Notes: back again! now while some of you may have noticed, but certain characters from the show have not made appearances yet (Mei, Shinso) that is because if i followed the canon it would take far too long and be predictable. they will appear later in different parts and plots so stay tuned to see what else will change. enjoy!

"This is not what I expected!" Katara yelped out in shock as her team sprinted away from another barrage of incoming attacks from the others.

It had been three minutes so far in the calvary battle and to ones surprise the top team had been the main target. So for Katara's team, most of what they had done was simply run as almost every other team had come straight for them. Just then one of class B's teams shot out what looked like scales from his arms right for her. She quickly bended her water up and formed an ice shield catching the hundreds of small fragments. She looked over and saw the other teams now attempting to close in from the right. "Let's get away from this area and give us some space to work!" She yelled to the three below her.

"On it!" Momo responded and helped charge forward with the others. She created a handful or sharp spikes and tossed them out behind her causing several of the incoming teams to halt their charge. "There, that will at least slow them down a bit."

"Good thinking." Katara nodded as she saw some of the teams trying to step around the spikes. She then noticed another member of class B shoot off what looked like a horn from their head and it flew through the air towards them. "Incoming!"

Whipping her arms up, she slashed her water up and cut the incoming attack in half. Not getting a moments break, she saw another class B team running in. "This is much more difficult than I expected."

"What did you expect from having the top score?" Momo sighed out loud.

Midoriya's eyes caught sight of Jiro's quirk shooting in from his side. "Hey look out!"

Before the earphone jacks could reach them, dark shadows claws shot out and swiped them back. "I'll cover the longer range attacks from the side." Tokoyami said as he retracted his quirk back in front of him, bringing a smile to Katara's face.

"Nice work. Let's just keep this up and we will be fine." Katara looked back to see others attempting to come forward, but then she was completely caught off guard as Bakugo was blasting through the air right towards her.

"OHH! BAKUGO IS CHARGING HIMSELF AWAY FROM HIS TEAM! WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Mic yelled out in shock to the act before Midnight spoke over her mic.

"He has not touched the ground, therefore it is legal!"

"Give me that headband, hair loops!" he roared out and brought his hands forward to blow them away, but dark shadow extended out and took the brunt of the blast. Seeing his attack only made Bakugo more angry. "Get out of the way, you stupid shadow!"

Midoriya then saw Bakugo place his feet on dark shadows stomach, watching him bracing his legs and leaning back slightly. "Watch it! He will kick off and use the leverage to get the high ground above us!"

His analysis was correct, and Bakugo leaped up in the air over dark shadow's head and brought his hands down. Katara however was ready for him and shot a water whip out encasing his hands, but the explosion from Bakugo's palms broke him free.

"Don't think your nerdy guess is going to stop me!" Bakugo yelled and prepared for another attack.

"Katara, here!"

Hearing her name, Katara flipped her head towards Momo and saw a shield being handed towards her. Not having time to think, she grabbed it with her water and whipped it forward right at Bakugo. The steel and water combo now was too much for Bakugo to break through, the teen falling towards the ground before his teammate Sero shot out tape and snatched him back to their group. Pulling the shield back, Katara smiled and handed it back towards Momo. "Nice move."

"Thanks." Momo grinned and slipped the shield onto her arm to save for later.

While the team seemed to have a found a moment of success, they were all perplexed when suddenly a thick sheet of ice raced across the arena floor encasing most of the others feet. Katara's eyes widened in shock as the ice rushed at them as well, waving her hands fast and dispersing the frozen sheet away from her teams feet. While her team was fortunate enough to stay free, the others couldn't help but voice their disappointment.

"What the hell is this shit!? Get your feet moving!" Bakugo yelled and beat on Kirishima's head.

"I'm frozen, man! I can't move!" Kirishima growled back as he tried moving his legs.

"Give me a second!" Mina leaned down and began dripping acid out from her hand. "I'll get rid of the ice."

Gritting his teeth, Bakugo looked up and glared to the cause of the ice. "Damn you, you stupid bastard!"

"WOW CHECK IT OUT! A FLASH FREEZE HAS OVERTAKEN THE FIELD AND CAPTURED THE OTHER TEAMS!" Mic ecstatically yelled out as the match heated (or as he should say chilled) up.

While she felt some relief seeing most of their pursuers were stopped, Katara turned to see Todoroki facing her down on top of his own teammates. The water bender took a breath as she stared at him, seeing he already had another headband draped around his neck. Her eyes then drifted down to see Tenya looking right at her as well, unable to hold back the frown forming on her face.

"HEADS UP PEOPLE! WE HAVE TEAM TODOROKI FACING OFF AGAINST TEAM KATARA! THIS IS GETTING GOOD!"

"That headband is coming with me." Todoroki demanded as his right emitted frost preparing his quirk.

