Chapter 35 - New Player

...

<Midoriya Team>

"5 minutes left!"

The battle had reached a stalemate for most of the teams, due to their companions they had run into more trouble than expected, and while Class 1B held their own for the most part, some had already given up.

The only teams still actively moving were....

"Midoriya..." Todoroki said seriously as he looked Midoriya in the eyes, the latter seemed surprised to have met Todoroki, he thought he would be more interested in Lena's Million Points.

'Speaking of Lena... she's still holding on to the Million Points, but I don't know where she is...' Midoriya thought absentmindedly. 'Looks like Todoroki also gave up on looking for her...'

"H-Hello Todoroki, how can I help you?" Asked Midoriya politely as he searched for a desperate way out of his current situation.

Encountering Todoroki's team at this point was fatal to his team, the main reason for this was the fatigue his teammates were feeling.

Neither Uraraka, nor Mei, were people specialized in strength or endurance, so far they had been able to hold their own thanks to Mei's inventions, Uraraka's mobility and Dark Shadow's fierce defense.

But they had spent 10 minutes in constant combat with other teams and were tiring quickly. Fortunately, they had managed to grab several points putting them in second place, but it seemed their luck had run out.

"Why don't you give me some of those bandanas?" Shoto asked with an indifferent look.

"I-I refuse" Midoriya stammered with sweat running down his forehead. "If you want it you have to come get it!"

They were surrounded by the other teams, fortunately none had made a move for fear of Todoroki....

"That's too bad. Iida" Todoroki ordered, a moment later Iida activated his Quirk to move quickly towards Midoriya. Reacting quickly Midoriya ordered his team to move back to desperately try to get away from Todoroki.

"They're in the way..." Todoroki muttered before freezing the surroundings along with the participants immobilizing them and giving their teams a death sentence.

"Wh-"

"Motherf-"

'Today you will fall Midoriya...' Todoroki thought with determination as he focused on his prey.

***

<Oxton Team>

"This is boring, don't you think?" Lena spoke suddenly, boredom was noticeable in her voice and if it wasn't for the fact that they were in constant motion she would have fallen asleep on top of Shoji. "No offense but you lay me down on a real horse."

"..." Shoji said nothing as he kept running to get away from the teams desperate for the million point bandana. 'I'm not a fucking horse'

***

<Sero Team>

Kyoka wasn't having a good time.

Not at all.

The beginning of the test was very difficult. She struggled to find the balance between the four of them and how they should move while forming the Horse.

She quickly realized that she shouldn't be in the lead but it was too late to change. At least training with Lena had helped give her some muscle and strength which lightened the load enough.

After her team got the hang of it it was easy enough to get some bandanas.

The problem was that now they were chasing her like she was a celebrity.

And honestly she was sick of it but she couldn't complain, she was in the Top 3 of the high score table, surprisingly she had managed to outscore Todoroki's group which made her proud.

She quickly glanced at the stadium screen and saw the current standings:

...

-Ranking-

1st - Team Oxton

2nd - Team Midoriya

3rd - Team Sero

4th - Team Monoma

...

"Shit! They're still following us like rabid dogs!" Sero shouted, snapping Kyoka out of her inner thoughts.

"Let me try something!" Toru shouted as she swiftly swung an arm towards her back, suddenly a large light shot out of her palm blinding all the Teams behind her.

"GAH!"

"MY EYES!"

"So they can stop looking at my ass!" Toru exclaimed in annoyance before turning back to her team. "Run!"

"Wait a minute!" Sero shouted as he swung his elbows around before shooting a very sticky tape at the feet of one of the teams, immobilizing them for what Sero hoped would be a long time. "That should get the others off our backs, we just have to hold on for a bit..."

"Then let's move on, I'd like to avoid Team Todoroki and Midoriya if possible...." Kyoka suggested as they moved at a moderate pace through the stadium. "Phew... I hate this test."

"I agree with you... by the way, aren't they tired?" Sero asked, surprised by Kyoka and Toru's endurance, if he didn't remember wrong Kyoka wasn't very good in the physical aspect, or at least she didn't show it in the Aizawa Test.

"Yeah, but we can't stop now..." Kyoka replied gritting her teeth.

"That's the spirit!" nodded Sero with a big smile. 'This team is the bomb!'

"..." Koda just nodded quickly, he was getting a little tired too.

***

<Todoroki Team>

"1 minute left!"

"Shit" Todoroki said as they stared at Midoriya's team, they had been fighting and trying to gain ground, but Midoriya's Team was very sneaky.

Todoroki's team was very balanced, Momo for defense, Iida for mobility, Kaminari for support and Todoroki for offense.

While Midoriya's was mainly mobility and defense. Perfect for fleeing and sneaking with all of Mei's equipment, Uraraka's Quirk and defending with Dark Shadow.

The two teams look at each other, Todoroki wasn't fast enough to attack and Midoriya didn't have the firepower to counterattack.

It was a stalemate for both of them.

