Hey gals and gamers first off sorry for the long wait but life has been busy, more in endnote, and it's finally sports festival time! I cooked up an original replacement for the second trial. I just have to work out the kinks here and there, and I hope it makes sense, I like it but it is a little strange.
The main reason I did this is because I don't see how I can make the nanosuit very well, important in the cavalry battle, it is a very physical type of thing and I don't want to just rehash the canon calvary battle so I created something else. It does take away from some of the teamwork aspect of it but there is still some of that involved. Izuku is a bit op in this chapter but I tried to write it in a way that makes sense.
Also I liked Todoroki's declaration of war so I'm keeping it in, sue me. Btw italics are inner dialogue/ thoughts in case anyone was confused. Anyway I hope you all enjoy.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The Maximum Hero: Flight and fight
Okay he needs to calm down, it's just the Yuuei sports festival not a big deal, but it is a big deal, it's a huge deal, it's one of the entire nation of Japan's biggest events! This is a good kind of nervous though, it's not fear or paranoia, it's a nervous excitement.
"Hey man, how are you feeling?", Kaminari walked over from the table where Uraraka, Iida, and some others are sitting. Izuku was sitting there too but moved away to help calm his nerves.
"I'm doing better now, I mean we survived villains! This is nothing right?", Izuku says, still trying to trick himself into relaxing.
Kaminari sits on the bench next to him, "You're doing better than me, I may not be showing it but man I am full of nerves, once I'm out there I'll feel better but for now…yeesh. And it's worse for you, you have a speech to give right?". Kaminari looks at Izuku who has turned white, "I mean it's all going to be fine! No worries at all ah haha".
Izuku is silently cursing Kaminari, that doesn't help, he spent hours and hours writing different versions of what he might say, he kind of has a general idea? But he still isn't sure, that's one of the bigger things increasing his nerves.
"Whatever you say I'm sure will be great, don't drive yourself crazy with worry, this will all just be a memory soon right?", Kaminari tries to comfort his friend.
That's a funny way to say 'this too shall pass', but Izuku tries to take the advice, he's right after all, so time for deep breaths and to finish readying himself.
"Midoriya"
Guess that was too much to ask for, oh it's Todoroki, that's strange they haven't really spoken much so what could he want?
"Objectively, I think I'm stronger than you, but you have proven yourself above me during the quirk assessment exam, and since the USJ I've noticed All Might has had his eye on you for whatever reason, not to mention that you placed first in the entrance exam so I wanted to say. I'm going to beat you", Todoroki says this with cold eyes, but Midoriya feels obligated to accept this…declaration.
"That's probably true… but I still don't know why you would say that, after all I'm the only one that got seriously hurt back then, I haven't noticed All might give me more attention, and you're a recommended student", Izuku returns Todoroki's cold gaze with a determined one and his blue eye shines just a bit brighter. "But I know that everyone, the people here, those in 2B and the general classes, are going to try their damndest to win, so you do your best to beat us all, and I swear to you I will meet your resolve with my own, then we will see who the 'stronger' one is".
"Look at you growing some balls", Alcatraz quietly praises.
The room is silent, and Todoroki simply nods firmly in recognition and returns to his resting position while the others briefly stare in awe at the determination shown by their class president.
Kirishima stands next to Izuku and Kaminari, "that was hella manly bro".
And from a simple complement Izuku feels all his previous concentration break, "T-Thanks I just said what felt right and I-" his speaking is cut off by a buzzing in his pocket, he pulls out a small buzzer he was given before they all entered this room to signal when they are to enter the arena. He stands up and speaks to the class, "It's time to go everyone".
The class all leaves the locker room and walks to the entrance to the field that Izuku was shown beforehand, Izuku makes sure to leave the buzzer in the locker room, its job done.
"AND IT IS TIME FOR THE YUUEI SPORTS FESTIVAL TO BEGIN BECAUSE HERE THEY COME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN PREPARE YOURSELF FOR AN EVENT UNLIKE ANY YOU HAVE EVER SEEN!", Present Mic announces.
The class finally exits the hallway leading to the outside with Izuku in the front and as the light hits their eyes they are instead blinded by cheers and the ridiculous amounts of people in the audience.
"AND HERE THEY COME, THEY MAY HAVE HAD A HELL OF A FIRST WEEK BUT IT ONLY MADE THEM STRONGER, CHEER ALL CHEER IT'S CLASSSSSSS 1AAAA", Mic says introducing them.
He continues his introductions of the other classes albeit with a slightly less enthusiastic tone, but Izuku can't bring himself to pay attention to his words, there's just so many people.
"You good Midoriya? You've lost all your iconic Midoriya shine", Kaminari jokes.
Izuku swallows hard, "Y-Yeah im fine, there's just so many people when you aren't one of them in the crowd."
"No kidding, all the noise is starting to get to me", Kirishima of all people admits.
"You said it", Jiro mumbles and grabs her earphone jacks, maybe to block some of the noise?
"It's getting me all fired up!", Uraraka cheers, guess that strange determination from her has returned.
"We must treat this like a lesson, with all these eyes on us can we still do our best? As heroes we must!", Iida states.
Kaminari pats his crime bro on the back, "let's just focus on getting to the mini podium for now buddy".
They do just that and then they wait there for a short while as the other classes make their way over as well. Once they do Present Mic takes a break from his announcing to allow the festival overseer to make themselves known from the podium.
"Hello my dear students!",the air CRACKS as a whip is slammed, and Midnight, walking with her hips swaying, has made herself known.
"Hey it's the 18 hero Midnight! I guess she's the head referee this year!", a student notes with joy.
"Is it really acceptable for her to wear that, I know we've seen it before but it is… unusual", Tokoyami inquires.
"You don't hear me complaining", Kaminari replies as Izuku sighs at his degenerate friend
"It's da besht", a voice lisps from near him.
"SILENCE", Midnight commands with another crack of the whip.
"I love you Midnight!", a final voice shouts from the distance.
Midnight's eyebrow twitches but she doesn't acknowledge the declaration of love, "Player rep Izuku Midoriya please come up to give us all some words."
"Go get em man", Kaminari encourages.
A number of students voice their thoughts on the situation.
