After things had calmed down, Izuku observed the placements of the winners. As he took first place, the one that came after him was Itsuka, which was to be expected. He had thought she would catch up to him in the final seconds, but he had managed to maintain a decent lead.

"That was a close one," Izuku said, turning to Itsuka. "You really pushed me there at the end."

Itsuka smiled. "You're just too fast for me, Izuku. But I'm not giving up yet."

Izuku talked with Itsuka for a few minutes before Ochaco emerged from the gate. Mina, surprisingly, came in 8th place. Izuku swore he had felt her draw more power from him during the race, something akin to a *Full House*. By his standards, it's barely anything, but it's still noticeable.

"Hey Mina, good run out there," Izuku said, approaching his classmate.

Mina grinned. "Thanks, Daddy! I could feel your power flowing through me."

Midnight-sensei then announced the next event would be a Cavalry battle, based on the points earned from the Obstacle Race. Izuku had earned 10 million points for his first-place finish, meaning he would be a prime target. However, the display of power he had shown may deter some from targeting him directly but the more likely scenario is that many of them would be tempted to try anyway.

"10 million points, huh? That is going to make you a big target," Ochaco said, coming up beside Izuku.

Izuku nodded. "I know. But I'm not going to let anyone take this from us."

In fact, a number of students began gathering around Izuku, wanting to team up with him. His girlfriend Ochaco approached him, saying she would be happy to join his team. Mina also eagerly joined, though this did not please Ochaco, who seemed bothered by Mina's interactions with Izuku. Though she hid it as she decided that it is not the time for it.

"Alright, you two. Let's all work together to win this," Izuku told them. Though he wondered if they should get one more person. Technically, having another one watching their backs would be ideal. His gaze caught Itsuka but saw she's already teamed up with Kinoko and a few of her classmates.

'Yeah, that'll be for the best,' he thought, giving up on the idea.

"HEY NUMBER 1!" Someone called out. Standing there, a reasonably short girl with quite a mature build. She has salmon pink hair, which is should-length. "Team up with me! I'm Hatsume Mei!"

"Why me?" Izuku asked her. "Why else? You're strong," she replied.

"I see," he said as he observes her.

"If I team up with you, then I'll inevitably become part of the team everyone's watching most, right? If that happens, then my super cute babies will inevitably be seen by the big companies. That means, in other words, that those big companies will see my babies!" she speaks in rapid fire.

"Wait a minute. You keep saying 'baby' but what do you really mean by it?" Ochaco asked from the side.

Though the girl, Hatsume, didn't seem to be listening to her and continued talking with Izuku, "And I think you guys will also benefit," she said as she brought out a box from nowhere in front of them. Within the depths of his mind, he's proud of stopping himself from hysterically asking, 'What's in the box!?'

She opens it and there are a lot of support gear in it. "I have a ton of babies, so I'm sure you'll be able to find one that you like!" she said.

Looking at the things she had, Izuku cooked up a plan that will ensure them winning. He explained the plan to his teammates, and after fifteen minutes, the event is now about to start.

The roar of the crowd was a living thing, a monstrous wave of sound that threatened to overwhelm Izuku.

"You ready for this, Izuku?" Ochaco asked, her eyes shining with determination.

Izuku took a deep breath and nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be. Let's do this."

The ridiculous headband, ten million points shimmering under the midday sun, rested securely atop Ochaco's head. A quick glance confirmed her teammates were ready. Mina vibrating with her usual energy, Mei's goggles gleaming with the promise of the unexpected, and Izuku, a focused force of emerald fury.

"Alright team, let's do this," Izuku said, locking eyes with each of them. "Ochaco, you keep that headband safe. Mina, Mei, do your thing and cause some chaos out there."

Mina grinned. "You know it, Daddy! Time to turn up the heat!"

Mei cackled. "My babies are ready to shine! This is going to be magnificent!"

"Just be careful, you two," Ochaco chimed in, adjusting the headband nervously. "We need to keep this ten million points secure."

"Don't worry, Ochaco," Izuku reassured her. "We've got this."

"WELL, LOOK AT THIS, FOLKS!" Present Mic's voice boomed. "A SURPRISE FOR TEAM PENDRAGON! IT'S OCHACO PENDRAGON, ZERO GRAVITY HERSELF, RIDING HIGH WITH TEN MILLION POINTS! NOT OUR POWERHOUSE, MIDORIYA! A BOLD MOVE FOR SURE!"

Izuku glanced at Ochaco. "You sure you're ready for this?"

Ochaco nodded firmly. "Absolutely. I am not letting anyone take this from us."

The whistle shrieked, a piercing signal for pandemonium to erupt. The initial wave of attacks, as expected, honed in on Ochaco.

"Here they come!" Mina shouted, bracing herself.

