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Beginning of Chapter
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The Sports Festival grounds still shook with murmers of Uraraka and Hatsumes fight. Cementoss worked tirelessly, slabs of stone shifting and smoothing back into place in preparationfor the next fight, while the crowd buzzed with anticipation.
In the commentator's booth, Present Mic was practically vibrating out of his chair. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOU THOUGHT THAT LAST MATCH WAS INTENSE? BUCKLE UP, BECAUSE THIS NEXT ONE IS GONNA BLOW THE ROOF OFF! IT'S THE CLASH OF—"
he spun dramatically, mic in hand, "GADGETS! VERSUS! EXPLOSIONS! THE BATTLE OF BRAINS VERSUS BANGS, HATSUME MEI VS. BAKUGO KATSUKI!"
The crowd went nuts. Bakugo stomped onto the stage, palms already sparking, an animal barely contained.
Hatsume Mei followed, waving to the audience, her baby pink hair bouncing, carrying a backpack overflowing with bizarre contraptions.
The buzzer went off.
Bakugo's grin spread into something feral, explosions cracking at his hands. "I'LL BLOW YOUR TOYS TO—"
Hatsume raised her hand. "I forfeit."
Silence.
Dead silence.Then the stadium erupted in outrage.
"EH?!"
"WHAT?! ALREADY?!"
Boos, gasps, shouts of confusion.
Hatsume turned, dazzling smile on her face, and bowed dramatically to the crowd. "My work here is done! You've all seen my babies on live broadcast, in front of the biggest audience of my life! This was my real win!"
She raised a gadget like it was a trophy, posing for the cameras as if she'd just claimed gold. "Support companies all over Japan are probably fighting to hire me already. Victory achieved!"
The audience didn't know whether to laugh or yell in disappointment.
Bakugo's eye twitched. "...What."
The realization hit him like a bullet. His whole body went stiff, then he exploded. Literally.
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Blasts erupted at his feet, blowing chunks of arena stone skyward as he roared, "I'LL MURDER YOU, YOU DAMN EXHIBITIONIST!"
Hatsume giggled, completely unbothered, skipping toward the exit as if she hadn't just poured gasoline on a raging inferno.
Midnight rushed onto the stage. Trying to calm him down. "Bakugo, breathe—"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" He shoved her hand away, fury steaming off him in waves. He walked off the stage and towards the hallway, wanting togo let off steam in the locker rooms.
He smashed his fist and it cracked the concrete wall of the hallway as he stormed off, leaving a miniture crater in the side of it behind. The crowd buzzed, half terrified, half ecstatic at his outburst.
Present Mic scrambled to recover the energy. "W-WELL! AN… UNEXPECTED CONCLUSION, FOLKS! GUESS THAT'S A WIN FOR BAKUGO BY DEFAULT, HA! LET'S KEEP THIS HYPE TRAIN ROLLING BECAUSE OHHHH, THIS NEXT ONE'S A BIG ONE!"
"The prodigy of fire and ice… versus the untouchable Honoured One!" Present Mic's voice boomed across the stadium. "TODOROKI SHOTO VS. GOJO SATORU!"
The crowd roared. Banners waved. Anticipation hit like a tidal wave.
Inside the teacher's booth, Aizawa tugged his scarf tighter. "This isn't a fight. Todoroki can't touch him. Gojo wins."
Nezu sipped his tea calmly, eyes gleaming. "Perhaps… though I do recall young Todoroki asking me some curious questions a few minutes ago. About… physics. And the movement of air."
The teachers glanced at each other.
Meanwhile, Satoru and Todoroki stood on the opposite ends of the arena.
Gojo stood with one hand in his pocket, and using the other to wave at the spectators. The entire crowd erupted cheering louder then they did with the others as their favourite player just joined the game.
Todoroki on the other hand was already in a fighting stance, knees bent and fists up, mentally running through his plan and the words of Nezu
"FIGHTERS, ARE YOU READY?!" Present Mics voice rang through the stadium.
Both Satoru and Todoroki nodded their heads in response.
The buzzer sounded.
In an instant, a fortress of jagged ice erupted around Todoroki, thick walls encasing him. The boy crouched low, hand pressed to the ground, already calculating. Defense first.
Across the field, Gojo strolled leisurely, hands in his pockets, head cocked like he was on a morning walk. "Ice walls, huh? That's cute."
