“Are you two ready?” Midnight asked the two competitors.

Kazuya could only give a nod as he prepared himself for the fight to come. Bakugo is no slouch in combat, and it’s gonna take every amount of focus he has to win against his explosive classmate.

Bakugo himself just stood in a loose stance, arms at his side ready to react at a moment's notice.

Up in the stands, the rest of 1A sat with anticipation as they eyed their two classmates in the arena. These two are arguably the best 1A has to offer, and the fight between their strongest is bound to be a spectacle to watch.

“Begin!”

Kazuya immediately flashed to the side, dodging a blast that Bakugo fired the moment the match started. He grabbed the knife the moment he teleported and threw it again towards Bakugo’s direction.

Bakugo, recognizing the move, immediately crossed his arms to block the kick that Kazuya gave the moment he reappeared.

Kazuya didn’t let up as he continued to pressure his opponent in hand to hand combat. It was obvious to everyone watching who was superior in close quarters as Bakugo received way more hits and then he gave.

Frustrated, Bakugo aimed his palms downwards and released a big blast from his quirk, cracking the arena floor beneath them. This caused Kazuya to jump back in surprise. Making use of the opportunity, Bakugo cups his hands together towards Kazuya’s direction and unleashes a bright flash of light.

“Stun Grenade!”

Disoriented by the move, Kazuya couldn’t manage to defend himself as Bakugo got close and unleashed an explosion point blank. Kazuya was launched away but managed to stop himself in time before getting out of bounds. Shaking his head from the dizziness, Kazuya immediately flashed away just in time as Bakugo’s next attack landed on his previous position.

Standing up to his full height, Kazuya looked at Bakugo who was glaring at him at their opposite positions in the arena.

Kazuya himself was covered in mild burns while Bakugo has cuts all over his arms and body, but the fight was just starting and neither will throw the towel just yet.

Kazuya then threw a mass of knives, the arena getting littered with kunais. Bakugo just looked at it all with an analyzing eye, memorizing the positions of each knife before blasting the ones close to him with an explosion.

“I saw your damn fight with Four-Eyes. You ain’t getting me that easy!”

Kazuya just rolled his eyes as he threw both knives he had in his hands towards Bakugo. The explosion quirk user was about to blast them out of the air when the weapons disappeared out of thin air. Bakugo’s acute senses were screaming at him as he sidestepped, dodging a familiar tri pronged kunai that flew past him. However, the sidestep brought him in the direction of the other speeding knife which managed knick him on the shoulder.

‘He teleported those knives to his other markers!’ Bakugo said as he gritted his teeth through the pain. Kazuya unleashed more knives, which teleported all over the place. ‘This damn arena just turned to a kill zone!’

Thinking quickly, Bakugo propelled himself to the sky with controlled explosions. He continuously dodged the knives coming in all directions. ‘Fine then! If that’s what he wants, then I’ll give it to him!’

Bakugo aimed his palms to the sides and unleashed a massive explosion that destroyed all the incoming knives. He then angled his body downwards and released constant explosions, the speed in which he spins creating a miniature tornado that is quickly speeding towards the arena.

‘It doesn’t matter if he warps away! I’ll just blow the entire arena along with him!’

Bakugo was rapidly approaching the arena and readying himself to unleash the biggest explosion he’s ever released.

“Howitzer Impa-”

“Alright, that’s enough.”

With a snap of his fingers, the miniature tornado was suddenly absorbed in a red flash and reappeared outside of the arena.

*BOOM*

A massive explosion was released that caused a huge amount of smoke to cover that side of the stadium.

When it dispersed, it revealed a shell shocked Bakugo, who was on his knees by the grass, looking at the black tag on the outside of his forearm. ‘He marked me…’ Bakugo realized. ‘He could’ve ended the fight at any time.’

“Bakugo is out of bounds! Kazuya is the winner!” Midnight announced once she got her bearings from the huge explosion.

