The Tournament Part Three!

“Got the Sodas!”

Ryusei gave his biggest grin as he made his way back to Akagi with the drinks, scooting past the other seats back to his date. Prices here were a complete rip-off, but what stadium didn’t milk the visitors at the concessions? Besides, it was nearly 11am, with the rising sun making it an incredibly bright sunny day, and the temperature matched. Hydration was important, and despite her protests, booze didn’t count!

“What flavors did ya get?”

“Uhh, Total Tyranno Tangerine for me, and Burning Black Cherry for you.” He replied as he took his seat. The two sodas had images of the Number Two and Number One Hero respectively. Ryusei held out the one with Endeavor on it to Akagi, which she took with a hint of reluctance.
“I know it’s not alcoholic, but I tried some, and it’s really good!”
“You already drank some of my soda?” There was a drop of irritation in her voice but Smoking Sexy had earned his hero name.

“Aah, yes, my love! It shall be an indirect kiss between us! How romantic!”

Had he hammed it up any more he’d be mistaken for one of the pork snacks. As it was, the joke landed, eliciting a chuckle from the Clown.

There we go! He thought to himself, but he couldn’t have predicted her next move.

Quick as a flash, Akagi stretched her arm out and grabbed his drink, snatching it away from him. Before Ryusei could react, she had taken a long slurp!
“Aaahhh! That’s pretty good! But I prefer Cherry to Tangerine!”
With that, she handed his drink back to him, and took the one meant for her.
Ryusei was stunned for a moment but took a closer look at Akagi; she was smiling! More smug one-upmanship than true joy, but still! A smile!
He smiled back at her, before taking a sip from his drink. It tasted sweeter than it had before.

Meanwhile, far from the two pro heroes, Karaburan stood in a private conference room off one of the corridors. Up on a screen, in front of an otherwise empty room, were reams and reams of data. Viewer counts, product sales, even how much was being gambled. No data was being left unobserved by the Principal. Her eyes darted from one chart to the next, absorbing the information as quickly as it crossed her vision. Beneath her straining eyes, a smirk was growing wider and wider; this tournament was going better than even her predictions! For once, she was okay with being wrong. The multiple billions of yen soothed any irritation to her ego. The tournament was trending on multiple social media platforms, the world was watching, and their wallets were following. Money, however, was not the main goal of this event. Karaburan knew well enough that money was transitory; it could go as easily as it came. No, the goal here was marketing and futureproofing, making sure that it was known worldwide that Shiketsu (and NOT U.A.) made the next generation of top heroes!

Her brief introspection over, her focus returned to the data, wanting to capture as much as possible before the final 16 matches began, and she would have to return to elbow rubbing with Japan’s beautiful people. A pre-set alarm for 10:55 went off, telling her that the time for data was over, and with a sigh, she made her way back to the Executive Persons Area.

Noah stood in the tunnel, waiting for The Narrator to call the combatants in. He had finished a quick prayer session with Sally. They had prayed not for any one individual’s victory, but for the school itself to do well and to prosper, so long as it was His will. He had come to value the new student quite greatly, not only from their shared faith, but also from her character. He knew that she was feeling left out of the tournament, as she had not been at Shiketsu when it had been organized, but she was cheering for him nonetheless!

Across from him, in the opposite tunnel, Orochi was doing some last second stretches. She knew that Noah had a major advantage over her; that being the power of flight. What’s more, he had those ranged laser beams of his, meaning he would be able to fly out of her reach and kite her! She had a plan though. She had predicted that she would be facing Noah and had thought of a counter to defeat the angel boy.

The Narrator cried out into his microphone, speaking at a mile a minute, his quirk ensuring that no meaning was lost.

“Here we are everybody! We’ve crossed the halfway point, and now we’re at the final 16 participants! Who will win? Who will lose? Who will look the best while fighting? We’re about to find out!”

“NOW, without further ado!”

He paused for dramatic effect. It was a fraction of a second, but his quirk-amplified voice got the crowd itching in their seats!

“Seventeenth Round! Atsushi Orochi VERSUS Abrams Noah!”

Majestic threw his hands up, raising the crowds cheers to a crescendo, before bellowing out:

“SEVENTEENTH ROUND! HAJIME!”

Orochi dashed off her starting line as quickly as she could. If she could get to Noah before he got sky high, then all the better. She definitely had the upper hand in close quarters, after all.

Unfortunately for her, Noah’s quirk amplified his speed and mobility, beyond what Orochi was able to close in the sub-second after the beginning. He crouched, and with a woosh!, blasted into the air. Orochi skidded to a halt. This was bad, as it meant no quick win, but it wasn’t a game ender.

