"Three….Two… One…BRZZZZT!"
With the sound of the signal, the Team-Up Labyrinth Challenge begins! The six First Year Support Course students burst into a sprint, eagerly delving deeper into the labyrinth. Leading the way, Izuku called back to his companions, offering what he believed to be a solid strategy, "If we can find one of the exits first we might have a better shot at not getting lost as we look for our partners!"
Their initial corridor turned out to be a dead-end, prompting the team to change direction and race back. "I have an idea, give me a second!" Yamashita exclaimed before closing her eyes, focusing on her summoning quirk.
Curious, Mei asked, "What's your plan, Pres?" Just as she finished her question, Yamashita's quirk activated, conjuring six earpieces in her hands.
"I was planning to use these if I reached the tournament, but I think they'll come in handy here. Put them on and clip the ends to your uniforms."
Kazutani quickly inserted the earpiece and inquired, "Communicators?"
"Loudspeakers. With these, your body will act as a massive speaker. We should be able to call out our numbers more effectively using these!"
"That's an excellent idea!" Izuku praised as the team took another wrong turn. "Jiro from the hero course could have used something like this. Maybe we should set up a meeting with her to discuss the possibility of patenting it. It could greatly benefit her quirk if her costume - Woah!"
Suddenly, the labyrinth's walls descended into the ground, granting the team a fleeting glimpse of their location in relation to the exit.
"Oh come on! We haven't made any progress!" Mei shouted in frustration. Other students sprinted toward the exit during the maze's brief disappearance, but none got far before the walls sprang back into place, this time in an entirely different configuration.
"It seems like some of the general education students have already found their partners!" The voice of Present Mic blasted over the speakers, "Could they have gained an early lead, could they make it to the exit?!" he yelled.
"It all depends on whether they can effectively cooperate with their partners…"
"Eraserhead?! When did you get here?!"
"I've been here the entire time."
In the arena below, the Support Course students were far from pleased. "They've already found their partners?!" Mei exclaimed, appalled at the thought.
Kuri nodded in agreement. "Maybe splitting up is a good idea. It increases our chances of at least one of us making it through, right?"
"Exactly!" Hana agreed, and they bid each other farewell before dashing off in opposite directions.
Mei twisted her wrist a few times, selecting the projectiles she wanted. "See you at the finish line, folks!" she promised before joining the race. Soon enough, the six students had scattered, going their separate ways for the time being.
"Alright," Izuku said to himself as he ran, "Time to give this speaker a try…SIXTEEN! NUMBER SIXTEEN!" The volume was immense, causing his voice to boom through the air, causing a group of startled 1B students to collapse in shock. "Oh, wow…" From various parts of the arena, Izuku could clearly hear his friends, realising just how powerful Yamashita's speaker technology was.
"The support course students are taking a page from my book!" Present Mic exclaimed
"It's a smart strategy for locating their teammates, but let's see how far they can go," Eraserhead commented.
Down in the arena, Midnight cracked her whip and spoke into her microphone, "Oh, students are managing to find their partners are they?! Then why don't we make this more interesting!"
"More interesting? What does she mean by that?" Izuku wondered, but before he could ponder further, the distinct sound of metal gates opening echoed throughout the maze.
"And here come the training robots! How will the contestants handle this?! Before we continue, a quick note from our sponsors: If you're currently listening to this story on a text to speech youtube channel, they did not ask me and if they did I would have said no! If you want to listen to fanfiction on text to speech, use an app! The voices they use on these videos are complete dogshit! And now back to our story...
"Training robots?!" Izuku's face paled, but he quickly shook off the fear and pressed on with his search. Just then, the walls retracted once again, granting all the students a brief moment to assess their surroundings and catch a glimpse of the dozen or so wolf-like robots that had entered the field. With swift movements, Izuku managed to manoeuvre past two walls, getting closer to the exit and finding himself on a collision course with a purple-haired general education student.
"Oof!" The two of them tumbled to the ground, their numbers falling in the process.
"I'm so sorry!" Izuku apologised, swiftly retrieving the student's ball. "Oh, you're number 16! I guess that makes us partners," he said with a grin, extending a hand to help the other boy up. However, instead of accepting the gesture, his hand was smacked away, and an irritated expression crossed the student's face.
