"HELLO EVERYONE, AND WELCOME TO THE U.A. SPORTS FESTIVAL!" Present Mic's voice yells out, coming from every speaker inside and several outside the stadium. "I'm your host with the most, Present Mic, and joining me this year, we have an interesting co-host. Is he a dog? A bear? A mouse? Most importantly, he's the Principal of U.A., Nedzu!"
"Thank you for the introduction," Nedzu says, far more calm than his boisterous partner, "Indeed, while I normally leave the first year announcing to the Hero class teachers, as well as U.A.'s own Radio Jockey, this year has not been without its troubles, and so I'm going to be taking a greater part in things."
"For those of you who may not have heard, some real uncool villains thought it'd be a great idea to attack one of our Hero classes, and while none of the students were badly injured, we're not taking it lying down. On top of the hordes of Heroes here to watch the first steps of the next generation, we've got even more Heroes out and about than usual, but they're not who you're here for."
Watching screens where she can, Mt Lady wanders around her designated area, watching for trouble and waiting for Izuku to make his first impression. Passing a takoyaki stand, the scent catches her and she pauses. Digging her card out from a pouch inside her armour, she asks, "Can I get a six piece order, please?" Soon, she's got a tray of steaming fresh octopus balls in hand and one in her mouth as she continues her patrol.
"Starting from the top, you already know of them, the freshman class that already faced down a massive villain attack and stayed strong, the Department of Heroics Class 1-A!" Mic declares, slapping a button to open the gates to the class. The crowds go wild as the students walk out, some waving to the crowd, others trying to shrink away from attention before forming up into their rows. "And following them, we've got their sister class looking to make their debut splash today, Class 1-B!" The cheers are noticeably reduced as the second class walks out, but the energy remains high.
"Naturally, while the Heroics courses are the main focus of the sports festival, you should never count out the efforts of the other classes." Nedzu says as the cheering starts to quiet down. "Up next, we have classes 1-C, 1-D and 1-E, our General Education students."
"That's right, and the Hero Course students better watch out. I'd bet quite a few of the little listeners down there are looking to prove themselves and gain a spot in the Hero course."
"And after the Gen Ed students, we have our Support Course students, Classes 1-F, 1-G and 1-H. Many of them will be looking to show off the gear they have created to attract the attention of both Companies and Heroes."
Hands clenched together, Inko watches as Izuku steps out into the field while holding back proud tears. Dressed in a full costume, he stands out as the only student not wearing the gym uniform. A soft forest green with bits of black trim covers most of his body, white sections covering his upper arms and thighs. An orange trimmed purple utility belt around his waist adds a little extra colour, despite clashing with the base scheme. Most of the outfit is clearly padded, softening definition but providing a decent bit of extra protection.
"Whoa there, looks like someone's out of uniform!" Present Mic exclaims, turning to Nedzu who's already smiling. "Isn't that a foul?"
"Support Course students are allowed to use any gear they created and got approved before the Festival, and Midoriya did build the costume himself. It has almost never been done before, since most Support Course students only make costumes for other students, but Midoriya is within the rules to wear his costume here. I'll certainly be interested in seeing his goals with this."
"Well then everyone, you heard the boss, looks like Lean Green down there is good to go. Now before we lose track, we still have three more classes to introduce, though most of them will not be competing in the festival. Coming up last but certainly not least, we've got our Management Course students from classes 1-I, 1-J and 1-K, and they'll be doing as business types do while the others compete." The last three classes enter the field, taking up their place, more than a few already eyeing the big distraction so far. "With those introductions out of the way, it's time to introduce our Master of Ceremonies, or should I say, Mistress, the 18+ Heroine, Midnight!"
The cheers for the adult themed Heroine are quite different, including a lot of hoots and whistles, till it's all silenced as she snaps her flogger. "Thank you, Mic. To start off the festivities, we have an opening speech from our top student in the entrance exam. Bakugo Katsuki." Pointing her flogger at the boy, he walks up seemingly without a care for the entire audience around him nor the not so quiet whispers among the classes.
