Some office
The office was occupied by midnight, present mic, all might and aizawa
Aizawa POV
"Listen John from here on out you are forbidden from useing pro hero's quirks the viewers don't like the way you're fighting" I said warning john one last time.
Midnight added "we ask that you limit your next fights to only class A quirks or that of your opponent"
John looking annoyed by the whole situation said "Why should I care about what they think, it shouldn't matter"
All Might tried telling John
"Young john you have classmates willing to help you there's no need to trick people just to get ahold of quirks"
Amused John just chuckled "please as If anyone there would actually help a future opponent rise"
Soon after john let out a smirk "if I'm only limited to class A abilities that won't matter I already have the perfect abilities in mind to beat anyone there."
With that final statement we sent John out.
I started speaking.
"That kid is very observant that kind of ruthless attention to people's weaknesses is not something that appears out of nowhere" I said.
"He has been watching everyone in class closely trying to understand their quirks. Limits, what ticks them emotionality and above all ways to beat them if it came down to it"i said
Present mic said "that's paranoid behavior"
Midnight added "it's still impressive despite only being able to copy weaker variants of quirks he has outclassed his opponents in the fighting stage"
All might spoke "I can't say I exactly approve of the way he gets his powers"
"John is more than just his quirk it's the way he thinks about fighting that makes him such an unpredictable opponent I'm sure he'll make an excellent hero but above all he isn't naive, look at the people out side even some of his classmates
they are criticizing his methods but in the real world failing to plan is just planning to fail"
Nezu had been silent the whole time spoke up "he needs more experience. he's been performing at an average or below average spectrum rate not just for the whole festival but mostly everything to go from that to crushing everyone in his way with brutal efficiency"
The mouse glancing at all might now he said "luckily for you that is one less reson to suspect John of being a plant for all for one if information was what he was after than avoiding attention should be the top priority for him"
"While I agree with the keep your friends close but enemies closer tactic keep in mind that if the media finds out they'll have a field trip
"At the very least we need to find his family or connections outside of school"
Present mic confused asked "why don't we just ask him saves us all the trouble"
Nezu responded to his concern "if he is working with villains we can't let him catch on to the fact we suspect him"
John's POV
Unbelievable they think I'm the one who's unfair when bakugo goes around like an arrogant hothead.
Well whatever I guess I'll join the rest of my classmates to watch the ongoing fights.
As I entered all of my classmates looked at me dumbfounded.
Clearly they weren't expecting me to get as far as I did.
I looked at bakugo who was royaly pissed.
Not pulling the pin on that grenade.
I decided to sit next to hagakure and ojjiro since I was most familiar with them.
Yaoyorozu walked up to where I was and asked "how were you able to trick Sensei into useing his quirk"
Mina also curious "yeah how'd you do It"
Seeing no reason to lie I said the truth
"I paid off some students that disliked bakugo to start a commotion infront of Aizawa and used hagakure's invisibility to sneak up and copy it while he used it"
Jiro spoke up "that's not okay to manipulate people like it's just wrong" others in class seemed to share the opinion
This level of naivety annoyed the hell out of me and reminded me of a certain self righteous pick haired girl who turned a blind eye to abuse until her rank was in danger.
Annoyed I responded "so what? Am I supposed to start a fair fight on equal grounds with my opponent? Just look at me every ability I copy is a weaker version of the original, and the few that put me on equal grounds with my opponent puts me at a severe disadvantage, face it a fight couldn't even start on equal grounds to begin with"
"I don't see anyone here criticizing bakugo or todoroki for being talented and using their minds to bring their talent to its highest potential."
"Sure we might be in a tournament with rules but in real fights the only rule if there even is any is to win"
"Did any of this matter in u.s.j?"
An unexpected voice arose in my defense.
