Disclaimer: My Hero Academia belongs to Kohei Horikoshi.
"Man... I wanted to wear my costume," Ashido says, disappointed that she along with everyone else in Class 1-A are in their gym uniforms.
"Well, ain't that a shame," Tanaka says, sarcastically. "I bet the audience would love to see you show off for the cameras."
The pink skinned girl gives her classmate an unamused look before asking, "Why do you feel the need to do that, Tanaka?"
The brunette doesn't answer her question, instead simply resuming some of the stretches he happens to be doing. A few of his other classmates are doing the same.
"He does have a point you know," Ojiro points out. "We have to wear our gym uniforms to keep everything fair."
"I wonder what the first round's going to be," Sato says. He looks to be rather anxious about what might happen in the festival.
"Does it really matter?" Tanaka asks his big-lipped classmate. "We'll just have to deal with it when it comes our way."
"I'm in full agreement," Tokoyami says, composed as he is.
"Midoriya," Todoroki says, gaining the attention of the greenette.
"Todoroki, what is it?" Midoriya asks
"Looking at things objectively," the dual haired teen says. "I'm stronger than you."
'Is this guy for real?' Tanaka thinks, just as caught off guard as everyone else. He then walks over to them before asking the dual-haired teen. "What are you going on about? Is there something you're trying to point out here, because I don't see it."
The teen in question turns his head to look at the shadow user. "What do you think I'm trying to do here, Tanaka? I'm pointing out the fact that I'm stronger than him when it comes to using our quirks in battle."
"Did you seriously forget that Midoriya can't use his quirk at full strength without breaking the bones in his body?" replied the shadow user. "If the two of you were to go at it in a fight, you'd beat him within a few minutes."
"I-I agree with Tanaka right there," Midoriya agrees, nervously. "You've got more experience with your quirk than I do."
"But All Might has an eye on you, doesn't he?" he asks the greenette. "I'm not going to pry on it, but I intend on beating you, Tanaka and another person in this festival."
"Oh?" Kaminari says, having heard everything. "Is the strongest in class making a declaration of war?"
"No Kaminari," the shadow user says to the electric teen sarcastically. "He's inviting him over to his place so that they can have tea together."
"No I'm not," Todoroki says. "I did not say anything like that to Midoriya whatsoever. I am not here to make friends with anyone here, so do not ever assume otherwise. Got it?"
The brunette boy gives Todoroki a look of shock at the attitude the latter gave to him. Has this guy seriously not heard of sarcasm before?
"Wait, you made a declaration of war against three people in this festival," Tanaka brings up, realizing something. "Midoriya and I are two of them, so who's the third?"
"Your friend in Class 1-B," the dual-haired teen answers.
The shadow user gives him a deadpan look.
"You have got to be kidding me," he says in a deadpan tone to match the look.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Todoroki questions in his stoic tone. "I plan on taking him down just so I can prove that I am stronger than him."
Scoffing at that, Tanaka replies with this, "You're welcome to try that. But there's one thing that you should know about Tora is that, while he may have a strong pyrokinetic quirk that can give the left side of your quirk a run for its money, he actually has a trump card. I'm not going to say what it is, because you're going to have to find that out yourself."
Blinking in confusion, the dual haired teen goes silent. What did Tanaka mean by his friend in their sister class having a trump card? What could Tora possibly have that might counter his quirk?
But before those questions could be asked, however, everyone hears Present Mic make his announcement to the crowd in the stadium's stands.
'Better get this party started,' Tanaka thinks. He and everyone else in Class 1-A wait until the signal for them to show themselves comes.
-U.A. Stadium-
"Hey!" Present Mic announces from the commentor's box. "Pay attention audience! This year's high school rodeo of adolescence that you all love, the U.A. Sports Festival, is about to begin!
"It's time for the students to enter the first-year stage!" Taking that as their signal, class 1-A began to walk out of the hallway that they were waiting in and onto the arena. "The U.A. sports festival! The huge battle where fledgling heroes sharpen their swords once a year! Anyway, these are the guys, right? The miraculous new stars who overcame attacks with their hearts of steel! Hero course class 1-A, right?" Present Mic said, as the class made their way to the center of the arena.
