Chapter 14 Deku: The Telekinetic Hero by sremiehzla

The Sports Festival Keeps Continuing

"BEGIN!" Midnight announced.

Tenya stood back, which surprised Izuku until he realized that the Engine Quirked teen was outside of his own Quirk's range. He was waiting on Izuku to make the first move, which he was glad to. Izuku ran forward, attempting to get close enough to Tenya to use his telekinesis, but when he reached the center of the ring, his classmate began running in a circle around him.

'What is he doing?' Izuku thought as Tenya became simply a blurred circle around him. 'If I move in any direction he'll be in my range... But if I use my Quirk on him at that speed... The momentum will probably instantly break my hold and he'll have a chance to attack... He's thought this through, huh? Still, I have to do it. It's better than waiting for an attack from behind!'

Izuku ran outwards towards one of the ring's edges and used his Quirk to stop Tenya in his tracks. Like he'd predicted though, his hold was broken immediately. Tenya grinned up at him before firing directly at him. Izuku couldn't do much in that split second except brace for the impact as he was kicked head-on in less than a second. He was able to bring up his arms, which protected his core from the impact, but he was still launched a good distance and rolled to a stop near the edge. He stood, not quite out of bounds but dangerously close, and looked up at his friend.

Tenya was waiting again. No doubt he assumed that Izuku didn't have much of a recharge period after his Quirk's hold was broken, which was correct. Izuku was indeed able to use his telekinesis again. But if Tenya thought that he could just pull the same move again, he was dead wrong.

Izuku ran back into the center of the ring and Tenya was quick to run in circles again. If Izuku didn't make his move quickly, he was sure that Tenya would use his Recipro Burst to catch him totally off-guard, so he had to put his makeshift plan into action soon. He stepped towards the edge so that his friend was in his Quirk's range, and reached out. He tried to focus as fast as he could, because he knew it'd only be a few seconds before he got kicked, and was able to find his target just in time. As Tenya was about to turn and attack, Izuku used his telekinesis to grab onto his shoe. His Quirk's hold was instantly broken again, but the damage had been done.

Tenya tripped and flew forwards parallel to the ground. That didn't last long though, because his engines were still firing and they drove his legs down into the ground. The friction acted as a natural brake, and he slid to a stop at the edge of the ring.

"That was close!" he exclaimed.

But Izuku had expected that. He began running towards Tenya as soon as he had tripped him up, and by the time the blue-haired ten had begun to stand, Izuku was able to push him over the boundary line with his Quirk.

"TENYA IIDA IS OUT OF BOUNDS!" Midnight announced. "IZUKU MIDORIYA WINS!"

"Yeah!" Ochako cheered, before blushing and covering her mouth when she remembered that she was supposed to be neutral.

"See? I told you she'd be rooting for Midori," Mina said, elbowing Toru. "Cough it up!"

"Ugh, fiiine!" she sighed, handing Mina five dollars. "I was sure she wouldn't take sides..."

"I was thinking the same thing," Momo mused with a nod.

"Oh my God please stop," Ochako muttered as she buried her face in her hands.

"Huh? You say something Ochako?" Mina asked.

"Nothin!" she shouted indignantly, looking up at them with her cherry red face.

"Hey, it's fine! Nothing to be embarrassed about!" Mina laughed.

"Says you," Ochako sighs, looking back down.

"Can Mina Ashido and Shoto Todoroki report to the preparation rooms for round four?" Midnight called.

"Ah, gotta go!" Mina said as she stood up. "Wish me luck!"

All of the girls in the immediate area collectively said "good luck!" as she walked away.

"Isn't she too cheerful about this?" Denki asked. "She's up against the strongest guy in class."

"OI!" Katsuki leaned over from behind Eijiro and hit Denki on the top of his head. "What the fuck did I say about calling him that?!"

"Damn it, sorry!" he said as he rubbed his head.

"Nah, she's got a pretty good counter for Todoroki's ice!" Eijiro grinned at Denki. "That's how she was able to get a spot on Bakugo's team, after all."

"Yeah," Katsuki nodded. "Raccoon Eyes can melt right through."

