part 2

Jets of sparkling fireworks burst around the rim of the colosseum as the students made their way out onto the field. Explosions of color blasted overhead and rang over the cheers of the audience.

Tanya kept her march steady and purposeful. She was used to being in the public eye. It used to be as a war hero, now it was as a competitor.

'So these are the people I will be working alongside.' She thought to herself as she saw the hordes of heroes in the seating. A smirk grew on her face. 'Yeah. First impressions matter the most when meeting a future business partner. It's a highly elaborate interview.'

She could nearly feel Being X's gaze over the festival. She grimaced in anger for a moment before burying it away. She had always known he was influencing the school, but today, that fiend may as well be amongst the audience.

Mina spun around with awe in her eyes. "There's so many people here! To see us?!" She smiled and cheered. "This is amazing!"

Bakugo kept his focus. His eyebrows were furrowed as he marched with his hands in his pockets.

Sato walked along with a pale and dumbfounded expression. It was daunting to see this many people here to see him. He kept his movements steady and tried to keep a serious posture. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead and his heart drummed a daunting beat in his chest.

Sero rubbed at his jaw. "A bit nerve wracking," he flexed his arm with a sly grin, "good thing we've been training extra hard for this!"

Koda was shivering like a freezing animal. His hands were clasped together and he hunched over as if to escape the gaze of the audience. "I-I-I don'tknowifIcan," he was panicking before being cut off.

"Come on man. This is your time!" Kirishima gave Koda his shark toothed smile. "You've come this far. A little crowd isn't gonna stop you. Just think of one person in that crowd that is cheering just for you."

'Just focus. You have to make mama proud.' Koda gave a jittery series of rapid nods as he forced his way forward. His hands were still clasped in fear, but his stride opened as he pushed forward.

Todoroki remained unflinching under the eyes of the audience. He knew he was probably being talked about as his fathers son and nothing more. He felt his fathers shadow looming over him, a near inescapable, cold grasp. 'Today I put him out of my life. I've only used my ice since I came to UA, and today, in front of the whole world, I will show how strong I am without his gift.'

Iida marched forward, his arms swung like a marching toy soldier. His gaze was set in steel and his nerves were chilled in ice. 'This is what you've been training for. You can't look uncool in front of your brother.'

Deku shuddered and kept glancing around the top of the colosseum. His hands were tucked up by his chest as if in protection. "T-this is all t-too much!" He squeaked and sputtered nervously.

"Oooh!" Uraraka was in awe at the spotlight they had been given. "There's so many heroes! Deku… Deku?" She asked as she turned and saw him shriveling up.

"Don't worry about it Deku, they're heroes just like us!" She cheered for him. Her smile slipped a little from her face as he had barely registered her.

Deku's brain raced a mile a minute, he began to panic and draw up paranoid ideas of what could happen. 'All Might is watching! I, I can't screw this up! You trained under him for this! This is my time to-'

'Your time to show the world; I am here!' Toshinori thought as he watched all the students walk out onto the field. With weathered yet hopeful eyes, he watched his prodigy and successor walk with his classmates. 'To think, even a month ago, you couldn't control One For All. You've really come so far, Midoriya Izuku.'

Toshinori sat alongside the other hero teachers in a special seating section reserved for them. Alongside him was; Thirteen, the rescue teacher, Power Loader, the support course teacher, Snipe, the third year teacher, Hound Dog, the counselor, Ectoplasm, the math teacher, and Vlad King, the teacher of the 1-B hero students.

"Pardon me gentlemen." Snipe tipped his hat as he stood up. "I'm needed out on the track." He mumbled under his breath, "Awful lot of fliers this year."

"And here comes Class B!" Present Mic announced. His voice spiking above the chaos of the cheers.

Tanya's focus was momentarily broken as she glared over into the class cluster. She grit her teeth as she saw Shiozaki's head of vine hair. 'Today I have two people to beat.' She began to give herself a mental briefing.

