Proof Of A Hero
Another Way to Win

"Does losing prove that you are weak? Isn't losing difficult for all of you? A challenge where, after ending up on your hands and knees, you must see if you can stand up again? If you stay on your hands and knees, that proves that you are weak."
~ Takeda Ittetsu ~
~ Haikyuu! ! ~

Key
'The' - Thoughts
"Sports" - Speech
"Festival" - Electronic
"Finale!" - Deities

~ Let's Continue! ~

After a short break from the tournament, it began again with the three commentators, and one of them was finally awake, or at least seemed more awake than before.

"Hey, Eraser, what's the next match?" Present Mic said as the crowd was shaking in their seats from their pure excitement.

"I believe it's Midoriya versus Todoroki first." He replied as the two looked at each other in the stands and walked away, heading in two different directions with the same destination. "It'll be quite the show, they're my best students in terms of potential."

"Well, I know who I got my money on." Joked Nejire as the two competitors neared the tunnels that lead into the stadium.

The two were stopped by Midnight who held her hand out to motion a 'stop'. With the two slightly visible from each of the tunnels, Midnight held her microphone up as she pointed toward Sumiko.

"From the right side, we have Sumiko Todoroki the spine-chilling daughter of Endeavor!" Midnight shouted as Sumiko walked toward the arena with a grimace. "And on the left side, we have Izuku Midoriya the insane powerhouse with voices in his head!"

This time, it was Izuku's turn to walk to the arena, this time with a playful smile from the insult of a title. Once both fighters were in the arena, they glared at each other dramatically before getting into a fighting stance of their own.

"Both fighters ready?" Midnight asked as the two continued to glare at each other. "Fine, ignore me then. It's time to fight!"

As soon as the match started, Sumiko shot a trail of ice toward Izuku who glimpsed at the attack before his fists were encased in a soft yellow glow. Without giving Sumiko a chance to change her attack, Izuku punched the ground as the energy around his right fist dispersed and shattered the ice in the process.

Grinning like a madman, Izuku started to run toward Sumiko with his right hand regaining the soft yellow glow right before Sumiko shot another trail of ice. Though this trail of ice didn't just freeze Izuku in a giant glacier, it shot past Izuku and created a wall that split the arena in half.

Ignoring the perpetual doom that was built behind him, Izuku kept his madman charge and leaped toward Sumiko before slamming both of his hands into the ground in front of Sumiko. "Smash!" Izuku shouted as the ground rippled like water and Sumiko was sent slightly into the air. Taking his chance, Izuku grabbed Sumiko's legs and spun around before letting her fly toward the wall she created. "Smart move, you know that I don't want a quick fight."

Gritting her teeth, Sumiko hit the wall of ice and cracked it as it caved in from her crash, leading the wall of ice to crumble, well all except for the edges of it. Getting back up, Sumiko was slightly hunched over as she tapped her foot on the ground once more, sending a rising trail of ice around both her and Izuku.

Once the trail stopped moving, Sumiko and Izuku were walled off which consequently stopped any means of a ring out for a few moments. "You really planned this match out!" Izuku shouted as he summoned his shield. "Why don't we step this up?" He said as he ran toward Sumiko again.

"You talk a lot for someone who's about to lose." Commented the Heterochromia fighter as Izuku got closer. But once he was just steps away from her, another trail of ice trailed along the ground and stopped right in front of Izuku for a nanosecond. And that was just enough time for Izuku to lower his shield just enough.

Then the ice in front of Izuku shot up into a pillar and hit his shield, yet didn't stop as it pushed Izuku against the wall of ice. Sliding down against the wall, Izuku's shield glowed while his body was a bit cut up along his back.

Yet he was smiling while his eyes remained closed. "Let's skip a few steps," he mumbled as he used his shield to help him stand up. "Athena, it's your turn." He said as his hair flashed a lime green and stayed that way.

Smashing the pillar of ice that pushed him against the wall, Izuku stood there with his shield arm outstretched in front of him. Dramatically, he opened his eyes for everyone to see aquamarine eyes as his P.E. uniform changed into bandage-like clothes that stuck tight onto his body. The shirt was a dark grey color and the pants were white with swirls of energy cascading down them.

"Finally, I can finally show him that all I need is ice." She mumbled as Izuku walked toward her, expelling an aura of power and authority as he got closer.

"Oh, we almost forgot about the other side of your quirk," Izuku said with Athena's own voice overlapping his. "But your ice won't be enough to beat me, so why don't you try that fire out?"

With Izuku walking closer, he was right in front of Sumiko and looking down at her. "I'm not using his power!" She shouted at him, not even making him flinch from her sudden outburst.

