I had difficulty rearranging the cavalry teams properly. I hope it turned out alright.


"Smaaash!"

Midoriya Izuku slammed his fist through the curtain of solid ice that greeted him at the exit to the tunnel and burst through into streaming sunlight.

"And Todoroki Shouto is first out into the field!"

Present Mic's voice boomed across the stadium, magnified a hundredfold by his Quirk. Izuku grit his teeth and poured on the speed, charging across the dirt at five percent One For All, trying his hardest to catch up to Todoroki's head start – then he heard the blasts.

Kacchan!?

"Where the fuck d'you think you're going, Deku!?" the blonde screamed, over the din of his own explosions, and Izuku grit his teeth.

First place is where I'm going! he shot back, mentally, but he kept his focus on running, one step after the other; steadily, he gained on Todoroki, then –

Boom.

A slab of metal the size of a house slammed into the ground in front of Todoroki, and without even flinching, he launched a crescent kick skyward, skating to a stop on his own ice before slamming his right palm into the ground and sending a frozen wave screaming up the sides of the pair of zero-pointers blocking their way before shooting off between one's legs and freezing the gap behind him; behind them, the students first through the ice Todoroki had left blocking off the tunnel were starting to catch up, in particular the more mobile ones: Sero, Iida, somehow Mineta (displaying admirable agility and reflexes by bouncing from one hairball to the next at high speed), and –

"Uraraka-san!?"

Izuku nearly lost his focus when he spotted Uraraka, an expression somewhere between fury and determination on her round face, running at top speed; every so often, she'd touch five fingers to her palm and sling forward, as if propelled by some invisible force – what is she doing?

He didn't know what he was feeling, but there was definitely confusion in there, and he shoved it aside, springing for one of the robots' legs and bouncing between them just like All Might's training exercise; exhilarated, he nearly laughed as he took one final leap for the gap between them, sailing through the air just as Bakugou shot by him, rage written across his features.

I'm in third place now…but there are still two more segments after the – footrace!?

Literally dozens of the villain robots from the entrance exam lined the path ahead, but Todoroki, unfazed, skated forward on his right foot, sending up waves of ice that either froze the robots in place or punctured their chasses, destroying them; ahead of Izuku, Bakugou rocketed forward, the heat from his explosions melting away Todoroki's ice.

"Midoriya."

"Oh – hey, Todoroki-kun. What's up?"

"Come with me. We're talking."

"…Uh, alright."

Todoroki led him around the side of the stadium, to an enclosed alcove away from the rest of the class. Leaning against the wall, he trained his gaze on Izuku, waiting to speak until the other had positioned himself against the opposite wall.

What does he want? Izuku had no idea what this could possibly be about.

"What are you?"

"What?"

"What are you, Midoriya? Your Quirk is called Phoenix, but nothing you've been showing off for the past couple of weeks has been anything like what a phoenix is described as."

"I…"

"Fire. Regeneration. Healing tears. You've displayed two of them once that I can remember."

"Todoroki-kun, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you much more about it. I barely understand it myself."

Was he mistaken, or was Todoroki shaking?

"…If you say so. But just know one thing, Midoriya."

"Huh?"

"I'm going to beat you today. With just my right, I'll show him that I don't need his power to take down someone with a fire Quirk."

And with that, he paced off, steps measured, refusing to look back at Izuku – who stood there for a long while after wondering just what he'd done wrong.

No more of that. Izuku was fired up now, and he knew – he had to come out on top, no matter what.

Which was why the fact that he landed squarely on Todoroki's ice struck him as particularly ironic, even as he slipped and fell and Sero, Mineta and Uraraka flew past him without a glance.

Uraraka, whose acceleration, he realized, was closer to falling forward than jumping…

Bittersweet pride flooded through him; while they hadn't been speaking, it was good to know that she hadn't given up, that she'd perhaps found another use for her Quirk than just floating objects, and that – regardless of what had happened to her parents – she was still trying to move forward. Why that involved not speaking to him, he still wasn't sure, but he didn't have time to dwell on it, not when he had a race to win.

Nearly screaming with the effort, he tore past the others in just a few bounds and reclaimed third place, gaining slowly but surely on Bakugou and Todoroki, who fought neck-and-neck for first; gritting his teeth, Izuku nearly stopped again when he spotted the beginning of the second stretch of the obstacle course, a deep fissure.

Bakugou, of course, had no trouble with it; he was already effectively flying as it stood, and he didn't even bat an eye, blasting his way across the chasms between the precariously balanced chunks of ground connected by ropes that comprised their second obstacle; Todoroki, on the other hand, was forced to slow, skating carefully across each rope one by one in sequence.

Fear shot through him – what if he fell? what if he couldn't jump far enough and was forced to slowly creep across the ropes? – but he could almost hear Bakugou's voice screaming at him in his own head: damnit, Deku, this ain't the time for this shit! just hurry up and fucking do it already! – and for once he heeded the blonde's advice, squinting his eyes shut tight as he leapt from the edge of the chasm to the first platform, landing squarely in the middle; in just a couple more bounds, he'd surpassed Todoroki, who fell into fourth place behind Sero and just ahead of Iida, who'd also had to slow down for the chasm segment (Mineta, having exhausted both himself and his Quirk, had fallen behind a bit).

Uraraka had stopped, staring at the fissure's edge, but he didn't give her a second glance.