'I must beat Midoriya Izuku. All Might has to be watching the festival. If I can show him that I am better fit for his focus, I can secure my future. But I must have a complete victory over Midoriya to achieve this.' She hated Midoriya ever since he recklessly blew apart their training yet was loved by All Might for his destructive potential. Raw power does not equal pure value.

'Secondly, and more importantly, I must defeat Shiozaki Ibara.' Her blood began to boil under her skin. 'I don't yet know what her plan is here, but I have to secure my future. A future her existence jeopardizes. Even if I can just beat her today, it would prove that I am still in control.'

Tanya began to laugh under her breath. 'Securing my future one step and success at a time. Beat Midoriya Izuku, gain All Might's favor, and beat Shiozaki. A clear set of objectives. Just win the sports festival!'

Mina squinted in concern as Tanya was giggling. "What's on your mind?"

"Victory." Tanya answered as she quit laughing and got her wings under control.

Mina grinned as she jumped out past Tanya and threw a fist into the air. "It's first place for me!" She cheered.

"A wonderful mindset to have." Tanya still wore her smile. "And one that I share as well."

Shiozaki walked out onto the field. A sense of warmth flooded her as the sunlight graced her hair. 'The weather is fantastic today God. Thank you.' She prayed.

She looked up at the massive crowds cheering for them and felt calm. 'Even a stadium full of people, and it all seems so small compared to the bigger picture.'

A head of golden hair and a set of large, white wings bobbed into view amongst class A. 'That must be Tanya. The poor angel who has defied God's light. Worry not, I will return you to his righteous path. I will show you why defiance is faulty. I will return you to His righteous path.'

In the middle of the field was a raised stage and a microphone. The crowd hype quieted to a steady buzz of excitement as the spotlight heroine took the stage.

Midnight, the R rated hero for good reason, strutted up onto the stage, whip in hand.

Both the audience and the students began to chatter about her choice to wear her hero outfit till she snapped her little red whip and shouted "Quiet everyone! It's time for the student pledge!"

"Student representative, may you come to the stage! Shiozaki Ibara from Class B!" Midnight announced.

Tanya's heart fell into her stomach. 'You've got to be joking. How many strings did Bei-... Oh no…' The color began to drain from her face as the gears spun inside her head.

Ibara kept her hands down and together as she peacefully walked out in front of the crowd and climbed the stage. Not a flinch of stage fright or doubt in any of her measured, steady movements.

Tanya looked up in bewilderment and fear as her opposition stood in front of the mic. 'Being X was getting desperate, the better question would be what strings didn't he pull! He's already investing so much into her, of course he'd give her ample opportunity to succeed.'

Shiozaki raised her clasped hands over her chest as she bowed her head down for the mic. "I pledge to use my God-given abilities to bring everyone onto the righteous and holy path. I pledge to fulfill my purpose as God's loyal shepherd and guide everyone towards good."

The audience, the students, the staff, everyone stared blankly. Dead silence as Shiozaki looked up from the mic, her hopeful face faltered under the discomfort of the crowd.

"You'll get them next time, little listener." Present Mic shouted over the speaker.

Shiozaki looked around in confusion as she was ushered off the stage by Midnight. "Wait? They didn't like it?!"

Tanya laughed to herself. 'This can't seriously be your champion? The great Being X, and he can't even find a half decent speaker!'

Mina made a saddened, empathetic face as she said "Ooo. That was kinda lame."

"Now!" Midnight snapped her flogging whip and dispelled the silent awkwardness. "Let's get this festival started!"

The stadium erupted once more.

"The first round is what many of you would call a qualifier! With so many students to weed out, many of them will be drinking their own tears! Year after year, the first round continues to be passionately fought over!" Midnight licked her lips in excitement.

"For this year's first game," Midnight whipped her flogger as a holographic screen was projected behind her. It played out an exciting tune as it spun like a slot machine. "An obstacle course!"

