Stallion walked through the cafeteria with a million thoughts running through his head like streams down a mountain, however they all focused onto one subject as he recognised two faces. A man and a woman were sipping on coffee from styrofoam cups while they sat across from each other. They both wore dark reflective sunglasses as well as black suits, very clique. The boy's instincts screamed to be on alert, the duo was in fact the horror movie esque stalker who had been keeping profiles on Him. Several days ago he followed the two stalkers to find out that they had been reporting their daily actions to their superior. While they appeared to be more than one person the beast was in fact only one. Based on the data his Pip-Boy recorded during his encounter and his own deductions he concluded it likely split into more than one form to cover more ground when observing Stallion and his companions. The wastelander began to walk towards the individual but before he could more than two steps he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see his glowing companion.

"Hey Stallion, the final round is starting we better get going" Lenz said in a cheerful manner.

The wastelander glanced back to the shapeshifter only to see that they were gone. He gritted his teeth as he followed Lenz to the arena.

"If only I could have found out more…" he thought to himself. The pair continued out of the cafeteria into a concrete hallway that led into the stadium floor.

Lenz stopped and turned around, worry filling her bright eyes.

"Are you ok Stallion? You look frustrated. Is this about Tooru? Because none of us blame you for anything" she reassured

Stallion chuckled at her concern before returning to his solemn tone.

"Lenz that thing that tried to lure you into an alleyway before… I saw it while I was walking by the public cafeteria."

The girl's face changed from concern to shock in an instant.

"What! We need to tell the heroes!" she exclaimed as her skin flared slightly in the dark hallway, lighting up the walls briefly and casting a shadow of the wastelander. The courier shook his head

"No, there's something I failed to mention before. That thing has been following me and reporting my daily activities. I need to know why"

Lenz looked conflicted and stood for a moment before nodding.

"A-alright but promise that you'll report it after you figure things out" She stuttered out.

"I can't promise anything anymore" he muttered as he stepped into the stadium.

Stallion was shaken awake by his cephalopod classmate. After bit of drama surrounding several students dropping out as they didn't feel "Worthy" due to some degree of being mind controlled, the student's had drawn lots to see who was up against who. Stallion's mind was completely out of it as he did so however as he was more focused on his stalker. After all this the boy had dozed off, he happened to do that a lot, in fact according to the medical diagnosis done by his Pip-Boy every week, he had developed somewhat of a sleeping disorder.

"Stallion! You're up! Get off your butt and get into the ring!"

Still groggy the wastelander stood up and peered out of the spectator's box assigned to his class. On the field a woman with vines for hair was tapping her foot looking around at the stadium innocently.

"Hmm, Guardian doesn't appear to be showing up therefore the match goes to-"

Stallion pulled out his flare gun and fired off a shot into the middle of the stadium to gain everyone's attention. The crowd gasped and turned around to look at Stallion.

"Hold on a sec! I'm here! Just woke up from a nap I'll be right down!" The wastelander shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Well folks it appears we'll have match after all. Please make your way to the stage Mr. Guardian, quickly" Present Mic said, stressing the "quickly" in impatience.

Stallion walked up the steps as he heard some of the people in the crowd whispering among themselves about the boy being late. He rolled his eyes and switched his Pip-Boy to quick-selection mode.

"After some delays it's time to start the final match of the first round! Even beautiful flowers have thorns! It's the assassin from class 1-B of the hero course! Ibari Shiozaki!" Present mic exclaimed over the microphone. "Versus, the mechanical marvel! Stallion Guardian! Another hero in the making!"

The crowd roared in approval of the battle. Stallion's enhanced perception allowed him to pick up some of the chatting.

"My money's on the vine girl, she could just restrain him and throw him out of bounds" one man said.

"I don't know, the guy with the scar on his face looks pretty threatening to me, besides, didn't you see what his quirk does? He can summon things from that thing on his wrist, all he needs to do is pull out a weed whacker or something" Another replied.