As far as Izuku could tell, there was no longer any particular risk of losing the top few spots; few of his classmates possessed any particular mobility - while Satou and Shouji were fast, they lacked the ability to cross gaps effectively, and while Tsuyu possessed excellent jumping abilities and short-range speed, she still fell off at range. That left Bakugou, of course, followed by Todoroki (who Izuku was beginning to suspect was only slowing down out of caution and not an inability to skate across the chasm), then Iida, Sero, and apparently now Uraraka, all of whom possessed both effective horizontal and vertical mobility. With a jolt, he realized that he now numbered among them, and furthermore, that he was ahead of them – all of them but Bakugou, who still remained tantalizingly out of reach. What was more, the more Bakugou used his Quirk and the longer he – ran? flew? – the more he sweated and the more powerful it became, and at some point, Izuku would simply be unable to catch up to him.

He grit his teeth and ran.

"I'm gonna win. Don't bother trying to get in my way."

That was all Bakugou Katsuki said before stepping down from the stage to a cacophony of jeers.

"What does he think he is doing!?" Iida fumed. "He has tarnished the reputation of class 1-A and made us all targets!"

"Yeah, what was Aizawa-sensei thinking putting him first?" Ashido grumbled. "Shoulda been me. I'd have pumped everyone up!"

"Well, Bakugou is currently top in the class," Yaoyorozu pointed out mildly. "He's…smarter than I'd thought, and I hate to admit it, but he's probably the best fighter out of all of us."

Todoroki clenched his fists.

"That's Kacchan for you," Izuku shrugged. "He was always getting top scores in middle school, too."

"I wish his big head didn't have a basis!" Kaminari snarled. "It's like Mineta-kun, guys like him are only funny when they're stupid."

"Like you have room to talk." Jirou playfully jabbed him with one of her jacks, and Kaminari yelped in indignation.

Izuku could only watch as Bakugou strolled back over to a class he wasn't a part of.

In the past, perhaps he'd have been intimidated; perhaps he'd have ceded the spot to Bakugou and settled for second. But ever since he'd gotten into Yuuei, ever since he'd made friends for the first time in his life, ever since he'd developed One For All, a change had come slowly but surely over Midoriya Izuku; for some, having such power at their disposal after a lifetime of feeling helpless and isolated might have caused madness, loss of control, but Izuku felt empowered, felt capable, and this only fueled his drive to become worthy of what he'd been given and what he'd earned.

No, his determination didn't die with his Quirkless registration. If anything, it had only gotten stronger, and as he pelted after Bakugou – after Kacchan, whose back he'd been staring at his whole life, desperately reaching for the acceptance of the one to whom he'd looked up – he felt it rise up in his chest, bubbling up like lava, warming his whole body, and something rose in him like a bird taking flight –

The crowd screamed, and in the blur of noise, he heard Present Mic say his name. He didn't understand why until he spotted the forewings; wreathed of golden flame, they burned, scorched, running along the edge of his ulna on the outside of his forearm, fire tracing fine outlines of individual feathers that formed blades like the shoulders of a raptor.

Phoenix…it's like All Might said. A Quirk that I draw out with my determination…so what do I do now?

A flashback. The Quirk evaluation tests. The standing long jump. The way he'd crossed his arms and forced One For All through them at one hundred percent to propel himself further, and the way he'd glided…

He'd had no control then, no inkling of what his powers were or what to do with them, but now – now, things were different. With one smooth motion, like he'd been planning it all along, he took the five percent of One For All he could safely utilize and let it flow through his arms, crossing them over his chest and feeling that warmth surge through him, diverting it to the wings. Small as they were, they only let him glide for a few seconds at a time, but that was enough for him as he kicked off hard, slicing through the air and blazing twin trails in his wake.

For the first time, he let himself smile.

"Deku!?"

Bakugou's scream of shock and confusion as Izuku shot forward like a rocket was gratifying, but he didn't let it break his focus – he couldn't afford to, not now.

"Get the fuck back here, Deku!"

Was it his imagination, or were Bakugou's blasts becoming stronger? He supposed it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility; after all, like All Might had said, a Quirk was a physical part of someone's body, and if emotions could have so strong an influence on a Quirkless body as to let a woman lift a car by herself, Bakugou could no doubt fuel the power of his own explosions on pure rage. He wasn't surprised to see the fiery blonde catching up, redoubling the power and frequency of his blasts, gaining slowly but surely on Izuku – the last stretch was ahead of them, the ground lumpy and misshapen, and Izuku had a feeling he knew what it was, but they were both more or less flying by then, Izuku with the wings he still wasn't sure he could fully control, Bakugou essentially blasting himself into the air – and then, suddenly, somehow, Todoroki was behind them, fury written across his face, using his ice to pick up speed like a skateboarder on a half-pipe; with a wordless shout, he managed to fire off a crawling line of ice that outpaced both Izuku and Bakugou, setting off the mines underfoot and blasting both of them out of the air.

It's not technically against the rules, since he didn't directly attack us with his Quirk…but –

And then Todoroki Shouto burned past the disoriented duo on a sheet of ice.

"Get back here, half-and-half bastard!" Bakugou, having more natural control over his Quirk than Izuku, got himself off the ground faster, and Izuku struggled to his feet, pushing his limits to draw out One For All – just another minute! – and run after him, Phoenix's wings dissipating into thin air.

Even after Bakugou's recovery, however, Todoroki was still moving too quickly and with too much of a head start for the blonde to catch up before the heterochrome crossed the finish line, his right side covered almost entirely in a fine sheen of clear ice; Bakugou landed next to him, out of breath and drenched in sweat but still managing to let out a string of colorful swears with each ragged gasp; finally, Izuku skidded to a stop, coming up in a respectable third place that he was by no means satisfied with.

"The first stretch of the obstacle race comes to a spectacular close! In first place: Todoroki Shouto! In second: Bakugou Katsuki! And in third: Midoriya Izuku! Thirty-nine places remain for those wishing to proceed to the next event!"


