Once more, I found myself center stage. However, this time, my opponent was someone I was far more familiar with: Denki Kaminari. I'd watched his fight against Asui, and I was surprised how easily he won. All it took was for him to grab a hold of her tongue, zapping her into submission. That strategy wouldn't work on me; we both knew that. However, I still needed to be careful.
My skin should be able to take his blasts, but I probably shouldn't use my webs on him. Since they conduct electricity, he might be able to shock me from the inside out. I'm not sure what that would do to me. He's not very fast or physically strong. He's not very smart either. Maybe I should just rush him down. One solid punch and this would all be over.
"Damn it, Morales. Why'd it have to be you?" I heard him say.
"What do you mean?"
"We've already seen that you can tank an attack from me that's almost full power."
As he spoke, I could hear Present Mic talking in the background. He yelled, "Begin!" but Kaminari and I didn't move. I wanted to let him finish what he had to say.
He had this confident smile on his face, but I could tell by his eyes that he was scared. "Do you feel that too? When you're about to get into a fight? That electricity tingling on your fingertips and the tip of your tongue. The hairs on your body standing up? Your heart racing?"
I nodded without a word.
"Figures. You know how I said that you were able to absorb an almost full-power attack from me?" Kaminari's body started to emit a blinding light. The audience and I had to cover our eyes; it was so bright. Meanwhile, I could hear thunder reverberating through the entire arena, accompanied by Kaminari's voice. "I know now that you can withstand my attacks without dying. So I'm just gonna hit you with everything I have! I hope you're ready!"
Kaminari was unable to aim where he fired his electricity, which meant this attack was going to cover the entire stage. It didn't matter where I dodged; this attack was going to hit me. My Spider-Sense was going crazy. Usually, my body would react and dodge on its own, but I was frozen. There were no options other than to sprint at him head-on; all I could do was absorb his attack. I hate to say it, but part of me wanted to see just how much I could take.
Kaminari let out a monstrous roar as he released every ounce of electricity that he had stored in his body. The entire stage was engulfed in a bubble of electricity so thick that I doubt the audience could even see what was going on. Once the attack hit me, I could feel my heart rate quadruple. Despite being able to stick to the ground, my feet began sliding backward from the impact.
I couldn't help but scream as my skin felt as if I were being boiled alive, yet that pain felt somehow rejuvenating at the same time. Eventually, I found my footing, absorbing the electricity into my chest as I stepped forward through the blast. I could only see the silhouette of my opponent growing larger with each step I took forward.
That incredible electric bubble that surrounded me started to shrink as I absorbed it, and the crowd went wild once they were able to actually see the stage. However, despite having absorbed electric attacks before, this one was different. I started losing control. The sensation was similar to having to vomit, except it lingered on every inch of my body. I needed to expel the energy; my body couldn't store it all.
"The audience!" I yelled out to the teachers. "I can't control it!"
Cement, one of the hero teachers, quickly surrounded the arena with a wall of concrete, keeping the audience safe. I leaped forward, my electric fist reeled backward as my body trembled like a shaken soda bottle. Holding back to spare his life, I punched Kaminari square in the chest, redirecting all of that power back to him. An explosion of electricity burst from my body, such that it cracked the concrete walls surrounding me. Kaminari was blown back by the impact and crashed into one of Cement's walls.
When my body finally expunged the foreign energy from itself, I fell to my knees and almost actually vomited. Cement pulled down his concrete walls, allowing the audience and the announcers to get a look at the stage. Once they saw the result, the crowd erupted.
"Miles Morales wins!" said Present Mic.
I looked over at Kaminari, who was unconscious out of bounds. I couldn't help but feel bad for him. No matter what, if he had to face me, he'd lose. It wasn't a matter of strength or intelligence; it was a matter of genetics, plain and simple.
When Kirishima fought Bakugo, he immediately hardened his body and went in for an all-out assault. For the first time ever, Bakugo went on the defensive, simply dodging Kirishima's attacks. I was confused at first, but then Momo brought something up.
"Do you think Bakugo is trying to wait out Kirishima's Quirk?"
She was right. After a while, Kirishima was not only out of gas, but he was no longer able to harden his skin. Seeing this, Bakugo hit Kirishima with a barrage of attacks, ripping his gym clothes to shreds while also knocking him unconscious.
After that, Iida went up against Tokoyami. Unfortunately for Tokoyami, this was a mere bad matchup. Iida was able to outrun Tokoyami's dark shadow and push him off the stage. I'd say that was the quickest match of the whole tournament.
