And we are finally here! The US Sports festival begins as of right this chapter. I'm excited about this as I've already planned out how the events will go and who does what. The response to the last chapter was pretty nice but some of you criticized me for the lack of actions and major add-ins to the overall plot, I don't get that. As the name of the said chapter explains, it was meant to be quiet and slow-paced, the calm before the storm if you will. Besides what was revealed was more for Yu's sake than Izuku's as a wanted to add some things to her backstory and character which to that end() I don't read the manga as I like watching the story play out in the anime so I didn't even know about Yu using her quirk to help with cattle farming. Though you will be surprised as to who is in her family tree.
One last thing, I've already made up the matches and teams so please don't ask me to change something in that regard, small-add ins or minor changes are fine but I won't take anything that will affect the overall results of the festival.
Chapter 15: Let the Games…Begin!
(UA High School-Day of the 1st year Sports Festival)
"The Bag checking is taking forever." A familiar female reporter complained to her cameraman. They had been waiting in line for the past two hours as many other reporters, photographers, and journalists that came before them had their bags and equipment scanned and searched while their IDs were verified.
"They were just attacked by villains, of course, their security will be beefed up." The cameraman reminded her as he looked over the wall at the fireworks being let off. "Of course, they are people criticizing their decision to have the festival this year."
"Controversy equals ratings!" She shot back, sounding and looking much more hyped as she imagined how happy their boss would be if they could get better coverage than the rest of the reporters present. "Class 1-A will be the ones to watch this year, too" She added with a clenched fist and expected smile on her face.
"Yeah, normally it's the third years that are the ones to watch but surviving a villain attack must have given them an edge over their fellow students." Her colleague agreed with her as 1-A was the group on everyone's mind but every one of them had escaped media personal or downright refused(threaten) the more persistent ones.
"Did you hear that Endeavour's youngest son is one of the first-year hero students as well?" She asked as that juicy tidbit was something she had found out earlier that day.
"Are you kidding me? Wow!" The man replied in shock at the news. "This year's festival is going to be crazy."
(With the Pros)
"One order of takoyaki, please." Mt. Lady asked as she along with Kamui Woods and Death Arms stood in front of one of the many food stalls, this one, in particular, selling the best takoyaki at the festival, at least that what the reviews from previous years said.
"Oh, Mt. Lady!" The vendor said as he looked up to see he didn't have just one but three pro heroes as customers.
"No green seaweed." She added at the end.
"You got it. That'll be 500 yen." The vendor said as he looked down to prepare the order, missing how Mt. Lady froze for a moment.
"Eh…." Mt. Lady started bashfully as she wiggled in place with her finger on her chin. "Well, you see...I don't have the money on me right now so…"
"That's hot! It's free!" The vendor fell for it hook, line and sinker and presented her the meal.
"Thanks!" Mt. Lady replied as she took the meal before he could change his mind, leaving her two colleagues to shake their heads in disappointment at her actions.
"Have you no pride?" Kamui asked her.
'Oh for the love of-' Death Arms thought to himself as he took out his wallet and laid out 1,000 yen on the counter. "I'll pay, and make that a double." The muscle bond hero said as he put his wallet away lest he lost it.
"Thanks, big guy, you're the best." Mt. Lady thanked him with a smile as she ate her food and found out those reviews weren't lying, this was good!
"I only paid because I don't like seeing you 'flaunting your stuff' for free food." Death Arms shot down her apology as he accepted his meal and the trio left the stand.
"Oh come one, don't act like you don't." Mt. Lady smirked as she happily ate her food, thanking her breakfast was turning out to be so good. As to why this was her breakfast….
She'll never tell.
"I don't." Kamui Woods said as he looked down a bit depressed as he realized he couldn't get his food, not as long as he kept his helmet on which now that he thought about it, seemed like a design flaw when he thought about it.
"Well of course you don't Woodsie, you're a wooden puppy. Too pure." Mt. Lady joked as she looked around at the different stalls and saw they were selling everything from food to hero-themed clothing and masks. She wondered if she could send Jeanist something bit knowing him, he'll just ignore it and get back to work.
"Wha-! I am NOT a wooden puppy!" Kamui defended himself, quite offended about her last jab as she very well knew he didn't like dogs. "I merely have a moral and ethical code that I've sworn to abide by."
(Later)
"I had hoped that we would have been able to conduct more scouting of the area." Death Arms said as the three pros walked through the inner areas of the stalls near the entrance to the actual stadium.
"We're working security so we don't have much of a choice." Kamui Woods replied as he looked over the lines of people waiting to enter the stadium, there was one for family, another for VIPS which was separate from the other two, and finally one for everyone else.
