My Heroic Beast King
Chapter 13
You're Going DOWN
My bad all, I should have looked to the wiki to know that Thirteen was a woman. I was only doing the they/them stuff because I did not know. My bad.
Enjoy the rest of the story!
XXXX
"Our investigators are trying to learn everything they can about this so called 'League of Villains.'" Detective Tsukauchi presented to the group of hero teachers and the principle himself, Nezu. The other hero course teachers being All Might in his relaxed form, Eraserhead with his one broken arm, Present Mic, Vlad King, Midnight, Snipe, and Thirteen. "We have made some progress, but we cannot find anything on this 'Shigaraki' so far. We have searched our records for men in their 20s and 30s who are registered as having a disintegration quirk; but so far, we have come up empty. The same for the warp gate villain, Kurogiri. That means they are not citizens or they are using aliases. They will be hard to find either way."
"So, we do not have any information to work on?" Vlad King or Kan asked gruffly.
"I would not say that." Tsukauchi commented with a grim tone, getting attention back on him. "Sure, we arrested 72 from that group and nearly all of them spoke about how this Shigaraki was a natural leader to them, however, they spoke in hushed and rushed tone of fear for another among their group that we did not pick up. The only thing we have of him is the arm he left behind and the blood of that 'Nomu' creature that their leader was directed to disintegrate. Starting with Nomu, we have information that he is part of an old missing person's case a few years back. He was a known low level street fighter with a rubber quirk and his last known 'battle' was against a child known as the vigilante 'Akatsuki.'" Tsukauchi and Shota gave each other a tired but knowing look and then continued. "Tigerbunny's underground fights soon petered out to keep the rest of the combatants safe after a few more went missing as well, both before and after that fight."
"Tigerbunny, huh. Wonder who that could have been?" Midnight asked sarcastically with a smirk and Shota sighed again. Of course, they knew who that was. If there was one thing they knew about Rumi was that she was both reckless and responsible, a real contradiction that one.
"Do we?" Thirteen asked curiously.
"Yes, but I would not worry about that right now." Nezu replied with a giggle. "No need to ruin her career with that silliness. Tell me, Detective, was their anything more about this Nomu other than this person's modified appearance multiple quirks?"
"Unfortunately, no, we are still research that and who the other quirks could be long to." Tsukauchi replied while shuffling his papers. "As for the arm, that was more concerning to me." He showed off a picture of a pale snake like man that unnerved a lot of the group, but what concerned him was Nezu. The normally put together principal was breathing heavily with a look of shock on his face. Nezu looked to be having a panic attack. "Nezu? Are you alright? Do you know this man?"
"It should not be possible!" Nezu quietly, before jerking violently when Midnight put a hand on his shoulder with a look of worry on her face. A look he registered, became self-aware, and forced himself to calm down but he still looked visibly shaken. "That…monster is known as Orochimaru Garaki…brother to Kyudai Garaki, who coined the Quirk Singularity in his thesis. He was a known experimental scientist before he too disappeared. Only…he did not. He was the head research scientist in Australia that dealt with animal experimentation…where I was born. Once he found out that I had a quirk and it made me intelligent, then the experiments came. He made the others be a lot more…through and harsh with him. He even did a few on me and looked delighted that he was causing me so much pain. He called the other animals boring and loved the way I reacted to his experiments. He called it prime entertainment. In my many attempts to escape, he thwarted them all. In my traps to kill him, he always sent another scientist to their death with a look of sick glee. I know the only reason I was able to get out of his trap, was because he was away from the facility when I...escaped." Nezu was dumb enough to let them how he escaped. His traps killed everyone there and then, before he blew up that research facility for good measure. That monster may not have been there, but he(Nezu) revealed in the fact he destroyed whatever Orochimaru had been working towards. After all, those experiments were leading up to something horrible. He would have become the first animal Nomu if he had not escaped. The monster's musings to himself about how he could start with Nezu in his quirk experiments by giving him another. That he, Nezu, had nearly run out of entertainment value that he would not care if the rat would die like the human subjects had when given another quirk forcibly.
Everyone looked pale at the thought of this monster getting so close to their students if Nezu had such a dark history with the man. Tsukauchi looked uncomfortable as he continued to speak. "I supposed his Eternal Snake quirk mentioned in his profile was no joke, but from eye witness accounts from the students, he too had a warp quirk of his own in the form of an Ouroboros symbol that he can jump into. Not to mention that fact that Naruto almost single mindedly started attacking him on site."
Naruto knew of him? That certainly painted a far grimmer picture in Nezu's mind. He knew Naruto was from another world entirely. So, how was it there he knew the monstrous snake in his world or by running into the man during his time as a vigilante? If the later was the case, then all signs pointed to monsters walking with each other. Who was to say Kyudai was not dead and both Garaki brothers were working with All for One and that Shigaraki and Kurogiri were among the same troupe. Most concerning. Looking to Tsukauchi, a dark look in his beady black eyes caused the man to gulp. Good, even in his frazzled state, he could still instill fear in the humans. "Then to ensure the safety of all my students, I will be adding anti-warp security to the school's defenses…amongst other things. I will have it calibrated not to harm our sole warper in Izuku Midoriya, but all other unsanctioned warpers are not welcome. I will also be pushing far more harshly for my Dormitories demand to the school board. Them and the commission will not dissuade me otherwise!"
XXX
Naruto found himself meditating in the middle of the waiting room. The class was waiting to be called into the Sports Festival Arena. He found meditating and letting this world Nature Chakra flow right through him to be relaxing now. When he had taken it to stabilize his pain from the One for All transfer, he had made a mistake and it made him go all Jekyll and Hyde at times. His training to use Ten Tails had been slow at first, but they found a way. Not to mention Gran Torino would smack him down much like Pa Toad had. Now that he had fixed the issue…with it being a simple as entering Sage Mode to release the corruption, he was better. Still, that just show that none of his mentors in this world new much about chakra worked and he was an idiot too still. It was so simple!
