Was it normal to feel kinda high after a run? That thought occupied Izuku Midoriya's head as the Obstacle Course event was winding down. He watched as more and more people were crossing the finish line. Bakugo was fuming yet made no move towards Izuku instead going off to sulk somewhere else. Todoroki shivered unintendedly. His gaze crossed over to Izuku's before turning away. Izuku couldn't blame either of the two for being so charged. For a bit near the end there, it looked like either of them could have won before Izuku rocketed past them. The telekinetic boy himself didn't expect his gambit to actually pay off.
The feeling of pride in himself was something still new to him, so it wasn't his fault to momentarily let himself be washed with it. He didn't stop Uraraka, Iida, or any other classmates from congratulating him on winning first place. He rubbed his nose mostly to check for any nosebleeds.
The rest of the contestants filed in one by one across the finish line. Out of the entire freshmen participants, only 42 would move on to the next round. Midnight rolled the wheel of games once again. The hitting of tacks kept the audience and students waiting in suspension before finally landing on the calvary battle.
The rules were explained as thus: the participants would group up into teams of four. One would be the rider standing on top of the others. Two were in the front and one in the back. Each player would have a head band that amounted to a certain number of points based on their ranking. For example, the student who came in 42nd had their headband worth 5 points. The one in 41st was worth 10 points, and so on and so on. The goal was to steal as many headbands from the other teams without losing your own.
Of course, there were several changes from the schoolyard version. All of the team members' headbands would be worn by the rider either on their head or neck. If the rider's own headband was stolen, the team was not out. If the formation breaks, the team is not out. Quirks were allowed as long as they weren't for malicious use, such as hurting other opponents.
"And for the last rule," Midnight licked her lips in anticipation. "Given the points, the headband for the 1st place winner of the race should only be worth 210 points. Instead, we decided to spice things up. The 1st place headband is worth 10 million points!"
The announcement changed the atmosphere in the air. What was shaping up to be a fun game for Izuku turned into a nightmare. All of the competitors stared at Izuku with hungry eyes. Even his friends stared at him like a fish leaking blood in shark-infested water. He was the big prize. His headband alone would put any team in first place easily. Izuku was now simultaneously the most worthwhile and detrimental player in the game.
Oooohhh, Izuku thought as he stood there like a deer in headlights. Ooooohhhh nooooooooooo.
"Now, we'll take 15 minutes for everyone to form teams." Midnight announced. "I'm sure the fans can't wait to see you kiddies struggle. I know I do."
Kids scrambled to one another hoping to form teams. Midoriya, still frozen at the absurd number of points on his head, was shoved by a random student. Now attentive to his surroundings, Izuku realized how barely anybody went to him. This led him to try and find Uraraka or Iida or anybody to partner up with. Fortunately for him, he found both.
"Hey, hey," Izuku panted. "I'm so glad I found you guys! I really need your help with this, so how about we team up?"
The two tensed up and looked around, almost looking for an excuse to escape. Iida was the first to respond.
"Midoriya, I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline."
"What? Why?" Izuku questioned.
"I not only see you as a friend but also as a rival," Iida explained. "In order to grow more as a hero, I need to test my abilities against those who I call comrades and that includes you, Midoriya!" He dramatically pointed at Izuku before jabbing a thumb at a group consisting of Todoroki, Kaminari, and Yaoyorozu. "I'm going to join Todoroki's team now. Good luck!"
Before a desperate Izuku could cry out, Iida dashed his way to Todoroki's group. Izuku then turned to his last friend, Uraraka. He hoped his silent pleading would get her to stay. Uraraka seemed to internally struggle if she should join with Izuku given the numerous faces she made that were a mixture of thinking and pouting. Finally, she let out a noise that was a mixture of a sigh and a groan.
"Yeah, I'll join, Deku," Uraraka said. "It's better to team up with friends than random strangers."
"Oh, thank goodness," Izuku said. "That means so much, wow. Okay, now what about other teammates? It looks like nobody wants to be with me with such a large score on my head."
"Yeah, that's probably a reason why. Come on," Uraraka pulled Izuku through the wild crowd of students. "There's gotta be someone willing to join with us."
The two weaved in and out of the crowd which in itself was growing thinner and thinner as more teams formed. Eventually, Uraraka pointed to a girl all by herself.
"That girl! I saw her back during the race. Maybe she'll join up with us." Ochaco explained.
