Maldea: Yeah, it's a big problem for him. But not the only one hehehe...

"Narcolepsy?" Ashido asked. Ace nodded, and explained the symptoms.

"Damn, that sucks!" Kirishima said in sympathy. "But I'm glad you still get to be in the sports festival." The others nodded. Bakugo didn't say anything demeaning about it. "So, you just fall? You pass out?" Ace nodded again. He explained that it sort of felt like he had cotton balls in his ears for a second before he passed out.

Sero asked, "And you hallucinate?"

"It happened once, but hasn't happened again. It's only been a few days though. It was some monster right beside the bed and I couldn't move or speak. Like I was just trapped with some heavy thing keeping me from moving." They all looked bothered by it, the girls seeming so more.

"And you're living with Sabo now? What about your family?" Koala wondered.

Ace looked to the side awkwardly and simply said they weren't in the picture much. "Recovery Girl was awesome. She helped me out. I recommend the doctor I went to. He was really helpful and understanding."

"It's weird to have the school nurse take you to the doctor, though, isn't it?" Zoro said.

"It's cool you found a good doctor, though! I hate going to the doctors because they poke and prod me and that's annoying," Luffy voiced. "If I had narcopepsi and fell, I'd be fine since I'm made of rubber and all." Sanji corrected his word. "Yeah, that."

During english, Ace started to feel very sleepy. He did what Crocus said and didn't fight it. He slept quietly at his desk for a few minutes before waking up. Nobody said anything about it, and Ace had been told by his teachers that they'd give him anything he missed at the end of class, or right away if it was in math.

Ace was relieved that everybody accepted the new disorder. This class was really full of good guys. Mineta muttered that he should fake a disorder for sympathy from the girls. He wasn't the best guy, though.

When Ace's naptime came, he left his things and went to the infirmary and to the bed in the very back of it. Recovery Girl had set up a nice blanket and not just a white sheet. Ace appreciated it, knowing she actually really cared about the students. He slept for fifteen minutes before he was woken up for the next class, feeling very well rested.

He could get used to this, he would.

That night, when he was falling asleep, a tall pitch black figure stood over his bed. It felt so real, and he couldn't help the fear of it. Thinking it was actually somebody. Sabo was sitting on the carpet of his room, watching Ace as he tried sleeping, and he went and rubbed his shoulder. "It's not real," he said, and Ace fell asleep as the hallucination ended.

-x-

"This is what it looked like," Ace said on Thursday after school, having drawn the two monsters he'd hallucinated. One was the pitch black humanoid figure that towered over the bed, looking down at him, and the other was the gooey, sticky and bloody monster, the very first he'd had. Sabo frowned deeply. They were scary. Even knowing it wasn't real wouldn't keep you from feeling fear at seeing such realistic things standing over you.

Sabo rubbed his back. "Yeah. It's terrible."

"Well, it is very different from your other art, isn't it?" Ace was still mad he'd seen some of the drawings when Ace left open on his tablet in the office there. His inappropriate drawing had made Sabo's face flush violently. Ace was considering slowly incorporating other, popular art into it. Sabo said it sounded like a good idea, since he didn't enjoy the ones he made.

"Not everyone enjoys doing what makes them money," Ace had replied, but agreed. He wanted to change it up, finally. But he worried about alienating the s he had now. Well, he'd think about it later. Marco texted him and asked if he wanted to go flying. It wasn't too late, and the sports festival started at noon.

Ace agreed, more than happy to get some flying time with Marco since he wasn't comfortable flying with Sabo and Midoriya anymore. At least, not so soon. "I'm going to go on a flight with Marco," he said. Sabo nodded, and backed up to let Ace push the chair out and get his phone, shoving it in his pocket. He put his boots on, and flew off to the usual meeting point. When he got there, Marco was laying on his back, looking up at the blue sky. It had some clouds dotted all around, but not enough to block the vibrant blue.

"How are you?" he asked, looking over at Ace.

"Only a few sleep attacks-"

"Other than that, how are you? The sports festival is tomorrow," Marco said, sounding sincere about it. Ace smiled, and said he was nervous. And wondering if he should show one of his more useful powers. "One you haven't shown before?" Ace nodded. "Well, you must have a reason for not using it, right? And your power already is pretty awesome."

