"Gah! You're right!" In a flurry of motion, Present Mic was suddenly back in his seat, as animated as ever. Aizawa sighed and sunk back into his usual slouch in the chair next to the loud hero. As much as it pained him, they had a job to do.
"IT LOOKS LIKE TODOROKI SHOTO OF HERO CLASS A IS IN THE LEAD, WITH BAKUGO AND YAOYOROZU HOT ON HIS HEELS!"
'I got this! I'm not that far behind, but I gotta pick up the pace!'
Ben attempted to refocus himself. He couldn't let this setback stop him from winning! There would be something that would validate Upgrade, and he would find that something. Upgrade may not be the most physically adept alien in Ben's list, but he was better than his base human form. A longer stride, more powerful legs and less overall energy used let Ben keep up with a good chunk of the racers, but to his dismay he saw Todoroki slide ahead on his ice, nearly out of sight and Bakugo's explosions were getting quieter as he rocketed forward in pursuit. They were pulling ahead. Unacceptable.
Ben maneuvered around the mass of struggling gen ed students at the exit of the tunnel, frozen in place by a blanket of ice coating the ground. Todoroki must be feeling malicious today. Moving to not slip on the ice cost Ben some valuable seconds, but it was worth not falling to the ground a second time. Once free of that obstacle, Ben sprinted as best he could down a narrow straightaway. He saw Uraraka leaping around, dodging past other runners. Aoyama mimicked his moves from the quirk assessment test and propelled himself through the air with his lazer. That purple-haired gen ed kid was moving, but not on his own. Rather, he was being lifted like some sort of royal on a carriage made of other gen ed kids. How the purple-haired guy managed that and why the others were serving as vehicles perplexed Ben, but he let that sit at the back of his head. He just had to run. Speaking of runners, it looked like there was a left turn coming up. Just as the purple-haired guy was about to have his carriage turn, there was a loud metallic groan, which gave everyone pause. Then a mass of shouting came from further down the left bend. And then came the smack of metal on flesh.
WHAM!
A small boy, also with purple hair, was sent somersaulting down the path and flew past the turn, shocking the approaching runners. He slammed into the erected barriers at alarming speed and stopped even faster. He tumbled onto the ground, where he lay groaning. Ben recognized him as the smaller boy who stood beside the taller one when the gen ed kids approached his class. At least, Ben thought that was who he was. The bruises and blood made it hard to tell.
"Mineta!" Carriage boy gasped, his eyes locked onto his fellow gen ed student. He then turned the corner, on alert, to see what could have caused a fellow student to be rocketed back with such force. His eyes went wide, and his carriage stopped. When Ben and the runners around him also turned the corner, their eyes also went wide. The left turn only went further for about 50 meters before it widened out into a football field. All the students, even the front runners like Todoroki and Bakugo stood still, processing the sight in front of them.
"Multiple targets approaching position. Initiating Barricade protocol."
A massive zero-pointer loomed over them, capturing them all in it's shadow. But it was not alone. Not at all. Lined up side-by-side were more of the imposing machines, and all of their lights were on and locked onto the students. Even more of them were lined up right behind the first wall of zero-pointers. Judging from the amount of mechanical legs that Ben could see from his position on the ground, there was going to be more than just two layers of the juggernauts.
"YOU DID WELL TO REACH THE FIRST OBSTACLE STUDENTS, BUT HERE COMES THE FIRST OBSTACLE! Y'ALL MAY REMEMBER THESE MECHANICAL BEAUTIES FROM THE ENTRANCE EXAM, HAND CRAFTED BY OUR VERY OWN POWERLOADER! YOU MANAGED TO AVOID ONE BEFORE, SO LET'S SEE HOW YOU GET PAST 30 OF THEM!"
"IT'S A ROBOT INFERNO!"
"Oh my god, there's too many of them! There is no way we can slip past them!" Uraraka paled at the sight of so many of the machines that nearly stomped her during the entrance exam. This time, Midoriya would not be in a position to help her. The imposing sight coupled with her frayed nerves halted her progress. Then, a voice spoke up from behind her right shoulder.
"Mine!"
"Huh?" Uraraka turned around, only to be rudely brushed past by a strange person. Her protest died in her throat as she watched the black and green back of the mysterious participant, springing full speed towards the robots. She didn't see this person at the starting line, and there was only one person who could turn into such unrecognizable forms. "Tennyson?"
'So this was the focal point of the general entrance exam. Certainly an imposing sight.' Todoroki scanned the area in front of him, analyzing the situation and carefully planning ahead. 'With a wall of 7 robots across, each as tall as a building and strong enough to knock anyone out of the race in a single blow, it certainly looks and sounds impressive.'
"But I would have expected." Todoroki began summoning ice to his right side, feeling the familiar cold of icy power dancing at his fingertips, begging to be released. "For UA to throw something actually challenging my way."
"Make way!"
"Huh?" Halting the release of an icy barrage, Todoroki turned to see a strange, smooth... thing running his way. The crowd parted easily, with everyone relishing in the prospect of a student clearing a path for them. Todoroki noticed the circular emblem on this thing's chest. The white hourglass with gray shading. His eyes narrowed. Tennyson.
THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!
Todoroki whirled around to see one of the zero-pointers breaking formation and charging towards the area where the students were stalling. Many of the gen ed and support students began to panic, running the other way as the robot charged, every step causing the earth to shake. Todoroki kept his cool, pulling himself into a stance to where his right side faced the incoming foe, his ice at the ready. But he didn't pull the trigger, not yet. As he stood still, Tennyson stumbled past him, still yelling his head off, and proceeded to move straight towards the charging zero-pointer. Todoroki smirked to himself and let his right arm fall to his side.