"Keep those eyes peeled! I wanna see a super flashy battle this time-" Present Mic was cut off by Stallion's opponent.

"Excuse me? Please pardon the interruption. I'm not sure why you called me an assassin? I've come to the festival in search of victory, not to take my opponent's life. That wouldn't be in line with the values of a hero at all sir" She said in a sweet innocent voice. Stallion almost felt bad that he was going to have to fight her.

"Right, I'm sorry-" Present Mic began to speak again before Ibari interrupted him again.

"Gentlemen, I didn't enter U.A. for wicked or selfish reasons. But to deliver salvation to others. It is my humble quest to spread true good across this world-" the girl proclaimed as she began to monologue, Present mic was clearly annoyed.

"Listen! I said I'm sorry O.K.?" He exclaimed, obviously anxious to get on with the fight. Ibari bowed slightly.

"I thank you for your kind understanding" she said softly as she walked back to her position.

"Begin!"

Stallion stood still, watching the girl's every move. He dodged to the left as several vines sprung from her hair and shot towards him. Landing with a slide he rolled into a sprint and rushed towards his opponent. A familiar weight was added to his side as he drew the Shishkebab Mk II. The original Shishkebab was an old Japanese Wazikashi, a decent sized traditional blade. The Mk II however was much more advanced, Instead of a wazikashi the boy had used a european broadsword. The device was far more elegant and stylish than the last as Stallion had access to more materials.

Ibari tried to attack again with her vines only to have them cut away like butter. This happened over and over again, Ibari attempting to get a shot in only to have Stallion incinerate the vines. The boy slashed and sliced with the technique of a pro, his muscles and finely tuned physique accented with every swipe of the blade. A massive wall of plant life sprung up from the ground between the two. Much to Ibari's horror the extension of her hair was quickly ablaze. Slicing through the vine Stallion dived over the slumped over dead plant. Dashing forward the wastelander kicked out the girl's legs and jumped to a standing position. Putting his boot on her shoulder Stallion dialed down the flames coming from his blade and pointed the heated device at her throat.

"Checkmate" he said with a smirk.

The girl gaped in awe of Stallion's efficiency and slumped back, defeated.

"I surrender" she said.

"Ibari Shiozaki surrenders! The match goes to Stallion Guardian!" Midnight exclaimed over the speakers. Stallion took his boot off her shoulder and helped the girl up. He was about to step away before noticing embers creeping up the girl's hair. Pulling a water bottle from his Pip-Boy Stallion doused the girl, she shrieked in surprise before Stallion pointed to the burnt ends of her hair. Bowing repeatedly in gratitude the girl thanked him for saving her from a legendary bad hair day.

"I am forever in your debt, your skill and strategy bested me. You are truly a gentleman" she praised.

"Oh, really it's nothing I just sorta did it on impulse" he said scratching his head as the two of them walked off the stage.

"Even more admirable! You did it without any thought of a reward! I am not fit to call myself a hero in training beside you!" she exclaimed. Stallion chuckled, "all in a day's work I suppose"

After shaking Ibari off his tail, Stallion returned to class 1-A's observing booth and pulled out a coke from his Pip-Boy. Turning the lid he sipped the cool carbonated beverage as his classmates took notice of him.

"Man! Stallion that was incredible! You didn't skip a beat!" Mina exclaimed. His classmates began praising his efforts, but without the battle to focus on. All he could think of was the shapeshifting beast that prowled around the stadium, watching his every move. Reporting what it could to its superiors. Glancing up at the monitor Stallion noticed his next match was against Tenya. From what he could gather the boy would prove to be a very formidable foe. As such of a tradition of the Stallion's his mind began to wander, and from such he once again fell asleep counting Brahmin.

"Stallion! You dimwit! Stop falling asleep!" Emma shouted as Stallion was shaken awake. A few weeks ago the boy would have automatically blown a hole in the girl's head as he almost did when staying at Stacy's, however since then he had learned to control his habits.

