03.04.2020
Warning! I'm about to rumble again, yup. Sorry. It's irrelevant to the story so feel free to skip right to the chapter.
Context. I post my chapters around 10PM, so right before going to bed, to work or after work, depending on which shift I'm on currently. This week it's back to the night shifts (10PM - 6AM), so I posted last chapter at 9PM and went happily to work. It was kinda rough, but that's just how it is and came back in the morning, completely drained. I almost fell asleep behind the wheel, not gonna lie.
But I'm getting side-tracked. I returned and immediately went to check if Yojimbra (great guy, writes the best smuts with plot, I honestly love all of his fanfics) has posted anything new. While I was at it, something told me to check how the last chapter was doing. So after a few clicks I'm staring at not one not two, but THREE new reviews! Posted within 9 hours. If it wasn't for the fact that everyone else in the house was asleep I would start giggling like a schoolgirl.
I was suddenly wide awake and overjoyed. I know that I'm probably exaggerating, but it really is a big deal to me, to get any sort of response from you guys.
So, comments:
allforone8evildude: I really appreciate you commenting on me trying to be original, because I've seen a couple of other fanfics with similar plots, Midoriya being upgraded with cybernetics or nanomachines and I was afraid that my story would just not make any sort of name for itself. The second event in actually my sort of tribute to you and I hope that you enjoy reading it!
RandomReader867: You are welcome! That's why I'm here after all! To supply you with at least a little bit of enjoyable content.
Fouzy: I do agree that the trio you suggested would be an unstoppable force, but I went a little different in terms of second event for some plot and relationship building in the future. Still, your suggestion was thought through and really solid overall.
And now that I've wasted enough of your time, my dear readers, enjoy the chapter! ;D
"How is our experiment doing?"
"Better than we anticipated actually", the scientist spun around in his chair as always when his boss came in for a report. "The mutated tissue is still growing steadily inside his left arm, which strengthens his Quirk. I think that it should spread onto his torso by the start of his second year at UA"
"It's a shame that he is using it for visual effects", the man in charge of the whole organization sighed.
"I'm sure he will soon overcome this little setback and start utilizing our Synthetic Quirk to its full potential", the person tasked with monitoring their subject quickly retorted.
"You better be right. I can't wait to rub my victory straight into Shield's face"
"Now let's all take a look at the screen behind your lovely host - that is me - and see who qualified for the second event!", Midnight shouted excitedly and cracked her whip, while motioning to the screen behind her.
Midoriya grinned when he saw Shinso's name in the number one spot. He pitied his newly acquired partner, as he was probably unaware, that Izuku may or may have not intentionally painted a target on his back with the brightest red paint he could find.
The greenette chuckled to himself and then took a second look at the scoreboard to try and find his classmates. He was unsurprised to see Todoroki and Bakugo in the second and third spot respectively. Iida was close in the fifth with Yaoyorozu on his tail in sixth. Midoriya did remember the two of them passing him while he recovered from throwing Shinso towards the finish.
Iida was using his Drag Race to traverse the last few hundred meters and Yaoyorozu managed to create an eletric-fucking-scooter.
"Because of course she would be the one to know how to create one. I'm not even going to mention how she was able to do it while simultaneously running. It's Momo I'm talking about after all…", he chuckled again and saw the girl currently on his mind approaching in his general direction.
"Why did you throw that one guy while in the tunnel?", she questioned immediately with a facial expression filled with curiosity.
"So that nobody except for other participants could see me do it", he answered, completely sidestepping the meaning in her question.
"You know what I'm asking about", Yaoyorozu rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.
"His name is Hitoshi Shinso and he is from General Studies. He has a cool Quirk, but unfortunately it is rendered useless when fighting against non-human targets, so he couldn't take the Entrance Exam like everyone else. He still wants to become a Hero though, so I decided to help him", the greenette explained with a smile of his own.
"I should have known that you were meddling somewhere where you weren't asked to", the duo shared a short laugh at that.
"Now that you know who qualified for the second event of today's competition, it's time to see what it will be!", the crowd cheered as the scoreboard behind Midnight changed once again and showed a wheel, that was divided into many pieces, with each one representing a different event.
A few seconds later the wheel started spinning; slowly at first, but quickly gaining speed. Soon it was only a colorful blur on the screen, before it started settling down.