Katara gritted her teeth and brought her water up over her head. "Like I'm going to just give it to you. Why don't you come and get it yourself?"

"Fine by me." Todoroki swiped his hand forward and sent out a thick column of ice out. Katara readied herself and brought her own hand out and swiped away from her body, bending the incoming ice out and away from her team. Breaking off several chunks of the ice, she lifted them into the air and launched them back towards Todoroki's team, forcing him to form an ice barrier in front and block the large ice chunks from reaching. Grunting to himself, Shoto swiped forward and launched a larger column of ice spikes out from underneath his barrier.

"Uhhh… that's a lot bigger!" Midoriya yelled out, preparing his hand to flick and stop the attack.

"Don't! You'll hurt yourself!" Katara warned and readied herself, bringing both hands in front of her to bend the ice. It was a lot stronger than the first one she stopped, but instead of trying to overpower it, she diverted it and make the ice pass to their right. Iida saw the ice being diverted by her, frowning knowing she had the advantage at the moment.

"Todoroki, if you continue doing that she will simply use her quirk to stop it. You need to use something she can't control." Iida told him.

Shoto internally grimaced at the suggestion. He knew what that meant; to use that side was something he refused to do. He didn't care if this was harder. He would not break the vow he made.

"What we need is maneuverability. Speed…" Todoroki looked down to Uraraka on his right. "It's time for what we discussed earlier."

She hesitated for a moment, but nodded her head. "Right!" She reached with her hand and tapped both Todoroki and Kaminari with her fingertips, activating her quirk and making them all weightless. She took a deep breath and tapped herself, also feeling her feet ready to leave the ground. The nausea in her stomach started up slightly, but she swallowed hard and kept her gaze focused. "Done!"

Iida was shocked to suddenly feel Todoroki's weight suddenly vanish from behind him, only knowing he was there by the latter's feet in his hands. He couldn't help but grin to himself. Now that they were all weightless, he could move as fast as he wanted now. "Now I see what you had in mind."

Lowering his body, Iida's quirk began igniting as he readied himself. "All of you hold on tight. This is going to be a fast ride."

Kaminari raised his eyebrow in worry. "Wait, how fast? I don't do good wit- AHHHH!"

Tenya's jet legs catapulted him across the arena with the other three in tow. Bursting out from behind the ice, he carried his team over the grounds and whipping out from Katara's team's view momentarily before they caught sight of them once more.

"Woah, how are they moving so fast!?" Momo asked in shock as she tried to keep her eyes on them.

"It's Iida." Katara answered as she spun around watching her friend race across the stage. She brought the water above her head down onto her shoulders preparing for an attack.

"But how are they…" Midoriya's words froze when he saw Uraraka in tow, and her legs not touching the ground. "It's Uraraka's quirk! She erased their gravity so they are not weighing Iida down at all!"

"So as fast as Iida can move, they are able to as well…" Tokoyami glared as dark shadow outstretched its arms in front of him. "How troublesome."

Katara grunted as she saw Iida turn and stare right at her. She knew he was fast, and he would use that speed to his advantage. She noticed him change course and rush right towards them, forming multiple ice spikes above her head. "Here they come!"

The ice shot forward from her hands and at the incoming Tenya, but his speed was too much and he ducked to the right dodging them entirely. His agility pulled his teammates across the stage effortlessly, a grin forming on his face as he approached.

"You beat me during the race Katara, but I will not lose this one!" He yelled out and sprinted faster.

Glaring, Katara shot forth a thick stream of water down to the ground in front of them and formed a barricade of ice to stop his run. Todoroki however swung his right hand and sent out his own attack of ice shattering her wall, his column in fact forming a small ramp as Tenya sprinted up and leaped through the air towards them. Dark shadow extended out to try and grab them, but Kaminari smirked and reached out with his own hand shocking the shadow bird.

"With that electricity, dark shadow can't get near them!" Tokoyami grunted out in frustration.

"Pull him back, Tokoyami!" Momo yelled as she threw a net she created straight towards the incoming team. Before it could connect, Iida ignited his legs and catapulted his team through the air and down behind the waterbenders group.

"Watch your backs! Flip us around!" Katara commanded as she spun her body to face them. She threw a water whip out from her shoulder to catch Todoroki's arm to keep him from using his quirk, but Iida turned the groups angle so that it gave Kaminari a chance to reach up and grab the water with his hand. Katara's eyes went wide as she saw the electric user grin at her.

"Time for a little shock treatment!" Denki cheered out as a bright eruption of electricity erupted from his hand traveling up the water and engulfing Katara. Her body went stiff as the charge ran through her, the water she was controlling falling to the ground. The only thing she was able to do was scream out in pain.

