[Outside Replica City District – Eastern Hosu, Japan – 8:53 AM Tuesday – 3 Days post Yuuei's Entrance Exams]
Ridiculous.
The word kept repeating itself in his mind, it was helping to mask his anxiousness as he looked up. The gate ahead was daunting in it's height, hunching over him more and more with each step he took toward it as if to tell him it could topple and crush him at any moment it so desired. He'd already entertained the thought of simply turning around and leaving what felt like a dozen times, but that was out of the question. Others had taken chances on him which meant there was no way he wasn't going to see this through. Besides, his uncle's busted ride was probably already halfway across the city by now.
His footsteps upon the graveled floor became silent except for his occasional involuntary shuffle. He couldn't help it much, as he was unsure what to do next now that he was here. A quick look left and right confirmed he was still very much alone. Had he mistaken the time and date? No, he decided. He would not make such a simple mistake after so much effort.
Out of frustration he pulled his hand through his short hair, causing the wispy blonde strands to flail randomly in any direction they damn well pleased. A futile effort but a minor irritant. He walked along the pristine black and undoubtedly expensive black metal surface before he stopped and stooped closer. A hard veneer, smooth and reflective as a mirror shard shot his dark blue eyes back at him in a murky haze. They looked like someone had coloured them in with a used sharpie, not far from what they normally looked like. Then, he stepped back, he'd had enough of looking at his own sharp features.
"Do… I just knock?" he wondered out loud. Perhaps being blatant about the fact he was lost on what to do next would attract some attention. After a few more seconds he began to raise his hand to bash on the steel prison.
A loud ahem, startled him and caused his head to turn abruptly toward the right. What had intruded on him was a strange sight; a small bear wearing a suit. Perhaps he would have described it as elegant if it hadn't instantly transformed all his anxiety into equal amounts of nervousness.
He tried to collect himself enough to stammer a hello, however all that came out was a cough as the word got stuck in his throat. It wasn't clear where the creature, a man he assumed, had come from but there was a single open door behind him that he could presume was the place.
"Aha, it appears I got your attention after all," the creature said in a high, energetic pitch. "It's quite alright if you're surprised by my appearance, you wouldn't be the first and you won't be the last, Torenagi Riley."
He managed to pull himself together and stood up straight before muttering a quick, "Sorry, Sir." It had really only happened out of surprise; he hadn't experienced an anthropomorphic quirk quite so prominent before. The bear-like man nodded, clearly undeterred by his rudeness.
"Now, before we begin let me introduce myself. I am the administrator of this fine educational institute but you may call me Nedzu." He pointed to himself. "Or perhaps Principal Nedzu if you succeed today," he added with a chuckle. The light-heartedness of the principal's tone somehow came across as severely intimidating. It held within it an expectation that he felt he did not want to risk disappointing.
"Sadly we don't have time to mince words. Come along now and I'll explain on the way," Nedzu said as he beckoned him into the metallic wall and in turn a long, cramped corridor. It wasn't very well lit either, though as luck would have it his close fitting clothes made any catching hazard minimal in the dark.
"Now, as you are well aware today we're having you take a practical examination and you might have wondered why exactly it is necessary," his voice echoed. "Well, we wouldn't want you to be unable to handle the strain of our program and a vouch from your school simply isn't satisfactory."
"I see." He nodded, though he had worked out as much. The academic section had been difficult and had also absorbed much of his time, though even reading of the practical examination was nothing short of nerve-wracking. Still, he was here now, with nothing to do but try.
"The delay in regards to clearing the details has been rather unfortunate." The man flicked a green switch belonging to a door, which swung open to reveal another corridor. "However it cannot be helped, as such you'll be taking the test on your own today. Think of it as an exception for coming all this way."
That at least explained why it had been only him outside the gate. He wasn't sure if taking the exam alone was a blessing or a curse, probably the latter. His quirk wasn't suitable for working alone most of the time, he needed time, perhaps too much time, for it to really work. More than that he needed concentration.
"There's absolutely no need to worry!" Nedzu stopped while raising one finger toward him like he'd read his mind. "The exam will be exactly the same as described just designed for one person. Take down the down the faux-villains in any way you see fit while avoiding the major zero point obstacle." The man switched the position of his finger to another light green button in front of him instead.
