Izuku's POV
There was a lot of people…
Ok, it wasn't like Izuku didn't know how many people attended the Sport's Festival. He was more than aware of the numbers involved - had looked them up multiple times - and had been mentally preparing himself that day.
But knowing about it and actually being here, feeling the emotions from so many people and knowing that they were all about to see him…
Izuku hadn't even done anything yet and he was already wrung out from emotional overload.
The entirety of Class 1-A was currently waiting for when they would be called for the beginning of the Sport's Festival, only a few hushed conversations happening here and there. Even without being an empath, they might as well have been based off of how nervous they all were.
Izuku couldn't resist a shudder.
It was probably for the better that only he could feel the weight of the emotions from the crowd overhead. If the entire class could, it would only ratchet up their own nerves, which would make it even more difficult for him.
As it was, Izuku had to deal with his own anxiety (which was not inconsiderable) on top of what the class was feeling around him in one small room, surrounded by the excitement from the crowd outside.
It was a bit of a big deal.
If this is what the previous Butterfly wielders had to deal with all the time, then Izuku could understand why they preferred to become advisors and strategists. Being in a position that let them help while being away from the chaos of emotions was a far more compelling reason than personal safety.
Of course, that just meant it was one more thing he needed to overcome!
Izuku took in a deep breath as he did his best to keep himself from falling apart.
… One major thing to overcome.
"Are you alright Izuku?"
Izuku was brought out of his thoughts as Momo placed a hand on his shoulder, her expression slightly worried.
"S-sorry, was I muttering again?" Izuku cursed his muttering habits once more.
Momo waved away his concerns, "I've already told you, that doesn't bother me. But your butterflies are giving you away." She nodded towards the small swarm around him.
As usual, most of the swarm didn't follow him into the building. But the few that did were currently reflecting Izuku's mood, taken to hiding on or around Izuku, or twitching nervously.
It was worse for Izuku because he was already merged with Nooroo, amplifying what he felt from everybody.
Izuku had spent some time debating it with Momo, and they decided this would be for the best if he went through the first round transformed. People 'knew' Izuku had wings, whatever the first round ended up being, it would be suspicious if he didn't use it here.
"I-it's a bit much." Izuku sheepishly admitted. "B-but I'm managing!"
Momo gave a skeptical look, but nodded reluctantly. "Do many people have empathy related quirks?" She asked suddenly. "I know it's talked about, but besides you I don't know that I know anybody that has one."
"Oh!" Izuku perked up. "Y-yes and no. Empathy is just a subset of mental quirks, w-which only comprise a rather small subset of known quirks. But within that subset, it's actually kinda common with varying strengths, most of the time as a minor secondary effect to a different quirk…"
Like the villain, Fuhrer Ugly. He got stronger the more people were disgusted with him. O-or the controversial hero, Mask de Masculine, who became empowered the more people earnestly cheered for him. Neither quirks would be considered 'empathy', yet both were activated by the emotion of those around the user, so it was related in a sense.
Even if he was only faking having a quirk, Izuku had done his due diligence in researching quirks like it.
Izuku looked up when he felt a small surge of amusement to see Momo looking at him with a small smile.
Izuku winced. "Y-you were trying to distract me."
"I think it worked for a bit." Momo admitted with a small smile. "You're never going to be able to focus if you're too panicked to think."
"S-sorry," his face burned in embarrassment. "I-its just more than I was expecting."
There was just, you know, the powder keg of emotions in the room, the sheer weight of the excitement from the crowd above them, and the idea of going out and being on national television to be judged by the entire world.
Considering all that, Izuku was doing phenomenal.
No need to mention that he had spent a full five minutes screaming into his pillow that morning. Or the half-aborted plans to run away and become a vigilante in Brazil.
Only half aborted though. If things went poorly that day, Izuku considered it a viable career path, regardless of what Nooroo said.
Momo sighed, and Izuku could feel a sliver of regret from her. "I wish I could help out somehow. It's…" She frowned a bit, "I don't want to say unfair, but the current situation is definitely more disadvantageous to you."
Izuku managed a shaky smile, "W-well, it's like Aizawa says - life isn't fair, right? B-besides, this is something I'll h-have to get used to eventually, right?"
It wasn't like places that needed heroes would be filled with calm and rational people after all. While it was unlikely there would be as many people as there were here, it was still something he would need to overcome.
Something that Momo already knew, if her frown was any indication.
Besides, Momo's presence was already helping a little bit, her emotions soothing the area around him. It didn't do much here unfortunately, but every bit helped.
Izuku coughed and tried to think of a way to shift the conversation away from him. "W-what about you? D-do you feel r-ready?"
Momo gave him a look that showed she wasn't convinced at all with his change of topic, "I believe I am as ready as I'll ever be." She admitted eventually. "I'd have felt better if, ah, somebody hadn't continually stopped me from studying, but hopefully it will still go well."
Izuku blinked, "This morning as well?"
They had been texting the previous night, and he knew Tiki had been pressuring Momo to get some rest. He hadn't thought it went any farther than lecturing though.
Apparently it had. "She hid my books!" Momo complained, and Izuku had to hide his amusement at her exasperation. "And she refused to give my phone back till after breakfast!"
Izuku nearly burst into nervous laughter at the image of Momo trying (and failing) to stare down the tiny god.
Momo let out an offended huff, "It's not that funny." She pouted.
"S-sorry," Izuku immediately apologized, not wanting to admit that, well, it really was. "B-but I'm sure you'll be fine!"
Momo grimaced, "Maybe. I've done my best to memorize the most likely things I'll need based on our discussions, but there are still so many things that could occur that can take me by surprise."
"T-true," Izuku admitted, "B-but t-that's why w-we've been training together, in c-case something unexpected does happen, right?"
If not, then he'd been subjected to a lot of spars in which he'd lost for little reason.
Izuku frowned when he felt the uneasiness from Momo rise a bit, and he realized that despite her current determination, Momo was worried as well. It was buried beneath determination, but it was there (and he realized she was probably asking about him as a way to distract herself till the time came).
Not that that should have been a surprise. Everybody in the room was wound up so tight that the emotions in the room felt like a pressure cooker. Nervousness was the common trait, but everybody had their own different flavor. Bakugou was eager, Uraraka was psyching herself up, Ojiro was trying to meditate…
Izuku took a deep breath and focused. Calming himself down was probably a lost cause, but he could definitely to something to help Momo.
"I'm s-sure we'll be fine." Izuku stated again, putting as much confidence as he could in that statement. "This is just the First Year sport's festival, and it's held too close to the beginning of the school year for us to have learned much. W-we earned our place here already," both with entering UA to begin with, and surviving the events at the USJ. "All of us have worked hard for this moment, and w-we've already proven we deserve to be here, regardless of what the results of the Festival will be. We j-just need to show them that."
Momo looked at him in surprise, and to his relief she finally began to relax a bit. He breathed out thankfully…
"So manly!"
Izuku stiffened, slowly looking around to see the entire locker room looking at him.
Oops. He hadn't meant to speak that loudly…
"Excellent words Midoriya!" Iida praised, "as expected of our class president."
