Finally, a matchup that will really test my skills.
Before me was one of the two classmates whom I'd known for most of my life, Katsuki Bakugo. I couldn't help but look back to when we were kids; he always had a cocky grin on his face, threatening to use his Quirk on anyone who stood in his way. I was a coward back then, afraid to stand up for myself and others. However, on this day, I couldn't help but feel an insatiable hunger to fight growing within me.
Just like when he fought Ochaco and Kirishima, he didn't smile. His eyes were focused, his body poised. Though I could tell by his words that he was only taking me half seriously.
"Let's get this over with so I can beat that half-hot, half-cold bastard," he told me.
"You're so focused on Midoriya and Todoroki that you're blind to what's in front of you. The one you should be worrying about is me."
Bakugo scoffed. "I've crushed bugs before. You're not any different. I'm not letting anyone get in my way from reaching the top; I don't care how strong you think you are. I'm better than you."
"I guess we're about to find out, aren't we?"
As if Present Mic was waiting for our conversation to end, he finally initiated the battle. "Begin!"
I started by firing a barrage of webs at him, testing his reaction speed. Of course, Bakugo blasted away my webs with relative ease.
"Is that all you've got, American!" he yelled as he propelled himself forward with blasts from his hands. He pulled his arm back as if he were going for a mid-air punch, yet my Spider-Sense wasn't going off. I started to retaliate with an attack of my own, but then I remembered something from his previous fights.
Wait. Bakugo almost always feints his attacks by changing his trajectory at the last moment. That's why my Spider-Sense isn't going off right now. I'm not in danger. Not yet.
I placed my middle and index fingers on my wrist as if I were going to shoot a web at him, and just as I suspected, he blasted the air beside him and changed his trajectory. Little did he know, I was ready.
My Spider-Sense finally warned me of the oncoming attack, a sidewinding kick that would've hit me in the face. Instead, it flew over my head as I leaned backward, staring Bakugo in the eye as his attack whiffed. I grabbed his leg with both hands before slamming him onto the stage with enough force to knock him out, but keep him alive.
"Sorry, Bakugo! It's like I said, I'm the one you have to worry about!"
The explosive sound of cement being blasted away echoed through the arena as debris from the impact spewed about. The crowd went silent, unable to see through the dust formed by the impact, thinking I'd dealt the finishing blow. Instead, Bakugo fired a powerful blast at the ground at the last second, stopping himself from slamming onto the ground.
The recoil from his blast loosened my hold on him, freeing him from my grasp. For a moment, he and I locked eyes. It was then that I felt a menacing chill go down my spine. His eyes were filled with rage, practically bloodshot, and a warped smile was etched across his face. It was different than that cocky smile he wore when he saw someone as beneath him; no, this was the smile of unbridled merriment. I think for the first time in our lives, he saw me as an equal -- one he was excited to take down.
Again, he adjusted his body in mid-air, using his momentum to hit me with a bicycle kick in the back of the head. I fell face first, and the crowd erupted, watching the tables turn. Though I couldn't see, my Spider-Sense warned me of his next attack. I quickly rolled off the ground, avoiding a blast that created a two-meter-deep crater in the stage.
"You slippery bug!" he yelled as he continued firing blasts at me, all of which I dodged. "How are you dodging everything you god damned insect!"
"It's all part of my Quirk. It's called my Spider-Sense. It lets me see into the future. It says I'm gonna beat you," I said in jest. It was just a glorified warning alarm.
Furious, he'd overextended. I performed a makeshift Dempsey roll and socked him in his jaw with an electric punch, sending him flying way beyond the boundaries of the stage. I put a little extra into it, hoping it would knock him out, but he ate it like a champ. As his body was mere inches off the ground, Bakugo blasted the air, sending his body flying barely onto the edge of the stage.
His crazed, bulging eyes were locked onto me as he flew at me like a torpedo, spinning wildly as he picked up speed. "I was saving this one for Todoroki, but you'll do just fine as my first victim!"
He started spinning so fast, his body was concealed in a tornado of smoke. I accepted his challenge. A storm of thunder and lightning formed around my body as I prepared for my fist to clash with whatever he had in store for me. Once he was close, I leaped in the air, fist reeled back.
"Howitzer Impact!" he yelled.
My fist and his palm collided. His napalm blast and my lightning punch created a chemical reaction so intense, the stage must've been brighter than the sun at that moment. I closed my eyes, shielding them from the blinding light of our collision. My fist followed through while his palm went limp. When I opened my eyes, I saw Bakugo's unconscious body soaring through the air, landing before the border of the stage.
The crowd was silent for a moment, watching closely to see if Bakugo was still even alive. Midnight walked over and studied Bakugo's body. "Thank god, he's still breathing... The winner is-"
Before she could say my name, Bakugo grabbed her foot.
"Shut the hell up. Don't you dare say his name!"
"What's this!?" I heard Present Mic shout. "Katsuki Bakugo is still able to fight after that massive explosion!?"
Midnight hesitated for a moment. Perhaps she wanted to end the fight regardless, since he was in such bad shape; still, I think she saw how much passion was in those eyes. She sighed and backed off the stage, allowing Bakugo to stand on his own.
"Bakugo," I told him. "You're pushing yourself too far. Just stay down, man."
"As if- As if I'd let myself lose to someone like you! Who the hell even are you? Talking like you've always known me! You're just some extra who's been in my class before. You don't know anything about me!"
"That's where you're wrong, Bakugo. Since we were kids, I've always admired your strength. I wanted you to acknowledge me. I remember when our Quirks first started emerging. I showed you mine, and you called it disgusting. Back then, I wanted to prove to you that my Quirk was amazing. I was going to prove it by becoming a hero. Over time, I lost sight of that, but once my desire to become a hero reemerged, so did my desire for you to acknowledge me! I'm not some extra! My name is Miles Morales, not any of the countless nicknames you've given me over the years! I will make you respect my name and my Quirk, even if it's the last thing I do!"
Bakugo clenched his teeth, still glaring at me crazily with near-bloodshot eyes.
"I don't take back what I said. Your Quirk, at least the part where you shoot webs out of those freaky wrist holes, does look gross. However, I'll admit it. Your Quirk is the strongest I've ever gone up against. You might even be up there with that half-hot bastard! Alright!? Is that what you wanted to hear, Miles Morales!? Now shut the hell up and fight me!"
Bakugo leaped forward, propelling himself with his napalm blasts. He only moved at a fraction of the speed he usually did. Despite being almost out of energy, he still chose to fight me head-on, and I respect him for that.
"I'm gonna kill you! This time, my Howitzer Impact will blow you away!"
He started spinning his body like a torpedo again; however, this time, he was interrupted by my webbing. Enveloped in my webs, Bakugo slammed face-first into the ground, falling just a few inches from my feet.
"Damn it! What the hell are these webs made out of?!" Bakugo yelled as he tried to break through them; he even tried to bite through them.
I knelt in front of him. "Same things a spider's webs are made out of. I guess that is a little gross, huh?"
I could see angry tears welling in his eyes as his dream of winning the tournament was fading away before them. "Damn it! God damn it! I was supposed to be the strongest! How can I prove that when I don't even get to fight that half-hot bastard! Instead, I lose to you, damn it!"
I picked Bakugo up and started carrying him to the edge of the stage. He squirmed for a while before he inevitably gave in. In the end, he only had one last thing to say.
"You better not lose to him. Or else I'll kill you."