"The other opens up a whole new area of work I could do. I want to go out with a bang. But I'm worried about what people would think. They might not trust me as much," Ace said honestly, feeling he could speak openly to Marco. They'd known each other for only a little over a month, but were good friends that could talk about anything and not have it be serious, no matter what it was.

Ace wondered if he should show him. And if he could ever tell him about his life of lies. He didn't know how he'd feel about being tricked, but he felt he'd understand the reason. Telling Recovery Girl had been a huge milestone after telling Sabo. In a different way. Sabo was for emotional support and care. Recovery Girl was for a necessity he felt he couldn't have before, didn't think was possible.

But because he told her, Ace had the chance to live as full as he could with his narcolepsy. "If you're worried about backlash, then don't reveal it yet." He didn't ask to know a single time. Ace smiled and nodded before they got up to go off and fly. As they flew side by side, Ace wondered if he could tell Marco.

He wanted to. "Can I tell you something? About the thing I just talked about," Ace said, voice firm even if he felt he was dipping his toes into something unknown. Worried. Marco said he wouldn't ever judge. No matter if his other ability was something terrible. Ace took a deep breath through the mouth of his hawk form. "I can change into other people. Can look like other people, not just animals or made up creatures," Ace said quickly.

Marco laughed. "I already thought it was possible. It's not a surprise or anything. And that is super cool. You could be a spy or something!" Ace nodded. He didn't mention the thought of manipulation by showing gruesome forms on him. That was just too much. He hadn't even told Sabo about that possibility.

"I've been keeping another secret, from everyone but Sabo and now Recovery Girl and the doctor. I've never told anybody in the last three years. But once I told Sabo, I felt so much better. It was scary telling others, but it ended up working out in the end. I'm just really nervous about you."

"Well, you don't need to tell me, Ace. I don't want you to force yourself or anything. I don't want you to regret telling me." Ace sighed, and said he'd been lying to him. "About what?" he asked, curiously and not sounding offended.

He took a deep breath. "I don't have any family. I'm all by myself, and I live by myself. To go and buy things, go shopping, talk to other people I act like an adult. I change my appearance so I look older, so I can live by myself. I was homeless before, and I didn't want to be anymore, so I fabricated a whole person.

"I never went to the doctor or dentist because I was afraid of insurance fraud, not knowing what to do. When I got the narcolepsy, I was so scared it would all come crumbling down," Ace confessed. Marco didn't seem upset, but did wonder if that was the lie. "No, not really. I'm sorta… your neighbor."

"Huh?! Seriously?!" Marco asked in shock. "Wait, who are you, then?" He didn't sound angry, just surprised and baffled. Ace said he lived right next to him. His neighbor never left the house because Ace always left through the window. He'd rather be himself as often as he could, and not that fake person.

"I wasn't expecting that. And I thought you were a bitch the whole time," he snorted. "You didn't know me when we first moved in anyways. I'm not mad. And I won't tell anybody else. I swear on my life." Ace was looking at him with wide eyes. How could he not be mad at Ace pretending around him? "I mean, that's your whole life. Telling somebody has to be scary, right? I'm just so… touched that you trusted me enough to tell me." Ace nodded.

"You're a really good friend, of course I'd tell you." Marco wondered if he'd told Midoriya. "Not yet. I feel like he'd pity me. And then there's the whole way I make money to pay for things. It's drawing… embarrassing things. Yeah. I mean, NSFW sells easily. I don't like doing that, but I'm afraid to change and lose support. I need the money," he confessed.

Marco whistled. "Man, you're like a whole adult. And you said you did this four years ago?" Ace asid it had almost been four. "So, since you were eleven?" Ace nodded. "That's crazy. But also really amazing. Kind of sad, too, I guess..." Ace felt his heart soar that he had another friend who knew. He knew Sabo wouldn't be offended. Having support from him was the only way he could have ever told anybody else.

Ace smiled, and thanked him for not being upset. "It's your life. You don't need to share it with everyone." The freckled teen nodded. "You're pretty cool, though. You'll definitely be a really responsible hero." Ace agreed proudly. "I wonder who we'll get scouted to? I bet you'll get a lot. Even without showing your copy power. Can I see it, though?"

