Everyone listened carefully to what Midnight was saying, but Eva had to keep in mind that she could also be a target, just not as big as Izuku.

"A cavalry battle!" Midnight continued to explain. "Those of you at the top will suffer the most. Of course, that's something you'll hear over and over again at UA. Show us what Plus Ultra means! Izuku Midoriya placed first in the qualifier. He'll be worth ten million!" They turned to look at Izuku with determined looks again. "First years! These are the rules that you'll abide by The game itself will last fifteen minutes. Individual points values will be added together to reach your team total. Everyone will know how much you're worth thanks to your headbands. Swipe as many headbands as you can to raise your team's score. Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up. So the more you steal, the harder it'll be to manage them. And another thing--Even if your headband gets stolen or your team falls down, you can keep playing until time's up. Also due to the odd number of people, teams can have five if they wish."

"It's anyone's game, then," Yaoyoroz gathered. 

"And since there are 43 contestants, there'll be ten or 12 teams fighting on the field the entire time. 

"Sounds hard," Aoyama trembled. 

"So, if you lose your headband at the beginning, you have more time to make up a plan," Mina said.

"I dunno, Mina. Maybe we should wait and see how the teams turn out before we start strategizing," Tsu advised. 

"This is going to be rough," Midnight warned. "You may use your Quirks as much as you like. But there are still rules. Make a team fall on purpose and I'll slap you with a red card. You'll be disqualified!" Bakugo grunted looking away angrily. 15 minutes appeared on the clock. "Now, you've got 15 minutes to build your teams. I recommend you get started."

"EVA!" Bakugo exclaimed grabbing onto her shoulder. "You and me! We can take all these losers down with just the two of us! Let's take out Deku together! Todoroki as well!"

"We still need two or three other people," Eva reminded him. 

Katsuki growled. "I got the boom and you got the flight, we'll be fine."

"We gotta be aware of the other classes," Eva warned. "Didn't it seem odd that they weren't too on top reaching the finishing line first?"

"Huh?" Katsuki tilted his head.

"You two should team with me!" Sato shouted running up to them.

"No, you definitely want me by your side," Mina pleaded. 

"I don't wanna beg, but please," Aoyama trembled. A bunch of people surrounded them, mainly from their class. 

Eva opened her mouth; Katsuki put a hand over it. "Wait, remind me what your Quirks are again. And your names."

"You're kidding!" Mina exclaimed. "We're your classmates."

"Can you really be that self-centered?" Sato asked.

"Bakugo! Yuki!" Kirishima shouted, he waved his hand walking over to them. "I was gonna try Todoroki, but he already picked a group. So, hey! We should team up."

"Hey, Dumb Hair," Katuski greeted. 

"My name is Kirishima!" He exploded. "And my hair's not that different from yours. You wanna be the rider, right? So you're gonna need a strong front horse who won't be hurt by your blasts? That'd be me." He hardened his arm. 

"We need someone with guts," Bakugo responded. 

"My Quirk was made for this!" Kirishima exclaimed. "I got you covered, man! Let's go charging into battle together."

"Ah--" Bakugo breathed.

"Ten million," Kirishima said. "Bring it," Katsuki growled evilly. They ended up adding Sero, and Mina to their team. Kirishima was in the front, Mina on the right, Sero on the left, and Eva in the back. There were a couple of other people 5 people teams, including Shinso.

The time went off. "Oh, goody, it's time to get this party started," Midnight smiled as she stretched. 

"Hey, hey, look alive!" Present Mic encouraged Aizawa. "After 15 minutes to pick teammates and talk strategy, 12 cavalry teams are preparing to go head-to-head!"

"I see some unexpected student combinations," Aizawa noted. 

"Come on, everyone, get your hands in the air!" Present Mic encouraged. "It's time for an arena-thumping UA battle royale! Let me hear ya scream!" The board changed to a ready sign, and the crowd went wild. "Okay, all you first years! I hope you're happy with your chosen teams!" Her team had 765 points. Let's get this party started! One final countdown before the game starts! Three!"

"Get them!" Bakugo ordered as he cracked his knuckles. 

"Two!" Present Mic counted. 

"He's ours," Todoroki declared. 

"One!" Present Mic counted.

