A/N: YAS! A new chapter!
I don't own MHA!
Please enjoy!
Chapter 3: Show Us Something Magnificent!
Columbus, Ohio
Gaila Augusta stared down the boy that sat across from her on the Greyhound bus she had taken from Chicago to Columbus. She had felt his eyes on her for most of the trip which was pissing her off to no end. Eventually, she began to stare right back at him, her eyes set in a hard glare, hoping to intimidate him into looking somewhere else; but the intimidation play hadn't worked. He continued staring even as the bus pulled into the large station in downtown Columbus.
"Tch, finally!" she grumbled as the bus came to a stop.
She got up out of the seat, grabbing a black and red backpack as she did so. She carefully slung it over her shoulder, having to maneuver it around the metal pylons that stuck out of her shoulders and arms. In total, Gaila had eight pylons, one on each shoulder and shoulder blade and two on the back of both upper arms.
While she moved out of the seat and situated her backpack, she could still feel the boy's eyes on her. Eventually, she snapped, turning around to face him.
"What's your problem?! You've been staring at me this whole damn trip! Either say what you want to or piss off!"
The boy stood up, being much taller and muscular than Gaila expected. He practically towered over her, his spikey white hair seeming to add to his height. Though, his height and build didn't bother Gaila one bit. She stood her ground while continuing to wear a scowl solely meant for the boy in front of her.
"You're Gold Caesar's daughter, yeah?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"You here for the UENC entrance exam?"
"Yeah, what about it?!"
"And you didn't take the recommendation into the school you could have easily gotten?"
"YEAH, WHAT ABOUT IT?"
Gaila's scowl quickly became a snarl while her shout had silenced the small group left in the bus.
The boy wore a straight face for a long moment while he studied her. Finally, he smirked at her, "You're gonna wish you took that recommendation."
"Excuse me?!"
"You heard me," he said as he turned away from her to walk off the bus, "It was real stupid of you not to take the recommendation because I'll be outranking you in the exam and taking your spot in the hero class."
Gaila's eyes went wide in anger, disbelieving what she was hearing. Before he could get off the bus, she grabbed the hood of the gray hoodie he wore and yanked him back with a tug so hard that the sweater choked him in the process.
"Run that by me again, you moron."
The boy was surprised by the ferocity in her voice and the fact that it felt and looked like the aura around her became much darker. Though, like Gaila, he wasn't about to back down.
"The name's Raios, not moron. Raios Homura, and you better remember it. I'll be rising to the top before you and I don't need daddy's legacy to do it."
Without thinking, Gaila threw her free fist forward to pop the boy on the nose. He took her by surprise when he caught her first, clamping down on it tightly.
"You're gonna have to try harder than that."
"Tch!" She clenched her teeth as she kicked the back of his knee, causing him to drop to the floor of the bus. She jumped over his fallen form, her red-streaked silver hair flying out behind her. She glanced back at him when she landed solidly on her feet, "I won't even need my quirk to beat you."
She ran off the bus after that, Raios leaping to his feet to chase after her. He jumped out of the bus, disregarding the steps leading out of it, and searched for the silver-haired girl. His blue eyes saw her waving towards a red car pulling up to the curb. He made a beeline for her, several people jumping out of his way in the process. Just as she sat in the back seat, as she could sit more easily in the back due to pylons, he crossed over to the other side of the car and got in.
She glared at him and tried to throw a punch at him, "What the hell are you doing?!"
"Catching a ride," he said as he dodged the fist, "You're heading to UENC, yeah? Might as well kill two birds with one stone by taking me there too."
"Get your own Uber! If you weren't smart enough to call for one ahead of time, that's not my problem!"
"But we're going to the same place, what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is you mocked me and I paid for this ride! Get the hell out!"
As she said this, she began pushing him towards his door, but he caught her hands in the process and began pushing back on them.
"So," the driver of the car said, looking back at the pair, "Am I taking you two to UENC or not?"