"Yeah!" Ashido said cheerfully, "We worked our butts off to get here! We're not gonna stop now!"
"Psh, as if." Kachaan scoffed. "You extras can believe what you wanna believe. None of that will matter when I'm starin' down at you from the winner's podium."
"That's the spirit Bakubro!" Kirishima answered with a cheerful smile.
They were suddenly interrupted by several knocks on the door.
"Class 1A!" A muffled voice yelled through the door. "It's time! Please report to the field at once!"
Bakugou was the first to react, followed by Todoroki. Izuku, meanwhile, took several calming breaths before facing the rest of the class. "Alright, let's go. Keep together as a class, and l-lets all do our best!"
"Yeah!"
"So, how'd it feel to get your own personal pep talk from Midori like that?"
Momo looked in confusion at Mina who had hung back to talk in private.
"I'm not sure what you mean? But I cannot deny that it was appreciated." Momo looked at the pink girl in confusion. It felt like the other girl was insinuating something else, and Momo wasn't sure what that was.
"Oh, you know. I just think that you and Prez were looking mighty comfortable each other, chatting like that." Mina commented slyly.
"Well, I am the class vice president, and he is the class president. We've spent a decent amount of time talking and training together the last several weeks." Momo replied calmly, not sure why her classmate was making a big deal out of it.
"Hmmmm," Mina stared at her intently, enough to make her feel uncomfortable, before she shrugged. "Ok fine, if you say so. But just so you know, I've got my eye on you now!" The girl winked at Momo. "My gossip senses are tingling!"
"Wha- I don't know what you're talking about. There's nothing to gossip about! Mina!"
Miruko's POV
'I think I'm lost,' Miruko scowled as she walked up and down the bleachers.
Seriously, this hadn't been that confusing when she went to school here, was it?
… Then again, she had mostly been in the field (winning, naturally), and not the stands. But this was just ridiculous!
Miruko grumbled a bit as she walked further up the aisle before swallowing her pride and deciding to ask for directions.
"Hey!" The rabbit hero beelined to the closest person that wasn't sitting down. "Do you have any idea where seat 223C would be?" The other person turned around and Miruko blinked as she fully saw the other.
The other woman was as tall as Miruko, and while not as muscular it was clear she was fit. More lithe than muscular.
A pixie cut with red hair contrasted with her white and blue rabbit ears.
Huh.
It wasn't like having rabbit traits like hers was rare in quirked society nowadays. But it was uncommon enough outside of her dad's side of the family to give Miruko some pause.
The woman looked just as surprised to see her. But Instead of being in awe, like she half suspected, Miruko was amused to see them give a familiar smirk (she saw it in the mirror every morning).
"No idea. But tell you what," the woman brought out her own ticket, giving it a scowl of her own. "Help us find our seat, and we'll see if we can help you find yours. Yeah?"
Us?
Sure enough, hiding behind the woman was another person. Close enough to be grasping the back of the woman's shirt, they were wearing a hoodie and hiding as much of themselves as they could.
"Sure," Miruko agreed immediately. "I can do that."
Anything to get out of this stupid maze.
"E-excuse me? Miss Miruko?" A timid voice came from under the hoodie of the third person, interrupting the two of them. A girl, Miruko judged. Probably a teenager, but she was less sure about that.
Hesitantly, the girl pointed in a certain direction.
"I-I'm pretty sure I saw 223C over there." She explained in a shy voice.
The second person gasped dramatically. "Kit! You're not supposed to give away the information until after the deal has been made!"
The girl 'eeped'. "I was?"
"Yeah! Now she has no reason to help us!"
Miruko watched the back and forth of the two for a moment before barking out a laugh. "Don't worry, I won't hang you out to dry." She smirked as she quickly memorized the path to her seat. "What's your seat?"
Before she could respond, the hooded girl made another noise, "uhm, Miruko… Could you, uh…"
Reaching inside her hoodie, she quickly extended a notebook.
"C-could I get your autograph?" The girl asked, her voice filled with trepidation and hope.
Awe. How could she resist that adorable scene?
"Sure, kid." Miruko grabbed the book. The words 'Hero Analysis for the Future #' with the number too faded on the worn thing.
Ok, that was just adorable.
Opening it, Miruko was surprised to see a picture of herself with a bunch of notes.
Looks like she had a little fan! And a decent artist no less.
Miruko tapped her foot a little in thought.
With how the girl was hiding her features, there was a decent chance she was hiding some kind of was an unfortunate fact that discrimination still happened. You tended to see it in more rural areas, but it happened in the city as well.
Twirling her pen a bit, Miruko eventually signed her name, along with a small note saying 'don't ever let other people dictate what you can or can't become.'
Usually she was more of an 'action instead of words' kinda person, but Miruko would admit that words had their place.
"Here kid," she smiled at the hooded kid as she took the book back and hugged it to her chest.
"Now them!" Miruko straightened up. "Let's see if we can find your seats."
Alix POV
"Really, Kit?" Alix smirked at her companion. "I thought you wanted to come back to see Viceroy's first Sport's Festival. Not to get autographs."
"I-I do!" Eri protested, and Alix could just imagine the pout she was giving. "B-but Miruko was just right there, and…"
"And you just happened to have the exact notebook with her entry in it?" Alix asked, causing Eri to give an 'eep!' in embarrassment.
In truth, Alix didn't care. Time wasn't so fragile it would be upset by a small thing like that. But it was so much fun to tease her little student.
"Besides, don't you already have her autograph?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah," Eri admitted softly. "B-but only after her arm was… uhm…" she fidgeted uncomfortably. "Not many of her autographs now are done with her…"
"Hey, look at me." Alix placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Just keep on telling yourself that she makes it out alright. They all do. Alright?"
Eri managed a jerky nod.
"Good. Now!" Alix dramatically pointed forward. "Back to our quest of finding our seats in this stupid labyrinth!"
"Uhm," Eri pointed to a couple seats down the aisle, "aren't those our seats?"
Alix glanced over. Yep, those were the right numbers. "Finally!" She cheered as she launched into the seat. "Quest complete!"
"Alix?"
"Alya!" Alix gasped in fake shock at the sight of her old friends right next to them. "And Nino as well! What a surprise to see you here!"
Nino's POV
"It's good to see you again Alix." Nino admitted warmly after being kicked from his seat by Alya, who insisted on sitting next to the other woman as they chatted. "And who might this be?"
The person in the hoodie was about to answer when Alix covered her mouth. "Ah, sorry, spoilers." She said, smirking at Alya's pout. That smirk swiftly morphed into a proud smile. "But, if you need to call them something, you can call them my kit."
Ah. A future version of Alix then. But to bring somebody with her, and to call them her kit no less…
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you then." He gave a smile at the person that Alix was no doubt training to be her heir. "And you have my utmost condolences for having this one as your teacher."
The poor girl (he was pretty sure it was a girl) gave assurances while Alix protested and Alya cackled. Meanwhile, his mind raced.
Alix choosing to train somebody had interesting implications.
Alix was the wielder of a Miraculous who shared a domain of time. While she didn't look it, she had lived for a long time. Not as long as he and Alya had, as they traveled through time the normal way, but a long time nonetheless.
