Fighting Back

"What's going on?! GO! ATTACK! FIGHT! DID YOU NOT HEAR ME? Is this thing broken?" Screamed Present Mic, which no student reacted to the start of the match. What was going on?

Toshinori's fingers gripped onto his trousers, what was wrong? Whispers could be heard as the crowd became confused, no one seemed to know what had gone wrong, was this a quirk? One of the student's perhaps? This has to be part of the game, but no hero student had a quirk that could paralyse them all so quickly, right? He had seen their quirks in his classes, what happened?

There was one student walking among the students, from a distance he could make out little of the boy, barring his purple hair and the way he tended to slouch in on himself. Toshinori recognised the gesture, having done it a lot when he was quirkless, he was shielding himself from the world in shame. The crowd did not recognise this however.

"What happened? Why aren't they fighting?"

"Did something happen? Why aren't the teachers responding?"

"BOO! I WANNA SEE KIDS KILL EACH OTHER!"

"What the hell's going on? You don't think villains are behind this? There was an attack at the USJ not much earlier right?"

"Oh God that isn't happening again is it?"

"Everyone settle down," said Erasurehead, "nothing is wrong, this is simply Shinso's quirk."

Shinso… that must be the kid with the purple hair.

"He's the perfect example of the flaws of our entrance exam and shows how irrational it was. Shinso's quirk isn't flashy or combat focused, but it can allow him to win this event and can easily defeat real life villains, but was useless in the exam due to the robots."

Erasurehead's speech caused the crowd to mutter, as they grew interested he elaborated.

"Shinso's quirk is brainwashing, by responding to his question, people are compelled to do whatever he says." He explained, causing an outburst amongst the crowd. Toshinori's knuckles turned white- brainwashing? Could Izuku break out of that? Did this quirk even allow someone to fight it?

"This is unfair! What exactly are the students supposed to do?"

"That son of a bitch is a villain! How could they let him play?"

"They should disqualify the bastard. CHEATER!"

"CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER!" Chanted the crowd.

"Are any of those chanters in the crowd pro heroes? If so I recommend that they turn in their license, if not then I recommend you shut up about the things you don't understand." Erasurehead growled, his voice ice cold, breaking the chants, "heroics aren't about glory, fairness or competition. It's about saving lives, if this wasn't a competition then Shinso's quirk would have ended a dangerous situation in an instant. Think about the lives he could spare with such a powerful quirk before you decry it."

"But if we let this continue, we won't have a sports festival…" Present Mic whispered, "plus don't you think this is unfair to the other candidates?"

"If you think this is unfair then think about this; reality is unfair and this job isn't one for those who need things to be fair. Heroes battle that unfairness in their work, and one reality that includes the danger of any opponent. In hero work, anyone on the streets could have a power like Shinso's, and heroes have died from similar quirks because they underestimated them. This is a real fear and our students need to learn from. I'm sorry you didn't get the flashy hero fight you wanted, but this is how a real pro should fight, with strategy rather than style."

Toshinori's knuckles whitened and his jaw glued together. Erasurehead was right, but it didn't make things any better. If anything, he knew it would make Izuku feel worse, he'd blame himself. One thing for certain though, this sports festival would be one to remember. Even if it's not for the best of reasons.

Izuku

No muscle seemed to respond, he was frozen in place. He needed to run, fight or at least scream… but he couldn't. Forced to simply bear witness as his entire year stopped in their tracks and stared blankly at the air, it appeared that not a single person in the festival had resisted the urge to respond. He never imagined that the 'plus ultra' motto could be used against them.

Stupid Deku! How could he have been so stupid? There were so many quirks operating on a response basis, and he had fallen right into the trap. Even heroes fall for traps like these on a daily basis, so how could he have underestimated the other classes so badly? Shinso had even made a declaration of war to their very face, why hadn't he investigated his quirk?

He'd been distracted, deluding himself to think he was ready. It was laughable to think that All Might thought he could be the symbol of peace so soon. He was so incredibly stupid.

Shinso was hunched in on himself, as if trying to shield himself from the crowd and the classmates. Izuku didn't know if he was ashamed or merely shy, but were he to guess, it would be the former. Not that it was much consolation.

"I'm sorry…" Shinso growled somewhere between bitterness and shame, "but I have to win this. My future depends on this and this is the only way I can win. I'd win fairly if I could, but I can't."

He avoided their passive gazes, Izuku could only imagine the torture his classmates were undergoing as they were trapped in their own minds. Uraraka had so much passion that was being denied to her, Iida must be ashamed that he failed to live up to his brother's expectations. They were about to lose this festival and it wasn't their fault. HE COULDN'T LET THIS HAPPEN! HE HAD TO FIGHT IT!

