PRESENT DAY
"Did you learn anything useful?" Tokoyami ventured, leaning against a wall while Izuku muttered rapidly under his breath. It took a moment for him to realise that the green haired boy hadn't heard him, being caught up in his muttering.
Tokoyami tried to listen, but only caught snippets of sound. After a few moments, he rested his hand on the other's shoulder, startling the boy from his reverie.
"Sorry! What were you saying?" Izuku flushed. Despite the influence of the Omnitrix, old habits died hard.
"I just wanted to know if you learned anything useful." Tokoyami repeated measuredly. "You've been transfixed, eyes glued to the screen showing the rest of the footrace."
"Well, I've tried to keep up with scouting the quirks of the other students at UA." Izuku explained. "But being in general studies, I've only really got a practical understanding of a few quirks."
"Well, I don't know much about quirks beyond class 1-A…" Tokoyami answered, pensively stroking his chin. "But I can at least clue you in to what I've noted of my classmates."
Izuku listened attentively, asking questions frequently, but only rarely getting satisfactory answers. Whether Tokoyami was intentionally holding back information, or simply unperceptive he couldn't say.
"Tokoyami," Izuku hesitated. "I notice you've mentioned quite a bit about your class, focussing on Todoroki and Bakugou in particular, but you haven't said anything about your quirk yet."
"You're right." Tokoyami grinned. "I have intentionally withheld from discussing my quirk. I plan on winning after all."
"That's fair." Izuku laughed. "I'm sorry about grilling you for information like this… I'm just… well, I'm what you would call-"
"A quirk fanboy?" Tokoyami laughed, no malice in his voice.
"Yeah." Izuku flushed, rubbing his neck nervously. "I guess that's one way to put it."
"I for one admire your insatiable curiosity." Tokoyami admitted kindly. "And I will indulge you, to an extent. My quirk is called dark shadow.
"It allows me to manifest a dark shadow monster from within by body." He demonstrated by manifesting Dark Shadow, who loomed ominously behind Tokoyami, waving excitedly. "I can control him to an extent, but Dark Shadow has his own will and Personality."
"That's amazing!" Izuku started, rearing to get into another geek meltdown when suddenly Present Mic's voice cut through the stadium.
"And the last contestant has finally made it in! Oh Yeah!" He bellowed in the bizarre combination of musical and grating that he was famous for. "The top fifty, please report to the antechamber by the stadium! Catch your breath because the next round is about to begin!"
After a short wait, the students filed back into the stadium, where Midnight seductively loomed in front of a colossal viewscreen.
"Forty‐two of you qualified to move on to the next round." She proclaimed, gesturing voluptuously with her whip towards the crowd, while the viewscreen behind her showed a spinning graphic similar to a slot machine.
"Gird your loins and prepare for your next test!" She beguiled before turning her attention to the screen. The graphic froze, showing the words: "A Cavalry Battle!"
A murmur murmured through the murmuring students, most of them confused towards the mechanics of such an event. Largely because the school wasn't known for its stables.
"Those of you at the top will suffer the most." Midnight purred as the viewscreen shifted to a graphic table depicting the placements of the students during the footrace. "Of course that's something you'll hear over and over again at UA…"
Izuku started at the bottom, noticing the points of the students who were lower placed during the race.
Every ranking's points goes up in integrals of five. He noted. That means I'll be worth the most points at 210. Still, that's not enough to ensure my team's victory!
"Show us what "Plus Ultra" means!" Midnight enticed, gesturing alluringly with her whip. "Izuku Midoriya placed first in the qualifier. He'll be worth ten million!"
Izuku's heart dropped into his stomach. Every eye in the crowd was on him. In one sentence, he went from a valuable commodity to an unparalleled target.
"First years!" Midnight enthralled as the viewscreen shifted to a graphic of All Might carried by Thirteen and Present Mic. "These are the rules that you'll abide by:
"You'll be competing in teams of two to four, consisting of 'horses' and one rider. The game itself will last 15 minutes."
If possible, Izuku paled even further.
"Individual point values will be added together to reach your team total." Midnight explained. "Everyone will know how much you're worth thanks to your headbands."
The image shifted to an image of a headband with its metal fastenings clipping and unclipping.
"Swipe as many headbands as you can to raise your team's score." Midnight cooed. "Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up, so the more you steal, the harder it'll be to manage them."
Damnit! Izuku thought, beads of sweat breaking out on his face. That means I can't just swallow the headbands as Upchuck until the race is over!
"And another thing," Midnight coaxed. "Even if your headband gets stolen or your team falls down, you can keep playing until time's up."
