"You're going on a Manhunt!"
Izuku (and every other hot-blooded male in the stadium) shivered at the way Midnight said 'Manhunt'. Izuku had never seen this event used before, so it must be a new one. But no matter if it was new or not, Izuku was hyped!
"Now, I know that this event hasn't been used in a Sports Festival before, but don't worry. It's going to be a lot of fun! The first 32 of you that crossed the finish line will be participating in this next event! Congratulations to you all! Now! Let me tell you the rules for this event."
She cracked her whip and smiled. "This match will be culling half of the crowd, leaving 16 to move onto the 1v1 matches!"
"The 32 of you will be fighting over this." Midnight held up a black sphere about the size of a basketball."For each second that you hold the ball, you will get 1 point.
Midnight smirked and pointed at Mei. "And as a reward for winning the last event, our first place for the obstacle course, Mei Hatsume, will get a 60 point head start!"
"For the points to count you must have at least one hand on the ball. If 2 people are holding it, neither will get points. Also, you are allowed to use your Quirk's as much as you want!"
She licked her lips. "With Recovery Girl on standby, you're free to go all out!. NOW! Cementoss! Set up the arena please!"
She pointed over to the middle of the field, to where Cementoss was currently building a large arena.
It had 4 raised platforms with 2 stairs and 2 ramps leading up to it. In the centre of the arena was a 6x6 grid of pillars that could be used as cover, and there was a platform for the ball right in the middle of the arena.
Around the whole thing was a wall of cement, meaning that nobody could escape one they were in.
Izuku studied the layout quickly. There was no way for him to hole up and defend a position, not unless he teamed up with someone, so he would have to keep moving.
Mei would be starting with some points, so she would most likely be getting through no matter what, hopefully meaning she held back a bit in this match. (Not likely)
Midnight seemed to be finishing up her speech and told them to move into their starting positions. He smiled as he was picked up and placed one his podium surrounding the arena.
It was Go Time...
The speech ended, and they were shown to their starting positions.
Izuku was getting flashbacks to a certain movie series as he saw the small podiums that the contestants were meant to stand on while they waited for the buzzer.
He turned to his right, waving and smiling to Momo, then checked his left. He didn't know this guys name, but with his Quirk on it looked like he didn't have any lips, his teeth open and on display.
Izuku nodded to the boy as Midnight began the starting countdown. Each count was accompanied by the cracking of her whip.
3!
He cracked his knuckles and jumped in place, shaking his limbs out for a second before dropping into a classic runner's stance.
2!
He double-checked the left and right, mentally listing the opponents that he could see. He only had a line of sight on a few of them, so he would have to be careful.
1!
He reached out and grabbed hold of the others Quirks, ready to suppress them. He used this to mentally note the Quirks he was familiar with, so he at least knew where all of the 1-A students were.
He was less aware of 1-B's capabilities when made Quirkless, but he was confident enough in his own abilities that it didn't upset him too much. Although he did make a mental note to plan some inter-class activities after the festival with 1-B's class president.
He saw Midnight raising her whip and
GO!
And they were off! Or at least, some of them were. Izuku cringed as he shut off everyone's Quirks and saw a few of the more mutation heavy lose their balance and fall over.
But he was on a mission. He weaved his way through the pillars in the middle of the field, every now and then getting a flash of blue from the other students PE uniforms.
He entered the small clearing where the ball was held and was greeted by a smirking Mei. She blew a raspberry at him. "You may be fast, Quirk boy, but I have the power of SCIENCE on my side!"
Izuku chuckled and sprinted after her as she grabbed the ball with her grappling hook. He rushed forward and managed to grab hold of the cord, intercepting the ball before it reached her.
"AND IZUKU MIDORIYA SNATCHES THE BALL OFF MEI HATSUME! START THE TIMER PEOPLE, COUNT UP HIS POINTS!"
Izuku grumbled at the fact that they would be announcing when people lost the ball but accepted it. It was a televised event, after all, he should expect there to be theatrics involved.
He rushed through the arena, seeing people chasing after him, fighting amongst themselves. He wasn't sure exactly how long he held onto the ball, but he guessed around 30 seconds.
As he was distracted trying to sprint while avoiding the pillars in the middle, as well as keeping track of who was behind him, he didn't realise that there was someone coming from his front.
He yelled out as he got coat-hangered, slamming to the floor as Katsuki laughed at him. Katsuki snatched the ball off the ground and started running. Izuku stood up, catching his breath, before following him.
"KATSUKI BAKUGOU LANDS A -KILLER- BLOW ON IZUKU MIDORIYA, AND TAKES THE BALL!
He caught up to the boy and tackled him, the ball spilling from both their hands and rolling forward. Katsuki tried to stand up but Izuku kicked the back of his knees, making him crumple over, right before being dragged down by Katsuki as he tried to stand.
"AND NOW MIDORIYA AND BAKUGOU ARE FIGHTING OVER THE BALL! OH NO, THEY HAVE INCOMING!"