This line of thinking was angering the other worldly blond, so he shifted his thoughts back to his current predicament. The Chunin Exams…no wait that was the Sports Festival. Same difference in his mind but whatever. After being attacked at the League of Villains, most places would cancel a big event like this, but Nezu wanted to a show of power to show the world that they were ok and that it was a challenge to any villain dumb enough to attack them again on live TV with the place being protected by the Top Ten...not to mention all the other heroes in attendance watching for potential interns. Villains weren't that dumb, but then again, the original Orochimaru had attacked Konoha with the Sand and Sound villages near the end of the Chunin Exams so maybe he was rightfully paranoid with the man being in this world too. Then again, this version of Orochimaru was a mystery so he was keeping up his guard. When Nezu asked him how he knew Orochimaru, the principal was rattled that another version was from his world and this world, making them speculate some form of reincarnation since Naruto's entrance into this world was from a very specific portal. It still did not make either comfortable with the idea of that man.
Shaking those thoughts away, Naruto's thoughts traveled to his classmates. These last few weeks, they put their all into training for this. Shota encouraged Izuku's Quirk Analysis when Mina brought it up one day, curious on how it was going for Toru and the girl showed off her true form, getting the class excited to learn what Izuku thought about their quirks. The main group already had their quirks heavily analyzed growing up with him, so they let the other members of the class occupy his mind. It was very enlightening for both the students and the teachers who overheard Izuku go on and on in the one the gyms one day. Izuku certainly had a bright future ahead of him in both Hero Work and Quirk Analysis if he chose to do both. Hell, Present Mic encourage they do something similar since he had a radio show. Most Heroes had a side gig after all.
Another uncomfortable thought at reincarnation explained the other person he had seen at the entrance exam score board and then recently after class one day…when war had been declared on the class by 1-B and all those trying to get into the hero course.
X-Flashback-X
Class was over for the day and they were trying to go home. Trying being the keyword here because the door to the hallway was being blocked by a group of students staring at them. However, what had tipped off the class to something being wrong was Naruto looking pale as he stared at someone, like he was seeing at a ghost. Given who it was, it made sense to the blonde.
In front of the gathered students was someone with silver eyes and two distinct wings along with an 'I am better than you' expression. Only the eyes were not that pale-white Naruto had once known; they had slit pupils almost similar to Naruto's old Kyuubi transformations. This was Neji Hyuuga…just with different eyes and having wings. Wasn't that gut wrenching? Neji got his wings of freedom he wanted in the end after all.
"In case you were wondering, we have come to see the hype around Class 1-A. The more…vocal of my class 1-B have not stopped complaining about your sudden fame gained from the USJ Attack. I must say, I am unimpressed with what I see. It must have been luck that your survived." Damn, even the way he spoke was the same! "I am surprised you did not run for help, Iida. Even at Somei, you were the fastest one around despite your…ridged tendencies." Of course, they would both go to the same high-class school too! Naruto wanted to hug Neji, glad to see he was alive and well, but he did not. There was no familiarity behind those silver eyes for Naruto, which meant he did not remember and it gave credit to Nezu's reincarnation theory. Damnit!
"Or it was showboating like 1-A is known to do!" A blond-haired boy shouted alongside another boy with long silver eyebrows.
"No, Monama, that is all your doing and your strange beef with 1-A. I have seen them and find them lacking. Good day." Neji replied before walking off.
"Damn Neji, you were supposed to do this not me!" Monama growled before rounding back on class 1-A with a crazed smile. "You all in 1-A fought some villains in some petty game that society set up, poor you. I bet you are using your recent fame to get special treatment, especially you, Naruto!"
"YEAH! WE ARE COMING FOR ALL OF YOU IN THE SPORTS FESTIVAL!" Tetsutetsu roared out. "I HEARD IF WE KNOCK YOU DOWN A PEG, THEY'D KICK YOU OUT AND BRING IN NEW BLOOD FROM THE OTHER CLASSES!
"A game." Naruto asked quietly, his voice sending a chill down everyone's spine, especially as his blue eyes bled red and that pressure from the lunchroom came back. "You think surviving an attack from villains is some game. An attack that could have killed us? That game?"
"Well, I-I," Monama stuttered out, not able to think under this pressure.
Naruto put a hand on Monama's shoulder and replied grimly, "We are here to learn how to be heroes, to take down the likes of villains. However, that was only our third day and some uppity villains wanted to mess with All Might when he was not even going to be there. We did what we had to do in order to survive. So, I called for help in a loud way with that dragon. We know what to expect now." Naruto's expression lightened up as the pressure lifted and people could breathe again. "We got off on the wrong foot Monama. I am not sure what you heard about us, especially from Bakugo, but we aren't bad people. Otherwise, why would we be here to learn how to help people better?"
Monama had the decency to look embarrassed and took Naruto's hand to shake, "I apologize for my behavior. Your speech in the lunchroom should have been enough for me, but I still feel like we should be rivals? Different classes and all."
"But the same school, so there is no need to be enemies." Naruto replied with a goofy smirk before that pressure came back just a bit. "We can be friendly rivals. See you at the Sports Festival!"
X-Flashback end-X
"Naruto. Izuku." Shoto said, standing above Naruto in his meditative pose. "I know how powerful you and you know the same for me. However, I will do my best to beat you, for old time's sake. As you once said, our rivalries push us to be stronger."
"Heh, I look forward to the challenge." Naruto replied with a smirk up at his friend while Izuku laughed nervously from his seat. Even after all this time, Izuku still have some anxiety, which is why he just did not care for Bakugo.
"AW YEAH! These challenges are getting my blood pumping!" Inasa shouted happily. The Sports Festival was his favorite event of the year! "I will make you work for it too, Shoto!"
"Bring it on, wind bag." Shoto replied with a small smirk towards his taller friend.
