Ch. 40: Sports Festival Finals- Second Round
The anticipation was high in the air as the crowd eagerly waited for the beginning of the second round of the Sports Festival finals.
"So the match hasn't started yet?" Ochaco asked as she returned to the stands.
Tenya turned to greet the Zero Gravity girl. "Ura–!" But when he got a look at her face, specifically how dried up her eyes were, he freaked out.
"Oh, good," Ochaco said.
"Something horrible's happened to your eyes! Go see Recovery Girl!" Tenya shouted.
"I already did," Ochaco informed. "This is from… something else."
"Ah, of course," Tenya responded, having a good idea what. "If I were you, I'd be frustrated, too."
"It's no time to wallow," Fumikage interjected. "Use this next fight as a source of encouragement."
"Will do," Ochaco responded, her eyes suddenly back to normal.
"You're so wise," Tenya silently praised, his whole body having turned white.
["Alright, ladies and gents, let's get the second round a' matches started! Lemme hear ya say 'YAY-YUH!'"] Present Mic shouted.
The crowd exploded into screams and excited shouts.
["This kid almost walked out of his first matchup, but made a stunning comeback by showing off some impressive moves! From the Hero Course, Izuku Midoriya!"] Present Mic began the introductions. ["And this girl gives a new meaning to the term killer rabbit with her looks and moves! Also from the Hero Course, Chacha Akaninjin!"]
"Go, Chacha! Even if it's against your crush, don't hold anything back!" Latia cheered.
Hearing this, Rias decided to cheer even harder for her own servant. "You got this, Izuku! Show her what you're made of!"
Down in the arena, the two former middle school classmates faced each other.
"Even if it's against you, I'm going all-out," Chacha smiled.
"Much appreciated. Of course, I'll be returning the favor," Izuku smiled back.
"FIGHT!"
Chacha immediately transformed into her Wererabbit form and sped toward Izuku, who promptly summoned his Boosted Gear.
As Chacha got close, she pounced with her legs out front, ready to kick. Izuku held up his left arm to block, though the kick still managed to push him back a little.
[Boost!]
With his first Boost activated, Izuku spread his wings and took off into the air to dodge another kick from Chacha, who quickly reacted through her reflexes and turned to leap into the air after him, pulling back a fist. Seeing this, Izuku quickly flew out of the way, descending onto the ground while readying an attack from his Boosted Gear.
["And right off the bat, things are off to a hectic start!"] Present Mic commented.
"Dragon Shot!" Izuku fired the bolt of green energy at Chacha as the rabbit girl also landed.
Chacha's eyes widened in surprise, but she managed to roll to the side to dodge. Not wasting time, Chacha rushed forward and threw out her knee toward Izuku's side, but he blocked it with his arm.
Chacha was about to try again with another attack, but Izuku dropped low and swept his leg in a circle to trip her. Izuku then rose a few feet into the air with his leg raised for an axe kick, but Chacha did a kip-up to get back on her feet and grabbed onto his leg, swinging him in a circle to fling him away.
Izuku acted fast and charged up another Dragon Shot, ready to fire point-blank. Chacha, seeing this, quickly released him. Though she managed to avoid the energy shot, the shockwave still managed to push her back quite far. As for Izuku, he descended onto the ground using his wings.
'As I thought, Chacha's a formidable opponent. She's a strong physical fighter, and her Queen Piece makes her stronger and faster… Perhaps I should start applying One For All to my attacks.'
"As expected, you're impressive, Izuku," Chacha said. "But I'm going to win this."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Chacha," Izuku replied. "I can keep this up all day."
A snort from Midnight caught their attention. She had an… odd look in her eye with a devilish grin.
"What's… that about?" Izuku nervously asked.
"No clue, but maybe it's better left unsaid," Chacha replied.
Izuku then glanced back at Chacha and concentrated, focusing One For All into his Boosted Gear hand.
'One For All, 5%!' Focusing his Quirk into his wings, Izuku took off in a flash towards Chacha, readying a kick.
Eyes widening, Chacha crossed her arms to defend herself, but the oncoming kick was stronger than she thought, causing her to be pushed backwards.
'Don't let up, keep up the pressure!' Izuku thought as he planned his next attack. 'I'll try this next!' He then focused One For All into his left hand as he charged up a Dragon Shot. "Delaware… Dragon Shot!" Izuku was nearly thrown back by the recoil from firing the OFA-enhanced Dragon Shot.
Chacha managed to dodge the shot, but the shockwave still managed to send her flying back.
["Whoa! Good thing for Akaninjin that she wasn't close to the edge! Otherwise, she coulda been done for!"] Present Mic exclaimed, causing the audience to roar loudly in excitement.
Izuku glanced back at Chacha, then noticed something: She appeared to be breathing somewhat heavier. It was faint, but it was just noticeable enough for him. By contrast, he wasn't all that exhausted. 'I think I figured out a drawback of her Quirk! The longer Chacha stays transformed, the more of her stamina it must drain!'