"Raccoon eyes?" Denki, Kyoka, and a few others asked.

"He's been calling Ashido that ever since I introduced them," Eijiro sighed. "It's like he remembers nobody's names..."

"Shut up, Shitty Hair."

"SEE?! Like that!" he exclaimed. "And my hair isn't even that different from his!"

A few nodded in agreement, egging on the ticking time bomb that Katsuki Bakugo was at the moment.

"I see!" they heard Tenya's voice approaching them. "I wouldn't have thought that such a straightforward attack would've worked on someone that can strategize like you!"

"You overthought that way too much," Izuku chuckled. "If you just kept the pressure on me, you would've won easily."

"MIDORIYA! I WILL TAKE THIS ADVICE TO HEART!"

"Don't bow, there's no reason!"

"Ah, you're back!" Momo called, looking back at the pair as they approached. "Good match!"

"You both did really well!" Ochako smiled as they sat down in their seats on either side of her.

"But Midoriya was the better contestant today," Tenya said. "I have not forgotten my words earlier however! I still see us as rivals, and I will work to surpass this speed bump on my journey to heroism!"

"Not likely," Izuku grinned. "Because I'll be working to stay in the lead just as hard!"

"Of course I've taken your growth into account as well!" Tenya said with an arm chop. "I will certainly need to grow at a much more rapid pace than you to overtake your progress!"

"I... don't think it's that simple," Izuku chuckled.

"Aww, look at you guys!" Toru exclaimed. "Being such good sports about it!"

"Of course! There should be no animosity held in a competition in which both competitors gave their best effort!" Tenya said matter-of-factly.

"I'll never get over how you talk, Iida," Ochako said.

"Hm? How is that?" Momo asked.

"Well, you talk the same way Yaomomo. Like rich people!"

"R-Rich?" Momo blushed slightly and looked away. "Well, I do suppose that my family is rather well-off..."

"See? They're totally rich!" Ochako said to everyone else.

"Yeah, I can see that," Eijiro chuckled.

"Nah, that's just sophisticated rhetoric," Denki shrugged. "It has more to do with one's manners and personality than it necessarily does with other factors such as wealth or upbringing–khg!"

"Shut the fuck up, Dunce Face," Katsuki said after hitting him on the head again. "You're trying too hard. It's annoying."

"God, stop doing that dude!" Denki said as he rubbed his head.

Ochako turned back around and glanced at Izuku next to her, who was looking at his notebook. Where did he keep that thing? They were wearing their gym uniforms, which didn't have big enough pockets... Not that thinking about it was important.

"So Deku, who do you think is gonna win this match?" she asked.

Without hesitation and without looking up from his notebook, he replied, "Todoroki."

"Really?" she titled her head. "Kirishima and Bakugo said that her Quirk is a good counter against his ice."

"It is in small amounts, but Todoroki should be able to launch way too much ice way too quickly for her to melt," he said, flipping a page of his notebook. "But we might get a better look at his max output here."

"Oh," she said and tilted her head.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE!" Present Mic announced. "TIME FOR THE FOURTH MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT! EVERYBODY SAY YYEEEEEAAAAH!"

The crowd cheered even louder than they had been already, and most of the U.A. students paled as they remembered how different their reaction was during the entrance exam orientation.

"First up is one of the most distinctive faces you'll see today! Her personality is just as colorful as her skin! IT'S 1-A'S MINA ASHIDO!"

Mina walked out and greeted the crowd as cheerily as she could, smiling widely and waving in every direction. Truth be told, she was beyond nervous. Shoto was definitely one of the class's heaviest hitters, and she was... well, not. She was confident that she had a better chance against him than most of their classmates. In fact, it was the sole reason Eijiro was able to get her a spot on Katsuki's team (she'd thank him again later).

"Next up is also one of the most distinctive faces you'll see today! One of the students who got into 1-A by recommendation, and also the son of the Flame Hero Endeavor, it's SHOTO TODOROKI!"

Shoto had a disinterested look on his face, which was normal for him. But Mina was determined to do something to break his composure in some way.

"Hey Todo!" she called, waving at him before winking and striking a pose. "Let's have fun together, alright?"