"Still, it looks like they called on pros from across the country for this one." Mt. Lady noted as she saw all the different pros-(at least she hoped they were pros, people dressing up like heroes wasn't rare but it wasn't common either)-walking around, most of which she didn't recognize which meant they were probably were from agencies outside of the prefecture.
"It's not a bad move, UA needs to keep their students safe now that villains are getting bold enough to attack them in broad daylight." Kamui reminded her, though if he knew what she was thinking of, he might be concerned for any would-be villains.
'If even a single one of those villains lay a hand on my Izu, I throw them into an active volcano.' Yu thought to herself as she imagined someone daring to hurt her lover….they would not live to regret it.
"Lady, you good?" Death Arms asked her as she has fallen silent.
"I'm fine, why are you asking?" Mt. Lady asked him as she turned to face her much, much taller companion.
"You had this air of violent intent just now." He replied as she gestured towards her. Kamui nodding his head in agreement as that aura she had, scared them.
"Oh, that was nothing, just thinking about the suitable punishments for anyone who touches what is mine and mine alone." Was her cryptic answer as she started to hum a song they didn't know and continue on their patrol. Leaving the two men silent as they watched her walk ahead.
"Note to self, don't touch her stuff." Death Arms said as he didn't know why she said that but he was smart enough to know when to ask a question and when to withhold them.
"Agreed."
'Why do I feel like I'm been marked like property?' Midoriya thought to himself as the odd feeling passed down his back. 'Probably nothing.' He concluded after a moment's thought and continued towards 1-A's gathering room. He has just gotten word that they were to assemble on the pitch and he had to send the word seeing how none of them were allowed their phones till later in the day.
"Man," Ashido said as she inspected her PE uniform with a pout. "I wanted to wear my costume."
"Can't be helped, they want to keep things as fair as possible, after all." Ojiro explained to her as he finished lacing up his shoes. "They'll be kids from the support and general studies group too."
"I wonder what the first round is going to be." Sato asked Shoji and Tokoyami, both appearing to be cool and collected as Sato himself was visibly nervous.
"No matters the stipulations we'll face, we must be ready and able to accomplish our goals." Tokoyami stated as he folded his arms.
"He's not wrong." Shoji said in agreement, keeping his reply short.
"All right people, you all set? We will be entering the field soon." Midoriya announced as he walked into the room, getting everyone's attention to their class rep who like Aoyama, was the only one wearing any special gear as he had put in the request forms a while back. He was wearing a much sleeker and streamlined black and green version of his old pack along with a newly upgraded pair of red boots.
"Midoriya." Todoroki said as he got up and walked towards the quirkless boy, his stance relaxed but his eyes sharp.
"What you need Todoroki?" Midoriya asked as he turned to face him fully, though the height difference wasn't doing him any favors, he was still able to look into the taller boy's eyes and keep his face clear of emotion.
'Man, you can feel the tension in the air?' Uraraka noted to herself as the tension in the room went up when two of their strongest classmates locked fictional horns like this.
'I don't think I've ever seen Todoroki starting a conversation with anyone.' Kaminari noted to himself as he gets a smile on his face, though it was shaky and he had a nervous sweat.
"Looking at things from an objective standpoint, I think I'm stronger than you." Todoroki stated out of the blue, as it that was a fact of life.
"Eh?" Practically everyone said in response to his rather callous words, did he only want to say that?
"However, from that same standpoint, you're the smarter and more adaptable fighter. If we were to fight, I'm not too sure which one of us would win." He added in the same tone, making it clear he wasn't just breaking his opponent down for later but trying to figure something out, as to what that was? No one could guess.
"Did he just…?" Ashido asked the tailed boy next to her.
"Yeah, never thought I'll see the day." Ojiro said in disbelief as that was one of the few times they even heard the duel-haired boy speak.
"And not just that," Todoroki went one, seemingly sharpening his gaze on Midoriya. "It seems that All Might has his eyes on you. I would wager that you're his favored student to win the festival. But I will beat you." He finished his declaration with a cold fire of will in his eyes, making it clear to Midoriya that he truly was aiming for that victory.
"Man, two of our heavy hitters are declaring war on each other? Is that the best idea?" Kaminari asked the group as a whole as they still had to worry about the other classes gunning for them, he didn't think the conflict between each other was a good idea.
"Hey, hey, why are you picking fights out of the blue?" Kirishima asked as he got in-between the two to play peacemaker, sharing Kaminari sentiments on the matter. "We're about to start, this isn't the best time for this." His word was ignored as Todoroki just brushed him aside as he turned for the door.
"Don't you remember what Aizawa-sensei told us?" The recommendation student asked him. "We're not here to make friends, so my declaration as you all put it is merely my way of conveying my intent." And with that, he began to walk away but just as he reached the door, Midoriya spoke up.
