18 Chapter 18 - The Obstacle Course

"Without further ado, it's time to get things started!" Shouted Midnight into the microphone. "This is where you begin feeling the pain!"

She raised her nine-tails whip upward and a large jumbotron screen appeared behind her. "The first fateful game of the festival!" She said. "What could it be?" A large spinning object appeared on the screen, and the students waited for it to reveal their fates. After about ten seconds, it abruptly stopped. Their first challenge was an obstacle course.

"All 11 classes will participate in this treacherous contest," said Midnight, the screen behind her outlining the course. "The track is four kilometers around outside of the stadium. I don't wanna restrain anyone, at least in this game," she added slyly, licking her lips. "As long as you don't leave the course, you're free to do whatever your heart desires! Now then, take your place contestants."

The students all piled around towards the gate that led outside to the course. Izuku readied himself as he nervously watched the clock countdown: 3. . .

Bruce, Izuku thought. I know you picked me for a reason.

2. . .

I'm not sure I completely know what those reasons are.

1 . . .

But I will make you proud!

"BEGIN!"

The students scrambled like a herd of spooked cattle towards the gate opening. As they got closer, the students began to smash and bump into each other, trying to push past towards the other end of the gate. Izuku hesitated before entering as all the students scratched, pushed, pulled and yelled themselves through.

They're testing us, Izuku thought immediately. They're trying to see how we get through!

A wave of ice erupted in the cramped space of the gate. Students slipped and slid, others found themselves stuck as the ground beneath them was frozen solid. Todoroki had obviously came to the same conclusion as Izuku, and was attempting to hinder the other's progression.

Izuku wouldn't be so easy to stop. Leaping quickly to avoid the ice, Izuku pulled his grapple hook from his belt and fired upward. The hook embedded itself in the roof of the gateway, and Izuku was launched upward. Surveying his surroundings, he saw that Todoroki had already pulled ahead, while several other students, notably most of them from his class, were close behind him. Izuku even noticed the purple-haired student being carried through the ice by four other students. Izuku released the clamp of the grapple gun and launched it forward, latching onto the ground next to Todoroki. Izuku was propelled forward, but Todoroki must have noticed the grapple claw landing next to him, as he quickly froze the line solid, snapping it off from the claw. Izuku was propelled forward by the momentum of the grapple line, but stopped short onto the ice below. Thinking quickly, Izuku tumbled in air and landed on his feet, allowing the ice to carry him the rest of the way.

Nice try, Todoroki, thought Izuku.

Todoroki looked up as he saw Mineta leaping towards him, having launched the sticky balls on his head onto the ice and using them to springboard him forward. He was preparing to throw one directly at Todoroki when he was smacked across the face by a long, metal object.

The students stopped short as before them was a wall of at least a dozen villain robots, the same robots from the entrance exam. Including several of the zero-pointers. Todoroki wasted no time, placing a frozen hand on the ground and freezing the zero-point robots solid.

"He stopped the robots!" Said one of the students.

"Look! We can get through the legs!" Shouted another.

As they began to proceed, the zero-point robots began to wobble precariously. Izuku immediately knew what was going on. Todoroki purposefully froze the robots so they would be off balance. In seconds they would come crashing down, which would hinder the other student's progress further. But the force from the robots falling would cause a massive shockwave, and the other students could get hurt in the process.

Izuku couldn't let that happen.

He reached into his belt and pulled out three explosive batarangs, one for each robot. He had upped the explosive power on them since his fight with the Nomu, but he hoped it would be enough. With lightning speed, he threw each of them towards the falling robots, each one sticking in their giant, red optic sensor. The explosion knocked each of the robots backwards with tremendous force, sending them crashing down towards Todoroki. Startled, Todoroki quickly used his ice around him to protect himself from the shockwave.

"Whoa!" Came the voice of Present Mic from the speakers overhead. "Todoroki had pulled ahead with a devastating display of power, but Midoriya has completely countered him with a fantastic move of his own! These two are the ones to watch, it almost seems unfair, thoughts?"

"Todoroki's attack was both offensive and defensive," came the muffled voice of Aizawa from the speakers. "But Midoriya's attack seemed to be almost completely defensive. With his skills, he could have easily pulled forward and left the others to fend for themselves. Instead he sacrificed time to stop the robots from falling forward, perhaps out of fear of them injuring others. Interesting."

"Midoriya doesn't seem to know the meaning of competition!" Said Present Mic.

"Or perhaps he doesn't care," said Aizawa.

"In any case, these robot villains certainly don't stand a chance against these students' chart-topping moves!" Said Present Mic.

The smaller robots began to form up around the students in the wake of the zero-pointers. While the others balked at their approach, Izuku pushed forward. Reaching into his utility belt, he pulled out more explosive batarangs, throwing them towards a one and three-point robot. They exploded on impact destroying the two robots. A two-point robot moved toward him, but Izuku was too fast for it. Sliding under it's spider-like body, he pulled his explosive gel from his belt and sprayed it along the bottom of its belly. After reaching the other side, he pressed the detonator, and the robot exploded, it's broken parts flying all over the course.

