Stallion jogged through the streets of Musutafu, Japan as the cold morning air bit at his skin like tiny needles. He passed by several small shops before deciding to take a break and walking into a small convenience store. After grabbing a Coca-Cola and some bubblegum the wastelander walked up to the till.
"Will this be all sir?"
A skinny man with short brown hair and a store uniform was standing at the counter.
"Yeah that's all" The wastelander replied
Stallion reached into his pocket only to realise that he was about half a dollar short.
He checked his Pip-Boy, only to see he still only had bottlecaps.
"Oh sorry to waste your time looks like I don't have enough" Stallion said sheepishly.
The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out the amount that Stallion was missing.
"Here, It's really not that much anyway" He said with a smile.
Stallion was amazed at the man's kindness. This was a rarity in this world and even more so in the wasteland. People who were willing to give up even a couple caps were few and far between.
"Oh wow! Thanks man. What's your name?" The courier asked as he picked up his carbonated beverage.
"It's Kouichi Haimawari, what's yours?"
Stallion shook the man's hand.
"It's Stallion Guardian"
He looked slightly perplexed at the odd name but gave him a smile and a nod. Stallion walked out of the store with a skip in his step and after finishing his Coke, popped a cube of bubblegum in his mouth and continued his jog. Tomorrow was the beginning of the U.A. Sports festival. He had spent the past week training and improving his accuracy, endurance, perception and strength, the wastelander was ready for whatever the festival threw at him. Of course he was ready for anything to happen, he was of course the legendary Courier.
"Everyone! Get your game faces on! We're entering the arena soon!" Tenya yelled as Class 1-A sat in anticipation. They were currently in the waiting room, a fairly blank room with several tables put up in the centre area and lockers lining the walls. As per school rules everyone was wearing the same blue, white and red jumpsuits.
Everyone was preparing themselves for whatever challenges would face them in the arena.
Shoto Todoroki caught the wastelander's attention as he began to speak to Izuku.
"Midoriya" The boy said coldly, he had become known for speaking in this manner. It suited him as his quirk allowed him to freeze almost anything solid. Apparently he could also use fire however Stallion had never seen him do so.
"Hey, Todoroki. What's up?" Izuku said quietly.
Todoroki's hair was half white, half red and he had a burn scar across his right side.
"From an objective standpoint, I think it's fairly clear that i'm stronger than you" The boy said. Stallion expected him to say it in a boastful manner but he stated it as if it were a plain fact.
Izuku was surprised by the boy's words but answered with a simple
"Yeah"
Todoroki continued.
"However, you've got All-Might in your corner helping you out. I'm not here to pry about what's going on between you two, but know that I will beat you" Shoto declared.
The ice cold teenager stared at Izuku with an eerily blank face.
"Man, whats with all these declarations of war lately?" Denki said, he was sitting at a table looking at the confrontation, as everyone was. Eijirou stood up from his chair and put his hand on Shoto's shoulder.
"Yeah, what's the big deal. Why are ya picking a fight all of a sudden? And just before we're starting too" The icy cold boy shrugged his hand off.
"We're not here to be each other's friends. Don't forget this isn't a team effort"
The boy began to walk away before being cut off by the taller Stallion.
"You know, having a few friends in this might not hurt pal" Stallion said as the shorter boy rolled his eyes and continued past him. Izuku spoke up from behind him.
"Wait a sec Todoroki, I don't know what's going through your head or why you think you need to tell me that you'll beat me. And yeah, of course you're better than me, in fact you probably have way more potential than anyone in the hero course, that's why you got in so easily" The boy talked with more confidence this time.
"Midoriya, maybe you're being a little hard on yourself" Eijirou reassured. "And us" he finished.
Izuku cut him off.
"No, he's right you guys. All the other courses, they're coming for us with everything they've got. We are all gonna have to fight to stand out, and I'll be aiming for the top too" Izuku finished with a determined stare of declaration to Shoto, who was now looking straight back.
"Fine"
A voice resounded over the loudspeaker.
"Would all first year classes please prepare to enter the arena" a female voice said.
Stallion shrugged and followed the rest of his classmates to a hallway that led into the stadium.
The class stepped out of the dark hallway into the dazzling sunlight. Stallion shielded his eyes from the light before they quickly adjusted and he got a view of the place. It was massive, rows upon rows of fans were cheering and hooting as the class walked into the center of attention. The familiar voice of Present Mic, their english teacher, resounded over the loudspeakers.
