Nick dashed forward, the wind whipping against his face… he could go faster. Blow away the competition. He could do it. He wanted to hang back because it would be more fun. No, leaving Bakugo and Todoroki in the dust would be much better.
As the giant Zero Pointers broke through the ground Nick grinned at the raining dust and gravel. His moment of thought had slowed him down and Bakugo in his furious anger was starting to catch up. Hands behind him simply propelled himself forward with nothing but speed and acceleration in his mind. That much was clear.
With Todoroki hot on his tail Nick just smiled and pumped his legs up again. The mechanical muscles and wires leading down into longer feet, bars of flexible carbon bending under his weight as he crouched down and with another leap went into the robots.
As he left the ground he made a wall sprout from the ground just in front of Bakugo and the foolish boy with no time to react because of his speed slammed into the concrete with the force of a cannonball. The cracks on the other side showed just how hard the impact was. The wall caused Todoroki's eyes to widen at the shocking brutality of the impact. Hesitation washed through the other students.
Charging forward Eijiro rammed his shoulder into the wall with a mighty scream breaking through the ground and emerging from the other side in a wave of dust parting around him. His forward momentum gained as he focused as much as he could on running. Todoroki already gliding over the wall with a massive glacier.
A loud boom crackled through the air, a wave of heat blowing the dust away from the rubble that Bakugo had been buried in he emerged, blood running down his face and into his right eye but his gaze was furious. Containing hatred far beyond anything he had felt. Nick had targeted him. With white-hot rage pumping through his veins he flew into the air at an angle gaining an unbelievable amount of height. The wall had a whole blown right in the centre that the other students used to start passing through.
Soaring through the air propelled by rage Bakugo flew over Todoroki before looking in shock at the giant wall of mechanics in front of him.
---
Having formed the wall as he left with his leap Nick crashed into the chest of one of the giant villain robots but instead of impacting it, he passed through it, the metal parting as soon as he made contact with it in explosive deconstruction. Sailing through it like it wasn't even there, turning as he passed through it so that he was facing the back of the 10 gigantic machines.
Arms splitting between the fingers, through the palms and up to his elbow. Each finger extended and lengthened into a whip of metal and flesh that he stole from the passing robots. With one being made it lashed out and as soon as it connected to the back of a robot it stole mass of its own. Letting the other 9 fingers transform into cable tendrils of steel and flesh.
As they all darted out slamming into the back of each beast Nick closed his eyes and concentrated, he only had a moment before his momentum pulled him out of range. Luckily his quirk worked quickly.
Bakugo left the wall shaking the ground with rage-fueled power.
Deconstructing and connecting the 10 giant robots. He made another wall. He left large parts such as arms necks and heads unchanged so he didn't have to think of them but formed a giant wall covered in mechanical arms and heads from the beasts' original forms. to make it so that contestants could not just pass through between the machines to make it harder.
Gritting his teeth he felt his nose bleed a little as he pulled away. The tendrils he now had for fingers letting go, he had only been able to do that because of the multiple contact points over a large area but still, it had almost knocked him out. He had done it though and he could have just left it half-made. He did, some of the arms hung limply from unconnected mechanics and there were some clear weak points.
Slamming into the ground as his leap ended Nick didn't even waste time thinking about it, turning towards the fall as he looked at the ropes and pillars of the earth. Unnecessary. Leaping again he grabbed onto the few pillars with his tendrils and dragged himself forward, flinging himself through the air with explosive power. With speed fast enough that the camera couldn't follow him fast enough he flung through the air. Clearing the fall with less than two leaps.
---
Facing the wall of robotics Todoroki grit his teeth as Bakugo easily passed over the top dodging and weaving between the half-working arms that moved around trying to swat him out of the air. But their broken lumbering movement wasn't nearly nimble enough to hit the explosive teen.
Seeing a weakness in the wall he narrowed his eyes as he hammered a spear of ice into it, he didn't want to have to create another glacier… he was already using up a lot of energy because of that damn Hendrix. He was so far ahead of him. He should be at the top of his class, he had been forced to train every day why was he so much weaker.