"Sensei," he says, taking the mic as it's held out for him and staring straight at Midoriya, "Today, I promise that I'm going to win." Tossing the mic back in her direction, he walks off the stage, ignoring the boos of the students while keeping his eyes locked on Midoriya till he reaches the ground. Finally, his stare breaks away and he marches back to his spot in the hero class.
"With that... youthful declaration out of the way, let's get onto the first event!" Midnight says, trying to pull back some of the excitement Bakugo wasted. Her flogger points to the massive display where dozens of events begin to spin by like pictures on a slot machine. It spins and spins for about half a minute before it starts to slow down some of the options becoming visible. Some are absurd, like zero gravity paintball, or survive in a fight against Mirko, while others are far more reasonable, such as extreme dodgeball. Finally, it stops at an obstacle race, Midnight declaring, "And there we have it, an obstacle race. Our fresh young hopefuls are going to have to show us their stamina in a race around the stadium."
"But first, a quick fifteen minute break to let the Support students grab their gear and let the Business students get started on their own work." Present Mic adds as the students begin to file away. "And while they get ready, how about I give all you watchers in the audience and at home a little sneak preview of the course? After all, we can't have an obstacle race without obstacles."
On screens everywhere, a camera drone's perspective takes off, exiting the stadium and turning down the path. A wide open path starts, with the beautiful greenery of U.A. flanking it, before the path starts to widen. One, two, a dozen and ever more robots begin rising up, from the simple One Pointers all the way up to a quartet of Zero Pointers. The drone zips among them, dipping and dodging like a runner might have to before breaking past them all. Down another open stretch, it soon reaches a massive pit carved over the entire path, only a few standing platforms connected by thick ropes providing a way across. This naturally means nothing to the drone as it flies across, down another open stretch, before reaching a pair of warning signs on either side of the path. Past them, the ground is lumpy packed dirt, a hint to what the last obstacle is.
The drone feed cuts off, jumping back to shots of the stadium and the students lining up for the start of the race. It's not hard for Inko to spot Izuku, his costume letting him stand out alongside Hatsume next to him. Clasping her hands together in prayer, she quietly says, "I know you can do it Izuku, just stay safe for me."
"Is everybody ready? Can I get a Yeah!?" Present Mic calls out, the crowd cheering, along with some of the students. "That's what I'm talking about! Any last words of wisdom for our competitors, Mr Principal?"
"Do your best, and people will notice. Even if you don't win today, you will still show all those watching, here and at home what you can do. Of course, never be afraid to embrace the school motto and go beyond..."
"PLUS ULTRA!" The crowd and students cheer, even outside the stadium among those on site or at home.
"Here we go in Three! Two! One! ..."
"...Begin!"
As that word comes through the speakers, the mass of students shifts to move before a wave of cold washes over everyone combined with a snapping, crackling sound. Ice coats the ground, crawling up the shoes of everyone there while its creator takes off, immediately making their way through the gate and onto the course proper. He's not the only one though, as quite a few in the Hero course break free and take off after him, including Bakugo spouting his normal level of curses.
Looking next to him, Izuku spies Mei examining the ice around her hover soles while he shifts his shield off his back. Ice shatters under it as he slams its weight down, letting him break free and take off. Support, Gen Ed and Hero course students alike are passed as he runs, most working on freeing themselves, though a few unlucky souls just resign to their fate. The path is straightforward, though a few stray purple orbs on the ground make his quirk instincts kick in to avoid them.
"Too obvious, either a trap from U.A. or another student's quirk." he mutters while running past, eyes focused on them so intently he almost misses the robot sliding in the way. Lifting his shield and setting his shoulder, Izuku crashes against it like a footballer, slamming the one wheeled robot aside. More robots ahead encourage him to leave this one behind as it clumsily rises to its wheel again, and after dodging past a couple more, he spots someone bent over in the distance with their hands on their stomach. Ahead, two massive half-frozen robots begin to fall over, two more behind them bearing down on the racers.