It was… Hard. So very, very hard. To live on while everybody you knew died of old age. To watch your friends die, and then your children, and then your children's children…
Alya had guessed. It was why she had taken such a risk and broken the rules she had in order to stick around once they realized one of the traits of the Turtle Miraculous was longevity.
Sometimes, when a younger version of Alix came by, Nino would have to comfort her because she had gone back and seen their friends, alive and well, and the sight was often hard on her.
It was because of that that Nino would be forever grateful to Alix.
Even earlier than Alya, she had realized how much of a burden it would be to live for so long, and had made the decision to extend her life because of it. Unlike Alya or himself, Alix was able to use the powers of her Miraculous to push back the effects of time.
Alix wasn't a constant presence as Alya was. She'd stick around for a decade, then go off to who knows when for a while. Maybe a younger version of her would stop by for an extended period of time, or perhaps it would be an older one. But she was there.
If not for Alya or Alix - his wife and a good friend - Nino wasn't sure he'd have been able to live for as long as he did.
For her to be training a replacement meant that she was ready to let time catch up with her. Without Fluff, she would age rapidly. And if that was the case, that meant that he was -
*Bonk*
"Hey," he looked over to see Alix give him an understanding smile. "Don't worry so much about the future, Turtle Boy. That's my domain. Everything will turn out alright in the end." She brought out her pocket watch and tapped it a couple times. "I promise."
Nino huffed good naturedly. "Ah yes, just ignore the implications of everything you said. What was I thinking?"
"See? I knew you could do it." Alix leaned back with a smug grin. "Now, we're not here for any of that depressing conversation. We're here to see these future heroes in action!"
Nino shook his head in fond exasperation, but did his best to follow her advice. Not that he had any faith that he'd succeed.
There was always going to be a time when he would set the Miraculous down. Pass on the duties of the Guardian to another. But it was odd, seeing the implications of such.
Of course, he might be overthinking things. This Alix might be from, oh, fifty to a hundred years in the future. But his gut was telling him otherwise.
And if that was the case, then he must be considering passing on the Guardianship to somebody else. Most likely somebody that already had a Miraculous.
Perhaps to a Ladybug or Butterfly?
Nino hummed in thought as he settled in his thoughts.
The future was looking even more interesting.
Izuku's POV
The future was looking bleak. Very bleak.
"Hey there Listeners!" Present Mic's voice boomed around the stadium, "Are you guys ready for the Sport's Festival to officially kick off?! If so, then please welcome all of our first years to the field!"
They were just coming out into the field, Izuku and Momo leading their classmates, when the noise seemed to amplify. The cheering of the stadium somehow managed to reach even new levels as the entire structure shook.
Meanwhile, Izuku had to focus on each step as he felt the attention of every single person - which had until that moment been more or less undirected - focus on them.
"Just keep calm. Head level, eyes straight, and don't look at them." Izuku instructed himself, focusing on the instructions from Nooroo and, to his surprise, Momo, who was used to being in front of numerous people.
"Wow, are there always so many people?" Uraraka asked nervously from behind him.
"Nah man, they heard how awesome we were and wanted to see what's up! Right Mido-bro?" Kirishima smirked.
"Still, it seems like a little much, for so many people to be watching us." Hagakure piped up.
"Now, you may know them as the most impatient students UA has ever had! So eager to be heroes, they went up against villains within their first week and won! Give it up for Class A!"
Izuku flinched as the noise, impossibly, reached new levels. The whole purpose of the commentator was to hype up the crowd, and Present Mic was undeniably doing a good job of that.
For the first time in his life, Izuku kinda wished a hero wasn't as good at his job.
"And following Class A is their sister class, Class B! They might not have any achievements under their belt yet, but they are here to show they are every bit as determined and talented!
Class 1-B walked out, half of whom Izuku recognized, and they were looking just as pumped as 1-A. A number of them looked annoyed when they didn't get as large a welcome from the crowd, and glared at them.
Oh c'mon! It wasn't their fault that the crowd was biased!
Izuku knew he should probably be concerned about that, but he really only had the capacity to be concerned about so many things at the moment.
"And now we have General Studies Classes C through E! They might not be part of the Hero Course, but don't count them out! Some of them are gunning straight for the Hero Classes to show their superiority!"
All three of the General Classes walked out, giving considering and challenging looks of their own towards the Hero classes.
Once again, probably something to be worried about, but no capacity left to worry about it, so Izuku was determinedly ignoring it.
"Up next! The right gear in the right hands can make all the difference in the field, and these students are here to prove that saying true with gear they made with their own hands! Give it up for the students of Support Classes F through H!
A number of students came out with a variety of gear equipped, some more practical looking than others. They, thankfully, were safe to mentally acknowledge, and Izuku found himself itching to question them to find out what everything did and how they worked.
"And last, but not least, we've got Business Classes I through K! They might not care about winning today, but remember their names! Just like everybody else, they're here to network and get their names out there in their own way!"
The Business Classes didn't seem upset in any particular way towards the Hero classes either, and Izuku breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now, without further ado, the referee for this Festival is… The R-Rated Hero, Midnight!"
The audience erupted into another cheer as Midnight walked towards the stage, even some of the students joining in before being silenced by their classmates. The teacher herself looked positively thrilled at the attention, giving a few poses.
Izuku had seen Kayama-sensei around the campus before (which was natural - she was one of their teachers). But the way she acted while teaching was very different from her hero persona, far from the 'R-Rated Hero' seen on the news. It was actually interesting, seeing and feeling her switch in and out of her act. As a teacher, she was quite understanding and comforting to her students, not even wearing her hero suit save for a few occasions.
… That being said, her hero persona was one that she clearly loved.
"Now, for all of you good boys and girls out there! It's time to call upon the student representative to give a few words!"
Izuku froze, suddenly filled with dread. Student representative? Who was that? Did they mean student class president? They wouldn't do that, would they? He hadn't been warned about this!
"Bakugou Katsuki!"
Izuku breathed out a sigh of relief.
Wait a second.
"Kachaan?!"
Who in the world would make Kachaan the representative?!"
"Oh dear…" Momo murmured in a worried tone.
The stadium went quiet as Bakugou stomped up the the podium, and Izuku watched with a sinking feeling in his chest
UA had a standard student pledge of course. But looking at the blonde, Izuku just knew that he wouldn't be using it.
Kachaan walked up to the microphone with his hands in his pockets. "I just wanna say…'' he paused briefly as he looked over the audience with a smirk. "I'm gonna win. And it's not gonna be close."
That got a reaction from the crowd, though those reactions were mixed, the crowd either loving or hating it. But the reaction amongst class 1-B and the general classes was unanimously negative.
Besides him, Momo gave a small groan.
"H-he did it on purpose." Izuku murmured back, "T-that's his way of putting a target on all of our backs. Forcing us into a corner." A position that Kachaan thrived in.
"For the short term, perhaps". Momo agreed with a frown. "But what about later? After the tournament? This isn't a small event. The entire world is watching, and his arrogance is going to reflect poorly on the entire class. And what will he do if he loses?"
