Hey, sorry for the late release of the last chapter. I got lazy again, but I'm making it back up. So, let's the story.

Chapter cover- Peace, Cortney, and Pony in cheerleading outfits.

Ch.16- Reach up

April 19

Today is the festival, we all spent two weeks training for this day. Just as me and Pony prepare to leave, Dad waves goodbye to us.

"We'll be cheering you on, look out for me in the crowd." Dad says as we leave.

"Alright Dad love you."

Waiting Room

We're in our gym uniforms waiting to be called out. A million eyes will be watching us. I can't afford to mess around here; I can't show mercy to anyone, even my classmates or Pony.

"Okay, today we're showing the world that Class 1-B isn't second rate, so get ready to crush Class 1-A to dust." I'm not letting things play out like in the show; one of us in Class B will be standing on the number one spot.

"Yeah!"

As we walk into the stadium, everybody is understandably a little on edge, but we can't be deterred by this; this is completely normal for heroes. I do feel bad for the other classes that got a half-assed introduction, while A and B got the full stops.

Our referee for the games will be Miss Midnight. A complete opposite of Mom in terms of costume, Mom's costume doesn't show any real skin while Midnight is practically naked under her costume; she was the one who made the shown skin law in the first place. Her original costume was literally just utility belts and nothing else, not even some underwear; whoever allowed that must have been insane or blind.

"Before we start the games, would the class representative please step up and give the student pledge, Katsuki Bakugo!" Kachy walks up to the stand, and this going to make things really bad for Class A.

"I just want to say, I'm gonna win." That is all Kachy says before leaving the stage back to his class, I can tell Peace is face-palming without having to look at her and the other classes booing Class A.

"That's Kachy's arrogants for ou." Kachy really thinks he can win against me. Fat chance.

"Without further ado, let the games begin." A roulette appears on the massive screen behind Midnight. It lands on Obstacle Race for the first event. A no-hold-barred, four-meter race around the stadium.

We all line up at the entrance. At the crack of Midnight's whip, everyone runs and gets immediately jammed in the doorway. Knowing what is about to happen, I take a few steps to the right, just in time for Shoto to freeze everything in his way. He freezes some students to the ground and the ground itself, making the floor into a skating rink. Everyone in class A and B manages to dodge it. I can just run on top of ice just fine due to the spikes in my shoes, Peace is burning ice away with her quirk, Pony is digging her hooves through it and is getting ahead that way, and Axel is copying Pony.

The first obstacle we reach are the villain bots we fought back in the entrance exam. In an excellent display of his quirk, Shoto freezes the building-sized zero-point robot solid. He runs ahead as it falls to pieces. I try to follow him, but the robot crumbles faster than I expected.

"CORTNEY LOOK OUT!" Tetsu grabs my arm and pulls me out the way, having the robot fall on top of him instead.

"Tetsu." I whimper out after seeing my first boyfriend get crushed right in front of me.

"Did you forget what his quirk was?" Axel reminds me what Tetsu can do and that he is ok.

"Oh right he's-" Before I can finish my sentence, someone breaks out of the robot.

"I'M ALIVEEE!" Kirishima pops out the robot with Tetsu close behind, copying his line. After seeing that little performance, Axel runs off.

"Axel!"

"It still a race see you at the finish line." Axel says before running off at full speed using Ida's quirk. I run past the big robots avoiding their attempts to hit me and deal with any small ones in my way.

Coming up to the second obstacle, a huge pit with ropes connecting to little platforms of land, I take a second to think how I want to go about this, but Mei leaps off the cliff shoots a grappling hook carrying on without a care in the world, Peace comes up shortly behind and grabs on to her. I just say fuck it and jump the whole pit in one go.

Everything is smooth going until the final obstacle, a minefield. I see Dekuy gathering a couple mines before using a piece of a robot to shield himself, blasting off into first place. I start tapping my foot and wait until Dekuy tries to screw over both Kachy and Shoto.

"Sixth Gear." Just as he slaps the robot part on the ground, I stomp my foot and blitz off while staying away from the top three and letting them duke it out, avoiding any mines.

I finish the race in fourth place, with Ibara coming in close behind me, securing fifth place, "Great job Ibara." I give her a fist bump, "You got fifth place that's amazing." She beat most of class A and also showed just how fast she is.

"Thank you but I could have got a higher spot." Ibara tries to dismiss my claim.

"Let me tell one thing DON'T ever get in the middle of them. They will wreck you." I tell her that she really did do her best. Then the other students start to reach the finish. Axel, Peace, and Pony got in, in 8th, 9th, and 37th respectively, still I can't ignore the fact that Dekuy got first place without even using his quirk.

"How did you score so low Pony?" I ask, seeing how Axel and Peace did so well.

"The obstacles really got me. I was slowed down so much I couldn't regain my spot." I give her a pat on the shoulder, she did her best, and that's all I care about.

