The episode started with a flashback of Aizawa explaining the importance of the Sports Festival, then one of All Might telling Izuku its importance to him specifically. There was also a bit of the obstacle course shown as well as a retelling of how the cavalry battle would work and how much Izuku was worth in points.

"The hell with this crap? We've seen all this!" Bakugo complained.

"It is a bit odd." Tokoyami noted. "These are all very recent events, episode wise, so it seems unlikely Truth might believe we have forgotten them."

"You gonna say anything about that static baststard?!" Bakugo shouted at the ceiling. "You've been too fucking quiet."

"I didn't realize you missed me so much." The strange voice of Truth teased. "But no, I don't have anything to say, not right now. I'm sure one of you will figure it out."

Bakugo made to yell something back, but was cut off by Momo's clear voice. "I do have one theory, given the fact that most of this story is still from Midoriya's perspective."

"You think that I'm, er my other self, is thinking about all those things?" Izuku guessed.

"Precisely, given the amount of pressure placed on you with that last announcement, it would make sense that a part of your mind would think about how much is riding on you doing well."

Bakugo huffed in annoyance, but didn't say anything. She was probably right, the Midoriya's were anxiety incarnate, but he didn't want to have to acknowledge that in anyway after she interrupted him.

After the 10 million point announcement was made, and everyone started staring at him, Izuku's mind flashed back to Bakugo and the students yelling and staring him down in his old classroom.

Several of the students winced, and almost all of them felt at least a little guilty.

"Sorry man, didn't mean to bring that back up." Sero apologized.

"I'm sorry too! I wouldn't want to make you feel bad or super pressured or anything, you know? It was probably just a big surprise for everyone." Uraraka rushed to explain.

"Though I admit I can feel the spirit of competition even now, I do apologize if our future actions brought up bad memories." Iida said, his hands chopping the air.

"G-guys, it okay! Really! It doesn't feel great, but I think it will be good for me. I mean, I can't really be a successful hero if I can't handle people staring at me, right? This will help me get used to it." 'Hopefully'

"You're right about one thing. Any hero, even an underground one, has to be one that's capable of dealing with unwanted attention and scrutiny." Aizawa confirmed.

Izuku's thoughts revealed that he knew this was a different scenario from back then. He thought about him being at the top spot, and wondered if it would always feel this heavy.

"Huh? What's heavy?" Kaminari wondered. Bakugo huffed and shook his head. He stared holes into the back of Deku's head and thought 'If you can't stand the weight, then make room for someone who can.'

Meanwhile, Izuku and Yagi shared a look, acknowledging that they both knew this would give the boy his first taste of what it meant to stand at the top.

Midnight explained more details of the cavalry battle rules. A couple of students discussed possible strategies before Midnight dismissed them to get into teams.

Students and teachers alike became a bit more attentive, curious to see who would end up teaming up with who.

Izuku was shown thinking of who he wanted on his team.

"Did you actually think of them as 'that person' in your head?" Jirou asked, raising an eyebrow at Izuku.

"Um, I don't know, maybe? I might have just thought of their faces or something instead of their names..."

"You do know your classmates names right?"

"Of course I do!"

"It is possible that his thoughts were framed this way for dramatic affect." Momo pointed out. Jirou sighed.

"Yeah, sounds like the kind of thing that Truth guy would do."

The staff break room was shown, with the three heroes that were patrolling earlier talking about how modern day heroics sometimes required you to push down others in order to get some of the spotlight.

"It's unfortunate, but that is how it is right now." Present Mic said with a sigh. "That's actually part of the reason I started my radio show, you know?"

"What do you mean, young Yamada?" Yagi asked.

"Well, I can use that to maintain some popularity and keep myself relevant, so when I do actual hero work I don't have to worry about trying to steal the spotlight as much. I can just focus on getting the job done. Plus it helps pay the bills."

"I never realized! That is an excellent use of your unique media presence!"

"Ah, stop it big guy! You're making me blush!"