[Boost!]
Izuku darted towards Chacha, who got ready to defend herself. As he got close, he suddenly swerved up, much to her surprise. With Chacha caught off guard, Izuku quickly descended to the ground and grabbed her arm, planning on throwing her out of the ring.
However, Chacha stood her ground enough to grab onto his arm, and her attempt to resist threw off Izuku's momentum, resulting in the two tumbling across the ground.
["Eh?"] For the second time today, Present Mic didn't know what to say. Aizawa let out a loud, annoyed groan. Midnight got an even more devilish grin than the one from earlier. Most of the audience began to laugh and chat among themselves.
At the Midoriya apartment, Hisashi and Inko covered Eri's eyes to prevent her from seeing what was happening, leaving the horned girl confused. Even so, they couldn't help but cheer on their son.
All the while, Izuku groaned, annoyed at what just happened. 'That could've gone better. Should've known that Chacha wasn't completely spent on stamina just because she was breathing heavily,' He opened his eyes as he attempted to get up…
*Squeeze*
"Eep!"
…And flinched, looking directly at the blushing, embarrassed face of Chacha, his body over hers as she stared back at him… with his hand on her breast.
"That lucky bastard!" Mineta hissed. Kyoka proceeded to incapacitate the grape-headed dwarf for that comment. A few of the other boys (Denki and Kosei being the most notable examples) were also somewhat jealous of Midoriya, though they wisely kept their mouths shut. The rest were gasping in shock, particularly Tenya.
Several of the girls were glaring at Izuku, angry at him for groping a girl's chest; some were in shocked silence for the most part (like Ochaco, for one), a few let it slide since it was clearly an accident (some even grinning in amusement, i.e. Setsuna), while others (Rias, Asia, Ravel, and Akeno) were internally cursing that it should've been them, not Chacha.
"WHA!" Izuku jumped back, sweating profusely as he blushed like crazy. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"
"I-I-It's o-okay. Y-You didn't mean to, I know!" Chacha stuttered as she got up, holding her arms over her bosom, though honestly, she wouldn't have minded if that moment lasted a bit longer. "L-Let's just focus on this match! Yeah?"
"Yeah…" Izuku responded like an automatic answering machine.
The two backed up, and after a brief, awkward moment, they resumed the fight.
["After that unexpected moment, we return you to our regularly scheduled match!"] Present Mic announced. ["But seriously, kids. Let's try NOT to have a repeat of that incident again, 'kay?"]
Izuku and Chacha continued to clash, their brawl drawing them towards the edge of the ring.
'We're closer to the bounds! Might as well use this to end this quickly!'
When they were close enough, Izuku ducked under Chacha's kick and grabbed her by the leg. The moment Chacha felt contact, she tried to force Izuku to let go, but he did that on his own, shoving Chacha's leg back towards her, throwing her off balance.
'One For All, 5%!' Izuku activated his Quirk on his legs to give himself some extra power to quickly get behind Chacha, then he put both hands on her back and, with One For All still in his legs, charged forward, shoving Chacha out of the ring.
"Wha–!?" Chacha exclaimed as she suddenly found herself out of the ring.
Everyone was in stunned silence by how fast everything seemed to go, then Midnight raised a hand. "Chacha Akaninjin is out of bounds! Izuku Midoriya advances to the Quarterfinals!"
As the crowd roared in excitement, Izuku glanced toward Chacha, who deactivated her Quirk, returning to her normal appearance.
"So, uh, Chacha…" Izuku stuttered.
"I-It's okay. I know. It was unintentional. You don't have to apologize," Chacha insisted before heading off to see Recovery Girl.
Despite this, Izuku didn't really feel okay and thought he still needed to make up for it.
[I think that's the least of your problems now. Take a guess who else probably saw that.] Ddraig warned.
It took Izuku a brief moment to realize the dragon was referring to Rias and the others. Yeah, they were probably going to want to have a word with him.
Izuku started making his way towards the Devils' booth. Best to rip the band-aid off now rather than later.
Then, as he got close, he ran into Rias, Akeno, and Ravel on the way.
"Oh, goody. We were planning on going to look for you, but you came to us instead," Akeno smiled in a threatening way.
"Care to explain what that was that you were doing earlier?" Ravel pressured.
"N-Nothing! It was an accident and…" Izuku spent the next few minutes trying to explain and calm the girls down. And somehow, it worked.
"Alright. I suppose it did happen all of a sudden before you even knew it, so we can't blame you," Rias conceded. "Even so…" Rias's expression then turned into a dark smile again. "Please don't try to have a repeat of that later, okay?"
Ravel had the same dark aura, and Akeno even made a little spark of electricity from her finger to emphasize the seriousness of the warning.
Izuku flinched. "Y-Yes, ma'am."
Right in time for the next match to begin, Izuku and Chacha made their way back to the stands. And right away, the other students noticed something shocking.