"He's kinda plain looking"
"Isn't he the guy those rumors are about"
"He looks fine though?"
"Guy looks kinda nervous"
Meanwhile Izuku has heard nothing as he is walking to the podium in an utter panic with his heart pounding in his chest, "FU#%, F &, F*C, WHAT AM I going to say? What if they hate my speech, what if I stutter the whole time? Why did I have to be the one giving the speech this year, is it because I'm class President?! AAAHHHH", he screams in his mind.
"Damn kid here, this is just to calm your nerves a bit", Alcatraz assists.
As Izuku reaches the halfway point he feels himself calm down and breathing is suddenly much easier and his brain begins to work normally again, okay he can do this, he can do this, thanks Alcatraz.
Izuku is now atop the stage with the microphone placed in front of him by Midnight who moves aside to give him space. He takes a single, powerful, deep breath and exhales, the mic picks this up and his breath fills the stadium, gently quieting down any noises that had persisted. He knows what to say.
"There are two things that have been on my mind recently, things a …friend… has told me….'What are you prepared to sacrifice?'. And, 'Victory costs, every time you pay a little more', these words have merged with my thoughts of what it is to be a hero and I came to this conclusion, to be a hero is save those in need, help maintain the peace, inspire the world to be better, and fight the fights others can't with a smile on their face."
Izuku surveys the crowd that waits on his next words, "And in order to do this I would sacrifice…everything… my time, my energy, my body, but there is only so much I can sacrifice and the price of victory would eventually become… too much for me to pay. But I refuse that, as heroes we must ALL come together to become pillars for society so that the price of victory will never be too high! And yes we may make some mistakes along the way but after all.. we're only human". Izuku looks down at all the students, "Everyone, do your best, and may the best student win"
The arena is silent for a moment, then cheers erupt from all around. The cheer makes him lose the confidence he just had so he walks back to Kaminari with his head low.
Izuku truly had spent time with the knowledge and questions gained from Prophet and Alcatraz, and he realized that alone, they either failed or succeeded but suffered…died. But now the both of them together were able to succeed in their goals of ending remaining ceph and destroying their tech, it is only because of him that their story came to an end, so shy should it be different with heroes? All Might has become the symbol of peace and the pillar of hope but he is only one man, and in order to be heroes, everyone must strive to be a pillar. Once he reaches the crowd Kaminari shakes him in encouragement, "That was amazing man!"
"And now after that wonderful speech it's time for the first event, the preliminaries!", Midnight loudly announces.
Uraraka leans forward and quickly whispers,"Great speech Deku!", Iida also gives him a hearty thumbs up in support.
"And this year's first round isssssss this!", she waves her arms and the screen on the wall behind where she is standing displays the words 'OBSTACLE COURSE'.
"A race involving all 11 classes around the arena totaling 4 kilometers (roughly 2.5 miles), and everyone knows Yuuei loves to give their students the freedom to grow so you are allowed to do anything as long as it is inside the path boundaries!", she laughs a bit at the end but Izuku chooses to look past that.
A tall portion of the wall behind them suddenly moves to reveal a path outside of the arena with 3 lights above it, everyone quickly moves towards it and starts to crowd directly in front of it. Since Izuku was sitting in the front of the crowd, he is near the end of everyone in front of the opening alongside the Kaminari.
"OKAY EVERYONE, On your marks…" Midnight begins
"Hey good luck", Kaminari quickly encourages.
"You too", Izuku replies
"Get set!" The 18 referee continues
Okay now it's time to get ready, he just has to summon the nanosuit…but… for just a moment… he falters. He hasn't really used the nanosuit since he finished healing, apparently it summoned by itself whenever he did that 'dream training', but he hasn't actively summoned it in weeks, there hasn't been a reason to. All the hero classes have been theory and lectures and there's been no fights or situations where summoning was needed. He knows he is being foolish though so with a larger amount of effort than expected he pushes away the feelings of fear and any doubts he had.
And brings back the beast.
NANOSUIT ENABLED
"GOOO"
Izuku feels the familiar sensation of cool nanites coat his skin and the next thing he sees is through the eyes of the summoned nanosuit once again.
Because of his moment of hesitation he has been left behind and he knows if he tries to shove and fight his way through he'll still be left in the back half of the racers. That and he doesn't want to hurt too many people by forcing his way through, and it looks like everyone is about halfway through the large hallway exit.
A quick second look at the exit makes him realize how much space there is above all the people competing to escape. So he backs up so he can get a running start for this.
MAXIMUM STRENGTH
Izuku runs and just before he collides with a competitor he leaps as high and far as he can, he soars above all the human traffic jam and lands with some light difficulty on the other side with around 10 people in front of him. He has just recovered from his landing when he sees a wave of ice race towards him, before he even has time to fully comprehend what he is seeing he jumps again, evading getting frozen to the floor. Prophet and Alcatraz weren't kidding, his reaction time is much faster than before.
Now that he has no need for it he deactivates strength mode, even if he apparently has more energy it's best to use the limited amount wisely. He glances at his mini map but it isn't very helpful, while it does have a map of the stadium and the area around it, the changes to the race were done so recently the information it shows isn't updated.
There's a curve in the trail so he can't see where Todoroki is, the ice slowed him down a tad since it was more difficult to regain his footing when landing this time. He can't be too far ahead though, he passed a handful of the people that were once in front of him.
He turns the corner only to witness the boy he now knows is called Mineta get sucker punched by an entrance exam 1 point robot.
He looks around the clearing and sees only 5 total robots, that's not so bad he can just avoid them to save time, then the floor opens and lifts no less than TEN zero pointers directly in front of them.
"Looks like our dear students have reached the first barrier : A ROBOT INFERNO!", Present Mic proclaims from the speakers around the stadium.
"THE FLIPPING FUCK?!", a familiar voice screams from behind, Kaminari has a fun way with words.
By now there is no more ice on the floor so Izuku is able to utilize the friction the dirt now provides to run at an even pace, quickly approaching Todoroki who is for whatever reason standing still.
Just as Izuku is about to pass Todoroki a massive wave of ice goes flying towards the nearest 0 pointer with an outstretched arm. He quickly dives to the side to avoid getting caught in the icy blast but because of this he loses his momentum as he hits the floor.