Noah smiled as the sun shone down upon him. The cloudless sky was perfect weather for his light absorption, with his halo getting so bright, that it was becoming visible even in the daylight! From above his head, the lights flowed like water across his body, from the bottom of his feet to the tips of his wings. His whole body glowed with a heavenly light, but no part glowed as brightly as his feathers. Brighter and brighter they glowed, until with the crackling sound of the air igniting, etheric beams of light shot forth! They arced through the air, careening toward Orochi!

The Narrator tapped his goggles, refurbished to avoid blinding him again, and getting a second chance after Minerva’s lightshow.

“Man, what’s with all these students trying to blind me?! Never fear though, wonderful viewers and listeners, I have PROPER protection this time! It seems that young Noah is attempting to blast Orochi away with lasers! How will she respond?”

Noah’s beams slammed down around Orochi. It was all she could do to keep dodging. She dove and rolled, just managing to avoid the light each time. She knew this wasn’t a winning strategy; there was no victory condition to be found when only she was being attacked.
Now or never she thought to herself. If her strategy was to work, she was going to have to find out how she handled his attacks. She stopped dodging, tensed herself in preparation, and got hit square on by well-aimed laser.

If The Narrator had a rubber quirk, his eyes would have bugged out of his head.
“Woah! Was that intentional? Orochi just took a Noah beam head on!”

Noah paused. He didn’t want to hurt Orochi, but he hadn’t expected her to just stop! He had been trying to catch her in the blasts, and as such had been putting more power into them than he would have done so otherwise. He stopped firing, stared down at the arena, and waited for the dust to clear. The crowd waited with him, eager to see how the Hydra handled the bombardment.

The debris cleared, revealing Orochi. She was panting, feeling her body repair itself from the damage she had received. She shook her head, dirt and bits of stone falling out of her hair, before she looked up at her opponent. She gave a wicked smirk, as she stared daggers at Noah.

“That all you got, Noah? I expected more with you being in the sunlight. I’ll give you some credit though, those attacks were enough to get me to use my new technique!”
New technique? Noah thought.
“New technique?” said The Narrator.

Orochi smirked, then to the surprise of almost everyone, began to sit down! no, sitting down wasn’t accurate. She folded her legs, curled her back, with her arms in front of her face, while her hands went over her nape.

“What – is – this?” queried The Narrator. “Young Orochi has folded, or I guess rolled, herself into a ball!”

Noah was stunned! He didn’t know what to make of this new move. Orochi had taken him by surprise. He called down to his opponent.

“Noah must ask Orochi; what is the purpose of this, umm, technique? Does it not simply render the self utterly immobile, open to any manner of attack?”

Orochi chuckled at the angel’s naivety. “If you think that’s the case, go ahead and attack me!”

Noah paused for a moment, then regret crossed his features. “Very well.”

With that, he thrust his arms out, stretched his wings as far as they could go, and absorbed as much sunlight as he could. He felt the power course through him, surging into his wings. Then, with a sonorous war cry, Noah unleashed the biggest laser yet! Orochi merely maintained her smirk as he fired the attack; she had full confidence in her strategy.
It hurtled toward Orochi, slamming into her, and once again obscuring the arena with the resultant debris! There was little wind today, especially within the stadium itself, so everyone aside from Orochi just had to wait and see how she had handled the attack. For a moment that dragged on and on, the dust cloud hung around, almost as though it knew it was raising the tension for dramatic effect. Finally, after aching seconds, the cloud settled, revealing Orochi still curled up, any injury already healed!

“What?” Noah couldn’t help himself but to exclaim shock at the sight. That had been his largest laser possible, and it didn’t seem to have even moved her!

The Narrator suddenly realized why the bizarre form was so effective. “Now I get it! Ladies and Gentlemen at home, Orochi was just hit by a colossal laser beam by Noah, but it doesn’t seem to have even phased her! If I am correct – and I think I am! – then by curling herself up like that, Orochi has not only covered all her vital areas, but has all of her muscles tensed! That build up of lactic acid in her muscles would in turn trigger her regeneration, allowing her to be in a constant state of recovery even as the attack landed! What an unorthodox, yet clearly superb, method of fighting!”

Noah drifted down to the ground. The air seemed to have been sucked out of his lungs; that was his full power!

If Noah cannot win this battle at range, then Noah must get closer. But how much danger is present? the angelic boy thought to himself. At least Orochi appears stationary, Noah should take the opportunity to observe this form.

With that, he began to slowly fly around the still-balled Orochi, looking for any openings or weak spots. He was dismayed (or at least as dismayed as the perpetually optimistic boy could be) when he realized she was covered. If he wanted to win, he wouldn’t be able to exploit an opening. That left only one option.

