The day of the Sports Festival had arrived, and with it a wave of excitement that had washed over Japan itself.

~"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!"~

Present Mic's voice blasted from every speaker, allowing the entirety of the U.A. campus hear him.

~"Welcome to the first day of the 2179 U.A. Sports Festival, my personal favourite, the First-Year Stage, all these hotshots ready to make their rocking debut, doesn't it just make you want to yell-"~

~"Hisashi, no!"~

~"YAAAAHHHOOOOOOOO!"~

The whole of the U.A. campus winced in unison, their ears ringing.

~"Goddamnit, Hisashi! I think you've deafened me."~

~"Sorry, Eraser."~

~"You should be."~

~"Oh, look, the mics are still on."~

~"Then turn them off, Hisashi."~

~"Sure, sure, sure. What was it again…"~

~"You don't know how to do it, do you?"~

~"I'm sure I'll remember any second now, Eraser."~

The students of 1-A could practically see Aizawa pinching the bridge of his nose through the speakers.

~"You have a radio show, Hisashi, this is literally your job."~

~"Ah-ha! Here it is, told you I'd remem-"~

A massive queue trailed away from the main U.A. entrance, now repaired from the break-in, redesigned with multiple layers, an air gap between each of them.

"Urgh, this is taking too long, all the good seats in the press pit will be taken." Groaned a reporter, the same one who triggered the U.A. Barrier on the morning of the day it was destroyed.

"Kisha, would you give it a rest already." The cameraman at her side rolled his eyes. "They've literally just been attacked by villains, I think it's pretty expected that security checks might be a bit more thorough."

"Tch, what would you know, Enzai-"

"Enzan."

"-you're just a cameraman, I'm a reporter, it's my job to understand all this, to see the patterns no-one else does."

Enzan gave a cough that sounded suspiciously like 'stuck-up bitch'.

Kisha didn't hear him, too busy raving about how covering the event would be her big break, putting all eyes on her.

Enzan looked behind them in the cue, seeing at least another hundred reporter-cameraman duos.

Yeah, sure, all the attention, cause there's absolutely no-one else that might be covering the Sports Festival.

Death Arms groaned as he rolled his neck, feeling the satisfying pop.

"That's gross, you know that, right?"

The hero looked across to Mt. Lady, before shrugging without any other answer.

Mt. Lady rolled her eyes, going to sigh, until something caught her eye.

"Ooh, a takoyaki stand!"

The pro heroine rushed off, leaving Death Arms and Kamui Woods standing alone.

"We're supposed to be patrolling." Kamui sighed as he stopped beside his colleague. "Not sampling the food court."

"One box of your finest takoyaki, please." Mt. Lady entirely ignored her fellow pro hero. "Hold the seaweed."

"Coming right up, sweetheart." The vendor started on her order. "That'll be 500 yen."

Mt. Lady shuffled nervously, pressing an arm against her side and pulling at her collar. "O-Oh, I appear to have forgotten my wallet."

Steam practically shot from the vendor's nose and ears. "IT'S ON THE HOUSE!"

"THANKS!"

Mt. Lady accepted the box from the red-faced vendor.

"Have you no shame?" Kamui questioned, placing a 500 yen coin on the stand counter. "I'll pay."

The vendor tried forcing the coin back to the pro hero. "No, no, it's on the house, like I sai-"

"I insist." Kamui left no room for negotiation, forcing the vendor to accept the coin, imprinted with the beaming face of All Might.

Sighing, Kamui looked over to Mt. Lady, the blonde already eating her takoyaki.

"Want one?" Mt. Lady offered a loaded stick to her wooden comrade.

Kamui frowned under his helmet. "I'll pass, I've had this guy's takoyaki before, it's not very good."

"I'm standing right here!" The vendor cried indignantly. "I'm new to the game and the last thing I need is a pro hero slagging the product!"

Kamui rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Sorry, you know what, I'll just never mention you or your takoyaki."

"Whatever, just get lost, you useless wooden prick! Mt. Lady, would you like a top-up."

"I'd love one!"

Kamui walked back to Death Arms, shaking his head.

"She's a lost cause, kid." Death Arms said. "She's only in it for the fame."

