"Fall back!" His team fell back as they watched the carnage in front of them. Just like Tsu said, all the teams went after Todoroki's team. Todoroki created an ice wall to defend his team's right side while Kaminari zapped those who attacked the left. Yaoyorozu created a shield to protect the left side and the rear, and Iida used his speed to carry his team away from the fray.
They were a well-oiled machine, and stealing their ten million-point headband would take a lot.
"I still think we should go in there and try to take some headbands," Mei grumbled. She wanted to go on the attack because it meant they would be on camera, and she could show off her babies. But if they were going to play defense, she would have less time to advertise to support companies.
"No, we're not in a rush for points yet, ribbit," Tsu told the pinkette as she watched everyone try to get another team's headbands. Thanks to the leaderboard, they knew they were comfortably in fifth place—one spot out of fourth—allowing them to see how the field would play out.
"We can also plan our attack," Fumikage added. He took the front because it gave Dark Shadow free rein of the field. The shadow quirk could defend their front, slip around them, and protect the rear. Dark Shadow was their unofficial fifth member and their not-so-secret weapon.
Tsu took the left side, which allowed her to use her tongue to try to steal someone's headband. It didn't matter if she was on the left or right, but it gave them an idea of what to do as the competition progressed.
Hagakure was the rider. Fumikage was adamant about her being the rider because of her quirk. When they're moving and things get hectic, her invisibility could create an optical illusion to make it appear their headband is invisible too. He only wished she had kept her top on.
Mei rounded out their team. She took the right side, and her quirk helped them pinpoint who had a headband and how much it was worth. But that was minuscule compared to what she actually brought to the team: her gadgets.
She had two pairs of hover boots and a jetpack. The boots and jetpack would only give them a small burst of air, but it would be enough to get them out of a sticky situation. Mei took one pair, and Tsu gave the other pair to Fumikage, stating they would hinder her quirk. Hagakure was given the jetpack because she was the rider, and it would cause the least problems if she used it.
Watching from above, something stood out to Hagakure. Bakugo was using his explosions to fly at Todoroki. He could only get close enough to make Todoroki sweat before Iida carried his team away, but that didn't interest her. It was what Sero was doing.
"Guys, watch Bakugo," she told her team. They watched Bakugo fly through the air before being reeled in by Sero, using his tape. They wondered if what he was doing was legal and were quickly answered when Midnight said it was fine.
"Oh, that changes things," Mei said excitedly. She failed to contain herself, and the rest of the team felt it.
"Calm down, or you'll knock us over," Tsu told the support student. Mei tried and failed to contain her excitement. Fumikage sighed, but he knew the only way to get her to stop.
"It's time to start moving. Hatsume, please look for someone who is NOT in the scrum," Fumikage pleaded with his secret associate. He believed Mei was only looking within the scrum, but to his surprise, she singled out one of the duos from 1-B. It was a boy with a jagged ponytail riding on his hairy classmate's back. Mei said they were close to the scrum but only circling it.
With their target set, the quartet made their way over to the duo. They crept up behind them, staying out of their sight. They wanted to be as stealthy as possible because they didn't know their quirks and wanted to sneak away without drawing any attention to themselves, much to Mei's chagrin.
The hairy student was fast, but the scrum slowed him down and stopped him from making sudden movements. Once he deemed they were close enough, Fumikage turned his team, so Tsu had a good line of sight. Tsu aimed carefully and shot her tongue at the rider's headband, latching onto the fabric. The rider must have tied the headband too tight because when Tsu retracted her tongue, she accidentally pulled the rider off his classmate.
The good news was they got the headband and Midnight deemed what happened an accident. The bad news was they had the duo and two other class 1-B teams chasing after them. Fumikage and his team booked it as they dodged flying horns, scales, and blobs of glue.
"Hatsume, it's time to use one of your babies!" Fumikage cried as Dark Shadow grabbed one of the horns and threw them back at one of the chasing teams.
"I thought you'd never say those words!" Mei cheered, but he, nor any of their teammates, shared her sentiment.
