Aaand we're back with Chapter unlucky 13 which, coincidentally, came out to 13 pages in Word. Let that be ominous if you wish. I've put together what I hope is a fun (and maybe a little funny) original Second Round. So I don't keep you waiting, I'll get to answering my reviews:

Gamelover41592: Thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy.

LEGOBRICK13: Yeah, at this point, Shoto doesn't have any incentive to approach Izuku, and as a result, Izuku doesn't have any clue or reason to interfere. As for Nascha and her brother, what's better than holding a hostage over someone's head? Pitting the Hostage against them. Dirty Templar tactics. I hope I'm laying down a lot of Chekhov's guns, but who knows how or when they'll get fired and how many will be blanks?

Monkey D. Conan: Yeah, when Izuku isn't a trustee of All Might, AFO doesn't seem like that big of a deal. The teams here were... mostly randomized. You'll see what I mean. And yes, Okame quite likes the idea of Izuku and Momo, but she hasn't met him yet. Wait until you see that scene.

Pirohiko-Baltiazar: Neat theory but BZZ, incorrect. I've already written a chapter for the origin of Quirks and you'll get to see it... eventually. I think I see your reference with the suggestion for Adam's eyes considering you have Yaldaboath and Demiurge in two paragraphs. Overlord, yeah? Well, let's see what this chapter rattles in your theorizing head.

Ranger McAleer: We aren't to the ass-kicking round quite yet, but I hope this one is fun.

Shadowwolf1997: Nascha and Simon aren't descendants of Desmond, but they are descendants of Connor and/or Shay. I don't know who Baby is (yet) since I'm only on ACIII: Liberation now, but that means they do have the technology to relive the lives of others' ancestors, assuming they got them from an original descendant. Will the "brainwashing" be effective? You'll have to wait and see.

Souloman: You're the first person to comment on what's up with OFA, and you're spot on. And yeah, this Izuku isn't nearly as powerful as his Canon counterpart, so he's flying under Shoto's radar. As for the quote you gave, I'd never heard it before, but it's very accurate and I fully agree. It's just a shame (for the characters) that there's a lot more loss to come in a story about Assassins and Templars.

I hope this Second round is even more unique than the obstacle course was. I try to call out the personality thing, but there's not much coordination to be had in this game, if any of them would anyway. And, in regard to Izuku's Eagle Vision evolving, we're already seeing a few changes and shifts as Ezio wasn't able to pick out particular targets from crowds until he had Eagle Sense in Revelations, and Nekoi showed her ability to see Quirks in Chapter 1 and that her EV is trained but limited. You'll see how Izuku's EV evolves and changes as he grows.

Wizardwolf 1020: In Canon, they do say that the Olympics lost a lot of popularity after the Dawn of Quirks. UA is the (arguably) best hero school in the world and, far as I know, only Japan does Sports Festivals. I know America doesn't unless you want to compare old-school frat games like from Revenge of the Nerds (and that would be interesting to watch). I'm just going with what they say in Canon. As for using the Animus to train... maybe in dire cases, but I think the Assassins want to keep such things to "rare and only when needed."

Chapter 13:

Of Paintball and Wars

"The top three finishers will each be the leader of their own team for the next round!" Midnight continued. "The rest of you will be shuffled through a randomizer and divided into three teams of 14. Each team will act as an army vying for supremacy! Only 16 of you will move on while the rest of you are killed off! Beware, though, because friendly fire is on! This game is called… Paintball War."

Izuku swallowed, staring at the teacher on the podium as she announced that he would lead his own team. Yes, he wanted to stand out a little to show that he could make it in the hero world, but this was way more than he bargained for. Unaware of the verdet's thoughts, Midnight forged on, the screen above her shuffling the remaining names.

"There are, of course, a few rules," the teacher said as the name Pony Tsunotori flew from the rotating mishmash of names to land under Team O. "Each team will be given a base that they can choose to fortify if they wish. The three leaders will play the roles of a hero, and you can think of your base as an agency. In this way, all those on the team are like sidekicks. I say this because if your team leader gets out, everyone on the team is out. Unless, of course, everyone on a team getting out would drop the remaining total below 16. In that case, the lost hero's 'sidekicks' will fight each other until we reach 16.

"Your weapon of choice is paint, as that is the game. You will be given paintball guns, obviously, but UA will also provide you with paint grenades, pellets, and loose paint that you may use however you wish to show off your Quirks. If you are hit with paint twice, you are out, but if the paint hits you in what one would consider a vital area, then that's an automatic out, so be careful. Whenever someone gets out, their name will grey and an announcement will be made." She pointed to the screen where a little chibi Aizawa shoots a little chibi Present Mic with paint. A bar with Mic's name greyed and shrunk as the blond caricature stomped his feet.

