CHAPTER 10: RUN, STUDENTS! OBSTACLE COURSE!
For two weeks, the hero trainees of 1-A and 1-B trained for the Sports Festival, pushing their bodies and mind to the limits in the same of friendly competition…and in seemingly no time at all, the Sports Festival had arrived. Midoriya and his mother Inko walked through the gates of the school towards the UA Sports Stadium.
"So mom, where will you be sitting?" the green-haired boy asked. His mother blushed for a moment, then answered. "I'll…actually be up in the faculty box." "What?" the boy asked, clearly stunned. "You see…I was invited here as a 'plus one' by a friend of mine – I see him at work every once in a while, and come to find out, he's a teacher at UA – oh, here he comes now!" she said.
Midoriya turned to look where his mother was gesturing – and immediately did the mother of all double-takes. There, running towards them as best he could, was none other than All Might in his skinny form. "Izuku, I'd like you to meet my friend, Toshinori Yagi! Oh, but you probably already know him" the woman said in a very happy voice. "Good morning, Young Midoriya!" the older man said. "Wait…Young Midoriya?! Then…wait a minute…Inko is your mom?!" All Might stuttered, clearly as surprised as his student.
Midoriya gawked at the two of them. "Oh, we'd better go! Good luck, Izuku! Come on, Toshi!" the green-haired woman said happily, dragging the skinny blonde giant with her. Her son, meanwhile, was still in shock over his mother watching the Sports Festival in the faculty box with freaking ALL MIGHT.
Cue: My Hero Academia opening 2 – Peace Sign
In the 1-A locker room, the class was abuzz with excitement over their participation in their first-ever Sports Festival. As Midoriya laced up his red shoes, he was interrupted by a voice. "Midoriya" Todoroki said, walking over to the greenette. "O-Oh hey, Todoroki" Midoriya said to the bichromatic boy. Todoroki studied Midoriya for a few moments, before continuing. "From an objective standpoint, I'm stronger than you…but you've got All Might in your corner, helping you out." Seeing the look of shock on the other teen's face, he resumed. "I don't really care what's going on with you two, but know that I will beat you in the Festival today." And with that, the bichromatic teen walked out. "We're not here to be friends today…we're here to kick each other's asses."
"Wait a minute, Todoroki" the greenette said, causing Todoroki to pause. "I get that you're stronger than me – in fact, you've probably got a better handle on your powers than any other first year at UA. But that's not going to stop me, or anyone else from aiming to win. So…I accept your challenge!" The other teen smirked slightly. "Fine by me."
"HEY-O, ALL YOU SPORTS FANS, AND WELCOME TO THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAL!" the Voice Hero shouted, eliciting a roar of excitement from the crowd. "I'M YOUR HOST, PRESENT MIC, AND JOINING ME ON COMMENTARY ARE ERASERHEAD AND INGENIUM! NOW, LET'S INTRODUCE THIS YEAR'S PARTICIPANTS!" The doors on the sides of the stadium opened as the first year students made their way to the field.
"FIRST UP IS THE CLASS THAT'S ALREADY FOUGHT VILLAINS! IT'S HERO COURSE 1-A!" the loud pro announced as the class in question made their way out into the arena. "AND JUST AS TALENTED, HERO CLASS 1-B!" Kendo and Tokage waved to the crowd as their class joined 1-A. "BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! HERE'S GENERAL STUDIES CLASSES C, D AND E! SUPPORT COURSES F, G AND H! AND THE BUSINESS COURSE, 1-I! GIVE THEM ALL A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE!"
At the head of the General Studies courses walked the duo that had challenged 1-A a week earlier. The Support classes were lead by a pinkette wearing multiple crazy gizmos and a dark-haired teen wearing mismatched red and blue sneakers with his gym uniform. Finally, a brunette boy and a dark-haired girl wearing a star-print baseball cap and a pair of headphones walked in front of the Business class. The girl noticed Hojo and scowled at him.
