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---
"WEEEEEE!"
Mei cackled like a mad woman, the wind whipping her hair into a chaotic frenzy as I skated along the arena wall, a flowing moat of flux keeping us aloft.
"Could you take this a bit more seriously?!" I shouted, narrowly swerving to the left as a blast of energy tore through the air where we had just been. "Everyone and their mother is dead set on taking our headband!"
Mei's laugh only grew louder. "Oh, come on! You can't tell me you're not enjoying this even a little bit!"
I opened my mouth to retort, but a sudden shadow fell over us. I looked up just in time to see a mass of writhing green vines crashing down.
'Tch. Too close.'
With a sharp flick of my wrist, the flux to my left exploded upwards, morphing into a razor-edged barrier that met the descending vines with a clean shhk! The tips were severed instantly, tumbling harmlessly to the ground—
But the rest of them kept coming.
The vines surged, splitting and regrowing, slithering around my defense in a relentless wave. I had no time to admire their tenacity.
A quick pulse of lightning sent me rocketing forward, dodging just in time as the sea of thorny plants slammed into the barrier, shattering solid concrete like brittle glass.
'Damn. That's some serious power.'
My muscles ached from the residual static of the escape maneuver, but I forced the discomfort aside and turned my focus to our attacker.
There.
A tall, pale girl sat atop her teammates, hands clasped in a pose eerily similar to prayer. Her vine-like hair whipped around her, striking out at enemies while simultaneously forming a defensive perimeter.
"Mei, I got eyes on our first target," I called, abruptly changing direction, launching off the wall and hitting the ground without missing a beat. "Plant Lady, three o'clock!"
I felt Mei glance over my shoulder before the whir of her mechanical arms hummed to life.
"On it. Just get me close!"
I moved.
Aiming straight for the dryad, I didn't bother hiding my approach.
The moment I got within range, her eyes snapped open—
Dark green, framed by long lashes fluttering in the wind.
Beautiful, but cold.
There was no mercy in those eyes.
And with a single flick of her fingers—the vines struck.
Ignoring the thousands of gleaming razor-sharp thorns my pupils dilated becoming pitch-black pools as my mind processed a flood of information. Every vine. Every angle. Every movement.
Even the world's most advanced computers would struggle with this level of real-time processing.
"Hey buddy I don't mean to be a backseat driver, but maybe you want to avoid some of that?" Mei asked a slightly nervous edge to her voice but I could barely hear her.
'Can't dodge too many, too fast...Guess it gotta cut through.'
My arms shot out to either side as flux wrapped around my forearms followed by two triangular blades that started to vibrate like tuning forks. Sparks began to fly off of the blades with increasing frequency until something clicked and with a sharp zap, a halo of purple lightning engulfed the razor-sharp blades.
With a grunt, I crossed my arms in front of me before savagely ripping them apart sending a glowing purple X flying through the air.
'Impossible Technique: Oscillating Arcs'
The overlapping arcs of electricity flew with a terrifying hum that promised violence, and I watched with wide eyes as two forces of nature collided.
The first vines to touch the arcs disintegrated almost instantly turning into a fine ash, not slowing the condensed lightning in the least. More and more vines careened into the arcs, but each one met the same fate burnt to a crisp.
Following in the wake of my attack I squinted my eyes to avoid the ash flying through the air, but I didn't lose track of my surroundings, 'Three, two, one...now!'
After what seemed like an eternity the arcs of purple lightning fizzled out revealing two green eyes wide with disbelief and a head of hair now much shorter than it initially had been.
"Mei now!"
"Don't gotta tell me twice!" Mei roared back as her arms suddenly surged forward extending with shocking speed and with an agile deftness snatched the three most valuable headbands from the dryad's head.
"AND JUST LIKE THAT KENJI ATOMA AND MEI HATSUME HAVE WIDENED THE GAP BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND PLACE EVEN FURTHER!! WHAT AN EXEMPLARY SHOW OF POWER, SPEED, AND TEAMWORK!!"
Mei grunted, as her mechanical arms fastened their ill-gotten goods around Mei's neck, "Don't you think she's laying it on a little thick?"
"Yeah but the crowd loves it," I yelled back as even with Mei strapped to my back the roar from the stadiums was almost deafening, "Now let's focus and make sure we stay in the lead!"
---
A smile was permanently fixed on Nezu's face as he watched Kenji flying back and forth across the arena electrifying the air in his wake.
'So much rapid improvement, electromagnetic propulsion, magnetic levitation, and ionization of air into plasma!' Nezu's mind kept replaying the earlier scene over and over again as Kenji crossed his arms and unleashed two blades of pure electricity.
'If I could I would offer him an internship myself, but that would be selfish of me, there are more prudent areas that Kenji needs to improve in first before exploring the intricacy of his quirk.'
Unable to resist Nezu pulled open his inbox and looked through the slew of internship offers for Kenji, 'And even before the final event, though to be fair his performance so far has been nothing but promising, it's rare to find a hero with a quirk that allows them to accelerate in almost every field.'
It was the same reason why Nezu had invested in Kenji, to begin with, 'A hero able to adapt and overcome any potential crisis, or scenario at a moment's notice. That alone makes Kenji worth investing in.'
But there was also something else that Nezu wanted to see from Kenji. As one of the smartest beings on the planet Nezu was very rarely challenged when it came to aspects of the mind. But Kenji had exposed him to the impossible, a new realm of possibilities and challenges that Nezu's curiosity and famished mind craved.
Right now Kenji couldn't explain how and why he was capable of doing the things he could but Nezu bet that if Kenji was pushed far enough, that might change.
---
In front of a massive screen sat a short bald man with a large bushy mustache, and a pair of goggles shaped like gears. The man was dressed in a pristine lab coat and despite his short stature, there was a dangerous air about him. Behind his glasses, the man's eyes were focused on the screen in front of him with a nearly obsessed attentiveness.
The monitor was currently streaming the UA Sports Festival with the camera focused on one individual in particular.
"So this is the boy who caused X1-9 to evolve?" The man asked his voice high-pitched and nasally.
"While we can not confirm it was him specifically that caused the Dread Beast to evolve, yes that is Kenji Atoma," Kurogiri replied standing behind the Doctor and Shigaraki who watched the screen with similar intensity though his agitation was visible.
"It was him," The doctor replied definitively, "I don't know how but, there is no other explanation."
"What does it matter," Shigaraki groaned his voice a raspy shout, "You're supposed Beast couldn't even deal with a First Year, how did you ever think it would kill All Might?!"
The doctor's shoulders stiffened for a moment before he replied his voice low and at a whisper, "X1-9 was specifically designed and implemented with quirks to counteract All Might's strength with speed agility, and ranged combat. But after its evolution, X1-9 became stronger, more resistant, and seeing the First Year it was up against I can see why."
Shigaraki huffed, "I still don't see the point in looking into Atoma! We should be focused on killing All Might!"
"I'm afraid I must suspend my assistance towards your cause. Your rage-addled mind fails to comprehend the significance of X1-9's evolution. Now leave my lab I have work to do." The Doctor replied sternly not bothering to turn around and dismiss his two visitors.
Shigaraki trembled with rage and started scratching his neck but before he could boil over Kurogiri acted creating a portal that took him and his ward away.
After they left the Doctor let out a sigh of relief as he turned in his chair, "Finally, peace and silence so I may finally work."
A massive grin spread across the Doctor's face as he looked out at the warehouse-sized laboratory filled with massive vials the size of dark purple fluid. Within the swimming pool-sized vats dark monstrous shapes floated dormant within, "It's time to get to work...my children!"