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Beginning of Chapter
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The stadium roared back to life as Present Mic practically bounced in his booth.
"ALRIGHT, FOLKS! NEXT UP, WE GOT OUR ZERO-GRAVITY GIRL, URARAKA OCHACO, VERSUS THE TAPED WONDER, SERO HANTA!"
The crowd's cheers blended into a wave of sound as the two classmates walked onto the arena stage. Uraraka clenched her fists, bouncing lightly on her heels, determination shining in her eyes.
Across from her, Sero cracked a grin, flexing his tape dispensing elbows to the crowd.
"You ready, Uraraka?" Sero called out.
"Of course!" she shot back, smiling, though sweat dotted her forehead.
The buzzer rang.
Sero fired first, twin ribbons of tape whipping out like striking serpents. Uraraka leapt sideways, but unfortunately she was caught as the tape lashed around her arm, yanking tight.
The crowd gasped, Uraraka falling forward as she tried to win in this tug of war, but Sero pulled with more strength, bringing her toward him like a hooked fish.
"Uh oh! Looks like Tape-Boy's got her reeled in!" Midnight shouted to the crowd.
But Uraraka's eyes sharpened. Instead of resisting, she quickly got back up and slapped her other hand to the tape. Her Quirk flared, pink energy rippling down the strand and surrounding Sero as his eyes widened.
Sero's grin faltered. "Wait, what?!"
He started floating above the ground, trying to reel her in when, due to him being weightless, all he did was bring himself closer to her, panic bleeding into his expression.
"OOOOOH SNAP!" Present Mic howled, nearly falling out of his chair. "She flipped the script, people! That's not a tape. IT'S A TRAP!"
In the observation booth, Aizawa's voice cut through, calm and steady. "That's creativity. Uraraka realized she doesn't have to use her Quirk on her opponent directly. The tape is part of Sero, so touching the tape, the effects would at the same time affect sero himself.
He also can't cut off the tape, otherwise he floats until she decided to let gravity remember he exists... and I don't think he'd be able to handle that."
Down below, Uraraka braced her heels into the arena floor, tugging once, then twice Sero sailed overhead, arms flailing, watching as she started spinning in circles.
The crowd started cheering her name, understanding that in this position, he really can't do anything.
He followed along, seeing if he released his tape to disconnect from her, he flies out the arena, if he doesn't, she flings him out the arena.
A terrible situation he didn't account for.
After a minute or two, Uraraka released her Quirk on Sero, suddenly gaining speed as she spun him around due to his weight returning, Sero using every ounce of strength to not get dizzy.
Unfortunately for him, it wasn't enough, she managed to rip the rip of her arms as she spun around, his weight pulling on her slightly as the force of him being spun around made him feel weak.
As she ripped the tape, he was flung out the arena and crashed into the dirt, digging a slight trench as he came to a halt.
The buzzer blared.
"AND THE WINNER IS URARAKA OCHACO!"
The crowd erupted, her name echoing through the stands.
Uraraka pumped a fist, grinning wide, chest heaving with effort before turning around and yelling to her friend.
"Sero, are you okay! I'm sorry!" She yelled out, to which the sounds of vomit emminated from his direction, everyone in the stadium feeling uncomfortable as they said one thing collectively. Even those at home or overseas watching, this truly brought the world together in unison.
"Ew."
A paramedic ran across the field towards the boy, putting him on a stretcher and carrying him as he lifted up his hand to give Uraraka a thumbs up, signalling he was alright.
At Class 1-A's section, Gojo tilted his head lazily, smiling under his blindfold. "In her favor, really. Unless you've got air mobility, overwhelming power, or something to ground yourself instantly, she's got you."
The bracket flickered on screen.
"NEXT MATCH FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI VERSUS IZUKU MIDORIYA! BE BACK AFTER THIS 5 MINUTE BREAK!"
"Oho, Midoriya and Yami." Gojo said curiously, to which Tokoyami replied.
"It's Tokoyami... But yes. It seems my time has come for battle, although I see no sliver of victory against Midoriya's power." He said as he looked off to the side.
"... Okay buddy, get out there with your bird friend and kick ass." He said with a thumbs up and a smile as Tokoyami walked away from his seat with Kirishima down the stands.
"Has anyone seen Green hair?" Gojo asked, to which Momo answered sitting behind him now, "He's in the locker room, he'll be out soon he said."
