Danny asked, "Why do you think Izuku is the next Symbol of Peace? I'm surprised you didn't suggest me, not that I'm complaining."

All Might replied, "I just have a feeling that you are meant for more than just becoming a pro. But that's for another time. But you can still introduce yourself to the world and shout, "I am here!""

Izuku gasped, "But All Might. That's your catch phrase. Besides, what can I do? I'm nowhere near the level of someone like Danny."

All Might answered, "You know how the sports festival is set up, right?"

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, of course. Students are separated by class year, and then the support, business, general studies, and hero courses all fight against each other in a bunch of preliminary trials. Whoever makes it through the initial games face off in the finals. It's basically a round robin tournament."

"Right!" All Might replied. "Meaning, you have plenty of opportunities to sell yourself."

Izuku sighed, "I guess."

All Might fell over and Izuku shouted, "I'm sorry! I mean, what you're saying is absolutely correct, All Might. But honestly, it's kind of hard to get excited about this after everything that happened at the USJ. Plus, I've already got the world's greatest hero and the most powerful student in class teaching me, so the festival probably isn't my only hope of getting scouted by an agency. And besides, I don't know that I can stand out right now considering I did so horribly on the fitness tests and can't control One For All very well."

Izuku kept muttering as All Might said, "Man, nobody's better at spitting out word vomit than you, kid."

Danny whacked Izuku in the head, "Dude, relax. And I thought I had things to worry about."

Izuku composed himself, "Oh, hey, are you OK, All Might?"

All Might said, "Some heroes always aim for the top, while others happily settle. The difference between those two mindsets has a big impact on how far you go in the real world. I understand how you feel, Midoriya. And I may even be projecting a bit of myself onto you. However, I hope you haven't forgotten the emotions you felt back on the beach during our training. As for you, Fenton, remember what I suggested."

Later that day as school ended, when Class 1-A tried to leave, they opened the door to their classroom to find a bunch of people were standing there, blocking the way.

"Um, why the heck are you all here?" Ochaco asked.

Tenya also asked, "Do you students have some sort of business with our class?"

Danny was surprised by the amount of students that were blocking the way, but before he could say anything, Bakugo walked right up to the students, "They're scouting out the competition, idiots. We're the class that survived a real villain attack. They just wanted to see us with their own eyes."

He glared at the students blocking the door, "At least now you know what a future pro looks like. Now move it, extras."

Ochaco and Izuku were shaking while Tenya berated Bakugo, "You can't walk around calling people "extras" just because you don't know who they are."

One of the students, named Shinso, walked forward, "So this is Class 1-A. I heard you guys were impressive, but you just sound like an ass. Is everyone in the hero course delusional, or just you?"

Everyone except Bakugo shook their heads, while Bakugo just huffed.

Shinso continued, "How sad to come here and find a bunch of ego maniacs. I wanted to be in the hero course, but like many others here, I was forced to choose a different track. Such is life. I didn't cut it the first time around, but I have another chance. If any of us do well in the sports festival, the teachers can decide to transfer us to the hero course. And they'll have to transfer people out to make room. Scouting the competition? Maybe some of my peers are, but I'm here to let you know that, if you don't bring your very best, I'll steal your spot right from under you. Consider this a declaration of war."

Shinso and Bakugo were starting each other down while the rest of Class 1-A, minus Danny who found all of this amusing.

Suddenly a student from Class 1-B, Tetsutetsu, shouted, "Hey, you! I'm from Class 1-B next door to you! We heard you fought some villains, and I came to see if that was true. But you're just a bunch of brats who think you're better than us! Talk all ya want! It'll just be more embarrassing when you're KO'd."

Bakugo just walked past the blockade and toward the exit as Tetsutetsu shouted, "Don't you ignore me!"

Kirishima shouted at Bakugo, "Dude, where are you going? You gotta say something. It's your fault they're all hating on us, Bakugo."

Bakugo replied, "These people don't matter. The only thing that's important is that I beat them."

Bakugo kept walking as Tetsutetsu shouted, "Hey! I'm comin' for you!"

Kirishima sighed, "I hate that that was such a manly exit."

"You said it," Sato agreed.

Tokoyami added, "We have to beat them, he wasn't wrong."

Kaminari replied, "Yeah, sure, but this sucks! He made us everyone's enemies!"

Danny then stepped forward to the blockade, "Whatever reason you all are here, know this. Bakugo does not speak for our entire class. It was unfortunate and unexpected that we were attacked by villains a few days ago. We did what we had to do in order to survive before the teachers came to the rescue. That situation could have happened to any class in this school. Now, does that mean we may now have an advantage over the other classes because we just received real world experience? Maybe, maybe not. But this sports festival isn't just about showing off one person or one class. It's about showing off UA as a school. It's showing the country what we are all made of. Yes, it is still a competition. But you all should think about your fellow students and help them succeed, not just you. But we all need to give it our best, for the sake of UA High. Now, if you all don't mind, we would all like to leave, so could you please disperse?"