"Yeah, yeah, just start driving," Raios said.
"The hell he is! Get out of my ride!"
By this point, she had started pushing a hand against his cheek, which only caused him to do the same thing in return.
"For a girl, you're not real sweet or dainty."
"You're no prince charming either!"
The driver rolled his eyes at the arguing pair, having dealt with their kind before. He began the drive towards the school, knowing it would just be easier to take them there than argue with them about who was going to ride in the car. And at least he'd get paid this way too.
The pair of teens continued arguing and struggling with each other the entire way to the school, missing the scenery of the city in the process. It took a moment to pull up to the school as many kids were pouring in that morning to take the exam, being dropped off by other Uber drivers or taxis or their parents.
"We're here," he called back to the still fighting pair. When they didn't move to get out, he shouted back at them, "Oi! Get out!"
The two stopped in the middle of their struggle, their hands frozen in the middle of pulling at each other's faces. They looked out the window to see other kids walking towards the large and shining school in front of them.
Gaila was the first to scramble to get out of the car. She hopped out, turning to glare at the boy still in the car, "You sure as hell better stay out of my way during the exam. I'm going to make it into the hero class and I'll sure as hell rank better than you! The rest of the world is gonna know my name, but I'll make sure you'll be the first person to remember it! Gaila Augusta, top ranked hero and the girl who's gonna put you in your place!"
With that declaration, she slammed the car door in his face and angrily stomped her way towards the building, many of the other kids moving out of her way.
Raios' teeth clenched hard, angry that she thought she had gotten the last word in. He quickly got out of the car and ran after her, not wanting to lose sight of her going into the exam.
"The school's gonna have their hands full if either of them get in," the driver said before moving onto his next pick up.
. : + : .
Iris Blackthorn stood before UENC, gawking at the size of it and how brilliantly it shone. She looked to the green and black flag waving lazily in the light breeze, feeling a mixture of nerves, excitement, and doubt, all of it making her feel like she was going to puke on the spot. She searched out a trashcan close by just in case the mix of breakfast in her stomach decided to resurface.
"Don't psyche yourself out before the exam even starts."
She looked back to see her father smiling at her as he moved to place a gentle hand on her head. Her brothers were on either side of him, smiling up at her as well.
"Good luck, Rissy! You can do it!" the two boys said.
She smiled meekly in reply to them. While she knew they meant well and she appreciated their encouragement, it still didn't help to ebb the feelings swirling around in her stomach. She looked up at her father again with uncertainty.
"There's so many kids here. How am I supposed to do well enough to be seen with so many kids? I didn't know so many would be here. And what if it's an all-out brawl or one on one sparring that I have to do? I don't have any experience with that. And what if I end up embarrassing myself in front of all the kids and the teachers watching?"
"Whoa there!" her father said, laughing lightly in reply, "You're going to overload your brain asking so many questions at once."
"But dad…"
"Look, I know it seems like a lot, but I know you'll do just fine."
"How do you know?"
"Because you are your mother's daughter. She'd be ecstatic to see you standing here. She'd probably be better at encouraging you too," he said with another laugh, "But I know she's watching you today, so show her and the teachers what you're made of. Prove to them that you deserve a spot in the hero course. But most of all, prove to yourself that you can be a hero."
"Thanks dad," she said, a smile and a slight blush across her cheeks.
"Alright then, we'll be off," he said, ushering her brothers back towards the car, "We'll be back to pick up a hero in a bit!"
Iris smiled again at his comment, watching the car as it drove off from the school and out of sight. Her smile quickly fell after that as she turned to face the intimidating building before her. Kids were still pouring in around her and she felt the just-about-to-puke sensation come back. Her family was no longer there to make her feel comfortable, even just a little. She was completely and utterly alone, and it felt like everyone's eyes were on her. She felt her body closing in on itself as if to try and make herself appear smaller so as not to have anyone staring at her, though she was sure that it only made her stand out more.
