Chapter 18: Follow the Leader
As soon as Midnight said the word, Izuku shot out ahead, using his six percent of One for All to gain a lead immediately. He heard Bakugp's explosions directly behind him, and he knew that the blond had to be less than five meters behind him. Izuku ran along the ground, hearing the sounds of Sero's tape being fired behind him. He knew that some people, like Sero, had the advantage in the tunnel, of which Izuku was coming up on the exit.
Suddenly, the air temperature dropped even further than it had before the Obstacle Race had begun, dropping so fast that Izuku almost tripped up because of the distraction. Hearing the sound of ice spreading across the ground behind him, Izuku crouched down, collecting power in his leg as he used the brief moment to take a look at what was happening behind him.
Todoroki was running at full speed, manifesting ice from his right leg and freezing most of the people behind him. The only people to escape the ice floor were the people that had seen him use it before, which was all of Class-1A, as well as some members of the other classes who knew what he was capable of from his status as a recommended student.
Izuku, having built up enough power in his leg, turned around and leapt toward the wall, narrowly dodging the floor of ice that spread past his point in an instant. Izuku moved the power from his right leg to his left, and barely managed to complete the movement as he landed on the wall, pushing off it and launching himself forward. He was in fourth place now, because of his brief pause and his dodge, having to catch up to Sero, Todoroki and Bakugo now, though Sero wasn't too far ahead.
Activating Float almost immediately after his launch, Izuku felt something odd in his core, which he had long since come to associate with One for All. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what. Deciding that it wasn't bad enough to affect his performance for now, Izuku pressed on, ignoring his off feeling and Floated toward Sero, who was just exiting from his final swing from the roof of the tunnel, soaring into the open air.
Izuku caught up to Sero quickly, but started to lose speed as he closed the gap. Apologizing to Sero mentally, Izuku summoned Blackwhip and aimed his hand toward Sero's back, letting his Quirk latch onto the boy's back and fasten around his shoulders. Izuku yanked himself toward Sero while reeling Blackwhip in, Float still active, and flung himself past his friend, letting him fall to the ground with a rough thudding noise.
Now in third place, Izuku set his sights on Todoroki, who was lagging behind Bakugo by a few paces. He wasn't as fast as Bakugo, who was using his explosions to propel himself, so he was Izuku's next target. Izuku, as soon as he began to lose speed, turned off Float, using the rest of his forward momentum to fall to the ground and roll as quickly as possible, retaining his position.
"Class-1A taking the lead in these early stages! What do you feed those kids, Shota?" Present Mic said.
"This isn't me. They've seen pure evil, and they've learned to not hesitate when they see an opportunity. It's like Midoriya said: They've been motivated from the attack at the USJ," Aizawa corrected.
Izuku smiled, knowing that at least Aizawa got it. He had admired his work as Eraserhead, but he had come to respect the man, Aizawa, as well. As Izuku progressed in his training, he got the feeling that he should tell Aizawa about One for All, but All Might would tell him not to, to preserve the status quo. Izuku thought that 'keeping the status quo' as a Hero meant that they were stagnating, and stagnation was complacency, and complacency as a Hero might as well be a death sentence to helpless civilians.
As he ran along the ground, Izuku fired up One for All in his legs, moving the power between his limbs as he took long strides to compensate for his abysmal speed in comparison to his potential. He had only experienced how fast he could truly be once, in the entrance exam. He had jumped to confront the Zero Pointer, and had risen to the beast's eye level, about five stories tall, in the blink of an eye, and it had disoriented him greatly. He could barely keep up with six percent's speed increase, so Izuku had no idea how he was going to cope with his full speed when he could actually use it.
Todoroki looked back at Izuku and scowled, just now realizing that he was after him. He released another wave of ice, which Izuku leapt over with the help of Float. Izuku kept speeding along the ground, closing the gap between him and Todoroki, until the two came across the first stage, the Bot-Mitzvah. Midnight had described it as the robots from the entrance exam, but Izuku hadn't expected it to be almost entirely the Zero Pointers.
Izuku saw Bakugo making his way up to the head of one of the Zero Pointers, and Todoroki running toward the feet of one. He could also hear the people behind them catching up, so he needed to decide quickly. Izuku decided that he was going to follow Bakugo's lead, crouching down and pumping his legs full of power.
A One for All empowered leap, coupled with Float, let him rise to the level of the head of the Zero Pointer of his choice. Izuku, as he leveled out to a hover, summoned Blackwhip and shot it out toward the head of his Zero Pointer. He moved his Super Strength from his legs to his arms, yanking with all his might on the Blackwhips wrapped around the Zero Pointer's head.
Because the Zero Pointer was so much bigger and heavier than him, Izuku's yank pulled him toward the Zero Pointer, landing vertically on the Zero Pointer's face and making a dent in it the size of a large skateboard. Izuku looked around and figured out how to get ahead, as Bakugo was still battling the Zero Pointer in front of him and Todoroki was crouched down, ice swirling around him, which caught Izuku's attention.
Todoroki was down low, with ice spreading around him. Suddenly, a gigantic blast of ice, like a large blade made from his Quirk, sprouted from the ground and rose to meet the Zero Pointer in an instant. The Zero Pointer froze, the metal creaking as it shrunk slightly under the intense cold. Izuku knew it wouldn't hold, and he guessed that Todoroki knew that as well, as he quickly ducked under the Zero Pointer's legs, getting out in front as the robot was still frozen and the people behind them were still in awe.
Snapping back into his own thoughts, Izuku transferred the power still in his arms to his legs. He lengthened his Blackwhips and began to lower himself to the bottom of the Zero Pointer's flat face. Izuku crouched down, getting as small as possible, before leaping out and reeling in the Blackwhips. The combination of his leap and the shortening of his Blackwhips made him swing around over the head of the Zero Pointer at intense speeds, and he used this to fling himself forward, releasing his Blackwhips at just the right time to let his circular momentum turn into forward momentum, activating Float to let him skim across the sky over Todoroki, who was dodging and weaving his way through robots, occasionally freezing some.
