The Road to Greatness: One Quirk at a Time - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Monday morning I arrived at class feeling a bit better. I was still pissed at the situation but I know it's no ones fault and that I have to deal with what is and not what I wish it to be. I stopped at the large door to the classroom and took a deep breath. While I'd chatted with the other members of the class in texts, I hadn't explained the full situation.

Not everyone texted me and I wanted to inform the entire class of what happened all at once. Along with Bubble Girl and Aizawa, neither of whom had been informed about One For All. Since they were uninformed, they would be getting the lie as well.

I lifted my hand and couldn't help a grimace as I caught sight of it. I'd gotten myself some gloves and was now wearing them anytime I went out in public. The only skin I left exposed was my head. Thankfully the school uniform's jacket was comfortable and I could keep it on instead of having to buy arm length gloves. Regular gloves were odd enough, arm length ones would just be plain weird.

I opened the door and made my way into the class room and to my seat. There was a bit of an awkward silence as the other students didn't seem to know what to say to me. Momo and Kaminari though, they were looking about as good as I felt. Both of them had bags under their eyes and a distinct air of sadness about them. I understood. Seeing Midoriya die like that was probably a very traumatic experience for them.

Hell, it was traumatic for me.

The class was dead silent, even when Aizawa and Bubble Girl walked into the room, no one said anything and the morose atmosphere didn't change. Bubble Girl looked a little out of her depth, and Aizawa was still covered in bandages from the fight. It went to show how down the entire class was feeling that no one even commented on Aizawa being in the class, they just didn't have the energy.

Bubble Girl looked a little out of her depth. She was a new teacher whose main experience in teaching had been helping students visiting Sir Nighteye's agency for their work studies. She didn't remain silent for long and decided to get the worst of it out of the way first, “For those of you who wish to attend, the funeral for Midoriya Izuku will be held next Sunday.”

Yeah, that made the atmosphere soooo much better. But I get it, get the darkness out of the way first and move onto lighter topics. That meaning, her eyes turned to me, “I've also been informed that Neito-san will be explaining what happened to him during the incident.”

I climbed to my feet with a sigh and walked toward the front of the class. I'd discussed what I planned to say in more detail with Nezu. Together we'd come up with a way to explain how my Quirk had changed, for the worse in my opinion.

I looked over the class, all of them had their attention on me. They all wanted to know what happened to me after they witnessed what happened. I sighed and started, “F-for those of you unaware.” I ignored the way my voice trembled a little, “During the... incident. I tried to save Midoriya, Asui, and Sero.” I looked at the two survivors, “I was only partially successful.” I swallowed, “W-when he... hit me he coughed blood onto me and I automatically copied his Quirk. He had a stockpiling Quirk that stored energy over time and, once charged enough, granted him a lot of power.”

I took a shuddering breath, just thinking of the moment Midoriya died had an effect on me, “W-when... he...” I swallowed hard, “died on top of me... I don't know what happened but... I snapped. My Quirk went haywire and...” I stared at the ground in shame, not fake shame, but real shame.

I really didn't want Midoriya to die. I might rag on him a lot in my mind. And... Okay, I didn't treat him all that great. But I never shit on him in any place but my own head! I had planned to help him, to make him stronger, but only after he'd learned a little more and grown some balls.

“I copied his Quirk, permanently.”

There were several gasps of shock. Not that I blamed them. I'd gone out of my way to make sure they all knew that my Quirk had a time limit, that I couldn't copy their Quirks permanently. Now something that I swore couldn't happen, had.

I shook my head to get rid of the random thoughts, “But, it gets worse. His Quirk, it's all about storage. Taking energy inside of itself, and what is a Quirk factor but energy?”

The eyes of some of the smarter students widened as they understood where I was going with my explanation. I swallowed hard. You know, just talking about it was one thing. I could brag to myself all I wanted about how it's no big deal, how awesome it is. But the truth? I'm terrified of telling them. I don't want them to be scared of me. They'd accepted me as a fellow hero student and hadn't feared my Quirk. Hell, Kirishima had even given me some of his hair! How cool was that?

But permanently copying their Quirk? That's something else entirely. I swallowed again, my throat felt thick, like I was choking, but I managed to get it out, “Because of his Quirk's interaction with mine, mine's become... mutated.” I lifted my gaze from the floor and looked over the class, “Now when I touch someone, my Quirk copies it and Midoriya's makes that copy permanent.”