"AND NOW INTRODUCING THIS YEAR'S REFEREE: THE RATED-R HERO, MIDNIGHT!"
The…very buxom woman in question stood atop a stage on one side of the field, inducing blushes among both students and spectators alike with her…movements. "SILENCE, EVERYONE!" the woman shouted, quieting everyone down. "LEADING THIS YEAR'S PLEDGE IS KATSUKI BAKUGO!" The explosive blonde made his way up to the stage, and after a few moments spoke into the microphone.
"I pledge…that I'm going to win. So y'all extras had better get ready to be stepping stones in my path to victory" he said. All of 1-A collectively facepalmed in unison as the rest of the students booed him like mad, the boy in question walking off the stage without a care in the world.
"It's time for the first event: a four-kilometer obstacle course! All the classes will participate in this qualifier round." Midnight announced, before licking her lips. "I don't want to limit anyone too much...so as long as you stay on the track, anything goes!"
The students crowded around the West Gate, ready for the race to begin. "I don't know if I have too good a handle on using One For All yet…but I'll do my best! Mom, All Might…I hope you guys are watching!" Midoriya thought as the timer started counting down. "Tensei…please watch me!" Iida looked towards the commentary box where his brother sat. "I refuse to lose!" thought Uraraka.
"BEGIN!"
*Cue My Hero Academia OST – Jet Set Run*
The students charged forward towards the narrow gateway with a roar of determination, every one of the gunning to win. "AAAAAAND THEY'RE OFF, FOLKS! HOW ABOUT SOME COMMENTARY FROM YOU TWO?" Present Mic shouted. "I can't believe you actually talked me into this" Aizawa muttered. Ingenium just laughed. "ANYTHING YOU TWO THINK WE SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO AT THIS STAGE OF THE RACE?" Ingenium's eyes narrowed. "That gateway. It's a natural pinch-point. Also, probably whatever that student is doing."
The students all pushed against each other, squashed together in the narrow tunnel. Midoriya felt a sudden chill go down his spine and jumped, narrowly avoiding being stuck in place by the wave of ice Todoroki generated, the cool air exploding out of the doorway and freezing the course in front of the stadium. "LOOK AT THE SHEER POWER ON DISPLAY HERE BY 1-A'S TODOROKI! AND SPEAKING OF 1-A, LOOK AT WHAT HOJO IS DOING!"
While the students all attempted to fight their way through the tunnel, Hojo ran off to one side and took a mighty leap, landing between two sections of the crowd. He proceeded to hopscotch his way up the side of the stadium until he got just under the giant canopy section built around the upper edge…and after crouching down for a moment, leaped higher than anyone had ever seen him jump.
The boy's eyes flashed red as he slid down the canopy towards the outside and off the edge, kicking off the side of the building just above where the ice formed and baseball sliding down the pathway. "AND JUST LIKE THAT, HOJO SLIDES INTO SECOND PLACE BEHIND TODOROKI!" The other students broke free quickly, with Aoyama, Yaoyorozu, Kirishima, Banjo, Bakugo and Shiozaki escaping easily. Midoriya charged 5% of One For All through his body and took off as best he could on the ice, before the students encountered the first obstacle. "One For All: Full Cowl!"
As Todoroki ran along, the other students did their best to get past his icy path without having a nasty fall. Ashido and the brunette boy from the Business Course both created liquid from the soles of their feet to slide more manageably along the ice, while most others floundered.
Mina Ashido. Her Quirk: Acid! She can make acid of varying viscosity and strengths from the palms of her hands and soles of her feet!
Kazumi Sawatari. His Quirk: Grease! He can secrete grease of various thickness, slipperiness and flammability from his hands and feet!