But he couldn't, it was as if he was being suspended in mid air. There was no inner wall of his mind to thrash on, nor anything to push against. He could not fight it any more than one could fight the air; it was hopeless.

"Why am I even bothered? None of you would understand. You've been coasting on the perfect quirks all your lives, while everyone else has to make do with our own two hands. And some like me are declared villains for our quirks- you don't know what it's like to work for something. I bet every single one of you got everything you ever desired handed on a plate." He said, but he seemed to be arguing with himself more than them. As if trying to justify this to himself than to the other students, "well now things are different. Now you get to know what it's like, all of you."

He sighed, "never mind, you don't care anyway. Let's just do this."

He started to walk through the crowd of his hypnotized subjects, judging and evaluating each individual. It seemed he was going to pick and choose who would follow him to the next rounds, in other words he would be choosing the weakest people, or the people most vulnerable to his quirk. The ones who couldn't resist speaking back to him in future fights.

As Shinso looked at Izuku, he could only imagine the sweat that should be dripping off his head. All it would take would be one word for him to lose this entire festival and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Sorry, but I heard what you did at the USJ, so just walk out of the ring and make this nice and quick." He said, his voice oddly quiet but still audible.

And like that Izuku's began to move as if possessed, through the streets of the stage he navigated and towards the outer limits. He needed to do something, he needed a plan, but what? He had no idea how Shinso's quirk worked so he had no idea how he could counter it. Again, he cursed himself for underestimating the general studies students.

"Yo what's this? It seems Izuku Midoriya's walking out of the stage. If he can't fight off this mind control soon, it might be an early loss for the Broccoli Boy!" Announced Present Mic as the crowd fell silent, watching intently as Izuku was walking out of the stage.

In his mind, Izuku had been reduced to a crying wreck, it was as if he had never met All Might and was still in his old school. Alone, humiliated and with no one but his own thoughts for company.

But then that began to change.

It started with a presence, one that could only be felt. Then a second one, then a third, they continued to appear until he felt eight presences in total. It was reassuring in a way, even if he couldn't hear them; to know he wasn't alone.

Then as he passed a final corner, and saw the edge of the stage and with it, his defeat. Yet there was something else, or rather someone else. They were like ghosts, with forms like gas, silhouetted with glowing golden eyes. Vague shapes could be made out of human bodies, one was particularly familiar. It looked like All Might.

Were these the past users of one for all?

So stunned by their appearance, Izuku did not realise that he had closed the distance to the edge. He was but a few feet away from utter defeat.

But in an instant, each of the eyes glowed brightly and there was an almighty crash. A cloud of dust rippled from where Izuku stood and the shockwave shattered much of the buildings meant to serve as cover for the first task. Leaving a wide chasm straight to the remaining students.

All were silent as the dust cloud gathered, the murmuring in the crowd that had grown to question as Shinso's action fell silent. Shinso himself who had been evaluating the other participants didn't even feel his jaw drop.

"WOAH WHAT'S GOING ON? DID IZUKU FIGHT BACK?" Screamed Present Mic.

A faint silhouette appeared from within the dust clouds. A growl was emitted and a spark of anger could be seen in their eyes; they slowly made their way to the centre of the stage, face fixated on Shinso and his classmates. The silhouette took the shape of Izuku's body, his teeths clenched, seething through gaps. Then he closed his eyes, concentrating one for all as he curled his fingers in, and muscles swelled as he infused them with a one for all.

In a flick, a strong gust of wind cleared the thick cloud of dust, and Izuku emerged from it. Slowly, a pair of emerald eyes opened, it was clouded in rage as he once again setted his sight on Shinso. Green flames flared in them and brimmed to life; Izuku growled lowly and dangerously.

"If you really want to be a hero, then…" a smirk his eyes narrowed slightly; "you really need to try harder than that."

A/N: So I doubt anyone didn't see Izuku breaking out of Shinso's mind control coming, that goes without saying. Some people have pointed out that Shinso's trick was technically against the rules because he used his quirk before the match technically began. I have two defences, first, Shinso just said "plus ultra" before the match began, then once everyone had responded only then did he use his quirk so he could get off on a technicality.

The second reason is simple, this is U.A., and if it's something a hero might face on the field, they'd allow it no matter how little sportsmanship is shown. At this point, I am convinced that U.A. was found because Nezu made a bet that he could make a more dangerous school than Hogwarts, yet I have found little concrete evidence supporting my theory.