They landed on a rooftop. Ace changed into Sabo, clothes and all. Marco was awed. "You can even change the clothes?" Ace nodded, but said he couldn't take them off. They would revert back to his normal clothes. "Can you change into me?"

The shorter of the two nodded, but said some of the features were off. He didn't see Marco's face as much as he saw Midoriya and Sabo's. "Still, looks pretty accurate. Hey, you know what else you could do with this? Those artists that draw criminals where there are no photos? You could be one of those guys and change your face to match theirs. Like a video game, where you design the character."

Ace never thought of that option, but it was an interesting point. It would probably work, too. "Well, hopefully my narcolepsy will be better under control then. The doctor recommend I be a hero who does activity, always moving. Behind a desk would made me more likely to have EDS. Well, I'll figure that out later, right?"

"Definitely."

-x-

Ace ate a big, healthy breakfast with Sabo the next day, as it was finally the day of the sports festival! They were both excited, but also very nervous. Ace was confident he'd stand out, but didn't know how far he'd make it. Sabo was more worried, since his quirk was a lot more limited. But Ace had confidence in him, too. He was very smart, and good at coming up with strategies.

"By the way, I told everything to Marco yesterday," Ace said, trying to sound casual. Sabo was surprised. "Yeah. He was cool with it. I think I'm gonna finally tell Midoriya, too. About my history, he already knows about changing into other people. So only you, him, Marco and my doctor know about my ability to change into people."

Sabo said he should keep it that way. Ace nodded. He was not going to tell anybody else for awhile, at least. And he wasn't going to reveal that super useful power anytime soon. After they were done with breakfast, Ace took his medicine, and then the two took the train to UA. They met Midoriya and Marco there.

While they were on the train, Ace leaning against the wall, he said, "After the sports festival, I wanna tell you something, Midoriya. Don't worry, it's nothing bad. Promise. I'm sure you'll be glad when you hear it." He was still wary and just nodded, looking thoughtful. He wondered if Ace was sure he wouldn't use his copy transformation. "Yeah, I'm not gonna bring it up yet. I don't know if it would even help with anything, given most of the events were exercising. That we watched."

"That's true. I wonder what kind of quirks the other courses have. They'll all take part, after all," Sabo mused. "We have a lot of opponents. I won't go easy on you guys if it comes down to it," he added with a wry smile. Ace nodded. Midoriya didn't want to fight against them much. "Midoriya, do your best even if you don't use your quirk. Showing tenacity and smarts is useful, too!" the blonde explained.

Marco was quiet, maybe feeling like an outsider to the already group of best friends. Ace commented, "Marco will be the hardest to take down, not being injured at all. In a fight, at the battle parts, he would be hard to beat."

"Anyone with a flying quirk would be," Sabo said. "They have a lot more space to attack. And probably won't be told they're out of bounds by being in the air. The only way to counter them would be to injure or manage to slam them into the ground to be out of bounds. So, hard. But I think everyone is screwed against Law. He doesn't even need to touch you to incapacitate you. Imagine how embarrassing it would be to just be chopped in half and out of the game."

"Ha, I'm the only one who could probably match up to him. He can't chop me up," Marco said with a grin. "But I expect him to make it pretty far, and get a lot of attention. If he doesn't look bored or angry the whole time. Though Endeavor always seems angry and he's number two, so who knows?"

When they got to the station, the four got off and headed to the high school. There was a lot of commotion coming from it. Thousands of people. Those people they'd be performing in front of, along with the rest of the country. It was nerve wracking, and all four were apprehensive. Midoriya the most, which made sense. Ace hoped he did well.

They all had their gym clothes in their backpacks, and headed straight to the stadium. Katakuri had told them to head there the day before. He had asked Ace each day after class if there was any more accommodations he thought he needed. It was very thoughtful. He knew that Katakuri also tried suggesting meditation to help Midoriya control how much effort he put into every use of his quirk.

He was so thoughtful, even if he looked very intimidating. When they got to the changing rooms, they all got into their gym clothes, and were each wearing athletic shoes. Sabo had a bottle of water that hung off of his wrist. He was strong enough for it not to be heavy. He was allowed the water like the support course students had their own equipment.

