Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. I would like to, but I don't.

Sitting in the comfort of her sitting room, Midoriya Inko let out a loud scream of excitement, seeing her son cross the finish line. Since both their children had made it into U.A and were guaranteed to be participating in the Sorts Festival, she had decided to watch it with her friend Mitsuki. "Izuku!"

Next to her, Mitsuki snorted. "Katsuki got upstaged by that blonde girl! Guess she must be the American he said was 'fucking strong.'"

Seeing little Katsuki on that stage, all grown up… Inko supposed he really hadn't changed that much with that challenge to the rest of the competitors. Still, the performance today had left her on the edge of her seat.

Inko wiped the tears from her eyes. "Melissa Shield… I think she's a friend of Izuku's. Apparently they met at Musutafu Beach when it used to be full of junk."

Mitsuki blinked, stunned. "No shit? Maybe Izuku managed to build enough gizmos to clean it."

Inko smiled. "Well, apparently she took over cleaning it from a senior called Togata. It seems their supervisor was All Might's secretary."

From Izuku's account, the man had given him some excellent advice about life. Inko supposed she could expect nothing less from All Might's secretary. Izuku had been so happy about meeting him. She had tried to invite them around, but apparently Yagi Toshinori simply hadn't been available.

The television showed the last student making his way over the finish line, a hand over his mouth and a queasy expression on his face. "Ouch," Mitsuki commented. "Think he's gonna puke?"

"Mitsuki!"

"It's a fair point!"

Melissa panted for breath as the rest of the various classes came in. Some came in confidently, heads held high. Others looked like they were about to die or were ashamed. Iida in particular looked down at his hands as if his whole world had shattered - it must have been pretty bad for somebody with a speed enhancing Quirk like his to not be in first place.

She couldn't help but smile, seeing Izuku and Hatsume in the first category, grinning as they crossed the line, Hatsume a few paces ahead of her friend.

Still, the Sports Festival was far from over, as Midnight's whip cracking proved. "Alright, students! It's finally over, so we can check the results!"

As their faces were displayed on the large screen behind Midnight along with their scores, Melissa went up to Izuku. "Congratulations, Izuku!"

He turned, blinking. "O-oh! Hi Melissa!" He grinned. "Wow, you made it into first place, huh?"

Next to him, Hatsume snapped her head around from where she was looking at the other Support student's - Mayumi's - mini mech. "You made it into first place?!" Her goggles snapped up, displaying her crosshair like eyes. Melissa shrugged as they zoomed in on her face.

"Ah, as expected of David Shield's daughter!" Hatsume looked closer at the Full Gauntlets, appraising them before a respectful look crossed her face. "Your work?"

Melissa laughed. It was always nice to talk shop once in a while. "Yes! I designed them with carbon fibre with some soft robotics principles to cushion the full force of my Quirk-"

Izuku looked over. "Oh, I never got a good chance to look at these! So it maps the user's hand-"

Hatsume's face shone with the joy of creation. Much the same expression had now crossed Melissa's face. "-have you integrated a shape memory alloy in there to help reduce strain from your Quirk-"

There was a choking noise from behind them. Looking up, Melissa blinked.

Bakugo and Mayumi were staring at the pair of them, eyes wide and pupils shrunken. It looked like they were deer caught in the headlights of an incoming semi truck. The rest of the students there gave them concerned looks. Midnight had a blush on her face for some odd reason.

For a moment, everybody stared at each other. Then, Midnight cracked her whip once again, regaining her composure. "Right! Now, only the top 42 students can make it through to the Second round! For those of you who were lower, we have other ways for you to show your… youthful vigour."

Several students choked at that. Midnight gave everybody a bright, sunny smile. "Now! This is where you'll really be tested! The second event is… "

A drumroll started as the spinner flicked through various events, including 'Soccer,' 'baseball,' 'relay,' and 'playing house.' Melissa watched intently, a bead of sweat trickling down her neck as it stopped on…

"The Cavalry battle!"

The announcement of the latest event snapped Katsuki out of his horrified realisation that there were three of them, meaning that Deku's - Izuku's weirdness wasn't unique to him. Meaning it could be inherited. He grinned viciously, getting his head back in the game as Midnight explained.

"-So, based on your performance in the last round, each of you has been assigned a point value! "

"Sounds like the entrance exam," Thick Lips commented.

Some unknown extra rubbed his chin. "Huh. So, the teams get points based on the members in it, right?"

Midnight glared at the interrupting Extra, whip cracking. "I was just getting to that, come on!"

He saw the nerd watching closely, a calculating look in those green eyes. Probably thinking about what Support gear he was gonna use or something.

Midnight huffed. "As I was about to say, yes, your team's point value depends on the members within! The points start at 5 at 42nd place, going up by 5 in each place!"

Bakugo ran the maths through his head. 200 points, not bad. So he had to get the 210 and 205 point headbands-

Midnight's sunny smile turned into something predatory. "However, the first place headband is special! For that illustrious position, we've assigned it… ten million points!"

Bakugo's eyes widened. Holy…

He turned to the American, a vicious grin on his face. Around him, he could feel every other person in his class and the other Extras similarly looking at her. For her part, she was clearly intimidated, but managed not to whimper.

