Chương 59: Chapter 59: A Tournament's Finale I
"I got this, I totally got this!" Peter paced back and forth in the waiting room, his brain working overtime trying to come up with a plan for the fight.
Next to him was Togata, sitting on a bench while smiling.
Apparently he wanted to be there for 'moral support' or something, and to try and get him pumped while Amajiki did the same for Nejire.
Eh, he'd rather have Togata than Amajiki if one of them had to hype him up.
"You totally got this, man! Just gotta go out there and show off your power!" Togata flexed to reinforce the statement, Peter let out a soft chuckle before sitting down next to him.
You know what? Togata was right! He totally had this!
it's not like he's fighting someone who could like, fly.
Or shoot lasers that could destroy portions of buildings.
At like, 30% of her actual strength.
Silently, Peter groaned before dragging his hands down his face in frustration. Why couldn't he fight someone without a strong quirk?
As if reading his mind, Togata placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, I get that Hado's quirk is like, super powerful and she's great at using it and all, but you totally got this! Just gotta come up with a plan!"
Peter gave him an incredulous look, unconsciously tracing some of the scars on his forearm.
"Dude, what are my chances of actually winning in a straight-up fight?"
A moment of silence passed through the room.
"About… 40/60? I get you're really strong and agile but… she can fly and you kinda, uh, can't." Togata gave him another pat on the back, Peter simply groaned.
He was right, he knew he was right!
But it didn't make it any better!
On one hand, Peter was stronger in hand to hand, could match her mobility decently, and had his webs to extend his reach.
But on the other hand, Nejire could fly and shoot lasers, had way better range, along with almost never using more stamina than she actually needed in a fight.
That meant that tiring her out by forcing her to use her quirk was out of the picture.
Big time.
That also meant the only option he had was going on the offensive, try to attack at close range where she's at a big disadvantage.
But like, how does he get there? And if he does, how does he stay there?
Peter could probably slingshot himself up into the air, or maybe just use the momentum of a good swing to get up there, but it wasn't like he could walk on nothing and stay at that height.
Besides, Nejire was smart when it came to quirks and fighting. He knew that she would obviously keep her distance since she was at an obvious advantage when far away from an opponent.
Her biggest weakness was her quirk's speed, but she can easily work her way around that. Like, she could try and predict where he'd go while her blasts were still traveling, or just fly in close and shoot one point-blank.
Crap.
Maybe… he could pull her down? His aim when it came to webbing was good, even if it was a moving target.
But still, the only way to find out how well that'd work would be to just do it during the fight.
A small sigh escaped him, Peter rubbed his increasingly tired eyes for a second.
So, he was at a huge disadvantage with not too many ways to close the distance to someone that specialized in ranged combat.
And he barely had an actual plan.
Oh, and to add to that?
He… he was getting tired.
He's been doing whatever a spider can all day, his brain has been working overtime ever since he ran into Tony Stark and the hits he's taken so far are starting to catch up to him.
It's just been such a long day.
Peter sighed, rubbing the exhaustion out of his eyes to try and stay focused for a bit longer, Togata sitting next to him.
Way too long of a day.
"Hey." Togata's voice caught his attention, Peter turning his head slightly to look at him. "You alright? Like, not nervous?"
Nervous?
When he thought about it, the final match of a huge tournament broadcasted all over the country should be making him way more nervous than he actually was right now.
Even so, he just… wasn't.
Like, he was gonna try to win, of course, but he could take it or leave it at this point.
Right now, he just wanted to go home and rest for once in his life. Just lay down for a bit and… rest.
He wasn't nervous, just tired.
"Not really, just… just tired, you know? It's been a really long day for me and I just… I don't know, I just wish I could lay down for a bit." A small chuckle escaped him, Peter's hand went to his pocket and touched the cloth of his mask. "Doesn't matter, anyway. Besides! I got this, right?"
Hearing this, Togata flashed a smile and gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up.
"Totally! Gotta go on out there and do your best!"
Yeah, he just needs to go out there and do his best! Easy as that.
A sigh escaped him, Peter took his mask out of his pocket before running his fingers through the cloth.
If he won, then he's sure that'd make Ben and May proud. May would probably say something about her always being proud of him or something like that, huh?
Now, he knew that she meant it when she said that, of course he knew! Maybe… winning was a way to prove it to himself, or at least reassuring that belief in her.
After all that's happened to him and because of him, winning this stupid tournament would be the least he could do for them.
Besides, making the two of them proud was the least he could ever ask for.
"Thanks for being here, Togata. I… really appreciate it, you know? Not really used to having people do stuff like this for me." Peter chuckled quietly, standing up from the bench and beginning to stretch.
Might help with the soreness. At least he hoped it would.
Suddenly, the taller teen stood up and put his arm around him reassuringly. Weirdly enough, Peter didn't mind the sudden contact that much.
"Hey, don't worry about it! That's what we're friends for, right? Can't leave you alone in here before your big fight! Oh, and call me Mirio, alright?"
A small sense of warmth spread across Peter's chest at that, the boy laughing lightly for a second before speaking.
"Alright, you can call me Peter." He said, smiling for a moment before Tog-Mirio removed his arm.
Alright, that was… Nejire and Mirio that he was on a first-name basis with, that only left Amajiki! Yikes, getting close to him might be a bit harder.
Just as Mirio sat back down, a voice on the intercoms rang out throughout the stadium, calling both finalists to the arena.
Showtime, huh?
Peter gripped the mask in his hands a bit tighter, quickly beginning to put both it and his goggles on before stopping.
The boy flashed Mirio a thumbs up and as bright a smile as he could manage, his friend returning the smile and thumbs up.
With that, Peter pulled the goggles and mask over his face, taking a deep breath before walking out of the room.
...
"You got this." He muttered to himself, already being drowned out by the deafening roaring of the stadium all around him.
It was the loudest it has been yet, he guessed they had a good reason for that.
On the other side of the arena, Nejire was bouncing up and down in preparation, a determined look in her eyes as Peter narrowed his lenses at him.
His fingers twitched, inching towards the triggers of his web-shooters as he lowered his stand.
Good thing he had a mask on right now, didn't want to be showing his opponent how unsure he looked about his chances.
It hurt, but Mirio was probably right about that 40/60 estimate.
Whatever, it didn't mean that he wasn't gonna try.
Maximum effort, you know? Had to give it his all like Mirio said.
Peter rolled his shoulder, checking to see his web-shooters were loaded and that his belt had cartridges.
Yeah, maximum effort.
"And here we are, people! The finals of the 1st year stage of UA's Sports Festival! A battle between classmates with insanely different abilities, it's Nejire Hado against Peter Parker!" Present Mic yelled across the stadium, the crowd screaming in excitement. "What do you think the fight's gonna be like, my favorite co-host?!"
There was an annoyed mumble inside the booth, Peter could only guess Aizawa was rolling his eyes up there.
"While they do have drastically different quirks, I believe they are both well equipped to use their training to overcome the other. I am hoping they do everything at their disposal to reach their full potential in the fight." Aizawa said, in a tone that the teen could only guess was supposed to be… encouraging? It was hard to tell.
Didn't look like anyone else could tell, either.
After a few more roars from the crowd, Midnight spoke into her earpiece and nodded at Cementos before cracking her whip loudly.
"Due to the nature of Hado's quirk and Parker's inability to reach her reliably were she to simply fly out of range, the arena shall be slightly changed!"
Slightly changed? What?
...
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