"Welcome back to the U.A. Sports Festival! Where upcoming heroes leave everything on the field as they fight for a chance worldwide fame and celebrity! This first group are no strangers to the spotlight! You know them for withstanding a villain attack! The dazzling students lighting up their teammates with solid gold skills! The hero course students of Class 1-A!" The english teacher pronounced.
The students walked towards the center of the stadium where a small stage was placed. Stallion heard his classmates making remarks about how many people there are but the boy was tuned out. Present Mic began to start listing off the rest of the classes including, the business course classes, the general studies course, the support course and of course Class 1-B of the hero course. All of the students gathered together in front of a small stage before a rather inappropriately dressed woman holding a whip walked up on stage. She wore a skin-tight white costume that did not seem appropriate for a family friendly event. She had jet black hair and wore a pair of red glasses shaped like a stereotypical superhero mask.
"Now for the introductory speech!" she declared into the microphone.
Several of Stallion's classmates spoke up about her attire.
"Uh, someone should talk to Ms. Midnight about what she's wearing" Eijirou said as the boy blushed lightly, most everyone was.
"Yeah, that costume should come with a warning" Denki replied.
Fumikage agreed
"Is that really appropriate apparel for a high school game?" the boy questioned. Stallion found Fumikage to be quite the puzzle, he had seen that sometimes quirks made people look slightly odd such as Mina, who had pink skin, black eyes and horns. However Fumikage quite literally had the head of a bird and the body of a human. How this tied into his quirk Stallion didn't know. Nevertheless the wastelander couldn't help but agree. This "Midnight" woman looked like she belonged outside the Gommorah casino.
"Silence everyone!" the woman exclaimed as she cracked her whip. She continued.
"And for the student pledge we have! Katsuki Bakugou!" Midnight proclaimed.
Stallion had a bad feeling about this.
The explosive boy made his way up the steps of the platform and stood looking at the rows of fans gathered in the stadium before giving his pledge.
"I just wanna say… I'm gonna win"
Stallion's palm hit his face so hard he might have left a bruise.
"I swear out of all the people to give a pledge it had to be him" The wastelander groaned aloud.
All of the other courses apparently hated his speech as much as class 1-A as they began to boo and shout at the boy and his classmates.
Tenya began scolding the boy while making his strange hand signals.
"Why would you be so disrespectful! You're representing us all!" The glasses clad boy exclaimed.
Katsuki turned around to face the crowd and gave a thumbs down.
"Not my fault the rest of you are just stepping stones to my victory" He said flatly.
Midnight, the inappropriately clad hero, saved the class from any more embarrassment.
"Without further adieu let's get started!" She exclaimed into the microphone.
"This is where you begin feeling the pain! The first fateful game of the festival! What could it be?" She held up her whip as a giant lotto spinner hologram appeared behind her. It finally stopped on a colourful tile that said "Obstacle Race" in block letters.
"Ta'daaa! The woman exclaimed.
"All eleven classes will participate in this treacherous contest that prances four kilometres along the outside of the stadium! I don't wanna restrain anyone at least in this game…" She paused to give the students a lustful glare while licking her lip before continuing. "As long as you don't leave the course! You're free to do whatever your heart desires! Now then! Take your places contestants!" She announced.
"Good, this means I can use all of my upgraded arsenal to it's full extent on this one!" Stallion thought.
The students were crowded together in front of the entrance of the course. Each one was already trying to figure out a plan. Three green lights were on the top of the arch. One by one they went out until…
"Begin!"
The students all set out at once. Everyone ran head on into the exit, except Stallion. He had figured out the first obstacle already and stood still as his classmates sprung the first trap. The boy had made a habit of examining situations and running simulations, equations and tactical ideas through his head. Part of it was his implants giving him slightly increased intelligence, most however, was his keen intellect and a brain that most would call a prodigy.
Students pushed and shoved as they all began to realize that the door was too small. The smaller students got the worst of it as they were practically being crushed by the others. Stallion noticed Emma being squished in between two larger students, he was going to help before the tiny girl smashed their heads together and used them as leverage to start hopping her way out of the situation. Feeling he shouldn't let her get too far ahead, Stallion felt his newest invention solidify in his hands. He had taken the idea of the railway rifle, a gun that shot pressurized railway spikes, and turned it into a grappling hook of sorts. The wastelander cocked the rifle and took aim at the roof of the hallway before pulling the trigger.
