Chapter 19 - The Sports Festival Begins

The day was sunny and clear. People were bustling in and out of UA. Some clever businessmen smelled money from miles away and put up stalls of food, games and information at the outside of the main entrance. UA's School Festival was an event a lot of people were waiting for, whether heroes, students, civilians, or the media.

This event was not only guaranteed to be watched by the whole country but also the whole world was watching. Although other countries had their own events and student recruits, only Japan had given birth to one of the strongest heroes alive, Allmight. After several political battles and offers, Allmight had accepted an internship in America before he made his debut.

Now that Allmight had been taken, other countries are sure to keep an eye on the Sports Festival for an opportunity to snatch away any potential "future" Symbol of Peace.

....

1-A Waiting Room

Everyone was chatting on how they were nervous, how they trained and a weird rumor that Izuku liked being a meat shield and take damage. Izuku was smiled bitterly wondering how that rumor started.

He had decided on not bringing Rías out as she was still a juvenile and didn't want to expose her to the whole world jut yet. Izuku had left her with her mom as work was canceled for this day. Since Rías had matured a lot since her infant days, she became more obedient and his mom didn't mind anymore.

Right now, Izuku was talking, or at least trying, to Bakugou about how he should have joined his training sessions. "You missed the fun, you know Kacchan? Many of those who joined the training sessions got a deeper understanding of their Quirks after sparring for a while."

Bakugou was having a feeling that he was being scammed by a suspicious businessman who gave the "buy one and get the second one for the same price" speech, "I told you, Deku! I don't need your training! And something smells fishy when you mention your training sessions!"

Izuku said in disbelief, "How could I do something so suspicious?! I just wanted to help my dear friend and classmates! I am a law abiding citizen and student."

He put a hand on his chest as if wronged. This little show made Bakugou more suspicious but couldn't say anything as a voice came from behind them, "Midoriya."

They both turned their heads to see Todoroki walking towards them. Izuku answered, "Oh? What's up, Todoroki?"

Todoroki continued indifferently, "In terms of general strength, I believe I'm above you. Even with your monster forms."

Izuku was confused at the remark but said, "Well you certainly are strong..."

But probably not above me.

He kept that part for himself and let Todoroki continue his reasons, "You managed to catch Allmight's attention and I don't mean to pry on that but I will defeat you."

Izuku was startled at the sudden war declaration and then glanced at Bakugou, who had raised an eyebrow at Todoroki. Why am I a target of getting beaten by everyone. Izuku lamented.

He answered, looking straight at Todoroki, "Well I don't know your reasons for the sudden war declaration but I have my own reasons to do my best in this Sports Festival. I'll give it my all, I hope you do the same."

Izuku ended his phrase with a hand pointing to Todoroki's left side. Todoroki seemed to understand the message and just turned around, "Whatever."

At this moment, an announcement rang from the speaker of the waiting room, May class 1-A pass to the stadium! I repeat, may class 1-A pass to the stadium!

All the students got up from their seats and stopped talking as they headed outside. On the stadium, a voice was resonating through it, "Good day too you all! We're your narrators, Present Mic and Eraserhead!"

Aizawa got close to the microphone, "Hi."

Present Mic's eyebrows twitched as he put a hand on the mic and said, "What's with that monotonous intro? Cheer up man!"

Aizawa also covered the mic and glared at him, "Maybe I wouldn't have been in this mood if a certain walking jukebox hadn't dragged me here by force..."

Present Mic judged he would be in danger if he continued the conversation so he renewed the presentation, "W-well let's continue with the class everyone has heard of! The class that single handedly shrugged off a villain attack! Here comes, Class 1-A!"

A gate in the stadium walls opened up and the students from 1-A came in.

Izuku looked around nervously, That's a lot of people. He did say he was going to reveal his Quirk in the lounge with Allmight but right now, he was feeling quite nervous. Then Present Mic introduced the rest of the classes and departments but with a significant drop of enthusiasm, gaining the other students unsatisfaction.