Now the majority of the class had various reactions. Mostly shock. But I could also see some concern. I can't express how much relief I felt when I didn't see any fear. It might come later, but that it wasn't their first response was a great relief to me. I pushed on, “During the fight, I copied the Quirks of that monster, Nomu. I still have them.”

I held up my gloved hands, “If I touch any of you, skin to skin, I will permanently copy your Quirk, against my will.”

Nezu and I had discussed this and I was committed to telling my fellow classmates the truth. Or, at least, as much of it as I could without giving away secrets that were not mine. Or world shattering. I just couldn't live with the idea of becoming what I'd been accused of since I first manifested my Quirk.

I am NOT a Quirk thief. I will NEVERsteal a Quirk from an ally, friend, fellow hero, or civilian. Villains don't count to me, their Quirks should be taken and repurposed for the side of good.

Nezu thought me telling the class I could permanently copy Quirks was a mistake. Maybe it was. I don't know or care. I believed telling them was the right thing to do so they would avoid contact with me. So they would know that I didn't want to steal their Quirks from them.

The class remained silent, trying to digest the information I'd given them. It was pretty awkward as no one seemed to know what to say. I didn't know what to say anymore either. So, I gave a small nod, plastered a smile on my face, and returned to my seat. Bubble Girl cleared her throat and looked over the class, “Right. I have an announcement to make. The Yuuei Sports Festival will be coming up soon.”

There were exclamations of surprise from the class.

“Isn't that dangerous?!”

“What if there's another attack?!”

And other comments along those lines. Bubble Girl gave the class some time to calm down before she explained, “It's unlikely that there will be any kind of attack during the festival. I don't believe any villain would be foolish enough to attack with so many pro-heroes in attendance. Second, Nezu believes we need to show the world that Yuuei wont be cowed by such a cowardly attack. He wants us to show our strength. More importantly, he wants you to show your strength.”

Well, that got the class excited. Even Todoroki looked interested. Me? I... well I felt bad. Whether the events are the same as in canon or not, I'll end up winning without much difficulty. Even before my changes I would have won. I'm that confident in my abilities and the Quirks I'd been given that I didn't doubt for a moment I would be victorious.

Which is part of why I didn't want to participate originally. On top of everything Id already said about the festival, it just would have been boring. Still will be I suppose.

The rest of homeroom and the following classes went as normal. It wasn't until lunch that there was a real chance for the rest of the class to talk to me.

-----Line Break-----

After getting my food from Lunch Rush, I made my way to an empty table. I didn't want to presume that anyone in my class would be interested in sitting with me after the change in my Quirk. I'd just taken my first bite of rice when Momo sat across from me with a tray loaded down with enough food for four.

She gave me a polite, if somewhat strained, smile. Before we could talk we were joined by Kaminari, Kirishima, Ashido, Sero, Tsu-chan, Jiro, and, surprisingly, Todoroki. I looked between each of them. As I did, my depressed self destructive mouth just had to open and ask, “Are you guys sure you want to sit near me?”

To my surprise, it was Sero who spoke first. We hadn't talked all that much yet, but we'd at least exchanged a few polite greetings and talked about his Quirk. He had his perpetual smile on, though it was a little sad, as he spoke, “I wanted to thank you, for saving me, for saving us. I know you did everything you could to protect us. And...”

He seemed at a loss for words for a moment before he held his hand out toward me. I froze when I saw that. I'd taken my gloves off to eat, eating with them on would be rude. If I shook his hand I would be copying his Quirk forever. I stared at his hand as he held it out steady as a rock, “Are you sure you want to do that?”

Sero shrugged his shoulders in an uncaring manner, “My Quirk isn't the greatest or most powerful in the world, but I love it and seeing it put to use by not just me, but another hero as well? I think that would be amazing.” His smile turned playful, “Just remember to give me credit when you use it to save the damsels in distress!”

I smiled a little at that and there were definitely not any tears in my eyes as I reached out and shook his hand. I could feel my body copying his Quirk and One For All taking the copy into itself. Thankfully, his Quirk was a mutation type and the rules of my original Quirk still applied. My elbows would only change when I willed them to.

After I let go of his hand, Tsu-chan was the next to speak up, “Thank you, for saving me. Gero.”

She didn't offer her hand to me and I didn't hold it against her. There could be any number of reasons she didn't make the offer, not least of which is she might think I'd be disgusted by her Quirk. I'd met many mutation types with the less 'pretty' mutations and there were always societal issues. She probably experienced many of the same things that I had.

I smiled warmly at her, “You're welcome. The both of you.”