The steel spike hooked into the top of the arch as Stallion pulled the two pieces of the stock apart so they became a pair of handlebars. He pushed the button on the side as the motor inside chugged to life. The device began to pull in the wire attached to the spike imbedded in the doorway as Stallion swung overtop of his classmates. He looked down to see the surprised faces of his rivals and shot them a smile. A burst of cold air shot all around the doorway, causing the courier to shield his face from the blast. He looked down to see that Shoto had frozen the competition in their tracks. The wastelander retracted the spike mid-air before digitizing it and sending the device back into his Pip-Boy. He landed while rolling and began half slipping, half sprinting after his icy classmate who was looking back in surprise to see that several of his classmates besides Stallion had escaped his trap. Katsuki, Momo, Eijirou and Yuuga (The french guy) sprung ahead of the competition as well. After about thirty seconds Almost all of class 1-A had escaped in one way or another and were slipping and sliding on the ice that Shoto left in his wake.
"Wuld Na Kest!"A loud voice with a norwegian accent rung in the courier's ears.
A boy with long blonde hair with several braids in it sped past all of the other contestants in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a massive gust of wind that swept several people off their feet.
Stallion was surprised to see Minoru, the perverted midget, surpassing Stallion and the unknown long haired boy by throwing down the purple balls that made up his hair and bouncing off of them. He quickly caught up to Shoto who was about to be caught by surprise with a purple ball to the head before Minoru was tossed through the air like a ragdoll by a familiar looking robot.
Large amounts of the automatons from the entrance exam rolled into position, taking aim at the students who had now all caught up with each other and were standing in front of the robotic platoon.
At least ten of the massive zero point robots that Izuku had defeated in the entrance exam rolled towards the class. One of them reared back and was about to slam its fist into the students before Shoto simply swept his hand up, freezing the first giant robot solid. The beast of steel held out its hand as if it was a statue before it began to creak. Stallion looked down to see that Shoto had already made it through the robot's legs. Several students began to follow before the zero point robot's ice began to crack and the massive robot fell to the ground.
Several students were now fighting the robots one by one the metal monsters fell apart. Stallion watched as Katsuki, Hanta and Fumikage all vaulted themselves over the second zero pointer. Stallion however had a different plan, having no mobility abilities besides his newly made "Railway grapple" and the gadgets built into his power armour, Stallion realised that brute force was his only choice. He hated using it as the ammunition was so expensive but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Several students were shocked to see the wastelander materialize a minigun out of thin air.
Stallion smirked.
"Come get some! You tinfoil Liberty Prime wanna-be's!" The courier screamed as he felt the six barrels of the weapon begin to spin. Stallion aimed the weapon high as he didn't want to hit anyone and let loose.
Dozens of the army of robots fell apart as the heavy duty machine gun ripped them to shreds. Stallion walked at a moderate pace, keeping the barrel spinning ready to fire off a barrage of 5mm bullets.
The wastelander looked to his left, the blonde haired mystery man now had electricity sparking from both hands. Five one pointers rolled rapidly into place, moving to pound the boy into submission with their armour plates. In the blink of an eye the boy ducked underneath their attacks and grabbed the first robot, crushing its lens and sending a massive electric shock into the body, causing it to explode. The nord grabbed a piece of flying metal out of mid-air and stabbed it into the second robot's chest.
"Fus Ro Dah!" the teenager shouted in an unusually loud voice. Several students looked to the source of the noise to see a band of robots flying through the air like ragdolls.
The wastelander saw his chance and discarded his minigun into the Pip-Boy. Adrenaline pumping through his veins he pulled out his Tri-beam Laser rifle and dived into a slide all in one motion. Activating V.A.T.S. he targeting the flying band of automatons and let the world flow again.
Within the blink of an eye there was nothing but ash left of the bots. Stallion took his chance and dashed through the hole in their defenses. He raced past the mechanical minions and took after the rest of his classmates.
Stallion groaned in frustration as he saw the next obstacle. A large chasm spanned in front of him and the only way to get across were tightropes. The courier hated tightropes. He had only had to use them once or twice but from those times he pledged to never use them again. The wastelander grudgingly began to climb across, hanging upside down off of the ropes.
