Chapter 23
The fights were by random draw and no one knew who they would be facing in the tournament.
“I think we should recuse ourselves.” Tanya said to Izuku as they stood in the waiting area while waiting for the draws.
“I was thinking the same thing.” Izuku said. “We're so far above everyone else...”
“Don't you dare drop out!” Bakugo shouted across the room and everyone stopped talking and looked over at him. He stalked over to Izuku and glared at him. “I've been waiting all this time to fight you and you aren't robbing me of my chance!”
“Kacchan, I can beat the teachers in a fight.” Izuku said.
“Not All Might!” Bakugo exclaimed.
“Uh... actually...”
“You are staying in this tournament and that's that!” Bakugo shouted.
“That's not really your decision to make.” Tanya said.
“You stay out of this, you...” Bakugo started to say and a palm hit him in the chest and launched him twenty feet across the large room. He hit the floor and slid ten more feet before he came to a stop.
“No one talks to Tanya like that.” Izuku said, his entire body flickering with green lightning around it. “If you want a fight, then you've got it.” He turned to look at the shocked judges. “Who are the first draws?”
“Izuku Midoria and Shoto Todoroki.” Cementoss said.
“I'm sorry I have to crush you, Todoroki.” Izuku said and turned to Tanya. He gave her cheek a quick kiss, because he knew she wasn't comfortable with doing that in public. “I'll be right back.”
“I know.” Tanya said with a smirk and watched him leave with a slightly angry Todoroki walking behind him.
“We have to do the other draws first!” Thirteen yelled after them.
“Do them fast.” Tanya said and the two teachers did so.
The first round was set and the students jogged out to take their seats. Izuku and Todoroki were already in the large square arena that Cementoss had constructed for it and were waiting for the start signal.
Present Mic announced the rules about knockouts, immobility, ring-outs, and surrenders as the only reasons to end the fight.
Todoroki smiled as he prepared his attack. Izuku knew what was coming and was read for it.
As soon as the start signal was given, Todoroki used his ice quirk to create a massive glacier that covered half of the fighting area and encased Izuku inside of it.
“You knew it was going to be quick.” Todoroki said, a bit smugly. “You were just wrong about the outcome.”
There was silence for several seconds, then the fighting arena started to shake slightly. The glacier shivered for several more seconds, then it exploded into millions of pieces. Todoroki had to duck several large pieces and then stood to see Izuku standing in an ice crater and that most of the glacier was gone.
“My turn.” Izuku said and he practically glowed green as the lightning moved around him at the speed of light.
Todoroki saw the expression on Izuku's face and for the first time in his school life, felt the same thing for Izuku that he felt for his father. Fear. He desperately tried to use more ice to block Izuku from reaching him and Izuku grinned as he ran at full speed through the ice blockages, even the ice spikes, and grabbed Todoroki by the neck as he ran right over to the edge of the ring and casually dropped him off onto the grass.
“RING OUT!” Present Mic shouted. “WHAT A MATCH!”
The crowd was quiet for a second, then they cheered loudly.
“The... the spikes...” Todoroki mumbled.
“Easily avoided and knocked aside when someone is near invulnerable.” Izuku said. “Now you know why Tanya and I were wanting to withdraw. We can't show off with our opponents so much weaker than us.”
“I'm not weak!” Todoroki shouted.
“I said weaker than us.” Izuku said and hopped off the fighting area, used a finger to carve out a square that was a foot wide, and held it up. He then crushed it into dust by only pushing his hands together and making fists. “Any more questions?”
Todoroki stared at him and didn't know what to say as Izuku wiped his dusty hands off.
“Come on. The others are waiting for us.” Izuku said and picked Todoroki up to stand him on his feet, then they walked away back towards the seating area for the fight contestants.
“Wow! That was awesome!” Uraraka exclaimed when Izuku was close enough.
“It was a waste of time and eliminated a good fighter.” Izuku said with a sigh. “It would have been a more enjoyable fight if Todoroki had been matched up with a more appropriate opponent.”
“Wait not you?” Toru, the Invisible Girl asked, surprised.
“No, only Tanya has a chance against me.” Izuku said and sat down beside her.
“You're such a liar.” Tanya said with a laugh.
“If you stay aloft and only attack my blind spots...”
Tanya shook her head. “Not a chance. You grab me on the way by and I'm toast.”
“So, should we show them a fighting demonstration?” Izuku asked.
“I guess we can get away with a training session.” Tanya said, clearly amused.
