Here is the twenty-sixth chapter in this story released when I wanted it to be released based of my release process for this series. The Obstacle Race is in the books and the next event, the Cavalry Battle, has been announced. This is a team event so those who have advanced, the entire Hero Course plus two from outside it, need to choose their teams for it so it's time to form those teams. Let's see how they came out, shall we. That is all I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and while there are no questions to answer there is a guest review to respond do which I will do now. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate.

To Guest (guest), thank you for your review and support, good to see that you liked the Obstacle Race adaptation. Ruby had the edge from the start but the race taught her that she still has some things to work in mainly that speed is good but she can't be impatient or else it might blow up in her face, in this case literally. Yeah, Julius was the ideal person for the Quirk Knight commentator and he was probably so excited to get to do it that he forgot about the whole hiding from Marx thing and gave away his location right away. I didn't want to overload the viewers of the Sports Festival but as Yang is at U.A. as well it made sense that she get that spot and it allowed me to show who was in her class and her friendship with the MHA canon characters. Yup and soon you will learn why Neo is at U.A. because that's what this chapter will start with but just a taste of her role in the series as she will get more page time throughout. Yuno used his stars well and if not for Bakugo he may have been able to beat Izuku at the end and this is just the start of seeing him use his Quirk. Do keep reading and enjoying my story.

That is it for this pre-chapter note which means that it now officially time to sit back and enjoy the twenty-sixth chapter in Black RWBY Academia.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these three great franchises.

Chapter 26: Choosing Cavalry Teams

As soon as Midnight said began the 15 minute time period to choose teams the students broke up to try and form them. Meanwhile those in the other courses who'd not advanced left to their seats glad that the Sports Festival was over for them, or in the Business Course to their models and selling of refreshments as that was just what they did during the Sports Festival.

It was to be expected though those in class 1-E wished Vanille luck and told her they'd be rooting for her as she'd managed to make it to the second round. Vanille just nodded at that in thanks and smiled at them before they left and she could view the teams that were forming around her as her smile fell to be replaced by what, to those who looked at her, would be considered a serious look of contemplation on her face.

She'd expected to advance to this round if she topped the General Studies students and now it was time to use that moment to find a team that would serve her true purpose. That was because Trivia Vanille was not the girl's real name, nor was her current appearance her real look.

Her real look was a lot more elaborate and colorful, albeit with the pink half of her hair and the white bits at the top expertly dyed, though she did really have heterochromia eyes like Todoroki had. However that look was reserved for when she was working with her friend and partner in crime and not what she was currently doing.

What she was currently doing was a long term undercover mission that she was on for her partner so she had to keep up this bland and unassuming look other than her eyes which was fine as they were a good distraction. That was because her eyes were currently bright green and shone as she looked around using her years of experience to find the right team of less than 4 to attach herself to.

In fact, the girl wasn't a girl at all, well she was still female and at 4 foot 10 smaller than most girls in U.A.'s first year, but she was actually a woman in her early 20s and her real name was Neapolitan or Neo for short. Well, that was the name she'd chosen for herself when she cast off her birth name but as far as she was concerned that girl was no more, she was Neo plain and simple.

Admittedly, the name on her student card was her actual birth name so she used it for the mission but it still felt odd to be called by it for the first time in more than half a decade. One thing that Neo was glad for though was that her asshole of a father had been so ashamed of having a disabled daughter who almost constantly used her Quirk that he'd made sure to erase all traces of her existence before she was able to break free of them.

As such, when she made sure both her parents died during the incident that had truly freed her and allowed her to become Neo, she could reuse it in a different way. Trivia Vanille had also finally died in that incident, though she'd actually been killed off by Neo 6 months prior, and Neo had properly been born from it with her past truly erased.

It was really useful in fact as thanks to her father's public declarations that he didn't have any children she didn't even get any questions for reusing the name as she just happened to have the same familial name though she made sure that no questions were asked by being officially listed as a Quirkless orphan. She'd listed this identity of hers as Quirkless not just to throw off suspicion of her but also to honor her only friend in the world, who was actually Quirkless.

That's right, Neo's friend and partner in crime was none other than Roman Torchwick, the master criminal who was one of the biggest players in the Japanese underground and she was his silent partner in more ways than one. While Roman had begun his rise on his own, he would not of reached his current standing had it not been for Neo as it was due to her own actions that two of the top crime syndicates in Japan at the time, the Xiong Crime Family and Lil Miss Malachite, were badly damaged. That was what precipitated Roman's rise to the top of the Japanese underground.

The others still existed in Japan of course but weren't at the scale that Roman was, especially the Xiong Family as their leader had died as a result of Neo's actions and his son wasn't as skilled as he was, so he'd become the biggest player in that swath of villainy. That was he'd recently became a high ranking member of the Alliance of Villainous Enterprises represented the underground in a secret villain alliance that would soon wreak havoc on Japan.

Neo loved havoc and mayhem so it was great for her and she fully endorsed Roman joining and helping out so that she could aid him in his schemes within the Alliance. Plus, she was Roman's right hand woman, his only true friend and the only one he actually trusted, so she was fully in the loop about what was going on in Japan.

Her road to Roman began before her parents died more than 8 years ago when, through series of strange circumstances in the city of Vale, she'd ended up being assigned to spy on Roman for the so called finishing school she had been exiled to by her parents but which was really an operation of Lil Miss Malachite's. It was that school in particular that had made Lil Miss one of the top crime bosses in all of Japan, until Roman's rise that is.

A large part of that was unfortunately for Lil Miss Malachite's group, known as Spiders, Neo had ended up actually liking Roman and befriending him because he understood her, took her under his wing, and trained her so she decided to aid him as well. It was a messy situation that she was the root cause for in a lot of ways but when the dust, literally the was a Dust explosion, settled Roman was the one on top and Lil Miss Malachite had been relegated to a regional boss based in the city of Mistral though she was still a powerful crime boss in her area.