Everyone in the room were pacing back and forth, trying to calm themselves with rituals or meditating. Well, Zoro was napping, which wasn't that strange. He wasn't narcoleptic, but sleeping a lot. Ace was walking around the room in circles briskly to keep himself active. Hopefully the tournament wouldn't last longer than two hours. He had to have his nap. And falling asleep during the time on stage would be humiliating.

They were all surprised when Todoroki walked up to Midoriya looking angry. The room fell silent in curiosity. Todoroki was a quiet student, seemed detached, kind of like Law, but less hostile looking. He challenged the formerly-quirkless teen, referencing that All Might clearly favored Midoriya. The two best friends weren't blind, they knew when the pro-hero would take Midoriya to lunch or talk in private. Neither pried, even though they were curious.

If All Might had his eyes on Midoriya, then Todoroki would want to beat him because Endeavor was his dad, a place behind All Might? He wondered, though. It did make the room tense, though, which wasn't appreciated. At least Midoriya replied back that he wouldn't be beaten. Ace smiled at it, hearing confidence in his voice.

The door opened, and Iida came in. He was the class representative. Sometimes it was annoying how strict he was. At least he never hounded Ace over falling asleep like he did Zoro. If he did, Ace would be pissed. "It's time," he said seriously. Midoriya looked very determined. He'd do well even if he couldn't use his quirk.

But they didn't know what other quirks there were in the first year courses. The other hero course had to have strong people too, no doubt. They were the first to exit and walk in front of the huge, cheering crowd. Ace looked around, his mouth open in shock. It seemed like so many more people than it did in the videos.

It was the other hero course teacher doing the commentating with Present Mic. Eraser Head, Aizawa, was his name. Katakuri wasn't a guy who seemed like he'd enjoy being a commentator. He was sitting in the teacher box. There were cameras everywhere. Most of the stadium was completely packed.

When they walked out, it wasn't long after that the other courses came out as well, showing at least 150 kids there. Ace's hands were shaking, and he did calming deep breaths. The feeling of fear could trigger a sleep attack. He wasn't going to die here. And if he passed out, he always had Shanks to fall back on.

"Whoa…" Midoriya said, face showing fear. Ace and Sabo walked to either side and their linked arms. Sabo said all they could each do was their best. He nodded. Luffy was the most excited of them, eye bright and face showing complete awe and excitement. There were some who looked disinterested, but that was their demeanor. Most of them showed a mix of fear and excitement. Both warring on their faces and in their body language.

They, and the other courses and class 1-B, walked to the stage Midnight was standing on. Her outfit was so inappropriate. But that was her thing. She was holding that flogger again. "Now, now, fair play!" She was beaming. "Now, Trafalgar Law of class 1-A!" He was the representative from being the one to place the top spot in the entrance exam. The general studies class were sour about it.

He had his sword with him, though it was mostly a prop, to be honest. He walked up to the stage. "Don't look like fools, this is your one chance," he said and then walked off. Well, there could have been worse opening messages. But the crowd was unbothered and cheered. Midnight moved on.

"Alright, with that done, let's move onto the first event! Onto the preliminaries, you might say. Lots of fine folk end up choking on tears during this every year! And this year's first round of destiny is… an obstacle race!" Ace and Marco grinned. This should be easy for them. But Ace wasn't going to just fly. He'd already picked out the creatures he'd use. The most useful, the fastest, and the flashiest. "This is a race against all classes! The course is around the stadium! UA prides itself on freedom, so as long as you're in the path, do whatever you want!"

This opened up room for a lot of violence. Ace would be staying out of Law's orbit. He also wouldn't let himself get injured. Ace and Sabo took this chance of the classes being contemplating to run to the entrance. With so many students, it would be a bottle neck in the beginning.

"One, two, start!" Midnight shouted. Her voice was amplified so they could hear it outside of the stadium, too. They started running, and many were trapped inside the hall and exit. Those in the front were the luckiest and fastest. Marco flew ahead, facing the first obstacle, which was the robots form the entrance exam, and slamming into it with a taloned foot, breaking the head off.

Well, he wasn't the only show off. Ace turned into a dragon and ripped apart one of them, tossing the debris behind him to slow down the other students. Then he took off, changing into a bird at first.

