Going the Distance

The warehouse in which Angstrom Levy and the Muller Twins were working in had been busy since he had brought the two large men there weeks ago. Work had been around the clock with the twins and Angstrom's other duplicates, what would take months had been condensed into but a few weeks with both he manpower and the pre-made plans for it to connect across dimensions had cut the work down by more then half the time it would have needed.

"Alright then, are we all set?" One of e twins wearing a pair of goggles asked as the prime Angstrom Levy strapped himself into the chair at the central tower, his dimensional duplicates strapped into their own seats on the branches of the metal tower that took up the room. Each of them wearing a helmet that as attached to the 'branch' they were locked in to while the prime version of Levy adjusted his own headpiece.

The other twin, wearing a lab coat, was by the control board looking over all the equipment readings, "It would appear so, we're tapped into the power grid." he confirmed, giving his twin a thumbs up before turning to Levy. "To think, downloading your thoughts and memories from across thousands of different versions of yourself and expanding your knowledge of not only the multiverse, but changing the course of human history across multiple dimensions." he said in awe.

The Goggles twin nodded as he approached Angstrom's seat, "It's truly an honor to be a part of such a project. This is very well our highest achievement." he said gratefully as he connected a fiber optics cable from the headset to the machine.

Angstrom smiled with pride, "Thank you two for your help, without you two this project couldn't have progressed smoother. Now remember, while I'm downloading the memories of all my alternate selves, the connection cannot be interrupted, we're interlacing the power of all of Japan through my dimensional portals in order to jumpstart the machines we constructed in our sister dimensions and download them as well." he warned.

The goggles twin nodded in understanding, "Of course, you'll also need to keep the connection across dimensions open for us while the machine is working. We don't want to fry your brain with the amount of information all at once so this will take hours. If you need to do anything else, I'd recommend you do it now." he said.

Angstrom took a deep breath he let out through tremoring lips before nodding, "I'm ready…..let's make some doughnuts." he said as he closed his eyes and concentrated. Near the top of the machine, which was easily over three stories tall, the dozens of connector rods had a green portal open up above each one. "Alright….begin." he said, the twin with the lab coat nodded before pulling the lever, the rods sliding up through the portals and into the dimensions each one led to individually.

The twins approached each other as the large mind transference machine began to download, "All readings are in acceptable parameters." the one with the goggles said as he pushed them up onto his forehead, turning to his twin. "Well we have about twelve hours until the process is done…..what do we do in the meantime?" he asked his twin.

"…sports festival is on later." the lab coated one suggested with a smirk.

The two chuckled, "I swear, why heroes decide to show off their powers before they become pros is beyond me. It just makes it easier to come up with ways to beat them later." the one with the goggles said as they turned to the TV they had set up on the wall and turned it on. "Aw damnit! It's not on for another three hours!"

Mako had learned the hard way that Time Zones were a pain in the rear to plan around, it was bad enough that when a show in America was on at noon over there, it would be midnight by the time it broadcasted in Japan. Thankfully, with I-Island being closer to Japan then the United States, there wasn't that big a change in time, maybe about a few hours. However with the sports festival starting early in the day, it meant that both Mako and Melissa needed to wake up EXTRA early in order to get to see it on time.

God why did the Lizard League Rejects decide to try and hijack a cruise ship last night? Scratch that, why would you hijack a cruise ship?! All that's on there is entertainment! You can't steal fun! Fricking losers. Mako thought as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he flew, he could see Melissa and her father standing outside on one of the terrace's that the main lab had. "Mor-YAAAAWWWN-ning." he mewled out as he landed.

Melissa held up a cup in her hand, similar to the ones that both her and her father both had in their hands, "Good morning. Take this, coffee is the best thing to wake you up in the morning." she said, Mako smiling at her gesture as he took a sip.

He nearly choked on it while Melissa and David both took a sip, "What the-is this coffee Black?" he asked as the father and daughter drank it with no problem.

David nodded, "Nothing like the bitter taste of coffee beans to wake you up in the morning."

Melissa giggled, "Blame papa for getting me addicted, late nights in the lab are nothing with a few of these." she said, holding up her cup proudly which her father tapped his against in solidarity. Mako blinked at both of them before looking down at his coffee cup, would it be rude to simply pour out the vile bitter liquid? Probably…that didn't stop him from thinking about it. He instead focused on David, "Thanks for letting Melissa come with me to the Festival, as soon as it's over I'll fly her back." he assured.

David smiled and nodded, "Thank you Mako, I wish I could take Melissa and go myself, but I'm currently in the middle of a project whose deadline is approaching." he said, running hand over his face, Mako noticed that he had bags under his eyes, they themselves also carried a worn look to them.

He glanced at Melissa who was looking at her dad with concern as well, she forced a smile as she touched his shoulder, "It's fine, maybe get a nap today, you were up wince Tuesday."

Mako blinked, "IT'S FRIDAY!" He exclaimed.

Melissa held her cup up, "Caffeine does wonders Mako." she said dryly.

Before he could comment about David's literal taste in coffee however, the sound of shattering glass alerted the three, "What the hell?" he asked, turning to the ledge of the building, the three rushing to the railing and looking down to see a figure hit the ground about ten stories down and rush off down the deserted street.

David's eyes narrowed as he tapped his watch, "I'll call security, drone should be here in a minute." David said as Mako climbed up onto the railing.

"Don't bother, I got this." Mako said before diving off the side of the building, Melissa leaning over the side as her boyfriend fell past the broken window the intruder had leapt through on his escape.