Good.

Toshinori Yagi couldn't help but fret as he watched the explanation. Midnight explaining the most salient points. He knew well that the position of number one was a precarious thing. Sure, the position gave plenty, but it took away lots.

Becoming Number One had been his main goal because it made everything else easier. His message as the Symbol of Peace had spread far and wide thanks to his position, but it also meant that he had more eyes on him as a result. More than once he had been unable to help somebody due to his many conflicting responsibilities.

Midnight tossed out one last rule, the R-Rated Heroine's smile back to being sunny. "Quirks are allowed, so it's going to be a brutal battle! However, attacking a team with intent to make them fall is not allowed!"

He heard young Bakugo give a groan of rage at that.

"If you do so, you'll be given a red card, and you'll be out of the match! Now, you're going to have about fifteen minutes to make your teams, so choose well!"

Yagi watched with a critical eye. He'd been in situations like this before - well, not the cavalry battle aspect. (Nedzu had insisted on having the various teachers pose for the different event photos - soccer and water polo had been kind of fun, though he had had no idea that the campus even had a stable until they'd needed to do a pose for polo.) But for most of his career, he'd been aiming for the Number One Hero position, which before him had shifted depending on the Hero of the month.

Hm, if I have to guess, most of these students are going to team up with members of their own classes. After all, they'll be more familiar with their Quirks and can build a competent team quickly. It was a bit odd that 1-B's students didn't try as hard as they have in class - was that a plan? Melissa was trying to approach other students, only for them to turn away.

His frown deepened. And that's the other peril of being the Number One. Sometimes, people will feel that you attract too much risk, and won't want to work with you.

Back in the dark old days before he'd almost successfully smashed All for One's head open like a watermelon on the beach, his rising star status meant that most Heroes hadn't wanted to work with him, thinking that they would slow him down. To be fair, he had also rebuffed many attempts, worried that they were plants from the ancient bastard. Sir Nighteye had managed to get through to him, and with his tireless work they had stormed his stronghold.

His attention switched to the other person he was keeping an eye on - young Midoriya. The young inventor seemed to be making good choices for his team, at least.

Okay, I should be able to do well, but not perfectly, with this team.

Izuku smiled cheerfully at the student in front of him. "Hey! Do you want to team up with me? I promise I'll make it worth your while!"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Melissa team up with a nice girl with rosy cheeks, and his good mood improved when he saw Mei pop over to Melissa. They'd hit it off talking about Support gear, and Izuku had wanted to work with his friends! But if he did, then he would have to win.

The blonde, tailed student he'd chosen looked at him oddly. "Why me, specifically?"

"That's pretty simple, uh…" Izuku trailed off. He knew he'd heard the guy's name before…

"Mashirao Ojiro. You heard my name like two minutes ago."

"Right!" Izuku was normally pretty good with Hero names. Surely this guy had scored pretty low if he didn't remember him. Nothing could go wrong with this plan! "Well-"

A rough, calloused hand clamped on his shoulder, accompanied by the caramel scent of glycerin. Kacchan gave Izuku his version of a friendly smile, which on anybody else's face would have been murderous. "Oi, nerd. Get on my team already! I've already got Shitty hair, and with your gear and my general awesomeness we're gonna murder everybody here!"

Izuku blinked. Suddenly everything had gone wrong with his plan. "I - ah- sure? Sorry, Ojiro!"

Curses! Now I have to actually try and win and not flunk out! Curse you, my future archnemesis!

Next to Kacchan and unaware of Izuku's internal strife, Kirishima gave Izuku a wide, sharp toothed smile. "Wow! Teaming up with a childhood friend… that's so manly!"

While Izuku yelled internally at himself for putting his identity at risk, Kacchan pointed at the pink girl. "Oi! Raccoon Eyes!"

She stared at Kacchan with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, that's not my name. It's Ashido? I sit like, right next to you?"

"Whatever, don't give a shit. You've got acid, right?" When she nodded, he grinned viciously. "We're gonna form a horse with Shitty Hair and we're gonna murder everybody else, starting with the American!"

Kacchan's classmates hesitantly cheered. The other blonde haired girl with horns turned around. "Yes?"

While Kacchan raged at this apparent interruption, Izuku turned back to his new teammates with a sigh that wasn't completely faked. Well, when in Rome, he had to use his gear to the fullest. "Right! So, as a Support student, I brought several of my best examples with me to blow the competition away!"

Ashido and Kirishima looked interested as he pulled out various pieces. "Well, I'm a huge Hero fan, so I decided to think about how I could emulate their Quirks as tribute. I brought something for just about any scenario, so take your pick and I'll explain how each one works!"

Kirishima grinned. "Gnarly!"

Ashido picked up the jetpack with a huge grin on her face. "With this stuff, we're gonna win for sure!"

Kirishima turned to Izuku with a thumbs up. "So if we're gonna work together, I think we have to know - what's your Quirk?"

Izuku's smile raided. "I, uh, don't have one."

Kirishima stared incredulously, then laughed. "Making it this far on your gadgets and raw ability alone… that's so manly, Mido-Bro!"