Marco was far ahead. Ace was fine with second place. This was to show off to potential offers from scouts. He made it to the second obstacle, a bunch of pillars connected by strings. He turned into a squirrel and zoomed along the lines until he got on the other side. His heart was pumping too fast to hear the commentary.

When he reached the land mines, Marco had already gotten so far ahead. The others were following. Ace turned into a tiger and jumped around the landmines, not touching any of them. Then he changed into a fox and did the same thing. Todoroki and Bakugo were gaining on him. Time to throw them back.

He turned into a dragon and slammed a thick, scaled tail into both of them, throwing them back and hitting the ground, landing on the landmines that blew up. Ace snickered and flew ahead. Marco had made first place. Ace flew through the hall, and came out as a falcon. He landed on Marco's shoulder, and the crowd cheered.

"You're an asshole," Marco said bluntly. "I saw you shove them back."

"I have to show I can put my strengths to work. Not just being a fast runner." Ace turned to watch the people enter next, and saw it was Law, walking out leisurely. Then Midoriya made it out fourth! Nice! Ace had no idea how, and then Bakugo and Todoroki came charging out. Bakugo ran at Ace, threatening death. Ace fled into the air.

Marco laughed at him. Ace landed on Midoriya's shoulder. "Nice! How, though?" Midoriya was panting, his hands on his knees. He had just used his resources, not his quirk. The rest of his class, with Sabo being seventh, with his water bottle half empty. When he asked, Sabo replied that he'd covered the ground behind him in clouds to slip up the opponents. He also put water into the robots to short them out. He had to make his way across the ropes like most did, climbing along it from upside down.

Then he just did his best to avoid the land mines. Ace looked to the side and saw Todoroki glaring at him. Ace shifted back into human form. "No hard feelings. You did the same to others."

"I know," he said simply. Didn't seem too angry. Just annoyed. Once the top 42 made it, Midnight introduced the next event. Those 42 would be the ones participating. It wasn't just class 1-A, most of class 1-B and many general studies students made it. Then there was a handful of support, and no business class. Well, why would they take part in this, anyways?

"A human cavalry battle!" Ace didn't know what that was. But she first explained the point distribution of the obstacle course they'd all just cleared. The top contenders had the highest amount of points. Marco had 10 million, and Ace's was drastically smaller, but still the second highest. They turned around and saw everyone watching Marco with determined eyes.

Midnight explained the event. Teams of two or four would have the combined amount of points on a headband they'd tie around their heads. The job was to steal as many points as they could. There would be a "horse", or the person in front or carrying the other, while two more could be on either side. The time limit was 15 minutes.

If they lost their headband, they could just steal it back or from another person. They had to wear them above the neck. They could take as many headbands as they could. "Any attempt at knocking someone off their horse will lead to immediate disqualification! Choose your team wisely. You have ten minutes to partner up!"

Midoriya said he wanted to be with another team, not depending on his two best friends. Ace and Sabo were both already planning to be a two member team. Sabo wore the 100 thousand point headband. Others begged to be on their team, but they declined. It would just be them. Marco didn't seem upset with this, and partnered with Zoro, Luffy and Sanji. Midoriya teamed up with Uraraka, Tokoyami and a girl from the support course.

"You ready to not use your quirk at all?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, I don't think I can do anything in this one. We should make sure to protect our points. I'm counting on you." Ace grinned, and said he was about to look completely mutated. Sabo smiled, and Ace transformed into a four legged creature with a clear shell on his back that Sabo was situated inside of. Ace grew arms out of the rest of his body to snatch the headbands if he wanted. Nobody could get into Sabo's space but perhaps Law. If that happened, Ace would just take it back.

He planned on not going after Marco or Midoriya's. He wanted both of them to make it to the finals. "Hey, is that allowed?!" students shouted, pointing at Ace. Midnight said it was allowed. Sabo sat comfortably in the bubble like shell. Once the race started, a dome surrounded all of them, and every single headband was now in Law's hand.

Students shouted in rage, and went after him. He created another dome, and chopped off the upper bodies of every "rider". None of them fell off of the horses, so it wasn't technically unallowed. Fifteen minutes passed, Ace chopped in half, too. Marco was fine, but Law kept switching him in places with someone else.