"Listen to me copycat basterd ignore these extras and fight with everything you got, because if you even held back a little that ruins my victory even if everyone says I won"
"don't get arrogant just because you won against me when I get my rematch I'll crush you beyond anyone's doubt "
Everyone was silent due to the mood change so I said
"Well you can stop caring now I'm restricted to only class A powers"
After the mood died Down
I paid attention to more important matters
"So it's kirishima against ashido" I said
Everyone had already finished their first fight and now everyone was entering the second fight
Since I was the victor of the first match of the tournament against shiozaki that ment after everyone finished their first fight it would circle back to me so I'm the only one here who fought twice.
I need to see who wins this fight because after it circles back to me for my third fight I'll be fighting the winner of this specifics match"
Kirishima rushed ashido who tried to out mover him but his defenses were too strong for her so kirishima tried kocking out her out with minimal forse.
Kirishima won making him my next opponent.
Since izuku won against shinzso and todoroki against sero that ment that the next fight was between todoroki and izuku.
Todoroki vs izuku (Todoroki's POV)
"Come at me with everything you have Todoroki!"
Hearing that I retaliated with my ice.
Izuku placed his thumb in his mouth and launched another shock wave pushing me back.
Ice appeared behind me to deal with the recoil to stay in bounds. But more ice started appearing on me. Causing me to lose more mobility than before.
"Why? Why are you going this far?"
With a shout of conviction from part of izuku "Because I want to live up to everyone's expectations!"
"That's why"
"I'll win"
I remember crying in front of my mother
"I-I don't wanna be like dad, I don't wanna be someone who hurts people"
No, I can't
I reject my father's left si-
"It's yours, your quirk not his!"
_________________________________________
"Honey you do still want to be a hero don't you?"
"Just remember to stay true to yourself"
"You are not a prisoner of lineage"
"It's ok to use your power to become who you want to be"
_________________________________________
I didn't realize how much I had forgotten.
Todoroki's left side went up in flames causing the crowd to look in a mixture of excitement and anticipation
"Amazing"
"Why are you smiling with those
injuries in this hopeless situation"
"You fool even though you want to win this battle"
"Now which one of us if screwing around"
"I want it too I'll be a hero!"
"Don't blame me for what happens next"
At that moment my father my past my hatred I forgot all about it right here right now none of that mattered all that matters right now is here in the present.
Ice that covered a good portion of my right side turned to gas
The fight was reaching its climax izuku powered up his legs todoroki was about to launch a devastating ice attack.
The teachers were trying to intervene in the fight. Cementos with his cement and midnight with her gas the effort was futile in the end.
Midoriya closing in with his injured body and todoroki intensifying both of his sides.
In one smooth swipe
"I see now midoriya thanks"
John's POV
During the conflict, a strong gush of wind came to the audience's direction enough to push most of us back. All that was left in sight was fog. not knowing who was the winner everyone just patiently waited for the winner some with their jaws dropped.
I was even covering my face to shield myself from the wind.
I looked down just to see izuku leaning on a wall injured dropping to the floor soon after. todoroki still standing with half of his shirt gone.
Many thoughts were flying, todoroki mostly uses exclusively his ice it'd totally make sense that he's way more skilled with ice than with fire. But it's still impressive.
I heard midnight shout
"Todoroki advances!"
In other words todoroki would fight either tokoyami or ida
Some of the people in my class can effortlessly destroy giant zero pointers with ease while most people in my world struggle to even destroy walls once again I underestimated their ability in simple terms they just scale higher than most.
Shocked by the sheer display of power I say "he's extremely strong but his use of fire is sloppy and unorganized"i said.
"That's the result of not useing it"Pointed out kaminari.
"Well we should get going"ida had left with tokoyami
There was break time in between fights but ida and tokoyami left early to prepare.
As the time passed and we waited the fight between tokoyami and ida was about to start.
Todoroki entered
My guess is izuku is with the nurse healing.
Ida vs tokoyami
The fight started with tokoyami's offensive which ida responded to by swerving to the left.