"Come here!"
'Let the idiot go first. Then, incapacitate the zero-pointer after it knocks the idiot out. Maintain my temperature, the obstacle gets a little easier and Tennyson gets eliminated.' It was a great plan. Todoroki stood watching, as the zero-pointer and Tennyson's strange new form grew closer and closer. Suddenly, Tennyson was within the zero-pointer's striking distance.
THWAK!
The zero-pointer's arm swung low to the ground, at breakneck speed. Dust flew around, kicked up from the course due to the sheer speed of the attack. It hit Ben head-on, and he crumpled immediately, splattering on the arm like silly putty. The zero-pointer raised itself back up from it's low attack, and brought it's arm in front of it's rectangular head, where it's sensory parts analyzed the bright black and green paint splotch that contrasted with it's dull olive paint job.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOO, THAT'S GOTTA HURT!" Present Mic yelled amidst the gasps of horror in the audience. Even with the assurance that no child would be seriously injured, it wasn't possible for the typical audience member to see a student, no matter how hyped, get splattered into a pulp live on TV and not assume the worst. But to those that didn't turn away in the shock, the cameras started picking up something strange. The student seemed to have been pulverised into paste , but the blob in question seemed to be moving!
The students were not faring any better. Yes, 1-A had seen Tennyson fight and win at the USJ, and the other classes had all heard the rumors of the legendary Tennyson for as long as UA had been in session. But seeing him get hit once and reduced to goo on the arm of a zero-pointer was not doing anyone any good. Many stood frozen, eyes glued to the green and black smudge that once was the kid to beat. Even Todoroki and Bakugo didn't know what to do. They expected Tennyson to do something. Literally anything! But what did he do instead? He stumbled forward like a drunk uncle and got himself obliterated. Was he still in the race? Was he even alive?
Then the zero-pointer began freaking out.
The arm that was once held so close to it's head was being wildly flailed around, with the zero-pointer frantically clawing at it with it's free arm. The other zero-pointers moved back and around, unsure of what to do, as this scenario was not in their original programming. The students all took many steps back, even the capable ones in the hero course. This obviously was not something planned. So, what was it?
"The arm!" Yaoyorozu suddenly shouted out, pointing at the arm that was being clawed at. "It's changing color!"
Students, audience and UA staff watched with wide eyes as the splattered goo that was Tennyson began to spread across the zero-pointer. As pointed out by Yaoyorozu, the dull, beaten olive paint of the zero-pointer was being rapidly overtaken by glossy black and electrifying green. Everything, from the armor plates to the exposed joints to even the lights were being washed over by a creeping wave. The zero-pointer was being rapidly overtaken, with less than half of its body remaining unaffected. It seemed no matter what it did, nothing could stop this spread. The arms were taken over, and it stopped clawing. Then the torso was covered, and it stopped turning. Legs were next and the zero-pointer lost all of it's mobility. The head was last, and the neck was already gone. Soon, the entire zero-pointer was lost under a new coat of color. And then, dominated by a new mind.
Click. Crunch.
The zero-pointer suddenly started to move again. The head looked down and it raised it's arms. Clenching and unclenching it's fists, the robot seemed to nod in approval before straightening back up to its full height. The eight red eyes on the robot's face were gone, awashed in a sea of black and green circuitry. In its place was a massive green circle. The same circle that was on Upgrade's head. And then it spoke.
"Aw man, it's been a hot minute since I last took over something this big. Gotta get some more practice in as this guy!" Many racers nearly toppled over as the voice boomed. It sounded like Tennyson! A little garbled and staticy, but undeniably Tennyson! But the other zero-pointers heard the voice as well, and immediately sprung into attack mode. Three fresh zero-pointers surged forward, poised to strike.
WAP!
The first zero-pointer threw an arm at Ben's right side.
CLANG!
The second attached both its arms around Ben's left arm, holding it in place.
CRASH!
The third robot threw its entire body weight against Ben in an attempt to knock him off balance.
Ben didn't even flinch.
"I can't believe I was scared of you guys! You aren't tough at all!" Ben easily ripped his left arm out of the grasp on the second zero-pointer, taking its arms with him. A small forward charge bashed the third one off him, and it pivoted to remain upright. Ben noticed the first zero-pointer remained motionless, with its arm still at his side. Ben focused, using Upgrade's digital powers to quickly survey the robot he was inhabiting. After two seconds, he had the information he needed. Ben pulled back his right arm and morphed the fist into a spearpoint. Then he took aim. Then he struck with all his might.
CRSHSRHSHRHSRHSH!
The zero-pointers old armor was no match for a mechamorph attack. With one clean blow, Ben sunk his right arm deep into the face of the first zero-pointer. Morphing his hand out of the spearpoint and back into the three fingers, Ben opened those fingers as wide as they could go and grasped a large robotic component.
'Gotcha!'
Ben yanked his arm back out, feeling and hearing wires, nuts, bolts and other delicate machinery being utterly trashed as he yanked out a crucial generator that was located deep within the zero-pointers head for protection. Also attached to the generator were crucial components dedicated to the zero-pointer's AI. Without it's primary power source and source of orders and direction, the robot was rendered lifeless. The husk twitched and sparked, before falling backwards.
THUD!
"One down." Ben watched the dust cloud that was kicked up from the impact of the falling husk settle back down in satisfaction. Now that he was a zero-pointer, he knew everything he needed in order to take them down. Target that generator, the back of the 'waist' and the joints. Then the whole machine would either fall apart or deactivate. Ben watched the rest of the zero-pointers charge. They had deemed him the greatest threat and would proceed to do everything in their functionality to remove him from the race. Or die trying. Ben opened his left hand and slammed his right fist into the now open palm.
