Izuku stood up on stage. He was the student representative, so he had to give a speech. He levelled his gaze at Midnight, who suddenly realized the problem.
"A-ah.. I can translate for you.." she said meekly. Nezu was cackling somewhere, she could feel it.
Midnight listened to his clicking, and spoke into the microphone for him.
"I just want to ask everyone to do their best. All those people who've been told that have useless, or villainous quirks, do your best to prove that the quirk doesn't make the hero, the person makes the hero. So just do your best, and push as far as you can, Plus Ultra!" She said.
Izuku walked back down to his class, high fouring Ochako.
"The first event is going to be... An obstacle course!! The race leads out and around the stadium, then back in through the tunnel to finish!" Midnight announced.
Izuku looked at the tunnel everyone was crowding around warily. That was the first obstacle.
"Do we have to go through the tunnel?" Izuku asked Midnight.
The heroine grinned.
"You have to follow the route of the course, but there is no height limit." She said quietly.
Izuku tapped Ochako on the shoulder.
"Combo move 2." He clicked.
The brunette caught on quickly, a similar grin spreading across her face.
"Start!!" Midnight called.
Ochako touched Izuku and herself, making them float. Izuku grabbed Ochako with his left arm, and launched his right arm's tether at the stand's roof.
The duo flew up and over the stadium wall, bypassing the tunnel and reaching the track.
"Mask and Ochako Uraraka completely bypass the tunnel!! They've created a combination move to fly over the competition!!!" Present Mic said.
Izuku fired his tether at the dirt in the distance, pulling the duo along the race track.
Aizawa sighed at his co worker's negligence.
"Do you want to explain why Mask's name is being kept secret to the audience?" He said.
Present Mic chuckled nervously.
"Oh, right, thanks Shouta. Mask's real name is a secret, even from some of the staff! His previous guardians weren't all that great, so he's keeping himself hidden from them! Everyone knows the kid as mask except his closest buds and his Dadzawa!" Present Mic said.
Aizawa groaned over the intercom. Izuku huffed to himself in amusement.
A wall of Zero pointers rose out of the ground and swatted at the floating teenagers.
"They've reached the first obstacle, the Robo Inferno!!!" Present Mic yelled.
Izuku just fired his tether at a zero pointer and used it to propel the duo forwards, towards the second obstacle in the distance.
"Shoto Todoroki has reached the first obstacle!! How will our third place contestant deal with the robots from the entrance exams??"
The air became significantly colder. Izuku looked back for a moment. The zero pointers had been frozen solid in one move from Todoroki.
Izuku huffed, swinging over the second obstacle, which Present Mic called the Fall. It was just a really big pit with some pillars and ropes spanning it, perfect for Izuku's grappling hook.
Izuku touched the ground for a moment, his specially made shoes conducting his quirk into the dirt. The pillars in the Fall behind them crumbled into nothing. The ropes spanning the chasm snapped and fell into the pit after the pillars. The weightless duo continued forwards.
"And in an impossibly effective move, team Maskraka halts every other contestant's progress!" Present Mic yelled.
Izuku grinned beneath his mask as they reached the final obstacle.
"Watch out folks, it's the third obstacle! They might want to watch their step in the MINEFIELD!!" The loud hero screamed.
Izuku pulled the duo down to the ground, clicking a quick release to Ochako. She put her fingers together and returned their gravity.
"What's this? Mask and Uraraka are on the ground?" Present Mic asked.
Izuku put his left hand onto the dirt, and he Altered.
_________
"Mask and Ochako Uraraka take first and second place respectively in the obstacle course!!! What an impressive finale, creating a bridge to cross the minefield!! Meanwhile, Shoto Todoroki is just reaching the final obstacle!!" Present Mic screeched as the duo cross the finish line.
Izuku fistbumped his friend, grinning behind his mask. Ochako was smiling too, slightly queasy from using her quirk for so long, but not as badly as it could be.
It took another five minutes for Todoroki to take third place. Bakugo wasn't far behind, foaming at the mouth as he glared at Izuku.
Izumi took fifth place, quickly distracting Bakugo from the source of his anger. She flashed her brother a quick thumbs up, a determined smirk on her face.
Todoroki nodded to Izuku before turning his attention to the stands.
Slowly but surely, more and more students made their way across the finish line. Once everyone finally made it to the end, Midnight took her place back up on the podium.
"Alright! Congratulations to the top 42 of you that finished, you will be moving on to the next round! Don't worry though, the rest of you will have the opportunity to participate in other activities later!" She began.
The 42 contestants gathered around the podium, while the rest stayed back.
Midnight spun the wheel behind her once again, explaining the next event once it stopped.
"The next event will be a cavalry battle! In teams of 3 or 4, you will be given a headband with your team's total point value written on it! The objective of this game is to steal as many headbands as you can! Even if you lose your team's headband, you can still pass by stealing others! You cannot break formation, and the rider cannot touch the ground! Other than that, you can go wild!" The hero said.
A scoreboard appeared on the screen behind Midnight.
"Now, the point value of each contestant is determined by your placement in the first event! 42nd place is worth 5 points, 41st is worth 10 and so on. The only exception to this system is first place! Mask's point value is worth... Ten Million points!"
"Dagnabbit."
Everyone's gazes were immediately drawn to the masked teen. Izuku's eyes just curved in a smile.
"Alright, I'll play your game. Bring it on."