Izuku and Toru are a bit in a pickle.
Ever since Midnight had started the fifteen minute timer to pick their teammates for the Human Cavalry Battle, they had been unable to get new teammates. Most of the students would outright walk away from him.
Toru on the other hand, would ask someone and was close to getting another teammate but they would see Izuku near her and decide to decline her offer. This would continue until there were eight minutes left, making the conduit to somehow regret getting the first place of the Obstacle Race.
As they were beginning to accept their fate as a two-man team and were about to plan, when a voice called out to them. "Izuku-kun! Toru-chan! Let's team up!!" The duo looked over at the owner of the voice. They were met with Uraraka waving at them as she approached the two.
Izuku looked at Toru, who smiled and nodded at him. Nodding back, Izuku looked at the gravity user and smiled at her. "Alright, Ochako-chan. You're in." he said, making the girl's eyes sparkle and smile widely.
She skipped towards them and embraced the young conduit, earning a flinch of surprise from Izuku and an eye twitch from Toru. "Thank you!! Thank you, Izuku-kun!!" she said, jumping up and down.
Izuku was beet-red throughout this interaction. Who wouldn't when, one: a girl is hugging him in front of so many people, and two: he could feel her 'mountains' touching him through his gym uniform? It was Toru who broke up the hug, much to the embarrassment and dismay of Izuku and Ochako, respectively.
"Let's focus on the task at hand, okay? We're still short one member." Toru said, slightly giving Ochako a pouty glare. He's mine, back off.
Who decided that? Ochako returned the glare as imaginary electric volts sparked between them.
As the two girls were glaring at each other, Izuku, who had just recovered from the embarrassment, was pulled in the arm. He looked over at the direction of the hand, only to regret it.
"LET'S TEAM UP, MR. FIRST PLACE!!" The girl said to him, making him flinch back when he literally came face-to-face with the same girl from "The Fall".
"WHOA, SO CLOSE!" Izuku said, backing up a bit. "Who are you, by the way?" he asked the girl, making the other two girls look over at him.
The girl just gave him a grin as she lifted up her goggles. Izuku almost blushed at her unusual yet pretty crosshair eyes. "I'm Mei Hatsume of the Support Course! I don't know you, but I'd like to be able to use your position!" she said with a straightface.
Wow, she's straight to the point! Izuku, Toru and Ochako thought simultaneously.
"If I join you, the amount of attention I'd receive would be unparalleled, no?! Which is the number one opportunity to show off my super cute little babies!" she said. Izuku was about to respond when she continued talking. "I'm aiming to catch the notice of a big company, or rather, I want my babies to!!" she said and continued talking. In her talk, she pulled out a lot of support items, which made the trio wonder where she kept all of these.
Izuku sweatdropped at her bluntness. So this is what I looked like when I was rumbling about quirks. He thought. He then looked over at a particular support item and widened his eyes.
"W-Wait!? Is that the Buster Hero Air Jet's" he pointed at a jetpack that she whipped out. "I like him too!! His office used to be in my old neighborhood..." Izuku said, eyes practically sparkling in interest as he stared at the support item.
That's until he realized what he was doing and blushed in embarrassment. "Oops!" he said looking away, scratching his cheek. Looks like old habits die hard.
Ochako and Toru couldn't help but giggle at the boy's embarrassed face. Toru couldn't help but feel happy that Izuku seems to be better than how he used to be after the USJ incident. Not much changed about him, but it's okay. Baby step, Izuku.
Izuku, despites still feeling embarrassed, cleared his throat and looked over at his teammates. "Now that we're complete, let's get to strategizing." He paused and looked over at the clock, showing only 3 minutes. "Okay, team. Who's going to be the rider?"
-----
Throughout the arena, a horn blared as an indication of the time limit ending. "Fifteen minutes have passed. We'll be starting any moment now!" Midnight said as she did some stretches.
The announcement caused the crowd to cheer. The cheers were loud enough to make up the words they were cheering. Most of the cheers are headed for Class 1A, somehow becoming the center of attention or the favorite of the crowd.
This didn't sit well with their neighboring class.
"Everyone here's just paying attention to Class 1A... Why is that?"
