AN: So hello all, here I am back again with another chapter! And this time the update speed was faster, I'm getting better I think :)

But anyway, hope you enjoy, and please leave a review etc. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to PM me.

Another thing while I am at it, is this. I am a part of a discord group, there's tons of others there, plenty of writers, admittedly mainly PJO, but other stuff too, including a growing number of MHA writers. Feel free to pop along and say hi, I'm always happy to chat about the stuff I am writing. So if you fancy it please do to join by sticking this: discord .gg / elibrary into discord, with no spaces, or using the link on my bio.

Thanks for reading and please do leave a review, that or feel free to PM, I am usually much better at answering those!

Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia.

( - )

(Last Time)

This was it, this was when he made his debut to the rest of the country.

"Get set!"

The second red light faded.

There was only one left.

From around him, Izuku could feel the mass of humanity pressing in all around him.

Ignoring them, Izuku pushed to the front and bent down, his hands on the ground as he got into a good sprinting position.

He took a deep breath.

The riding crop fell.

Green light.

"Go!"

( - )

Chapter 16

( - )

(With Izuku)

As soon as he heard Midnight's shout, Izuku didn't think, he just moved. His entire body jolting forwards in an explosion of pure force as he pushed off from the ground; the concrete beneath in him cracking slightly as he shot forwards like a rocket.

His Quirk and the enhanced physical capabilities it gave him, even in his base form, afforded him a huge advantage over those struggling shoulder to shoulder for the even the slightest advantage.

With so many participants, bottlenecking was only to be expected, and the problem was only heightened by the design of the course itself. With the starting pathway leading into a tunnel only a few meters wide, with it then widening to maybe a dozen metres later on, it was like the people who designed the tournament actually wantedthem to brawl right away. The roar of the crowd of spectators watching the event, only served to remind him just why that might be.

Almost at once, Izuku was nearly in the lead, his leg muscle already burning, and small trails of steam wafting off him as he rapidly pumped his legs; quickly building up momentum as he did so, his every footstep leaving behind shallow indents in the ground as he steamed forwards through the tunnel and out into the open, barging through and past anyone who got in his way.

Even the quickest students, those who were naturally suited to speed due to their quirks, were left in his dust, or at least for just a few seconds, at least until Iida rapidly sped past his position, the larger teen shifting straight into fourth gear as he too broke free of the scrum at the exit of the tunnel and hit the straight and flat track ahead.

Lowering his head as he ran, Izuku continued to sprint forward, even as he felt the surrounding temperature suddenly drop dramatically as a sheet of thick ice rushed forward and covered great swathes of the ground in ice.

From behind him, he could hear a large number of students shouting in surprise, shock and/ or pain as they suddenly found themselves trapped in ice.

"Sorry, but I'm winning this race." Todoroki said loudly, his tone cold and lacking any kind of sincerity as he shot forward, gliding across the ice like a surfer might surf a wave.

Within moments, Todoroki had almost caught up to him.

"Hey! What the-?"

"Everything's frozen over! I can't move!-"

"It's so cold!"

"Get out of the way! I can't get it off!"

"Move!"

"Dammit!"

Listening to the complaints of those behind him, his eyes narrowed as he glanced sideways and saw that Todoroki was still level with him, a bored expression on his face as he surfed forwards on a rapidly expanding wave of ice, just about keeping level with him as he continued to run. The both of them were now caught in the dust trails of those like Iida who had a natural advantage on the flats.

Looking sidelong at him, Todoroki's lips twitched downwards for a moment, before he swept his freehand out, sending another blast of ice in all directions. Only this one was close enough to actually catch Izuku in its range, which he suspected was probably the point.

Growling internally, Izuku leapt up a few feet as he ran, timing it almost perfectly as the ice rushed forward beneath him, only for him to then land, shattering the ice below him as he continued to run.

He'd successfully avoided becoming trapped in the ice, like so many of those behind him, but the jump had still slowed him down enough for Todoroki to slip past him.

Scowling at the back of Todoroki's head, Izuku tried to increase his pace, his teeth clenching together and arms pumping as he once again started to catch up to the ice wielder and those ahead of him.

There were around forty metres separating him from the front of the pack, but between him and the lead position there were now three others; Iida, a white haired Class 1B student with a skull-like face, and Todoroki.

He was in fourth. It wasn't ideal but considering the race had only just begun, it wasn't too bad either, so long as he could maintain this position he would be happy.

At that thought, however, a new and obnoxious voice sounded out behind him.

