The Moonlight Hero

Chapter Five: Hero's Tournament Begins!

I woke up at around eight in the morning the next day. My arm was fully healed and I was discharged from the hospital. I returned to my apartment.

"Hey, Artemis," Hakone greeted as I walked through the door. I waved back at her and went to change out of the blue tunic and white leggings I'd been wearing in the hospital. A large box lay on the floor. It had a picture of the outfit I'd designed on the side. I opened it up.

Within was a black hoodie and black leggings, a blue shirt, and black, blue, and purple high topped basketball shoes. At the very bottom was a black cloth mask with a black embroidered lightning bolt on it. I put the objects within the hidden drawer in my closet. As I began to break down the box, I noticed a note on the side.

Dear Artemis Izuku. We received your request a short while ago, and it was clear that you wanted to partake in the Hero's Tournament. Due to short notice, the quality of the cloth is not strong enough to withstand heavy usage. With that said, you will partake in the Hero's Tournament on the twenty second of May. Best wishes, O.M.C.

I put the box outside the apartment door for recycling collection. I sit in my desk chair.

"Hey, Hakone," I said, "When is the Hero's Tournament?" She looked up from her computer screen. "It starts at five," Hakone replied, "Are you gonna watch it?" I jump from my seat. "It's today?" I exclaimed. She nodded slowly. I look at the digital clock on the wall. It was ten in the morning. "Where does it take place, and when do the participants need to be there?" I asked frantically. Hakone gave me an inquisitive look. "It's in the training grounds. The walls are one way, there are seats on the other side so that spectators can watch. Participants need to be there at ten fifteen. Why?" she replied. I toss the letter attached to the box towards her. She catches it. I run into my room and put on my outfit. I'm about to leave when she interrupts me. 

"You need this in order to get into the tournament," she said, handing me the invitation. I take it, cram it into my pocket, and run. 

I got to the training grounds with a minute to spare. Everyone was crammed into the tunnel leading into the training grounds. Several doors have appeared along the tunnel, and in the center of the tunnel there was a tunnel going in each direction. People were filing into the rooms, five at a time. I was put in the last room. I didn't recognize anybody in my room. There was a guy who wore a tuxedo, whose visible body was literally engulfed in flames; a guy who had pale skin, white hair, and wore a blue hoodie and black shorts, with eyes what were black where they were supposed to be white, accompanied by blue irises; a girl who had short, choppy teal colored hair and wore torn up clothes; and a girl who looked completely normal, apart from the gloves she wore, which had hinges on the fingertips. They all looked at me for a split second, and then sat down. I sat down as well, and a T.V. on the wall burst to life. 

"Welcome to the Hero's Tournament! I will be this year's host. My name is Rei. Appearing on the screen is the first half of today's match-ups. They are listed in sequential order, left to right, first to last. There are one hundred matches to get through, and these first matches will be doubles style fights. At the end of the day, there will be fifty people left. All rounds after that will be one on one fights, all the way up to the finals. The winner will be placed number one in the top fifty strongest people here in the Underground City. And, for the second time, all matches will have custom battlefields meant to challenge all opponents. I suggest you use your remaining time today to rest, eat, and get ready for the matches that will kick off tonight at five. And remember, anything goes! Have a good day!"

The boy with the strange eyes got up. Even standing, he was only as tall as me sitting. He had a playful, yet serious look in his eyes. He left the room. The man with the tuxedo stood, put on a pair of glasses, and left, his pupil-less, light orange eyes set forward. The girl with the strange gloves leaned back and fell asleep, while the one with the teal hair walked over to me.

"You have a strange aura around you," she said with a light and airy voice, her green and orange eyes scanning me. I scratched the back of my head. "You seem like a very powerful person, but you don't seem like him..." she said quietly. She tossed me a bubblegum lollipop, tossed another into her mouth, and walked out of the room. I pulled the wrapper off of the lollipop and tossed it into my mouth. Not my favorite flavor, but at least it isn't cinnamon. I look at the clock. It was now noon. I stood and left, my stomach hungry for lunch.

"Hey Artemis!" a familiar voice called from behind me. I turned around. It was Niko, dressed in his outfit, which consisted of cream colored robes, a white undertunic, and black tennis shoes. I turn around and wave at him, and he stands next to me in the line for food. I turn to him.

"Who are you up against?" I asked curiously. Niko sighed. "A top fifty member. He goes by Kouki. His power allows him to teleport. He also has a Fifth Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo. It's not going to be easy. My other opponent is a girl named Nakamura, whose ability I don't know," Niko replied, "How about you?" I shake my head. "I have no clue," I said. Niko tapped his I.D. picture. A picture of a boy with short, red hair popped up next to his own picture, next to it a picture of a girl with short, purple hair and almost white skin, wearing a tattered red windbreaker. I take my I.D. out and do the same. A picture of a boy with black hair and red eyes pops up, alongside the picture of a boy that had yellow and orange hair. Niko grimaced.

"That's James' younger brother Hako," Niko said, pointing at the black haired boy, "His power is nothing like his brother's. He can manipulate his own blood, so he carries around a knife so he can activate his powers. Hako's only fourteen, but he's the forty ninth strongest. I've never seen the other one before, so I don't know his power, but I can assume that he isn't in the top fifty since I don't know him and I know most of the top fifty." I tapped my I.D. and the pictures disappeared. We got up to the counter, got our food, and waved each other goodbye. 

When I got back to the waiting room, it was only two in the afternoon. We still had three hours to go. I quickly ate, and tossed the wrappers of my meal into the garbage can in the corner of the room. The tuxedo guy was lifting weights in the opposite corner of the room; the girl with the gloves was still asleep, and the boy with the strange eyes had joined her; the strange girl who had given me the lollipop hadn't returned yet. I tapped my I.D. picture. A small number twenty was displayed at the upper left corner of the hologram. I assumed that this was the number of the match. I leaned against the wall and fell asleep.

I woke up at a quarter till five. The announcements had begun. The other four people in my room had already sat down, watching the T.V. I sat down at one of the tables, a short distance away from the white haired boy. He was grinning. I looked back at the T.V.

"Welcome to the Hero's Tournament! This is the annual championship where we determine the best fighters here in the Underground City! This year, we have a wide variety of participants, from newcomers like Haikyo to veterans such as last year's champion, and the current number one fighter, James! In fifteen minutes, the first doubles match will take place. In this round, the participants only know their opponents; they have no idea who they will be teamed up with! Now, a first look at the first match's arena."

The camera switched to one that was in the center of the training grounds. It swiveled around in a circle, showing off the arena. It actually looked like a standard arena; there was a main fighting area, around it row after row of seats. All of them empty, of course. Outside of the arena within the arena was an entire city, different from the one I'd been in when I fought Aishido. The screen switched back to the announcer, Rei.

"As you can see, the arena for the first match looks pretty normal, huh? Well, it's not. If you touch a building that isn't the main arena or the pavement, the building you touch, blows up! This can start a chain reaction, because if the debris flies into another building, that building will also explode! With that, welcome our first round doubles teams to the field!"

I watched as Kouki and Nakamura walked onto the northern side of the small arena. Kouki was wearing a black trenchcoat, paired with a red undershirt and black athletic pants. Nakamura was wearing a tattered red windbreaker, with a white under shirt and blue jeans. She pulled a red mask over her face, similar to my black one. On the southern side of the arena came Niko in his traditional cream robes, followed by a boy with a headband keeping his fluffy green and black hair up, and wearing a white T-shirt and jeans. The information about the match popped up in the corner of the T.V. The participant's names, pictures, and the information on the field. Niko's partner's name was Denki.

"Let the match begin!"