Without giving us any breaks, we're starting the next game, which is the Cavalry Battle; teams compete for points on headbands, we need to steal the other teams' headbands to get points which are based on how well we did, meaning I'm worth 195 points and Dekuy worth a whopping 10,000,000, so everyone will be after him, but he's not the guy I have to be worried about. Only four teams will make it to the next round, and I'll make sure I'm in one of them.

We're given 15 minutes to form our teams and come up with a strategy, and I already know who I want.

"Thanks for sticking with me guys." I manage to get the full Breaker squad before anyone else could grab them.

"I'm fine with this so what's the game plan?" Axel actually got everyone and found me, so I have to really have to thank him.

"Ok Axel will be in the front using his engines. Hey Axel do you have that technique yet?" Axel knows what I mean.

He nods, "Yeah just tell when to use it."

"Great Pony, you'll be on my left, use your horns to harrass or make other teams back off, and you'll be the one mainly holding me up to give Axel some slack." I explain Pony's role on the team; last up is Peace, "Peace you'll be our guard, stop any team that tries to steal our headband with your flames."

"I'm ok with that, I do have an idea." I see a cocky grin form on her face, which says a thousand words.

*Horn sounding* That indicates our 15 minutes are up and it's go time!

"Everyone set?" I ask as I put on our headband.

"Good- Ready- Let's start the show." Everybody replies, together, we're worth 600 points, making us a good score for anyone not going after Dekuy.

"One final countdown before the games start, THREE, TWO, ONE." Present Mic counts us down.

"BEGIN." And Midnight starts it.

"Your dead Cortney!" Suddenly Kachy makes a b-line straight for us.

"Why is Bakugo after us!?" Axel is as confused as I am.

"I have no idea, just start running and don't let him get close to me." I know Kachy enough that once he sets his target on someone, he won't stop until he gets them. We keep this up until I spot Tetsu's team.

"Guys keep moving I have a plan." That's all I say before I jump at Tetsu, trying to land his shoulder, but end up straddling his face.

"Cortney, what hell are doing!? Get off me." Tetsu tries to pry me off his face, but I have a death grip on him.

"Sorry but Kachy wants my head on a platter so I'm hitching a ride." I say as I stop Tetsu's teammates from stealing my headband; lucky Neito is dumb enough to steal Kachy's headband drawing all his attention from me.

"Oh good, I'm free, bye." I jump off and get caught by my teammates, "Thanks for the help." I say as I tie a headband around my neck.

"What the-?! Cortney!" Tetsu noticed that he's missing his headband.

"I need the points. Axel find people with headbands." I say, however, most are too dangerous to go after, leaving only one target, the one person I feared fighting, but to keep things stable, I have to take out Hitoshi Shinso.

"Axel, do it." I command.

"Alright girls, hang on." Axel's exhaust pipes stick out as far as they can before jets of fire shoot out wide before narrowing, then turning Blue and shooting us past Shinso.

"What was that?" Peace is left confused at what just happened.

"I overclocked my engine for a massive burst of speed but my engines are clogged now, so I will probably useless for the rest of the event." I look down and see Axel's engines pouring out smoke.

"Try switching to another form." I suggest.

"I tried, but I'm locked in this form." I mainly planned around Axel to be our wildcard, but there's goes that out the window.

"Ok, Pony, Peace can you help finish what Axel started?" They nod and adjust themselves to support Axel with ten seconds left; there's nothing he can do.

"TIMES UP!" We won as a team; we just showed the world the power of team Breakers, I'm on the verge of crying for able being able to get this far with my friends.

"We did it!" Pony and Peace hug me, and Axel gives me thumbs up; we force him into our group hug.

"Thanks guys." I snuffle out. The four teams moving on are team Todoroki, Team Midoriya, Team Bakugo, and us. Only one move round to prove who's number one.

"Hey." Hitoshi makes himself known, I break out from our group hug and hold out my hand.

"Hehe, no hard feelings?" Hitoshi shakes my hand.

"Nuh at all. I'm Hitoshi Shinso." He tells me his name and starts to walk away.

"I'm Cortney Tan, I hope we see each other again." I say before he's out of earshot. I look at all the headbands we got from him, Hitoshi definitely has potential since he scored a lot of points.

Before the final event, we have a lunch break. Mom and Dad meet me outside the stadium.

"You did great honey." Mom greets me and tells me how well I did. Chibi is sitting on her head, panting happily, before jumping off her head and into my hands.

"Hey Chibi, sorry you couldn't participate." The school banned Chibi from the games because he's not an actual student; the school considers him a pet for most things. I pet Chibi on his belly a little before giving him back to Mom.

"I promise to bring home the gold medal for you guys. *growl* But I can't do that on a empty stomach, I'll be at the cafeteria love you." I say as I try to get a seat to eat.

"She'll be a great hero someday." Dad says to Mom.

"Yes, she will. Wanna get something to eat?"

"Sure."

