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Chapter 33: Tigers and Suns
🕑 Added 2024-08-09 12:24:06 +0000 UTCChapter 33: Tigers and Suns
(Previously)
Kendo knew that she should have felt it, but she didn't feel that; there was no fear, no confusion at what he could do, and no concern over what he and his master could be plotting. All she felt was her competitive spirit dance, the martial artist in her laugh in joy at this challenge. Those hits, the bruises and welts he had left on her body, those weren't the acts of a feral beast, but a fellow martial artist, but one that didn't think but acted.
Midnight had front-row seats to see the responsible, patient, and approachable Kendo turn into something eyes as the light in her teal eyes changed; they reminded her of herself if she was honest. Same with her smile, even with the growing welt on her face.
"No hard feelings when I de-claw you, Izuku." At that moment, she called upon more of One for All, 20%-25. 30% the same power she had used to shatter Todoroki's best ice attack absolutely. The power of One for All, her cloak of lighting exploded in power, somehow making the crisp day feel all the brighter in the light that was her orange lightning. There was a gasp from the crowds as she pushed herself to such a point, the air around the place shifting as Kendo was akin to a walking storm.
But Midoriya didn't flinch, the opposite as he reveled in this, even if it was hard to identify details now that she was covered in that strange lightning of hers, he knew that it wasn't the real thing, his whiskers told him as much. His ramped-up feline instincts were experiencing a contradiction, as they told him to flee from this apparent force of nature, but his pride demanded that he face her head-on. It was such an odd thing, but everything did seem to have an odd effect on him, and he loved that.
As if reflecting the mood, his gauntlets and tail rippled as the wood forming it shifted like water as he took a strong, stance, his foot slamming into the arena floor as he met Itsuku, head-on.
“Now then, let the real fun start.” With that, they rushed one another, lighting and wood set on a collision course.
Line Break
When the two collided their fists, the force generated created a blast of air that went in all directions, battering the crowds in a similar if lesser way to when Kendo’s attacks shattered Todoroki’s ice. Regardless, people still yelled and covered their eyes, shocked that they were seeing this again.
Back on the field, their clash didn't last as almost as soon as it started, they broke it off, engaging in a fierce melee. Kendo at 30% of One for All moved almost like she was made of lighting, zipping back and forth, her strikes packing the same power as a lighting style. But Midoriya was just as fast, keeping up with her and hitting nearly as hard, for most of the audience, it was less watching the two as they acted and reacted far too quickly for that, and more listening as each time Kendo's attack was blocked, they heard lighting crash. Each time Midoriya's assault was stopped, they heard wood bursting.
For the more adept students and the pros watching, it was a masterclass in 1v1 combat as Kendo's strong defense perfectly paired with Midoriya's deflections and evasion, his newly formed tail working in tandem, whipping out at Kendo's weak spots, but finding little success as she quickly dodged or blocked them. For her part, she tried to take advantage of the fact that Midoriya's wood cracked each time they clashed, but he repaired them almost as fast.
It was like watching 2 star dancers in the middle of a performance, as no matter what one did, the other countered almost as if they had prepared this beforehand. Suddenly there was a burst and another blast of the air as the two went flying, but recovered mid-air, Kendo digging her enlarged hands into the concrete like anchors while Midoriya flipped to dissipate some force before landing in a feline-like crouch.
Circling each other, Midoriya remained on all fours while Kendo held her hands up like a boxer, bouncing side to side as she went. Studying one another, they saw little new damage from their bout, even from hits that had landed. That wouldn't do, as with a glance, they charged once again, Midoriya's wooden gauntlets growing larger while Kendo focused more of her power into her hands but Kendo had a surprise as she didn’t go for another clash like before, but instead when Midoriya swung his first towards her, she caught it.
She saw it in his eyes, Midoriya was surprised and he tried to retreat but her grip didn't yield as her fingers cracked the wood from how tight she was holding it. With a smile, she pulled back her other hand but Midoriya's surprise faded nearly as quickly as it appeared as he jumped forward and twisted his body, the wooded gauntlet's inner sections might as well be water as he bent his body like an Olympic level gymnast, his foot coming down towards her head, forcing her to block it.
Her attack halted, even for a moment, Midoriya broke free of her hold, leaving behind most of his gauntlet in her possession, creating a new one in mere seconds. He didn't wait for it to finish as he leaped at her, striking at Kendo like a wild tiger, his body bending and shifting in ways she simply couldn't avoid attack and counter. Slapping aside a straight punch to the face, Midoriya slid into Kendo's guard and managed to punch her in the face, but she had at the last second abandoned defense and went for a pure offense, as in that same instant, her fist buried itself into his gut, sending him back.