"Todoroki, I don't know what you're deciding to confront me and frankly, I don't care." His response got the boy to pause as his hand reached for the doorknob. "Your right in your words. Your quirk does make you the stronger of the two of us but my years of training and study make me the smarter fighter. I didn't expect that my friends in this very room would go easy on me and I don't want them do." He said, cutting down any belief that was against the harsh words of Todoroki, which to some was a surprise as they thought he would want unity. "We came to UA to go beyond our limits and to reach our dreams, I won't accept victory or defeat if my opponent wasn't giving it 110%." He finished as he walked over the taller boy and looked him straight in the eye with his glare of determination.
"Midoriya…" Uraraka said quietly as he was enraptured but his impromptu speech.
"Damn…" Jiro said to herself with a small smirk as this was getting good.
"My point is this," Midoriya started as he got closer to Todoroki as he reached for the door himself. "We are all gunning for the top, so I accept your challenge," He said as he grabbed onto it and begun to walk away. "So bring your best to the fight…otherwise" Midoriya stated as he opened the door and stepped into the hallway. "You'll be the one who falls at my feet." And just like that, he walked away, he had thrown down his glove and challenge
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"Agreed." Todoroki finally said in agreement as the two boys left the room, seemingly walking together but at visible odds.
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'Dammit, that was so manly I can't stand it!' Kirishima thought to himself as he held back tears of admiration at such a display and spirit.
"It's like those two are rivals straight out of a Shonen Jump series." Hagakure added as she got up and went for the door as well, the rest following soon after her as the last thing they needed for an excuse for Aizawa to punish them.
(In the Announcer's booth)
"Hey!" Present Mic said as every jumbo screen in the arena went active and every station started airing across the board. "What's up party people?" He asked as the crowd roared in excitement, the volume so loud they had to dumb it down for the viewers at home.
"Pay attention, audience!" He said as he waved his arms around in anticipation for what's to come. "Swarm Mass Media!" He said as every media person in the stadium started their cameras for pictures, etc.
"This year's high school rodeo of adolescence that you all love, The UA sports festival, is about to begin!" Present Mic said as he stood up from his chair in the announcer seat and grabbed the microphone. "Are you ready?!" His answer was the roaring cheers from the crowd getting louder somehow. But that's to be expected when your stadium had seat more than 75,000 people(80,000 if they took out comforts such as personal space)
"It's time for our first-year students to take to the stage and strut their stuff!" He called out as he gestured to the many paths into the stadium that the different classes would be walking out of any moment now.
(With the Midoriya and Bakugo's)
"Ohhhhhh! I can't wait to see our son win this whole thing Hisashi!" Inko gushed as she held onto her husband's hand. The man in question was a slightly older gentleman with black eyes with a few grey hairs here and there along with bright blue eyes. He was wearing a casual get-up made up of a blue dress shirt along with brown slacks and black shoes. Never let it be said that the Midoriya were a family of fashion trendsetters, they just wore whatever was comfortable and sensible, nothing more.
"They hell you talking bout!" Mitsuki yelled at her from the next seat over, she was seated alongside her won husband, Masaru. "Our brats gonna cream the competition!"
"Now dear, I don't think this-!" Masaru tried to downplay the conversation but he was denied, lucky for them, family members of students sat in their section of the stands away from the general public so all they had to worry about were the other parents, siblings, uncles, aunts….you get the point, the audience watching them was smaller.
"Please, Izuku had always been the smarter one, he'll think his way out of any challenge they throw at him!" Inko shot back in support of her only child, puffing up her chest in a manner that was both sexy as it emphasized her bust and cute as it seemed like something a high-school girl would do.
"Inko, please don't start-!" Now Hisashi was trying to reign in his wife before the two of them starting to argue, it was times like these that made both men wonder how the two women didn't know where their sons got their rivalry from.
"I'll like to see him think his way out of an explosion!" Mitsuki countered with a smirk.
"Prepare to be surprised Mitsuki." Inko answered as she was confident that after all these years, her boy had come up with some form of a counter for Katsuki.
'Why are they like this?' Both men thought to themselves as they locked eyes with each other and breathed in exhaustion.
"Alright, how bout a bet." Mitsuki suggested. "If Katsuki doesn't win, then I'll pay up 5,000 yen but if Izuku doesn't win, you pay up 5,000 yen. Deal?" She offered as she held out her hand to her old friend.
"Deal!" Inko quickly agreed as she gave the blonde woman a smirk. "I can't wait to get some extra money, I can use it to cook a victory dinner tonight."
