Ponds liked to think that he was a calm sort of person. He wasn't loud or crazy like the Misfit squad and he tended to keep to himself.
He idly wondered if a psychiatrist would have a field day interviewing the Vod'e.
They'd probably be a great source for a thesis.
Bah, he was rambling.
"I wonder what's for lunch in the cafeteria today…" He muttered as he wandered down the hallway, stretching slightly after having taken a nap. He knew that people thought he was just lazy due to how much he seemingly slept at times, but in truth, he was on the night watch and helped the students find their way around on campus, which often led to him being exhausted most of the time.
"Why do I always have to deal with Waxer, Boil and Mayhem…?" He asked himself as he looked after the nearest place he could get some coffee.
"Damn it…we're out of coffee…"
"Hizashi forgot to buy some from the store…it was his turn this week," A grumpy Aizawa said from a nearby sleeping bag, also annoyed at the lack of coffee.
Ponds grunted in annoyance before taking a seat.
"Here…they give a little pick-me-up…I'm used to them but they should help you out," Aizawa said as he slightly popped out of his sleeping bag and tossed him a juice pack.
"Thank you." he said as he sipped on the pack, before he looked around the room to see each of the faculty members gawking at him. "What?"
"Shota gave you a juice pack, he never shares juice packs with any of us!" Nemuri said as Hizashi kept staring in disbelief.
"You guys hate the juice packs."
"They have no flavor-"
"You're being illogical, they have plenty of flavor. Nutrients, too."
"They're disgusting."
SLURP!
All the teachers stared as Ponds sucked the air out of the pack making it shrivel up, their eyes bulging out.
Smacking his lips, he glanced at it and shrugged.
"It's not half bad…got any more?" he asked and looked at the yellow caterpillar on the floor.
Shota stared at him for a bit before motioning to the fridge. He would deny how he felt slightly vindicated at that moment.
"Just avoid the ones on the top shelf, they're alcoholic." Aizawa said with a yawn, before going back to sleep by zipping up his sleeping back completely once again.
"Right…" Ponds yawned as he grabbed a grape-flavored one and downed it before heading to a corner of the room and resting his head on the table.
"I swear if I see him with a sleeping bag," Hiszashi said as he held a hand on his head like he was getting a headache at the sight he had just witnessed.
"Wanna bet on it?" Nemuri asked while rubbing one of her eyes to make sure that her eyes hadn't played tricks on her just now.
"A hundred yen says he'll be in one within the month," Snipe said as he leaned backwards in his chair and pulled his cowboy hat down to cover his eyes.
Unfortunately Snipe would lose that bet as it would take him two weeks.
Sitting in the commentator booth at the stadium, Ponds was looking towards Aizawa and Hizashi while having an empty juice package hanging from his mouth as he observed his Vod'e. All of them were doing as most had expected they would, with Todoroki aka Ice Prince and the aruetii in the lead of the race. He hated how that ashen blonde always looked down on Izuku and called him useless, despite having proven otherwise time and time again.
"That tunnel is obviously a chokepoint, isn't it?" He asked the two while the mic was off.
"It is…this festival is almost as biased towards quirks with offensive power as the entrance exam," Aizawa muttered beneath the bandages covering his face.
"Well, little listener, this is also to see how much they can think outside of the box with adrenaline running through their veins and being in a disorganized flock of people," Hizashi said with a small smile, still somewhat unnerved by the clone seemingly imitating his friend.
"Hmm…I guess that I can understand that, being a hero is about overcoming obstacles, right?"
"It is…" Aizawa said, just as the Ice Prince froze the entire hallway with more than half of the students inside.
"That's going to cause some colds and fevers…we should have hot beverages and blankets at the ready for those who can't make it to the next round due to being stuck there," Ponds said, worry filling his tone as he got up and headed towards the door to ask Lunch Rush if he could start preparing some soup and hot cocoa while also seeking to ask where he could find the storage room containing blankets.
Sipping the last of the juice packages he had on him, he folded it together and threw it in the nearest bin while he walked past several of his brothers standing guard in the hallways, just as he reached the cafeteria about five minutes later.
