Issue #11: The Sports Festival Part 1: The Obstacle Race
The screens of the stadium turned on and Present Mic appeared on the jumbotron. "HEYYYYYY! Make some noise, all you rabid sports fans! Get those cameras prepped, media hordes! This year, we're bringing you some of the hottest performances in U.A.'s festival history, guaranteed! I've only got one question before we start this show: ARE YOU READY?!" He yelled as the crowd cheered. Sitting next to him was Aizawa, who was still covered in bandages as he still wasn't healed. "Let me hear ya scream as our students make their way to the main stage!"
At her home, Inko was watching the event on her TV, as the screen was showing one of the tunnels of the arena. She was recording the games in high resolution but wanted to see it at the moment. "C'mon, Wade!" She shouted with anticipation. Inko was worried about Wade's safety but knew that he was going to give it his all.
In the teacher's box of the arena, All Might in his deflated form watched the game. Waiting eagerly for Wade to introduce himself to the world.
The commercials for the event were over and they were back on the air. "IT'S THE U.A.'S SPORTS FESTIVAL! The one time each year when out fledging Heroes compete in a ruthless grand battle! First up, you know who I'm talking about! The miraculous rising stars who brushed off a villain attack with their steely willpower! The first-years of the Hero Course! IT'S CLASS 1-A!"
At that moment, Wade and the rest of his classmates came out of the tunnel. The crowd erupted in thunderous cheers and applause.
Wade looked around at the crowd and couldn't help but feel a little nervous. "Talk about a nice crowd..."
"I hope we're still able to give our best performances, even though all these eyes are watching us." Iida said as he looked around the audience of the games. "I suppose it's just another aspect of being a Hero we all have to learn to get used to."
"Present Mic sure did talk us up a lot." Kirishima said as walked behind Bakugo. The blonde was silent with his eyes shadowed over by his hair. "Kinda makes me nervous. How you feelin', man?"
Bakugo lifted his head up, revealing his face had formed a deranged grin. "I'm not worried. Makes me wanna win this thing even more."
As he looked around, Wade then noticed that the other classes were starting to come out. "They haven't been getting nearly as much screentime, but this next group is still chock full of talent! Welcome, Hero Course Class 1-B!"Present Mic announced as Class 1-B entered the arena through their tunnel. All of the other freshmen classes come out through the other tunnels. Although as they were announced, they didn't get the same reaction for the crowd as the Hero Course classes. "Next up, General Studies Classes C, D, and E! Support Course Classes F, G, and H are here, too! And Business Course, Classes I, J, and K! ALL OF U.A.'S FIRST YEARS ARE HERE NOW!"
The classes gathered in the middle of the stage. While the General Studies students weren't too excited about being in the games-many believing that they're only there to make the Heroes-in-training look good-everyone else was anticipating for the games to start.
The cracking of a whip got everyone's attention. "Now, for the entirety of the speech!" Said the umpire of this year's Sports Festival for the Freshmen, the R-Rated Hero: Midnight.
Almost all of the men in the stadium's seats blushed instantly as Midnight flicked her hair with a smile. Wade stared at her, flustered as the other male students. But as he looked at the sexy woman, he couldn't help but think that she looked so oddly familiar.
"Uh, someone should talk to Ms. Midnight about what she's wearing." Kirishima said with an embarrassed blush.
"Yeah, that costume should come with a warning." Kaminari replied.
"Is that really appropriate attire for a High School teacher?" Tokoyami asked, not flustered by the outfit.
"YES!" Mineta exclaimed with a thumbs up.
"You don't get a say!" Wade snapped at the boy.
"SILENCE, EVERYONE!" Midnight shouted, swiping her whip to effectively get them all to look at her. "Your student representative is from Class 1-A, Katsuki Bakugo!"
Wade's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in fear. Why was Bakugo of all people going to represent the freshmen? It was crazy! As Bakugo walked up to the stage Midnight was on, he whispered to no one in particular. "Why in God's ass would they pick Bakugo?!"
"Must be because he placed first in the Entrance Exam." Sero said, yet he was more confused as Wade, probably the rest of the class as well.
Bakugo walked up to the mic and stood there for a moment. Wade shook his head. "I got a bad feeling about this."
"Maybe he'll say something good this time." Mina said, but was also nervous about what the explosive boy would say.
Bakugo then said to everyone. "I just wanna say...I'm gonna win."
Everyone in his class had comically shocked faces. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Wade shouted at Bakugo with white eyes and sharp teeth. Everyone from the other classes started to boo and insult him. Calling him overconfident and a jerk and to get off the stage. But Bakugo wasn't bothered by it and turned his back to them.
"Why would you be so disrespectful?! You're representing us all!" Iida yelled angrily at Bakugo.
"Not my fault the rest of you are stepping stones to my victory." Bakugo said, giving the students a thumbs down.
Tetsutetsu was murmuring something under his breath about how he was going to beat Bakugo. Wade couldn't blame him. Bakugo's overconfidence was a real headache to deal with. But as Bakugo walked back to where he was before being called up, the Spider-Man noticed something. Back then, Bakugo would have been smiling whenever he was busting. But he wasn't now. He was pushing himself and telling himself he couldn't lose.
Bakugo gave Wade a death stare and bumped his shoulder as he passed by.
Wade sighed with a disappointing look. In true Bakugo fashion, he's made the rest of them into targets.
"Without further ado, it's time for us to get started!" Midnight announced to the students and audience. Not letting the students catch a breath. "This is where you begin feeling the pain! The first fateful game of the festival!" She swiped her whip above and a holographic screen appeared behind the R-Rated Heroine. Projecting a spinning wheel that spun extremely fast as the students watched with anticipation and anxious for what was going to be the first game. "What could it be?"