Kamui sighed. "I'd get it if it was for the money, like you, especially since you're from the pre-All Might era, where being a hero was more low profile, like a police officer. But, I guess I just saw something more than a fame-hunter in her, a future that could have been."

"You can't change her." Death Arms replied. "All you can do is nudge her in the right direction."

"I guess."

"What are you two droning on about now, please say not some ancient hero Death-y McBigArms over here looked up to as a kid again." Mt. Lady had rejoined them, continuing to eat her way through the takoyaki.

Death Arms shrugged. "Nothing like, just saying how weird it is to have this many heroes on duty this year."

"Yeah, they've pulled in heroes from all around the country, I even saw a couple from America." Kamui nodded along.

Mt. Lady shrugged. "Cool, now catch up, slowpokes!"

The blonde hero took off, rushing to catch up where they should have been if she hadn't taken a detour.

Kamui and Death Arms hurried after her, the latter grumbling loudly under his breath, more incoherent noises than actual words.

Izuku stretched, warming up his muscles for the day, using it as a chance to calm his frantic mind, eyes closed, allowing the chatter of his classmates to wash over him.

"Aww, I wish we could use our costumes for this." Ashido whined.

Ojiro replied. "Well, since the other courses don't have costumes it wouldn't be very fair, would it?"

"Eh, says the guy with a gi for a hero costume." Ashido retorted, lacking any sort of heat or bite.

A voice suddenly spoke, close to Izuku's ear. "Objectively, Midoriya, I think I'm stronger than you."

Izuku gave out a cry of shock, overbalancing mid-stretch and falling backwards.

Checking himself over, Izuku looked up to see Todoroki looking over him.

"Todoroki, I didn't hear you come over."

The heterochromic boy remained impassive. "No. You didn't."

Izuku resisted the urge to sigh.

Way to make this even more awkward, Todoroki.

Izuku pushed himself to his feet, brushing off his gym uniform, long sleeve tee under it, protecting him from accidentally copying another quirk.

"I think I'm stronger than you." Todoroki repeated himself, the same dull look in his eyes. "More competent as well."

The green-haired boy took a few seconds to compose himself, Todoroki's words had reminded him a little too much of the one's his middle school classmates would spit at him.

Then, Bakugo's words came back to him.

"How could you possibly know he has daddy issues?"

Bakugo shrugged. "He's the son of Endeavor who never uses his fire powers, what else is it going to be?"

"Maybe." Izuku looked up, straight at Todoroki. "But I'm certainly more versatile than you. Like Mr. Aizawa said, no hero is a one trick pony."

Izuku saw a small twinge of something flit across Todoroki's mismatched eyes, before he clamped down on it.

He really does hate his fire, I just thought he was trying to prove he wasn't Endeavor.

Todoroki shrugged. "All Might has an investment in you, doesn't he? It doesn't matter, I'll beat you either way."

Kaminari whistled as he leaned back in his chair. "Cool, the strongest kid in the class is making a declaration of war!"

Bakugo rolled his eyes, jamming a foot behind the blond's chair, stopping him from overbalancing. "What am I, chopped fucking liver?!"

Kaminari shrugged. "Eh."

"Glad we had this talk." Bakugo looked Kaminari dead in the eyes, before removing his foot.

"What are, oh shit!" Kaminari fell backwards, slamming into the floor.

Kirishima grabbed Todoroki's shoulder. "Hey, not cool, man. We're about to go out-"

Todoroki pushed Kirishima's hand off with more force than strictly necessary. "I'm not here to make friends, so I don't really care."

Kirishima gave more shouts of protest as Todoroki turned to walk away.

"Todoroki."

The teen turned his head to look back.

"If you want to beat me, Todoroki." Izuku had one gloved fist clenched, a fire in his eyes. "Then you'll have to come at me with everything you've got!"

Uraraka bounced in her seat, poking Bakugo as she did. "This is like a fated battle between men!"

Bakugo rolled his eyes and sighed. "Everything is a fated battle between men to you."

The speaker in the prep room crackled into life.

~"Class 1-A, please report to your assigned entrance tunnel, that is Class 1-A, time to report to your entrance tunnel."~

Izuku and Todoroki's interaction was forgotten, the members of Class 1-A gathering up their belongings and heading towards the assembly point.

