1,281Not super happy with this chapter. My intention for the second event and the reality of it were…not the same. And because of it, I got stuck with some hardcore writer's block for a couple months. More down below.
Also, now that it's over and I've had spoilers tossed at me, I have one thing to say.
Fuck you, Horikoshi. How DARE you make me feel like I owe Kishimoto a fucking apology for all the shit I talked in the past? The fact you managed to take a series I loved for years and gave it an ending that was WORSE BY FAR THAN *NARUTO* is something I'll never forgive. You went Game of Thrones levels of shit endings. Half my friends hate the series so much now that they don't even want to interact with it anymore. Not to mention the hundreds of authors writing fics I love that don't want to come back. You went and turned one of the best fucking shōnen manga in ages fucking radioactive. Have fun with your horror manga. I look forward to seeing it get canned when no one fucking reads it.
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Chapter XIV:
-[-
"Now I'm sure you all are saying, 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN, IT STARTS RIGHT NOW?!'" Miss Midnight looked entirely too amused from her place in the stadium.
She was, in fact, correct. Several students were red in the face from sheer anger at the audacity of starting the second event when literally 99% of the contestants hadn't even finished the first one! Others (particularly the ones in 1-B) were glaring headedly at one Monoma Neito, who had suggested sandbagging so as to have an advantage in the later rounds. The blonde's face was almost bloodless from how white it was.
She chuckled, "Well, don't worry kiddies! Let Mommy Midnight explain." Aizawa had to bite back a groan as more than half the crowd started to feel a little hot under the collar. "Everyone has ONE MINUTE to stop everything they're doing and get to safety! If in one minute, you're hanging fifty feet up by one hand, guess what? You're holding on until I give the go ahead to start again! And if you move, you'll be disqualified. Don't try to get an advantage! Just get somewhere where you'll be able to stand quietly and listen. ONE MINUTE. NOW!"
The students all scrambled. Some like Momo merely sat on the dirt. She was pretty close to the end of the first event anyway. Others had to madly scramble, trying to escape traps such as the Trial of Balls or the Pit of Despair. One minute definitely wasn't enough to get any major advantage, but a few idiots tried anyway. And now, as Midnight predicted, they were forced to hold on for dear life from ropes or even rocks.
"Your minute is up! Stop moving now!" Present Mic declared, a massive grin still on his face.
"Good! Now listen up, kiddies!" Midnight cracked her whip on the microphone to get everyone's attention. "This next event is to simulate a massive disaster. Specifically, one of the riots of '43 over in San Antonio."
"Oh shit!" Izuku mumbled under his breath, immediately realizing that this was going to be pretty damn difficult. Several other students had also paled, or started to sweat. Not all of them were as studied as this group though, and merely looked confused.
"The entirety of the past event was pretty sporty, but it was to simulate the mad rush to get to the disaster in question, while also being harried and attacked. This was something those proto-Heroes in America experienced, with Villains and even just opportunistic civilians taking advantage of the violence to attack or loot whatever they wanted." She bowed her head, remembering all of the statistics she'd read on the Heroes who'd died or been crippled without even making it to the city to help the innocent. "As such, we have set up this conveniently destroyed city for you all, and filled it with volunteers who need to be rescued and evacuated! These volunteers are your upperclassmen from all classes, students from other Hero schools, and even professional rescuees!" The cameras all showed hundreds of people in the city in precarious situations, with Izuku zeroing in on Nejire, who was covered in fake blood with a 'collapsed' pillar on top of her.
A din rose up from the people in the stands, with Inko herself paling drastically.
"That's right everyone! Your goal is to save as many people as possible, which will earn you points. Three, in fact. Team-ups will also be rewarded, with someone who assisted but did not actually save someone earning a point and a half. There will also be some structural issues you'll have to deal with. Making an area safe, whether that means fixing something or destroying it further to prevent a more dangerous collapse later, will earn you one point! Your goal is to rack those points up!" Midnight shouted out. "Only the top sixteen scorers when the dust settles will move on to the next round!"
"But how is this fair?!" One of the furious Gen Ed parents shouted out, which the cameras and mics clearly caught, "This gives a massive advantage to those in the lead from the first event! How are those in the middle of the pack or worse, the back of it supposed to have a chance?!"
Miss Midnight chuckled ominously. Over at the gate of the facility, Izuku hung his head, "Here we go…" he mumbled.
"An unfair advantage, hmmm?" Midnight licked her lips, something which made hundreds of thousands of people nationwide blush, "Is that what you think?" Her smile turned decidedly evil, "Don't fret, darling~" The man in question promptly sat down, his face even redder. His wife immediately glared at him. "After all, you didn't even let me tell you about the best part." She pointed towards the sky where the massive monitors were, and they immediately started showing shots of the actual city. All along the track of the first event, the students curdled at what the flying monitors everywhere showed off. Miss Midnight had to bite back a very lewd moan at the fear she could see in some faces. "As you can see, hundreds upon hundreds of Professional Sidekicks and even retired Pro Heroes have volunteered to keep our fledgling little Heroes-in-training honest!"
"Oh, fuck!" Was the general cry from thousands of people.
Miss Midnight let out another ominous giggle and several students swore they could see a dark purple miasma or aura surrounding her, "That's right, ladies, gentlemen, and aspiring Heroes! The ones to make it in first are not the most advantaged. They're the most disadvantaged! After all, the early birds have the most enemies to contend with! Our volunteers are tasked with subduing as many students as possible, and once you're out, you're out! The number of points you have when they either capture you or otherwise immobilize you will be all the points you'll have for the event, so I would do my best to stay out of their hands! Of course, taking Villains out is always good too. We have areas for depositing captured Villains near the rescue areas! After all, fewer Villains means an easier time saving people." She smirked, staring directly at one student in particular on the monitors, "Buuuut~" She sing-songed, "I wouldn't get too wrapped up with facing Villains if I were you, darlings! After all… they're not worth any points."
She seriously had to bite back a rib-cracking burst of laughter at the utter outrage that appeared on Bakugō's face. "That's right! No points at all! And no, this is not a trick like the entrance exam was. That would make us predictable. Oh, and one more thing as a final word from me: you kids will be unable to hear any of the commentary during the event. Wouldn't want to tip you off to anything or distract you, would we? So, that's it from me, darlings! The second event starts NOW!" She cracked her whip, and the festivities officially began.
-[-
Izuku's face hardened as he watched the gate drop upon the end of Midnight's announcement. He knew Momo was making her way there as well, but there were people to save. He dashed his way in, taking in the cityscape as he did so.
It was utterly ruined, and the only thing keeping it from being a post-apocalyptic nightmare was the lack of overgrowth and 'nature reclaiming the world of man' going on. The buildings were shattered. Glass lay everywhere. Cars were upturned. Small buildings on fire. Some of the larger buildings were outright leaning precariously.
"Where the hell does U.A. get the budget for this stuff and how do they actually make it at least somewhat safe?" He muttered to himself as he spread his awareness out. 'Priority one: the fires. Priority two: the skyscraper.' He hurried out towards the first of the burning buildings, sensing three signs of life inside. He began to glow green as he clenched his hands in front of him, before yanking back. The front of the building exploded outwards, ripping the façade out. Izuku took care to put the rubble down gently, but his actions had caused a suction effect that was actually intensifying the blaze. His eyes beginning to glow even brighter, he grasped the fire directly as if it were a solid and sucked it out of the building.
"Holy crap!" One of the 'victims' yelped as Izuku brought the fire under control immediately, holding it above his head and then crushing it into nonexistence. Izuku idly realized the man had some sort of goop covering his entire body, which was what was keeping the fire at bay.
"Don't worry! I'm here to save you!" Izuku called out, gently grasping them, and floating them out of the building, "The name's Eon!"
One of the others was a student, and must have had some sort of heat-resistant Quirk themselves as they weren't covered in anything, "That was awesome, Eon! You saved us!" Izuku smiled, and rapidly started flying them to one of the safe areas.
"Not so fast, Hero!" There they were. A group of sidekicks that Izuku idly recognized burst out from the sides of the building. One of them was floating on what seemed to be a visible tornado ball of air, and another had wings made out of flowers, "You won't be rescuing anyone! This is our town now!" The speaker – the tornado ball guy – yelled, before throwing some smaller wind balls at him.
"Sorry." Izuku said idly, speeding up, "But I can't waste time here." The balls splashed on his psychic shield, and he swiped his palm through the air. The wind picked up, and captured all of the flowers that the lady was spewing from her wings.
