As the roar of the race died down, the students began to relax, as much as their tension would allow them. They had a short break before the next round was announced, primarily so various wounded students could get patched up by Recovery Girl.
Tanya watched as Sato, Midoriya, and several others left the field for care. 'I see. There's a layer of strategy to being healed. Recovery Girl's Quirk draws stamina from her patients, meaning you have the option to trade stamina for health. I know Sato and Midoriya will take that gamble. They're both too wounded, and Sato's Quirk does worse to him, so he should be fine.'
Bakugo, who was amongst the crowd waiting for the next round, flexed his wrists. They burned from the strain, and the pain sharpened if he moved his wrist too far back. He glared down at his forearm as he continued to flex his wrists back and forth. 'I don't need Recovery Girl for this. It's not enough to stop me.'
Tanya squinted and watched as Shoto left the arena, but not towards Recovery Girl's ward. He kept reaching to his right side and cracking off the ice that had grown on him. 'I wonder what he's up to?'
"Mmmwaah." Recovery Girl smooched Sato's head as he laid on the cot. She had wiped up the blood and dirt from Rikido's face before bestowing her healing kiss.
Sato smiled softly at her as a small wave of fatigue rolled over him. "Thank you Miss Recovery Girl." He said with a nod.
"Thanks Recovery Girl!" Midoriya cheered with a big, bright grin from the cot next to Sato. "I don't know what I'd do without you!"
"You boys must be more careful." Recovery Girl waved the top of her syringe cane at them while shuffling away to treat the other patients. A fair bunch of them were sitting at the edge of their cots, feet down in buckets of slightly warm water to treat their frostbitten feet as Recovery Girl made her way around the room.
A heavy air hung between Sato and Midoriya as they sat in the cots, letting Recovery Girl's Quirk mend their bodies. Rikido stared at his knees which hung over the edge of the small bed, while Midoriya kept glancing over at him, too nervous to say anything.
A murmur of conversation ran around the ward as students talked to each other. Some were complaining about feeling the race was unfair. Some were crying from the pain they were in, others from failing again.
"If you have something to say." Sato spoke robotically, trying to hide his emotions. His brown eyes were lost in the space above his feet. "You should just tell me."
"I… I want to know what's hurting you so badly?" Izuku timidly asked. His once bright smile took on a more somber and sad weight. He shifted upright, clenching his uninjured left hand over his chest. "If there is anything I can do to help you, I will."
Sato turned to look at Midoriya, to measure him, to find a crack of sarcasm or a hint of smugness… only to find a genuine smile. He took a deep, focused breath that reminded him how tired he was, as his shoulders lost their tension and he put his guard down. Some part of him feared that he was too trusting… too open… but it wouldn't deter him.
"All my life, my Quirk has been seen as… mediocre." Sato admitted as he tore his eyes away from Midoriya. He shifted upright in the bed, scooting back far enough to rest his back on the wall.
Izuku's smile dropped as he listened intently. He gripped his cot sheets a little as he felt he could empathize.
"It takes resources to activate, has measurable time limits, hard limitations, and more traditional emitters are often deemed better. I prided myself…" Sato admitted as he stared down at his calloused hands, even his grip was stronger than steel, "No, I held my strength as my sole source of pride as a hero."
Izuku smiled once more as he spoke up. "I think your Quirk is amazing, Sato! You're strong, durable, enduring, and you're getting faster every time I see you use it!"
"Must be easy for you to say, with a Quirk like yours…" Rikido said dully as he glanced back at Midoriya. He was cold with that statement, accusatory in the softest sense.
Izuku's eyes widened as he shifted back a little. "Sato, that - that wasn't what I had meant at all! I don't mean to look down at you! You're amazing!"
"And yet, I must look up at you." Rikido spoke as his voice quivered, ready to either break into sadness or rage and it couldn't decide which dam would break first. "You admitted it yourself. Those giant attacks you fire off, that's your real strength."
"..." Izuku couldn't answer back. His jaw dropped a little as he was faced with a truth he hadn't realized. 'Being number one… means to be better than everyone else. But that means that everyone else has to know they are worse than you.'
He looked around the room, at all of the other students who didn't even make it. 'They had come all this way, gotten into the best hero academy on their academics. Many of whom likely had Quirks perfectly suited for hero work, even if they didn't make it into the hero course; none of them had even placed 42nd. All of them had it better than I ever did and yet… they're so far from their dreams…'
Sato's voice shook as a few tears rolled down his face. His voice remained quiet, soft. A personal pain came to full display. "You're… better than me. You're stronger, faster. You get better grades and your strength is second only to All Might. You can praise me all you want, but I will not allow myself to be made irrelevant by you."
"So…" Izuku gulped as he put everything on the line. He gripped the side of his gym pant leg as he offered, "What can I do to help you?"
Sato wiped away his tears, his face still a little red from the sadness and pain. He sniffled for a moment. "Nothing… You have to give it your all, I can't tell you not to."
"Hu?" Izuku gasped a little in confusion. He sat up straight and placed his hands in his lap.
"So go all out. And I will too." Sato winced as he knew what he was saying would be brutal. He hugged his arms around his muscular stomach and hunched over a little. "This will likely be… my last chance to beat you."
Izuku nodded curtly. "I'll give it everything I've got."
He stared into Sato's eyes, a purity shone from within, "And Sato, win or lose, you'll be a hero. And that will always be amazing."
Sato looked down, letting go of his defensive posture and straightening up before giving Izuku his big, dumb grin. It felt painted on, merely a lie. "Of course. We'll both be heroes!" He gave a forced cheer as he tilted his head and raised his broad arm to flex, trying to sell the lie of joy… mostly to himself.
"Aoyama!" Recovery Girl bonked her staff on his head. "How many times do I have to tell you, my Quirk does not cure your stomach aches!"
"But Mademoiselle! My tummy hurts!" Aoyama whined to her with his hands around his stomach.
Bonk!
In a service hall, far from the eyes of the media, the students, and of his father, Shoto Todoroki shuddered from the cold. He was pushing himself.
Crunch.
He dug his fingers under the ice chunk on his hip and peeled. It cracked and crumbled as he pulled it off like a massive crystalian cast. He grit his teeth as his body ached from the cold.
Crunch. Crrrrack.
"Hu!" Shoto let out a grunt as he worked to remove the ice from his body. The pieces piled to the floor. His stomach churned as he knew what came next during the recovery process.
Ffffwush.
Fire ignited over his left side. It wrapped around his arm and shoulder like a cloak that waved up at him.
'Disgusting… but necessary.' Shoto thought to himself as he brought his left arm in front of him to better warm himself. He could feel the frost receding as his breathing slowly returned to normal. Minute by minute, he could feel the sharp grasp of the cold letting go of him.
He glared down at the fire. Even though he felt its warmth, he couldn't feel any more cold in its orange light. It was as though he could see his father staring back at him behind the low, steady flames.
"Tsk." Shoto looked away as he shut off his fire. He was warm enough to at least feel his fingers, which was enough for him. He began to walk back to the arena. "I still have a festival to win."
Back out in the arena, various groups of friends began to gather around each other. Tanya watched all of the social cliques remanifest, even as she began to wonder what Quirk synergies they would, or wouldn't, have.
"Hey Tanya. You doing ok?" Mina asked as she rubbed her arms and shivered. She put on a bright, albeit discomforted smile, as she tried to rub away the pain. "You look pretty serious. Or, more than usual."
Tanya glanced at her classmate, looking her up and down and crossing her arms. "I should be asking you the same. What happened to you?"
Mina let out a sigh as she stopped rubbing her arms and stood up straight. She put her hands on her hips as she was a little upset. "It was Todoroki. The guy covered me in ice and bailed."
"Oh, you're cold?" Tanya asked as her mind began to race. 'I've seen Todoroki's power in action during class. He's had to have had a lot of training to be that powerful.'
"Not too much. Mostly sore from some light freezer burns." Mina shook her head. "I had it a lot better than some of the runners back at the start. A lot of them are already in Recovery Girl's care with some serious frostbite."
"It appears Todoroki is as driven as the rest of us." Tanya frowned as she realized she would be facing Todoroki in whatever team battle the second round contained.
"He also toppled one of those massive robots onto the other students." Mina threw her hands up in exasperation. "Driven is taking it lightly."