"Midoriya-kun."

"Oh. Hey, Iida-kun." Izuku nodded, scooting sideways on the bench to make room for Iida, who held a bottle in each hand: a sports drink, which he offered to the greenhead, and a bottle of orange juice, which Izuku figured was to refuel his engines. "Ah. Thanks."

"Of course," Iida responded, taking a sip of juice as Izuku twisted the cap from the sports drink and took a long, greedy gulp. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah. Lots, I really appreciate it. How about you?"

"I am perfectly fine. Slightly winded, perhaps, and – "

"There's a bruise on your knee, though." Izuku pointed.

"Hm? Ah, yes. Someone bumped me with one of their support items as they moved past me. Careless! Indiscriminate! Impol – "

"Iida-kun, you're scaring the others."

" – hooligan – oh! My apologies!" he called, to the two bemused support-class students watching him from an adjacent bench, and Izuku rolled his eyes, unable to stop the grin from spreading across his face. "But really, it's nothing."

"Are you sure? Recovery Girl is right there, you could ask her to heal it for you. That's why she's here, after all."

"I will be fine! There is no need to worry!" the vice-rep reassured his friend, giving a robotic nod. "…Tell me, Midoriya-kun. What do you think the next event will be?"

"Um…I don't know. I know there's always a tournament bracket with sixteen people that wraps up the festival, but the first two events have been different every year I've watched. I guess we'll just have to wait until Midnight announces it."

Just then, Uraraka walked by, not so much as acknowledging either of them. The expression on her face hadn't changed from the one Izuku had seen on the track, and her hands were balled into fists – and he was fairly certain it wasn't in anticipation of holding a drink bottle.

Izuku felt his heart sink in a way that had very little to do with the next event.


An event that, to his dismay, turned out to be –

"Tag team!? What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Bakugou spewed, the moment the words had left Midnight's lips. "I thought this was a battle to the top!"

"Of course it is," came Midnight's silky purr, and she fixed her sultry, half-lidded gaze on the blonde. "But part of the strength we're looking for is the ability to work together. You will be allowed to construct your own teams, but I daresay that the forty-two we have here aren't all friends, and not a few of you will be forced into working with people whose personalities, Quirks and styles you know nothing about. The truly heroic among you will be able to overcome these difficulties, something pro heroes must do on a routine basis in the field should they find themselves working outside of their teams."

"Shit" was all Bakugou had to say to this.

"The rules are simple. The point-based headbands we will assign you momentarily must be worn by the rider, either on their head or neck, and you must steal other students' headbands to accumulate the most points and proceed on to the final event of the festival. Anything goes, as long as you do not directly attack other students in a way that does not contribute to your acquisition of their headbands and the designated rider must not touch the ground. Doing so will result in your disqualification."

Izuku bit his lip as they read out the point values of each student, based on their place in the obstacle race; as second and third place, both his and Bakugou's were high, but it was nothing compared to Todoroki's – Todoroki, who was handed a headband with ten million written across it (and an appropriately sized helping of shock that even his usual stoicism couldn't quite hide).

He's not stupid. He knows this will make him everyone's target, Izuku thought. So who's going to team up with him…?

"…and in forty-second place, a single point," Midnight finished. "Don't use it all in one place, hmm?"

A few people snickered, and Midnight smirked that signature seductive smirk of hers. "Lovely. Now, if you don't mind, arrange yourselves into teams of two to four. You have ten minutes to team up and work out your strategies, starting now."

Used to sudden dismissals by now, the students began milling about, gravitating into small friend groups or approaching total strangers with compatible or powerful Quirks; he spotted Iida talking to a boy from 1-B whose name he didn't know, Kaminari trying to chat up a girl with vines for hair (Izuku thought she looked familiar, but he couldn't quite say), Aoyama being rejected by three separate groups, Mineta having an actual conversation with Tsuyu (mediated by Shouji). On instinct, he glanced around for Uraraka, but when he didn't see her, he figured – she's probably just out of sight behind someone.

"Hey, Iida-kun!" he called, to his friend and the boy from 1-B, but to his surprise, Iida shook his head, a small, sad smile playing across his lips.

"Ah. Midoriya-kun, I am sorry. Friends though we may be, we are also rivals, and it is in this exercise that I would like to surpass you."

"Oh, um…that's okay!" It stung a little, but he had to admit Iida had a point; they were friends, but in this tournament, they were still competing, and only one could come out on top…

Still, despite his displays of both One For All and Phoenix, nobody seemed particularly interested in him, and he had to wonder if he really did look that plain, was really that forgettable. Two minutes in, most students had teamed up, and he was finding it hard to spot a group that wasn't full…until he heard Bakugou's signature screaming.

"What!? It's just me and Hair-for-Brains!? What the hell is this shit!?"

"Hey, man, relax. I'm pretty sturdy!"

"That's not what I'm talking about, dumbass!"

"Kacchan? Kirishima-kun?"

Both boys turned to face him, and their reactions were about as far apart as the earth and sun: Kirishima's grin split even wider, while Bakugou reached up and actually made to tear out a chunk of his own hair.

"Hey, Midoriya! What's up?" Kirishima called, but Bakugou threw himself in front of the redhead, arms spread protectively.

"No you don't, shitrag! I don't want you on my damn team!" he snarled, like a rabid dog; Izuku was surprised to see that he wasn't foaming at the mouth, but the effect was still formidable, and he cringed out of habit.

"Don't be so mean, Bakugou-kun. He did pretty awesome out there! Almost beat you, too," Kirishima ribbed, and Izuku knew what was about to happen a moment before it did – Bakugou whirled on him, poised to go off, but just then, a flicker of silver struck him in the temple at high speed and he spun again, looking around for the source.

