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My Hero Academia: Far Beyond Max Omega! [IC/CLOSED/PG-16/BEST RP 2020 WINNER]

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"So, what's the brilliant plan to deal with this? I mean, aside from chase down this massive attraction like it's a weekly special at the supermarket!"

Risa turned to look back towards Ben, looking surprised at the question. "Eh? I thought you might know better than I would. Support students don't really get trained in things like this... We're more about giving you guys the tools to do it." She scratched the back of her head, looking apologetic. "... Which I guess doesn't help us much here where I have the tools and the Hero Course doesn't, huh?"

"Ah, so improvisation...honestly, that's a specialty of mine." Benjamin joked.

It took the pair longer to catch up to the Ferris Wheel than Risa had assumed, and by the time they reached an intersection that showed the gouges of the wheel moving around the corner Risa was developing a nasty stitch in her side, breathing hard as she looked around in complete confusion. "Eh?! It turned? How did it turn?" She finally found it, peering down the street to see the two figures at the end of it. "Class 1B... Is that Shoshiki and Oozei?" she asked, heart sinking as she saw the lanky white-haired boy and the pile of plushies that he and Mayu had accumulated between them. 

“Did the two of them stop it all by themselves?” she asked, wide-eyed, unaware that the situation was even crazier than that. “Wow… So this is the kind of thing possible in the Hero Course…” 

"Those are...1-B Students?" Benjamin muttered, recalling the day Orikami explained that their one exam with the roborex...that they did it in a faster time than them. "...[Amazing]..."

“Yeah, a bunch of them are really strong… But I didn’t think Shoshiki could… They got to it so fast…” Risa scratched the back of her head again, but this time she was turned away from Ben, glancing sidelong at the wheel. “I guess I slowed you down… I’m sorry! You could have maybe gotten some points if you hadn’t had to wait for me. No… You for SURE could have! After all, your Quirk is really good...”

"No, no...not at all." Benjamin shook his hands dismissively, chuckling nervously. "You didn't slow me down, Risa. Honestly, I was hesitant on trying to deal with something that huge, but a Hero is always ready to rise to the occasion, right? So it's not an issue."

Then he paused, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. "As for my Quirk, well...it's nothing to write home about. But I thank you for that vote of confidence."

“No, no way!” Risa protested, turning back to wave her hands to and fro. “All of us in the Support class get dossiers on you guys to design for you, I remember yours on account it was so interesting! Spider Colony is a really neat Quirk, you’re lucky to get something so versatile! And obviously you’re real skilled at using it, else you wouldn’t be here, yeah?” She looked down at her hands, smiling sadly. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to be a Hero with a Quirk like mine… all I can do is push and pull on metal things. My big sis got the real good one, so I have to do my dad proud like this instead.” 

Benjamin looked at Risa, legitimately surprised on hearing that his was memorable due to it being interesting. A small smile could be seen for a moment, before he simply broke the silence. "Risa, I'm sure you can still be a Hero. I mean, I don't know what your Quirk is, but you just have that...desire to want to help. I mean, you showed that off immediately by chasing down a runaway Ferris Wheel. Anyone else would just run the opposite direction."

She looked up at him in surprise as he said this, a few seconds of awkward silence between the two before she laughed suddenly, holding up her hands in front of her as if to ward off the compliment. “Well that’s so nice of you to say! But no, I really… Why would I want to be a hero? I’d be no good at it!” She started checking each of the items on her body, one by one and beginning to walk away from Ben, backwards towards a side street. “But I’ve kept you long enough… After all, you’re Hero Course; You’ve got people to impress!” She gave Ben one last thumbs up, turning to go. “Good luck, O’Hara-sama! I know you can do it!”

She turned to run away unimpeded, her face losing the happy smile and changing to a frown. Ben was wrong about her being able to be a hero. Clearly just being nice. Yet Risa felt a strange sensation in her belly, almost like a light, breezy sensation moving up towards her throat. 

Guess that’s just another thing about being a Hero, she thought to herself as she continued. They're able to make you feel better than you are sometimes. Her dad had been very good at that. Maybe that was why so many spoke so highly of him, about things Risa had never fully been old enough to understand at the time.

She paused beneath a rickety fire escape, looking up to see two small stuffed frogs hanging from the grate as it swung slightly in the wind that was funneling between the buildings. She put out her arms to catch them, knowing they would fall any second, then stopped, huffing in frustration. "No, Risa!" she said out loud, to nobody in particular. "You're supposed to show off your Support items here!"

You just have that... desire to want to help.

So let me ask you the real question, sounded Deerc's voice in her head alongside Ben's. Kawashima Risa... Why do you want to be a hero?

She reached impulsively to the bandolier around her chest, pulling out two small metallic triangles. They were heavy in her hands, each one much denser than its small appearance would have implied. She held one up, closing an eye to aim at one of the frogs, and pushed. The metallic plate soared up, impacting the frog and detaching it from the fire escape, sending it careering into the air. She heard a small tic sound, seeing that the weight had latched on. She released her Quirk, then as it began to fall she pulled, and with a small stumble the heavy weight, frog attached, landed in her hand.

She shook her head as she lined up a shot on the second frog. It wouldn't matter if I ever wanted to be a Hero... she thought to herself, rushing to get beneath the frog to make it an easier catch. I'm just not Onee-sama, Ben, Almaz, Shoshiki... And I'm definitely not like Dad. I told Ben it was just my Quirk, but... How can I be like people who are as amazing as all that? 

She set the frogs down on the pavement, detaching her weights and renewing her run down the street. No, I'll just have to do what I can to make sure they lead everyone else! she thought, retrieving a trio of parrots from a locked car that sat on a set of train tracks by piercing the lock mechanism on the door with a judicious stab from the peg inside one of her stabilizers, her foot held up to the lock. She probably could have opened the door with her Quirk, but that wasn't what she was here for, she kept telling herself. I have the worst items in the Support class, and the worst grades... But I have to show them off as much as I can. It's like Setsu said: Aesthetics are overrated!

Edited by Faytl

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Hero Queen

While the dragon girl had intended to take care of the ferris wheel, she noticed it coming to a halt, earning a bemused smile. Why, who else was strong enough to do that? Surely not Meguru, as he would have sent it flying the other way.

Shannon flew over to the area to inspect, only to suddenly giggle giddily from up above. There it was! Shoshiki had actually found a bit of heroic spirit inside, and managed to save the day! She always knew he had it in him, though the boy himself did not... But she was proud of him, all the same. Hopefully this symbolized a change for her compatriot. On top of that, Mayu seemed to have begun to assist him. With not much left to do there, Shannon smiled softly, looking around at the rest of the area. Even though she already had a count nearing 40, she probably should keep going. After all, the idea was that this emulated real life.

"Surely Mmmadame Orikami would not design a test that cares only about points. So, where to next?"

Finishing her scan and flapping her wings, Shannon shot down towards a small bridge that seemed to be collapsing. Swooping underneath it, she caught the bridge, holding up the middle of it as some pedestrian plushies sat atop of it, doing her best to rise up, with only a slight faltering in her smile. This was nothing. She was the hero, so this had to be easy to resolve.

CRACK

Shannon's head whipped to the east entrance of the bridge, seeing the concrete begin to fall down from it, underneath where she had seen some of the plushies. She grit her teeth, trying to power through and lift it faster, but she was just a little shy of achieving it, the pieces of the bridge dropping into the water below...!

"[Watashi ga kitaaa!]"

-----

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After getting the clowns safely off of the train, Diana had felt bad enough to turn back and try to stop the ferris wheel, but it seemed that she was beaten to the punch. Not that she minded, she had no plan for how to take care of that thing. Instead, she headed off towards the residential district, grabbing the occasional plushy from a tree as she did. Normally, an area like that wouldn't have a lot of issues... Or so people though. Diana knew better.

Or, at least, she thought she did. The area seemed to mostly be fine, just a few more trees with plushies... And she didn't feel like she was racking up enough points from the ones she was saving, having only managed a grand total of 12 so far. She was sure they were a good ways in by now, but she couldn't find anything else. She just had to hope that if she pressed on...!

CRACK

From ahead, Diana heard the loud noise, seeing a bridge on the horizon, with plenty of plushies on it. Heading towards it as fast as she could, she didn't even question why it would make that noise without falling suddenly. She just had to make it there in time. What if this was real life? What if people were actually in danger? She couldn't stop and question things at a time like that! As she got close enough, she lowered herself to the ground just enough to prepare, seeing those pristine wings flapping from either side of the bridge below as she did.

"I'm here!"

Then she leapt. She grabbed the plushies in her arms, letting out a bit of air as she felt her body skid across the pavement... and off the other side, holding the "citizens" tight as she panted, not a scratch on them, earning a grin from the hero-in-training as she stood up, just a bit shakily.

As soon as the pedestrians were safe, Shannon dropped the bridge into the water below, panting for just a moment before composing herself. She flew over to the road and landed right next to Diana, looking over the plushies.

"My, I must say that I am quite impressed. You showed up right on time, and you also kept the civilians from being hurt. Though, I suppose I cannot say the same for you..." Shannon looked over at Diana, looking her up and down... finding one of the legs of her pants hiked up from the sliding. As the dragon girl looked all the way down, her eyes widened for a moment. "Wait, you-"

"[Don't!]" Diana snapped back, before catching herself and holding a hand over her mouth, "I... I'm sorry. But this is nothing. I can make it. I'm used to taking a beating, so I'll walk it right off!"

"... Well. You are certainly more impressive than I gave you credit for, Miss Seigi." Shannon smiled, but to Diana this one felt... warmer. Like it was a genuine smile. "I will be off then, if you are sure you do not need assistance. Good luck, and I hope to see you in the next round."

"You too!" Diana grinned, holding out her right hand to bump fists with the dumbfounded dragon girl, earning a small chuckle from the latter. But, in the end, Shannon obliged, bumping her fist against Diana's before she took off, flying back into the sky. Diana watched until she was gone, then knelt down to adjust her clothing. Shannon may have a different viewpoint from her, but... maybe that was just something she had to understand. She seemed to try her best, same as Diana, and that was all she could really hope for from a fellow hero.

 

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Benjamin O'Hara

There was a feeling of shock and awe as Benjamin stood there seeing the now sideways Ferris Wheel and two students from 1-B basically atop it...those being the two who truly stopped it. For an instant, he felt his body have a chilling sensation...this both frightened and excited him all at the same time. The hair on the back of his neck and his arms stood up on end with the chilly feeling as he just stood there for a moment or two looking at them.

Of course, something came back to his mind almost immediately...

"I will be transparent with you all, class 1-B completed the challenge in approximately one fifth of the time it took you all to do so. The student who encountered the Thunderjaw managed to defeat it on her own."

This...this was 1-B...they were able to complete their challenge faster than them and even take down the giant kaiju bot. ...this was what they were up against...

"...[Amazing]..."

Of course, he and Risa had a bit more of a conversation after bonding over seeing this Ferris Wheel now like this. Risa did of course, praise his abilities and Quirk, saying that his was the most memorable due to how interesting it was. This did make him smile a bit, maybe even boosted his confidence a little. But then, she continued.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to be a Hero with a Quirk like mine… all I can do is push and pull on metal things. My big sis got the real good one, so I have to do my dad proud like this instead.” 

Benjamin looked at Risa, giving her an honest smile. "Risa, I'm sure you can still be a Hero. I mean, I don't know what your Quirk is, but you just have that...desire to want to help. I mean, you showed that off immediately by chasing down a runaway Ferris Wheel. Anyone else would just run the opposite direction."

What he got...wasn't the response he was looking for or even expecting...

“Well that’s so nice of you to say! But no, I really… Why would I want to be a hero? I’d be no good at it! But I’ve kept you long enough… After all, you’re Hero Course; You’ve got people to impress! Good luck, O’Hara-sama! I know you can do it!”

Before Benjamin could say anything more, he watched Risa rush off past him. His eyes followed her the entire time, and he even was about to reach a hand out to stop her...but he didn't. ...w-was it something I said...? he thought, watching Risa leave his sight. Something felt very similar in the way she said that which struck a chord with him. Why did it? "...I said that once before...didn't I?" Benjamin muttered, now realizing something. Risa to an extent...was similar to him in his past, the version of him that said he couldn't become a Hero.

BGM

He glanced back in the direction of the Ferris Wheel then back in the direction of where Risa rushed off. ...Heroes rise to any challenge...and she was heading towards this. Support Class or not... His nerves and motivations to continue were now steeled. With that, he ran off and immediately dove into an alleyway, immediately grabbing a hold of the fire escape and parkouring his way up it. Once he made it to the top of the building's roof from the fire escape, he exhaled slowly.

"Whoever told her she couldn't...was the wrong type of person to tell her that." Benjamin muttered, already proceeding to leap to a few nearby rooftops, tucking and rolling in the process. "And her meeting me...I'll have to say, if it's for the reason I think it is...then history repeats itself." He jumped and with webbed hands and feet, landed on the side of the building, immediately crawling along it towards his goal: a hostile situation with two maybe three robots, a "bomb" and roughly about 25 to 30 civilians in need of a Hero.

As he infiltrated the building undetected, Benjamin had small flashes of a memory play out in his mind again. That day...he could see it clear as day...and this time...it would continue. This time, HE would be the one to inspire another to become a Hero. The young arachnid Hero began to do what he could, immediately sending out spiders to distract the robots the best they could, giving him ample time to free the citizens. However, the moment came around where he was caught...and had a fourth robot with a gun to the back of his head. Benjamin slowly raised his hands up, sighing. "Alright...I give up..." he said, standing up slowly and immediately turning around to throw some of his spiders at the robot. A shot rang out and hit Benjamin's shoulder...and rubber bullet or not...it still hurt like crazy. He held his shoulder some and still began to improvise. Office chair? Perfect! Grabbing that, he slid it around and pushed it towards the robot who now lost it's footing while dealing with the spiders.

"Take a seat and stay a while..." Benjamin said, watching the spiders now disabling the robot and tying it up. "Alright...that's that...did you guys deal with the...-"

Other three are dealt with. Sorry about not realizing there was a fourth.

"No worries about it..." he rolled the shoulder he was shot in, before making it over towards the "bomb". "Now...let's take care of this." With a few moments, a couple of spiders left Benjamin and entered the fake bomb, doing what their host said and disabled it almost immediately. Once his spiders returned to him, Benjamin rushed out the front door of the building and proceeded to scale up it once more.

Just wait Risa...I'll show you that you can become a Hero...like Silky showed me...


Herculean Hero - Atlas

”You’re welcome. You know, the last two hero course students we encountered didn’t last this long. How about you join my agency after we graduate? I’m always looking for good support. You should forfeit the Sports Festival now, Akagi, I don’t think you want to get hit by this one."

"...I spoke too soon on the fact that one of which is acting like Gin...maybe even more so. Didn't think that was even possible." Atlas sighed, shaking his head at seeing this display. At least this Akagi Kio was standing his ground against this individual.

He turned his attention, however to another screen which showed two young Hero prospects: Shannon and Diana. These two worked in tandem together with the bridge situation, which was definitely impressive. Both seemed very interesting... "Hmmmm..."

