24

Chapter Text

Right out of the gate, Peter let his hands fly, streams of webbing soaring over the arena at Shiozaki and her weird vine hair. The fights she'd had with Momo and Asui were fresh in his mind. Weird, confusing, and a living contradiction to every law about mass out there.

But, like all really cool superpowers, you probably still needed to see in order to use them.

So Peter went straight for the eyes, and Shiozaki's vines promptly erected a wall between her and the webs, lashing out like snakes to protect her face. Splotches of webbing connected the vines, but that did nothing as the entire conglomerate rushed towards the American, more vines surging out behind the white tangled mess. He leaped into the air, flipping to the side and letting the great green arm miss his head by mere inches just so both wrists could continue their assault on her eyesight.

Another vine swatted his projectiles out of the sky and joined its brothers in the assault, Shiozaki standing still and clasping her hands together in apparent prayer. Peter dropped low the second his hands hit the pavement. That tingly feeling screamed, and he twisted like a breakdancer. Vines struck from the sides and above, but Peter let his body move. Sliding to the side under one strike before leaping over another, all the while throwing in shots of webbing whenever he saw an opening.

Which was getting him nowhere fast. It was like every piece of her hair was a different, self-controlled entity. The kind of mental gymnastics to move all of them at once must be insane!

Peter's eyes widened just in time for him to feel the need to flip back. A line of vines sprouted from the concrete like an angry hand, which only made the feeling all the more intense as more kept coming from the ground, rupturing concrete all the while. His feet and hands left the tremors moments before they struck, cracking the ground around him. With a great push off the ground, Peter slung a line of webbing attached to a large chunk of stone broken off by the vines. Turning as much as physics would allow, the baseball-sized chunk flew at his opponent.

Shiozaki's eyes retained their calm temperance as a dozen vines sprouted up to defend her.

Peter avoided the vine onslaught, sliding away far enough before instinctually stopping himself. Not two inches away was the arena's boundary line.

One vine took the chance to strike like a cobra. Peter grabbed hold of it and pulled with all his might. It quickly snapped, nearly sending him over the edge from the recoil. Righting himself, Peter watched as the concrete started cracking around him.

Good news, the vines weren't indestructible, so that was a bonus.

Bad news, he kinda needed the ground to walk on if he didn't want to get tangled and Shiozaki was still as adamant at turtling in her corner.

His options were running out by the second, he needed a plan before-

Tingle. He ducked, avoiding a vine that would have cracked him upside the head hard enough to make him see stars. Instinct alone stopped him from getting grabbed by others, his body launching off his outstretched hand and quickly skidding to a stop. Right in time to see vines curling and reeling back across the arena...

A flurry of chunks of concrete were thrown by the vines. Peter ducked, twirling and twisting in a way that reminded him of that dude in the Matrix. Basketball-sized chunks rained down on him, and he ran for all he was worth. Jumping over vines, avoiding debris bullets as he jumped and twisted, he fired web shots that only met her wall of vines. Shiozaki's green hair was sinking into the arena and spreading like a massive weed.

And his world spun when one found its mark on his chest. One the size of a car and as thick as a couch

His chest burned as every bit of air was forced from his lungs. By some miracle, he hit a brazier instead of being knocked out of bounds, but the impact still snapped his head back.

Peter's chest burned, and his head rang as he fell to the floor, barely recognizing the pain of his knees hitting the concrete.

That tingling sensation was roaring right now, and he was running out of options.

(X)

Shoto tried not to frown upon once again feeling the brace around his back. His injuries had been treated by Recovery Girl, but the nurse insisted that extra precautions were necessary given the extent that the combatants were willing to go in their matches.

He didn't blame her, his own match did nothing to dissuade the notion in the slightest. Still, Shoto found himself coming out of the hallway to the section designated to his class holding back a grimace. No-one turned to look at him as he approached, so absorbed in the match in front of them. Parker was dancing in-between the tide of vines that the class 1-B student was throwing at him. One vine came very close, and he heard Kirishima and Yaoyorozu breathe sighs of relief when he managed to stay out of harm's way. Stepping up to the front row, he saw that the first seat next to Yaoyorozu was open.

He cleared his throat, "Is this seat taken?"

Yaoyorozu flinched, not expecting his voice, but graced him with that professional smile that she seemed to have at every waking moment.

"Oh yes Todoroki-san, please."

Shoto nodded, dropping into the offered seat and letting himself be absorbed by the fight like his peers. Speaking truthfully, the son of the Number Two Hero never really saw the student, Ibara according to the jumbotron, like anything worth writing home about. Yet here, in front of everyone, she was giving the supposed ace more trouble than his last two fights by a wide margin.