"What the-?!" The guy yelled before being engulfed by his partner's Quirk.
The lady didn't get a chance to yell before Izuku touched her face, "Sleep." She wavered, before doing as he had commanded. He caught both of them with his Quirk, and quickly deposited all five in their respective areas.
"Great job, Eon!" One of the ladies he saved waved at him.
"Yeah, thanks!" The guy covered in the heat resistant gel did as well.
"Shoot, what the hell kind of Quirk is that? That's so unfair!" The pout from the male sidekick would have been amusing, but Izuku had already waved back at them and sped back into the city.
He grinned as he saw Momo land before him, and they smiled at each other as they passed. Momo had one person under each arm and three more tied to her back with some straps that were coming out of her skin. 'Oh, it's just like the video…' He would never forget All Might's debut. Never. And it just made him love her even more.
The moment passed, and they focused up. Shōto was there, and he had created an ice slide out of another of the broken buildings. His ice had propped it up, making the area safe and earning him a point on its own. "Your control has gotten better!" Izuku called as a sixth person slid down with Shōto urging them out.
"It wouldn't do to further screw up the structural integrity." Shōto replied, sliding down after the last person was out and hurrying to lead them to safety.
"YAHOOOOOO!" Inasa's whirlwinds had gotten another half a dozen people out of a collapsed building, and he had them all in the air. One of them had even forgotten that this was supposed to be a simulation and was whooping in glee as Whirlwind kept him aloft. He loved to fly.
Izuku sent a mental fist bump to his best friend, and flew off to where he sensed the most panic nearby. There was a bank where several of Gang Orca's sidekicks were holding a dozen people hostage. "Don't move!" One of them yelled, turning his cement gun on Izuku, and firing it. Izuku dodged to the left and landed, running forward in a bolt of green light, and slamming a palm into the man's chest. "Guh!" He flew back and smashed into one of his cohorts, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
"Why you-!" Another whirled around and aimed his gun, but Izuku was a step ahead.
"You're under arrest." He glared, eyes glowing green as his Quirk ripped their guns right out of their hands. He aimed them at their former owners, and they all hastily put their hands up.
"Holy crap man, kids these days are scary!" He made himself seem nonthreatening, genuinely unnerved.
"Hit like trucks too." The one Izuku had slammed let out a chuckle, wincing as he rubbed his chest.
"Yeah, we're done." The one under him groaned and let his head fall back.
"Is everyone okay?" Izuku called out, and the 'civilians' nodded in relief, and began making their way towards him. He smiled and all the 'civilians' and Villains floated up, "Don't worry everyone. I'll get you to safety! The name's Eon!" He introduced himself again, and every person there made a note to watch his career with great interest. He brought the one he had palm-struck closer. "Here." He pressed a flaming hand to the man's chest.
"Woah!" The man gasped, "You can heal too?! Holy crap, Eon!" He broke character now that his part in this was done. "Shouldn't you be conserving energy? It didn't hurt that bad."
Izuku shot him a grin, "I could do this all day."
…
Katsuki groaned as yet another fake Villain got in his way, and he quickly blasted the Best Jeanist sidekick away. Normally he would be having the time of his life here! What wasn't to love?! Dozens to hundreds of Villains to fucking kill!
And he couldn't enjoy any of it because they weren't worth any fucking points!
'The hell kind of shitshow is this event?' He grumbled to himself as he was forced to just dodge his way through the city, "You save people by winning! That's what All Might's done his entire fucking career! Why the fuck are the bad guys worth nothing?!" He burst into the broken face of a building and saw two kids in there, maybe his age, maybe a bit older. One more guy was there, but he looked like a grandpa. He didn't really give a fuck. "Let's go!" He barked, grabbing them under his arms and rocketing away with blasts from just his feet. He grimaced, realizing that this was actually tough as fuck without being able to stabilize himself with his hands. He allowed himself to descend, landing just roughly enough to jostle the people he saved.
"Ow! Damn, brat, you're lucky we're not required to grade this!" The old man griped.
"What was that?!" Katsuki barked as he continued to run them to the receiving area. The kids started to sniffle, a little afraid of their rescuer and his bad expression.
"What the hell kind of Hero makes kids cry?" The old man glared at him, "If we were grading this like we normally do for exams, you'd be losing points, not gaining them."
Katsuki's teeth ground in his mouth as he dropped them off and sped away towards his next set, 'What the fuck does that old man know?' But a small seed of doubt had been planted now, '…Sleeping Gas told us there were some professional rescuees here too. What the fuck is that? Was he one of them?' He wished he had his phone so he could look that up. U.A. had never mentioned them before, 'And why would they be docking points? I saved them, didn't I?'
He wished he could just dismiss the old man's words from his mind, but as he kept racking up points and complaints, ranging from the people he rescued finding him scary, to the Villains he blew away complaining he was going overboard, the sick feeling that he was doing something wrong just kept getting worse.
…
"Nejire!" Setsuna yelped as she started reforming above her girlfriend.
"Set!" Nejire smiled up at her, before twitching, "I mean, wahhh. My leg hurts!" She switched to fake bawling at the drop of a hat.
"Well, can't have that! I'll get you out of here!" Setsuna grinned confidently, before grabbing the pillar, assuming it was lightweight enough, what with Nejire's leg not being completely crushed. "Oof!" She grunted, "Holy shit, this is heavy!" She ground her teeth and snarled as she lifted it just a bit. There was a 'ding,' and Nejire hurriedly yanked her leg out, revealing she was fine. Setsuna waited a moment to see she was totally clear, before she dropped the pillar, "Holy shit, how is your leg not paste?" She gasped out.
"Don't break character." Nejire chided her, and Setsuna hurried to gather her up in her arms. She then went on to explain, "That 'ding' you heard was to tell me that you had lifted it enough that I would have been able to escape if I had really been trapped. The pillar itself was resting on something and none of the weight was actually on me." She rapid-fired at her girlfriend.
"Oooh, that's cool!" Setsuna flew them out of there.
"Seriously though, don't do stuff like that in a real-world scenario. I know you know me and you were just treating it like that because we're girlfriends and I was clearly not in danger, but if you had said that in like a licensing exam, they'd definitely dock points. No one wants to hear anything like that in a disaster scenario." Nejire informed her.
"Shit." Setsuna cursed, "Thanks for the head's up, babe."
"Welcome!" Nejire beamed…and spent the rest of the flight snuggling her girlfriend's tits.
…
Ochako was in her element, and she had a confident smile on her face. She had floated overturned cars left and right, righting them and getting the occupants out. She had a group of twenty floating with her, and she was rushing them to the nearest safety zone.
So of course, things had to go wrong. "Woah!" She leapt back, dodging some sharp-looking hair spikes. "What is that?!"
"My Quirk, obviously, young heroine." Despite the color of her hair, the woman speaking was old and short. Not quite as old as Recovery Girl, and she clearly still had some fucks to give unlike the healer as she had continued dyeing her hair.
If Izuku had been there, he would have released a girlish squeal over the former number three heroine (her all time high prior to her retirement over a decade ago). He would then have regaled Ochako with the knowledge that she had actually been Best Jeanist's mentor. Godiva had never ranked as high as her successor, however.
The woman was clearly still trying to strut like she once would have, but it certainly didn't look as sexy as it once did! "I would suggest you surrender, little one. Otherwise, I might find it difficult to hold back!" She yelled, with her hair rapidly growing and extending outwards.
"Shit!" Ochako started cursing like a sailor (or more accurately, a construction worker) as she was forced to backpedal, "Damn it, I wish I could have at least had my grappling hooks!" Which had been a wonderful idea by Melissa to add to her costume, "I could get us all around her!" She still had the people she rescued floating near her.
She yelped and was forced to grab a light post to throw herself out of the way of more hair seeking to snag her. She lowered her Quirks effects on the civvies, and yelled out, "Hide in that building! I'm not going to be able to get us all past her without taking her out!" They hurried to obey, and Ochako slapped a palm on a car. She lifted it above her head, "Take this!" She yelled, throwing the car at her enemy.
"My, that's quite a powerful Quirk you have, young lady!" Her hair turned into a literal buzzsaw in front of her. A giant one. The car was sliced cleanly in half, with the two sections sliding around her, "Unfortunately for you, so is mine."
"…Fuck." Ochako whimpered, wondering how in the hell she was going to get past this.
The woman could either read minds too, or was really good at fucking with people, "Oh, that's simple. You're not." She smiled maliciously as her hair extended rapidly to ensnare the gravity mistress.