After what Stallion considered way too long the wastelander was finally across the chasm and running down a clear stretch of the track towards the next obstacle area. A massive crash caught the boy's attention as he glanced backward to see a massive lizard man crawling along the track. He had thrown one of the support students into a tree, causing it to fall over.
"This guy's strong" Stallion thought as he formulated a strategy to restrain the reptilian teenager.
"Sorry pal! Ain't no 1-A dimwit gonna slow me down!" The beast of a man roared as he slapped his tail into the ground in anticipation of throwing Stallion off the track.
Figuring he could take it like a man Stallion pulled out a stick of dynamite and a lighter, causing the creature's eyes to go wide as he tried to stop. Stallion chucked the explosive over his shoulder and waited a second before hearing the satisfying boom of an explosion.
"What was that about 1-A dimwits again?" Stallion called back as he screeched to a halt. It only took a second for Stallion to see what the final obstacle was, a minefield.
"Fantastic!" The courier thought. He had developed an acute skill of avoiding traps and landmines to the point where he could simply tiptoe past them without setting them off. He began walking carefully across the field as his fellow students set off explosives left and right. Just a few feet ahead of him was Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugou who had just rocketed past Stallion. The two of them began to fight, avoiding landmines along the way. Figuring that they shouldn't have all the fun, Stallion equipped his ballistic fist and joined the brawl. The two of them were surprised to see a third contestant to the fight. Stallion sent an uppercut to Shoto's jaw while bashing Katsuki over the head with his Pip-Boy. They dodged attacks while placing glancing blows when a massive explosion behind them gained the attention of all three heroes in training. Looking up Stallion saw Izuku on a hunk of metal flying through the air off of the knockback of the explosion. He wasn't there by accident though, the boy had intentionally used the explosive power of the landmines to propel himself. Stallion watched in awe as the two boys he had been fighting sprinted after him, only to be thwarted when Izuku threw down the plate of steel he had been carrying. The explosion propelled the boy further and he began sprinting towards the finish line. Stallion realized that he was still standing in the place where Todoroki and Bakugou were fighting and he began to sprint after his classmates.
Stallion reached the finish line with the rest of the students in hot pursuit. He had placed fourth, just behind Katsuki.
The wastelander was deep in thought when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Turning around Stallion nearly jumped out of his skin to see Lenz, however instead of the fake coat of makeup and skin she wore previously, the girl was showing her actual skin. It glowed a faint green which turned bright around her neck area. Stallion had always wondered what a Glowing one would look like if they weren't ghouls, he had his answer. Along with her glowing complexion the girl's eyes were a black with a bright green Iris that contrasted nicely with her skin colour. She also wasn't wearing, what Stallion had now realized was a wig. She had her jet black hair done up in a ponytail that hung down to her shoulder blades.
"I-I guess you don't recognize me like this do you…" The girl mumbled.
Realizing he was staring Stallion regained himself and shook his head.
"Lenz, you really don't think that I would forget your face. Do you?" The courier said sarcastically.
The girl's already glowing eyes lit up with happiness. Lenz appeared to be much more self-conscious about herself without the makeup.
"A-anyway, I wanted to congratulate you. I'm impressed you made it to fourth place. Oh! And how you used that minigun! That was so cool! And when you disintegrated those robots!" As Stallion had discovered earlier, whenever combat was the subject she became much more bubbly.
"You saw all that?" Stallion said inquisitively. He hadn't even noticed the girl in the battle, that was, if he noticed anyone. Whenever in combat Stallion had a habit of completely ignoring everything outside of the subject of his focus.
The wastelander suddenly realised that Midnight was announcing the next game. Stallion and his glowing companion jogged over to the rest of the crowd to take a look.
"The participants will form teams of two to four people as they see fit. In theory it's basically the same as a regular playground game, but there is one difference. Each player has been assigned a point value based on the results of the obstacle course" She announced.
Several of Stallion's classmates began to figure out how the rules worked and started explaining it to each other, much to Midnight's dismay as she cracked her whip once more before yelling in frustration.
"MAYBE YOU SHOULD SHUT UP AND LET ME EXPLAIN THINGS TO YOU!"
She regained herself before continuing.
"Now then, the point assignments go up by increments of five starting from the bottom. For example forty-second place is worth five points and forty-first is worth ten. And point place assigned to the first place contestant is… 10 Million!" She exclaimed
Stallion was taken aback by the sudden jump in points before he turned to look at Izuku, in fact, everyone was looking at Izuku.