His webbing shot off in rapid-fire, trying to pierce the defenses of his opponent. A rather base approach, but he had little options given the nature of his opponent's quirk.

"Parker's out of his element."

Shoto looked over at Bakugo of all people being the one to make the distinction. The man didn't even blink as he observed the fight. Reasonable, given that the victor would face him in the next round. He had several patches and bandages strewn around his form.

"Oh come on, Ace is just trying to get his footing is all," Kirishima argued, looking over to the frowning blonde.

"Idiot," Bakugo grumbled, "Since when have you ever seen that guy stand his ground in a fight? He's like Frog-Face, always jumping around and dodging, sticking to walls and crap to get a better angle. Open spaces with nowhere to climb, no overhang for him to swing, and the vine chick is just eating up anything that's left."

The rest of their peers tried to voice an argument, but even through the momentary silence of the crowd, there was nothing. Kirishima bit his lip, looking back at the arena with a worried expression.

"So is Ace gunna lose here?"

"He might," Bakugo shrugged.

"The guy is playing the world's hardest game of keep-away from all sides," Jirou grumbled from her seat, "Don't see you doing that."

"Whatever you wanna say, doesn't stop me from being right."

The punk girl looked ready to point a certain finger at Bakugo, but she stopped as a crash echoed through the stadium. Parker was… ripping the arena apart?

(X)

Okay, Shiozaki was giving him no other choice. If she wanted to tear apart the arena, then two can play at that game.

He ducked to avoid more vine surges and leapt into the air, twisting as he aimed a web line back at the ground and pulled as hard as he could. He flew down, fist reared back, and Peter crashed down into the arena. He struck the already damaged ground with a mighty impact, forcing a massive cloud of debris and dust into the air as if a missile had struck there. The winds from the resulting shockwave made the onslaught of vines pause. Peter hopped into his own self-made crater, finding a perfect spot to grab. A vine lashed out from under him, but he pulled down, cutting off the attack before he started to lift.

In his hands, the giant slab of jagged stone from the ruined concrete rose as the audience gasped and awed at the sight. He saw even Shiozaki's eyes widen and with a roar, Peter chucked it, sending the giant slab of concrete careening towards the green-haired girl. He jumped up, tingle roaring as he felt vines underground sprout out from where he once was.

She grit her teeth, and like a wave, green vines surged out from around the arena to wrap around the giant chunk of stone. Even vines that were positioned around her person were used to defend her.

Peter dashed forward, dust exploding behind him as he leapt through her stymied defenses, and Shiozaki's eyes widened even further as he appeared before her, practically in an instant.

"Sorry." He muttered, rearing his left hand back… and his fist caught her cheek as the vines were too late to intervene.

The girl flew off her feet, the vines following suit as she rolled on her mass of green, barely avoiding falling out of bounds herself. Then like a giant sea of serpents, the vines coiled around her body.

Peter's eyes widened as he stood on what little concrete was left on his side of the arena, and the vines were quickly formed into a giant sphere.

"And now I need my fedora." Peter mused, seeing the similar shape in how she got in the top ten during the first event. Yet she needed to see, right? The vines were wrapped around it, looking like those rubber band balls…

Tingle. Green serpents surged out in a frontal direction as Peter jumped, dust kicking off as the plants formed an impenetrable wall of green. The sphere of vines was coiling and writhing as Peter landed. He turned around, eyes scanning the massive sphere…

No openings.

Then the vines from behind surged in his direction like a massive horde of snakes! Peter took off in a sprint, and the mass of serpents gave chase. He could even see the vines from that frontal surge retreating…

And the ball looked weaker! So she has to use vines for the frontal assault, sacrificing defense for offence?

He skidded, and felt tremors again before he jumped high, avoiding the mass of vines that erupted beneath him. As he flipped in the air, he saw the plants from his previous side of the arena converge to form a massive tendril. The sphere began to move, the giant tendril moving as one as it began to swing around the arena.

And Peter was in its path! He fired a web line to the ground, pulling down and avoiding the oversized yet ironic weedwacker. He panted upon seeing the giant tendril come back for another pass as the sphere that contained Shiozaki was moving…

Another tingle again and Peter cursed as he leapt, avoiding the ground being torn asunder as another massive tendril made the arena crack and shatter. Now she had TWO massive RV-sized tendril arms, one going high in a turn, the other sweeping low.

Peter had his arms up, blocking the strike from the mass of vines as he was sent to the ground with a thud. He coughed, not fazed before the next tendril swiped at him, hurling him across the arena like how a hand would shove dust off of a tabletop. Peter rolled and yelled, unable to escape as the vines wrapped around his legs and arms as he struggled and writhed. Then he saw an incoming chunk of raised debris and brought his hands up.

He went through the giant car-sized piece of debris… and got slammed by a mass of tendrils from on high, causing debris and dust to fly into the air.