"Katara!" Midoriya screamed in worry as he watched Katara slump down onto the group. The other two leaned back to help catch her from falling off, keeping her balance as she panted, the occasional jolt rocking through her making her shake.

Taking a deep breath, Uraraka reached up and tapped her fingers together. "Release!"

The others weight suddenly returned, bracing their feet as they readied to charge again. Todoroki saw the others trying to keep Katara up and knew this was his chance. "Lets get it now while we have the advantage."

"Katara, stay with us, come on!" Momo shook Katara trying to make her focus, but she then saw the other team approaching ahead. "They are coming back!"

Tokoyami grunted and brought dark shadow out once more. "With Katara unable to fight, they have the upper hand."

"That headband is mine." Todoroki demanded as his team charged forward, but as they approached, Uraraka's jaw dropped when she saw a hand extended outward, and a finger prepared to flick straight towards them.

"Deku?" Her eyes widened as she saw his eyes meet with hers.

"I'm sorry Uraraka…." Midoriya whispered to himself as his finger glowed. "I have to win this. Smash!"

The powerful gust erupting out from Midoriya's flick crashed right into Iida lifting him off the ground and pushing him and the others backwards. Todoroki saw the edge coming up fast behind them, quickly creating a barrier of ice as they smacked into it painfully but stopping there retreat. Looking back up, Uraraka shook her head to clear her dizziness before looking up in disbelief. For the first time knowing him, he had actually used his quirk against her, and now she felt the power it had. "Deku… so that's what your power is like…." she said to herself.

'HOLY COW, PEOPLE! CHECK OUT THAT POWER THAT CAME FROM MIDORIYA! TALK ABOUT BLOWING YOUR SOCKS OFF!"

From his seat, All Might furrowed his brow in worry at the display of power. 'Be careful Midoriya… if you hurt yourself too much, it will effect your performance later.'

Panting through the pain in his broken middle finger, Midoriya looked up to Katara in concern. "Hey, are you good now?"

While still shaken, Katara nodded. "I-I'm okay." she tried getting out before she clutched her arm to halt the shaking feeling she had.

"No you aren't…" Yaoyorozu corrected her as she helped push Katara back up straight. "The water conducted the electricity and made it feel worse for you."

"Oh, you don't say, huh?" Katara sarcastically grunted out as she clenched her fist, feeling as if a thousand needles were stabbing her hand at that moment. She took a deep breath and extended her fingers, feeling the pain slowly dissipate. "Thanks everyone, they had me for a second there."

Tokoyami furrowed his brow as he adjusted his grip. "It seems Kaminari's quirk is more difficult than we predicted. Dark shadow is not handling it well, and with your water its dangerous for you as well."

"I'll have to be smarter than that then…" Katara cursed at herself. "I have to keep the water from touching me if it goes to him next time." She then turned to see Midoriya's broken finger, waving her hand and gathering water to her palm and bringing it down onto his own hand, bringing a blush to the boys face.

"Hey, w-what are you doing?" he stuttered in shock before his eyes saw the glow emitting from the water, and some of the pain in his hand dissipating. As she pulled her hand away, he looked to see the majority of the bruising had vanished from his finger, leaving only a small hint of red left. "Wow. Thanks."

"It's not perfect, but will help you." Katara took a breath and brought more water up around her. "Now, we are keeping this score. We will do it together!"

Finally free from their ice, Kirishima sighed in relief. "Finally, my legs were starting to- OW!"

"Hurry up, Spiky hair!" Bakugo demanded as he started beating on the top of his front horses head. "We need that ten million!"

"Oh, you class A members are so one track minded."

Bakugo's eyes widened as he felt his headband pulled off from behind. "What the!?" He spun around to see Monoma spinning the band he had just stolen on his finger while he was carried passed. "Give me that back, you smug asshole!"

"Oh this? Why do you want this? I thought you were going to get ten million? But you simple minded class A people forgot you don't need the top score to go on. Just enough to qualify." Monoma smirked as he watched Bakugo grit his teeth together. "You were so caught up trying to be number one, you let your guard down and gave up your own points. Only an amateur would ever do something so pathetic."

"A… what?" Bakugo's forehead vein began pulsing at the words he was just called. "An… amateur, you say?"

"Of course. I mean… coming from the kid captured by that sludge monster last year, you should know what it feels like to lose."

"Hey, that ain't cool!" Kirishima bared his teeth at the smug blonde. "You think making fun of him for that is going to make him lose his cool? Well I'll tell you that-

"Kirishima…"

Hearing the deep growl above him froze Kirishima's words as he turned and looked up to what looked like a demon ready to rip it's prey apart. "Oh shit…"

"Before we take down Deku and stupid hair loops, we are gonna kill this class B prick and get our points back, you got it?"