"Outta the way!" The familiar voice bellowed, the tone filled with a combination of anger and frustration.

Glancing sideways, Izuku was forced to move as Bakugo, his red eyes practically gleaming, crashed into the position he had just occupied, a snarl on his face as more explosions erupted from the palms of his hands.

Shit, Izuku thought as he forced his right arm to harden, a blue shimmer covering it up to his elbow as he raised it up like a shield protecting his head, even as Bakugo lashed out with his left arm and sent a stream of explosions heading his way.

Slowing down, Izuku tried to dodge and weave as Bakugo continued to harry him, the race seemingly forgotten as they ran side by side down the track, the ashen haired blonde sending more and more controlled explosions at him as he tried to blast him off the track.

Gritting his teeth as he felt the heat from the explosions swirling around his form, Izuku glanced up and saw the frontrunners had gotten much further ahead, as for those behind him, a brief glance told him that they were rapidly catching up.

"Fuck off," Izuku managed to get out, his shimmering blue arm still raised as he tried to avoid Bakugo's continued attacks. "We're both falling behind."

"I couldn't give a damn about that," Bakugo spat, his expression contorting in anger as he threw yet another explosion Izuku's way.

Holding back a snarl, Izuku ducked low and suddenly rush to the side, his shoulder lowered as he drove himself into Bakugo's side, his elbow already whipping out as he tried to take him out with a single, well-placed hit to his kidney.

According to the rules Midnight had outlined, they could fight, but they couldn't use lethal attacks nor moves which could cause permanent physical harm.

It was an element of the rules he hadn't clocked onto fully at the time.

He had assumed his former friend would have been gunning for him, but he hadn't thought it would be so soon, nor in the obstacle race of all things.

Still, Bakugo's present did bring up another question; where was his friend, the equally angry and malicious Monoma?

"Fuck you!" Bakugo snarled, his hand lashing out as he avoided Izuku's counterattack, and instead landed an explosion to his side, the force of which jostled him back a few steps, slowing him down enough for several other students to pass him.

Noticeably a Class 1B kid with white hair and dark, midnight black skin, and Momo, who looked to be riding on an electric scooter of all things.

"Ohhh, and it looks like things are really heating up! We've got a three-way battle for the lead as Todoroki and Honenuki both battle it out with young Iida for first place!" Present Mic shouted overhead as they battled. "And now Yaoyorozu and Kuroiro have both leapt into fourth and fifth, even as Bakugo continues to harry Midoriya, pushing him further and further towards the edge of the track. It's certainly an interesting tactic, we'll have to see how it turns out!?"

Glancing sideways at the announcement, Izuku immediately saw the issue.

He was only a foot away from the edge of the track, and on the verge of being disqualified.

Gritting his teeth, Izuku intensified the hardening of his right arm, even as he lowered his shoulder and rushed away from the side of the track, tanking another explosion head on as he ran straight at Bakugo.

Clenching his teeth fiercely, Bakugo, the veins in his arms very visible now, continued to send explosions his way the force and heat of which had long since burned off his tracksuit top, and left pink marks all across his torso.

"The approach is foolish and short-sighted, they've not even hit the first true obstacle yet and already several of the front runners are overexerting themselves," Aizawa's voice rang out next. "Getting ahead of the bottleneck in the tunnel was a rational decision, but this is a four kilometre race, and not a one hundred metre sprint and some of those on the track seemed to have lost sight of that. A strategic approach should be the aim here, as this is just the first event of three."

"Oh wow, some harsh commentary there, Eraser!" Present Mic replied. "But at least they're keeping it entertaining, and with the frontrunners now approaching the first obstacle, it's only going to get more exciting."

"Just go down!" Bakugo snarled, once again leaping back at the last instant to avoid Izuku's counterattack, his face now beaded with sweat.

"No you," Izuku replied, his arm now whipping out as he stopped hardening it, and instead threw a spike of white bone-like material at Bakugo, completely surprising his old friend, even as his aim proved true, and the spike slashed across the upper part of the explosive teen's thigh, drawing blood and distracting Bakugo enough for him to lose his footing and hit the ground hard.

Glancing back for a moment, and spotting the livid expression on the blonde's face, Izuku held back a smirk of satisfaction, as he instead turned and ran.

Due to Bakugo's intervention, he had fallen pretty far behind.

There were nearly a dozen other students in front of him, even as they rushed towards the first obstacle.

