Chapter 11: High Speed Stakes
"MIDORIYA IZUKU!" Present Mic announced.
Thor, Loki, Valkyrie, and Inko all cheered and clapped, a bit louder than the rest of the audience.
"And his opponent, his classmate, and class president of class 1-A...IIDA TENYA!!!"
"So who's the other guy?" Valkyrie asked Thor.
Loki interjected, holding up a holographic image of Iida in his palm, conjured with magic. "Iida Tenya. Has engines in his legs, letting him run with super speed. It has limitations, but they aren't easily exploitable."
"Loki," Thor said, sternly, "have you been scrying on Midoriya's competition?"
"Midgardian privacy laws do not apply to the God of Mischief," Loki replied, haughtily.
"I'm more surprised you didn't have anything better to do," Thor scoffed. Inko laughed, prompting the King of Asgard to look rather pleased with himself.
--
Midoriya set Mjolnir down at the gate of the arena, again feeling like the rule was arbitrary.
As he stepped into the square, he saw Iida on the other side, a look of scary determination on his face. He's not going to let me summon Mjolnir, Midoriya realized.
He'd taken notes on all of his classmates Quirks but, even if he hadn't, Iida had an advantage as long as Midoriya didn't have his hammer. With his super speed, it wasn't hard to guess what Iida's opening strategy was going to be.
Midoriya had a counter strategy, but he wasn't confident he could pull it off without the hammer. I'll find out I guess.
"GO!" Midnight shouted, and Midoriya crouched down.
"RECIPRO BOOST!"
As he predicted, Iida took off at full speed, closing the distance between himself and Midoriya in the blink of an eye.
Midoriya didn't even bother summoning Mjolnir, but instead jumped and used his mouth to blow a blast of wind below him. It was weak, but just strong enough for Midoriya to vault completely over Iida, leaving him skidding to a halt just in front of the out of bounds line.
In mid-air, Midoriya summoned Mjolnir and rolled forward onto the pavement. He sprang to one knee and shot a blast of lightning at Iida, but Iida was able to recover and run to the left to dodge.
As Midoriya tried to scramble to his feet, Iida had already made a half circle around and drove his left knee into Midoriya's chest. Midoriya sprawled onto his back, blindsided with just how fast Iida was now that they were face to face.
Iida spun into the air, boosted by his leg jets, and went for a flipping axe kick onto Deku's head to finish him off. Deku rolled out of the way and, as Iida landed, threw Mjolnir into the taller boy's chest.
Iida was flung several feet back from impact, landing on his back but rolling onto his side as quickly as he could. Midoriya recalled his hammer and let loose another bolt of lightning from his weapon, but Iida was able to run out of the way.
Can't hit him with a direct lighting strike like this. Midoriya grunted, spinning Mjolnir at his side to build up more electricity. Need to try -
But his strategizing was interrupted by his need to duck a roundhouse kick aimed for his head. Iida's right leg was followed by his left leg going for a spinning back kick. Midoriya ducked that as well, but was not expecting Iida to keep spinning and sweep Midoriya's leg with a cheap arm swipe.
Deku was ready though, turning in the air and flying off horizontally. Iida wasn't having it; he managed to grab Deku's leg, run five feet backwards, and use his momentum to hip toss Midoriya onto his back.
Midoriya made a gasping noise as the air left his chest, but kept his eyes open. He saw Iida going to a flipping axe kick again and raised Mjolnir. A wild, uncontrolled lightning blast erupted in a spread pattern over his head, striking Iida and flinging him off to the side.
Got to finish this now. Deku grit his teeth and rolled to his feet, if I slow down anymore it's over.
Iida was trying to recover himself as Deku leapt into the air, spinning Mjolnir at his side as it crackled with electricity. As Midoriya brought his hammer down to strike the taller boys' chest, Iida was able to roll out of the way.
Deku had anticipated this and, as Mjolnir struck the pavement, he sent lighting crackling along the ground in all directions. "LIGHTNING SPHERE!"
It worked; while Iida could dodge direct attacks, a sphere of lightning rose up around the two. Not expecting an area of effect attack, Iida was caught up in it and zapped again.
The lightning fell as quickly as it rose up; a bigger sphere was harder to maintain than a simple blast. Still, Iida was paralyzed long enough for Deku to get up charge towards him with Mjolnir spinning once more.
"I SAY THEE GO BEYOND!" Midoriya screamed, swinging Mjolnir sideways into Iida's chest. Sparks crackled on impact and Iida was sent flying out of the combat zone into a heap on the grass.
The crowd roared with excitement as Midnight called the match to a close.
