Hello again so soon, everybody. Much like the last time, I wanted to give you all a chapter with a little more traditional excitement to tide you over for waiting for the past week. This isn't going to become a regular occurrence, though, I have a pretty good amount of pre-written material to cushion the waiting time between the chapters that are uploaded, and where I'm currently at in writing the story itself, and I don't want to risk putting too much deadline pressure on myself. That being said, there will come a time pretty soon from now where you will be getting another two chapters in the span of a single weekend, since I don't like leaving you with too little material, and I don't like leaving you chomping at the bit, either.

Anyway, here we are, officially ready to begin this stories' take on the beloved Sports Festival Arc, and I can only hope you'll all enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed planning it out and writing it.

As usual, if you like what you've read here, please take the time to write up a review expressing your thoughts and opinions on the story thus far. Feedback is essential to me to know what I'm doing right and what I need to improve on, so please, just take a few extra minutes out of your day to write whatever comes to mind that you would consider worthwhile.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. The only things I own are my original characters, and the original events that surround them, and the alterations of established events that occur as a result of their existence in this universe.

Chapter 14

Obstacle Race

(Гонка с Препятствиями)

"THE YUUEI SPORTS FESTIVAL! WHERE THE HERO WORLD'S INCHOATE LITTLE EGGS AIM FOR EACH OTHERS' THROATS—AND THE TOP! OUR GRAND YEARLY MELEE! AND LET ME GUESS, ALL YOU MISCREANTS CAME TO SEE THEM, RIGHT?! THE FRESHLY FORMED MIRACLE STARS THAT SHRUGGED OFF A MASS VILLAIN ASSAULT WITH WILLS OF STEEL! THE DEPARTMENT OF HEROICS FRESHMAN CLASS! YOU'RE HERE FOR CLASS 1-A, RIGHT?!"

The godlike echo of Present Mic's voice over the stadium loudspeakers sent the entire crowd into a ravenous frenzy of cheers as all the students of Class 1-A stepped out of the tunnel archway into the brilliant morning sunlight, met with even more thundering applause as they took in the gargantuan size of the stadium itself.

Nikolay felt an especially powerful weight set itself upon his shoulders as he finally seemed to digest the sheer number of people filling the stands all around, cheering them all on like mad. Nobody had understated just how huge this Festival was going to be, and yet this somehow managed to still exceed his expectations. The churning sensation in his gut as the cheering echoed in his ears was what he could only assume was often called 'stage fright'. The only thing keeping him anchored, though, was the fact that he could see the same kind of nervousness reflected in the faces of several of his classmates; Izuku, Eijirou, Minoru, Kouji and Ochako to name a few.

"Can you draw out your best performance with so many eyes gazing from all directions? This too is another link on the Academies' grand Hero training scheme." Tenya announced to the entire class as they continued to march practically in tandem. Even with his normally stoic and professional air, how he was managing to stay so calm and collected being the center of so much attention was beyond nearly all of his fellow classmates.

He couldn't find it in him to voice as such, but Nikolay was once again reminded of the real deciding factor of today: out there among those throngs of humanity were the Pro Heroes that would potentially be mentoring him and his classmates when this thing was over, and if he didn't give his all, there was a chance he would be left behind, if not removed from the Department of Heroics entirely. That thought left him feeling especially anxious.

"AND FOLLOWING CLASS 1-B, HERE COME CLASSES 1-C, D AND E FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL EDUCATION! AND NOW HERE ARE CLASSES 1-F, G AND H OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SUPPORT! NOW FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT'S-!" By this point, Present Mic's booming introductions were falling on deaf ears, as Nikolay instinctively looked to the other tunnels lining the rim of the stadium, wherein several other classes-worth of students were marching out, to decidedly less raucous applause.

The crystal clear show of favoritism brought back to mind the confrontation between 1-A and the numerous students of all these other classes, particularly the hostile introductions from students of 1-B and the General Education Department. His mind had been so focused on training to be able to work around his own classmates' Quirks over the last two weeks; it was disheartening to see how easily he had let himself forget about all these other students they would be competing against. If nothing else, it was simply a grim reminder of just how much more difficult this Festival was going to be than he had originally thought.

Up in the stands, Tunguska was watching the procession of numerous classes begin slowly making their way towards the podium in the center of the arena. He couldn't even begin to make out Nikolay among the crowds, but he knew in his heart he would see the boy when the action started. It was harder than he wanted to admit, to be able to evenly divide his excitement and encouragement between his son and the rest of his students.

The old Russian Hero eventually decided to try and get a better scope of the fellow Heroes filling the aisles around him. He had been trying to familiarize himself with some of the bigger faces on the Japanese Hero scene, but even then, there were still so many faces around here he could not put a name to. If he was going to eventually get a license to be an active Pro Hero again, he was going to have to really put his nose to the grindstone in terms of making connections and making himself better known in the Pro Hero world again.

"Is something on your mind, Tunguska-san?" Toshinori suddenly asked, breaking Tunguska out of his focus and back to the present, addressing the at-present scrawny blonde man sitting beside him. "I'm that obvious, am I? I'm just trying to get a better idea of who's who around here in the Pro Hero spectrum. It's been so long since I've been out of it, and there are so many young faces here; young professionals who would be much better suited for mentorship than me. It can't help but make this old bear wonder if he would even stand a chance being a Pro Hero again," he admitted, while managing to give a surprisingly humble air about himself at the same time. That was especially rare in this business.

"Don't let the age of these Heroes break your spirit, Tunguska-san. If everything else you've gone through by now hasn't done it, then don't let this be the one that does. You've been putting in just as much effort towards getting your license, as those hopeful youths down there have been towards getting ready for this day. You'll get your license and your chance to take on interns of your own when the time is right." Toshinoris' confidence in that statement was like magic, how it could always manage to reinvigorate Tunguskas' sense of hope, no matter how much he let himself get down. Today of all days, he was especially grateful for his fellow Heroes' presence.

However, the fact remained that it would still be a great deal of time before he would be fortunate enough to be in that position, and until then, the students of Yuuei would still be looking to him for guidance. That's when a sudden idea took hold in the depths of his mind; an idea that he could not possibly keep to himself. "Toshinori-san, you're more familiar with how this Festival and its aftermath works than I am. What exactly happens to the students who don't end up making the cut to be scouted by a Hero Agency? Do they just automatically get removed from their respective Departments?"

Toshinoris' curiosity was admittedly piqued, as he looked the large man at his side in the eyes, surprised to see an unexpected confidence in his light blue gaze. He wasn't even looking at the student gathering in the arena. He looked as though he was seeing something greater on the horizon. "Well, it's exceptionally rare for a student to do so terribly that they would be removed from their Department. They usually throw that possibility around as a motivator to scare them into doing their best. Admittedly, I'm not too deeply informed on what would happen, but from what I've been told by some of the other teachers, it sounds like any students that wouldn't be considered good enough by any of the Agencies would simply be relegated to regular school activities during the internship week. Why?"

Tunguskas' expression suddenly brightened, with a surprisingly confident smile visible under his thick beard. He almost looked like he was ready to shoot up onto his feet; he was suddenly feeling so driven. Thankfully he managed to resist the urge and end up making a spectacle of himself, instead meeting Toshinoris' eyes with an overwhelming determination. "What do you think Headmaster Nezu would say to my taking on any such students as a surrogate Pro Hero? What I mean by that is, not taking them onto the street for official fieldwork, but for further personalized training, studying and other such preparations, in order to give them the edge they need for when the next internship period arrives. Of course, it would be strictly voluntary, for any students who actually want to take it."

To his delight, Toshinori actually looked considerably intrigued by his idea, as much as such an expression was possible on that sunken face of his. The fact he wasn't immediately saying 'no' was as good a sign as any. "To be honest, your idea sounds determinedly similar to detention, and considering how time-tested this whole process of internship has become in our society, I can't guarantee all of the teachers and other staff here would be fully approving of the idea. However, there is merit, so I can't see why we couldn't bring it up with Nezu-san and see what he thinks. After all, he's hardly one to turn his nose up at the prospect of another means of further educating our students. However, let's save that for after the Festival is over. For now, let's just focus and see how Class 1-A will fare today."

Tunguska couldn't help but nod enthusiastically, almost like an overgrown yet excited child, as he returned his attention to the arena, wherein all the students had finally gathered around the podium.