"Midoriya, your face!" Tenya pointed out. There was a noticeable red slap mark on his cheek.
"Oh, that. Don't worry about it," Izuku said. "Just me taking responsibility."
It didn't take a genius to know that he was referring to when he accidentally groped Chacha. Something which Mineta was still sore about, but stayed silent to avoid incurring Jiro's wrath again.
"I said he didn't have to, but he was so insistent on it, saying that he had to make it right, that I couldn't refuse. And he also told me not to hold back," Chacha elaborated.
"I see. Owning up to your mistakes, even if it was accidental. My respect for you never stops growing," Tenya smiled.
"Yeah. Real manly, dude," Tetsutetsu added.
This revelation also caused the girls who were angry about the incident to regain their respect for him.
["Let's get on with our second match in the second round!"] Present Mic announced. ["This girl will knock you over like a bowling pin and then rebound to do it again! From the Hero Course, Class 1-A, Tomoe Meguri! Versus… Bigger is better with this girl, and she's proud of it! Also from Class A, Hilda Shirakabe!"]
Tomoe hopped in place to hype herself; Hilda flexed her arms as a display of strength. Then, both girls faced each other and grinned.
"Ready? Begin!"
Tomoe and Hilda immediately rushed forward, with the former transforming into her ball form. Hilda dug her feet into the ground and immediately caught Ball-Tomoe as she slammed into her, pushing the large girl back somewhat as she struggled to maintain traction.
"Dang! Even this iron gut felt that!" Hilda said.
However, Hilda now had Ball-Tomoe right where she wanted her and lifted one of her legs, delivering a powerful kick to the Rollout girl.
"AAAAHHHH!" Ball-Tomoe screamed as the force of Hilda's kick sent her rolling backwards. Luckily, she managed to regain control of herself and stopped before she went out of bounds.
["Whoa! Shirakabe almost scored a goal there! But Meguri hangs in there strong!"] Present Mic commented.
Hilda made exaggerated sumo wrestler sounds while sending a few thrusts forward as if daring Tomoe to strike again.
Ball-Tomoe quickly rolled in place before blasting forward like a cannonball towards Hilda, who took up a posture to meet her opponent head-on. However, right as they were about to collide, Ball-Tomoe leaped over Hilda, much to the big girl's surprise, and quickly changed back as she landed before landing a kick on Hilda's back, with the heavyweight girl being caught off-guard that the attack managed to make her drop to the ground.
Tomoe then turned into a ball again and proceeded to roll right into Hilda as she was picking herself up, making her tumble a bit before falling back down.
"Oh, so you wanna play it that way, huh? Game on!" Hilda said as she got back up, cracking her knuckles.
Ball-Tomoe shot toward Hilda again; this time, she intended to charge straight into her foe.
Hilda braced herself with one arm up and the other arm down, ready for the impending impact. And soon, the two met head-on, with Ball-Tomoe continuing to roll to push Hilda back.
"Heh. I can see you're putting in more effort than the first time," Hilda said as she tried to push back. "But… It's still not gonna fly!"
Hilda then put more strength into her legs to brace herself and started pushing back, causing Ball-Tomoe to be pushed backward despite her attempt to remain firm. And soon, with a bit more exertion of strength, Hilda dashed forward, rolling Ball-Tomoe towards the edge, and then, like before, she kicked the Rollout Quirk user with all her might.
"YAAAAAAHHHHH!" Ball-Tomoe screamed as she was sent rolling back again. She tried to regain control, but Hilda's kick had more power in it than last time. To stop herself, she changed back to normal, allowing her to lose momentum after a few more tumbles, which ended with her lying with her back facing the ground.
However, that was exactly what Hilda wanted as she was already charging towards Tomoe, and before the twintailed girl could recover, Hilda proceeded to jump up and come down on her for a belly flop.
Tomoe felt the air rushing out of her as she was pressed down under Hilda's weight. She hastily tried to get the bigger girl off her, but with the way she was pinned down on her back, she wasn't getting much leverage. As for Hilda herself, she positioned herself in a way to make it harder for Tomoe to get her off. Eventually, after a few more moments of struggling, Tomoe tired out.
Midnight noticed this and decided to confirm. "Meguri, can you continue?"
Tomoe realized there was no way she could turn it around at this point. "No. I'm out of steam and I can't even get up."
"Meguri is immobilized. Shirakabe will move on!" Midnight judged, causing the crowd to cheer.
As soon as Midnight made the call, Hilda got off Tomoe and offered a hand up with a smile.
Tomoe accepted it, though her mind was still lingering on the feeling of being pressed down by Hilda's plump body. 'So squishy…' Tomoe thought with a faint blush.
["Alright, folks, after that battle between two tough gals, it's time for a fight between the elements!"] Present Mic announced. ["With his impressively quick win in the first round, it's time for this icy competitor to show some REAL competitive heat! From Class 1-A, it's Shoto Todoroki! Versus… after proving herself strong against lightning in the last round, this Thorn Princess is gonna have to weather another big storm! It's 1-B's Asia Argento!"]