Looking ahead, Izuku could already see a line of zero-pointers dotting the skyline in front of him. With the giant robots towering over the students in front of them, their cameras glowing a vibrant, dangerous red as they brought their weapons to bear, the very earth itself rumbling, even as hundreds of one, two and three pointer robots charged forwards at the heels of their mightier brethren.

An entire army was arrayed before them, standing in a large crescent that took up the suddenly much wider track.

There was no way around them, which was something the others ahead of him seemed to have picked up on as Iida, the frontrunner, immediately crashed into and threw a three-pointer with a flying kick. The older teen's expression was a mask of determination as he kicked and weaved his way through the scores of smaller droids, a task which was made all the harder as the zero-pointers gun barrels began to spin, spewing out hundreds of fast moving rubber bullets mowing down several of the competitors.

Momo, at the sight of them, immediately leapt off her scooter and created a riot shield, her face already sweaty as she already began to create more items using the lipids in her body; a task likely made all the more difficult by the rubber bullets that pinged off her hastily made shield.

The kid with the skull-like face, the one who was currently in second place, meanwhile, just sank below the ground in an instant, disappearing into it like it was water, only for him to reappear fifty or so metres away behind the line of robots, a rictus grin on his face as he turned back and gave the other competitors a cursory glance and then continued on his way.

Todoroki likewise reacted quickly, his expression steady and stoic as he slammed his foot down and unleashed a giant wave of ice which swamped several of the zero-pointers, enhancing them, and several dozen of their lesser minions in ice.

He wasn't able to get all of them, but he got enough to buy himself and half a dozen of the other students behind him the time they needed to break through the line of robots and continue on their way.

For those who had been in front of Todoroki when he made his move, however, like Iida and Momo, they were not as fortunate as they, like the robots, were coated in ice and temporarily incapacitated.

In his opinion, they would likely escape soon enough, Momo had already all but broken free. Unfortunately, by the time they did end up getting free, the rest of the students would have caught up and the lead the two of them had gained at the beginning of the race would be gone.

Glancing away from their trapped forms, Izuku looked up and saw the robots were already breaking free, the ice weakening and breaking as robotic limbs heated up and began to move, and glowing red eyes flashed brighter as they bore down on the trapped teens. As they did so, the other heroes in training around him, those that had caught up anyway, leapt into action and started fighting off the oncoming horde of robots, or tried to fight their way through.

Todoroki and knowingly, or unknowingly, had already screwed up the race for both Momo and Iida, and unless he broke through the line of robots now, he had probably screwed it up the race, and more importantly his long awaited debut, for him too.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Izuku knew what he had to do.

It was time.

( - )

(With Bakugo, a few minutes previously)

Fucking Deku, Bakugo thought ferociously, his gritting in anger as he used a bit of his sweat and some fine control of his Quirk to messily cauterize the bloody gash on his leg.

He'd been so close.

He'd succeeded in forcing the Titan onto the defences, and had been hammering away at him, gradually forcing him further and further off the track.

Sure they had both been handicapped, what with him being unable to use his full mobility due to the narrowness of the track for the first kilometre of the race nor the full extent of his explosions due to Midnight's rules on non-lethal attacks, and Midoriya, likewise, had been unable to use his Titan form for the same reason…

But he'd still had the advantage.

With a bit more time, he would have succeeded in humiliating the monster, and in scoring his first victory of many over him.

Midoriya only had strength and durability.

That was all he had.

The freak lacked versatility and manoeuvrability.

He was just a big, walking target.

Tough, yes.

Able to regenerate, sure.

Dangerous, definitely.

But with the right tactics, and sufficient skill he was very much beatable.

All Might had already proven that much.

Only, now the little shit had somehow pulled some kind of ranged attack out of his ass, and had actually hurt despite his caution and the way he had tried to control the fight.

The fucker had drawn blood and had consequently knocked him down, while he ran on ahead.

The thought of it, especially after he saw the smirk on the monster's face, was beyond rage inducing.

Scowling fiercely at the slightly bloodstained sliver of ivory-like material lodged in the ground a foot or so away, Bakugo bent down and grabbed it, wrenching it out of the hard-packed earth in a single motion, ignoring how sharp it was as he instead inspected the object. It looked like bone, but it was heavier, and felt more like stone.

Dropping it on the ground, his lips curled up in a snarl as he saw several other students pass him, some were noticeably in the same class as Deku.

He recognised the girl with weeds for hair, the loud, spiky redhead, the invisible girl, the frog-faced girl, the idiot with the blocks for elbows, and the pink girl with raccoon eyes.

All six of them passed him by, with a number of his own classmates on their tail.