Mineta approached the boy in the lead rapidly, using his sticky balls to avoid the ice altogether. The boy began to gloat as he neared the front of the pack. "Nice try, Todoroki, but you messed up when you forgot about me and my abilities, and now I've got you! Now take my special attack: GRAPE RU-!" he began, before a metal arm smacked him out of midair and into the barrier wall, knocking him out.
"IIIIIIIT'S THE ROBO INFERNO!"
The path was guarded by droves of the One, Two and Three-Point robots from the entrance exam…as well as over a dozen Zero-Pointers, all glaring down with lifeless red camera eyes at the students below them. "A-A-Are those the Zero-Pointers from the entrance exam?!" Kaminari asked, clearly panicking. "Where the hell does the school even get the funding for these?!" Yaoyorozu wondered, unzipping her jacket.
Todoroki glared back at the robots. "So these are the Zero-Pointers the non-recommendation students had to face. I'm impressed, but I wish that they would be harder to beat" he said as one reached towards him. "Especially since daddy dearest is watching." With that, the temperature dropped dramatically as the boy unleashed a wave of ice that immediately froze three Zero-Pointers dead in their tracks, before running between the legs of one. "Look! An opening!" a General Studies kid shouted. "Hey now, be careful…I froze them while they were off balance" the bichromatic boy said, as the unstable robots fell behind him, the shockwave being felt even in the stadium.
The other robots redoubled their attacks on the students, Midoriya activating Full Cowling again and shooting into the wave of oncoming enemies. Taking aim at several One-Pointers, he cocked all his fingers on his right hand back, charging an attack. "I haven't had much time to practice with Full Cowl, since I only just got the whole 'maintaining five percent' thing down a few days ago…but I'm good at thinking on my feet!" he thought, before letting loose. "FOUR STARS OF HEAVEN…DELAWAAAAARE SMASH!" he roared, unleashing four air bullets at once, the winds from the attack blowing the robots back, smashing them to bits. "Well done, Young Midoriya!" All Might shouted, impressed. "My baby's getting so strong…" Inko looked like she was about to start crying.
"Like hell these scrap heaps will slow me down!" Bakugo shouted, launching himself into the air and up to one Zero-Pointer's head with several smaller explosions, landing atop the mech. "Forgive us if we're following along with your well-planned advance" Tokoyami said, as Dark Shadow hauled him up to the top of the robot's head. "Tch. Now y'all are following my lead?" Bakugo said, irritation in his voice. "What can I say? Not our fault you've got good ideas" Sero said, reeling himself in with his tape.
Meanwhile, Midoriya battled through rows of bots, shredding them with hard, well-placed strikes enhanced by One For All. Kaminari electrocuted several robots, using his Quirk more cautiously than usual. Jiro drove her earphone jacks into a few more bots and deactivated them with sonic attacks, and ahead of them, the Zero-Pointers…exploded?
Sure enough, Yaoyorozu had created a cannon with her Quirk and was tearing through the giant enemies like they were made of paper. Banjo, meanwhile, had launched himself through the air, streams of fire trailing behind him. "I won't let Todoroki's ice show my fire up that easily!" Banjo thought as he soared higher. "Right now…there's no way I can lose!" he shouted, before his fist caught fire and he delivered a massive uppercut, melting the head of the robot. "AND TWO RECOMMENDATION STUDENTS SHOW OFF THEIR STUFF, AS 1-A'S MOMO YAOYOROZU AND 1-B'S RYUGA BANJO TEAR THE ROBO INFERNOS APART!"
Ryuga Banjo. His Quirk: Burning Boxer! He can create and absorb fire to augment his attacks and defenses!
"No, Izuku, baby, run away! Save yourself!" Inko cried, water streaming from her eyes. "Are you okay?" Hanaya muttered nearby, while Kagami rolled his eyes. "Young Midoriya won't give in; his heroic heart motivates him to fight on even when the odds are against him" All Might said, taking Inko's hand in his. "That's why he's a true hero in the making." The woman only began crying harder at that. "I'll get the mop" Power Loader said, excusing himself. "Thank you, Majima" All Might said gratefully.
