Chapter 34. Finish Line
Getting to the next challenge was tightropes. ‘Man… I hate heights.’ I looked behind me to see globs of students running toward my direction. ‘Better get going now.’ I got to the rope and grabbed on with both my hands, hanging below it. ‘This is much faster than crawling with my whole body, but much more scary.’ I chuckled to try to placate my unease while moving forward.
While Todoroki, and Bakugo were battling at the halfway mark, I was still climbing to about a quarter of this course. I then heard a scream behind me. “BABIES!!” ‘I know who that voice belongs to.’ Taking a quick look back I see the support girl running off of the cliff, then soon after flying above the one she hooked onto. “Cool…” ‘Man I wish I had my costume, I feel so naked, and unprepared without it.’
Getting to the minefield in 3rd wasn’t bad, but I was scared to get blown up. I kept walking carefully while thinking. ‘Can I use my second gear without triggering the mines with the electricity? My shoes are made of rubber, and I may be able to run faster than the mines trigger.’ Still thinking of what to do I didn't notice I was halfway through. I was startled by a ‘BOOM!!!’ that made the cannon sound like it was a pop gun. I felt like the sun was blocked for a second only to realize it was a shadow.
“Oh boy…” I stopped and stared, as did everyone else. Hearing the announcement that Midoriya took the lead I couldn’t wait any longer. ‘I can't hesitate, I need enough points for me to get teammates that I need.’ “2nd Gear ‘Overdrive’!!” ‘I can’t blow all my battery here. I'm at about 75%. Most I can lose is 25% leaving 50% for the next game.’ I rushed past all the mines. Stepping on them yet going too fast they blew up behind me, leaving explosions in my wake. Catching up to the trio as soon as Midoriya blew up more mines to leap further ahead, I managed to get past both Bakugo, and Todoroki.
Exiting the minefield, I turned off my 2nd gear to run normally. Getting to the finish line, I saw a smiling Midoriya looking at the cheering audience. Looking at the board to see me taking 2nd place in the race. Todoroki got 3rd, and Bakugo got 4th; he did not look too pleased about that. I ran up behind Midoriya with a big smile and slapped him on the back. Being shaken out of his stupor he looked back at me with a goofy grin, perhaps matching my own. “Nice work Deku!” He started tearing up and choked out a single word. “Yea…”