"Tell Hagakure what to do!" Tsu barked as she jumped over a glue blob.
"Right, Invisi Girl, I gave you two buttons before the competition began. The silver button activates the boots, but don't touch it yet!" Mei quickly exclaimed, sensing the invisible girl would press the button at that moment. Scales flew by her head, but she remained unfazed. She used her quirk to scan the field for any possible escape routes. She saw one and knew her teammates wouldn't like it, but it was the best way to escape the immediate threat.
"TY, Hippy Hop, we need to go over the scrum if we want to escape them," Mei informed the group. Fumikage and Tsu understood and nodded. They ran straight at the scrum and held Hagakure tightly.
"On my mark, press the silver button, and when I tell you, push the red button! Hippy Hop, pay attention as well. If you're late, our horse will crumble on the landing!"
The group continued to run to the scrum. They had to dodge the projectiles flying behind them and worry about acid, ice, and a stray explosion. Fumikage and Tsu considered turning away, but doing that now would be detrimental to them. They had to execute their plan perfectly to move on to the next round.
"Now!"
Hagakure pushed the silver button, and a huge gust of wind was beneath their feet. It was a little disorienting, but the horse maintained their hold on Hagakure. Sadly, they only got a small amount of height on that burst. It wouldn't be enough for them to get over the scrum.
"Red button, quick!"
Hagakure listened, and the jetpack's added boost was enough to get them to the other side. When the team landed, Hagakure looked back and saw the teams chasing them getting caught up in the scrum.
"We lost them!" Hagakure cheered.
"You did a great job with this equipment, Hatsume," Tsu complimented the pinkette, and Mei stuck her chest out with pride.
"I know, my babies are second to none. That definitely got us on TV."
Fumikage remained vigilant. Although they escaped the initial threat, they were not out of the woods yet. With two headbands, their target became bigger.
"Oh, no," Hagakure said, making everyone's hearts drop.
"What happened?"
"Did you lose a headband?"
"Is my baby ok?"
Their probing took aback Hagakure, but soon realized her initial remarks would only be perceived as a negative.
"I still have the headbands, and the jetpack is fine. I only got a quick look at the leaderboard and saw that class 1-B was dominating this event," Hagakure explained, and everyone eased up, but there was still a sense of dread amongst them.
"Did you see our ranking, ribbit?" Tsu hesitantly asked.
"No, but we must be close to the top four," Hagakure said optimistically.
"Then we know who to target," Fumikage said while taking the lead. He knew that not every team from 1-B had a ton of points or a headband for that matter. But, if he had to guess, any team with four members must have the most points. They would be the ones they'll be going after.
Their team went on the prowl for any class 1-B students, and they found the arrogant-looking blonde from earlier. He still had an egotistical smirk, but more importantly, he had three headbands. If they could steal one of them, then they'd be sitting pretty going into the next round.
They didn't have to worry about being sneaky with how hectic things were. They got close enough for Tsu to do her magic, but something seemed off. The arrogant blonde's team seemed to be distracted, and it didn't take long to figure out what it was.
"Get back here, you BASTARD!"
Bakugo exploded onto the scene, causing Fumikage's team to backtrack. One good look at the fiery blonde, and you'd see he was missing his headband, and it didn't take a genius to figure out who took it. They saw murder in Bakugo's eyes and decided it would be better to go after someone else.
They ran, looking for another team to steal points from. They knew that one class 1-B team was occupied and another didn't have points, so their options were slim. Which meant they had to consider going after their own classmates.
"Are you sure? What about class comradery?" Hagakure asked, sounding a little torn about the idea.
"Next round is the tournament. Would you rather fight your friends or someone you don't know?" Tsu responded bluntly.
"I don't have a dog in the fight, but I haven't been able to show off my babies that much during this round, so I really don't care what we do. Just as long as we move on," Mei spoke up. Fumikage had to agree with Tsu and Mei. Moving on was more important than any relationship.
