The U.A. Tryouts were divided into 2 separate parts. The first part was the written exam, which I did not do particularly well on (thats what homeschooling by foster parents who hate your guts will get you). The second part was a practical exam, for which I did zero preparation for since I didn't know what to expect... A true formula for success I know... They gathered all the students attending the tryout into an auditorium, where some DJ the school hired walked us through the instructions. The basics were 'destroy robots for points', 'bigger robots more points', 'don't attack other students', and 'really big robots super bad, try to avoid'.
Needless to say, I was pretty damn screwed. I signed up for this because I want to help people, not destroy robots! This test was clearly more designed for 'hero' students, not supports or people who just wanted to assist... Had I known that, I would have actually trained for the exam, rather then sleep all day and doodle costumes I would wear if I became someones sidekick.
Maybe I'll get super lucky and defeat a few of them...
I stood outside a giant arena that had skyscrapers all over the place inside. I was put in Battle Center A, which was the first one out of six to eight battle centers you could be assigned to. Each battle center was basically a miniature version of a city inside a walled off area, which must have cost a hell of a lot of money to build. All the students waited outside the entrance, and then the test began without a countdown because of course it would.
Everyone charged in after getting a nice head start in front of me, and the slaughter began.
Small robots are one point, medium robots are two points, large robots 3 points. Biggest robots bad, avoid biggest robots.
I charge into the battlefield after almost everyone else enters without a clue of what to do... I mean, I knew what to do, I just didn't have a damn clue HOW to do it. How do I destroy killer robots when all I've ever done is run away from a fight?
It didn't matter. I'm here, so I might as well try my best... It's what All Might would do.
Everyone else makes their way more towards the middle of the arena looking for action. My chances were best if I am away from everyone else, so I peel off to the left where I thought more opportunities would lie. Using my natural speed, I whip across several blocks, I see the carcasses of robots already destroyed by other students all over the place.
Jesus, some people must have killed like 10-15 robots already, and the test only just started!
Time to get a vantage point...
I run a few more blocks then come to a stop, looking up at the buildings all around me. I pick out one that looked the easiest to scale, a 5 or 6 story building that had fire exit stairs on its side, making it easy to warp-jump my way up the side... I run over and go through the motions. Right hand straight up, portal opens halfway up the building, left hand straight out, portal opens right in front of me. I walk through, and I'm halfway up, standing on the fire exit stairs... Right hand up again, left hand in front of me. Walk through the portal, and now I'm on the roof... 5 seconds flat, and no nauseousness.
I run to the edge of the building and look around. All kinds of hell was taking place more towards the middle of the arena, while areas closer to the outer walls were quieter. If I used my warp to jump from rooftop to rooftop, I might be able to find a few robots other people missed!
The building next to me was slightly taller than the one I stood on. I ran to the edge closest to it and looked around. I could probably warp onto it's roof from where I stand and just walk through, it looks close enough. I look down to get an idea of how far a fall would be, when I notice I just hit the jackpot.
In the alleyway between the two buildings was an unharmed medium sized scorpion robot. It was worth two points, and was immobilized because it had somehow got one of its legs stuck in a small underground parking entrance.
It was trapped! And it was all mine! A perfect opportunity!
I backed up a little and made up a plan. If I jump straight down, I could make an exit portal right next to the head of the robot, and put the entrance portal right at the ground where I would land. That way I could use my momentum from falling off the top of a building into an epic attack on the robot, and knock it out in one swift blow... I would use my feet to attack just to be safe. If I used my fist and hurt my hand somehow, it could jeopardize my ability to make warp gates in the first place, and then I'd be dead meat... If all went well, I could knock out the robot before it even knew I was coming, or at least be able to escape before it knew what happened.
Ok, here goes!
I jump off... Adrenaline surges through my body like never before. I've jumped off of buildings before to use my momentum to warp myself towards somewhere else with huge speed, but this time I'm doing it to attack something! I pick up speed real quick, and put an exit portal right next to what looked like the center of the robots head... A moment later, I put an entrance portal just a foot above the ground where I'm going to land. I can never see through the portal towards the exit before I pass through, instead my portals look like little black holes that just swallow me up and spit me out somewhere else.