Noah must roll her out!

With that, he once more took to the skies, building up speed, before entering a dive, aiming for Orochi’s back!

“It looks like Noah’s going for an attack! While it doesn’t look like it’ll hurt Orochi, maybe he’ll be able to bowl her out! Will he get a strike, or strikeout?!” The Narrator chimed in, quirk ensuring that no meaning was lost even though the sentence was spoken in a fraction of a second.

Noah’s quirk amplified his speed. At his best, he could exceed 100 km/h, and after pulling out of the dive, he was heading toward Orochi faster than that. However, Orochi had prepared even for this. This ball had teeth, several mouthfuls of them.

Noah didn’t see the tails spring towards him. They had been coiled, hidden under her shirt, just waiting for this moment. He wouldn’t have had time to react even if he had seen them, such was the speed he was going at. These were no small glancing nips, as Valerie had received. This was three mouths all biting down at once, injecting as much venom as they could without killing him. As he crashed into Orochi, the sudden blinding pain knocked him off course, resulting in the pair tumbling over each other rather than Orochi being rolled out. By the time that Orochi managed to untangle herself, Noah was already unconscious.

Magestic raised his hand. “ATSUSHI WINS!”

Orochi’s family in the stands once more cheered their daughter’s triumph, but as the medical team arrived to take Noah to The Doctor, a brunette girl in the tunnel narrowed her eyes and resisted raising her arm at the one who harmed her love.

-

Hailey had only reluctantly left Hifumi’s hug. Both of them had made it through to the next round, and the fear of facing each other had surfaced. If that happened, they had promised each other, that they would both do their best, both out of respect for each other and their school. Once they had hugged it out, and Hailey had done another post on her social media account, she had made her way to the tunnel to await her battle. She had wanted another chance to beat up that blonde-haired pervert, and where better to do that than in front of the world?

In the other tunnel, the other student was having a similar experience. Inigo had just hugged Hoge farewell and good luck. He had already gone through the worst that this tournament could possibly throw at him – making him face up against his love – so the rest of it, no matter how it went, was going to be a piece of cake! He ran his hands through his hair and high-fived his dragon construct Gigan. As soon as his name was called, the pair jogged into the sunlight; smiling and waving to the multitudes of people.

The Narrator used some throat spray to ensure that he didn’t give himself laryngitis. Last thing he needed now, at a highlight of his career, was to struggle to talk! Making sure that the microphone was turned off, he did a few throat exercises, and got back to work.

“Time for the next round everybody! It’s the Eighteenth Round! Myoga Inigo VERSUS Chang Hailey!”

Majestic raised his hand, before slamming it down as he roared:

“EIGHTEENTH ROUND! HAJIME!”

No sooner had Majestic uttered the last syllable, than Gigan had taken the initiative for his lackadaisical ‘master’, wrapping around him in a series of green bands, until snapping into the form they had most experience fighting with; the knight’s armor, complete with ‘stylish’ helmet and large wings. While Gigan had moved before Inigo had realized, he was never one to waste the opportunity to show off! As the armor solidified, Inigo struck a classic Super Sentai pose; one hand pointing to the sky, the other flared out, with his feet in a wide stance. He didn’t stay like that for more than an instant though, as the wings on his back flared out and with a rush of air, propelled Inigo forward, Gigan’s armor shining a brilliant green as they did so.

Hailey’s hair immediately started floating, signalling that her telekinetic power was being activated. She raised her hands and the ground cracked from the sheer volume of energy she was emitting. The wave of telekinetic power slammed into the glowing figure of Inigo, slowing, and eventually stopping it in mid-air. The two seemed locked in a battle of wills, effort being exerted in trying to attain an upper hand and take the advantage.

Hailey groaned with effort; this was nothing like throwing Naza out of bounds, she could barely get a hold on Inigo!

It must be because of Gigan!

She reasoned that, since the construct was not ‘real’ in the sense that physical things such as people were, grasping and manipulating Gigan’s plastic form would be more difficult, as though she were trying to grab water with her hands. With a rush of power, she twisted, and akin to a judo throw, she tossed the gregarious, gigan-armored guy over her head and towards the out of bounds area!

I win!

The joy of victory flared in her chest, only to be popped like a balloon as she looked for Inigo wanting to see him flopped outside the arena. Where was he?!? She hadn’t felt him wriggle out of her telekinetic grip, but he wasn’t anywhere she could see. At least in front of her…

“Heh heh!”

Her heart sunk as she heard his cocky chuckle behind her. She slowly turned, fire in her eyes, seeing her foe standing there, barely having moved from his start line, rubbing a finger under his nose in faux modesty.

