Lunch was a quick affair, with Izuku, Momo, Uraraka, and Iida talking about things unrelated to the tournament until Uraraka teased Iida for not joining their team.

"Todoroki approached me first," Iida told her. "Had you asked me beforehand, I would've joined your team."

"Oh yeah? So what about you going for me specifically, hmm?" Uraraka pressed, causing Iida to flush a bit.

"It was Todoroki's plan. He assumed Midoriya would have the 10 million point headband," He explained. "Neither of us assumed you would've planned for that."

"Dekiru said that," Uraraka told him. "He said people would either go for Yaomomo or him, so that's why they picked me."

Iida nodded slowly. "Now that I think about it, that's a rather knowledgeable plan, Midoriya. I'm impressed."

He frowned right after. "Though, the fake headbands were something I never expected. I didn't think they'd allow something like that."

"It technically falls under me using my Quirk to help me," Momo said. "And since I created them right after that smoke cloud, it didn't break any rules."

Iida shook his head. "You all are far better at planning than I think anyone anticipated, Yaoyorozu, Midoriya. I dread what'll happen if we fight each other in the duels."

"Oh, come on!" Uraraka exclaimed, grinning as she elbowed him. "I'll go easy on you."

"You're also a skilled combatant, Uraraka," Iida replied. "But you going on easy on me would be unfair to the other competitors. I will win or lose against you at your full strength."

Lunch ended soon after, and the group and the rest of the participants left to prepare.

Izuku was quickly outside again, standing with only a group of 15 instead of the hundreds that had started the Festival.

"Welcome to the third and final event of this year's UA Sports Festival!" Midnight exclaimed, generating cheers from the audience.

Midnight paused for a moment, waiting for the cheers to die down.

"The final event will be a duel between our remaining contestants!" She continued. "But to switch it up from past years, this year will not be 1 on 1!"

The screen behind her changed to show four brackets, four to a bracket, two on each side.

"Instead, our contestants will be fighting 2 on 2!" Midnight called amidst gasps and 'oohs.'

'A 2v2?' Marvin muttered. 'That's an advantage and disadvantage at the same time. More manpower and the possibility of teamwork, but if your partner is weak, you get jumped by two people with possible huge differences in combat styles.'

"The rules are simple," Midnight explained. "Our contestants will fight until only two groups of two remain, who will then fight in a free-for-all until only one remains!"

The students felt chills go down their spines at that. A four-way brawl between equal opponents would come down almost completely to luck or be completely dominated by a singular strong force.

Midnight seemingly didn't notice as she made a gesture with her hand, which caused the brackets to fill with a loud 'ping' noise.

Izuku relaxed slightly to find that he was paired with Momo, only to tense up immediately as he realized what that meant.

'One for All mixed with Momo's Creation? Honestly can't see many who could beat that,' Marvin commented.

'Marvin! That means I'm going to fight her no matter what!' Izuku hissed. 'The finals are a four-way brawl!'

Marvin shrugged. 'You might not. Four-way brawl also means someone else might take her out and you're just left fighting the other two.'

The screen changed to show the first match: Izuku and Iida vs. Shoji and Mina.

"Two of our classmates, at least we'll know what to expect," Izuku muttered as Iida approached him.

"We'll do our best, right Midoriya?" Iida asked, getting a nod. "Do you have a plan?"

Izuku pressed his knuckles to his lips as they walked to their waiting area.

"We're all close-range combatants, so it'll be down to skill and Quirk application rather than any sort of inherent Quirk advantage," Izuku muttered.

"Ashido's acid is dangerous, and Shoji is strong," He continued. "But they lack any natural speed advantage, so that could be our edge."

Iida nodded at that. "So the plan is to go in quick and take them out before they can stop us?"

Izuku nodded. "It's best if we try to take them out of the ring with our speed instead of fighting them. That could keep our fighting abilities secret until the later rounds."

"Hiding our trump card," Iida replied slowly. "That's an excellent plan, Midoriya! I see why Uraraka spoke so highly of your planning."

'Looks like all those lessons I've beat into you have paid off,' Marvin smirked. 'Good, keep your true power a secret until the last moment. It throws your opponent off guard.'

