The 40 remaining contestants are standing in a group in front of Madame Mummy.

Madame Mummy: For the next round, the challenge selector will choose from events requiring teams of four.

Most of the students have surprised faces.

Madame Mummy: Out of fairness, the teams will be assembled before you know what game you’ll be playing. These groups are entirely your choice.

Justus: (So, now we're being grouped, my high placement in the first competition might make me more of an appetizing group member. After all, she did say our placements would matter for this round.)

Karma: (I have to work with people whose quirks complement mine for optimal teamwork. This is too important to side with your friends.)

Silver: (I need to recruit three people to my side. I have to pick wisely.)

Madame Mummy: You have the next 10 minutes to form your teams. Once you’ve decided to become a group, stand together apart from everyone else. Your time starts now.

The two classes divide up, as expected.

Aaron: Alright, Wes, you and I are a team, so we just need two more.

Wes: We could try and get Hayze.

Aaron: Nah, we need to be careful. There’s a chance that finishing well in Round 1 could be a bad thing, so I don’t think it’s wise for us to have three Top 10 finishers on our team.

Wes: (Huh, I guess Aaron is taking this more seriously than he let on.)

A couple of students are crowding Silver and Justus.

Demetri: Please, Silver, let me work with you! I don’t want to get stuck with Isaiah again!

Isaiah: Hey, we’re in the same boat, pal!

Demetri: I’m not your pal!

They start fighting with one another. Silver just ignores them.

Silver: (I’m going to need some muscle since hand-to-hand combat isn’t my specialty. Luckily, I worked with someone who does a few days ago.)

Silver walks over to Kevin.

Silver: What do you say about the two of us teaming up again?

Kevin: Eh, I can get behind it… Are you looking to build the strongest team here, or do you just want me?

Silver: We worked together a few days ago, so it’s the logical choice, and no, I already have two other members in mind.

Kevin: I’m all ears.

Hayze is standing on his own.

Hayze: (I wonder who I should team up with… should I ask Aaron, Will, or Kevin? Or maybe-)

Tara: Alright, teammate! You ready to win this thing!

Hayze: Jesus! Where did you come from!

Tara: My whole class is eliminated, and you're the only one I know, so you're stuck with me!

Hayze: Hooray…

Tara: Well, you got anyone else to join us?

Hayze: Uh, no. I’m kind of expecting to get stuck with the scraps…

Hayze looks over at Isaiah and Demetri, bickering.

Hayze: Which… could make this challenging...

Tara: It’s okay! They’ll be great for testing out my new gadget: The “Force A Meat Shield To Stand In Place Machine”!

Hayze: Your what?

Ash walks over to Hayze and Tara.

Ash: Um, hey Hayze, mind if I team up with you guys?

Hayze: Oh, of course, Ash. I was expecting you to team up with the girls.

Ash: I was going to, but it seems like they’d rather not choose their teams based on our friendship.

Hayze: I see… Well, you’re welcome to be with us. Just try to ignore this one…

Tara: How good are you at absorbing bullets?

Ash: Wh- what?

Justus looks over at Silver talking to Angel.

Justus: (He’s recruiting the same trio from his exercise against Multi. He’s playing this smart… working with people he has familiarity with. Plus, he’s bringing together a versatile set of quirks. I’ll have to bring in a heavy hitter myself to counter.) Zach!

Zach looks over at Justus.

Justus: What do you say we join forces? Silver has quite the powerful team already.

Zach: Sure, dude! I was hoping you’d ask!

Silver notices Justus.

Silver: (Damn it, Justus got to Zach, he must have figured out my strategy. I guess I’ll have to go to my backup plan.)

Silver walks over to Jace. Aaron is mid-conversation with Alexis and Karma.

Aaron: I saw what you two girls did working together against Colossus. If our two duos join together, then we form a pretty good team.

Karma: That makes sense, Justus and Silver’s team will probably be occupied with each other, and because they finished so high, we won’t be as big a target as them; we’ll just have to worry about Hayze and that other girl’s group.

Alexis: *To Aaron* It seems to me that you just want to be the alpha amongst a bunch of girls.

Aaron: I'd be insulted that you would accuse me of that, but you called Wes a girl, so thank you.

Alexis: Yeah, we’ll team up with you.

Justus spots Silver talking to Jace and Aaron talking to Karma and Alexis.

Justus: (Aaron and Silver have both completed their teams already, which leaves me with a choice of Blair, Eve, Jake, Gus, or Lilith. Blair and Eve are worrisome because they’re hotheads, and Lilith can grow tall as a safety net. So, I’ll at least work with her.)

