Battle Royale

Hitoshi greedily looked at the back of Midoriya's head. Hitoshi knew that he needed to get his points if he wanted to move forward. However, he also knew everyone thought of the same thing, going after it while everyone else did too, was equivalent to tournament suicide. He can't do anything against Midoriya on his own, but with other students he might.

As alluring as it sounded to win 10 million points right off the bat sounds, Hitoshi wasn't going to risk his position. He needed to remain for as long as he can in this event. The finals was just an event away, he wasn't going to let it slip past him.

"The match will last 15 minutes," Midnight said. "Each team's points are determined by its members. The rider will wear a headband displaying the total number of points! Until the match ends, you'll all compete to grab each other's points and maintain the ones you have!"

"Any headbands you grab must be worn around the neck or higher, but the more headbands you've got the harder they'll be to manage. Most importantly," the pro hero added. "Even if your headband is taken… and your formation is broken. It's not over till it's over!"

"There'll be at least 12 teams on the field; and if no one's eliminated until it's over..." Fumei hummed.

"Then we can take as much points as we want," Akusa finished.

"Quirks are allowed, so it'll be a brutal battle! However," Midnight said with a crack of her whip, "It's still a cavalry! Maliciously attacking another team with the intent of making them fall will get a red card –" Akusa and Fumei simultaneously clicked their tongues "– and be disqualified! You've got 15 minutes to form your teams! Choose wisely!"

Hitoshi looked around. Majority of the hero classes were grouping themselves together, leaving the outliers like him and the few lucky general and support students ripe for the picking. They didn't mind the points each their team had in the end, and instead focused on team composition. Hitoshi was left alone in a sea of eager moving hero students. No one wanted him in their group because he was an outlier. They didn't know his quirk.

He would do the same if he were them too. It's safer to team-up with someone they're familiar with in person and quirk rather than leave it to chance. Hitoshi however didn't have that luxury, but he did have three people he was sort of familiar with.

Fumei and Akusa had similar, yet opposing quirks that grew in strength depending on their environment.

Akusa's quirk was in a huge disadvantage, but Fumei's quirk was near unstoppable. Nusumi's luck offered the most destructive quirk in the game, and no one even knew about it. Similarly, her inability to control it makes her a danger to the team. Then there's his brainwashing which served as a wild card. At first glance, combining their efforts seemed messy, but if Hitoshi was being optimistic, they could easily become a powerhouse team.

Now if only he can –

"We should go our separate ways here," Fumei suggested as though he just read his mind. "As much as I want to help you, I can't have favorites. I also have to get back at you for brainwashing me back there. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you did that, it's just –"

"I get it." Hitoshi saved him the embarrassment of saying it aloud. It's pretty obvious what the blond wanted. "You want to show off."

"No hard feelings?"

"Sure. I'll just have to steal your points and make you regret not teaming up."

Fumei wished him luck before he ran off to find some teammates of his own. Hitoshi turned to ask Nusumi and Akusa next, but was surprised to find both of them with another team. "So much for teamwork."

He looked around again, slowly losing confidence in his ability to create a dependable team. If he only knew what their quirks were.

"Allô!" A flamboyant blond male student, who wore a metal belt around his waist sparkled beside Hitoshi waved a hand to encapsulate his face and inquired, "You don't appear to have a team yet, non?"

Hitoshi ignored his brightness and was inclined to look at the boy's belt. It looked familiar. He glanced up at the blond, who still smiled at him, and Hitoshi blinked in recognition. It was the same student who could shoot light out of his navel.

"No, I don't have one yet," he answered. "No one really wants a general student like me in their team."

"Oh?" the hero kid tilts his head. "Pas de soucis, you can be in my team!"

"Really? That's great," he cheered with too much enthusiasm. "What's your name?"

"It's Aoyama," the blonde said. "Yuga Aoyama –" His voice broke as Hitoshi grabbed hold of his consciousness. The blond's eyes fluttered in a tired gaze while he waited for Hitoshi's orders.