A loud BOING sounded, and Melissa dropped in, yelling as she swiped her hard light spear through the woman's hair.
"MY HAIR!" The former heroine shrieked as Melissa cut/burned a whole mass of it off. The pile fell limp immediately upon being severed from the main mass of hair, and made a mess all over the road.
"Minerva!" Ochako sighed in relief, "You saved my bacon!"
"Maybe we should get you some close-range weapons?" Melissa asked her, and got an eager nod from the brunette.
"Shop later! We need to beat her and finish saving this group!" Ochako declared, ready for more action.
"You're not saving anyone!" The legitimately furious woman's hair extended again, grabbing two cars, and flinging them at the two students.
Melissa's eyes widened and she raised her shield, setting her feet as best she could. Her shield flashed dangerously as the impact almost overloaded her generators, and the second one surely would have done the job.
Ochako rushed ahead, tapping the car and, knowing immediately what to do, Melissa joined her in shoving it. The gravityless, but not massless SUV collided with the smaller sedan and squashed it. The two landed about three feet away as Ochako canceled her Quirk, panting. Melissa summoned up her OMNI-Tool and quickly started to type into it, having an idea.
The hair had turned into snakes and had slithered across the road towards them. Ochako saw it out of the corner of her eye and slapped Melissa's shoulder, throwing them both into the air. "Thanks!" Melissa called and finished typing. Her spear vanished, and she adjusted the positioning of the projector. Instead of a spear, a glowing blue propeller appeared and started to rapidly whirl.
"OOOH, that's so cool!" Ochako gasped as they landed. Ochako bounced herself around at high speed, while Melissa simply rushed forward.
"Oh no, you girls are crazy!" The faux Villain yelled as Melissa's propeller started to chop away at her hair at high speeds. She was way out of practice and had forgotten to keep track of Ochako, and the brunette snuck around her and tapped her. "Oh no!"
"Oh yes!" Ochako grinned. Godiva didn't even have a chance to turn before she was bodily flung across the street, hacking as her back hit a mailbox.
Melissa hadn't been idle, and had pulled out a pair of bolas, which she had been spinning rapidly. The second Ochako had thrown the retired heroine, she had done so as well. Her bolas wrapped around her, tying her to the mailbox and making her huff.
She looked disorientated for a moment, before her eyes focused and she let out a chuckle, "Well, I suppose there was a reason I retired." She let out a sigh, before smiling at them, "That was great teamwork girls! I know when I'm beaten, and I'd like to know your names!"
Melissa beamed, "Minerva!"
"Uravity!" Ochako called out, but hurried to get the group she had saved out of the building. They were cheering and clapping for the two girls, and both of them blushed. "Minerva, let's share! You helped out a ton!"
"Thanks!" Minerva had cut Godiva loose, and the big group hurried to the nearest stations to officially have their points calculated.
…
"Kero." Tsuyu ribbited as she climbed up a building and acrobatically entered through a window. She quickly gathered up the two trapped people and launched herself back out, using her tongue on a lamppost to gracefully swing to the pavement. "Kero, you should be safe now. Follow me." She knew neither of the two were injured.
"Oh, I wouldn't agree with that." Tsuyu didn't emote at all as a 'villain' landed in front of her, though she did internally wince at the sight of his heavy winter coat. She really hoped that didn't mean what she thought: that he had a winter themed Quirk. She quickly got between him and the two civilians she had rescued, ready to defend them to the best of her ability.
Unfortunately for her, that was indeed the case. His Quirk produced a chill wind in a small area around him, allowing him to slow down and sap the strength of anybody near him. Chill Wind (creative naming at work) had already captured a fair few Villains of his own in the couple months he had been a sidekick. He was actually one of Tsuyu's worst matchups in the entire city. "Now freeze!" A blast of cold erupted from him, and Tsuyu immediately croaked in panic.
"Kero!" She tried to move them back, but could already feel her movements slow as she started going into torpor. She didn't even have her costume to help regulate her body temperature!
"NOT SO FAST, CRIMINAL SCUM!" She might even have laughed if she had the energy to. Kaminari smashed into Chill Wind, sending him flying across the street.
Immediately, Tsuyu started to feel a little better, croaking in relief as the cold was sent away with him, "Kero, thanks for the save, Conduit."
"You got it, Froppy! Get them to safety! I'll handle this!" Kaminari grinned as Chill Wind got to his feet.
"Kero." Tsuyu wrapped the two civilians up this time and raced away as fast as she could.
"Why you little-" The sidekick snarled, "Why don't you slow down!" The cold erupted from him again, and Kaminari felt the hair on his arms stand on end.
"Nah, don't feel like it!" Kaminari grinned, his hand flashing out and unleashing a lightning bolt at his opponent.
"Oh, shit!" The man dodged out of the way and rolled. He rapidly had to roll some more as Kaminari kept firing, and got himself behind a car. "How much juice do you have, kid?!"
Kaminari laughed, "As much as I need!" He held his hand out, and Chill Wind blanched as he saw electricity arcing out of a light post towards Kaminari's hand in the car's mirror. "Hehehehe! I'm all charged up!" Electricity started arcing around him rapidly as he leapt into the air, "Try this out for size!
"Shit, shit, shit!" Chill Wind rushed away as Kaminari landed near the car, practically detonating in a shockwave around him. The car was flung back from the impact and surge, and the tires screeched before it smashed into the faux villain and knocked him into another car on the other side of the road. "Ugh…you kids are scary." He wheezed as Kaminari quickly declared him captured using his capture tape, and therefore out of the game.
"Hehe, sorry about that." Kaminari grinned, "But I really wanna win!"
"You better! I can't lose to a teenager on live TV like this without losing face." The sidekick chuckled as he got up and raced out of the city. Kaminari immediately took off, looking for more people to rescue.
…
Ibara and Jūzō had ended up teaming up for their first set of rescues. There was an incredibly unstable building that had been knocked halfway over. It was a miracle it wasn't in pieces already. Ibara had to assume Cementoss had reinforced it somehow.
"There's a lot of people in there." Jūzō's eyes furrowed, "What do you think?"
"I believe your ability to liquify the ground will come in handy if this building is more unstable than we think."
"You go in and drop them from the window?" Jūzō asked, "I'll be able to either catch them or fish them out of the ground."
"If I can lower them down gently, I will." Ibara said, before her hair reached up and lifted her into the building. "If anyone can hear me, please follow my voice! I will bring you to salvation!" She declared, letting her vines out like little feelers that crept on the ground.
"H-here! I'm stuck!"
Ibara immediately started rushing towards the voice. She entered a room and saw someone she thought she recognized; an upperclassman she had seen during lunch a time or two. A cabinet had fallen on him, and he was covered in dust and grime. "I'm here." She said, and used her hair to get the cabinet off of him in a hurry. He sighed in relief, "Do you know where any others are?"
"Y-yeah, my sisters should be in the next room." He played his part as she helped him to his feet. He hurried behind her as she entered the room, and took in the two 'young girls' hugging each other. "It's okay Mariko, Hana! Help is here!"
"It's okay." Ibara held out her hand with a smile, "I will deliver us from this peril. I will save you!"
"Th-thank you, onee-san." One of the girls reached out and grabbed Ibara's hand. The other girl looked much shyer, and hid behind her 'sister.' Ibara was able to get them to come, and quickly got them to the window. "I'm scared…" One of the girls put on her best 'about to cry' voice.
"Don't worry." Ibara said, "My friend down there can make the ground just like a swimming pool if you fall." Jūzō hurried over, "He'll catch you. And I've got you." Her hair wrapped the two girls up and she gently lowered them. The 'brother' simply jumped, and marveled at Jūzō's Quirk when he indeed felt like he was landing in water. Jūzō hurriedly hauled him out and solidified the ground, and the two were able to grab the younger girls.
"Good job! Go find the rest! I'll hold down the fort here!" Jūzō called out.
"I help!" Pony landed with a clop of her hooves. "Any Villain come, I smash!" She punched her palm. Jūzō grinned wider at her heavily accented Japanese.
"Glad to have you!" He eyed the rushing Iida, "You as well! Can you help inside the building? Two people will cover more ground quicker than one."
"Of course, or my name isn't Jet Drive!" Iida called out as his thrusters flamed up, launching him into the building behind Ibara.
"We'll all bring the entire group to safety when we can." Jūzō said, "We'll all share the-look out!"