Justus goes to talk with Lilith. Blair is getting worried.

Blair: Why Lilith and not me! Is it because she has bigger boobs than me!

Eve: I’m still here, you know.

Blair: Oh right… is it because she’s sweeter than me!

Eve: Hey!

Isaiah and Demetri stop fighting for a second and notice most of the teams have already formed.

Isaiah: Oh god! We’re gonna get stuck with Blair and Eve again!

Demetri: What? No, we’re not!

They see Justus walking over to the remaining ungrouped class members.

Isaiah: Ha! I’ll get that last spot with Justus!

Demetri: Not if I can first!

They both run to Justus and bow before him.

Isaiah and Demetri: PLEASE TAKE ME!

Justus stares at them blankly for a moment.

Justus: Gus! You’re with me!

Gus: Alrighty then.

Justus and Gus walk off. Isaiah and Demetri both crawl into the fetal position. Eve looks visibly angry.

Eve: (HE CAME OVER HERE FOR GUS AND NOT ME! I’M WAY MORE USEFUL THAN GUS! Oh god, if Justus, Silver, and Aaron’s groups are complete, then that leaves one spot left on-)

Eve looks over at Hayze’s group; Blair is begging to be taken.

Eve: (THAT BITCH!)

Blair: Please take me! I don’t know why nobody wants me!

Tara: Maybe it's because of the flat chest.

Blair goes to kick Tara in the nuts… but realizes.

Blair: (Damn! She's outsmarted my best move!)

Hayze: You don’t need to beg; we’d love to have you on our team.

Blair: (He’s safe… for now.)

Ash: So, this will be our team, huh? The other groups look pretty tough.

Hayze: Yeah… all but one...

Eve looks around at the rest of her class in their teams.

Eve: (Oh no… that means I’m stuck with…)

Jake is napping, and Isaiah and Demetri are still in the fetal position.

Eve: (Ah crap...) ALRIGHT, YOU THREE GET UP!

Isaiah and Demetri jump and stand at attention.

Eve: Jake, get up now!

Jake: I don’t fear you, Double D Diva.

Eve turns red with the fury of 1,000 suns.

Eve: What. Did. You. Just. Say. To. Me…

Isaiah and Demetri huddle together in fear.

Madame Mummy: Alright, now that you all are grouped together. It’s time to determine the competition.

The selection screen begins cycling through competitions. It lands on Three plus One Wise Monkeys.

Boom: OH BOY! THAT’S A DOOZY!

Multi: This will get interesting quick.

Madame Mummy: Each group will have a leader; the other three members will each take on the role of one of the three wise monkeys. Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil, one of you will be deafened, another blinded and the last muted for the round duration. The Leader will be unable to move any part of their body; essentially, they’ll be paralyzed. The three wise monkeys must defend their leader. The leader of each group is the person who placed highest in the first round.

Hayze: (Oh god… that means…)

Tara laughs maniacally.

Madame Mummy: To move on to the final round, you’ll need one of these.

Madame Mummy holds up 5 headbands, 4 white, and 1 bright yellow.

Madame Mummy: These are “advancement headbands.” If your group leader is wearing one of these headbands after 15 minutes, your entire team moves on to the finals. Now, who starts with these headbands? That’s determined by the 10 leaders’ placement in the first round; the top 5 start with one headband each.

Killian: Why is one colored different from the others?

Madame Mummy: This is the golden headband; it can be worn by any of the 40 contestants, and wearing this at the end of the game will earn you an advantage in the next round. It will initially be possessed by the winner of Round 1.

This piques Eve’s interest.

Silver: (I get it... since our class will start with all 5 passes to the finals, they’re introducing that headband to make us want to turn on each other.)

Madame Mummy: You might be wondering what happens if you collect multiple headbands. You don’t earn an advantage, but you will decrease the number of students who move on to the finals. A max of 20 will move on, with a minimum of 4.

Karma: (So our relationships with other teams could come into play, two groups could ally to move on, but there isn’t a guarantee that your alliance won’t backstab you in the end.)

Hayze: (It’s just like the entrance exam, a task that seems simple on paper, but when you examine all the rules and aspects, you realize that it’s much more complex. They knew we’d form teams across class lines, so they came up with a way to sow distrust amongst us.)

Justus: (I could knock Silver out of the Festival right now by commanding my team to focus on taking his headband, but I want to fight him head-on in the tournament.)

