CHAPTER 10: FLAMES VS. FLAMES!

"Talking"

"SHOUTING"

'Thinking'

"Deep Voice / Demonic Voice"

[ Place / Time ]

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A.N.: WARNING: Izuku will be a year older than the Izuku of the manga/anime.

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A surreal silence had fallen on the stadium when Izuku had suddenly transformed into his skeletal counterpart. Some of the spectators were whispering to each other, almost afraid of being heard by him, wondering what had happened, yet none of them had an answer.

In the stands reserved for festival participants, the various students in the class 1-A seemed to be in the same state of confusion.

"Hey hey, am I wrong or is something wrong?" asked Denki with a worried face.

"Midoriya seemed to be under Shinso's control, but as soon as he transformed he stopped..." added Hanta with a matching face.

Not far from them, Ochaco looked at the student beside her with uncertain eyes "Iida, isn't this like...?"

"Yes..." the bespectacled boy nodded with a drop of sweat running down his face "It's like that time he transformed when the alarm went off because of the media..."

"Do you t-think he will do something r-risky?" asked the girl, feeling a strange anxiety pervading her chest.

"I really hope not...or it will end very badly for him..." said Tenya looking at the stadium "With all the heroes gathered here it would be crazy to do something compromising..."

Not knowing what else to say, the two could only hope that their friend would do nothing that he would later regret.

Down in the arena, Hitoshi was still incredulous from what he had just seen. Izuku had managed to transform himself despite his mind control and had even stopped before leaving the ring, going against his order. Hitoshi had never had a chance to train with his Quirk, but he knew that, without outside help, it wasn't possible to escape the effects of his Brainwashing.

"You were able to get rid of my control?" he then asked, hoping to make his opponent talk again even if a part of his mind was still shouting at him to get out of there "Did you remember the people you killed? Is that what made you transform?!"

However, despite those questions, Izuku didn't answer and after a few seconds, he started walking slowly towards Hitoshi, leaving behind a trail of flaming footprints. The student from the general studies stepped back, suddenly intimidated by Izuku's presence.

'What is this?! During the other events his presence wasn't so oppressive! Now he seems about to kill me at any moment!' thought Hitoshi with a pale face, taking another step back.

On either side of the arena, Midnight and Cementoss watched Izuku with worried eyes, ready to intervene if necessary. The R-rated hero knew that her Quirk wouldn't serve against him, being a skeleton without lungs, but she hoped that her colleague had the power to stop him, because otherwise they would have had quite a few problems.

'What's more, Aizawa told us that his Quirk is ineffective against Izuku...I really hope the kid knows how to control himself.' thought Midnight gripping her whip as the flaming skeleton was now in front of a terrified Hitoshi.

Without saying anything, Izuku grabbed Hitoshi by his shirt and lifted him into the air without any difficulty before looking him straight in the eye, now that there were only a few inches between them. Unconsciously, most of the audience held their breath when they saw him take that action and not even Present Mic dared to speak.

Hitoshi could only stare into those empty eye sockets while his own soul seemed to be judged by something, but then he saw Izuku tilt his head slightly and, next thing he knew, he was flying against Midnight. The woman barely had time to open her arms before being thrown down along with the student due to the impact, which made them tumble several meters before stopping.

And just like that, the tension that hung over the stadium vanished.

Many of the heroes present sighed with relief as the civilians began to talk to each other, much more relaxed now that Izuku had not tried to incinerate his opponent.

"T-THE MATCH HAS ONLY LASTED A FEW SECONDS, BUT THOSE WERE AMONG THE MOST INTENSE SECONDS OF MY LIFE!" shouted Present Mic, with a much more serene voice "WITH ONLY ONE MOVE, MIDORIYA THREW SHINSO OUT OF THE RING, THEREFORE THE VICTORY GOES TO THE FLAMING SKELETON!"

Outside the ring, Midnight raised a hand just to confirm what was just said by Present Mic, then to make sure that Hitoshi was fine and, fortunately, he was just a little shaken. However, now that the various spectators had begun to speak again, only the two of them could hear those words that made them wince in fear.

"The next time you try to control me..." the two looked towards the ring, where Izuku was still in his flaming form "Your soul will burn in Hell, be it pure or not." and with those words, the young boy returned to his human form, shaking his head while holding a hand against his forehead.

"Ugh...w-what the Hell..." said Izuku looking around.

"Midoriya...are you okay?" asked Midnight standing between him and Hitoshi.

Izuku looked at his teacher for a few moments before nodding "Yeah...just a slight headache, Shinso's Quirk must have reacted badly with mine..."

'That's an understatement...' thought the woman raising an eyebrow "If you say so...anyway, victory is yours so get out of the ring, so we can go on with the matches."

Izuku quickly bowed before leaving the ring, looking for a moment at Hitoshi, who looked back at him with frightened eyes. Shaking his head, Izuku returned to the corridor and after a few steps, he found himself facing a familiar face.

"Young Midoriya!" Toshinori said with a worried look "What happened out there? You were about to come out of the ring as if you were hypnotized and then you suddenly transformed! I feared for a moment that you were going to hurt young Shinso!"

Izuku sighed "I honestly don't know...when I replied to him, it was like my body stopped responding but it was a different feeling than when my Quirk takes control." he then looked at his own hand "When I was about to leave the ring, I heard a voice in my head. I never heard that voice, but it seemed angry and whoever it was said it would never be tricked or controlled again."

Toshinori scratched the back of his head "Well...this doesn't help us much. The only thing that comes to mind is that your Quirk is somehow as sentient as young Tokoyami's, but in a completely different way...even if the second part is the most confusing."

Izuku could only shrug "There are seven more matches before I have to go back out there. I will try to meditate or relax in some way."

"That's a wonderful idea. I advise you to go to Recovery Girl, in case you can ever give yourself a pill to calm your nerves. Perhaps all this is caused by stress." nodded Toshinori before walking away with the young boy.

At the end of the corridor they met Shoto, but the son of Endeavor didn't stop even for a second and continued to walk towards the arena. Watching him leave, Izuku could only shake his head "With that attitude, he risks making a mistake and losing."

"You may be right...but only for the last part." said Toshinori, catching Izuku's attention "I am also a teacher for the class 1-B, and I can tell you that many of those young students could give young Todoroki and young Bakugo a hard time."

"Even his opponent, Monoma?"

The blond hero could only nod "Especially young Monoma..."

"ALL RIGHT! AFTER A SHORT BUT INTENSIVE FIRST MATCH, IT'S TIME TO MOVE FORWARD! THEREFORE GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO SHOTO TODOROKI, THE ICE PRINCE FROM CLASS 1-A!" shouted Present Mic, with the crowd that cheered as soon as Shoto came out into the sunlight, walking in the ring with a calm face.