As he fell, Mako pulled his shirt over his head and kicked off his pants and shoes, showing his costume he wore beneath his clothes, pulling his mask down over his face he zoomed after the intruder below. From above, Melissa had a wowed expression from how her boyfriend literally leapt into action, Ok….that was pretty cool. she admitted.

"Congratulations! You're the third dummy to try and break into I-Island! Your reward is a thirty-year sentence!" mako shouted mockingly as he closed in on the intruder.

As Mako neared them, the figure turned, giving Mako his first real look at the intruder, "What the-"

The man had metal components grafted to his skin, his arms and legs seemingly made completely out of metal, with three digits on each, its head was covered with a dome helmet with a red lens in the middle that covered it down to the top of its mouth, which seemed withered and dried up along with the ret of its exposed skin which was limited to its pectoral muscles. It threw a strike as Invincible that nocked him back a few feet, "Ngh, ok, felt that one." Mako growled in annoyance as he rubbed his cheek.

The intruder lunged at the hero snarling like an animal, Invincible flipped back in flight, kicking the enemy up into the air before flying up after him, "Hey buddy don't take this the wrong way, but you look like a walking corpse!" the hero said as he grabbed the foot of the intruder and flew up into the sky, "Alright this ends here, we're going to wait until security arrives to-" he began before the intruder swung himself up, grabbing Invincible by the shoulder and lunged at his face! Biting him on the nose!

"GAH!" Mako yelped as he pulled his fist back and punched the intruder off hi hard, his other hand flying up to his nose to make sure it was still attached. Locking onto the now falling attacker, "Alright that's it!" the teen said in anger as he darted after the falling enemy, intercepting him in mid-air and slamming him down into the ground, making a small crater, pinning his knee down onto the intruder's chest, Invincibles' fists hammered down onto the head of the robotic intruder, each blow making it imprint into the ground and dent the metal!

After a quick dozen punches in a fit of anger, he reached down and grabbed the now dented head casing and ripped it off! What he saw shocked him out of his rage, "Oh…dear lord….." he whispered at what he saw. Beneath the helm of the intruder, was the now beaten face of a man, only with the top portion of his head removed and his gray matter exposed!

Mako stepped off and grimaced, "I…..what the hell are you?" he asked the corpse, it was….long dead, the skin was cold and grey, the eyes were fogged over, whatever color they were now a milky white.

"Mako!" He looked up to see David and Melissa rushing over, hovering out of the crater, he flew over to Melissa with his hands up, "Wait it's…..it's not pretty." he said, his voice having a hard tone that made Melissa stop. He looked over to David, "It's…..well it's been dead for a while but this technology was keeping it…..well, moving." he said, offering the helmet.

David and Melissa looked at it with perplexed expressions, turning it over, David's eyes widened at the interior circuitry and machinery of the interface, "This is….." he looked up and marched over towards the remains, Mako staying back with Melissa, the teen hero watching silently as the father investigated the corpse.

"Are…..are you ok?" Melissa asked him, he turned to her, her face was creased with worry and her eyes looked into his lenses, "You just…..your tense." she said, noticing how his shoulders were tense and his hands were flexing. Realizing she was right, he took a long, deep breath, held it in for a few seconds, and slowly let it out. His shoulders visibly relaxing.

"I'm good it's just…..bad memories is all." he admitted. Melissa's hand reached out to his and held it, her expression softening in understanding as David returned, the couple's hands slipped out of one another's.

He shook his head grimly, "I've never seen anything like this before, I'll have security investigate…..maybe it's a good thing your taking Melissa off the island for the day." he considered.

Mako smiled as Melissa's head suddenly bobbed up, "By the way….where did your clothes go?" she asked.

"…..oh damnit!" Mako exclaimed with a facepalm.

"It's so nice to finally meet you!' Kali said excitedly as she shook Melissa's hand, the blonde girl beaming at her boyfriend's mother as he quickly went into his room to get a new set of clothes to wear to the festival today. After a few minutes of searching, Mako failed to find exactly where his clothes had drifted off to so they had to make a quick detour to his home to pick up his clothes.

He had planned on introducing Melissa to his mother after the festival, but….well he had to improvise. "It's nice to meet you took, Mako's told me a lot about you Miss Metuki." she greeted warmly.

Kali smiled, "Oh honey call me Kali. Did you have breakfast yet? I just finished some eggs." she offered, the aroma of the food making her mouth water and her stomach rumble, she blushed in embarrassment while Kali chuckled, "I'll take that as a yes. Come on, sit." she offered, gesturing to the dinning room table which she sat down at. "When Mako's powers came in? I had to start doubling the amount of food I made, I swear how he hasn't choked yet is beyond me." she said, sliding the spatula under the medium done eggs and setting it down onto the plate, adding a hint of salt and pepper to it before grabbing another plate for her son as she entered the dining area, sliding Melissa a plate.

"Thank you very much." Melissa said gratefully before taking her knife and fork.

Kali looked at her impressed, "Your welcome, and your Japanese is flawless by the way." she complimented.

Melissa's face turned a little red from the praise while she ate, but as soon as she swallowed she smiled, "Thank you, it's not my first language but I've been studying it for years now. My dad insisted, but I'm also learning some ASL." she informed.

"Oh really? I grew up here so I had to learn English when I was around your age, it was the opposite for Mako, but he's been speaking Japanese so long that I think he prefers it." she said as her son walked down the stairs in a pair of jeans and a blue hoodie over a yellow T shirt.