Tanya brought her thumb up and pushed on her lip in thought, her eyebrows furrowed as she began to seriously consider the threat. 'This could be worse than I had realized… Now that I think about it, none of my teammates have flight. Mina melted the ice earlier, and Sato will be hard to pin down, but whoever joins our team after that will need to be able to support us.'
'We have real threats to our safety now.' Tanya's eyes went wide as she continued to mull over how bad it was. 'Todoroki is a threat with his ice and carelessness. Midoriya is reckless with too much power for his own good. Bakugo might escalate the fighting too far. Shiozaki is under Being X's influence… That is a lot of threats.'
Mina leaned over, sticking her big pink face into Tanya's personal space.
Tanya leaned back as she gently pushed a wing into Mina's hip to hold her back. "Yes?" She asked with a dead tone.
Mina had her big, bright grin on. "You're worrying too much. It's a sports festival!" She stood back up and clenched her fists. "We'll push ourselves and win!"
Tanya took a deep breath. 'Mina is… correct. There isn't much strategizing I can do without knowing the next game. Any additional effort will be fruitless fear mongering.'
She put her hand down, letting go of her hard thinking pose. "You're right. We have no other option than to play it as we receive it and fight hard."
Mina spun back on a foot, cheering "That's the spirit! Let's go get 'em! Plus Ultra!"
Tanya nodded sharply as her combative grin crept onto her face, her wings flexed behind her with the desire to battle. "To victory. Plus Ultra."
Once all the students who had moved onto the next round had taken to the arena opening, Midnight strutted back onto stage. The holographic screen burst back to life, displaying Midnight as she gave a sultry smirk to the camera.
"Welcome everybody! To the second round!" Midnight shouted out as she raised her flogging whip and cracked the air.
The crowd erupted into cheer as the heroes gathered were excited to watch the new rookies show what they could do.
"The next round will be-!" Midnight began her announcement as she spun around and put her hands up for the screen. The screen displayed a slot machine styled setup that spun around. Dramatic music hyped up as the crowd quieted down in anticipation.
Cavalry Battle!
"The Cavalry Battles!" Midnight announced as she once again gave an exaggerated turn that showed off her hips to face the students. "Competitors will mount each other in groups of either three or four."
The screen displayed a cavalry battle team setup. The hero Thirteen was in the front with her hands behind her, holding up All Might with Present Mic to the left, straining to hold up his left foot as well. The very top of Snipe's hat peaked out over All Might's thigh as he was to the back right, holding up All Might's right foot.
Despite the amused strain his peers were showing in the photo, All Might had a giant grin and was giving a laugh as he pointed forwards to victory!
"There are two or three bottom players," Midnight stated as she snapped her flogger at the screen, "henceforth named horses. Only one person can be on top. This is their rider. Teams will start in a set formation."
"The rules beyond the setup are simple, so listen up!" Midnight cracked her whip again, trying to break the air after her innuendo laced speech.
"The rider will be given a headband with the team's point value on it. The points will be determined by the highest placed member in the race." Midnight began to strut across the stage as she declared the rules.
"The headbands will only count towards the team's score if the rider is wearing them either around the neck or head. The more bands you have, the harder this will become."
The screen displayed All Might with a scored headband that read Number 1! Then he got another headband around his neck. And another… and another. More and more bands began to stack atop his neck until he resembled a mummy.
"The horses can not be split up. They must maintain contact, or close proximity, otherwise their team will be disqualified."
Present Mic let go of All Might's foot and took a step back to stretch out with a green check mark. The clip was played again but this time Snipe let go and backed out of arm's reach of his team to take aim with his gun, only to be paused with a big red X.
"The rider cannot touch the ground or their team will be disqualified and their bands will be dropped."
The screen displayed mummy All Might falling off of his team. He got up, took off of his headbands and put them on the ground before walking away with his team.
"However, enemy teams cannot commit attacks that would provoke the previous two rules. You cannot knock another rider to the ground nor can you split up the horses."
The screen showed All Might's team being hit with a massive blood splash from Vlad King. In the first clip, All Might was knocked to the ground and a red X flashed over Vlad King. In the second clip, Present Mic was washed away and again Vlad King was given a red X.
"Teams must stay within the bounds or they will be disqualified. Even if one member is out of bounds, the entire team will go with them."
The screen displayed a cartoony version of the arena setup with a short, wide red cylinder over it to mark a 3d boundary.
"Pay close attention, we are flashing the boundary line now!" Midnight cracked her whip as a red shine slid around the arena through the air.
The holographic red stripe created the outline of the barrier as it was projected into the world. Its walls went from the edges of the dirt circle, all the way up to twice the height of the arena's inner walls where it had a flat top.
"And there is one last rule." Midnight licked her lips as she stared down at Tanya. "The first place of the race will be rewarded with the one million point headband."
"Huh?" Tanya's eyes widened as all eyes were on her. She wasn't scared, this changed nothing for her. 'High ranked and targeted by everyone. Now this is a familiar sight.'
"This will guarantee moving on to the next round." Midnight gave Tanya a good stare as she played with her whip. "So you better hold it tight."
Crack!
"Now hurry along players! You have riders and bottoms to group with and not a lot of time!" Midnight cried as the screen began to count down.
Tanya didn't shrink back from the stares as she turned around only to be met with Mina's ready and eager smile. Tanya gave a smirk, "Glad to see you're still with me."
"Like I'd go anywhere else!" Mina shot back as she puffed up her shoulders all proudly. She pointed at Tanya with both of her hands, "Let's give all these teams a taste of what we can do!"
Tanya nodded happily before she saw Sato's towering form moving through the crowd.
His face was determined, focused, and a glint of hunger behind his brown eyes. "If you will have me, I will happily be your front horse."
Tanya smiled as she looked up at him. 'Good. Looks like my team building is paying off. Two of my preferred picks are already lining up to be with me.'
'She's smiling. It's good to see she thinks of me as a friend.' Sato thought to himself as he looked down at Tanya's creepily large grin.
Mina put a finger up then let her wrist relax to point at Tanya. "Has anyone ever told you that your smile is creepy? Like, in a good way."
Tanya's smile dropped as she looked over at Mina in confusion. "What… does that even mean?"
Sato scratched at his face as he looked away sheepishly. "I mean. Mina has a point. I can't judge, but I do agree."
Tanya sighed as she put her head in her hands. "Uugh. Of course this is where your brains are at." She ran her hands back as she took a deep breath. "Now, unless we want a three man team, I'm going to try to get us a fourth."
Tanya began to walk away as Sato and Mina chatted behind her.
"Wait, whatchu mean 'you can't judge'?" Mina looked up at Sato and put her hands on her hips in sass.
Sato looked away as he tried to recover from the situation. He put his hands up, palms out in defense from Mina's stare. "I, uh, I can be intimidating. It's the size, you know?"
Mina slugged Sato in the arm as she chuckled. "Haha. You big oaf, you don't scare me and you ain't all that scary."
Sato rubbed his arm when he was hit. "Heyy. Ok, fine, I might not be scary to you but I promise I can be intimidating. At least to the villains."
"Oh I'm sure the villains are gonna fear ya!" Mina cheered as she brought up her hands by her face and wriggled her fingers, "Just like they'll fear the dreaded Alien Queen!"
"Heheh." Sato giggled with the back of his hand brought up to his mouth. "Is that your hero name?"
Mina snapped as she announced, "Absolutely! I've been wanting that name for a long time!"
"I had a hero name sort of picked out too." Sato blushed as he scratched his cheek again.
'The big guy's embarrassed over it.' Mina squinted as she brought up her fingers to her jaw in a check shape and nodded at him. "Let me hear it."
"Sugar Man." Sato stated as a goofy yet shy grin bloomed on his face.
"Sugar Man! Now that's sweet!" Mina laughed at him.
Sato decided to lean into the fact he got Mina to laugh by flexing his arms in a pointing pose like All Might's. The awe factor was undercut by his shaky, blushing smile. "Look out world! Here comes Sugar Man!"
Tanya marched through the crowd. She can feel the eyes on her. Her wings rose up and took more space as she wanted to make her presence known. 'Enemies on all fronts. Few, yet close allies. High rank but still need to take the position I want. This is all the same as my last life. Just in gym uniforms at an academy for superheroes in spandex.'
Tanya pushed through the crowd till she found who she was looking for.
