Before anything else is said, I need to apologize and congralulate my good friend and the co-editor of this fic, Knightmare Lord, on his belated birthday almost three weeks ago. I meant to do so in the last post, but was in a hurry to post before work.
With that said, let the fun part of the Sports Fest and some more drama begin!
"So, ready to give your views, Hawk-Man?" Present Mic asked as Hawks had joined him in the commentator's box along with Twice.
"Honestly, anyone who gets past the gate has the advantage," Hawks said, his statement being proven as the mass of students got wedged in the narrow gate.
"YUP! This is pretty much the unofficial first obstacle!" Present Mic laughed.
Suddenly, a huge cloud of dust kicked up from the ground close to Class 1-C students, followed by roaring laughter as Axol emerged from the cloud and rushed the gate while surfing on his pen staff. Alongside him was Ashley skating on the side of the wall, leaving a trail of neon paint behind her, and above them both Melony flew with a pair of magnificent wings coming out of her back.
"And it looks like Class 1-C aren't the only ones with ideas!" Twice noted as Ryoku jumped over the students, creating a rope dart made of light blue aura and swinging over them.
Miyu sailed ahead on a giant paper airplane that was holding onto like a hang glider while Arisu leaped against the wall and high-fived Ashley as the two girls slid down a slide of solid water to move through unhindered.
Marianne had summoned one of her Grimm, dubbed a 'Nevermore', which carried her over everyone as Bernadetta, Mercedes, and Dorothea hitched a ride.
Class 1-A, 1-B, and the rest of 1-C and 1-D weren't too far behind either, all of them using their various skills to bypass all the other students. Ben chuckled as a few students tried to throw projectiles at him, but he formed a shield of bone spikes over his arm to reflect them.
As the Hero Students emerged out the other side, they froze in shock at what awaited them. In front of them was a handful of robots blocking their path, each one was the size of a small skyscraper, and they were all staring right at the gate.
"Time for the first obstacle!" Present Mic roared. "Robo Inferno!"
"Eep!" Lilique squeaked as she took out a card with the fragility of glass on it and threw it at one of the robots, the card inserted itself into the robot and it began quivering slightly.
"Thanks for the assist, Lilique-Chan!" Sato grinned as he lunged forward, three extra pairs of red rock arms coming out of his back as he let a fierce war cry and smashed through the robot, completely reducing it to rubble in a single blow.
"Think you can handle things, Izuku?" Ben asked as Izuku took a deep breath, closing his eyes and blocking his hearing as the rainbow flames manifested once more around him.
"Remember what Jiji and grandpa said...don't let the fear control me...block out the noise..."
Izuku then sent out the rainbow flames, which changed to orange as they took a solid shape and wrapped around one of the other robots, restraining it before it could move to attack Sero and Fumikage.
"Thanks for keeping it off our backs, Midoriya!" Sero said as he used his tape to slingshot up the trapped robot while Fumikage used Dark Shadow to scale it.
"That's my baby boy!" Inko called out, the Autoscorers joining her
"AND OUR….Nephew? Cousin? D-did grandpa ever sort that out?" Phara asked.
"We'll get an answer later, cheer him and Himiko for now." Gaoire ordered.\
And speaking of which
"HECK YEAH! EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT! THAT'S MY BROTHER!"
Their cheers were loud and proud, but sadly, some viewers were…less than admirable.
"What an idiot! Helping'll slow him down in the race." One Pro said.
"And come on! Shouldn't some of those kids…?" Another started.
"DON'T GO CALLING HACKS, PEOPLE!" Present Mic called out to the crowd. "There's nothing in the rulebook that says students can't help each other!"
"Hell, the fact he did just proves he's in the right field." Hawks pointed out. "And if you're wondering why he's wearing a Deternat Cooling Mummy suit? Check under your seats."
Several did and many gasps and screams filled the air, alomng with tosses pictures.