He was falling behind.

"Hey moron" Monoma's voice suddenly sounded out behind him. The insult quickly snapping him out of his daze as he turned and glared at the smarmy blonde.

In response to his glare, the blonde merely smirked and slapped him on the shoulder as he passed, no doubt borrowing his quirk while he was at it, the ass. "Get your head in the game, we had a game plan, remember."

Gnashing his teeth, Bakugo once again started to run.

The pain in his leg was still there, but it was dulled slightly, no doubt due to the adrenaline running through him right now.

Flexing his wrist and unleashing a few percussive explosions to increase his speed, Bakugo quickly slipped past several other students and caught up with Monoma.

"It's Midoriya though." Bakugo spat as he caught up to the other blonde.

Like he had suspected, the power copier was using his Quirk at the moment to blast himself forwards. His technique was sloppy, but with the power of his Quirk, he was still able to speed his way past the rest of the posers.

"Yeah, I know. But now is not the time. For now, stick to the plan, we need to knock as many of the 1A morons off the track as we can. The more of them we get rid of, the more we can stack the next two rounds in our favour." Monoma replied sharply, releasing another explosion from his palm as he did so, only this one was aimed at a Class 1A student, a short brown haired girl with a round face.

The unexpected blast hit her full in the side, the force of it sending her flying to one side with a shriek of surprise.

Bakugo withheld a grimace as he saw what Monoma had done.

It was a cheap and nasty tactic, but a cunning one too, just like Monoma.

Instead of fighting fairly, the idea was to get rid of the majority of the competition in the first round, so they were facing the chumps from the non-heroic course in the next few rounds and not those from 1A. Which, if things went to plan, meant that the final round would be almost entirely made up of Class 1B, cementing their class as the best one in the first year, and stacking the deck so a Class 1B student would most likely be the winner of the competition.

It was clever, but dirty, and he wasn't the only one to think so, he knew that after all not everyone in their class had been on-board with it. At least a third of the class, those that sucked up to Kendo as the Class President, had refused to take part in the plan. Instead, they wanted to do things fairly and squarely. However, enough of the others had accepted Monoma's plan that it had still gone forward.

Normally he would have been on Kendo's side of things, since he wanted things to be fair and equal so no one would complain when he beat them.

Plus, the entire reason he became a hero was to get justice after all, and to right wrongs.

But in the end, the opportunity to get at Midoriya had been too great to pass up, so he made an exception to his rules based on the condition that he only went after Midoriya.

Which was also partly why he was so incensed now, especially by Monoma's laissez faire attitude to Midoriya getting away.

"But Midoriya," Bakugo snarled, his gaze back on the track as they quickly closed in on the towering zero-pointers.

He wasn't worried about getting past them.

With a few blasts from his Quirk, he could fly over them, as could Monoma.

"We'll try and catch up and deal with him now. But if not, there is always a tournament at the end of the Sports Festival. We can face him then, but for now we need to put our personal grudges to one side for the moment and focus on the plan." Monoma replied sharply. "And, if you think about it, if he does get through, well, he won't be able to run away or avoid a fight then, not without losing face or getting disqualified. He'll have to fight either me or you, and on national television too."

"Hn," Bakugo grunted.

He made a good point.

If Midoriya made it through to the third round of the Festival, then he could face him then, either in one of the earlier rounds, or in the final.

A slight smile played around Bakugo's mouth at that thought.

If such an event did come to pass, he could completely humiliate and ruin Midoriya on national television.

"Oh, and by the looks of it Yaoyorozu and Iida are in trouble, while Honenuki and Todoroki, progress with Tokage, Tsunotori and Kamakiri following closely behind!" Present Mic's voice suddenly boomed overhead.

"He used his wits and Quirk well, and both created an opportunity for him to advance at the expense of those who were ahead of him. It was a well thought out plan, and will likely buy himself and those directly plenty of time to extend their lead." Aizawa acknowledged. "The rest of those behind the frontrunners will now have to find their own way past the obstacle either through force, skill or cunning."

"Well, either way it's going to be spicy. Already it looks more like a pitched battle than a race as students from all classes come together to fight off the robots and create an opening for themselves and others to break through! Spicy!" Present Mic shouted.

Scowling as he rounded the corner, Bakugo quickly saw what Present Mic was talking about as he arrived at a much wider part of the track, where an ongoing battle was taking place between the rapidly growing number of students entering the area and the oncoming army of robots.