The Narrator did his job. “What an opening ploy from young Inigo! We saw last match how versatile that dragon construct of his can be, and now he’s taken it to new heights! For those of you only listening, and not watching, I’d advise getting to a screen as quickly as you can! As Inigo dashed forward, he dropped to the ground, while sending a construct forward in his place! It seemed to work, as young Hailey fell for the illusion! What will happen now?”

Hailey was apoplectic. She had thought she was winning, and now not only had that illusion been broken, but she had been made a fool of in front of everyone! That’s it. She didn’t care that Inigo was Hifumi’s friend. She didn’t care about the number of people watching. She wanted Inigo pummeled into the ground. She was going to get revenge for this!

Inigo suddenly felt off balance. The ground was quaking, shaking, as though an earthquake was coming. Before he could realize what was happening, Gigan had taken the initiative to launch them skyward, moments before the arena under their feet shot upward!

“What?!”

Gigan didn’t respond; he was too busy saving their lives! As Inigo gathered his bearings, Gigan focused on evasion.

Hailey didn’t let up; just because those stones initial attack missed, didn’t mean that they couldn’t still be used. They stopped in mid-air, before zooming after Inigo once more!

“Oh crap! Air evasion!” Inigo barely had enough time to speak, before he had to focus on working in tandem with Gigan to dodge these homing projectiles!

The Narrator was barely able to keep up! “Holy-moly just look at that speed! It seems that Hailey has had enough of the games and is going all out! Will Inigo be able to keep dodging?”

Inigo and Gigan were being pushed to their limit as they flew through the air, Hailey’s projectiles closing in more and more. No matter how fast they were, or even if they smashed them, these were being animated by Hailey’s power, meaning that they weren’t going to cease their pursuit until she broke her concentration. Inigo suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his shoulder. One of the stones had hit its target, slamming into him, shattering one of Gigan’s wings and potentially breaking his shoulder blade.

I can’t keep this up for long! I’ve got no choice but to risk it!

Inigo twisted in the air, dive bombing straight toward the ground. Down a wing, and in a great deal of pain, he needed to take a chance to get the win. Speed built up and up, accelerating beyond terminal velocity. Hailey gave a gesture, and within an instant, the projectiles turned and bolted after him.

Wait for it, wait for it! Inigo thought, waiting until the absolute last moment that he could.

NOW!

With that, Gigan’s one wing slapped down, barely avoiding the ground. The pair pivoted, turning their momentum towards Hailey, not that anyone else could see that. The projectiles were not so quick to turn smashing into the ground, and for the second fight in a row, the arena was obscured. The difference was that, this time, one of the combatants was going to change that.

Hailey may not have stopped the projectiles, but she wasn’t going to let Inigo get the jump on her! With a thrusting forward of her hands, the dust was shot away, just in time for her to see the dragon knight mere feet away from her!

Oh no you don’t!

All of her power went from across the arena, to focusing on Inigo alone. They got into a lock again, but this time Inigo had much more kinetic velocity behind him! Hailey was able to slow Inigo, but not stop him, before he got into close enough to grapple her. Hailey grit her teeth, and pushed against him with all she had, as Inigo’s Gigan boots suddenly sprouted draconic talons to anchor him down!

The Narrator’s mouth had its work cut out for it, as he worked to earn his quirk’s name. “WOWZA folks! These two are just absolutely not giving the other an inch! Inigo managed to turn a dangerous situation, of being mid-air and down a wing, to being able to close the gap with Hailey and get into melee! Will he be able to close this match? Let’s find out!”

Hailey’s hands, still stretched out in front of her, were nearly touching with Inigo’s. While it wasn’t as though she was guaranteed to lose if he grappled her, it would definitely reduce her chances of victory. She had to focus, focus entirely on Inigo, prevent him from getting any closer –

“GIGAN SPLASH!”

Green tendrils shot toward her face. She had watched his match with his paramour; she knew the technique. She followed the tentacles, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see their origin; Inigo! Another one!

This trick again? I’m not falling for it twice!

He must have used the smokescreen to do the duplicate trick again, sending a false copy to distract her, while this one sending tentacles was the real one!

Hailey turned one of her hands to face Inigo, reaching her telekinetic power out, pushing against the (presumed) real Inigo. The moment she did so, her face fell, as she knew she had lost. The tendrils unleashed by the different Inigo crumbled to dust, then to something even less than that, as the rest of it rapidly followed. It was hollow, nothing but a distraction.

The new Inigo was the false one. He had reversed the gambit, using the aspect of human nature to presume, and to create patterns where there are none. Hailey thought that Inigo was doing the same move twice, and by splitting her power on the false one, she no longer had enough power to stop the true one.