"Based on what happened in the last round, Todoroki might try to control himself so that he doesn't overdo it with the ice this time. And compared to Sero, Asia has more vines to shoot out, and they're actually controllable. However, just like in the Cavalry Battle, Todoroki can still freeze those vines if Asia's not careful…" Izuku analyzed.
["Alright, let's begin the match! GO!"]
Shoto pressed his right foot on the ground to send a surge of ice spikes at Asia, who defended herself by growing a thick vine wall in front of herself to block the ice attack.
As Shoto was getting ready for his next attack, he was suddenly caught off guard as a set of thick, prickly vines wrapped around his ankles, which then lifted him into the air. However, before Asia could try to throw him out, Shoto coated himself in ice, which spread over to her vines, forcing her to detach them and allowing Shoto to break free.
"A commendable move, Argento," Shoto said. "But this victory will be mine."
Asia sent out a spread-out wave of vines at Shoto, intending to overwhelm him with numbers, but Shoto kept his cool and made a trail of ice from his feet, which he used to slide across the ring while avoiding Asia's vines as he did.
As he approached from Asia's side, he sent out a wave of ice, intending to freeze her in place, though Asia managed to slither away in time.
Shoto then changed tactics, sending out ice waves around Asia to limit her space to move around. Asia tried to get around this by lifting herself into the air with her hair vines, but the support vines became easy targets for Shoto to freeze, forcing Asia to come back down and detach them to prevent herself from getting frozen as well.
Then, as Shoto got close, he formed a big ice wall between himself and Asia, much to her surprise. As Asia stared at the wall, wondering what Todoroki was up to, she suddenly felt a cold hand on her back. Asia then realized that the ice wall was just a diversion so Todoroki could sneak up on her from behind.
Before she could react, Shoto sent out ice from his right hand, freezing Asia entirely from top to bottom, excluding her face.
"C-C-Co-Cold…" Asia shivered in her cold confinement.
"Miss Argento…" The young woman turned her attention to Midnight, who wore a serious expression. "Can you move? Be honest, please."
Asia tried to move, but she couldn't even lift a finger; she tried to see if she could grow out any vines, but with her hair frozen, that option was a bust, too. "I-I-I c-can't m-move." She yielded.
Midnight nodded in understanding, raising her arm to Shoto's side of the field. "Argento has been immobilized! Todoroki advances!"
As the crowd cheered at his win, Shoto proceeded to give off heat to free Asia.
In the waiting room, Tenya was using the time before his match to call his brother, Tensei, the Turbo Hero: Ingenium. "Hey, are you there, Tensei? It's Tenya."
However, the only response Tenya got was the voicemail. ["I am currently on a mission and cannot answer the phone. Please leave a message."]
Hearing this, Tenya simply hung up. 'Oh, well. We'll talk soon, Brother.'
Meanwhile, in the city of Hosu, sirens were blaring everywhere as Ingenium raced through the streets.
"Squad A, head north! Squad B, check the west side!" Ingenium spoke into his comms.
["Squad A, roger!"]
["Squad B, roger!"]
Ingenium nearly ran past a dark alley, but he caught something from the corner of his eyes that caused him to turn back. "Back there!" He dashed, firing up the jets in his arms to gain speed and jump up the wall of a building to get to his destination. "No doubt about it. It's him!"
As Ingenium landed in the dark alley, he fired his engines again to slow his fall. He then turned around to confront his target, who appeared as a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes from where he stood. "I've found you! Hero Killer!"
["Let's get on with our fourth match of Round 2, shall we? First up, the young man whose surprising speed has certainly left us all quite blown away… and a little amused. It's Tenya Iida from the Hero Course! Versus, the lady who's her own knight in shining armor, also from the Hero Course, Ethel Ginzan!"]
Tenya adjusted his glasses while Ethel rubbed her wrists and nodded her head, keeping a focused gaze.
"Fight!"
Tenya made the first move, racing forward and throwing a spinning kick at Ethel, only to be met with a bokuto sword that she summoned to intercept his attack mid-swing.
"You telegraph way too easily," Ethel said.
She then parried and made a shield appear in her hands to tackle Tenya, knocking him back, but he quickly managed to right himself.
He then skid back onto his feet before pumping more energy into his engines, planning on catching her off-guard with an even greater speed.
"RECIPRO BURST!"
However, Ethel was calculating and had already planned for his next move. As Tenya came rocketing toward her, she threw several caltrops on the path right in front of him, forcing him to make a sharp turn to avoid the hazards and sacrifice some of his speed.
Ethel then made her next move by summoning two bolas, throwing the first one around Tenya's legs to constrict them, and the other around his torso, restraining his arms.
Unable to move his legs or arms, Tenya fell to the ground, squirming to get free, when a shadow darkened his vision and he looked up to see Ethel with arms raised, a wooden baseball bat in hand, ready to bring it down upon him.
