Stadium Field
The spinner stopped abruptly, declaring the name of the next event!
'ULTRA EXTREME Ultimate Team Super Survival Freeze Tag!'
"What an excessive title" Sei commented.
Soon after, a big portion of the stage slid open and 3 tables rose out of the hole, each carrying 3 small blue boxes.
"Okay! Time to explain the rules!" Mirko announced. "You'll all be in teams of 4. But don't think you'll get to team up with your buddies since they'll be randomised." She quickly scanned the 36 students, and locked eyes on a satisfactory target. "You! Come on stage" she said as she pointed to Okoma.
He walked onto the white stage and stood with his massive frame easily towering over the Rabbit Hero. Mirko fetched a pair of black gloves out of one of the boxes, giving the pair to the student. "Put those on. Then, I want you to throw your best punch at me!" She declared.
The request threw everyone for a loop, even Okoma. But he complied, winding back his heavy fist to strike the rabbit. He swung his fist forward, catapulting it at Mirko at a blistering speed! But then he stopped. In fact, his body had frozen completely!
"Wha-? What is this?!" He roared.
The crowd watched on, amused by the human statue as he shook and trembled, trying his best to move again.
Mirko removed her palm from Okoma's chest, revealing she was already wearing a white glove on her right hand. "These special gloves will allow you to tag members of a different team and render them immobile. Believe me, it's impossible to move once you've been tagged. Of course, this also means you will be nothing but a liability for your team if tagged." She placed a black-gloved left hand on Okoma's body, freeing him from his stasis. "But you can be untagged, just make sure you don't mess up the second chance you've been given."
Koemi floated down onto the stage, "The premise is simple. Once all members of a team have been tagged, they're eliminated! Tag out an entire team, and you pass! It could be all 4 of them or the last untagged member! As long as the team is eliminated by your hands, you and your team will proceed onto the Final Tournament!"
"However, only the first 4 teams to do so will proceed to the Finals" Mirko added, "so don't think you can just run away every time."
Satori was still bothered by something. "It just seems like freeze tag with extra steps. What's so 'ULTRA EXTREME' about it?" She whispered to her classmates.
Mirko's rabbit ears twitched as she locked eyes with Satori. "Good question!" She answered with a malicious smile, "so how about we kick it up to 'ULTRA EXTREME' then?!"
She pressed another button on her remote. The field began to tremor once again, but much more violently. The 36 student climbed onto the big stage, and watched as the bright green grass slowly began to shimmer a metallic bluish grey.
Koemi flew back up into the air, dispersing all her camera orbs around the field. With rapid speed, the metallic surface twisted and shifted all around them, splitting into 4 sections. One section of the field grew tall and changed into vibrant oaks, while another section flowed into a clear sea, waving across a sandy coast. Crumbling buildings shot out of an adjacent quarter, while scorching heat and lava blasted out from the last one.
VIP Booth
Deku's face was planted onto the large glass pane. He was stunned by the spectacle, and turned back to Nezu, "you have MESS tech now?!"
Nezu nodded, "originally, we had just integrated the Multi-Environmental Simulation System into our newer training grounds. But by implementing it into our Festival Stadium, we felt we could expand the variety of events!" He sipped his tea and let out a quiet snicker, "and I think this might just be the best option we could have got!"
Stadium Field
"We're pushing it to the environmental EXTREME!" Mic proclaimed, "with 4 uniquely terrific terrains for our contestants to work with: the collapsed city, the tidal coast, the towering woodlands and the scorching volcano!"
"The excessive naming... makes a little more sense now" said Sei.
The big screen displayed all the names of the remaining 36, split into 9 teams of 4. Mirko placed a hand on the blue boxes, "your team's colour is on the screen, come get your gloves and meet your teammates so we can start already!"
Grey Team
Fukuro and Satoru adjusted their grey gloves as two other students came over to get theirs.
The spiky red haired kid turned to the two, "I'm Noburu Kusari from Class 1-B..." he pointed to a bright blue boy behind him, "that's Okimura Kurage."
"I'm Fukuro Shisen, and this is Satoru Hatai" she introduced, "I can be a bit aggressive when fightin', and he's stoic as hell. But you can rely on us."
"Same here" Noburu replied.
Fukuro cocked her pistol and started moving to their designated quarter. "Great, so let's go kick some ass out there!"