Izuku looked at her with a conflicted look before looking away. In all honesty, he hadn't even thought of the possibility of Kachaan losing.
Maybe it was the feelings of overwhelming confidence pouring off of Kachaan. Or it was prior experience. Either way, even now it was hard to imagine.
"My my, thank you for that spirited announcement Bakugou!" Midnight shouted before swinging her arm back to gesture to the huge screen on the stadium wall behind her. "And with that out of the way, I say we get to the main event already!"
The crowd cheered as a blur of words ran across the screen like they were a slot machine, going fast enough that Izuku couldn't read what they were saying without becoming dizzy.
Eventually, the words stopped spinning.
"Ta-dah!" Midnight cheered as small fireworks went off around the screen. "Our first round will be an Obstacle Course race!"
Another round of cheers went up at that, but Izuku was busy thinking.
A race has been one of the top events he had theorized would occur, and one he felt he was pretty well suited for. While he didn't have a speed quirk, running was a well-practiced activity, something that he excelled at during All-Might's gym lessons.
A race he could handle. It was the obstacle portion that bothered him.
"This doesn't seem too bad," Momo murmured beside him. "Except…"
"This is UA." Izuku finished for her.
"Indeed." Momo agreed.
The following instructions were pretty straightforward. They had to run around in a loop totaling four kilometers. The first forty-two students to finish would qualify.
It was simple enough. IF this were any place other than UA.
"Well then, let's get this show on the road!" Midnight declared. "Is everybody ready? On your marks… Start!"
The first obstacle became obvious very quickly. There were a lot of students, but the entrance itself was extremely narrow.
Within moments, the entire tunnel was filled with pushing and shoving students, everybody vying to get ahead.
Izuku leaped up, large green patterned butterfly wings stretching out from his back as he used Nooroo's power, and he flew over everybody's heads.
Just in time, as a wave of ice spread across the ground, freezing the feet of everybody in place.
'Todoroki', Izuku guessed as he flew forward.
From his vantage point, it was easy to see many others that hadn't been caught up in the ice as well. Kachaan, Kirishima, and Momo being the main ones that launched themselves over the attack.
Though from the looks of it, Momo had put way more power than needed in order to get away from the ice, and he shuddered in sympathy.
Unfortunately for him, his wings weren't built for speed. He was agile and hard to catch, but that didn't necessarily translate into how fast he could go. But at the moment, he was much faster than anybody else struggling in the tunnel, so -
"Hey! Kid with the wings!"
"Huh? Yea-" Izuku automatically began to answer, only to freeze, his entire mind foggy over.
'Carry me across the group!"
It felt like Izuku was suddenly in a dream. Everything was muted, and he could barely understand what was going on. No, scratch that, beyond then words, he didn't know what was going on.
'Now stay here.'
Wait! 'Staying here' meant 'not finishing the race'!
Izuku struggled to move past the weird fog in his mind, but no matter what he did, Izuku couldn't feel his body. He couldn't even feel Nooroo!
'Great, good job Izuku." He scolded himself. 'Even after being entrusted with a Miraculous, you couldn't even make it past the first obstacle.'
Izuku had always suspected the universe was out to get him. But before, they were merely well-educated hypotheses. Now, with the way the day was going, Izuku figured he could submit his findings to upgrade it to a valid theory.
Guess he was finalizing his Brazilian plans.
He had no idea how long he was like that, but Izuku was suddenly shaken. Before he realized what was happening, sound and color came blaring back in vivid detail. Disoriented, he saw a shadowed head with yellow eyes.
"Got 'im Fumi!" Dark Shadow called out before grabbing Izuku and dragging him towards Tokoyami.
"Art thou alright?" Tokoyami asked as Dark Shadow put him down and they began running together.
"Y-yeah, " Izuku stammered, still getting used to the sudden inclusion of sound again, hearing loud booming in the distance. "W-what happened?"
"Dark Shadow noticed somebody placing a foul enchantment on you, and after making use of you, leaving you behind." Tokoyami answered.
Izuku groaned. He could easily see that they were way behind everybody else now. Being so far behind everybody… while he was grateful for Tokoyami's help, all he might have done is doomed himself.
"Midoriya." Izuku looked over. "I am aware there are restrictions upon whom you can ask to serve you. Do I qualify?"
"R-really?" Izuku perked up. The truth was, he hadn't even planned on making a Champion during the first round. The entire idea was that people would want to show off what they could do. Him making them a Champion would be Izuku showing off what he could do, not the other way around.
"Yeah! We're sure!" Dark Shadow snapped, "now hurry! We're already way behind!"
Right, ok. Quickly, Izuku reached out and let a butterfly land on his hand. He took a deep breath, focusing as best as he could, and filled it with power shaped for Tokoyami.
It wasn't hard to find the emotions to work with. Tokoyami, despite his more subdued emotions, had a burning desire to win, just like everybody else. A part of him was frustrated for giving up the lead to help Izuku, but there was no regret.
Izuku focused on that determination.
"Tokoyami, will you -"
"Yes, I accept thine contract!" Tokoyami interrupted, reaching to touch the butterfly.
It dodged his attempts, almost whimsically, and instead flew up to his wrist, where a bracelet was hidden.
"Then let this party begin, Revelry." Izuku intoned, saying the words that filled his mind and cemented the deal.
"Oooh," only for Dark Shadow to reach over and investigate the bracelet, suddenly getting sucked in before a plume of smoke hid Tokoyami from view.
Uh...
That was fine.
Probably.
A dark cackling suddenly filled the air, and Izuku got a good view of Revelry.
Now, making a Champion was always a dual endeavor.
Izuku provided the power, and the recipient's desires would choose how the power was used. The form of the Champion was then up to Izuku with heavy influence from the Champion.
… Izuku hadn't chosen this form.
Revelry was almost completely hidden, twisting shadows and mist almost completely obscuring a cloaked form. The only thing Izuku could see was two glowing yellow eyes where the head would be.
"Thou art indeed a diabolic, director of darkness!" Revelry proclaimed. "For a mad, banquet stands before us, here under the foul rays of the noon sun. But the shadows will lengthen, as the sun slowly flees from us."
Revelry chuckled as two arms emerged from the darkness, hands ending in talons showing themselves.
"But what is a banquet, without guests to attend?"
From his wrist sprung out a long scythe made of shadow, and with a swing he gestured towards the students who were still around.
A moment later many let out a shriek as suddenly, their shadows detached from the ground. Some of them stuck by their original, but most of them focused their glowing eyes on Revelry.
Another gesture, and the dark mist around Revelry billowed out and formed a horse underneath him. Quickly snagging Izuku, Revelry placed him behind him.
"Let our darkness overcome the challenges before us." Revelry shouted as he charged forward, followed by an army of shadows. "The revelry of the night begins now!"
Momo's POV
Momo finished blasting the last of the Zero Pointers, a scowl on her face.
'Dang it, Todoroki!" She thought viciously as she discarded her cannon.
Ahead of everybody else, Todoroki had frozen all of the towering Zero pointers that consisted of the 'Robo Inferno' as Present Mic had called it, but had manipulated them so they would fall after a time.