Inasa threw his head back and roared in laughter. "YES! THAT'S THE SPIRIT! I will make you use your fire on me!"
Shoto's grin faded as he sighed. "I would rather not use the man's quirk on anyone."
"Not the point I was getting at man!" Inasa replied exasperatedly. Like Naruto, he too was trying to get Shoto realize his fire was his own.
"Man, they are always so intense." Hitoshi mumbled through a small smirk. They wouldn't be his friends if they weren't intense. Speaking of intense, he eyed the scepter in Naruto's hands and the gadgets Mei brought along with her to test out. He was glad he had the foresight to register his tonfas from his hero suit. Otherwise, he would be kind of bored. He was good at hand-to-hand combat, but he was still learning how to use these things. He too wanted to challenge himself if and when he got to the final round of the Sport Festival.
"Aw you love us!" Mei replied cheekily with own challenging smirk.
"He really does or else I would not have had a chance." Himiko giggled as she hung off his shoulders with a fond smile. She really was grateful to Naruto and Kaina for giving her this chance at a better life. She turn and watched with a small measure of pride as Naruto and Momo gathered the class to make their way into the arena.
XXX
"HEY! MAKE SOME NOISE ALL YOU RABBID SPORTS FANS!" Present Mic, the stadium's announcer, shouted to the crowd of excited viewers both in the stadium and at home watching live. He was THE hype man after all and it came easy to him. "Get those cameras prepped media hordes! This year we are bringing you some of the hottest performances in Sports Festival history Guaranteed! I have only got one question before we start this show! ARE. YOU. READY?!"
"Good god, why am I here again? You do not need me and I could use the nap." Shota grumbled in annoyance at both his best friend and the crowd being overly loud.
Present Mic aka Hizashi smirked at his friend and lowered his voice only for him. "The commentator's game my friend. I am the overly supportive optimist while you are the ever-grounded realist!" Shota just grunted tiredly as they watched the students arrive onto the field.
"For all those tuning in, welcome back to this year's first year sports festival! Watch as all these up-and-coming heroes leave everything on the line for a chance at worldwide fame! This first group already has the world's eyes on them for surviving a villain attack, I present to you the hero course students of class 1-A. The next group has not been given much screentime, but they have already declared themselves the eternal rivals of 1-A, I present to you class 1-B!" Everyone noticed the tension in the air as the two classes stared each other down. "Next up are general studies C, D and E! Then we have the support classes of F, G, and H! Finally, we have the business classes of I, J, and K! Give it up for all of U.A.'s first year students!"
"I expect all students to give it their all despite not being as hyped by Present Mic." Eraserhead announcing menacingly to the crowd. "Now turn your attention down to the stage. It is Midnight's turn."
"Geez dude, not that grounded. You freaked out more than a few people."
XXX
"Now for the introductory speech!" Midnight announced to the crowd, getting people excited that the R-Rated Heroine herself was talking to them. "For the student pledge this year, we have Naruto Uzumaki since he came in first during the Entrance Exams!"
The blond ex-ninja woodenly made his way to the stage. He may have forgotten that he was to do the student pledge and judging by Midnight's unimpressed frown, she already figured it out. Oh well, once he started talking, it would come to him. Naruto took the mic and smiled at the other students and then the crowd. "We all know the school's motto of Plus Ultra, but I am adding another meaning to it, one from my home village of Konoha. The Will of Fire. It meant something different to many people, but to me it was the ability to protect those precious to you. When you have those you deem precious and fight for them, that is when you become truly strong. For an old leader, it meant gaining peace through love. And the reasons varied for all in that old village. So for all in this competition, I challenge you to find your reason to get stronger. I have mine. Find your Will of Fire and Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"
For a long moment, the stadium was eerily silent and then suddenly, sound boomed from every direction and the crowds cheered for a very heroic speech. It seemed they liked it. Not bad for an improvised speech.
"Ever the way with words, huh, Naruto?" Momo said as he walked back down to the class.
Naruto chuckled nervously. "I did not have a speech prepared so I just winged it. Sometimes it works because not even I know what is going to come out of my mouth. I just spoke from the heart this time."
Momo, Kyoka, and the others around them that were listening just stared at him dumbfounded before Kyoka burst out laughing. "It must be a blond thing! Typical Naruto, that's why we all love you!"
As the others laughed as well, Midnight continued on with what the first round would be through a randomizer. It ended up being an obstacle race. In a bid to get rid of half the contestants, something like this would work wonders!
"All eleven classes will participate in the treacherous contest!" Midnight started with an ever-increasing smirk. "The track is four kilometers around the outside of the stadium. I don't want to restrain anyone…at least in this game. As long as you don't leave the course, you are free to use your quirks. Have fun!"
XXX
As soon as everyone took their place on the starting line, which was right in front of a tunnel, Naruto smirked. "I see their game. Momo, Kyoka, either of you want a ride?"
"As much fun as that sounds, no thanks." Kyoka replied with a faint blush.
"Indeed, this is a contest and I intend to win without much help." Momo replied with a challenging grin. "Thanks for the offer though."
At that, the horn went off for the race. "Alright then, good luck." Naruto smirked, especially when he saw that everyone was getting stuck in the tunnel and then Shoto froze the ground, further complicating things. Naruto just chuckled though as he put his scepter in his teeth and turned into a dog sized fox to nimbly run over the top of everyone's heads. Oddly enough, Mei had accounted for his transformation and the scepter turn into a sort of headset for his fox form. Nifty.
In the next moment, he was next to Shoto, with many large zero pointer robots blocking the path. A second later, a crack of sound happened next to them and Izuku appeared on the other side of Naruto. "Allow me to take care of this." Naruto commented as he jumped high into the air, grew to the size of an elephant with four fox tails, and started rotating violently. Out of limbo came another rotating storm. "Kiba and Akamaru's fangs!" The resulting jutsu tore through the giant metal blockade.