The blockade was stunned by Danny's words. Tenya was crying, "Such an inspirational speech. That shows he was the right choice for class rep."

Momo smiled, "You got that right."

The group of students started to walk away, Shinso stared at Danny for a few moments, then said, "I'm still declaring war on this class." Then he turned and walked away.

Tetsutetsu got into Danny's face, "I'm not falling for that baloney! I think you all are just a bunch of brats!"

Tetsutetsu kept on shouting so Danny just turned intangible and walked right through the screaming student, then turned visible behind him, saying, "Boo." Tetsutetsu screamed and ran away.

"That was badass," Kaminari muttered.

Other students nearby were staring at what Danny did. One girl, Reiko Yanagi of Class 1-B, stared at Danny as her heart started to flutter, "He's ghostly like I am. He's so dreamy."

Class 1-A walked out as Izuku went up to Danny, "That was amazing, Danny-kun. I wish I had courage like that."

Danny put his hand on Izuku's shoulder, "You do. I've seen it."

Ochaco grinned, "You are an inspiration, Danny."

Momo added, "I didn't realize you were that selfless."

Danny sighed, "Well, I learned the hard way that you can't be selfish all the time. Plus, I want all of us to succeed in this sports festival."

Over the next two weeks, everyone trained hard for the sports festival. Everyone did individual training and group training. Danny mainly did the group training so that he could help his classmates prepare.

Suddenly, it was the morning of the sports festival. Izuku was putting his shoes on as his mother said, "Izuku, please be careful, and don't get hurt."

"I won't," Izuku answered.

His mom added, "I'll record the whole festival in HD! Do your best, son."

Izuku nodded, "OK, I'm off."

Danny was also leaving his apartment, Jazz standing near the door, "Good luck, little brother. Although I have a good feeling that you'll win this."

Danny sighed, "Yeah, but I promise I will at least make it entertaining to watch. I don't want to just finish everything quickly. Plus, I want to give my classmates time to shine, too."

Jazz smiled, "You have changed a lot, Danny. I'm proud of you."

Danny smiled back, "Thanks, sis."

He met Izuku and they walked to school. Izuku said, "Hey, Danny. I've been doing a lot of thinking. I know you've helped me out a lot in the past. And I remember what All Might suggested to you about helping our classmates shine. And I want to win this all on my own. I want to go against you and prove that I have improved with One For All. Promise you won't go easy on me?"

Danny smiled, "Sure. If there is some sort of team competition, then I'll be on another team so you can show me what you're made of. And if we do fight each other in the round robin, then I won't hold back."

Over at UA, reporters were waiting outside the gate to get in. One reporter said, "This security line is huge. What's the deal?"

Another reporter answered, "A bunch of villains did just break in. Of course the school's being stricter this year. Some people think they shouldn't be holding this festival, considering what happened."

The first reporter grinned, "Perfect! Nothing brings ratings up like a little controversy! Plus, everyone will tune in to see Class 1-A!"

Other pro heroes were called in to help with security. Kamui Woods was one of them, "I was hoping I'd get to do some scouting while I was here."

Death Arms was with him, "Yeah, too bad we're stuck working security this time."

Mt. Lady was also on security duty, but she got some snacks from the vendors to enjoy, "Looks like they called in pro heroes from all over to guard this thing. Quite a show.

All the students were assigned different rooms based on their class to get ready. Mina complained, "Aw, man. I was totally hoping I could wear my costume."

Oijiro reassured her, "At least everyone will be in uniforms. That'll keep things fair, right?"

Danny nodded as he thought, "I did ask Mr. Aizawa about that rule since my costume is part of my other form. He said I could turn into my other form, but I still had to be in the UA gym clothes like everyone else." That was why Danny turned into Phantom, removed his new costume, then put ecto energy into his gym clothes so that they would be on him when he transformed. He had another pair of gym clothes for her regular form as he could use some of his ghost powers in his human form, but not everything. And he had a feeling that during the round robin, he would need to be in his Phantom form for that.

Sato said, "I wonder what they have in store for us in the first round."

Tokoyami replied, "No matter what they've prepared, we must persevere."

Shoji nodded, "Right."

Tenya stormed into the room, "Everyone, get your game faces on! We're entering the arena soon!"

Everyone got prepared as Shoto walked over to Izuku, "Midoriya."

