Transformers MHA, Arc 2: Earthrise

by The Omni-Remnant

After a rather intense adventure and the U.A. Sports Festival approaching fast, Izuku and his friends have two important things to do; improve their Quirks in time for the festival… and hide a bunch of giant alien robots. That proves to be easier said than done, especially when enemies on Earth and from beyond the stars end up coming for them…

25. Cavalry Battle Dino-Might!

A/N: Morning, everybody! Welcome back to Transformers MHA, and this week's gonna be getting REAL exciting in terms of what's gonna go down. It's Cavalry Battle time, and before we get started, there's something I wanted to address that some of you actually pointed out last week; we actually didn't get any Decepticon commentary at all last time, it was all just the Autobots. Well, consider that rectified, because here, it's nothing BUT Con Commentary! So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show! This is…

Chapter 25: Cavalry Dino-Might!

…..

Starscream had to admit, he had been pleasantly surprised so far. Of course, he hadn't been exactly all that keen on watching this "Sports Festival" when Swift first suggested it to Megatron. After all, doing something for that bucket-headed windbag was one thing, but watching a bunch of human younglings run around and sweat all day wasn't exactly his blend of motor oil. But, once the event actually kicked off, he slowly grew ever more intrigued, especially given the strong start of the race. Several students immediately jumped out at him as having powerful Quirks, and not just the group who follow the Autobots everywhere.

The young red and white-haired kid with the burn mark across his left eye—Starscream believed his name was "Todoroki"—HE in particular had an impressively strong power. Creating ice so sturdy and cold that it could fell a giant drone without much difficulty was certainly something to keep an optic on. But then, there was the wild-haired boy, Bakugo, with his Explosion Quirk. Both were very destructive, but the blonde's was no doubt even more so. He was easily able to keep up with Todoroki, and cause plenty of damage along the way. And then there was the grey-skinned girl, Kiryu, who was able to change her body parts into ones with different reptilian aspects… at least Starscream ASSUMED they were reptilian.

What's more, he had noticed that the teenagers who had joined the Autobots were placing well in particular, with all of them making it into the top twenty spots at the finish. Of course, the green-haired boy and his punk rocker companion had placed first… and now it was quite evident that they were everyone's target going into the second round, especially with 10 million points on their heads.

"Ooh, now THIS has become quite investing, to be sure." Starscream rubbed his hands together eagerly as he saw the student body staring daggers into the duo. "The Autobots' pets have become the center of attention. Even their own companions are beginning to turn on them! Ahaha!"

"BAHAHAH!" Blastwave joined in on the laughter, smacking his knee as he kept a hold of a barrel of oil in his other hand. "Oh, that slaps me on the knee! Blastwave must concede; he had his worries about this "Sporting Festival", but this has been VERY good entertainment so far!"

"Indeed, mein freund." Flatline concurred, dragging two fingers along his chin as he stared up at the screen. "Zese children seem to be fairly experienced vhen it comes to situations such as zis. Their powers have proven to be quite useful getting zem zis far, though now it seems as if zey are only NOW coming to ze difficult part."

Swift leaned back in her chair, placing her hands behind her head as she reclined. "Heh, you said it, doc." She smirked as every student began gravitating away from Izuku and Kyoka, leaving them by themselves. "And for those two, I'd say that they're not gonna be all that popular in this round."

"Kinda the opposite, actually." Barricade noted, eyeing Swift as she peeked one optic open at him. "Sure, no one will wanna team up with 'em, but they'll all be goin' AFTER them once the whole thing starts." He smirked as well while Izuku and Kyoka kept their heads decidedly low. "An' because of that, there'll be no hope for 'em goin' much farther, I think."

From the back, Thundercracker stepped up, crossing his arms as he tilted his head curiously. "I dunno, Barricade. If bein' around these humans for a while has taught me anything, it's that they're crafty little beings." He craned his head down to the officer, who furrowed his metal brow back up at him. "After all, it's that craftiness that proved useful to them in that rescue miss—"

"Ah-ah-ah!" Starscream stood up from his chair abruptly, raising a sharp finger in front of his brother's mouth to silence him. "We agreed to never speak of that again, Thundercracker, remember?"

Thundercracker deadpanned and rolled his optics. "Oh, yeah. Right…"

"Grr, I'm just hoping we'll get some more violence soon." Skywarp fumed, glaring down as he kept his arms crossed, digging his fingers into his arms. "You've got no idea how much I wanna see these kids throw down."

The blue seeker sighed at his brother's violent attitude. "I get the feeling you're a big fan of that Bakugo kid, aren't ya, Warp?"

Skywarp gave a hard laugh at that. "HA! Of course! That Bakugo kid had the right idea back on the minefield; take out your enemy with force if necessary so they don't reach their goal." He found the blonde bomb-burster in the crowd, seeing the ever-present glare on his face. "Gotta say, he may be learnin' to be a hero… but he's got the look for a Decepticon.

Starscream took notice of that as well. It was evident that the young organic seemed to harbor plenty of pent-up aggression… though what it was directed to, he had no clue. "Hmph, indeed… though his apparent anger could cloud his judgement." The second-in-command rested his chin on his palm, propping his elbow on his chair. "Hmph, he's also at liability to be a loose cannon, so that's another problem."

"Aye, don't worry, carino." Nightra waved off as she and Shadowstriker kept their sights on the screen. "I've got a feeling that this next round will show us exactly what all these Hero Course students are all about. And hey, don't forget to keep an eye on those 1-B kids, eh?" She reached up to the screen and zoomed in on several of them, including the Kirishima copycat. "They may not be as impressive, but seeing them in the race? Something tells me that 1-A's got some competition."

"Perhaps." Shadowstriker sneered at the two first-place contenders. "Though in my opinion, if zose two try to pull another stunt such as the one zey did in ze race, I doubt zey will last long in ze competition." The sniper gave a shrug. "But, I suppose zat is ze favorable outcome, given zeir association with the Autobots."

"Hmph, yeah, as far as I'm concerned, the Bot Brats can ALL fail." Skywarp agreed.

Starscream laced his fingers together as Midnight began to speak again. "Hm… we shall have to wait and see what fate has in store for them, it seems."

…..

"Gird your loins and prepare for your next test, students!" Midnight announced as she once again raised her flog up toward the screen, pointing to the Cavalry Battle sign. "Those of you at the top will suffer the most in the Cavalry Battle, make no mistake. Of course, that's something you'll hear over and over again at you U.A., so do me a favor…" She gave a spin and whipped her flog toward the students. "…And show us all exactly what Plus Ultra means in this next event!"

Back down in the crowd of students, everyone was staring at the first-place duo, already coveting their ten million points, no doubt. Izuku felt like he had shrunk considerably, doing his best not to meet anyone's eyes. "…K-Kyoka?"

"…Yeah?" the punk-rocker gulped.

"We're in trouble."

"Yup, pretty much." Kyoka nodded, peering over her shoulder at the boy. "You doing okay?"

Izuku took a deep breath, trying to collect himself. "Y-Yes, just… having some minor flashbacks to middle school." He furrowed his brow as he was reminded of similar situations from back then, though thankfully none of his peers hated him here, aside from Kacchan, obviously. 'Things have changed so much since junior high.' Izuku thought to himself. '…But I'm still a target. We're only in first now thanks to some strategic thinking and good luck.' He spared a glimpse up to the stands, where he saw All Might staring back down at him. 'What they say is true. It's hard being at the top, isn't it, All Might?'

Once more, Midnight's voice echoed throughout the whole stadium as she began explaining the how the event would proceed. "Alright, allow me to establish some rules. The game itself will last for fifteen minutes, and individual point values of your teammates will be added together to reach your team total." A picture of a white headband with red numbers appeared on the screen. "Everyone will know how much you're worth thanks to your headbands. Swipe as many headbands as you can to raise your team's score." Once again, the image changed, this time to All Might wearing several headbands around his neck. "Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up, so the more you steal, the harder it'll be to manage them."

"Wow, so they're gonna make it more difficult for people who REALLY need to catch up." Ochako commented.