Izuku Floated over almost all of the first stage, until he began to lose speed from his slingshot. He deactivated Float and began to soar toward the ground, keeping the power of One for All in his legs to reinforce his landing into a roll to make sure he didn't break his legs. As he came up from his roll, Izuku saw Todoroki pass him once again, and he began to run to catch up.
"Todoroki! Why won't you use all your powers?" Izuku asked, using Blackwhip to slam two One Pointers together, destroying them.
"I refuse to use his curse!" Todoroki snarled, freezing a Three Pointer and kicking it to shards.
Izuku didn't know what that meant, but he'd have to take it at face value for now. Todoroki must have viewed Endeavour's fire as an evil, cursed Quirk, and the fire half of his own Quirk as an extension of that evil, and not something that was a part of him. It probably had something to do with the prominent scar on the left side of Todoroki's face, but that was none of Izuku's business.
Bakugo's explosions grew louder in the distance, and Izuku knew he would eventually catch up. Izuku's blood was pumping so hard that he could feel it under his scars, and it was an oddly exhilarating feeling. It was like he was an action movie star, and he was running to save the world, which may very well be the reality he would face soon. Izuku brought his thoughts back to the race, and increased his One for All percentage, which had slipped slightly in his distraction.
As Izuku and Todoroki reached the end of the first stage, Bakugo caught up. The three ran alongside each other, Todoroki only slightly lagging behind, and Bakugo only slightly flying ahead. The three were on fairly even grounds speed wise, Izuku being impressed at Todoroki's ability to keep up without a Quirk that aided his speed. If anything, Todoroki's Quirk hindered his mobility, because of his body's vulnerability to cold, just like any other person.
As the three came upon the second stage, Bakugo immediately flew ahead, not being inconvenienced by the obstacle at all. With the ability to fly, two out of three of the stages were kind of useless, and Izuku grinned, knowing that he could figure out a way to get around the mines. First, though, he needed to deal with The Fall.
"See ya later, nerds!" Bakugo yelled, cackling as he flew ahead.
Izuku leapt forward with One for All, keeping his arms and legs in to minimize his air resistance. Neglecting Float, Izuku's forward momentum stalled, and he fell into the gaps between the islands, sinking into the darkness. After a moment of building speed as he fell, Izuku looked back up and fired off Blackwhip toward one of the islands, latching onto the lip of the platform and swinging forward harshly, yanking his arm forward and almost dislocating his shoulder.
Ignoring the sharp pain in his shoulder, Izuku swung through the darkness, and eventually came up and out of the pit, getting a strong reaction from the people that had watched him fall in, mainly Todoroki and Sero. The two watched as he extravagantly flipped in the air and landed on one of the platforms, Blackwhip sinking back into his arm.
"Whoa! Midoriya returns from the abyss! What a twist!" Present Mic screamed.
"You didn't think he was dead, did you?" Aizawa asked, his eye-roll evident in his dry tone.
"Holy crap, Midoriya. That was awesome!" Sero said, leaping into the stage with enthusiasm after Izuku's display of mobility.
Izuku was crouched down on the platform he had landed on, and he wasn't moving at all, mostly because he couldn't. Something was wrong, the same feeling he had before returning as a burning feeling in his chest, One for All seeming to want to burn through him. Izuku couldn't move a muscle, and One for All was increasing in power in his legs, trying to escape the strict limit of his waist.
It was like One for All was trying to climb up him, but Izuku was pushing it down as best he could. OFA was stubborn though, and it was difficult to control. It was like it wanted to be used at one hundred percent, but Izuku wasn't going to let it. He got as small as possible, hoping his power would obey and follow his lead, but the burning feeling just kept spreading and intensifying.
"Whoa! Midoriya collapses in on himself! What's going on?" Present Mic yelled.
"He looks to be in pain," Aizawa noted.
"Hey, Midoriya. Are you alright? What's happening?" Sero asked, as Todoroki used this chance to pass both of them.
"It burns! I can't … keep it in. You should just go … before you get hurt," Izuku groaned, feeling like his bones were creaking against one another.
"No, dude. You need help and I'm gonna help you. What can I do?" Sero asked.
Izuku yelled out in pain, pushing down the power in his legs enough to be usable to him. It may have been a bit over his limit, but nothing strong enough to shatter his legs like he had during the entrance exam.
He jumped up, using Float to keep his speed for as long as possible. Izuku felt like he was going to explode, and due to the unknown nature of one of the Quirks inside One for All, that could very well have been a possibility. As Izuku soared into the air, he felt the power in him crescendo, One for All spreading to every part of him and becoming a searing, burning heat instead of a comfortable warmth.
"What the hell is happening with Midoriya?! He's glowing like some sort of angel!" Present Mic screamed.
Looking at his body, Izuku saw that he was surrounded by an aura of bright green lightning, something he had never seen before. Maybe this was the second's Quirk? The lightning was growing around him, becoming bigger and more intense as it flickered around his skin, and something about it felt right. He didn't know what, but it was a natural feeling, but it was short lived. The lightning quickly exploded away from him as One for All's power was drained from his body.
Everything faded away, black mist consuming him. He was in the vestiges' world, and he was supposedly awake in reality. This had never happened before, only being unconscious while talking to his predecessors. Nobody was there, though, and it was eerily quiet. If Izuku listened closely, he could hear a faint version of Present Mic's commentary, and it brought him some comfort to know that things hadn't stopped in this realm, only taken a detour.
Izuku looked around, still seeing nothing. It was getting a bit unnerving to be alone in this world for so long, because he normally associated the vestige world with unity and his family, not barrenness and emptiness, like he was feeling now.
He felt something in the 'air' shift, and the smoke around him turned and undulated into something strange looking, almost like a man. It was a twisted, deformed man, but it was a man. He had no face above his mouth, his entire head being wrapped in scar tissue, the only remnant of facial features being a wicked smirk, and Izuku recognized the man.
It was All for One.
Izuku suddenly awoke in his body and released Float, dropping to the ground and activating it again just before he hit the ground to slow his fall. He landed on the ground next to Sero, who had been watching him with baited breath.