The screen presented a diagram of the stadium with a track that ran around it.

"All eleven classes of students will race around the outside of the stadium. Roughly four kilometers!"

The screen showed a transparent red, boxy barrier over the top of the race track.

"In the spirit of competition, a height limit has been enforced! It will warn you if you get too close by showing a red hologram wall. After that, our school's selling point is freedom!"

Midnight ran her tongue over her lips. "As long as you stay within bounds, it doesn't matter what you do to each other. Now! Take your places everyone!"

The student horde crowded near the exit gate. Tensions and adrenaline ran high as everyone was ready to cut loose.

First Light!

Tanya took her place at the back of the pack. 'Everyone with area abilities is going to open with them. The first obstacle isn't out there, it's right here.' Her wings flexed and spread out as she squatted down. Her heart began to beat in excitement.

Second Light!

Shiozaki stood surrounded by her classmates. She tried to stomach all the nudging and bodies pushing up against each other. A bit too claustrophobic for her tastes.

Third Light!

Midoriya's nerves began to harden and cool down. His head was getting into the game as his Quirk began to hum to life.

Go!

Tanya took off into the air, well above the crowd. Her wings began to beat as she darted over their heads.

A sudden chill ran over everyone. The temperature plummeted as a frigid frost swept forth. Frrrerrrr!

"Todoroki!" Tanya shouted in anger as she swung her wings around her to air wall away the frost. 'Of course the bastard would try to freeze everyone!'

"The first sifting." Todoroki said coldly as he expelled frost from his arm. "I have to remove them."

Fzzchzz! Ice sang as it began to form along the ground and walls. It grew and spread like jagged sheets, instantly trapping anything in its path.

A horrifying cacophony of screams filled the air as ice swept up and captured the students feet and legs. The freezing cold fog flooded the tunnel and blocked everyone's view.

Tanya dashed out of the fog and quickly flew into first place! She was a little cold from the blast, but not frozen.

Todoroki jogged out of the fog, the ground froze around him with each step. And yet, even with all his freezing, none of class A were frozen.

Shooooom!

He was surprised for a moment as Iida sped past him.

Dur! Dududududu! Boom!

"Don't try that half assed shit on me, you half and half bastard!" Bakugo shouted as he explosion jumped past.

Todoroki's eyes widened as he looked behind and realized that class 1-A was more tenacious than he had expected. 'Just running won't outpace all of them.'

He froze the ground under his foot, creating an ice slab. He stomped onto it, breaking it off the ground. With a change of stance, he put his right foot on the back end of the ice board he had made and began to emit more ice.

A line of jagged ice crystals was left in his wake as he began to skate forward.

"That was a really cold move!" Mina shouted out beside him as she skated on her acid. She had a competitive grin on her face and was able to keep pace with him.

Another flash of blonde hair zipped overhead.

"What's this?! A dazzling display of skill all around! Now the students are filing out, it looks like it'll be a hard fight for any place! It's anyone's game!" Present Mic shouted. "This is going to be a wild first year match up!"

Aizawa's calming voice was given space. "The hero students are forward and opportunistic with their abilities, both Quirks and skill sets. The race does disproportionately favor mobility and speed Quirks, but that does not give anyone else an easy round."

Rikido Sato grit his teeth and tried to move his foot, shin deep in ice. "GRRR!" He strained.

'I didn't want to activate my Quirk so soon.' He thought as he pulled out a set of sugar packets. 'I don't know how long this race will take, and I cannot afford to crash. Aim high then!'

He ripped open several packets with his teeth and began to down them. His muscles bulged and stretched his gym uniform. His mind began to focus in and sharpen to a single point, the rest turned to a blurry mess.

"Sugar! RUSH!" Sato roared as he pushed forward, the ice breaking with newfound ease.

His heart pounded and took off in a mad sprint. The ground rumbled like the stampede of a massive beast.