Ashido smiled back. "Don't worry about it! I mean, I don't know how any of this stuff works. Guess we've all got our strengths!"

Kacchan grunted. "Good. Now let's figure out the plan on how we're gonna get the first to end all firsts!"

Izuku matched Kacchan's expression, causing Ashido to swallow nervously. He couldn't help it! Whenever Kacchan got in a competitive spirit, it awoke something in Izuku that should best lie dormant! So rather than hang back, he helped his team make a strategy using his gear and their Quirks.

Shinsou looked at Todoroki with a confused look on his face. "Uh… why me?"

Todoroki's glacial expression didn't change. "Teaming up with a friend just feels right."

Shinsou couldn't help but blink at that. "I'm not sure how I can help you that much. Iida would have been a better choice."

He looked at the other people Todoroki had selected. Yaoyaorozu gave him a cheerful smile. Kaminari gave Shinsou a beaming grin. "You gotta stop being so negative, man!"

Todoroki looked over his team impassively. "This team structure makes sense, though. If we have Kaminari at the front, his electricity will prevent any frontal assaults, while Momo's Creation Quirk and your Brainwash can keep our opponents confused and distracted. With me as the rider, we should be covered from all angles."

Shinsou hummed, considering it. Todoroki's Quirk was pretty beastly. "So, we've got you on top using your fire and ice-"

Todoroki's slight smile closed off entirely. "No fire. In battle, I swore I wouldn't use my left side."

For a second, Shinsou stared at his friend. "Personally, I think that's dumb. But if you had an accident with your fire Quirk…"

Todoroki's face froze even more. "Sort of, yes."

A dangerous tone in his voice made Shinsou decide to back off. "Well, don't give me the cold shoulder. Give the other teams that."

Todoroki's mouth twitched. "Keep up the good jokes."

When the fifteen minutes were up, the teams were assembled. Boots scraped on the ground in anticipation. Knuckles whitened.

Explosions popped in Bakugo's palms, an orange cape fastened to his back that fluttered in a nonexistent wind. His eyes were fixed on one team, a predator waiting for his chance to pounce. Kirishima clacked his fists together, ready for the fight to start. Ashido and Izuku wore practically matching grins, the latter wearing a bandolier of various inventions.

Shoji stood, apparently alone but with his arms forming a tent. Nervous mumbling could be heard from inside his arms.

Todoroki glared out at a particular spot in the stands, toted by his friend Shinsou and other allies Kaminari and Momo. Almost unseen, his sperm donor glared right back at him.

Shishida grinned up at his passengers, the tiny purple kid and the frog girl making themselves comfortable on his massive backEven without going full Beast, which in this event might have made him too enthusiastic to be useful, he could carry them like they weighed nothing.

Monoma tried to wish Tetsutetsu well, but was hindered by the steel boy glaring at his teammate Kuroyami. The Support student glared right back, Pony and Tsuburaba trading glances with Shiozaki and Honenuki.

Iida wore a determined expression as the front of the horse, supporting Sero alongside Ojiro. Bringing up the rear, Hagakure adjusted her Support gear, being one of the three 1-A students who had been approved to wear her costume for the event.

Tokage grinned as Kendo cracked her knuckles, Kamakiri bringing up the front of their horse with a savage look in his eye.

Satou fingered his pouch filled with various sugars, Aoyama glittering as their captain. Jirou twiddled her earjack, humming a few song lyrics to stay calm.

Shoda gulped nervously, the mobile adonis seated atop Bondo's shoulders. Rin struggled to maintain a proper horse posture with Komori, the shy mushroom girl shrinking back.

In her mech suit, Mayumi gave a thumbs up to her rider. Kodai Yui gave no acknowledgement of the thumbs up, instead staring out at the assembled teams with an aloof gaze.

And finally, Mei cackled as she checked over her team's Support gear. "Are you ready, Number One?"

Melissa nodded, headband fastened across her brow. In front, Tokoyami grimly folded his arms in an attempt to look edgy. "Yeah. Let's get them."

"AWRIGHT! SHOTA, WAKE UP! THEY'VE MADE THEIR TEAMS!"

"Well, they've made some interesting choices… let's see how it goes."

Sitting next to his mum, Kaneshiro Daiki leant forwards, nearly spilling his drink. "Hey! There's my co-worker!"

"Yay! Midori friend!" Akari cheered. Her Quirk accidentally activated, sending tiny beams from her palms into the ceiling.

His mum looked at where he was pointing. "The green haired boy? I have to say, he looks a bit young to have helped you with your mid-term exams."

Daiki winced. School work wasn't his strong suit. "Yeah, but Midoriya's like, super smart. I mean, he made it into U.A!"

Truthfully, he was looking for a bit of a distraction. Throughout the first event, he'd seen some very familiar blasts of blue-white light. He hadn't seen who'd fired them, but just seeing attacks so similar to his uncle's Quirk…

He got shaken out of his thoughts by Present Mic's blaring voice. "OKAY, LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED! 3, 2, 1… BEGIN!"

What was on the screen could be described as nothing short of utter chaos. Daiki gasped as he saw the steel boy and the weird blonde French boy make a beeline for Melissa Shield. Really, he remembered her name mostly for the fact that she had that ridiculous 10 million points.