"Yeah well when kids think your dumb because you can't speak their language, you get motivated real fast." he said, pecking his mom on the cheek before taking his seat and digging into his eggs, "Thanks mom." he said gratefully before breaking open the yoke and dipping his eggs inside it and eating.

Kali waved him off, "No problem, oh by the way could you snag some eggs on your way back home today? This is the last of them." she said, circling around the table with her fork, Mako nodded while his mom flashed a smile and took a bite.

The three passed time with small talk, Melissa explaining the basics of the machine that she and her father were working on to help Mako exercise, Mako telling them about how he foiled the lizard League last night, and Kali how she was pressing charges against the middle school that Mako attended. "I mean I hated that place, but even I didn't think they'd ever be sued over how some people there acted."

Kali took a sip of her orange juice, "Honestly I don't know why you never said anything sooner. If I had known I'd have brought them up on child endangerment as well." she said with a aggravated voice.

"Mooom." Mako groaned while Melissa giggled, "Seriously, it's not like I got the worst of it." he added.

"Why Izuku never said anything baffles me." Kali said with a shake of her head.

Melissa turned to her boyfriend, "He's your best friend right? The one whose quirk came in later?" she asked for confirmation. He nodded, making her frown, "I still can't believe that any school would let their students get away with some of the things that you told me." she said in disbelief.

Kali sighed, "It's part of the Culture here, in Japan where some of the strongest heroes in the world are made? It puts pressure on the people here, they think that a powerful quirk can excuse bad behavior." she said sourly. She remembered how at this very table, her husband had tried convincing her and Mako that Bakugo's actions were warranted based on his strength, but looking back on it now? It made her angry with herself that she even gave it any thought.

"Yeah Bakugo…..he's a character." Mako said with a roll of his eyes, "Guy still thinks that it's his world and we're all just living in it." he said as he set his utensils down on his empty plate. He glanced over at the clock, "We gotta get going mom, thanks for the breakfast." he said, taking his and Melissa's plate, zooming into the kitchen to put them in the sink before zooming back over to his mom in a second and hugging her from behind, "Love ya." he said as Melissa stood up.

"It was so nice meeting you Kali." Melissa said before she was embraced by the mother, taking her by surprise for a moment before returning it.

Stepping back, she walked out to the deck where Mako was, wrapping his arm around her waist and her arms around his neck, he lifted off from the deck and flew away at a speed that was comfortable for Melissa. "That was nice." Melissa complimented as Mako held his arm out ahead of them with a smile.

"I'm glad you guys got along." he replied.

"Why? Did you think we wouldn't?" Melissa asked with a small smile.

"No but…..I mean, you never know. I mean it's dumb but I want her to like you." he admitted, Melissa giggling as they flew over Japan. Down below them, Melissa watched as cars and people walked along their way, the highway especially busy in the direction of U.A.

The couple arrived at the school grounds within the hour, the ground blow them flooded with hundreds of visiting pro heroes, press, and civilians alike. Near the back of the stadium however there was less foot traffic, and that was where Mako touched down at, from there it was easy to navigate towards the locker room where class 1-A was located, "Are you sure this is ok?" Melissa asked, looking around as though someone would come out and bust them for trespassing, despite not actually trespassing.

Mako waved her off, "It's cool, I talked with principal Nezu about it, he said it would be fine if I dropped by and didn't mind if I brought someone with me. We can even sit in the Class 1-A section of the stands." he explained as they approached the class 1-A prep room, stopping before the door he turned to Melissa, "You sure you don't want to back out? Some of my friends are weird." he joked.

The blonde tittered, "Says the half alien." she chided.

"Alright yeah just for that? You get to meet them." he retorted before knocking on the door and opening it, the entirety of his class was scattered around the room, all of them turning to the door upon him opening it.

"Mako!" came the collective greeting from the class, Izuku, Uraraka, Iida, and a few others walked over to him, Melissa stood behind him and watched as he greeted his friends.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" he asked as he and Izuku fist bumped.

Uraraka grinned with a competitive aura that still managed to make Mako feel a little unsettled, "We're ready to win!" she said, her friends all giving her a little space.

"Y-yeah, though you just missed Todoroki declaring war on Midoriya." Kaminari said.

Mako blinked, "Wait, what?" he asked, turning to his friend and then looking across the room to Shoto who looked back at him with a plain expression, "What…..what does that even mean?" he asked in bafflement.

Midoriya rubbed the back of his head as his face blushed, "Well….he says he's going to beat me in the competition."

"Ok? But that's….that's not a war. That's….just being kind sure of yourself." Mako replied.

Uraraka shook her head exasperatedly, "Mako you're missing the point!"

"Not really!" he denied before raising his hands, "You know what? Not why I came here." he said, getting back on track and stepping aside as Melissa stepped forth, the support student smiling as Mako gestured to her, "Everyone, this is my girlfriend Melissa, Melissa, all my classmates." he introduced.

Mina promptly fell out of her chair, rolled back across the floor, and gawked at the two of them with hearts in her eyes, "AWWWWW You have a girlfriend?!" she squealed happily in contrast to Mineta's look of absolute devastation.

Melissa's smile bloomed as she bowed her head slightly, "It's nice to meet all of you! Mako has told me so much about you all." she said as she raised her head and turned to Izuku, who gently stiffened and avoided eye contact when she looked to him. "You must be Midoriya right? Mako's told me a lot about you!" she said excitedly as she raised her hand.

Izuku was shaken out of his fluster and took her hand, "N-Nice to meet you." he stuttered out as he shook her hand as Iida and Uraraka approached her.

"And this is Iida and Uraraka." Mako introduced as well.

