Chapter 18: Chapter 18 – First Round Matchups

Kazuya sat in the waiting room, his match with Iida about to begin. He took a deep breath as he psyched himself up.

Honestly, performing in front of thousands of people can be nerve wracking. Especially when you’re going to be the focus of an entire stadium’s worth of Pro Heroes.

The rest of his classmates are currently up on the class personal booth.

‘It’s time.’

Kazuya got up from his seat and made his way towards the stadium. Present Mic already doing his job of announcing his arrival.

“-and in this corner, it’s the boy who has proved he’s a force to be reckoned with! He has achieved the number one for the Obstacle Race and the Cavalry Battle! The Class President of 1A! Please welcome, The Red Flash of U.A, Akio Kazuya!”

Kazuya’s appearance was met with thunderous applause from the audience. Already it was obvious that he was a fan favorite. Iida stood opposite him, face determined.

“May we have a good match, Kazuya!” Iida proclaimed.

“Indeed, may we have a good match.” Kazuya returned.

Midnight then took over, explaining the rules of the fight and how the fight would end when one of the fighters was immobilized, out of bounds, or gave up. She, along with Cementoss, will be the judges of the fight.

Up in the stands, the other 1A students were talking about the current match.

“So who do you guys think will win?” Hagakure asked as she waved a sleeve.

“Probably Kazuya. Iida’s strong but I don’t think he can take down the class prez.”

“What do you think, Deku?” Uraraka asked the resident quirk nerd.

“That depends really. If Iida manages to get the first hit, then there’s a slight chance he could win. But these two are heavily focused on speed. Whatever happens, this fight will end quickly.” Midoriya stated.

Back in the arena, Midnight just finished asking the contestants if they were ready.

“And begin!”

Iida immediately blasted his engines to the highest gear he could bring to try and blitz Kazuya out of the arena. Unfortunately for him however, Kazuya himself just jumped over the dashing Iida, using his shoulders as footholds to jump high up in the air.

Kazuya immediately took out his knives and began raining them all over the arena, resulting in the ground being littered with his custom tri pronged kunais.

‘I’ve seen this move before! During the battle trials against Kaminari!’ Iida took a moment to study his opponent. ‘Kazuya’s quirk works by teleporting to the markers he’s planted on each kunai. If I just charge him, he’ll quickly dodge to another kunai to attack me. But if I use my top speed, I should be able to take him the moment he teleports!’

Iida’s expression grew as he grit his teeth and took a running stance.

‘I have to prove, as an Iida, that I have what it takes to be a hero! Recipro Burst!’

Iida dashed at great speeds, with few in the stands capable of following his movement.

Kazuya’s only expression was a slight widening in his eyes before he threw a knife in place, letting it spin a few times in the air.

Iida was rapidly approaching and prepared a kick towards Kazuya. But when he was just inches away, Kazuya suddenly flashed away towards another knife. Not but a second later, Kazuya reappeared crouched in the air above Iida’s head, hand clutching the knife he threw earlier.

‘He dodged me?!’ Was Iida’s only thought as Kazuya grabbed Iida’s head and slammed him into the ground.

Kazuya was about to hold his knife to threaten Iida to surrender, only to find out it was unnecessary as the Engine Quirk user was found unconscious. Apparently, the blunt force trauma from the head slamming to concrete using the momentum of Recipro Burst’s speed was enough to knock out a teenager. Who knew?

“The winner by knockout is Akio Kazuya!” announced Midnight.

The announcement was met with cheers by the entire stadium. All heroes appreciating the quick and efficient victory.

“What an impressive show to start off the tournament! In just a few moves, Kazuya manages the win via knockout!” Present Mic hyped up the crowd. “But let’s not delay any further! Let’s get the second match underway!”

Kazuya helped Iida to the stretcher that was brought by medical robots before making his way to the stands and his seat.

“That was amazing, man! Congrats on the win!”

He was met with cheers and congratulations from his classmates as soon as he arrived. He smiled and nodded to them all before taking his seat and looking towards the stadium. Already he could see Bakugo and Sero making their way towards the arena, Present Mic announcing their arrival.

Knowing the winner of this match will be his opponent for the next round instantly made him hyper focused. Both Sero and Bakugo are strong, and the fight could go either way if Sero plays his cards right.

But Bakugo has always been one of the powerhouses of the class, who knows how much he’s improved from the past few weeks of training.

He honestly can’t wait to find out.

— The Warping Hero —

“Are you two ready?” Midnight asked, to the nods of both contestants.

That was what Sero came to when he got his thoughts back together. Honestly, he was proud of himself for getting this far. Being in the third rounds of the Sports Festival means you got a lot more to show and by extension, a lot more chances to get offers.

Sero knows his own strengths. He knows his own limits. So it isn’t all that hard to come to the conclusion that his next fight is going to be his hardest yet.

Bakugo is far from weak, but just because he’s skilled, doesn’t mean he’s unbeatable.

“Begin!”

“Tape Shot: Trident!” Sero quickly lifted both arms and aimed his elbows at Bakugo as soon as the match started. From his elbows, three lengths of tape each shot out forming a net that quickly surrounded Bakugo from all sides. It was an affective capture move that he had been working on.