Izuku Midoriya was experiencing the same problem.

'Just breathe, control it. Don't break the egg.' He repeated to himself like a mantra.

Red cracks began to glow along his skin. Green lightning began to crackle and dance. "Full Cowl, Five Percent!"

He broke free and began to run forward. Each step wide and light, swift like wind.

Sato glanced to his side as he saw the green lightning. "Not this time Midoriya." He snarled. "You beat me once, not again."

'His Quirk has changed! My gut was warning me something was off!' Sato scowled to himself. He could feel the inkling of a larger picture, but the idea just trapped beyond his tunnel. Like a station blurred by static.

"Huh?!" Izuku was taken aback by Sato's anger. "What did I do wrong?!" He asked worriedly.

Sato answered with a roar of effort as the two raced past the rest of the runners, both able to easily maintain a full sprint.

In her apartment, Inko Midoriya began to tear up and cry. "M-My boy!"

Her first time seeing Izuku's Quirk in action, and he was already keeping pace with the others.

"What a beautiful Quirk you've grown into." She sniffled as she cleared her excited yet tear covered face with a tissue. Inko watched with love and guilt as her boy sparked with brilliant green lightning and ran at blazing speeds.

Hatsume Mei fell back out of the air after having used her hover boots and jetpack combo. "Phew. That guy nearly froze my babies!"

She began to run ahead, her heavy boots clunking along. "Just have to qualify and look good for the investors!" She repeated to herself. "The higher up, the less crowds, the more eyes on me!"

She heard a series of cracks and shatters around her. Ice began to burst and break as green vines began to speed through.

Mei picked up the pace as she quickly realized that free competition means more competition. Her hover boots continued to clank along.

Shiozaki took a deep breath as she shivered. "Such an underhanded tactic. Is this what the son of the second hero has to offer?" Her vines burrowed around and began to free her fellow students as she started to jog.

Tanya continued to hold first place. A high flight speed and uncontested start, but one she knew could be threatened.

She could hear the low roar of Iida's engines and the blasts of Bakugo's crude flight. She glanced behind her and saw a new threat.

A blonde girl with large, upwards pointing horns. For feet she had hooves and she rode atop a set of detached horns. Big blue eyes and a smile comparable only to that of All Might, a big american grin.

'I don't know who she is or what she is capable of.' Tanya tucked away the new problem for later as she turned back to focus on flying.

Her eyes widened as she saw their second obstacle. A horde of bots of every type, including a towering team of zero pointers.

"Targets acquired!" The bots shouted.

A vast row of three pointers turned their artillery tubes and began to fire off their rockets. Row after row of artillery, all seeking the front flying group.

Tanya dove upwards in hopes to escape and let her competition take more of the pressure.

She climbed and climbed till she was just above the heads of the zero pointers, a few rockets chasing her, when she had to hard stop with a wind blast.

A big red circle was holographically projected above her by a series of stage lights that lined the course.

"There's the height limit!" She grit her teeth before closing her wings and diving back down, threading the needle and darting between the rockets that were after her.

'Too low to fly clearly over the massive robots.' She thought as she dove back to the ground as the rockets followed her. 'New plan.'

She watched the ground closely as it sped towards her, the horde of three pointers took aim again.

Her wings spread wide as she hard banked horizontally again, dashing mere feet above the ground with the rockets following behind. She closed her wings again and darted between a set of three pointers.

Explosions sounded off behind her as she grinned. 'Now for the big ones.'

The zero pointers began to reach for Tanya only to be too slow. She kept low to the ground as she flew between their gigantic tank treads where they couldn't reach her.

She emerged from the other side, maintaining her first place position.

Iida went into a slide to stop as he saw the rows of one pointers that blocked his route. He glanced around before taking off to the side.

A pack of one pointers began to speed over to block him, their tires squealing into action.

He leaned hard till his hand could nearly touch the floor as he drifted a sharp turn that left the one pointers in a scramble to change directions.