While the rest of Bakugo's team sweated at the sight of their team rider, Monoma simply shrugged and smiled. "Well, Let's see what you can do then, sir."

As the other teams began breaking free of their icy shackles, Shoji ran across the field as his webbed arms covered his back containing the two riders on his team. He glanced around trying to decide which route would be the best. "If we hurry and rush towards the two top teams, we may be able to sneak in and-

"AHHHH! This is horrible!"

The voice underneath his arms cried out in horror cunfusing the multi-armed teen. "Mineta, what's wrong?"

"My headband! It's gone!" Mineta screamed out in panic.

"What!?" Shoji exclaimed, "How!? You were underneath my arms!"

"Ribbit. You suck Mineta." Tsu growled next to the ball headed boy.

As the trio began arguing what had happened, a single vine carried the headband over and up to Kendo on top of her team. "Nice, Shiozaki. We got some bonus points at least." she grinned and slipped the band over her head and onto her neck.

Tetsutetsu snickered from the from of his team. "Sweet. With that and the other points we got, we should be safe I hope."

"Well, just to make sure…" Kendo's eyes trailed over to the two class A teams battling it out, a large smile stretching across her face. "Let's get that big one to guarantee it."

"WOW, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN QUITE THE SHOW! WITH ONLY FOUR MINUTES LEFT ITS COMING DOWN TO THE WIRE!"

The crowd cheered on as the match was getting towards the end. Many of the lower ranking teams had given up trying to steal points from the top leaders and tried to salvage what they could from the others near them. Partly was to get some dignity and reclaim points they had stolen from them, but the main reason was many saw the top teams and knew they could not even get close to them even if they tried.

Katara blew out of her mouth as she wiped the sweat off her brow. For the last seven minutes her team had been in a cat and mouse game with Todoroki's team. Dodging and evading the other's attacks, countering their abilities as they kept distance with each other. She glanced down to her teammates and saw they were becoming worn down. Midoriya was now sporting three broken fingers, his right hand shaking as he fought through the pain. Tokoyami was fighting to keep dark shadow out much longer, his quirk becoming frightened and scared of getting hit by more lightning attacks. Even Momo was beginning to pant, her quirk draining her energy from the items she had been creating. There was something bulging out from her backside, but she had chosen to keep it hidden for now.

"Just hold on, you guys…" Katara yelled out to hype up their morale. "We still have our score. Just a few minutes left!"

"Don't worry, Katara. I'll finish this to the end!" Midoriya clenched his fist, ignoring the pain coursing through his hand. Momo however glanced over to this swollen fingers in concern. Even with Katara's healing she could see the broken bones pressing against his skin causing her to worry.

"Midoriya… if you keep doing that you won't be able to-

"If I let something like this stop me… then how could I ever call myself a hero!?" Midoriya screamed out in defiance, the look of determination sending a chill through Yaoyorozu's body. She nodded back and readied herself.

"You're right. Let's do this."

Todoroki's team wasn't fairing much better either. Uraraka was struggling to continue using her quirk without reaching her limit, and Kaminari's electricity was starting to make his head spin. He glanced down to Iida who looked up to him as well. "If we are to get that band, we need to get in and get back out quick."

"There is a way…" Iida looked back towards Katara and sighed. "I can get you that band… but after I use my technique I will be useless. It's a one time shot so you cannot miss."

"What?" Todoroki looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I have a technique I have not shown to anyone yet, but it's only good for about ten seconds. If you can grab that band, we will win this thing."

Thinking for a few seconds, Todoroki nodded down to him. "Uraraka, your quirk again."

Uraraka panted several times before nodding. "I'll… I'll try." she reached over and touched the two behind Iida and herself once more.

Seeing them readying themselves again, Katara gathered several blocks of ice and bended them back into water over her head. "Get ready again. Here they come."

Momo nodded, but then her eyes caught sight of a mass of green rushing towards them. She looked over and felt her mouth drop at the vines shooting right at her. "Hey, look out!"

"what?" Katara went wide eyed when she saw vines as well, swiping her hands and slashing through the wave of green coming towards them revealing Kendo's team charging straight towards them.

"Time for us to take that headband, Katara!" Kendo yelled out.

"WOW LOOK AT THIS CHANGE! TEAM KENDO HAS JOINED THE FRAY WITH KATARA'S AND TODOROKI'S TEAMS!"

"You too?" Katara glared in annoyance, readying her water to slash again before she yelped out as her team suddenly dropped lower. "What are you doing?"

"It's not us, we're sinking!" Midoriya shouted in shock as his legs were now falling through the soft ground.

Tetsutetsu laughed as he saw them stuck from his teammates quirk. "Nice one, Honenuki. Keep them pinned!"

"Got it!" Juzo responded as he ran through the softening ground he created.