"And just like Tetsutetsu said, everyone in Class 1A seems so stuck up... It's weird isn't it!?"
"Isn't the only difference between us and them is the USJ Incident? The Villain face-off?"
As these words escaped the lips of some of Class 1B, a boy with blonde hair and periwinkle eyes spoke up. "Why would we in Class 1B be content with placing so low?" he said as he stared at Class 1A. "Let's show those snotty Class 1A kids who's better, everyone." he said, earning nods from his teammates.
In the commentator's area, Aizawa was woken up by Present Mic. Blinking his eyes as he tried to look over at the line-ups and raised his eyebrows. "Hmm... Looks like we have quite the interesting line-ups." he said, earning a nod from Present Mic, who sat closer to the mic and started the second portion of the Sports Festival.
"NOW RAISE UP YOUR WARCRIES!!! FIRE THE SIGNALS!!" Present Mic yelled, causing a roar of cheers from the crowd. "MAY THE BLOOD ON THE ROCKS BE WASHED UP BY YET MORE BLOOD!! NOW'S THE TIME FOR UA'S HUMAN CAVALRY BATTLE!!!"
"OCHAKO-CHAN!"
"READY!"
"HATSUME-SAN!"
"FU FU FU!!"
TORU-CHAN!!"
"READY, IZU-KUN!"
Izuku, who was the rider, looked down at his teammates, smiling at them before turning serious as he tied up the headband on his forehead. Taking a deep breath and slapping his face with both his hands to pump himself up, he yelled. "LET'S WIN THIS!!"
"YEAH!" His teammates yelled back as the screen showed the teams and their points.
=====
Team Midoriya - 10,000,270
Team Tetsutetsu - 705
Team Bakugou - 665
Team Todoroki - 610
Team Mineta - 480
Team Utsushimi - 335
Team Shinso - 285
Team Monoma - 265
Team Kodai - 155
Team Rin - 115
Team Kendo - 110
Team Kamakiri - 60
=====
"Let's see how ruthless the battle is, folks! Counting down the brutal battle royal! In three!" Present Mic started.
"Tetsutetsu, no hard feelings, okay?" Monoma said to his classmate, who nodded.
Cracking his knuckles, Katsuki said. "We're aiming for..."
"Two!"
"...One thing." Todoroki said, somehow finishing Bakugou's sentences.
"ONE!! START!!" On cue, all eleven cavalry teams dashed towards the leading team, Team Midoriya.
"It's a battle to get the Ten million points!" Tetsutetsu screamed, his team charging forward to the conduit's team.
"Get over here, Izu-poo~" Camie called out, pouting her lips as her team carried her closer to Izuku's team. Izu-what now?
Looking over at the surroundings, Izuku noted all the approaching teams' directions and locations. Waiting for them to be close enough, he took out two smoke bombs from his pockets and removed the pins using his teeth and spat the pins to the ground.
A smirk then formed on his face. "You want these points? Then come get them..." he said as he dropped the smoke bombs on the ground. As soon as it impacted the concrete, smoke covered the leading team.
Not stopping their charge, Tetsutetsu stretched his arms in a reaching position. He swiped his hand on the space where Izuku–or where he was supposed to be as he only caught air. "What the—" he asked in confusion, only to be interrupted by his teammate.
"UP THERE!" looking up, everyone saw Team Midoriya flying in the air using a jetpack.
"A JETPACK!? DAMN SUPPORT COURSE! AFTER THEM!" The 1B student said to his teammates.
"Jiro-fam!" Camie said to their front horse as she pointed towards the flying cavalry. Jiro nodded as her Earphone Jacks extended towards Izuku's team.
Her jacks were a few inches away from touching Izuku's headband, when Izuku took out a high pitched whistle from out of his pockets and blew at it. A loud sound escaped from the whistle, but didn't affect Izuku's team as they all had ear plugs on their eyes. The same couldn't be said for Jiro, she immediately retracted her Earphone Jacks as she cringed at the sound of the whistle.
"Sorry, Jiro-chan!" Izuku said as he waved at her. He then looked over at Mei with a confused look. "Why do you have a whistle with you, Hatsume?" he asked the girl, who just looked up at him and grinned.