I looked down at my food, unsure what to say next. The need to speak was taken from me when Momo spoke up, “I also wished to thank you. If not for your actions, who knows what that beast might have done to all of us. It was lucky that All Might arrived just after you beat the monster. If only he'd arrived a little sooner, he would have been able to capture the ring leaders.”

I gave Momo a smile, “I'd do anything for you.” As she blushed brightly, I added on, “And anyone else in the class.”

A little flirting helped lift my mood and seeing Momo blushing like that helped lift it higher. Kaminari sat off to the side with Jiro, smirking as he watched the situation. Kirishima looked a little confused while Ashido looked like she'd found a new toy to play with.

Kirishima, with a bright smile, stuck his hand across the table toward me, “I already offered you my hair, what's a handshake between men? Just promise to only use my Quirk the same way you used...” He cleared his throat, “the same way you used Midoriya's, to protect.” His eyes drifted to Ashido for a moment before returning to me, “That's what my Quirk is meant for, protecting people.”

I hesitated for a moment, looking at Kirishima's hand, then finally took it. I felt his quirk slot into place among the others. This was... a bit much. I felt happy, so happy, that others were so willing to let me use their Quirks like this. Knowing I would have it until the day I died. Kirishima's Quirk added to my already stupidly strong defenses just made me... I don't know.

I'm now damn near immune to blunt force trauma thanks to the Shock Absorption Quirk being empowered. Two regeneration Quirks, both empowered by One For All mean anything that could hurt me would heal near instantly. Now I had Kirishima's Quirk on top of all of that?! His Quirk was already pretty powerful, but now it would be amplified by OFA and become even stronger. Could anything hurt me anymore?

Fuck man. At this point all I needed was a Quirk for laser eyes and I would be goddamn Superman.

As we stopped shaking hands, Momo chimed in, “I'd offer my Quirk, but without years of study it's kind of useless.”

“That's alright Yaoyorozu-san. I don't mind who does and doesn't want to give me their Quirks. I know how precious a Quirk is to people and I don't want them to feel like I'm taking it away from them.”

Her blush deepened as she spoke softly, “Y-you can call me Momo.”

I couldn't stop the grin from forming on my face as my whole body relaxed, “Alright, Momo-chan.”

The moment was ruined a few seconds later by Ashido snickering and calling out, “Go Yaomomo!”

That broke any and all tension that might have existed and lunch became more cheerful than I expected it to be. We enjoyed some friendly banter and got to know each other a little better.

-----Line Break-----

The rest of the day went better than the first half. A tension I hadn't even noticed had left me and I felt a little better. I may not be universally loved by the class, but I knew I had friends and that made all the difference to me.

After the final bell rang, I made my way to the locker room to change into my gym uniform. Today would be my first lesson with All Might one on one. I wasn't looking forward to it.

When I walked into the gym, I was met by a smiling All Might. The room had already been filled with workout equipment that looked like it would take someone as strong as All Might in his prime to push to its limits. I looked over the equipment with a bit of awe. I'd heard rumors of setups like this, but never seen one in person. They were all custom made and expensive as hell.

All Might burst into a cloud of smoke that quickly vanished to reveal him in his muscle form, “Welcome Neito-shounen! I see you're impressed with the equipment, and I am glad. From now until the Sports Festival, I want you to use these machines to push yourself to your absolute limit.  You need to get used to all the power you now have at your disposal and strengthen your body to match it. I do not wish for you to shatter your arms every time you strike a blow.”

I sighed but nodded in understanding. It was not a pleasant sensation, feeling your bones shatter into small splinters every time you punched something. You would think the shock absorption would prevent it, but you'd be wrong.

I walked over to a bench press machine as All Might shrank down in another burst of smoke. I looked it over before setting it on the lowest weight, one metric ton. Seriously, it didn't go lower than that. All Might watched me curiously, but didn't say anything as I lay down on the bench and grabbed the handles. It was actually a little shocking to me when I lifted the weight with ease. I barely even felt the weight as I pushed up on the bar.

I lowered it and glanced at All Might, “Mind switching it to two?”

All Might nodded and did so. It went like that for quite a while. That was the point at which I began having to actually try to lift it. I worked out at that weight limit for a bit, but before long it became easy. Between nigh infinite stamina and a double dose of regeneration, my muscles tore and then healed, becoming even stronger.

Shit.

I had All Might continue to increase the weight limit until I had to actually tap into One For All to push it up. But that just made things even easier again. The sheer amount of pure physical strength I could conjure was just ridiculous. I was easily lifting several hundred tons and using only about twenty percent of OFA's total output.

