The arena collapsed inward.
Eight teams charged Team Fushiguro at once.
Riders reached across the shrinking distance. Several shouted at Megumi to surrender the headband. Others attacked from silence, hoping to avoid giving away their positions.
Tokoyami looked over his shoulder.
"An attack without delay."
"The fate of the pursued like you said," Megumi said.
Kirishima drove forward.
Megumi formed a hand sign.
"Rabbit Escape."
Dozens of pale rabbits burst from the shadow beneath the formation.
They flooded the field in every direction.
The attacking teams lost sight of Megumi almost immediately. Horses stumbled around the moving bodies. Riders twisted in their seats, searching for the ten-million-point headband among white fur and shifting shadows.
Present Mic shouted over the crowd.
"FUSHIGURO OPENS WITH A SWARM OF RABBITS! The first-place team has vanished inside the chaos!"
"He's adding to the chaos with even more chaos," Aizawa said.
"They also look adorable!"
"That isn't relevant."
A rider lunged through the rabbits from the left.
"There!"
Dark Shadow struck his hand aside.
A second team approached from the right.
Momo created a broad metal shield along her forearm and blocked the rider's reach.
"Forward!" she called.
Kirishima hardened his shoulders and forced their formation through the gap between two teams.
A third rider came directly at Megumi.
Shiro emerged from the shadow beside Kirishima.
It did not bite.
It crossed the opposing horses' path, forcing them to turn or collide with it.
They swerved.
Their rider shouted in frustration as Team Fushiguro escaped.
Present Mic's voice rose again.
"THE DOG IS HERDING THE OTHER TEAMS AWAY! Team Fushiguro is controlling the chaos with his quirk!"
Megumi looked back.
Bakugo blasted above the rabbits.
Unlike the others, he had ignored the confusion and flown directly toward the ten-million-point strip.
"I found you!"
Dark Shadow rose to meet him.
Bakugo fired.
The explosion struck Dark Shadow's crossed arms and drove it backward, but Tokoyami held the defense.
Sero's tape remained attached to Bakugo's waist.
"Pulling you back!"
"I'm not done!"
"You're leaving the horse!"
Midnight raised a white flag as Sero dragged Bakugo back onto Sato's shoulders.
"Legal! The rider never touched the ground!"
Bakugo landed and immediately pointed toward Megumi.
"Again."
Sato started forward.
Mina spread acid beneath their feet.
Their team accelerated.
Megumi watched them come.
"Left."
Kirishima turned.
Bakugo's team followed.
"Toad."
A long tongue shot from Megumi's shadow and wrapped around the rafters at the top of the arena.
It pulled Team Fushiguro sharply sideways.
Momo's bindings held the formation together as they swung away from Bakugo's path.
Bakugo passed beneath them.
Megumi looked down.
"You missed."
Bakugo's expression twisted.
"FUSHIGURO!"
Team Fushiguro landed and continued running.
Team Shinso moved along the outer edge.
The opening attack had left most of the field focused on Megumi.
Midoriya watched the central chaos.
"Fushiguro's rabbits are separating the teams. If we stay outside the swarm, we can target whoever gets pushed away."
Shinso looked down at him.
"That's why I chose you."
Midoriya glanced up.
"You chose me because I came second."
"That too."
Hatsume activated the engine attached to her back.
"Ready for the babies?"
Uraraka tightened her grip.
"How powerful is it?"
"Powerful enough."
"That doesn't answer the question."
A team broke away from the rabbit swarm and rushed toward them.
Their rider pointed at Shinso.
"He's from General studies! It's easy point!."
Shinso looked at him.
"You really believe that?"
"Obviously."
The rider's face went blank.
The horses beneath him continued running for two more steps before realizing he had stopped directing them.
Midoriya stared.
Shinso's eyes sharpened.
"Turn around."
The rider obeyed.
His team veered away from Team Shinso and collided with another formation.
Uraraka looked up.
"What did you do?"
Shinso said nothing.
Midoriya remembered the students carrying him during the obstacle race.
The blank faces.
The unquestioning obedience.
His eyes widened.
"You controlled him."
Shinso glanced down.
"That's close enough."
