02x03 The Obstacle Course
"— MY HOLY PASSION FRUIT! YOU SAW THAT MURDOCK (of course not) THE KID IS THINKING HE IS DIN VIESEL IN "RAPID AND RAGING!!! I AM SURE THAT THEY WILL DO A HOT WHEELS TRACK WITH THIS !!! " Deadpool talks animatedly as he watches Robbie's maneuvers
"— Both are extremely powerful, it is not for nothing that they are the recommended two of 1-A "Murdock says upon hearing the great commotion that was the action of his two students
Peter could feel Aunt May's concern, even though he was so far away, as he faced that army of robots. She had heard about them after the practical test, but since everything Peter had done was trying to stop the zero pointer, he didn't really know how difficult it was to face them. And the worst thing was seeing how easily Seol had destroyed one of the robots, and how Robbie was so skilled and controlled his powers so well, but that in the end they caused quite a stir;
Having pulled the robot's hand down, the force exerted were sufficient to make the huge machine fall towards the ground and towards the students, Peter wasn't able to recognize them, but two students were crushed by the enormous robotic hand, and for a few seconds they were all silent, waiting for the worst, until relief comes;
— AAAAARGH! – a greenish figure leaves the middle of the hand and is recognized as Amadeus by his colleagues, showing his muscles when he had the top of his uniform torn by the transformation – I'm okay! – he says waving to his colleagues
— Me too! – and beside Amadeus another boy appears, also freeing himself from the middle of the machine and being strangely similar to the child Hulk; he was blond, with short disorganized hair but in a "sexy" way, he also had several piercings in his ears, but the rest was not very easy to be identified due to the activation of his Quirk; he had also had the top of his uniform torn by muscle growth, and he was also green, but in a different shade from the boy from 1A. The only difference was his arms, which had shoulders covered with species of plaques, also green, like a rhinoceros or a dinosaur and claws on the fingers.
"Theodore' Teddy 'Altman. Quirk; Shape-Shift. He manages to alter his body and his functions in different calibers, but he is usually content to become a green monster with great strength and resistance "
— Hey, are you okay? – the new "hulk" asks the other boy who was crying about not being so unique or something
— It's not time to whine, you moron! - Flash speaks angrily while using Amadeus to jump, jumping on him and jumping towards the robot's arm, while using his Quirk to create arms of black goo and climb the big robot; he would love to destroy it, but he needed to be quick.
Others with more mobile Quirks soon follow, including Sam, who again uses his powers to fly over the robot, Tyrone, who teleports in jumps towards the top of the robot and Groot who uses a similar strategy to Eugene.
Others were not so lucky to have good Quirks for mobility, or had no training / ability yet, which was the case for most of the 1A and other courses, especially the 1B, since they were the ones who escaped the ice more easily than the other classes. Kei was one who regretted choosing Fireclaw over Scragg
— We are adversaries, but that does not mean that we cannot form an alliance to overcome this obstacle - says one of the students at 1B, a young man with red hair, light skin and blue eyes speaks when invoking what appeared to be a transparent holographic shield identical to that of the Captain America
— I can't even accelerate enough to scale vertical surfaces, so for sure! - Pietro says looking quickly at his colleagues, who nod their heads (since Flash was not among them to shout something like "damn extras" or something among those lines) and again looking at the redhead, agreeing, and both classes go on the attack
"— Wow, what do we have here? Orcs and Humans in WoW? Narnians united in Prince Caspian? Hobbs and Shaw? Come on Murdock, help me with the references! " Deadpool announces to see the union formed between, mainly, the two classes of the heroes' course.
"—It is good to know that some have a certain strategic thinking" Comments the lawyer "in real life heroes need to come together to face a threat, and this is a great example"
Peter then approaches one of the robots, identical to the one he almost faced in the practical exam, but now he wouldn't have Captain Bucket to stop him. The robot then quickly approaches and tries to hit Peter with one of his arms, but the boy is faster, nimbly deflecting to the left and using a movement like the one he had used against Flash in the double battles, grabbing its other arm and throwing him over his shoulder, making it hit the floor and shutting down its systems.
— Nice... – Peter says to himself, until he realizes that a small metal plate, the size of a sulfite sheet stuck in his hand as he ran, it probably belonged to the robot and had been stuck in his arrows - get out, get out! - he tries to shake his hand, but he knew he needed to concentrate for it to really fall, but he decides to leave it there, it didn't weigh so much and could be useful in the future.