"And another thing—even if your headband gets stolen or your team falls down, you can keep playing until time is up! You can use your Quirks as much as you like, but keep in mind;" Midnight whipped her flog, making sure everyone's attention was on her. "Make a team fall on purpose and I'll slap you with a red card. You'll be disqualified!" With a confident smile, Midnight nodded to all of them. "Now, you've got fifteen minutes to build your teams. I recommend you get started!"

The moment those words came from Midnight's lips, everyone began to search for their teams… all while decidedly gravitating away from Izuku and Kyoka. The two were ultimately left by themselves in the middle the aggregating teenagers, which created a sudden feeling of abandonment within them. "Wow… not even our friends wanna team up with us." Kyoka noted.

"Yeah… guess we'll have to take the initiative in forming our team." Izuku took a glance around, seeing a certain blonde and tailed individual standing nearby. "Uh… h-hey, Ojiro, how do you feel about—"

"Urk! Sorry…" Ojiro said as he awkwardly shuffled off.

Izuku's jaw dropped, his skin turning pale at the quick rejection. "Oh god, it's going to be THAT bad?"

"Apparently, yes." Kyoka's hands went to her hips, breathing a frustrated sigh. "Man, I'm starting to wonder if it was a good idea to go for the gold…" Her eyes trailed up, seeing that even Bakugo was garnering attention from classmates to form a team… including Mina. "Tch, traitor."

"H-Hey, don't blame Mina, okay?" Izuku placed a hand on Kyoka's shoulder, hoping to calm her down. "Kacchan's a hot head, yes, but he's also in third place and has a hundred and fifty points. And considering how versatile his Quirk is, I'm not surprised that people are trying to join up with him." He noticed, however, that Bakugo seemed to have no idea what to do about the situation. "…That said, he's never relied on teamwork much in the past, so we'll see how this goes for him."

…..

"Wait, remind me what your Quirks are again." Katsuki said, trying to hide the desperation in his voice. "…And your names."

The gathered group around the explosive blonde were all left gob smacked when they heard that. "GAAH! Are you serious?!" Mina's eye twitched in disbelief. "We're your classmates! We've been in the same class for over TWO MONTHS now and you're seriously asking that?!"

"He can't be serious." Sero muttered as he and Sato eyed him curiously.

Katsuki was about to retort when a familiar voice cut through the air to him; "Yo, Bakugo!" He spun his head around to see a certain spikey redhead coming over, waving as he flashed a sharp-toothed grin at him. "I was gonna try Todoroki, but he's already picked a group." He balled a fist and gave a thumbs up. "So hey, I think we should team up!"

With a board gaze, Bakugo simply responded; "Hey, Dumb Hair."

"My name is Kirishima!" Eijiro snapped, slightly annoyed that the guy he saw as his friend didn't even know his name. 'Does he seriously not remember me telling him back during the USJ attack?' He pointed between his and Bakugo's hair. "And my hair's not that different than yours, either." Katsuki simply huffed a response, which Kirishima brushed off to get back on the subject at hand. "Anyway, I get the feeling that you wanna be the rider, which means you're gonna need a strong front horse who won't be hurt by your blasts…" Eijiro smirked and hardened up his arm. "That'd be me."

Bakugo appeared interested… but didn't seem too convinced yet. "…I'll need someone with guts."

"My Quirk was made for this! I've got ya covered man!" Kirishima smashed his hardened fists together eagerly. "Let's go charging into battle together." Now that made Bakugo's eyes widen, and it was then that Kirishima could tell; he was speaking his language. "Ten Million, bring it." And just like that, Bakugo put on a smirk of anticipation, one that was dangerous to see on him.

…..

"Man, Kirishima too, huh?" Kyoka crossed her arms, seeing the two wild-haired boys broker their alliance. "Guess I should've expected that, but still, he could've at least considered us." She craned her head around, trying to find some of their other friends before spotting Ochako. Unfortunately, she had also found a group, one made up of Ojiro and boy from 1-B. And they were being led by… the purple-haired kid. "Hm, and Ochako decided to join up with Shinso? Weird."

Izuku noticed that as well, and couldn't help but tilt his head. Of course, he had a feeling that Shinso from the General Studies course would search for people with powerful Quirks to help him out, though the fact that he recruited Ochako in particular was surprising. "Yeah, knowing her, I would've figured she'd at least try to join us first."

Kyoka shook her head. "Hey, if she wants to help out the General Studies guy, then that's cool, I guess." She set her gaze back onto her partner. "But we should really focus on gathering people for our group, ya know."

"Heeheehee! Oh, perfect you two are still alone! And you guys are the STARS, who could've predicted?" Izuku and Kyoka did a double take the familiar voice, only to immediately see Mei getting right up in their faces. "TEAM UP WITH ME, MY FRIENDS IN FIRST PLACE!"

"AAH! Mei! Where did you come from?!" Kyoka exclaimed.

Mei lifted up her goggles with a giggle. "Hehe, I've just been keeping to the back, no big deal." She thrust her upper body toward the two, her excitement growing as each second passed. "But now, you guys seem to be having it rough, so it's time to use my friends' new found fame to my advantage WHILE helping you out!"

Izuku was understandably confused, but at the same time, grateful for the help. "That's… rather straight forward, but thank you, Hatsume! We could definitely use the help."

Mei's eyes gleamed with anticipation. "EEE! I knew you'd say that!" She zipped straight up to them as she kept going on, speaking almost a mile a minute. "Of course, if I team up with you guys, then I'll be in the spotlight WITH you! Part of the team that everyone is keeping their eyes on." And again, she came closer. "That way, my super cute little babies will inevitably be seen by the big company CEOs who're tuning into the Sports Festival!" And once more, Mei closed in, getting right in their personal spaces. "And following that line of reasoning, this is the best way for me and the marvelous gadgets that Red and I made to get recruited—mmph! MMPH-MPH!"

"Okay, you need to pump the brakes there, Mei." Kyoka said, clamping her hand over the mad genius' mouth.

"But you really think your inventions will help?" Izuku added hopefully.

The pink-haired girl pulled her head back and offered a smile. "Of course, they will! Here, take a look!" Mei reached around behind her and pulled out a rather massive case, opening it up to reveal all kinds of gadgets and stuff. "Red and I have been making equipment designed specifically to help heroes deal with their Quirks and enhance their skills!" She reached in and pulled out two pieces in particular. "Jackie, I'm betting you'll LOVE this…"

"Huh? What's…" But Kyoka trailed off when she saw the inventions, her eyes widening at their familiarity. They were the mini wrist-mounted subwoofers that she kept on her hero costume, only they had been decked out with some enhancements. "Woah… these are the sonic blasters I keep on my gloves… did you upgrade them?"

Mei gave her a wink. "A little bit, yeah. I've maximized their sonic output so now your blasts should be MUCH more powerful." She pointed to a small dial on the back of each speaker. "And you can even control the power, just by twisting this little dial here. Wanna give it a try during the Cavalry Battle?"

"Hah, you bet I do." Kyoka jacked herself into the subwoofers, the items now hanging off her earlobes. "Thanks!"

Izuku, meanwhile, noticed something else in the briefcase. "Hey, wait a second…" He reached in and pulled out a metal pack of some sort, one with large holes on the underside. "This seems familiar… isn't this the same kind of jetpack that the Buster Hero, Air Jet uses?"

"Indeed it is!" Mei confirmed, taking hold of the pack. "Though of course, I added my own special twists."

"Wow, I'm actually a big fan of Air Jet!" Izuku beamed enthusiastically.

Mei definitely seemed to share that excitement, for certain. "I know, right? He's so underrated." She put the jetpack back in the case and closed it up, giving a sigh. "So, now that I've shown you what I have to offer, whaddya say? Teammates?"

"Heh, as if there were any doubt!" Kyoka confirmed, with Izuku giving his own approval as well. The punk rocker then went back into thinking mode, knowing that they'd need at least one more member. "Hm… but now we need someone else… someone who can be a reliable horse."

