Rest didn't last long, Uraraka and Iida running over.
"Midoriya! That was awesome!" She cheered for me, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me a little. "First place though, man, I'm jealous!"
Iida was actually looking at his hands. "To lose a race of all things, with my quirk... It's clear I still have progress to make...!" He lamented a little, but I knew him well enough to know he'd just keep pushing past his own limits.
"Don't worry about it. Knowing U.A., coming in first was a bad thing." I joked, Midnight announcing the next game.
"The top forty-two from this qualifying round will move on! But for those who placed lower, don't worry! We've got more ways for you to show your stuff!" She paused again, trying to build suspense, and I have to admit, she was doing a good job.
And now the main selection begins!! The press corp's going to be jumping out of their seat, so give it all you've got! Now, onto the second event!! I already know what it is, of course... dying in suspense? Next up is...This!!" She pointed at a screen, the words "Calvary Battle" plasterer up on it.
"Participants will, on their own, form teams of two to four members each and get into horse-and-rider formation! The rules are fundamentally the same as an ordinary calvary battle - snag your opponents headbands while guarding your own, with one exception... each of you has been assigned a point value based on your rankings in the last event.
"We'll earn points like in the entrance exam? Sounds simple." Sato asked, rubbing his chin.
"So the point value of a team depends on its members!" Hagakure pointed out, excitement in her voice.
A crack came from a grumpy Midnight, or her whip at least. "I'm about to explain that, so shut up already!" She huffed, gathering herself before continuing.
"Anyway, yes!! And your individual point values start at five, at the bottom! So the student who took forty second place is worth five points, forty-one is worth ten... get it? But... our first place participant is worth... ten million points!!"
Suddenly, every eye was on me, but I had to keep cool. I could do this, couldn't I? Everyone was against me, but I could make it to first place again. I had to do it for All Might... no, I did it for myself. To prove I could.
I grinned, trying to look as confident as I could as Midnight continued.
"The higher ranked students are the ones to aim for... this is a chance for a comeback. It's anyone's game!! "The match will last fifteen minutes. Each teams points are determined by its members. The rider will wear a headband displaying the total number of points! Until the match ends, you'll all have to compete to grab each other's points and maintain the ones you have. Any headbands you have must be worn around the neck or higher. But the more headbands you have, the harder they'll be to manage! Most importantly, even if your headband is taken, and even if your horse formation is broken... It's not over 'til it's over!"
A few of my classmates were whispering, but I was busy trying to figure out who'd make the best defense alongside my own quirk.
"Quirks are allowed, so it'll be a brutal battle! However... It's still a calvary battle! Maliciously attacking another team with the intent of making them fall will get you a red card! And that means you're out of the game! You've got fifteen minutes! Time to form your teams!" Midnight yelled, everyone running off to find teammates.
Finding a partner wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be, mostly because I'd shown off my quirk to classmates a dozen times over.
"Aw jeez, I figured I'd have slim pickings.. " it was a little overwhelming, being so wanted, but I felt a hand in my own and looked over at Ashido. Good for offense and defense.
"Okay, two more spots... uh, Uraraka, you want in on this? If push comes to shove, your quirk can be a quick escape." I offered, and she didn't hesitate to join.
"I'm with you, Midoriya." She smiled, a good feeling spreading through me. At least I had friends who cared.
"Iida, you down? You'd be vital for mobility." I asked, and he shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Midoriya, I refuse. Ever since the entrance exam, I've been losing to you. It's precisely because you're a wonderful friend... that I can not follow you now. Uptempered as I am, Bakugou and Todoroki aren't the only ones that see you as a rival. So I, too, challenge you." He told me, and it sucked, but I could understand his reasoning.
Sticking out my fist, I smiled, nodding to him. "Then let's both do our best to win, okay?"
He looked at my fist and gently bumped it, giving me a nod before he left.
"Well, we still need mobility... uh, aw crap, I don't know now..."
Suddenly, a face was too close to my own, a big pair of goggles meeting my eyes. "Team up with me Mr.first place!!" The pink haired girl yelled, and I moved back a little.
"Whoa, too close... who are you?" I asked, and she lifted the goggles.
"I'm Mei Hatsume from the support course! I don't know you, but I could be useful to someone in your position. Joining with you means I'll inevitably be right in the spotlight, which means inevitably, my super cute babies will be too! They'll be seen by the industry big shots. They'll have to take notice of me and my babies." She told me, and Ashido looked at her.
"Hold on now... Babies, industry, what are you talking about?" She asked, and I watched Hatsume pull out a number of gadgets and gizmos.
"In the support course, we develop equipment to make heroes' quirks easier to use! I've got plenty of babies here, I'm sure you'll find one or two that suit you!" She pulled out a jetpack. "Perhaps this one's to your liking? It's modeled after a certain heroes with a few additions of my own."
"No way, is that buster hero air jets? I love that guy. His agency used to be in my neighborhood!" I took the pack, looking at it.
It seemed I'd gotten her attention, or maybe she had mine. I'm still not sure. "Is that right? By the way, my quirk is called Zoom. I can zoom my vision up to five kilometers away." She told me, and I was hooked. Her quirk would be good for a lookout. We had defense and offense, and I had a good escape plan should all that fail.
"Well, we could use the mobility you provide... yeah, I'm down. What do you guys think?" I asked my other teammates.
Ashido looked a little off-put, but she and Uraraka didn't have any real complaints, and I whispered the plan to them.
