Comeback
Battle Of The Mind

"The minute you think of giving up, think of the reason you held on so long."
~ Natsu Dragneel ~
~ Fairy Tail ~

Key
'Back' - Thoughts
"To" - Speech
"The" - Electronics/Spirits
Festival! - Breaks and A/N's

~ Izuku & Eri! ~

Upon seeing Izuku, Eri jumped out of her seat and ran toward him before the two hugged each other. "Hey, Eri, have you been okay?" Izuku asked as he gently picked Eri up and put her on his shoulders, making her three times taller than she usually was.

"Mhm!" She hummed as she held on to the messy bunch of black and green that was Izuku's hair while he walked toward the windows of the room. Through the windows, he could see the entire maze and the aftereffects of multiple fights, even the one he was just in. "Izuku, can we get more Taki... Takoma...

"Takoyaki?" Izuku finished for her as she nodded vigorously. "Sorry, but you'll have to wait until the end of the maze, okay?"

"Okay." She replied, a bit downtrodden from his answer.

Wanting to watch the rest of the event, Izuku put Eri into a seat and sat next to her as they focused on the television in the room. But not before Izuku sent a text to Inko to get Takoyaki for Eri, of course.

As for the event, both Izuku's and Shoto's duos had gotten an orb and left the maze, guaranteeing themselves a place in the final event. Others like Katsuki and Kirishima were fighting others and stealing their headbands before they searched for an orb, but partners like Iida and Ochaco prioritized getting an orb over getting rid of potential opponents.

Within a few minutes of watching the fights, Izuku grew somewhat bored and decided to try and check on his gear. The most important of which was his mask, but after opening it, he could see that most of the circuits and other parts had melted together. Scrapping it, he used his phone to set a reminder for the development of a fireproof but still lightweight mask. Other gadgets, like the ones in his utility belt, remained mostly intact but the electronics had died out in most of those as well, leaving him with only one of each disk.

"And with the duo of Hitoshi Shinso and Denki Kaminari escaping with an orb, the second event is over!" Fire Hazard announced as the cement walls of the maze started to lower and reveal all of the students within it. "As we prepare for the next event, there will be a short one-hour intermission for lunch and festival activities. Enjoy, everyone!"

Hearing Fire Hazard's message, the crowd slowly filed out of the stadium and into the festival grounds. As for two lucky and somewhat absent parents, they rushed to get a few snacks before running to get to their son.

Barging into a private seating area, Lure and Fire Hazard saw Izuku and Eri looking at pictures on Izuku's phone while they sat on the couch. Seeing nothing to be afraid off, the two set down the large assortment of food they had bought and walked over to the couch, sitting beside their son who had Eri sitting on his lap.

"Good job, Izuku. I would've never guessed your Quirk would have such a large effect on your behavior." Commented, Fire Hazard, as Izuku picked up a tray of Takoyaki and gave it to Eri.

"Hisashi, that's what you have to say?" Lure asked as Izuku and Eri completely ignored them to continue looking at pictures and videos that Pina had stored in Izuku's database. "You haven't seen your son in months and you comment on his Quirk first, really?"

"Don't be like that, Inko. Any parent would be impressed by such a strong Quirk, plus, he gets it from me." He retorted as Izuku and Eri continued to eat amidst their argument.

"Clearly, you're delusional. His Quirk pulls heat into his body, that's obviously derived from my own Quirk!" She yelled back at him, not even paying attention to the video of an out of control rocket boot flying around Izuku's workshop before hitting him in the face. "The only thing he gets from you is his gender and unchanging haircut!"

"That's not everything! He also has my freckles!" He shouted at her, pointing to the small groups of freckles across his cheeks.

"Excuse me," Izuku voiced, catching both of the adult's attention. "Why are you two here again?"

"We came to congratulate you on your win!" Inko said cheerily, almost as if her argument with Hisashi had never happened.

"Plus, you need some help controlling that Quirk of yours." Added, Hisashi, before he noticed Izuku's broken gear on the table set away from the food. "So, what is it exactly?"

"I told you already! You never listen!" Shouted Inko. "He can absorb and redirect heat!"

"Actually, that's not all," Izuku added as both of the parents were confused now but Eri ignored it so she could keep eating. "My emotions give my fire a different color and ability. That green flame could heal people and the red flame's heat could increase tremendously." 

Given a moment to think about this, both parents tried to think up of any hints that would be something different than what Izuku had already thought of. "I guess you just need to keep calm." Concluded, Inko, who had come up with nothing else, especially since she wasn't too deep into Quirk research or anything of the sort. 