"They haven't been getting as much airtime, but this class is also full of talent! Hero course, 1-B!" He continued, as the class also made their way to the center of the arena.
"Time to show them what I'm made of," Tora mutters, a cheeky smile etched on his face as his class heads over there.
"Next up, general studies classes C, D, and E!" These classes also came out and made their way to the center of the arena.
"Support course classes F, G, and H are here too! And business course classes I, J, and K!" he continued with the last of the classes as they made their way to the center of the arena. "All of U.A.'s first years are here now!"
"Time for the player pledge!" Midnight says, getting the attention of everyone in the arena.
-Within the stands-
"Oh, this year's chief umpire for the first years is the R-Rated Hero, Midnight?" one of the male pro heroes in the stands said, who were all blushing.
"What about the principal?"
"The principal is at the third-year stage every year."
-Back on the ground-
"What is Ms. Midnight wearing?" Kirishima asked, not comfortable to what he was seeing.
"That's an R-Rated hero for you." Kaminari replied.
"Is it okay for her to be at a high school even though she's R-Rated?" Tokoyami asked.
"Yes!" Mineta exclaimed, his face steaming with perverse glee.
"Just looking at her like that," Tanaka says, a disgusted expression on his face as he tries to avoid looking at her. "It honestly makes me wanna set myself on fire."
This causes everyone within hearing range to turn to look at him in shock and horror.
"Whoa dude, take it easy," Sero says to the shadow user. "Don't you think that's a bit much?"
"Yeah," Mineta jumps in. "What's your problem with her, anyway? You make it sound as if she spat into your rice bowl."
Before that question could be asked, everyone hears Midnight make her announcement as to who would make the student pledge.
"The student chosen to represent the students will be... Keisuke Tanaka from Class 1-A!"
The aforementioned student blinks in confusion, before realizing what was just said.
"Huh? Me? Seriously?" Tanaka questions, clearly surprised as everyone else.
"Well, you did get placed first in the entrance exam," Sero says. The brunette turns to look at him with an annoyed expression.
"That's only for the Hero Course, you tape spewing idiot," he retorts. "Anyone else in the other courses can agree with that." He then walks up to the podium so that he can give the pledge.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he steps up to the microphone before giving the pledge.
"I'm not exactly one for long speeches so I'll try my best to make it short and to the point," he begins. "Me and the other first-years are here to prove ourselves and you're all here to see what each of us are capable of, is that right?"
He lets it all sink in before continuing, "I'm pretty sure that you are, because we're really going to our best here. And we should all do well-very well-not to disappoint."
"Oh, and by the way, if anyone so much as says or does anything that doesn't embody the spirit of the Sports Festival," he then goes on, in what sounds like a threatening tone. "It doesn't matter if the one responsible is a student, Pro Hero, or even a member of the audience, when I get my hands on them, they'll be kissing certain... mandatory body parts goodbye. And where I come from, people like me aren't exactly known for empty threats."
Something about the way he said that causes the students in the other courses, particularly the male students, to shiver and subconsciously cover their groins in response. Almost as if he might make good on what he said if any of them try anything. The same with the male members of the audience in the stadium as well as those watching from their homes.
"So aside from that, hope you all enjoy the festival!" Tanaka finishes, acting as if what he just said a moment ago never even happened. "And I, along with everyone here participating, will do our best to embody the motto of U.A. High: Go beyond... Plus Ultra!"
With that said, he turns around and gives a good hard look at every one of the school courses. To prove that he means by what he said, he uses his quirk to create a tree branch containing two acorns in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. He proceeds to cut the tip of the acorns off, letting them fall onto the ground. From what he could see, most of the guys in the other courses stepped back a bit, fearful of him doing that to them.
Smirking in satisfaction at getting his point across, the shadow user rejoins his classmates. He waits for Midnight and Present Mic to start the Sports Festival. The former of the two cracks her whip to get everyone's attention.
"Okay, then," the dominatrix that is Midnight says. "Now that that's taken care of, let's get this festival started right away."
As soon as she says that, a holographic image shows up behind her. The image is that of a roulette of events for the festival.
"The first game is what you'd call a qualifier!" she continues. "Every year, many drink their tears here! Now, here is that fateful first game!"