Neither cared about that, we the light in their eyes only grew, eager and determined. Around them, the world fell away, the crowds, the teachers, their classmates-even their goals. All that mattered in that moment to both was the simple joy of victory that martial artists like them carved. Of proving yourself against a powerful foe, of knowing where you stood so you could further refine your craft.
Line Break
“What the hell is happening?” Fukidashi yelled just to be heard over the battle, one that caused lighting to strike and what sounded like entire trees being blown to pieces by it.
“Since when could be perform blood magic? Why would he need to mark his face as such?” Kurorio asked as he recalled how Midoriya had to spill his blood and use it as paint. Regardless, one couldn't deny that he struck a terrifying visage, especially when Kendo was like human lighting. Whenever they got close, it was like seeing a tiger dashing and jumping through a forest lit up by a thunderstorm overhead.
“This is insane, how much power do they have?” Yanagi asked, Kodai frowning along with her as she had never thought her friend could do something like this.
"I can barely keep up with what's happening," Bondo added, the battle between the two far too intense and fast-paced for him to make details. What he could felt weird as there looked to be times when they would wind up an attack, but then immediately stop it and do something else and he couldn't make out why.
What he couldn't see was that such happened when one realized that their attack could and would be countered, even if their opponent hardly moved. Such occurrences were happening with increased frequency as the two started to learn more about each other, how they fought, how fast they acted, reacted, and positioned themselves through it all.
Such was visible to others who had a greater for things like this, and they were left in awe as these first-year students moved like trained, seasoned pros, controlling far more power than most pros could ever hope to command.
Their battle was much closer to a dance than ever before, an intense yet delicate and extremely difficult performance where a single misstep could throw the performance out of order. No, not just a misstep like stepping on toes but getting your timing wrong by even half a second could spell the difference between a successful evasion or having Kendo landing one of her devastating punches or Midoriya slashing or kicking hitting their mark.
All Might saw how those dodges became closer with time as Kendo leaned her head out of the way of a strike that no doubt was close enough that not even a third of an inch of space was between them. This was a battle like he had never seen before. He had fought many battles, against many kinds of foes but none moved like Midoriya, there was no style, no underlying strategy as he would switch from his straights and hooks to swiping kicks and shins back to swiping at Kendo or striking with his tail.
The teachers watched with just as much attention as their symbol of Peace, especially Nezu had couldn't get much info on the boy's master, but if he studied the student, he could build a better profile. That said, he was quite unnerved by that smile on his face, the glint in his eyes. A part of him felt like he was seeing a youth, strong and eager to prove himself, big cat out on the prowl.
Endeavor was intrigued by the boy's animalistic style, his relentless assault but keen instincts that propelled him to evade strikes. He was just as invested in Kendo who he knew was using the same level of power as she was when she demolished his masterpiece. Watched her punch at Midoriya, and while he dodged, the blast of air the strike made still travelled toward the audience, knocking hats off unprepared heads. 'As expected from someone that has been trained by All Might.' He frowned as he watched.
Midoriya leaped into the air, spinning like a ballerina as he created another staff, but one with a much thicker body, covered in intricate carvings. Adding to that, one end of the staff sprouted a hammerhead twice the size of his head which he swung down on Kendo who blocked, the force barely moving her though Midoriya put on the pressure as the hammerhead grew, his grip on the shaft tightening as he tried to crush Kendo underneath it, but she fought against it, and right when she was about to be brought to kneel, she pulled back a fist and shattered the hammer, now half as big as she was.
The loss of his weapon didn't mean much, as rather than being thrown off or being caught flat-footed like she would have been, Midoriya was already on the offensive, letting out a yell that was closer to a roar, leaving Yaoyorozu feeling smaller than she ever had. “Is this…what it means to be the best?” She asked.
She recalled how things had gone so far in the festival, what they all had achieved thus far. In the obstacle race, Kendo took first place-cementing herself as the front runner for the entire world to see. Midoriya, even while carrying someone on his back, managed 4th place. What did she get, someone who got in through recommendations? 13th.
When it came time for the Chariot race, Midoriya’s team scored 2nd, taking the spotlight off of Kendo and onto himself and those who raced on his team. Kendo's team managed 7th, the second lowest of the teams which might have been good for her if Yaoyorozu's team didn't take dead last.