Back down in the stadium grounds, as the students all stood in anxious anticipation for the beginning of the Festival, Nikolay still found himself gazing in both nervousness and awe at the sheer number of other students he was about to be competing against. The fact there were so many was intimidating enough on its own, but the fact that he had absolutely no idea what any of their Quirks were was something else entirely. At least as far as his classmates were concerned, at least even if he didn't know how to get the upper hand against some of them, he at least knew what to expect.

"Hey, Kolya-san, I get being nervous, but you might want to start looking a little more alert, man." Eijirou suddenly spoke up from behind him, momentarily startling the young Russian from out of his own head, only to realize his outward nervousness had gotten the attention of some of his other classmates; Mina, Tenya and Izuku to be precise.

"Right…right, sorry. I'm trying to get in it, but just knowing in a few minutes we're going to be actively competing against each other…it's still hard. I know we just talked about it, but I'm still just trying to get past it right now," he explained with no attempt to downplay it, even speaking up when he saw the visibly worried look in Minas' eyes to hear he was still struggling. However, Eijirou was quick to step in with a reassuring arm over Nikolays' shoulders and a confident sharp-toothed smirk.

"Hey, man, I know it may not seem like it, but I totally get it. What I'm thinking right now, is it's much easier to cope with if you just look at this whole thing like a game, you know? Think about it like this: it's not about winning or losing, but it's about us just having fun and doing our very best out there. And hey, whatever happens when it's all over happens! No harm, no foul, right? Don't think of it like you're deliberately trying to screw over the others; but just that you're trying to do your very best for yourself."

Nikolay honestly found it amazing that Eijirou, despite having looked considerably nervous just a few minutes ago, could sound so confidently casual about this whole affair. Of course, the red-headed boys' positive demeanor didn't last long, when the imposing and authoritative face of Tenya Iida shifted in behind him like a veritable golem; his eyes looking even more intense than usual behind his glasses.

"Kirishima-san, don't downplay the seriousness of the Yuuei Sports Festival like that! Do not forget that this is the day where, by showcasing our respective skills, we will be judged by the Pro Hero world of Japan, whether or not we are even worthy of being mentored. You would do well to remember that going forward, as would everyone else!" As good-intentioned as their class presidents' statement was, the delivery was still stern enough to make Eijirou flinch in response, an embarrassed smirk still on his face by the end.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, you don't have to get so scary there, Mr. President." Tenya didn't look to be entirely convinced, but his stern posture did thankfully seem to lighten up considerably as he returned his attention to the podium, while Eijirou simply let out a sigh of what sounded like disappointment. "Still, it would've been nice if Tunguska-sensei had gotten licensed by now. I mean, yeah there's still a ton of really cool, tough Pro Heroes out there I wanna be able to intern under after today, but still…the guys' so old-school manly, it'd feel like a waste to not be his intern at least once."

While Eijirou was now completely losing himself in his own verbal train of thought, Nikolay decided to try and ease his remaining tension, approaching Tenyas' side. "Iida-san, I hope you don't mind me asking, but I'm just curious, and please be honest: are you hoping you'll maybe get to intern under your brother if you do well enough here? Is he actually here somewhere, watching? I mean, you did say he has his own Hero Agency before."

The Russian boy was about ready to flinch in reaction to another overly professional scolding, but was instead met with nothing. When he looked, he saw a very surprisingly thoughtful look in Tenyas' eyes, as though he were looking far beyond this arena, to something powerful, yet unseen. "I will not lie, Bezpalov-san; my brother would be a good Hero to have as a mentor, if not one of the best. I can only hope he may be watching this Festival, wherever he is. He and his Agency are constantly busy, as would any Hero Agency be at any given moment. However, even if he isn't watching, I'm still going to give everything I have to be able to meet our families' reputation head on."

There was such an undeniable passion in Tenyas' voice as he spoke of his brother, his determination to make him proud was admirable to say the least, and looking around, Nikolay could see Izuku was feeling the same way, listening to their president. When the two boys' eyes met, they could both tell they were of similar feeling about this whole event.

"I don't think either Iida-san or Kirishima-san are wrong in their approaches, Kolya-san. Trying not to fret over making everyone else resent you is a good idea, but we shouldn't forget the real reason we're all here, either. All I know is that we're all going to be doing our best, no matter what, so we should really just try to focus on that." It was good to see that Izuku seemed to be back in high spirits, especially after the confrontation they had all witnessed between him and Shoto Todoroki in the waiting room shortly before.

"You're not worried about what Todoroki-san said earlier, are you, Midoriya-san?" Nikolay finally asked, only feeling that much more intimidated when he realized he couldn't spot said boys' head of red-and-white hair among the crowd. The mentioning of it made Izuku visibly tense up. "Of course I am. He's undoubtedly the strongest kid in our class, and I don't think any of us has seen the full extent of what he can do. He wouldn't have made a statement like he did in the waiting room, if he didn't have who-knows-how-many strategies brewing in his head right now."

Nikolay could likewise feel a nervous lump building in his throat at the thought of it. "Yeah…I think you may be right. He's definitely going to be the one to keep an eye out for today…among other people." His green eyes immediately honed in on the head of spiky platinum blonde hair that was Katsuki Bakugo. His lack of the typical foul-mouthed screaming bombast today thus far, had left Nikolay (and several others) very unsettled.

A soft tugging on the sleeve of Nikolays' uniform stirred him out of his unconscious staring, to find Mina once again right by his side, that reassuring smile on her face as always. "Hey, don't let whatever Todoroki or Bakugo might do scare you, okay? Just remember what we talked about: no matter what, when all is said and done today, we're all still gonna be friends. Yeah, today's gonna be about impressing all the Pros so we can get scouted, but it's also about showing each other how much better we've gotten with our Quirks. Today, we're gonna show our absolute best to everyone and cheer each other on. Just keep thinking about that, okay, Kolya-kun?"

It was honestly difficult for Nikolay to figure out if she was saying this specifically for him, or if she was again trying to reassure them both at the same time with her encouraging sentiment. Either way, it was far from unappreciated, but before he could tell her so, a stirring from among the other students snapped them both to attention, before Mina suddenly yet gently grabbed the chest of his uniform, momentarily forcing him to look her in her black-gold eyes. "Good luck out there, Kolya-kun. Remember, I'll be cheering you on through all of it. I'll see you on the other side."

With that, Mina suddenly poked the tip of her finger against the tip of Nikolays' nose, letting out a playful and, admittedly adorable-sounding "Boop" when she did so, with that wonderful cheeky grin on her face, before she just as quickly returned both their attention to the podium, completely unaware of how pink the Russian boys' cheeks had turned.

Having now appeared on the podium from practically out of nowhere, was a female Hero Nikolay and the rest of the students had by now come to very easily recognize as their modern art history teacher Midnight, standing tall and proud with what looked like a leather brush in hand, and an exceedingly confident grin on her face as she looked upon all the freshman students before her.

"Now, now, fair play, boys and girls," she announced, and upon seeing her very form-fitting outfit, many of the boys watching began muttering among themselves. Nikolay could distinctly hear the words '18+ Only Hero' in particular, more than once. He could only imagine why someone with that kind of Hero moniker would be employed at a high school, and he could even hear Tokoyami Fumikage muttering just as much among them.

Unfortunately, so could Midnight, as she immediately regained everyones' attention with a single smack of her leather tool against the podium floor, not even bothering to hide the annoyance on her face. "Silence! My tenure here is perfectly on the level! Now, Player Rep, Bakugo Katsuki of Class 1-A, please step up!"

A harsh silence fell upon all the students as Bakugo silently made his way up, hands tucked in his pockets, and an unusually calm swagger to his step. Once again, to see him acting so restrained was downright unnatural at this point. Needless to say, the fact he was apparently representative for the whole class left Nikolay and Izuku feeling especially uneasy. "When the heck did he get picked as Player Representative?" he instinctively asked. "When he got first place in the Entrance Exam. Didn't you know that already?" Mezo Shouji piped in from the next row behind, through one of the mouths on his tentacles.

Thankfully, the chatter was quickly silenced as it was clear Bakugo was finally going to speak; his red eyes looking up at the crowd, and at his fellow competitors. "Sensei…I'm gonna place first. You'll all make fantastic stepping stones, I'm sure."