She then flicks her whip up high at the screen, which then shows the middle bar of the roulette spinning so fast none of the students or even the audience can see what the events on it can be seen clearly. Just as quickly as it started, the spinning stopped. It landed on the words, "Obstacle Course", making it the qualifying event this year.
"There we have it! It's an Obstacle Course race!" Midnight declares, before explaining the rules. "All 11 classes will participate in this race. The course is a four-kilometer lap around the outer circumference of the stadium itself! Our school's selling point is freedom! As long as you stay on the course, it doesn't matter what you do! It's all fair game here! Now, take your places everyone!"
All of the classes stand behind the finish line. A set of three green lights show up high above them. The lights go off one by one, causing some of the students to get more and more anxious.
"Start!" Midnight shouts the same time the final light went out.
Tanaka uses his quirk to turn his body into shadows before making his way through the other participants like he did during the Hero Course entrance exam. He heads straight into the tunnel, with the other students following close behind him. Of course, two things would make it much more difficult for them to catch up with him. One is the fact that the tunnel is so tight that they've all smushed together. The other is that Todoroki froze the ground underneath them all, so there would be no way for any of them to get out in time.
The shadow user turns his head to look at what his dual-haired classmate had done, clearly impressed at the move he made, before resuming his trek.
"Okay, here's the play-by-play! Are you ready to the commentary Mummy Man?" Present Mic says in the commentor's booth. Next to him is Aizawa, not exactly happy underneath his bandages about his position whatsoever.
"How exactly did you talk me into doing this?" he grumbles. His question gets ignored.
"What should we be paying attention to in the early stages?" Present Mic asks his cohost.
"This part right now," was the answer.
-Back on the track-
"More people outside of Class 1-A were to dodge than I expected," Todoroki says to himself. "And Tanaka was able to make it through before I even had a chance to use that move."
It was not just Tanaka that managed to elude the dual haired teen's attack.
Speaking of the shadow user, he was about a few kilometers or so from the starting line when he notices what looked to be a large amount of Zero Pointers from the Hero course entrance exam blocking his path.
"Target acquired," one of the large robots droned out. They all gathered in one huge cluster, with the intent to overwhelm him.
The boy, seeing this, is not exactly amused at their little strategy nor does he have the time to deal with them.
"MOVE!" he shouts to the Zero-Pointers, sounding a bit demonic. The robots in question quickly move to the side, stiff as a board, almost as if they're scared.
"You all want to know what I think? That guy is even more annoying than that speedster kid," one of the Zero-Pointers mutters aloud. No sooner did it say that, the following ended up happening. A shadowy tendril popped up from underneath the robot, slicing its metallic head clean off. It drops down on the ground in front of it, with the rest of its body tipping over to the side.
The other robots turn their heads to see the boy glare at their destroyed friend with a look of immense anger and fury.
"You don't even know me!" he shouts out to the destroyed robot.
The other robots turn to face the other contestants heading their way. Only to end up getting destroyed by Todoroki, Bakugo, and a lot of other students.
From what he could hear from Present Mic's comments, what the obstacle called was the Robo Inferno.
-In the commentor's booth-
"Looks like Keisuke Tanaka of Class 1-A was the first one to have managed to come across the first major obstacle of the race," Present Mic remarks in his bombastic way. "Talk about being speedy, wouldn't you say my main mummy man?"
"He knows fully well that time and speed are highly important," Aizawa points out in his usual tone.
"Reminds me of a certain someone I know," Present Mic remarks. He ignores the glare headed in his direction from his fellow teacher, before resuming his commentary.
-Meanwhile, in the living room of the Tanaka residence-
"Come on, Keisuke," Natsumi says as she watches her nephew and his friends speed past the first obstacle of the race. The cameras then change to show what the other participants were doing.
"It's going to be okay, honey," Chiaki reassures his wife. "We both know that he tries his best in getting something done when he puts his mind to it, so the Sports Festival is no exception. Not to mention,
The two can only wince in sympathy for those that were trapped underneath all of that debris caused by that dual-haired kid freezing all of those robots at once. It's a good thing that some of the kids had already used their quirks to get themselves free.
"You'd think that that kid would show some restraint out of concern for the other competitors," Chiaki remarks. From the corner of his eye, his wife can only wince in sympathy at seeing some of the other students get crushed before coming out of the wreckage seemingly unscathed.