*THWACK!*
With a decisive blow to his head, Tenya was knocked unconscious in one hit.
"Iida has been knocked out. Ginzan moves on to the Quarterfinals!" Midnight declared with a swing of her flogger.
["Wow, that battle was over in a flash! Didn't think the speedster would be on the losing end of such a battle though!"] Present Mic said. ["And that concludes the first half of the second round of the finals! As for our other four, I'm sure they'll be just as action-packed!"]
["Let's not delay any more than we need to and move right away into our fifth match of this round!"] Present Mic said. ["She's got skills! And some unique, yet delightful, looks. From the Hero Course, it's Mina Ashido! Versus, the girl who can pretty much pull anything from her body. Also from the Hero Course, Momo Hanakai!"]
As the crowd cheered, Momo and Mina stood across from each other. "Ready to get your butt kicked, Momo?" Mina was semi-taunting her, as evidenced by how she was smiling.
"You wish," Momo fired back.
"And… FIGHT!"
Mina took the initiative and charged forward, skating by secreting acid from her feet. In response, Momo took up a defensive position, a shield forming in her right arm.
"Take this!" Mina swiped her arm, sending out globs of acid at Momo's shield, but the acid had no effect on it, to Mina's surprise.
"Surprised? This shield is coated with polytetrafluoroethylene, one of the most acid-resistant materials there is. You might know it better as Teflon," Momo informed.
"Aw, man. Should have figured you'd pull out something like that," Mina lamented, though her grin quickly returned not long after. "But that doesn't mean I can't find a way to fight back!"
Mina then picked up speed as she started closing in on Momo, then she leaped into the air and aimed a midair kick at Momo, which she blocked with her shield, though it did push her back a bit..
["Ooh, nice kick! Even if she can't use her acid to melt through Hanakai's defense, Ashido proves she's not some one-trick pony!"] Present Mic observed.
["That's the mark of a good Pro,"] Aizawa noted with a nod.
"Hehehe, no more messing around!" Mina declared. "If I can't hit you with acid, I'll just knock you out of bounds!"
"I admire that enthusiasm, but don't think it'll be enough!" Momo said as she got on guard.
Mina skated on her acid again, picking up speed as she closed in on Momo again, approaching her from the front. Momo was ready to block with her shield again, but right at the last minute, Mina changed direction and swept toward Momo's side before hitting Momo with a tackle that sent her tumbling toward the edge.
Mina continued her assault with a punch while Momo was down, forcing her to get back to avoid it.
Mina was satisfied that she seemed to have the upper hand against Momo, but little did Mina know that that was what Momo wanted her to think.
As Momo was pushed very close to the border, she got ready to execute her plan, pulling one of her arms behind her back, creating something, while the other hand was kept close to her face.
Mina once again skated on her acid, intending to blindside Momo, but right as Mina moved in for the strike, Momo expertly dodged her and threw down the hidden object, which turned out to be a smoke grenade that released a thick cloud of smoke that Mina ended up right in the middle of, and instantly, Mina felt her eyes watering.
"Augh. Hey, what is this stuff?! My eyes keep tearing up!" Mina tried to focus on the fight, but with her eyes tearing up, she was struggling just to see straight.
And then, from her side, Momo appeared, wearing goggles to protect her eyes, with her shield held up front. She then rammed into Mina straight-on, causing the pink-skinned girl to stumble backward before she fell on her butt outside the battlefield.
As the cloud of smoke cleared away, Midnight witnessed the result of the fight.
"Ashido is out of bounds. Hanakai moves on to the Quarterfinals!" Midnight declared.
["Wow-wee, folks! Looks like clever tactics triumphed against wild style in this battle!"] Present Mic commented.
Momo approached Mina and handed her a bottle of eye drops she created. "Here, just in case. I used a weaker version than what riot control usually uses, but still."
Mina accepted it with a smile before dropping a few drops into her eyes. "Thanks for that. But man, I really thought I had you!"
["Alright, it's now the sixth match!"] Present Mic announced. ["She's got all sorts of tricks up her sleeve! What surprises does this quirky girl have in store now? It's Class 1-B's Asuka Koukawa! Versus, the Absorbing Woman of Class 1-A, Xenovia Quarta!"]
Asuka smirked as she put a finger to her chin, looking her opponent up and down. "Let's have some fun. Shall we?"
Xenovia maintained a serious expression and got into a battle-ready stance.
"Everyone ready? FIGHT!"
Xenovia ran forward, quickly touching the ground and absorbing the cement as she moved to throw a punch.
Asuka smirked as she gathered wind around her arm and closed her hand into a fist before throwing out a punch to meet Xenovia's, the wind providing extra power to her attack, allowing her to push Xenovia back.
Xenovia then rushed in to attack again; Asuka brought out her arm blades and channeled wind into them, sending out a rush of wind forward.