As I make my way to the cafeteria, I spot Dekuy talking to Shoto. I know what scene this is, but I'm starving, so I can't stay around to eavesdrop.

During the lunch break, there are some activities for us to do. They even brought some cheerleaders from America, but they aren't the only cheerleaders. The Class 1-A girls are in some cheer outfits as well. "Hey guys." Their class looked over to spot me, Peace, Pony, and Itsuka in some.

"God dammit Cortney." Peace isn't happy about being in this situation. The girls in class 1-A were tricked; I did this of my own will and forced the others to join me. I have to thank Momo for the work she did on our outfits.

"Why are we doing this again?" Itsuka asks, I normally don't force my other classmates to do things like this, but I wanted an even number of people.

"I thought this might be fun plus, I always wanted to be in a cheer squad. So stop complaining and start cheering, let's boost our class morale." I also have another reason for this, I'm not covering my scar. I'm not hiding anything anymore. I'll purge the evil that holds me back!

After the mini-events are over, the main event starts up again, "Come closer and draw lots to see who you're up against." Midnight holds a box of lots, but Axel raises his hand before the first person can draw.

"Yo, I know this is surprising but I'm dropping out." Wait, why is Axel dropping out? He fought really hard to get here, so why give up now.

"Axel?" I don't know what's going on.

"I don't feel like fighting, and I don't want to give a half-assed fight, so I want someone else to take my place." Axel already made up his mind; he's probably is tired and wants to rest now. I can sorta get it.

"Actually, I'm dropping out too. I feel like someone else will do much better than me." Pony also drops out. I wanted to see her fight and wanted to get the chance to fight her on stage.

"Look like we have to move someone up from the fifth place cavalry team." Itsuka got fifth, but she declines and instead gives it to Tetsu's team. After a little discussion, Tetsu and Ibara are headed for the finals.

After the lots are drawn, I end up against Dekuy in the first round, and Peace ends up against Mina. The rest of the matches are canon, but this is a problem because I'm not sure how to go forward, If I win then Dekuy will not get that scar on his hand, but he loses in the first round. I promise my parents I'd win, so I have to bite the bullet; there shouldn't be any real changes.

"Well look at Dekuy, we're the first match I'm gonna snap you like a twig." I say in a casual tone that sends a chill down his spine. I go on and do some cheering. I see Axel carrying Neito off somewhere after he knocked him out in place of Itsuka.

"Hey Cortney do you have a strategy?" Pony asks.

"No, I never fought against Dekuy so I'll make it up as I go." I know Dekuy analyzes anyone he fights, but I don't know if he has enough information on me to have a solid plan either.

Soon playtime over, Cementoss made an area in only a few minutes. His quirk is really useful for construction projects like this. I switch out of my cheerleading outfit and back to my gym clothes. I was talking to Mom to see if I could use my gloves and gauntlets in the tournament, she was able to allow the judges use of them.

Axel catches me as I step out of the changing room, "Hey, you're going against Deku." I know what he's about to ask.

"Look, I'm just going to see how things roll, if I lose I lose and if I win-" Axel catches me on that one.

"What are you going to do about Shoto?" It's gonna be hard to awaken him if we had never even talked.

"I'll deal with it, if it comes up. But I will tell him he is himself and no one can take that from him, I will make sure to say that to him." I start to head to the area entrance.

"Hm, Good luck." Axel returns back to the others and will be analyzes everything that's about to happen.

Walking through the tunnel, I don't what's gonna happen, but I'm not going to let that distract me from this fight; this is going to show me just how strong Dekuy has gotten. That is what this match is all it's going to be about.

"Alright audience let's cut to the chase and start the finals. Woah, this contestant looks a little scared than we remember, it's Izuku Midoriya from the Hero Course VS, This girl is something to be feared, it's Cortney Tan also from the Hero Course. The rules are simple FORCE YOUR OPPONENT OUT OF THE RING! Or make the other be crying uncle." Present Mic introduces us and explains the rules.

"You know Dekuy, Kachy is going to get his comeuppance once I'm finished with you so just ring out yourself to make this easy." I can see the determination on Deky's face.

"So it's like that, come on then." Once Present Mic starts, I take my stance as Dekuy rushes for me.

Thanatos: Hurry up and finish the popcorn Delaila, the fights are starting.

Delaila: The popcorn will be done in a minute, so while we wait, let's talk about today's power of the week.

T: HEY! That's my line.

D: I want to switch things up.

T: *Mumbles* Fine, this week's power is All For One. A power passed on from one generation to the next.

D: A quirk able to be given. This quirk gives whoever has it incredible strength.

T: But users usually have to be trained just to handle its' power; otherwise, it could just kill the person from not holding power in.

D: A lot not known about it, so who knows what this quirk is capable of.

T: All Might says it's one of the nine mysteries of the world. *Pop* Popcorn done, we'll this here today, but we will be coming back to this until next time bye.

D: Bye souls.