Several students stared at one of the robots Todoroki had frozen, its' icy carcass lying on the ground. "Didn't that fall on someone?" a student asked. Then, the metal of the robot buckled and Kirishima burst out of its' remains. "I'M ALIVE!" he shouted triumphantly. "1-A'S KIRISHIMA IS UNBREAKABLE! HE'S LIKE THE ULTIMATE SPEAR AND ULTIMATE SHIELD!" "Dammit Todoroki! Anyone else would have died!" Kirishima cursed, throwing a glare in the general direction of the bichromatic boy.
A nearby section of robot buckled. "What an asshole that 1-A guy is! Anyone else would have died!" Tetsutetsu shouted, cracking his neck. "1-B'S TETSUTETSU IS UNBREAKABLE! HE'S LIKE THE ULTIMATE SPEAR AND ULTIMATE SHIELD!" "Didn't you just say that about-!" Aizawa began, before Mic cut him off. "THEY'RE SO SIMILAR!"
As the other students carved a path through the robots, Midoriya raced ahead like a bolt of green lightning…almost failing to stop in time as the ground disappeared beneath him. "W-What the fuuuuuuu-!" the boy began, teetering on the edge. The next two hundred meters was a maze of pillars surrounded on all sides by an impossibly deep pit, thin cables snaking between them. Ahead of him, Bakugo blasted over the obstacle, while Todoroki slid along a cable with his ice and Asui clambered along a cable like it was second nature for her.
"IT'S THE FALL! FALL IN AND YOU'RE OUT!"
"Heh heh heh…this is perfect!" a voice came from behind him, looking back, he saw a pinkette covered in support gadgets gloating to herself. "Time for us support students to show what we can do, right Sen?" she said to the boy next to her, a dark-haired boy with mismatched red and blue shoes. "This is awesome" he said, a section of his hair sticking up at an odd angle. "Let's go, Mei!"
The girl shot a long grappling hook out all the way to the other side of the obstacle, while the boy next to her produced two small objects and attached them to adaptors above his shoes, the devices unfolding into a red boot with springs on the side, and a blue shoe with tank treads on the bottom. "Shine, my cute babies!" the girl yelled. "Now...let's begin the experiment" the boy said.
The two both rushed forward and jumped, the girl soaring into the pit…and as her rope reeled her in, she shot upwards, clearing the obstacle. The boy took an inhumanly huge leap with his red boot, before landing on a line with his blue boot and moving forward, the tank treads carrying him along the line. Eventually he fell off another cliff, only to bring out…an umbrella gauntlet? No, it was a helicopter motor, which carried him up and out of the pit, clearing the obstacle.
"So unfair!" Ashido pouted. "Unfair? Not really. Us Support students, since we often have weak Quirks but technological brilliance, are allowed to bring anything we invent into the Sports Festival. It's only fair" said a tall, dark-haired boy with glasses and a…tablet computer? "Well, I'd better follow them. I have data to collect on their performance after all." Rockets in his boots activated, and he was gone in an instant.
"I know Tensei is watching…so I'd better not make myself look like a fool!" Iida said, using his engines to move while balancing on a cable. "Jeez Tenya, you look like a dork" Ingenium snorted in the commentary box. "I can't lose here!" Midoriya yelled, before charging up Full Cowl and jumping across the obstacles, a piece of metal from one of the robots strapped to his back. "Interesting…" chuckled the purple-haired General Education student, catching up to his tall partner. "So far so good, Young Midoriya" All Might said, grinning at the sight of his pupil mastering his power.
Todoroki came to a sudden stop, seeing a peaceful field of dirt in front of him…too peaceful. "Why are you stopping, man?" a General Studies student asked, stepping onto the field. Todoroki's eyes widened when he heard a very distinctive "click". "No, wait-!" he began, as a massive pink blast erupted in front of him, the hapless student flying backwards, knocked out. "Shit, there's mines!" he shouted.