"Are you okay?" Izuku asks, coming to a stop next to the person he quickly realizes is Yaoyorozu, and who isn't bent over in pain, but is instead creating something as what looks like a cannon barrel is extruded from her sparkling stomach.
"Fine," She replies somewhat curtly, "Concentrating."
"I'll cover you then." He says, popping the latches on his Riot sized shield to extend out panels to double its width. It proves helpful quite quickly as several unoccupied robots begin firing weak lasers and rubber projectiles at them, hitting his shield ineffectually or passing nearby.
In almost no time at all, there's a heavy slam behind him punctuated with the cracking of stone before Yaoyorozu yells, "Cover your ears!"
Even with the warning, the shockwave hits him like the cannonball hits the giant robot. It's almost human-like as the massive mechanical monstrosity clutches at the new hole in its body as it crumples over and falls to the side. Turning to Yaoyorozu, she's standing proud, looking over her kill with the cannon smoking in front of her.
"Thank you for the assistance." She says, looking over at him with a smile, "Shall we work together to get through?"
With a bright smile he nods, replying, "That sounds like a plan. I can block the robots, but not destroy them."
"Leave that to me, Midoriya." She states as her hand begins to glow and sparkle. A weapon shaft begins to form, and with her other hand, she grasps and draws forth her creation, a sturdy spear with a thick, hard head.
Izuku's shield leads the way, charging ahead and forcing robots to the side, where skilled thrusts from Yaoyorozu bring them down.
"Whoahoa, what's this? It looks like we've got a Hero Team Up in Robo Inferno between the Support Course's Midoriya Izuku and the Hero Course's Yaoyorozu Momo." Present Mic declares, triggering a camera to swap to them.
"It's an excellent idea." Nedzu acknowledges, "Neither have the mobility of the frontrunners, so working together allows them to move faster as they cover the weaknesses in each other's abilities. A good display of Heroic teamwork in a solo event."
"And there you have it from the U.A. President himself. And look at that, our lead contestants have gotten past The Fall, they are really going Plus Ultra! It seems Midoriya's not the only Support Course student putting in work as well, Hatsume Mei has just reached The Fall, and is crossing it in style."
Finally breaking free of the Robo Inferno, Izuku and Yaoyorozu break into a run till they reach The Fall. The chasm rears its ugly head and Izuku slows to a stop, resting his still extended shield. "You go on ahead, I need to collapse my shield again if I want to be able to cross."
Looking to him, Yaoyorozu nods before saying, "Then I wish you good luck." Using her spear for balance, she starts walking across the ropes with the balance of a gymnast while he begins the process of retracting the shield's extensions.
Less than a minute later, his shield is back on his back, and he's begun crossing in a slower and much less elegant manner than Yaoyorozu.
"Our frontrunners have just passed the Minefield, and are now in an open sprint for first place. Who's going to take it, the explosion powered Bakugo Katsuki or the ice cold Todoroki Shoto?"
"That doesn't matter," Izuku says quietly to himself, "Stay focused on the task at hand." Reaching the last platform, there's a shriek from behind and he spins to reach out only to be unable to do anything as someone falls into the netting below. In his mind, however, he can picture it. His gauntlet, reaching out with its capture strands to catch the girl, letting him reel her back up to safety. A project he'll need to complete before becoming a Hero. Determination sparked, he turns to the last rope and tackles it with renewed vigor.
Far from the stadium, Inko breathes a sigh of relief as Izuku successfully finishes the fall, but with a minefield still ahead of him, she can't relax just yet.
Meanwhile, watching with a few other Heroes, Mt Lady smiles as the camera briefly focuses on her boyfriend finishing The Fall, and in a good spot too. "Looks like there's a lot of pretty good students this year." She says before stuffing her last Takoyaki ball in her mouth.
"That Bakugo kid is doing real well. I remember him from the Sludge Villain attack last year. If he makes it to the third round, I'd bet he's going top three no question." Death Arms comments, "I'm probably going to send an offer, even if I doubt he'll consider it."