Izuku hummed in agreement. "Right. With your Quirk and mine along with Hatsume's gadgets, we've got a solid build going. But if we add one more…" However, his eyebrows shot up when an idea entered his mind. "Wait, I think I have an idea." Without hesitation, Izuku spun around and began marching over… to Tenya. Kyoka and Mei followed before the greenette called to his spectacled friend; "Iida!"

"Hm?" Tenya peered over his shoulder and was met with a beaming Izuku and Mei, their eyes bright as they seemed to shine with a hopeful aura. Meanwhile, Kyoka was standing normally, keeping her arms crossed. "…Yes?"

Kyoka smirked and rolled her eyes. "Dude, Izuku's got a plan. You wanna listen or what?"

"…I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Tenya turned his body so he was facing them fully. "What is this plan of yours, Midoriya?"

"Well, here's how I see it;" Izuku extended a hand over to Mei, keeping his sights on Tenya. "The three of us would be horses with you in the front, Iida. Between my Quirk and Mei's hover soles, we should be able to keep up with you and maneuver really easily." He nodded over to Kyoka. "And with Kyoka as our rider, not only would she be able to steal headbands easily with her jacks, but she'd also be able to act as defense with them as well. No one would be able to catch us, but we'd be able to nab any headbands of anyone who'd try."

The idea definitely made Kyoka rather excited. "Ooh, not a bad idea, Izuku."

Mei pumped her fists eagerly. "Heck yeah! We'd be untouchable!"

"A bold strategy, to be sure." Tenya concurred… only to lower his head. "…But I'm sorry. I'm afraid I must refuse." The sudden news was enough to take all three of them aback, though the class rep was quick to reassure them. "Make no mistake, this is not to be taken as an insult. You are all great friends." His focus shifted primarily to Izuku. "But… since this all started, I've been losing to you. And if I continue to follow you, I'll never get stronger." His gaze turned serious as he locked eyes with his friend. "Bakugo and Todoroki have challenged you already, but they aren't the only ones who see you as a rival." And with that, Tenya walked off… right over to Todoroki's group, which consisted of himself, Momo, and Denki. "Midoriya, I'll try my best to defeat you… and that's a promise."

Kyoka's lips parted in shock, the sight of her other best friend on an enemy team leaving her in disbelief. "…Et tu, Yaomomo?"

Momo sucked in her lips, feeling rather guilty as she wore a sympathetic face. "Oh, sorry, Kyoka. But… when it comes to impressing the audience, I have no other choice."

"Psh, I'm not sorry." Denki shrugged. "When it comes to stuff like this, gotta put friendships second, ya know what I'm say—IIING!" And just like that, Denki got jabbed with a jack right in his funny bone, leaving him a flailing mess as Kyoka glared at him.

"Thanks for nothing, Kaminari!" the purplette barked before huffing and turning back around. "C'mon, let's go… Izuku?" She glanced back, only to see him in a stare down with Todoroki, Izuku's green eyes filled with determination while Shoto's icy blue glared back coldly. Kyoka promptly spun to her partner and grabbed his arm, pulling him away. "…Okay, why don't you two save it for the battlefield, eh?" Izuku sighed and resigned to Kyoka's suggestion, walking back with her to their own space. But, as they were leaving, Kyoka couldn't help but pick up on a few tidbits thanks to her jacks…

…..

"Now that that's done, let's talk strategy." Shoto was straight to the point, addressing his new teammates directly and without any lack of confidence. "I chose the three of you because I believe we'll make for the most stable formation." His eyes shifted to Denki, who was still trying to shake off the tingly feeling in his arm. "Kaminari's our left wing. He can use his Quirk to keep enemies at bay."

"M-Makes sense…" Denki winced.

Todoroki's sights then went to Momo. "Yaoyorozu, you'll take the right win. Focus on insulation and defense."

Momo gave a single nod. "Of course."

"And Iida." The class rep gave Shoto his full attention. "You'll take the front. We'll rely on you for mobility and physical defense."

"Right." Tenya confirmed. "And you'll be attacking and creating diversions of ice and fire, correct?"

Shoto furrowed his brow, his head turning up toward the crowd. "…Not quite." Eventually, he saw a certain man standing near the back of the bottom seat section, clearly visibly as fire dancing all across his body. It was the Flame Hero, Endeavor. …His father. The very sight of him made Shoto clench a fist. "When I'm in battle, I never use my left side."

…..

That last part gave Kyoka pause. 'Hm? Weird… why WOULDN'Y he use his fire in battle?' She thought to herself. 'That's arguably WAY more effective than his ice, honestly… wait, what's that?' Her ears perked up once again as she caught the sound of someone else speaking, coming from over near where Class 1-B was. Soon enough, though, Kyoka would come to regret wanting to hear THIS;

"Almost everyone in the audience is foaming at the mouth for Class 1-A. Now tell me, why is that?" came a rather smug, smarmy voice. Whoever it was, they were male, though since Kyoka didn't know 1-B all that well, she had no clue who this voice belonged to. "They're so full of themselves, just like Tetsutetsu said earlier. They're THEY the stars? The only difference between us and them is that they fought a couple of villains. Just because we're Class 1-B doesn't mean we're second rate or can't win this whole thing." Kyoka could practically hear the arrogant smirk as he concluded his speech with; "Now, let's step it up and show these jerks what we can do."

Whoever this was, Kyoka wanted to punch them in the mouth. Hard.

'Whoever the hell that conceited little twerp is, I'm gonna make sure he doesn't take 1-A that lightly after this game!' Kyoka's grip increased as she grit her teeth, only to stop when she heard a shout of pain.

"Gah! Ouch!"

"AH! Oh, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Izuku!" Kyoka apologized, bowing her head profusely. "I-I overheard something that kind of got me angry…"

Izuku gave her a reassuring smile. "Hey, it's okay, Kyoka. Trust me, I get it…" His eyes trailed across the crowd of students, seeing that all of them were pretty much on a team already. He could feel his stomach getting tied up in knots just thinking about their situation. "I know that this is a really frustrating situation. Not being able to team up with Iida was a heavy blow, and we still need one more. …But there doesn't seem to be anyone left."

But, right as he said that, Izuku felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder. "Uh, hello?" Izuku yelped and snapped his head up, only to feel his heart leap with joy as it was none other than Kaida. The Sauro-Parts user wore her signature smirk and jerked a thumb to her chest confidently. "Not to brag here, Midoriya, but I'm actually still available. I'd be more than happy to team up with you guys, if you'd have me."

Much to the three girls' surprise, Izuku immediately burst into tears, ones that would put a leaking fire hydrant. "KIRYU, YOU'D REALLY DO THAT FOR US?!"

"AH! Y-Yeah, sure!" Kaida recoiled as Izuku's tears began soaking the ground beneath him. "But uh, could you please stop crying? You're drenching your shoes."

"S-Sorry." Izuku wiped the tears from his eyes, only now realizing that there was a puddle forming around his feet. "But you'd really team up with us? Even though we're pretty much everyone's enemy right now?"

"Dude, Midoriya, as far as I'm concerned, I still owe you BIG time." Kaida sent a wink down at him. "After all, if it weren't for you and Brian… I might not be here at all." Izuku gasped, remembering that day vividly. On their way to the entrance exams, Bee had pulled to the side of the road to pick up a desperate Kaida Kiryu, who had missed her train and would've missed the U.A. exams if it weren't for them. "And I want to be a hero just as much as you do." Kaida clenched her fist, smirking with determination. "You're gonna need a strong and fast front horse if you're gonna make sure that headband stays where it is. I might not be able to use ALL my Sauro-Parts while carrying you, but trust me…" Kaida extended a leg, transforming it into that of a Raptor's. "You're gonna want THESE legs on your team."

Izuku's eyes widened to the size of saucers. In this form, Kaida's legs were incredibly muscular, but also lean and agile. There was no doubt, she would be the perfect one to be their horse. Izuku craned his head up, beaming at her with confidence. "Alright, you're in!"

"Haha! Sweet!" Kaida slammed her fist into her palm. "So listen to me and listen good; we're currently at the top and everyone's after us. But we're gonna STAY at the top, isn't that right?!"