"IS MELISSA GONNA RUN OR FIGHT?!" Present Mic paused briefly watching the action, before continuing, "LOOKS LIKE SHE WANTS TO RUN! BUT UH OH, THE FLOOR BENEATH HER IS SINKING! HOW CAN SHE GET OUT OF THIS ONE ?!"

Daiki couldn't help but feel tense, watching Melissa's team start to sink into ground that was stable mere seconds ago. The family cheered as her team suddenly shot into the air, carried aloft by Melissa's jetpack, generously provided by Mei.

As the earjack girl lunged with her weird earlobes and was rebuffed by the shadow bird thing, Daiki grabbed his soda can. He wasn't worried about Izuku - he knew that the boss man was really good in a fight! Daiki just wanted to see his good friend totally smoke some of these Hero students.

He put his can of soda to his mouth, watching the camera shift to the other competitors. Then the weird French kid - Aoyama? - started when a competitor came at him. Flexing his stomach muscles, the weird belt on his navel lit up and a sparkly blue laser shot out at the attacking team.

Daiki covered the TV screen with soda.

Melissa glanced around the battlefield, watching as both Bakugo and Shoji's teams closed the distance. "We need to get out of here! Uraraka!"

The pink cheeked girl nodded determinedly. "Got it!" She tugged her foot, only to get stuck on a purple sphere. "Huh? What's this thing?"

She pulled at her foot, getting increasingly frantic as it failed to budge. Melissa looked around for the Quirk that could have done this, eventually focusing on the beast boy with glasses. His passenger chuckled, the boy with purple balls for hair grinning as he readied another sphere. "Sorry, Melissa! But that headband's ours!"

A flash of movement was the only warning she got. Melissa narrowly dodged the tongue that lashed out from the beast boy's other rider. Tsuyu stared at her, tongue having latched onto Tetsutetsu's headband instead. "Kero, good dodging Melissa."

Melissa knew that staying where they were was a futile effort. "Uraraka!"

With a tortured scream from Mei as part of Uraraka's hover sole was left behind on the purple ball, Melissa's team rocketed away to a different part of the arena. Shoji manoeuvred around the battlefield, giant blocks of kanji and hiragana coming from his passenger. Team Tetsutetsu tried to come closer to Minoru's team, but a scattering of purple balls on the ground, previously still, suddenly rolled towards them, forcing them to back up or be stuck to them.

Melissa didn't have much time to watch, as Bakugo was coming after her wearing Midoriya's backpack. Dark Shadow narrowly deflected his wild charge, the explosive boy carefully launching himself back to his team. The cape itself suddenly flopped and latched onto his riders' shoulders, guiding him down. At least Bakugo was careful.

Katsuki twisted through the air, landing back on Kirishima and Izukus shoulders with a grunt. "Fuck! That Dark Shadow thing's pretty damn beefy."

Deku hummed, easily managing to keep pace with the others. "Makes sense! Since it's an Emitted entity, it might not even have pain receptors!"

Weird Hair slammed his fists together. "Whatever! We're gonna power through it with friendship!"

Katsuki scowled. "We're gonna grab that shitty first place headband if it's the last thing we do!" he glared at Deku. "Any bright ideas, Mr. Quirk Analyst?"

The nerd hummed, before his eyes lit up. "Oh, I've got an idea Kacchan! It's a bit of a stretch, but I did see Dark Shadow recoil from your explosions!" He brought his free hand up to his chin, stroking it. "So, given the name, I would say that it has at least some relation with light. Maybe it weakens with sudden exposure to strong light?"

Raccoon Eyes blinked, impressed. "Wow! You got that from a few seconds of looking at him? I'm in class with the guy and didn't figure that out!"

Katsuki grinned. Trust Deku to look at somebody's Quirk on the fly and immediately come up with a strategy. "Right, we're gonna have to get them in a war of attrition! Keep up the pressure!"

Kirishima carefully stepped around a purple orb. "Right! Let's get 'em!"

Mei cackled as she watched Izuku's team try to grab their headband again. Bakugo had a knack for this sort of thing, she had to admit. Making babies for him would be incredible! She could make some truly explosive babies and blow the whole of Japan!

Midoriya had seen fit to give each member of the team a piece of equipment. Bakugo was using Izuku's jetpack and cape, the latter fluttering impressively. The red haired boy had a belt with a pair of mini boosters, while the pink girl carried a whip-like device that sparked with electricity. Midoriya had his own Support gadget, which seemed to be a cylindrical device made of dark grey steel and pale white plastic.

Up top, Melissa sparked with more weird energy, managing to knock a flying fist away. Seeing another girl literally fall to pieces and fly through the air with her head near the clouds had been an interesting experience, alright. "Just gotta keep away from everybody!"

"What a mad banquet of darkness."

Tokoyami provided moral and physical support.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mei saw Mayumi's mech coming towards them. She zoomed in, wondering what her friend had planned. "Mayumi! Here to join the fun?"

In her mech, Mayumi matched Mei's expression. "Sorry, Mei! But I really want to show off what my mech can do! Kodai, like we planned!"