Swallowing the last of her snack, she nods in begrudging agreement before adding, "Midoriya was there as well, and he's doing pretty well. It looks like he's in about the mid twenties from what I can tell."
"The quirkless kid that tried to be a hero... Right, I remember him." He says with a bit of a grumble, "And now he's got the audacity to do it in costume. Hmph, a thousand yen says he doesn't make it to the third round."
"I'll take that bet." Yu replies with a half hidden smirk.
The lightly used minefield is far easier to spot as Izuku comes up on it, several bright pink splatters on the ground marking spots mines have already gone off in. Small mounds where ordinance remains buried form a strange pattern of irregularity as he charges in. Where one sits, there is rarely one immediately beyond it making longer strides safer so long as one keeps their eyes on the ground. Far quicker than many other students picking their way through the hazzard, Izuku crosses in leaps and bounds, reaching the other side in seemingly no time at all. Picking his pace back up for the last sprint, he crosses the line and spots his name take its place on the leaderboard in 25th.
"Greenie, you made it!" Mei exclaims, skating over to him on her hoversoles, "Didja hear it, Radio Voice was talking about me and my babies."
"I did, and his name is Present Mic. He uses a neck mounted speaker system to help control his quirk by using its sound waves to interfere with his own voice."
"Ooh, that is an interesting baby, but more importantly, how'd your baby hold up in the field?"
Sliding his shield from his back, he holds it out to give it a look over, Mei joining with her analytical eyes. "It's held up enough that I could close the extensions, even after tackling a few robots with it."
"They barely dinged it, from what I see." Mei agrees with a nod, "Meanwhile my babies did wonderful for mommy. My hoversoles kept up the entire time with no drops in power, the wire arrows did everything they needed to without so much as a squeak, and my rebalancer let me dodge those robots without a worry."
"And that's our top 42!" Present Mic suddenly declares, "For the rest of you still running, feel free to finish the race or just find your way back inside."
"Both Heroes and Spectators are still watching, mind you." Nedzu adds with his voice calm, almost parental compared to the energy of Present Mic. "If you wish to give it your all, you should at least try to finish the race if you can."
"And while they show us their youthful vigor, those of you who passed should rest up." Midnight says, "The second event will be starting after the race is done."
Mei jolts, before saying, "Shoot, gotta go get the rest of my babies for round two, just in case. See ya in a bit Greenie." Buoyed on a cushion of air, she slides off to the locker rooms, leaving him alone while he waits.
"Congratulations to those who made it to round two..." Present Mic starts.
"...And well done to the rest of you. You did your best or even went Plus Ultra, and at U.A., that's all we ask of you." Nedzu finishes.
"That's right, but just because you didn't make it to the second round doesn't mean the fun is over for you all. Once the second round is finished, we have a large selection of games that any student can compete in, for fun and prizes!"
A sharp crack cuts through the air as Midnight snaps her flogger, "That means it's time for all eyes on me. You've done well strutting your stuff solo so far, but round two is going to be a team game. As for what it is... spin that wheel!" The displayed events start spinning again, round and round before coming to an eventual stop. "And it's going to be a Cavalry Battle. A childhood classic, but for those who haven't played before, teams will be made of two to four students with one acting as a rider. Each rider will have a headband worth points based on their team, and the point of the game is to have the most points at the end of the timer." Turning back to the students, she taps her thigh with her flogger, "Now, you might be wondering how points are calculated, well, the student who got forty-second is worth five points, forty-first is worth ten, all the way up to second place. For first place..."
All eyes turn to Todoroki Shoto as Midnight lets her words simmer. "... they get a little reward for their success so far. Todoroki Shoto is worth a thousand points! You all have ten minutes to make your teams, good luck."
In an instant, both hero classes are clamoring to form teams amongst themselves, Mei diving straight at Todoroki, leaving Izuku by himself, quietly choking down rising anxiety. A beacon of salvation comes in the form of a Hero student with hooves, horns and big blue eyes dragging her partner over, a person with an insectoid face and a dour look. "You want to partner?" She asks in slightly broken Japanese, "We have sword and horse, and with you shield we have good knight."