"Now for the rest of you."
The ensuing carnage was truly a spectacle, like something right out of a mech anime. One after the other, the zero-pointers flung themselves at Ben only to be brutally decimated. Many had fallen the same way the first one had; Ben plunging a modified arm deep into their face and ripping out key components. If one could give mercy to emotionless machines, then they would say that those were the ones Ben showed mercy towards. There were others that were torn apart, piece by piece. The robots fell, their parts scattered across the once clean field. And it was around those fallen parts that some of the more ambitious racers were found.
Bakugo detonated his hands to fly overhead and Todoroki slid on his ice, both boys rapidly approaching the possessed-robot that was Ben. The blonde swerved left and deftly propelled himself over the sparking husks of robots defeated and moved swiftly under the falling ones. Todoroki slid effortlessly around Ben's right side, easily avoiding any and all obstacles in his vicinity. One aggressive and one collected, but both took advantage of the situation at hand to stick close to Ben. If he noticed them, he didn't show it. He was too busy clearing the path.
Ben threw out his left arm to block an incoming swing. The arm nearly shattered on impact. A quick retaliatory strike at the torso neary tore the offending zero-pointer in half, and it fell, still twitching and sparking. Two more charged in from the right. Ben opened his right arm out and made a long swing. Catching the side of one of the robots, Ben knocked it off balance and sent it tumbling into its partner, resulting in both on their sides, on the ground. The robots tried to get back up, but Ben merely walked a one step forward to close the distance, raised his right foot, and drove it down into the head of one of the zero-pointers. One didn't have to remove that key generator in order to shut it down. Crushing it did the job just fine. The second one suffered the same fate. Ben slogged forward, continuing the onslaught, much to the approval of the crowd back at the stadium.
If only Ben could hear the roaring of the crowd as they watched his complete domination.
"HOLY SMOKES, I DON'T BELIEVE MY EYES! IT SEEMS THAT TENNYSON HAS SOMEHOW MERGED HIMSELF INTO ONE OF OUR ZERO-POINTERS AND IS GOING CRAZY ON THE REST! SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED IN THE HISTORY OF UA! IN ALL MY YEARS OF RADIO HOSTING, TEACHING AND HERO-ING, I HAVE NEVER SEEN A POWER QUITE LIKE THIS!" The crowd hung onto Present Mic's every word, their eyes locked onto the screens as they watched a never-before-seen kid with a never-before-seen power knock around those massive robots like they were toys.
Aizawa's eyes were also glued onto the screens, although for a much different reason. 'Some sort of technological possession and enhancement form. So, that's why it's physical capabilities were so lackluster. It's true power emerges when in its best environment. But, it's so unnatural. Quirks relating to technology are rare enough as is, but this one seems to be able to merge? It's just so... otherworldly.'
Aizawa's musing was cut short as he noticed the student body starting to move. Todoroki and Bakugo were confident in their ability to keep themselves safe while utilizing Tennyson to get across the field, but many others did not feel the same. Most had kept a safe distance from Tennyson's rampage, and he had cleared out nearly half of the zero-pointers. He had also grabbed all of their attention, something the two other front runners had realized long ago. If they wanted to go, this was the time to start going.
Although, that's easier said than done. Those at the sight itself had their ears covered from the excruciating amount of noise and were standing with mouths agape at the sight. At least most of them were. Many others were simply biding their time, waiting for Tennyson to do the hard work. However, after a little over a minute, some had finally had enough. A brave few readied their quirks and ran into the fray.
"Kendo, wait! Isn't this a little dangerous?" Awase from hero class B protested as he watched his class president gracefully leap over fallen zero-pointer parts.
"We've stalled long enough. There's plenty of space and the danger has passed. Besides!" Running up to a hunk of zero-pointer innards that was too big to vault over, Kendo expanded her left hand and brought it down with a swift chop. Her embiggened limb easily crunched through the delicate machinery and gave her a path forward. Running through, she turned back around with a smirk. "We can't be having class 1-A hog all the spotlight, now can we?"
That sparked something in the rest of the students. Steeling their resolve, the mass of students pushed forward, weaving in, around and over fallen zero-pointers, covering ground quickly.
"Pathetic!" Ben crowed as he bashed a zero-pointer over the head, causing it's joints to pop under the sudden overwhelming pressure and subsequently crack. It fell to the ground, and Ben quickly stomped it's head to eliminate the threat. Well over half of the zero-pointers were gone, but suddenly, many more bleeps appeared in his radar vision. Popping his head out the back of the robot, Ben saw that the rest of the runners were finally making their move. He wasn't the only one to notice this, as some of the zero-pointers further away began moving to intercept.
That was a hopeless endeavour, as the zero-pointers relied on numbers and fear to keep the students away. After Ben's attack, the robots had vastly fewer numbers than before and seeing them so easily defeated, the fear the robots had emanated all but disappeared. That did not mean that the zero-pointers were not dangerous. Some of the racers were also getting overconfident. That culminated into Kirishima getting overzealous and leaping over a piece of debris without looking ahead and getting smacked into the corpse of another zero-pointer. As the red-head groaned and tried to pull himself up, the zero-pointer approached his position, looming overhead. It raised an arm, and Kirishima moved from a combination of fear and instinct. The husk he had been thrown into was crushed into a pancake behind him, and Kirishima started a serpentine movement to throw the zero-pointer off.
