Hello readers, it's finally 4/20. Which means, Happy Birthday to our explosive boy, Bakugo.
Time for the next part of the Sports Festival!
Chapter 21: The Storm Clouds Gather (Sports Festival Arc Part 2).
Back at the Waiting Room...
"HOW THE HELL DID YOU LOSE TO THAT BROCCOLI PIECE OF SHIT?!" yelled the Hero Killer.
"Awww… is poor wittle Chizome pissed?" Kazume cooed, "It is what it is, stop being a bitch. He earned it, I wasn't about to take it from him, he's earned the right to stand alongside the best.
"EXCUSE ME?!" said Stain, feeling extra furious at his younger brother.
"Oh gag me! Stop being so angry, you know that makes your lifespan smaller, right?" Pain snarled, taking over to take shots at his brother.
"YOU JUST MADE A BIG FUCKING MISTAKE LASHING OUT AT ME! YOU'RE GONNA WISH THAT YOU TOOK BACK WHAT YOU SAID! Enjoy your shitty Sports Festival, but just know… you better watch your back, cause next time we meet, I'LL SEND YOUR HEAD BACK TO YOUR FUCKING FAKE FAMILY!" Stain hung up on Kazume.
Somewhere in Crime city (Hosu)...
After Stain finished his phone call, he wanted to lash out his frustrations at something… anything… anything that breathes. He thought he had his younger brother on his strings, but after that recent phone call, there was nothing but bad blood. He had multiple chances to kill him off ever since he left the Bloodhound group… ever since he abandoned his real family. Sooner or later, he'll meet again with his younger brother and he will definitely kill him.
He looked down at the crowd watching the Sports Festival in the Jumbotron, finding some way to lash out his frustration, but without killing a civilian. He found the perfect target, a police car patrolling the area, making sure they take a look around the streets while heroes are busy watching the Sports Festival or guarding it. He took out a knife and threw it with rapid velocity to the police car.
*SSHAAATTTTEERR* The knife broke through the front windshield and hit right near the police officer's face on the right side. The police driver panicked and swerved out the street right into the crowd and nearly crashed into a building. Luckily, the crowd got out of the way and the police car stopped before it crashed into a wall of a building.
The police got out of the car to find the culprit responsible for breaking the windshield with a knife, "What the hell! What bastard is responsible for almost killing me with a knife?!" said the police officer.
"Look up there on the rooftop, it's him!" yelled the other police officer assisting the driver.
Stain got detected, which was perfect because it means heroes are coming. Not just heroes, but he found out that he'd gained enough traction to have… fans?
"What should we do? We can't go after him. He's number four in Japan's most wanted!" said the police assistant.
"The only thing we can do is call backup… no, call a hero!" said the police driver.
The police dialed the number of the Hosu hero agency, the one led by the Turbo Hero, Ingenium. Stain grinned ferally, he would get exactly what he wanted…
"Time to continue my work," said Stain, as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop, running away from the cops.
Meanwhile, at the Sports Festival…
Kazume returned to the stadium with new UA gym clothes. The top forty-two players had already been decided and it turns out that all of Class 1-A, Class 1-B, Mei Hatsume, and Hitoshi Shinso advanced to the next round.
He felt energized, his inner killer instinct started to flare. He was one step closer to fighting… he felt the electricity in his veins, that dark joy in his heart. He was no murderer, but he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the feeling of combat.
"It's time to begin the second round of the Sports Festival. Only the top forty-two students will advance, but don't feel so left out, there's other opportunities for you to be in the spotlight," said Midnight as she licked her lips, "It's time for the real fun to begin. The time to really shine in the bright lights is here."
She raised her whip in the air as the slot machine started rolling to decide the event of the second round. And it continued rolling… and rolling… and rolling...
"Let's find out what we have in store for this round. Will your wildest, pleasurable fantasies become a reality, or is it the long wait that is complete TORTURE! Alright contestants! Prepare yourselves! The next event is..." said Midnight as the slot stopped at 'Calvary Battle'.
"Cavalry battle? Dammit I'm so terrible at that!" exclaimed Denki.
"I wonder how they will team us up?" asked Asui.
"Time to explain the rules, all contestants must team up into a group of 2-4 people. No more, no less. The point value for each player depends on your ranking in the obstacle course, for the 42nd place contestant, your point value is 5 points. 41st is 10 points, and so on. However, for the first place contestant, Izuku Midoriya, your point value is… 10 MILLION POINTS!" said Midnight as she explained the rules of the game.