The whole crowd erupted in cheers and cacophony. That was one the best fights to happen yet.

“That was an amazing match.”

“Did you see that last move by the blonde? That would’ve done major damage if it connected.”

“Indeed, both students showed impeccable mastery of their quirks and has shown an great instincts in combat.”

“Yeah but didn’t you notice what the warper did? He controlled the whole match from the start. The Bakugo kid didn’t stand a chance.”

“They’ll go far in their hero career, that’s for sure.”

Bakugo didn’t even show a reaction towards the applause. He continued to look at his arms in a mix of despair and confusion. As if in utter disbelief that it was him who was sitting on the outside of the arena. Throughout his life, Katsuki Bakugo has never known of the word defeat. Experiencing it for the first time in his life, he found himself numb. ‘If you just write everyone off thinking you’re the strongest, then you’ll soon find yourself knocked down from your pedestal.’

His mind automatically zoned in on the words his Class President said just that morning.

It was only when the medical bots approach him did he break out of stupor. He immediately shook them off, put his hands on his pockets and walked away. He had a lot to think about.

— The Warping Hero —

Iida Tenya was cheering with the rest of his classmates at Kazuya’s victory. He was clapping with fervor since it was indeed one of the greatest matches he has seen in today’s sports festival.

Truly a fight befitting of this great institution.

“YEAH KAZUYA!”

“WOOHOOO THAT’S OUR CLASS PREZ!”

Iida studied the rest of his classmates. Only a few of them are in the competition now, but none of them feel burdened or bothered by it. Their excitement is still in the air and he can’t help but admire all his friends about it.

He can’t say the same for himself however. He feels shame for suffering defeat this early in the 3rd event. How is he supposed to apologize to his brother for bringing the Iida name to shame? He didn’t perform well in the race, even though his quirk gave him a major advantage. And he messed up in the cavalry battle and became a burden to his teammates.

That was when he was approached by a U.A. staff member and told him that he had received a call from his family. Giving a sigh, he bid goodbye to Midoriya and Uraraka and made his way out to receive the call from his family.

— The Warping Hero —

“Hello hello folks! Welcome back to the next match of the first year’s U.A. Sports Festival! After that exciting match we have earlier, let’s see if today’s current matchup will be just as incredible! On this corner, we have the recommended student of 1B who could melt the stadium with a touch, its Juzo Honenuki! And on the other, it’s the dark samurai who has an epiphany for darkness, Fumikagi Tokoyami and his partner Dark Shadow!”

“Woo yeah! Let’s show them what we got, Fumi!”

“May we have a good match.” Honenuki said.

“Indeed, may the better man win.” Tokoyami replied.

“And begin!”

Honenuki chose to opt for a similar strategy to the one he used in the first round. Immediately the arena around them turned to liquid and Tokoyami found himself sinking. Before he could get stuck however, Tokoyami had Dark Shadow grab his body and throw him towards Honenuki. Not expecting the sudden move, the 1B student couldn’t react as he found himself tackled to the ground by Tokoyami. The latter held him down to the semi-softened ground by his clothes.

Knowing what would happen if he gets caught, Honenuki immediately softened his own shirt which resulted in Tokoyami losing his grip. He softened the ground even further and swam inside just in time as Dark Shadow descended on his previous position. Honenuki then swam right underneath Tokoyami and grabbed his legs by the ankles.

“Headhunter!”

In one swift move, Honenuki pulled and Tokoyami found himself stuck to the re-solidified arena by the chest, arms locked to his sides.

“Another Supermove?! These kids are insane!” Present Mic announced from the booth.

“Urk!” Tokoyami grunted as he found himself unable to move.

“FUMI! You’ll pay for that!” Dark Shadow immediately pounced on Honenuki only to be stopped by Tokoyami’s voice.

“N-No…D-Dark Shadow!”

