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CHAPTER START---
"Is everyone ready?" Momo asks as she steps into the 2A changing room. "The crowd is excited and they've started bringing out the other classes, we need to go."
"I don't think I'll ever be ready for this much attention," Jiro mutters as they all get up.
Glancing around the room Momo sees Kirishima and Sero chatting about something, Sero is in his full Hero Costume while Kirishima is in his PE Uniform.
She sees Nejire talking to Uraraka and Asui, and a bit farther away Izuku is saying goodbye to Eri and Kota whom Ryuko accompanies as they came to wish him luck.
"LETS DO THIS!" Kirishima screams. "This year I'm gonna be even more manly and bring home a medal!"
"Are you also aiming for the gold medal?" Tokoyami casually asks as they all exit the room and make their way through the stadium hallways.
"Tch," Bakugo scoffs. "If anyone is beating Glass Face and taking that gold medal this year, it's me."
"You aren't the only one that's gotten a lot stronger Kacchan," Deku says. "I've got a lot of tricks that I held back when we were training together."
Shoto breaks his silence, "Nothing compared to the progress I've made training with my father, this yeah I have enough power to win a tournament match against even Horizon."
"That's pretty brave considering how it went last time," Mina says. "But I bet they have a bunch of rules to prevent him from ripping out hearts again."
"Well they don't allow him to use his sword," Toru says. She was wearing a bodysuit made of her DNA below her PE Uniform, allowing her to go completely invisible. "That new sword is intense," she mutters.
"I'm just hoping to get to the 1-on-1 stage this time," Ojiro says.
"Me too," Shoji says as Jiro nods along as well.
As they're walking to the entrance into the main event area, Uraraka notices Midoriya's face is intense and thoughtful, and falls into step beside him.
"Hey, Deku, are you ok? You look like you need to use the bathroom," she says quietly.
"Huh, oh, sorry it's just, Horizon said some things earlier that I can't stop thinking about."
"Oh," she says in a smaller voice, clearly sad.
'Be decisive, be bold, be brave, take the first step...' Horizon's words echo in Deku's mind.
Taking a deep breath and ignoring the intense blush on his face he leans down slightly to whisper in her ear, "I'll explain later, we can have dinner together to celebrate my win, just you and me..."
Uraraka stops dead in her tracks, face completely red.
She sees everyone walking ahead, and Mina who was standing directly beside her just looks back and gives her a thumbs-up, which makes her blush even more.
She takes a moment to compose herself before jogging to catch up, just as everyone else is stepping onto the field she comes out last.
"Hey! What makes you so sure that I won't be the one to wi---!" her words fall away as the spectacle of the stadium stuns her.
The crowd was roaring so loudly she couldn't hear herself think.
Even after competing last year, she couldn't grasp the magnitude of what she was seeing. This year the stadium was at least 4 times as large, with tens of thousands of people here cheering them on.
High above fireworks were going off like thunder, but Ms. Midnight's voice cuts through it all.
"And there you have it folks, the Hero Course students take to the field!" she says proudly, causing the crowd to get even louder.
Most of the other 2nd-year students were on the field wearing the PE Uniforms, with the Hero Equipment students equipped with all kinds of gadgets.
"Hatsume isn't here, that's odd," Deku says as he scans the crowd.
"She's probably up there," Jiro points to the highest level of the stadium. There they could see a floor that didn't have balconies like the other seating areas but was separated by one-way glass.
The private booths are for wealthy sponsors of the tournament or simply important people from around the world.
One of which had the Detnerate logo on the front of it.
"Oh, that's a pretty big company to make a deal with," Momo says. "I hope it goes well for her."
"I'm more concerned about why the hell that's up there," Bakugo says as he nods toward one of the private booths in the middle section of the stadium, with Horizon's logo on the front of it.
"Welcome to the UA Sports Festival, 2nd Year arena!" Midnight announces as the crowd quiets down. "Now I know you're all very excited for what we've got in store for you, and we know the 2nd-year students will be the main attraction this year.
