Chapter 14: The Human Race

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Reborn! _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Stepping out onto the field, for a split second I almost feel like the excitement from the crowd is a physical force hitting me. Man, that's a lot of people. I knew it would be a ton of people, yeah, but that doesn't quite prepare you for seeing them all. Heroes, businesses, civilians, all of them are crowded in here to watch us. Woah.

Thank god for my poker face developed from years of experience, or else i'd probably be a mess. I'm not used to having so many people watching me. Ah, Present Mic is talking again.

"The UA Sports Festival! The huge annual battle where students sharpen their claws on one another! Anyways, these are the guys, right?! The super cool class who fought off a villain attack in their first year! Hero course, 1-A!" Oh, that's us.

As we're walking, some of my classmates start muttering to themselves. Some nervous, some excited. I only half-pay attention. I have to focus. This is it. The big show. Oh joy, that's a lot of nervousness i'm repressing. Can't be too healthy, that.

Vaguely, I acknowledge the fact that the other classes get introductions that are far less enthusiastic, but ultimately I don't care. Judging by the way the entrance exams are set up, it's likely that at least a few people from general studies are potential Hero Course students who simply lack the destructive power needed to take down the robots.

So ultimately, the only threats are my class, class B, and probably two or three in general studies. Business students aren't likely to even take part in the majority of events, so they're a non-entity. Perhaps one or two from the Support class might have a few tricks up their sleeves, but once again, their goals aren't likely to be 'win', but rather 'show off what i've made', so they might be a little trouble, but only for the first two events.

So, counting all that, plus my classmates, it'll be me versus ohh...about 45 people. Most of the first years are probably going take part in the first event, but almost all of them are irrelevant.

As the mass of students finally reaches the center of the field, right in front of a small stage, I finally get back in the zone. Focus. I've got this.

On stage walks Midnight. In her usual...provocative outfit. She cracks the small riding crop thing she has to catch everyone's attention. I'd question why she has it, but honestly given the rest of her image, i'm not too surprised.

"It's time for the student pledge." Again, more muttering, only this time about the 'R-Rated Hero'. Sigh. Normally I might have been more lenient - i'm a teen male too, sue me - but really guys? So not the time.

"The representative speaker for this year is Class 1-A, Midoriya Izuku!" FUCK. Why wasn't I made aware of this?! Wait, did Aizawa say something about it when I wasn't paying attention? No, looking at the others, they look surprised too.

So they didn't know either. Good. Thank god for my poker face, or I might have broken down by now. It really probably isn't good to repress these emotions for too long though. Whatever. Start walking! Up the stairs, good. I didn't stumble at all. That would have been embarrassing. Now, speak clearly into the speaker. Shit, I don't have a speech planned!

Think, what would Katsuki say? Immediately, the image of him laughing while saying something along the lines of 'I pledge to be number one' pops up. That's...not too bad of an idea actually. Gotta give it the old Izuku twist though.

"I pledge...To give my all to become number one." Immediately, my class goes quiet in shock, while the others start yelling at me. Not surprised really. This is something Katsuki would have done, not me.

"Let me finish." That gets their attention.

"I pledge to give it my all. To stand up on the stage once we're over and know that I did everything I can. And I expect every single one of you to do the same. Stand! Fight with all you've got! Cause if you hesitate for a single second, either here or out on the field, you'll be crushed. I pledge to follow our school motto, and truly go Plus Ultra."

The silence that follows shows that everyone is at least taking what I said into consideration. Of course, I still get a ton of people glaring at me on my way back, but that's expected. I ignore the inquisitive looks on my friends faces, as they try and figure out why I just painted a huge target on my back.

Of course, to me, it makes perfect sense. Yagi wants me to announce my presence in the world. What better way than to take on the entire first year and come out on top? And besides, i've got a few tricks up my sleeve I want to try out, and angry students are the best test-subjects.

Finally, Midnight gets on with everything. She says something or other about people drinking their tears, whatever that means. Then a huge holographic screen pops up behind her. Seriously, what the hell kind of budget does this school have?

The screen is mostly blue, with the UA symbol up in the top right corner. It has a rectangle in the center that spins about like some sort of casino game, before eventually it settles on the words 'Obstacle Race'.

She says the usual stuff, everybody who wants to can participate, four kilometers, all that. One part catches my attention though. 'As long as we stay on the course we can do whatever we want', huh? Excellent.

Almost the whole mob -minus the business people and a couple support people, as expected- moves towards the massive gate on one side of the field. This is the start point. Of course, I notice something immedietly, and instead of trying to get a position at the front like most people, I instead hang towards the back.