All eyes were on Izuku, and he felt fear. The other students, especially Todoroki, Bakugo, and those of 1-B. Mei jetted up to Izuku, immediately becoming part of his team on point value and attention alone.
Yet, he only had Hatsume so far, and no one wanted to risk it.
"Now wait just a minute! How come Izuku is worth 10 million points if he only beat me by just the edge of the finger? Isn't that just absolutely ridiculous?" questioned Kazume.
"Now, it's eat or be eaten, and when you win… you become the big fish in this little pond of vicious piranhas!" Midnight said, smirking at them all.
'That makes NO FUCKING SENSE!' Pain yelled.
"Oh well, I guess if that's how it's gonna be, then I'll be the piranha that will devour his prey," Kazume then looks at Midoriya, "WHOLE!"
He felt the eyes of Kazume burning into the back of his skull. Fear dug into his gut. Seeing that… Pain guy show up… what was gonna happen now? That uncertainty bled through his heart, making him even more nervous.
"I have more rules to explain. The cavalry event has a total time limit of fifteen minutes. As you form your teams, you'll be given a headband with the total point value of the entire team, and they must be worn from the neck up. You can steal as many headbands as you can to reach the highest score. Even if your team falls down or has their headband stolen, you can try again and go at it for another round until the time limit reaches zero. You're free to use your quirks as an advantage against other teams but if you intentionally make the other team fall, I'll punish you with a red card and disqualify the person responsible from the event. Without further ado, you have fifteen minutes to make your teams, starting now!" announced the R-rated hero.
The students huddled around to find partners that they can rely on. Most of them picked groups from their own class. There was a large crowd surrounding two students on different ends. On one end, Bakugo had five students that wanted to team up with him.
"You should definitely have me on your team," said Sato.
"No, you definitely should pick me," said Mina.
There was also Shoji, Toru, and Sero asking for him to join. Bakugo was unsure of who to pick and then asked the stupidest question.
"Wait, can you guys tell me what are your quirks again? And your names too?" asked Bakugo.
"Are you kidding me? We're in your class!" exclaimed Mina, she couldn't believe what she just heard.
"Are you really that self-centered?" asked Sato in disgust.
Kirishima then approached the group, arriving late.
"Hey Bakugo! I tried to team up with Todoroki, but his group has reached its max. I think we should definitely team up," said Kirishima.
"Oh hey, shitty hair," greeted Bakugo.
"My name is Kirishima!" he replied to the insult before continuing, "Anyways, you wanna be the rider and collect some headbands, right? You need a strong front horse to not get hurt from your explosive blasts. That job should definitely go to me."
"Hmm, I need someone with lots of muscle," requested Bakugo.
"My quirk is perfect for that. I got this in the bag. You and me, we're getting that 10 million," said Kirishima with confidence.
"Perfect!" said Bakugo with a large grin on his face.
On the other end, Todoroki has already made an alliance with two students, Momo and Denki, but he was missing another front horse.
Meanwhile, Kazume was having no luck. People avoided him like the plague, no matter what he did. He tried to get some together, but it didn't work. He would've done it alone if he could, he didn't need anyone, but that was against the rules. However, hope didn't run out for him.
"Hey Kazume! I was wondering if you want to team up with me, Ribbit," requested Tsuyu.
"You sure about that, Asui? I mean you're a great asset for my team and you have an excellent tongue that can stretch at long range, but… you want to team up with a very unstable personality like me? Why not Midoriya? He has 10 million points," asked Kazume.
"First of all, call me Tsu. Secondly, I asked to team up with you because I want to win. You have pretty amazing skills Kazume. Why wouldn't I team up with you? Ribbit, but that's not all, I saw how close you were to getting first place and also how you were struggling with yourself. It's not right that you gotta struggle alone, and people are intimidated by you, ribbit," explained Asui.
"Look Tsuyu, I still don't feel comfortable with myself to call you Tsu. I still have some inner conflicts, but if you really do want to team up with me, then… I guess I can't deny your request. Let's go win this together, Tsuyu," said Kazume.
"So what role do you want me to do, Kazume? I could be a good front horse for you Kazume with my ability to jump high while carrying lots of weight," asked Asui.
"No, I only need your tongue," replied Kazume.
"Ribbit, my tongue?" Tsuyu said, as she slightly tilted her head to the side in confusion.
"Yeah, your tongue can be useful to either latch onto the opponent's headband, or to catch me after I steal everyone's headbands," answered Kazume.
"Then who's gonna be your front horse?" Asui asked another question.