Kyoka was quick to agree with her. "Hell yeah! You're speaking my language, Kaida! We won't let the others bring us down."

"Heehee, let's do this!" Mei reached into her case of babies once again, pulling out another set of Hover Sole boots. "Kyoka, here, you're gonna want these if you wanna keep up with Dino-Girl."

The Earphone Jack user did a double take a that. "H-Huh? But what about Izuku's plan of ME being the horse?"

"That IS a good plan, but think about it; not only would you be working offensive and defensive with your Quirk, but you'd also be the target that everyone would go for." Mei reasoned, giving Izuku a nod. "It's probably better if Muscles stays up top. Besides…" She grinned manically as she pulled out the jetpack. "I've got something SPECIAL in mind for him! Heeheehee!"

Izuku was visibly excited at the prospect of putting on the jetpack, and Kyoka had to admit, she saw what Mei was going for here. But at the same time… "Izuku, before you put on that jetpack, I've got an idea…" She drew closer to the boy and began whispering to him, which Mei and Kaida listened in on. Her three teammates seemed intrigued as she explained, which gave her hope for her plan. "So, what do you think?'

"Hah, I think it's one of the most brilliant things I've heard all day." Izuku approved, which made Kyoka all the happier. As Mei strapped the jetpack onto him, Izuku gave one more resolute nod to his three female teammates. "Alright, let's do this."

…..

Soon after, the timer hit zero, ending the time limit for team formations. Midnight, who was currently stretching her arms, seemed quite excited at that. "Oh, goodie! It's time to get this party started!"

From there, Present Mic took over; "After fifteen minutes to pick teammates and talk strategy, we've got twelve cavalry teams preparing to go head-to-head! Come on, everyone! Get your hands in the air! It's time for an arena-thumping U.A, Battle Royale! LEMME HERE YA SCREAM!" The entire stadium erupted at Mic's words, all while the teams formed up on one another, getting ready to go. "Let's get this Cavalry Battle goin'! One final countdown before the game starts! Three… Two… ONE!"

"BEGIN!" Midnight exclaimed.

As the starting buzzer sounded off, several teams went for the expected move; making a beeline for Izuku and Kyoka's team. Izuku, who was now being propped up by the three girls, wasn't all that surprised. But thankfully, they had a plan. "Not even giving us a chance, as expected."

"Guess that's what we get for being in first! Raptor Legs!" Kaida shifted her legs into their more powerful form and called up; "Make your choice, Midori!"

"That's easy! RUN AWAY!"

Before the three girls could even move, though, Tetsutestu and his team from 1-B came barreling toward them. "Don't think so!" Much to the group's surprise, the ground beneath them suddenly began to soften up, to the point where they all started sinking.

"Agh! Oh come on!" Kyoka barked. "Seriously?!" She focused over to Tetsutetsu's group, immediately noticing the front horse. He had pale skin, white hair, and had no lips, instead just large, skull-like teeth. He also seemed to be focusing intently on them, which tipped Kyoka off instantly. "This must be because of that guy's Quirk!"

"Grr, crap! I can't get out!" Kaida whipped her head up to Izuku. "Midoriya, now would be a good time for—"

"Right!" Izuku pulled up a small switch in his hand. "Kyoka, Hatsume, watch your faces!" The purplette and pink-haired inventor both ducked as Izuku hit the button, activating the jetpack on his back. Within moments, twin jet blasts came bursting out of the pack and sent all three of them up high into the air, which was aided with the activation of the Hover Soles as well.

Mei couldn't help but squeal in delight as her inventions worked perfectly. "AHAHA! YES! Everything is going according to my designs!"

Kyoka glanced down, making sure that no one was pursuing them. Unfortunately, though, there was. "Ha! You think you can get away that easily?!" Toru, the invisible girl, was sitting atop the shoulders of Sato and Koji Koda, with Tokoyami having taken the front. The two boys in the back were blushing as Toru had removed her top, with nothing on but the headband on her forehead worth three hundred points. "Tokoyami!"

"Right! Go, Dark Shadow!" Within a split second, Tokoyami's Dark Shadow came bursting out of his chest, giving a raspy cry as it chased Izuku's team up into the air.

However, they had a plan for that, too. "Kyoka! NOW!"

"On it!" Kyoka took up her subwoofers and sent a powerful sonic blast down to Dark Shadow, halting it in midair as their team began losing altitude. As this happened, she also extended another free jack down, wrapping it around Toru's headband before tearing it off.

"H-Huh?! HEY!"

Kyoka pulled the headband up, putting it around Izuku's neck. "Sorry, Toru, but we need that!"

Toru shouted after them; "NO YOU DON'T! YOU HAVE TEN-MILLION POINTS!"

"Exactly!" Kyoka retorted as Dark Shadow came back around. "Kaida, your turn!"

"Apatosaurus Tail!" The new appendage grew right out of Kaida's rear and went whipping downward, smacking Dark Shadow away as its guard was down.

Izuku smiled excitedly as he watched Kaida's Quirk in action. "Hah, that's so awesome! Your Dinosaur parts can cover lots of blind spots. Kaida, you're amazing!"

Kaida simply rolled her eyes at the compliment, though her smile belied her. "D'aw, I'm nothing too special. And save the compliments for AFTER we win."

"We're coming in for a landing!" Kyoka warned as she sent down a less powerful sonic pulse toward the ground, which cushioned their fall as the Hover Soles deactivated. "Hah, woo! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!"

"Great work controlling our landing, Kyoka." Izuku complimented, earning him a thumbs up from the punk rocker.

Mei's grin widened as she asked; "So, what do you think of my babies?! Aren't they just prescious? Cuteness CAN be manufactured, you know!"

The One for All inheritor nodded down to her. "Hm, excellent mobility! Your babies are really coming in clutch here, Hatsume." His eyes shifted between all three of his teammates before pointing forward. "Now, let's keep this up! We get away from everyone as fast as we can and DON'T STOP RUNNING!"

"Wow! Barely two minutes have passed since we started and it's already a total free for all!" Present Mic announced, his own exhilaration growing as the time passed. "Yeah! Watch those headbands! You can even ignore the ten million points and go after the other chart toppers!"

…..

Back on the Darksyde, the Decepticons watched in amusement as the game went into its starting minutes, finding the concept of the cavalry battle rather intriguing. "I have to admit, their battle formations are rather… interesting." Barricade commented with a head tilt. "I realize that this is similar to a team-building exercise, though I must say that I'm still surprised by how maneuverable these organics still are with these formations."

"Hehehe, if ya ask me, they're a bunch a' nutcases!" Frenzy cackled, the Mini-Con sitting on his partner's shoulder. "These humans come up with the weirdest scrap imaginable! And it's HILARIOUS! HAHA!"

"Hm, yeah sure, very funny." Swift rolled her optics, her sarcasm dripping in her voice.

"The green kid's picked some pretty good allies." Nightra added, pointing to the three one by one. "Ear-jack girl's good at offensive and defensive plays with those sonic blasts, the inventor over there's got those gadgets that're only increasing their maneuverability…" The hacker focused directly on the grey-skinned girl in front. "And that one… she's obviously got some sort of power that makes her highly adaptable, not just in maneuverability, but in offensive capabilities, too."

Shadowstriker gave a short scoff, her arms still crossed. "It would seem zat ze boy has an inkling of how zeir powers work in conjunction with one another."

Flatline nodded, keeping his optics on the action. "Indeed, it is very fascinating in zat regard. However, zey are not ze ONLY ones who have prepared effective combinations, I am certain of zat…"

"AH! What in the pit is THAT?!" Blastwave exclaimed, pointing to the screen as a rather tall and muscular human with several arms came barreling toward Izuku's team, the appendages and their muscle all covering his back. "That cannot POSSIBLY be an itsy-bitsy human boy, can it?!"

"More than likely." Starscream mumbled. "I have come to learn that humans can just look like whatever the heck they want on this planet without rhyme or reason." He shuddered as he saw what appeared to be mouths on the ends of the multiple limbs. "They are truly disgusting creatures."

…..

