UA Stadium (Day)
"Okay, let's go!" Dominic shouted, pushing his hands into the ground. With a laugh, he pulled two rope-like streams of flame from the terrain. As more and more was unearthed, the sound of something galloping grew louder and louder.
With a loud crack, a horse with charred black skin and glowing red eyes dug its way out of the ground, pushing Dominic onto its back. After crawling out of the dirt, cracks appeared all over its body and flames sprouted from the top of its head to its tail. Its hooves also ignited, singing the ground below. After looking back at the boy riding it, the animal gave a loud neigh and caused the flames on its body to flare up.
"Yararara! I'm happy to see you too, Phlegra." Dominic said, pulling on his steed's reins. "Just calm down, we're here for a race today. Got it?" The horse just snorted in response. "I'll take that as a yes."
As soon as Midnight announced the start of the race, the majority of the participants flooded the gate. Phlegra started moving but halted when its rider pulled back on it. "Wait a minute. I have a feeling we just came across our first obstacle. Watch." Dominic said.
"Okay, here's the play-by-play!" Present Mic said over the speakers. "Mummy Man, are you ready to do the commentary?"
"You're the one who forced me to come." Aizawa deadpanned. Pun completely intended this time.
"Let's get started, Mummy Man!" the living boombox declared. "What should we pay attention to in the early stages?"
"This part right now." Aizawa said, glaring down at the narrow tunnel. Most, if not all, of the students got stuck in the human traffic, bringing the race to a halt. The first person to make it out was Todoroki, who flash-froze the ground to make it easier for him to move, while also creating the opposite effect for everyone around him.
'There we go.' Dominic thought to himself with a grin. "Now Phlegra, onwards!" The molten horse let out a shrill cry before running towards the tunnel. Manipulating the terrain, Dominic created a ramp that Phlegra ran onto with no hesitation. When they neared the end of the ramp, the horse jumped up, landing on the ceiling of the tunnel. Even though gravity was working against them, Phlegra's hooves carried Dominic to the other end of the tunnel without incident.
"There it is folks! One of Xiao-Long's clever tricks!" Present Mic said as Dominic and Phlegra raced across the course, followed by several of the boy's classmates. "Xiao-Long Dominic! His Quirk: Volcano! We don't really know how, but he can apparently use his crazy power to make moving statues with enough mobility to almost be mistaken for a real animal!"
"It's called a golem." Aizawa said dryly, surprised that his classmate was hiding this kind of technique.
"Did you hear that?" Dominic asked his steed as it ran at top speed. "They think you're just a dumb golem."
"GET BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD!" Bakugo yelled as he used his explosions to catch up to Dominic.
"We need more speed. Must go faster! Must go faster!" the boy said, terrified of his classmate's bloodlust. The horse's eyes hardened as it started to run faster. In no time at all, it was running parallel to Todoroki. Once he was far enough ahead, Dominic turned back at those behind him. 'Looks like a lot of them managed to get past the barricade as well.' Without warning, Phlegra stopped moving. If the increase in its internal temperature was anything to go off, something bad had happened. Dominic turned back to the road ahead, being unpleasantly surprised by the robots from the entrance exam, including the Zero-Pointer.
Except now, there were dozens of them.
'Sheep.' Dominic deadpanned in his head.
"Obstacles have shown up suddenly!" Present Mic said over the microphone. "Starting with... the first barrier! Robo Inferno!"
Remembering the last time he fought a Zero-Pointer, Dominic made an executive decision. "Run straight through them!" the boy commanded. Phlegra began galloping straight ahead, unfazed by the immense danger it was facing. The Zero-Pointer threw a punch at the horse, only to have its entire arm blown off by an explosion. When the smoke cleared, Phlegra was seen running through the other robots, causing an explosion every time one got too close.
But, as per usual with Dominic, nothing ever goes the way it should. Because right when things seemed like they were cooling down, a giant ravine blocked the blonde's path.
'This is too easy.' Dominic thought to himself as he gazed over the ravine. "Phlegra, jump!" Hearing the boy's command, the molten horse leapt over the canyon to the nearest stone formation. "We're gonna make it! We're gonna make it!" Unfortunately, though, it wasn't able to get all the way to the other side. "We're not gonna make it!" Instead of landing on top of the formation, the horse crashed into the side of it. Thankfully, the force of the impact meant that they went inside of the formation. After that, it was just a matter of digging their way to the top.
"So, I guess I win our little bet!" a female voice taunted after Dominic reached the top. Groaning, the boy turned to face a pink haired girl wearing several items of mechanical clothing.
