Chapter 10 - The Gauntlet

How did Izuku keep getting into these messes?

All his life Izuku tried his best to stay out of trouble. Usually, however, trouble would find him, and it was almost always in the form of Kacchan. The constant bullying from his childhood playmate and his cronies only encouraged others to look down on him, not only by his other classmates, but sometimes even his teachers. Izuku was treated like he was broken. A freak in a world where freaks were the norm.

As he stared down the terrifying Gauntlet before him, he realized that no matter how many times he tried not to stand out, it was inevitably his destiny to do so. And if that was his destiny, then he was going to stand out above the rest of them.

He was going to surpass them all.

"The time starts now," Said Aizawa, starting the timer on his smartphone. "Get to it."

Izuku wasted no time. He sprinted at full speed down the path of robots. Immediately, they all locked onto his location and began their attack.

"He's done for!" Shouted the pink skinned girl.

"I don't approve of this kind of hazing," Said Iida through gritted teeth. "But I suppose we have no choice." Uraraka could hardly bare to look, but didn't dare turn away.

Two zero-pointer robots advanced on Izuku. They were the exact same make as their giant counterpart from the entrance exam, but roughly the same size as the other robots. In unison, they swung their robotic arms at him with great speed. But Izuku saw it coming, deftly sliding under the attack, and effortlessly springing to his feet, continuing his sprint. As he did, a scorpion robot speedily crawled towards his position and thrust its massive tail at him. Izuku leaped into the air above it, landing atop the end of the tail, and ran down the other end, without batting an eye.

More robots were waiting for him. They began to fire projectiles at him: rubber bullets and dummy rockets. The explosions from the guns and rockets as they fired echoed loudly throughout the building. "That's insane!" Shouted the red-haired boy. "Sir, you have to stop this!" Yelled the tall girl with the large ponytail. Aizawa ignored them, focusing on Izuku.

Izuku had anticipated the weapons. Even though they didn't use them in the exam, they didn't look like they were for show either. He flipped into the air and landed into a series of handsprings, the rubber bullets passing narrowly behind him as he stayed one step ahead of the robots' guns. The rockets were trickier, but Izuku had an ace up his sleeve.

He ripped off the shirt of his tracksuit, revealing his hidden utility belt wrapped around his waist. Aizawa blinked in surprise. So, He thought.You're evening the playing field. Smart.

Izuku pulled an explosive batarang from the belt, throwing it into the launcher of the rocket robot. Beeping for a few seconds, it exploded, destroying the launcher and knocking the wheeled robot next to it off it's balance. As it fell to the floor, its gun fired into another robot in its path, the rubber bullets pounding unrelentingly into its optical eye until it cracked and burst, disabling it.

"Holy crap," Said the boy with electric blonde hair. "He's beating them."

The group cheered as Izuku made his way past the final robots and leaped onto the conveyor belts in front of him. They were going at intense speeds, and Izuku struggled to keep up. Aizawa pressed a button on his smartphone, and giant pendulums began to swing towards him.

Izuku flipped left and right, successfully avoiding the pendulums and maintaining his speed on conveyor belts. Reaching the end of the conveyor belt, the last pendulum swung towards him. After ducking to avoid it, he leaped upward and pressed his feet into it as it swung back, using the momentum to launch him forward to the next part of the course.

Good kid, Thought Aizawa. Use your surroundings to your advantage. He pressed another button on his smartphone, and the floor in front of Izuku became electrified, four small pegs rising from the floor. Twisting in midair, Izuku landed gracefully on one of the pegs. There was only room on the peg for one foot, so to maintain his balance, he angled his other leg and arms into a crane-like stance. After pausing a moment, he hopped from one peg to the next, clearing the electrified field.

The class roared with applause and cheers behind him. "Who is this guy?" One of the students shouted. Uraraka and Iida had lost their apprehension and were happily cheering along with them. "Keep going, Deku!" Shouted Uraraka. "You can do it!"

Aizawa wasn't done. Without reacting, he pressed another button on his smartphone as Izuku continued through the gauntlet. The floor beneath Izuku began to open in the middle, and he was running out of space to run. At the same time, the clear walls beside him began to close in at a rapid pace. Thinking quickly, Izuku reached into one of the pouches on his belt and pulled out a small carbon-fiber rod. Izuku held it horizontally, leaping upwards from the disappearing floor, and pressed the red button on the side of the rod. It extended outwards at each end at blinding speed, ramming into the walls as they closed, stopping their progress to within barely five feet of each other. The rod suspended from the walls allowed Izuku an anchor as the floor disappeared. In a true gymnast style, he swung over the bar, launching himself forward, leaping from wall to wall, and continued on.

Finally, Izuku found himself on solid ground, and continued his sprint through the course. He came across the final obstacle: a large ring of fire, roaring with blue and red flames, at the end of a long, narrow beam. Izuku didn't stop. He picked up speed as he ran towards the ring. As he got closer, the fire grew larger, wilder, but Izuku didn't yield. With all his might, he leaped towards the ring, his arms and legs extended as he flew into a twirling, spear-like dive. He was inches from the ring. He could feel the heat of the flames on his bare chest. The fire roared and engulfed him as he flew through the ring.

When the fire dissipated, Izuku was gone.

The class yelled in terror. "Deku!" Shouted Uraraka, horrified. They started to scramble towards the gauntlet to see if their classmate had perished, but Aizawa stopped them. Without a word, he pressed another button on his smartphone, and a large platform behind the ring began to rise, supporting a tired, but otherwise unharmed Izuku, kneeling as he caught his breath.

The class was in an uproar.

They all ran and gathered around him, cheering and lifting him into the air. "What do you think, Mr. Aizawa?" Said Izuku as they reached him. "Do I deserve to be here now?"

A small smile broke across Aizawa's normally passive face. "This kid," he said to himself. "It seems Batman chose wisely."

Hiding behind a building, the large, muscular All Might watched the whole thing. He had heard that Aizawa was unbelievably strict when it came to his students, and didn't even hesitate to expel an entire class last year because he didn't think they had what it takes to make it as a hero. All Might had wondered if he was going to have the same attitude towards Midoriya, and a part of him hoped that he would. But as he watched Midoriya's performance, he couldn't help but quietly cheer along with them. "Midoriya," He said quietly. "When did you get so cool?"

Aizawa had the class gather around him. They were shocked when he told them that he had no real intention of sending anyone home. "It was simply a logical deception," he said, with a slight sadistic smile on his face. "To get you to take this seriously." He informed them to pick up a syllabus in the classroom and dismissed them all. As he walked back, All Might intercepted him.

"Aizawa!" He said.

"All Might," Said Aizawa, without stopping.

"Midoriya didn't actually get the lowest score, did he?" Said All Might. "I watched that whole thing. You just wanted an excuse to get him to run The Gauntlet, didn't you?"

Aizawa paused, but said nothing. "Its not like you to play favorites, is it?" Said All Might.

"I'm simply not a fan of the status quo," Said Aizawa, as he continued to walk away. "Midoriya has a rough journey ahead of him. If he is to be under the shadow of the Batman here at UA, he needs to be worthy of it." All Might laughed to himself. He really is a fanboy at heart, isn't he? All Might watched as Class 1-A gathered around Izuku, still cheering him on, introducing themselves, and asking him about his training. All Might sighed. Now he's making friends, He thought. Still, the boy will have it rough ahead. I don't know if he'll have what it takes to keep up with the rest of them.

But as he walked back towards the office, All Might couldn't shake the feeling in the back of his head that maybe, just maybe , he really had made a mistake back on that rooftop.