with the One For All inheritor briefly before mumbling an acknowledgement.

As Katsuki disappeared from sight, Izuku let go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Oh man, I can't believe I did that."

"I can."

Turning around, he saw none other than Rias. "Oh, President. How much did you hear?"

"Enough, I'd say," Rias smiled. "I'm proud of you for standing up to him and also defending your friend. I was rooting for her, especially with that meteor shower, even if she didn't win."

"Yeah, I imagine Uraraka's depressed over it. I was hoping I could try and console her, but she already left Recovery Girl's office before I could," Izuku lamented.

"I'm sure you'll get your chance soon," Rias reassured. "Also, I just wanted to confirm, the way you broke free from Shinso's control, would it happen to do anything with your Quirk?"

"Yeah, it did." He then proceeded to share everything he had discussed with All Might over One For All.

"I see. So these spirits inside One For All were the ones who helped you out," Rias mused. "Oh, Izuku, are you ever going to stop being full of surprises?"

"Uh, probably not," Izuku slumped his shoulders.

"Well, keep at it, and I know you'll excel. I'm sure you have somewhere to be now, so we'll talk again later."

With that, Rias turned to go back to her seats while Izuku headed off to the waiting room.

Katsuki had arrived back at the stands to see some of his classmates' eyes on him.

"Hey Bakugo," Hanta teased. "Playin' the Villain, huh? Musta been tough."

"Even if it was just because of who you were up against, you did make a pretty convincing bad guy," Tsuyu commented.

"Shut up, you idiots!" Katsuki ordered. "Or else!"

"For real, dude," Denki voiced his opinion. "I don't know how you were able to aim a powerful blast at a frail girl like that. I couldn't help but hold back against Argento."

"She completely overpowered you, Kaminari," Tsuyu corrected him.

Denki grunted. "Can't you just let me have this?"

Katsuki then voiced his opinion again, but this time he was calm when he said, "I definitely wouldn't call that girl 'frail.'"

Okay… That was something that no one expected to hear coming out of Bakugo's mouth.

Meanwhile, Izuku arrived at the waiting room, then when he turned the knob and opened the door…

"Man, I lost. Too bad."

He was greeted by a smiling Ochaco with a bandage on her left cheek, sitting at the table, much to his surprise. "Uh… Huh?"

"Guess I got a little carried away at the end, thinking I had it in the bag. Dang it!" She continued nonchalantly.

"You seem fine," Izuku said hesitantly. "But weren't you injured?"

"Yeah! Recovery Girl took care of me," Ochaco said, pointing at the bandage on her cheek. "She was really careful not to train my stamina too much, though. So, I've still got a few scrapes and scratches." Then, she gritted her teeth and brought up a frustrated fist. "Jeez! I didn't realize how powerful that Bakugo was! He wiped the ring with me! Now I realize how much more training I have to do!" The brunette trailed off when she noticed her friends staring at her incredulously. "Eh?"

"You're sure you're good?" Izuku reached out worriedly.

"Oh, yeah, totally. I'm better than I expected!" Ochaco suddenly felt her phone buzzing in her hand, though she didn't have the time to answer it at this moment. "Even if you've lost, you always keep looking ahead to what's next, Deku. This just means that I have to work harder now." Ochaco brought the phone close to her chest.

"That's true…" Izuku noted.

["WAH-HOO!"] The two raised their heads at the sudden sound of someone cheering, and they both knew exactly who it was with a voice that loud.

Eijiro and Tetsutetsu were locked in a fierce arm wrestling match, their right hands locked onto each other tightly while trying to bring down the arm, and their left hands grasping the podium with all their might to the point of causing spider cracks to form. Meanwhile, Cementoss and Midnight stood nearby to observe.

["We're finally about to learn who the true winner is from the fifteenth match! Kirishima or Tetsutetsu! Whoever prevails in this arm wrestling match will advance to the second round! Let's go!"]

And it seemed that question would be answered right at that moment as Tetsutetsu's metal hand cracked under pressure, causing him to yelp. Eijiro took that opportunity to slam his opponent's arm down hard onto the podium, causing it to crack even more.