Now, it came time for the finals, a contest between students without help and with nothing but their wits, skills, and strengths to guide them to victory. It was the time for them to shine, to show off what they could do in a fight and both Kendo and Midoriya made that clear, Midoriya defeating one of class A's strongest with a single kick while Kendo all but caroled Ashido into a corner.
When Yaoyorozu had her chance, she was taken out without issue. She had failed to leave her mark, to show what she could do and now a voice in her head, small and hard to hear, but one that seemed to keep talking kept on whispering, questioning if she even had anything to show to begin with.
Her inner turmoil went unnoticed by most, but Asui noticed, she always did as she comforted her friend. All the while she also watched the fight with the rest of the class, who struggled to find words to describe it. “Amazing, to see such a duel between such powerful beings. Did we ever stand a chance against such?” Tokoyami uttered, sweating as he wondered for a moment if he had managed to offend Midoriya enough to push him to this, as he knew he couldn't force to use it through strength-not in the middle of the day with no darkness to empower him.
While Yaoyorozu locked up slightly at that mention, a question she was asking herself, none noticed that Todoroki had returned, as he had remained silent and to the side. The ice and fire user had woken up a little while ago, and was allowed by Recovery Girl, i.e. told to not waste the bed, to leave. Having arrived just in time to see Midoriya bite himself and take on this new form. One that was so great it forced Kendo to use the same amount of power against Midoriya as she did him, only where he was done in like it was nothing, Midoriya was still in this.
Watching Midoriya shift one of his gauntlets into a massive shield to block Kendo’s attack, a shield that cracked and splintered in places, but still held had him wondering something. ‘Kendo…was…was that not your strongest? Were you able to surpass me while also holding back?’ He asked himself, looking at his hand, his right hand.
“Todoroki, for your safety, I'll say it more time. There's no chance you'll beat me with just your ice.”
“I'm someone you can't hope to beat as you are now.”
“I won't move, I won't dodge. Hit me with your best attack; maybe that failure will be enough to show you how wrong you are.”
“Hit me with everything you got! Let me show you your mother’s quirk isn’t strong enough!”
"Well, at least you kept your promise. I hope it was worth it."
Kendo’s words have been repeating in his mind since their match, as even when he had been knocked out, he was stuck in a dream where it just replayed on loop. No matter what he did, he just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t beat her. As he watched her, he tried to tell himself that he could get better, that he would get better with his ice, build up a higher tolerance to it. Even them, he felt that it was a weak assurance, a band-aid over a gaping wound but seeing her now, seeing the kind of power she could bring to bear, he knew.
He’ll never beat her with just his ice. She might as well Thor with two Mjolnirs as fists.
“What the hell…no way in hell Deku’s pushing her this hard!” But where he and Yaoyorozu were having introspections at seeing the fight, at seeing a level of skill and power they couldn’t match, Bakugo went into a rage. He too recalled things; he recalled not getting the top spot for the entrance exam. He recalled not getting the highest on Aizawa’s quirk assessment. He recalled losing out to Kendo who defeated him with a fraction of this power.
It was infuriating enough to know that she didn’t use this kind of power against him, worse that she did-even if only briefly against that Half and Half bastard, but it felt like a rusty knife to the gut to see her use and maintain such power against Deku, and for that pebble to be keeping up.
“I don't waste my time thinking about such fights.”
"Then I'll have to beat some respect into you."
“We’ll settle this, Bakugo. We’ll see which one of us is the pebble on the side of the road.”
“Is there an issue, number 3? I’m only being honest; you've never been someone who cared about being polite or the feelings of others."
"Oh, he's just a little irritated, that's all. Probably because he's had his quirk since he was 4, and yet I, who only got my power last year, managed to score higher than him. I'll be upset too if what I thought was a pebble turns out to be a mountain.”
Bakugo remembered each time Deku dared to talk to him like he was equal, it used to be he act like he was better than him, like he was doing Bakugo a favor by talking to him. Now, he was like every word he said was meant to grind his gears. But, beneath that anger, that raging fire lay at his core an uncertainly, and a fear. For he was seeing Deku do what he never could. he was giving Man Hands a fight. Feeling a blast of air from one of Man Hands blows pass over them, he wondered what he could do against her, what could he do to force her to use this power so he could surpass it.