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Takehiko took a deep breath as he eyed the small gathering of plushies, "...What am I doing? I should actually be trying harder." His eyes glanced in the distance to a Ferris Wheel crashing to a halt with a golden glowing shield, "...I'm not sure if that's resolved but maybe I should check it out... if nothing else I might be able to bend the metal into better armor for Knight Mode."

He nodded to himself as he took off for the Ferris Wheel, leaving a few pawns guarding the plushies he was leaving behind until he needed to disperse them. As his pawns activated his current armor clattered to the ground, spent and a bit rusted and cracked. It probably took him about 5 minutes just to get there, performing a few rescues of stragglers as he saw them before coming up to the Wheel. He placed his hand on it, his pawns dispersing back where he had them as the wheel contorted and shaped itself around his body into a silver armor adorned with bits of metal in the shape of the ferris wheel cars making up the joints, "Hopefully nobody wanted to keep this around for afterwards..." He gave a small look around, it seemed he'd arrived a bit late to whatever had happened here but he gave a shrug as he took off bolting up an alleyway and to the top of a few buildings, beginning to leap from one to the next as he surveyed the landscape below him.

Eventually he came to a top-level office where there seemed to be a board meeting of plushies set up around a long desk, looking at projected merchandise sales for some of the top-level pro hero's. As he watched a few robots blasted down the door, putting the board meeting at gunpoint as they rolled inside.

"Damn, wasn't expecting that so quick. Starting to wonder if these things are proximity activated or if someone's controlling them remotely for when they're active..." He gave a chuckle as he leapt from the building, crashing through the window and smashing an armored foot into one of the robot's, knocking it over since he decided not to put in enough force to pierce it this time, "Don't want to be electrocuted again..." He took a breath as he lifted the table and threw it into the other two robots, quickly gathering up the 5 plushies that were there and bolting past the robot's and down the staircase, going to return his newly-found plushies to his established safe zone.

Thankfully once he got there they all seemed to be doing fine, though Takehiko was starting to feel like his time was almost up at this point. It had definitely been a while and he didn't feel like he had scored very highly, but ah well, "I think I've done the best I can, though if I see anyone passing by I'll offer to protect whatever their current rescues are." He nodded to himself, happy with that as he went back to guarding the 'civilians'.

Edited by PhoenixOfCute

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Rika watched as the Ferris Wheel started to roll to a stop, a little sigh of relief escaping her. She knew the two of them weren't going to be able to stop it, Atsushi was definitely not happy about that fact, she was glad that someone else had managed to scratch together a plan for it while they warned some people and got them out of the path of it.

"Good... You wanna get back to the stuffed animal hunt, lizard?" Atsushi grinned to Rika as he gave her a thumbs up, his wings flaring behind him as they started to move once again. She let out a little laugh.

"You're still gonna drag me with you? I thought you'd wanna split up now."

"Nah, two is better than one, plus I like the company. It was getting real boring have no one to talk to."

The crimson trail behind them slowly faded as they launched across the sky, looking for potential trouble as the trial continued. Atsushi was rambling about some goingons in the General Course since Rika had transferred over, but she wasn't really listening... And he didn't really care, she was sure. He just needed to distract himself, just like she did. Her nerves were starting to get to her, despite everything, she didn't really have that many points, she was sure. If someone stopped that Ferris Wheel, that had to be worth more than just the handful she had gotten so far.

The two of them swooped through the air, a crane had been knocked out of it's intended location and had a stuffed monkey dangling from the hook by the tail, it seemed like it was about to fall. As they dashed, Rika scooped the monkey up and they dropped it off at the construction site, plopping a little hardhat on the creature's head.

"I'm surprised you're doing this, did someone talk you into it?" Rika adjusted the hat for a moment, before the two of them started to take off into the sky once again. She glanced towards the rocketboy as he let out a tiny laugh.

"My old man did. He said if I'm serious about my path, I need to understand how heroes think. I'm watching them during this, plus..." He glanced at Rika, "You know, I think you'll get it."

She frowned for a moment, but their conversation was cut short as they saw a building with the glass shattered on the topmost floor, Atsushi rocketing them up towards it suddenly. The base of the building was on fire, smoke was quickly rising as they landed on the top floor, "Rika! I'm gonna check the rooftop, you evacuate here, bring any stuffed animals you find here and we'll get them down after this."

She gave Atsushi a thumbs up, running through the floor she was left on. "He said I'd understand, but talking about how heroes think?" She rolled her eyes for a moment, she should've known it wasn't a good idea to hold a conversation while they dealt with the festival event. She ran around, grabbing little stuffed animals in business suits, whatever this building was, it was clearly an office building. It seemed like not many animals were in for work today at least. After her scan of the office, complete with no way to get down to the lower levels thanks to the elevator being out of order and the stairs in a massive blaze now, she had managed to gather three little animals. She ran back towards the 'entrance' they used, holding her hand up as she whistled out...

And with a flash, Atsushi was there. He had a pair in his hands, a little bear and a caterpillar. "Great, there were a couple on the roof, let's go!" She grabbed onto his hand once she took the bear from him, holding on tight as they started to descend towards the ground, "I can't imagine we've got much time left. For now... Let's take a breather..."

She blinked as they landed on the ground, a little sigh escaping her as she did, "Damn, I didn't even think... I must've taken a lot of extra out of you, huh?"

He gave a small grin, along with a thumbs up, before he sighed out. He plopped down to the ground, those wings drooped behind him as he did, "...Yeah, I'm tired. I've got a great Quirk, but I still need some endurance for long flights like what we did. We did great though, thanks for flyin' with me, Rika."

She let out a tiny laugh, "Thanks for taking me with you, I couldn't have covered nearly enough ground on my own. Maybe I've got a shot now."

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This sucked.

Inu hated the fact he smelled the dolls all the way on the top of this building. To make things worse, he had to fight off robots to even get close to the dolls. They were easy enough, a few punches taking them down, but then something weird happened. Two robots dropped from the ceiling. Not only that, but they had really weird designs. One looked like a giant turtle covered in spikes, buzzsaws spinning out from the sides as flamethrowers sprouted from its back, the turtle staring blankly as jets of fire spewed from the weapons.

The other had a long thin body, one Inu was pretty sure was supposed to be a baguette. Looking it, he saw a silly hat on its head, and a small curly mustache on its face, solidifying that idea. The poor robot had no hands, instead ending on what looked liked scythes, but looking closely, Inu realized the scythes were modeled after croissants.

"What idiot made these designs...?" Inu muttered.


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Watching the screens, seeing students come across bizarre and impractical robots only brought a smile to the Pro Hero's face as he held up a notebook full of crazy robots designs. "They're even more beautiful than I thought," He said as he went back to creating robot designs with the skills of a preschooler scribbling in a coloring book. The support teacher Mr. Deerc looked over his shoulder, sighing. 

"One day I'll figure out how you keep slipping these designs into my tests," He muttered.

"Don't worry about it, John," Terro commented.


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Inu sighed to himself as he rolled passed the two robots, picking up the two human sized dolls, one on each shoulder.  "Alright, you pile of scraps, let's do this!" Inu barked as he bared his teeth. The baguette robot only flexed its metal arms angrily before it walked behind the robot turtle, rearing its leg back, obviously trying to kick the dangerous turtle into Inu. However, when it swung its leg, the foot got caught in the buzzsaws, shredding its foot instantly, which caused the robot to lose its balance, falling forward and having its entire body shredded to bits, neither robot reacting to the turn of events.

Inu stared blankly as the turtle fired off the flamethrowers, the flames falling short a few inches from actually hitting him. He looked down at the turtle's feet. Waiting for it to move, but soon realized it had nothing. No legs, no wheels, not treads. The turtle couldn't move. With a sigh of relief, he went to leave the building, when the whole structure shook. "What the H-E-double fuck was that?!" Inu called out.


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Tai sighed to himself as he placed down over 30 dolls on the sidewalk, wiping his brow. He was really lucky that the test was in the afternoon, and not at night. He dusted his hands off and went to find more dolls to help when a loud booming noise caught his attention. "What was that?" He turned, looking at the giant building that was starting to fall over, its giant shadow covering the entire area. "Shinobu, what the heck did you do?" He muttered to himself, having a good guess at the actual answer. With a sigh, he cracked his knuckles and ran over. 

The building fell over, a deafening sound being heard as the building began to break everything around it with its sheer weight. Tai stood in its shadow defiantly, holding out his hands, and catching it before the building could touch the ground. Gritting his teeth, he lifted the sideways building over his head, struggling to make sure it didn't topple into the ground.

"No need to fear, I got it," Tai stated as he began to walk down the street, carrying the building to the outskirts of town. "I... I need to think of a better catchphrase," He muttered. "Maybe 'there's no need to feel, I am here!'?" he decided to leave that for later, focusing on leaving the building balanced as he made his way out of town.


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"Shit, shit, shit, fuck, fuck, fuck!" The poetic words of Inu rang out as the building he was inside began to topple over. He couldn't keep his footing as the floor became the walls, and the glass windows became the floor... that couldn't withstand the weight of both him and the robot, who began to fall over hundred feet down towards the unforgiving ground. Thinking fast, Inu spun himself around, taking  a deep breath in before letting out a torrent of flame, the force of which greatly slowed his descent. Keeping his grip tight on the dolls, he felt a foreign feeling in his chest, a sense of pride. He was going to make it out okay, thanks to some fast thinking!

But pride always comes before a fall.

Some debris from the building were falling as well, and a particularly large rock nailed the wolf boy in the head, causing the boy to stop breathing fire and fall back down to the ground, his vision getting dark. "No, no, no!" His mind called out as his body spun through the air, steam coming out of his eyes. "It's not fai---," He was knocked out the instant his body crashed into the ground, leaving the injured boy laying in a crater, his grips on the dolls lost.

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Another one! Risa had to hop up to catch the stuffed horse out of the air, having biffed the angle, but she managed to catch it all the same. She twisted off the weight as she dropped the horse onto a nearby bench (taking an extra half a second to make sure he sat upright, for no particular reason) before rushing off down another street. She definitely wasn't rescuing plushies at the rate the Hero Course was managing, she was confident there, but she wasn't doing too bad for Support numbers, at least she hoped so. The weights had been surprisingly handy, letting her knock plushies off of high ledges and windowsills and bring them sailing back toward her. The stabilizers hadn't been much use, and neither had the bolas, which had been sized for the average human size and not for the bulky robots, in a crippling lack of foresight. Why had she sized them so uniformly when there was such a myriad of different shapes and sizes with how Quirks worked?

It's fine, it's fine! She kept telling herself this as she rushed down a side street, avoiding a duo of Class B students. She had been avoiding Hero Course in general since she split off from Ben. So long as I stay where the Hero Course isn't, I'm free to show off! The weights will just have to do! I can't match up to the Hero Curse, but I can-

She was violently divorced from her thoughts by a great rumbling crash less than a block away from her. She stumbled, almost tripping over her stabilizers before she whipped around to see a building beginning to topple. She made to take a few steps back, gulping at the sight as one of the front corners of the building had great, splitting cracks run across the surface, cracks that quickly broke and released plumes of brick and dust.

Did the school cause it to fall? They really trust the Hero Course to take care of things... She thought, noticing that one of them was rushing up. She recognized him faintly, though she couldn't place a name or Quirk to this particular one. Class B, though, she was pretty sure. Immediately she felt the tension in her chest that had built up at the noise relax a little. Class B had a lot of powerful Quirks, and he certainly seemed confident. He probably had this in hand if he was running to it so aggressively. 

"Amazing..." she whispered under her breath as he ran to the structure that was still crumbling more and more, threatening at last to tip over. "The Hero Course really is fearless, huh? No wonder they took in Fumiko." She took a deep breath, turning to walk away. "I'll get any of the animals in the area; Keep them away from the debris, that'll be worth a few points, surely-"

It was then she saw, just out of the corner of her eye, as the building began to finally tip over. The Class B student was already leveraging it, grabbing at the center and lifting it (how he didn't snap it in half she had no idea) up over his head, preparing to take it into a great overhead carry. But debris was, as Risa had guessed, falling from the building. And one piece of it looked less like brickwork and more like a person-

Risa ran, stabilizers banging with a jolt against the asphalt with every step. "Hoki!" she called out loudly, taking a stab at the 1B student's name. "Look out!" But he didn't seem to hear her over the crumbling of the building he was holding. Risa's eyes darted back to the falling boy, one she didn't recognize in her frantic run, just seeing a tousled head of gray hair amidst a plume of fire that very suddenly went out. She assumed that to be a bad sign. She tossed a weight at him, cursing the action even as she did it. He's heavier than you, Risa! she thought to herself as she saw the weight sailing up towards Inu, knowing it would do no good. Her mind flew through a million thoughts at once, none of them helpful as she saw him fall toward the ground. Oh no; Unless he's got a physical enhancement Quirk-

She didn't let herself finish the thought. She was interrupted by a memory that was, amazingly, actually helpful: The training dummy she had used with Fumiko. The scrap body she had made was always falling over unless Risa used her Quirk to hold it upright, and it had knocked her back whenever Fumiko exerted a lot of force on it; It had outweighed her, exerting her Quirk's power on her. But one time it had happened while she leaned against a wall,  and after a brief moment of pressure she had been effectively braced-

She renewed her push on the weight, sending it shooting in a renewed arc to Inu. It hit him in the shoulder, latching on just a half a second after Risa tapped her stabilizier heel on the ground to send the iron peg into the street. She felt an uncomfortable pressure across her body as Inu's weight had a brief contest with her own, but Risa was firmly attached to solid ground and Inu was supported merely by thin air. He spun away from her, his downward momentum briefly interrupted, greatly reducing the speed at which he fell. Risa hissed in a breath as she saw him hit the ground, but at a glance it at least looked like his legs were both at the proper angles. A knocked out fall was better than a bone-breaking fall, and as she felt the shadow of the building blot out the light heat from the sun she did see he was indeed knocked out. Which complicated matters.

"Sasori? Er, I mean Satori? Salieri? Whichever one you are?!?" she called out over the sound of the crumbling brick above and suddenly around them. Her head darted up with alarm as she saw that while Tai had the building relatively in hand, debris had fallen to the strike the sides of the buildings on either side, which had been smaller and thus sustained major hits. They too, were crumbling, and she saw already that a large section of rooftop was starting to slide off towards her and Inu. 

"No no no no no no no," she muttered incoherently, giving rhythmic light slaps to Inu's face in a frantic and completely ineffective attempt to revive him. "Pleeeease wake UP," she begged, her plea turning into a nerve-wracked shout as a metal sheet of roofing spun through the air towards them, reflexively pushing on it to thrust it away as it clanged onto the street just a few feet from them. More and more debris was starting to fall, and Risa wasn't nearly as physically capable of moving Inu as he would have been at moving her. She struggled to pull him, drag him out of the danger zone by the armpits, to no avail. 

"Someone help! Anybody! Hero Course! Please!" But the only one anywhere near them had a building over his head to deal with. Risa struggled to pull Inu. Why was she so small?!? Her sister had maintained their father's height, why couldn't she have-

Another metal sheet of roofing fell next to the pair and Risa finally processed the METAL part of that equation. She swiftly rolled Inu over, that much she could do, trying not to look over her shoulder every other second at the building she could hear collapsing behind her. As she rolled him onto the metal sheet, she rapped her heel against it, accomplishing a twofold purpose: Steadying it so she could get Inu on it easier, a well as having the peg of her stabilizer punch a hole in the thin metal. 