The robots scraped their hands as they tried to make the same turn only to slide into the wall and start piling up.

Iida picked up speed again till he zipped past the occupied three pointers, several of which were already being blown up.

He looked up in repeated awe at the size of the towering zero pointers while never slowing down. He made a slight turn and came at them from an angle

They began to reach down for him, their shadows casting over him.

With the roar of his engines flaring, the massive robot hand in front of him, and his brother's pride on the line, he squatted down. His engines flared as he went into a high jump. His teeth were grit as the wind whipped at his face.

His backspin landed him into an awkward roll atop the wrist of the gargantuan machine. He popped onto his feet and began to run along the side of the zero pointers forearm.

It began to swing its arm in an attempt to get him off.

Iida went into a slide, willingly sliding off the side of the arm before it could throw him.

He planted both of his feet together, his engines still propelling him forward and slightly softening his descent. His feet made contact and he rolled down onto his shoulder and back up into his run.

Bakugo blasted one of his hands and put him into a spin. "Ahhh!" He roared as he readied his other hand as the rockets came in.

Booom! His explosion met the rockets in an expanding sea of smoke.

Black smoke burst through the pink concussive clouds before Bakugo came shooting out!

His red eyes were full of fury as he was trailing behind Tanya once again. 'That damned bitch is always ahead of me! Fuck!' His wrists began to get sore from the blasting. Not enough to make him concerned though.

He repeated his explosive parry again and blast jumped over the three pointers.

The zero pointers that weren't occupied with Iida made their swings for Bakugo to swat him out of the air.

"You trash heaps are too slow!" He barked as he began to bounce around in the air. Explosions burst from his hands as he shot around sporadically, still keeping a lot of forward speed.

A hand came so close he could feel its air wave sweep at his back. He could hear it, his explosive cloud wrapping around him with nowhere else to go.

"Far too slow to stop me!" He roared as he shot past.

"Horn Cannon!" Pony cried as she bowed her head.

Her horns shot off her head and a new pair would grow in instantly. Horns swarmed out like a machine gun.

The missiles ahead of her began to explode as horns crashed into them. Pink clouds burst forth for her to fly through.

She flew past the three pointers whilst firing off horns. A fireworks display of pink went off beneath her as she fought her way through.

The zero pointers were recovering from dealing with the others but still had enough time to try and deter Pony.

Like a skier sliding down a treacherous slope, she arced and bent her flight past the zero pointers. Long, clean banks around the swings of the giants.

"And the fastest of the class is already past the robots! How fast are these rookies?!" Present Mic began to cheer them on.

"Being quick has gotten them far, and will get them further if they keep their focus." Aizawa warned. "This race however is not entirely about them, but about how the non-speedsters approach their challenges."

Ashido Mina pumped along like an ice skater. "Acid skating!"

There were a collection of students around her, but none more immediately threatening or as close as Todoroki on his ice board.

They rounded the corner and saw the horde of robots before them. Equally undeterred, they both began to speed into them.

Mina brought a coat of acid on her arms and began to spray her way through, instantly melting apart any one pointer that came close.

"Robots?! We already fought robots for the entrance exam!" She half complained at the repetition and cheered at how easy they had become to destroy.

She slowed down as the shadow of the giant zero pointers hung over her. "Oh. Yeah, them…"

Todoroki swung his right arm forward and set forth a new wave of frost. The one pointers froze over like a gallery of ice sculptures.

"If they had gone through all this trouble, I wish they had prepared better." He said dryly as he stepped off his board and reached his hand down.

Mina backed away as ice began to grow around Todoroki and the frost began to pick up again. "Hey! Be careful!" She cried as an ice structure got a little too close for comfort.

The lead zero pointer reached down towards them.

Mina prepped up her acid skates again and got ready to start moving again before -

Fwwhhfhhh! Todoroki let loose another vast wave of frost. It billowed and blew as it blanketed over the zero pointer, freezing it solid.