“You're talking like you're going to be the last fight.” Momo said.
“We are.” Izuku said. “Like I told Todoroki, Tanya and I should have withdrawn. The fights we have against others are completely one-sided.”
“That's awfully arrogant... and a little manly.” Kirishima said with a grin.
Izuku chuckled. “If this had happened a couple weeks after the entrance exam, it would have been more sporting. As it stands now...”
“...the both of us are in a weight class above some of the top heroes.” Tanya said.
“Can you show us some of your training techniques?” Uraraka asked.
“We can. The problem is, our base strength is quite far above what it used to be.” Izuku said. “You saw me crush that concrete Cementoss made. If he had used rebar to reinforce it, it wouldn't have made any difference to my demonstration.”
“Hold on! If you're that strong...” Toru started to say.
“I've been taking control lessons from a certain trainer that's had a lot of experience using super-strength in normal every day activities.” Izuku answered before she finished her question.
“You can't tell us who?” Toru asked.
“I'm sorry. We agreed that if he helped, it would be in secret.” Izuku responded.
“I wonder if he would be okay with it at the end of our demonstration?” Tanya asked.
“We would have to clarify that he only helped us with our strength training and not our fighting prowess.”
“I don't think it will matter. We're not holding back, are we?” Tanya asked with a little manic smile.
Izuku barked a laugh. “We'll have to talk to Cementoss and have him expand the fighting area for the final fight. It's nowhere near the size of the beach.”
“That's a good point. I'll be right back.” Tanya said and quickly left the seating area.
“Are you two serious?” Uraraka asked.
Izuku nodded. “She will probably have them rearrange our fights to be the last ones in each match-up.”
“That's... well...” Uraraka looked thoughtful.
“It's not fair for the rest of the students to suffer for our abilities.” Izuku said and lightly touched her shoulder.
Uraraka looked up at his face. “You can really take any of us out so quickly?”
Izuku nodded again. “It's part of our hobby.”
That made a few of the students have surprised faces.
“I easily took Todoroki out because he is deficient with his quirk when up close. He can't handle having someone within his personal space and it flusters him.”
Todoroki looked angry for a few seconds, then he sighed. “Dammit, you're right.”
“Tanya and I can work with you and get you used to dealing with close attackers if you want.” Izuku offered and he looked genuinely shocked.
“Why would you do that?” Todoroki asked.
“We're all going to be heroes. If we can remove as many of our bad habits as possible, we can only become better heroes, right?”
Now they all had thoughtful looks.
“You really are a good guy.” Uraraka whispered.
Izuku grinned. “Mostly. I didn't have a great childhood until Tanya showed up in my life. After that... I had something to fight for. If anyone crosses her or hurts her...” His grin faded and a few bolts of green lightning flowed across his face. “...and I will make them pay.”
“I love you, too.” Tanya said as she sat down beside him and kissed his cheek. “Cementoss and the other teachers didn't believe me, so we have to make short work of our opponents.”
“It's not like we have much choice.” Izuku said and turned his head to look at the other contestants, even those from the other classes. “I'm sorry about this. I really am.”
A lot of shrugs greeted his words. The Class 1-B students had heard everything he said and they couldn't really hold it against him. The couple of students from the general courses looked slightly angry, especially one tall and skinny guy with bluish-colored hair. Being denied a chance to show off was not sitting well with them. This was their only chance to do it until next year.
The two contestants fighting now finished their fight and came back to the seating area and Tanya was called up to fight against Bakugo. Izuku gave Tanya a good luck kiss on the cheek and he watched her go to the arena.
“I'm going to wipe the floor with her!” Bakugo nearly shouted as he followed her.
Izuku shook his head when they were far enough away to not hear. “It's a bad match-up. Tanya has already proven she can counter his explosions with pressure waves. She's going to tear him apart if he relies too much on his quirk.”
“Can she create sonic booms that quickly?” Toru asked.
Izuku laughed softly. “She has to fight to go slow enough to not create them when she uses her quirk.”
Everyone stared at him like he was crazy.
“Just watch. This will be over in...”
“START!” Present Mic said and then there were two very loud booms. One from an explosion and one from a sonic boom, then there was a second sonic boom and Bakugo flew out of the dust his explosion had created and landed well outside the fighting area. There was a swirl of wind and Tanya blew away the dust and debris to clear it away for everyone to see her hovering twenty feet above the arena floor.