"AND HIS OPPONENT! THE MASTERMIND FROM CLASS 1-B, NEITO MONOMA!"

The blond student approached his adversary, greeting the crowd with a serene smile on his lips, before stopping a few meters from Shoto. After looking around for a moment, Neito asked "I guess a big shot like you is above frivolous things like a handshake before the match, right?" when Shoto remained silent without giving him an answer, the blond chuckled "Ah so you consider yourself so superior that you think it is useless to answer me eh? Class 1-A's arrogance knows no boundaries."

"STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAART!"

"Guess I'll be the one to take you down a peg or two..." grinned Neito before being completely blocked by ice up to his neck, shocking the entire stadium.

"HOLY-! TODOROKI HASN'T WASTE A SECOND AND HAS ALREADY BLOCKED MONOMA!" shouted Present Mic with shocked eyes, looking at the iceberg created by the son of Endeavor "IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THIS MATCH WILL ALSO BE OVER IN A SINGLE INSTANT?!"

Midnight stared at the enormous mass of ice before shaking her head and moving her eyes to Neito who, despite everything, was still smiling "Monoma, can you move?"

"Mh..." he looked up for a moment with thoughtful eyes before smirking "Yes."

At that moment, his arms and legs began to rotate like drills, destroying his ice coffin, much to Shoto's surprise. Neito wasted no time and dashed toward him with his arms already rotating before trying to hit his opponent, but Shoto managed to create a wall of ice. His defense was however destroyed by a fist of Neito who then tried again to hit the son of Endeavor, this time with a kick, however Shoto created a column of ice from under his feet.

As with the wall of ice, Neito managed to destroy the ice construct without difficulty but when Shoto found himself in midair, he moved his right arm, creating several spikes of ice with which he tried to hit the class 1-B's student. Neito jumped to the side, avoiding all the blows and then remaining in a crouch while Shoto landed a few meters from him but this time he did not try to attack his opponent with a wave of ice, merely observing him.

"What, have you already understood that your ice is useless against my Quirk?" grinned Neito without moving "You're pretty smart...but not enough!"

Before Shoto could understand what he was referring to, something hit him at the base of the neck.

The blow was not too strong, but it was more than enough to temporarily stun him and make him stagger forward. Despite his confusion, Shoto managed to stay on his feet and hear Neito's amused words "Um...I guess this is the difference between me and Kendo. One of her chops would have at least made you fall to your knees."

Shaking his head to recover, Shoto was able to bring his gaze back to Neito, just in time to see his left hand reattaching to the rest of his body.

'He can also detach parts of his body and control them from a distance? So he has two Quirks?' narrowing his eyes, Shoto tried to think about a strategy to fight him, but Neito started to laugh, catching his attention "Why are you laughing?"

"It's nothing, really!" said Neito raising his hands in defense "I was just thinking that with a Quirk like yours you should have already won! Here, let me show you how to use your power!" and, under the shocked eyes of Shoto and the whole stadium, Neito's left arm was suddenly enveloped in flames, as a layer of ice began to expand from beneath his right foot.

"It's time to warm up the situation, but please don't lose your coolness." said Neito with a sinister light in his eyes.

"What the hell?! He also has his Quirk?!" shouted Eijiro looking at the match with incredulous eyes, just like everyone else in his class "How's that possible?!"

"He's a fucking copycat." growled Katsuki with narrowed eyes, confusing his classmates.

"A...copycat?" repeated Hanta tilting his head to the side.

"During the last event I saw the guy with him use that drill-like-Quirk, while the girl in team with Giant Hands had detached parts of her body with complete freedom." sitting not far away, Itsuka shot him a dirty look due to the nickname "That fucker simply copied their Quirks."

"So he can copy Quirks? Man, that's so unfair!" complained Denki with a sigh "That's way too strong!"

'No, it's not, you fucking Pikachu!' thought Katsuki while still looking at the match 'He must have limits with a Quirk like that...for example he can't use two Quirks at the same time, otherwise he would have used the first two together to hit Half 'n' Half in the back.'

"Wait...does it mean that Todoroki will use his flames? It would be the first time." noted Rikido with the others nodding at his words.

'He won't use them...' thought Izuku narrowing his eyes 'He'll try to win while using only his ice...'

A huge wave of flames crashed against Shoto, but the son of Endeavor created a large amount of ice to counter the fire, however he was then forced to throw himself aside to avoid the flames that were about to overwhelm his attack. Without waiting, he created another wave of ice aiming at Neito, who countered it with an identical move, causing an explosion of ice fragments.

"Fighting only with your ice will make you lose, but you know that already! Your body is already experiencing the first effects of hypothermia!" mocked Neito firing a stream of fire from his left hand "I know it well, since I'm using the same power!" slamming his foot firmly on the ground, he created a wave of ice more powerful than the previous one that managed to prevail against that of Shoto, forcing him to jump again to the side.

"I wonder if yours is just arrogance or even ignorance!" another stream of fire "Your father is the famous Endeavor, yet you're not even using his flames! Afraid to disappoint him?!"

Shoto's eyes widened as he gritted his teeth. Disappoint him? Disappoint him?! That was the picture that his opponent had imagined? That he was afraid to disappoint that bastard of his father?!

Remaining still with his head tilted forward, Shoto started to create ice around his right foot while Neito pointed his left hand at him "Well, if this is your brilliant strategy to win...I'd say I'm pretty disappointed." and with those words, he fired a flood of flames at Shoto who, however, did not try to avoid the attack.

He simply let himself be enveloped by the fire, shocking his opponent and all the spectators.

'What the...has he decided to give up?' thought Neito before stopping the stream of flames, looking at the wall of steam created by his attack 'Luckily the air wasn't too cold...otherwise I would have risked destroying everything.'

With his usual smile, he turned to tell Midnight to call the end of the match but a sudden tremor caught his attention and, from the steam, Shoto popped up, dashing towards him thanks to a flow of ice created by his right leg. Before Neito could defend himself with any Quirk, his opponent managed to grab his face with the right hand and only then did the blond realize that Shoto's body was no longer covered with frost.

'He has canceled the effects of hypothermia?! How-?! Ah...how ironic...' Neito tried to use his flames, but his face was already wrapped in ice, bringing him to a state of near-fainting 'I wanted to defeat him with his Quirk and instead I helped him win...'

In the next instant, his entire body was locked up in an ice coffin.

A surreal silence reigned in the stadium before Midnight, after a careful look at both competitors, raised her whip "Monoma is no longer able to fight! The winner is Todoroki!"

With those words, the spell broke and the whole stadium burst into a chorus of applause, screams and whistles as Shoto used his left hand to melt the ice around Neito. The blond student then fell to his knees trying to catch his breath "That was really risky, you know...?"

"Sorry about that." said Todoroki without appearing really sorry before turning on his heels "Seeing that Quirk made me very angry."

