Eldritch, Green, and Freckled

Chapter 4 - Obstacle Race

WARNINGS: None
There will be multiple chapters for the Sports Festival, HOWEVER they might be short and for sure won't be as detailed as most chapters because, I'm sure you guys know how the canon events happened and it's not going to differ too far from canon, save for how Izuku gets through the events and his placing. There might be a little bit from between events, and for sure some when it's over, but actual events will be focusing mostly on Izuku and vague.

In the class 1-H prep room, the area was swarmed with various equipment, bots, and papers for the betting pool going on. Izuku and Mei were tucked into a corner, the former seemingly in his normal uniform (plus a bit of headgear and a pair of thin gloves) due to his more sleek and hidden style, while the latter was obviously covered in machinery. Both of them were discussing their goals; Mei wanted to get noticed to have a better chance of getting good opportunities once she was able to work with real hero companies, while Izuku just wanted to prove himself and surprise everyone. He didn't care about winning, no, and he knew he'd likely come head to head with Hitochan or Kacchan (while he stood a chance against his boyfriend considering he was good at keeping his mouth shut, and Hitoshi hadn't built much muscle mass yet, he could never beat his childhood friend in an all out match) so he wasn't betting on it, but he wanted to show the audience, as well as other students, that 1) it wasn't just a competition between hero students and 2) quirks aren't everything.

He didn't pay much attention for the first part, knowing Katsuki's speech (and helping him write it, knowing that his influence would help the blond get away with "kick ass, fuckers, don't be extras" because no one would double check it since he technically had enough status to approve it. All of  the staff knew status didn't mean he wouldn't take advantage of it, but frankly no one cared enough to override his decision) and focusing just enough to hear what the first event would be.

He already had an advantage, and none of the others would figure it out until it was too late.

As they were let go, Izuku made sure to stay near enough to the front to be in the tunnel, while also staying close to the wall. As soon as the foot traffic caused a stop, he turned on his gloves and began to climb.

The gloves had taken weeks to get to the point they were at, and he couldn't get the technology to work in any larger or flatter surfaces like shoe soles, but he had plenty of upper body strength from years of travelling via vent systems so the prototypes did the job. He tested the sticking (from little hair like appendages that were hardly noticeable, inspired by insects) against the wall, making sure it held while also coming off easily enough when he positioned his hand just so, and when it did he scaled the surface to the ceiling. The mechanics that held his hand in the gloves while he was dangling was the most finicky, but worst case scenario he fell on a few hero course students who could surely bench him. It held though, as he swung similar to how a child would on monkey bars until he hit the lip of the tunnel, just behind Todoroki Shouto, as he let go and used his momentum to roll and run as the bots were freed from the ice. Kacchan ran ahead, as did a few others, but he didn't know how long the course was and he wasn't the best runner so he stayed at his speed.

Upon reaching a chasm where beams were strung across, he used the eyepiece of his headgear to check the depth. It read a few kilometers, must've been Cementoss, and while there was cushioning at the bottom it would leave you done with the competition. He ran a few calculations in the attached calculator and made some notes, weighing his options and coming to a conclusion.

The headgear was based off a similar device that Power Loader had made him not long after he was taken into UA custody. He'd had a few tips, but that was allowed and since he did all the work himself (it had taken years, but the paperwork to register a support item never said it had to be done during the school year) he could bring the multiuse and reliable device.

In order to hold his weight, the gloves were lined with a thin, lightweight metal, and the outside was coated in a chemical that kept it from corroding, tearing, breaking, or burning for up to extreme conditions (another thing that was years in the making), so he decided to use them for this as well. He turned the gloves off (the sticking was really the only piece of technology, so without it was still fully functional) and went to a beam with a downward slope, holding on tight and praying that the limp technology was slippery enough for him to use it as a zipline. Thankfully, it was and he caught himself with his legs, swinging back up onto the ground and taking off toward the last obstacle.

This will be fun, he thought with a grin as he reached a minefield. He was extremely flexible, agile, and good at calculations, so he threw a rock at one of the visible patches of upturned dirt so he could see how big the explosions were. Deciding it worth the risk, he turned his eyepiece so that it could clearly map each spot of upturned dirt that held a mine, and he took off.

Cartwheels, leaps, and flips, anything that came to mind so he could move at the right angle and stay fluid. The students striving for first were quite a ways ahead, and everyone else was either quite a ways behind or far enough to the side that he wasn't worried about sabotage, accidental or purposeful.

However, fatigue took over as he was clearing the last couple and he landed at the wrong angle. He took off again, fast enough that the mine didn't even impact his movement, but the shrapnel grazed his ankle quick and deep enough that it hurt like a motherfucker. He moved through it easily, adrenaline was still coursing through him, but he knew it would be a pain in the ass to clean later.

He passed the finish line in eighth place, immediately sitting and nursing his wound slightly, grinning at his friend in front of him who was guzzling water, waiting for the rest of the contestants to pass so he could go patch up.