That done, she swiped at her belt with numb, shaking fingers. An eternity later that was actually two seconds, she pulled a small cluster of iron spheres out, jabbing at a depressed button that released a spring audibly inside that caused the spheres to fall away from each other, separating them into three orbs connected by a length of steel cable. That was what she needed. With fervor she detached the spheres, looping the cable with difficulty through the hole in the iron sheet. There's no way this works, she told herself all the while, using the mantra to drown out the chaos around her. But upon turning around she saw that it would have to, as the top half of the nearest building was sliding down at last, and the opposite wasn't far behind, waiting to sandwich them between two groups of rubble.

"AIIEEEEEEEE!" she screamed in fright and adrenaline, as she took off running and pulled at the metal sheet behind her. It was not graceful and it certainly wasn't quick, but it was definitely faster than if she had been dragging just Inu by herself. She finally started putting distance between herself and the buildings, even with her impromptu sled knocking against the back of her heels every few seconds.

I can't believe it's working! she thought feverishly, looking over her shoulder to see they were almost out of danger. Maybe I- She stopped that thought process as she saw several robots falling from the rightmost building, dressed up to look like robbers as they looked very dismayed and fell into the deluge of bricks. But something else noticeable were several tied-together plushes, groups of four or five bundled together in rope restraints. Groups of plushes that gave her an idea.

Three weights were tossed out, slowing her progress a little as she had to give up on pulling Inu in order to push her weights as they sailed out towards the bundles. She missed one, but they latched on to two others. She quickly pulled them back, releasing her Quirk just as they flew over the sled, allowing them to fall softly onto Inu below them as she began yanking at the sled with her Quirk, speeding up the final push just as a deluge of rock and pebble narrowly missed crushing Inu's foot beneath it. Risa finally tripped on her stabilizer cages, falling to the street and gasping for breath as Inu's sled slid to a grinding halt beside her.

"... Deerc-sensei didn't warn me about this," was all she could muster. She pulled herself into a sitting position, taking in the growing dust cloud before her, coughing as grit plumed into her face. It was uncomfortable, but it certainly wasn't lethal. She reached out for the bundles of plushes: Eight animals in total that she didn't bother to undo the rope on. She gently lifted Inu's head and settled the two bundles beneath it like pillows, before falling back to the ground to lie with her arms spread across the curb as she let out one long, tired sigh.

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All across the mock city, a loud buzzer could be heard, as the time allotted to them all reached a close.

”Alright, students! Time’s up. Go ahead and head back to the school’s arena, where the rest of the event will be held. The results of this first leg are being determined as we speak, to be announced when you arrive! Good luck,” a light chuckle could be heard from the school’s headmaster, not quite out of range of the microphone, ”you’ll need it.”
 



It took the students about an hour to congregate back at the proposed location, filling the space at the center as they tended to stay near people they knew, as teenagers are often wont to do. The stands were packed, to the point that some people were even left standing on the stairsteps. The giant television mounted to the wall said something on the screen about this being the greatest attendance of any U.A. Sports Festival in history, but before it could elaborate on the crowd, a triumphant fanfare began blasting from the speaker, as the feed changed to a live one tracking the school’s traditional heroics teacher, Orikami, stepping up onto the stage.

Seemingly not fully understanding proper etiquette for public appearances, she tapped at her microphone pin as she stepped onto the stage, eliciting a wave of feedback from the speaker she was walking by. Ignoring the thousands of cringes directed at her, she made her way to the center of the stage, before gazing out at the crowd of student competitors before her. With a small acknowledging nod toward each of Shannon and Mayu, in that order, she took a deep breath, and let out an almost bored-sounding sigh. ”Greeting, and good afternoon to everyone in attendance. It is my… honor to be hosting providing…” she gazed up at the announcer box, knowing she was receiving a pair of unseen thumbs up from within, before sighing once again and continuing, ”color commentary. Now, to avoid wasting any more of everyone’s time, I’ll show off the scoreboard for the event.” The screen flickered from a live feed of the reluctant speaker to a well put together scoreboard of the previous event. 

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”EEEEEEH?!?!?” It was difficult to tell exactly where the scream of confusion came from, but it seemed to be a feminine voice, particularly close to the ground.

Almost imperceptibly, Orikami looked at the top and bottom of the second column, frowning with evident disappointment in the distance between them. ”Something you students may notice is that the scores displayed here do not directly match the number of rescues you performed. Instead, each rescue was weighted based on the danger involved. Additionally,” the third place spot on the board flashed green, highlighting its occupant, ”the third place contestant, Kawashima Risa, was awarded a large mass for saving another student from a crisis on the testing ground. Not that such a feat would be unexpected for the second daughter of the late Kawashima Yozo, the original bearer of the title Glory, and once the headmaster of this very school.” With these words, a roar of applause erupted from the gathered audience, as well as many of the students in the center of the arena. Not that such a scenario would be embarrassing at all, surely the daughter of a pro hero would be able to handle the pressure that comes with it.

While the crowd cheered, Orikami rose a hand to her ear, presumably listening closely to a statement being made by on high, before nodding and muttering an inaudible response. ”It appears that our 16th place competitor has decided to drop out, upon loss of quirk functionality. Due to this change, the 17th place student will be taking his place.” After a vague gesture was made toward the screen, its contents changed to reflect Orikami’s statement.

 

 

top_16_syo_version.png
 

”EEEEEEH?!?!?” This time the confused scream came from a boy! Excitement all around!

”Unfortunately, I didn’t name our next event, so it’s going to be called The U.A. Sports Festival Mounted Poultry Punchout. I know it’s a mouthful, so we’re just going to call it The Chicken Fight from here on out.” With a glance, she fired daggers up at the spectator’s booth, removing her earpiece and sending it away on the back of a paper butterfly. ”Now that that is out of the way, I can explain the rules.” With a gesture, the numbers changed on the screen, each having an additional one added within parentheses.


Tai:        978 (3912)
Shannon:    942 (3768)
Risa:        806 (3224)
Shoshiki:    787 (3148)
Diana:        745 (2235)
Meguru:    732 (2196)
Takehiko:    728 (2184)
Sun:        725 (2175)
Rika:        718 (1436)
Ayane:        704 (1408)
Ben:        695 (1390)
Meru:        682 (1364)
Kio:        670 (670)
Mayu:        664 (664)
Atsushi:    654 (654)
Syo:        649 (649)

”As I’m sure you can see, the scores have been multiplied based upon placement. You will partner up with another top 16 student of your choice, and total your scores together. You may be wondering at this point whether it will be beneficial or detrimental to have a high score, and put simply that all depends upon perspective. While it will give you more security, it also places a target on your head.” Reaching into a paper satchel that had been nearly unnoticeable within the folds of her paper dress, Orikami pulled out a metal circle, about 6 inches wide with a slowly pulsing red light in the center, ”Speaking of targets, each team will receive one of these targets to stick to either the center of the chest or the center of the back of one of its two members. That member will then be carried by the other. If your target is touched by any body part of another team member, all of your points are instantly forfeited to that team.”

Replacing the target in her bag, Orikami looked out over the students, seemingly scrutinizing every single one of them independently as she scanned the crowd. ”Of course, that doesn’t mean your team is eliminated. Fight back. Pursue. Reclaim your points if they are lost. This stage will only last for ten minutes due to the much smaller group, and you will only be eliminated if your rider touches the ground.” Orikami paused briefly, her face taking on the grim, almost sinister aspect that the hero course students were already well-acquainted with, ”Anything else, short of lethal force, is permitted." Just like that, the shadow disappeared and she put on a smile for the first time since she took the stage, ”You have five minutes to form your teams. Anyone left without a team is disqualified! Max Omega!”

 

 

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-Glimmer of Hope-

Diana's jaw dropped as the scores were revealed. Sure, she had put her all into it... But 5th place? That was more than she had ever dreamed of! She held her hands tight together in front of her face, eyes closed as the biggest grin spread across her face! 

"[I can't believe that someone with a Quirk like mine can...!]" She spoke excitedly in her native tongue, visibly shaking with excitement.

"Mm? What do you mean, a [Quirk like mine]?" Diana whipped around to see Shannon standing behind her, that same soft smile still plastered on her face, "Perhaps I am not one fit to judge, Ms. Seigi, but I do believe you give it your all. Especially given what I saw befo-"

"Shhh! Not so loud!" Diana looked around warily, even though Shannon had barely spoken above a whisper, "I told you, I don't... I don't want it to impact this. And I got fifth place somehow, so why would I want to ruin my chances now?"

"That is indeed fair," Shannon hummed, taking a step closer to Diana, "By the by, would you happen to have a partner yet?"

"[I-Ieh], I don't. Why do you ask?"

"From what I gather, I am led to assume you are the optimal partner for me, Ms. Seigi."

"E-eh!?" the taller girl recoiled, "I-I don't have high mobility, I'm not very impressive overall, and I'm probably the weakest person in my class... What could you possible want from me?"

"The weakest person?" Shannon cocked her head, the smile falling to a confused frown, "Ms. Seigi, I don't know your quirk. It is the one Quirk that Madame Orikami absolutely refused to tell me about. However, your strength of character is why I believe you to be my best choice. With the little I know of you, your heart is soft, but you are tenacious and determined. What better traits are there when it comes to a competition of maintaining and reclaiming your lead?"

Diana froze, staring at Shannon as the smile crept back onto the smaller girl's face. She had only had three interactions with this girl now, yet here she was... giving Diana such praise. Tears came to Diana's eyes, raising her left arm to wipe them away.

"But surely someone else offered? There has to be someone whose quirk matches up better, or who knows you better!"

"Mmm... Only one other girl, and I barely even recognized her. Ayako? Akane? Something like that." The dragon girl shook her head, "Besides, between you and me, Tai would be my next choice, and... Well, you will see soon enough." Shannon gave a mischievous little giggle, prompting Diana's eyebrow to raise, but the smaller girl did not continue on her point. "So, we will be big targets, but we will also be airborne. Out of the rest of the competitors here, I do not believe any of them can easily reach us in the air. You are more than fit to be a great hero, Ms. Seigi. Please, by my partner for this round, and shine brightly."

Shannon held out her right hand, palm slightly up as if to beckon. Maybe this wasn't the right choice. Diana felt as if she didn't belong here, much less teamed up with someone this highly ranked and impressive. But, even so...!

The dragon girl yelped in surprise at how forcefully Diana took her right hand in her own as she nodded, shaking hard as more tears welled up. With a small laugh, Shannon looked up. 

"I knew I was making the right choice. Now, let us begin discussing our strategy..."

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Benjamin O'Hara

”Greeting, and good afternoon to everyone in attendance. It is my… honor to be hosting providing…color commentary. Now, to avoid wasting any more of everyone’s time, I’ll show off the scoreboard for the event.”

Just like most of the others (probably aside from the ones in 1-B), Benjamin was absolutely astonished that in the Top 16, he made it. Was 11th Place something to celebrate? No, not at all...but the fact that he actually made it to the second round of the festival floored him. One thing he did notice was out of 1-A, aside from him, Ayane, Sun, Kio, Diana, Takehiko and Rika made it in. That definitely meant that 1-A had a shot...then again...looking again at it...there were four from 1-B...so that was something to keep in mind. And then of course, there was Risa from the Department of Support.

”Something you students may notice is that the scores displayed here do not directly match the number of rescues you performed. Instead, each rescue was weighted based on the danger involved. Additionally, the third place contestant, Kawashima Risa, was awarded a large mass for saving another student from a crisis on the testing ground. Not that such a feat would be unexpected for the second daughter of the late Kawashima Yozo, the original bearer of the title Glory, and once the headmaster of this very school.”

Doesn't have what it takes to be a Hero my foot! Benjamin thought, smiling as he gave some applause with the others.

Then the leaderboard changed again and showed that now there was a 1-D and 1-C class reps. Something that made him a tad bit sad was that the one interesting individual he met during the last legs of the first round wasn't here. Taikei Karada is what he said his name was...honestly that guy and his creepy and strange goo Quirk was too amazing. Then again, he supposed that it was cause he helped him at the last bit of it. Little bit of a possible budding friendship...maybe a rivalry? Regardless, Benjamin was hopeful he'd see that 1-B student again specifically.

”Unfortunately, I didn’t name our next event, so it’s going to be called The U.A. Sports Festival Mounted Poultry Punchout. I know it’s a mouthful, so we’re just going to call it The Chicken Fight from here on out."

"...wait what?" Benjamin muttered to himself while Orikami explained...and oddly enough there seemed to be a loud set of laughter coming from the audience after the "Chicken Fight" was declared. Wasn't sure why he could hear that specifically, but it was whatever at this point.

”You have five minutes to form your teams. Anyone left without a team is disqualified! Max Omega!"

"F-Five minutes?! Disqualified?!?!" the young man's heart began to race at hearing this. His eyes started darting back and forth with all the participants that currently were here. In his mind, of course, he was running down the possible list of combinations. Sun and Rika...I've worked with either one...so I know how they work. Then again...I'm not sure we could mesh well. Benjamin put a hand to his chin, rubbing it slightly. Ayane, Takehiko, Kio....hmmmm I don't think either of em will mesh well either...and Diana...? He paused to see the young lady shaking hands with the dragon lady from 1-B. ...yeah, there goes that idea.

Glancing back at the screen, Benjamin surveyed the rest of the participants. Sun for All? Crimson Wings? Patchwork? Piston? Eyesenal? Critical Armor? Honestly, only one there that sounded like it theoretically work in tandem was Patchwork...speaking of...wasn't he the one that helped stop the Ferris Wheel? Hmmm...no, I don't think any of em would work well...besides, I can't do much. If this was in costume, then maybe... That's when he stopped short, noticing the last one: Risa and her Quirk Magnetic.

A strike of inspiration hit him as he finally smirked, nodding. "[Alrighty then]...looks like I got it..." Benjamin muttered to himself, before making his way towards Risa...who honestly looked like she was frozen stiff while looking at the bored. The young man shrugged and gently tapped Risa on the shoulder. The moment she turned around, he simply smile and wave. "Hey there. Looking for a partner?"


Herculean Hero - Atlas

Now the second round would soon start...and oddly enough, both students of interest for Atlas made it into the next round...so that was good. Hopefully he'd see more...and yet...

”Unfortunately, I didn’t name our next event, so it’s going to be called The U.A. Sports Festival Mounted Poultry Punchout. I know it’s a mouthful, so we’re just going to call it The Chicken Fight from here on out."

Atlas found himself bellowing in laughter at hearing this, holding his head slightly. "...Glory you did not! ...you actually did..." he slowly calmed down before shaking his head. Almost immediately, he took his phone out and sent a quick group text to quite a few Heroes...some of note being Ruby Heart, Greenshift, King Kobra, Epicenter, Rainbow Six (surprisingly enough) and of course...Koryu. And he sent a picture of what the screen showed as the "U.A. Sports Festival Mounted Poultry Punchout" to which he put in parentheses: "The Chicken Fight"...and then only a few words in quotations: "Oh no... I have fell."

He couldn't help but let out another snicker after sending this, simply shaking his head. "...ah memories...that was hell of a day."