Kaminari, ignorant of the internal struggle that Bakugo was having, merely answered the question. “Don’t know what to tell you, man but she is. I’ve never seen her go this hard in training.” He stated as Midoriya's tail nearly instantly grew, or at least the last 4 pieces, the segments becoming the size of a shovel head and his tail flicked towards Kendo. She rushed towards him, dodging the first 4 and smacking aside the fourth, the high-speed wooden projectile crashing into the barrier before falling into the grass.
"(Kero) She didn't even use this much power at the USJ, so this is unexpected," Asui stated, as they continued to watch to see who would go down first, as it was becoming clear that a straight knock-out or even surrender was unlikely so that only left a ring out. something both were well aware of as they kept their distance from the boundaries of the field.
Line Break
Dashing towards Kendo, Midoriya launched himself towards her from all fours, twisting his body in flight and firing pieces of his tail towards her, using the projectiles as a means to cover his approach as he landed, turned around with claws out, ready to draw more blood, but his whiskers twitched. ‘Shit.’ He wasn’t in a good spot, and Kendo ceased on that as she grabbed his hand, halting the attack dead in its tracks.
In a terrible spot, he moved to disengage again, but Kendo was faster, her other hand having been pulled back before the massive fist cloaked in intense orange lightning came barrelling toward his face. At that moment, Midoriya didn't think, he acted. Taking a page from Kendo's book, he too caught her attack, his wooden gauntlet groaning and cracking into the force of the blow, but nevertheless, he stopped it.
Linking enlarged hands, his wooden fingers locked with her enlarged flesh ones as their battle because a test of strength.
To Kendo's shock, she wasn't dominating, despite having 30% of One for All coursing through her veins, despite how much she was funneling into her arms, Midoriya did not buckle, he did not break-even as his wooden gauntlet moaned and cried as the wood, however enhanced he could make it, cracked and splintered, he merely replaced or repaired it.
She saw his gauntlets only growing, both in size and scope as before, they stopped at his elbows but now sprouts and vines growing up his arms, the same was true with his legs as from his tail, which she could now see was attached to a wooden belt he grew around his waist, sprouts flowed down his legs.
All added to his body as those young, limber, and flexible roots and shoots acted like supports for his limbs, while the wood that grew over them protected these new green muscles and offered him armor. But that wasn't something she would accept as she slammed her forehead into eyes, their eyes meeting as the lightning of One for All crackled and jumped onto Midoriya's scorching and scarring the wood as if in response to its holder's desire to see him bested.
“Is this fun enough for you, little kitty?” Kendo asked him, her tone low and eyes intense. If this was any other situation, one could think she was giving him bedroom eyes for all the world to see.
Though gritted teeth and a strained smile, Midoriya purred in return. “Oh, you have no idea, Itsuka. I’m having the time of my life!” He poured more power into just remaining stationary, attaching himself to the ground much like he did against Iida, but Kendo wasn’t Iida, she was faster, she was stronger, she was better.
To the awe of the audience, and Midoriya's shock and some levels of delight, she started pushing, she started gaining. His hold of the ground didn't falter, instead with raw strength, she was pushing him towards the boundary line, the concrete being dug up as if she were pushing an anchor through the pavement.
Again, he anchored himself, trying to increase the power, and when that didn't work, he sent forth too much which caused the concrete beneath his feet to crack and rupture as he essentially set off timed, controlled explosions to try and increase the resistance Kendo was facing, but it was all for naught as she was slow moving, strained by the effort required, but she was unstoppable.
“You wanted this, didn’t you?” Kendo drew his attention, her face sweaty but her smile bleeding a confidence that could only be born from being assured of victory. “So, remember what I said, little kitty. It’s time to be de-clawed.” She continued to force him back, their lock never faltering all the while.
“That’s what you think, I still got-!” Midoriya's tail moved to strike at her, but again his whispers twitched but much more aggressively, along with him saw a flash of victory in Kendo's eyes. For a couple of moments, he was confused before he realized that she was counting on him striking with his tail.
“What the-!” But those moments he took to realize his folly were moments too long as Kendo shifted her hand, just a little so that her enlarged thumb could press down on her index finger. At that moment, she flicked her finger aimed right for his tail, which sent a gust of air towards it, smacking it out of balance and so to him. Again, it was minor, his stance was only a little off, one he could correct in half a second.
But they were in so deep that half a second was a half a second too long.
With his stance weakened, however slightly on his right side, she pressed the attack by reminding Midoriya that she too had legs by driving her knee into his liver. Midoriya realized at that moment that he saw felt rather than heard or saw the impact that he had focused so much of his tenet towards his limbs that his torso was left with a fraction of what he should have left for defense.