"Midnight-sensei?" a small, white-haired boy from 1-B named Niregengeki Shoda asked, his hand raised. "What do you mean when you say 'friendly fire'?"

"Ah, that is an added danger," Midnight answered with a lick of her lips. "The hero polls can be… cutthroat, so pros are constantly trying to one-up each other. In this case, however, friendly fire means that a misfire could result in one of your teammates getting you out with a shot to the back. I hope you trust them."

The screen above her dinged, indicating that the teams had been sorted. They were listed as follows:

Team X: Katsuki Bakugo, Yosetsu Awase, Minoru Mineta, Mezo Shoji, Ibara Shiozaki, Yuga Aoyama, Ochako Uraraka, Neito Monoma, Kosei Tsuburaba, Tenya Iida, Toru Hagakure, Kojiro Bondo, Momo Yaoyorozu, and Togeru Kamakiri

Team O: Shoto Todoroki, Pony Tsunotori, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Hanta Sero, Itsuka Kendo, Fumikage Tokoyami, Jurota Shishida, Eijiro Kirishima, Kinoko Komori, Setsuna Tokage, Denki Kaminari, Reiko Yanagi, and Koji Koda

Team A: Izuku Midoriya, Yui Kodai, Hitoshi Shinso, Hiryu Rin, Manga Fukidashi, Kyoka Jiro, Tsuyu Asui, Mei Hatsume, Mashiro Ojiro, Shihei Kuroiro, Sen Kaibara, Mina Ashido, Niregengeki Shoda, and Rukido Sato

Off in the distance, Izuku could have sworn he heard something like a rat-bear-dog giggling. He didn't have time to think on such, however, as the floor itself rumbled. Concrete shifted and separated, three buildings rising out of the ring equidistant to each other. They were squat and square, littered with glassless windows and each labeled with the letter of one of the teams. The area between them also became uneven, covered in small walls and tight corners like a maze that came up to Izuku's eyes.

"You all have ten minutes to get to your bases and make a plan," Midnight told them. "When the buzzer goes off, everything is fair game. Good luck." She laughed as the podium on which she stood lowered into the ground. Izuku jumped onto the closest wall and scanned the area, quickly finding his designated fort.

"Team A, with me!" he yelled, running over the tiny maze. Several of his teammates hopped onto the walls and tried to follow him as best they could, but only Tsuyu did so effectively, though Mei used her jetpack to keep up. It only took a couple minutes for the team to group up at the front doorway of their building. The group looked at him, studying him and sizing him up.

"Uh, hi?" he began with a nervous chuckle. He scanned the crowd, recognizing Mei and the purple-haired boy from general education among the hero students. "Uh, my name is Izuku Midoriya, and it's nice to meet you all?"

"Izuku, drop the pleasantries, ribbit," Tsuyu said. "We don't have the time."

"Oh, r-right." Izuku shook his head and cleared his throat, channeling what he thought Master Akaguro would say or do. "Listen up, everyone! We don't have much time, so we need a simple, effective plan. You all know your Quirks better than anyone else, so I'll give you options and you go with whichever one you think will showcase your skills the best. You can try to work alone, but this is the riskiest option as you can be blindsided. On the other hand, you could work in small groups, watching each other's backs. This showcases teamwork but could make you look worse if your group is taken down by a single, powerful individual. A third option is to hide inside the base, which would almost certainly guarantee your advancement, but could also be taken by pros and potential employers are cowardice."

"And what about you, oh fearless leader?" the gen ed student questioned.

"I will do whatever you all think I should," Izuku answered, the boy's eyes widening. "I've laid out the risks, but I'm the one with the biggest target on my back. I'm pretty good at moving and dodging but putting me in the field is a risk for all of you. Even so, I will be there in the thick of it from the start if you want me to."

"I think you should stay inside, Izuku," Tsuyu commented. "At least until the numbers are lower, ribbit."

"I'm going into the field!" Mei declared. "I've got enough babies here to deck out several of you, too, including collapsible shields!"

"The weapons Midnight-sensei mentioned are in here," a 1-B student named Shihei Kuroiro said, stepping out of the shadows of their base. He lifted a pistol that looked more like a squirt gun and threw it to Shoda, the smaller teen fumbling the pseudo-weapon. The rest of the students rushed past Izuku to claim their own stash of the goods, only Tsuyu staying by the verdet's side.

"Is that enough?" he asked. "I feel like I should do more."

"Trust them, ribbit. You can't save them all, but I know they'll go down fighting. Just focus on yourself. If you get hit, Izuku, then all our runs here are over, ribbit. Now come on. We need to get ready."