Pony ducked, and the metal frisbee whizzed above her head and whirled around like a boomerang. She tossed herself to the floor and rolled, getting up with one hand on the ground. Jūzō could almost hear the 'gun cock' sound as she set her legs and rushed towards the sidekick.
"Woah shit!" The sidekick yelped as she moved way faster than he was expecting. He dodged out of the way, but Pony proved to have much better reflexes than he had expected.
She threw herself in his direction and shoulder tackled him hard. His telekinetic frisbees all fell to the ground lifelessly as he dented a car with his body. "Captured!" Pony declared, slapping him with the Capture Tape they'd been provided.
"Oh, holy shit girl, you hit like a truck." He groaned as he fell limp.
"Hehehe, not called Pony for nothing." Pony flexed with a grin, "You okay?"
"I'll live…" He groaned as he got up, "Not sure my pride will." He mumbled.
"Pony, we have some more!" One of them shouted down at her.
"Okay!" Pony ran off, eager to help more of the rescues.
…
Shinsō wasn't too sure how well he was doing in this event. On one hand, he had rescued people! His first act had been another stickup in a store, much like one of Izuku's groups. He had rushed in and belted out, "Why are you doing this?!"
The Villains had all laughed. And then they couldn't laugh anymore. With them under his mind control, he had swiftly gotten all of the civilians out of the store, and made the Villains be their defenders! He had gotten all five people to safety, and taken out the three Villains with guns by making them turn themselves in!
Something he had never experienced before had happened… "Woah, that's such a cool Quirk, kid! You're going to be an awesome Hero!"
Words of praise that had never graced his ears even once in the past. Someone had praised his Quirk! He was still feeling off balance from it! So honestly, his day should have been going fantastic!
Unfortunately for him, it wasn't, and he was starting to panic because of it. This was just going to end up being another Entrance Exam! With his initial strategy during the race foiled, he had quickly fallen to the back of the pack. Despite the anger that fawn-haired bitch's words had generated in him at the time, he couldn't help but feel he should have taken them to heart. By the time he actually reached the second event, he had already been pretty tired. He'd been more than half an hour behind most of the others. People to rescue were already in short supply. He'd done well on his first trip, but he doubted five rescues were going to be enough to push him through to the next event! He didn't even know how much time they had left or how the other students were doing!
And unfortunately for him, things were about to go from bad to worse. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw what looked like a rock slab approaching him. "Woah!" He clumsily threw himself to the ground and rolled underneath it. He eyed the Villain that was approaching him, feeling nervous. He didn't have time to be fighting Villains! "Who are you?! Why are you doing this?!"
The man in question was very, very old. He looked to be in his eighties and was wearing robes not unlike a shaolin monk. He had a long, thin white beard growing from his chin, with the rest of his face clean-shaven except for two very small bits of unshaved mustache under his nose. He had a cane in one hand, and was slightly hunched as he stepped forward, the sun shining on his bald head. "Well, I suppose it has been three decades since I retired." He said in an equally weathered voice as he ran his fingers across his long beard, "The name is Iron Rock Jura, young one."
Oh, now this was an ancient Hero. He was as old as dirt, practically. Shinsō had only heard of him in passing as one of the top Heroes at the time of All Might's debut. "Excellent. Please help me rescue more survivors." Shinsō commanded, only to stiffen in shock as the old man simply took a step forward without concern.
"Now, why would I do that? I'm supposed to be stopping you here, young man." Jura replied, raising a white, bushy eyebrow at him.
Shinsō gaped, "S-stop! Stay right where you are!"
Jura laughed heartily, "No, I don't think I will. I suggest you come quietly, young man."
"Why isn't it working?!" Shinsō snarled out, "STOP!"
"Oh, were you trying to capture me with your Quirk?" Jura snapped his fingers in realization, "Hmm, you were expecting me to follow your orders. I imagine that means you were expecting to take command of me after I responded to something you said. Am I right?" Shinsō grit his teeth, "So I am. My apologies young man, but these ears don't quite work in my old age, so I've just been reading your lips." Shinsō's jaw dropped, "An unfortunate way to discover your own weakness, wouldn't you say."
"FUCK!" Shinsō turned tail and ran.
"I'm afraid it's far too late for that." He raised his cane and slammed it onto the pavement, and a burst of yellow raced away from him along the ground. "Iron Rock Prison."
Between one step and the next, a bunch of stone hands broke out from beneath the pavement and clamped onto Shinsō. Two grabbed his legs, two grabbed his arms, a larger one wrapped itself gently around his torso, and the final two steadied his shoulders. "No, no, nononononono!" Shinsō tried to struggle, but the stone hands had him good and captured, "Let me go!" He cried out.
"I'm afraid your Sports Festival ends here." The words had the finality of the grim reaper, "But do not take this loss to be the end of the world. One must learn from their failures. Loss teaches far more valuable lessons than success. You will stand here again one day. I wish you better luck next time." Jura tapped his cane on the ground, and with Shinsō still pleading to be set free, the rock beneath him surfed him out into the area for captured students.
…
"Not cool, fam." Camie groaned as she saw all of the Villains wearing gas masks. Seriously, why did her Quirk have to have such an obvious weakness? And why did she have to run into the dudes wearing them?
"This seems like trouble." Nirengeki said softly, "What's our play? We have to get our rescues to safety."
Camie sucked her teeth for a moment, before turning her head, "Get them inside this building. It doesn't look damaged, and they can hide out while we get these guys out of the way."
"Shouldn't you do that while I stall?" Nirengeki raised an eyebrow, "Of the two of us, my Quirk is the one with more direct combat utility."
Camie smirked, "Start of the year, I totes would have agreed." She smirked, "But as Aizawa-sensei taught us… no Hero is a one trick pony." She took off running, surprising Nirengeki with her speed. She was way, way faster than he would have expected, after all of that training with Nejire, Izuku, and Momo.
"Ha, you've lost your mind, kid!" One of the men jeered, and readied a gun similar to the ones the Gang Orca sidekicks carried that shot a quick-drying cement. He aimed and fired at Camie, and she slid beneath it and got to her feet rapidly. "Tch. Stay still!"
The rest of the Villains with him raised their guns as well and started to shoot. Camie strafed to the right, staying out of the range of the sticky substance. These guys were amateurs with it, and she was forced to wonder if they had just picked the guns up for this event only. They were pretty bad at leading their shots, so the guns probably weren't part of their regular equipment. She quickly dodged behind a car, taking a deep breath.
"Damn, she's nimble! You! Go that way! We'll surround her!" The leader yelled, and the lackey hurried to follow his instructions. They slowly walked around the car, their guns prepared, noticing the mist that was emanating from it. "Ha! A gas Quirk? That won't work, girlie! Too bad!" The two sprang around, and blinked when they saw the empty area. "What?! Where is she?!"
"Beneath?" The other yelled back questioningly.
"Check!" The leader commanded, and the lackey obediently crouched to look beneath the car.
Camie smirked, taking her deepest breath yet. The second his mask peeked beneath the car, she opened her mouth, making an 'o' with her lips, and breathed out as hard as she could. Much more gas than any of them would have expected practically slapped the gas mask due to her Quirk adaptations giving her much higher lung capacity than normal. 'Thank you Melissa! Love ya!' She crowed in her head as her Glamour gas penetrated the gas mask's filters.
Melissa brought something quite important to their groups: the scientific method. She had devised a good number of experiments to find out just where their current limits were. And it was because of her and those experiments that Camie had learned that gas masks only worked on her Quirk when she was trying to diffuse the gas throughout an area. At point blank range like this? She could actually bypass the gas mask by overwhelming the filters with a concentrated burst.
"Wah!" the faux Villain stumbled back, "You little bitch!" He saw her on the other side of the car and running towards the other three. "Gotcha!" He aimed at her back and pulled the trigger. She dodged right, and then left, and he followed her. The final shot hit her back… and then went right through it as she wavered like a mirage. "What the hell?!" She dissolved, and his eyes widened in horror as he saw that he had instead shot his three other fellow Villains. The trio were stuck and struggling, and yelling at him.
"Hehehe!" Camie laughed as she rolled out from beneath the car, "Dontcha know, fam? Discordia's in the house." And before his eyes, she started to warp. Her hair started turning purple and appeared almost wisp-like as she raised her hands, golden apples appearing floating above her palms. "And all of you are pawns in my game."
"SHIT!" He yelled, aiming, and firing at her again and again. She dodged, hopping acrobatically as the leader, seeing that his man was completely under her control and trying to yell and scream to get his attention, to no avail, backed away rapidly to avoid getting caught too. And he was so caught up in dodging his idiot subordinate's shots that he didn't even see the bit of rubble arcing towards him.
