Chapter 10: Changing the Rules
Izuku pushed off, immediately hooking a left, noting some of the teams who had begun to bore down on them.
"Todoroki," Izuku commanded, "Hold them off!"
Todoroki grunted, planting his right foot backward, towards the crowd of people bearing down on Team Shinso, ice beginning to seep across his body. "Don't assume you get to order me around."
Nevertheless, Todoroki unleashed a massive wall of ice, separating the crowd from their team.
"Good," Izuku grunted, turning his attention fully to the silver haired boy and his team, "Now, time for an experiment."
Izuku raises his left arm, turning the dial low, and putting his thumb on the switch. He aims his hand towards the silver boy, but then lowers it, instead pointing his arm down at the legs of the front horse.
Izuku watches as Ginji closes his eyes, and shouts "Shinso, close your eyes!"
He doesn't know if Shinso obeys, but then a bright silver light emanates from Ginji's palms, radiating into a blinding wave. The lenses built into the helmet immediately dim, allowing Izuku to see the group in front of him. He sees as the front horse of Ginji's team begins to rub his eyes, blinking rapidly, while Ginji's eyes remain closed.
Exactly as he thought.
Izuku flipped the switch, and he felt the familiar hum in his left gauntlet, as a small blast of energy shot out, striking the now blinded frontman of Team Ginji in the leg. The blast didn't do much damage, but it did have some force behind it, causing the boy's leg to slip out from under him, and their team to collapse. Ginji flipped forward off of the horse, falling down and tumbling through the dirt.
"With one move, Team Ginji was eliminated by Team Shinso!"
Izuku ignored the announcement from Present Mic, instead taking the opportunity to look up at the point total on the jumbotron again.
10,008,540
"I knew it."
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"Wait, so your plan is to remove points from the game?"
"Sort of," Izuku says, pointing up to the scoreboard, "See, everyone assumes this game is a normal free for all…but that isn't really true." His hand raises, gesturing to Team Bakugo, sitting at just over 10 million points. "With the inclusion of the 10 million headband, the game becomes more like King of the Hill, with one team holding the majority of the points, while the rest run around with peanuts in comparison."
Izuku turns back to his team, now looking at him with scepticism instead of anger, and continues. "In that situation, we are easy pickings. Bakugo will definitely come for us, with me and Todoroki on the same team, and everyone else will see us as an easy target. With the 10 million in play, the competition becomes a lot more predictable."
"But," Izuku continues, looking towards the R-Rated Hero, absentmindedly picking at her nails while the teams get ready, "My mind keeps coming back to something Midnight said when announcing the rules.
'The only rule is that the rider can't touch the ground, or else your team is out'
But what does that really mean? " Izuku muses, more to himself than anyone else. "What happens to your points if your team is eliminated?"
Kaminari chimes in, "Maybe your points go to the team that eliminated you?"
"Or," Izuku says, turning to face the group again, "Maybe the points are taken out of the game…otherwise, why have global points total at all?"
Todoroki huffs impatiently, "Is there a point to all this or are you just playing teacher?"
Izuku rolls his eyes under his mask, but continues. "The point is, if the latter is true, then there is a really simple way to solve all of our problems in one move." Izuku grins, "And all we need to do is get the 10 million headband."
Shinso rolls his eyes, throwing his arms into the air. "Didn't we just go over why that is a bad idea? You just said we already have a target on our backs! How is holding the 10 million headband going to solve that?"
"Oh," Izuku says, smugly, "I didn't say we would keep it…"
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"Alright, Todoroki," Izuku says, "Lower the wall…let's spice things up."
Todoroki rolls his eyes, but obeys, using his power to shatter the wall, causing people to immediately turn over to their team, and start to rush them. One team, however, stands out, as they charge ahead of the pack. The sounds of popping explosions echoing out, joined by the shouting of Bakugo as he rushes them.
"Well, looks like you were right," Shinso states, bluntly, "That Bakugo guy is coming right for us…and he looks pissed."
"Yeah," Izuku grunts, feeling the tingling of his stump underneath the shoulder cap, "That's his default, if I am being honest…but it certainly makes things easier." He looks back up at Shinso, "You think you got this?"
Shinso smirks, "If he is really as much of an asshole as you say, then this will be a cakewalk."
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"Ok," Shinso begins, stretching an arm out, "Let's pretend for a minute…that this plan works…we still have the problem of actually getting the headband."
"Oh, that's easy," Izuku then pointed a metal finger at Shinso's chest, " You are going to get it."
Shinso blinked once, twice, before backpedalling, looking up at Midoriya with disbelief. "W-what?! Are you out of your mind? How am I supposed to do that?!"
Izuku looks over at the blonde in question, "Like I said, Bakugo will likely come straight at us, so getting to him isn't the problem. Once he does, though, you are gonna take the reins, and get him under your control." Izuku shrugs, turning back to the group, "It shouldn't be hard to get him under , he is aggressive, narcissistic and an egomaniac."
"But what if that isn't enough?" Shinso still panics lightly, "You seem to know this guy, you got anything that might get him to bite?"
Izuku seems to ponder for a moment, before leaning down to Shinso.
"Well…there is one thing…"
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By now, Bakugo had closed in on the group, pulling up alongside Team Shinso, and igniting a loud explosion with his palm. However, instead of going for the headband wrapped around Shinso's neck, he seems to aim towards the armoured figure in front of him, unleashing a blast onto the faceplate of the armour.
His vision obscures with smoke, and for a moment, Bakugo smirks, revelling in the power behind that explosion. But then a large metal arm reaches out, and punches Bakugo directly in the nose. He sees stars, and feels a throbbing pain in his face as the smoke clears, and Bakugo sees the quirkless student, still armoured, looking at him, with not a scratch on him.
"You think after everything you did to me, that that would hurt me?"
Bakugo saw red, and zeroed in on Izuku, priming another explosion, but was stalled by someone gripping his shirt, and leaning close.
