REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! This is back! Updating Mondays (Hopefully)! Enjoy!
"It's UA's Sports Festival!" Present Mic shouted over the roar of the crowd, "The one time each year when our fledgling Heroes compete in a ruthless grand battle!"
The stadium shook with shouts and cheers as the students began to enter the field.
"First up, you know who I'm talking about!" Mic shouted over the speaker system, "The Miraculous rising stars who brushed off a villain attack with their steely willpower! The first years of the Hero Course! It's Class A!"
Izuku looked up at the massive crowd, the slightly giddy sensation of blood drunkenness flowing through him. He jumped slightly as he felt the hands slip into his, looking back to see Ochako and Tsuyu smiling at him as they squeezed his hands. The three moved forwards as the crowd rumbled, joining the rest of the classes as they assembled on the main field. Izuku could feel the eyes of several people on him, looking around as he spotted Vesper and her friend, as well as the purple-haired boy from before.
"It's time for the athlete's oath!" Midnight shouted over the murmuring of the students, catching his attention, "And this year, we have a special treat! Not one, but two students will be representing you! So please welcome onto the stage Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku Midoriya!"
"M-me?!" Izuku squeaked as Bakugo shouldered confidently past him, swallowing nervously before following behind the blonde.
They walked up onto the stage, looking out over the large group of first years as the crowd cheered. Izuku shuddered as his nerves started to get the better of him, his mind shutting down.
"The athlete's oath," Bakugo growled into the mic, "Make no mistake about it, I'm going to take first place!"
There was a moment of silence, then the crowd of students burst into shouts and jeers. Izuku stared wide-eyed as the blonde began to stomp off stage, something bubbling in his gut. The laugh cut through the jeers, startling everyone as they turned to look at the green-haired teen, who was almost doubled over as he laughed.
"Wow, that's just like you, Kacchan," Izuku chuckled, forcing himself to stand upright after a moment and wiping a tear from his eye, "Thank you for the enlightening speech."
"Kacchan?" "That asshole had such a cutesy nickname?" "They must be friends."
"Deku-!" the blonde growled, starting to turn around.
"But I have something to say first," Izuku hummed as he felt the wave of giddiness return, "We are all here for one thing. Just like Kacchan said, we all want to win. But that's not possible. At the end of the day, only one of us will get that gold medal, and that's okay."
The crowd of students fell silent as the teen continued.
"Because you don't need to win to be a winner. As long as you can say that you tried your hardest, that you pushed past your limits, then I think that makes you just as much of a winner as the person in first place," Izuku continued, "So all I have to say is, try your hardest, and then go beyond it, just like UA's motto. Say it with me! GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!"
The crowd of students shouted along with him, Izuku grinning as he hurried off the stage, trying to hide the shaking of his hands as he joined the rest of his class, Bakugo still glaring at him.
"All right!" Midnight yelled, "Time to decide the first event!"
The massive screen lit up, running through a list of events for a moment, before stopping on one, the words bursting out onto the screen.
"AN OBSTACLE COURSE!" Midnight shouted, jumping up and down excitedly, "The rules for this one are pretty simple. As long as you stay on the course, anything goes! So, use your quirks to your heart's desire!"
Izuku nodded as he listened to the woman's short explanation, before joining the press of people moving towards the starting line just in front of the exit to the stadium. He shivered as he felt the blood inside him start to bubble, his nose twitching as the scent of bodies and anticipation filled the air around him.
He thought of the small cooler box back in the waiting room, given to him by Recovery Girl just before they had headed out onto the field. It had contained five bags of blood, his "Support Gear" for the Sports Festival, the young Vampire having quickly downed one as the rest of the class left the room. He could feel the slightly giddy feeling of the Blood Drunkenness flowing through him once again, the sensation the only thing that had stopped him from having a full-blown panic attack when giving his speech earlier.
"Ready?" Midnight called as the starting lights blinked on.
Red.
Yellow, yellow, yellow.
GREEN!
"AND GO!"
Izuku jumped as soon as the crowd began to surge forwards, empowering himself just enough to get up over the crowd and land on someone's shoulders. He quickly apologised as he darted forwards, skipping over the crowd with practiced balance as it entered the thin passageway leading to the rest of the course. The air grew cold as he entered it, looking around to see the thick frost covering the walls of the tunnel, and presumably the floor, trapping the other participants.
Izuku glanced back, spotting Tsuyu darting along the roof of the tunnel, just out of reach of the ice, but looking decidedly sluggish, rushing towards the other end. Looking back to the exit, he saw several more of his classmates launching themselves out into the field. He quickly hopped over the last few students, jumping as far as he could at the end, landing in a roll before scanning his surroundings for danger.
He darted to the side just as a metal arm slammed into the ground where he'd been standing, the Vampire spinning on his heel to kick the head off the One-Pointer with ease. The ground rumbled as large shadows fell over the course, Izuku looking up as several of the massive Zero-pointers loomed over the students.
