It's been a long time, and I'm thankful that you had the patience as this was delayed by an entire extra week, which sucked as I had plans. Still, life tends to like to prove the saying of the best-laid plans of mice and men. But with most of those assignments completed, I've finally had the time to work on this. However, I did put another series on ice, that being the Cursed Existence, since its 3rd book isn't really getting the numbers I was hoping for, and they've been in decline since the first one.

So it was replaced with another story, which, if you haven't seen it by now, has its first three chapters out on my Ao3 and accounts, with the fourth uploaded to the place that shall not be named. If you have the time, I hope you can check it out.

Back to this, my plans for the festival aren't as broad as the stuff before, but there have been changes—a lot of changes if that last chapter didn't clue you in. I don't see this being too long an arc, maybe 7-9 chapters. And yeah, that's all I wanted to say. Let's get into things.

Chapter 21: Obstacles and comradery

Moving towards the entrance to the track, Midoriya noted how narrow it was. Even with their number cut to more or less half, it would be a tight squeeze, and with students encouraged to work together to have at least one member make it through, that could easily lead to fighting on the track.

Looking around, his eyes naturally went to his classmates, people that he knew and had seen in action. But then there were the unknowns, most of class A, as he knew they had a speedster, and then there was Bakugo. Other than that, they were all a mystery to him.

Glancing at Shinso, the noise of the crowds faded away, replaced with his own steady breathing and drumbeat of his heart. He saw that the general studies student starred right ahead, focused on the prize, but as happy as he was with that, Shinso wasn't the only one who had something to prove, a goal to achieve.

"This is a rare chance, Midoriya. Give it your all, show the world you stand, and you'll fight." He thought about her words of encouragement before he left that morning. Just like his competition, he had a goal he chased and the drive to achieve it. Watching the green lights count down, he prepared himself for a fierce melee as this wouldn't be easy, but he didn't want it to be easy. After all, the bigger the mountain, the more outstanding the achievement to ascend.

"Start!" Midnight announced, and with that, the students were off, rushing the entrance in a frenzy.

"And they're off, ready to give some tasteful and insightful commentary, Mummy Man?" Present Mic asked his co-commentator.

"I didn't want to be here. You forced me," Eraser replied, sounding disinterested in the entire thing.

That fact didn't bother Present Mic as he took the comeback in stride. "That I did, but now that you're here, who should be paying attention to in this race?"

"At this point," Aizawa started, as Midoriya had predicted, the narrow path proved to be their first obstacle as students got squished together, fighting their way through. It'll be decisiveness and creativity."

Midoriya's sharp gaze took in the entire thing. He could force his way through, but that would take time, and heroes didn't use force unless necessary. Looking over, he saw Shinso about to use his quirk and grabbed him, a hand over his mouth. "Save it for later. Also, hold onto me; your life depends on it."

"Okay-holy, crap!" Shinso started to ask, complying before he screamed in terror. Midoriya bent his legs and launched himself, with Shinso hanging on for a deal life towards the wall, latching onto it like his hands were covered in glue.

With Shinso latched onto him like a baby monkey, a comical sight considering he was the taller of the two, Midoriya got his 'grip' on the wall with his hands and feet and started running, leaving their surprised schoolmates behind. "If the floor is cramped, try the wall." He laughed before suddenly like he had to jump, now!

He didn't think and obeyed his instincts, which saved them trouble as the temperature suddenly dropped and ice shot out, coating not just the floor but the walls and ceiling in it; when he smacked into the other wall, he nearly lost grip, thanks to the stuff before he managed to stabilize himself. "What the hell was that?!" Shinso yelled, seeing that most of the students were frozen in place. At the same time, Midoriya's eye tracked a figure racing ahead, the ice not touching him as he narrowed his eyes.

"Class A happened." He replied, immediately followed by 4 of their number hot on the ice maker's heels, one of whom was Bakugo, who blasted himself forward. The other was Kendo, who smashed the ice that restrained her and kept moving, lighting seemingly to dance around her as she did so. As more of Class A managed to get past this delaying tactic, so did Class B, with Midoriya being no exception. As soon as they cleared the tunnel, he landed on the ice-covered ground and, while on all fours, rushed ahead as if he had the best traction in the world, the weight of another not even slowing him down.

"Okay, what's the plan, genius?" Shinso asked as they passed by most others, gaining on the leaders.

"Easy, you'll trip people up. Just don't make it obvious how your quirk works. That'll give you an edge later." Midoriya replied an eager smirk on his face, matched by the evil grin that Shinso got.

"That I can do," He replied.

"And already, we're seeing some great teamwork from the students, including, hold on, I've heard of piggyback rides, but that's a little extreme, folks; Shinso is riding Midoriya like he's a horse and Midoriya sure is zooming like one!" The cameras shifted to focus on the two, confusing watchers, but the two didn't mind. If this meant they could make it to the second round, they'd handle it.

"Hey, man-hands, get out of the way!" Shinso yelled, and when Kendo turned to him, less than amused about him repeating the same stupid nickname Bakugo had for her, he tapped his chest right above his heart.