(X)

Deep within her sphere, Ibara panted as she braced herself on her knees, rubbing her jaw carefully. That strike Parker had landed was pretty good… His speed was unreal, as if he had copied Iida's technique he used against Parker in the tiebreaker fight. It had made her dizzy, forcing her to utilize all of her vines to form the boulder from before, and draw on more sunlight with her countless holes from the outside. Holes and slits were formed and quickly vanished thanks to her constant concentration in order to keep her vine barrier up.

She was unable to hear or see him, but she could feel his movements via the vines she had coursing under the concrete. She climbed to her feet, a slit in her giant sphere opening so she could see where her two tendrils had converged on.

"Did I get him?" She pondered aloud… before she felt slashing going around in her vines! Her eyes widened as her tendrils shook and moved aside. To the delight of a surprised crowd, Peter Parker emerged and jumped high in the air with his shirt and pants in tatters, bruises and cuts evident.

In his hands was an iron bar that had been pulled from the grid underneath the arena, and further slowing him down was a giant piece of rubble in his other hand! Parker twirled in mid-air, firing the rubble like a shot-put.

Shiozaki raised her arms, vines converging to block it as the jagged piece of rubble tore through them but losing its speed in the process. She immediately felt more of her long vine hair get cut off. She winced, opening a direct hole from above to let the high-rising sun in.

The more sunlight she had, the longer she could keep her onslaught coming. She could focus on drinking plenty of water after the fight.

(X)

Peter ran, charging with his iron rod as vines surged out. He was twirling, firing web bullets whenever possible to tie them together as he swung hard.

He landed on the dirt and debris of the destroyed arena. His weapon was blunt, so to compensate, he had to put more power and speed into his swings.

Peter jumped and side-stepped, lashing out at vines as he leapt, backhand-slashing and cutting another sect of the green tendrils.

"I AM AT A LOSS FOR WORDS! THIS FIGHT IS GOING AS PLUS ULTRA AS IT CAN GO! SHIOZAKI LOOKED K.O.ed BY PARKER, ONLY FOR HER TO COUNTERATTACK AND IS RAVAGING THE ENTIRE ARENA IN DOING SO! AND WE THOUGHT TODOROKI GAVE CEMENTOSS A HARD TIME, WE MAY NEED A NEW ARENA BY THE TIME THIS IS OVER!"

Peter brought down an overhead swing, chlorophyll and green mulch spraying out.

He saw the vines only gather and get faster as he ran amongst the debris and raised stone, avoiding vine surges as he leapt, twirled, and backflipped away from each strike. He got to the top of a raised part of the arena, and saw those two massive vine tendrils recoup and rear back.

He fired a web line at the sphere and pulled, plunging in as he spun around, yelling as he did so and hacking and twirling like a human weedwacker.

The giant vine arms met, and got slashed and hacked through as Peter came out of that quagmire, rolling around on the ground covered in green gunk and near the giant vine sphere. He spat out plant matter and roared, cutting into the nearby vine sphere as the metal around his hand started to warp around his fingers. Chunks flew out of the ball, but no matter how much Peter carved out, more vines kept appearing to replace or defend the ones that were left.

It was like trying to empty a pool with a big bucket. He got some out, but nowhere near enough to make any major headway.

"Alright. I know this is really rich coming from me. But your powers aren't fair!" Peter screamed, swiping at an incoming vine and backpedaling as far as he could. He jumped, firing a web line.

Vines lashed out in all directions. He contorted his body to dodge them, but some the tendrils closed in on his legs and the line. Three of them wrapped around his limbs and webbing before pulling sharply, snapping the line and nearly causing Peter to fall face-first. His feet stuck to the ground, giving him all the traction he needed to yank them free and sprint like a madman in the other direction. He saw the vines retract, and the giant vine sphere… began to move and roll towards him! Walls of green came in from both sides as Shiozaki had giant tendrils slam down beside him. He dodged left and right and began running around the arena. Not even debris was spared as it was grabbed and tossed out of the way. The huge ball of green that he couldn't stop coming in from behind him and only the brazier in front of him were left.

A stupid idea formed in his brain, and he prayed that it would work. He jumped, trusting the soles of his feet to stick on the edge of the arena near the brazier as he about-faced, ran up said brazier, and jumped over the incoming vine boulder. He flipped through the air, over the ball, and as he shot overhead, he saw an opening! Shiozaki was in the middle of a non-moving patch of vines and on her knees, eyes widening in shock but she wasn't fast enough to prevent Peter from firing one good web shot in.

