The 2nd Sports Festival (Part 5)

Chris and Jason broke the ground underneath them as they launched from their starting positions. The shockwave that followed knocked down several other contestants who had been nearby. Mina sprinted ahead, using her acid to keep her momentum going. Kirishima ran forward. It was a good thing he had preemptively hardened himself, because electricity shot through the crowd. Denki had let loose a massive attack, incapacitating 70% of the students. Only a handful of students on the outskirts of the crowd had been spared. Denki smiled, clearly happy with the results, and began running ahead.

Iida was using his quirk to remain ahead of most of the crowd. He had barely gotten out of range of Denki's destructive attack, but he was well on his way to placing in the top eight now. The one thing he hadn't expected was for Chris and Jason to be as fast as they were. Iida powered on forward though. He had to at least try to beat them.

Jason and Chris were neck and neck, racing ahead of the crowd. They were both surprised that the other was able to keep up. Chris was only using 25% of One for All, so he upped the power to 28%. He began to slowly pull ahead of Jason. Jason raised his hand up and fired off a shockwave that hit Chris in the back of the leg. He fell, resulting in Jason speeding by. Chris glared up and ran ahead, trying to catch up. The two friends arrived at the first obstacle; giant robots were blocking the path. It would be a struggle for most of the students, but they were nothing more than walls for Chris and Jason. They powered up their quirks through their arms and blasted right through the robots that got in their way.

Pres Mic shouted into his microphone. "Chris Harper and Jason Miller have cleared the first obstacle in less than a minute! Their power is completely insane!" Aizawa nodded, adding his own, calmer commentary. "Given their power and experience, the obstacles presented to them won't be much of an issue for them. Their biggest obstacle will be each other."

Shoto created a massive ice wall behind her, limiting the movement of those still behind her. She smirked, knowing only a handful of students would be able to get through. Then she looked up at the wreckage of two giant robots. She expected nothing less from the two boys. However, there were still a number of smaller robots in the way. Shoto focused her fire into a concentrated beam and melted the machine in front of her. Then she used her ice to freeze the robots to her flanks. She had passed the first obstacle.

Jason and Chris were at the second obstacle; a giant canyon. There were zip lines which were connected by giant rock spires, and there was a mechanical gondola that could carry people all the way across, but no other way. Then Jason made another path. He leaped with all of his might onto the nearest spire, then leaped to the next. Chris recognized the jumping as being similar to Gran Torino's attack pattern. He smiled and began to do what Jason was doing. Iida arrived at the canyon and jumped onto one of the ziplines. He held onto the handles and used his quirk to boost himself across. Shoto arrived and looked around. She saw the gondola and ran over. She reached the door and turned around, fire ignited. Denki was running up. He stopped when she turned. "Oh, hey there Shoto. I'm not going to attack you." "This is my ride." Denki thought for a second before smiling. "Or it could be our ride."

Jason and Chris reached the other side of the canyon. Before they could start running, they heard a loud mechanical whirring. They turned their heads. The gondola was rapidly approaching the other side. Denki was pumping his own electricity into the machine to make it go beyond it's safety limit. It crashed into the exit area. Shoto and Denki both coughed as they exited the now busted gondola. "I can't believe that worked." Denki smiled. "Ever hear about the idea so stupid that it might work?" Jason and Chris looked at each other for a minute before continuing the race ahead. Due to their pause, Iida was now right behind them.

Jason turned himself so he was running backwards. He fired off a powerful flick right at Chris's gut. It hit, but Chris fired off a flick of his own before going down. Jason rolled to a stop. Iida zipped past them. Both men fired flicks at his legs, causing their class representative to fall to the ground. Jason and Chris sped forward. The finish line was only a few dozen meters away. Chris tried to leg sweep Jason, but Jason jumped over it. Chris then fired a flick at Jason's back, successfully throwing his friend off balance. Chris sprinted ahead. "Oh no you don't!" Jason tackled Chris. The two rivals began fighting each other as they rolled. When they stopped rolling, Chris kicked Jason off of him. They stood up and grabbed each other's collars. Jason raised his fist, which was consumed in red energy. "I'll rip you limb from-" "Jason and Chris have tied for first!" Pres Mic's announcement interrupted their fight, and they were now aware of the thousands of people packed in the stadium. They let go of each other. "Damn. I was hoping to win." Chris smirked. "I guess we both win." They shook each other's hands before waiting for the others.

Iida ran in, winning third place. Shoto ran through a few minutes later with Denki right behind her. Mina was in sixth place. Sero, their classmate who could shoot tape out of his elbows, had made really good time and made it to sixth place. Kirishima and his rival, Tetsu, were neck and neck as they tried sprinting ahead. However, both were completely taken by Itsuka, who made her hand grow in size and she slammed them both to the side. She ran in, winning eighth place. Pres Mic was going wild, fueling the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have our top eight!" The crowd went wild with Pres Mic. Kirishima slammed his fist into the ground. "Damn it!" Tetsu sighed. "Oh well. I'll get it next time." Mina came out and hugged her boyfriend. "You did really well for someone who isn't a great runner." Kirishima sighed and nodded. His girlfriend was always able to see the upside to things.

The eight contestants went and joined their classmates, returning a little late from their lunch break. This year, all of the quarter final contestants were in Class 2A. They all sat down quietly. They wanted to see what the match ups would be. Finally, the tournament bracket came up. "The quarter finals will be as follows; Shoto vs Sero, Denki vs Mina, Jason vs Iida, and Chris vs Itsuka." The class went silent. There were some interesting match ups. Shoto stood up, heading to the prep room. Sero stood up. "Hey Shoto. May the best student win." Shoto smiled. "I intend to." Several 'ooh's emanated from the class before they all laughed and wished Sero good luck. Jason smiled as they left before looking down at the arena. Chris nudged his friend. "It's time." Jason nodded. The true challenge of the Sports Festival had begun.