A.N: Before you read the chapter, I must apologized for not updating this for so long, ever since the season 2 of MHA ended, I started to lose interest writing on this fic...and in addition of writer's block, it made things even difficult, but I will try to regain my passion regarding this story, so again, I apologize, with that said, let's dive into the chapter

Chapter 15: To The Finals

The entire crowd roared in excitement as the battle reach it's end, Midoriya was standing on the stage looking at Todoroki, who was on the ground, then out of the blue, the green-haired boy went to him and offer a hand

"That was a great match, let's do it again sometime..." he said before smiling, Todoroki look at his hand and then, he decided to take it, Midoriya pull him up and the dual-quirk user stood up, there's no reason for him to hate Midoriya, he won the match fair and square and he gave everything he had, the same goes for him and for some reason, he was actually happy at that despite losing the fight

"YEAH! This is what I called a friendly match!" Present Mic announced, delighted at the sight

At the Class 1-A, everyone was shocked at the results but smiled, the fight was so intense, after all, it was element vs. element and Midoriya emerge victorious

"That was awesome!" Kirishima shouted

"Yeah!"

"Of course, those two gave their all..." Tokoyami followed suit

"As expected of Deku-kun...his quirk was really something" Uraraka said

Bakugo look at the retreating form of Midoriya and Todoroki before closing his eyes and then focus his mind elswhere

Todoroki was now retreating from the stage, walking on the dark hallway until he encounter Enji, his father, he had a scowl plastered on his face

"How dare you lose to him!" he scolded, It doesn't matter if he's now able to harness his flame power, he still lost and that was something he can't tolerate, Todoroki just stare at him and then...he walk passed him, of course, Enji wasn't pleased at his action

"I'm still talking to you!" he yelled

"Midoriya won and I lost...there's nothing I can do about it, you can scold me all you want, it won't change the outcome of the battle" Todoroki simply replied as he keep walking until was gone

Enji grit his teeth and left the hallway

Midoriya was now back on his seat beside Uraraka, everyone greeted and congratulate him for his victory

"That was splendid, Midoriya! You actually beat Todoroki, the top student on our class" Kirishima said happily, Midoriya simply nodded before taking his seat

"Yeah..." he simply told them before looking on the stage and wait for the next match to begin, they grew worried at him since Midoriya wasn't actually happy at his victory against Todoroki

"Is there something wrong?" Uraraka asked, seeing Midoriya's solemn look

"It's nothing..."

"Anyway, let's watch the rest of the fight, Iida's match was next, right?" he said before the two can even ask question, Uraraka and Kirishima nodded and then they shift their attention on the next match

Iida vs: Shiozaki:

"Recipro...BURST!" Iida ran in full speed, his quirk ignite with a bluish burst of flame, Ibara use her vines in attempt to restrain him but it was useless since Iida was too fast, avoiding a couple of them, he quickly went to her back, grabbing her shoulders and he drag her outside the ring

"KYAAA!"

Ibara screamed as she could do nothing at Iida's counterattack, and then after few seconds, she was now outside the ring and Iida let her go

"Shiozaki-san was out of bounds! Iida-kun wins!" Midnight announced, the crowd roared in excitement

Tokoyami vs. Ashido:

"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami yelled and his trusty dark entity flew towards the pink-skinned girl

"Ah!"

Ashido attempt to stop him by throwing acid blob, but Dark Shadow was too fast and none of it hit the entity, and then Dark Shadow lunged at her before she can threw another acid blob, he swiped his arm to her, Ashido successfully blocked it but the force of Dark Shadow's punch send her skidding backwards, and near outside the ring

"Oh no!"

Ashido tried to regain balance but failed as her feet gave in and she collapse outside on her butt

"Ashido was out of bounds! Tokoyami-kun wins!"