If this kept going, the weight machine would run out of weight before I ran out of strength. After a bit, All might spoke up, his voice distinctly weaker in his shrunken form, “Perhaps you should not use One For All in these sessions. The point is to improve your base body.”

I sighed, but nodded. The weight was lowered and the session continued. The worst part for me is that I got stronger the entire time. I know that was the point but I didn't want to become so strong that I couldn't even live normally anymore.

The session eventually ended. From there time passed until the day of the Sports Festival arrived.

-----Line Break-----

I held back my annoyance as I waited with the rest of my class in a room for Present Mic to announce us, along with the other classes. At least it would be over soon. I still can't believe I let All Might talk me into participating.

The majority of education in Yuuei was actually quite excellent. I really enjoyed the majority of my classes, even English taught by Present Mic. I only had issues with two of the teachers, but All Might was significantly better when he wasn't trying to push for too much too soon or letting randomness make his class crap. Aizawa was also a lot easier to deal with now that we had Bubble Girl as our official homeroom teacher. She actually did things properly and didn't just tell us to do it and then go to sleep.

You know, now that I think about it, we never had the confrontation between our class and all the others. I can understand why they wouldn't want to be dicks knowing that a student had died during the USJ Incident. It would make a big difference in how the incident would be perceived by them. Instead of a simple stepping stone in the careers of class 1-A, it was a horrible incident that scarred us forever.

I know it scarred me.

Before I could think about it more, Todoroki came up to me. He'd changed a little since our spar slash duel a few weeks ago. It was in how he stood and how he talked. There was more... life in his words. He was still stoic as hell and soft spoken, but there was less... hate in him it seemed.

“Neito.”

There was also that. He'd been calling me by my first name for a while now.

“Objectively speaking, you're the strongest person in our class. Don't let it go to your head. I... no. We'llall be coming for you. Everyone who wants to prove the strength of their convictions will have you as their target. Be prepared.”

That... was significantly different from what I had expected. I mean, I hadn't expected him to say anything to me, not like he had Midoriya in canon. I looked into his eyes for a moment before sweeping my gaze over the rest of the class. Amazingly, they all stared back with conviction in their eyes.

I see.

Yes. I could play this role. I smiled brightly, probably the first true smile I've had since USJ. I didn't hold my hand out for him to shake, I felt that would be rude without my gloves on. Instead, I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently, “Bring. It. On.”

I could see a small quirk at the corner of Todoroki's mouth that indicated he was smiling. Then came Present Mic's voice.

“The department of heroics freshman classes!”

We all turned and walked out of our room together.

“You're all here for class 1-A though right?!”

I growled at that. Our class didn't need any more attention. But, whatever. I stopped thinking about that and started thinking about my new role. It brought a smile back to my face. I would become to goal for everyone to aim for, the wall they needed to overcome!

My grin grew to All Might proportions.

Things might not be how I wanted them to be, but I could do this. I crossed my arms over my chest and stood tall and proud at the front of my class, as president, with Momo by my side, as vice president. I watched as the other classes were announced and made their way onto the field. My eyes roved over them, spotting the somewhat familiar faces in 1-B and a familiar head of gravity defying purple hair in the gen-ed classes.

We stood before a small stage and looked up at the pro hero that would be our referee. I had to admit, Midnight looked amazing. If I was a good ten years older I might've taken a shot at her. Oh well.

Midnight cracked her small... The hell is that thing anyway? It was just a handle with a bunch of leather thongs coming out of it. No idea what that's called. After cracking it she pointed directly at me, “Freshman representative Monoma Neito of class 1-A! Time to give the pledge!”

Still standing tall, I walked up the stairs onto the stage. Before a few minutes ago, I had my speech all planned out. I'd planned to take a few pot shots at the school and talk myself up by proclaiming how easily I would crush the events.

Things change.

I uncrossed my arms and held up my right hand, I clenched my fist so tightly that my knuckles loudly popped, the sound picked up by the microphone and amplified. I couldn't keep the massive grin off of my face as I looked out over the crowd of students, “When I took first place at the entrance exams, I was strong. When those bastard villains came at us, I was stronger. Now, I am even stronger! Come at me with everything you have because I wont hold back! We're all here to become as strong as we can. To become the best heroes we can be! I wont dishonor you by holding back. I wont dishonor myself by looking down on you. Don't dishonor yourselves by holding back against me!”