"We did run a test audience and four out of five viewers decided an expection was in order….Also, you naysayers? GET OUTTA HERE!" Mic called out. "MOUNT LADY!"
The female Pro grew to her max height, picked up the naysayers and dropped them outside the arena, wherein Death Arms and Kaumi Woods kept6 them outside.
"Should've thought of keeping your moiuths shut." Kamui glared. "…Assholes.:"
"You do realize they screened that righhht?" Death Arms asked.
"….doesn't make it untrue. Kid's a good one and facing crap I dealt with."
Izuku smiled at that praise and defense before he felt the air going cold.
"Pathetic," Shoto said, getting to work and freezing one of the robots to the side. He would have frozen all of them, but he didn't want to risk hitting his sister.
"Still not using your fire, huh Bro?" Arisu called out as she flew past Shoto on beams of light coming from her feet.
"It's still up for debate!" Shoto snapped, recalling Kyouka's words to him back at the USJ.
"Better use it soon or you'll lose fairly quickly!" Misako chuckled as she took giant strides, the kinetic energy she was building up granting her giant bursts of speed.
"See ya!" Kyoko giggled as she flew by, manipulating her velocity to run super fast and giving several other students a boost as well.
"Looks like some of the students are just about at the second obstacle! Let's see how well they handle...THE FALL!"
Leading the pack, Ben and Penny saw what Present Mic meant by such a plain name. In the middle of the track was a MASSIVE pit. It was easily 20 meters deep with water at the bottom, and over 100 meters across. Jutting up from the bottom were stone pillars connected by ropes. It was clear the students were meant to cross the ropes to reach the other side.
"They can handle this no problem!" Twice said. "OH GOD, THEY'RE SCREWED!"
"Um, you do realize a lot of us can fly, right?" Saiko chuckled as she summoned a jetpack that she used to fly across.
"Show off!" Meggy huffed as she sprouted wings of digital energy with her Video element to glide across each pillar.
Niles chuckled cockily as he simply began running on air using the Quirk [Air Walk]. Kaizo also glowed bright green and hovered across the track as Marianne continued to use her Nevermore to carry herself and her friends over.
"Shinsho-Kun!" Momo called out as Hitoshi turned to see she had created an honest-to-god hovercraft.
"I knew you put on weight to improve your Quirk but this?!"
"Hey! It works!" Ochako said as Kyouka huffed herself onto the hovercraft, wiping sweat off her brow as she did so.
"Yeah, no way am I moving anywhere as I am now..."
"Awww, party pooper!" Mina said as she slid off on her acid, remaining graceful in spite of her blubber.
"I truly respect Ashido's confidence." Momo sighed as she took to piloting the hovercraft. "If you want, you can join us!"
Hitoshi shook his head. "Nah, I gotta get by on my own strength. Thanks for the offer, though!"
"Onward!" Penny said as she flew by on her jet boots.
"Wait for me!" Izuku said as he formed wings of solid purple flames to fly with.
"Good job, Izu!" Sayori smirked as she flew past him. Izuku smiled back and gave Sayori a thumbs up before he flew past her. "Oh, its on now!"
"That right there folks? Is Pyromaster; Izuku Midoriya's quirk." Mic announced. "Class 1D's resident analysis genius can absorb and manipulate flames of all sorts; shaping, healing, some mild empowerment…."
And that gave Hawks an idea: A wonderful idea. A wonderful and stupid idea.
"Fun fact, greenie there, along with his fellow opening speakers and a few other students, directly helped Sir Nighteye take down an Anti-Quirk bullet dealer."
PYRO
HPSC president Jinko Wagnei was in his office when Hawks made his announcement.
"…How…how dare he." Jinko growled. "After everything we did for him? He just…!? Fine! We can always boost Mirko or Edgeshot!"
He booted up his computer and searched for a document he prepared to email. With just the press of a key, the truth of Keigo Tatumi's life would be public knowledge in a few hours….
BZZT!
"What?"