Hitoshi didn't rejoice upon getting his first teammate. He needed to move fast if he were to get powerful allies. Aoyama trailed closely behind him as Hitoshi walked over to a student with a thick long tail. He looked strong enough to fit in. Hitoshi tapped him on his shoulder and smiled. As the boy turned to regard him, Hitoshi greeted him.

Fumei watched enviously as his peers gathered more members before he could.

Nusumi already completed her team with Akusa in tow and two others. Hitoshi took control of three students and carefully guided himself over them.

Fumei clicked his tongue. He thought someone would definitely ask him to join their team after what he tried to accomplish in the race. He could've easily won first place if only Bakugou didn't blow him out of the sky and knocked him out. The minutes he needed to recover was precious time wasted, and alas, he found himself in this position.

He scratched behind his ear. "How problematic..."

There were forty six spots in class held a standard of twenty students, which means 6 slots were open for others. Four of these were already occupied by his peers, which left 2 slots open. He spotted the first lucky student hanging around Midoriya.

Her pink hair bobbed up and down while she animatedly offered her help to him. She pulled out various tools from her pack, and Fumei knew what she was. A support student, which leaves one more –

Fumei spotted the last lucky student at the farther end of the gathering. He was a lanky kid with a blank expression on his face, and a mole under his left eye. He didn't seem interested in asking first, so Fumei did him the honors. "You alone?"

The boy blinked, then stared at Fumei.

Fumei raised an eyebrow at him and studied him closely. The other student was neither too athletic nor sickly, but the lack of arm muscles may lead to poor stamina. Cavalry battles usually relied on power and endurance. If this kid lacked both, then Fumei was just pulled in scraps.

He looked over the student again and tilted his head. "Hello?" he repeated. "Are you alone?"

The raven haired boy blinked again. "Y - Yeah, I am. Sorry."

Fumei hummed. He wasn't very attentive is he? "For a moment there I thought you were deaf or something," he sighed. The boy frowned, unsure whether to take it as a compliment or not. "What's your quirk?"

"Reactor."

"Okay… what's it do?"

"I store energy, heat energy. Then I can fire it with my hands." He opened his palms up and raised the heat on them for show. His skin sizzled, burning at the intense temperature but he didn't look the least affected by it.

Fumei's grinned. Now that he can work with. "That sounds really powerful! Why are you in general studies then?"

"Support," the other corrected him. "I'm in support."

"Oh?"

"Not a story for today I think," he said. "Are we teaming up?"

"Sure. Just one last thing. Quirk drawbacks," Fumei said. "I need to know if it's detrimental to us or not, or else I'm leaving to find another team. Can't waste my time on you."

The boy frowned. "Not much. I just have a limit of 100% heat. Everytime I release it, it decreases based on the power I put in it. Once I've used it all I'm basically useless – as you say."

Fumei hummed. The match was only fifteen minutes long, and the rules only required them to defend… The support kid's quirk sounded too offensive to be useful, but he can think of something else to make do with it later. "Alright, you're in my team." He offered his hand. "I'm Fumei."

"Yasogami," the other said. "What about you? What's your quirk?"

"I can turn light solid," Fumei shrugged. "The stronger the sunlight, the harder I can make them."

Yasogami nodded and he followed Fumei around. Yasogami will do nicely, but he'll need more to actually put up a fight. He expected to lose, but he wasn't going to take it like a wounded mutt. "Come on we need to gather more people to our cause!"

"Anyone you have in mind?"

Fumei smirked. He liked this one. "I have a couple." He turned his attention to a tall brown haired man with hairy arms, and his companion, another student with a neat low braid over his back.

"I should be on top!" Nusumi said. "I put this team together, so I should lead!"

Pony Tsunotori tilted her head at Nusumi, completely at a loss for words at the foreign language she just used. She understood Japanese, but not well. "I think… idea… good!" She started in English but finished with broken Japanese.

Nusumi giggled and wrapped an arms around Tsunotori. "I like her! She agrees with me, is adorable and foreign!"

