This was bad.

Izuku's eyes honed in on Monoma's hands, which were still flailing along with his words like they were being flung around on a rollercoaster. He couldn't see any visible mutation to indicate that Monoma had truly replicated Izuku's Decimation, but then again, there was no mutation in Izuku either, apart from his hair changing colours from green to blue, and then to white, but that only came with pushing the Quirk past its limits, not simply having it in the first place. There was no way to actually tell if Monoma was bluffing or telling the truth, and there was an equal chance that his teammates, who were all looking unfazed and confident, were simply going along with a lie or secure in what they knew to be legitimately true. Either way, Monoma needed to be stopped before he could even pretend to use Decimation, because if he wasn't lying, then people would get hurt.

"Stop moving your hands like that!" Izuku yelled in a surge of anxiety. He reached his hand out in a placating gesture, but Monoma simply made a noise of interest, as though he was amused by Izuku's panic.

"Oh, and why should I listen to anything you say? You're probably just trying to prevent me from using your beloved Quirk!" Monoma cackled. He kept gesturing wildly, making Izuku's heart skip a beat whenever he came close to one of his teammates' heads.

Monoma then waved his hands around and threw them out at Izuku and his teammates, flexing them in a variety of ways. When nothing happened, it seemed that Monoma was disappointed, as his shoulders slumped and he shook his hands out as if he expected something to happen. Izuku realised in that moment that he probably thought Izuku's Quirk was some kind of traditional Emitter, like shooting energy beams or something, and that ushered in the other realisation that Monoma didn't actually know what Izuku's Quirk was. That was even more dangerous.

"No, just listen!" Uraraka said, her eyes wide with comprehension as she seized the moment of confused silence. "He's telling the truth; you need to stop and not touch anything!"

"Oh, is your Quirk a touch-type? That'd make sense. What kind of Quirk do you have to have to end up like you?" Monoma asked, looking down at Izuku with a sneer of disgust.

Izuku felt like he had two options; he could either tell Monoma what his Quirk was, therefore ruining the advantage he had of nobody outside his class knowing, or he could lie and make up something even more dangerous or difficult to control; but if he picked the second option, what was more dangerous than potential deaths? He felt as though he really only had one choice. Izuku's thoughts were coming slower than usual, as he was still recovering from the shock of Monoma copying his Quirk, and thus couldn't formulate a good course of action before he simply blurted out the truth.

"My Quirk disintegrates everything I touch! You have to be careful!" he yelled over the distance between their two teams.

"Yeah, right! Now that's a funny joke. They wouldn't let someone with that kind of power into a hero course. It's too dangerous!" Monoma said with a laugh. Izuku scowled as he realised that Monoma was bound to think every attempt to tell the truth was simply a lie to prevent him from using some kind of ultimate power that could end the game right then and there.

"And it isn't dangerous to copy Quirks and try to use them without knowing even a single thing about how they work and what they do?" Uraraka shouted. Izuku was grateful to have her help during this, as the others seemed to be shocked to silence by the potential damage that could be done in just a few moments.

"Oh, it's a gamble for sure. I never know what I'm gonna get when I copy someone new. I'm sure to get a good one when it's one of the superstars of 1A, though! I'm shocked you don't think of it as a compliment! Don't you love that I need you to be strong? Don't you just wanna rub it in my face how much better than me you are?!" Monoma screamed, seemingly losing his temper for a few moments. His face was turning red and he was clenching his fists in anger now, instead of flailing them about carelessly.

Izuku felt bad for this guy. He was clearly suffering from some kind of complex, and it wasn't any kind of annoyance or agitation that Izuku felt toward him now, simply pity. Monoma needed to get a reality check, and Izuku wasn't going to entertain his delusions in the meantime. He sighed and tried to think of something to say or do that would get Monoma to believe him, and thought of something that was undeniably the truth. Izuku would have to sacrifice a shirt to prove it, though, which wasn't ideal, but nothing about this situation was ideal. He prepared himself, trying not to think about how he was about to shed a layer on live television, and glared at Monoma.

"You have to believe me, so I'll show you!" Izuku said, and pressed his free hand, with all his fingers, down onto the middle of his chest.