Momo excused herself from Ashido and Jiro, heading towards Todoroki as he stowed away his satchel in a locker.

"Todoroki."

The teen glanced over his shoulder at her. "Yes?"

"You didn't need to do that." Momo spoke. "Izuku doesn't need you-"

"It's Izuku now, is it?" Todoroki's mismatched eyes grew dark.

Momo stopped herself from blushing. "Izuku is my friend, and so are you, I don't want my friends fighting."

"I have to." Todoroki replied dully.

"Why?"

"You know why my father trained me, to surpass All Might." Todoroki answered, looking at Izuku. "Before I do that, I have to defeat his son."

Momo's eyes widened.

All Might is Izuku's father? He couldn't be…

But then...

"I see, I'm glad you are well, All Might."

All Might only smiled wider. "Thank you, but don't mind me, it was Young Midoriya you were here to see, after all. Just pretend like I'm not here."

Just after the USJ attack, Izuku and All Might had been placed together in the infirmary, everyone's parents had been called to collect them.

Except Izuku's.

"Oh."

~"Ladies, Gentlemen, Everybody, clap your hands, the First Year Stage is about to begin! Aren't you excited Eraserhead!"~

~"I'm wondering how I let you convince me into agreeing to this."~

~"Aw, you know you love me really!"~

~"Who told you that lie?"~

~"You wound me! Ha! Anyway, on with the show! It's the U.A. Sports Festival, the once-a-year event where our delightful students mercilessly beat each other into the ground."~

~"Hizashi."~

~"First up we have Class 1-A, of the Heroics Course, the badasses who've already faced down villains and told them where to go."~

Izuku swallowed down his fear, walking out into the stadium, at the front of his class, Momo at his side.

~"Next up, it's 1-B, you may not have heard much about them so far, but be ready to get a shock!"~

Another class walked out onto the grass, many of them throwing dirty looks at 1-A. Izuku quickly found Monoma, stood beside 1-B's class representative, Itsuka Kendo, and waved.

Monoma frowned.

~"And now it's the General Education Course, a hotbed for the great minds of the future and plenty of underground heroes, like you, Eraserhead?"

~"I make no comment."~

~"It's Classes 1-C, 1-D and 1-E!"~

More students flooded into the stadium, all converging towards the platform at the center, the lavender-haired boy amongst them.

~"It's the terrifying, ahem, I mean, wonderful little geniuses from the Support Course, the Costume Design class, 1-F, and the two Support Gear classes, 1-G and 1-H!"~

Three classes entered the stadium, amongst 1-H stood Mikumo and Hatsume, the former in just his gym outfit, the latter laden with gadgets.

~"Last, by no means the least, the Business Department, 1-I, 1-J and 1-K. These brainboxes might not be directly competing in the events today, but their analysis of the competitors' quirks and potential public image aren't to be sniffed at!"~

The students of U.A.'s first year assembled in front of the raised platform, on it stood Midnight, in her hero costume, a massive screen behind her, lit up with the words 'First-Year Stage'.

"Line up, children!" Midnight cracked her whip. "It's time to begin!"

~"For today's festivitives we're going to be having a double whammy! The R-Rated Heroine, Midnight, will be the judge and proctor of the events, while the presenter will be the one, the only… ALL MIGHT!"~

The crowd lost it, cheering madly, jumping up and down in their seats.

"IT'S TIME FOR THE FIRST EVENT! WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE!"

Dressed in his Golden Age costume, All Might landed on the platform, flexing, a gust of wind blowing over Midnight and the students, almost knocking the former off her feet.

Izuku winced as the volume of the crowd somehow managed to increase, the fervor rising at the sight of the No.1 Hero, in the flesh.

Turning his head, Izuku looked up at the private box reserved for Pro Heroes, he didn't need an enhanced sight quirk to see Endeavor seething at the appearance of All Might.

The green-haired boy added his own cheers to those of the spectators and his classmates. Izuku was happy, and very excited, that All Might, or Toshinori as the man insisted he called him, was able to present the first-year stage as originally planned.

Over the last two weeks he and Izuku had trained together every single day, the No.1 Hero was now noticeably less gaunt, leading to his hero time increasing to four hours, where it had plateaued.