On the other hand, Hisashi's knowledge of Quirks was much more vast, plus it was one of the few things that Izuku shared with him. "It's important to keep calm, but if you experiment, you'll find some new powers. Though that could cost you quite a bit since that Yaoyorozu girl could've been crippled and you only used your red flame then. But your green flames came out when you calmed down, so some powers may be riskier to draw out than others."

As the man continued to ramble, Inko eventually pinched his arm to get him to stop talking. "Anyway, after this festival, internships will be starting soon." She said, trying to change the topic.

"Oh, right! I'll be sending a request for you to intern for me, Izuku!" Hisashi announced but didn't get the reaction he wanted. Instead, Izuku sat there barely amused or excited. "Hey, something wrong with my company?"

"Um... who's at the Japan branch of your company right now?" Izuku asked, slightly uncomfortable bringing up the topic.

"Well, Madam Web is always there, Krulcifer is there too, and also Bone-Saw." He said, calming Izuku down slightly but the young hero still had troubling memories of some of his father's employees. "There's also some trainees with them, but the others are on vacation or went to one of the other branches."

"Now that you two have that settled, Hisashi, do you have anyone who can make Izuku some better gear or at least help him make it?" Inko asked, not wanting her husband to talk about how well the trainees were doing.

"Madam Web can probably take a look at it. But I might have to call in Gadget if we want to speed up the process." He replied as Izuku noticed that the stadium now had a large stage set in the middle for the next event. "But even so, Web wouldn't be able to make something too much better than this since she'll try to appeal to Izuku. As for Gadget, she would probably give him new tools on top of upgrading his current set."

"Then call Gadget," Inko told him before getting up from the couch. "But I have to go now, I'm going to referee the next event."

Waving to the three left in the room, Inko left and headed for the stadium. The three left in the room just started to eat in quiet while they watched more videos that Pina had saved. Eventually, Hisashi left to go back to the Commentator's box while Izuku waited with Eri for the next event to start.

Luckily, they didn't have to wait long since Inko started her job as soon as the crowd started to file back into the stadium. Seeing this, Izuku had left Eri with plenty of snacks and his phone in case she got bored of watching fights between people she didn't know.

"Welcome back!" Inko shouted into her microphone. "I, the Telekinetic Heroine: Lure, will watch over the third event which will be an elimination-style tournament! To win a match, one of the fighters must be out of the arena, surrendered, or unable to battle any further" With that announcement, the crowd cheered as they slowly went back into their seats or stole some that were closer to the front. "Now, please welcome our sixteen first-year students that made it to the third and final event!"

As she said that, the sixteen students that made it to the finale made their way onto the stage set up for the event. Most of them received cheers and people shouted out their name, but that seemed to be treatment reserved for Class 1-A.

"Now, Fire Hazard, show us the match ups!" She shouted as each jumbotron changed from camera feeds to a tournament bracket. Then the screens zoomed in on the farthest bracket to the left, showing the names Izuku Midoriya and Hitoshi Shinso. "Interesting, it looks like our first match has already been decided! So, every fighter except for the two on screen, please make yourself comfortable in one of the waiting rooms or in your class's seating area."

Doing as she said, all of the third event participants except for Izuku and Hitoshi left the stage. While they did so, Izuku got ready and walked to on side of the stage and tried to devise a plan. Hitoshi did the same, except he looked a bit lazier when he moved, almost resembling Aizawa.

Seeing the two fighters were ready, Inko edged back to the edge of the stage and shouted, "Let the fight begin!"

Even with both fighters ready for their match, neither of them moved from their spots, instead, they glared at each other. Both of them weren't having some kind of mental battle, though that would be amazing. The two of them were still analyzing each other and waiting for the first move.

"Well, I've never seen that before." Present Mic commented as everyone watching remained silent, though a few viewers at home shouted at their tv or computer. "But for those of you watching, Hitoshi Shinso, or the guy with the purple hair, is the General Department's Insomniac Puppet Master!"

"And Izuku Midoriya is the Hero Course's chronically absent aspiring hero!" Fire Hazard added, trying not to show any favoritism to his son which only worked to the teen's detriment.

'Let's see, I know next to nothing about this guy. But why does he look like Aizawa's kid or something?' Izuku thought as he glared at Hitoshi, but eventually, he drifted off into space since neither of them took any kind of move.

Luckily, their glare-fest was going to end as Hitoshi taunted, "Midoriya, you'll never be a hero! You were going to kill that guy!"