At that point, Izuku had noticed Shoji charging at them as well, doing a double take at the masked boy's approach. "Woah! Shoji's incoming!" However, it then hit him that there was seemingly no one else WITH the Dupli-Arm user. "…But where's his team?!"

Kaida snapped her head in the opposite direction, seeing Tetsutetsu's team coming back around. "Never mind that right now! We need some breathing room, otherwise we'll get trapped between multiple opponents—WOAH!" The Sauro-Parts user had to duck her head as a long, slimy tongue came whipping at them from out of nowhere… though the source became clear as Shoji kept coming. After missing Izuku's head as well, the tongue retracted into the darkness beneath Shoji's extended Dupli-Arms, leading Kaida to realize… "TSU?! You're in there?!"

Tsuyu Asui peaked her head out, bowing to Kaida. "Sorry, Kaida! Gotta get first place!"

"Oui, mon cherie!" Just then, a bright light flashed from inside Shoji's arm-tent and blasted out at Izuku's group, which they collectively jumped away from. Then, much to their surprise, Aoyama popped up from between Shoji's arms… or his upper half, at least. "The first place headband WILL be ours! Apologies for the inconvenience, mon ami!"

With her eyes narrowed, Kyoka balked at the odd formation. "Oh, come on! Is that even allowed?!"

As if on cue, Midnight gave a thumbs up. "The judges say yes, it is!"

"Ugh, fantastic." Kyoka rolled her eyes and snapped her head up to Izuku. "Green Bean, we gotta get outta here!"

"Right! Hold on tight!" With another click of the button, the quartet were one again airborne, quickly getting out of range from both incoming teams. "Kyoka, give us a boost!"

"On it!" With their Hover Soles already at full power, Kyoka moved her jacks and aimed her subwoofers downward, ready to let loose a potent sonic blast. "Hang on to your butts!" The resulting burst from her speakers propelled the team even higher up, getting them out of range of not just Tsuyu's tongue, but Aoyama's blasts as well.

…However, there was someone still keen on getting to them. Boom! Boom! BOOM! The four whipped their heads down in panic, knowing who those explosions likely belonged to. Sure enough, Bakugo was hurdling toward them through the air, his ever-present glare boring into them as he reached up at them. "Don't think for a second that you're safe! I'VE GOT YOU!"

"Kiryu!"

"Gotcha!" Following Izuku's call, Kaida shouted; "Diplodocus Neck!" and within moments, her head changed to that of the sauropod in question, along with her neck extending to the same size as one as well. Katsuki's eyes widened as the neck came craning down and slammed into him with an impactful WHAP! As a result, his next blast was sent off course and Bakugo himself was sent careening back down to Earth. "HA! Take THAT, Baku-Breath!"

However, Hanta Sero was quick to launch his tape at Bakugo, reeling him back in toward their team. Eijiro and Mina helped catch him, though Present Mic was rather taken aback by the whole thing. "Woah! Bakugo just separated from his horses! Is that even allowed?!"

Once again, Midnight voiced her approval. "He never touched the ground, so technically, it's okay!"

As Izuku's team came in for a landing, the green-haired boy let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, that was too close for comfort. Nice work, everyone." But then, he got to thinking… 'As much as I don't want to admit it, we should probably stay out of the air for a while. We do it too often and we're bound to become predictable to the other teams.' Izuku glanced down to his teammates, specifically the ones in front and to his left. 'That means, to survive, we'll have to rely on Kaida's Sauro-Parts and Kyoka's sound blasts.'

"Now, who wants to take a look at each team's points so far?!" Up on the giant screen, the twelve teams appeared in a listing that sorted them from the most points to the least… and with it came a rather shocking revelation. The crowd became silent in complete astonishment, as even Present Mic had to make sure he was seeing things right. "…Wait a second! This is an unexpected turn! Other than team MidoJiro, Class 1-A's not doing so hot!"

For as shocking as that was, Kyoka couldn't help but get hung up on something else. "Wait, what?" She whipped her head up and saw their team name on screen… and indeed, it was labeled "MidoJiro". Her eyes trailed over to Izuku questioningly. "Did you sign off on that name?"

"N-No, not exactly." Izuku blushed, wincing at the awkward name. However, he was still curious about the two teams that were behind them; Team Tetsutetsu, who were doing fairly well, and then Team Monoma, which was a name that Izuku didn't recognize. Just then, Team Bakugo's points went straight down to zero, with Monoma's team gaining them instead. "…Uh-oh."

…..

"Seems even Team Bakugo's losing!"

Not too far away, Present Mic's statement proved accurate as Katsuki felt his headband get ripped off, and in his ear, he could hear a smug little voice say; "Your class is too small-minded. Think bigger."

"He got us!" Mina shouted.

"THE HELL DID YOU SAY?!" Bakugo snapped. Whoever had stolen his headband was gonna get the tar beat out of them. "GET BACK HERE!" The group that stole his headband was made up of 1-B students, but the one scrub he was focused on was the one up top. He had short, blonde hair that was combed neatly, his blue eyes staring at him in a condescending way. Katsuki immediately wanted to beat this guy up for being so damned arrogant and flaunting it in their faces. HE must have been this "Monoma" guy.

"Midnight said the obstacle course was just the first game, and we figured they wouldn't cut that many of us right off the bat, would they?" Monoma's smirk increased as he continued. "Assuming that they'd keep at least forty contestants for the next event, all we had to do was make sure we stayed within that group as we ran. From our spots in the middle rankings, we could fully observe the Quirks our rivals had and judge their capabilities." He rolled his eyes as Bakugo continued to seethe. "Only fools would obsess over winning the preliminary rounds, wouldn't you agree?"

Katsuki could feel his eyebrow ticking as this asshole went on. "…You planned this as a class?"

As Monoma placed his latest prize around his neck, he gave a shrug. "It wasn't totally unanimous, but I'd say it's turning out well. It's better than chasing after a temporary front runner like a horse with a carrot sticking out of its mouth."

…..

Thankfully, Monoma's little speech could be heard on the broadcast thanks to some special drone cameras that were zooming over the field. And it was from this vantage point that Starscream came to one conclusion; "I… I want HIM as a Decepticon!" The air commander nearly jumped out of his seat, grinning like a mad bot as he admired the trickster's self-righteous attitude and patronizing tone. "This young man has everything it TAKES to be a Decepticon! He even has the gall to demean and humiliate his peers! AH! He's PERFECT!"

Skywarp and Thundercracker eyed one another warily. "…Sounds to me like he'd just be a mini version of Starscream." The blue Seeker deduced.

"And Primus knows we don't need TWO of 'em." Skywarp concurred.

…..

Kyoka had overheard the whole thing as well, and at that point, Katsuki was screaming bloody murder, telling his team to shift their focus to Monoma's. It was kind of a relief on one hand, having Bakugo off their backs. …But on the other hand, she recognized Monoma as the annoying voice she had heard earlier, so she was kind of hoping that Bakugo would beat his ass. 'Damn, how the hell am I rooting for AND against Bakugo in this situation?'

After relaying what she had heard to her teammates, Izuku took a moment for all of that to settle in. "Wow… Class 1-B really had a strategy that involved throwing the qualifier." After thinking it over, he could definitely see how that would be an advantage, though. "I guess that COULD help them leave a bigger impression with the audience, though. Everyone does kind of love an underdog."

"But if they ARE planning the long game here, they might not even bother coming after our headbands after all." Kaida pointed out. "And with Baku-Breath going after them, that means they'll be off our backs, too."

"So you're saying we're in the clear? AH!" Kyoka gasped as Kaida came to an abrupt halt, the answer to her question staring directly back at them. Standing opposite of their team about fifteen feet away was Todoroki, Tenya, Momo and Denki, the former serving as the rider while the latter two were near the back, with Tenya being the front horse. It was just as she had heard them plan out, Momo had even created roller skates for herself and Denki so they could keep up with Tenya. "…Crap."

Kaida furrowed her brow, her black hair falling over her eyes as glared at the other team. "Yeah, not by a long shot."