Oh shit, I'm leaning to the left!
In tv shows that people watch, they always show someone jumping off a building or a cliff falling in a perfectly straight line, as if they're a professional diver. That isn't always the case, especially in alleyways where a slight breeze can magnify into a significant force. I was almost all the way down when I start leaning to the left, and if I didn't fix it I would end up going through the portal and body slamming the robot, which would hurt like hell. In a split second, I extend my left foot towards the entrance portal and straighten myself out, even though I prefer to attack with my right.
I pass through the portal, and drill the heel of my left foot into what looks like the brain of the scorpion robot.
JESUS FUCK THAT HURT!
My leg was not locked straight when I kicked the shit out of the robot scorpion... It's a rookie mistake to lock your leg when landing, because you risk shattering your knee and having your leg fold the wrong way as the weight of your body comes to an immediate halt. It almost happened to me once before, but I got lucky. This time, my leg had a little slack, but the speed from my fall was so large that as I kick the robot, my leg buckles. My left knee comes right back into my chest, sending me straight backwards away from the trapped scorpion robot.
Basically I just kneed myself in the chest with the force of the 6 story building I jumped off of, using a giant scorpion robot as a landing pad.
I skidded along the ground doing backwards somersaults before coming to a halt, the wind knocked out of me. My epic kick-attack on the robot had literally the worst possible effect. Not only did I not do ANY damage to it, but the force I used against it gave it enough strength to remove its leg from the underground entrance it was stuck in, freeing the robot to do what it wanted with me!
And thats the story of how I died. The end.
Okay it didn't actually kill me... Physically...
I'm struggling to catch my breath as the death robot processes its newfound freedom. I don't think I've broken any ribs, but I sure as hell would get a big ass bruise from where I kneed myself. Parts of my clothes were torn up from skidding along the ground as well, but apart from that, I was still in one piece.
The robot makes some sort of technical sound, the equivalent of a battle cry or a declaration of war. It turns its full attention to my wheezing ass on the ground and charges. I barely finish catching my breath before its almost on top of me, and then the damn thing explodes. The heat from the explosion was intense, and the sound of the explosion at such close range was almost deafening. I shield myself a little bit from both, but I am engulfed either way.
Once the smoke clears, I finally am able to look around to observe the damage. The robot was absolutely incinerated, pieces of scrap metal scattered all around me. I almost think it spontaneously combusted before I look upwards and see some kid flying over head. He had blonde hair and what looked like grenades for hands, with fire coming out the end of them like they were rockets.
"DON'T TRY TO STEAL KILLS FROM ME, ASSHOLE!"
Then, as soon as he appeared and erased the robot about to use me as a toothpick, He flew off, leaving a bewildered me behind in his dust... First of all, I found it first... Second of all, even though I was pretty much dead, what kind of douchebag kills a robot and then accuses someone being attacked by it of 'kill-stealing' from him before flying away? Some hero that dick would make...
I stand up and brush myself off. My best chance at scoring points was a miserable failure, and I torpedoed the written exam pretty good, so my chances of getting into U.A. were squat. I mean, I didn't really think I had a chance to get in in the first place, but I did think I would have at least SOME measure of success. Man was I off to a bad start though. While my left foot wasn't broken, it was sore as hell. What hurt far worse then my foot though was my left ankle, which felt like someone hit it with the business end of a baseball bat. I can still walk, maybe jog, but not as quick as I normally can.
Just then, the DJ who could yell super loudly burst out an announcement. "THE TEST IS HALFWAY OVER, PLEASE CONTINUE TO SCORE AS MANY POINTS AS YOU CAN IN THE FIVE MINUTES REMAINING!"
Great, I burned half the time I had on one robot and only succeeded in hurting the hell out of my ankle and almost getting killed.