Izuku's bones felt like they were going to fall apart, and he had trouble not passing out right then. He slowly climbed off the ground in silent agony, until he met Sero's worried expression with a pained smile.
"Don't worry. I'm fine," Izuku said, a tear falling from his eye.
"You're not fine," Sero said.
"I wasn't, but I am now," Izuku said, flexing his arms and hands.
"Alright, man. If you're alright," Sero said.
Sero ran off, using the same strategy that Izuku had earlier, of falling underneath the platforms and using his Quirk to wing up once he had gathered enough momentum. He took a few deep breaths, trying to come down from the pain, and tried One for All. Strangely, he couldn't make OFA's strength flow into his body.
Izuku wondered if something had gone wrong, and why he had seen a vision of All for One in the vestige realm, but that was something to worry about later. He needed to catch up to Todoroki and Bakugo, whose explosions could still be seen ahead of everyone. He guessed that he was in about fifteenth place, and immediately took off toward his rivals, needing to move as fast as he could even without his Super Strength.
As he ran to the edge of the platform, Izuku leapt across the edge, using Float to carry him across the pit below him. As he landed on the platform in front of him, he was passed by Mei Hatsume, who waved at him with a cheeky grin while she zoomed past on her hover-boots. Izuku grinned, knowing she had been working hard to develop her gadgets for the Festival. He saw her leaping between platforms using her hover-boots, and got an idea.
Izuku summoned Blackwhip and, after finding he still could, shot them forward at an angle, curling them over the lip of the next platform. He kept the length of the Blackwhips the same, but stepped back, stretching the Blackwhips to their most elongated state possible. Izuku activated Float, and jumped off the ground slightly, being carried by the coiling of the Blackwhips over the ground and across the gap, slingshotting himself similar to the way he had navigated around the Zero Pointer.
"With renewed passion, Midoriya is back in the game!" Present Mic said, far too invested for an objective commentator.
He flew across the ground, not slowing down. Izuku didn't know when he was going to lose speed, so made the most of it. Due to also being close to the ground, Izuku knew that he didn't need to deactivate Float any time soon, so he let his momentum carry him across the rest of the stage.
As he began to lose speed as he hovered over the ground, Izuku released Float and rolled on the ground, coming up immediately and breaking out into a sprint. He passed a few people with his slingshot move, but he still estimated about ten people in front of him. Izuku approached Tsu, who was hopping along the ground as fast as she could.
"Hey, Tsu," Izuku said, smiling softly as he did his best to keep his breath even as he spoke.
"Hello, Midoriya," Tsu said, her voice fading in and out as she rose and fell with the rhythm of her hopping.
"Good job on staying so high up all this time. Your leaping power has progressed nicely," Izuku said.
"Thank you. Your speed has improved, too," Tsu said.
"Yeah," Izuku muttered, looking away from her.
"Whoa! Todoroki and Bakugo reach the final stage of the Obstacle Race one after the other!" Present Mic yelled.
"Damn it!" Izuku grunted, picking up speed as his rage fueled him.
Izuku ran faster than he ever had before, though it obviously couldn't compare with One for All. He sprinted all the way across the plain ground before the minefield, outpacing even Tsu. He didn't know how he was doing this, probably a form of hysterical strength, but he decided that the more he thought about things at the moment, the less he'd be able to do.
Soon, he came across Sero at the threshold of the minefield. He slid to a stop, the dirt under him shifting with his feet. Izuku and Sero shared a look that said 'oh, boy' and tried working out ways their Quirks could benefit them in this stage.
"Glad to see you're feeling better," Sero said.
"Thanks," Izuku said.
"I don't think Tape or Blackwhip are gonna be of much use here," Sero noted, seeing the lack of sturdy points to swing from.
"More than you'd think," Izuku said, stepping forward.
"What are you doing?" Sero asked, stepping back in terror.
Izuku judged that he could fit about five to seven under his Blackwhip Shield at any time, giving him seven times the explosive power and much more control over how it launches him. Izuku knew that the minefield was about one kilometer long, due to the Obstacle Race being split up between three different stages and there being some distance for the runners to recover before and after every stage.
Doing the math, that meant that, if one mine could launch a person about five meters into the air, the mines he could fit under his Blackwhip Shield could potentially launch him up to thirty meters at a time, meaning he'd have to repeat the triggering of the mines under his Shield about twenty eight times to get to the end. He could do that. He just had to maintain fine and absolute control over his Blackwhips at all times to avoid getting blasted off the track and having to start again.
Izuku summoned Blackwhip, shaping into the dome he had come to familiarize himself with. He had gained some more control over the shape of Blackwhip during his training, but still wasn't ready to try making anything other than a shield. If he wanted to, Izuku could probably make a sword in the future, but that was a long way away, and Izuku knew it. He'd just have to keep working at it, like everything in his life.
"Uh, what are you-?" Sero asked, before getting cut off by the loudest explosion he had ever heard.
Having jumped onto the most amount of mines possible while surfing on the inside of his Blackwhip Shield, Izuku was sent upward by the intense explosion, more powerful than it had any right to be for a school event. The large pink dust cloud enveloped him, and Iuzku lost sight of where he was going. He knew he was still on the right path, since he hadn't felt his movements shift, but it was still frightening to not be able to see where he was going.
"WHAT?! WHO THE HELL MADE THAT MASSIVE BLAST?" Present Mic asked.
"I think it was Midoriya," Aizawa said, flatly.
"HOW?" Mic asked again.
"If I knew, I'd tell you," Aizawa groaned.
Izuku emerged from the pink dust cloud, his teeth bared as he rode his Blackwhip Shield on the blast like a surfboard. He flew into the sky, without the help of Float, and stalled just above the pink cloud. Spotting Todoroki and Bakugo about halfway through the field, Izuku took a deep breath and let himself fall back down, heading toward the mines at full speed.
Landing on the second set of mines, Izuku landed on his feet wrong, and one of his ankles bent at an odd angle, shooting pain up Izuku's leg. The mines still went off, and he was still launched, but no was nursing a probably sprained ankle. He rode the explosion with a much more unstable trajectory, and flew through the air as he twisted and turned from the unbalanced launch.