"I don't need your help, kid. I'm here to win, not make friends. Just hurry up and follow me to the exit," the arrogant boy retorted, brushing off Izuku's attempt at camaraderie.
Izuku tilted his head, perplexed by the boy's attitude. "You know where the exit is? Thank goodness! I have no sense of direction, it's always been a real problem," he rambled, struggling to keep pace with his companion. "By the way, my name's Midoriya. What's your name?"
There was no response. Instead, the two of them charged into a corridor with a lurking robot at the other end.
"Rgh!" The purple-haired student grumbled in frustration. "I can't deal with robots! It's like the entrance exam all over again. Everything is always biased toward flashy quirks!" In a moment of panic, he turned and sprinted in the opposite direction, but his movements only attracted the robot's attention.
"Hey! Wait!" Izuku shouted after him urgently. The relentless robot was closing in on him, there was no turning back now. "I'm not a hero student, I'm not cut out for this!" However, his words failed to reach his partner, who had already disappeared around the corner. "Well... damn," Izuku muttered under his breath. "I suppose there's no better time than now to put the Strike Gauntlets to the test."
With his heart pounding in his chest, Izuku threw caution to the wind. With one arm shielding his face from the imminent danger, he ran forwards with what to him felt like a burst of incredible speed, but likely wasn't that fast. Launching himself forward, the distance closed between them. He unleashed a devastating right hook, empowered by the Gauntlets, aiming straight for the menacing jaws of the robotic wolf. Time seemed to stand still for a fleeting moment as he collided with the metallic beast.
A resounding CRUNCH filled the air as the robot was sent careening sideways, crashing into the labyrinth wall. It slumped to the floor and then struggled to its feet, its metal frame protesting against the injury it had sustained. In a final desperate attempt to attack, the robot emitted a feeble "bwoo-bewoooo..." sound before collapsing to the ground.
Peeking through his defensive pose, Izuku winced as he looked around for his foe "...Did I get it?"
"Wow! Support course darling Izuku Midoriya just took down his first robot! What is Power Loader feeding these kids?!" Present Mic exclaimed excitedly over the speakers, his voice intermingling with the cheers from the crowd. The robots were all being followed by camera drones to broadcast on large screens around the stadium, and everyone must have seen the fight.
The purple-haired kid, looking like a scooby-doo character, cautiously peered around the corner of the maze. His eyes widened in confusion as he laid them upon Izuku standing over the mess of metal on the floor. "How the hell did you do that? I thought you weren't in heroics?"
"Nope, support course." Izuku replied between breaths, proudly showcasing his gauntlets. "There's a lot you can do without a flashy quirk."
The boy appeared uncertain for a moment, then mustered up the nerve to introduce himself at last. "...Shinso, my name's Shinso."
"Nice to meet you, Shinso. But, um, can I ask you something about what you said earlier?"
"What did I say?" He asked, his expression remaining stoic.
"It's about the entrance exam and those flashy quirks you mentioned. See, here's the thing..." Izuku paused, aware that he might be treading into uncomfortable territory. "Did you not know they had off switches?"
Shinso's face morphed into a mix of confusion and surprise, his deadpan demeanour temporarily faltering. "...Huh?"
"Well, we analysed the robot schematics in class, you know, because I'm in the support course. And, yeah, all the robots had off switches hidden underneath. They were designed for students without offensive quirks. I'm guessing a lot of hero students made it through because of that. Like, there's a guy in 1B who can just weld things together, and the invisible girl, too…"
"I didn't… I thought they were just…"
"Oh, and there were also rescue points. My friend managed to get some of those, even though she technically wasn't supposed to be in the exam. She even blew up a few robots, but she was wearing an exosuit at the time, so I guess it's not really the same. You probably could have-"
"Hey, Midoriya, can I ask you a question?" Shinso interrupted.
"Oh, sure, of course you caaahhh-" Izuku's voice trailed off as Shinso's quirk took control, silencing him mid-sentence.
Shinso paced around the frozen Midoriya with his hands in pockets. "I need you to shut up for a second so I can think. You don't know what you're talking about." He leant against the wall of the labyrinth with his eyes closed, talking through his strategy to himself. "The exit is to the northeast, but there'll be plenty of students along the way. I can't trust them not to attack…" He opened his eyes and pointed at Izuku, ready to give an order. "You're going to do crowd control for me."