All that was within 6 months from being exiled to that finishing school and had allowed Neo to truly shed the Vanille name. In the time since she had become who she was meant to be though she only showed her normal get up without her Quirk active when she was around Roman.

If she wasn't on her current mission she'd be by his side protecting him with her strong combat skills and parasol, which she called Hush and was actually a weapon forged by a metalsmith who made weapons for Huntsman so it was as strong as a Huntsman's weapon. She was his partner in crime, his friend, and she'd be loyal to him until she died, or he did and she avenged that if it came to it.

Right now though she was on her third cycle of special undercover work that only her Quirk, Overactive Imagination, could achieve because her Quirk allowed her to create physical illusions that could be seen by anyone without her needing to affect them at all. There were illusionary Quirks out there, Neo knew of two that were strong, one called Glamor belonging to a Shiketsu Hero Student in their second year which amusingly had restrictions on it, and one called Hallucinations belonging to some chick called Emerald who was an underling to Cinder, Roman's latest associate as part of the Alliance.

However, neither of those Quirks could hold a candle, in Neo's opinion, to Overactive Imagination. Her parents had hated her Quirk because of how she used it, which didn't help her father's disapproval of her or her disability, but Roman had seen the value in it and praised it, which had helped endear him to her as he treated her normally despite her Quirk or her disability. He'd seen the true value in it and understood that when it came to those with illusionary Quirks, no one compared to Neapolitan's Overactive Imagination.

Thanks to her Quirk, Neo was able to do things that if it came out would put her right at the top of the nation's most wanted, not that the authorities were even aware of her because her Quirk had ensured that. Then again, when you could actually create physical illusions that could be touched, though they couldn't take much damage, you were on a level above anyone else with a Quirk like that.

Plus, all Neo needed was one good look at a person and she could recrate that person's appearance on herself with such a level of detail that she could fool facial scans though she couldn't recreate things like fingerprints or DNA. All this combined made her one of the most dangerous villains out there and only Roman knew of her true power.

To add to it, she'd trained her Quirk hard pretty much since it first manifested and now she could keep it up all day so long without any effort as she didn't take too much physical damage or use it more than just on herself. The former problem was part of why her team selection had to be the right one as she looked around because she needed a team that likely wouldn't advance as that was not her goal with making it to the second round, though if it came to that she'd sabotage it just to be safe.

That was because her goal was to spy on the next generation of heroes and see what they could do up close, she wore special contact lenses that recorded all that she saw for a better angle, so that Roman could better defeat them in the future. After all, information was a weapon that could be used really well as Lil Miss Malachite had shown as that was the core of her power.

This level of intel gathering though was a genius idea of Roman's as he'd realized that Neo could use her Quirk to infiltrate the top Hero Course schools in the country under different disguises created by Overactive Imagination. She'd attend as a General Studies student and stay for the full three years getting intel on a total of 5 years' worth of heroes from that school.

In addition to her firsthand intel, she would use specialty software that Roman had gotten his hands on, thanks to her of course as she'd been key to that heist, to plant trojan horses in the schools she'd attended systems to get more intel from before and after her time. That was a longer range aspect of the plan but they needed to physically plant the software for it to eventually work so it was added to Neo's missions at the schools.

Thanks to this they had critical intel on some of the top rising heroes in the nations across all three branches, information that was frankly priceless as it included detailed reports on their Quirks and what they could do with them. It was an adaptation of that scheme of Lil Miss Malachite's that Neo had ended up taking down bit because it had been a good one Roman had adapted it to go after what even Lil Miss couldn't because she didn't have someone like Neo. Naturally, Neo was more than willing to aid Roman in this endeavor of theirs.

Of course it was a little risky and with a teacher like Shota Aizawa who's Quirk was one of the few that could be a major problem for Neo they'd not gone for U.A. until now but it had worked wonders first at Ketsubutsu when they first tried it so they upped the challenge by going after Shiketsu where it had gone off without a hitch as well so now they were going through U.A. with it. Roman hadn't planned on this but when they'd learned that All Might was teaching here now he knew he needed his trusted partner at U.A. so Neo had applied as Trivia Vanille for the General Studies course and easily got it.

She just had to avoid Aizawa and she'd be good, though with her training and Quirk could easily allow for an exit strategy if found out, and she would do fine on the mission. Of course, when it came to the Sports Festival Roman had asked her to keep things simple.

All she had to do was get as much intel as possibly, preferably by making it past the first round so that she was on the field for the second, and record it so that Roman could analyze it at his own leisure. If she did manage to get to the second round then she was to make sure that she lost in it and didn't advance to the battle round where she'd stand out and the risk of exposure would be extremely high. Neo would ensure that that didn't happen now that she'd made the second round and now that most of the teams had been formed she found the perfect team to join and headed over to them.

As she walked, Neo reached to a thigh satchel that she always had on her and opened it to pull out a small whiteboard and marker with an eraser on the cap that she pulled off with her teeth and quickly wrote on the board as she approached the team. It was easier and safer than using her phone after all and as she was in her PE kit she didn't even have her phone on her anyway.

Neo had to use the board because she had a legitimate disability, which thanks to Roman she was no longer ashamed of, so she was given an exception to have it on her at all times and it had been especially made by the Support Course here to be extra durable. The only downside was that it did remind her of the one thing she could never change or overcome even with her Quirk was said disability and that was her greatest limiting factor from going from a top tier villain, in Roman's eyes, to an even greater one.

While she was unknown, her classification would be A-Class with her disability, without it she'd have the potential to be an S-Class villain. That was the kind of power Overactive Imagination gave Neo and it was only at Roman's disposal.