"The fight could go either way they both have the methods of countering each other" said uraraka.
Mina joined in "look at how well tokoyami is defending"
Anytime ida got close the shadow was there to defend.
Tokoyami maneuvered the fight in an extremely effective manner to hide his weakness while making openings to attack.
Kirishima said"think he's going to use his "ricipro burst"
I spoke up "that would have to be his last resort as his ability become useless imidedly afterword.
Ida had lined himself up to the middle and started rushing towards tokoyami however as the shadow moved in to block ida spun his leg spinning around the shadow aiming to land a strong kick directed at tokoyami.
Tokoyami called his shadow back he pushed himself to the other side useing dark shadow to avoid the attack.
Tokoyami not wasting the opportunity from the ground sent dark shadow to attack.
Jiro said "they seem to be quite even but ida is on the defensive"
Uraraka says"ida does seem to have more stamina than tokoyami but tokoyami's versatility is giving him the edge"
I keep on looking at the fight whoever wins here would be Todoroki's opponent
Tokoyami keep his attacks going masterfully hideing his weakness to light as a result tokoyami wore ida and sent him out of the ring.
Getting mentally prepared I glance at bakugo
"Think I could borrow that explosion ability for this round bakugo?"
Bakugo clearly still pissed of at me screeched "fuck off, don't act like my buddy"
Yeah I figured with that I left copied some one else
_________________________________________
John vs kirishima.
There we stood infront of each other.
"So whose pro hero quirk do you have this time?" He said seeing as my last two fights had been with abilities from pros.
He also wasn't there when i told the class i was only limited to class A
I responded "don't worry they got on my case for that stunt so now I'm only limited to class A abilities"
"Not that it will matter" I added
Kirishima amused by my confidence responded "you sure do sound confident well guess what I'm not going down without a fight"
"Fight" shouted midnight
With that cue he hardend his body and started rushing me.
With an ability like that it's best to keep him at a distance, for now anyway.
Behind me came out a bright orange shadow with black outlines the shadow soon rushed towards kirishima pushing him back.
He was struggling to defend against the assault.
Kirishima landed an effective punch on my shadow destroying it.
Well I shouldn't be too surprised.
"Is that all?" He asks
Tch
Let's end this I think to myself.
My arms that were exposed got engulfed in a dark glowing mutant spot where I manifested razor sharp armor claws
After that I generate another shadow covering my entire back side useing the wings I fly up into the air.
"John takes his fight to the skys he's flying!!!!"
Kirishima looked in confusion "flying!? That's not a part of tokoyami's kit"
Spectator's stands
Mineta immediately shouts "how is he flying!?"
Tokoyami was now looking intensely at john the technique john was useing was one that even he couldn't use.
Todoroki said "i was under the impression that mutant quirks copied by John would be on equal levels so how is doing things that even tokoyami hasn't?"
Yaoyorozu trying to figure it out said.
"John seems to have more versatility with mutant powers back in usj when he copied a mutant villain he was on par with him even though nothing changed physically but judging from those black spots he produces on his body it looks like he can actually use the mutant aspect useing the black spots"
"But still to pick up foreign quirks and instantly master them like that must be hard"
Tokoyami added "his shadow and my shadow don't act the same he was able to produce shadows as claws and than add another shadow on top. He created 3 shadows in total meanwhile I only have one"
"While my shadow has a mind of its own his shadow acts more like a mindless puppet under John's control. But the shadow he sent that kirishima destroyed isn't something that would happen with me it's almost like watching an entirely new quirk
Uraraka spoke "that's because of his quirk spots"
Denki said
"unbelievable he's doing all this after saying he's never on equal footing with his opponent"
Aizawa POV.
Tokoyami himself hasn't shown himself to be able to fly yet here John is doing it.
John's POV
I fly low aiming at kirishima with full power I go in for an attack that pushed him back than useing my speed I fly to keep attacking, soon after I kock him out of bounds with a fury of close and long range attacks.