"Show offs." Shoto smirked as Izuku disappeared in a thunderclap and Naruto had torn through the giant metal robots. "I guess you could say we are too, right Inasa?" The giant teen roared in laughter as Shoto used his fire and Inasa used his wind to part the debris like the red sea. After all, he wasn't in combat. This was just an obstacle race. As the two elemental students ran through what was left of the robots, they created a mini blizzard for the rest to try and get by.
A little while after, Setsuna came up to the spot panting but with stars in her eyes, "I need to figure out how Naruto did that attack! I'd call it, Dino Meteors!"
XXX (Please play Finish Line by Skillet)
"Geez Eraserhead, what are you teaching your brats?!" Present Mic shouted in a near panic. Teens were not supposed to be this strong, were they?
"They have already faced danger once, so they are not hesitating anymore." Eraserhead commented before putting his feet on the console. "However they do it, is all on them."
"I gotta say…wait, why can't I hear my voice out there? Why is there music playing?" Present Mic asked numbly.
Shota smirked as he watched the console go haywire and one of the screens zoomed in on Naruto's fox form. "This kid is making my job easier is why. Just enjoy the show Hizashi." Shoto smirked to himself as he put his feet up and closed his eyes.
Naruto's voice rang out through the stadium as he casually made his way away from the decimated robots. Well, casual for him anyway. The others were still making their way towards his form. Izuku thunder stepped next to him in a bid to paralyze him with the stray electricity but failed. The two boys smirked at each other as they ran to the next obstacle. Izuku sent lightning Naruto's way while the fox boy slammed his tails where Izuku had been before thunder stepping away.
Present Mic managed to wrestle some control over his system to announce the second obstacle called The Fall and it was pretty self-explanatory enough that Naruto took back control in the next moment. All the students had to do was make it across a man-made valley with tight ropes as the only land-based way to get across.
Naruto's nimble fox form easily jumped from rock to rock above the chasm so he paused to see how his friends and classmates. As expected of Mei, she used the thrusters on the gloves and boots she brought along to fly like Ironman cross the entire obstacle with ease. Tsu and Himiko used their animal like reflexes to crawl and flip over. Momo and Kyoka did end up working together, with Momo creating a zip-line trolley device and then a speaker backpack for Kyoka so they could easily and quickly make it across with no trouble. And speaking of ziplines, Toru brought the experimental hook shot gun that Mei had created for her new costume and she was using that to swing across. Tenya used one engine to propel his way across. It may have looked silly, but it worded and that was what mattered in the end. Even Hitoshi and Denki working together with Hitoshi's tonfas acting as a hook of sorts and Denki creating electric constructs to propel them away across. It was about what Naruto expected, their class would not be stopped by some chasm. Up above them, Neji flew but kept to the middle of the pack as he had a feeling there was a sort of trap for whomever placed first.
Turning back to the rest of the course, Naruto found the last obstacle to be a none lethal mine field. Now this could be fun…well for him anyway. Turning back into a cat sized fox with one tail, he zipped his way across, not even flinching when Izuku thunder stepped in only to set off a good number of them all around him. The result was him being launched across the field toward Naruto. The blond knew he had to time this right, especially when he saw Bakugo, Shoto, Insana, Momo, and Kyoka quickly making headway across the mind field. Not to mention all the others scattered throughout.
Naruto jumped up as he shifted to his half human/half kitsune form, used a tail to catch the falling Izuku so he would not hurt himself, and then slammed a foot into the ground, "Tsunade's Heavenly Quake!" The result was fairly comical, the use of a bit of One for All's strength mixed with his set off every single mine, blanketing the entire field in pink smoke, and knocking everyone about.
"Good job, Naruto!" Izuku replied with a sly smirk of his own. Suddenly, both of them were enveloped in electricity from the ground itself instead of the air. "I finally mastered the Geo-Electric part of my quirk! See you at the finish line!" Izuku raced to the finish line with afterimages following along in his wake.
"I knew he was always smarter than he let on. But it will not be that easy, Izuku." Naruto giggled excitedly. He was known for his speed back in the old world, so they made final stretch way too easy in his opinion! With a brief glow of gold lightning, Naruto made it to the finish line in a sonic boom.
"NARUTO UZUMAKI WINS FIRST PLACE WITH IZUKU MIDORIYA COMING IN SECOND PLACE A FEW SECONDS LATER WITH THEIR FASTER THAN LIGHT SPEED!"
"They were fast but not that fast Mic." Eraserhead droned but he was basically ignored in favor of Present Mic being able to hear his voice all around them now that the song was over.
One by one the qualifying students trickled back to the stadium looking blown up, windswept, and pink, it was kind of funny to see.
XXX
"Now that everyone qualifying for the next round is here." Midnight started and suppressed her giggles at how a lot of them looked. "We will now begin the second round!" When the randomizer landed on the picture of a maze, Nemuri looked pale. "Well, this was unexpected. Looks like you students have to make it out of Nezu's Labyrinth! All I can say is good luck as I hand off the explanation to Nezu himself!"
"Thank you, Midnight!" Nezu cheerfully replied over the intercom system, popping up between Present Mic and Eraserhead into the commentator's booth with a chilling smile on his face. "Like the great architect of the infamous Greek Labyrinth himself, Daedalus and the one who commissioned it in King Minos, I too have commissioned my own Labyrinth with help from I-Island! Once students venture forth, we shall see our students travel its depths and figure out of the many puzzles with in! It could be anything from a simple door puzzle to a whole dungeon full of chaos. Or someone will have to reenact the same labors from Ancient Greek Myths! After all, to be a hero, you not only have to be strong, you have to be smart as well! Only the first sixteen contestants to make it out will go one to the final round of the Sports Festival!"
After Nezu's speech, a large tube system rose up from the middle of the field. Nezu's instructions were very clear. They were to enter one at a time with Naruto going first. As soon as the blond stepped in, he felt his body being pulled through the tube system and then his world went white.