He lifted his finger as a crimson orb formed and pointed it at Todoroki's fortress of ice.
REVERSAL RED
The crimson orb shot forward, a beam of repulsion blasting through Todoroki's barricade like wet paper. Chunks of ice scattered across the arena floor.
Some people in the crowd murmured about how this is unfair to Todoroki.
Gojo whistled. "Guess I'll need to pace myself if I don't wanna end this in two seconds flat."
Todoroki ignored him and instantly lifted his left arm and fired an inferno of flames towards Gojo in response. After the barrage of flames vanished, he stopped and used his ice to cool himself and his arm.
"So, what part of 'you can't touch me' do you not understand?" Satoru asked with a smile, standing behind Todoroki.
Todoroki instantly jumped forward, blasting more fire from his arm to help clear the distance between the two.
'Just... keep going, keep playing around with me.' Were his thoughts as he cleared the distance.
Once Todoroki had appeared on the opposite end of the stage he once again punched forward with his left arm to unleash a blazing inferno in his direction, at the same time he made ice baracades around himself.
Gojo calmly walked through the fire, none of it ever reaching him as he strolled towards Todoroki
The crowd was left in awe, every time this boy came on the stage, it was always spectacular. The crowd started getting hot, some fanning themselves as other's tried moving away from the front row seats.
Todoroki then jumped forward and punched Gojo, flames coming off his forearm and his fist as they stopped just short of reaching Gojo.
"Silly boy, you're just going to end up burning yourself." Gojo smiled, to which Todoroki only responded with more flames, not moving away as he looks like he was trying to punch through.
But then Gojo noticed something. His forehead was damp. He felt beads of sweat sliding down beneath his blindfold.
"…Oh?"
The air shimmered. Heat rolled in waves as Todoroki unleashed his flames, far hotter and more constant than before. The stadium became a furnace, each breath heavier than the last.
Gojo realised and jumped back, this time being the one to clear the distance between them two as he was muttering under his breath.
"Smart brat. Infinity won't save me from oxygen deprivation… and fire eats it fast. You werent trying to hit me, you trying to choke me out."
Todoroki smiled as he spoke. "I remembered you warped away from my fire back at the hero exercise we did with All Might. When I spoke to Nezu about hot air, it made sense."
He pointed his finger at Gojo as he spoke. "You can't block everything, even someone untouchable as you need air."
From his stance, Todoroki didn't falter. Ice surged around him from one side, fire from the other he blasted around them, his attacks rhythmically alternating, cooling his part of the arena just enough to keep his own body intact while steadily suffocating Gojo in the heat.
The crowd was stunned silent. Compared to his match with Midoriya, Todoroki wasn't cold and detached, he was fighting smart. Someone actually found a loophole in Infinity. The only other person to do so successfully after Kurogiri.
Gojo was sweating bullets as he stood there calm as ever, flames around him, the air burning hot. He raised his arms and lifted up his sleeves.
Gojo exhaled slowly. Still smiling, he looked at Todoroki and nodded his head. "Smart cookie. To figure that out? I'm rather impressed."
He suddenly appeared infront of Todoroki, his right fist ready to connect to his stomach, Todoroki blasted fire from his side, barely missing the punch as he flew to the other side and made an ice wall to stop him from falling out the stage.
But he had no time to take a breath, Gojo already appeared next to him, this time his fist connected. He punched the boy at the side of his face, sending him skidding across to the stage as Gojo flexed his fingers.
"I'll leave off my Infinity. But you must understand–" he cracked his neck and knuckles as he spoke, watching Todoroki get up and spit out blood.
"–I intend to beat you and take away that hope you had. This will only make it more fun for me."
Todoroki instantly got back into action, no time to dwel on the pain from Satoru's punch, and made an ice wall around himself as he kept pumping out more fire towards Gojo.
Gojo snapped his fingers and this time, a blue spherical vortex appeared in his hand.
He held it in his hand before he threw it into the flames, the orb sucking in all the flames Todoroki had created.
Todoroki raised an ice wall to try and stop the black hole like blue orb, but it just barely made it past him, Todoroki realising he encased himself in with the thing.
The orb suddnly appeared to be growing bigger and break through the roof of his ice structure. The gravitational pull yanked Todoroki, ripping the ground beneath him apart as his body was dragged upwards. He slammed down an ice pillar, desperately anchoring himself, flames bursting around him in resistance.