The gravity user beamed in a friendly manner, "Nice to meet you!"

Iida raised a hand, "Pleased to make your acquaintance Melissa." he greeted politely before turning to Mako, "However I'm afraid that we must prepare to leave soon, the events will be starting shortly." he told them.

The couple nodded in understanding, "We'll keep your seats warm in the 1-A section." he said to the group before turning to Izuku and raising his fist, "See you at the end." he told his friend, Izuku's eyes gleamed in recognition, Mako saying those same words to him at the entrance exam.

Midoriya smiled as he raised his own fist to bump against his friend's, "See you at the end." he repeated back, the two sharing a look before Mako led Melissa out of the room and to the stands.

The seats for Class 1-A were in a prime location, beneath the main stands where the pros and guests where seated, and above where most of the press had good shots of the field. And the section was also walled off on either side so no one could bother the students, "Ok this is way better then the skybox." Melissa admitted as Mako sat down with a tub of popcorn and some beverages for the two of them.

Setting the popcorn in between them, he handed Melissa the soda she wanted and put his own in his cup holder, "Right? I mean it's not front row seats but they aren't in the nosebleeds either." he said happily as the speakers came on.

"Good afternoon dear listeners! And isn't it a glorious day for a Spots Festival?!" Present Mic's voice asked the crowd who all roared in excitement. "The U.A. Sports Festival is the annual event where our young heroes compete in a grand battle! First up! You know them as the rising stars who brushed off a villain attack, the first years of the hero course!" Mic introduced as the class walked out onto the field. Mako and Melissa both clapped with the crowd, Mako watching as his friends walk out as the other classes were announced too slightly less loud a welcome.

As the students lined up in front of the stage, Midnight walked up in front of the Microphone, "Now, now boys and girls, quiet down." she said with a crack of her whip.

Beside him, Melissa's jaw dropped, "That…..that's one of your teachers?!" she asked, her face turning a shade of pink which Mako snorted at.

"Yeah, she's also the student counselor, she met with me after the USJ." he informed, making his girlfriend turn to him, he didn't recognize the indifference in her eyes as anger, but jealously. "H-hey! It's not like…..look I get that she dresses…somewhat inappropriately-"

"Mako I can tell you what her measurements are from here." was the blonde's deadpan reply.

"-but she's talked me though some rough stuff and…..well I like her." he said honestly, Melissa's somewhat crossed expression softening at the honestly he shared with her.

She turned forward and sighed, "Alright…..I'm sorry." she apologized as Mako wrapped his arm around her.

"And I personally think your much prettier than her." the Viltrumite added with a grin, the blonde felt her cheeks flush as she looked away, flattered by the compliment.

"And now the first-year student representative! Katsuki Bakugo!" Midnight announced.

Mako facepalmed, "Oh sweet lord no." he groaned out as Melissa tilted her head.

"Wait….isn't Bakugo the one who bullied you and Izuku back in middle school?" she asked as she watched a blonde student make his way through the crowd and up to the stage. Mako nodded beside her, making her lips purse together, the way Mako told her he had all but tormented her boyfriend and Izuku when they were younger. I mean he doesn't seem as arrogant as Mako said he was. she thought as he reached the microphone.

"I just want to say…I'm going to win." he said plainly, causing the crowd of students to uproar, his own class as well 'boo'-ing him.

Scratch that he's even worse than what Mako told me. she thought as Mako groaned beside her. "He's…..confident….I guess."

As Bakugo made his way off the stage, Midnight began the roll for the first preliminary round which turned out to be an obstacle course race. "Huh…..probably best that I abstained." Mako said aloud, a four-kilometer run around the stadium wasn't exactly strenuous for him. He could fly around the whole place in probably under a minute if he pushed himself.

Mako nevertheless watched his friends get ready with interest, he caught sight of his green haired friend kneeling in a runner's stance. Ahead of the students was a tunnel that led out to the perimeter of the stadium that they would have to make a complete circuit around, "Come on man, I know you can do this." he said encouragingly as the counter ticked down. He knew that his friend had worked out for moths before coming to U.A. but without his quirk he wasn't in the best position, but still some of these students didn't even have quirks that could help them.

When it reached zero, the alarm rang and everyone broke into a sprint…..immediately clogging the tunnel, Mako and Melissa both blinked, "Huh…you'd think they'd make it bigger." she said before the ground froze over with ice, Mako recognized the quirk as Todoroki's as the ice user broke past the stalemate in the tunnel and got an early lead on the large video screen that captured the front of the race.

Melissa's eyes widened in amazement , "Woah." she murmured, Not only did he clear a path for himself, but he made it harder for everyone else to follow him! she thought in amazement before watching as a number of students, including Bakugo, Momo, and Ojiro leapt over the crowd using their quirks to propell them over the ice. Melissa watched as others from Mako's class all pushed onwards, leaving most of the other students behind, They're…..all amazing! she thought.

Mako smirked as he watched his friends push onwards, out of the eleven classes of first years, the bulk of the lead was filled with Class 1-A. He felt a certain amount of pride in his fellow classmates, and even surprise when he saw Mineta of all people hopping across the ice! "Holy crap!" he exclaimed when he saw the ball headed boy quickly close the gap on himself and Todoroki by using the balls on his head to springboard across the ice. "I'll be damned, I gotta admit he's got-" he began as the screen showed Mineta leap towards Todoroki with a ball in each hand, only for a green robotic arm to punch him out of the air! "-a hell of a thick skull!" he quickly changed, seeing the smallest of class 1-A tumbling across the ground.