"Oi, scrapheap!" Ben's voice suddenly boomed. Heads turned to see him thrusting an arm out towards the zero-pointer towering over Kirishima. The arm contorted, black and green moving like water to form a long cylindrical cannon. Crackling green energy gathered at the end of the barrel. "You better not forget about me!" Then he fired.
CRAKYEWWWWWWW!
The cheering of the crowd reached a crescendo as Ben unleashed his lazer. A brilliant lance of green energy pierced the torso of the zero-pointer, paralyzing it instantly. It fell over, leaning heavily on one side. Kirishima and the others who were swerving around beneath it gave a sigh of relief. The red-head gave a toothy grin up at Ben and shot a thumbs up, which Ben returned with his non-cannon hand. Then the robot fell on top of him.
CRUNCH!
Kirishima forced his arms up and out, his skin hardened and ripping through the weakened armor of the zero-pointer. Panting, he climbed out and gave Ben a withering look, his eyes twitching in annoyance. "Watch where you point that thing!"
"Ehehe, yeah, sorry about that." Ben laughed nervously, starting to move his massive robot body forward.
"Grah!" Emerging suddenly just a few feet from Kirishima, Tetsutetsu forced himself up, his metallic body reflecting the morning sun. The two boys took a moment just to stare at each other, comparing their quirks that were nearly identical. Kirishima was the first to go, turning his head and muttering how the universe was just copy-pasting quirks at this point.
Ben noted that the rest of the zero-pointers were toast at this point. Yaoyorozu blew apart a few with a cannon of her own. Jiro shattered the legs of another with well-placed attacks from her ear jacks. Ida leapt through the air and slammed into the torso of a zero-pointer, bringing it down with the sheer power of his momentum. Kaminari shocked one, frying it's systems. Ojiro and Sato tag-teamed to tear another down with brute force. The ones in front of him had been encased in a massive glacier. Ben cursed, realizing what had happened. He had noticed Todoroki and Bakugo following close behind him, the zero-pointer's sensory abilities were built to quickly locate and identify human targets after all. But he had lost track of them in his battle, and now they were obviously ahead. He didn't see any telling signs of Bakugo, but there was no way the temperamental blonde would let himself be anywhere but right behind the first placer.
'I let myself go there. I should have gone forward instead of beating up the robots!' Ben berated himself for letting his lead go to waste. Making a quick decision, Ben started to withdraw himself from the zero-pointer, the glossy black and green receding and revealing the dull olive underneath. Who knew if the two other obstacles ahead could be utilized by Upgrade like this one?
By extending his limbs out and thinning the membrane between his limbs, Upgrade could catch the wind and fall like a parachute. Ben took this time to carefully analyze his situation. Todoroki was ahead, and Bakugo was close behind. A good amount of people were ahead of him, taking advantage of his awkwardness as a huge zero-pointer. He'd need another boost if he was going to retake first. Landing on the ground with the grace of a fish out of water, Ben scrambled up and forward to see the next challenge.
"THE FIRST OBSTACLE HAS BEEN SURMOUNTED, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SECOND? PRECARIOUS PILLARS, OVER A PIT OF TAR! ONLY THIN ROPES CONNECTING EACH MINI-ISLAND TO EACH OTHER! WHAT'S THE FASTEST PATH? WHICH IS THE SAFEST? BETTER MOVE FAST KIDDOES, BUT WATCH YOUR STEP! CAUSE IF YOU FALL, YOU'RE OUT!"
"IT'S THE FALL!"
The pathway once more expanded to that of a football field, but instead of solid ground, this one had been dug out. There were only a few pillars of land standing between where the students were and where they needed to go, and they were connected by flimsy rope that were anchored by very unsafe looking hooks. Those who peered over the edge could see nothing but blackness beneath them. Those with quirks that would let them bypass the given method of transportation would do well here. It just so happened that the current first and second place runners, Todoroki and Bakugo had such quirks. One summoned icicles to cross between platforms and the other flew overhead with explosions. The rest of them just had to make due.
"It's just a tightrope walk, ribbit." Asui grabbed the rope in her froggy hands and started to cross. Her face gave no emotions away as she scooted onto the first island and then to the next. When the islands were close enough together, she just jumped. Ben found himself beside Ashido and Uraraka ran up right behind them. The noises of the rest of the racers were getting louder. Ben may be in the top 15 judging by the amount of people crossing the ropes and leaping from island to island, but he was stuck. But speaking of noise, a very loud female voice that was unfamiliar to him caught everyone's attention.
"Fufufufu, now is the perfect opportunity to up my appeal!" The girl in question stood out like a sore thumb, even more than Upgrade. Her vivid pink hair clashed with the navy blue of the UA uniform, but there wasn't much uniform to see. This girl was completely decked out with gear. Her eyes were hidden behind a strange pair of goggles with crosshairs over the glass and the goggles themselves were attached to a strange headpiece with what looked like bicycle handles. Around her shoulders and chest was some sort of backpack that extended into two tubes on either side of her. Her waist was full of small bags and holders full of small objects and parts. She didn't have shoes; she had massive silver boots with twin circles on the bottom, with a third angled out from her heel.
"Watch and be amazed support companies of Japan and beyond! These are but a few of the support items that I have created, and barely past their experimental stage! Imagine what they could be with time and resources!" The girl bent over to pat her knees, and judging from her smile, she liked whatever she was trying to confirm.
"She must be from the support department!" Uraraka looked in awe at all the gizmos lining this girl's uniform.
Ashido was not having it. "Hey, why are you allowed to bring items into the race?"
"Well, you hero department kids get actual fighting training by professionals, right?" Retorted the pink-haired girl, not even bothering to look away from her gear. "I can't say anything about gen ed, but this is the support course's way of evening the playing field! You guys get quirk training, we get to bring whatever items and suits that we build ourselves. Besides, everything every support course student has on them has been approved. I'll let you know that- HEY! What do you think you're doing?"