Lunch Rush was made aware of the situation and quickly agreed, a few clones also helping him out with ingredients. Truth be told, he didn't need the help but apparently they wanted to learn and who was he to deny them the joys of cooking?
Looking up at the screen within the cafeteria, he observed how the people closest to Izuku seemed to help him advance, while the explosive fool kept on relying on himself only. What really worried him though, was the Ice Prince, as he could swear he saw signs of hypothermia on him.
"This can't be good… Shredder, Whisk, Turner, isn't Todoroki's quirk supposed to also allow him to heat up with flames?" He asked his three brothers helping Lunch Rush in the kitchen.
"He does, but for some reason, he barely seems to use it, even at the risk of self-inflicted hypothermia," Shredder replied as he went back to cutting spring onions for the soup.
"What is that blockhead thinking…?" Ponds wondered to himself, just as he saw Izuku pass the finish line, followed by Bakugou and Todoroki shortly after.
"Soup's ready!" Lunch Rush said as he gestured to the tall pot filled with the steaming hot miso soup, along with a basket of freshly baked rolls next to it.
"Once again, thank you, Lunch Rush," Ponds said with a bow, as he and Turner started to carry the food down the hallway and towards the room where the disqualified students currently were, followed by a few more of their brothers carrying blankets.
"What the-?"
"Alright you lot. We've got soup and warm drinks, blankets and the like," Ponds said as they began to distribute the items.
"Uh…thanks…" A GenEd student muttered as the blanket was draped over him and he sipped from his thermos.
"Man, how embarrassing is that…we didn't even make it past the first obstacle…stupid hero course…"
"None of that now, you all did your best. Unfortunately…sometimes even your best isn't enough. If you're really dead set on becoming heroes, then take this as a learning opportunity. Find your weaknesses, work on them as well as develop your strengths and maybe next year you'll do better."
A few of the students actually became slightly more motivated, while others merely scoffed in derision.
A few more had some choice words muttered under their breath but Ponds and the others ignored them.
"Any more students coming?"
"A few were injured from the Wall…and some more from the tunnel. With the race over everybody should be heading over here."
"Hmm…call some mediclones to be on standby. I'll head back up to the announcer's box to see if anything else needs to be done."
"Roger that."
On his way back to the announcer's box, however, he noticed Waxer, Boil and Mayhem seemingly standing guard in the hallway and looking up at a TV. He could tell each of them wore scowls beneath their helmets.
"What's wrong, boys? Usually you're up to no good, but now it looks like you're not feeling like doing any of your usual shenanigans," He said, only for Mayhem to gently gesture up towards the screen.
Turning his head, Ponds felt his eyes bulge out of their sockets at what he saw on the screen; Mineta was holding onto Momo's back by using some of his spheres to keep himself in place, while looking slightly bruised due to the Wall and the Tunnel, however what really was infuriating was the fact that the way he was holding onto her, made it look like he was humping her back.
"Boys…" Ponds began, catching their attention.
"I know that we get on your case for your pranks…but I'm telling you right now. I'm giving you free reign for whatever you do to that little grape stain and I'm going to look the other way. I'll even cover you for Cody, though I think he'd agree."
The three troublemakers looked at each other in shock, admittedly surprised by the admission before all three began to chuckle menacingly.
"Thank you, vod. We'll make sure to take advantage of the opportunity," Mayhem said as he looked at his two brothers and nodded, before they ran down the hallway.
"That little ball of hormones really needs to learn the words 'self control' and 'respect women'...because if he doesn't I'll make sure he's getting extra homework every day for his entire stay at UA…" He muttered as he reached the commentator's box again.
"Welcome back, Ponds. You're just in time for the second event," Aizawa said in a flat tone as the clone took his seat again and looked down to see tanks in the stadium.
"Um, sir? Isn't that a tad bit overkill? These are several ton war machines."