Without waiting for a reply, he simply walked away, shooting a cold look at a man in particular in the crowd.

"Man, that was intense!" said Denki with sweat running down his face "But I didn't understand how Todoroki managed to survive in the end. The fire should have roasted him!"

"He used fire to help himself." explained Momo with a hand on her chin "From what I've seen, Todoroki can't use his ice freely because his body's temperature probably goes down too much if he abuses that power...that's why when Monoma attacked with his flames, Todoroki used them to raise his body temperature."

"Whaaaaat?! That's like super dangerous!" shouted Mina with shocked eyes, mimicked by many others, except two...

"That was so...so..." Tetsutetsu and Eijiro raised their fists at the same time with tears in their eyes "SO MANLY!"

"I hope he doesn't decide to do the same against Midoriya...that would be far more risky. Ribbit."

Strangely, no one could object to Tsuyu's words.

"WE ARE ONLY ON THE THIRD MATCH AND WE HAVE ALREADY ASSISTED TO SOMETHING INCREDIBLE! THIS YEAR'S TOURNAMENT IS FULL OF SURPRISES!" the voice of Present Mic echoed in the whole stadium "BUT AS I SAID, IT'S TIME FOR THE THIRD COUPLE OF FIGHTERS!"

The crowd cheered as the first student made his entrance in the arena.

"THIS GUY'S SOMEHOW STILL AS PLAIN AS THEY COME DESPITE BEING IN THE CREME OF THE CROP! FROM CLASS 1-A, HANTA SERO!"

'Ouch...he really had to introduce me like this...? And besides Ojiro is more plain than me!' thought Hanta with a sigh while his opponent walked toward him.

"VERSUS...CLASS 1-B'S ASSASSIN! THE QUEEN OF THORNS! IBARA SHIOZAKI!"

Seeing her expression completely concentrated, Hanta prepared for a relentless assault but at the last second, she turned to Present Mic "Pardon my objection, but what exactly did you mean by 'assassin'? I have merely come this far seeking victory in the name of God."

"S-SORRY ABOUT THAT!"

'Class B's got all the types huh?' wondered Hanta looking at the girl who was still talking, now to everyone, about her duty and...where did the divine light come from? But then, Present Mic announced the beginning of the match 'Oh man...I'm not a bad guy and I don't want to immobilize her with my tape...not after what happened with Hagakure...' he still suffered from phantom pains since that day 'But I really want to win!'

Without waiting for Ibara to turn, Hanta fired two strips of tape from his elbows, wrapping his opponent's chest and ankles before rotating on his axis to drag her out of the ring using the strength of his tape. His plan failed a second after its implementation, when he realized that he couldn't move Ibara, not even by a millimeter.

Looking in her direction with confused eyes, he was shocked to see that her vines-like hair had lengthened and had sunk into the ring, holding her in place. Slowly she turned her head towards him and Hanta felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Attacking a girl from behind while she is spreading the word of God..." her blue eyes went cold as ice "Such a sinful person doesn't deserve to advance in this tournament."

Before Hanta could tear off his tape and try to attack her again, Ibara's vines stretched further, tearing through the two strips of tape before immobilizing her opponent, raising him in the air as if crucified.

Seeing this show of strength, Midnight whistled "I think you and Kamui Woods are almost on the same level. Sero, can you move?"

"Are you kidding right?" deadpanned Hanta before wincing "Ow ow ow! This thorns are painful!"

"AND EVEN THIS MATCH IS OVER IN AN INSTANT! THE WINNER IS SHIOZAKI!" shouted Present Mic while said girl lowered Hanta on the ground before freeing him. Without then bothering to look at him, she left the ring in the rain of applause from the crowd.

"She is really strong." noted Kyoka with a raised eyebrow "Her Quirk is incredibly versatile."

"Of course she's strong!" shouted Tetsutetsu, catching class 1-A's attention "She came fourth in the entrance exam! Her Quirk is not a joke at all!"

"You came eighth, yet you are not even in the tournament." Setsuna sniped with a grin making him on the ground "Come one, you're still cool!"

"The next match is between Iida and that girl of the support course huh..." Eijiro looked at the others "Who do you believe will win?"

"Well...Iida is very strong but from what I understand that girl can use the gadgets she created, so she might even have a few tricks up her sleeve." replied Denki with a shrug.

Ochaco pointed at the ring with a smile "We'll find out soon, they're about to start!"

"AND NOW THE LAST MATCH OF THE FIRST BLOCK! THE FIRST PARTECIPANT IS THE ONLY STUDENT OF THE SUPPORT COURSE WHICH HAS BEEN ABLE TO QUALIFY FOR THE TOURNAMENT! MEI HATSUME!" Present Mic pointed at said girl, as she walked with a smile on her face and several gadgets visible on her, before shifting his gaze to the other side of the arena "AND HER OPPONENT IS ONE OF THE FASTEST STUDENTS OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL! TENYA IIDA FROM CLASS 1-A!"

Tenya walked with a firm and determined gaze but everyone immediately realized how he too had several gadgets visible on his body. Midnight pointed at him with her whip "Aren't those forbidden for the hero course students? You have to put in a special request for those things beforehand."

"Ah I'm terribly sorry! I had forgotten this rule!" Tenya bowed in her direction "But since my opponent offered her gadgets voluntarily out of pure sportsmanship, I wasn't able to say no!"

"WELL THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME..."

"If both parties are fine with it, I think we can allow this...right?" said Shota while sitting at Present Mic's right.

"Well in that case, you're free to use them." nodded Midnight and so the match finally began.

Tenya didn't hesitate for a moment and ran to Mei so that he could finish the match quickly but she simply smiled "You're really fast, Iida!"

'A microphone?' wondered Tenya as she talked about the gadgets around his legs, which were made to make his muscles work less, thus allowing him to conserve his energies. When he was only a few meters away from her, however, Mei jumped high thanks to her special boots that allowed her to hover in the air thanks to a combination of fans and magnetic energy.

"Fighting against fast people like you is really a problem, but for all problems there is a solution!" the girl told him, while glancing at some men in business suits among the crowd "One possible solution is this!"

When Tenya tried again to grab her, a violent flash generated from the device mounted on her chest that blinded him momentarily, allowing Mei to jump away from him. Spinning on herself, she tossed a metal sphere at his feet and, after a short beep, the sphere released a greenish liquid onto the ground that looked like mud but as soon as Tenya tried to move, he found himself stuck on the ground.

"What the-?!"

"Quick enemies can be easily slowed down or stopped! For example with my slime sphere!" Mei looked at the crowd as if she was trying to sold them her gadgets.

And in fact it was just what she was doing.

"Guh! I'll never be stopped by something like this!" shouted Tenya before bursting out of that trap with the pure power of his Quirk, surprising for a moment Mei. She jumped up again, this time taking advantage of two retractable iron rods mounted on her waist before firing a grappling hook on the ground and landing quickly.