"I'll hold us up, give me a second!" Momo shouted as she created several grappling lines and throwing them into the solid ground to her left.

"Work us out, I'll keep them back." Katara yelled out and shot the water forward and formed an ice wall between them and the incoming team, but was shocked as Tetsutetsu rammed his body straight through it, his skin now hardened steel.

"That isn't gonna do a thing against me!" the hardened teen screamed in defiance and pushed forward much to Katara's annoyance.

While the two teams were distracted, they didn't notice the loud hiss from Tenya's quirk igniting, his legs shooting out a bright stream of blue fire. "We have one shot at this. Do not miss that headband!"

While momo and Midoriya worked and pulled the team out of the ground, Katara and Tokoyami used their powers to try and keep the others back. Tetsutetsu's quirk though was allowing him to break through most of her bending however, and when Katara tried shooting water to freeze his feet, a wall of vines grew to take the brunt of her attack. Dark shadow also charged forward with his claws clenched, only for Kendo's massive hand to land a powerful punch to its body.

"You are not getting this!" Katara brought her hands up creating a large supply of ice spikes above her. "We are going to-

"Recipro Burst!"

A gust of wind whipped passed the waterbenders face cutting off her words. The others on her team and Kendo's group were also left in silence from the air current pulling their hair aside. They all turned to their left to see Todoroki's team at the other end of the arena stage, the smoke rising out from Iida's exhaust pipes as the other three members stared in silent shock to the speed they just experienced.

"How… how in the world did he-

Katara's heart rate jumped when she saw a single headband hanging from Todoroki's hand. Her fingers reached up and felt her forehead and gasped out in shock.

Hers was gone.

"Woah, how the hell did he do that!?" Tetsutetsu said in disbelief.

Mic stared open mouthed for a few moments before he jumped out of his seat. "WHAT WAS THAT!? WITH ONLY ONE MINUTE LEFT, TEAM TODOROKI BURST ACROSS THE STAGE AND SWIPED THE TEN MILLION POINTS!"

Katara sat in disbelief as she locked eyes with Iida. His breath coming in pants but holding a smirk across his face. "Sorry I never told you about this move. But I did tell you I would prove myself today, Katara."

"We have to get it back!" Katara yelled out as her team pulled itself out of the ground. "If we don't get it back, we are done. Come on!"

Kendo glared as she saw Todoroki slipping the headband onto his neck. "Let's go. We are going to take that for ourselves!"

Seeing the other teams charging towards them, Todoroki glared out and readied himself. "Uraraka, lighten us again."

His request however went on deaf ears, as Uraraka was close to hurling as she covered her mouth. Grunting in annoyance, Todoroki leaned forward onto Iida. "Get us out of here."

"Todoroki… I can't." Iida grimaced and looked down to his sputtering exhaust pipes. "My engines are overheated now."

"What?" Shoto looked up in shock as the other two teams closed in. He then gritted his teeth and turned down to Kaminari. "You need to take them all out. Unleash your quirk fully."

"What!? That will take you out as well!" Kaminari yelled out. "I can't control it like that!"

"Just do it, or they will overtake us."

"Why don't you use your-

"I said do it!" Todoroki yelled out shocking the others. "Just unleash everything. It will be cold so hold on."

"Come on, we're almost out of time!" Katara shouted as her team charged forward, bending the water over her shoulders. Her eyes widened as she saw the electric current rising up from Kaminari's body just as Todoroki created a thick sheet of ice between his other two teammates. "Something's happening, what are they-

"Everyone, hurry and use this!" Momo reached under her shirt and pulled out the item she was hiding, flipping it open and revealing the large insulated blanket. "Cover up, now!"

Not waiting to think, Katara pulled the sheet up over the others as the bright lightning formed in the arena.

"Indiscriminate shock; 1.3 MILLION VOLTS!"

The blinding attack erupted outward striking everything in sight, lighting up Kendo's team like a christmas tree. The class B students howled out in pain before they slumped to the ground, luckily being underneath Kendo and keeping her from touching the ground.

"So bright!" Tenya yelled out as he shielded his eyes from the flash, waiting to move until it dissipated.

Shoto uncovered his eyes as well as the electric arcs finally faded, looking over to Kaminari through the ice shield drooling and giggling to himself. "You really do fry yourself after an attack like that." he said annoyingly as he melted the ice between his teammates. He looked out to see the one team out of commission, but then felt his heart skip a beat when a thick sheet fell to the side revealing Katara's team unhurt.

"No…"

"I knew of Kaminari's final attack from the USJ," Momo smirked at the shocked teen, "So I made this earlier just in case."

Katara grinned at her friends planning. "Good work, Yaoyorozu. Now lets get those points back!"