"I don't need any of you fuckers," Bakugo swore, the blond already decked out in a bandolier of paint grenades. "This is my show and all of you bitches are just going to slow me down."

"We're not exactly happy to be with you either, Bakugo," Ochako spat, one finger pointing at the blond. "You might be an absolute asshole, but if you get hit, then we all go down. Do you understand that? We're being forced to protect your sorry ass."

"I don't need your goddamn protection."

"While I disagree with Uraraka's language, the sentiment is accurate," Iida commented. "Bakugo, I humbly ask you to refrain from charging headlong into the battlefield until such time as our opponents are sufficiently lessened."

"Then we are all in agreement," Momo nodded.

"I recognize that this little council of your has made a decision," Bakugo grunted, "but given that it's a stupid-ass decision, I have elected to ignore it. Those fuckers out there can't touch me. No one can because I'm the goddamn best. Now stay the fuck out of my way or I'll blow your asses up myself." Bakugo stormed off. Almost as one, the whole group turned to look at Momo.

"We'll just have to pray," she sighed, one hand rubbing her face. "We'll fight our hardest and show off in the time we have and just hope he doesn't get shot too quickly."

Team O stared at Shoto, and Shoto stared back, neither saying a word. The air was tense, the wind bringing the indistinct yelling from Team X. Kaminari shuffled.

"So…" he began. "Should we, like, call you boss or something…?"

"Do whatever you want," Shoto waved off. "I don't care what you do and could not care less if any of you move on. Simply remember that if I am eliminated, so will be the rest of you. That said, I do not plan to rely on protection from any of you.

["Oh man, would you look at these!"] a voice said in English, the 1-B student Pony Tsunotori stepping out of Team O's base decked in enough paintball gear to make a teenage Rambo jealous. She was on the shorter side with blonde hair that fell to her back and had large, blue eyes, as most Americans in Japan seemed to. Two lyre-shaped horns grew from above her ears and, though it was hidden by her sweats, the lower half of her body from the waist down was that of a horse. Only two legs, though, more like a satyr than a centaur. She looked up at the group. "Right, you all do not speak English very well. Sorry. I am just excited."

"You sure look comfy in all that, Pony," Tetsutetsu commented. Pony smirked, twirling a pair of paint pistols in her fingers.

"Let us just say I am remembering good times at the range with all my siblings back in Texas. I guess you could say a game like this puts me in my natural habitat. Granted, these little paint guns are nothing like the real thing, but it is close enough for now."

"They still use real guns where you're from?" Kirishima blinked.

"Hell yes! Every one of my siblings and I started learning how to defend ourselves even before our Quirks came in in case some lowlife did not like the way we looked or how much money we had. Dad made sure of it considering he didn't have one and needed to defend himself somehow."

"Just for clarification, how many siblings do you have, Pony?" Setsuna Tokage, a verdette girl from 1-B, asked. She, like many of her nearby classmates, was trying to reconcile that this confident blonde with horns was the same mild-mannered American they had lunch with. "I know you mentioned an older brother at some hero college in America…"

"Twelve. Wait, no. Fourteen. Mama Sam had twins right after I left."

"That's… a lot," Kaminari muttered. "You're sure your dad doesn't have a Quirk?"

"You need a lot of skilled hands in the family business," Pony shrugged, holstering the pistols before cocking a paint shotgun. "Now, I intend to show you why even a country girl like me belongs in a school like UA. Buckle up, buttercups! We are going on a hunt!"

"That's so manly!" Kirishima and Tetsutetsu yelled, the two turning to look at each other. Slowly, they raised their hands and fistbumped. "Bro..." Kirishima's skin hardened as Tetsutetsu's Steel covered him. They fistbumped again, harder. "Broooo…"

"Oh God, there's another one," both Sero and Tokage said before looking at each other and laughing.

"Right, everyone! Pretty boy here is not leading squat, but we can not let him get hit until numbers are low, so keep an eye on him while we lay waste to these scrubs!"

"THE TEN MINUTES ARE ALMOST UP!" Present Mic yelled through the speakers, every student in the arena below hidden within their respective bases. "ERASER, YOU'VE TRAINED AT LEAST HALF OF THESE STUDENTS! WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE STRATEGY-WISE‽"

"Clearly not your brains, Mic," Aizawa commented, earning a disgruntled protest from the blond. "If I were to use my knowledge to tell everyone what I expect to see from my students, I would most likely be giving away their plans at the last moment, sabotaging them. I refuse to do that."

