Flags and Brackets

Jack made sure he was seen taking the meter long flag. He felt all eyes on him, scrutinizing his every move. As Midnight handed them out, he made sure to double check with her. Once she gave her okay, he, Momo, and Shoto were able to confirm their plan. A horn blared, signaling the start of the event. Shoto surrounded them dome of ice too thick to see through. Instantly, there were blasts from above as Katsuki began his attack.

At the same time, Momo made a shovel and peeled back a layer of sod. She placed a decoy flag under the ground and made two more. One for Shoto, the other for herself. The moment the ice shattered, Shoto met Katsuki with a blast of fire. Katsuki nimbly dodged to the side. Izuku had clearly been intending to go straight for Jack, but the appearance of two other flags startled him.

As agreed, Jack acted as bait. Holding his flag, he darted out into the field. He made sure Shoto was seen to burn the shovel, as they didn't want to make their bait too obvious. Vines aimed to snatch Jack midair. He knew better than to touch him and narrowly avoided being ensnared by diving down. Two teams were crowded by his landing spot, waiting for him to fall. Two flag bearers were in the mix, or else he would have avoided them. Jack let himself fall with enough force in his legs to break bones. He made sure to hit the field and break the dirt, instead.

Dirt sprayed and many people covered their faces, but not a metal-clad student, who stared defiantly at Jack. Tetsutetsu released a battlecry and held his flag in an iron grip. The other flag vanished in Itsuka Kendo's large hand. Using her free fist, she snatched at Jack's flag. Jack was quick to regain his footing and leap backwards, taunting them by not going completely out of the way. By staying close, he saw he made Itsuka uncertain.

"He's the bait, dummy," Neito huffed, falling for the trick. "Class 2-A thinks they're so great. They're using their barbarian to torment us into a false battle." Neito grinned and reached out. Jack dodged neatly away, still not going for any distance. He allowed himself to be touched. Neito reacted exactly by Jack hoped, by going overboard. "Just in case your flag's real, I'll take it," Neito declared, reaching for the pole.

Jack was able to dodge out of the way and sweep Neito's feet out from under him. As soon as his opponent was dropped, Jack moved on. "If you let Neito copy your power, he'll go overboard and take everyone out for us. By getting in close, you're telling him you're the fake." Momo had been right. Neito left his classmates alone and attacked class 2-A with his borrowed power.

"The more he uses it, the less sense he'll have," Jack had warned.

"He has better quirk control than you'd expect. He'll lose enough sense to take him out as a strategist then be extra careful." Neito jumped high in the sky and dropped down on Eijiro, one of the flag bearers.

Tsu jumped around with her flag in her mouth and Rikido guarded her. Mina charged Jack with a smile. "I really like you!" She called, hoping to catch Jack off guard. It was an old trick that had been used often by his barbarian fellows.

In short, he'd learned not to trust anyone during a battle. "Your horn's broken."

Mina had a moment where she hesitated and reached up. In that fleeting instant Jack quickly jumped back to his team. Shoto's flag had been taken and the flag that had been hidden in the sod was missing. "Bakugo took them both," Momo explained.

"Alright." There were only two minutes left on the clock. "How do you two feel about moving on to the ice cave?"

"Sounds good to me," Momo answered, stepping just behind Jack. Shoto nodded, consenting as well. Jack punched down with enough force to shake the stadium. As the ground gave way, Momo put her hands on Jack's shoulders, holding on so she wouldn't fall as well. Shoto filled the nearly the entire crater with ice. Using his hide and seek tricks, Jack punched a side tunnel for them. "One minute remaining, sports fans!" Present Mic shouted.

Judging by the explosions, Katsuki knew he'd been duped. Why would the winning team go underground unless their flag had been taken? Shoto continued to make ice, replacing what was blasted.

"Aaaaaaaaand, time's up!"

"Fuuuuuuuuuuck!" Katsuki screamed from above.

Jack couldn't help but chuckle.

"He really is a sore loser," Shoto said with a small grin.

"This is our second win of the second event," Momo laughed, finally letting herself be giddy. "Shoto and I won the ten million last year, too," she explained.

Shoto melted just enough ice to carve them a path. On their way out of the ice cave, they were greeted by their peers. While a few looked murderous, most congratulated them. "I can't believe I almost fell for those decoys," Izuku proclaimed, not sounding particularly sad. "It's a good thing I convinced Kachan that we should go for more."

"You and Katsuki teamed up?" Jack asked, unable to hide his surprise. A quick glance on the board showed him the final tallies. He couldn't help but notice that Mina's group didn't make the cut. Neito's group had taken second place. The fourteen top competitors were randomly assigned to their opponents. Upon looking at the board, Jack saw that he would fight in the very first round.

"Alright, everyone, let's take a breaaak! We'll tune in again for a game of musical chairs after a quick break."

"We did it!" Ochaco shouted, dancing with Tenya and Kyoka. She glanced at the board, which now had their lineup for the first round. "Tenya, you get to fight Izuku!"

Jack didn't hear Tenya's opinion, as he didn't stop walking. As the contestants left, a few of the general ed students and the non-contestants happily participated in intermission games. Jack went down through the tunnel to settle in one of the waiting rooms. Once he was alone he couldn't stop thinking about the night before.

"You're a bad influence on him!" He'd heard his mother shouting, even though the door was closed. "I don't care what deal you made with him, he's my son too. You robbed him of a normal childhood with all those idiotic martial arts tournaments."

He could practically feel Charlie Chavez rolling his eyes. "Then why don't you let him choose where he wants to be?"

"Of course he'd pick you. You've brainwashed him into thinking that fighting is fun. He doesn't question orders. He's got the resolve of melted butter."

All too soon, Present Mic's voice returned. "Aaaand we're back, sports fans! Will Jack and Reiko please make their way to the stage so we can start the first round?"

Jack snapped back to the present. Feeling somewhat numb, he walked out to the ring. Reiko approached from the other side, her arms curved dramatically at the elbow. Try as he might, he couldn't quite recall her quirk. In the center of the large square was a wooden chair. Given the destructive nature of students' quirks, he found the relatively weak material a questionable choice. Midnight seemed to sense his confusion, for she decided to explain. "Anything goes! If the chair is destroyed, neither contestant will advance. The round is over as soon as someone has a solid seat."

The moment she finished speaking, peppy music blared over the speakers. Each bouncy note was accompanied with funky vocals and a deep bass that radiated through the stadium. Glad for the distraction, Jack made himself focus on the match.

Within a second, the chair moved. Surprised, he gathered Reiko must have a sort of telekinetic quirk. He planted a foot on the ground and sped forward. Reiko seemed to anticipate his move and lifted the chair higher. He easily diverted his course and feigned a leap upwards. Reiko let the chair back down and the music stopped. All Jack had to do was take another strength-enhanced jump for him to beat her to the seat. Far quicker than he would've liked, the match was over.

"Aaand that's Jack for the win, sports fans!" Present Mic shouted.