CHAPTER 048(Quality>Quantity)

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CHAPTER START---

"The first game is complete!" Midnight announces. "The top 42 competitors will be advancing into the next round! Don't worry if you didn't make the cut, we've got other opportunities later for you to shine!"

Standing with his class Horizon doesn't react, even to all the clearly worried gazes befalling him. Mic's announcement had the desired effect at least, all eyes were on him.

The tension was palpable, everyone wondering how they could beat someone that Warps, but his classmates have been considering this for the past month, results? Inconclusive...

Looking around as the second game was being decided Horizon recognized most of the people who qualified, including everyone from 1B, some of which were not present when he first met them.

'So everyone from the Hero Course got this far...even Deku managed to get 23rd, Aoyama somehow got 42nd, barely making it in...and the purple-haired guy from yesterday got 30th, nothing special I guess...' he concludes.

"In first place of course we've got our resident warping doctor, Horizon!" Midnight announces as his name appears on the board in first place. "But remaining on top takes a lot of skill, especially at UA," she licks her lips lecherously. "And in the next game that'll be even more difficult...CALVARY BATTLE!"

Everyone begins murmuring but she quickly silences them and begins explaining.

"You'll all have fifteen minutes to break into teams of up to 5 people, you've each been assigned a point value based on your ranking in the obstacle race! The points start at 5 points for 42nd place, 10 for 41st, and it keeps increasing by 5 until you get to Bakugo in 2nd place. The point total will be worn above the shoulder on one headband by the rider and will represent the entire team, the teams with the most points at the end of the 15 minutes get into the final stage. And at the very top, the first place holder is worth..." she points at Horizon. "TEN MILLION!"

All eyes once again fell to Horizon, and he immediately raised his hand.

"Yes?" Midnight asks.

"Since I don't need any rag-tag team...I'll be playing solo," Horizon says.

Midnight frowns at that, "well I don't thi---" she stops talking and raises a hand to her earpiece, then she just frowns. "The judges say it's allowed if you can stay off the ground, but are you sure? Allies will play a huge part in this..."

"I'm Horizon," he says. "That's enough."

Midnight gives a vicious smile, "that kind of bold and confident talk is a real turn-on! Horizon will be playing solo!"

The hologram shifts to place 'Horizon-10 Million Points' in the top spot.

"Everyone else, you've got fifteen minutes..."

As everyone is scrambling to make their teams Midnight looks up to where Nezu was sitting, shaking her head, 'you're making your favoritism of this boy too damn obvious Nezu...'

"Looks like Horizon is playing solo folks!" Mic announces. "Let's see what his homeroom teacher has to say about that!"

Eraser sighs and shakes his head, "Horizon has a habit of thinking he doesn't need any help, it showed itself in training and during USJ, fortunately, both times he was enough to overcome anything that was thrown at him, but even if he manages to win this its a horrible habit for any hero to have, because the one time you aren't enough, you'll die..."

"Excellent insight!" Mic cheers on his friend. "But what do you say his chances are of winning this game?"

"If the objective is collecting an item...he'll win," Eraser says flatly. "This is more of a battle for second place, but that doesn't mean everyone else won't be giving it their all."

"Well there you have it folks, unshakable confidence from his homeroom teacher, looks like Eraser Head has a favorite!"

"What! I don't ha---" the mic cuts off as they both begin bickering.

--15 Minutes Later...

All the teams were decided and everyone took their positions.

"Alright, the countdown starts now, one minute to mount up!" Midnight says.

As everyone gets their riders into position Horizon notices all eyes flicker over to him, standing at the far end of the arena.

With his 10 Million point headband around his neck, he turns his back to them and lifts his hand, flicking a finger upward.

TAKT!

A two-meter cube of rock is pulled out of the floor and he steps onto it before it fully rises to float a meter above the ground.

"Telekinesis!" Mic shouts.

"It's not Telekinesis," Horizon says, the mics in the arena transferring his voice across the stadium. "I command the world to move, and it moves, that's all." He raises one hand and summons his cards from his Hero Costume, then swaps one for the chair at his desk and takes a seat, still floating on the cube above the floor.

"Is that even allowed?!" Mic asks.

"It's completely legal!" Midnight says. "Warping items is fine once it's done after the game starts!"

As the viewers and people outside of their class are surprised Present Mic continues talking, "if he can keep that up for fifteen minutes then I guess he could be fine, if he can defend his headband for fifteen minutes that is!"

"I've seen him rip the tops off buildings," Eraser says in a tired voice, "he'll be fine...besides, I doubt anyone will attack him..."

"BEGIN!" Midnight yells, and everyone bursts into action.

All teams rushing each other, explosions and ice flying about, yelling and all types of Quirks being fired left and right, yet nobody even bothered Horizon, leaving him to sit with his 10 Million point headband and play a game on his phone.

After five minutes of intense fighting, still nobody even bothered to go near Horizon, "are they afraid of him?" Mic asks, clearly confused as Horizon just sits there on his phone, floating on the rock.