During her retort, the girl had failed to notice the trembling mechamorph near her. In her eyes, it was just another strange mutation quirk. She hadn't quite put it together that this was the one who took over the zero-pointer. She was rudely introduced to Tennyson as he splattered himself all over her.
"Sorry about this! Just don't move and you won't get hurt!"
Upgrade's body liquified as he reached all over the girl to reach each of her support items. The silver of her boots turned black with the sides lined with green circuitry. The objects in her waist holders were consumed by the mechamorph. The backpack contraption around her chest was quickly taken over, and her goggles followed suit. The supportive structures along her legs and arms glowed with new power. In just a few seconds, the girl had gone from a strange assortment of support items cobbled into the skeleton of a support suit to full blown mech armor, with only bits of her blue uniform visible . Her face, however, showed she was less than pleased. Before the girl could scream any more, Upgrade popped his head out of the left side of her head piece, extending the nub to get into her vision range. The protrusion had only the green circle that Upgrade spoke from, although the circle had an indentation at the top, giving it an annoyed look.
"Alright, I'm sorry about scaring you, but we don't have a lot of time. You have a choice: you can let me control your support gear and we can get first and second in this event or you can dump your gear and we will both drop out." Ben did feel a little guilty about forcing some random girl from a course he wasn't in into this ultimatum, but he didn't have a choice. It was either this or bust. He nervously scanned the arena to see Todoroki had only a quarter of the obstacle to go, with Bakugo nearly surpassing him. There was also an assortment of other students moving at high speeds. He recognized Shiozaki from hero class B using her vines to easily cross the gaps. Another class B student with an exposed jaw was also making good time. A cough from the girl brought his attention back.
"Well, I suppose this could be mutually beneficial. But how do I know that you can get us to the lead? I don't need to win, I just need to get noticed." The girl looked down, her curiosity and fascination steadily overpowering her initial annoyance. Then she started to move, startling her. In a panic, she realized that whatever this student had done had given him complete control over her suit. Given the fact that her suit connected to every part of her body, she now had lost control over said body. This elicited an immediate reaction.
"What are you doing, do you not see where we are? Stop!" She screeched as her body moved from stiff walking to more smooth jogging. She instinctively tried to tense her body up to stifle the suit's movement, but Upgrade's head once more appeared in her left field of vision.
"I know it's a lot to ask, but please trust me. You got the gear to do well, but I can take you from a good placement to top 3. Relax your body." The girl hesitated. Against her better judgement at the time and in the heat of the moment, she let her body relax. Without any more encumberment, the suit pulled out of the crowd of students waiting for an opportunity to traverse the rope and started running towards the edge. Hearing the familiar sound of machinery activating, the pinkette assumed he would use her Wire Arrows to create a tether to the nearest island and then use her Hover Soles to propel herself across. To her terror, she noticed her Wire Arrows were not armed. The gas canisters that powered the projectile launcher were not prepared either. Whoever this student was, he was only powering her Hover Soles. She knew, as the inventor, that there was no way this would work.
"Stop! My Hover Soles are meant to suspend someone in the air and let another item do the moving though push and pull forces! It's not designed for this!" She protested, but her suit didn't slow down. In fact, it went faster.
"Maybe the Hover Soles that you entered the race with weren't made for this. But these aren't those Hover Soles anymore. You see, these have been...!" The girl squeezed her eyes shut as her suit jumped off solid ground. Ben focused on a large island right in the middle of the arena. Concentrating on pooling all available energy into the machinery at the feet, Ben let loose a massive burst of energy.
"Upgraded!"
FFWHOOOOOOM!
The Hover Soles, in their new black and green color scheme, let loose an immense blast that shook the islands of the second obstacle. Students staggered, falling to the ground and onto each other as the duo of support and hero shot forth with incredible speed. The girl gasped in shock, her hair whipping around from the speed, her feet aching from the power of the blast and her body aching from the actions of her possessed suit. However, all that didn't matter, as she was fast approaching a larger sized island. The suit reacted, bending her knees and spreading her arms out. The impact shook her to her very core, and it took a few seconds for her to recover and even more to come to terms with what happened. Seeing his new partner, if he could call her that, in such a state, Upgrade's head once more popped out to look over her, concerned.
"Sorry! That was a bit sudden and I got kinda hyped up. Are you good to go?" Her body started shaking and Upgrade's eye widened. 'Oh crap, I made a girl cry.'
"Fufufufufufu..."
'Wait.' Ben listened more intently. 'Is she laughing?'
"Hahahahahhahahaha- GAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!" Ben could only stare dumbfounded as the pinkette started laughing. This wasn't an ordinary laugh either, this was a belly-busting laugh that caused you to cry, and that feeling caused you to laugh even more. Ben eased the suit up to let her stagger upright and move her goggles to wipe her eyes. He watched as she went from full-blown laughter to just laughing and then down to chuckling. Her head then spun to face his, and he noticed that her eyes had similar crosshairs as her goggles, and that her smile was back and bigger than ever.
"That was incredible! Just incredible!" She gushed. "My baby exceeded every estimated parameter! No, not just exceed! Those limits were shattered, utterly annihilated! I didn't think it was possible with modern technology to generate that much thrust from boots this size, but holy shit, look what just happened! If you can do this to all my babies, then I'm with you to the end! Let's go use my babies to win this thing!"