He then heard a woman's voice, "Now now, play nice." All the students turned to find a woman with... a questionable, to say the least, suit and red glasses. Izuku Appraises her,

Name: Nemuri Kayama/The Rated-R Hero/Midnight

Quirk: Somnambulist

Status: Excited

Somnambulist? Izuku thought as he had a monster with a similar ability, the Uragaan. The Uragaan releases a blue gas that puts an attacker to sleep as a self-defense mechanism when it can't keep up with the attacker's speed.

Some students criticized her, "Is this appropriate?/Nobody is 18 here./I mean it's school!"

Midnight yelled vexed, "Silence! My position is perfectly on level! Now then, Grade Representative Katsuki Bakugou of 1-A come forward!"

Bakugou stepped up with his hands on his pockets to the stage. Well Kacchan has changed so he won't act rashly. Right? Izuku hopes for the best.

Bakugou began his 'speech', "All I want to say... I'm gonna place first."

Izuku immediately smacked his forehead, Of course he would.

Bakugou's comment flared up the already irritated students, "Don't push your luck 1-A!/Who do you think you are?!/I'm gonna crush him!" As Bakugou was the representative then his words were class 1-A words.

Bakugou stepped down the stage and stood beside Izuku, who looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. Bakugou raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Izuku said with a sigh, "You had to take the whole class with you, didn't you?"

Bakugou replied indifferently, "They'll make nice stepping stones, I'm sure."

Izuku stared at him for a moment before shaking his head, "Well it doesn't matter as they had already declared war on us a couple of weeks back. What's the difference with them being angrier."

Midnight continued, "Alright, with that we can move onto our first event. The preliminaries as they're called. And this round of destiny is... An obstacle race!"

On another wall of the stadium, a wall opened up, leading to a tunnel that was the starting point of the race. Midnight explained the rules, "It's a race between all 11 classes. This course makes nearly 4 km ring around the stadium! We always give our students the freedom they deserve. Well, this is what it's all about! You're allowed to do everything and anything as long as you remain within the course! Now let's get cracking... on your marks..."

Izuku got into position beside Bakugou and said, "Let's see if your words match your actions."

Bakugou smirked, "Whenever, wherever, Deku."

"Get set..."

Izuku began his quick thinking, This is the preliminary round so I should avoid wasting unnecessary Sp. If I can truly do as I want, I could totally transform into the Azure Rathalos and fly over everyone and everything. But where is the fun in that?

Midnight finished her countdown, "GO!"

All of the students dashed towards the starting line tunnel. Izuku was somewhere in the middle of the crowd when he felt his Territorial Sense was ring. He immediately jumped up and used Suction Pads to stick on the ceiling. The place where was just standing a moment ago got incredibly cramped with people.

Izuku thanked his Territorial Sense, If I wasn't warned, I would have been stuck in the crowd.

He then felt a gust of cold wind and the ground began freezing at a fast rate. From the distance, Izuku could see Todoroki skiing further away from the crowd.

Damn! He froze those behind him indiscriminately! Izuku could also see that most students from 1-A had evaded his attack. They would not underestimate Todoroki after the Battle Trials.

Bakugou, Kirishima, Momo and others chased after Todoroki, "You'll have to try harder than that Todoroki!/I won't let you go away that easily Two-Face!/Not gonna happen twice!"

Ah. I should also go on ahead. Izuku began crawling forward like a spider and jumped at the end of the tunnel. He began jogging leisurely as he was confident on passing the preliminary round.

...

They soon came to the first obstacle. The group of students were stopped by giant robots that had appeared in the entrance exams.There were one pointers, three pointers and two pointers. With the most eye-catching ones were the zero pointers, there were more than five of them.

Present Mic began introducing the first obstacle, "The first obstacle will be the Robo-Infierno! Sponsoring the robots from the entrance exams."