"No clue!" she said, causing Izuku to sweatdrop.
"Guys, we need to land!" Uraraka said as the Hover Boots slowly turned off. Izuku used his Smoke Thrusters to soften their landing. As they landed on the ground they began running away from the other teams running after them.
"How do you like my precious babies!! Tell me they're cute!! I can make "cute" the same as any other feature!!" Hatsume said to Izuku, who then gave her a smile.
"Your "babies" are fantastic, Hatsume-san. It made our maneuverability perfect!" he said, causing the girl to bright up as her grin widened.
Ochako pouted in the side as she whispered. "Only because I made the floating happen..."
"You're amazing as well, Ochako-chan! Your quirk is really helpful, though how are you holding up?" he asked worriedly, remembering her mentioning that she gets nauseous when using her quirk too much.
The gravity user blushed at his concerned voice, and just nodded at him. She was about to talk when Toru spoke up.
"Ah, guys... what's happening?" she said.
Izuku looked to the front only to see that everything around them somehow looked brighter. He scanned the surroundings and noticed something off. He saw a layer of smoke on the ground. Without hesitating, Izuku raised his hand and drained the smoke.
As he absorbed the smoke, the surroundings began to turn back to its normal color. It took him a few seconds before he fully absorbed the smoke and made his team stop in their advances as they dodged Jiro's jacks.
Looking over at Jiro's team, Izuku smirked at the other team. "Surrounded us with an illusion while Jiro sneaked up on our points? Smart strategy."
Camie could only smile at the conduit. "So you noticed, Izu-poo?" she asked.
Izuku could only smirk wider as he nodded. "Yeah, I also noticed that you lost your points." This caused the opposing team to look at their rider's head, only to see that their headband was gone. They began frantically looking around for the assailant.
Using this as a distraction, Izuku ordered his team to run away from Tetsutetsu's team. They were running when Shoji suddenly cut them off, charging at them with his Dupli-Arm covering something on his back.
Izuku was confused. Why is Shoji charging alone? His question was then answered when a purple sphere came out of Shoji's back. Recognizing the owner of such an ability, Izuku told his team to run away.
Well, at least that was his plan until he noticed one of their Hover Boots unable to move. Looking closely, they saw a purple ball attached to the sole of the boot. He looked back at the charging teen, he saw Mineta peeking out of Shoji's make-shift fortress.
"Wait! Is that even legal?" Izuku cried out, looking over at Midnight's direction, who gave them a thumbs up and said that as long as the rider is not touching the ground—it's legal.
He looked back at the team in front of him and barely dodged a tongue that came from the fortress. Wait? Asui-chan's also in there? He thought as he dodged and looked over at Tsuyu's face peering out of the fortress.
"Call me Tsuyu-chan, though." the frog girl said, somehow reading his mind. Izuku could see another set of eyes in the fortress but was unsure who it was.
His uncertainty was answered when a bird-like shadow came from behind the arm-fortress and swiftly approached Izuku. It was Dark Shadow, Tokoyami's quirk. Izuku sent a Smoke Shot to the sentient being but it dodged and charged forward.
Izuku sweated a bit. Dark Shadow is going to be a problem... he thought as he swatted the sentient quirk with his smoke covered hands. On impact, he was confused when the shadow yelped a bit. Looking at his palms, he saw the smoke emitting an orange light and realized something. That's it! Light! He yelled in his mind as he looked over at Toru.
"Ochako-chan, Hatsume-san, close your eyes! Toru-chan! It's your time to shine!" he yelled, closing his eyes, opting the other two to follow his actions. Toru smirked as she looked straight at the approaching shadow.
"Say cheese!" she said as a bright light started to emanate from her. "Light Refraction!" She cried out as a flash of white light surrounded her, causing those who were around them to be blinded and for Dark Shadow to cry in pain, retreating back to Tokoyami's chest.
Opening their eyes, Izuku ordered his team to charge forward. Snatching Mineta's headband, Team Midoriya flew away. They were a few meters away from the other teams when Izuku heard the very familiar sounds of explosions.
Looking to the side, he saw Katsuki using his quirk to propel himself to the sky. "RIDING REAL HIGH AND MIGHTY, AIN'T'CHA YA LITTLE SHITMUNCH!!" The blond said,a maniacal grin plastered over the blonde boy's face.
