Lightning – My Hero Academia

Chapter 12: Round 2: Free For All!

"Alright! The first round of the Sports Festival is over! Our 50 finalists have emerged!" All Might signaled the end of the first round.

"That's right! Let's give everybody a huge hand! And a special thank you to our second year general studies for designing this year's maze. Our 50 raddest first years are moving on to round two! Let's welcome them back into the stadium with a roar!" Present Mic shouted excitedly.

As Ako and the other 49 students moving on to round two walked back into the stadium, they were greeted with thunderous cheering and applause. A couple students heard their names being chanted by a few people. Ako could hear feet stomping.

"We have 12 students from class 1-A, 16 students from class 1-B, 24 from General studies, and 8 from the Support courses! Nice diverse little lineup! Great job everyone!" Mt. Lady smiled and waved to the students from her platform as they all came in, "Line up in front of me and we'll get started with round 2!"

Round 2 is what Ako had been dreading the entire time. Last year, the round 2 event was all about teamwork and relying on others. If Ako got put in an event like that, his movements would have to be severely slowed down. If his teammates were bad, he'd be screwed.

"Good job making it this far, kids! Now as always, round 2 will be randomly selected from a possible 10 event choices! So let's spin the wheel and see what you land on!" Mt. Lady said, turning and directing their attention up to the stadium's monitor. All 50 students looked up nervously.

Ako interlaced his fingers and ran his thumbs in circles nervously and watched as the screen cycled rapidly through the different activities. The images were switching too fast for Ako to make any of them out. He could sense the nervous tension of everyone around him.

And then the event was chosen and displayed onscreen, and Ako was just confused.

"Dodgeball!" Present Mic announced with a long, drawn-out yell.

"What is this, middle school gym class?" Zachary, the guy with the white wings, scoffed and shook his head.

"How're we supposed to do this?" Another student wondered aloud.

"Are we competing in teams?" Ako called to Mt. Lady.

"Well if you would let me explain the rules already!" Mt. Lady barked at the students.

"Sorry!" A majority of the students exclaimed before all went quiet and awaited their instructions. Mt. Lady cycled through her index cards until she found the one that listed the rules for this dodgeball challenge.

"Okay! This dodgeball match will be a 50 person free-for-all! Students will line up in a circle all across the stadium, and balls will be placed in the center. There will be 25 balls. You all can use your quirks to your advantage, but this time you are not allowed to attack your opponents. Oh, and those of you with manipulation quirks can't weigh the ball down or anything like that to injure the other students. I'll be watching!" Mt. Lady warned.

"When you say we can't attack anyone, what does that entail?" Lula Lei raised her hand as she asked her question.

"We're relying on traditional dodgeball rules for elimination! That means that only by throwing and hitting another student, or by catching a ball thrown at you, can you eliminate them from the round. So fighting isn't going to score you any points." Mt. Lady answered.

"So we can't attack, but can we still use our quirks on each other if it'll help us hit them?" Lula asked a follow-up question.

"Hmm...yeah, I'll allow it." Mt. Lady decided with a nod.

"Everyone's already devising their strategies. I should be able to get through this if I do the same thing: just barrel through and not let anyone even get close to hitting me." Ako thought to himself.

"If there are no more questions, we'll have everyone line up around the walls in a big circle. No more questions? No? Yeah? Great! Let's do this then!" Mt. Lady said, clapping her hands then spinning her finger in a circle.

Ako and all of the other students were guided back against the edges of the stadium. They were all instructed to press their backs against the wall until they were given the signal to go. Ako looked around at the large number of students all waiting to go. They were evenly spread across all edges of the field.

One by one, 25 dodgeballs were lined up next to each other across the center of the field. All of the students were eyeing the balls, deciding which ones they were gonna go for. Ako wasn't too worried about which one he needed to grab. He'd get there first, so he just needed to decide what to do after he had one.

Really, he was just concerned with picking out targets.

"Aw man! A huge free-for-all dodgeball match sounds like wicked fun! Wish I could join!" Present Mic said.

"I feel the same way. There definitely was a time where I would've enjoyed this particular challenge." All Might said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, well you probably would've murdered the competition." Present Mic pointed out.

"Guess it's for the best then." All Might said with a shrug.

"We're ready to begin!" Mt. Lady signaled to the announcers before exiting the field. After she stepped out, clones of the hero called Ectoplasm came out from the tunnels and stood at each exit, "When you are eliminated, please make your way to the nearest exit!" She said on her way out.

"That must be what these clone guys are for." Ako thought to himself.

"Alright, folks! It's free-for-all gladiator dodgeball, UA style! Which students will be fast enough, versatile enough, and brave enough to endure this gauntlet?! Count down with me to find out! In 5...4...3...2...1...let's get it!"

A horn blared over the speakers to indicate the start of the second round. When he heard it, Ako burst forward once again, wind and dirt flying behind him as he ran near the center for one of the balls.

"There goes Tanaka again! He's really looking to make a statement!" Present Mic said.

Ako approached the center circle and dropped into a slide on his knees, scooping up a ball in his right hand. As he was getting back up to his feet, another student suddenly came up at his side with the same amount of speed. He raised his arm up, a ball in his right hand.

Ako looked up in shock. It was Chikashi again! He was coming to take him out! As Ako twisted his body around, Chikashi threw the ball downwards at Ako. Ako jumped sideways into the air and flicked Chikashi's ball away by hitting it with his own.

"Woo! Now that was a close call!" Present Mic said. Ako wanted to try to take Chikashi out, but the other students were closing in. Ako decided to run towards the edge of the field, bouncing the ball off of a student's back as he retreated.