Todoroki runs forward as Izuku is getting back to his feet, "Don't try and follow me, I froze it off - balance, on purpose", the emotionless teen warns his competition.
Izuku has recovered from diving and sure enough he can see the 0 pointer begin to crack the ice but Todoroki isn't that far ahead yet, he can catch up.
MAXIMUM SPEED
As the 0 pointer starts to crack more Izuku bolts forward and between the legs before it falls, once he gets past the immediate danger he focuses on Todoroki. He hasn't bothered to turn around to check if he's being followed yet, he likely assumed that no one would dare to try and follow him. In no time at all Izuku is now directly behind Todoroki, he considers trying to knock him off balance but that would slow him down and possibly leave him open to a counter attack so instead he simply runs past him at full speed.
"With one action Todoroki has both cleared the first hurdle and blocked the other- WHO IS THAT?! IZUKU MIDORIYA HAS JUST PASSED TODOROKI AND TAKEN FIRST PLACE FOR HIMSELF! WITH PURE SPEED HE IS LEAVING TODOROKI IN THE DUST!", Present Mic comments on the turn of events.
Once Izuku has made a considerable distance between Todoroki and himself he deactivates speed mode, by now there is a bit less than half of the energy bar left so he will run normally to allow it to regenerate. He doesn't feel quite as tired as he expected, while his breathing is heavier than normal he could probably keep running with max speed for longer if he didnt care about energy consumption. It's been a good stretch since the first obstacle so he's expecting the next one soon.
"Midoriya has now reached the second obstacle before everyone was even done with the first! Welcome young one to THE FALL", the booming announcer introduces, "Any advice Eraser?"
"Don't fall"
"I COULD'VE SAID THAT"
Izuku stops before reaching the end of the patch of land he's on, he could try to walk along the tightropes but that could take a while. He looks behind him, the other students aren't very close yet but they aren't so far away that he can take his time here. There are multiple paths he can take with some looking shorter at times than others but the paths are in no way linear. He could jump to the one nearest to him but what if he overestimates the distance?
SCANNING FOR OPTIMAL ROUTE…
…
…
… CALCULATED
Sure enough his visor now has a dotted line of the optimal route, with the dots going up and down in the sections where he needs to jump along with the distance of each jump next to the lines. He thinks back and figures the distance he leaped when first started this race was about 25 to 30 feet above heavily crammed students, so using that as a reference he can decide the amount of force needed in the jumps.
MAXIMUM STRENGTH
Izuku runs forward and when he reaches the end of the ground he launches himself off the floor, through the air, and onto the first platform. His landing is more clumsy than he would've liked but he didn't fall off. He turns to the next target on his optimal path and once again runs, leaps, and lands. He does this a few more times with short breaks here and there to regain his energy meter until he is more than two - thirds done. Right before he prepares to jump again he is stopped by a voice.
"Midoriya, remember you are allowed to do anything as long as you stay on the trail.", Prophet advises.
Izuku is confused by this, yeah he was but he's doing fine now, he hasn't left the trail.
"I think what he is trying to say is, you should try to slow the others down", Alcatraz elaborates.
"Yeah but that's just mean and unfair", Izuku counters.
"Todoroki froze that robot off balance to block others from following him, you're just returning the favor",Prophet reasons.
That's true and it did give them both a good lead, even if Todoroki only wanted that lead for himself. With this in mind Izuku wonders how he could slow everyone else down then he looks back to the start of the fall to see people finally arriving, most of them using the steel ropes to some degree. That's what he can do, get rid of the ropes and force them to find other routes.
Izuku turns around and bends over the edge of the patch of land he is in, he grabs the wire and with maximum strength still activated he PULLS, the wire resists but with Izuku pulls harder and HARDER until he finally tears the wire out of the ground. Now limp Izuku lets go of it and returns to leaping over the wires and landing on land, rinse and repeat until he reaches the end of the second obstacle.
"After creating a clever roadblock with an impressive feat of strength, seriously we dug those wires in DEEP, Midoriya has completed the second trail, but with the other racers quickly starting to catch up can he hope to pass the final obstacle, AN ACTIVE MINEFIELD AS QUICKLY?!"
Izuku deactivates strength mode and runs forward until he reaches the minefield but without the speed of when he first began, all the jumping and running has begun to tire him out. This is the longest of the obstacles if he had to guess, it covers the full length of the trail until the finish line and if he looks carefully he can see the patches of earth that were dug up to plant the mines.
He knows just what to do here, it feels almost familiar, like he's dealt with mines before, that's probably one of the previous suit users memories.
He activates the visors tagging function and tags all the mines in the path to the finish line, it takes him a while and he can hear the others making progress. A quick look behind him shows that the 2 other boys are closing in and will have caught up in less than a minute if he continues to stay still. With the mines no longer being hidden he runs into the final obstacle, wanting to end this quickly so he can catch his breath Izuku decides to use the remaining of his stamina here and now.
MAXIMUM SPEED
With the combined effort of the visor and max speed Izuku completes the final trial without setting off a single mine, much to the shock of the sports festival announcer.
"IZUKU MIDORIYA HAS COMPLETED THE RACE BEFORE EVERYONE HAS EVEN COMPLETED THE FALL, THIS IS NOW A RACE FOR SECOND PLACE".
Izuku is slowly walking to nearby tables filled with water, fruits, snacks, and various other beverages. He isn't completely drained but all that running, jumping, and diving left him in a very sluggish state. So he grabs a large bottle of water and removes the nanosuit, once he does he feels much more fatigued than before but the feeling of the wind on his skin and the water makes up for it.
Now that he is hydrated he turns his attention to one of the large monitors around the stadium, it looks like Kacchan and Todoroki are in the lead with a handful of people catching up to them and the rest further behind them finishing up the second obstacle. Through the camera he can see that due to his tearing of one of the wires, the people on that platform had to backtrack to find a different path. A closer look reveals that Ashido, Yaoyorozu, Iida, and Kirishima are some of those people…oops.
Some more time passes and a majority of people are on the final obstacle with Kacchan and Todoroki still fighting for first.
"Todoroki and Bakugo are neck and neck and trying to slow each other down but they have to be careful because BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE IS RIGHT BEHIND THEM".