"We're not the ones making these, Ponds… Using tanks also seems illogical to me, due to the amount of resources it spends just moving around, however it does help with teamwork and coordination, considering a tank crew needs to be both of those to survive," He answered, while the teams started to form and made their way towards their vehicles.
It wouldn't be long however, before he noticed that Izuku was on the same team as Komori and Dandelion aka Shiozaki, with the latter worrying him slightly.
She seemed to have mixed feelings about them from what he'd observed.
Sometimes she was polite, other times she seemed to glare at them and mutter something under her breath.
At the very least she knew how to be professional considering how she wasn't inhibiting their success and was actively helping out the team and even seemed to be getting along with them if the internal camera of the tank was anything to go by.
"I must say, the combination of their quirks makes a nearly impenetrable defense. It's almost scary," Hizashi said with the mic off as he observed the battle royale.
"Hold up… Is it just me, or is everyone else ganging up on Vod's tank?"
True enough, all of the other teams were starting to surround the tank containing Izuku's team, slowly backing them into a corner as they were bombarded from all sides relentlessly.
"That's part of being number one…everybody aims to take your spot. It's one of the reasons why I decided to go underground, too many people focusing on the wrong things," Aizawa said as he leaned back with a yawn.
"That and they're pissed that he destroyed the Ten Million…"
Aizawa smirked.
Ponds observed the battle as the shield of mushrooms and vines grew thinner and thinner, all while noticing Bakugou screaming at the top of his lungs, even above all of the noise from the cannons.
"This has now become a war of attrition. Will the other teams run out of firepower first, or will their armor and defenses break…?"
However, just as the other teams ceased fire to see if they had succeeded, Izuku popped out of the tank hatch holding a huge blaster, whose six barrels started to spin rapidly.
"Did he just pop out with a minigun?"
"He did…"
"Ah…listen to that glorious sound of ionized gas being ignited at a rapid pace," Ponds chuckled as the other teams scrambled for cover so they wouldn't risk getting melted by the superheated, ionized plasma.
Both Cody and Ponds began to chuckle some more as they saw the chaos being caused by their brother.
"You two are scary…"
Kaboom!
"Not as scary as that support girl, sheesh, I wonder if their tank is even designed to go overboard like that."
"Knowing Power Loader, it's not and he'll be ranting later about it."
KABLAM!
"Huh, Ochako's firing the minigun now…and is it me or is their tank moving again?"
"It is but…its movements are too janky for it to be driving. Look, the tracks aren't even moving," Ponds observed as he pointed at the vehicle that was slowly moving forwards, but rapidly gaining pace.
"And it looks like Team Midoriya is on the move again!" They heard Midnight announce.
"HOW ABOUT A LOOK INSIDE? YEAH THAT'S RIGHT, WE'VE GOT CAMERAS IN HERE!"
"I completely forgot about the cameras in there."
"Damn it, Mic."
Mic gawked as they saw Izuku pushing the tank with his bare hands.
"Is he…pulling a Flintstones?"
"You actually remember that show?"
"I enjoyed the remake, okay? Besides, the original's been lost to time."
"What is… Flintstones?" Ponds and Cody asked in confusion, making the two teachers look at them in horror. Or at least as much horror as they had ever seen Aizawa express.
"AND IT LOOKS LIKE TEAM MIDORIYA IS WORKING HARD, MIDORIYA HIMSELF PUSHING THE TANK WITH HIS BARE HANDS! THAT'S SOME DEDICATION FROM ALL OF THEM!" Mic quickly announced and pressed a button before turning to them.
"Alright, time to introduce you guys to one of the greatest shows ever."
"I don't get it…" Ponds muttered while watching the cartoon about cavemen living in a modern society, but with wood, stones and dinosaurs rather than metal, concrete and cars. "Dinosaurs went extinct millions of years before humans even existed as microbes…" The clone said, not noticing how Hizashi seemed tempted to walk over and offer condolences.
However, before he was able to, the timer inside of the commentator's box rang, making him quickly turn on the mic again so he could call time.
"THAT'S THE END OF OUR TANK WAR, THE SECOND CHALLENGE IS COMPLETE!"