"Aah! My baby!"

Completely ignoring Bakugou, a girl with pink – curls? what do I even call her hair!? – came dashing over, knocking over not a few students whose names Izuku didn't know (as well as Kaminari) with a bulky, many-armed device that she wore like a backpack, each arm sticking out at just the right angle to sweep someone off their feet. Kneeling, she fished the projectile (a bolt) from the grass, replacing it in her pocket, then stood, glancing at the three boys as if she'd only just noticed they were there.

"Who the hell are you?" Bakugou snapped.

"Oh! You two are…the runners-up!" she declared, surveying both the fiery blonde and Izuku through what appeared to be aviator goggles, only there was some sort of scope attached over each eye; not realizing the mistake she'd made in pointing out Bakugou's lack of absolute victory, she shook a hand he hadn't offered, then took Izuku's while the other stood stock-still, shaking with barely-contained fury. "I'm Hatsume Mei, from the support department, and don't you forget it! You're from the hero course, right? You'll need my babies to help you out there!"

Is this girl ignoring him or just dense…?

"Kirishima Ejirou!" the redhead boomed, proudly, jabbing a finger at his own chest with a resounding bang that told Izuku he'd used his Quirk on himself. "You need someone sturdy to be your front-runner, I'm the man for the job!"

"Um, Midoriya Izuku," the greenhead told her, feeling strangely violated. "I, um, my Quirk is – "

"Oh, I know you! You had wings, right?"

"…I did? My Quirk's just a strength-type…"

"Bullshit!" Bakugou spewed, letting out a fraction of his rage as he turned on Izuku. "Strength Quirks don't spray fire out of your fuckin' arms, dumbass!"

"…And that's Bakugou Katsuki," Kirishima cut in, introducing him for Hatsume's sake, but if she'd heard him, she gave no indication.

"Hey, Hair-for-Brains! Why are you actin' like they're gonna be on our team, huh!?"

"I don't see anyone else free," the redhead pointed out mildly. "And I don't think having just us two would be a good idea. You're worth a lot of points, dude. And I can't promise I won't get knocked over if it's just me, especially against Todoroki-kun."

And we both know he's gonna be going right for Todoroki-kun, Izuku thought, catching Kirishima's eye, and the other boy nodded back. Kacchan can't stand losing even a little bit…

"If you let me on your team, you'll have full access to all of my babies, courtesy of me, Hatsume Mei!" the girl offered, pushing her goggles back on her forehead; the grin she wore was closer to predatory than friendly, like a shark, but Izuku decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and managed half a smile in return, which she seemed to interpret as a yes. With a little jump, clapping her hands, she reached back to the metal box on her back and pressed a button; one of the arms flexed, reaching back and pulling what looked like an entire jetpack out of the box before offering it to Kirishima.

"Whoa! This looks awesome! Did you make this?" Without hesitating, he strapped it on, and it activated, tossing him face-first into the turf and dragging him a solid ten feet, leaving a distinct streak of bare earth where his Quirk-empowered face had torn up the grass. "Ow."

"Dumbass."

"Be careful with my baby!" Hatsume shrilled, leaning down and picking up not Kirishima but the jetpack, with Kirishima still attached. "Oh, good, it isn't hurt. Here, take this…"

Ultimately, it was decided that Bakugou would be the rider, Izuku would take left flank, and Hatsume would take right, while Kirishima would take the front, using his Quirk to take the force from Bakugou's explosions; it had taken some persuading, but after convincing the explosive blonde to let the other two on board, he'd directed Izuku to the left, because – and Izuku knew it hurt him to admit it – Izuku's Quirk was powerful enough to provide cover for the right-handed Bakugou.

Hatsume got the short end of the stick, essentially being used for a leg, but she didn't seem to mind.

Kirishima and Hatsume were both equipped with some form of booster to allow them rapid mobility where needed, while Izuku would be relying on his Quirks; Bakugou's blasts could also provide some propulsion if necessary, but their primary focus would be directed at offense.

"Okay. The other teams. It looks like Shouji-kun, Mineta-kun, and Tsuyu-chan are all on a team…Yaoyorozu-san, Iida-kun, Ashido-san and…Sero-kun? Maybe they'll be using Yaoyorozu-san's Quirk to make something like a jousting lance," Izuku muttered, more to himself than his teammates. "But I don't think they'd allow an actual lance…even so, with Iida-kun up front, I can't imagine them using another strategy. They'll probably create a path with Ashido-san's acid and use Sero-kun's tape for some kind of save or stabilization…or maybe to immobilize whoever they're after?"

"Midoriya, you're creeping me out, buddy."

"Sorry, Kirishima-kun. Just thinking." He shot the redhead an apologetic smile that slipped off his face the moment he noticed them.

Todoroki, Kaminari, Tokoyami, and –

"Uraraka-san!?" he hissed aloud. What kind of team is that!? Are they going to use Uraraka-san's Quirk to make themselves weightless? What's Todoroki-kun going to do? I can't see Kaminari-kun doing anything but shocking people, since he can't control his Quirk very well…but Tokoyami-kun…?

Izuku had to admit he was stumped. He hadn't seen Dark Shadow in action much and wasn't sure what exactly it was capable of, making Tokoyami "the x factor" in the equation that was Team Todoroki.

"One minute left!" Midnight announced from the stage, and Kirishima inhaled deeply, glancing over at Bakugou, who stood stock-still, staring out at their competitors. Hatsume, meanwhile, made a last-minute adjustment to one of her support items, the steel-armed box long since set aside to reduce her weight.