He quirked an eyebrow, but otherwise showed no reaction to her teasing. And that got on her nerves, so she decided that she was gonna take it more seriously.

"Are both of the contestants ready?" Midnight asked. Upon their nods, she announced, "Three... Two... One... BEGIN!"

Shoto opened with a blast of ice going straight towards Mina, which didn't exactly surprise her. What did surprise her was the scale of the glacier he had unleashed. Her body was completely encased in the giant wave, and she was freezing.

"BRRR!" she shivered. "You're so cold!"

"... A... Ashido, are you able to move?" Midnight asked after processing what Shoto had just done.

"A-Ah, well, I mean..." Mina tilted her head back and forth. "If I say no then I lose, but..." A stream of her strongest acid shot out of the ice and she started using it to melt herself out. Once she was free, she laughed and stood up above them on the ice, "if I said yes, then that would've ruined the element of surprise, right?!"

Shoto narrowed his eyes and shot another blast of ice at her. Instead of letting it catch her this time, Mina shot a stream of her acid forwards and melted a hole straight through to the other side. She washed the stronger acid out with a coat of her weakest acid so that it wouldn't melt through her clothes, and went through it like a slide. She slid out at Shoto's feet and, since she had incredible agility, was able to hook one of her legs around one of his. She stood up on her other leg, tripped him, and shoved him down on the ground.

'Now's the time to really get under your skin! Try to keep cool with this!' she thought giddily as she leaned down and placed her hand on the middle of his chest. "I can't exactly immobilize you, so... How about I settle for melting your shirt off, hot stuff? Whaddya think?"

Shoto's eyes bulged, and he thrust his hand against her stomach before firing a pillar of ice straight up. The force was enough to knock the wind out of her and launch her out of bounds.

"Mina Ashido is out of bounds! Shoto Todoroki wins!"

"Gueh!" Mina gasped for air. After a few seconds she sat up and looked over towards Shoto, who was walking away. "You... are... so damn cold!" she grunted as she fell back down dramatically.

"She put up a better fight than I thought," Izuku mused, scribbling in his notebook. "She must be able to make pretty strong acid! Realistically though, Todoroki could've ended it at the beginning by pushing her with his ice instead of trapping her. And it would've been easy for him too! That was a huge amount of ice! I guess it might be harder to control the force that he hits her with at that range so he didn't use it to strike her until she was closer... But that just means that she really had no chance from the get-go. Unless... She would be able to use acid that can harden? Then she would've been able to immobilize him when she was on top of him. She probably would've discovered it by now if she could though, so I wouldn't–"

"Midoriya, do you want me to duct tape your mouth shut?" Hitoshi asked, turning to the green-haired boy.

"Ah, sorr–!" Izuku froze.

"Much better," he sighed, turning back around.

"Shinso!" Ochako nudged Izuku's arm and pouted at Hitoshi, "Don't do that!"

"Ah... I..." Izuku blinked a couple of times and turned to look at Ochako. "Thanks..."

"Yeah, for sure!" she smiled. "So, you're gonna be up against Todoroki in your next fight, huh?"

"Yeah..." Izuku sighed, looking down. Then he smiled up at her, "Well, I've had a good run this year. There's always next year's festival, right?"

"No, there's this year's festival!" she pouted. "You gotta do your best and give it your all! Overcome the circumstances! That's what heroes do, right?"

"Yeah... Right, that's right!" he smiled genuinely again. "I'm gonna try my best to win!"

"Yeah!" Ochako pumped her fist, then Izuku joined her.

"Would Minoru Mineta and Hanta Sero please report to the preparation rooms for match five!" Midnight announced.

"Ah, I'm not gonna try to be too hard on him," Hanta said from a few rows back as he stood up and stretched. "I kinda feel bad for him after everything that happened."

"Don't just assume you'll win," Izuku called after him. "He's been working hard so he can get back into the hero course!"

Hanta smiled back, "The hero course hasn't exactly been letting us slack off, Midoriya. We've probably improved way more than him!" Then he turned and left.

"That's..." Izuku sighed, "probably not true at all..."

"Deku?" Ochako asked. "What is it?"