Since his Quirk didn't work on himself, a tear the shape of Izuku's hand was immediately ripped open in the middle of his shirt. The rest of the outer layer was next, as the blue track uniform was reduced to scattered atoms on the wind, leaving nothing but the tattered remains of the black undershirt underneath, which he wasn't fortunate enough to save from the full effect of Decimation. Nonetheless, he was able to demonstrate his Quirk without hurting anybody, and Izuku saw Monoma's eyes widen as he watched the article of clothing blow away in the wind in the form of thin wisps of dust and ash. As his shirt was Decimated, Izuku could hear Monoma's teammates exclaim in shock and surprise as they witnessed his claims coming true before their very eyes. Izuku kept a straight face as he pulled off his intimidation tactic, and met Monoma's eyes as his entire team reeled back in surprise.

"Do you see what happened? Do you?" Izuku screamed, losing control of his temper.

"Of course I did, you idiot, now what's the point?" Monoma screamed back, succumbing to his anger as well.

"It's not a conscious thing! I don't activate that, and it happens to everything. Everything," Izuku said, giving Monoma his hardest glare to make sure that he understood what he was trying to say.

"Oh, yeah? How do I know you're not just lying to me?! Your Quirk could very well be entirely voluntary and you're just tricking me! Why should I believe you just because you pulled off some cheap parlour trick?" Monoma asked, pointing a shaking finger at Izuku.

"Try it. Go ahead and just put your hand on your chest, and let the Quirk do what feels natural. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't. Don't trust me, trust your own Quirk," Izuku shot back at him.

Monoma looked at him with an expression that was difficult to read. He looked like a swirl of thoughts and emotions that were all struggling to overcome one another and dominate his face, but none stuck for more than a second or so before Monoma's expression shifted into another of the fighting emotions. Izuku held steady, daring Monoma to back down or prove Izuku right. Izuku was taking a gamble on this, though, because he didn't actually know how Monoma's Quirk worked. He very well could've been able to pick and choose if a Quirk he copied worked or not. He didn't even truly know if Copy was his Quirk,or if he'd been lying from the start. Of course, he could just be making things up as he went along and Izuku would be none the wiser, but it wasn't smart to bet on that. It wasn't smart to bet on any assumption about a competitor being true when it came to the festival. Izuku needed Monoma to understand that he wasn't messing with someone who'd sit down and take it. He and his team weren't the type, unfortunately for Monoma and his own team.

"If your copied Quirks work the same as the original, then it won't work on your flesh and blood, but it will work on your clothes. If you think I'm lying, this is how you prove it!" Izuku yelled, feeling his heart beat hard in anticipation.

"We're wasting time, Monoma! What's your plan with this?" the silver-haired boy asked.

"To hell with this. That has to be a trick. We'll attack and snatch their headband!" Monoma said, waving his hand out in front of himself, signalling to his team to move forward.

"Damn it, listen to me! I'm not lying to you!" Izuku yelled in a panic as Team Monoma rushed toward his own team.

"We need to move!" Uraraka ordered as she held up her own hands in anticipation for the attack.

Monoma's team lurched forward and were upon them in mere seconds. They were deceptively fast, and so Izuku felt his heart skip a beat as the silver-haired boy was suddenly towering over Ashido with his shark-like grin showing off his pointy teeth. Out of what was probably a reflex, Ashido threw a leg up and shot acid out of it, a wave of hissing liquid spraying over the front horse of their group. Unfortunately, the silver-haired guy's skin flashed and transformed into a steely armour, protecting him from what was likely a minor acid, but it was impressive nonetheless as he powered through the spray of corrosive liquid and dragged his team forward. Team Monoma arrived in front of Team Uraraka without them having a real chance to defend against their assault. Izuku cursed under his breath and prepared for whatever Monoma was trying to do with whatever Quirks he could use at the moment, which for all he knew was just Decimation, which Izuku regretted allowing him to copy. He also lamented losing the opportunity to reason with the blond, but he didn't see a very good chance of it working going in, so he wasn't shocked. Bracing for impact, Izuku drew his free hand close to his chest and curled it up into a fist so that he wouldn't accidentally Decimate any of Monoma's teammates.