"So…you're Kacchan , right?"
Bakugo's mind stops, as white hot rage bubbles under his skin, expressing itself with the crackle of explosions in his palms. He whirls around, towards the purple haired extra who leans away from him, and begins to shout.
"Don't you ever call me that!"
The extra smirks, and begins to tap his chest with his index finger, and Bakugo feels his mind start to slip away from him, as his body falls away from him, leaving him lost in a void. He tries to struggle against this, and through his hazy vision, he sees the purple haired kid tapping his chest.
That fucker !
He tries to wrench himself out of his control, but finds that the more he struggles, the heavier he feels, slipping down further and further, like quicksand. Then he hears a voice echo through his mind.
Give us the headband.
"No…no! Fuck off, it's mine!" But his body doesn't obey. Instead he feels his arms reach up to his forehead, grabbing his trophy and handing it over to the purple haired boy, who snatches it from his grasp. He thrashes wildly against the weight of his control, but he still can't wrench himself free.
Immediately, he smells the acrid stench of sewage, feels the wet sludge permeate across his body, and his thrashing grows more wild, his eyes flaring in shock and terror.
…It's just like that day…almost a year ago.
"Get off me…Get off me!"
He feels something new, a spark of pain as something strikes his left leg, and immediately he is snapped out of his daze. He violently thrashes, looking down towards his team member, the red-haired extra from his class, who looks up at him with disbelief.
"Dude, what are you doing?!" Shitty Hair exclaims, "You just gave them all our points!"
Bakugo whirls around, where he sees the team that just robbed him of his points, holding his headband in their dirty, weak hands, and his vision fills with red.
"Then fucking move!" He exclaims, hitting Shitty Hair in the head, "Get me close so I can kill Deku and his little band of losers!"
"Uhh, half of that team are our classmates." Shitty Hair speaks nervously.
"You think I fucking care ?!" Bakugo growls, shifting his weight to try and force the other students forward. "Anyone who would choose to work with quirkless Deku over anyone else is nothing but a loser! Now move, I need to get closer to destroy them!"
He sees Shitty Hair narrow his eyes, before huffing, and following his demand.
"Yeah, that's right." Bakugo thinks, "Obey your betters…just like everyone always had."
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"Ok, so we got the headband!" Shinso shouts, looking as their names skyrocket to the top of the leaderboard. "Now what?"
"Now? We need to find a target." Izuku looks around, noting that every team seemed to be rushing them, the attention of each competitor solely on them. "...But first, we need to get the chuff off our tails." Izuku turns the dial on his left arm up to maximum, and gestures back to Kaminari. "You ready, Kaminari?"
Kaminari gives a thumbs up, but he seems unsure. "Uh…ready as I'll ever be I guess."
"Good enough, now everyone…brace!"
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"Ok…so I get why you wanted this guy," Kaminari gestures to Shinso, "and I can guess why you wanted Todoroki on your team, but why did you want me?"
Izuku's gaze falls to Kaminari, and the electric blonde can't help the flinch of fear as the mech glares down at him. "Your job is playing support. I have a way to deter people from getting on us too early…but there is a good chance I will overclock my power supply if I do it." Izuku reaches towards Kaminari, "If that happens, I will need you to respark the loop, and restart the power on my suit…it shouldn't take much…just a small spark is all I will need."
Kaminari wilts slightly, looking put off. "Oh…so I'm just a phone charger then? Great…wonderful."
Kaminari's mind jumps back to middle school. How everyone around him only seemed to want to be there to use him. It was like every time someone wanted to be his friend, it was so they could ask him to charge their phones, or their game consoles. He even recalls once when someone at school asked to be his friend, Ikari, if he recalls, only so he could overload the breaker and shut the power down at school. They had wanted to get out of a math test, if he recalls. When Kaminari had refused, the student had completely turned on him, telling the school that it was his idea, and that he would have done it if Ikari hadn't stopped him.
He had been suspended for a month, and his father had grounded him for far longer.
If he was being honest, he was lucky that U.A. had accepted him at all. With that on his record, it would have likely given them some hesitation, and his grades weren't anything special beyond that. But he promised himself he would be different here. That he wouldn't take crap like that ever again.
"If that's really all I am here for? Then I think I would rather quit than be used like a battery."
However, the mechanised student shook his head, and approached Kaminari.
"So just because you aren't front and centre, you are going to complain about your role?" Izuku rolls his eyes at Kaminari, "Stop acting like a baby. Just because your role isn't big doesn't mean it isn't important!"
Kaminari felt something catch at the quirkless students' words, and the world seemed to fall away, and he was pulled into a memory from a long time ago.
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Denki was staring up at his father, tears in his eyes, as the grizzled man slipped on his yellow and black costume. The older man sighed, before looking down at his son with tired eyes and an exhausted smile. "I'm sorry, Denki, but I really do have to go."
"But why?" Denki said, grabbing onto his father's pant leg. "Why do you need to go to work so late?"
Denki's father sighed, crouching low and putting a hand on his son's shoulder. "There has been a massive break in this case, Denki…I have to go."
Denki shook his head, "B-but won't there be other heroes there? You aren't a big hero, dad…what can you do that they can't?"
Denki saw his father's eyes narrow, and knew he had touched a nerve, but his father simply took a deep breath, and fixed his son with a stern stare. Denki wilted slightly under his gaze, but didn't break eye contact.
"Denki," his father began, "Just because I have a small role in this whole operation…doesn't mean that my role isn't important."
Denki looked at his father in confusion, but said nothing, so his father continued,
"Sure, maybe other heroes' roles are more flashy, maybe some heroes will get more glory out of this than others…but that doesn't really matter to me." His father shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment.
"To me, that is the greatest problem with modern heroics. Everyone seems to think that you need to do something big in order to be a hero…but everyone always ignores the small things."