Finally some good news! Izuku nearly cried in relief. Okay! That means I need to save my transformation for the last ten minutes! Maybe the last eight, just to be safe! I'll be playing catch up, but I'll still have a chance! And by then, the ten million point headband will definitely be someone else's problem!
"You may use your Quirks as much as you like, but there are still rules!" At this point Midnight was nearly bouncing with excitement at the event about to spring forth. "Make a team fall on
purpose and I'll slap you with a red card! You'll be disqualified!"
Bakugou looked particularly disappointed. His expression akin to a ravenous wolf being tempted with a raw piece of meat.
"Now, you've got 15 minutes to build your teams." Midnight finished, her purring voice taking on a feral edge. "I recommend you get started."
Izuku watched as the stadium cleared from him as if he was covered in sewage.
Maybe I'll be paired up with someone before the event starts. Izuku thought miserably. Even though everyone is going to be gunning for my headband, no group wants to start off a target.
"Hey! You with the green hair!"
Izuku turned around only to come face to face with a pair of cross pupiled amber eyes that shifted and changed shape.
"Gah!" Izuku yelped in polite greeting.
"You're the guy with the ten million points, right?" The girl barked, pushing her pale pink dreadlocks out of her face.
"Yeah." Izuku sighed. "The smart thing would be to group up with a different team."
"What?" She crowed in laughter. "You kidding me? How else will I showcase my babies?!"
"Your… what?" Izuku deadpanned.
"My babies!" The girl reaffirmed, pointing to a pair of oblong white objects connected to a bizarre circular backpack. "I'd like to use your current fame to my personal advantage!"
"That's… certainly honest…" Izuku admitted awkwardly.
"We haven't met yet." The girl said, holding up a gloved hand coated in grease and motor oil. "I'm Mei Hatsume! From the support course!"
"Oh!" Izuku smiled. "I've heard of you! You're the girl Power Loader sensei is always complaining about!"
"That man has no eye for talent." Mei glared sullenly. "Now are we a team, or what!"
In what felt like fifteen minutes, the fifteen minutes until the event would start were up. Soon enough, Present Mic's ever present voice boomed into the stadium again.
"Hey, hey, look alive!" His voice reverberated around the stadium. "After 15 minutes to pick teammates and talk strategy, 13 cavalry teams are preparing to go head‐to‐head!"
"I see some unexpected student combinations." Eraserhead noted tiredly over the murmuring crowd.
"Come on, everyone get your hands in the air!" Present Mic's voice grew in volume as he hyped himself up, jostling tooth fillings and rivets alike. "It's time for an arena‐thumping UA battle royale! Let me hear ya SCREAM!"
"You ready?" Izuku asked. He was wearing the hover boots with Mei piggybacking him wearing the backpack.
Mei just laughed madly from behind him.
"Okay, all you first years!" Present Mic cried. "I hope you're happy with your chosen teams! Let's get this party started!"
All eyes narrowed on Izuku, like a shiver of sharks tasting blood in a kiddie pool.
"One final countdown before the game starts!"
Tension ramped up like an irresponsible skateboarder.
"Three! Two! One!" He paused for dramatic effect. "BEGIN!"
Pandemonium descended on the arena like eleven teams of two to four high school students with superpowers all aiming for one target.
"DEKU!"
Izuku barely had time to react, before every other team would collide with him. He pushed the buttons on the joysticks in his hands, blasting into the air and out of harm's way. He twisted his legs, manoeuvering away from a desperate grasp from below.
Crystals of Ice scraped past under his feet encasing the entire arena. An explosion tore through the ice, sending jagged shards of ice scattering through the arena.
"DEKU!" Bakugou flew past Izuku, who scarcely managed to dodge the blonde's mad grab. "What do you think you're doing?! You think you can win without using your damn quirk! Well that's not gonna happen!"
Damn it! Izuku dodged again, watching Katsuki fly past him again, making another frenzied grab for the headband.
"Mei!" He called over his shoulder. "How long can your inventions stay airborne like this?"
"With two passengers, we should be good for another three minutes or so!" She cackled madly, stretching her arms out to the sky. "As long as you don't do your little acrobatic efforts too often!"
The crowd thundered in appreciation at the spectacle, Izuku and Mei rising higher to get out of reach of their opponents while Bakugou and Todoroki used their quirks to try and reach the same altitude.
The arena itself was a battlefield as every other team scrambled to steal headbands. A chaotic symphony of every quirk on display, fire, vines, electricity, massive reaching fists, and breakneck speed.
"Look at them!" Mei squealed, tilting to look at the crowd. Izuku compensated, lifting his leg to accommodate the shifted weight. "We're on every single screen! Everyone down there in the stands drooling over my beautiful babies!"