Purple Team
"I'll say this once..." Kori declared to her teammates. "Do whatever you want. Just don't involve me." She walked off, "I'll clear this stage myself."
Angel sighed, already expecting Kori's cold demand to go exactly how it did. "I hope Mira and the others are doing well" she muttered.
Another student overheard their teammate's remark. "Hmm? You friends with Mira?" They asked.
"Y-yes!" Angel replied, slightly intimidated by the 1-B student, "and you are?"
"Sabu Teiryu, Class 1-B, I'm an old friend of his" Sabu stated. He turned to his other teammate, also from 1-B.
He was a lanky pale kid, with sharp cat-like golden eyes hidden behind thick round glasses, his long, dark blond hair was peppered with black spots, making it reminiscent of leopard fur.
The boy was busy reading a small pocket book, when Sabu grabbed the back of his collar, pulling him into their conversation. "Well? Introduce yourself!"
"Do I have to?" The kid whined gloomily, "I'm... Yasenori Hakobune... pleasure to meet you."
Sabu released his grasp, "now that wasn't so hard now was it?" He leaned closer to Angel, "he's not much of a people person"
"Heard that..." Yasenori mumbled pointing up to a pair of large, pointy, black ears that had just sprouted out of his head. "Lasiurus cinereus, also known as the Hoary Bat. They can hear frequencies over five times that of the maximum hearing range for humans!" He turned back to his book, and pushing up his bottle-glass lenses while his ears reverted to normal, "but your comment is true. Humans just aren't that interesting..."
"Why you..." Sabu grumbled, "I'll show you interesting..."
Angel cracked a smile, eventually laughing at the mini-brawl between her two allies.
"Looks like someone's enjoying the show..." Sabu joked, relinquishing his lock around Yasenori's neck. "Well, we've still got the three of us. And if you're as strong as us two Angel - we'll be more than enough."
Yellow Team
Sei cried out as an unknown body surprised him and forced him to the floor. From what he could see, his aggressor was a female student, most likely from the support class, as she was practically clothed in gear.
The girl had a blindingly bright twinkle in her eyes as she scanned Sei's face. "What luck! I got paired up with the robot!" She exclaimed.
"Can you please get off me?" Sei requested.
"Oh, where are my manners?!" She babbled, swiftly recoiling off him. "I'm Kyo Shinja!"
"Sei Kinzoku..." he mumbled after picking himself up. "And I think our team is waiting on us..."
Sei froze up as Kyo clung onto his left arm. "Then we should get going!" She advised, "but in the meantime, how you tell me all about those high-tech specs of yours, hmm?"
Pink Team
Shin snapped his fingers at Mai and his other two teammates from 1-B. "Please do try your best not to obscure my talent!" He said with his overly sparkling smile. "On a grand stage like this, my illusions will surely fascinate the masses!"
'Just who did we get teamed up with?' Mai and the others thought.
Green Team
"Finally... I have attained it..." Hayate mumbled to himself. He cackled wickedly and took a glance at his other three teammates. "My own... personal... HAREM!"
Satori and the two 1-B girls that made up the rest of the Green Team watched on as Hayate maniacally laughed to himself in creeped out confusion. "What's his deal?" The black and blond-haired pair asked in unison.
Satori laughed sheepishly. "Oh don't mind him, I'll deal with that later..." she forced out, popping a vein.
Blue Team
"Dream team!" Lorie grinned, high-fiving Kye.
"We're going straight to the finals!" Kye replied. But another voice caught their attention.
Tanso gave a thunderous war-cry as he approached the two. "You can count on me!" He roared out pointing to himself, "I'll blast them all away!"
Taro pushed up his glasses with his royal blue gloves. He gave a small smirk, "this team... is genius."
Red Team
"The hell?!" Damian screeched. He scowled and pointed a crimson-gloved finger at his other teammates - Oma and Okoma. "I've gotta team up with 1-A?!"
"You think I wanted to be on a team?" Okoma grunted.
Eiichiro placed a hand on Damian's shoulder, "it was inevitable. Just bare with it for now, okay?"
Oma shrugged, "you can hate us all you want. As long as I'm having fun, I ain't gonna complain."
Damian brushed his friend's hand off. "I can't make any promises.."
White Team
Daigo's was teamed up with Kusaki and Akari Pika from 1-B. She was a bright, peppy girl with almost fluorescent yellow hair and eyes with bright red cheeks. The search for their fourth member came to an end as a smaller boy approached the three.
