Me: Hello everybody, my name Tokusatsu Universe and welcome back to Toku no Hero Academia! Now we are at the second part of the Sports Festival, where our broccoli boy has a huge target on him in the Calvary Battle...
Oh sweet mother of Jesus! I wanna show my appreciation to you guys for getting over 1000 followers for this story. I want to thank you all so much for liking this story and staying with me.
Milarqui: And here I am. Again. Jesus Christ, the things I've had to correct...
Now then let's begin!
Chapter 8: Sports Festival Part 2
"Staff Break Room"
With their patrol time officially done for, the three Musutafu heroes had taken up Nezu's generosity and gone to the staff break room that had been made available for the Heroes patroling the grounds during the festival.
"This festival... it is more about simulating the competition they are going to face as Heroes, rather than seeing how prepared they are to be Heroes," Death Arms explained as he smoked a cigarette.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Mt. Lady asked in confusion. Granted, she knew that being the first in a competition was important, but she wondered why it led to being given a big target to hang on their back, as she had never attended U.A.
Death Arms blew out a puff of smoke, causing Mt. Lady to cough as she covered her nose and waved the smoke away.
"In a world crowded with Hero Agencies, in order to put food on the table, there are times when you have to kick down others if you want to show your strength. That's what the obstacle race was about. Especially for those who placed beyond 42nd."
"Doesn't that just pain your heart? Poor kids have to show up one another."
"You are one to talk, Yu. You did it quite gleefully in your debut, remember?" Kamui Woods fired at her, still remembering that day the previous year.
"Oi, I already said I was sorry, okay? I haven't done it anymore since then, and I even handed you the credit for that diamond villain!" Mt. Lady defensively countered, a bit ashamed at what she had done that day.
"On the other hand," Death Arms continued, ignoring his partners' squabbling, "even if you are business rivals, there are many cases where you have to work together to achieve a common goal."
"Oh, that's the reason for the Cavalry Battle!" Mt. Lady exclaimed. "If you win, your teammates also win, and then you all advance to the next round, where they become your rivals again. You have to think about personal compability, Quirk synergy and the point value each player has... it's a give-and-take situation."
"Just like coordinating with your sidekick and the joint Quirk training meetings with other agencies..." Kamui Woods muttered, nodding in agreement with his coworker.
"The kids are doing stuff now that will be their way of life after they become Pro Heroes. Because the purpose of this is to give them the experience for what they will be doing when they become Pro Heroes."
Mt. Lady sighed as she thought about what the teenagers had to go through.
"They've got it rough, those kids. And they have a long way to go yet," she said, before putting on a look of worry. "Especially Midoriya, he's going to have all that pressure on his back, because no one's going to want to team up with someone with such that ten million point target on his head. Yeah, it's kind of unfair, to be honest, but that's what U.A.'s all about, I guess. Let's hope he can advance to the next round."
"Even if he doesn't, after what he did during the race, he is going to get a load of internship offers," Death Arms said, agreeing with Mt. Lady.
"Heh, I don't think we'll have to worry about him not advancing," Kamui Woods chuckled as he looked at the screen. "Look at his expression."
The camera had zoomed in on Izuku's face, highlighting who had the ten million point target/value for first place, just to see him grinning and laughing. And then his taunt to all the other players.
"Well, he's got guts, I admit it," Kamui Woods remarked, causing the other two to chuckle as well.
"I can foresee him giving anyone that dares get too close to him a real beatdown on their ass," Death Arms replied, laughing in agreement.
"This is going to be fun to watch," Mt. Lady grinned in excitement.
After hearing the point value for the first place, Inko was left in stunned silence while Mitsuki was on the ground, laughing her pants off, with Masaru unsuccessfully trying to get her to calm down. Toshinori, on the other hand, was smiling after seeing that Izuku was showing no ounce of fear, and even more, he seemed to be excited about the idea.
'Looks like he is up to the challenge,' Toshinori thought, grinning as Izuku challenged the others. 'Best of luck out there, young Midoriya.'
"Team up with me!" Sato shouted.
"What? Bakugo, team up with me!" Mina begged the explosive boy. She might be crushing hard on Izuku, but ever since she heard the points that had been assigned to her favorite cinnamon roll, she had been afraid of what might happen, so she had chosen to go after the next most likely to get a good score.
"Do you not desire to team up with moi?" Yuga tried to ask, still recovering from his stomach pain, yet trying to act 'cool'.
All the while Katsuki stared blankly at all the students that wanted to be in his team for the Cavalry Battle.
"Wait a minute! Remind me what all of your Quirks are! Oh, yeah, and your names too!" He barked.
"What the- What kind of question is that? We're your classmates, for crying out loud! This is ridiculous!" Mina whined. She had seen it many times already in the past month, but that comment marked her maximum level of annoyance at how self-absorbed Katsuki was, because to not know even their names was absurd.
"You don't pay attention to something that basic? How can you be so self-centered?" Sato exclaimed, agreeing with the pink-haired girl's reaction about Katsuki, loud enough that it could be heard from the stands.
'His personality is really left to be desired, but he still came in third, so he has two hundred points. Given the all-purpose use of his Quirk, he should be able to get enough people in his team,' Toshinori thought, observing the interactions between his students.
Near him, someone else was having a very different reaction.
"YOU DAMN BRAT, HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR OTHERS!" Mitsuki shouted while Masaru was unable to calm her down.
"Izuku..." Inko whispered with worry, looking at her son standing alone in the middle of the stadium.
"Don't worry, Inko-san, he will be alright." Toshinori smiled. "Look at his face. He's not scared, he is not worried. He is so excited that he could probably fly just on that."
Inko nodded at him, thankful, as she shyly smiled while looking at her son.
"Hey, Bakugo! I was gonna ask Todoroki, but he chose his team already! So, what do you say? Let's team up!" Eijiro shouted, walking up to the crowd surrounding the Explosion Quirk boy.
