Chapter 60: Shadows and Acids, a Clash of Comrades
The roar of the crowd was a living thing, a wave of energy that ebbed and flowed with the tide of battle. The quarter-finals were in full swing, a brutal and brilliant display of the future of heroism. From their vantage point in the stands, Lee, Sora, and Mr. Tanaka had a perfect view of the stage, where the next two combatants were being introduced.
"GET READY TO RUMBLE, FOLKS, BECAUSE THIS NEXT MATCH IS A REAL CLASH OF STYLES!" Present Mic's voice screamed, dripping with hype. "IN ONE CORNER, THE DARK APOSTLE OF CLASS 1-A, A POWERHOUSE OF SENTIENT SHADOW, FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI! AND IN THE OTHER CORNER, THE DANCING QUEEN OF DEFENSE, THE GIRL WHO CAN MELT YOUR HEART AND YOUR FACE, MINA ASHIDO!"
Tokoyami walked out with his usual stoic grace, his bird-like head held high, the shadowy form of his Quirk, Dark Shadow, peeking out from behind him with glowing, predatory red eyes. Mina, in contrast, bounced onto the stage, a vibrant splash of pink and purple, a confident and cheerful grin on her face.
The bell rang, and Tokoyami wasted no time. Under the bright stadium sun, Dark Shadow was weaker, more vulnerable. His only strategy was a swift, overwhelming assault.
"Go, Dark Shadow!" he commanded.
The sentient shadow erupted from his body, a monstrous beast of pure darkness with glowing red eyes and massive, clawed hands. It shot across the arena floor, a terrifying, screeching missile aimed directly at Mina.
Mina, however, was not intimidated. Her grin widened. She secreted a film of slick, viscous acid from the soles of her boots and began to skate across the concrete, her movements fluid and unpredictable, like a breakdancer on ice. She was a picture of agility, gracefully evading Dark Shadow's massive, hammering blows, which shattered the ground where she had been moments before.
"She's fast!" Kaminari yelled from the student stands. "But she can't keep dodging forever!"
Mina knew this. Defense was not a victory. As Dark Shadow lunged again, she leaped into the air, spinning, and sprayed a wide arc of her corrosive acid not at the shadow, but at the ground in front of it. The acid hissed and steamed, creating a slick, dangerous puddle. Dark Shadow, unable to stop its momentum, plunged its claws into the acid. It let out a pained, ethereal screech as the corrosive liquid began to sizzle against its shadowy form, forcing Tokoyami to retract it in a hurry.
She had found its weakness.
"A brilliant defensive move!" Present Mic roared. "Ashido is using her Quirk to control the battlefield!"
With Dark Shadow now forced to be more cautious, Mina went on the offensive. She slid forward on a wave of her own creation, her body low to the ground. Tokoyami commanded Dark Shadow to form a shield, but Mina was too quick. She slid right under the shadowy barrier and delivered a sharp, acid-laced kick to Tokoyami's leg, making him stumble. It wasn't a powerful blow, but it was a clean hit. She had breached his impenetrable defense.
Tokoyami, recognizing his disadvantage in a prolonged fight, made one last, desperate move. He sent Dark Shadow out again, not as a weapon, but as a wall, to buy himself a moment of time. Mina, seeing her chance to end it, surfed forward on another wave of acid, ready to deliver the final blow. But it was a trap.
Just as she passed the shadowy wall, Tokoyami, who had been hidden behind it, lunged forward and grabbed her, his grip surprisingly strong. But in his haste, he had miscalculated. Mina's entire body was still coated in a thin, incredibly slick layer of her own acid. He couldn't get a proper grip. She was like a wet bar of soap. With a cheerful "Oopsie!" she slipped right through his grasp, spun around behind him, and gave him a firm, decisive shove.
Off-balance and unable to regain his footing on the slippery stage, Tokoyami stumbled across the boundary line. Midnight cracked her whip. "Tokoyami is out of bounds! The winner is Mina Ashido!"
Mina struck a victorious pose as the crowd cheered for her clever, strategic victory. She had proven that agility and intelligence could triumph over raw, overwhelming power.