"Oh-kay." Ben was a little put off by her mood change and choice of vocabulary. He really hoped that her 'babies' were her inventions. If Ben was being honest, however, he much preferred this excited version of the pinkette than the nervous screaming one. So he'd role with this. "Whaddya say we go and steal first place from those two dudes in the front?"
"Sounds like a plan! Oh, I'm Hatsume! Hatsume Mei!"
"Tennyson. Now then, let's win this thing."
FFWHOOOOOOM!
As the second blast echoed out, the boys racing for first finally peaked over their shoulders. The class B students looked on in shock as Hatsume sailed overhead and made a heavy landing on the other side of The Fall. In just thirty seconds and two jumps, the support course girl had seemingly trivialized the second obstacle of the race. But the front runners knew better. They saw the black sheen over her items, and the green circuitry racing along the outside. The same as the zero-pointer they used to easily bypass the first obstacle. She was in cahoots with Tennyson. With gritted teeth, Todoroki and Bakugo pushed their quirks even further, moving as fast as they could down the straightaway. Hatsume thudded onto the island that linked to the rest of the course, and ran in pursuit. Thanks to Upgrade, the two were gaining ground quite fast with an enhanced suit driving them forward. This did come with a drawback, one that was making itself very apparent.
Huff, Huff, Gruhh...
"Ten-Tennyson!" Hatsume gasped, sounding worse for where. "I can't keep this pace up. I know this suit can move fast if it's wearer is fast, but I'm not!" The unfortunate truth of the situation was that Hatsume was an inventor, not a fighter. Where the hero students didn't have a physical education class due to the demanding exercises of heroics, support students were the opposite. Stuck inside, working from a bench and brainstorming ideas did not leave much time in a schedule for muscle building. None of the support students were physically inept, but Ben was pushing Hatsume's suit hard. He was trying to catch up to the powerhouses of hero class A! Even with her relaxing her body and moving as little as possible, the forced movement was taking a toll on her.
The path was going closer to the stadium, and two obstacles had been passed. It was the last third, and there was a right turn coming up. Bakugo and Todoroki were about 70 meters ahead of them. Sounds from behind indicated that more students were approaching from behind. Ben had no idea what the final sprint would look like, so he needed to buy as much space as he could. The right turn would be where he'd make his move.
"Alright, time to use these!" Ben started priming the Wire Arrows attached to Hatsume's sides. Pumping air from the canisters in her backpack, Ben powered up the cannons and prepared to follow the two leaders around the right bend. Leaning right, Ben reached out and dug Hatsume's fingers into the ground, and pivoted hard. Ignoring her gasp of pain, Ben quickly took aim.
PSHHHHH! THUNK!
Bakugo instinctively ducked and darted to his side at the sound of the air-powered projectile launching. Todoroki also ran along the right side, avoiding the harpoon that shot far ahead, impaling itself into one of the concrete barricades that outlined the course. His eyes traced the black wire that connected the harpoon back to the launcher. Which was attached to Hatsume's suit, which then reeled the wire back into itself at record pace. The boys could only watch as Hatsume flew past them, giggling like a crazed scientist.
"See ya buckaroos!" Tennyson's taunt broke whatever limits the two had placed on themselves as they burst into action.
"Damn you Tennyson!" Bakugo roared as he fired some of his biggest explosions yet to generate even more speed, abandoning running altogether. His palms were aching, not a good sign as they were in just the first event, but Bakguo pushed past the pain. Todoroki maintained his silence, but started freezing the ground in front of him to slide on. An uncomfortable level of cold was creeping into his body, but that was tolerable. Both boys knew that going all out in the first event was not the smartest move. There were three events, and the most important one was the last. Keeping one's stamina up is important. That did not matter at the moment.
'I will beat you!' Both boys screamed in their minds as they powered forward to catch up to the pinkette and her mechamorph companion. They were not the only ones seeing Tennyson as the one to beat.
"I'M GOBSMACKED, ABSOLUTELY FLOORED! IT SEEMS THAT TENNYSON HAS MERGED WITH HATSUME'S SUPPORT GEAR TO FORM SOME SORT OF POWERED EXOSKELETON OUT OF HER SUIT! NEVER BEFORE HAS THERE BEEN TWO STUDENTS WORKING SO CLOSELY TOGETHER IN THE FIRST EVENT, AND BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT COURSES NO LESS! IS THAT EVEN LEGAL?"
Aizawa smacked Present Mic's head with an old book containing the Sports Festival's rules. "It is 100% legal. Just because the race ranks people individually doesn't mean they can't team up. In this case, Tennyson and Hatsume were just two individuals that combined their efforts to place higher. We have other events to weed out those who can't stand on their own. It is an underappreciated ability to make friends in a hostile environment. We just need to consider who places first if they cross the finish line at the same time."
"YOU HEARD IT FROM ERASERHEAD FOLKS! IT LOOKS LIKE THE DYNAMIC DUO OF HATSUME AND TENNYSON HAVE GIVEN TODOROKI AND BAKUGO A COMMON ENEMY! THE BOYS, WHO JUST MOMENTS AGO WERE BATTERING EACH OTHER ARE NOW FOCUSING DOWN THIS NEW THREAT! BUT WHAT'S THIS? THE FINAL OBSTACLE IS RIGHT AHEAD! AND DON'T LET THE SMOOTH FIELD FOOL YOU, CAUSE THIS OBSTACLE IS PULLED RIGHT OUT OF RAMBO 3! PUSH YOUR EYES AND FEET TO THEIR LIMIT TO SPOT THE LANDMINES UNDERNEATH!"
"The mines are non lethal. Strong enough to knock the students around, but not even close enough to cause permanent damage." Aizawa quickly added at the end.