Lastly, there was Todotoki vs Midoriya. Before their match, I kept hearing people wonder about his fire Quirk. It didn't hit me until then that I'd never seen him use it. I asked around, and none of my classmates had seen him use it either.
"It's because of his old man," I heard Bakugo say.
"What do you mean?"
"I only overheard what he had to say to Deku, but he mentioned something about wanting to win without using his Dad's Quirk. I guess he doesn't like him."
I glanced over at Endeavour, his father, who was watching not too far from us. I didn't know much about Endeavor. He looked scary, but he was the number two hero. Perhaps behind closed doors, he's a completely different man than the one most consider to be a hero.
As soon as the match began, Todoroki fired a wave of ice at Midoriya. Midoriya countered by flicking his finger at it, blasting the ice away while breaking his finger in the process. Midoriya's teeth were clenched, and his eyes were wild as he trembled in place. I could only imagine the pain he was going through. To be honest, I don't think I would've done the same; I probably would've forfeited and tried again next year when I had a better grasp of One for All. That just goes to show why All Might chose him and not me in the end.
Of course, since Midoriya only has a set number of fingers, Todoroki continued firing waves of ice at him. Each time, Midoriya blasted the ice away with his fingers until Todoroki realized what Midoriya was doing.
Midoriya is stalling. Trying to wear down Todoroki's Quirk like what Bakugo did to Kirishima.
Todoroki knew this as well and started rushing Midoriya down. Midoriya tried to dodge the icy assault, but his leg was ultimately caught in ice. With no other option, Midoriya attacked with his entire arm, blasting away all of the ice on the stage.
Todoroki is probably the scariest out of everyone. Not only does he have insane power, but he's smart too. Damn it. Just when I start to feel like I'm catching up, I realize just how far behind these guys I really am!
With nothing else to defend himself with, Midoriya could only watch as Todoroki attacked him with one final wave of ice.
At least, that's what everyone thought. Before the ice struck Midoriya, his voice echoed through the silent crowd. "I'm not done yet!"
Using his broken fingers, he used One for All to flick the ice away, stunning the entire nation of Japan.
"You can't even land a single scratch on me with just half of your power, Todoroki!" Midoriya yelled, sending a ripple through the crowd. I can't lie, I had chills just watching him. "Come at me with all you've got!"
Todoroki ignored him, sprinting at Midoriya with his icy hand held up high. He was noticeably slower; it was as if his overusing his Quirk was slowing himself down. Midoriya stepped forward, reeling his fist back as he charged it with One for All's power. His fist collided with Todoroki, caving the half-hot, half-cold prodigy's chest in. Todoroki went flying, but he didn't fly off the stage.
"Midoriya didn't break his arm! He's doing it! He's controlling his Quirk!" I exclaimed.
Midoriya tried to land more punches, but Todoroki was still too fast for him. Again, Todoroki fired a wave of ice at Midoriya, but this time, Midoriya retaliated by flicking his thumb using his inner cheek, blasting the wave away.
Midoriya. You're a psychopath... I thought. It seems like every day he has some new way to one-up himself.
"Why do you keep going on this way!?" Todoroki called out to him.
"Because I will do whatever it takes to be a hero! If you wanna reject your father, so be it. But you'll never be number one if you don't use your full power! That's why I'm going to win! I will surpass you!"
Midoriya slammed his fist into Todoroki's chest, again sending him toward the edge of the stage. Todoroki picked himself up on one knee, his head hanging low.
"I refuse!" he said.
"It's yours!" Midoriya screamed. "It's not his power! It's your Quirk, not his!"
Todoroki and the crowd were stunned. There was a moment of silence until Todoroki's left side ignited in flame. Immediately, Todoroki's father started cheering, yelling at his son from the stands.
Midoriya and Todoroki braced themselves to finish this with their next move. Meanwhile, Midnight and Cement ran toward the stage, using their Quirks to interrupt the battle. Midoriya lunged forward while Todoroki threw a wave of both fire and ice toward the center of the stage.
Concrete, ice, fire, and One for All connected, creating a massive explosion that made the entire city tremble, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.
When the dust settled, Midoriya was seen out of bounds and unconscious while Todoroki stood victorious at the center stage. Everyone around me was dead silent, and I could only muster up a single thought.
How the hell am I going to beat this guy?