“Was that a super move?!” Present Mic exclaimed in excitement. “We haven’t even covered those in classes yet!” The crowd roared in approval seeing such an act in the First Year arena.

Before the tapes could reach him however, Bakugo blasted himself upwards and released consecutive explosions to reach Sero’s position.

“Nice try!” Sero kept launching tape after tape to get the explosion quirk user out of the air, but Bakugo proved too nimble and managed to dodge everytime.

Bakugo used a massive explosion that obliterated all the tape in the air. Sero didn’t have the chance to react as he found himself slammed on the ground, Bakugo palming his face to the concrete arena.

“DIEEEEEEE!”

The blonde student picked Sero up by the head and blasted him with a large explosion, sending him all the way to the walls of the stadium.

“Sero is out of bounds! Bakugo is the  winner!” Midnight announced as the stands erupted into applause for the match.

“What a match folks! That’s what we like to see from the arena! Now let’s get straight ahead for the next fight! It’s the recommended student from 1B, Juso Honenuki! And his opponent, the unrelenting steel man, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu!”

— The Warping Hero —

Kazuya sat in the stands with his friends as they watched the current match. The previous fight ended pretty much as Kazuya thought it would, he just didn’t expect things to have ended that fast.

“Who do you think will win?” Shinso asked from his seat.

“Hard to say, we don't know much about what the guys from 1B are capable of after all.”

“True enough, but one of them is a recommended student. I’m betting on him.”

“You’re on.”

To their surprise, the match didn’t last long at all. It turns out that Tetsutetsu was just a brute, all it took was for Honenuki to soften the arena and re-solidify it. Completely trapping the steel man in place.

It goes to show that 1B aren’t short of powerhouses, and their road to the top will be much harder than they thought.

“To liquify and resolidify solid matter at will. That’s a pretty dangerous power.” Kazuya piped up.

“Honenuki needs to be in physical contact with an object to utilize his quirk. It also seems to have given him a lot of mobility. A pretty versatile quirk.” Midoriya added while his fingers were flying over his notebook. Uraraka giggled seeing this action.

“Midori’s in his element, huh?” Mina chuckled.

“Where are Yaomomo and Tokoyami?” Hagakure asked, he waving empty eleves the only indication that it came from her.

“They already made their way to the stadium, it’s their match now after all.”

“I’m betting on my man Tokoyami and Dark Shadow! No one can beat them when their working together!” Kirishima voiced his thoughts about the current matchup, some people agreed with him, the rest undecided.

Kazuya could only nod in agreement. Tokoyami and Yaomomo is a match he doesn’t think the latter could win unless she figures out his apparent weakness.

It was something Kazuya noticed in the previous rounds, when Dark Shadow faltered against Shinso’s lightning. It makes sense of course, a darkness entity being susceptible to light. The only question is if his Vice President noticed the same thing.

Only one way to find out.

[Same fight in Canon]

Apparently not.

You are reading story MHA: The Warping Hero at novel35.com

Kazuya saw how Yaoyorozu spent too much time planning ahead. Her current weakness is her incapability of thinking on her feet. Had she been more observant, it would’ve been an easy victory.

Nevertheless, it’s time for the next match. Midoriya vs Mei. It’s easy to say that Midoriya would win since he has the power, the mind, and the training. But Mei’s jubilant amounts of support items make her an unpredictable opponent. It was a match Kazuya was excited about.

What he didn’t expect however, was for it to be turned to an advertisement show. Midoriya showed up wearing all kinds of support items over his body that Mei used to showcase her ‘baby-making’ ability. It was clear to see that Midoriya was bummed out by all of it, since his speech in the waiting room was all about showing the world that he was here.

When everything ended, Mei happily stepped out of the arena herself. Midoriya just gave a tearful smile and a shaky thumbs up to show that he was fine with all of it.

“Poor guy…” Shinso chuckled at Midoriya’s sorry state.

“All right! It’s my turn now!” Kirishima stood up with a cheer. “Wish me luck guys!”

He said as he made his way towards the stadium. On the other side, Todoroki also appeared making his way to the arena. But what immediately sent red flags towards Kazuya’s mind however, was that Todoroki looked absolutely furious.

It was usually hard to know what Todoroki was thinking, what with that cold exterior he always gives out.

“Hey, you okay man?” Kirishima asked in worry once they reached the center of the arena. Todoroki said nothing as he just kept glaring at Kirishima.

Midnight spared the half and half user a worrying glance before declaring the match to start.

No one expected it. The match was just said to start and all of a sudden, a large shadow loomed on one side of the stadium.

A large iceberg blocked out the sun coming from the center of the arena.

Every single persosn in attendance could only gape in shock at the amount of power that was possesed by a teenager.

Midnight herself managed to dodge out of the way quickly, her previous spot was completely covered in ice. She looked towards the arena to see Kirishima stuck inside the ice, completely frozen solid.

Kazuya looked at this with wide eyes and a smile. ‘I can't wait to fight him.’

Midnight quickly announced th winner. “Kirishima is immobilized! The winner is Todoroki!”

