Yo! I'm finally back! Sorry for the hiatus. I feel so bad about it. But your guy's comments have given me a bit of motivation to continue this. Thank you all!
As the two boys made direct eye contact, easy thanks to their only one inch height difference, they both readied their stances and cleared their minds. The pair knew that they couldn't underestimate their opponents, and would need a plan.
Mirio had gotten mostly accustomed to fighting without a quirk, even if it was a struggle at first, and while he could be much more effective in battle and do more damage with it, he could still hold his own without it.
Tenya knew this, or well, assumed it based on their previous fight when they first met. While his quirk gave him the element of surprise and prevented him from being hit, the punches he dealt used his own physical strength, and he had good natural reflexes as well, along with more experience. Iida would have to be cautious if he wanted to even come close to winning.
Most of the audience had no clue who was going to win. On one hand, Iida had tremendous speed thanks to his quirk, while Mirio still had a great deal of blunt physical strength from working out and training. It just came up to who had the better strategy.
"Fight."
Once the magic word was called, the low hum of an engine whirring was heard throughout the arena.
"Prepare to be struck down by Sir Tenya of the Iida Nobility!" The class rep called in a bad posh accent, already in a sprinting stance. Blue light sparked behind him as his quirk rumbled to life.
Iida... The class collectively thought, sweatdropping.
Mirio grinned. "You're a funny guy, huh?"
Iida didn't reply, as he was already running across the platform at incredible speeds, his clunky armor making a ruckus as he went. It was obvious that he was faster than he had been in the past.
Already in front of the third year, he sent a strong kick to the student's side, his leg blurring with the fast motion. There was no way the blonde would be able to dodge.
There was a loud thwack sound when the kick connected, but Mirio wasn't rocketed back as he should have been. He kept his ground, standing in the same spot.
Upon closer inspection, Togata's large hands were now wrapped around Tenyas calves, preventing his leg from hitting his torso.
He caught it?! Iida thought. I need another plan.
He attempted to free his leg, but Mirio had a firm hold, making Iida lose his balance.
"Cool armor man." He complimented. Keeping a tight grip on his leg, the blonde twisted it further to the right, attempting to knock Iida off his feet.
Iida, however, kept a solid stance before starting up his engines again. The extra force allowed him to break out of Mirios grasp as he aimed another kick to his face. Mirio had space to dodge and tried to before Iida yelled out the name of his special move.
"Recipro BURST!"
Yellow and blue flames shot out of his engine's exhaust pipes as his kick gained an enormous amount of speed, his leg barely even visible. Mirio couldn't react in time as the iron-clad boot made contact with his face.
His whole body spun around as he slid a good way, but stayed on his feet. He wiped his mouth as a small bit of blood came down his chin.
"Good kick!" He said, none of his former enthusiasm missing. But he didn't have time to process before Iida was in front of him again, his Recipro still active.
Well damn. Was the only thing that came to mind before there was a strong impact to his chest. All the air seemed to leave his lungs as he stumbled backward, coughing a few times and trying to stay upright. He took a few steps back to regain his bearings but felt only air under his feet. Already unsteady, he fell backward and heavily hit the floor.
"The match is over." He heard a voice call. "Iida wins."
Looking around, Mirio found himself on the ground outside the arena. That first kick had pushed him back more than he had expected.
Getting to his feet again, Mirio couldn't help but give a wide smile. All of them have come so far!
"Congratulations Iida!" He said cheerfully as said boy approached him. "You got me down quick there!"
"Thank you for the praise Togata," Iida replied, giving him a grateful smile as they shook hands.
"The last match is over," Aizawa announced. "All of you should head back to class or to recovery girl if you need it. I will inform you of your assignments there."
"Yes, Mr. Aizawa!" The class chanted, some already almost out the door. Iida approached his group of friends, who smiled at him.
"Good job out there Iida!" Midoriya congratulated with a grin. "I can't believe you beat Togata!"
Iida smiled warmly back at him. "Thank you Midoriya."
"You did well," Todoroki said simply.
Uraraka held a fist up in the air. "Nice work!"
"Not bad tin man." Shinsou practically yawned.
"Ribbit. Nice." Tsu said flatly.
"Thanks you four!"
So with that, the six of them followed the rest of their classmates out the gym doors, idly chatting and going over the matches as they walked.
Oh my God, I finally finished this. I just totally lost all motivation to do anything, and I'm sorry to people who had to wait. Also, sorry that this is short. I probably won't be updating as often as I was before, but I'll try to make the chapters a bit longer. Thank you all for your support, and I'll see you later!