Jiro sent a sonic blast that should have knocked the headband clean off, but it inexplicably dispersed less than a meter before hitting Ochaco. Unbeknownst to them, she hit Ochaco's Shield.

"What the-?" Jiro exclaimed, staring in disbelief.

Hagakure, translucent and unseen, aimed a surprise attack, only to overshoot thanks to a sudden, subtle shift in Ochaco's position that left her grasping at empty air.

"Nice one, Ochaco!" Izuku called out, impressed.

Ochaco grinned. "Leave this to me, Dearest Knight. Just keep us moving!"

This made Izuku laugh. "Rather than a knight, doesn't this make me like a horse?"

Izuku, fueled by One For All, was a whirlwind across the battlefield. They weren't there to be a target, but to disrupt and dismantle.

"Time to put my quirk to use," Izuku muttered, his eyes narrowing in focus.

A focused burst of wind stopped the attempt to soften the ground from Class 1-B, sending them tumbling.

"What is going on?!" Monoma shouted, picking himself up off the ground.

A well-placed kick sent shockwaves across the field, intercepting a team's carefully coordinated attack, leaving them sprawled on the ground in comical disarray.

"Unbelievable!" Kirishima exclaimed, watching his team crumble.

But it was the flicks of his fingers that were throwing the other teams into chaos. Precise bursts of air shot forth, invisible but powerful.

And then, Todoroki moved. A figure of ice and fire, his focused intensity cut through the chaos of the arena. A wall of ice surged towards them, a testament to his formidable power. But Izuku was ready. One for All surged through his veins, emerald energy crackling around him. A concentrated blast from his punch shattered the ice, the force momentarily pushing back even the stoic Todoroki and his team across the field.

"You won't catch me off guard, Todoroki-kun!" Izuku shouted, an unspoken challenge can be seen burning in his eyes.

Frustrated roars echoed across the arena as their opponents struggled to adapt. Bakugou, his usual arrogance tinged with disbelief, snarled, "What the hell is this crap?!"

Kaminari sputtered as his signature electrical energy fizzled into pathetic sparks. "How is this happening?! Our attacks are all going haywire!"

Kirishima stumbled, unable to find purchase on the strangely unpredictable terrain.

"It's like the ground itself is working against us!" Kirishima exclaimed, looking around in bewilderment.

The real surprise, however, was the sheer volume of improbable mishaps their opponents seemed to face. Footing that should have been solid turned unexpectedly slippery, sending lunges off-course. A perfectly aimed projectile suddenly swerved away at the last second, as if the air refused to cooperate.

Bakugou stormed over to Izuku, his explosions crackling. "Izuku! What kind of dirty trick are you pulling?!"

Izuku held up his hands. "I'm not doing anything, Kacchan. We're just using our quirks to the best of our ability."

Bakugou growled. "Don't give me that crap! There's no way this is just luck!"

Hagakure, still invisible, muttered to her teammates, "It's like they're using some force field or something, protecting them."

Jiro frowned. "You mean, like some magic or something?"

Hagakure shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, but nothing we're doing seems to be working!"

"I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS!" Present Mic practically shrieked, caught up in the infectious absurdity of it all. "TEAM PENDRAGON'S OPPONENTS ARE FACING SOMETHING TRULY UNEXPECTED! IS IT SHEER BAD LUCK? A HIDDEN STRATEGY WE HAVEN'T WITNESSED? WHATEVER IT IS, TEAM PENDRAGON IS DEFINITELY REAPING THE REWARDS FOR IT. THE QUESTION IS, CAN THEY MAINTAIN THIS MOMENTUM, OR WILL THEIR OPPONENTS ADAPT AND COUNTER THEIR SURPRISING STRATEGY?"

Mina elbowed Izuku playfully. "Looks like our strategy is really paying off, huh, Daddy?"

Izuku nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Yeah, let's keep at it." Though he's starting to feel the effects of powering a sorceress to such an extent.

Ochaco glanced at Izuku, a hint of concern in her eyes. "Izuku, do you have any idea what is transpiring on here?"

Izuku grinned, his gaze falling on Mina. "Sorcery, Ochaco. But we need to keep our focus and not let it distract us."

Ochaco had a mixed feeling about this. "Izuku, what did I warn you about Sorcery?"

Though Izuku shaked his head in reply, "If it's letting us win this event, then I'll take it."

Mina grinned. "That's right! We've got this in the bag!"

Mei cackled. "My babies are doing their job perfectly!"

The tide of the battle seemed to be shifting. A ripple of uncertainty spread through the other teams. Whispers began to circulate – was it bad luck? Or was there something more at play?

Monoma couldn't catch anyone to copy, Shinso's control wavered, and Tokoyami's Dark Shadow became erratic.

"What is happening?" Monoma muttered, his usual bravado fading. "How are they doing this?"