"WHOA! He's using the obstacles to his advantage!" Present Mic screamed.
"Yes. He's cleverly using multiple mines at a time to send him flying into the air, ahead of other participants," Aizawa said.
"THAT'S CRAZY!" Mic yelled.
"You need to be professional," Aizawa groaned.
"I NEED TO BE PROFESSIONAL!" Mic screamed.
Izuku flew into the sky, trying to level out with the help of Float. He eventually stabilized and began to hover down toward the ground, making sure to get a proper launch out of the mines this time around. He landed on the mines, widening his Blackwhip Shield to about three meters in width, encompassing about five more mines for a total of about twelve.
The blast was significantly more powerful than before, with the added mines ending him about twice as far. He soared past another participant, Iida by the looks of it. He knew the boy was fast, but to keep up with Bakugo and Todoroki almost the whole time was impressive. He soared over Iida, the other boy looking up at him in shock, tripping up as a result of not watching where he was going and getting blasted off the path.
Izuku ripped through the air, speeding toward Todoroki and Bakugo as they finally spotted him in the air. The two turned around and glared at him, taking a break from their heated bickering to see Izuku speeding toward them at full speed. He neared the ground, but kept himself Floating along the ground as his speed diminished.
"Deku, you bastard!" Bakugo screamed.
Roaring at his adversaries, Izuku began to stall, slowing down and landing on the ground between mines, which he thanked his lucky stars for. He took off, keeping pace with Todoroki and Bakugo, which made Present Mic lose his mind.
"MIDORIYA CATCHES UP WITH THE LEADERS! WHAT A TWIST!" Present Mic yelled.
The three leaders fought for first place throwing punches and their Quirks around to get the others to slow down, even if just a little. Todoroki had begun to freeze the ground under him to speed himself up, Bakugo's explosions intensified, and Izuku began to fire off Blackwhip as a straight line, trying to hit Todoroki or Bakugo into the mines.
Izuku, Todoroki and Bakugo approached the end of the minefield, and Izuku saw his chance. He slowed down, letting the other two boys get out ahead for a moment before enacting his plan. Bakugo and turned around, noticing Izuku's absence, so he was the first one to get a Blackwhip to the chest, latching around his shoulders in an instant. Todoroki was next, getting on in the back for not turning around in time.
"What the fuck, Deku?" Bakugo asked, ready to blast Izuku away.
"Sorry, guys, but I need to win," Izuku said, activating Float and lifting off the ground.
Izuku yanked hard on his Blackwhips, reeling them in as he did. He flew forward and shot out between the two, using them to perform his slingshot move that he had slowly been reinventing and refining throughout the Obstacle Race. He flew forward while also throwing his two rivals back, hearing the mines explode as they uncontrollably stumbled onto them.
He hovered over the ground, flying in a straight line toward the finish line, which was at the entrance to the field that they had started at. He knew that the entire event was a circular race around the stadium, but he hadn't expected it to be so long. Then again, it was nearly a four kilometer ring around the entire building, so he supposed he should've expected a bit of time to go into the first event of UA's Sports Festival.
"GET BACK HERE, DEKU!" Bakugo roared from behind him.
Izuku kept using Blackwhip to latch onto the ground and yank him even further along, keeping himself going despite the dropoff in his speed since he had travelled so far using purely his momentum from slingshotting from Todoroki and Bakugo. He could hear Bakugo behind him, now, catching up, and Izuku was sure that if he didn't think of something quickly he would lose.
Seeing that he was coming up on the entrance to the inside of the stadium, Izuku aimed his hands toward either side of the tunnel, knowing he was slowing down by the second. He fired off Blackwhip and they latched onto the cement in the walls. He used the same technique he had been using to hurl himself forward, which he was thinking calling the 'Dark Slingshot', to fling himself into the dark tunnel.
Izuku, as soon as he felt solid ground, ran forward at top speed, exiting the tunnel as soon as possible to a blinding light and a deafening applause. He looked around, Midnight grinning at him and the audience clapping wildly. Izuku looked back to see Bakugo sprinting toward him from inside the tunnel, which means that he had entered the field first, which meant …
"THE WINNER OF THE FIRST EVENT OF THE FIRST YEARS' STAGE OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL IS IZUKU MIDORIYA!" Present Mic exclaimed.
Grinning because of his victory, Izuku looked around at the crowd, giving them a bright smile while replicating All Might's victory pose as he had done after his opening speech. The crowd went into a frenzy at the pose, and roared their enjoyment of the race even louder, even wilder than before. Izuku drank it all in, knowing that he had taken the first step to his final declaration, that he was the Symbol of Hope they were going to need.
Bakugo grabbed Izuku by the shoulder and spun him around, glaring at him intensely. The two stood there, staring at each other, as the audience quieted down in shock. Bakugo was about to talk, when he seemingly snapped out of some sort of state and saw what he was doing.
"I …" he said, looking over himself quizzically.
Being out of sorts after his small relapse into rage, as it seemed, Bakugo walked away, his brow furrowed as he thought about what he had done. Izuku knew that Bakugo was getting better at controlling himself, and he hadn't expected it to be a smooth curve, but he was impressed with Bakugo's new ability to recognize when he had gone too far.
Izuku then turned to Todoroki, who had just entered the field. The two gave each other a look that Izuku took to mean 'we'll talk later'. He was fine with that, as he also had some things he had to say to Todoroki, mainly about the fact that he was only using half his power and expected to beat his entire year level in battle.
Turning back to Midnight, Izuku waited for the other participants to arrive at the field so that they could begin their next challenge.
Chapter 19: Friends and Foes
Izuku sat on the grass, waiting for enough students to pass through the threshold for Midnight to announce that the first event had come to an end. He had counted twenty people that passed so far, a lot of faces he recognized among them, including Tsu, Shinso Kendo and Yaoyorozu. He had been sitting on the grass for a few minutes, resting his legs. He still felt a little bit of resistance when he moved his arms and legs, and even more when he tried to move his fingers, but Izuku was sure that it would go away if he simply used them more, so he had been doing little stretches for the duration of the first event after he had passed.