"Obviously there are people fast but also strong! Able to get rid of such a trap! In that case there are other ways to stop them!" she quickly threw a strange white device against Tenya who avoided it without difficulty but, when he approached his opponent to push her out of the ring, he saw Mei with a smile on her face and a detonator in her hand "Admire my automatic speed-revealing lasso!"

As soon as she pressed the button, Tenya found himself with a metal wire around his ankles that made him fall, making his face slam against the ring.

"D-Damn you!"

"And if by chance you wanted to make your opponent get closer or away from you, all you have to do is do it!" said Mei without losing her smile before pressing another button and, soon after, Tenya was dragged away from her, toward the device. It lasted a few seconds, but he hated each of those seconds, until he stopped and felt the cable loosen until he was completely free.

"Good! Now-!"

"Iida is out of the ring! Hatsume moves on to the second round!" announced Midnight raising her whip with a sympathetic look on her face.

Tenya stared at her with shocked eyes before looking down, noting at that moment that the device launched by Mei had dragged him out of the ring, albeit a few inches.

"Phew...that was some good stuff!" said Mei wiping off the sweat from her forehead "In the next match you will see something even more special!"

"Y-You deceived me!" screamed Tenya pointing at her.

"Sorry...for using you like that." mumbled Mei looking away with a half-smile, although you could almost hear the laughter in her voice.

"I really dislike you!"

"That was...strange..."

"She managed to beat him while explaining her gadgets to the crowd...she is good." said Mezo through one of his mouths "I wonder if she will have something suitable against Shiozaki."

"Ah! No way! Shiozaki won't lose against a bunch of toys!" said Kosei with a grin, being supported by some of his class while said girl simply looked at the ring with calm eyes "Just like our big sis won't lose against your wannabe Tetsutetsu!"

"Big sis?" repeated Momo looking at them with confused eyes.

"Yes, Kendo is class 1-B's big sis! She's among the strongest in our class and she can easily kick Tetsutetsu's ass!" nodded Setsuna with a grin while said boy felt on his knees with tears streaming down his face "Come on! You're still cool! For real!"

"You think Kirishima will win?" asked Denki looking at his classmates.

"He'll fucking lose." growled Katsuki without looking at him.

All the others sweatdropped 'Talking about faith in your friends...'

"IT'S TIME TO START WITH BLOCK B! THE FIRST TO MAKE HIS ENTRY IS ONE OF THE MOST RESISTANT STUDENTS OF ALL THE HERO COURSE! FROM CLASS 1-A, EIJIRO KIRISHIMA!" Present Mic waited a moment to allow the fans to applaud the redhead boy, before adding "AND HIS OPPONENT IS CLASS 1-B'S BIS SISTER! CURRENTLY CONSIDERED AS ONE OF THE MOST STRONGEST STUDENTS IN HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT! SHE'S ITSUKA KENDO!"

The girl stopped a few meters from Eijiro with a determined look on her face while her opponent immediately assumed a fighting pose.

"I'm sorry that your opponent must be me." said Itsuka with a little smile "You were unlucky."

"How so?" asked Eijiro with a raised eyebrow as Present Mic shouted "STAAAAAAAART!"

Without wasting a second, she dashed toward him with both arms on her right side and the hands hidden from him "Because I fought against Tetsutetsu at least thirty times in the last days!"

'Her Quirk allows her to enlarge her hands! I must harden and absorb the blow and then counterattack!' thought the redhead crossing his arms in front the face while using his Quirk on his whole body, thus missing the grin from Itsuka.

"The same mistake!" shouted Itsuka before bringing her arms onward with one hand pointing upward and the other downward, with both palms facing Eijiro "Hadoken!"

"WHAT?!" Eijiro raised his head with incredulous eyes, just in time to see Itsuka's hands becoming enormous upon touching his arms, thus creating a strong shockwave that knocked him backwards, making him bounce off the ground until he fell out of the ring.

"Kirishima is out of the ring! Kendo moves on to the second round!"

While the crowd celebrated the victory of the young martial artist, Eijiro got back on his feet "That wasn't a Hadoken!"

Itsuka merely chuckled "I know, but I'm a fan of that game and the movements of my hands were the same, my Quirk covered the lack of an energy sphere."

"To use such a legendary move even if it isn't complete..." the redhead student looked at her with teary eyes "That's so manly!"

His opponent sweatdropped at his words 'Wow...he's really like Tetsutetsu...'

"He lost instantly!" whined Denki with a sigh "I was hoping that he could last at least a minute!"

"Ah don't worry, Tetsutetsu too has suffered the same fate against her!" laughed Setsuna with the others nodding except said metal boy "And he continues to suffer it even after seeing the same move dozens of times!"

Predictably, Tetsutetsu fell to the ground with a dark aura around him.

"I have the impression that she is having a lot of fun..." whispered Denki to Hanta who could only nod at his words while the others looked at Setsuna as she tried to cheer Tetsutetsu up.

Without too much effort.

Her time having arrived, Momo took a deep breath and headed for the arena entrance after greeting her classmates but after a few steps, she saw Izuku walking towards her after returning from the bathroom.

"It's your turn?"

"Yes, I'm against Tokoyami but I've already thought of at least a dozen strategies to use against him." said Momo with a serious face.

Izuku arched an eyebrow "Really? Just to fight a shadow...?"

"Uh?" she looked at him with confused eyes "What do you mean?"

"That's simple, you actually thought about several strategies just to fight a shadow." explained Izuku with a chuckle before patting her on the shoulder "If you want an advice, the simplest solutions are also the best." and with that, he went to sit with the others while Momo stood there and thought of his words.

'A shadow...' she repeated that word before understanding the meaning of Izuku's words. With a smile on her face, she walked toward the arena 'I was really thinking too much about this match.'

"IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER MATCH! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIS TOURNAMENT, TWO STUDENTS OF THE SAME CLASS WILL FACE EACH OTHER! THE FIRST TO MAKE HER ENTRY IS ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT STUDENTS! FROM CLASS 1-A, MOMO YAOYOROZU!"

After another deep breath, Momo came out into the sunlight, walking with her head held high until she stopped in the middle of the ring, waiting for her opponent.

"ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RING, ONE OF THE DARKEST STUDENTS! FROM THE SAME CLASS, HE'S FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI!"

Without delay, her classmate joined her in the ring and the two stared intently for several seconds until she said "I won't go easy on you."

"I don't expect anything less." nodded Fumikage with Dark Shadow coming out of his back.

"STAAAAAAAAAAART!"

Dark Shadow moved quickly to hit Momo before she could create anything but, due to recent training with their Quirks, she was much faster and, when the shadow entity was close to hitting her, it saw that she had already created a pair of glasses that were connected to ears protection. Something bounced on the ground and both Fumikage and Dark Shadow looked at that object, only to widen their eyes in shock when they saw that it was a grenade, but not just any grenade.