Other students from 1A also did the job of cleaning the robots; Wanda launched a robot towards another or a group, to achieve greater energy efficiency, while her brother ran destroying robots by the force caused by such acceleration. Danny had his fists glowing because of his Quirk, while doing huge damage, literally going through the machines with his kung fu blows and Gwen helping him, going through the machines with her Quirk and confusing them for her partner to destroy them. Another great pair were Kei and Fireclaw, the boy was not kidding when he said the monster was his MVP, the creature jumped and destroyed machines with impressive strength and agility for its size, not to mention the blazing claws that were the cherry on cake.
"—Holy bananas, I'm the only one feeling it or tomorrow, class 1A will have a back pain from carrying this alliance so much !? " the audience hears, once again, the voice in the advertiser Deadpool while everyone vibrated with the images of destruction and struggles that were shown on the big screens
"— These children are different ..." begins Matthew, letting his teacher side, slip a little, but with anyone other than the other teachers, realizing "they faced villains, they saw with their own eyes what the professionals face, they matured very little time, because they needed it, a few days ago it was fighting or dying and they used that opportunity to acquire a vision and a self-analysis of their own powers, which they could explore in the two weeks of training ... "
"—You look cute in those speeches" comments Deadpool with the microphone off
"— Shut up and go back to the race, "says Matthew, unmoved by his colleague.
And Deadpool really had to turn his attention to the students, because at that moment a certain girl was close to showing the world, and more specifically her mother, what she came to do.
— Decipher the laws of nature and neutralize the threats! - Nico yells, casting a spell with her staff pointed forward, which had just been summoned from her chest, so she had the collar of the gym t-shirt open. The circular tip of the artifact then illuminates with the small rays and suddenly larger rays leave it and start levitating debris from the path, only to then launch them at high speed in the direction of the remaining robots.
The rest of the 1, 2 and 3 point robots are immediately shot down with pieces of metal that fly at high speed and crash into their heads, making them explode and thus rendering the rest of the body useless. A larger debris in particular is rotated quickly before being launched at a much larger angle, and it heads towards the huge zero-point robot, and pierces its head and makes it fall just as Seol had done with the first; thus releasing the course completely so that the participants would proceed to the next obstacle
"— And it seems that our gothic Hermione just stunned the rest of the robots, thus freeing the way for the next obstacle "- Deadpool says now wearing a yellow and black scarf from his Hogwarts house" but I will say that maybe they wanted to continue with the robots ... "
What Deadpool was referring to was the nature of the next obstacle; a huge hole in the dirt floor, hundreds of meters long and deep, but inside it had columns of earth as high as the ground they stepped on, interconnected by stretched steel ropes. Beyond the obstacle, it was possible to see the participants who had passed the robot army before; Seol still held the lead, now sliding by freezing the steel ropes, probably to help herself, not making a ramp that could help others. Robbie and Flash followed, the Latino being quickly reached by the noisy brunette, who had a Quirk with greater mobility potential than the first boy. Farther back came Tyrone and Sam, both looking more tired; the first teleporting slowly from column to column while breathing hard, and the second being enveloped in pulsating energy only when he was going to jump from column to column, he too was panting.
— Uhuuuu, time to detonate! - Gwen says from the middle of the group that had arrived, quickly running to the edge while making her way among the people until she was on the edge of the precipice, which is when she opens a portal by reaching out and passes through it, reappearing moments later in the column nearest and repeating the procedure
"— As we have seen, this obstacle is much more focused on mobility than destructive power" explains the lawyer "giving the chance for other students to show their potential"
"— I liked this girl" Deadpool says referring to Gwen "She reminds me of me when I was little"
"—Hyperactive and inconsequential?"
"Yeah..." Deadpool takes time to notice the "HEY!"
Some other students are inspired by the hyperactive blonde and launch themselves towards the challenge that the obstacle proposed; Wanda pushed herself with her Quirk, jumping from column to column, Danny had energized his legs and was doing the same, jumping. Kei had also changed his strategy; now being carried by a small version of Scargg, which was basically the size of a medium-sized dog and a baby face, baby Scragg, but still a baby.
The girl in the support course, the only one in her class at this stage of the race, since most of her classmates had been stuck on the ice with no way out, came further back and waited for this opportunity to show her skills, or rather, her armor's skills.
Approaching the edge of the precipice, she presses a few buttons on a device on her right wrist and the backpack she carried fires four torpedoes into the air that, when they reach a certain height, turn around and return towards the girl, before reaching her, they then they modify, turning into what appeared to be two highly technological metal gauntlets and two boots, which connect to the girl's respective arms and legs, placing her in a kind of exoskeleton. She then takes the last steps before the huge hole and takes a deep breath, activating a visor in front of her eyes and pressing a red button.
And suddenly, the propellants in the iron boots activate and the girl is literally launched into the air at high speed, leaving a trail of white smoke from her boots, she succeeds, being in the correct angle of inclination, previously calculated by the same , landing on the other side with a single push. She lands and reels a little because of the impact, but smiles happily when she sees that she has achieved a good position, she then collects her equipment and runs again.