"THE RIDER CAN DETACH FROM THE HORSE?! IS THAT EVEN ALLOWED!?" Present Mic asked in disbelief.
Midnight nodded and gave a thumbs up. "It's only a technicality, so it's okay!! The rider's just not allowed to plant his or her feet on the ground!" she said, making the crowd go "Ah..."
Katsuki. He thought as he looked at the explosive teen. As he prepared his smoke for Katsuki's attack. The blonde sent an explosion towards Izuku's face, only for Izuku to send a Smoke Shot to intercept the attack, causing a loud explosion to propel both teens out to the air, Izuku unmounting on his team.
"IZU-KUN/IZUKU-KUN/MR. FIRST PLACE!" his teammates called out as Izuku was headed a few feet to the ground.
As Izuku began to close towards the ground, on reflex, placed his right hand on the ground and pushed himself with all his strength. He pushed himself to a flip and used Smoke Thrusters as he glided towards his team.
His actions caused a wave of reactions. Midnight was about to eliminate Izuku's team when Izuku beat him to it. "As you said, the rider's aren't allowed to plant their feet on the ground. So I didn't." he smirked at the woman's open mouth, which slowly closed and smiled at him with a sultry look.
"Touché, Midoriya-kun. Touché." she said as she continued the battle.
Katsuki, who had just been pulled back by Sero to his team, clicked at his tongue in annoyance. He was about to order his teammates to charge, when his head was slightly cocked to the side as he felt his headband being stripped off of his forehead.
"Like taking candy from a baby, Class 1A." a voice said, making Katsuki turn to the direction of the voice. They saw the blonde haired boy from Class 1B. Katsuki was so livid that their headband was taken away from them, that he failed to hear the monologue of the bastard that took all his points.
"...you're the victim of the Sludge Villain incident, aren't you? How does it feel to be attacked by a villain once a year?" the blonde from 1B mocked him, snapping Katsuki out of his annoyance as it turned to rage. He hated remembering that moment of his life because it's a constant reminder for him how he was caught off guard by a fucking low rank villain.
"Kirishima... Change of plans." Katsuki said, shocking all his teammates. He never calls anyone their names. Eiji looked over at her teammate, albeit being forced in the team by Mina, and was shocked to see how the blonde boy looked. "Before Deku, let's send these goddamn shitstains to some early grave!!"
"AND THERE IS LESS THAN FIVE MINUTE LEFT ON THE CLOCK!!"
Izuku watched as the 1B team somehow gave him the opening to escape from Katsuki's crosshairs. His team continued to run away from the blondes' direction. "Guys, evasion should be easy for now..." he was cut off when a team suddenly appeared in front of him.
Spoke too soon, Izuku. "Guess we won't be getting such an easy ride after all, huh." Izuku sighed as he sent a look mixed with determination and seriousness at the familiar heterochromia eyes of Todoroki.
The girl just stared back at him. "The time has come, I'm taking it." she said.
As the two strongest members of Class 1A stared down on each other, loud footsteps came from all directions. Izuku looked around to see the other teams charging towards his direction.
"Fall back!" Izuku yelled as they flew out of their spot, using his Thrusters to navigate the direction of their team. Landing a few feet away from the dual-quirk user, while throwing away the busted jetpack from his back.
"Iida forward!" He heard Todoroki say as their horse, Iida used his quirk to move past the approaching teams.
That's when Izuku noticed that Momo and Kaminari were wearing roller blades, making it easy for them to move easier and faster because of Iida's quirk. He saw Todoroki grab a long, metal stick from Yaoyorozu's hand and let it scrape on the ground.
Before Izuku knew it, their team dodged a wave of ice that Shoko generated from her right hand to the stick to the ground. Despite dodging the first wave of ice, Izuku's team was forced to stop, so were the teams around Team Todoroki as ice encased their feet.
"Yaoyorozu, prepare to guard us and conduct electricity."
"Got it!" Momo said as she used her quirk, Creation, and created an insulated sheet.
"Kaminari?" Todoroki called to Kaminari.