"What's Sero thinking?" he said as he turned back around. "Most of what we've been doing is regular exercise and then the occasional hero training... Plus we've only been here for a month! We've really learned almost nothing from class that could

help us here..."

"But we have practical experience!" Tenya said. "The attack on USJ was awful, but we became stronger because of it! That is something that Mineta doesn't have!"

"Still, Sero is overconfident," Izuku said. "He'll lose if he goes into this with that kind of attitude."

"Ya think so?" Ochako tilted her head.

"Hey Mina!" Toru exclaimed as the pink girl returned the stands. "Good job, you did really well!"

"He's cold," she said simply as she sat down and looked at the ground.

"Well, that's his Quirk..." Momo said.

"Not that," Mina sighed as she shook her head. "He's just cold."

Izuku glanced up as Shoto returned to his seat a few rows back. He thought back to their conversation.

'He's just... Focused,' he realized.

"SO COLD!" Mina shouted suddenly in frustration, shocking everyone in the immediate vicinity.

'I got this... I've definitely got this!' Minoru chanted mentally in preparation room A. 'Hanta Sero... If I remember right, he can shoot tape from his elbows. Kinda a coincidence that we both have sticky Quirks... But I have to prove that I've gotten better. I need to become a hero.'

He stood up and stretched his arms above his head, before bending over on each side to crack his back. Then, after the intercom told him to, he made his way to the entrance tunnel.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S GET THIS GOIN!" Present Mic's voice echoed through the tunnel. "The first one up to the plate in match 5 is a General Education student! Actually, he was in the hero course, but got swapped out for someone else in Gen Ed because his teacher's a major pain in the–!"

"Shut it, Mic," Aizawa groaned.

"Whatever, mummy man!" Present Mic laughed. "HERE'S THE KID, MINORU MINETA!"

When Minoru made his way out, he was met with a mediocre amount of applause. Still, he didn't let that discourage him and waved at the crowd.

"Next is a student who stayed in the hero course!" Present Mic called. "He's got weird-looking elbows and a one-of-a-kind smile! Hanta Sero!"

"Weird-looking, huh?" Hanta grinned as he walked out with his hands in his pockets (to much more applause than Minoru). He took them out and bent down, smiling widely at his shorter opponent. "Well these elbows serve a purpose."

"Mineta, Sero, are you two ready?" Midnight asked. Hanta nodded, followed by Minoru. "Well then, round five will commence in three... two... one... BEGIN!"

Hanta immediately shot tape towards Minoru, who threw a ball on the ground and used it as a trampoline to jump to the side. Hanta aimed to follow him with his tape, and Minoru (for lack of a better way to phrase it) grabbed another one of his balls. He threw it to the side and hit the tape, knocking it out of the air and sticking it to the ground near one of the ring's edges. Hanta disconnected the tape that was now rendered useless by Minoru's ball and switched elbows. Minoru rolled under the next shot of tape (thanking the gods for his short stature as he did). He saw Hanta yank on the tape, but by the time it would've trapped him, Minoru had already bounced away with another ball he had put down.

'He's trying to trap me in the tape to immobilize me, huh?' Minoru thought as he landed. He looked to the piece of tape he stuck to the ground earlier and grinned. 'That's a good idea...'

"Listen Mineta," Hanta sighed, still grinning. "I feel bad for you. Really, I do. But I mean, all you've done is dodge. You're gonna tire out sooner or later, and I haven't moved a single centimeter."

"What's that?" Minoru asked. "Trying to get me to throw the match or something?"

"Something like that," he shrugged.

Minoru popped off one of his balls before lobbing it at the Tape user, who lazily stepped to the side. The hero course student in question just shook his head and sighed, still never losing his smile, then fired another piece of tape. Minoru rolled to the side and hit the tape with one of his balls, condemning it to a long-term relationship with the cement ground. As Hanta went to switch elbows again, Minoru beat him to the punch by throwing a wide volley of his purple head spheres in his general direction. Hanta only had to sidestep a few of them, since it seemed like most of them missed their marks.

"You're that bad at throwing?" Hanta chuckled before shrugging again. "Maybe you don't belong in the hero course after all."