The wheel stopped and the game was selected.
Obstacle Race!
"Ta-dah!"
"So it's gonna be an obstacle course?" Wade said with curiosity.
"All 11 classes will participate in this treacherous contest. The track is four kilometers around the outside of the stadium." Midnight told the participants, before rising up her whip. "I don't wanna restrain anyone, at least in this game." She seductively lipped her lips. "As long as you don't leave the course, you're free to do whatever your heart desires! Now then, take your places, contestants."
The crowd continued to cheer with excitement. The students went to the tunnel with the red arch with three green lights on top of it. Ready to start the obstacle course.
The three green lights turned on.
Wade got ready as he remembered what All Might said to him. This was the moment he was going to introduce himself to the world. But he had to be smart about this. Without his web-shooters, he was at a massive disadvantage, combined with the fact that he still couldn't control One-for-All. He had to be careful when he used this power.
One light was turned off.
Wade had to go beyond.
The second light goes off.
He was going to show All Might what he was really capable of.
The third light went off.
"BEGIN!" Midnight shouted.
All of the students simultaneously charged towards the tunnel. Wanting to get in the lead.
"And we're off to a racing start!" Present Mic announced and turned to Aizawa. "How 'bout some color commentary, Mummy Man?"
Aizawa turned his head to him and groaned. "How did you talk me into this?" He lazily asked.
"What should we be paying attention to in the early stages of the race?"
"The doorway."
And he wasn't wrong. Wade managed to jump onto the wall and looked down, panting as he scanned the scene. When the students got into the narrow hallway, everyone started to push and shove each other, trying to get through. It was only a miracle that when there was enough space for him to allow Wade jump out of the crowd.
"Hey! I should remind you to proceed to the exit in an orderly fashion! But I see you guys are now stuck just like the last time in the hallways! Good luck with that!" Wade quipped as he started to wall-run towards the exit.
However, his spider-senses tingled and suddenly the temperature began to drop at a rapid speed.
Wade quickly ran up the wall and crawled on the ceiling when ice covered the entire tunnel. spreading along the outside walls as many contestants got trapped in the ice. Preventing them from moving.
Looking at the exit, Wade saw Todoroki run past them with ease. "Apologies." The ice user said as he took the lead. Leaving a trail of ice. on the ground that covered the path.
Knowing that he couldn't continue on with the ice covering the walls and ceiling, Wade did the next best thing to win. Knowing that what he was going to do was rather unsportsmanlike, he took off his shoes, held them by the lasses, and then jumped down onto the wall. He slid down the ice, before jumping off. "HEADS UP!"
The student below him, Neito Monoma, was a reasonably tall young man with slick blond hair, which gets shorter the further down his head it goes, styled so that it's parted to the left, his bangs left hanging over his right eye. His irises were a purplish-blue, his pupils white and his eyes were shaped so that they're slanting downwards towards the far sides of his face, usually left half-closed.
When he heard Wade yell, he looked up...
And Wade stepped on his face.
"Sorry!" Wade apologized and started jumping off the heads of students, making his way towards the exit. With each jump, he made sure to say "Sorry!" and "Excuse me!", but that didn't stop them from getting angry.
As he jumped off the last person's head and went high into the air, Wade saw he wasn't the only one that was using their own tricks. Bakugo yelled as he used his explosion to launch him above the other students and the ice trail. Momo created a staff from her palm that propelled her up over. Kirishima's hardening allowed him to break free. And Aoyama shot his laser beam to shout himself into the air.
"Nice trick, Todoroki!" Momo huffed.
Falling down, Wade landed feet first on the ice. He immediately slipped and fell on his ass. But Wade pushed past his pain and quickly put back on his red shoes. Thankfully they were nearly oversized. Getting back up, Wade heard Bakugo yell at Todoroki. "I wouldn't let you get away so easily! You icy-hot batard!" He shot more explosions, going faster.
Wade quickly started running again but felt himself nearly slipping each time he tried to step. Using his wall-crawling ability, he was luckily able to stick to the ice. Seeing how he was going to get past Todoroki's ice, the Spider-Man started running across the ice.
He then saw Ojiro using his tail to jump over the ice. "You froze me in place once before." He said, as Tokoyami used Dark Shadow's claws to jump. "It won't happen again!"
Wade could remember their last encounter back at the combat training, it was impressive to see Ojiro learning his mistakes in order to avoid getting frozen again.
Wade then heard Mina yelp next to him on his left. He turned his head and saw her trying to skate on the ice with her Acid-Quirk. She was about to trip when Wade grabbed her and helped her steady herself. Still running as Mina used her Acid to melt the ice. "Thanks Wade!" She said before he let go. Allowing her to skate on her own. "I really owe you one."
"Don't mention it. Now come one!" He exclaimed with a grin and the two continued the race.
Behind the two, Ochaco was with some of the other students that were having difficulties trying to walk across the ice. "Gotta wait for the right time to show off my Quick!"
However, behind her, Shinso was strangely being carried by three other students. Each of them had this bizarre, colorless look in their eyes. "So they are good at using their powers, huh?"
Todoroki looked back at the people that were getting across the ice. "I didn't expect so many people to dodge that. Especially those from other classes." He whispered, before noticing something that he wasn't expecting to see.
Mineta was grunting each time he pulled one of his balls off his head. Each of them he threw on the ice and they shuck to it, and the purple-haired boy jumped high off of each of them.