"I know what to do." the yellow-haired boy said as arcs of yellow lightning began to surround him. Todoroki, Iida, and Momo were covered with the sheet as Kaminari's lightning grew larger. "Make sure you cover up well."
That's when a memory entered Momo's mind. The image of Izuku intercepting the electric attack in the USJ for her and him down on all fours as his back was burnt by the attack. The world slowed as she recalled that moment, a moment of genuine care from the one they had shunned in class.
"WAIT?! KAMINARI NO–" her words were too late as the Electrification user released the charged electricity.
"INDISCRIMINATE SHOCK!!" she watched in horror as the yellow lightning made its way to the green haired boy's direction. A lone tear escaped her eye as she witnessed her savior be encased with lightning.
But something was not right. Why didn't they dodge the attack? She was sure there was still space for them to move around. Did they let it land on purpose? And why aren't the Uraraka-san and the others affected by the attack? She thought curiously, noticing only Izuku is encased with lightning.
Her questions were then answered when the yellow electricity surrounding Izuku slowly turned blue, before the electricity on his body moved away from his body and to his hands that were outstretched.
As the electricity diminished, Izuku lowered his head, making his fluffy green hair shadow over his eyes. He can be seen panting.
"Izu-kun? Are you okay?" Toru asked her friend, concern can be heard in her voice.
They heard Izuku chuckle and raised his head. "Never been better." he said as he stared at the opposing team. "Now... My turn." he said as his electricity escaped his eyes.
"WHAT IS THIS!? IZUKU MIDORIYA SOMEHOW ABSORBED THE ELECTRIC ATTACK SENT BY TEAM TODOROKI!! THIS IS ONE SHOCKING TURN OF EVENTS!" Present Mic yelled in surprise, shock, and astonishment. The crowd were also on their feets as Izuku just gave another reason for them to root for him. The arena was filled with cheers for the boy who absorbed electricity.
Aizawa was also shocked. Electrokinesis? How did Midoriya get that power? He thought as he stared at the boy.
All Might, who was in the crowd, was also in that line of thought. He was sure Delsin Rowe doesn't have that type of conduit power. He must've gotten it from someone else.
In the Empire State Building, Delsin was having the time of his life. Izuku never fails to amuse him. You always find a way to surprise me, Izu. And for you to be able to tap into the powers of your old man, the Saint Patron of New Marais himself. I am glad that I got the chance to teach you, even in just so short of a time. He said as he continued watching on his phone, noting that he had to go on patrol after this round of the Sports Festival.
Meaning, he won't be able to watch Izuku destroy all the competition in the Final Round. Then again, Izuku will just win this. It's just a matter of time before he does.
In the Midoriya Household, Inko was tearing up as she watched Izuku finally using his father's powers and how he could see Cole in Izuku's place. The nostalgia she felt made her smile as she stared at Izuku. "Izuku, you look so cool. I'm sure your father will be so proud to see you right now." she said as she removed the plug on the floor as the flood of tears in the apartment began to be sucked out.
He raised both his arms as lightning crackled on his hand and pointed straight at Todoroki. This is for you, Dad! He thought as he threw a ball of lightning to the opposing team.
Todoroki, seeing the ball of lightning, covered himself with the insulated sheet. She felt the ball hit the sheet and smirked. All of the effort for that? She thought as she slowly lifted off the sheet.
Doing so she saw Izuku smirking at her. It confused her as he started pointing at the sheet. Curious, she turned to the sheet and her eyes widened as the ball of lightning was stuck on the sheet.
Izuku snapped his fingers, causing the electric ball to explode. Todoroki's team, so as the other teams around them were electrocuted. Groans of pain echoed in the field. Sticky Grenade, I love it! Though he was surprised to see her left arm flaming. Interesting.
His teammates were shocked, pun intended, at the new power that Izuku somehow awakened, mostly Toru and Ochako. They never saw him ever use Electrokinesis in their training exercises. They would just ask him later.
Mei Hatsume was looking deeply at Izuku. Her face was uncharacteristically giving looks of shock and surprise. She recalled his abilities. First Smoke Manipulation and Absorption, now Electrokinesis? Wait--Is he a conduit? Is he the person Uncle Zeke was talking about? He thought as she stared at Izuku. That's when he noticed something in his face that caused her eyes to widen.