"Jokes on you cause you're gonna be short cash to buy ice cream to drown you defeat in." Mitsuki shot back as she already could see the money.
"Would you two please stop? We're supposed to be supporting them, not betting on the two like their racehorses." Masaru said to the two.
"Masaru is right. Can't well just enjoy this? Please?" Hisashi said in agreement with his fellow husband as he held onto his wife's hand to keep her grounded.
"Oh fine…" Inko relented as she sat back down next to him, Mitsuki following suit.
"Yeah, your right." The blonde woman added.
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"The bet's still on though." Inko said out of the blue, just as the two men thought they were in the clear.
"Who said it wasn't" Mitsuki replied. Getting both men to groan at their antics.
(With Midoriya)
'It's time to shrine.' Midoriya thought to himself as he along with the rest of the class walked towards the light at the end of the path, knowing that out within that light was their first of three chances to make a name for themselves.
"The UA Sports festival, an epic and huge battle where fledging heroes sharpen their blades and hone their skills once a year!" Present Mic hyped up the crowd. "Anyway, these are the guys, right?"
"The students with miraculous hearts of steel who overcame enemy attack!" The pro said as the first couple of students walked into the light of day for all to see. "From the Hero course, class 1-A!" Present Mic was introduced as the entire class walked out of the hallway onto the field, awe struck by how many people were watching him just in the stadium, there was no way for them to know how many millions more were watching this in Japan and abroad.
"Damn, there are a lot more people than I thought they'll be." Midoriya said to himself as he caught a patch of green hair in the family wing which sadly wasn't Inko but another woman, thought she looked somewhat similar to Asui so maybe they were related.
"I wonder if we can perform at our best with such a large audience." Iida replied as he looked over the crowd saw his mother but not his father and brother. He knew his brother had work today, something about tracking down some villain in Hosu but that was it, he didn't know where his father was. "This is also part of our training required to become a hero." He finished as he buried those kinds of thoughts and tried to focus on what was in front of him.
"He sure is going overboard with that praise, I'm getting kinda nervous here." Kirishima said to Bakugo as he had a bit of a nervous look to himself, this was a daunting experience. "What about you, Bakugo?"
"No, I'm just getting more into it." Bakugo responded with a feral look of excitement on his face.
"They haven't gotten as much airtime but this class is bursting with talent nonetheless!" Present Mic continued as another class made their way onto the field from another entry point. "Hero course, class 1-B!" And leading their sister class were Tetsutetsu, Ibara, and Monoma. One looking determined and focused, the other was serene and passive and the last having his usual smug smirk on his face.
"Next up is the Jack of all Trades, the general studies classes of C, D, and E!" The next few classes didn't look as hyped up as one would expect but that was expected of the general studies group.
"Then we have our neighborhood gear and motorheads, the support classes of F, G, and H!" The next group made their way onto the field, being identified by their gear that they either carried or was strapped to their persons. One of which was a certain pink-haired student with her signature steam-punk goggles.
"And finally, last but not least, the masters of the pen and the presentation! Business course classes I, J and K!" The last group of students walked with confidence in their step even though most of them knew they weren't going to last till the 2nd round, all of them knowing the third round was not in the cards for them.
"And with that, all of UA first-year students have been assembled!" Present Mick said as all 220 students made it onto the pitch.
"Yeah right, we're just here to make you guys feel better." One of the general studies learners said to himself.
"I'm not feeling it today." Another agreed with him as she rubbed the back of her head in slight annoyance, the purple-haired boy from earlier keeping his thoughts to himself.
"Time for the athlete's prayer." Midnight announced from her position on the small stage in front of the students.
"I can't believe that this year's empire is the R-rated Hero, Midnight!"
"This is gonna be good!"
"What is Ms. Midnight wearing?" Kirishima asked Kaminari as they both covered up a slight blush.
"Her costume apparently." Kaminari answered as this wasn't the first time any of them had seen it but it was still… eye-catching nonetheless.
"And whose smart idea was for an R-rated hero to teach at a high school?" Tokoyami asked the group as a whole.
"Who knows." Sero shrugged his shoulders as he didn't put much thought into it and went with the flow.
"Quiet everyone!" Midnight commanded with a flick of her whip. "Representing the students is Midoriya Izuku of class 1-A!" She called out as she pointed said whip at the boy in question who just started making his way to the stage.
"Midoriya?" Uraraka wondered.
"Well, he did score the highest of the entry exam, remember?" Aoyama said with his flare, though not everyone was amused.
"The hero course exam." One of the general studies girls corrected the blonde with a bored glare.
"R-right. Apologies." Iida said as he did a quick bow to them before he turned his attention to the stage once more.
"Man we are not loved right now." Kaminari joked.