"You think you're so cool, but I've outsmarted you!" Mineta shouted and pointed at Todoroki with a big smile on his face. "Ha! How pathetic, Todoroki! Eat this! My special attack!"
He grabbed another one of his balls and prepared his attack, falling down towards the ice user.
"GRAPE..."
WHAM!
Suddenly, one of the robots from the 1-Pointer robots from the entrance exam hit Mineta in the side.
Wade stopped running when he saw the robot, shocked that it was here, all while Mineta screamed while flying away, before rolling across the ground.
The faux robot turned to Wade and looked down at him and all of the other students that had stopped. Also shocked to see the robot was there. And it wasn't alone, as a 2-Pointer and 3-Pointer was with it. But even worse was that behind the smaller robots were a horde of massive 0-Pointer robots.
"Target acquired." The 1-Pointer said. "Terminate them."
"Ooh! Enemies have shown up out of nowhere!" Present Mic announced. "I bet we're in for a treat here! A test of strength and cunning! It's a Robo Inferno!"
When Kaminari came to the front of the crowd, he stopped and looked at the robots in horror. "Are those the 0-Point villains from the practical test?!"
"You gotta be kidding me!" Wade shouted.
The General Studies students gasped at the sheer size of the robots. Was this what the teachers meant by obstacles? There was no hope for them to get through.
"So this is what you and the other students faced in the entrance exams." Todoroki said.
"Where's the school even getting the funding for these things?" Momo asked. Just like Todoroki, she got into U.A. on recommendation and didn't get to see the robots.
"Holy crap! Who is running this school!?" Wade yelled, questioning who would willingly put high school kids in this kind of danger.
One of the 0-Pointers started to attack, reaching out its arm to crush Wade and Todoroki.
The bi-colored hair boy had the ground freeze under his right foot and his right hand started to power up with ice. "They obviously went through a lot of trouble, but I wish they'd prepared something a little more difficult." He placed his hand on the ground, and everything with a 5-foot radius around him froze as large icicles started to form. "Especially since my dear-old dad is watching."
Under swinging his right arm up, Todoroki unleashed a massive power of ice that froze a lot of the robots. He sighed out of cold air after seeing his work.
Wade stared up at the frozen 0-Pointer with shocked eyes. He snapped out of it when he saw Todoroki running between the frozen legs of the robot. Some of the other students saw this and yelled that they could get through. Wade was about to follow Todoroki, but then he heard the ice-user say. "Careful, now. I froze them when they were off their balance."
Wade's spider-senses went off like crazy and he looked up to see the robots falling over. Crashing down onto the ground and creating a giant dust cloud.
"On purpose."
And with that, he ran off.
"That's Todoroki from Class 1-A pulling ahead to an early lead with a devastating display!" Present Mic announced, standing up from his chair with his hands on the counter. "Amazing! He's one we should watch, it almost seems unfair! Thoughts?" He asked Aizawa
"His attack was both offensive and defensive." The teacher of Class 1-A simply said.
"No wonder he was let in on recommendations! He's never even fought those Robo Infernos before, but they didn't stand a chance against his chart-topping moves! The first-year students are already off to a rocky start and it's only the first role! Talk about a cool obstacle course! And all the action this brought to you by the camera robots at each location!"
As Todoroki ran on ahead, more 1-Pointer robots started to appear out from the dust cloud. Joining the other smaller robots blocking the contestants' way. Wade, who was in front of everyone, got ready to fight. He had to hurry. He then noticed a piece of armor from the robots laying on the ground next to his feet. He reached down and picked it up. There were black straps on it, so he fastened them down turning the metal plate into a makeshift shield.
He then turned back to the robots as they stared at him with glowing red eyes. Wade had to get past them, while also looking out for other obstacles.
"Hey, there's someone trapped under that robot!"
Wade gasped and looked far ahead at one of the frozen 0-Pointers. His hero-side came out and yelled. "We've got to get them out of there!"
He rushed ahead to rescue the people in danger. But one of the 1-Pointers rushed at him and prepared to attack him. Wade was ready for it and when it launched an attack with its arm, the Spider-Man dodged the attack and used his shield to cut the head and arm off.
Turning back to the frozen robot, Wade was going to continue running towards it. But he stopped and gasped.
The ice on top of the downed robot started to crack and break, before exploding.
"I'M ALIVE!" Kirishima shouted as he broke out of the ice, having been the one to get crushed. With his Hardening Quirk still activated, he turned his head to the direction Todoroki went. "That bastard Todoroki. Timing their fall like that. I'd be dead if I wasn't me!"
Then next to him, the ice started to crack and break again, as another person was trying to break out of it. "Class A's just full of jerks, huh!" That person who burst out from the inside of the robot. It was Tetsutetsu, however, his entire body having been turned into steel. This was his Steel-Quirk, which enabled his body to turn as hard as steel. Basically, it was the same as Kirishima's. "I'd be dead if I wasn't me!"
As the two boys ran on while accusing each other of being copycats, with Kirishima shedding a tear about it. Wade threw his shield at the head of a 3-Pointer. The armor plate cut into the head of the robot and put it out of commission.
Wade ran and jumped onto the head of the robot, pulling out his makeshift shield and turned back to the other students. "Everyone, together!" He shouted, trying to take charge and get everyone out of the situation. "We can team up and get through the robots!"
Suddenly there was a loud boom, and Wade watched as Bakugo used his explosions to rocket himself towards the top of a 0-Poiner. Determined to deny Todoroki from getting ahead of him.
He landed on the top of the robot. But then, not far behind, Sero and Tokoyami used their Quirks to climb out the 0-Pointer. "With your personality, I was sure you'd bust your way through. But you avoided a fight!" Sero said with a grin, using his Tape-Quirk.