The metal door opened with a clang unveiling a sight that served to mesmerize him. It was a vast city that stretched with compact buildings each mixed and matched like someone had blown a Lego set to full scale. It was mind boggling that anyone, let alone a school, could afford to build such a large thing from scratch. The rumors, he knew now, were nothing short of true.
"…well almost the same." He caught the end of Nedzu's sentence behind his back.
"What was that?" He spun to the man, most of what he'd said had gone in one ear and out the other.
"Don't worry-" Nedzu said before placing his hand firmly on the same button. "- I'm sure you'll figure it out. Now then, good luck young man!" The gate crashed shut in an instant leaving him alone.
Did he really just do that? He thought in disbelief before being cut off by a single high tone across the arena which caused the city to whir to life around him. He took a second to calm down. He hadn't expected it to start so unconventionally, but now that he was trapped the very least he could do was act rationally. It wasn't like he had much choice. I should head around the outside first, he thought. It seemed like a logical plan, that way he would minimise his probability of being caught out in the open. He kept to his statement and immediately began to head east while hugging the shadows of the buildings as he passed them.
If he hadn't known better he could have sworn it was a real city. There were lights on in the houses and someone had even gone to the trouble of placing trash cans outside some of them. It felt like a fake sincerity, to lull him into a false sense of security. A distinct creak caused his step to stop as he came up to the third alleyway in a row of neat but drab white houses. As he leant up and peeked he could both hear a more intense whirring of machinery and see the silvery grey skeleton of a single robot by itself. It had probably hoped he would foolishly run past it so it could ambush him.
It's now or never, he stretched out his right hand, the first impression would probably decide everything. "Focus. Stay in control," he uttered almost too quietly for even himself to hear. His breath came and left in measured intervals as a wrinkle of concentration spread across his brow.
Then, a single tremor jittered down his arm toward his finger tip. He held it steady and in retaliation an ebbing of constriction began to manifest itself. The robot jerked in response as it turned its body in his direction, having finally realised his presence. However he knew it was far too late for the one pointer to do anything about it.
"Compress!" he clamped his hand shut tight. The robot took a single grinding step but then halted with a rough screech. The machines chassis rattled ever so slightly before caving with a violent crunch that shot through the air. It crashed to the floor in a slump, now looking more like a compacted car rather than a robot.
His hand fell as he allowed himself to relax and without meaning to he even let out a small audible cheer over his success followed by a quick bout of embarrassment. It subsided as he realised no one was around to hear him anyway. When he was done the pace of his steps quickened as he continued to follow the rows of houses, now having gained the advantage of adrenaline.
He felled another two or three smaller robots hiding in a similar way before he reached an intersection. The street itself wasn't so interesting, however, resting at its centre was a noticeably larger variant of the one point robot coated in yellow paint. The upper hand was still his, the volume of the robots own noises throughout the city probably made it hard for them to even recognise he was there. He held his arm with his other hand, the tremor in his arm was heavier and he knew it would only grow heavier still before this was over.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glint of silver. He broke out of his trance just in time to avoid a large silver claw as it swiped over his head. "Shit," he said while trying to regain his composure; he would need his composure for this to work.
The yellow robot began to rumble now that it had noticed him as well. He could tell it was faster than him even as he backed away a few steps from the silver one pointer still on his trail. He threw up both his hands this time and held them up to the robot that had almost knocked him out cold. Desperate, his arms jolted a tremor together and the machine fell to pieces in a crumpled mess of wire. He switched his attention to the yellow robot and braced his right with his left, aiming precisely on the casing behind the robots single red eye. Its head turned sideways with a snap as it distorted before severing off the body altogether. The machine rolled to an unceremonious finish only a few feet from him.
Too damn close, he thought between exasperated breaths. He'd gotten lucky and he knew that, one misstep and he would have been a goner. There had to be a better way to go about this than stumbling blindly, something he was missing about the layout, but he couldn't waste time; he knew the test had a limit, even if he didn't quite remember how long it was.
[Replica City Control and Surveillance Room]
Nedzu leaned back comfortably in the leather chair surrounded by the two men whom he had conscripted in his extra-curricular obsession. His gaze was intent, deliberate and darted between each monitor as the boy ran through the city's blocks.
He spoke first, in an attempt to break the silence,"What are your thoughts so far, gentleman?"
"Well, they weren't lying about his quirk being destructive," a tired looking man to Nedzu's left remarked. He had a small portfolio in front of him that looked like it had only been scanned briefly, "However its practicality is nothing short of laughable."