"And it because Bakugo decided to pick a fight with everyone." Sero muttered as he looked Bakugo's way but was caught when the angry blonde locked eyes with him.
"You wanna run that by me again?" Bakugo asked/threatened him, keeping himself from letting loose some small blasts as wasn't the time, he told himself he'll blow up the office tape dispenser later.
"N-no…" Sero said as he weakly chuckled and quickly turned away. At the same time, Midoriya had reached the top of the stage and moved to the microphone. He was silent for a couple of moments before he opened his mouth.
"I get this is the part where I say something so bland and peppy, most of you gag on the annoying levels of positivity and tune out and watch cartoons or something but screw it." Midoriya stated with a straight face as he looked over the crowd.
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"WHAT!" Everyone from the students to the crowd screamed in disbelief.
"What are you doing Izuku?!" Inko screamed as she never imagined her son doing something like this! Oh, she knew she shouldn't have let him watch all those PG-16 movies.
"Didn't know he grew balls that big." Mitsuki didn't share her sentiment and just looked impressed that he did so.
"Instead I'll just say it like it is. This here festival is the event of the year and we as the participants have the solemn duty of not only keeping all entertained but to prove that we have what it takes to handle this world when our time comes, this is our chance to show you that you can rest easy knowing that this world we live in is going to safe hands." Midoriya continued as he looked over the students gathered, his gaze staying on some longer than others.
"So Manly!" Kirishima said to himself as he could see that Midoriya was only hyping things up.
"Yes, 1-A was attacked by villains, yes we managed to walk away with both our health and lives but this single incident should be a wake-up call to each student standing here right now and it doesn't count for shit if you're in the hero course or not!" Midoriya went on, getting that fact out of the way before he rose his voice near the end.
"So much passion, how can he be in 1-A?" Tetsutetsu said to himself, they needed this level of passion in their class!
"All Might, Endeavour, Hawks, Best Jeanist, Ingenium, Ryuku." He went on as he listed off the names of well-known pros, Todoroki stiffening a bit at Endeavour being mentioned. "These are just a few of the names that have made this country and world as safe as it is for us. But this here is UA, we don't settle for the past nor do we focus on the present." Izuku continued as he rose his clenched fist to his chest. "Just as the current top heroes rose the bar of what it means to be a hero and what standards we must be held to but it is now our turn to do the same. I'll end this with a warning to each of you numbskulls." He said as he pointed towards the students, not minding all the glares he was getting for the 'numbskull' comment.
"And now he has insults." Awase muttered to himself as he wanted to see where he was going with this.
"This is UA High! Our motto is to Go Beyond! Plus Ultra!" Midoriya roared at them, getting most to jump from the change of volume of his voice. "I want you all the push yourselves to the limits of what you think is possible and surpass that. Make this sports festival one that will go down as the best of them all!" He finished as he rose his clenched fist to the sky.
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'Don't freeze, don't freeze, just imagine all of them have apples for heads' Midoriya thought to himself on repeat as he did his absolute best not to break now, dammit public speaking was never his best feature!
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CHEERS!
"I didn't know he had it in him." Yaoyorozu noted as the crowd and many of their fellow students cheered along with the crowd as Midoriya quickly got off the stage.
"As expected of our class president." Iida agreed as he did his arm chops as Midoriya walked right on by.
"How come they get such a manly dude, we need more of that." Tetsutetsu asked as he wiped away the tears from his eyes.
"Don't worry Tetsutetsu, we'll get our chance." Kendo said as she rubbed his back.
"Now after that vigorous speech, let's get started!" Midnight announced as a holographic screen appeared behind her, a gameshow-type pinwheel spinning on the screen.
"The first game is sort of a qualifier, every year many drink their tears on this event." Midnight explained to them all as the pinwheel increased in speed. "Now, I present to you the first game!"
"This year it's…" She started as she milked the crowd with the suspense before the wheel stopped on an event type.
OBSTACLE RACE
"An Obstacle course race?" Iida asked as he thought about such an event style.
"All eleven classes will participate in this game, the course will be the outer circumference of the stadium, about 4kms."Midnight explained as the screen changed to show a map of the outer areas of the stadium they would have to follow before a dangerous look passed onto her face. "Remember that our school's selling point is freedom therefore," She licked her lips as she gestured to all of them. "As long as you stay on course, it doesn't matter what you do!"
"Now take your places, everyone!" Midnight announced as one of the paths entry signs lit up to show them which one to gather at.
3 DOTS 'This is my time. I'm on one of the biggest stages in the world.' Todoroki thought to himself as he got ready to freeze everything and ran.
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2 DOTS 'I'm about to show the world that I'm the future number one, there is no fuckin room for error!' Bakugo thought to himself as he calmed himself and steadied his breathe while he angled his open palms to his rear.
