The Battle For Race Placements! 1

The next portion of the obstacle course was met swiftly by Tanya and the other front runners.

The earth had been dug to create a vast canyon. Massive pillars of rock jutted out at all heights and sizes. Some had tightropes hanging across while the outer rim had rope bridges. Beams of metal and arches of rock filled the airspace. The tallest of the towers all had a red band running around them, warning where the height limit was.

Far beneath was a seemingly bottomless void. In reality it was a large scale, simple black hologram over a set of crash cushions to break the students fall. They weren't cheap, but they were the latest in stunt tech. They were vast, rubber air inflatables with meshes that pushed excess air upwards to slow descent. Then the cushion would catch and slow the descent like a traditional, albeit more advanced, stunt cushion.

Tanya began to weave between the beams and arches. She was never caught up amidst the static chaos and obstacles.

'Maintaining a lead over the other students will be vital. There's sure to be a final obstacle to hold us up at the end.' She thought to herself as she closed her wings into a spin to slip under an arch.

She heard an explosion sound off not too far behind her. 'Of course, there is still him to worry about.'

"Fuck!" Bakugo shouted as he had to full stop with his explosions to change direction again. "Who designed a fucking aerial maze!"

He let himself drop until he found an opening and blasted off again. His wrists screamed at him as he had to stop and start over and over.

Iida slowed down and awed at the rock pillars as he looked for a way across. He stepped down onto one of the tightropes.

His balance wobbled around as he flailed his arms. "I can't look uncool in front of my brother." He declared as he steadied himself with his arms out wide.

He activated the engine on his back leg and started to slide forwards.

Fear pulsed through him as he jumped up to get onto the next pillar as he ran out of the tightrope. "I made it." He exhaled.

"Now I just have to…" Iida turned to see the maze of tightropes and platforms. He fixed his glasses as he composed himself. "Do it again."

Pony blew by him on her horn skis.

"It's a trench run!" She cheered before swooping in. With hard banks and spinning recoveries, Pony began to speed her way through.

Todoroki kept up his ice board. A chill crept up his right side from all the ice he had been generating. His left called out, its heat all too inviting. He resisted the call of warmth.

He swept a hand forward and created an ice bridge. The ice grew out in jagged shards that stretched and reached till it slammed against the far pillar. A shudder ran down his back as he started to skate across on his ice board.

"Todoroki!" He heard Mina's voice shouting to him. He didn't spare a glance for her as he jumped off his bridge and onto the next platform. He could hear the sounds of the ice sizzling behind him, melting under Mina's acid.

'She will get more out of the bridges than I will. Change of plans.' He thought to himself before stepping onto a tightrope and generating a foothold out of ice.

He put an arm out to balance himself as he shot forward on one foot, freezing the rope behind him.

Mina pumped her acid skates as she sped after Todoroki. The ice hissed and crackled, roaring out steam as Mina's acid ate away at it.

'Hold on to the colored acid.' Mina thought as she saw opportunities to risk swinging with it. She didn't know if that would work, plus she was more focused on keeping that move hidden for later.

She jumped down onto Todoroki's iced over tightrope and began to slide across it. Acid propelled down under her shoes while she kept her arms out for balance.

Todoroki glanced over his shoulder as he saw Mina gaining on him. 'More effort then.' He stated to himself.

He ignored the creeping cold that ran along his right side as he pushed more ice underneath him. He had to push himself, he had to prove he could win without his fire power. He had accepted that he was not going to be keeping up with the front runners, but the other students didn't have speed-centered Quirks and he couldn't allow them to beat him.

Sato and Midoriya held pace together. As they came up to the pillar zone, neither slowed down.

With a burst of lightning, Midoriya bounced into the air. 'Like how Kacchan moves. One leap at a time!'

He leapt at one of the pillars before planting his feet along its surface and jumping off again. Zig zagging back and forth, from pillar to pillar.

Sato grunted as he squatted down, bringing his run to a skidding halt. He squatted down, so low his hands could rest on the floor.

"Up!" He shouted as he shot into the air. With all the strength multiplying his Quirk gave him, his body felt light, and he hadn't expected to jump so high.

His eyes widened as his heart abandoned his chest in fear. He flailed his arms as he came falling back down.

"Sato!" Midoriya cried out in concern as he watched Sato fall just before making it to the platform.