My eyes swept over the students and the crowd watching silently in the stands as I clearly enunciated, “Bring. It. ON!”

I never stopped smiling. I could see that the entirety of my class looked determined while the other classes had a mixture of looks on their faces. Some shared looks of determination. Some looked pissed off. Some confused. Yet others looked bored.

I don't care. I had my role now. My new goal. My new... purpose. I couldn't stop smiling or smile any further without my cheeks ripping. My old goal might be gone, but with a new one I felt free once more.

To that end... I cycled through all of the Quirks I had installed into myself, copying them all into One For All permanently. I would apologize to everyone I'd gotten a Quirk from later. I'd sworn to not hold back, and I wasn't going to.

Midnight had a bright smile as she cracked her... thing, “Well said! And with that we can move directly onto our first event!”

Her arm waved through the air and pointed at a massive screen that began rolling like a wheel in a slot machine. As if the events were actually random and not fixed, “Time for the preliminaries! Lots of students end up crying tears here every year.” Her smile turned sly, “Feel free to come to me if you need... comforting.”

Some of the guys looked like they'd be willing to throw the first event just to be 'comforted' by her. I had a feeling the comforting she offered would involve whips, and not with the losers holding them. She waved her arm again, this time causing parts of her anatomy to bounce deliberately. I wonder if that was the first trap.

“The first event will be... the Obstacle Race!!”

She faced us all once more and gestured to a large tunnel opening, “We always talk about our freedom on campus. Well this is what it's all about! You're free to do anything so long as you stay within the limits of the course! Let's get cracking! On your marks...”

I turned to face the tunnel entrance, smile still firmly in place. I don't think there's much that could wipe it off of my face at this moment. I can't believe how having a goal once more is making me feel.

“Get set!”

I crouched down, my muscles tensing, my body filling with power as I tapped into One For All. The familiar surge of power coursing through my veins, the black lightning surrounding my body, before I hated this feeling. Now? It was mine and I would use it to make everyone stronger.

“GO!”

Everyone moved at the same time. I was no exception. I was certain what I was about to do would draw the attention of All For One to me. I'm certain he would recognize the Quirk I was about to use. Either that or get suspicious. My use of multiple Quirks during USJ probably had his attention already. Not to mention how badly I mangled Tomura.

I. Don't. Care.

Bring it on All For One! I'll take you down and keep you down!

The other students moved, but I moved. I burst off of the ground and shot into the air like a missile. I used the empowered Float Quirk to blast through the air. It took me a single moment to blast past all the other students. I could barely hear Present Mic's announcing over the wind blasting through my ears.

I was out in front, by a large margin, when I saw the giant robots from the entrance exam in front of me. One was directly in my path. I could easily swerve around it, but fuck that. I tapped into Kirishima's Quirk and hardened my entire body as I took the classic Superhero flight pose, fists forward. I slammed into the machine at its core and carved through it like it was made of tissue paper.

I barely heard it exploding behind me over the wind as I canceled the hardening Quirk.

The next obstacle wasn't even one. Sure, it would be an issue for the rest of the school, they didn't have any flight Quirks. Well, maybe Tokoyami could figure out a way to fly with his? I'd have to think of something to test the theory out.

The third obstacle suffered from the same problem as the second one. Mines meant nothing when you could just fly over them. In moments I was through the entrance and back inside of the arena.

“And we have our first place winner! Monoma Neito of class 1-A!”

I came to a stop and continued to float in the air. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at the cheering audience. My attention quickly moved from that to the screen showing the participants still racing from multiple angles.

I hadn't stopped grinning, but my grin wanted to grow as I avidly watched the events unfold. Todoroki had just arrived at the robot obstacle, Robo Inferno, and frozen the massive machine in front of him. A moment later there was a burst of fire as he thawed himself out. Yeah, he'd come a long way since our fight.

My gaze switched to the other members of my class and I couldn't help laughing as I watched the frozen machine fall down and land on the twin Quirks of 1-A and 1-B. Kirishima Eijiro and Testutetsu Tetsutetsu. Honestly, I think Tetsutetus's parents should be on trial for child abuse for giving him the same first name as his surname. What kind of asshole does that?

Still it was funny seeing him and Kirishima smashing through the machine after it landed on them. On the surface, their Quirks were quite similar. But once Kirishima pushed to his Invincible state, he became stronger. Though maybe Tetsutetsu had a further stage I was unaware of?