He paid for that dearly when her knee drove deep into his side, Midoriya's breath being violently ejected from his body along with spite and stomach bile. Frankly, it was a challenge to remain conscious as his defense was shattered while his offense was halted. Kendo wasn't done as she broke free of their now-lost power struggle, ripping her right hand aside so quickly that it threw his own out as well, leaving him more open than ever as she clenched her fist and swung.
“And Kendo hits Midoriya with a devasting knee followed by an insane uppercut that has sent him flying!” With the sound of a lightning strike, Kendo sent Midoriya flying up, his jaw already feeling like it was broken, as he bit into his tongue thanks to the blow to the chin, tasting copper once more as he turned into a human rocket.
Trying to gather himself, even as he sent a wave of tenet through his body to deal with the worst of the injuries and pain, he saw another flash of orange lighting, just like them, during the race. Before he even had time to reach the peak of his impromptu trip into the air, Kendo leaped after him with a clap of thunder, flying higher than he, faster than him as he and the world looked up at her. cloaked in a furious frenzy of orange lighting, her features difficult to make out, sole for him who saw she was smiling, her eyes bright with emotion.
Only he saw that this was different from any other smile her friends, her family or even All Might could have seen. It was vivid, it was bright, it was beautiful. It was brutal, it was unrelenting and powerful and it was hungry. It was the smile of a woman having the time of her life even if that meant such wanton violence, especially if that meant wanton violence.
For Kendo, she saw that Midoriya's early calm, eager, or excited expression had vanished, in its place was shock, awe, and terror at his predicament, his eyes remained akin to that of a feline, but that lost that spark, that hunger and confidence. He had gone from a proud tiger on the hunt, to a scared kitten caught up outside in a storm, and they both knew it.
Bringing both hands together over her head, she gave him one last smile before bringing the hammer down on him, just like he had tried to do earlier in the match.
“Smash!” Again, Midoriya didn’t think, he acted as he crossed his arms, his wood reinforced to the greatest extent yet in the fight.
But it wasn’t enough as Kendo’s strike hit home, sending Midoriya crashing down to the arena like a meteoroid. The impact of his body echoed through the place and kicking up a thick dust cloud. Kendo landed, tired and feeling sore all over from having to use OFA at 30% for so long, but she was smiling in satisfaction.
As the dust cleared, the world saw that Midoriya was still conscious, somehow, but that he was a mess, lying in a crater made from his body, his wooden armor was shattered, leaving him with fragments across his body. His tail was gone, having been reduced to toothpicks in the landing as he coughed up some bile, along with blood from what must have been a cracked rib…or several. Kendo knelt, her hold on OFA fading as she allowed the body to sink back into the depths of her being.
The audience remained silent, as both fighters were still awake, but one was laid out, in clear pain with most of his wood having been wrecked. Midoriya could feel his body screaming for him to rest, even with tenet, even with him having learned to use Sage power, this was pushing it, and he might already be past his limits. It hurt, both his body and his pride but he supposed that this was far as he could do.
Midnight saw him start to close his eyes, about to surrender to the exhaustion and pain he was feeling. Kendo watching this was well, closing her eyes and thanking him for the fight, and congratulating him for his strength.
Line Break
“Big brother!” Kendo's eyes flew open at that child's cry. She, Midnight, and the entire stadium looked towards one point in the stands. It was far away, among thousands of faces but Kendo recognized those kids, none more so than the one with a mutation that turned her swan from the neck up.
The group of children continued to yell out, either not noticing the silence that had fallen over the stadium, or not caring enough to stop.
"Get up, big brother!" One of them was a boy whose heteromorph gene gave him a Doberman's nose, ears, and snout.
“You can do it!” A pink-haired girl in a cute dress but a body the size of a bulky teenage boy cried, blue skin and a horn growing out her forehead, waving a stuffed Endeavour doll she must have just got.
“Don’t let her beat you!” A boy with the lower body of a snake hissed out.
In the crater, Midoriya let out another cough, but a chuckle along with it. He chuckled even as against all odds, he pulled himself up. His cat ears twitched at the encouragement the little hellraisers he had for siblings poured onto him.
"Man, I nearly blacked out there, didn't it?" Midoriya asked, his breath coming out labored, his blood face paint clipping away around his left eye, which now looked much more human, the rest of his wild form seemingly fading as his claws didn't look as shape, his eyes as large and his muscles as bulging with enlarged veins while blood leaked out his mouth. He couldn't be anywhere but close to his limit, but he still got up on shaky legs.