So we've taken a lot more precautions for safety, and changed things up a bit for entertainment. We've done away with the traditional method of spinning a wheel to randomly decide the game, and this time we've got a Game Master controlling things from behind the scenes."
This causes a small murmur in the crowds.
"I, the luscious and beautiful Ms. Midnight will be acting as the referee for the games in this arena," she points to the announcer's booth high above. "Present Mic, Vlad King, and Eraser Head will act as the announcers and provide more specific commentary as things unfold."
She looks around the crowd, seeing many people holding manners with Horizon's symbol or dressed in his merch, waiting for his appearance.
"And now for a bit of good, and bad news," Midnight says. "It has come to our attention that Horizon would be an unfair entity to pit against the other students, so he won't be competing this year..."
A look of relief washes over the students as disgruntled noise begins building in the crowd.
"Oh but that doesn't mean he isn't involved," Ms. Midnight cuts them off. "He's been tasked with not only security this year, but with the prestigious honor of being this arena's Game Master!"
Classes 2A and 2B look at each other, visibly concerned at the implication of that, while the crowd erupts into cheers and the other students look simply confused.
"He's been tasked with making an entertaining and challenging first round for this arena, but before he can come down here and explain the first game, we've got Katsuki Bakugo, the runner-up from last year's Sports Festival coming to the stage to say a few words of encouragement."
Bakugo takes his time and walks onto the small raised stage as the entire arena goes silent, the look on his face is a mix of disappointment and rage as he tries to contain his anger.
"Alr---"
He snatches the mic out of Ms. Midnight's hand and turns his back to the students, looking directly at Horizon's booth high above.
"What's the point of all of this if I'm not up against the best!" Bakugo yells. "Glass Face! Get down here so I can have a real challenge already!"
"Hm, looks like you were right Eraser," Vlad King says through his mic. "You know your students quite well."
"Yes," Eraser Head replies in a groggy voice. "Which means any second now Horizon is going to---"
SHAMBLES!
Horizon suddenly appears standing in front of Bakugo, wearing a much more casual outfit of white pants and a matching t-shirt with his logo on them, he looks down at the shorter boy.
Bakugo isn't surprised when Horizon appears, and doesn't even take a step back, just glares up at him.
For a few seconds, the tension builds, and then Horizon sighs.
"If you want to challenge me, the least you could do is win the gold medal first."
Bakugo gives a vicious smile at that, "First I kick their butts, then yours!"
Horizon chuckles, "It's good to dream big, but that's just delusional," Bakugo suddenly warps back to his spot among his classmates, but the mic hovers in place beside Horizon.
"And now Game Master Horizon will explain the rules of his game!" Ms. Midnight announces. "These feisty students sure don't like wasting time!"
"The first game, reflects life," Horizon says. "Which means it will test every aspect of you. Power, speed, intellect, adversity, social skills, leadership, and your ability to function under pressure.
It is an obstacle course like you've never imagined before, that is all the information I'll be giving any of you about it."
The students and spectators look a bit confused at that.
"You're allowed to make teams as large or small as you'd like, so long as you hit every checkpoint along the course you'll be fine, but this year there are only two rounds of the tournament for our arena.
But I promise you, this will be more exciting than both the obstacle course and calvary game from last year put together, but this also means, that regardless of how large your teams are, only the first 16 people to touch the flag will move forward..."
Some murmurs break out around the arena and even Ms. Midnight looks confused, but she trusts Principal Nezu to have signed off on all of this.
Kirishima raises a hand.
"Yes Kirishima, what is it?"
"If we make teams but only 16 people who touch the flag advance, what's stopping us from betraying each other during the game?"
"Nothing, that's part of life, picking your allies carefully," Horizon says. "But just like life, most people cannot make it alone..."
Monoma raises a hand and then immediately begins talking, "How do we know you aren't going to cheat for your classmates, huh?!"
"Do you really think I value them winning this game more than my reputation?" Horizon asks, as if he were talking to a confused child.
"Good point," Monoma lowers his hand.
Shoji then raises his hand.