To be clear - Momo had no issue with him freezing all of the Zero Pointers. It was something that took an undeniable amount of power and skill, and as much as it made her shudder to look at all that ice, she could appreciate it.
She didn't even mind that he caused them to fall over. Once again, it took a large amount of skill to do so, and they were in a competition with each other. Making it harder for others to catch up was only natural.
This was a competition after all.
No, what she took issue with was the delay in time before they fell over.
As intimidating as the Zero Pointers and other robots were, she had no doubt they were more or less harmless. Imposing Obstacles, as it were. UA wouldn't want anybody to get seriously hurt.
What Todoroki had done had the potential to seriously injure somebody, or even kill them, if the person didn't react in time or weren't strong enough to deal with it.
Taking the time to destroy the Zero Pointers as she had was illogical, as Aizawa would say. It took time and resources to make a cannon sizable to produce enough of a blast to cause them to fall the opposite direction. But this way, she could ensure the remaining Zero-Pointers wouldn't be a danger to anybody.
Now she just had to get past the smaller robots…
"A fine job, a fine job indeed Creati!"
The dual toned voice sent shivers up her spine, but the mention of her desired Hero name gave her enough of a clue. (Did Izuku share thoughts with his Champion? She couldn't think of another reason why this one would call her that. Regardless, it gave her a small surge of happiness that he already thought of her as such.)
She turned to see a dark, cloaked form astride a horse seemingly made of solid shadow. On top of the horse, behind the cloaked figure, sat Izuku.
'Tokoyami and Dark Shadow', she noted distantly. Though, which was made the Champion? Were they both technically Champions?
"A fine seasoning of spice to this mad banquet," the shadowed figure cackled. "But even Nyx needs the twins of sleep and death to aid her. Allow us to cast a shadow on your performance and see it aid you onward."
The thunder of feet behind him was her first clue as to what he meant. A moment later, and a wave of darkness charged past her.
Blinking in confusion, she realized they were people. If you had dipped said people in black.
It took her a moment longer to recognize them based on their silhouette. It wasn't till one particular silhouette grew their hands and promptly smashed a robot with a giant fist that Momo began to realize they were other students.
From there, it was relatively easy to spot those that came to the beach cleanup.
The large, nightmarish shadow was Shishida in his beast form. Shiozaki looked like an angel of death as she walked calmly amongst the robots, shadowy tendril of hair shredding anything that came close. Then there were the shadows from members of their own class.
"I thought you weren't planning on making a Champion during the first round?" Momo asked curiously, quickly taking advantage of the brawl to run through, Izuku and the Shadowy Champion trotting beside her.
As they moved, the Champion used his power to raise more shadows as they passed people by. Between the shadows and the actual students, they were all making short work of the robots.
"Extenuating circumstances," The Champion cut Izuku off. "And an opportunity found. Now come!" He suddenly called out, "Come and join the Revelry!" with a gesture, he caused more and more shadows to form around them. "Let our darkness triumph over all that stand before us!"
The horse charged forward, and Izuku gave yelp as he clutched onto the Champion as he gave her an apologetic look. "S-sorry! W-we'll talk more later!" He called back, and Momo couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the sight.
Well, if he was going all out, then she could hardly be seen slacking. It would dip into her reserves more than she was comfortable with, but…
Just as she was focusing, she heard a thud behind her, causing her to twist around.
Then she blinked at the figure.
"You're MY shadow, aren't you?" Momo asked the figure that looked similar to her. It was the hair that gave it away in the end, and the figure nodded.
Beside her shadow self was the slumped over form of Mineta and a Shadow Mineta, and Momo wrinkled her nose at the thought of two of them.
It didn't take a genius to understand that they were about to do something, and her shadow helped her. But she was losing time.
Momo looked at her shadow again as an idea began to form. "Would you like to join me?"
Present Mic's POV
Present Mic whistled in appreciation as the army of shadows steadily grew. They completely overwhelmed the robots with sheer numbers before moving on.
"And Midoriya's shadow army continues to grow! The Robot Inferno has been completely swept aside like it didn't exist! Can anything stop his momentum?!"
Aizawa gave him an annoyed look, but Present Mic ignored it. His job was to sensationalize, and it was always appreciated when the little listeners out there made it easy for him to do so. He tried to give as many people a chance to shine as he could, but some people made it quite difficult when they decided to hide their strength.
Present Mic gave Class 1-B the stink eye as he thought that.
Look, pacing yourself was important. Less so was actively holding yourself back. Especially when you were trying to get the attention of heroes for an internship. People formed opinions quickly, and underperforming in the first round wasn't going to do them any favors.
Aizawa eventually sighed before throwing in his two cents. "They're intimidating," He admitted reluctantly. "But you can tell that they're weaker than their physical counterparts. Based on their physicality, I'm doubtful as to their endurance as well." He gestured to one screen that showed several shadows desperately scrambling away from Kaminari when he activated his quirk. "Not to mention other weaknesses. Their main advantage is their numbers."
"Maybe so, but quantity has a quality all on its own!" Present Mic cheerfully rebutted. "And that's a lot of quantity!"
Both Aizawa and Present Mic watched as various shadows teamed up, while others simply followed Midoriya and Tokoyami. Watching Yaoyorozu work with her shadow was an exercise in trying to figure out how the heck that worked. While teacups like Uraraka or Jirou's were easier to talk about.
Eventually, after spanning the field and commentating on the tactics and strategies of those in the back, the front runners finally reached the next obstacle.
"And as we go back to the front lines, we'll see how well they do with our next deadly obstacle - The Fall!" Present Mic cheered enthusiastically.
"It's not deadly," Aizawa groaned. "But, to fall will indicate that that person is out of the running."
"That's what I said!" Present Mic exclaimed with a smirk.
Bakugou and Todoroki didn't have any trouble with the large pit, breezing by the obstacle with ease. And then the swarm of shadows arrived.
Several things happened at once.
Several shadows that Present Mic didn't recognize save for one - a general course student with the quirk 'Color Change' - slammed their hands down onto the ground. Grass and flowers grew and bloomed rapidly, before they all turned black. Including the ground.
The shadow of Shiozaki brought her vines down into the blackened ground, the vines then shooting out to the first pillar, and then the next, and the next, making a bridge as it carried the black 'Color Change' to each one. Meanwhile, Shadow-Sero did something similar with his tape.
Another Shadow, (err, Tsuburaba? Look, it was hard identifying people through their silhouette dang it!) then dashed across the shadow vine bridge while blowing, a stream of dark mist twining along the vines and tape.
Lastly, Tokoyami raised his scythe and gave a dramatic swing, and suddenly all that prep-work and shadow solidified in a way it wasn't before.
As the rest of the students made their way across the pit in their own way, the entire army moved as one over the shadow bridge.
The entire process took all of a couple seconds, performed as if each participant knew what the others were going to do.
"Wow! With that coordinated move, Midoriya and Tokoyami have completely bridged The Fall and are on their way to the front lines!"
"But not without cost." Aizawa noted bluntly.
Sure enough, the shadows that just used a large portion of their quirk were fading. Not gone, but very much see through.
"So, will Midoriya and the forces of darkness be able to overcome the final obstacle with the remaining shadows he has?!" Present Mic asked dramatically.