He had curly, light brown hair and brown eyes. Daigo and the others scanned his freckled face as he timidly introduced himself. "I-I'm Katsuma Shimano."
Daigo smiled warmly, "Nice to meet ya! I'm Daigo and this is Kusaki." He turned to the yellow-haired girl, "he's 1-B with you, right Akari?"
"Nope, never seen him! I thought he was with you guys in 1-A" she replied.
"Which course do you hail from?" Kusaki inquired.
Katsuma stared away from his teammates, as if he was embarrassed to give an answer. "Well..."
Black Team
"You remember me Mira?" Kaito asked.
"Nope" Mira replied bluntly as he fished out his pair of gloves.
The swift answer broke Kaito. The boy sank to the floor defeated. "How could you forget?" He sobbed, "I'm Kaito! Kaito Kyudo, from 1-B!"
Eventually, the memories of their meeting weeks earlier returned to Mira. "Oh, Lorie's friend right?"
"That's all you remember?!" Kaito whined.
Yokina charged in, pleased to see a familiar face on her side. "Mira?! you're on my team? Oh, this is great! Finals, here we come!"
"Looks like I'm with you guys..." a cooler voice said behind Kaito. The boy adjusted his black cap with a dark blue arm and inspected each of the three. "This team seems like it could pull through. Kenta Han, Support Course, at your service."
Yokina sped over, taking a keen interest in the Support Course student. "What is up with your arm?! It's so futuristic and shiny!" She asked.
Kenta quickly hid his sharp eyes (and faint blush) under the brim of his cap, somewhat startled by her sudden attention. "You should save your excitement for after you see what it can do."
"I'll hold you to that then..." Mira added. His smirk shifted into a big grin, raring to go and start the second stage.
"Let's crush this!"
Mirko approached the Black Team. "You'll be starting in the volcanic sector" she said, pointing back to the bubbling cauldron of crimson rock and lava.
"Looks like the prep's been set!" Mic said, "ULTRA EXTREME Ultimate Team Super Survival Freeze Tag, starts NOW!"
VIP Booth
Deku furiously swiped his phone screen, searching the list of remaining contestants for any names he had yet to notice. His eyes widened as his finger stopped at a name that peaked his interest - 'Katsuma Shimano'. It was a name he knew from a while back when he was still a student at U.A.
He couldn't help but reminisce about the last time they met. "I can't believe it's been 8 years" He whispered to himself. Izuku could still remember the departing words he left the boy back on Nabu Island...
"Katsuma! You can be a hero!"
"I'll see you at U.A!"
A proud smile grew on his face as he thought back to his recent visit on the campus. 'He made it! It's a shame I didn't get to see him with the other Hero Course studen-'
Izuku was shocked. He read it over again and again, sure that he had made some mistake when looking at his class...
'1-C... General Studies.'
"Katsuma..." Deku mumbled sorrowfully. But his quiet disappointment was interrupted by Ochaco and the crowd's loud excitement. "Huh? What's going on?" He said.
"Deku have you even been watching? The first battle is about to start!" Ochaco replied.
"EH?!" Deku exclaimed, "what did I miss?!"
Stadium Field
City Sector
Within the broken walls of a tall dilapidated black building, Kori stood calmly surrounded by the Grey Team in a wide concrete hall of sorts, barely held together by numerous concrete pillars. Fukuro kept her pistol locked on the Purple Team member, "where the hell are the others Kori?"
"I don't need them..." Kori scoffed, "this challenge is easy enough for me to do alone."
Koemi hovered by the big screen showcasing the encounter. "Uh oh! Seems like Purple Team's Kori Esupa has already gotten herself into hot waters!"
"You really think you can take all four of us on at once?!" Noburu jeered.
"Of course..." she replied. Her purple eyes faintly glowed as she prepared to fight, "numbers mean nothing when you have power."
The crowd roared, excited to see the outcome of the 4-on-1. All the camera orbs in the sector were focused on the battle, but just outside of the broken structure, another battle was brewing.
The remnants of Purple Team were unknowingly nearby their last teammate, facing off against the Pink Team alogn the worn out asphalt of the City Sector.
A pair of big pink hands shot right at Angel as she twisted and twirled in the air. "Get down here!" Mai exclaimed, struggling to stretch far enough to reach her.