CRrrack ! The pillar crunched once. Midoriya ran to the edge as it crunched again.

Before Midoriya could make it, Sato's hand came over the lip. His massive fingers dug into the rock and broke another handhold into it.

"I was so scared you had fallen!" Midoriya fretted as he stepped back nervously. Sato hauled himself up onto the pillar.

With grit teeth and more determination, Sato barreled past ready to jump again. Another crouch, another launch, another hard landing.

Midoriya nodded as he said "Let's keep going!"

CrrGrrgrrr . The pillars shuddered as a mountain of dust was kicked up.

A pillar slumped over as sludge poured from a messy wound. The earth rumbled as it tilted and fell over, quickly being fastened into place by a green growth.

Shiozaki kept up her jog as she and Juzo cleared a path directly through the area.

She would form a vine bridge that Juzo would run across and touch the pillar across, cutting down by turning its midsection to mush. Then Shiozaki would use her vines to grow and push it over, enveloping it and locking it in place to form a sturdy bridge.

The work was steady, and fast, and very dangerous unless you stayed behind them. Much of class B, those of them who couldn't get through the area faster, along with the general course students, had to keep pace behind Shiozaki.

'The work is hard, but to lead my herd through this troubling obstacle in safety is its own reward. I had promised to shepherd them, and so I will.' Shiozaki recited her will to herself as she pushed more vines through the earth.

"Kerro?!" Tsuyu clutched onto her pillar as land shook. "What's happening?!"

Thwipp . Sero swung by on his tape. "It's Class B! They're bulldozing through!" He pulled himself away.

Glurlurshhh . Tsuyu's pillar began to tilt as it began to gush sludge from a new wound. She looked down before she leapt away as her pillar began to fall.

As she landed out of the way, hanging off of a high tightrope, she looked on at the careless destruction Shiozaki had employed. "Uhlp…" She gulped.

" I have never seen a race turn out like this before! " Present Mic screamed out his commentary in amazement. " An entire obstacle course reduced to bridge building! It looks like a student march because of Shiozaki from Class B! "

Tanya kept her blazing pace. Speeding through the skies and solidly in first place. She swept out of the pillar zone and glanced behind her.

She grinned for a moment before it fell off her face. 'I lost Iida in the pillars. Now there's only this horn girl and Bakugo.' She layed out her threats to herself while turning back around and trying to speed up and maintain her first place.

Pony skied out of the pillar zone and wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead. "That was narrow!" She whined with an exhausted grin.

Her legs quivered like jelly and her core muscles hurt. She had been leaning and skiing, making ninety degree turns with little warning. It had begun to add up.

An explosion sounded off behind her, startling her a little.

"Fuuuuck!" Bakugo shouted as he blasted out of the pillar zone. He swallowed the burning hot pain that ran up his wrists.

Each blast he released sent a hot iron up his arm. He shouted in pain as he blasted forth, not willing to stop yet. "Chicken Wings! You bastard!"

The final obstacle was a field of landmines. Each one would explode into a pillar of pink smoke. It wouldn't leave any permanent damage, but was safe enough for use here.

In addition, at the far end of the field of mines was a single concrete slab. A man stood alone on the platform. A long red cloak hung off his shoulder. He wore a gas mask with a large, dark brown cowboy hat, a metal plate with the letter S sat along the top of the hat.

The pro hero and teacher at UA, Snipe, had taken to the stage.

"It's a fine day out, don't ya'll think so?" Snipe asked smoothly as he pulled out his oversized revolver and aimed up at Pony.

"It's Snipe! So cool!" Pony cheered with her hands up in excitement. "Can I get your aut-oof!"

Bang! Snipe's gun went off. A speeding bullet zipped up and exploded into a pink cloud against Pony's stomach. She was knocked off her horns and sent falling back to earth.

Snipe spun his gun around to point at Tanya as Pony fell. "Even so, I don't think this is good weather for flying." His gun went off several more times.

'Damn it!' Tanya shouted to herself as she dove out of the air, several bullets chasing her down. 'There's no dodging his Quirk!'

The bullets quickly caught up to her. In a last ditch effort to protect herself, she curled into a ball and wrapped her wings over her.

Buff buff buff . The bullets exploded off of and launched her downwards.