He immediately went for a swipe at Uraraka's headband. Time almost slowed down for Izuku as Monoma's arm reached out and threw his hand at her head. An image flashed in his mind of Uraraka crumbling to dust while he watched, unable to do a thing. He couldn't let Monoma touch her, she'd die. Izuku's arm began to move on instinct, but his hand wouldn't unclench as he was too stressed to control his fingers. Instead of even trying to grab Monoma's arm and stopping him, as that would likely mean losing the whole arm at the very least, and probably more if Izuku couldn't let go in time, he simply threw his own arm up between Monoma and Uraraka. He put his own flesh and blood in place of Monoma's swipe, and felt the blond's warm hand wrap around his forearm as he followed through on his attempt at the headband.

The effect was instant as lines rushed out from the point of contact, running down to his elbow and up to his wrist. Monoma's eyes shot all the way open and he drew his hand back with a shrill shriek. Luckily, the damage wasn't as catastrophic as it could have been given the circumstances. There were certainly a lot of unknowns, but one of them was now more certain to Izuku; Monoma's copied Quirks weren't as powerful as the original, evidenced by the relatively small patch of skin that flaked off his forearm, which were about the size of smaller coins dotted around his skin where Monoma's fingertips made contact. There was the issue of the cracks that split his skin in a pattern of cuts and slashes that made moving his wrist and elbow difficult, but he could deal with that. His arm dropped to his side as Monoma screamed and retracted his hand, looking at it as a few streaks of blood dripped from his fingers. Izuku blinked tears out of his eyes as he hissed in pain, but he didn't let his legs waver and he kept himself upright as a few shouts of shock and concern rang out from both teams.

"Izuku!" Uraraka said, planting a hand on his shoulder as she leaned over and looked at him with worry flashing in her eyes.

"What the hell?" Monoma screamed, his voice breaking as he stared at his red-stained hand.

"Holy—are you good, dude?" the silver-haired boy asked.

"I'm fine! It's good! Let's keep going!" Izuku groaned through his teeth.

He looked up at Uraraka, who had moved so that her face was near his. He smiled to keep himself from scowling, and nodded to her so that he wouldn't give away how much his arm hurt through his voice. She stared into his eyes, trying to find something to justify stopping the game, but he didn't let her see anything but the burning determination he felt in his heart and the resolve to keep going. She sighed, and nodded back, her mouth twisting into an uncertain frown. Uraraka straightened up and shifted her gaze back to Monoma, who was despondently glancing between his own hand and Izuku's arm. Izuku could almost see the gears turning in his head, that he'd been going for a person's head with the power that had done that to an arm. He hoped Monoma saw what Izuku had been trying to say after that.

"Are … I didn't think—" Monoma tried to say.

"No, you didn't!" Uraraka remarked as she swept her hand across Monoma's completely still head and took the headband from him without a struggle. "Let's get going, guys!"

That seemed to shake everyone out of the shock and awe of what had transpired with Monoma. Iida's engines rumbled to life and, due to the ice being melted and broken apart by now, Ashido's acid flowed from her shoes once again as Team Uraraka launched themselves back into action and slid along the ground once again, skating away from their opponents in Team Monoma and getting back into the swing of things. Izuku chanced a look back at Monoma and saw that he was still looking disturbed and aghast, and his team were talking to him to no avail; he was simply defeated by his own foolish delusion that he'd been lied to by one of the people he hated. Izuku truly did feel bad for him, but he couldn't worry about that now, because there was someone else he was still focused on.