"You're wide open..." Sabu muttered as he dashed in for the tag. But to his surprise, his hand passed straight through her! She exploded into blue smoke, leaving Sabu surrounded in haze. "The hell's this?!" He shouted.
Shin popped his head through the smoke, with a smug smile attached. "Did you enjoy the surprise? Well don't worry, there's more..."
Sabu swiped at the grinning face, but hand also passed right through it, dissipated back into the haze.
Yasenori eyes quickly morphed to a bright reptilian yellow as he searched the smokescreen for heat signatures. "Sabu! There are two of them coming at you from your sides!" He yelled.
"Thanks for the heads up!" He replied. He smirked, "you think cheap tricks will beat me? I'll show you..."
He slowly balled his right hand into a fist, and his forearm started to flashed crimson red! "BLITZ!" He shouted as he slammed his fist into the road.
Immediately, a giant shockwave of destruction blasted out from around him, tearing up the asphalt, uprooting all the streetlights and easily blowing away the blue smoke with the two 1-B Pink Team members inside.
"What on earth was that?!" Shin sputtered.
Sabu stood proud in the epicentre, with his right arm faintly smoking. He turned to Shin and Mai, "That was my quirk, Blitz. You're up against Pure. Unrivalled. Carnage!"
The Pink Team members eventually landed back on the ground. But as they got up, a swift breeze blew between them. Then they were shocked when they realised their bodies had frozen up, while Angel flew away.
"Nice one!" Sabu shouted.
"Let's finish this..." Yasenori mumbled, staring down the remaining Pink members.
Angel was just about to glide back to the battle, something caught her attention. In the corner of her eye, in the crumbling opening of the black building nearby Shin and Mai, she caught a girl's dark blue hair and purple gloves.
She flew over to confirm her suspicions, "Kori?"
Kori looked out the opening briefly, glancing at Angel coldly for a second before switching to surprise that she was even there.
It didn't take long for Angel to switch as well. "Kori!" She yelled.
Moments earlier, the Grey Team finally got the chance they needed. They had grown tired of getting flung into pillars by Kori and constantly chasing after her while she dodged and deflected everything they did.
Noburu saw the opening and took it, reeling his right arm back and punching forward. His chain forearm flew right off instantly and the grey-gloved hand shot right towards the unsuspecting girl.
Or so he thought. Kori ducked right under the chained arm, and it flew right out the opening...
Tagging Angel.
Immediately, her wings locked in place along with everything else. Angel let out a scream as she plummeted.
"What's this?! Seems like a whole other battle was going on without us even knowing!" Mic yelled, "Purple Team's Angel Sora has just been tagged mid flight! I can't bare to watch!"
Sabu and Yasenori dashed as fast as they could, "SHIT! She's falling too fast! We're not gonna make it!" He shouted.
The cracked tarmac got closer and closer, but just before she hit the ground - her speed slowed! She went from dropping like a stone, to drifting like a feather, to outright stopping. At the bottom of the building, Angel felt a strange force cushion her descent.
Though she couldn't move her head, her face was just fine. Angel looked up to the building opening and her eyes widened, stunned to see Kori stretching out a hand towards her, with her eyes shining bright as she channelled her psychic power. The light faded, and Angel felt gravity drop her a far safer distance onto the ground.
"That was too close" Angel said, awaiting the 1-B pair to reach her.
Yasenori untagged her and turned to Sabu, "you saw that too, didn't you?"
He nodded, "to think she was so close. But that's something we can care about later." He pointed back to where the two had come from.
Mai and Shin had used the situation to get by Sabu and Yasenori, and untag their allies. Now that they were back to a full team, the Purple trio had lost their advantage.
Angel apologised, "I should've been more careful."
Sabu grinned and cracked his knuckles, already psyched to fight yet again. "Don't sweat it, we'll just have seal the deal this time!"
Back inside the building, Kori turned back to the fight. She had a different air to her. She wasn't cold or apathetic. She was furious. "How could you..." she muttered, "why did you do that?!"
"She looks angry" Noburu commented.
"Dammit! We've got to end this quick!" Fukuro said, "Okimura now!"
The Grey Team member jumped out from behind one of the pillars near Kori. He lunged in for the tag, but it was useless. With a wave of her hand, he was slammed into the same pillar, crushing it, and leaving Okimura in an unconscious heap.
Kori claimed her first tag, and started darting over to the remaining 3. "I'm gonna destroy you all..." she mumbled. Tension and fear rose amongst the Grey Team as they witnessed Kori's frigidness shift to a sudden malice.