Mina's eyes widened as she took off. The zero pointer was falling! "Are you out of your mind?!" She screamed.

"You shouldn't be in my way." Todoroki hissed coldly as he slid along beside her. The two of them slid along under the zero pointer.

Crrrrsshhhh! The ground shook as the zero pointer crashed down. A wall of dust billowed forth like an oncoming wave.

"This is a race, not a deathmatch!" Mina yelled at him. She had to raise an arm up to protect herself from the dirt, completely blinded to where Todoroki had gone.

"If you wanted to stay safe, you should have stayed back." Todoroki spoke heartlessly. His disembodied voice got further away in the clouds.

"You're worse than Tanya! At least she's not -" Mina was cut off as Present Mic screamed over the speakers.

"Someone's buried underneath!"

Todoroki remained unfazed and sped on. The dust began to settle as he made his lead.

Mina spun around on her acid skates, her speed dropped away as her heart fell into her stomach. "Oh god…"

She peered through the dust at the corpse of the giant, hoping to see anything, any sign that they were fine.

Crushed under the corpse of the giant, a student was buried in the dark.

'Black bastion!' Tokoyami grit his teeth and hissed to himself. He had wrapped and coiled Dark Shadow around him, layer after layer. The frigid metal shattered over them yet buried them under its weight.

"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami called out. He could feel them growing stronger. The darkness grew heavier as Dark Shadow fed. "Dig up!"

Mina breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Dark Shadow blast through the top of the zero pointer. The shadowy Quirk stretched into the air. 'He looks bigger than last time I saw him?'

Tokoyami was pulled out by Dark Shadow, who had become nearly the size of a bus. "There Dark Shadow, calm down." He tried to soothe his Quirk as it slowly shrank down to its normal size.

Mina turned back around and began to speed up. Her heart pounded with a competitive drive, fueled by a newfound fury. Her strong legs pumped her acid skates. She leaned forward and swung her weight into it.

"Todoroki!" She shouted as she pushed herself faster and faster.

Sato and Midoriya kept neck and neck with their sprinting, neither gave an inch.

"What did I do to make you angry with me?" Midoriya pleaded as his full cowled run skipped along.

"I've worked too hard to have all my work blown away!" Sato shouted. His sugar boosted run pounded the earth.

They came to the horde of robots.

Sato leapt into the fray and began to smash his way through. He grabbed the nearest one pointer and began to swing it around like an oversized club. "Heeyaaaa!" He roared as scrap metal began to fly around him.

His fury at what had been done to him during the indoor training was slowly being worked out on everything in his path. He would prove to himself, no, to the world, that he didn't have a second rate Quirk. He would prove that he could be a hero and put his strength to good use.

He took his battered club of a bot and hurled it forward to get through the wave of one pointers.

All of his newfound strength, it all seemed so small in comparison to Midoriya breaking even a few fingers. And to see that the self destruction wasn't even needed, it struck a chord.

Sato cleared his way with destruction and aggression. He smashed, bashed, and tore his way through.

Midoriya bounced around, ducking and dodging, diving and weaving. 'I didn't know Sato felt this way.' He thought to himself in worry.

He side jumped and skipped around a one pointer. 'I have to give him a fair fight, the same as the rest. I have to show the world I am here!'

A one pointer wound up a punch at him. Midoriya skipped back and let it roll towards him.

'Don't break the egg. Let it pick up speed and do the work for you.' He took a deep breath before dashing under the wild swing from the one pointer. He struck up at the weakly constructed shoulder, widely exposed from its missed swing.

Trschschs! The metal shattered from Midoriya's punch. It's arm fell from its destroyed socket as Midoriya kicked off the bot and kept up to Sato.

The two of them sprinted around the frozen zero corpse and saw the zero pointers busy with the faster students like Sero and Tokoyami. The duo ran by as the zero pointer had their hands full.

