My mind began to race, referencing every instance of this I had seen from children's game to war game. But none of those would make sense for eliminating any more than half of the current group, and everyone knows that the final event of the UA Sports Festival is always a one-on-one combat bracket.
"We all lucked out today, folks!" Cheered Midnight, clutching the mic with both hands.
"Capture the flag is a four person, team oriented battle! Each student will be equipped with a flag belt, held onto their waists only by a weak snap! If it is pulled off by an opponent, or ripped off due to carelessness, that student is eliminated!"
I felt my eyebrows pull together, in frustration, as I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. What they are referring to is actually the game: Flag Tag. It's almost exclusively played by children in the US, with the exception of some no-contact sports. It was glaringly obvious to me what they were setting up, although I assume most of the students are going to take what she says at face value.
She continued, "Each group of four students will have to work together in order to eliminate opponents, while protecting the flags of their teammates! The last sixteen students standing will advance to our final event! Students are allowed to run, hide, or fight; but they are not permitted to hide or reinforce their flags, fly consistently, or remain in the air or underground for extended periods of time."
The pro paused, allowing tension to build as she turned to point at Midoriya.
"There are two exceptions to the rules that I have announced! For coming in first place, Izuku Midoriya is only allowed to form a team of two! And, anyone who removes his flag, or the flag of his partner, will immediately advance to the next round!"
Well, that shored up the numbers to make sense. But, it also put an obvious target on the back of the number one ranked contender. That serves as an appropriate comparison to professional hero careers, where the top ranked people are always operating at a disadvantage.
And along the same lines, the people who finished the race closest to last: got to see what most of the other competitors are capable of. After all, I knew basically nothing about anyone outside of Class A. And that knowledge came from seeing their performances so often in regular training.
"All participants, please head towards our lovely facility attendants so you can choose your teams while we reshape the arena!" The perverse pro signed off, blowing a kiss to the group.
I turned and began walking slowly towards a large, empty, storage room. It was flanked by adult staff wearing bright yellow UA shirts. So, we're expected to put teams together. Ones that will compliment our strengths, as well as be good fits for the scenario. Every moment of this is a learning lesson, one that the heroes in attendance will be scrutinizing our performance for.
My pace had dropped me towards the back of the pack as we reached the opening. I had already put together a few rough team concepts, but one of them stood out as the most optimal.
"Jiro, Jenna, Midoriya, Tokoyami!" I shouted with a wave, making sure they all heard me.
For some reason, each of them seemed surprised to hear their name. They all approached at about the time the storage door was rolling closed directly behind me.
"Uhm… Decklin? Why'd you call us all over?" The green haired boy asked. "This is too many people for a team, especially if it includes me."
"Or were you perhaps spacing out again?" Jenna added, cocking her head to one side.
"Actually, I just need to yell at one more… Oh! She's already coming over. Nevermind." I droned, ignoring most of what they had asked.
The group turned to see the pink haired girl from the support class walking towards us, accelerating slightly when she noticed the attention aimed her direction. She started to speak excitedly as she arrived.
"Hey-"
"Shhh." I interrupted, putting a finger up. "This will just take a second."
By now, everyone looked at me like I had rattled something loose in my brain on the course. But now that they had all arrived, I felt comfortable moving onto a time sensitive matter.
"Jiro?" I said, trying to avoid direct eye contact by looking towards the door.
She jumped slightly, being put on the spot in front of a crowd. "Y-yeah?"
"You and I are going to spy on what they're doing out there." I spoke, confidently, pressing my hand to the metal door that separated us from the arena.
She nodded, extending one of her jacks to the floor, and the other onto the door. I closed my eyes and pushed my senses beyond the obstruction in front of me, speaking blindly to the others behind us.
"Knowing anything about the terrain we are headed into will give us a massive advantage when the game starts."
I didn't hear anyone move or respond, guessing they saw enough benefit to stick around for another minute or so. Passed the door: I could see some people moving around at the ground level, a subtle (but solid) glow from the thousands that were seated around the stadium, and small spikes of light scattered across the center of the arena.
