MHA: Guardian of the Golden Throne

Teams were forming; all students were rushing to find suitable partners to collaborate with. Melissa panicked at first because she didn't expect such a burden. But seeing Izuku's scrutinising gaze, she immediately regained her composure. She closed her eyes, inhaled and exhaled.

Conservai. Reach the goal without euphoria in the fight. Win with your head, before you shoot. The goal? The third phase. The advantage? A quantity of points that ensures my passage. The disadvantage? All teams will target me; few will want to join me. How to do it?

Melissa thought, weighing the cards at her disposal. When she made a local mind, she moved. The first person she wanted to recruit practically stepped up on her own out of gratitude for her good heart.

«Shield-san, do you want to team up?» asked Ochaco, approaching smiling.

«Uraraka-san, you read my mind.» Melissa said smiling, taking her hands «But I have to ask you: are you sure you want to team up with me? After all, we'll all be hot on our heels because of my score.»

«Of course. If we can be as evasive as possible, we will win. Plus, I always prefer to team up with my friends.» she said with a gesture of encouragement and a blinding smile.

«Uraraka-san… have you ever been told you're too bright?» Melissa asked softly, covering her eyes

«Hm? Did you say something?»

«No, nothing»

With Ochaco on the team, Melissa moved to recruit the final two, choosing, in her opinion, two suitable people: Mei Hatsume of the Support Department and her classmate, Fumikage.

This may be a strange choice, but if you think carefully about the goal, it makes sense. Thanks to Uraraka's quirk, they can reduce their weight and increase their speed. Mei Hatsume was chosen not for her Quirk, but for her equipment, or, as she prefers to call it, babies; after all, Melissa observed her during the obstacle course and found that her equipment specialises in mobility, which she needs at all costs. Fumikage, on the other hand, is the answer to her need for a firm defence and a reactive attack: his sentient Quirk is able not only to support them in their movement, but also to carry out rapid attacks and adaptable defences, as well as to guarantee another pair of eyes.

The perfect group for what she wants to do: run out of time and get their bandana back if it's taken away from them.

*****

«The fifteen minutes have passed.» Izuku stated expressionlessly.

In total, there are 13 groups, each with its own goals and strategies to achieve them. Everyone was ready to compete; in their eyes, the determination of those who want to win at all costs.

*THUNK*

«Let the battle begin!» Izuku exclaimed, beating his spear

That sound, which had echoed so loudly inside the arena to attract attention or silence anyone, now served as the kickoff to the second event.

Everyone rushed to conquer the opposing bandanas. In fact, most were aiming for Melissa's team. Ten million points guarantee access to the third race.

Predictable. Izuku thought, following every movement in the field. Everything seemed to have slowed down, just enough time to anticipate the evolution of the clash. A newly developed pastime so Izuku don't lose his hand in reading battles.

At least five groups focused on Melissa: two from class 1B and three from class 1A. Melissa was keeping her cool, analysing and adapting her strategy to win.

Deciding to momentarily shift his gaze to the other groups, Izuku noticed two teams. One, whose knight is the indigo-haired boy, while the second is made up of students from 1B, whose knight appears to be a boy of medium height, with straight blond hair, which shortens as he runs down his head, half-closed blue eyes and a smirk printed on his face, which gives him a rather contemptuous look.

The blond boy's team was exploiting the other teams' focus on taking Melissa's bandana, even managing to steal Katsuki's. The young man has a good head on his shoulders. Izuku thought, amused by the show.

But the team of the boy with the indigo hair instead… worried him for different reasons. His "horse" seemed composed of students, whose eyes seemed soulless. Not soulless, like the Sisters of Silence. They were as empty as those of the cyborgs used in the 41st millennium, known as Servitors. Those were the eyes of those who have been deprived of all intellectual capacity. Noticing it, Izuku felt a slight pang of anger run up his back.

The Servants are cyborgs: criminals condemned by imperial law to the sentence known as the Servitude Imperpituis. They are entrusted to the Priesthood of Mars to be lobotomized, reprogrammed, and cybernetically enhanced for a specific, rudimentary function. It is a cruel sentence, yet common in the Imperium. As the Technopriests say: "The flesh is weak, but the machine is eternal". Izuku is used to the Servitors: he has always seen them perform their programming, and when he has to wear armour, it has always been the Servitors' duty. However, what Izuku unconsciously can't stand is those criminals being stripped of all decision-making power and their identities. For him, it is not a simple act of pity or redemption for the condemned, but a slow and cruel death sentence… in the name of necessity.

Ultimately, in the Imperium, every decision is dictated by necessity. This necessity has transformed almost all humanity into what it fights: monsters.

Even though he knows that truth, even though Izuku knows he fought to preserve that last monstrous bastion that separates humanity from extinction, he also knows that there are still humans and entire Space Marine Chapters like the Blood Angels and, above all, the Salamanders, who still remember what it means to "be human" and fight for what little humanity remains in those bleak and dark times of war.

Putting that thought aside, he took a closer look at the indigo-haired boy and, like the blond one, realised that his strategy was very similar: it didn't focus on Melissa, but on the teams that focused on her.

Bringing attention back to Melissa, he felt like smiling. Melissa's cold-minded thinking skills are proving crucial to the point that her choices are now dictated by foresight born of continually absorbing information around her and observing the entire battlefield.

Really not bad, thought Izuku. She's making good use of what little I've taught her about Conservai, honing her focus, accumulation, information processing, and responsiveness.

«She can probably see at least ten seconds into the future, with a reliability probability of… 70%» Izuku muttered softly, smiling slightly.

While Melissa has managed to impress him, and it's not easy to impress a Guardian of the Golden Throne, Izuku doubts she'll last much longer. As he has already said, Conservai requires concentration and a cool mind. For a mortal like Melissa, however, the mental pressure is absurd. She's getting away with it for now, but her fatigue, her constant attempts to avoid having her bandana stolen, and the need to process a lot of information will cause lapses in her concentration and, therefore, flaws in the orders she gives.

«It's time to get your bandana, Shield.» Todoroki stated coldly.

Shoto's team, composed of Momo, Ida and Denki, waited for the right moment to attack. Using Denki's electric shock and Shoto's ice, the team pinned down three opponents and took their bandanas in one fell swoop. Melissa still has her bandana, but they would have been paralysed by Denki's discharge if Tokoyami's Dark Shadow hadn't protected them.

The competition between the two began to turn into a stalemate. Melissa desperately defended her bandana, while Shoto did not skimp on aggression. Izuku could read mental pressure and fatigue in his student's eyes, and quickly Melissa reached and overcame unbearable levels.

In one moment, Ida, who formed the head of Shoto's horse, suddenly accelerated. An acceleration, terribly fast for the eyes of a normal human being.

«Take it, Todoroki!!!»

With a sound of something being torn, Shoto grabbed Melissa's bandana. It all happened in a split second.

*THUNK*

«That's enough!» Izuku shouted, hitting with his spear «The game is over.»

«Man, what a gripping battle!!!» Present Mic shouted immediately afterward «We'll soon find out who will be the top four qualified teams that are going to the next event!»