Chapter 55: Explosion Versus Speed
The air in the stadium was thick with anticipation. The final quarter-final match was about to begin, and the contrast between the two combatants could not have been starker.
Tenya Iida walked calmly down the dark entrance tunnel, not with the energetic warm-ups of a sprinter, but with the focused, deliberate stride of a knight heading into a duel. He adjusted his glasses, the light from the arena glinting off the lenses, obscuring his deep blue eyes for a moment. I cannot engage him in a close-range brawl, his mind calculated with cold precision. His explosive power is too chaotic, too unpredictable. My only chance of victory lies in absolute, overwhelming speed. A swift ring-out before he can adapt.
From the opposite tunnel, Katsuki Bakugo emerged, slouching into the light with a cruel, predatory grin on his face. He cracked his knuckles, the sound a sharp, menacing pop in the roaring stadium. He wasn't thinking about strategy. He was anticipating the thrill of the hunt, his crimson eyes already scanning his opponent like a target.
"This is it, folks! The final battle of the quarter-finals!" Present Mic screamed. "A true clash of styles! Will it be the lightning-fast discipline of Iida, or the ferocious, explosive instinct of Bakugo?! LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!"
In the stands, the students of Class 1-A leaned forward.
"Iida-kun's plan has to be a quick ring-out," Midoriya murmured, his analytical gaze already dissecting the matchup. "He can't afford a drawn-out fight."
"But Kacchan is so fast at reacting…" Uraraka whispered, her hands clasped nervously.
The starting buzzer blared.
VROOOM!
The sound was like a jet engine igniting. A brilliant, cobalt-blue flame erupted from Iida's calves, and he vanished. He was no longer a person, but a silver-and-blue comet, leaving a shimmering afterimage in his wake as he moved in a blindingly fast, circular path around the edges of the ring.
Bakugo did not try to follow him. He planted his feet, a wild, joyful grin spreading across his face. "THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!"
He was a hurricane in the eye of a storm. As the blue blur of Iida shot past him, Bakugo used his Quirk like a set of thrusters, unleashing short, sharp bursts of orange flame from his palms to propel himself in acrobatic, unpredictable dodges. It was a chaotic, instinctual dance.
"INCREDIBLE!" Mic roared. "IIDA IS TOO FAST TO SEE, BUT BAKUGO ISN'T EVEN TRYING TO LOOK! HE'S DODGING ON PURE INSTINCT!"
In the announcer's booth, Aizawa watched with a critical eye. "Bakugo isn't just reacting," he muttered. "He's using his explosions to constantly break Iida's linear path, forcing him to recalculate his trajectory. It's chaos versus order."
Gaara, watching from his seat, came to the same conclusion. Linear speed, he thought, his teal eyes tracking the two combatants. Effective, but predictable. The other… relies on instinct. He is a storm of chaos. But it is a focused chaos.
The game of cat and mouse continued for another thirty seconds. Iida, a blur of motion, would suddenly change direction, appearing behind Bakugo for a devastating "Recipro Kick." But Bakugo, anticipating the change in wind pressure, would blast himself to the side, the kick missing by inches as an explosion singed the air where he had just been.
Iida was panting, the blue flames of his engines flickering slightly. His normal speed was not enough. Bakugo was too adaptable. There was only one option left. He skidded to a halt on the far side of the ring, his face a mask of grim resolve.
Bakugo's wild grin widened. "What's wrong, Class Rep?" he taunted, his voice dripping with condescension. "Run out of fuel? You can't run forever! COME ON AND FIGHT ME!"
Iida ignored him. He took a deep breath, his entire body tensing. He was about to risk everything on a single, all-or-nothing gambit.
The roar of his engines changed, the pitch rising to a deafening, high-pitched scream. The flames from his calves intensified, turning a brilliant, almost white-blue. "RECIPRO… BURST!"
From his perspective, the world went into slow motion. The roaring crowd became a silent, frozen tapestry. He could see the individual, arrogant sneer on Bakugo's face across the ring. He had ten seconds. More than enough.
But Bakugo felt it. He couldn't see Iida, but he felt the air in the stadium itself seem to warp and compress. The pressure shift was immense. His wild grin vanished, replaced by an expression of pure, savage focus. There you are. He couldn't dodge. He couldn't run. He could only meet it.
He brought his open palms together in front of his chest, a strange, desperate look in his eyes. He knew what he had to do. Damn him… he's making me resort to this…
As the blue comet that was Iida shot across the ring, Bakugo unleashed everything.
"MAXIMUM OUTPUT: OBLITERATION SPHERE!!!"
He did not aim. He simply detonated. A blinding, concussive dome of white-hot light and searing orange flame erupted from his body, engulfing the center of the ring in a miniature sun. The sound was a cataclysmic BOOM that shook the entire stadium, a physical blow of pure sound and force.
The audience saw it for only a fraction of a second: the brilliant blue streak of Iida running directly into the heart of the white-hot, explosive star.
Then, there was only light and noise.
The smoke was thick, black, and acrid. A figure was blasted high into the air from the explosion, tumbling end over end—it was Iida. His sleek armor was cracked and scorched, and his glasses flew from his face, shattering as they hit the ground. He landed with a heavy, sickening thud on the grass far outside the ring, unconscious.
Slowly, agonizingly, the smoke in the ring cleared. In the center of a newly formed, blackened crater, a single figure was standing, but only just. Bakugo was swaying on his feet. The front of his gym uniform was completely burned away, revealing angry red burns across his chest and arms. He was panting, his entire body trembling from the sheer, suicidal force of the blast he had just unleashed.
Midnight, after a moment of stunned silence, raised her whip. "Iida is out of bounds! The winner… is Katsuki Bakugo!"
The moment the word "winner" was spoken, the last of Bakugo's strength gave out. He collapsed backwards, landing heavily on his back in the center of the crater he had created. He stared up at the clear blue sky, his vision blurring.
Damn him… he thought, his crimson eyes fluttering shut as the medics rushed towards him. He made me resort to a trick like that…
~~~~
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