Chapter 57: The Will of Creation
The stadium was electric. The semi-finals were here, and the final match to determine the challenger for the championship was about to begin.
"ALRIGHT, LISTENERS, ARE YOU READY FOR OUR FINAL SEMI-FINAL BOUT?!" Present Mic's voice roared, shaking the stands. "IT'S A BATTLE OF BRAINS VERSUS BRAWN! THE EXPLOSIVE, UNSTOPPABLE FORCE OF NATURE, KATSUKI BAKUGO! VERSUS, THE BRILLIANT, RESOURCEFUL CREATION QUIRK USER, MOMO YAOYOROZU!"
In the stands, Yaoyorozu stood, taking a deep, steadying breath. Her friends from Class 1-A gathered around her, their voices a warm, supportive chorus.
"You can do this, Yaomomo!" Mina Ashido said, her black and yellow eyes shining with excitement.
"Don't let him intimidate you," Kyoka Jiro added, her cool, dark purple eyes offering a look of steady support. "Your strategy is on another level."
Yaoyorozu looked at her classmates. She saw Midoriya's encouraging nod, saw the quiet, respectful gaze from Gaara's piercing teal eyes. In her mind, she saw a flash of Midoriya's shattered, heroic hands; she remembered Uraraka's tear-streaked, defiant face; she recalled the quiet, unshakable control Gaara had displayed against his own reflection. They had all fought with everything they had. Now, it was her turn.
She clenched her fist, a fire igniting in her intelligent, dark onyx eyes. "I can do this," she whispered to herself.
Elsewhere, in a shadowed alcove near the arena entrance, Bakugo leaned against a wall, his hands stuffed in his pockets. There was no smile on his face. His piercing crimson eyes were fixed on the bright light of the tunnel. This fight was not a challenge to him; it was a chore. A final, easy step he had to take before his inevitable, fated confrontation with the sand boy. He pushed himself off the wall and began his slow, deliberate walk toward the roar of the crowd.
"BEGIN!" Midnight's whip cracked through the air.
The start was as explosive as Bakugo's Quirk. He didn't run. He flew. Propelling himself with a series of perfectly controlled explosions from his palms, he shot across the ring like a human missile, his right hand already sparking, ready to end the match in a single, overwhelming blow.
But Yaoyorozu was ready. In a flash of light, a massive, gleaming, gunmetal grey shield of tungsten materialized in front of her. She braced herself behind it just as Bakugo arrived.
BOOM!
A brilliant orange and white explosion slammed into the shield. The sound was a deafening CLANG of metal under stress. The shield held, absorbing the brunt of the concussive force, though the sheer power of the blast sent her sliding back several feet. Her own dark eyes were wide with shock at the raw, untamed power she had just faced.
Bakugo landed, his crimson eyes narrowed with annoyance. She had blocked it.
"BAKUGO ATTACKS FROM THE WORD GO, BUT YAOYOROZU'S SHIELD IS UP TO THE TASK!" Mic screamed.
She did not just defend. From behind the cover of the shield, her arm glowed, and a long, silver-tipped spear formed in her hand. She thrust it forward, forcing Bakugo to blast himself backwards to dodge. The real battle had begun. She fought with the spear, its long reach keeping Bakugo's explosive close-range attacks at bay. She lunged and jabbed, the sharp tip of the spear scratching at his dark blue uniform, forcing him to stay mobile. His annoyance grew with every failed attempt to close the distance. Finally, with a roar of frustration, he unleashed a wider, more powerful blast that struck the spear, sending it flying from her hands as a cloud of black smoke filled the air. She immediately leapt back, discarding the now-dented tungsten shield.
Bakugo charged through the smoke. He was upon her in an instant, his right hand glowing. She reacted with astonishing speed, creating a smaller, round buckler on her left arm and a short sword in her right. She raised the buckler just in time. The explosion struck it, the force knocking her off balance, a streak of black soot now marking her cheek like a battle scar. She swung her sword, but Bakugo was already ducking under it, his movements brutally efficient. He spun, and with a guttural yell, hit her with a powerful, explosive uppercut.
