"For the last and final match of the quarterfinals, Eijiro vs. Bakugo! The man who said he'd stand at the top—is he a man of his word? Will Bakugo's explosive power push him out of his place?"
'Alright, I can do this,' Eiji said, pumping himself with a smile.
"I'm going to enjoy this!" Bakugo grinned, letting out minor explosions in his hands.
"Begin!" Midnight shouted!
"DIE!"
-BOOM!
Bakugo blasted Eijiro. The hero in training went bulletproof. He took the blast and dashed through the smoke, throwing a punch. Bakugo barely dodged Eiji's fist, cutting his cheek.
"You can blast me all you want, Explosion lord, but I'm blast-proof!" Eiji roared and charged, launching a flurry of fists. Bakugo was on the offence.
Making space, he thrust his hands forward. "Fucking die!" He launched two blasts. Eiji grunted as Bakugo didn't stop launching more than Eiji got close to punching.
Bakugo dodged, using his explosion to push himself further away, and launched two powerful blasts towards Eijiro.
-BOOM!
["An explosive beginning: Bakugo's explosion is effective, but Eijiro's defence is unbreakable!"]
"Tch," Bakugo grunted, waiting for the smoke to dissipate.
-Swish!
"!" He barely dodged a large rock that flew past his face, smashing into the wall outside the ring. This guy!'
Inside the smoke, Eijiro stood next to chunks of rock. He smashed the ground, breaking it into pieces, and now got out of his bulletproof vest, only using his Flexi hardness and throwing them at Bakugo.
-Swish! -Swish! -Swish!
-Boom -Swish! -Swish! -Boom
Bakugo dodged and swerved with his explosions. The pellets were coming at him at a fast rate. He had to use his blasts to dodge. "Go to hell!"
He roared, thrusting both hands forward, which sparked a golden light. "incinerate!" He roared as a large blast covered half the arena.
Eiji dropped the rocks and sat down. He grabbed his hair and covered himself like a shell, transforming into his Blastproof state.
-Woosh! -Boom!
'Damn! he groaned under the cover of his hair. The blast was boiling, but he was fine, although a little winded.
Outside, Bakugo huffed as the smoke cleared, revealing a small shell made of red hair shaped like a durian fruit. Soon it wiggled, and the hair moved back as Eiji stood up, patting himself.
"Not bad. I felt that."
The crowd went into a small roar. Eiji's parents, watching, sighed before smiling down at him.
["Even after all that, Eijiro is still standing!"]
-Bam!
Eiji smashed his fists together, going bulletproof, and applied Flexi Harden on top of it. He gave a sharklike smile and charged Bakugo.
-Boom! -Boom!
Bakugo blasted him, but he shrugged it off, launching a punch. He blasted himself to the side. The punch was a feint, and Eiji turned, kicking him in the stomach.
Bakugo grunted and was about to blast himself back, but Eiji, being close enough, grabbed his hand and said, "Not this time!" He smashed Bakugo against the ground and said, "Ah!" Eiji didn't stop slamming him again, a third time, and two more times.
-Bam! -Bam! -Bam! -Bam!
He lifted Bakugo for a moment to look at him before slamming him again into the ground.
-Bam!
The ground cracked a little from the force. Eiji went to smash him again, but Bakugo blasted with his free hand, grabbing onto Eijiro and blasting with his free hand. He didn't stop the force from his blasts, and he spun them high in the air.
Reaching as high as the stadium, Bakugo stopped. "Let's see how you like it!" He shouted and threw Eiji down with a powerful blast.
-BAM! -CRACK!
He went flying, cracking into the ring and breaking it in half. "I'm not done yet." Bakugo blasted himself down, spinning himself into a vortex and building up oxygen. He slammed into Eijiro, who went blastproof, crossing himself.
"Howitzer Impact!" He roared, releasing the strongest explosion he's ever made. The force shook the stadium slightly.
...
"Holy shit," Kaminari commented.
Mina was silent. She supported him, but her leg was shaking slightly nervously as she could not see through the smoke.
["Such an enormous explosion, seemingly akin to a missile strike, was the blast enough to crack Eijiro's armour?"]
Mina gulped upon hearing his words. They are not helping.
Outside, standing on the staircase, was Midoriya. He rushed out of the medical room, wanting to see this match. He had full hopes for Eijiro.
His parents watched with their fists clenched, the smoke still covering the arena. What came next proved Mina and Midoriya's hopes.
-Boom! -Boom!
["The battle is still going!"]
...
Just as Baguko slammed against Eijiro, 'Aaaaarh!' he screamed mentally, his arms cracking. Grinning his teeth under the force of the explosion, he hardened the cracks in his armour and bore with the heat!
"Get over here!" He roared, grabbing Bakugo's hand as he launched powerful punches to his abdomen, chest, and face.
-Boom! -Thwack!
Bakugo tried to blast him with more force, but his hands were recoiling in pain. Eiji grinned, not letting go. He chopped Bakugo's Adam's apple, making him choke.
-Boom! -Boom!
Eiji didn't stop, still punching his shoulder blade and going with an axe kick. An audible crack echoed as his left arm dislocated.
He landed a solid hit to his face, which he followed with a back kick and uppercut that sent Bakugo up in the air. Using that, Eiji jumped to meet him, landed, and dropped a kick to his stomach!
-Bam! -Thud!
Bakugo went flying out, the smoke rolling to the edge of the arena. The development surprised members of the crowd.