"WHOA! A QUICK MATCH WITH NONSTOP ACTION FROM START TO FINISH!" Present Mic crowed. "What do you have to say about your students, Eraserhead."
"Their forms are sloppy," Aizawa critiqued, "but the no nonsense approach is a good attitude to have in a fight."
"Ooooh YYYEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
--
"HAHA, That's my boy!" Thor yelled, on his feet and cheering wildly. Inko was standing next to him, cheering and crying incoherently. Loki and Valkyrie exchanged glances and rolled their eyes, but they were grinning all the same.
"He's quick to switch tactics when things aren't working," Loki pointed out, "he's more clever than you were at that age."
--
Miodirya walked off the arena and approached Iida with Cementoss and Midnight. Iida was squirming around on the ground, but seemed to be alright. Hesitantly, Midoriya walked up and offered Iida a hand up.
The two made eye contact, Iida thinking about what to do. "I didn't know about your Lightning Sphere."
"I uh... didn't know about your Recipro Boost," Deku said, mouth twitching into a small grin.
After a pause, the two burst out laughing, and Iida accepted the hand up.
"Such camaraderie!" Midnight squealed excitedly, drawing an eye roll from Cementoss.
"Well, I'll just have to try some different strategies next time," Iida sighed.
"I look forward to it," Midoriya laughed as the two began to walk off.
As they entered the arena though, Iida grabbed his cell phone from an attendant and looked at it with concern. "You okay?" Midoriya asked.
"Y-yeah." Iida replied. "I'm afraid I must take this. Excuse me."
Midoriya watch his friend go, a bit concerned, but headed towards a waiting room to watch Ashido take on Hatsume. As he approached a voice called out from another corridor.
"Hey, Midoriya."
He whipped around to see Todoroki leaning against a wall. Midoriya stiffened, remembering the conversation he'd overheard, giving him a glimpse into the complicated family life Todoroki possessed. "Yeah?"
"Can we talk a minute?"
Deku hesitated. This was by and far much more amicable than Todoroki had seemed a few days ago so, Midoriya nodded and followed Todoroki a bit further down the hall.
Todoroki looked around to make sure they were alone, but then looked at his feet wordlessly. After a few uncomfortable moments of silence, Midoriya furrowed his brow. "Hey... look, I know what you were saying about me being All Might's favorite, but there's really -"
"Do you come from a line of Thor's bastard love children?"
The question took Deku off guard completely and he dropped Mjolnir on the ground next to him. "WHAT?!"
"It's pretty obvious," Todoroki shrugged. "We've all studied Heroics History. Your powerset and the hammer are just like that old Avenger. Only you and All Might have been able to lift that hammer. I was there. So you two must come from secret lineage dating back to when that Thor guy was alive. How else could you have so many Quirks?"
Midoriya stared at Todoroki, flabbergasted. How could he be THAT far off? "Todoroki, I am 100% not blood-related to Thor."
Todoroki stared at him for a minute. "That's too bad. I figured it'd be an even bigger deal if I beat you if you were the last in a line of Thor's offspring."
Midoriya frowned. "You want to talk about lineage? When were you going to tell everyone Endeavor is your dad?"
Todoroki's neutral expression turned into a scowl. "DON'T bring him into this!"
Midoriya pressed on though. "I heard you guys talking. What is this about? All this number one Hero stuff...?"
Todoroki shook, hands clenched into fists. "You really want to know... ?"
--
"I can't believe this match was just the pink girl modelling tech gear for the girl with the goggles." Valkyrie griped. "I wanted bloodshed!"
"Even for me... that's pretty deplorable," Loki agreed. "We're here for a show, not a commercial."
Present Mic announced Monoma Nieto and Kirishima Eijiro out to do battle next. As the competitors made their way out to the stadium, Valkyrie leaned over and asked Thor and Inko, "So what do these two do again?"
"From what Izuku told me," Inko recalled, rubbing her chin, "Kirishima has a Hardening Quirk that allows him to stiffen parts of his body to be rock solid. And that dreadful Monoma boy steals Quirks for five minutes with physical contact."
"Well, sounds like it'll at least be more satisfying than what we just watched," Thor said, dryly.
The match began and Monoma ducked a punch from Kirishima, tagging the redhead's stomach and stealing his Quirk. That was when the slugfest began, drawing cheers from the crowd.
--
"...and that's why I have this scar," Todoroki seethed, shaking, "That's why I have to be the best and destroy you."
He walked off, not waiting for Midoriya to respond. Which was probably for the best, as Deku himself was shaking in anger, a million thoughts racing around his mind.