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J'adoube

Takehiko heard Glory signalling the end of the first event. He took out a breath before looking around a bit before he left. "Well... hopefully they don't mind this too much." He reared his arm back near a building, punching out a window and collecting the glass from it in a small carrying bag he had on him. He did this for a few more before he nodded, seemingly having enough before making his way out of the testing area.

_____________________________________________

Takehiko blinked as he looked up at the scoreboard, the Chess Hero had placed quite a bit higher than he would have realistically expected. He scanned over the list of potential teammates as he listened to Orikami.

”Something you students may notice is that the scores displayed here do not directly match the number of rescues you performed. Instead, each rescue was weighted based on the danger involved. Additionally,” the third place spot on the board flashed green, highlighting its occupant, ”the third place contestant, Kawashima Risa, was awarded a large mass for saving another student from a crisis on the testing ground. Not that such a feat would be unexpected for the second daughter of the late Kawashima Yozo, the original bearer of the title Glory, and once the headmaster of this very school.”

Takehiko hummed as he saw the spot flash, it was definitely good that someone managed to catch the eye of the school, hopefully that meant heat would be off of him. He grinned, finding his position in the rankings perfect. 7th, so he would be worth some points but he also wouldn't be perceived as an easy target. In an event like this being near the middle was probably the best of both worlds. Which caused his eyes to scan closer to the middle of the board, "Let's see... I do have -that- that I want to try out..." He lifted his sack a bit, looking and making sure there were no tears in the finely-crafted leather bag he had saved for this, carrying broken glass he was still a bit concerned about after all.

Sun, Rika, Ayane, or Ben. Takehiko's eyes continued to scan specifically the center of the board, before finally he seemed to stop on Rika, "Wait... that could definitely work..." He gives a smirk as he turned and walked over to the Chameleon girl, giving a polite bow, "Rika, I do believe it would be beneficial for us to partner up. Your abilities are actually a bit perfect for what I have planned. Though... if you accept we need to get out of earshot of everyone else."

Rika's eyebrow raised for a moment as the boy approached her, before she brought up a finger, "Me? I can play defense pretty well here, I'm not sure what else I can do this round. But..." She tapped at her cheek for a moment, "If you say so. Atsushi is already mingling with others, I think he has his own plans this round. Which means I need to figure out my own way forward."

Takehiko gives a small laugh as he motioned her away from the rest of the teams, "Oh no worries, I think that we can be one of the more aggressive teams with my plan." He grins as he started to explain his plan to her, showing her the decent amount of glass he had collected, a faint glimmer possibly catching in some of the other contestants' eyes.

Rika closed her eyes for a moment, her hand rubbing at her cheek for a moment, "If we get thrown in the air, how well can you swap between the two modes? If you can create pawns fast enough to catch us, then go back to the new mode, we have a really low chance of getting disqualified, which would be our biggest concern with this strategy... If that's too much to ask, I'll have to try and catch us using other people, which is significantly harder..."

He hums and taps his cheek, "This is a newer mode so I can't guarantee I can switch between them fast enough. In an emergency I probably can but when I don't have enough focus I'd probably use all of my reserve material to make up for it. So I'd say I can do it once with the material I collected extremely fast, luckily pawns don't require any so I can go into that mode but quickly switching back to the mode would require either enough focus and time or a surplus of material to make up for it. Though I believe we have our plan figured out then, no?"

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”No no no no no…” Staring up at the screen, Shoshiki saw his name, his quirk, even his face(!) beside that enormous number, ”Nearly eight hundred..?” he had planned to do just enough to keep Breakpoint off his back about it, but in a desperate feat of self-preservation, he had landed in the top four. ”With all those points, I’m going to be a target for sure…”

He looked out across the crowd, and found himself terrified by what he saw. Beyond the prolific monarchs of 1B that were Shannon and Tai, even the ‘regulars’ seemed overwhelming. There was a hairy guy taller than Meguru, even, was he some kind of dark-furred yeti? Shoshiki told himself a hundred times every night that monsters don’t exist, just people with quirks, but he was finding that hard to believe as he gazed upon those that were technically his contemporaries. ”Maybe I should just drop out… Whoever was in 18th place would probably be really grateful…”

It was at that moment that an enormous, powerful hand clapped Shoshiki’s shoulder. ”I’M SORRY I’LL SURRENDER PLEASE DON’T HURT ME” in the adrenaline of the moment, Shoshiki jumped so hard that his head detached from his body completely, shooting up at least ten feet before falling back down, safely landing in the other hand of the one who greeted him.

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”Shoshiki, my brother, I hope yer ready to win this whole thing!” Turning the head he held in his hand so that Shoshiki could see his face, Meguru looked down on him with an enormous toothy grin. ”Yer Patchwork and my Piston are gonna combine to form an unstoppable force! Sounds like fun, right?” As the tendrils retracted into Shoshiki’s body, Meguru released his classmate’s head, allowing it to fit securely enough back on its owner’s neck where it belonged. Using his grip on Shoshiki’s shoulder, he spun him around to face him head-on, grabbing hold of the boy’s other shoulder and looking him in the eyes with enough confidence to match Shoshiki’s lack thereof. ”So whaddya say?”

Shoshiki’s head was spinning, and not just from being tossed around so casually by his classmate. ”Wh-wh-wh-what do you mean?? Whatever you may have seen earlier today I p-promise I’m not strong! It was all a fluke! You and Oozei and whoever else has these expectations of me all of a sudden need to calm down, I’m just me!” Though he squirmed, Shoshiki found that he wasn’t able to break free of his classmate’s grasp, at least without falling apart. ”Just because I pulled off one crazy stunt in a panic doesn’t mean I’m not weak!”

With a raised eyebrow, Meguru looked back and forth between Shoshiki and the massive score he had displayed on the screen. ”So it’s like that, huh? I dunno what yer talkin about, but it sounds to me like you managed to do some crazy shit in the Rescuer-thon!” Smiling even harder than before, he leaned in and whispered in Shoshiki’s ear, ”And ya even got Mayu’s attention? You just know she’s the type who’s into tough guys like you an’ me.” In an instant, Shoshiki’s pale face turned as red as Meguru’s hair, as the latter buckled over with a belly laugh. ”So! Ya ready to show her who’s the boss?”

 ”I…” at this point, it was clear to Shoshiki that Meguru wasn’t going to relent. ”I guess…”

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As surprised as he was to see his name on the giant screen, Syo knew exactly who he wanted as a partner. As he approached Atsushi, however, he noticed a girl approaching him. Despite the fact that she wasn't facing toward him, Syo accidentally made eye contact with an eye that opened on the back of her neck. "Nope! Nope nope nope nope nope! Time for my second choice!"

With a sharp pivot, he turned on his heel and quickened his pace. He needed to find this person before someone else, because he wasn't going to be able to buddy up with anyone who has options, if his life experience was any indicator. And so, he found himself staring face-to-face with Ukemei Ayane, who appeared quite dejected for whatever reason. "You know, when Kazama laid out his plan to hunt down you Hero Course guys, he specifically said to avoid you. That you were too unpredictable, too risky. Wanna elaborate on that?"

"He said to avoid me?” Ayane wasn't sure who this Kazama was, outside of "the guy that was 16th then resigned," but basically, the fact that he said to avoid her specifically meant she was basically the strongest person in the Hero Course, right? Or not? Wasn't there some guy that walked off with a building? Maybe she wasn't the strongest student here, after all. "Hmmm... maybe because I don't really think about what I'm doing? I just kinda act on instinct. A telepath's worst nightmare!" If even a telepath couldn't tell what she was going to do - hell, if even Ayane herself wasn't sure what she was about to do sometimes - then how was anyone supposed to stop whatever it was?

"...wait, hunting down the Hero Course!?"

Syo cocked his head straight up and began laughing into the empty air of the arena, "We're gonna get along, Ukemei." He surveyed her up and down, paying special attention to her guitar and the amp mounted to her back, "Well, he ain't a telepath, but the damn coward hatched this whole plan to trap and eliminate your classmates to artificially inflate his own score. Though," he tapped on his chin, his foot tapping on the ground in the same rhythm, "if his quirk wasn't working out for him, it probably means he bit off more than he could chew and someone put him in his place. Serves the rat right."

"So," extending a hand toward her, Syo grinned, "wanna partner up? My quirk wasn't enough to get me through the school's entrance exam, but I think it's just about perfect for this." Bringing his other hand up toward his chest, he pointed his thumb at his heart, "Together, we can be the strongest team here, if you don't mind carrying my dead weight!"

Ayane checked around, eyeing up the rest of the top scorers from the last round. People already seemed to be talking and thinking about teaming up. And of course, from 1B's side of things...

Well, she probably wouldn't accept such an offer from Ayane anyway, even if she wasn't already teaming up with someone else. So instead of worrying about that, Ayane took Syo's hand firmly, and answered "Deal! Though come to think of it, how did you get 17th? Well, 16th now but you get the idea." The details he'd given her were weird. Failed the entrance exam and needed to be carried, but they could be the strongest team here? Not that she wasn't confident in her own abilities, but if she didn't know any better, it sounded like Syo was giving her way too much credit.

"Well, uh..." A vivid memory of Syo screaming his lungs out, jumping out of a fifth-story window with his arms full of plushies, replayed in his head. He could practically still hear the rubber bullets whizzing by him from the pursuing robots. All things considered, he was lucky that he landed in the dumpster. "I guess I got lucky? My quirk isn't really the kind that works on my own, if that makes sense." At this point, he was avoiding eye contact completely, scratching the back of his head and kicking up dust.

"Hmmmm..." It didn't work on its own? "Oh! Like Kio's Quirk! Without knowing everyone else's Quirks he's just super talented in everything and that's all he's got going for him!"

"Hahaaaa..." it sounded less like a laugh and more like Syo was physically deflating, "I mean I wouldn't say I'm very talented. Just got a lot of grit. That's gotta count for something, though, right?"

"Grit always counts for something!" Giving Syo a thumbs-up, Ayane reassuringly said "A hero that doesn't call it quits is a hero that wins eventually! We've got this!"

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The last hour had been very eventful for Risa.
- - - - - - -
"Hochi-samaaaaaa!" she called, waving to the tall boy with one arm, the other pulling Inu on the makeshift sled behind her as she struggled to catch up with the Class 1B student as he slowly straightened up from setting down his great burden of the entire upper two thirds of a building. "I hope I got your name right! I'm Kawashima Risa from 1G? Can you help me with Satori-sama? He fell out of that building you were lifting just now."

Tai Hoshi looked at her with confusion at first from the improper salutation, but his expression quickly changed when he saw the bruised and battered and still very much out cold Inu.  He looked over to the building, wincing a little as he imagined exactly what might of happened. "I can't really leave him out to dry now, can I? Leave it to me!" He said as he carefully tried to pick up Inu.

"Thank you so much, Hoshi-sama! I think he'll be fine," she assured him, massaging the shoulder that she had been holding a metal cable over for the last few minutes. "I got to him before he hit the ground too bad. Besides, you were real busy with that building! That was so impressive! Is that the heaviest thing you've ever lifted? You must have the best physical strength in the Hero Course! And Shoshiki and Ozoi managed to stop a Ferris wheel earlier too! You're all amazing!"
- - - - - - -
She had thoroughly talked his ear off the whole way back (he had been a very good sport about it), and, after making sure Inu was taken care of (and finding out his actual surname in the process), she had rejoined the bulk of the student body as they awaited the results. She had tried to find Ben but had been unsuccessful, managing instead to reconvene with a very tired Setsu and Hosodan, the three comparing their experiences an point totals. Risa's heart had sunk when she learned that the both of them had managed upwards of forty rescues. She had barely cracked half that.

She had taken a deep, tired breath. Well. There's no way I made it to the next round. But maybe I did well enough to save me from my grades... And at least Sasaki-sama is okay. That last thought really had given her some peace of mind.

And then the results were announced.

Hoshi-sama is first! she had thought excitedly. Him lifting the building is probably what got him there! she had continued as Orikami began explaining that rescues were based on the danger involved. I got to see that! Oh... Hoshi-sama. I hope he's not sore at me for getting his name wrong. She had then seen Shannon was second. She shivered a touch at that. No surprises there. And then the third-

"EEEEEEH?" Her cry of surprise and bewilderment had carried over the entire crowd. All color in Risa's body hard defaulted to stark white as she saw and failed to comprehend the third place spot.

"Risa!" Setsuna's hand was clenched around her arm, having immediately clamped onto it as she gasped out her friend's name. "Risa!" she exclaimed again, unable to get out much else.

"Additionally," and Risa's entire body, which had been devoid of feeling, suddenly buzzed with shock as her name on the scoreboard, the name that was inexplicably up there for all to see, pulsed green. ”the third place contestant, Kawashima Risa, was awarded a large mass for saving another student from a crisis on the testing ground." 

Like a fever dream, completely failing to process Setsu's shocked queries, Risa's mind flashed back in an instant to the falling rocks, the crumbling buildings, and the loud scrape of the sled that had contained Inu Sasaki being dragged behind her. I got... points for dragging Sasaki out of there?

"Not that such a feat would be unexpected for the second daughter of the late Kawashima Yozo, the original bearer of the title Glory, and once the headmaster of this very school.”

And then the applause started. Setsu and Hosodan, looking cowed by the sudden attention that was being directed their way by everyone around Risa in the crowd. Several of the other 1G students were watching Risa with expressions Risa couldn't place, but whatever they were that sentence had opened the floodgates and made her suddenly feel very visible. She trembled in the middle of the throng, those words echoing in her head.

"The second daughter of the late Kawashima Yozo... the original bearer of the title Glory... Not that such a feat would be unexpected..."

 


"Risa?" Setsu had regained enough courage to gingerly step towards Risa, who was now staring at the ground. "Are you okay? You're third place... How did you do it?"

Risa looked back up at the board, forced to acknowledge that it really was her name up there. 

"The original bearer of the title Glory..."

Her father's face in her memory. Smiling, the golden helmet underneath his arm, reaching down to rest a callused hand on her head. "Don't worry, Risa... I'll come home later tonight. I always will for you."

"There's been a mistake," she said softly, the wind blowing her hair aside as her eyes were locked on the scoreboard. They were slightly wet. "I need... I need to talk to Deerc-Sensei."

"Hey there. Looking for a partner?"

She jumped about a mile as Benjamin O'Hara tapped her on the shoulder, letting out a shriek of surprise as all the students who had been attracted by her sudden importance recoiled from the ear-shattering noise. "O'Hara-sama?!?" she yelped, turning around with a red face that progressively grew redder as she had a harder and harder time breathing. "I... I... A part- Um, O'Hara-sama, I don't think you- I don't think this is- Can you give me a few minutes?"

She turned and sprinted for the edge of the stadium, eyes scouring the stands for the distinctive deer's head. It didn't take long; He was pretty low down in the stands, and he stood out by way of his Quirks effect on his anatomy. "DEERC-SENSEI!" she shouted, hopping to and fro below him, her stabilizers clattering loudly against the ground. "DEERC-SENSEI, I don't know why I'm up there! I was just trying to do what you told me and show off my support items! I think.... I think the judges made a mistake!"

Deerc looked at her and tilted his head. "Yes. You showed them off very well. And because you did, you're 'up there'," He said, using air quotes. "But you know, you also saved someone's life. You think the judges of a hero competition can just ignore something so heroic?"