"What did you think a narrow tunnel was the first obstacle? No dear listeners, the first barrier, Robo Inferno!" Present Mic announced as camera panned around to show a platoon of the zero pointers from the entrance exam.

Melissa nearly spat out her drink, "What the-what?!" she gawked.

"Awww man! I could be fighting robots again?!" Mako complained, leaning back in his seat with a huff, he still regretted not being able to trash one of the zero pointers during the entrance exam.

The pair watched as Todoroki swiped his hand out, a cold frost overtaking the robots, freezing them in place all at once! Mako's eyes widened the show of power, he had seen Todoroki use his quirk during the mock battles, but that was much more controlled than this was, Shit I never knew he was this powerful….no wonder he got in through recommendations. he thought as he passed through the legs of the now frozen robots. However as the other students began to take advantage of the opening he provided, the robots began to tip over! Shit they were off balance when he struck! Mako realized as the robots fell.

Melissa let out a gasp, "Mako were there…..were there students' underneath them?!" she asked, watching the video showed the fallout of the collapsing robot.

Suddenly out one of the backs, Kirishima burst out with his hardened body, "I'M ALIVE!' he shouted, making the crowd cheer.

Melissa blinked before turning to her boyfriend, who didn't seem all that surprised, "Mako…..has anyone ever been…..seriously hurt at the school?" she asked.

The teen thought for a moment, "I mean….aside from Izuku? Not that I know, and that's only because his quirk backfires on him." he explained with a shrug. Uraraka told him that she had sprained her ankle during the Entrance Exam when Izuku saved her, but from everyone he had talked to? Only his friend had been a regular at recovery girl's office. "Why?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing just….kind of find that surprising is all." she admitted, watching as another student burst out from the back of the robot, hi skin covered in metal. "Huh…..are those robots even that though?" she asked. She got her answer when Izuku, without using his quirk, used a broken piece of metal and swung it through one of the smaller robots, breaking it apart, the blonde hummed as she cupped her chin, "I see, they have armor that's made of some sort of composite metal that's sturdy, but the body itself isn't that durable. Must be made out of some sort of carbon fiber? Would explain how they can mass produce them." she mumbled to herself more clearly than Izuku could.

Mako blinked at her, …..am I like….cursed or something? Because it'd make sense at this point! he thought to himself as the rest of the students passed through the first obstacle. Ok but seriously, we're doing good, most of them are up near the front with Todoroki and Bakugo in the lead. Izuku is lagging a little but he's still in this. he thought as they reached the next obstacle, a pitfall with multiple columns of stone connected by thick wires.

However it didn't prove to be that much of an obstacle for some as Bakugo Blasted his way across the chasm, Shoto shaking along one of the cables with his ice, and Izuku taking the same route as many of the others and crawling across the cables from below with the slab of metal tied across his back with wires. The camera turned away from those in the canyon to focus on Shoto, who made it to the third obstacle. "And with that, we've reached the third and final obstacle, the mine field!"

"MINE FIELD?!" Mako and Melissa both exclaimed at once.

"Yes the mine field." Mic said as though he answered the couple's exclamation, "Please note that these mines won't do any serious harm but are loud, flashy, and concussive enough to probably warrant a changing of pants afterword." Mic explained for those at home.

"Oh my god they planted land mines." Melissa said in disbelief.

Mako turned to her, "After the giant robots are you really that surprised?" he asked her with a smirk.

"I didn't expect giant robots either!" Melissa exclaimed with a laugh. She watched the screen as Todoroki carefully shuffled his way through the last obstacle. Her eyes widened, "Wait a second I get it!" she suddenly said.

Mako tilted his head, "Get what?"

"See how Todoroki is slowed down? It's giving everyone else time to catch up to him." she explained, Mako turned his attention back up to the monitor and saw that she was right, Shoto's pervious speed had been cut down in order to safely navigate the minefield. He watched as one of the students triggered one of the explosives and was blown back with little or no harm. "It's meant to slow them down."

"And give everyone else a chance to catch up…but why not just use his ice to freeze over or trigger the mines so he can go on through?" he asked curiously.

Melissa adjusted her glasses as she hummed in thought, "I don't know…maybe so no one can catch up?" she assumed.

Mako's eyes narrowed in thought, if it were just him? He'd easily just fly over the field, that in turn would probably push Todoroki to do what melissa said…..but without him, or anyone else, "Maybe….he's using them to slow everyone else down? I mean if he disables all of them? Then the others can still catch up to him, keep the minefield intact and just maneuver through it though? It still works to slow everyone else down." he reasoned.

Melissa let out a small gasp as she grasped what he meant, the camera panned back across the field and her eyes caught something curious, Izuku was near the back of the field, using the slab of metal to dig something out of the ground. Her mind instantly connected the dots, "Mako is…..is Midoriya doing what I think he's doing?" she asked.

Mako's eyes went to where his friend was and widened, "He…..he's not going to….he's got to just be like….using it to clear a path right?" he asked. He had known Izuku for years and he could confidently say that he was not dumb or stupid, so there was no reason why he would be piling up explosive land mins in a pile…..and taking a few steps back with….with the metal armor held out in front of him…like a shield…for…for…

"Oh my god." Mako said as Izuku rushed forth and leapt onto the pile of explosives! "Oh my god!" the green haired inheritor was sent flying across the mine field! Riding the piece of armor like a kid riding a sleigh down a snowy hill through the air! Below him, Bakugo and Todoroki took off, the former using his explosions to propell him across the minefield and the other his ice to skate over it!

