Vacation was nice now back to your regular schedule of MHA Paragon 2.0
---
I managed to walk into the tunnel before practically collapsing against the wall as my muscles turned into overcooked noodles, 'I definitely didn't think this through.'
Sweat drenched my body in a desperate attempt to cool my core temperature off, which had skyrocketed during my fight with Shinso, 'I shouldn't have dragged on the fight that long, but I just had to showboat.'
While my mind and nervous system were capable of moving at insane speeds, the rest of my body especially my muscles weren't made to move at supersonic speeds.
'I can practically feel the lactic acid burning inside of me,' I thought darkly as I pushed off the wall and started limping down the tunnel towards the locker rooms, 'No more running at light speed until I can reinforce my body. I'll just need to rely on my perception and reaction time...hopefully, I'll get a break with my next match.'
---
'Why do the gods hate me,' I bemoaned as I jerked my head to the side avoiding the thorny spear that whistled past my ear.
"For those just joining in, we're in the second round of our Tournament of Champions. Currently, Ibara Shiozaki is keeping Kenji Atoma at bay and under pressure with her relentless thorny assault!"
Unfortunately, Midnight was right, my feet barely stayed on the ground for more than a split second before Ibara's vines forced me to move or get entangled.
While I couldn't move at super speeds, my enhanced perception allowed me to react the instant Ibara attacked. Even if she tried to anticipate my movements it didn't matter when everyone was moving at a percentage of its regular speed. But I wasn't invincible and it seemed with each passing second another vine joined its siblings closing off another path of escape.
Realizing I was only drawing out the inevitable with my current strategy I ran to the very edge of the arena still avoiding Ibara's vines. I let my body move on autopilot as my mind became a maze of calculations and theories.
Reaching the edge of the arena I pivoted only to find an endless sea of vines and thorns less than a foot away from my face. There was no possible way to avoid the thousands of individual vines, thankfully I had bought enough time for my mind to catch up.
Time slowed down as I raised my hand and extended a single finger, the tip of which began to glow as lightning accumulated building up until it was almost blinding. Then with the most ginger touch, I grazed the sea of thorns.
The instant the connection formed the lightning gathered on the tip of my finger latched onto Ibara's vines. But instead of burning the plants remained unharmed. Instead, my purple lightning traveled along the vines using them as a conduit to attack my real target.
Time snapped back into its regular flow and from Ibara's point of view, there was only a brief flash of light before her entire body locked up and her world went dark.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the vines aimed to warp me in a very thorny hug, fell to the ground limp and unresponsive, 'Oh thank god that worked.'
"AND IN A FLASH KENJI ATOMA WINS HIS SECOND MATCH WITHOUT BREAKING A SWEAT!"
"Mhn," Ibara moaned as her eyes fluttered before opening, "W-what happened?"
"Yeah sorry about that, but you didn't leave me a lot of options," I apologized while offering my hand to Ibara, "I tried to tone the voltage down, but I couldn't risk you not going down. You really had me on the ropes."
Ibara stared at me with an unreadable expression before she nodded plainly, "I see then...so I lost."
I blinked momentarily at a loss on how to reply to her seemingly unbothered demeanor, "Yeah I guess you did."
Ibara then rose from the ground ignoring my hand though for some reason I didn't feel as if she was rude for doing so, "I accept my loss with grace then, thank you for a good fight."
"Um you're welcome I guess," I replied as Ibara turned and walked away without another word.
Following her example I made my way toward the tunnel already thinking about my next fight in the semi-finals, 'If I get more comfortable using lightning without my flux as a conductor I probably stand a decent chance against Todoroki, though no matter what Firecrack is going to be a drag down brawl...'
"You know I was kinda hoping that you'd show off a little instead of running away like a little bitch."
The insult certainly caught me off guard and made my gaze snap up to land on the unknown woman leaning against the tunnel wall. I was certain I had never seen her before because I knew that it was impossible to forget her striking appearance.
Long stark white hair and bunny ears with dark tan skin and thighs that could probably crush a man's skull. She had a taunting across her face that was practically begging for me to fuck around and find out.
My brow furrowed and my gaze hardened as I glared at her, "I'm, not, little."
The woman paused for a moment before her ears twitched and she snorted, "You're a weird kid, you know that right?"
"And you're a creep waiting to ambush me in the shadows," I shot back cocking my head to the side, "Seriously just who the fuck are you?"
"Do you want the long or short answer?"
I rolled my eyes, "I think a name would be nice."
"Long answer it is," The stranger replied before pushing off the wall to step into the light with a thumb pointed at her chest, "Rumi Usagiyama, The Rabbit Hero: Mirko!"
"Oh...you here to recruit me for your agency or something?" I asked wondering if Mirko was breaking some kinda rule talking to me before the Sports Festival was over.
Mirko smirked, "You got it all twisted Pretty boy, I'm here to tell you to step it up! I'm not gonna sit through another snooze fest in the semi-finals. And I definitely don't have a damn agency."
"And why exactly do I care if you're entertained or not?" I asked more intrigued than insulted.
"Because the only way I'm ever going to accept you as an intern is if I know you won't be a bore," Mirko answered.
"And that's something I want?"
Mirko's smile only widened, "You bet your ass it is, especially if you want to get some meat on your bones and your stamina up!"
"Something tells me that if I join you for an internship I won't be doing a lot of 'hero' work," I guessed which seemed to be correct as Mirko barked out a laugh.
"You're damn right, I'm not dragging some snot nose brat around with me on patrol. But Nezu told me that you'd thrive under my tutelage which is saying something." Mirko answered, "Now get your shit together before you miss out on the best that will ever happen to your miserable ass."
Before I could reply Mirko turned around and walked away and for a moment I considered calling after her until my eyes dipped below her waistline and decided talking would only spoil the moment.
---
"HERE WE ARE AT LONG LAST THE BEGINNING OF THE END WITH THE FIRST ROUND OF THE SEMI-FINALS. AND WE ARE STARTING OFF WITH A BANG. AS TWO OF OUR MOST DOMINANT COMPETITORS FACE OFF FOR A CHANCE AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP!"
"THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING!! I'M GOING TO BURN YOU, ALIVE PRETTY BOY!!"
"Why couldn't I get the emo ice prince?" I muttered under my breath as I stared at Bakugo from across the arena who was already chomping at the bit to deliver on her promise.
Glancing away from Bakugo I looked up towards the very top of the stands, and the private view deck for professional heroes, 'Well you asked for a show.'