Aaron: (I bet Silver and Justus are only worried about each other. They’re tough, but they're arrogant to forget about everyone else in this class, and I'm not just talking about me. I've seen first-hand that Hayze isn't someone to be glossed over, he put together a near-perfect plan in the entrance exam, and then with a ragtag group, he kept Colossus on his toes. He's with Ash again, and he’s great at bringing the best in her quirk. Plus, he’s got that support class girl; we don't even know what she can do… I'm not the type to stray from a fight, but if I'm thinking smart here, playing some defense might be the best option with what we're up against.)

Madame Mummy: Determine now who will be which wise monkey, oh and Tobias, you can’t be See no evil.

Tobias: Understood.

Boom: Tobias Ingram, his quirk Sensory Enhancement, all of his senses are heightened to keen levels, but he is blind.

First, team Silver.

Silver: All three of you need your sight, unfortunately.

Kevin: I’ll take it; you just need to direct my punches; Jace and Angel’s quirks are nearly useless without their sight.

Suddenly a pair of Eye patches come out of nowhere and attach to Kevin’s face.

Angel: Woah, they weren’t kidding!

Jace: If you’re our scout Angel, you’re gonna need your speech.

Angel: That’s true, so I’ll take Hear No Evil, and you’ll take Speak No Evil.

A red piece of tape is shot onto Jace’s mouth, Industrial Strength Ear Plugs pop into Angel’s ears.

Next, Team Justus.

Gus: Well, I have to be able to use my mouth, so I'll take See No Evil because I can be directed.

Justus: Lilith, you need to hear my orders, so you should take Speak No Evil and Zach, Hear No.

Lilith and Zach: Gotcha.

Next, Team Tara.

Ash: Okay, I should take-

Hayze: One second, Ash, I wanna say one thing first.

Ash: What is it?

Hayze: We’re not going after the Golden headband, no matter what. Our teamwork is critical, and we have to be able to trust each other.

Blair: Yeah, I agree. The advantage would be nice, but I have a feeling everyone is gonna go after that one.

Tara and Ash both nod in agreement.

Tara: Oh also! I have these two chest plates made out of shock-absorbing material, so punches won’t hit as hard… but they’re both for men…. GOOD THING WE HAVE TWO OF THOSE!

Blair fumes in pure rage.

Hayze: (I can’t have these two at odds this whole round. We have to work together!) Tara, Tara, Tara, listen, Blair's a very nice girl. You shouldn’t make fun of her; come on, be friends!

Blair’s eyes light up.

Blair: Wait, you think I’m nice?

Hayze: (Oh god, why do I even talk to girls? It always goes poorly.) I’ll take speak no evil!

The tape goes across Hayze’s mouth.

Hayze: (Oh, thank god, safety!)

Tara: (Hmm, a girl who is highly insecure about her body and personality to the point that if anyone mentions it good or bad, they fear for their lives, THAT SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE A BUTTON I SHOULD PUSH!)

Blair: Well, Ash, you and I are useless without our sight.

Ash: Not exactly, I don’t know if this is cheating or not, but I don’t need my eyes when I’m in my astral form; I’m technically not using my body at all.

Blair: Okay, then that makes this decision easy. I’ll be hear no evil.

Tara: Aw! then you won’t hear my jokes about how small-

Blair: I’LL TAKE HEAR NO EVIL!

The earplugs go in Blair's ears. The eye patches go on Ash. Eve is putting on the Golden Headband.

Isaiah: HEY! WE DIDN’T DECIDE ON THIS!

Demetri: YEAH! JAKE SHOULD AT LEAST BE THE ONE TO HAVE IT!

Eve: What do you think, Jake?

Jake: Isaiah gets See No Evil.

Isaiah: WHAT NO!

Isaiah gets the eye patches over his visor.

Eve: JAKE, YOU IDIOT! NOW HE’S EVEN MORE USELESS!

Isaiah: I can still hear…

Jake: Eve gets Speak No Evil.

The tape goes over Eve's mouth. The earplugs go in Demetri's ears.

Eve: *Muffled Scream*

Demetri: Well… this sucks...

Jake: Don’t worry, you guys got this.

Demetri: What?

Isaiah: Our chances were slim… but now I think we should forfeit...

Every team has selected their personnel:

TEAM 1 TEAM 2 TEAM 3 TEAM 4 TEAM 5 Leader Jake Kopech Ryne Verdugo Tara Blackwell Justus Grey Aaron Zamora Hear No Evil Demetri Perish Angel Northcroft Blair Maddox Zach Crawford Alexis Meadows See No Evil Isaiah Ware Kevin Bohm Ash Wright Gus Riggs Wes Zunino Speak No Evil Eve Avery Jace Neil Adam Hayze Lilith Weber Karma Montgomery TEAM 6 TEAM 7 TEAM 8 TEAM 9 TEAM 10 Leader Ryan Gay Gavin Thompson Alec Vyxon Whitney White Verity Larson Hear No Evil Filip Fredrik Romeo Julian Killian Calhoun Charlotte Matthews Fabio Flores See No Evil Seth Waller Mike Hitchcock Sydney Bowers Ester Clarke Bruno Nurkic Speak No Evil Talon Stafford Desiree Bautista Tobias Ingram Hailey Stone Reed Grier

Madame Mummy wraps all ten leaders in bandages, making them unable to move.