Izuku turned to Shoto, "Hey, Todoroki. What's up?"

Shoto said, "From an objective standpoint, I think it's fairly clear that I'm stronger than you."

Izuku nodded in agreement.

Shoto continued, "However, you've got All Might in your corner, helping you out. I'm not here to pry about what's going on between you two, and why Fenton is also involved. But know that I will beat you."

Danny stepped in between Izuku and Shoto, "OK, guys, break it up. This may be a competition, but we are still classmates."

Shoto turned to Danny, "Fenton, I know that you helped All Might defeat that giant monster during the USJ incident, but that doesn't mean that you're going to win this festival. I am at the same level as you, maybe even better. And I will prove that."

Danny's eyes glowed green, "Looking forward to it."

Kaminari asked, "What's with all these declarations of war lately?"

Kirishima also asked, "Yeah, what's the big deal? Why are you pickin' a fight all of a sudden? And right before we get started…."

Shoto interrupted, "We're not here to be each other's friends, no matter what our class rep says. Don't forget this isn't a team effort."

"Someone's not a team player," Danny muttered.

Izuku said, "Wait a minute, Todoroki. I don't know what's going through your head, or why you think you'd need to tell me that you'll beat me. And, yeah, of course you're better than me. In fact, you probably have way more potential than anyone in the hero course, like Danny. That's why you got in so easily."

Kirishima reassured, "Midoriya, maybe you are a little hard on yourself, and us."

"No," Izuku continued. "He's right, you guys. All the other courses, they're coming for us with everything they've got. We're all gonna have to fight to stand out. And I'll be aiming for the top, too. And Danny, I know what you said. That we need to help each other. But we also have to help ourselves. No matter how selfish that is."

Danny sighed, realizing that Izuku had a point. But he still wanted to help everyone else do good for the festival.

Outside, Present Mic announced, "Hey-o! Make some noise, all you rabid sports fans! Get those cameras prepared, media hordes! This year, we're bringing you some of the hottest performances in sports festival history, guaranteed! I've only got one question before we start this show: Are you ready? Let me hear you scream as our students make their way to the main stage! This first group are no strangers to the spotlight. You know them from withstanding a villain attack, they're the dazzling students lighting up your TVs with solid gold skills. The hero course students of 1-A!"

Class 1-A walked out into the arena as the audience cheered. Izuku's mom was watching at home, cheering her boy on. Jazz was also at home watching on TV, with a bag of popcorn next to her.

Izuku looked around and got nervous, "Uh, I didn't know there'd be so many people."

Tenya added, "I hope we're still able to give our best performances, even though all these eyes are watching us. I suppose it's just another aspect of being a hero we all have to learn to get used to."

Danny sighed, "Yeah, even though people like me hate being in the spotlight."

Kirishima said, "Present Mic sure did talk us up a lot. Kinda makes me nervous. How you feelin' Bakugo?"

Bakugo grinned, "I'm not worried. Makes me wanna win this thing even more."

Present Mic announced, "They haven't been getting nearly as much screen time, but this next group is still chock full of talent! Welcome, hero course class 1-B!" Class 1-B walked out of another tunnel as the crowd cheered.

Present Mic continued, "Next up, general studies classes C, D, and E!" These students, led by Shinso, walked out of another tunnel.

"Support classes F, G, and H!" These students walked out, with one girl wearing a weird pair of goggles.

"And finally, the business classes I, J, and K!" The last students walked out to join the rest.

"Give it up for all of UA's first year contestants!" The audience cheered for the first year students.

All the students gathered in the middle of the arena where Midnight was waiting, "Now, the introductory speech!"

People in the audience were fawning over Midnight, as her costume was interesting to say the least.

Kirishima said, "Uh, someone should talk to Ms. Midnight about what she's wearing."

Kaminari nodded, "Yeah, that costume should come with a warning."

Tokoyami added, "Is that really appropriate apparel for a high school game?"

"Silence, everyone!" Midnight shouted. "And for the student pledge, we have Danny Fenton!"

Danny was shocked as he wasn't told about this beforehand. Everyone was surprised, but Momo said, "He did place first in the practical exam. So it makes sense."

Danny made his way to the stage, taking a deep breath, trying to forget that he was the center of attention right now. "I'll keep this brief. This may be a competition that will end with one winner, but we are all here to show off our potential to the world. Whether we are of the hero course, general studies, support, or business, everyone here has the chance to do great things in the future. Today, we will all show you what we are made of. So, first year students, give them a sports festival to remember."

The audience cheered as all of the first year students were stunned by Danny's speech. Those who weren't part of the blockade a couple weeks ago were surprised that someone of the hero course would say something so selfless. Others were getting pumped up. The UA teachers that were sitting in the bleachers were amazed by the American's words, All Might smiling at the boy.

