"Ah! My babies are wrecked!" Mei was shouting, looking down at Uraraka's half destroyed boot.
Izuku looked down at them. "Huh? What happened?"
Uraraka was cringing. "It was Kagamine-kun! He warped it off!"
"He…" Izuku's eyes widened. Of course! He quickly felt his forehead, to make sure that the headband was still there. If he gets close enough, with just a flick of his wrist… there goes our points. That's power.
"DEKKUUUUUU!" a voice shouted, and a shiver flew up Izuku's spine. It was Kacchan, leaping up via explosions to meet them in midair.
"Tokoyami!" Izuku yelled frantically as Kacchan shot up towards him, snarling, an exploding hand reaching for the bandana…
Dark Shadow reared up, and took the blunt of the blast, forcing Kacchan to fall backward. Sero's tape caught him and pulled him down.
"Is that allowed?" Present Mic asked.
"It is! As long as he didn't touch the ground!" Midnight confirmed.
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Tokoyami."
"Erm… Midoriya?" Mei asked. "Where is the activation button for my baby?"
"Huh?" Izuku looked down at his hands, realising both were empty. I used it to lift us off… and then it…
Kagamine.
"Oh."
The jet pack suddenly turned off, and Team Midoriya went hurtling towards the ground.
𖦹𖦹𖦹
Len took his finger off the button. "Oh. Apparently it does deactivate the gadget as well."
"Good thinking!" Yaoyorozu praised, as they closed in on the falling team.
"Wow. I'm glad I decided to teleport it to me instead of just away from Midoriya in general."
"They're landing!" said Iida.
A combination of Dark Shadow as a shield, Uraraka's Quirk, and their remaining boot gadgets slowed them enough to land gracefully, but then they were running again. "They can't use the air now, at least," Len said, giving cha…
Behind, the energy told him suddenly.
Wordlessly, Len teleported up and off of his team's shoulders and arms… as the blonde boy from Class B swiped at where his headband had been.
Immediately he felt himself begin to fall.
Iida's eyes widened. "Kagamine, wha…"
"Hurry up and catch me!"
Iida and Todoroki and Yaoyorozu rushed forward and grabbed him, keeping him off the ground as the Class B team slowed to a stop. They stood to face-to-face. "Those were good reflexes," the smug blonde boy said. "It'd be neat to use that Quirk."
"Midoriya's getting away," Todoroki growled. "We don't have time for this."
Iida used his Quirk to burst them, and they made some good distance away from the Class B team, as Present Mic announced something.
"We're now seven minutes in! And… oh, Class A isn't doing so hot."
Len looked up at the scoreboard. "Class B has moved up!"
"Tsk," Todoroki muttered. "They're using their lower positions from the obstacle race to come up from behind. It doesn't matter. Focus on Midoriya."
𖦹𖦹𖦹
Katsuki clenched his fists in wordless rage as the stupid blonde from 1B twirled his stolen headband on his finger. "You Class A idiots just go go go, don't you?" he was saying with a smirk. "So focused on getting to the top, even in the first round where it doesn't matter that much. While you all fight needlessly, we strategised as a class on how to usurp you. And now it seems to be working."
"Bakugo, there's more Class B coming in from behind!" Sero warned. Katsuki wasn't listening. Who the FUCK does this guy think he is? Who the FUCK… his lip quivered. His eyes narrowed. His hands shook.
"Also, you're the boy from the sludge villain incident, aren't you?" the stupid fucking extra was saying. "Tell me, how does it feel to be such a target? Getting attacked by villains twice. Unlucky, isn't it?"
"Kirishima… change of plan…"
The red-haired boy looked up at Katsuki, and suddenly went slack-jawed in surprise and fear. "Uhh… Bakugo?"
"Before we get Deku… let's kill all these Class B losers."
𖦹𖦹𖦹
"We're now halfway through!" Present Mic announced. "Class B has been making gains, but Team Midoriya still holds the ten million!"
