Chapter 33: The Fall
Thick, dark smoke billowed into the morning sky as the colossal Zero Pointers collapsed into heaps of scrap metal. From the heart of the dust cloud, the undeniable vanguard of the race broke through.
Shoto Todoroki led the charge, his right foot sweeping forward to create a flawless, frictionless path of ice over the dirt. Directly above him, Katsuki Bakugo tore through the air, the ferocious, crackling explosions from his palms acting as aggressive aerial boosters.
Trailing right behind them was a terrifying force of nature. Sakazuki did not run; he glided. The soles of his bare feet continuously secreted a thick, glowing layer of molten rock, turning the solid earth into a slick, burning runway. He advanced with the heavy, unstoppable momentum of a military tank, leaving a trail of scorched, bubbling earth that forced the rest of the student body to scatter and find alternate routes.
The roaring cheers of the stadium grew louder as the top three approached the second major obstacle of the course: The Fall.
The ground abruptly gave way to a massive, dizzying canyon. Deep below, a dark abyss waited to swallow anyone who lost their footing. The only way across was a network of towering stone pillars, connected loosely by thick, tightly woven tightropes.
Todoroki reached the edge first. Without a single moment of hesitation, he stepped onto the ropes. Using his right side, he instantly froze the coarse fibers, creating a smooth rail of solid ice. Balancing perfectly, he slid across the perilous gap with stunning speed.
Bakugo arrived a second later. He scoffed loudly at the ropes and the pillars. Flashing a wild, feral grin, he aimed his palms backward and ignited a continuous chain of violent blasts, physically flying over the entire canyon in a spectacular display of raw power and aerial dominance.
Sakazuki skidded to a halt at the edge of the cliff.
Up in the commentator's booth, Present Mic leaned eagerly into his microphone. "THE LEADERS HAVE REACHED THE FALL! BUT WAIT, LOOK AT SAKAZUKI! HE HAS A MASSIVE, HEAVY BUILD! HE CAN'T FLY LIKE BAKUGO, AND IF HE TRIES TO USE HIS QUIRK TO CROSS THOSE ROPES, HE WILL MELT THEM INSTANTLY AND PLUMMET INTO THE ABYSS! HOW WILL THE MAGMA DREADNOUGHT OVERCOME THIS?!"
Sakazuki's dark eyes scanned the stone pillars. The loud announcer was correct; his quirk was entirely incompatible with the fragile ropes.
He took two deliberate steps back from the edge. He focused a dense, highly volatile pool of magma directly beneath his feet. Then, with a sudden, explosive release of thermal pressure—like a geyser violently erupting from the earth—he launched his massive frame high into the air.
He soared in a wide arc over the abyss, aiming for the flat top of the nearest stone pillar.
As gravity pulled his heavy body down, Sakazuki extended his arms and legs. His hands and feet glowed with a blinding, white-hot intensity. He slammed into the top of the pillar with a heavy thud. To prevent his momentum from throwing him over the edge, he dug his superheated fingers and toes directly into the solid rock. The intense heat instantly melted the stone, creating perfect, molten handholds that anchored him securely to the pillar.
He pushed off immediately, initiating another thermal jump. With every heavy, violent landing, his intense heat fractured and melted the edges of the stone pillars. He bounded across the canyon like a relentless force of nature, completely destroying the structural integrity of the path behind him.
Moments later, Denki Kaminari sprinted up to the edge of the canyon, panting heavily. He looked at the path Sakazuki had just taken, hoping to use the same pillars.
Instead, he found the stone tops crumbling, glowing with a dangerous red heat, and completely unstable.
"Come on, man!" Kaminari complained loudly, throwing his arms up in sheer frustration. "All these rocks are completely ruined! Don't you ever think about the people running behind you?!" Muttering under his breath, the electric quirk user was forced to desperately detour toward a different set of ropes.
Meanwhile, the vanguard had already reached the final, most treacherous stage of the race: The Minefield.
A vast, flat expanse of dirt stretched out before them, heavily seeded with buried explosives. The hidden traps were not designed to inflict lethal damage or severe burns, but rather to trigger a massive kinetic blast upon impact, completely destroying a runner's balance and launching them into the air.
The front of the pack had instantly devolved into a fierce, close-quarters brawl.
Todoroki and Bakugo were no longer just racing; they were actively fighting to secure the absolute lead. Bakugo lunged forward, his palm crackling with sparks as he aimed a point-blank explosion directly at Todoroki's face. Todoroki reacted with lightning speed, shifting his stance and swinging his right arm, instantly encasing Bakugo's wrist in a thick, heavy block of jagged ice to redirect the blast.
"Get out of my way, you half-and-half bastard!" Bakugo roared, using his free hand to detonate the ground near Todoroki's feet.
Exactly five steps behind their chaotic skirmish, Sakazuki moved with intense, calculated caution.
He was sweating, the physical toll of the continuous quirk usage and the grueling sprint finally showing on his face. He had deactivated the magma beneath his feet. He could not blindly skate through this field; the mines were designed to violently disrupt equilibrium. One wrong step, and the kinetic shockwave would throw his heavy frame off balance, costing him precious seconds. His dark eyes darted across the dirt, reading the subtle shifts in the soil to avoid the buried pink triggers, closing the gap between himself and the warring duo with slow, inevitable precision.
Far above the frantic struggle, resting casually in the high steel rafters of the stadium roof, Hawks let out a long, exaggerated yawn.
The Winged Hero lazily scratched the back of his neck, his sharp golden eyes watching the students carefully navigate the minefield. He was entirely unbothered by the roaring crowd or the flashy explosions.
U.A., huh... Hawks thought to himself, a dry, slightly arrogant smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. If I had participated in this race when I was their age, I would have finished the whole course in ten seconds flat. And I would have been carrying ten other students on my wings so they could finish, too.
He rested his chin in his gloved hand, watching Todoroki and Bakugo exchange blows while the magma user stalked them from the rear.
But I have to admit, Hawks mused silently, a glint of genuine professional interest finally cutting through his boredom, they do have some good quirks down there. It would be really nice if they were polished a bit more.