The other students fought their way through more robots that began to converge on them. Izuku continued on.

Up in the teacher's box, the UA staff watched the ensuing chaos below closely.

"Looks like all the pack leaders are from Class 1-A," said Snipe. "At least for now."

"It's not that 1-B and the other students are doing poorly," said All Might. "It's just that 1-A has learned not to hesitate. They've seen what the real world is like. They've felt the fear of facing villains. Yet they fight on, trying to overcome that fear. They've all grown."

"Especially Midoriya," said Thirteen. "He seems as unstoppable as Todoroki. Batman trained him well."

All Might had to admit, Thirteen was right. Midoriya was performing way above expectations, as usual. He was swift, strong, and was thinking on his feet. But it was more than that. Every other student on that field was looking out for number one. Everyone except him. He knew that the students were in danger from those falling robots. Instead of using that to his advantage to pull ahead, he chose to put them out of harm's way. Placing others ahead of yourself, thought All Might. The mark of a true hero. He looked down towards the VIP box, where he knew Bruce and his family to be sitting. He quietly gasped in surprise as he did.

Bruce was staring directly at him.

Turning away, All Might tried to pretend he didn't notice, but he knew it was futile. Bruce was sending him a message, one he read all too loud and clear:

You were wrong.

"For those of you who thought the first obstacle was easy," Said Present Mic over the speakers. "Let's see how ya feel about the second one!"

Standing before the students was a great chasm that dropped at least fifty feet down. Within the chasm were narrow, flat-topped buttes and pillars, all connected together at the top by strands of rope.

"When did they even have time to build something like this!" Said Uraraka exasperatedly. Without a word, Asui crouched down and launched herself forward, landing easily on one of the connecting ropes. A pink-haired student from one of the support courses stepped forward. "This is the perfect chance to show off what I can do!" She said gleefully. She launched a grapple line from a harness-like device she was wearing, the hook landing several pillars away. Without hesitation, flipped a switch on her boots, which began to emanate a loud humming sound, and leaped off of the edge and into the chasm. Her boots grapple harness pulled her forward while her boots appeared to slow her initial fall and control her ascension. Uraraka was floored by this student's lack of hesitation. Gritting her teeth, she ran forward towards the chasm. "I won't lose!" She said as she leaped forward.

Todoroki slid easily across the iced ropes towards the other side of the chasm. He had lost track of Midoriya, but he had no doubt that he wasn't far behind, so he dared not stop, even to catch his breath.

As if on queue, three batarangs flew past his head and embedded themselves in the ground in front of him, causing him to stop abruptly. Midoriya was running across the ropes quicker than an acrobat on a tightrope. He had thrown the batarangs, not with the intention of hitting Todoroki, but as a message. His eyes burned with a fiery intensity that burned into the depths of Todoroki's soul, his words echoing inside his ear: I'm coming for you.

"And now, we're finally approaching the last obstacle," said Present Mic. "Everyone had better tread carefully, you're stepping onto a minefield!"

Todoroki approached the edge of an open dirt field between two giant signs that read "Danger! Mines!". There were hundreds of circles grouped closely together, with not much space between them but a couple of footsteps. Todoroki couldn't risk using his ice to make a path. It would give the other students behind him a way over as well. He had to admit this was clever, it put those in the lead at a disadvantage. He carefully made his way through the minefield as explosions went off around him, students being flown through the air for their carelessness.

All except for one.

Todoroki looked back in shock as he saw Izuku running swiftly through the minefield. His eyes were dashing back and forth between the ground and ahead, but his step had not slowed. He was approaching Todoroki quickly.

Todoroki had no choice. He formed an ice path at his feet. It would end up helping the others, but there was no time to worry about them. Izuku and Todoroki were neck and neck, rushing towards the finish line. In desperation, Todoroki grabbed Izuku by the arm, with frost quickly forming on it. Izuku leaped aside, avoiding more mines, continuing to run. They were almost at the end of the field.

Izuku leaped into the air, catching Todoroki off guard. He purposefully landed atop a mine directly in front of him. The mine exploded, throwing Todoroki off his feet and launching Izuku forward into the air. He flipped gracefully and landed on his feet into a full sprint. Todoroki regained his footing and rushed after him, but it was already too late.

Izuku had reached the stadium. The race was over.

"Izuku Midoriya is our champion!" Present Mic bellowed over the speakers. The crowd roared with applause and cheers. Confetti dropped all around Izuku, who bent down on one knee, catching his breath. He looked up towards the VIP box, where Alfred, the long-haired man and the woman in the wheelchair cheered furiously. Bruce remained his regular stoic self, but offered him an approving smile and nod. The highest of compliments.

Izuku had done it. He won the first event.