"Allow me to follow in your wake." Tokoyami said, using Dark Shadow to get over the 0-Pointer.
"Or we could just do whatever the hell we please." He said with a sigh. And then another robot approached him. Wade charged his Venom Blast and jumped at it, punching it in the head.
The crowd cheered as the students were getting through the first obstacle, and as the other fought the other robots. "The current leaders of the pack are overwhelmingly from Class A!" Present Mic announced.
"As expected, most of the group that has gone ahead is Class 1-A." Snipe commented as he and the other teachers watched the race in their box.
"But Class B and even the others aren't bad." All Might told the other teachers. "It's just..."
"...Class A knows there's no time to hesitate." Aizawa said, unknowingly continuing where All Might had left off.
Iida used his superspeed to kick away a few 2-Pointers, destroying them. Jiro ran past two robots and jabbed her earphone jacks into them, and sent soundwaves that short circuit the robots. Kaminari shocked one robot with his electricity.
"They've been exposed to the outside world, up close and personal. They've had that fear planted in them. And they've endured it. Overcome it."
Ochaco released multiple 1-Pointers from her Gravity-Quirk and they fell to the ground and were destroyed. Ojiro swung his tail and destroyed the head of another robot he attacked.
"Each has grown from that experience and forgotten how to hesitate."
Wade landed on the ground and looked at the towering 0-Pointers that looked down at him. He was about to think of a way to get around them when multiple explosions went off and destroyed each of them.
Looking back, Wade saw that it was Momo that was shooting them. Opened her PE shirt to reveal some skin and used her Quirk to make a cannon that you'd find on really old navy ships. "Piece of cake!" She said with her hands on the cannon.
Wade looked at her with an impressed expression, as some of the students were gobsmacked by her abilities. "No wonder she got recommendations." He said. The young man turned around and saw that there was now an opening she made. Wade and the other students began running to the next part of the race.
"You're better off dodgin' these fellas in the exam." Snipe commented. "But they're just slow hunks of if ya try takin' 'em down. Long as you find a weak point, that is."
All Might just watched Wade as the TV focused on him and his makeshift shield. Wade was busting, trying to get control of the crazy obstacle course. But he just wanted his student to keep going and get to the 2nd game.
"How many are they?!" Wade shouted after he took down two more of the 1-Pointer robots with his shield. Things could've been easier if the school would let him keep his web-shooters, but at this point he thought this was a challenge for him to know how to deal with situations like this, without relying on his gadgets.
Suddenly, a 2-Pointer was behind him and about to attack him by surprise, but Wade already realized thanks to his spider senses, before he made a jump and landed on top of the robot. Rearing his fist back and charging a Venom Blast, he punched the robot, bursting it with electric shock and Wade jumped out before the robot exploded.
Wade landed on the ground and was about to continue the race, but then...
"Dammit! We're surrounded!"
He stopped before looking behind and saw half a dozen of Villain Bots surrounding a group of students. At first he thought they would handle it by themselves, but then he realized they were outnumbered, and if he could look closer, they didn't look like they're from the Hero Course.
He turned forward to see the other members of Class A-1 and some from B-1 moving forward without turning back, clearly they were too focused on the race than anything. But as he looked back behind, he saw the students were panicked when the robots began closing, not giving them a chance to escape.
Wade let out a sigh. He held the shield by grabbing the edges, he then spun around and threw it towards the villain bots.
The shield cut through one of the 2-Pointer before sticking into another robot's head. The students went surprised before they saw a young man flipping in the air before landing on top of the 3-Pointer, then he punched it with his fist engulfed charged with Venom Blast, shutting the robot down as it slumped on the ground. He then jumped on the damaged robot to retrieve his shield, before he went towards the remaining robots and proceeded to smash them with the shield.
The students were taken aback as they realized not only a guy from the Hero Course was helping them, they also recognized him as the foreigner student who everyone was talking about in the school before.
After taking down the last of the Villain Bots, Wade turned back to see the students he just saved looking at him dumbfoundedly.
"You can thank me later." He said before he ran forward with his shield, not having time to hear their answer. He knew he was getting left behind and at this rate he won't catch up with Todoroki and Bakugo, but he didn't regret helping those guys back there.
However, he stopped his tracks when he bumped into another obstacle. A 0-Pointer was looming over him. Cursing under his breath, Wade knew that he had to get through that giant thing or he won't be able to continue the race. However, as the robot reached out with its giant hand, a light bulb lit over his head.
Swinging the shield to his back, Wade made a run and before the giant robot would grab him, he jumped over its hand and then ran across its arm, going all the way up to the head. One thing he learned in the entrance exam, was that the robots had the power core as a weak point, which means this 0-Pointer must have that as well. Furthermore, the robot didn't seem to pay attention to the young man reaching on top of its shoulder.
"Come on, come on! Where is it?" Wade ran around the robot's head to find the power core, but when it reached the back of its neck, he found the yellow and black striped handle. "BINGO!"
He ripped the lid with his hands and found the same power core inside. He then charged the Venom Blast with both hands and then released an electric shock to the power core.
The plan seemed to be paying off as the robot became still as volts were running through the chassis. And then, the red lights of its eyes went off. The 0-Pointer was shut down and it was about to collapse.
Wade crawled up to the top of the robot's head, and as he tried to keep on balance, the giant robot leaned back like a pine tree cut down.
"TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMBEEEEEEEEER!" He shouted before the robot fell down. Luckily, everyone moved away before they'd get crushed by the giant robot as they continued with their race.