Aizawa POV
"And the winner of this match is John!!! Once again is he on a winning streak or what!!!!!!" shouted present mic.
Midnight says
"John advances to the final round"
Aizawa
So he won useing tokoyami, from the power he displayed it's safe to assume the damping drawbacks only applies to Emitter quirks.
Mutant powers stay the same and since he can choose where to apply the mutant quirk and control the property of quirk it can lead to techniques that even the original can't do.
But such a complex power would be useless without a user capable of managing an ever changing skill set.
Even if he didn't play any tricks to get the power the fight still stayed unpredictable.
(Spectator stands)
Bakugo looked at the black haired boy score another win. "That basstard, He's planning every fight to be as unpredictable as possible to throw current and future opponents way offgaurd"
Todoroki also acknowledging that bakugo was right added
"I can't bring myself to respect him for daring to use my old mans quirk but if he's going to keep this up than it's likely he has a plan to beat me"
Two of the strongest students who never saw John as a threat since the beginning were a acknowledging his danger
Asui looking at the two added directing to the rest of the class
"I guess it's not a surprise there acting this way bakugo one of the runner ups expected to win everything was taken out by John who performed average from the start"
Yaoyorozu points out"it's not just that he's also very strategic in the quirks he copies."
John's POV.
So my final opponent is either tokoyami or todoroki, my best case scenario would be if I fight ty tokoyami as he has an exploitative weakness, beating todoroki however will take more fenese.
As I er entered
Someone walked up to me
Tokoyami immediately asked "John how were you able to do that"
I might've gone to far in my display but if villains keep on getting in the way I need to be able to act more freely while still seeming to be normal.
"You're shadow has the property of floating so useing that property i was able to use it to achieve a levitating effect to be honest i don't see any reson why you shouldn't be able to use it with enough practice"
Tokoyami looking stunned said "how do you sound more experience with my quirk than me"
Trying to sound humble I responded "don't be. mutant quirks are my specialty because of my ability to create mutant spots. that's why it's more simple in other words I get a sorta formless version of a mutant ability that acts more like a transform ability, the only reson I was able to fly is because I've had experience with flight based abilities in past"
Tokoyami seemed to take my answer kindly as if he saw in the ability to improve for himself.
"I've only ever used it from the ground And never thought of it in such a way Thank you I now have something new to aspire to" he said as he bowed, and left along with Ida to get redy for the next fight.
Taken aback by his reaction I say "s..sure"
Most people I fight feel humiliated at the very idea of having their individual power something most take pride in be taken and used better by someone else.
Yet here he is taking that as a way to improve of his own accord with no ego.
I'm surprised but can't help but respect it.
Despite that I'm holding back what I said wasn't a lie. Mutant powers and my aura manipulation mix together extremely well since my mutant spots are also a result of a high ranking ability it means I can transfer the effect of mutant powers onto objects or people depending on the type, being able chose where the mutant factor activates also gives me an extra advantage.
Well anyway the tournament was about reach the end point, with only two fights left.
Kirishima looking at the now empty fighting stage asks "wonder how he'll try to face off against todoroki"
By this time izuku had returned.
Tokoyami vs todoroki.
The fight started by todoroki launching ice glacier after glacier, they weren't as big as the one against sero so it's possible he's saving energy for when he fights me.
He's on guard he still seems to only use ice but after his fight with midoriya I can't be so sure of that being said this fight would of been long over if he had simply used his fire due to tokoyami's weakness..
He was able to grab a hold of tokoyami and freeze him than tokoyami surrendered.
One more fight...I might be able to win but the for the first time I need to convince someone activate their ability.
