Pat re0n . c0m/NJMRIV ← You know what that is.
I started rewriting my Worm fic, it's much less crackish now. Also, best girl Kaina looks good in the anime.
Now, let's let the real protagonist of the fic have a shot to shine eh?
I am the lowest and the highest 19-16-15-20, I can be the beginning and the final 3-15-21-14-20, but I'm always the first, what am I?
TEAM BAKUGO
"Woah Woah! Hold on here, the rest of Class 1-A doesn't seem to be doing too well! What's happening there?" Present Mic stated in the sudden silence that gripped the stadium.
'What?!'
Mina's eyes dart toward the scoreboard above the stadium, and sure enough, most of her classmates have little to no points.
In 1st place is Uraraka's team with over 1 million points, and 2nd place is her team after they've taken the points of the other teams at the start (primarily due to Midoriya's insistence, giving them four headbands of points).
But the 3rd and 4th spots?
3rd Team Tetsutetsu
4th Team Kendo
Todoroki's not even top 4.
"Mina, need your head in the game here." Midoriya's light admonishment takes her eyes off the scoreboard.
"You better not fucking slow us down Horns!"
"Wha-" Mina briefly stutters at the nickname before rebutting. "My name's Mina Ashido! Don't tell me you already forgot my name!"
"He's notoriously bad at names," Midoriya notes. "You're better off just accepting what he calls you."
"Guys!" Kirishima interjects. "Can we keep focus, please? We're getting close now!"
This whole thing with Midoriya is very odd in Mina's opinion.
Bakugo was pretty mean, she knew that.
However, something about his interaction with the support course student just rubbed her the wrong way. It felt personal, like hate that's been mutually fermenting for years, not to mention Bakugo's rather derogatory stance on Midoriya's Quirklessness.
The guy has a briefcase full of ridiculous inventions. He doesn't have a Quirk, that's pretty cool, she's never actually met anyone like that. Plus, judging by how much stuff he had in that briefcase, he probably doesn't even need one.
What started all of that?
Was this the reason Bakugo's always so angry? Or was it Bakugo's anger that started all this in the first place?
Ugh, too much drama to be thinking about!
Why couldn't they have had a good history? Like her and Kirishima! Pretty much the best of buds they were!
Maybe she could do something about that!
Midoriya seemed pretty cool, if very antagonistic against Bakugo, still, he did come up with a plan. He's willing to work with Bakugo despite their mutual dislike of one another, so there's a chance they can work through it.
Plus, his hair is fluffy!
It's nice to meet a fellow member of the fluffy hair gang.
The only thing she knows about him is that he's from the Support Course, so he outfitted them with support items (which are awesome!). He's also wicked smart! Now, Mina would be the first to admit that she doesn't exactly have the sharpest horns in the school, but even she could tell that Midoriya is crazy smart.
The plan he relayed to them seemed so simple when he told it, but she couldn't have devised any of that. Even Bakugo couldn't refute his points even when he clearly looked like he wanted to.
Midoriya stands at the right wing of their formation, her on the left, and Kirishima in the lead.
All three of them are wearing exoskeletons, each with the same basic designs, black pieces of metal closed around their bodies and limbs to enhance their basic attributes. It's not fully armor since it doesn't cover their bodies completely to protect them.
They're called "ACRE" according to Midoriya.
The exoskeletons have enough space uncovered for Mina to provide some acid on her feet and hands, in spite of that, she's not exactly planning on using her Quirk too much since it's not meant for capture anyway.
Along the arms and back are segmented thin limbs that are retracted that can extend and interconnect with other exoskeletons for extra utility.
At least that's how Midoriya put it, she wasn't smart enough to understand what any of that meant (can you blame her?!).
Long explanation short, weird-looking tentacles can come out of the back and forearm of the suits and connect with each other, super strong magnets can stick them together into nets, to provide better leverage, or like right now, supporting most of Bakugo's weight and allow their extra strength to move quickly without any jostling slowing them down.
In Kirishima's words, "Oh that is so manly!"
But that's not all he had with him.
Bakugo has red and black gauntlets that look a lot like the ones he has on his hero costume, only these ones allowed him to shoot his explosions! Like a cannon that shouts swear words all the time.
Kirishima had on special boots that send out shockwaves through vibration, apparently. Midoriya said that it was supposed to be part of a whole suit, except the boots were enough for her buddy because he could withstand the backlash thanks to his Quirk: Hardening.
Midoriya has a belt around his waist with a couple of small support items visible hanging from it.
Mina on the other hand got… Nothing else but the exoskeleton.
Which was… cool.
On the other hand, why didn't she have some super cool gadget to help with her Quirk?!
Midoriya explained why already, but it was still annoying!
"Mina," Midoriya calmly started, seemingly unaffected by her pout (impossible! Her cuteness should be irresistible!). "I'm really sorry about this, but I didn't have enough information on your Quirk yet to make anything designed for you. You can have a belt like mine if you want but…"
He then scratched the back of his head and his smile got a bit awkward. "I'm kinda the only one who knows how to use this right now. So yeah, sorry."
"Hmph!"
At least she got him to promise to improve her costume next time so that's a plus.
"They're about to land!" Midoriya says, and sure enough, he's right.
Their biggest problem right now with getting the 10 million points is that Uraraka's team is too mobile. They can wait out the entire round by continuously flying through the air away from everyone's grasp.
Their support gear is just too good.
Fortunately for Team Bakugo, they have someone who understands support items like the back of his hands.