"—And just now we had the opportunity to witness a girl from the support class using her equipment." says Deadpool, seeming even too focused… "And these are really adult toys, not what you found in your mother's drawer..."
"— It might look like cheating"says Matthew after muttering his colleague's microphone "but the support class is free to use any equipment, as long as they created it themselves "
Peter was one of the people who unfortunately had lagged farther in the race after the first hurdle; for not knowing any martial art, he relied only on his superior strength and the judo strokes that Uncle Ben had taught him "to defeat the opponent with his own strength" as the eldest had taught him. That is why he had lagged further behind, having to face the robots more directly without high effectiveness. He was now running towards the hole that was the next obstacle; that seemed like the ideal situation for his agility and webs, but there was a catch: that was the first challenge of the day, using the webs would mean bruised arms and he would have two options, tie a gauze or let the Night Nurse heal him, but both alternatives would leave him fatigued for the next steps of the festival that would be as important as this first, if not more, so he went to use his second strategy.
Not stopping running until he reached the edge of the precipice, he uses all his strength on his lower limbs and jumps, remembering the jumping training he had done, techniques for jumping higher and farther. After landing, almost having slipped, but keeping firm, the brunette continues his jumps, going from column to column with some ease.
He then realizes that he was coming to an end, but it made him lose his concentration, being in the column closest to the end of the hole, he jumps very fast, without giving him time to compose himself and give greater impulsion, and that makes him slide out of the stone column, his feet escape and he falls, he tries to hold the column with his arrows but they slide...
"—MY GOD HE WILL FALL, I CAN'T SEE THIS!" says Deadpool hiding his eyes with his hands, but looking through his fingers
...until in a quick movement, he grips the piece of metal of the robot that still held the steel rope above him and holds it with his other hand, thus managing to regain his balance and keep himself hanging.
With his heart hammering in his chest, Peter quickly raises his feet until they are also attached to the steel rope, and then using his strength, he starts to slide down the rope, shrinking and stretching his body, until he reaches the other side, using his legs to pull himself out of the hole, getting up and running again, without forgetting to take the iron plate.
"—Uff! Ah, that's not good for my blood pressure says the relieved mercenary hero
"—So you should stop eating so much bullshit" replies Murdock.
"— NEVER! BUT NOW IT'S NOT THE TIME TO SPEAK ABOUT FOOD HABITS, BUT THE TIME FOR THE LAST OBSTACLE CREATED BY I ARRIVED, I PRESENT TO YOU..."
"—Please tell me that you weren't unable to convince the director to make a..."
"—...MINEFIELD!!!"
And without having lied, the last obstacle was exactly that, a huge clearing of land with several small elevations that indicated hidden landmines; it was an immense quantity, and it was possible to observe that the quantity was increasing in the course of space and that made everyone very cautious.
The trio at the front; Seol, Robbie and Flash were no longer speeding, but with the two boys in front, exchanging a few angry looks as they walked cautiously so as not to step on any bombs, the girl was right behind; she obviously could form an ice ramp to pass, but that would give her opponents an advantage and she knew she was too tired to continue the ramp until the finish, she would help others, but she would not be able to help herself.
"— In a minefield, all men are equal. Pool, Dead"
"— Not exactly" says Murdock "but it has a truth background, whoever was at the front has a disadvantage for having, probably more bombs in their way and those with mobility advantages have a disadvantage, for not being able to use their powers accurately, besides many being tired due to the first obstacles"
Even though he couldn't see, Professor Murdock had just defined exactly what was happening at the third obstacle. In addition to the three race leaders, others were also struggling; the teleporters Gwen and Tyrone, in addition to being already exhausted, could not afford to make mistakes and be blown up, so they walked without using their Quirks, as well as others with certain locomotor abilities such as Pietro and Wanda, they couldn't risk it, especially Pietro, who on account of the dirt floor, would slide more easily. Others who could escape this situation from above, flying, were also already at their energy limits, which included Sam and the support girl.
Analyzing the situation he was in and listening to Deadpool saying that that would be the last obstacle, Peter started to think, that this was his chance, not getting a good place there would mean that he would not advance to the next stages of the competition; until an idea comes to him, crazy, but it could work. He then uses the piece of metal stuck in his hand and starts digging.