"Maybe," Minoru panted with a grin as blood trickled down his forehead.

When Hanta shot more tape, the short General Education student popped one more ball from his head and dove towards the end of the nearest piece of tape that was stuck to the ground. He attached the ball to the free end and threw it at Hanta before the hero-in-training could maneuver his current tape to wrap Minoru up. With barely any time to think of how to react to his own tape being thrown at him, Hanta took a couple of quick steps back only to step in something... squishy. He realized that he had stepped in one of Minoru's balls, and looked back to see that almost the entirety of the ring behind him was covered in the purple spheres. It wasn't just bad luck that he had stepped in one– he would've stepped in one no matter where he went.

"O-Oh, shit," he cursed as he realized that Minoru hadn't just been missing his shots earlier, then quickly bent down to remove his shoe.

But he was too late. The tape Minoru had thrown hit his shoulder. Then Minoru grabbed three other pieces of tape, anchored then down on one end with his Quirk, then threw them each around Hanta along with one final ball. They wrapped around him and the ball sealed the cocoon of tape.

"Hanta Sero, can you move?" Midnight asked.

"I–HNG!–I can't–GRR!" Hanta grunted as he struggled, before finally hanging his head and sighing, "No, I can't move..."

"The winner of round 5 is Minoru Mineta!" Midnight announced.

"Yes!" Minoru pumped both of his fists in the air and then looked up at the commentary booth. "HOW ABOUT THAT, AIZAWA SENSEI?!"

"Eraser! You kicked this kid out?!" Present Mic laughed. "Why'd you do that?"

"He wasn't nearly this creative with his Quirk before," he droned. "Getting kicked from the class obviously showed him that he needed to improve, and I'm glad he took the initiative. Not to be blunt, but it was probably the best way to motivate him."

"Deku, you were right!" Ochako exclaimed. "Sero lost!"

"He didn't take what I said into consideration at all," Izuku sighed. "But I don't really mind that Mineta won. I think he could make a great hero if he gets back into heroics, you know?"

"Yeah," Ochako nodded.

"His Quirk seems useful, and his strategy wasn't bad," Tenya said. "I'd have to agree with you, Midoriya."

"Hey! Bakugo!" Kyoko complained as Katsuki got up and pushed past her without paying her any mind. "Don't just shove past like that!"

"I'm going to the prep room," he said, ignoring similar complaints from Tsuyu, Fumikage, and Mashirao as he moved past their legs. "About fucking time I get to let off some steam."

"What's with him?" Mina asked.

"He's just amped up," Izuku said. "It's been a while since he's gotten to have a one-on-one match with someone, so he's probably frustrated that his turn wasn't earlier."

"Uh, what're they doing?" Ochako asked, pointing down at the ring.

The rest of the class looked and gawked when they saw that the ring was being taken apart. Any piece of cement with a ball on it was being completely removed. And Hanta was still standing in the middle as multiple employees tried to fix his sorry state. They had to use wire cutters to remove the tape that was trapping him, then he removed his stuck shoe. He left the field with two balls still stuck on his shirt, which had short pieces of tape hanging from them.

"I... think they can't get Mineta's balls off of the stage or Sero," Izuku said, getting a little chuckle out of Denki.

"Hey Jamming-whey, what're you laughing at?" Kyoka asked.

"Hehehe, he said balls," the blond teen snickered. "ACK!"

Kyoka jabbed the side of his head with one of her earphone jacks and shook her head with a sigh. "What are you, six?"

"Deku, what do you–" Ochako looked to Izuku and found him furiously muttering and scribbling in his notebook. Really, she wasn't even surprised anymore. With a poke, she said, "Hey Deku, you home?"

"Huh?" he looked up at her with wide eyes. "Did I do it again?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded with a smile. "What do you think they'll do about Sero?"

"Ah, well... Since they're removing the parts of the ring with the balls, I assume their adhesiveness is stronger than heavy machinery can handle. So all Sero can do is very carefully remove his shirt and put another one on. Assuming their stickiness lasts a while, anyways."

"I guess so," Ochako said, before giggling, "I kinda feel bad for him."

"Yeah, I'd hate to be in his position," Izuku mused.

