Lost Hero

Act 13: A Heroic Mockery

Clutching his shoulder Izuku wobbled forwards into the stadium, his left arm dangling precariously at his side.

"The one who made it back to the stadium first is IZUKU MIDORIYA!"

Standing by his lonesome Izuku was assailed by the excitement of his victory. Cheers and yells of encouragement and acceptance.

I did it.
One down two to go.

Breathing heavily, Izuku wiped the tears from the dark bags under his eyes. Turning around Izuku watched as more of his classmates funneled in from the obstacle course, Bakugo and Todoroki having made it slightly after himself.

"Midoriya-san that was so manly!"

"Thanks, Kirishima..." grunted Izuku in bated breath, another wave of pain seeping out from his shoulder

"The top 42 from this qualifying round will move one!! Now on to the second event!! I already know what it is, of course... next up is a Calvary Battle!" announced Midnight pointing towards a screen with the name of the event.

"Participants will, on their own, form teams of two to four members each and get into a horse-and-rider formation! The rules are fundamentally the same as those of an ordinary Calvary Battle – snag your opponents' while guarding your own – but with one exception. Each of you has been assigned a point value based on your ranking in the last event!"

I think I can see where this is going...

"We'll earn points like in the entrance exam? Sounds simple." Concluded a particularly bulky student that Izuku had come to know as Sato.

"So the point value of each team depends on its members!"

"I'm about to explain it, so just shut up already!!" yelled Midnight with a crack of her whip, visibly irritated with Sato and Kirishima's interruption.

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Meanwhile sitting in a private viewing room All Might continued to watch the event. A disheveled hand on his chin he continued to contemplate the constant subject of his surprise.

'Izuku Midoriya'

The quirkless boy he told that he couldn't become a hero had not only managed to enter U.A., but had managed to win first place during the obstacle course. Despite every odd, Midoriya had seemed to overcome each and every obstacle with practice and preparation. All Might had many a time seen Midoriya practicing with Aizawa late into the afternoon, always working his hardest, always working to improve. The boy was strangely combat smart and still, despite All Mights words, embodied heroics.

But there were some things about the boy that troubled All Might.

Shifting on his chair All Might leant backwards letting his thin and bony arms fall to his side.

During that first fight against Bakugo and Iida, Midoriya had demonstrated an unnerving cruelty that could not simply be ignored. The way the greenete had dropped the explosion wielding boy so ungracefully to the ground, the way he lingered on his victory, his almost snake like ensnarement of Iida, his immense and sudden skill in blade work, it all suggested something so efficient and brutal.

Being perfectly honest with himself, at first, he believed that the green haired student was a close relative of the boy he had left on that roof. Having forgotten the boy's face and having never heard his name, it didn't even cross his mind that it could have ever possibly been the same boy. That was until the meeting Nezu called to discuss the unique student. Whatever had happened Midoriya had greatly changed in those ten months. Was his discouragement what changed the boy?