Almost at once he zeroed in on the six massive zero-pointers as they lunged forwards, hundreds of rubber bullets flying from the gatling guns as they converged on the students below them, several of whom, including Tetsutetsu and the spiky red haired kid from 1A, immediately reacted.

With both of the meatheads crashing into the towering robots head first, even as the girl with weeds for hair used her green locks to capture and crush dozens of the small robots; raccoon eyes, Kendo, frog girl, the invisible girl and tape face all coming to her aid as members from both 1A and 1B began to quickly clear out the small robots, while the heavier hitters in both classes went for the zero-pointers. The students from the other, non-heroic classes were noticeably hanging back or absent.

From just a glance he could that the other wannabe heroes had already brought down one of the six zero-pointers, and by the looks of it they had another one on the ropes as the girl with the spiky ponytail from Class 1A suddenly created a large cannon of all things, and then used it to blow holes in the giant robot's body.

"And yes, like I thought, the students are actually working together to get past this obstacle!" Present Mic shouted enthusiastically. "It'll be interesting to see how they deal with the five remaining zero-pointers, though! What do you think, Eraser?"

"Working together at this point is a logical decision for many of them. Individually, there are very few students who are able to easily bypass this obstacle without some degree of help, and with the number of smaller robots still on the field sneaking by undetected is no easy feat. Of course, some of the competitors are taking advantage of the gaps created by the more aggressive students, which again is also logical, as not all of them have combat oriented Quirks." Aziawa replied, his tone bored. "As you can see, some of them have already broken through by slipping through the gaps, but not many. For the moment, the majority of the students are being bottlenecked by the zero-pointers, and will continue to be trapped until they either work out a way past the obstacle, or fight their way through it."

"It's certainly a nasty obstacle, and one that is forcing them to think." Present Mic chuckled. "It'll be interesting to see how many of them even manage to find a way past it, and how many are either forced to quit, or are forced out of bounds."

Scowling as he took in the ongoing chaos, Bakugo shook his head in disgust.

This was a race, and unlike during the Entrance Exam when the point was to fight the robots, here he had absolutely zero reasons to, especially since, unlike the ground dwelling wannabes, he could just blast his way over this obstacle, as opposed to fighting his way through it.

Mentally nodding to himself at that thought, he did just that, quickly becoming airborne.

Unfortunately, just when he was about to blast his way up and over the still firing zero-pointers, he was knocked out of the air by a deafening, thunderous explosion of steam and noise.

Crashing into the ground with a gasp of pain, Bakugo was barely able to get out a curse, when he was frozen solid as a dreadfully familiar roar suddenly rang out in the ensuing silence, another wall of hot air and steam rushing past him, even as he looked up at the terrifying figure looming above him.

Piercing, almost glowing green eyes, an angular, bestial jawline, and shaggy, wild, dark green hair; that was the first thing he saw as the terrifying face appeared from the steam. Its mouth already opened wide as it let loose another deafening scream, before moments later it lunged forward.

With a noise like an oncoming avalanche its colossal, heavily muscled form slammed into one of the zero-pointers as it lashed out with its fist, tearing a giant rent in the robot's carapace, even as it ripped out a massive handful of machinery from the space where the mechanical being's heart would have been had it alive.

At the sight of it, Bakugo felt his stomach drop, even as a cold chill ran down his spine.

For the first time in years, he felt true terror.

With another roar, the Titan of Musutafu, one of the great calamities of their time, rushed forward again, its giant hands shimmering blue as it lashed out and ripped apart two more of the zero-pointers with almost terrifying ease, as if they were made of tissue paper instead of metal.

This was the monster that ruined his life, and the lives of so many others.

It had killed his parents and many of his school friends, it had reduced the neighbourhood he had been born in to rubble.

It was the being he had long since called his nemesis.

The creature he had trained for hours every day, week after week, for years to fight and eventually defeat.

But seeing it now, up close and personal.

He froze up.

His legs locked up, and his heart thundered in his chest.

He couldn't move, he could barely breathe, and he was not the only one.

All around him, he could see the other competitors also reacting.

Some of them just turned and fled, running off the track and into the surrounding woods in terror of the colossal monster.

Others were paralyzed in fear just like him, unable to move as they instead stared in horror as the Titan turned and began to run, its thunderous footsteps shaking the very earth itself as it ploughed through the final zero-pointer, crushing dozens of smaller robots underfoot as it did so.

Still more just huddled down, as if trying to hide from the furious gaze of the Titan as it continued to retreat from the battlefield, its broad back now visible and muscled arms now pumping as it ran down the widened track, its earth shaking footsteps receding, even as its long, powerful legs ate up the distance.