"Mei's jetpack can only work in small bursts, especially with the extra weight they're carrying," Midoriya explained to the rest of the team, even Bakugo was intently listening. "Uraraka gets sick if she uses her Quirk too much so she'll only be making their equipment lighter and rarely using it on her entire team."
Uraraka's team gets close to the ground and dirt flies all over the place, Bakugo's team isn't close enough to be affected, but their empowered strides have gotten them pretty close.
"Now Bakugo, give us cover!" The support student orders, reaching to his belt and quickly pulling out a small metal ball with a green stripe wrapping around the middle.
Bakugo yells, "Don't tell me what to do!" Despite following the order.
He points both palms forward and blasts of fire emit from his gauntlets, aiming for the back of the opposing team. At the exact same time, Midoriya hurls the ball low.
"We're not getting past that shield, at least not now, but one disadvantage is that the explosions it blocks will cause a lot of smoke, enough to give us cover. Plus, the smoke also plays hell with the shield's sensors."
The pink shield predictably extends from Hatsume's and Sero's backs, halting the blasts and only letting them explode harmlessly on the shield.
Exactly as planned.
Smoke bellows and covers their advance, hiding their team from them, but also covering Team Bakugo's advance and the device Midoriya just threw.
"Thanks to Tokoyami's bionics, they'll be able to move quickly, they'll most likely jump away the moment the explosions hit and try to take to the air."
The ball passes through the smoke.
"They'll still be close enough."
*BZZZZZZZ*
A noise that sounds almost exactly like electricity sounds through the smoke, and a brief flash of green catches Mina's eye inside it.
Team Bakugo doesn't even pause in their stride, running through the smokescreen and standing in opposition to the team that currently holds the highest amount of points.
Meeting the surprised and panicked gazes of Uraraka's team as their jetpack fails. Except for Hatsume, who's just pouting.
"She sacrificed a lot of protections for the jetpack so it can have enough energy to fly for a long time. But that's also its weakness, all I have to do is throw a little microwave grenade to disrupt that power supply, and poof, it's goodbye jetpack."
Like clockwork, Midoriya's plan went through step by step.
It's pretty creepy how well it worked in Mina's opinion, they're here now though.
And it's time to win.
TEAM URARAKA
"Wait, so you're not going to use the big scary robot this time?" Sero asks incredulously.
That is a pretty understandable question in Ochaco's opinion, the idea of hiding behind a big scary robot for the entire round to protect their 10 million points sounds like a great idea.
An idea that sadly, is shot down by Hatsume as she shakes her head. "First of all, my baby is not scary, she's adorable."
'Adorable?' The three Class 1-A students silently questioned the validity of that statement.
"And secondly, bringing her in would be a bad idea." Hatsume continues explaining. "ASIA's body is our first prototype. It's strong, tough, and loaded with some capture gear. But it's also not very delicate, we can't risk having her accidentally taking down a team since that could get us disqualified."
"And besides, she can only take so much punishment, I'd like to still have her for the final event you know!"
That may have been what Hatsume said but Uraraka would appreciate having a bigger shield right about now!
Standing against Team Bakugo, she could feel her nerves acting up, causing her hands to lightly shake in place.
She's afraid, the tightness in her chest intensifies as she stares at Bakugo, not at his eyes, but at his hands. The same hands that will not hesitate to blast her unconscious if it comes down to it.
A loud blast followed by silence as her ears ring. Her skin burns as a bright flash of heat washes over her. She could smell smoke-
"No fair Izuku!" Mei's whine snaps her back to reality. "You know our babies more than anyone else! How could you betray our babies like that?"
"Woah wait, wait, what?" Kirishima looks as confused as anyone else Uraraka's ever met when they hear Hatsume's unique way of speaking for the first time. "Babies? Is that like, code for something? Am I missing something here?"
Mina on the other hand squeals and her eyes sparkle in mischief. "Oh my gosh! You call them babies?! That is so cute! Do they have names?!"
Midoriya just hangs his head and sighs, accepting his fate and muttering to himself. "That is going to follow me everywhere, isn't it? I chose this. I chose this for myself and now I must live with it."
The byplay, the awkwardness radiating from Midoriya's embarrassed form, her classmates' reactions, it all feels… comforting.
The pink-cheeked girl (that doesn't have horns) feels her heart rate starts to slow.
It's comforting in a way, like those moments when she's just sitting down and having lunch with her friends. This feels like that, small jokes getting passed around, classmates having a chat, and Midoriya getting embarrassed by Hatsume's bluntness.
It feels normal.
Of course, Bakugo is still there glaring at her headband with a murderous gaze. That little moment of familiarity still gives her enough clarity to take a deep breath and calm herself.
'Stop thinking about it.' She silently chastises herself. 'Focus on the present. We're stuck on the ground level now, I can still keep our support items weightless for the rest of the round, and we're up against Bak-, Midoriya's team.'
All in all, there are worse places to be with around six and a half minutes left on the clock, it could be a lot better.
"So," Tokoyami started from in front of her, keeping his voice low so the other team couldn't hear him. "Do we have a plan? I'm sure I don't need to remind you that Dark Shadow doesn't do well with light."
Ochaco barely suppresses a flinch at the reminder.
When they were sharing information on their Quirks with each other, Tokoyami emphasized that light weakens his Quirk.
And there are only a few things that are brighter than explosions.
"We have to stay on the defensive," Ochaco decided. "Hatsume, is the jetpack completely busted?"