John's POV
(Spectator stands)
Yaoyorozu looking down said "so it's the final round between John and todoroki"
Amused by the matchup Denki said "if at the start of the tournament you told me the last fight was gonna be John and todoroki I would have laughed"
Asui responded "yet it seems reasonable John's quirk isn't as destructive as todoroki or bakugo so he's more limited. he's forced to think strategically he got far not not on brute force but intelligence"
Yaoyorozu as if her spirits were down said in a low tone "got far more on mental ability than strength"
Mumbling in a tone no one can hear she said
"If I can't pull that off than what does that make me?"
"Pathetic"
John's POV
"Fight!!!"
As soon I was able to conceive that the fight started.
I put everything into motion.
My body was surrounded by orange and black sparks and energy overflowed my body with it being visible on my skin as lines of orange and black energy
My face now displaying an electrifying x with my hair being lifted up.
The next moment I was charging at todoroki at full speed the ice wall he put up was shattered by one right jab.
(Among the class A spectator stands who watched in shock Izuku did nothing but let out a strong sigh of relief.
All might watching from the sidelines spat blood as he tried to process John useing one for all.
(Flashback)
"Are you kidding, no way John I can't do that you saw me fight with todoroki this quirk harms the user you could be in danger so please avoid copying my quirk it's dangerous" said the boy ranting nervously at the demands john had made.
John just responded in a calm tone "no no you have it misunderstood yes I'll admit you have an overwhelming amount of built up energy and copying that would be like copying the Nomu from U.S.J downright impossible."
"Than how"
"Your base ability is the ability to stockpile energy and it acts like a battery building up power that's the thing I want to copy"
"I'll explain everything so there's no doubt in your mind"
"My plan is to copy your ability of stockpileing energy useing my aura as the fuel sourse letting me control the output in a stable manner"
"..."
_________________________________________
(Todoroki vs john)
John's POV
As soon as the shock set down todoroki not trying to give me a chance placed his right hand on the floor discharging a ridiculous amount of ice once again covering most of the fighting stage
From the distance, you could hear loud tremors and vibrations coming from the ice
After a bit I was able to shatter through any ice that got in my way a decently large opening appeared revealing my next move was to try to rush him.
I dashed in Todoroki's direction.
Todoroki tried jabbing his right hand to attempt to freeze me, i had seen through this and used my fingers to launch a air wave launching me in the opposite direction while in mid air I shoot two more air blast by flicking my fingers todoroki had no Choice but to block with ice.
I landed on my knees with one hand on the ground.
I was speeding up useing while throwing an endless barrage of wind blast to keep his options limited.
From the sidelines, midoriya shouted
"Come on todoroki don't give up do your best!"
Something for todoroki clicked at that moment he gritted his teeth and gave an obviously strained face but soon after went back to a serious face with now his left side emitting fire.
Crap this might get tricky his attacks will become faster and more destructive.
In response I added more aura to my stockpile and charged up.
Just as soon as the fire started to ramp up it dissipated
I jumped high up in the air and landed a kick on his face destroying the ground underneath todoroki and the wind recoil of the attack destroyed parts of the arena behind me.
Todoroki went flying and hit his back on the wall
"Todoroki is out of bounds, that means John is the winner" this was followed by a large crowd who responded with mixed reactions, some seemed happy I won while others were dissatisfied because of my use of underhanded tactics at the beginning of my first two rounds.
Present mic then shouted in his mic "and with that the final match is officially over the champion of the UA sports festival is John!!!!!!"
Midoriya pov
I heard mina
from my class say "well looks like John wins this one"
The spicy red-haired kirishima responded "talk about a finale he beat both bakugo and todoroki"
Every one looked at midoriya and Asui
"I don't get it, your quirk destroys your body yet John was able to use it so gracefully shouldn't he also copy their weaknesses"
Midoriya says "about that according to John he can only copy the base of a quirk but he can't copy built up or stockpiled energy from the user,his work around was to copy me and use his aura to as the energy source"
"My guess is that since aura manipulation is his quirk and he used aura to power my quirk he had an extremely strong control over the output resulting in a more stable version of my quirk" midoriya said.