Fukuro could see that Kori's sights were now locked on her. She pointed her pistol at a nearby concrete columns and shot 3 times. "Trickshot: Ricochet Rounds!" The rubber bullets bounced from pillar to pillar zipping straight to Kori in seconds. Each bullet bounced off a different one, but they all flew towards the same target. They were gonna hit her pressure point on the back of her neck, for a quick knockout.
Kori raised her left hand and balled it into a fist. Immediately the three bullets stopped in the air. Kori repositioned the red rounds in front of herself and released her telekinetic hold of the bullets.
The bullets shot back into action, erratically rebounding of the grey pillars yet again. But this time, it was right back at Fukuro. Before she could even react, all 3 struck perfectly right on the back of her neck. Fukuro collapsed to the floor, defeated by her own attack.
"2 left..." Kori hissed as she pulled her hand away from Fukuro. She could see Noburu was trembling in boots. The display of strength had left him frozen, even though he hadn't been tagged. However, Kori was more weary about Satoru. His quirk, Reducer, could weaken the potency of her Psychokinesis. He was definitely the biggest threat on the Grey Team.
Little did she know that said threat would approach her so quickly. Kori felt time stop around her. She had seconds to react or it would all be over. Kori kicked back and Satoru's swipe barely missed her as she manoeuvred away with a back handspring.
Noburu sprung back into action, emboldened by his allies attempt. The two grouped up to take her on. "We've still got the advantage!" He stated.
Kori's eyes raised her left arm above her head, grasping the air. "I won't repeat myself. I'LL JUST SHOW YOU!" She bellowed. "Esupa Force: Tear!" She swung her arm back down, ripping through the space her hand clawed. After a split-second delay, a tremendously huge wisp of energy launched itself at Satoru and Noburu! It easily smashed any of the pillars that lied in its path, travelling at a speed to fast to dodge in such a space.
Satoru barged Noburu out of harms way and took on the full force of her attack! He knew if anyone had a chance to stop it, it was him.
He cried out as he put everything he had into reducing its power. But it was too much. Satoru was overwhelmed and blasted straight through another pillar, skidding across the floor - unconscious.
"Satoru... no way..." Noburu whimpered.
Kori slowly walked over to Noburu. "You... it's all... your fault..." She said, sounding more and more unstable.
Noburu stepped back and tripped over his shaky legs. There was something about Kori that shot fear right into his soul - her eyes.
They weren't cold, they weren't even burning with anger anymore. They were just...
Dark. Void of all love, hope and happiness.
"Sorry Mai, but it ends here!" Sabu declared, reaching in to tag the final Pink Team member.
A bone-chilling scream rang out of the tall black building, followed by a rush of energy blasting right out of all the cracks and openings of the structure, even creating some new ones.
The horn blared and the crowd roared. Koemi took up the mic once again. "AMAZING! Looks like we've got our first qualifying team! Purple Team's Kori Esupa has just single-handedly carried her team to the Final Tournament, eliminating Grey Team entirely on her own!"
"C'mon! She really completed the task before us?!" Sabu whined.
"Seems like she'll be a formidable opponent in the tournament" Yasenori added.
"I guess there's no point crying over it" Sabu said and returned to his hyped up self, "I'll just have to pay her back in the finals."
Angel approached Mai, "I guess that means we don't have to tag you guys anymore!"
"We got super duper lucky!" Mai replied. However, the complaints of another teammate cut their talk short.
Shin struggled in his slightly undignified position: stuck face down in a sprint. He yelled at the girls,"Mai? Mai! Could you please hurry up and untag me?! I can't look spectacular stuck like a broken statue!"
The two laughed at the sight before parting ways. "Good luck!" Said Angel and she leapt up into the air, soaring back to the entrance.
"I'll see you in the finals!" Mai shouted out, waving goodbye. She turned back to Shin's whining again and sighed. "Well, a girl can dream can't she?"
Author's Note
Sup Beans, sorry I've been so slow on the upload, I found out the hard way that introducing a ton of new characters without it ending up all janky is kinda hard. So I think I'll release a chapter in the future introducing all of 1-B.
Please leave any reviews, they great ways for me to know what I'm doing right/wrong and they let me see what you're enjoying about my story!
Stay safe, wash your hands and remember: 6ft apart.