It hit the side of her face, but even as Peter landed on the other side, skipping over the patches of concrete in the vine ocean, he knew it wasn't enough. He had only taken out her depth perception, and after that little stunt, only about a fifth of the arena's concrete was left. Ironically, said stone formed the portion of the arena that Shiozaki had started off on.

A quick flick of his wrists, and Peter winced as he saw his remaining ammunition. Almost out of fluid, one or two big lines were all that he had left.

None would be left for him.

But options, what did he have? Plenty of rocks to throw, not much space left to run in. He still had the metal bar, but attacking head-on would only drain him if he didn't have a good way to capitalize on it.

Come on, what was left, what was left?

He blinked, and an idea hit him harder than any of those vines could. Peter dropped the metal rod, throwing out the last two lines of webbing that his shooters could grant him, sticking them to the tops of the two nearest braziers.

"HERE COMES SHIOZAKI! AND OHHHH?! WHAT'S PARKER DOING NOW? SHIOZAKI IS ROLLING IN!!!"

Shiozaki's bus-sized ball turned around with her vines now coming towards him in all directions. Peter pulled hard with a mighty grunt of effort, using every ounce of superhuman muscle he had to give him a chance at victory. The concrete cracked under his feet, and then everyone in the stadium heard the crack.

Shiozaki's ball slowed and the stadium was speechless as with a roar, Peter brought the brazier towers down from the corners of the arena closest to the American. The arena shook as both towers collapsed onto the ground on either side of him. Gas systems continued to do their job, letting the huge bowls of fire light up the stadium and the arena. And like a pair of giant twin flails used by Greek warriors of old, he slammed the giant braziers to the ground near Shiozaki's vine boulder, it and the tower it was connected to setting parts of the arena aflame.

And every piece of green with it.

Dozens of vines caught fire, and Peter could see Shiozaki even sacrificing the ones that formed her ball to keep the flames at bay, many of them retracting. So removing those vines by force didn't hurt much, yet burning did! Or was she averse to it? Peter didn't know. A huge mass of vines formed up in an effort to smother one of the fires, but Peter grabbed hold of a concrete chunk and threw it like he was practicing his fastball.

And he didn't stop at one.

Vines were cut or pummelled into nonexistence as Peter did everything he could. His hands grabbed and threw, he even kicked like a soccer player with anything that could stick to his feet. Foot by foot, throw by throw, more vines got pelted and the massive ball was getting more and more torn apart as the flames spread. Even debris that got destroyed by his kicks pelted the boulder like buckshot from a shotgun or medieval cannon.

"Now!" Peter charged in a sprint, avoiding the vines on the ground as he took a mighty leap, his arms wide and one leg curled back as he saw the larger hole at the top of the boulder. He managed to land inside the giant vine sphere, right behind a standing Shiozaki who turned, utterly stunned. She threw out her hand, and Peter slid along the ground, vines passing overhead.

He kicked off the ground as another vine tried to grab him from below. Peter flipped over Shiozaki and swing the pipe that he had reclaimed after ceasing his projectile assault, cutting straight through Ibara's hair that was forming the giant vine and was the metaphorical head to this thousand-head hydra. She yelled in surprise and a bit of pain as her long green locks were torn, and the giant vine ball crumpled without her control. He put a hand on the back of her shirt, picking her up and throwing her like some odd football. She burst through a weakened part of her vines, yelling as she landed on the ground and rolled to a stop. The greenette got back to her knees when she turned, face set in dire determination.

His arms felt like a lead weight, and there was barely any power in them. As her hair began to grow back, vines coiling like a gorgon's hair, Peter fell to his knees, and he heard the crack of a whip and the sound of the horn. Shiozaki gasped and looked behind her, seeing that her foot was out of bounds on the grass.

"Shiozaki Ibara has gone out of bounds! The victor is Peter Parker of Class 1-A!!!" Midnight declared.

The arena erupted in a cacophony of noise that nearly deafened Peter. He tried to wave, but he was too tired, and the heat from the fires was starting to get to him. He heard a crash, and saw that giant hands of concrete were rising up to smother the flames thanks to Cementoss.

"THIS SPORTS FESTIVAL JUST KEEPS ONE-UPPING ITSELF! WHAT AN AMAZING FIGHT! GUESS WE NEEDED A NEW ARENA AFTER ALL! BOTH PARKER AND SHIOZAKI THREW EVERYTHING AND THE KITCHEN SINK AT EACH OTHER! MARK MY WORDS FOLKS, THIS PLAY-IN MATCH WILL BE TALKED ABOUT FOR A LONG TIME!" Present Mic raved over the cheer of the crowd. "MUMMYZAWA! YOUR THOUGHTS?"

"Shiozaki did an outstanding job with crowd control and defense, and her overwhelming firepower with her Quirk was nothing short of impressive. However, no suit of armor is invincible, and sadly for her, Parker found the weak spot, considering how Shiozaki needs sunlight in order to make the most of her quirk." Aizawa mused. "For Parker, well, what else needs to be said at this point?"