"Oh, hey, shitty hair," Katsuki replied, giving an expression of 'no fucks left to give', and Eijiro looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"MY NAME IS KIRISHIMA! Damn it, at least have enough decency to remember the name of your own classmates! We teamed up back at USJ, for heaven's sake! And my hair is not even that different from yours!" Eijiro exclaimed, pointing at Katsuki's spiky hair.
"Hmph, at least mine's better than yours," Katsuki snarked, something that Eijiro chose to ignore.
"You wanna be the rider, right? Then, who will be the front horse that can take your blasts?" Eijiro asked, activating his Hardening Quirk to prove his point. Katsuki just stared at him.
"Someone with guts, I'd say," Katsuki replied, apparently bored.
"Not really, but yeah! Me with my Hardening! I will be the horse that never wavers! You want to get them too, right? Midoriya's ten million points?"
That seemed to be the magical word hearing the name of his rival.
"Listen, we all know Midoriya has a lot of raw power on his side, so we need a team that can handle that super powerful energy of his! Come on, if we team up, then we can definitely overwhelm him and his team and steal his ten million points, no problem!"
As soon as he heard that, Katsuki's face morphed into a sinister smirk, as he thought about destroying and humiliating Deku. Eijiro immediately sent a prayer for forgiveness for having to do this to his classmate, but needs must.
"Alright, you've persuaded me! Let's do it! Also, you, Pinky, and you Elbow Tape!" Katsuki said, pointing at Mina and Hanta, vaguely remembering seeing them using their Quirks before.
Meanwhile, Izuku looked around... and saw himself completely isolated from everybody else, with the ten million point headband already on. They all knew what he was capable of. They knew he was strong. They knew he belonged there. They admired him for his courage and determination to be the best... and that was why everyone really wanted to beat him. He decided to approach the nearest of his classmates.
"Umm... Ojiro, do you want to join?" Izuku asked. Ojiro had a downcast expression, looking to a side.
"Sorry, Midoriya-san! Don't take it personally, but you have way too many points, and I really want to reach the final round," The boy said, walking off to find another group.
Izuku sighed exasperated at yet another failure, but at least he could see that the teams that were being formed had a mix of Classes 1-A and 1-B, with even Agoyamato picking a team already.
'Well, at least our classmates are going to be mixed up between the classes instead of just going with the people in their classes. Pity that everyone's avoiding me now.'
"Hehehe! Just as I thought, this is great! You stand out really well!"
Izuku turned around to the sound of the unfamiliar voice behind him, and found himself face to face with a pair of goggles that were way too close for his own good, completely invading his personal space.
"Team up with me, Ten Million!"
"SHIT! Who are you?" Izuku yelled out in shock at the speaker, who giggled as she stepped back and pulled her goggles up, now allowing him to see her chewing gum pink hair and her eyes, which had unique yellow irises with what seemed to be a cross-hair embedded in them.
"Me? I'm Hatsume Mei, from the Support Course, and the one that's going to take you to victory!" The girl said, giving out a grin that made Izuku feel as if he were in front of some kind of land shark.
"O-kay..." Izuku whispered, still in shock.
"Look, I don't know you beyond those delicious ten million points you've got, but you've got to let me use your position!" Hatsume exclaimed.
"You seem to be very blunt about your reasons for wanting to team up with me..." Izuku muttered in a deadpan mode, as she once more decided to put her face right next to his, almost nose to nose.
"Of course I do! If I didn't, then you'd have no reason to trust me! Plus, if I team up with you, then I'll inevitably become part of the team everyone's going to be watching the most, right?" she began to speak rapidly, leaving him dumbstruck.
"Uh, yeah."
"Well, then, when that happens, all of my super cute babies will be seen by all the big Support companies, and that's free publicity for me and for what I can do, do you understand that?"
Much to his relief, she chose to step back as she grabbed a box she had picked only God knew where, and showed him the contents, pulling them out one by one.
"Support Course develops the equipment that helps you Heroes use your Quirks to the max, and I have tons of babies, so I'm sure there something you are going to like! Oh, I see this one's got your eye, hmm?" she said as she picked what appeared to be a jetpack. "I made this baby based on some Hero's backpack, but I added my own original twist to it to make it work a lot better!"
"Wait, are you talking about the Buster Hero, Air Jet? I like him, too!"
"You do?"
"Yeah, his agency's close to my home, so I went on a tour a few years ago."
"Huh, nice. By the way, my Quirk is Zoom, which allows me to see things at five kilometers away or teeny tiny things while I build my babies! Useful, huh?"
"That's quite interesting!" He replied. This girl was the first he had personally met from Support Course, and he supposed that it might be interesting to know about them.
"But this is not the only baby I have hear. Any of them that you pick, you will also benefit from them!" Hatsume stated.
"Alright then, welcome to the team!" He replied, shaking her hand.
"Dekiru!"
Izuku turned to see Itsuka, Momo and Ochaco walking up to him, all of them smiling.
"Let's team up! You and the three of us!" Ochaco exclaimed, pointing at herself and the other two.
"Yeah!" Itsuka cheered.
"It's always ideal to be with people you're most familiar with," Momo nodded.
Izuku felt bad for having to say it, but he couldn't just break his word.
"I'd have loved to, but..." he trailed off.
"So... you are?" Ochaco asked Hatsume, who grinned.
"Hatsume Mei, Support Course! I just asked Dekiru – it's Dekiru, right? – if I could join his team, and when he saw my babies here he just couldn't resist!" Hatsume said, showing the girls the box with her gadgets.
"Your... babies?" Momo asked in confusion, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep! I create them, and they make me happy!" Hatsume replied.
"But... that means only two of us can be in your team," Itsuka said, putting up a sad face along with the other two.
"She's right, that means one of us will have to team up with someone else," Momo replied, as the three looked at each other.
"I'll go," Ochaco spoke up, causing the others – save for Hatsume, who was busy pulling things out of her box – to look at her.
"Are you sure, Ochaco-chan?" Itsuka asked, worried. Ochaco closed her eyes and breathed in.
"I'm sure. It's only a competition, and there will be other times where I can team up with you." Then, she opened them, and gave them a competitive grin. "And I will beat you today."