Law's team was the only winner, so they had to make a second match. Well, Law just showed his usefulness. Everyone's bodies were put back together just fine, though they were all angry. The class 1-A students had all been prepared for that. It was unsurprising, but the other students hadn't expected it and freaked out about being chopped up.

Even Present Mic was shocked into silence at Law's overpowered quirk, called "operation". He could do anything he wanted to people inside of his operation room. So, the second match started, with Marco's team just doing their best to not to lose their headband while Luffy stretched out his arms to snatch others' headbands.

Law's team just went up the stadium seats, waiting for the next event to start up. Only about half an hour had passed from the start. He had another hour and a half until his usual nap time. Ace had Sabo in the shell and was using extra arms to snatch headbands. He then passed them into Sabo through a small slot.

Once their headbands were Ace and Sabo's, there was no hope to get them back. Bakugo was focused on making Ace pay after he got enough points to think he would make it to the next round. He kept aiming explosions at Ace, who grew in size and covered himself in hard scales. Ace just grinned at him with huge, dagger teeth.

"You're wasting your time on me," Ace said. Ice formed around his whole body. But he grew larger and shattered them apart. He made to chomp down on Todoroki's head, who dodged. Then he went after Midoriya, knowing he couldn't do shit against Ace from experience.

Marco's team hadn't lost their ten million points, and all looked pretty exhilarated at being the main targets. Once the fifteen minutes were up, the winners were Ace and Sabo, Bakugo's team, Todoroki's team, Marco's team, Midoriya's team, and Law's team.

It was almost all class 1-A. Which was surprising. Though most of the heavy hitters in the entrance exam had all been in class 1-A. Ace kind of wished they could have more people fighting, but it just wasn't going to end up that way. On Law's team, there were two people other than class 1-A. Two from class 1-B, who got to do nothing. They seemed sour over it, to be honest.

Ace changed back into a human fluidly, Sabo getting off his back. "Well, time for the last event, huh? I wonder who I'll be up against… but everyone made it. Me, you, Midoriya and Marco. I would have preferred Law not make it, but everyone knew that was impossible," Sabo said. Ace nodded.

"Well, you finalists are those that will take part in the next and final event! Just like every other year, every other sports festival in UA's history, we will have a battle tournament! Those who advanced will be pitted against others until only one victor remains!" Midnight announced. Nobody was surprised, but the crowd cheered anyways.

There was going to be a break between then and the fights, and they all went to the part of the stadium reserved for their class. Ace didn't sit down, he paced back and forth. "Are you going to pace the whole time? Don't you want a rest?" Kaminari asked.

"I'm less likely to have a sleep attack if I keep my body active. Besides, I didn't really do much exercise in the cavalry battle, so I'm not too tired." Students glared at him for having it to easy during the pervious event. After the break, with the stage having been made by cementos, the matches were made up. Ace was against Tokoyami the first round. If he won that, he'd be against Zoro or Ashido.

Sabo was against Yaoyorozu, if he won that he was against Luffy or Kaminari. Midoriya was against someone who wasn't in class 1-A, Shinso, and if he won that he was against Todoroki or Sero. And Marco was against Bakugo. If he won that, he was against Law. Ace had no doubt Law would win over Sero. Who knows how that one would go, though? Marco vs Law would be unpredictable. It was fate, or just bad luck. Marco was unbothered.

So, the matches started. Ace was first, might be lucky, though. Then he could possibly take a rest. There were a lot of people to go through. And Sabo's fight wasn't directly after Ace's. He wanted to watch his friends' fights the most. Well, everyone was his friend. His best friends and Marco wished him luck as he and Tokoyami made their way to the stage together. "No matter who wins, no hard feelings?" Ace asked.

"Yes, I will hold no grudge," the bird headed teen said. They each went to one side of the concrete stage.

"From hero class 1-A, we have Portgas D. Ace! A shape shifter who seems to have no limit in what he can become! And also from hero class 1-A, Tokoyami Fumikage! Match… start!" Ace grew in size until he was a black, four legged creature, only black, no face of any sort. "Ah, how scary!" Present Mic said. He was an eccentric commentator.

Tokoyami brought out Dark Shadow, who attacked Ace. But he lifted his huge hand and clamped down on Dark Shadow, holding it up and tossing it to the side. Tokoyami stopped himself from being thrown out, but wasn't sure how to advance. He chose to have Dark Shadow try and wrap around his neck. But it was thick and muscled.