And then it smashed him in the face. "URK!" He grunted as his mask shattered, following the rubble with dazed eyes. And then the chunk seemed to rebound off the air and crashed into his face again. He fell back, and his subordinate, convinced he had finally caught Camie with her pants down, fired and caught his boss with the sticky cement.
His eyes bugged out when Camie temporarily released her hold on him, allowing him to see what he'd done. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" One of the other lackeys raged.
"WE LOOK LIKE CLOWNS NOW!" One of them still had his arm loose and tried to aim his gun, but a piece of rubble flew above his arm and then seemed to rebound off the air, smashing into his limb and forcibly gluing it to the rest of the sticky stuff.
"Yeah, this is definitely a bit of a low point for you." Nirengeki smirked as he walked over. "Feeling a bit superfluous here, Discordia."
"Hehe." She shot him a peace sign, "Well, time to wrap this up." She dashed forward.
"Shit, shit, shit!" He desperately tried to catch her in the cement, but then ate a hard kick right to the jaw that practically knocked him out. 'But she was still five feet away!' Were his last thoughts before he hit the ground and was out like a light.
She grinned, "Right on!" She held her hand up, and Nirengeki indulged her high-five, "We totes got this in the bag. Let's go save those civvies!"
"Let's." The two ran off.
…
"Damn, these guys got this building on lock." Kirishima grimaced.
"And there are probably two or three dozen civilians trapped inside." Itsuka growled. The two redheads were hiding behind a car, "How are we going to get close enough? Those two snipers with those weird guns will just glue us like they did to Tetsutetsu."
The metal man had unfortunately assumed that the guns were just regular guns with BBs or something for ammunition. Instead, they had shot this green goop at him that had slowed him down tremendously, and then another Villain had touched the slime and electrocuted it and Tetsutetsu with it. Unlike the cement guns Camie and Nirengeki faced, the goop guns were part of the Villain's Quirks. The two were twin brothers with the same Quirk, in fact. They were crack shots with their equipment, which were merely supplements to direct the output of their Quirks.
Tetsutetsu would be smarting about it without a doubt. "That slime looks disgusting too." Itsuka shuddered, "But we have to get through. There are so many people to save there!"
"Maybe I could help." Momo smiled as she appeared in their midst, getting frightened little squeals from her fellow representative and her classmate. "Pres. Red Riot." She greeted them.
"Don't do that, vice-pres!" Itsuka held her chest from the fright. "Oh, my heart."
"Sorry!" Momo blushed.
"Izanami!" Kirishima grinned, "Heh, these guys are so screwed now!"
Momo smiled again, "Give me a sitrep."
Itsuka nodded, "Twins with the same Quirk, it looks like. They're both perched on opposite sides of the building on those glass-cleaning platforms. There's one person with an electricity Quirk somewhat similar to Conduit's Quirk, and the small lady over there seems to have some sort of Sonic Scream Quirk. Not sure about any of the others, but they've got good teamwork. And they're guarding potentially dozens of civilians that need to be rescued."
"Got it." Momo started to rub her chin, muttering to herself nearly inaudibly for a moment. Her boyfriend was apparently contagious. She snapped out of it faster than he would have though, and the smile on her face sent a shiver down Itsuka's spine. "Pres, how durable are you?"
"Battle Fist." Itsuka told her what she'd chosen as her Hero name first, "And pretty durable, but my hands most of all, obviously." She paused, "And I really don't like that question." She said dryly.
Momo let out a little giggle, "Here's what we're going to do."
The Villains were getting antsy, "Are those two going to do anything? Hey, Betabeta, want to fire off some warning shots?" And then a rocket fired into the air from behind the car, "What the hell?!"
The rocket wasn't anywhere near them, but it drew their eyes anyway. And they very soon regretted that. "AAAHHHHHH!" Some of them even fell over as they clutched their eyes in agony. The rocket Momo had fired had split open, spewing out dozens of clumps of material. The second the contents had hit the air and ignited, utterly blinding lights had made all of the Villains scream in pain. Had Momo done this at night, they really would have been irrevocably blinded. As it was, it was a very painful distraction and they'd be blinking spots out of their eyes for days.
The flares were short lived, expending all of their luminosity in seconds. The Villains had no time to regroup however, as the flares were just the distraction.
BAM
Kirishima bodily crashed into one of the Betabeta twins like a cannonball, shattering the glass and putting both of them into the building. Kirishima would have wasted no time getting to work, but the impact had already knocked the relatively frail man out. "Man, that was a rush." He swiped at his forehead.
Itsuka had landed on the platform the other twin was on with much less impact. Momo had thrown both of them, and, knowing her classmate's durability, had launched him more like a cannonball. She was gentler with Itsuka, and so she instead landed with a devastating punch to the other Betabeta twin's face, knocking him out cold and crushing him into the platform. And breaking one of the ropes holding it up. She squeaked as the platform started to collapse, and she thanked her lucky stars that they weren't high off the ground. She quickly secured the Villain in a very large hand, and jumped into a tree down below, dropping the Villain on the floor.
Momo meanwhile had charged in with One For All sparkling around her. The Villain with the electricity reacted violently, discharging nearly all of his power in an AOE around himself, assuming that something was going to be coming and hoping to ruin whatever their plan was. Momo reacted immediately. She rapidly created an insulated blanket and hid behind it. She continued running forward at full speed, and ran a rapid circle around the man a couple times. The insulated blanket wrapped him up and prevented the output of more electricity, and a couple of belts had him all tied up and unable to move more than a centimeter or two.
Momo clapped her hands up and down for a job well done as he fell over, before squealing and clapping her hands to her ears and falling to her knees as the sonic attack hit everyone all at once. 'It's not directional?!' She couldn't hear herself screaming inside her own damn head! She had made noise-canceling earbuds for the three of them and it was still getting through!
The woman's scream was radiating outwards in circular shockwaves. Kirishima inside the building had no defense, and neither did the shattering windows. Itsuka was on the floor, her hands giant and trying to block the sound to no avail.
'SHE CAN'T SCREAM FOREVER!' Momo tried to get to her feet, but fell over. She was the closest and was practically being pushed away by the sheer sound. But she couldn't think of anything. Any device she could make that could wrench the woman's jaw shut would also be too complicated to make. And she had been screaming for a while now so at this point, Momo wasn't actually sure if she needed to breathe. 'THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING THAT CAN SHUT HER UP!' Momo thought to herself desperately, feeling even her lungs rattling and starting to fail to draw air in.
And then she had an idea and raised a finger, almost starting to cry as the pain overwhelmed her. She took aim, and a white bullet shot from her finger. Somehow, her aim was true, and she had put just enough zip on it that it wasn't pushed away by the soundwaves. The white pellet hit the woman right in the back of the throat and immediately, the noise ceased.
The woman was choking, trying to force the object out, but it just cracked and shattered into a million pieces, and Momo's attack was revealed. A white puff of smoke flew from the woman's lips as she coughed, trying to clear her windpipe. As she did so, she couldn't help but be filled with indignation. Flour? Her Quirk had been beaten by fucking FLOUR?! She grabbed a truncheon from her belt and ran at the young lady who had just humiliated her.
And then things got a whole lot more humiliating.
Momo slapped the truncheon out of her hand, picked her up, and slammed her into the ground. She hacked out another puff of flour as Momo straddled her. Momo forced a mask on her face which kept her jaw shut, freshly created via her Quirk. And then cuffs for both her hands and feet followed.
The Villain burned in embarrassment as Itsuka ran over, "Izanami, are you okay?!"
"WHAT?!" Momo yelled back, "WHAT?!" She yelled even harder, still unable to hear her own voice.
Itsuka swore for the first time in a while as she picked the Villain up and put her with the others, "Fucking U.A…" She grabbed Momo's hand and led her to the hostages, where Kirishima was already busy freeing them. It was smooth sailing from there.
…
"This looks dangerous." Kinoko sweated lightly as she eyed the tilting building. The damn thing was completely on its side, resting on another building.
"Hn." Yui hummed in response, "No Villains." She rapidly eyed the structure, wondering what their best play would be. "Kin-chan, make your bounciest mushrooms."
"Like that time in rescue training?" Kinoko asked, getting a nod. "You got it! What will you be doing?"