The whole crowd and all the on-looking students practically erupted in jeers of both shock and contempt. "AWW MAN, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I SHOULD'VE KNOWN HE WAS GONNA SAY SOMETHING THAT COCKY!" Eijirou could be heard clear as day from among the boos and hisses. Had he himself not been scared witless of being on the receiving end of Bakugos' violent temper, Nikolay would've wanted to voice his discontent as well. Unbelievable! Even knowing how much ire towards Class 1-A he's already drawn, he actually goes and says something like that, minutes before the Festival's about to start? These people are gonna be looking to wipe us out from this thing altogether because of him!'

What Nikolay was too incensed to notice, though, was that of all people, Izuku didn't look remotely angered by Bakugos' attitude. Instead, he looked pensive, knowing. He knew Bakugo well enough to know that if he were just exuding his typical arrogance, he would have been shouting that declaration from the rooftops with the biggest cocky grin on his face.

No, he could see that what was going on right now, was that Bakugo was deliberately firing up their rivals, in order to make them give their absolute all in order to try and beat him. If he was going to prove his superiority to everyone, he was going to do it the only way that counted.

Back up in the crowd, many of the audience members were either jeering or cheering for Bakugos' brazen statement. Not even realizing his own son was thinking virtually the same thing, Tunguska instinctively replied: "What is malenkii Bakugo thinking, saying something like that?! Does he not even care how big a target he just put on his entire class?!"

"He's simply stating what his class' circumstances have implanted in all their heads." Tunguska let out an involuntary groan at the sound of a by-now all-too-familiar voice right behind him. Vlad King, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-B, had slipped in virtually unnoticed by him or All Might, and was now observing the scene in the arena with razor-sharp intent in his eyes; arms firmly crossed.

"Because Class 1-A had the good fortune of managing themselves in an unforeseen Villain attack, their confidence has been bolstered, albeit far too much. To survive such a thing in the state they were at such a young age tends to make youths cocky, but it's even worse in individuals that are already as arrogant as Bakugo-kun down there. All I can say right now is that if something doesn't change today, his arrogance is going to be all of Class 1-A's downfall in the Festival."

Neither Tunguska nor Toshinori wanted to give Vlad King the satisfaction of an answer; it was all too obvious he was trying to get a reaction out of them, knowing the stakes they both had in that class specifically. All either of the veteran Heroes could think to themselves as they kept watching the crowd intently, was that their fellow teacher was wrong, and those students were still taking this event as seriously as they needed to.

"All right, with that, we can move directly onto our first event!" Midnight announced without a moments' hesitation once Bakugo descended from the podium, motioning to the single large screen behind her.

"On to the 'preliminaries', as they're called! Lots of fine and bright-eyed hopefuls end up choking on their own tears here every year! And this years' first round of destiny is…THIS!" On Midnights' cue, the screen projected the words: OBSTACLE RACE. Instantly, a hidden gate disguised as part of the stadium wall began to open up behind the gathered crowd, drawing all the students to look back in surprise at a passageway leading to the outside.

"It's a race between all 11 classes! The course makes a nearly 4 kilometer ring around this stadium! We always sing about our freedom on campus…well, THIS is what it's all about! You're all free to do anything! Anything, so long as you remain within the course!" Even as the rest of the students were already beginning to stretch and limber themselves up and get into starting position all around him, all Nikolay could think was just how grateful he was for the last two weeks of daily jogging he and Mina had done beforehand. Otherwise, he felt he would have already been ready to curl up into a ball and call it quits. He had never run four kilometers at once before, let alone in an obstacle course.

But none of that mattered now. Now, all he could focus on was telling himself he was preparing for this, and now he was ready. He had to keep thinking it, and not let the gravity of potentially losing cloud his focus. He needed to think of how he was going to get through this in a way where he wouldn't end up dead last.

[Alexandrov Ensemble – Polyushke Polye (O Fields, My Fields)]

"All right, boys and girls, let's get cracking! On your marks…!"

Up in the stands, the whole crowd had gone deathly silent, knowing they were now at the start of the Festival, with a series of massive screens lining the stadium now activating to show the close-ups of the contestants, and views of the entire course. Tunguska and Toshinori both felt their hearts hammering away, preparing to bear witness to the fruits of all their labors in getting those students, and their special charges, ready to officially enter the world of Heroes.

"Get set…!"

The electronic ringing of the sirens to signify the starting lights stirred a nervous gut reaction out of nearly all the students, but they kept their eyes ahead, remaining undeterred in their desire to not only win this race, but make it to the very top! Even with the fire of determination burning in his heart, Nikolay kept himself mentally leveled thinking about his best friends' promise: 'No matter what, when all is said and done today, we're still gonna be friends.'

"STAAAAAAAAAAAART!"

That final ringing alarm finally flipped the collective switch, and every single student immediately took off in a mad charge through the newly opened gate, trying to squeeze his or her way past each other through the deceptively narrow passageway.

Nikolay tried to keep himself out of the center of the human mass, while also trying to keep pace with everyone as best he could. He knew the tremulous pounding of everyones' feet was building up his kinetic energy like crazy, but he knew better at this point than to go straight for a launch this early. He needed to see who was going to make the first move, what it was going to be, and then hope his reaction time had been honed enough by now that he would instinctively know what to do.

As soon as they started to emerge out the other side of the passageway, Nikolay began to hear distressed cries building up from a multitude of the other students ahead, with many claiming their sudden inability to move. Alerted by this sudden change, Nikolay tried to get a look through the thinning numbers ahead, and quickly spotted Shoto Todoroki dashing far ahead of the rest of them, with a large sheet of ice encompassing the ground he stepped upon.

And just behind, over a dozen of the students from some of the other Departments, helplessly stuck in place, their feet (and even hands in some cases) frozen stuck to where they were. 'This is it! The first move's been made!'

BWOOOM!

Reacting completely by reflex, Nikolay aimed his hands back and downwards, and with a single hop off the ground, launched himself like a catapult through the air, soaring over the other students stuck to the ground, and keeping his eyes focused on Shoto and the course ahead. All the while, echoing across the air, Present Mic's voice continued to commentate, even joined by the partially muffled voice of Aizawa: "YO, HEY, BROADCASTING LIVE, HERE! ARE YOU READY TO COMMENTATE, MR. MUMMY MAN?!" "Why not, seeing as you dragged me up here by force."

Back on the track, Nikolay was managing to keep himself airborne, carefully timing his propelling blasts, when a voice suddenly called out: "You're gonna have to try harder than that, Todoroki!" "WE WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY THAT EASY, TWO-FACE!" He could suddenly hear Eijirou and Bakugo proclaim with dogged determination and rage respectively. Only chancing the briefest of looks back, he was surprised to see Bakugo through his propelling Explosions, Aoyama through his backwards-jumping laser technique, Momo through a vaulting pole, and Eijirou through simply jumping as hard as he could, actually managing to propel themselves over the ice.

In fact, it looked like nearly all of his classmates were actually managing to avoid getting stuck, whether it was Tokoyami lifting himself up with his Dark Shadow, Mina simply melting the ice as she stepped, or Ojiro, Izuku, Ochako and Minoru simply trying to hop to any empty spot on the course they could find, they were all actually managing to stay in it. Then there were even those like that purple-haired boy from the General Education Department, who looked like he was actually being carried over the ice by several of the other competitors.

Looking back down directly below, Nikolay could tell there was still quite some distance of ice left, and simply remembered to keep firing his blasts, not quite at full strength, just before touching back down, in order to keep himself airborne and mobile. Thankfully his skill at being able to fire on command had greatly improved over all this time.

Before too long; the ice was finally thinning out. Nikolay controlled his descent with minor blasts, before he was finally able to get back on terra firma again without sacrificing his running momentum.

He could see Shoto was actually looking back while not breaking his stride, but the distance was too far for him to tell if the boy was saying anything or not. Knowing his general attitude, he was probably not expecting as many of the other students to have gotten past his ice as there were, but who was he to guess? Right now, all he needed to do was keep running and brace himself for whatever was to come next. That was when he saw the diminutive form of Minoru Mineta suddenly come rushing up, pulling two handfuls of his hair off, and with the rest of their classmates quickly following after in speed.

"I AIN'T BUYING YOUR STUPID DOUBLE BLUFF, TODOROKI! NOW, WHY DON'T YOU SWALLOW MY KILLER MOVE, GRAPE-!"

WHAM!