Akusa rolled his eyes. He could've easily won this round if they were simply allowed to be a single unit. However, rules are rules and he had to win with a team. Nusumi invited him to be partners, and looking through their past engagements, the magenta haired girl had a lot of surprises.

Akusa didn't think much of her in the beginning. She was a troublemaker, and her quirk even more so. Unlike the rest of the class that was terrified of him, Nusumi approached him without malice. She tried to make him interested in rumors, and while he typically wasn't a fan of baseless gossip, Akusa saw his chance.

Nusumi could be his eyes and ears in school. A source of information, so he decided to invest in her. However, as he kept watch on her, Akusa soon realized that she was actually pretty dumb. Her quirk required intelligence like his to be fully utilized, but alas it was wasted on a free-spirit like her.

She had the power to control probability and yet she wielded it like a child. It made Akusa seethe.

He could've easily left their group for another, but he couldn't deny the power behind her inexperience. Her ability to incite chaos was a double edged sword, a weapon and a source of protection. Akusa was willing to invest on that.

He implored Nusumi seek the aid of Ibara Shiozaki and Fumikage Tokoyami from 1-B and 1-A respectively. His information on them placed them as the smartest picks for this round, however both students were already taken early on.

He hated it, but Akusa had to settle for scraps.

While Nusumi argued with Kamakiri over who should be on top, Akusa studied Fumei and Hitoshi's own teams. They have formed odd teams, and he was at least confident enough that he could beat them with this team. Tsunotori's Horn Canon and Kamakiri's Razor Sharp quirks were battle oriented skills compared to his and Nusumi'. The no attacking rule limited their chances to show it off, but Akusa could resort to offensive defense and scare tactics with them.

Akusa glanced over his team squabble over who gets to ride the rest, and sighed. Truly, they were idiots for not realizing the best option on who to carry.

"Why would we let you be on top?" Kamakiri said. "You're just a general student, we shouldn't even be with you! We'd just lose!"

Tsunotori gasped and shook her head disapprovingly. "Kamakiri! Bad. Nusumi, friend."

"Yeah! I'm your friend now," Nusumi cried stuck her tongue out at the insectoid. Kamakiri fumed. His mandibles snapped in frustration.

"Fine! You can stay, but I should be on top! My quirk would stop anyone from getting too close to our headbands."

Nusumi grumbled in stubborn defiance, and Akusa sighed. "Considering our party's composition, I think it is wiser to put Kamakiri on top."

"You do?" Nusumi and Kamakiri asked in unison.

"Yes. Your quirk is to forge blades from any part of your body correct?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Then let's stop dawdling, and proceed to a plan of action. Kamakiri shall be the rider while Nusumi and I assume the rear. Tsunotori, please lead the charge," he instructed them without missing a beat.

Nusumi frowned, as though ready to argue her point again, until she nodded. "Well that sounds way better than what I had in mind!"

Tsunotori tilts her head and whispered to Kamakiri. Kamakiri floundered to translate it, and Akusa rolled his eyes again. A bunch of useless teenagers. "You'll be in front, Tsunotori. Your quirk will protect our helm and allow us to counter any attack," he repeated in perfect English.

Tsunotori gaped, impressed, while Nusumi's claimed witchcraft at his bilingual ability.

Akusa ignored her and turned to Kamakiri. He handed him the headband and said, "I entrust everything to you as the rider. Will you keep them safe?"

Kamakiri scoffed. "You're talking to a hero here! Of course you can."

"Good," he nodded, because I don't plan on losing against any of these low lives.

Hitoshi secured the bandanna around his forehead and closed his eyes. He mentally calmed himself down with deep, long breaths. He pictured the minds of the students he's beneath him as physical extensions of himself and tested the waters.

Hitoshi ordered them forward, and backward, then sideward. His control doesn't waver at all. His training has done wonders for him to reach this point. Now one obstacle remained. Could he ask them to do different things at once without passing out? Hitoshi sighed, "Only one way to find out."

