Trace was standing in front of the test dome with his classmates. They were quite excited since they were going to attempt to get their hero licenses today.many kids had come up to him, praising him for his strength and pure determination. Everyone had heard about him beating All-For-One.
"You seem to have a lot of fans Trace", kaminari winked at Trace, causing him to look at him confused.
"Yeah, no, I don't have fans, I have friends though", Trace flashed a grin.
"Alright, listen up", Aizawa had gathered his students' attention, "You have been trained for the test they will give you, so do your best, and I expect results".
The students nodded, "YES SIR".
Everyone stepped into the waiting area, there were easily a thousand people here. A man walked up on stage to the mic.
"ALL RIGHT, LISTEN UP, IN ORDER TO GET THE BEST HEROES, WE WILL ONLY BE ALLOWING 100 PEOPLE TO MOVE ON TO THE SECOND LEVEL OF TESTING, SO HERE'S HOW THE FIRST ROUND WILL WORK, YOU EACH HAVE THREE TARGETS, YOU ARE TO PUT THESE ANYWAY EXPOSED ON YOUR BODY SO YOU CAN'T HIDE IT, IT NEEDS TO BE IN PLACES OTHERS CAN EASILY REACH, IF ALL THREE OF YOUR TARGETS ARE HIT, YOU ARE ELIMINATED, YOUR GOAL IS TO ELIMINATE TWO OTHER PEOPLE, SO HEAD OUT INTO THE TESTING GROUNDS AND PREPARE TO DEFEND YOURSELVES FROM EACH OTHER".
Everyone flocked into the testing grounds, class 1-A stuck together though, well… except for Bakugo and Todoroki. They ran off. Trace began surveying the area. They probably should run for a specific area so they aren't surrounded in the open. As he thought, a buzzer rang out, indicating the match started. The ground beneath them trembled as it fell apart.
Everyone was separated.
Trace rose to his feet, holding his head. "Why did that occur, was that a quirk or the stadium?".
He tried to get his bearings, but it was impossible. Everything looked the same to him. Hee needed a plan. He began running, trying to find anyone he could. He ran in whatever trenches he could find to avoid detection. But that plan lasted a whole ten seconds. Some random person screamed to everyone, "THAT'S THE KID WHO BEAT ONE-FOR-ALL, TAKE HIM DOWN". Trace groaned internally. "I'm sorry Djinn, but we can't afford to be knocked out of the test". Trace called on Djinn, enveloping himself fully in darkness. He began outputting power with his negative buff to intimidate his opponents. It clearly worked since they all began running. He continued to search for his friends, he knew they were close, but he didn't know how close. All he knew was he had to stay strong for them.
"HEY GUYS, TRACE IS OVER HERE".
Trace froze. Next thing he knows, he's surrounded by heroes in training. They all aimed a ball at Trace and fired simultaneously. Trace jumped straight up, tossing balls left and right. While he didn't get anyone out, he set them all to one life.
"RUN, HE'S GONNA ELIMINATE US". they ran for their lives, hoping he wouldn't pursue.
Trace chuckled before running toward the city area. Maybe someone would be there. He ran for a few minutes, it was too quiet. He stopped dead in his tracks at that realization. It was dead silent. And here he was, being a human elephant. He listened closely. He could hear footsteps behind him. He turned quickly to see Sero and Uraraka standing there. He smiled quickly. "Thank goodness You're not out".
Sero had a look of despair on him. "Me and Uraraka are down a life each so we need to be more careful, what do we do in this scenario?!".
Trace had plenty to think about. They were indeed outnumbered as other schools are teaming up to eliminate them. "We need to lay low, I could try to draw fire so you guys can get targets, but We need more, maybe a trap", Trace began mumbling to himself. Sero and Uraraka watched in surprise as Trace thought of every angle he could, eventually he snapped his fingers together. "Okay, Sero, can you set tape along this small trench, I'm gonna go collect out targets and bring them here, once here, Sero will capture them in his tape, and Uraraka will float them upon contact with the tape, that way, they are completely immobile". Sparks appeared around Trace's body.
Sero put a thumbs up and Uraraka put up an A-Okay sign. "Let's do this". Sero set to work, setting up the tape, Uraraka helped plan the best spots for said tape.