His objective was simple, to collect landmines and use them as an individual propulsion, if he was correct, the bombs would explode if he pressed the top, so he dug underneath and removed them by holding the base. He repeated this procedure a few times, receiving strange looks from other passing colleagues, but he did not care, nor did he notice in the case, until he formed a pile of landmines, he then took a container with a white substance inside the back pocket; his web fluid, which would solidify in contact with the air, sticking his finger in the tube, he pulls the substance that soon turns into a kind of net, which he winds up the mines in and in a few seconds he literally has a bag full of explosives, and taking a few steps backwards, holding the bomb bag in one hand and the piece of iron in the other, he then runs a few meters, jumps and drops the net of bombs on the ground in front of him.
Nobody expected the explosion that had just happened suddenly, of course, one or the other had stepped on a mine, causing an explosion, nothing deadly but enough to keep someone off course and maybe knock him out, but nothing like they just saw / heard , an explosion equivalent to ten or more of these mines, the rising of the pink smoke that they released and a point that had been launched from the explosion formed an arc in the direction of the course
— What the...? - is all Seol can formulate when recognizing the brown hair of the boy who flew
"— CHIMICHANGA! THIS IS WHAT I CALL THE EXPLOSION THAT MAKES MICHAEL BAY PASSES ENVY !!! " Deadpool announces excited about what happened
But while most of the runners were stuck in the figure of the 1-A boy flying over almost every minefield, the two boys who were fighting for the lead did not stand still and started running faster. Flash and Robbie ran side by side in the best precaution / speed combination they could manage, but most importantly, they tried to slow each other down. Flash tried to use his black tentacles to push / strike Reyes, while the other tried to restrict his opponent, but since neither of them was 100% focused on these tasks, they did not achieve a very satisfactory result, but still tried as they approached the end of the field.
In the air Peter realizes that he had not planned much for a way to land and realized that with the friction with the air, his speed was decreasing more and more, if he crashed on the ground, this strategy would not advance much, until he observes two people facing each other while running the course, and recognizing their Quirks gives Peter an idea, directing his body in a more upright way, he heads towards the path of the two colleagues, making quick speed calculations, until he arrives. In a fraction of a second he is upside down and between the two boys, and using all his abdominal strength, he sticks his feet behind them, doing a rotation and pushing both with his legs, and quickly relaxing and throwing the piece of iron that comes loose from his hand beneath him, where there were some mines;
*BOOOM*
The explosion caused by the impact causes the three young men to separate; Reyes and Flash to each side and Peter is propelled forward, with less force than the first, but enough to make him roll on the floor, but with the adrenaline pumping through his veins, he ignores the momentary pain, standing up and running as hard as he could, since he was sure that soon everyone would be after him, especially two very angry boys.
The tunnel, the one through which they left, had had the ice completely melted and that was the last route, and whoever reached the stadium first would be crowned champion, at least in the first stage. But unlike in the beginning, where many people competed in the tight space, only three boys were inside, competing for the podium, all fueled by the ambition of wanting to be the best, number 1, and none of them with the intention of letting others succeeded. Peter had the advantage of being in the lead, he ran like he didn't have tomorrow, his lungs burned, his legs wanted to give up, he was drenched in sweat and panting, but he didn't stop; Flash and Reyes were in pursuit, the bully creating tentacles that clung to the walls and propelled him and the other using his chains to push himself forward, since he had also created a chain barrier on the door to prevent anyone from stealing the victory, like Pietro or Gwen, in an attempt to go faster. If the boys in the back had more time, they might even be able to overtake the brunette in the lead, but that was not the case. Soon the light at the end of the tunnel indicated the end of the path, but there was no doubt who had won.
"—AND THE GREAT RACE WINNER THAT WAS CHANGED BY DEMOLIDER (BECAUSE IT IS NOT POSSIBLE THESE CHILDREN TO BE TRUE) IS..."
"—What..."
"—PETER PARKER!!!"
The stadium then goes crazy, screams, applause, confetti, betting money being given from one to the other, but the boy didn't see any of that, he just could see, in the teachers' booth, what looked like a man with glasses looking relaxed with the situation, but that vision did not last long since the same soon stops, putting his hands on his knees and trying to absorb as much air as possible to try to calm his racing heart, since he was sure that was just the beginning.
But the stadium was not the only place that recognized the brunette's victory. On Ingram Street, May jumped in place, being accompanied by the children to celebrate the victory of her nephew, despite all expectations. Outside the stadium, two heroes from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" agency who were hired to stand guard outside quickly saw and recognized the boy on the big screen
— Hey, isn't that idiot from the Carnage case !? - Rocket asks his companion as he stands on his shoulder and he turns to the screen
— I am Groot... – the treant hero answers
But not everyone was happy to see the boy on the screens, a certain young man in a dark room watched the Sports Festival on television, and as soon as he saw the boy, he put his hand on his head, scratching it hard and quickly and causing several hair strands to fall in his hand, but he quickly takes them out and goes back to work.