I watched as Momo pulled her shirt open, showing off a nice black sports bra, when she summoned a canon and fired it. The destruction it caused as it destroyed several of the larger robots was impressive. Though, it reminded me of something I'd forgotten. Jeez, I needed to talk to her... And to Hagakure now that I think about it.

Shit, I got distracted from talking to her about her invisibility Quirk. Dammit!

I watched as others got to 'The Fall' obstacle and nodded to myself. Tsu-chan easily used her Quirk to move along the ropes. But my eyes were drawn to another character that had slipped my mind. A girl with pink dreadlocks wearing a ton of support gear, Hatsume Mei. She was bat shit crazy and simultaneously awesome. Her Quirk didn't directly help her invent things, at most it acted like a microscope for fine details. All the true genius came just from her and it was amazing.

Seriously, if I had been born Quirkless, I would have hunted Mei down and become her best friend. Then go all Ironman or Batman on the world. I mean, hell, she was literally using grappling hooks combined with hover boots to get passed the canyons.

I had to fight hard not to laugh when I saw how Ida was getting across the tight ropes. Though using the exhaust of his Quirk as jet propulsion was pretty interesting. Sadly, since Midoriya's death, he and Uraraka had been... not avoiding me, but not too friendly either. I don't know how I feel about that, but I'd made good friends with others and I didn't need everyone to be my bestie or to love me.

People started to arrive at the final obstacle. Without Bakugo around, Todoroki had a firm lead over the others and no one within a good distance of him. However, he had to slow down due to the mines. Not sure why, to be honest. I'm pretty sure he could have frozen over the whole mine field and just ran to the other side. Maybe he thought the mines could break his ice? No idea. Maybe they could.

I didn't look away when Todoroki came in second. I was curious who would come in third. Without Midoriya and Bakugo, things would be different. Ibara Shiozaki came in third. She was pretty interesting. Vines for hair that she could control. After her, students started pouring in.

The only time my smile faltered was when Momo came through the tunnel with a small purple leech on her back. It took everything I had not to swoop down, grab the little shit, and throw him into orbit. I hadn't spotted him in the crowd of other students, nor had I ever spotted him on campus. I'd hoped, dreamed, that Mineta hadn't made it into the school at all.

I don't know what class he's in, but I hope to never see him again after this.

I moved with speed to vanish from where I had been floating the entire time to appear in front of Momo and Mineta. I glared down at the midget, “Get off of her leech. Now.”

I felt some satisfaction at seeing Mineta's eyes widen in fear as he quickly complied with my demand. I stared after him as he scampered into the crowd and hid from my sight. When I turned back to look at Momo, she had a slight flush to her face. Whether from exertion in the race or what I just did, I don't know. I kind of hope its from what I did.

Still, she gave me a bright smile, “Thanks. He hopped on my back after the robots and wouldn't let go no matter what I did.”

I nodded, “I've heard rumors about him.” I haven't, “he's an unrepentant pervert who only wishes to be a hero to get women.”

While I hadn't heard any rumors, nothing I said was wrong. Mineta did want to be a hero just to get women. He might have gotten better over time, but it was only after he was brainwashed by Ashido that he became more than scum.

One thing that did shock me was how low on the list Tokage Setsuna was. Her Quirk, called Lizard Tail Splitter, was actually really impressive. She could split her body into multiple pieces and then had telekinetic control over them. If a piece was destroyed, she could regenerate it. I remembered some theories about her Quirk I'd heard. If I got the chance, I'd talk to her about them and see if they worked or not. For example, some thought if she just detached a single hair from her head, then she could fly.

If that worked, she would have made second behind me, not thirty-seventh. How'd she do that bad anyway? Conserving her strength, maybe? We'll see.

As I gazed over the students, some still coming in from running, Midnight cracked her... Seriously, what the hell is that thing? Well, whatever, it got our attention so she could announce, “The top forty-Two have the right to advance! I'm sorry for all of you who failed, but you'll have a chance to show off what you've got for our showstopper!”

Midnight posed as she waved at the screen that was already spinning, “With the preliminaries over we'll move right into the second event! Be prepared to do your best in this heart pounding event! The press is watching! The heroes are watching! Give them some pulse pounding excitement in...!”

The sign stopped spinning at 'Human Calvary Battle', “This!”

There was confusion among the students as the questioned how the event would work. I just waited and soon enough Midnight explained, including visuals, “You can all for teams of two to four players to form a horse back configuration. Basically it's the same as normal calvary games, swipe your opponents headband and guard your own. Except this time... Everyone will receive points for the position they came in during the first event!”

“Ohhh so each headband will have a different point value based on whose in the team!”