"WHAT'S AN OBSTACLE COURSE WITHOUT OBSTACLES?" the Pro yelled, "HERE'S THE FIRST ONE! ROBO-INFERNO!"
"Do you have to shout like that?" Aizawa's monotone voice came through after the shout.
"OF COURSE, MUMMY MAN!" the blonde laughed, "Have to be hyped up for these kids, after all!"
"What the hell?" "The Hero course had to fight these things?" "That's ridiculous!"
Izuku heard several of the students shouting as he continued forwards, dodging attacks from the smaller Villain bots as he looked up at the massive obstacles. He had barely started to formulate a plan when the wave of ice and frost engulfed the massive robots, freezing them in place.
"Be careful," the two-toned teen called as he run under the frozen robots, "I froze them off balance, so they'll fall soon."
Izuku felt an unfamiliar expression tug at his face, a smirk twitching across his mouth as he leaned low, feeling the strength flow through him, the blood in his stomach bubbling. He shot forwards with unnatural speed, darting under the robots just as they began to topple, catching up to Todoroki in an instant.
"Hi," he said as he darted past, dodging around the small wall of ice the surprised teen threw up, "Bye."
"And the first contestants have made it to the next obstacle!" Mic shouted as the two boys looked forwards, Todoroki just managing to stop before the edge of the cliff as Izuku went sailing over it, "Woops! Looks like someone has already fallen prey to THE FALL!"
Izuku blinked as he fell, instincts kicking in as the blood in his stomach boiled. He shot up, flying through the air until he managed to grab the edge of one of the columns spread across the massive crevasse, spending a precious minute scrambling up onto it. He took a moment to look around, spotting a still slightly sleepy looking Tsuyu making her way easily over one of the ropes, Ochako sailing through the air above him as her face started to turn a pale shade of green. Iida was skidding across the ropes, using his engines to propel him, while Ojiro was swinging using his tail. Ahead of him, he could see Todoroki sliding across the ropes using his ice, already almost halfway across.
"Dammit," he muttered as he heard the familiar explosions behind him, dodging out of the way just in time as Bakugo slammed a palm down just where he'd been standing.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, DEKU! YOU THINK YOU CAN MAKE FUN OF ME LIKE THAT?!" the blonde shouted, taking another swing at Izuku as he darted towards the nearest rope, running across it with unnatural balance.
"Can't you wait until the final round?" Izuku called back, "If you focus too much on me now, you'll never win the race!"
The blonde blinked, then grunted as he let off a large blast, launching himself straight past Izuku, letting off a second explosion just as he passed, Izuku just barely dodging it on the thin rope.
"And the final obstacle has been reached!" Mic shouted, Izuku looking up to see a cloud of bright pink smoke flying up into the air, "THE MINEFIELD! Don't worry folks at home, they aren't lethal! But they still pack a punch!"
Izuku felt his body heat up again, his strength and speed increasing as he raced towards the last obstacle. The little blood left in his bubbled again, already threatening to run out as he gritted his teeth and charged forwards.
Should he try to reach first place? Was it worth it? He was already guaranteed to make it into the second round. These thoughts flowed through his mind as he danced between the disturbed patches of dirt, easily avoiding the obvious mines.
He blinked as a strange sensation washed through him, the words of one of his Sire's lessons coming to him.
"Losing a battle does not mean you cannot win the war, young one," the man said as they sat on the roof of his apartment building, sipping blood from a pair of thermoses, "In fact, sometimes it can be more strategically valuable to allow your opponent the upper hand at first. For when he raises it to strike you, you may, for lack of a better word, more easily break it."
"AND IT'S A PHOTO FINISH!" Mic screamed as Todoroki and Bakugo shot across the finish line, Izuku making it across several places behind them, still half lost in thought, "And the verdict is in! The winner of the obstacle course race is…Shoto Todoroki! Congratulations!"
Bakugo let out a screeching stream of curse words as he stomped towards the panting Todoroki, hurling insults and threats. Izuku did his best to ignore it as he staggered to the side, pressing his head against the cool wall. He could feel the familiar foreboding sensation inside him as the last of his blood boiled away. He staggered slightly as he walked along the wall, hurrying as quickly as he could towards the waiting rooms as the rest of the students made their way over the finish line.
"It's there," Shigaraki muttered, glaring at the screen as the image focused in on a green-haired student stumbling into along the edge of the field, the man rubbing the scar on his shoulder, "It's that thing again."
"So it is," Kurogiri muttered, looking up from the glass he was polishing, "Though it seems rather strange that you are so obsessed with this individual."
"I'm not obsessed," Shigaraki snarled, "I'm being cautious. We need to know all it's weaknesses if we're going to take it out."
"And why are you so determined to 'take it out', as it were?" the mist Villain asked.
"Because…" Shigaraki started, trailing off, "I hate it. And I want to destroy the things I hate."