A flash-bang.

The sudden explosion of light and sound blinded much of the stadium and forced Dark Shadow to retreat while Fumikage put the hands over his eyes, screaming in pain. Without hesitation, Momo threw two more grenades as she created a truncheon from one hand. Running to the maximum of her speed, she quickly cleared the distance between them and, with an enviable precision, struck her opponent on the right temple, causing him to stagger, before spinning on herself and hitting him from below, making him fall to the ground back-first.

She put one foot on his left wrist, resting the tip of the truncheon under his beak while in the left hand she created another grenade "Surrender, or I'll create more flash-bangs and I know that you can't stand too strong light."

"Using the weakness of Dark Shadow so brutally...a really dark tactic..." coughed Fumikage before nodding "I give up."

Having heard him, Midnight raised a hand decreeing Momo the winner of the meeting, while said girl helped him get up "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thank you. Even if I lost I have to admit, that tactic was really good."

She smiled at him "Thanks, even though it wasn't my idea...someone gave me a simple tip."

Fumikage merely shrugged "A victory is a victory, next match you're up against that girl from class 1-B. She fights differently than I do."

"I know, but nothing will stop me from winning!" and after waving at the crowd, they both walked away, leaving the ring available for the following match. As soon as they entered the tunnel, they saw Ochaco running towards them with a wide smile "That was awesome! I didn't know you could even make explosives that fast, Yaoyorozu!"

"I have to thank Aizawa-sensei's training if I can now create things so quickly. If it hadn't been for him I probably would have lost in a few seconds against Tokoyami and his Dark Shadow." explained Momo while pointing at their classmate.

"Still, you were amazing!"

"You're against that student from class 1-B, right?" asked Fumikage looking at her "The one with the drill-like-Quirk."

She nodded "Yes, if that's his Quirk then he'll have to get close to me, but if I can touch him even once, I can win!"

"IT'S TIME FOR OUR SEVENTH MATCH OF THE FIRST ROUND! THE FIRST TO ENTER THE RING IS MY PERSONAL PICK! FROM CLASS 1-A, OCHACO URARAKA!"

"That's me! I'll see you later!" Ochaco waved at them before walking outside, receiving many applauses and shouts of encouragement from the crowd, especially thanks to her victory in the previous event.

"NOW, HER OPPONENT! HIS DRILL IS THE DRILL THAT WILL PIERCE THE HEAVENS! FROM CLASS 1-B, SEN KAIBARA!"

Sen stopped a few steps away from her, keeping a calm expression on his face, however, when Present Mic shouted the beginning of the meeting, he didn't hesitate a moment before running toward her with his right hand ready to strike.

'Here he comes! Need to to dodge to the right and then touch him!'

Sen tried to hit her with a wide right hook but that punch was too telegraphed and even Ochaco managed to avoid his attack easily by lowering herself at the right moment, however she was surprised when she felt his left fist lean against her right side. Not being a real attack, Sen hadn't needed to put too much force behind it and had simply moved his arm when she had dodged his right fist.

Before Ochaco could react and grab him, she felt his hand push deeper into her side.

The next instant, an unimaginable pain pervaded her body making her open her mouth in shock but no sound came out, letting a voiceless scream be visible on her aching face. Only a few drops of blood fell to the ground, but it seemed to her that Sen had just ripped off a whole piece of flesh from her body.

Taking advantage of her disorientation, Sen spun around before hitting her with a drill-kick in the chest, hurling her several meters away. Ochaco coughed blood mixed with saliva and tried to get up but Sen was immediately on her and started hitting her with a series of punches, making her back away more and more.

On the sidelines, Midnight watched the fight with a hand on her chin 'That first punch was just a fake, his real purpose was to be able to hit her with the second...if I saw correctly it is a variant of the Fist Clench used by some boxers. Instead of immediately using his Quirk, Kaibara made sure he was in contact with Uraraka first, so as to maximize the damage...and from that young girl's expression, he did a lot of harm.'

Back in the ring, Ochaco tried again to touch her opponent using both hands, but Sen avoided her without any effort, hitting her back in the chest. Gritting her teeth, the girl charged with her head down, aiming at his legs, but Sen jumped up before hitting her in the back with a kick.

"Sorry, but in this kind of fights I'm one of the best in my class." said Sen as she tried again to touch him before delivering a drill-uppercut to her chin, followed by a knee to the chest. Ochaco leaned forward coughing more with the hands on her aching chest, barely able to stand. Taking his right arm back, Sen prepared his fist which was already spinning like a drill "Time to end this!"

He aimed to her head to knock her unconscious but, much to Sen's surprise, with a fluid movement, Ochaco managed to take off her shirt and throw it on his fist, wrapping it in the fabric.

'I blocked him! Now I can win!' and despite the pain she was feeling, Ochaco lunged forward with outstretched arms, trying to touch him at least once. However, with her attention focused on trying to use her Quirk on him, Ochaco couldn't see Sen's right fist, still wrapped in her shirt, before he struck her on the left temple with enough force to make her fall to the ground.

That blow, combined with the impact on the concrete of the ring, was the decisive move to make her lose consciousness, thus guaranteeing victory to her opponent.

Midnight looked at Ochaco for a moment before nodding "Uraraka is unable to continue! Kaibara moves on to the second round!"

The crowd applauded the boy's victory and his opponent's willpower, though some among them seemed more inclined to yell at him that he could go lighter with her. Ignoring those people, Sen left the ring while two robots carried Ochaco away on a stretcher, heading for the infirmary.

"Damn...she almost got him!" said Kyoka, feeling sorry for her classmate.

"That Kaibara is good, very good in melee combat..." added Mashirao with a frown "Unfortunately from what I've seen, Uraraka doesn't seem very accustomed to it."

"It's a pity...just one touch would have been enough. Ribbit."

"This only serves to prove that our class is not inferior to yours!" said Neito with a laugh, conveniently ignoring the fact that, up until that point, he was the only member of class 1-B to have lost.

"Well...that won't matter now!" said Eijiro raising a fist.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Tetsutetsu with a raised eyebrow who was joined by the other when he saw half of the other class pointing at the huge screen in the stadium.

Denki merely grinned "Because you're classmate is against him!"

"FOR THE LAST MATCHUP OF THE FIRST ROUND! A CELEBRITY SINCE HIS MIDDLE SCHOOL DAYS, WITH A FACE ONLY A MOTHER COULD LOVE! FROM CLASS 1-A, KATSUKI BAKUGO!"

Katsuki made his entrance into the ring with his usual face, although it almost seemed that he was more pissed off than usual, and it didn't go unnoticed by his adversary, who could only swallow with a worried face while Present Mic announced his entry.