"Break my babies would he?" Hatsume grumbles before answering. "I put in an emergency backup power source in it just in case the main one gets fried, it doesn't last very long though. It's supposed to be for emergencies and it only has power for 30 seconds. Izuku doesn't know about that since I added it on my own."
'30 seconds…'
That would mean that they'll only have one shot for a quick getaway if they get in a pickle again. The round isn't close to being over yet and they still have plenty of competition running after them as they speak.
It's a scary thought to have when going up against the guy who wouldn't hesitate to blow her up, but their best chance right now is-
"We need to be isolated with them," She grimaced as Sero chokes at the very idea. "That sounds crazy, but it's better to only be chased by them instead of having to worry about everyone else. Somehow, we have to-"
As if the universe itself was slighting her, the screeching of wheels against the dirt interrupts her strategy.
She looks over and the moment she sees who it is. As soon as her eyes catch a mop of red and white hair,
She just knows that this dire situation suddenly got a whole lot worse.
Differently colored eyes coldly glared at her, almost as cold as Todoroki's voice and ice.
"I'll be taking that now."
"Well," Sero's tone perfectly captures just how nervous they all are. "This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"
TEAM ?
Neito Monoma likes to think that karma prefers to be fair.
For example, if one class from UA were to get into an attack from villains and not only survive the attack but also win the conflict, then they deserve some compensation from it.
This is exactly what happened with Class 1-A.
Now, in the beginning, he genuinely did feel bad for them, all of Class 1-B did. They weren't asking to be attacked by villains so soon after getting into UA and they certainly weren't asking for their homeroom teacher to get hurt.
Some of his classmates felt angry at the villains, some felt sorry for the other hero class for going through such an ordeal, while others like himself felt like perhaps they deserved some sort of compensation for their troubles.
Their increase in popularity in the public eye is karma's way of paying them back for their troubles.
Monoma was pretty jealous, he could admit that. But Class 1-B would prove themselves too in time, so he mainly just focused on his own class.
Then that day happened.
When Class 1-A's classroom entrance was flooded with students, some of Monoma's classmates were curious about how Class 1-A, a little glimpse at the competition as the day of the Sports Festival got closer.
He happened.
That arrogant, selfish, narcissistic, conceited, pompous bully Bakugo.
What kind of hero would lord over his status to others? Calling them "background characters" and "extras"?
What sort of wires get crossed in someone's mind to make them so self-absorbed that they imagine themselves as the main character of some story? How full of themself do they have to be?
Saying that Monoma, his classmates, and any other student in UA were just nobodies?
Bakugo's declaration at the beginning of the festival certainly didn't help matters.
Is that the kind of people Class 1-A is like? Do they think themselves better than anyone else because of something that endangered their lives?
Well, Monoma's not one to take that sitting down.
The Class 1-B blonde student is no background character, NPC, extra, or whatever the hell that cocky bastard would like to label him as.
Does Class 1-A want all the attention and glory?
Fine.
Let them have it.
Let them show off their Quirks and abilities, and let them ride high on the cheers of the audience as they dazzle the masses. Let these horses chase the carrot for that prize, too oblivious to what's happening behind them.
Because when the time is right, the stick will drop.
He'll be there to trip them up right before the finish line.
Everyone loves an underdog after all.
Sadly, not everyone in his class thought to do it the same way.
A bright flash and the loud buzzing of electricity catch the eyes of everyone in the stadium, including Monoma's blue ones. Everyone who isn't currently being electrocuted anyway.
The hair on his arms rises up at the electric charge even though he's at a safe distance, teams from both classes spasm and scream as they get shocked by thousands of volts of electricity (no way is it over a million, they'd be dead if that was the case, another sign of Class 1-A's delusions of grandeur).
Barely a second later, the temperature then drops as ice spreads around the place that was shocked.
Their feet are frozen in place and Todoroki's team just runs by them and takes a few points with him. Icebergs erupt from the ground behind the team and they disappear from view.
Monoma shakes his head in disappointment as he sees some of his classmates get trapped in the ice.
It's just a shame that most of his classmates didn't want to do things his way.
"How convenient," The rider on Monoma's back blankly utters. "They're all cozy behind the wall and leave all these points outside for us."
It must be a confusing sight to see Monoma work with someone that isn't one of his classmates but sometimes needs must.
The blonde shrugs before answering. "I told you, they only chase after glory, they'll get their comeuppance soon enough."
"And you're sure you don't just have a hate boner for them?"
Ha! As if those arrogant glory seekers deserve his attention, he's just planning on taking them down a peg, that's all.
Before he could articulate that, he gets beaten to the punch. "Oh yeah, he does, and it's a big one." Kosei Tsuburaba says first. "Heh, you should've heard him in class a couple of days ago, he was ranting like they shot his dog or something."
No, he wasn't!
Then, Sen Kaibara betrays his classmate as well. "I don't like Bakugo just as much as the next guy, but you just took it on a whole nother level."
… Traitors, both of them.
Do they have no sense of camaraderie?
"While this conversation is pretty riveting, we could be getting points right now." The rider says in his tired voice.
It was more on a whim than anything when Monoma decided to ask him to join their team, he just saw Ochaco Uraraka take one of his chosen team members and felt that was as good a reason as any to take him in.
He obviously saw how self-centered Class 1-A was with that little stunt.
They run towards the trapped teams as Monoma briefly contemplates what he knew about the General Education student.
He was defensive the entire time that they talked. Monoma had never even met the guy but he spoke like he was expecting insults like he was going to get blown off before he can even say his piece.