Neo shook her head as she walked, she couldn't dwell on stuff like that as she had a mission to undertake and complete so she pushed those thoughts from her head as she finished writing and reached the trio before tapping a guy with a speech bubble for a head on the shoulder to get his attention. Given her disability this felt ironic somehow but she shrugged it off as he turned to her.

Neo knew who all three were of course as she'd already used her Quirk to sneak into the offices and get all the hero records she could and then send them to Roman while planting that trojan horse software they had, which due to its special nature at not getting detected would take a long time to activate, but she had to play it off as she didn't know the heroes Manga Fukidashi turned to her a question mark in his head. In response Neo raised the whiteboard so that he could read it as his teammates Yui Kodai and Kojiro Bondo turned to her as well.

Hello, my name is Vanille and I'm in Class 1-E. I somehow made it to this round as there were two spots for people outside of the Hero Course but I don't know anyone nor do I know what you can do. You seem to need a fourth though, so, if it is not too much of an imposition, can I join your team for this?"

"Um, sure, so long as the others agree as we don't have a 4th." Fukidashi said, Neo had no idea how he could speak but she didn't judge or question things like that, looking to the others on his team as he'd not expected the one General Studies student to advance to approach them. "You guys ok with it?"

"Sure, our build will work fine with 4 instead of 3 people, might even stabilize Kodai more in fact." Bondo said as Kodai, who could speak but rarely did just nodded. "But um, may I ask a question?"

Neo blinked at that before she flipped the board and wiped out her message and quickly wrote out her next. She had an idea what it would be about but she had to ask just to be sure even if it was one of the most common questions she received. That and it was all part of the persona she was currently playing.

Thanks to years of using her Quirk, along with training from both that preparatory school and Roman, had made her a talented actress able to read and mimic others so she could play any role she needed to play. Only Roman saw her true personality and it would stay that way as she raised the board to show a question in response to the question. It was the easiest way to confirm what she basically already knew.

Is it about the board?

"Yes." Bondo said clearly embarrassed, which might have to do with his heteromorph appearance so he likely understood judgment based on things that couldn't be controlled, but Neo just gave him a reassuring smile as she turned the board over to wipe it off and reply. "I don't mean to be rude or anything but why are you using it? You don't have to answer if you don't want, I can sympathize if it is a sensitive subject."

Neo took an extra moment as she wrote it out. She understood why people asked her about the board while in this persona and didn't mind because this was her primary form of communication so she had to explain it and once she did no one questioned her afterwards. That was more than fine with her because they usually overlooked her, which was just what she needed on this mission. The less suspicion she brought upon herself the better as she could gather more good information for Roman that way.

I am mute, it's a disability were I can't speak so it's comparable to deafness or blindness for those senses. I was born with it so I have to use this board to communicate.

"Oh I'm sorry for asking." Bondo said as Neo wiped out the message and added her next one.

It's ok, people ask so I'm used to it, don't worry. Thank you for letting me join your team.

At that Neo gave them a small, shy smile that would fit with her persona and easily sell things and put the three kids before her at ease. Hero Course students could be the easiest to manipulate, that noble streak in them that underlies many of their desires to be heroes really came in handy for people like Neo, and she knew that she had them now.

"Of course welcome." Fukidashi said understanding as well because he too was a heteromorph as Neo wiped it off again and then wrote one word in response to Fukidashi's question. "May I ask, what is your Quirk?"

Quirkless.

"Oh well you made it this far which is impressive." Bondo said as Neo wiped her board once again and wrote once more as she used Overactive Imagination to replicate a blush on her cheeks at the praise. "Don't worry, we'll keep you safe and do our best to advance. Monoma has a plan for our class so we'll be good so long as we follow it."

Thank you.

"You're welcome." Bondo said with what Neo thought was a smile on his heteromorph face. "Now here's the plan. Kodai will be the rider and then…"

Neo just smiled as put her board away, she no longer needed it, and she listened to the plan that brought her into it as one of the holders at the back where she'd really be unnoticed, which was perfect for hew. With these three she knew that they'd not advance so it would be perfect to just sit back and watch the other heroes. Still she made certain to play her part well as Bondo went over the finite details of their team's plan for the Cavalry Battle.

"Ok Ruby, who should we add?" Weiss asked as they stepped back and separated themselves from their classmates the moment that the time to form teams began where they watched the others try and form teams while they didn't even need to speak to know that they'd be on the same team. "Certainly not Mineta and it's best to avoid Midoriya with all his points, he'd be too big of a target and we'd be on the defense the entire time, but who should we have because it can't be just the two of us."

"Good question." Ruby said as she looked around at the two big groups congregating around Todoroki and Bakugo while Ochaco went to join Izuku as expected, Ruby knew that they were already close friends so that made sense, and a few other teams were starting to form around them. "I agree with that. Midoriya's nice and all but in this I think we need to focus on keeping our points and advancing. He'll be a target so best to hang back from that. Your glyphs are really good defensively and if I'm the rider then I can protect the points with Petal Burst and go after some when we need them, with your aid of course, so we need people who can balance us out and help support me on their shoulders."

"Well we need someone who's good for ranged defense as I can do up close but having range would balance out what I can do." Weiss said as she surveyed their class, after Class B's declaration she wasn't going to let any of them on their team as she wanted to beat them to show that their class was better, and her eyes fell on the right guy for the job. "Got him, I'll recruit him but we need someone else."

"I think I know who." Ruby said as she looked around and seeing just who she felt was right for the team. "Yeah, he'll be perfect for the team. Alright break and come back here with our full team."

