"And here we have it—our first petitor returning to the stadium!"

  Present Mic's voied across the arena, amping up the crowd as Kaminari dashed through the tunnel and bato the field.

  "It's Kaminari… Denki!!" Present Mic shouted, practically vibrating with excitement.

  The audieed in cheers, their voices reverberating through the stadium as if it was about to shake apart.

  "Kaminari!"

  "Kaminari!!"

  "Kaminari!!!"

  "Kaminari Denki of Css A! He's doly what he promised and taken the lead in the very first event!" Present Mitinued hyping up the crowd. "Let's look forward to his performan the rounds! he go all the way to the top?"

  Kaminari's mom, sitting iands, clutched her hands to her chest, eyes bright with pride. "That's my son! Look at him go!"

  Kaminari's dad, usually reserved, nodded with a wide grin. "Yeah… he's really something."

  Meanwhile, far away in the League of Vilins' hideout, a certain figure shrouded in darkness watched the live broadcast with sharp i.

  On the s, Kaminari's electri shone as he cimed victory. Standing nearby, Kurogiri observed the vilin Tomura Shigaraki's rea. Still battered from his st enter with Kaminari, Shigaraki's eyes held a mixture e and something more determination.

  "This brat…," Shigaraki muttered, his voice ced with bitterness.

  The imposing figure in the shadows gave a low, amused hum. "Impressive trol over his Quirk for his age… no wonder he gave you such trouble, Shigaraki."

  Shigaraki's fists ched as he tio gre at the s. "I'll make him pay for what he did."

  ---

  Back at the stadium, one by ohe remaining testants reached the finish line. First came Todoroki, then Midoriya, and finally Bakugo, fuming with rage as he realized he hadn't takeop spot. The final rankings fshed across the fe ss in the arena.

  1st Pce – Kaminari Denki

  2nd Pce – Shoto Todoroki

  3rd Pce – Izuku Midoriya

  4th Pce – Katsuki Bakugo

  5th Pce – Ibara Shiozaki

  6th Pce – Hanta Sero

  7th Pce – Tenya Iida

  As Kaminari ughed and celebrated with Kyoka, Momo, aetsu, Bakugo's eyes narrowed into slits, his fists ched so hard his knuckles turned white.

  "Damn it!" Bakugo seethed, his voice like a low growl. "Once again, he beat me to first pce!"

  Kirishima chuckled nervously, trying to calm him down. "an, fourth pce isn't so bad!"

  "It's awful!" Bakugo exploded, his face twisted with frustration. "I'm the stro, damn it! I'm not supposed to e in fourth!"

  Meanwhile, Iida stared down at his own hands in dismay. How did I lose a speed test?

  But before he could dwell too long, Midnight's sultry voice echoed across the stadium as she annouhe event.

  "Now that the first event has cluded, it's time for our sed challenge!" She cracked her whip theatrically, pointing toward the virtual s as it flickered and updated to dispy the words: "Cavalry Battle!"

  "Oh? That sounds iing," Kaminari mused, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

  Nearby, Asui looked puzzled, tilting her head. "A cavalry battle? Isn't that usually a team event? How will this work for an individual petition?"

  Midnight smiled wickedly. "Good question! Here's how it works."

  A virtual dispy appeared, showing diagrams of how the cavalry battle would work, with chibi versions of All Might, Present Mid hirteen ag as models.

  "Each testant will form teams of two to four people, creating a 'horse' to carry one rider. The objective? To steal headbands from other teams!" Midnight expined, gesturing dramatically.

  Momo adjusted her gsses thoughtfully. "So depending oeammates you choose, your team's total point value will vary."

  "Exactly!" Midnight firmed, turning back to the testants.

  Kaminari noticed Kyoka giving him a gnce from the er of her eye. Despite her usual calm demeanor, she looked a little worried.

  Still fident, huh? Kyoka thought, watg Kaminari as he casually brushed off the pressure.

  Midnight tinued with the expnation. "Now here's where it gets iing. Each testant's point value will depend on their ranking from the st event. The st-pce fiarts with 5 points, with each subsequent position earning 5 points more than the one before it."

  Kaminari's smirk widened as he uood where this was going, but he kept quiet, waiting for the reveal.

  Midnight paused, casting a dramatice at Kaminari, who raised an eyebrow in response. "And for our first-pce finisher… well, the point value is… ten million!"

  The arena fell silent as everyoared at her in shock.

  "T-Ten million?!" Kaminari stammered, caught off guard for a sed.

  Tetsutetsu's jaw dropped. "You've gotta be kidding me… Kaminari's worth ten million points?!"

  As the realization sank in, Kaminari looked around to find himself suddenly surrounded by dozens of cssmates from various csses, all eyeing him like a prize.

  "So," Shinso from Css C muttered, eyeing Kaminari with a sly grin, "all we have to do is take down Kaminari's team, and we're guaranteed first pce."

  Css B, Css d even his own cssmates from Css A looked at him with predatlints in their eyes.

  Midnight smirked as she watched the tension build. "That's right… the higher you rank, the bigger target you bee. Kaminari, you hahe pressure?"

  Kaminari sighed internally. Well, this is just great. I knew I'd be a target, but this… this is level.

  He caught sight of his refle on one of the big ss iadium, showing a close-up of his face as he processed the situation. The crowd was still cheering, the spotlight was on him, and for a moment, he felt the thrill of it all.

  Ah, screw it.

  Kaminari's smirk turned into a grin as he raised his head high, his voice loud and clear for everyoo hear.

  "All right, then!" he shouted, his tone dripping with fidence. "Bring it on! I challenge every single one of you to try and take me down!"