"What was that?! How is that possible?! He also has a speed quirk?!" Ako thought to himself in a panic. He clutched onto his ball tightly and looked around him, making sure Chikashi wouldn't catch him off guard again.

"And just like that we're off in this thing! And as expected, it's a massive mosh pit down there! There's already like 10 people out!" Present Mic exclaimed in surprise.

"This is an interesting test. But make no mistake, this is partially training too. The labyrinth maze was designed to test students' memorization and problem solving. This dodgeball match will test everyone's athleticism and their ability to adapt." All Might explained.

"That's UA for ya! Putting the FUN in functional, yo!" Present Mic exclaimed, causing All Might to groan a little.

"Adaptation, huh? Alright, let me analyze. That Chikashi guy is as fast as me, so I can't risk going toe to toe against him. I'll avoid him, and I can eliminate a bunch of people that can't keep up with me!" Ako thought to himself as he crouched down, getting ready to run again.

He burst forward once again, weaving through a few eliminated students and beginning to circle around the other students. He turned sharply to the right and ran right for the biggest crowd. He slid to a slower speed and hit a blonde girl in the back of the head with the ball. It bounced off of her and he caught it before continuing.

"Guh! Grr, ahh! I'll get you for that you slippery little punk!" The girl yelled at him while shaking her fist.

Ako chuckled a little to himself as he put some distance between him and the other students. He suddenly slipped on some wet grass and fell onto his hip. He slid some distance away before getting back to his feet. He turned back and watched as a girl emerged from the grass.

"Watch where you're running, man! You could've hurt me!" She yelled at him. She was suddenly pulled off balance by some unseen force. Another girl with black hair containing blue highlights hit her in the side with a ball.

"Sorry, Erena! You left yourself open."

"Aww, Lia! You traitor!" The girl humphed and folded her arms.

"We're still friends, right?" Lia asked.

"Yes, but I'm mad right now!" Erena answered, tilting her head up as she exited the field.

Ako got ready to run again. Suddenly Chikashi appeared again, sliding towards him on his hip quickly. Ako stepped to the side and backed up quickly. Chikashi got up immediately and ran after him, "You can't run forever, Ako!"

"You can't chase me forever!" Ako jumped and turned backwards in midair, throwing his ball at him. Chikashi blocked it with his ball and jumped into the air, doing a spin and throwing his ball towards Ako's legs.

Ako landed on his feet and slid backwards. He forced himself to jump back in the air, throwing his legs back as the ball bounced on the floor. He landed on his chest awkwardly and clawed his way back to his hands and feet while he was still sliding.

"You should stop worrying about just one guy with a bunch of us around!" Cain, Ako's friend from the gym, suddenly emerged from the crowd.

Cain threw the ball right at Chikashi's head. Chikashi was clearly caught off guard. He threw himself to the ground to avoid getting hit. He tumbled across the ground, losing his grip on his ball. Ako sighed in relief and got to the other side of the field.

"Thanks, Cain! I owe you one!" Ako said as he left.

"Things are really ramping up! With more than half of our competitors gone, who will be able to secure a spot in round three?! It's a real pulse-pounding nail-biter right now!" Present Mic said excitedly.

"We're seeing a lot of different strategies down there. I've got my money on a couple people." All Might said.

Ako slid to a stop on the other side of the field. Now that he had some space, he took a moment to catch his breath. He didn't have time to stop and look at the scoreboard, but he knew only a few more people needed to be eliminated. All he had to do was last until then.

Ako was suddenly hit with a wave of wind and sound. He yelled out in shock and pain, dropping his ball covering his ears. He looked up and saw a blurry set of white wings flying over him. He knew what was coming next, so he took a step back.

"Gotcha now!" Zachary, the guy with the white wings, shouted victoriously as he threw his ball down at Ako.

"I've only got a second to react." Ako realized. As the ball came towards him, the wave that he had been hit with slowly dissipated. The ball was coming right for his stomach. He could barely see it, but if he could position himself just right...

Ako dropped down to his knees and brought his hands up. The dodgeball smacked him right in the face, but he quickly put his hands on the other side of it, pushing it into his cheek to keep it in place. He fell back onto his side and, after a still second, held the ball up.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Zachary groaned. He landed on his feet and stomped off the field, "I set that up perfectly! This game is so stupid."

Ako groaned dizzily, his face still stinging from getting pelted by a rubber ball. He slowly got to his feet, slumped over with his arms hanging. He blinked a few times to regain his vision and focus.

"You're pretty amazing, Tanaka. Too bad this is where it ends for you!" A girl's voice suddenly spoke up. Ako looked up and saw that a girl with a dodgeball in her hand was suddenly standing in front of him with a grin.

"Crap!" Ako exclaimed, holding the ball up to shield his face.

Another buzzer went off over the speakers, "The second round is over! Drop that rubber, students! You're moving on!" Present Mic announced.

"Huh? I did it!" Ako realized, laughing happily. He dropped the ball in relief, "Oh I'm so tired."

"Aw, darn! I had you!" The girl dropped the ball, "Oh well, you got lucky this time." She shrugged and smiled. Ako looked at her and realized that he'd met her already just the night before.

"Better luck next time, Aya." Ako smiled sideways. Aya looked at him and shook her head with a smirk.

"I got my eye on you, speedy." She wagged a finger at him before walking away.

Ako took a moment to catch his breath. He felt pretty worn out already, but at least he knew that he would get a break now. The students who had been disqualified already would now be allowed to participate in some side games to entertain the crowd. After that would come Ako's true test...

The tournament.