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CHAPTER START---

"Did anyone see that guy use his Quirk?" Horizon asks, sitting at the end of the front row in 1As seating area above the arena.

With Momo to his left, Jiro beside her, Tokoyami just behind him with Tsu, the other students scattered about chatting quietly.

"I don't recall him using it in the previous events," Momo says, all their eyes falling to Shinso as he enters the arena, Sero standing happily across from him.

"Well if he wins he'll be against me next, so it doesn't really matter," Horizon shrugs.

"You could at least pretend to be a bit apprehensive to the challenge," Momo says. "Some would say it's unsportsmanlike to speak in such a way of your competition, even if it is true..."

"That cocky attitude is gonna bite you in the ass someday," Jiro mutters, Earphone Jacks still bandaged from the electrical burns.

"I doubt that, but even if it does, it won't be in a tournament like this," Horizon says. "This event has a clear out-of-bounds rule, so I can honestly win whenever I want. That's the same rule that gives other people a chance but limits others simply based on the matchup, but even if it were to the death I'd still easily win..."

"What do you mean?" Tsu asks from behind him.

"Well...take Tokoyami VS Uraraka for example. Her Quirk requires something to activate it on, make a car weightless then throw it and deactivate her Quirk at the last moment for maximum damage. But here she doesn't have any items aside from her clothes and herself, if she makes herself weightless Dark Shadow will swat her away and she can't adjust her trajectory in the air. And she'd have to get close or touch Dark Shadow to make Tokoyami weightless and throw him away."

"Well yes but then she can toss him out of bounds and win, right?" Momo asks.

"Nope, not a chance in hell," Horizon says. "At least not if Tokoyami has a brain."

"I do," Tokoyami says behind them.

"See, easy win," Horizon explains. "If she touches him and removes gravity from him and Dark Shadow, since they are one being, then she'll try to throw him out of the arena, but he can just anchor himself by having Dark Shadow dig into the floor, and since she's tiny and Dark Shadow has some muscle to it..."

"He'll throw her out instead," Momo says. "I see...I hadn't considered that people can anchor themselves."

"Same thing Kirishima would do with some hardening on his fingers, use them like spears," Horizon shrugs. "This is a shitty setting for Zero Gravity, either she throws them before they anchor, or she somehow overpowers them...both situations are basically impossible. And a lot of people like Bakugo and I don't even care if she makes us float because we have either aerial or instant mobility."

"I will admit I came to the same conclusion," Tokoyami says. "But I didn't want to speak down on my classmate's chances in such a way."

"It is what it is, some people just aren't meant to fight in a setting like this..."

"I failed to consider the matchups and environment properly," Momo quietly admits. "I have much to learn."

"Same here," Jiro says. "But at least your Quirk can be useful in an event like this, I'd probably just get my Earphone Jacks pulled out of the air, and then they'd toss me out of the arena."

"Probably," Horizon says. "You'll notice all the one-trick pony style Quirks getting taken out quickly, assuming they even made it this far, honestly I would have bet on Tokoyami meeting me in the finals if so many people didn't have a direct counter to him..."

"Likewise," Tokoyami says, surprising all of them. They'd never expected Horizon of all people to speak favorable to his Quirk, and for him to agree as well. "These conditions are among the worst for Dark Shadow..."

"LET THE SECOND MATCH BEGIN!" Midnight yells, causing the crowd to erupt in noise.

Sero immediately fires off two lines of tape, trapping Shinso as they wrap around his arms and torso.

As he's being dragged to the edge of the stage Shinso yells, obviously panicked, not expecting the instant attack, "do you really think people will ever let someone with such freaky elbows become a hero?!"

"Ye---" Sero froze, eyes going dull and arms falling to his side.

"Good, now walk off the stage," Shinso commands, and Sero does exactly that.

The audience was able to hear everything thanks to the mics, and Eraser immediately gave an explanation.

"Hitoshi Shinso, Quirk: Brainwashing, he can control people who respond to him, it requires him to activate it so its only when he wants...A perfect Quirk for dealing with hostage situations and most villains. But because UA makes students wanting to enter the Hero Course fight robots he couldn't even use it...a clear oversight on our part..." he says in a tired voice.

As Shiso and Sero clear the stage Momo turns to Horizon. "Looks like all you have to do is not speak and you'll win, I guess you're practically in the semi-finals already."

Horizon sighs, "honestly I was hoping to at least have some fun...but I guess it's just a bunch of easy fights."

"You know you'd be a lot cooler if you were nice to people," Jiro says.

"Like heroes are expected to be, like All Might," Momo adds.

"Yeah, and I'd always be exhausted from that crap, I already have to act like these people are worth saving to their faces," he gestures to the cheering crowd as Deku and Todoroki take the stage. "I'm not doing that shit around all of you too."

"If you don't care about people, why are you here?" Tsu asks.