On another team, Itsuka can be heard shouting back, "That sounds to me like a skill issue, Monoma."

Shinso frowned, his mind racing. "There's something more going on here. Something I can't quite put my finger on."

Tokoyami growled in frustration as Dark Shadow lashed out erratically. "This is madness! What is disrupting the balance?"

Yet, Team Pendragon continued to hold their position, a testament to strategy, disruption, and an unspoken force shaping the battle.

Meanwhile, Mei's inventions malfunctioned gloriously, adding a final touch of unpredictable absurdity.

"Woohoo!" Mei shouted, as one of her creations backfired spectacularly. "That's exactly what I was hoping for!"

'Was it?' Izuku thought to himself, though he decided against saying it out loud since it'd likely cause her to talk for ages about her babies. He doesn't hate it, far from it. He found them fascinating, but this isn't the place nor occasion to have a TedTalk. 'Note to self: talk to her about them later.'

Ochaco eyed the chaos warily. "Hatsume-san, maybe you could try to keep your inventions a little more...controlled?"

Mei waved a dismissive hand. "Controlled? Where's the fun in that? This is all part of my master plan!"

Izuku can be heard chuckling to himself. When Ochaco gave him an admonishing look, he said, "What? We want the three of us to sow chaos in the field while you protect the headband. From my point of view, she's doing exactly that."

True to form, her inventions bordered on the absurd, even for the Sports Festival. Her goggles pulsed with frantic energy as one creation after another malfunctioned spectacularly. A grappling hook meant for mobility fired backwards, snagging her on a stray piece of rubble and sending their team to an unexpected direction.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Mei cried out, flailing as she was pulled off balance.

Ochaco gasped. "Hatsume-san, are you okay?"

Mei landed with a thud, but quickly sprang back to her feet, grinning. "That was amazing! Did you see the way that hook just took off?"

What should have been a defensive shield expanded into a giant bubble, trapping her entire team for crucial seconds.

Yet, the beauty of their team lay in the fact that every mishap somehow turned into an advantage. The stray hook gave Izuku an unexpected boost of speed. The giant bubble became a distraction, absorbing attacks and buying Ochaco time to reposition herself.

"This is insane," Kirishima said, watching in awe as Team Pendragon continued to thwart their every attempt. "How are they doing this?"

Jiro shook her head, equally baffled. "I don't know, but it's like they've got something up their sleeves or something."

Izuku glanced at his teammates, a sense of determination in his eyes. "Alright, team. Let's keep this momentum going. We're not done yet."

Ochaco nodded, her gaze was resolute. "Right. We have come this far, and we are not going to let anyone stop us now."

Mina grinned, her usual enthusiasm returning. "That's what I'm talking about! Let's do this!"

Mei cackled, already tinkering with her next invention. "This is going to be even better than the last one, I just know it!"

As the teams hurried to gather the equipment before the next event began, the realization began to dawn. It wasn't just bad luck or a hidden strategy. Something else was at play.

Kaminari leaned in, his voice lowered to a whisper. "Did you see the way they kept avoiding everything? It was like they had someone with a precognition quirk or something."

Kirishima nodded, his eyes wide. "Yeah, man. That, or they had all the luck in the world."

Hagakure, translucent and unseen, murmured, "It was almost like magic! Maybe Izuku-kun will take us to a magical castle someday!"

The whistle pierced the mayhem, signaling the end of the Cavalry Battle. Team Pendragon stood victorious, the ten million point headband still securely atop Ochaco's head.

Izuku let out a relieved breath, his shoulders sagging slightly. "We did it, team. Great work out there."

Ochaco beamed, pulling Izuku into a celebratory hug. "I cannot believe we pulled that off! It was intense, but we made it work."

Mina bounced excitedly, her usual boundless energy returning. "Woo-hoo! That was so much fun! We were totally unstoppable!"

Mei grinned, already tinkering with one of her inventions. "Of course we won! My babies performed magnificently, as expected."

As the adrenaline washed off their bodies and OFA deactivated, Izuku was bathed in exhaustion. Thankfully, Ochaco noticed this and caught him way before he hits the ground. "Are you okay, Izuku?"

Seeing what happened to Izuku, Mina panicked. "YOU OKAY, DADDY?!"

He tried to smile, though even his facial muscles seem too exhausted to listen to him. "Yeah, I'll just need to rest a little bit. The amount Mina drew was a little too much."

Ochaco looking at her boyfriend worriedly said, "Do you want me to get you to the infirmary so you can rest for a while there? Midnight-sensei will likely announce a break soon."

"Nah, she didn't drain me to the last drop. I'll just need a minute or two." Izuku said, though he realized too late what it sounded like when he saw Mina giggling to herself. He let out a sigh.