“RING OUT!” Present Mic said. “Winner! Tanya DeGraff!”
Tanya waved at the stunned teachers and judges and flew over to where Izuku was clapping. He was the only one. “I tried to convince him to not blow up the concrete to block my sight.”
Izuku chuckled and gave her a hug as she landed. “He only made it more difficult for himself.”
Tanya nodded. “Blocking your own sight while trying to hinder who you're fighting, isn't the smartest thing to do. It's a desperation move and shows that you're unsure of how to fight your opponent.”
“He probably thought it would be worth it if he evened the playing field.” Momo said.
“But, it didn't.” Izuku said. “Tanya could have been blindfolded and she still would have seen him.”
“Also heard, smelled, and felt him moving through the air.” Tanya said. “The last is kind of my specialty.”
“Which she taught me to adapt with my quirk. I can sense local disturbances as well and my hearing is as strong as hers while my nose can catch almost as much scent.” Izuku said. “I don't have the same mental library of smells as she does, though.”
“Not everyone has gone through what I have.” Tanya said and leaned against him as Uraraka and Momo were called up to fight. “Good luck, you two.”
“Thanks.” “Thank you.” They said at the same time and walked over to the repaired fighting area.
Momo came out on top and that was only because she had extensive combat training with a bo-staff and had countered nearly everything Uraraka could throw at her. The rest of the fighters had their turns and Izuku and Tanya were especially interested in how Class 1-B and the general course students fought. When they showed off their quirks, both Tanya and Izuku figured out how they worked and also how to beat them.
Izuku fought the opponents in his bracket and tore through them like they were standing still. Tanya did the same with her opponents and no one could counter what they were doing, even after seeing them do the exact same thing to each of the people they fought. There didn't seem to be any counter. It wasn't until Izuku came to fight Iida that everyone had a hope that his speed would stop Izuku's complete domination.
“I've figured out your strategy.” Iida said and prepared to go all out. His leg engines revving high.
“I'm sorry that you assumed I'm going to do the same thing to you.” Izuku said and crouched slightly as the green lightning flowed over him and made him glow.
“START!” Present Mic yelled.
“HAA!” Iida shouted and started to run...
...just as Izuku brought his hands together with so much speed and force that he created his own sonic boom and pressure wave. Iida had barely taken three steps before the shock wave hit him and blew him out of the arena.
The entire crowd was deathly silent at what they had just seen.
“R-RING O-OUT!” Present Mic said with his voice cracking slightly. “Winner! Izuku Midoria!”
Izuku walked over to the shocked Iida that was laying on the grass beside the arena. “Never assume you know everything about your opponent.” He said and held a hand out to him.
Iida took the hand and braced to stand up. “You knocked out my engines.”
Izuku smiled. “Your exhaust is completely exposed, even on your hero costume. Clog it even a little or have enough pressure around them and you stall out.”
Iida blinked his eyes for several moments. “But... you just said...”
“When you call the UA support company for your updated costume, it has flares, filters, and alternate exhausts installed for you.” Izuku said and they walked back over to the seating area.
“Are you serious?” Iida asked, still shocked.
Izuku nodded. “Tanya and I signed exclusive contracts for ideas with them. They've already retooled the upgrades and added them to Ingenium's costume after contacting the Tenya family's normal support company.”
Iida put a hand on his shoulder and brought him to a stop. “Izuku, thank you.”
Izuku smiled. “Like I said before, we're all going to be heroes. Getting rid of our weaknesses will only make us that much better.”
Iida smiled back and nodded. They finished walking over to the seats and sat down.
“I'm only slightly surprised that you used your special move already.” Tanya said with a huge grin on her face.
Izuku laughed and hugged her with one arm. “Did you notice that the crowd didn't react at all?”
“Neither did our friends and classmates.” Tanya said and leaned against him.
“They are probably wondering what else we can do.” Izuku whispered.
“Only one more match for each of us and then it's going to be us against each other.” Tanya said in a normal voice.
“I know. I can't wait.” Izuku said.
“Are we keeping our speed down?” Tanya asked.
“At first.” Izuku said and let a small manic smile that was similar to Tanya's show.
Tanya laughed softly and nodded. She completely agreed that they could step up the show as the fight progressed. She knew she was outclassed strength-wise, since Izuku's quirk gave him proportionate strength the more he trained it, and she had to channel more magic into her body and fists to compensate.
“Our fight is going to be awesome.” Tanya whispered and kissed his cheek.