He suddenly shrank and was in human form before he kicked Tokoyami hard in the solar plexus, making him grunt. Dark Shadow had been in shock from the sudden shrink, the drastic size change. Ace sent Tokoyami from the stage as he recovered from the strong kick. Ace stood up, the winner of the first match.

"And the winner is Ace! Who can go up against that size?!" Ace returned to his seat. He took a short nap between matches, asking to be woken up when Sabo's match started.

"You're not even gonna watch?" Uraraka asked. Ace passed out in his seat. "Guess not…" When he woke up, three matches had passed. They all happened so fast that he'd only been out for fifteen minutes. Marco asked if he was awake. Sabo's match was next.

"Yeah, I'm awake," he grumbled. Sabo smiled at Yaoyorozu and walked with her down to the stage. Ace had slept through Present Mic's noisy voice over. He wondered if anybody tried to wake him. He was glad he didn't miss any he really wanted to see. It was lucky. He didn't know if he would have been able to be forcibly awoken.

"Now we have Outlook Sabo versus Yaoyorozu Momo! How will this play out?! We haven't seen much from either, yet! Match start!" Sabo immediately obstructed the view of the match with heavy clouds, more like fog. This gave him the chance to form storm clouds above quickly while Yoayorozu wasted precious moments to create a leaf blower to blow the clouds out.

But when she saw what was above, she created an insulated blanket. Sabo didn't let the lightning come out before he grabbed her inside the blanket and tossed her out of the ring. She had made herself very vulnerable. "And it's a fake! Sabo has Yaoyorozu out with a trick! Sabo wins!"

The defeated girl looked embarrassed and deflated. Sabo smiled at her, and said what looked like a "good game". They walked back to the stadium seats, Sabo getting a high five from Ace. "Underhanded trick."

"Her quirk is more versatile than mine. I had to end it before she got serious," Sabo replied. "Besides, it was a strategy, not a trick. You were just showing off with yours." Ace nodded sagely. Everything he'd done so far was to show the capacity of his quirk. How he can pretty much be anything, whether it was realistic or fantasy.

Zoro won against Ashido, so the two would be battling in the next round. Luffy beat Kaminari by being immune to his electricity. Luffy's body was made of rubber, so it was naturally resistant to lightning. Damn, how unlucky for Kaminari! All it took was a punch from Luffy's rubber fist in the gut. Despite Luffy being pretty skinny and short, he was very strong physically. His quirk didn't have many tricks so far, but he was still strong and nimble.

Sabo would be against Luffy. When Midoriya's time came, he was against Shinso. They knew nothing of his quirk or what kind of guy he was. They stood across from one another, Shinso looking like a guy who didn't sleep, even worse than Law. Which was saying something, since Law always had circles under his eyes.

Over the crowd cheering and Present Mic's narration, Ace couldn't hear what was being said between them, but that they spoke until Midoriya just froze completely. The audience and students were confused as to what was happening. If only they knew Shinso's quirk! Their friend still stayed in place, frozen.

It was clear Shinso had done something with the smug look on his face. He said something, and Midoriya turned around, and slowly started walking towards the back of the stage. His feet looked heavy, but his face remained that blank slate. Ace leaned forward, worrying about him getting out on the first round due to some mystery quirk.

Class 1-A were shouting at him to get ahold of himself, but the blank face remained. "What is he doing?" Ace hissed, his hands on his face. Midoriya hadn't even used his quirk yet. If he got out without using it once, then how would he not come across as quirkless? Or just so inept at his quirk that he lost without using it once. He'd get no offers from scouts if that were the case.

Everyone were on the edge of their seats as his foot stepped above the line before there was a blast of wind. He froze mid step and then shook his head, finally back to himself. The class all sighed in relief. Besides Bakugo and Todoroki. But even they wouldn't want somebody from another class to beat one of their own.

Then Ace noticed what had caused him to pause. Two of his fingers were mangled. Bruised badly. Broken pretty badly. Looked like his arm did when he let off a whole attack back on the first day of school, in hero training. He hadn't improved at all since then? Well, it had only been under two months.