Tsuyu looked up at her head. "Huh. That's weird, ribbit."
Shoda-san, the short blue-haired boy from 1B who'd joined her inside Shoji's shell, looked at her nervously. "What happened to your headband?"
"I don't know, ribbit."
"Urgh. I bet it was stupid Monoma." Shoda crossed his arms and pouted. "He had some grand plan to defeat you Class A guys in this event, and most of the class agreed. They're probably mad at me for 'betraying' them or something."
"In any case, we can't waste time, ribbit. Shoji-chan, full attack mode!"
"Aye."
𖦹𖦹𖦹
They were closing the distance to Midoriya again… but more teams were doing the same. A handful from Class B, as well as Shoji, arms now unfurled, Tsu and another boy riding on his back.
Len glanced ahead, and looked at Midoriya. The green-haired boy's eyes were darting between him and Todoroki. "I'll be taking that now," Len called to him, raising his hands and focusing all in on the headband.
"Closer!" Todoroki ordered. Yaoyorozu rolled on her skates. Iida put short bursts into the engine. They closed in. The other teams converged, including Shoji and Tsu. Len narrowed his eyes, feeling the pull with the headband grow stronger and stronger. It began to glow the same yellow as his hand, and then…
Dark Shadow shot upward with a roar, and sliced its talons through Len's hands. "ARGH!" Len fell backwards in pain, and Yaoyorozu created a shield to catch him. Dark Shadow swooped again, and Iida backed them up, dodging.
Shit, Len thought, clutching his bleeding hand and looking towards Team Midoriya with anger. Tokoyami was watching the whole time. "They're onto us," Len reported. "With Midoriya's willpower, I'd have to get in close to warp it… and I can't get that close with Dark Shadow."
Todoroki glanced around at the other teams closing in. "We can always try this instead." He slammed his foot into the ground, and sent out ice in all directions, crawling up the feet of the other teams.
"OH! TODOROKI ATTACKS WITH MORE ICE!"
"Damn, I can't move!"
"He froze us again!"
The ice was weaker on the left, further from where Todoroki had stomped, and Shoji managed to break through it. "We'll be taking both you and Midoriya's points, ribbit!"
"Yaoyorozu!" Todoroki shouted, and the creation girl made a metal staff. Len warped it across himself, from her hands to Todoroki's. The ice user froze up the staff and slammed it into the ground, sending out even more ice that enveloped Shoji further, to the point where he couldn't move.
Tsu shot out her tongue, but Yaoyorozu made another staff and deflected it.
"Now, Kagamine," Todoroki said calmly.
Len summoned all his strength, looking around at the teams they had frozen. He held out his hands, the yellow energy emerging from them… and stole all their headbands.
Class B was shocked.
"Huh?"
"He warped them to himself!"
"They have that kind of power, along WITH the ice?"
"May as well take these," said Len, twirling them on his fingers. "Oh dear, Midoriya's gotten away again. Shall we give chase?"
As his teammates carried him off, they passed the frozen Shoji, Tsu, and the other boy.
"Lenny," Tsu muttered as they passed, "you're…"
"No hard feelings, right?" He narrowed his eyes at the two of them. "You did have a nice strategy, though. See you later."
They sped away. Todoroki sent up another ice wall as they went, further trapping the teams they'd just stolen from.
"That was well done, all of you!" Iida praised. "Team Midoriya's dead ahead!"
Len met eyes with Midoriya, who grimaced. "Tokoyami!" he shouted.
Dark Shadow snaked out to grab their headbands, but Yaoyorozu created a shield out of her leg that went up in Len's face, blocking the spirit and protecting him. Todoroki sent out more ice behind them. Midoriya backed up to the border of the clearing. They had nowhere to go. The distance shrank.
"Kagamine!" Todoroki said. "No one can interrupt! They're backed into a corner, and we've trapped them! Get ready!"
Len lifted up his hands, getting ready to send energy through them. "But… Dark Shadow…"
"We'll battle him! We'll create an opening!"