Weiss nodded and she and Ruby moved to get their teammates and then meet back up to strategize. For Weiss this meant heading to the pack around Bakugo who was now taking pitches for spots on his team and rather than try anything subtle, she just grabbed Aoyama by the arm, he was on the edge of the pack and holding his stomach still, and dragged him away. He had no hopes of being chosen by Bakugo and besides he was perfect for them and with his mixed heritage there was another advantage that they had.

"Mademoiselle Schnee." Aoyama said as she led him away. "What are you doing? I was going to ask Bakugo to…"

"Shut it Aoyama, you and I both know that he wasn't going to pick you as he's only after those who can best aid him which is fortunate for my team." Weiss said in French causing Aoyama to stop and blink at her so she let him go and turned to face him before continuing. "Bakugo's going for the win which means that his team has to be well balanced in terms of protection, offense, and support. Your side effect will be a hinderance to him but Ruby and I need someone who can attack from range with a good degree of precision when needed and we won't need to rely on it so you can focus on doing just that as you protect us while avoiding overusing your Quirk."

"I can see your logic." Aoyama said switching to French as Schnee had just spoken at the level of near fluency that he'd expect from a nonnative speaker who'd been studying the language for years. "But first, you speak French?"

"Yes, along with many other languages, I've been trained in the important ones since as soon as I could be given my family's status in society." Weiss said with a nod. "In international business, French is just behind English, Spanish, and Mandarin for needing to know so I had to master it as quickly as possible if I was to one day join the family business. The only other person in the class I know can speak it is Noelle though I wouldn't put it past Momo to either know it or be able to pick it up quickly given her memory. This gives us an edge as well but enough of that, will you join me and Ruby?"

"Oui, I'll join." Aoyama said convinced now, not that it would take a lot to convince him as it was a longshot that he join either Bakugo or Todoroki's team. "Just make sure we advance."

"Don't worry, we will." Weiss said with a grin as she led Aoyama back to their starting point. "I know it because Ruby is going to be our rider and leader and I have complete faith in her ability to lead us to the next round."

Aoyama just smiled at that as he heard the tone in Schnee's voice. He was half French, he knew love well and it was clear to him that Schnee was falling in love with Rose though it seemed like she wasn't aware of it herself. Well, he wasn't one to judge when it came to love, providing it wasn't illegal, but he'd bide his time to wait, just as he would with the likes of Uraraka and Silva, both of them were already crushing so hard that he couldn't not noticed, and then he'd reveal what he knew in time.

Naturally Weiss knew none of this as she led them back to the point and looked to Ruby and smiled. Her best friend had made a solid choice indeed and it would play well into their strategy for the coming Cavalry Battle.

"Hey, Ojiro, come and join me and Weiss's team." Ruby called out as she reached the normal guy, well normal but for his tail, in their class as he pondered who to ask to be on a team with him as he was sure that the big names wouldn't take him but he was sure he could form a team with Hagakure so he was going to go find her when Rose had called out. "We could use a guy like you on it."

"Huh, er, are you sure?" Ojiro asked jumping a little at Rose's words as he turned to the small, recommended student in his class who was approaching him with a smile on her face, they'd not really interacted this year so he was a little surprised that she'd come get him for her team, especially because after the Obstacle Race she could be considered one of the front runners for the Sports Festival. "I'm pretty normal, you know that right?"

"Yeah which is why I want you on my team." Ruby said just adding to Ojiro's surprise. "See, Weiss is getting us some ranged support while she's close defense and I'm the rider but we need a fourth, preferably someone strong to help carry me, and when I saw you I figured that because you'd be unassuming in a Cavalry Battle people might leave us alone which would play to the strategy I have in mind for this."

"Er…" Ojiro said unsure how to address Rose's bluntness though she seemed to genuinely want him which was a good sign. "That's one way of putting it. I'll admit, I'm not exactly the best for this with my tail as I can only really do up close defense with it."

"Precisely, you're one of several in the class with a Quirk ill-suited for this event but the next round is one on one battles, usually standard combat, so you'll really shine there if you can make it because that tail of yours and if I recall you wear a modified karate gi as your costume with a black belt so you've got to be good at martial arts." Ruby said causing even more surprise and confusion in Ojiro. "But you can't do that well unless you advance and the strong teams are going for balance or evasion depending on points, or whatever Asta's doing with that team of his, so it may be hard to find a good one. With us you'll advance because I've got a killer plan and you're important to it."

"I am?" Ojiro asked trying to follow the girl and failing though he couldn't help but be impressed by how tactically acute Rose was as he'd not expected this from her but then again she was a recommended student so she really shouldn't be underestimated. "First off how do you know what I wear shows my proficiency in martial arts? I am proficient in several forms, all adapted to fit my tail, so that's my fighting style."

"I know because both my dad and sister are both trained in MMA so I know the clothing pretty well even if I suck at it." Ruby said further deepening Ojiro's confusion regarding her but she plowed on. "Anyway, you're important because you are normal. To advance we need to avoid eyes on us, which will be big seeing as between Weiss and myself we're going to start with a good chunk of points, and work subtly, that's how I operate best as I'm not a direct fighter like my sister is. With you on the team it adds to that and then we strike and take Class B headbands when we need them. Well, all that and we need a strong guy to support me as Weiss is too dainty on her own."

"I see, very well, I'll join." Ojiro said as he thought on it and decided that he had nothing to lose and was currently too confused to really deal with anything, so much so that he let the normal comment slide. "Let's go."

"Great." Ruby said as she lead Ojiro over to Weiss and Aoyama who Ruby approved of and once they were all together she began to explain her plan to her team. "So, here's what I'm thinking but if you have input let me know. As soon as the Cavalry Battle starts we…"

With that Ruby went over the plan and the others nodded and added their own suggestions to it to improve it as Ruby couldn't do everything. It was a good one and Ruby was confident in it as the plan was fully formulated and streamlined, they were going to advance, she knew it.