"YOU'RE ACTUALLY A PRETTY CARING TEACHER DEEP DOWN THERE IN YOUR HARDBOILED SOUL, AREN'T YOU‽ YOU REALLY CAN'T GIVE US ANYTHING‽"

"Well, I suppose I can offer you something," the hidden Assassin sighed. "From what I know of their personalities, I suspect the one with the most leadership skills is Midoriya. That being said, this game has very few variations for large-scale strategy under the limited set-up time. I would suspect the team leaders will hold back in the beginning to not compromise themselves and, by extension, the rest of their teams if I didn't know them."

"LET'S TEST THAT THEORY, ERASER, 'CAUSE WE'RE GETTING STARTED IN THREE… TWO… ONE!"

The buzzer rang, signaling three separate streams of students to spill from the bases. Voices and battle cries rose from the arena as students dove behind the short barriers of the maze between them. One student, however, literally rose above the others.

"Time to die, extras!" Bakugo yelled, throwing paint grenades into the crowd below. Students cried out and ran no matter what team they were from, explosions of blue, yellow, and pink wiping out a total of 11 competitors.

"AND KATSUKI BAKUGO STARTS THE ROUND BY TAKING OUT A FOURTH OF HIS RIVALS! SO MUCH FOR HANGING BACK, BUT I GUESS THAT'S TO BE EXPECTED FROM OUR FIRST-PLACE STUDENT!"

"He's putting himself at risk, but that risk is minimalized as long as he can stay in the air," Aizawa commented. "And his play reduced his own team. That's not a good look as a leader."

On the board above, 11 names greyed out and shrunk. Most were from Teams A and O, but two of the names were from Team X, those of Aoyama and Kojiro Bondo. The rest of Team X were protected by a solid wall of air that caught most of the paint.

"That was uncalled for, Bakugo!" Iida yelled. "You caught our own teammates in the collateral!"

"Fuck off, rich boy!"

"So, the biggest fish has jumped out of the pond," Pony grinned, her horns popping off her head only for new ones to grow back immediately. The floating ones turned downward, the girl kicking her shoes off to balance them within the curve of her hooves. She rose. "I'm coming for you!"

"Who the Hell are you?" Bakugo demanded, having to cut his glare short as the American aimed her shotgun and fired. He rolled downward, the paint just barely missing him, and threw one of his grenades in response. Pony only smirked, drawing a pistol with one hand and shooting the pseudo-explosive several times to kill its momentum.

"IN AN UNEXPECTED TWIST, BAKUGO NOW HAS A COMPETETOR FOR ARIAL SUPREMACY! FANS AND SCOUTS, THIS IS OUR LOCAL RED, WHITE, AND BLUE-BLOODED AMERICAN EXCHANGE STUDENT PONY TSUNOTORI!"

"Tsunotori didn't get much of a chance to stand out during the obstacle race, so it appears she's taking the chance now since flight is rare," Aizawa said. "Win or lose, this puts her in a favorable position with prospective internships."

Down below, the students that had chosen to take to the field were having to watch the sky, needing to be wary of any paint from the battle above. Hitoshi Shinso shoved his back against a wall amongst his teammates, a single paint pistol sitting uncomfortably in his hands. He raised it over the wall, firing blindly.

"This is such a drag," he complained, nervous sweat running down the side of his face. He'd just barely avoided the Bakugo's first attack, such having not set a positive mood. Beside him, the pink-haired student from support giggled. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," the girl answered. "It's just that people as showing off my babies! I mean, did you see how those guys that were smart enough to borrow my shields avoided the paint?"

"They're still going to get hit if they aren't careful."

"That's their problem," she waved off. "Anyway, the tech companies can't see me from here, so I'm going up! Later, sleepy eyes!"

"Hey!"

Mei didn't listed, her jetpack firing as she rose above the maze. Several paintballs came for her, but a single press of a button activated a pair of drones that shot out and intercepted the paint before returning, orbiting the support student and she rose higher and higher. Reaching behind her, Mei drew a weapon, its barrel opening to show a net with bolas on the ends.

"Look at my babies!" she yelled, firing two capture nets at Pony and Bakugo. Pony gasped, cursing in English as she dove from her flying horns. Bakugo refused to give up ground, metaphorically or otherwise, and burned away the center of the net with an explosion.

"And who the fuck are you now?"

"Mei Hatsume, soon-to-be CEO of Hatsume Industries!"

"AND NOW WE HAVE ANOTHER AIRBORNE STUDENT, MEI HATSUME OF THE SUPPORT COURSE! THAT MAKES ONE FROM EACH TEAM!" He paused. "NOTHING TO SAY THIS TIME, ERASER‽"

"Nope."