"I think we shouldn't attack Todoroki-kun's team right away." Izuku spoke aloud this time, directly addressing Bakugou, and the blonde shot him a glare over his shoulder.

"Why the hell not?"

"We know that Todoroki-kun will most likely be using his ice…and Kaminari-kun will be using his electricity in some offensive capacity. I don't think he knows another use for it."

"Charging his cell phone?" Kirishima suggested. Izuku cracked a smile.

"Maybe. But then we have Uraraka-san – " and he nearly choked on her name; what's wrong with me!? " – and Tokoyami-kun. Uraraka-san will probably use her Quirk to make the other three weightless, but I don't know what exactly Dark Shadow is capable of. We haven't seen it much besides its ranged capabilities, and – "

"That birdbrain doesn't stand a goddamn chance against my explosions," Bakugou cut in, voice a low growl. "I thought you were always taking notes on this shit."

"Um, sorry. I haven't been lately. I've been too focused on my training." This wasn't entirely true; while his training had intensified, the thing that left him unable to focus properly during the class sparring sessions was Uraraka's cold shoulder.

"If you shitrags ever paid attention, you'd have noticed that that stupid bird doesn't like light," the other went on. "All I gotta do is beat the shit out of it with my explosions."

"That's a little violent, Kacchan – "

"What'd you say!?"

"Um, nothing. But you have to remember Todoroki-kun and Kaminari-kun won't just stand there and watch…we're going to have to pay attention to ice and electricity on top of it. Oh, and Kaminari-kun will be on Todoroki-kun's left. Our right," he added, suddenly, remembering Todoroki's vow not to use his left side.

"How the hell d'you know that?"

"Ah, Todoroki-kun told me he didn't use his left side, so he'll probably put Kaminari-kun there to cover him."

"…Hmph." Evidently satisfied, Bakugou stretched, cracking his arm joints and rolling his neck just as Midnight announced that the event would commence in ten seconds. All around them, groups assembled into their cavalry formations, the most common of these being a triangle with the rider on top, but here and there Izuku spotted an abnormal formation: Shouji with his arms forming a protective barrier around Mineta and Tsuyu on his back, two 1-B students floating on top of some kind of invisible barrier pushed along by two other students, the girl in the back wrapping her vine-like hair protectively around the front of their makeshift vehicle.

"Five!"

Izuku winced as Bakugou settled onto the net of their combined hands like a throne.

"Four!"

Hatsume let out a weird, strangled giggle. Kirishima shot her a look over his shoulder that she missed entirely.

"Three!"

Crack. Bakugou let off a preemptive explosion.

"Two!"

There was a smacking sound from the direction of Shouji, who'd covered his back with his arms. Izuku didn't have to reach far to figure out what had happened.

"One!"

All three of them bent their knees, facing Todoroki's team along with every other team on the field.

"Go!"

As one, thirty-eight students shot forward like so many rockets, charging for Todoroki's team at varying speeds; Yaoyorozu's team was there first, her brandishing some sort of staff-and-shield combination evidently designed to shove another rider off-balance as Iida skated forward on a carpet of Ashido's acid. Predictably, Todoroki swiped his right arm up, striking the staff with a sweeping curtain of ice that coated the ground and shot up to knock the weapon away from her. Sero retrieved it with his tape, but they were nonetheless forced to take a step back, Ashido slinging acid at the ice wall as they retreated.

"Alright, shitrag! I'll fuckin' kill you!" Bakugou screamed, and as one, Kirishima and Hatsume triggered their boosters, Izuku kicking off hard with One For All on the left; they hurtled forward, but Todoroki was prepared, changing tack and creating a sweeping ramp of ice to his right. To their surprise, Dark Shadow emerged from Tokoyami's chest, digging its claws into the ground and swinging the entire team around its body like a pivot point, throwing them onto the ice; Kaminari took the motion in stride, shifting easily into the casual pose of a skateboarder, while Uraraka slipped awkwardly, nearly falling over, and Tokoyami withdrew Dark Shadow, using it instead to balance them as they slid at high speed around the ramp, flying off the end and landing some fifty meters away, by the edge of the field.

So that was their strategy…they're clever. "We shouldn't underestimate them!" Izuku called. "Maybe we should play defensively, too? We have the second-highest point value, and we're bound to be targeted once they realize we're less of a threat than – "

"We're less of a threat than Half-and-Half Bastard!?" Bakugou snarled, and Izuku realized a few things belatedly. "I'll show them a goddamn threat, Deku!"

"So manly!" Kirishima marveled.

One: don't suggest Bakugou settle for anything less than complete and overwhelming victory.

Two: why was he, Izuku, settling for any less than the very best?

"Young Midoriya…this is your time to shine."

Maybe it was cliché, maybe it was silly, but he could almost hear the words All Might had said to him – All Might, who'd given him so much, from his time to his Quirk, and who expected Izuku to follow in his footsteps…

Kacchan's right, he decided. If we don't shoot for the very top, are we really that driven…?

"Alright!" he shouted, out loud, and he was oddly satisfied to see the look of surprise on Bakugou's face. "Let's do it!"

"Hey, should we worry about the guys coming for us on the right?" Hatsume's voice interjected, right before a massive bulk barreled into her and almost swept the girl clean off her feet; if it weren't for a set of metal prongs that ejected from her shoulders (nearly smacking Izuku in the face) to form a counterbalance, she'd have definitely fallen and gotten them taken out of the event.

As it stood, Kirishima pivoted on one foot, and Izuku followed suit, rotating their formation ninety degrees to face the new threat with Izuku and Kirishima forming a defensive flank, Bakugou slamming his fists together overhead.