Risa paused in her flailing at the foot of the stands, looking up at Deerc with surprise in her face. "Heroic...?" she asked, softly, far too low for anyone to hear. Deerc looked down at her confidently, and that question he had posed to her two weeks previously in his office echoed in her head.

"Kawashima Risa... Why do you want to be a hero?"

"Why does everybody seem to think that lately," she asked half-heartedly, turning away from Deerc, looking a bit lost. "Even if I wanted to be I... I'm just not... a hero."

She looked back up, seeing Ben staring at her from where she had left him. Setsuna was leaning over and talking to him, gesturing to Risa every once in a while.

"But you just have that... desire to want to help."

She looked around at the other students who had made the top 16 as she slowly started making her way back towards Ben. She saw a girl with a guitar shake the hand of a blue-haired boy. She saw Shoshiki (he had stopped a Ferris wheel by himself, that was insane) being cajoled by Meguru. One pair she passed was the fifth place girl, Diana, and... Shannon. Risa watched with surprise. That was a pairing she hadn't expected... and a powerful one, if their placings were any indication.

Though you got into third, she reminded herself. She shook her head. No, no... no matter what their place they are Hero Course... But he wants to partner with you anyway. 

She reached Ben, taking a deep breath and slowly beginning to speak. The slowly part collapsed immediately, her words becoming a frenzied run-on almost immediately: "O'Hara-sama, I dunno why I'm third place they say it's cause I did something heroic with Sasaki-sama but I don't think I am and I don't know what to do but if you really wanna partner with me I'll do it but I completely understand if-"

She paused for a gulping breath.

"-you wanna partner with someone else it'd be silly to throw your lot in with a Support student who doesn't know what she's doing but if you do I'll do my best and try nottobetoomuchofaburdenokay?" The last bit flew out as a single word, Risa taking several deep breaths as she rested her hands on her knees, looking up at Ben with nervous anticipation. The least I can do is try to make sure he doesn't get kept out of round three because of me! she thought fervently. Even if that means... I end up there myself, was the terrifying conclusion to that thought.

"... Also what were the rules of the next round? I didn't hear any of them at all."

Edited by Faytl

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The tap seemed to send Risa into a mile high jump annnnnd gave out a shriek...okay, that seemed to track...especially for him...though it was usually AFTER they saw his spider Quirk. Guess things were different this go 'round, he figured.

"O'Hara-sama?!? I... I... A part- Um, O'Hara-sama, I don't think you- I don't think this is- Can you give me a few minutes?"

Benjamin stood there, blinking a bit as he watched Risa practically sprint away with her face flushed red. Blinking a few more times, he glanced at the young lady that she was talking to: Setsu. "...was it something I said? Or did I legit scare her there? If it's the latter, I can totally understand. Apparently being the 'spiders guy' does that..." he asked, glancing and noticing Risa now jumping up and down at the edge of the stadium.

"Oh no. She does that from time to time." Setsu seemed to say, leaning in towards him while motioning and gesturing towards Risa. "Yeah she's weird, but she honestly means well."

"I mean, most of the best people are weird and eccentric." he gave a slight chuckle, nervously rubbing the back of his head. The little bit of a conversation between him and Setsu seemed to go on for a while...and it was here he found out a few things. One of which that shocked him...and it made sense on why Orikami said just moments ago...

"Not that such a feat would be unexpected for the second daughter of the late Kawashima Yozo, the original bearer of the title Glory, and once the headmaster of this very school.”

Normally, anyone else would've been truly floored and deterred about this revelation on who Risa Kawashima was...but strangely enough...Benjamin elicited no such response. He only nodded slightly, before glancing back towards Risa, who at this point was making her way back towards him. Things started to make sense on why she was being so hard on herself like this...it struck another chord with him, not so much as the last time, but he could tell what she was going through just about.

"Well...thanks Setsu, was it? [Alright], maybe we can chat again some other time." Benjamin nodded at Setsu, before now turning his attention towards Risa, who proceeded to take a deep breath before speaking.

"O'Hara-sama, I dunno why I'm third place they say it's cause I did something heroic with Sasaki-sama but I don't think I am and I don't know what to do but if you really wanna partner with me I'll do it but I completely understand if-"

She then took a breath...uh-oh...the way she was looking...oh boy, this would be sentence overload for sure...

"-you wanna partner with someone else it'd be silly to throw your lot in with a Support student who doesn't know what she's doing but if you do I'll do my best and try nottobetoomuchofaburdenokay?"

Benjamin looked at Risa, who now was simply staring at him nervously. The young man only gave a slight, soft smile and gave her a thumbs up. "I'll decide if what I choose is a silly idea or not. Besides, those from my class probably wouldn't mesh well with my Quirk...and you probably know that for a fact being in the Support Class. That's one of the reasons I picked you, Risa." he said, crossing his arms slightly. "I may have a versatile Quirk, but on my own and without proper planning or a means of physical offense...I'm going to have a rough time...but with your Quirk, I think we could properly turn the tide of things." Benjamin then proceeded to toss his hands behind his head and give another smile. "And besides...why wouldn't I want to help my newest friend out?"

What made him say all this? Could it be he was trying his hardest to show Risa that she could become a Hero, regardless of what she thought? Maybe...maybe it was also to show that there were those who saw her potential...he couldn't be certain for sure...

"... Also what were the rules of the next round? I didn't hear any of them at all."

"Basically it's a game of chicken." Benjamin began to explain. "We're gonna have our scores totaled together and we're gonna be wearing a target...well one of us is. The other is carrying the one with the target. Our points are forfeited to the other team if the target is touched by any body part of another team member...annnnnnnnd unfortunately..." he paused, showing the spiders now walking around his palm. "...these don't count as a 'body part' for me...so that [ain't] gonna help much. But either way, we aren't eliminated if we lose our points...we basically gotta reclaim the points...annnnnnd it lasts for ten minutes annnnnd the only way we're eliminated is if the rider touches the ground."

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With the rescue-thon's timer expired, the students were made to leave the testing grounds for this round and prepare for the next, assuming they were among the top scorers. Mayu, for her part, was fully confident she was among them. In terms of sheer quantity of rescues, it seemed unlikely that anyone outside of a couple very special cases would be able to save as many people as Mayu had over the event's duration. To absolutely no surprise of her own, the top two scorers were Tai and Shannon, respectively. At this time of day, the only thing standing between Tai and first place would be a genuine disinterest in participating. To a significant amount of surprise, however, not only was Mayu not third place, but the actual third place was... a support course student?

Something wasn't adding up here.

And as it turned out, Mayu was exactly correct. This wasn't a matter of addition, but multiplication. Aside from a rescue of an actual student this Kawashima girl had pulled off, Orikami explained that the rescues were not merely counted by how many stuffed animals would be saved, but were weighted, with more dangerous rescues netting higher scores. Which explained Mayu's rather disappointing position on the scoreboard. 14th place. Right there near the bottom of the barrel for this next round, and also the lowest-scoring hero course student to make it past the first round. The only thing standing between her and not qualifying for the second round of the sports festival was two... scratch that, three general course students.

While she understood the reason for such a gimmick, that certainly didn't mean Mayu agreed with it. Not just because of how it had caused her rank to plummet, but also because it would create a bias toward more "powerful" Quirks. That Akagi guy from 1A, for example. When the class's Quirks had been leaked, Mayu made sure to look into the lot of them. Memory Card was, by all means, a very impressive Quirk, but without something like super strength or incredible durability, it would make getting the big hauls of points far more difficult for him than somebody like the top two. But the event was already over now, and the initial 16th-place student had quit, so there wasn't really anything Mayu could do about it.

”Something you students may notice is that the scores displayed here do not directly match the number of rescues you performed."

Damn straight they don't. At least I made it.

"Instead, each rescue was weighted based on the danger involved. Additionally, the third place contestant, Kawashima Risa, was awarded a large mass for saving another student from a crisis on the testing ground. Not that such a feat would be unexpected for the second daughter of the late Kawashima Yozo, the original bearer of the title Glory, and once the headmaster of this very school.”

The. What? So now Mayu was supposed to not only face the fact that a support course student had one-upped everyone outside of the obvious top contenders, but also that this unassuming-looking girl, who had probably never thrown a punch or even thought about doing actual hero work, was the daughter of some big-shot hero of days past? It seems like things just got much more interesting in the U.A. Sports Festival.

”Of course, that doesn’t mean your team is eliminated. Fight back. Pursue. Reclaim your points if they are lost. This stage will only last for ten minutes due to the much smaller group, and you will only be eliminated if your rider touches the ground. Anything else, short of lethal force, is permitted. You have five minutes to form your teams. Anyone left without a team is disqualified! Max Omega!”

Anything? Mayu looked at the scoreboard again. Aside from E.E. and Magnetic - the latter of which she could guess the functionality of based on its name - Mayu knew the Quirks of every student that had scored above her. Her eyes fell on one Quirk in particular. Draconian. Shannon's Quirk. An all-you-can-eat buffet of benefits, the most important in this context being flight. Orikami had said teams would only be eliminated if the rider touched the ground. So with the ability to fly...

But Mayu absolutely refused to team up with Shannon. So rather than looking up to those above her, Mayu instead looked down, to the two general course students. Critical Armor, and Crimson Wings. The latter was exactly the kind of Quirk she wanted to see, assuming its name was truthful at all! A pair of eyes opened up on Mayu's arms, scanning her surroundings before locking on to the boy who possessed that Quirk. She wanted first dibs on this Tachi guy, depending on a few things. So, with no time to waste, Mayu hurried over to him. Pointing at the scoreboard, she asked him "Crimson Wings. It lets you fly, right?"

Atsushi glanced over his shoulder at Mayu for a moment, turning away from the rest of the crowd. He brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes, a grin on his face, "...Yeah. I figured if I stay up in the air, there's no chance of anyone getting to me. Aside from her. I'm hoping she has other things in mind... I just need someone who can hold their own on the ground."

"Oh, we're going to get along wonderfully. I had the same idea. Leave the ground to me, stick the target on yourself, and get ready for some competitive keep-away." Extending a hand to the boy, Mayu asked "Sounds easy, right?"

Atsushi took the hand, giving it a squeeze as he tilted his head upwards, "I'll be safe in the skies. I might be able to give a bit of supporting fire now and again, but I'll have to focus mostly on maintaining the safety in the air. If you need back up in an emergency... Well, we'll figure out a signal in the heat of it I'm sure." There was a sly smirk on his face as he shook the hand, "Easy."

"Easy," Mayu agreed. "That said..." Mayu opened up an eye on the back of her neck, looking around at the other competitors. Most of them were teaming up now, and among them were...

"So, aside from the dragon bitch, you'll need to watch out for those two," Mayu warned, pointing at the newly-formed team of Meguru and Shoshiki. "The redhead won't be a threat to you on his own, but that partner of his can be. He can stretch his body out to some frankly impresive lengths. On his own he'd be too timid to think of anything unless you throw an entire damn ferris wheel at him apparently, but the other guy might think of some crazy shit we won't expect."


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”Alright, students! Time’s up. Go ahead and head back to the school’s arena, where the rest of the event will be held. The results of this first leg are being determined as we speak, to be announced when you arrive! Good luck, you’ll need it.”

Phew! Between the combining robot - which still seemed cool, but super unrealistic - and a handful of other high-tension rescues of several plushies each, Ayane was just about run ragged. The time between rounds was the perfect time to grab a refreshing drink! So, while en route to the place where everyone else was gathering up, Ayane did exactly that, grabbing a bottle of water to chug down in preparation for the next event that she surely qualified for.

”Greeting, and good afternoon to everyone in attendance. It is my… honor to be hosting providing… color commentary. Now, to avoid wasting any more of everyone’s time, I’ll show off the scoreboard for the event.”

Ayane looked intently at the screen, gulping down the water she'd picked up to cool off. And very nearly choked on it, when she saw who all was scoring in the top 16. In second place... Shannon Almaz. So, she's here too. Ayane would recognize that crystally skin anywhere. Her presence here was more than a bit of a game-changer. Total shift of priorities! Before she could figure out what to do about this new change in circumstances though...

”Unfortunately, I didn’t name our next event, so it’s going to be called The U.A. Sports Festival Mounted Poultry Punchout. I know it’s a mouthful, so we’re just going to call it The Chicken Fight from here on out. Now that that is out of the way, I can explain the rules.”

Then the scores changed. Some students got way more points! The top four in particular were positively loaded right now! The rules were simple. A team was made up of a rider and a steed, and touching the target on the rider gave you all of that team's points. Easy! The hard part would be finding a partner. Ayane's first pick of the litter was Kio, but the more she thought about it... would he really be able to carry her, her guitar, and her amp? No way. And Ayane certainly couldn't carry him either! Her second choice would probably turn her down outright. Her third... well, she didn't know that guy, but being at the tippy-top of the scoreboard was a bit intimidating.

At this rate she'd end up like the geeky kid at a primary school sports game; the last pick, who had to team up with somebody else out of necessity. The added weight of her equipment was making this a real problem! But then, a voice addressed her. A solution to her problem, perhaps? Glancing briefly at the scoreboard, Ayane could see that she was met with one Syo Karada, from 1C. General studies course?

"You know, when Kazama laid out his plan to hunt down you Hero Course guys, he specifically said to avoid you. That you were too unpredictable, too risky. Wanna elaborate on that?"

"He said to avoid me?” Ayane wasn't sure who this Kazama was, outside of "the guy that was 16th then resigned," but basically, the fact that he said to avoid her specifically meant she was basically the strongest person in the Hero Course, right? Or not? Wasn't there some guy that walked off with a building? Maybe she wasn't the strongest student here, after all. "Hmmm..."

Edited by yui

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She had originally planned on getting paired with Atsushi, that was the obvious path to go down. She knew they could work together, but her brief conversation with him had left her slightly confused...

"You sure?"

Rika raised an eyebrow at the boy, "Of course I'm sure, unless you have a reason..."

"I'm planning on being the rider. That's the problem. If we pair up, we're going to sink. this way, if either one of us fail, we aren't bringing each other down. That's the important thing, you know?"

Her arms crossed a tiny bit, "Do you have a good reason for that? Together, we'd be unstoppable on defense..."

"That's the problem. We have no offense together and our point total isn't nearly high enough to be on defense the whole time. So you need to find someone you can be on the attack with. Same with me." His eyes scanned across the field, those wings behind him flexing a tiny bit. He grinned for a moment, giving Rika a thumbs up as he did, "I have no intention on letting myself fall out of the this competition so easily. But if I do, I expect you to make it onto the next round, lizard."

He turned away from her quickly, not giving her an opportunity to respond. The weight of what he said was not lost on her. She had no desire to disappoint him, but... That meant she had to figure out who to pair with instead, which did not make things easier. The others had already started breaking up into groups. That support student, the one who managed to pull off a real rescue, was pairing up with Ben. That probably was good for her, she liked Ben enough, but she wasn't sure if his spiders could handle being paired with her for another task judging from the way he seemed to get a headache around her...

As she tried to plan though, she was surprised to have someone else approach her... Even more surprising, it was Takehiko. As far as she was aware, he barely even realized she was in the class...

"Rika, I do believe it would be beneficial for us to partner up. Your abilities are actually a bit perfect for what I have planned. Though... if you accept we need to get out of earshot of everyone else."

Rika's eyebrow raised for a moment as the boy approached her, before she brought up a finger, "Me?"