"Now for the bait", Trace thought to himself. He ran into the battlefield, planning to get attention. He began screaming, as if searching for his friends. Eventually a group of ninja like people encountered Trace.
"THERE HE IS, TAKE HIM DOWN", The ninjas were about to charge at him, but Trace threw a ball, hitting a target on the red ninja, causing him to look at Trace with fury.
But Trace was smiling widely before cupping his hands. "TAG, YOU'RE IT". Trace began running as fast as he could. He could easily outrun, but he had to make it interesting. He purposely went much slower than his max power. They began throwing metal objects at him, hoping to trap him or hinder him. But he simply jumped over the obstacle. He turned and cupped his hands together, "YOU'RE NOT VERY GOOD AT THIS GAME ARE YOU?". Trace continued running but snickered at the ninja's anger. This was kind of fun. He eventually made his way to the trap where he turned.
He saw the ninjas standing there furiously. The red one was especially angry. "You think you can make a fool out of us kid, This isn't a game, this is real life". The many ninja began lunging at him, hoping to tag a target.
Trace responded by stepping slightly to his left, causing the ninja's to fall into their trap, encasing them in tape. Trace stepped up to the hole with a smirk. "I don't know guys, I mean, life has felt like a video game these last few days, I mean, there were cases where I should have died, but I was practically granted an extra life, so I'm gonna stand up and keep being me". Trace, Sero, and Uraraka eliminated two people each, claiming a spot in the rescue test.
"WE DID IT", Sero was crying with joy.
"CLASS 1-A FOR THE WIN", Uraraka was smiling wide, a hand in the air in victory.
Trace simply smiled, he had made it to the next part. He would get his license, he was determined to do so, to prove those bullies wrong.
They began walking back to the waiting area, as they were instructed. They had moved on.
"We're in baby, we can do this", Sero pumped his arms in excitement.
Uraraka was practically bouncing with excitement. "I know, we're actually gonna do this, we're gonna succeed.
Trace smiled at his friends. He was glad for them. He was about to speak, but he stopped. His vision became blurry, his balance was off, he tripped and fell, hitting the ground with a thud. He could faintly make out noises. He heard Sero and Uraraka call his name. But he couldn't get up. He was coughing up more of the black gunk. His body grew weaker with each use. He had 4 left. He could feel himself being hoisted onto someone's back. He felt every step, every breath, every seconds passing. But he couldn't tell where he was. He could hear faint voices, but nothing that stood out. He tried to stay awake, but he just couldn't. He passed out. He knew he would need to recuperate for a minute.
"Djinn, I know you're mad at me, but please, understand why I called on you, and look, I'm okay, just a tad bit fatigued, Trust me".
Djinn looked at Trace with bitterness. "Trace, you're gonna die if this continues, we need to find a way for you to call on me without the drawbacks, you can't keep calling on me to aid you".
Trace smiled, "Last I checked, I've got a pulse, it'll take more than some stress to do me in Djinn, so let's pass this test, then figure out a way to summon you without risk". Trace put a hand on Djinn's shoulder. "We are a team Djinn, I'm not going anywhere".
Djinn put his arm on Trace's. "Just don't get yourself killed yet". Djinn poked Trace in the head.
After a few seconds of darkness, Trace awoke in a chair in the waiting room. Many people were looking at him. Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, and Mina. They all had looks of worry on their faces. Trace smiled before saying, "what's up guys, that was a pretty good nap". Trace got to his feet. He was still wobbly, but could easily deal with that. Kirishima allowed himself to breath out, finally relaxing slightly. Mina threw herself into Trace, hugging him closely to her. Trace returned the embrace. "I need to tell you guys something important, it has to do with Djinn".
Everyone nodded quickly, waiting for Trace to begin. Trace took a deep breath. "Turns out, every time I call upon Djinn, he absorbs any stress I have at the time. And while other emotions and feelings are removed when used for the negative buff, stress never goes away, it just builds up in Djinn, if the stress becomes too powerful, then it starts taking its toll on my body, I have 4 uses before I will die from calling out Djinn". Trace looked to the ground solemnly.