Suddenly, ice formed under Izuku's feet before he was launched up into the air. He flew up until he was above the stadium and his form disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving him in his P.E. uniform.

Leaving everyone stunned, Izuku continued to fall as his eyes closed once more and he felt his body go numb. As he fell, nothing happened and no one tried to stop his descent. And after a few seconds, Izuku's body crashed into the floor of the arena before a faint golden wave went over his body.

Fearing the worst, Sumiko stepped closer to his body that remained still and seemingly dead. But all of the sudden, Izuku's hair turned pitch black as it flattened out and cascaded farther down his neck. Then he got up, showing his sickly yellow eyes to everyone before he grew a murderous smile.

"You die for that." He said, yet it wasn't his voice at all, only a sickly low feminine voice. In an instant, the cement shot up and surrounded Izuku as everyone turned to see Cementoss with his hands on the ground. "Foolish mortal. I may be from the land of the dead, but I can still create and mold this land."

As if on cue, the cement around Izuku's body shattered into pieces as he stepped closer to Sumiko who was shaking in pure fear from Izuku's presence. When he was face to face with her once again, his sinister smile faded and was replaced with a frown as his right eye turned green.

"Todoroki, end this... now... I... can't... stop her..."

Barely getting the plea for help out, Izuku's right eye changed back to a sickly yellow color. Instilling fear into the audience and heroes from his mere presence, Izuku leaned closer as the ground around Sumiko's feet started to liquify, making her sink into it before it solidified with her feet stuck in it.

"No more holding back." She muttered as her left side sparked a few flames started to ignite along her side. "He wouldn't be happy if I didn't even try my best." She muttered once again as a few parts of her right side had ice forming over them.

Gaining the curiosity of Izuku, he stopped and watched as her entire left side burst into flames, slowly burning the fabric of her uniform. But Izuku snapped to his senses as he leaped back and created a wall of cement to separate himself from his opponent.

"Stop fighting... mortal. This body... will be... mine."

For Izuku, his body was in a fight for control between the rightful controller and Izanami. Using that struggle as a distraction, Sumiko brought up her left arm and shot a blast of flames that slowly melted away at the wall of cement. 

Once that buffer was gone, Sumiko continued to blast a stream of fire toward Izuku with her left and swung her right arm to shoot a trail of ice toward Izuku. The two attacks got close to Izuku as the stream of flames stopped his internal struggle, allowing the ice to surround Izuku, trapping him.

"Sumiko Todoroki wins!" Midnight shouted as the audience cheered, but Sumiko dropped to the ground as the flames at her side died down to reveal some of her skin, thankfully not anything important.

Walking closer to the ice surrounding Izuku, Sumiko was stopped by Cementoss who pointed at his eyes. Inside the ice, Izuku's eyes were still the sickly yellow they were before and his hair was still black, albeit regaining that curly nature slowly.

"Wait." He ordered as Sumiko stepped back from the prison of ice that captured Izuku. "Once his eyes and hair return to normal, you can unfreeze him."

Nodding, Sumiko looked up at the crowd before her eyes landed at a smirking hero, to which she glared at him. Ignoring him, Sumiko undid the ponytail that she put her hair into, letting her two-toned hair cascade down her back, just below her shoulders. 

A little while later, Izuku's eyes and hair returned to normal, so Sumiko melted him out, only for him to fall to the ground in exhaustion and oxygen deprivation. Helping him up, the two of them walked back to the stands where the rest of the class were seated.

"The next quarter-final match will be between Ibara Shiozaki and Kira Musubi. Students, get ready." Announced Present Mic as Aizawa was more awake than ever and Nejire was furiously tapping on her tablet, taking as many notes as she could.

In just a few minutes, the next two students stood on opposite end of the arena that had to be repaired from the previous fight. But anyway, Midnight got rid of her microphone and stood on the edge of the arena, deeming this match safer than the previous one.

"Girls, the fight starts now!" Midnight shouted as three golems erupted from the cement floor and Ibara's hair shot into the ground.

Then vines sprouted from the ground in front of Kira, who dropped to the ground as it went over her. With the vines over her, they started to cover her in a dome formation while her golems ran toward the vine girl.

But with three golems charging toward her, Ibara pulled her hair out of the ground before she started to move away, only to get back up to the edge of the arena by the three golems. "Sorry, but I want to win too!" Kira exclaimed as she made her way out of the dome of vines while the golems pushed Ibara out of the arena gently.

"Kira Musubi wins! The next match will be between Mina Ashido and Eijiro Kirishima!" Present Mic shouted through his microphone. At the same time, the two fighters ran toward the arena while Kira helped Ibara up before the two left the arena.