Madame Mummy: Everyone, take your places.

All ten teams form a circle around the arena, every team ready to fight.

Madame Mummy: 15 minutes on the clock…. Begin!

Killian runs right at Eve.

Killian: I’ll be taking that golden headband now!

He lunges at her, but his advance is immediately halted. Killian stands frozen in place. Eve is surprised to see him stop.

Eve: (Huh?)

Killian: What the hell! Why can't I move?

Demetri: Sorry, dog breath, but you’re under my control now.

Killian notices strings attached to his body, leading to Demetri’s fingertips.

Killian: Oh, I get it, you’re some kind of puppet master, huh?

Demetri: What?

Sydney: What happened?

Alec: Killian got captured.

Sydney: Damn it, Killian! You got yourself caught already!

Alec: You know he can’t hear you, right?

Sydney: Uh... I knew that!

Demetri turns Killian around.

Demetri: I was hoping to grab someone more defensive to be my puppet for this round, but you’ll do nicely.

Isaiah: What's happening? Oh, wait, you can't hear me, and Eve can't answer me… wait, what happened to Jake?

Jake is taking a nap.

Demetri: Eve, with Jake napping and Isaiah blinded, it’s up to us to move on; I don’t care that you have that Golden Headband; you can take advantage, but we have to move on at all cost!

Eve nods her head. Suddenly, a hand wielding a scythe comes out of nowhere and severs the strings that bind Killian.

Demetri: What the?

Boom: Ester Clarke, her quirk is Living Weapon, she can turn herself into a wieldable scythe, and Haleigh Stone, her quirk is Elasticity; her body is made entirely of rubber so she can extend her body parts and stretch them at will!

Isaiah: WHAT IS HAPPENING!

Killian: Thanks, Haleigh!

Charlotte runs up and grabs Killian’s face. A tube in Charlotte’s forearm starts to fill with a shiny fluid substance.

Boom: Charlotte Matthews, her quirk is Energy Absorption; she absorbs her opponent’s energy with the palms of her hands, she saps their energy and fills up tubes in her arms that she can use for attacks!

Killian: Ah dammit! You traitors!

Killian swats her away but falls to his knees as Charlotte sapped a large portion of his energy.

Charlotte: I know you’re probably mad, Killian, but we want that Golden Headband more than your trust!

Killian: What?

Demetri tries to shoot his strings at Charlotte, but Ester and Haleigh quickly cut them again.

Demetri: *frustrated grunt* Eve, I need some help here!

Eve is in a daze.

Demetri: Eve?

Eve takes off the Golden Headband.

Demetri: What are you doing?

Eve throws the headband toward team Gavin. Romeo catches it. Eve turns around and tries punching Demetri.

Demetri: EVE! What the hell is wrong!

Isaiah: WHAT IS HAPPENING!

Romeo puts the Golden Headband on.

Romeo: The poor girl was distracted, so I put the moves on her!

Boom: Romeo… Julian... *sigh*, his quirk is Charm, he can blow kisses that are visible, and if they make contact with anyone, they fall madly in love with him and do his bidding, but if he gets hit by an attack, his spell breaks and everyone he charmed will be in a lustful rage to kick him in the balls! You can tell who is under his spell because their eyes will have hearts in them!

Romeo’s teammate Desiree has hearts in her eyes.

Desiree: *muffled* I love you, Romeo!

Romeo: Yes, Desiree, I'm sorry I had to use my quirk on you, but it was the only way you could comply with my plan, right Mike?

Mike: Y- y- yup, can do, boss!

Romeo: I’m going to take your silence as a yes. Oh, Eve, sweetie! Takedown that pesky puppet master friend of yours, and we can go on a date later!

Eve: *muffled* *excited gasp*

Demetri: Oh crap...

Eve pummels Demetri into the ground, knocking him out cold.

Isaiah: Demetri! Are you okay- oh, right...

Eve turns around and starts running towards Romeo. With hearts in her eyes. Romeo laughs triumphantly.

Romeo: My plan is ingenious!