Xenovia, however, managed to dodge the attacks, and as she got closer, she got down and aimed a sweeping kick at Asuka's legs, knocking her off her feet. Right as Asuka was getting up, Xenovia proceeded to uppercut her, knocking her back.
"Not bad," Asuka said as she got up.
Xenovia charged in again, but Asuka had another plan in mind.
"Coup de…" Asuka took a deep breath, sucking in a great amount of air rapidly, causing her body to inflate like a balloon. "BOO!"
Xenovia's eyes widened as Asuka blew out all the air she had taken into her body, releasing a massive gale that blew her backwards toward the edge, but luckily, she managed to dig her fingers into the ground to anchor herself and avoid going out of the ring.
["Koukawa's got Quarta on the ropes! Just now, she almost blew her out of the ring!"] Present Mic said.
Meanwhile, Izuku was going over his notebook while muttering observations about Asuka as everyone looked at him, creeped out by his rapid-fire muttering and laser-focused expression. "At first glance, it looks like just a simple wind manipulation Quirk, but it seems to also give Koukawa the ability to inflate herself, kinda like with Yumi, but the method is slightly different. Plus, she can use that mechanical gear to channel her power. I wonder what else she can do…"
Back with the fight, Asuka was going on direct offense, slashing with her energy blades while Xenovia tried to defend with her concrete-absorbed arms.
"Come on, it's no fun if you don't fight back!" Asuka challenged.
Xenovia then proceeded to meet her challenge head-on, clenching her fist, she threw her fist out to deflect one of Asuka's arm blades before grabbing onto her other arm and absorbing the metal, causing her body to take on the same metallic pink hue.
Xenovia then proceeded to punch Asuka in the face, sending her reeling back.
At this point, the fight had taken them near the edge, with both girls having the potential opportunity to force the other out with a well-placed attack.
"Heh. It's been fun, but I think it's about time to settle this," Asuka said.
"Agreed," Xenovia concurred.
The two let out battle cries as they charged at one another, with Asuka boosting herself with her wind jets. Asuka managed to land the first blow thanks to her boosted punch, but Xenovia managed to hold her ground as she grabbed onto Asuka's arm and lifted her into the air before swinging her in a circle.
Asuka tried to stabilize herself by manipulating wind, but with Xenovia swinging her around, she wasn't able to properly focus, instead kicking up a dust cloud that obscured them from view.
Then, Xenovia threw her leg out to strike Asuka in the abdomen, throwing her out of the ring, where the sound of metal hitting concrete was heard.
["Hey, yo! What's goin' on down there?! When's all the dust gonna clear out?!"] Present Mic questioned.
He (and everyone else) didn't have to wait much longer for that to happen. When it settled, a silhouette could be seen.
It was a shocked Xenovia, standing over Asuka… who was now missing her left arm, with the arm socket revealing wire and electricity instead of blood. And not only that, but… some skin on Asuka's face was gone, showing metal and a mechanical optic underneath.
As Xenovia stared in silence, Asuka got up, only to realize her left arm was broken off, then she felt her face and realized her synthetic skin had been torn.
"Oh, dear," Asuka sheepishly said. "The secret's out…" She then proceeded to pick up her torn arm and scurry out of sight.
"Uh, Asuka Koukawa is out of bounds! The winner is Xenovia Quarta!" Midnight urgently declared.
["Okay, did anyone know Koukawa was a FRICKIN' ROBOT!?"] Present Mic gawked.
Needless to say, one only needed one hand to count the number of people who weren't shocked by this.
For the second time that day, Aizawa was shocked into silence. From his seat, Vlad King was right there with him, surprised by the true nature of one of his students.
"Holy crap! One of our classmates was a robot all this time?!" Tetsutetsu shouted.
"Her mannerisms had such human-like qualities to them that she was practically indistinguishable from a normal person," Jurota said.
"Guess now we know why she preferred changing by herself," Yui mentioned.
"Glad I didn't have to fight her," Hitoshi muttered to himself. Since his Quirk did not affect robots, it would've been the same with Asuka, and he would've had less chance to prove himself. Beside him, Rosa was thinking the same thing as her boyfriend, happy that he got a human opponent instead.
The Devils, for their part, had the same general reactions as the crowd.
"I've heard how far human technology has advanced over the years, but I never imagined this," Latia said.
"An android capable of mimicking human behavior so flawlessly that no one was the wiser until now…" Sona muttered.
"I know we're Devils and all, " Rias said. "But to think we've been in the same school with a robot…"
Nezu, from his spot in the VIP seats, had a serious expression, being the only one among the staff who knew of Asuka's true nature and had allowed her to attend U.A. despite it.
Among the audience, there was a man watching with a worried expression. He had bright blue hair in a pompadour style, his forearms were thick, with a blue star tattooed on each, and he wore a Hawaiian shirt, black shorts (a contrast to the Speedo he wore when not in public), and black sunglasses. He quickly got up to see his daughter.