Ochaco settled onto the ground, cradling Izuku's head in her lap. "Who knew providing power to a sorceress to remold the world to her will be so exhausting?" she laughed softly, gazing tenderly at her beloved's face, unconcerned by any onlookers. Though perhaps unwise to display such affection openly, the prospect of peacefully resting together held an irresistible allure for Ochaco in that moment. "Rest now, My Love," she murmured, contentment filling her voice as she stroked his hair.

Meanwhile, Itsuka, who was nearby, looked at the couple with a frown. She couldn't help but feel jealous of Ochaco. She then turned away from the couple, feeling her wolf-self growling. She needed to keep herself in check.

Ochaco noticed Itsuka's face and could sense the jealousy coming from her. She sighed as she patted Izuku's head. She knew she couldn't blame Kendo. If she were in her place, she would feel the same way and she's not even sure if she could control her own emotions as well as Kendo did. She decided to focus on resting Izuku for now.

As the teams regrouped, the air was thick with a mix of awe and bewilderment. Whispers and murmurs spread through the crowd, with students from both classes struggling to make sense of what they had just witnessed.

Kaminari shook his head in disbelief. "Dude, how did they do that? It was like they had some kind of secret advantage or something."

Kirishima nodded, his expression equally mystified. "I know, right? It was crazy. They barely even tried, but nothing could touch them."

Hagakure, still invisible, chimed in. "I'm telling you. There's no other explanation for what we just saw."

Jiro frowned, deep in thought. "Magic? I don't know about that, but there's something strange going on with Team Pendragon. I've never seen anything like it."

The air was thick with a palpable sense of mystery. Team Pendragon's victory had left their opponents and the audience alike captivated and perplexed, wondering just what unseen force had guided them.

Present Mic's voice cut through the buzz. "Well, folks, that was certainly an unexpected turn of events! Team Pendragon has emerged victorious from the Cavalry Battle, defying all odds and leaving the other teams baffled. Stay tuned for more excitement from our students!"

"Congratulations, Team Pendragon," Midnight-sensei said, approaching the victors. "Your victory was well-deserved."

"Thank you, sensei," Ochaco replied, her smile radiant.

The echoes of the Cavalry Battle faded, leaving the arena buzzing with a mixture of astonishment and anticipation. The unexpected results had turned the usual predictability of the Sports Festival on its head, leaving the crowd eager to see what came next.

Midnight, a master of captivating audiences, stepped into the center of the arena, her crimson eyes gleaming under the harsh stadium lights. A hush fell over the crowd as she raised a hand, silencing the lingering cheers.

"Well, my darlings," her voice, a sultry purr, echoed through the silence. "Are you ready for something truly exhilarating?" A deafening roar of approval washed over her. "Excellent! Because the next round promises to be a showdown for the ages! It's time for... a one-on-one Battle Tournament!"

Giant holographic displays flickered to life, revealing the first-round matchups. Though Ojiro-kun, and two other students from the other classes backed out. So the final match-up pairing is:

Match 1: Todoroki Shoto vs Midoriya Izuku
Match 2: Tokoyami Fumikage vs Yaoyorozu Momo
Match 3: Kirishima Eijirou vs Kendo Itsuka
Match 4: Komori Kinoko vs Kaminari Denki
Match 5: Aoyama Yuga vs Hitoshi Shinso
Match 6: Bakugou Katsuki vs Ashido Mina
Match 7: Tokage Setsuna vs Ochaco Pendragon
Match 8: Hatsume Mei vs Iida Tenya

"The rules are simple," Midnight continued, her voice taking on a dangerous edge. "Win, and you advance. Lose, and you're out. This is a battle where only the strongest, smartest, and most resourceful will survive."

She paused, letting the drama build. "And to give our competitors a chance to catch their breath, strategize, and fuel up for the battles ahead, we'll be taking a one-hour break for lunch! This is the perfect time for those watching at home to grab a snack and settle back in. Because when we return, the true test of heroism, The Battle Tournament. begins!"

Thanks for reading this chapter! Sorry, it took so bloody long. This is one of those revision galore chapters. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it. If not, I'd still appreciate your feedback.

Mina's become hella busted the second she became a Chosen of Izuku. At least in comparison to MHA verse scaling. She still has ways to go, but her biggest bottleneck right now is Izuku's tank reserve, which is actually pretty large, even for an Evoker, but what she did here is much more draining than what most Chosen do. And those people are hooked up to an actual God with a Mantle of some sort.

TFW you want to make a reference but can't, because the only character it makes sense to say it is Ochaco...but she wouldn't have seen it, growing up in Elsewhere! 😅 Perhaps a date idea in the future. A little Netflux and chill.

Anyway, we've reached the battle tournament part of SportsFes. It's already partially written to the beginning of semi-finals (and a few more chapters ahead of that since I kept rewriting this one chapter). It's a pretty long chapter but it should be out very soon.

Next up: Battle Tournament