Aizawa watched the pair, and nodded along with Mic's explanation. He knew the man had always wanted a radio show, and likely would have tried to get one despite whether or not he became a successful hero. However, he had always admired the way Hizashi got his two careers to play off of each other so well.

"Death Arms is kind of a jerk when he's not in public." Tsuyu noted, watching how he blew his cigarette smoke across the table at the other heroes. Uraraka frowned.

"I guess he can't go outside to do it, because he'd probably lose sponsors or something if people saw him doing that but..."

"Still rude, kero."

The heroes talked about how the cavalry battle would lend way to the other side of heroics, where you have to work together rather than compete.

"I see, so first they test our ability to be competitive, then they test our ability to work as a team, so that the ones standing at the end are ones that manage to be good enough at both." Ojiro surmised.

"Oh! And it makes sense that they did the race first, because real pros have to be willing to team up with those they also compete against for attention!" Hagakure said, bouncing in her seat.

"Indeed, that was the thinking behind the schedule of events. The most successful heroes are the ones who can 'do it all' as they say." Nedzu confirmed.

Back on the field, several students were gathered around Bakugo, trying to convince him to let them be on his team. Only for Bakugo to reveal that he didn't know what any of their quirks were.

"Are...are you serious right now?" Sato asked in disbelief.

"We're in your class! You watched us do one on one battles! How can you not remember even a little about our quirks?!" Ashido cried indignantly.

"Even my beautiful belly laser went under the radar?" Aoyama asked miserably, partly from Bakugo's insult, partly from the stomach ache his on-screen version clearly had from quirk overuse.

"Why should I remember?! My life doesn't revolve around you!" Bakugo yelled back.

"Classic Kaachan." Izuku said, shaking his head. Momo watched the display with a curious tilt to her head.

"It's fascinating, in a way. Bakugo is so aware of his surroundings in battle, and yet he's so unaware of things others find natural to keep track of."

"Yeah, Bakugo's got a pretty selective memory. If he doesn't see it as important, he doesn't remember it. He'll probably remember Todoroki's quirk, because he made such a show of it, and Kirishima's because he fought beside him, but he's probably lost otherwise." Izuku explained. "He might remember Uraraka's and Iida's since they were a part of the same one on one battle as him, but he was so focused on me that's its hard to say."

All Might was shown thinking about how, despite his personality issues, it made sense that Bakugo was popular due to his quirk and good performance so far.

A weird mixture of feelings flared to life in Bakugo upon hearing this. On the surface level it felt good to be recognized by All Might for his power and proficiency, but at the same time he said it was all about his quirk. It was always all about his quirk...

Bakugo quickly stomped down on whatever feelings were trying to make their way into his brain. He didn't need thoughts like that. Not when he was going to be number 1.

Kirishima came up to Bakugo's group, and announced that Todoroki's team was all picked out. Then he asked to join Bakugo's, pointing out how well his quirk would work with Bakugou's explosions. Once he understood what Kirishima was getting at, he gave him a feral smile.

"Yeesh, tone it down with the slasher smile, man." Sero said with a, much softer, grin.

"Yeah, you keep that up and you're gonna confuse the audience." Kaminari teased.

"Shut up extras! I'll smile however I damn well please!" Bakugo yelled. At a more normal volume he said "Dumbasses, plenty of heroes use intimidation tactics."

"Yeah! That's right! We can so use that against the other teams!" Kirishima was already beaming in excitement. "I had a feeling I'd go for you, we already know we work well together from the USJ after all."

"Was that you?" Bakugo asked blandly.

"Dude!" Kirishima cried indignantly.

"I'm kidding, you idiot." Bakugo punched him lightly in the shoulder, making Kirishima's surprised expression morph into a pleased one.

The scene changed, and Mineta ran up to Shoji begging the boy to team up with him because no one else, especially the girls, were willing to have him as the rider.

"Oh gee, I wonder why." Jirou said, completely deadpan.

"I know right? I can't imagine why having him as the rider might be uncomfortable at all." Sarcasm practically dripped off of Hagakure's words. Tsuyu put a finger to her chin.