"Going in." Yui declared, running forward and then putting her hands on the pavement. The ground began to warp beneath her, rippling like water. And then four large platforms rose into the air, securing the building more from underneath. Hopefully it would keep it steady for long enough for her to be able to save anyone inside. Satisfied she had braced the fallen building as best she could, another platform rose up with her on top of it. She shrank the window itself, turning it into a small piece of glass, which she laid down gently. She then hopped into the building.
It was a mess in there, and the electricity was out. "Tch." She got back out, eyeing the growing field of mushrooms below with approval. "Kin-chan, do you have any glow in the dark mushrooms?" She hated raising her voice, but it was necessary.
"You got it!" Kinoko called up to her. She raised her hand and a thin stream of spores hit the pillar Yui was standing on. Immediately, mushrooms called Green Pepe started to pop, pop, pop atop the stone, and Yui hurried to pick them.
She rushed inside, holding her mushrooms, and the almost radioactive-looking green glow showed her the way. Navigating the inside of the building was rough, and she had to watch her step. She went door to door, opening each to peek inside. It took three doors before she found her first victim, a young lady with light pink hair and puffy earrings that looked like cotton balls or clouds. She had a convincing terrified look on her face and was covered in dirt and dust, "H-Help…" She pleaded, "M-My leg. It's stuck!" She had a cabinet fallen on top of it.
"Here to help." Yui told her firmly as she climbed into the room from below, the wall the door was on currently being the floor. She patted the cabinet and shrunk it down into the size of a toy. It fell into her palm, and she tossed it away.
"Woah…" Fuwa, one of the second-year Hero students that Aizawa had 'expelled' last year forgot to play along for a moment, "Th-thanks."
"No problem." Yui said quietly, "Anyone else here?"
"Y-yeah, a few." Fuwa replied, nodding as she took Yui's outstretched hand. She quickly led Yui a few doors down, and Yui's eyes widened as she saw the boy crushed up against the back wall…which was currently the floor.
Yui let herself drop, grabbing the bed and shrinking it before tossing it out of the way. She grabbed a desk next and did the same. Finally, she grabbed the barbell that was trapping the boy and tossed it onto the bed.
"Oooh!" The boy breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, that was so heavy. Thanks!"
"Welcome." She held out her hand, "Come on."
"There's no one else on this floor, I think." Fuwa told her.
Yui nodded, "Kay." She went to the window and shrunk it, being careful not to fall out, "Trampolines down below. Partner will help. Need to continue searching."
Fuwa paled, "Y-You mean jump? That's really high!"
Yui nodded, "Safe. Tried it before. Really bouncy. Doesn't hurt."
"I'll bet!" The boy had a grin, "Though a bit of advice: that would definitely lose you points in a Hero exam. Would just make the rescuees even more frightened." He jumped, "WHOOOOO!"
"He's right," Fuwa gave her a smile even as Yui frowned, "Terrified people aren't rational. It would just make things worse. You have to be careful about things like that." She patted Yui on the shoulder, "Also, if you're not comfortable speaking, you'll have to practice getting out of that comfort zone. Terrified people want to be reassured. Okay?"
Yui frowned more, "Okay." Ugh, that was a pain. Well, hopefully her wishes for the future with Izuku and his girls would work out. No doubt they could help make her more confident.
"Good luck!" Fuwa said, before squealing as she jumped. Yui hurried to explore the rest of the building.
"Welcome to fresh air!" Kinoko greeted her with a smile down below, "Don't worry, Nexus and I will make sure all of you stay safe!"
"Oh, is that right?" A new voice called out, and Kinoko whirled around. Her eyes widened as she took in the half dozen of Best Jeanist's sidekicks that had just popped out from behind the corner.
'Ugh, Best Jeanist is hot, but do his sidekicks all have to copy his shtick?' Kinoko, counter to what the 'villains' expected, was more concerned with their fashion than them. She was well aware that all of Jeanist's sidekicks had some form of Quirk that worked with textiles, much like their leader.
"Sorry girlie, but you and your partner aren't saving anybody." The leader grinned, "We'll be capturing you now!" Their clothes started to unravel, the threads pulling out. One of them formed what appeared to be a Frisbee, another a sword, and one just had the denim start snaking out.
"Oh no, whatever will I do?" Kinoko gasped, and her wording made them pause warily. She didn't sound afraid at all. "By the way, what did you do about that huge mushroom around the corner?"
"…Mushroom?" The leader asked.
"Oh dear, you didn't see it?" Kinoko's bangs split open, revealing a slasher grin and her slashed pupils, "But I grew it just for you."
POP
POPPOPPOP
POPOPOPOPOPOP
"WAHGH!" The Jeanists all started to flail as mushrooms started to grow all over their bodies. "Get them off!"
"Hehehe, yeah, I didn't like mushrooms mush either, but then they grew on me." Kinoko cackled as the Villains all fell unconscious.
"…First years are scary…" Fuwa and her friend hugged each other.
"WAAAAH!" Another few stragglers fell down from the building.
"Hiya! I'm Shemage! We're going to get everyone to safety!" Kinoko was back to being bubbly, greeting the cheering volunteers as they got off her trampoline mushrooms.
It took a few more minutes before Yui judged that everyone was out, and then she hopped onto the same platform she had come up in and reached up to touch the building. Her face scrunched up in exertion, as this was definitely the biggest thing she had ever tried this on. The onlookers gaped as the building rippled and gradually shrunk down, until it fit in the palm of her hand. She shrank the pillar down to the floor, and then jogged away. She put the building down, and jogged back to the people she and Kinoko had saved, "Release." She declared, and the building bulged back to full size in an instant.
"Your Quirk is busted, Nexus!" Fuwa and Kinoko gaped.
"Hmm." Yui smiled smugly, "Good job, Shemage." She eyed the defeated Jeanists. "Let's go get them to safety."
"You got it, Nexus!" Kinoko replied cheerfully as they began to lead their rescues to safety.
…
Kamakiri had not been having a great time.
On one hand, there were dozens of Villains to fight, which he couldn't say he wasn't enjoying. On the other hand, the fights which got his blood pumping so much were worthless. They were just time wasters. Enjoyable time wasters, but time wasters, nonetheless. He had a feeling he hadn't accumulated nearly enough points to pass on to the next round.
He'd spent the first ten minutes of the event running and trying to find people to rescue. His blades were unreasonably sharp and durable, and he was able to get quite a few people out of danger. A person trapped inside a car here, a person yelling about a fire they couldn't escape from there…
His blades made short work of the car, and he was able to pull the pretty girl from it and get her to safety. He had immediately scaled the three-story building using his blades, sinking them deep into the masonry as he climbed. The man had gotten onto his back, and Kamakiri had gotten him back down to the ground in moments. It was on his way back from the check in station that he had run into his first Villains, and with no civilians to keep safe, his pulse had pounded in his ears.
The speedster was nowhere near as fast as Iida from 1-A, but he hadn't been a slouch. But Kamakiri's reflexes were trained like a razor's edge, and he'd been able to slice right through the man's armor. With a Quirk like his and a personality to match, the shocked scream had been a joy to hear. Kamakiri hadn't cut him deep, but had rushed him to one of the medical facilities to get healed.
He had saved another couple people, and then another fighter came. One with a sword herself, though not one he was using by hand. Instead, the blade had floated around the woman and attacked autonomously. She had done well dodging his blades while harrying him with her own, but in the end, Kamakiri's speed won out. She had never faced a swordsman who not only was his own blade, but had Kamakiri's speed and ferocity. A clever bit of positioning had her overextending, and Kamakiri's arm blade rested on her throat.
A good fight, and she had surrendered immediately. His blood had been singing, and he almost forgot himself and asked for a rematch. Heart still pounding, he had made his way to his next rescue…
And that was when things had gone wrong. The man had been a Hero for over thirty years and retired for another ten, but still looked young enough that Kamakiri would never have guessed it. And "Beast Armor" Momotaro definitely moved and fought as if he could pick up right where he had left off a decade ago. "You're not doing so well, are you, boy?" He boomed, despite his face being focused and serene.
Kamakiri on the other hand, was the very picture of stress. He was matted with sweat, and his teeth were grinding together. And all because he just couldn't get through this man's armor! Momotaro was covered in a brown layer of fur all over his body, and no matter what Kamakiri did, he could not get through it! His blades were stopping as if that damn fur was nothing short of an armor plate of hardened steel!
No matter how he sliced, where he tried to pierce, his blades just stopped dead. "Damn it!" He'd lost more than ten minutes on this fight! How could he even enjoy it if he couldn't get any blood?! His muscles were burning, and he was slowing down.