Todoroki and his team were fending off another team, the one man band that Shoji had created for himself. Except, as Izuku discovered when a long tongue shot out of the space he was shielding at his back with his webbed arms, he clearly wasn't alone. He had to be protecting his teammates, who could use his massive size to hide within his arms and attack from within. It was genius, and Izuku wondered who had thought of that. He knew that Asui, with her signature tongue, was under there, but was there anyone else? He had no clue, but he wanted to find out. Unfortunately, this was probably the only time they'd be able to sneak up on Todoroki, since he was engaged with another team, and so the questions would have to wait. Izuku took a quick look at the timer for the game, and discovered that they'd wasted so much time talking that they only had a few minutes left, and it would take them at least a minute to get all the way over to where they were, so it was really only a minute and a half, at best. That meant that they had to act now, even if they didn't have a solid idea of what to do to get the headband off Todoroki's head. Suddenly, an idea flashed into Izuku's mind, one he'd thought of earlier but had considered a last ditch effort kind of plan. He didn't truly have a choice now, though, since the last ditch was coming up and they needed to give it their best effort.

"We need to give Todoroki another shot," Izuku said as they weaved around another team passing by.

"Do you really think we're in good enough shape to try that?" Uraraka said, clearly referring to his arm.

"Yeah, totally! What could go wrong?" Izuku laughed off a jolt of searing pain in his arm.

"I'm not just gonna let you hurt yourself again!" she said, looking down into his eyes as they went back and forth.

"It's fine. I have a plan," he said, keeping his eyes locked on hers as they entered into a silent battle of wills for who'd give in to the other.

"Fine," Uraraka said, not sounding very pleased about it. "What do we do?"

"Iida's going to go full throttle, as fast as he can past Todoroki, and you're gonna take the headband," Izuku said in one, confident breath.

"Past?" Kirishima asked.

"Yeah, past. You can do that, right?" Izuku asked as he looked back at Iida.

"I can," Iida said, a seriousness overcoming his face. "It'll mean my speed won't be of much benefit afterwards, but I think I understand what you're asking of me."

"Good. We need to be fast, fast enough that Todoroki won't know what hit him. Are we ready?" Izuku said, taking steady breaths to prepare himself for what would come next. He got a series of more or less positive sounds from his teammates, and everybody readied themselves for a burst of speed.

Izuku had heard about the Iidas. He knew that Ingenium, a hero title that was passed on from father to son, was the Iida family's pride and joy. Thus, when he saw Tenya Iida who possessed the same kind of Engine Quirk as the current Ingenium, he knew the boy was going far. However, he didn't know how far exactly, nor how fast he'd get there, as when Iida began pushing them along the acid slide once again, they didn't run. They barely had time to think before they were simply coasting along the ground on their stationary feet, all the thrust coming from Iida, who yelled out the name of a super move Ingenium had employed for generations.

"Recipro Burst!"

It was as if they teleported halfway across the field in an instant, as the rush of air in Izuku's ear blocked any sound, the blur of colours from passing by a dozen other teams kept him from discerning colour, and the whipping of air as they cut through it pushed Izuku's free arm, which had gone near-limp after being Decimated, back so that it flapped along behind him. Then, as his senses caught up to him, Izuku was a few metres from Todoroki, who stopped mid-reach for Shoji and looked over at his team, his blue eye with the scar over it locking onto Izuku's own. As his hair whipped around, Izuku jabbed his left shoulder forward, sending his arm up and into the air in front of him as they rode Iida's momentum and slid ever-closer to Todoroki and his team. He spread his fingers out wide, hoping to get as much area with them as possible, and held his arm as still as possible, stretched out and reaching for Todoroki as they soared along the ground within melee range.

Todoroki's eyes went wide as he realised what Izuku was doing, throwing his open hand out at him. He threw his own left hand out on what looked like pure instinct, and it got warmer as the biting cold that followed Todoroki wherever he went instantly began to lift, clearing away and allowing warmth to flow out from him as his blue eye seemed to burn brighter with panic and determination not to lose. Then, when Izuku's hand flew over Yaoyorozu as she ducked with a jerky motion to avoid his hand, Todoroki ignited. His entire left arm was suddenly engulfed in an orange flame, and the heat pushed against Izuku's skin like it was solid, forcing him to close his eyes and mouth to stop it from burning him up. He drew his arm away, too, as the flames threatened to lick at his skin, nursing his bloody arm at his side, rather than cooking it in Todoroki's grasp. As they shot past, Izuku and Ashido angled themselves away from Todoroki to not get burned by his unforeseen display of fire, meaning that Uraraka was a fingertip away from snatching the headband off Todoroki's head as they drifted past and rode their momentum away from him. Izuku saw the disappointment in her eyes as she reached for it but couldn't reach it before their burst of speed carried them away from Todoroki's group and out of range. The team slowly came to a stop a few dozen metres away from Todoroki's, and they turned around to face him once again, a sputtering sound coming from behind Iida.