"HERE WE GO!" Present Mic's voice blew up from the speakers. "The countdown to this brutal battle royale begins in THREE –"

Fumei fingers twitched.

"TWO –"

Akusa glanced to his side and Kamakiri roared. Nusumi licked her lips while she jogged in place excitedly.

"ONE! –"

Hitoshi frowned.

"START!" The field immediately scattered for a free for all towards Midoriya to grab his ten million lead.

Hitoshi steered his team away from the commotion. He didn't want to lose points this early in the game. This was a game of survival and smarts. He needed to keep his points, and be smart enough to target those he could take on with his team mates.

"Found you, Hitoshi!"

Hitoshi looked over to where Fumei yelled his name. He focused his 225 headband hung around his neck, and heavily considered taking it. It was not that big of a point, but Hitoshi thought it better to take Fumei out the match now than later. The more headbands he had, the more he increased his chance of finishing on top.

"Forward."

Fumei chuckled at his choice and raised a hand. "Cover your eyes!" A thick plate of light formed between them, forcing Hitoshi to hit the break on their approach. Fumei closed his hand, and the plate burst into a bright flash.

It covered a great portion of their half of the field, and before Hitoshi can recover, soft fingers brushed through his hair, and snatched the bandana right off his forehead. Hitoshi snarled as reached out for his points desperately and missed.

Fumei hollered as he waved around the newly acquired points. "Thanks for this!"

He forgot that Fumei wasn't opposed to playing dirty. "Stop." His voice rang with heavy urgency, and his group stopped moving. "After them." They were immediately behind Fumei's team, and the latter grinned at him mockingly.

"Faster." They were soon neck to neck with Fumei's team. A raven haired boy on Fumei's right raised his hand, and gathered heat on his palms. It burned a bright red-orange color, and Hitoshi's breath hitched.

"Shoda, Ojiro, pull right! Aoyama! Shoot your quirk, now!" The sudden division of commands made Hitoshi's vision swim, but he held on. Shoda and Ojiro hauled them to the side, while Aoyama fired a navel blast to intercept the blast aimed at them.

Aoyama's and the raven haired boy's energy blasts connected and created an explosion powerful enough to push both teams back, and form a massive cloud around them.

"AAAAAND ON THE OTHER END OF THE ARENA –!" resent Mic broke his commentary on Midoriya's battle with the other teams, and for a split second, was more interested in figuring out the victor in this small altercation.

When the smoke cleared, Hitoshi met eyes with a raven haired boy and scoffed. Fumei recruited someone strong for his left flank. Fumei threw a salute at Hitoshi and urged his team to steal another team's headband.

"FUMEI'S TEAM, GAINS 340 POINTS AFTER STEALING FROM FELLOW GENERAL STUDENT!"

Yasogami's hand sizzled from the massive discharge of energy, so he bent down and rubbed his hand on the dirt to cool it down. Hiryu Rin skipped on his step, and kicked Yasogami on his back. "Nice save, Yasogami!"

"You've got someone dependable there, Shishida, Rin." A girl with ginger colored hair strung up in a side ponytail approached from their right. Hitoshi looked over the girl's headband and marveling at his luck.

Fumei regarded the new group with cautious eyes.

"Miss Kendo." Jurota Shishida lowered his head in greeting. "It is an honor to go against you in battle."

Fumei knocked Shishida's head and pouted. "Oi, no fraternizing with the enemy."

"You must have some charisma to have won over the trust of hero students during a battle like this," Kendo said as her hands grew larger by the second.

Fumei chuckled. "They did say my smile was irresistible. Hand over the points please?"

"Not as irresistible as you think," Kendo laughed. "Let's see how you fare in battle." She swiped at his neck to grab both headbands; and Shishida jumped back. He carried Rin and Yasogami whole on his back and ran ahead to avoid getting attacked again.

Fumei choked on his breath as an invisible force pulled on the bands on his neck. Reiko Yanagi called for the points using her telekinetic quirk, Poltergeist. With one final pull, she managed to snag the points away from the other team.