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1 DOT 'I will show them all what a quirkless kid can do!' Midoriya thought to himself as he powered up both his wing-pack and boots, a blue ring in the center of the pack along with blue streaks on the pack edges lighting up as he powered up, giving the gear a bad-ass cyberpunk look.
"Start!" Midnight called out. And just like that, everyone ran for the exit route, almost all 220 teens raced for the path not paying attention to the size of the route. Thought it was odd that Midoriya hadn't even moved yet and just stood in place alongside a boy from 1-B. Something the crowd thought was odd, many thinking they didn't hear the starting call or something.
"Okay, here the play-by-play! I'm here with my co-commenter, the pro hero Vlad King!" Present Mic asked the grumpy-looking man seated next to him.
"I don't recall agreeing to this." Vlad King responded, now regretting letting Shouta fool him into this.
"Too bad because I couldn't brag Eraser here so you'll have to do! Moving on!" Present Mic glossed over that little detail before he returned his attention to the race. "What should be paying attention to in the early stages?" Present Mic asked as more and more students entered and relatively narrow tunnel, meaning there was less and less space to move in as time went one and more thoughtlessly ran into the human traffic jam.
"Who manages to get out the gate, it may be an innocent-looking passage but that passage is the." Vlad King started to explain to the audience, though some of the students had already figured that out – one of which was Todoroki.
"First shifting phase." Todoroki finished the statement as he froze not just the tunnel floor, freezing people's feet and/or hands to the ground but also the tunnels and outside walls as well.
"Sorry but!" Todoroki said as he ran ahead of the now frozen competition, he also added to their troubles but covering the track with a thin layer of ice as he went along, thick enough to not break easily but thin enough as to not be a waste of his powers.
"Owwww! The hell!"
"He froze the damn floor, I can't move!"
"That was a naïve move, Todoroki!" Yaoyorozu stated as she used her quirk to make a pole she used to vault over the competition.
"Don't think I'll let you get away so easily, you half-and-half bastard!" Bakugo yelled out as he had used his blasts to rocker himself out of the line of fire and to catch up to the current leader.
"It's gonna take more than this to keep us away, 1-A!" Tetsutetsu yelled out as he along with Kirishima had jumped when they noticed the temperature dropping so quickly, escaping the ice trap.
"I told your dumb-ass! Step things up otherwise I'll kick your ass!" Midoriya yelled from the tunnel as he jetted out of it, now what was odd about that wasn't the fact he also had somehow avoided being frozen to the ground but the fact he came out from running on the damn walls, Todoroki was too far to see but he suspected those boots of his like his older ones allowed him to grip onto walls and walk/run on them if he wished.
"Interesting, they'are already this adept at using their quirks…" The purple-haired general studies learner said to himself as three people carried him through the ice, though it was unclear as to why they were carrying him, did he pay them?
"Man, what an icy reception from Todoroki Shoto of 1-A!" Present Mic called out as the aftermath of that ice blast had caught more than a few other students, some of which looking like they were gonna take some time to get out of it.
"It was a smart move, in theory, using his quirk to slow down the other competitors rather than speed himself up but it looks like he wasn't prepared for how quick-thinking those some competitors are." Vlad King noted as most of the more dangerous or resourceful students had either already broken free or were never caught in the attack at all.
(With the Midoriya and Bakugo's)
"Looks like Both Katsuki and Izuku got through the ice just fine." Hisashi noted as both boys were still hot on the tail of the lead student.
"Of course they did, a little icing hasn't stopped Katsuki before." Mitsuki bragged as she always knew her son trained for winter conditions.
"Still, things are just getting started." Hisashi replied as this race was not going to be a short one by any means.
"You're not wrong Hisashi, look." Inko said as she pointed to the jumbo screen, along with Mitsuki turned their attention to the large screen and were…surprised by what they saw.
"Oh my, that's not something you see every day." Masaru said as he along with the rest of the crowd watch how the students were going to deal with this.
(With the students)
"More people than I hoped were able to get through, looks like I can't mess around here." Todoroki said to himself as he saw more than four dozen students got past his ice trap with the leading 2 dozen not even being slowed down by his iced track move. He had to stop when he came to the next challenged and rose a brow at what awaited them.
"Ooooohhhhhh," Midoriya winced when he saw how Mineta was casually batted to the side by their next hurdle. Robots. "That looked like it hurt." He noted as Mineta crashed into the barricade, though he didn't look like he was out just yet.
"Targets found," A 2 pointer bot called out as another eight 2-pointers seemingly appeared right behind it. "Lots of them!"