Denki looked at his father in confusion. "But…isn't the point of heroes to stop the villains?"
His father shakes his head. "It shouldn't be. To me…the point of heroes is to help people, no matter how small, no matter how insignificant it might seem, because people rely on you to help them." His father then slips on his mask, adopting the persona of the Thunder Hero: Megavolt, and turns towards the door, walking towards it, but stops at the doorway, turning back to his son.
"Some heroes may save thousands in one day…others may save dozens in one lifetime…but the way I see it, none are better than another…so long as they both save people."
His father opened the door, and stepped through.
"...one day…I hope you'll see that."
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Kaminari locked his legs, his other arm coming up to brace against Shinso's back. Todoroki followed suit, as their team spun around. He looked ahead and saw a bright light gathering in Izuku's palm, far brighter than before. Kaminari took his hand off of Izuku's back. Instead, he slips his hand under the thick metal pauldron. He felt around blindly for the shoulder plate, and sighed in relief as he grasped the thick cable, lowering his finger into the hole cut into the jumpsuit, and towards the familiar tingle of power.
"Ok," Kaminari shouted, "I'm in position! Let 'er rip!"
Izuku nodded, and flipped the switch on his left arm.
For a moment, there was nothing. Then, a blinding glow of white hot light. Finally, a massive beam of energy shoots out from his palm, launching in a continuous burst across the battlefield. He does his best to aim in front of the teams, but sometimes the beam grazes an opponent, causing them to fall to the ground in pain. He drags his arm across the ground, scorching across the battlefield, and bisecting the arena with an radiant beam of energy. In the wake of the blast, the ground erupts into an infernal cloud of dust and fire, its surface becoming scorched and cracked.
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"Ok, this has gone on far enough!" Vlad King marches over to the microphone, "I am disqualifying him right now! He could have killed someone there!"
"No," Nezu spoke, "You aren't"
Vlad whirled back to Nezu, who simply stared down at the arena. "Nezu, he just unleashed a devastating attack on every student there! He even injuredseveral! Do you know what could have happened if that blast had hit anyone directly?!"
"Midoriya certainly seemed to," Nezu said, "Which is why he didn't hit anyone directly with it."
"That doesn't matter !" Kan shouted, approaching the principal and glaring down at him, "What matters is that he just turned that weapon on others, and could have easily killed someone there! He clearly has no regard for the danger he puts himself, or others, in!"
Aizawa spoke up for the first time in a while, gaze hardening towards his fellow homeroom teacher. "If that were true, then He would have just hit everyone in front of him." The shaggy teacher turned back to the arena. "Just admit it, Vlad…you're worried that a quirkless student can beat the hero course here."
Vlad turned towards Aizawa, rage in his eyes, as he stomped towards the teacher. "No, I am worried that this student will go too far! First, he builds a weaponized mech suit to bring into a school event. Then, he pulls reckless stunt after reckless stunt, putting everyone around him in danger! I can't be the only one who sees this, right?!"
Ishiyama nodded his head in agreement, but Maijima spoke up again.
"Honestly, it's like you think he is completely incompetent, Kan."
Vlad King turned to look at Maijima, tiredly, but Maijima spoke up again.
"You seem to think that despite building and testing everything he makes, that he is either too unaware or too incompetent to properly control himself. Am I correct?"
"T-that's not what I am saying at all."
"Really?" Aizawa says, "Because you sure didn't seem to comment on Todoroki's ice wall, did you?"
Vlad stutters, looking around for support, but finds it lacking.
"Sit down, Kan," Nezu says, still not facing him, "I have tolerated your outbursts this far because I do believe they come from a place of genuine concern…even now." Vlad moves to speak, but Nezu puts up a finger, "That being said, if you continue to voice the same concerns, despite evidence suggesting they are unfounded, I will be forced to take action…am I clear?"
Vlad said nothing for a moment, staring down at Nezu stone-faced, before moving back to his seat, and taking it with a huff. Throughout all of this, All Might stared down at the mechanised boy, and his team, trying to process what he had just seen. Did…did a quirkless boy really do all of that?
Midoriya…just what are you capable of?
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Izuku heard the blaring of an alarm as his power rapidly approached zero, but he continued on, completing the line, and shutting off the beam. He sees the LEDs in his eyes flicker, and shut off, and his right arm goes completely limp.
"I'm out, Kaminari!" Izuku shouts, his voice muffled by the mask. He can't move within his suit, the matrix far too heavy for him to move anything. For a moment, he hears nothing, then he hears a small spark, followed by the humming of power as his power supply is restarted. Izuku sighs in relief, and rolls his shoulders, testing his movements as his display lights up. He looks down at the power supply.
88%
"Shit" Izuku thinks, "By overusing the power, I weakened the supply cap…this is bad…but I should still be fine."
Izuku looks out at the destruction he wrought with his gauntlet, before turning his eyes to their side of the scorched line. His eyes zero in on a team which seems to be frozen in shock. He doesn't recognize any of them…no hero course students.
Perfect.
"Ok…time to move on to the next step of the plan."
The rest of Team Shinso stares ahead in disbelief, and some level of horror, before shaking themselves out of it. The team moves on, zeroing in on the other team. However, he hears the telltale sound of explosions popping, and sees that Bakugo had leapt over the line of destruction, and was zeroing in on them, explosions propelling him through the air.
"Is that even allowed ?!" Shinso exclaimed.
"Well," Izuku spoke, reaching down to his belt, "He isn't touching the ground…so probably."
Izuku pulls one of his force grenades off of the bandolier, holding it steady in one hand.
"Ok…don't fail me now."
He waits for Bakugo to get closer, until Bakugo reaches the point that he rears back for an attack. At that moment, Izuku throws the grenade as hard as he can towards Bakugo. The explosive blonde registers the grenade, and tries to move to the side, but only ends up putting himself perpendicular to the sphere, which activates, unleashing a shockwave and briefly concussing Bakugo, who was launched up and away from the grenade, which fell back down to earth. Izuku reached out, and grabbed the grenade, strapping it back onto the bandolier, and continued to charge the other team, who had begun to shake themselves from their paralysis.