After a few more nerve wracking moments, it stopped. The screen went completely white, before two words appeared from the snow like void - 'Enemy Lines'.
"It seems that this year's second event will take some preparations, so we will make a short bathroom break, while Cementoss creates a suitable arena for our participants!", crowd cheered one last time before quieting down.
Some people used this bathroom break to… well, go to the bathroom, while the others prefered to stay in their seats or go grab something to eat from the many vendors that set themselves up around the stadium. The same could be said about the participants, as most of them decided to retreat to their waiting rooms to relax and refresh before the next event.
Midoriya was about to leave the stadium and join his classmates, but was abruptly stopped by one angry Shinso.
"What the hell man?!", the purple haired boy shouted when he got close to the greenette.
"What?", Izuku asked innocently, though a smirk made its way onto his face.
"You know very well what I'm talking about! You don't just throw people towards the finish line like that, you know?!"
"Yeah, I'm sorry, but there was not enough time to think about any other solution", he admitted and scratched the back of his head.
"You are lucky, that I've been doing some parkour and learned how to take a fall. Don't test my skills on this again, you got that?!", Hitoshi warned and then turned away, intent on leaving.
"It may have not been the best of plans, but hey! it got you the first place you wanted", Midoriya shouted after him and then followed his classmates to the waiting room.
If he turned around, he might have been able to see a smile forming itself on Shinso's face.
"Hello everyone! I hope you used the break well, because you won't be able to walk away from your TV's at home for the next half an hour! Why is that? Because that's exactly how much time we have for the second event!", Midnight, as excited as ever, spoke into a camera to catch attention of those watching the live feed from the festival at homes.
When the participants walked into the stadium after the break, they immediately spotted a circular arena made out of concrete, that was divided into six equal parts with a decently sized hole in the middle. What is a decently sized hole? Ask anyone and they will give you different answers. But, for the love of God and all that is holy, do NOT ask Mineta. Most of the students started brainstorming about the event that they were about to take part in, but they had no idea what 'Enemy Lines' meant.
"If you are all ready then let's start by explaining the rules of our second event!", this time it was Present Mic who hyped up the crowd.
"The first six students that made it to the stadium in the Obstacle Race are now the captains of their own teams. Those who placed from second to sixth can choose seven teammates, while our champion, Hitoshi Shinso is limited to only one!", started the R-Rated Heroine.
"What?!", a shout from the crowd of students could be heard. I think that I don't have to explain who was shouting, do I?
"The 'Enemy Lines' is an event that recreates a scenario in which you have to break through a group of villains to call for reinforcements. Each team will designate a runner, who will be tasked with doing laps around the arena in front of me. His teammates on the other hand, will be playing the 'Villains' and their task is to try and stop anyone who wishes to cross their territory, which is designated by the black outlines on the concrete. Your team gathers points whenever your runner finishes a lap. You get extra points if you manage to capture an enemy runner and immobilise him, either by restricting his movement, throwing them out of bounds or by knockout! Once a runner leaves his territory for the first time you can't change him for someone else, even if he gets captured"
"So the runner must be someone with high mobility, but also the ability to take a punch or two…", thought Midoriya before raising a hand, signalling that he had a question.
"What's the matter Midoriya?", Midnight asked.
"Are the runners allowed to use their Quirks in self defence? Can we stop in our zone to catch our breath? Is there a time limit for us to finish a lap? Do we have to take a particular route?", the greenette shot off a question after question at the clearly lost referee.
The R-Rated Heroine had to think for a few seconds and clear her throat before she was able to answer her student. "That's an awful amount of information, but gathering intel is a vital part of being a hero! To answer your questions - you have permission to do anything that's necessary for you to avoid capture, you can stop in your safe zone to discuss strategy with your teammates, you don't have a time limit per lap, but the quicker the better, since you are racing against five other teams and you can choose your path freely", she explained and then took a deep breath. You try saying such a long sentence on one breath.
"Thank you!", the greenette shouted with a smile.
"You have ten minutes to assemble your teams!", Midnight announced once her breathing evened out and the crowd of students immediately spurred to life.
The different captains were assaulted by the rest of participants, pleading them to add them to their teams. Only Shinso was left in peace, since being in team with him was almost as good as resigning from taking part in the Combat Tournament, that always was the third event.
However, Midoriya welcomed the challenge and approached the Gen Ed student. Many of his classmates saw this and started wondering if he was crazy or something. If the asked him, he would proudly say yes. After all, being normal is a bit overrated these days.