Peter breathed a sigh of relief, it was over, thank god. He grunted as he got to his feet, his shirt and pants darkened by the chlorophyll from Shiozaki's hair-vines.

Yet Shiozaki Ibara herself, for all her angelic beauty, only had a few scratches on her. He panted as he walked up to her, seeing her sigh.

"Hey…" He breathed, offering his hand to her. The girl perked up upon seeing it. Then Peter bowed in respect. He raised his head, and saw Shiozaki return it in kind. They rose back up, and they shook hands. "You kicked my ass out there." He laughed, smiling a bit.

"I was only doing my best to defeat you as painlessly as possible, although it is unfortunate I los-oh!" Shiozaki perked up as Peter raised her hand over his head, and the crowd roared. The greenette offered a soft smile in return. "And it seems you've gained quite an audience in our duel, Parker." She commented, pointing up at the jumbotron as Peter turned. The social media feed was scrolling so fast that he couldn't keep track of the names. In addition, there were the chants.

"Parker! Parker! Parker! Parker!" Over and over the audience cheered, and Peter let out a soft laugh. Everyone cheering for his name like this… it felt nice. Rejuvenating. Just.. soak it in.

It was what Mr. Stark would do after all. Or any Avenger as he smiled confidently.

That's right, he was an Avenger.

The Last Avenger.

Peter looked to the ground at that thought, frowning.

"A fine match you two, albeit a bit rough, don't you think?" Cementoss broke the moment as he approached. "One I will certainly remember for a time. However, I must repair the arena, and it will take a while."

"Sorry Mr. Cementoss," Peter grinned widely, putting aside the gnawing in his chest. "Guess we did go a bit far, right Shiozaki?"

"This is All Might's Alma Mater of U.A." She replied taciturnly. "We only went Plus Ultra after all."

"Umm, yeah!" Peter thrust his hand in the air. "Plus Ultra! Haha-"

The crowd erupted in a "Plus Ultra!" roar and it caught Peter off guard as if he felt goosebumps. Chuckles rang out from the audience, and even the cement-man had a wide grin.

"Ahhh, the vitality of youth. Go take a shower and recover in the Locker Room, Parker. You'll find a new set of clothes to wear for your final bout. Shiozaki?" He turned towards her, and the vine-haired girl bowed lightly, and Peter could see her hair growing back to normal.

"I will rejoin my classmates, Sensei." She let out a sigh. "After I hydrate." She began to walk through the debris and jagged concrete as Peter followed. "Parker." She murmured. Her eyes, Peter suppressing a wince as one was still covered by his webbing, turning towards him as he stepped up by her side. She looked to the side towards her suite. Her class was cheering and waving, mostly as Peter followed her gaze.

Pony was there as well, but with bandages and patches as she waved and cheered. Peter grinned widely.

"Sorry for, well, cutting off your hair. Had to win and what-not. You weren't hurting too much, were you?" He asked, to which Shiozaki shook her head.

"Cutting off my vines caused me no discomfort, as long as I have sunlight and water I can regrow my hair just fine. Although I could sense the fire." Shiozaki looked over at the ruined braziers with a frown. "Clever stratagem I must say…"

"Yeah well, you were super strong Shiozaki, heck, stronger than me! Didn't have much a choice!" Peter mused as they began to walk out of the arena.

"You're too gracious." Shiozaki closed her eyes, smiling lightly. "I can see why Pony looks up to you, and for that I thank you."

"H-How so? I mean, care to elaborate?" Peter asked, scratching his cheek lightly as his arms throbbed lightly.

"Pony has been training hard ever since coming here to U.A.," the green-haired girl explained. "Always asking Vlad-sensei for access to the training grounds. She only doubled down after the USJ incident. And it motivated some of us in our class. I had to train hard over the past week to get my vines to the level of control I have now." The angel-like girl turned towards him. "You beat me fair and square and with honor, and for that I wish you good luck… So I trust you'll know what's coming next." She added, Peter seeing the waves from his own group's suite. Todoroki was back, sitting close to Momo and Kyoka. Midoriya was back too, with a crutch and sporting a few bandages.

Bakugo was in his seat, and Peter's brown eyes could see the hard simmering ruby gaze the blonde was giving him.

"Thanks." Peter's face hardened as he looked up at the jumbotron. "And yeah, I know." He spoke in a low tone. Shiozaki made no comment. The two walked into the tunnel, going their separate ways.

(X)

"Would you look at that!" Kirishima declared, "You had me worried about nothing, Bakugo!"

The redheaded brawler clapped the blonde on the back, making Bakugo's eye twitch, but he said nothing.