Izuku's chest swelled up in pride at that, as Marvin wasn't one to hand out compliments lightly, especially when it came to combat.

"First up is a match between classmates," Mic exclaimed. "Izuku Midoriya and Tenya Iida versus Mezo Shoji and Mina Ashido, all from Class 1-A!"

Izuku and Iida walked out of their tunnel to the arena, silently sharing a glance as Shoji and Mina came out.

Mina looked somewhat nervous but pumped, while Shoji seemed impassive.

"BEGIN!" Mic roared.

Iida immediately kick-started his engines and rushed forward at Shoji.

Shoji dropped his body low and leaped, almost tackling Iida down before Iida dodged.

Mina slid forward on her acid, covering the ground around Shoji and Iida with it as she did.

She was forced to jump back as Izuku came in, barely avoiding his grab.

Izuku jumped over the acid balls she threw, closing the gap between them.

Mina ran from him and straight at Iida, who was trying to move Shoji from his position.

The acid had eaten through the concrete, essentially digging a rut in which Shoji now stood, arms ready.

"Incredible play by Shoji and Ashido!" Mic exclaimed. "Beating two speed demons isn't easy, but limiting their ability to get to you like that certainly helps!"

'They expected us to do this,' Izuku realized, jumping back.

Mina stopped, not having expected him to stop chasing her so suddenly.

Iida stopped too, running back beside Izuku instead of continuing to try and grab Shoji.

The floor of the arena was covered in holes, making it difficult to move, let alone run.

'Shoji's hard to move, but Ashido's Quirk is perfect for restricting movement,' Izuku muttered internally. 'It's odd that they work together so well, but it works.'

"What's the plan, Midoriya?" Iida asked softly, his eyes focused on Mina and Shoji.

"Can you grab Ashido before she can react?" Izuku asked, getting a nod. "Get her, I'll get Shoji."

Iida nodded again and fired up his engines again, gritting his teeth as he pushed them further.

Mina's eyes widened, and she attempted to summon more acid to stop him.

"Mina Ashido is out of bounds!" Midnight declared, cracking her whip.

Mina blinked, realizing Iida had pushed her out of bounds before she'd even realized he'd moved.

Izuku leaped over to Shoji, deciding to break his own recommendation for the moment.

He dodged Shoji's arms and weaved under him, grabbing Shoji's shirt.

Shoji froze as he felt his feet leave the ground as Izuku tossed him high into the air.

Izuku leaped up after him and kicked the air, sending a gust of wind that made Shoji careen out of bounds.

"Mezo Shoji is out of bounds!" Midnight declared. "Izuku Midoriya and Tenya Iida are the winners!"

'That was more complex than I expected it to be,' Izuku muttered as he and Iida walked back into their tunnel.

'At least you didn't freeze up,' Marvin replied. 'You made a few mistakes, though. Some major ones too.'

Izuku's brows furrowed. 'Really? I thought I did pretty good?'

Marvin shook his head. 'Both of you should've focused on Ashido first, as you both knew she could melt the concrete and make it harder for you to move. She also has no speed buffs, so it would've been even easier. That would leave you two against Shoji, which would've ended the match much quicker.'

Izuku sighed internally. 'I've got a long way to go, don't I?'

'To get to the big leagues? Yes,' Marvin replied calmly. 'There are villains out there that can be a threat to All Might himself, so you can't slack off just because you have a strong Quirk.'

'But how likely is that?' Izuku asked, somewhat exasperatedly. 'It was ONE villain that caused that injury, and All Might said he killed him. There can't be THAT many powerful villains out there, can there?'

'Remember the Nomu?' Marvin asked.

Izuku's insides froze immediately. The Nomu was still stuff of occasional nightmares to him, especially the way it had brushed off so many of Marvin's strikes with its regeneration.

'Exactly,' Marvin said. 'It was made once, there's nothing saying it can't be made again. And if it's made again, it'll be made better, stronger, more deadly. That's how genetic experimentation on meta-humans works.'