The bands snapped and Fumei dove after them. Rin caught him by the foot, and Fumei dropped on a platform of his own making. "Think before you jump!" he yelled, and Fumei scowled.

Shishida carried him back to the top, and Fumei held his hands out to catch the bandanas in a small box. He pulled against Yanagi's influence, but Kendo once again swung her arms and smashed through the construct.

"YASOGAMI!"

The support student raised his hand and quickly fired three successive shots of burning energy at the opposing team's feet. Kendo's quartet jumped out of the attacks range and retreated with their new points. Yanagi reached out to grab the bandana's until her focus was ruined by a bug that suddenly fly over her face.

One bandana fell down to the ground, while another mysteriously flew higher into the air as though caught onto something invisible.

Hitoshi eyed the flying headband, but found it too high to reach for anyone. He turned to the one on the ground and raced after it; Fumei and Kendo did the same.

Kendo reached for the headband; and Fumei grabbed the other end.

Ojiro, as commanded by Hitoshi, slapped the blond's hand away with his quirk, Tail. Hitoshi held unto the points, until it slowly slipped off his grasp.

Out of the blue, a team emerged from the shadows to steal the band of 340 points. Hitoshi forced his team back, and he spotted Akusa's crimson eyes melt out from the veil.

From above them, the mysterious flying 225 points was guided down to Kamakiri's hands by a horn like missile. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" he screamed as they gained 565 points. "Let's ride Tsunotori!"

The blonde haired student nodded and pulled their team forward and away from the others that tried to chase after them. Akusa smirked at Fumei and Hitoshi, who both cursed his appearance.

Fumei shot his hand out to block their way, and Akusa, together with Tsunotori, combined their quirks to break through the construct without difficulty. Tsunotori cheered at the successful defense and clapped Akusa's hand.

"HOW ARE OUR TEAMS DOING AFTER SEVEN MINUTES OF PLAY?" Present Mic shouted. "OHH?! NOW WAIT JUST A SECOND…!"

Midoriya remained at the top with his 10 million points, but the ranks below it have shifted greatly. Someone named Monoma now stood at second place with 1 565 points, followed by 1, 260 points by a team name after Tetsutetsu; then Akusa's team with 810.

"CLASS A'S NOT LOOKING SO HOT… WHAT HAPPENED TO BAKUGOU?!"

Akusa cared not about the ranks for both classes, even less so for the loud, yet insecure hero wannabe, and kept his head in the game. "Kamakiri. We're retreating."

"What?!" the insectoid hero snapped. "We have to keep attacking! With your quirk and Tsunotori's horns we can get Midoriya's points! We'd be on top!"

"Justice!" Tsunotori yelled in incorrect Japanese.

"No." Akusa shook his head. "We'd fare better protecting the points we already have. A lot can be gained and lost in eight minutes. Once everyone becomes desperate, they'll make mistakes, and we would appear to pick up their losses."

Akusa raised his shadows to cover themselves up again, but was thwarted by a thick tail slapping Nusumi's back. The girl screamed and Akusa was forced to drop the veil back to the ground in favor of waving away the distraction.

"I'm going to need those back."

Kamakiri grinned. He shoved the points out in front of him, and dangled it in front of Hitoshi. Akusa's shoulders stiffen as the dimwitted hero opened his mouth. "Come and get it general kid."

"No, don't –"

Kamakiri's body stiffened as Hitoshi's quirk simmered in his consciousness.

"Throw them over."

Kamakiri threw their hard-earned points to Hitoshi before Akusa, or anyone else in their team can stop him.

Akusa slapped Kamakiri's leg to snap him out of it. Kamikiri cried and he snapped his mandible down at Akusa. "THEY'RE RETREATING WITH OUR POINTS YOU DUMBASS. GET IT BACK!"

Kamikiri clicked his tongue irritably at the order and swiped an arm to cut, or scare Hitoshi away from coming too close to his blades. Kamakiri's arm was sent back when Shoda reactivates the impact left there by Ojiro's tail. He lost his balance for a moment, and Nusumi fumbled to catch his shifted weight.