With the ice slamming into the metal it parted a hole that Todoroki quickly passed through, using the height he gained from it he made a massive slide of ice that he started to slip down. Using the momentum to take off at a running start towards the pillars and rope. The long straight area was littered with smaller robots that Bakugo passed over and Todoroki cleanly dispatched.
Seeing the wall of mechanics Yaoyorozu smiled in annoyed amusement as she created a cannon from her chest. Assembling the parts with practised efficiency as she shot a shell at the wall. Blowing out another opening in it as one of the arms dropped limp from the shaking impact ruining something in the already messed up internals. The funnels that were being made by the two walls led to lots more lagging behind. Others passed over the wall with ease because of their quirks.
With the hardened students at the front unafraid of the mayhem that was being invoked by the clashing of powers they stormed ahead. Followed by others that could hold their own.
With the crowd pouring through the wall as more and more holes were being made. People working together to pass through higher holes or elbowing each other out of the way to get through the lower ones the sea of bodies made its way through.
---
Getting to the start of the fall Bakugo still not even touching the floor ignored the pain in his shoulders as he pushed himself forward. Blast after blast continued to build up speed as Todoroki cleanly and expertly followed behind on the ropes. The approaching students pushed each other off as they tried to start getting ahead. Mezo combined his arms with a powerful smash against the floor and threw himself forward before making wings and starting to glide.
As they did this Nick was already latching his tendrils onto the fence at the minefield area without hesitation he grabbed onto the fence and flung himself forward and over the minefield with little difficulty, crashing into the other side as he ran forward and through the gate.
"AND HENDRIX CLEARS THE RACE IN AN UNBELIEVABLE TIME!" Present Mic called over the hollering of the crowd as Nick slowed to a stop with a slide. His arms returned to normal as he let the parts drop from his body.
---
Hearing this Bakugo screamed in rage and Todoroki gave up on trying to save strength, with the shortest possible path clear he made a bridge and he raced over it, using the running momentum to slide as he gained speed with skate-like movements. It was crude but he could skate a bit.
Following the bridges, the crowd started to pour through. Bakugo already getting to the minefield with Todoroki hot on his tail. As they started to pass through it, the wild sound of explosions as Todoroki tried to attack the blinded side of Bakugo, the boy, however, was having none of it as explosions forced him forward and to the end of the pitch, throwing Todoroki back in a giant wave that set off the ground beneath them both.
Gaining his footing Todoroki glared forward as he dashed forward once again just to hear another explosion echo behind him.
Soaring over his head just to a point barely in front of him Midoriya with a metal plate crashed into the floor setting off another blow that threw him forward.
Dashing with all his speed he tried to block the boy's tumble as he rolled through the gate but in a roar of annoyance, Bakugo passed through the gate just as a battered Midoriya tumbled through it. Running through it Todoroki's eyes widened as he slowed down his pace.
His breath was heavy as he looked at his hands.
He had come forth… why was he losing so badly.
Seeing Midoriya shakily push himself up, the green-haired boy was grinning wildly. Bakugo was a panting and sweating mess as both Todoroki and he glared daggers at a calm Nick who just stood to the side.
With contestants starting to pour through the gates. Both of them moved out of the way as Recovery Girl standing to the side started with Bakugo and Midoriya.
---
Nick watched the scene unfold. A hateful Bakugo setting of mines to power his explosions and send him forward faster flew through the gate. Followed by Midoriya with an even larger explosion sending him flailing through the air and crashing into the ground only to be thrown forward again.
Todoroki in stunned silence passed through the gate as well.
Watching all three boys stand there panting and sweating he stood to the side, arms crossed over his chest as he met the hateful glares thrown his way. He was ruining their views of themselves. Todoroki must be especially annoyed at this outcome…
With more people passing through the gates he moved back with the other three boys to make room for the crowd that came through. Seeing people start to chat a few just looked at him in shock. He had cleared the stage before most people had even gotten to the tight ropes.
Looking at the order he saw that it was the same as the original apart from the top four, everyone else being moved down a spot.
Rubbing his elbow lightly he clicked his tongue as he rebuilt the inside of his arm. He needed to be more careful with hasty reconstruction when he basically makes 10 arms. He also could handle the mental strain but just barely. Maybe he could ask Nezu if he could see how his brain worked, if he could increase his brain's power he could have easily formed that robot wall without it messing up so much at the end.