Shoto's eyes widened as their team charged his own, swiping his hand and shooting out a wall of ice. Katara however simply waved her own hands and bended the ice out of the way clearing the path for her group. Glaring, he shot another stream of ice forward, but once again it was bended out from its path and lifted behind Katara.

"Todoroki, your ice isn't working! You need to use your fire!" Iida demanded.

Todoroki grinded his teeth at his words, thrusting his arm forward creating more ice to stop the incoming team. "I will not let him use me…" he sneered out as created more ice blocking out the others. Suddenly from the right, dark shadow shot out around the ice and barreled right towards him, forcing Shoto to unleash another barrage of ice out encasing the dark bird in its spot. He then saw Katara's water covered hand forming into an ice pike.

"You are not beating us, Todoroki!" Katara's arm shot forward ready to strike. "We are not giving up!"

Unable to turn his body fast enough, Todoroki panicked as he knew he would not create ice fast enough to stop her. Even if he did, she would divert it away and use it herself. His teammates were down, unable to do anything to evade at this point. He felt trapped, nothing left to defend himself with. He didn't even think as his left hand raised up to block, the bright flames crawling across his skin and erupting outward.

The sudden change caused Katara's eyes to widen, seeing him use it for the first time, but she pushed passed her fear and swung the ice into his hand and knocking it out of the way. Shoto's breath caught in his throat when his eyes followed up his hand and to the fire dancing on his hand. "What… what am I doing?"

Katara saw his distraction, her eyes locking back onto the headbands dangling around his neck. 'I can't tell which one is mine. So…' she shot her hand forward and grabbed the entire stack. "I'll take all of them!"

With a hard tug, the waterbender pulled back and ripped both of the bands from Todoroki's neck and leaned back as her team ran by. She looked down to the numbers, her mouth forming a large smile when she saw the long number over one of the strips.

"We got it… we got it!"

"WHAAAAT!? WITH ONLY SECONDS REMAINING, TEAM KATARA SWIPED BACK THE TEN MILLION BAND! SO CRAZY!"

The crowd roared out as the scoreboard suddenly flipped around to the change on the field, followed by the arena's timer going off moments later.

"That's the end of the calvary battle!" Midnight yelled out, bringing on another loud cheer from the audience.

"Katara, you got the score back!" Momo cheered as she helped set Katara on the ground.

"That was amazing. Good job!" Midoriya added.\

"I am truly impressed. You did well." Tokoyami nodded in agreement.

Katara smiled but shook her head. "It wasn't just me. You all helped me. We did this together."

While the four of them cheered ecstatically about their success, Iida clenched his fists in frustration with himself. He looked down to his legs in anger, his quirk still inactive from his burst earlier. "Damn it… am I that much more inadequate than everyone?" He turned to the others to apologize for his failure, bowing his head low. "Please forgive me. If I was able to-

"Bleh!"

Iida gasped as Uraraka emptied her stomach over his shoes, his arms flailing wildly as he stepped back. "Uraraka! How could you!?"

"S-sorry Iida…" Uraraka groaned, her stomach doing somersaults inside from her quirk.

"Uh heh. Heh heh heh!" Kaminari mumbled incoherently as he gave thumbs up to nobody.

While his teammates gathered themselves, Todoroki stood alone as his eyes stared at his left hand. He didn't care about the score he had at this point. He could only focus on the stupid mistake he had done. He clenched his fist and stared up into the crowd at his father, the mans cold eyes staring back at him. He glared back to the ground, cursing at himself for breaking the one thing he always swore he would do.

"NOW THAT WAS AN INSANE EVENT RIGHT THERE FOLKS! NOW WE HAVE FOUND OUR TEAMS THAT WILL QUALIFY FOR THE FINAL EVENT! IN FIRST PLACE, WE HAVE TEAM KATARA!"

Midoriya couldn't help but grin. He didn't worry about the fingers on his hand, he would just head to recovery girl real fast. He turned to congratulate his teammates once more, only to come face to face with Yaoyorozu standing just a few feet away. "Uh…" his face burned red as she turned to look at him as well.

Momo's also blushed slightly, but she quickly took a breath and smiled. "Good job out there. We did good together."

'Y-yeah w-we did d-didn't we?" Midoriya awkwardly chuckled rubbing his head.

IN SECOND PLACE, WE HAVE THE EXPLOSIVE FIRE CRACKER GROUP THAT MADE A CRAZY COMEBACK, TEAM BAKUGO!"

Hearing their nickname made Mina roll her eyes. "Couldn't we get a cooler name than that?"

"Eh, whatevs. At least we scored second, that's pretty good!" Sero grinned and clenched his fist.

"Well, we aren't all happy about that placement." Kirishima groaned as he turned to see Bakugo hunched on the ground.

"How did Deku and hair loops beat me!? FUCK!"