"Ahem," Midnight cleared her throat. "Please be aware that we are not postponing the next match. It will only take Cementoss a moment to fix this."

As she spoke, the last few spots of concrete that had balls stuck to them were chinked away. Then Cementoss walked up to the edge of the ring and placed his hands down on it, smoothing it out almost instantly.

"Alright! Now, with that done and out of the way, let's get these guys out here for match six!" Present Mic shouted. "First up is class 1-B's assassin! Every rose has its thorns, right? WELL HERE'S THE BEAUTIFUL BUT DEADLY IBARA SHIOZAKI!"

Ibara walked out and raised her hand, yelling, "Um, excuse me? I apologize for interrupting, but might I ask what you meant by assassin?"

"Um..." Present Mic seemed to be at a loss. "I- Uh, I was just, uh... I thought it'd be good commentary?"

"Well, I haven't come this far to hurt others," she frowned as she looked up. "I am here simply because I seek victory."

"I'm sorry!" Present Mic said quickly, and the crowd could almost hear him bow through the microphone.

"Woah, she seems nice!" Ochako said.

"A true example of an exemplar hero-in-training!" Tenya agreed.

"She's like the exact opposite of Kacchan," Izuku chuckled.

'Is she really wasting time on shit like his phrasing?' Katsuki thought, itching to walk out onto the ring. 'Her Quirk is strong, judging from what I saw in the last round... Those damn vines are tough and can go underground. Plus they don't seem to be very flammable, considering I blew the fuck outta them earlier and they were unscathed. Good, I'd fucking kill her if she gave me a weak fight after all this damn waiting.'

"Next up!" Present Mic finally called. "He's been something of a celebrity since getting caught by a villain in his middle school days! He's the guy with an explosive personality and a face that only a mother could love, KATSUKI BAKUGO!"

"OI!" Katsuki shouted as he walked out, loud enough to mostly silence the cheering audience. "THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT MY FACE?!"

"Uh... I completely messed up with the intros this round, didn't I?" Present Mic sighed.

"YEAH, YOU DID!" Katsuki screamed.

"Well, I'm sorry," he sighed again, before whispering under his breath, "It's not like it wasn't accurate..."

"I HEARD THAT!" Katsuki shouted. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU LATER, PRESENT MIC!"

"WHAT?! I know I pressed the mute but–" the voice hero exclaimed before there was a click.

"Don't mind me," Aizawa sighed before there was another click.

"Bakugo," Ibara said, causing the blonde to snap his head toward her. "You have an awfully vulgar attitude and tongue... It's unbefitting of a hero." Her eyes hardened into a glare. "I'll have to remove you from the running."

"What..." Katsuki had a hard time processing what he had just heard. Him? Unfit to be a hero? "I'LL KILL YOU, VINE BITCH!" he shouted as his hands popped with explosions.

"Um..." Midnight didn't seem to know exactly what to do with the commentators gone. "Aside from Mic's nonsense and all that, are you two ready?"

"Fuck yes!" Katsuki grinned and chuckled slightly.

"I am prepared," Ibara said, clasping her hands in front of her chest.

"Alright then," Midnight nodded. "We'll begin in 3... 2... 1... START!"

Katsuki started just about how you'd expect: he blasted towards Ibara as fast as his explosions let him. She knelt down and her hair dug below ground, only to pop back up as a protective wall in between her and Katsuki as he let off an explosion. Katsuki blasted up and over the wall only for several vines to shoot up and trap him in midair.

"OI, CUT THIS SHIT OUT!" he shouted as he pulled and blasted at the vines.

"Truly vulgar," Ibara said with a shake of her head. "A hero should be graceful and reverent."

"Fuck you!" he said with a grunt as he finally blasted free of the vines.

He propelled himself straight down at Ibara, but the wall she made earlier broke apart into hundreds of vines that grabbed him again.

"Trying to hold me with these shitty things again?!" he glared at her.

"You may be able to break out of a few, but..." Ibara's vines surrounded and clamped down around Katsuki's whole body, like a cocoon. "Can you break out of that?"