"You're lucky I woke you up earlier this time! Get down to the waiting room, you're up!" she said as she pushed him up the steps of the stands and through the door.

Stallion made his way to the waiting room and began formulating a strategy before being cut off by his call to the field. Once again he stepped out into the bright sunlight and cheers of fans. He stepped onto the concrete fighting field as Present mic began to introduce the two.

"In one corner is the second oldest of the Iida hero family! Tenya Iida! And in the other a rising hero who gets by on grit and tools! Stallion Guardian! Both from Class 1-A of the hero course! Now without further adue! Begin!"

Stallion crossed his arms and waited, Tenya likely believed that Stallion's only trick was his ability to pull out objects from his Pip-Boy and as such would go for a quick finish by pushing him out of the ring. He was doing exactly what the wastelander expected.

"Recipro Burst!"

Tenya sped across the field as fast as a bullet however, nobody could outrun V.A.T.S.

In an instant all time stopped and Stallion was presented with a freeze frame of his classmate sliding to a stop right behind him, switching directions to throw him out of bounds. Stallion decided his plan and began to put it into action. Time resumed as Tenya boosted towards Stallion. Dodging left the wastelander narrowly avoided his classmate's grab, giving him the perfect opportunity to counter. Using the boy's momentum against him Stallion delivered a roundhouse kick to the boy's stomach. Between the tremendous force of the mailman's kick and his own forward momentum, Tenya was thrown to the ground, all air escaping his lungs. Before the engine boosted boy could recover Stallion proceeded to swiftly pull a stun baton from his Pip-Boy and knock the boy out. Silence hung in the air like a fog as the crowd and the heroes tried to comprehend what had just happened. Midnight finally shook the shock from her face and announced the victor.

"The match goes to Stallion Guardian!" she proclaimed. The crowd exploded into an anthem of cheers as Stallion helped several medical robots load Tenya onto a stretcher. Stallion silently strode back to the stands.

Stallion noticed that Sverre was up next, usually the boy would have just slept through the rest of the matches. However something in his gut was telling him something wasn't right. Stemming from his thoughts Stallion began to wonder where Sverre was. He hadn't seen him after they had eaten in the cafeteria and Stallion hadn't noticed him in the waiting room.

"Hey Emma? Have you seen Sverre since lunch?" he asked.

The boy's short aquatic companion looked confused at the question.

"No? I haven't really thought about it but, yeah I haven't seen him since we parted ways after we ate" she replied

Thoughts of worry began to creep in at the corners of Stallion's mind but the boy shrugged them off with a "I'm probably just being paranoid"

Stallion's concerns all at once fell away as he saw Sverre walk onto the field for the next match. His opponent was none other than his classmate Lenz. Stallion was having a hard time deciding who to root for but decided on Lenz in the end. She still glowed a bright red as she readied herself into a fighting stance.

"Coming from the cold north of Sweden! A brutal Viking! Sverre Stone! Vs. The queen of radiation! Lenz Eyeonis! Begi-"

"Lis! Slen! Nus!" Sverre shouted. In an instant Lenz was frozen solid, still alive but clearly injured. Usually Lenz would have been able to melt her prison however it wasn't just the ice. Her very muscles had been frosted to the point she couldn't even move.

"The match goes to Sverre Stone! Lenz Eyeonis is… immobilized" Midnight said into her microphone.

Sverre simply spun around and walked out of the arena. Stallion gasped in surprise but that soon gave way to unbridled rage. However Stallion had more important things to worry about, like Lenz. Stallion clenched his fists in anger as he slammed the class 1-A box door behind him.

Authors Note: Updating this has really given me a perspective on how much I've improved writing-wise. Hopefully you guys can spare the inconsistencies and problems. I don't exactly have the time to rewrite the whole thing from scratch.

Sincerely,

Fabkitty