The one who'd hit Hatsume was none other than Satou Rikida, bulked up on his Quirk and looking decidedly more slack-jawed than usual; flanking him were Ojirou Mashirao and a boy who had to stand on tiptoe to support the lavender-haired teen practically lounging across their interwoven arms.

"Huh. Not too bad," came the yawn, and it was exactly what Izuku had been expecting – lazy, drawling, and cocky wrapped up into one bag-eyed bundle. "So this is the Bakugou Katsuki, huh?"

"Shut your goddamn mouth and die!"

"Whoa, buddy, relax – Bakugou-kun?" Kirishima's pause was enough reason for Izuku to shift his gaze from the other rider to their own, and his blood ran cold the moment he did.

The second Bakugou's mouth had closed, he'd gone oddly limp, slack-jawed even if his lips stayed closed, eyes empty; he certainly wasn't dead, but it was also pretty clear that whatever was behind them wasn't Bakugou Katsuki – the fire was out, and he was quiet for once.

"Kacchan?"

The only thing Izuku got in response was the pounding of his own heart in his ears, and in that instant, even the roar of the stadium died to a whisper; the only people there, then, were these eight, Izuku, his team and the other team, and was Bakugou really there at all?

Like clockwork, the blonde pushed himself off of their arms and hands and threw himself to the turf.

Time slowed.

What's he doing!? Izuku's internal panic was deafening. If he touches the ground…we're out of the running! I can't let this happen!

As it turned out, there was no need to worry – by some miracle, Hatsume had fitted Kirishima with his own set of counterbalances, and she had the reflexes to activate them the moment Bakugou toppled, throwing the Hardening hero-in-training forward against his will; Bakugou landed awkwardly across Kirishima's arms and shoulders, but thanks to the wildly gyrating metal arms sticking out of his harness, the redhead managed not to fall, though both Izuku and Hatsume fell victim to a couple of vicious slaps.

More importantly, however, the sudden shock had brought Bakugou back to his senses, and to nobody's surprise, he was pissed; a vehement string of curses slipped out of his mouth, and –

"My, my. Someone ought to teach you to watch your mouth."

"You little – "

Then Bakugou's jaw went slack once more, his eyes emptied again, and Izuku made the connection. The three "horses" below the other boy bore the same expression, gazes blank, and it wasn't difficult to figure out that something about their opponent's Quirk had a memetic effect that allowed him to do something with their minds – what it was exactly, Izuku wasn't entirely sure, but as Bakugou made to throw himself off again, backwards this time, he took a guess: mind control. That was the only logical explanation for why Bakugou would try to sabotage their entire team, himself included…and why none of the "horses" had said a word or made a move to attack them.

"Kacchan!" he shouted, lunging to catch his – friend? rival? enemy? whatever they were to one another anymore, but probably not the former – before the blonde hit the ground; once more, the shock of impact jolted Bakugou to his senses, and his features immediately twisted back into sheer, unadulterated rage as he used Izuku's head as a stepping-stone for one hand to claw his way back onto their three-man cavalry horse.

"What the hell d'you think you're doin', punk!?"

"Kacchan, stop responding to him!" Izuku cut across Bakugou's screams with one of his own. "Whatever his Quirk is, it's controlling you!"

"I dunno what you're talkin' about, Deku, but – "

"Get ahold of yourself, man!"

Kirishima was the one yelling now; he still stood at the front of their group, still kept a hawk eye on the four in front of them even as most of the other groups launched everything they had at Todoroki's, but there was no doubt that it was Bakugou he addressed.

"Look, if you're not gonna do it for us, at least do it for you. You wanna drop out of this thing?"

Ten feet away, the other rider's smirk widened into a Cheshire cat smile.

Is…is he enjoying watching us fight each other? The thought made his stomach turn.

Izuku glanced back at Hatsume, whose manic grin hadn't faded the entire time, but he was fairly certain the faraway look in her eyes had less to do with their opponent than whatever was going on in her head.

"Are you sayin' I'd let myself drop out!?"

"You almost did, twice! Listen to me once, okay?"

And, to Izuku's shock, Bakugou nodded.

"Alright. I think Midoriya's caught on to something," Kirishima went on, a toothy smirk of his own spreading across his face. "You just gotta ignore what he says and go in for the kill. Sound good?"

"Sounds fine by me," came the low growl that was Bakugou's reply, and Kirishima stuck up one finger.

"That means don't scream die!"

"Yeah, yeah, hair-for-brains! Deku! Tinkertoys! Get your asses in gear!"

Tinkertoys…?

It took him a second to realize that Bakugou meant Hatsume.

Seeing that they'd stopped squabbling, the other boy sat up just a little straighter, the amusement sliding off his face and slipping into some semblance of wariness; without so much as a word, his three teammates launched themselves forward, charging straight for Kirishima –

"Kirishima-kun! We need to move!" Izuku ordered, but the redhead just crossed his arms, shooting him a cheeky smile.

"Leave it to me, Midoriya. You just watch the left and get ready to turn, 'kay?"

Ojirou's tail, heavy and muscular, came sweeping in as the other three rushed Kirishima down; his forearms, crossed and hardened, bore the brunt of Satou's initial blow, and Izuku couldn't stifle a shout as he brought up his own forearm to block the tail strike, heels digging into the dirt with the force of the blows coming at them.

"Don't get cocky just because you're in the hero course!" came the shout from the other rider, but for once, Bakugou didn't take the bait, lunging in with his signature right hook and reaching up with his left to snatch two of the headbands from beneath the boy's hair; for an instant, Izuku caught a glimpse of the shock on his face, and when Kirishima called out "now!", he yanked Hatsume towards him with his right arm, shoving himself off the ground and against the force of the tail trying hard to knock him off balance, turning the redhead into a pivot point for another ninety degree turn.