Not everyone was frozen though, those of Class 1A, upon seeing the Titan, did not flinch back or hide. Instead, they dove forward and seized the opening its rampage had created. None of them hung around for a moment, as they instead flooded forward, following in the giants' wake as the race started anew.

Upon seeing the actions of Class 1A, the other students, those that had been frozen by fear were shaken back to reality as they once again realised that this was a race, and not some apocalyptic event.

Gritting his teeth at that, Bakugo forcibly calmed his racing hearts and painfully unclenched his fists.

This wasn't over, not yet.

( - )

(In the stands a few minutes previously)

Bored violet eyes surveyed the large VIP booth, one of the many dotted around the arena that housed some of the Sports Festival's most prominent guests.

Glancing around, she could see dozens of Pro Heroes; and agency representatives milling around.

She knew why they were here, after all, it was the same reason she was here.

They were all on the lookout for any rising young talent that would be featured in the Sports Festival this year.

That said, there were not many big names in this booth.

She was probably the highest ranked one here, which said something as she was only ranked nineteenth.

Instead, most of those present were lower tier heroes. They were B-listers and C-listers, popular and capable enough to run their own agencies, but still small fish in a big, wide ocean.

Then again, the same could be said for her, after all her own agency was only small, she had two sidekicks and a couple of staffers, and that was it.

There were heroes ranked lower than her with much bigger and more popular agencies.

Not that it really mattered much.

Results were what mattered.

Saving people and being a good role model, those were important.

Merchandising, money and advertising were just distractions.

Continuing her observation of the booth for a few moments longer, she once again failed to see anyone of any importance.

No, they were mostly likely going to be in one of the nicer, more selective booths that catered almost exclusively to the most high profile of heroes and agencies.

That was where the Top Ten heroes would be, or at least the ones that had bothered to turn up. It was also where the Hero Commission representatives, U.A. governors, politicians and the most high profile teachers at U.A. would be.

She didn't get an invite.

Not that she expected one.

Her popularity after all was based on only two things. Her appeal to a certain degenerate selection of the population, and her crime stopping figures.

She didn't have the popularity Uwabami casually enjoyed as a model and actress, nor the reputation or pedigree Ingenium and his hero family had built up over the generations.

She certainly didn't have the raw charisma that All Might seemed to exude, nor the mystery that Edgeshot capitalised, or the raw, flashy power that Endeavour wielded.

Instead, her reputation was built on efficiency, control and a perfect, spotless record.

Anything less than that, and her career would likely have stalled long ago.

There was after all a stigma nowadays aimed at those with Quirks like her own.

She grimaced at that thought, even as she sank back into her plush leather chair, her violet eyes once again on the first year obstacle race.

There was a good crop of students this year.

In terms of quality, skill and entertainment value, the third-year students competing in the Sports Festival were the best of the bunch, with them having had a much longer period of time to train and refine their Quirks than the other years. But at the same time those students were well known at this point, and the most talented among them had long since been scouted. The same could be said for the second years too.

The first-year competitors, however, were all new.

Yes, some of them had gotten in on recommendations, and so already likely had bankable offers from agencies.

But the majority were still free agents without any previous commitments, and that always drew the attention of those looking to recruit; the Pro Heroes, agency representatives and Hero Commission.

Frowning at that thought, she sat back in her seat and folded her arms, her fingers unconsciously beginning to drum on her forearm as she scanned the first years she could see on the big screen.

The race had just started, and already several of the competing students had gained the attention of the spectators.

Endeavour's son and Ingenium's brother were two of those that instantly attracted attention, but unfortunately they likely already spoken for.

Bakugo, Honenuki and Yaoyorozu however, were probably not, unless they got in on recommendations, and all three of them had already made a big splash so far, with them quickly breaking out of the pack and taking the lead.

The same could be said for Midoriya, her eyes narrowed as she focussed in on the green haired teen.

Only unlike the others, Midoriya already had an infamous reputation.

He might've only been young at the time, and the authorities might have tried to hide his identity, but that hadn't protected him. News reporters were insidious bastards after all, and as such his identity and photo had long since become public knowledge, so much so that the government didn't even try to hide who he was any more.

It was a shame really, especially because of how it must have tainted his life, but it was also an immutable fact.

Izuku Midoriya was the Titan of Musutafu.

Sure, he wasn't the first child to lose control of their Quirk when they initially awakened it, nor was he the last.