"Thats right, it's survival of the fittest with those at the bottom given the chance to overthrow the top!" She exclaimed with a crack of her whip.
"Izuku Midoriya placed first in round one! He'll be worth 10 million points!" She pointed at the boy as if to make sure people knew to go after him.
"Sorry Izuku, I'm coming for that headband of yours" Stallion thought as he followed the rest of his classmates in taking aim.
Midnight continued her explanation of the game and adding that it will last 15 minutes and that the teams would be decided by the students. Stallion began walking towards who he knew would be his first teammate, Emma Browns. The wastelander had learned her last name after seeing it on the ranking list. Stallion tapped the girl on her shoulder, she turned around and smiled in agreement.
"I was just looking for you actually" she said before following Stallion to his second choice of teammates. Stallion stepped up to the glowing girl and before he could even open his mouth to ask she responded.
"Yes I'll be on your team" she said with a nod. Stallion had gotten the two people he needed for his plan however in order for it to be a proper strategy he needed one more person.
"Hmmm" Stallion said as he scanned the crowd.
Lenz tapped him on the shoulder.
"If you're looking for a fourth person to join our group I have an idea" she pointed to the blonde boy from the exam.
Stallion shrugged and nodded.
Lenz called out to him
"Hey Sverre!"
The boy turned around and jogged over at the mention of his name. He had bright blue eyes and a small scar on his lip.
"You called Lenz?" Sverre said in a hearty Norwegian voice
The girl nodded
"We wanted you to join our team" she gestured to Stallion and Emma.
He thought for a moment before responding.
"Sure, not like anybody else would have me" he said with a smile.
Stallion nodded and began explaining his plan.
"So as we are going to be fairly big targets due to being closer to the top of the pack, I think we can use that to our advantage" He turned to Emma.
"You will be our front horse. With your increased amount of strength from a human you will be able to support my increased body weight easily" the boy strategized.
He turned to Lenz and was about to start talking before she cut him off.
"I should fully explain my quirk first" she voiced as she held up a finger.
She held out her hand as it began to glow more than before.
"My quirk allows me to control electromagnetic radiation, that includes light, heat, radio waves, infared, X-rays as well as gamma radiation. However I can only control one type at a time and it takes me about an hour to switch between them, my skin also changes colour when I switch types"
Stallion was surprised to hear this, he had thought that she was like a glowing one and could only control gamma radiation however as he now knew, she could control the entire electromagnetic spectrum. He was ecstatic at the idea of her powers.
"That's fantastic! For my current strategy I believe that thermal radiation would work best. You will be part of our defenses. I need you to make the air around us really hot, almost like a heat shield of sorts. Think you can do that?" Stallion explained.
Lenz nodded. Her skin began to glow brightly, it became completely blank before turning a bright red colour. Black lines ran up her arms, contrasting the red surrounding them. She opened her eyes to reveal that the formerly glowing green irises were now a blazing red. Her hair remained black however instead of green highlights there was now dark red. Lenz felt the energy surge through her, making her feel refreshed and ready for anything... that was till she realized that her display had attracted the attention of the other U.A. students. She hung her head in shame as everyone watched her. Stallion was amazed at the dazzling display.
"You look good in red" He remarked as the wastelander patted her on the back.
If the girl's face could have been any more red she would have looked like a tomato, which she did already to a degree.
Stallion turned to look at Sverre.
"I need to know your quirk in order to properly assign you a role" he inquired.
The blonde haired boy looked caught off guard before he began to explain.
"W-well I can produce a variety of effects with my voice. Such as breathing fire or ice blasts or sending a concussive blast of air" he looked flustered as he explained, almost as if he wasn't used to explaining the ability. Stallion nodded and turned to Emma.
"Change of plans, Sverre will be our front horse and will attack with his voice. Emma will provide backup from the back and transfer me to Lenz and Sverre should she need to attack"
The courier finished with a smile as he imagined the idea of victory.
"Wait but what will you do?" Sverre asked.
Stallion pulled a stealth boy from his Personal Information Processor.
"They won't see me coming"
Authors Note: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait on this. I'm in a play at my school and that's kept me pretty busy. Hope you liked the reference to My Hero Academia: Illegals at the beginning there. That spinoff will become more involved in the plot as time goes on. As always, thanks for reading. ^-^
Sincerely
Fabkitty