'There are things beyond this school, Izuku,' He continued, sighing. 'I truly hope you don't find out what they are before you master One for All and all its subsequent Quirks, but I know that's wishful thinking. You have to be ready, no, you have to be BEYOND ready.'

Izuku sat heavily beside Momo in the stands, rubbing his eyes.

"Are you ok, Izuku?" She asked softly, touching his arm. "You did amazing out there."

Izuku smiled at her. "Thanks, Momo. I'm… I'm fine, just Marvin telling me not to get overconfident again."

"Does he truly believe we'll encounter All Might-level villains once we're heroes?" Momo asked softly.

"Yes," Izuku replied. "He thinks it's inevitable, especially with the Nomu. I'm not sure if I disagree or not."

He sighed a bit. "Marvin keeps say–"

Marvin stopped him from talking. 'There's someone behind you.'

Izuku turned sharply, shocking Momo at the sudden movement.

"Ashido?" He asked sharply. "Were you listening to us?!"

Mina blinked at his sudden turn, but slowly nodded.

"Yeah… I came here to congratulate you on your win," She replied before leaning. "But now I'm curious, who's Marvin? Is he a hero?"

"I– Uhh– Well…" Izuku stammered, trying to find a response.

"He's my brother," Marvin said quickly, taking over. "Older brother, to be exact."

"You have a brother?!" Mina exclaimed with wide eyes. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"You have a brother, Dekiru?" Uraraka asked as she approached with Iida. "I didn't know that."

"Neither did I," Iida added, turning to Momo. "Did you know about that, Yaoyorozu?"

Momo took one look at the pleading look in Izuku's eyes and nodded a bit.

"Y-Yes, I did, though only recently," She said quickly. "It's a pretty private subject."

"Wait, what? Why?" Mina asked, head in her hand. "Can we meet him? Is he cute?"

"He's in America at the moment," Marvin lied easily. "He's doing a work-study there. Might visit sometime in the future, though."

"But why is it a private thing?" Uraraka asked as she sat on his other side.

Marvin dropped his voice low, as if keeping some heavily guarded secret.

"Don't tell anybody this, but it's because his Quirk was too dangerous," Marvin 'explained.' "You know how my Quirk can break my body if I'm not careful?"

Mina, Uraraka, and Iida all nodded, though Momo just looked at him blankly.

"His Quirk is the same, it's hyper-powerful and dangerous," Marvin told them. "Even more dangerous than my Quirk, or at least it was. He couldn't turn it off, so they took him to America to be able to train him."

Uraraka's brows furrowed. "Why not have him in UA? It's the best Hero school in the world."

Marvin shook his head. "Wasn't an option. I can't tell you why, mostly because I don't think you'd believe me, but I can't tell you. He needed to be away from Japan until he could control his Quirk."

"Why didn't they take you?" Mina asked. "Your Quirk is pretty strong, isn't it? Kind of terrifying to go up against, if I'm being honest."

"I can turn it off," Marvin replied. "So I'm not that much of a threat. That, and All Might gave me some pointers on how to control it since his Quirk operates on a similar principle."

'MARVIN!' Izuku hissed. 'You can't tell them about One for All!'

'I'm not. Your Quirk absorbs metabolic energy to then release at a later date,' Marvin replied. 'It's an absorption-based ability. A bunch of Quirks operate on that function, so if anyone gets suspicious, they'll just assume your Quirk is vaguely similar in function to All Might's, but nowhere near his power or diversity.'

Izuku blinked. 'Hiding in plain sight. That's genius.'

'I've thought a lot about this,' Marvin replied.

Thankfully, none of the three asked any more questions as the second round began.

"Shoto Todoroki and Fumikage Tokoyami versus Hanta Sero and Ibara Shiozaki!" Mic exclaimed, amidst mild cheers.

Up in the stands, standing at the top of the steps, was Endeavor, staring down at Todoroki with his arms crossed.

'Let's see how well you live up to the goal you've been given, Shoto,' Endeavor thought. 'How long will that stubbornness of yours last?'

"BEGIN!" Mic exclaimed.

Ice roared out through the arena, immediately catching Sero and encasing him in a block of ice.