Before the head of the robot touched the ground, Wade crouched down at the edge and jumped forward, gaining the speed not only to get past more of the students, he also managed to catch up with Class A-1 as he spotted Todoroki and Bakugo on the lead. He front flipped through the air and as he landed, he rolled forward before continuing to run.
"Wade! Where have you been!" Ochako said as she was running beside him. She was a little surprised when she couldn't find him anywhere and thought he was far behind.
"Oh, you know. Dealing with obstacles." Wade chuckled, without mentioning that he had to help a few students back there.
Little did he know that his performance was caught on camera in the stadium. The audience erupted in cheers after watching the exact moment the young foreigner student climbed up the giant robot to the moment he went back to the race. At first they thought he went crazy to take on that robot until they witnessed him using the electric-like power.
"That. Was. Incredible! Walker from Class A-1 not only took down a 0-Pointer single handedly, he also used the robot as some sort of momentum to reach the current leaders!" Present Mic exclaimed on the microphone. "What are the chances this young man could take the lead, Eraser Head?"
"We have to wait and see. They're just getting through the first part of the race." Aizawa replied nonchalantly.
"Didn't he turn back to help a group of kids from General Studies?" Back in the stands where the heroes from the U.A were sitting, Vlad King asked the other teachers.
"Yeah, it almost looked like he forgot this is just a race, didn't he?" Thirteen replied with a hint of confusion.
"I'm pretty sure he didn't forget about it." All Might responded with a chuckle. "But he knows there are far more important things than just winning the race."
The other heroes looked at All Might in puzzle by his claim, but they remembered about the time he saved a girl in the Entrance Exam. It's become clear that this boy would never leave someone behind when they need help. No wonder All Might had admiration for the young man. After he told them that Wade stood up against Nomu to protect him, the heroes were shocked to learn he risked his life to protect All Might, and while they believed what he did was reckless, they had no doubt that this boy will shine in this competition.
Wade stopped as he, Ochaco, Mina, and Tsuyu approached a cliff. Looking quite surprised, he looked out in front of him and his eyes widened in fear.
What was in front of them was a giant bottomless pit that also had multiple tall platforms spaced between each other. However, they were close enough that it would be possible for someone with a good jump to hop across them to the next. There were also lone and narrow lines of rope that connected the platforms.
"So the first barrier was a piece of cake?! How about the second?!" Present Mic announced. "Fall and You're out! You gotta crawl across if you wanna make it! This is THE FALL!"
"When did the school build this stage?" Ochaco asked, looking down with other students at the blackened button where the light didn't shine. Tsuyu then walked up to the cliff and surprised them by jumping out towards the pit. Grabbing a tight rope and started crawling towards the next platform.
"She's fast!" Mina said in surprise, Wade nodded.
"If I had my web-shooters, I could clear this in no time, but it looks like I'm just going to have to jump to get across." He said as he stepped back to prepare to jump. He and the two girls then heard the sound of chuckling and turned around to see who it was.
That person was Mei Hatsume. A reasonably short girl with quite a mature build that could almost rival Momo's. She had salmon pink hair, which is generally shoulder-length, although it does vary, which is styled into thick dreadlocks and side-swept to her right. Her eyes were covered by a pair of red and gold steampunk goggles. She, like everyone else, was wearing the regular U.A. gym uniform, but she also added some gadgets onto it, including a utility belt to hold the various tools she carried around, oversized speed-assisting boots, another device that was under her breasts, and what could possibly be a jetpack strung over her shoulders.
With a glint of sunlight reflecting off her goggles, she grinned widely and her hands on her knees. "Yes! Finally, this is my chance to show off what I can do! My support gears are gonna steal the spotlight from these wannabe heroes." Mei said, before throwing her arms out. "Everyone! Observe what my brilliant gadgets can do! Wire arrows and Hover Soles!"
"You're from Support!" Ochaco exclaimed.
"Hey! How come you get to bring all that stuff?" Mina pointed and complained.
"Students in the Hero Course get all kinds of combat training for their Quirks. To keep things fair and give us a fighting chance, we're allowed to bring whatever gadgets or costumes we want into the games so long as we develop them ourselves. So sit back and enjoy the show!"
Mei fired one of her Wire Arrows and the arrow-like grappling hook flew through the air with the wire attached to the back of it. The arrow pierced into the side of one platform.
"For those of us in the Support Course, this is the perfect obstacle to show off our ingenious ideas and creations to any companies that might want to recruit us!" Activating her Hover Soles, Mei laughed like a mad scientist as she speeded off the edge and started falling to the blackened bottom. "I hope employers are watching~!"
Pressing a button on her shoulder caused the wire to retract. Pulling her up towards the platform. "My super cute babies are sure to make a splash!" She exclaimed, lifting her feet up to have them up against the side, and she rocketed up the platform, and into the air. Laughing again as the arrow detached from the rocks and returned to its shooter.
"Wow." Ochaco watched in amazement as Mei landed on a platform.
"Talk about annoying," Mina said with a pout.
Wade then looked down at one of the tightropes that connected the cliff to several platforms. Todoroki was already far ahead, using his ice powers to traverse the obstacle with ease, so there was no time to stand around and talk. So Wade jumped onto the tightrope and started running down it. Thanks to his enhanced balance, he's able to run on it. "Come on! We're still in the game!" He shouted to Ochako and Mina.
Ochaco's face turned to an expression of determination. "I won't lose!" She exclaimed and began chasing after Mei. Using her gravity powers, she hopped gently from one platform to the next.
Mina followed her with a pout. "This is so unfair!" She grabbed onto the rope and used her acid at a safe level and mixture to slid across quickly.
Neither noticed Shinso leering as the other contestants started to move forward.
