Chapter 36 Sports Festival 1

The sun blazed down on everyone, casting a golden glow over the massive arena. Tens of thousands of spectators roared with anticipation, the stands packed shoulder to shoulder. Flags waved, vendors called out, camera drones hovered around like birds. The U.A. sports festival was about to begin, with everyone watching.

Behind the entrance tunnel, Class 1-A stood shoulder to shoulder in their uniforms, waiting for their queue to enter.

Dante stood near the back of the group, arms crossed, face unreadable, but his eyes were sharp.

This was his time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience!" Boomed Present Mic's voice over the speakers. "The moment we've all been waiting for is finally here!"

The stadium shook with the roars of the crowd.

"Let's welcome in the stars of our show, U.A. high school's first year students!"

The giant doors opened, flooding the tunnel with sunlight and the cheers from the crowd.

Dante stepped forward with the others. The moment his boots hit the arena floor, the crowd really started reacting.

"Whoa- I saw that guy on the news!"

"Is that the class from that villain attack?"

None of them flinched under the attention. If anything, they all just stood taller, letting the noise wash over them, soaking it in.

Little Dante's voice chimed in quietly.

"They're all watching. Let's give them a show they'll never forget."

Dante just smirked and walked forward.

They took their places on the fields lined up in rows. The wind stirred slightly, flicking dust across the platform as the other first year classes marched in behind them.

Dante had to cover his ears from all the cheering.

Standing atop a podium, the pro hero Midnight struck a pose, mic in hand. "Let's not waste any time! Representing the first years and giving our opening speech— Katsuki Bakugo!"

Dante chuckled under his breath as he watched Bakugo stomp up to the front, already radiating rage.

"This'll be good…"

Bakugo grabbed the microphone, stared at everyone below him, then said exactly what everyone had expected.

"I'm going to win. All of you extras are just stepping stones."

Gasps. Boos. Laughter. Cheers.

Dante just sighed.

"Here we go."

"Alright, everyone!" Midnight purred. "Let's get right into it… it's time to decide what our first event will be!"

She stepped to the side to reveal a huge roulette wheel, painted with vibrant colours and labelled with different challenges.

Midnight grabbed it with flair and spun the wheel.

The wheel spun rapidly, the crowd leaning forward in anticipation. The colours blurred into a whirlwind of chaos, clacking loudly as it slowed to a stop.

Dante's eyes narrowed as he watched, his fingers flexing unconsciously.

"A race would be ideal for a warmup…"

Click click click… one last click.

OBSTACLE RACE

The crowd once more erupted into cheers.

"And there you have it!" Midnight called, her whip cracking behind her for dramatic effect. "The first event of the U.A. sports festival will be… the Obstacle Race!"

Some students groaned, cheered and some muttered amongst themselves.

Dante raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh… okay? I guess today is my lucky day."

He glanced around, spotting Todoroki, Bakugo and Izuku. They would probably be his biggest obstacles.

Midnight raised her mic again. "All 11 classes of first years will participate. So that's about 150 students. But there's only room for 42 in the next round!"

The students eyes sharpened.

She smiled sweetly. "Anything applies, do whatever you want so long as you don't leave the race area or die."

Dante stretched his legs.

"Ready… Set… GO!"

A thunderous boom echoed out as the gates opened up. All of the first year students sprinted forward in a frenzy of elbows and shoves. It was chaos…

Dante didn't move though.

While the horde of students all charged into the narrow corridor ahead, an intentional bottleneck that was already packed full, Dante stood still. Arms crossed, watching.

He could hear people yelling, some even using their quirks. Someone got launched. Another person screamed. Typical. Dante thought as much, the first obstacle was the sheer volume of students trying to shove through a space that clearly wasn't made for so many people, otherwise, she wouldn't have mentioned how many students were here.

"Perfectly designed to waste time," he muttered. "And get people hurt."

He rolled his shoulders, exhaled softly and slowly walked forward at his own pace. A few people glanced back, confused. Dante didn't care.

He reached the hallway entrance, where the swarm was already jamming and grinding to a halt. The sounds of pushing, shouting and struggling at every corner. From the outside, it must've looked like ants fighting over crumbs.

Dante raised his eyebrows.

"Why would I crawl like the rest?"

He cracked his knuckles and stepped back, sludge exploded from his back and molded into shape.

"When I can fly above them all."

With another step back, he launched himself upward. Wings of semi-solid sludge exploded out from his back, slick, aerodynamic and jagged. They pulsed, flapped once and caught the wind.

He shot over the crowd like a missile.

Below, many heads whipped upward in confusion as a streak of dark red tore through the air.

Dante tilted his body, controlling his pitch, gliding over the crowd. Someone cursed. Someone else pointed.