"I'll send you packin-" Kendo started to reply, but found her mind disconnected from her body as her hold over One for All cut, she tripped and fell to the ice-covered floor as Midoriya and Shinso passed her. When her forehead made contact, whatever came over her was lifted as she blinked in confusion. Looking ahead, she saw the two ahead as he cursed under her breath, powered up One for All and chased after them.

"Hey, Baku-moron, is that all you got?" Shinso yelled at the second person ahead of them, who, as they expected, didn't take kindly to being insulted. Shinso did the same thing, tapping his chest when Bakugo turned to glare at them.

"Shut your mouth, you-" Where Kendo was still on the ground, he didn't have that luxury. Once Shinso's brainwashing took hold, Bakugo's momentum carried him forward, crashing face-first into the dirt. If his luck wasn't bad enough, a 2-pointer stood ready to meet him and smashed him in the side of the head, sending him tumbling into the barrier that kept them on track.

That wasn't the only one, as Midoriya and the rest stopped to gawk at the army of robots that awaited them. As if that wasn't enough, they were backed by not one, not three, but at least 10 different 0-pointers.

"Does anything about this school make sense?" Shinso asked, looking at the sheer number of enemies and wondering if their exam zone had this much. Was this part of why they made teams? So, would the fewer non-hero course students justify the overkill?

"And the students hit the first obstacle, which I would like to call Robo-Inferno!" Present Mic announced to the crowds, watching back in the stadium and everywhere else. Seeing others catching up and just goggling at the threat, Midoriya knew that there wasn't time for them to waste. If there was one thing that the crazy cat taught him, it was never to waste time.

"Your quirk doesn't work on the right?" He asked as he considered a solution, but one that he was sure Shinso wouldn't like.

"No, I can't use it on machines, only people," Shinso replied as if that was the case. He wouldn't have struggled during the entrance exam, now would he?

Midoriya hummed as he crouched low, his all-fours position feeling as natural as it would for him to walk as he felt the muscles in his arms and legs tense up, eyeing the closest 0-pointer as it lumbered forward. "Then hold on tight."

Shinso could feel him getting ready and recalled how he had acted the same way when he grabbed him earlier as the blood vanished from his face. "You can't seriously think we can get past them!" He liked to think he yelled, but he more fearfully squeaked at his horse for this event.

"This is a race, which means speed is the name of the game. Besides," Midoriya shivered when he recalled some of the more extreme stuff that Shizune put him through, such as the dairy incident. "I've seen scarier." With that said, he didn't wait for Shinso to try to counter. Instead, he dashed forward, drawing eyes to him as he passed the ice user, who seemed just as caught off guard by them as everyone else.

"What's this? Midoriya sees the threat and dashes right for it? I'll give him an A for spirit but an F for forethought!" Midoriya ignored Present Mic's commentary as he moved even faster, the 0-pointer quickly spotting him and reaching forward with its massive metal palm, crashing into the earth with a thundering thud, which kicked up a dust cloud. Their apparent demise makes other students question the entire thing.

"Holy-was he just crashed?!"

"Wait, they can actually kill us?!"

"No," The dual white and red-haired ice user refuted their claims as he saw something in the cloud. His assessment was proven right when he saw Midoriya, with a still terrified Shinso on his back, running up the near vertical surface of the 0-pointer's hand, jumping between them to keep the machine confused as he got higher. "I didn't see it clearly before, but it seems he has an annoying quirk." A smart move, but that just meant that he could handle him and the problem as once as the temperature around him chilled again.

"Rather than fight then, Midoriya is using his speed to attempt to bypass the first challenge nearly completely. A rational move on his team's part." Eraser commented as Midoriya reached the head of the 0-pointer and, without hesitation, leapt from it; his limbs sprayed out as he fell towards the rest, a good thing, too, as just as he jumped, the 0-pointer was hit by a massive wave of ice, freezing it.

"Right, right! But there's always another way. Where Midoriya chose speed, Todoroki, the now former front runner, chose power!" Present Mic added as Shinso shivered from the cold of that attack as the duo landed on a 3-pointer. The harsh impact partially crumbled the armour of the robotic foe.

Shinso grunted from the hard impact on Midoriya's back, and the shorter boy was silent as if he felt pain from them. Instead, he chose to continue, jumping from villain bot to villain bot as if the floor were lava, all while avoiding their attempts to attack them. "He nearly hit us with that attack!" Shinso looked back and saw more ice being thrown about, but he couldn't see Todoroki with so many targets between them.

"No doubt he wouldn't mind that," Midoriya noted as another 0-pointer moved towards them. Midoriya used the other smaller bots as jumping pads to clear some distance. Sticking the landing, he started to race up.

"You guys have the right idea." Both turned around to see Kendo cloaked in that same orange lightning. Midoriya was surprised since she didn't just match their jump; she was soaring over them, leaving them in the dust. "Why fight when we can avoid them?" She yelled as she passed them.