Meanwhile, up ahead of the race, Todoroki had reached the end of the Fall and was running towards the red stairs. He looked over his shoulder behind him and saw Bakugo was propelling himself over the Fall and coming towards the bi color-haired boy. It took him long enough, but the blonde boy was getting fired up.
"The first place is mine!" Bakugo yelled, speeding towards Todoroki.
When Iida reached the Fall, he stopped for a moment. "My older brother is probably watching this. I can't let him see me look foolish! I've got this!" He used his Quirk to ride the tightropes to get across the obstacle.
Boy did he look foolish.
Wade was half away to the end and was running as fast as he could.
But then, when he stepped on the edge of a platform, it broke off. He gasped and grabbed onto the tightrope as it came loose. Yelling as he swung down the cavern before slamming into the side of the platform that he just came from.
While Shoji and Aoyama flew overhead, Wade was grunting in pain, trying not to lose his grip on the rope. He then looked up with a frustrated expression and started to crawl up the platform. When he got to the top, he couldn't find any of his other classmates around. They were already ahead of him and Wade was being left in the dust.
"Damnit! I've got to keep moving!" He exclaimed and continued onwards.
Meanwhile, Todoroki stopped when he reached the last obstacle. Halting next to a large sign that said "Danger MINES!"
"And our leader has reached the final barrier! Everyone had better tread carefully...YOU'RE STEPPING ONTO A MINEFIELD!" That's right, the last obstacle was a large field of mines that were buried into the ground in noticeable spots. Present Mic continued to speak on through the speakers. "By the way, those landmines are decided for the games, so they might be loud and flashing, but they're not all that powerful. JUST ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU WET YOUR PANTS!"
Only seconds later, and mayhem was already underway. Some of the students from the other classes stepped on the landmines and were being blown high into the sky.
No longer using his powers, Todoroki was carefully treading across the field to avoid stepping on a mine. He had to admit, this was clever on the game-makers' part. Those in the lead would be at a disadvantage, and it would also make for good entertainment.
Another explosion was heard from behind him. But this sounded differently. Todoroki looked behind to see Bakugo rocketing towards him as he flew over the mines with his Quirk. Bakugo smirked as he was getting closer. "It's over, icyhot!" He shouted.
With one powerful explosion, he passed Todoroki only by one foot. But he wasn't done with the bi-color-haired boy just yet.
"Bastard! Your declaration of war was to the wrong person!" Bakugo sent an explosion at Todoroki, but the white and red-haired boy jumped out of the way.
The rest of the contestants were catching up to them. Some were using their Quirks to detect the mines and go around. Iida was trying to outrun the explosions as he stepped on the explosives. However, one trip up and he was blasted into the air by a pink cloud. It was bad for Bakugo and Todoroki in particular. Not only were they having to fight off each other, but also watch where they were stepping.
Finally, Wade had arrived at the minefield. His spider-senses went off right before he could step on a mine at the entrance to the obstacle. This was bad. He not only had to worry about the mines but also people near him that might step on them. And with how wide the field was and the fact that Bakugo and Todoroki were nearing the end of it, there was no way he was going to make it.
"No!" Wade yelled, taking his shield off his back and holding up high above his head. "It's not over until I say it's over!" He brought the shield down and stabbed it into the soft dirt.
Then, he started to dig out the mines. Bringing them out by lifting them up from underneath with the shield. Wade knew that what he was planning to do was perhaps the most reckless thing he's ever done, but the truth was he always made reckless choices ever since he gained powers. All he had to do was be smart about the idea. The landmines work just like regular ones. You step on them and they'll go off. But they're not that powerful but detonated a lot of them and it is going to hurt. As he dug out each mine, he took his time to do so. He couldn't rush this.
He looked up and saw many students were walking carefully so as to not trip on a mine. Even people like Tsuyu, who was great at jumping, couldn't be too careless. It's also likely that the farther down you go, the more mines you'll encounter. No's going to be going through this very quickly. But that's what Wade was hoping. He's going to use that to his advantage, as everyone was more careful around the entrance. That means there'll be plenty of mines to collect.
As they were walking carefully, Mina and Jiro noticed Wade and looked at him. "Hey, Wade...what're you doing?" The pink girl asked, a little shocked when she saw he was gathering mines.
"Something very stupid." Wade answered, continuing to dig up the mines.
"Uhuh. Then I'll just leave you to that." Jiro said with a wave, using her earphone jack earlobes to detect the mines. Mina followed her.
Just as Todoroki and Bakugo were almost to the finish line, Wade managed to finish. Having collected as many mines as he could and piling them. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank you Bakugo." Wade said, grabbing his shield and holding it close to the front of his body.
He then jumped onto the pile and yelled. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"
KA-BOOM!
A massive pink explosion rocked the minefield. Everyone stopped moving and looked towards it, before feeling a shockwave that nearly knocked them all off their feet. No one could make sense of the huge explosion in the back, as it was way more power than it needed to be.
After having to shield her eyes from the force of the detonation. Ochaco looked at the pink cloud of smoke.
"YYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Wade yelled out of excitement as he was sent flying out of the pink cloud, riding on the shield that protected him. Everyone watched in total shock as the Spider-Man was now flying over them at breakneck speeds. But within a second, he was flying over Todoroki and Bakugo.
Making him the leading contestant.
"YES!" Wade cheered, but that was a lot more force than he was expecting. And now there was another problem. He was losing momentum, over a minefield, and going down. Fast. "Oh shit! I don't know how to land!"
Well, it couldn't get any worse.