Mei and Uraraka quickly hauled Melissa away from Mayumi's mech reaching out, its arm suddenly growing huge as her rider touched it. Briefly she gawked at the sight, watching as Kodai tapped the shoulder again and shrunk the arm back down. "I really want to make a space-defying baby like that! Hey, how does her Quirk work?!"

Mayumi hauled on a lever in her cockpit, laser focused. "Not sure, but we'll take it!"

The dark haired girl on top quietly pulled out another piece of equipment - some sort of sword. Mei's eyes widened - she'd seen that design in a mecha anime. Electricity sparked along its length, making Kodai nod. She looked down at her teammate with nary a change in expression. "Ready."

Mei grinned as Mayumi flicked another switch. The arm of her mech opened up, revealing a drill. "Now, Kodai!"

The taciturn girl tapped the drill, and the team barely managed to get out of the way as it suddenly enlarged. "BEHOLD! THE GIGA DRILL BREAKER!"

Mei stood still for a moment, basking in the physics defying glory of the drill. Then her team had to move out of the way as Mayumi slammed the ground with it, tearing up a huge cloud of dust as the drill spun. Kodai then enlarged the sword, the other arm gripping it. Mayumi's face was lit up in childish glee as she carefully swung it, forcing other teams to back away.

Even in the face of this, Bakugo and Izuku seemed confident. Her best friend/tech rival pointed his latest invention at Kodai. Mei immediately looked up at Melissa and gestured for them to move. She'd helped Izuku make this, after all. "We need to get outta here!"

As they jetted away, she saw a visible wave of sound come out from the item, hitting both rider and driver. The mech seemed frozen in place, but Mei knew better. Its pilot and the student riding on top of it couldn't move.

The Support girl and Kodai looked panicky. Kodai tried to move, but could only twitch on top of the robot, barely held in place by some straps Mayumi must have given her. "What-"

Midoriya grinned as his team continued chasing the Number One, Bakugo grabbing Kodai's headband in a perfunctory fashion. "This is inspired by one of my favourites, Gang Orca! Behold… the Sonic Paralyser! It operates on the same principle as an actual orca's hypersonic attack to override the motor centres of your brain through sound! It'll wear off in a few minutes, so you should be fine!"

Mei wiped a tear from her eye. It was such a cool concept and seeing it work without exploding… so good!

And then Todoroki came at them. A wall of ice sprung up with a wave of his left arm, penning them in. Mei couldn't help but grin.

There was nothing she loved more than a challenge. And if her cute babies got more screentime… so much the better!

Watching from the stands, Vlad King scowled as Present Mic continued commentating. "WOWEE! MAN, BOTH THE DOGGEDLY PURSUED FIRST PLACE TEAM AND THEIR PURSUERS FROM 1-A ARE REALLY SOMETHING ELSE!"

"Really, Present Mic? Just because your best friend's in the booth doesn't mean you have to keep sucking up to his class like that," he grunted, crossing his arms in frustration.

His class was actually doing really well in this event.

He could see Tokage had split her head and limbs away from the horse, keeping out of reach from all but the most diligent pursuers. Shishida charged at other teams, purple balls flying from his team captain and the frog girl alike. Inside the multiarmed boy's arms, Manga spat out onomatopoeia to disable and trip up other teams. Tetsutetsu spurred his team on further with inspiring talks about 'manliness' and 'friendship.' On top of Bondo's huge shoulders, Shoda smacked the Iida kid, then used his Quirk when the glasses-wearing teen tried to retaliate, staggering him.

And did Present Mic talk about any of that? Noooo.

Vlad watched the Festival with a grimace. Maybe Monoma had a point about the clear bias for 1-A after all…

"AND NOW, IT'S BEEN A FEW MINUTES OF FIGHTING, SO LET'S CHECK THOSE SCORES…"

Vlad smirked, watching his students. Monoma had been pretty sneaky about this whole affair, deliberately targeting teams that were distracted. The others had managed to snatch other points, though Kodai's loss had been disappointing.

"APART FROM MELISSA, 1-A'S NOT LOOKING SO HOT! WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE?!"

"Maybe you should keep a closer eye on the action, Mic."

That brought a slight smirk to Vlad's face. Hopefully Monoma could keep up the momentum, especially as he saw the boy focusing on Bakugo's team. As Bakugo made yet another attempt to grab the headband, Monoma chose to strike when he was coming back, nabbing the explosive kid's headband.

Monoma grinned, twirling Bakugo's stolen headband around on his finger. Since this round was at the halfway point, it was a good opportunity to prick the jerk's overblown ego. "Well, well, 1-A. Didn't see this coming, did you?"

Below, Kuroyami grinned as he saw the green haired boy. "Yo, Midoriya! No hard feelings?"

Surprisingly, Midoriya's face turned determined. "Sorry, Kuroyami! But I'm in it to win it!"

As expected, Bakugo screamed at him. "WHAT THE FUCK YOU BASTARD?! GIVE THAT BACK! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Monoma blinked. Bakugo swore more than Pony, which he had never seen coming. "You see, you didn't realise that the prelims wouldn't eliminate too many people. So of course, us in 1-B hung back, so that we can observe your Quirks and personality… so that we could crush you thoroughly."