"What activates it?"
"Pay attention."
Another team approached.
Their rider shouted, "Move!"
Shinso leaned toward him.
"Make me."
"Shut up!"
His expression emptied.
Midoriya understood.
"A verbal response."
Shinso gave him a faint look.
"You figured it out."
Uraraka's eyes widened.
"So anyone who answers you can be brainwashed?"
Shinso looked toward her.
She froze.
Nothing happened.
He had not activated it.
"Only when I choose to."
Hatsume leaned around Midoriya.
"That's useful. Can your quirk make the cameras follow us?"
"No."
"Then we still need my babies."
She fired the engine.
The formation launched forward.
Midoriya nearly lost his grip.
"You could have warned us!"
The sudden acceleration carried them past a distracted team.
Shinso reached out and tore the headband from its rider before anyone understood what had happened.
He tied it around his neck.
"First points."
Midoriya looked back.
"We did it."
"That's the point."
"I know. I just didn't expect it to happen that quickly."
Uraraka smiled despite herself.
"We're doing good!"
Shinso looked toward the three teams in the center.
"Stay away from them and we'll keep doing good!"
Todoroki's team moved slowly through the opening minutes.
Jiro kept one earphone jack pressed against the arena floor.
"Three teams moving from behind. Two from the left."
Todoroki raised his right hand.
Ice spread in narrow walls around their formation.
The approaching teams were forced into separate lanes.
Iida accelerated through the opening before anyone could surround them.
Kaminari looked back.
"We aren't going after Fushiguro?"
"Not yet."
"He has ten million points."
"He also has Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, and his quirk gives him extra bodies."
Jiro nodded.
"Everyone attacking him is getting in everyone else's way."
Todoroki watched Team Fushiguro evade another group.
"We'll wait until the end, let everybody get desperate enough that they start attacking each other."
Iida looked forward.
"And then?"
"We take the 10 million points."
Bakugo's team found another path toward Megumi.
Mina spread acid beneath Sato's feet, reducing friction while he maintained the structure through raw strength.
Bakugo flew from the rider position.
"You can't stop me twice!"
Tokoyami turned.
"He approaches from above."
"Yeah, I see him," Megumi said.
Bakugo raised one palm.
"Great Serpent."
The enormous construct erupted between the two teams.
Its body rose like a wall.
Bakugo blasted the serpent's head, forcing it aside.
That was the opening Megumi expected.
Toad used his tongue to pull on Bakugo's arm and deviate the angle of his next explosion.
Sero pulled him back before he fell too far from the formation.
Bakugo landed on Sato's shoulders.
Bakugo's teeth clenched.
Sato kept running.
"Should we withdraw?"
"No."
Mina looked toward the scoreboard.
"Other teams are collecting points while we keep chasing Fushiguro."
Bakugo's gaze snapped toward a nearby formation carrying three headbands.
"Then take theirs."
Their team changed direction so suddenly the opposing rider barely reacted.
Sero's tape caught the horse on the right.
Mina spread acid across the ground in front.
The team lost traction.
Bakugo surged forward and tore two headbands free.
Present Mic shouted over the exchange.
"TEAM BAKUGO CHANGES TARGETS AND TAKES TWO BANDS AT ONCE!"
Sero grinned.
"See? Strategy."
Bakugo tied the strips around his neck.
"We're still taking the ten million."
"Of course we are."
Seven minutes remained.
The scoreboard appeared above the arena.
Team Fushiguro remained first.
Team Bakugo had climbed to second.
Team Todoroki held third.
Team Shinso occupied fourth by a narrow margin.
Present Mic leaned toward the microphone.
"Half the time is gone! Team Fushiguro is still in first, while Bakugo, Todoroki, and the surprise team led by Shinso round out the top four!"
The cameras turned toward Shinso.
He felt them.
For the first time, the general-studies student allowed himself a small smile.
Midoriya noticed.
"You wanted this."
"I told you I did."
Agency scouts in the stands were discussing on what his quirk might be. How they seemed to be in fourth place without having made any flashy moves.
Shinso had entered the event unknown.
Now the entire stadium was curious.