"Deku!" Midoriya didn't need to look back; that voice and the accompanying explosions were more than enough as an identifier.

"We have incoming!" Shinso yelled as they reached the top, and he saw Bakugo was seconds before him, where Midoriya narrowed his gaze and looked towards Kendo, who was approaching the 3rd and final 0-pointer, the rest behind them.

"Sorry, numbers 1 and 3, but we're not going to roll over and let you take this!" He yelled as he jumped off it, putting more force into his legs as he soared overhead, grateful that all those times he had been forced to train with stupidly heavy rocks strapped to his person, it made it so that he could easily manage with the extra weight.

"I'm more than happy to take it fair and square!" Kendo replied as ice exploded into existence behind them. It wasn't just that Tokage split into several pieces and zipped on, along with the explosions and ice. Or Tetsutetsu and the redhead from class A rushing through, their quirks making them all but impervious to the robots' attacks as their strikes broke them. A raven-headed boy with a shadow quirk copied Midoriya's example. At the same time, Tsunotori rode a pair of horns while Honenuki turned the ground to deep mud with every step, leaving partially sunk bots in his wake.

"Go, Midoriya!" Kyūfune cheered, watching her boyfriend battle it out against the best his grade could throw at it, and with it being U.A., that was taken to another level.

"Not a bad performance." Her mother mused as she nursed her drink of chilled water. The two had booked one of the private booths to watch the event in person or as in person as they could get with the students racing outside the confines of the stadium. And U.A. is just as crazy as I thought they'd be." She smiled when she saw him clear the last giant robot, though he was now fighting for fourth place with that Todoroki boy.

"Yes, he's holding his own but can't keep his lead with the situation." One of her aides spoke up as the woman nodded.

"That boy on his back seems to be a means to handle that. Whatever his quirk is, it's tripping up the competition." She didn't know the details, but whatever the boy was doing seemed to keep people at a distance. However, it was funny to see him causing the Todoroki boy to fall flat on his face, only to get up with a frigid fury on his face. She just knew that Enji wasn't pleased with his child's performance.

However, she didn't think her student would just let anyone mount him, even if it served his purposes. "Wait, he's part of the group that Midoriya brings around?" She snapped her fingers, as she hadn't seen him all that much. He said he was helping friends train.

"Yeah, that's Shinso. He's in general studies." Kyūfune replied as she had met him along with the rest. It was…mildly fun seeing their reactions when Midoriya introduced her as his girlfriend. Still, it was a better feeling when they didn't so much as bat an eye to her appearance and size, with that Monoma boy being more impressed his friend landed a 'beautiful lady too good for him'. At the same time, Shiozaki grilled them to ensure they weren't doing all the acts that couples did, insisting that if they're not waiting for marriage, they wait for at least 6 months.

Kenmikoto dramatically sighed. "Such a heartless brute. He knows the love of his life is watching, and yet he lets another man mount him for all to see."

"Mother! That's not what's happening, and you know it!" Kyūfune yelled back, her cheeks red. Her mother's aide merely turned the other way, pretending they didn't hear this.

"And yet, you're red in the face." The older woman smirked, as she loved to mess with her like this.

"Because you put the thought in my head!"

Back on the field, Kendo led the group at a reasonable distance, followed by Bakugo, enraged with Midoriya and the rider competing with Todoroki for 3rd place. The 3 front runners have woken up to Shino's ploys, so they stop trying, or else they give away too much information. When Kendo stopped, however, he wondered why till Present Mic added his commentary. "Hey, most have cleared the first barrier of Robo Inferno, but our front lady, Kendo, has witnessed the second obstacle: The Fall!"

Present Mic was right as Kendo stopped at the edge of a chasm, one so deep that she couldn't even see the bottom. Dotted in the massive pit were massive columns of earth of varying sizes, all connected via lines. "When did they even have time to make this?" She asked herself, as this seemed insane.

"Don't worry, my students. Your teachers are as benevolent as they are handsome. The Fall is none-lethal with the bottom covered in super pillows, so no matter how you go down, you'll be right as rain, but if you do, you're out!" Never be said that Present Mic was humble when it came to commentary, but that did answer a few questions.

"I just need to make the platforms, then?" She crouched before taking off with a superpowered standing long jump, landing on one of the closer pillars before repeating that. "So long as I can see them, I can plan my landing!"

"Like this will slow me down!" She heard Bakugo closing in on her.

"And Bakugo takes first place? Hold on. He's started to fight with Kendo. Does he want to take her own by making her fall?" Present Mic had to correct himself mid-sentence as Bakugo, instead of just passing her, turned to fight her, slowing them both down as she dealt with him. Meanwhile, Midoriya, with Todoroki hot on his heels, was fast approaching it.

"Midoriya, are we going to jump as well?" Shinso asked, ready to hold onto him.

"We could," Midoriya just sped up, and once he reached the edge, he kept going, only now picking up Shinso piggyback style as he ran over the line that connected one of the pillars to their side. "But they've left paths for me to take." He asked as they made it to said pillar. Without slowing down, he chose another even longer one and kept going, spotting Kendo and Bakugo coming up.