It was days like this that made Present Mic love his job.
Izuku's POV
"All right folks! Our first contender has reached the last obstacle! The Minefield! Be careful where you step!"
"For those who aren't thinking logically, the blasts won't be that powerful. They're loud and make a lot of smoke, but the blast shouldn't give you more than a bad bruise."
"Absolutely right, Erasure! But getting your legs bruised this late in the game could very easily lose one the match regardless of their lead! And our lead currently has an army on his tail!"
Izuku bit his lips as he focused determinedly on the information past the headache pouring behind his eyes.
Bakugou and Todoroki weren't that far ahead of them, but a minefield wasn't exactly ideal.
In fact, minefields were kinda used to deal with armies.
Still, Izuku wasn't too concerned.
They had passed nearly everybody else save for the two in the lead. Save for those that didn't mind teaming up with their shadows, they had every other shadow with them.
Despite what it might've looked like, Izuku wasn't being idle and just coasting by on Revelry's hard work. The 'shadow army' wasn't truly sentient - not like Dark Shadow was. They weren't exactly puppets either, but something in between. It was actually pretty accurate to call them 'shadows' of their former selves.
Left alone, they would follow whatever it was that they were doing last, like an echo. So, they needed direction.
By himself, Revelry could have handled… Maybe thirteen shadows with ease, and for a prolonged period of time.
And there were a lot more than thirteen students attending the Sport's Festival.
Revelry took on some, but he also had to worry about the race. So, through his connection to Revelry, Izuku took charge of the majority of the shadows.
If the people they came from were alright with teaming up, Izuku instructed the shadows to work with them. Otherwise, he had them follow, giving instructions to a single shadow when needed.
It was working, but juggling all those connections while experiencing the constant pressure of the crowd's emotions was…
Izuku winced as his headache spiked for a moment.
… Draining.
Izuku shrugged away the pain as best as he could. He couldn't afford to worry about that. Not when they needed a plan to get past this next obstacle.
Getting over The Fall had been a stroke of luck. While Izuku could figure out a shadow's quirk through their connection, there were a lot of connections to go through. Thankfully, he had been able to skip some of that since he already knew most of the quirks in the Hero Course, and he was able to come up with a plan to cross it.
The minefield should just be another instance of that.
The shadow's quirks might be weaker, but with the number of shadows there was quite the arsenal to choose from. If he had a moment, he was sure he could…
Izuku was dragged out of his thoughts when Revelry gave a dark chuckle.
"The Revelry is near its end, Viceroy." The Champion drawled. "A party should be planned, but to do so when that party is past its zenith is not that time."
Izuku frowned. "W-we need to figure out a way past the minefield without wasting too much time, Revelry." He argued. Kachaan and Todoroki were just right there, and thanks to Revelry and Izuku most of the group was close behind them.
Gently, Izuku felt Revelry take control of all of the shadows Izuku had been piloting. "I have." He said proudly.
"R-really?!" Izuku looked up at Revelry in surprise. Not that he should be. His Champions were just as intelligent as they were before, so it was perfectly natural for them to…
"Of course. If the revelry is to end, then let it be on our terms! And our terms?"
With a gesture, the army of shadows surged forth. The two in the lead were one with a shiny, metallic black shine while the one next to him was Kirishima's shadow, with a rough and rocky dark look to him.
Wait…
It took all of two seconds to realize what this was. "W-what?! No s-stop!"
Izuku tried to stop them, but Revelry simply retook control.
"Our terms shall be that this banquet of chaos shall end in a tidal wave of shadows and madness!" Revelry declared, just as the explosions started.
Bakugou's POV
Bakugou figured something was going wrong pretty quickly. Honestly, it would've been hard not too, with the amount of explosions occurring behind him. As it was, it just spurred himself on, as he had enough to worry about with Half-and-Half.
Then the friggin' cloud of smoke overtook them, followed by a cacophony of explosions around them. He felt, more than saw, figures heedlessly running past him, and though he tried to blast them, it sounded like they got caught in explosions of their own.
Bakugou was more or less used to explosions, having had to deal with his own for years. But being used to it didn't mean he wasn't affected.
Bakugou was sent tumbling across the ground, which caused him to set off a couple more landmines, which naturally then threw him in a different direction… It was a humiliating cycle. After being disoriented by the multiple blasts he managed to counter his momentum with his own explosions. His ears were ringing, and the stupid smoke made it damn near impossible to see farther than his hands.
So when he saw another figure in the smoke, he instinctively blasted it. Not an actual attack - he wasn't stupid - but one of his stunning explosions. More light and sound than anything else.
"LOOK OUT!"
It was two people, Bakugou realized. Two people riding something. But any satisfaction he felt vanished at the sight of the second person shoving the first off the creature's back, ensuring he took the blast instead of the first.
"Deku!" Bakugou snarled angrily.
Whatever it was that Deku was riding completely fell apart against the light, causing Deku to fall and hit the ground.
The fact that Deku was all the way up here, trying to compete with him, made his blood boil.
It was ridiculous. Worse than a pebble, Deku was a pebble whose purpose was to have other pebbles be on top of him. All Deku could do was 'support'. And if people needed his help, then they clearly weren't cut out to be a hero to begin with! Deku was just cheating by riding on the shoulders of others!
Having taken Bakugou's flash bang and the fall had left Deku on his knees blinking black spots out of his eyes, but his view was cut as a dark figure stepped in front of him and pushed Deku back. Said dark figure glared at Bakugou before raising their hands, causing the area to grow even darker than it was, and he lost sight of Deku completely.
Bakugou tsked, but didn't bother going after him. He had better things to do than waste his time.
Like figuring out which direction the finish line was.
Before Bakugou could make a decision, the shadow guy (probably the bird headed student from their class) charged in a direction, causing Bakugou to snarl once more. "Stay out of my way!" Before charging ahead again.
Unfortunately, the shadow neatly dodged, and was suddenly keeping pace with him.
"We share a link, Viceroy and I." The stupid shadow said calmly while keeping pace. "Foolish as it was to shove aside one who has sworn to defend him, you attacked him." An undercurrent of anger filled the shadow guy's voice before it vanished. "More than that, never before would we have expected such a confliction of feelings at him seeing you. The fear and resignation foremost of all." Yellow eyes bore into his own. "Might you have an explanation for such?"
Stupid little… "None of your business bird brain!" Bakugou growled, blasting an explosion in his direction that didn't seem to faze him.
Oh, it tore the shadows apart, but they quickly reformed.
The shadow chuckled darkly before lashing out with his scythe, forcing Bakugou to dodge. "So long as our contract stands, I say it is."
"Then you shoulda signed a different contract!" Bakugou angrily shot back.
"On the contrary, this one has been quite satisfactory."
Bakugou scoffed, "Yeah, you're showing everybody that you need help to get this far. Your strength ain't even genuine!"
Seriously, did this idiot want to die or something?!
"We've shown we're willing to sacrifice to help another. We've shown we are willing to team up and work under another." The shadow creep stated. "We've shown that we can make judgment calls in the heat of the moment." Those glaring eyes stared at him a little more before giving a shrug. "Ah, but the time for talk is over."