"Knowing him, he probably asked girls from other classes too, and they must have said no to him too."

"Oh my gosh, even the other classes knew better than to trust him? Without even meeting him before?" Ashido asked with an astonished giggle.

"Well, he's been pretty obvious about it so far." Uraraka pointed out.

"Also, given the way gossip tends to spread in places like schools, it wouldn't surprise me if stories about his behavior had reached other students from our year, especially class 1B, since we would share many of the same training spaces." Momo said.

Momo's comment put a hold on Mineta's reflexive defensiveness, and made him remember something. Well, two things really. The first was part of All Might's talk with him that focused on how his perverted behavior could alienate his classmates/future coworkers, and the second was a middle school group project where a couple of girls had adamantly refused to work with him on anything. It made him wonder, what if things like that project and this battle keep happening? If he ignored what his teachers said and kept acting the same as before, what would that mean for his future career? Would pro-heroes refuse to work with him just like the girls were doing in the festival? Would some heroes not want to come back him up if he was in trouble? Would stories of his school days reach all the other heroes and the media through his classmates and forever ruin his reputation? He'd never get to be a cool hero if that happened!

But he was still their first year, so he could fix it, right? Maybe he could talk to All Might again, get a better explanation...though All Might had mentioned listening to the girls more. Maybe he should ask them instead? They still seemed to avoid him most of the time though, even though he apologized. Maybe he had to apologize to them individually rather than all together? Hmm...the girls all seemed to like Midoriya too. Asking him might be a good idea...

Even as the scene continued on, a part of Mineta's mind kept drifting back to those thoughts and possible plans.

Shoji started walking away, but when he heard what Mineta's plan was for their pair up, he realized it was a great idea and agreed.

"Huh, that actually is pretty clever." Tsuyu said.

"Indeed, it uses Mineta's size, which many would count as a weakness, and turns it into a strength by complimenting Shoji's body type." Momo turned and nodded at Mineta. "Credit where credit is due."

"Oh, uh, thank you!" Mineta said, bowing a bit at her. She looked mildly surprised, then nodded again and turned back to the screen. "Thank you too Shoji." he added.

Shoji shrugged and used one of his arms to gesture to the screen. "Like I said, it's a good plan. Just hope the future us can do it right."

Mineta nodded, and used the interaction to reassure himself that, as far as his relationship with his classmates went, not all hope was lost.

Midoriya's thoughts noted how everyone was teaming up with their own classmates, and that he needed to get a move on doing the same.

"Then why aren't you? Hop to it Midoriya!" Sato said, pumping his fist a bit. Beside him, Koda nervously copied him.

Then it was shown how everyone was avoiding him because they didn't want his target on their backs. He even tried approaching Ojiro, only for the boy to hurry away.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that part." Sato lowered his fist sheepishly, making Koda look distressed.

Ojiro started to apologize, but Midoriya hand waved it. "I can't blame you for doing what you think is best. I mean, that's what we're all doing, right?" The smile Midoriya gave was bit wobbly though, betraying his anxiety over not finding anyone to team up with him. It'd wouldn't be the first time it happened after all. Group project had been hell ever since he was declared quirkless, which meant basically all his group projects had been an ordeal.

Just as Izuku was lamenting how no one had confidence in him, Uraraka came up and offered to be on his team. This made him immediately burst into tears.

"Thank you so much Uraraka!" real life Izuku also had tears streaming down his face as he said this, though not quite as intensely as his counterpart.

"You don't have to thank me! I trust you, and I know we'll do great if we work together!"

Only now did Izuku's tears match the ones he was shedding on screen. Uraraka did her best to calm him as the scene continued.

Izuku asked Uraraka if she was sure. When she said she was confident they could win if they just kept running, Izuku said she was overestimating him.

"And I told you to stop talking like that about yourself." Uraraka gently chided, making Izuku give a watery chuckle.

Aoyama and Ashido smiled knowingly at each other.

Uraraka also said she wasn't overestimating him, and happily declared it was better to team up with people you got along with. Izuku blushed and made a weird expression, which Uraraka commented on.