Tanya grit her teeth from the impact before opening her wings to break her fall.

Bakugo put his hands forward for a defensive blast but was swiftly met with bullets of his own. Explosions of pink burst out as the bullets were torn apart.

Then the next volley of bullets sped through the smoke, already having been fired before the first volley.

"Uogh!" The wind was knocked out of him as he plummeted down to earth.

Snipe idly examined his revolver as he waited for more flying students to show up. 'Shoot down the fliers. It's easy pickings. Also here for their safety. Can't have students juggled by mines or land on the fence. They can take the fall, can't promise the same for landing on a metal bar.'

Pony got up and rubbed her head. "That was rude." She grumbled in english.

Tanya picked herself up with a wince. "He's likely here to slow down anyone too fast. Flight nullifies most obstacles, so it's hard to design a course to stop us." Tanya explained, also in english. Her feathers ruffled as the pink powder coated them.

Bakugo sat up. He growled in fuming rage as he stood up. "I'll kill him!" He roared as he got to his feet.

He began to march forward, into the mine field. His arms hurt too much to try to test Snipe's air denial, so all he could do was stare him down as he stepped around the mines.

Tanya picked herself up and folded her wings. 'It may be best to get to know this girl. She's another high speed flier with a versatile Quirk.'

Before Tanya could get a word in, Pony had already gotten up and started treading the minefield. "My name is Pony." She said with a cheery voice. "May as well chat as we're making our way across."

Tanya blinked in surprise. 'Is she… trying to talk during the race?'

She replied, "And I am Tanya. I don't recognize you from my class, and I don't believe I saw you during tryouts."

"I'm actually an exchange student." Pony smiled with her big toothy grin. "From America!"

Tanya watched a bead of stressed sweat roll down Pony's face.

Pony shuddered as she delicately placed her massive hooves in spots barely large enough to fit them. Her legs and core were still sore from the pillars. Her abs hurt especially from the recent impact. Her arms swayed around cautiously as she teetered forward, one hoof at a time.

Tanya fared a lot better. She balanced off of her wings and arms, allowing for a sense of easily controlled weight. She also didn't have massive hooves for feet, which was doing wonders for her at the moment.

Iida ran out of the pillar zone and was shocked to find his fellow competitors not far ahead of him. 'I can still win!' He declared to himself.

He flared up his engines again and started to sprint full speed at the minefield. 'I can make it over! I just outrun the mines!'

The front three turned around as they heard Iida's engines roar.

Ggvvvrrrr RRRR !! Iida's engines lit up as he charged forward.

Bakugo gave a grin. 'Square eyes is gonna blow himself up.'

"Oh my god! He's going for it!" Pony cried in amazement.

"He's going straight to the infirmary." Tanya rolled her eyes as her wings twitched with annoyance.

"HAaaa!" Iida cried as he charged into the field. His legs pumping, his engines roaring, his arms flailing in a wild, uncontrolled run. His heart pounded in his head as adrenaline flooded his veins.

The ground began to explode under his feet behind him. Flashes of bright light, the thunderous clap of explosives, and pillars of pink smoke shot up behind him.

His running became more frantic as the ground under his feet began to break.

An explosion went off beside him, the burst of pink clouds staggered him to the side. Another mine went off as his balance began to fail.

"Ah! What! No!" Iida cried as his speed dropped and he was enveloped in pink explosions!

Pony watched as Iida spun into the air, launched away by the bombs. With a hand over her brow to block the sun, she awed "Wow. He's really getting air off of that."

She gave him a wave. "Bye Mr. Glasses man."

She then winced as an airborne pink explosion went off from Snipe, sending Iida flailing back.

"Aaaaaah!" His voice screamed out as he spun away.

Pony turned back around before crying. "Hey! Wait up Tanya!" She whined as Tanya and Bakugo had continued to make distance rather than watch the spectacle.

Todoroki glanced over as Mina had now fully caught up to him and was skating by his side. "You really think you have a chance at winning?" He asked dryly. A shiver racked his body as frost began to grow along his right side.

"And you thought you could get away with that! You bet I'm winning this!" Mina shouted back as sweat ran down her face.

As they came up to the minefield, Todoroki's shivering mind came up with a plan. 'Freeze a path over the mines and take it before Mina does.'

He planted his foot down and a path frost grew over the mines.