"VERSUS...! THE ONE WHO ALWAYS AIMS TO THE TOP AND WILL DO EVERYTHING TO SUCCEED! FROM CLASS 1-B, KOSEI TSUBURABA!"

Katsuki stared at his opponent without blinking, slowly opening and closing his right hand with the other hidden in his pants pocket, as Kosei took deep breaths, keeping an eye on the other student. When Present Mic announced the start of the fight, Katsuki aimed behind him and created a powerful explosion to launch himself towards Kosei, who blew forward, creating a sort of transparent shield.

Without hesitating, Katsuki hit that shield with his right fist but all he got were only cracks in the barrier created by Kosei, who grinned 'Until a few days ago such a punch would have destroyed my Solid Air, but with Vlad-sensei's training it's much more resistant!' taking another deep breath, he made a short burst of speed to get around his own barrier and blew toward Katsuki.

The air coming out of his mouth took the form of a punch directed at Katsuki's face, but the blond simply tilted his head to the side avoiding the attack, before raising his right hand, now dangerously close to Kosei's face.

'Oh shi-!'

BOOOM!

Many spectators who sat in the stands were startled because of the explosion while others could only watch with pity the body of Kosei as it bounced several times in the ring, before stopping a few meters from Cementoss, who stared at the student for a few seconds before shifting his eyes on Midnight and shake his head.

"Tsuburaba is unable to continue! Bakugo moves on to the second round!"

"Tsk, what a fucking joke..." growled Katsuki walking away "I ended up fighting the weakest of these extras..."

Only then did many realize that, all the time, Katsuki had never used his left hand.

'Apparently he hasn't lost his touch.' thought Izuku before standing up and head to one of the rooms near the entrance to get ready for his second match. Ever since he had talked to All Might, Izuku had somehow tried to 'summon' the voice he had heard during his fight with Hitoshi, yet his attempts hadn't yielded any results.

He walked calmly, knowing that there would be a few minutes of pause before the start of the second round of the matches, but when he was alone in a corridor, his sixth sense warned him of someone around the corner and, when he saw who it was, Izuku wasn't surprised to see Endeavor.

"There you are." said the flaming hero staring at him with a frown.

"Endeavor...why are you here?"

"I know very well what you are capable of, Flaming Centaur. I have been tempted several times to hunt you down to measure my flames against yours." said Endeavor crossing his arms over the chest.

'Is he trying to flatter me somehow?' thought Izuku with a raised eyebrow.

Endeavor didn't seem to notice the change "However, my son has the duty of surpass All Might. His match against you will prove a valuable test." he pointed at Izuku with cold eyes "So give it your all. Put up a good fight against him."

Now that was what Izuku really hated about this man. He could perceive different sins inside him but, surprisingly, not so many as to cause a violent reaction. Ignoring Endeavor's last words as he left, Izuku took a deep breath as he approached the entrance to the arena while the clamor of the crowd could be heard in the air.

'A valuable test huh?' Izuku stood there for a moment with a frown 'Oh it will certainly be a test, but not the kind of test you expect, Endeavor.'

After a few minutes, a small robot beckoned him out and Izuku nodded, going out into the arena at the same time as Shoto, while Present Mic announced their entry "BOTH OF THESE COMPETITORS HAVE WON TOP MARKS IN THIS FESTIVAL SO FAR! BUT THERE'S ONLY ROOM FOR ONE TRUE VICTOR! MIDORIYA VERSUS TODOROKI!"

"You ready?" asked Shoto glaring at Izuku who merely rolled his shoulders.

"Definitely more ready than you."

"STAAAAAAAAAAART!"

Present Mic's scream was not even finished that Shoto created a violent ice wave aiming at Izuku, who simply jumped to the side, avoiding all the spikes. Endeavor's son tried again to hit him with that tactic, but Izuku jumped again, landing on the ice created by the previous attack and was pleased to see Shoto's annoyed look.

'Or he is annoyed that I continue to dodge or it could be that he cannot create ice on existing ice...' wondered Izuku but his second hypothesis was practically wiped out by Shoto when he created more ice, with much more power, destroying all the ice he had created before. Izuku avoided that attack again, yet his left arm remained stuck in the ice, but it lasted only a few moments because he managed to melt it without even looking at it.

Shoto narrowed his eyes "Are you just planning to dodge all the time?"

"Are you just going to use your mother's Quirk?" replied Izuku stressing out those two words "If your answer is yes, then please surrender. You can't beat me with her ice."

"You'll regret those words." hissed Shoto before firing another wave of ice but Izuku avoided with ease before running toward him. Seeing this, the son of Endeavor waited until the last second before creating a wall of ice in front of him.

'Come to thing...I never tried to fight without using my powers. I wonder what my current limits are.' thought Izuku before punching the wall, barely able to crack it 'Mh...I can say I am physically strong, but his ice is very hard. I guess I'll have to get around it.' a grin crossed his face 'Or I could just melt it.'

And that was exactly what he did, but as soon as the ice began to melt, a new wave completely destroyed it, even managing to hit Izuku who was thrown several meters away. Rising immediately to his feet, Izuku rubbed his neck, watching his opponent 'Right...it's not just his Quirk that is strong. If he had been against someone else, he would have already won. He has good judgment, excellent control over his ice and also excellent mobility...most likely he is already stronger than several pro-heroes.' he sighed 'Even though I know I'm stronger than him, right now he could beat me if I don't pay attention and I won't transform until he decides to use his flames.'

Without waiting any longer, he ran back to Shoto who created another wall of ice, but this time Izuku stuck his fingers into the cold surface after partially melting it and used it to push himself upward, just when his opponent went for same tactic, destroying the wall with more ice. Rotating in midair, Izuku managed to hit Shoto with a punch in the head, making him stagger, but Endeavor's son created more ice to defend himself and attack Izuku at the same time.

Thinking quickly, Izuku brought both hands to the left and used the little control he had on his flames in that form to create two small explosions of fire that helped him avoid the attack. Rolling to the ground, he then turned to try to hit Shoto again but was forced to throw himself aside to avoid another wave of ice, but he noticed that the attack was much slower than the previous ones.

'So he's already reaching the limit huh...' Izuku looked at Shoto and noticed some frost stains on his right arm and leg 'He won't last much longer like this.'

Deciding to keep him using the ice as much as possible, Izuku started to run around his opponent trying to find a breach in his defenses, occasionally melting some spikes of ice and avoiding Shoto's attacks, which were now much slower.

"Can't you this? You're weak now, son of Endeavor." said Izuku looking at Shoto who narrowed his eyes "But since you won't use your father's Quirk, then go on and try to win with your mother's ice!"

"You're annoying." growled Shoto before releasing more ice and this Izuku didn't move, however the ice merely covered him up to the chest but Izuku was already melting it without any difficulty.