"Man, I wish I had a flashy Quirk," Kirishima and Tetsutetsu muttered, both with their backs pressed against a maze wall. The white-haired of the pair peeked over the wall, quickly dropping back down.

"Alright, bro. It looks like Monoma, Ibara, and a couple of your classmates are in a firefight with Team A."

"Then let's show them what a couple of manly bros can do, bro."

"And I thought the headache Tetsu caused alone was bad," Tokage whined, her pistols floating above her held by her detached hands and aimed by a floating eye.

"Let's go, bro!" The pair of male students faulted over the wall, charging over and through the concrete as they aimed for Team X. Mineta shouted as they approached, turning attention on them. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu dove opposite directions as the ground where they'd been standing was splattered with color. They came up in perfect sync, Tetsutetsu nailing Monoma between the eyes and Kirishima aiming for Iida only for his paint to splatter over an unseen obstacle, rendering Toru Hagakure out.

Momo swung around at her teammates' cries, a self-made paint machinegun firing.

"Bro, look out!"

Kirishima had no time to react before he was driven to the ground, a solid weight on top of him. He opened his eyes to see silver receding, a guess as to what just happened coming to his mind. He pushed, rolling Tetsutetsu off him. The boy from 1-B was splattered with red paint all across his right side, the boy smiling weakly.

"Bro, why would you do that for me?" Kirishima asked, cradling his fallen companion. Tetsutetsu raised a shaky hand, Kirishima taking it in one of his own.

"I just… couldn't do nothing, bro," Tetsutetsu replied with a cough, dislodging some dust from his throat that had gotten in their when he dived. "I know we said we'd come out of this together, bro, but my run is done."

"No it's not, bro!" the redhead insisted, tears coming to his eyes. "You'll come back from this. I know you've done enough, bro. You're find a great internship!"

"Thanks, bro. I… needed… to hear that…" Tetsutetsu went slack in his grip.

"Brooooo!" Kirishima cried, yelling to the sky as dramatically as possible.

"…Are you done?"

Kirishima froze at the feminine voice, lowering his gaze from the sky to see a girl with vines for hair. She had a paint pistol pointed at the 1-A student.

"Oh," Tetsutetsu blinked from the floor. "Hi Shiozaki. Do you think you can do me a solid and let Kirishima go this time?"

Ibara made a show of considering her downed classmate's proposal. "Hmm… No."

POP!

"AND WITH A RATHER DRAMATIC SHOWING, BOTH EIJIRO KIRISHIMA OF 1-A AND TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU OF 1-B ARE OUT, BUT YOU'VE GOTTA GIVE IT UP FOR THEIR SHOWMANSHIM AND CAMARADERIE!"

"It was overdramatic and unnecessary," Aizawa said. "It got them attention, but I can't say if it was good."

"BUT IT WAS VERY ENTERTAINING! YEEEAAAHH!"

Tsuyu let out a ribbiting chuckle at the announcement, the frog-girl having heard most of the interaction. Paint whizzed by above her, the student wielding three pistols in total, one in each hand and another with her prehensile tongue. She strained her eyes, listening closely for any nearby dangers or targets. She didn't have Eagle Vision herself —a small blessing as it would be impossible to explain with Izuku in the same school, much less the same class— but she'd been raised to always be aware of her surroundings. She detected one familiar voice around the corner, mentally rating any plan she could have over the owner of the voice. She dove, bringing her weapons up only to freeze in surprise.

"Another one falls into our trap!" Kaminari laughed, the quiet Koji Koda and an equally-silent girl from 1-B at his sides. The boys raised their weapons of choice —a paint shotgun and a paint grenade— and shot their shots. Tsuyu jumped instantly, the paint passing harmlessly underneath her. The pistol in her tongue swiveled, aiming for the group. She fired.

"Komori!" Kaminari yelled, the girl with them acting quickly. She drew soil from her pockets, a giant mushroom growing from it like a shield. Tsuyu's paint colored the mushroom's head a neon green.

"Ribbit?"

"We've got you now, Asui!" the electric teen laughed only for a purple spot to bloom on his chest. "Huh?"

"Sorry, Kaminari!" Izuku said, running along the maze walls. Koji and Komori turned toward him, Koji throwing another paint grenade. Izuku drew his Rope-dart with his free hand, the non-traditional weapon wrapping around the sphere and flinging it away. Komori's eyes widened, the girl looking down to see another such sphere now between her and Koji. She made a small "eep!" sound and poked Koji, the boy noticing the danger only a second before blue overtook their vision.

"Awe man!" Kaminari sighed as Koji and Komori wiped paint off their faces. "We had the perfect plan."

"You almost had me, ribbit," Tsuyu admitted, turning to her fellow green-haired teammate. "Thanks for the save, Izuku, but I thought we told you to stay back."