As they fought over the ball, Iida had caught up to them and scooped the ball up as he ran to the top of one of the raised platforms, panting. He was used to extending periods of running, but not without using his engines before.
Iida held onto the ball for just over a minute as he ran around and kicked people down the ramps of the platform, playing an impromptu game of king of the hill. Honestly? Izuku was proud of the boy for holding out so long without his Quirk.
That minute was spent fighting, for Izuku and Katsuki. Izuku was mostly dodging the attacks or redirecting them to the floor or his sides. "What's the matter Bakugou? You seem to be having trouble hitting your target!"
Katsuki roared and charged at Izuku. He threw a massive right hook, and right as Izuku went to counter as he had been for the last minute, he dropped to the floor and swept Izuku's legs out from under him.
Izuku hit the ground with a huff, having momentarily forgotten about Bakugou's practice with Muay Thai before rolling to the side to avoid the kick that followed it.
"LOOK AT ALL THIS CHAOS! TENYA IIDA OF CLASS 1-A HAS HELD ONTO THE BALL FOR JUST OVER A FULL MINUTE! BUT LOOK AT THIS!"
'This' was Momo, the first person of the horde of students to finally getting a hit in on Iida, and the boy dropping the ball. Momo grabbed it as it bounced, dodging Kaminari's outstretched hand, grabbing for the ball as well.
She landed, kicked the electric boy in the face, and then rolled down the ramp to get away from the crowd. The group of students seemed to take a moment to realise that Iida no longer had the ball, and following Momo.
"Hey, Momo!" Izuku yelled over as he stopped smothering her Quirk. She seemed to realise that was what he was doing. She flashed him a smile that almost made his heart stop, and he smiled back.
She immediately made herself a short wooden staff and wielded it like a short sword as Pony reached her. She smacked out at Pony, and the rod smacked into the side of the girls head.
"MOMO YAOYOROZU SOMEHOW USES HER QUIRK! COULD SHE BE IMMUNE TO WHATEVER IS HAPPENING DOWN THERE?"
"No, one of the other students is just being highly irrational."
Momo huffed in pride as Pony fell over, as well as being slightly worried about the girl. Her worries were calmed when she saw the girl get back up, shake her head, and continue to chase her. "Take that as revenge for the battle trial!"
And so the game continued...
"Well done everyone! You all performed spectacularly! Even though some of you had some performance issu-"
"You already used that joke Midnight. Here, everyone, I'll put the final scores up on the big screens, just look up there for your ranking. Anyone on the list will be moving on."
"Well aren't you just a spoilsport Eraserhead! But YES! Look up to the screens to see how you placed!"
1 - Tenya Iida [69 points]
2 - Izuku Midoriya [67 points]
3 - Bakugou Katsuki [63 points]
4 - Todoroki Shouto [61 points]
5 - Mei Hatsume [60 points]
6 - Itsuka Kendo [57 points]
7 - Momo Yaoyorozu [42 points]
8 - Hitoshi Aizawa [38 points]
9 - Pony Tsunotori [24 points]
10 - Ibara Shiozaki [22 points]
11 - Setsuna Tokage [18 points]
12 - Hanta Sero [15 points]
13 - Mina Ashido [11 points]
14 - Kaminari Denki [10 points]
15 - Yanagi Reiko [9 points]
16 - Monoma Neito [8 points
Inko was ecstatic!
Her baby had come second! Out of all the students in that event, a whopping 32, her baby had come second! She had expected him to cancel the other student's Quirks out, but even then she had been worried.
It was her job as his mother after all.
The only thing that was dampening her mood was a niggling in the back of her mind. The entire festival, her mind had been bugging her about this 'Eraserhead'. He sounded so familiar. Like she should know him from somewhere. But she couldn't for the life of her think of where that was!
It was driving her crazy!
Izuku was ecstatic!
He had come second! He was proud of Iida for holding out as long as he had and held no ill will towards the boy for beating him. Bakugou, on the other hand, was furious about his placement, and was screaming at Midnight that he 'wanted a rematch'.
Midnight just shook her head and sighed, before cracking her whip. "Listen up kiddos! You have an hour until we start the 1 on 1's, so use them wisely! And for all you people who didn't make it to the next round, we have some fun games so you can still strut your stuff!"
Izuku was about to head over to Momo when a cold hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned and saw Todoroki glaring at him. "Midoriya."
Izuku almost flinched from the tone. It sounded angry, confused, and very strained. He just smiled at the boy. "What's up Todoroki? How can I help you?"
Todoroki nodded his head towards the hallways of the stadium. Izuku got the gist. "Please accompany me. There is… something I wish to talk about with you."
Izuku nodded at him. He could hear how much this was making Todoroki uncomfortable, so he planned on making it easier for him. "Sure, I'll follow. And know that you don't have to talk until you want to, alright? I'm here for you Todoroki-"
"-Just lead the way."