Ochaco smiled at her very much shocked friends before she waved off and left to find another team.
"Well... she is really in the spirit of the game," Momo commented, and Itsuka nodded in agreement.
"Hey, Momo, I thought I saw you talking to Shoto earlier?" Izuku asked.
"Yes, he wanted me to be on his team, but I declined," Momo replied. "While I acknowledge that he is quite strong, you are objectively the strongest student in the whole class, as Todoroki so bluntly pointed out before the race. Not only am I more familiar with your Quirk than his, you are also incredibly intelligent, and a master strategist to add. And let's not forget that you are capable of analyzing anyone's Quirk just by seeing it for the first time. So, yes, I feel 100% sure that not only it is much safer to be on the same team as you, but that this team has the best chance to pass this round."
"I feel like you might be overestimating me... but you do make valid arguments," Izuku said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Itsuka shoot her head, gesturing at herself and Momo.
"We are definitely sure. Momo and I, we know how good you are, and as I said it's better to team up with people you get along with! Remember that we've been hanging out since before we started coming to U.A., so I am sure we can make this team work and win!"
"Especially with my babies!" Hatsume exclaimed, and Izuku struggled not to palm his face. Shaking his head, he gave a smile to the three girls.
"Alright, we have a team, and I think I have a good game plan. Listen carefully..."
"See there? Your son has a team already," Toshinori gestured to his successor and the girls that were now listening to him intently.
"Oh, good, I'm glad he has one," Inko sighed in relief as she saw the scene, before glancing down to inspect it further and smile. "Oh, I see Itsuka-chan is there as well! It has been a while since the last time I met her..."
"My question is, how does he have so many girls with him?" Mitsuki chuckled. "I didn't know your boy was such a chick magnet, Inko-chan."
"She does make a point," Masaru added, raising an eyebrow at the kid.
Inko made a hidden devious smirk.
"Oh, I hope he is such a magnet."
'Because that way I will have multiple grandchildren to spoil, ufufufufufufufu,' She laughed, the thought of her son having a 'harem' cheering her immensely, before switching back to her normal smile.
Shoto had looked with dismay as Momo joined up with Izuku: he had tried to ask her to join his team, because her Quirk's versatility would be really useful in the battle, but instead she had joined the one he wanted to defeat, something that was going to make his task of getting the ten million points headband much harder, something that had not been helped by Izuku's battlecry sending chills down most of everyone's spines.
"Aw, man, what do we do now?" Denki, who had teamed up with Shoto, asked.
"How should we pursue a fourth? Most everyone has already been picked up," Tenya, who had also joined Shoto's team, asked. He had initially thought about teaming up with Izuku, but had chosen not to: he wanted to strike off on his own, and while Izuku was a great friend, he was also very powerful, and if he kept following him he would never be able to grow as an individual. He wanted to beat Izuku, and he wanted to prove his determination to be a Hero as well.
"Excuse me?"
The three boys turned to see Ochaco sheepishly waving at them from the distance.
"Can I team up with you, Todoroki-kun?" She asked, giving a shy smile.
"Of course, Uraraka!" Denki said, smiling at her.
"I certainly would be honored that you would be in our team!" Tenya exclaimed.
Shoto, meanwhile, cupped his chin while inspecting Ochaco. He had already seen what her Zero Gravity Quirk could do, and that gave him many ideas of the advantages he could exploit from having her in his team.
"Very well. Let's team up, Uraraka-san," Shoto said, dropping his hand as Ochaco smiled.
Shoto took one look at the stands and gazed at the figure of his father, the Number Two Hero, Endeavor, standing towards the back of the stands, scowling at him. Shoto returned the scowl with a growl as he shifted his attention back to his team, who was now discussing formation.
"So, I guess you will be in charge of distracting and attacking others with your fire and ice, right?" Tenya asked. Shoto shook his head and narrowed his eyes.
"I will never use my fire in a fight."
In the midst of teams that had already rounded up, Hitoshi looked around to see if any other team needed a member.
"Hey, Shinso!"
Hitoshi turned around to see the boy from Class 1-B – Neito Monoma, if he was not mistaken – calling for him.
"I've heard you have a Brainwashing Quirk," Neito said. Hitoshi raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. So?"
"So, I was thinking that we should team up. After all, you and I have not been treated well in our lives, because people think our Quirks are villainous," Neito said. "What do you say to proving the others what we are really capable of?"
"Sure, why not," Hitoshi replied, shrugging his shoulders and accepted teaming up with him, along with Kosei and Sen.
In other circumstances, Neito would not have extended the offer, but ever since the fight against the villains at USJ, plus Midoriya's speech from earlier, he had considered that perhaps trying to establish such a bitter rivalry with Class 1-A may not have been a good idea. Now, he saw 1-A as worthy rivals, and he wanted to prove himself up to them, wanting to show that his classmates were as good as them.
A buzzer went off, shutting up all conversations going around within the stadium.
"Time's up! The fifteen minutes to gather the teams are over! Now, let's get started!" Midnight announced to the students, doing some arm stretches to prepare herself for a long event of arbitrating twelve teams of teenagers ready to fight each other.
"Hey, hey, come on, wake up, Eraser! The second round is about to start!" Present Mic said, shaking Aizawa so he would wake up from his nap. "It's now fifteen minutes, and we have twelve cavalry teams lined up on the field!"
Aizawa took a few seconds to lazily look at the teams.
"Hmmm... there are some interesting teams out there," He commented
"Now, raise those battle cries! It is time for U.A.'s bloody battle!" Present Mic cried out.
"Stop dragging it. I don't think there will be any bloodshed," Aizawa stated. Present Mic ignored him.
"Here are the teams!"
Each team was formed in the stage and their numbers showed on the screen, which now went over each team, from the one with the lowest value to the highest, the rider giving their name to the overall team. First from the bottom were Pony and Togaru in a two man team, going up point by point, until the list reached the top... where it was revealed that the team name was Team Kendo.
"What?" Neito exclaimed, now looking at the first place team, as did everyone else.
