Author's Note: Hello again! The chapter is very late, and I do apologize for that, but my computer is working properly again, at least somewhat. It's still a bit slow and it freezes often, but it's much better than it was before.

I decided to go with a custom game for the second event instead of the standard Cavalry Battle.

I tried to explain it as well as I could in the chapter, hope I did a good job.

Thank you all for your support and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

.

The rest time passed quickly, and soon, Izuku was listening to Midnight explain the rules of the second challenge.

"This will be a team event," Midnight explained. "No less than 2 and up to 4 people per team. Each player will be given a headband with a set amount of points relative to their place in the first event. Last place will have a 5-point headband, second to last will have 10 points, and so on."

'Seems pretty standard,' Marvin muttered. 'But there's no way these guys wouldn't throw a twist in there.'

"First place, however," Midnight exclaimed, drawing Izuku's attention back. "Will have 10 million points! The objective is for each team to gain as many points as possible."

Momo paled slightly beside Izuku, realizing that literally everyone not on her team would be chasing her.

"The people in your team are not required to stick together and can move independently to capture points," Midnight continued. "Meaning you can have one person capture points while everyone else guards them, or have all four move around the arena collecting points."

Izuku hesitantly reached over and lightly squeezed Momo's hand to reassure her.

"I'll be on your team if you want," He whispered, leaning in slightly.

Momo flushed and nodded. "Thank you, Izuku," She replied, squeezing his hand back.

"You will have 15 minutes to collect as many points as possible, and the top four teams will advance to the finals!" Midnight declared, cracking her whip. "You have 15 minutes to form your teams!"

Midnight explained a few more rules, such as no intentional hurting of other participants, that headbands must be worn on the neck or head, and that losing all headbands did not eliminate a team as long as the time was still running.

Momo looked slightly relieved that Izuku had already decided to join her but was shocked that so many people felt like joining as well.

'They know her Quirk is strong, they want to be safe,' Marvin observed. 'Same with you. They saw your speed and how close you were in the race. It's an investment.'

'Any suggestions?' Izuku asked, beginning to feel overwhelmed at so many people wanting to be on his team who, while not as many as who wanted to join Momo, were still a lot.

'Main suggestion? Just stick with Momo, both of you know each other well,' Marvin shrugged. 'But if you really want a teammate, then I'd suggest Iida for his speed, or someone with long-range like Sero, Tsuyu, or Tokoyami.'

'You'll need to get rid of the 10 million point headband though,' He said after a moment. 'Too big of a target with not enough reward. You don't get a bigger prize for coming first here, second will still progress you forward while keeping most of the flame off your backs.'

Izuku blinked; he hadn't thought of that, but realized it made sense. There were hundreds of points in the other headbands alone, and he was more than confident in his ability to take at least a few.

He shared both ideas with Momo in a low whisper, and she nodded in agreement.

Unfortunately, Iida had already paired up with Todoroki, but both Tokoyami and Uraraka were willing to join.

'Well, Marvin? Think you could help us plan?' Izuku asked.

Marvin shrugged and took over, discreetly tapping Momo's hand twice as a signal, though it wasn't really necessary, as Marvin's presence was different enough from Izuku's for Momo to pick up immediately.

Momo tapped back to show she understood the signal, crossing her arms over her chest a moment later.

"Ok, so here's the plan…" Marvin began.

The fifteen minutes passed quickly, and Marvin gave Izuku control back as the event started.

Immediately after it began, the other teams rushed Izuku's, planning to get Momo's headband.

Momo, Izuku, Uraraka, and Tokoyami fell back to back, covering each other as the teams closed around them.

"Now!" Izuku yelled.

Momo activated her Quirk, and several canisters fell out of her body as the teams fully surrounded them.

Several exclamations of shock rang out as the arena filled with purple smoke, courtesy of Momo's smoke grenades.

"AND THE ACTION STARTS IMMEDIATELY!" Mic exclaimed. "SEEMS LIKE YAOYOROZU WANTS TO GO UNSEEN FOR THE MOMENT."

Izuku rushed to the left with Uraraka, and Tokoyami to the right with Momo.

Uraraka had her, Izuku's, and Tokoyami's headbands inside out around her neck, while Momo prominently displayed hers on her forehead.

Izuku rushed forward with One for All, snatching several headbands and handing them to Uraraka.

Uraraka turned them inside out and tied them on her neck, using a specific knot Marvin had taught her that made them hard to yank off.

Momo ran between teams with Dark Shadow covering her, using her Quirk to shield herself from anybody that got close.

Dark Shadow and Tokoyami also ran around, snatching headbands and giving them to random people, adding to the chaos.

