"So this is the burden of being the best..." Izuku noted, feeling everybody's eyes on him, Hilda, and Ben.

"Each team will have a combined total of points based on the individual point value of its team members," Midnight explained. "That total will be the sum of each member. Everyone will know how much each team is worth by the number on their headband. Swipe as many headbands as you can to raise your team's score. Remember, if you lose your own headband that does not immediately disqualify you. You can still remain in the competition by swiping other teams' headbands to make up the loss in points."

"Makes perfect sense to me," Rebecca said, digging through her ear.

"All stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up, so the more you have the harder it will be to manage them. Once time is up, the eight teams with the highest score will move on to the final round." Midnight continued. "You may use your Quirks as much as you like, however, there are still rules. Make a team fall on purpose and I'll slap you with a red card, disqualifying you from the competition. You have fifteen minutes to build your team."

"Oy, Deku, let me join your team," Katsuki said as he put a hand on Izuku's shoulder, much to his shock.

"Bakugou, why?"

"The team that's the most mobile will have an advantage. And with you having the highest point value, we can get another advantage teaming up with you right from the start."

"We?"

"Yup, I'm joining your team too!" Kirby cheered as she leaned up beside Katsuki. "After all, we're a packaged deal!"

"Hey, Deku! Any room for me?" Ochako asked as she came over. The support from the three made Izuku burst into tears of joy.

"Well, guess I gotta split up from Izu..." Hilda sighed before smacking her lips as she looked around. "Now who can I get to join my team?"

"How about me?"

Hilda spun around to see Mipha there, smiling warmly at her.

"Bakugou seems to have the right idea on what to do. Allow me to lend you my strength as well."

"Hey! If Mipha is on your team, let me join!" Nimona said as she ran over. "Besides, I'm the perfect girl to carry your big butt!"

Nimona then shapeshifted into a rhino to prove her point, Hilda and Mipha turning to each other and smiling.

"Ben, let us team up together!" Penny said as she walked up to her friend.

"Thanks, Penny. Glad to see I've got you in my corner at least."

Penny beamed. "Of course, you've been there for me before, haven't you?"

Ben then turned to Hitoshi, who was looking around trying to find someone to join him and an idea popped in his head.

"I think I can help that guy out..."

Tenya sighed as he saw Izuku already forming his team. He wanted to join too, but he figured this was for the best, he needed to strike off on his own. So instead, he picked Shoto's team, consisting of him, Momo, and Denki.

"Shame I couldn't team up with any of the Ten-Millions!" Mei pouted. "But hanging out with my best friend and a girl who is a living smorgasbord of cybernetic technological marvels is the next best thing!"

Fio giggled as she had opted to be the front horse, due to her bulk making her too big to be the rider. Yuuga had also been dragged along into her team after she noticed his belt and couldn't help but be curious about its functions.

"Man, I wanted to team up with Bakugou, but at least we're still a team, Ashido," Eijirou noted as his pink-skinned best friend nodded, the two of them forming a team with Fumikage and Sero.

Shoto tsked as he looked at Izuku, Hilda, and Ben's teams being formed. He didn't have much info on the members who were of Class 1-B and that lack of knowledge would make taking any of the three 10-million points harder.

"Looks like most people are sticking to their own classes," Itsuka noted, having formed a team with Setsuna Tokage, Reiko Yanagi, and Kinoko Komori. "Though a few of us are at least willing to branch out, it seems."

"Well, Mipha, Nia, and Rebecca know Midoriya and Yasakani personally." Setsuna pointed out. "And Nimona is a free spirit, she joins up with anybody she's interested in."

"That girl, Hatsume, is a Support Tech fanatic. Germi is there to reel her in but it is most befuddling as to why they brought in Aoyama of 1-A." Reiko said.

"Well, Aoyama does need that belt to handle his Quirk. Maybe Hatsume and Germi were interested in it." Itsuka guessed.

Monoma scowled in annoyance seeing many of his own proud classmates demeaning themselves to working with the 'glory hounds' of Class 1-A.