"As far as I see it Eraserhead, the only concern here isn't it's destructiveness but rather his capacity to use it in saving lives," the other man to Nedzu's right answered. His entire body was covered in a puffy spacesuit that made his voice sound almost robotic.
"Ever the pertinent one Thirteen, but I agree in this case." A stray bandage fell as it unwrapped itself from his neck but he made not even the slightest attempt to take notice or correct it.
"Still there's something off about that quirk. It seems almost…" Thirteen said as he tapped the glass dome of his helmet, like he couldn't think of the right way to phrase it.
"Simplistic?" Eraserhead finished the thought before closing his eyes and reclining back in his chair.
"Something to that effect." He poised his hand on the chairs arm rest and leaned on it. "It doesn't feel like he's holding back but with force based quirks like this you'd usually see some kind of auxiliary effect."
"Regardless we won't get much out of seeing him repeat basic combat manoeuvres so let's hurry it up. I'm getting sick of these makeup examinations already." Eraserhead had boredom spread across his face.
Nedzu gleamed at the red button in front of him. That sounded like a wonderful idea right about now. "If he really is hiding something we'll see it right here and now." He removed the joystick from its case with almost maniacal eagerness and then switched the nodule on its side from OFF to ON.
His breathing had turned into a heavy pant as he eagerly moved from the crevice of each street to the next, leaving the smouldering scraps of red, yellow and grey in his wake. He now knew the layout, which had made the process more efficient; the city was split into three square layers that were almost identical.
Aggression and speed were the defining variable that changed the further you went inward, as well as density. Their programming ultimately did not matter now that he knew their fatal flaw, however it was the intense use of his quirk that worried him. Surely it was intentional, and that was why he was now stooped against a broken stone wall. The tremor had begun to stay with him between uses which was a bad sign, and also somewhat uncomfortable. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up.
As if on cue a siren began to blare, "Attention; Attention; nine minutes remaining!" it cried. It gave him a little bit of vigour to know he was almost done.
He moved a few steps away from the wall when a vibration hit him. Unlike before however it wasn't his quirk, rather it was the whole ground beneath him. He stumbled as a surge shook up and down the deserted street.
BOOM!
His head almost whipped off his shoulders as he looked across the road at the remains of a red theater. Giant robotic arms tore through the sign on its front, shredding the building and tearing it asunder in a heap of cement and timber. The visage of the robot emerged in a cloud of debris that rose far above the building it had so easily destroyed. It towered on par with even the tallest of the city's infrastructure and screeched as the machinery that held it together gave it momentum.
He ducked like a frightened rabbit behind the wall he'd only moments ago used as a rest stop. There was a shaking throughout his body which he wasn't sure was being caused by the machines rumbling or his own fear. This must be the obstacle monster that had been mentioned to him.
"…What the hell," he mumbled and then bit his lip as he sank further down to hide. As he huddled he heard the monster rolling into the street, now freed from its cage. Calming exercises helped little in this situation, his breathing had stopped and his body was trying with every fibre of it's being to not give his location away.
You don't need to fight it, just find cover in a building and move to another part of the city, he thought. It was simpler said than done, but it would be better than crossing paths with that thing. He closed his eyes for a second and forced his body to move into a crouch, like he'd been taught. It felt like the robot was moving further away, any second now he would get his opportunity. As another building fell he jutted forward to take his chance.
A single ear-rending scream of terror hit him in the side of the head like a hammer and turned his heel to stone mid-stride. He turned his head to the side slowly, taking a single morbid glance. He couldn't believe his eyes. There was a man running through the street with a girl in his arms, she couldn't have been more than six, it looked like they had escaped from one of the buildings in a side street just as the zero pointer had demolished it.
They couldn't have stumbled in here on accident, right? The thought rang as he watched. It was almost upon the two now, and the girls wailing as she looked over the man's shoulder was pure and intense. It had to be part of the simulation. There was no way in hell the school would allow two civilians to get crushed by accident. Even they couldn't be that extreme.
It was a combination of the debris as it barely missed the two and the downright mind-numbing screams that followed that let sow a seed of doubt and allowed panic to win a battle over common sense. His hand trembled and he hit the ground hard with his fist while uttering a single defiant, "Fuck," before jumping to his feet and flinging both his hands out in front of him.