"Bakugo." She called out with a neutral tone. "I am here to offer you a deal."
Bakugo silently growled as he turned to meet her. "Unless that deal is me kicking your ass, don't fuck with me Chicken Wings!"
Tanya furrowed her brows as she was once again annoyed by Bakugo's stubbornness. She put her hands behind her back as she took a more militaristic pose. "I have the one million point headband. Any team who holds this band by the end of the round is guaranteed first place."
"Spit it out already! I know all this shit!" Bakugo barked at her as he brought up a hand that crackled with explosions.
"I want you on my team." Tanya growled at him as she glared into his eyes. "It would be an easy victory."
"For you." Bakugo spat. "Piss off. I am winning this myself."
"This is a team match." Tanya grit her teeth as she tried to remain diplomatic.
"It's your team under your command!" Bakugo shouted at her as he jammed a finger into her collarbone and pushed her back. "I will not be a pawn for you! Get that through your bird brain and beat it!"
Tanya's rage flared as she was shoved back. She brought her fists to her sides, breaking her diplomatic stance. "Would wearing the band yourself make you happy!?" She barked.
"It isn't about the fucking headband!" Bakugo shouted down at her. "I don't take orders from you!"
"Fine!" Tanya shouted at him before backing down. "Have it your way!"
"I will have it my way!" Bakugo barked as he stepped back. "I already put together my own team of extras myself!"
"We're not your extras." Jiro stated coldly as she spun her earphone jack around her finger.
"We did join his team even with him shouting at us." Sero grinned as he held up his jaw.
Ojiro sighed dejectedly as he rolled his shoulder. "I know I'm normal and all, but being called an extra stings."
"Shut up extras!" Bakugo barked over his shoulders. "Follow my orders and we'll kill the competition!"
"This whole 'extra's' thing isn't going to work out." Jiro lowered her eyebrows to squint at Bakugo while putting her hands in her pockets.
"Shut it Ears! You have one job!" Bakugo turned around and started shouting at Jiro. His hands crackled with mini explosions.
Tanya blinked in surprise as she watched Bakugo's team devolve into chaos. 'He has no idea how to lead beyond brute force… This will be fun to watch.' She smirked before walking away.
"Alright Bakugo. I'll see you during the cavalry battle." Tanya gloated as she marched away from his chaotic mess of a team.
"I'LL KILL YOU LIKE THE REST!" Bakugo cried out after her as he became nearly feral. His teeth ground together as he hunched over and growled. His palms gave off an orange glow as explosions cracked over them.
"We still need a fou-" Tanya muttered to herself as she approached her teammates only to be cut off. She jerked in surprise as Hatsume Mei blasted through the crowd to get to her team.
"I will take the spot!" Hatsume Mei cried out in glee as she ran up to Tanya.
'This team has the top headband! The support companies are sure to be watching if I am with them!' Mei grinned to herself as she brought her hands up to sell herself.
"I brought plenty of my babies!" Mei nearly cackled as she spun around, showing all of the gear on her body. "Aaand I have moooree!"
"Hello Mei." Tanya said dryly as she smoothed her feathers from being startled. "We were just looking for another teammate."
"I-!" Mei nearly went off again, about to try to sell herself more before she was cut off.
"- Am already accepted." Tanya stopped her with a small smile. "Your inventions are nothing short of incredible, and you have proven yourself quite capable."
"I don't know about this…" Mina put her hands on her hips and shook her head slowly. "She's not in the hero course. How can we expect her to battle it out with the others."
"I appreciate the stated concern, however we don't need her for her fighting ability. We have that covered already." Tanya nodded with confidence for her peers. "For any combat training she lacks, her equipment and our training more than makes up for it. Additionally, Mei's equipment grants us a distinct advantage that gives our team an unforeseen edge over our peers. "
"That's an awful lot of big words." Mina blinked dully at Tanya. "But, Sato and I are pretty good. So," Mina gave an uncomfortable shrug, "let's see how this plays out."
"How do you know this girl?" Sato asked cautiously as he scratched his cheek with one hand and pointed at Mei with the other.
Mei turned and grinned in excitement at Sato as she began to reach towards him with grasping and wiggling fingers. "Hehehe." She laughed deviously.
Tanya sighed a little, both annoyed and in fondness for the inventor. "Yes, I met her a while back in the infirmary for -" Tanya's eyes widened as she realized what Mei was about to do, "Stop right there!" Tanya dove into action.
She grasped onto Mei's harness to stop her from getting to Sato, wanting to feel him.
"Come ooon!" Mei whined as she reached out towards Sato, her hands grasping at thin air rather than exploring Sato's body like she wanted. "He looks like he can handle my babies!"
"Woah." Sato called as he stepped back and put his hands up. He was concerned about her before and now she was getting too excited for him.
"And I thought I was playing Cupid." Mina giggled to herself as she stepped back and watched the chaos.
'Damn, this girl is strong!' Tanya thought to herself as Mei kept pushing forward. Her shoes dragged through the dirt as Mei marched like a work mule.
"I'll have them get gear from you in the future if you stop." Tanya grit her teeth and bartered with her.
"Well why didn't you say so!" Mei cheered as she instantly stopped her push, only to cause Tanya to slip.
Tanya whipped her wings out and flapped at the ground to right herself before she ever crashed. She took a deep breath as she fixed her ponytail. "Well, glad we got that all sorted out…"
"Ok… Please don't get all handsy with me?" Sato gave a little bow with his hands together. "You seem like a girl who really likes her craft, and I can relate to that. I'll happily pay you a visit if you don't… do whatever that was to me, ok?"
Mei pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. She grinned with maniacal glee as she thrusted them towards Sato, stars shined in her crosshair eyes. "I want that in writing!"
"We should team up." Todoroki stated dryly as he walked over to Momo.
Momo raised a hand up to her collarbone as she considered his offer. She was happy someone chose her. "Oh, I was just putting together a team. I'm happy you're here."
Kaminari gave a big smile as he put a double thumbs up. "Ah sweet! We got the son of the number two hero here!"
Todoroki glanced at Kaminari for a second, giving him a bone chilling glare. "Do we have any other picks to deal with the fliers?"
"I was considering picking Aoyama for his navel laser." Momo stated as she folded her hands together politely. "He's the longest ranged student in the class. Between him and Kaminari for short range denial, we'll be able to fight the flying students."
"With him as a horse, he wouldn't have a good way to aim high enough." Todoroki pointed out as he maintained a bored expression.
"I was planning on making him the rider." Momo put her hands together. "I even had plans to create things at the start of the race to make his aiming even easier."
Todoroki squinted as he asked, "I believe I should be the rider." His tone, while still cold, held annoyance.
"The positions are irrelevant beyond headband scoring. Having Aoyama as the rider gives him room to aim freely. While having you as the front horse allows you to freeze without restraint." Momo stated as she began to lead the group to look for Aoyama.
"Besides, it's not like being the rider and leader are the same thing." Kaminari put his hands up as he tried to defuse the concept, following along with Momo.
'I want their versatility and power.' Todoroki thought to himself as he realized what he had gotten himself into. 'It would make my route to my victory easier.'
"Merci! Thank you for picking me!" Aoyama cheered as Momo had given him the offer to join. His lips quivered and his face was a little more pale than usual. "I will not let you down!"
"Don't sweat it man." Kaminari gave a smirk and a shrug. "We got this!"
"If I may," Momo spoked up once more, once again with her hand on her collarbone and a look of ingenuity in her eyes, "I have a plan."
"Told ya." Kaminari shoulder nudged Aoyama. "We're paired up with the smartest and strongest students in the class. We'll be fine."
Aoyama flinched a little but nodded his head. "Monsieur Kaminari, you truly do have a way with words."
Todoroki grunted as he took a deep breath. He braced himself for how cold he would have to go. How much ice he had to produce again. 'With all of these combatants, I will be forced to use my attacks repeatedly. Only a few of them can overcome my ice.'
Midoriya fretted as he wandered around the crowd. 'I need teammates, but who would team up with me? This doesn't look good.'
"Oh!" Izuku jumped a little as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at them and smiled.
"Come on Izuku." Uraraka smiled softly as she rubbed the back of her hair. A light blush pinked her cheeks. "You knew we were going to be on the same team."
"You must be quite stressed if you are forgetting your friends." Iida stated as he marched over with stiff ninety degree elbows. "Of course, we will be by your side!"
"I–Iida, Uraraka!" Izuku's eyes began to get wet as he stared at them. He brought his fists up to try to dry them, but it was already too late as he began to cry.
'I'm too used to people throwing me away.' Izuku cried to himself. 'But here, they don't look down on me anymore. In the past, 'friends' would have bailed me for better teammates. Picked last for everything.'
Uraraka puffed up her cheeks as she fought back against Izuku's mood. "Don't cry Izuku! You'll make me cry too!"
"Midoriya. We're your friends, of course we would be here for you, but these tears of gratitude can be saved for after the festival! We'll accept them later!" Iida chopped at Izuku as he actively over exaggerated his movements.
Izuku's crying died down as he began to chuckle. He wiped the tears from his eyes. "Hehe, ok, you got me Iida."
"Thank you!" Iida gave a full bow as though he were an actor on a stage.
"So dramatic!" Uraraka said while trying to hold back a laugh of her own.
"Kerro." Tsuyu walked over in her usual hunched pose. She looked at the three of them as she asked, "Any room for a fourth?"
"Tsu!" Uraraka cheered as she went to give her friend a hug.
Tsuyu wrapped an arm up and over Uraraka as the girl collided into her. "Kerro. It's great to see you again."
"This is fantastic!" Midoriya cheered as he began to rant. He brought his hands up and began to count ideas outloud. "With Uraraka's Quirk, she can make our entire team weightless. Between Asui and Iida, we can then become the most mobile team on the field. I'll then use my Quirk to defend the headbands."
"I told you to call me Tsu." Tsuyu poked Midoriya to break his rambling.
"R-right! Sorry Tsu." Izuku blushed as he stood up straight and bowed his head in apology.
Midnight took to her stage once again. She smirked as she saw the groups all gathered together. She stretched her back, hooking her left arm up around her outstretched right, arching her back till it popped. "Ah." She sighed.
Midnight turned on her mic and began her announcements. "I hope everyone here has put together teams! The game will begin once all teams are in their starting positions!"
Around the arena, robot workers drew white circles in the dirt, creating eleven rings. Ten of which were spaced out evenly around the arena in a larger circle, like the numbers on a clock. The final circle was drawn in the very center.
"Teams, take your places!" Midnight ordered before pointing her flogger at Tanya's team. "And may the one million point band move to the center of the arena!"
"Use the short time you have left wisely." Midnight licked her lips.
As the teams got into their circles, the clock started to tick down again. Teams that could, began to prepare to the best of their abilities.
Once Momo's team had gathered around, she got to work.
"Here's the plan everyone." Momo stated proudly. "We will have Aoyama as the rider to give him the best vantage point for firing his naval laser. Kaminari will be with me as rear horses, and we will likely have to switch if the situation arises. Todoroki will take the front horse position to make the most of his ice attacks."
Shoto nodded as he sort of understood. While he was a little annoyed at not being the rider, being able to blast away the competition without his team getting in his way was beneficial.
"I like it. I like it." Kaminari nodded. "We're going to have to be fast on our feet if we want to swap in combat though. And I've got just one problem now that I think about it," Kaminari raised his eyebrow and a hand up in defense, "how am I supposed to not shock you guys? Won't we be touching each other, you know, the whole time?"
"And if my horses are switching, how am I supposed to remain balanced?" Aoyama asked. "And with madame Yaoyorozu being the tallest here, won't I be lopsided?"
"I had come up with solutions to both of these issues." Momo placed a hand on her collarbone as she smiled. "I like to be prepared after all."
She reached her hand out and her palm shined a pinkish purple glow with blue and red particles popping in and out around it. From within the pinkish purple light, a long, hollow copper poll began to emerge from the palm of her hand.
"This is for you Kaminari." She said as she handed him a ten foot copper staff.
"Sweet!" He exclaimed as he took it and swung it around to feel its weight. Kaminair grinned as he reached across the team to poke Aoyama.
"Zap."
"OUI!" Aoyama jumped in shock and a little bit of pain. He got all flustered before he stomped his foot and whined, "Kaminari! That stung!"
"Hehe. Good to see it works then." Kaminari gave a shit eating smile as he propped up the staff beside him to lean on.
"Focus." Shoto scolded them as he watched Momo work on her next creation.
Momo unzipped her jacket and a light formed from her stomach as a pinkish purple light shined with red and blue particles popping in and out around it.
The light stretched out infront of her and took on a wide, oval shape to reach beyond the limits of her stomach.
Her brow furrowed as she concentrated on her creation. Long bars, about two feet apart, began to emerge from either end of the oval. With how short the object was, Momo took a knee to allow the bars to slide and rest on the ground.
The others watched, either passively or in amazement, as Momo created a long carriable platform. The carry bars were six feet long and two feet apart, with easy to grip handles. Between the bars, making an H shape, was a rectangular platform with a solid grip surface and two handles that folded and locked up into place.
"Alright Aoyama, climb aboard." Momo stood up and stretched her back.
"Bless you madame!" Aoyama cried as he skipped up onto the platform and grabbed a hold of the handles. "I feel like a real prince!"
"We're traveling in style now baby!" Kaminari cheered as he took his spot to the outside of the bars on the left. He crouched down, grabbing the bar with his right, his long copper pole with his left.
Todoroki sighed as he took his spot to the front, between the two bars. He crouched down as he took a breath, readying himself.
Momo took her spot to the back right, squatting down to grab the bar to her side. "Alright everyone. Let's win this!"
With Midoriya's team, Iida took the front spot. Tsuyu was to the back left, Uraraka the back right, and Midoriya was the rider.
"I'll make us float." Uraraka said eagerly as she tapped Iida on the back and then tapped Tsuyu on the shoulder. As for Midoriya, his foot was already in her hand, so she made him weightless that way.
"Iida, Tsu, tell me when you're ready to go fast so I can make myself weightless." Uraraka rubbed the back of her head with her free hand. She pouted and looked aside sheepishly. "It, uh, makes me queasy…"
"I will give the word before I go." Iida nodded as he puffed up his chest with pride in the duty given to him.
"Kerro kerro! I'm so excited." Tsuyu croaked as she closed her eyes for a moment. She was struggling to show her emotions, so she felt she had to be very direct even for something like this.
"Full Cowling." Izuku grit his teeth and smiled as green lighting crackled over his skin. "I'm counting on you all."
Hatsume Mei had her goggles pulled down as she tightened the straps on Sato's new harness. She grinned to herself as she had been hooking him up to just about everything she could reasonably attach.
"Are you sure this will work?" Sato asked as he looked down at himself. He was a little concerned with all of the gear Mei had him wearing.
He was wearing one of Mei's harnesses, the strap sections were extra lengthened to fit over his bulky frame. On his back, he didn't actually have any of Mei's backpacks, instead his harness came with an extra set of hoops for his teammates to hold onto. Around his waist was Mei's grappling hook belt. His shoes were covered up by Mei's sleek jump boots that hummed a little ominously when they were turned on.
"It'll be great!" Mei cheered as she grabbed on to his harness and hoisted herself up. His frame shifted to fit her weight onto his back. She lifted her net gun and grinned. "My babies are going to change the course of this game!"
Mina grabbed onto Sato's harness from behind as well. "Yeah Sato, we've got your back!"
"Nice pun." Sato scratched at his cheek as he once again shifted to accommodate the new weight. He was a little hunched over but managed to keep his back straight. "But you're not the one with glowing boots on…"
"Those are my electromagnetic shoes! Such a fantastic baby!" Mei cried in excitement as she leaned over Sato's shoulder to explain them to him. "One charge from those and they'll put you up in the air! I designed them for evasion."
Sato grit his teeth and struggled to roll his shoulders as he held the weight of both the other horses on his back. "Hgrrr."
"Are you ok Sato?" Tanya asked as she stood in front of him.
"I'll be fine. Once I activate my Quirk, they'll feel like nothing at all." Sato nodded as his brows furrowed in determination. "Climb on Tanya."
Tanya went behind Sato and reached up, grabbing onto Mei and Mina's shoulders before hoisting herself up onto the pile. "Alright team."
Mina smiled as she looked up to Tanya. "Let's kick some butt!"
"My babies are going to be great!" Mei cheered as she raised her net gun in one hand.
Sato pulled out his sugar packets and bit down, ready to tear them open. "Lesh do thish."
Tanya opened her wings to full width, reaching beyond the width of her team. Her big blue eyes gleamed with competitive spirit as she smiled wickedly. "To victory!"
"Everybody!" Present Mic announced eagerly. "Are you ready!"
"Ready! Set! Go!"
"Keep moving! Play defensively!" Tanya ordered her team before she took off from Sato's back, flying up into the air. Her heart pounded with adrenaline as the battle had begun.
Shhrip. Sato tore his packets open and dumped sugar down his throat. His muscles began to stretch as he stood up to nearly his full height, his companions weighing nothing to him but still not wanting them to fall off.
"Pick a direction and start running, big guy!" Mina gave him a little tap before he took off.
As the battle started, Shoto looked over to his left to see Bakugo's team. Too far to freeze, too close for his comfort with Bakugo as their horse.
"I will not allow them an easy route to us." He declared as he gathered his ice. His body temperature began to drop once again as he let go of the handle on the right side to swing his arm across and up.
ShrrRRRR! Ice erupted from the ground, rising higher and higher in a steep slope of jagged crystals that towered over the students.
"Ah, come on man! Aren't you going overboard?" Kaminari's jaw slacked in awe as he shivered from the suddenly lowered temperatures.
"I understand why," Momo stated, "it's a good move to block out Bakugo early. However, he's likely to go for the one million point band first."
She adjusted her grip to accommodate Todoroki's free hand before he grabbed on again. "Now, let's move!"
"Ahh, a dazzling entrance!" Aoyama held the back of his hand to his head, part to pose and also to block the sun, as he leaned back and took aim at Tanya. His four hundred and fifty point headband securely tied around his head.
"Half and half bastard!" Bakugo barked at the massive icewall that casted a shadow over his team. He ground his teeth as his team already began to run forwards towards the action. His headband was tied on tight, worth five hundred points.
"Bakugo, keep your cool." Jiro ordered him with a glare as she was the back left horse. Her attitude was level yet held a calm authority. "We're here to win, that's just bait to waste our time."
"Don't tell me what to do Ears! First I'll kill Chicken Wings and take the million point band! Then I'll kill the rest of these extras! You, push the center, that's where Sparkle's team will be. I want him dead! Tail!" Bakugo barked as he stepped off of their hand holds and onto Ojiro's awaiting tail. "Launch me!"
Ojiro smirked as he flexed his back and grounded himself. His powerful tail flicked up like a catapult, flinging Bakugo up and away from his team.
Boom! Bakugo threw his hands behind him and propelled himself into the air, chasing after Tanya.
"Nice throw man." Sero complimented as he kept his eyes focused on Bakugo in case he needed a tape pull.
"Thanks, I've been working on my tail throws." Ojiro smiled as he led the team towards the center of the arena.
Jiro leaned her head forward to get both of the guys' attention. "Hey, can we focus? You can flirt with each other later."
"Ah. Sorry." Sero grinned in good spirits.
"We need to push in and play aggressively!" Midoriya waved his hand forward like a commander. "If we pressure Tanya's ground team, we can cut off her support!"
As the team began to charge forward, it was made extremely easy as Uraraka had made everyone floaty. With her being the only weight, she got to set the pace freely. One of the issues with running as a physical group is that everyone had to manage the same pace. Not here.
"Kerro, the points only matter at the end of the timer." Tsuyu said. "And we already have the four hundred point band from Iida's placement."
"You and Iida were amazing in the race." Uraraka complimented. "You nearly had Iida beat at the final stretch back there!"
"Indeed." Iida nodded with a smile. "Asui, between your jumping and your tongue, you were incredibly fast."
"I told you to call me Tsu and you're missing the point, kerro." Tsuyu croaked as her worries were swept aside.
"Right Iida!" Midoriya nodded as he kept his eyes on Tanya's team. "Between you, Asu-Tsu," Midoriya tripped over Tsuyu's naming again, "and Uraraka, we can apply pressure while remaining safe."
"Hm! HM!" Uraraka agreed as she leaned forward into her run and pushed her team towards the center of the arena.
Ibara put her hands together in prayer as she rode atop Jurota, who in his beast form on all fours was capable of carrying his entire team on his back. She rode in the back with Kosei and Juzo infront of her.
Around her neck, so as to not interfere with her hair, she wore the two hundred and fifty point headband. The result of no one on her team having placed very high.
"Oh God, grant me the strength to guide these lost sheep." Ibara prayed aloud as she raised her hair like a mass of tentacles.
Crack! Strands of vines struck into the earth and began to grow and reach out around her team. The field began to sprout tendrils of vines that dove back into the ground. A field of loops and crawling vines surrounded them.
"That's a lot of range." Kosei Tsuburaba whistled in awe as the vines had already reached out to another team.
"I will reach them all in time." Shiozaki stated softly as she reached out and manipulated her vines. 'The skies are too open to reach you Tanya, but worry not, your team will be safe with me.'
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" A harsh voice barked out to Shiozaki's team.
The voice came from Shoji's back, as he had all of his arms raised up behind him and was running with a hard lean. On top of his back was Kamakiri, the mantis heteromorph, with his headband on tight and extra length trailing, one hundred points, his blades were out and reaching from his hands like swords.
Dark Shadow reached out from Shoji's arm-tank and pointed at Shiozaki. "Your light will not stop us!"
In the darkness of Shoji's arm-tank, Tokoyami held on to Shoji's shoulders as he kept his beak down. "We shall weather this oncoming storm."
"Behold!" Mineta popped his head out from Shoji's arm-tank. He squirmed to get his arms out too so he could grab balls from his head. "The ultimate defensive team!"
Shiozaki reached a hand out towards them and sent more vines their way.
Mineta paled as a tidal wave of vines began to swell and rise before surging towards them. He ducked his head back down.
"Bring it on!" Togaru Kamakiri shouted as he braced his blades for combat. Dark Shadow grabbed under and around his shoulders to act as an anchor to keep him safe from falling off.
From the other side of Shiozaki's zone of influence, a shocked and arrogant voice cried out. "Traitor! You would abandon us for those ruffians in Class A!"
Kamakiri pointed a blade out to Monoma as he barked back, "Unlike you guys, Shoji reached out to me! So don't go citing class lines with me Monoma or I'll kick your ass in our next class!"
Monoma, wearing the fifty point band, lowest of all the teams, had his jaw hanging open as he couldn't believe his classmates would betray him like this. With Bondo as his lead horse, Kodai to the back left, and Rin to the back right.
"And you!" Monoma shouted out to Shiozaki, "You would turn against us!?"
Shiozaki cast Monoma a side glance before returning to focusing on expanding her territory and reaching for Kamakiri's team. "You are not worth the effort Monoma. You should save your breath for more important things."
"We have worse things to worry about than picking fights with Shiozaki." Rin agreed with Shiozaki, looking increasingly stressed.
"Like what?!" Monoma cried as he looked down at his rear horses.
Kodai pointed a thumb off to the left, where two other students were rapidly approaching.
Pony's team was… unique. Only consisting of three players, Pony as the rider with three hundred points, Setsuna as the first horse, and Sen as the second horse. They had instantly split up at the start, with Setsuna keeping a hand clenched to the back of Sen's jacket collar.
They weren't technically split up. One part of Setsuna was always in contact with Sen, so they were connected!
Sen riding on twin drills as he spun his ankles around, sped towards Monoma's team with a grin on his face. Floating around him were an eye and ear from Setsuna as well as some additional floating blue parts. "What's the matter Monoma! Running out of schemes already!"
Tanya watched from the air as several teams began to converge towards the center, with a few… notable exceptions.
To the north, Shiozaki had begun to create a wave of vines that dug through the earth and reached wildly for anyone to grab hold of. One team was desperately fighting to not be buried alive. While Shiozaki's vines did concern Tanya, she put it fairly low on her immediate threats list.
"That will be a problem later." Tanya thought aloud as she heard Bakugo blasting his way towards her.
She grinned as the competition approached her only to drop her smile as she heard a series of soft whistling sounds.
Fwoosh! Tanya jutted her wings and shot herself backwards as a burst fire set of horns shot past where she was.
"Hello again Tanya!" Pony cheered as she rode up to her. Her headband was tied comfortably around her neck, worth three hundred points.
"So you're the big shot this year." Setsuna smirked as she clung onto Pony's shoulder to catch a ride, missing her legs, an eye, an ear, and one of her hands.
"You're dead Chicken Wings!" Bakugo shouted as he let himself fly freely, propelled by an early explosion.
A small twinkle from the ground before a long, brilliant blue laser shot up, too close to Tanya for comfort. Aoyama's blast sliced through the air before pittering out.
Tanya's grin came back to her as she fell over backwards and let herself build up speed. 'So many threats! So many opponents trained on me! It feels like Norden again!'
Her heart began to pound, blood and adrenaline pumping as her grin became competitive. She twisted over to face the ground before opening her wings again and shooting forward, putting distance between her and her many pursuers.
"What an exciting match!" Present Mic declared. "This year has built some very unique teams!"
"It appears several students have already begun to exploit loopholes." Aizawa droned. "As long as the rider doesn't touch the ground or go out of bounds, it's allowed. It appears Tenikari, Tsunitori, and Bakugo are looking to push an aerial advantage. A risky decision with long range Quirks on the field such as Aoyama's naval laser."
"He speaks!" Present Mic cried in joy. "On the ground, it appears nearly all of the teams are grouping up for a beat down!"
"Despite the attention several teams are receiving, other teams are playing for a slower start. After all, it is only the final score when the timer ends that counts." Aizawa reminded the audience.
"For the folks at home! Here is the scoreboard."
Team Tenikari - 1,000,000
Team Bakugo - 500
Team Aoyama - 450
Team Midoriya - 400
Team Kuroiro - 350
Team Tsunotori - 300
Team Shiozaki - 250
Team Shoda - 200
Team Hagakure - 150
Team Kamakiri - 100
Team Momoma - 50
"Will Tenikari, the front running flier, be able to face down all of this pressure!" Present Mic grabbed his microphone and started shouting into it, too hyped to contain himself.
"Don't fly away from me!" Bakugo shouted as he blasted himself towards Tanya again. Smoke trails followed his hands as he left dark clouds everywhere he blasted.
"What would you have to trade?" Tanya asked through her grin, taunting him as she flew up to avoid Bakugo shooting towards her. Her downdraft pushed Bakugo down.
He snarled as he didn't fire at her with the wind shoving him downwards. Instead, he had to keep his hands low to shoot up after her.
Shu Shu Shu! A barrage of horns came firing at Tanya.
Tanya flexed her wings as she brought them back before flapping them towards Pony. As Tanya was pushed back, the air gust battered away the horns.
"We have more where that came from!" Setsuna declared as her torso began to split itself into blue chunks that began to fill the air.
Pony swerved upwards on her horn skis, chasing after Tanya and trying to line up another shot on her.
Tanya watched Pony fly, sweeping in clean arcs and slopes. Even as Tanya dropped lower, as she could see Aoyama's blue light charging for another shot, she couldn't help but feel something familiar. 'Pony flies like Mary once did. She likely has some of the same maneuvers, and the same shortcomings.'
Pewwwrr! Tanya swept low as Aoyama's laser tracked her again.
Bakugo brought his hands up as Tanya approached him. His hands crackled as he took aim.
Tanya grit her teeth as she brought her wings around her and shoved backwards, flinging her out of the way as Bakugo's pillar of fire and sickly sweet smoke roared past her.
"Wah! No!" Pony cried as Tanya flew underneath her. "That's so unfair!"
"Hold on Setsuna!" Pony swung her hooves up and spun around like a skateboarder at the top of a ramp. She let gravity pull her downwards as she chased after Tanya again.
'My trap is almost ready.' Setsuna smirked to herself as she floated closer to Pony, wrapping her arm around Pony's chest as she kept what remained of her head beside Pony's ear.
Setsuna's floating chunks began to spread out, creating a wide reaching sphere of blobs. 'As the fight progresses, I will move myself closer to Tenikari and ensnare her. Her mobility may be second to none, but a bird in a cage has nowhere to fly.'
Pewwwrrr! Aoyama's laser fired off again, this time hitting Tanya in her right wing and sending her into a spin.
"Huu!" Tanya exhaled her shock as she scrambled to regain her flight. She leveled out and banked right as she heard Bakugo blast himself down towards her. She grit her teeth as feathers flew off and her wing was slightly burnt from the blast.
'Aoyama is my real threat!' Tanya thought to herself as Bakugo's right hooking blast barely missed her. 'That stomach beam of his is nearly impossible to dodge if I can't see him with these other three!'
Pewrrrr! Aoyama's laser went off, cutting through the air. It missed Tanya but managed to catch Bakugo's leg and sent him spinning out of control.
"Fucking SPARKLY BASTARD! I'LL KILL HIM LATER!" Bakguo screamed in rage as he had to place both of his hands up to blast and stop him from spinning. His leg burned from the impact and his pant leg was torn open, burnt edges of fabric flapped in the wind. A bruise began to form along his calf.
Tanya drew in a long breath before shouting at the top of her lungs. "MIIIINNAAAAA! Take out that laser!"
Mina smiled as Tanya had called out for her help. "You heard her, Sato. Let's go beat up Aoyama!" She pumped her fist in the air.
Sato nodded as he changed directions and began to charge across the arena. His running style was weighted and clunky, with a lot more arm swing in it because of the two girls on his back and Mei's boots.
"Team to our left!" Mei cried out as she hoisted her net gun.
"Just keep running Sato! We'll blast right past them!" Mina thumped Sato on the shoulder to encourage him to keep charging.
Midoriya gave his next order as he pointed at Sato's legs. "Tsuyu! Use your tongue!"
Tsuyu brought her head back and her cheeks puffed up as her tongue lengthened and flexed. "Blep!" She threw her head forward as her incredibly long, frog tongue fired out.
Sato's eyes widened as Tsuyu's tongue wrapped around his calves, binding them together. He tried to force his legs open but failed. His arms swung around for balance as he tilted forward. "Agh!"
"Nononono!" Mina cried as she clasped on to Sato's harness alongside Mei who could only gasp.
Thuurd! Sato's towering frame slammed into the dirt. His teeth clashed together as he brought his hands under him to pick himself back up.
"That's just rude Tsu!" Mina shouted as she shook her fist at Midoriya's team.
"So this is how hero students feel." Mei groaned in minor pain. She had banged her chin on the dirt, having fallen over Sato's shoulder.
"Shorry Meenuh." Tsuyu apologized as she reeled her tongue back in. "But it has to be this way."
Sato growled as he stood back up, letting his teammates readjust on his back. He squared up to Midoriya's team. "Midoriya." He glared.
Midoriya clenched a fist as he made a declaration to Mina, Mei, and Sato. "Tanya has to come down, so we can't let you support her!"
"And how do you plan on stopping us?" Mina gave him a shit eating grin as she prepared her free hand with a glob of acid. "We've got acid… and nets!"
"Wait until the investors see my beautiful babies!" Mei cheered as she slid her goggles down and took aim at Midoriya's team.
Iida revved his engines as he lowered himself into a lean with an athletic stance. "Uraraka. Ready yourself."
Ochako nodded her head. She made herself weightless, making her entire team now free. Her cheeks puffed up as she braced herself.
Iida flared his engines to life, shooting his team forwards.
Mei fired her gun, the net opening wide for Iida to run right into.
"Too early." Iida stated as he shut off his engines, and jumped. His entire team now shot into the air thanks to Uraraka's float.
"Blep!" Tsuyu fired her tongue down.
"Sorry Tsu! This will sting!" Mina shouted as she threw her acid glob into the air, letting it spread out to protect her team from Tsuyu's tongue. "Acid Veil!"
"Le!" Tsuyu tilted her head to the side as she arched her tongue. Her tongue twisted in the air, landing off to the side of Sato and avoiding the acid veil.
"Huh?" Mina's grin dropped as Midoriya's team landed beside them freely. Her acid splashed onto the dirt harmlessly.
"I'll make you float!" Uraraka shouted as she reached towards Sato.
"Get back!" Sato ordered as he swung his fist in a backhand at Iida. His longer reach allowed him to get Iida before Uraraka could reach Sato.
Skiddd! Midoriya's team, weighing nothing, slid away.
"My apologies Uraraka." Iida nodded his head in shame as she released her Quirk with a sigh of relief. "I was careless."
"Don't worry about it Iida." Uraraka chimed with a weak smile.
"We don't need to beat them, kerro." Tsuyu reminded.
"As-Tsuyu is right." Midoriya nodded as he brought his fist up. "We just need to stall them."
There was a stand off between Mina's team and Midoriya's.
Sato had his teeth bared as he planted his foot, ready to charge again. Mina regained her smile as she prepared another glob of acid on her hand. Mei readied her net gun again.
Midoriya kept a steady face as he racked his brain with questions about what their next move will be. Uraraka got to work making everyone except herself weightless again. Iida revved his engines. Tsuyu let her tongue hang out to the side, draping down to her jawline.
Pewwrr! "Hu, hu." Aoyama was sweating bullets as he panted. He kept his hands clenched around the handles as he brought his hips back.
"Fire again." Todoroki ordered coldly. His voice carried a menacing authority to it.
"Haa!" Aoyama cried as he thrust his hips forward again, firing his naval laser again. Pewwrr!
"This won't last for long." Momo stated as she pushed her team closer to Tanya's. "Aoyama will overexert himself. We must help him by cutting off Tanya's team."
"No ground team, no grounding." Kaminari smirked as he realized what Momo was on to.
"Between Aoyama's laser, Bakugo, and class B's efforts, Tanya will wear herself thin and be forced to land." Momo nodded. "And with no teammates to land on, she'll be forced to be disqualified. Then we can fight the other teams with our offensive advantage to take the one million points."
"Sound plan." Another voice called out to them.
"But we'll beat you first!" Kendo shouted as she ran over, carrying her entire team on her enlarged hands. In one hand, she had Tetsutetsu grabbed by the legs. On the other hand, she held up Shoda, Awase, and a pile of dirt.
Awase was busy welding the orange arena dirt together into larger, harder clods like cannonballs. He would then hand them over to Shoda.
Shoda punched the dirt ball. He then reared back his arm to throw the ball.
"Throwing dirt is your strategy?" Todoroki asked with a blank face as the dirt ball flew towards him like a weak pitch.
"Fire." Shoda whispered.
Fwoomph! The dirt ball burst forward with a sudden jerk. What once was a weak pitch became a blur of orange.
Cuunf! "Uack!" Todoroki gasped as the wind was knocked out of him by the dirt ball slamming into his stomach. He doubled over from the impact and had to gasp for breath.
"W-Woah!" Aoyama cried out as he grasped onto the handles even harder. He bent over and crouched to bring his knee to the platform to help balance himself. "I-I am afraid I cannot aim like this!"
"Todoroki!" Kaminari cried out. "Are you ok?!"
Todoroki grit his teeth as he raised his eyes to meet Kendo's confident glare. He stood up again and raised his right foot.
"Not this time ice boy!" Tetsutetsu turned himself into steel and crossed his arms over his face and head.
"Bring it on!" Kendo challenged as she let Tetsutetsu shift forward in her hand, grasping him by his calves and feet.
SsshrrRRRR! Todoroki planted his foot down and ice began to burst forth along the floor.
"Iron clad-!" Tetsutetsu wound up his voice as Kendo brought him back like a hammer.
"Hammer!" He roared as Kendo slammed him into the oncoming wave of ice, shattering it.
"Fire!" Shoda whispered again as another dirt ball rocketed forwards.
Shoto stomped to his right. Ice jutted up and cracked as the dirt cannon ball slammed into it. He closed his right eye as ice shrapnel scattered.
"Oh god." Kaminari paled as he saw the ice tank the hit. "I'm next aren't I?"
Shoda nodded to Kaminari as Awase worked on another dirt ball.
"Kaminari." Momo called out to him. She maintained her calming presence and her focused determination was infectious. "We need you."
Kaminari nodded as he readied his copper pole. He calmed his breathing before shouting, "Chaarge!"
Todoroki and Momo began to run with Kaminari. He aimed his pole forwards like a spear, reaching out towards Kendo.
"Don't even try it blondie!" Tetsutetsu shouted as he reached over to swipe away the blunt spear.
"Tetsutetsu, no!" Kendo cried out as she tried to lift him away.
"You all are fried!" Kaminari shouted as lightning crackled across his body. It wound and bounced along his pole before arcing over to Tetsutetsu's hand.
"AAaaaaHHH!" Kendo and her teammates cried out as they were enveloped by Kaminari's lightning. They all locked up and spasmed from the shock as they were nearly blinded by the flashing yellow.
Ssshhhrr! Todoroki stomped again to create a jagged path of ice that ran to Kendo's feet and rapidly froze up her body. He showed no emotion as she screamed out first, and then her teammates screamed as the cold ensnared their bodies.
"Next time, my opening attack will be larger." Todoroki told himself as he huffed out a puff of cold air.
"Bet that hertz, huh!" Kaminari taunted as he brought his pole back.
"W-we'll get you for th-this!" Kendo's teeth chattered. Awase and Shoda were nearly frozen solid on her hand.
"GrrrrRRRR!" Tetsutetus rocked his head back and forth as he tried to flex and break free from the ice. "Todoroki!" He shouted out.
Aoyama stood up and swept his hair, trying to channel his inner prince charming. "Merci team. You were amazing."
As they walked by, Aoyama reached over and plucked Shoda's band off of his shivering head. "Ah. This will look better on me."
Todoroki looked over his shoulder and glared at Aoyama with the left side of his face. His blue eyes pierced Aoyama's fragile confidence. "Keep shooting."
"Eek!" Aoyama squeaked before he brought his hips back and thrust them up at Tanya, firing another blue laser.
Peeewwrrr!
Shiozaki's team pushed forwards as her vines cleared to make a path.
Shishida walked on all fours, his shoulders rocking like a bear. "Have you gotten them yet?"
"These lambs are… trickier than I had expected." Shiozaki sighed as she continued to focus her vines.
Even as her domain expanded and vines consumed an even wider sweep of the arena, Kamakiri and the Shoji tank were not going down.
"Haaaahahaha!" Kamakiri roared a laugh as he spun around, wildly slashing at the vines. He kept jumping off to be more aggressive and fight back against more vines, only for Dark Shadow to pull him back up and onto Shoji's back.
Sheer sheer sheer shink! Kamakiri sliced and diced and slashed, clashing with wave after wave of vines.
Pop opopopop. Mineta would routinely poke his head out of the Shoji tank to fire off more purple balls, sticking Shiozaki's vines together.
Not only did this annoy Shiozaki, as it created more mental effort, it made Kamakiri's slashing easier on the clumped up vines.
Kamakiri huffed angrily as he looked down at his hand blade, snarling at the purple orb stuck to it. "Watch your damn balls!" He barked as he chopped off his own blade.
"There's so many vines!" Mineta screamed back in fear.
Shink! Kamakiri flicked his hand out, creating a new blade. "Isn't this great! All the chopping I could ever ask for!"
Tokoyami poked his beak out the front of Shoji's tank arms, near his head. "It appears Shiozaki's light is more powerful than we had anticipated."
"This isn't a sporting event." Shoji said as he glanced back at Tokoyami's beak with his one exposed eye. He panted from running the entire time. His pant legs were slashed up from Shiozaki's attempts to grasp him, blood trickled down from where her thorns had shredded at him. "This is torture for entertainment."
"HAAHAHA!" Kamakiri roared as he dived off of Shoji's back and against the tide once more, spinning like a propeller and slashing wildly.
Monoma and his team desperately fought to keep Sen and Setsuna off of them while running forward as fast as they could.
To their right, Shiozaki's flood of vines came ever closer, consuming more and more space. To their left, Manga's towering Thud word cast an ominous shadow over the arena as mushrooms sprouted over it.
Monoma reached down and tapped Rin's hair while never taking his eyes off of Sen.
Sen spun up again, sliding around Monoma's team before leaping up at them. He spun his hand like a drill and stabbed it towards Monoma. "Come on smart guy!"
"Turning against your own classmates!" Monoma shouted as he brought his arm up as scales sprouted from his skin. He winced as Sen's hand clashed, taking off scales and bouncing Sen away.
"I Don't care! I'm tired of your whining!" Sen barked as he spun like a top and rotated around their team.
Monoma's team, with good defense and a higher overall weight, kept running forwards even as Sen rotated around them like a dog chasing a bull.
Setsuna's chunks flew towards Monoma's team, attempting to batter them from odd angles. Rin continued to fire at them, but Setsuna was too tricky to hit and continued to land cheap shots on the team.
"Rin, some scales please?" Yui Kodai asked as she put out a hand for him.
"I don't know what you're planning," Rin panted from the bruises Setsuna had given him, "but make it quick!" Rin popped off some of his scales and handed them to Yui Kodai, who enlarged them.
"Bondo, glue my arm." Yui said as she put her forearm out.
"Ack!" Bondo cried as he was slapped with a blue Setsuna chunk. He shook his head before turning over and firing a glob of glue on her arm. "Bleh."
"Monoma, a hand please." Yui requested as she handed up a scale plate to him with her glue covered arm.
Thwack! Yui's head was slapped to the side by Setsuna and her vision swam. The team slowed down as she tilted awkwardly. She gulped, rebalanced herself, and contained her composure.
"We're the underdogs here!" Monoma continued his rant as he took the scale and slapped it onto Yui's arm. "We'll use our heads and come out on top!"
Yui had finished making a makeshift shield that she then raised to protect herself from another flying chunk of Setsuna. "She's relentless…"
Rin started firing more scales at the swarm of Setsuna. Even as he swept his hand, firing like a machine gun, the blue chunks kept floating out of the way of his shots. "I can't land a hi- aah!"
A chunk of Setsuna slapped at his ankle, causing him to stumble.
Bondo stopped the team and leaned over, allowing Rin to catch himself on Bondo's larger frame. "I've got you."
Rin panted in pain from Setsuna's onslaught. His body shivered. "Thanks Bondo. Aaah!"
Thwack! Another chunk of Setsuna slapped Rin in the back of the head. He began to tear up from all the bruising and beatings he'd taken.
Monoma glared at Sen as the spinner came back for another round. He tapped Bondo on the back of the head.
Monoma's head hollowed out into a dark mass covered by a skin coated glue container. Holes opened up in his face, even making his eyes disappear.
Sen stopped his approach and spun around Monoma with a green coming to his cheeks. "Uuck! What kind of a transformation is that!"
"Bondo, flood him out. Keep moving!" Monoma ordered as he began to spray glue after Sen, coating the ground to their left. He sprayed out a thick line of glue and chased Sen away.
"Right away!" Bondo called back before firing even more glue to his right. He coated the entire flank, swinging his head side to side and flinging glue everywhere.
As the team pushed forwards, they sprayed glue out to cover their flanks. Rin kept firing at Setsuna while Yui was busy reaching enlarged scales into Bondo's glue spouts and forming armor for her team, slapping them onto the gym outfits like protective patchwork.
Thunk! A chunk of Setsuna bounced off of a glued scale on Rin's back. He still winced but it wasn't as bad as before.
"Hey hey hey!" Sen shouted as he had to start jumping to avoid the hosing down. "Setsuna! Can I get hand with this?!"
Setsuna answered him by having her hand, grasping on his collar, gently knock the back of his neck for confirmation.
"That's the recommendeds for you." Sen smiled softly as he sped out in front of the team where they couldn't spray him in fear of covering their own path.
A chunk of Setsuna split into two smaller pieces and flew towards Monoma… and directly into his holes.
Bapbapbapbapbapbap!
"Aaaa!" Monoma cried out in pain and fear as he grabbed the sides of his glue pot head.
Bapbapbapbapbap! Setsuna's two chunks bounced around, drumming the inside of his head.
His head began to return to its normal shape, forcing Setsuna out. He shook his head in pain like his funny bone had been hit.
Setsuna's two little chunks slipped up and took Monoma's band off and flew away with it, forming a donut around it as they reformed back.
"No!" Bondo called out as he tried to fire glue at the headband to make it so Monoma could grab and stick to it.
Thwuuck! A chunk slammed into Bondo's throat as he looked up.
"Uok! Gah gh!" Bondo began to cough from the hit. He had to stop and catch his breath and cough up loose glue gob.
Monoma tried to reach out for the band, only for Sen to dash up.
Sen jumped, planted his not-spinning feet onto Bondo's shoulders. He reached up and grabbed the band, causing a tug of war with Monoma.
"Sen!" Monoma cried out in anger!
"I'll be taking this for myself!" Sen taunted before he spun his hand around, causing the headband to twist out of Monoma's grasp.
"See you around Monoma!" Sen cheered as he crouched down and leapt off of Bondo's shoulders into a backflip. He twisted himself in the air and landed on his spinning feet to slide away.
"SEEEEN!" Monoma cried out as he had felt betrayed.
"He is doing what we had planned with the class." Yui shook her head, even as a nasty bruise formed along her cheek and up the left side of her face. "Going after small fry."
Monoma looked around and realized that the vine tide had gotten too close for comfort. "We're not done yet…" He breathed heavily as he gathered himself and copied Rin's Quirk.
"There they are!" Jiro pointed to Aoyama and his team carrying him. Jiro and her team had finally ran around Todoroki's massive ice glacier. "Ojiro, can you jump us to them?"
Ojiro stopped the groups running as he crouched down. "Alright guys, climb on."
"You first." Jiro nodded her head and stepped aside for Sero.
"It's like a double piggyback ride." Sero grinned as he hopped on and wrapped his legs around Ojiro's waist.
"Don't make this weird Sero…" Ojiro sighed as he then had to replant his foot for Jiro's weight too. "Gnn." He grunted from the weight.
"You guys are heavy on the back." Ojiro complained before flexing his tail a few times. "Now hold on tight."
Jiro reached her arms around Sero's shoulders and grabbed Ojiro's. "We just need to be high enough off the ground to avoid Todoroki freezing us. We can split up on the landing, Midnight probably won't rule it against us due to 'heroic spirit' or whatever."
Ojiro gathered himself before he slammed his tail into the ground and launched them into the air. "Haa!" He shouted from the effort.
"Huh?" Aoyama wondered aloud as he looked over at the sound of the impact. His eyes widened as he shrieked, "Incoming team!"
He turned his hips towards them but before he could aim -
"Tape in your eyes!" Sero shouted as he fired off a patch of tape onto Aoyama's face.
"Aaah! Sacre bleu!" Aoyama cried as he reached up and tried to fiddle with the tape. He then gasped and scrambled to grab back onto the handles as the balance kept shifting. "Aide! Je suis aveugle!"
Todoroki glared at the brash team before letting go with his right hand, forcing Momo to carry the extra weight. He swiftly gathered frost along his hand before sweeping his hand from the ground upwards.
ShhhrrRRRR! Ice sprouted upwards in jagged forms as it reached to batter and barricade them away.
"Heartbeat shatter!" Jiro shouted as she shot her ear jacks towards the approaching ice.
WwrWWrWRRWRRRR! TSCHH! Her jacks vibrated as ice encased them in their route of growth before shattering away.
Todoroki raised his eyebrows in anger, shocked that his ice had been beaten away.
"Uof!" Ojiro grunted as he crashed landed with his team. Their bodies sprawling and rolling wildly from the impact.
"This'll shock ya!" Kaminari shouted, still confident from his last fight, he swung his pole towards Ojiro.
Sero bounced up onto his feet and threw a line of tape to pull Kaminari's pole away. "Nice try there sparky!"
Todoroki brought his foot up to slam down more ice, a little slow from the frost growing along his right.
"Heartbeat-," Jiro shot her jack towards Todoroki's chest as she picked herself up, "Stun!"
Tink! A wire net, with a black box on the corner, came falling over Jiro, catching her jacks under their weight.
"I'm sorry Jiro." Momo said as she had thrown her latest creation out. She pitied Jiro with her jacks all tangled up in the net. "But I can't let you stop us."
"MOMO!" Jiro cried out as she knew what was coming.
"Freeze." Todoroki spoke coldly as he stomped again.
Author's notes: I promise, I've been working really hard on this fic. This chapter is 13k words, what is currently on the board is 26k, and it's not even done yet. This cavalry battle is larger than some entire fics!
I just needed to get some of this off my plate. It was becoming too big.
Going into the future, I will be avoiding mega battle events, and focus more on smaller picture stuff. Which would be nice. If anything gets this big again, I will be making the squads larger to avoid multi scene shenanigans.
I have a motto, a belief I hold dear to my heart: "Every character is someone's favorite." And I intend to hold true to that. It's too late to stop now, I'm having all of the characters shine!