'Huh, normally Bakugo would be all over something like that. Looks like he's really focused on his next match.' Whatever it was, Kyoka couldn't make a good guess. Guy might be a raging maniac sometimes, but there was no one more focused on the match in front of them than he was. Aside from Momo that is.

"He was going to lose," Asui pointed out, "If the braziers weren't there, he wouldn't have been able to slow down the vines long enough to get into that ball of hers."

"Oh come on! Didn't you guys see that jump of his? I don't think anyone else could've pulled that off!" Kirshima says, flashing a toothy grin.

"I'm just worried about his inbox," Shoji said from one of his arm mouths sitting behind most of the group, "The top two always get the most recruitment offers, and Parker had already made a showing before that match."

A few seats over, Bakugo scoffed.

"You extras are acting like he's the only one in this tournament."

"Oh don't worry, I don't think anyone could forget you," Kaminari smirked, leaning back in his chair.

"Don't think that's possible since we have ears," Sero added with a cheeky grin.

"What does that supposed to mean!?!" Bakugo roared, baring his teeth.

The two dunderheads laughed their asses off as Bakugo tried to force his way past a nervous Kirishima. Jirou rolled her eyes, why in the world couldn't people just chill for two seconds? Those two weren't even in the tournament anymore. And Bakugo…

"Hey Bakugo," Kyoka said, and blinked as Bakugo actually stopped his assault on the jokers to glance her way, "Shouldn't you be in the locker room or something?"

The blonde bomber's eyes narrowed, only to drift to the now empty and ruined arena as Cementoss got to work.

"Fine," he grumbled, pushing Kirishima away and walking into the tunnels of the arena.

"Grumpy guy," Uraraka commented with a light laugh.

"He's about to fight in the finals of the festival. Like many great warriors, much weighs on his mind," Tokoyami brooded with crossed arms.

Kyoka notched an eyebrow, but didn't comment on the statement. Tokoyami always had a bit of a… strange taste in discripters. More importantly though, Kyoka glanced at her two classmates right beside her. Neither Todoroki or Momo gave any comment.

Hell, neither of them had looked away from the arena since the dual-quirk boy showed up.

"You two doing alright?"

The question snapped Momo out of her little stupor. The rich girl nodded, "Y-yes, I was just… observing."

"So was everyone else, but not everyone's packing binoculars," Kyoka said with a smirk.

Momo glanced down at the offending pair of spectacles, sheepishly setting them down. Shoto on the other hand…

"I'm thinking."

The girls shared a look.

"About what, Todoroki-san?" Momo asked.

A single, mismatched eye darted her way.

"If it was any different for him back then."

Okay that was… cryptic, but Kyoka let it slide. The intense thoughts of the Number Two Hero's son were beyond her and she would be glad if they stayed that way. For now, she flipped through the student forums on her phone, noticing that yet again, the page about the festival had blown up.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, plenty of people look interested in you Todoroki," Kyoka said, showing her phone as proof at the social media and forum feeds.

The scion of the second greatest hero looked at the phone with as much interest as a coma patient.

"They're probably because of my father."

Kyoka rolled her eyes, "Sheesh, could it kill you to think that, I don't know, maybe you put on a good show and they'd like to take you under their wing?"

"I'd say it's been a rather productive day for all of us," Tokoyami said with crossed arms and closed eyes.

"Speak for yourself, I didn't even get in the tournament!" Sero groaned.

Behind him, Sato shrugged, "Eh, it's not all that it was hyped up to be."

"Don't taunt me!" Sero lamented, pointing at the muscular boy, "You at least showed off what you could do! And got a win!"

"I didn't even get a shot in my second match." Sato replied looking down.

"Oh it wasn't that bad Sato," Uraraka said.

"I thought you did pretty good," Asui said. "All things considered."

The huge boy blinked, nervously scratching his cheek, "Oh, thanks guys. Yeah, now that you think about it, I got a few good licks in."

"Can't say the same for others though," Kirshima commented, glancing regretfully over to Momo and Asui.

The frog girl shrugged without a care in the world, while the class representative didn't even look bashful, her eyes clouded over. Kyoka had to jab her with her elbow just to get a reaction. A small shriek emerged that made Torodoki give her a sideways glance, but little else.

"Y-yes, Jirou-san?"

"Just wondering if you're doing okay after your match," the punk girl asked.

Momo blinked before waving it off.

"O-oh, that was nothing!" She laughed before settling down, sighing. Why the Class Rep wasn't as talkative now was odd.

Eh, probably just her losing her match.