Like many Pro Heroes, Deku grew up thinking Endeavor was pretty cool - he had more wins on record than almost anyone! But while he always seemed rather dark and impatient, he had no idea what lurked in his home life.
He knew in a heartbeat that while he had his own childhood struggles being Quirkless, he could always turn to his Mom for love and acceptance. His home life had been his reprieve from any injustice in the world.
He's determined to take me down and only use his ice side just to spite his dad, Midoriya thought. The realization just sent more mixed feelings through his head. While it was easier to counter ice as opposed to Ice AND Fire, he felt... insulted.
Midoriya began walking back to where some of his friends were seated in the stands to see he had missed Hatsume and Ashido's match (though from what he was told later, it wasn't much of one), but when he got to the waiting room, he was able to catch the ending to Monoma vs. Kirishima; Monoma's Quirk Theft ran out just in time for Kirishima to catch him with a left hook right to the jaw.
"Kero, there, you are," Asui said. "Your match with Iida was awesome!"
Deku blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Th-thanks! He gave me a run for my money."
"Were you guys talking after?" Uraraka asked. "I thought one of you would have been back sooner."
Midoriya furrowed his brow. "No, Iida said he had a phone call to take and I got sidetracked talking to someone. He hasn't come back yet?"
Asui and Uraraka shook their heads. Tsuyu pat the seat next to her, "Want to watch the next match with us?"
Midoriya turned red. There were lots of seats available in the row, but at the insistence that he should sit next to her, he tried his best not to gulp nervously. "S-sure!"
His flustered demeanor at Tsuyu's offer dissipated as the next match got underway; Todoroki vs. Sero. Present Mic announced the two and they stood at opposite ends of the fighting arena.
"I'm not liking Sero's chances, Kero," Asui muttered.
Midoriya mumbled. "Right. Sero is a capture Hero with great maneuverability, but without a lot of things to hook on to, he won't be able to move around. If they start far away, we won't be able to snare Todoroki in his tape either, which means he'll have to get close, giving Todoroki a lot of time to use his ice to -"
"STOP MUMBLING, NERD!" Bakugou shouted from two rows back.
"Ah," Midoriya blushed, "I was being creepy again, wasn't I?"
Asui laughed. "No, just mumbling. It's okay."
"You guys are totally wrong!" Uraraka said, leaning forward. "Always bet on the underdog! I've got a good feeling about Sero!"
Midnight announced the match to go underway and Todoroki immediately froze Sero in a block of ice.
Class 1-A sat in stunned silence for a minute, before Present Mic awkwardly called the match. Some people in the crowd started chanting, "Good try!" at Sero
"Man, Midoriya, your mumbling took longer than that match!" Kaminari laughed.
"Totally saw that coming," Uraraka claimed, but rubbed the back of her neck as Midoriya and Asui gave her incredulous looks.
Todoroki walked away from the arena without thawing Sero out, leaving Cementoss to chisel the poor boy out. As this happened, Yaoyorozu got up to head down to her match with Kendo.
--
"I don't know about Ice Boy," Valkyrie said, leaning back. "He might just take it."
"Midoriya will win," Thor objected. "I have the utmost confidence in him."
"When do you not have the utmost confidence?" Loki sneered.
--
As Momo and Kendo took the arena, class 1-A looked on eagerly. From a few sections over, they could see class 1-B giving them dirty looks.
"Hey, do any of us know what her Quirk is?" Midoriya asked.
He looked around to see shrugs from all of his classmates. Even Bakugou had no answer for it.
"I didn't really see her use it during the preliminaries or the Cavalry Battle," Hagakure admitted.
The match started and the class 1-B president charged at Momo... who seemed to hesitate.
"What's she doing?!" Shouji exclaimed.
"Within Yaoyorozu dwells an infinite realm of choices. To which manner will she combat her foe? Polearms? Blades? Staves? Or is the matter to conjure defense from the stores within her person. Truly the depths of her abilities have left her frozen in nightmarish indecision during the heat of battle - " Tokoyami began.
During his rant, Momo had conjured a bo staff and swung for Kendo's head, but Kendo grabbed it with her own Quirk, which was to grow one of her hands. With an enlarged left hand, Kendo grabbed the staff, ripped it away from Momo, and punched her with a giant right hand. Momo was flung from the ring.
"Well, shit." Said Tokoyami.
Class 1-B erupted into cheers as their sole remaining representative advanced to the next round of the Sports Festival.
"If that nerd had acted faster, she'd have thought of something better to fight with," Bakugou scoffed, drawing a few dirty looks from his classmates.
"He's right though," Ashido sighed, quietly. "She got into UA on recommendations, she must be insanely powerful."