"And you're an idiot." Izuku told him with a frown before running toward him. The son of Endeavor created another wall of ice with several spikes on it, but Izuku didn't care. This time he put more strength into his fist and his melting ability, managing to break through that wall and grab Shoto's shirt, before pulling him against his own wall, destroying it with ease, and throw him on the ground.

"What you're using now is not your mother's Quirk." hissed Izuku before punching him again "The Quirks are inherited from generation to generation and often undergo further mutations. Your Quirk is not just ice as it is not just fire! It's something different!" he kicked him in the midsection, making Shoto roll on the ground while coughing saliva.

"Why do you even care about my Quirk?!" yelled Shoto creating more ice, with his right arm almost completely covered in frost.

Izuku melted it without even trying and grabbed Shoto by the shirt both hands "I don't care about you Quirk! I'm just pissed that someone like you, who spits on the hard work of others, has been admitted to this school!" he threw Shoto on the ground before trying to stomp his chest, but Shoto rolled away, creating several ice spikes.

When he tried to get up however, he noticed that even his leg was now almost completely covered with frost.

"Why are you even here?" growled Izuku punching him in the face before Shoto could defend himself "Why the Hell did you want to enroll in this school?!"

'You want to be a hero, right?'

Shoto widened his eyes in shock as those words he thought he had forgotten echoed in his mind.

"Your power is not a copy of Endeavor's Quirk!" Izuku punched Shoto in the gut before headbutting him. He didn't even know why he was doing all this, for someone as stupid as Shoto. However, the thought that that boy was only using half his power to 'get revenge' on his father, pissed him off more than it should. It was so fucking stupid!

'That's fine. You're not bound by his blood.'

Shoto staggered back before he was hit by another punch that knocked him to the ground.

"That's you own power! Your own Quirk!"

'It's okay for you to become...'

Slowly, Shoto stood up with steam coming out from the left side of his body.

'...who you want to be.'

And then the steam turned to flames.

A massive column of flames surprised the entire stadium as the air suddenly became hotter. Even Izuku was surprised by the sheer power of that fire, although his surprise soon turned to excitement.

In the midst of that sea of flames came the voice of Shoto "I am here..." the flames dissipated slightly, allowing Izuku to see his opponent with the left side pervaded by the fire while the right one was now free of frost "...because I wanna be a hero too!"

A smile formed on Shoto's face, who had tears at the edge of his eyes, but Izuku didn't pay any attention to that, feeling happy to be able to see all the power of his opponent. In the bewildered silence of the stadium, a voice thundered in the air "SHOOOOOOOTOOOOOOOO!"

Everyone, except Izuku and Shoto, turned to Endeavor who was coming down a few steps with a wide grin on his face "So you've finally accepted it! Excellent! With my blood pumping through your veins, you will surpass me...and you'll fulfill my ambitions!"

"A SUDDEN PEP TALK FROM MR ENDEAVOR...?" wondered aloud Present Mic looking at the pro-hero "WHAT A DOTING PARENT!"

However, the two adversaries in the center of the ring ignored all this, continuing to stare at each other until a grin appeared on Izuku's face "So these are your flames huh? I can almost feel the heat."

"What are you grinning at...?" asked Shoto catching his attention "If you don't decide to use your power...then it's not my problem what happens to you now!" and to emphasize his words, he slammed his right foot to the ground, creating several spikes of ice around him as his flames seemed to grow in intensity.

"Eh maybe you're right." Izuku's grin widened as new flames began to consume his body "If so, show me your Quirk, son of-no..." the flames reached his face, burning his flesh "Show me your true power, Shoto Todoroki!"

As the two students accumulated more and more power, with the clear intention of colliding again, Cementoss slammed his hands hard against the concrete in front of him "Midnight! If these two were to clash now...!"

"We may no longer have an arena at the end!" concluded the woman ripping off part of her costume to let her Quirk in the air but, at that precise moment, Shoto created a mountain of ice with so much power to destroy the ring as the ice progressed.

Izuku noticed this detail and jumped with all his strength to reach his opponent 'So you want to end the fight with this attack?! Fine by me! Come at me with everything you've got!'

Shoto moved his left arm in a wide arc, instantly melting all the ice around him and then slowly raising it, his palm now white because of the intensity of his flames.

"Midoriya..."

At the same time, Izuku's right arm was covered by his flames that began to swirl around it.

"HELL...!"

As the two opponents got closer and closer, the temperature around them soared, and finally they both spread their arms forward.

"Thank you."

"SMASH!"

At the last possible second, before the two could clash directly, a thick concrete wall rose from the ground. Their attacks, however, were so powerful that they instantly disintegrated it and generated a violent explosion that shook the entire stadium, causing many of the spectators to fall to the ground, as well as Midnight, who was thrown against a wall. The incessant shock wave died after a few seconds, leaving room for a huge column of smoke and steam that was visible even from outside the stadium, as could be confirmed by the heroes called upon to implement the safety measures.

A surreal silence fell over the stadium as everyone stared in shock at the enormous cloud of smoke caused by the explosion, while many of them wondered how two students could control so much power.

"WHAT THE-?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR CLASS?!" said Present Mic, currently on the ground.

At his side, Shota seemed unperturbed by what had happened but it was difficult to say, mostly because of his completely bandaged face "The air that had been cooled thoroughly was suddenly heated up and expanded."

"THAT'S WHAT CREATED THIS EXPLOSION?!" Present Mic sat back down looking in the arena "JUST HOW HOT WAS THAT?! JEEZ I CAN'T SEE A THING! OI MIDNIGHT! WHO WON THE MATCH?!"

Midnight rose slowly, rubbing her head before looking to the right, and as the smoke dissipated she saw a figure leaning against the arena wall. After a few moments, she recognized Shoto's red and white hair.

"T-Todoroki is out of the ring!" she then looked at her left and was shocked to see Izuku, still in his skeletal form, lying on the ground, where the ring should have been but nevertheless Shoto had completely destroyed that part. She shifted her gaze toward Cementoss who simply shock his head.

With a sigh, she raised both hands "Both Todoroki and Midoriya are out of the ring! This match is a draw!"

The roar of the crowd couldn't have been more deafening.

"Well that was really something else." said Nezu with a smile, while sitting with the other teachers who nodded at his words "It's been a while since we had a draw like this. If I'm not mistaken...it was when you were a student here, All Might. You completely destroyed the ring with a punch but it deprived you of a safe landing so you fell on the ground where the ring should have been."

The blond hero blushed a bit "I was still young...and I didn't even know about the rule that the ring has to be there, otherwise it is counted as out-of-bounds..."

Nezu chuckled at him "Well the rules were all written, you just had to read them. You won that tournament only because in case of a draw the winner was decided with a match of arm wrestling and it is precisely for that reason that we have changed the rule and now, in the event of a draw, neither of them progresses in the tournament."