The duo approached the mystery girl. Izuku noticed the girl's pupils first, which in the shape of crosshairs. Combined with the pink dreadlocks and the supposed exosuit she was wearing, it didn't take long for Izuku to peg her as a tech hero.
"H-h-hi, I'm I-i-izuku Midoriya," Great, his social anxiety was kicking in. "W-w-would you like join o-our team?"
The girl narrowed her eyes, as if she was trying to recognize something about the boy.
"Hey, you're the flying boy who won the race, aren't you?" The girl jovially asked. "And the guy with the 10-million-point bounty on his head?"
"Um, yes." Izuku answered.
"Heh, cool. Name's Mei Hatsume. I'm from the Support Department." She introduced herself enthusiastically. "I build stuff for Heroes to beat up stuff with. Here, you wanna hold my baby?"
"What?!" Both Izuku and Ochaco exclaimed before Hatsume shoved a machine into Izuku's arms.
"Yeah, it's basically a propulsion system that lets you rocket yourself over 10 meters. It works really well with this exo-suit I made," Hatsume gestured to the suit over her gym uniform. "Let's anyone jump across a bridge or several rooftops without breaking their legs. Oh, by the way, I need that back."
As quickly as she put it in Izuku's arms, she took it away. She squinted and took out a screwdriver from her pockets to tighten something on it.
"Wow, that's really cool," Izuku was lost in awe before recalling himself. "But why do you call your inventions your 'babies'?"
Hatsume looked up and snorted at the question. "Well, I made them. That makes me like their mom. Honestly, I don't see why more people don't call their creations their babies."
"Okay," Uraraka shrugged at the explanation. "So, do you want to join our team or not?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Really? Even with everyone going after us?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah, I need to get to the third event to show them what I can do. Plus, you're my best bet to getting there."
"Whose them?"
"The support companies!" Hatsume exclaimed, waving a hand at the crowd. "There are always some representatives scouting hero school events like us. Once they see what me and my babies can do, I'm going to have opportunities left and right!"
Izuku nodded along, a bit fazed on how the Sports Festival is that much of a big deal to hero students from all fields.
"Well, welcome aboard, Hatsume," Izuku said. "Now, let's try and find a fourth."
The trio searched for a bit before eventually finding Tokoyami. The bird-headed student and his sentient shadow-hawk Quirk both agreed to join up. The four discussed their plans before the race began.
All the teams lined up facing each other. Izuku held the fabled ten-million-point headband along with his teammates. Tokoyami was up in front as the main horse, with Uraraka and Hatsume in the back for support. Izuku looked around at the other teams. Bakugo already had a team and was glaring right at Izuku. Iida was with Todoroki's group. There was that Monoma guy from 1-B looking overly smug. And then there was the purple-haired kid from the hallway, Shinso, Izuku recalled. Shinso's team was a mix of kids from different classes. However, everyone except for Shinso looked dead-eyed and intensely focused. Weird.
Present Mic issued the countdown and when the man yelled go, nearly all the teams raced towards Izuku's group. Great, just like they planned. As the teams got closer, Izuku ripped off the 10,000,000-point headband and threw it into the crowd. The teams quickly scrambled for the headband, clawing for it like sharks in a frenzy. But no matter how much they tried to grab it, it always whiffed around their hands.
"HOLY MOLEY! WHAT A START! TEAM MIDORYIA HAS TURNED THE 10 MILLION POINTS INTO A FREE-FOR-ALL!" Present Mic yelled from the booth. "I CAN'T EVEN TELL WHO HAS IT OR NOT!"
"Maybe if you paid more attention to the event than commentating, you would have been able to see what is actually going on." Aizawa droned.
"Hey, man, not when we're live," Present Mic mumbled to his co-host before returning to his normal (i.e.: loud) speaking voice. "So, what's the 411 on that headband, Eraserhead?"
Aizawa muttered an inaudible apology before responding. "Look how it always moves out of the way of whoever's trying to grab it."
"Uh huh."
"And look at how it has most teams all centered in one big area."
"Uh huh?"
"And look at Midoriya's hand."
For those who suddenly turned their attention to the green-haired telekinetic, they could see Izuku's left hand move in a rhythmic pattern, in time with the headband's movements. All while the boy's eyes never left it, even as their team moved along the edges.
"So, that means…" Present Mic led on.
"The 10-million-point headband is bait on a string." Eraserhead stated. "And Midoriya is the fisherman."