“What’s this? A last-minute rally cry has given Midoriya a second wind? It looks like the power of youth does exist!" Present Mic asked, still shocked but falling into his role as a commentator as the rest of the audience started to cheer again along with the kids, who were the loudest of them all, crying out in joy for Midoriya to find the resolve to get up.
Another half of the stands were cheering for Kendo, yelling for her to finish the job, to knock him down one more time and take the win. Somewhere in that, their two classes roared, cheered, and cried for their respective class rep's victory.
"Thank you," Midoriya uttered, a grateful smile forming on his lips as he made a promise to pay back those little hellraisers when he had the chance. With that carved into his heart, his smile regained some of its previous luster, confidence, and excitement. “Sorry, Kendo, but you heard them. I can’t call myself their big brother if I just lay down and accept defeat. What do you say, one last dance?”
Kendo couldn't believe her eyes. He looked like he was having trouble standing, his body looking like it was covered in bruises and his wild look fading as whatever power-up he was relying on ran its course, leaving him with just the embers of it. But those eyes, they didn't lie, and when confronted with this, a little part of her sanity broke, but gave way to a level of amusement and gratitude that she couldn't explain if she tried.
“You’re unbelievable, you know that?” She laughed at the insanity of it all.
Despite how much it hurt, Midoriya laughed along with her. “Hey, why be anything normal when you can be amazing?”
Kendo's laughter grew stronger, and louder as she got up, One for All flowing once more as she immediately went to 30%. Anything lower would be disrespectful to her opponent. “I can’t argue there, alright, one last dance!”
“One last song!” Midoriya gripped a splinter that had stuck to his arm, and slammed it between his palms, pouring every ounce of power he still had left into it, his form bursting forth with a clear, deep, and pulsating aura of green and reds.
“Midnight!” Cementoss called out.
"I know!" Midnight was already tearing her sleeve to flood the field with her quirk to knock out the fighters while Cementoss slammed his hands together to create barriers to keep them separate. These two were strong, too strong for students. It made them reckless and it showed that this sort of power was simply too great for a showing like this. They couldn't risk the barriers failing.
Neither even noticed as within Midoriya's hands, the splinter vibrated and bounced as it was bombarded with energy, with Midoriya's very life force, with the life force of all things that he still gathered in his weakened, exhausted state. With one eye human and the other feline, he smashed it down into the ground so hard he buried his fist wrist deep into the concrete. From that single splinter, roots, vines, and branches sprouted forth, shattering the arena where he stood in a shower of pulverized concrete as he remained stopped by the massive forest that seemed to be growing at his command.
Kendo didn't falter, but laughed even harder at the sight of it, as the masses of branches and vines shot off, either growing apart or coming together, not like when he faced off against the 00pointer. This was greater, stronger-grander. A move worthy of a foe such as her and Midoriya would do it no other way. He was giving his all and then some, and she'll answer in kind.
Her tired body protested, but her heart danced in joy as she let go of her limits, and pushed herself even further, calling upon even more of the awesome power that was One for All. 30-35-40% of it course through her, the girl exploding in power as she launched herself upwards, just like one of All Might's famous leaps. She cleared Midoriya's ever-growing wooden beast and its growing claws and fangs. She cleared the stands who looked in stunned awe, she cleared even the very top of the stadium till she was high in the sky, near floating above it all.
The people, her friends-even her teachers looked so small from where she was. She wondered if this was what All Might saw, what All Might lived with this power. If this was what she would live like till she passed it on. But her grief and melancholy vanished as there was still one person who she could still make out, one face that couldn't merely vanish among the thousands. And he stood atop a massive wooden tiger half the size of the field, at least half as tall as Mt. Lady was.
“Sage Wood Art: Scared Forest Guardian!” Midoriya yelled as loud as he could, his words blasting out his lips like the roar of a tiger, strong, proud, and free. It pieced the hearts of all who heard it and made it so that all could feel that, all could see him and know that he was there, that he was strong, and he would stand still the last.
As if gravity had finally taken effect, Kendo started falling towards it, laughing all the while as she flipped herself so that she fell head first towards the massive tiger that stood on its hind legs, its jaws open in a silent roar as it pulled back its massive paw, ready to crush her. She wouldn’t allow that so she pushed herself, 40-45-50%
50-55-60%
60-65-70%
“San,”
The massive tiger moved, its size not affecting its speed, nor did the concrete racing up its body to try and restrain it.