The Narrator watched it unfold, desperately trying to keep up. “Oh me oh my, looks like Hailey took Inigo’s bait! She just crushed what looks – or looked I guess – like a Gigan projection!”

NOW! Thought Inigo, as Gigan sloughed off of him, zooming towards Hailey. The next thing she knew, all she could see was green, as the malleable dragon fell over her like a sheet and dragged her backward. The next thing she knew, she was on her butt, out of bounds.

“MYOGA WINS!”

Inigo tried to raise his hand in victory but found that he couldn’t move it. He looked at his shoulder, the one that Hailey had managed to hit with her attack, and now that Gigan was not covering it, he could see the blood and bruising.
Ooh, that’s going to need looking after! he thought, but it was nothing compared to Hailey’s bruised ego.
Not now, not going to think about it now, just get back to the locker rooms, THEN explode. She thought, as she stood up, dusted herself off, and walked back to the tunnel with all the dignity she could have in defeat.

-

Bobby felt calm and confident as he walked toward the arena. Sure, his first fight had been a bit embarrassing, what with nearly losing to a Canadian, but that was past now! He didn’t have much experience with Chihiro, beyond hearing the obvious rumors about how she had killed her family through her quirk, but 1. Bobby didn’t buy that, she didn’t seem the type, and 2. Even if it were true, quirk control was something that had been drilled into them since day one! Any real danger to him or to others from her quirk was negligible, he was sure. Besides, noon was approaching, and with each passing second, he felt better and better…

Chihiro didn’t feel much of anything; her mind was only on the upcoming battle, undistracted by anything else. She gripped the hilt of her new blade, still in the sheath, making sure it was still there. There wasn’t much else to prepare that she hadn’t already done. She had stretched, warmed up, made sure that she was ready to go. She was running low on energy though; she could only store qi (or Ki, or chi, or however it was to be spelt) for an hour before it dissipated. She usually relied on the beasts and critters of the forest to recharge from, but there were none of those in the stadium. What there were though, were people. Lots of people. More people than she had ever been around before. She didn’t take much; she didn’t know how healthy the members of the audience were and didn’t want to cause any harm. She just walked around, would activate her quirk for a few moments, then move on. She was far from fully charged, but had enough for her plan to take place…

The Narrator spoke as the two entered the stadium floor: “Time for the Ninteenth Round! Mitsurugi Chihiro VERSUS Samson Bobby!!”

Majestic roared the start of the next round:

“NINETEENTH ROUND! HAJIME!”

Bobby barely had a moment to react before Chihiro was right in front of him. The moment that Majestic’s hand had fallen, she had sprung off of her starting line, spinning in mid-air, building an incredible amount of momentum as her blade fell toward Bobby’s neck. He just barely had enough time to raise his right arm, blocking the blade before it made contact. Chihiro was unperturbed. As the blade bounced off of Bobby’s arm, she wheeled it around, going for a rising vertical slash aimed at his chin. Bobby barely had time to slip his head backward, as the tip of the blade sung through the air in front of his face.

“What a start! Mitsurugi Chihiro didn’t let even a second pass before going on the attack! But will it be enough against one whose family name is synonymous with strength?”

As Bobby leaned back to allow her weapon to bypass him, he raised his left leg and kicked out. He was more of a boxer than a kickboxer, but he was good enough with his feet. The attack missed, as Chihiro backflipped out of the way, but the purpose of the attack wasn’t to hit her, but to force her back. She had closed in faster than he anticipated and needed a moment to catch his breath.

Chihiro flipped over the obviously telegraphed attack, evading it completely. She landed in a crouch, keeping her sight on Bobby throughout the whole maneuver. Bobby gave a heavy exhale and Chihiro smiled. She had used the little energy that she had stolen from the crowds, but now she had a new power source to use…

Bobby shook off his backfooting. Not the best start to this fight, but now it was his turn! He wasn’t as fast as the swordswoman, but he hadn’t had a chance to show off his speed in his first round (beyond his showboating before the match), and if he wanted this tournament to result in some good internship opportunities, then he’d need to show off that he was more than a punching machine! He put his weight on his back leg mirroring the still crouching Chihiro and burst forward.

Bobby blitzed towards her, closing the distance in a flash. His hands were in a classic boxing guard; raised parallel in front of his face, ready to attack or defend. He feinted, then ducked down on the opposite side from Chihiro’s sword before swinging in a massive uppercut. Chihiro had had plenty of time to see the strike incoming though, and easily parried. Bobby didn’t let up; it was his turn to launch a barrage of attacks! He blitzed Chihiro, launching a dozen strikes a second. Chihiro dodged his blows with increasing grace, dancing between the incoming fists like a blossom in the wind. Bobby was employing classic boxing practice; with each punch, he released a hiss of air, as his body’s muscles tensed so that he could throw his bodyweight behind the strikes.