Tears well up before he wipes them away with a smile. "I'd be happy to! So, she said sword, so does that mean you have a blade type quirk?" He asks the mantis teen, eyes sparkling.
Unable to resist the awe, Kamakiri smirks and holds out an arm. "Not just a blade type quirk." Clenching his fist, a dozen blades of varying size grow out and make Izuku's eyes practically glow.
"Those are great! The extended combat range will be super useful, especially if you can make them dull for smacking our enemies." Izuku says with a barely contained squeal before turning to the horned girl, "And what about your quirk? You said horse, so is it heteromorphic?"
"I can shoot my horns and make them fly around. I call it Horn Cannon." Tsunotori replies, smiling and sharing Izuku's excitement.
Nodding rapidly, a stream of thoughts begin to spill from his mouth, confusing the half-japanese girl and bringing a bit of a scowl back to Kamakiri as they try to parse his words. Izuku's eyes wander the students, before they fall on an opportunity.
"The teams are made, the field is set and we're just about to begin the second event, and from the looks of it we have a few interesting teams down there." Present Mic declares, "So, Nedzu, as a veteran of handling Hero teams, what are your thoughts?"
The sound of a teacup being set down is heard, before Nedzu says, "As one would expect, most of the students decided to stick with their classmates, relying on familiarity to create strategies, and there are several excellent ones I can see. But if there is one I'm most interested to see in action, I believe it would be team Tsunotori, if mostly to see how well students from three classes can work together."
"With those wise words, I'm throwing the mic to you, Midnight. Take it away!"
"Well then, boys and girls, it's time to mount up, we start in one minute." Midnight declares with a smile, relishing the teenaged embarrassment as boys and girls have to climb and grab each other to make stable formations. With seconds to spare, the horses are all ready, so raising her flogger high, Midnight begins the countdown. "Three. Two. One. Start!"
Like newborn foals, their first steps are awkward and ungainly, the effort of having several people move in sync proving to be a lot for the inexperienced hero hopefuls. Some groups aim to take immediate advantage of this, Shishida and his rider, Kodai moving to attack one of the lower point 1-A teams, while Shoji and his hidden riders aim for Todoroki's team.
A wall of ice rises, and as if a bell was rung, quirks start flying left and right. Horns zoom off, explosions meet ice, chunks of the ground turn to mush and a sneaky tongue grabs for headbands. Izuku's team moves slowly, with him and Kamakiri holding the front as shield and sword to allow Tsunotori up top to focus on her horns and snagging headbands. At the back of the horse, Ojiro stands alert, tail poised and ready to protect their flank. A brilliant blue light catches Izuku's eye, giving him just enough time to raise his shield and brace before a beam of blue energy cuts across the field, startling a few of the groups and slamming against his shield for barely more than a second.
"We're going to need to get closer, we're too open for ranged attacks." Izuku says as he spares a moment to check his shield for damage.
"I coulda told you that, idiot." Kamakiri says, "I can't cut anyone from out here, even with Tsunotori working on snagging us points."
"Catched one!" She exclaims, a horn zooming back with a headband dangling from it. "We can move now."
"I'm good to move back here as well."
Moving closer to the fray, it's not long before Kamakiri is fencing off the horse and rider who's band Tsunotori stole while Izuku blocks strands of tape fired at Tsunotori's headbands. Before whoever is on the other end can start to pull, Izuku shifts to let Kamakiri slice the tape free. "I got a floating hand being a pest here." Ojiro says while swatting at the offending body part with his tail.
"Tokage. You can get rough with it. She can regenerate, but it takes time and energy. "Kamakiri says before suddenly lashing out with his blade and cursing, "Hey don't get handsy with me copycat, I'm winning this my way!"
Bakugo's group suddenly blasts past, chasing after whatever team Kamakiri swatted away while Pony spots a second flying hand with a headband heading back to it's team. She drops her current horns, firing a pair of new ones that chase it down, one smashing the hand like a club, the other snagging the headband as its grip drops. "Yay! Two headbands. Our points almost one thousand."