"Interesting team." Yang said as she looked at Ruby's team now that it was fully formed and clearly saw that Ruby was the leader. "And Ruby's taken charge, she's really coming out of her shell now that she's at U.A., I'm so proud of her. All she just needs to do is come out in another way so I can give her some advice."

"You're straight Yang, you can't help there." Blake pointed out. "And your dating life isn't the best given how hard it is to find a man who can withstand you. You are not the poster girl for love and you know it."

"I'm still a girl so I can help there." Yang said defensively before chuckling at Blake's glare. "But you're right, there are few men who can handle the Yang without breaking. I'll find one someday like you but if I can help Ruby out I will. She deserves to be happy as well."

"Whatever, let Ruby find herself in her own time as that is what is best for her." Blake said with a sigh. "But when it comes to leadership, she's doing well. I knew she'd choose Schnee to be on her team, they've become rather inseparable so I do see where you're coming from about them, but the others, I don't know enough about so we'll see."

"One came last for the Hero Course." Hado said looking at them. "So he's going to be interesting. The other seems to be quite plain other than his tail so I don't know."

"Rubes has a plan, I know it." Yang said with a grin. "Any idea on the other teams though? Hey Magna, you actually know the rest of the class from that USJ incident, damn Quirk Knight kids getting to help out as I missed a good rumble there, so any insights?"

"Yeah, one of the teams is going to be awesome." Magna said with a grin. "I know three of them, they were the ones who ended up with me in the USJ and the guy in the team outshone me so they'll do great just you watch."

"Oh who are they?" Hado asked as Luck bounced up at that wanting to see who could top Magna so that he could challenge the kid one day himself. "Tell, tell, tell."

"You see that team there." Magna said pointing it out. "Well…"

Hado listened excitedly to Magna's description of the team, as did Luck, but Yang only listened for a bit before getting bored as she and Blake were more concerned with Ruby's team. She hoped that her sister would do well. Yang trusted Ruby and so it was time to support her team in the upcoming Cavalry Battle.

"If you insist then I'll be on a team with you Asta." Noelle said her head high and not looking at Asta as she stood next to him while the countdown to form teams began before stammering as she added. "D, don't read into it mind you, we're both going to be Quirk Knights and have trained together so it makes sense, that's all."

"I didn't ask yet but sure, I do want you on my team." Asta said looking a little puzzled as he looked to Noelle at his side completely oblivious to Noelle's dilemma and denial that was made worse by Asta saying that he wanted her on his team as it showed how much he valued her as well. "We work well together. Same with Nero. Will you join us?"

"I was going to whether you asked or not." Nero said simply from Asta's other side which brokered no dissent from Asta though Noelle huffed a little as she still had jealous feelings towards Nero for how close she was with Asta as well and then scolded herself for them and that she wasn't jealous of anything. "This is a good team but I feel like we need a fourth to fully round it out. Who do you think would be good?"

"Honestly I don't know." Asta said looking around and noting the teams that were already forming up, or at least trying to in some cases. "Seems like a lot want to be on a team with Todoroki or Bakugo, Rose and Schnee are a team and Uraraka and Midoriya are on one as well so there aren't many solo ones to go for. There are the two who aren't in the Hero Course, what about them?"

"The crazy Support Course girl, well second most crazy as that second year was worse, is already going towards Midoriya." Noelle pointed out and they all say a chuckling Hatsume moving over the ground on her boots towards Midoriya's back. "I think she wants to be on his team for some reason. Uraraka I understand, she and Midoriya are good friends, but I don't get why she'd want to be on the team which will be starting with more than 10 million points."

"For a Hero Course student that's a fare statement but Hatsume is a Support Student and they rarely make it this far are rare in the Sports Festival so her reasonings are going to be different." Nero said. "We can't apply the logic we'd use to someone like her."

"What do you mean?" Asta asked.

"Think about it, if a Support Course student makes it past the first round then you know that they have to have some serious skills with support gear.." Nero said as she quickly deduced what Hatsume's plan was. "Which means that she's already standing out for support companies and now that she's the only Support Course student left she's going to want to increase that. If I had to guess, she's going accomplish that by using the fact that Midoriya's in first place and has the most points, thus the most attention, to advertise her items to potential employers. She's no doubt got a fair few to make it this far and will use them to entice Midoriya into letting her join his team, not that he has many options though."

"I can see that; she was kitted up in the obstacle race and showed how useful they are." Noelle admitted as she noticed the random General Studies girl had headed over to a Class 1-B team ruling her out. "I even got my own idea from her. Also, it looks like the other non-Hero Course student is taken as well so she's out as well. Who then?"

"Well not Yuno because I want to advance and face him in the next round which also means avoiding him during the Cavalry Battle so that we both advance." Asta said which the girls just went with as all they wanted was to be on a team with Asta, any further plans were up to him. "So who? We could go…"

"Um, Asta, Noelle, er Nero, if you don't mind I'd like to join your team." A slightly timid female voice that they all knew said from behind them causing Asta and Noelle to jump and turned while Nero just turned as she didn't startle easily. "If you don't mind having a Class 1-B student that is and I understand if you don't as Tetsutetsu did yell a challenge at you lot though I assure you I didn't approve of that."

The girl was of course Mimosa Vermillion, Noelle's cousin and someone who Asta and Nero knew a little bit as they'd had lunch with her, her other cousin who wasn't related to Noelle, Leo, and Yuno a few times. Asta was fine with it as he smiled at her, a smile that Mimosa returned warmly and really liked but which Noelle didn't like one bit.

"Sure, you're welcome to join." Asta said. "We don't mind if you're in Class B or not."

"I do have to ask." Noelle said looking at her cousin. "Why us? Why not your own class Mimosa? I don't mind, you've got good range with your Quirk and you're solid on both offense and defense so your aid will be of great use to us but I'm surprised that you're willing to go against your class."