"What are you thinking about partner?", Izuku said to catch Shinso's attention.
"I'm thinking who the fuck would willingly join my team… It's a fucking suicide!", the purple haired student groaned and hid his face in his hands. "Aren't you going to find a team or something?", he asked, though his voice was muffled.
"I already found my team, partner", this time Midoriya put accent into the last word, as to hint Shinso about his choice.
"No way… Why are you doing this? You could easily team up with one of your classmates and comfortably win yourself a place in the third event. If I recall correctly, then most of other captains are from 1-A too, right?", Hitoshi raised his head to stare at the greenette with a look of clear disbelief and slight confusion.
"Well… I was the one who roped you into this situation in the first place, so it's not fair to just leave you to deal with this shitshow on your own. And yes, you are right, only one other captain is not from my class and I could easily pass by teaming up with Yaoyorozu, Todoroki or even Bakugo. But a hero shouldn't avoid a challenge!", he pumped his fist into the air as he finished his speech.
Hitoshi was at a loss of words. He met the greenette like an hour ago and immediately took advantage of him by mind controlling him. The guy managed to break his control over him and then proceeded to help him win the Obstacle Race, despite not having any reason not to just drop the Gen Ed student on his ass and plough through on his own. Then the same guy approaches him and wants to be on his team, not giving a single fuck about the fact that their chances of winning are as slim as those of that short, purple midget ever scoring a date. Shinso was about to say something, but one of the other captains approached them.
"Hi Midoriya, do you want to be on my team?", the raven haired girl asked with a smile on her face. She was followed by a pink skinned girl with horns and another one with purple hair and earlobes that looked like aux cords.
"I'm sorry Yaoyorozu, but I've already pledged my allegiance to Shinso", Midoriya answered politely and declined her offer.
"Are you sure?", a look of worry appeared briefly on her face as she walked up to the greenette and whispered something into his ear.
Shinso didn't have to hear her words to understand what she was saying. Probably asking him if he really knew what he was doing. The purple haired teen was startled slightly as Midoriya started laughing. Few moments later, a determined grin appeared on his face and his next words were almost dripping with confidence and resolve.
"I couldn't call myself a hero if I left the side of someone in need! Besides, everything is going to be fine. And do you know why? Because I said that I'll make him a hero and I'm hell bent on keeping this promise!"
"Everybody get into positions!", Midnight shouted once the time for teaming up and strategizing ended.
Team Hitoshi took a look around to scout out their competition. Directly in front of them, on the other side of the 'decently sized hole' in the middle was Team Ibara. To get to her, their runner had to break through Team Todoroki and Team Bakugo. The last two territories belonged to Team Iida and Yaoyorozu.
The heiress wished luck to the duo before marching to her territory.
"You remember the plan?", asked Midoriya as the countdown in the background started.
"Kinda? I'm supposed to stop the guy with exhausts, right?", Hitoshi was more nervous than he was comfortable admitting.
"Yup, he is 100% going to be his team's runner and the biggest threat", Midoriya spoke matter of factly while scanning his surroundings.
For their strategy to work, one very specific thing must take place. Thankfully that's exactly what happened. Izuku grinned when he saw that all the runners entered into a silent agreement and decided to run clockwise.
This meant, that Team Yaoyorozu's runner - Mina Ashido - was already standing on their border. And Shinso was standing right in front of her, ready to enact their plan.
"I'm sorry Momo, but you've greatly underestimated your opponent, because he lacked the training that we received, in doing so, you also underestimated me and that was an even bigger mistake", Midoriya thought to himself with a grin as he just stood in the middle of his territory, not even thinking about approaching Todoroki's line of defence. He cast his eyes towards his teammate instead.
"I'm kinda curious", he heard him speak up right as the timer was about to run out. "Are the horns a part of your Quirk?", the trap was set and the timing was spot on.
"Begin!", Midnight shouted and a moment later, Team Yaoyorozu was out of the game.
"No, but they mak-", the pink haired girl started explaining, but froze in place suddenly after taking a couple of steps into Shinso's territory. This was Midoriya's signal.
"Kinetic Capacitors: Triple Acceleration!", the greenette shouted and started running… counter clockwise, right into Team Yaoyorozu, who all had their backs turned to him, trying to slow Iida down.