XXX
Naruto woke up a moment later to the smell of the forest. "What in the world?" he had found himself in an old temple that seemed like the forest itself had taken it back at some point in time. Is everyone there?
"We are here kit." Kurama rumbled through their connection. "This labyrinth of Nezu's is a strange one. I can sense your classmates all over the place and then the stadium high above us. This temple has strong Nature Energy in it. However, not everything is as it seems. There is a strange chemical that is making you see this place as a one thing, when it is another. Be careful."
Naruto grunted in annoyance and then jumped back when a sign popped out of the ground. 'Welcome to the Forest Temple. To pass you must push through your fears and guilt.' "That's not ominous at all." He grumbled but widened his eyes as the sign was shredded and two undead wolves also popped out the ground. Naruto let out an annoyed groan as he grew a second tail, only for both take on a shine as the fur stood on end and he took the heads off the wolves. Their bodies decomposed quickly in a blue fire much like his fox fire. Strange.
Naruto looked at the entrance to the temple and then to the trees high above him. A plaque above the door said 'Legend of Zelda's Forest Temple.' He had no idea what that was but he was here now. Naruto jumped up into the trees to see if there was another way in because the entrance felt like a trap, only to find a wooden box with a key inside of it. That would probably come in handy later. Since he saw no other entry way into the Forest Temple, he walked in through the front door.
XXX
Momo woke up to Kyoka shaking her awake. "What? Where are we?"
"Nezu's test for the both of us apparently." Kyoka commented while pointing to a sound system that she could jack into and a keyboard built into the floor next to it.
"I see, forced co-operation to make sure we can get to the next lever. Good thing we already have that experience. So, there is no problem there." Momo deduced.
"WHA OOF!" Another voice rang out as Mina was unceremoniously dropped on her ass into the same room as them.
"Ah, I see the challenge now." Kyoka snickered as Mina got back up, rubbing her backside to get the smarting pain to go away.
Before either one could say another thing, a sign dropped from the ceiling and started to glow in neon lights. 'Figure out the correct song from the sort list provided and then play to the crowd.'
"Interesting, I wonder how challenging this could be." Momo murmured.
"OH!" Mina shouted in a glee. "My mom showed me this really old pre-quirk movie called Big and it had one of these ground pianos. It looked so fun! Maybe we have to play the song on this thing?"
"Interesting. Do you know how to play piano?" Momo asked while Kyoka wondered off to the sound machine.
"Not really," Mina replied sheepishly. "But I am really good at the dancing video games. Maybe this time, it is just like that?"
"Possibly." Momo replied with a shrug. "Since I have played piano for many years, I can give you a quick lesson while Kyoka figures out the song what we must play."
"Yeah…about that. It is pretty obvious out of the four songs of wide variety that Nezu wants us to play." Kyoka shot back with a dead panned stare as she showed the list to them.
XXX
"What in the fuck is this shit? Target practice?" Bakugo asked as she he saw targets hanging all over the place but no bow and arrows. What the hell was he supposed to do, use his quirk? Well, this was the Sports Festival and Nezu wanted them to use brains and brawn here. Maybe it was a form of training as well.
XXX
"Interesting, I know I am not in the sky but underground. It would seem there is more at work here than I anticipated." Neji replied with a twitching eyebrow. His test was rather insulting…having to fly through rings in the sky.
XXX
"Interesting!" Izuku muttered aloud as he inspected the various light fixtures in his area and then the general-purpose machines that were connected to them.
"And you understand what we are supposed to do here?" Denki asked.
"Yeah, connect the circuit!" Izuku replied happily.
XXX
"A shadow theater? Not something I was expecting." Neito Monama said to himself as he was inspecting every inch of the contraption that this shadow theater presented. "I think I have an idea on what this could be. Now let's see…"
XXX
Naruto growled to himself as he caught the final 'ghost' he had to deal with in this decrepit temple. He knew Nezu to be on the line to be genius and insane, but he did not think the animal was this cruel. The ghosts he had to catch were Neji, Jiraiya, the Third Hokage, and Haku. He already had a lot of sadness and guilt in him but damn.
Once all four ghosts had been caught, an elevator popped up from the ground in the center for four lit torches. When he stepped on it, it took him deeper into the temple.
XXX
"Have you figured it out yet, Shota?" Nezu asked as them and the rest of the audience watched as Shoto and Inasa hid from a mechanical Minotaur. They had to be very quiet to get to the end. However, that was difficult for the usually loud and brash Inasa, who seemed to understand that one of them would pass this test.
"Of course I have. You already rigged the second event to be this mass puzzle fest. I have a feeling you know who is going on to the final round yourself." Shota replied as he watched his students with a critical eye. More than a few were struggling while others had already passed either by accident or with their smarts. Those being Mei Hatsume of class 1-A, Mashiro Ojiro of class 1-B, Hiryu Rin of class 1-B, Ibara Shiozaki of class 1-B, Fumikage Tokoyami of class 1-A, Ochaco Uraraka of class 1-A and Hitoshi Shinso of class 1-A.
"Indeed, but it is another show of force to our enemies that we have more than just powerful heroes in training; they had the smarts to back them up. We will not be caught lacking again!" Nezu replied with a crazed grin on his face, making the two men back away just a bit.
XXX
"MORTAL KOMBAT!" Momo, Mina, and Kyoka all shouted in glee as they danced to the beat of the infamous fighting game's theme song in a ground piano. Well, Momo and Mina did while Kyoka gave it a techno beat with her sound machine.
They were only to do a part of the song and they did wonderfully. However, there was no change to the room they were in. It made them wonder if they had done in it wrong because they had fun while doing it. Maybe Nezu was a hard ass like Eraserheas was?
After a few moments, the ground shook and the piano and sound machine were activating by themselves. The door out lit up, but it had a neon sign above it that said only one may exit. The song began to play by itself and the girl unfortunately knew what had to be done. They had to fight their way out.
Only it was rather hard to fight when the floor was rotating.