Mako and Melissa stood up in their seats, "COME ON IZUKU GO!" Mako yelled at the top of his lungs, the crowd roaring along with him as the momentum from the blast caused Izuku to dip forward in the air so he was pointing down at the ground while Todoroki and Bakugo passed on either side of him!

Mako and Melissa both fell into a shocked silence, before Izuku swung his feet forward and planted them on the backs of both his competitors! Swinging the makeshift shield down overhead, he slammed it down on the ground beneath all three of them! Blowing the three apart with Izuku rocketing forth to the end of the minefield! "GO GO GO GO GOOOOOOO!" Mako and Melissa cheered on as Izuku ran with all his might towards the stadium entrance.

Mako held his breath as he waited to see which of the three came out first.

His cheers were lost over the crowd as Izuku emerged first from the tunnel.

He picked up Melissa by the waist and swung her around, the blonde laughing and yelling in celebration as he did before setting her down and pulling her into a celebratory kiss. Melissa was taken aback by the gesture but wrapped her arms around his neck regardless, letting the kiss last for a moment before pulling away to see Mako beaming before turning to the field where his friend was applauded.

"I can't believe it! He did it! He got first place!" Mako excitedly cheered as others entered the stadium, Uraraka running over to Izuku while catching her breath to congratulate him. Mako also saw Iida seemingly have a crisis of faith in himself as he had just lost in what was basically one large race. Looking up at the scoreboard, Mako smirked when he saw that Todoroki had taken second place, which meant that Bakugo had been in third. "Oh god today is a good day." he said happily.

Mako wanted to fly down and give his friend a hug and congratulate him, but obviously he couldn't for a number of reasons. Mainly that audience members were prohibited from even entering the field, or that him going out there would immediately set everyone's sights on him which was something he did NOT want after the video of him and his father was leaked.

As soon as the first 42 contestants entered the stadium, the others were eliminated, with all of Class 1-A thankfully making the cut. "The top 42 students from the previous round will move on, and this is where the main selection REALLY begins! Onto the second event, which is…." Midnight said as she turned to the screen which had a rotating wheel that landed on, "The Cavalry Battle!"

Melissa tilted her head with a confused grunt, the screen then showed an image that caused her to cover her mouth to try and stop herself from guffawing, showing All Might being carried by Present Mic and 13 with their arms locked and All Might standing on them. "Participants will form their own teams of two to four members and get in a horse and rider formation! The rules are simple, snag your opponents' headband while protecting your own. The rider is not allowed to touch the ground, if they do, they are disqualified!" Midnight explained.

Melissa recovered from giggle fit of seeing her uncle having to pose for something so ridiculous, "Is this an actual thing in Japan?" she asked amusingly.

Mako nodded, "Yeah, in fact you know how there's chicken wars? That thing you do in water? This is the basis for that." he shared.

"However there is a twist to this version of the game!" Midnight said, making the couple turn their attention back to the grounds, "Each team will be assigned a headband of a point value that's calculated from those on the team. For instance, if there's a group of four who each have fifty points? Their headband will have two hundred points!" she explained. "The student's scores will be determined by their placement in the previous match, so the person who place 42nd will have a value of five, while 41st will have ten." she explained.

Melissa did some quick calculations in her head, causing her expression to drop, "Oh no."

"Meaning our first-place participant is worth Ten Million points!" she announced.

It was as though every single gaze in the stadium shifted onto Izuku Midoriya,

Mako summed up the sentiment that both he and Izuku shared, "Oh…..shit."

With fifteen minutes to decide teams, Mako could only watch as most if not everyone who his best friend approached to join on a team, would reject his offer. "Oh god this is all my fault." Mako said as he leaned forward, his hands around the sides of his head, "If I had just joined I'd probably be able to help Izuku keep his ten million points and just fly up out of everyone's reach." he groaned. That was the real reason why no one was teaming up with him, the ten million points was a target on Izuku's back because if any team got it they would instantly win and progress into the next round.

He felt a hand trail across his shoulders, "Mako, this is not your fault." Melissa said with a hint of amusement. Mako replied with a groan, "Could you have predicted that this is what the second event would be?" she asked. Mako met her with an unsure groan, she patted his shoulder, "You're a good friend for wanting to help. But that's the thing, you're not the only one." she said, making Mako finally look up to see Uraraka rush over to Izuku. Though he couldn't make out what they were saying, the way tears burst out of his friend's eyes and Uraraka smiled told him all he needed to know.

Mako smiled at the sight of his friends, he glanced over to melissa and saw her staring at him curiously, "What?" he asked.

"Nothing it's just…..your really protective of him is all." she observed with a warm smile.

Mako leaned back in his seat and let out a breath, "Yeah that's…something I've been told before." he said, recalling how his father tried to get him to stop caring about his best friend.

Melissa's hand dropped down onto his knee, "That's not a bad thing." she clarified.

"I know it's not it's just…Izuku is my best friend." he began, glancing over at melissa, relieved that she didn't seem offended by his statement, "I've had his back for years because we both got crap for not having quirks when we were younger." he looked down at the ground. "After my dad? I just had my mom, and him…..and I know that I can trust him with anything. He'd never keep something from me and I'd never keep anything from him." he said with a smile.

Melissa smiled as well, "Everyone needs someone like that in their life." she turned to the field where Iida bowed to both Uraraka and Izuku, but walked off, apparently denying their offer to team up. "But if it were you down there and him up here? Would you want him blaming himself for not being there for you?" she asked.

Mako snorted, "No…I'd also like to know why he and my girlfriend were getting so friendly." he said, earning a slap to his back, "Ow!"