Momotaro shook his head, "You've got a pretty simple Quirk, just like mine." He said, before smirking, "And I can tell. You're just like me, brat. You love nothing more than a good fight. And it's pissing you off that you can't get one." He ducked a bit under a swipe, "Oooh, you almost got some of my hair that time!"
Kamakiri hissed, swiping like a tornado, and even getting into a capoeira stance to try some bladed kicks as well, "Fucking damn it!" Even his superb blades were starting to get dented from all of the impacts against the ultra-dense Armor of the Ape.
Momotaro sighed, "Has anyone ever told you the definition of insanity, kid?" He lashed out, punching Kamakiri in the chest and sending him flying away, "It's doing the same thing over," He dodged a spearing dive from the green-haired bug boy, "and over," He kicked Kamakiri away, snorting as even then, the boy sliced at his leg and tore up his pants, "And over while expecting a different result."
"Krkkhk!" Kamakiri groaned as he tried to push himself up from his spot on the ground.
"I used to be just like you." Momotaro said, "And it got me in trouble more than once during my career. I'm covered in scars because of it." He crossed his arms, "Your ego is going to get you killed, brat. I've given you ample opportunity to run. I wouldn't even have chased you. But you just. Keep. Coming. You can't brute force through everything in life, no matter how hard you try."
Kamakiri knew what he was saying was true, even if he didn't want to admit it. And he hated feeling like this. He was ultra-competitive in the same way Bakugō was. He absolutely abhorred losing, and especially in fights. His pride wouldn't let him back down!
And yet?
He knew he couldn't win this fight. His blades were doing absolutely nothing of value. He knew what Momotaro would say too. That refusing to back down when he knew he couldn't win was just suicidal stupidity. Especially when winning would get him nothing! He'd probably already lost his chances at round three, so the thought of retreating on top of it burned like shame in his stomach.
Momotaro sighed, "Still being stubborn then? Well, I guess some lessons can only be learned via pain." He rushed forward, raising a claw to swipe at Kamakiri, only for something to hit his arm.
And it started to sizzle.
Momotaro howled as he leapt away, his arm smoking. He grabbed it with his other hand, and instantly regretted it when his palm started to burn as well, "What the hell is this?!"
"Diluted hydrochloric acid." Mina grinned as she landed next to Kamakiri, "Hehe, you good, blade buddy?"
Kamakiri growled, both at needing the help and at her injuring the man he couldn't so much as scratch. "I didn't need help!" He growled as he stood up.
Mina rolled her eyes, "Oh great." She eyed him with lidded, disappointed eyes, "I suppose every class needs a Nitrogremlin."
He snarled back, "What the hell does that mean?"
"It means you're acting just like Bakugō, and that is not a compliment." Mina shot back, prepared to help anyway. "Stupid pride." She huffed. Kamakiri didn't get a chance to snipe back at her.
"I have to say…" Momotaro spoke like someone who hadn't just suffered from chemical burns, and Mina's eyes widened when she realized that her acid was seemingly not affecting him anymore. "Being attacked by acid is a first." He started to growl, and the fur on his body receded before what looked like scales started to form on his entire upper body. Yellow feathers started growing from his shoulder blades and covering most of his head as well. Mina almost started to giggle over how ridiculous he looked.
"You look like a chicken." She burst out, unable to keep it in.
"Well, I suppose my Armor of the Phoenix is pretty funny-looking." He smiled, "Care to see something else that's funny?" And then he blurred, and Mina gasped, dodging back as he appeared in front of her. Even with that, she still coughed as his punch landed on her tummy and sent her rolling back.
"How was that funny?! OW!" She rubbed the smarting area as she got to her feet.
He smiled, "Good dodge. You minimized the damage. You've got some moves."
"Plenty of them!" Mina clapped her hands together, "Here, have some of this!" She yelled, and a jet of acid squirted from beneath her hands. Yet to her surprise, he did. "You idiot!" She yelled in shock, "Are you okay?!"
"Just fine." He laughed at her expression as the acid just ran right off of him. "Did you think I switched my armor just for kicks?" He didn't notice Kamakiri's eyes narrow.
She growled, "Grrr, so that means you're resistant to acid now?"
"Something to that effect, yes." Momotaro nodded, "My Quirk essentially lets me sample things that can hurt me, and allow my body to react accordingly. It even gives me a minor regenerative factor. Essentially…" He smirked at her, "What doesn't kill me just makes me stronger."
"Shit." She hissed. Why had she come to help the bug boy? She had people to rescue, damn it!
"Acid Girl." Kamakiri got near her and held a hand up to block his mouth. "I've got an idea."
Mina grinned as Kamakiri explained what he thought he had discovered. "Okay, I like it! Let's beat him fast!"
"Oh?" Momotaro smiled, "This should be entertaining. Come at me then, kids!"
"Gladly!" Mina engulfed herself in Acidman, coating herself in undiluted HCL. She charged, aiming for his stomach.
"Just a straightforward charge? I expected bet-GRK!" He coughed out a bunch of spit as Mina's fist slammed into his gut and howled as he started to sizzle. "What the-?!"
"I didn't dilute it, that time." She grinned before landing a spinning back kick as well. He blocked by closing his wings, and the feathers started to darken and brown from the acid and slough away. His feet dragged on the ground from the impact, and he had to flap his wings to try to get some of the acid off. "And each time you get used to it, I can just use something stronger!" He hissed as his scales started to darken and his yellow feathers started turning orange, "Or I would…if I weren't the distraction."
"What?!" Momotaro yelped as he dodged back, yelling loudly as Kamakiri fell from the sky and sliced half of one of his wings right off. Despite the fact that there was no blood involved, he still felt the pain of the slice. He bared his teeth in a smile, "Damn, you kids are good. You figured it out."
"You wouldn't have bothered switching Armors if you could protect against all damage with just one." Kamakiri smirked.
"You'd be surprised at how few people ever had a chance to understand that." He straightened up and reverted to his full human form, "Go on." He waved them away with a grin, "It's your win, and other people have to be saved."
Kamakiri almost fell over at the sudden forfeit, "What?! But-"
"But nothing." He smirked at them, "I'd win, but I'm not planning on killing a bunch of kids, and turning up the intensity would lead to exactly that. You two are strong, but you're still just kids. You've got a long way to go before I even consider letting loose in a fight. But who knows… you impressed me. I might even send you some internship offers. I might be retired, but I'm sure Nezu wouldn't say no."
Mina and Kamakiri both grinned… though Kamakiri's was more strained.
-[-
On and on it went, with the students gradually emptying the city of civilians and making the cityscape safe. All the while, the crowds cheered, gasped, and shrieked with every dangerous situation and winced with every injury. Present Mic did his job well, commentating and calling things out for the viewers as best he could with so many different perspectives. Hundreds of parents were still angry, as dozens of students had barely made it to the rescue area before the final person was rescued.
The 'Villains' had a fair number of victories too, thinning out the herd of students. Shinsō and Kamakiri weren't the only ones to run into an unwinnable scenario, even if only one of the two had gotten captured.
But all things had to come to and end, and that moment was now, "3998, 3999! 4000!" Present Mic roared out, "That's all 4000 civilians rescued! That's the game!" A horn blared out as all of the remaining students raised their fists into the air in victory! They all smiled widely as they started to hear the cheering being transmitted from the main stadium. "Let all of our brave competitors hear it!"
The stadium practically shook from the force of the cheering crowds. Midnight snapped her whip to get silence, "Excellent work, everyone! The points are being calculated, which will take a little while. Feel free to get snacks or find a restroom. There will still be a longer break before the main event starts, so feel free to stay at the concession stands rather than making your way back immediately. We'll be broadcasting the names of our finalists campus-wide. As for our victorious children? Buses are waiting to bring you back here! Load up into them and by the time you're back, your destinies should be clear!"
The students sighed in relief as they got on the buses, glad that they were being allowed to relax for a while before the third and final round began. They even had some small snacks while onboard.
Izuku and his girlfriends got off their bus with smiles on their faces, waving at the remainder of the crowds. Others were despondent, knowing they hadn't done well enough to advance. Tōru was one of them, "Cheer up, Tōru-chan." Ochako patted her on the shoulder, "They look at all of the events, not just the finals. You'll do fine with getting noticed!"
Tōru sniffed, "Thanks, Ocha-cha." She gave the brunette a hug.