Izuku surveys the other racers and they are indeed quickly closing in on the 2 frontrunners, the reason for this is they aren't going full speed so they can avoid the mines but the others are getting more desperate and are risking detonating the mines in exchange for running faster. His attention is taken by someone running as fast as they can near the end of the racers, it's Kirishima. The camera's focus on the teen as he activates his quirk and runs full speed into the minefield, at the same time Iida runs full speed as well leaving explosions in his wake as he is fast enough to outpace them.
"In a clear effort to make up for the time they lost in the forced detour, Kirishima and Iida are BULLDOZING AND HOT FOOTING THROUGH THE MINES, and it looks like this is making everyone else pick the pace as mines are blowing up everywhere! What are you teaching these kids Eraser?!", Mic excitedly announces.
"This isn't something you can teach, this is the fruit of the fires they have lit within each other", Aizawa explains.
People move out of the way of Kirishima and Iida's path of destruction and Todoroki also takes a desperate measure as he freezes the earth in front of him to run without fear of blowing up, Kacchan follows directly behind him with the two still trying to knock the other down.
The audience screams as they live vicariously through the students, the rush of not knowing what will happen and who will be the first ones to make it. Watching as students try as hard as they can to not be left behind and throw caution out the window followed by more and more explosions.
Izuku watches the entrance he came in with growing anticipation as the air is filled with pink from the mines and then two people emerge from the dust. It's the two boys, Todoroki and Kacchan, they're still in the lead, and Todoroki is running as fast as he can while Kacchan is using his quirk to propel himself forward.
"BY A SINGLE FINGER, TODOROKI HAS TAKEN SECOND PLACE, WITH BAKUGO RIGHT BEHIND IN THIRD", the camera shows an instant replay where indeed one of Todoroki's fingers just barely passed the finish line before Kacchan's.
Kacchan screams in frustration and walks off to the far side of the arena with deep exhales and twitchy arms. Meanwhile Todoroki walks past Izuku and grabs a bottle of water as he does, now more and more people pass the finish line until eventually the last straggler arrives, ending the first round.
Once everyone has caught their breath Midnight uses the microphone to reveal who is continuing, "Only the top 42 can carry on, to everyone else tough luck but you will have more chances in the future to prove yourself!"
The screen behind her fills with the faces and placements of all the students that made it to the second round with himself in first, he looks over the placements and notices Iida places 6th and Kirishima 9th , looks like they made up more time than he thought by charging through the minefield.
Kaminari got 20th place which is about what Izuku was thinking, Uraraka secured 16th but she must've stayed somehow under the radar because he doesn't remember much from her. He checks for the places of two more people, Yaoyorozu and Ashido, observing reveals that they placed 30th and 34th. He feels a tad guilty since it is because of him that they had to backtrack and get such a low placement, but they still made it so that helps ease his conscience.
"And now to further thin out the competitors, the second event! What could it be?! My heart is pounding and I already know what it is! I'll give you a hint! It's something you likely played as kids! IT. IS. HEROES VS VILLAINS!", Midnight loudly declares.
Heroes vs villains? How would that even work in this sort of setting? Izuku forces himself to not think about it since she is for sure going to say the details right now.
Midnight proves him right by doing just that, "The way it works is simple, you will have 15 minutes and depending on what place you got in the obstacle race you will be a 'hero' or a 'villain' but while you would assume the ones who scored higher would be the heroes that's incorrect… the top 16 are villains! In order to qualify for the final round of the festival the heroes have to capture a villain, or the villains have to remain uncaptured until time runs out. Both the heroes and villains will be given capture tape and once the capture tape is wrapped around someone they cannot move themselves."
Midnight wags a finger at the camera, "But the difference is that once the villains are caught they are OUT! But if a hero is caught then a fellow hero can free them by removing the capture tape, also once a hero captures a villain and earns their spot in the final round they can choose to remain in the round to assist their comrades. And for the final twist… the person who won first in the obstacle race… WILL HAVE THEIR LOCATION SHOWN LIVE FOR ALL TO SEE, HOW'S THAT FOR A CURVEBALL?! THIS IS A CHANCE FOR THOSE AT THE BOTTOM TO OVERTHROW THOSE AT THE TOP!".
Izuku suddenly regrets winning first, he is confident in his abilities but if he is going to have people tracking his location he doesn't know if he will be able to fight off large groups. And since he will have his location shown none of the other 'villains' are going to want to team up with him so it looks like he will be going into this solo.
"Everyone please go to the designated area this won't take long", Midnight orders as Cementoss enters the field, obviously to shape the terrain in some way.
Everyone goes to the entrance to the arena that has light on around it, once they do a wall of cement blocks off their view but they can hear the earth itself begin to shift and move. On some tables, that he is confident weren't there before, are piles of capture tape so everyone grabs one or two in relative silence. Other than some muted whispers, no one speaks, it's clear they are trying to focus for the coming event, Izuku notices Todoroki looking as cold as always and Kacchan seems almost excited, Sero who placed 8th is noticeably nervous and Kirishima is trying hard to keep it together.
Izuku has no time to continue people watching as in an unbelievable amount of time the construction is completed. The wall of cement gains a hole in the center to serve as a passage for
"And now will the 16 'villains' please enter the field, we are fair so you will get a headstart…that lasts 20 seconds, now go!" an audible tik tok is heard from the speaker to act as a countdown, and the wall in front of them cracks open just a bit.
NANOSUIT ENABLED
Izuku follows all the others to the arena, where there was once flat earth; there are now numerous walls of varying heights, obstacles, a few buildings, some just a broken outline with even fewer even being 2 stories tall. A glance up reveals a large screen with an outline of the entire arena complete with the new additions, along with a bright red, moving dot. It's lower than all the other screens, but while they can't really see those screens from their positions, the radar screen is very must be how everyone can track him.
He turns so watch the others as he runs towards one of the 2 story buildings, it seems some of them are running in duos or by themselves, one such duo he notices is Tsu and Tokoyami.
The head start is almost over but with him running full speed he is able to make it into the 2 story building just as a bell rings, signaling the start of the match.
He knows eventually the 'heroes' will find him and he isn't so confident to believe he can manage to defeat a large group of students without getting caught in capture tape. He doesn't need to fight them though, he just needs to evade them and he has the perfect way to do that: cloak mode.