But Fumikage knew Hagakure cherished her friendships with their classmates. This wasn't something she could easily do.
"Class 1-B still controls the leaderboard. We'll still target them, but if it comes down to it, we'll have to target our classmates," Fumikage told her, and he sensed her easing up to the idea.
"Fine, but only if we have to."
Fumikage led the charge. Mei used her quirk to find any targets for them. She pointed out the all-girl 1-B team and said they still had their 245-point headband. Adding that to their 525 points should be enough to send them to the next round.
With that in mind, the group charged at their target in mind.
"LOOK OUT!" Dark Shadow's booming voice caused them to freeze. They saw Dark Shadow holding onto a metal hand in his claws. They followed the scissor hands back to the source and saw Shinso's team.
"Tch, and I thought we got the jump on ya," Shinso clicked his tongue as he recalled the hand.
"Don't respond to anything he says. He might be using his quirk," Fumikage ordered his team. Shinso was one of the most dangerous competitors in the competition. Just one word, and he could make you do anything.
Shinso smirked as he readied the hand.
"Smart thinking. I was hoping I could trick one of you into giving us your headbands."
Fumikage noticed that Shinso wasn't wearing his headband. He ordered his team to back away from them, but Shinso's team matched them step by step.
"Sorry, guys, but we need the points," Uraraka apologized right before Shinso used the hand again.
Dark Shadow caught it again, and Fumikage's team booked it. Shinso's team followed them as Dark Shadow tried to pry the gadget from Shinso's hands. He was about to break it, but someone yelled at him before he could.
"NO, please don't break it! I worked hard on it!" It was the other support department student. She had brown hair tied into a ponytail and brown tear-stricken eyes. She also wore a white headband with two blue bells on the sides. The left bell had a flat screw head, and the right had a Phillips screw head.
"Yeah, don't be a prick, " Mei said, coming to her classmate's defense.
"Th-Then what should I do with it?" Dark Shadow asked. He was confused because he thought he would've done a good thing, taking out another team's weapon.
"I'll take it," Hagakure volunteered, and Dark Shadow shoved it into her arms. As she looked the gadget over, Hagakure realized something horrible. She shot a hand up to her head and felt a lack of fabric.
"GUYS, someone took our headband!"
"WHAT!?"
They stopped in their tracks and saw Hagakure wasn't wearing their original headband. Fumikage saw Shinso's team running away from them, headband in Shinso's hand.
"They took it," Fumikage groaned.
"But how? They weren't close to us, ribbit."
"They must've had another baby and used it when Shadow Bird was distracted," Mei deduced, causing the team to groan. Mei played a part in distracting Dark Shadow. They might still have all their points if she didn't stop Dark Shadow from destroying the gadget, but now wasn't the time to play the blaming game. There wasn't much time left, and they needed points.
If there was one positive to take from that outcome, Hagakure now had something to help her steal headbands from a distance.
Going back to their original plan, they went looking for the all-girl team. Now, down to 135 points, they had to switch up their strategy. They couldn't steal another headband and go on the defensive for the remainder of the competition. No, they needed to quickly steal another team's headband and steal one more before the time ran out if they stood a chance.
They saw the girls' team and chased after them. They had their headband, but no one elses. The girls' rider saw them and notified the rest of her team. Before they knew it, they were bombarded by hordes of mushrooms.
The girl with mushroom-shaped brown hair covered the ground with mushrooms, and the gray-haired girl telekinetically lifted the spores off the ground and flung them at them. It was too much. They couldn't see, and Mei started freaking out because she saw a mushroom growing on her leg.
"Fall back!" Fumikage ordered. His team retreated, but that told the girls' team to keep attacking. Mushrooms rained down on them and grew from their bodies. Dark Shadow did his best to shield them, but the vast amount of mushrooms overwhelmed him, and the bombardment continued.
"This is insane!" Mei cried as she tried shaking off some mushrooms from her legs.
"Use the boosters, and get us out of here!" Tsu screamed. Hagakure pushed both buttons, but only the boots powered on. This was enough to escape the mushroom storm, but there was still some alarm.