"Begin!" Midnight shouted. They all took off running toward the other opponents, mainly aiming for Izuku's team. As they ran, Eva used her wings to pull off headbands from other teams. She'd hand them off to Bakugo.

"It's basically one big battle for ten million points!" Tetsutesu shouted as Izuku whimpered at everyone.

"I'll be getting that headband, Midoriya!" Hagakure cackled. 

"We're running away!" Izuku shouted.

"Don't think so!" Tetsutesu denied the guy in front stepped down, a straight line of turning the ground to mud. 

"What's happening?" Urakaka panicked. 

"We're sinking!" Izuku revealed. 

"No good--I can't get out!" Urakaka revealed. 

"Urakaka! Hatsume! Watch yours faces!" Izuku advised. He clicked a button and his team went up. 

"He flew?" Tetsutestu growled. "Damn support course. After them!"

"Jiro, now!" Hagakure shouted. 

"I know!" Jiro grunted, her earbuds shot up, but they got blocked by Dark Shadow. "Stupid bird!'

"Good work," Tokoyami complimented. "Please, continue to watch over our blind spots, Dark Shadow."

"Got it!" Darks Shadow responded.

"Wow, that is seriously cool," Izuku complimented. "Your shadow is just what we needed. It will take care of our omnidirectional mid-range defenses! Tokoyami, you are amazing!"

"You are the one who chose me," Tokoyami reminded him. 

"We're landing!" Urakaka warned as she got ready for the ground.

"Wow!" Present Mic gasped. "Barely two minutes have passed since we started, and it's already a total free for all! Yeah! Watch those headbands! You can even ignore the ten million points and go after the other chart-toppers!" As they went over to Izuku again, they saw Urakaka's boot get stuck on the ground by Mineta's ball.

"What is that even allowed?" Izuku asked as he saw Mineta inside Shoji's arms.

"Judges say yes!" Midnight confirmed. Tsu's tongue came out of the hole, people dodged it. 

"Impressive moves as usual," Tsu complimented.

"Oh, man," Izuku breathed. "You've got Asui in there, too?"

"I told you to call me Tsu!" She urged. Her tongue came out along with Mineta's balls.

"Team Mineta's coming in a like tank, making clever use of how compact their members are," Present Mic said.

"Quickly. We move!" Tokoyamni urged. Their team went in the air again, with one of the boots breaking. 

"My baby's ruined!" Hatsume cried. 

"Sorry!" Izuku apologized. "But at least we got away from them!" Bakugo suddenly used his explosions and shot up toward them. 

"Kacchan!" Izuku gasped.

"Don't think for a second that you're safe!" Bakugo grunted. Urakaka let out a whimper. "I'VE GOT YOU!"

"Tokoyami!" Izuku shouted. Dark shadow got in between the two, he got hit by an explosion. The crowd went wild.

"WHOA!" Present Mic exploded.

"Yuki!" Sero shouted. "I'll pull you both back!" Eva shot up, grabbing Bakugo, and the tape landed on her back. 

"What the hell's that?" Bakugo demanded. 

"Dark Shadow," answered. "Tokoyami's quirk."

"Who?" asked Katsuki, looking back at her.

"Bird," answered Eva

"Bakugo has been separated from his horses!" Present Mic shouted. "Yuki shot up to provide air assistance!

"Whoa! Nice catch!" Kirishima asked as Sero brought them both back down, catching them. 

"Is that even allowed?" Present Mic asked. 

"He never touched the ground, so technically it's okay," Midnight said giving a thumbs up. 

"Warn us before jumping next time," Sero requested.

"Yeah! Totally not a manly move!" Kirishima added.

"Now, who wants to take a look at each team's points so far?" Present Mic asked. "It's been seven minutes, so let's get those rankings thrown up on the screen." The crowd went into complete shock. "Hold on here. This is an unexpected turn." Bakugo's headband suddenly got taken. "Other than Midoriya, Class 1-A is not doin' so hot. Even Bakugo is losing!" Eva glanced over to see that they had some points due to the ones she had grabbed, but they just took a major blow from someone taking the headband off of Bakugo's head. 

"Your class is too small-minded," Monoma said, he was the one who took the headband. "Think bigger."