"Everyone's foaming at the mouth for what Class 1-A will do. Why are they stars? The only difference between us and them is that they fought a couple of villains. But we of Class 1-B aren't second-rate. We'll win this and take everything from those arrogant snobs' noses."

"You say that, but you just barely qualified for the second event. You were way behind, only ahead of Aoyama." Sen pointed out.

"Kaibara, who's side are you on?!" Monoma snapped before huffing. "Nevertheless, we can come back from this. There's a reason I had most of us lag behind so that we could surprise Class 1-A when they least expect it..."

Mount Lady went to the staff break room to see Death Arms and Kamui Woods talking with a couple of the S-Rankers, mainly Metal Bat, Tanktop Master, Superalloy Darkshine, and Drive Knight.

"The Sports Festival isn't really about how prepared the students are to be Heroes," Death Arms noted, "It's more about simulating the competition they face if they go Pro."

Tanktop Master nodded. "This country's overrun with agencies. If you want to put food on the table, you need to be able to stand out from the other agencies."

"That's such a sad way of looking at our jobs," Mount Lady said.

"Says the woman who's never had a problem stealing the spotlight," Kamui Woods pointed out with a roll of his eyes.

"It's not like heroes never work together. Or combine agencies." Superalloy Darkshine noted. "The first round was all about the competitive side of the Hero business. The second round is more about the cooperative side."

"Yeah. Every point you score counts for your whole team. Which means finding a good combination of Quirks and physical ability is vital." Metal Bat voiced in agreement.

"The question remains...which teams have the best synergy to rise to the top?" Drive Knight wondered.

"And it looks like everyone has their teams now!" Present Mic noted as the buzzer went off, signifying time was up. "They've had their time to talk strategy and now it's time to put things into action!"

Aizawa noted some of the teams formed. "There's a lot of interesting teams out there."

"Now, then, let out those battle cries! It's time for UA's bloody battle!" Present Mic cried out. "Light up the signal fire!"

As the clock ticked down, Izuku looked back to his teammates, confirming that they were ready. They each nodded in reply, determination filling their faces.

"Izuku's got a plan, I can see it in his eyes," Ben said, addressing his team. "We hang back. No sense in being caught in the blast zone."

"Heh, you guys are gonna love what I got planned," Hilda smirked as she, Mipha, and Oujiro, who couldn't find a team of his own, rode on Nimona in her rhino form. "If Izuku is gonna do what I think he might do, then we better break away."

"Alright, regarding Midoriya, Yasakani, and Torekuroshi's teams, whoever is closest to us will be our target," Shoto said. "Just one of those ten-million point bands will get us in the top placement."

"And with your fire and ice, we're guaranteed to move on!" Denki said.

Shoto glared. "That's not happening. I swore NEVER to use my left side in battle."

"Are you sure using your ice is going to be enough, Todoroki?" Momo asked worriedly.

"It will be enough, I swear it."

Tenya sighed, wondering if it would have been wiser to pick a different team instead if Shoto was only going to go at this at half-power.

"THREE! TWO! ONE! BEGIN!" Present Mic screamed out.

All at once, most of the teams started rushing at Team Midoriya. However, Teams Yasakani and Torekuroshi broke away and cleared some distance, much to the other teams' confusion.

However, they soon got an answer as to why they were breaking away as Izuku's hand became shrouded in smokey darkness via the [Dark-Dark Fruit], which he then slammed into the ground at full force, being the front horse while Katsuki acted as the rider.

"BLACK ABYSS!"

A wave of darkness surrounded Team Midoriya. Team Todoroki, Team Germi, and Team Tokoyami managed to stop themselves just in time but the other teams weren't so lucky. As soon as they touched the darkness, it created some kind of black hole vortex but it didn't drag them down into its depths, instead, the teams who were caught noticed something shocking.

"Hey! I can't use my Quirk!"

"Ho-Ho! It seems Team Midoriya has set up a perfect combination of Offense and Defense! Those caught in his darkness can't use their Quirks now!" Present Mic laughed.