"THAT'S RIGHT, IT'S THE FINAL OBSTACLE: THE MINEFIELD!" Mic roared. "Please note that, while the mines are rather scary, they're harmless; just a blast of heat, light, pink dye and baby powder" Ingenium explained. "Looks like the competition is heating up a bit" Aizawa said, as the cameras focused on the bichromatic boy in the front.
Todoroki carefully crossed the minefield, avoiding the telltale round patches of disturbed earth where the mines were buried, when suddenly, like an angry rocket, Bakugo caught up to him. "I got you, Icy Hot! Next time you declare war, make sure it's actually to the strongest person in the class!" he bellowed, aiming an explosion at the bichromatic boy. Iida and Kiriya raced across the minefield, while Shiozaki used her vines to disarm any explosives in her path, gliding across the battlefield as an untouched symbol of purity.
Midoriya finally reached the minefield and cursed at how far behind he'd fallen. "I spent too much time crossing the pitfall; I need to get creative" the boy thought, as he began to dig mines up, using his piece of robot armor as a makeshift shovel, gathering a pile of them in one place, while other students passed him by. "What the heck are you doing, Midoriya?" Jiro wondered, running by. The greenette gathered a pile of mines and, holding the piece of robot in front of him, jumped on them.
As Bakugo and Todoroki drew closer to the end of the minefield, a massive explosion shook the stadium, heat and a cloud of pink powder rapidly expanding to cover the back half of the obstacle. "That's definitely bigger than the mine blasts were supposed to be" Ingenium noted. As the other students shielded themselves from the blast, Midoriya shot out of the cloud of pink on his makeshift shield, to the surprise of everyone else. "YES! That's it, Young Midoriya!" All Might roared, almost shifting into his muscle form in excitement. "Izuku, my precious baby boy…I'm so proud of you!" Inko began to cry again, much to the chagrin of Taiga, Power Loader and Hiiro. "Holy shit kid, you might be the craziest One For All holder to date – and we're a damn crazy bunch!" the voice in his head shouted in glee. "Wait, you…what? Nevermind, we'll talk later" the boy thought, focusing on the course again.
As Midoriya shot past a now-irate Bakugo and Todoroki, who smoldered in cold fury at being overtaken, the boy began to panic. "Crap crap crap crap, how will I land?!" "DEKU, YOU BASTARD! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, GETTING IN MY WAY!" Bakugo roared, shooting forward, dragging Todoroki on a trail of ice. As the two unlikely allies rushed forward, Midoriya spun around on his shield. "I've only got one shot at this…so here goes nothing!" Bringing two of his fingers back on each hand and channeling a hair under 6% of One For All into them, his fingers crackling with green lightning.
"TWIN JET DELAWAAARE SMASH!" he yelled, shooting two small blasts of highly-focused air pressure, the force propelling him forward in a perfectly straight line. Rolling in midair, the boy landed just outside the entrance to the stadium and ran like mad through the tunnel. "AND THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS! THE WINNER OF THE FIRST EVENT OF THIS YEAR'S SPORTS FESTIVAL IS NONE OTHER THAN IZUKU MIDORIYA!" Present Mic bellowed, as the greenette crossed the finish line and enerted the stadium, confetti raining on him in the spring sunshine.
"YES!" All Might shouted in joy, transforming into his muscle form. Fortunately for the Symbol of Peace, his green-haired companion had already passed out in joy after seeing her son win. Outside, Death Arms and Kamui Woods did a double-take seeing the boy from the sludge villain incident winning the first round of the Sports Festival. In a darkened bar, Tomura Shigaraki scratched his neck at the sight.
And in a secret lair somewhere, hooked up to multiple life-support machines, an ancient supervillain grinned, his interest piqued by the green-haired boy.