Todoroki stepped forward while saying, "It's a shame I couldn't eliminate more classmates. So these are the robots they used for the entrance exam, huh? Jeez, the least you could have done is throw something tougher."

Especially when my crappy old man is watching. He thought internally.

A huge zero pointer reached its enormous hand to grab Todoroki when he crouched. He placed his left hand on the ground while summoning a giant valley of ice that crashed into the zero pointer. The robot froze on a reaching down position, completely stopping its movement while he passed through its legs.

Izuku, from a distance, saw Todoroki's performance on stopping the zero pointer. He wasn't recommended for nothing! I wonder what kind of Elements he would give, ice or fire Elements. He thought.

Izuku activated Stealth, disappearing completely from the robots' monitors.

After Todoroki froze the zero pointer, the participants chased after him but he warned them ahead of time, " I froze it in an awkward position, so they will crash down."

After he finished those words, the frost on the robot cracked and the robot came falling down.

Present Mic announced, " Todoroki from class 1-A has managed to go past the robots and block the other participants. He really knows how to be cold!"

Back on the fallen zero pointer, some cranking and clanking was heard. Then Bam!

A hardened Kirishima came out screaming, "Damn it, Todoroki! That was dangerous!"

Sounds of explosions could be heard, Boom! Boom! Boom! Bakugou, using the momentum of these explosions, vaulted over the zero pointers.

Present Mic announced again, "And Bakugou from class 1a has evaded the robots by vaulting over their heads! That's clever!"

Aizawa remembered something, "Can you see Midoriya anywhere?"

Present Mic looked around, "That's interesting. Our monster boy Midoriya has disappeared from the Robo-Infierno! Where could he be?"

He looked around some more and then noticed him, "He already passed through the robots! How did he do that?! Let us see the playback!"

On the main screen, it showed the moment before Izuku completely disappeared. He then appeared behind the robots moments later after Bakugo had vaulted over them. Izuku then proceeded to walk towards the next obstacle.

The audience was shocked by Izuku's performance, "Did he teleport?/How did he do that?/It is more like he blended into the environment, isn't it?"

Aizawa then explained, "Midoriya has been confirmed to possess stealth tactics that enable him to almost disappear to the naked eye."

Some pro heroes now where paying attention to Izuku as infiltration missions are very delicate and a Quirk like his would be very useful.

Izuku had no idea that he had caused such commotion in the sports festival. He was currently arriving at the second obstacle of the race.

Present Mic then introduced the second obstacle, "If you think robots weren't enough then what about this. You fall and you're out! You don't like it? You can crawl. It's the Fall!"

The second obstacle of the race where stone pillars that were all connected by tight ropes but there was a chasm that you couldn't see the bottom.

Izuku contemplated on how to pass this obstacle, Let's see, I could probably use Glide to pass this but I want to try the new Float I acquired. It'll certainly give Uraraka a shock.

He took a very deep breath with his High-capacity Lungs and activated Float. His body immediately felt extremely light. To the point where a jump would feel like walking on the Moon.

Izuku stepped back a bit and jumped to a near stone pillar. He could see Bakugou chasing Todoroki that had already passed the second obstacle. He began jumping from pillar to pillar with leisure as if taking a walk.

Uraraka, from a distance, muttered in shock, "That's my Quirk."

Mina next to her said in helplessness, "It can't be helped. We are talking about Midoriya after all."

Up to the lead, Todoroki glanced back at Bakugou, who was hot on pursuit, and thought, He really picked up the pace, huh? Guess he's a slow starter.

Many were impressed by Todoroki's performance so far, "That kid in first place is in a whole other level!/He has a good Quirk, good foundation and good reasoning./He is, after all, the son of Endeavor."

Todoroki ran to the third obstacle with Bakugou on his heels. Present Mic announced the third obstacle, "Now we have come to the hidden final obstacle! It's true form is none other than The Minefield! It is set up so you will have to take precautions with your eyes and feet! In any case they are land mines but they won't be overly lethal. They will cause bruises though."

