Chapter 8 - Where it Begins
The day of the U.A World Sports Festival had arrived, and the U.A stadium was packed to the brim with crowds from all over the world! There were even more people than last year's festival, with the crowd number this year being over seventy-eight thousand people in attendance!
Not only that, but the event was being televised all over the world, with over millions and millions of people around the planet, gathered together to watch! Commentators of American, Japanese, Israeli, Australian, and British persuasions were there along with the television crews, in order to talk about the events that were going to be unfolding!
And since there were so many people, U.A hired an exclusive security team, known as 'THE SEVENTH LEGION', to watch over the stadium and take care of any problems that occurred. One of the members of the security team was actually Hikari Gensai's older brother, Takeshi.
Takeshi Gensai, also known as 'Azrael', was dressed in his hero costume: A dark brown fedora, a silver gas mask with red eyes, a black trench-coat with a tie underneath, black gloves, a dark brown belt, black pants, and black boots. His quirk was called 'Psychokinesis', and it allowed him to use psychic energy to move objects, whether they be organic or inorganic, and to make constructs.
At the moment, he was patrolling the outer areas of the stadium, making sure that none of the spectators were being petty thieves, or trying to get in without paying.
The team for Japan were changing into their tracksuits, which were the standard U.A tracksuits, but colored differently. Since they were representing their own country, the tracksuits were colored white with red lines. They also had a patch of the flag of Japan on both of their short sleeves, so that people could know which country they were from.
Aside from wearing their tracksuits, some wore the shoes and boots of their costumes: Bakugo, Kirishima, Ashido, Todoroki, and Midoriya were the ones who were wearing the shoes and boots of their costumes, which were was perfectly legal in the Sports Festival.
One thing that was a relief for the girls was that Mineta had not made the team, so they could change without him trying to be a womanizer. As for Kaminari, due to having Sunshine as his girlfriend, he was a lot less womanizing that he would usually be. He would occasionally making a joking comment to the girls, but they were able to laugh it off without it being too weird, as he was being decidedly tame with them.
After Midoriya had put on his tracksuit, he closed his locker and looked over to see Hikari, who was already dressed and waiting to go. Deciding to give her some encouragement, Midoriya went over to her.
"Hey, are you ready?" Midoriya asked.
"Yeah, I'm ready to go!" Hikari replied, her tone cheerful. "Though I'm a little nervous; there are so many people out there! There's even more than last year's!"
"I know what you mean." said Midoriya. "But, the main thing is to not think about the crowds; just focus on getting through the events they have planned."
"Hey, Icy-Hot!" Bakugo yelled, causing Midoriya and Hikari to look over at him. "You better give it your all this time, because I want a hard-earned victory!"
Todoroki, who was approached to by Bakugo, replied, "I'll give you your 'hard earned victory', Bakugo, but I'm not going to be the only one you'll have to worry about."
"I don't give a crap about the others teams! I'll blow them out of the water!" Bakugo yelled. "As for the American team, I'm going to blow them out as well, but not as far!"
There was a knock at the door, and All Might poked his head in, saying, "It's time for us to go out there."
Just like the team for Japan, the team for America were changing into their tracksuits, which were the standard U.A tracksuits, but colored differently. Since they were representing their own country, the tracksuits had a red top, blue pants, and white lines. They also had a patch of the American flag on both of their short sleeves, so that people could know which country they were from.
Most of the American students had their own little spin added to their tracksuits: Murdock wore his white cowboy hat and brown cowboy boots, Sunshine wore a black headband, Milo wore a black army cap, Lelia wore her black cloak and had her gothic parasol with her, Leon had on a black stocking cap, Randall had a red headband, and Matthew had on a red bandanna around his forehead, and white athletic tape around his hands like a boxer.
Unfortunately, there was a member of the American team who was getting a little too prideful about their chances of winning. That, of course, was none other than Peter Cisco.
"After all the teams are introduced, they're going to have one member from each team speak for his or her team." said Peter, as he pulled on his tracksuit top. "And since my father will be watching in the stands, I'll be the one to be speaking for our team! The bad news is, our team is going to be introduced second!"
"But we're on one of the visiting teams, Peter, and they're the home team." said Ulrich, his tone friendly. "So, its only fair that they get to go first."
"I know that, you dumb elephant!" Peter replied, his tone annoyed. "What do think I am, a simpleton?"