They had all expected Izuku, as the winner of the first event, to become a rider, but Izuku had chosen to completely shatter their expectations, becoming instead front horseman, with Momo covering the left, Hatsume to the right, and Itsuka as the rider.
Neito sighed exasperatedly.
"Change of plans, guys. We are going for plan B."
Sen and Kosei sighed with relief, praising the heavens that they were not the team's rider and would therefore not have to take on Class 1-B's Big Sister. Hitoshi was even more intrigued with Izuku's choice.
Katsuki, meanwhile, gritted his teeth: he had expected Izuku to be the rider so he could take on him, but instead he would have to deal with Itsuka.
"Goddamn, Deku! Running away again?" he growled.
"ALL RIGHT! Every team is ready and hot to begin running! I'm not going to ask if you're ready or not!" Present Mic yelled, the audience now on the edge of their seats as they eagerly anticipated the beginning of the Sports Festival's second round. "Now, let's go! The countdown to the brutal bloody showdown begins!"
"You're dragging it again," Aizawa pointed out, as the countdown began from fifteen seconds.
As the clock ticked down, Izuku looked back to his teammates, confirming they were prepared. They each nodded, determination filling their faces, as Hatsume gave the last touches to the gadgets she had given to them.
"Are you still sure you don't want to be the rider?" Itsuka asked.
"One hundred percent. I'll be more useful as the front horseman, anyway," Izuku replied. "I trust in your reflexes to battle off anyone who gets too close, and I can pull off a lot of 'surprises' thanks to Superpower. Plus, there's this other reason..."
"What other reason?"
"I... would feel really uncomfortable if I were being carried by three girls," Izuku admitted. "Feels quite wrong, you understand?"
"I do," Itsuka replied, leaning down and smiling. "That's very sweet of you to think about that. It's one of the reasons why I like you so much."
Without warning, she leaned over and gave Izuku a quick kiss on his forehead, immediately standing back up with a shit-eating grin. While Izuku was left shocked, Momo, Ochaco and Mina turned to glare at Itsuka for the underhanded move in their particular war.
"THREE!"
Katsuki cracked his knuckles.
"We are aiming for..."
"TWO!"
"One thing," Shoto said, staring at Team Kendo like a predator stalking its prey.
"ONE!"
Izuku smirked, seeing how Katsuki and Shoto were staring at him.
"Bring it on, you two!" he shouted, feeling the thrill of battle coursing through him.
"BEGIN!" Midnight announced as she whipped the air.
All the teams immediately rushed towards Team Kendo, shouting their battle cries. All with the same goal in mind.
"Everyone's gunning for the ten millions!" Tetsutetsu shouted. "Nothing personal, Kendo, but you're now a target in this game!"
"Midoriya, I'll be taking those points, thank you very much!" Toru joyfully shouted.
The four members of Team Kendo just huffed.
"Talk about being predictable. They come here rushing over," Momo said.
"Which means there's only one thing left to do," Itsuka said, smirking.
"They want the band? Then let's make them work for it!" Izuku declared, and Team Kendo immediately turned around to begin to run away.
"Like hell! I won't let you!" Tetsutetsu shouted, and Juzo grunted in agreement as he activated his Quirk, softening the floor around Izuku expecting to trap them.
Unfortunately for him, Team Kendo proved to be much cannier. Having expected such an attack, Itsuka had already activated Hatsume's jetpack to lift herself and the team off, and Izuku was now shooting energy from his feet to go up further and create a barrier to float from. With Itsuka firmly held on Izuku's back and the girls' hands thanks to Momo creating bands for binding, Momo and Hatsume wearing special hover boots that gave them extra speed and mobility and Izuku using Superpower to boost their abilities, they managed to avert the first charges by getting away from the others.
"Wow, she used a jetpack? That's the girl from Support Course, right? After them!" Tetsutetsu shouted as his team turned to give chase. With the others starting to surround Team Kendo, they were bound to have a chance... or, at least, that was what would have happened if it were not for their great mobility and speed, which allowed them to avert everyone.
"Holy crap, how the hell are they so fast?" Tetsutetsu shouted as their target got away, only for Team Toru to get close enough to make their run for it.
"Jiro!"
"I know, on it!" Kyoka exclaimed, enlarging her ear jacks and aiming them towards Itsuka: one pulse would probably stun them long enough to get close and take the band.
Itsuka was not about to let them do that, though, and with an enlarged fist glowing with green she created a gust of wind that pushed Team Toru away and destabilized Kyoka's jacks for long enough to force her to cancel her attack.
"Damn it!" Kyoka said, sucking her teeth. "I forgot Midoriya has that energy trick that can enhance others! Kendo's strength has been boosted!"
"What do you think of my babies? Aren't they cute? Cuteness can be made, you know," Hatsume asked the others, as they run across the battlefield.
"Excellent mobility! Your babies are awesome, Hatsume!" Izuku replied, now believing in the benefits that they got from her gadgets.
"Right?" she chirped, glad to meet someone that was capable of appreciating her babies.
Meanwhile, Team Toru had yet to give up.
"We're going after them again! Come on, Jiro, time to get revenge!"
"Hey, wait, Hagakure! Where's our headband?" Sato shouted. Toru reached her hand to touch her forehead, only to notice that, indeed, their team's headband had gone missing.
"WHAT? When did that happen?"
A short distance away, Neito twirled Team Hagakure's headband on his index finger before putting it on.
"Why go after the ten million points when you can profit more from the others' distraction?" He asked, having shamelessly enjoyed stealing the points from another team. "Too easy."
"So, what's next?" Hitoshi asked from his left.
"Keep a low profile, do the same thing to the other teams. We just need to be up in the scoreboard – as long as we can reach 4th place we'll be fine."
"I like this plan!" Kosei grinned.
"It's been only two minutes, and this has turned into a free-for-all already! Teams are fighting for their headbands all over the grounds, some already ignoring the ten million points, proving that the second to fourth places are not so bad, either! Sometimes, it is best to sneak up from behind to an unsuspecting opponent!" Present Mic commented, the crowd thoroughly enjoying the first moments of the Cavalry Battle, particularly the students' display of their Quirks.