After the other students had finished the race, Midnight strutted up onto the stage again. "Well then, now that the race has ended, let's see the results." The board displayed the following stats:
1st Place – Izuku Midoriya, 1-A
2nd Place – Shoto Todoroki, 1-A
3rd Place – Katsuki Bakugo, 1-A
4th Place – Momo Yaoyorozu, 1-A
5th Place – Juzo Honenuki, 1-B
6th Place – Ibara Shiozaki, 1-B
7th Place – Ryuga Banjo, 1-B
8th Place – Tenya Iida, 1-A
9th Place – Parado Doxx, 1-B
10th Place – Kiriya Kujo, 1-A
11th Place – Setsuna Tokage, 1-B
12th Place – Emu Hojo, 1-A
13th Place – Fumikage Tokoyami, 1-A
14th Place – Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, 1-B
15th Place – Eijiro Kirishima, 1-A
16th Place – Ochako Uraraka, 1-A
17th Place – Mashirao Ojiro, 1-A
18th Place – Gentoku Himuro, 1-C
19th Place – Tsuyu Asui, 1-A
20th Place – Mina Ashido, 1-A
21st Place – Mezo Shoji, 1-A
22nd Place – Hanta Sero, 1-A
23rd Place – Kyoka Jiro, 1-A
24th Place – Sen Kaibara, 1-B
25th Place – Hitoshi Shinso, 1-C
26th Place – Itsuka Kendo, 1-B
27th Place – Jurota Shishida, 1-B
28th Place – Shihai Kuroiro, 1-B
29th Place – Yosetsu Awase, 1-B
30th Place – Reiko Yanagi, 1-B
31st Place – Togaru Kamakiri, 1-B
32nd Place – Yui Kodai, 1-B
33rd Place – Kinoko Komori, 1-B
34th Place – Nirengeki Shoda, 1-B
35th Place – Kazumi Sawatari, 1-I
36th Place – Pony Tsunotori, 1-B
37th Place – Kosei Tsuburaba, 1-B
38th place – Hiryu Rin, 1-B
39th Place – Kojiro Bondo, 1-B
40th Place – Denki Kaminari, 1-A
41st Place – Neito Monoma, 1-B
42nd Place – Mei Hatsume, 1-H
43rd Place – Sento Kiryu, 1-H
44th Place – Manga Fukidashi, 1-B
The last student to qualify was a short boy with a speech bubble for a head, which read "Thank god I made it!" on it. "Only the top 44 students will advance, so if you placed 45th or below, better luck next time!" Midnight shouted cheerfully, as the disgruntled Business Course student who placed 45th glared one last time at Hojo, before flipping her long, dark hair and walking away. "Man, Saiba sure is mad this time…" the Business Course boy who placed 35th said.
"Noooooooooo! Now they won't see my twinkle in the next round~" Aoyama lamented, his twinkling somewhat dulled by his 50th place. "Man…I really am useless without sugar" Sato said from 47th. Koda was 49th and more than happy to not have to participate. Mineta was still recovering from a knock to the head from a robot, so he couldn't voice his displeasure. "Oh man, now nobody will notice me at all!" Hagakure moaned, Todoroki patting her on the back to comfort her.
"Don't worry if you didn't move on…you'll have plenty of other opportunities to shine. But now, let's see what the next event is!" Midnight said, cracking her whip. "Ooooh, the suspense is killing me~" she said, as the hologram displayed a spinning selection of possible events. The wheel came to a stop, landing on…
"An all-terrain labyrinth Cavalry Battle!"
NEXT TIME ON GAME START! HERO ACADEMIA:
The Cavalry Battle commences! What does "all-terrain labyrinth" mean? Can Team Midoriya survive this round? And how the teams come together? Stay tuned for more!
NOTES:
The Obstacle Course is over! If you look closely, you'll see a couple characters who will become important very soon! Also, I think you'll all enjoy how I spice up the cavalry battle with its' extra stipulations! Thanks for reading!