Once they got close enough, he gave the signal by tapping Shinso's leg. Shinso then reaches out for the other team, 10 million point headband still in his hands…
…and threw it around the other team's head.
He heard the clicking as the board ticked up, and that team flew up to the top of the leaderboard. The rider struggles with his new headband, before he frees his vision.
"A…and Team Shinso has…given away the 10 million point headband to Team Yoshida!" Present Mic exclaims, confusion clear in his voice. "…wait what?!"
Shinso then smirks at the rider, now identified as Yoshida, "Congrats! You are now top of the leaderboard! How does it feel?"
"I…wha?"
Yoshida's face goes slack, and his arms fall limp, as Shinso gives his final command.
"Jump off your horse."
Yoshida obeys, and lets himself fall from the horse, hitting the ground with a thud. The silence of the arena is deafening, as everyone watches as Team Yoshida, top of the leaderboard for all of four seconds, is taken off the board.
"Yo…Yoshida has fallen from his team! He-he's out! Team Yoshida is out…and so are the 10 million points!"
The crowd goes silent, watching as the point total ticks down rapidly, the once daunting number descending lower and lower plummeting rapidly, before slowing and stalling at its new value.
8,235
The rest of the competitors look at the new point total, stunned into silence. Bakugo had reached his team again, landing back onto them, before his eyes met the new reality of this game. He tries to process this change, that his hard earned 10 million point trophy had just been snuffed out, ripped from him by Deku and that purple haired bastard, and then cast into the void, right in front of his eyes.
What…what the fuck just happened?
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"Ok, so your plan is to get the 10 million points…and just throw it away?" Todoroki asks, with confusion and irritation, "Why?"
"As the situation stands, we can't win this game. Not because of our points, but because of the point total itself." Izuku looks back up at the daunting number, "I think it's almost supposed to be a metaphor for the hero rankings, how everyone is just so far below the number one that most wouldn't even bother going for the 10 million points, instead choosing to go after targets they see as much more feasible, like us." Izuku then looks over at Bakugo, who is barking orders at his teammates, "Not to mention, the one who holds the 10 million doesnt need to do anything but hold onto it. If they have the power to do that, then they can effectively guarantee they remain number one in the next spot. Normally that would be difficult, but I think if anyone can do it…Bakugo can, and once people realise that, they will start to just leave him alone…which is what he wants."
"...but if we remove the 10 million points from the equation…then all of that is nullified!" Shinso exclaims, realisation washing over him. "By taking away 10 million points, we take away the advantage of the strongest team!"
"Exactly," Izuku states, glad someone is following along, "But beyond that, it serves a secondary purpose." Izuku points back up to the scoreboard, "Most people look at that scoreboard, and see a bounty board. The goal being to get as many points as you can to close the gap."
"...But with the removal of the 10 million, it becomes more like a hit list. With every remaining point mattering significantly more. This opens up every team to a shot at number one…and every other team as their avenue to get there." Izuku nods to himself, "By doing this…every team will have a somewhat equal shot at the number one spot…something that everyoneis hungry for…"
Izuku turns back to his team, leaning down over them all, "We may lose at King of the Hill…but we can definitely win a Battle Royale."
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Izuku looked around at the other teams, the new reality washing over them as they looked at the new point total, and smirked to himself as he saw some of the teams start to change their tune. Instead of everyone rushing for the 10 million, one team whirls around to another, and begins to grab at them, trying to rip the headband away from them.
One by one, he sees as more teams come to the same conclusion, and all begin turning on eachother, letting the once charging crowd become a mass melee, teams turning on teams, rushing to grab as many points from the other as possible. The names on the scoreboard began to bounce rapidly around, as one team overtook another, only to then be caught off guard by an unseen opponent. In truth, the situation had become pure chaos.
Izuku loved it.
"Ok," Todoroki said, looking out towards the mosh pit of competitors in front of them, "So your plan worked…so now what?"
"Now, Izuku speaks, grinning sadistically behind his mask, "Now we just go down the list, and take out every team that is in front of us."
"Wait," Kaminari spoke, brows furrowed in confusion, "We aren't just going to take their headbands?"
"Hopefully, we won't have to," Izuku responded, as their team began to step forward. "Our plan right now should be to cull the herd, so to speak. We play aggressively, eliminating every team that hops to the top 3 spots that we can…hopefully we don't need to actually go for points, because that's where things will get complicated."
"Shinso smiled, and knocked on the back of the helmet, "You know? I'm starting to love the way you think."
Izuku smirked under the mask, but kept his eyes forward, his team charging into the fray, "Now…let's cause some chaos."
Chapter 11: To Prove your Worth
A silence had fallen over the teacher's booth after Mic's announcement, every member of the faculty staring down at the chaos of the scoreboard as the teams rapidly shifted around the scoreboard. The crowd seems equally shocked by this turn of events, their cheering having weakened from before, as confusion reigned over the arena.
"Interesting," Nezu said, looking down at the horde of students as they clashed in a large mob. "Never in my years have I seen such an odd approach to the team event."
Present Mic looked down at the chaos of the arena in confusion and disbelief. "I still don't understand…why did he do that?"
Maijima spoke up, a proud smile on his face as he saw Midoriya charge into the fallout, "Easy, their team changed the game."
All of the teachers looked over at Maijima, who continued unhindered, "Midoriya saw through the facade of a 'fair fight' and saw the truth. The way this battle is established sets a precedent…by having one team so far above the others, it almost acts as a deterrent, stopping people from aiming for the top." Maijima turns back around towards the deflated figure of All Might, "...after all, there can only be one number one hero, right?"