"With Midoriya as the front horseman, Team Kendo is practically unstoppable," Aizawa pointed out, watching the scene unfold.
"This is not fighting, this is a one-sided pillage!" A strangely familiar voice shouted, and Izuku and Momo looked to the source.
Izuku blinked in confusion as he saw Shoji running towards them, seemingly all alone. Given this, and the fact that Shoji kept his multiple arms hiding something on his back, he was naturally suspicious. As he took a step forward, suddenly a loose arm came lunging for them: immediately, Izuku created an energy barrier between themselves and the arm, causing the limb to crash against it.
"That's Setsuna's Quirk!" Itsuka said, easily recognizing her classmate's Quirk.
"She's there, hiding inside of Shoji's arms!" Izuku yelled.
Setsuna's laughing face popped out from behind Shoji and she grinned at them.
"Hehe, you think you caught me, huh, Izuku?"
"Is that even allowed?" Itsuka asked aloud, enough that Midnight could hear them.
"It is!" the R-Rated Hero replied.
Setsuna hid back into the cover of Shoji's arms, and moments later her head lashed out from inside, stuck to a way too long tongue, trying to snag Itsuka's headband with her teeth. However, Itsuka dodged it with her reflexes and head and tongue kept flying, trying to go after Tetsutetsu's headband. The steel boy also dodged, and soon the head was returning to the refuge in Shoji's arms.
"Didn't expect any less from the one Izuku chose as his rider, ribbit," Tsuyu said, coming out from behind their refuge.
"A lizard and a frog? A really good combo, I'd say!" Izuku stated, knowing that the combined moves Setsuna could carry out with Tsuyu were powerful.
"Thanks, Izuku," Tsuyu replied. The frog girl proceeded to launch her tongue with Setsuna's head again at the team, while Setsuna sent multiple parts of her body hurling towards the team, expecting to overwhelm them enough to take the headband.
"Izuku-kun! We need to get away or we will be caught!" Momo warned as she kicked away one of Setsuna's feet.
"Punch it, Itsuka!" Izuku said, preparing Superpower for another lift off.
"We're blasting off again!" Itsuka warned as she activated the jetpack. The blast proved enough to blow away Setsuna's body parts, and soon Team Kendo was flying several meters above the ground, keeping most of the teams away from them and, at least temporarily, putting them into safety.
"Well, we made it out of that trap, at least," Momo said, sighing in relief.
"DEKU!" Katsuki yelled out, using his explosions to blast himself up towards Team Kendo.
"What the- Bakugo? You are seriously trying to chase us all the way up here?" Izuku asked in shock. He did expect him to chase them around, but not that he would literally leave his entire team behind just to get them all by himself.
"Don't get carried away, you nerd!" Katsuki exclaimed, preparing a flaming hot explosion and aiming it at Itsuka.
"He's going to blow us up!" Itsuka screamed.
"No, he's not," Izuku replied, and immediately he formed an energy barrier around the entire team. When Katsuki fired the explosion, it hit the barrier, which was strong enough that it was able to nullify his attack completely.
"Fucking Deku and his fucking barriers!" Katsuki yelled in frustration.
The crowd cheered at the action, eager for more fighting, as some wondered about the risky move.
"He's gotten separated from his horses!"
"What's with this guy?"
"Is that even allowed?"
Before he could begin to fall, a long gray roll of tape wrapped itself around Katsuki's shoulder and pulled him back to his team, where Eijiro immediately secured his rider.
"Nice catch, Sero!" The red-haired boy exclaimed, as Midnight pondered.
"If Bakugo had touched the ground, his team would have been disqualified, but the rules say nothing about the rider leaving the team, as long as he stays in the air above the ground. Team Bakugo is still on the running!" Midnight ruled.
"Man, why the fuck did I even do that, anyway?" Katsuki questioned himself.
With the battle turning into a full free-for-all, Team Kendo descended back to the ground. Izuku formed an energy wall below the team, allowing the three 'horses' to land gently on the ground before keeping running.
"Alright, what's next?" Izuku asked, smiling.
"We have reached the quarter-mark of the Cavalry Battle! Let's have a look at each team's points now that we are at seven minutes and a half!" Present Mic yelled. "In first place, Team Kendo, who have managed to keep control over their headband even though everyone's gunning for them! In second place, Team Bakugo, fighting to maintain a lead ahead from everyone else! Next goes Team Tetsutetsu, who nearly managed to take the lead earlier and... Team Aoyama? Attention, Team Todoroki seems to have lost their position and is now trailing behind Team Aoyama! But, this is not over yet, folks! Anything can still happen!"
"How about we keep moving, my faithful ride?" Itsuka suggested.
Before they could move, someone stopped in front of them: Team Todoroki. Izuku quickly analyzed the situation and their opponents: Tenya as the front horseman was to be expected, thanks to his ability to speed up in moments. Denki was probably there to shock anyone that got too close, Ochaco could help improve their speed by making the others lighter, and, riding between them...
Izuku smirked as he saw one of the biggest threats against him, and stared at him straight in the eyes.
"You finally got impatient, huh, Todoroki-san?"
Shoto looked coldly at the one he deemed his biggest rival.
"I'll be taking that headband of yours, if you don't mind," he declared.
"I'd like to see you try and get it, Todoroki. You'll have to fight Itsuka for it, though. Let's see what you got!"
Shoto narrowed his eyes.
"Uraraka, get ready!"
"Okay!" Ochaco said, looking apologetic at her friends as she touched her teammates.
"Iida, ready to charge!"
"On it!" The glasses-wearing teen replied as he activated his Engine Quirk.
"Kaminari, you–"
"– I already know what to do, boss!" Denki grinned as lightning began to surge around him.
Izuku realized what Todoroki had planned. He had few seconds.