"You got a big mouth for an extra, know that?" he heard Bakugou snarl, right before Hatsume activated the boosters she and Kirishima wore and sent them spinning a half-circle around the other group.

They didn't give chase, and the four took a moment to rest and catch their breath, surveying the battlefield; two groups had been disqualified – probably from that mind control Quirk, Izuku thought – while one lurked around the edge of the field, near Yaoyorozu's group as they tried another jousting attack on Todoroki's. The heterochrome had already brought his own brand of renovation to the turf, spiraling ice walls and pillars bursting into their frozen magnificence all around and cordoning off an arena of sorts where no more than two teams could fight comfortably, forcing the rest to fight for the contender spot.

"Hey, Deku," Bakugou growled, and Izuku glanced up. "Think your – your Quirk can melt through half-and-half's ice walls?" He struggled on the phrase "your Quirk", and Izuku figured he could understand why: it was a little difficult accepting that the kid you'd spent your life calling Quirkless actually wasn't.

"I don't think it's strong enough to do that right now." It could be, he added mentally, but I need to save that power for the next stage of the festival…assuming we even get there. But nobody's gotten our headbands yet, and we're still in an undeniable second place…no, the problem's not making it into the third event. It's making it there in first place.

"Shit. You're still as useless as ever. What about you, Hair-for-Brains? Can you punch through it?"

"There's too much. Can your blasts break it?"

"Hmph. They did back when we were fighting in class…"

"Why don't we try going over the ice instead of through it?" Hatsume cut in. "It would give me a lovely chance to show off my babies!"

"On a practical level, it would also cut off Todoroki-kun's escape routes. He's not using his fire power, and after all this ice, he's bound to be slowing down," Izuku mused. "And I guess Kaminari-kun is probably running low on electricity, too. Kacchan, did you say Tokoyami-kun's Quirk is weak to light?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

More than a little surprised – he couldn't remember Bakugou ever being remotely civil to him; had Kirishima's words actually gotten through to the hotheaded blonde? – Izuku decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. "I was thinking, Kaminari-kun produces a lot of light when he uses his electricity, and he's not exactly in control of it. Kirishima-kun, do you think you could take a shock?"

"Not to worry!" Hatsume interjected, bright as ever. "I've got just the thing!"

And she produced a pair of rubber gloves from her pack.

Izuku and Kirishima both stared, confused, while Bakugou swiveled his head back and forth, furiously attempting to catch a glimpse of whatever it was she had a grip on.

"Here. Put these on your hands," the girl instructed. "They should protect you from the shock if you block it with them."

"Hatsume-san, that's the most sane thing you've provided us with all day," Kirishima muttered, slipping the gloves on; flexing the fingers, he nodded, evidently satisfied, and Bakugou slammed both fists down as if making a point, only he ended up bonking Izuku and Hatsume on the heads.

"Alright, shitrags. We're gonna head up and over that freak's ice wall and hit 'em from up top, got it?"

"Right."

"Right!"

"Only if my babies get time to shine!"

Alright, Todoroki-kun…we're coming for you!


"So it was Midoriya you chose as your successor."

"Correct."

"He has potential, but don't you think it was a bit much to give One For All to someone with an existing Quirk?"

Toshinori Yagi shrugged. Across from him, Yuuei's principal Nezu – some sort of rodent who'd manifested a Quirk - sipped calmly from a white porcelain teacup, a small pink tongue flicking across his whiskers.

"I thought it was just a Quirk that could repair mortal injuries," Toshinori admitted, sunken eyes scanning the murky depths of his own teacup. "I thought it might serve to mitigate injuries like the one that caused me to start looking for a successor in the first place."

"You were getting older anyway," Nezu pointed out, not unkindly. "If you must pass something down due to age, it's best to do it sooner rather than later in case anything happens to you, yes? Most heroes retire by your age. I can only think of one who hasn't yet, and that's Miss Chuuzenji Shuyo."

"Recovery Girl is a unique circumstance."

"Do you think you are also one?"

Silence. On the television set mounted to the wall, live footage of the Yuuei Academy Summer Sports Festival played, the sound muted; for a moment, both teacher and principal watched as a four-man team shot through the air, arcing over one of the frozen walls that divided the arena.

"I survived this long."

"That doesn't mean you'll keep surviving," came the response, Nezu's tone mild. "Regardless, I'm glad you've found someone who can handle One For All responsibly. But that's not why I called you here."

"I know."

Toshinori's teacup clinked softly as he replaced it upon the saucer.

"You've heard of this 'Cataclysm' villain, correct?"

"Mm."

"Well…the disasters in Yokosuka and Futtsu were not isolated incidents. This we know. But there have been a string of disasters moving northwest from Yokosuka since, and what concerns me is that the earthquakes we're seeing amidst these catastrophes are all along existing fault lines."

"Are you saying they're natural quakes?"

"They're certainly trying to be. But geological research centers list their epicenters as being too shallow. The quakes are originating from locations closer to the surface, shifting the earth's tectonic plates along the existing fault lines and making natural quakes much, much more likely. So even after this villain is identified and taken down, we will have to remain vigilant."

"Why not tell the Hero Council this?"

"I will, shortly. But there's something I've been seeing."

"What's that?"

"It's not entirely consistent, but within several kilometers of each fault line, there has been a hero school. Shiketsu in particular was badly affected, and while nobody was killed, there were numerous injuries, and classes have been suspended due to reconstruction."

Nezu took a long drink of his tea, then cleared his throat, fixing Toshinori with a pair of beady black eyes.

"You changed the weather with a punch once. Do you think you could do it again?"