Shinso looked down at the pit that awaited them if Midoriya missed a single step and gulped. "How the heck are you keeping your balance?"

"Have you ever seen a cat fall off a wall?" Midoriya asked though the truth was that this was much easier than water and floor walking. He just had to ensure that his feet stuck and released with every step, maximizing his traction. It helped that Shinso wasn't an idiot and kept still, so their balance wasn't as crucial as it could have been.

"You and your cat phrases..." Shinso grumbled as Midoriya reached their second pillar, the audience cheering for them, along with the rest of the front runners, as the rest of the pack made it to the beginning of the second obstacle and saw how far ahead Midoriya and the rest of the leaders have made it. He could even hear one crying that this wasn't fair or that his quirk made him stick to whatever he wanted.

"And Midoriya displays his crazy sense of balance! He should be in the circus; I'll pay to see that!" His hair flicked to the side as Todoroki seemed to be using the chords. In contrast, Midoriya left them unaffected, and Todoroki slid along them with his ice, leaving them useless to anyone else. "Todoroki's not far behind; these two are balanced gods and are still neck and neck!" The dual-haired boy glared at him, either angry that he wasn't ahead or for that little trick they had pulled earlier.

Either way, perhaps both had better things to focus on than one boy's grudge, namely the fact that they were close to passing Kendo and Bakugo, his fellow class rep looking just about done with Bakugo's insistence to fight during a race. Right as the two reached, they saw Midoriya and Shinso doing the same, who, on solid ground, could put more effort into speed rather than traction as he got right back onto 4 fours and dashed ahead.

"It looks like fighting will cost you, as Midoriya and his faithful knight, Shinso, take first and second place, leaving Kendo and Bakugo in the dust!" Present Mic announced as Midoriya's name rose to the top of the board.

"Like I'll let them do that!" Kendo yelled as she upped One for All to 7% and knocked Bakugo off of her; when she landed, she raced ahead, quickly catching up with Midoriya, who saw her coming and ground his teeth as this girl was persistent and fast.

Reaching the end, Todoroki didn't stop. He kept running, seeing the two front runners and ticking his teeth. "Just what is his quirk? Or is this all his base physical capabilities?" He had no choice as he used his ice to skate along again, even if that meant leaving the ice in his wake that could interfere with the others. It was much faster than running.

"Dammit, swear harder!" Bakugo yelled as he pushed himself ahead, his feet not touching the ground as he flew like the angriest human rocket in existence. All this meant that while the bulk of the action was behind them, these 5 fought tooth and nail for first as Kendo passed Midoriya. Still, he managed to retake before she passed him again, her speed simply being too much for him. Still, he wouldn't give up, especially when he could hear ice forming and explosions behind them.

"It's no wonder you're number 1; you're not making this easy for us, are you?" Midoriya yelled, as, despite the fact he was pushing himself just to keep up, he was having fun.

When Kendo looked back, he could see in her teal eyes, so bright and filled with life, that she was much the same. They might have been others; he might have even had someone on his back, but there was only the other for the two of them. "You can keep calling me that because I'm taking first!" Around her, the lighting and light of One for All shone bright, a fact which was exciting to her as she rarely needed to use it during class as Big Fist was enough most of the time. When she did, she managed just fine with 3%, as she had done when she used it against Bakugo during their first class.

But here she was using over double that. Midoriya might have been a bit of an ass with his love for causing drama and egging on Bakugo. Still, she hoped that he would only get stronger so that she could have a good rival going forward.

"It's not over till the fat cat sings!" Midoriya yelled back, the blood vessels in his arms and legs bulging as he pushed more tenet into his muscles to produce greater power. As the two kept up their contest of one-upping the other, Bakugo and Todoroki were forced to play second fiddle, much to the confusion but entertainment of the audience as Todoroki was the son of Endeavour yet he was wasn't even in first or second place, but that only made them all the more hyped as if Todoroki wasn't in first, that only spoke to how stiff his competition was, which Kendo and Midoriya embodied to a tee.

Many pros in the audience also wished to see if they couldn't get even one of them as sidekicks in the future, as their skills were a cut above the rest. "Hey, hey, the leaders of the pack are pulling further ahead! Come on, people! Put your baaaacks into it!" Present Mic focused on the students further back, many of whom were still in the first half of the second obstacle. Shinso called out to Midoriya with those front runners.

"Up ahead, they're mines!" Midoriya and Kendo looked away from each other and towards the path, seeing a massive sign that read as much. Both stopped, with Midoriya skidding a little. His hands were reinforced via tenet to prevent damage as the two looked throughout the land, mainly dirt but with hundreds of small circles in the ground.

"What?" Kendo asked, breathing a little heavier than when she started this, matched by Midoriya.

"And we've reached the third and final of the obstacles, which I like to call Minesweeper!" Present Mic announced for the audience as the three students looked over the field, trying to learn as much as they could before the others caught up. "It's not a horde of steel or a steep drop into the dark, but instead, it's hundreds of mines buried in the dirt. Watch your step, or you'll be in for a bad time!"