"It'd probably be wise for them to escape the darkness if they want to regain some fighting chance. But perhaps this could teach them to adapt. After all, it's not unlike being exposed to my Quirk." Aizawa added.

Team Tetsutetsu, consisting of him, Ibara Shiozaki, Awase Yosetsu, and Juuzo Honenuki managed to break away from the darkness and decided to take their chances with one of the other teams. Heading toward Team Yasakani, Juuzo stomped his foot down, using his Quirk, [Softening], to make the ground in front of him like quicksand.

"It's basically a battle for the ten million points!" Tetsutetsu shouted. "Nothing personal guys, but you're just a target now in this game!"

"It's alright, Tetsutetsu, it's only a game, after all." Mipha smiled reassuringly. "But we won't simply allow ourselves to be beaten so easily."

Mipha suddenly created a massive geyser of water that lifted Team Yasakani up and above the softening ground. This was part of her Quirk, [Wellspring], which not only gave her perfect Hydrokineis but also granted her a magical healing touch.

Ibara tried to catch them with the vines that made up her hair, but Hilda released a smokescreen to cover their escape as they flew across the battlefield.

"So long as we keep our headband we're guaranteed a spot in the finals. So we just need to stay ahead of the other teams." Oujiro said. "Sorry if I'm not gonna be much help on this..."

"Ah, don't worry about it, Maishirao!" Hilda reassured.

As Team Midoriya watched the last of the teams break away from the darkness, Izuku decided to play more fair and dispelled the field. It seemed the other teams had realized how risky it was to chase Team Midoriya head-on and went for each other instead.

"Sooner or later they'll start attacking each other for the chance to fight us," Katsuki noted. "And in the process, they'll start grabbing each other's headbands to lower the competition. A predator always goes for the easiest meal, so we just have to make ourselves too much of a hassle."

With Team Germi, Fio has used her Quirk to upgrade Yuuga's belt, allowing it to absorb the energy that leaked out from his belly button and store it for future use so he didn't have to force the beams out and hurt his stomach.

"This upgrade is tres bone, Madame Germi!" Yuuga said as he fired small, more controlled laser blasts from his belt.

"Hehehe, no problem! Come see me after the festival for any future upgrades!" Fio giggled.

"Hey, I could have said that!" Mei pouted.

Rebecca chuckled at the banter. "Everyone tried to take on Midoriya's team because they were one of the three holding the ten million points. But there are more than just four slots for the finals, you know!"

"Exactly! Why go for the top right now when we can fight for it when it really counts?" Fio voiced in agreement.

"Flying Rhino Style!" Nimona laughed as Team Yasakani continued to soar through the air before landing on the group, seeing Team Shouji approach them with Tsuyu and Minoru perched on Shouji's back.

"Keep those hands near the shoulders, Mineta!" Tsuyu warned.

"Would you relax?! I've already got my hairballs primed with 'em!"

Tooru laughed as she was carried by her team consisting of Kyouka, Rikidou, and Kouji. "Sorry, Yasakani-Chan, but I'll be taking those points!"

"What's the plan, Boss?" Nimona asked Hilda as Teams Shouji and Hagakure closed in on them.

Hilda bit her lip, trying to figure out a plan of escape, only to feel a tingle in her arms. Looking down, she gasped when she saw strange black strands coming out of her wrists.

"Wait...did I seriously get another of OFA's piggybacked Quirks?!"

Toshinori and Tsunade both noticed the same thing as Hilda and looked at each other.

"That's [Blackwhip], the Quirk of Daigoro Banjo AKA Lariat, the 5th User of OFA!" Toshinori noted in surprise.

"No doubt about it. Lariat was one of the few OFA users who faced HIM and lived to tell the tale." Tsunade nodded. "He was even able to give the Dark Knights a hard time back in the day."

Mipha, Nimona, and Oujiro noticed Hilda's new power and were confused but didn't have time to dwell on it. After all, perhaps this could help them.

"Hilda, whatever you're doing, perhaps that is how we can escape!" Mipha noted.

"Well, here goes nothing then!"