A huge metal arm suddenly came swinging from practically out of nowhere, waylaying into Minorus' side, and sending him careening to the side like a human bowling ball, with Nikolay just managing to hop over his trajectory before a collision cold have tripped him up.

He quickly came skidding to a halt, with nearly all the other students in the race following suit, as they now stood before an opening in the course, lined with several very familiar-looking giant robots; the very same ones they all recalled from the Entrance Exam.

"HERE COME THE OBSTACLES, AND SO SUDDENLY! AND FROM THE VERY OUTSET, THE FIRST BARRIER WILL BE A ROBO INFERNO!"

"Whoa, are you telling me the Department of Heroics kids seriously had to fight these things?! There's way too many of them for us to just slip past!" Nikolay didn't recognize the voices making these statements, figuring they had to be other Department kids, but that didn't matter. Right now, he was just trying to figure out how to get past these things, remembering how fast their movements could actually be.

However, even outnumbered, Shoto never even flinched. "So, it's these Villain-bots they use for these kinds of trials in general, huh?" While the rest of the students didn't dare to make a move, lest this trigger the robots to react, Shoto instead got himself into a defensive stance, before the ground around his feet once more began to freeze, while he never took his eyes off the metal behemoth right in front of him. 'You could have at least thrown something more challenging my way.' "Since that bastard old man of mine is watching."

Before everyones' eyes, Shoto suddenly threw his right hand up like his was swinging an uppercut, sending a burst of cold straight up into the robot, effectively freezing its entire mass solid in a matter of seconds, rendering it completely immobile. Without a second more wasted, he began sprinting forward, while the other students still couldn't help but look on in amazement at what they had just witnessed. However, some began to move, realizing the favor he had inadvertently done for all of them. "Hey, he stopped them for us! The way's open! We can get through now!"

"Don't. The position they're frozen in isn't stable…" Shoto called back to them, and as if that was just the moment he was waiting for, the legs of the frozen robot shattered under its own weight, and the entire icy metal mass came crashing down, effectively cutting off the entire route. "…so they're gonna crash down."

"1-A'S TODOROKI HAS FORGED AHEAD AND BLOCKED THE OTHERS IN ONE FELL SWOOP! THAT KID'S HAAAARSH! IT'S INCREDIBLE! HE'S EFFECTIVELY REMOVED HIMSELF FROM THE REST OF THE COMPETITION! IT ALMOST FEELS UNFAIR, REALLY!"

Even through the seemingly mocking commentary over the loudspeakers, Nikolay wasn't about to let himself get scared out of going further. Yes, Shoto had just put the rest of the ground-bound competitors in a tough spot, but he had also inadvertently left an opening for the likes of him.

Gauging the distance between the remaining smaller robots, Nikolay was quick to hop and launch diagonally to his left upwards, effectively getting himself to the direct center of the course, out of range of both robots lining the opening, before following up with another blast, propelling himself forward over the frozen wreckage left behind.

Unfortunately for him, his action had spurred the rest of the students to act likewise, with Aoyama, Bakugo and Momo quickly following suit, propelling themselves over the wreckage and back onto the track on the other side. At the same time, Mina had decided to follow suit and, accelerating herself with her acidic slide, she swiftly threw handful after handful of her acid into the nearest piece of robot debris, effectively melting it away, and opening up a direct path for herself and the other on-foot students to get through to the other side and back into the race.

However, what none of them had counted on was a veritable gauntlet of robots just waiting on the other side, ranging in size from small to yet more gigantic metal behemoths.

Nikolay had long since lost sight of Shoto up ahead, but his primary focus now was getting through to the other side, and with the robots all immediately honing in on him and every other student making it to this part of the course, that was quickly proving to be easier said than done.

He didn't even have time to regain his focus once he had touched back down to the ground, as the nearest robot was already coming in with a downward swing right for his head. Once again, his persistent training, however, had proven to be more of a saving grace than he had ever expected, as his very first reaction was to launch himself sideways just out of its range, and immediately follow up with another launch up and forwards, flying right past the first round of them.

In the time when he had been training on his own, he had put an especially large focus into learning how to maintain his balance when launching himself sideways, and especially when trying to perform consecutive directional launches in order to keep himself out of an enemies' attack range. This was essentially the same thing as the maintained sideways jump challenge back in the apprehension test.

Considering that had been the one test he knew for a fact he had failed miserably at, it was frankly astounding he had managed to learn how to maintain this kind of control over the course of barely a month. He wasn't even bothered by the fact that students like Bakugo, Tokoyami, Hanta and Tenya were already managing to pass him by in their respective runs against the robots, either swerving their way past, or destroying them outright like Denki, Kyouka, Mina and Momo were. He was simply grateful for the fact that he could maintain his propulsion and manage to not get swatted out of the air yet.

Back in the stadium among the cheering crowd, Tunguska and Toshinori were watching from one screen to the next, silently yet anxiously observing the race proceed every single step of the way, trying to cancel out the running commentary from both Present Mic and the people all around them. In particular, they watched with silent impression as Izuku managed to make his way through, wielding a piece of the destroyed giant robot as a shield and weapon, using the smaller robots' momentum against them.

"Impressive. Malenkii Midoriya is actually using his own enemies' tactics to his advantage in a way that doesn't require sacrificing one of his limbs with One For All. His ability for strategizing at a moments' notice is indeed improving." Tunguska muttered in a hushed whisper to keep any of the people around them from overhearing, yet not even trying to hide his inherent sense of pride as a teacher and mentor, while Toshinori couldn't bring himself to speak, watching on with rapt attention.

Many of the other Pro Heroes from Yuuei were likewise remaining especially quiet out of focus and respect, eager to see how all their charges would manage in this challenge.

"IT'S JUST AS TO BE EXPECTED, OF THE STUDENTS WHO HAVE MADE IT THIS FAR, THE MAJORITY ARE FROM CLASS 1-A," Present Mic cheered, and while his excitement was understandable, the other Pro Heroes and teachers all truly understood just why this race was unfolding as it was, as Aizawa couldn't keep his feelings to himself.

"No, it's not that the kids from Class B or the other Departments aren't as skilled or prepared. It's just that they know there's little to no time to spend dead in their tracks, trying to formulate a plan. They've inadvertently brushed into close contact with the world above them, and they've all come to know what it is to be instilled with true fear. They all coped, and they made it out in one piece. So as a result, each of their experiences has become their primary source of encouragement. It's drowning out their doubt, their hesitation."

Left, right, forward, up, forward; it was nothing but directions on where to launch himself that was echoing in Nikolays' head as he simply kept his focus on the course, not even watching how many other students were managing to pass him by with simply destroying whatever robots were unlucky enough to get in their way. He simply knew he couldn't afford to waste as much of his accumulated energy too soon.

Within seconds, however, he could finally see where the robots stopped filling the course, the end of the first obstacle. His gut instinct was to start shooting himself forward as fast as he could so he could get back on his feet, but that moment of carelessness allowed one of the final robots in his direct path to catch him off guard, with a single flat-plated arm swinging right for him like a swatter to a fly.

Nikolays' accumulated momentum up to this point would ultimately make him a grease spot on that arm, and he knew it. While his initially startled reaction prevented him from blasting himself out of the way like he had every other robot up to this point, it didn't stop him from going for what had become his second instinctive reaction: throwing his arms extended both in front and behind, and with a moment of intense focus, firing as powerful a blast as he could from both at once, right at the moment before impact.

Just as he had hoped, this managed to not only stop him from getting thrown backwards by the kickback, but also managed to send an inhumanly powerful vibration through the robots' entire arm, inside and out, ultimately tearing its inner workings and bolts apart from the inside out, shattering its metal arm into millions of tiny pieces. A momentary smile of satisfaction crossed Nikolays' lips, until he just as suddenly realized he had sacrificed his momentum and was now coming back down to the ground.

Once he was back on solid earth, he immediately looked and found, to his despair, that the majority of his classmates and the other students still in the race had now overshot him, and he was near to last. 'Dammit! And that last blast took more of my energy than I had been hoping to use by now. I need to stay on foot, try and build it back up with my footsteps and heartbeat. Please, let that be enough for whatever comes next!'

With that, Nikolay launched himself into another mad sprint, trying to remember to focus on maintaining his breathing so he didn't end up accidentally winding himself.