"But of course, we didn't use mines packed for the kill, folks, as they've all been nerfed, but they still pack enough of a punch that one can make you crap your pants!" Midoriya didn't think that U.A. would have used lethal ones, as while they had Nezu for a principal, he wasn't nearly as crazy as Shizune. Besides, this was a televised event. You'll need to be crazy to broadcast a bunch of teens trying to navigate a live minefield.

Speaking of mines, they figured out that the circles must have been the mines themselves and that they weren't too close to one another, as if one kept track of where they stepped and planned accordingly, they could get through, but there was another way forward that took advantage of the triggering defence for mines. "He seems that they're loud and flashy enough to scare you, but that depends on the person," Eraser added. Kendo powered down to 3% and started moving through; it was still fast, but she might as well be crawling compared to her earlier speeds.

"That sounds bad, but we can see them just fine, thanks to how they were buried. I bet they did this to slow us down and give the others time to catch up." She concluded as Bakugo and Todoroki were seconds away. Both had quirks that negated this phase, as Todoroki's ice might allow him to create a path over the mines without triggering them while Bakugo could fly across.

"Yes, it's not a bad bet," Midoriya started, crouching low and swaying side to side before he rushed in, the crowd and Kendo being stunned by his idiocy, but when his hand came down on a mine, that stun turned to slack-jawed amazement when it didn't go off, or the next to the one following that. "Too bad it won't work for me!" It was like the mines weren't even a factor as he raced past her.

"What the hell?! How are you not setting them off?" She yelled as he raced ahead, the mines not even an issue for him.

"A cat's steps are as light as feathers!" He shot back, enjoying the fact that he could use tenet even now. After all, when one walked on water with proper tenet control, they didn't sink, so he merely used that same idea, only one land.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Kendo yelled back at him.

"What do we have here, folks? We have a Mine runner in our mists!?" Present Mic cried out as the cameras focused on this weird cat boy and the sleep-deprived passenger as if the minefield had been a field of flowers for them.

"The mines work like any other, pressure imparted by weight. In theory, if you're light enough, you could walk right over them without triggering them." Eraserhead explained this to the audience. Though he had his misgivings.

"But he's running with someone else on his back, my good ole Eraserhead! How light can two boys be?" Present Mic countered, though most would assume he was playing it up as surely the teachers knew what was up. They just didn't give it away.

Kendo's eyes narrowed on Midoriya's back as he moved further ahead, the girl having to keep an eye on her path, which slowed her down. 'Not light enough. Just what was his quirk? He said he's only had a quirk since last year, and Bakugo implied that he vanished from school for months.' She recalled how pissed Bakugo had been when Midoriya and his classmates left that day, and when Kirishima pressed him for info on why he seemingly wanted to maul him, he confirmed that punch, even if he called it a cheap shot.

He also said that Midoriya shouldn't have been able to get into U.A. as he stopped showing up for classes for months in their final year at middle school. But he must have taken the exam; he placed in the scores, and she went back to confirm as much after his little trip to antagonize her class's worst-behaved student. But sadly, the acceptance letter she got didn't say much about his quirk, and when she asked All Might about it, he didn't have much to say either, though there was clearly something he was keeping from her about him, but she could trust that it mustn't have been all that important.

'So far, he's run on walls and up the near vertical surface of those 0-pointers. Then, there was the trick with the chasm. He didn't even seem to notice the ropes and moved like normal, but he did switch to running upright. And now this, just what kind of quirk is this?' She thought to herself, trying to figure out his secrets before a thought came to mind.

'Or…is it more than one?' It was impossible…or at least, it should have been impossible. But if All Might could give her his quirk, one that was designed to be passed from person to person, did Midoriya have a similar deal? Thinking back, he didn't say he got his quirk in the hallway but said his power. Was he avoiding saying quirk because that singular use of the word would be a lie?

Either way, she had to focus on this as he was almost out of reach, and Bakugo and Todoroki were behind her. She couldn't just run, but perhaps she could trip him up as she bent back a finger and held it in place with a thumb, the roar of One for All in her body rising as she increased its power to 20%, taking aim, she flicked her finger, sending out a bullet of pressurized air which Midoriya just barely saw coming before he got tagged in the side.

"The hell?" Losing balance, he fell onto his side, right on a mine, as he and Shinso went wide-eyed. "Oh shi-!" The mine blew up, the force separating the two and sending them flying in different directions. Shinso landed in an ungraceful pile, and Midoriya managed to recover and land on his feet.

"And an attack from Kendo separates horse and rider, giving her the lead, but Bakugo and Todoroki are hot on her heels!" Present Mic announced as Midoriya got up, a little peeved that Kendo attacked him like that, and with air of all things. How strong was she? His place continued to fall as he had been blown behind Bakugo and Todoroki, putting him in fourth. Seeing this, he was about to jet off when he realized he was lighter than before.