Danny walked down and joined his class, Kirishima and Kaminari giving him slaps on the back. Bakugo huffed in annoyance, "I'm still going to beat all of you."

Izuku grinned at his friend, glad that at least Bakugo wasn't chosen to go up and say something, as he probably would have said something about winning the whole thing himself.

Midnight shouted, "Without further ado, it's time for us to get started! This is where you begin to feel the pain! The first fateful game of the festival. Obstacle course! All 11 classes will participate in this treacherous contest. The track is 4 kilometers around the outside of the stadium. I don't wanna restrain anyone, at least in this game. As long as you don't leave the course, you're free to do whatever your heart desires! Now then, take your places, contestants."

All the students walked to the start gate. Izuku thought, "I have to be smart about this. I'm still not able to control One For All yet, so I have to be careful when I use it. That means I have to go beyond. I hope you're watching, All Might!"

The lights counted down from three, and when they all went out, Midnight shouted, "Begin!" All the students started running as fast as they could.

Present Mic narrated, "And we're off to a racing start! How about some color commentary, mummy man?"

Aizawa, still wrapped up in his bandages, was sitting next to Present Mic, "How did you talk me into this?"

Present Mic kept narrating, "What should we be paying attention to in the early stages of the race?"

"The doorway," Aizawa said sarcastically.

All the students were crammed into the starting tunnel, trying to run. Danny, staying in his human form, just made himself intangible and kept running. Shoto used his ice Quirk and froze everyone's feet as he gained the lead, "Sorry, everyone."

Danny made himself visible once he got past the frozen students and flew after Shoto. Bakugo, Momo, Kirishima, and Aoyama dodged the ice attack with their Quirks.

"Nice trick, Todoroki!" Momo shouted, as she had created a metal pole to propel her out of the crowd.

"I won't let you get away that easily!" Katsuki shouted as he used his Quirk to propel himself through the air. "You icy-hot bastard!"

Oijiro dodged the ice with his tail, "You froze me in place once before, it won't happen again."

Tokoyami used Dark Shadow to fly over the ice.

Mina used her acid to slide across the ice, "Close one!"

Other students, including Izuku, were having trouble running on the ice.

Ochaco mumbled, "Gotta wait for the right time to show off my Quirk."

Shinso was being carried by several students, all of them having a dazed look in their eyes. "So, they're good at using their powers, huh?"

Shoto looked behind him, "I didn't expect so many people to dodge that. Maybe only Fenton. Especially those from other classes."

Suddenly robots appeared out of nowhere, "Targets acquired. Terminate them!"

Izuku realized, "It's those robots from the entrance exam!"

Danny sighed, "These things, again?"

Present Mic narrated, "Oh, enemies have shown up out of nowhere. I bet we're in for a treat here! A test of strength and cunning! It's a Robo Inferno!"

Shoto had stopped right in front of the robots. Kaninari shouted, "Are those the zero point villains from the practical test?"

Shoto noted, "So this is what the other students faced in their entrance exams."

"Where's the school even get the funding for these things?" Momo asked.

The robots charged at the students, while Shoto activated his ice half, "They obviously went through a lot of trouble, but I wish they'd prepared something a little more difficult. Especially since my dear old dad is watching."

He unleashed a huge ice attack, freezing the robots in place. He then ran through the legs.

Other students tried to follow him, but Shoto shouted back, "Careful, now. I froze them while they were off balance. On purpose."

The robots collapsed in front of the other students while Shoto ran ahead. Danny just phased through the wreckage and shouted, "Real smooth, Shoto."

Shoto groaned, "Of course that didn't phase you."

Present Mic narrated, "That's Todoroki from Class 1-A pulling ahead with Fenton flying very close behind him. They have an early lead with Todoroki giving such a devastating display! Amazing! He's one to watch. It almost seems unfair! Thoughts?"

Aizawa said, "His attacks were both offensive and defensive."

"No wonder he was let in on recommendations!" Present Mic narrated.

Aizawa continued, "But Fenton wasn't phased by it, literally. He can fly fast enough to keep up and phase through anything that is in his way. He does have similar destructive power like Todoroki, but chose not to engage the robots."

"No wonder he got first place in the practical exam!" Present Mic shouted.

Jazz smiled at her TV, "That's my little brother."

More robots advanced on the remaining students.

Izuku's mom shouted at her TV, "No, you can't beat those, son. Get outta there! Please, just run away for me, baby!"

Izuku looked up at the robots, "I have to get past these robots, while looking out for other obstacles. Come on! Think! What do I do?"