Standing there and looking up at Midnight he let her start speaking. "The 42 at the top have earned the right to advance!!!" With a quick word of apology to those that didn't make it they soon all gathered around. Looking at her as they awaited what the next task would be.
"And now for the post preliminaries, the final selection! From here on out, even the press corps will teem in a white heat of excitement, so go all out!" Midnight yelled into the mic as she waved her hand over the crowd.
"Now then, onto today's heart-pounding second event! I already know what it will be, but the suspense is killing me!" Midnight said as she motioned to the screen that formed. "What could it be!? Well, I'll tell you!"
[HUMAN CAVALRY BATTLE!]
"BEHOLD!!!" Midnight yelled as he motioned to the words. A broad smile filled her face as she continued. "Basically it's the same rules as a normal human cavalry battle: swipe enemy riders' headbands and guard your own! Except for one thing… You can all form 2 to 4 people teams and freely use a horseback configuration!"
As the students started to speak up and catch onto the basics of everyone having points so horses and riders' points will vary changing your team's value according to supposed strength.
"DON'T DO MY EXPLANATION BEFORE I CAN!!" Midnight yelled as she pointed her whip at the student who pointed it out.
"But yes, that's right! And the number of points your worth will be 5 if you placed at 42nd, 10 if your placed 41st, 15 for 40th place and so on. With the exception of first place!" Midnight teased with a smirk on her face as she looked at Nick. "WHOSE HEAD IS WORTH TEN MILLION POINTS!"
With the crowd letting out a cheer Nick smiled as multiple people looked at him. Grinning back at them, Nick sent a clear challenge to both Bakugo and Todoroki who just glared at him. Midoriya was also looking around at everyone, probably panicking if anyone would join his team.
"If I were you I'd aim for the person who placed first! This is the chance for the low to supplant the high! Welcome to our survival game!!!" Midnight called out as she looked at Nick, her smile broadening as she saw the resolute look he gave her. The boy had steel and a lot of it, he didn't even look slightly panicked.
Staring back at Midnight Nick felt his back straightened his back. He could feel the gaze of those looking at him eager to challenge him and try to take his headband but he wasn't scared a bit. In fact, he wanted to be targeted, it would make it more fun.
"The time limit is 15 minutes and the total point value of the team shall be worn by the rider! Until the time is up, you'll all be fighting and stealing as many headbands as you can! You must make sure that your headband is worn above the neck, make sure to keep an eye on the situation as more are taken more teams will become reckless!" Midnight said as she started listing important points.
"Even if you lose your headband you are still not out so steal others and get yourself back onto the scoreboard!" Midnight finished with a flurry of her whip as the students started mumbling to themselves. Multiple were looking at him still but were quickly pulled into the conversation.
There was hesitation, he could feel it, he had completely dominated the race and had left everyone in the dust. The display of brutality against Bakugo at the start made people question fighting him. There was hesitation enough that he could almost taste it. Feel it in their eager gazes yes, but scared more so. Looking back at someone who was looking at him he just smiled a bit making them turn their gaze down.
"Quirks are of course allowed, so I want to see some fine brutality out there! That being said, this is still a human cavalry game! If you attack any other ground with the malicious aim of breaking them up, that's a red card and you'll be forced to sit out the rest of the game!" Midnight finally finished the explanation as she walked to the back of her platform waving her hand over the students as she said. "All right! You now have 15 minutes, until then! Start your team-up negotiations!" Her voice was eager as she dismissed the students to start planning.
As she finished the crowd erupted into chatter as they talked about who would team with who. More excited to see the action than ever before. Nick could feel the eyes of thousands boring into him. Walking towards the crowd of students he thought to himself, 1 to 3 teammates… seeing Todoroki storm towards Yaoyorozu he smirked, he was going for the same team. Decisive despite the setback. Good.
Walking towards the other students he saw eyes following him before a few students started to approach him but he had his sights set on someone already.
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Thanks for all the support once again!
Reviews and comments are always welcome too! I love hearing all your ideas and advice to help me grow.
Not much more to say for this chapter, excited to do the next one though! I am already going to have to change up the tournament bracket because of Nick's influence so I'm going to have to think about that.