She launched the black whips to deflect Minoru's hairballs and Tsuyu's tongue, redirecting them to Team Tetsutetsu, who quickly dodged to the side.

"What the hell?! Since when can she do that!?"

"Perhaps it is a divine blessing from God sent to aid her in her time of need..." Ibara guessed.

"Now ain't that a big surprise!" Present Mic noted. "The judges are passing this off as legal so it looks like Team Yasakani has better coverage to protect themselves!"

Hilda kept blocking shots but with the other teams closing in they needed to get out of there. She and Mipha nodded to each other before the latter created another water geyser to send them flying to the other side of the arena.

"After them!" Tetsutetsu shouted as his team turned to give chase.

"Come on, Jiro! It's time for revenge!" Tooru said.

"Ah, wait, Hagakure, your headband! It's gone!" Rikidou cried out as he took a peek back up to confirm her orders.

"What!? When did that happen?" cried out Toru as she desperately tried to find where it had disappeared.

"Too easy," Monoma grinned as he twirled the stolen headband. "Profiting while others fight."

Hitoshi was looking over at Monoma as Penny used her configuration of Shoto's [Half-Cold, Half-Hot] to turn her arms into a snow blower and a flamethrower respectively, covering Team Torekuroshi's tracks with ice and fire combined.

"Honestly, what's his deal anyway?" Hitoshi asked Nia.

"His plan was to have our class throw the first round, only coming up toward the end. Everyone loves an underdog, right? Maybe in other schools, but this is UA High. We're supposed to be Plus Ultra, no matter what class we're a part of."

"That does sound kind of stupid. The only way it would be fine for someone to do that is if they're going Underground but he seems like he wants to be the kind of Hero who stands in the spotlight."

"A few of our classmates went along with him. Mostly due to peer pressure." Nia sighed. "Mipha and I have been the ones telling our classmates that Class 1-A is not infallible and that they could be beaten."

"Why does Monoma even want to be a Hero, anyway?" Ben scoffed. "His antagonizing of our class after school a few weeks ago didn't exactly do him any favors."

"And you sure made him know that." Hitoshi dryly pointed out.

Nia shook her head. "Monoma has this glorious ideal of what heroism is all about. Honestly, from what I've seen of him, he carries too much envy to be a proper Hero."

"I think I can tell what he's like," Hitoshi noted. "People made fun of his Quirk, just like they made fun of mine. Though unlike me, who wants to prove his merits to everyone, he seems to prove himself as superior with his power."

"What even is your Quirk, Shinsho?" Penny asked.

The indigo-haired boy smirked. "That's a surprise for the final event."

"Looks like we're handling things pretty well," Izuku said, his team had managed to keep their ten-million point band. The same could be said for Hilda and Ben's teams as well.

Kirby had allowed Katsuki to release an explosion in her face, which she inhaled to transform into Bomb Kirby, which clad her in a white dress shirt, light blue overalls, and a blue cap with a white puffball at the tip.

"Hehehe! Nobody can handle double the bomb power!" Kirby cackled, only to gasp when she felt her headband being taken.

"Apparently those explosions have clogged your senses," Monoma smirked as he clutched Kirby's headband in his fist.

"Oh fuckin' A, it's you..." Katsuki scowled.

"Honestly, Midoriya, your class is too narrow-minded. I don't see why you and your classmates went all out in the preliminaries, it just let us see all your moves beforehand."

"Actually, it's so that the Pros watching know what kind of Heroes are coming from the next generation," Izuku said, holding his hat against his head.

"Oh please, we threw the first round to get a feel of everything and upstage you brats one-by-one divide and conquer style." Monoma boasted. "Or at least we would have had you not poisoned them with your cocky words!"

"We're supposed to give our all in this damn tournament, asshole!" Katsuki snapped. "You think you can write us off as arrogant showboaters when all we're doing is proving ourselves to the world?!"

"Honestly, my class would have been better off if they followed my plan." Monoma scoffed. "There's no point in running after a temporary frontrunner like a horse with a carrot waving in his face. It's stupid!"