After a quick discussion between the two of them... "This is a newer mode so I can't guarantee I can switch between them fast enough. In an emergency I probably can but when I don't have enough focus I'd probably use all of my reserve material to make up for it. So I'd say I can do it once with the material I collected extremely fast, luckily pawns don't require any so I can go into that mode but quickly switching back to the mode would require either enough focus and time or a surplus of material to make up for it. Though I believe we have our plan figured out then, no?"

Rika nodded her head, she was more than a little surprised that he had paid enough attention to her to come up an idea that she could be pretty useful in. In fact, she felt pretty... Optimistic about the plan. There were holes in it, they could definitely be caught off guard, but there was a non-zero chance they could get through to the next round. "We just need to make sure we don't get into any particularly risky situations before we're close to the end of the line. If we do that too soon, we might have some... Issues. But I'm feeling good about this. I think we have a shot."

──── ⋆⋅✦⋅⋆ ────

Atsushi took a deep breath as he closed his eyes briefly, a little grin on his face, "Sorry Rika. I think we have better chances apart on this one." He stretched his arms up into the air, those wings flicking for a moment as he glanced around. He needed someone who could hold their own on the ground and score points for their team, while he took to the sky and played on defense. If he partnered with Rika, he wasn't sure if she was fast enough to get those points on the ground, even if he offered assistance from the skies. With that one from Class 1B, he didn't want to risk it, he would have focus as much as possible on just being in the air.

His wings flexed a bit as he considered his options... That big monkey fella could probably hold his own on the ground, he apparently had an impressive showing on the first task. But it looked like he already had someone picked up.

"Crimson Wings. It lets you fly, right?"

Atsushi turned around, his brow raising for a moment as the girl approached him. It was a brief conversation, to the point about what they were going to do, but they didn't need more than that. It was rare to find someone who was on the same page right at the start, he wasn't about to push his luck on that one. He could go back to planning. They didn't have a good score, Mayu would need to be aggressive, but... She knew that, he trusted. They were two of the lowest scorers so far. But that wouldn't matter too much, they just needed a few good tags...

"So, aside from the dragon bitch, you'll need to watch out for those two."

He raised an eyebrow briefly, taking a glance over in the direction Mayu had motioned towards. The gummy, stringy boy who had gotten caught up inside of the Ferris Wheel Rika and him were warning people about. He paused for a moment, nodding his head, he could see how that might be some trouble. He didn't recognize the other...

"The redhead won't be a threat to you on his own, but that partner of his can be. He can stretch his body out to some frankly impressive lengths. On his own he'd be too timid to think of anything unless you throw an entire damn ferris wheel at him apparently, but the other guy might think of some crazy shit we won't expect."

He rubbed at his cheek gently, nodding his head a tad as he did. "...Got it. I don't know what redhead might try, but I can keep the stretch boy off me. Even if he can reach me, I've got tricks up my sleeve." He tilted his head back a tad, giving Mayu a thumbs up as he did. "I'll be your eyes in the sky."

──── ⋆⋅✦⋅⋆ ────

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”Alright, students! Time’s up. Go ahead and head back to the school’s arena, where the rest of the event will be held. The results of this first leg are being determined as we speak, to be announced when you arrive! Good luck,” a light chuckle could be heard from the school’s headmaster, not quite out of range of the microphone, ”you’ll need it.”  

Kio collapsed to the ground, huffing and puffing, holding his broken arm to his side.  His forehead was drenched in sweat, but he wore a huge smile despite his crumpled state.

"There's no such thing as luck!  So keep it to yourself, Number 77!"  Kio shouted into the sky, as he continued to smile through the pain.

*moments later*

Kio had been treated by the school's Nurse Neko in the intermission from their last test and their present assembly.  Her quirk had worked like a charm, relieving him of his pain, as he could slowly feel his arm healing back.  Broken bones came back stronger, a factoid that had stuck with him through many injuries in his past.  It was still tender for the moment, but he could move it freely.  He looked to the main stage, noticing that Orikami was now turning their attention towards the giant monitor that held their scores.  Among the competitors that made it past this round, his face was among the top 16.  However, his heart sank a bit once he realized he was only in 13th place.

Disappointment weighed him down, if only for a second.  He had never scored so low in any kind of test or competition before.  He smacked his cheeks.

"You knew this was gonna happen Kio!  Don't be bummed that you didn't get first, get psyched that you placed at all without using your quirk!"  It just meant he was going to have to try way harder in the next round!  Speaking of the next round, it was a game of chicken and tag!  Kio thought for a moment.  He would be pretty much useless as a base...he had no utility, and would probably tire out faster than the more physical quirk oriented students.  But as the rider, he could be way more flexible.  He needed somebody just as flexible as him as a base to shoulder his shortcomings as well.  Someone agile...someone nimble.  Kio scanned the crowd, noticing people were already beginning to partner up.  There wasn't any time to lose then.  Kio had a first pick in his mind already. 

"Yo!  Sun!"  Kio said, waving to his hulking classmammal.  "Congrats on beating me in the first round!  You must've gone ape!"  Was that in poor taste?  Kio pressed on.  "So, how's about you and I team up?  If we can do a little scouting before getting serious, I'm sure I'll have everyone's weird muscle movements and quirks memorized.  That way, we can play a little recklessly!"  Kio then held out his hands, turning them over to reveal his Memory Cards, each having a label with a quirk name written down.  "And if it comes down to it, I'll even let you pick what Quirk I'll use!"  Kio smiled.  "We'd be up against a lot of hard hitters with crazy quirks!  Does that sound fun or what!?"  

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After the first round was over, Meru had found herself in the girls bathroom, scrubbing off her tongue.  An activity she had to do frequently after vigorously using her quirk for extended periods of time.  She could still taste all of the microbes that were laced around each and every stuffed animal she saved.

"Yuh!"  She exclaimed, as she began to really put some elbow grease into it.  It wasn't before long that she had finished, and now hurried out to meet everyone out at the assembly.  However, as she was hurrying by, she noticed someone who was watching the events play out from all the way back here.  As she ran past, she noticed that it was someone very special to her.  Excitedly, she ran straight up to who she recognized as a pro hero.  No one could mistake her...the Mask she wore was too iconic.  "Mythewious Hewo: Mathque?"  Meru asked rather sheepishly.

The hero seemed to spring to life.  

"Ah!  Yes!  I'm a hero!"  Masque looked to the girl, her eyes softly expressive through the eyes of her mask.  "You're a student, and one of the competitors in the sports festival, right?  Konishi Meru...if I'm not mistaken?  Even though I'm ranked number 10, I don't get many fans..."  

Meru's eyes lit up, as she began to dance on her tiptoes.  She knew her name!  She really knew her name!  

"Yeth!"  Meru had almost forgotten to bow, so she did so in a hurry.  "I'm Konithi Mewu!  It'th an honor to meet you oneth again!"

"Again?"  The hero raised an eyebrow.  "Have we met before?"  

Meru shook her head rapidly, and unwound the scarf from around the bottom portion of her face and neck.  She finally exposed her full face, with her large tongue drooping almost down to her chest.  She then neatly folded the scarf and bowed as she presented it to her, tears filling her eyes.

"Thank you vewy much!  I don' nee to hi behin dhis anymore!"

Masque went to take the scarf, coming to the realization of who this girl was.

"You're that gir-"

"THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!"  Meru said, bowing repeatedly, before turning on her heel and bolting out of the hallway and towards the field.  

*moments later*

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Meru's head was dizzy from the fact that she had placed as highly as she did.  And now she had to find a partner!  Ah, she had been in such a daze that she was late in pairing up with anybody!  Although, there was one of her classmates who hadn't been approached yet.  Meru couldn't blame them.  It was like approaching a star from a mile away.  It almost hurt to look at him honestly sometimes.  Meru sheepishly walked up to Tai and tugged at his gym uniform.

"Uhm...Thai...coul you be my parner...I pwomith I won' thcwew things up for you."  She was red in the face.  This was the first time she'd been amongst her classmates without her scarf, and she was morbidly embarrassed.  Maybe if she asked nicely, Masque would lend her that scarf back after all of this was over...was she too rash in her decision?  Was she really confident enough to go through the rest of the Sports Festival without it.  Her hand quivered as he clutched Tai's uniform tighter.

"Pleath..."

Edited by Mr. Hyde

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Tai blinked, pointing to his chest with a bit of confusion. It took a moment for him to realize, but the girl who was addressing him was Konishi Meru, from his own class. She was actually pretty cute without the scarf on. ”I mean…” with a look up at the sky, Tai assessed the position of the Sun, and flexed his muscles a bit to confirm the strength in his veins. ”Yeah, I should definitely have enough time to carry my weight through this. Let’s win this one, Konishi!”

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Sun was intrigued by Kio’s offer to let him choose the quirk he would use. He scratched at the fur on his shoulders, his shirt long since lost in the previous stage of the Sports Festival. Suddenly, he was struck with inspiration! ”I know, Kio! You should use your own quirk!” Admittedly, he didn’t word his sentiment as best as could be done, but he felt that nobody could determine the best way to use someone’s gifts than that person themselves. That’s how it worked in the jungle, after all.

Without even verbally confirming the team-up, Sun grabbed his new partner by the shoulders and hoisted him up to sit atop his shoulders. ”So I just have to carry you around, right? I do this for Ayane all the time, since we both live here at school, this should be easy! Cling to me like a baby and I will run as fast as I can!”
 


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”I hope you’re all ready, because the U.A. Sports Festival Mounted Poultry Punchout is about to begin!” The voice came booming through the speakers mounted throughout the stadium, as the eight teams positioned themselves along the borders of the designated play area, equally spaced at the corners of the octagonal arena. By this point, each of the riders were now sitting squarely on the shoulders of their respective steeds, though some seemed to be more stable mounts than others.

From dozens of hidden compartments within the stands flew out swarms of thousands of paper butterflies, seemingly dyed black. Converging in four points far above the contestants, they created stark black rectangles against the sunny sky. Upon these screens appeared enormous golden numbers, glowing brightly for both audience and competitors to see.

10:00

If one listened closely, they could hear a countdown from three, barely picked up by the microphones, ”Let the games-’

”-BEGIN!”

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Atop the shoulders of one who was a relative stranger to her, sat Ukemei Ayane, wobbling back and forth as he slightly stumbled. While she was very lightweight, this wasn’t something Syo was accustomed to.

“I told you I’ve been gaining weight,” Ayane said, wobbling about on Syo’s shoulders as she tried to keep herself and her guitar from touching the ground. “Let’s try not to get hit like this, okay?”

“Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be a problem once things-”

”-BEGIN!”

“OKAY FUCK IT LET’S GO”

In a bright flash of blue light, Syo’s body separated into dozens of segments, first appearing to be made of a red metal, before the pieces took on a sinister black sheen. As Ayane fell through what had now become mostly empty space, each piece found its place, encasing her in what could best be described as a highly stylized suit of armor.

Hope it’s a good fit. The words rang inside of Ayane’s mind, echoing with a much greater confidence than Syo had moments before.

“Hoh!” It was! A better fit than just about anything she’d worn before, for certain! Curious just what Syo had done, Ayane examined herself as best as she could. This. This was…

“AWESOMEEEEEEEE!!”

Now this was a hero costume! It almost felt embarrassing to admit she came up with that hideous thing she’d sent to the design team a while back! “What is this!? Your Quirk!? Did your Quirk turn me into something out of those old hero shows from before Quirks existed!? How did you not make hero course with this!? This is awesome!!”

What, you expect me to wear myself? A tinny laughter bounced around in Ayane’s skull. This isn’t the kind of quirk that works alone. I’m just glad that this worked, considering you are the second person I’ve ever tried it with. The pair, now acting as one, rolled their shoulders and sized up the rest of the competitors. So, 11-EX, who’s our first target?

“First target is…” Seven other teams. And the most powerful team - that she knew of anyway - had to be... 

Ayane turned her attention upward, toward the sky. Before long, she could see that second place girl flying around. “Those two, up there! I don’t suppose you can turn into a jetpack or something, can you?”

I… I don’t think so. While Syo didn’t verbalize the sentiment, his original intent to team up with Atsushi was clear to his partner. But whatever you can do, I can make a hell of a lot better. Let’s try something!

“Hm.” Make it a hell of a lot better, huh? Ayane took a deep breath, raised up her right hand, and slammed it down across the strings of her guitar, unleashing a shockwave of sound that surprised even her. Not far enough to reach the other teams, but certainly leagues more potent than the amp she’d been wearing on its own. So the sound was way stronger, but what about its interactions with her Quirk?

That’s a good start. Now let’s try with your quirk, see how far we can push it?

Ayane glanced at the adjacent teams. Change of plans! We’re testing out 11-EX on those two boys over there! Without any further warning, Ayane set both her hands on the fretboard, fingering out a rapid series of high-pitched notes to turn into a spray of bullets headed for the team one door over.

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“Are you sure we stand a chance?” Shoshiki was perched atop the broad shoulders of his classmate, Meguru, with a fair number of strands coming from his legs and wrapping tightly around Meguru’s torso for extra stability.

“Course we do! With a crazy strong guy like you on our team, nothin’s gonna stop us!” Meguru exuded confidence, beating a fist on his chest. However, before he could talk his teammate up any more, they were rained upon by a flurry of tiny glowing projectiles. “Tha hell is this??” turning his head, he lowered himself into a crouch to present less of a target to the oncoming attackers. “Ya see that, Shoshiki? We’re so tough they are already coming after us!”

“I REALLY DON’T LIKE THE LOOK OF THIS THING MEGURU, I THINK WE SHOULD RETREAT!”

“How are we suppos’ta call ourselves men if we run away from the first challenger!” With Shoshiki desperately clinging on for dear life, Meguru rocketed toward the incoming assailant, closing the gap almost instantly with an incredible burst of speed. Rather than making any kind of attempt to reach the target located on 11-EX’s back, he went for a double-palmed strike directly at their center of mass, “Eat THIS!!!”

Before Ayane had a chance to react, she could feel her muscles tense up, with a kick from her right leg pushing her out of the way of the incoming assault. That was a close call. Now we fight back! Give me a good note! As Ayane used their right hand to strum her guitar, Syo raised their left fist, as it was encased in a giant glowing glove, not unlike what could have been seen in the previous Sports Festival a decade earlier. 11-EX’s mouth opened, the mask splitting into jagged-edged teeth as the pair let out a ferocious roar, striking at their opponents with their combined strength.

“Shoshiki, NOW!”

“O-okay!” On cue, Meguru’s lanky passenger split apart, his head and arms extending to wrap around their opponent as Meguru raised both arms to catch the attack head-on. The impact, however, was far more than he expected, and he let out a grunt of exertion as the pavement underneath his feet shattered.

“Now’s yer chance! Go!”

Shoshiki’s disembodied head nodded, as it dart around 11-EX’s back to get a good view of their target. “You were right, Meguru, it’s right here!” Like a snare tightening around the ankle of a baited quarry, Shoshiki withdrew his limbs at lightning speed, aiming a pair of punches directly at 11-EX’s target.

“Hey!” In retaliation for the untimely theft of her team’s points, Ayane gave the guitar another strum, this time on the low strings, and erected a dome around herself and the other team. “Syo, get em!”