"WOAH! It seems like Todoroki doesn't like to waste time!" Mic declared.

Ibara had shielded herself with her vines and took a deep breath.

"Lord, forgive me for this violence," She whispered as vines ripped through the ground.

Todoroki froze them solid as Dark Shadow rushed forward, grabbing Ibara and putting her outside the arena.

"Todoroki and Tokoyami win!" Mic declared. "What a decisive victory! I definitely wouldn't want to mess with these powerhouses!"

The screen changed again, showing the third match: Uraraka and Momo versus Kirishima and Tetsutetsu.

"Oh, that's great!" Uraraka exclaimed, looking over to Momo. "We'll do our best, right?"

Momo smiled a bit and nodded. "Of course we will, Uraraka."

She squeezed Izuku's hand as she stood with Uraraka, giving him a smile before they left.

Izuku flushed as he watched her go, his hand seemingly on fire as he ducked his head.

"So… Yaomomo, huh?" Mina grinned over his shoulder.

Izuku blushed and looked decidedly at the arena, making Mina giggle.

"Oh come on, it's super obvious," She drawled lazily. "So, when are you asking her out?"

"WHa– I– I don't– I mean…" Izuku stammered, his face bright red.

Mina laughed. "Oh relax, I'm just messing with you."

Izuku sighed, taking a deep breath and rubbing his face as he returned his eyes to the arena.

"But… If you do go for it… she wouldn't say no, I bet," Mina whispered into his ear.

Izuku flushed again and shook his head, which was his only response since he didn't trust his tongue at the moment.

Mina shrugged. "Just saying. I support it."

"Class rivalry seems to be a theme with these duels," Mic's voice thankfully saved Izuku from further embarrassment. "Because this third round is Momo Yaoyorozu and Ochaco Uraraka from Class 1-A versus Ejiro Kirishima from Class 1-A and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu from Class 1-B!"

The four reached the arena, and everyone but Momo looked somewhat nervous.

"BEGIN!"

Both Kirishima and Tetsutetsu activated their Quirks, hardening their bodies.

Several matryoshka dolls fell from Momo's arm and Uraraka quickly caught them, using her Quirk on them.

Tetsutetsu rushed Uraraka, only for Uraraka to dodge him, using her Quirk on him.

Momo ran forward with a staff in hand, heading straight towards Kirishima.

Kirishima threw a punch, only for Momo to vault over him with the staff.

Momo twisted mid-air and activated her Quirk, sending out several canisters.

She landed behind Kirishima and hit him in the back with another staff, sending him shooting forward.

Kirishima tripped over a canister, activating it and causing a chain reaction.

Powerful light blinded both Kirishima and Testsutetsu, who covered their eyes.

"NOW!"

Uraraka deactivated her Quirk, causing Tetsutetsu to fall along with the matryoshka dolls.

The rest of the canisters activated, covering the arena in thick smoke.

When the smoke finally cleared, both Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were on the ground bound in thick nets.

"And Yaoyorozu and Uraraka win!" Mic sounded slightly surprised. "It seems like physical toughness isn't all there is to a fight, huh, Shota?"

"They executed a plan very well," Aizawa stated dully. "They used their Quirks to their maximum efficiency, knowing that a physical battle would be difficult to win. That's the kind of mind a hero should have."

The fourth match of Tsuyu and Kaminari versus Shinso and Monoma went quickly, with Shinso and Monoma winning after Shinso brainwashed the other two into walking out of bounds.

There was a small break in between the matches, allowing the four remaining teams to mentally prepare for what was to come.

"Oh, that's bad," Uraraka said as she stared at the screen, which said they'd be fighting Todoroki and Tokoyami.

"We can do this," Momo told her with a nod. "We'll do our best, right?"

"Right," Uraraka replied as they left.

Todoroki and Tokoyami left a few moments later, speaking amongst themselves.

"Yaoyorozu will have to go down first," Tokoyami said. "Her Quirk could easily counter ours if the way she handled Kirishima is any indication."

Todoroki nodded slowly. He would prefer to fight Midoriya, but given how easily Midoriya had dominated in the other events, Todoroki would take more time to study him.