As far as the blonde was concerned, there was no reason for any hostility between the two.
They have a mutual dislike of Class 1-A and they planned on sticking to the background the entire time, that was enough for an alliance.
Sure, his Quirk did have some scary applications but all Quirks do.
Being judged by something you were born with was just idiotic in Monoma's opinion. Just look at him, his Quirk was only strong in the right circumstances, and against someone Quirkless like that Midoriya guy then he's pretty much equal to them, if not weaker.
So, there was no judgment when Shinso revealed his Quirk. His classmates didn't judge too since they are just nice like that.
They aren't bullies or thugs like Bakugo.
Getting close to the ice-trapped students, Monoma suppresses a slight wince as he realizes that he'll have to steal from some of his classmates as well.
'All is fair in competition.' He reassures himself.
"Well Shinso," He turns his head and addresses the tall rider on his back. "Would you do the honors?"
Shinso only glances at him for an instant before facing looking forward again, feeling pretty awkward about having someone speak to him without being afraid.
The purple-haired student takes a deep breath before speaking loudly enough to be heard by the team closest to them, Togaru Kamakiri's two-man team with Pony Tsunotori to be exact.
"Hey, you wanna see something cool?"
'I apologize for this. This is a competition, and I'm not willing to hold anything back.'
"Wha-"
IZUKU
'Now then, how will you react Uraraka?' Izuku idly thinks to himself.
His feet are constantly in motion as all three teams that are alone now, zip around the battlefield at varying speeds.
Ida's Quirk from Todoroki's team is boosting them greatly with powerful propulsions from his engines.
Tokoyami's bionic legs strengthened his strides along with the hover boots on Mei and Sero's feet allowing Team Uraraka to essentially glide around to avoid both teams coming for them. Their strides are unpracticed and hurried, only a small amount of luck is stopping them from accidentally exiting the arena and getting disqualified.
And finally, his team with their endoskeletons provides enhanced basic attributes to keep them moving around quickly (and some small nerve manipulations that his team didn't need to know about to keep them semi-synchronized).
Teaming up with Bakugo only hurts his soul just a wee bit now, not a lot like he's half expecting.
It's necessary for the long run, a little to himself to help him move on from those little phantom feelings of hate still creeping around, and a lot to Bakugo.
Quite frankly, Bakugo's just not growing up.
Izuku's already killed any sort of the old dynamic between them, but Bakugo, in his classic stubborn fashion, just can't let himself move forward.
It's within his expectations, it doesn't make it any less annoying.
Winning is really the only thing that Bakugo ever remembers.
So what would be more memorable today than a victory by Izuku's hands?
While he thinks that, there's also another thing he's thought about.
Regardless of what Izuku changed, the students of Class 1-A will still always find their way into the light and darkness of what's coming.
Without all the losses they would suffer through, there is still this sort of magnetism around them that Midoriya could sense after such a long time in the game. Class 1-A will still be in the middle of everything that's about to happen, only this time with a brighter outlook for tomorrow.
The day that was supposed to start the worst days of their lives became something to take inspiration in for them.
The USJ went from a nightmare that haunts them till death to something that empowers them instead. They've had a taste of the evils of the real world and walked away with their lives, and now they're becoming stronger because of it.
This is impressive since some of them were already pains in the ass in the future without this fire burning inside them.
And Uraraka being one of them.
Actually, it's more of a pain in the arm for her.
That girl has talents, potential, and sheer will that are currently not yet realized, but with the right motivation and the right circumstances…
Perhaps those can be aimed at more ameliorating pursuits.
And she'll be looking back on it with him being one of the reasons she went down that path.
So, here it is.
Two teams with the strongest members of Class 1-A gunning straight for her, will she buckle? Or will she grow past it and become that fearless hero she was destined to be in another life?
"Get back!" Izuku warns his teammates.
They jump back as the ice goes through where they were standing just a second ago. Team Todoroki barely pauses as they use the brief breathing room to charge straight for Uraraka.
Her strategy so far isn't so bad, their team is keeping to Todoroki's left side so he wouldn't be able to use his ice on them unless he wants to freeze Ida too, and since Todoroki intends to get the ten million points without competition, he has to use his Quirk on Bakugo's team to keep them away from them both.
With simple positioning, she's reducing the chance of this becoming a two versus one against her team and at the same time, mitigating the risk of being stuck in place by Todoroki's troublesome Quirk.
Too bad it isn't enough.
Izuku reaches down towards his belt and pulls out a small a stick sized grenade. "Alright, we got some space. Remember, try and keep the sun behind you. You up for this Bakugo?" Izuku asks his old friend(enemy).
"Of course I am! Just give me that shit!" Bakugo snatches the bomb from his hand and puts it in his mouth. He bites down on its middle and holds it between his teeth, and stands on the connected metal limbs below him.
"Have a safe trip!" Kirishima says to Bakugo.
"And get us that ten million points!" Ashido cheerfully continues.
It's very weird to see these two so optimistic. The last thing Izuku remembers from both of them is…
Well, being dead, before that was slightly jaded.
"One." Izuku starts the count.
The metal appendages between them shift to something more akin to a net, their segmented nature allowing them to bend to accommodate the change.
"Two." The three carriers plant their feet as a small yet noticeable sound of whirring comes from the metallic limbs.
"Three!"
The net throws Bakugo straight in the air, at just a slight angle towards their target. Explosions are already coming out of his palms to control his descent.
The reason why he needs to be so high up is simple.