"I keep thinking that it is not wise as a rule. We could find another way to declare a winner." said Snipe looking at the principal "It would be a waste not to allow one of the two not to advance."

"It could also be true, but these guys will one day be heroes and may find themselves in a situation where a draw equates to a defeat." replied Nezu now with a more calm look "I'm sure Midoriya could still fight, but a good hero must think ahead of his actions, so as to guarantee a complete victory. In this case, a solid ground on which to land, even if I forgive him as he was in mid-air and the explosion was quite strong."

The other teachers nodded as Shoto was taken away by some robots, as he apparently lost consciousness, while Izuku simply stood up and returned to his human form before leaving the arena, with Cementoss already recreating the ring.

"It could have been better, but I would say that it wasn't a bad fight." said Izuku while cracking his neck. Present Mic had explained to the public that neither he nor Shoto would go on to the next round and there was no lack of protests from the spectators, however Izuku was not disappointed by the result, nor was he angry about the failure to win. That was fine with him.

His moment of peace was abruptly interrupted when, turning a corner, he found himself facing Ibara's cold eyes, and the girl didn't seem at all happy, which was no longer a novelty for him.

"I saw that you lost."

"Well it means your eyes work well...and I didn't lose, it was a draw." replied Izuku with an annoyed voice. He wanted to go and relax for a few minutes, but this girl was doing everything to annoy him.

"That makes me sad..."

'Well...that's unexpected...' thought the biker with a raised eyebrow.

"Because now I can't be the one to defeat you and destroy your sins." hissed Ibara with a glare and her hair moving slightly behind her.

Izuku was on the verge of answering her in a not very polite way when a gloved hand came to rest on Ibara's shoulder "Now now Ibara, this isn't the time to think about these. It's a school tournament, you should think about having fun and improving thanks to these matches."

She looked at him with worried eyes "But-!"

"No 'buts', remember that our Lord would never accept this kind of behavior." said the man, who, according to Izuku, had to be American since he looked like a cowboy. Said man then looked at Izuku with a smile "Forgive her words, sometimes she happens to behave this way, but she does it in good faith."

Izuku stare at him for a moment before shrugging "It's fine. I guess that, knowing who I am, she doesn't feel very comfortable near me."

"You can say that." nodded the man before moving the arm for a handshake "I saw your match against that Todoroki boy. I must say that you two are truly exceptional."

Izuku was slightly puzzled by his calm behavior but still shook his hand "Thank you for your words...uh..."

"Oh right, I have not introduced myself." the man chuckled for a moment "I'm Ibara's legal guardian..."

Izuku's heart skipped a beat when he heard his next words, but the boy couldn't say why.

"...but you can call me Adam."

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 11: I AM...

Omake: Different Mounts!

Tenya Iida

"Join forces?"

Izuku nodded "I've already Yaoyorozu with me and you could be a good vehicle."

"...what...?"

"Just trust me." grinned Izuku before transforming "Now, let's ride!"

On the sidelines, Momo could only look with pity at Tenya "You have my sincerest condolences..."

A shiver ran down Tenya's back "I'm scared..."

"Too late!"

A few minutes later, Present Mic announced the start of the event but the whole stadium was shocked to see...whatever that was...

Momo, with the band around her head, was sitting on Izuku's shoulders which was in turn sitting on the shoulders of the one who, according to logic, should have been Tenya but the latter was different...

"Let's break this rules!" shouted a flaming Tenya with most of his body now made of black metal with his mufflers that now resembled those of a car out of Fast&Furious. His hair was now completely ruffled and burning, while his eyes were two empty orbits full of fire.

"Why did it turn this way?!" screamed Momo trying to not fall on the ground.

"Dunno! But it's fun!"

"No it's not!"

Pony Tsunotori

"A team with you?" asked the blond student tilting her head.

"Yes, we can also speak both English and therefore we can understand each other better." nodded Izuku before adding "Besides, wouldn't you be interested in getting back at all of the bad things that Monoma made you say?"

She looked at him for a moment "I'm in!"

"Perfect! Now..." he grinned "Let's ride!"

"That sounds so bad out of contest..." noted Momo with a sigh.

A few minutes later, Present Mic announced the start of the event but the whole stadium was shocked to see...a somehow different pony-girl.

"Monoma!"

Said boy looked behind him just to see a bigger Pony covered in flames, long horns similar to those of a dragon and Izuku and Momo on her back "Tsunotori?!"

"Come here! My horns want to thank you for all the help you gave me, including the book for Japanese insults!"

"Monoma!"

"It wasn't mine Kendo, I swear!"

"Come here, you fucking bastard!"

On the other side of the arena, Ibara looked at her classmate with cold eyes "Language!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"Oh God! She's the twin of Bakugo!"

"FUCK YOU PIKACHU!"

"See?!"

Mezo Shoji

"A team with you?"

"Yes." Izuku looked at him "I mean, with my power you'll probably change, but I can't say how."

Mezo merely shrugged "I'm okay with it, at least I can win if I'm in your team."

"Good!" Izuku and Momo walked toward him "Let's ride!"

A few minutes later, Present Mic announced the start of the event but the whole stadium noticed that a team was absent and, when Present Mic wondered the same thing, Izuku's voice was heard from the stadium speakers.

"Let no joyful voice be heard!"

The whole stadium shook for a few moments.

"Let no man look up at the sky with hope!"

Long cracks formed in the ground as the temperature increased several degrees.

"And let this day be cursed by we who ready to wake...!"

A giant flaming hand appeared from behind the stadium, going to grasp its edge.

"THE KRAKEN!"

A giant-flaming-kraken Shoji rose in a cloud of smoke and flames with a mighty roar and Izuku and Momo on his head.

Amid the shock and astonishment of the crowd, a female voice thundered "Are you by chance a villain? I won't let you win!" and so, on the other side of the stadium, Mt Lady appeared, ready to fight.

While the two titans began to struggle, for completely invalid reasons, Mineta and Kaminari watched the fight until the smaller of the two said "A giant woman against a giant octopus...and we're in Japan."

"Your point...?"

"I read enough hentai to know where this is going...and I like it!"

The slap from Asui's tongue could not have been more deserved.

END OMAKE

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's it! End of the tenth chapter! What do you think? Beautiful? Horrible? Let me know!

It's been a long time since the last chapter and I'm very sorry, but unfortunately things have happened and between being there has been a lack of inspiration for this story but now that my pc is back, I decided to give it a go and finish at least this chapter! I hope however that you will continue to follow this story and I will try to bring other chapters before the end of the summer, you deserve it.

Also, I hope the last part of this chapter helped to clarify (very subtly) why Ibara can hurt Izuku even when he is transformed. And if you have not guessed the reason, you will simply need to continue to follow this story!

In the next chapter there will be the second (and last part) of the tournament plus the aftermath!

See you around!