Hatsume leaned over Midoriya's shoulder and waved toward a camera.
"Don't forget the babies!"
The camera followed her for half a second before returning to Shinso.
Her smile tightened.
"We need something bigger."
Uraraka looked worried.
"What does bigger mean?"
Hatsume adjusted the engine controls.
"More thrust."
"No."
"Yes."
"Definitely no."
She fired it anyway.
Team Shinso shot across the arena.
Team Fushiguro changed direction near the center.
Jiro pressed both earphone jacks against the ground.
"They're entering range."
Todoroki looked toward Megumi.
"Now."
Iida leaned forward.
Their formation accelerated.
Kaminari raised one hand.
"Are we doing the wide discharge?"
"Not yet," Todoroki said. "Fushiguro has the electric bird."
Jiro listened.
"Bakugo's team is approaching them from the opposite side."
Todoroki watched the field.
"Let Bakugo get the first attack off."
Bakugo attacked head-on.
Sato drove the formation through the crowd while Mina cleared the ground beneath them. Sero launched Bakugo upward with a strip of tape.
Bakugo came down toward Megumi with both palms open.
"DIEEE!"
The explosion struck Dark Shadow's defense.
Tokoyami staggered.
Kirishima held the formation together.
Momo reinforced the shoulder grips with another layer of metal.
Megumi's shadow widened beneath them.
Bakugo reached through the smoke.
His fingers brushed the edge of the ten-million-point headband.
Megumi leaned back.
Toad's tongue caught Bakugo around the waist and pulled him away.
Sero's tape snapped tight from the opposite direction.
Bakugo hung between the two forces for half a second.
"LET GO!"
"Toad," Megumi said.
The construct released him.
Sero's tape whipped Bakugo backward.
He slammed onto Sato's shoulders.
Mina winced.
"That looked painful."
Bakugo rose immediately.
"Again."
Before Sato could respond, ice spread beneath their formation.
Mina looked down.
"Todoroki!"
The ice did not trap them.
It divided Team Bakugo from Team Fushiguro.
Todoroki's cavalry emerged from behind the frozen wall.
Megumi turned.
"They waited for Bakugo to draw out our defense."
Momo created a shield.
"Todoroki will attack from the right."
Jiro pressed one jack into the ice.
"They've stopped."
Todoroki raised his hand.
Kaminari grinned nervously.
"Now?"
"Now."
Electricity exploded across the field.
"Indiscriminate Shock, 1.3 Million Volts!"
The discharge spread through every nearby team.
Students convulsed.
Hands locked around shoulders. Horses froze mid-step. Riders lost control of their arms.
Momo reacted first.
"Insulation sheet!"
She created a thick rubber sheet across Team Fushiguro's right side.
It blocked the worst of the electricity, but not all of it.
Tokoyami stiffened.
Dark Shadow recoiled beneath the bright discharge.
Kirishima gritted his teeth and remained upright.
Megumi formed a hand sign.
"Nue."
The winged construct emerged above them.
Lightning bent toward its body and crackled through its wings.
Nue absorbed enough of the remaining current for the formation to keep moving.
Present Mic shouted from the booth.
"FUSHIGURO'S BIRD IS DRAWING OFF THE ELECTRICITY!"
Aizawa watched Todoroki.
Ice exploded across the arena.
Todoroki froze the teams Kaminari had immobilized before they could recover. The ground around Team Fushiguro hardened beneath layers of ice.
Nue's shadow disappeared beneath the brightness.
Todoroki drove forward.
Iida's engines roared.
Jiro tracked Team Fushiguro through the ice.
"Three steps left. They're still moving."
Momo struck the frozen ground with a metal staff.
Cracks spread.
Kirishima hardened fully and forced one foot free.
Tokoyami sent Dark Shadow into the fracture.
The ice shattered beneath them.
Team Fushiguro escaped before Todoroki closed the distance.
Kaminari's hair rose in every direction.
"Whey."
Jiro looked at him.
"He's done."
Todoroki continued chasing without responding.
Megumi glanced back.
Kaminari had lost control.
Jiro could still track them.
Iida had not used his full speed.
Todoroki still hadn't used any big moves.
...
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