However, not a single person cheered. They just stood in silence as Todoroki walked up to the giant iceberg he created and laid his left hand atop it. Steam started to appear as he slowly but surely melted the Iceberg into nothingness.

“Sorry, I was…..angry.” Todoroki said with a bit of regret in his voice.

— The Warping Hero —

Up on the announcers booth, Aizawa and Present Mic were talking about what just happened, the mic’s to the speakers turned off temporarily.

“Something’s up here, Shota. That kind of anger on a 15 year old isn’t normal.” Present Mic said with a rare serious voice.

“I know he has issues with his fire side, but not like this. Issues that run deep in his psyche. Some sort of mental trauma perhaps?” Aizawa trailed out. His eyes locking on a burning man in the stands. “Whatever it is, it involves him.”

“We’ll talk to Nezu after this.”

“Agreed.”

“Don’t bother, I already noticed.” Nezu’s voice came from a random speaker. He was currently overseeing all three stadiums of sports festivals by himself from his office. Splitting his focus three ways is child’s play for High Specs.

“I will alert Hound Dog. Things will be done after the sports festival. Make sure to keep an eye on things.”

“Of course, sir.” Aizawa and Present Mic said at the same time.

— The Warping Hero —

Shinso studied the retreating back of Todoroki with a critical eye. Quirk Issues is something he has a lot of experience in after all. He doubts their circumstances are the same, but they’re similar nonetheless.

Todoroki’s power is terrifying. To wield both fire and ice, at the same time. Many would kill to have that kind of quirk, so why in all hell’s is he so disgusted about it?

Shinso shook his head at that. It won’t do to get distracted now. He is currently sitting in the waiting rooms for his match to start.

Uraraka and Kendo’s match is underway and soon, it’ll be his turn. His opponent is Shiozaki, and all he knows about her is that she has vines for hair that’s related to her quirk. But the opposite is also true.

She knows nothing about him. Which works just as well for his advantage.

He’s gotta admit it’s quite nerve wracking to reveal his quirk in front of so many people, but this is also the first step to achieving his dream.

“Uraraka is out of bounds! Kendo is the winner!”

‘Uraraka is out, huh? These 1B guys are tough. Can’t underestimate them.’

With a breath, he stood up and made his way to the stadium.

“-last match of the 1st round of the 1v1 Eliminations! We have the purple haired martial artist, Hitoshi Shinso! And on the other corner, the assassin in green, Ibara Shiozaki!”

“Excuse me?” Shiozaki’s voice cut through all the cheer that happened from Present Mic’s announcement.

“What do you mean by assassin? I’m not here to kill anyone. I study here at U.A. to offer salvation to all that needs it. It is my humble quest to do good, just as the lord commands it…” Shiozaki’s voice was so pure that rays of light suddenly shone upon her, like an angel that had just descended from the heavens.

‘So she’s religious? I could use this.’ Shinso thought with a hidden smile.

“Uh…right my bad. L-Let’s begin the match!” Mic stuttered.

“This is why I told you to not make any assumptions about your students.”

“Shut up, Shota!”

“Are the two fighters ready? Begin!”

Shinso immediately had to side step a clutter of vines that drilled to his position. He flipped away and had to quickly duck down a vine that whipped towards his head.

“You said you do as the lord commands right? Then what happens when God tells you to be forgiving? Are you just gonna walk away when villains ruin people’s lives.” Shinso taunted as he dodged yet another vine that was whipped towards him. ‘That was close.’

“Of course not! The lord says-”

Shiozaki suddenly halted, all her vines stopping in mid air. Shinso stood on the edge of the arena, surrounded by frozen vines. He was slightly panting from having to evade the rapid fire attack from Shiozaki.

“Hypnosis complete. Now, walk away from the stadium.”

Everyone in the stadium who did not know of Shinso’s power just gaped in shock. Earlier it looked like an easy victory for Shiozaki, where she had the upper hand and Shinso was cornered to the edge of the stadium.

But now, with just one move, Shiozaki is walking out the arena by herself.

“Shiozaki is out of bounds! Shinso is the winner!”

All was quiet before massive cheers erupted in the stadium.

“That was amazing! That boy turned around an unfavorable situation in a single second!”

“What a powerful quirk… U.A. sure lucked out on this one.”

“How incredible!”

Shinso, hearing all the praise, gained wide eyes. He soon smiled in content before making his way back to the stands. All throughout his walk, his head seemed held a little higher.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Hey y’all!

Round 1 of the sports festivals are complete!

I just rushed most of the fights and had more detail towards those that were more important.

Thanks for all the support! Gained a lot a new patrons recently and love y’all a bunch.

Advanced chapters and other benefits on my Patr_eon! Make sure to check it out.

P atr eon /TeemVizzle

(Remove the spaces)

That’s all from me!

Cheers!

You can find story with these keywords: MHA: The Warping Hero, Read MHA: The Warping Hero, MHA: The Warping Hero novel, MHA: The Warping Hero book, MHA: The Warping Hero story, MHA: The Warping Hero full, MHA: The Warping Hero Latest Chapter