"No more questions, life doesn't come with a manual," Horizon says. "You've got 15 minutes to create your strategies and teams, but remember, to win at life you must either be stronger, smarter, adapt better, or simply be first, and most of the time the person who takes the first bold step is rewarded, good luck..."
As soon as he finishes speaking Horizon disappears once more and Cementoss begins moving the stage to the side, clearing the field.
The students also scatter to form their teams, with most people rushing toward Momo, Shoto, Bakugo, Izuku, and Tokoyami.
Much to their surprise Izuku refused to be part of any team, stating 'I want to show the world that I'm capable without always needing people to pick me up, Pro Heroes don't always have backup after all...'
He goes off to the side and gets the same thoughtful look on his face, muttering to himself.
"Horizon's said that twice now, once to everyone here but twice to me. What does he mean by the people who move first are rewarded, it has to be a hint at the game...he said it was life advice but he also said the game reflects life when I spoke to him earlier, but it is Horizon.
This could just be come trick to make me look stupid, but then again he's been...less horrible to me lately so maybe he wants to be friends.
Or at least he doesn't want me to trip and break my neck anymore..."
"Uraraka I think your boyfriend is broken again," Mina says as she points out Izuku muttering to himself across the field.
"I'm sure he's just---" Uraraka stops herself. "He's not my boyfriend yet!"
"Yet?" Asui asks.
"Mmmm," Uraraka hides her blushing face in her hands.
"Anyway we should just focus on ourselves for now," Mina says. "Shoto and Bakugo are playing solo, and pretty much everyone else that is self-sufficient doesn't want to form a team with others."
"Even Momo doesn't want to team up," Asui says. "And Tokoyami just said 'the darkness demands he works alone,' whatever that means."
"It means Horizon told him not to form a team," Setsuna says as she walks over. "Don't suppose you girls want to form a little alliance with my team, how about it?"
"Who's on your team?" Uraraka asks.
"Manga, Shoda, Bondo, and me."
"What does the alliance mean? And why'd Horizon tell Tokoyami not to form a team?" Asui asks.
"Just means our teams don't attack each other unless we're both right in front of the flag and there aren't enough spots left for all of us, and as for Tokoyami," Tokage begins whispering, "he got offered a spot on Team Horizon and this Sports Festival is his little test."
"Wow, how'd you even find out about that?" Mina asks. "That team doesn't spill, like ever."
"Oh, Horizon asked me about considering joining too but his teaching style just wasn't for me, he's kind of...very intense."
"I never thought he'd let girls into team Horizon," Uraraka says.
"Oh no, he was considering forming a second team with just ladies and wanted me to lead it, but I turned him down...don't tell Momo that please, he said she was too nice to be a leader during a crisis."
"That makes sense," Mina says.
---10 Minutes later...
The entire field was cleared off the stage and other props to reveal simple and low lawn grass.
Ms. Midnight was on a raised platform attached to the spectators' area above, looking down closely at all the students gathered along the far side of the arena.
All the students gather and jostle each other to get their feet directly only the starting line, staring out at the tunnel leading out of the arena which acts as the first of many checkpoints.
"Alright, now that everyone is in position, it is time for the game master to explain the rules of this game...Skyward!"
The crowd erupts in cheers as the students look at each other, even more confused.
SHAMBLES!
Horizon appears in the middle of the arena only a few hundred feet ahead of everyone, holding a flag in his hand with the UA symbol on it, and stakes it into the ground.
A few moments later the arena goes silent again for him to speak, "The rules are simple, stick to the route and pass through all the checkpoints, then be one of the first 16 to touch the flag to move onto the next round.
But we won't be announcing when someone makes it to the next round, so if your entire team gets there, well, I'm sure you'll figure out which of you gets to touch the flag first..."
Many of the students look at their teammates, eyeing them warily and already thinking of how a fight between them would go.
"And as for the obstacle, you only really have one to deal with," Horizon puts his hands in his pockets and takes a few steps forward, positioning himself between the flag and the students. "Me..."
END CHAPTER---
updates about future delays such as this one are posted in my discord, sorry about today's delay