He was able to make it to one of the farther 2 story buildings with his speed so he should have some time before any of his competitors arrive, but to be safe he will activate his tagging function again, it wont work until they are somewhat nearby but it's still a good early warning to have. With this he makes his way to the 2nd story of the building and stands near a window, the building itself is very barebones, three rooms each roughly 20ft by 20ft then a flight of stairs to the second story that is also just 3 rooms in a similar layout.
He waits and waits and then he hears conflict begin to rise, shouting and the sound of cement falling and bodies being thrown, what is happening out there? He isn't allowed much time to think on this as 4 enemies appear on his visor, he quickly tags them, then they divide into groups of two and one stays on the first floor as the other 2 make their way to the second, and as they get close to his room he decides to finally hide his presence.
CLOAK ENGAGED
"KEEP AN EYE ON MIDORIYA FOLKS, THINGS MIGHT JUST GET HAIRY.", Mic announces, thankfully he doesn't mention his invisibility but now the people in the building with him know he is up to something.
"He's supposed to be here isn't he?" a hushed voice whispers from another room.
"Yeah I just checked the map from the window, he should still be here, plus Mic literally just said things might get hairy as we got here.", another voice responds.
Izuku is staying as still as he can, right now he is debating running or sneaking behind them and capturing them, the others are still on the first floor so he does have enough time but then they can just be freed when he leaves.
"Capture the first two and use them as bait to catch the other two, then no one will be able to free them unless they happen to find them here",Prophet suggests.
That is… certainly an option, and he does think it's possible but it's also risky, what if other people hear when he captures them and try to use it as a chance to catch him off guard. It's a risk but if he succeeds then it will remove 4 students from the event for at least a few minutes.
"This is the last room he has to be here" a voice once again whispers, so quiet that without the nanosuit he wouldn't be able to hear it at all.
Two male students enter the room, he doesnt recognize them so he focuses his vision on them so the nanosuit can identify them and their quirks. The first one he looks at is the normal height light brown - haired boy with strange eyes and no other noticeable features.
Kosei Tsuburaba, Age 15, blood type: O, Height: 170 cm (5'7ft), Quirk: Solid Air, any air exhaled by him in a breath can be made into solid walls or platforms that remain where they are created until destroyed, current strength ranges from thin wood to laminated glass level.
With the strength of the nanosuit his quirk shouldn't be an issue and he doesn't seem very muscular so he doubts he has much physical strength. Now he places his attention on the other boy that just entered, the dark brown haired boy but this one has no unique features.
Sen Kaibara, Age 15, Blood type: B, Height: 172 cm (5 '8), Quirk: Gyrate, allows him to spin any part of his body like a drill, the high speed of the spins can enhance his physical strikes.
A more physical type of quirk but he is again confident that it won't be very effective against the nanosuit, so the only thing he has to be wary of is them in any way restraining him long enough to wrap him in capture tape.
Kaibara walks past him and stares out the window, "He must be on the roof, the tracker screen says he's still here, go get the others and we can use your quirk to make a way up there".
Tsuburaba nods, "They should be done looking down there anyway", and he turns back to the exit.
This is a great opportunity for Izuku, he can quickly capture Kaibara without him being able to fight back and he is the bigger threat of the two, then he can go for Tsuburaba before he manages to leave the room. No way Kaibara will be quiet though so he will have to be quick after capturing him so he can capitalize on the surprise the other will have when he sees his teammate suddenly defeated.
Izuku sneaks over behind Kaibara, who is still looking out the window he quietly unwinds a large strip of capture tape long enough to go around his body and before the teen has time to even turn around Izuku wraps the full length of the capture tape around his waist.
"W-WHAT HOW- WHEN?!, TSUBURABA I'VE BEEN CAPTURED HE'S SOMEWHERE IN THE ROOM!", Kaibara screams in pure shock.
He could stay cloaked but he wants to end this fast, and there is no way the people on the first floor didn't hear that shout. The distance isn't very far but Izuku needs to speed blitz the other boy before he can properly defend himself.
MAXIMUM SPEED
As he runs he unwinds more capture tape and in an instant Izuku is directly in front of the stunned Tsuburaba. The boy exhales as quickly as he can and places a thin wall of solid air with his quirk but it does nothing to slow Izuku's attack. His fist shatters the air wall and flies past the boy's head, lightly grazing it. Before there is time to react Izuku wraps the capture tape over his neck and under his arm, similar to a sash. Is that blood? He must've cut Tsuburabas' cheek, it's not a lot thank god just a nick.
NEW DNA SAMPLE ACQUIRED….ANALYZING…
What? What is it going to do with what it learns?
Anyway Izuku has now captured the two boys, since they are captured they cant move so Izuku gently grabs the shoulders of his recent victim and drags him on the floor until they reach the first teen Izuku captured. Said victims are being surprisingly considerate and aren't yelling warnings to their teammates, but they could just be waiting until they are in eyesight.
Speaking of their teammates he can hear heavy footsteps coming up the stairs as well as voices of concern.
"ARE FRIENDS WELL? IS ENEMY CLOSE?!", a female voice says in broken japanese.
CLOAK ENGAGED
He has to keep his element of surprise the best he can, it feels a bit cowardly but since simply getting caught in capture tape is a defeat condition he doesn't want to risk it.
"GUYS BE CAREFUL HE CAN GO INVISIBLE!", Kaibara warns.
Midoriya mentally sighs, he knew their silence was too good to be true, since they are now aware of his ability he has to be quick in gathering information. He focuses on the girl first.
Pony Tsunotori, Age 16, Blood type: O, Height, 155cm (5'1), Quirk: Horn Cannon, the horns on her head can be launched and controlled, launched horns are immediately replaced by new ones and she can currently remotely control 1 or 2 horns.
Depending on the power her horns can hit with she could seriously slow him down or maybe even hold him down with them, if they are as strong as real horns then he should be fine but there is no way of knowing.
The second person enters the room jogging, and his quirk is immediately noticed, it must have something to do with the manga- style text box where his head should be.