"I thought the point of the 10 million was the opposite…that the person at the top was supposed to be a target?" Kan scratched his chin, confusion and irritation clear on his face. The victor of the race becomes a massive target for everyone, right?
"One might think so," Aizawa spoke, staring at the scoreboard, "but often the sheer gap in points does the opposite, making people who don't think they can aim for the top focus on easier targets…targets that they feel they can actually take on."
"Plus," Maijima looked over to Mic, a frustrated sneer on his visible mouth, "With Yamada deciding to plant a target directly on Midoriya's back…" the aforementioned hero looked down again with some guilt, "...Izuku needed to find a way to keep everyone from targeting him down, or else he wouldn't be able to get enough points to pass to the next round…not with a constant squad of headhunters targeting him for his quirk status."
"So Midoriya equalised the competition…" Aizawa said, the armoured student's plan became more clear, "...by removing the 10 million points, he made every other point more valuable…and made every team have a chance at flying to the top, no matter their skill sets." Aizawa grinned slightly, "...He just made every competitor equal…not bad."
"I still feel that it goes against the spirit of the event," Ishiyama pipes up, "While Midoriya's ingenuity is certainly impressive, that I will not deny, he took the purpose of this competition, and dissolved it. While not against the rules, it certainly feels cheap."
"Point is," Maijima said, side-eying Ishiyama, "Midoriya took a losing situation, and figured out a way to change it into a far more even fight." Maijima's smile grew wider, "Personally, that feels like something worthy of praise."
"To be fair," Vlad said, "How do we know that strategy wasn't established by Todoroki? Or Shinso?"
Aizawa immediately responded, "I do not know Shinso well, but Todoroki, while smart, would not have come up with a strategy so out of the box. He is a much more rigid thinker."
"And from my experience with Midoriya over the past month, this seems like exactly the kind of crazy, out of the box thinking that he would come up with." Maijima spoke, his proud tone negating the bite of his words. Vlad simply grunted, still staring down at the battle occurring below.
"Well, Midoriya…you have certainly impressed some of us…now let's see what you do next."
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The loud melee occurring all around Kirishima was disorienting, as bodies clashed together, locking everyone in place as there was no room to move around. He felt people knocking him around left and right, unable to see above most of their heads. He looked up at his explosive teammate, who was unleashing explosion after explosion at everyone around him, knocking the opponents off kilter, grabbing their headbands, and wrapping them around his head. Kirishima did note for every opponent that Bakugo attacked, two more filled their place, all with the same goal. It was madness.
The rock-quirked teen called back to Ashido and Sero. "Hey! Ashido, can you clear us some space?"
"What, you want me to just start shooting acid?" Ashido asked, overwhelmed by their surroundings, "Sure, great idea! That won't cause anyone any serious harm, will it?"
Kirishima rolled her eyes, "Nothing dangerous, but something viscous, to make the terrain around us slippery. Knocking people over and giving us some breathing room." Kirishima took another elbow to the stomach, and thanked his quirk for mitigating the blow.
Before Mina could respond, he felt as a hand from above him slammed into the back of his head, again. "Hey! Who the fuck do you think you are, giving orders?! That's my job!"
Honestly, Kirishima was starting to get sick of Bakugo's attitude.
"I am just trying to help! Why are you getting so pissy about that?!"
Bakugo sneered down at him. "Because I'm the leader, not you! Not Pinky! Not Tape Face! Me ! Get that through your thick skull, and just do what I say!"
"Ok then, Mr. Leader," Sero said, sarcastically, "What is your amazing plan then?!"
Bakugo looked up at the board, noting the timer ticking down to the final five minutes of the event, and began to rapidly grasp at the collars of other riders, yanking their headbands away and knocking them over. "Instead of running away like little bitches, push me further in! The 10 million may not be in play anymore, but I just need to grab as many headbands as possible! But I can't do that when you extras want to run and hide!"
Kirishima grit his teeth at the verbal abuse…but he did admit, Bakugo had a point. They couldn't get more points by moving away from the crowd. He looked back to Mina and Sero, and nodded at both of them, who began pushing forward into the crowd.
He didn't like it…but he would play along…
…for now.
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Monoma was rapidly looking around at the students that surrounded them, the surrounding conflict making it hard for him to concentrate. He looked down at his team, Kendo was currently using her hands as a shield, blocking people from getting to them from the front, while Pony tried to shake people off from their rear. He noted that Kuroiro was missing, probably in the melee, using the shadows to grab headbands and bring them back.
Monoma leaned down to Kendo, tapping her on the shoulder, and feeling the familiar rush of power flow into him. He inflated his right hand to an equal size to her, and used it to deliver a massive blow to the side, knocking three teams away. He looked up at the scoreboard as their name lingered directly at the top.
Perfect.
Honestly, he was glad that nobody from 1-A had caught up to them, taking a not so small amount of satisfaction at their superiority. Ever since the attack at the USJ, all he had been hearing about is Class 1-A. On the train, when people saw his uniform, they would ask if he was in 1-A, and when he said no, then they would seem to deflate, responding with a simple "Oh" and nothing more.
Every time it happened, it only served to anger him more.
So because Class 1-A got attacked by some villains, they were suddenly all that mattered? That was ridiculous. It was hurt more by the fact that Class 1-A was the class of heavy hitters, hero course students with generally more heroic quirks. Class 1-B, by extension, was for those with far more technical quirks…people who actually had to use them wisely in order to make any real impact. Shouldn't that count for something?!
No…of course not…because really all people cared about was flash.
He sighed to himself ready to give the order for Kendo and Pony to move out, trying to escape the melee, when he heard the sound of metal crashing against stone. He looked over, and saw a hulking iron goliath rushing straight towards him. Monoma immediately began to panic, and he looked down to Kendo.
"Kendo, block the mech!"