11-EX slid low to the ground, before hitting Meguru in the bottom of the chin with a heel kick from below. And as you can see, my Critical Armor boosts physical strength as well! Another slap on the guitar strings brought a pillar up from the ground, busting their opponents out of the dome and several dozen feet away. Guess that’s one fight won. But now we are in dead last place. How are we gonna catch back up?

Hmmm… They’d need to take out one of the big dogs. Not the one that had just run off with the team’s hard-earned points, either. They’d be ready next time, for sure. Ayane turned her attention upward, to the sky. To catch back up, we need to go up after all!
 

Edited by (?)

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"Are... you sure I should be the one riding on your back?" Diana rubbed the back of her head as Shannon folded her wings forward, cocking her head back to Diana. "I'm strong, but not much else, and it doesn't seem like I'm doing much if I'm the rider..."

"Nonsense. It will be much easier for me to fly if you ride on my back, rather than holding onto my legs. Again, I sought you out for your tenacity, more than anything. I trust that you will make decisions that will lead to us surviving this round."

Before Diana could object, the origami butterflies appeared, displayed the time limit, and...

”Let the games-’

”-BEGIN!”

Taking a deep breath, she grasped onto the smaller girl's back, only to be caught off guard by the immediacy of them taking off. It was unlike anything she had felt before, the loud wingbeat, the sudden pressure as they ascended, the lack of control. It was a bit much for Diana to take in, her head feeling like it was swirling, while Shannon looked about.

"My, it would seem that Dear Meguru and Mr. Shoshiki got an early start taking down... Who is that?"

"Dodge now!"

The dragon girl barely registered the words, body moving instinctively as Meguru and Shoshiki flew past them, rocketed from a pillar that appeared from nowhere.

"That... is that Ayane?" Diana muttered, causing Shannon to tense up slightly, "Are you oka-"

"I'm fine," she replied suddenly, before clearing her throat. "Yes, I am fine. I am just surprised by whatever happened to make that thing. Critical Armor... We are going to change tactics slightly. I had hoped that simply being in the air would be enough, but I am instead going to keep moving. Will you be okay if I do?"

Diana nodded as she clung to Shannon, prompting the latter to take off, flapping her wings to keep abreast of the situation. There was only so much detail that she could see from up high, but if the quirk she had heard about improved that much, then she had every reason to be on her toes.

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”I know, Kio! You should use your own quirk!” 

His straightforward answer made Kio hold up a finger for a second, pausing in confusion, only for him to crack a smile soon after.

"You know what, Sun?  I think that's a great idea!  Simple and clean!"  Truly, it was the best answer.  Maybe the monkey wasn't such an ignoramus after all.  He laughed a bit, as he was suddenly whisked off of his feet, and onto the monkey-boy's shoulder.  It took only a second for Kio to figure out how to balance himself, and get a feel for Sun's own positioning.  

”So I just have to carry you around, right? I do this for Ayane all the time, since we both live here at school, this should be easy! Cling to me like a baby and I will run as fast as I can!”

"A baby wouldn't have the muscle mass to hang onto you from this position, so I'll cling onto you...like a hero?"  It kinda felt embarrassing, with Sun putting it like that.  "Just make sure I don't fall, and we'll have a blast!!"  

”Let the games--BEGIN!”

Kio placed a hand in front of Sun's face to stop the ape from possibly charging into the inevitable fray without thinking.  

"I know it's not the most fun option, but I think it's the most logical and optimal."  Kio stewed in thought for a moment, using Sun's head to rest his elbow as he cradled his head in his hand.  "Let's think...the most mobile teams are likely going to try and hoard their points, right?"  As he noted this, he saw one team head off into the sky.  "We're gonna have to either get more points than them by the end, or hope some other team takes them down a few meters.  That way, we can swoop in and take points from the less mobile."  Kio glanced at a scuffle on the battlefield.  Ayane and some other student he didn't recognize, most likely due to the suit he was wearing, were already roughing it out with another team.  One made up of a boy who could seemingly tear his body to shreds, and the other who had crazy physical output.  Those were some quirks he'd love to get his hands on.  "Let's sit back for a moment and observe.  If I study their quirks and movements long enough...this should be cake."  He only had 10 minutes, so he had to make this quick.

 

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”I mean…” Meru looked at the boy, as he flexed his muscles.  She couldn't help but blush a bit, as she waited for his response. ”Yeah, I should definitely have enough time to carry my weight through this. Let’s win this one, Konishi!”  

"Righ!"  Meru pumped her fists close to her chest.  "I won' le you dow!"  Meru's tongue shot out of her mouth, elevating her high enough so that she fell right onto Tai's shoulders.  "Les show them wha we ca do!"  

”-BEGIN!”

"TAI!  LE'S GO FULL THRODDLE!"  Meru was feeling confident, now that she had the strongest classmate on her side!  She gave Masque back the scarf that she hid behind this whole time!  Now it was time to show the world what she could really do if she let loose!  

Edited by Mr. Hyde

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Risa looked up frantically at the board. ALL these students that she had to worry about, all these people she didn’t know…

She zoned in on the ones she knew to be wary of. “First place,” she said quickly, sitting next to Ben as she started to pull off her stabilizers. No way those bulky things would be of any use in this. She would almost certainly have to be the rider. “I saw Hoshi-sama lift a building. We can’t compete with that. Shoshiki also stopped the Ferris wheel on his own, so we should avoid him.” 

Her voice was fast, her words flying out quickly. But she didn’t have the same manic energy as she had had a second ago. Her brow was furrowed, not looking at Ben, not at anything really, just staring ahead as she finished pulling off her stabilizers. Deep in thought “I know a few of the Hero Course quirks from class, but I don’t have everything. Which ones from Class A do we need to be worried about?”

"Class A? Hmmm…" Benjamin looked at the board and nodded. "Sun is unpredictable, like his Quirk. Kio is the most versatile of things, considering how many cards he has. Then again, it depends on which one he ends up using...if he hasn't already used one."

He paused, his hand on chin before sighing. "Rika has the range with her chameleon tongue...and Ayane has her sound Quirk. Meanwhile Takehiko has his Pawns with his Chess Quirk...though I [dunno] what else he's hiding up his sleeves." Once again, Benjamin paused before sighing. "The only one I can't put my finger on is Diana. I'm honestly unsure what her Quirk does. I know specifically Sun and Rika up close due to working with them during that ex...am…"

Benjamin's face turned slowly to one that didn't look great, as if recalling a bad memory, which...if Risa was smart, she'd realize what it was. He shook his head quickly and cleared his throat. "A-Anyway...I think that we may need to find a way to play it safe and do what we can."

Risa, however, was in her own little world, and hadn’t spotted Ben’s pause. She finished removing the stabilizer cages from her shoes, standing and holding them awkwardly in her hands. “Seigi-sama… Well, she’s in the first place team so we should probably avoid her anyway…” She was frowning, deep in thought. “.... Ooooooh, I don’t know who to GO for!” She started bobbing around Ben in a circle. “Everyone in the Hero Course just seems so strong!”

"Just need to figure out how to hinder them is all." Benjamin said with a shrug. "How bout this for an idea: instead of figuring out who to go for first, how about we figure out a way to just survive? Ya know, attack and retaliate if necessary. We play it defensive in the long run." Then something popped into his mind and his face lit up. "Ohhhhh!!! Ya know what? Risa we can do something else! You can pull people off balance with your Quirk...and with my spiders doing the same thing, we shouldn't have too much of an issue."

“Oh no, what am I doing?!” she suddenly yelled, thrusting the stabilizers into his hands. “Quick, quick, put these on, I can’t believe I just wasn’t going to use them at all!”

Benjamin yelped a bit, looking at the stabilizers and shrugged. Doing his best to put them on, he looked awkwardly at them and then at Risa. "I put these on correctly, right??"

- - - - - - -

After that the buzzer had sounded and they had to rush to their places. Risa was sweating bullets atop Ben’s shoulders as he cautiously tested the weight of the stabilizing soles. 

I just have to... find a way. Find a way to get Ben through to the next round. That's all you have to do, Risa.

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The team didn’t have much time to adjust, however, before being set upon by an enemy. Just one enemy. From Class 1B, Mayu wasted no time approaching the team with intent to win. With no more warning than her showing up in the pair’s eyeline, she reached forward, opened a pair of eyes on her hands, and opened fire.

“... Eh? What?!?” Risa waved her arms and Ben only barely managed to yank her out of the way of the two beams. “Ben! She doesn’t have a rider! Isn’t that against the rules?!”

"Yeah, that's...uh...ref! Ref! Where's the call??" Benjamin blinked.

“Oh, I have a rider,” Mayu interjected. Pointing upward, she continued “He’s up there, staying away from the action. As long as he doesn’t touch the ground, anything is permitted outside of lethal force, remember?”

“No way…” Risa turned her head, looking up into the sky with wide eyes. Surely enough, there was a red-winged form soaring through the sky, one of two, but this one did not have Diana Seigi atop it. Risa felt her heartbeat starting to thud inside her ear. “Atsushi?!? You can do that?”

“His Quirk is Crimson Wings,” Mayu shrugged. “It’s right there in the name.”

“I meant not using him as a rider!” she called back defensively, embarrassed somehow amid the chaos.

"...well...errors have been made on that." Benjamin sighed, to himself. "Okay then...improvisation is the name of the game."

“What do we do?!” Risa asked frantically, almost toppling off of Ben as she ducked two more blasts from Mayu. “We can’t even touch Atsushi’s target!”

"I think we have to focus on Mayu first...seeing as she is a bit more of a pressing threat." Benjamin quickly replied. "Also, calm down Risa! If you don't you'll fall...and you won't be able to truly shine with your support items."

“Support items?!?” Risa grabbed onto the last word, processing only half of Ben’s assurances. Despite her convictions at the start of the event it had taken her less than a minute to begin panicking. “Uuuum, THIS one!” She reached to her belt and threw a small disc at Mayu, flinging it as hard as she could. Three iron balls sprang from it on long cable cords, and the whirling bola spun its way towards the student.

Mayu - not expecting a support item so suddenly, let alone one meant to be thrown at her - was unfortunate enough to have one of her arms caught in the bola. Immediately, she started struggling her arm to try and get it free of the device, but stopped after only a moment.

“It worked!” Risa yelled out, sounding just as surprised as she did relieved.

"[Nice shooting, Tex!]" Benjamin cheered.

Eyes on the Target

A prolonged huff sounded from Mayu, as her attention turned back to her target team. “Okay, that’s on me,” she sighed, after a deep breath. “I shouldn’t be sleeping on the support class, especially when it’s someone who rescued a hero course student. I’ll be sure to take this seriously starting now!” Spanning the full breadth of her midriff, a large eye opened up on Mayu’s body, foregoing the previous bullet-type projectiles to fire a fully-fledged beam at the opposing team.

"That's...not good." he clicked his tongue, before looking up at Risa. "Hang on real quick!" With that, Benjamin took initiative and began to move them out of the way of the eye-beam. "Hey, you probably need to ease up there. Otherwise I'm fairly certain your optometrist will hate you and the overexertion of those eyes." Yikes...probably not one of his better quips...he'd need to think of something better.

Risa clung onto Ben’s head from her spot atop his shoulders, the breath catching in her lungs as the massive ray whizzed by her. She felt a strange whoom sound, felt it, even, almost like it cut through the air around it, and her blood ran cold.

"Out of curiosity, Risa...but can you use your Quirk on that bola?" Benjamin asked, keeping himself steady after the evasive maneuver just performed. "Cause if you can, maybe we can catch her off guard. Worst case scenario, we get the bola back." Meanwhile, while he spoke, he flicked his hand slightly...preparing something.

Risa turned on his back, looking back towards Mayu, who was still bearing down on them. “Y-Yes…” she managed. “I… I think so. Why?” Mayu sent shivers of dread down Risa's spine. She thought back to every time her sister had bested her in one of her bouts of training, and how every student here was of that caliber.

Why does Ben think I deserve to be here? Why does he think I would want to be a hero?

"Then call it back." Benjamin simply said, looking in Risa's direction. "We're gonna make it through...and it's going to be all thanks to you and your Quirk..."

Edited by Faytl

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“...If we’re going for vulture strats, we might want to be patient. No one’s going to be fully worn out in the first minute.” Rika’s hands clasped together, squeezing for a moment as she took a deep breath. Her focus drifted for a moment, but she snapped back to reality once Takehiko started to speak.

“That’s the idea… nobody really knows about you know what yet so I think our best bet might just be hanging out in a corner and waiting for people assaulting the dragon duo to eventually fail and fall back down here.”

In that case… We’re just going to be waiting. It’s not flashy or exciting, but it’ll give us a chance to… Think. I guess.” Her arms crossed over her chest, the coloration of them shifting as they mimicked her outfit, minus one very important detail. The lack of a target. “...For now, I’ll just try to obscure this. If we can throw anyone off in the process, it’ll make it easier to pick them off if they target us.”

Takehiko gave a grin, “Well… they’re going to be pretty disoriented if they’re going after the dragon duo, yeah? Help me keep an eye on when nobody’s looking and I can ‘do it’ to different parts of the arena, yeah?” He flashes her a peace sign and grins, “If we get them -really- disoriented we should be able to snatch some points before they realize what’s going on.”

“...If they go after those two.” Rika’s eyes looked up towards the sky. A familiar streak of red in it, and a figure that she had much less experience with, were circling around the arena, Atsushi was making sure to keep his distance from the other blot in the sky, “I hope someone does, getting up there won’t be easy, it’ll give us a good opening if they try.”

He hums and gives a small nod, “You’re not wrong, there’s definitely the chance that someone is planning to go for targets with low point totals so keep your eyes on that. And getting up won’t be easy, no, getting down is going to be the hard part for it. Think your tongue can handle that much whiplash if we need it?”

Rika’s eyes narrowed a little bit as she considered the question, a little sigh escaping her as shrugged her shoulders lightly, “...He owes me a favor for helping him out during the first test, if something goes really wrong and we wind up in a bad spot, I’m sure he won’t mind if I use him as a springboard for a bit. Or, well… A grappling target maybe. Whatever.”

Takehiko gives a small laugh and nods, “I’m sure he’ll forgive ya after too long, yeah. Glad to know we have that to fall back on since I haven’t had much practice under pressure with this.” He rolls his shoulders a bit as he tries to get Rika to a more comfortable position, “I’m hoping we can blindside them enough before they realize what’s going on, the only thing that’s a pain is the time limit… I kind of wish it was a bit shorter…”

Rika’s eyes turned towards the rest of the arena. Ben was already under attack by a girl shooting lasers and growing eyes, that was probably concerning for him and the other girl. Ayane had sent a pair of people flying, but they seemed to recover okay. “...The time limit is definitely a problem. We’re going to have to run it out one way or the other once we get started.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, “Ayane and Syo, watch out for those two. Syo is in the general course like I was, but he’s a bit… Concerning. I just don’t want him to be underestimated.”

He frowned a bit and rubbed his chin, “You’re not wrong that Ayane and Syo might be an issue, there’s a couple interesting combinations that people went for like you and I. Man there goes thinking I’d be the only one with that idea. Ah well.” He glanced up before stretching, “Mmmm alright, soon as someone falls I’m gonna do the thing, alright?”

