Izuku stared down his competition fiercely. From what he could tell they were all ready to make a name for themselves and claim the million points for themselves. He grinned at the absolutely starving look in their eyes and decided that this would be the deadliest stretch of the competition. The only way to advance would be to form a great team. Unfortunately, his quirk and his lack of knowledge of the other classes quirks would lead to limited options. In the end, Izuku decided to go with the safest option and ask his closest friends.
"Iida, Uraraka, would you two like to join my team for the cavalry battle?" Izuku asked.
"I would love to Midoriya!" Uraraka cheerily replied. "What about you Iida?" Izuku and Uraraka both turned to Iida expectantly.
"Unfortunately, Midoriya, I cannot join your team for this event. Despite the fact that I know this is one of the safest routes to the finals, I would like to use this event to make a name for myself. Unfortunately, it feels that if I team up with you here, I'll remain in your shadow." That response seemed to deflate Uraraka instantly. But Izuku was even more fired up.
"Remember for the battle trials we've already fought before. We won't lose easily, so come at us with everything you've got, Iida!" Iida seemed to gain a shine from the encouragement and ran off to find a team where he would truly shine.
However, it was beginning to look bleak for Uraraka and Izuku as most of the classes had begun forming ragtag units ready to take the competition by storm. Suddenly, a familiar tuft of pink hair came into Izuku's view.
"Team up with me, Mr. Million." Izuku could barely suppress a grin at the sight in front of him. It was none other than Mei Hatsume.
"Sure, as long as you promise not to hold us back, Ms. Genius." With that decided, Izuku's team began to devise a plan that would allow them to maintain the million points. Hatsume had no fighting experience but brought a good bit of support items that would greatly supplement their efforts, and Uraraka was still learning how to fight with her hands outside of simply tapping them with her quirk. This left the position of rider up to Izuku. Looking through the class, he saw a pairing he didn't believe would form in such a short time.
"Midoriya, who is that with Mineta?" Uraraka asked. Looking over in the direction she was looking, Izuku paled. It was Mineta and Maki who would be working together in the next stretch of events.
"That's Maki. She's from my hometown. With her, that team is dangerous, and we need to watch out for them." Izuku replied. Mineta's quirk would be troublesome enough in an event like this because it could limit their movements, but if he managed to catch them in one spot and then Maki used their quirk. Izuku paled thinking about the possibility.
Midnight was calling for the teams to make their way to the stage where they would be competing. It was a completely flat stretch of ground and the competition would come down to which teams could come up with the best strategies in such a short span. The spot that Izuku's group chose was directly in the middle of the stage. It was a gamble; but if it came down to it, they could use Hatsume's technology in conjunction with Uraraka's quirk to escape if the situation became too perilous. Midnight was counting down for the event to start and Izuku got ready to unleash his quirk.
"AND START!" Midnight called. In that instant almost all of the 1-A teams and about half of the 1-B teams turned away and began fighting each other for headbands rather than attacking Izuku's team. Three teams still saw this as an opportunity and ran straight at the million-point carrier. As they began to close in, they were gaining confidence because Izuku's team had not made a single move. With the number advantage, they believed one of the teams would be able to take the headband. Suddenly, Hatsume and Uraraka covered their eyes as Izuku opened his hand.
The teams had only a moment to react before a blinding light emerged from Izuku's palm. The rider's were momentarily blinded and Izuku's group took that moment to shoot forward. Using Uraraka's quirk to reduce the weight of Hatsume's gear they were able to very quickly snatch all three teams headbands. With a bit of insurance from the newly acquired headbands, the team headed off towards the edge of the arena.
Bakugo, as vigilant as ever, noticed this and made it his personal mission to take the million-point headband from them at some point. However, he was currently using his explosions to battle off Dark Shadow who was wreaking havoc across the battlefield towards any team unfortunate enough to venture too close to his team. Todoroki, on the other hand, had already decided to observe only the opening and focus all of his team's energy on taking the headband from Izuku. So far, his team had already managed to take a few headbands for themselves.
"Get ready, we're going for the million points from here." Yaoyorozu and Iida nodded in acknowledgement and made their way full speed towards Izuku's group. As they began to close in, Todoroki sent an ice wave dead at the group only to be met with a massive fire wall, cancelling his attack. Heterochromatic eyes met glowing green.
"You know our quirks don't mix too well, right? You'll have to leave this one up to your team." Izuku said confidently. Todoroki could only glare as he prepared to throw another massive wave of ice. Before he could do it though, Izuku's team blasted into the sky far above the competition. Since no one could attack at this height, Izuku took a moment to check the event timer. 'The clock says that about half the time is gone, already? Which means we really need to make sure we maintain distance.'