But still, Ace would have expected some progress by now, even before school started. He had all summer. But now he wouldn't look at the enemy. Eye contact might trigger it. He didn't speak to him either, just ran at Shinso and shoved him roughly across the stage until Shinso retaliated and punched Midoriya's broken fingers. Ace scowled and growled under his breath.

He was turned around and shoved next until he grabbed Shinso's arm and flipped him over his head and out of bounds. His face was sweating from the pain of the broken fingers. He would either fight Sero or Todoroki, who both had good control over their quirks. Much better than Midoriya. What was he planning to do, then?

But he won. That was a start. After the match, he went to get his fingers healed by Recovery Girl. Todoroki won his match against Sero, making it so Midoriya was fighting the ice user. Well, that was what Todoroki wanted, so he should be happy. Looking at him, he looked so angry and sad. Marco was next against Bakugo.

With explosions not working against Marco, it would be hard for Bakugo to get any substantial hits on the phoenix. "What is the permit about flying?" Marco asked Midnight before she waved the flogger. Bakugo was scowling, probably with how lighthearted Marco was taking this, unafraid completely.

"You are able to fly around, but not far passed the outer rim of this stage." When Marco turned into a phoenix, the audience made an awed noise at the huge, flaming blue bird.

"And here we have Marco the phoenix! How will Bakugo's explosions take out someone that can heal from any wound?!" Present Mic shouted. It was true, for when Bakugo shot a blast at him, it was violent and brutal, something that could kill a weaker person. But when the smoke cleared, there Marco was, perfectly fine.

Bakugo grit his teeth in annoyance. Marco rose in the air and then dive bombed him, kicking hard and breaking the concrete below. He was very strong, after all, he'd placed second in how many robots he'd defeated. He didn't wait to attack again, Bakugo deflecting with a bomb that Marco ignored, letting it burn through his flaming leg as it connected with Bakugo's face.

"Asshole! Die!" he screamed, shooting off his most powerful explosions. Marco transformed into human form, letting himself be blown up. Once the smoke cleared, he was there, but his shirt was destroyed with burns that healed over in blue flame. Bakugo had no way to harm him, so his best bet was to knock him out of bounds on foot.

But Marco seemed to have shown off enough for now, for this match he was good. He changed into bird form again. "Is Marco invincible?! Not a single hit has damaged him at all! What's with that healing power, he really is a living phoenix!" Present Mic shouted. Marco dove and clamped his talons around Bakugo's upper arms, throwing him out of bounds. When he tried to avoid the ground by blasting off before he could, Marco pinned him, slamming him down hard into the grass.

"Bakugo is out of bounds! Marco advances to the next stage!" Midnight declared. Marco beamed and waved at the crowd. Bakugo tried to attack him again, screaming in absolute fury. Ace was sure he'd never been this angry around him before. But before he could attempt to be the sorest loser ever, Midnight knocked him out with her sleeping gas.

He was wheeled away unconscious to the nurses' room, probably sore now. Midoriya was still in there, taking a long time for just some broken fingers. Ace slumped in the seat. All four of them had made it now. They were advancing to the next stage. The semi finals. The last fight that could affect the four was Law vs Sato.

Law wasn't above humiliating somebody, and just switched places with Midnight and Sato, putting him out of bounds. Midnight was startled, but saw Sero out of bounds, who was lamenting in irritation. But he clearly never expected to win against the school's strongest. At least, who had the strongest quirk when it came to most situations.

There was a break after the last match. Ace got food, but only a small amount. Now the matches that mattered the most was Ace vs Zoro, Sabo vs Luffy, Midoriya vs Todoroki, and Marco vs Law.

When he got back, he sat in his seat. The first cross match was Midoriya vs Todoroki. Ace wondered if Midoriya would use his quirk this time. If he would have any control or break more bones, knowing he'd be fine with Recovery Girl. Once intermission was over, Midoriya stood out on the stage. He hadn't come up to see them.

Ace sighed, hoping he wouldn't hurt himself. At least, not too bad. Suddenly, the whole world blurred, and Ace fell asleep. Nothing that happened woke him up. Not the explosion from Midoriya and Todoroki's match, not Sabo's battle, not Marco's battle, not even his, which he slept straight through, no matter how much everyone were trying to wake him up.

Poor baby Ace. :(