Chaos.
That's a good word to describe the students' mad dash to team up with people they think will help them win. Darting this way and that, shouting, pleading, the whole nine yards. All that's missing is some aggressive Quirk use, but that'd just result in disqualification so no one tries it.
Byleth watches on as the students try to form their teams, and she can already see some interesting combinations forming. For one, Flayn had immediately made a beeline for Shinso and convinced him to join up with her. With his skill in stealthy movement and a powerful Quirk that no student had seen yet, he's quite the advantageous teammate, not that many would pick up on that. Byleth smiles slightly to herself, proud of her student for recognizing the strategic value of a teammate like Shinso.
Iida with Midoriya, Uraraka, and the Support student Hatsume. Todoroki with Yaoyorozu, Kaminari, and Jiro. Bakugou with Kirishima, Ashido, and Sero.
A wide variety of teams are formed, with some predictable combinations and others that are quite interesting. For instance, Flayn and Shinso have added Hagakure and a 1-B student named Komori to their team. A small smile plays at Byleth's lips when she sees this. There's no doubt in her mind that Flayn will win this round.
Soon, the timer runs out and the teams are officially formed. Looking over the combinations, Byleth nods to herself. This would certainly be an interesting round.
Byleth taps the Sublime Creator Sword against her platform again, "Very well then! These will be your teammates for this round! You will either achieve victory as a unit, or face collective defeat! Remember, only four teams can move forward into the final round! Fight your best! Use every strategy you can think of!"
Byleth raises the sword and brings it down once more, silently bemoaning the additional hole in the surface. This time, as the clang of bone against metal rings out, the stadium begins to shift as structures rise from the ground.
Once the movement stops, Byleth calls out again, "These will be your bases for the coming event! You will be guided to one momentarily, and then the round will begin! I wish you all the best of luck, and remember-", Byleth's eyes take on a slight glow as a hint of excitement colors her voice, "Plus Ultra!"
With another tap against the platform, (and another hole in the surface) Byleth dismisses the students to go prepare for the event. After robotic guides bring all of the teams to their bases, a holographic countdown appears to show the students how long they have until the event begins.
As the countdown starts, Byleth calls out again, "Oh yes, it would seem I forgot to mention something. If someone manages to have one of the top five from the Labyrinth captured when the round ends, that team will earn an additional 100 points! Some battles can be won with a single decisive blow to the enemy, so those at the top become high value targets! Take care to balance this gamble with your main objectives, or else the enemy might just turn the tide on you!"
Before that tidbit can fully sink in, the countdown runs out as Byleth shouts, "Begin!"
Several of the more hasty students immediately rush out from their bases, armed with at least a couple flags. Each team had been given 30 to use of the course of this event, and they'd each be worth 10 points if they managed to plant them in an enemy base. However, there would be a 5 point deduction for each one destroyed (even allowing a team to go into the negatives).
Byleth can hardly contain her excitement. A (relatively) safe game for the students that revolves around her specialty? She can think of nothing better for the Festival. Perhaps at some point she can get Seteth to help her recreate the game for a class, just to really test their strategic muscles (and absolutely not for Byleth's amusement, even if she would have an incredible amount of fun outwitting and crushing the opposing team).
It doesn't even take a full minute for the fighting to begin, and of course the one to spark the first conflict is Bakugou. He blasts his way across the field and over towards Midoriya's base, but has to alter his trajectory as one of Hatsume's weighted nets is fired his way.
Before he can make another attempt, Iida charges out and delivers a harsh kick that pushes Bakugou back. Before Bakugou can recover, a strong blade of wind slams into his side and throws him off of his feet. Flayn's team has joined the fray, their leader calling forth another blade of wind to attack Bakugou with. However, Sero intervenes and pulls his teammate out of harm's way.