"I couldn't just sit and watch," Izuku replied as Present Mic announced Kaminari, Koji, and Komori's downfalls. "Not while the other team captains were fighting on the front lines."

"Look out!" Tsuyu dove forward, tackling her fellow Initiate. Red paint drew a line over the ground, both secret Assassins rolling to their feet and spinning around to see who had attacked them. On the wall above stood Momo, her deceptively-slim arms holding her minigun.

"Momo," Izuku said.

"Izuku," she responded.

"Momo?" Tsuyu questioned.

"Asui."

"Izuku, ribbit, when did you and her get so familiar?"

"It's a long story, Tsu," he answered.

"Tsu?" Momo questioned.

"This is way off topic."

"We didn't have a topic, Izuku."

"Then I'd like to propose one." Izuku stepped between the two women, his arms out. He dropped his paint pistol. "Momo, you owe me from the race. Remember?"

"Yes...?"

"I'm calling in my favor. Let us go, then we're even."

The three stood there, Momo's minigun still aimed at them. Tsuyu started to slowly raise her own weapons but Izuku reached back and stopped her. His green eyes drilled into Momo's dark ones until she sighed and lowered the weapon.

"Fine. Get out of here."

A glacier rose from the battlefield, the ice quickly followed by the greying of the names Shihei Kuroiro, Hiryu Rin, Togeru Kamakiri, Kosei Tsuburaba, and Kyoka Jiro. Izuku and Tsuyu took that distraction to run. The female of the pair spun, trying to take Momo out of the game, but the raven-haired teen blocked the frog-girl's shots with the side of her paint minigun. Izuku drug Tsuyu around a corner.

In the distance, the glacier shot into the air, disrupting the battle there. The air cooled, sending a shiver down Pony's spine since she did not have any heating unlike Mei with her pack and Bakugo with his explosions. The shiver was all the pause Bakugo needed to charge in, an explosion blowing the American off her horns. She scowled, two of her horns flying down to catch her as she fell while the other two aimed for Bakugo's bandolier, intent to take him out with his own paint bombs. He grabbed them, blood leaking from his palms at the sharp edges as he stopped them just short of their goal before blowing them up.

"Nice try, horse bitch!"

["Fuck you!"] Pony didn't get to say more before a drone-carried paint pellet nailed her in the stomach. Mei laughed as she pulled off the act, boasting to the crowds. ["Dammit!"]

"Behold, tech companies! Remember my name! I'm Mei Hatsume, the one who can build anything imaginable and that which isn't!"

"That was my kill, pink hair!" Bakugo roared. Mei sent him a peace sign before hitting herself with a paint pellet, removing herself from the competition before the blond could. "Goddammit!"

"AND OUR BATTLE OF THE SKY CLOSES WITH KATSUKI BAKUGO VICTORIOUS WITHOUT A SINGLE HIT OF HIS OWN! WITH THAT, THE NUMBER OF REMAINING STUDENTS IS 17! ONLY 16 CAN MOVE ON TO THE THIRD ROUND, SO WHICH POOR, UNFORTUNATE SOUL WILL JUST MISS THE MARK‽"

"Team A, retreat!" Izuku yelled over the din of paint hitting the walls and echo of Present Mic's voice. He and Tsuyu vaulted over the shoulder-high walls on as direct a course toward their base as they could. The only remaining members of their team, those being Niregengeki Shoda and Yui Kodai of 1-B and Hitoshi Shinso of gen ed, joined them as they passed, the former using his Quirk to launch paint grenades into the air before redirecting their trajectory to cover their retreat. Kodai did something similar, the grenades she threw growing in size as they left her hand.

"Pull back! Team O, pull back!" the floating head of Setsuna Tokage shouted, bobbing and weaving to avoid paint shot at her. In response, a glacial wall grew between Team O's battle line and the rest of the students, blocking them off. "You know, or that. That's fine, too."

"Motherfucker!" Bakugo cursed as he landed among the remainder of his own team. "To think I haven't gotten a single, personal, goddamn kill yet!"

"Come on, Bakugo!" Mineta called. "Team A is tiny now! I saw them running away! This is our chance to wipe them out! Not to mention the two cuties we could splatter with sticky stuff!"

The rest of the team felt their noses crinkle at the suggestion, Momo, Shiozaki, and Ochako taking a physical step away from the shorter student.

"Your phrasing is incredibly—!" Iida began.

POP!

Mineta looked down in shock, his front covered in yellow. Tears grew at the corners of his eyes as he looked up toward Bakugo, the blond with a pistol he'd snatched from Yosestu Awase's hand aimed at him.