"Momo, make an insulation sheet to protect us all! Everyone hold on tight, all the other teams are coming for us!" Izuku ordered, having seen that many teams, apart from Todoroki's were trying to capitalize on the sudden turn of events. Momo quickly made a large insulation sheet through her now exposed chest and Itsuka grabbed it to cover everyone, before Kaminari could let loose.
"INDISCRIMINATE SHOCK, 1.3 MILLION VOLTS!" Denki shouted, as lightning erupted from his body, striking all the teams in the surrounding area and stunning most of them. Team Kendo had managed to avert it thanks to Momo's quick action, and Team Todoroki had avoided most of the damage thanks to Ochaco's Quirk allowing them to float above the ground and Shoto's ice acting as a partial insulator.
"We can't back down now," Shoto said, his right hand producing frost again to then shoot it towards the ground, icing the floor and trapping all the teams that were arrayed around them, including Team Kendo. "Sorry, but you will just have to bear it."
"My goodness! Have you seen this? Team Todoroki exploits a great combination of powers to trap most of their opponents in an instant!"
"Todoroki had Kaminari stun them with a shock before freezing them to the ground. It should be expected, since he saw that a lot of people managed to avoid it in the Obstacle Course," Aizawa commented, easily seeing his pupil's strategy. Present Mic gave him a thumbs up.
"Wonderful commentary, partner!"
Underneath the insulation sheet, Itsuka tried to turn on the jetpack to create some heat that could melt the ice, but the device did not react.
"Hatsume-san, the jetpack's unresponsive!" She exclaimed.
"Baby!" Hatsume said, worried. "Momma doesn't have time now to repair you! Sorry!"
Their feet frozen, Izuku took a deep breath and quickly started to project destructive energy around his feet, cracking the ice trapping him, Momo and Hatsume and allowing them to get out and moving.
"Looks like it didn't get them," Ochaco pointed out. Shoto sighed: he had known that Momo being on Team Kendo would prove a big threat to the others, particularly when backed up by Izuku's Help, and this was the proof.
"This is going to be a difficult battle," Tenya noted. "They won't make it easy."
"Then, we'll have to risk it," Shoto said, narrowing his eyes again. "Let's go.
Team Kendo began to back away from the rest of the teams, and spent several minutes dodging and avoiding continuous attacks while those who had been trapped either lost their headbands or got themselves free. Finally, with only five minutes remaining, Team Todoroki and Team Tetsutetsu had managed to back Team Kendo into a corner.
"Hah, finally got you!" Tetsutetsu shouted.
"It's all over for you, Midoriya," Shoto stated.
"Oh, snap! Team Kendo has nowhere to go now! How will they escape this trap?"
Izuku looked at them... and grinned.
"Bombs away!"
In the time spent running, Momo had kept busy making multiple objects as guided by her teammates, and now it was time to implement one of their plans: multiple smoke bombs covered the zone, concealing Team Kendo in a thick cloud of smoke that made it impossible for the others to see them. Once recovered from the shock, Shoto started to fire waves of ice into the cloud, while Ibara – Tetsutetsu's right horseman – sent her vines in so as to attempt to entangle them – but neither attack yielded results as the cloud slowly dissipated. Suddenly, an explosion took place, temporarily blinding and deafening the teams that had been trying to take on Team Kendo.
When they opened their eyes, the smoke had cleared out, but there was no Team Kendo.
"Where did they go?" Denki asked, astonished.
"Over here!"
Team Kendo was somehow on the other side of the stage.
"Hey, Tetsutetsu! Aren't you forgetting something?" Itsuka asked, grinning.
"What the hell are you talking ab–" Tetsutetsu said, but stopped himself as he realized his neck was lighter than it had been a few seconds ago. Reaching for his neck, he realized that all the headbands he had managed to take from other teams were... gone.
And in the hands of Itsuka, who promptly put the stolen headbands around her neck as her horsemen started to run once more.
"Oh, my GOD! Team Kendo not only has managed to escape the trap, they have also nabbed nearly all of Team Tetsutetsu's headbands at the same time! How did they do it, Eraser?"
"If I were to conjecture, I guess that Yaoyorozu created a flashbang while covered under the cloud, threw it out in the direction of the teams attacking Team Kendo and then took advantage of it to run past them. The fact that they managed to steal the headbands is probably a bonus," Aizawa explained.
"DIE!"
This time, Katsuki had remained with his team as they charged at them, using Hanta's tape and Mina's acid to run at a high speed at them while Bakugo charged an explosion. Izuku quickly created another energy shield, but this time the hastily created shield was not strong enough to repel Katsuki's attack: the explosion sent Team Kendo flying into the air, with their headband (worth now 10,000,545 points) flung from Itsuka's head.
Seeing the opportunity, Katsuki ordered Hanta to catch him and launched himself into the air, firing explosions to get the headband. Closing in on it, Katsuki did not take his eyes off of it, already imagining the feeling of it around his neck.
"Looks like I win, Deku!" He shouted when he found himself close to clutching the headband.
Before he could, though, out of nowhere a black tendril appeared and snatched the headband, right when he was touching it with the tips of his fingers. Turning his eyes, he saw the tendril retract back into... Izuku's arm. Izuku passed the headband to Itsuka quickly, and the girl immediately tied it up again, but, she, along with Momo and Mei, were just as surprised as Katsuki.
Hell, the whole stadium had fallen silent when they saw Izuku somehow projecting that tendril out of his arm, something that clearly had nothing to do with the green energy they had seen before.
"What the FUCK was that, you FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Katsuki shouted with rage at being denied his prize.
"When it appeared that Team Bakugo would take the lead, a surprising move allows Team Kendo to retain their headband! What a twist!" Present Mic shouted. "Umpire, is that even allowed?"
"IT IS!" Midnight declared, just as intrigued as everyone else about what came out of Izuku's arm.
Meanwhile, Izuku was gritting his teeth, using Help to relieve the pain as fast as possible while the team kept running away.
"What was that, Izu-kun?" Itsuka asked, astonished.
"Tell you later, now we have to move!"