Just as Shinso was strategizing, a blonde-haired girl rounded the corner and hurried over to them, her face displaying shock and disapproval. "Shinso! Did you even ask for his permission before doing that?!" she scolded him, before delivering a (rather forceful) slap across Izuku's face.
"Oww! Jeez, what was that for?!" Izuku cried, wincing as he rubbed his cheek.
"I was breaking you out of his quirk, so you're welcome. Now I've got to find this damn number 47! Shinso, no more mind control without permission, or you'll get a taste of my fists!" the girl declared before dashing off once more.
"Oh, wow." Izuku muttered, slightly taken aback. "Is she in your class?"
"Class president, always poking her nose into places it doesn't belong," Shinso grumbled, annoyance dripping from his words.
Izuku scratched his chin thoughtfully. "So was that your quirk, some kind of hypnosis? It worked when you made me answer your question earlier? The limitations make it really interesting. I wonder how it defines a question - does it depend on your interpretation or whether the other person takes it as a question? Can rhetorical questions trick it? Could you just say anything with an upward inflection? I'd love to run some tests if you're up for it-"
"Midoriya, we've only known each other for five minutes, and you're already the most annoying person I've ever met," Shinso interrupted, exasperated.
"Yeah I get that a lot…" Izuku sighed.
"What's this?! Our first students have already crossed the finish line!"
"Crap, we've wasted too much time. Come on," Shinso demanded, resuming his brisk pace through the maze.
"Wait up! Wait for me!" Izuku panted, desperately sprinting to keep up. After manoeuvring through countless twists and turns (avoiding the paths with two more wolf robots) he finally caught up to Shinso, just moments before the walls descended once again. For someone who seemed to put in such minimal effort at the entrance exams, Shinso was surprisingly speedy.
Gasping for air, Izuku extended his arm, blocking Shinso's path. "Hold on... I need... a moment... to catch my breath…"
Shinso looked left and right concerned, before his worst fears came true. With the walls down, two of the robotic enemies caught sight of them. Cautiously, the robots stalked closer. These ones looked bigger than the wolves from before.
"Do you wanna hurry this up?! We can't afford to waste any more time," Shinso grumbled impatiently.
Noticing the same robots, Izuku blurted out "Crap, grab hold of me!"
"Grab hold of you?" Shinso raised an eyebrow, clearly confused.
"Yes! Just get on my back, quickly!"
"...Fine" Shinso reluctantly complied, wrapping his arms around Izuku's shoulders.
"I really hope I've got this positioned correctly..." Izuku closed his eyes and raised his gauntlet-covered hands. "And I really, really hope this works."
Right at that moment the two robots charged! "What's the plan here, Midoriya?!" Shinso said in a panic.
In the blink of an eye, the walls of the labyrinth rapidly ascended once more, but this time, Izuku latched onto the edge as they shot upward. It was just in time, as the robots charged into one another. The two students were launched into the air like a pair of human rockets, with Shinso clinging onto Izuku for dear life.
"This was your idea?! To kill us?!"
"Please work please work please work please work…" Izuku chanted under his breath, as he removed his right glove and stuck his hand in the air. "Please work please work please work" With a surge of power, his quirk ignited, transforming his hand into an enormous propeller that whirred to life.
"It's working! Hahaha! It's actually working!" Izuku's exhilarated laughter reverberated through the maze as Shinso clung to him tightly, their hair tousled by the rushing wind.
"Why didn't you tell me you had a gadget like that?!"
"I... I was saving it for later!"
Up in the announcer's booth, Present Mic comically rubbed his eyes, staring out at the incredible sight before him. He rubbed his eyes again and yelled "What am I looking at here?!"
Next to him Eraserhead tried to explain. "Seems like the support course students have a few extra tricks up their sleeves. It would've been wise to keep some of these secrets for the tournament, but this still turned out to be a smart strategy."
In mid-air, Izuku and Shinso deftly shifted their weight, managing to descend gently and hover just above the finish line. Together, they crossed the goal in joint third place as the crowd erupted into an applause for the two unlikely finalists.