He was excited about having come first. That meant that people were watching him, and that meant that he could finally find an opportunity to declare himself as a future Symbol, like All Might had asked of him. Izuku had come to like the 'Symbol of Hope' thing that All Might had spoken about, and really thought that it fit with his view of the world, and of Heroes and their duty.
Deciding that the only really impactful moment to make his declaration was in the awards ceremony, with him on the first place pedestal, Izuku made a promise to himself then and there; he'd get to the top, and he'd announce himself as the next Symbol. He had already promised Todoroki that he'd be coming for the top spot, but he hadn't really thought he'd get that far until now. Now, he had something more than himself to fight for.
Standing up, Izuku approached Tsu, who had come in eleventh by Izuku's count. He put on a bright smile, despite the pain in his joints, and walked up to his friend, who gave a small wave at noticing him approaching.
"Nice job in the race," Izuku said.
"Thanks. Congratulations on coming first," Tsu said.
"Thank you. I wasn't sure I would even place after my little slip up in the middle," Izuku chuckled.
"What was that? I heard Present Mic talking about it, but I didn't see," Tsu asked.
"Oh, I had a little accident with my Quirk in the middle. I lost control and I accidentally went to use one hundred percent of my strength and my body rejected it a bit … violently," Izuku said, shuddering at the memory of All for One.
"One hundred percent? You mean the kind of power that blew your arm out in the USJ?" Tsu asked.
"Yeah. Usually, I can only handle about six percent. I'm working on it, though, as all of us are, I noticed that your leaping is far stronger than it was when … uh …" Izuku trailed off, remembering what had happened when Tsu last tried to leap a long distance.
"I dropped Shinso. You don't have to walk on eggshells around it, Midoriya. It's okay to say that I screwed up. That's what Plus Ultra means, though. Going beyond your limits and doing your best," Tsu said, a serious air about her.
"Yeah," Izuku said, looking away contemplatively.
Looking away, Izuku spotted Shinso running into the field. Izuku went to walk over to him for what looked like thirtieth place, but Shinso collapsed to the ground from exhaustion before he could. Izuku walked over to his friend, seeing him breathing hard and holding himself up by leaning on the ground limply.
Izuku looked around, seeing that the last few students were trickling in. No matter the event, the first trial always ended with forty two participants remaining. He noticed that the required number of participants had already passed, but they were simply letting all the students that had run the race collect in the field before dismissing them.
"Hey, Shinso. Good job in the race," Izuku said, chuckling at his pained groans.
"Shut up, Mr. First Place," Shinso said, smirking playfully.
Helping Shinso up off the ground, Izuku laughed. The two walked over toward Tsu and engrossed themselves in conversation.
"So, what do you think the next event will be?" Shinso asked, still catching his breath.
"It's gonna be a team battle. They'll probably split us up based on our results in the Obstacle Race," Izuku said, looking between the participants still gathered in the field.
"How'd you figure that out? Did All Might tell you?" Shinso asked, only half-joking.
"Nah. I just … have a lot of free time," Izuku said, sheepishly smiling.
"Alright, man," Shinso laughed.
Izuku, Tsu and Shinso distracted themselves with conversation for the rest of the interlude between events. Izuku, though, couldn't keep his mind off his encounter with All for One, and how he had locked Izuku's Super Strength away. He didn't even know that was something the vestiges could do, as they couldn't do much else than communicate with him during dreams and in specific instances when awake. Up until now, they had been just that; vestiges. He put it into the back of his mind as something to talk to All Might about during the lunch break after the second event.
After Midnight had dismissed the eliminated participants, she gathered the remaining forty two students around the. Because of the reduced group size, Izuku could see clearly who was left in the competition, and it was mostly Class-1A, 1B and Mei Hatsume, as well as a short kid with purple balls on his head. Izuku wasn't going to comment on that, because he had seen stranger and less accepted mutations. Midnight strolled up to the podium and officially began to explain how the second event would go down after spinning the wheel and having it land on 'Cavalry Battle'.
"Okay, folks! Today's second event is going to be the Cavalry Battle! This game is a cooperative match for teams of two to five members. The goal is simple: snatch another team's headband. The rider wears the headband, and each headband is worth the cumulative points of all a team's members. If your headband is snatched, don't worry, because you aren't out of the game. You can steal back points, so try your best to stay determined!" Midnight explained.
"Oh. That makes sense," someone, likely Ashido by the tone of voice, said.
"The battle will be fifteen minutes long, and you have ten minutes to form teams now. Oh, I almost forgot! There's a catch," Midnight said, grinning viciously.
Izuku didn't like the way Midnight had said 'catch', and neither did anyone else by the way multiple people stepped away from their teacher with worried looks on their faces. He didn't know what Midnight had planned, but he was sure he wasn't going to like it one bit.
"The points are allocated by placement in the previous event, going up incrementally by five each time. Forty second place in the Obstacle Race is awarded five points, forty first is worth ten, and so on. The thing is, though, first place is an outlier to this system. First place is automatically worth ten million points!" Midnight announced, making Izuku's jaw drop.
Everyone around Izuku immediately turned to face him, their eyes cold and their expressions muted. They were clearly thinking the same thing as him: he was screwed. This wasn't going to be a skirmish for any points a team could find, this was going to be a dash for the ten million points, for one Izuku Midoriya. He wasn't sure that she was watching, but if she was, Izuku hoped Ochako didn't have to see him get torn apart on national television.
Izuku set his face in a determined look, eyeing everyone around him with an intensity he wouldn't be able to summon in any other situation. He looked each of his new enemies in the eyes, telling each one of them that he was ready for whatever they could throw at him and more. He was invigorated by his attitude, actually believing for a moment that he was capable of such things.
"You have ten minutes to assemble your team and start strategizing! Go!" Midnight yelled, and the participants rushed off to branch into smaller groups.