Kendo's ran past them without a passing glance, and was immediately in pursuit of the points they just lost.

"Ah!" Tsunotori exclaimed. "Run… points..."

"WE HAVE TO GET THEM BACK!" Kamakiri fumed and urged them to run after Kendo and Hitoshi.

Akusa glanced at the timer. Last six minutes. He considered the possibility of losing points this far into the game, but he didn't expect it to actually happen. It was foolish of him to trust a hero student that acted on emotion rather than logic. He planned their targets beforehand to secure them the third spot regardless of points stolen or not.

Thanks to Kamakiri's recklessness, he lost all of that.

He needed a new plan, and the one he had was desperate. It presented high risk, and high rewards. Akusa disliked gambling with odds he couldn't control. He glanced to Nusumi. If only she understood her quirk.

"Forget him," he said. "We're aiming for the big ones."

Kamakiri and Tsunotori turned to him with wide surprised eyes. "About time!" Kamakiri cried. "Who are we going after?"

"Let's try our luck with Mister Ten Million!" Nusumi said.

"Good idea," Akusa raised the shadows again. He doubted someone as stoic and hyper aware as Shouto Todoroki would allow his victory to be stolen from beneath his feet. Midoriya, however… can be easily managed.

Fumei grabbed 195 points from a black haired girl sitting on top of two hero students with odd mutated heads – one with a speech bubble and the other with a dispenser like head. He quickly secured it around his forehead while his team took it to themselves to defend at the opposing team's attack.

Rin fired multiple scales at the viscous liquid dispenser head spat at them. Yasogami then followed it with a charged shot, and kept the hand away from the team as it cooled down.

"We're not doing so well," Rin said as he glanced at the scoreboard.

"Then we should hurry. Who is our next target Sir Fumei," Shishida politely asked.

Fumei studied the board. Midoriya was still in the lead, followed by Tetsutetsu and Monoma's team. Hitoshi was once again thrown at the bottom of the board after losing their points to another team. He frowned. "Come on, Hitoshi. Don't disappoint me."

"Fumei?" Yasogami asked.

"Todoroki," he said. "He'd be too busy to notice we're taking their point when he's fixated on Midoriya."

"Did you not state earlier that such tactics are foolish?" Shishida clarified.

"I know," the blonde said dismissively, "but it's the endgame, we might as well die trying. What'd you say hero kids? Wanna show 1-A who's boss?"

"Is that even a question general kid?" Rin scoffed in agreement.

"Then let's get it. Plus Ultra!" Fumei yelled, and his team cheered. They joined two other teams to intercept Todoroki while the latter ran after Midoriya's team.

Fumei flicked his hand, and multiple walls of light blocked the other teams with them. A couple of them broke through, but it held back most. Rin covered his free hand with scales, while Yasogami powered up his right hand. He lined the shot at the back of Todoroki's runners and -

Lighting suddenly enveloped the field, shocking everyone in the warpath toward Todoroki's team. Fumei and the others screamed as electricity coursed through their bodies, and left them completely off guard for Todoroki's next attack.

Todoroki pulled out a black metallic rod from Yaoyorozu's hand, and dragged it across the ground. Ice travelled down its shaft and lined the path behind it with a heavy layer of ice. It left everyone immobile and unable to break free.

"I'm stuck!" Rin cursed as he tried to break free from the ice. He fired sharpened scales at the ground, and was forced to cover his face when the ice just bounced the attack back at him. "Shit, what now?"

Fumei carefully nursed his head as blinked out the spots sitting in the corner of his eyes. "Yasogami…" he said. If anyone in their team could melt the ice, it would be Yasogami's heat.

"I can't," the support student apologized. Fumei stopped.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"That attack just now…" he mumbled. "It repowered my charge. It's - That's never happened before."

"Isn't that good?!" Rin cried. "Just use it and melt the ice already!"

"I can't. It could hurt everyone."