"He got us!" Mina squeaked.

"What did you say?" Bakugo exploded. "Come back here!

"Midnight said the obstacle course was just the first game," Monoma said as his team stopped. "And we figured they wouldn't cut that many of us right off the bat. Would they?"

"Eva, he's getting at what you said early," Bakugo grunted.

"Assuming they'd keep at least 40 contestants for the next round, all we had to do was make sure we stayed within that group as we ran. From our spots in the middle ranks, we could fully observe the Quirks our rivals had and judge their capabilities." He looked at Eva. "We still got lots to learn about your capabilities, sweetheart."

"Sweetheart?" Eva repeated getting irritated, Bakugo smirked a little. 

"Only a fool would obsess over winning the preliminary rounds, wouldn't you agree?" Monoma asked. 

"You planned this as a class?" Bakugo asked. 

"It wasn't totally unanimous," Monoma answered as he put the headband on around his neck. "But I'd say it's playing out well."

"Hey, they are coming," Kaibara said. 

"It's better than chasing after a temporary frontrunner like a horse with a carrot waving in his face," Monoma continued. "Oh, while I have your attention. You're kind of famous, aren't you? For being attacked by that sludge villain. You'll have to tell me about it sometime." That struck a nerve with Bakugo and Eva, both of them were being swallowed by rage. "It must be strange to always find yourself in the role of the victim."

"Kirishima, Eva, we have a change of plans," Bakugo growled heavily. Ashido, Kirishima, and Sero all whimpered at the rage coming off Eva and Bakugo.

"Aren't you supposed to be the calmer one?" Mina whimpered. "Now who's the one digging up their inner Bakugo!"

"Change of plans," Eva growled. 

"Before we take down Deku, we're going to kill every last one of these B-lists idiots!" Bakugo raged. 

"Just not the vine girl," Eva said, he glared at her angrily. "She has a nature-related quirk and as a fairy, I have to respect that."

"Everyone else is dead!" Bakugo raged draggin his finger across his throat.

 "And now, we've reached the halfway point of the game!" Present Mic announced. "As the cavalry battle, it's second half, it's anyone's game! Class 1-B has made an unexpected showing, but who will wear the ten million points in the end? That's the real question, sports fans!" A ton of people aimed for Izuku's team, Bakugo's team with Monoma's team. Her eyes went wide when she saw that Kaminari completely electorate all the teams around them. 

"Will you look at that?" Present Mic asked as Todoroki froze the other teams to the ground. "He's stopped all those teams cold in their tracks!"

"But only after Kaminaru had immobilized the students using his electricity," Aizawa explained. "In the obstacle course, he was surprised by how many people avoided his attack. He's adapting his strategy."

"Nice commentary!" Present Mic complimented. 

Team Monoma and Team Bakugo stayed facing each other. 

"Monoma. Don't provoke them, man," Kairbara advised. "That's kind of thing he would do. Plus I heard it's bad to get a fairy mad."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Monoma agreed. "It's not very heroic of me. Besides, you know how these things work. Heroes are always being hounded by moronic villains desperate for some kind of revenge."

"Calm down, Bakugo!" Kirishima ordered Katuski was trembling. "You've gotta keep a level head, or we'll never get our points back! Yuki's calmed down!"

"Shut up!" Katsuki raged. "I've never been calmer." He punched his hand making an explosion. "Can't you tell? Now get after them, Kirishima!" Kirishima looked at Eva.

"Believe it or not, he is very calm," confirmed Eva. 

"Please don't make us regret this," Kirishima requested. 

They took off. "You think you're tough? Die!" He reached out; Monoma pushed his hand to the side, making his explosion mist. Bakugo turned around to have Monoma make an explosion in his hand. 

"Huh. Wow. I see why you like this Quirk!" Monoma admitted before smacking Kirishima's hair.  

"My power..." Bakugo grunted. 

"Whoa, weird!" Kirishima exclaimed. "That guy has your Quirk!

"Damn it!" Bakugo growled throwing his hand forward with an explosion

"You both have impressive powers," Monoma complimented, when the smoke cleared they saw that he was hardened. "But I think you'll agree mine's better.