After a few minutes, both boys walked calmly to the stage. Tokoyami's face was stern, his beak angled downward. "Midoriya. This isn't a favorable match-up for me… and I know it."
The people were cheering for both of them, Midnight asking if both parties were ready to which only Tokoyami nodded his head.
Midoriya didn't respond. He just curled his finger, his jaw tight as his eyes showed determination.
The buzzer rang
Dark Shadow immediately trieste shield Tokoyami as he ran forward to Midoriya, the boy only standing still and raising one hand.
"SMASH!"
The air cracked as Midoriya flicked his finger, a compressed shockwave exploding outward. Tokoyami was lifted off his feet instantly, Dark Shadow tried grabbing the ground to hold them, but the floor was ripped along with him, rubble and debri flying out of bounds with Tokoyami as he crashed into the far wall across the arena.
The crowd went dead silent.
"AND MIDORIYA WINS!" Present Mic screamed a second later, the crowd exploding in disbelief and cheers.
Midoriya stood there with one arm in the air to show his victory, his other arm down at his side, the finger purple and bending unnaturally as he smiled.
In the stands, Iida shot up, eyes wide behind his glasses. "Ingenious! Since his Quirk damages him, Midoriya redirected it into his fingers. It's a calculated, efficient way to minimize collateral while maximizing range."
Tsuyu clapped her hands with the others, Bakugo scoffing at it.
'Hm... the more I look, the more I realise that he glows the same as All Might...' Gojo thought, his one hand lifting up his blindfold just enough to show one eye to look at the boy.
'He's not just strong, he's trying to be clever about it. Good. Still not enough to touch me, though.'
Midoriya walked of the arena and instead of heading back to the stands he instead walked towards the locker rooms, cradling his bruised finger in his hand as Cementos and a paramedic went to assist Tokoyami out the wall, being wrapped with dark shadow to minimize the impact.
Inside, the muffled roar of the stadium leaked through the walls. Midoriya sat alone on the bench, cradling his throbbing hand.
"I… I thought of a way. At least this much. But…" His voice cracked, low and bitter. "I'm still weak. My body's still breaking. I wanted to reach that wall—"
He grit his teeth. "—but now that I've seen Gojo fight… it's not a wall. It's a mountain. A mountain I can't climb... Its like im at the base of Everest with no tools, and hes at the peak, sitting there... looking down at everyone."
His breath shuddered. He stayed that way, slumped, until the next match blared faintly from the speakers.
"…Yaoyorozu Momo versus Hatsume Mei!"
"It's like, whenever we make any progress, he's always six steps ahead. Iida is fast, but he's faster. Kaachan is strong, and he's stronger... we all have our own walls to climb but... " He lowered his head, thinking about what All Might told him the previous day.
'He's a monster young Midoriya. Even I wouldn't want to make the mistake of not taking him seriously in a fight... He's dangerous, he's... he's just honoured.'
He looked up to the ceiling, hearing the crowd and everyone cheering, Present Mic hyping up the crowd like the showman he is.
"... Can I really say I want to be the next Symbol of Peace... if he is here..." He said as he walked over to his locker.
He took out his notebook and bagan paging, multiple pages having been dedicated to analysing Gojo, every ounce of information, and the more he analysed, the more he saw how much of a gap there was between the two.
"Gojo doesn't even break his fingers. He doesn't need to."
Time passed. When he finally left the lockers, Momo was already walking back in, head bowed, smile tight and strained as she walked past him.
On the platform, Hatsume raised her hands proudly to the crowd, engineers in the audience clapping as much for her tech as her victory along with the support course students shouting her name.
Midoriya's stomach twisted. Momo forced her smile… but her eyes were glassy.
Jirou, and Mina went into the lockers after her, knowing their friend isn't handling her lose well. Midoriya closed his eyes and sighed, walking back towards their class stand.
'I'll be against Todoroki... Maybe I should change his mind... to see if I really can save someone before I attempt to climb the mountain.'
On the field, the next announcement blared.
"ENGINE VS. HARDENING! TENYA IIDA VERSUS EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!"
The two boys faced each other with fists clenched, smiles sharp with mutual respect as they already stood on the field by the time Midoriya joined the others.
"You'll knock me out if I'm not careful," Kirishima admitted, his hardened skin gleaming as he was prepared to ground himself using his plan.