Kendo nodded, and moved her hand shield out to the side, blocking the mech, but instead of slowing, the mech simply kept running, holding up his right arm as the octagon shaped bulge on the arm spun, clicking into place. Once the mech was about ten feet away, he heard the sound of something fire out, and felt Kendo stiffen under him. He looked over and saw two long curled wires connecting Kendo's right hand to the gauntlet.
A taser.
He had just tased Kendo.
Once the electricity stalled, Kendo immediately collapsed to the ground, convulsing rapidly as the mech approached them again, their defence lowered. Monoma immediately inflated his hands, covering his face to prevent the armoured student from grabbing his headbands. Though, he was shocked when he instead felt the mech duck under him, grab his leg, and slam him into the ground, Pony tumbling down with him. Monoma felt the wind get knocked out of him, eyes pointing skyward as he stared up at the large armoured figure. The figure simply stared down at him, as if confirming something, before turning around, running back into the fray.
Who was that…did he even have a team? Why was that armoured figure alone?!
He went to get back up, grabbing Pony, and hoping to set back up into their formation, but stopped when he heard the announcement.
"Team Monoma has been eliminated!"
…what?
What did he mean by 'eliminated'?! That was an option?!
Monoma looked back into the crowd, towards the armoured student, and clenched his fist, frustration bubbling in him.
Why did nothing ever seem to go his way?
_________________________________________________________________________
"Ok," Izuku thought, looking up at the scoreboard, "We are down to 6,050 points in total. Taking out Monoma had been a good move, that threw us up to 6th place. Not enough yet, but close." Izuku looked back outside of the melee, seeing their team positioned far away, Todoroki and Kaminari staying close to the edge, with Todoroki firing off large ice attacks to deter any stragglers.
The rules were clear before, that anything was on the table so long as the rider didn't hit the ground, and when Bakugo had flown at them it had given him an idea. The horse didn't necessarily need to stay together, either, did they? Individual team members could break off so long as the rider stays up. So Izuku had taken to running into the crowd, identifying a few key targets, and taking one of them out along the way.
He started to run back towards their group, looking up at the timer, and nodding to himself.
"Three minutes," Izuku mused, eyes locked forward towards his team, "Time to change strategy."
Once Izuku reached his team, he locked back up with the other three, and looked back to them.
"Ok," Izuku said to his team, "We haven't eliminated enough spots yet, and we are running out of time…I have an idea that will push us into the final, but it involves Kaminari breaking off on his own." He looked back at the electric blonde.
"Think you can handle it?"
Kaminari smiled wide, giving Izuku a thumbs up. "Leave it to me!"
Izuku nods, and the team begins to charge back into the mob of students. He felt a shift in the rear of the team, and saw Kaminari begin to run at his side out of the corner of his eye, looking back at him and waiting for instructions. Izuku gestures forward towards the group.
"See that group over there?" Izuku asks, pointing towards the group. "In that group is Team Asui. Their team is higher on the leaderboard than us, so all you need to do is get into the middle of all of this, and get Asui's headbands. Their points should be enough to push us into the top 2 at least…maybe even the top spot. Keep low, stay out of sight, grab, and dash, got it? No matter what, make sure that you get the headbands, and get them to Shinso!"
Kaminari's grin widens, and he salutes Izuku, "Leave it to me, I just gotta get close and shock them!" With that, Kaminari ducks away, running into the group, and disappearing into the mad melee.
"I know," Izuku thinks to himself, rushing forward into the group, "Which is exactly why I picked you…I just wish you had put the effort into understanding your quirk like I did."
_________________________________________________________________________
Kaminari was getting bounced around within the mass of bodies, ducking low and trying to slip through the gaps. He looked around, trying to see the teams around him. Immediately, the hulking figure of Shoji is clear, with both arms closed over his back, forming some kind of tent. Kaminari watched as a long tongue shot out from the tent, two purple balls stuck to it as it snagged onto a headband in front of him, and dragged the piece of cloth back in.
"Yep," Kaminari mused, "That's Tsu alright…and Mineta? Huh…weird." Kaminari shrugged, and ran up to Shoji, staying low to keep out of his vision. He is almost close enough to Shoji to grab him, but then Shoji takes a step away, the masked boy glancing down at him.
"Close…but you should know by now my hearing is better than most." Shoji spoke through a mouth he produced on one of his tentacles, face remaining unmoving. "You had no chance of sneaking up on me."
"Shit"
Kaminari lunged for Shoji, who sidestepped him, moving to the side as the boy was thrust into the melee. "You should know you can't win this one, Kaminari. All I need to do is keep my distance…you are limited to close range unless you want to fry yourself."
Kaminari was stuck. Now he was trapped in the middle of this horde, and with Shoji aware of him, he couldn't take him in a fight. Not to mention, Shoji didn't even need to fight…he just needed to keep away from Kaminari until the timer ran out. In this situation, Tsu's team had a significant advantage, being able to grab headbands from range, without risking their own. It was smart.
"Smarter than you could ever hope to be," His mind growled, feeling a sense of embarrassment wash over him.
Ever since this event started, he had been deferring to Midoriya to come up with the plans. He didn't know the boy well…but he could tell immediately the quirkless student knew what he was doing when it came to planning. With seemingly no effort, the boy had come up with a way to turn this competition around, and so far it had all gone so flawlessly! Now he saw Team Asui using their quirks to their advantage in such an amazing way.
The way he saw it, there were two kinds of successful teams in this competition. Those who planned ahead, able to use tactics and trickery to turn any encounter to their advantage. Then there were the teams with power, whose quirks were so potent they didn't even need to bother with that.
Then there he was. Alone, without either.
Immediately when things had gone wrong, his mind froze, and he didn't know what to do! He didn't have a good enough quirk to power through this…and he wasn't smart enough to think his way out…he was useless.
"Heh…maybe all I'm good for is charging phones after all…"
Kaminari's eyes locked onto the scoreboard, their team still sitting at 6th place, with Tsu and Hagakure directly above them at 5th and 4th respectively. If he failed here, they would lose…and all that effort…all of his team's efforts would be for nothing.