"What the freak are you talkin' about?!" He snarled before the shadow faded away, along with the darkness.
Just in time for him to avoid running straight into another student.
Bakugou stumbled for a moment as he looked around in confusion, the horrifying realization quickly dawning on him.
That… That shadow freak he had followed had run in the wrong freakin' direction!
The fading form of the Shadow gave an evil chuckle, "Others may stumble in darkness, yet there we thrive." He gestured to the smoke. "By the curse of the noonday sun we can't show our true power, but under cover, we regain a fraction."
Bakugou felt his blood boil at the deception, but what truly set him off was the sight of Deku, in the distance, about to cross the finish line. Along with what looked like another shadow guy next to him.
He also noted distantly that Half-and-Half seemed to be similarly confused, a column of dark ice in front of him, as if he had sent off a blast that was countered.
But none of that mattered.
"DEKU DON'T YOU DARE!" Bakugou's next explosions matched his fury, the ground cratering as he propelled himself faster than he had ever attempted before.
But it was too late. No matter how fast he was, he was too far. There was nothing he could do as fireworks went off as their loudmouth teacher began shouting praise over the loudspeaker.
He completely ignored the fading shadows behind him.
"Inside the hearts of men, we see their darkness beckoning. We've seen inside Viceroy, and we see a friend in need. Be careful Bakugou Katsuki - darkness is always present. The revelry in the dark is always willing to start up again." The form intoned before vanishing entirely.
Izuku's POV
Izuku shuddered as he heard the thunderous explosions. That, combined with the look and feel of Kacchan's rage, sent his heart into overdrive.
Kacchan was going to be absolutely furious…
Izuku was still half blind, his ears were ringing, his head was pounding, his heart was racing from lingering panic, and it was all he could do to force himself onward.
"Just a little bit farther, Viceroy," Revelry encouraged besides him.
The Champion had made a shade, or something, to trick Kacchan. Between that and light, he couldn't reform the shadows into a horse again, so he was running alongside Izuku, pushing him forward.
The finish line was right there, so close…
Fireworks went off as he crossed the finish line back into the stadium, and the crowd went ballistic at his arrival.
"We have a WINNER! It's Izuku Midoriya of Class 1-A!"
Izuku paused as he took in Present Mic's words. He… He actually won. He almost couldn't believe it. He won!
Izuku couldn't believe it, even as Midnight took his hand and raised it to the sky, causing the crowd to go wild. His head was pounding, his heart was about to leap out of his chest, and his legs felt like jelly, but he won!
"And here we've got our next contestants fast approaching! Third place belongs to… Momo Yaoyorozu! "
The sound of an engine roared through the tunnel, and Izuku looked just in time to see Momo and her fading shadow ride through on some kind of mechanical/shadow vehicle and stopped right in front of Izuku.
"And let's not forget fourth and fifth place!" Present Mic exclaimed. "They've arrived hot on Yaoyorozu's heels! Shoutout Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugou!"
The crowd cheered for as the two came through, but both clearly ignored it as they settled on glaring at Izuku.
That, uh, was a lot of anger the two of them were emitting…
"Hmmm, those two look distinctly unhappy." Revelry said with far more pleasure than the situation warranted.
Izuku turned as Momo placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a smile. "Congratulations, and thank you for the assist." She gestured towards her shadow before giving him a concerned look. "But are you alright? You don't look good."
"O-oh! I'm fi-"
"He has a headache, and his sight is still recovering. Surprisingly, he doesn't have any scrapes or sprains, but he did land on a wing wrong -"
"R-revelry!" Izuku yelped, looking at the Champion in betrayal as it chuckled.
"I say merely what I see." He replied smugly. "However, on that note, I believe our part in this party is over."
"Ah, right!" Izuku drew back on the power, feeling it drain from Revelry until a butterfly formed, and Tokoyami and Dark Shadow came into view once more.
Tokoyami shook his head back and forth. "That was… An experience." He admitted in a slightly dazed voice. "Though not an unpleasant one."
"Are you alright?" Izuku asked worriedly. "I know coming out of it can be a little disorienting."
"I am fine." Tokoyami assured him. "But for this next part, I feel that it would be better for us to not team up if we truly wish to prove ourselves."
"Noooo!" All three of them jumped as Dark Shadow flew out. "Let's do it again Fumi! That was amazing!"
"Dark Shadow! Control yourself!" Tokoyami barked, looking embarrassed as he pulled back at Dark Shadow.
"Don't wanna!"
Izuku and Momo watched in bemusement for a bit before Momo put her hand back on his shoulder.
"You still need to relax before the next section." She told him with a stern look as she gently pushed him towards one of the walls of the stadium.
Ah. Right.
The moment they made it to the wall he made a small show of leaning against it, his back to the crowd while Momo stood at his side.
"Wings fall," Izuku whispered, the butterflies and Momo doing what they could to shield Nooroo from view before he flew forward and phased through the wall.
This was risky. Like, really really risky. They were literally in front of thousands of people. This was one of the reasons he hadn't planned on making anybody a Champion initially - Nooroo would need to recharge.
Still, even though he hadn't planned on making a Champion, he and Momo had come up with a plan just in case. And he was grateful they had now.
This particular section was right below the stands where Class 1-A would sit for the third round spars. That meant nobody would be in them now, so there was nobody that could just look down and see Nooroo. Izuku and Momo had also put bags of snacks in the stands beforehand, so Nooroo could recharge. And students were still coming in, so most attention would be on them, while the few that tried to focus on him would have their view obstructed by either his butterflies or Momo.
As Izuku de-transformed, he felt the emotions of the crowd dull slightly, and he sighed at the small amount of relief that brought.
Thankfully, as some of the first people to arrive, he and Momo had plenty of time to relax as they waited for the rest of the students to arrive. For those that gave up mid race, another teacher had to go and collect them before they could start the next round.
"Congratulations on making first place by the way, Izuku." Momo told him with a smile. "I told you that you had nothing to worry about."
Izuku immediately shook his head, "t-thanks, but it was mostly Tokoyami. I would never have been able to do it without his help."
"Does that make it less of an achievement?" Momo gave him a look. "I would not have made third place had you not left my shadow behind to help. Do you think less of me?"
"Well, no." Izuku admitted, "b-but your shadow was just a lesser version of you, so any action performed by the shadow is something you could have done. A-and the two of you looked really cool out there!"
Momo blushed at the praise, but then gave him the flattest look she could manage.
… Ok, Momo had to have practiced that look, and he really didn't feel he deserved to be at the receiving end of it.
Several minutes later
By the time everybody was ready for the next round and he had reunited with Nooroo, it still felt like too short a break, but he felt better.
"Is everybody ready!" Midnight called out to the students. "Great! Then let's look at the final results of the first round!"
Izuku quickly glanced through the list, not surprised to see that almost everybody in the Hero Course had made it. But there were a number of names he didn't recognize as well.
He flinched when he saw the look of one of the General Course students - the one that got him at the beginning of the race actually (a trance or possession type quirk?). He was currently glaring at Izuku.
Well, he could get in line. Kachaan and Todoroki were also glaring at him, and their glares were more impressive.