"My engines have stalled. That's the drawback of that kind of speed," Iida explained as they rested for a moment.

Izuku wasn't paying attention to that, though. Todoroki had turned around with them, staring at Izuku with wild, unfocused eyes as the fire on his left arm went out, leaving behind unblemished, perfectly fine skin. Izuku felt his heart drop into his stomach, because somehow he'd forgotten that Todoroki could wield true flames, and not just melt the ice he'd already created. He stared with his jaw dropped low at Todoroki, who gave him a similar look, and the two seemed to understand each other at that moment. Izuku saw a flicker of confusion, regret and awe in Todoroki's eyes, as he brought his left hand up and looked at it in a very similar way to Monoma's bewildered confusion at his own actions. It was as if he was confused about his own Quirk. On the other hand, Izuku himself was dreading going up against Todoroki again, because he had no clue what he was capable of if his flames were on par with his ice. If that was the case, Izuku was screwed. He could Decimate ice, he'd be burned to a crisp by fire. This was bad for his festival-winning prospects.

Finally, after an eternity of the two teams staring at each other while Shoji and his crew slipped away, the buzzer for the end of the cavalry battle rang out. Izuku could've sworn they still had time left, but Midnight called the end of the game and the sounds of the audience overwhelmed Izuku's senses as he looked around to see the other teams dismounting, some with smiles on their faces, like Shoji's teammates—who revealed themselves to be Asui, like Izuku predicted, and Mineta, which was a shock—but most looked disappointed, probably because they didn't make it to the next round. When that triggered his brain to start working again, Izuku began to worry that they had been overtaken points-wise, and as his own team broke apart and Uraraka touched down on the ground again, he looked up to the leaderboard to see that they'd gotten enough points to stay in fourth, with Team Todoroki still at the top. Team Shoji were second, as it seemed that their strategy of hiding while sending Asui's tongue out had worked wonders for them, and another team was third, barely having a few more points than Team Uraraka, headed up by a person named Shinso, who Izuku had never seen in the game, but who seemed to be the purple-haired guy who looked like he needed a nap.

On the large screen, all but the top four teams vanished, leaving what Izuku was to assume were the participants who moved onto the third round. They'd made it. Izuku turned back to his team and saw that they all had wide smiles on their faces, and were celebrating in their own ways. They'd actually done it, and now it was only the final event left to get through, where each of them had a real shot at winning. Izuku began to laugh and celebrate with his friends, the pain in his arm fading away as he joined in their happiness. It was a good day to have the friends he did, as it was thanks to them that he had a shot at his goal now. All that was left was the final event, which was always a one on one tournament, just with different gimmicks. A hush fell over those students that remained in the festival, as Midnight began to speak once more.

"Congratulations on the win, kids, but we've run into a slight problem. Team Shoji only had three people in it, which isn't inherently against the rules, but the final tourney needs sixteen participants, and we only have fifteen. Someone from Team Kendo, as they were fifth, can be sent to the final event as a compromise," she said.

Team Kendo spent a few moments talking amongst themselves, and it was decided that Kendo herself, a girl from Class B with spiky orange hair, would represent their team. Once that was settled, Midnight went through the whole show of spinning the wheel to decide which event they'd hold as the finale, even though Izuku was certain they had it all planned out. He felt his heart beat hard in his chest as he wondered what the final event could possibly be, and when it landed on the tile labelled sparring, Izuku was ready to die where he stood. There was simply no way he was going to be able to beat Todoroki in a head on fight, and there was even less of a chance that, if he miraculously lost to someone even better than him, that Izuku could beat that person, either. He was screwed. He had to be healed, too, so that would take away prep time. What was Izuku going to do? He had to think quickly, or he'd run out of time before he knew it. At least he had an hour to think about it.