"I don't want anyone with high mobility or strength. I want a large front horse that can provide us stealth, someone that can keep us hidden. Someone like…" Kazume looked ahead and saw Shoji, who was having trouble finding a team, "Perfect, hey Shoji!"
Shoji formed a mouth on his left side of his Dupli-arms, "Need anything from me?" he asked.
"You wanna team up with me and Tsuyu? I think you'll make the perfect front horse to hide us from the enemies thanks to your Dupli-arms. And with my excellent skill set of my maneuverability and throwing knives at a rapid speed, they won't see our attacks coming at them. So whaddya say?" asked Kazume.
"I'm in," said Shoji from another mouth formed on his right side.
"So what else do you need for your team, Kazume?" asked Tsuyu.
"The last thing I need for our guaranteed success is someone with an excellent quirk that can completely immobilize our enemy. That way, me and Asui can have a much easier time stealing the headbands. But I can't make them immobile with my Bloodcurdle, or I might get disqualified. I need someone else with a better quirk that can keep them stuck in place, any ideas?" asked Kazume.
The two were silent, not because they don't know which person can help Kazume, but because they KNOW who exactly the one who can help Kazume, but don't want to admit it.
He emerged from the crowd like an olympian, with Tsuyu ready to bitch slap him with her tongue if he tried anything. Shoji wanted to volleyball serve him into the sky and kick him even further.
"KAZUME! NO ONE WILL TAKE MEEEEEEEE!" he howled and cried.
"Let me fucking guess… you were asking out the girls to team up with you, and they think that you only want them to you join to be part of some bullshit harem. If that's correct, then there's your reason why. If you came here to become my grape smoothie, then… Welcome Aboard. Otherwise, FUCK OFF, YOU FUCKING MIDGET! GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULD TEAM UP WITH YOU?!" yelled Kazume.
Mineta dropped to his knees, "Please! I have sticky balls! You need a guy that restrains, a guy who restrains others without cutting 'em up. I'd be perfect! Please take me on and I'll never look at a single boob again! I'll be a Celibate! I will deprive myself of the sacred time!"
"Are you sure about that? If you're lying, I could use a grape smoothie after this exhausting day," asked Kazume as he drew out his bear claws.
"Anything! Anything! PLEAAAASSSSSSSSSSSEEEEE! I'd even donate my left nut!" Mineta howled.
"Alright, alright! You can join our team. I was gonna ask you to join us anyway," Kazume accepted Mineta to the team.
Mineta suddenly grew serious, "Let's rock! An'- What? So I didn't have to beg?" he gasped.
"For the love of- YES!" Kazume snarled viciously, "I was just testing you on how dedicated you are into being a great asset on my team. Seeing as you'd give up on your perverted ways… or at least that's what I HOPE YOU DO, we might have a chance," Kazume sighed, not having total faith in the greaseball, but he had some measure of it in the other two.
Meanwhile, Midoriya was all alone due to his 10 million point value that everyone wanted to steal for themselves. He felt like he did before. Alone, scared that he couldn't impress All Might, scared that he'd let his mom down. She supported him this far, and in some way, this was to repay her… or that's what his mind thought.
"Hey Deku! We should team up!" requested Uraraka.
If there was anything out there looking out for him… he was praising their name, tears gushed out, making all the firefighters watching at home jealous if they were to see it anyway…
"URARAKA… ARE YOU CERTAIN YOU'RE NOT LYING AND WANT TO TAKE AWAY MY TEN MILLION POINTS?!" Izuku bawled as he continued to spray out his tears like a hydrant. Moments later, he finally calmed down.
"Of course not, I'm glad to be on your team! I can help you secure that ten million if we can run away from everyone thanks to my quirk. Plus it's better to team up with people you like!"
Izuku made a weird face, like he got punched in the gut and liked it. The small grunt he made from the cuteness of Uraraka only made the image even more odd.
"Um… Deku? You alright?" asked a concerned Uraraka.
"Y-yeah, I just thought… that my chest was gonna erupt. I was thinking of teaming up with you as well. Afterall, for a game that requires excellent teamwork, it's best to group up with people you trust the most. Now that I think about it, with your zero-gravity and another person's quirk, we can really pull through with your plan," stated Midoriya.
"Well well well, it looks like you two lovebirds are inseparable," teased Kazume. Izuku looked like he was about to explode his blood vessels and Uraraka looked like she would float into orbit.
"Hahahahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's so funny, Kazume!" Izuku snapped.