"And now we've reached the half-way point of the game!" A few of the teens briefly glanced toward the clock, seeing that they only had close to seven and a half minutes left to survive the game. "As the Cavalry Battle enters its second half, it's anyone's game! Class 1-B has made an unexpected showing, but who will wear the ten million points in the end?! That's the real question, sports fans!"

Shoto's cold stare bored straight into Izuku's, making the greenette wince in discomfort. "I'll be taking that headband now." the half-and-half teen stated, only to notice the second headband around Izuku's neck. "…Getting greedy, huh? Are you really that desperate?"

Kyoka sneered up at the boy. "Wouldn't you like to know, Mr. Cold Shoulder?"

"Didn't think it'd take this long to bump into you, honestly." Kaida mused. "Thought you'd come after us sooner." She craned her head back toward Izuku. "Seems like he still has it out for ya, eh, Midoriya?"

As uneasy as he was feeling at the moment, though, Izuku knew he had to steel his nerves for what was to come. "The game's only half way over. We can't stop now!"

Shoto waved his hand toward the leading team. "Now, Iida, forward!"

"Right!" Tenya took a ready position as his engines powered up, and in one burst, he went blasting forward, pulling his teammates along with him.

"Yaoyorozu, be ready to protect us."

Momo responded to Shoto's order immediately, creating an insulated sheet as well as a thick, jagged spike that smashed into the ground as they went. "On it!"

"Kaminari?"

"Oh, I know what I've gotta do." Denki smirked as he began charging up, small bolts of electricity already dancing across his body.

Kyoka recoiled at the sight, knowing that they were in for a shock. "Izuku! We need to get the hell out of here!"

"Exactly, but there's one problem. It's not just Todoroki that's after us…" At his words, Kyoka looked again and gasped, seeing well over half of the active teams coming straight toward them. "We've got EVERYONE incoming!"

Mei whipped her head between everyone in panic. "Please tell me that someone has an idea, because I do NOT want my babies getting hurt!"

"I might have one." Kaida offered, her legs beginning to undergo another change. "Keep your eyes and mouths shut, guys!"

"Hope you've made something strong, Yaoyorozu!" Denki announced, his electricity growing ever more powerful. Right as he said that, Todoroki grabbed the insulated sheet and covered himself, Tenya and Momo with it, which was all Denki needed to let his attack loose. "Indiscriminate Shock; 1.3 MILLION VOLTS!" In a split second, the entire area was covered in lightning bolts, hitting everyone within a twenty-foot radius. All of the other teams were left paralyzed in place…

…Except for Izuku's. Right as Denki unleashed his attack, Kaida had finished her transformation; "BRACHIOSAURUS LEGS!" Shoto's eyes snapped open to see Kaida now at least ten feet in the air, supported by the thick pillars that were her legs. Izuku, Mei and Kyoka all held on for dear life as Kaida raised one leg and then brought it down… BOOM! In one step, a huge cloud of dust and sand was kicked up in front of them, effectively blocking the lightning entirely. Kaida slowly changed her legs back to normal and the group went running, leaving the Half-Cold-Half-Hot Quirk user baffled. "Alright, let's get goin'!"

"What an amazing upset! Kaida Kiryu's Sauro-Parts just keep coming in clutch for Team MidoJiro!" Present Mic snapped his fingers as he posed in the booth. "Talk about DINO-MITE!"

"Wow! You sure like using Sauropod parts, don't ya?" Mei commented.

"Yeah, they're kind of my favorite… right up there with Triceratops."

Izuku smiled in approval. "Well, either way, you really helped us get out of that situation, Kiryu. Nice quick thinking!"

Kaida returned the gesture with a nod. "Well, I offered myself to you guys, so might as well pull my weight! Now c'mon, we've got a game to win!"

However, Shoto's group weren't done yet. "Less than six minutes left." Todoroki reached out and grabbed the large spike that Momo created, freezing it over entirely and spreading the ice down over the ground. Within seconds, a thick layer of ice covered the field behind them, freezing the other teams in place. Understandably, the other students weren't too pleased. "Sorry, but it's the only way!"

"Would you look at that?! He stopped all of those teams cold!"

"Yes, but only after Kaminari had immobilized them." Eraser Head pointed out to his loud colleague. "In the obstacle course, Todoroki was surprised by how many people avoided his beginning attack. So now, he's adapting his strategy." But before the four 1-A students left to follow Izuku's team, Aizawa saw them circle back around in a flash and nabbed a few of the other teams' headbands. "And I see he's taking full advantage of that."

"Might as well take these!" Shoto said as his team went in pursuit of Izuku's. "Just in case." Needless to say, the other teams weren't too thrilled. In particular, he heard a certain redheaded, ponytailed girl from 1-B shouted; "COME BACK!" in frustration. Still, Todoroki couldn't afford to lose focus. He had to at least make it to the next round, and if he couldn't do it with the ten million, it was better to have insurance than nothing at all.

…..

"Gotta say, that kid's a pretty good strategist." Barricade noted.

Starscream leaned forward in his chair contemplatively. "Hm, indeed. It would seem that he is much more experienced than the other students down there. Interesting…" Just then, he heard the door hiss and open up behind all of them, to which he swiveled around to face the only Decepticon who had yet to show up. "Well, well, look who decided to emerge from their cave. Better late than never, I suppose."

"Can it, Starscream." Unicronus growled as his thunderous footsteps echoed through the bridge, his sights firmly set on the screen. "How're things goin' down there?"

The Seeker rolled his optics and swung himself back around. "You would KNOW if you had been here from the start, general."

"The little green one zat the Autobots keep around is in ze lead." Shadowstriker informed, in spite of Starscream's discontent. "It has been an eventful second round, though ze boy and his team have adopted ze strategy of "running away" to keep zeir ten million points."

Unicronus balked at the plan. "Bah, of course, cowards." He crossed his arms, observing as Izuku's team was chased down by Todoroki's. "If that were me down there, I'd turn right the frag around an' get in the other team's faces. Those humans have no IDEA what it's like on the battlefield."

Swift glanced away and murmured; "I'd hardly call a playground game a "battlefield", but you do you…"

"Hold on." Nightra piped up, pointing at the screen. "Midoriya's team's about to hit the boundary line!"

…..

To be more accurate, Izuku's team were currently flying backward thanks to the aid of Mei's Hover Soles, so they couldn't see where they were heading. They had intended on flying again… but the jetpack wasn't working. "BABY!" Mei shouted worriedly. "It must've got logged up with sand from Dino-Girl's stomp!"

"Sorry!" Kaida apologized, seeing Tenya and the others drawing closer to them. "But we've got a different problem to deal with! Any ideas?!"

Kyoka was quick bring up her jacks, along with her mini-subwoofers. "Well, there's always one option!" She aimed her gear toward the ground and announced; "Special Move! Heartbeat Distortion!" BWOOOM! Several sonic pulses went rippling through the earth, shaking it violently which forced Tenya and the others to come to a complete stop to make sure they stay balanced. "Ha! That made 'em stop!"

"Great!" Izuku smiled. "Now let's keep going!"

"Uh… 'bout that…" Kaida peered over her shoulder, her eyes widening in fright. "We kinda gotta STOOOOP!" She dug the claws of her Ratpor Legs into the ground, slowing their momentum as Kyoka and Mei put a stop to the Hover Soles. As it turned out, the four of them very nearly went over the boundary line without even realizing it. And they had stopped just ten feet short of doing so. "Hah, man, that was WAY too close."

Izuku let out a nervous breath. "Y-Yeah, no kidding. Now let's get—AH!" All of a sudden, two massive walls of jagged ice came around from either side of them, leaving the team with no where to go.

"Uh-oh! Team MidoJiro has no where left to run!" Present Mic leaned forward in anticipation, eager to see how this would end. "Only one minute left! Todoroki has cornered the ten-million-point team and is poised to seize first place! But, unbelievably, Team Mido Jiro has been able to avoid the ice master for the last half of the game! Will they be able to keep it up even with the cards stacked against them?!"

Team Todoroki was once again approaching at quick speeds, which left Izuku to start formulating a new idea. 'Come on, come on, we gotta do SOME—wait! That's it!' He craned his head down to the girls and relayed his plan; "Guys, we gotta stay on Todoroki's left side."