"Wow, he actually won in an instant" Mineta said, the guy was actually rooting for Ashido to win the fight

"Tokoyami's Dark Shadow was amazing" Tsuyu commented

"Of course, it was actually a combination of offense and defense just like Present Mic said, Dark Shadow can defend while closing in to his enemies..." Midoriya told them, agreeing to the frog girl

"I see..."

"...But there's one major weakness Dark Shadow possess that Tokoyami-kun must be very careful of..." he continued, this make the two look at him

"Weakness?"

"Yeah...he must knew it and that was probably one of the reason he was trying to finish the fight quick using Dark Shadow" Midoriya continued

"What is that weakness?! I must tell Ashido next time they fight!" Mineta asked

"That was something I shouldn't be casually telling you guys, It's up to Tokoyami...I'm sorry" he said

"What are you saying, it's fine, really..." Tsuyu then smacked Mineta for that question

"OW!"

Player 1 Waiting Room:

Iida was on the phone, he's currently trying to contact his brother and tell him his advancement on the festival, unfortunately, he can only hear the automated voice of his brother telling him that he was on a mission, without much of a choice, he turn off his phone

"Nii-san must be very busy by now..." he told himself as he keep the phone and then he readied to his match and whoever he will be facing against

Ingenium was currently running on the road in pursuit of a villain, then he put up his radio and contact his comrades

"Squad A, go to north! Squad B, check the west side!"

"Squad A, Roger!"

"Squad B, Roger!

Ingenium cease the communication and then keep running until he passed on the alleyway with a shadow looming on it, his eyes manage to caught that so, he went back and using his quirk Engine, a quirk similar to Iida but located on both his arms instead, jumping from obstacles to obstacles, he went on the alleway very fast until he came face-to-face on the shadow

"I finally found you!" he yelled as he prepare to fight, the shadow turn to him with a menacing and glowing red eyes

"Hero Killer!"

Back at the stadium, it was now Bakugo and Kirishima's match

"HAAA!"

"HOORRAAA!"

Kirishima threw a punch, his entire body was reinforced with his hardening quirk to deal massive damage, Bakugou dodge, yet it manage to grazed his cheek a little, then raising his palm, the ash-blonde boy ignite it with tiny explosions and then tried to hit the red haired boy using it

It hit Kirishima successfully, but...

"HA! That won't work on me, explosion boy!" he yelled as he emerged from the smoke, completely unharmed but not his clothes unfortunately, Bakugo skid backward due to the impact of his own quirk, he look at Kirishima and analyzed him

"There must be something more on that hardening..." he thought as he saw the red haired boy dash and attempt to punch him, of course he avoided those series of punches but he use this opportunity to figure something out in close proximity

"Go, Kirishima! Aim at his chin! His chin!" Tetsutetsu roared from his seat

"Yesterday's enemy was tomorrow's friend, huh..."

"Bakugo was on defense...that was the first time I saw it" Uraraka said

"No..."

She look at Midoriya curiously

"Kaachan was just observing Kirishima-kun and how his quirk works...I'm sure he'll counter-attack if he figure something out" he told her

"I-I see..."

"WHOA! Bakugo started his counter-attack! He's now turning the tables around!"

Uraraka quickly turn to see Bakugo was now the one who's attacking and Kirishima was trying to endure it, just like Midoriya said

"Ugh!"

The red haired boy grunt at the last explosion Bakugo released, he grit his teeth as he definitely felt that last attack, damn it, his quirk was starting to reach it's limit

"Ha! So you've been straining yourself to keep your body hardened, right!?" Bakugo asked, Kirishima glare at him

"Ngh!"

"Sooner or later it will fall apart the more you attack in that state!"

"D-Damn!"

"DIEEEE!"

Then Bakugo start raining Kirishima with continuous explosions, covering the red haired boy with the combination of flames and smoke

"HOOORAAA!"

Bakugo keep his assault for so long, Kirishima was trying his best to endure it, but unfortunately, his quirk finally reach it's limit and then...