"It's because they understand," Eraser says. "They know that if they get close he'll just send them to the other side of the arena, and even if they manage to get his headband, they can't stop him from getting it back. He'd warp it back to him before the game is done and get first place, the logical thing to do is focus your energy on headbands that don't threaten his position, that way he ignores you and you get to keep your points..."

"No wonder he's so cocky! With a quirk like that anyone would be!" Mic says, the audience begins muttering at the revelation.

"It's not baseless confidence," Eraser says, and the crowd focuses more on his words than the ongoing fights, excited to hear anything about this new rising star. "At first I assumed he was another arrogant brat who'd either wash out of UA or I'd expel, but every time I see him in action I realize more and more how wrong that assumption was.

He can always back up his talk, and when it's time to really rise to the challenge he crushes the competition. Even when the villains attacked he took on by far the strongest villain while protecting everyone from Kurogiri, he's not all talk and baseless confidence.

And he isn't one of those people born with a godly Quirk and simply using that to get an easy life. Behind everything he says and does is over a decade of relentless training. He's the rarity of someone born at the top with a godly Quirk, yet instilled with a monstrous work ethic, constantly pushing himself over and over to bring out his absolute best self, that's how you become a licensed doctor at 15, that's how you stand up to a villain most Pros can't last seconds again.

Even his classmates have noticed that, his blunt and matter-of-fact way of speaking doesn't push them away anymore, because they know it's just how he truly sees things, the most effective way possible, and that's why they don't even bother to approach him.

Because they know he won't hesitate to show them exactly how far ahead he is, and they understand how far they have to go, it's also what makes that fire in them rage...because when you're sitting in a classroom with someone like that, you either crumble under the pressure, or rise to the challenge."

"Wow! You sure you don't have a favorite?!" Mic asks jokingly as the crowd just stares at Horizon in a new light.

Eraser elbows him in the head, "I don't, and it wouldn't be him of all people, Heroes should at least try to be team players," he says while glaring down at Horizon, sitting comfortably in his chair and playing his game while everyone else is fighting, giving their all.

---1 Minute Remaining...

Sitting comfortable and finishing up another race on his phone, Horizon sighs loudly and reaches out to his side with his right hand, grabbing Jiro's Earphone Jacks.

All the cameras turn to them as she tries and fails to pull them out of his grip.

"Someone finally attacked Horizon!" Mic announces, causing all the teams to spare just a glance in his direction.

"What are you trying to do here?" He swivels around in his chair to look at Jiro. Her as the front horse with Sato and Koda at the back, Toru completely naked on their shoulders, no headband, zero points.

"Uh," Jiro chuckles, nervous and scared. "Desperate times and all that..."

"I see," Horizon rests down his phone, noticing all cameras facing him, "I don't have a massive power output like Kaminari, but," he sparks up some blue electricity in his left hand, inching it closer to her Earphone Jacks. "My control is a lot better..."

"WAIT NONONONONONON!" Jiro screams.

"Counter Schock."

"ARRRGHHH!" Her entire team screams as they collapse to the floor, completely unconscious.

"He can use electricity too!" Mic screams, riling up the crowd.

Across the arena Kaminari pouts, "c'mon man...I've only got the one thing and you had to steal it..."

"TIME IS UP!" Midnight yells, ending the game.

"In first place, no surprise here, Horizon!" Mic announces, the massive screens replaying the moment he fried Jiro's team before showing him still sitting casually in his chair.

"In second place, team Bakugo! In third place is team Monoma! Class 1B came out to represent! In fourth, we've got team Todoroki, followed by team Midoriya barely edging out team Shinso for fifth place. 16 people from these teams will be going onto the tournament stage...but first...a 1-hour lunch break!" Mic announces.

After sorting out who gets to compete from the bottom teams, and some people opting out, all the names immediately appear on the board, already lined up in their brackets for the tournament.

---Tounament Round 1...

Horizon VS Monoma

Shiso VS Sero

Midoriya VS Todoroki

Hatsume VS Kaminari

Awase VS Bakugo

Iida VS Kirishima

Tokoyami VS Uraraka

Momo VS Juzo

Looking up at the board Horizon immediately begins walking away toward the cafeteria, seeing Jiro and her team being carted off to Recovery Girl in the distance.

'Monoma...I saw him copy Juzo's Quirk earlier... looked like he needed to touch the person, this could be interesting...'

"Horizon," Monoma says, causing Horizon to look over at him as he approaches. "Hey, I'm Monoma, guess you and I are up first huh," he falls into step walking to the cafeteria.

"Looks like it, so I'm guessing you're trying to figure out what Quirks you can copy from your friends to use against me, right?"

Monoma chuckles, "naturally, I need to prepare before the battle, we can't all have built-in power like you. But Tetsutetsu told me you're pretty cool, well, he said 'super manly,' but it's the same thing, I hope we have a good match."

"Sure, I hope to learn a lot from it..." Horizon says as they enter the cafeteria, going their separate ways until the gruesome and bloody match begins.

END CHAPTER---

pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene

Monoma doesn't hate class 1B because when everyone was at the door to 1A Horizon didn't leave a bad impression, in canon Bakugo treated them badly and that's where it started :)

Predictions for the matchups?