"Oh please we both know that didn't hurt." Melissa said with a roll of her amused eyes.

Mako smirked as he nudged her with his elbow lightly, and watched as Izuku was approached by a girl with pink dreadlocks and what looked like an abundance of support gear. "Oh yeah, I forgot that people from the support course can register inventions that they can use in the festival." he recalled, he remembered how last year someone had used what was basically a mech suit to get all the way into the finals before being eliminated.

Melissa's interest was peaked on the girl as she showed Izuku and Uraraka a pair of boots, "Hmmmm, wonder what those are for…..can't make it out from here but I think those might be hover boots." she guessed. Mako leaned forward and squinted, the boots had a cushion around the sides of the bottom that made the underside a few inches off the ground. "It looks like Izuku wants to prioritize maneuverability."

Mako nodded in understanding, "Makes sense, with that ten million points headband? He's basically a target for everyone else, he can't use his quirk defensively, so being on the move is his only option." he reasoned. "Not to mention the other teams are going to need to focus on actually getting enough points to continue on. Izuku just needs his team to play defense the whole time and not worry about offense."

Melissa cupped her chin, "True, and the mobility would also help if they do wind up losing their headband, they could use their speed to get another or get it back." she reasoned.

The couple watched as Izuku approached Tokoyami surprisingly. However once the team assembled into the formation, Mako understood why, with Tokoyami in the front and the pink haired girl with Uraraka in the back and Izuku being hoisted up between the thee of them, they could use Dark Shadow as a battering ram basically. They also all wore the same boots that the support girl had shown off. Izuku also wore something on his back but Mao couldn't be too sure what exactly it was.

Regardless, it was a good team, but they weren't the only ones, Iida, Kaminari, and Momo had sided with Todoroki with him as their leader, while Bakugo had Mina, Kirishima, and Sero to help him. The other teams were comprised of many combinations of students, however Mako was mainly focused on the ones his friends were on. As soon as the event began, everyone predictably turned to Izuku's team and charged, the ground beneath their feet turned to some sort of quicksand like substance, which would normally trap them in place.

However Mako was shocked to see his friend and his team take off up into the air! The backpack Izuku wore propelling them up into the air over everyone's heads! "He's got a jetpack?!" Mako asked with excitement, Melissa's eyes widening in surprise and excitement as well as Dark Shadow flowed around them to deflect Jiro's earphones that tried to strike at them from below.

As they drifted back down, Mako realized that they must be able to fly due to Uraraka's quirk of negating gravity. While Izuku's team avoided the skirmish, the teams that had gone after him directly were now in a scramble for the other headbands. He watched as Shoji, who was using his arms to cover the people on his back in a protective shell, had purple balls shot out from the small opening his arms provided at stuck one of the balls to boot that Uraraka was wearing, "Mineta, crap."

While the smallest of Class 1A was an unrelenting pervert, something Mako had picked up on pretty quickly, his quirk was actually really handy with containing and stopping villains if used correctly. When a tongue shot out at Izuku's head from the cover of the arms as well, Mako winced, "And Tsuyu, double crap." he said as the tongue missed his friend's head and retracted.

With no choice, Izuku used the jet back to blast off again, this time leaving part of the boot behind, Melissa frowned slightly at the destruction of the device. "That's going to affect their mobility but at least they're still moving." she said as Izuku's team landed…..only to see Bakugo flying towards them! "Oh crap!" she exclaimed along with Mako. Dark Shadow moved between the explosive user and the team leader, taking the blunt of the explosion.

As Bakugo began to fall, a strand of tape shot out and reeled him back in to the others on his team, "Oh come on! Sero why'd you have to catch him?" Mako exclaimed, his shoulders and head dropping in disappointment.

His disappointment vanished a moment later as the blonde's headband was swiped from his head by one of the students from class 1B. "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Mako burst out into laughter as he leaned back in his seat. Melissa couldn't help but shake her head at her boyfriend's reaction. She knew that he and Bakugo didn't get along, but it was a little childish.

It didn't stop herself from chuckling to herself.

Mako's laughter was halted when he saw a small explosion of electricity from Todoroki's team, Dark Shadow blocked the blinding burst of energy but the other teams around the ice user's calvary wasn't as lucky as he used his quirk to freeze the teams in place on the ground! Shit he was serious about that declaration of war at Izuku. he thought as he looked up at the timer, they were over the halfway point with six minutes left.

Melissa bit the inside of her cheek as she watched Izuku's and Todoroki's teams dance around each other, "Mako, how does your bird friend's quirk work exactly?" she asked.

Mako cupped his chin in thought, "Well he's able to control that being of his, Dark Shadow, and he's pretty versatile like we've seen but aside from that? I don't know….but…." he trailed off.

"But?" Melissa asked.

"Well with a name like that, I'd assume that he couldn't work out in the light but he's seeming to do pretty well in broad daylight." he said with a shrug. "Why?"

"Because it looks kind of tired." she said, Mako looked up to the big screen where it was focusing on Izuku's team, and she was right, Dark Shadow seemed to be…..well, breathing heavy. "Maybe it can only take so much damage?" she assumed.