Izuku had also gained more muscle, as well as an extra inch or two in height, his new diet giving him the energy his previous one hadn't.

The cheering began to die out, All Might was making it clear with his body language that he was ready to talk.

"As Present Mic has said, welcome to the First-Year Stage of the U.A. Sports Festival. I must say what an honour it is to be presenting it, ah, the memories of my own Sports Festival are among my most treasured. The day I first said-"

"I AM HERE!" The crowd yelled back at him in unison.

All Might beamed. "That I did, and now it's the turn of the next class to follow in the footsteps of myself and my compatriots! But first, the athlete's pledge will be delivered by 1-A's Katsuki Bakugo!"

The No.1 Hero gestured to where Bakugo stood, among the students.

"Him?"

"Must be because he got top in the Entrance Exam."

"The Heroics Entrance Exam."

"Come on up, Young Bakugo!"

Bakugo rolled his eyes. "Tch, I'm coming."

The explosive teen slouched towards the platform, and stopping at the microphone.

Izuku braced himself for whatever inflammatory speech Bakugo would spout. He had lobbied for himself and Kendo to give speeches as well as Class Representatives. It had been shot down, citing that they'd have to let the other nine Class Representatives give speeches as well.

Bakugo opened his mouth, and spoke.

"All men are not created equal. This was the reality I learned about society at the young age of four."

Izuku froze in shock at Bakugo's words, the same one that started the suicide note the green-haired boy had written three years ago.

"I learned it when I got a quirk, and my best friend didn't. All he wanted to be was a hero. I got the perfect hero quirk, and he got nothing. He was robbed of his chance."

Bakugo paused, the entire stadium was silent, no-one spoke.

"Basically, the world doesn't owe any of us shi-, anything. If you want something, you'll have to fight for it yourself, tooth and nail."

Even All Might watched the blonde teen with confusion.

"So, if you wanna stop me from taking first place, you'll have to come at me with everything you've got!"

Bakugo's normal twisted smile returned for his last statement, instead of the outrage Izuku had expected his fellow first-years were yelling back at Bakugo, telling him they'd beat him.

"Tch, prove it then!"

With that, Bakugo turned and slouched his way back to the rest of 1-A, stopping in between Uraraka and Kirishima.

"That was so manly, Bakugo!" Kirishima prodded him with his elbow.

"Whatever, Weird Hair! And stop poking me!" Bakugo growled, lacking its normal heat.

"My name's Kirishima, you know it!" The red-haired teen protested.

"Of course he does." Uraraka beamed, nodding her head. "He's just too aloof to use them. Isn't that right, Kacchan?"

Bakugo's eye twitched, wisps of smoke trailing from his palm.

Izuku watched on, an old, very familiar and very traitorous feeling rose in his stomach.

Jealousy.

He tried to squash it down, like he'd done for so many years, watching everyone crowd round Kacchan, and he was all alone.

And it was happening all over again, all of a sudden Uraraka had gone from disliking Bakugo with the rest of the class, bar Kirishima, to being the best of friends.

She could even call him Kacchan.

Now he'd actually had a taste of what having friends was like, Izuku couldn't push feelings away, they were clawing their way up his throat, like bile.

His breathing was beginning to quicken.

"Izuku?"

A hand rested on Izuku's shoulder, snapping him back to reality.

The crowd was beginning to move back towards the edge of the stadium, All Might was pulling a pose on the stage, the words 'OBSTACLE COURSE RACE' emblazoned on the screen behind him.

"Izuku?"

He followed the voice and the hand of his shoulder to find Momo, looking at him with worried eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Izuku almost went to reply that he was fine, when he stopped.

He wasn't.

"I just got reminded of something." Izuku answered. "I got distracted."

Momo didn't break eye contact. "Is it because Uraraka and Bakugo are friendly now?"

"How did you?"

"I'm good at guessing, call it intuition." Momo crackled a small, weak smile.

A warm feeling flooded through Izuku.

Momo spoke. "You're worried that everyone else is going to become Bakugo's friend and leave you behind, aren't you?"

Izuku hesistanted, before nodding. "I know I shouldn't, I know it's petty-"

"I never had friends, not before U.A., only acquaintances." Momo interrupted. "I know how that feels, too be so alone, like you could vanish any second and no-one would even notice."