"IN THIRD PLACE, WE GOT SOME CLASS B FACES JOINING US NOW. WE GOT TEAM KENDO!"

Still slumped on the ground, Tetsutetsu growled in anger at the outcome. "This sucks, we looked like idiots in the end!"

Grunting as well, Kendo blew the ponytail hanging in front of her face before laying on the ground. "Whatever… we made it at least."

"AND HERE IN FOURTH PLACE, QUITE A SURPRISE TURN OF EVENTS HAPPENED FOR THEM, BUT THEY SQUEAKED BY! TEAM TODOROKI! THESE ARE YOUR FINALISTS!"

The loud cheer from the audience rang through the air as the crowd began chatting among themselves. Many began whispering about which students were catching there attention, with many of course talking about the son of Endeavor. But more and more began talking about the surprise of the festival, the one who had taken first in the first two events with her amazing abilities. This tournament had taken quite the turn for all of those watching it. And it was still far from over for them.

Midoriya walked through the others as they began making their way towards the lunch area, he noticed Uraraka hunched over and clutching her stomach. "U-Uraraka! You okay?"

She turned and smiled up to him. "I'm fine, Deku. Just a little tired is all. Congrats out there, you did really good."

Blushing, Midoriya rubbed his head at the compliment. "I-it wasn't just me. If Tokoyami, Katara and Yaoyorozu didn't help me I would have not have made it. You were the one amazing. That was so cool what you and Iida did together with your quirk."

Uraraka frowned. "Not really. I was useless in the end of the match. Katara was sure something out there."

"She is pretty amazing. And Yaoyorozu is very smart too, how she saved us in the end." Midoriya added, not even noticing what he was saying as Uraraka's eyebrow twitched.

"Yeah... amazing." Uraraka forced a smile to the word choice he used, looking over to Momo walking by and...

"Hey, where is Katara?"

Far away from the crowds and noise, Katara stood across from Todoroki at the end of a hall leaving the arena. The young waterbender stared across the semi lit corridor as the other simply stared at her, his eyes never leaving hers for even a moment. The silence in the air was only broken by the occasional small breeze whipping into the hall every few minutes or so. And it made it more confusing all together that Todoroki had whispered in her ear after the last event that he needed to speak to her alone.

'I can only imagine what he as to say to me at this point.' She grumbled to herself. As she stared at him however, he only stared back in silence. Leaning back against the wall, Katara rubbed her arm awkwardly while she continued waiting for him to finally speak.

And yet the silence continued.

She gave an annoyed sigh before looking away. "Look, you're mad I beat you. I get it. Let's just head back so we can-

"You overwhelmed me out there, Katara..." he cut her off as he looked down to his left hand. "I had no other option left at that moment… and you forced me to break my promise to myself."

She stared at him in confusion to what he said, but by the way he glared to his hand, she could sense the anger flowing out from his eyes, something deep inside clawing its way to the surface. He took a deep inhale before he spoke again.

"I made a pact that I will never use my fathers power in battle against another no matter what. I have to keep that promise for someone." He looked back up to her staring at him, his gaze softening just slightly. "I told you before that defeating you wasn't personal, but something I have to do. I need him to see me succeed without it."

His words were laced with anger and hatred… but Katara could feel they were not directed to her. And by the words he said not only now but the time she confronted him at school, it was truly obvious where all of his fury was from. Her mind pictured the flaming face of Endeavor once more, his cold glare staring right at her. She gripped her forearm tight as she remembered those few instances talking to him, and just how much she already despised him. She couldn't imagine what it was for others living with him.

"Todoroki…" she wasn't sure if she should ask again, but she had to know. "What did he do for you to hate him so much?"

His eyes drifted away for a moment before he closed them and speaking once more. "Have you ever heard of… quirk marraiges?"

"What?" she questioned. "I… I haven't."

"The idea was made for people to get together solely for the purpose of creating children with powerful quirks. That is what my father did… he bought my mothers relatives for her hand at marriage to get his hands on her quirk. Once he did… all he cared about was his ambition."

His words began eating at Katara's stomach making her sick. She remembered the arranged marriage practices in the north pole of her old home, seeing something like that also occurred here. She also remembered Endeavor saying how he "made is kid" differently, now seeing from Todoroki she wasn't mistaken on what she heard.

"Your dad, did he do…" she stopped her words as he looked back at her, but her staring at the scar on his face told him everything.

"My father is a monster. All my memories of my childhood are filled with the horrible way he treated us. And… my mother." Todoroki felt his left hand trembling, bringing it up as he stared at his palm. "All I can remember is seeing her always crying."

He clenched his teeth and brought his hand over the scar, reliving that fateful night. "I remember her calling my left side unbearable… she said that before pouring boiling water on my face."