Mako nodded, "Yeah that makes sense, I mean my powers aren't a quirk but even I get tired if I fly for too long. Uraraka gets nauseous if she overuses her powers, so Dark Shadow might just not be super durable." he reasoned. He looked over to Torodoki's team, and saw that Izuku was keeping on the left side of Todoroki, "Weird…." he muttered. He remembered that during the hero and villain exercise, Shoto was able to melt his ice with his left side, but the more he thought about it? He's never seen him use-

Before Mako could finish his thought, Iida FLEW across the ground at a speed that made Mako blink in disbelief, the headband that Izuku had now in Todoroki's hands! "What the hell?!" Mako exclaimed, he knew Iida was the fastest of them on land but Mako had never seen him move that fast before! "He might be faster than I am." he said in a whisper.

He watched as Izuku and his team rushed towards Todoroki, but even from the stands he could see Izuku's arm glow with his power, "Oh shit Izuku don't!" he shouted as Todoroki raised his left arm to defend, the air above it lighting up in a blaze of fire!

However at the last second, Izuku's hand brushed the air aside, slicing through the air and blowing out the flame on Todoroki's arm from the air pressure! "YES!" Mako and Melissa cheered as the green haired teen grabbed one of the headbands that were hanging off Todoroki's neck!

However Mako's cheers halted when he looked up at the scoreboard and saw that Izuku's team had only managed to earn 70 points! Damnit! It's not the right one! he thought as Izuku's team went on the offensive once again and charged! Mako counted down the seconds.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six!

Five!

FOUR !

THREE!

TWO!

ONE!

Mako watched as Tokoyami swiped another headband from Shoto, he looked up to the scoreboard, holding his breath.

"In first place! Team Todoroki! In second, Team Bakugo! In third team Tet-er, Shinso! And in Fourth Place Team Izuku!" Present Mic announced, causing Mako fall back into his seat once again. Melissa was in a similar state of relief, it wasn't until Present Mic announced a small break that she chuckled.

"This is the best Sports Festival ever." she giggled out, Mako chucking as well before the two devolved into laughter.

The pair's laughter died down after a few seconds, Mako lifting himself up out of his seat, "I'm going to go find my friends and congratulate them. You want to stay here or grab some food?" he asked as he offered his hand to Melissa. Lifting her up from her seat, she smiled and nodded, "Well you're going to love lunch rush's cooking." he said as he walked off with his girlfriend to find the others so they could all eat lunch together.

"So how's our recruitment drive going?" Cecil asked Brit as the two older men walked down the halls of the GDA.

In Brit's hands was a tablet with information on the new recruits for the Guardians of the Globe, with Omni Man's absence, it was clear that Cecil needed a team to pick up the slack where he left off. Invincible helped out a ton, but he couldn't be everywhere at once. Despite his age, he was their big gun, or he would be once he eventually got to the level his father was at.

In the meantime however, the globe needed guarding, so Cecil had put some feelers out for some potential members. "Well Robot contacted this Kaboomerang in Australia; he seems eager to join. Monster Girl went to Canada to talk with Knockout and Kid Thor-" he began.

"Wait I thought Kid Thor was in Canada, why is Knockout there? She's the United States." Cecil asked.

"They're together. Two birds one stone." Brit said with a smirk, "Don't you read the tabloids old man?" he asked.

Cecil scoffed, "Old man, says the one who fought Nazis." Cecil replied dryly. "Who else? What about Cast Iron in Russia?" Cecil asked.

"Donald got in contact with him, he says he's on board. Bulletproof is heading to China to find Best Tiger, and I'm heading to Nepal to find this Yeti person." Brit explained as he lowered the tablet. "Cecil I'm all for getting some numbers up, with Nolan gone we need them, but do you think this is enough?" he asked.

Cecil nodded, "It will be, I'm also planning on having bases installed across the world too, they're already underway in England, Big Ben is due for some renovations." Cecil said as they entered the command room. His eyes went to the large screen showing Japan, "What do we got people?" he asked, a woman with a pair of glasses walking up to him.

"We've gotten reports of power fluctuations in Japan sir, we weren't sure at first, thought it was just the servers streaming the Sports Festival not being able to hold up, but we've gotten some word from all across the nation's power plants that it's being diverted. We're tacking where to now." she explained.

Cecil looked up at the screen, "When you do, tell me, I'll get Invincible on it."

AN: I LIVE! As does this story. Sorry for the delay, but with the new semester starting up I've been a little busy, plus I wanted some time to relax. But enough of that! Onto reviews!

Devil Dragon Stand Knight: Oh I got plans for that arc.

For'Sleepy: I mean their system as I understand it is 'Screw the rules, we should be allowed to use our quirks however we want!' which I got to admit isn't bad. ut they go about it the worst way.

awesomerebel55: Oh man they're gonna love meeting Allen!

DGrayman97: I honestly haven't taken a look at it since I finished season 1. I have ideas for it but I'm focusing on this right now.

Maelstrom Resurrected: Yeah they're going to interact at some point, maybe not in depth like Deku did with him.

abarrow899: Well not everyone is behind him, it's more like no one knew the full story, but when they did it was like "Oh…so he's not the bad guy…..our bad." As for Mako and Stain, well that's a whole conversation.

Super Comrade: I don't think it's completely resolved, but it's not as bad as it used to be for sure.

MBS41: Captain Celebrety is Christopher Skyline, sorry I should have made that clearer, he's an actual character from the MHA Vigilantes series. And Nolan arrived on Earth 20 years ago, he was busy with something else while All Might was fighting AfO.

Chomuske: Hopefully by now you've seen the reaction.

Sarcasm Sage 626: Well with them having so many members I have to imagine they have people in government agencies, especially when there are actual heroes who are a part of it.

Agent Frank: Glad that your enjoying it and I couldn't agree more! I'd love to read more Invicible/MHA crossovers! Hell, Invicible Crossovers in general would be great to see.