"Chiaki let's be real," she replies. "His father happens to be Endeavor. That guy doesn't know the meaning of restraint when it comes to taking down villains. So for his own son to do something similar, it shows that he's like him in acting like an asshole."
Chiaki can only sagely nod to that in agreement.
-Back on the track-
"Feels like doing the entrance exam all over with those guys," he hears Tora call out to him, turning his head to his left. The redhead is using his work to propel himself like a rocket.
"You really think so?" The brunette asks. "Because last time I checked, there weren't exactly that many back there."
"Maybe they were being saved for this particular event and we just didn't notice," the redhead remarks. The shadow user nods in agreement to that assessment.
"Hey guys," he hears from behind him. "How are you this fine day?"
Right on his right side, wearing what looks to be a metal exoskeleton with working rocket boots, is Kaeda. The quirkless genius is wearing a mischievous grin on his face as he's flying through the air.
"Hi there, Kaeda," Tora greets. "Just flying over to the finish line. Nothing else really."
"Same here," Tanaka chimes.
"Right on. Right on," Kaeda says in response.
-In the commentor's booth-
"Wow, would you at that?" Present Mic says in his usual tone. "Tanaka is neck and neck with two other students, who seem to be flying over the track like a trio of rockets! Got anything on them, my main mummy man for those that aren't in the knowhow?"
"They are Asahi Tora from Class 1-B and Aito Kaeda from Class 1-H, respectively," Aizawa brings up. "They've all grown up in Lotal City, so they're quite familiar with each other."
"Is that right?" the lead commentator says. "Well then, let's see if they can show each other some competitive spirit in this race! Because everybody else might catch up to them any minute now!"
The audience cheer in agreement with that assessment, as they watch the rest of the competitors try to catch up with them.
-Back on the track-
In their speedy trek toward the finish line, the Lotal natives went through what appears to be a large drop with a whole array of columns in various sizes. Connecting those columns are tightropes, most likely meant for students that haven't thought of flying through the course like they had.
By the time they realized that, the three boys have already flown past it.
"Was that a large drop that we just passed?" Tanaka asked, confused.
"It's a good thing we decided to fly in this race," Tora says. "Hate to see who'd drop from having to go on any of those tightropes."
"Pretty sure Hatsume would use some of her 'babies' to help her make it through. She definitely wants to show off for the support tech companies watching," Kaeda says.
The shadow user and pyrokinetic redhead look at each other before shrugging their shoulders at that.
"Look guys, there's the stadium," the quirkless genius points out, catching the attention of the other two.
But before they could get there, they spot what looks to be an open field. It was all dirt, but what caught their collective attention were the dark circles indicating that something was buried there. They see signs with bold letters and a skull face in front that read, DANGER MINES!
"And now, we've quickly arrived at the final barrier!" Present Mic stated from the commentor's booth. "The reality here is…that's it's a minefield! It's a set up so that you can tell where the mines are if you look carefully! So you have to exploit your eyes and legs! By the way, these landmines are for games, so they're not that powerful, but they're loud and flashy enough to make you wet your pants!"
"That depends on the person." Aizawa commented.
"A minefield?! Seriously?!" Tanaka shouts, annoyed and angry. His two friends each have exasperated expressions as they see what everyone might have to cross when they get here.
Despite this, they resumed their flying over the minefield. It's a good thing that they can all see where the mines are buried. You'd have to be either completely crazy or completely stupid to want to step onto one of those. Or worse, be a combination of both.
"Hmm? Unidentified speeding object off the hind quarters," Kaeda says, noticing something coming at them from behind.
Tanaka and Tora turn their heads to look behind them to see what is heading their way. Much to the annoyance of the two, speeding towards them is none other than the walking timebomb himself, Bakugo.
"Hope you're ready to eat my dust, Silent Hill," the blonde shouts to Tanaka. "Because I'm going to win this!"
"Oh no you don't," Tanaka calls out, using his quirk in his hand to throw out a handful of black mist at the explosive blonde. As it sped past him, it expanded, then changed shape.
"Wha?" was that Bakugo could say before what looked to be a large macabre looking cabinet appears seemingly out of thin air with wide open doors just a few feet ahead of him. He doesn't have a chance to react as he ends up slamming his whole speeding body straight into it before the doors close shut. And as quickly as it came, it disappears with a resounding POOF.