"Your appointment with Sabuko, Chugai, the Sweet Syndicate, Salem, Nagato, the Stampede mob and Giran? Over 'him./\'" His secretary reminded him, making Jinko groan as he got up from his desk.
"Bring the hammer down on Hawks." The man ordered as he stormed out.
The woman nodded and went over to the computer selected the document and quickly scanned it. She then sent it….but NOT to whom her boss wanted to see that document.
"Let's see the kind of waves the MLA can cause with this."
Just then, someone entered the office; a tall and beautiful heroine with a sniper rifle in her arm.
"Ah, Lady Nagant. Wagnei stepped out, but he insisted on paying you upfront. Take some time off; go to the Sports Festival and maybe look for an apprentice of something."
The Pro just stood there in shock and confusion.
PYRO
Himiko giggled as she turned into Ochako and removed her gravity to fly across the pit. Though she took a moment to handle the nausea backfire before regaining her bearings and continuing on her way.
Tenya had skated on the rails using his engines to propel himself while Momo piloted her hovercraft with Kyouka, Lilique, and Eloise riding with her. Ingrid had constructed a grappling hook from pieces of scrap collected from the robots back at the Robo Inferno and tethered herself across.
Ochako used her lessened-mass trick to speed up her bounds while Ashido slid on a trail of slick acid. It initially looked like it would be a straight shot to the end, but the students soon arrived at a stretch of track with a huge sign next to it. Said sign displayed an image of an explosion with an unfortunate stick figure flying away.
"A minefield?!" Bernadetta cried in terror as she buried her face into Mercedes' chest, the motherly girl holding her gently.
"Bernie, we're still high in the sky. It won't hurt us." Dorothea cooed reassuringly.
"And don't forget many of us are being able to fly!" Petra reminded, flying by while surrounded by the aura of an eagle, harnessing its flight.
"Time for the last obstacle!" Present Mic exclaimed. "This one's called Danger Mines!"
"Heh! No match for me! CUBE!" Kaizo shouted as he was surrounded by a giant blue cube that slammed down, detonating nearly all the mines at once as everyone held their ground to avoid being blown back by the shockwave.
"Careful!" Tari worriedly called out as Micky inflated in shock, nearly bouncing away before Yumi stretched her arm and morphed her hand into a net to catch her.
"Hey, at least Kaizo gave us an opening!" Soleil said as she flew on a miniature sun, Esmeray following after her while surfing on a miniature crescent moon and nodding her head in agreement.
Izuku watched as all his friends were running like maniacs for the finish line. With determination, he closed his eyes and shut off his hearing as the rainbow flames surrounded him once more, this time, they became yellow as he began moving faster and faster before turning into a blazing blur, dashing past everyone while leaving a burning trail behind him.
"Whoa, was that Midoriya just now?!" Tokuma asked while riding on his Club Board.
"Yes. Yes, it was." Strawberry smiled.
Ochako, Himiko, Mina, Ben, Yuriko, Ryoku, Arisu, and Penny were all neck-to-neck in the lead when they noticed Izuku charging behind them at speeds faster than light. However, before he could bypass them, Monika suddenly appeared in a swirl of data pixels and waved playfully...before stepping over the finish line.
"Surprise!"
"AND IN A LAST-SECOND SURPRISE! MONIKA SALVATO CLAIMS FIRST PLACE! FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY IZUKU MIDORIYA, BENIO KAYAMA, PENNY POLENDINA, OCHAKO URARAKA, HIMIKO MIDORIYA, YURIKO LAMI, RYOKU KIBO, ARISU TODOROKI, and MINA ASHIDO!"
"How did you do that?!" Ochako asked in disbelief.
"I hacked my speed!" Monika giggled. "Each of my hacks has a set limit but I was able to give myself a boost near the end."
"NO FAIR, MONIKA!" Natsuki whined from afar. "JUST BECAUSE I HAVE A JOJO STAND DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T SKIP TIME LIKE DIAVOLO!"