But it did, as Bakugo used his explosions to chase after Wade. And he did look happy. Which was all the time, but now he was pissed.
"YOU BUG, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, HUH?!" He shouted.
Todoroki wasn't far behind, creating an ice path to run on. It was going to end up helping others, but there's no time to worry about that.
Seeing that he was now their common enemy, Wade started to get nervous. Worse was that he was stalling, and his body was now like a rag-doll in the air. And the two boys rushing him will get ahead of him again. He had to act fast because if he didn't time his landing, he'd never be able to catch up with Bakugo and Todoroki.
As his head was now at the same height as theirs, Wade knew he had to take another leap. He had to take them out of the lead.
Knowing that he still didn't get through the minefield, he placed his feet on the surface of the shield and squatted. And then, the shield touched the ground.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" He yelled after his shield hit a few landmines.
The mines blasted Todoroki and Bakugo away to the sides, and Wade flew through the air once again. As the shield flipped to the right angle where Wade was facing the road, he jumped off and used it as a springboard that sent him rocketing across the field at a greater speed than before as he twisted around in the air. He landed on the ground before rolling forward and started running for the finish line. He was now far ahead from Todoroki and Bakugo by using powers and momentum.
"UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE! In a stunning move, Walker has blasted past his classmates from 1-A! I don't believe it, he cleared that minefield in an instant!" Present Mic shouted over the speakers. Wade looked behind him and saw Tokoroki and Bakugo running out of the pink smoke and bolting to towards him. Kicking it into high-gear, Wade ran faster to the finish line. "Eraserhead! Your students are amazing! What the heck are you teaching them!"
"This has nothing to do with me." Aizawa said, watching Wade, Todoroki, and Bakugo. "Each of them is powered by their own drive to succeed. And some have the fighting spirit to never give up."
Wade rushed through the gateway as Bakugo used his explosive powers and Todoroki used his ice. "There you have it! ERASER HEAD'S A TERRIBLE TEACHER!"
"I'm what?!"
"Who would have imagined at the beginning of this race that the climax would be a nonstop megamix of epic surprises! The first person to make it back into the stadium is..."
Wade ran out of the tunnel first.
"WADE WALKER IS OUR CHAMPION!"
The crowd exploded in furious cheers as they dropped down confetti for the black-haired Spider-Man. Midnight tried to hold in her joy for Daniel's son's victory, but couldn't help her jumping and clapping for him.
At Inko's home, the motherly woman bursted into tears of joy for her foster-son. She could feel like she almost had a heart attack when she watched Wade doing dangerous stuff that she didn't know if he could make it. But now, she was more than proud of her son, and she was absolutely sure his father would be too.
Meanwhile, outside of the stadium, both Kamui Woods and Death Arms looked at the jumbotron screen over the entrance they were guarding as Mt. Lady was entertaining her fans.
"Wait, I know that kid…" Kamui Woods said as he watched the winner of the race celebrating.
Death Arms' eyes widened when he also recognized the boy from the screen. "I'll be damned…"
However, not everyone was happy to see Wade win. In a dark room in an unowned location, Shigaraki was watching the games on his computer. When he saw Wade's face as he won the first game, Shigaraki started scratching his neck.
"It's that spider brat again..." He muttered venomously.
After taking a moment to catch his breath, Wade took a moment to look around. Taking in the cheers and praises being sent to him by the audience. The feeling of it all made his heart flutter. Wade then turned his head towards the teacher's box. All of the teachers were clapping for him, but Wade's attention was on All Might.
Wade grinned and gave the Symbol of Peace a thumbs up. All Might returned the gesture with a proud smile on his face.
Wiping away some tears of overwhelming joy from his eyes, Wade cheered as loud as he could with his fist up in the air. "WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The crowd cheered louder with him. All Might looked at his successor with his grin remaining. This Sports Festival is a competition where everyone aims for the top. Even though that means defeating his friends and classmates. As a professional Hero, popularly plays a huge part in our careers. Wade has to want to be the best. It's a bloodthirsty world. At Wade's core is a Hero whose drive is to save and help people.
That's why All Might chose the young Walker boy. But he also feared that Wade's selflessness would be his weakness. All Might clapped his hands together. 'Turns out I was worried over nothing. You are a fighter. Reckless as hell, yes, but good job!'
"This is interesting."
"I think it's obvious that Walker's stock is about to go up."
"Not so fast. He's still mostly unknown as he's yet to show us the full extent of his Spider-Quirk. Imagine for a second that an agency was to take him on, how would they market someone so plain-looking who doesn't show off his Quirk completely."
"They definitely have their work cut out."
"Well, he's got a lot going for him. Looks, strength, power, speed, and intelligence. If only he didn't look so plain-looking.
Plain-looking? That struck a nerve for Wade. "Who're you calling plain-looking?!" He yelled at them.
And it wasn't just him, as All Might sweatdropped when he overheard the conversation. The people who were talking about him were three students from the Department of Management classes, aka the Business Course. And those types of students sure haven't seemed to change. Its members have nothing to gain by competing in the Sports Festival. So instead, they hone their skills as salespeople and run business simulations.
They've got a lot of free time.
Todoroki and then Bakugo came out of the tunnel after Wade. Making former second-place, and the latter third.
Going off to the side of the entrance, Bakugo took a moment to catch his breath. Panting with sweat running down his face as his blood started to boil. Grabbing his left arm as he started to shake. "Walker, you bug...No way...Not again..."
"The contestants are pouring in one after the other! Let's hear some applause for all our competitors as we prepare the results!" Present Mic said as Todoroki was panting, also trying to catch his breath. He looked at Wade and glared at him as the Spider-Man was sitting on the ground breathing in heavily.