As she descended, she shined bright, and people were barely able to look her way, nevermind see her anymore as the lighting she held in the bottle came pouring out through cracks, cracks that grew as the container was close to bursting, a burning pain overcoming her as her body screamed for mercy that her heart refused to give.
70-75-80%
80-85-90%
“Francisco,”
Midnight's gas was spreading fast, but not fast enough as with both in elevated positions, they were well out of the area of effect, which only made the woman tick her teeth as she realized she couldn't stop them as Midoriya's massive tiger swung its paw towards Kendo.
Kendo was close to bursting, she had only gone this far once before when she first got One for All and didn't realize her limits. If she hadn't been training with All Might in a secluded area, she would have killed someone. She didn't feel that concern, she didn't feel that fear, she didn't feel anything negative-not in this burning, electrified moment as she approached the wood tiger.
Instead, she pulled her fist back as far as she could go, the massive fist bursting forth with power as even at its greatest size, it wasn't any way near capable of keeping it all locked it. She had learned that a long time ago. She had accepted that, and right now? She didn’t want to.
90-95-100%
“SMASH!!” She yelled with everything she had in the tank as her fist crashed into the paw of the tiger, and in that moment, the world exploded as if she had brought the full power of a thunderstorm onto the field, and let it explode outward. The blast shattered the reinforced wooden appendages she blasted through it before she saw Midoriya's face again, up close, and saw that he wasn't afraid, he wasn't surprised like last time.
In that moment, he was happy, with a smile that said he was proud of her for she was a star burning bright. She returned that smile with one of her, one that said she was grateful to him for this fight, for pushing her to such extremes as his tiger’s heart remained strong.
The moment passed, and for the rest of the world, all that saw was an explosion as the wooden tiger was destroyed nearly instantly, the blast wave sending Midnight flying with a yell while Cementoss had to anchor himself with his quirk. The shockwave traveled even further with the force of a category 5 storm, buffering against the barriers meant to protect the people, along with pieces of wood, same as tiny as toothpicks, others the size of people, torn and shattered, crashed into the barrier like toys thrown by a child.
The concrete that tried to restrain the wooden beast suffered the same fate as it was shattered into tens of thousands of pieces, adding to the fragmentation storm that was happening. The students, the closest to the field got the worst of it as Mineta had to be grabbed by Shoji to keep from flying off, the same with Shishida holding onto Yanagi and Shouda.
“What the hell?” Kamakiri yelled over the racing winds.
“How can anyone have this much power…?” Kirishima asked, dumbfounded by it all.
"I can't see anything!" Tokage screamed, the wind making it hard to keep her eyes open, making it impossible to see anything off the field.
Others in the stands cried out in shock, covering their faces as the blast of air battered at the barriers, the generators whining as they were pushed to their limits, many started to smoke and moan as internal components overheated or cracked as it was like a lightning cloaked meteor had descended and blown up in a massive forest. In the last seconds of the blast, several shield generators failed, bursting into flames and leaving gaps in the barrier which made Power Loader and the rest of the staff worried.
Fortunately, while the barrier had been breached, it had taken everything the result of the two titanic forces clashing to do it, leaving little if anything to risk harming anyone. With the last breath of the shockwave dying out, everyone was left slack-jawed at what had just happened. From the pros outside patrolling on the grounds, to even top heroes and students watching from within the stands. The field was covered in a thick debris cloud, smoke, and ash from the partially burned wooden remains mixing with the dust of the shattered concrete.
Cementoss allowed his anchor points to fade, but the man was still winded and in awe at what had happened.
"Just because something is powerful, doesn't mean it's good." He huffed, as such a clash was more than just ill-advised, as even with the field still hard to make out, he could tell that they had done serious damage to it, from Midoriya sending roots deep into the foundations and potentially damaging important machinery used to shift things around, to Kendo turning herself into a living meteor.
“What the heck was that?" Present Mic groaned as he had fallen over in the booth, though he was wearing a headpiece so the microphone was still in place as he got up and looked over the field, but couldn't make out anything other than those two had really torn the place to shreds.
“Dang it, I can’t see a thing, whose left standing after something as insane as that?!” He yelled as the smoke and dust cloud finally started to dissipate, allowing them to make out more of the field as Midnight got up, feeling the back of her head from her hard landing.
She was the first to spot a body in the vanishing dust and smoke, one whose pants from the knee down were shredded, and their right sleeve was gone, exposing their bruised, purple arm which they couldn't even bring themselves to cradle as they fell to a knee.