"Insulting people shows a lack of intelligence, Peter." said Leon, his tone annoyed.
"And you can shut it too, animal lover!" Peter snarled.
Leon didn't even bother continuing the argument; he knew better than to argue with stupid people like Peter. As Peter continued his rant against the other countries, Matthew watched him while sitting on a bench, an angered and determined look on his face. He was angered by Peter's racial insensitivity, and determined to win the Sports Festival.
"Hey, Matthew, you okay?" Milo asked, sitting beside his friend.
"Yeah, I'm okay; I'm just annoyed by Peter, that's all." Matthew replied.
"I know; he is annoying isn't he?" Milo asked, his tone comical. "And I thought him going to speak for our team was the bad news."
Matthew smiled at that, and then asked, "So, tell me, how is the Sports Festival going to play out?"
"From what I heard Sergeant Vocal tell Sundown, the first thing that's going to happen is the teams are going to be introduced. Japan will be first, America will be second, Britain will be third, Israel fourth, and Australia fifth. Then, they're going to have one member from each team speak for his or her team. After that, the Sports Festival will start; we'll have two events, then we'll break for lunch, then there's a halftime show, and then the two final events. After everything is said and done, they're going to have an awards ceremony for the winners."
"Sounds like fun; can't wait to see the halftime show."
"Yeah, I heard that Joshua, Jiro, and the rest of the band have been practicing for it all week! So it should be great!"
There was a knock at the door, and Sundown poked his head in. He cleared his throat, let out a grunt, and made a motion with his head, signaling for everyone to follow him.
Sunshine saw this, turned to everyone, and announced in an excited tone, "This is it! Let's get on out there!"
Like the two teams before them, the Israeli team were changing into their tracksuits, which were the standard U.A tracksuits, but colored differently. Since they were representing their own country, the tracksuits were colored white with blue lines. They also had a patch of the Israeli flag on both of their short sleeves, so that people could know which country they were from.
"I-I-I wonder how-how-how many people are out-out-out there." Malachi stuttered, his tone nervous.
"Yeah, sounds like a lot, doesn't it?" Shay asked, her tone excited. "Can't wait to get on out there and show them what we've got!"
As Shay and Malachi continued to converse with each other, Cain continued putting on his tracksuit in silence. As he did this, he was deep in his thoughts, mostly about what Eon had said to him yesterday:
"Your brother's blood cries out from the soil, Cain, and that is your curse; you kill, and you will never succeed. No matter what happens, you take a life, you take two lives, and your fate will be sealed."
Just thinking about that made Cain angry, and he wanted to kill someone just to prove Eon wrong. But, there was something haunting him that kept him from hurting anyone, and that was the dead, fish-eyed, glazed look in Abel's eyes, before Cain crushed his dead body into a pulp.
There was a knock at the door, and Eon poked his head in, saying,
"You guys ready? Cause it's time to go!"
Like the other teams before them, the Australian team were getting dressed in the standard U.A tracksuits, which were colored differently, and had a patch flag of Australia on both of their short sleeves. The color of the Australian team's tracksuits was tannish yellow, with dark brown stripes.
"Oh, I'm itching to get on out there!" said Ruby, her tone excited, as she adjusted her hat. "We're going to get out there and kick butt!"
"Easy, Ruby." Koton spoke up, his tone calm and collected. "I know you're excited, but save that energy for when we actually get out there."
"Yeah, you don't want to use all that up in here." Shiloh added, his tone somewhat comical."
"I know, I know, but I'm can't wait!" Ruby replied. "I wanna get out there so bad!"
A knock was heard at their locker room door, and their teacher poked his head in. He had the head of a dingo, which had white and tan fur, pointy ears, grey eyes, and a black nose. As he was just poking his head in, his clothing was a dark green bush ranger coat, and a dark brown fedora with corks dangling by black wire from the brim.
"Time to get moving, kiddos!" said the teacher, his tone of voice excited, and thick with an Australian accent. "Let's get on out there!"
Like the other teams before them, the British team were getting dressed in the standard U.A tracksuits, which were colored differently, and had a patch of the British flag on both of their short sleeves. In order to different themselves from the American team, the color of the British's uniforms were red with white stripes.
"So, all the guys at the coffee shop are going to be watching you, Simon?" McIntyre asked.
"Yeah." Simon replied, tying his shoes. "The 'old goat' called me up, and told me that everybody's rooting for us."