Mina however, looked at him with fear. "When did you find out about this Trace", Mina sounded extremely worried, but also angry.
Trace hung his head low. "Yesterday before you came to my room for the night, I didn't know how to explain it so I waited, thinking I would be able to hide it, but the secret's out".
Everyone stared at him in shock. He was dying slightly every time he called out Djinn. They were all worried about him. He had literally been killing himself to protect his friends.
Mina was about to say something, but a buzzer alerted them to head into the rescue arena. Mina shook her head. "He needs to push himself a little less at least", Mina was scared for his safety. He wasn't exactly the best at avoiding injuries but he wasn't the worst at it either. Mina was deep in thought as Trace guided her. How could she help him. There had to be a way.
All 100 students were in the arena, waiting for further instruction.
"ALRIGHT, YOUR MISSION IS TO RESCUE CIVILIANS IN THE AREA, GOOD LUCK".
Trace began running into the city, searching for survivors. He could hear screaming coming from close by. He began running toward a small house. There was a little kid stuck under a bit of rubble. Trace quickly ran over. "Are you alright little guy", Trace began lifting the rubble just enough for him to crawl out from under it. Once he was free, Trace gently set the rubble down, there was no need to risk injuring anyone else.
Once he was sure the rubble was down, he turned to the kid who appeared to have a nasty gash on his head. Trace held an arm out to heal it, but it wasn't healing. Trace sat there confused. "If he's injured, why isn't the injury healing?".
The kid was confused. "Kid, you realize touching the gash will deduct points from your score right?".
Trace was confused. "I have the power to heal injuries as long as I take the injury for myself, I was trying to heal you but I'm assuming that's fake blood right?".
The kid began to laugh. "Oh boy, we didn't really consider healing quirks all that much, apologies, I won't deduct points for now".
Trace picked the kid up, "here, allow me to get you to safety, let's go", Trace began running as fast as he could while making sure he didn't agitate the wound. He was very careful with the kid in his hands. After a few minutes, he reached where they set up the safe area.
One of the heroes there saw him and ran up to him to take the kid.
Trace set the kid in her arms. "Careful with him, he has taken some trauma to the head, he needs medical attention as soon as possible".
Trace was about to run out to find more people when an explosion close by caught his attention. A hole was put into the arena wall, revealing gang orca and a bunch of bad guys behind him.
Trace screamed out, "GET THE CIVILIANS SOMEWHERE SAFE, GO".
Heroes began assisting people in moving as they retreated from the villains. Trace stood out front ready to fight. A hand on his shoulder caught his attention.
Trace turned to see the kid with black hair from earlier, except he had much more determination on his face.
"Apologies Split, but go help them, I can handle this", Shindo spoke calmly and clearly.
Trace however didn't move, "It's better I remain her Grand, we create a wall they can't pass, so let me stay here".
Shindo seemed slightly annoyed. "Look, I can handle this, you should be helping others".
Without realizing. Trace called upon Djinn to cover his left side before turning back to Shindo. "That wasn't a request Grand". His eyes were golden.
Shindo stood there surprised. After a few seconds he smiled. "Understood, let's take them down".
The gunners began firing cement at them, hoping to encase them. But Trace easily threw up barriers to block the cement. They could easily hold back the small arms, but Gang-Orca would be much more difficult to conquer.
"Grand, prepare your quirk, but do not fire until I say, I know how to clear this stage", Trace had a smirk on his face.
Shindo didn't hesitate, he began rubbing his hands together quickly before setting them against the ground. He waited for his signal.
Trace continued to block the cement until a barrier 10 feet tall was formed. He could sense Shindo about to use it but he put a hand in front of him. "Not yet Grand, trust me on this". Trace continued to block cement. Eventually, they were covered from every direction. Trace dropped his barriers before covering himself and shindo in a barrier. "NOW GRAND".
Grand activated his quirk, Destroying the cement block trapping them.
Shards were flying in every direction, incapacitating the villains apart from Gang-Orca who stood there menacingly.
"Good job buys, you beat round one, but let's see how you deal with a pro".
