How nice. Not that it would have mattered to Izuku.
He took the staircase in one go, soaring past both of the Girls and landing on a… A giant, flat topped stalagmite?
...
He blinked, but yes, that's what it was. And in front of him was dozens of other giant flat topped stalagmites, connected to each other by ropes. Beneath was a massive black void, and the distance between each rock was mayhaps 20 meters at the smallest, and 60 at the longest, as they weren't laid out in a symmetrical pattern.
On the other side of the chasm, he could see that the course continued.
-Reminds me of home. Just without the giant spiders.-
Izuku wasn't sure whether that was a joke, or serious.
Either way, this was it. As he turned around, he could see that Mina, Uraraka and Todoroki also realised it. He could jump this chasm, they could not.
This was where he left them in the dust.
… Or that at least was what he was planning to do, but as he prepared to jmp, something barreled up the stairs, and something with a lot of force hit him hard, sending him flying over the edge.
Shit.
He vaguely heard someone call his name somewhere far away.
He immediately sent a line into one of the rock formations, so he didn't just fall down into the void.
Not far away, he heard some mechanical noises, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a wire with a spiked tip shooting forward and hitting that same rock.
Whereas he moved like a pendulum, his assailant was instead hoisted up by the wire that Izuku now realised was a grappling hook gun of aume kind.
This time, he did not slam into it with his body, instead hitting it feet first.
He looked up at his assailant.
The assailant was a girl with pink hair, a metal harness around her stomach and back from which 4 long, massive mechanical arms sprouted, and a set of mechanical boots.
All of that would have been memorable enough, but to Izuku all of that took a backseat to her face. For as she stared down at him, the girl wore an such a cold expression and stared down upon him with a set of piercing yellow eyes that was filled with such intense hatred that he actually flinched. It took him a moment before he realised her pupils were shaped like a sniper scope, which just added to how intense they were.
For one moment, they just stared at each other.
Izuku with surprise, the girl with a level of personal loathing he had never seen anyone direct at him outside of Katsuki Bakugou.
Then, almost as sudden as a whiplash, the girls face changed to a smile so natural that it could have been true and genuine hadn't it been for her look just a few seconds earlier.
"See you later Midori!"
Then, the mechanical arms began to climb, embedding themselves into the rock, carrying their wielder upwards.
It took a moment before Izuku realised he had to do the same.
He also made sure he climbed so he didn't end up where the girl had gone up.
-Have you met her before? We can't recall ever having seen her.-
"No." Izuku answered as he climbed.
Had he met her before?
He would certainly like to think he had. He had a very good memory.
But the fact was that he had absolutely no idea who the hell she was. But those eyes…
That girl hated him. He could tell that without having to sense her soul.
As he reached the top, he saw that his little detour into the chasms had cost him valuable time.
Mina, and Uraraka were both reaching the end of the bridge of stalagmites.
The pink haired girl and Todoroki wasn't too far behind them either.
The pink haired girl moved at an astonishing speed with those arms clanking along the ground and carrying her.
Still, the situation hadn't changed all that much.
He could still jump all the way to the end from here.
Which was exactly what he did.
He landed hard on the edge of the chasm, and began running. He'd have preferred to just continue jumping, but the course went in a curve, so he couldn't just jump over it.
Instead he had to run.
He could both hear his pursuers as they finally passed the ropes and continued after him.
The clanking of those arms were particularly noisy.
He didn't really pay all too much attention as Present Mic talked loudly in the background, but he felt Venom tense as both of them picked up on one particular word.
Minefield.
There, quite a bit in front of them was an entrance to the main arena, where they had started. And in front of it, was two large lanes, filled with dirt where things had obviously been buried.
Mines.
Izuku knew from having watched the sports tournament before that the Mines weren't all that dangerous.
They were powerful enough to knock you off your feet, but unless you were insane enough to dig them up from the heavy dirt they were buried under, they weren't deadly.
And really, what kind of daft moron would do that?
No, he saw the way forward. He would jump and simply never touch the ground.
He ran to the very edge of where the track ended, then, he jumped.
He soared over the first lane, then the second seemed to fly past beneath him… Until something slammed up into his left shoe, between his big toe and the one to it's side.
He immediately snapped his head down to look. It was the grappling hook of the pink haired girl.
For a moment he just stared at it, then it unfurled hooking his foot, and in horror he realised what was about to happen.
There wasn't much he could do about it though.
He slammed into the ground, and immediately the force of the impact triggered 4 Mines.
The force of the explosion wasn't the worst in the world. With his enhanced durability, Izuku would have no problems taking that force.
No the problem was not the explosion. It was the sound.
Having seen them on TV plenty of times in his life, Izuku had never really considered how the sounds were dampened for broadcasts.
Experiencing it for himself in person was quite a different story.
The pain was immense, rocking him to his very core. He could feel Venom roar inside of his mind.
For a moment he just laid there in the sand. Then, he began to stagger to his feet. He saw Uraraka pass him, then Mina.
He had to… Had to…
Something slammed into his chest, and locked itself around his chest with a grip of steel.
Then, before he managed to do more than bring his hands up to try and rip it loose, he was flung through the air and the grip let go, sending him flying… Right into another set of Mines.
The pain was no less than the first round, and once more Izuku found himself staggering to his feet, his entire body in pain, the black substance around him reknitting itself as Venom swore inside his skull, with curses that would have made any sailor proud.
Then, before he had gotten back on his feet, another force grabbed him, this time his arm.
He flinched and pulled back his hand, preparing to punch, only to freeze as he realised the person in question was Mina.
"Wha-"
Without any explanation, the pink girl scooped him up in her arms, and began carrying him to the exit.
It took Izuku about 6 seconds of shock, before he realised Mina was carrying him bridal style.
"WHA-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Helping out a friend of mine."
Mina said in a tone filled with an underlying anger.
"So, who the hell is she? Another secret rival from your past?" Mina asked as they reached the exit, whereupon Mina was declared 3th and Izuku 4th.
It took Izuku a moment of furious thinking before he understood Mina was asking him a question, so hard was he blushing and flustered.
"I… I don't know who she is. I-I never met her before."
"Seriously?" She said in an incredulous tone as she put Izuku down on his feet.
"Cause I have to say Midori, she really seems to hate you." She nodded off towards another direction, where sure enough, the pink haired girl was staring daggers at him.
The four massive arms of steel were also bared, their three pointed claws all being palms open towards him, as if desperately wanting to clench around him, and squeeze.
...
If you want to read ahead of the public release, or just want to support me.
You can join my p atreon :
[email protected]/Huvnn