The smoke cleared after several seconds, and as expected, most of the teams immediately rushed Momo.

Momo had several headbands on her neck, ever so slightly darker than the normal ones.

Tokoyami had two fake headbands as well, tied around his forehead in a loose knot that would easily come apart when pulled.

Izuku, meanwhile, removed the fake headbands hidden in his sleeve and handed them to Uraraka along with one real one.

The fake headbands, apart from being a slightly different color, also felt drastically different, being much rougher than the normal ones, so Uraraka didn't even have to look when she tied them.

Uraraka tied the real ones first, using the knot Marvin taught her, while the fake ones went on top in a separate, much simpler knot that would slip off easily.

Izuku had one headband on his head, a fake one that immediately got snatched by Tsu.

"A fake headband?" She asked, staring at it. "Is that even allowed, ribbit?"

Izuku ignored the question, sticking close to Uraraka whenever he wasn't snatching headbands.

Uraraka wasn't passive either, using her Quirk to float people in order to steal their headbands.

"Yaoyorozu's team is working overtime!" Mic called. "Look at those points rack up! Seems like you've taught them well, huh, Aizawa?"

There was a screen that displayed the points total to everyone watching, showing how far ahead Izuku's team was.

"I didn't teach them that," Aizawa replied dully. "That's entirely their own intuition."

"YOU HEARD IT FOLKS, AIZAWA IS A TERRIBLE TEACHER!" Mic exclaimed.

"Wait, no–"

"Do you think this'll work?" Uraraka asked as she fell back to back with Izuku.

Izuku nodded. "Yeah. We'll be fine as long as we don't get overconfident."

Iida and Todoroki appeared and rushed them, with Iida going for Uraraka and Todoroki for Izuku.

Uraraka leaped away from Iida, keeping her hands outstretched to make some distance.

"TODOROKI'S TEAM SEEMS TO BE GOING FOR THE TOP DOG!" Mic called. "A good plan, but let's see how well it turns out!"

"Really, Iida? There are so many others you can go for!" Uraraka huffed as she dodged him.

"My apologies Uraraka, but I'm competing to win as well," Iida replied, darting around her.

He warily kept his distance, knowing that getting close enough to snatch the headbands also meant being close enough for Uraraka to use her Quirk.

Ice rushed up to Izuku, but he leaped over it easily, kicking the air as he did.

Todoroki shielded himself from the powerful winds, letting Izuku rush over to Iida.

Izuku leaped at Iida, trying to snatch the three headbands he wore.

Iida rushed back, using his speed to dodge Izuku, but Izuku easily kept up.

Uraraka turned and ran at Todoroki, preparing to use her Quirk.

Todoroki sent a rush of ice at her, and Uraraka used her Quirk on herself to avoid it.

She dropped a moment later, and Todoroki leaped away from her hands.

He covered the ground with thin ice, catching Uraraka as she fell and causing her to slip.

"Woah!" Uraraka yelled as she tried to stay upright.

Todoroki ran at her, and the spikes on the bottom of his shoes kept him from falling.

He grabbed the fake headbands and tore them away, leaping back from Uraraka a moment later.

"Sorry!" Uraraka yelled as she managed to right herself and run away.

Todoroki paused, brows furrowed before he looked down.

His eyes widened as he realized he held the fake headbands, and his head snapped up again, but Uraraka was already gone.

"A trick," Todoroki muttered. "Is that even allowed?"

Izuku managed to tag Iida, snatching the headbands from him before jumping away.

He caught Momo's eye as he fell back with Uraraka and nodded, getting a nod back from her.

Momo activated her Quirk again, sending several large smoke grenades into the air.

Tokoyami grabbed them with Dark Shadow, tossing them in the middle of the teams, blinding them for a moment.

Momo ensured she covered everyone's vision as much as she could before running to where Izuku had been.

Uraraka untied her real headbands as she reached Momo, handing them to her while taking several fake ones.

Momo tied the real headbands around her neck using the same knot Uraraka had and took off, Izuku following her.

Tokoyami ran off with Uraraka as the smoke cleared, using Dark Shadow to cause more chaos.

"How much time is left?" Momo asked as she ran with Izuku.

"8 minutes," Izuku called as the different teams began chasing them

"DEKU!" An all too familiar voice roared.

Izuku dropped and rolled, dodging Bakugo's attempt at a grab.

Bakugo turned immediately, using his explosions to rocket towards Izuku.

"What– ugh, WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" Izuku yelled as he dodged Bakugo's grabs.

'Was he always this predictable?' He asked internally as he moved.

Bakugo was massively projecting his movements, something that Marvin had quite sternly reprimanded Izuku for doing during a training session, saying it was the worst thing a fighter could do.