"That'd be OUR right, correct?" Kaida asked.

"Exactly." Izuku confirmed. "Trust me, this'll work."

As Team Todoroki closed in, Team MidoJiro gave a short leap to their right, taking Shoto off guard. "Stop!" Tenya and the others did so, giving him time to think. 'Damn it. He figured it out. He knows I haven't been using my left side at all in this competition. His strategy is to STAY on my left.' He glanced down to his lead horse teammate. 'If I try to freeze him from this position, I'll hit Iida. And if he keeps moving like this, there's no way I can get a clear shot at his team. Plus, Kiryu can defend against Kaminari's electricity. There's not much time left…' He narrowed his eyes at Izuku. 'The bastard.'

But then, Tenya spoke up. "Everyone, we have less than sixty seconds left." The gravity behind his voice took his teammates aback, including Todoroki. "I'm going to do something that'll make me worthless to you, but it'll be worth it."

However, Kyoka could hear what Tenya was saying clear as day, and it was enough to make her gut do a flip. 'Oh no…' She whispered up to her best friend; "Izuku, Iida's about to do something. Should we initiate the back-up plan?"

Izuku bit his lip, knowing he'd feel bad about doing this. But at that moment, it was do or die. Whatever Tenya had up his sleeve, he had a feeling it was going to be something major. He nodded down to Kyoka. "Right, do it."

"Iida, what are you saying?" Shoto questioned as Tenya took a knee, getting in a ready position.

"Just make sure you get that headband!" With the sounds of his engines starting, Tenya fired them up hard, to the point where the afterburn color went from orange to bright blue. "Brace yourselves! Hold on tight! Torque Over—" BOOM! In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, Team Todoroki went flying, zooming over to Izuku's team at the speed of a formula one racer. "RECIPROBURST!"

Todoroki almost lost his train of thought at the sheer speed they were going, the wind whipping past his eyes making it hard to see. But kept his focus, reaching out and feeling the headband reach his hands, as well as the sensation of someone's skin beneath his fingers. That must've been it. He gave a good yank to loosen it and took it right with them, the quartet rushing past Izuku's team and pulling to a complete stop within half a second.

The stadium went into an uproar at what had just occurred, including Present Mic. "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! That was one big blur! Holy smokes, folks, Tenya Iida's just showed off something HUGE! Why didn't he show that move off in the preliminaries?!"

"Iida… what was that?!" Momo exclaimed, all while Denki had been thrown for a loop.

"Hah… hah…forced my torque and RPM into overdrive, which gave me explosive power." Tenya explained, trying to catch his breath. His legs, however, were literally smoking hot after the move. "Unfortunately, the recoil stalls my engines for a while. It's a secret move I've been saving. No one in the class knows about it." He craned his head over to Izuku's group, the green-haired boy keeping his head down as Tenya gave him a knowing smile. "Midoriya! I told you… that I'd do my best to beat you, didn't I?"

Surprisingly enough, though… he received a small chuckle. "Hm, yeah, you did! I gotta say, Iida, I'm stunned and impressed. That move was really great, and I wanna talk to you more about it, for sure." His happy tone took Team Todoroki by surprise, almost as if he didn't just lose something important. "But winning this game is about much more than big moves, it's also about planning ahead with several strategies. That being said…" Izuku lifted his head up… revealing he still had the Ten Million headband around his head. "You might wanna take a second look at that headband."

To say that Todoroki's team were left shell-shocked was an understatement. …Well, most of them. Denki still out of his gourd from his electrical blast and had no clue what was going on. Momo, however, was slack-jawed and speechless, though Tenya's jaw had practically hit the ground, the young man trembling as small noises escaped his throat. Shoto himself slowly glanced down to the headband in his hands.

…It was only work three-hundred points.

"H-How…" Shoto clenched his hand around the fabric, his frustration growing. He had to remind himself to keep control otherwise the headband would catch fire. "How did you—"

"We took Toru's headband for a reason, you know!" Kyoka piped up, pointing up to Izuku's headband. "Because we knew that everyone would be coming after that. So we figured, "hey, let's do something that no one would expect and get a fake out headband from someone else"."

"B-But Midoriya had it around his neck!" Momo pointed out. "Todoroki's hand clearly went for his head!"

Kyoka smirked as she extended her jacks. "Yeah, well, I might've had something to do with that. Lifted it up just enough to where Todoroki could accidentally grab it."

Tenya was galled to hear that. "YOU LIFTED THE HEADBAND?! That is—"

"Not against the rules!" Midnight announced, having overheard the whole thing. She pointed up to the screen which displayed a slowed down replay of the events, where indeed showed that Kyoka had lifted the headband up, but it never left Izuku's neck until Todoroki ripped it off. "The headband never left Midoriya's neck while Jiro was lifting it, and it wasn't removed until the other team acquired it, so I'll allow it!"

"INCONCEIVEABLE!" Present Mic hollered as the crowd once again erupted into collective cheers. "Team MidoJiro has played Team Todoroki like fiddles and fooled them effectively! What a deceiving move!"

Momo had to admit, that was very clever… though she couldn't lie and say she WASN'T a little upset. "You… you guys tricked us!"

"Not "tricked", necessarily." Kaida said, glancing up toward the commentary booth where Aizawa was watching on. "Think of it more as… a natural deception. After all, if you wanna BEAT villains, sometimes, you gotta THINK like villains." She couldn't see it, but Eraser Head was smirking slightly beneath his bandages. Kaida, Kyoka and Mei performed a U-turn to get away from the other team as soon as possible. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be going now and—"

BOOOOOM!

Before they could even take five steps, however, one of the ice walls exploded in a brilliant display, the fiery blast making the ice crystals shimmer. However, the person making the explosion was far LESS brilliant. "DEKU!" Bakugo and his team had finally returned, having regained their points… and then some. The ashen blonde, with his neck covered in at least five other headbands, jumped off of Mina, Eijiro and Sero to get to his REAL prize. "GIVE ME THAT TEN-MILLION!"

Izuku's eyes widened in abject horror. Seeing Katsuki lunging toward him was nothing new… but there was still twenty seconds left. Twenty seconds that could easily be used to swipe his headband. Bakugo was just about to close the distance between them with his outstretched hand… but…

"Triceratops HEAD!" SMACK!

"GRAAH!" Katsuki shouted in pain as his hand crashed into Kaida's now massive forehead, which had expanded into a shield-like frill. Also, he now found himself in between a pair of horns, one of which knocked into him as Kaida wrenched her head to throw Bakugo away. Sero had managed to catch him with his tape, but that didn't help Bakugo's temper. "AGH! Dammit, Lizard Lips!" Once more, he blasted toward the group, breaking Sero's tape to do so. "I've had enough of you!"

"Try me, Baku-Breath!" The three-horned girl retorted, pawing the ground with her raptor leg to prepare a big charge. "I can do this all day—"

BBBZZZZZZ!

Things came to a sudden halt as the timer went off, causing Katsuki to stop in midair and flop face-first into the dirt. "That's it! Time's up!" Midnight announced. "And with that, the second round is finally over!" She pointed her flog over to Team MidoJiro with a grin. "Please, give a big hand to the reigning first-place contenders; Team MidoJiro!"

…..

All at once, the audience popped, cheers for Izuku and Kyoka's team echoing throughout the entire place. But, from their perspective, the Decepticons were less than pleased. "Ugh, come on, REALLY?!" Swift bemoaned, throwing her head back in disappointment. "Primus, I was hoping that explosion guy was gonna totally rip 'em a new one after they pulled that little trick."

"I know, right?" Nightra agreed. "Would've made for great dramatic irony. Going through all that trouble to get that fake out headband only to REALLY lose to the bomb-crazy maniac." She gave a small sigh. "Sadly, it was not to be."

"Well, I suppose can at least appreciate the trick they pulled." Starscream smirked. "Perhaps there is more deception within these children than even I realized."

"Bah, round was boring." Blastwave balked. "Not nearly enough destruction."