"Oh, 'getting along', is that what we're calling it these days?" Ashido said with a grin.

Izuku, who had blushed in time with his on screen counterpart, started blushing even deeper.

"Ah, dear Uraraka, that is simply what it looks like sometimes, non? The feelings of amor come in strange packages at times." Aoyama nodded sagely.

"The what?" The combo of Izuku's expression and Aoyama's words were just making Uraraka more confused about what was happening.

Izuku said his expression was because Uraraka had been so bright in that moment he had a hard time looking at her.

"Aw, Deku! That's so sweet!" Uraraka said, making the same cheerful expression she had on screen moments ago. Izuku blushed and brought an arm up to shield his eyes.

"It's still too bright!"

Uraraka laughed and started blushing too.

Kaminari looked at the two of them, grinning, and opened his mouth to say something, before Aoyama slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Do not ruin the beautiful moment, mon ami."

Izuku went on to say that Uraraka was right about getting along, because good communication would be important during the cavalry battle. That brought up the last person Izuku wanted on the team, which turned out to be Iida.

"Raise your hand if you saw that coming." Ashido called out, raising her own hand. All of the students raised their hands immediately after. Uraraka, Iida, and Izuku all looked at each other, then Iida shrugged and raised his hand, closely followed by Uraraka. Izuku saw that the teachers also had their hands up, sighed, then raised his own.

They called his name when they got close enough, and when Iida turned around they both made the exact same excited expression and gesture at him.

"Did you...practice that?" Todoroki asked curiously.

"I don't think so...I mean, we wouldn't have had the time to..." Izuku said. He was beginning to wonder if this blush might just be a permanent part of his face now.

"Oh my gosh, the cuteness! It's overwhelming! How do you two always do that?" Hagakure asked. Meanwhile, Ashido couldn't stop beaming.

"That was incredibly well timed, especially if you didn't plan it. The two of you must really be in sync right now." Iida said.

"Iida not you too!" Uraraka groaned.

"What?" Iida asked in genuine confusion.

The three of them were shown together, talking about the plan Izuku had for the three of them. Iida admitted it was a good plan, but declined to join them.

Ashido blinked. "Okay, that I didn't see coming."

Iida went on to say that he wanted to continue growing as a hero, and that he couldn't do that if he kept following Izuku around. No matter how good a friends they were, Iida also saw him as a rival. Then he went to join Todoroki's team.

Seeing the look on Midoriya and Uraraka's face, both on screen and in real life, made Iida feel a bit self conscious.

"Perhaps my use of rival was a bit inappropriate, given how Bakugo has treated you in the past, and Todoroki's attitude-"

"I don't see shitty Deku as a rival!"

"but I stand by my decision to challenge you this time."

"I...it's okay Iida, I think I understand. I'm disappointed we won't work together, but I understand." Izuku said, giving Iida a reassuring smile.

"Y-yeah, same here. We wouldn't be very good friends if we couldn't be honest about stuff like that right? I'm sure we'll figure something out." Uraraka was clearly more nervous than before, but smiled nonetheless.

"You made the choice that you believed would make you stronger in the end, and that is quite commendable young Iida." All Might praised, much to Iida's delight and embarrassment.

Izuku thoughts revealed that he was finally understanding just how much this next task was going to pitch him against his classmates. Since he was at the top, every other team was an enemy.

All Might nodded to himself. He was hoping young Midoriya would take this as a taste of the pressures that came from being a top hero, and he seemed to be doing just that. Now that Midoriya understood that, he had no doubt the boy would rise to the challenge.

Suddenly the support course girl from earlier appeared. She introduced herself as Hatsume Mei and started insisting being a part of Izuku's team so she could 'show off her cute babies'.

"I like this kid's energy!" Present Mic said, seeing how 'in your face' Mei was getting. Aizawa scoffed.

"You would."

"Well, good to see not everyone views the 10 million as a draw back, I guess." Sato said.

"It seems my prediction was quiet accurate, most are avoiding him while others approach him to get a part of the spotlight." Momo observed. Jirou nodded along.