"What's wrong with my baby!?"
Hagakure slipped off the jetpack and took a look. She didn't open it, but she saw it was covered with mushrooms. Mei wailed when she saw the state her baby was in, but there were more pressing matters for them to attend to.
"Guys, we don't have any headbands," Tsu pointed out.
"WHAT!?"
Just like the frog girl said, Hagakure wasn't wearing their remaining headband. One of the girls had stolen it during their retreat. Stealing their last grasp of hope of moving on.
"One minute left!"
After Present Mic's announcement, teams started settling in. Those who believed they had enough points took defensive positions, and some in 1-B gave the headbands with the lowest amount of points to their classmates. Those who didn't start to panic and tried for one last push. Though, for some, it would only be fruitless.
Not giving up, Fumikage's team started moving and scheming their next plan of attack.
"What are we going to do?" Hagakure asked. There wasn't much they could do. They didn't know who had the most points or where they wore the highest-point headband.
But, there was one team they knew had the most points.
"We're going after Todoroki," Fumikage answered. This wasn't something he or Tsu wanted to do. Todoroki was the strongest student in their class, and he formed a super team that matched his strengths. There was no way anyone would be able to steal their headband.
"OK, but how are we going to get close enough even to reach Todoroki's headband? Even if we get past Kaminari electricity and whatever Momo had created, we still have to worry about Iida carrying them away and Todoroki's ice, ribbit," Tsu said with a shiver. Todoroki's ice was the biggest reason neither wanted to attack. It could easily take them out, but it was also dangerous for Tsu. If she got too cold, she would go into hibernation, and Fumikage didn't want to think what would happen if she were frozen.
"Hehehe, fret not my compadres, I have a plan," Mei revealed. They were close enough to Todoroki's team to see the dual-haired boy freezing his assailants' feet to the ground and Iida speeding past them, allowing Todoroki to steal their headbands.
"Spit it out. We're running out of time," Fumikage urged the inventor. Time ticked by as his team tried to get close to Todoroki while avoiding the ice. The cold air made Tsu sluggish, slowing the team down.
"Take off your boots and give them to Invisi Girl. Shadow Bird, grab her and be ready for my signal. Hippy Hop, have your tongue ready. We'll only have one shot at this, so everything needs to be perfect," Mei said, and everyone followed her orders. Mei directed them to get on Todoroki's left side, but with such little time, they got as close as they could get.
Hagakure slipped on the boots, and Dark Shadow wrapped an arm around her waist. Todoroki's team hadn't noticed them yet because Mineta's and Jiro's were rushing him. Mineta was blindly chucking his sticky balls, and Jiro stuck her headphone jacks into the ground. The ground cracked and was covered with sticky balls, but Todoroki responded by freezing the ground and both teams.
"Ten Seconds remaining!"
"THROW HER NOW!" Mei screamed, and Dark Shadow did as instructed.
Time slowed down as Hagakure flew through the air. She soared over the ice and ignited the boots, alerting Todoroki. He looked panicked and signaled Iida to the incoming girl. The tall, bespeckled boy activated his engines before Hagakure could fly any closer. They burned bright as team Todoroki was gone in a flash.
Not wanting to give up, Hagakure used the gadget Dark Shadow stole from Shinso. The hand reached as far as it could, but Iida was moving too fast. Hagakure felt Tsu's tongue wrapping around her leg, signaling the end of the competition. They had lost.
But, unbeknownst to both teams, Mineta continued to throw his sticky ball. He covered the icy terrain with his balls, and Iida ran straight into them. He was trapped like a mouse in a glue trap. It allowed the hand to pull two headbands off of Todoroki's neck.
"Time's up! Stop what you are doing! If you're caught taking someone else's headband or giving another team yours, your team will be disqualified," Midnight informed the students and crowd.