"Because being a hero is just another job, the reason doesn't matter...just do it the best you can, no matter what. Does it matter if I'm not some bleeding heart moron like All Might if I save just as many people?"

They think about it for a moment, then Momo nods in agreement, "well, I guess it doesn't."

"Exactly, all that matters, is whatever the reward is, I think it's worth risking my life and the life of everyone I care about...at least if I was showing my face and using my name like you people..."

Before anyone can even question what he means, a gust of cold wind blasts the crowd.

"He's breaking fingers," Horizon says as he notices what just happened, Deku did a super strong flick to shatter Todoroki's ice attack.

"Such power, both of them!" Tokoyami yells.

"If Todoroki has a brain he wins in the next attack," Horizon says, causing everyone to glance at him before setting their eyes back to the stage.

Another clash, Deku breaks a second finger to counter Todorki's ice, keeping them at a stalemate.

Horizon leans back in his seat, obviously disappointed. "Never mind I guess, should have expected this when two of the most pathetic levels of Quirk Mastery in our class are put together...freaking meatheads, I at least expected more from Endeavor's kid," he grumbles.

They all keep those words at the back of their mind, not quite understanding them, and certainly not willing to ask him directly, knowing he'd likely verbally rip them apart for even doing that.

"What are they even talking about?" Horizon questions aloud as the battle rages on. "Feelings? 'It's your power'? Did I miss something or are they just as emotional and stupid as I thought?"

"Both," Tsu says. "Todoroki declared war on Midoriya while you were off talking to Midnight and the other Class Reps."

"On Deku? Talk about punching down...but not by much honestly."

"You truly think them that similar?" Momo asks, her invincible image of Todoroki long since shattered and replaced with Horizon.

"Well they're both meatheads flailing at each other screaming about feelings aren't they," he gestures to the arena where the fight kept going, "you tell me."

"Right," she nods along. "I also saw them speaking privately while we all went for lunch, maybe something happened that we missed."

"Whatever it is, it's brought out quite incredible power from both of them," Jiro says.

"Powerful doesn't mean good, or useful," Horizon says as the fight continues.

Eventually, after a lot more broken bones, screaming, and tears, the final clash ends with Todoroki activating his fire for the first time since joining UA.

Everyone hears Endeavor yelling, but pays him no mind and an explosion rocks the arena, Cementoss erects soft walls to ease the damage.

And when the mist and dust clear, Deku is crumpled against the far wall while Todoroki is cushioned by his ice...

"TODOROKI WINS!" Midnight announces.

"Looks like the pennies are adding up," Horizon says, looking at Deku's mangled arm and fingers, dark purple and torn up as he gets hauled off to Recovery Girl.

"Will he be able to move his arm again?" Momo asks, clear concern in her voice.

"Yeah, but regular healing Quirks can't fix that...he'll have serious lasting damage this time, the damage is adding up more and more with each use, best guess, one or two more injuries like that and he's out of the Hero Course."

"Unless you heal him," Momo says.

"The only way that's happening is if he can afford to outbid my other clients -which he can't-, and I'd need to somehow agree to heal someone that will certainly hurt themself again. I've only ever made one exception for a person like that, I'm not making it a habit."

"Well, what if I were to bid for him?" Momo asks. "it would be a shame for someone with such a heroic spirit not to see their dreams become real, just think about all the people he can save."

"I don't think your allowance is gonna cut it, actually I don't think your family can afford it," Horizon says.

"What if it does?"

Horizon chuckles, "of course the rich girl doesn't know the cost of anything...minimum bid is fifty million...and let's just say the leading bid for my next operation is a lot higher than that, even you can't afford me."

Momo looks genuinely confused, while everyone who knows the actual value of money looks horrified. "People pay that much for healthcare?" Momo asks.

"No, I don't sell healthcare, I deal in time," Horizon corrects her. "I can give and take time with the people you love, so tell me, is there anything you wouldn't pay if I'm the only person in the world that can give you time with your loved ones?"

Nobody responds to that for a long tense moment until Tsu speaks up. "You really can charge whatever you want..."

"More than that, I can do whatever I want, because I'm Horizon, everyone wants a piece of me...I'm a walking miracle, do you honestly think any politician is gonna risk moving against me now that the word is out that I can practically heal anything?" he chuckles darkly, knowing the media was already devouring that anonymous information they received earlier. "If Recovery Girl decided to murder someone in the street the government wouldn't touch her...I can't imagine what I could get away with..."

The cold and sharp edge in his voice sent a chill down their spines. Someone seemingly all-powerful and untouchable, a truly dangerous existence.

By the time everyone comes to their senses, Hatsume has already surrendered after using Kaminari as a practice dummy for her capture devices, more amusing than anything else for people who aren't interested in support equipment.

'Hover Soles huh,' Horizon eyes the boots she has on that let her float above the floor. 'That looks fun...'

"And with that, the first half of the first round of this game is complete!" Midnight announces, "now let's welcome our next competitors..."

END CHAPTER---

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