"Well Koro, remind me never to underestimate our classmates!" Seryu giggled to her faithful companion as Tang Yun scoffed and rolled his eyes while riding on a dark nimbus cloud.
"How about that! I managed to make it into the Top 10 despite carrying all this blubber!" Mina giggled, shaking her belly as Izuku looked away with a blush.
PYRO
After taking a 30-minute break for all the students to get their bearings, The Big Beautiful Trio stood together to announce the next event.
"Time to choose the second event of the Festival!" Midnight yelled as a spinning wheel appeared on the screens. The wheel spun incredibly fast for a good ten seconds before it slowed down and then fully stopped, landing on...
"CAVALRY BATTLE!" Mt. Lady roared.
"Aww crap, I suck at those..." Denki gulped.
"Allow me to explain the rules! This is similar to a traditional cavalry battle you may have played or seen before!" Miruko said. "The eighty winners of the Obstacle Race will form teams of up to four people, with three people carrying the rider! Each teammate will have a headband marked with a certain number of points!"
Midnight gave her belly a proud smack as she continued. "The goal of the battle is to score as many points as possible within the time limit by taking headbands from opposing teams! A team is disqualified if all players lose their headbands, or if the rider touches the ground! If even one player still has a headband, the entire team is still in it! Each headband is worth a number of points depending on your placement in the Obstacle Race!"
"So even those that come up in dead last could potentially pull themselves back from the brink," Yumi noted before her eyes cartoonishly stretched to spy on Monoma, who had a dark smirk on his face.
"I don't like the look he's giving..." Ben frowned.
"We sure he's not secretly a Villain?" Niles whispered, only for Miruko to finish counting up all the points everyone was worth.
"...and so on all the way up! The only exception is the first-place ribbon, which is worth a whopping ten million points!"
"Oh boy..." Monika gulped, suddenly regretting stealing first, especially since many where now glaring at her. No one in her own class, thank goodness, but still!
"That's right!" Mt. Lady continued. "Ten million points! Almost as much as my prize-winning smile!"
"Yeah, that smile could win you a blue ribbon at the county fair, pig!" Midnight snarked as she pinched Yuu's chubby cheek, making her growl and jostle Nemuri's belly in retaliation.
Miruko laughed as she decided to wrap things up. "You all have five minutes to choose your teams! Anyone else who's not on a team before the timer runs out will be thrown together, so choose quickly!"
And with that, everyone else left the top few students in the dust…before Monika felt herself being pulled towards some familiar faces.
"Good luck, guys! It's always gonna be the four of us together!" Monika smiled as she, Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki all formed a team together.
"Yeah! We'll keep that one-million safe!" Sayori cheered.
Izuku didn't have to go far, as Himiko pulled him towards Eihjiro and Mina.
"Like I'm going to let YOU go on any team I'm not on!" The blonde teased. "Sides, we already work great together, so why br4eak up a good team?"
"And with mom watching we don't give her worries?" Izuku realized.
"Yeah, give her eyes a break from scanning all over for us. That and HIMI needs her IZUMINA fix!"
She then pushed her brother into his girlfriend, who nuzzled his face with her own. Izuku melted into the nuzzle, before second thoughts came in:
Yes, with Pyromaster he could move at the speed of heat and he had come so far in the two weeks since the USJ and proper classification of his Quirk…but did he really…?
"Nope! Nuh uh! No sad Izzy today!" Mina declared, cupping Izuku's face and kissing him right on the lips. "You got here fair and square. You are kind, brilliant and if anyone so much as glares at you again? I'll MELT THEM if Himiko doesn't first!"
"I still have your blood!" Himiko smirked, waving a vial and then sneaking in a hug on her brother before Eijirou lifted the three of them.
"MUFASTA PRIVATE FOR THE MILLENNIUM!" Eijiro beamed. "….That…sounded better in my head."
"I thought it was fine." Izuku shrugged.
"Works for me." Himiko followed.