"Huh? What? Mine, too?" Kirishima asked. 

"Bastard," Bakugo grunted. "His Quirk. He can copy other powers."

"Very good," Monoma complimented. "So even an idiot could figure it out," Bakugo growled, they went forward to get stopped by a team, and the front guy spat out glue all over the place; Eva lifted her wings up high so they wouldn't get caught. "Nice one. Thanks for the backup, Bondo."

"Monoma," Karibara said. "If we keep those headbands, we're good. As long as no one gets near us, we'll make our class proud. 

"Stop 'em!" Bakugo ordered.

"It's too sticky!" Kirishima yelled. "Crap! I can't move."

"No prob," Mina said stepping on the glue. "I'll melt through this gunk with my Quirk."

"We'll hurry! We're sitting at only 100 points now!" Sero urged. 

"Oh, no hard feelings, right?" Monoma asked as Eva handed Bakugo the headbands that were on her wings, he put them around his neck. Smoke came from Monoma's hand. "After all, you provoked us. What was it you said in your little speech before the games? UH---  Bakugo raged more, he tapped Eva; her wings turned to get ready.  "Oh, right. Oof." The crowd was cheering wildly.   

"Only one minute left!" Present Mic reported. "Todoroki has cornered the ten-million-point team and poised to seize the ultimate prize! At least, that's what I would have predicted five minutes ago!" He laughed. "Unbelievably, Team Midoriya's been able to keep away from the ice master for the last half of the game! Wha-wo-wo! What just happened? That was one big blur! Holy, smokes folks! Why didn't he show off that super-speed in the preliminaries?" The crowd was going wild. "Insanity! The entire game was just turned completely on its head! Todoroki's team has ten million points, and Midoriya's team is suddenly left with nothing at all! With time almost up! Team Todoroki is in first place with four headbands. Despite their best efforts, Team Midoriya has fallen to the bottom! Will these be the top four teams that move on to the next round?"

"Second place," Monoma said. "We've done pretty well for ourselves. Now, we can let the clock run out."

"Losers! Get back here!" Bakugo demanded that the team go back for their headbands.

"Doesn't he ever give up?" Monoma groaned. "Knowing you've been bested, is an important part of being a hero. 

"Hey, don't just fly off on your own!" Kirishima shouted as Katsuki blasted toward the other team. 

"Tsuburaba! Stop him!" Monoma shouted. Suddenly, Bakugo was trapped in solid air, Tsubaraba's quirk. 

"A'right!" Tsuburaba smiled. Bakugo repeatedly punched the air.  "You looked pretty stupid fighting with air." Bakugo let out a huge yell, he broke through the air, snatching the head of a couple of headbands. 

"Crap, he snatched some of 'em!" Monoma panicked. Sero pulled him back into their group.

" Team Bakugo nabs two headbands and moves into third place!" Present Mic reported. "The final moments of the game have been full of shakeups! Oh, to be young again!"

"I told you to warn us before you jumped!" Sero shouted. 

"Whatever, this means we're advancing," Kirishima said. 

"We're not done!" Bakugo shouted. He started to hit Kirishima's head. "We're gonna be the indisputable champions of this game!"

"Sero!" Eva shouted. "Put your tape around all of us!"

"Uh, okay?" Sero responded as he did was he told. 

"Now, look at this," Aizawa said. "Class 1-B's strategy was a reasonable one, but there's one thing they forgot to consider.

"I couldn't brace myself earlier when I jumped," Bakugo said. "Get closer! We'll get our points back from this idiot, then go for the big one!" Everyone smiled in response.

"Eva, are your wings ready?" Bakugo asked. "Is everyone taped together?"

"Yes, and yes," Eva responded.

 "Elbow guy. Tape 'im!" Bakugo ordered as he lifted his leg.

"My name's Sero!" He shouted as he did what he was told. 

"You missed!" Monoma shouted as the tape went past them. 

"Raccoon eyes! Lay down some acid in the direction we're going," Bakugo ordered. 

"It's Mina Ashido!" She grunted as she did as she was told. 

"Everyone not experienced with her speed better keep their damn mouths shut!" Bakugo ordered. "Now, Eva!" Wind blasted from her wings, sending them forward at an alarming rate, the crowd was going wild. 