"Where's Shinso?" He asked as he looked around, seeing him in the distance further into the field. He also saw that others had made it, leading them to be Honenuki and several others, most likely class A. The number of people only made the place more chaotic as they triggered mines left and right, which were just nails on a chalkboard to his hearing and an ugly, uncoordinated fireworks show for his sight.

He had to leave, but where would that leave Shinso in this madness? Sure, he wasn't drowning, but people were not making it easy, and with teams involved, he'd get overwhelmed. On the other hand, they just needed him to pass, but he still found himself racing back for his teammate. "Shinso!" He yelled, jumping over a surprised student, using them as a springboard to close the distance, the tripped springboard falling right onto a landmine.

"Midoriya!" Shinso yelled back, getting shoved and nearly hitting a mine, barely missing it as he turned to hell at the person, that being a large boy with large lips. "Hey, watch it!"

"You watc-!" Shinso's quirk took hold as he shoved the guy back into a mine, clearing the area but only briefly as he held out his hand to Midoriya. He didn't waste the chance, as when he grabbed him, they flipped mid-air, shifting around before they landed with Midoriya back on all fours and Shinso on his back, but he was sweaty and winded from how weird that move was.

"What are we going to do? They're too far ahead." Shinso raised a good question, as with the number of people in front of them, they could have quickly fallen into their 20s. That sure as hell wouldn't do, but what could he do to clear them? Fighting would take too long, and he couldn't bounce off their heads like he did with the villain bots, certainly not with the added weight. Still, his eye was drawn to the mines as he saw people being thrown randomly about, even larger students weighing more than them.

"Hang on tight. This will hurt, but I'm not going down without a fight!" Reinforcing his torso, he rushed towards the melee and jumped…belly first... onto several mines. The blast was much larger than all the others, drawing eyes as people wondered who had the misfortune of triggering so many. From the pink smoke, they saw not a person being flung like a ragdoll but a duo on a mission.

"Midoriya and Shinso have reunited and taken to the skies!" Present Mic called as Midoriya bit his lip. That blast hurt even with the tenet armouring. His top was nearly destroyed, revealing his scar-riddled torso, as he had timed that as accurately as he could. He flexed and relaxed his muscles accordingly to help steer and direct the blast hitting him to ensure that he was thrown forward.

They soared overhead, leaving flummoxed competitors in their wake. He spotted the reason that they lost their lead up ahead. She found herself in a three-way battle with Bakugo and Todoroki. The explosive teen attacked both just to keep his lead while they were forced to counter. At least, they had been until he caught their attention in such a dynamic way, the trio looking to see the two coming for them with a vengeance.

With his eyes clear and ready, he landed without triggering the mines, which were much closer together now that they were approaching the end, again a tactic to slow them, again a tactic that wouldn't work on him as his tenet-fuelled limbs propelled him forward like a human cheetah. "Like any alley cat worth its fur, Midoriya sticks the landing and chases that gold like it's a rat! His return to the running has pushed the 3 front runners into high gear!"

Midoriya ignored Present Mic's commentary for the crowd as he passed by Tsunotori and a pink-haired girl with support items. She must have been from support. His eye remained solely on Kendo's back as she kicked it into high gear, accessing more of her incredible power to rush ahead, clearing the mines and making it to the final stretch. Todoroki and another student from class A tried to slow him down, one with ice and the other with a shadow monster. Still, he danced around the ice spikes and walls, their slippery, cold surfaces nothing to him but jumping pads to avoid the shadow monster.

Shinso wasn't silent, using his quirk and trick questions and statements to trip up people, including the Shadow user, which Midoriya kicked away and the Speedster, who tripped onto a mine and was blown aside, with them no longer an issue, that left just Todoroki, Kendo and Bakugo as they made it to the final stretch. With the finish line within reach, Midoriya pushed his body to its limits, his blood vessels across his arms and legs bulged even further as when he pushed off, he cracked the concrete, leaving behind four small craters as his speeds approached that of a Cheetah's peak, rapidly closing in on the top spot.

"Look that them go! Eraser, what do you and Vlad teach them?!" Present Mic cried as the 5 approached the tunnel, the rest too far back to catch up in time.

"We didn't do anything; they got each fired up. Because the idea of anyone but then winning isn't something they can accept." Eraser replied as the 5 crossed into the tunnel, where there were no cameras. As Present Mic hyped the crowd in those few seconds that they weren't seen, Kendo turned and aimed again, her ring finger almost broken from the last attack, forcing her to use others for a double shot, one aimed at the ever-approaching Midoriya and the other at Todoroki who was right behind her.

Midoriya wasn't caught by this a second time, jumping clean over the shot of air while Todoroki erected a small ice barrier, which, while it defended him, slowed him down just enough for Bakugo to blast past him. Todoroki realized this, but he was too late. The first to make it back into the morning light, and the eyes of the world were none other than Kendo. "And ladies and gentlemen, first place in the goes to Itsuka Kendo!"