Now, though, it allowed Izuku to dodge Bakugo's grabs before Bakugo could even move, safely keeping him two steps ahead.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT I CAN'T BE A HERO, DAMMIT!" Bakugo roared, becoming increasingly incensed at Izuku's dodging. Since when was he so damn quick?!

"I didn't blow up that building!" Izuku replied, jumping away.

Bakugo scowled and increased the strength of his explosions, quickly doubling his speed.

"No one told you to take that damn Entrance Exam!" Bakugo roared, missing another grab. "If you'd just known your damn place, I'd still be in the Hero Course!"

Izuku went to respond but Marvin stopped him, forcing him to jump back.

'Wait, look at his movements,' Marvin told him. 'They're wide. He's barely missing on purpose. It's a trick.'

Izuku's eyes widened and his head snapped around, looking for Momo.

"Momo!" He yelled, seeing the rest of Bakugo's team pressing her.

He ran forward, only for Marvin to pull him back sharply, just in time to avoid a collision with Bakugo.

"You're not going anywhere," The blonde grinned maniacally.

"You planned this," Izuku's fists tightened a bit.

Bakugo ignored the statement, instead launching forward, hand outstretched.

Izuku leaped left, barely dodging Bakugo's hand due to the sudden huge surge in speed.

'He was holding back?!' Izuku's eyes widened a little as Bakugo turned on a dime, still pressing him.

Izuku dodged again, kicking up One for All to his maximum safe limit to keep up.

He dodged with flips, drops, rolls, and other sudden maneuvers, enough to keep him from getting tagged, but not enough to make a break for it.

Izuku was more agile and faster, but Bakugo's sheer skill with his Quirk and quick turns closed the gap far better than Izuku would've wanted.

'I can't shake him,' Izuku gritted his teeth as he dropped under a grab and took off.

'Blackwhip still offline?' Marvin asked, getting a nod. 'Break his ankles.'

'WHAT?!' Izuku yelled, slightly horrified. 'We can't hurt the other contestants!'

Marvin blinked, confused for a moment. 'Oh, yeah, you don't have the same figures of speech. I meant suddenly change directions to trip him up and get away.'

'Ugh– How?' Izuku asked as he nearly got caught in his distraction.

"Zoning out already, Deku?!" Bakugo barked. "What, am I not a big enough threat to you?!"

'Teach by example?' Marvin asked, getting a nod.

"Nope, not at all," Marvin told Bakugo as he took over.

Bakugo yelled in anger and rushed him, hand outstretched to do something that probably wasn't take their headbands.

Marvin waited until Bakugo was close before he jumped to the right, away from Momo.

Bakugo turned and lunged again, and Marvin ran left.

Marvin waited until one foot was off the ground before he went right again.

Bakugo tried to change directions and tripped himself up, falling face-first into the ground.

Marvin ran off towards Momo, jumping in between her and Bakugo's team, who were three students from another class that neither Izuku nor Marvin knew.

The trio jumped back at his sudden appearance, and Marvin quickly snatched a total of five headbands from them.

He jumped back and turned, grabbing Momo with one arm and taking off as Bakugo tried to rush them again.

Momo let out a small scream of happiness as they soared over the teams, only to flush immediately after.

Marvin handed control back to Izuku as they dropped beside Uraraka and Tokoyami, both of whom gave them odd looks, Uraraka more than Tokoyami.

Momo immediately covered them in another smoke screen, along with several noisemakers that went off as people stepped on them.

Unfortunately, most of the teams had wisened up and immediately worked together to dispel the smoke within two seconds.

The four immediately went back to back, covering each other as the teams closed in on them.

"TIME'S UP!" Mic yelled, generating sighs of relief from Momo's team and groans from everyone else.

"IN FIRST PLACE, IT'S YAOYOROZU'S TEAM WITH–" Mic paused, blinking. "Uhh, wow, that's– uhh, that's a lot of points."

Mic cleared his throat. "Yaoyorozu's team with 10,002,095 points! Which puts them far and ahead as the winner!"

Momo breathed a sigh of relief, as did her teammates. None of them had lost their headbands, and had actually collected 14 others of various point values.

"In a distant second, Todoroki's team with 515 points…" Mic went on, though none of them heard him.

'Was it all an act?' Izuku asked internally, scouting the area for Bakugo. 'Or did he really feel that way?'

'What does it matter?' Marvin asked, crossing his arms. 'You're not his therapist, it isn't your job nor responsibility to regulate his feelings. If he wants to blame you for his shitty behavior, let him, he'll mature eventually.'

Izuku sighed. 'I… I guess. It's just…'

'Look, Izuku,' Marvin pinched the bridge of his nose. 'You don't feel bad for Bakugo, you feel bad for the IDEA of Bakugo you've got saved up in your head. But that idea isn't him.'