"You keep saying that...but you're not doing a good job of looking after your own points." Izuku said, much to Monoma's confusion.

"What do you-?"

Suddenly, crows made of soot dashed around, snatching Monoma's headbands as well as the ones he stole. The blonde copycat gaped in disbelief and anger at being tricked so easily as Kirby dropped a bomb behind while Team Midoriya made their escape.

"EAT SHIT, YOU COPYCAT FUCK!" Katsuki taunted.

Vlad King sighed in exasperation as he saw Monoma's actions against Team Midoriya.

"I can't believe he managed to pass the entrance exam. We should consider altering it for next year to filter out anyone who would look down on others or hold a longtime grudge for perceived insults."

"Recommended students do have to go through an interview," Zombieman noted. "Perhaps we should make that mandatory for the normal entrance exam as well."

"That kid may not even recognize it, but he's acting way too much like a stereotypical villain than an actual hero." Captain Falcon said, shaking his head in disappointment.

Shoto growled as his team was going after Team Torekuroshi. It had seemed so simple at the time, it didn't matter to him how few or how many points his teammates were worth. All he had to do was grab the headbands belonging to either Izuku, Hilda, or Ben, and all that was moot.

Things seemed to be straightforward... and then Izuku made a literal black hole and Hilda sprouted tentacles from her arms.

"What's the plan here, Todoroki?" Denki said. "I can use my special move here and now and still hit them. But if we're not close enough, we'll never snatch any of the headbands before the other teams recover."

Shoto scowled before letting out a sigh, knowing what he needed to do now.

"We're switching targets," Shoto said. "One of the other teams is closer, so we'll aim for them. The plan itself is unchanged."

Momo nodded as she created an insulating blanket while Denki charged his electricity to full.

"INDISCRIMINATE SHOCK: 1 MILLION VOLTS!

Most of the other teams were hit immediately, since they were closing in while trying to attack Izuku, Hilda, and Ben's team.

"That's gotta hurt!" Hilda winced as Oujiro's tail fluff frizzled from the static.

"So glad you insulated us all..." Hitoshi sighed as Ben formed a barrier of electricity that absorbed what came toward his team.

"Damn, Two-Faced bastard..." Katsuki snarled. "Deku, let's crush him!"

"Might as well, he's planning something," Izuku said in agreement as Shoto iced the field before Tenya suddenly powered up his engines.

"RECIPRO BURST!"

Taking off like a rocket engine, Team Todoroki sailed ahead. Shoto then reached out to snag the headbands of Team Fio, only for Rebecca to turn her arm into a shotgun-like apparatus.

"Nice try, Peppermint Bark!"

Team Midoriya quickly leaped ahead, Izuku stretching his arm out with the [Gum-Gum Fruit] while Katsuki launched himself off his team. Teams Yasakani and Torekuroshi also closed in with Ben's hand glowing with energy while Hilda lashed out a few whips.

Without even thinking, Shoto instinctively put up a fire barrier from his left side, just as Hilda grabbed his headband with one of the whips.

"AND TIMES UP!" Present Mic announced as the final buzzer rang off, Katsuki's big moment going flat as he fell on his face.

"Dammit!"

"D-Did we just lose?" Denki asked.

"No," Momo said as she held up a grapple gun she had created, with one of Team Fio's headbands in the claw. "I saw what had happened, so instead of going for defense I decided to make up the difference by finishing our original plan."

"I also managed to snag a headband from Hagakure and Kendo's teams while I was boosting us," Tenya said, showing two headbands of his own.

Shoto didn't hear, he was completely out of it, staring at his left arm in a daze.

"My fire... they made me break my promise..."

"Let's take a look at the final scores!" Present Mic called out. "In first, Team Midoriya!"

"Heh, the bands we took from that copycat fuckface helped in that regard," Katsuki smirked triumphantly.

"In second, Team Yasakani!"

Hilda pulled Mipha, Nimona, and even Oujiro into a big chubby hug, turning to Izuku to give him a wink, which he smiled and returned with a thumbs-up.

"In third, Team Torekuroshi!"