Izuku was running out of time. Almost half of the time they had been allocated for collecting teammates had run out, leaving only five minutes left for him to find a team. He had figured out that to have the most balanced team possible, he would need a speed type, a strength type, a creator and an area of effect emitter. Yaoyorozu had been Izuku's first choice for a teammate, filling the inventor role, but she appeared to have been poached by Kendo, who she seemed to be having an enjoyable conversation with. Deciding to leave that alone, Izuku had moved on, going to the next creator he knew; Mei Hatsume.
"Hatsume! You wanna be seen by the support tech companies' representatives, right? I've got ten million points, so I can help you get noticed!" Izuku said, hoping it would suffice for the girl.
"Haha! I knew you'd come through for me, Midoriya! I'm in! Who else is on the team?" Hatsume yelled.
"I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete yet. Let me think for a minute, and I'll get back to you," Izuku said, stepping back from Hatsume, who gave him a thumbs up in response before going back to tinkering with her gear.
Next, Izuku wanted to focus on the speed type. The obvious choice was Iida, if he wasn't already taken. To check, Izuku used Float to hover above the crowd, making everyone look at him strangely for a moment before going back to their own business, mainly coming up with plans against specific other teams. Izuku crossed his legs and got into a position that was akin to sitting down on nothing, like he had seen a Hero capable of flight do once. He scanned over the crowd, spotting his other choice of teammate off to the side of the group and Iida standing alone, so Izuku dropped down to the ground to move toward him.
"Iida! Hey! Are you available?" Izuku asked, pushing past some people to get to the taller boy.
"I am not," Iida said.
"Great! I was thinking that we could team up! I know we haven't really connected much over the few weeks of school, but I think that this'll be a great opportunity for us, don't you?" Izuku said.
"I suppose. Who else do you have with you?" Iida asked.
"Well, I only really have Mei Hatsume, but I'm sure that the person I have in mind next will agree to join," Izuku answered.
"Alright, then. I don't see why not," Iida said, smiling politely.
"Yes! Okay, uh, if you could go and wait with Hatsume over by the stage, I'll be right with you with our final teammate," Izuku said, waving Iida over to where Hatsume was fiddling with her gadgets.
"Alright," Iida agreed.
Feeling like he was on a roll, Izuku made his way over to the spot where he knew his final choice was. Izuku didn't like thinking of his classmates and friends as objects to his victory, but it was a necessity in the Festival to stop thinking of the enemy as your friend and to think of them as either a tool or an obstacle. It was a harsh truth, but it was true. He had also said so to his class, and he wasn't one to go back on his word, so he had to stick with it, even if he didn't like it all that much.
"Koda, how are you?" Izuku asked, at least trying to make it seem like he wasn't after the boy for his Quirk. Thinking that almost made Izuku sick, but he pushed it down.
'I'm doing well,' Koda signed. Izuku was a bit rusty on his signs, so it took him a moment to translate it in his head. He had only really learned it in the first place to help Bakugo communicate better, but since they fell out for about a decade, he hadn't really had a chance to put the skill into practice. He was glad he was getting it now, but it was still feeling like too little too late.
"That's good. Do you have a team yet?" Izuku asked.
Koda shook his head, and Izuku knew he had the boy. It was an odd satisfaction to have no opposition, but Izuku shook that thought off as he smiled politely.
"Would you like to come work with Iida, Hatsume and I? I think that this could be a really special chance for you to shine, and I think I can help you," Izuku said.
After a moment of thinking, Koda nodded. Izuku smiled, and Koda smiled back, both boys happy to be in agreement. Izuku guided Koda back to Iida and Hatume's spot, who were surprised to see him with Koda of all people. Izuku agreed that it was a bit unorthodox to get someone with a very low combat or evasive ability on his team when he was the one the everyone was going to be after, but he was planning on getting Koda to use his Quirk in a new way that he didn't think anybody was expecting.
"Okay, we have a team. Now what? There's only a minute or two left before the Cavalry Battle starts, and that's hardly enough time to come up with any meaningful strategies," Iida said.
"On the contrary. I've already thought out some plans that we can put into place," Izuku argued.
"Such as …?" Iida asked.
"Such as Koda being the left wing, Hatsume being the right wing and you being the head, leaving me to be the rider. Hatsume, do you have a pair of roller skates in your pack?" Izuku asked, turning to Hatsume.
"No," Hatsume answered.
"Can you build one?" Izuku asked.
"Yes," Hatsume said, getting to work immediately.
"Great. Koda, how does your Quirk work?" Izuku asked, turning to Koda.
From Koda's signs, Izuku gathered that he couldn't actually talk to animals, it was just that he could project an intent to anything around him, and any being with brain power under a certain threshold was compelled to help him complete it. That usually meant animals, but other things would obey him as well. He refused to say what, since it obviously spooked him, and Izuku didn't pry. That was good, it meant that Izuku's idea still worked.
"Good. I'll have you summon the birds that have lined up around the ring of the stadium and get them to peck at the other teams' leaders' eyes so that they can't see. Maybe snag a headband or two for good measure," Izuku said, winking at Koda.
"What am I going to be doing?" Iida asked.
"You'll be our main source of mobility. You're one of the fastest people here based on pure, straight line movement. We'll be counting on that to get us around the arena at high speed, because the other teams are gonna come for us as soon as the game starts," Izuku explained
"I assume you'll be keeping away any attempts on our headband with your Blackwhip and Super Strength?" Iida asked.
"Yes, but I won't be using my Super Strength," Izuku said.
"Why not?" Hatsume asked, finished tinkering with a pair of roller skates for Koda.
"I can't. Something's going on with me. Maybe it's exhaustion, maybe I'm overworked, but it's resulted in a loss of control over my Super Strength. Blackwhip and Float, if we get desperate, are my only powers for maybe the rest of the Festival," Izuku revealed.
"That certainly gives us a handicap," Iida said, grimacing into the distance.
"Yeah. We'll get past it, though. We have to. That's the 'Plus Ultra' state of mind," Izuku said, taking deep breaths to steady his nerves.