Izuku jerked somewhat, feeling as if he'd been slapped with that statement.

'I'm not saying it's a bad quality to see the good in people,' Marvin told him. 'I actually think quite the opposite. But there's a difference between seeing the good in people and deluding yourself to think that the good is there.'

Izuku chuckled a bit morbidly. 'You're just such an optimist, huh?'

'Optimism has its place, it's not here,' Marvin said sharply. 'Yes, be a hero, save people, do good. But you can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved, doesn't matter how strong you are or how good your intentions are.'

Izuku blinked, hearing a bit of bitterness in Marvin's tone.

'Are you…'

'I'm fine,' Marvin cut him off. 'But this isn't about me. It's about you. You can do everything in your power to save others, and that's fine, but you have to draw the line between self-sacrifice to save others and self-detriment to change those who've chosen their paths.'

He took a deep breath. 'I'm not saying you shouldn't try. You should try to save everyone, but you'll have to come to terms with the fact that you CAN'T. You CAN'T save everyone, you can make the effort, and try with everything you have, but you won't be able to catch everyone who falls.'

Izuku sighed but nodded, going back to focusing on the Festival.

"The third event is a duel," Momo told him as he focused, having noticed the blank eyes that indicated Izuku and Marvin were talking.

Izuku stared at the screen, which showed which teams had passed. Apart from theirs, Todoroki's team, Shoji's team, and a team from Class 1-B were passing on to the finals.

"Oh, well that isn't that bad," Izuku said as they went to the cafeteria for lunch. "We know most of the people who are in the finals, along with their Quirks, so a fight shouldn't be that difficult."

Momo nodded. "That is true, but there's something else…"

Izuku turned to her. "Hm?"

"We'll most likely have to fight each other, remember?" Momo nudged him slightly. "Not to be rude, but we're stronger than most of our class, especially you, Izuku. It's unlikely we won't fight."

Izuku flushed a bit and rubbed his neck. "If, uhh, if we do, promise we won't go all out and hurt each other? I really don't want either of us to end up with Recovery Girl."

Momo smiled. "Of course, though no holding back either. It'd be unfair to the other competitors."

"I'm not really thinking about them right now," Izuku mumbled, looking away.

He blinked as he saw Todoroki some distance away, staring at him with an odd expression, one that made Izuku feel slightly nervous.

'I wonder what he's thinking,' Izuku muttered internally.

Marvin froze as another memory hit him, and he suddenly remembered several things about his Factor.

'I can… I can check if you want,' Marvin told Izuku.

'You can do that?!' Izuku replied, slightly surprised.

Marvin nodded. 'Apparently, yeah. I guess the different applications of my Factor don't fall under skill, or I would've remembered them beforehand. I can also use a pseudo-telekinesis with my Factor.'

'Woah, that's awesome!' Izuku replied before shaking his head. 'But no, we can't do that. That's an invasion of privacy and I can't do that to my classmates.'

Marvin shrugged. 'Fine by me. Just make sure to keep your head in the game once the time comes, ok?'

Izuku nodded, though he knew Marvin wasn't just referring to Todoroki anymore.

He continued his walk with Momo, and she dropped hints at a new application of her Quirk she'd figured out the night before, but wouldn't directly tell Izuku what it was.

When they sat down, Momo sat down close enough to Izuku to the point where their legs rested against each other, but Izuku didn't bother to move.

.

Author's Note: And that's the chapter! I know it might feel like it's cut in half and that's because it is. I wanted to do the first duel in this chapter but I couldn't since it's rather late here as I'm writing this and I didn't want to make you guys wait.

I do apologize again for the massive hiatus, it took a lot longer than I thought it would to fix up my laptop somewhat, and I've only managed to post on my other story cause the docs were pre-saved on FFN and I could export them from there on my tablet.

Next chapter will be much longer to make us for this, and I'll add a bit of a change to the duels, mostly just to see how it'll work out.

Bakugo will probably come back into the story at some point, but only after some pretty hefty development for the rest of the cast. I don't want to sideline Iida and Uraraka, nor the rest of 1-A, for Izuku, Momo, and eventually Marvin, even though those three will be the main focus of this story.

One thing I love about MHA is the fact it's so insistent on showing us other character's lives, like Todoroki's struggle with his family, Uraraka's poverty, Iida's high expectations due to his hero family, so on and so forth. I want to emulate that here to some degree, to give this story more depth.

After the festival, the story is going to start diverging quite a bit from canon, particularly with the LOV. Haven't fully decided their fates yet, but I'm quite a ways there.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this (admittedly short) chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!