I focused, seeing these little spires expand and branch as they reached higher and higher. The energy subsided to nearly invisible after the shapes grew to be roughly twenty feet tall. Satisfied, I opened my eyes and returned to look at the uneasy students.
"Trees. They're growing trees to cover the area; which will obstruct vision and force us into close combat." I explained.
Jiro retracted her jacks, "Also, dense shrubbery. It's packed across every inch of the ground out there."
I nodded, appreciating the accuracy of her hearing. "That's going to make moving around noisy."
Deku raised his hand, appearing almost panicked as he looked back at all the other teams which were nearly complete.
"It's probably from the Plant Hero: Flourish, she can grow all of that in minutes. But, I still don't get what the plan is. I can only have one partner."
"You do only have one partner. It's…" I pause, gesturing to the new girl, but realizing I still don't know the support student's name.
"Mei! Mei Hatsume! Support Class 1-H!" She introduces, with abundant energy.
"Right." I confirm. "You're partnering with Mei, because you can't reliably use your quirk to run away from the onslaught of attackers that are about to come after you."
Sweat starts to form on his brow as he raises one hand to his chin, thinking through the possible outcomes.
"But… I also can't defend either of us very well. Are you sure?" He questions, unable to see a path to victory.
"For my plan to work, I need you to stay in the game for as long as possible. Mei here is the only person I'm aware of that can augment your natural abilities, since anything she's created is fair game for her teammates." I explain, knowing we still have a lot to cover.
"But…" He starts.
"Midoriya." I call, raising my voice to get his attention. He looks up abruptly to meet my stare.
"Do you trust me?" I ask.
He blinks several times and his eyes shift as he thinks. Finally, he nods.
"I trust you, Decklin."
"Good!" I responded, shifting my stance slightly to my right. "Tokoyami will actually be shadowing your movements from below the whole time."
My bird-headed companion turned to look at me, confused by the job I had volunteered him for. I pressed on.
"Whenever you use the gear to jump up into the air, you'll become a visible target. That will draw people to you, and Tokoyami will block aerial attacks since his Dark Shadow has a long reach. Being grounded will also provide him enough shade to recover between attacks. On the ground: Jiro, Jenna, and I will pull the flags of people focused on you. Effectively: hunting the hunters."
Jiro spoke up next, "How are we going to do that? They'll hear us coming a mile away."
I pointed to Jenna. "Not with an illusionist they won't."
The German teen pointed up at herself, "Me?"
"You can mess with people's senses, right?" I questioned, knowing the answer.
"Yes. But how do you want me to do that out there?"
"I want you to remove the sound, sight, and smell of the three of us." I grinned.
She grimaced somewhat. "I can do that. But, it will be difficult."
"I believe in you." I said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Truthfully, I wasn't sure of her capabilities first hand. I had only seen her alter a baseball throw. But she had done very well in the mock battle by distracting the opponents, and her story from the USJ fight gave me some confidence.
"Besides…" I started again, "Jiro has some reach to pull multiple tags at a distance, and I'll drop anyone who isn't fooled or tries to fight back."
Tokoyami finally spoke up, "Can we even engage in all of this? Aren't we technically building a six person team?"
I half-laughed, "These teams are imaginary lines. Nothing in the rules say that we can't work together just because we are on different teams. In fact, there's nothing in this game that explicitly benefits members being on the same team. Individuals pass based on who still has a flag at the end, not which teams have the most flags."
They all seemed to think back about the speech they had just heard. Technically speaking: if all I wanted to do was pass, I'd team up with Midoriya and pull his flag as soon as the game started.
But, that sends a lot of bad messages. You could never trust a person who just looked out for themselves; not when hero work can be life and death. And forming an alliance like this would elevate our chances at success, beyond what a normal team would accomplish.
Midoriya was the first to talk. "So, Mei and I have to survive long enough for the crowd to thin out. That's going to be challenging."
"It is." I affirm. "Make no mistake, I'm asking you and Tokoyami to take the biggest risks by exposing yourselves to danger."
Mei interjected, "Wait? Am I not doing you a favor?"
I narrowed my eyes skeptically, "No. You want the attention of everyone in the audience, and you'll have it."
Her mouth twisted to one side as she considered it, shrugging in acceptance as she asked her next question.