He than pulled out his notebook and started showing the class "John is at his weakest with Emitter and transformation based quirks, normal strength with mutant quirks and at his strongest with any quirk that works via a build up of energy because he can use his aura to substitute the energy needed for the quirk to function"
"Even when todoroki had his guard up he didn't expect midoriya's quirk because of the damage it does to to the user"said kirishima
Asui pointed out another thing "it's pretty hard to plan against John even with your guard up. he barely talked to anybody about his quirk so no one knew it's limits and he just shows up with whatever ability he wants so you never know what to expect"
Time skip
Midoriya's POV
Fireworks went off we were all called to enter the stadium, everyone this included the other courses behind us from a good distance away was the press taking pictures
Midnight with a loud voice "the first-year students have completed all of their events for the sports festival now it's time we enjoy the awards ceremony!"
As soon as she finished her line white smoke appeared and odd noises were heard
All you could see were three pedestals with tokoyami,kirishima todoroki and John.
John's POV
I won with todoroki in second place and tokoyami and kirishima sharing 3rd place
"And now let's break out the hardware of course there's only one person worthy of distributing out the awards"
From above you could hear all might laughing.
He jumped off "fear not I am here"
Landing in front of the winners midnight singled to the number one hero.
The crowd was going insane I hate to say it but even I was a little inspired my memories flash back to my interview with keon and Vaughn
_________________________________________
"I read the book as reassurance those in power are always working to make the world a better place for the rest of us"
_________________________________________
"So now that you're here all might let's start the presentation" midnight heand all might the medals
First person he gave the medal to was tokoyami "young tokoyami congratulations you showed great strength out there"
"You as well kirishima you did excellent"
"However you need more training if you're going to fight different foes" he then gave a hug
And with that, I was glad I didn't make it to the top 3.
"Young todoroki congratulations, I'm assuming there's a reason you didn't use your left side it cost you the final I won't ask for details but trust yourself"
"And now young John you were able to beat all the odds and come out victorious no matter how powerful your opponent seemed to be that the spirit it takes to be a hero"
"in a world where we're constantly being compared there are very few who can keep their eyes focused on the top spot you are one of them"
It looks as if even all might was glad
"Please accept this meda."
"Here they are the winners of this year but hear me closely any of you could've been up on those pedestals" said the hero giving other students the hope to strive higher next time.
"Think about what you've done today you challenged each other learned and climbed even closer to becoming pros"
"I think this generation of heroes will be the most promising" said all might. Addressing the crowd.
Who in turn started to criticize me.
"He should of been eliminated from the start"
"No hero should fight like that"
"He robbed others of a fair chance"
Getting pissed off I imagine new bostin.
Jumping down from my pedestal to all Might's level I copy tokoyami and extend a small shadow hand taking the mic from him
"I don't want that piece of trash!"
"You're supposed to be heros aren't you and you're upset over some insignificant festival places"
"At the end of the day this means nothing, I don't care about no medal I'll get to my goal no matter what the same way I did today and if you have a problem with it well than tough shit I don't care"
"Even if at the end of the day everything I trust and love turns it's back on me or backstabs me I vow to to stay strong for my sake and my sake alone"
Clenthing my fist I say
"If you think I don't deserve this victory than fine I'm out but that won't stop me"
I let my mind control me and do something unthinkable.
dad I wasn't strong enough, the day I jumped was by far the biggest insult I could've given after all the years you raised me.
I can't let myself keep doing that.
So I'm done if I can't be a hero than at the very least I'll aspire to be better so if we do meet I could become someone you'd be proud of.
As I entered in one of the shaded tunnels that lead outside i could hear that the crowd was still noisy.
I had won but was it worth it I insulted an entire crowd and beat everyone who got in my way into submission I probably got on a lot of people's bad side
Stats
Tournament brackets so no one gets on my case