The Narrator was just about able to keep up with the speeding students. “Those punches are like a pair of jackhammers! Bobby’s coming at Chihiro hard and fast, but she seems faster! How long can she keep up with his growing power though? Remember, much like Noah in the first match, his quirk absorbs sunlight, so he’s going to keep powering up!”

Why am I struggling?

Bobby knew that the worst thing that one could do in the midst of a fight was to doubt, but he had to think about it. He should be getting stronger and stronger as the battle progressed, as the sun continued to rise in the sky, but he just wasn’t feeling it. If anything, he felt tired! He’d never felt tired in the day, certainly not on such a sunny day as this! So why did he feel so…

Drained!

That was it! It had to be! Why he felt so sluggish, why Chihiro looked so assured, he was being drained! He should have realized it sooner, if he had paid more attention to the opponent info beforehand, he would have caught it sooner. She wasn’t draining the crowd, she was draining him!

Chihiro was not the most socially aware, but it wasn’t as though she were autistic. She saw the sudden realization cross Bobby’s face and knew that he had deduced what was going on.

If that’s the case, then I need to finish this quickly before he can come up with a counter!

She again dashed towards him, intent on putting him down. Once again, Bobby was on the back foot. He desperately kept his guard up, trying to prevent the electrified blade from making contact anywhere it could really hurt. His arms were coated in thick cords of muscle and the skin was hardened from spending so much time outside in the sun, resulting in them being able to take the shocks without going numb. But victory couldn’t come from blocking alone, what was he going to do!

Finally, Chihiro’s swordsmanship was too much for the rapidly fatiguing Bobby. Even in the bright sun, he just wasn’t building up enough energy! With another rising vertical slash, she tore open his shirt, shocking him along his torso, and struck his chin. Not satisfied with his reeling form, she followed it up with a wicked horizontal strike to his temple, knocking him to the ground and rolling away. He wasn’t unconscious, but he also wasn’t far from it. Chihiro was panting herself; she was using the qi drawn from Bobby as quickly as she drained it. She didn’t have much in her tank right now either, but she was standing, and he wasn’t.

“Bobby is down! Repeat, Bobby is down! Now, is he out?” Cried The Narrator, as Majestic began the countdown.

“ONE!”

Bobby was on his back, looking at the sky. He felt… better? Huh?

“TWO!”

He looked down at his body. Where the blade had struck hurt, but the rest of him felt good.

“THREE!”

His shirt was torn. He was getting more sunlight!

“FOUR!”

That’s it!

Bobby rolled onto his knees, staggering to his feet.

“ALL GOOD, CONTINUE!”

Bobby had a plan now. He grabbed his shirt, and with a riiiip!, tore it completely off! That wasn’t all though, he inhaled as much air as he could, before holding his breath! Just to be sure, he wrapped the tattered remains of his shirt around his nose and mouth, sealing them up.

No exhaling through open airways means no stolen energy! He thought triumphantly.

“OF COURSE, why didn’t I realize it sooner?” The Narrator slapped his head in a classic aha moment. “Chihiro’s quirk steals qi from living beings via their exhalations! No wonder Bobby’s been struggling! It looks like he’s planning to hold his breath from the way that his cheeks are puffed up, but can he turn this around before he has to breathe again?!”

As soon as Bobby held his breath, he immediately started to feel better! His quirk was now making energy for him and not Chihiro, it was as though he had just had a long bath. He didn’t have any more time to revel in the feeling though, Chihiro was coming straight for him!

Chihiro was scowling as she charged; she was relying on Bobby’s energy to make up for the lack of her own stockpile, and without it, she wouldn’t be able to maintain her superspeed. She swung her blade, aiming for Bobby’s neck. This time, instead of simply blocking with the back of his arm, Bobby raised his palm to intercept the attack. As it connected with him, he slammed his hand closed, gripping the blade tight. He raised his arm as high as he could. This put Chihiro in a bind; she could keep her grip on her weapon, but it would leave her dangling in the air, open to attacks from Bobby’s free arm. If she let go, she would be weakened, but not defenseless. She made her choice, as poor as the options were, and relinquished the sword. With a hurl, Bobby threw the weapon out of the arena.

“Wow! Without her weapon, is this the end of Chihiro?”

Bobby grinned behind his shirt; he had a real chance here to win! So long as he could win before he had to breathe!
Chihiro frowned; if she wanted to win, she had to get that shirt off! (That wasn’t a thought she ever expected to have!)