"How're we going to keep our flags safe from flying off with all these jumps and landings? My babies are ultra powerful and I'm not allowed to reinforce our belts!"
I suppressed an immature smile.
"Gut to butt." I answered, pressing one open hand over the back of the other. "The snaps won't come undone if they're pressed between your two bodies."
Izuku's face immediately turned a bright red. "W-w-w-what?!"
"Deku!" I fake chastised, "Get your mind out of the gutter! It's like riding a motorcycle."
Mei pressed herself up against the back of the now shaking boy, measuring the lap belt of her steampunk jetpack against their combined width.
"Mhmm." She almost whispered in his ear. "I think this'll work."
My eyes involuntarily widened, watching her measure his torso, arms, and waist by hand. I almost missed a staff member walk up with a box of neon orange flag belts.
We all buttoned the belts over our track pants, and the teams were asked to line up single file. They led us around the coliseum, splitting groups off; down small corridors with sealed exits at the ends.
I assume this is their way of making sure we don't all start on top of each other. And the doors mean that the environment will be a surprise to most people when the game starts. Since we had lined up with Izuku's group, we would enter the battlefield fairly close to them, making Tokoyami's job much easier.
My team seemed to be ready, stretching out their muscles and shaking out the jitters. I gave a thumbs up, with all three repeating the action.
"Let's show 'em how it's done." I ordered. The blast of an air horn erupted overhead, and the steel doors swung open at high speed.
Midnight's voice rang out, "Time to get this party started!"
We shot out of the gate with Jiro scanning for movement, and a dash from our left as Tokoyami headed back towards the Midoriya team.
"Be ready for a fight!" I called after him. "People will no doubt be after him already!"
"Such is the fate of the pursued!" He eloquently responded.
I turned towards Jenna, who gave a thumbs up before any words were exchanged. Looking back at Jiro, I could see her pointing towards our eleven o' clock. I nodded and we rushed into the dense brush.
Jenna's illusion wasn't targeted at us, but it still seemed to be affecting us. I have a misunderstanding about the nature of her quirk it seems. Rather than choosing people to "effect or neglect", her quirk functions by projecting her illusions a set distance from her, nearly indiscriminately.
We could still see and hear each other, but the sound is dulled and the sight of each other is semi-transparent. As long as we were still silent and invisible to others, it made no difference in the grand scheme.
Just ahead of us was a trial group to test it out on. Four students were waiting just inside the treeline, staring upwards. I could hear the engine of the jetpack in the distance quietly rumbling. They intend to sneak attack our two allies just as they land.
I signaled forward as we jumped the last hedge separating us and them. Jiro's jacks worked quickly, grabbing two flags from two of the team: an unremarkable boy with a ponytail, and a dark haired girl with shoulder length, dark hair.
They were clearly surprised, confirming that Jenna's quirk could perform as promised. She swung in behind a hairy male student and pulled his belt with ease. For good measure I shot out a quick wave and dropped the last boy in the group: a muscular figure with a heteromorphic, yellow head. Yanking the flag loose as he fell.
Four sharp air horn blasts echoed through the arena as a crowd cheered, followed by the overhead speakers kicking in.
"This match has only just begun, and it's already mayhem!" The overzealous Mic announced. "Ten percent of the contestants have been eliminated in under a minute, and there are fights breaking out all over!"
I dropped the flag to the ground and signaled for the team to keep moving, having seen Jiro already scanning diligently for our next targets. She silently guided us to another nearby group as the sound of air horns became almost overbearing.
In a small clearing was a blonde girl with horns, a tall boy with green hair and pincers, and what looked to be a speech bubble mounted on a human body. This time, as Jiro reached out her jacks, the abrupt scream of the horn caused her to falter. She missed the girl and tumbled to her knees.
I cannot imagine having to hear this kind of volume when you have a natural amplifier that everything has to pass through. The staff probably didn't intend for this to be a handicap, but their carelessness was harming my team.
Jenna managed to grab the flag off of the tall one. But, as I pulled the one from the speech bubble, and two more horns went off, I also saw her stagger. The blonde opponent seemed shocked, but had a hard time placing where exactly we were standing.