"And Uraraka joined up with him because she's friends with him, so she counts as the 'in between'."

Uraraka tried to ask her a question, but was completely ignored in favor of Izuku. Mei started showing off all the inventions she'd brought with. When Izuku recognized a jet pack as being based off of a certain hero the two started talking animatedly about it, and soon Mei was officially part of their team. Uraraka looked on, annoyed that she hadn't even been a part of introductions.

'Come on girl, go over there and fight for your man!' Ashido mentally urged her.

"I'm sorry Uraraka! That was really rude!" Izuku rushed to apologize. "If it makes you feel any better, she didn't exactly ask for my quirk or name either."

Uraraka rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, that's true. I guess it must have felt kinda jarring for the other me, after we talked about how important communication was..."

"Hm, that is a good point." Izuku put his chin in his hand. "The two of us can already communicate well, but we don't know Mei at all. Hopefully we'll be able to reach enough of an understanding before the battle starts that it won't be an issue."

"Hopefully."

With three people confirmed for his team, Izuku started scanning the crowd for someone who could fill in their 'missing power'. He seemed to spot them, and put a hand on someone's shoulder before it cut away.

"Oh come on! Stop teasing us!" Kaminari complained.

"Yeah! I wanna see how manly the top team up is! We already got to see the others!"

"Two of us are girls though." Uraraka said, frowning in confusion. Kirishima waved her off.

"You're taking the manly part too literally."

Meanwhile, Tokoyami startled and looked around. He could have sworn he felt something on his shoulder, but no one was sitting close enough to reach him.

The scene cut to an unfamiliar group from 1B. A blonde boy was talking about how the only thing different between 1A and 1B was that 1A fought villains, and that 1B should show them up for being 'arrogant.'.

"Who the hell is this asshole?" Bakugo growled, for once giving voice to what others in the class were thinking.

"He seems to be implying that our experience at the USJ made us full of ourselves." Momo said, frowning deeply. "Though I'm not sure what we may have done to give him that impression."

"Yeah, what gives?" Sero asked. "I don't exactly feel proud that we were attacked. I mean, I'm happy that everyone is okay, er, somewhat okay anyway. But I don't think I would have gone around bragging about it; it was more scary than anything else."

"Our teachers nearly died. That is not something to brag about." Shoji agreed.

"This belief of his may not have anything to do with your actions." All Might said, gaining the attention of all in the room. "You, er, your future selves, have doubtless been getting a great amount of media attention. It could easily be that some in 1B are jealous of that attention, and further justify the feeling by thinking you must be arrogant from getting that attention."

"That's dumb!" Hagakure said, her shoulders slumping in a pout. "I mean, I can definitely sympathize with feeling ignored, but that doesn't mean you should go around making assumptions about people you haven't even met!"

"This is one of the many reasons I hate the media." Aizawa grumbled. Nedzu nodded knowingly.

"Indeed. But even this can be a useful experience, children. Becoming a popular hero can earn you just as many detractors as it does fans, and learning how to deal with that affect now could serve you well in the future."

"There's always backlash once something gains enough popularity." Present Mic agreed.

The timer for making teams ran out, prompting Mic to start up his commentary again. He declared it was time for UA's 'bloody battle' as it was revealed that Tokoyami was the last member of Izuku's team.

"Oh, that explains that." Tokoyami said. Koda gave him an inquisitive look. "Don't worry about it, just thinking aloud."

"Thanks for agreeing to join us Tokoyami!" Izuku called from his spot. Tokoyami nodded.

"I look forward to seeing how this goes."

Over with the teachers, Recovery Girl sighed. "I know injuries are bound to happen, but the least you could do is not directly prompt it." She said, giving Present Mic a look.

"Yeah, Hizashi, stop wishing harm on my students." Aizawa chided lazily.

Present Mic spluttered indignantly while the other two hid their smirks.

Todoroki was shown talking to his team, and explaining his plan for each of them.