Sero was sporadically grappling and pulling himself out of harm's way. "Woah, these things are big!" He laughed as he flew through the air.

"Man made the titans of old." Tokoyami nodded his head as Dark Shadow pushed off the ground and launched him over the shoulder of another zero pointer.

Mei wiped the sweat from her brow as she activated her super jump with her hover boots and jetpack. "So many threats to my babies!" She yelled out.

The ground where she was standing turned to sludge as Juzo swam by. She looked on in horror for her babies as more and more of the track was reduced to sludge. Every robot that came close melted and became part of the mud pit.

Mei fired her waist mounted grappling hooks to pull her forwards and out of the way of a wave of glue and spores fired from Kojiro and Kinoko respectively.

She saw the shadow of a small creature flying towards her. She pulled out her net gun and fired the first of five nets. "Four shots left."

"Ahhhh!" Mineta cried as he was ensnared and plummeted away from Mei.

Mei activated her metal extending rods to jump back into the air and dodge a one pointer. The crowd of bots had begun to slim down as the students had been tearing through them all.

Mei was having a rough time. Her babies were only fast in short bursts and would overheat if she overworked them. But so many of the runners had Quirks that could damage them. From glue, fungal growths, sticky purple balls, vines, sludge and so much more.

Momo huffed in effort as she waded out of a sludge pit and scraped mushrooms off her arms. She then pulled a bicycle from her exposed stomach. "A lot of the runners have crowd control Quirks. This is exhausting."

Toru cried out as she sprinted, hard as she could, to escape the reach of Bondo's glue. "Please! Haven't I been through enough!" As she ran right past the robots without being detected, being just a floating gym outfit to them.

"That's it!" Kaminari shrieked as he headbutted into another of Kosei's air disks, which they were using to stay above much of the chaos. "Everyone's getting SHOCKED!!!"

ZZCHZZZCCHHWW!! Yellow lightning cracked forth Kaminari as he barreled forth. The other students howled as he blitzed by and zapped them.

He smiled as he put some room between him and the endless wave of student-made obstacles. A dumb grin crept onto his face as his brain got a little scrambled from the lightning output.

Shiozaki kept a steady jog alongside the other runners. Her vine hair would rapidly grow before cutting itself off and burrowing into the asphalt.

Fountains of vine growths sprang up to ensnare the robot horde wherever she could spare the hair for. A feat that swiftly carved a swath through the horde.

She gazed up at the zero pointers without fear as she ran towards them. She watched as they were too busy dealing with the other students to notice her.

Shiozaki's jog came to a slow stop. Her breathing slowed down to a peaceful rhythm as she put her hands together. She closed her deep green eyes. "God." She softly pleaded. "Please, grant your loyal shepherd passage."

Her vines began to shiver for a moment. They shuddered before driving into the earth.

Crrrrraacckk! The ground began to rumble as the asphalt began to break in long lines originating from her.

The other students were shocked and looked around in fear.

"Don't tell me they have something bigger than a Zero Pointer?!" One of them cried out.

Vast towers of vines broke free from the earth, growing and wrapping and spreading.

The zero pointers struggled against them as the sea of green spread and dug under their armor.

TCHRRRRrrrrrr! The zero pointers struggled to move as their joints began to lock in place.

Five entire zero pointers came to a crunching halt as Shiozaki panted. Her face paled as she staggered to the side before catching herself with her own vines to lean on.

"Huu hu hu." Shiozaki smiled through her panting. She smiled up at the power she had been blessed with. "Miraculous growth."

"What is happening at the back of the race?!" Present Mic screamed. "What are you teachers feeding these kids!? It's rare to see a feat like Todoroki's, but to see multiple hero students come out the gate like that!"

"It's not unexpected. The more speed oriented Quirks took to the front, but the back would still have powerful students." Aizawa tried to explain the seemingly present power discrepancy.