Bakugo stared at him with the calm of a dormant volcano hours from suddenly erupting. Monoma went for the kill. "Sure, we didn't all go for that, but I have to say, at least we aren't charging at first place like a bull at a red flag."

He leered at the explosive boy. "Still, I wasn't expecting to meet a 'celebrity' like you! You got attacked by the Sludge Villain, didn't you? And then got rescued by that moron Mastermind, as a footnote in his story!"

Bakugo twitched, even as Bondo came up from behind. "Oi, Kirishima. Before we get the American, I'm gonna fucking murder this guy!"

Tokage's team ran past, Kendo glaring at Monoma from where she supported her rider. "Don't make him any angrier! Besides, taunting a defeated enemy-"

"Isn't very heroic, I know." Monoma shrugged. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Melissa Shield's team being cornered by Todoroki. Probably not a good idea to be anywhere near that guy's ridiculous Quirk.

Instead, Monoma decided to keep his strategy, focusing on stragglers. As Bakugo's team ran at him, he saw an opportunity to grab a new Quirk. He hadn't seen the green haired kid's Quirk and Kuroyami hadn't had time to explain it. Chances were it wouldn't help, but he wouldn't be sure unless he tried.

Monoma grinned, Kuroyami's power fist slamming into Kirishima's rocky face. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting you to make it this far! But," he reached out to touch Midoriya, "you must have really trained that Quirk of yours well if Mr. Ego here wanted you on his team!"

Kuroyami looked up. "Hey, Monoma-"

He touched Midoriya's bare skin, wondering what kind of Quirk it was. Maybe an invention Quirk or Intelligence-!

Nothing.

Monoma's brow furrowed. What? Had his Quirk gone on the fritz?

He couldn't copy Mutation Quirks since they twisted biology too much, and he was painfully aware that some Quirks required a massive build-up that he didn't have time for. But this was the first time he felt nothing from touching somebody.

Kuroyami looked up at his rider. "Dude, I legit forgot to tell you! Midoriya's Quirkless! He's got nothing to copy!"

…What?

Izuku sighed internally as Monoma's face went slack in disbelief. "You… you don't have a Quirk…"

One of the other teams running by paused. Tetsutetsu stared at Izuku. "Wait, you're Quirkless?!"

In spite of himself, Izuku braced himself for judgement. Wouldn't be the first time people thought less of him for being 'less evolved,' but…

Tetsutetsu then grinned. "Passing the prelims with nothing but your gadgets and grit? THAT'S FUCKING MANLY AS FUCK, DUDE!"

Monoma seemed to have recovered as well. "Even though you've teamed up with 1-A, that's pretty impressive, making it this far without a Quirk. Those inventions of yours must be good-"

Izuku fired the Orca cannon, managing to get a clean hit on Monoma. His team wobbled, trying to compensate for Monoma suddenly slumping. Bakugo grinned at the suddenly sweating Monoma, before tearing his headband back with interest.

The blonde girl with horns gaped. "Son of a bitch!"

Bakugo tied his headbands back on, flipping Monoma off. "Get the fuck out the way! We're gonna have the first to end all firsts!"

Ashido whistled as they ran from Monoma's team, sloshing acid around and using the Livewire-inspired whip to harry an attacker. "Still can't believe you call him such a cutesy nickname."

Izuku shrugged. He got that a lot. "Well, we did grow up together, and our mums are best friends… actually, my mum's the only person Kacchan won't swear in front of!"

Ashido stared at him as if he'd grown a second head.

Meanwhile, Todoroki stared at Melissa. Initially, things had gone well - a couple of other teams had tried to take his headband and had gotten the full force of Kaminari's Quirk in response. Shinsou had set teams against each other by cracking jokes or mocking them and, even if it was a trick that only worked once, it was still dangerous enough that they had to be careful. And Momo had provided a similar level of support that the other Support item using teams had.

Present Mic summed it up. "OKAY, WE'RE DOWN TO THE LAST COUPLE OF MINUTES! TODOROKI'S CORNERED MELISSA SHIELD IN HIS OWN PERSONAL ARENA AND WAS ABOUT TO SNATCH THAT TEN MILLION! …OR THAT'S WHAT WE THOUGHT! IT'S BEEN FIVE MINUTES, BUT THEY'VE BEEN AVOIDING HIS EVERY ATTEMPT!"

This was frustrating. Shield was smart, and she'd definitely spotted that he could only make ice on his right side, and planned around that accordingly.

Melissa dodged to his hated left side again, keeping her distance. He couldn't safely hit her without hitting Kaminari, and with Dark Shadow continuing to block more conventional assaults…

What really angered him about the situation was that he knew that his father was watching. Would tear into him about not using his fire. As if Todoroki needed it to win this.

They could probably make it into the next round just with the points they had, but Todoroki wanted that first place headband. But with Melissa focusing on keeping her distance, they'd need a distraction.

Shinsou winced, looking at Melissa. "Man, she hasn't responded to anything I've said. Maybe I should try it on Dark Shadow, he certainly talks enough for it to work."