"I wasn't joking," Kazume deadpanned. He always saw them doing the whole 'blushing crush' routine, hell, he was going through the same thing. It takes one to know one after all…
"So what do you want, Pain?" asked Izuku, unsure of what Kazume or Pain is up to.
"Why the hostility, Midoriya? It's me. I'm not gonna bite. Although, I'm here to warn you that I'm coming for you. And when I do, I'm gonna claim back first place. So you better prepare yourself, and hopefully your sweetheart can protect you from my knives. See you later!" said Kazume as he walked away from the two friends.
"S-s-sweetheart?" Uraraka stammered, practically glowing.
"He's probably just messing with us, Uraraka. Let's go find Iida." said Midoriya.
The two walked towards Iida, who was standing by Momo, Denki, and Todoroki.
"Hey Iida, want to team up with us? We can work together with your quirk and Uraraka's quirk to outrun the enemy easily. The problem is that we need one more person to ride with us and provide some defense. I don't have it quite planned out yet, but I just hope that you can help us," asked Midoriya.
"I appreciate your offer Midoriya, but I'm gonna have to refuse. I'm sorry. Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kazume aren't the only ones who view you as a rival. I've lost to you many times before and teaming up with you isn't gonna help me become a stronger hero. This time, I'll try my best to defeat you and win the festival," Iida walked away towards Todoroki's teammates, as he decided to join them and help them win.
Both were shocked to hear that their close friend had turned against them for this round. Even though they really shouldn't be… all of a sudden, both of them heard a buzzing and saw Mei Hatsume jetting towards them on one boot and fixing the other.
"You're in first place! That means all eyes are gonna be on you! THAT MEANS YOU'RE HOT STUFF!" Mei exclaimed, grabbing Izuku's hands and slinging him around in manic joy.
"That means that my precious babies are gonna be in the SPOTLIGHT! Eehehehehe! I'm sooooooo excited!" Mei squealed.
"Babies?" Uraraka asked.
"Yeah! These little guys and gals! Well… they're machinery so they don't have genders, but…" Mei mumbled, "Anywho! I'm gonna join you guys!" she exclaimed.
Uraraka didn't like how Mei manhandled Izuku...
"S-sure thing, uh…" Izuku didn't have any clue of what her name was.
"I'm Mei Hatsume! Inventor Extraordinaire and soon-to-be Support Queen! I'm also available! Not that that's relevant! It's so nice to meet you both either way!" She introduced, still working on her broken boot, giving it a few good whacks.
"Those boots… did Kazume uh…" Izuku was at a loss for words. He saw the damage Kazume caused to her equipment. Thank goodness she's alright but the equipment… "Is there a chance those boots can still come in handy to help us float?" asked Midoriya.
"Yuh-huh! It's got the 'Hatsume Mei Seal of Quality' aside from Raphael breaking one of them! Hehehe! Don't worry, Green Bean!"
"Alright, but we still need one more person for our group. I need someone with a powerful quirk that can defend the three of us from any attack. There isn't much time left and most of the classmates have decided their groups. Hopefully, I'm not too late. I know the perfect option to help us in that part of the plan," said Izuku, running away from the group to quickly find a partner he was looking for to help his team.
Izuku found the one he was looking for and placed his hand on his left shoulder.
"Join us… Tokoyami," requested Midoriya.
"I don't mind but why? What do you need me to do?" asked Tokoyami, accepting Izuku's offer.
"I need help on the defensive end, and thanks to your Dark Shadow, you'll be a big help on that end," explained Midoriya.
"Well you're not wrong there, but I have some weaknesses with my quirk. My shadow is at its strongest in the dark, but I lose control and the shadow goes complete haywire. At daytime, I can have an easier time controlling Dark Shadow, but the sun lowers my attack power. Since my role on your team is to help on the defensive end, then I'll have no problem helping you out. I'll gladly join your team, Midoriya," explained Tokoyami.
Meanwhile, most of Class 1-B huddled around the blonde kid, Neito Monoma.
"Almost the entire audience is keeping tabs on Class 1-A. What's so special about those punks? They're nothing but some self-centered prick, just like Tetsutetsu stated earlier. Why are they the stars at this festival and not us? The only difference between us is that they had fought off a couple of weak villains. Just because we're in Class 1-B doesn't mean we're inferior to the other class. Let's give it our all and show those assholes what we're made of," explained Monoma to his classmates.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Thank you all for reading this story. Don't forget to Favorite/Follow this story to keep up to date with the new chapters of this amazing arc. Stay safe from the virus.