"The tin cans from the entrance exam?" Kirishima asked as he came up to the front along with most of the students and saw that they had more to deal with than a few robots. They were dozens of them, ranging from the 1 pointers to like 10 zero-pointers for Christ's sake!
"It looks like the first obstacles have made their appearance! Let me introduce you all to that obstacle…"Present Mic said as he gestured to the giant gathering of mechanized muscle standing in the way of the students "Robo-Inferno!"
"Aren't those the zero-pointer from the entrance exam?!" Kaminari yelled as he took a step back, when did they even have the time to build these things?!
"Wait, you mean the hero course had to fight those things!?" One of the support students yelled.
"How the hell are we supposed to get past them, one was bad enough but 5!?" Sato asked this looked like it was designed to be impossible!
"These were part of the general applications exam?" Todoroki asked himself as he examined the robots and after a couple of moments, he could say he wasn't impressed.
"I wonder where they got the money for this." Yaoyorozu asked herself, like Todoroki, she didn't seem all that phased by them.
"Now's not the time for wondering how they balance their budget books, Yaoyorozu." Midoriya said as he lightly jabs her side to get her attention, making the girl blush when she remembered they were in a race, not a classroom.
"I would have thought they would have done something better if they went through all this trouble," Todoroki started as one of the 0 pointers went for a basic grab. "Especially since my old man's watching." He finished as he placed his right hand onto the ground before he summoned forth an extremely large amount of ice, just as the 0 pointer was about to reach him, he sent forth that wave of ice and frost, towards it. In doing so, he was able to near effortlessly freeze over 90% of the 0-pointer solid.
"He stopped them?"
"Hurry! Now's our chance! Between the legs!" Someone called out loud enough for Todoroki to hear them.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," He said as the sounds of cracking and breaking ice made themselves known. "I froze them when they were unbalanced and leaning forward." He explained as the zero-pointers started to tilt forward before entire pieces broke off and fell, soon followed by the main body.
CRASH!
"They'll fall over." He finished his warning as the dust and frost cloud almost caught up with him but he was already too far ahead for it to matter.
"And once more, Todoroki shows his stuff by attacking and defending all in one move! How elegant!" Present Mic called out as the crowd cheered at the boy's powerful and quite flashy attack.
"Now the challenge for the rest of the students is to somehow get past that wreckage Todoroki left in his wake." Vlad King said as Todoroki had also used that attack to once more try and slow down his competition.
"And with that, he keeps his lead, as expected of a recommendations student! He never even fought them before but the redo-inferno stood no chance against those elite moves!" Present Mic yelled as the feed changed from the rest of the students to Todoroki as he ran along the track, his lead over increasing.
(With the pros)
"That was something." Death Arms said as he looked at the screen and saw what most would call a super move.
"Yes, but there were others ways he could have dealt with them without endangering his classmates." Kamui criticized as he folded his arms.
"He's a first-year, can't blame him for that. Lady, what do you think about it?" Death Arms wrote it off as both men turned to their quiet colleague.
"Lady?" Kamui called her to her.
'Oh, my Izu-kun is going to beat them all. I know it!' Mt. Lady thought to herself, fully confident in her lower abilities but she chose to answer her friends before they started to worry. "I think we shouldn't count out the rest of them so quickly, you might be surprised." She stated as she returned to her private thoughts. 'Show them your wings, show them your talons Izuku. Take to the skies where you belong.'
(With the students)
"[Tick] All we gotta do is get past these things?" Izuku brushed off the current problem as he took a runner stance and started to sprint towards the robots. "Well beggars can't be choosers and it'll certainly be fun to fight through them all but…" He started as he reached the robots and just before the 3-pointer could hit him, he dodged the attack and jumped right over it. "This is a race, not a battle! Speed is the name of the game!" he finished as he cartwheeled over another 2-pointer before he landed on his feet and immediately went to work, bobbing and weaving through the crowd of robots as is water through rocks.
"The hell!" Honenuki yelled as he saw the quirkless boy moving through the bots like they weren't even there.
"And looks like we gotta another one here! Midoriya Izuku of 1-A is gaining speed! Man, he isn't even fighting what's up with that?" Present Mic called out as the crowd 'ooed' as the moved Midoriya was showing off as he worked his way through the robo inferno, all without destroyed a single bot.
"He understands that this is a race, first and foremost and that the obstacles are only there to slow you down. By avoiding the redo-inferno, he keeps his speed up and increases the distance he can cover before the others can catch up while catching up to Todoroki before anyone else can." Vlad King explained to the audience as he left out the part where he might also be avoiding destroying the bots to leave a larger time consumer for the rest to deal with.
"And he isn't alone!" Present Mic pointed out.