…all because of him.
He had known from the beginning that he was the weak link of their group. Everyone else had so much more useful abilities. Meanwhile in this event, he was a liability to his team, dead weight.
The smallest piece of his team.
…
'Just because I have a small role in this whole operation…doesn't mean that my role isn't important.'
Kaminari's eyes hardened, taking a deep breath.
'... Everyone seems to think that you need to do something big in order to be a hero…'
"No…I'm not losing here…not yet"
'To me…the point of heroes is to help people, no matter how small, no matter how insignificant it might seem, because people rely on you to help them.'
'...one day…I hope you'll see that.'
Kaminari slowly squared up with the larger student. "Maybe so…but you aren't in a high enough place to win either…you're in 5th place."
Shoji raised an eyebrow, "So?"
Kaminari's eyes lock onto Shoji's back, "So you can't rest on your laurels either, huh?" His attention locks onto the gap in Shoji's arm tent, tensing his body, waiting for just the right moment.
"...Eventually…you need to attack."
As expected, Tsu's tongue shot out, aiming for the headbands of another team, but as it rocketed over his head, Kaminari leapt up, grabbing her tongue and immediately discharging electricity into Tsu's tongue, feeling the muscle grow rigid in his hands due to electric shock. He could see Shoji falter, lunging forward to knock Tsu loose, before he realised that he did exactly what Kaminari wanted him to.
Shoji tried to stop his movement, but it was already too late. As he got closer, Kaminari lunged into Shoji as well, sparks coming off his free hand, Tsu's tongue in his other, and grabbed Shoji's leg. Shoji's world filled with pain as his body spasmed, sparks shooting off of his body, his muscles growing rigid, but Kaminari continued, until Shoji lost his balance, and slumped forward, releasing his two teammates. Immediately Kaminari grabbed Tsu, holding her above the ground by her collar, her unconscious body in his arms, and grabbed the four headbands she was wearing.
"Got it! Now to get back to the team." Kaminari turned and readied himself to lower back into the mass of bodies, but stopped when he saw an arm lunging at him. He yelped, and ducked away from it, only for three more arms to grab at him.
Again and again, he ducked and weaved away from the opponents, trying to keep them from grabbing him. Whenever he felt someone grab him, he released a small shock, the pain usually being enough to get them to let go. But the more he did that, the more he felt his mind slipping away, the familiar dull sensation taking its place.
"I…can't keep doing this…" Kaminari thought to himself, "I'm starting…to overcharge…I need to…to do something…"
Kaminari felt himself get buried, as more and more people began to grab at him, and closed his eyes, feeling the electricity begin to build in him.
"I hope you're…paying attention, Izuku…because…I'm not gonna be much help…after this."
And with that, Kaminari unleashed a massive shock, discharging all around him into everyone around him, and he felt his vision blank, and his mind short circuit.
_________________________________________________________________________
Izuku fired off another blast towards an approaching team. A few teams had decided to target them, but through the combined efforts of Izuku and Todoroki, they were able to hold them off, staying to the edges of the arena, and holding what points they still had.
"A minute and a half left…" Izuku muttered, "He's taking too long."
"You think he got caught?" Shinso suggested, tapping Izuku on the back of the collar plate. "In that case, we need a new plan."
Just as Shinso spoke, Izuku watched as the entire group was bathed in an electric yellow light, all of them spasming and undulating uncontrollably as electricity coursed through them. After a few seconds, it stopped, and Izuku watched as team after team dropped to the ground, revealing a lone figure standing in the centre of the mass. Kaminari knelt down in the centre, in a squat position, his face morphed into a dull, amusing expression, as he thrust both hands out, back and forth.
And in one hand…he held four headbands.
"One minute remaining, competitors!" Present Mic shouted.
Many teams were stunned, staring at the lone figure holding four headbands, but Izuku immediately turned their team, and began rushing forward.
"He got the headbands, but probably couldn't get out of the mob…so he did what he could, and cleared the way for us…" Izuku smiles to himself, "Pretty smart, Kaminari…maybe I misjudged you."
However, Izuku could see many other teams following his lead, charging towards the lone blonde. He saw as they closed in, ready to scratch the headbands from his grasp, and Izuku launched a repulsor blast at them, deterring some of the teams.
He needed to get to Kaminari…and he needed to do it before anyone else did.
Stepping over the paralysed students hindered his progress, but it also seemed to hinder everyone else as well. But Izuku watched as other competitors with more mobility were beginning to speed up, getting closer and closer to the lone blonde.
Izuku turns back to Todoroki, "Can't you do something about this?!"
Todoroki grit his teeth, trying to step over everyone else. "If I use my ice, I would freeze the unconscious competitors as well, which could cause them serious harm!"
"What about your fire?! Just launch a blast of flame over there to stall them!"
"Todoroki's eyes widened, before his expression hardened, and he bore his teeth at Izuku in anger.
"I will never use his quirk!"
"...what?!"
Todoroki scoffed, "You would not understand."
"Yeah, I don't understand, or care! Now, stop being a liability and just do it!" Izuku shouted, throwing his left arm out and firing a blast out as the mob of competitors got closer to Kaminari.
"I made a promise to myself…I would never use hisfire!"
Shinso hit the back of Midoriya's helmet lightly, "Look, you clowns can argue about this later! But for the love of everything, one of you had better do something!"
Izuku looks back to Todoroki, waiting for him to make a move, but the boy simply stared back, stubbornly refusing to follow his command.
"Fine!" Izuku shouts, raising his right arm, and rotating the revolver cuff into place, "If you won't do it, then I will!"
Izuku clicks the first trigger, extending a metal rod and igniting a small pilot light, before squeezing the second trigger, which begins to launch a bout of flame out of his wrist, a wave of fire shooting out, and cutting off the approaching mob.