The light's above the gate slowly go out, and the mob as a whole tenses. Fools. As the last light goes out and Midnight gives the go-ahead, the whole mob rushes forward at once.

They immedietly run into the first obstacle. The gate itself. See, there's something like 80 or so people participating right now, and they're all trying to get through a hallway designed with a width of maybe 4 people standing shoulder to shoulder. This is why I hung back.

Let's get this started. One for All, Full Cowl: 10%. Best take it easy at the start. Using my new leg strength, I easily hop 20 feet up at an angle, and land my feet on the wall, before I push off, going over the head of the crowd as I easily clear the distance out of the gate.

Below me, I see Half-n-Half make his move. with a wisp of frost coming off him, he freezes the mob as well as the entrance to the gate and the ground ahead of it for a good three or four meters. Of course, for those of us in 1-A, we expected this. I'm flying above the ice, just behind Todoroki, when I see Katsuki use his explosions to launch himself forward, along with Twinkles using his laser, Momo creating a pole to use as a vault, and even Ochako using her quirk to jump over the crowd and ice, kinda like what i'm doing. Most of 1-A follows suit.

As I fall towards the ground, instead of touching the ice, with a small burst of green flickering around my feet, I jump off the air just above the ice, launching me forward again. Of course, I hardly want to ruin the surprise, so I try and get as close to the ground as I can, holding up the illusion that i'm bunny hopping off the ground.

A good chunk of others also escape, but I ignore them. As we move forwards, I see the Purple Menace using his orbs to bounce off the ice. He's taunting Todoroki. I think about letting the robot sneaking up on him take him out. However, I have a far better idea.

With another leap, I end up right next to Purple in the air. Aiming a kick, my foot connects with the arm of the robot about to hit him, shattering it into pieces. Hidden behind the smokescreen of robot pieces and actual smoke, I reach out and grab Purples jacket. He looks up at me with gratitude that slowly fades away into despair at the grin on my face and the look in my eyes.

"Hey Mineta. Can't let you die here, now can we? It'd ruin UA's reputation. So, would you kindly GO DIE IN NEW JERSEY!" And with a spin for extra effect, I use my great strength, the Quirk granted to me by All Might himself in order to maintain the peace and justice in this world, to hurl Purple out of the course. Judging by the weather, his angle of trajectory, and his approximate weight, I think he'll land in about a minute, a good ten kilometers away. And thanks to the smokescreen nobody will even suspect a thing. Nice.

Landing, I turn around to look at what's in front of me, Half-n-Half, and the others running up behind us. Oh hey, it's that zero-pointer from the entrance exam. And he brought friends. Wonderful! Oh, careful, that sarcasm looks kinda deep.

The voices of those behind me are grating, but I once again don't heed them. I kind of have more important things to worry about. Like how Half-n-Half is going through the motions to freeze the one leaning in towards us. And-Holy Fuck. Who knew that apparently he could freeze a giant robot in half a second flat? Oh hey, it's falling. OH FUCK IT'S FALLING!

"Todoroki Shouto of 1-A, everybody! He attacked and defended in one hit! How elegant! And he's the first one through, but look out! Here comes another 1-A student!"

What our announcer, Present Mic is referring to, is the fact that once the first robot started falling, I lit up in Full Cowl once again. With another leap, plus some slight course adjustment with some solid air, I land on the back of it's head.

"Sorry, Todoroki! Can't let you steal the spotlight now can I?" And with that, The light around me intensifies. Full Cowl: 20%. With a flicker and the sound of static, I spear myself through the air, and more importantly, through the head of a robot that had decided to take a swipe at me while it's brother crashes into the ground. It's interesting, seeing the circuits and mechanical parts on the inside of one of these things. Though I imagine punching a hole through one isn't how most get that opportunity.

"Midoriya comes out in second place, taking out another one of those giant robots with one hit! What sort of monsters have you been raising, Eraserhead?!"

Aizawa's response is lost to me, as is the sounds of people behind me panicking, mostly because i'm now occupied with dodging more robots, and keeping an eye out not only for Half-n-Half, but also Katsuki, who took a page out of my book and used his explosions to simply move around the robots.

"Where the hell do you think you two are going, huh?!" Ah, classic Katsuki. Oh, behind him is Birdman and elbows, and climbing up the robot those three just went around is Red and that fuck from before with the yellow shit around his eyes. Huh, neat.

Making more head-way, those of us in front make it to the second challenge. A giant pit. Seriously, what the fuck even is this school?

Of course, for us in the top 3, the pit hardly matters. Todoroki just freezes himself a pathway across the wires connecting the rock platforms. Katsuki proceeds to do as Katsuki does and ignore the pit entirely by blasting himself over it with his Quirk.