For Wade, he felt as though his victory was only by sheer luck. He strategized and those plans just so happened to work. He trusted his Spider-Quirk to get him through it, and it got him out of all the situations he was placed in. However, the real test of skill was only beginning.
"Wade! That was amazing!" Wade turned as saw Ochaco running over to him, looking exhausted as she came to him. Iida was there too, but he was comically sulking in the background over losing a race with his type of Quirk. "I can't believe you got 1st place!" She congratulated him.
"Yeah, thanks…" He said with a smile. He then looked back at the tunnel and saw that Momo was the next one to run. However, he noticed that she was really out of breath and exhausted. "Momo? What happened to you?"
"W-Wade...please, get this thing off me." he pleaded and turned herself to the side.
When Wade and Ochaco saw what she was talking about, they cringed.
"Two birds with one stone!" Mineta cheered, who used his Quirk to stick to her back and piggy-backed all the way to the finish line. Despite her best efforts to beat him off her, the purple-haired pervert wouldn't come off. "I'm a freaking genius!"
Wade delivered a kick to the kids head, making him let go as he flew away. "You're the worst!"
Mina was next to reach the finish line. When she saw Mineta getting kicked and flying in her direction, she held up her arms as though they were a goal. When Mineta flew between her arms she shouted, "Score!"
As the last of the people that would be going onto the next round of the games, Midnight got on the stage again. "The first game for the first-years is finally over, and what a game it was. Now let's take a look at the status, shall we."
1. Class A: Wade Walker
2. Class A: Shoto Todoroki
3. Class A: Katsuki Bakugo
4. Class B: Ibara Shiozaki
5. Class B: Juzo Honenuki
6. Class A: Tenya Iida
7. Class A: Fumikage Tokoyami
8. Class A: Hanta Sero
9. Class A: Eijiro Kirishima
10. Class B: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
11. Class A: Mashirao Ojiro
12. Class B: Yosetsu Awase
13. Class A: Tsuyu Asui
14. Class A: Mezu Shoji
15. Class A: Rikido Sato
16. Class A: Ochaco Uraraka
17. Class A: Momo Yaoyorozu
18. Class A: Minoru Mineta
24 other people made it into the next round. Among them were the rest of Class 1-A, who managed to get a little higher in the ranks. Well, except for Aoyama, who barely managed to get the 42nd place. Everyone else in Class 1-B got in, ranking lower than their "rivals". Only two other students outside of the Hero Course got to be in the next stage. Shinso getting in 27th, and Mei being the 41st place holder.
"Only the top 42 will advance to the next round. But don't be too let down if you didn't make the cut! We've prepared other opportunities for you to shine!" Midnight announced to the students competing in the games and licked her lips seductively. "Now the real fun is about to begin! The chance to fully move yourselves into the limelight. Give it your best!"
She then swiped her whip towards the holographic screen behind her and the wheel started spinning again.
"Let's see what we've got in store for you next! Will your wildest fantasies come to life? What could it be? The waiting is torture..." Midnight said suggestively. "Prepare yourselves...for THIS!"
The wheel stopped and the game was selected.
Cavalry Battle!
"Cavalry Battle? Man, I'm terrible at those." Kaminari mumbled with little enthusiasm.
"It's not an individual event. I wonder how they'll split us up." Tsuyu said with a finger to her lip. Even Wade was confused with how it all worked.
"Allow me to explain!" Midnight said, and the screen showed an image of Thirteen, All Might, and Present Mic in the cavalry battle formation. Thirteen was in front, All Might was the rider, and Present Mic was struggling to support the #1 Hero from the back. "The participants will form teams of two to four people as they see fit. In theory, it's basically the same as a regular playground game, but there is one difference: each player has been assigned a point value based on the results from the obstacle course."
"I get it, it's a point-based system like the entrance exam." Sato presumed, much to the annoyance of Midnight. "That seems pretty simple."
"So that means each team will have a different point value based on which students are on it!" Ochaco assumed.
"Oh, I see!" The pink-haired girl said, now understanding the game.
Having enough, Midnight violently swung her whip down and snapped angrily at the two female students. "Maybe you should shut up and let me explain things to you!" Wade figured it's probably best to not get on her bad side. The holographic screen then showed the rankings and a scoreboard for each rank. "Now, the points assigned go up to five starting from the bottom. So 42nd place gets five points and 41st gets ten points and so on!"
Wade blinked and then looked down at his hand, doing the math of his score in his head. "Five points for each place up...and if I'm the first out of 42...Then I've got 210 points." He said with a smile.
This, however, didn't go unheard by Midnight. Looking at the son of Daniel Walker, the purple-haired smirked sadistically. "Not so fast, Little-Tiger." She said, using the nickname she's had for him when he was so much younger.
Wade looked up at her with wide eyes. 'Wait, what did she say?'
"You see, Walker, there's only one key exception. The point value of the first place winner is...TEN MILLION!"
"..." The comical expression on Wade's face appeared as he felt his brain break for a moment. It took a moment for his mind to reboot, a look of horror appeared on his face. "WHAT?!" He yelled in complete disbelief.
Wade then noticed that all the other students had whipped their heads around to look at him. Making Wade freeze from the looks by all his peers. In other words, if they take down Wade, then they'll win the cavalry battle and stay at the top, no matter what place they were in.
"That's right. It's survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top!" Midnight announced.
Everyone who was once his friends and enemies stared at him with intense glares that could only be described as having bloodlust in them.
"... I'm boned," Wade mumbled with a drop of sweat rolling down his temple.
Seemed like he's got caught in a sticky web of his own making.