Todoroki looks at the gout of fire, and feels his heart clench, his breathing beginning to rapidly increase, but schools his features again before he falls too deep into his own mind.
Izuku yells back to Todoroki, "If you aren't going to be of any help here, then make yourself useful and grab Kaminari! The headbands are worthless unless Shinso is wearing them at the end!"
Todoroki looks like he is going to protest, but hearing the announcement that they only had 30 seconds left, he shakes his head, throws Shinso onto Izuku's back, and sprints towards Kaminari.
Izuku stops the flame, checking the fuel gauge built onto his wrist cuff. Using a consistent flame would deplete his fuel…something he couldn't let happen when there was still so much competition left. Instead he holds up his left arm, letting the pilot light collapse back into the cuff, and powers some short bursts from his glove. He uses his gauntlet to hit the front men of the approaching teams, trying not to move as he feels Shinso struggle against him, trying to keep a grip. Again and again, Izuku fires blast after blast, trying to hold people off.
"20 seconds, competitors!"
He sees out of the corner of his eyes, Todoroki grabbing Kaminari, and throwing him over his shoulder, headbands still clutched in Kaminari's hand. He begins to slowly move back to the group, the weight of his classmate significantly slowing Todoroki down.
"He isn't going to make it," Izuku thought, urgently, slowly beginning to sidestep over the bodies as he kept launching blasts at the approaching mob, who were slowly gaining ground.
"I need to get closer!"
Slowly, Izuku stepped closer and closer, Todoroki approaching with Kaminari slung over his shoulder. Izuku looked down to see his power approaching 30%, and lowering rapidly. Izuku lowered his left gauntlet, instead fully facing Todoroki and trying to make his way over, the approaching crowd coming closer and closer to them.
"10 seconds left!"
Todoroki finally made it to his armoured teammate, slinging Kaminari down, and gripping the headbands, trying to tear them from his grasp. Izuku stood above them, priming his repulsor in case anyone got too close, readying himself for them. Again and again, Todoroki tried to wrench the headbands away, but Kaminari held fast.
"Kaminari won't let go!" Todoroki shouted
"So make him!" Izuku shouted back, blasting a team that got too close.
"How?!"
"Five!"
"Oh for-" Izuku says, before lifting his metal boot above Kaminari, slamming it down into his stomach.
"Four!"
Kaminari gasped for breath, his grip slackening and allowing Todoroki to pull the headbands away from him. Todoroki sat stunned for a second, staring at Kaminari's brutalised stomach.
"Three!"
"Give the headbands to Shinso, already!" Izuku shouted, snapping Todoroki out of his stupor, who lunged towards Shinso's outstretched hand.
"Two!"
Shinso grabbed the headbands, lifting them up to his neck.
"One!"
With one final tug, Shinso secured the headbands, grinning to his team.
"That's it! Time is up!"
Izuku looked up at the scoreboard, noting their position on the board, and was taken aback to see Team Shinso sitting at the top, above everyone else on the leaderboard.
First place…
Izuku thrust a hand into the air, crying out in victory.
We got first place!
Shinso dropped from Izuku's back, looking up at the leaderboard as well, and smiling. He looked up at his armoured former teammate.
"Well, you held up your end of the bargain…we got into the final."
Izuku nodded, holding a hand out to Shinso, who noted the lack of a verbal response. Shinso felt a small stab of hurt run through his chest, but ignored it, choosing instead to shake the mech's hand. With that, the two dispersed, moving over to the main crowd.
Kaminari was taken by two robots to Recovery Girl's office, leaving Todoroki to stew alone, his mind swimming with anger, and frustration.
'...Just launch a blast of flame over there to stall them!'
'...stop being a liability and just do it!'
He didn't understand…nobody did! Todoroki knew he was right, that his oath was right. He refused to let Endeavor control his life anymore.
And when he won the sports festival without that man's quirk? Then all the better.
He would prove it to everyone next round. That he was not going to be defined by Endeavor anymore.
_________________________________________________________________________
Katsuki stood stunned, letting his anger and disbelief wash over him. He stared up at the scoreboard, seeing his picture, his name, second from the top.
Second place…
He looked up one name, seeing the same purple haired extra looking bored through his picture.
Second place to Deku ! Of all people!
What the hell was happening?! Has the world gone insane?! There was no way that quirkless Deku had beaten him in anything! Especially not a combat event!
He glared over at the walking scrapheap, who wasn't even looking in his direction, as they waited for the announcement of the next leg of the tournament. But Bakugo was hardly paying attention, choosing instead to rationalise this turn of events.
It was all his shitty teammates fault! If they had just listened to him, and done what he said, when he said it, then they would have gotten first place! Yeah! That was the only thing that made sense…because if it didn't…then that meant it was Katsuki's fault…
..and Katsuki Bakugo never made mistakes.
He thought back to the moment that freak and his band of losers stole his 10 million points, and felt his teeth begin to grind together.
That purple haired freak had cheated, yeah! They all had cheated their way here…that's it! If they hadn't cheated, and if his teammates had actually carried their own weight, instead of riding his coattails to the top, then he would be in his rightful place, above everyone else!
This is why he hated teams. Everyone else always slowed him down. They couldn't handle his natural strength, and always fell behind. It really did suck sometimes, being so superior to everyone else that relying on them became a liability.
It was a mistake he would never make again!
He looked up at the board, seeing the screen switch to a tournament bracket, as the walking public decency violation they called a teacher began to speak. But he didn't listen. He didn't need to.
The U.A. Sports Festival always ended in one way…and one way only.
Katsuki grinned, looking up at the board…at his first target.
Now, he could show what he was capable of when he wasn't being dragged down by all the useless extras around him.
Now…he could win this, and prove that he was the next number one hero…
He looked over at Deku again, his grin becoming malicious.
…and he could finally show that freak his place.