In spite of the shock, Katsuki managed to recover in the air to concentrate on a different target. Seeing that he had been flung in the direction of a bewildered Team Tetsutetsu, he decided he had nothing to lose, so he exploded his way towards them. With their minds distracted from the sudden turn of events after losing the headbands they had stolen, Tetsutetsu was unable to react fast enough before Katsuki stole the headband tied around his forehead, taking them out of the running unless they acted soon.
"Later, losers!" Katsuki shouted as Hanta pulled him back.
Shoto did not know what to do now. All of his team's attempts to catch Team Kendo had failed. And, even when they were about to lose the one thing that ensured their lead, Izuku had managed to take it back before anyone else could pick it.
"ONE MINUTE LEFT!" Present Mic announced. Those teams out of the top four started to go more desperately at trying to get enough points to reach the next round of the Festival, while those in the top four fought to either keep the others away or increase their lead.
'Excellent, young Midoriya! You are doing well! Just hold on for one more minute and you'll advance to the next round!' Toshinori cheered in his mind, truly impressed by the depth of his successor's strategic thinking and accomplishments during the Sports Festival. And he had only used One for All once in all the Festival so far!
"Only one more minute?" Shoto asked, shocked: he had not realized time had gone so quickly! Thanks to the headbands they had taken from the teams they had trapped, they were in second place, but he desperately needed to get Team Kendo's headband! "The bastard..."
Tenya made a decision.
"Look, everyone, there is less than a minute left. I am going to do something that will leave me completely unable to walk. I am counting on you!" he said, touching the engines in his calves.
"Iida, what are you talking about?" Denki asked, worried.
Tenya got into his running stance.
"Hang on tight, everyone! Make sure you get that headband, Todoroki-kun!"
Denki looked down, and he realized that Tenya's engines were lighting up with a blue fire he was sure he had never seen coming out from them.
'Oh, shit.'
"Torque Over... RECIPROBURST!"
With a speed nobody could have expected, Tenya launched his team towards Team Kendo. It was so quick, that Izuku did not even know what was happening, particularly since he had not been paying attention to Team Todoroki at all at the moment.
With reflexes that Shoto was sure he would not be able to replicate any time soon, he grabbed the headband on Itsuka's forehead before any of Team Kendo could figure out what was happening.
"Wha..." Present Mic stuttered out, as surprised as the audience due to the speed at which everything had taken place. "What happened? So fast, SO FAST! Iida, if you could accelerate that fast, you should have shown us in the prelims!"
"What... what in the world was that?" Shoto asked in shock.
"By forcing the torque in my engines to increase, I can cause an explosion of power that boosts my speed to well above my maximum for ten seconds," Tenya explained. "Unfortunately, the engine stalls for some time, leaving me unable to move. I was keeping it secret, as you can imagine."
Izuku turned his head, looking at Tenya in amazement.
"I told you, didn't I, Izuku-san? I told you that I would beat you," Tenya said, a confident smirk on his lips.
Much to his surprise, Izuku smirked as well, giving Tenya a look of respect and acknowledgement.
"Yes, Tenya-san, you did. I have to admit, I was not expecting such a badass move at all! However, there's one problem you didn't consider."
"And what problem would it be, Izuku-san?" Tenya asked, frowning.
Instead of answering, Izuku looked at Shoto.
"Hey, Todoroki-san! You might want to read the numbers on that headband!"
Shoto raised an eyebrow and flipped the headband over to take a closer look at it. At first, he did not understand what Izuku was getting at, but then he compared it with the one he had tied around his head and he gasped in shock. All of the headbands the participants in the Cavalry Battle had were adorned with red numbers. The one Shoto had stolen from Itsuka had blue numbers.
"Wait a minute, this is a–"
"FAKE!" Izuku finished Shoto's thought, as Itsuka showed that one of the headbands around her neck was their real headband.
"How? How and when were you able to pull this off?" Shoto asked, angry that this last resort move had failed.
"Remember the smokebombs?" Momo asked.
"Well, Izuku told Momo to make a fake headband and give it to me," Itsuka explained.
"And then she just replaced the real deal with that one, hiding the real thing under the headbands she took from iron boy!" Hatsume finished, grinning.
"You made a great effort, Tenya-san. I'm sorry to say, it was not enough."
Shoto and Tenya were left speechless.
"OH. MY. GOD! Team Kendo comes ahead of a potential loss thanks to a convincing false headband! Something that absolutely no one even considered! Midoriya's genius mind once more under display in this round of the U.A. Sports Festival!" Present Mic screamed.
Shoto's shock made way for fury.
'Midoriya... you dare embarrass me? You dare make a fool out of me in front of everyone? You dare make me look like a laughing stock? IN FRONT OF MY NO-GOOD SHITTY FATHER? Don't you dare think this is over yet!'
Almost instinctively, Shoto's left hand began to spark with fire. Flames started to get bigger on that side due to his fury. All his plans, his efforts... all dashed. Every time he had aimed at him, he had found a trap, only to find another trap behind it, and then another trap, and now yet another trap. Nothing he had tried had seemed to work, and he began to swing his left hand, flames roaring in the palm as he aimed.
"TIME IS UP!" Present Mic announced, disrupting Shoto's train of thought. Awakened from his wrath, his eyes widened in shock as he realized what he had been about to do, and quickly extinguished the flames, covering his left side in ice to cool himself.
"That is the end of the Cavalry Battle!" Present Mic announced as the crowd began to cheer, enjoying what had been a dynamic, quick and surprising second round of the Sports Festival. "Now, let us take a look at the top four teams right away, the ones whose members will participate in the last round!"
The giant jumbotron in the other side of the stadium lit up, displaying the rankings of the students.
"In the first place, with more than ten million points, managing the rarity of keeping the highest scored headband for the entire time, we have none other than TEAM KENDO! Give it up for the team that got through the entire Battle even with the biggest target on their back!"
The crowd cheered and clapped, many of them astonished that the same person had managed to win the first and second rounds.
"YEAH! I knew we would pull through! High five, everyone!" Itsuka said, and the four teenagers exchanged high fives as they hugged and congratulated each other.