Such events unfortunately happened regularly, and many of them led to people getting hurt or killed. It wasn't great, but sometimes it just happened, after all Quirks were inherently dangerous, especially in the hands of unstable and emotional children, as such it was only natural that accidents would sometimes happen.

Midoriya's case though was different, after all his Quirk was far stronger than the average Quirk, and his awakening was many times bloodier and more spectacular than any other that had come before it or since.

He was practically a case study in the dangers that could be caused by the Quirk Singularity Theory, and had in fact re-popularised the old theory and gotten it pretty much accepted as fact by large portions of the population, even as scientists and academics continued to argue about the finer points of the popular theory.

Frowning slightly at that, though, Yu narrowed her eyes as she followed Midoriya's progress as he and Bakugo battled it out for a bit on the narrower part of the track at the beginning, before he broke free and continued running.

The boy was good.

He was obviously very fit, had a powerful build, and from what she could see, enhanced physical abilities courtesy of his Quirk, even in his base form.

If he were to be judged on his skill and Quirk alone, people would be fighting over him.

But alas, the world was not that kind.

Already she could hear some of the heroes around her muttering at the sight of him, especially after Present Mic so blatantly named him, and outside the booth she could both see and hear the crowd likewise reacting to the reveal. It wasn't a surprise, reporters had long since spilt the beans on his presence at U.A., but seeing him in person was probably a lot more impactful than hearing about him second-hand on a news broadcast.

Clicking her tongue at that, she shook her head in disgust.

People could be so judgemental and petty sometimes.

"And just what's got you so angry, Mount Lady?" A familiar voice suddenly asked, as someone took the seat next to her.

Glancing sideways at the newcomer, Yu Takeyama scowled and rolled her eyes. "None of your business, Death Arms."

"Still prickly then," Death Arms chuckled. "You should smile more, it might make you more popular."

Holding back an acidic reply, Yu forcibly turned away from the other Pro Hero and instead focussed back on the race as the crowd erupted into a cacophony of cheers and jeers as the various widescreens arranged around the stadium showed the image of Endeavour's son freezing several of the massive zero-pointers in ice, even as he and several others ran past.

It was a good move for a controlled race.

But would have been very short-sighted and foolish were this a real life situation.

He'd successfully pulled ahead of Iida and Yaoyorozu, but at the cost of fucking his own classmates over, and causing chaos for those behind him.

He certainly wasn't a team player, but then again that didn't matter at the moment, after all this wasn't a team event.

"Aww, come on, don't ignore me, I'm just being friendly." Death Arms tried again, his tone full of false cheer.

"Walk away, Death Arms, and get it through your thick skull that I'm not interested…" Yu replied coldly.

"Ah, still frigid then," Death Arms shot back, his previous cheer absent now as he instead stood up. "I was just being friendly, but fine, whatever, if you want to sit here by yourself then fine, do that!"

"Asshole," Yu muttered to herself as she heard him stomping away, before returning her attention to the screen, and just in time to as she saw Midoriya vanish for a few moments in a n explosion of steam, before reappearing with an earth-shattering roar, one which she could both feel and hear from where she was sat, his entire form now changed as he instead became the Titan of Musutafu.

"The hell!"

"What's the kid thinking!?"

"Someone needs to get out there and stop him before this thing becomes a bloodbath!"

"It's the Titan!"

"Where's All Might or Endeavour, someone needs to step in!"

Tuning out the shouting of those around her, Yu leaned forwards in her seat, her violet eyes no longer bored as they instead flashed in anticipation as she saw the Titan rip through the remaining zero-pointers with contemptuous ease, before with another roar he took off running, the other students, those who were probably in his class, following in his wake.

Sitting on the edge of the seat, Yu watched closely as he ran, his giant strides eating up the distance as he quickly came upon the next obstacle, The Fall, an enormous pit with tall spires of rock jutting out of it, each attached to others like it by long tendrils of rope.

"And after that startling display of power, Midoriya reaches the second obstacle! The Fall! How is he gonna get through this one?! Already we have seen several of those ahead of him struggle to pass it, some of them are even now trying! It'll definitely be interesting to see what his approach is. What do you think, Eraser?" Present Mic shouted.

"I think that it's about time he stopped holding back." Aizawa replied blandly.

It was a sentiment that Yu could agree with, especially when she saw Midoriya continue running, not pausing for an instant as he reached the lip of the Fall. Instead, he jumped, his entire form becoming airborne for several moments as he soared above the giant pit.