By now, some of the teams had lost focus on the 10 million points and started targeting other teams. And it wasn't before long till someone went after Izuku's team. This, of course, was Bakugo's team, signified by the blonde's roar of rage.
"Oh man, move!" Izuku cried out before the groups collided.
Team Midoriya dodged Team Bakugo's attempt at snatching their headbands thanks in part to Hatsume's jetpack, one of the many items she brought along. Still, that didn't stop Bakugo from sending explosions their way. Tokoyami called upon Dark Shadow to block the attack. However, the sentient Qurik recoiled from the explosion, burned by the light. Bakugo followed up with another attack that broke through Dark Shadow's defense. The heat and smoke scorched Izuku enough to drop his concentration. The 10-million-point headband fell freely into the crowd of contestants, and Izuku barely managed to clutch it again and telekinetically threw it off away from the crowd. However, this didn't stop Team Bakugo from pursuing them.
"Hastume, Uraraka! Give us some room!" Izuku shouted.
"Okay, let's do this!" Uraraka answered before activating her Quirk on herself, Hatsume and Tokoyami.
"Got it! Watch this!" The inventor said before clicking her boots together. The roar of miniature jets sounded before flaring to ignition. The Team lifted off to the sky, assisted by Uraraka's Zero Gravity. Before anyone could pursue them, Present Mic announced that Team Todoroki got the 10-million-point headband. This, fortunately, caused Bakugo to rethink priorities and charged towards Todoroki's team, giving Midoriya and his teammates time to breathe.
As such, it was time for Team Midoriya to enact the next stage of their plan. It was mainly to skirt around the mob trying to get the 10 million points and pick off headbands using Izuku's telekinesis. This was easier said than done, as not only did Izuku have to contend with keeping his focus while being mobile, there was also the issue of safely removing the headbands. Sure, it was easy to simply grab a headband and jank it off somebody, but as Izuku learned, it wasn't graceful nor sportsmanlike.
The girl with the big hands found out when Izuku tried to take one of their headbands away from them. The poor girl's head was pulled with such force that she nearly hit the ground hard if it wasn't for her teammates catching her.
"Sorry!" Izuku cried before tying the stolen headband to his head.
As the cavalry battle waged on, it became clear that Team Midoriya's plan wouldn't be sustainable. Telekinetically taking opponent's headbands without trying hurt the rider would take too long, especially as more teams became aware of Midoriya's plan. Getting close enough to grab headbands was hard enough. Add Quirks, and you have the most frantic hit-and-run strategy imaginable.
However, the main prize was the 10-million-point headband. Ever since Todoroki's team got their hands on it, it was difficult for anyone to try and grab it. Todoroki's ice and Iida's speed made things even harder. Still, that didn't mean they had it all of the time. Every now and then, Bakugo's team would steal the headband, and it would bounce back between the two teams. One exception was when it landed in the hands of Mineta's team, who had it for four seconds before having the headband taken back.
By now, the clock was running out, and Team Midoriya was not looking good. They had only managed to acquire some low-scoring headbands in between trying to avoid their headbands being stolen. They needed that 10-million-point headband if they were to secure a place in the top four to move on. With only a few minutes on the clock, Team Midoriya enacted their desperate plan.
Bakugo currently held the 10-million-point headband with Todoroki's team rushing to take it back. It was then that Team Midoriya made their move. They rushed to the space in between the other two teams. Tokoyami summoned Dark Shadow to act as a distraction. The Quirk to hits from both Bakugo's explosions and Todoroki's ice. While it did screech in pain from the explosion, the smoke generated would blind Bakugo long enough for Izuku to take the 10-million-point headband. Even as the group rushed out of the fray, Izuku knew they would have to play defense for what remaining time was left. Carrying the headband over and securing it, Team Midoryia exited using the combination of Uraraka's Zero Gravity and Hastume's jet boots like before.
They were on the defensive when Izuku heard it. The sound of engines roaring as they shifted gears. Izuku barely saw it. The flames ejecting from Iida's calves. Izuku was glad to not have blinked, for if he did, then he would have not been able to see Iida dashing right towards them. All he would have heard was the move's name.
"RECIPRO BURST!"
Faster than the eye could see, Iida carried Team Todoroki straight towards Midoriya. He didn't even feel the 10-million-point headband being taken from him by Todoroki. One instant, he had it. The next, it was gone.