"No!"

Kirishima took major damage on the last wave of Bakugo's explosion, then the ash-blonde boy stop his assault and look at Kirishima, who's battered and bruised badly, then eventually, he finally succumb on his injuries and fell on the floor

"Kirishima-kun was knocked out! Bakugo wins!"

"DAMN IT! HOW COULD YOU LOSE TO HIM!" Tetsutetsu cried, everyone on his class sweatdropped

"With this, we complete our final four!" Present Mic announced, on the board shows the picture of Midoriya, Iida, Tokoyami and Bakugo

"I guess, it's my turn now..."

Then Midoriya stood up and left his seat and went to the stage

"Okay folks, this two battles will determine the contenders for our much-awaited finals of the tournament battle..." Present Mic announce, then on each side of the stadium, Midoriya and Iida was approaching the stage on both opposite sides, everyone was roaring in excitement, Todoroki was on the sidelines far from the 1-A's seat

"This will be an exciting match as two of the contenders were from both the same class and course!"

"Tch! In the end, this festival became 1-A's paradise..." Monoma spat, clearly wasn't pleased at how the festival goes, at this point, 1-A will be looting for all the fame by now

"From Hero Course, Midoriya Izuku!"

The green-haired boy reached the stadium first, almost all of the audience were betting for him to win all the way to the finals

"Also from Hero Course, Iida Tenya!"

the Engine quirk user also reach the stage, he look at Midoriya and analyzed him

"There's no doubt about it, I'm clearly at disadvantage, Midoriya and his four element-quirk will be a lot of trouble for me if I face him head on..." he thought

Both fighters were now ready, Midnight then raise the flag

"Are you both ready?!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Then, BEGIN!" and the match has started

Wasting no moment, Iida quickly ignite his quirk and ran sideways in attempt to confuse Midoriya, he's now circling around the stage

"Whoa! Iida was trying to get out of Midoriya's sight using the speed of his quirk! Let's see how can he use this aspect to defeat our four-element user?" Present Mic questioned, he too was excited at what will happen

Midoriya on the other hand was trying to follow his opponent's movements, but unfortunately, he's getting faster and faster each second, he knew it has limits, but at the speed Iida was going, it's only a matter of time before he find an opening and drag him outside the ring

"That's right...if you can't see your enemy, rely on your senses instead..."

Then to everyone's surprise, Midoriya gave up following Iida's movements and simply close his eyes

"Huh! Midoriya was closing his eyes at the time like this? He must be planning something, but what? Let's find out!"

As Iida was circling around, Midoriya can sense the vibrations his feet was making thanks to earthbending, he realized that this type of bending isn't just hurling boulders and earth towards his target, by further grasping the art, he can also use the element itself to sense all the movements that was making contact on the ground and it was very handy at the time like this, he focus on it and wait for the right time to catch Iida off-guard

At the teacher's seat, All Might grin, he knew exactly what is young Midoriya was trying to do

"He was sensing every tiny movements from young Iida, since he can't see him, he must rely on his other senses to do so...but to be able to do that at young age...young Midoriya, you're better than I thought, and..."

His hands touch the place where his former injuries were located

"That healing ability of his...I still don't get at how he do it? Was that part of his quirk too?"

Back at the battle, after some time, Iida think that he's ready

"Okay! I have build up enough momentum for this..."

Then Iida change direction and it was now heading straight to Midoriya like a bullet fired from a gun

"HERE IT COMES! Iida made the first move! And Modoriya..."

He was still pretty much the same, no movements

"It's my win!"

Iida was about to grab his shirt when...

*FWIP!*

Midoriya suddenly ducked and avoid Iida's hand

"Wha-!"

*THWACK!*

Then a hand suddenly grab Iida's arm and threw him on the same direction he was going, Midoriya then threw a roundhouse kick and unleash a stream of pressurized wind, it push Iida even further until he reached the wall outside the stage with a loud thud

"GAH!"