Teams disbanded and conversed amongst themselves as UA tallied up each team's points. Fumikage saw Bakugo seething face-first on the ground as his team tried to cheer him up. He also saw a class 1-B team looking completely lost before freaking out when they realized they were missing a headband. He wondered what happened to them, but he had more pressing matters.
Hagakure hung her head in shame as Fumikage and Tsu comforted her.
"I'm sorry, guys. I couldn't get their headband," Hagakure said, and Tsu hugged her.
"It's not your fault. We should've done a better job defending the points we had. If we did, then we wouldn't have needed to go after Todoroki, ribbit."
Fumikage stood off to the side. He agreed with everything Tsu said but couldn't help shoulder the blame. He was the head of the horse. He had to have been more aware of what was happening.
"I was supposed to be the shield. It's my fault we lost both of our headbands," Dark Shadow said to make him feel better. It helped a little, but Fumikage knew this was his cross to bear.
Fumikage put a comforting hand on Hagakure's shoulder. He could tell she was grateful because she eased into his touch. What they're feeling now sucks, but they did everything they could.
Fumikage wondered if Mei went back to the locker rooms, but he spotted her looking at something in her hands. She was shaking like crazy and chirping like a monkey.
"What's up with her?" Tsu asked, concerned about how their teammate is acting. Fumikage shrugged and called over the pinkette.
Mei reigned herself in a little and showed them what made her excited.
"Bear with us, ladies and gentlemen. We're taking a closer look at the footage to determine your winners."
Fumikage and his teammates felt their hopes rising. They have a chance if they're reviewing what they think they are.
Time passed without word of who was moving on. The crowd became restless, and the students anticipated the results. It wasn't until Midnight grabbed the microphone that they got answers.
"I have been told to reveal three of the four teams that are moving on…" Midnight then motioned to the video board where a gray 4th, bronze 3rd, silver 2nd, and a gold 1st were visible. "In 4th, with 615 points, Team Kendo! 3rd place, with 1,115 points, Team Shinso! Coming in 2nd, with 1,555 points, Team Bakugo!"
The crowd cheered as the teams celebrated their victory, except for Bakugo, who was still seething.
Fumikage's team waited with bated breath as they waited for the final result. Fumikage took a peek at Todoroki's team and saw they were also stressing out about the final result. Kaminari was sweating bullets, Yaoyorozu was biting her fingernails, and Iida appeared calm, but Fumikage saw his eyebrows twitching. Then there was Todoroki…
Fumikage couldn't get a read on him. The dual-haired boy appeared uninterested in the outcome, but the look in his eyes told a different story. There was desperation and fear in his eyes. Two emotions that least describe Todoroki.
It was unsettling.
"Everything OK?" Tsu asked, and Fumikage nodded.
"Just nervous."
Midnight took the mic again, and the video board showed a close-up of the metal hand grabbing the headbands around Todoroki's neck.
"Please turn your attention to the video as we reveal the winners of this round…"
The video played in slow motion as everyone watched two headbands being pulled off Todoroki's neck. The clock in the bottom right-hand corner ticked away, showing the time left in the competition.
5 seconds, the hand latched onto the headbands.
4 seconds, the headbands ruffled.
3 seconds, the headbands started to unravel but were still on Todoroki.
2 seconds, the 135 point headband came loose.
1 second, the 10,000,000 million point headband came loose while the 136 points were in the hand's possession.
0.9 seconds, the 10,000,000 headband was unraveling.
0.4 seconds, the 10,000,000 headband was possessed by the hand.
It was bedlam in the stadium as Mei jumped on Fumikage's back, waving both of the headbands.
"Ladies and gentlemen, coming in 1st place, with an astounding 10,000,555 points, Team Hagakure!"
The crowd cheered louder as Tsu and Hagakure jumped in each other's arms. Fumikage saw Kaminari fall to his knees while Yaoyorozu and Iida gave them a congratulatory round of applause. Todoroki did not react to the final standings. He walked back to the locker rooms, unnoticed to those around him.
Fumikage didn't have time to think about it before an ecstatic Hagakure tackled him.
"We did it, Fumi! We're going to the final round!"