With Tokoyami's Quirk focused on trying to keep Todoroki at bay and the shields protecting their backs,
Their only option is to attack where they can't defend from.
"Let's go!" Kirishima screams as they charge forward.
They can't let him touch the ground after all.
OCHACO
For all intents and purposes, they're doing pretty well so far.
"Back off!" Dark Shadow screeches as he once again pushes back Todoroki's team, safe from Kaminari's Quirk thanks to the insulated blanket Sero was able to steal from the other team with his tape.
It was a brief window right after the other teams got trapped and it was a snap decision she just made. After Tokoyami reminded her that his Quirk gets weaker and meeker in the presence of light, the blanket looked perfect for giving Dark Shadow some shade and protecting him from Kaminari's electricity.
So now with Dark Shadow wearing the blanket like a hood, he can keep Todoroki's team at bay much easier.
And that's all they need to do.
"Three minutes remaining and Team Uraraka is still holding on strong to their ten million points!" Present Mic's announcement does help her calm down just a bit.
Three minutes, they just have to hold on for three minutes. Then they're home free.
But when is it ever easy?
Just as she's wondering about Midoriya's team-
"Look out!" Hatsume's voice sends a small wave of panic inside her.
Look out for wha-
*BOOM*
Ochaco likes to think that she's brave, she's faced real villains already, so what else could there be to fear?
Panic is a different thing from fear. Panic is instant, it causes one's body to move through instinct, like instantly moving away from a hot stove when the oil in it starts to pop.
She looks up as soon she hears the explosion, she squints as the sun shines down on her eyes. It's around 11:00 to 12:00, and the sun is shining brightly over the spectators' heads.
Only the center of the stadium itself where the participants compete has no roof.
It's because of this that she reacted just a little too late. Uraraka's squinted eyes only catch a silhouette of something in the air, its shape familiar and she would've recognized who it is if she had just a little more time.
With a blast directed behind him, Bakugo rockets toward them at high speed, not even giving her time to come up with a retaliation plan.
In no time at all, he gets close, really close.
He puts his full weight on top of them, causing them all to slightly tumble and yelp in shock. Her eyes widen and her pupils dilate in panic and horror as she sees exactly who it is.
"Wha- Bakugo?!" Sero cries out in surprise.
Red eyes glare at her with nothing except hatred and contempt as her heart skips a beat. Standing right in the middle of the three carriers is the last person she wants to be close to. There is something in his mouth but her adrenaline-filled mind couldn't make sense of it.
Ochaco likes to think that she's brave.
But at that moment, as Bakugo's palm headed straight for her head, she could only do one thing.
Panic.
A shrill cry escapes her throat and her hands desperately shoot up to defend her face from the pain and burn that it will definitely feel.
"G-Get away!"
She just knows there's nothing she could do now. She's not strong enough to fight him off, tough enough to take an explosion, or fast enough to dodge or tag him with her Quirk.
She can already feel the burn and the ringing in her ears. Smoke filled her lungs and she can't breathe, and everything was blurry, and she can't think and-
The palm meets her forehead.
She braces for the pain and the force that would throw her head back and knock her brain across her skull.
Then Bakugo yanks the ten million points from her head!
Her eyes shoot open as the headband's tie unravels from her head. She sees Bakugo's mouth open and drops whatever it was that was in his mouth to the ground below. His glare never left his face.
Much more importantly.
He took her points.
He took her points!
Before she can even desperately grab it back and before Sero can attempt to shoot tape to either grab the points back or tie Bakugo up, he leaps away.
A long metal tentacle(?) suddenly comes out of nowhere and grabs him by the back of his shirt with four fingers that extend from the tip. The tentacle begins to retract with a clicking sound, right back to his team who are quickly passing by. He's put back down into his team's position with the winning headband in hand, which he promptly ties around his neck.
"Oohhh! And Bakugo drops from the skies to take the points away from Uraraka!" A sentence that brings dread to Uraraka only causes more excitement for the audience. Thousands of people cheered for the loss of her chance of winning.
Her despair goes unnoticed or uncared for by the masses who only came here for their own entertainment.
"Sorry! Can't exactly let you win!" Midoriya shouted as they pass by fast with their empowered suits.
Her friend, who is not pulling any punches for the competition, then throws something in the air toward Todoroki's team, who were watching stunned at the unexpected maneuver.
Before she could see what Midoriya threw, her team got another unpleasant surprise.
A sound like a balloon getting filled up comes from below them, a thick gray foam-like substance releases from the grenade and it rapidly expands to encompass their feet, the hover boots get completely covered in two seconds, and their legs in four.
"What is this?!" Tokoyami could only ask as he struggles with the foam on his feet, his attempts at escaping only causing his pants to stick to more foam.
"It's high-density polyurethane!" Hatsume explained absolutely nothing to them with that sentence.
"It's what?!" Sero questions.
"It means we're stuck." Uraraka only whispers it, but the other three all heard it. She may not have understood the term Hatsume used, but the panic in the pink-haired girl's voice paints a clear picture of their chances of escaping.
Or at least, escaping on time.
"And Uraraka's team is suddenly left with zero points with only one and a half minutes left on the clock! And it looks like they're not going anywhere either, is this the end for them?!"
"Based on the fact that they're trapped in high-density polyurethane with no way to escape, they aren't going anywhere. This may very well be the end of the line for them." Professor Aizawa logically pointed out.
"You hear that folks? Eraserhead has absolutely no trust in his students!"
"That is not what I said!"