As soon as Izuku heard that taunt, he grew angry and his anger only continued to swell up as Rath tried to take control. But suddenly, his anger quickly vanished and Izuku could only guess that was Serena's doing.

"I'll show you! I'll become the best-"

He cut himself off. Izuku didn't finish his dramatic line as planned, instead, his pupils shrank and he stood completely still.

Seeing this, Hitoshi couldn't help but smile. "Walk off the stage." He ordered, and surprisingly, Izuku did so and started turning around.

Against his will, Izuku watched himself slowly walk toward the edge of the stage, edging closer to his loss. While this happened, all of Izuku's thoughts centered around his fear of losing this early in the last event.

Before a magnification of his fear would be created, Izuku heard Serena's calming voice in his head. "Stay calm," she said softly, "I will try to fix this."

Staying true to her word, Serena focused on taking control while Izuku slowly calmed down without Serena's assistance in the manner. But once the young hero was just a few steps away from walking off of the stage, a green flame appeared at the heel of his foot, but it hardly did a thing to stop the mind control. Luckily, Rath stepped in and forced the flame to quickly flare up in temperature burning the cement ground around Izuku's heel. Following that quick use of the fire Quirk, Izuku fell backward and once a jolt of pain ran through his body, he regained control of his body.

"Your stupid plan actually worked?" Rath spoke, surprised even if he helped out.

"Do I see you turning green with envy now, Rath?" Serena spoke, though she was, in fact, green, so it could have easily been retorted.

Ignoring the two arguing voices, Izuku got up off the ground and turned around to face Hitoshi again. 'He's definitely a puppet master,' Izuku thought as he tried to think of a better plan to fight the purple-haired mind controller. 'What did I do that let him take control?'

"You started to calm down?" Rath suggested, trying to get in control and beat the life out of someone for some sort of satisfaction.

"No." Spoke Justice. "Izuku talked."

"So, no more talking until you win the fight, understand?" Serena asked as all three of the emotions watched the world through Izuku's eyes.

'Understood.' He thought as he clenched his fists and walked toward Hitoshi slowly to add suspense. As he edged closer to his opponent, the audience went to the edge of their seats.

Sadly, this little trick wasn't going to work on Hitoshi. 'He's trying to intimidate me since he figured out how my Quirk works,' he thought logically. 'But my Quirk worked for a while. I just have to provoke him again.'

Still walking, Izuku readied his right arm, making sure the joints were able to move freely and quickly, but he also made sure he unclasped the small sheath that held his taser to the back of his belt, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. With Izuku's new plan, he was taking a note from a show many people knew, but may not recognize the technique right away.

On the other side of the arena, Hitoshi was going to put his new plan into action. "What's wrong, Midoriya? Are you scared of a General student?" He said, not even getting Izuku to falter. Seeing this, the purple-haired student racked his mind for some other rumor or dirt he had on the one-armed fighter. "I bet you paid that bimbo to date you!"

All of a sudden, Izuku's eyes darkened into a crimson red and become slit, all while a camera broadcasted his changes to the entirety of Japan. Now, Rath was in control of Izuku's body as Izuku punched a wall contained inside of his mind.

Glaring at Hitoshi, Izuku charged forward with his right arm cocked back, ready to punch Hitoshi as the heat in the arena started to be attracted toward Izuku. Once Izuku was just a step away from Hitoshi, he grumbled, "You're a dead man." Then, he punched the shocked purple-haired student out of the arena before Rath was pushed out of control and Izuku was stuck in a blank slate once more.

"Izuku Midoriya is the winner!" Lure shouted as the said winner remained in a mind-controlled state and Hitoshi got up from the ground.

Releasing his control on Izuku, Hitoshi chuckled for a little while, amused by Izuku's stupid actions despite their meaning. "That was a good fight, Midoriya." He said as Izuku hesitated to answer but eventually smiled at the general course student and gave him a thumbs up. "I hope we can do this again someday." He said, getting a nod in return.

"Alright, you two, please head to one of the waiting rooms or the reserved setting so we can continue the preliminary matches," Lure said as the two left the arena. "Now welcome Shoto Todoroki and Hanta Sero to the stage!"

~ Bye, Lovelies! ~

A/N: Originally, I planned to sum up the non-important fights, but then I'd get to around Chapter 15 before the story will be put on Hiatus. But since it'd be more or less the same, I've decided to just sum it up while adding some fun conversations.

Also, I've created a new discord that will hopefully last a long while, so I'll see you soon, lovelies~! https://discord.gg/2D4A4x2