Manga Fukidashi, Age 15, Blood type: A, Height 140cm (4'7) - 160cm (5'3), Quirk: Comic, He can materialize words by speaking them, though they have to be a form of onomatopoeia, his height changes based on the shape his head is in.
Izuku gets hit with a sense of deja vu, his quirk is a little too similar to that villain he fought at the USJ, the one that knocked him off the roof.
"Don't let the past ruin your sense of judgment", Prophet chides
No it won't, he is going to learn from it, he knows how a quirk like his can be a threat so he has to be the first one out.
Since the 2 newcomers are aware of his invisibility they are constantly looking around while slowly walking towards their captured allies. Izuku maneuvers towards Fukidashi and waits for a moment where they both look away so he can unwind some capture tape.
They are getting dangerously close to their teammates when finally it happens, likely due to how close they are to their goal and the fact that nothing has happened makes them drop their guard for just a second. But once they are both looking away from his direction he pulls a long strip of capture tape and rushes Fukidashi.
"FUKIDASHI BEHIND YOU!"
Shit Kaibara must've seen the tape, he isn't far from Fukidashi so he continues forward, and then it seems as though the teen is preparing a counter attack. But Izuku has experience with a quirk like his, so he kicks out his leg and sweeps Fukudashi's feet out from under him.
"POP", Fukidashi shouts but since he is in the middle of falling down the word that is spat out from his head goes up and crashes into the ceiling.
While he is falling Izuku quickly wraps the tape around Fukidashi's midsection, but the moment he finishes doing this he is struck by 2 objects on his left ribs.
The strikes aren't hard enough to make him scream in pain or go flying away but the impact is still felt, but not quite powerful enough to need armor mode.
Tsunotori has made some distance between them and she continues to pepper him with her horns, but he either tanks the hit or evades it entirely. She scrunches her face in clear annoyance and fires two more that once again miss their mark. But then Izuku feels his knees buckle, she made those misses on purpose so she could try and knock him off balance!
She sends two more horns out while he is regaining his footing but these have capture tape tied between them, he has to evade.
He starts to move to his left but the horns simply move to follow him, so in response he plants his feet down firmly and waits.
MAXIMUM SPEED
The horns are less than a foot away when he shoots out his fists and destroys both of the projectiles. He can't give her time to knock him off balance again, so he begins to run towards her when she sends 2 more horns his way, these fly right past his head and missed by more than any of the other ones, almost like she wasn't…aiming at him.
His head snaps back just in time to see the horns reach their intended targets, then the tape around Fukidashi and Kaibara is broken.
Kaibara immediately frees Tsuburaba and just like that Izuku has gone from nearly capturing them all to a 4 on 1.
They are beginning to close in on Izuku, if they capture him odds are they'll just leave him there and try to capture someone else, by working as a team they might be able to all get a spot in the final round, everyone wants to be in the final 16. Present Mic has been announcing but Izuku can't bring himself to pay attention at the moment.
They all stand within 10 feet of each other and Izuku finally makes up his mind, if this was a normal battle he might take his chances in facing them, but since their win condition is just wrapping him in tape, he can't afford that chance.
Izuku turns and before they can react he jumps out of the nearest window.
MAXIMUM ARMOR
He hits the ground and pushes his momentum forward so he lands in a roll, quickly getting back to his feet he looks around. So far they aren't following him and while there are people in the area, they are far enough that he can avoid them. He glances at the clock, 7 minutes left, he had managed to remain unbothered in the building for around 5 minutes then the little skirmish he just had was like 2 or 3.
He can keep going for seven minutes easy, being cloaked in the building was just plan A, while he probably would've gotten away with it if he just stayed cloaked that seemed too boring and there was the chance he run out of energy and decloak in front of enemies and that wouldn't have been fun. Plan B is to simply run like hell, he is fairly confident he can outspeed anyone that tries to capture or corner him so it should work out.
Still not being followed but deciding it's best to not stick around any longer since they should be down the stairs soon, Izuku runs off into the distance where he doesn't see any other students.
He isn't running for long when he spots a small crowd of students in one of the half destroyed buildings, curious Izuku sneaks closer to see what is happening.
CLOAK ENGAGED
He peers past the corner of one of the remaining walls and takes in all that is happening. There is a smug blonde boy, a guy whose head resembles a bell with holes and teeth, and an average looking guy with a ponytail.
The situation is practically identical to the one he was in but the victim in this one doesn't look like he can escape on his own, it's Kirishima.
Kirishima is stuck to the ground by his feet that are covered in some sort of white solid, similar to cement, he is trying to break free but the blonde student is shooting him with what looks like scales that are slowing him down. As this happens the ponytail is slowly walking towards Kirishima while unwinding capture tape and… also shooting scales?
The blonde one begins to taunt Kirishima, "Looks like class 1A isn't all that great after all, capturing you is almost too easy, almost easier than catching the sugar dependent one was, now everyone will see that 1B is the superior class", so the blonde guy has a superiority complex.
Izuku considers just leaving, but the moment the thought crosses his mind he shoots it down, they are training to be heroes,and if the 'heroes' can team up, then so can the villains.
He doesn't check their quirks on his visor, reading them might take too long, but based on observation he guesses that it's the student with the unique head that shot out the concrete type thing. If Kirishima can handle the scales being shot with relative ease,since they are just slowing him down, then he should be able to as well, and the redhead has succeeded in mostly freeing one of his legs so Izuku just has to free the other. No more time to think, time to act.
MAXIMUM SPEED
With his enhanced speed Izuku charges through the 2 teens further back and knocks them over, then he shoulder bashes the one closest to Kirishima to the side. Kirishima has just realized that Izuku is there and his face is a mixture of shock, relief, and confusion. Izuku stares at the remaining material keeping Kirishima stuck, it looks tough and if Kirishima was struggling with his quirk Izuku decides to play it safe.
MAXIMUM STRENGTH
With a heavy stomp Izuku shatters the material and Kirishima is freed, said boy is still very confused, "Midoriya? What are you- w-WOAH".
His scream is very understandable since Izuku did just throw him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry like a ragdoll.
MAXIMUM SPEED
Without strength mode Kirishima's weight is more notable but it's still almost non-existent, but the reason he switched modes is for a quick escape. A few seconds of running pass with Kirishima grunting occasionally from being jostled against his back and shoulders.