"Walk out of bounds", Midoriya heard Shinso order as he sped past him.
"You know, you really have to think of a better name for that speed boost of yours", Nana spoke up inside his head.
"Yeah, yeah… I'll get on it as soon as I find some free time"
"You and free time, best joke I heard in a while", the Neural Archivist chuckled, audibly amused and went back to whatever it was that she was doing inside his head. Probably reading, she did that a lot.
Midoriya managed to traverse the first two territories unhindered before anyone even managed to catch onto his tactic.
"Team Yaoyorozu's runner is out of bounds! Extra points for Team Shinso!", Midnight announced loudly and the crowd cheered at the action packed event.
Thanks to the commotion caused by the other runners, Izuku was able to make a few quick laps, but Iida was still ahead of them. Shinso tried to get the Engine Quirk user attention, but he was simply too fast. Yaoyorozu's team might have been dealt with, but they weren't going down without a fight. Their captain created various traps to slow down her opponents and try to at least get on capture in.
The barbed wire and blunt bear traps forced Iida to switch his tactic to a more cautious one. Which was just what Shinso needed.
"You look familiar! What school you went to?!", he shouted at Iida before he made it to his border.
"I'm a proud alumni of Some-", just as was the case with Mina, Iida froze up, but didn't stop. He had enough momentum to carry him out of Shinso's reach.
The strict teen entered Todoroki's territory and crashed into Kaminari, who, on reflex, used his Quirk and then passed out. The crash caused Shinso's mind control to break and Todoroki jumped at the occasion to freeze the Engine Quirk user.
"Team Iida's runner has been captured! Extra points for Team Todoroki!"
"Now it's all about not getting captured!", Midoriya thought to himself with a grin and sped up, he really was hell bent on keeping his promise.
"Only two more minutes left on the clock, but we might stop it right here and now!", exclaimed Present Mic.
One glance at the scoreboard and no one would question if they really did stop it early.
The runner from Team Ibara has been captured on his 21st lap by Team Yaoyorozu. Midoriya managed to shift into the next 'gear' so to speak and score seventeen more laps than Todoroki's runner and twenty more than Bakugo himself, who powered through with his explosions as a means of travel.
The final ranking looked like this:
Sixth place - Team Yaoyorozu - 0 laps + 1 capture
Fifth place - Team Iida - 12 laps
Fourth place - Team Ibara - 20 laps
Third place - Team Bakugo - 46 laps
Second place - Team Todoroki - 49 laps + 1 capture
First place - Team Shinso - 66 laps + 1 capture
"We did it. We fucking did it!", exclaimed Shinso who only now looked at the scoreboard, not wanting to distract himself in the middle of the event.
"Told you we will win", the greenette said with a confident smirk.
"Under normal circumstances only the two first teams would be allowed to participate in the third event, but with Team Shinso only having two members and one member of Team Todoroki unable to continue we've decided to include Team Bakugo in the tournament!", Midnight announced after she came back.
No one knew when or where she vanished, as everyone was captivated by the performance in the concrete arena.
"So what, we are going to be enemies now?", Hitoshi asked as he turned to his partner.
"If you don't lose in the first round without me to carry your ass", Midoriya sassed with a more joking smirk.
"Would you look at that, I'll meet you in the fucking finals!", declared the Gen Ed student and they both shared a laugh over their little dispute.
"We will have another break to prepare everything for the third event and give our students a bit of time to gather their strength after such a taxing second event! See you all in an hour!", Present Mic's announcement has been followed by his co-host murmuring something about needing a drink and a nap.
"I'll be happy to face you in the finals", the greenette answered without any sass or cheekiness, a friendly smile on his face. "And even more happy if I see you in my class, Shinso", he flashed him one last smile and then left to meet up with his classmates.
"I'll everything I can to make it. Thank you for trusting me and giving me a chance. I won't waste it!", the Gen Ed student thought with an infectious determination.
BTW, before this chapter went live we had - 27 chapters of 77787 words with 77 reviews. So many 7s amuses me for reasons unknown.
Anyway, the Sports Festival is in full swing right now and I have started planning out the future events in my head. And from my calculations we have a major fucking plot point coming up in like three to four story month (I have no idea how many chapters that will be, I'm not that precise) and I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter. But that's a poll for another time.
That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next chapter where I will hopefully refrain from rumbling three chapters in a row ;D