Dante laughed under his breath, riding the wind, eyes locked ahead.

That's when he noticed Todoroki at the front.

Dante flew past him, then turned around to face him.

"I'll see you all at the finish line!"

With that, Dante turned back around and surged off into first place.

The roar of the crowd faded beneath the rush of wind in Dante's ears. He was free, above it all, his wings beating instinctively.

Then came the next challenge.

BOOM!

The ground ahead quaked, massive clouds of dust shooting upward at three colossal robots emerged. They towered over the course, metal limbs crushing the earth beneath.

Gasps erupted from the crowd. Students screamed. Some scrambled back. Others charged ahead… but Dante?

He grinned.

"They really went all out, huh?"

The first robots arm swung wildly at Dante. But he just adjusted his angle midair, circling around the robot. He didn't need to take it down. He just needed to get past.

But… he wasn't about to fly over the whole course, he wanted to have some fun.

He suddenly dived, he tucked his wings and dropped down, landing somewhere onto one of the bigger one's shoulders. The metal dented beneath his feet.

The robot turned, its glowing red eye locking onto him.

Dante raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You noticed me? Cute."

With a sharp twist, he vaulted off the robots shoulder, wings snapping back open as he used the momentum to slingshot around its arm, spinning through the air as the debris and metal shrapnel flew past him from a nearby explosion.

A chunk of ice shot upward, nearly hitting Dante mid flight. But he rolled in the air and gave a middle finger as he passed overhead.

"Watch yourself, snowflake."

Now above the next robot, Dante banked left and let himself drop low again, skimming the ground. He saw students struggling, some using teamwork, some getting wrecked. The chaos excited him.

"I won't waste too much time…"

With one more flap, he soared high again over the last robots head, its hand missing him by mere inches as it tried to swat him out of the air.

"Nice try."

As he cleared the final robot, the field opened ups dust still choked the air behind him, but ahead, open space. Another challenge loomed.

He glanced back again, seeing the others just starting to get through the robots.

But he was already gone.

His wings snapped wide, catching the air with a hard Thwip! That cracked like thunder. A sharp inhale filled his lungs, his pupils narrowed and his entire body prepared to fly like a missile.

"I've shown everyone my skills, now I'll go all out. I'll give them something to talk about."

And he did.

A sonic boom echoed behind him as Dante exploded forward, slicing through the air like a blade. His hair was flowing wildly and his eyes were locked on the path ahead, he noticed a huge canyon with rope bridges and metal debirs from past events.

He didn't really care though.

Others would waste time figuring out how to cross it. Theyd probably crawl, try to balance or get clever and jump.

Not Dante.

Because he could fly.

So he just flew right over it.

The gap was nothing. The danger was irrelevant. He didn't even glance down, he didn't need to. But the air was starting to burn his face.

He flew over the large canyon right as the first student reached the start. He was so far ahead.

His wings trembled, his control was wavering. He veered a little to the side, then he flapped harder, pushing faster. Stronger. Every ounce of him burned with the will to win.

The crowd in the stadium could barely track him now. Cameras were struggling to keep up with him. Some students were still trying to get past the robots and had no idea how far ahead he was.

"Not gonna stop."

He saw the next obstacle, he didn't even hesitate.

He just flew right in… and crash landed hard.

His body slammed straight into the rocky dirt with a nasty thud, sending him skidding through the gravel before stopping in a heap. He groaned, rolling over and coughing out dirt.

"Well shit. Maybe I went a bit too far."

He tried, he really tried to summon his wings again, but they weren't working, they were summoning yeah, but they wouldn't lift him.

"Now I gotta wait a whole hour before I can do that again…"

He pushed himself up, cracked his neck and looked at the next challenge.

Mines.

He saw hundreds of blatantly obvious mines.

Screams and shouts still echoed in the distance behind him as the others were still trying to get past the canyon.

But Dante thought for a second before smiling.

Sludge crept up his arms, around his chest and legs, thickening like armour, coating his body until he looked like a tank molded from dark red tar.

This made his movements heavier, but also made him way more durable.

"I'll just walk."

And he did.

Step. Boom!

A mine went off, but he didn't budge.

Step. Boom!

Smoke blew around him, but he kept walking.

Each mine that exploded at his feet just sent dirt flying and flared against his armour, but Dante didn't slow down for a second.

He could endure it.

Students and spectators alike watched in disbelief as this kid marched through a live minefield like it was nothing. His armour would crack, then it would reform and harden again.

By the time he stepped out the other side, he was smouldering, his body was lined with glowing sludge fissures, but his cocky grin never wavered.

He shed his armour and started running, finally reaching the finish line.