Her heart sinks to her stomach as she stares helplessly at the stuck feet of her teammates. Dark Shadow even comes back and tries to rip the foam apart with his claws with little success, they only entangle themselves into the foam.
"Can't get this thing off!" Dark Shadow told them.
She kinda already figured that would be the case.
So what now?
They're locked in place with no way to escape.
'I won't be left behind!'
That's what she told herself, that's what she promised to herself. Her competitive spirit burned at the mention of the sports festival, she wanted to win, to prove to herself that she could make it far.
They have no points.
Like an idiot, she didn't bother getting any other points. She thought that she just needed to hold on to the ten million points headband and she'll be set for the third event. Why did she ever think she could hold on to it against the likes of Todoroki and Bakugo?
And they have no more plans.
'Is this it?' She morosely thought to herself as a melancholy feeling sank down on her chest. 'I… lost?'
She didn't want to give up, what could she do?
In just a swift moment, Bakugo just jumped off his team and unto hers to grab the-
A jolt goes through her as an idea strikes her mind.
"30 seconds." She murmured, her eyes wide as she remembers the last item she could still use, an item that she completely forgot in the heat of the moment.
The jetpack behind her.
"Sero!" She shouted, invigorated by her last chance.
Not expecting the sudden shout, Sero jumped a little before responding. "What?"
"Can you make a double-sided tape?" She asks in a rush.
"What? Y-Yeah. Why-"
She brings her fingertips together to return gravity to their support items, she'll get nauseous if she goes along with her plan with them still weightless. "No time! Just wrap one around my hand! Leave my fingers free!" She then puts her left hand out and shook it.
"Ok! Ok! Here."
He brings an elbow up and does as she says, in just a few seconds she now has a hand wrap entirely made up of double-sided tape. The stickiness around her limb feels very uncomfortable but it doesn't matter.
"What are you trying to do?" Tokoyami asked while still trying to get unstuck.
Hatsume answered for her, sort of. "Hehehehehe! It looks like my babies will save the day again!" She proclaimed almost smugly.
And has every reason to at this point.
"Tokoyami!" Uraraka continues. "Get me on Dark Shadow's back and have him take me up higher!"
This plan could go wrong in so many ways, she could accidentally crash to the ground and disqualify them, she could accidentally crash and get herself seriously hurt, or she could just fail entirely.
Yet none of that matters now since they'd just lose anyway if she doesn't do anything.
Dark Shadow gets in front of her and she climbs up on his back. Surprisingly, his skin(?) feels soft in an odd way, fur with the texture of feathers, in any other scenario, she would've loved to lay down on it like a pillow.
Now is not the time for that. Now she has to try and get her points back with a half-cooked plan she came up with on the spot.
If Bakugo can leave his team behind to get points without getting disqualified,
"Wait a minute. Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Sero asked a question that he already knew the answer to, nevertheless, he still wanted to confirm.
Then so could she.
"We have less than a minute left in the clock and we have no points." Uraraka's voice is firm this time, with none of the fear she had from when Bakugo attacked her in sight. "Just reel me back in when I get our points back."
Her eyes focus on her target as she angles her body just right. They're pretty far away, almost far enough to reach the edge of the ice wall surrounding them.
Midoriya's team is simply hanging back, which tells her that Bakugo must've not been the one that called the shots. From what she knows about him, he's the kind of guy that keeps on pushing for more, the kind of guy that doesn't stop beating on someone until he's satisfied.
Which makes it hurt a little when she knows that it was Midoriya's plan to attack her like that.
This is a competition so she understands the need for it, still, that's another betrayal to add to the list.
She's been getting a lot of those today.
Meanwhile, Todoroki has a grimace on his face, he looks to be in some sort of pain. Uraraka can confidently guess that the three disks are attached to the right side of his body, one on his face and two on his arm.
Those must've been what Midoriya threw earlier.
His left hand is pulling on one of the disks on his arm, she can see his skin stretch with the effort. Whatever that thing is, it's steaming and it's not coming off.
She didn't have time to think about what it was doing or whatever they were planning. She sees Ida say something to Todoroki but she can't afford to second guess her decision now.
She only has "45 seconds!" left, and it has to be enough.
With her right hand, she grabs the handle of the jetpack and gets ready. She only has one shot at this and she can't afford to mess up.
"Hey, Uraraka."
She side-eyes Hatsume as she called her, her voice sounding different. Hatsume's smile is wide as ever as if there's nothing to worry about or fear in the world.
There was something familiar in her voice though. The same tone that Uraraka had when she promised to not get left behind. The drive for victory, the drive to catch up, and the drive to stick it into a pretty smug friend that they have.
"Show him we're not to be taken lightly."
She gets a wide grin and a resolute nod.
If Midoriya didn't want her to go all out against him then he shouldn't have teamed up with Bakugo.
'Now or never!'
She takes a deep breath.
Makes herself float with her left hand, careful not to stick the tape-covered appendage to her clothes.
And pressed the button for the jetpack.
*FWOOOOOSH*
The jetpack shoots out a familiar intense burst of air, shooting her forward like a bullet from a railgun.
Before this, the jetpack had to carry her weight along with the importance of the other support items her team had, the weight of the others was removed. Now though, because she applied anti-gravity to herself, the jetpack went forward much faster than before.
She screws up her eyes as a powerful breeze hits her face at the speed she's going at. Her wrapped-up hand came up to shield her eyes and to be able to grab her prize quickly as soon as she meets Bakugo head-on.