Midnight snapped her thing loudly, “Don't say what I was before I can!”

She cleared her throat, “But that's right! And the number of points you're worth is five if you came in forty-second, ten for forty-first, and so on going up five points for each position.” Her grin turned positively feral as she faced me, “Except for first place. First place is worth a whopping TEN MILLION POINTS!”

My smile didn't falter, in fact it become almost cocky as I tilted my head up, “Bring it!”

I didn't even flinch as every eye turned to stare at me. I was now the number one target of everyone in the place who wanted to topple me. But I held no fear. There were so many possible ways for me to handle this event. One didn't even rely on overwhelming force.

For example, I could just fly up and wait it out. Boring, so not happening. Or I could be devious and throw my headband on the ground and let them all fight over it while I conserved my energy and just stood to the side. I could easily snag back the headband any time I wished.

But no. I was going to stand my ground and fight all comers to keep my headband. Midnight, seeing me still looking confident, poured more fuel on the fire, “If I was you all, I'd go for the first place headband! This is a chance for the low to overcome the high! Welcome to our survival game!”

The finer details of the rules were explained before we were given fifteen minutes to make our teams. I didn't move from my spot, I didn't bother asking other people if they wanted to be on my team. I was their goal, I was their target, and I reveled in it!

I only stared back at the other students as they formed teams, a confident smile on my face just daring them to come at me.

I didn't need to wait long for what I expected to happen to come to pass. Hatsume strolled right up to me and shoved her face into mine, “You're pretty interesting, I want on your team!”

“And you are?”

Hatsume leaned back and flipped up a pair of custom goggle with cross-hairs on them, “I'm Hatsume Mei from the Support Department! I don't know you, but I'd like to use your position!” she started getting super excited and moved into my personal space again as she stared as me with her cross-hair shaped pupils, “If I join you the amount of attention I get would be unparalleled! Which is the perfect opportunity to show off my babies! I'm aiming to catch the attention of a big company with my babies!”

I lifted a hand and cut her off, “You're in.”

She froze, her eyes widening at my easy acceptance, “Get whatever gear you wish, you'll be the rider and I will be the horse. Get some of your babies that you think will help you snatch headbands and protect the one you're wearing.”

Hatsume practically vibrated in place in excitement, “I have so many babies I could use!”

“Just one thing.”

She looked at me, curious. I didn't speak and instead used action. I took off my shirt showing off my muscular torso. A few weeks ago I was in good shape, now I was ripped. All of my muscles were well defined. I looked like a Greek statue come to life. It meant Nothing to Hatsume who continued to look at me.

Though I did notice a few of the girls around us looking at me with blushes. Those blushes only got worse as I activated the best Super Strength Quirk I had before USJ. It only amplified my original base strength by three times, before OFA got a hold of it. I wasn't sure what to amplification did now, and I didn't care. I wasn't using it for that. I was using it because the moment I activated it my body began to grow.

The Quirk was a transformation type that made the user bigger and more muscular. I grew nearly a foot taller while all of my muscles grew much larger. Most of the growth happened at my torso, which would have shredded my shirt. I crossed my much thicker arms over my huge torso. I was nearly as big as puffed up All Might.

Hatsume still didn't blink an eye. She just looked me over before nodding her head, “I've got just the babies!”

No one else approached us to join the team, and that was fine by me. I honestly wish I cold do this solo, but that was against the rules. When we got our headband, it read '10,000,020'. Hatsume came in pretty close to last place so wasn't worth many points. That didn't matter to me, she was just someone that could be my partner for the event.

“Alright, your fifteen minutes are up!”

At midnight's announcement, I knelt down and allowed Hatsume and climb onto my shoulders. While she didn't weight much, she had to have at least a hundred kilos of gear on her body and in a backpack. I had no idea what she had planned, but it would probably be interesting.

“START!!!”

The moment she yelled out, everyone in the arena turned to face me and Mei. My smile didn't falter as I cracked my knuckles, “Hatsume...”

“Call me Mei!”

“Mei, hold on tight. This will get rough.”

Just after I finished speaking, a massive wave of ice rushed out from Todoroki toward us. I didn't hesitate to throw out the strongest punch I could muster, without tapping into One For All. A massive shock wave burst out from my fist and shattered Todoroki's ice before it could even fully form.

The blast wave from the punch even knocked a few of the weaker teams on their asses. I could see it scared a few of the others as well. Yeah, my level of strength was really rare. There were very few heroes, or villains, that could match up to All Might, Stars and Stripe, and other national powerhouses. It was especially rare in someone my age.