A few minutes later, Team Midoriya was assembled in one of the corners of the field. Izuku was sitting on Koda's shoulder, using the bulky boy as his main support, leaving his leg to drop down onto Hatsume's hand, the girl only really providing superficial support. He'd admit that his wings were more lopsided than he'd expected, but he was willing to work through it if it meant he kept his optimal teams, or at least the most optimal team for his circumstances.
With the crack of Midnight's whip, the Cavalry Battle began. Izuku motioned forward, and Iida took off immediately, taking the rest of his team with him. It was slower than Iida would normally move, but it was excusable since he was pulling the entirety of Team Midoriya with him.
As Team Midoriya raced around the arena, Izuku took note of the formatting of some of the teams. Todoroki had a team composition similar to his own, with a power type, a speed type, an emitter type and an area of effect type, those roles being filled by Kendo, Sero, Yaoyorozu and Todoroki himself respectively. Yaoyorozu had created roller skates for all of the ground members of her team, and Sero was pulling them along as the head of their team with his Tape. Izuku considered himself to be the power type, Iida the speed type, Hatsume the emitter type and Koda the area of effect type, so the two had thought out how to build the best team possible extremely similarly.
As the team maneuvered around the field, narrowly dodging hands and teams trying to grab Izuku's headband using the team's superior speed and instances of Blackwhip, Izuku judged only a few teams, namely Todoroki and Bakugo, as well as maybe the blond kid from 1B that seemed to be able to copy Quirks, to be truly dangerous to them.
"Guys, I think that we should stop focusing on the smaller, less combative teams," Izuku said.
"What do you mean?" Iida asked, making a sharp turn to avoid a swipe from Tsu's tongue in passing.
"I think that none of the other teams, except for Teams Todoroki and Bakugo, really want to go after us. They haven't really chased us, just taking pot shots as they pass by. They'd like the headband if they managed to swipe it by chance, but they aren't willing to fight us for it. Todoroki and Bakugo are. They're who we need to concern ourselves with," Izuku explained.
"I wouldn't discredit our classmates so easily," Iida said.
"Wouldn't you? If we keep reacting to every little swipe or apathetic attempt to get the points like they're Todoroki, or like they're Bakugo, we're gonna burn out and not be at the top of our game for when the real things try their luck," Izuku said, dodging under a stray purple ball from the short kid he had seen earlier.
"That's being unfair to our friends," Iida yelled.
"That's being naive, Iida. There's a difference, and it'd do you good to learn it!" Izuku said, raising his voice slightly.
Izuku liked to think that he could keep control of his emotions well. Some people, like Aizawa or Recovery Girl, would say the opposite, that he was a hyper-emotional kid that stuck his nose where it had no right to be, but he believed that being willing to help, no matter if the help was wanted, was the mark of a Hero. He was willing to die on that hill, which was probably something that would come back to bite him one day.
Suddenly, three different teams surrounded Izuku's. He had anticipated this, but had hoped for the opposite; that the lesser teams would be intimidated by his team's combat power and mobility and go after some other points. That was wishful thinking, he knew it, but he was still disappointed when Teams Shinso, Asui and Monoma surrounded Team Midoriya, circling around maliciously.
"What's up, Midoriya? Are you ready to give up the ten million?" Shinso asked, smirking evilly.
Izuku kept silent, knowing that if he responded to Shinso, he would fall under the boy's control. His Brainwashing Quirk's activation condition is verbally responding to a question he asks, and both of the statements Shinso had just uttered had been questions. That, combined with the knowing look on his face, told Izuku to keep his mouth shut when it came to Shinso.
"Hatsume, don't speak to Shinso. If you do, he can control your mind," Izuku said, not breaking his eye contact with Shinso.
"We don't want to do this the hard way, Midoriya," Tsu said, her non-expressive face as passive as ever.
"Speak for yourselves. I wanna do this the hard way!" Monoma, the blond kid with the copycat Quirk, announced.
Monoma was a complete wildcard in this situation for Izuku. His copycat power scared Izuku, not only because of the unknowns surrounding it, but the mere idea that someone could touch him and copy One for All. It barely worked for Izuku, and not even him now. He had no idea how it would react to Monoma trying to copy it, if it would even work. All Might had said that the power couldn't be taken, only given, but copying isn't exactly taking, it's emulating. The rules of Monoma's Quirk were unknown factors, and that frightened Izuku more than it had any right to.
"Koda, now!" Izuku said, readying his hands to summon Blackwhip.
Koda whistled a high pitched tone in response to Izuku's command, the two having talked about what to do in this situation. The three teams surrounding them looked at each other quizzically, but soon realized what was going on by the incessant cawing of the birds that had been perched on top of the stadium's inner ring, but were now diving through the air to the enemy teams around Team Midoriya.
Izuku heard a familiar croak, and turned around to face Tsu, whose tongue was shooting toward his face from inside the shell that was made from Shoji's webbed arms, almost too fast for him to see. Luckily, Izuku had been working on reflexively activating his Quirks, and had gotten to the point where he could successfully use both Blackwhip and Float through his instincts alone.
He threw up a Blackwhip Shield, which Tsu's tongue bounced harmlessly off of. He retracted the shield, staring Tsu down. Izuku looked between the different teams, which were now getting attacked in earnest by the birds that had swarmed them.
Izuku had let Koda decide the severity of the attack, which really meant that nothing serious would be done; only pecking at the face and scratching on the arms with the birds' talons. Nothing harmful in the long term.
Teams Monoma and Shinso peeled away, moving onto other, smaller targets. Team Asui, however, stayed. Teams Asui and Midoriya faced each other down, Izuku staring Shoji down with Blackwhips swirling around him. He was ready for when Tsu made her next attack, but it never came, instead a few purple balls flying from the small opening in Shoji's hunched over embrace, confirming Izuku's theory that another person was in there with Tsu.
Recognizing the balls as coming from the short boy he had dodged earlier as a passing attempt to attack, Izuku swung his arms in a wide circle in front of him, hitting all the balls with Blackwhips. He noticed that, instead of flying away, the balls stuck, forcing Izuku to dissolve the Blackwhips as they were, which felt far stranger than it had the first couple of times before he had learned that retracting them was much more satisfying.