The two reached their tunnel and waited, with Tokoyami seemingly restless.

"We'll be alright," Todoroki told him. "We focus all our effort onto Yaoyorozu, take her out quickly, and then deal with Uraraka. It should be simple."

"I do pray that you are right," Tokoyami mumbled.

"And our inter-class rivalry comes to a head!" Mic exclaimed. "Because for the first match of the semi-finals, it's Momo Yaoyorozu and Ochaco Uraraka versus Shoto Todoroki and Fumikage Tokoyami! All from, you know it, Class A!"

Both Todoroki and Tokoyami did a small double take from the look on Momo's face, which was calm and collected as if she already knew where this was going.

"BEGIN!"

Ice roared out towards Momo, followed by Dark Shadow.

Momo jumped, two staves jutting out of her palms and launching her into the air.

She twisted, tossing one to Uraraka before she shifted the other one in her hand.

Todoroki's eyes widened as Momo launched the staff full force at him, and he barely dodged it hitting him in the face.

Momo activated her Quirk as she fell, with several canisters falling out of her body.

"Don't touch them!" Todoroki yelled to Tokoyami, who was currently trying to dodge Uraraka.

Uraraka was using the staff to beat Dark Shadow away and attack Tokoyami, forcing him to jump around.

Momo rolled onto Todoroki's ice, created a staff, and jumped up.

"Fall back!" She shouted before a canister shot from her hand.

Uraraka ran backward as Momo hit the canister with the staff like a baseball toward Tokoyami.

Tokoyami immediately covered himself with Dark Shadow, expecting it to be a flashbang.

"Gotcha!" Uraraka yelled, using her Quirk on Tokoyami.

Tokoyami began rapidly floating away, already dangerously close to the boundary line as it was.

He reached out with Dark Shadow, grabbing Uraraka before she could react and taking her out of bounds with him.

"Ochaco Uraraka and Fumikage Tokoyami are out of bounds!" Midnight declared.

Momo turned to Todoroki, dodging his ice with relative ease.

'Wow, his ice moves much slower than Izuku does,' She muttered. 'I guess the training does pay off.'

Todoroki sent another ice stream, but Momo began running at him, dodging the ice as she did.

Staves launched themselves from her palms, launching her over his ice.

'He prefers to keep distance, which must mean he isn't that good at close range,' Momo thought as she dropped.

Todoroki stomped, nearly hitting her with an ice column before Momo jumped away.

She fell into a crouch and reached out, a long metal pole with a hook at the end releasing from her palm.

Momo pulled Todoroki off balance by the ankle and ran forward.

Todoroki used his ice to righten himself, creating a wall of ice between them to keep her away.

Momo stopped, creating several flashbangs that she sent over the wall.

Todoroki shouted in surprise and moved away, stumbling back as he covered his eyes.

Momo's staff hit him square in the stomach, making him double over.

She followed it with a strike to his jaw, whipping his head back and knocking him off balance.

Todoroki stumbled back, sending a haphazard ice stream her way.

Momo dropped and rolled away, coming up in a crouch with her staff raised.

She tossed it like a spear and jumped back, activating her Quirk on her stomach.

Todoroki ducked under the staff, still somewhat disoriented from the back-to-back attacks.

A loud 'thud' sounded, and Todoroki looked up in shock at the cannon staring him down.

"Yaoyorozu?! What the hell is that?!" Todoroki exclaimed, moving back.

"Victory!" Momo yelled, firing it.

The cannonball shattered through Todoroki's defensive ice wall, sending him careening to the other side of the arena.

Momo rushed him again, creating a large sticky net and firing it at Todoroki.

The net hit Todoroki square, wrapping around him tightly and sticking to the ground.

Todoroki was freezing at this point and instinctively tried to use his fire to burn the net in his half-conscious state.

Momo quickly created a huge portion of water, dropping it over Todoroki's fire-side and extinguishing it.

The stadium held its breath as Todoroki shivered, but didn't do anything to get up.

"Shoto Todoroki is unable to continue, Momo Yaoyorozu is the winner!" Midnight declared.

Momo sighed in relief, her shoulders drooping in slight exhaustion.

