CHAPTER 297(Semi-Finals Begin)

CHAPTER 297(Semi-Finals Begin)

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CHAPTER START---

One screen seems to float in nothingness in a void of absolute darkness.

On it is Shoto Todoroki in the UA Sports Festival arena, the boy was resting on his knees looking up at the crowd, the entire concrete stage around him destroyed, some parts frozen, others melted, and most of it blasted into dust.

Most of his clothes were destroyed, leaving him topless to reveal a body of cuts, burns, frostbitten flesh, bruises, and all manner of injuries, including a broken right arm.

As he breathes heavily the view on screen changes, panning away to the far wall of the arena to show Neito Monoma in a similar state, nearly a foot deep into the concrete wall.

Monoma forces his eyes open, raising a hand aimed at Shoto, and forces a small flame to form, only to be cut off by Ms. Midnight.

"Neito Monoma is out of bounds!" She announces loudly. "Shoto Todoroki advances to the semi-finals!"

The crowd erupts into mad cheers as Monoma stops his attack.

As Cementoss and Ms. Midnight get Shoto to the infirmary the screen shifts to show Present Mic. Eraser Head, and Vlad King, who was clearly upset.

"And there goes Class 2B's chances of getting a podium stop this year!" Present Mic announces. "How do you feel about your class's performance Vlad'?"

"My students went out there and showed why they'll be phenomenal Pro Heroes!" he says proudly. "They showcased ingenuity at every stage and I couldn't be more proud of them!"

"I completely agree," Eraser Head says. "Each semi-finalist has rare levels of potential even for a place like UA, it would be hard for most Pro Heroes to survive any one of them in single combat, so facing them as a student is certainly no easy feat."

"Those kids of yours really do pack a punch!" Mic yells, hyping up the crowd. "We're in for some serious supercharged matches folks, so how about a little insight from Eraser Head since all the semi-finalists are in his class!"

Eraser Glances down at the arena to see it still being repaired and gives a long sigh, "Well, since Shoto Todoroki was just on stage I'll start with him."

"Looks like someone is in the festival spirit!"

"Whatever," Eraser Head groans. "Shoto Todoroki, he inherited an inferior version of his father, Endeavor, the greatest flame hero in history's Quirk, Hellflame. Along with his mother's ice Quirk , which made a unique Qurik known as Half-Cold Half-Hot...which is a stupid name but he's attached to it.

As everyone saw, and those closer to the arena felt, he's able to generate an immense amount of fire and ice.

His control is nothing when compared to his father but is comparable to more normal levels Pyrokinetic Pro Heroes usually have. This control also extends to his ice which he's must more skilled with due to only focussing on training his fire after last year's Sports Festival.

The benefit of his Quirk that singular fire or ice Quirks can't have, however, is the fact that they cancel the weaknesses of each other in his body, allowing his temperatures to reach higher highs and lower lows than most people with similar Quirks."

"That's why he's able to fight longer than other ice of fire users folks!" Present Mic explains. "The ice counters overheating and fire counters the frostbite that those Quirks usually come with, pretty awesome right!"

"All that power and those advantages, yet he's still got a serious fight ahead of him to win this tournament," Vlad King says. "Just goes to show how capable this generation is, and how awesome Monoma is for almost beating a person like that! Great job Monoma!"

"Just here to see how you felt about our deal, figured you might have changed your mind," Horizon shrugs.

Tokoyami shakes his head, "the little help you've given me has already greatly increased my mastery of my Quirk, there isn't much in this world that could stop me from joining your team and learning more about myself."

"Well, I don't mind helping you even more, if you show me you're worth the investment," Horizon gestures to Bakugo entering the arena. "But you already know that much."

"I do," Tokoyami says as Present Mic begins hyping him up for his entrance. "One thing has been on my mind."

"What's that?" Horizon asks.

"I know you focused me during the obstacle course, I expected as much since this Sports Festival is my test, but, did you also match me against Bakugo since he's my greatest counter?"

"What? Me, lying about the matches being random and rigging it to give you more difficult opponents," Horizon feints surprise, complete with over-the-top gestures. "I can't believe you'd accuse a hero like myself of such a thing."

"Your acting could use some work," Tokoyami says flatly.

"Meh," Horizon shrugs. "Its enough for when I want to convince those people of something," he gestures to the crowd.

"So I was right then?"

"My team doesn't have any place for people who don't learn from their mistakes," Horizon says. "I thought of dozens of outcomes during your match with Bakugo last year that would have let you win, but you still lost, show me how much you've grown."

Tokoyami is about to speak, but Present Mic calls for him to enter the arena at that moment, cutting him off.

"Don't disappoint me..." Horizon says, patting Tokoyami on the shoulder before warping back to his observation room.

Tokoyami smiles as he walks into the arena, seeing the already familiar concrete stage, twice as large as last year's looming ahead of him.

As he ascends the stairs, expecting the same pained sensations to wrack his both as the previous match, he felt lighter.

He'd been so caught up in his own thoughts that he'd failed to realize until now that his limp was gone, the pain in his body had disappeared, and his arm in the sling felt completely fine.

So as he ascends to the stage he removes the slight and casts it aside, thankful that Horizon had healed him when they made contact moments ago.

But as he gets to the top, standing across from him, is a fully healed Bakugo.

The boy was completely silent, eyes burning holes through Tokoyami as if he were just another obstacle in his path.

"Are both of you ready?!" Ms. Midnight asks from beside the stage, flag raised ready to begin the match.

"You've got bad luck to face me two years in a row," Bakugo says, narrowing his eyes at Tokoyami.

"Tokoyami and Dark Shadow no longer exist Bakugo, you now face something else entirely," he says. "And it won't end like last year..."

END CHAPTER---