Chihiro struck at the weak areas of the body; joints, tendons, the liver. She was moving as quickly as she could, trying to put as much momentum behind the strikes as possible, but now that Bobby wasn’t losing energy, she just wasn’t strong enough!

Bobby went on the attack. Jab, cross, hook. Chihiro dodged. Slip, slip, duck. Just what Bobby wanted. As she ducked under the haymaker, his other fist came up in an uppercut. It made contact, cracking into Chihiro’s jaw, knocking her out in a single, horrible blow. The much smaller girl crumpled to the ground.

“SAMSON WINS!” Declared Majestic.

Bobby removed his shirt from his face, gasping for air. His strategy won him the match, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t need air. Chihiro came to, and from Bobby still standing and the cheering of the crowd, surmised that she had lost.

Loss can happen in battle. She solemnly thought to herself. She walked to the steps down, bowed as she left the bounds of the arena, and retrieved her sword. It was of too high a quality to simply leave it in the dirt.

-

Yui fidgeted with her new shawl that she had meticulously crafted prior to the tournament. She had elected not to use it against Sora, as its ability was not suited for his quirk, not the case against Shinkan. She was nervous about this upcoming fight. Sora was one thing; while his quirk was powerful, she had ways around it. Not so the case with Shinkan. The Train of 1-D was big, strong, and surprisingly fast for all that. He was a direct fighter, knowing how to use his abilities. That being said, Yui knew how to use hers as well. She had never seen her quirk as being particularly powerful, but she had worked hard, developed it in ways that made it more than its base parts. She had a plan for this fight. A plan to guide it in the direction that she wanted, granting her victory when none would suspect it.

Shinkan didn’t waste time thinking about anything. The locomotive-headed lad thought in a very similar manner to his head’s mechanical counterpart; straight down the tracks, anything that gets in the way gets squished. Nice and simple. When it came to it, it didn’t matter who he was against, he was going to do his best! He patted his pocket, secret still there, smiling to himself. He took out another piece of coal and chomped down on it, activating Locomotive. He felt the energy swelling up, and with an exhale and a puff, walked into the arena.

The Narrator didn’t hesitate to comment on Yui’s clothing. “What’s this? It seems that Yui has some new threads, if you will pardon the pun! Maybe it will matter, maybe she’s cold, though I can’t see how with this heat! The only clouds in the sky are coming out of young Shinkan’s funnel! Anyway, time for the Twentieth Round! Sagara Yui VERSUS Sen Shinkan!”

Majestic, not one to care for women’s clothing, simply roared out:

“TWENTIETH ROUND! HAJIME!”

Shinkan’s whistle blew, as a great billow of smoke shot out of his funnel. The pistons and wheels on the sides of his body spun, steam coming from them, as he steamed straight at Yui. Even with her naturally incredible speed and reflexes, she was barely able to react in time to her opponents’ quirk-enhanced prowess.
Shinkan launched his fist forward. Yui curled the threads around the oncoming attack.

“PISTON PUNCH!”

With the attacks name, it slammed into Yui, the threads of her shawl being her only defense. Yui tugged on her shawl, its secret being revealed. It was woven from her threads and imbued with their esoteric abilities, designed to be a counter to those who think that brute force can overcome anything. Shinkan made impact.

A deafening CRACK! rang throughout the arena. Yui was knocked down onto one knee, but surprisingly, Shinkan went flying backwards! One hand clutched his stomach, as though he had been smashed in his solar plexus, while his other dug into the arena floor, five parallel trenches dug out where his fingers carved a path.

“WHAT WHAT WHAT!” The Narrator exclaimed. “Why did Shinkan get blasted back when he was the one to attack?”

Shinkan got up first. He was panting, but far from done.

I don’t know what happened, but you know what they say, if at first you don’t succeed…

“TRY TRY AGAIN!”

With that, Shinkan charged Yui again, as she also got to her feet and ran to meet him. She gave no heed to the non-sequitur that he had spurted out, her focus on ensuring that the threads once again intercepted the incoming attack. Her secret was less effective this time; she was sent flying back, knocked clean off her feet, and only avoiding ring out with yet more threads to grapple herself back in bounds, but Shinkan again got the worst of it. He was sent rolling back, head over heels and funnel over wheels, all the way to the opposite side of the arena.

The Narrator repeated the comical head-slapping gesture that he had done in the previous match.
“Now I get it! Yui’s threads have esoteric qualities, and with the size of that new clothing of hers, she must have used a lot to give it a potent ability! She must have given those threads the ability to reflect the damage they receive! What a creative use of her quirk! If she hasn’t given it a name yet, I shall call it The Full Counter Cape!”