"Well we're all going to be Quirk Knights so I figured we should get along regardless of which class we are in." Mimosa said. "But more, I don't like Monoma's plan to gang up on your class and wage war, it's why most of the class was in the bottom half of those who advanced to the next round but I wasn't, and I'd rather be with people who are here to do their best and that's all, something that you've always done that Noelle."

"Oh, um, good reasons then." Noelle said glad to have Mimosa on their team as she really did value Mimosa's friendship as she was the only one who didn't treat her badly in the family growing up so this would be good. "We do need a plan."

"First tell us what Monoma, whoever that is, has planned." Nero said looking at the Class B girl. "You've already betrayed him by joining a Class A team so may as well tell us what it is that way we can plan around it."

"Oh, he's the blond guy over there." Mimosa said pointing him out, he was literally a generic blond guy who none of them would have thought twice about but the moment she did he glared at her from his own team that was a pure Class B team. "His Copy Quirk is really useful as he can copy almost any Quirk and understand how to use it on a decent level right away, so long as it doesn't require the stockpiling of something so he can't copy Pine's Quirk as that's stockpiled energy that is. As such we've noticed that it's given him some strange inferiority complex though he is talented with it, came top of our Quirk Assessment actually."

"So why target us then?" Noelle asked as Monoma complained where he was about Mimosa's treason but she and her team didn't hear it and Monoma's own team didn't really care as Mimosa was free to team up with whoever she wanted to team up with. "If he's a strong student why does he need to do this?"

"Part of it is his naturally tactical mind, he's pretty good at that." Mimosa said. "However, the trigger to really go after your class is because of your actions at the USJ as that really set him off. He has a lot of class pride and like Tetsutetsu didn't like all the attention you got and he's tapped into that to get most of our class on board with beating you. All that said, his primary target in the long run is Bakugo for some reason but I don't want any part of it."

"Yuno mentioned that name after the USJ incident right before we called home." Asta said thinking on it. "Alright, thanks for the information Mimosa, we'll just stick out of it then but I do want to settle the score with your class a bit, that loudmouth who challenged us annoyed me."

"Tetsutetsu means well, he's just passionate about our class but in a good way." Mimosa said. "But I'll help, I promise."

"Well we need a plan then." Nero said getting the conversation back on track. "And we should be sensible. With this team I think we may start in second or third depending on the composition of the other teams seeing as none of us were below 15th in the Obstacle Race."

"I'd like to leave the main ones in our class alone for this and focus solely on advancing." Asta said surprising them. "That way I can get a shot at Todoroki when it's just one on one, same for Yuno, so we should leave his team alone. Target the rest of Class B if we start in second to build up our points and then go from there."

"Good plan but you should be the rider Asta." Nero said. "We can carry you and with my sealing I can make sure of it if there are any issues. Then we have Noelle on defense so when the time comes we can hole up and protect our points. Vermillion, you can take the point and offense providing you don't need your hands for your Quirk."

"It's not very ladylike but I can create my seeds from any part of my body not just my hands." Mimosa said as she spat out a seed that she caught and made grow into a vine-like plant. "So I can use my mouth for it and control them but I agree, holding back at the start is a good idea."

"Right then this is what we should do." Nero said as they grouped up and she took charge of planning their strategy as Asta, while a leader, needed a strategist to bring out his best and that would be Nero this time around. "So with Asta riding, we…"

They huddled up to make their plan not noticing Mineta nearby who was literally crying blood at Asta managing to get an all-girl team to carry him. He was so jealous, he had to ask Asta what his secret was so as to learn from him in regards to getting three supremely hot girls, who were all hot in distinctly different ways, to like him it seemed and began complaining to Tsu and Shoji, who were nearby, about it and how no girl wanted him but his size was perfect. That gave the other two a plan for a good team even if it was with Mineta. They had their team and Shoji grabbed Mineta to explain the plan.

Asta of course noticed none of this but he did hope that Yuno had a good team. They both had to advance if they wanted to face off, Asta knew he was going to do so and so would his rival so he couldn't wait for the Cavalry Battle to begin so that he'd be one step closer to the final round of the Sports Festival.

As this was going on Yuno didn't move from where he'd been standing when Midnight began the countdown as he looked around at his classmates to see who would be good to team up with. He wasn't a fan of Monoma's plan, in fact he'd go after his classmate for his points if it came to it, but he wouldn't interfere with it either as the teams formed.

All Yuno wanted was a good team that balanced him out and would help him advance to the final round as he knew that the final stage was one on one fights of some kind based on what the Class had said about past Sports Festivals and so that would be where he he had to face Asta. They were rivals, it was only fitting that they faced off in the solo battles, preferably in the final, and showed that he'd be the next Wizard King. Of course he needed that team first so who was best for it? that was the burning question he currently had as he surveyed his classmates to…

"Yo, Yuno, let's team up, I can't think of a better teammate than my rival." Leo called out interrupting Yuno's thoughts as he looked towards Mimosa to ask her to join his team but noticed that she was already heading over to Asta and those two girls who were always hanging with him so he let her go especially as her joining a Class 1-A team would really annoy Monoma which he didn't mind at all. "If we work together then we can advance and be proper rivals in whatever form of solo battles they decide to use this year."

"Sure." Yuno said not turning to Leo as Leo reached him. "It makes sense but I don't think either of us should be riders for this. You need to be around for that ice if it comes and I'm a target after the pledge and that race. I'm sure that angry boy in Class 1-A would single me out and I'd rather not deal with him at this stage of the Sports Festival."