While the girls figured out how they were going to fight each other, it seemed that the song was playing through out the stadium and the various other testing sites. It seemed Nezu was playing 3-D chess with all of his students and their testing sites because it seemed that the last few remaining were all synched in a way.
The song started playing for Izuku and Denki, but they were on opposite side of the room with a divider in between. The boys looked at each other in confusion before a door appeared at the end of the room. They looked at that, the machines they powered up with their quicks and then each other. It seemed they had built their own obstacle course and they had to race each other to get out.
Neji and Katsuki were both annoyed as the rings and targets they had to deal with started playing the song as well.
Itsuka, however, was jamming to the beat and she used her big hands to fight and dance her way through the cardboard cutouts of various villains.
Eijiro and Tetsutetsu also danced to the beat as their bodies controlled the Reel Steel robots they had to use in order to pass.
As for Naruto, he was fighting a phantom version of himself to the beat and winning.
XXX
"Nezu, you scare me." Present Mic said honestly. He knew his boss was smarter than him. Hell, the animal was probably smarter than most people in the world. Still, to see all the later testing sights all sync up because of an old and still popular fighting game theme was out of this world. And after Shota explained things to him and that Nezu set this up as a show of power to the world, it was amazing and scary to him.
"That was the intention!" Nezu laughed through his tea before calming down. "Also, I may have modified the song so we can use it internationally like we have. Parody is fair use after all. Instead of the fighters in the game, I have input who will win!"
"You have to be kidding me." Shota groaned while Nezu continued his later. Still as he listened in to the song, the ground glowed all around the mentioned contestants.
"Mei Hatsume"
"Mashiro Ojiro"
"Hiryu Rin"
"Ibara Shiozaki"
"Fumikage Tokoyami"
"Ochaco Uraraka"
"Hitoshi Shinso"
Then, the contestants that won the final tests started popping up through the ground's tube system.
"Neji Hyuga"
"Shoto Todoroki"
"Itsuka Kendo"
"Eijiro Kirishima"
"Neito Monama"
"Katsuki Bakugo"
"Izuku Midoriya"
"Momo Yaoyorozu"
"Naruto Uzumaki"
"Excellent!"
"Test Your MIGHT!"
XXX
The next round was not right away. It was around lunch time and people were exhausted so having lunch always helped with that. While others ate lunch or participated in fun events since not everyone got to the tournament, Naruto took a walk through the stadium to let his mind wonder and be ready for the tournament. He wondered how he should be about this. He had the power to beat everyone here. The only ones that would give him a challenge were Izuku, Shoto, and maybe Neji given his guilt at how he died. He was also curious on how well Momo would do given he helped train her.
"Yo, long time no see, Endeavor." All Might's voice rang through a nearby stairwell.
"All Might." Endeavor rumbled out and the area got that much hotter. It showed all that the flaming hero did not like All Might at all.
"I have not talked to you since the Gala six years ago. Been a while. I saw you and thought I would say hi."
"Did you now? Well, if that is all you wanted to do, then we are done." Endeavor growled before continuing down the stairs. "Chatting like we are all friends, what a joke. The only people around you I can stand is that brat of yours and maybe your woman."
"Ah ha ha ha!" All Might laughed as he flipped down the stair to get in front of Endeavor again. "Come on! Why the cold shoulder! You should be thrilled! After all, your son is doing very well out there. You must be a great teacher. Tell me your secrets! I am learning bit and pieces here and there with Kaina, but another perspective would help us train the next generation."
"Do you really think I would tell you anything I have taught the boy?!" Endeavor angrily asked before continuing to walk down the stairs and shoulder checking the other bulky man. "You are all flash and no brains like usual. Outta my way."
"Ok? Thought asking for help was innocent enough." All Might grumbled a bit at being brushed off like that.
Endeavor still heard it and glared at that blond man. "Let me assure you of one thing, All Might. Whatever it takes, that kid of mine will beat you some day. I will make sure of it. That is why I made him."
"You did what?" All Might asked, hoping the Number 2 hero wasn't implying what he thought he did.
"He is in a rebellious phase right now, not using his fire for combat and parading around with your brat, but he will take your place. I will make sure of it!" Endeavor promised before he walked away and down the rest of the stairs. However, he was put off to see Naruto leaning against the wall, giving him a stare. "Oh, it is you. Be sure to give my Shoto a decent fight after he wipes the floor with anyone else had he has to fight before you. Your strength is a good test against All Might's after all."
"Are you planning on him fighting All Might? Is that what this is?" Naruto asked, catching All Might's attention when he heard his son's voice echo in the stairwell.
"I…don't understand what you are implying." Endeavor rumbled menacingly.
"That is why you will always be Second Best." Naruto replied evenly, unaffected by the sudden rise in temperature. "You do not understand that Shoto is not you. You do not understand that I am not All Might. You do not understand what All Might is to people. They want to a Symbol of Peace that makes them feel safe and happy, not a Symbol of Victory in a perpetual bad mood."
"What your tongue, boy!"
"Or what? Are you going to make sure I cannot fight? It will be sad to see that the great Second Best is threatened by a child." Naruto replied with a smirk before he brought his pressure down on Endeavor that made his choke on his fear. Making the giant man even fall to a knee. "Because I know what you did, but it is not my place to rat you out. Not like you could stop me anyway. Tell me, is your way of being Number One by beating All Might in a fight? That's rich and even you know that is doomed to fail."
Naruto pushed off the wall and began walking away while lessening the pressure, letting Endeavor breath and think again. "If you really want to be Number One so bad, look beyond the ambition that broke your family and see what the people actually want. You gotta remember that the rankings are a popularity contest after all."
When Naruto's footsteps disappeared, Endeavor fell on his ass, breathing heavily. For the first time in a long time, he felt like a kid again, scared and not knowing what to do. That pressure was far more than he ever felt from villains. He looked up when a shadow fell over him to see a not smiling All Might reaching a hand out to him. Should he take that hand?