Shinkan was steaming, not only from his quirk still growing as the coal inside him burned, but from anger. He had been embarrassed twice now, the fact that it had been from his own moves simply increased the heat. That was it. He had been saving his trump card, but screw it, Momentum was messing with his thought processes. He pulled out the lump from his pocket, raising it up for all to see. The black mass glinted in the sun.

“Is that…Coal?” The Narrator was puzzled. “Why does he have…oh!”

Shinkan grinned. This wasn’t just any coal. This was anthracite, specially imported from a Welsh coal mine that his family owned and operated. It was famous for producing the perfect coal for Locomotive. It burned hot, uniform, with little extraneous smoke or ash. Shinkan had had to tap into his personal stockpile of the good stuff, but it would be worth it. He took the biggest bite of his lump that he could, and as soon as he began to chew, he felt the energy rush through him. He clenched his hands on pure reflex, crushing the remaining coal into dust. This was a tactical blunder, but with the ambrosia that was flowing through his veins and pipes, he was not at all concerned. Right now, he was dialed into a state akin to an ancestral memory of locomotives; there was nothing but him, the rails, and anything that was foolish enough to get in the way was going to get run over.

“HERE IT COMES!” cried The Narrator. “Shinkan’s eaten what must be some special coal, because he looks like he is COOKING! How will Yui respond to this, or will this be her unraveling?”

Here it comes! Yui thought to herself. Even at almost 20 meters distance, the changes in Shinkan were easily and immediately visible. His face reddened, muscles bulged to the point of popping seams, and steam seemed to be coming out of (almost) everywhere! Shinkan looked down, met her gaze, and the next thing she processed, she was over his head! In the blink of an eye, he had closed the distance, grabbed her, and was about to slam her down into the ground! She had just enough time to loop a thread around her target, setting up the next stage of her plan…

“LOCOMOTIVE RAMPAGE!”

Even his voice had changed, carrying the bellow of a roaring fire behind it. He slammed Yui down, any damage that had been reflected either not being enough to harm him in his current state, or simply ignored. Still, Yui brought it up around her, as it cushioned her from the worst of the impact. Shinkan let loose his loudest whistle, almost deafening her and the crowd, as his fists rained down. Yui’s threads did their best to transfer the damage, but the sheer heat emanating from Shinkan was too much. The threads lost their structural integrity, burning up, and lost their esoteric properties.

“Holy moly just look at that!” cried The Narrator. “Shinkan has powered up and is just letting Yui have it! Even her Full Counter Cape seems to be giving way! If she can’t get out of this, then we may be looking at the end of this match!”

Shinkan was completely out of his own mind at this point. The power that the special coal granted Locomotive quirk users was intense, but this was on the next level! Had he been able to think, he would have realized the danger he was in, despite his apparent upper hand. But he couldn’t think of anything beyond the next moment, and right now, that next moment was pummeling Yui into dust!

Yui did all she could to defend herself. While her Full Counter Cape, as The Narrator coined it (despite it being a shawl and not a cape), had been largely destroyed, she was still able to summon new threads. These were able to mitigate some, but far from all, of the incoming damage she was receiving from Shinkan. It was enough to maintain consciousness, but not enough to stop her bones being broken.

Just – just a bit longer!

The thought was all that was keeping her awake, as well as the sight on top of Shinkan’s head, showing that she still had hope.

Suddenly, Shinkan lurched backward. His face got redder and redder, his hands leapt to his throat, and he looked like he was going to throw up!

Inside Shinkan, a battle of flesh versus heat was taking place. His quirk game him the ability to turn coal into power, but it needed another component to work; water. Like any steam engine, coal provided the power, but water made it usable. Shinkan had overheated and didn’t have enough water to keep functioning.

“But how? How had this happened?” pondered The Narrator. “Wait, what’s that around his funnel?”

When Yui had been thrown over Shinkan’s head, she had attached a very special, purposely designed thread. This one had but one purpose; the sharing of heat. By wrapping it around Shinkan’s funnel and connecting the other end to the dome on his boiler, she had effectively fed the heat back into his system. While this had made him strong enough to almost literally pummel her into ribbons, it meant that he went through his water supply too fast.

Now that Shinkan was feeling the heat, an instinctive reflex kicked in. Without water to absorb the heat, the fire was now burning his insides. This could result in severe burns, and in one case that the Sen family used as a horror story to get little engines to behave, even cause them to explode!
With a heave, he puked up the coals, still alight and glowing with heat. He rocked back and forth, until he thudded down on his back, passed out. Seeing that her plan had worked, Yui staggered to her feet, barely able to stand, her arms and ribs being held in place with her threads.

“SAGARA WINS!” Roared Majestic!

I don’t know who needs medical assistance more, me or Shinkan. thought Yui, as the medical professionals arrived to render aid.