"Then let me be the team's rider." A new voice said and this time Yuno turned to see Shinso walking up with a small smile on his face and hand raised to greet them. "I'm the best for it anyway with my Quirk and Class 1-A still doesn't know what it is so we've got an advantage there."

"Don't think about using it on us now." Leo growled which Shinso was thinking about but didn't activate it and a cool look in Yuno's eyes stilled his hand. "Unlike the other class, we do know what you can do and why you're a recommended student."

"I swear on my honor that I won't use it on you guys." Shinso said seriously, he knew he had to play nice with his classmates so he may as well start now. "The others are fair game though."

"Very well." Yuno said still wary as Shinso was a bit of a loner in their class but giving him the benefit of the doubt as he was a classmate. "Why us?"

"You're the strongest in the year who wasn't recommended but you need someone to take the heat off you as a rider, that's why." Shinso said simply. "Plus like you I don't care for Monoma's plan or his petty rivalry with Class A after the USJ thing. I'm here to show I deserve to be in the Hero Course with a sinister Quirk like mine and that Aizawa's recommendation meant something. Without it I would have used the Sports Festival to transfer, now I need to prove that I truly belong in U.A.'s Hero Course. Just because I'm recommended doesn't make me better than a non-recommended student, I'm not arrogant enough to believe that.."

"You're Quirk is powerful and useful." Yuno said as he thought on Shinso's words. "And you make a good point about being the rider instead of me so sure we can team up. Now we just need a 4th, preferably someone with strong defense should we need it."

"Can't you create those constellation shield things? Shinso pointed out. "I saw how you used it to stop Shishida in the battle trial."

"Observant, that's a good quality in a hero, and yeah I can but it's not the best for this." Yuno said. "My shields work well but they'd flat at the moment and there's a limit to what they can take, especially when the attacks aren't brute force. What we need is someone who can create a good barrier that would surround us. Ideal, if…"

"Good thing I wanted to join your team, Yuno, sounds like you need me then." Oscar said as he approached them. "I can create that barrier that you want and protect the team when need be. So long as I'm in contact with everyone I can extent it around all of us. Plus I've been on the receiving end of Shinso's Quirk, I'd rather be supported by it instead."

"Yeah, you're the best at defense in the class, even better than Tetsutetsu is, and as a recommended student you know how to use it." Yuno said looking over his team and nodding at it. "This is a solid team, together we will advance to the final round. Pine, other than the physical contact you mentioned, what are your limits?"

"My own energy reserves which I made sure were high before the Sports Festival." Oscar said. "And I avoided using them in the last round just to be safe so I'm still at full charge so to speak. Now I can use it for a good bit in the Cavalry Battle."

"Alright then." Yuno said glad that Pine had been tactical in the race as it should come in handy in the Cavalry Battle as he looked around at his team though with Shinso as the rider they'd officially be Team Shinso. "The goal is to advance and I don't care who we have to beat to do so be it our class or the other with the exception of Asta, we leave him alone in the Cavalry Battle."

"Why?" Shinso said looking around to try and figure out who Asta was and failing to do so. "Also, who is he?

"The short, loud, gray haired one." Yuno said pointing over to where Asta was with Mimosa and those girls in his class discussing their own plan. "We won't engage them, let them try to advance without us stopping them."

"Alright, we can do that but you still haven't said why." Shinso said.

"Because Asta's my rival and as such I want to face and beat him in the one on one battles that Monoma said the Sports Festival ends with back when he was laying out his plan for this." Yuno said. "I don't care for Monoma's plan but I do want to face my rival in single combat so as such we leave him along, got it?"

"Yeah works for me." Leo said with a grin. "Asta's a firecracker for sure, I'd like to battle him as well to see if he's a worthy rival so I say leave his team and let them advance on their own. Plus my cousin is on it and I'd like her to advance as well even is she's defying Monoma by siding with a Class A team."

"It makes no difference to me." Oscar said with a shrug. "So sure, I don't mind leaving that team alone."

"Oh, also Asta's Quirk is called Anti-Quirk." Yuno said looking at Pine. "That sword of his can cut through and nullify a Quirk or its effects so he's the only one who can get through any defense we may have which is another reason to leave him on his own for this. He'd fall for Shinso's Quirk easily but I'd rather not risk that."

"Oh, yeah that makes sense then." Oscar said surprised that there was a Quirk like that, it was like Erasure only more offensively suited and not ranged. "It's for the best to leave his team if he can do that."

"Whatever, so long as we advance I'm fine either way." Shinso said. "And I take it you have a plan. You did say you were going to win each event and have already failed once."

"I know I said I was going to win each round but that 10 million headband is annoying as several will be after it so here's how we will get it to win the Cavalry Battle without attracting attention." Yuno said. "Seeing that score makes it's not the end of the world that I came second there but we will still get it to win we just need a plan that will depend on how the other teams work. As such, when it starts…"

With that Yuno began to elaborate his own plan to his team as they nodded and listened carefully to what it was. It was a good plan and they were all in agreement with it. With this they'd advance and with the most points and do so without giving into Monoma's games in the process.

In short order the teams were ready and set up so Izuku took a moment as he put his teams massive, 10,000,335 point headband on to survey the other teams from his point atop his team of Uraraka, Hatsume, and Tokoyami with all of Hatsume's gear sorted out between them. They had a solid plan but he had to be ready for anything and as the teams were confirmed and the rankings put up on the screens around the stadium before the event began Izuku made sure that he knew what they were and thus who was coming for him when the Cavalry Battle began.

The second place team at the start with 830 points was interestingly Team Asta that had Asta as the rider on Silva, Nero, and if Izuku was right in remembering Vermillion Mimosa from Class 1-B as the carriers. It was an interesting team with one Quirk that Izuku didn't know about given the Class 1-B member so he would have to be wary of that fact but he didn't expect Asta to come after him, at least not right away. No, Izuku knew that the real threats were the next few teams in the order.