Suddenly, Izuku heard explosions coming up quickly. Looking down, Izuku could see Bakugo heading straight for them without his team. Izuku grinned as Bakugo closed in before cutting his explosions at the apex so he and Bakugo could come eye to eye. "Nice try, Kacchan." Izuku's comment seemed to ignite a fire in Bakugo who only got angrier as his explosions refused to obey him. Tape from Sero came out to catch him and drag him back towards his team before he hit the ground.
"We'll be landing shortly, Midoriya," Hatsume reported. Izuku nodded obtaining a small mass of flames and sending it towards the ground to spook some of the other teams into creating a landing space. Luckily enough, it did the trick and they landed safely.
"Uraraka, how are you holding up, it's not too much right?" Uraraka shook her head before Izuku's attention was taken away by two more attacking teams. With time running down, some of the teams were getting desperate to advance to the next round. Similarly, in another part of the field a team of 1-B students had decided it was finally time to make their move. Sliding behind Bakugo swiftly the team ripped his team's headband off his head before the team's blonde rider turned around to speak.
"Look at you, always looking down on everyone and only focusing on yourself. But without this, you won't be advancing to the next round, will you?" The blonde rider mocked. Suddenly Bakugo's attention snapped off of Izuku and onto the rider.
"Don't get cocky extra, we'll take our points back and the million too!" Bakugo declared surging his team into action. Using Sero's quirk to trap, Bakugo's quirk to propel, and Kirishima's quirk to bulldoze, the team flew through the 1-B team easily as they reclaimed their lost headband as well as the opposing team's headband.
"Three minutes remaining, pick it up!" Present Mic announced. This spurred Todoroki and Bakugo's teams into full offensive modes. Though they had already managed to secure points of their own, their goal was not to survive the round, but to secure a dominating first place. This led them to Izuku's team that had once again landed after flying.
"We're out of fuel; so, from here on out, it's up to you hero students to keep us going from here." Izuku grinned as both Bakugo and Todoroki had arrived to fight it out for the million with almost no time left. Todoroki flung another ice wave as Bakugo launched large explosions. Thinking quickly, Izuku made a flame wall in order to prevent both attacks. He quickly directed his team to prepare to launch the remaining support equipment at Bakugo's team and engage Todoroki's team directly.
And that they did. Bakugo was busy blasting support items as Izuku and Todoroki came face to face again. This time, Yaoyorozu took the lead using a smoke bomb to try and create some confusion, but Izuku sent a wave of flames forward and put Todoroki on the defensive. Simultaneously, Bakugo found his explosions being blocked once again, severely limiting the teams offensive and defensive capabilities and leaving them relying on Kirishima and his hardening to simply keep them in the competition.
The match was beginning to come to an end. And with less than a minute left. "Midoriya, I can't move!" Uraraka suddenly called. Hatsume also made a similar call. Izuku looked down and saw familiar purple balls at their feet. Looking up, Izuku saw exactly where the current attacks were coming from. Maki and Mineta were approaching quickly and time was running out. Izuku withdrew his attack from Todoroki and Bakugo and tried to slow them down, but with Maki as the horse and Mineta the rider they were too quick to intercept so suddenly.
"Count it down with me now folks from 10- "Present Mic began. At this point, Izuku and Maki were basically face to face. Mineta only had their headband currently and because they didn't finish with extraordinary times their point value was quite low. Izuku lashed out with his flames, but Maki met the attack head on with a weapon she had been provided because she was not in the heroics course.
They exchanged blows and Izuku was finally recognizing the countdown. "5,4,3,2,1, and time!" When the fighting had finally stopped, Izuku saw that the headbands his team had managed to take were around Mineta's neck. Izuku paled before Maki let Mineta down from her shoulders. "Don't worry, I left the million on your head that you worked so hard for. You'll be advancing into the next round." Maki said triumphantly as she walked off the field.
Izuku checked the score board and sure enough his team had been credited with the million points, but the victory definitely felt hollower. Uraraka and Hatsume both congratulated Izuku on managing to hold onto the million-point headband, but Izuku knew the truth. Their advancement had been in Maki's control the entire time. 'I was absolutely helpless against her.'
Izuku loosely listened to Midnight announce the advancing teams. There was an issue with how many teams had managed to make it to the next round, but Shinso's teammates dropped out for some reason. Finally, Midnight announced that they would be taking a small break before they would be advancing into the tournament faze. As Izuku made his way towards the lunchroom, he saw Todoroki glaring again.
Izuku brushed it aside until Todoroki approached him and asked to speak to him in private. Which was odd considering that before today they had limited interactions. Izuku and Todoroki stood opposite each other and for a while Todoroki had a distant look in his eyes before it refocused into hatred. "Tell me have you ever heard of, quirk marriages?"