In a secluded part of the hallway, Asuka was getting maintenance from her father/creator. The skin on her face had been patched up with a new lens for her optic, and now, her left arm was being reattached.
"Sorry, Dad…" Asuka apologized.
"You didn't do anything wrong. As your father, I bear some of that responsibility as well."
"Does this mean I have to leave U.A.?" Asuka asked worriedly.
"Honestly, I don't know. But no matter what anyone says, I will defend you, Asuka. Whether you're a real girl or not, you have the right to chase your dream. I'm already planning to schedule a live conference to share that with everyone."
Asuka smiled happily as the work on her arm was done, closing and opening her hand to get the feel of it. "Everything looks to be functioning properly again."
"That's good to hear," Asuka's father said before wrapping her in a hug. "I love you, my Asuka."
"I love you too," Asuka said.
Then, as her father already went on ahead, Asuka turned to see her 1-B classmates and teacher heading her way.
"Asuka!" Itsuka was the first to call out to her.
"Koukawa!" Vlad King also called out.
"E-Everyone!" She gasped. "S-So, yeah. I've been keeping something big hidden from you all…"
"Koukawa, even though your origins may not be the same as ours, that does not mean we reject you," Jurota assured.
"That's right. We may have only known each other for a little while, but we can see that, whether you're human or android, you have a heart. A heart of a future Hero," Shoda added.
"Yeah, back at the USJ, I can tell you gave it your all fighting Villains not just for yourself, but for everyone else as well," Setsuna said.
"I must ask, who is the soul who had bestowed life upon you?" Reiko asked.
"Ever heard of Dr. Franky?" Asuka asked.
"Dr. Franky? He's one of the leading roboticists in the country!" Monoma said.
"No way!" Sen exclaimed. "He built you?"
"He's not just my creator, he's my dad," Asuka said.
"That's sweet," Chacha said. "Also, now that I think about it, you might be the first android student in the Hero Course!"
"That just makes you even cooler!" Pony said.
"Please don't worry yourself, Asuka. We all have our differences, but we accept each other regardless, and you're no exception," Asia said.
Asuka smiled, touched that her classmates still considered her one of them.
"Asuka Koukawa. You are an important student of Class 1-B. Never forget that," Vlad King smiled warmly.
Soon, Class 1-B returned to the stands, just in time for the next match. As for Class 1-A, they were generally accepting of Asuka as well (Katsuki, of course, didn't really care because all that mattered to him was winning).
["After that big surprise in the last match, let's resume with the penultimate match of the second round! In one corner, the Karate Princess of Class 1-B, Itsuka Kendo! And in the other corner, Class 1-A's resident Ghost Gal from America, Dani Fenton!"] Present Mic did the intros. ["Ready or not, let's begin!"]
"Going Ghost!" As soon as she heard Present Mic, Dani transformed into her Phantom form and flew straight toward Itsuka.
"Ghost Ray!" Dani fired her green energy beams at Itsuka, who jumped to dodge them. Dani kept firing, and soon, she managed to aim while Itsuka was already in the middle of another dodge. Although Itsuka managed to block by enlarging her hands, it still stung quite a bit.
"Okay, you had your turn! Now it's mine!" Itsuka said as she charged at Dani, but when she tried to strike the latter with her giant hands, the ghost girl simply turned intangible to allow the attack to phase through her harmlessly.
"Guess it's my turn again!" Dani then proceeded to turn solid again and fired a few more Ghost Rays at Itsuka, though this time the Class 1-B rep managed to dodge them all.
["Fenton's got Kendo on the run! Things aren't looking all that good for Kendo right now!"] Present Mic said. ["Can she figure out some way to turn things around?"]
Itsuka then ran toward Dani, intending to catch her off guard with a feint, but Dani simply turned intangible and disappeared into the ground before Itsuka could even try to fake her out. Then, she reemerged behind Itsuka and turned tangible before firing a Ghost Ray at Itsuka, which she barely managed to block by enlarging her hand.
Then, as Itsuka wondered how she was going to hit an opponent she couldn't even touch, she realized something. Every time Dani fired her rays, she seemed to turn back solid. Why didn't she stay intangible while firing her beams? Or was it that she had to be solid to shoot? It was probably the latter.
"What's the matter? Not gonna attack?" Dani asked as she charged up her Ghost Rays.
Itsuka tried to think of a moment where she could test her theory. Then, she noticed how cracked the battlefield was: rubble, dust, and cracks all around. It must've been from all the stray shots she managed to avoid; that gave Itsuka an idea.
As Dani fired her Ghost Rays again, Itsuka ran to the side, dodging the beams. Then, as she ran, Itsuka gradually got closer, and as she was about six feet from Dani, she slammed her enlarged palms onto the ground, kicking up a dust cloud.
["Kendo suddenly kicked up a dust cloud!"] Present Mic said.
["Clever. She's cutting off Fenton's visibility, considering she has the range advantage,"] Aizawa explained.