Suddenly, the ice behind him shattered. Todoroki whipped his head around, seeing the new intruders. His first instinct was to refreeze the break, but as he thought…

His eyes narrowed. There was an opportunity to be had here, if he was careful. All he had to do was find the opening.

Satou panted, the dark brown sugar crystals on his skin starting to fade. With his and Jirou's Quirk, they'd managed to break through Todoroki's ice barrier, and were watching for an opportunity to grab the ten million points.

As they watched, a stream of tape shot through the hole they had made, pulling Sero's team through. Iida seemed to be shouting something to Sero - something about a secret technique?

Satou watched Iida, then raised the tiny red bottle to his lips. "If you hang on, we're about to go really fast.

"Huh?"

"Let's get that headband! You ready, Jirou,Aoyama?"

Jirou nodded. "Let's go!"

"Monsieur Satou-"

Satou quickly downed the red cordial, shuddering as its effects coursed through his body. Iida suddenly shot forwards, but Satou was able to match him, skin turned a shiny red and steaming.

"RECIPRO BURST!"

"REDCORDIALRUSH!"

Both teams barrelled towards Melissa, who wasn't able to react as Sero barely managed to grab the headband off her head and fastened it around his own head. In slow motion, Satou pulled his team behind him near Iida's team, their class president panting in exhaustion.

Aoyama screamed shrilly, and Jirou almost matched him, staring at Satou with wide eyes. "What the hell was that?"

Satou winced, forcing his body to release the effects of his Quirk, taking a deep breath. "Red cordial rush. I really don't like drinking red cordial though, since I get too hyper."

Satou's Quirk: Sugar Boost! His body can manifest improved strength as well as other sweet abilities! White sugar just gives a plain strength boost, while brown sugar causes crystals to grow on his skin! However, drinking red cordial gives a tremendous boost to speed and strength as well as driving him hyper! Overuse of his Quirk tuckers him out and makes him super hungry due to low blood sugar!

Iida screamed dramatically. Aoyama, still queasy, tried to take the headband off Sero, but the tape user sent a piece at him. Another blast from Aoyama and he was forced to dodge, Jirou barely snagging it with her earjack.

Now they just had to play keep away until time ran out. Satou still had enough sugar to keep going, even if Aoyama had a hand clutched to his stomach.

Melissa whipped around. "After them!"

Tokoyami simply nodded, already lunging forwards, Dark Shadow leading the way, cackling. Bakugo's team chose that moment to make their entrance, skating through on a pathway melted by Ashido. "THOSE POINTS ARE MINE, FUCKFACES!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Todoroki's team leaping to take advantage, Shinsou gearing up for a taunt. "HEY, AOYAMA!"

Melissa felt One for All tingle in her arm as Shinsou continued. "FRENCH CHEESE SUCKS!"

Aoyama's eyes widened, then he flushed bright red in pure rage. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK-"

Shinsou smirked as he fell victim to his Quirk. "Toss us the ten million!"

Jirou jabbed Aoyama a second too late, as the headband soared through the air. Todoroki fired a blast of ice immediately, blocking Monoma's team from boxing it in with the air. He then coolly grabbed the headband, fastening it around his neck.

Melissa and her team were already on Todoroki. She let One for All flow through her body, aiming a supercharged fist at Todoroki to try and grab the headband back-!

Todoroki's eyes widened. For an instant, fire sparked along his left arm, before Melissa's arm blew the budding fires out with a sweep. Before he could recover, she quickly snatched the top headband. She wasn't sure which headband was theirs, but the top one was the most logical.

But as she stared at the headband, it was clear that Todoroki had barely managed to make the switch! As the other teams closed in and Present Mic counted down, Melissa and Bakugo alike lunged towards Todoroki, who looked shocked as her sparking arm came closer to his headbands…

"AND ZERO! TIME'S UP!"

Inko and Mitsuki cheered, knocking the bowl of snacks in front of them to the ground. "THEY DID IT!" Inko whooped, accidentally flinging a cushion off the couch with her Quirk.

Although she had had her misgivings about Izuku being in a tournament with so many high power Quirks being thrown around, seeing his face and how happy he was to be there… Inko was going to give her son a massive hug when he got home.

Mitsuki cackled as Katsuki's explosive charge ended with him face down in the dirt. "And he sticks the landing!" She then sighed. "Looks like Katsuki's gonna be winning this thing after all. There'll be no living with him after this."

Inko couldn't help but smile. "Oh, I'm so proud of them both! It's just like when they were children!" Izuku had always volunteered to play the Villain in their playground games, though she doubted Katsuki remembered them very well.

"Looks like we'll hear which other kids won, Inko-chan." Mitsuki picked up the bowl, patting the couch next to her. "Personally, I'm hoping that that Melissa girl gets in."

Endeavour sighed, watching the match with his customary scowl. Shouto couldn't keep wasting his potential like this.

Present Mic spoke up. "OKAY, LISTENERS! LET'S SEE HOW THE RANKINGS WENT!"

He saw his masterpiece's facial expression on the big screen. The boy was shaken, staring down at his left arm before snapping his eyes on the screen. "IN FIRST PLACE! TEAM TODOROKI!"