Once the next two fighters were ready, Midnight stepped off the stage, fearful that she might reveal more than she should on public television due to Mina's acids. "Let the match begin!" The exhibitionist shouted before Eijiro ran toward Mina and the latter surfed toward him with her acid.

Once the two got close, Eijiro hardened his arm and punched Mina in the face, forcing her back as her acid set into the ground, melting the ground slowly. Getting a bit more careful, Eijiro avoided the acid that was already on the ground as Mina made more to distract him and slow him down. Using the buffer she created, Mina roundhoused kicked Eijiro to the edge of the arena, his back burning from the acid he was on top of.

Gritting his teeth, Eijiro got up and the back of his uniform was almost completely melted through. But he ignored that and ran toward Mina who slid past him using her acid, before using the acid to make him slip, allowing her to push him out of the arena with minor struggling from the red-haired boy.

"With a slippery finish, Mina Ashido wins!" Nejire shouted, finally done taking notes and making some theories on her tablet. "Our last quarter-final match will be Momo Yaoyorozu versus Katsuki Bakugo!"

The latter of the two grinned maniacally as he ran through the halls of the stadium. As for the former, she made an audible gulp as her eyes widened in fear, but thankfully there was a voice of reason left in Izuku.

"Yaoyorozu-chan, just keep your head in the fight." He huffed out as Momo slowly got out of her seat. "He'll use any insult that comes to mind to deter you. So you may not have the best chances, but show everyone what you're capable of." 

Nodding shakily, Momo walked out of the stands and soon joined Katsuki in the arena, albeit much more nervous and fearful than him.

This time, Midnight stood away from the arena with a cement barricade that Cementoss had made for them. "Ready? Fight!" She shouted, not even caring if the two were ready for the match.

Yet that didn't seem to matter as Katsuki used an explosion to blast himself toward his opponent, who had yet to move. Crossing her arms, Momo made a metal staff from each of her forearms once Katsuki got close, hitting him in his solar plexus and ribs.

Using the few seconds she had bought herself, Momo unzipped her jacket and hunched over as the flashing of lights appeared from her abdomen.

"You whore!" Katsuki shouted as Izuku clenched his fist instinctively. "I'll make you pay for that!" He shouted once more before blasting himself toward her once again.

This time, he got closer and cupped his hands as if performing Vegeta's Final Flash attack, but he simply combined two explosions that blew Momo back. The blast stopped her streak of creating objects and revealed a bag stuffed to the brim.

Swinging her nearly made bag onto her shoulder and behind her, Momo ran toward Katsuki this time while she created a metal staff. With Katsuki keeping a maniacal grin present of his face, he charged toward Momo, only to have her pull a flash bomb out of her bag, blinding him mostly while Momo at least looked away.

Then Katsuki was grabbed by his uniform before he was thrown away with the swing of Momo's staff hitting him as well. Skidding against the ground, his vision cleared up as he saw Momo with a grenade in both of her hands.

"Just perfect, I might actually need to use this move to beat you." He said, his grin somehow getting even bigger as he finished scheming.

Not even responding, Momo threw the grenade in her right hand at Katsuki as she charged toward him. Raising his arms to block the grenade, Katsuki looked away but nothing happened. With the successful fakeout, Momo hit her on the head with her staff before pulling the pin on her other grenade and stuffing it down his shirt.

Running back, Momo let Katsuki look down into his shirt to see the grenade before he tried to pull it out. But he couldn't do it in time, letting the grenade explode and shrapnel to pierce his skin.

"You bitch!" He shouted as his blood soaked through his uniform jacket. He took off the jacket which made some of the shrapnel that wasn't deeply piercing his skin to fall out. "I'm going to fucking kill you!"

With that declaration, he shot an explosion behind him as Momo tried to throw a few more grenades. Yet this time, he stopped midway into his charge and cupped his hands together in front of him.

"Eat this!" He shouted as a giant explosion erupted from his hands, blowing up the grenades that Momo threw at him and created a giant smokescreen.

Once the smokescreen cleared up, the arena was beaten up with small craters in it. But everyone's attention was focused on Katsuki who stood near the edge of the arena with his uniform in tatters and small burns on the palms of his hands. As for Momo, she was completely unconscious and slumped against the wall with her jacket unzipped, showing the burns she received from the fight.

"Katsuki Bakugo is the winner!" Midnight shouted as she rose up from behind the barricade she and Cementoss used. "That marks the end of the semi-finals! Read on next time to find out what happens next!"

~ Fourth Wall Break! ~

A/N: That fourth wall stuff won't come up very often, but I'm stopping this right before 3,000 words because I want to keep the 'best' battles altogether. So, I'll make sure to finish it next chapter which will push the finale to chapter 17.