When Midoriya cleared the line, to the thundering cheers of the audience, they knew it wasn't for them, that they hadn't taken that gold, but, despite his frustration at that, he didn't feel anger over it. Letting Shinso get off of him and stand on two legs, Midoriya had to acknowledge that it was a fair race and a really fun time. Looking Kendo's way, despite that and the pain in his limbs and gut from belly-flopping an explosion, he was happy for his fellow class rep.

So much so that when she looked at them, she saw that he was clapping for her. His eyes told her that she should enjoy this moment because she earned it through her efforts. That was something no one could take from her. She gave him a smile before returning to doing just that as the rest of the racers arrived.

"You're insane. I'm never letting you do that again." Shinso told him, the adrenaline fading as he held his knees in exhaustion and tried to get his heart back into regular rhythm.

"Good. I don't make a habit of letting guys ride me. Besides, you're not the one that tanked a mine to the gut." Midoriya shot back, taking steady breaths as he felt the pain fading from his body as his sore muscles were soothed by rest and his tenet being directed to do as such.

"Don't make a habit of making such statements. It's weird enough when you use the regular ones." Shiozaki told him as the rest of their team approached, the same with the others who met up with their runners to congratulate or cheer them up.

"What? I'm not lying." She sighed at Midoriya's reply, as he seemed to love acting like this.

"I would ask how the hell you did that and kept going, but you're just going to say something like 'will of the lion' or something." Shinso asked him.

"Close. More like the strength of the Tiger." He rolled his eyes at Midoriya's reply as the group continued with another topic: their performance.

"Suspicious comments aside, you two did great! You worked like a well-oiled machine out there."

"Shinso, if you were in the hero course, I can see heroes wanting the both of you, as nothing's better than a dynamic duo." Kyūryū cheered, as they could make out pros looking at them and speaking among themselves, their interest clear.

"With Midoriya, that performance will surely see your stock rise. Sure, we don't know the details of your quirk, but you proved yourself adaptable, incredibly fast, and unique. That'll really stick out against the other more traditional racers," Kingen stated as he stroked his duck bill in thought.

"Would that mean I'll sell more toys?" Midoriya asked, eager to have something like that.

"More like figurines and clothing. Power types tend to be more popular for toys." He pouted at that, but at least it meant he would be cared for. The figurines meant that people who brought those tended to be careful with them.

After some more time passed, the last of the students made it back. Most of the stranglers were tired and exhausted after the race, and the school gave them a few minutes to collect themselves before Midnight stepped up to the stage again. "The first game of the first-year stage is complete. Now, let's take a look at the results of their hard work!"

First place: Class A Itsuka Kendo

Second place: Class A Katsuki Bakugo

Third place: Class A Shoto Todoroki

Fourth place: Class B Izuku Midoriya

Fifth place: Class C Hitoshi Shinso

Sixth place: Class B Juzo Honenuki. Seventh place: Class A Tenya Iida

Eighth place: Class A Fumikage Tokoyami. Ninth Place: Class B Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

Tenth place: Class H Mei Hatsume. Eleventh place: Class B Pony Tsunotori

Twelfth place: Class A Eijiro Kirishima. Thirtieth place: Class A Momo Yaoyorozu. Fourteenth place: Class D(Person)

Fifteenth place: Class A Mezo Shoji. Sixteenth place: Class A Rikido Sato. Seventeenth place: Class B Rin Hiryu

Eighteenth place: Class B Kosei Tsuburaba. Nineteenth place: Class E(Person). Twentieth place: Class A Nirengeki Shouda

Twenty-fist: Class C(Person). Twenty-second: Class B Shihai Kuroiro. Twenty-third: Class E(Person). Twenty-fourth: Class A Kyoka Jiro. Twenty-fifth: Class B Jurota Shishida. Twenty-sixth: Class F(Person). Twenty-seventh: Class B Setsuna Tokage. Twenty-eighth: Class F(Person). Twenty-ninth: Class G(Person). Thirtieth: Class H(Person). Thirty-first: Class A Yuga Aoyama. Thirty-second: Class H(Person)

After that, the list cut off and the screens switched back to Midnight. "As you can see from the scoreboard, we counted up to 32. Any spot below that, and you've been eliminated. It's sad, but take pride in your efforts nonetheless! And if you're worried about being left out, don't fret, as recreational games are open to everyone later!" She announced, which got some students pumped as while the Sports Festival was designed around and for the hero course, their recreational games were meant for everyone, made all the better by the fact this year was a team event, which meant more non-hero course students had made it through the grinder.

"But now that we've started the process let's continue to boil you all down to see which among you stands at the top! And to do that, we move into the next event, which will be." She stood aside as the screen turned back to the spinning wheel. The students and audience waited patiently for the result before it landed on one.

"Chariot racing!" Midnight announced.

"What?" Midoriya and several other students asked as that didn't seem like any event from the past.

Midnight smiled at their confusion. "That's right, boys and girls. The next event will be an event that has been enjoyed by people going back as far as Bronze Age Greece, but one that we've given a little twist to. Allow me to explain." The screen changed to an image of a five-person team of herself, Present Mic, Thirteen, Vlad, and All Might. All of whom stood next to a pile of pieces and quickly got to work building something.

