Seeing it on the screen, the audience gasped — Luke had barged into the teams, getting bombarded by Quirks, and with little to no room to escape…
… and, just when it felt like he was caught, he slipped through them, with three more headbands?!
Behind him, the students stumbled apart as the crowd roared.
They looked left and right, and then looked back, finding Luke running away, holding the headbands.
Team Pony, Shinso, and Bakugo each were missing their headbands.
How? That was the prime question.
But none of them could afford to ask and wait for an answer.
"GET HIM!" Bakugo screamed, Eijiro, Mina, and Hanta already pursuing Luke.
Behind them, the other teams fell into the chase as well, their faces paling.
But what happened next turned their pale faces absolutely white.
Luke snapped his fingers.
Nyx let go of Toru's shoulder and instantly gigantified, becoming a small car-sized monster.
With a push of his feet, Luke jumped over her, and Nyx took to the sky, her giant wings raising a cloud of dust in her wake.
NO!
One by one, the students chasing Luke lost their will… except one.
Booms and bangs rang out as Bakugo threw himself in the air, using the explosions to fly and pursue Luke.
"YOU CAN'T RUN, FANBOY!" Bakugo shouted over the crowd, his eyes going red.
"Who would have guessed?!" Present Mic commented. "A sky battle!! It's a battle between Stamina and Passion! What would young Luke do with Bakugo hot on his heels?!"
Next to him, Erasure Head saw as Nyx fluttered in random directions over the field, trying to dodge Bakugo's blasts.
However, he knew the more Luke and Nyx stayed in the air, the faster they would lose Stamina.
"Going up was a bad strategy…" Aizawa commented, closing his eyes. "… Ten million on the ground, or up in the air, it doesn't make any difference…"
Suddenly, Erasure Head's eyes snapped open, a possibility bubbling in his mind. No way… Is he…
On the field, Luke sighed as he saw a mad Bakugo determined to chase them to death. "Toru," he said, holding tight to Nyx's feathers. "Drop your headband…"
"What?!" Toru asked, shocked. She had already tied the stolen headbands around her neck.
Even though she had been on Luke's back when the students attacked, she still failed to remember how and when Luke stole them.
"Trust me," Luke said. "We have already stolen enough Points to make it to the next stage."
Toru looked over her shoulder and saw Bakugo's face twisted like a monster, and somehow… she agreed with Luke.
Under the stunned gazes of all the audience and the students who were watching them from the ground, she took off her headband and — dropped it.
"You think I will let you go!" Bakugo growled, ignoring the headband altogether.
This time, Luke was truly shocked. He leaned forward and shouted, "Just what did you do, Nyx?!"
"I always knew something was wrong with him…" Toru whispered in Luke's ear.
Suddenly, a long tape wrapped around Bakugo's waist, holding him midair.
"Let's get the Points, first, Bakugo! Only half the time's left!" Eijiro screamed as Hanta pulled Bakugo down. "Or we will lose!!"
Staring daggers at Luke and Nyx, Bakugo finally let go and fell back in his position.
Then, their eyes landed on the team that had been lucky to catch the falling headband — Neito Monoma, from Class 1-B!!
Bakugo's palms let out murderous sparks. "Just… take me… near him…"
"ON IT!" Eijiro, Hanta, and Mina shouted, breaking into a run.
Seeing all the teams that had come after him going after the new Ten Million Team, Luke let out a sigh.
Even Nyx fell into a cruising flight, slowing down altogether.
Then, scanning the field, Luke's eyes landed on Midoriya's side.
"He's in trouble," Toru said. "Somehow… I feel good that Todoroki didn't come after us…"
…
Todoroki's team had played incredibly smart.
First, Todoroki froze the surrounding ground, trapping all the teams who were pursuing Midoriya.
Then, before the students could use their Quirks to free themselves, Kaminari let loose the 1.5 Million Volts move, electrocuting everyone.
Meanwhile, Momo had created a sheet, insulating them from the electricity.
By the time it was over, Todoroki had already stolen the headbands of the almost-passed-out students.
Surprisingly, Fumikage's shadow beast had taken on the electricity, preventing Midoriya's team from getting electrocuted.
But, the moment Midoriya and others freed themselves from the ice, an avalanche of ice surfaced around them in a half circle, trapping them against the boundary line.
From the sky, Luke observed an oddity.
Midoriya was always keeping himself to Todoroki's left side.
"Why isn't Todoroki using fire?" Toru asked, voicing Luke's thoughts. "Doesn't he have both ice and fire Quirk?"
Luke was as puzzled as her about this.
It felt like Todoroki didn't want to use his advantage at all.
"Perhaps he is training his Ice powers," Luke guessed. "Or maybe, it's something personal… By the way, Toru… you can let go of me and sit comfortably…"
A heavy, red blush took over Toru's cheeks.
Hastily, she pulled her arms and legs off Luke and sat down, almost planting her head in Nyx's feathers in shame.
Luke's lips twitched, his eyes falling on the field outside the ice zone.
It's getting intense… he thought, eying Bakugo bombarding the Class 1-B team. Less than a minute left now…
Suddenly, a massive boom rang out.
Luke had just blinked when he saw Todoroki snatching off Midoriya's headband. "What happened?"
"It was Ida," Nyx said. "I blinked, and he was gone. That kid is fast…"
"And we have two new Ten Million Teams!" Present Mic said. "Midoriya has fallen to 0 Points! With 30 seconds remaining, can he make a comeback?!"
Luke narrowed his eyes as he saw Midoriya charging toward Todoroki in desperation, lifting his hand. Is he — going to use One For All now?!
Caught off guard, Todoroki raised his left hand, flames dancing on it.
But, instead of attacking, Midoriya used his Quirk to brush the space in front of Todoroki, the air pressure forcibly moving the flaming hand out.
Screaming, Midoriya lunged and grabbed the headbands around Todoroki's neck.
Simultaneously, Present Mic's voice echoed all over the stadium. "Time's Up!!"
****************
AN: Original Image of Luke riding on Nyx, with Toru on his back, is available
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