The world went into slow motion. The blast lifted her clean off her feet. The small shield and sword clattered to the ground as she was thrown onto her back with a heavy thud.
A wave of concerned whispers went through the crowd. Her classmates leaned forward, their faces etched with worry. "Bakugo is showing absolutely no mercy to his opponent, even if she's a girl!" Mic yelled.
In the stands, Midoriya watched, his mind racing. "She's amazing! She's predicting his attacks and creating the perfect defense in a fraction of a second!" he said in awe. "But…"
"But his Quirk is pure, unadulterated talent," Tokoyami finished, his crimson eyes narrowed in analysis. "It is destruction, perfected. He does not need to think as she does. His body simply reacts. In a battle of attrition, she will be the first to fall."
Yaoyorozu knew he was right. She scrambled to her feet, her body aching. Defensive scraps and small weapons were not enough. She needed something more. She made a decision. She would bet everything on a single, final creation.
She leapt backwards, creating as much distance as she could, and her body began to glow. A complex array of metallic parts began to emerge from her back.
Bakugo saw it. He saw the cannon barrel, the power pack, the electromagnetic coils. He saw her building a truly dangerous weapon. And his lips pulled back into a wide, ferocious, and utterly joyful grin.
"Heh. Is that the best you've got?" he laughed, a wild, excited light in his eyes. "Alright, ponytail. I'll give you all the time you need to build your little toy. You'd better not disappoint me!"
"WHAT'S THIS?!" Mic screamed. "BAKUGO IS DELIBERATELY GIVING HIS OPPONENT TIME TO CREATE A WEAPON! IS THIS OVERCONFIDENCE, OR THE ULTIMATE SIGN OF RESPECT?!"
In the booth, Aizawa sighed. Reckless as always…
The cannon was complete. Yaoyorozu aimed the heavy, complex weapon, her arms trembling with the effort. Bakugo's smile widened. He raised his hand.
"Howitzer… IMPACT!"
At the same instant, Yaoyorozu fired.
A metal projectile shot from the cannon with a high-pitched whine. Bakugo's signature move, a spiraling, focused tornado of explosive force, shot from his palm.
They met in the center of the ring.
The result was a deafening, cataclysmic explosion that filled the entire arena with a blinding white light and a sound that shook the very foundations of the stadium.
When the smoke and light finally cleared, the scene was one of devastation. The center of the ring was a scorched, blackened crater. At the very edge of the boundary, Momo Yaoyorozu lay unconscious, her cannon a twisted wreck beside her.
Midnight calmly announced the result. "Yaoyorozu is unable to continue. The winner is Bakugo!"
Bakugo stood panting in the center of the ring. He clutched his side, where a small, smoking hole had been torn through his uniform. A sharp piece of shrapnel from his own explosion, propelled by her cannonball, had struck him. He winced. "Damn her…" he muttered, a new, unfamiliar feeling flickering in his chest. "A piece of that cursed cannon's impact still got me…"
He was declared the winner. He watched as the medics carefully placed Yaoyorozu on a stretcher. He let out a quiet, almost imperceptible "Tch!" But this time, it was not a sound of annoyance. It held a faint, grudging note of respect.
He had won. He was in the final. He raised his head, and his eyes found the giant screen. It was displaying the final, ultimate confrontation of the U.A. Sports Festival.
GAARA
VERSUS
KATSUKI BAKUGO
The crowd, seeing the final matchup confirmed, let out a roar that eclipsed every sound that had come before it. It was a sound of pure, unadulterated hype for the battle to come.
In the stands, Bakugo's crimson eyes were no longer wild. They were deadly serious. Across the way, Gaara's teal eyes were calm, focused, and filled with an unshakable, quiet resolve.
Their gazes met across the stadium. The final battle had been set.
~~~~
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