"Unlike what you're expecting, the chariots will not be pulled by living horses but by mechanical ones that you'll be supplied with. But it's up to your students to build the rest. You'll be given 1 hour to construct a chariot that 3 team members will man, so teams with support students have the edge here!" As she explained, the animated cartoony versions of themselves on screen finished building a pretty basic chariot with 3 robo horses, which Present Mic was playing with.

While the audience followed along with this, she observed the students. Teams that were mainly support students seemed to be the most excited as even if they didn't win, this would be a great showcase of their skills and what they could do when under a timer. Those who didn't have support students were sweating bullets, cursing their now lousy choice to not try and snatch one. She'll leave out that they'll get instructions on building simple chariots for themselves. Then, in the middle were the teams with one or 2 support students who would be the most balanced as they could design and build a chariot that suited their squad and have members who could use it to their maximum potential.

"One is the driver, the other the snatcher, and last the defender. The driver's role is a given, while the defender's job is to ward off attacks from other snatchers. Lastly, snatchers are the only ones allowed to steal points." She continued, her momentary focus on the students left to the wayside as the heroes on screen filtered out to how Thirteen was at the reigns, Vlad was on defence, and All Might was collecting the flags of other chariots.

"What are those points, you ask? Well, based on your representative's performance in the last event, your team will be assigned a point score, which will hang from a flagpole on your chariot. That score is calculated based on your finishing spots from the Obstacle race." She explained that part.

"In other words, each team will be worth different points, so teams with higher points don't have to snatch as many other flags, but they'll be targeted more as well!" Midoriya heard someone in the crowd of students state.

"Oh, now I understand!" Midnight snapped her whip at the interruption.

"You guys, keep your mouths shut. I was explaining that, you know!" Midnight scolded them both before she moved on with things. The screen switched back to show the positions of the 32 who made it, along with a point allocated to each.

"But yes, teams won't have a uniform point system. How those points were given out is explained on the screen. Starting from the bottom, 32nd was worth 10, 31st was worth 20, jumping up 10 points each time." Midnight explained as they moved up the chart 4 names at a time, with Midoriya eyeing a blonde from class A, Aoyama being less than pleased with his spot as second to last.

"However, first place was as special, worth 5000 points!" Midnight's announcement was made with silence, both from the students and the audience, with Kendo's name appearing and just as she said, Bakugo who came second had a value of just 310 but Kendo's blew that out of the water.

"5,000?!" The winner of the first event repeated before she felt the eyes of the rest of the students on her back, friend and foe alike.

"That's more than every other score combined," a dark-haired girl with a large ponytail said, having quickly done the math in her head.

"In other words, to hold it is a guaranteed win." Midoriya surmised, thanking the school for this chance as he already wanted to get back at her.

"Which means that gunning for number one is the best play." The rest concluded as their gazes became hungrier and more demanding. Kendo felt the weight of their gazes and wondered if this was something All Might dealt with, sitting at the top.

Midnight's smile didn't bode well for her, as she knew what this did and seemed to enjoy it. "That's right. To stand at the top means to face all adversaries and conquer them all! But to a challenger, it's the golden ticket!" She told them that she couldn't wait to see what came during this second event, as the first round was already an excellent opening showing. Still, she and the rest of the viewing audience wished to see more.

And we are back! This was meant to be posted last week, but for reasons outside my control, I wasn't able to finish it on time. So, I thought of a great way to make up for that, making this chapter longer than usual. I originally planned to cut it during the race, much like the show, which splits the opening from the rest. But as for the chapter, it was an enjoyable time to write, from how Midoriya and Shinso handled the event to showcasing that Kendo with One for All is much further along than Midoriya was since he only leans full cowling after this and can't just more than 5% consistently. Since Kendo had years of training already and a quirk of her own, she was even less reliant on it than he was.

And yes, I know that I didn't fill in all the names, which is simple: They're not important enough to fill in, as I'm not going to create names that, odds are, will never pop up again. But yeah, both Hatsume and Aoyama did better here, though Aoyama did not by much. Meanwhile, Hatsume did a lot better, which…seems like it should have been canon since she seemed to have a way past the Fall faster than most, much quicker than, say, Midoriya and those Hoover boots might have been enough to set off the mines, which is something that can happen with real hoover craft.

The event itself was also meant to demonstrate a theme of MHA, which is that no man is an island, as the Sports Festival is styled to be entirely solo-focused. Yet, Midoriya, as the main character, only gets as far as he does because he's helped by others, with the dark Deku arc making that clear that he can't face AFO and the League alone, nor can he repeat what All Might. More importantly, it's about how, even if he could, he shouldn't because a system made or broken by one person's superhuman efforts is doomed to fail as soon as that person is removed from the equation.

Regardless. I hope you liked this chapter. If you're an early reader, the next chapter is already up, but don't worry, as the next one will be posted on May 3rd.

Special thanks to my Patrons(s):

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