Fumei noted the white colored lightning that sparked around Yasogami's still sizzling hand. That did look unusual. Yasogami's quirk was supplied by heat, not volts. The blond palmed his face and sighed. "That's alright. You've done enough. We'll handle it from here."

"We have three minutes left!" Rin panicked, and Shishida huffed as he tried to pull everyone from the ice. "If we can't break through it –"

Fumei created several sharpened blades around them, and forced them down to chip off some of the ice with Rin's scales. They immediately shatter upon contact. "Huh?" the blond huffed. "Guess they're stronger than I thought."

"You're giving up already?!" Rin cried.

Fumei lowered his head to the hero student and smiled apologetically. He closed his eyes to hide the frustration behind it and said, "I didn't expect this one, sorry."

Rin, unable to accept defeat, started jabbing his scales at the ice. Shishida also tried stomp the ice off, and ever so often literally punch through it. Yasogami seemed alright with losing, and was more interested in figuring out the unprecedented spike in his energy than winning.

The surface cracked a bit with their effort, but by the time they broke free, it was too late.

"TWO MINUTES LEFT," Present Mic screams into the mic, "AND TODOROKI HAS SNATCHED BREAKOUT STAR MIDORIYA'S HEADBAND. THEY IMMEDIATELY JUMP TO FIRST PLACE!"

As the crowd roared at the sudden turn of events, Akusa and his team watched Bakugou's duel with Neito Monoma of 1-B closely within the shadows.

Their plan to take Midoriya's band backfired when Kaminari released 1.3 million volts of electricity loose around them. Akusa's shadows stood no chance against the sudden light show and was forced out of their veil. Midoriya didn't notice them just a few inches away from taking his headband, but the sentient shadow quirk acting as the former's defense pushed them away.

Nusumi's karma managed to break Todoroki's ice pole and saved them the trouble of being trapped like the other teams behind them. Akusa would have taken the non-moving player's bands if they had any, but they didn't so he was forced to change the plan again; much to Kamakiri's dismay.

Bakugou was their next and last chance. Kamakiri wanted to join Monoma in aggravating the explosive boy, but Akusa managed to talk him down. Regardless of his opinions of Bakugou and his… animalistic attitude. Akusa knew that someone of his caliber wouldn't lose to someone like Monoma.

Once they have settled their match, his team would move.

Kamakiri prepared himself when Bakugou's team slid across slippery ground and finally won their points back from Monoma's neck.

"BAKUGOU! ABSOLUTELY MERCILESS!" Present Mic screamed, and Kamakari roared.

"NOW!"

Nusumi closed her eyes and focused everything she had on the shoes of a spiky red haired boy in Bakugou's team. His shoelaces mysteriously come undone, and he tripped forward. Their formation crumbled, but they managed to get their balance back.

Bakugou screamed as he almost hit the ground. A line of tape dragged him back on top of their three-man cavalry; and he started shouting at them, complaining about their clumsiness. He waved around their points in the air, and Tsunotori immediately took advantage of his distracted state.

She fired her horns to alarm Bakugou and his friends. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE THINGS – HEY!"

One of the horns snagged the bandages Bakugou grabbed from Monoma and delivered it right into Kamakiri's hands. "This point is ours now!"

"What–! Where'd they come from?!" the boy with red spiky hair mumbled in shock.

Sparks flew from Bakugou's palms. "WHO FUCKING CARES?! WE'RE TAKING THE DAMN POINTS BACK! TURN AROUND SPIKY HAIR." He blasted himself into the air without warning, and his team mates shouted, frustrated with his lack of communication with them. They pushed forward.

Bakugou dropped with another loud explosion, and Tsunotori intercepted him with her horns. The loud mouthed students slapped and kicked away the projectiles, then caught Tsunotori's face. She made a high pitched noise in shock then Bakugou shoved his other hand at Kamakiri and let loose.

Black smoke covered their sight, and Kamakiri coughed out helplessly. He flailed around his bladed arms without any clue where Bakugou disappeared too. They're defenseless.

Akusa quickly dispersed the smoke with his shadow, and used the low visible light to raise their defenses with spires of black mass. When the smoke cleared, Bakugou was gone.