She's moving fast, faster than she's ever moved in her life. Being unused to going at such speed combined with the strain of using her Quirk is already causing her stomach to do flips and cartwheels. The familiar experience of wanting to puke is already slipping up to her throat, but she forces it down.
The world loses focus and becomes unclear around her as her eyes fail to adjust at this speed, the ice, audience, and dirt become blurred so much that she can't recognize them.
Despite that, her eyes never lose focus on her target.
She turns off the jetpack as she nears them, her momentum would be good enough to take her the rest of the way. She wouldn't want to knock him off his high horse.
She's coming up on the right side of their formation, the side where Midoriya is.
He whirls his head around, and in a rare moment from his usual calm demeanor, his eyes go wide in shock.
Uraraka gets close and-
/
-Brings down the knife as hard as she could toward Midoriya.
If anyone were to tell her that one day, despite wanting to be a hero, she'll try and kill someone with no remorse, she'll deny it with all her heart.
Yet, here she is.
Taking part in a push against the League of Villains, the same villains that killed so many of her old classmates all those years ago.
She would've denied ever becoming a killer, becoming just like Himiko Toga or Izuku Midoriya.
Yet, here she is.
Trained in knife fighting and assassination, some of the many tools that the heroes are now permitted to use after they've lost so much. Every bit of optimism squeezed out of her soul, replaced with stoicism and obedience toward duty. Wearing a tactical suit instead of a hero suit.
And eyes with cold killing intent clear behind them.
The attack she's taking part in has many purposes and the heroes all have different duties.
But hers is something special.
"Gah!" Midoriya screamed in pain he brings up his arm, aiming to block the knife with his gauntlet. What happened instead was that the knife stabbed right through it, burying the knife in his forearm. Sparks come out of the broken item as its insides got torn up.
Her task is to get rid of the man that's building inventions for the league.
Hatsume used to want to build tools to save people, and to help the heroes. But just like everyone Uraraka knew these days, she had to make compromises now.
Keeping up the attack, she quickly brings her other hand up and grabs him by the upper arm, using her Quirk at him at the same time.
She brings his arm over her shoulder to throw him to the ground in a move she's practiced hundreds of times.
Midoriya responds quickly though, as he's being thrown over her shoulder, he's already brought out his own knife from his belt and with clean efficiency, he brings it down on her forearm. It bypasses the armor of the suit and gives her a taste of the pain she brought to Midoriya.
She screams in pain and lets go of him, grabbing onto the new wound on her arm.
'He's got one too.' She chides herself. Of course, he'd have one. He has shown consistently that he's prepared for almost any scenario that they could throw at him. She should've known better.
Sloppy.
The villain spins through the air in zero gravity for about thirty feet away, she couldn't bring him to the ground but she did manage to throw him away before he could retaliate with another gadget.
He brings a hand down to his utility belt and presses the button in the middle of it. His entire body briefly grows a dim red before it disappears. He then begins to fall to the ground, her Quirk being canceled by his personal Quirk effect remover.
With a graceful flip, he lands on his feet.
They both breathe hard as pain radiates up their arms, staring at each other in contempt. They both reach for the knife stabbed in their forearms and in nigh perfect sync, they pull the blades out while their face remains completely blank. Blood drips down their hands and fingers, but they don't pay attention to that.
"You… Are…" Midoriya speaks through panted breaths. "Good…"
She doesn't speak back, she knows his tricks, He likes to talk, insult, and gloat while in battle. It's not arrogance, it's a distraction.
"Although…" He stands up straight and stretches his back.
*Sigh*
"You're nothing compared to the Hero Killer."
Suddenly, metal tentacles with bladed tips come out from behind him and spear toward her. Extending with a familiar clicking noise.
She runs forward, keeping an eye on the metal limbs and-
/
'Release!'
She gets past the tentacles that attempted to grab her, they were too slow.
Bakugo's eyes meet hers just before she collides with him. The headband on his forehead is covered by his blonde choppy bangs.
To the blonde's credit, he has very fast reflexes. His hands already come up to shoot an explosion and knock her away.
However, she's prepared this time.
She's not exactly trained in close-quarters combat, but she does know Bakugo's Quirk only comes out of his palms. All she has to do is aim it anywhere else other than herself and she'll be a lot safer.
Uraraka lacks the strength to overpower Bakugo so the extra momentum she has provides most of the force.
She grabs his outstretched arm by the wrist with her right hand and she applies her Quirk to him as well as aims it away from her. Her taped-up left goes for the points on his neck. She saw him wrap the ten million there but she can't see which one it is, so she'll just have to take all of them.
Bakugo's faster than her, stronger than her, and better at fighting than her. All those advantages are useless as long as he's weightless.
Her left palm goes for the strips of cloth around his neck and the tape just meets it-
*FWOOSH*
Something then speeds past them faster than she could track. Just as her palm meets the headbands something then grabs them and pulls away very quickly!
She screams in surprise as the points stuck to her left hand get pulled along with the surprise force, almost dislocating her shoulder, she instinctively clenches the points tight in her hand as they start to get carried away.
Along with her.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH-" She screams in absolute terror as she gets dragged away from Bakugo's team at near-terminal velocity. She thought that the jetpack carried her fast, but that was nothing compared to this!
Having no idea what's going on, she just grabs tight at the headbands hoping that she'll make it out alive!
And just as abruptly, she stops.
Her back meets something hard and hairy, whatever she hit yelps in pain at the sudden impact. The vertigo of moving so quickly fogs her head up for a bit before she shakes it to clear up.
'What the heck was that?!'