"Aw sweet! I managed to get on Todoroki's team! We're gonna crush this!" Kaminari cheered. It was hard to imagine they wouldn't at least get enough points to move on, considering how powerful Todoroki and his other teammates were.

"I am glad you have faith in my abilities." Momo said, turning to Todoroki. Iida nodded energetically.

"I feel the same."

Todoroki shrugged. "You all have powerful quirks and have shown you can use them well. So it makes sense I would think to recruit you."

Iida asked if Todoroki would use both his fire and ice during the battle. Todoroki tensed, and said he only used his ice in battle. He found his father in the crowd, and glared at him.

All Might frowned, wondering again what might be going on between the father and son.

Aizawa looked at the boy, brow furrowed in thought. He'd noticed that Todoroki made very little use of his fire side, but hadn't questioned it very much until now. He had thought perhaps that Todoroki didn't have as much experience with his fire side, or that ice was easier to use when not aiming to permanently hurt others, and that was why he made only light use of it. Aizawa had intended to talk to him about it during the training times following the USJ, but it seemed like he hadn't. Perhaps his injuries sapped so much of his strength he'd never found the time to do so. Now, he was beginning to wonder just how much of an oversight that was.

Momo looked at Todoroki, biting her lip in concern. Clearly there was something going on there, but she wasn't sure if it was her place to say anything. Despite both being recommended students in the same class, the two of them didn't know each other well. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see other students with expressions that said they were pondering the same thing. There was only one student that didn't hold back though.

"Todoroki, are you okay?" Izuku asked.

Todoroki looked at Midoriya silently for a few long moments. "I'm fine. I don't intend to let the issue interfere with my performance."

"That's not what I meant..." Izuku tried to continue, but Todoroki had already turned away from him.

The cavalry teams were all decided, and many of them were shown as Present Mic started the countdown. Once the battle started, basically everyone went for Izuku's team.

"Oh boy." Uraraka said, eyes going wide at seeing how many people were dashing toward their little group.

"Uh huh." Izuku said, nervously nodding.

"Heh, Hagakure as our rider looks pretty great." Jirou smiled.

"That is clever, having her wear the headband." Ojiro commented, he turned to Hagakure.. "It'll be harder for people to get it off if they can't see what part of your head or neck its around."

"Oh! Thank you!" she said. 'I hope I'm actually the one that thought of that...'

Ashido gave Hagakure a wink and a nudge, both of which the invisibile girl tried to ignore.

As Ojior turned back to the screen he thought 'I wonder why I ended up on that Gen Ed boy's team rather than with one of my classmates.'

Izuku ordered the team to run away from the onslaught. Before they could, a team from 1B made the ground beneath them turn into some sort of quicksand, but a combo of the jetpack and Uraraka's quirk allowed them to fly free.

"Get back there and fight you cowards!" Bakugo yelled.

"Young Bakugo, I know this may be difficult for you to understand, but sometimes retreating truly is the best option." All Might explained.

"Indeed. A strategic retreat can allow one to find a better place to fight from, or offer a way to make the situation become more controllable." Nedzu confirmed.

Bakugo scowled, but elected not to argue with the number 1 hero and the principle.

"I'm beginning to see why the other courses shouldn't be underestimated." Shojji said. Tokoyami nodded.

"Yes, it would have been much more difficult to escape that opening move without the support student's inventions. Not to mention how far the young man from the General course has come." He absently rotated his heal as he spoke. He'd really felt the ground pulling at his legs as they broke free on screen. It was the first time he'd gotten such a clear sensation from something they were watching, and it was fascinating and disturbing all at once.

Tokoyami used Dark Shadow to defend the group from an attack as they were midflight, causing Izuku to praise Tokoyami's quirk and gush about how well he was doing in his role. Tokoyami just said it had been Izuku who chose him to fill that role.

"Don't be so modest Tokoyami, you are already doing exceptionally well!" Iida said, pumping his arms.

"Yeah! I may have picked you, but you're the one whose doing the work." Izuku reminded him eagerly.

"He's right." Shoji said.