Gang-Orca was on top of them before they could react. He grabbed Shindo and began hitting him with sonic waves, rendering him unconscious. Trace swung with his shadow arm but was blocked effortlessly. He turned to Trace and began hitting him with sonic waves.
Trace was struggling but refused to give up. He began channeling power to his legs, planning to break the hold. After a few seconds, Trace started to feel like jelly. He reared his leg back. "Release 10 percent". He fired a kick that sent Gang-Orca flying back a good 30 feet. He grabbed shinso and began backing up. He needed a plan. Shindo was down, and he wasn't far behind him. Trace set Shindo down, stepping in front of him. He needed to protect him until backup arrived. "LET'S GO VILLAIN". Trace put a barrier over Shindo before charging at Gang-Orca, rearing a fist back.
Gang-Orca moved to deflect but was never actually hit. He looked up to see Trace on the ground, his arms riddled with black marks, his left eye was pure black. He ran out of time. Gang-Orca began laughing. "Foolish hero, you could never defeat me", Gang-Orca reared back a fist of his own, "Just know, you were beaten by the best". He swung at Trace, but never connected, the very ground below him gave way, causing him to slip and miss Trace. He looked up to see Shindo, hands against the ground with a smirk.
Shindo vibrated the ground enough to make Gang-Orca sink before grabbing Trace, and running toward the civilian safe point. Trace was barely conscious. After a few minutes, Shindo stopped running, setting Trace down. His arms were completely black, his right eye dark as night, and half his face was now covered in the darkness. He was in pain. Trace was shaking viciously. Shindo put a hand on his shoulder and began vibrating it gently, hoping to ease his pain even a little. He didn't know what to do.
Trace was clearly in terrible condition but he didn't know how to help him. A noise from behind caught his attention. He turned to see the bad guys jumping at them. He couldn't react in time, but he would try. He began to put his hands to the ground, but never got them there. Black tentacles had flown past him, going straight at the villains, before slapping them to the ground, rendering the bad guys unconscious. He turned to see the tentacles coming from Trace who was straining himself tremendously.
Once Trace was sure they were down, he attempted to reach his feet, but fell to his knees instead, coughing up more black gunk. He was down for now. "Grand, go assist at the front lines, I'll be fine".
Shindo didn't budge though. "You're coming with me Split, you can fight through it, so let's go". Shindo helped Trace to his feet. Trace took a second to orient himself, but once he was oriented he began running back toward Gang-Orca with Shindo. It took them a few minutes, but they managed to find Gang-Orca once more. He was stuck in a firestorm. Trace jumped straight into the center of that storm, much to Shindo's surprise. He had pushed the darkness aside for now. He began charging One-For-All in his body, preparing to launch a powerful strike. He landed the blow on Gang-Orca's arm, breaking a weight on his arm. He prepared to launch another attack, but was stopped by the buzzer.
"THE TEST IS OVER, EVERYONE COME TO THE CENTER FOR THEIR RESULTS".
All 100 hundred students went to the board where many names were shown.
"IF YOUR NAME IS UP THERE, THAN YOU PASSED, OTHERWISE, THERE IS A EXTRA CLASS YOU CAN TAKE FOR 4 MONTHS TO GET YOUR LICENSES"
Everyone began searching for their names. Shindo smiled widely. "I passed!".
"Same here Shindo", Trace was smiling widely. They shook each other's hands, thanking the other for their assistance. After a few minutes he went and found the other members of his class. The darkness had cleared up at this point, but he had scars from the fire storm. Once he found his friends, he smiled widely. Everyone had smiles on their faces. Except for Bakugo and Todoroki. "Are you guys alright?". Trace was concerned for his friends.
Todoroki put his head down. "My and Bakugo failed".
Trace sat there stunned. How did they not make it through?
He sat there in silence. What could he say. Nothing would fix what happened.
(1 hour later)
Trace stood with Kirishima and Kaminari, not really saying anything. He didn't know what to say at the moment.
"Look what the trash brought in".
Trace turned to see Monoma standing there with a smug look. "Your two strongest students failed the course, guess you're all failures then".