Iida's lips curved slightly. "And you'll tank me unless I aim properly. Gojo told me something when I passed him earlier. 'You beat him if you don't get knocked out.'"
Kirishima chuckled. "He told me the same. Said you beat me… if I don't stay grounded. Guess we've both been warned."
The buzzer rang.
Engines roared. Iida dashed in, his first kick struck with rapid speed, but Kirishima absorbed them, his stance rooted as he was ankles deep.
Kirishima managed to nearly grab Iida's leg, forcing the boy to dash across the arena, clearing the distance in less than a second or two.
Iida repeated the same tactic a few times, dashing in with a fury of fast kicks to try and overwhelm his classmates hardening, but he was unable to do so.
He cleared the distance between the two once again, intending to finally get serious with him.
"You're pretty rooted aren't you. Maybe I'll need to pluck you out!" Iida said as he bent down, hands on the ground as he entered a racers starting stance.
"I'm not winning this Festival... But Ill make damn good sure."
To which Iida smiled. "Then I'll make your defeat a worthy one... If speed is equal to weight–"
Blue flames began blasting out his exhausts on his calves, the ground below him cracking, the crowds eyes drawn to Iidas stance as he prepared to use a super move for the first time.
"What happens if I kicked you at my current full power!"
"RECIPRO BUURST!"
His engines screamed as he ran across the entire arena in a blink of an eye, his one leg raised as he prepared to do a round house kick to Kirishimas chest.
A blinding kick, smashing against Kirishima's side with overwhelming speed, faster than nearly the entire crowd could see.
The red-haired boy grunted, his body strained, but the force tore him from the ground, hurling him past the boundary almost a fee seconds after he was hit
This was Iidas super move he was working on, something he developed after the USJ, and to show his brother how far he had come.
The buzzer blared.
"IIDA WINS!"
Cheers erupted as Midnight praised his technical execution, Present Mic howling about the trick Iida pulled. "CAN YOU BELIEVE IT, WE ARE OUT HERE SEEING NEW SUPER MOVES PEOPLE!"
Iida barely raised his arm to the air, feeling a lain in his legs, specially the one he used to kick Kirishima with.
"Kirishima! Are you alright!?" He yelled out.
Kirishima coughed, the dust clearing as hebwas finally visible, being lodged into the wall like a nail with his arms and legs spreed out.
"Woah, nice super move! That was manly man!" He gave a thumbs up as he hoped out the mini crater he was in as a paramedic with a grumbling Cementoss come to him.
He bowed towards the boy in respect, then hurried off the stage, before Midnight could come on the stage and congratulate him, muttering about a call he had to make.
"AND NEXT UP!" Present Mic bellowed, his voice shaking the stadium. "BAKUGO KATSUKI VERSUS TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU!"
The crowd roared in anticipation, Bakugo pacing back and forth in the hallway of the locker rooms, Iida walking past him while talking on the phone.
From the doorway, he could hear Momos crying and her friends trying to encourage her, make her feel better.
"No… I lost because I wasn't good enough. Because I wasn't… him. It wasn't even Hatsume… it was that I knew even if I won, he'd be waiting. I couldn't breathe." He heard her muffled whimpers, he peaked into the room to see her laying on Minas lap as Jirou spoke to her.
The reality of being on the same stage as Gojo was. To try and prove him they aren't weak as he called them, to show that even with him taking the spotlight. They too are able to share it with him.
He looked around to see both the winners and loses of the matches, from Shinso and Midoriya to Kaminari and Sero. All clearly glancing towards Satoru every now and then. His presence alone caused their morals to drop.
The pressure was the toughest battle they've faced, the pressure of trying to be able to stand near him was awful.
It was as if standing near an event horizon.
It was inescapable, the point of no return as he engulfed all attention and hope you had left.
Bakugo scoffed as he walked away. "I don't need to fight these extras, just give me my only real opponent." He said as he walked out to the field, standing near the hallway entrance as he looked up as Gojo talking to a laughing Uraraka.
"If you're untouchable, then I'll be the one to touch you. I don't give a damn if you're honoured or whatever, you're just another bastard standing in my way."
He saw the blindfolded boy look back at him, a smile on his face as he gave a small wave towards Bakugo.
Bakugo nearly exploded with rage as he clenched his fists, gritting his teeth together as he kept looking at Gojo.
"Screw the medal. Screw the crowd. He's the only one worth blowing up."
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End of Chapter
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