"Wha—?"

Bakugo shot him again, this time in the face. He didn't stop until Mineta was coated in paint, no part of him any color other than yellow.

"There's your fuckin' sticky stuff, you creepy little bastard," the team leader hissed, the final buzzer ringing above to signal to all that the final 16 had been decided. "Now take your tiny-dicked midget ass out of my goddamn sight."

"THAAAT'S THE GAME, FOLKS! I DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS SAID DOWN THERE, BUT WITH THAT LAST BETRAYAL, WE HAVE OUR 16 FINALISTS! THOUGHTS, ERASER‽"

"Knowing what I do about Minoru Mineta and Bakugo Katsuki, I'm not surprised about this outcome. They know why I removed him from the hero course."

"COOL BEANS! MOVING ON, WE'RE GONNA TAKE A COUPLE HOURS FOR LUNCH AND THEN START THE BONUS GAMES FOR THE STUDENTS THAT DIDN'T MAKE THE SECOND ROUND! AFTER THAT BEGINS THE THIRD, SO TAKE THIS TIME TO GO GET SOME FOOD AND BUY SOME MERCH! PLEASE REMEMBER, HOWEVER, THAT BETTING IS STRICTLY ILLEGAL!"

"Not that that stops anyone."

"We made it," Izuku sighed, leaning against the wall of his team's base. His teammates were arrayed around him, each panting as a result of their flight from the battle.

"Man, that was nerve wracking," Shoda agreed.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

"Izuku, we asked you to stay behind, ribbit," Tsuyu said, most of the others nodding. "You gave us a chance to stand out after you did in the first round, ribbit, and now we all get to try again in the third, so there's no point in whining about What-If's. Come on, ribbit. Let's go get lunch."

"Yeah," Izuku agreed slowly, taking the frog-girl's offered hand to stand. "Yeah, let's."

Chizome Akaguro stalked the shadows of the rundown parking garage, the noonday sun leaving everything dark beneath the roof. The flickering, dim lights were old, doing little to drive away the dark and the open space did the same to hide the quiet conversation going on between two figures.

"What is this about, Kido?" the hero clad in a suit similar to armor asked, turning his covered face to his companion, a man wrapped in linen similar to the stereotypical mummy. "The message I was given said that Endeavor wanted to talk to me."

"My apologies, Ingenium, but I didn't think you would come if it was a simple sidekick requesting a meeting."

"Why are we here, Kido? I need to get back to my patrol soon."

"There's a lot to be said," the wrapped man responded. "I don't want to get into it quickly."

"Then I don't have time for this." Ingenium started walking away. Kido's hands fisted.

"Does the name Templar mean anything to you, Tensei Iida?" Ingenium froze, turning slowly to look at the sidekick. "My friends say they've been talking to you and we feel like you'd be an excellent fit for our organization."

"I take it this organization isn't the Endeavor Agency," the Speed Hero commented.

"The Templars are an organization that has been fighting for world peace since the time of the Crusades," Kido told him. "They have done everything they could, continue to do everything they can, but year after year, century after century, have been foiled by a shadow organization of villains and criminals who even call themselves Assassins, preventing the peace that would save millions of lives."

"Assassins?" Ingenium questioned. "If this is true, why have the police not been involved? Why has this group of murderers not been arrested yet?"

"I'm afraid it is not so simple, Ingenium," Kido said with a shake of his head. "They have eyes and ears everywhere, even in the ranks of pro heroes. They are good at what they do, hard to pin down, and everywhere, like rats in the sewers. Every time the Templars bring peace to a land, the Assassins sweep in and try to destroy it. The Assassins caused the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Peloponnesian War, and others. Any civil war or unrest can be traced back to the Assassins overthrowing that peaceful structure." The bandages around his mouth moved, indicating a smile. "But the Templars got to Japan first, and Oda Nobunaga is proof that our ideals work. He and his retainers were the first Templars of Japanese blood and, though the Assassins quickly followed and forced Oda to commit Seppuku, his retainers fulfilled his mission. It was Templar ideals that brought the first lasting peace to Japan. A peace we continue to fight for. Will you join us, Tensei Iida?"

"I…" Ingenium breathed. "I would need more time to think on this, Kido. The offer is tempting, but I feel that there is far more to this story."

"That is true," Kido admitted, "but now that you know, we need you to make a decision. There is a reason that the police cannot be involved, and that is because the Assassins are too quick and too numerous to be caught by the long, slow arm of the law. These… people are murderers. Vigilantes of the worst kind. They think themselves above morals for some self-contrived freedom that only results in death and suffering."

"I… I would need to see this for myself," Ingenium said.