"WELL NOW, KIDDIES, IF THE FIRST BARRIER WAS SO EASY, LET'S SEE WHAT YOU THINK OF THE SECOND! YOU FALL, AND YOU'RE OUT! IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT IDEA, MAYBE YOU CAN CRAWL! IT'S…THE FAAAAAAAALL!"

The mocking announcements from Present Mic couldn't have felt more appropriate, as when Nikolay finally reached the beginning of the second obstacle, he was met with a large canyon set up of multiple rock spires connected only by a mish mash of tightropes. His falling behind had now left him at an even greater disadvantage, as he could see nearly everyone was already hard at work crossing.

To no one's surprise, Shoto was already nearly across to the other side, with Bakugo in close pursuit, not even bothering with the tightropes, and instead using his Explosions to launch himself from one spire to the next. Tsuyu was close in third, crawling herself along the ropes with hands and feet like a veritable expert, and in fourth was a girl he had never seen before with what looked like spongy pink hair, and done up with nearly an entire body-worth of mechanical gadgets shooting what looked like rope darts into the spires, and reeling herself in with it.

Of course, not everybody was following the same direct path, as when he scanned about, he was surprised to see other students like Tenya, Minoru, Hanta, Tokoyami, Eijirou, Momo, Ochako and Mina were already nearly reaching the other side as well. However, he couldn't allow himself the luxury of being either impressed or pleased with his own classmates' progress. He needed to get across too, and unfortunately, he already knew he hadn't collected enough energy to simply launch himself across like Bakugo.

Or perhaps, he didn't necessarily have to.

Keeping his green eyes focused on the other side of the first rope and with his arms extended to his sides, Nikolay proceeded to take his first steps on the rope, and with his mind as focused on the immediate moment as he could be, he began emitting only the minutest amount of his kinetic energy out his palms facing downward, effectively serving like a vibration-based guardrail for him to maintain his balance off of, so all he had to do was keep putting one foot in front of the other. It was just enough energy to make a difference, but still not enough to prevent him from being able to regain the energy he had lost simply through his escalated heartbeat.

Back at the stadium, Tunguska and Toshinori had since noticed exactly what the young Russian boy was doing, as he managed to make it to the other side of the first rope, and was already repeating the process with the second, not even missing a step. Tunguska momentarily felt his heart catch in his throat with fatherly pride to see his son doing so well, even knowing he had fallen as far behind as he had.

"Bezpalov-shonen is showing great improvement in controlling his balance and the power output of his Quirk, isn't he?" Toshinori mused once he noticed the look in his colleagues' eyes. "That boy has been pushing himself harder than I had ever seen from him, preparing for today. I knew he was taking his new life decision seriously, but I still didn't think he would be managing this well already." As far as Tunguska was concerned, whether Nikolay would come in first or not didn't matter. All he wanted now was to know that his sons' dedication and preparation would be enough to at least get him across the finish line.

"INCREDIBLE! TODOROKI SHOTO OF CLASS 1-A STILL MAINTAINS THE LEAD AS HE REACHES THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FALL!" Nearly the entire crowds' focus shifted to the screen depicting the red-and-white-haired boy had indeed already reached the other side and was rushing onward without missing a beat. The impressed murmurings of the crowd were almost reaching a fever pitch by this point.

"Holy hell, that kid in first place is on a whole other level. His powerful Quirk is just the beginning. He's also got a solid judgment, and good base physical capabilities." Tunguska couldn't help but overhear such things being said by the crowd, and by now even his impression with his student couldn't help but grow. "Malenkii Todoroki really is a cut above the rest, though. It's practically once in a generation you come across a Quirk-user so young who has that kind of perfect handling of his own power, and such a thorough understanding of strategy, on top of peak physical ability. Where on earth did this school manage to find him?"

Surprisingly, Toshinori was one of the only people not currently gushing over the boy, but not out of malice. He simply understood what none of these other people did. "Do you recall, the very first day I brought you to Yuuei for introductions, when I told you that even a Pro Hero as powerful and successful as Endeavor had approached us to recommend his youngest son as a student?"

All at once, everything clicked, as Tunguska finally pried his eyes from the screen and looked at his colleague with disbelief. "That boy is Endeavors' son?! The Second Top Hero in the nation?! Now it all makes sense!" The large man almost wanted to start laughing; it should have been obvious right from the start. However, Toshinori was not sharing in the amused sentiment, instead watching the boy intently.

After what felt like several minutes longer than it had actually been, Nikolays' strategy of maintaining his least powerful kinetic emissions had finally gotten him to the other side of The Fall, and knowing he was now two-thirds of the way through the race, he felt his drive fire up that much more, especially when noticing along the way he had managed to overshoot some of his slower and less agile classmates, and some others from the other Departments. Not wasting a moment, he once again broke into a steady run, watching as the landscape of the course quickly changed from desert canyon to what almost looked like grassy pastures.

"THE PLAYERS IN THE LEAD ARE SEPARATED FROM THOSE BUNCHED UP IN BEHIND! BUT I WON'T SAY HOW MANY ARE PULLING AHEAD, SO DON'T GET COMPLACENT AND KEEP GOING FORWARD! AND NOW WE HAVE COME TO THE HIDDEN FINAL BARRIER! ITS TRUE FORM IS NONE OTHER THEN…THE MINE FIELD! IT'S SET UP SO THAT IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY, YOU CAN SEE WHERE THE LANDMINES ARE PLACED! STRAIN YOUR EYES AND FEET!"

Once more, Present Mic's commentary couldn't have been timed any better, as when Nikolay finally rounded the next corner, he was met with a massive stretch of an opening between farm fences, with the finish line standing right on the other side. Just as the commentator had said, from a distance, this spot looked completely unassuming, just as minefields were designed to be.

Of course, Shoto was still in the lead, but his movements had drastically reduced in speed in exchange for much more careful stepping about. Of course, not every other student already on the field was as careful, as Eijirou, who was clearly trying to just brute force his way through with his Hardening, was quick to get launched into the air from one of the mines right behind Shoto. "IN ANY CASE, THEY'RE LANDMINES! THEY'RE NOT OVERTLY LETHAL, BUT THEY BANG BIG AND BRIGHT, SO YOU'LL DEFINITELY KNOCK A STOOL OR TWO LOOSE!"

'They say they're not lethal, but with a blast that big, you could have fooled me.' Nikolay thought in disbelief after watching what had just happened. Were he not needing to cross to the other side on his own, he almost would have wanted to call this a genius setup for anyone who got too cocky being in the lead for this long. It was certainly proving challenging enough for the speedier competitors, as even Tenya was managing to get himself thrown, trying to dash across; while Aoyama was trying to launch himself back with his laser, only to land directly on another mine as well.

Other students like Momo and Minoru were actually doing the smart thing from where he stood, using projectiles to throw and detonate the mines ahead and clear a path for themselves. At least, it seemed smart until Minoru took a step from his spot and managed to get himself thrown like a rag doll by yet another mine.

The air was suddenly filled with an even greater series of explosions from the mines, as Nikolay turned to the disturbance and watched as Bakugo suddenly launched himself right down the field, straight for Shoto, and detonating every mine in his path as a result. Within seconds, he had actually managed to catch up with the lead, but now both boys actually looked to be on the verge of fighting, trying to pull each other away from crossing the finish line. 'Maybe this is the chance I was looking for.'

Of course, such thoughts didn't automatically lead to action, as he was still taking in the general setup. It seemed so straightforward, and yet even students who clearly had Quirks that could allow them to clear a path were still managing to get themselves blasted. Even if it weren't for the mines, it was painfully obvious that all the students who had made it this far were already too far ahead for him to possibly catch up to on foot.

'Wait…on foot? What am I thinking? You're forgetting what your entire Quirk is built on; you fool! This is what happens when you let yourself get intimidated so easily!' The answer was almost literally looking him in the face. All those explosions, their concussive force had been rippling through the earth and air all this time, and he had just been standing here at the edge, silently absorbing it all like a human sponge. He could practically feel his stores of kinetic energy reaching full capacity, if that was even possible.

He was far from aware of it, being out here on the course, but even in the stands, Tunguska was watching the gears turn in his sons' head with almost bated breath, nearly following the exact same train of thought as the boy.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself once more, with his eyes squarely focused on the finish line across the field, Nikolay bent his knees, aimed his hands back, and with that same trusty hop, launched himself up and forward with that glorious catapult arc, sailing through the air over several of the other struggling competitors at once, before just as quickly firing another blast as he was about to meet the ground. The wind blowing through his hair as he saw the finish line inch closer and closer felt more refreshing than the Russian boy ever recalled before. With his Quirk at nearly full power, he was about to jump from nearly last to potentially being first!