At times like this, Tokoyami was very glad that his blush didn't show through his dark feathers. That allowed him to keep some dignity as he thanked his classmates.

Uraraka warned them they were about to land. As they did, Izuku thought about how great it worked for Uraraka to make everyone but herself weightless.

"You're using your quirk on all three of us? And all the support gear?" Izuku asked eagerly. "That's a lot of stuff. You must have trained really hard!"

"Well, I'd hope so." she said with a light laugh. "It probably helps that I'm not using it on myself, you know? Messing with my own sense of gravity has always made me feel worse than anything else."

Izuku also ended up praising Hatsume's inventions after they landed, which made Uraraka start muttering.

"Oooo, do I sense some jealousy Uraraka?" Ashido cooed.

"N-no, of course not! I'm sure I was just...pointing out how them being so effective is a team effort. Credit where credit is due, you know?" Uraraka frantically waved a hand in front of her face. Izuku frowned.

"You know I appreciated your help too right?" He asked.

"Of course! Well, I do now at least. But on screen all your praise for me was all in your head and you said the stuff to her out loud, so I guess maybe future me didn't."

"Huh, I didn't think about that. I'll try not to do that in real life." He promised. Internally, he was pleased. Usually people told him to stop mumbling or shut up. It felt nice to have people who actually wanted to hear him.

Hagakure's group started going after Izuku's only for them to realize that someone, the blonde boy from earlier, had taken there's at some point.

"Oh that little twerp! I hope we get him back for that." Hagakure grumbled. Kirishima nodded.

"It does seem pretty unmanly to do sneak attacks like that instead of taking people head on."

"It's probably the only way the dumb 1B kid can scrap up the balls to challenge us, the coward." Bakugo snorted.

"Sneak attacks are just as viable a strategy as any other when done correctly. It's illogical not to take advantage of an enemy's distraction, especially if the consequences to doing so are low." Aizawa pointed out.

The battle was turning into a free for all. Izuku's team was now between too oncoming teams, so they tried to fly away again, but were stopped by Mineta's quirk. He and Tsuyu were shown to be teamed up with Shoji, and their barrage of attacks was barely being dodged by Midoriya.

"You teamed up with him Tsuyu? Seriously?" Jirou asked with a raised eyebrow. Tsuyu shrugged.

"It's not like he's 'riding' me, and it makes for a good strategy. Plus, we know we can work together from the USJ."

"I guess." Jirou admitted grudgingly. They did seem to be pretty effective, but it would take a lot more for her to ever allow herself to be in a small dark place with Mineta. Though she supposed that if they were in such a small space Mineta would have nowhere to run if he tried anything.

"You guys make such a good team! You're all so cool!" Izuku gushed.

"Kero, thanks Midoriya."

"It was Mineta's idea, but looks like it's working even better than I thought it might." Shoji said.

"Th-thanks guys!" Mineta said, actually blushing a bit. "I hope it's unique enough to get us noticed."

"I know it's part of his personality, but it feels kinda weird to see Midoriya to be so happy for the people trying to run him down." Sero admitted, making Kaminari chuckle.

Midoriya used the jetpack to get them free, but one of the jet boots broke. Bakugo used his quirk to go after them midair, but Dark Shadow stopped him.

"That stand off was so manly!" Kirishima shouted, standing out among the other cheers and noises of awe.

"Woulda been better if I broke through." Bakugo grumbled. But he did seem somewhat pacified by his friend labeling the face off as cool.

"Thanks again, Tokoyami." Izuku told the other boy, Uraraka nodding along in agreement.

Tokoyami merely nodded in acknowledgment, as he was busy soothing a whimpering Dark Shadow in his mind. 'I'm sorry about that friend, you are doing so well.'

Sero used his quirk to make sure Bakugo got back to the group without hitting the ground, which Midnight reminded everyone would have gotten him disqualified.

"Hmmm, I'm not sure why, but I feel that's going to become important later." Iida said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Either way, I find myself admiring the various ways our class has found to push the rules of this battle in order to come up with effective strategies."