"And with these rankings decided, it's time for the next round!" Midnight declared as the word wheel spun once more.
Eventually, the words stopped spinning at 'Human Cavalry Battle'.
As everybody began talking, Izuku breathed a sigh of relief.
He and Momo had been pretty sure it would be a team-based event for the second round, but it was nice to get confirmation.
"Pay attention!" Midnight regained everybody's attention as she snapped her whip. "As I was saying, you'll each form teams of at least two, and up to four. With that team, you'll form your own team configurations. After that, it's the same rule as any other cavalry battle - you'll steal each other's headband to score points!" She grinned, "now, as to how the points are to be determined? They'll be based on your rankings from the previous round! Forty-second will be worth five points. Forty-first will be worth ten points, and so forth."
Izuku quickly did the math in his head. At first place, that should place him with a comfortable two-hundred and ten points.
It was a hefty amount.
Midnight's grin turned dangerous, and Izuku had a sudden premonition as he felt his stomach drop.
"Now, I'm sure everybody is already thinking of how much they'll need based on their current points. But before you do that, I need to tell you that things are going to be a little different for our lucky boy in first place." She smirked evilly at Izuku. "Unlike everybody else, he'll be worth ten million points."
Izuku blinked, his mind freezing at that information.
"Crap…"
All for One's POV
Ah. The Sport's Festival. Some of the greatest opportunities for window shopping All-For-One had nowadays.
The beeping of his medical equipment droned on in the background as he listened to the results of the first round. He might not be able to 'see', but with audio and the right technopath quirks, he could make do.
All-For-One always thought it was amusing when one staff member or another tried to push for UA to not broadcast the event. As if that would actually do anything. He had a comprehensive list of every student and their quirk already. Had it before the entrance exam even.
If the Sport's Festival was 'window shopping', then social media was an online catalog. Children loved to talk about themselves and their abilities. And making it into such a 'prestigious' place such as UA., well, naturally that was something to brag about.
If not them, then their friends. Or the proud parents. Or even the school itself. One way or another, it was posted on the internet somewhere. And if it was on the internet, it could be collected.
Not that All-For-One actually spent any of his time doing so. Of course not. That's what he paid other people to do.
It was a shame he was only allowed to look and not touch, as this year's batch provided quite the collection. But he had a schedule to keep, and he couldn't be THAT direct with UA yet.
After All-Might died and society collapsed, then he could take to his heart's content. Until then, he would have to settle for making a list for the future.
Still, wasn't a part of the joy of window shopping simply seeing what was available?
First and foremost on his list was Brainwash. While the current user had kept a low profile during the first round, All-For-One knew enough to know how valuable it was. And its current wielder was oh so bitter… Why, in those cases, it was practically a good deed for him to relinquish them of their quirk.
Explosion was delightfully violent. As violent as its current user if he were to guess. If it were to be combined with some otherwise worthless quirks in his arsenal, it could be truly devastating.
Then there was Acid. A little diamond in the rough. Did she even understand the implications of her own ability? Her body's mutations that allowed her to withstand her own acid would be a headache to work around, but not impossible.
Hmmm, what sort of combination would Acid and Explosion give? If they were to use the girl's body as the base for a nomu she would keep her body's natural mutations, and he could then add Explosion… with the addition of a few other quirks such as Hydrate, Profuse Sweat, and perhaps a mix of either Fire Control or Liquid Control…
All-For-One caught himself before he began planning in earnest, giving a slight chuckle as he shook his head.
The perils of window shopping. If he let himself, he could get carried away and might actually decide that the risk was worth breaking from the plan.
Hmmm, what else…
The Sentient Shadow was worth studying, but he was hesitant to see how it would interact with his own quirk. Would it have access to his stockpile? If so, could he guarantee it would be friendly to him? No, far better to give to the doctor for research.
The Butterfly quirk that was used on the Sentient Shadow… That was very intriguing. An enhancement quirk of some kind? Kurogiri's report on the U.S.J failed to mention that. Did the child not use it there? Was there a limit on when he could use it? Was an appropriate connection required between the two individuals? Perhaps the USJ was too early in the school year and the child hadn't had enough time to form a bond in order to use it.
Or perhaps it was used… An image of a dragon filled his mind.
He'd need to ask Ghiran to uncover more on that one.
And then, of course, there was the Creation user…
A delightful quirk. It was a shame he'd already decided it wasn't worth his time.
The problem was that while it was powerful, it required years of practice and study to make it useful.
All-For-One hadn't studied molecular structures in two hundred years, and he had no desire to relearn it. He already had multiple quirks like that; powerful, but only with the appropriate knowledge. Plus, his health was already precarious enough, he didn't need to keep track of his fat reserves.
It was equally useless for nomu as well, seeing as they were literally brain-dead. Perhaps in the future, if the Doctor was successful in making intelligent nomu… A very intelligent nomu…
Ah, but that was neither here nor there.
The only reason he was giving her any sort of consideration now was Tomura's reaction to her previously. Yet there didn't seem to be anything unusual about her…
All-For-One's musings were interrupted at the announcement of the second round, and he focused once more.
He did hope that Tomura was enjoying the show as much as he was.
Shigaraki's POV
"… Thus concludes part seventeen of my dissertation on how cheese has both shaped and saved the world." The little black menace declared proudly to the empty bar. "And now, for a short recess."
"Finally," Shigaraki growled as the cat Kwami flew away somewhere upstairs. He didn't know where, and he didn't care.
"May I ask why you haven't ordered him to be silent?" Kurogiri asked tiredly, carefully laying a glass on the bar.
"You think I don't want to?!" Shigaraki snapped, fingers scratching deep into his arm. "I know how this goes. I do that, he'll find some other way to vent, and he'll find a way to make it worse! At least this way we know how he's trying to irritate us."
In a battle of escalation he would win he was sure, but Plagg could make them suffer for that win… So he'd let the cretin have his small acts of rebellion.
It definitely didn't have anything to do with the memory of the time he'd actually managed to provoke the little demon. After the whole USJ debacle. Absolutely not.
Kurogiri sighed, "Very well."
Shigaraki glanced at the TV and saw that girl again. The one that applied the berserk debuff on him during their failed raid. She was talking with the stupid fairy-type.
He was angry - livid actually. The mere sight of her reminded him of that abysmal failure. But it wasn't the out of control rage that he felt before. Why not?
"And now, I shall now discuss one of the more controversial topics that we face in today's world." Plagg suddenly declared as he flew back into the room. "Which cheese is the best?"
Shigaraki's head slammed onto the table.
Author's Note:
Thank you all for staying around for another chapter of 'My Miraculous Academia'. Hopefully it was an enjoyable read! This one was one I was looking forward to for a while - I had the idea for Revelry for a while now, and really wanted to see people's reactions to him.
As usual, I'd like to thank those who are currently supporting me on pa tr eon; I'm super grateful for the support they provide. For anybody that is interested or would like to support me, the link to that page is P a treon . com (slash) shdowstep. (remove the spaces).
To those of you who celebrate Halloween, I hope you all have a very spooky evening! And I'll see you in the next chapter, whichever story that is!