Then he fell on the grass part of the stadium, everyone was surprised, what the heck just happened now?

Midnight quickly raise Midoriya's flag and announce him as the winner

"Iida-kun was out of bounds! Midoriya wins!"

Nevertheless, everyone cheered at him though they didn't see much of a action from him like his match with Todoroki, then after that, Midoriya went to Iida to check if he's alright

"Iida-kun, are you okay?"

The Engine-quirk user stood up and look at Midoriya

"Y-Yeah, no worries, for a second I thought I had you, but..."

He look on the ground

"Well, I-"

"No need to explain, you were a incredible fighter Midoriya-kun, I'm glad that I lose to my best friend" Iida cut him off, Midoriya grew orbs but he smile after

"I see..."

"Good luck on the finals" Iida said

"Yeah!"

At the same dark alleyway, a horrific sight was laid, Ingenium was on the ground on his own pool of blood, heavily injured

"Fame...Money..."

The same shadow loom over the unconscious form of Ingenium and went near his phone

"...And you have guts to call yourselves heroes!"

Then he crush the phone with a stomp

"You bastards are nothing but fakes...the only true hero here...is him!"

His eyes glow red and glared daggers at Ingenium's form

"All Might!"

"Match two of the semi-finals, Bakugo vs. Tokoyami! Bakugo's merciless attacks were non-stop!" Present Mic excitedly yelled, as the crowd was cheering at the next battle after Midoriya and Iida

"That thing was annoying!" Bakugo yelled as he prepared another set of explosives on both his palms

"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami yelled

"Aye!"

his trusted entity lunged at the ash-blonde boy, his arms were ready to strike his master's opponent, but Bakugo use his explosive quirk to propel himself backward just before his claws hit him

"HORAHH!"

Bakugo positioned his hands backward and then igniting it with his quirk, propelling himself forward this time

"Tch! Get ready Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami warned, seeing Bakugo being propelled to him by his explosion quirk

Just as Tokoyama said, Dark Shadow went in front of his master and readied himself for any attacks Bakugo was going to unleashed

"DIE!"

Bakugo stop just in front of Dark Shadow and unleash barrage of explosive attacks, and for some reason, Dark Shadow isn't as aggressive like before, in fact, he's in complete defense on each hit, right now it isn't dealing much damage, but there's something that was weakening Tokoyami's quirk

"What is Tokoyami doing?! He isn't fighting like he did with me before, what's wrong with him?" Ashido also notice the strange behavior Dark Shadow was inhibiting in front of Bakugo's attacks

"Light..."

"Eh..."

Ashido turn to Midoriya

"The light from Bakugo's explosions is weakening Dark shadow's powers..." he continued, he can't help but to tell them the reason on why Dark Shadow was on complete defense

"It's a bad match-up for Tokoyami...it's the worst battle ever" Uraraka agreed

"That was..."

Back at the battle, Tokoyami took the chance of Bakugo's ceasefire and quickly ordered Dark Shadow to attack him

"Now!"

"Aye!"

Dark Shadow lunged again towards the explosive user, but

*BOOM*

Bakugo use the impact of his explosive to propel himself in the air, avoiding Dark shadow's claws

"DIE!"

Then he detonate another set of explosives from his palms, one towards Dark Shadow's face

"Now, Dark Shadow! Get him!" Tokoyami yelled, knowing that Dark Shadow can still endure it

"Aye!"

One of his claws move swiftly to Bakugo for the finishing move, but...

*BOOM*

The ash-blond boy quickly react and detonate explosive on his right palm, propelling him away and out of it's claws' range

"Wha-!"

Then detonating another one, Bakugo quickly get behind Tokoyami, then after landing on the ground, he held both his palms and gather as many tiny explosive orbs as he could

"Damn it!"

Dark Shadow quickly change direction and lunged at Bakugo again

"Stun Grenade!"