The cocoon of vines landed on the ground, and the only part of Katsuki that wasn't covered was his face. He grunted and the entire vine entrapment vibrated as he let off explosions inside of it.

"Bakugo, can you escape?" Midnight asked.

"GIVE ME A SECOND GODDAMNIT!" he shouted. "Damn, these shitty vines are tough! FUCK IT!"

Finally, the entire cocoon expanded and blew apart with intense force. The blast left a smoldering crater and a pillar of smoke in its wake.

"You... are truthfully impressive in terms of power," Ibara said as her glare hardened. "All the more reason to stop you here."

"Fucking hell," Katsuki sighed as he stood up and patted himself down. There were holes in his shirt and pants, and his clothes were a little bit on fire before he snuffed it out with his hands. Wiping a bit of sweat from his brow, he grinned, "You're not just some extra, huh?"

"Extra? Is that how you refer to those weaker than yourself?"

"No, just the ones who are so weak that they don't matter," he smirked.

"All life matters," Ibara asserted. "It is the job of heroes to protect and nurture those who cannot protect themselves! If you believe that weak persons do not matter, then you are not only vulgar, but lacking in the basic principals of heroism!"

"Nah, real heroes are the ones who never lose... That way, they can beat the villains before even worrying about the damn extras!" Katsuki said with a grin as he stood up straight. "Listen up Vine Bitch, you should feel honored. I was planning on saving this for the endgame, but I really can't think of another way to end this any time soon. You're gonna see one of my best moves!"

"What are you–?"

Katsuki blasted straight up into the air until he was a good 30 meters high. Then he blasted straight down at Ibara. As he gained downward momentum, he angled his palms so that he began to spin. As he did so, his blasts created a flaming cyclone that followed him towards the Vines user.

"Oh no!" Ibara exclaimed as she brought up a massive wall of vines in front of her.

"See if those damn vines will help you against this!" Katsuki snarled as he brought up his right arm. When he reached the wall, he thrust it forward and shouted, "HOWITZER IMPACT!" as he let rip his strongest blast.

The whole stadium shook like it was the epicenter of a small earthquake. There was a huge firey blast that caused a black plume to rise up and left the arena shattered. One doesn't think of "shatter" when thinking of what can happen to cement, but it was about the best way to describe the massive amount of cracks going throughout the ring. Katsuki stood hunched over with his left hand on his knee, and his right arm hanging at his side as he panted. In front of him was the vine wall, still standing. Still standing, although there was a giant hole straight through the middle and the rest of it was charred and on fire.

"Finally," Katsuki panted. "It's on fucking fire..."

"Ugh," Midnight grunted as she stood up (she had been knocked back by the shockwave). "Um... Ibara Shiozaki is out of bounds! Katsuki Bakugo wins!"

Katsuki looked through the hole in the vines and saw his opponent sprawled out on the grass outside of the ring unconscious.

"YEEEAAAAH! I KNEW THIS GUY WOULD WIN!" Present Mic suddenly shouted after being absent from the rest of the match. "I mean, he's got a face that anybody would love, so who wouldn't root for him?!"

"F... FUCK YOU!" Katsuki screamed as loud as he could.

"I... had no idea he could do that..." Izuku said, staring down at the ring with wide eyes along with most of the other students. "It... looks like it damaged his arm."

"That's so damn manly!" Eijiro said excitedly.

"I... Maybe I should stop calling Todoroki the strongest in class after all," Denki shuddered. "Bakugo might really kill me..."

"If he had something like that up his sleeve, he was probably saving it for when he needed it," Izuku muttered, taking out his pen and notebook again. "So her vines must be strong... Now that I think about it, he had to try pretty hard to get out of her vines when she trapped him, and they didn't seem to be too flammable up until the end. I wonder if there's some threshold..."

"It doesn't take much to set him off, huh?" Mina noted, already recovered from her loss against Shoto.

"Yeah," Toru agreed.

"I think it's impressive," Ochako giggled.

"It's weird," Denki said. "I'm starting to agree with Shinso that... Wait, is Shinso asleep?"

"Hm?" Ochako leaned past Izuku and saw Shinso laying across two seats with his eyes closed. "I... think he is."