XXX
Once everyone was full of energy again, they were back on the field, waiting for Midnight to tell them who the match ups would be. "Come to the stage to draw lots to see who you are up against!" Midnight commanded. One by one they all took a number and it was recorded.
Once done, a randomizer picked their names and displayed them on the screens for all to see.
Naruto Uzumaki vs Katsuki Bakugo / Mei Hatsume vs Mashiro Ojiro
Neji Hyuuga vs Hitoshi Shinso / Eijiro Kirishima vs Hiryu Rin
Isuku Midoriya vs Shoto Todoroki / Ibara Shiozaki vs Neito Monama
Ochaco Uraraka vs Itsuka Kendo / Fumikage Tokoyami vs Momo Yaoyorozu
"We have a few recreational activities before we start, so you have the option of participating in those if you want. I will say that Naruto and Katsuki will be the first to fight in the tournament, so I would be ready to start if I were you two."
XXX
"I bet you all cannot wait any longer! Let's get to the first fight already!" Present Mic's voice rang out through the stadium, causing the crowd to go wild. "Speaking of the first fight, we have the Foxy Trickster Naruto Uzumaki vs The Explosive Katsuki Bakugo!"
"Begin!" Midnight shouted next to Cementoss, who made the fighting right and would stop the fight if it became too dangerous.
For a moment, nothing happened because Naruto was looking up to the sky, watching the clouds and lone bird fly by. It reminded him of his fight against Neji back in the day. Something he might have to do again; if Hitoshi did not get to beat him.
"ARE YOU FUCKING IGNORING ME! I WILL KILL YOU!" Katsuki roared suddenly, getting alone blue eye to look back at him. It unnerved Bakugo a bit, but he pushed that feeling away to observe his opponent just little bit more. In addition to Naruto's usual gym clothes, they all had to wear for this event, Naruto also had two things that stood out. That damn scepter of his and both of his arms had medical wraps around them. It was like Naruto was begging him to set those on fire with an explosion!
"Tell me, have you ever been to war, Bakugo." Naruto asked with a frown and those that heard him bristled at the thought. Naruto then pressed a button on his scepter and toss it over his head, where it landed on of its staff off to the side, messing with the electronics in the stadium for another song.
(Please play 'You're Going Down' by Sick Puppies)
"The fuck? Of course I haven't!" Growled out Katsuki, a stray explosion popping off his hand in utter annoyance to the chosen song filling the air. Both ignored Present Mic's sudden cut off cry.
"Then I doubt you truly know the meaning of death." Naruto intoned, once more unnerving those that heard him. "No, I don't think you truly know that meaning or else you would not throw words around like that carelessly. You have never felt that rush of chaos and confusion around you. Never had someone take a fatal attack meant for you. Never had to hold someone dear to you as you watch the light fade from their eyes as they smiled at the thought that were finally free."
A chill went up Bakugo's spine at he heard that, not noticing Midnight and Cementoss' forms fading away. Never noticing how quiet it had gotten for a stadium full of people. "The fuck are you on? This isn't some war, but we are in combat. I will easily beat your ass because I am the best. I will be number one and won't let some two-bit quirkless lover rise above me!"
"And that is the root of the issue, explody boy; your and unchecked ego and your learned hatred. Let me guess, all those around you told how great you were because you had a flashy quirk. No one ever told you no. Tell me, if Izuku was still in your life growing up, would you have let him exist peacefully or beat him down for being powerless? Would you let it get so bad that you would tell him to off himself or worse, do it yourself?" Naruto asked, his voice echoing and his form becoming fuzzy.
Bakugo had a look of absolute rage on his face and leaned forward to scream some more at his fellow blond, only to panic as he suddenly had no mouth. He clawed at that spot frantically until he heard a child's voice say, "Yes." Snaping his head back up, he saw in place of Naruto, a younger version of himself. "He broke our promise. We were going to be heroes together, even if we dragged him through the mud of a misreading of his name. It was easy since he was a weakling with no backbone. Just another follower."
"I just…" Bakugo froze at the sound of Izuku's voice and half his vision left. Half of his face became Izuku's! "I just wanted a friend. We were just kids. Kids with a big dream of being heroes together one day!"
"ARGH!" The young Bakugo screamed and he held his head until he split in two. "I was just trying to protect Izuku! The world was not going to be kind to him, so it was my job to toughen him up!"
"Oh please, that worthless shit was always weak! Him not getting a quirk was proof of how worthless he was! Then he dared to try and help us after we fell off that log in the forest! US! Like we were the weak one. As if we needed some worthless trash to help us. We can look after ourselves. After all, we are going to be the number one hero, just like all the adults said. We just had to crush everyone under our foot to do it!"
Stop it!
"No! We are supposed to saved people as a hero and make them feel safe, just like Izuku tried to do for us!"
"Fat chance of that. If the weak need saving, they should just die off now and save us the trouble. Our job is to crush the weak, especially those shitty villains who think they are better than us. Like the Deku! Him coming to our aid shows how weak he thinks we are! He thinks he is some hero? What a joke! A worthless, quirkless, Deku like him as a hero? That's insulting! And villains; they are the ones who do that and try and make us feel weak, when we are so much better than them. Deku is just some weak villain that needs to die! His very existence is an insult to us. To Aunty Inko who has to live in a world with a quirkless son! I would be a true hero and make her happy by being her son and killing that quirkless shit!"
Stop it!
"But you know that Aunty Inko loves Izuku despite that fact he is quirkless. You would make her sad. She doesn't care that you would be the number one. Only those manipulating us at Aldera ever cared about that."
"She'd get over it and those scums can rot in hell for all I care. Who talks about their fucking middle school after they become famous?"
"What about mom and dad?"
Stop it!