The final match of the quarter-finals was one the entire class had been waiting for. It was a battle between two of the class's most powerful, straightforward, and honorable fighters. It was a battle between friends.
"AND NOW, FOR OUR FINAL QUARTER-FINAL MATCH!" Present Mic bellowed. "IT'S THE UNBREAKABLE SHIELD VERSUS THE UNSTOPPABLE SPEAR! AN EXPLOSIVE CONFRONTATION BETWEEN TWO MEN WHOSE SPIRITS ARE AS HARD AS ROCK! KATSUKI BAKUGO VERSUS EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!"
They met in the center of the ring, a powerful sense of mutual respect and friendly rivalry radiating from them.
"Don't think for a second I'm going to go easy on you, Bakugo," Kirishima said, a wide, challenging grin on his face as he slammed his fists together, his body hardening into its jagged, crimson form.
Bakugo's own grin was a feral, joyful thing. This was a fight he understood. A pure, head-on clash of power. "If you hold anything back, Shitty Hair," he growled, small explosions popping in his palms, "I'll never forgive you."
The bell rang, and the stage exploded.
It was a beautiful, brutal slugfest. Kirishima charged forward, a human juggernaut, his hardened fists swinging. Bakugo met him head-on, not with evasion, but with his own explosive force, using his blasts to parry, to propel himself, and to attack. The sound of their blows was a deafening, percussive roar, the sharp crack of explosions mixing with the deep, resonant thud of fists meeting rock-hard flesh.
Kirishima's strategy was simple: endure. He knew he couldn't match Bakugo's versatility, but he could outlast him. He took the brunt of the explosions on his hardened skin, gritting his teeth against the sheer concussive force, waiting for the moment when Bakugo's stamina would begin to wane.
Bakugo, in turn, was a genius of destruction. He wasn't just blasting wildly. He used small, focused AP Shots to target Kirishima's joints, then wide, concussive blasts to throw him off balance. He was a master artist, and his medium was nitroglycerin.
For minutes, they were locked in a stalemate, a furious whirlwind of red and orange. Both were panting, their bodies battered and bruised. Kirishima's unbreakable form was beginning to show microscopic cracks, the strain of maintaining it becoming immense. Bakugo's arms ached from the constant, violent recoil of his own Quirk.
"This is it, Kirishima!" Bakugo roared, seeing his opening.
He feinted with a massive right hook. Kirishima, as expected, raised his hardened arm to block. In that split second, Bakugo fired a small, precise blast from his left hand, using the recoil to pivot his entire body with blinding speed, getting inside Kirishima's guard. He placed his right palm flat against the center of Kirishima's chest.
"Sorry about this, man," he grinned.
He unleashed a continuous, roaring, point-blank explosion. It wasn't a quick blast; it was a sustained, overwhelming torrent of pure, destructive power. The sustained force was too much for Kirishima's flickering defense. It didn't break him, but it lifted him off his feet and sent him flying backwards, tumbling out of the ring.
Bakugo fell to one knee, breathing heavily. He had won.
Kirishima pushed himself up from outside the ring, his hardened form dissipating, leaving him bruised but smiling. He gave Bakugo a thumbs-up. Their friendship was as unbreakable as his skin.
The stadium roared. The semi-finalists were now decided. The screen updated, showing the four remaining faces: Rock Lee vs. Tenya Iida, and Katsuki Bakugo vs. Mina Ashido.
In the stands, Lee stood up quietly. He had watched both fights with a silent, analytical intensity. He now knew the final hurdles that stood between him and the promise he had made to his master.
He turned to Sora, his expression calm and determined. "Sensei," he said simply. "I am going to begin my preparations."
He turned and began to walk away, a solitary green figure moving with purpose against the flow of the cheering crowd.
As he descended the stairs, Present Mic's voice cut through the air. "AND THAT CONCLUDES THE QUARTER-FINALS, EVERYONE! WHAT A DISPLAY OF POWER AND HEART! WE'LL BE TAKING A SHORT BREAK TO PREPARE THE STAGE FOR THE SEMI-FINALS! DON'T YOU DARE GO ANYWHERE!"
Lee disappeared into the dark corridor of the stands, his mind already focused on the impossible choice that lay before him.
~~~~
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