Gojo tilted his head. "You're not bad. But you're not good enough."
He raised his hand higher, the force of Blue doubling, tripling. Todoroki's anchor shattered. His eyes widened as his body was yanked off the ground, pulled like a ragdoll.
Suddenly the orb disappeared, he was a few meters high of the ground and now suddenly falling down. He used his flames and ice to brace his impact, before making an overhang out of ice to shield him from the falling debris.
Gojo meanwhile clapped his hands together, then pulled off his jacket, now only in his shirt clinging onto his body due to the sweat.
Todoroki then rushed forward, his left arm already red and in pain from the constant use, but he kept pn pushing, he managed to close the distance between the two of them.
The two entered into hand to hand combat, Todoroki firing flames wildly and using them to make Gojo play defensive. Gojo dodging every attempt he had to hit him, kicks, punch and headbutt all while moving out of the flames or warping behind him and slamming his fists into his sides.
This game of tag went on for a few minutes, Todoroki tanking all the hits while blasting fire around him and at Gojo.
Suddenly, Todoroki raised his leg and slammed it into the ground. Ice erupting from his foot and swelling the entire stage in ice.
Gojo had the ice crawling up to his legs, raising an eyebrow before Todoroki turned around, screaming his lungs out as his arm erupted into flames as he directed it towards Gojo who stood there with a crazed grin.
"FLASH... FREEZE... HEAT WAVE!" He bellowed, suddenly a large thick block of cement raising between him and Gojo, the crowd was stunned.
The flames broke through the cinderblock with ease, Todoroki yelled with everything he had, Gojo disappeared from the camera as he was swallowed in an Inferno.
Present Mic practically broke his microphone. "OHHHHH MY GOD! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IN A BREATHTAKING SHOW OF POWER TODOROKI SHOTO UNLEASHED HELL ON SATORU GOJO! IS HE THE ONE WHO WAS DESTINED TO DEFEAT GOJO!
THE COCKINESS OF HIS OPPONENT HAS BIT HIM IN THE ASS, AND VICTORY IS GIVEN TODOROKI!"
The crowd's roar shook the heavens. Awe and disbelief. The hype, the excitement of seeing Gojo. Gone.
The crowd went crazy, people cheering on Todoroki, Endeavor's cheers were heard as he laughed drowned the sound for the other Pro Heros next to him.
After a minute, finally the attack stopped, the steam cloaked the arena in silence. The center strip of the stage was molton rock. Todoroki's chest heaved, his left arm broken and bent in an unnatural way and the black burn marks went up to his forearm.
His legs were shaking beneath him before he collasped to his knees. He forced himself upright, whispering hoarsely, "It's… over."
"THE WINNER ISS SHOTO TOD–"
Laughter. Low at first, then rising. A laugh that made even the pros in the booth stiffen. Everyone looked around to pinpoint the one responsible for it.
It came from the stage... but Todoroki was just as confused before it dawned on them. The colour in Todorokis face drained he started shaking as he looked across the stage into the steam.
"Fuck me," the voice chuckled, rolling his shoulders as if he hadn't just been experienced the flames of Hell. "That almost felt like a Prominence Burn. Shoto… you're fun."
"H-how... I-I put everything into that attack..." came the shaky voice of Todoroki.
The crowd went crazy, people could barely hear Present Mic and Midnight both screaming into the mic.
A blue orb flew into the sky, all the steam was sucked into it before it vanished. The stage was clear and everyone could see him.
Satoru Gojo stood on the opposite end near the edge and near the strip of molton rock, his shirt completely burnt, the skin on his abdomen and chest missing and rapidly regenerating.
Gojo's blindfold was gone, revealing his bright blue eyes, gleaming like galaxies. For one, breathless second, the entire stadium froze, hypnotized by the eyes of the boy.
"So... you also have regeneration..." Todoroki didn't even look up, the entire crowd exploded with cheering, screaming and a few vomiting from seeing the raw flesh underneath Gojos skin.
A few seconds later it was as if he was never attacked by that ultimate move of Todoroki.
He raised a hand, a crimson orb forming on the tips of his fingers and pointed it towards Todoroki. "Fun fact... the longer I charge up this red... the more explosive it becomes in terms of repulsion."
For the next minute the stadium was silent eith excitment in the air. Todoroki didn't even move. There were no tears in his eyes as he just looked up and towards Gojos eyes.