Once they are a safe distance away and there are no people in throwing distance Izuku sets down his friend and removes his visor, "Sorry about that I saw you were about to get caught and acted fast, I didn't want to risk anything if I fought instead"
Kirishima is still catching his breath from the bumpy ride but manages to speak, "It's cool it's cool…. Your manliness just surprised me is all", he takes a deep inhale, " Thank you, I don't think that was going to end well for me either".
Izuku looks up at the large screen, his location is still up, "Hey you should go now, I don't want you to get caught up when people come looking for me".
"What? That's not manly at all!", he protests.
"It's fine I don't plan on fighting since we just have to avoid capture, I'm just going to evade." Izuku replies.
"But we could team up!", he counters, "I saw Tsu and Tokoyami do it! and I think I saw Uraraka and Ojiro as well, not to mention the team that almost got me, and ugh… I saw Mineta chasing Yaoyorozu in the beginning, hopefully nothing bad came of that.
Izuku considers it for a moment, but as rude as it was to even think, Kirishima would just slow him down. Now, how can he say that nicely, "There's only a handful of minutes left, maybe teaming up would've been a good idea at first but now everyone is getting desperate so going solo lets us maneuver more freely."
He snaps his visor shut, looks like some people are starting to close in on him, "People are getting close, I'll lure them away, there shouldn't be anyone that can match my speed, you go the opposite direction".
"What? No! We can take them together, Wa-", Kirishima argues but it's no use, Izuku has already sped off.
He gets within eye distance of them and realizes it's the same team as before, they must've tried to follow him in order to finish catching Kirishima, good thing he split up then.
He doesn't try and get close but makes sure that they see him, he also makes sure to change the direction he is running from so if they try to backtrack based on his running they won't find Kirishima.
The guy with the strange head notices him first and shoots a large amount of the concrete like material at him, it looks like a liquid but no doubt it tries instantly.
The pony tail boy is shooting scales at him but his speed is too great so none land, and the blonde boy as well, even seeing it a second time it's strange. Maybe that's why they teamed up, similar quirks.
He slows down just a bit so that they think they will be able to catch him, his plan works and now he has their full attention.
But out of nowhere his leg is caught and his momentum is killed, he slowed down too much, the goo has trapped his foot, and it's already hardened.
"Rin go get him now! Time is almost up", the blonde shouts, Izuku tries to run but now he is trapped up to his waist.
The pony-tailed boy starts running towards Izuku with tape unraveled. Shit, he needs to move, now.
MAXIMUM STRENGTH
With the boy quickly approaching, Izuku raises both his hands and slams them down on the concrete, trapping him, causing massive breaks and splinters. With the structure weakened he is able to force his way out, now is it time to fight or flee?
"They keep chasing you, stop it from happening again", Alcatraz encourages
Fight it is.
There is less than a minute left, whatever. Izuku quickly dodges left and avoids the capture tape, he deactivates strength mode and jabs the attacker in the left midsection and the boy crumbles from the impact.
Next he has to target the one that keeps shooting out the gunk that almost trapped him, while he can break out it was able to keep him contained for a short while, and he can't afford to be immobilized again.
The student tries to shoot more of his quirk at him but Izuku is too quick and weaves around the sludge, then once in striking distance he performs a simple side kick, the boy actually managed to stay on his feet but Izuku kicks once more, this time with with more force to knock him down.
Once he falls Izuku turns to try and find the last blonde guy, expecting to see him either running or attacking, but instead he turns just in time to watch as his arm gets grabbed.
The blonde stares at him with confusion plastered on his face, "Why isn't it worki-", He doesn't finish his sentence as Izuku violently pulls his hand from his grasp and punches him directly on his cheek. He falls like a sack of potatoes, Izuku wonders what that was about.
"AND TIME IS UPPPP", Present Mic announces.
Izuku removes the nanosuit and kneels down in front of the blonde teen he just knocked down, "You guys almost had me there", he reaches out a hand, offering to help him up.
The teen doesnt take the arm and glares at him while getting up himself, "What kind of freak are you?
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Izuku hasn't felt this hungry in a long time, he still doesn't feel hungry really but the wonderful smell coming from the cafeteria is doing something to him.
There is a 1 hour lunch break before the next event and Izuku plans to use it, part of him is confused since he is pretty sure he saw Todoroki trying to make his way to him, but then a crowd of people separated them so he might've been imagining it.
Right now he has an appointment with udon, a hamburger, and a corndog, bit of a strange assortment he knows but they just looked so good.
Once he has all his food and drink of choice he walks over to where he saw Kirishima, Ashido, and Uraraka. When he gets there he sees they are sitting in a booth with the girls on one side and the individual boy on the other.
"It doesn't really matter since I was able to capture someone but I wish I was one of the top 16 to start out with, with my quirk I would have been slipping, sliding and breaking ankles!", the pinkette complains.
Kirishima frowns, "yeah something slowed me down too but I was still able to make it, then I was almost caught by some class b guys but THIS MANLY HUNK OF HERO helped me out right before they did!", he grabs Izuku's arm playfully and scoots over to make space for him to sit down on the booth next to him.
"Who'd you capture by the way?"Kirishima wonders aloud.
"Oh I don't remember his name but he had a quirk that let him make the floor into mud and swim in it? Something like that, anyway I just sprayed everywhere I thought he would pop up with decent level acid and when he did surface I tied him while he was uh incapacitated." Ashido explains sheepishly, by the way she said it Izuku assumed the acid burned the guy more than she meant it too,
Izuku turns to the final mystery, "And what about you Uraraka?"
"Ojiro and I had teamed up at first but then that orange haired girl with the big hands quirk caught us by surprise and was able to catch Ojiro. I got lucky and escaped by floating away before any of her classmates were able to catch up." Uraraka takes a breath. "I did feel a little queasy after but I can still eat", as if to prove a point she takes a bite out of her rice ball.
Izuku notices the lack of a certain blue haired teen, "Where's Iida?"
"Oh don't worry he qualified but he said he's going to cool off his engines a bit since he's been running since the obstacle course", Uraraka answers.
That makes sense, Izuku was able to rest while he was hiding but Iida has likely been running almost nonstop with only the short break they had while the arena was being prepped.