"I'm sad to say you will get the chance." The hero and sidekick spun around, seeing a figure in a tattered robe stepping out of the shadows. He flexed his hands, twin blades coming from his wrists.

"Assassin!" Kido hissed.

"Eustass Taicho, the pro hero Kido. You stand complicit in the deaths of 28 innocents, of human trafficking including at least two Americans, of drug smuggling with known yakuza, and for the personal killing of six informants with clean hands of their own. For these crimes, the Brotherhood finds you guilty. You and your Templar brethren are a stain on the free will of humanity, and so I will stain my own hands to maintain the innocence of those you have yet to hurt. For them, I will become that stain."

"You have no proof of any of that, Assassin!"

"Wait, you're the Hero Killer!" Ingenium realized. Kido didn't wait for a response, launching sharp gusts of air from his face and hands. Akaguro rolled to the side and charged in, weaving through Kido's attacks.

"We need to kill him!" the Templar yelled. "If he gets away, he'll kill more heroes!"

"You mean I'll kill more Templars," the Assassin corrected, reaching into his robes to throw a half-dozen knives. Kido let them come, redirecting them as soon as they touched his bandages with his Quirk: Traject. They exited his back, stabbing into the concrete around, as Kido smirked.

"I should have known you were one of them," the sidekick growled. "The attacks were too obvious, but we couldn't confirm that half of your victims were ours with you stealing the rings."

"Hero Killer!" Ingenium rushed forward with a burst of speed, the engines in his elbows driving him forward. Akaguro responded by drawing his sword, redirecting the hero's punch.

"I am not here for you," the Assassin told him. "You are not yet one of them and remain innocent."

"I cannot just let you murder this man!"

"Fine." Akaguro spun, the pommel of his sword striking the side of Ingenium's helmet. It crumpled like a racecar, the hero falling.

"Take this, Assassin! Blast Wave!" An arc of compressed air shot from the sidekick, forcing the vigilante to run. Akaguro reached one of the garage's pillars and ran up it, jumping off at the top as the Blast Wave hit, blowing a broken section from the center of the concrete. The Assassin came up in a roll but maintained his speed. Kido jumped out of the way of his slash, but that had been the killer's intension as he raced by, grabbing one of his throwing knives from minutes before, one with a thin film of red on its edge.

He brought it to his lips, licking it.

Kido felt his body freeze before going slack, falling on his back.

"What…" he gasped. "What have you… This must be your Quirk. How appropriate, a villainous Quirk for a villainous person."

"It serves me well when I'm taking down so-called heroes no better than an evil tyrant's lapdogs." He raised his arm, flexing his hidden blade once more before stabbing downward.

"No!"

Akaguro could not stop the motion as his blade pierced the decorative armor of Ingenium's suit and into the hero's lower back. He let out a pained cry as the weapon did its work, the man laying on his fellow pro. Though he could not see it, the Hero Killer looked down on him with pity even as he licked the fresh blood from his blade.

"You fool," the Assassin sighed, lifting the wounded hero and setting him aside. He had no time to wait, unable to know Kido's blood type and thus how long his Quirk would last. "You should not have done that. You have wounded yourself in vain."

"No, don't!" Ingenium cried, but it was to no avail as the Assassin's blade punctured Kido's heart. The sidekick gurgled, his body jerking one last time before falling still. "Why would you do this‽"

"May you find peace in the darkness' embrace," Akaguro whispered. He raised one of Kido's hands before sliding a thick ring from a finger. He studied it, confirming that it was a Templar ring, and placed it in a pocket before standing slowly from the warm corpse. A couple steps took him to Ingenium's side where he knelt. The hero's eyes showed through his suit's visor, wide and scared. "I am sorry you were dragged into our shadow war, hero. We had you under surveillance for fear you could be compromised, but it seems we were not able to do enough. Your career has served the people well and it saddens me to know I ended it, even accidentally. I will call paramedics for you when I am gone."

"I don't understand!" Ingenium hissed as the Assassin stood. "Why this‽ Why all the death‽"

"You do not need to understand," Akaguro said. "You care too much for peace. So much that you would not care how it comes about. Soon enough, you will not remember what you have learned here today, only that it was me that attacked you, and that is the way it should be. Goodbye, Ingenium. I hope we never meet again."

Tears fell from Tensei's eyes as the man vanished back into the shadows from whence he'd come, his dirty mission accomplished, and Tensei's career over.

End of Chapter 13

The Second Round comes to a close, as do the careers of two pros. What did you think of the original round? I hope I gave you a few chuckles in there. Also, what butterflies did you just see take off? What can Tnsei do before Keeper get to him? I love hearing your thoughts! So, as always:

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods