LW: Hello everyone, it's that time of year again! My birthday, meaning random updates for everyone! This time I managed to get a new chapter of YMH finished, just in time. Enjoy
Your Move Hero - Sports Festival: Event 2
"In this frantic society of Heros and Villains, it can seem like we're all lost in the dark. But I assure you, the path to enlightenmen…."
"SKIP!"
"Mitsi!" Inko groans as the blond channel flips
"What? It's those damn cult weirdos, you see them in Tokyo and a few are even here in Mustafa, all blathering on about 'seeing the light' or some shit" Mitsuki huffs, getting a chuckle from Hisashi
"Just remember to click back in a couple minutes, we don't want to miss our kids showing off for the next event" he teases, getting an eye roll and middle finger from the blond
UA - Spectator Stands
"Thanks for getting us tickets for the festival, it's way cooler than seeing it on tv" Mokuba grins as the 1st event plays out.
"You know, I could have bought these tickets any year if you'd just asked" Seto retorts half teasingly, though didn't mention he'd been given the tickets by Pegasus, the eccentric man wanting to show off his 'protege' as he called him, which did get the elder Kaiba curious as he scans the field. While the students were impressive, the Hero course most of all as expected, only 2 really stuck out as being the kind of person Pegasus would gravitate to, the pink-haired support girl, and the green-haired boy with the summon quirk.
The former definitely fits with Pegasus' mild insanity, while the latter, there was definitely something familiar about him, as well as the fact he could almost guarantee the kid was 'The Analyst' an amateur duelist who'd been completely tearing through the online tournaments the last 5 years running.
Down below
"And with contestant number 42 over the line, that concludes the 1st event of the Sports Festival, with all who've reached this point up to now proceeding to the next event, in 10 minutes" Present Mic announces to the crowd "For Event number 2 we head back to today's co-ordinator Midnight!"
"Indeed, now let's take a look at the standing for all our future contenders" Midnight coos as the screens project the current leaderboard for all to see.
"Still can't believe you got in the top 3 Sparkplug" Jiro teases, prodding the electric quirk user with her jacks "Then again, we don't all have access to a magical dragon to fly over the minefields"
"That's honestly the biggest reason Midoriya flagged me down, I recon" Kaminari chuckles "It was fun though, being a dragon rider, and I didn't make a fool of myself on national television… yet" he adds the last part, as he could tell the long-eared girl was about to say it, getting a half smirk.
"Will we be getting an equally impressive summon in the next round?" Momo wonders, having made her way over to Izuku while they were waiting for the rest of the remaining contestants to gather at the podium for Midnight's announcement of the 2nd event.
"Possibly, depends on what it is, and what cards I'm allowed to use in this and the later rounds" Izuku admits "As well, as who I can get close enough to, to summon from, like Tsu and Kaminari" he adds.
"Time to see what our next event will be, will it be a dream come true or a waking nightmare?" Midnight coos as the roulette on-screen spins, finally stopping on… "Oh, this is going to be a fun one. It's the Cavalry Battle event!" she shouts as the dials finally stop spinning.
"Hm, team events, didn't expect that after the last one" Tsu croaks, head tilting cutely.
"The 3rd round is almost always 1 on 1 fights, makes sense they want to show that we CAN work together when we need to, rather than just beat up or step over someone in order to win" Mineta comments, having been close enough to the frog girl to hear her comment.
"Allow me to explain. All participants will form teams of between 2 and 4 students, groups being entirely of their own desires. It's the same as you'd expect from the children's game, in theory and possibly spirit at least, but the main difference is that every player has a set number of points assigned to them based on their placement in the 1st round. 42nd being 5 and increasing by that same value as we inch up the ranking, with 1 exception. The point ranking for the 1st place, winner of the 1st round in 10 MILLION!" Midnight announces, and Izuku wonders what God he pissed off in a previous life to end up in this situation, as he felt his fellow student's eyes on him, circling him like sharks.
"And now onto the rule's events itself. This event will last 15 minutes, the combined point value of the entire team will be added together to form your team value, which will be represented and displayed by a headband. The aim of this game is to swipe as many headbands as you can in the time available, and they must all be worn by a chosen member for the points to count and be added to your running total. One thing to remember though, is that just because you lose your headband, or your team falls down, it doesn't mean you're out of the game, keep trying to either steal back your own, or someone else's headband and get back in this race, it's all in until the timer reaches Zero! Use your quirks however you like, with some obvious exceptions of course. No killing or maiming, even UA won't allow for such villainous behaviour, and on the lighter side of things, intentionally causing another team to fall will get a red card for the perpetrator, knocking your entire team out of the event. Now… begin team building kiddies!" Midnight shouts as she cracks her flogger, a 15 minute timer appearing on the screen behind her.
'Given my points blow everyone else's out of the water, I don't need to consider that when choosing teammates, just who would actually be willing to work with me, maybe also what their Ka is as a backup, given I'm not allowed use Monster cards until the 3rd round' Izuku thinks as he tries to come up with a plan
"Yaoyorozu, I require your cooperation" Todoroki states in his usual monotone, surprising the heiress, but deciding to join up with him, Iida and Kaminari, probably the largest collection of points besides Midoriya with the 3rd and 4th place winners on the same team.
'Given how early in the year it is, and it being our first, the only people anyone would really know well enough for this kind of situation would be your classmates, mixing would be too much of a gamble, so it's highly likely most if not all the teams will be mono-class groups, potentially even divided by the cliques and friend groups already established within the classes. Problem for me is, Kachan would never team up with me, he'd want to either win or lose on his own, not coast off my 10 million, and Momo's already on Todoroki's team because I was too slow and trying to strategize. At least it seems Uraraka hasn't been snatched up, by Shoji and Mineta like Tsu was, wherever she is'
"Hey Midori, let's team up" Uraraka announces, causing the Spirit duelist to leap in surprise as she'd managed to sneak up on him while he was half-zoned out trying to strategize.
"Thank you!" Izuku squeaks, happy tears gushing as he does
"Reactor! Let me join your team!" the pink haired support girl shouts as Izuku is tackled to the ground by her, to the shock and concern of Uraraka, Momo, and (while he wouldn't admit it) even Bakugo.
"You can't just jump people like that!... Also what do you mean Reactor? Do you know her Midori?" Uraraka asks, twitching nervously.
"Never before in my life" Izuku whispers, eyes clenched shut as the support girls chest was inches from his face.
"Oh that's easy, this little baby of mine…" Mei announces with a manic grin, pulling a handheld device from her ample cleavage "...has been detecting low levels of an exotic, unique radiation signature since the start of term. I narrowed it down to the Hero course last week, and this fluffball today. He's the equivalent of a walking nuclear reactor for this strange energy source, and I'm gonna exploit the shit out of it once I figure out how it works" she announces, her lack of an indoor voice meaning 'within earshot' was a LOT of people.
"RADIATION!?" several students cry, nearly jumping several steps away from Izuku, who was still pinned under the Support gremlin, her hips just below his ribs, and chest pressed against his head.
"Completely harmless, far as I can tell, but I would love to run a battery of tests upon you, Reactor when the Sports Festival is complete, figure out this power you contain and what can be done with it" Mei handwaves, a very 'fiend' like grin on her face, before standing up and dragging the twitching verdette with her "So, can I join?"
"Well, we're low on options, and you clearly have both the drive and enthusiasm to win this… so yeah sure" Izuku agrees, once his heart had returned to a normal rate "Um, sorry I think I missed your name"
"Mei Hatsume, future CEO and Head Support Engineer of Hatsume Industries!" Mei cheers "and I never checked what any of your names are, but I'm gonna make you so many babies when this event is over!"
'I like this one, she's like a squirrel, on crack. It's like being in Dark World all over again.' Yubel cackles
'There are just a few things I need to check first, since I can't bring monster cards into the event, maybe Mei will have something low level enough…. Oh crap' Izuku mentally winces as he activates his quirk to identify Mei's Duel Spirit, and the hulking beast of a machine definitely tells him more than he ever wanted to know about the top-heavy pinkie.
Ancient Gear Chaos Giant
With that avenue scuppered, Izuku went for the next option, and luckily they hadn't been snatched up by anyone else yet "Tokoyami! Please join our team"
"To do battle amongst the channeler of the Abyss? A virtue few would protest an invitation with" the Bird boy evoked.
"He means yes" Dark Shadow translates, peeking out of his shirt "Sounds fun Greenie"
BWARRRRM
"And time's up. Can each team approach the stand, where we will tally up your points and provide you with your headband" Midnight announces, glad the groups were more calm and organized than a few previous years, she'd nearly had to gas some over-excited 2nd years about 5 years ago.
"ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND Begin!" Present Mic cheers as the timer starts once more, starting the next event.
"Equip Spell: Bound Wand" Izuku cries, Uraraka yelping as the red jeweled wand appears in her hand rather than his "My quirk reads you as a Spellcaster, like myself, so it means we can both use the equips I brought with me. Sorry guys, but I don't carry more broad equips, so everything else is general backrow" he admits with a nervous rub of his head.
"You can make Babies too!? So unfair Reactor" Mei pouts, before her grin gets even wider than before "So many tests to perform" she giggles, just as the other teams charge for them.
"Um Midori?" Uraraka hums, starting to get nervous.
"I got this. We run away. Swords of Revealing Light!" Izuku shouts, everyone (besides his own team) within 10m of him, now pinned by ethereal blades of light. And just to be sure… he activates Hatsume's jetpack, while Mei has Uraraka activate the hover boots, allowing them to fly over the immobile teams.
"That bastard, how are we supposed to win if we're pinned like this? We're sitting ducks!" Tetsutetsu shouts.
"No fair Midoriya, magical bullshit is cheating!" Toru cries, with an audible pout.
" It's a spell card, but it's still all his quirk, you can't just call it cheating. It is annoying I can't raise my jacks past my eyes though, that's a weird side effect for sure" Jiro grumbles.
"It's so you can still defend yourself" the trapped students turn to a grinning Mina "Swords of Revealing Light prevent attacks, but the monsters are still there, they can still be used to block attacks and defend your life points from your opponent. Therefore, it seems his quirk gives you enough leeway to defend, just not strike first, or more importantly, attack his team" she guesses.
"The fuck? Deku where was this at the USJ?" Bakugo, luckily out of range, asks irritably.
"Absent" Izuku admits sheepishly as they fly past "It wasn't part of the Rescue deck, as I didn't think I'd need it in the 1st week of training"
"While impressive, won't your celestial armaments produce a Tarpit scenario?" Tokoyami asks curiously.
Before Dark Shadow could translate, Izuku actually answered him "Oh it's fine, the card has a lingering effect, not a continuous one, though I suppose I probably could have it do the latter if we'd stayed where we were, but that would put us all in a deadlock and waste 3-5 minutes" the verdette explains. (1)
"So…" Sero hums "I presume we're not chasing them yet" he asks as Izuku's team touches down on the other side of the arena.
Bakugo chuckles, shaking his head "Not yet. As great as winning this event would be, we don't NEED Deku's headband to get to the next round, plus, I really want to fight him again. We'll steal a few easy headbands, then go after him when things are a little calmer" the blond bomber decides.
"Sounds like a plan Baku-bro!" Kirishima grins, as Sero steals one of the 1B teams headbands, to the annoyance of the other loud blond in the event.
"So what do you think of my babies Reactor? Cuteness can be manufactured don't you see?" Mei giggles as the team continues to avoid the rest of the participants.
"They're working brilliantly Hatsume, your babies are awesome" Izuku cheers, getting amused looks from Uraraka and Tokoyami, as the two hero students' eyes meet
"Don't count on a quick victory just yet Midoriya!" the verdette turns his head to see Shoji charging straight for them, his Dupliarms forming a clam-like structure on his back, which was where the voice came from.
"Wait a second, is that Mineta in there?" Uraraka's eyebrow quirks, before the foursome start to run away from the herculean Hero student.
"Not just him Kero" Tsu croaks, her tongue shooting out of the gap between his arms, trying to snatch their headband, but was just out of reach.
"That is a brilliant strategy Shoji, defense and offense, perfectly designed for an event like this" Izuku compliments as his team continues to evade capture.
"Thank you Midoriya, but I'm unable to take all the credit, the idea was mostly Mineta's, I'm just facilitating it" the multiarmed teen admits with a humble shrug.
"And now for my in-battle contribution. Try not to get caught Midoriya" the grape-mohawked boy cackles, as he shoots his sticky hairballs from the gap in Shoji's arms, managing to catch one of Urarka's boots on the backstep.
"Damn it! I knew he was a sneaky bugger, didn't think he was clever too" Uraraka grimaces as she tries to free her boot before they could get captured and their headband stolen.
"Unlatch your boot, I'm gonna give us another Jet boost" Izuku orders, luckily as prototypes Mei had designed them to be easy to put on and take off, a quick push of the button once more and they zoomed away, the only traces of them being the lone hover boot.
"Remember Reactor, we've got less stability with only 1 boot, so let's try to avoid another of these jumps, ok?" Mei reminds them, her left eye twitching as the desire to go back and retrieve her 'baby' bubbles beneath the surface of her mind.
"I'll keep that in mind, we'll just have to stay on the ground once we land for the rest of the event" Izuku agrees, the group managing to at least land well enough to not drop him, even with the 1 boot.
"And we've reached the halfway point, and it seems 1B is going to need to try extra hard if they want to get more than a token showing in the next round, Team Bakugo and Team Shinso have hoovered up most of their points" Mic announces with a giddy grin on his face, while Aizawa sighs at his friend's antics.
Unfortunately for Team Midoriya, they found their path blocked by one team in particular, Todoroki's "I'll be taking that headband now"
"I assumed this confrontation would occur in the final round of the festival, but it appears he's eager to end your apparent rivalry quickly" Tokoyami notes.
"We're only halfway through this event, we can't afford to get distracted now. Let's get out of here" Izuku orders, his team shuffling sideways to begin their retreat.
"They're getting away, now Iida!" Todoroki intones, the speed quirk user nods and shoots forward, assisted by the rollerskates Momo and Kaminari were wearing in order to keep up "The plan is simple, just be ready for the opening"
"Damn it, it's not just Todoroki, especially with the Swords gone, everyone's gunning for us all over again" Izuku grimaces.
"Midori, how do I use this? And am I even allowed to?" Uraraka asks, waving around the wand he'd summoned for her earlier.
"Point and think, you don't need to hit them, just near them enough to throw them off balance or just decide we're not worth the effort" Izuku explains, the brunette nods and blasts a wave of magical energy directly in front of her team, cutting a groove between them and the other teams.
"Time to end this match. Hope you're ready Yaomomo" Kaminari shouts, Todoroki wrapping himself in the insulating blanket she'd created for them, while using a grounding rod for herself "Indiscriminate Shockwave: 1.3 million volts!" he cries as he unleashes his quirk to its maximum level, Izuku's eyes widen as Thunder Dragon roars, it's prescience flickers and appears almost to guide the electrical discharge, to encompass a wider area than it would normally have, luckily Dark Shadow was able to block the stray arcs of lightning, while Uraraka's trench did the main work of cutting them off from the others.
"We have 5 minutes, we need to go all out" Todoroki monotones, taking the stake from Momo and using it to direct his quirk, pinning everyone around him to the ground by freezing them up to their ankles.
"Oh come on!"
"Not again!"
"Dick move Todoroki!"
Anyone got a plan, my Jet baby is too risky without the boots to stabilize our flight?" Mei asks, the support gremlin panicking just a little, as her current gear wasn't going to be much use against the Overwhelming Force that was Todoroki.
"I have 1 idea, but I'm unsure how well it'll work" Izuku admits, before placing one of his hands on Uraraka's head, just as Todoroki's ice boxes them in "Soul Resonance: Galaxy Cleric" his eyes glow in time with the monster's gem upon manifestation, before it leaps out of the arena onto the nearby ledge.
"Is he allowed to do that?" Dark shadow coos, curiously.
"Most likely, Midnight would have yelled at us by now otherwise" Tokoyami suspects, and given neither of the commentators said anything, he was probably right.
"So, why did you bring him out, we've got like 2 minutes left?" Uraraka asks, though keeps her eyes on the other teams.
"To make sure we end this in one piece, and with full points" Izuku grins, palming the trigger for the Jetpack "And away we go"
"Reactor, the boots!" Mei screams.
"You said you wouldn't!" Uraraka joins in
"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Dark Shadow cheers unhelpfully.
"Don't worry I have a plan, just need to time it right. Gravity Well!" Izuku commands as he cuts power to the jetpack, the spellcaster's gem flashes before with a wave of their staff a purple bubble flickers in the air, all within it's range becoming weightless, hovering in the air.
"And it appears Team Midoriya are really using their noggins, this year we have a distinct lack of flyers in the event, so they can sit pretty as the last minute runs down, their points and 1st place position completely untouched" Mic commentates, enthusiasm brimming from his voice.
'Shit, I really did underestimate his summons, they can't take hits but with tricks like that, they don't need to' Todoroki scowls.
"Todoroki, how quickly can you make a ramp?" Iida asks, to the two-toned boy's confusion "We don't have much longer, but I have a secret move that while it will momentarily disable me upon completion, should get us within range to grab the headband and snatch victory from Midorya" he explains.
"I should be able to make one in a few seconds, just give the signal" Todoroki nods, Kaminari and Momo following suit.
"All right then. We're coming for you Midoriya! Recipro Burst!" Iida bellows as Todoroki creates his ice ramp, the engines on his legs erupting in deep blue flames before the team shoots forward like a rocket, Team Bakugo just barely missing them in an attempt to snatch a few more points in the last minute.
There was one problem with Iida's plan, Gravity Well completely negated the force of gravity, meaning instead of simply slipping past Team Midoriya while stealing their headband, both teams met in mid-air, Iida pushing both closer to the edge of Cleric's bubble, even as Dark Shadow tried to push them away.
"I'll be taking that headband now Midoriya" Todoroki states flatly, surprisingly getting an almost feral smirk from the verdette
"You'll need to try harder than that 50%" Izuku grins, gold bleeding into the emerald green as OFA surges through his arms, the battle of wills ending in Izuku's favour as Todoroki buckles, flames momentarily engulfing his left arm before being furiously smothered, at which point Dark Shadow and a Thunder Clap from Izuku separated the teams, the Claxon signaling the end of the round seconds later, as well as Cleric's Gravity Well.
"2nd Round Complete, now let's see who's made it to the Final event" Mic shouts as the Claxon ends "1st place, keeping the 1 million point lead is Team Midoriya"
"We did it Midori!" Uraraka cheers, giving the verdette a brief hug, before he's once more tackled by the inventor, screaming about how awesome he made her babies look.
"2nd place, having hovered up most of the other teams over the course of the match after making the strategically correct decision to NOT go for the Big Number, Team Bakugo!"
Mina and Sero watch in concern, hearing the tell tale crackling of Bakugo's quirk as he stares up at the point table.
"Hey, we got 2nd that's the best we could do without going for Midoriya" Kirishima tries to console him "Plus, this way, you get the one on one fight you wanted. Provided you make it that far in the finals" he teases with a shark like grin, causing the explosive blond to snap out of his thoughts and face him, a feral snarl on his face.
"You better fucking believe it shitty hair. I'm gonna blow through this tournament, beat Deku into the ground, and prove I'm the best!"
"3rd place is Team Todoroki, who made a significant point harvest but fell short of stealing the Big prize"
'We came so close, but he still won. Maybe I should have volunteered to join Izuku's team, rather than wait for him and get asked by Todoroki first' Momo wonders, disappointment welling inside, but amusement at Mei's antics towards her friend helped to quiet it down 'Then again, all 4 of them made a great team, who's to say we'd have even won if I'd been there instead of one of the others?'
"And the 4th place is Team Tetsu…. Wait my mistake, Team Shinso managed to sneak in at the last second and claim the final spot for progression! Now, with the teams decided, time for a Lunch break before we can proceed to the final round of the Festival" Mic finishes up, the crowd and students all make their way out of the arena.
"Midoriya I need to speak to you" Todoroki states coldly as he stomps over to the winning team "Privately"
Izuku sighs "I'll meet you guys in a minute, can you take Hatsume with you, make sure she eats and stuff?" he asks, getting nods from Uraraka and Momo, before following the bicolored teen out of the arena, in the opposite direction to the rest of their class, completely silently
TBC
LW: And that's another round over. Next we have Todoroki's Tragic-Backstory[™] and a flashback I needed to find the right place to fit into the story, then onward to the 3rd round!
(1) Basically, it works like it did in the 1st episode of the anime, rather than the actual card, only affecting what was 'on the field' at the moment of activation.