"Compress!" he shouted and his hands gripped tight. The zero point robots sweeping blow came to a stop less than fifteen feet from the girl and her father as the monstrosities head compressed. Relief washed over him as the two narrowly made it through a gap that cut the robot behind them off. Now that they were out harm's way he could-
Rrrtzzzzt.
The zero pointers head tilted and swung its glare in one crooked motion from the street to him, it's lens and carapace whole and unharmed. The eye burned red and the green gloss that covered it like metallic skin shivered under the intensity of the engines running beneath it.
"Shit. Shit. Shit," he said in rapid succession before jumping from his hiding spot as the mechanical arm sliced through it like a crashing wave, he tumbled before barely coming to a halt on his feet. He set off as fast as he could, the sound of his feet hitting the ground was drowned out by the zero pointer as it cascaded after him indiscriminately. He could hear and feel the deafening blast of buildings as they fell more closely behind him with each step he took.
He rounded the corner in an attempt to throw it off only to take the full brunt of a red mechanical limb to his side. Pain soaked through him as most of the power of the blow drained into his upper shoulder and arm, causing him to trip and stagger and graze close to the ground. Blood trickled between his fingers of his clasped arm as he barely caught himself long enough to grit his teeth, even as adrenaline did its part to numb the sensation he could tell it was broken. Despite the pain he scrambled toward an alleyway that he knew would feed back into the main square, his heart was pounding in his chest and his breath was leaving him relentlessly, it was no time to sit still. He pushed his back into a wall as he rounded a corner into a narrow passage.
"Attention! Attention! Three minutes remaining," the siren announced yet again, which didn't help him now. He wasn't sure how he was going to survive one minute let alone three. He needed a plan. The wall shook behind him as he rushed to hurdle the smaller one in front with one hand, landing him in an intersection that lay parallel to the one he'd escaped from earlier.
He looked behind him and took a few steps backwards as he realised he'd made a huge mistake. It wasn't just the zero point robot that was chasing him now, there were dozens that melded into a mob of virulent, deadly metallic colour. He'd meant to leave more of them in the dust rather than attract new ones. If I can just stop them from reaching me. He looked around, for all it was worth it did seem like the robots were only encroaching on him from a single direction, mindless as they were.
He backed off into the street behind him toward the centre of the city. The roads there would be more compact for what he had in mind, a funnel for his trap. He skidded to a halt as he reached the end of the street with his back facing a flat building; he didn't want any more nasty surprises. Then he flung up his remaining good arm and left the other dangling uselessly at his side.
"Attention! Attention! One minute remaining," the siren picked up again, although he couldn't hear it well as concentration settled in his mind and dampened the sound.
Everything from sight to sound told him how fast of an advance the robots were making on his position however it all sat in stillness. Nothing felt as if it moved, naught a hair on his head or a breath in his lung, until his hand gave in with a violent involuntary shudder that he was only just able to control. Cracks withered through the floor like snakes on a fiendish hunt and dust sat swirling as it came together in a chant of collection.
"Compress," he didn't shout the word, but spoke it in a vicious, decisive manner. He pulled his fist together and held it hard enough to whiten his knuckles.
As the zero pointers foot met the concrete it gave away causing it to sink and then tilt. The weight spread the reverberation of the quirk further, far enough to engulf the crowded of robots huddled around its unstable feet. Each was swallowed in an inescapable tango of sharp limbs and plating as the sinkhole expanded and bit down hungrily.
It's not enough, he urged his compression even further, the tightening of his fist only a ritual by which to empower his use of the quirk. The harder he pushed the more the tremor worsened and more his concentration threatened to give. His body stood ragged and sweat dragged itself across every inch of it. He could feel his body sway in a lapse as the pain and blood from his arm washed light headedness over him and caused him to fall to one knee. The point of his focus erupted with a crunch into a volcano of concrete mashed between robotic parts.
"Not good, definitely not good." He attempted in futility to regain control over the quirk. Delirium overtook his vision before spreading into blotches of white.
He let his arm fall and the ground rippled. It spread as a silent web, with the speed of an earthquake, before erupting into a thunderous THOOM that shattered the windows of each building into mere fragments. His ears rang as he was tossed backwards in a series of bounces, and his momentum met and abrupt end as he tapped the back of his head on the concrete of the building behind him. The final blaring of sirens was the last thing he heard as his ability to stay conscious left him.