“You better be careful and listen to your partner. I put him to the ground at a point where his chest is stuck between the arena. He’s barely able to breathe right now.”

Dark Shadow was immediately alarmed by this sudden event and forced himself to concede for his host’s safety.

“Tokoyami is immobilized! And with Dark Shadow’s surrender, Honenuki is the winner!”

Honenuki immediately softened the ground and helped Tokoyami out of the arena. He put his arms around his shoulders and walked him to the stretcher carried by the coming medical bots.

“Sorry about that. You alright?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine. It was a good match. I bid you good luck on your next one. You’ll be fighting against my president after all.”

“Heh, thanks. And yeah, good match.”

They shook hands as the bots wheeled Tokoyami out of the arena to the medical bay. The show of sportsmanship causing the arena to cheer and clap in approval.

“Now that’s how you end a tournament match! Nothing else but pure sportsmanship! Alrighty! Now then, We’re gonna take a small break to fix up the arena before heading to the next match. And it’s an exciting one folks! Stay tuned for another explosive match to come! It’s Midoriya vs Todoroki!”

— The Warping Hero —

Midoriya was walking towards the waiting room to wait for his next match when he suddenly bumped into Iida. He was kind of worried about him since the engine quirk user was obviously thinking about something ever since his loss against Kazuya. Midoriya had wanted to talk to him to help out but didn’t know what to say.

Then the glassed teen had received a call from his family and hasn’t been seen since. Midoriya immediately took the chance to start a conversation after bumping into him.

“Iida! Are you okay? You’ve been pretty out of it.” Midoriya asked.

Iida widened his eyes slightly before replying. “Of course I am, Midoriya! I am deeply touched by your concern towards me! I apologize for the worry but yes I’m doing fine.” he said with a smile. “I admit I had some issues accepting my loss against Kazuya at my match against him and how ashamed I am at seeing my brother after the loss.” Iida said while bowing his head. “It was unbecoming of me, but I’m past it now.” he said with a smile. “I just got a call from my brother saying how proud he was of me making this far. He told me congratulations and how he can’t wait to have me as an intern.”

“That’s great! So you’re gonna learn from your brother at the internships?” Midoriya asked with a wide smile.

“Indeed I am. I have a lot to learn about being a hero, and I believe learning by my brother’s side will prove the best path for me.”

“I’m happy for you, Iida. And I’m glad you’re okay now.”

“Thank you, Midoriya. Now then, I shouldn't keep you any longer. Good luck on your next match!” Iida bid him farewell as he made his way back to the stands.

Midoriya himself is just glad Iida is back to his regular self. He shook his head as he proceeded to wait for his match to start.

Not 5 minutes later, he received the announcement that the next match is underway. HE got up from his seat and made his way to the arena.

On his walk, he can’t help but remember his talk with Todoroki before the tournament started. The knowledge of what his classmate had to live through pained him, but at this point there was nothing he could do about that. What he COULD do however, is help the half quirk user break out of the self imposed prison he put himself in. What Endeavour did was wrong, so he’s gonna make things right.

After all, intervening when you’re not supposed to is the essence of being a hero, right?

Midoriya was turning a corner when he spotted the man himself waiting for him.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Endeavour was leaning towards a wall when he noticed Midoriya walking.

“You have great power. If the gust of wind you conjured from moving your fingers is to be believed, then it’s comparable to All Might.” Endeavour started the moment Midoriya walked to him. “When you fight against Shoto, make sure to go all out against him. It's time that he ends this ridiculous rebellious phase and starts using his flames.”

After an exchange of words, Endeavour apologized for taking up Midoriya’s time and walked away. Midoriya himself shook his head at the experience of being face to face with the number two hero and made his way to the arena.

The next few minutes are gonna be a pain that’s for sure.

— The Warping Hero —

In an inconspicuous bar, a meeting was being held by some of the most dangerous villains to exist in Japan. Stain was patrolling Hosu City when he was absorbed by a purple mist and found himself in a random bar.