"One minute left! Team Todoroki is still in the lead, with Team Bakugou taking up second place!"

"I hate this!" Bakugou raged. "It's completely fuckin' unfair that you can only get first place with that bastard's headband!"

"At least we won't need to worry about grabbing the wrong one. They've been so focused on defense that the ten million points is still at the bottom of the headbands," pointed out Izuku. "Hatsume-san, you don't have anything that could grab it for us, do you?"

"No, I don't have a baby like that. Would you like to help me make one?"

He paled. Kirishima burst out laughing as Hatsume fixed Izuku with that signature grin of hers.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Uraraka glaring, but shoved down whatever mixed emotions the sight brought up. They now had less than a minute to take first place – he needed to focus.

Think! Kacchan's explosions are only strong enough to save him from the ice, and not the rest of us…but…if only there were some way I could use One For All without setting off Phoenix…that could blast through the ice, right?

That was when it hit him. He could do it – he had the ability to channel One For All through specific parts of his body, didn't he? So why couldn't he simply use the smallest possible point of force…?

"Kacchan! Kirishima-kun! Hatsume-san!" he shouted, and two of the three he'd named snapped to attention at the tone of his voice. "I can get through Todoroki-kun's ice. We have to approach him on the right side to make this work, though!"

"I thought you said don't approach his right?" Kirishima cut in, but Hatsume corrected him.

"He never said that! Besides, I'm curious to see how these babies stand up to cold."

"They're just rubber gloves!"

Hatsume didn't respond with anything but another terrifying smile.

"It's okay, Kirishima-kun," chuckled Izuku, giving the redhead's hand a reassuring (and decidedly manly!) squeeze. "What I'm thinking is that when I break through the ice he'll send at us, Tokoyami-kun and Kaminari-kun will both attempt to defend the headbands, but Kaminari-kun's electricity will produce light and weaken Dark Shadow enough for Kacchan to knock it out of the way with a blast. As for Uraraka-san…" I hate to admit this, but… "She's only going to be there for her Quirk. Without Todoroki-kun's ice, their right flank is their weakest point."

"What, are we just gonna charge right in?" Bakugou yelled (Kirishima tried frantically to shush him, but thankfully Yaoyorozu's team had just taken another shot at Todoroki's, this time using their own strategy against them with Sero's tape, Ashido's acid and Iida's engines forming a similar pivoting slip-and-slide to try and flank them).

"That's the plan of action. We might as well do it sooner rather than later."

"Thirty seconds remaining!" Present Mic announced, and Izuku's teammates nodded, even Bakugou.

"Then let's fucking do this!"

While Todoroki remained distracted, the three of them took off for Uraraka at a run, Izuku curling his hand into a fist with the tip of his middle finger braced against his thumbpad; they weren't exactly being quiet, considering Bakugou's battle-cry and the way explosions popped and crackled up his arms, and the gravity girl noticed them, shouting with alarm and turning Todoroki's attention their way.

The heterochrome's eyes widened – in his adrenaline-fueled bubble of frozen time, Izuku could see it plain as day – but he didn't falter, bringing up his frost-covered right arm once more to strike them with a wave of ice –

"Smaaaaaaash!"

Izuku grit his teeth so hard he felt he might have cracked one; pain lanced up his broken finger, but his attack had gone as planned, a piercing shot of incredibly powerful wind pressure shattering Todoroki's ice wave into thousands of glittering shards and forcing his team to brace themselves.

"Now, Kirishima-kun!"

"You got it!"

Dark Shadow reared to attack, and as Izuku had expected, lightning crackled and arced around its side, but Kirishima crossed his arms, the gloves mitigating most of the shock for him even as he grunted with the impact. Dark Shadow struck next, but as Izuku had predicted, it was weakened by the light of Kaminari's attack, and Bakugou's explosions were enough to drive it back, allowing them to break through the other team's front line and bringing Bakugou within arm's reach of Todoroki.

Just as he made a grab for the ten million, however, a second hand – slender, fair and smooth – grabbed onto the cloth, and in Bakugou's sweat-drenched palm, the headband slipped right through, letting Yaoyorozu tug it free with ease.

No…

While they'd been distracted, her team had made one last charge, taking advantage of Todoroki's distraction the same way Izuku's team had taken advantage of the distraction her team had made, darting in to snatch the spoils from the jaws of either combatant.

"Ten seconds remaining!"

"You – bastards!"

With a scream of fury, Bakugou launched himself from their human vehicle, and in their shock, all three members could only gape at him as he propelled himself at Yaoyorozu on his blasts; she brought up a shield to protect herself as he reached her, but his assault was too furious, his movements too rapid, and the shield clattered away across the turf as he clawed like an animal for the headband, blasting his way off of her the moment he'd retrieved it and shooting backwards into the air just as Hatsume, managing to keep her head, pressed a button on the remote for her and Kirishima's boosters, dragging their group forward and jolting them out of their shock in time to catch the falling Bakugou, who slowed his fall with well-timed blasts that left Kirishima's hair singed and smoking.

"Tiiiiiime's up!"

Izuku could only stare up at Bakugou's back as he raised both hands, tilted his head back, and let out a triumphant scream for the heavens, the ten million point headband dangling from one fist.

That…worked. It worked. We took first. We did it. He could hardly believe it – his plan had worked, Kirishima had held the front, Bakugou's speed had saved their prize, and Hatsume's quick thinking had stopped them from being disqualified.

"And in first place, Team Bakugou: Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Ejirou, Hatsume Mei, and Midoriya Izuku!"

Izuku, Kirishima and Hatsume let Bakugou down from their shoulders, stretched their aching limbs, and laughed brighter than the sun.


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