Midoriya, under the influence of Uraraka's Quirk, leaps across the field as green energy crackles around his body. Landing in front of Bakugou's sparsely defended base, Midoriya swiftly dashes in and places a pair of flags before Ashido can react. His excursion complete Midoriya flees the enemy base and dashes across the battlefield, dodging enemy attacks along the way.
Seeing this, Byleth begins brainstorming changes to Midoriya's training schedule. The brawler training will certainly help, but perhaps with his newfound speed slipping in some Fodlan Assassin lessons would do him some good. Obviously she can't teach him the lethality of an Assassin, but the tactics and combat style… oh yes, that could lead to some very interesting outcomes.
Refocusing on the current event, Byleth watches as Bakugou hurtles through the air in Midoriya's direction. Seeing his classmate coming, Midoriya jumps over Bakugou and uses him as a launchpad to propel himself back towards his own base.
Byleth will never admit out loud just how entertaining the sight is to her.
Inspired by the boldness of the three teams that rushed in, the other students have taken to the field and are engaging with each other now. They're so focused on battling each other, and a Komori whose spores are spreading like crazy due to Flayn, that they fail to notice Hagakure and Shinso sneaking around. The two successfully invade base after base, planting flags across all of them. By the time they're done, all 30 of their team's flags have been placed, 2 in each enemy base.
Byleth is quite impressed by how brazen the two of them are with it. Hagakure is practically sprinting across the battlefield, relying entirely on her natural invisibility to keep her hidden (Byleth can only track her presence through years of experience). Meanwhile, Shinso is climbing the bases and leaping around, slipping inside undetected and using his Quirk to talk any defenders into letting him past. If anyone needs Assassin training more than Midoriya, it's certainly those two. Hell, she might just ask Eraserhead to take over that area of the training since it was his area of expertise. She also makes a mental note to petition Nezu to transfer Shinso to the Hero Course, the boy is clearly talented.
The battle rages on, teams warring over every inch and advantage they can gain. Some of the clever students have also resorted to underhanded tactics, throwing up the terrain around them to blind their opponents, or finding other ways to debilitate them.
Byleth is so proud, especially since most of the students fighting dirty are ones she's taken time to teach personally.
Checking the timer, Byleth calls out, voice projecting over the noise, "Five minutes remain!"
Hearing this, the struggle becomes more desperate as the teams who are behind fight to claw themselves to a better placement. Even the teams who are ahead continue the fight, not wanting to risk losing their lead. At least, that must be the reason behind Shinso's gambit.
He had snuck into Midoriya's base, one of the most heavily defended thanks to Hatsume, and now he's leading Hatsume away while she's under the influence of his Quirk. Guiding her across the field, Shinso brings her into his team's base. An official capture, the first one of the event, and it was one of the high value targets as well.
Oh yes, Shinso is getting in the Hero Course even if she has to fight Nezu over it. After a showing like this she can probably get Aizawa on her side with this too.
The timer is counting down closer and closer to zero, and the fighting is beginning to wind down. At the last minute, quite literally, Midoriya's team notices that Hatsume is gone. Panicking, they run back out in an attempt to find her, but Flayn had put a stop to that before any attempt even began. Flayn's base is surrounded by a windstorm, cutting off any outside access.
The timer ticks down to zero, and Byleth calls the event to a close. Flags are gathered and counted, footage is reviewed, and points are sorted. In first place, unsurprisingly, is Flayn's team. In second is Todoroki's team, whose tactics were somewhat generic but the sheer power backing them up carried them through. In third is team Midoriya, who suffered from the point deductions of a captured teammate and multiple lost flags, but they still managed to pull through. In fourth, the final team to make it through, is team Bakugou. Bakugou doesn't seem happy about the result, but he isn't loudly raging about it so progress has certainly been made with his anger management.
These are the four teams advancing to the final event. This will certainly be an… explosive finale for the Sports Festival.
A/N: Oh boy. Finally got this written out, but I'm kinda iffy on it. If you feel like something could be made better I'd love to hear your thoughts, otherwise I'll see you all around. Bye