She looks forward and-
Uraraka stares wide-eyed in front of her as she quickly realizes where she is now.
Sitting down on Ida's back and staring into Todoroki's incredulous eyes, much more emotion than he's ever shown so far. She sees the items stuck on his face up close, some kind of gray disk with a red glowing light in the center, she notices some vapor coming out of the top of the disk.
She only barely notices that.
The relocation, the adrenaline, the fear, it's all too much in a short amount of time.
With all of that having worn her mind down, she can only react at this moment with another move of pure instinct. No thought went behind her next action nor was there any reason why she chose to do it. She just did it because her body told her to.
Her free hand moves,
Bam!
Her fist meets Todoroki's left cheek.
His head gets thrown to the side by the sheer force of the punch. She couldn't have even held back at that moment because her body moved before her mind did. Socked him in the face full strength, and no tooth came flying out but it wouldn't have looked out of place considering just how much force she accidentally put in it.
"Ooooohhhhh!" The audience, Present Mic, her teammates, and most of Midoriya's team all called out at the same time.
Trying to escape before he retaliates (or for her to feel sorry), she quickly presses the button for the jetpack again to fly off.
Once again, jets of air shoot off the bottom of the jetpack, blowing the back of Ida's head pretty hard. His hair gets messed up and his glasses fly off his face.
"Ah! What is the meaning of this?!"
"Sorry, Ida!"
Uraraka braces her feet on the arms of her classmates and prepares to jump off-
Then fire.
Fire coming from Todoroki's left side. Not a lot, certainly not enough to hide the anger on Todoroki's face. His flaming left arm reaches for her, whether it was to burn her, push her off, or do anything else, Uraraka only has one response to that.
'Nope!'
She kicks off the horse just as the jetpack blows hard enough to send her flying away.
But she's made one small critical error.
*RRRIIIIPPP*
Todoroki's right hand was still gripping one of the headbands that they took from Midoriya's team, and they were both holding it by the edges. When Uraraka flies away with the points still stuck in her hand, the one they're both holding on to rips by one of the edges.
With Todoroki holding on to the longer part. The part where the number of points is written.
She doesn't know if damaging the headbands, even just a little, made them worthless but if it doesn't, then she just left one of the points in Todoroki's hand.
Hopefully, it wasn't the ten million one.
Her flight is slower than before since she wasn't able to make herself weightless but she's still able to fly about thirty feet in the air.
'Please catch me Sero!'
None of this will mean anything if she falls to the ground.
Thankfully, just the jetpack starts to sputter, she feels herself getting pulled from behind. Just as she returns to her team, Present Mic announces, "Times Up!"
She lands straight on her back as her team catches her in the foam pool they're trapped in.
"You are certainly full of surprises, aren't you Uraraka?" She couldn't see Tokoyami's face but she could almost hear the grin on his face.
She stares blankly at the clouds as she pants, her heart beating fast after what could've been the most stressful moment in her life, possibly even more than the USJ attack.
"You are insane, you know that?" Sero grins at her as he says that.
Uraraka just chuckles in response.
That was pretty insane of her, wasn't it? Taking a page out of Bakugo's book and jumping away from her team? Getting dragged away at ludicrous speeds from the team she landed on? Punching Todoroki in the face?
Yeah, that was pretty crazy.
"Did you get it?" Hatsume asked with a tilted head. Uraraka doesn't see her tilt her head but she can guess that's what she did.
It would just be in character for her.
Tiredly, she brings up the stuck headband on her clenched hand and looks at the number on it.
Ochaco doesn't even have the energy to widen her eyes.
"Oh."
+/+
"So… We won."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Hey, I keep my promises, right? I told you we'd get first place."
"..."
"Jeez, who are you and where's the real Bakugo eh? He'd never be this quiet." Izuku grins in a very odd manner. Trying to put up a friendly smile but it comes across as slightly threatening.
But Bakugo doesn't respond to that.
Just staring right at his old classmate with slightly narrowed eyes and a straight mouth.
His old friend.
"Alright," The thin veneer of friendliness Izuku put up gets pulled away, leaving behind annoyance as he slightly glares back. "If you don't get on with this then I'm just going to leave."
Bakugo's eyes narrow just a bit more.
Izuku can almost see the gears turning in the blonde's head, thinking about the question that's been bugging him all this time. The question that's eating away at him and excreting out more and more curiosity as the answer that he pretended he didn't care about evades him.
Bakugo opens his mouth to speak,
"Uh…"
And gets interrupted by a female voice.
Both students turn their heads to the open gateway that leads outside the arena and they see two individuals staring at them. They're here because they wanted some privacy, guess that was rendered moot.
Uraraka stares nervously as she feels the clearly hostile air between them.
Todoroki just stares blankly with a bruise on his cheek.
An awkward silence drags on between them.
.
.
.
"So," Izuku smiles wryly. "Is the rest of Class 1-A on their way here for a dramatic talk too or will it just be us?"
Answer: 一番
Affixing Capture and Rescue Exosuits (ACRE) - Exoskeletons that enhance the basic attributes of whoever wears them.
They are tough but not invincible and they cannot act as armor. They use carbon fiber robotic limbs with metal segmented shells that come out of the forearms or the back of the suits that can either grab or push with surprising force.
These limbs can retract and extend to a surprising degree that betrays their initial appearance.
The limbs of individual suits can magnetize or click with each other for the wearers to work together in several fashions.
Merely prototypes for future applications.
Heeyyyyy, how's the fic? Enjoying it? You better be, This shit takes time.