Izuku nodded again, too choked up to speak.

"Then how about we make a pact, to be each other's friend." Momo held out her hand.

Izuku took it. "That sounds nice."

"It does."

The two set off for the edge of the stadium with the rest of the stragglers, Momo filling Izuku in on what he'd missed, their hands still held in the others.

Neither of them noticed the mismatched eyes watching them.

Izuku lined up at the start line, towards the back of the pack due to his panic attack. Momo was at his side, clearly doing some kind of breathing exercise to calm herself.

The green-haired boy looked back at the course ahead of him, there was no sign of the three obstacles they'd have to face. He knew he couldn't afford to use One For All this early on, hopefully not until the third-stage, the amount of damage Hyper Regeneration could heal wasn't infinite, there'd come a point where he couldn't heal any more injuries.

So, I'll just have to use my other quirks until then.

Izuku took a deep breath, crouching forward, ready to run.

~DING!~

~"START!"~

Everyone surged towards, immediately forming a crush that swallowed Izuku and Momo up.

At the front of the pack Todoroki broke free, ice forming from his right foot every time it touched the ground, freezing his competitors' feet in place.

~"Wow, wow, wow! Only a few seconds in and we've already seen the first flashy move. That's Shoto Todoroki, quirk - Half-Hot, Half-Cold. Capable of producing fire from his left side and ice from his right. Watch out, this guy's got options!"~

Izuku reached into his quirkspace, grasping for the correct quirks.

B - Fire Breath. S - Slingshot.

Over the last two days Izuku had completely overhauled his quirkspace, giving each quirk a rating, S, A, B, C, D, E and U. S-class denoted the most useful and versatile quirks, such as One For All, A to C-class created a scale of usefulness. D-class was for quirks he'd merged with others, purely for his own record, he'd even made a spreadsheet.

E-class for quirks that were very niche in application or too lethal for common use, while finally, U-class, was for unusable quirks such as mutant type.

Fire spewed from Izuku's lips, aimed in the direction of his frozen legs, melting them free. Crouching down, Slingshot pushed down on the ground, creating a small crater as Izuku rocketed into the air, above the crowd.

But he wasn't alone.

"You ain't getting ahead that easy, Half-'n'-Half!"

Bakugo shot through the sky, twin explosions maintaining his trajectory. Momo was close to Izuku, a metal shaft created from her wrist propelling her, Kirishima had used his Hardening to break the ice, Uraraka floating through the air for a few seconds before cancelling it, her skin slightly green.

The rest of Class 1-A had broken through as well, from Aoyama firing his Naval Laser in short bursts, to Ashido gliding on her acid, to Tokoyami being carried along by Dark Shadow.

They weren't the only ones, a smattering of students from various classes, such as 1-B's Monoma, running on a series of hard air projections, or the lavender-haired boy from GenEd being carried aloft by others from the Costume Design Department.

Turning his attention back to himself, Izuku called on his Strength and Speed quirks, at a medium setting to conserve energy.

Hitting the ground with both legs, saved from shattering by Shock Absorption, Izuku pushed off, moving at a rapid pace akin to Iida's third gear, his strength cracking the ice underfoot.

~"This is getting crazy, Todoroki's breezing his way through in first right now, but 1-A's Bakugo and Midoriya aren't far behind!"~

Izuku risked a glance over, Bakugo was firing his explosions every time he landed, yelling every time he did.

~"Looks like these little superstars have reached the First Barrier, and it's a sc-sc-scary one! Robo-Inferno!"~

Turning his focus back to run, Izuku watched in a mix of surprise and horror as ten Zero-Pointers loomed above them.

But he wouldn't falter.

A wave of ice shot out from in front of Todoroki, freezing three of the Zero-Pointers in place, worryingly off balance.

"So this is what the others faced in the Entrance Exam, pathetic." Todoroki sneered at the frozen Zero-Pointers as he ran through their legs.

"Look, we can run under too!" A girl with elephant tusks pointed after Todoroki.

Words tumbled from Izuku's lips. "Don't! Todoroki's frozen them off balance, they'll fall any second!"

They immediately proved Izuku right, crashing down on Kirishima and Tetsutetsu.