"What... what are you?" He asked softly.
Gojo grinned wider at the question, the red light reflecting in his perfect eyes.
"I am... Satoru Gojo..." Todoroki accepted his fate as he looked back down to the ground.
"PHASE PARAMITA..
PILLER OF LIGHT!"
The orb detonated into a pillar of repulsive force that swallowed Todoroki whole, dragging him across the arena, through the barrier, and into the far field until nothing was left but broken stone, upturned earth and silence.
Todoroki layed on his back in the dirt where the race took place.
For a heartbeat, there was silence.
The stadium erupted.
It was chaos, a living wave of screams, cheers, gasps, and pure pandemonium. Fans leapt to their feet, hands in their hair, faces twisted with disbelief as they tried to make sense of what they'd just witnessed.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HE?!" one spectator shrieked, clutching at his friend.
Children cried, some hiding in their parents' arms. Others were standing on their seats, chanting Gojo's name like he was some myth come alive.
And then, breaking the chaos...
"SHOTO!"
A bellow like a cannon tore through the arena. Endeavor vaulted from the stands without hesitation, his body a comet of fire. He blasted straight across the field and arena, flames scorching the air as he ignored Gojo completely. His boots slammed into the cracked earth beside his son's crumpled body.
"Shoto!" Endeavor roared again, dropping to one knee, heat radiating uncontrollably as he checked his son. His massive hands gripped Todoroki's shoulders, shaking him lightly. "Stay with me! Look at me, boy!"
Gojo didn't move. He just stood there at the other side of the arena, crimson energy still sparking from his fingertips.
In the stands, Shinso stared wide eyed, his throat dry. His classmates around him whispered in disbelief.
"Did… did you see that? Todoroki had him! He almost suffocated him!"
"And he just... he laughed it off…"
Shinso's eyes were wide. "That's the same guy who basically gave me a crash course on fighting? Guess I see why he calls himself the Honoured One." His voice was low as he let out a small chuckle.
Meanwhile, in Class 1-A's section, the students were frozen. Momo covered her mouth with both hands, eyes wide with horror. Mina muttered under her breath, "No way… that wasn't even a fight. He's… he's a monster."
Bakugo scowled, his teeth grit, sweat dripping down his temple. "Tch… shitty extras. Don't just gape like morons. That bastard isn't untouchable. He bleeds." His words sounded harsh, but even he couldn't mask the tremor in his voice.
Midoriya though, was scribbling in his notebook with trembling hands, his muttering faster than ever. "His regeneration speed… that's not a Quirk aspect of his we've seen before.
His Infinity alone was enough to make him untouchable, but regeneration… h-he didn't even flinch when Todoroki pushed him to his limit... if he even reached them... What… what is he…?"
Up in the teachers' booth, Present Mic had his head in his hands, voice shaking as he forced himself back on the mic. "UH, L-LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WHAT A… WHAT A FIGHT! WHAT A… SHOWCASE OF YOUTHFUL SPIRIT! AH-HA-HA… HA…" His laugh was hollow, bordering on unhinged.
Aizawa's scarf shifted as he sat back in his chair, expression unreadable but his eyes just slightly wider than usual. "He just tanked Todoroki's strongest move… and didn't even use Infinity to block it. Guess I was right Nezu."
Beside him, Nezu's tea cup rattled faintly in its saucer. But his eyes gleamed like twin lanterns. "Fascinating… truly fascinating.
If Todoroki had thought just a little further, perhaps he might have pulled it off. But Gojo…" The creature's smile widened. "…I suppose I should of trusted your judgement."
The stadium camera zoomed in on Gojo, who stood calmly in the wreckage, chest rising and falling, as his muscular frame was on display. His blindfold gone, the light of his eyes shone clear for the world to see.
'Damn... its so bright. So many quirks... I need my blindfold or sunglasses.' Was the only thought in his mind.
For a moment, the arena went silent again. Every spectator, every teacher, every student, all held their breath.
And Gojo, basking in the silence, raised his hand and gave the crowd a casual wave, like a superstar walking off stage after a concert.
The audience erupted once more, half in cheers, half in terror.
Endeavors eyes looked back to see Gojo, he clenched his jaw before looking at his boy, seeing himself when he was back at U.A.
"What kind of Monster did you get to be with in the same class..."
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End of Chapter
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