Before too long, Miss Midnight made her way back onto her platform, "Well, here we are! The results of the last event have all been tabulated!" She pointed straight up, and the large monitor lit up with sixteen available spots, "Now, don't worry or be discouraged if your name doesn't pop up here. There will be other events and games where you can show your stuff, so your sports festival doesn't end here! And by the way, if you don't have an even number of points, we'll just round you up. So without further ado, in sixteenth place with a combined 150 points: Blast!"
Katsuki swore he felt his heart stop. He almost hadn't even made it to the dance?
"Next up is 1-B's very own Class President," Itsuka beamed in relief, "Battle Fist with 160 points! And beating her by just one point, Froppy!"
"Kero!" Tsuyu's face lit up in joy.
"Next up is the sturdy wall of 1-A, Red Riot with 175!"
"YES!" Kirishima leapt up and cheered, with Mina going over and giving him a hug.
"With his twin impacts carrying him to 181 points, Double Tap!" Nirengeki smiled softly, "Speeding into eleventh place is Jet Drive with 189!" Iida started chopping the air excitedly, making the rest of his classmates chuckle, "And just barely missing out on breaking into the two hundreds, Uravity!" Ochako leapt up, a joyful smile on her face. "In ninth place with 201 points, we have Gloriosa!" Ibara clasped her hands as she sent a prayer to god, thanking him for his favor, "And now we're really getting up there in the points. With a large jump to 246 points, we have Rocketti!" Pony beamed as the words penetrated. She excitedly hugged Itsuka, squeezing so tight the girl joked about sabotage, "and beating her to seventh place with 253 points: Mudman!" Honenuki wiped a bit of sweat from his brow.
Several students were starting to get worried now. "Shoot… are we not all going to make it? I don't think I could have beat Honenuki…especially with how much time I lost helping bug boy" Mina started to sweat.
Setsuna and Camie both grabbed her hands, squeezing loosely in support. Momo and Izuku grabbed Melissa's hands too.
"In sixth with 276 points: Automata!" Setsuna sagged, before getting hugged by her boyfriend and girlfriends.
"Congratulations, Set!" Melissa hugged her as well, "Looks like we're not all making it though." She pouted.
"And now we're into the top five! Bringing up the last of the five, with an electrifying-" Kaminari's eyes widened and he grinned, "-321 points: Conduit!"
"Hell yeah!" He cheered, throwing up the horns. Kyōka smirked and stabbed him lightly with her jacks, before giving him a thumb's up. Kinoko only didn't hop onto him and start making out with him because they were on live tv.
"Awww…" Mina, Melissa, and Camie drooped. "There's no way we got in too now…" Yui was also pouting outrageously. She thought she had done better than this. They weren't the only ones, with Melissa pouting too, and Kaminari having to comfort his girlfriend as she realized she wouldn't be making it in. Dozens of other students already hung their heads in disappointment. There just weren't enough spots with the powerhouses still on the field.
"Yes, congrats, Conduit! And in a surprise, we have a TIE for third and fourth place at 333 points. Let's hear it for Frozone and Gale Force!"
Inasa and Shōto smirked at one another, before bumping fists. "Congrats, dudes." Izuku said, clapping both on their shoulders.
"Better be ready, my man. You know what the final event always is." Inasa held up a fist with a grin.
"Bring it!" Izuku met his challenge with a matching smile.
"Quiet up, darlings!" Midnight cracked her whip, "And with a huge jump in points, our mistress of creation takes second place with 389! Give it up for Izanami!" Momo smiled prettily, waving at the crowds before she was swallowed up by her polycule for hugs.
She smiled at her boyfriend, "Congrats, Izu. You deserve it!"
"Hey, she hasn't announced it yet. It could be someone else." They all gave him flat looks.
"I wouldn't buy that if you were selling, Eon!" Midnight laughed, and several other students joined her, "After a display like the one he gave us earlier, is it any wonder that our 1-A Class Representative takes the top spot here? With a point count that blew everyone else out of the water, we have the Cosmic Hero: Eon with an unbelievable 625 points!"
"HOLY CRAP IZUKU/MIDORI/IZU/ZUKU/ZU!" His girlfriends and Melissa all yelled.
"Bwahahaha!" Inasa almost couldn't stay standing at the look of shock on Izuku's face, "Were you expecting anything different, my man?"
"YES!" Izuku yelled back, "I didn't expect to be well on my way to doubling second place!"
"Well, you did take apart that building to save a couple dozen people and then put the building back together standing straighter than it had been." Shōto smirked lightly at him.
"You did what?!" Melissa gasped, "Oh Izuku, your Quirk is so damn cool!" Izuku's face flashed red as she gave him a hug.
"Yes, yes, I'm sure you're all excited! Settle down!" Midnight cracked her whip, and they all focused up, "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering, 'what event did I just qualify for.' Well darlings, you already know! It's a tournament!" She licked her lips, "Time to discover your fates! Roll that randomizer!" She yelled with a giant grin.
On the massive screen, all sixteen names started to flash and move around the board, before a double-sided fight bracket appeared. The first set of names was filled in.
Mudman vs Uravity
Honenuki and Ochako stared challengingly at one another, giving each other intense looks. The next set appeared:
Froppy vs Battle Fist
"Kero. Let's have a good match, Itsuka-chan." Tsuyu smiled at the ginger-haired girl.
"Let's!" Itsuka bumped fists with the shorter girl.
Red Riot vs Double Tap
"Right on!" Kirishima grinned at Nirengeki, getting a smile in return.
"Hope that skin of yours is as hard as you think." Nirengeki challenged his opponent.
"You don't have any idea of how hard I can get!" Kirishima shot back.
And then his face went as red as his hair as Mina, Camie, Kinoko, Setsuna, Inasa, Izuku, Ochako, and even Melissa laughed, "That's what she said!"
"Oh, come on guys, that doesn't even make sense." Kirishima whined.
"It's okay if you're into ladyboys Kiri." Mina leered at him, making him drop his head in exasperation.
Gloriosa vs Izanami
"I wish you luck, Shiozaki-san." Momo bowed to Ibara, who bowed back.
"Let His light illuminate our path." She replied… which… just made Momo confused.
Rocketti vs Conduit
"Hope you ready to lose, electro boy!" Pony held out her fist for Kaminari to bump, showing her words weren't in bad faith.
"Heh, this should be good." Kaminari grinned back and accepted the fist bump.
Jet Drive vs Automata
"Wait a minute…" Setsuna's eyes narrowed. "Doesn't this mean…"
"Oh dear." Momo cottoned on as she recalled who was left and what that could mean. She squeezed Izuku's hand and chanced a look at him, but Izuku looked calm and just gave her a small smile and a squeeze back.
Frozone vs Gale Force
"Damn, in the first round." Inasa hadn't even realized until now. He looked at Izuku, and sighed in relief as he saw only steely determination in his best friend's gaze.
They all knew what this meant.
Eon vs Blast
-[-
BOOM
Bet you all weren't expecting that. One side of this bracket is LOADED.
So, as I mentioned at the start of this chapter, I got HARD stuck on this one for MONTHS. This just didn't come out the way I had originally envisioned, and it became something I just had to move past rather than something I was excited to go through.
So, why did I go with an event like this?
Essentially, I realized fairly early on that I needed the second event to NOT be a team game. Why? Because then almost half of the 3rd round would have been Izuku, the official polycule, Melissa, and Yui. And then it would have been Bakugō, Inasa, Todoroki, and whoever they nabbed for their teams. No potential dark horses like Pony (kek), most of 1-B eliminated, etc. The way it ended up, I was able to balance it decently evenly between 1-A and 1-B.
So why the event I went with? Essentially, it was a very 'gamey' scenario that I came up with while playing Horizon: Zero Dawn. LOVED that game. And it really inspired me while I was planning it out and then it just… kinda didn't come out the way I had envisioned. And I was realizing this as I was writing it and noticing it was getting uncomfortably similar to the Licensing Exam and it was just too late to back out and try something different.
So, I just sucked it up and moved on, because I was sick of the story being stuck. Even if it didn't come out how I wanted, I hope you still enjoyed it. I did have a good bit of fun with bits of it, so it's not like I hated writing it.
Next month's update will be Thunderous Soul 7.
For patrons, I got hard stuck on a Game of Thrones kick for like two straight months. Have 3 chapters of a story available as well as a bunny that's coming out at the same time this chapter goes live. I also will have That Time I Got Flung Across Worlds & Fell on my Big Tiddy Redhead GF chapter 6 available by mid-month and am hoping to bang out a few more chapters before the muse abandons me to my fate. If you want early access, just google "Primordial Vortex" and it should be the second thing that pops up.