"I hope she's alright..." Uraraka said, worriedly.
"Well, wish me luck, kero," Asui said, getting up.
"You'll need it, facing me!" Kaminari piped in, jamming his thumb into his chest with pride.
As he took off, Midoriya met her gaze and smiled. "You got this," he said quietly, so Kaminari wouldn't over hear. "You're too awesome to let him get the best of you."
She took off and Deku leaned forward with anticipation as he waited for the next round to begin.
"I'm going to prepare for my own match next!" Uraraka said, standing up. "Cheer for Tsuyu for me, okay?"
Deku gave her a thumbs up as Present Mic announced Asui, and she hopped out onto the field.
--
"Hey," Loki said, nudging Thor, "That's the girl he's been walking to school with."
"How much spying are you doing on him, brother?" Thor asked, but was grinning all the same.
"Izuku has been walking home with a girl?!" Inko exclaimed. "Why didn't he tell me?!"
The fight began and Kaminari unleashed his Ten Million Watt Overload, but Asui avoided it by jumping straight up, right out of the range of the sparks. As she landed, it was quite clear that Kaminari had fried his own brain with the attack. Asui shot her tongue out, wrapped it around Kaminari's knee, slingshot herself forward, and drop kicked the blonde boy out of the ring.
"Oh, I think we found out why he likes her," Loki quipped. All three of his companions slowly turned and gave him looks that said, "dude, gross."
--
Midoriya stood up and cheered, along with some of the girls from class 1-A at Asui's quick victory over Kaminari. Kirishima, who had just climbed the stairs after his earlier match, cheered as well.
Asui hopped out of the arena to cheers and Recovery Girl came out to help Kaminari to the back while his brain reset. Seeing Kirishima recover, he remembered something and turned to the redhead. "Hey, did you see Iida on your way back?"
"Hmm?" Kirishima said. "No, I haven't seen him since you and him had that manly match. Awesome fight, by the way."
"Yours too!" Deku replied with a smile, but he couldn't help but worry further. I hope he's alright...
He looked around and noticed Aoyama hadn't been around either. But when Present Mic announced his name, he walked out, peacocking to the extreme and flipping his hair constantly.
Uraraka came out, looking much more determined and focused. Midoriya had seen some glimpses of the girl's competitive streak, but it seemed to be flourishing in this environment.
Midnight flagged the beginning of the competition and Uraraka took off like a bat out of hell.
"She's just got to get one hand on him and he's donezo." Ashido yelled, excitedly.
"With a side of done-ion rings." Hagakure added.
Midoriya leaned forward on the edge of his seat, torn on who to root for as his two friends fought. Aoyama fired lasers off left and right, trying to ward Uraraka off. She weaved in and out, keeping low to the ground as she dodged.
Aoyama jumped straight up as Uraraka got close and fired a laser right at the ground to launch himself up and over her. Uraraka was barely able to roll out of the way from getting torched. Yuga landed sloppily on the ground and rolled to his side, aiming his laser at Uraraka from close range. "You're mine now, mon ami!"
"Hey, that kind of looks like what you did in your fight with Iida, Midoriya." Kirishima pointed out.
"Yeah, he's totally using your move!" Ashido agreed.
Bakugou made a disdainful snort that was just barely noticeable. Next to him, Mineta imitated it for good measure.
On the battlefield, Uraraka grabbed herself and jumped straight up. Floating over a short-range burst, she released herself down in front of Aoyama and lunged for him. Aoyama was able to jump up and fire another laser, thrusting himself backwards while Uraraka was forced to dodge again. As he recovered, Midoriya noticed he was beginning to slump forward and place a hand over his belt.
"Looks like his stomach is hurting already, huh?"
Midoriya jumped and looked next to him. Asui had returned, quietly, and sat next to him. "Y-yeah," he agreed. "Uraraka hasn't used her Quirk much. The longer this goes on, the more the fight is to her advantage." He turned and smiled to her, adding. "Your fight was awesome, by the way."
She smiled back. "Thanks, kero. Don't tell Kaminari I said this but, it was pretty easy to figure out his strategy."
The two snickered to each other and turned back to the fight. On the field Aoyama looked nervous but, as Uraraka closed in, he decided to pull off a rather tricky attack.
He jumped into the air, spun at an angle so his laser made a sweep across the arena floor where Uraraka was, and sent chunks of concrete everywhere. He landed, clutching his stomach, but grinned, thinking he had to have gotten her.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. Uraraka had grabbed a larger piece of concrete, made it float as she climbed up, and leaped off of it. She came crashing down, drop-kicking Aoyama in the face and knocking him out.
"Ooooh," Midoriya and Tsuyu groaned at the same time.