"IT'S A MINEFIELD!" Present Mic's announcement rocked the stadium, but despite the students drawing ever closer, they still could not hear him. A pity, as Ben really could have used the heads up before running headfirst into the field, thinking it was a free pass.
BOOOOOSH!
"Holy crap it's mined!" Ben stalled, frantically swerving back and forth. He could see small divots and bumps in the ground, and some mines had some metal peaking out that caught the sun's rays. Still not enough information to work off of. The explosions were getting closer, and if Ben wanted to stay first, he needed to act.
"Look, the sign!" Hatsume called out, and Ben focused his attention to the thin poster set up atop two thin posts at the end of the field. A skull with a cartoony explosion behind it gave a cruel indication of the danger the field possesed. It had some writing on it, but it was too far to tell. But it was a target. "You retrieved the Wire Arrow from before right? Fire it again!"
"Good thinking!" Ben took aim, pumped the air, sparked the ignition, and sent the harpoon flying.
CRNCH
Turns out that UA took everything seriously in the course except for that sign. Made out of something thin and weak like paper mache, the harpoon punched right through it. Without something tough to stop it's momentum and the power of mechamorph's upgraded cannon, the harpoon continued flying, the wire connecting it to the suit rapidly running out.
FWING!
The wire smacked against the firing tube as it flew out, clearly out of bounds. Ben and Hatsume groaned in frustration.
"Well, now what are we gonna do?" Ben could feel the air around him getting colder as Todoroki approached.
"Hey, my goggles are pretty advanced too ya know! It's got all sorts of functions for any kind of circumstance, like night vision for darkness or heat vision to locate people! They must have buried the mines close to the surface, so use the X-ray function to see them. It's the weakest mode, but it should work."
"Worth a shot!" Ben forced his vision into Hatsume's goggles and tried the supposed X-ray function. Turns out, it was janky as hell. It turned everything black, white and some sort of pasty blue. The amount of distance it could see through was wildly inconsistent, sometimes detecting the plumbing way underneath the race course and other times barely sensing the mines breaking through the surface. Despite these flaws, it worked. And Ben wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Pushing Hatsume's suit to the limit, Ben bolted through the field, now able to see where to and not to step. Pushing the left leg off this mound but not that, avoiding that divot, circle around that cluster of mines, as Ben raced forward the nature of the obstacle unraveled. If you didn't have a method of getting past the minefield, you were stuck, even more so that the others. This obstacle was designed to punish the kids in the lead, forcing them to trailblaze which made it easier for those behind them. And take advantage of the trail blazers they did. The duo made it halfway through the minefield before the rest of the pack poured in. Unlike Todoroki and Bakugo, the others were not so prideful as to not take advantage of the person in first. When it became obvious the field was mined, the crowd funneled down the path Ben took. Soon it was clear that the gap between the front runners and the rest of the runners was not too big after all.
"Alright Hastume! I'm going to push it for the last leg of the race!" Ben could see the end. The path leading out of the field curved right, and just beyond was the stadium. According to Midnight, that was where the finish line was, just past the tunnel that led into the stadium that served as the last 100 meters. In the distance they could hear the commentary by Present Mic. This was it.
"Ok!" She nodded her head and mentally braced herself. She prayed her body would not be too worn out by the end of this. "You got me this far, it wouldn't make sense to doubt you now!"
"Thanks for believing in me. Now, let's claim what is ours!" Green energy cracked around Upgrade as Hatsume's suit gathered energy. Then it was unleashed.
DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU!
The duo barreled ahead with reckless abandon, all semblance of form thrown aside in favor of a mad dash. Boots pounding the ground, leaving imprints in the ground and booming echoes in their wake. Small pivots and swerves avoided the last few mines in their path. The two were not alone in the mad dash to the finish, as others pushed forward as well.
"Grah!" Bakugo!
BOOM!
"Hmph!" Now Todoroki!
Shink!
Ben threw himself to the side, avoiding Bakugo who was using his own body as a projectile. Todoroki flicked his hand, sending a wave of ice that caught Hatsume and froze her in her tracks. A quick discharge of green static and the weak ice shattered. It was neck and neck, with three bodies racing towards the tunnel, the light on the other side screaming victory! It was so close!
KRACKOOOWWW!
The loudest explosion by far shook the earth, with everyone racing and watching feeling the sheer intensity of the blast. A massive burst of bright light and smoke emanate from the right side of the entrance to the minefield. From the aftermath of the explosion, a sheet of metal flew out, riding the force of the explosion. A green-haired individual clenching his hands tightly around his metal glider, careening past the mass of racers gawking at the sight. The metal sheet flew fast and far, until it whizzed over the head of Bakugo, so close that it brushed past the tips of his spiky blonde hair.
"HE'S DONE IT, HE'S OVERTAKEN THEM! HE HAS OVERTAKEN THEM! IN A SPECTACULAR DEMONSTRATION OF GUTS, MIDORIYA HAS SHOT THROUGH THE RANKS, CATCHING UP TO THE FOUR LEADERS! WHAT A PLAY, BUT CAN HE TURN IT INTO SOMETHING MORE?"
"Deku! Don't you dare pull ahead of me!" Bakugo's face contorted in pure rage as he pushed out another explosion. Todoroki slammed his foot down, sending forth a blanket of ice trying to catch where Midoriya would land. Ben felt annoyed at the sudden intrusion, but pushed forward regardless. Midoriya had an explosive surge, but he was stalling out, most of his momentum gone. Hatsume, Bakugo and Todoroki pushed past him, only for Midoriya to pull out a second phase to his plan. Spinning in midair, Midoriya grasped at a rope, revealed to be attached to the center of the metal sheet he rode on. Throwing his body weight forward with his eyes screwed shut, Midoriya flung the metal sheet down like a hammer, forcing the others to dodge out of the way. As the metal sheet hit the ground, several activation sounds could be heard.