I had a couple of different options for what I could do next
1) Call it quits, head to the exit, avoid getting hurt further, and have the whole thing be a lesson for what to expect in future tests
2) Try to find any level 1 robots to take out to try to get points
3) Try to take kills from someone else who is fighting a level 3 robot
Option 3 didn't stand out because if I couldn't kick a level 2 robot without almost shattering my leg, I sure as hell wouldn't be able to last-hit a level 3 robot, let alone do so when someone else is already doing most of the work in defeating it. It was also a pretty dick thing to do as well, which was also a problem.
Option 2 might work, but I would be surprised if there were any level 1 robots even left now that the test was half over. Any level one robots still left would probably get sniped before I could even find them as well.
So, option 1 it is.
I'm still pretty close to the outer wall, and it's a straight path back to the exit with almost no chance of running into another robot along the way, since any robots nearby were already destroyed during the opening charge. I walk one block, then I start feeling better and jog comfortably. I'm almost all the way back by the time I can do a half-sprint, and then pure chaos unleashes itself.
Not even 2 blocks from the entrance, a collection of 4 skyscrapers suddenly collapse. In the rubble from underground emerges a GIANT robot, taller than any other skyscraper in the arena. This must have been one of those level 4 robots that aren't worth any points the DJ told us about, the ones you're not supposed to fight and simply try to avoid.
Easier said then done! This thing is gonna kill somebody!
Once again, I had 3 options to choose from
1) Call it quits, head to the exit, hope the giant death robot doesn't decide to turn me into roadkill
2) Run towards the giant robot and try to rescue anyone who might be caught in its way
3) Use warp powers to try to jump up the robot, sneak in, and disable it from the inside
Option 3 wouldn't work because I don't know shit about robots or about disabling them, let alone capable of doing so. More importantly, I have never once been able to make an exit portal in an area I couldn't see, such as on the other side of a wall, so I would not have any way to get out of the robot quickly if it suddenly came crashing down.
Option 2 seemed like the noble thing to do, since its what All Might would do and there genuinely could be people at risk of dying, but that would be in violation of my number 1 rule which is if there's danger, RUN... Plus, everyone here had superpowers of their own that they seemed to know how to use, so there couldn't be THAT many people in danger, right?
Alright, option 1 it is.
After a pause, I stand still. Several more seconds pass by, and I continue to stand still. The giant death robot that had emerged from underground made its way towards the center of the arena, but I still have not moved.
Ummm, why am I not running towards the exit? It's already been decided that option 1 was the best option, why am I standing still?
I look down the street along the wall, and I think I can make out the exit to the arena. If it's where I think it is, then I'm close... It's right there, and all I have to do is go to it...
So then why the hell am I still standing here??
I look over my body. My feet still work even though they were sore as hell, I can feel my hands resting along my side, and all my senses were working fine. I should be able to move, but I'm not. It's as if my body is revolting against my decision to follow Rule #1. I look at the giant robot, then the exit. Then the giant robot again, then back to the exit. I do this at least 5 more times, yet still, I stand still.
Rule number 2 is help people unless there's danger...
Rule number 1 is run if there's danger...
I could not even handle a trapped level 2 robot that was at best 8 feet tall without screwing up horrendously...
There is now a GIANT DEATH ROBOT taller than a SKYSCRAPER very close by...
I am in a LOT of danger...
Therefore...
WHY AM I STILL STANDING HERE?...
This mental war in my head went on for several more seconds. Every voice in my head was telling me to run for the exit, but I just couldn't do it. The amount of danger in the arena was higher than any incident I had been in before, so this should have been the easiest Rule #1 application to make in a decision. Still, my body did not move. Later in life when I look back on this day, I would postulate that because the amount of danger was so high, it was NECESSARY to override Rule #1 and try to help anyone who was in danger. Avoiding life-threatening danger to myself is one thing, but diffusing life-threatening danger to someone else was something I had never encountered before.
The mistakes I made earlier in life where I would tried to help people no matter what were mistakes inspired by what I believed All Might would do in that situation. Now, my gut was telling me to make that mistake again, even though there were life-threatening consequences on the line. Listening to mental reason didn't work, and my body still refused to move towards the exit. I no longer had a choice
Fine, fuck it, lets try to save someone
The pain in my foot subsided, and my body LAUNCHED itself forward towards the giant robot