"Mei!" Izuku pleaded. "How long do we have left!"
"By my calculations…" She grinned. "Around fourteen seconds!"
"What!?" Izuku shouted in terror before they plummeted out of the air. He knew this was part of the plan, and he'd been mentally preparing himself for this moment since the event started but, in that moment, the dirt of the arena was rushing up much faster than Mei's psychotic laughter gave him confidence.
He jolted to a stop as Mei deployed a parachute from her pack.
"Cutting it a little close!" Izuku snapped as his feet hit the ground. He activated the boots and blasted forwards at high speed, dodging and weaving through oncoming teams attacks.
"My babies will do their part Zuzu!" She crooned back. "Let's just hope your plan works! Five minutes until we're back in the air baby!"
Izuku stopped dead as Todoroki's team whizzed by, he leaned backwards, relying on Mei's backpack to keep them from falling as he twisted under the red and white haired boy's hand. For a brief moment they made eye contact, and as Izuku smiled at him apologetically, Todoroki narrowed his eyes.
Izuku did admirably, using his team's higher mobility to the maximum efficiency. Before long, Mei cried out in joy.
"Recharged and ready to fly!" She squealed, leaning over to shout directly in Izuku's ear. "Let her rip, green hair!"
"You got it!" Izuku cried in joy as they zipped into the air. 'Just warn me in time before we fall this time?"
Mei simply giggled wickedly.
"How long do we have left?" Izuku ventured nervously, taking his eyes off the events below for a moment.
"One minute and- IZUKU!"
"You don't get to slack off!" Bakugou roared as he ripped the headband from around Mei's neck. "You're gonna have to give it everything you've got Deku!"
Bakugou gave one last lavish grin, before saluting Izuku with two fingers, and falling backwards back toward the arena.
"Well," Izuku said, descending towards the arena as well. "That went about as well as we could have hoped."
"Plan B?" Mei leaned over his shoulder, grinning like a maniac.
"You're way too excited about this!" Izuku smiled back.
"It's about time you started pulling your weight!"
They landed on the ground, speeding after Bakugou's team.
"Woah! It looks like Team Midoriya have gone from the lead to losers!" Present Mic yammered.
"And racing after Team Bakugou isn't a wise strategy." Aizawa observed, narrowing his eyes. "Something doesn't add up here. Team Midoriya has been nothing but cunning this entire match."
"If you say so." Present Mic sang. "They seem desperate to me."
"Two minutes!" Mei giggled. "Who's cutting it short now, huh?"
"Right!" Izuku replied, skidding to a halt. He pushed the glowing green nub next to the Omnitrix's faceplate and watched as the dial popped up. He twisted the faceplate and watched the glowing green liquid swirl and twist into different shapes.
"You have got to let me tinker with that thing sometime." Mei drooled as she watched Izuku operate the Omnitrix, her expression akin to a cat watching a mouse.
"I would, but it doesn't really come off." He said as he scrolled past the silhouette of the fish alien he called Ripjaws. "Sorry about this, Mei! Things are about to get weird! It's Hero Time!"
In a flash of green light Izuku was replaced with a lanky yellow and black shape, with clawed hands and feet. He had no neck, and his head floated half a foot from his body in between two spikes that jutted from his shoulders.
"Time to pull the audience's attention!" Lodestar whirred, holding his arms out to his sides. A wave of green spread throughout the arena with Lodestar as the epicentre.
"Thirty seconds! You're sure this is going to work?" Mei shouted from behind him, hysterious with excitement.
"Positive!"
Every headband in the arena went flying towards them, pulled by the metal clips they fastened with.
"And Team Midoriya is back in the lead! Oh YEAH!" Present Mic was halfway clambering on the table in his frenzied elation.
Well that was unexpected. Aizawa thought.
"Ten!" Present Mic nearly screamed.
A bright green bubble surrounded Lodestar and Mei.
"Nine!"
"DEKU!" Bakugou fell on the forcefield like nuclear bomb, blasting backwards to land back on his team.
"Five seconds!" Mei chortled in joy.
Jagged spears of ice blasted throughout the entire arena, covering the stadium.
"TIME IS UP!" Present Mic's voice shattered the ice, enveloping the entire stadium in softly falling snow.
In the middle of the stadium, as the mist cleared, a green bubble became visible, filled to the brim with headbands.
The crowd exploded.
"Guess we attract a lot of attention." Lodestar hummed.
"Are the Puns part of the transformation, or what?" Mei laughed from where she sat, still clutching Lodestar's back.
"Must be part of Lodestar's-"
"If you say 'magnetic personality', I will strangle you."