"WHAT IN THE?! What the heck just happened?" Present Mic shouts, utterly gobsmacked at what he just witnessed. "Did Tanaka just cause Bakugo to pull a disappearing act all of a sudden?! Can't help but feel sorry to anyone else that he might do that to."
"I know someone who I would love to have that happen to," Aizawa quips in his usual dull tone. "And he's sitting right next to me."
That brings a few laughs among the audience in the stadium. Some of the teachers in their special section of the stands also let out a few chuckles at the Voice Hero's expense.
Not long after Bakugo was dealt with, Todoroki started showing up. The dual-haired teen saw what happened to his bad-tempered classmate, and was hoping to catch up to his shadow using one.
"You're not getting away, Tanaka," he declares. "I'm the one who's going to beat you in this, one way or another."
It looks like the three Lotal natives are about to reach the finish line with a three-way tie. But right as they were about halfway there, they all hear an explosion coming from behind them. Confused, they turn their heads back to see what could've caused it. Much to their shock, their answer comes in the form of a certain classmate of Tanaka's.
'Is that Midoriya... riding on a piece of a Zero Pointer?!' Tanaka thinks, slack-jawed at what he just saw fly by him. The green haired boy is indeed riding on a piece of a Zero-Pointer, but where did he get the bright idea to do something like that?
"Class A's Midoriya is in hot pursuit with that blast!" Present Mic states. "Actually, he's taken the lead!"
"That was quite an unexpected thing to see," Kaeda quips.
"Reminds me of home," Tora brings up, smirking a bit.
"Almost forgot," Tanaka reminds himself, using his quirk again to let Bakugo out of whatever dimension he sent him to.
"What in the...?" Bakugo could say before realizing what just happened. He'd be even more ticked off once he sees who's in the lead right now. "Don't you get ahead of me, Deku!"
He resumes his chase after Midoriya, following Todoroki and the others.
"The three formerly in the lead, along with Bakugo and Todoroki, are now chasing after Midoriya!" Present Mic continues his commentary. "Now that they have a common enemy, they've all stopped fighting! The fight's not over yet, though!"
It was only a few seconds before another explosion coming from the minefield caught everybody's attention.
"Would you believe it?" Present Mic screams. "He cleared the minefield in an instant! Eraserhead, your class is amazing! What're you teaching them?"
"I didn't do anything," Aizawa replies. "They got each other fired up on their own."
With just a little more speed, Tanaka and the others might hopefully catch up with Midoriya. The hero fanboy, meanwhile, can only hold onto the robot piece he's using for dear life.
The winner of the obstacle course will be...
A/N: And with that, I am done. Just thought of ending this first part of the Sports Festival Arc on a little cliffhanger for this chapter, because I wanted to give myself some time before getting into the Cavalry Battle part. It might take a while due to a whole lot of things happening in my life, but once I finish it, it will all be worth it.
Hope you guys enjoyed this, and let me know what you think of it in the reviews. But try not to be too critical, because I'm a bit sensitive. Okay?
See ya!
Meanwhile, in another room:
VKX is seen circling around a pedophile, strapped to a chair, all beaten and bloody from the torture.
"Trying to invite the author for a little pedo ring through a review? Tsk, tsk, tsk," the masked killer chastises. "This is why we all can't have nice things in life, because pieces of shit like you would just go and screw them up for everyone.
"I promise I won't do something like that again, I swear," the poor excuse for a man pleads. "I'll be a good man. I'll go and turn myself in! Just plese let me go!"
"I know you will. But letting you go just won't cut it at all," VKX growls, bringing out his knife. "For someone like you, they need to pay the ultimate price!"
"No. No, please no," the guy says, before the masked killer grabs hold of his neck and slashes his throat open. The life in his eyes fades as his body slumps into his chair, having just died from the blood loss.
VKX then turns his attention to the audience, pointing his bloody knife at them.
"Which of you sick wastes of meat is next, huh? Because the next time someone sends something as disgusting as what this guy had sent the other day, I won't hesitate to hunt you down and skin you like the mindless animal that you are!"
With that said, VKX walks out of the room, leaving the corpse inside.