The crowd cheered for her victory, with the exception of Endeavor, who was snarling in anger.

Momo smiled as she stumbled back to her tunnel, where Uraraka was waiting for her.

"You did it! We won!" Uraraka exclaimed, hugging her.

"It was tougher than expected, I'll tell you that," Momo replied, briefly returning the hug.

"Wait… so now we move on to the finals, right?!" Uraraka said excitedly.

Momo nodded before pausing. "Wait… that also means we'll have to fight Izuku and Iida since they're definitely going to win their match."

"I could get Iida back for picking me as his target in the second event," Uraraka mused. "It could be fun."

"Do you actually hold a grudge on him for that?" Momo asked curiously as they walked. "I thought you said you were just messing with him?"

"Oh, I am," Uraraka grinned. "He takes everything so seriously, so it's fun to tease him every once in a while. Maybe one day he'll tease me back, who knows?"

Momo looked at her oddly. There was something else in Uraraka's words, but for the life of her, Momo couldn't figure out what.

"C'mon, let's get some rest before we have to fight again," Uraraka said before walking towards the stands.

"Speaking of," Momo replied, following. "I wonder what's up with Todoroki? He didn't use his fire at all during the match until I'd already beaten him, even though he was visibly shaking from the cold."

Uraraka shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't like using fire? Or maybe it's too destructive? Who knows with him? He never talks to anyone."

Momo nodded slowly but wasn't quite convinced. She'd seen the Todoroki family a lot growing up, as both of their families were often invited to the same high-class events, and she'd seen Todoroki slowly become colder and more distant the more they grew up.

It wasn't the fake cold mask rich people wore, no, Momo knew all about those. It felt different, but Momo didn't know in what way.

.

Author's Note: And that's the chapter! Most of the fights are out of the way, thankfully, which is good.

This chapter went through so many rewrites it's insane. I originally wanted a small romantic scene between Izuku and Momo during lunch as Reaper wrote in his story, but I couldn't fit it anywhere, so I scrapped it.

Also originally wanted Izuku and Momo to be on the same team, and then I realized that would be way too busted given their training. Also wanted Izuku and Momo to have more interactions with other characters and not just each other.

I wanted to make Todoroki more of a powerhouse showing here, but it was kind of hard given that Momo is comparable to a much stronger Izuku than the one from canon, and even canon Izuku was giving Todoroki the works while unable to use OFA without injury and being mostly on the defensive.

Todoroki's strong, don't get me wrong, but currently, he's just not strong enough to keep up with the heaviest hitters in this story.

I will have Todoroki eventually use his fire, but it'll come as a much more hard-fought battle with himself than in canon.

Also, regarding Momo's eventual power level, which I know some people have been wondering about, she'll be strong.

Small spoiler, but she'll eventually be capable of fighting someone like AFO Shigaraki solo, not beat, but fight. She'll keep pace with Izuku throughout the story, and her Quirk applications will become much more creative as it progresses.

But currently, I'm struggling with her since my ideas for her final power level are concrete, but I haven't thought of ways to build her to that level. Similar deal with Izuku.

I know Marvin will play a big part, especially with the energy manipulation thing he'll get. Can't say exactly how, but it'll be big, and it'll have huge effects on the story.

Marvin is definitely going to become a part-time teacher at UA, working as an assistant teacher to All Might to be specific, and will be involved with Class A's physical and Quirk training.

I might have him teach some other classes here and there, like 1-B, or even 3-A, which is Mirio's class, since Marvin would definitely be able to teach them a thing or two.

Oh, and, most of the 'big' villains for the early seasons won't be much of a threat. I.E. Stain, Muscular, Overhaul, and so on, will probably get a chapter or two of screentime before Izuku, Momo, or Marvin whoop their asses.

That is NOT to say that there won't be any strong villains for them to fight. There'll definitely be threats to them, especially when we move past the Licensing Exam. I have several ideas planned, but I won't say them just yet.

Next chapter will be the four-way fight between Momo, Izuku, Uraraka, and Iida, and I'm honestly unsure who'll win. Guess I'll see how the chapter unfolds.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next one!