"Thanks for the help," Hitoshi smirked as he walked off from the rest of the team.

"In fourth, Team Germi!"

"Now that's how you climb the pack!" Mei said as she and Fio high-fived.

"In fifth, Team Tokoyami."

Fumikage nodded in approval as Eijirou, Mina, and Sero all cheered.

"I thank you all for your support. With my offensive options limited I needed the extra aid."

"Hey, I'm just psyched we're moving on," Sero said. "Now we get to show off our skills in the final tournament."

"In sixth, Team Todoroki!"

Denki was just babbling like a goofball, walking back and forth while giving double thumbs-ups as Shoto had a furious glare on his face.

"At this rate, I'll be exactly the tool he wants me to be..."

"In seventh, Team Tetsutetsu!"

"We just barely made it!" Tetsutetsu said with tears in his eyes.

"Thank you, holy father, for giving us this chance..." Ibara prayed.

"And in eighth, Team Monoma!"

Monoma scowled in annoyance at having been outsmarted by Izuku, silently plotting how he'd upstage the 'arrogant Class 1-A bastards' as Sen Kaibara, Kosei Tsuburaba, and Kuroiro Shihai gave him deadpan looks.

"Wish I could have played Midoriya online during a gaming session," Tomura said. "I could have used some tips for party building and team management. But that new ability his girlfriend showed off..."

Grim Knight rubbed his chin. "Could it really be Lariat's Quirk?"

"I do recall many times he had disarmed you and me of our treasured weapons, brother," Merciless said. "So our theories in him being a user of OFA were true after all."

"When he fought our brother, he tried to steal back OFA." Drowned noted. "That's how we learned that it is immune to his power, so long as the user of OFA has a higher will."

Enji Todoroki AKA The Flame Hero: Endeavor watched from the stadium. It was only for a moment, but Izuku, Ben, and Hilda's combined efforts had managed to push his son into using his flames.

"You are acting foolish, Shoto...but it seems I only have myself to blame for that. I pushed too hard, too fast, to make up for my mistakes raising Toya."

"Hey, Enji!" Came the jovial voice of Garp as he came in. "I almost didn't recognize you looking all dim and glum! Oh wait, that's your usual expression, isn't it?"

"Garp-Sensei..." Endeavor said as he turned to the old hero. "I take it you saw what happened."

"That boy of yours has much potential in him, but he's squandering it!" Garp scoffed. "Honestly, you could have learned to raise him a bit better than that."

"I know what I did, Garp." Endeavor hissed. "I can't change the past now."

It was thanks to Garp that he had chosen to come forward after the incident that caused Shoto's facial scarring, citing the reason being his own abusive behavior towards his children in light of his eldest son's apparent death when he couldn't handle his own Quirk, and that his own wife Rei had simply snapped under pressure and needed psychiatric help to recover.

Garp shook his head. "Don't forget that the only reason you haven't lost your title is because I stood up for you when everyone else was against you. Even Toshinori, the very man you sacrificed so much in your efforts to upstage him, stood by your side! Still, your son is going to end up just like you used to be if this keeps up."

"What that boy needs is a reality check from someone other than me... And I feel like those kids All-Might has his eye on are the key."

"That super-speed move was so cool, Iida!" Ochako said. "I can't believe you were holding out on us!"

Tenya looked embarrassed. "I needed to find some way to prove I could hold my own without Midoriya."

"Say, does anybody know where he is?" Penny asked. "And Ben and Hilda for that matter?"

The group looked around and realized that the three were nowhere to be found.

"I got a bad feeling about this..." Kirby muttered.

"You and me both, Hime," Katsuki said as he went off to find them, his girlfriend quickly trailing behind.

"So...Did you want to talk or something?" Izuku nervously asked as he, Hilda, and Ben were standing with Shoto in the halls outside the bathroom.

This chapter was a lot. But now the tournament is here!

Also, Endeavor's abuse came to light and his redemption arc has already begun much earlier than it ever did in canon. Of course, with Garp around, he no doubt beat a whole mountain of sense into Enji.