"Class 1-B didn't take into account Bakugo's overwhelming tenacity," Aizawa said as Tsubuara prepared an air shield. Bakugo slammed right through it, with an explosion, taking their headband back. 

"Bakugo is a merciless force!" Present Mic exclaimed. "What a point hog! That was a shield break heard 'round the arena, and I can't wait to watch the replay!" Eva shot wind back, sending Monoma's team far away from them.

"Now! We're going after Deku and Todoroki," Bakugo grunted. "Eva?"

"I'll end up hitting all of you," Eva responded. They heard the crowd cheering. "Kirishima? Mina?"

"On it!" They both responded; Mina shot acid forward, trying to melt the ice in front of them.

"Katsuki," Eva said as they got closer.

"With just 11 seconds left. Team Midoriya's back in the game!" Present Mic reported. "Oh, no! Team Midoriya didn't get the ten million after all! The game is almost over! Time for a countdown!"

"Deku!" Bakugo raged breaking through the ice, and letting off explosions. 

"Bakugo!" Kirishima shouted. "Eva!"

"Hang on!" Eva urged, she shot them forward, making sure to stay underneath Bakugo the best they could. Thankfully, Sero was repeatedly wrapping tape around them, so they wouldn't separate. 

"Huh?" Kaminari asked.

"Urakaka!" Izuku asked.

"Let's go!" Urakaka shouted. 

"Yaoyorozu," Todoroki said as Iida's engines stalled. 

"Who's got the points?" Bakugo asked.

"Todoroki," Eva responded. 

"Dammnit, Icy hot!" Bakugo raged shooting toward his opponent. 

The three were going in hot towards each other. "Time's up!" Everyone stopped, and Bakugo fell forward on his head. The crowd went wild. "And with that, the second round is officially over!"

"Bakugo!" Sero shouted as the team ran over to him.

 "Are you okay, man?" Kirishima asked.

"Sorry, we weren't able to catch you," Eva apologized as she squatted down next to him. She put her hand on his head, as Bakugo angrily hit the ground. "Are you guys alright?" She looked at her teammates.

"If we ever go flying, let's just take a nice breeze," Mina said as she clapped her hands together. "Bugs flew into my mouth."

"Sorry," Eva apologized scratching the back of her head. "You guys did amazing," 

"Now, let's take a look at who our top teams are!" Present Mic announced. "In first place, Team Todoroki!"

"We ended in first place, but it was too close for comfort," Yaoyorozu said. 

"I'm sorry," Iida apologized. "I let everyone down, didn't I?"

"That's not true," Yaoyorozu denied. "You're the reason we won. Thank goodness for that special move of yours."

"In second place, Team Bakugo!" Present Mic announced. 

"Ugh. We were so close to first place," Mina groaned. 

"Meh. Yeah sure. But we are moving on, so it's all good," Sero reminded her.

"I don't think our leader would agree with you," Kirishima said. "Like at all." Bakugo was on the ground shaking, he screamed at the ground. Eva was squatting down next to him, rubbing his back.

"In third place, is Testute--Wait, what?" Present Mic asked. "It's Team Shinso? When did they come back from the dead?" Eva saw that everyone but Shinso was in complete confusion.

"Thanks for all your help," Shinso said walking away from his team. 

"And in fourth place is Team Midoriya!" Present Mic announced. Izuku ended up sinking into the ground from the power of his waterworks. "These four valiant teams will advance on to the final round. "Now, let's take an hour lunch break before we start the afternoon festivities! See ya soon! Hey, Eraser Head. Let's grab some food."

"I'm taking a nap," Aizawa responded. 

"Izuku!" Eva breathed fluttering over to them. "Congratulations!" His waterworks stopped as he looked over at her. "All of you, congrats!"

"Thanks!" They smiled at her.

"Congratulations to you too," Urakaka said. 

"I'm pretty sure, I made my team eat a bunch of bugs," Eva admitted as she scratched the back of her head, "Pretty sure they hate me now."

"Not at all!" Sero denied popping up behind her. "Definitely taken back by it though." They broke off into separate groups. Eva learned about Iida's speed as they made their way over to the cafeteria. 