BABOOOOOOOM!
There just so happened to be a cluster of mines near the end of the field, a final farewell gift if you would. Midoriya flung ahead with renewed momentum, even though he lost the metal sheet's rope in the explosion. Bakugo craned his neck, trying to avoid the shrapnel of the new blast. Todoroki bent over, raising his left arm to protect his neck and face. Hatsume managed to stay upright thanks to Upgrade, but started vigorously shaking her head, as her ears had popped. All three were left momentarily stunned. An explosion of that magnitude, so close and without any prior warning would leave anyone's senses of sight and hearing useless for precious seconds. Even Bakugo's biological resistance to explosions did not help him that much. Midoriya stumbled a few steps after landing, but picked himself up and sprinted to the finish.
He wasn't alone. Just as Midoriya entered the darkness that was the 100 meter long tunnel that led to the finish line, the sound of clanking metal followed shortly after. Hatsume may have been disoriented by the explosion, but Ben was not. Ben knew that Midoriya was out of tricks. His quirk was some sort of strength enhancer, not speed. He had lost his metal sheet. There were no more obstacles for him to utilize. Meanwhile, Ben still had one thing left.
"Good thing there's two of these!" While the right Wire Arrow was gone, the left still remained, snug in it's tube. Going through the full arming sequence was not necessary, not with so little time and race left. Ben just angled it up, pushed air out of the canisters, and fired.
PSH-THUNK!
The harpoon embedded itself into the roof of the tunnel, cracks spider webbing around the impact area. Activating the pulley, Hatsume and Ben were sent flying upwards, easily passing the panting Midoriya. But the pulley wasn't stopping, and Hatsume's eyes widened at the sight of a rapidly approaching concrete wall.
"...ceiling!" She managed to gasp out.
"I see it too." Ben threw Hatsume's right arm out, and started fishing around her waist pockets. He quickly found what he was looking for: an exacto knife. Why she had this, Ben could only assume for on-the-spot repairs. But he was thankful she had it. Ben used that exacto knife to morph the limb into a small sword. One deep breath in and out. Then, he swung up.
Slice!
The sword easily parted the twine that the harpoon was connected to. This didn't stop their forward momentum, but it did slow down their upward accent. Arcing Hatsume's back, Ben barely managed to avoid smashing her head into the roof. Shifting the suit around, Ben managed to complete the midair spin, a near replication of what Midoriya did moments before, just in the other direction. The landing was a bit awkward, and it took a bit longer to get the suit moving than before, but the job was done. Midoriya sprinted even harder, but he didn't have anything left in his arsenal.
"...we...gonna...win?" Hatsume sounded ragged.
"There's no one else in our way!" Ben gave the suit one last push as the end of the tunnel grew ever closer. He slowly began receding from Hatsume's suit, from the bottom up. Her Hover Soles returned to their silver color and the support structures along her legs shunk back down to centimeters. The empty tubes of her Wire Arrows lost their black and green, as did the backpack containing their launching mechanism. The only thing Ben was left in was the goggles. And then he lept out.
"Huh?" Hatsume let out a tired shriek as Upgrade emerged out of the goggles like a gooey mess, just centimeters away from the exit! Pushing himself to his feet, Ben was about to cross the line when he remembered the girl who was probably exhausted. Hatsume was huffing and puffing, but was then greeted with the outstretched hand of Upgrade. She looked down at the pale white, the back up at his green circle of a face.
"I kept my word. Us two, first and second place. Unless, of course, you wanna give second to him?" Upgrade jabbed his head down the tunnel where Midoriya was sprinting with all he had.
"...what a gentleman..." If Ben didn't have to see Hatsume's eyes to know she was rolling them. She took his hand. Ben tugged her across, passing over the line.
The lights were equally dazzling and blinding.
"WE HAVE OUR WINNER! IN FIRST PLACE, IT IS NONE OTHER THAN TENNYSON BENJAMIN FROM THE HERO COURSE! HIS NAME WILL BE ONE TO REMEMBER!" The crowd echoed this statement with cheers that shook the stadium almost as loud as the voice hero.
"AND IN SECOND PLACE WE HAVE HATSUME MEI! I DON'T THINK ANYONE EXPECTED A STUDENT FROM THE HERO COURSE TO TEAM UP WITH ONE FROM THE SUPPORT COURSE, BUT BY GOLLY IT WORKED! HER SUPPORT ITEMS, MADE BY HER OWN TWO HANDS, WERE REASON THEIR TAG-TEAM STRATEGY WORKED! MAKE SURE YOU KEEP TABS ON HER!" If Hatsume hadn't fallen on her butt in exhaustion, she would have been leaping in the air with joy.
"HERE COMES THE REST OF THE CREW! MIDORIYA IZUKU, EARNING THIRD PLACE WITH THE MOST BALLSY STRATEGY WE'VE EVER SEEN! FOURTH IS TODOROKI SHOTO WHO SPEARHEADED THE RACE WITH HIS ICE-COOL ATTITUDE! FIFTH IS BAKUGO KATSUKI, WHOSE UNABATING TENACITY KEPT EVERYONE ON THEIR TOES!"
Ben tuned out Present Mic. He raised his head to look around. People were cheering, calling his name. They weren't scared. They weren't pointing at him with fear and disgust. People were looking at him with admiration and wonder. Such a change from when he'd strike out as a vigilante in the States. This was another step forward. Ben balled up right fist and threw it into the sky.
'One down, two to go!'