Todoroki at the lead, thought, So this obstacle will be harder on those who are on the lead as they will have more land mines than those who come later.

A raging voice was heard directly from behind him, "It doesn't matter to me!" Bakugou had a caught up to Todoroki using his explosions and said, "You chose the wrong person to declare war on!" Bakugou then sent an explosion to Todoroki while he in exchange froze his arm back.

Present Mic exclaimed, " The lead has been upset! While they are hustling around, the ones in the back are now starting to hurry up! With both of them on the lead-"

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Present Mic was interrupted by flurry of explosions coming from the center of the minefield.

At the center, a mass of metal was rolling towards the finish line and was gaining large amounts of momentum.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The mass of metal kept on blowing up the land mines as it rolled. Present Mic exclaimed, " But what's this? And I am truly not identified with the object that is currently approaching the finish line! What do you think Eraserhead?"

Aizawa said with his eyes on the lump of metal, " If I am not mistaken, that metal roll is Midoriya from class 1-A."

Present Mic was shocked, "The lump of metal is your student!? Is this the rumored monster transformation from his Quirk?"

Todoroki and Bakugou turned back to see the metallic monster was quickly approaching them, setting of explosions from the land mines on its path. Before they were squashed by it, they hurriedly dodged to the side, getting themselves caught in the land mines.

Izuku, in his Uragaan form, was singing in his head, The roll of the Uragaan goes round and round, round and round, round and round.

The roll of the Uragaan goes round and round, round and round, round and round, all day long! (The Wheels of the bus song parody)

He rolled to the finish line, leaving the trail of dust from the land mines he set off. Present Mic excitingly exclaimed, "Who would have predicted this result from the start? The man who returned to the stadium in triumph is none other than Izuku Midoriya from class 1-A! What a way to win!"

When Izuku entered the stadium, he stopped rolling, letting people take a good look at his current form. The audience gasped at the giant chinned dinosaur-like monster cover in metal and golden scales.

Izuku cancelled the transformation, going back to the his human form, and stretched, Rolling hurts the back...

Todoroki arrived just a moment before Bakugou. Todoroki simply frowned.

Bakugou's expression was ashen while he muttered, "Dammit! Again! Why?!"

He then felt a hand on his shoulder and he lifted his head. Izuku asked, "You cool?"

Bakugou was quiet for moment and then smacked his hand off his shoulder, "Why wouldn't I be?"

He then walked away to wait for the next event. Izuku shook his head, That pride of his will be his end.

"Deku! You were amazing!", Uraraka and IIda approached Izuku while panting.

IIda said with a shaking body, "To think I'd place so low on a race with a Quirk like mine..."

Uraraka said, "Congrats on getting first place. Although it seems you somehow stole my Quirk..." 

Izuku laughed awkwardly, "Ehehe..."

(You should know who passes the Obstacle Race and who doesn't.)

One by one, rest of the participants arrived at the stadium. Midnight went up to the stage again to announce the results of the Obstacle Race, "The 42 on the top have earned the right to continue onto the second event! Those who failed, don't sulk! The Festival's showstoppers are being prepared. And now for the Post-preliminaries, the Final Selection! I already know but what could it be? Let me tell you! It's... the human cavalry! You can form 2-4 person team freely and form a horseback formation! Basically it's the same rules as normal cavalry: take the opponent's' headband while protecting your own. However, your headband is worth your place in the previous event. 5 points for place 42, 10 points for place, etc."

Izuku nodded his head, Combining a point system while battling. Seems like a fair game.

However, Izuku satisfaction didn't last for long when, "With the sole exception of 1st place, whose head is worth 10 million points! If I were you, I'd aim for the guy with first place. A chance for those with low points to achieve their reversal! Welcome to our survival game! Those who come at the top encounter new hardships. You have heard it many times: Plus Ultra! To the kid in first place..."

Everyone's eyes around Izuku turned red.

Izuku: Son of a Barroth!