Izuku's feet began to move, he couldn't leave Tetsutetsu under the metal, he would need medical attention immediately, he was sure Kirishima would have hardened himself before he was crushed.

"What the hell, that could have killed someone if they didn't have a quirk like mine." Kirishima yelled in anger and disbelief as he ripped through the metal like wet paper, his skin hardened by his quirk.

Izuku breathed a small sigh of relief, his classmate was safe, he could focus entirely on finding Tetsutetsu.

"What the hell, that could have killed someone if they didn't have a quirk like mine." Tetsutetsu yelled in anger and disbelief as he ripped through the metal like wet paper, his skin hardened metal.

Both Kirishima and Tetsutetsu glared at each other, non-verbally accusing the other of copying them.

~"Looks like that Todoroki really is ruthless, breaking through the First Barrier and hindering the competition in one swift move!"~

Izuku watched as Bakugo blasted into the sky, clearly aiming to go over rather than under, with Sero, Tokoyami and Aoyama in hot pursuit.

~"Bakugo is storming way over breach, making a pathway for other members of 1-A!"~

Glancing over at Momo, Izuku blushed and immediately looked away, the dark-haired girl had opened her gym jacket to create a cannon.

I need to get past these Zero-Pointers, under isn't an option thanks to Todoroki, and I don't have enough propulsion to go over.

Then, I'll just have to go through!

Izuku touched a hand to his clothes, closing his eyes.

C - Water Body. C - Liquidise. A - Hydrokinesis.

"Parallel Circuit: Body of Neptune!"

The green-haired teen's body rippled, transforming entirely into clear liquid, Water Body's ability. His clothes quickly followed, thanks to Liquidise, a quirk similar to Shigaraki's, except any affected person or object would be returned to normal when deactivated, unharmed.

Finally, Izuku called on Hydrokinesis, using it to pull the water that made up his body at high speed, passing through the Zero-Pointers, shorting two of them out on his way.

Breaking clear of the First Barrier, Izuku returned his body to normal, landing safely in forward roll, uninjured once again thanks to Shock Absorption, and back onto his feet.

Izuku ran, Speed carrying him along, slowly but surely catching up with Todoroki, Bakugo and the rest of the front runners.

~"Wahoo! Looks like Todoroki has reached the Second Barrier! The Fall, rock pillars connected by rope, you better keep your balance cause if you fall into the chasm below, that's disqualification!"~

Todoroki didn't even break his stride, ice forming under his right foot, creating a bridge to a pillar a quarter of the way across, his left foot melting it as soon as he crossed it.

Izuku paused, Body of Neptune seemed like the best option, he could bypass the pillars entirely.

C - Water Body. C - Liquidi-

"Hey, the sky is dayglow yellow."

Izuku turned his head to see the lavender-haired boy standing behind him.

"What?"

And Izuku knew no more.

Izuku's eyes fluttered open, the light-filled void of his quirkspace greeting him.

"Yo, kid, you're awake!"

The green-haired boy sat bolt upright, catching sight of a bald man in combat uniform, an ammo-filled bandolier across his chest, goggles resting on his forehead.

"You're like Seven, aren't you?"

The bald man laughed, a deep, rumbling sound. "So that's what she called herself, then. I guess you can call me Five then, just keep the theme consistent."

"What happened, the last two times Seven appeared to me was when I was overclocking Quirksmith." Izuku pushed himself to his feet.

"Use that flashy water quirk of yours to send me to the other side of the fall."

"That purple brat brainwashed you, must be his quirk, using you to get ahead in his game." Five shrugged. "You're completely under his control."

"Then, jump into the fall and disqualify yourself."

Panic rose inside Izuku at the lavender-haired boy's words, his Liquidise and Hydrokinesis quirks activating, shining bright inside his quirkspace.

"I can't fall here, I promised All Might I'd show the world I was here." Izuku's panic increased as he felt his quirks deactivate, the lavender-haired boy must have made it to the other side.

His body began to walk forwards, feet dragging slightly, the part of Izuku's mind still in the physical world could see his classmates passing him, Mikumo using his repulsor boots to leap between pillars, Hatsume had some kind of hoverboots, allowing her to glide.

Izuku's foot reached out, and met nothing.