She stared back up at the flag with the school name across it and the glittering building behind it, "It's way more to take in that I thought it would be."
"You've got that right."
Iris jumped at the voice, her hair puffing out into spikes in the process. She looked beside her to see a tall blonde boy standing next to her. He stared at her in worry, clearly not having expected a reaction like that to happen.
"I…I'm sorry," she said. As her hair settled back into place, she began to stroke it nervously in hopes that it would help calm her down and to make sure her hair wouldn't spike out again, "I wasn't trying to attack you or anything. It's just that my hair does that when I get surprised or nervous, and I'm really nervous right now."
The boy looked relieved when she explained herself, "I'm glad I'm not the only one who's nervous. There's a lot of people here that I don't know and it's stressing me out. Even the building is intimidating."
"I know, right? Like there's this great, amazing feeling around it. It practically feels out of reach, you know?" she said, looking back at the boy to see another worried look across his face as he began rocking back and forth on his feet, "Oh, I didn't mean to stress you out more! I'm sorry! If it helps you, I just stressed myself out more too!"
"So many people, such a big building, out of reach, out of reach, so many people here to be heroes, out of reach," he mumbled quickly.
"Oh no! Did I break you?!" Iris said, tears comically pouring down her face as she frantically waved her arms around.
"Ford, my man!"
The boy stopped muttering while Iris froze with her hands up in mid-air upon hearing the voice. They turned to see another boy with voluptuously messy dark blue hair waving at them. Next to him was a brunette girl that they both had to do a double take at to make sure they were looking at a teenage girl rather than an adult lawyer. The boy jogged up to them while the brunette closely followed him.
"I'm glad I found you in this crowd. I was hoping to meet up with you before the exam started to say hello and wish you good luck and to make sure we sit next to each other during the briefing session before the exam starts," he said with an easy smile, "You sure are a lot taller than your pictures depict."
"Reed, we really need to head into the school. We will be considered late soon."
"Chill, we still have enough time, Katherine."
Iris watched as the blonde boy next to her seemed to fully relax upon the other boy's arrival, 'They must know each other then,' she thought.
"Ohhh, and who is this?" the dark-haired boy said, looking over at Iris.
"We haven't exchanged names yet. We were just talking about how big the building is and all the people here," Ford said, "But I'm glad you waited for me before heading into the exams. It's good knowing someone here to sit with and be in the exam with," he said, turning to look back at Iris, "I'm Fjord Gomain, but everyone just calls me Ford."
"And I'm Reed Victors."
"Katherine Johnson."
"Uh…Iris Blackthorn."
"There, now you know people too," Ford said with a smile.
Iris stared wide-eyed at the trio before her, the swirling feeling in her stomach slowly fading. She hadn't expected anyone to make her feel welcome, especially not at an exam where it was every man for himself. They all had the same goal right at that moment, and yet they had smiled at her and made her feel just a bit more comfortable being there.
She smiled softly in return, suddenly feeling much better about taking the exam.
"Yes, yes, we can make real, proper introductions later," Katherine said, instantly breaking the warm, happy feeling that had been created between them, "We have an exam to get to and I will not be late even before the school year starts."
Iris looked down at her phone to see the time. It was five minutes before they had to be in the auditorium for the exam, "She's right! We've gotta book it!"
"Let's go!" Reed said as the four of them started running towards the school, "I don't want to get chewed out by my aunt for being late, especially at the school she runs!"
As the group made their way inside, it hit Iris on what exactly Reed had just said, "Your aunt is the principal!?"
. : + : .
"How do I look? Everything in place?"
Charlotte asked this as she turned around in front of the group of teachers before her. She had changed into her hero costume to welcome the examines and to explain how the exam would play out.