'I can't believe it; I'm actually going to make it! I'm actually going to finish first! I can actually win this-!' Nikolays' ecstatic train of thought was shut down with inhuman suddenness, when a momentary glance away from the finish line showed Mina completely stuck in her place on the field, showing a visible nervousness instead of her usually confident posture. Even from where he was, he could clearly see she had managed to get herself completely cornered in a spot absolutely filled with landmines all around, but back the way she came. He could only momentarily wonder why she didn't simply use her acid to clear a path, before just as quickly realizing that would risk potentially setting them all off.

'Don't think about it, Nikolay Olegovich! Remember what everyone has been saying for the last two weeks: this is the time when you need to focus on doing your best for yourself! Don't worry about the others! You're almost there! You're almost-!"

BWOOOM!

Shutting his eyes tight with moral frustration, Nikolay suddenly aimed his left hand to the side, propelling himself in Minas' direction, barely managing to react in time to break his momentum and land on his feet in the tiny clearing beside her, instead of crashing down like a human cannonball. He didn't even have time to regard the visibly shocked look on her pink face as he quickly stepped in front of her and bent his knees in a near squat. "Get on."

"W-what?! Kolya-kun, what the hell are you doing?! You've got a clear shot at the finish line; Todoroki and Bakugo are too busy fighting each other! You can still win!" "I know that, but I don't care! I wouldn't feel right winning if it meant leaving my friends helpless! I'm just getting you to somewhere clearer, now hurry and get on!"

The exceptionally serious edge in Nikolays' voice silenced any of Minas' further protests, as she realized he wasn't going to leave her behind, no matter what she said. Her supportive side wanted to insist he keep going and get himself the win, but her more serious side couldn't turn down the fact he was helping her out of a dangerous situation, either.

Finally, with her cheeks puffed out in frustration at getting herself in this situation, Mina relented and got her arms over Nikolays' shoulders and her legs over his own, holding on tight. The Russian boy forced himself to ignore the soft feeling of her body pressed entirely up against his back, and instead willed as much energy as he could into his hands, before launching them both up and forward, though not nearly as far with the added weight.

"OH-HO, WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT AN UNPRECEDENTED TURN! 1-A'S NIKOLAY BEZPALOV HAD A CLEAR SHOT AT THE FINISH LINE, AND HAS INSTEAD TURNED TO HELP FELLOW 1-A CLASSMATE ASHIDO MINA OUT OF A TIGHT SPOT! IT MAY NOT BODE WELL FOR HIS CHANCES AT GETTING FIRST, BUT STILL, WHAT A CLASSIC SHOWING OF COMRADERY EVEN IN THE FIELD OF COMPETITION!" "Seriously, what the hell is that idiot thinking?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?! HE HAD THE FINISH LINE RIGHT IN THE PALM OF HIS HAND!" Tunguska instinctively shouted in utter disbelief at what he had just witnessed. Many of the other audience members were voicing similar surprise and disbelief, but Toshinori remained steadfast as always, taking it all in with a very observing eye. "Don't let your emotions blind you from the basic facts, Tunguska-san. Yes, in this specific case it's self-sabotage, but don't forget that in concept, Bezpalov-shonen is simply doing what any Hero would do if they saw someone stuck in a dangerous situation like that. It may not be appropriate in a competitive setting, but in the world of Heroes, it's downright natural, what he's doing right now."

However, the crowd was suddenly silenced when the most deafening of explosions rang across the mine field obstacle, and the screens barely managed to capture the image of Izuku Midoriya flying on that large metal plate he had been using, having used a pile of dug up mines to launch himself over the entire field, and even over-shooting Bakugo and Shoto by just enough to get their attention, as now both boys were darting straight for him.

The colossal explosion had nearly broken Nikolays' focus enough to almost send himself and Mina crashing back to the ground, especially when he saw Izuku on a metal plate come dashing right past them like a human cannonball, and even over-shooting Bakugo and Shoto to inadvertently gain himself a lead. Unfortunately for him, both boys realized that, and were now actively gunning for him.

That was when, at the last possible moment, Izuku, in mid-air, actually swung that same metal plate by a wire into the ground, setting off another tremendous explosion, stalling Bakugo and Shoto both, and propelling himself even further forward. "Holy crap, Midori-kun is insane! Looks like this is the final stretch, too; it's clearing up! Thanks for the helping hand, Kolya-kun! I owe you big time!" With that, Mina quickly gave Nikolay an extra squeeze of gratitude, before letting go and letting herself meet the ground running.

Carrying her along had sapped his collective energy faster than he had hoped, and so Nikolay let himself get back on his feet as well, only momentarily glancing back to see that by now, nearly every other student still in the race was barreling towards him like a stampede. The fire re-ignited under his tail, Nikolay immediately began taking off for the end of the field, looking down the straight passageway ahead that would mark the finish line and the end of the race.

'If I can just keep this speed for the next few seconds, maybe I can work up enough for one final spurt across the finish line!' his brain was practically screaming this last ditch excuse for a strategy, as he continued throwing one foot in front of the other, almost swinging his arms back and forth like Tenya to try and somehow add to his sprinting speed.

Click

BOOOM!

The sensation of a button pressing underneath Nikolays' foot didn't even register in his brain before the subsequent explosion underneath sent his entire body flying forward listlessly through the air. His ears were ringing and his head was spinning, as he couldn't make out left or right, up or down, as his body twirled like a helpless rag doll from the explosion. He couldn't even see how far or close he was getting to the ground, before he felt every inch of his body make hard impact with the surface once more, rolling for several feet forward.

Click

BOOOM!

Solid earth transitioned to the harsh current of air encompassing every inch of Nikolays' body, as his trajectory had sent him rolling right on top of another mine, launching him forward and up against his will once again, this time past the end of the mine field obstacle, and into the mouth of the final passageway to the finish line. His head, however, was ringing far too hard for him to even comprehend where he was and what was happening anymore. All he could feel was an intense burning sensation virtually all over his body. No words even registered in his mind to speak, or even an exclamation of surprise or pain. It was like Nikolay Bezpalovs' consciousness had checked out for lunch from the very first mine detonation.

Click

BOOOM!

'Oh my God, are you serious?!' That final explosion was what finally did the trick and brought his mind back to reality, as a third landmine, most likely tossed by one of the students from behind to try and clear out the competition at the last second, detonated and sent Nikolay careening even faster down the passageway. Within seconds, his spinning vision was overwhelmed with the bright light of the sun and the deafening exclamations and cheers of the audience, as his body finally hit the ground much harder than before, rolling about helplessly before his momentum finally came to an end, and with one final roll onto his back, the young Russian finally came to a complete stop.

"AND BY SHEER INSANE LUCK, THROUGH PROBABLY ONE OF THE UNLUCKIEST SEQUENCES OF EVENTS IN THE SPORTS FESTIVALS' HISTORY, 1-A'S NIKOLAY BEZPALOV ACTUALLY MANAGES TO CROSS THE FINISH LINE THROUGH GETTING BLOWN AWAY BY THREE MINES IN A ROW, FINISHING IN NINTH PLACE JUST BEHIND 1-A'S ASHIDO MINA! AND HERE COME THE REST OF THE CONTESTANTS ONE AFTER THE OTHER!"

Present Mics' ecstatic commentary honestly sounded like it was coming from underwater, as Nikolay just lay there in the middle of the course, trying to get the sun out of his eyes, while every inch of his body was aching and experiencing a mild burning sensation, especially down at his feet.

After a minute or two, the announcement had finally been made that the last of the students still in the race had crossed the finish line, officially ending the Obstacle Race, and calling for a short break. Of course, Nikolay could only hear this, as no matter how much he tried, his body was simply in too much aching pain to really move, and it wasn't long before many of the other 1-A students began to notice as well.

"Hot damn, Kolya-san, are you okay?! You bounced three times in a row, man!" Eijirou's overly excited voice came in much louder than normal, as he and a few others he could barely make out through the sunlight, began to gather around him like vultures. "I don't know…it's kind of hard to hear and move right now," the young Russian tried to play off as casually as he could, before trying to get off his back, and only managing a very pained groan as a result. "Midnight-sensei, I think he might be too hurt to move," Hanta Sero called out to the distance as the cacophony of the crowd finally began to simmer down.