That order began with another surprise as the third place team to start out was Team Tetsutetsu. It was a team of solely Class 1-B members who started with 785 points due to being a comprised of the top 4 Class B finishers in the race who all finished in the 20 so they were going to be a total wildcard to Izuku.

After that though it was the two teams he'd expected to be near the top to begin with and would be immediate threats in Team Bakugo who started in 4th with 740 points and had Ashido, Kirishima, and Sero carrying Kacchan and Team Todoroki who started in 5th with 710 points and had Ida, who'd made his point clear to Izuku when they were deciding teams which Izuku respected even if it was annoying to not have Ida on his team, Yaoyorozu and Kaminari carrying Todoroki. Both were strong teams that would be out for Izuku from the start so he had to be ready for them, which he was.

Then came Team Rose, an interesting team in Izuku's mind from his class that had 655 points to start in 6th with Rose as the rider and Schnee, Aoyama, and Ojiro carrying her. There was some balance there, especially with how well the two girls knew each other, and likely worked well together, so Izuku would have to be cautious of them as well especially Rose's Petal Burst Quirk.

To round out the top 8 teams, the cut off for advancement though that hadn't been announced yet, were in 7th with 630 was Team Shinso that Izuku had no idea who the purple haired guy riding was and the only ones he'd met on the team were the Yuno kid who'd topped the entrance exam and Vermillion Leo from some of the lunch conversations so they were clearly a pure Class 1-B team so best to be wary. Lastly in the top 8 with 450 points was Team Mineta though Izuku had no idea which team that was as he couldn't see Mineta from where he was.

The rest of the teams were the ones chasing with Team Hagakure at 425 as the first team starting out of the top 8 and the last team from his class that had Hagakure as the rider with Jiro, Sato, and Koda carrying her. That was decently balanced team that Izuku knew he shouldn't underestimate when the battle began.

The rest of the teams were Class 1-B teams. In descending order of points, they were Teams Monoma starting with 335 points, Kendo with 255, Kodai and Rin with 190 each and both were interesting as Kodai had the General Studies girl on their team and the latter had two riders on the back of the third, and finally Team Kamakiri with 80 as the only two person team and again featured a Class 1-B student riding another for some reason. Izuku didn't know any of the Quirks involved so all were going to be tough to deal with which was why he'd come up with the plan he'd come up with for the Cavalry Battle.

Just as Izuku finished looking around at the teams the boards around the stadium switched to ask if they were ready and Izuku was, he had a plan and strategy to defend their points and advance to the next round. He'd come first in the Obstacle Race and it had led to this score that he'd been given so he'd do his best to maintain it. He had to keep this up and advance to show his worth as All Might's successor and with his team he was sure he'd do it.

"Ok first years, I hope your satisfied with your teams because it's now time to start this." Present Mic said into the microphone. "And so you know, only the top 8 teams will advance to the next and final round so while it's more than half you don't want to be in that lower portion."

"Was that necessary?" Aizawa said.

"Prudent perhaps, Midnight did forget to add that in her explanation." Oobleck said. "So it should be noted as it will give way to some interesting strategies in the coming event."

"Yes it will be a good show indeed." Port added. "I am eager to see how the first years perform in this event."

"So many cool Quirks to see." Julius said. "So start this before Marx realizes that I am here and shows up to drag me away and back to doing paperwork."

"Shouldn't you have thought this through more then?" Aizawa asked the Wizard King. "A public commentary box on live TV isn't the most inconspicuous hiding spot."

"Well we're glad to have you Wizard King and now it's time to start the Cavalry Battle, so let's give them one final countdown." Present Mic said before anyone could respond to Aizawa as a few of the kids were trying to figure out why his voice was a little different now though most chalked it up to being a little horse from all the announcing he'd done and the microphone probably getting a bit over worked. "3, 2, 1!"

"Begin!" Midnight said with a crack of her flail and the second event of the first year's Sports Festival, the Cavalry Battle, began.

Ah another cliffhanger to end on, I just couldn't resist after all and with these teams things are going to look up. I am sure at least some of the teams can be guessed why, especially with Mimosa now on Asta's, I wonder how she'll find her first true exposure to combat Asta. The others were a mix of teams done for various reasons that will become clear at the end of the next chapter so stay tuned for all that as the Cavalry Battle really gets underway next chapter and we see how these teams work and play out. Lastly, to those who have read Roman Holiday (which I actually listened to for the first time last week so as to better prepare Neo's character), yes, Neo's backstory will mirror it as best as I can but is going to be adapted for the MHA universe more and there will be other changes, the main one is that I am keeping Neo's age as it was around the start of RWBY but to allow for Neo's special missions, the events of Roman Holiday that are adapted into this story, which occurred no more than 7 years prior to the start of U.A.'s academic year, did occur with Neo at a younger age and closer to 15 like the students are now. Hopefully that makes sense and I am sure in time Neo's history and story will be expanded on, I have some plans for her already with at least one chapter where she'll be the main character for it but all in good time, stuff to look forward to. Lastly, the reference at the very end to the difference in Present Mic's voice is a reference to how his English VA changed after episode 17 due to the original VA stepping away for health reasons. Thankfully it wasn't serious (it's the same VA as Usopp in One Piece) and he was able to return to MHA as Re-Destro in Seasons 5 and 6 but yeah Present Mic was the third English voice change after Aizawa and Recovery Girl and I'm sure there's going to be a 4th change in Season 7. Anyway, that's all that I have for y'all however so I will leave this chapter off here. If you like this story please follow, favorite (this story and me) to keep up with it and leave a review or PM, your support is what helps motivate me to keep up this work and any questions posed before the next chapter is uploaded I will try to answer. Until next time.

Stringdog