Before he could lift his right foot back up onto his ice board, a weight crashed into his side.

"Ughff!" Todoroki's wind was knocked out of him as Mina's shoulder dug into his left side. He was then shoved down as Mina pushed off of him to right herself again. Before he tumbled to the pavement, he swung his right hand, generating a bank of hard snow to crash into.

"See ya!" Mina called back as she skated onto his ice. Steam kicked up behind her as the acid melted the ice, destroying the path behind her.

Todoroki gave a shuddering grunt as he stood back up. Frost coated his right side and despite the chilling of his Quirk, his blood heated in a leveled anger.

Tanya and the front runners began to pick up their pace as the other students began to arrive.

'Faster now. This is for show but I doubt first place is pointless!' Tanya sweated as she marched faster, just a little ahead of Bakugo.

Booom! Tanya flinched as a mine went off near her.

"Ahhhhhh!" Pony cried as she was launched into the air.

Dooff ! Another shot went off and Pony spun away. " Heeeelp! " Her voice cried out as she flew.

'It's just me and Bakugo now, assuming Todoroki and Mina don't get up here.' Tanya thought as she marched ahead.

Midoriya and Sato jumped out of the pillar area. Sweat poured down their faces as neither gave an inch. That was until the minefield blocked them.

Midoriya skidded to a halt. His red shoes scratching at the pavement as he waved his arms. The green lightning faded from his body. "Woah!" He yelped.

'He finally stopped!' Sato cheered to himself as he barreled ahead. His running got heavier as the race dragged on. 'This is my chance!'

"Sato!" Midoriya yelled out as he reached to stop him, but he was too late.

Sato charged past and right into the minefield.

Ghrrooo! A mine went off under Sato's feet. The pink cloud burst up and enveloped him.

"Ahhh!" Midoriya shouted as he was knocked onto his back from the explosion. He jumped back to his feet and looked for Sato. "Sato!"

The clouds started to dissipate and his silhouette was revealed.

His jaw hung open as his eyes were unfocused. His gym pants were shredded into gym shorts with frayed edges. "Uughuuu." He groaned.

Sato's ears were ringing and his vision blurred over. 'This again.' He groaned to himself. 'A blast?'

His eyes trailed down to see the land mines before him. 'Oh… bombs… that explains the blast.'

He grit his teeth and forced himself to take another step. 'I… Have to keep going.'

"Sato! No!" Midoriya shouted again as Sato set off another mine.

Hatsume Mei zipped out of the landmine zone and activated her hover boots. They roared back at her as her descent slowed.

Chaos roared ahead of her as the faster batch of students tried to make their way through the land mine zone.

Setsuna tried to float over as she had for the previous obstacles only to be met with a barrage of Snipe's exploding rounds. Her body reformed as she floated and caught herself before landing.

Mei's boots clunked as she jogged up to the edge of the mine field. She squatted down and began to pick at the opened pieces of the mines.

'Those are stunt model land mines.' She thought as her eyes zoomed in the soot smeared cartridge. 'Model 12, originally made for movies. Blast yield primarily comes from the expanding cloud rather than the ignition bomb itself.'

Mei began to dig with her gloved hands around the mines. 'If that teacher is shooting down the students when they're airborne, does that mean he needs line of sight? What about his bullets, will the cloud disrupt them?'

She picked up a mine, disarmed it, and set it to the side before starting her next dig. 'Experimenting on a teacher! This is so exciting!'

Ojiro watched in concern as the pink haired girl with the gear dug up mines. 'What is she doing?'

The final pillar fell as Shiozaki tied down the last bridge. Behind her was the horde of students who had taken the path she and Juzo had made for them all.

'One last obstacle for me to overcome.' Shiozaki stared down the teacher and their mines.

Snipe ran his thumb along the grip of his pistol. The wind slowly waved his cloak. "So the student body has arrived." He smirked to himself. "This is gonna be like shooting clay pigeons."

As Shiozaki marched up to the mine field, the student body tried to rush past her.

Duuuddudududud! Rows of mines went off general students began to make mistakes. Students were flung into the air as a chaotic chorus of screams sang.

Snipe whipped out his revolver and began to fire off round after round.

The air began to fill with pink bursts as students were knocked back.