Dani was simply about to fly out of the dust cloud when she heard something to her side. She quickly fired a Ghost Ray in that direction, thinking it was Itsuka, but it wasn't; it was only a piece of rubble that Itsuka had thrown to make the sound.
As Dani stared in confusion, the actual Itsuka came up from her side, aiming a giant palm strike at her. Dani, who couldn't see the attack and phase out in time, was struck and sent flying, not helped by the fact that she was levitating.
["Oooh! Nice hit!"] Present Mic commented.
As Dani started getting up, Itsuka dashed toward her, unwilling to give her a chance to pull herself together. Right as she was getting up, Itsuka threw a giant right cross forward, landing a direct hit and sending Dani right out of the ring.
"Fenton is out of bounds. Kendo moves on to the Quarterfinals!" Midnight declared.
["Look at that, folks! By making use of the environment, Kendo managed to win despite her disadvantages!"] Present Mic commented.
Itsuka went over to Dani and offered a hand up. Dani graciously took her up on that.
"Judging by how you seemed to become tangible again every time you shot your beams, I take it you can't do it while intangible?" Itsuka asked.
"So you figured it out, huh? Yeah, I can't," Dani admitted.
["Let's wrap up the second round of the finals, shall we?!"] Present Mic asked. ["The hot-blooded manly man who proved that Rock isn't always weak to Steel, Class 1-A's Eijiro Kirishima! Versus… the blond bomber boy with absolutely no regard for how far he's willing to go to win! From the same class, Katsuki Bakugo!"]
Katsuki scoffed as he cracked his neck from side to side.
Eijiro smirked as he hardened and pounded his fists together.
"COME ON, KIRISHIMA! YOU GOT THIS!" Tetsutetsu cheered.
["Fighters ready? Go!"]
Eijiro hardened his body and charged as Katsuki launched himself toward him with his explosions. Eijiro struck first, bellowing out a roar as he threw a hardened punch at Katsuki's face. Though the ashen blond just barely managed to get out of the way, he still got a scratch on his face.
Katsuki quickly retaliated by setting off an explosion at Eijiro's side.
["He countered!"] Present Mic exclaimed.
But when the dust cleared, the only damage done was revealed to be to Eijiro's gym shirt and nothing to his actual body, with the dyed redhead standing with a grin. "Hah! Nice try, but that's not gonna work on me, Explosion Boy!"
Katsuki grunted as he backed up. 'He's still going strong. But how long can he keep his Hardening up?' He didn't have much time to ponder that as Eijiro threw out one punch after another.
"Kirishima! Go straight for his chin!" Tetsutetsu advised.
Eijiro continued his onslaught, forcing Katsuki on the defensive as he continuously backed up to avoid Eijiro's barrage of punches.
["Bakugo's having a heck of a time dodging Kirishima's fierce attacks!"]
"Whoa, Kacchan's on the defensive?" Izuku noted. "Kirishima's Quirk may seem simple on the surface, but it's still effective, defensively and offensively. Even so, I don't think Kacchan will let things remain the way they are."
Sure enough, Katsuki suddenly ducked another swing and aimed an explosion at Eijiro's side. This time, the attack actually did some real damage as the area on Eijiro's hardened skin appeared damaged with cracks and a few bits of red, with the Hardening user visibly cringing in pain.
["Bakugo is countering again! But what's this? It seems to be working this time!"] Present Mic yelled.
"You've been straining to keep your body rock-hard this whole fight, right?" Katsuki smirked. "But that means you're overusing your Quirk. And sooner or later, you'll fall apart!"
Now, Eijiro was the one forced on the defensive as he crossed his arms in front of his face to block a big explosion attack from Katsuki.
But that wasn't the end of it, as Katsuki kept up the pressure by unleashing a volley of rapid-fire explosions with a maniacal grin, chipping away at Eijiro's defense with every blast.
"Too much!" Eijiro exclaimed.
"The finishing blow! DIE!"
*BOOM!*
With one final big explosion from Katsuki, Eijiro's unbreakable defense was finally broken through.
"There. Now I understand why you were trying to avoid a drawn-out match with me," Katsuki grinned as Eijiro fell on his back, defeated.
"Kirishima has been knocked out. Bakugo is the winner!" Midnight gave her ruling.
"What are you doing, idiot?! I thought you had more guts than that, Kirishima!" Tetsutetsu complained.
["With that vicious carpet bombing, Bakugo advances to the third round!"] Present Mic announced as the tournament bracket was updated. ["Here are the matchups for the Quarterfinals!"]
Match 1: Izuku Midoriya vs. Hilda Shirakabe
Match 2: Shoto Todoroki vs. Ethel Ginzan
Match 3: Momo Hanakai vs. Xenovia Quarta
Match 4: Itsuka Kendo vs. Katsuki Bakugo
Then, the Jumbotron screen changed to display the portraits of the remaining eight competitors.
With the matchups for the Quarterfinals decided, those eight participants eyed the screen with seriousness.