*3rd Pov*

In the stadium of U.A high school, many students are surrounding a platform, listening to the teacher standing on top.

*Dante Pov*

When we were called back, Midnight was explaining that the 3rd round was a tournament.

‘This should be easy; there’s only a couple who could pose a threat towards me and that number 1 spot. ’ I thought.

Then I heard the reason why Ojiro backed out was that he couldn’t remember what happened in the last rounds. Then he points towards the purple-haired guy who declared war on our class.

'Sleepwalking, Brainwashing, or Hypnosis? Whatever it is, he’s dangerous. There’s no way he doesn’t have an activation condition with how powerful this ability is. ’

Deciding that I would be more cautious around him, I turned my attention back to the stadium hearing someone else say the same thing, leaving two open spots, which TetsuTetsu and Shiozaki fulfill.

The brackets are released on who is fighting whom. Scanning them, I see that I’m fighting Ida, I make note of some people who I think I will be fighting.

 I see that I’ll probably fight Shiozaki, and judging by her hair, she could use vines as an offense, defense, and support, which is bad for Kaminari, who’s solely an offense. Then Todoroki, and finally Bakugo.

President Mic Screams "All Right! Let’s leave the tournament aside for a momentary interlude! " With that, some games go on, probably to distract the people going to the next round, and to allow the defeated to have something else to do.

* TImeskip 1st Match *

In the stands, I observed both Deku and Shinso. Watching how Shinso provoked Deku and seeing how Deku stopped moving in the middle of his retaliation.

 I think ‘Imbecile, Ojiro probably told you some details of his quirk, seeing how you walked in the same room, yet you still fell for it. To know how to avoid a technique yet to fall for it by some provocation. *Shaking My head* This would reduce the number of offers for an internship by quite the amount.’

"I guess the activation condition for Shinso’s quirk is talking," said Ida. Overhearing him, I respond, "No, it took effect as soon as Deku replied, so it must be eye contact, responding to a question, or a combination."

‘Either way, this makes him dangerous, so I guess my list of potential threats just got updated.’ Listening, I hear President Mic confirm my thoughts when he explains how Shinso’s quirk works.

I watch as Midoriya walks towards the edge. Just as he’s about to walk off, he uses his quirk on his finger and produces a shockwave that seems to knock him out of Shinso’s control.

From there, Deku runs forward while Shinso tries to provoke Deku by saying that his quirk is bad and how Deku was blessed with a great quirk.

 

‘Is that so? When I saved Midoriya, he was talked about as being quirkless. Now that I think of it, why didn’t he use his quirk on the sludge villain? He could have defeated the sludge villain, and seeing the relationship between him and Bakugo, he wouldn’t have cared about his arm. Something is amiss I’ll figure it out after the tournament. ’

Watching as Deku has a minor scuffle with Shinso and seeing how he loses with an out of bounds, I think ‘No quirk is useless. Shinso’s is very powerful. The activation conditions are hard to complete, but with stealth and surprise, his quirk could be one of the best. ’

From there on, the match went as I expected. Todoroki defeated Sero, although he seemed angry. Then Shiozaki defeated Kaminari, though he was never really matched with such a versatile quirk. 

Finally,, it’s my match with Ida. As I was walking upon the stone, I heard President Mic announce us.

"Dante, let's have a fair match and both showcase our best abilities." 

"Likewise, Ida, I know how much we should present our abilities, so please know that what I’m about to say is not arrogance but confidence. Use your best move or you don’t have a chance. "

"Alright." As soon as the words go were said, Ida blasted off at extreme speeds, ‘just not as fast as All Might or Gran Torino.’

Dodging his hands as he attempts to drag me out of the arena, I coat my hands in flames. They were at a normal temperature, but it was high enough that they could do damage.

When Ida circles around again trying the same move, I punch his gut. Then, as Ida stumbles back from the force, I don't let up, grabbing his shoulder with both hands and then kneeing him in the gut. 

I back up as he couches on one knee for a moment, giving him time to recover.

When he stands up, I look him in the eyes and say, "Come on, Ida, I said it earlier use your best move. Do you want to show the heroes and the world that you are losing and that you forced me to do nothing, or do you want to show them your full potential, your best?"

* 3rd Pov*

Ida, hearing what Dante said, thought about it. ‘What have I done? Dante could just fly up and I wouldn’t be able to do anything but admit defeat. If I’m going to lose, then before I do, let's show the world my full potential. Let's show my brother Ingenium what I am capable of. ’

With this newfound determination, Ida used a move he hadn’t been planning on using early in the tournament.

"Be careful, Dante. This move is so fast that even I can’t control it right now." Ida began charging up his muffler.

Then, using his super move Recepro Burst, Ida charged at Dante at speeds comparable to a normal Gran Torino.

*Dante Pov*

‘Fast.’ was all I could think before he was in front of me trying to kick my head with his right leg.

Ducking, I jumped back to create some distance. But Ida, landing on the ground, used this to jump forward in front of me.

Ida did a 360° and, using the speed from his muffler, smacked me in the head. Falling to the ground, I felt him pick up my shirt, probably to get me over the line.

Just as Ida was about to throw me over the edge, I maneuvered my body to kick him in the face. Using that, I jumped off of his shoulder deeper into the stadium and coated my flames towards my fist.

