And we're finally back with another chapter of "Through the Rough"! Feels like it's been a minute since this story last got updated, but I digress. Now we're finally getting into the meat of the Sports Festival as it's underway! And be on the lookout for some Edens Zero characters to get in on the mix, too!
Enjoy the chapter!
Everyone was left amazed by just powerful Shoto and Homura were. One had easily immobilized a zero-pointer, while the other had cleaved it cleanly in half. The latter of the two made her blade disappear before hurrying off.
"Whoa..." Rebecca uttered in disbelief as her eyes shook.
"Homura's incredible!" Ochaco exclaimed as she blinked.
'She really is...' Izuku inwardly agreed, remembering how the Soul Blade Quirk user had declared that she would defeat Shoto in response to him challenging the One For All inheritor. Knowing that she was a student of the late Valkyrie made him all the more anxious. She was definitely strong. Izuku found himself snapped away from his thoughts as he saw everyone start hurrying through the Robo Inferno. 'I can't afford to waste time!' he concluded through his thoughts as the green sparks of bio-electricity crackled around his form, 'I can only use Full Cowling at five percent for about five minutes before it starts to hurt...' he noted to himself, 'so I'll do what I can to get going!' he declared inwardly, dashing off. Everyone looked on in surprise at him.
"Whoa, Midoriya?!" Mina gasped out.
"How's he moving like that without breaking his bones?" Mashirao wondered aloud. Watching from afar, Rebecca grinned. The disbelief of her classmates was something to see, especially Katsuki's as his eyes were shaking. They watched as Izuku leapt about, evading the grasp of the zero-pointers and getting past them. He fell toward a one-pointer robot, clenching his right fist tightly.
"SMAAAASSSHHH!" he roared, striking it fiercely and breaking it apart. He winced afterwards, feeling his knuckles turn red. He knew that trying to attack the robots was a bad idea, especially considering that Shoto and Homura were far ahead of him. So he grabbed a metal panel from the broken robot and continued onward. Watching from afar was a tall, slim, and muscular young man with red eyes and large spiky green hair with the bangs brushed to the right and is held by a dark-blue headband. Next to him was a petite young woman of average height with red eyes and short, green hair in the form of a bob and small bun. She had electronic hair clips on the sides.
"Is that the one Shigaraki talked about?" she asked of the boy beside her.
"It would appear so..." he noted, narrowing his eyes, "Let's go, Kleene," he insisted.
"Okay, Brother," she responded with a nod.
The next obstacle proved to be a little foreboding, being a section of a giant pit with stone pillars connected by tightropes. Shoto was still ahead, using his ice to quickly traverse the tightropes with ease. Homura was slowed down in spite of using her blades as footholds to swing herself from pillar to pillar. Izuku found himself having to slow down as well once he arrived, climbing the ropes carefully.
"Grrrr...!" Katsuki growled, blasting his way over the gaps in the pitfall to catch up with his opponents.
"Man, everybody's getting ahead at this point..." Hanta complained.
"Yeah..." Weisz agreed, looking at the watch upon his left wrist. As much as he wanted to use it, he knew that he couldn't unveil his new trick until later in the festival. Like many others, he had to traverse The Fall normally.
"How does U.A. even have the funding for these things?" Kyoka asked.
"More importantly, how'd they have the time to build all this?!" Rebecca inquired on frantically.
"Geez, you ladies are such sticks in the mud..." a voice chimed in, getting their attentions. They turned around to see a young woman of average height possessing a curvaceous frame and long, dark-colored hair, notably having a strand sticking up. "If UA didn't go all out when it came to things like this, then what'd be point?" she inquired rhetorically to the two girls as she walked past them, "Honestly, you oughta' get with the program by now..." she muttered, heading toward the ledge.
"Uh, hey..." the Leaper Quirk user uttered out in concern. She and Kyoka watched the young woman hop over the ledge, gasping in shock. However, she suddenly stretched her right leg out, having it attach to the side of one of the rock pillars. With a smirk, she swung herself over the pitfall.
"Whoa..." the Earphone Jack Quirk user uttered in amazement, "Is she in the Hero Course?" she inquired curiously, looking over to Rebecca. She seemed quite unsure. But thinking about what the young woman had said about the challenges they faced enticed her to act accordingly.
"Let's go!" she insisted, hurrying off. The Hero Course students and a few others managed to traverse The Fall with ease. That left the last obstacle to be the minefield. And it was much more complicated for Shoto to traverse it considering how careful he had to be. At that point, Katsuki caught up with him.
"Your declaration of war..." he began angrily, "was to the wrong person!" he bellowed, unleashing a blast toward the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user. All of a sudden, Shiki flew out in between them as they blinked in surprise.
"Sorry, guys!" he yelled out as an apology, "But I wanna win, too!" he declared firmly, flying past them.