It took a few minutes to prepare, get the equipment ready, and get into position, but I didn't weigh anything up there, Urarakas' quirk doing the majority of the work as the game started.
"Just keep us moving. Avoid anyone else. Mina, your acid is our main defense. If you think someone is going to break through, tell me." I told them, knowing my team understood the assignment. Unfortunately, so did literally everyone else. Good thing that was just a rouse to draw in easy prey.
"One million two hundred sixty-five. That's how much we're worth! If you're worth fighting, come get us!" I yelled, waiting for someone to make a move towards us before Bakugou made his team run towards us, getting intercepted by a team made up of 1-B students.
"Ah man, that sucks. I do like embarrassing Bakugou." I mused, holding my arm away from the others, down at the ground, flicking myself up into the air.
"Keep an eye out for me, Uraraka. I can't guarantee this'll work forever!" I yelled, flicking and shooting past Bakugou and the blonde from 1-B, taking their headbands, but the other blonde managed to touch my elbow, laughing as he pointed his finger at me, his laugh abruptly cut off by his scream, his finger broken as he tried to use my quirk.
"Oh man, I am so sorry! If I knew what your quirk did, I'd have warned you! Can you keep going?" I asked, flicking myself back over and feeling his hand on the one million headband.
"I don't mind a little pain if it means winning." He told me through gritted teeth, and I held my hand in front of him, gripping the headband as he tried to pull it away.
"Good, because this could hurt." I told him, holding my hand out and flicking, the air hitting him in the stomach and sending me shooting over to my team, both headbands hanging from my neck.
"That was crazy! Who knew a quirk like that existed!?" Mina asked, pulling my leg and bringing me back down.
"I know, right!? That's so cool! Oh, and thanks for making me float, Uraraka. You're the glue keeping this plan from falling apart. Well, we're all playing meticulous parts, and I'll thank you all when we win." I told them while the other teams were reluctant to approach us now.
"We want to keep them scared. You can dilute your acid enough to not burn too badly, right?" I asked Mina, getting a determined nod as I saw Todoroki turn his sights on us.
"Great. Put a little on my hands." I whispered, leaning down and putting my hands in hers, getting acid on my hands and biting back a pained whimper. This sucked, but I could manage for what I had planned.
"This is gonna be risky, but you guys need to trust me." I grinned and stood on their hands.
"You got this, Izu-kun." Mina chimed, Uraraka echoing her sentiment, and I flicked my finger, shooting off towards the freezer burnt student.
"Todoroki!" I yelled, feeling an ice wall sprout and letting it cover me, all the way below the waist.
"You were too predictable, Midoriya. That's why you're losing." He told me, his team approaching carefully, the acid on my hands thawing the ice a little, then with as much movement as I could muster, I flicked and made a little more room, and then a little more.
They were in front of me now, and I smiled at Todoroki.
"I'm predictable, but so are you, Todoroki. Half a quirk isn't enough." I built up as much power as I could muster in my fingers, flexing my hands and shattering the ice up my arms and grabbing his headband with one hand and breaking the ice off me with another.
"You wanted a war. Too bad you didn't have enough firepower to make good on that promise." I kicked off the ice, waving to Iida.
"Buy guys! I'll see ya later!" I called, flicking my finger and retreating. We were close to victory, a good ten minutes or so already come and gone, this time getting pulled down by Mei.
Todoroki took it worse than Bakugou, forcing his team forward for points it was unlikely they'd win.
"Nice! I'm so excited to meet him head-on! Okay, everyone, plan B!" I yelled, waiting until the icy frost was in front of to activate Urarakas jet boots that she'd gotten from Mei, jumping away quickly away from danger
"Behind us!" Mei told me, and I flicked two fingers, one behind and one in front, keeping Bakugou and Todoroki at bay before grinning and jumping off my teams hands, leading them away
"Sorry boys, not today!" I called, spanking my butt and mocking them as I rose up steadily.
"If you can, come and get me!" I yelled, Bakugou taking the challenge and blasting himself to me.
"Todoroki said I'm predictable, but I don't think I am." I told him, pulling my fist back and hitting him with the full powered air blast, watching him fly away, Sero barely keeping catching and pulling him to safety, while I drifted, a large ice piller stopping me in my floating track before I moved out the way, a blast of fire stinging my face with its heat.
"Oh? You finally decided to play for keeps?" I asked, flicking down and shooting up as Kaminari exploded with electricity, Iida rushing at me faster than I'd ever seen before flicking out the way and dodging by a hair. When he missed, Iida moved closer to the other teams, and Todoroki took the opportunity to take as many headbands as possible from teams. It seemed they'd realized it wasn't worth losing the event for their own pride.
Unfortunately, Bakugou didn't bother to do the same, blasting his way to me with a primal sounding scream.
"Dekuuuuuuuu!"
Rolling my eyes, I moved out of the way, tossing him the headbands I stolen from the others.
"This fight isn't over. Pick them up and meet me in the third event." I told him, flicking a little to keep from flying too far upwards, before Present Mic counted down the last ten seconds, and Uraraka released her quirk, her and the other two catching me.
"In first place, Team Midoriya!" The blonde announcers voice rang out, and I held up the one million headband above my head. We'd won, we could showboat a little bit.
"In second place, Team Bakugou! In third place, Team Todoroki! In fourth place, team Monama!" His voice rang out, but I looked up to the box where I knew All Might was, wondering if I was doing this right, if I was making him proud.