She was currently wearing fitted black pants that were tucked into thick-heeled, black boots. Her top half was dressed in what looked like a circus ringleader's outfit, being in colors of purple, black, and gold. A top hat with a thick purple band around it was perched on her head while she carried a thick black cane with a simple gold orb as its topper. Strapped on either hip were extendable batons.
"You look fine," Sorin answered, "You always get so worked up every time we do this for the entrance exams."
"I've gotta make a good first impression! Now are you sure I look fine?!"
"I've got you covered!" Chris said, always having agreed with Charlotte on making a first impression on the new students. He moved her top hat ever so slightly to the side while giving the tails of her ringmaster's coat a push outwards to make sure they were flashily displayed, "There we go!"
"Thank you!" she said with a grin, "Now then, are we all prepared to put on a good show?"
"That's usually your bit. Can't we just skip out this year? I'm hungry and tired after the fight I had yesterday," Sorin said, his droopy eyes giving away just how tired he was.
"No skipping! I want those kids to see all of you!"
"Fine. Let's just get this started already then."
"Alright, Yashiru," she said, still hating the fact that she was being forced to call him by his name, "Send us on up!"
Yashiru nodded with a smile before pressing the button that would send the group of teachers up to the main stage in front of the examines. He then took a seat to watch the performance that Charlotte was about to put on.
As the circular platform rose, fog began spilling out all around them. They heard the muttering of the teens in the large room fade as the lights went off. Once the platform came to a stop and locked into place, complete silence filled the room.
"Hello all," Charlotte began right before beams of light shone down on the group on stage, "And welcome to UENC!"
She let a wide smile spread across her face as she stood front and center, her hands on her cane that was placed directly in front of her. The teachers behind her all moved to either side of her so everyone could get a good look at them as well, fog still spilling around their feet.
Excited murmurs began to fill the room as the teenagers took in the sight of the pro-heroes before them.
"As I'm sure many you know, I am the Time Hero: Show Stopper," she said with a small bow, "I am the principal of this school, or more commonly known as the Guiding Light of UENC. I'm quite pleased to see so many of you here today, gunning for a place in my school! So let's get started, shall we?"
A sly smile appeared on her face as she took a step forward.
The room of kids smiled in return, excited to hear what they would have to do to get into the school. Though, an odd sensation passed through the entirety of the room as soon as Charlotte took a step forward. It felt like everything had stopped, but with the blink of an eye, the sensation was gone.
"Your exam will be taken in one of our training facilities designed to look like downtown Columbus."
Heads whipped back towards Charlotte, who was now standing at the top of the right-side steps of the auditorium. They had only blinked, and she had ended up on the other side of the room.
"That's badass," Gaila whispered.
"While I appreciate the compliment, no interruptions," Charlotte said, looking over towards the girl. She smiled upon recognizing who she was, "Now then, your main goal of this exam will be search and rescue."
There was a resounding echo of disappointment in the room.
"How are we supposed to show off our quirks if we can't battle anything?!"
"I said no interruptions!" Charlotte shouted, causing complete silence to envelope the room again, "As I said, your main goal will be search and rescue. You will need to find citizens in need of help and rescue them, but it is not simply who can find a citizen and bring them to the finish line the quickest. While we will be looking at how efficiently you can complete this task, there will be things in your way while you do it. So let's get to what exactly you will encounter in the exam."
She stepped forward again, causing the odd sensation of being stopped to fill the room again.
"There will be robots in the exam."
Heads whipped to the stairs to the left of the auditorium where Charlotte now stood.
"These robots have been designed to look like humans and to more or less act like them. If you attack them, they will defend themselves. If you hide from them, they will hunt you down. If you save the citizens from them, they will attack you. And there may just be a few that are out there to cause a little mayhem!"
"That's fine with me! I really need to punch something anyways!" Raios said, looking at Gaila, who sat next to him.
Another sly smile slipped across Charlotte's lips, "You think it will be that simple, do you?"
"Yeah, it's not like we have to hold back on them, right? How tough can they be? They're just robots," Raios answered.