"Alright, alright, make way, let me take a look," the freshmans' referee ordered as the students overhead cleared a path, and she knelt down to look upon the frankly pitiful-looking boy on the ground with those piercing blue eyes. "Is he gonna be okay, Sensei?" he could distinctly hear Mina asking worriedly, even though the light kept him from being able to see.

"Well, his feet are looking a bit singed, but it's nothing our field medic can't have patched up in a jiffy. We don't want the participant numbers for the next event getting screwed up, after all. Get Bezpalov-kun taken to Recovery Girls' field tent!" Within less than a minute, two medic robots had wheeled right in and gotten Nikolay on a stretcher, before carting him off to a nearby tent at the edge of the stadium, while the boy was trying his best not to move and exacerbate the collective pain.

It thankfully didn't take long for Recovery Girl to have all the minor burns adorning Nikolays' body fully healed. "Luckily for you, those mines they use aren't designed to the typical lethal standard, for the sake of the Festival, so those other burns were practically nothing. However, considering the first mine detonated directly against your feet, those burns are a little bit more extensive, so the healing affect of my Quirk will take a little bit longer to heal those than they did everything else. I would estimate your feet will be back to normal within an hour at the longest. So until then, try to avoid putting them through anything else as strenuous. Alright, dearie?"

As relieved as he was to hear this diagnosis, the fact the Festival wasn't about to be put on hold for the sake of his injuries healing, hung quite heavy on his mind. "Yeah…understood. Easier said than done, but understood." Figuring there was no further need for the boy to stick around, Recovery Girl sent Nikolay on his way, awkwardly trying to walk out on the balls of his feet in order to try and stick to the nurses' advice.

However, it wasn't long after, before Tunguska finally poked his head into the tent as well, keeping himself out of sight of any of the contestants. "So sorry to bother you, Recovery Girl. I promise I won't make this a habit today. Can you tell me how Kolya is doing? Those explosions did throw him pretty harshly, after all."

"You can put your worries aside right now, Tunguska-san, your boy's going to be just fine. His burns weren't actually as serious as those explosions would have you believe. However, I feel I'm within my rights to ask why you didn't just come in and check on him yourself. I mean, you are his father, after all, I would've thought you would be down here first thing once they carted him off."

Tunguska stepped the rest of the way into the tent and out of sight, nervously peeking through the flaps to see his son hobbling along towards the rest of the congregated students outside. "Normally I would be. What parent wouldn't? The thing, however, is that I know how much he's been working towards getting ready for this Festival. The only reason he managed to finish that race at all was because I could tell he was absolutely focused, harnessing all the training he's been putting himself through for it these last two weeks. Even if he may not seem like it on the surface, Kolyas' head is absolutely in the game, and I don't want to risk upsetting that by playing the domineering and overly-protective parent…at least, not until the Festival itself is over."

Recovery Girl returned to her desk, letting out a tired sigh tinged with aggravation at such half-assed reasoning on a veteran Heroes' part. However, healing the students' injuries was as far as her responsibilities here went, not lecturing people on their parenting methods. "I suppose I can sort of understand what you're trying to say. Well, do whatever you think is best, Tunguska-san. Either way, your boys' wounds will be fully healed in less than an hours' time, I guarantee it."

"Balshoy spasibo (Thank you very much), Recovery Girl. Hopefully this should be the only time he has to bother you today." Tunguska tried to exit with as much of an attempt at humor as he could, about ready to step back out into the sun, before hearing her chair roll back as she got onto her feet. "Before you go, Tunguska-san, there is something rather curious I wanted to bring to your attention."

Tunguska couldn't begin to know just what on earth the school nurse would possibly want with him that didn't pertain to his son; a curiosity that was only further piqued when she actually pulled out a tiny cellphone from her coat pocket and seemed to be perusing through it. "Were you at all aware that Bezpalov-kun actually has tiny pinprick-like holes on the bottom of his feet and toes? They almost look exactly like the ones adorning his hands."

Tunguska momentarily looked at the tiny old woman like she had gone mad; a reaction she had no doubt been expecting, as she already had her phone held up for him to observe. Indeed, right there on the screen, plain as day, was a pair of considerably singed bare feet, with the tiniest of deliberately placed holes down the center of the sole, and square in the middle of each toe.

"When I took these, I didn't tell Bezpalov-kun. I just told him it was for the sake of properly keeping the medical records of each of the students, so he didn't ask any further questions. Honestly, I had just assumed that the boy had always known of their existence. However, judging by the look on your face right now, I'm realizing that's clearly not the case."

Indeed, Tunguska looked utterly speechless. How long had those been there? Did Nikolay really know about them, and had simply chosen not to tell him about it? He didn't think it was possible he could have possibly missed it over all these years. A timely clearing of the throat from Recovery Girl thankfully managed to snap him out of his momentary confusion.

"I think it is worth pointing out, comparing between the pictures between his soles and his palms, that the holes on his feet are definitely smaller in diameter than the ones on his hands. That leads me to believe these may be a very recent and, more importantly, still-developing extension of your sons' Quirk. If not today, then soon, I strongly suggest you bring this up with the boy and make a decision how you may want to proceed with his training, because I don't believe something like this is for nothing more than an aesthetic change."

Even silent, Tunguska was in full agreement. He had no reason to believe it had never happened before, but for someone to develop such a distinct extension of their Quirk this late into their adolescence was still exceptionally rare. Excusing himself to get back to the stands and get some air, all Tunguska could think at this moment, or perhaps rather wonder, was if this meant that with enough practice, Nikolay would actually be able to channel his kinetic energy stores through his feet just as well as his hands, and what this could potentially do for his abilities in mobility and combat.

The stadium grounds were once more abuzz with activity as the students, even the ones that had long since gotten left behind at the obstacle race, had all re-gathered at the podium, excited and anxious both to see what the final results would be. Nikolay tried to avoid making direct eye contact with anyone after the accidental spectacle he'd made of himself, both out of fear of drawing the ire of those he had still managed to beat, and out of embarrassment for having gotten so careless at the final stretch.

Of course, it was much harder to avoid drawing attention when he was deliberately trying to avoid walking on as much of his feet as possible, in keeping with Recovery Girls' suggestions. Hence his hobbling made him stand out regardless, especially to his actual classmates as one by one, they all saw him practically waddling over from a mile away on the balls of his feet.

"Kolya-kun!"Minas' voice practically echoed out from across the field as he looked up to see his pink friend rushing over with the most concerned look in her eyes, as she was quickly joined by Eijirou, Izuku, Ochako and Tenya, all of them soon reflecting similar worried looks when they saw the way he was walking.

"How are you feeling, Kolya-kun? Are you okay?" Mina immediately asked as soon as they had reached the Russian boy, rather than force him to come all their way. "Yeah, when I saw you go flying and crashing like that, I could've sworn you were out for the count, man!" Eijirou instantly chimed in. "Are your feet still hurting? Should you really be up and walking already?" Ochako almost asked over the red-haired boy, unable to take her eyes off Nikolays' partially bandaged feet. "Your strategy was surprisingly sound, but you got too careless at the end. Of course, knowing where I finished, I suppose I don't really have a place to lecture anyone." Tenya fumed primarily to himself, almost losing his original train of thought immediately. "I can't help but feel that last mine might have been my fault. It was my idea to dig and pile up the mines to launch myself across in the first place. I didn't think anyone else would actually take any ideas from that and try to sabotage anyone in the final stretch." Izuku muttered, the excitement and pride of his win clearly having since waned, and he was now back in the full reality of the present moment.

"Guys, please, I'm okay, really! Recovery Girl said they should be good as new within…less than an hour by now. I'll be fine, really. Can we please just move on from it, before anyone else out here starts coming up with jokes?" Nikolay hurriedly tried to diffuse all their collective worry, while visibly looking nervous as he scanned all around to make sure nobody was laughing to themselves at the sight of him.

"I'm sorry, Kolya-kun." Mina suddenly apologized in a voice softer than he had ever heard from her before. When he looked, he felt his heart drop when he saw her eyes were glued to ground, twiddling her thumbs as her once sunshine-y face now reflected only shame. "You had a straight shot at the finish line, but you diverted from it because of me. Maybe if you hadn't, then at least you wouldn't have fallen behind enough to get hurt."