Flatline sighed and facepalmed. "Of course you vould say zat…"

Skywarp merely gave a shrug. "Eh, not that big a deal, honestly. They GOTTA have somethin' big planned for the finals." He gave a smirk as he punched into his palm. "THEN we're bound to see some real chaos there."

"Hope so." Unicronus concurred, folding his arms with an unimpressed glare. "Otherwise, doin' this for Lord Megatron will be a complete waste of time…"

…..

Though their lack of being in first place was regrettable, Eijiro and the rest of his team were more concerned for their leader at the moment. "Yo, Bakugo! You okay, man?" The question sent Bakugo into a fist-pounding tantrum that would leave the most spoiled child looking well-behaved by comparison. His angry shouts were thankfully muffled by the dirt, though. "…I'll take that as a no."

Mina gave a sigh as she saw Izuku and Kyoka's team already celebrating. "Aw well, guess that's that."

"Yeah, but hey, we still got a lot of points!" Sero said optimistically. "Maybe we'll still make it to the next round?"

"Hope so." Eijiro sighed. "But at least we showed that Monoma guy a thing or two, right Bakugo?"

"AAAAAAHHH!"

"Right, sorry I asked."

The main screen went blank as Present Mic began listing off the teams moving on. "Now, let's see who our top four teams are! Of course, in first place are our reigning champs, Team MidoJiro!"

Of course, the four teammates were thrilled at the news… even if Kyoka still cringed at that team name. "Still not too sure how I feel about that name, but at this point, I don't care!" She pumped her fists into the air victoriously. "We're MOVIN' ON, baby! Woo!"

"Hah, yeah, it's really exciting!" Izuku looked to Mei and Kaida, the former already tinkering with her damaged jetpack after removing it from his back. "And you two, thank you both so much. If it weren't for you guys, we'd be sunk!"

Kaida rolled her eyes and nudged Izuku's shoulder. "Aw, c'mon! Don't sell yourself short there, Midoriya. It was your leadership," She then pointed to Kyoka, "and your plan that really came in clutch."

Kyoka, however, was quick to argue that. "Well, maybe, but if it weren't for that last minute defense you got on Bakugo, who knows what might've happened?" She and Izuku bowed to her. "Thanks for that, Kaida, big time." Her eyes trailed over to Mei as well, tapping her on the shoulder with her jack to get her attention. "And thank YOU, Mei. Your babies really came in clutch."

"Hm? Oh, hah, of course they did!" Mei smiled proudly as she dumped the sand out of her jetpack. "What else would you have expected from Hatsume genius?"

"In second place, we've got Team Todoroki!"

Present Mic's announcement only made the quartet feel worse about the whole ordeal. They had been deceived, and quite affectively so. Shoto furrowed his brow, keeping his head low so no one would see his displeasure. "…Damn it."

"I'm so sorry." Iida apologized, clenching a fist in ire. "I let everyone down, didn't I?"

"N-No, of course not!" Momo insisted, all while keeping Denki from falling over on his face. "That isn't true in the slightest, Iida. We were ALL fooled, not just you." She gave him a hopeful smile. "And besides, we still made it to the next round, and that special move of yours was just incredible."

Tenya's eyes widened and he coughed into his hand bashfully. "A-Ahem, thank you, Yaoyorozu, that's much appreciated…" At that moment, though, he saw Izuku and Kyoka making their way over to the two of them, both wearing sympathetic expressions. Tenya took a deep breath, put on a smile, and extended his hand. "Good game, Midoriya, Jiro. I honestly would not have expected you to pull out a strategy such as that. You are right, in order to outwit a villain, you must be willing to think like them at times, and I can see how that can be applied here as well."

Izuku reached out, taking Tenya's hand. "Thank you, Iida. Honestly… I did feel a little bad about doing it, but—"

"Say no more. I understand." Tenya gave him a knowing grin. "As much as I wanted to defeat you, I know that you wanted to keep your position just as much. You two worked hard for it, after all."

"I'd argue they worked smarter, actually." Momo interjected. "Not necessarily harder." She raised a brow to Kyoka. "Wonder how you'll be able to keep that up in the next round?"

Kyoka sent her a wink. "Oh, we'll try."

"In third place; Team Bakugo!" The news that they were moving on did nothing to reassure Bakugo himself, who simply kept screaming his frustrations.

Mina sighed, folding her arms over her chest. "Man, and we were so close to grabbing first place."

"Eh sure, but we're movin' on, so it's all good." Sero rationalized.

Eijiro's eyes shifted over to Katsuki, who was banging his head into the sand over and over. "I don't think our leader would agree with you… like, at all."

"And finally, in fourth place, it's Team Tetsutet—HUH?! What's this?!" The three teams did a double take at Present Mic's surprised tone. "Team Shinso?! When did THEY come back from the dead? Well, regardless, they're moving on to the finals as well!"

At the news, almost everyone in association with a certain anti-gravity brunette all beamed in excitement. "Wait, that means Uraraka's going on, too!" Izuku exclaimed, only for the girl in question to come running into view past the massive ice wall, along with Ojiro alongside her as well. "Hey, there she is now!"

Kyoka waved to her and called out; "Hey, 'Chako! Congrats on—huh?" But the second the rocker saw her friend's face, her happiness gave way to concern, seeing Ochako looking dazed, confused, and upset. Momo, Kaida, Izuku and the others all saw this as well, and Ojiro was in a similar state. "…Ochako?"

"GUYS!" Ochako cried as she came to a halt, clearly in a state of panic. "Th-There was this… a-and then I just… I-I had no idea what I was—"

Momo stepped in and took hold of Ochako's arm as the brunette began hyperventilating. "Woah, woah, slow down, Ochako. Deep breaths. What happened? Is there something wrong?"

"There is." Ojiro piped up, the tailed blonde wearing a grim expression. "Neither of us have any recollection of what's happened over the past fifteen minutes." That made everyone's eyes widen as Ojiro's brows furrowed. "The entire second round for us is one big blur. We don't even remember teaming up with each other. We just… blanked out, and then woke up standing next to…" The boy peered over his shoulder. "…him."

Izuku and the others set their sights across the field, seeing Shinso handing in his headbands to the official. The purple-haired boy was wearing a rather cold, calculating smile, almost as if he had gotten away with something that only HE knew about. Izuku's gaze narrowed in suspicion. '…Something's wrong here. REALLY wrong.'

…..

A/N: Hoo boy, trouble's brewing, and his name is Shinso. Seems Ochako's become his unwilling pawn in this version of events, and from her and Ojiro's reactions, it something tells me the students will have something NEW to worry about going forward…

But man, what a significant change to the cavalry battle, eh? Thanks to some planning ahead and well-thought tactics, Izuku and his team actually KEEP their lead in this version of events! Guess that's what happens when you've got some certain crafty teammates who're willing to pull some "natural deceptions", as Aizawa puts it. Not cheating, just some trickery. Still, combined with Kaida's Quirk and Mei's amazing gadgets, Izuku and Kyoka definitely had a pretty well-balanced team to help keep their lead.

Also, on the Decepticon side of things, they seem to actually be getting invested in the Sports Festival, which is a surprise. Of course, they wouldn't be all THAT interested in the goings on of humankind, but at the very least, they can see the entertainment value in an event such as this. …Even though they're still rooting against the Autobot-allied humans.

And it's also with this chapter that we are introduced to Monoma, Class 1-B's resident arrogant annoyance. …Is anyone REALY surprised that Starscream likes the kid? Oy… but, with all that said…

And now, the Preview! With the Cavalry Battle behind them and the final round within sight, the players are allowed an extended break to get their bearings and get some food in them. During that, however, Todoroki pulls Izuku aside for a talk, where he reveals plenty of details about himself… but it's also where a certain someone decides to arrive at the Sports Festival, and decides to make himself knowing to the boys. Meanwhile, the kids discuss what exactly what happened to Ochako and Ojiro, the two slowly recalling what they went through. Just what IS the deal with Hitoshi Shinso? Next time; Intermission! …Autobots, Transform and ROLL for the Sports Festival! Thanks for reading everyone, and I'll catch you all later! Stay safe out there, and remember;

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!