Earlier…
"See you at the finish line, folks!" Mei waved enthusiastically to her class as she darted down a maze corridor, adjusting the projectile weapon on her wrist to select the perfect ammunition. The rules claimed the focus was on speed and communication, but Mei knew better. Things never quite worked out that way. If she had to face off against fellow students, she wanted to handle it swiftly and with style. Stun Effect should do the trick. The claws on her wrist-mounted crossbow clicked into place, ready to tackle any obstacle that came her way.
Quickly, Mei attached Yamashita's loudspeaker to her uniform, took a deep breath, and bellowed, "TWENTY-TWO! WHO IS NUMBER TWENTY-TWO!"
Surprisingly, the ear-splitting volume didn't faze her. Instead, a mischievous grin stretched across her face as she inhaled even deeper and yelled even louder. "TWEEEENTY-TWOOOOO!"
Around the corner, a voice shouted back, "Ow, my freakin' ears!" followed by another voice muttering, "Probably one of those goddamn hero students!"
"Oh, people!" Mei thought to herself, heading towards the commotion. For Mei, navigating a maze was like being in hell. She had no clue where she was at any given moment, and to make matters worse, they had unleashed robots on her! By the time she stumbled upon others, a small crowd of bickering heroes and general education students had gathered. Ignoring the tension in the air, Mei extended her ball and approached them. "Any 22s?"
"I'm a 22!" a boy with vibrant orange hair, whom she didn't recognize, held out his ball. "Let's make a run for the finish line!"
"Hey, wait a second!" Oh, there's Uraraka! "What was all that talk earlier about stopping other students from winning being more important than winning yourself?" she scolded with a frown. "Hi Mei!" Her expression quickly shifted to a cheerful smile before turning serious again as she faced the general education students. "You clearly have something against the hero course, don't you?"
"There's a darkness inside each of you, gnawing," Reiko Yanagi, another hero student in the cluster, spoke ominously.
"Yeah, you're all being super unmanly right now," Kirishima chimed in, matching the intensity.
Mei surveyed the group and quickly realised that each hero student was supposed to team up with a general education student. Her own partner must have been a mere tagalong. "So, how are we going to handle this? Because I really want to win this thing, but if you guys aren't going to play fair, then I'll have to take matters into my own hands," she stated, hands on her hips.
A thin boy with a pointy chin, assuming the role of ringleader, spoke up the loudest. "Don't trust the hero students, Support," he declared. Support? Well, that was rude. "They're just in this for themselves. Arrogance is their problem. You think you can win just because of your course? I don't think so!"
"Yeah!" chimed in a gen ed girl with a bowl cut. "Support and general education need to stick together!"
Mei pretended to ponder their words for a moment, then shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, nah." Before any of the general education students could react, all four of them were hit with stun effect ammunition.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Kirishima. "Are they going to be okay?"
"Yeah, they should be. The effect only lasts for about ten minutes," Mei reassured him.
"...Cool!"
"But what do we do about the event?" Uraraka asked with a hint of concern. "We can't win without our partners."
Mei took a moment to contemplate their predicament. Then, she swiftly bent down and pilfered the numbered balls from the incapacitated students, handing one to Kirishima to pair him with Yanagi and giving Uraraka the number 22. "Oh, wow, look at that," Mei remarked. "We all have matching numbers now. What are the odds?"
"There's a malevolent presence in your soul, Mei Hatsume," Reiko remarked, a hint of fascination in her voice. "...I like it."
"Mei Hatsume from Class 1-H just took down four students in one go!" boomed Present Mic's voice. "Is she allowed to do that?!"
Next to him, Eraserhead's eyes narrowed at Mei's actions.
"Well Eraserhead isn't answering me, so let's hear from our judge!"
On a large screen broadcasting to the audience, Midnight raised her hand with the palm facing down before dramatically giving a thumbs up, indicating that it was within the rules. Mei let out a sigh of relief; she hadn't really considered whether it was allowed or not.
"I knew it would be fine!" Mei cackled with glee. "Now let's make our way to that finish line!" She declared triumphantly.
"But how are we going to do that?" Kirishima pondered, scratching the back of his head.
Uraraka contemplated their predicament for a moment before a brilliant idea struck her. "Yanagi! If I remove our weight, could you float us over the walls to reach the finish line?"
"The answer is not yet written," Yanagi cryptically replied, leaving Mei utterly perplexed.
Kirishima clarified, "That means probably."
It took no time at all for the four of them to float over the walls, netting the 5th and 6th places in the event.