Using one of his moves, Bakugo detonate the accumulated explosive orbs in one gigantic blast that covers the entire stage, blinding the vision of the audience with intense light coming from it

"What explosive power! Now we can't see anything thanks to the smoke!" Present Mic announce as they all wait for the smoke to subside, after few seconds of waiting, the smoke finally disappeared and what they saw was...

"I've already figure out your weakness during the course of the fight...too bad for you..."

Bakugo was now on top of Tokoyami, he held the collar of his shirt with his left hand and his right hand was generating light using his quirk, Dark Shadow completely lose power thanks to the light and was reduce into submissive entity

"Ngh!"

Tokoyami can't do anything on this situation, with Dark Shadow suppressed, he can no longer fight back

"I give up"

Midnight raise Bakugo's flag

"Tokoyami-kun has given up! Bakugo wins!"

"And this conclude the semi-finals of the tournament battle...and now, we go to the event everyone was waiting for...the FINALS!"

Everyone roared in excitement at that announcement

"Looks like you're going to fight your childhood friend, Deku-kun" Uraraka said before she turn, but to her surprise, Midoriya was no longer beside her

"Deku-kun?"

Midoriya was currently on the waiting room, he left moments before the fight ended, he's now mentally preparing himself as he's going to fight Bakugo...his childhood friend, and he knew winning won't be easy

"There you are, Deku!"

Midoriya turn to the door to see Bakugo, his face isn't showing a scowl, but rather he's showing an expression that says 'I'm better than you' on his face

"Kacchan..."

"This time, we'll settle our rivalry here, the rivalry we have ever since we got our quirks" he told him plainly but with a hint of anger

"..."

Midoriya watch as Bakugo exit the room, the green haired boy sighed at that, so he's still can't accept that there's someone better than him

"I know..."

After an hour of break, everyone was now on the stadium again, the entire Class 1-A including Todoroki was on their seat as well as the other class on Hero Course, most of the students were excited and some weren't, particularly Monoma

"Damn this...this is just so frustrating...why the hell those 1-A had to hog all the fame" he ask no one

"Come on, don't be like that Monoma, they worked hard to reach all the way here, I know it sounds unfair but this is just how things work" Kendo said

"You're not helping"

"I know, beside this festival wasn't the only way to be scouted by Hero Agencies, there are other ways too so don't be so disappointed and let's just enjoy the fight" she said with a smile

"..."

"Alright folks! Are you ready for some intense action?!" Present Mic yelled

Everyone roared as a yes

"Of course! Who wouldn't, after all we're at the last battle for the U.A. Sports Festival!"

"YEAHHHHH!"

"These two students show magnificent skills on using their quirks, but only one will be declared the winner..." he continued

Then on cue, Midoriya and Bakugo was slowly approaching the arena with expressionless faces, everyone yelled in enthusiasm after seeing the two best students was about to compete before their eyes

"From Hero Course! Midoriya Izuku!"

The green-haired boy reach the arena and wait for his opponent to arrive as well, everyone's cheers for the boy can be heard around, it was so loud that even in open space, it was so loud

"And his opponent, also from Hero Course! Bakugo Katsuki!"

Bakugo arrive at the opposite side of the arena, he stop and look at Deku with a determined look on his face, which was new to everyone, especially 1-A

"Hey, is it just me...or Bakugo was surprisingly calm today" Kirishima asked, verifying that he isn't just seeing things all by himself

"I know right..."

"Well, those two were childhood friends, there must be something happened between the two for them to act like that" Tokoyami said, his hand was bandaged, he's still recovering from the last battle

Are you both ready?! Midnight asked the two contenders

"Yes!"

"Bring it!"

As Midnight was about to commence the fight, every students, teachers and other staff of U.A. was watching in suspense, Midoriya and Bakugo took their fighting stances, ready to attack each other and claim victory

"Well then...BEGIN!"

And with that, the finals has started.