(X)

Peter exited the shower, free of the slime of the dead plants that had soaked him before. He looked around the bathroom, finding his towel and beginning to dry off. Letting out a sigh he set aside the towel and found his spare clothes that the arena's staff had provided him prior to entering the showers. He finished getting dressed and walked into the normal locker room, exiting the men's bathroom and showers. Peter looked up to the TV, seeing Cementoss still working on creating a new arena.

Sighing, he went over to his locker and looked at his web shooters. The fluid cartridges were dry, so that would mean he would be fighting Bakugo without one of his preferred tools.

"Oh well." He shut the locker before going over to a table and sitting down. Peter looked at his interlocked hands, thinking on what he had to do next.

Bakugo Katsuki was someone who had a lot of firepower with his explosions, but they only seemed to form from his hands. Without his webbing, he couldn't fight from a distance. Looking at the TV, he saw the highlights of his bout with Shiozaki. Sipping some water from his thermos, he watched how he ran, jumped, hacked, and slashed away at the thousands of vines going his way.

The fact that Shiozaki had successfully pushed him into a corner was something else. He hadn't expected her to do that and… hmmm…

The slam of a door broke his train of thought as he turned, and low and behold, a confused Bakugo Katsuki was in the doorway, boot raised after kicking the door open.

Peter clenched his jaw, breathing through his nostrils. "Door has a handle you know." He muttered, picking up his water bottle and sipping.

"Huh?! Why are you here…?" He looked at the door. "Wait a minute, crap this is Room Two!"

"Can't even read now?" Peter muttered under his breath. He felt his tingle act up as he lifted his bottle to sip.

"I can understand you, Parker!" Bakugo barked in English, slamming his hand against the wall as a pop came out and Peter looked up, glaring at the snarling blonde. Ah, he must have spoken in English.

"Don't you need to prepare or something?" Peter asked in Japanese as he continued to sit, facing Bakugo as the two boys were by themselves in the room.

"I've had more than enough. And you," he hissed, red eyes blazing. "I can't stand you."

"The feeling is mutual." Peter spoke low as he looked up at him. "You're an eyesore, and for the life of me I can't figure something out."

"What exactly?" Bakugo asked, willing to indulge him.

"For starters, for someone as thuggish as you, why the hell does Midoriya still look to you as a friend with his little pet name?" The American asked, sipping his water as Bakugo raised an eyebrow… Then he began to look angry. A very pained angry, as he bared his teeth.

"Who cares about that fucking nerd!" He snapped, getting closer with every stomp of his boots. Peter rose to his feet, realizing that he had Bakugo by an inch or two. "Deku has nothing to do with this! And-"

"And secondly." Peter spoke, low. "Tell me." He looked back at Bakugo. "You want to be a hero, so you can be like All Might, correct? Nothing else?" He remembered, back on that elevator. Bakugo wanted to be Number One. Like All Might.

No matter who was in his way.

"Of course. That's my endgame goal." Bakugo sneered. "All of us here want to be like All Might. To go Plus Ultra. You?" He pointed, jabbing a finger at the brown-haired boy's chest. "All you care about is some stupid ass speech and sacrifices and making stupid cornball jokes when you should be taking this seriously. A hero who wins is the only thing that matters." He swung his arm to the side. "Everything else is shit on the roadside. Real heroes don't lose, or else they're just trash!" He shouted before turning and marching out of the room and towards his own, not before slamming the door on his way out.

…

Peter felt himself go perfectly still.

Everything that Bakugo had said was just more of the stupid bullshit. More of his own over-inflated opinion of his own goddamn importance that meant nothing. Jack. Shit. Nothing.

But those last words... It was like a gunshot going off in his brain, an unbelievably deafening roar that made colors dance behind his eyes and a flood of memories pour through the bleeding wound. His hands twitched.

"Real heroes don't lose?" he muttered slowly in Japanese. "You say..." Feeling the breath huff out of his nostrils as his fist slowly clenched, opened and clenched again.

So Pony, Midori, Momo, the Guardians, Dr. Strange...

Mr. Stark…

Uncle Ben…

So they weren't 'heroes' to this... thug. They didn't pass his 'standards' huh?

It shouldn't matter... he shouldn't care. Bakugo was an ass and his opinion wasn't worth a damn to begin with...

And yet.

The thought sickened him. Right down to his core.

A Hero in training. Bakugo Katsuki.

All he wanted was victory. No matter the cost.

That was all he cared about, all that mattered to him.

Peter sat down in his locker room, trying desperately to calm down as the words bounced around his skull, his anger mounting all the while. The sound of a crunching water bottle, which was the thermos in his hand, permeated throughout the silent locker room.

(X)

"WE ARE HERE AT LAST! THE CREME DE LA CREME OF U.A.'S FRESHMEN WILL BE DECIDED!" Present Mic shouted as Parker and Katsuki walked side by side to the arena. Parker's face was like a rock, set and unmoving.