The crowd roared in approval and excitement to the climactic finish of the battle.
"AND WITHSTANDING ALL ODDS, TEAM MIDORIYA FINISHES IN FIRST PLACE, DESPITE DESTROYING THE TEN MILLION! IT'S THE UPSET OF THE CENTURY!"
"OYA!" Ponds and Cody exclaimed at the announcement of their older brother being the winner, along with the fact that he, Ochako, Komori and Shiozaki helped each other raise their fists into the air.
Ponds was marginally surprised…he didn't think that Shiozaki would join in but it seemed that he was wrong…who knows, perhaps this was the push she needed.
Before he could delve deeper into his thoughts however, he felt Cody tug on his shoulder, uncharacteristically excited.
"Come now, brother! We need to congratulate ori'vod on his victory!" He said in a chipper tone as he started pulling him out of the box, Mic annoucning the lunch break.
"Hold up a second, Cody! I need to do something first!" Ponds said, before pulling out a blaster and firing it at Aizawa, who immediately collapsed like a ragdoll having its strings cut after the stun ring hit him.
"Now we can go," He said while holstering the blaster and started running with his brother.
Mic looked at where the clones left and back to where Aizawa was taking his forced nap.
"What just happened?:
Cody and Ponds quickly made their way down and crashed into Izuku
"That was awesome, vod!"
"You really rattled things up!"
"Now that is how you make a good show! The look on their faces when they saw the rotary blaster! Priceless!"
They were soon joined by more clones, amongst them being Echo, Fordo, Waxer and Boil and Thorn, along with the slightly roughed up Itsuka and Setsuna.
"Damn, Midoriya… We expected a lot from you, but not to pull out a freaking minigun and rockets on us…" Setsuna said as she cracked her neck and stretched out after having been stuck inside of the cramped vehicle for that long.
"Ahaha… Yeah, sorry about that, but… My team sorta needed something to get out of the corner you know?" Izuku said as he scratched the back of his head, thinking that he may have gotten a little overboard with the firepower, but hey, it was in the heat of the moment.
"I'm not mad, I'm just curious about how much one will cost, because I want one."
"...Eh?"
"Tokage!"
"What? They're awesome! Plus, have you seen the way Kodai looks at them? She's practically drooling!"
"B-but I can't just walk around selling guns! None of us have the proper licenses!" Izuku stuttered, taken by surprise over the fact that he never considered the fact that some people would be interested in owning one of the blasters at his disposal.
"Midoriya-san is right. And we must also consider the fact that this country has some of the strictest gun laws in the world," Itsuka said with crossed arms and a nod as she walked over to stand next to him, showing how he took his side.
"I normally detest firearms of any type, but these are… acceptable, since from what I've heard, they have a function that sets them to only stun whoever is hit," Ibara said, having asked Izuku if he really was sure about killing people with these new weapons was what a hero would do, only to have him tell her that he'd been strictly instructed to only ever use the stun setting unless there was no other option available.
A few minutes of discussing the morality of possibly selling blasters to the student body, they were interrupted by the sound of a stomach growling, making them turn to the source, who turned out to be Ochako, whose permanent blushes were currently even pinker than normal.
"Sorry…really hungry."
"I imagine so, especially after vomiting all your breakfast up during the tank war…" Shiozaki said as she walked forward.
"Come along…I…would like to get to know you better then we'll head to the Nurse's station...I need to do check up," Shiozaki said as she led Ochako along to the cafeteria so that they could eat.
"Me too..."
As the two girls walked by, Ponds overheard Shiozaki speak to Ochako.
"If you wouldn't mind…I would like to get your perspective on the clones…the Vot'e?"
"Vod'e, and sure! I'd love to!"
Ponds smiled softly as he saw them walk away.
'Perhaps there's hope for her yet.' He thought, before looking over at the others and nodded them along towards the cafeteria.
He was pretty hungry himself after all.
'Now that I think about it, I should bring something for Aizawa.'
People that woke up from being stunned were usually pretty hungry.