"Hey, Todoroki" Iida called out suddenly. "I have a plan, get ready to snatch some bandanas from them."

"Eh?" Todoroki cocked his head towards Iida, but the latter didn't take his eyes off Team Midoriya.

Suddenly his Engines of brought out a small blue-colored fire as if it were a missile.

And in the blink of an eye, the whole team was moving at an absurd speed.

Todoroki almost fell off the Horse due to the sudden speed generated by Iida, but managed to catch himself and react in time to snatch a few bandanas from Midoriya.

...

The stadium fell silent at what had just happened.

"AMAZING!!! AT THE LAST MINUTE TODOROKI'S TEAM MANAGED TO COME IN THIRD PLACE ON THE TABLE AND PUSHED MIDORIYA'S TEAM OUT OF THE RANKING!" Shouted PresidentMic snapping the spectators out of their daze.

""""!!!"""" Shouts of surprise and excitement rang throughout the stadium.

Midoriya froze before forcing himself to speak as he touched his neck, feeling the bandanas had disappeared. "We must get them back!"

"No!" Tokoyami exclaimed. "We must search for other points from other teams... we don't have time to fight Todoroki!"

"But..." Midoriya muttered in frustration as he clenched his hands tightly, he was working overtime to think of what would be the best plan of action to follow. "Shit!"

Uraraka seeing Midoriya's conflict decided to risk everything and go after Todoroki, even knowing it was a bad idea. "ALRIGHT! LET'S GO GET THEM!"

***

<Midoriya Team>

"Time's up! The 4 qualified Teams that will advance to the final event of the Festival will now be shown!" Midnight announced stopping all the participants in their tracks.

Some were cursing their bad luck, others were fighting with their teammates and others were simply bursting into tears for being disqualified. Midnight looked at them all with a kind smile as the screen changed to show the standings.

...

-QUALIFIED-

1ST - TEAM OXTON

2ND - TEAM TODOROKI

3RD - TEAM SERO

4TH - TEAM MIDORIYA

...

Midoriya opened his eyes wide as he stared at the screen, he was almost convinced it was a dream. "H-How?"

Tokoyami simply smiled as he displayed a bandana in his hand. "I managed to steal a bandana from Todoroki at the last moment."

Midoriya started crying from joy as Uraraka hugged him. They both felt elated at the miracle that just happened.

***

<Oxton Team>

Lena finally got off Shoji as she looked around with a bored look on her face though she looked strangely tired.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to play it safe... whatever."

"I don't agree with that."

"Whatever you say big guy."

As she made her way over to Sero's team to congratulate Kyoka and Toru, she was accosted by a Class 1B student with blonde hair and a cocky grin.

"Aren't you ashamed that you were such a coward?" said the blond with arrogance and mockery in his voice. "As expected from class 1A you are nothing but a couple of useless bums who would do anything to win no matter-".

"Did your girlfriend dump you for someone else before the test or what?" interrupted Lena with a yawn, before looking the blond in the eyes. "All I see in front of me is a jealous guy who can't accept that he lost to someone better than him in every way, very pathetic indeed."

"J-Jealous?!" Monoma exclaimed in shock she didn't expect to be answered that way.

"And a screaming piece of shit too, you look like a little kid who had a candy taken away from him while his mother was being fucked in front of his eyes" Interrupted Lena again with a sneer and cold smile on her face, she has to admit she wasn't in the mood to talk to this idiot.

"LOOK WELL BITCH OF- GUAH!" shouted the blond, about to insult Lena only to be stopped and hit by a giant fist that knocked him unconscious immediately.

"Sorry about that" Said an orange haired girl quickly with a bow, before dragging the blond out of the stadium.

Lena looked at them for a while before shrugging her shoulders. 'God I must eat something urgently...'

***

<Meanwhile in the stands...>

"Well, I can't say it wasn't interesting, can I?" David said nodding to himself, the battles had been very exciting. "UA never disappoints with these events."

"I guess... although I would have liked Lena to have been more active in the fights" Winston replied with a snort before narrowing his eyes at Lena. 'Also, since when can she use Slipstream on others....she also managed to use it for longer than expected...strange'

"Sounds good to me, she used logic and her wits to find the easiest way to win" Replied Angela crossing her arms.

Suddenly David receives an urgent message on his phone, which raises suspicions among Angela and Winston who look questioningly at David.

David's eyes widen like saucers as his face becomes increasingly grim. "...Shit."

"What's wrong?" asks Winston concerned at David's somber face.

David takes a deep breath before looking at the two scientists, his glasses reflecting the light hiding his eyes, but the change in tone of voice said more than a thousand looks. "The 'ARCANGEL' project data has been stolen along with 14 other major projects from I-Island. Access cards, verification codes, blueprints, theories... many things have been stolen."

The silence is broken by the shouts from the stadium and the voice of the commentators, but contrary to the cheerful atmosphere surrounding them, the air around the three scientists has become somber.

This was the first event that made known the presence of another player on the map, one who had already had his eye on them....

...

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