"Yes! My babies were on full display to the entire world!" Hatsume yelled in ecstasy: her risky bet of teaming up with the most powerful student in the group had paid off, and she knew she was going to get a lot of attention.
Momo sighed in relief.
"I know we won, but it felt all the time like we were skating on thin ice."
"We kind of were, Todoroki was really persistent all the time, but it worked out in the end," Itsuka replied, before turning to Izuku. "But we owe our thanks to you, Izu-kun. If it hadn't been for your power and your tactics, we would not have won."
"You guys are always giving me too much credit," Izuku said, smiling sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Everyone had a hand in this, and you three helped me out a lot more than you think."
The three girls – even Hatsume – looked away, trying to hide their flustered faces.
"Everyone had their targets set on him, and he still came out on top. It is nothing short of impressive. He'll definitely make it far when he goes Pro," Aizawa said, deciding he might as well commend Izuku for his feats.
"Oh, what's this? Have you taken a liking to one of your students, Eraserhead?" Present Mic asked with a grin plastered on his face.
"Call it whatever you want," Aizawa answered with a shrug. "I'm only stating the facts. Nothing more, nothing less."
In the stands, Toshinori could not help but smile at his successor, while trying to prevent Inko from once more drying herself out by bawling like a fountain.
"Now, moving on. In second place, Team Todoroki!"
While Shoto was displeased at this, the rest of the team looked relieved, thankful that Ochaco's running around to steal the headbands of some of the frozen up teams had worked.
"I'm so sorry, everyone! Even with my trump card, we were totally outsmarted!" Tenya apologized, giving them a deep bow.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Tenya-kun, what you did was awesome!" Ochaco complimented him while patting him on the back.
"Yeah, don't sweat it," Denki said, starting to cough all of a sudden.
Up in the stands, Endeavor was observing his youngest son surrounded by the team that had nearly taken the first place.
'Hmph. Well, at least you got in the tournament. I must admit, the Midoriya kid is something else entirely,' He thought before walking away into the building.
"In third place, Team Bakugo!"
"Ah, well. I guess third place isn't too bad. All's well that ends well, and all of that," Mina said, glad that they had, at least, advanced to the last round of the Festival.
"Yeah, you're right!" Hanta said, nodding.
"Maybe... but do you two really think that's how he feels?" Eijiro whispered to the other two, pointing at a shaking Katsuki kneeling on the ground.
Suddenly, Katsuki began to pound the floor in anger and frustration. Once more, Izuku had come in first place and left him humilliated.
"WHAT THE FUCK? I GOT THIRD PLACE AGAIN! DAMN YOU, DEKU! YOU DEVIOUS ASSHOLE! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'LL MAKE YOU F–"
CLUNK!
A large soda cup full of ice hit Katsuki in the head before he could let out even fouler words than he had already shouted.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SWEARING ALOUD IN PUBLIC, YOU DAMN BRAT!" Mitsuki shouted from the stands, shaking her fist at her son.
"GODDAMMIT, YOU OLD HAG, THAT REALLY HURT!" Katsuki howled while rubbing his head, knowing it was his mother that had thrown the cup.
"OH, IT BETTER HURT, NOW STOP BEING SO OVERDRAMATIC AND GET OVER IT!" Mitsuki shot back.
As mother and son continued to shout at each other, Toshinori felt the sweat drip down his neck.
"Is she always this... angry?" He asked Inko, now recovered from her latest crying bout.
"Don't worry about her, that's Mitsuki alright," She whispered.
"And, in fourth place, we have Team Aoy– Huh? What, it's Team Monoma? Where did they come from, getting fourth place out of nowhere like that?" Present Mic asked in shock.
Back in the stage, Neito was twirling the headbands he had stolen from Yuga, while he and his team looked depressed at losing in the last second and confused as to how that had happened.
"Thank you for your hard work donations!" Neito told them, walking away with a smug smirk plastered on his face.
"There you have them, the four teams that will advance to the final round!"
Toshinori smiled, looking down at his successor while Inko talked with Mitsuki.
'Wonderful work, kid. You keep making me proud! Keep it up!'
"Now, I am sure everyone here needs to take a break, so we will pause the competition for two hours for lunch before we restart in the afternoon! See you all in a bit!" Present Mic announced, and the public began to stand up from their seats to go get something to eat.
"Hey, Eraserhead, let's go grab some food," Present Mic said.
"Go get it yourself. I'm going to sleep," Aizawa replied, getting back into his sleeping bag and closing it.
"What the– how many naps does this man need?" The Voice Hero wondered, leaving the room.
Meanwhile, Shoto stared at Izuku as he spoke with Itsuka, Momo, Ochaco and Mina, the latter two having come up to congratulate the former three for their victory. The bi-colored teen looked at his left hand as he remembered how, for an instant, he had nearly broken his vow, all because Izuku had made him look like a fool twice already, and only the timer had stopped him.
'I do not know if he is doing that intentionally or not, but one thing is for sure, I will NEVER use that man's powers in a battle. At least, that's what I decided. Otherwise, I'll be doing what he wants... I won't let this go on. I can't let neither him nor Midoriya tempt me into using my left side ever again.'
With that vow reaffirmed, Shoto walked away, wanting to have some food before he fought to win the last round.
Soundtrack: Mushamonzen from River City Melee when Monoma recruits Hitoshi. Gojira vs. Kiryu I from Godzilla x Mechagodzilla between the beginning of the Cavalry Battle and Katsuki trying to jump on Izuku to steal the 10 million points headband.
Me: And cut. Yeah the reason it took so long for me to write this chapter is because of hard to find the combination for Izuku's Cavalry team.
Milarqui: And, yes, more things to fix up. Ugh. It takes too long to put things in order.
Izuku gets a full team! Everybody went all out on them! Izuku outsmarts his competition! Izuku unveils Blackwhip again! Izuku wins for the second time! The final round of the Sports Festival is approaching!
NO FLAMES, RANTS, NEGATIVE COMMENTS! I also will not accept guest reviews.
That's all for now folks and thanks for reading everybody, I'll be seeing you in the next chapter, buh bye!