"Humph, not enough yet." Kamakiri says.
"We need one more decent headband to probably make it in." Ojiro agrees, before a familiar ominous crackling is heard.
Ice streams out from the first place team, coating most of the battleground in it's slippery surface and trapping almost every horse. A blanket bursts forth from Yaoyorozu, the only warning any team gets before lightning dances across the surface of the ice, zapping everyone on the ground but his own team. At least, everyone but Izuku, who's insulated costume protects him and lets him support Tsunotori as the others lose control of their muscles briefly.
Team Todoroki moves, almost pulled along by Iida as they snag unguarded headbands from the half collapsed horses, and as they come for Tsunotori's, she suddenly shifts, toppling into Izuku's arms and leaving her hidden between him and his shield. Their focus moves elsewhere as the teams begin to reorient themselves and break free from the ice.
"Are you three alright?" Izuku asks, doing everything he can to hold firm and keep Tsunotori off the ground.
"Fuck that stings!" Kamakiri curses standing up with the help of blades extending to stab into the ground. "We're not out, right?"
"I'll be fine." Ojiro says while smashing himself free.
"Owie..."
"Help me support Tsunotori here." Izuku says, before swapping to a whisper, "If we look like we're done, other teams might not target us or realize we still have our bands." As the other two group in to help support their rider's weight, Izuku talks loudly again, "Todoroki's team grabbed basically all the headbands. Unless we can get some from him, that's probably it for us."
"I make pretend horn attack?" Tsunotori asks quietly, and the three boys nod. Together, they angle her so she can see while still being mostly hidden, and a pair of horns zoom off towards the top team. The attack is direct, easily spotted and thus winds up caught in a sudden pillar of ice, before that pillar spreads into a massive dome over the team.
Almost as one, the remaining teams turn on the dome, explosions, lasers and strength quirks alike slamming against it, cracking and breaking it despite Todoroki's attempts to keep it solid. A massive chunk of it begins to melt, softened into a pudding-like consistency, bringing the efforts of the teams to their peak. With under a minute left on the clock, the barrier falls and the teams still trying, pounce. The ensuing brawl is frantic, flashy and ultimately changes little before the end is called.
"And that's the end of the event! Now that was a show and a half." Present Mic announces, "Let me turn it over to Nedzu while the scores are tallied."
"This was a very promising display from our first year students." Nedzu says, holding back a cackle as team Tsunotori reveals their headbands, "Strength, skill and strategy were all on display, and I hope the Heroes watching agree when sending out internship offers. Team Todoroki certainly showed their potential, keeping hold of their headband, and as time began to run out, performed a full team combination to incapacitate their opponents and secure a dominating lead. My favourite performance however, was team Tsunotori's final gambit. Thanks to Midoriya's hero costume, he was able to resist Kaminari's discharge, allowing him to protect his rider and their headbands, while also hiding them from the other teams that were incapacitated. From there, a declaration to point everyone at Todoroki, and they slipped under the radar, letting them keep their points without a fight."
"Now that's a sneaky move, and... Oh, I'm hearing the points are calculated, so I'll leave it to you, Midnight!"
"To nobody's surprise, and pointed out by our illustrious Principal, in first place is team Todoroki!" The 18+ Heroine declares as the massive display lists the team members and their points total. "In second, we have the team led by the one who placed second in the race, Team Bakugo!" As the names and points are put up, he clearly isn't happy as small explosions crackle in his hands while he glares at Todoroki. "Next up, the surprising dark horse made up of three classes, Team Tsunotori!" Bakugo's eyes shoot to Izuku as soon as his name appears, but is unnoticed by the boy. "And almost last, we have the three person team, Team Hatsume in fourth, leaving Team Shiozaki in fifth to let one of their members advance."
Outside the stadium, a smiling Yu internally cheers for Izuku while accepting her winnings from Death Arms.