She fired a set of horns from her head that barely missed me. I brought my hand up and countered with a shot of my own. The small girl yelped and tilted over backwards, unaware that Jiro had moved around to flank her. My most attractive teammate removed her flag before she could recover.
"Gall Dernit!" The horned blonde shouted, with a distinctly southern accent.
"My sincere apologies ma'am" I replied, emulating the accent as best I could. She looked at me questionably for a second before smiling. Not often you meet another American in a place like this.
"Sorry." Jenna said, from behind me. "Trying to replicate things as they are gets even harder with loud noises like that happening randomly."
"It's ok. Breathe, both of you." I returned, looking back to Jiro.
In the distance I could see the crackle of lightning and pillars of ice, all stopped in their tracks by a fast moving, Dark Shadow. I hope Tokoyami is keeping up with the high demand alright.
Over the ambient combat, I heard brush rustle behind Jenna. I reached out quickly, grabbing her by her shirt and pulling her towards me. A familiar shit-eating grin launched from the thicket and narrowly missed snatching the German's flag, brushing against us as he continued running.
I spun, not seeing where he had disappeared to. Was he faster than the average person? Then why hadn't I seen him place better in the obstacle course?
"Jiro!" I shouted.
"On it!" She confirmed, launching her jacks into the dirt.
"Over-"She started to point into the distance.
"Here!" The boy shouted, suddenly appearing behind Jiro, pulling her flag mercilessly.
The visual effect of his deceptive arrival, unmistakable. We'd just been using it ourselves after all.
"Copy quirk!" I shouted, drawing up my hand to aim.
The world has an almost endless variety of quirks, and that means that even quirks with similar effects often manifest differently. But there is one very notable exception to that guideline: copy quirks.
While considered one of the most rare categories, they are also frequently argued to be the most human. As a species, humans are defined by their ability to adapt to any environment or situation. For that reason: quirks that can copy most any other quirk are exceptionally adaptable. They are also incredibly dangerous, given the delicate balance some quirks require to function at safe levels. All of the quirks in my family, for instance, are incredibly dangerous unless you are intimately familiar with how they work.
"And I've got one more!" He laughed, mimicking my movements. His pale eyes began to glow.
I grit my teeth, focusing my vision and waves to be as tight as possible. I could feel them collide with his, spraying his unrefined version off in all directions. It wouldn't sink in until later, but from the outside it would look like we struck poses to have a staring contest.
It was a matter of seconds before I saw his eyes shake and jerk upwards. I immediately ceased my attack and gestured for Jenna to stay back, giving Jiro an apologetic smile as she left the battlefield.
The boy writhed, grabbing his eyes and collapsing to his knees. I stepped in front of him, unafraid that he might resume attacking.
"It hurts, right?" I say, without an ounce of sympathy.
He tries to peer through his fingers, tears streaming down his face. "What… What the hell is happening to me?!"
"The recoil? That's frostbite. It's currently burrowing through your eyes, towards your optic nerve." I explain, remembering the excruciating sensation all too well.
"But why?! My quirk copies yours perfectly! I should have your resistance!" He cried, no doubt nearly blind and barely holding onto consciousness.
"See, that's the thing." I correct, clicking my tongue. "I don't have a natural resistance to it. I just forced my body to adapt with years of training."
The boy shouted in pain, scrambling to get his feet under him in a pathetic attempt to flee. I twisted at the waist, raising my right leg, and swung a savage kick into his ribs; knocking him to the ground, gasping for breath.
I exhaled, trying to let go of the aggression I felt threatening to take over. I shook my arms, loosening up, and bent over the downed teen. With one hand I ripped his belt off, enjoying the horn blast that followed.
"And that's it folks!" Mic shouted over the rowdy crowd. "Only 16 remain in the game: our new finalists!"
Shit. I had missed saving Jiro by a single flag. If I had stopped him earlier, or protected her better…
"Decklin?" Jenna spoke, leaning into my view.
"Hmmm?" I flatly hummed.
"Are you alright?" She asked, looking between myself and the dispatched opponent.
"Just frustrated we didn't do better." I answered, turning to leave. Unsure which direction was actually closest to a wall.