W-wait?! Has he always been this handsome? She thought as a blush spread across her face.
All their shocked expressions were cut off when Present Mic's voice echoed in the arena. "ONE MINUTE LEFT!!"
The first on their feet was Izuku's team as Izuku used Smoke Shot to destroy the ice wall on their left and ran towards that direction, occasionally escaping other teams chasing after them. As they escaped the ice encasing their feet, the heat of the electricity Izuku was absorbing somehow melted the ice, freeing them.
As they made their escape, occasionally snatching points, Bakugou, who had just got his headband back from the 1B student, introduced himself as Neito Monoma, which Katsuki didn't really bother remembering, and came propelling towards Izuku. "DEKU YOU BASTARD! GIMME THAT TEN MILL!" Katsuki yelled as he Present Mic began counting the last 30 seconds.
Izuku looked over at Katsuki and was about to send a Magnum Bolt on the blonde boy, when he heard Iida's engines revved up. Looking at the direction of Todoroki's team, his eyes widened as Team Todoroki sped towards their direction, with speed unimaginable.
The opposing team passed through them as they snatched a headband off of Izuku. "Did you get it?" Iida asked his leader as they tried to slow down.
Shoko looked down at the headband she had snatched from Izuku and gritted her teeth as she only saw 70 points. "No." she said and ordered Iida to give chase.
Team Midoriya was now surrounded by other teams as they looked around for an escape route. Seeing no way out, he raised his arms to his sides as he channeled both Smoke and Electrokinesis on his left and right arm, respectively.
It was Team Bakugou and Team Todoroki, who were closing in on Izuku. They were approaching him quickly when...
"TIMES UP!" Present Mic's voice echoed throughout the arena causing the teams to stop on their pursuits on the leading team. In Bakugou's case, fell down to the ground.
Izuku, for the first time in the whole festival, took a breath of relief as he got off his team. He then looked over at his team with a wide smile. Toru and Ochako lunged at him with a hug, squealing at their victory. Hatsume, just picked up the jetpack Izuku dropped and began inspecting it.
Though she may be looking over at her baby, her thoughts were somewhere else as he tried to steal glances at Izuku, who returned his hug to the two girls. Izuku Midoriya... I hope I can get to know you more.
"Now shall we see who our top 4 are?!" Present Mic asked the crowd, causing a wave of cheers. "Well then... First place and still, Team Midoriya!" said team smiled at each other and bowed to the crowd.
"In second place! Team Todoroki." Todoroki was looking over at her left hand, which was slightly shaking. She then stared at Izuku with a scrutinizing look. He forced me into using my left side. She thought as she clenched her fist.
"In third! Team Bakugou!" Bakugou was sitting on the ground, screaming in anger at the ground, as his team just looked at him with sweat drops on their heads.
"And in fourth place, Team Tetsu–wait, what?" Present Mic said as he blinked in confusion. "Would you look at that! It's Team Shinso!!? When did you make it so high up!?"
Said team was mixed in reactions. Ojiro, and two 1B students looked around with confusion. W-wait? What just happened? They all thought as they looked around.
"Your hard work is deeply appreciated." Hitoshi Shinso said as he walked away from his teammates.
"The first four teams will move on to the final event... Now step forward!!!" Present Mic said as he excused the students for a lunch break.
Izuku was about to head to the exit, when a hand grabbed his shoulder, making him turn. "We need to talk..." Shoko Todoroki said, looking at him with a serious expression.
-----
In the arena, Endeavor was walking down the stairs heading to the Break Room. He was on the third step, when a voice called out to him.
"YO! It's been a while!" He turned to look over at the person who called him. Recognition dawned him as the towering figure of the Symbol of Peace appeared before him. "Let's have some tea, Endeavor!"
"All Might..."
-----
Chapter end! Thoughts?
Electrokinesis baby! I would've added some GIFs but there aren't much Cole MacGrath GIFs in Google, though I'd add some if I ever find some. IzuMei confirmed and she's related to Zeke! Who would've thought?
Next chapter, Chapter 17. Brainwashing... well kinda.
That's all! Dummy out!! Happy Holidays, everyone!!