"DAMMIT!" Katsuki roared, blasting himself after the Satan Gravity Quirk user. Shoto was quick to follow. Meanwhile, Izuku finally arrived on the scene and saw the conflict that lied before him. He had to do something to take the lead back. So he went ahead and dug up as many of the mines as he could.
"Thanks for the idea, Kacchan..." he noted with gratitude to his rival, holding the metal panel in his hands as if it were a waterboard.
"Izuku?" Rebecca uttered in confusion as she glanced over to see what he was about to do.
"Super Explosion Turbo Speed!" he exclaimed, leaping onto the mines, resulting in a massive blast of pink smoke as he flew out aboard the metal panel he was upon. Everyone watched in awe as he caught up to the three people fighting for first place. And he wound up overtaking them.
"Deku...!" Katsuki growled, blasting himself out toward his falling rival, "What the hell do you think you're doing, huh?!" he roared in question. Shoto was also catching up, spreading ice across the minefield. Though it'd allow for the others in the race to catch up, he needed to take the lead back. Izuku knew full well that he needed to take them out of the running and show the world that he was ready to be a hero. He planted his feet onto the shoulders of his rivals and swung his makeshift board down to slam it against the ground, triggering more mines as they exploded.
The blast's force propelled the freckled teen forward. He somersaulted, tucked, and rolled before getting back onto his feet, reactivating his Full Cowling and dashing ahead in an instant.
"Damn..." Shoto cursed while within the pink smoke. A pair of silhouettes then raced by him and Katsuki, being Shiki and Rebecca.
"Thanks for the ice, Shoto!" the latter called out with a cheeky grin, causing the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user to scoff in frustration. He and the explosive teen were quick to hurry after their classmates as they made their way to the finish line. But by the time they got there, a winner was decided.
"IZUKU MIDORIYA IS OUR CHAMPION!" Present Mic announced over the loudspeakers as the crowd cheered. Some pro heroes in the stand took notice, including a tall, slim young able-bodied man with light blue eyes and effeminate, bushy white hair. His only attire consisted of a brown-and-white armored spacesuit that covered his entire body. He folded his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes onto the One For All inheritor, who was tearing up out of joy.
"That speed..." he uttered out before heading off into the halls.
"Way to go, Izuku!" Rebecca exclaimed excitedly, holding her right hand up for a high five.
"Uh, th-thanks, Rebecca!" her best friend responded with a stutter, smacking his hand against hers as they shared a chuckle.
"Man, you really went and got so much better, Izuku!" Shiki chimed in as he clenched his fists and smiled, "I won't lose next time though!" he vowed firmly, holding out his right extremity to his classmate, who blinked in surprise. However, he cracked a small smile.
"Then let's do our best in the next round, Shiki," he insisted, bumping his fist against his.
"And what a good show of sportsmanship between our top three finalists!" Present Mic exclaimed, "Now that's something else!" he added excitedly. Underneath his bandages, Shota grinned at the sight. As the rest of the students piled into the arena, there were 50 finalists. And the results were definitely surprising.
Izuku Midoriya Rebecca Bluegarden Shiki Granbell Shoto Todoroki Katsuki Bakugo Homura Kogetsu Ibara Shiozaki Juzo Honenuki Tenya Iida Fumikage Tokoyami Hanta Sero Eijiro Kirishima Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu Kris Rutherford Kleene Rutherford Mashirao Ojiro Yosetsu Awase Tsuyu Asui Maria Slime Mezo Shoji Rikido Sato Ochaco Uraraka Momo Yaoyorozu Minoru Mineta Mina Ashido Koji Koda Laguna Husert Kyoka Jiro Kosei Tsubaraba Sen Kaibara Denki Kaminari Kojiro Bondo Reiko Yanagi Hitoshi Shinso Itsuka Kendo Jurota Shishida Shihai Kuroiro Yui Kodai Hiryu Rin Nirengeki Shoda Kinoko Komori Togaru Kamikiri Pony Tsunotori Neito Monoma Toru Hagakure Weisz Steiner Setsuna Tokage Manga Fukidashi Mei Hatsume Yuga Aoyama"Now it's time for the second event!" Midnight declared over the microphone. The board randomly selected that the proceeding challenge would be a cavalry battle, which would require students to team up in a maximum of four people per group in a horse configuration. The rider would be wearing headbands that signified their point total in increments of five. Though for Izuku... he had ten million.
"T-Ten million...?!" he stammered out, paling. He could feel all eyes turn to him as he sweated profusely. Now everyone was looking to him in hopes of claiming the first place spot.
Oh boy... you're gonna love what's ahead with the cavalry battle! Obviously, the final part of the tournament's my favorite, but I really liked what I did for the next section of the festival! Hope you'll get to see it soon!