Suddenly Romeo stops laughing. His look of ecstasy has turned to terror; he’s been hit by 10 feathers to the back. He looks back at Team Silver.

Silver: Don’t mess with our classmates.

Romeo: Uh… oh god...

Romeo looks in front of him to see an enraged Desiree and Eve.

Romeo: Have mercy?

Eve and Desiree take turns kicking Romeo in the nuts as he screams for help; Mike hides behind Gavin in horror over the brutality. Haleigh sneaks her arm into the pummeling and grabs the Golden Headband. She places it on her head with Ester in her other hand.

Whitney: Good job, Haleigh, now we have the golden ticket!

Hayze watches with the rest of his team.

Hayze: (1-B is all over that golden headband… they aren’t concerned with us at all. Aaron and Justus’ teams haven’t moved yet, and Silver probably only bailed Eve out so Romeo couldn’t turn her on him. Which… would be terrifying.)

Mothers are covering their children’s eyes to avert their gaze from Romeo’s beating.

Ash: Tara, what’s going on?

Tara: Oh, the pretty boy is getting castrated by Eve.

Ash: Oh, so nothing unusual.

Tara: None of the other teams are worried about us. Why?

Ash: Probably because our headband isn’t as valuable as Jake’s team.

Tara: Well, they’re already done; Isaiah is useless, Demetri is out cold, and Jake is napping. 1-B takes home that crown.

Ash: I wish we could communicate better with Hayze and Blair.

Tara looks at Blair and gets a sinister smile on her face.

Tara: Leader of the itty bitty titty committee says what?

Blair: What?

Tara: HAHAHA!

Justus looks around at Team Tara, Aaron, and Kevin doing nothing while the rest of the teams battle.

Justus: (We’re at a standstill, none of the teams with the regular headbands want to attack each other, and 1-B is fighting over the Golden Headband. What’s the point of this challenge? The four of us will move on if we just do nothing!)

Hayze gets a look of realization.

Hayze: (I get it now…)

Hayze looks at team Aaron.

Hayze: The scenario we’re in... it’s giving us the incentive to take the easy way out. Although we want to make it far in the festival, the real goal is to impress the scouts. They want to see if we settle… or aim for the top. We could stand here, do nothing, and progress like it was nothing, or...)

Hayze looks at Tara, points to Ash, and then points to Karma.

Tara: What is it?

Ash: What’s going on?

Hayze repeats the motion.

Tara: I love charades! Let’s see… you want Ash and Karma to perform a lesbian sex scene?

Ash: What!

Hayze: *muffled* NO!

Ash: What’s Hayze doing?

Tara: He's pointing at you and then at Karma.

Ash: He must want me to take over Karma’s body for some reason.

Hayze nods.

Tara: He says yes. I like to think my guess was close.

Hayze stares at Tara, disapproving.

Ash: Okay, I’ll do it, and we’ll see what he has planned.

Blair is confused. Hayze goes to Blair and motions to her to cradle her arms. Blair does so.

Tara: Go now, Ash.

Ash goes astral and heads toward Karma; her body falls into Blair’s arms. Ash takes over Karma’s body and motions a thumbs up to Hayze and Tara.

Tara: Okay, Hayze, what’s your plan?

Hayze starts running at Aaron’s group.

Blair: What’s he doing?

Tara: Oh, I get it… clever. Wes can’t see, and Alexis can’t hear, so if you run at the group like that, Karma would be the one to worry about, but if Ash has control of her...

Aaron looks over and sees Hayze running at them.

Aaron: Karma! Hayze to your right!

Karma doesn’t move.

Aaron: Karma!

Wes: What’s going on!

Hayze grabs Aaron’s headband. The crowd was wowed by how easy it was. Alexis still is watching the aftermath of Romeo’s confrontation with Eve, unaware of what’s happening.

Aaron: Dammit, Karma! Wes, walk three steps forward and one step right now!

Wes: Uh, Okay?

Wes walks into Alexis grabbing her attention; she looks back and notices Hayze running back to his group with their headband.

Alexis: Oh crap! I’ll stop him-

Karma punches Alexis to the ground.

Alexis: What the fuck, Karma!

Karma (Ash): Thanks, guys!

Aaron: Thanks? Oh no!

Aaron looks over to see Ash unconscious.

Aaron: It’s Ash!

Ash returns to her body. Karma falls to the ground, confused.

Karma: Wh- what just happened? Wait! Where’s the headband!

Aaron: Ash took you over, and now they have it! (Damn it, I told myself not to forget about him and his plans! Now he just took our ticket to the next round, and he didn’t even need his quirk to do it! But unfortunately for him… I. don’t. lose!)