Endeavour snorted. If Shouto had just used his fire from the start, he wouldn't have been in that situation.

"IN SECOND PLACE, TEAM BAKUGO!"

Katsuki stared up at the screen with an angry expression on his face. He'd wanted to win totally and utterly, but he'd only made second. His teammates were pretty happy, but he could only glare at the ground.

Shitty Hair came up behind him. "Uh, you okay Bakugo?"

Katsuki scowled. "Fucking peachy."

Next to them, Deku shakily smiled before tearing up. Katsuki blinked as the sheer force of his crying drove his feet through the ground. It had been a while since he'd seen Deku cry that hard.

"WOW! MIDORIYA IZUKU OF TEAM BAKUGO'S SO HAPPY TO HAVE WON HE'S BURST INTO TEARS!"

"IN THIRD PLACE… TEAM MINORU?! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!"

Shishida and Tsuyu sighed, glancing down at their shortest teammate and captain. "Nasty strategy, Minoru."

Shishida then grinned. "See you in the next round."

The shorter boy grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, Midnight just said that the headbands had to be in an easy to reach space! She didn't say anything about them actually being easy to take!"

Tsuyu couldn't help but nod. Minoru's strategy had been to attach the headbands to the purple spheres that grew in place of hair. Since only Minoru could remove them when they were attached, they had survived simply by grabbing headbands and outlasting every other team.

Minoru looked up at her. "I have to say, you have some pretty big-" he slapped himself, doing a push-up. "I shouldn't be making this harder on myself…" he grumbled.

Minoru was odd, Tsuyu decided. And definitely a bit perverted. Still, his strategy was sound, even though it was underhanded.

Melissa panted, staring at the headband. From behind her, Uraraka lightly tapped her on the shoulder. Melissa turned to look at her first U.A. friend, wincing. "I'm sorry… I wasn't able to-"

Mei and Uraraka pointed to Tokoyami. "You unsealing your hidden power unsettled Todoroki, and left him open…" Dark Shadow held up a couple of headbands. "So I took the liberty of taking some of his others."

Melissa stared, then realisation struck her. Present Mic simply confirmed it. "AND IN FOURTH PLACE, IT'S… TEAM SHIELD!"

For a mere moment, Melissa stood there in shock. Never in all her life did she think that she would have been standing here in the Sports Festival. Tears built up in the corners of her eyes. Next to her, Mei grinned. "Heh… heh heh… A-HAHAHA! YES! I KNEW YOU WERE THE RIGHT TEAMMATE FOR ME, NUMBER ONE!"

Her grin sharpened. "This is going to put me one step closer to taking out that devious Villain, Mastermind!"

Double looked at his comrades, checking his watch. "Alright! Seems the second round's over!"

He hadn't been able to watch, mostly because he knew that if he had watched he would have been glued to the screen. He just had to hope that Izuku had lost in the second round as planned. "Now, we're going to have to wait for their lunch break to be over, then it'll be the third round. That event's always a real attention grabber."

Inkblot cracked her knuckles. Gentle Criminal bowed elegantly. "Time for a spot of tea before this job!"

Double smiled. "That sounds great, Gentle!" He turned around to the side room. "You have an alias yet, Bushijima?"

Their latest recruit stepped out, checking his costume. It consisted of a large orange coat combined with a dark blue helmet and gas mask. He wore similarly dark blue gloves with what looked like burner rings. "Uh… I haven't gotten that far."

Double hummed. "Well, it's a good idea to think of it now! You'll need it for branding."

Bushijima tapped his chin. "Hm… how about Kouro?"

"An incense burner? Nice!"

As Gentle came back with the tea, Double sighed in contentment. He'd have to watch the Sports Festival later at the hideout. He really wanted to see how Melissa was doing…

Melissa stared at Todoroki awkwardly. He'd asked her to talk with him in a dingy hallway. "Um…"

"You overwhelmed me."

Melissa blinked. The other boy continued. "You pressured me enough that I almost broke my pledge. And that overwhelming power… I've felt it before."

Her eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

His eyes bored into hers. "I felt that pressure, the power coming from All Might on the USJ. Just like what I felt from you."

Melissa's heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest as Todoroki leaned closer. She wanted to say something, but there wasn't anything she could really say-!

"I guess it confirms it. You're All Might's secret lovechild."

What?

AN: Whoa this was delayed. I distracted myself, so it came out later than I would have liked. Still! We have the second round! Some teams stayed the same! Other teams changed entirely! What will happen next? Please tell me I don't know.

If people are really interested, I worked out exactly how many points each team started with for some reason. I wanted to see if I could get two teams with exactly equal points, but that would have been too much work so I changed my plans.

Team Melissa: 10,000,415

Team Todoroki: 530

Team Bakugo: 585

Team Mineta: 540

Team Aoyama 265

Team Monoma: 180

Team Bondo: 240

Team Manga and Shoji: 155

Team Tokage: 240

Team Tetsutetsu: 705

Team Jirou: 460

Team Kodai/Mayumi: 135

Thanks to Banchoking for helping edit this monstrosity of a chapter. Next time, we're going to have a lunch break, then see what's happening in the next round.