"Iida, you were holding out on us, Urakaka said as she ran in place. "I had no idea you could do that!"

"Rest assure, it wasn't my intention to deceive you," Iida said. "I was just being strategic." Kaminari popped over to them, he was still a bit out of it from overusing his quirk.

'That was fun,' Kaminari sounded to them, along with hungry.

"I merely wanted to show I could compete with Midoriya," Iida said. 

"You are always trying to one-up each other," Eva said. 

"Oh, speaking of which, where'd he go?" Urakaka asked. "Has anyone seen Deku?"

"Iida, we should definitely team up one day," Eva said. "With your turbo speed and my aero speed, the villains wouldn't see what's coming!"

"With that much speed at once, we might break the sound barrier," Iida said as he adjusted his glasses.

 Kaminari made a sound "So cool!" 

"EVA!" Bakugo shouted. She looked over, he was motioning for her.

"I'll be back," Eva said, Bakugo took her down a hallway and stopped.

"So, you brought me here," Izuku said down another hall. Eva looked at Bakugo, he wanted her to eavesdrop on Todoroki and Izuku with him. They went against the wall. "Now what? We should probably eat soon. The cafeteria's gonna be busy. Don't you think? I promised Eva I would eat with her. 

"I was overwhelmed," Todoroki said. "And it made me break the promise I made to myself a long time ago. Ida and Kaminari...Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami...Urakaka...None of them felt it. In that moment, I was the only one who could sense your true power. It reminded me of something...Experiencing All Might's Quirk."

"Oh, yeah? Okay..." Izuku said. "Is that all?"

"I'm saying, the power coming from you felt the same as All Might's," Todoroki explained. "Midoriya, tell me. Are you really All Might's secret love child or something?" Bakugo and Eva both looked at each other. "Well, are you?"

"No, no way--that's not it at all," Izuku denied. "But I guess even if I was, I'd totally say I wasn't, so you probably won't believe me no matter what, I bet. Anyway, I promise you've got the wrong idea. And...Why would you even think that about me?"

"That's not it at all," Todoroki repeated. "Is interesting wording. It suggests there is something between you two, that you are not supposed to talk about. My father is the hero Endeavor. You must've heard of him. Which means you're aware that he's the number-two hero. So if you're connected to the number-one hero, All Might, in some way...That would mean...That I have even more reason to beat you. My old man is ambitious. He aims for the top. He used his power to make a name for himself as a pro hero. But he was never able to best All Might, so the Symbol of Peace is living proof of his failure. He's still at it, though, trying to take down All Might. One way or another."

"I'm not really sure what you're getting at," Izuku admitted. "What are you trying to tell me Todoroki?"

"Have you ever heard of...Quirk marriages?" Todoroki asked. "They became a problem in the first generations after superpowers became widespread. There were those who sought out potential mates solely with the intention of creating powerful children. Many people were forced into relationships. They were simply viewed as old-fashioned arranged marriages. But, clearly, it was unethical. My father has not only a rich history of accomplishments but plenty of money to throw at his problems. He bought my mother's relatives to get his hands on her Quirk. And now he's raising me to usurp All Might. It's so annoying. I refuse to be a tool for that scumbag. In every memory of her mother...I only see her crying. I remember she called my left side unbearable before she poured boiling water on my face. The reason I picked a fight with you was to show my old man what I was capable of doing. Without having to rely on his damned fire Quirk. You see, I'm going to show him that I reject his power, and I can take first place without using it." They heard footsteps, signally someone was leaving. "You're obviously connected to All Might. Even if you won't tell me about it. But no matter how fiercely you come at me in the future, I will defeat you using only my right side. I can ensure you that."

"Hey, wait!" Izuku called out, sounding like he was going after Todoroki. "I'm only here because others have supported me. I've been really lucky. In fact, I've had even more help since I've come to UA. All Might is constantly saving people with a fearless smile. He's the greatest hero. And I wanna be just like him. In order to do that, I have to be strong enough to become number one. I know my motivation might seem stupid compared to yours. But, still, I can't lose this, either. I owe it to everyone who's supported me to try my best. You declared war on me earlier. Well, right back at you. I am going to beat you." Eva and Bakugo left their station, making their way to the cafeteria.