It was a spectacular sight to see, especially when she saw him momentarily touch down on one of the pillars, shattering it, at the same time as he leapt again, clearing the remainder of the pit before his classmates behind him even had a chance to reach it.

"Eraser! What the hell are you teaching those students of yours!? Midoriya leapt over that obstacle in barely a few seconds!" Present Mic demanded.

"He's merely using his Quirk, like many of the others are." Aizawa replied blandly. "Fortunately for him, like several of his fellow classmates, his Quirk is quite suited to physical events like this race, especially with the high degree of control he has over it."

Tuning out the commentary and the mumbling of the others in the booth, Yu continued to watch as Midroya ran, torrents of steam now wafting off his body as he quickly caught up to those ahead of him, his thunderous footsteps knocking several of them over as he passed them by.

"And now they're reached the last obstacle! This one is called… Danger Mines! Look out, kiddies, it's a minefield out there! If you look close enough, you can see where the mines are, but they're everywhere! You better be careful! By the way, these mines aren't strong enough to seriously hurt you, but they're loud and flashy! And already we can see both Todoroki and Honenuki taking the lead, with Todoroki creating himself a path of ice over the mines, while Honenuki glides through the ground beneath them, but now Midoriya is on their tail!"

Drumming her fingers on her arm, Yu watched as Midorya reached the minefield, with him once again not stopping as he instead just ran across it, his every footstep setting off dozens of mines due to both the force of his steps and the vibrations they caused. The force of the explosions shattered Todoroki's ice bridge as he ran, even as Endeavour's heir continued to run towards the finish line ahead.

Clasping her hands together in front of her, Yu watched as Midoriya overtook Todoroki, the force of his passing knocking the ice wielder on his ass, after which his entire form burst into another column of steam, the flesh of his body instantly desiccating away into nothingness as Midoriya, pink faced and sweaty, hit the ground running and continued through the tunnel to the colosseum in his base form, still heading towards the finish line.

"And yes, the leaders have arrived back in the colosseum! In first place, we have Juzo Honenuki from Class 1B! With Izuku Midoriya from Class 1A finishing seconds later in second place, and Shoto Todoroki finishing soon after him in third! What a race, who could have seen that coming!?"

Sitting back in her seat as she heard the roar of the crowd, Yu watched as Izuku Midoriya jogged to a stop, his hands resting on the back of his head, and his face still and sweaty as he continued walking for a few moments, ignoring the celebrating Honenuki and scowling Todoroki as he instead took a few final deep breaths of air, before he then turned pumped his fist into the air in celebration.

Bringing her hands together, Yu started to clap.

( - )

AN: So maybe not the result you were expecting? Well I decided to play around with the class dynamics a bit and the rules. The first obstacle always seemed so tame to me, especially after the big deal made about the zero-pointers in the entrance exam arc. If you have multiple of them, and hundreds of smaller robots bottlenecking a narrow bit of track, that should be difficult, especially when you have to fight off other competitors too. Added to that I had some more rules thrown in to make the obstacle race a bit more challenging, i.e. you could fight, if you were forced off the track you were disqualified. So it wasn't so much a straight race, but an event that required planning, cunning, tactics and skill. Or at least that was my approach, as the first event was the weakest of the three in my opinion, and I wanted something a bit toucher.

Also I'm sure you were surprised about the winner. Well that comes down to a change in Class 1Bs tactics, and a definite split in the classes social structure due to those tactics, add in Honenuki's Quirk and the fact he was a recommended student, and I think he had a real advantage in this as he could just go under two of the obstacles very quickly. Likewise Iida and several others like Tokage and Tsunotori had highly versatile and maneuverable Quirks which put them at an advantage, while Momo is essentially a swiss army knife. That said, Izuku also has a good Quirk for tearing through obstacles with pure force, but that wasn't a viable option at the beginning due to the width of the track, nor at the end due to the tunnel. Either way next chapter should be exciting. The second event will be different to canon, and the final roster that passed through the first event will also be different.

That, and I should be able to get through the next event in one chapter, and the tournament round in two chapters, so the pace will be starting to pick up as we move through the arcs.

Either way I am looking forward to writing more of this. Hopefully you enjoyed reading it, or continue to do so. If not then please tell what you didn't like, or what you thought could have been done better? Please leave a review, comment etc. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to PM me.

Also I am on a discord with a load of other writers, so if you fancy popping over to ask questions or offer suggestions about this story, or any of my other ones, or to find new authors you might not have come across yet, please feel free to use the link in my bio.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you later.

Greed720.