Uraraka managed to land the group safely, but made sure to let them know how hard it was to control flight now. Izuku's thoughts showed him deciding that they couldn't risk air travel as much now, and would have to stay grounded. The on break heroes, media, and crowd were all shown gushing about how the villain encounter made 1A so much better.

"Okay, I'm actually starting to feel uncomfortable now." Ashido admitted. "I mean, the praise is cool, don't get me wrong, but they always link it back to the USJ incident."

Uraraka nodded. "That's true, it makes me wonder if they would be this into us if we did any of this stuff without having been on the news."

"The teachers did make a point earlier about how our bit of 'real world' experience gave us an advantage, so it is possible we might not think to do some of these things without it, but I see your point." Momo said.

"Kinda makes the attitude from 1B more understandable." Sato said.

"What?! How? That boy called us arrogant just for surviving the attack!" Hagakure fumed.

"That was taking it too far." Sato agreed. "What I mean is, if the media and everyone really is freaking out about us that much because of the USJ, I can understand why someone from 1B would get upset about it, you know?"

"That's a good point. Modern heroics puts lot of stock into getting noticed, so they'd feel extra pressure to try and drag some attention away from us." Izuku said.

"Huh, didn't think about that. Maybe their not so bad then, just stressed." Kaminari said.

The current scores were shown, but much to everyone's surprise 1A was very low on points. On the battlefield, the blonde from 1B monologued to Bakugo about how a lot of their class worked together to observe 1A in the first round so they could get the drop on them now.

"I take it back." Kaminari grumbled.

"I wouldn't have guessed so many of them were out to get us specifically." Ojiro said. "Though, with what we were just talking about, it makes sense."

"As unsavory as this boy makes it sound, I actually admire their dedication and teamwork." All Might proclaimed, startling the students. "Truth be told, we could use more heroes willing to team up for the common good."

"Never did understand why it all had to be such a competition. We're already fighting villains, why pit heroes against each other too?" Present Mic questioned.

"I blame the media." Aizawa said. "One of the perks of being underground is that the times I help other heroes they don't resist much, because they know I don't plan on taking much of the credit. Makes things easier."

"I hadn't thought about that." Ojiro admitted. "I guess we really are short-sighted in that way."

Aizawa sighed. "To be fair, this whole event doesn't exactly encourage class wide teamwork."

The 1B boy then mocked Bakugo about the slime incident. The ensuing rage made Bakugo switch targets from Midoriya to the blonde boy, Monama.

Nearly the entire class sweatdropped after hearing that.

"Okay, I'm back to reserving judgment on the rest of 1B, but this kid is definitely an idiot." Kaminari griped.

"For someone who went on about 'observing our personalities', this boy clearly has no idea the darkness he has just unleashed." Tokoyami agreed.

Izuku overheard the reveal of 1B's strategy, and acknowledged how well it could work, and was happy it made them less inclined to go after his team. This was of course the exact moment they came face to face with Todoroki's group.

"Oh yeah, now shit is about to go down!" Kirishima grinned.

"Oi! What about our group?!" Bakugo growled.

"Like that know-it-all stands a chance against us! We'll get them before the fights over, but this one will show us which group we'll have to after for the 10 million." Kirishima explained. Bakugo grinned viciously.

"Glad someone gets it."

Izuku looked over at Todoroki, and found the other boy staring at him as well."

'A fated battle between men!' Uraraka thought to herself.

A couple of the other teams were shown still fighting for points, including Mineta's team, who were now missing their head bands.

"What the heck! How did that happen?" Mineta demanded.

"Don't know, kero. We don't look hurt though, and we all seem surprised."

"Might have been a sneak attack." Shoji said.

Todoroki said he was going to take that headband.

Nearly the whole class went 'ooooo!' at the bold declaration.

"Guys, didn't we just talk about heroes needing to compete less?" Izuku complained.

"Well yeah, but we can't change what the future you and future Todoroki are doing right now, so we might as well enjoy it." Sero pointed out.

Then the episode ended.

"Every freaking time!" Ashido griped.