"STAY OUT OF MY WAY YOU FUCKING EXTRAS!" Bakugou yelled from Akusa's side.

Red eyes met with another, and Akusa acted a little too late. Bakugou shoved his hand at Akusa's cheek and reached for Kamakiri's hand.

"Shi –" the insectoid cursed and sprung out a blade on arm.

Bakugou backed away for a moment, and Kamakiri's blade clashed with a rock hard arm. "Not so fast!" the redhead, Eijirou Kirishima with the quirk Hardening, yelled.

The insectoid snarled as Bakugou ripped the points off him. "Akusa!"

Akusa wrapped shadows around Kirishima's feet and pulled. The boy slipped forward, causing Bakugou to also fall front. Akusa raised a veil over the ash-blond to incapacitate him long enough to steal the points back. However, Bakugou reached the end of his patience.

His hands detonate several times, forcing Akusa's shadows back to the floor, and successfully pushing back up. "ENOUGH!" the blond bellowed and fired another explosion on their faces.

When the smoke cleared, Bakugou's team was already meters ahead of them but not too far out of reach.

Nusumi clicked her tongue and tried to create another miracle. She focused he attention on the acid the other team used to increase their mobility and completely topple them down. However, she gravely miscalculates and ended up harming her team instead.

Tsunotori slipped on the acid nearby and fell back together with their mount. The timer sounded off before they could fix themselves.

Akusa pushed everyone off him and snarled dangerously at the humiliating loss.

If he was alone, he could have taken that arrogant, explosive son of –

He caught himself mid-thought and calmed himself down. This was a result of terrible planning, and one mistake that wasn't even his in the first place. He glared at Nusumi, who huffed in disappointment at herself. If only he didn't give this unpredictable annoying mess a chance to be useful then he could've won.

Kamakiri roared and kicked a pebble by his feet in frustration. "We were so close! If only I held on longer."

Nusumi glanced at him, then at Tsunotori who didn't look all that affected by the loss but was still sad over it. She started to tremble. "I - it was my fault. I should've - I wanted to - my quirk, but I was – I wasn't –"

Tsunotori placed a hand on Nusumi's head and comfortingly said, "Fight was good. Nusumi don't be sorry."

Nusumi's eyes swelled and she tackled Tsunotori down to the floor. They hugged it out until Nusumi calmed down, while Kamakiri continued to be pissed at their loss.

"THE FOUR TEAMS MOVING ON TO THE NEXT ROUND ARE - TEAM TODOROKI! TEAM BAKUGOU! TEAM TETSU – Huh?" Present Mic caught himself and read over the screen again. He laughed in absolute surprise. "WHOA! TEAM SHINSOU APPEARS OUT OF NOWHERE TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ROUND IN THIRD PLACE!"

Akusa, Fumei and Nusumi paused, a mixture of shock and disbelief etched on their face upon hearing his name. They scoured the field for Hitoshi among the idling groups and spotted him remove three bandages on his head.

"WHO SAW THAT TURNAROUND COMING? WHO EVEN SAW IT HAPPEN?" Present Mic continued to exclaim in utter disbelief.

Hitoshi looked over his shoulder, half facing the three hero students that was too confused to register what he did to them. "Thanks for your help."

A/N: AND SO ENDS THE CAVALRY BATTLE. Shinsou is the only one to move forward while everyone else in general education gets booted form the competition. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter but by god was it hard calculating which points went to who without disrupting certain ranks. I would've kept the teams in like pairs or three's, but I wanted to show the 1-B kids because I love them and they deserve more. Yasogami is based off a friend of mine. Take any lucky guesses as to what his name is a reference to.

Next chapter may take a while, so till then, let's enjoy the weekly updates from Horikoshi-sensei with the Quirk Liberation Army vs the League of Villains to our hearts desire. Don't forget to leave a favorite or follow, especially a review. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks of the story so far and how it'll go. It waters my dying crops. Love, love. Sushi - OUT!