He looked ahead of him to see a young man who had shaggy blue hair with hands covering his entire body and a black mist wiping glasses by the counter.

“Hoo, to what do I owe the pleasure, League of Villains?”

“Hero Killer Stain. It’s an honor to finally meet you.” Shigaraki said with a deranged smile.

“Is it now?”

Stain, although calming down once he found he wasn’t in immediate danger, was still wary of the situation he found himself in. He put one hand on the handle of one of his blades and positioned himself so he could see both occupants of the bar in his field of vision.

“There’s no need to be so wary, you’re in no danger here.” stated Shigaraki.

“I’ll be the judge of that myself.” Stain narrowed his eyes. “Now talk. Why did you bring me here?”

“To have a chat. You and I have the same goals, you see. I find it beneficial if we combine our strengths and work together.”

Stain wanted to snort, but held himself back. The way Shigaraki speaks somewhat intrigues him. “And how exactly do our goals align?”

“That’s simple. You wanna tear down the hero society that has sprouted on this world of ours because it built on lies and deceit. The so-called heroes working to protect us are nothing more than frauds who are only in it for the fame and fortune.” Shigaraki stated before narrowing his eyes. “The only difference between us, is that you think All Might is the true hero.”

“That’s because he is! No one else deserves to be called a hero other than All Might!”

“See, that’s where you're wrong, Stain. Because this flawed society is built on the pillar of the Symbol of Peace! His existence itself is what causes all these heroes to remain complacent. They have turned a man and falsified him as a god. They worship him as a true hero when he’s no better than the frauds that run around calling themselves protectors!” Shigaraki’s voice was full of conviction that Stain himself was forced to take a step back.

“You’ll see yourself, the moment All Might falls, this hero society will crumble into pieces. Join me Stain. Lend me your strength, and we shall purge the disease that infect this society.”

Shigaraki extended a hand, his sharp red eyes peering through the gaps between the hand that covers his face.

Kurogiri, who stayed quiet the entire time, gained a satisfied buzz as he watched the proceedings. ‘He truly has grown.’ Now with Stain, basically convinced, the League’s power grows even more.

Stain himself was studying the leader of the League of Villains with a critical eye. Indeed what Shigaraki said held true. The hero-based society they live in is flawed. It takes a determined hand and an iron will to change it for the better. Something he noticed, that Shigaraki had in spades. So without hesitation, he took Shigaraki’s hand and shook it. On this day, an alliance was formed.

In another universe, Tomura Shigaraki would’ve continued to watch the sports festival without interruption. He would’ve lacked conviction to think ahead towards the future. He would’ve insisted that Stain wasn’t worth adding to their cause and delayed the alliance. This delay would later cause Iida Tensei to be crippled, and the Ingenium name to be added to the long list of victims by the infamous Hero Killer.

But in this world, Shigaraki understood the importance of having trustworthy and capable allies. He understood the need to surround himself with those who believe in the world that he is trying to create. This change was only possible due to the major defeat he had suffered at the hands of the students of 1A.

How this change would affect the lives of the people and the world around them, remains to be seen.

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

Hey folks!

Bet some of y’all didn’t expect the Stain thing did you. I have quite a lot of plans on Stain’s character that I can’t wait to bring into writing.

I’ve also gotten used to my classes and have set up a clear schedule on when I can focus my time on writing. So from this moment on, no more delayed chapters and a clear cut posting schedule.

3 days a week on  Monday, Thursday, and Saturday will be the days I post on. Could be late or early but I’m adamant on the 3 a week promise.

I’ve also been dabbing around some Naruto fanfiction ideas and I’ve got one in the works. Y'all in my pat_reon know what's up.

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!

Trivia: Which catastrophic event would you rather live in? A Planet Earth that was reduced to a barren wasteland from a nuclear war or a zombie apocalypse?