Chapter 88 First Round— Badge Fight II

"What luck, I found a badge." Someone muttered right in front of him.

There was no time to get his act together. In an instant, Satoshi used his 'Windfan' familiar to blow the guy away. However, that wasn't enough to faze him.

The man was at least three years older than Satoshi, or so that's what he assumed due to how tall he was. "My name is Reid. I don't think introductions are necessary but you should at least know the name of the superhero who will seize your badge."

With a smirk, Reid leaped from the tree branch where he was standing and he landed right in front of Satoshi with a smile on his face. Having seen Satoshi's superpower (which is summoning a huge fan), he could tell by the desperation on Satoshi's face that he doesn't have any trump cards left. Confidently, he strode forward, clenching his fists as he prepared himself to beat Satoshi to a pulp.

Satoshi knew what he was thinking though. After all, guys like him tend to musclehead their way through everything if an opportunity arises. As Reid closed the distance between Satoshi and him, Satoshi couldn't help but hide the smile that was about to appear on his face.

"You see, I feel bad getting your badge, giving your team some juicy deduction points. Also, you might not know it but I know who you are, Midoriyama Satoshi." Reid continued talking. "And I know what you're capable of. That's why I know you can't win against me."

'Wait, if he knows what I'm capable of... then why is he so confident? Does he have some sort of superpower that could combat mine? That's impossible.' Satoshi thought, the smile that was about to appear on his face disappeared. Instead, it was replaced by a mild panic that grew from within his thoughts.

"Also, I know that you're part of the USA, and as much as I hate to say it, having that title under your name puts you on the pedestal of the candidates that need to be eliminated no matter what. You do know why your Principal gave you a handicap, right? That's because the USA had been on a winning streak lately. No matter how much the other schools worked together, they still come out to the top, unscathed— or at least, the third-years did."

"Seriously, what was your principal thinking?" Reid chuckled. "Oops, it seems like I talked too much. Time to end this and regroup with everyone."

"Regroup? You're not going anywhere." Satoshi said, donning on a cloak of some sort that provided him invisibility. Before Reid could do anything, he was hit with an uppercut right at his jaw, sending him skittering backward as his sense of balance was lost. One hit and he was out.

Satoshi then removed his Cloak of Invisibility and heaved a sigh of relief. As he thought, no matter how strong a high schooler's superpower is, they still couldn't survive a single hit to the jaw. Glad that his plan worked, Satoshi grabbed the badge from his opponent, marked zero three one three.

"In the end, what was his superpower?" Satoshi asked, shaking his head as he left the scene.

Meanwhile, a shadow appeared right behind him, since Satoshi was too focused on walking in front, he didn't notice that there was a shadow-like figure tailing him.

"I've seen him, he's heading right where our camp is. Prepare to lure him in and then try to get his badge." The shadow-like figure whispered as if he was talking to someone. But quite frankly, he was just on his way to regroup with his school. Then he happened to see Satoshi on his way there. The reason why he was talking to himself was that he felt embarrassed talking to everyone in his school. Right now, the most terrifying thing wasn't the challenges, but the need for him to talk and report everything he saw to their boss.

Chop!

As the shadow-like figure cautiously approached Satoshi to give him a nice slap on the neck Someone got him earlier than he planned. That someone gave him a taste of his own medicine since the shadow-like figure was also chopped to the neck, rendering him unconscious.

"You should be careful, you know," A familiar voice erupted from behind him. He didn't even need to turn around to know who owned the voice— it was Midori, and somehow he was the first one to regroup with Satoshi.

"That was close, if I'd been a step too late, we wouldn't even be here right now. That person is known as Shuri, a female illusionist who also specializes in covert tactics, hit and run, and the like. But that's not her superpower. Apparently, she can naturally attract someone of the opposite sex. That's why she covers herself to the point that she looks like a guy... or she's just a big fan of the ninja way. She's a good friend of mine from my previous school so I recognized her right away. Akane's her name."

"You knew she was a girl and you still gave her a chop to the neck? What on earth were you thinking, Midori?" Satoshi lightly hissed although he was glad that he was saved by Midori.

"Desperate times, desperate measures... and would you look at that! She's my target, badge three four one six. I guess I lucked out big time. There's no need for me to hunt anymore unless I want to increase our bonus points. I guess I'll just stick with you then, Satoshi."

Satoshi finally regrouped with someone from the same school as him. Despite Midori's annoying attitude, he knew he couldn't miss such an opportunity. This would also give him the chance to protect Midori and the 'target badge' he got just now.

"Have you already gotten a badge?" Midori asked, resting his arms behind his head as if he was nonchalantly walking in the park.

"Yes," Satoshi raised his hand and showed a single badge. "It was a quick fight since he didn't see what was coming at him. By the time he knew it, he was unconscious. Of course, I let him rile me up and try to attack me first, but it didn't happen."

"Now, let's try to regroup with everyone else. Based on the energy I'm feeling, I suggest we head this way." Midori said, pointing towards a random direction— or so that's what Satoshi assumed was the case.

"Why are we going there?"

"Because Fuuka and the others are there. You might not sense it, but thanks to my enhanced senses, I can detect everyone through their actions. I'm not that accurate with my skill though since I only discovered it a day before the inter-high began."

Once again, there was nothing Satoshi could do but nod away at the ever-talkative Midori.

"Wait, kind of off-topic here, well, sort of, but did you hurt yourself anywhere?" Midori asked.

"No, why?"

"Just tell me if you did. I can heal you right away."

Another nod from Satoshi.

The duo managed to reach the thickest part of the forest (the stage was that big, yes) where they heard sounds of other candidates fighting each other. It wasn't a large brawl, just one school against another. And right now, anyone who could hear could tell that they were having a little boxing right in the middle of the tournament.

"We'll get disqualified anyways, and frankly, we don't have a chance at winning. Even if we had, there will be more superheroes faster than us so it's better if we just resign now."

"Guys, what are you thinking? It's not like this is your memorial or anything. Fine, you should all go to who knows where. Once our team disbands, it's all over for our school anyways."

Sneaking in, Midori and Satoshi watched as the falling out amongst the candidates of one school were in plain sight.. and that was when they defeated an entire school... and there were just three of them!

"Can you believe that?! How could they defeat eight people?!" Midori whispered but his volume was a notch higher compared to a normal whisper.

"I don't know either. All I know is that they're strong. And can you do something with your voice? You're too loud." Satoshi whispered back.

"Sorry," Midori said, cupping both hands on his mouth.

'This will be a long day,' Satoshi wanted to click his tongue but what came out of his mouth was a heavy exhale— something worse than a sigh indeed.

Suddenly, the guy who was complaining a few minutes ago raised his hand, signifying that everyone stop talking. "Hey, did you hear that?" He asked with all seriousness on his face.

"What do you mean?" His other team member asked.

"A voice, someone's tailing us." The guy relayed to his two teammates. "It seems they're waiting for an ambush."

Pause.

"...."

"WHO'S THERE?!" The guy bellowed.

Midori and Satoshi gulped.