‘Azure Fist’ I think as I send the attack towards Ida, the attack sends him over the line.

"Tenya Ida is over the line, making Dante the winner, sending him to the next round. Against Shiozaki. "

With that, I walk to the tunnel, but I hear Ida jogging towards me. Then when he arrived, he bent himself towards me. 

"Thank you, Dante, for giving me the chance to show my abilities and thus increase my offers."

"It’s nothing Ida, that's just what I should do. Nice move. If you had quirk restraining cuffs, you could have got me. " 'That is if I don't incinerate you first.’

Walking into the darkness of the tunnel, I am thinking, ‘Well, Ida, although part of the reason was also to allow the heroes to know our capabilities, I also have my own objective.’

Walking up to the seats, I observe the rest of the matches, making comments on things like how Aoyama should have waited for a decisive moment when Mina was near the edge to shoot and force her out of bounds, or how Momo should have watched Tokoyami the previous rounds and noticed his weakness and used that to beat him by memorizing how a flashbang is made.

Seeing how the next round won’t be for a minute, I walk through the halls to give some advice to Todoroki, but I run into Endeavor. 

"You Dante, I saw your matches. Your flames aren’t that strong, but if you come to my agency, I could train you on them and make you more powerful."

"Endeavor, I was meaning to talk to you. No offense, but there's is nothing I don’t know about my flames and for some advice from me. If I heard about you, scum, trash, garbage, these can all be called things that describe you. You probably know me now since I’ve been chased by you before, but I’ll remind you that I’m Azure. If I hear anything about you again, I’ll KILL YOU just like I did all those corrupted heroes. "

"What did you say? I’m the number two hero, better than All Might Himself. " Endeavor said, flaring his flames.

Better not *scoff*, never, you remind me of what my sensei said, even if we disagreed, you are exactly what he said, "A False Hero," so I repeat, if I hear about you again, I'll kill you, FAKER."As I walk away, I think back to what sensei said.

* Flashback *

"Their false heroes I'll make this right, and you can help me, Azure. We have the same goal. To make these streets run with the blood of hypocrites! We must reclaim the term "hero!". They’ll have to try to stop us, those fakes! There is only one man I'll let kill me! He is a true hero, but ALL MIGHT IS WORTHY! "

* Flashback End *

Dismissing those thoughts, I walk towards the stadium to see the match against Todoroki and Deku. 

Watching how Todoroki is fighting, I think about how if he wanted to beat Deku, he should just keep using long-ranged ice attacks to make Deku use his quirk, and when he doesn't have any more limbs, Todoroki would win. Also, how did Deku, who I thought was smart, make no plans, and even when Todoroki is wide open, he can’t get a decent hit in.

"So, you've taken your first steps toward making that power yours," I think as I watch Todoroki uses his left. Seeing that they’re about to collide, the shockwave would be massive.’ 

Just as I’m about to interfere and try and reduce the shockwaves, I spot Cementoss putting a wall between the audience and the field. "Midoriya is out of bounds. Todoroki advances to the third round. " Getting up, I walk to the waiting room thinking about how I’m going to defeat Shiozaki.

On the arena when start is said she sends a wave of vines towards me which I burn with my flames.

“Wait I give up, I feel unholiness coming from this individual and I refuse to taint myself by being near him any longer.”

“Well with that Dante moves up into the semi-finals.” Walking down I take a break before my next fight.

After a short rest, I walk up to the stadium and see Todoroki's light breathing. I think, ‘What a good body and quirk. Although this light breathing is probably because he has barely used his fire quirk before.'

"Start" As that is said, I see a pillar of ice heading towards me. I have decided that unless he uses his flame quirk, I won’t be letting him show off.

Letting my flames cover my body and passively let off heat but not transform me, I started slowly walking to him. The temperature of the flames is high enough that they will melt ice 3 feet before it gets to me. 

"Look, Dante used his flames expertly so that they would melt the ice, making Todoroki use his fire or engage in close combat. What do you think, Eraserhead? "

"This is expert use of his quirk and shows the level of control and the training that went into it."

Hearing this, I give a small smirk as I walk toward Todoroki. He keeps sending pillars of ice, but they keep melting. When the amount increases, I just increase the temperature of my flames.

Finally, when I get close, Todoroki tries to engage in close combat, but as I just increase the temperature, he can't do anything but wait as I slowly walk over.

"Use your fire or be defeated." With that, I started to run and put all the flames in my hand and sent an ‘Azure Fist’ towards him. 

I see him light his flames, making me think, ‘Finally, willing to take this seriously.’ But before I can entertain that thought, he stops and gets sent flying towards the wall.

"Todoroki is out. Azure is sent to the finals. " Before Recovery Girl arrives, I walk towards him and say, "you said you would win, yet you won't go full power. You, who have power yet lost, make me think both you and your goal are trash. Make up your mind. Will you be the number 1 or be some extra who is all talk? You, who make light of his and other people's goals, disgust me. "

As I walk away, I think to myself, 'Man Bakugo must have rubbed off on me too much.’ Meanwhile, Bakugo heard that, said "Damn that fire bastard! I’ll kill him!" Then Bakugo stormed off to the waiting room.

In the waiting room, I’m thinking we’ll let's see how much Bakugo can push me.