"Hey, Mina-chan, please don't get upset! There's no way any of us could have known that was going to happen, don't start blaming yourself!" Ochako tried to reassure the pink girl, putting on a bit more intensity than the moment called for, but the sentiment was appreciated nonetheless. "Yeah, you can't blame him for doing the manly thing and helping somebody when they're in trouble! Even if it is a race, there are some things you just don't ignore!" Eijirou added in full agreement, while Tenya straightened his glasses in thought. "Sentiment and noble intentions aside, Bezpalov-sans' choice was his own to make. Nobody forced him to do what he did, so you shouldn't blame yourself, Ashido-san."

Realizing it was his input she was really wanting to hear, Nikolay hobbled over until he was less than a foot in front of her, and Mina finally lifted her regretful black-gold gaze to meet his, visibly nervous to hear his honest opinion. For once, he couldn't even feel the aching of his feet, and instead gave her the most reassuring smile he could manage, trying to follow her regular example. "I'm okay with this, Mina, honest. Like I said, I wouldn't have felt right winning, if it meant leaving my friends in trouble. Hell, I would've done the same for Kirishima-san if his Quirk didn't protect him from harm in the first place."

With that mention, Eijirou quickly stepped in, never once losing that sharp-toothed grin of confidence on his face. "That's right! If that giant frozen robot landing on me couldn't hurt me, what chance were those dinky mines going to have?" Nearly everyone did a double take at once as soon as Eijirou had spoken, and he could physically feel their unanimous need for an explanation. "Oh yeah, that giant robot Todoroki froze at the first obstacle barrier? When that thing fell apart, it landed on both me, and that kid with that metal around his eyes from Class B! Turns out he and I have almost identical Quirks, except he can turn his skin into metal. Copy-pasting bastard."

For all intents and purposes, it did indeed look like Eijirou was no worse for wear, so none of them wanted to push the matter further if he didn't. Getting back to the matter at hand, Nikolay met Mina with a reassuring hand on her shoulder, much to his own surprise, as he hadn't actually thought of doing so. "I promise, I'm okay with things turning out this way if it meant that I helped you out, Mina. I'll just have to try that much harder in the next event, that's all. Speaking of which, Midoriya-san, that was nuts, what you did with the mines and that metal plate, especially that swing at the end to get yourself in the lead. If you've got any more tricks like that up your sleeve for whatever comes next, I have to admit I'm actually kind of excited." Eijirou and Ochako easily matched Nikolays' childlike eagerness, both nodding in enthusiastic agreement. "Yeah, but whatever it is, I'm not going to let it stop me from getting first place this time, Deku-kun!" The brown-haired blushing girls' off-putting determination had just as suddenly come back, once again earning intimidated looks from everyone around her, even if they now knew why she was this way today of all days.

"Oh, no, that was really just kind of a last-minute improvisation, to be honest. I'm trying to avoid using my Quirk as much as possible today, for obvious reasons. I don't think I could come up with something thorough like that again if I tried." Izuku tried to shrug off the sudden praise with that same awkward smile that seemed to diffuse whatever tension there still was among his friends as they began to make their way further into the crowd at the podium.

All the while, Mina could actually feel her sensation of guilt beginning to wane, thinking about that sincere smile on Nikolays' face. It honestly couldn't help but make her wonder if that was anything at all like when she would be the one to reassure him before, if it felt anything at all the same on his end.

Before anyone could ruminate on anything further, Midnight had finally returned to the podium, removing the eye-mask from her face as the screen began to project for everyone to see, with the screens lining the stadium following suit.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! The Obstacle Race is officially over, any and all injuries have been seen to and mended, and the final results have officially been recorded! Here they are, so observe them well and save them for posterity!" Before everyones' eyes, especially those of the now universally-anxious students, a listing of names and photos dictating who was in what place by the end of the race filled the screen, and the air was quickly filled with equal shares of excited cheers and forlorn moans of defeat, as each and every one was listed. There were only a handful that Nikolay paid particular attention to, as the majority of names he did not recognize, no doubt from other Departments or Class 1-B:

1st Place: Midoriya Izuku

2nd Place: Todoroki Shoto

3rd Place: Bakugo Katsuki

6th Place: Iida Tenya

8th Place: Ashido Mina

9th Place: Nikolay Bezpalov

11th Place: Kirishima Eijirou

18th Place: Uraraka Ochako

When the listing had finally ended, the stadium erupted into even further cheers as everyone who had their names listed let out a collective sigh of relief, accomplishment, and even further determination all at once. Among them, Nikolay was legitimately surprised their class had essentially only lost one member for the rest of the Festival going forward, since Yuuga Aoyama had been the last name listed in 42nd place, with Minoru Mineta nowhere to be seen on the list. In fact, he actually hadn't seen Mineta anywhere among their numbers on the field now. Had anyone even thought to go back and collect him from the minefield? Of course, that curiosity was quickly replaced with relief that he had actually managed to make the cut, even with his royal screw-up of a finish.

"All right, the 42 students at the top have earned the right to advance! I'm sorry for the kids who failed, but take heart! This Festivals' showstopper is still being prepared! And now for the Post Preliminaries, The Final Selection! From here on out, even the Press Corps will teem in a white heat of excitement, so go all out!" On Midnights' veritable command, the entire stadium crowd erupted into further raucous cheers of excitement.

"Now then, onto todays' heart-pounding second event! I already know what it will be, but the suspense is killing me…what could it be?! I'll tell you! BEHOLD!" With a swing of her leather brush, the screen once again displayed in large imposing characters: HUMAN CAVALRY BATTLE!

Nikolay felt an immensely heavy air settle over a good portion of the crowd, while all he felt was immense misunderstanding. "Forgive me, Sensei, but what exactly is a 'Human Cavalry Battle'?" While most of the other students instinctively looked to the lone Slav like he came from another planet, Midnight was looking surprisingly lenient by comparison. "An understandable question from one of your particular background. In contrast to the Obstacle Race, this is an event where the participants will actually have to work together in teams.

"You can all form 2-4 person teams freely and form a horseback configuration! Basically, it's the same rules as a normal Human Cavalry Battle: swipe enemy riders' headbands and guard your own. Except for one thing: everyone will receive points based on their performance in the last trial!" Nikolay could hear several of the students around him begin murmuring in thought to what these details ultimately meant.

"So if it's anything like the Entrance Exam's points system, then it'll be easy to understand." "Which means that the point value of each human war horse will change based on who's in it-!"

Crack!

"DON'T SAY WHAT I WAS GONNA SAY BEFORE I CAN!" Midnights' hair trigger temper and crack of leather immediately shut everyone up like the very word of God. She could be surprisingly scary when she was angry, clearly. "But yes, that's right! And the number of points you're worth will be 5 points if you came in 42nd, 10 if you placed 41st, and so on and so on." Nikolays' brain was already hard at work, as he could imagine everyone elses' were, going by that system. It took some time, but he ultimately came to the realization that, since he had ultimately placed 9th in the race, that meant his individual point value was 170 points! 'Oh man, if that system continues all the way to first place, then I've got a pretty sizeable price on me to look after.'

"With the exception of 1st Place, however! That headband is going to be worth…TEN MILLION POINTS!" An unholy chill suddenly swept across the entire stadium, as Nikolay and every other student, in an unnatural form of unity, all collectively turned to gaze upon Izuku, who stood there stone still with the widest eyes; the literal human deer in the headlights of the world.

"If I were you kids, I'd aim for the guy who placed first! Make no mistake, everyone: this is the chance for the low to supplant the high! WELCOME TO OUR SURVIVAL GAME!"

Up in the stands, Tunguska and Toshinori alike felt a deep unease settle in the pits of their stomachs as they saw everyones' eyes fall upon Izuku like he was the last meal in a barren wasteland. Neither of them even remotely envied his position, but even more so, neither of them could help but worry just what this sudden shift in dynamic was going to do to all of those kids over this next monumental event. One way or another, friendships were going to heavily tested this day.

Alright, everyone, there was your surprise bonus chapter for the weekend. I hope you all enjoyed it. If so, please feel free to leave a review. Next weekend will be back to the single chapter schedule, so I will see you all with the next chapter on 03/27! Until then, stay safe, and have a great week!