Katara's eyes shot open as she gasped out. Her hand came up to cover her mouth at hearing the act, not expecting that is where he got hurt. She had assumed that like Zuko he was burned by his father. But this… this was even worse.

Shoto's fingers drug down his face as he looked back to Katara, his eyes filled with pain and determination. "I refuse to be a pawn for that scumbag. That is why I will win this festival with just my mother's power. And that is why I must defeat you, to shove his own failure in his face. I don't care if your own quirk works against mine. I will win this today without his power entirely."

Finishing his words, Todoroki turned and left the hallway, leaving Katara sitting in silence. She didn't know what to say to him at the moment, but now she finally understood why he was so cold and distant. The scar, his horrid father, and a damaged childhood; it all reminded of her of the friend she knew back on her own world, someone who was so similar in so many ways. But there was something that even Zuko had that Todoroki never did. It was the one thing that kept her old friend from losing who he was and following a darker path.

Family.

Even for a short time, Zuko remembered how much his mother cared for him and was always there to keep him safe. Her love and comfort brought warmth to his lonely heart. He also had his uncle, more of a father than his own dad ever was to him. He had others besides the firelord to bring happiness and guidance to his life. But from what she could tell with Todoroki, he didn't have anything like that. His own mother was the one to burn him, hurt by someone who could have been a source of love for him. Now instead of that, all he had was Endeavor's method of child raising.

He was alone.

The midday break seemed to go by in a blur for Katara, unable to really focus on anything. She should have been excited since she had won her last event, but her mind was too disjointed to find any pleasure for herself. Even while eating her lunch she could barely taste the food she swallowed, her body seemingly working on auto pilot. For everything in her mind was focused on the conversation she had. Her heart clenched as she thought back to what she was told in that hallway, told of why he was the way he was. To some they would not understand what Todoroki was going through, but Katara knew all to well. She had seen this before in her own friends, and… in herself.

The dark memories of her past continued to eat at her thoughts even as she made her way back into the arena. She blindly followed the other students as they gathered beneath the podium where Midnight stood. The only thing that snapped her out of her trance was as she kept walking, she bumped into Iida from behind.

"Oh, sorry about that." Katara said shaking her head. She looked up to him, but was surprised he never even turned to look at her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Katara." Iida responded, still not turning back to her. "Congratulations on your victory."

"Thanks?" Katara raised an eyebrow to his answer, sensing the tension in his voice. Before she could say anything, Midnight spoke out to the crowd.

"Congratulations to all of you wondrous competitors. While only the final sixteen move on to the final event, we will have fun activities for the rest of you to compete in while we prepare for the matches. Now, the finalists shall come and draw your positions!"

One by one the students who cleared the last challenge walked up to the box Midnight held, drawing from the hole their spot and dropping it in a slot nearby. Katara waited her turn as she watched Tenya march his way up the steps and pull his spot from the box. As he turned and came down the steps, his eyes found their way to her, the two of them not breaking gaze as they passed each other on the grass. If no one knew they were close friends, some would have thought they disliked each other by the glare Katara received. Frowning to herself, Katara turned back up and made her way up the steps, drawing her own tag and dispensing it before going back down. As she looked back up, her eyes met with Todoroki as well. the two silently locked gazes for several seconds before Midnight snapped her whip.

"Now that you have delivered your positions, here is the bracket for the final event of the first years festival!"

The large digital screen popped up above the podium, causing the students to finally see their opponents. Some were excited, while others had either anger or shock.

"You've got to be kidding me!" both Kirishima and Tetsutetsu yelled out in frustration.

Midoriya swallowed hard as he looked over to the skull faced teen of class B, unsure how we was going to deal with his first match. "He was the one who made us sink in the calvary battle. I'll have to be careful with him." His eyes then widened when he noticed the last match, looking over to Yaoyorozu.

She had also seen her opponent, feeling a shiver run up her spine as she gripped her arm. "I… have to face him first?"

More shocked than anyone however was Katara, her hands clenching in a mix of amazement and disappointment to what she had to face.

"You can't be serious…" She whispered out as she stared to the bracket board.

Denki Kaminari vs Ibara Shiozake

Kairi Katara vs Tenya Iida

Izuku Midoriya vs Juzo Honenuki

Hanta Sero vs Shoto Todoroki

Itsuka Kendo vs Mina Ashido

Fumigake Tokoyami vs Ochaco Uraraka

Ejiro Kirishima vs Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

Momo Yaoyorozu vs Katsuki Bakugo

Katara's heart skipped a beat as she turned to see Iida staring directly at her, both of them ignoring everything else around them. Neither of them paid attention to who their opponents could have been later, for they only saw what was happening first.

They had to fight each other.

Notes: Uh oh... personal struggles and battles coming soon! Katara having to face someone close to her? How will this go for them?

Till next time!