"Stupid guy!" a voice with a lisp called out from inside Shoji's protective embrace.
"Just because you can't beat him with a simple attack, doesn't mean he's stupid," Tsu said, clearly not enjoying being partnered with whoever was in there with her.
Taking the chance to take his eyes away from Team Asui while they bickered, Izuku followed Team Bakugo with his eyes, watching as they clashed with Team Monoma. He saw Monoma use Bakugo and Kirishima's Quirks, letting him see just how Monoma's own Quirk worked. It looked like, from his smaller, less powerful explosion compared to Bakugo, that Monoma inherited an inferior version of his target's powers, with more limited use and scope. That, or he had simply not built up enough sweat to make a big enough explosion. Seeing Monoma's use of Kirishima's Hardening, Izuku's first theory was proven correct, as Monoma couldn't Harden to the extent that Kirishima could.
"TEN MINUTES LEFT!" Present Mic announced.
With a new feeling of urgency, Izuku then turned his sights to Team Todoroki, seeing them engaging with a boy with a similar Quirk to Kirishima's, letting him morph his skin into metal. It was an interesting power, but it seemed unable to handle changes in temperature very well, as the metal almost instantly cracked as Todoroki froze his entire team, the cold making his metal skin contract slightly, forcing him to keep out of his metal form.
"As much as I admire Tsu and Shoji, we have more pressing matters at hand," Izuku said, tracking Team Todoroki from the other side of the field.
"Todoroki?" Iida asked.
"Yes. Have you made up your mind on whether or not you're with me on this?" Izuku asked back.
"No. I believe that everyone has the potential to do anything. That's the beauty of 'Plus Ultra' in my mind; anyone can go beyond. When you disregard our classmates, our friends, the people you're supposed to be leading, it maddens me to no end. That's not the behavior of a leader," Iida said, powering down his Engines.
"What are you doing?" Izuku asked, not believing that Iida was jeopardizing their entire team like this.
"I'm taking a stand. What you're doing is wrong, and I won't sit by and let it happen," Iida said.
"Iida, come on! You're gonna get us eliminated," Hatsume complained.
"I-Iida! Stop this!" Koda said, his voice hoarse from underuse.
Izuku was beginning to panic. He couldn't believe that Iida was throwing away their chance based on his moral code. This was the most important event of their lives, and he was going to ruin it, not just for himself or for Izuku, but for Koda and Hatsume, two people who weren't involved in their argument in any way. That wasn't fair to them, and he wasn't going to sit by and let them fail because of an argument between him and Iida.
"Bakugo gets a pass due to not technically hitting the ground after leaving his horse! And-oh … what's this? Team Midoriya has frozen without the need for Todoroki's advances?" Present Mic exclaimed, putting all the attention on Izuku's team.
"Great. This is just great. I bet Ingenium would be really proud of Tenya the Quitter!" Izuku said, knowing it was possibly the only way he could get through to Iida now.
"What? How did you know that I'm related to Ingenium?" Iida asked.
"Your Hero costume, your Quirk and your name. The Iidas have been Heroes for generations, and I'm just about the biggest Hero nerd there is, so it wasn't hard to connect the dots," Izuku explained.
"Well, don't talk to me about how my own brother feels about me. I'm sure he'd tell me to hold my ground when it comes to things like these," Iida said, keeping himself firm.
"Like when Ingenium worked with vigilantes when the situation called for it?" Izuku asked.
"He … he'd never! That's illegal!" Iida exclaimed in disbelief.
"One of those is true, the other is one of your biases born from the fact that he's your older brother! We all have misconceptions about our family, but nobody's some perfect person that'll do the right thing and feel great all the time, unconditionally. Sometimes, there's things you have to confront, and sometimes, it'll break your heart, but it's worth it almost all of the time!" Izuku yelled, feeling some tears build in his eyes.
Izuku had been ignoring the state of his home life ever since he had moved into the secret room in the teachers' lounge. He was miserable outside of school hours, and he was quickly coming to realize that he missed his mother, despite the feelings of anger and hurt that rose inside him when she crossed his mind. He had to address that, and him saying it out loud finally made him realize it completely.
Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku saw Team Todoroki's trajectory shift. Team Todoroki began to make a straight sprint toward Izuku and his team, and he knew he was screwed if he couldn't get Iida on his side in the next few moments.
"Listen … we don't have to agree, but at least don't ruin Hatsume and Koda's chances at this Festival. I might, but they don't deserve that. Present Mic talked about Bakugo being allowed to continue after leaving his horse and not touching the ground, meaning Operation: Floaty Boat is viable," Izuku said.
"Alright. Give the signal when you feel it is the right time," Iida said after a moment, in a low voice.
Iida's Engines roared to life, smoke exiting them and heating the whole group. Team Todoroki was still rushing toward them, so the entirety of Team Midoriya looked forward with determination in their eyes, Izuku locking eyes with Todoroki, who had the exact same look. The two bore their teeth, knowing that a clash was inevitable. Fortunately, Izuku knew that the clash would not come then and there, as he tapped each member of his team on the shoulder twice, the signal to initiate Operation: Floaty Boat.
Iida had been against naming the plan 'Operation: Floaty Boat', but it had been the deciding factor for Izuku going with the plan in the first place. The plan, in short, involved all of the members of Team Midoriya pushing Izuku into the air with all their power, aiding his jump into a Float powered leap. Izuku would Float into the sky, staying there for as long as possible before coming back down with, presumably, not much time left.
All the members of Team Midoriya leaned into the middle of their grouping, Izuku crouching down on their collective platform made of their hands. Izuku activating Float preemptively, and once the push began, uncurled himself and jumped up, hearing the sound of ice spreading across the ground.
Izuku soared into the air, seeing his team enveloped in one of Todoroki's smaller icebergs. He flew upward, locking eyes with Todoroki as he escaped the attack meant to do him in, a confident smile on his face as he rose through the air.