The show of force didn't stop everyone though. Tokoyami's Dark Shadow came charging at us, “Mei, got anything with bright light?”

I casually asked her while fending off Dark Shadow's claws. Mei brightened up and pulled out what looked like a modified flashlight. With a flick of a switch the area was bathed in brilliant white light so bright it put the sun to shame, so bright I could actually feel heat coming off of it. It worked like a charm as Dark Shadow yelled and shrank back from it.

“Good job Mei!”

The next moment the ground under my feet became soft, like quicksand trying to pull me under. At the same time another student, one whose Quirk had changed the shape of his head into something like a glue spout with seven holes in it. From those holes a white glue-like liquid came pouring forth and surrounded my legs. Then came the third part of the three pronged attack, a pair of horns flying at me like bullets. Or, more specifically, at Mei on my shoulders.

I didn't even bother moving, instead I grabbed one of the multiple Quirks I could use in the situation. Black tentacles surrounded by teal energy erupted out of my back. Some wrapped around Mei to hold her in place and two launched out and caught the horns fired by Tsunotori Pony. I fliped the horns around and threw them at a team that thought to take advantage of the situation.

The flat wide ends of the horns smashed into the lead horse knocking him down. I retracted all but the tentacles holding Mei in place and lifted my right leg. I felt some resistance from the soft ground and glue but the ground ripped to shreds from my strength. There was a chunk of ground stuck to my foot, but I ignored it because the moment I stomped down, it shattered.

I pulled my other leg out and had a similar result as I walked out of the trap. As I walked, I threw another punch, shattering ice that Todoroki tried to sneak in. At the same time, Mei pulled out a small device that looked like a futuristic gun and fired it. The gun launched a small claw on a wire that captured the headband off of the guy riding the one I knocked over with Pony's horns. The wire reeled in and she cheered as she hung the headband around her neck.

I couldn't help snickering as the group yelled and complained about us having even more points. I didn't mind becoming a juicer target. In fact, I lifted my hands and cracked my knuckles, loudly, “Looks like the warm up is done. You all seem to be under the mistaken impression that I am the prey.” I held up my hand and every single headband in the arena was ripped off of their heads and gathered into my hand, “No, you are the prey and I am the predator.”

I ignored all the screams of shock and indignation, even the accusations of cheating. I ignored them all and tossed the entire bunch of headbands into the air, letting them rain down around me, “Let's play!”

I bent my knees and leaped into the air sailing across the arena to the opposite side of where I'd been standing. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched the mad scramble as everyone tried to claim as many headbands as they could from the pile.

Now, I could have stood my ground, fought off everyone, and just maintained my lead. That would be boring though. I wanted them to all struggle and grow stronger, to push themselves. Fighting me was almost pointless on this occasion. Without them focusing on each other, then the majority of the teams would still have points left by the end of the match and it would come down to which ever teams were comprised of the highest positions from the race.

Boring!

This way, there would be a mad scramble for points. This way, they would be able to push themselves and battle people more on their level. It wasn't exactly fair to Mei, who wanted to show off her gizmos.

BOOM!

Or maybe I was wrong. Mei, sitting comfortably on my shoulders in my tentacled embrace, was throwing gizmos and gadgets into the wild free for all that the game had become. Sticky bombs, electric nets, and other things were exploding all over the place and disabling or annoying various teams.

I stood comfortably while Mei played from the safety of my shoulders until Midnight screamed, “TIME'S UP!”

The majority of the students were gasping for breath and covered in sweat. For them it had been a major battle to get points. They all looked at the scoreboard as Midnight called out, “In first place, Team Hatsume!”

Yeah, I'd let the team be put in her name.

“In second place, Team Todoroki! Third place, Team Kirishima! Fourth place, Team Shinso! Fifth place, Team Kendo!”

I looked over the people that would be moving on to round three.

Todoroki, Momo, Ida, and Kaminari.

Kirishima, Ashido, Tokoyami, and Asui.

Shinso, Ojiro, Aoyama, and Shoda.

Kendo, Shiozaki, Tetsutetsu, and Tokage.

This looked like it would be a ton of fun!

-----Line Break-----

AN

Okay, bit of a cliff, sorry about that. But it was either stop here, or get a few thousand words into the tournament and stop there. I'd much rather do the tournament in a single chapter, wouldn't you?

The chapter is still over 8k words though so it's nice and... girthy.

Let me know what you think of the change to Neito in this chapter.