(With the Midoriya and Bakugo's)
"What the…" Inko asked as she was….for a lack of a better word, stumped.
"How is she even doing that?!" For once, Masaru wasn't the calm one as he like with everyone watching this, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
(With the students)
"Hahahahaha, you're not the only one who can skip a few obstacles!" Tokage laughed as she just flew over the robot inferno.
As 5 separate pieces.
.
.
.
Nothing wrong there.
"You would do well to heed your own words, Midoriya." Honenuki stated as he used his quirk to sink some of the robots to create a path for himself, he kept the path liquefied as to prevent others from catching up with him as he sank into the mud and raced along, gaining on the green hired bird lover.
"Get back here Deku! Like hell, I'm letting you win!" Bakugo yelled as he used his quirk to blast himself over the pointless obstacles as he had no desire to waste time on them, not when he had to catch up to that Icy-Hot bastard.
"Don't think you can outrun the shadows." Fumikage warned as he used dark shadow to vault over the 0-pointer and clear most of the smaller bots in the same move.
"What he said but not as dark!" Sero added as he used his quirk to swing his way onto the 0-pointer where he ran to the other side of it before swinging down.
"Dammit, you all had to copy me, didn't yer?" Midoriya called out to them as he hoped that most of the hero course students would be distracted by the robotic punching bags, giving more breathing room to work with.
"What, can't we use good ideas?" Tokage asked him with a smirk as she got closer and closer to him.
"Looks like Midoriya is a trendsetter today! Already another 4 students have followed his league and avoided the robo-inferno all together while everyone else fights their way through." Present Mic called out as the screen changed to a map that showed the positions of the students in real-time.
"Still Midoriya has the lead of the group and it only looks like Tokage Setsuna of 1-B and Bakugo Katsuki of 1-A can gain on him." Vlad King added as it was clear that Midoriya may just be overtaken by the other two students. "And we can't forget that Todoroki is still in the lead here and is far enough ahead that only Midoriya can see him." He stated as everyone could see that Todoroki was still in the lead, by a large margin as well.
(With the teachers)
"As expected, Class 1-A is taking the lead here." Snipe said as he long with the rest of the first-year staff that weren't involved in the running of the festival sat in their booth watching the events unfold.
"Yes but 1-B isn't slacking off either, they already have two people in the running for first and the rest of the class is making good progress with the robots alongside their 1-A classmates." All Might said in opposition to Snipe's statement as he could see that both classes had potential. As it stood right now, he had narrowed down the candidates for OFA to young Mirio as Nighteye suggested and most of the students of 1-A and some from 1-B.
"During the entry exam, those things were to be avoided but when you keep your head level and think, they're nothing more than larger versions of the others and therefore, easy to take down." Thirteen said just as they all watched Yaoyorozu created a frickin cannon and blow the head off a 0 pointer, helping to clear the path for everyone to catch up to the leading 6 competitors.
"Yes, they do have a lot of openings, most obvious is their slow speed and movement acceleration, just about everyone out there can dodge any attack it can dish out." Power Loader pointed as more and more bots started falling in droves. Even the management students managed to take out a couple of them for themselves.
"What ya know! The first challenge wasn't so hard now was it?" Present Mic said as dozens of students make it past the first stage with relative ease. "But what about the second one?" He asked the crowd as Todoroki, as the front runner reached the second challenge they'll have to deal with.
And that's where I'll cut off this chapter, I could continue but this serves as a good stop till the next chapter. I hope that it was to your liking and the changes to the plot were engaging. I removed some pieces such as Mineta's little speech to Todoroki and replaced it with Katsuki and Izuku's parents talking. A lot of stories have made it 'headcanon for Inko and Mitsuki to be old friends so I decided to roll with it. It also adds humor to the plot as the two of them have no idea why their sons act the way they do when they here placing bets on whose' kid is better.
I hope Midoriya's speech was as good as I hoped it was but if not, please don't be too harsh with your opinions.
Also, if you think that Hisashi's design was rather plain looking, that was the idea. The reason for this was as in cannon, Uraraka describes Izuku himself to be rather plain-looking, and to be honest, Inko is no supermodel either so I decided why not make the plainness be a family trait. For a face, just picture something similar to Albert Lin(google him).
Also, 1-B will have a larger impact on these games because according to Monoma during the cannon festival, most of 1-B collectively decided to hold back to observe what 1-A was capable of. In this take, they had already done that combat trail together so they already know what 1-A can do or at the very least, have a good idea of that. Therefore even if someone suggested they hold back, I can see only about 4 maybe 6 of them agreeing to this so expect to see them use the festival to shine as well. Speaking of change, how did you all like the dynamic between the Bakugos and Midoriyas? I hope it was a well-received change of pace.