"Kirishima is the winner!" Midnight announced. "Add him to the bracket!"

"YEEAAAHHHHH!" Eijiro raised his arm and roared to the heavens in triumph.

["Kirishima earns a spot in the second round!"]

"Ah, damn my metal deficiency! Shoulda eaten more iron this morning!" Tetsutetsu lamented as he sat on the ground, holding his aching right arm. He then lifted his head to see Eijiro offering him a hand up, respect etched on his face.

"Hey, man. You put up a good fight."

Tetsutetsu couldn't help but give a respectful grin as he accepted Eijiro's help. "Hah."

Seeing this display of manly sportsmanship, Midnight couldn't help but fawn like a giddy schoolgirl with hearts around her. "Oh! So chivalrous!"

["Now we've got a full roster for the next round of the tournament."] Present Mic announced. ["Let's get the party started now, ya dig?"]

Then, the tournament bracket appeared on the jumbotron again, displaying the matchups for the second round.

Match 1: Izuku Midoriya vs. Chacha Akaninjin

Match 2: Tomoe Meguri vs. Hilda Shirakabe

Match 3: Shoto Todoroki vs. Asia Argento

Match 4: Tenya Iida vs. Ethel Ginzan

Match 5: Mina Ashido vs. Momo Hanakai

Match 6: Asuka Koukawa vs. Xenovia Quarta

Match 7: Itsuka Kendo vs. Dani Fenton

Match 8: Eijiro Kirishima vs. Katsuki Bakugo

With the next matches set, everybody watching was excited for what may be the best Sports Festival in a long time, and they were dying to see who would win and take it all!

Izuku sighed at Present Mic's announcement, not expecting them to move things along that quickly. "Already?" He turned to wave to Ochaco. "Later."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Deku!" Ochaco reached out as he headed for the door. "You weren't able to prepare since I was here!"

"Nah, this was perfect," Izuku shook his head with an assuring smile.

Ochaco nodded and raised her hand to him. "I'll be watching. Good luck out there."

"Thanks."

And with that, the greenette departed, leaving Ochaco by herself. She then opened her phone to check the missed call to see that it was her father and decided to give him a call back.

"Sorry for not picking up earlier, Daddy," Ochaco spoke first.

"No, no, it's fine. Sorry for calling when you're busy. Your mom and I watched you on TV. You almost WON! You were amazing!"

"It wasn't that close. And I wasn't very good…" Ochaco disagreed, not sounding as confident as when talking to Deku moments ago. "I rushed it too much at the end. I didn't have a backup plan for what I'd do if that big move didn't work out. …I failed."

There was a momentary pause before Ochaco's father spoke again. "You lost… but that doesn't mean you can't still become a Pro Hero. I know I don't have the best understanding of how all this works, but there's always next year, right? This isn't the end."

"I know, but I wish I coulda gone further in the festival. So I would have had more chances to show what I'm made of. The scouts barely saw me do anything this time around."

"What're you in such a hurry for, huh?"

"It's just… I wanna help you guys out as soon as I can." Ochaco admitted through her sniffles.

But, thankfully, Ochaco's dad was quick to comfort his daughter, speaking softly to her. "Ochaco, there's no need for you to rush," he assured. "The very fact that you feel that way shows me you'll make a kind, caring Hero one day. I am SO proud of you, you know that, right?"

And that was that. Ochaco broke down crying, covering her eyes with one hand as she knelt over the table. "Hic—Y-Yes, Daddy. I know… th-thank you," she hiccupped.

"Good, now you should really get back to the stands. Your friend's up next, isn't he?"

"Y-Yeah, he is. I'm gonna go now, so… bye, Daddy."

"Goodbye, sweetheart. Love you."

"Love you, too."

As Izuku started making his way toward the arena, he turned back one more time, hoping that Uraraka really was fine. He regretted not being able to talk to her more back there, but he had his match to get to.

Hopefully, things will be alright after his match is over, when he can talk to her again some more.