The stopping sensation overcame the room again right before Charlotte appeared in front of Raios, causing him to jump back away from her.
"Underestimating your enemy like that will get you killed. You best remember that," she said, looking out at all the other examines, "You all should remember that. These aren't just some throwaway pieces of scrap metal you'll be facing. These are robots that have been altered and enhanced by our support team. And they have plenty of surprises hidden up their sleeves," she said, looking back down at Raios, "Got it?"
He nodded silently and quickly at her.
She grinned as she began walking back towards the stairs, "So then, you will each need to find a citizen to save. You will need to do this by whatever you think is necessary. Fight off the robots, find your citizen, and get them across the finish line. The finish line is where you will be starting your rescue mission. As soon as you cross that line with a citizen in hand, your exam will be over, so make every moment of it count. If after thirty minutes, you do not cross the finish line with a saved citizen, you will automatically fail the exam. Understand?"
Sounds of understanding and agreement echoed through the room.
"You will be graded at how efficiently you complete the task, how well you fought off the robots, and the condition of your citizen when you cross the finish line. So if you cross the line with half a body, that will also be an automatic fail. Half a body would be a dead person in the real world and cannot be considered saved. So think before you act once you have your citizen in your care."
Charlotte looked around the room then while she paused. She saw many determined faces in the crowd, but also a number of worried or doubtful faces. Though, it would only be through the exam that would tell them which of those faces would have the potential to become heroes.
"Remember that you all came here with a purpose. You all came here to become heroes. No matter the reason, whether it be for fame and glory, for recognition, or to prove something to yourselves, at the end of the day you are all here to be heroes. To help people. To stand for something greater than just yourselves. So dig deep and show us that you have the potential to become heroes! That you have the will and motivation to become part of something great! And that you're willing to fight for it until the very end!"
The feeling of excitement grew in the room, everyone sitting on the edge of their seats, barely being able to contain themselves. Everyone wanting to prove themselves right then and there.
"Show us something," Charlotte began as she took a step forward.
The odd sensation filled the room once again. It was the moment that Charlotte enjoyed seeing the most every year. As she walked down the steps of the time stopped room, she looked at all the excited faces of the examines. Every face filled with hope and desire at the chance to prove themselves, at the chance to become something every kid dreamed of being. They were the faces of heroes the world had yet to see, but ones she knew would become something great.
She came to stand in front of the teachers again, taking the stance she had started with when they appeared. She watched as she released her power and time began to flow again, enjoying the moment when heads whipped forward to look at her in surprise.
She smiled widely at the examines before her, "Magnificent!"
A/N: And there we are! I hope you enjoyed it!
Credits
Gaila Augusta – Dreadburner94
Raios Homura – Death Obelisk
So that was a fun chapter to write. I really enjoyed getting to introduce Gaila and Raios. They will be a fun pair throughout the story! So I hope they turned out well and you all like them. And then having Iris and Ford meet, GAH! I was so excited to be able to do that!
Anyways, the next chapter will be the actual exam! CHA! So that'll be exciting! I don't know how many people I will focus on in it, but I'm fairly certain it will include the six people that were focused on in the first two scenes of this chapter. If I get a chance to squeeze a few more people into it, then I will. I'll just have to see how it goes. But I hope you all like the search and rescue idea for the exam. I wanted to do something a bit different than straight up fighting, so I figured this was a good way to do it. It'll still include fighting, of course, but there will also have to be some thinking going on and making sure their citizen doesn't "die" once they have them.
Again, your reviews were wonderful! They give me life! Haha! But seriously, you all are just great! I love that you all love the story and I greatly enjoy seeing your feedback on things!
I will apologize now for any grammar or spelling mistakes. I did read over the chapter before posting it, but it's like stupid early in the morning and I'm tired, but most things should be fine.
I think that should be it for this time around!
Until next chapter!
Yours Truly,
MyDearWatson