Ochaco was about to wish Tenya good luck for his fight against Felix when she noticed his trembling body. His phone slipped out of his hand, and she dived forward to catch it before it hit the ground.
“Iida, what’s wrong?” She returned the phone to her friend, whose face was as pale as the wall behind him.
“My brother, Tensei…” His voice wavered. “He’s in the hospital. A villain got him.”
The girl took a step back, her hand flying to her mouth in shock.
“Oh gosh… are you alright?” She stretched out a hand to Tenya. “How’s he doing?”
“I don’t know the details, so I’m going to go visit him directly.”
The boy forced a smile at her. “Ingenium is a likeable hero who honours the rules and leads people. I set my sights on being a hero because I want to be like my brother.”
“Iida…”
“Don’t worry about me, Uraraka. I’ll be just fine.” Tenya nodded firmly as he headed to the back of the stadium. “I’m sorry about how sudden this is, but I must leave early. Send my best wishes to Felix for his final match against Bakugo.”
Ochaco watched the back of her friend slowly shrink as he walked away. At that moment, she wanted to call out to him; to assure him that they would be there for him if he was ever feeling hopeless.
But he was gone before she could.
~ ~ ~
“Go beyond, Plus Ultra!”
The video stopped playing as Felix’s lips started to curve downwards. He set his phone down after a few seconds with a frown deep enough to drown a city. So this big man really was going to be his main target? How poetic.
His memories flitted back to the abandoned castle. Back to his sister. Back to the man who killed her in cold blood just to progress his experiment. Much like All Might and Izuku, Marcia’s murderer possessed super strength as well. And that only served to fuel his ruthless ambitions.
The room began vibrating as emotions swirled within the boy. To hell with leaving the past where it belonged. If destroying this hero society was the only path to his goal, then this world shall burn.
A beeping noise interrupted his thoughts, and the furniture in the room fell back to the ground. He picked up his phone.
“I thought I told you not to call me so often, Doctor,” Felix grunted into the earpiece. “You risk exposing me with each call.”
A different voice greeted him this time. His face visibly lightened up after the caller finished his piece.
“Good to know that we still have some time. Izuku Midoriya is still nowhere near All Might’s power level yet,” he said. “Not to worry, none of the U.A. students pose a threat to your plans. Now, about my end of this partnership-”
The boy listened intently, before releasing a loud exhale.
“Fair enough. I’ll continue to be your eyes and ears in this school while you prepare what’s rightfully mine.”
“And another thing, Pagonis. Do make some time after your sports festival; I have a couple of associates you might want to meet.”
“Just let me know when, All For One.” Felix put down his phone with a hardened look in his eyes.
The door burst open. Felix swung his head, his eyes dancing frantically in fear at the student glaring at him. Oh no, did he overhear my phone conversation?
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“Huh?” Katsuki Bakugo growled with his foot still outstretched. “Hey, why are you here?”
Felix looked at him in confusion, before pointing wordlessly at the door sign, which read ‘Player Two Waiting Room’.
“Oh, this is waiting room two? Damn it!” Bakugo sauntered towards the boy, his face full of irritation. “I may have gotten the room wrong, but that doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you, Phoenix!”
“It’s Felix…” Felix sighed, trying to hide the relief in his voice. “Here’s to a fun match, Kacchan.”
“Don’t call me that, psycho!” Bakugo yelled. “I’m not here to have fun. I’m here to win and prove indisputably that I am the strongest there is! So you better bring your all to this match too, you hear me?!”
This guy’s vocal cords must be made of steel or something. Doesn’t he ever stop yelling?
“Thanks for the pep talk, Bakugo.” Felix smirked.
“I’ll give you a good fight.”
~ ~ ~
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s finally time for the last battle of the U.A. High School sports festival!” Present Mic roared without a hint of fatigue in his voice. “The top of the first-years will be decided with this one match!”
“From this corner, we have Katsuki Bakugo; a ruthless opponent with an overwhelming declaration of victory! He has brutally beaten down his competition thus far, and he doesn’t look like he’ll be stopping soon!”
Bakugo was looking unusually calm this time, with a completely neutral expression that betrayed not even a hint of murderous intent.
“And on the other side, we have Felix Pagonis; an unbelievably powerful esper who has effortlessly demolished everything coming his way! Is he even human?!”
Felix motioned to Bakugo with a small smile. “I hope you brought a change of pants, because this match is going to be the shit!”
His opponent did not laugh at his corny joke.
“What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Find out in this battle!” Present Mic finished up his introduction. “Now, start!”
Felix braced himself for Bakugo’s aggressive offence, but the boy was standing still. Focus hardened Bakugo’s face as he raised a hand, motioning Felix to approach him instead.
“He obviously has a counterattack lined up for me.” The psychic smirked. “That’s pretty smart of him. Alright, let’s see what you’ve got.”
He burst forward at a blistering speed and watched Bakugo swing his right hand forward. The deafening blast rang in his ears as his opponent released an explosion with the power of at least five grenades. But it was still too slow.
“W-what…” Bakugo turned around in shock, and Felix took a moment to savour the terror in his eyes. A beam of psychic energy slammed into Bakugo from behind, knocking him straight into the air.
Clusters of explosion rained down on the whole field, and Felix immediately shielded himself with a psychic bubble. Bakugo had somehow managed to halt himself mid-air, and was now throwing down as many explosions as he could onto his opponent.
“Die!” There was another blinding light, and the field practically cracked in half from the huge and final explosion.
“Such brutal moves!” Present Mic yelled. “Bakugo finishes his combo with the same explosion that KO-ed Uraraka! Poor thing…”
Bakugo finally landed on the floor, panting hard and wincing as he held his shoulder in pain. He grinned, slowly raising his hand in victory-
Wind blasted without warning, clearing all the smoke out in an instant. Bakugo tensed his body apprehensively. Felix was completely unharmed, protected by his force field. And despite all the destruction Bakugo had wrought, he had only managed to put a small crack on his opponent’s shield.
The psychic tilted his head up suddenly with a creepy smile.
Felix darted erratically, as though he was the main antagonist of a horror show. His fist connected with Bakugo’s hard jaw, and his opponent flinched in pain as he staggered backwards. The boy did not let up, zipping around his opponent in a flurry of motion.
Bakugo swung his hands wildly in response. It was obvious that he was trying to feel out a pattern to the attack, but Felix was not giving him the pleasure of counter attacking him. The boy cackled wildly.
The airhorn blared.
“Pagonis is out of bounds. Bakugo is the final winner!”
A wave of silence seized the crowd at the abrupt end to the match, before they started clapping awkwardly. Bakugo groggily got up to his feet as Felix threw his hands up in surrender, walking back to the stands.
“No… no! Not like this!” Bakugo somehow still had the energy to scream after his retreating opponent. “You threw the match on purpose, didn’t you? Come back, Pagonis! This isn’t over! I won’t accept this victory!”
Felix ignored him, heading into the darkness with an expressionless look on his face.