Tanya and Bakugo marched at the front. They didn't care about the chaos breaking out behind them.

For once, Bakugo wasn't shouting or screaming. His boots stepped and stomped their way around as he kept his arms out for balance. His usual rage was replaced by a focused glare.

One that was matched by Tanya. Her wings twitched as she nearly glided over the bombs, step after step on a steady beat.

Neither had a word to say to each other. They were both aiming to be first, and they both were giving it their all.

Tanya kept her eye on Snipe as the teacher filled the air with bullets. She rapidly kept count and primed her wings.

Bakugo kept focus on his hearing and glanced behind him periodically. He kept track of the other students and noted how those with more grounded Quirks were starting to catch up.

Tanya grinned as Snipe kept firing. Her muscles tensed as adrenaline flooded her system. She crouched down, her form tucking down and ready.

Snipe spun open his oversized revolver to reload.

Tanya took off like a missile! Her wings blasted her forward as she glided above the ground.

Bakugo scowled as he held himself back from launching after her. 'My explosions will set off the mines. I can't take off! This fucking western wannabe cowboy is ruining everything!'

Snipe spun his revolver shut and took a loose aim, his Quirk did most of the work anyways.

Tanya jutted her wings flat and broke in the air, landing her feet down. She landed right in front of the teachers platform, a smile on her face. "And safe." She said cockily.

"Not half bad." Snipe hummed as he began to fire again. His oversized revolver kept firing to a blistering beat.

Bakugo continued his march, now painfully far behind Tanya. It wasn't even that much distance but at the pace they were going, there wasn't anything he could do. He snarled as he realized how trapped he was.

As Mina reached the end of Todoroki's ice and into the mines, she braced herself. "Let's do this!" She shouted as she began to increase her acidity on her hands and sprayed out in front of her.

She dropped her acid skating into a run as she pumped out a constant stream of high acid. Sweat poured down her brow as her skin ached from the output.

The ground hissed and spat up bubbles and sickening fumes. The dirt melted into a slurry as the mines popped like weak soap bubbles, their casing slipped off like sludge, their charges sizzling into nothing.

Mina pushed herself and ran with weighted legs as the sludge of acid, mud, and melted plastics dragged around her ankles. Her legs ached from all the race, and now her calved burned from the weight. "Aaaghhh! Come on!" She shouted for herself.

Todoroki shuddered as he tried to create another ice bridge. His right side had plunged into numbness as he had to form an ark around Mina and her corrosive swamp. His head ached from the fumes her acid slurry was putting out.

'I should have taken extra effort to remove her earlier.' He scolded himself as his running had slowed down to a jog. 'I had underestimated my classmates, and I had underestimated Mina.'

He forced his right side forward. Ice crept over his joints. He could barely feel the right side of his face anymore. His breath put out puffs of fog.

"No!" Mina shouted out as she saw Todoroki's ice arcing around her, giving her space. "I can't let you win!" She shouted at him as he stopped to turn to her.

"And I can't afford to lose to anyone." Todoroki glared down at her. His breathing carried a frozen shudder as he put his right foot forward into a stomp.

A wave of ice sprang forth and coated the ground, racing towards Mina.

"Ahhh!" Mina cried out as the ice reached her. Her sludge froze over, trapping her feet. The ice froze around her calves. Her balance failed as she doubled over to catch herself on her outstretched hands.

The ice cracked and sizzled as her acid ate away at it. Mina ached as she pushed herself up to see Todoroki jogging away.

'Can't hit him. Just ahead of him.' Mina told herself as she prepped a glob of highly corrosive acid. She reeled her arm back and chucked it.

'Come on. Hit.' She prayed as the glob lobbed through the air.

Todoroki glanced over as he saw the ball of gray goo hurtle past him.

It splattered onto the ground with a sad squish. Bubbles hissed up as it ate away at the ground. Todoroki's eyes widened as the acid blob had landed on a mine and was eating its way down.

Hissss . It ate right through the mine rather than detonating it as Mina had hoped.

"Nothing!" Mina cried before she grabbed her horns and reared her head back in anguish. "Of course it was nothing! They ate through the mines earlier!" She yelled to herself as she got to work melting the ice around her ankles.

She forced a competitive smirk as she said "Come on, I'm not out of the race yet." She pulled herself onto Todoroki's ice and began to chase after him.