The mouthless Katsuki looked at his Mini Me's in horror. One was Reason, the other Ego. Good and Evil. Izuku's voice kept asking him why. Why hurt him if he was trying to protect him. Would he really kill him. Was Katsuki the actual villain here. It was maddening. Then to his horror, both Masaru and Mitsuki appeared, coming out of his shoulders, looking at him with pity. Looking at him with contempt. Masaru said nothing, just like always, but Mitsuki spoke. "We tried Katsuki. We really did, but you have my temper and it is never easy for us to just talk. We are always at each other's throats about something. We tried teaching you right from wrong, but the teachers at Aldera corrupted you right under our noses. They gave you your ego. Taught you to bully others because you have a flashy and powerful quirk. That might makes right. That the quirkless are nothing, but trash. Inko is and always will be my best friend, my sister! And you tore away Izuku's spirit just to make yourself better despite the fact you knew you were being manipulated! Inko and Izuku are our family and you destroyed that bond!"
Stop it!
BOOM!
Katsuki looked back up to his Mini Me's to see the voice of reason prone on the ground, bleeding profusely and looked almost dead. The Ego jumped on Katsuki and began to strangle him with an almost psychotic grin on his face. "FACE IT! WE ARE MONSTERS AND WE WILL FORCE THE WORLD TO BOW TO US!"
Stop it!
Stop it!
Stop it!
"STOP IT!" Katsuki roared out in agony as his mouth tore itself open and in his blind rage and the pain in his face and arms, then flew forward in the biggest explosion he could make toward the falling form of his little ego. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
That was when all the sounds the stadium came rushing back to his ears and the person he was flying towards was Naruto. He was so shocked, Naruto managed to grab hold of his arm like it was nothing. The anger burned at his senses and since his palm was still facing Naruto, he let another explosion out in front of his face to get free. Only, that is not what happened. Naruto's speed was unreal and if he were honest, it unnerved him even more. Naruto moved Katsuki's palm back into his own face; however, since Naruto never let go, Katsuki's arm was dislocated from the force of his body being violently moved and forcefully stopped.
As he hung there, Katsuki's eyes were wide in both pain and shock. This asshole, the rumors are true. He does have realistic illusions. Did I only see them or did everyone else? He peaked a glance at Midnight and Cementoss through is hair as he caught his breath. They looked…only a little concerned since he had a dislocated shoulder. They showed no reaction to his mental breakdown. Inside his mind it was.
"Allow me!"
"Wha-AGH!" Katsuki roared in pain at the sudden reentry of his arm being put back into place before Naruto causally tossed him away. Katsuki stumbled a bit but caught his footing.
"To answer your unasked question, I am barely taking you seriously." Naruto said, grabbing Katsuki's attention again. "You have issues, there is no doubt about that, but you have the drive to be the number one hero. However, you are currently like the number two, you don't see what the people want!"
"The fuck are you on about?!" Katsuki roared and he charged forward again, only for Naruto to easily bat away each explosion like they were nothing. Like he was nothing.
"With you calling everyone an extra and that they all need to lay down and die, that will get you nowhere." Naruto replied before kicking Katsuki back on his ass. He threw his arms out and gestured to the crowd. "It is a popularity contest and people want to feel safe and happy! When All Might retires, the people are already going to have to lower the bar for Endeavor, the ever-unhappy grump. You are telling me they will have to lower the bar even lower…for you? The same person who tells them all to fuck off and die?"
"FUCK YOU! WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!" Katsuki roared as he launched himself at the other blond with an explosion, going for a flying kick to Naruto face. Unfortunately for Katsuki, Naruto caught him and then threw him over his shoulder and on the ground, making him bounce as spittle flew from his mouth.
"A lot more than you. Especially since you have not even noticed, beyond the illusion that your surprisingly broke free of, I have not once used any power over you. I have been fighting you quirkless. Since it they bother you so much, I will beat you quirkless as well." Naruto replied with a smirk as he took Lee's Strong Fist stance. One arm behind his back while the other pointed at Katsuki like a knife's edge.
"DON'T FUCKING MOCK ME!"
"Why not? You are making it so easy!" Naruto laughed as Katsuki ran at him once more. However, Katsuki froze in shock as Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed, running in circles around the explody boy like Lee did to Gaara. "You do not like it when we fight back? Too bad! Now just remember, the Lotus of the U.A, blooms twice."
Katsuki's response was to send explosions all around him in an attempt to trip Naruto up, but it did nothing. He was not prepared for Naruto to come sliding then to launch him into the air with a jump kick him under the chin. "HIDDEN LOTUS!" Naruto roared as he continued to kick Katsuki into the air as if defying gravity. Each kick hitting his solar plexus and stunning him. Once they reached their apex point high above the arena, Naruto punched him into a six point star formation. Each blow breaking a bone in Katsuki's body. Both his fore arms, upper arms, and both shins. Then Naruto planted his knee in Katsuki's gut, but used the now loose medical tape around his arms to catch Katsuki by his arms, forcing another scream out of the boy. "Ah ah ah, even I know broken bones cause excessive sweat, so let's point those in a safe direction." Naruto snarked, manipulating the clothes to force Katsuki's palms to point at his neck before wrapping him up tightly in the medical tape. "PRIMARY LOTUS!" Naruto roared as he pile drove them both into the ground, causing the arena to break and shatter, forming a stone lotus on the ground.
However, Naruto had not a scratch on him as he casually walked walk way. Katsuki on the other hand, was out cold. "Well, that was fun." It may not have been exactly as Lee had done all that in the past, but it was still brutal and effective.
The stadium was dead silent for a moment before Mirko, who was in the audience, started laughing in excitement. "HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME!"
"Holy shit is right, I barely kept up with that speed." Midnight grumbled next to a visibly sweating Cementoss. "Katsuki Bakugo is unable to continue! Naruto Uzumaki is the winner of the first round!"
XXXX
Hope you all liked it. Thank you for reading. Yes, Neji and Orochimaru are here but with no memories of a past self. Only one will get that.
Review please