A Silent Kind of Strength

Chapter 34

Izuku stood at the exit of the tunnel feeling nauseous. For some reason his brain had blocked out that if he won his last match then this one would be against Kachan. And now he was getting to feel all of the stress at once. Joy.

He could just bow out. He had shown off his support items well enough. He had nothing to prove, not really. Except he kind of did. He kind of wanted to see how he would do against his tormentor in an actual fight. In the past he hadn't been allowed to do more than try and minimize the damage. But that one flip he had allowed himself on his last day at Aldera had felt… good. It had felt good when he fought back. And he wanted to see if he could actually win.

He took a deep breath as his name was called. By the time he stepped out onto the field Bakugo was already in the ring, waiting. He thought about backing out again before he shook the thought off irritably. He couldn't live in fear forever. Besides, the villains at the USJ had been scarier. He stepped up to the challenge. Squaring off against his oldest foe.

Midnight reiterated the rules, eyeing the blonde teen with barely concealed apprehension. At the sound of go his ex best friend lunged. Right hook. Typical. Izuku ducked and drew the gun that had been strapped, to his thigh for the entire festival. He dug out one of the rounds from his right pants pocket and shoved it into the chamber. 

He dodged another swing, this one laced with the familiar heat of an explosion, and brought the muzzle up to bear. A hand was reaching for his face, the glitter of fiery death held in the palm. He quickly pulled the trigger, not allowing himself to think. He hit his target, it was hard not to at this range. 

Kachan screeched as the ammunition hit his palm, right above where the ball of the hand met the wrist, just to the left of the mutated nerve igniter. It hit. And then it exploded into foam. The blonde teen cussed up a storm as he frantically tried to swing his arm to get the clinging substance off. But it was ineffectual. His fire suppression foam was made to stick to and cover surfaces in order to prevent fires from spreading as well as put them out. 

He loaded and shot off the other round he had in his hand, hitting the other boy in the chest. Izuku would have aimed for his other hand but it was currently out of direct line of sight. Lucky for him though, the instinctual reaction to being shot in the chest was to touch the spot of impact. And Bakugo didn't stop to think before he used his free hand to clutch at the pain as the breath was knocked out of him.

And within seconds of the fight starting, Izuku had managed to effectively cancel out the great Bakugo Katsuki's quirk. The playing field was a bit more even now. Making a split second decision he shoved the gun back into its holster. He wanted to see how things would play out without the use of his support gear.

While his opponent was still reeling from the loss of his quirk he struck, getting in a good solid punch to the solar plexus. Most people wouldn't be able to effectively fight after losing their breath twice in less than a minute, but Katsuki was too stubborn to back down. He swung wildly in response, making Izuku dodge out of the way with a neat roll over one shoulder. 

slightly as the burns pulled. The woman crouched beside him started fluttering around anxiously, telling him not to move but he shrugged her off. "I's fine. Gotta clear the ring righ'?"