Rika nodded her head, before quickly realizing that might not be the best signal for Takehiko, “R-Right, I’m ready to go as soon as we see an opening.”

──── ⋆⋅✦⋅⋆ ────

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/874817145094168646/885268182766612500/Webp.net-resizeimage.png

The boy gazed upon the arena from the sky, his eyes scanning across the field. Mayu had already begun her assault, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. If she could even sow confusion for a bit, that would give her a chance to tag someone in the mess potentially…

But she stopped for a moment as Risa and Ben reacted to her attack, pointing up to him briefly. He snickered a tiny bit, he was pretty sure he knew what was going on down there. His hand reached up, giving the faint duo a wave, he wasn’t sure if they could really tell it was directed at them…

“Hey there, if you can hear me, just hand over your points, yeah? Make this easy.”

He shouted from the sky, his wings billowing red flames from the end, his eyes watching Mayu as she ran towards the duo once more… Before seeing her get entangled by the support Risa’s little toy. He let out a tiny chuff, “Damn it. That was careless.”

He stretched his arms up into the air, a deep breath escaping him as he drifted through the air, keeping his distance from the other pair flying around. She was surely going to be focused on defense, he needed to avoid her at all costs, but at the same time… He couldn’t disregard Mayu while she was ensnared. His wings adjusted, pivoting around his body as he started to descend from his position in the sky…

Crackling energy formed around the ends of those sharp wings, red energy building up.

And with a flash, it burst from the ends of his wings, blasting Atsushi back into the sky where he started, while a bright red, sizzling orb of burning energy flung itself towards Risa and Ben, aimed slightly behind them to avoid giving them an option to retreat.

“I just wish I was able to be more aggressive. I can't afford to burn out.” He brushed some hair out of his eyes as he glanced around in the air once more, taking tabs on where the other airborne duo was at...

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Team Iron Spider
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Benjamin was in...what one could call a rock and a hard place, though at this point, it was Crimson Wings and Eyesnal...and to top it off, Atsushi had launched a bright red, sizzling orb in his and Risa’s direction. More specifically… Behind...damnit...okay, keep cool O’Hara. he thought before, glancing at Risa. “Hang on, moving left!” he said, immediately moving to the left and avoiding the orb of whatever Atsushi launched at them.

Risa was not so lucky. The strange flux orb struck her in the shoulder as Ben jerked them to the left, her right shoulder blossoming with heat and pain. Risa let out a gasp, her hand snatching out and painfully grabbing a fistful of Ben’s hair in the surprise and agony the orb had created. It faded swiftly, but a persistent, searing pain kept pounding in her shoulder. She looked over to it and saw that the shoulder of her school sports jacket had a massive hole burned into it with black edges around the corners, and her skin beneath it was a vibrant and angry red.

“Risa, are you okay? Also...glad nothing was pulled out...otherwise I'd be Benjamin NO'Hair-a...” Benjamin he joked, looking up while trying not to let out a loud yelp of pain after having a fistful of his hair yanked like that. That’s when he noticed the burn mark on her shoulder. “O-Oh jeez...I-I’m sorry!”

“say when,” was the only quiet reply back. Risa wasn’t looking at Ben whatsoever. Breathing hard, with one eye squeezed shut, her other was trained on Mayu, and the bola around her arm.

Benjamin nodded, whilst a few of his spiders did their best to make a makeshift bandage for Risa's burn mark. "Alright…" he looked in Mayu's direction before glancing upwards. "We'll also have to get fly-boy up there...but something tells me, we can bait him." he said in a hushed tone.

Risa reached to her belt with her left arm; her right was still trembling in the wake of Atsushi’s attack. She took a weight from her belt and threw it up into the air, a simple toss that only had it fly a few feet. At the top of the arc she pushed, and to all appearances the weight soared up towards Atsushi, propelled by no visible force. It started to peter out at about fifteen meters distance from the pair, making it less than halfway to Atsushi before it started to fall back towards the ground behind Mayu, who was already beginning to advance again.

“I can’t do it,” Risa forced out through stress-induced tears.

"Okay...you did what you could Risa...we can do this." Benjamin nodded, before shifting slightly. Regardless of what happened or not, the resourcefulness of Risa did surprise him...it only further proved his point on her being perfect as his partner this round. His right hand flicked again, watching Mayu beginning to advance. "So, instead of running away you're approaching us? Pretty bold of you, four-eyes." He smirked, taunting Mayu. "And honestly, fly-boy up there ain't doing any better. Talk about a bore-fest!" That part he said loud enough for Atsushi to hear. "I've honestly seen starlings scarier than you."

“Atsushi and I are here to win, not to entertain,” Mayu retorted, stopping in her path before she was within arms reach of the pair of opponents. If she was going to get within swinging range, she wanted them to force it. For the sake of trying, Mayu lifted up her bola-bearing arm. She certainly didn’t appreciate the weight of this thing, and the cords were positioned just right so that she couldn’t open any eyes worth having on that arm. With a sigh, she lowered that arm, raising her still-free arm instead.

“All that running around with another person on your shoulders is going to wear you out soon enough. I just have to keep you on your toes until then, then take your points and run.” In an effort to do precisely that, Mayu’s raised arm opened a trio of eyes along its length, launching a brief and coordinated barrage at Ben and Risa. One eye focused on the ground around Ben’s feet, one focused directly on Risa, and the third went for where Risa ended and Ben began.

Benjamin only smirked, before moving out of the way...in what seemed like the most impromptu dance sequence...but dodged nonetheless. He hoped for poor Risa, she wasn't getting whiplash from the sudden movements he was making...then again, he figured she'd understand.

BGM

Once the barrage seemed to end, the young man simply stared right at Mayu with the widest grin on his face. "What you call running around...I call elaborately laying a trap." Benjamin said, before taking both his hands and making an "x" motion in front of him.

That's when Mayu would feel them…if she didn't sooner. Quite a number of spiders now began to bite at her...more specifically, in the areas where the eyes had appeared on the length of her arm. This would most likely keep her occupied for a moment, while he moved his hands again, now getting a few to start weaving a web around her ankles. "Hey Risa...NOW!!!" he said sternly, knowing this was the only opportunity she had.

With the signal given, Risa pulled whilst keeping an eye out for Atsushi, seeing if he was coming in lower...

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VS

dianabannerneo.pngshannonbannercomplete.png

So, we're going after the airborne cavalry? While there was a bit of nervousness, Syo's voice was brimming with excitement. I might not be able to make a jetpack, but I'm sure we can get up there. Ever played Stairway to Heaven before?

What’s Stairway to Heaven?

The… the old song… Seriously?

You must be into some super old stuff. Let’s get back to that after the sports festival though! We need a way to get up there, and then there’s the fight itself. You got a plan?

Strangely, Ayane felt her mouth curl into a grin outside of her own volition.

You make stuff, I make it better, fight fight fight, we win.

Works for me! Ayane took a deep breath, raising up her hand. Just before throwing down to strum a low note, however, Ayane jumped forward. When the note blasted out of her amp, a platform of hard sound appeared beneath the armored girl, rocketing upward and taking her with it, before the platform stopped at her target’s height. While the platform stopped, however, the laws of inertia demanded 11-EX did not, launching up above the students in this event blessed with flight. While it made for a great view of the U.A. campus, it also introduced a whole slew of complications.

Syo, I think I overshot it.

I got this. The pair’s shared hands struck another chord, notably less refined than the previous, as the passed over-head of the dragon girl. Her partner is riding her back. Let’s go for it! A barrier appeared in mid-air, and after doing a horizontal three-point landing, 11-EX dove down through the air at Team Diana, roaring with excitement in a voice that sounded like the two shouting in perfect unison, HERE WE GO!

“Shannon, behind us!”

Without a word, Shannon spun around with a flap of her wings, slamming her tail into 11-EX as they approached. However, she was not prepared for the sheer strength coming her way, finding herself and Diana shooting downward from the hit, barely stabilizing herself as she scanned for the opponent once more.

“Sorry! Are you holding on alright, Ms. Seigi?”

“I’m fine, but…  had no idea Ayane could move or hit like that!”

"We're not just Ayane!" From within the suit of armor, a glowing pink light could be seen as far as the stands, as they radiated pure power. Were 11-EX! The armored pair shouted, strumming the guitar strings twice. First to create a platform beneath their feet, then again to fire a storm of large, high-pitched projectiles of hard sound at Shannon and Diana.

Diana held tighter to Shannon as the smaller girl began to dart about, dodging the shots and growling. Diana used the time to look around, before whispering. “Left, we should be able to get above them again like that.”

Nodding, Shannon finished dodging and shot off to the left, letting out a cry as her leg got hit by one of the projectiles. She grit her teeth and flew upward as fast as she could, making sure that she could stare down at the duo.

“How do we attack that?” Shannon whispered back, feeling Diana shrug on her shoulders, “I’m not really sure what the proper steps to take are…”

"Think you're getting away that easy?" With another string of notes, a pair of walls appeared on either side of 11-EX, extending all the way up to their opponents. Moving swiftly, they scrambled upward, scaling up by jumping back and forth between the two barriers.

"Grrraaaagh!!!" Swinging the guitar around their back, it expanded with hard sound into an oversized sledgehammer, aimed directly at Shannon's center of mass.

Shannon crossed her arms and braced for impact, taking the swing head on, but making sure Diana herself didn’t get the direct impact. She went sprawling through the air barely recovering as she coughed up a bit of blood, leaking from the edge of her mouth.

“How… dare you…” Shannon growled, her whole body trembling as she looked up at 11-EX once more, before roaring her next reply, “How dare you touch me!?”

Syo, we may have another problem.

With a sudden burst of speed, Shannon was upon 11-EX, grabbing their face and slamming them into the very sound wall they had made, roaring again as she attempted to throw them downward. Diana held on for dear life, unable to see the draconic hero’s eyes… But to 11-EX, Shannon’s eyes gleamed with absolute bloodlust and rage.

11-EX hit the wall with a resounding Agh!! An exclamation of pain that they wasted no time using Compose on, covering their right hand’s fingers in a set of hard sound claws. Claws that they wanted to use to take a swing at Shannon at first, but upon being thrown by the draconic hero, they had to improvise something else. An odd scraping-like noise was made as the armored hero dug their claws into the wall, slowing their descent enough to reach for their guitar and make another pair of platforms. This time, one platform appeared just beneath their feet, and one a safe distance above their head.

The front of 11-EX’s helmet briefly receded, letting Ayane’s face out in full, while sprouting from her neck was the now un-transformed head of Syo “It’s a long story!” she called out. “But if it helps, I’m not after you you! Just your points!” With that statement out to hopefully quell the dragon’s rage some - a notion Ayane honestly harbored doubts about - Syo's head returned to its helmet form, covering up her face again.

If your guy from class had any ideas how to deal with her, this may be a good time to discuss them!

You know, I wasn't exactly best friends with him. But I do have an ide-

“Oh, so I’m just a conquest for you!?” Shannon roared out, slamming into the higher platform and hitting it with all of her might, cracks forming in it, “Just my points!? Like I would believe that! No, I tried so, so hard to ignore you… To let you be… All while wondering why U.A. let human trash in.” The cracks grew wider and wider, eventually shattering as her claw shot through, grabbing 11-EX by the head and squeezing it as hard as she could. “But you just had to come for me. You just had to make it come to a head. Well… Do try not to lose yours.”

Edited by yui

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VS

11extag2.png

 

“Wait, Shannon, that-” Diana’s pleas fell on deaf ears as Shannon slammed 11-EX into the platform they stood upon, a twisted smile on her face and a wild look in her eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to be a hero!?” Diana scolded her, hitting her on the back as best she could, “What are you doing!? You’re acting more like a villain than a hero!

-Indignant Savior-

“... Is it villainous to punish a villain?” Shannon asked as she looked back slightly, casting a calm but stony gaze, “Well, Ayane, what do you think? Is it wrong to punish someone who has harmed others? Is it wrong to tear them down so they can’t do it again?”

“I don’t know the, um, [circumstances], but-”

“Ohh, that’s a pretty heavy question.” The armor’s face turned back into another head again, with an increasingly confused and concerned expression. At the end of the day, stopping villains was a pretty important part of a hero’s job. But Ayane would be lying if she said the way that question had been phrased didn’t put her off a bit. “But villains definitely need to be punished! And I’ve… definitely got a lot of punishment coming my way, for everything I did! Just try not to kill me, okay? I wanna catch up and try to make amends after the sports festival, and I can’t do that if I’m completely out of commission.”

Then Syo's head turned back into a helmet once again, closing over 11-EX’s face once again. “But we can do all that later! Right now, we still need to fight over those points!” Being this close to a Quirk like hers was a major disadvantage. Had to get some distance. 11-EX reached for their guitar, blaring out another pair of notes. Another platform beneath their feet, just as the existing one disappeared, and a slightly more complex formation. Something like a wall between the two teams, but with a hole sized and positioned just right for Shannon’s arm. Affording the pair the opportunity to wriggle free of Shannon’s vice-like grip.

That should buy us a few seconds. So, about that idea of yours…

Shannon roared with rage as the wall appeared, pulling her arm out of it and rearing back to strike, until...

“Shannon… They don’t have any points.”

Freezing, the dragoness looked over to the board, finding Diana’s claim to be true. She grit her teeth harder before bringing her hands back down to her side with a low growl, turning around. “So they don’t. Then your punishment can wait for another time.” She spread her wings wide to make a big flap, before adding on “Atone? Yeah, right. Find your points elsewhere and never speak to me again.”

Diana frowned as Shannon rocketed upward, still hanging on. Despite Shannon’s logic for them teaming up, Diana had hardly been more than a burden or voice of reason. On top of that, Diana could feel the girl she clung to shaking, claws balled up to the point of some blood dripping from the palm… What had happened between her and Ayane?

Before Shannon could elaborate further on the baggage she carried, the duo was stopped dead in their tracks by a platform appearing directly above them. In front of them, standing atop another, smaller platform, was Karada Syo, completely in his human form. "You know, I really don't have much of a clue about what your issue with her is, but you seemed to forget," clenching his fist, he put his whole body into his attack, a bare-fisted haymaker aimed directly at Shannon's face, "that this is a team battle!!!"

Of course, Syo was far from prepared for Shannon's quirk to have applied even to the skin of her face. While it appeared soft and silky from a distance, it was like striking a ceramic plate. The only effect he had on the girl was leaving a bloody knuckle-print on her cheek. "Ha… ha… maybe that played out a little differently in my head…"

Shannon glared at the boy who had just punched her, eyes wild, before she took a deep breath and closed them just for a moment, before opening them up and giving a soft, but terse, statement, while Diana let out a sigh.

“Back down, and I shall spare you. Side with her against me, and there will be no mercy. This is the final warning I shall give to you.”

And then while her back is facing you… Just like Syo had suggested! Drop him in front of them, distract Shannon even for a second, then from her own perch above the three of them, jump down and get the dragon girl from behind. As much as she would have loved to make a flashy entrance, that would ruin the element of surprise, which was her only real saving grace right now. And so, rather unceremoniously, Ayane moved her guitar on its strap to hang it over her back instead of her front - she didn’t want to risk damaging it in this next move, after all - then jumped from the platform she’d prepared for herself. A jump from which she grabbed Shannon by the shoulders, with a firm “Sorry about this, but I’m not giving up! On the points, or you!”
 

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