"Eiji, do I have to slap your sadness away?" Mina playfully warned
"Well, as long as Izu-bro doesn't get jelly…."
Mina and Izukui blushed at that while Himiko cackled and high-fived Ejirou.
"EIJI!" Mina growled, barely being held back by izuku. "Lemme go, Izuku! I can stand all the teasing I can stand, and I can't stand no more…MMPH?!"
Izuku took Mina into a bridal carry and kissed her.
"Anger doesn't belong on the perfect woman's face." He smiled, delighting at her bkushing and swatting him away in embrassment.,
"I'm so proud of 'em." Ben smiled as he already formed a team with Penny, Lilique, and Eloise.
"Arisu, do you want to team up?" Shoto asked his twin sister, who smiled and nodded as she waved to Ryoku, Sato, and Miyu, who smiled back and waved her off before joining together as a team, Tokuma jumping in as their fourth man.
"Hey, let's team up!" Mei smiled at Ochako, who nervously nodded at her forwardness as Tenya and Itsuka joined in as well.
"So...who's carrying who?" Kyouka awkwardly asked, since both she and Momo were quite huge and it would be hard for one to carry the other.
"Allow me." Jurota politely said as he used his Quirk, [Beast], to grow in size and get on all fours, being big enough to support both Momo and Kyouka.
"Oh, much appreciated Shishida-Kun!"
Ibara sighed as she looked to the stands, seeing Kuro in the VIP seats along with Melissa Shield and the Autoscorers, who at least were allowed to watch the festival and see Izuku and the others in action.
"Oh holy father, may success find us in these trials ahead."
PYRO
"Stay together, kids!" Yor Forger called out as a chain of young children, all holding hands, followed her and a tall man who walked beside her.
"Thank you again for your help, Mr. Midoriya." The man, Loid Forger, Yor's husband and Anya's father, smiled.
"Hey, I know how crazy kids can get. Sides, better to be here than dealing with my father in law…" Hisashi smirked. Rikiya had 'FORCED' him to take the day off to be with his family. Something other branch managers had brought up in annoyance, only for their boss to ask:
"Oh, did any of you secure us an International deal? Any of your kids at UA? No? Then produce amazing results!"
The President of Deternat had then apologized and thanked them for their work before having pizza and or suishi delivered to the branches.
Besides, there was NO WAY in hell he'd miss Izuku and Himiko in action! Plus, he got to spend time with Inko and Eri this way, so a win-win all around. Maybe he could even see little Nerumi again….
"Fire! I smell fire!" Kota gasped, only for Eri to calm him down. "Sorry…:
Eri just smiled before they group pasued.
There, just in the way to their seats, was the #2 Pro Hero; flame Hero Endeavour. A controversial figure; most solved cases, no failures or mistakes…but lacking in charisma and people skills; for crying out loud, he had HATE clubs! One of which was AT UA!
The kids had looked on awe at the great hero, while Yor and Loid kept calm and mentally prepped to ask him to….
"ENJI?!" Hisashi gasped.
The #2 Pro turned, expecvting an annoying All Might. Instead, his flames soputtered and lowered when he saw the man in front of him.
"H-Hisashi?!"
The two men looked on in shock, the kids growing confused. Eri broke the line to pull on her father's leg.
"Papa…do you know him?'
Hisashi nodded, smiling at his youngest before his face hardened as he faced Endevour.
"He's….WAS…my big brother,"
TO BE CONTINUED!
Knightmare Lord A/N: This was a fun chapter to write. I always do enjoy the race. The Cavalry Battle...not so much. We'll handle that in the next chapter.
I hope we gave enough of the characters time to shine through all this. It's a bit hard handling over 80 characters but that's why me and Mrotrax are a two-man job.
Mrotrax:Bet you no one expected Hisashi and Enji to be related, eh? Oh ho ho hoooo! This is going to shake things up!
KL did most of the work this chapter and will be handling this arc moving forward