Izuku turned to see where Team Todoroki had wound up. They had cleared straight towards the opposite side of the arena. However, that super move Iida did caused his engines to stall. They were sitting ducks.
"We can do this! Let's go, now!" Izuku encouraged.
Team Midoriya raced towards the immobile Team Todoroki. Of course, they weren't going to let Team Midoriya take their points away. Team Todoroki threw everything at them: ice, lightning, rubber pellets. Dark Shadow was the main force of defense, tanking the assault. Izuku took care of any stray projectiles.
Team Midoriya started to approach Todoroki's right before feinting and moving left. Throughout the entire event, Izuku noticed that Todoroki exclusively used his right side to make ice. For whatever reason, Todoroki never used his left side, which Midoriya hoped to use as an exploit of weakness.
At the same time, Team Bakugo was also charging in as well. Both teams had the same idea of going after Todoroki's weaker side. It was now an excruciatingly close race between Team Midoriya and Team Bakugo to go after Todoroki, who wore a face of growing apprehension. Izuku was nearly there. He was so close. Until he felt a strange wave of heat.
FWOOSH!
A great column of fire erupted from Todoroki. Both charging teams barely got out of the way. It was an attention grabber. Nearly the entire stadium froze to look at the sudden flames. And just as quickly as it came, it went away.
Team Izuku stood shaken. They had nearly been in the center of a barbeque and managed to get out without getting burned. Izuku, however, was the most rattled. He had been so close to getting the headband only for it to slip away in the flames. And with the match almost over, there wasn't going to be enough time for a redo.
He felt something slick in his left head. Izuku raised it up to see a headband, one taken from Todoroki. Was it something he did automatically, or did that memory get jostled in the midst of the chaos with the flames. Whatever the case, Izuku quickly tried to identify what points it had, hoping he somehow got the 10 million points. Sadly, it was not the case. It was another, lower value one.
Before any new plan of action could be made, the timer blared, signaling the end of the battle. Izuku dismounted and gathered around his team to count their scores. Uraraka was optimistic they would pass. Tokoyami offered no strong opinion. And Hastume was impatiently waiting for all the scores to be counted.
Team Todoroki got first place. They held onto the 10 million points till the very end, despite Iida's stall. Even then, Todoroki did not join in the celebration. He kept staring at his left hand with a look of…disgust? Bakugo's team came in second. While most of his team were cheering, Bakugo was fuming over once again not being in first place. Astonishingly, Izuku's team came in third. Turns out, Tokoyami managed to steal an extra headband from Todoroki's team with Dark Shadow. The group held their own mini celebration for that.
And the last team to pass was from out of left field. It was Team Shinso, the purple-haired guy from General Studies. He calmly walked away from his team after the announcement. He said something along the lines of, "Thanks for the help" and left. As he went away, the rest of the team seemed to snap out of a trance and began to question themselves about what happened.
Everyone turned towards the sound of Midnight's whip as she gave out this match's closing ceremony. She congratulated those who made it to the next event and reassured those who didn't. For now, there would be a short break for recreational games before the start of the final event: a one-on-one fighting tournament.
Hey, everybody, it's been a while…oh, God, it' been nearly six months since the last update. I am very sorry for such a long wait. Especially for those who followed me and saw my last overall update. For those not in the know, I basically ended all my other series to focus on this one while still studying in college. Suffice it to say, I haven't been very good at keeping that promise.
Besides college taking nearly all of my time, the other big reason for why this chapter took so long was the cavalry battle itself. I'll admit it; I have no experience with this sport. It was hard to power through this when I didn't have much enthusiasm for the event at all. All of the interesting stuff happens in the tournament section and beyond, which I am planning to keep working on. Please be patient for more updates coming this way.
I want to say thank you to everyone who has like and favorited this story, even when I was away. It means a lot to me that there are people who find this story still engaging. I would also like to thank everyone who has left a review, as well as to encourage those reading to leave reviews. What you like, don't like, etc. Plus, I'm planning to do some polling soon, so make sure to keep a look out for that.
In relation to the comments, I am pleased that my rendition of Hisashi jelled well with readers. I, too, am tired of the guy being characterized as: A. abusive, B. All for One, C. both, or D. just not there at all. I'm planning to do more with him in the future, as well as explore some elements of his situation, like why he has to work overseas and why he can't visit his family as often as he'd like to. Keep a lookout for that.
That's all for now. See ya next time!