The smoke cleared, revealing Eijiro, scorched all over the centre of his gym clothes, and his body underneath burned red. His face had dried up, and blood was coming from his mouth and nose.
But he was in better condition compared to Bakugo, who had a red eye, a dislocated arm, and cuts and bruises underneath his clothes.
"It's over, Bakugo; give up," Eiji said, spitting up blood.
"Like hell it is!" He charged forward with his one good arm. He blasted Eiji, who crossed his arm and took the constant barrage of blasts.
Standing there, he realised he was just like him, trying to make history but to stand on top as number one. There was more to that than mindless violence. That violence breeds violence, and in the end, things could not be this way.
Eiji sighed and went down to Bulletproof. Small blasts were useless against him in that state. He reeled his fist back as Bakugo didn't stop, putting more power into hardening his muscles, and he smiled.
"Thank you!" He shouted and went for a punch that Bakugo dodged, and, like planned, Eiji went with the motion, getting down on both hands. He raised his back leg around, slamming it into his face.
-Bam!
The momentum and kick were strong, knocking Bakugo unconscious. He fell back with a thud as the crowd burst into light cheers and claps.
"Winner, Eijiro Kirishima! Can we get a medic for Bakugo here?" Midnight announced it, looking at Bakugo, who was seething while unconscious.
Eiji smiled, giving a thumbs up to the crowd with a goofy, toothy grin.
...
"This Eijiro kid's got real potential," one hero watching from the stands commented.
"True, he's also aware of when to go on the defensive and has a talent for close-quarters combat too; I wouldn't mind having him in my agency hell even as my sidekick," another hero commented, nodding.
The heroes who watched were getting curious about how far he could go. Most believed he'd make it to second place. The excitement of an underdog defeating natural talent was exciting.
'Young Eijiro, you are a talented individual; even some pros are routing for you.' Allmight looked back, growing a smile, and clapped for him.
"Kushina, he's done it. I made it to the Semi-Final Round," Rio smiled, grasping his wife's hands.
"I know dear, hihi, he's going to make it!" She cheered for him.
Both squeezed their hands together, brimming with hope.
"He still has to face Todoroki Endeavours' son. Do you think his hard work can surpass his natural talent?" An adult commented, looking at them.
"Fuck you," Rio said to the man. He was bringing down the mood. Of course, that was a valid question: can Eijiro succeed?
"I think that was capoeira, a martial art that incorporates dance. Often, some of the past martial arts, when applied to certain quirks, can draw out certain unprecedented things," Aizawa commented.
["BORING! Whatever it was, it's awesome, and Eijiro makes it to the Semi-Final Round! Todoroki vs. Tenya Iida, and Eijiro against Tokoyami!"
...
"Cough! Ah, my stomach hurts," Eiji chuckled, sitting on a bed. Bakugo is in the bed next to him, fuming in his sleep.
"That was a great battle," the recovery girl said, walking into the room. "I'll take care of you first."
"Thank you," He said as she kissed his arm, draining stamina from his body. He made a near-instant recovery.
"Eiji, you were awesome out there!" Mina said, walking into the room, followed by Midoriya and Ochako.
"You beat Kachan. I hope he doesn't feel too bad about it," he chuckled.
Pft, look at his face. He's frowning in his sleep," Ochako laughed, pointing at Bakugo.
"He can brood, but how are you feeling? You hurt anywhere?" Mina asked, staring at his body. He was topless, as the recovery girl needed to see the extent of his injuries. She flushed slightly but remained calm. "You look good."
Haha, yeah, but I am kind of hungry."
"We can bring you snacks," Midoriya said, before looking down at his cast. "Oh."
"Mina and I will carry them," Ochako said.
They left and came back with beef jerky and snacks. They made their way up to the stands. His classmates congratulated him on his win as they sat down and watched the battle between Todoroki and Iida.
"You're eating all sloppy." Mina rolled her eyes.
"Nom! Sorry, I have to be quick." He swallowed his food and patted his chest, stuffing it down. As expected, Iida uses his reciprocal Burst to knock him down.
The crowd went wild as he dragged him to the edge of the ring, but sadly, all it took was a single touch from Todoroki, and he froze in place.
The next match was between him and Tokoyami. With a hard pat on the back from Mina, he went down, having recovered from his fight against Bakugo.
"And the last match before the finals is between Tokoyami and Eijiro! Both respect one another with a handshake. This is going to be a good one!"
"Begin!" Midnight said.
"Darkshadow!" He said, and the shadow manifested from his stomach.
'I can't fight it with light, so I just have to either head for Tokoyami, which is annoying with Darkshadow in the way, or... toughen up and beat it till it dies! Wait, no cries!'
-Bam!
He slammed his fists together and went for Darkshadow, exchanging blows for blow. Darkshadow's hits were strong, but Eiji could take them and counter them with some effort.
There were times he ran past Tokoyami, but he was adept in self-defence only a little, which meant Eiji could overwhelm him even when he called Darkshadow back.
In the end, Tokoyami surrendered after being backed into a corner.
["YEAH! And the semi-finals are over. We have our two contestants going head-to-head with the man who claims to stand on top as number 1! Eijiro Kirishima vs. the one with the talent and power to destroy his claim! The son of the number 2 hero! Todoroki Shoto!"]
Prepare your selves folks because the next one is going to be a blast! Haha! If you enjoyed this chapter comment to let me know or leave a review if you can and see you next time!