Katsuki? He couldn't wait for the opening bell, his grin filled with devilish delight.

Finally… after so damn long. He and Parker, head to head. No suit. No gear. As equal as it gets. He would be the one to show the world that he was the one closest to becoming Number One. Not this quipping clown!

"THE FINAL MATCH! PETER PARKER AND BAKUGO KATSUKI OF CLASS 1-A! THESE TWO GOT THE TOP TWO SCORES IN THE ENTRANCE EXAM TO APPLY HERE! YOU CAN SAY THAT FATE HAD THESE TWO CLASHING FROM THE VERY START! NUMBER ONE VERSUS NUMBER TWO!"

'I'm not gonna be Number Two for long, not any more!' Katsuki thought to himself. His red eyes were wide with excitement. 'Everyone will be singing MY praises. Not yours!'

Parker took his spot in the arena, and Katsuki his, and it was then the blonde noticed that Parker's wrists were bare. "What? Did your toys break while fighting Vinegirl?" He asked with a smirk.

Parker was silent. The blonde's eye twitched.

"Silent treatment?" Katsuki smirked. "Heh. Good mindset then, not that it'll do you any good in our fight. What? Too angry to even speak?" He then switched to English. "Cat got your tongue?"

Parker's lip twitched as he glared, unblinkingly, and Katsuki felt… a chill as he looked at him with disgust. No, it was anger.

"So, what is it?" Katsuki laughed, baring his teeth as tiny pops exited his hands, still in English. "When was it that we hated each other? Or when you finally paid me attention?" Katsuki's mind rummaged through his observations of the many extras. As he saw the highlights of the prior matches, he saw his clash against Horngirl. Tsuno...tari was it? Or was it Tori. He didn't pay attention. The way Parker was glaring at him, not focusing on those extras back in their suite or the chanting crowd. He could even hear the 'Parker' chants again, and Katsuki's blood began to boil.

The masses would be cheering for him before long.

"So, you're mad because I beat up your friend? Is it?" Katsuki asked in Japanse. Parker stretched his arm, breathing hard through his nose as he stayed silent. "Well let me say it right here and now. You're not giving her the respect she deserves."

"Come again." The American's eyes were like steel as he cracked his knuckles, his words low as he answered. Ohhh yes. He is mad. But now, Katsuki felt… slighted.

"Horngirl nearly beat me in the fight. Hell, she's the closest one I've ever fought who came close to beating me. And you, you probably think she's some precious little doll for you to protect? Well get your eyes checked and your brain examined you fucking idiot." Katsuki snarled. "You're looking down on her by thinking she's fragile. Well," He stretched his neck out. "She's not. So if you're gonna come at me, then go ahead, white knight," He added that in English. "And fight for yourself. Don't fight to avenge her. To avenge a loser."

Parker's eyes widened, and the blonde felt a chill through his spine as Parker… began to scratch the side of his head, as if he had a slowly growing itch. Katsuki gulped in anticipation, licking his lips before the devil's grin came forth. 'That's it Parker… hate me.' He thought darkly to himself. 'Hate me with everything you've got! You've always been the one ahead of me! The strongest of us in our Generation! I understand that! But, I will be the one to overtake you! Come at me with all of your hate, then I know you'll be fighting me without holding back! And when I win...' He thought. 'I'll be Number One! Undisputed! Without any doubt! Just like the old days back in Alderna! Back before this stupid school year began! Everything will be brought back to normal, with me at the top!' "Because the one who will win here, when all is said and done." Katsuki dropped his grin, growing a scowl "Will be me."

"No." Parker stopped his scratching of his crown, looking at him with a dismissive scowl as he spoke in his native tongue. "You won't."

Too angry to even speak Japanese? Katsuki scoffed. 'Now then…'

"Are both fighters ready?" Midnight called out. Katsuki bent down, arms bent and hands ready to unleash Turbo Speed as he went over his strategies on how to best Parker going off of his previous fights. His hands crackled with red pops.

Parker bent down low as well, one hand to the ground and legs wide as he supported himself from the balls of his feet and his fingertips. Katsuki did his best to calm the explosions in his palms, ready to launch forward like a fighter jet.

'Finally…' Katsuki felt like a kid on Christmas morning as he focused, shedding his smile for a glare to return towards Parker.

'This is…'

One on one. Versus Peter Parker, and the road to the top was through him. It was time to toss him from that Ivory Tower.

'The moment I've been waiting for!'

They lifted their heads, dark steel-brown into burning ruby-red as Katsuki found himself unable to hear the roar of the crowd.

Parker didn't either. And Katsuki knew that gaze, for it mirrored his own.

They had one goal, and they had the power to act on it.

Victory.

"BEGIN!"