"That... looked pretty painful," Deku added.
As Present Mic announced Uraraka as the winner, she helped Aoyama to his feet in a good show of sportsmanship, and the two began walking back.
It was time for the last match of the first round of the Sports Festival. As they announced Bakugou's name, he stood up from his seat in the stands and used his explosions to fly down to the arena.
"Man, Bakugou sure showed those stairs who's boss," Asui croaked, dryly.
Midoria snickered with laughter and buried his face in his hands. He'd grown up so used to everyone worshipping Bakugou's strength. While no one in class 1-A did that, Asui was always quick witted in snarking out his worst traits. It was something of a reality check. "Oh yeah, growing up, stairs were one of his worst enemies," he replied, attempting to make a joke. "Right up there with manners."
For once, his sense of humor paid off and he was rewarded with Asui laughing as well.
Present Mic announced the sole representative of the General Studies, Shinsou Hitoshi.
"Hey, Yaoyorozu told me about this guy," Ojiro said, leaning forward and talking for the rest of the class. "This guy's got a brainwashing Quirk. That's how he tricked her and those class 1-B guys into working with him."
"Brainwashing?!" Hagakure exclaimed. "That's like, totally a villain Quirk, isn't it?"
"Hagakure that's so mean!" Ashido scolded. "It's not like he got to choose it."
"I could do soooooooo many cool things with that Quirk," Mineta said, a little too loudly. The rest of class 1-A turned and gave him a look that said, "dude, gross," prompting him to shrink down into his seat.
As Midnight signaled the start of the match, Shinsou cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled out, "You're a weakling."
A hush fell across the arena at the call out, so everyone could hear Bakugou's response. "WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU FUCKING EGGPLANT NEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRD?!"
The crowd leaned forward, expecting a fireworks show for when Bakugou would attacked but... nothing happened.
Bakugou's eyes went blank and he slacked forward, lazily.
Shinsou made a command and Bakugou began pacing, slowly, towards the out of bounds line.
"NO WAY!" Kirishima yelled, standing up. "Come on, Bakugou can't go out like that!"
"That Quirk must be voice-activated or something," Midoriya pointed out, pulling his notebook from his pockets and jotting down some observations. "Shinsou knew Bakugou wouldn't resist the urge to say something in response to trash talk."
Class 1-A began yelling out to Bakugou as he sluggishly stumbled towards the edge of the fighting ring.
Five steps away. Bakugou's body was limp and slack.
Four steps away. A bit of drool dripped down Bakugou's mouth.
Three steps away. Bakugou farted. Only Cementoss knew. He kept the secret for years until he was on his deathbed, but that's a story for another time.
Two steps away. Bakugou's fingers twitched.
At one step away, an explosion rocked the edge of the arena, throwing Bakugou backwards. He slowly stood up, a bit scraped from being thrown across the pavement, and slowly turned to Shinsou.
Deku had known Bakugou for many years, but this was probably the scariest face he'd ever seen Bakugou make.
"Wait!" Shinsou cried, confused, "How did you break my Brainwashing?!"
Shinsou received no answer; Bakugou rocketed himself forward with two explosions, and hit the ground running. Shinsou never even had a chance to run before Bakugou latched a hand onto Shinsou's face and unleashed a giant explosion. The blast threw the General Classes student from the ring, and he bounced along the grass, slightly charred.
The crowd erupted in cheers as Bakugou let loose a series of explosions skyward. "I EXPECT MORE OF A FIGHT THAN THIS!" He stomped off angrily, already bored with his victory.
--
"BOOO!" Thor yelled from the stand, prompting Valkyrie and Loki to roll their eyes. "KACHOW SUCKS!"
From a few rows down, amidst cheering, Mitsuki turned around angrily. "SHUT UP YOU FAT HOBO!"
Valkyrie quickly reached out and grabbed Thor's arm as he stood up furiously. "Don't."
Thor glared the woman down, but kept quiet.
Inko leaned over and whispered, "She's... she's actually very sweet about matters not involving her son."
--
Class 1-A clapped, a bit confused with his post-match reaction, and Midnight announced a brief intermission as well as other events that all of the first years could participate in. Midoriya stood up to stretch his legs. "I should be ready, I'm up first," he said to Asui.
Ashido had overheard him and stood up from down the row. "You better be ready, Midoriya! Because you're up against me and don't think I'll take it easy on you because you're cute!"
She skipped off the other way and Midoriya's face turned a luminescent red. Next to him, out of his line of sight, Asui puffed her cheeks out, uncomfortably.
Great, Midoriya gulped. That's going to make fighting a lot trickier...