"The old goat?" Alastair asked, his tone confused.
"Yeah, my grandpa, who's been taking care of me, is actually a goat, thanks to his quirk." said Simon. "I've worked and lived in a coffee shop, so every time I go to a public event, it never hurts to have some advertising."
"Is that the name of the coffee shop, those words on your t-shirt?" asked Kamari, as she was now interested in the conversation. "'All Heroics Table'?"
"Yep." Simon replied, opening his tracksuit jacket to show his shirt: it was a light red, and it had the words 'All Heroics Table' printed on it in large, bold font that was colored yellow.
"That's pretty cool." Kamari spoke. "I'll have to try that when we get back."
The locker room door opened, and a female student from the British team came in. Her name was Nami Rieshi.
Name: Nami Rieshi
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Place of Birth: London, England
Nationality: British
Quirk: Lizard - Allows the user to regrow their limbs at a fast rate. Only drawback is cold will cause body temperatures to drop.
Hero Name: Nami
Hero License: Provisional
Original Place of Education: Royal Heroism Institute
Love Interest: NONE
Nami had blonde hair, green eyes, and her face had a helmet-like scaly skin that was colored blue. The rest of her body was colored blue as well, and her clothing consisted of the British team's U.A tracksuit.
"Oy, the teach's calling us out!" said Nami, her tone excited. "It's time!"
The crowd, which was already pumped with excitement to begin with, got even more excited when the torches surrounding the stadium were lit, signifying that the U.A World Sports Festival was getting started!
"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, get on your feet for the U.A World Sports Festival!" Present Mic's voice roared through the loudspeakers of the arena, causing people to get on their feet and let loose with loud cheers. "This is Present Mic, and I'll be doing the announcing and commentating for this event, just as I did last year! Let's give a warm welcome to our teams! First, representing Japan, let's give it up for our hometown heroes, U.A!"
The team for Japan walked out and into the arena of the stadium, and the crowds cheered loudly for them. They stopped in front of a small stage in the arena, where the referee would be standing.
"Second, representing America, let's give it up for the ones who have been visiting U.A and helping out, the team of Justice High!" Present Mic yelled.
The American team came next, and the crowds also cheered loudly for them; many had heard about how the Americans helped U.A, and they were in support of them as well.
"Third, let's give a welcome of respect to the team representing Britain, the team from the Royal Heroism Institute!"
The British team came out, and the crowds cheered for them, but not as loudly as when they cheered for the Japan team, or the American team.
"Fourth, let's give a welcome of peace and respect to the Israeli team, the team of the Nazareth Hero Academy!"
The Israeli team came out, and it was the same as with the British team: the crowds cheered for them, but not as loudly as when they cheered for the Japan team, or the American team.
"Finally, for a team that seems like a lot of fun, let's give a loud and rowdy cheer for the Australian team! Let's give it up for the Outback School for Good Guys!"
The Australian team came out, but it was the same as with the British and Israeli team: the crowds cheered for them, but not as loudly as when they cheered for the Japan team, or the American team.
"And now, give it up for the referee for this event!" Present Mic yelled. "Give it up for the hero from South Africa! Give it up for the 'Lion Hero: Simba'!"
Simba climbed up and onto the referee's platform, in front of the one hundred students. He had dark brown skin, short black hair, and red colored eyes. His clothing consisted a dark red African shirt with orange designs, a cloak made from a lion's pelt, red and yellow fingerless gloves that had silver claws on the knuckles, dark red pants, and black boots.
"Thank you, thank you!" said Simba, upon coming onto the referee's platform. "I am proud to serve as the referee for the U.A World Sports Festival! And, I would like to extend a personal welcome to all of the teams, and people here today! Now, we will call up one member from each team, to speak for his or her team! We will start with Team Japan!"
And with that, the U.A World Sports Festival had begun…
Author's Notes: The U.A World Sports Festival begins now! Unfortunately, this also means that the SYOC for this story is officially closed. But, not to worry; if you've sent in a character before the deadline, and you haven't seen them in the story yet, it just means I haven't put your character in yet. But, as of now, the SYOC is closed...
Credit for the OC:
The Seventh Legion, and Takeshi Gensai, also known as 'Azrael', is owned by ReallyLazyReader.
Nami Rieshi belongs to SpyroFanForever.
The Lion Hero: Simba is owned by me.
R&R,
Heroboy005