Suddenly Ashido points at Izuku with a face of shock, "IT WAS YOU!" she pouts, he then notices her phone in her hand with the screen showing when he tore the cable out of the floor in the pit, that was fast.
"I-I-I-", Izuku struggles to come up with a reply.
"Oh come on guys leave him alone, it's a competition I doubt he wanted for you to get caught by it", Kaminari defends, he then sits down right next to Izuku making that side of the booth cramped.
"I guesssss that's true", Ashido begrudgingly accepts.
"How did you do Kaminari?", Uraraka asks.
Kaminari finishes slurping down some noodles, " I happened to team with Yaoyorozu since we were both coincidentally tracking the same duo of people to get their headbands, she pushed them into a corner then I let loose near my max output so I wouldn't go full stupid, oh one of the guys quirk was a lot like yours Kirishima."
Kirishima frowns, "Yeah the metal guy, Tetsutetsu right? Man, as if my quirk wasn't plain enough, now it's not even unique to our year!"
"Hey don't say that man, your quirk isn't the same as his, his turns him metal, yours gives you a cool jagged look and you don't conduct electricity, his does, he tried to escape my quirk but since he activated his well, it went flying towards him and he got knocked out."
Kirishima's frown lessons and a light smirk replaces it, "Yeah that's true, thanks man".
"Yeah and your quirk has so much potential!" Izuku chirps in, "I don't know about him but if he can only become metal he can't get more durable, but you can adjust your level of durability! Who knows how tough you can become, and it has to have some passive shock absorption, how else can you jump from high buildings without getting massive trauma to your organs and bones, then the fact that your quirk is rock - like makes all your hits more damaging since like Kaminari said, it's more jagged and rough".
Izuku nearly kept going when he got tapped on the shoulder, "Hey man I really really appreciate it. I had never even thought about my quirk having shock absorption before, but don't forget to eat, you've been holding that corn dog near your mouth for a while now." Kirishima genuinely thanks, face light red with a blush from the compliments.
The rest of the lunch time is spent making small talk about the things to come and what they are hoping for, Izuku smiles to himself, having friends is nice.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Izuku is now back on the field, the noon break is over and everyone is gathering once again, he looks around, There are some American cheerleaders performing, where is Kaminari he'd love this, he said he had something to do and they split ways a bit after lunch, but he still isn't here, hopefully he isnt late.
Currently he is waiting on pretty much everyone, he must've gotten here early because the only other class A person he sees is Tokoyami, but he looks like he is trying to focus so Izuku won't bother him.
More students are entering the arena now and he notices a few familiar faces, Ojiro, Koda, and Kirishima are some of them, and it looks like Uraraka is coming as well… what is she wearing… IS THAT A CHEERLEADER UNIFORM!
She isn't the only one, are all the girls from 1A in those uniforms?! Why?! How?! The fuc-
SMACK!
The noise grabs his attention and a look reveals Kaminari… high - fiving Mineta, they did this didn't they. How the hell did they manage this?
"MINETA, KAMINARI, YOU TRICKED US DIDN'T YOU?!", Izuku's fellow class vice president screams.
Izuku can't help but stare for just a moment, though he knew the girls in his class were quite attractive, he never perved on them, unlike some others… including his friend Kaminari sadly. And after the smallest glance Izuku turns his head away, he is better than this, but damn those uniforms…
Thankfully since everyone is now in the arena Present Mic begins announcing once more, "Okay kiddos, so before the next event we will have some recreational activities that are completely optional and anyone can do them, doesn't matter if you made it to the final event, the final event beingggggggg!"
Izuku almost forgot about those they are usually fun to watch on tv, but he won't be participating, the final event is likely to be some form of one on one combat so he wants to be rested and focused for it.
The large screen above the arena lights up and displays…a tournament bracket, " A TOURNAMENT, From 42 students in after the race we now have a mere 16 and they will be facing each other in ONE ON ONE COMBAT!
"Alright, a tournament!", Kirishima cheers
Bakugou joins in "We can fight!"
"A chance to further prove 1B's superiority", Izuku thinks that might be the same blonde frome before.
"Everyone's opponents will be determined by lots drawn by myself", Midnight reveals box in hand, "let's get started!".
The next minutes were tense as each match was decided, with each match being placed on the large screen with a blank placeholder until they were all completed. Not even 5 Minutes later the names are drawn and the screen displays all the matchups of round 1 in order of first happening to last .
Shinso vs hatsume
Ashido vs kendo
Bakugo vs Asui
Kirishima vs Uraraka
Kaminari vs shishida
Monoma vs Iida
Yaoyorozu vs Izuku
Todoroki vs tokoyami
Izuku reads the list and winces once he sees his first opponent, as silly as it may sound he doesn't want the outcome of the battle to make their time as class president and vice president awkward. But now the sports festival is nearing its final stretch, the weight of the coming battles is starting to get heavier, the wait is almost painful.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Again sorry for the long wait, with work and college having started again I don't have much time to focus only on writing, but I will continue to update, just not nearly as frequently as before.
I thought it'd be fun to show the 2 war veterans show/teach Izuku that in a competition it's everyone for themselves so they pushed him to do some more proactive things rather than being reactive to what happens. And with the nanosuit I think a race like this one would be heavily in Izuku's favor
I was fine with my changing the cavalry battle because in terms of plot it doesn't do too much from what I remember other than todoroki using his fire and introducing Monoma, so I just swapped it out for my own creation, hopefully it wasn't terrible lol.
Here's is a quick summary of how the spots for the final round were gotten, Todoroki thugs it out, Bakugo thugs it out, Ibara was teamed with juzo but gets separated then ELIMINATED by Shinso, Iida runs and no one can catch him, Tokoyami evasion with dark shadow plus teaming with Tsu, evades Setsuna and Shoda, Sero ELIMINATED by Hatsume Tetsutetsu team with Awase ELIMINATED by Kaminari & momo, Ojiro ELIMINATED by Kendo, Shouji ELIMINATED by -Shishida, Togaru, Monoma, Sato ELIMINATED by - Monoma, Togaru, Bondo, Shoda. This was my rough outline hope it makes sense but tbh it's not super important you only really need to know what was or will be said in this and future chapters.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to be faster next time.