Fumikage chuckled at the girl's excitement before realizing she wasn't wearing a top. His brain short-circuited as the invisible girl continued to hug him and voice her excitement. He couldn't make out what she was saying as the only thing he could hear clearly was Dark Shadow's hollering.
"Hey, maybe give him some space, ribbit," Tsu said, placing a hand on Hagakure's shoulder. It was then that Hagakure realized that Fumikage was spacing out. She got off of him and apologized profusely.
"It's fine," Fumikage said slowly and drawn out.
"And that's it for the second round! We'll be back in one hour to learn the bracket and the first fight of the tournament!"
The crowd started filing out of the stadium, and the contestants started going back to their locker rooms. Fumikage followed after his class, but Dark Shadow stopped him.
"Let's go splash some cold water on you. You need to settle down before going back to the others."
Fumikage went red with embarrassment but chose to listen to his quirk. He needed to use the bathroom anyway.
(Line Break)
Fumikage felt fresh as he left the bathroom. The cold water helped him cool down and also gave him time to think about the tournament.
"Izuku did his best training us, and as long as we don't get matched up against someone from 1-1-B in the first round, we'll be fine," Dark Shadow said confidently. Fumikage shared his quirk's sentiment a little bit. Izuku did help them out, but there was so much he and Mei's DIY equipment could do.
"I guess, but we should still be cautious. We don't truly know how our adversaries will fight."
"Right, but let's not worry about that right now. The tournament is an hour away, so let's get something to eat. I bet you're hungry."
Fumikage felt his stomach rumble. All the excitement took a lot out of him. He should go eat a tuna sandwich or two before he has to fight someone.
"Lunch Rush is making lunch for all the competitors, and we might have time to stop at one of the concession stands for—!"
"embarrassing! that's what you were!"
Fumikage froze in his tracks and looked at his quirk to see if he heard it too. His quark's widened eyes told him he did. It was coming behind the door at the end of the hallway. Curiosity got the better of them, and they went to check it out.
The closer they got, the louder the yelling became.
"couldn't even geT FOURTH PLACE! YOU GOT LAST, SHOTO! I RAISED YOU TO BE THE BEST! NOT SOME LOSER! EMBARRASSING!"
Fumikage and Dark Shadow were right outside the door. Dark Shadow opened the door a little, and they saw Todoroki with his head down. They could also see the silhouette of a tall, animated person. The dual-haired boy was tense, flinching from all of the man's movements.
"We didn't get last," they heard Todoroki mumble.
"WHO SAID YOU COULD SPEAK!?" Fumikage and Dark Shadow flinched at the same time as Todoroki.
It was quiet for a moment, almost too quiet. It was unnerving, and Fumikage wondered if the man realized that he was listening in. Then the sound of footsteps filled his ears, and the man came into view. He was a towering figure with maroon colored spiky hair, a blue bodysuit, and a goatee made of fire.
"Endeavor?" Dark Shadow whispered. The number two hero turned his head to the door, and Fumikage instantly sucked in Dark Shadow. Endeavor made a move for the door, and Fumikage booked it back to the bathroom and hid in one of the stalls.
His heart was beating a hundred miles per minute as he tried keeping his voice low. He didn't know if Endeavor was after him or if he saw him. What he did know was that he didn't want anything to do with the number two hero. He would definitely get burnt to a crisp if he did.
Fumikage kept his ears peeled. He only heard the sound of a leaky faucet. There were no footsteps, and he didn't feel the temperature rising. He was safe.
Fumikage allowed his limbs to become limp as he leaned back on the toilet. After everything that happened, he only had one question.
"What did we see?"
(Line Break)
Cavalry Battle results:
Team Hagakure: 10,000,555
Team Bakugo: 1,555
Team Shinso: 1,115
Team Kendo: 615
Team Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu: 280
Team Todoroki: 240
Team Jiro: 0
Team Kamakiri: 0
Team Kodai: 0
Team Mineta: 0
Team Monoma: 0
Team Rin: 0