He was falling.

~"What's going on, the former front runner, 1-A's Midoriya has willingly walked into the drop, he's only got a few seconds before he hits the net, if he does he'll be disqualified."~

"I can't fail!" Izuku was desperately trying to move his body, but it was in vain. "But I can't move! Or use any of my quirks!"

Five laughed again. "I said you were completely under his control, not me."

"What?"

The bald man grinned, holding his hand out and clicking his fingers.

Izuku's fingers snapped.

Pain shot through him and broke him from the lavender-haired boy's brainwashing.

Izuku felt himself reach the apex of his recoil from Five using One For All, still well below surface level.

Izuku was still falling.

But now, he knew what he could do.

S - Slingshot.

Pressing all five fingertips of his uninjured hand to his chest, Izuku felt himself freeze in place, head to the sky, back pointing in the direction of the start line.

Attaching all four strands of Slingshot's telekinetic power to the rock wall behind him, lower than himself, Izuku pulled.

S - Rockhard.

Izuku's back turned to granite, only seconds before it slammed into the wall, almost driving the air from his lungs.

I'll only have one shot at this, I don't have time to try again if I'm aiming for the top spot!

Izuku gritted his teeth, ready to release Slingshot.

~"Looks like Midoriya will be disqualified, what a shame, I was rooting for the little listener."~

~"Pfft, I wouldn't count him out just yet, that kid is pretty much a genius, he's not to be underestimated."~

Izuku felt his cheeks warm, that was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said about him.

~"Haha, you're going soft, Eraserhead!"~

~"No I'm not, I just know potential when I see it."~

The green-haired teen smiled, angling himself and releasing Slingshot.

~"Seems like Midnight is about to call it, Midoriya is-"~

Izuku rocketed out of the chasm, flying high into the air, his green haired pressed flat against his scalp.

~"Holy hell, did someone fire that kid out of a cannon, looks like Midoriya is safe from disqualification, this kid's going to give me a heart attack at this rate!"~

~"You and me both, damn problem child, but he's in last place now, he'll have a hell of a time to catch back up."~

Izuku could hear the warmth in his teacher's voice, but he had more pressing matters to focus on.

Landing.

Or in this case, not.

E - Cluck Cluck. A - Wind Generation.

Cluck Cluck, one quirk Izuku had deemed largely limited in application, now he could see he was wrong.

Spreading his arms out, Izuku's body transformed, taking on the appearance of a chicken, wings replacing his arms. The downside of this quirk was exactly that, the appearance of a chicken, not the abilities.

But it would allow him to glide, with Wind Generation propelling him from his feet.

~"Todoroki and Bakugo are well underway with the third barrier, the Minefield. Watch your step, or you'll get blown sky high!"~

~"The mines are non-lethal, but they will sting if you're not careful."~

~"Yep, that they are, if you look carefully you can see where they are!"~

Izuku flared the tornadoes at his feet, pushing himself along faster. This obstacle was designed to slow the front runners down, to give those further back to catch up in dramatic style.

And he was going to do just that.

Deactivating Cluck Cluck and Wind Generation as he glided close to the ground, Izuku hit it running, a moderate boost from Speed allowing him to push past many of his competitors, moving up to around 180th place by Izuku's quick math.

~"Woah, Todoroki and Bakugo are still neck and neck as they exit the minefield, there's only fifty meters to the finish line, the two of them are fighting even as they run!"~

Izuku took a deep breath.

Conserving energy doesn't matter anymore, normally around the top 40 move on to the next round, if I want to reach that I'll have to go all out!

One For All…

"JET SET RUN!"

Green lightning surged around Izuku as he pulled on the full x9.2 multiplier of Speed, and applied One For All to the quirk.

His legs turned to a blur, passing through the minefield in less than a second, the mines he carelessly stepped on detonating long after he'd passed them.

Izuku gave one final push, his surroundings blurring as he reached the tunnel at the end, just as Todoroki and Bakugo crossed the finish line.

~"Second Place, it's Todo-, wait, it's Midoriya, when did he get there!"~

Izuku lost his footing as he slowed, bouncing across the grass as he slowly came to a halt, looking up at the cloudless sky above.

It's not first place, but I made it.

Izuku smiled.