Top be honest, I can't give him too much shit, considering it's exactly what I do too. With the ability to create temporary platforms of solid air, the only way for me to fall to my death is if something knocks me out. Of course, I still want to hold the illusion that i'm just jumping off the ground really hard, so I aim for various platforms to 'land' on before jumping off again.

Taking the chance to show off a little, I do a little spin and end up flying upside down and backwards for a bit, taking the chance to look back at the others. Oh hey, it's Mei. She's shouting something about 'babies' and 'corporations', so normal Mei behavior. And then she's off, using a grapple hook belt, and hover boots she actually based off my concept of 'solid air platforms'. It came up in conversation while we were designing tools for me and the others to use. Of course, her boots are a pale imitation of my abilities, but considering she built them in about a month, it's impressive she got anything to work at all. She would have worked great with Spanner, through her personality might have been a bit much for Shoichi.

Flipping myself back into the proper orientation, I leap off another platform, appearing past the pit, between Todoroki and Katsuki overall. Looks like it's between us three for first place. Of course, considering I've literally completed two-thirds of this race with my hands in my pockets, I think i've got a leg up above these two.

And finally, we make it to the final obstacle. Entering into a giant, empty field, I look about for what gimmick could possibly appear next. Thankfully, Present Mic announces it with his usual flair.

"The reality is...it's a minefield! Of course, real mines are too dangerous to use, but these are still loud and give enough of a bang to make you wet your pants!"

Ah. This is...extremely fortunate. Taking a pause to catch my breath, I see Todoroki and Katsuki both start across, running as fast as they can while still watching out for the mines whose positions are obvious given the slightly upturned dirt circles scattered about.

Hmm, let's see. The plan here should be...aha. Leaning down I pick up a small rock, just large enough to take up most of my palm. And with that, I'm off again, jumping over the the 'obstacle'. Of course, any element of surprise I have is lost when Present Mic finally notices the fact that my feet aren't hitting the dirt.

"What's this!? I thought Midoriya was just jumping like a super-rabbit, but instead he's not even touching the ground! He's flying! Just what on earth is this guys Quirk, Eraserhead?!"

"Tch. Midoriya Izuku, class representative of 1-A. Quirk: Reinforcement. He's able to strengthen himself and anything he touches using a sort of internal energy source. This is a new trick but it's just that. If you look closely, you can see the green energy that signifies his quirk in action around his feet. My guess is that he's reinforcing the air under his feet and using it like a stepping stone."

Damn, there goes my surprise. The two in front of me turn somewhat from their little altercation with each other, just in time to see me 'land' behind them. One more jump puts me above their heads moving forward.

"Sup, guys. don't mind me, i'm having a BLAST." Ah, the power of quips and one-liners. With that, I take the rock in my hand, harden it with my Flames, and throw it right between the two of them.

By itself, it would seem i missed. thankfully I wasn't aiming for them. Instead the rock lands right on target: a mine in the ground between them. The impact detonates not only that mine, but also the mines around it, creating a giant cloud that's...pink? The hell did they put in these mines?

The resulting shockwave sends Half-n-Half and Katsuki back a few steps, and send me forward. thankfully for my image, I stuck the landing, walking it of like nothing happened, before jumping forward across the last few feet between me and the gate.

"UA Sports Festival, first year stage! What a rush! Of course, the first person across the finish-line, the man who painted a target on his back, the one who barely looks winded! Class 1-A, Midoriya Izuku!"

The crowd goes fucking ballistic, and for a moment I have to worry about going deaf prematurely. Ah, whatever. I had fun, so let's let them have theirs. I give a cheeky wave to the crowd, and look up at the teachers box.

There's Yagi, looking proud. I smile at him, and get a nod in return. Well, this is what you wanted, right? I've just gotten started though. I hope the next two events are even more fun.

Half-n-Half and Katsuki stumble in after me, taking second and third place respectively. The rest of 1-A, a good chunk of 1-B and a few others file in over the next ten or so minutes. Tenya comes in at number 6, which is given for his Quirk to have been useful during this test. Ochako and Momo come in relatively close together, holding the spots 14 and 15. Not too bad. As expected of people i've recognised as worthy of using Dying Will Flames.

They move over and congratulate me and Katsuki for being in the top 4. I make sure my appreciation for their effort is also recognised. Morale and positive reinforcement, you know? The girls seem happy enough to hear it, so I guess it works.

Now then, Midnight announces the rankings on the screen up to 42nd place. Guess that's the cut-off point. Let's see just what this school has in store.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Reborn! _ _ _ _ _ _ _