“K-Kendo’s still on the field!” Present Mic announced to the shock of the audience as Kendo's lighting cloak was gone, the girl too exhausted to even attempt to call upon even just 1% of OFA. But she was still awake, she was still within bounds, but what about her opponent, where was he?
The answer was revealed when there noted movement in the debris, as a piece of wood shifted about before it was weakly moved over, allowing Midoriya to crawl out from under it and attempt to stand, but lose his footing and tumble down the pile onto the floor like a sake of potatoes.
"Midoriya's still in play!" Present Mic called, through Midoriya looked to be worse off than Kendo. Sure, he was still within bounds, by some miracle, but it seemed whatever boast he had before was gone. Leaving an exhausted, bruised, and pale body as he crawled a bit, before with sheer force of will, got up. Revealing that his face paint was all but gone, his eyes returned to normal and one side of his face already swelling from that punch Kendo gave him.
He took a step forward, and then another, and another. It looked like he could keep fighting, unlike Kendo who was in a similar position to Todoroki from the previous round, too exhausted to move.
But then he stopped a little way a from her. "That…that was the most fun I've had in a fight," Midoriya stated, his one eye looking at Kendo, the other swelled shut though it didn't take away from how bright his exhausted smile was.
He had no way of knowing that the blast had knocked Midnight's headpiece off, and sent it into the arena, that he was standing right next to it, and that the entire world could hear him.
"So, I can say this, with all my heart…" His breathing grew more labored and slower, his voice losing strength as his focus diminished but still, he powered through, he had to.
"You, Kendo Itsuka, are the strongest fighter…of us all." He stated and then said no more. Midnight eventually got back onto the field, having to find paths through the debris field as she approached Midoriya, who this entire time didn't move a muscle.
It was only when she got to him, and saw that his eye was vacant, that she realized what happened. Picking up her fallen headpiece, she made the call:
“Midoriya has been rendered unconscious! Kendo moves onto the finals!” No one moved, no one said a word as they tried to figure out what they just witnessed, as even their winner looked to be in disbelief over things, but eventually one of the civilians in the stands couldn't contain themselves any longer.
“Oh man…THAT WAS AMAZING!!!” With that ecstatic cry, the floodgates opened as the entire stadium cheered louder than any time before.
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Was watching The Apothecary Diaries again looking for the best Maomao faces as if you ignore every other good thing in that anime, and there are a lot of good things, her expressions are still golden. I heard that anime girls(or just characters) in general were based on cats and it shows with everyone treats her like a house cat, she even pulls faces and hisses like one when threatened.
It made writing this a little more fun, just because I had a smile on my face for a good chunk of it and during the review stage where I do most of the editing. However, I did have to stop and listen to some music as I've had a song in mind for a long while, one that helped me write the speed, and rhythm of the fight, that being Rustage's Beerus rap which I hope you'll get as you read this clash.
Oh, and I made a change in chapter one, one of the background characters is talking about how hard it is to get into U.A. and how they've been in the top 5% of schools for 30 years, but for some reason, on all 3 places where I posted, that 3 is missing so it sounds like they JUST got into the top 5%. I've checked the first draft, and the edited versions of it and both don't have this error so I have NO idea what happened. Either way, it's been fixed.
Line Break
And we're done! Man, was that a trip! I wrote like 80% of that in a single sitting, granted it was like 4 hours but still! The creative juices couldn't be stopped as I got into the flow of things. I'm just sad I wasn't able to use everything I had planned, as I wanted this to be when Kendo unlocked one of the other quirks within OFA, either Danger Sense because Midoriya was just too fast for her at 30%, or Float after he sends her flying and she's in danger of landing over the line.
That said, what I got down, I'm happy with as I also got to explore how seeing two people at the top of their game fight would affect others, mainly class A as class B already knew Midoriya was simply the best of them like it was no contest but class A has more of a debate over who is strongest as Kendo might hold the title but there's a couple that can say they're comparable to her, and three of those got good attention to see just how large the gap is between them, and have different reactions to it all, though all stem from a cold fear.
Again, I used the Beerus rap by Rustage as a template to set the tone of the fight, one that is agile, adaptive, and fast as they were moving for most of it like a well-choreographed DBZ fight, their attacks being able to do serious damage if they hit, but both so adept at their craft that most never found their mark and those that did, well-you read what those did.
It also meant that the chapter went longer than normal, but for once, I'm not even angry about it, and I'm sure none of you are either.