"Neither of us finished the race yet, Hatsume." Dominic said, irritated. "There's still time for me to get first place."
"Right." Hatsume said insincerely before using her rope launcher and rocket boots to get to the next stone pillar.
Hearing a familiar grumble, Dominic watched as his horse turned its head to him. "I know, I know. Don't worry, we won't lose. Just go to the edge of the cliff." Shaking its head, Phlegra did as it was told. Raising his hand into the air, Dominic tried to figure out the ideal trajectory. After that, he just decided to say 'screw it' and just blew up the cliff without thinking.
The blast sent him and Phlegra flying to the other end of the ravine, even if they landed upside-down. After getting back on their feet, they noticed two signs warning them of landmines.
"And now, we've reached the final barrier!" Present Mic said over the loudspeaker. "The reality here, is that it's a minefield! It's set up so you can tell where the mines are if you look carefully, so you'll have to exploit your eyes and legs."
'Well, I only have one eye, and I'm not using my legs, so that doesn't really apply to me.' Dominic thought to himself.
"By the way, the landmines are for games, so they're not that powerful. But they're loud and flashy enough to make you wet your pants!" Mic finished.
'I also don't have a bladder. Really, I have nothing to worry about here.' the boy realized, turning to the minefield that was apparently harmless to him. "Phlegra, RUN!" he said, prompting the horse to sprint forward. Naturally, this meant that each mine it went over went off. But, since it was moving so fast, they didn't detonate until after it was already 10 meters away. And considering the fact that it was easily one of the fastest living things on campus, it was only a matter of time until-
"And Xiao-Long has won the race! What a finish!" Mic declared as Phlegra skid past the finish line.
After a few minutes, the race ended. And, as everyone expected, Bakugo was pissed. "You cheater! How did you manage to get a horse!?"
"I didn't cheat. Phlegra is a part of my Quirk, even if it doesn't always listen to me." Dominic explained. Seething, Bakugo stomped over to a water station. "Someone's angry." Dominic said, dismounting his steed.
"To be fair, you did stick your tongue out at him when you passed him." Yaoyorozu said as she stopped running.
"And I regret nothing." Dominic said, reminiscing. "You can head on home. Thanks for everything." the boy said, petting the animal's fiery mane. After that, it burrowed underground again.
It wasn't long before Hatsume approached him. "Well, looks like you won." the pinkette said, disappointed.
"Aw. Don't feel bad. After all, how could anyone hope to compete with me?" the blonde said, grinning.
"What's going on here?" Yaoyorozu asked, confused.
"Xiao-Long and I had a bet on who'd finish the race first. If I won, I got to take him to the school lab and ask him how he made his babies." Hatsume explained, shocking the Creation Quirk user.
"WHAT!?" she screamed.
"Calm down before you break something. 'Babies' is Hatsume's way of saying inventions." Dominic explained. "And speaking of our bet, I believe I said that I could do whatever I wanted if I won, right?"
"Yeah. What did you want, anyway?" the Support Course student asked.
"To show you how my 'babies' were made." Dominic said. The scream of excitement that followed was loud enough to crack the commentator's booth.
"The first game of the first-year stage is finally over!" Midnight said into a microphone, attracting everyone's attention. "Now, take a look at the results!" Behind her, the monitor showed when everyone reached the finish line.
'Midoriya got second place?' Dominic noticed, turning to look in the greenette's direction. 'Interesting.'
"The top 42 made it to the next round." Midnight said. "It's unfortunate, but don't worry even if you didn't make it! We've prepared other chances for you to shine. The real competition begins next! The press cavalry'll be all over it! Give it your all!" Behind her, the monitor started to change rapidly. "Now then, here is the second game. I already know what it is, but what could it be? What could it be? I just said it, and now here it is!"
CAVALRY BATTLE!
'What in the name of me is that?' Dominic wondered.
"Let me explain." Midnight said. "The participants can form teams of two to four people if they wish. It's basically the same as a regular cavalry battle, but the one thing different is, based on the results of the last game, each person has been assigned a point value. And the points assigned go up by five starting from the bottom. If 42nd gets five points, then 41st gets ten."
"So, using basic multiplication, that leaves first place with...Oh, sheep." Dominic said, having realized that he painted a target on his back.
Phlegra
A horse enhanced by Dominic's abilities. In addition to immense speed and stamina, this unique monster is able to breathe fire, run on any mineral surface, and can unleash an explosion capable of leveling a five-story building. And like all horses, standing behind it is a death sentence.