Trace didn't hesitate. He summoned Djinn to control half his body. He didn't care about what would happen later. He was fed up with Monoma. He punched Monoma square in the nose, breaking it in one hit. "SHUT THE FUCK UP MONOMA, I AM NOT PUTTING UP WITH YOUR BULSSHIT RIGHT NOW".
Monoma held his nose, staring at Trace with eyes of hatred. "You're just a monster, so you don't matter to society bitch".
Trace was seeing red at this point. He grabbed both of Monoma's arms, and smiled maliciously. "Do you know what happens when two kids pull on a wishbone?!", Trace wasn't thinking clearly at this point.
Monoma began to shake fearfully. He tried to break free, but Trace had a grip of steel on him.
Trace began to pull on his arms slightly, causing Monoma to scream. "I'll show you". He was about to rip his arms from when a hand found its way to his shoulder. He looked behind him to see Hado standing there.
"Trace!, This isn't how a hero should be acting, he's not worth it, let him go". Hado was expressionless.
Monoma began to smirk. "Listen to her villain".
This pushed Trace over. He released Monoma, before kicking him with 100% power, sending him flying across the hall, and through the wall on the other side. Trace began walking up the stairs.
Hado followed closely behind him, trying to keep an eye on him. They had gone up to the roof.
Trace walked to the center, and fell to his knees. He began to weep. "Djinn, what do I do… I don't know if I can control it anymore".
Djinn spoke slowly but calmly. "You know what you have to do Trace, forget about me".
Trace couldn't believe it. Did he truly have to get rid of Djinn? "Djinn, I can't… you're my friend too Djinn, I can't lose you".
A hand on his shoulder, caused Trace to jump. He turned to see Hado staring at him with concern. Trace went wide-eyed. "H-how much did y-you h-h-hear". Trace was afraid he put a weight on her.
Hado's expression never changed. "Everything".
Trace looked to the ground, but she pulled him back to her gaze.
"You have a lot of explaining to do Trace, what is happening to you?". Hado was worried about this student.
Trace sighed. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell anymore people, but it appears I need to explain it again, just promise me you won't tell anyone else for now, I need time to come to terms with a few things first".
Hado nodded quickly, prompting Trace to begin. He explained his past to Hado and everything that occurred that involved him and Djinn. Hado sat quietly listening to every detail. After Trace finished, Hado just had a single question. "How many more times can you call on Djinn then".
Trace looked to the ground. "2, though strangely enough, I haven't felt any drawbacks from using it against Monoma". Trace's eyes widened a second as he tilted his head. "Djinn, we're not getting rid of you, I'll find a way to fix this, we can find a way Djinn, please".
Half of Trace got covered in shadows. Djinn was trying to use up Trace's summons. "DJINN, DON'T DO THIS, WE CAN FIND A WAY, YOU DON'T HAVE TO LEAVE, PLEASE".
But Djinn wasn't listening. He reduced Trace to one final use. "I can't live with myself if I caused your death Trace, so please, just forget about me".
"DJINN", anger was filling Trace's voice, surprising Hado and Djinn. "EVEN IF I ONLY HAVE ONE FINAL USE, I CAN JUST NOT USE IT, I DON'T HAVE TO KILL MY BODY TO KEEP YOU SAFE, I CAN'T LIVE WITH MYSELF IF I KILLED YOU DJINN, SO STOP".
Djinn retracted back into Trace. Neither of them were fully okay right now. They were broken. Trace fell to the ground, coughing up even more black gunk. Only his left eye was untouched by the darkness. He had 1 final use, he didn't want to use it. He would find a way to safely summon Djinn, he had to.
He eventually cleared himself of the darkness, staying on his hands and knees until the dizziness subsided. Once he was sure he would be able to stand, he rose. He was very off balanced.
"Trace, look at me", Hado sounded angry.
Trace turned to Hado who began yelling at him. "If you're in this bad of a condition, why didn't you go see Recovery Girl!?".
Trace held his arm with a hand. "Because she can't heal emotions, it's not Djinn that's killing me, it's the fact he absorbs emotions that's killing me… you see, when he absorbs stress, he has no way of removing that stress, it powers him, but he can't get rid of it, so when he uses his powers, that stress takes its toll on my body, that's why I don't see Recovery Girl, because She can't remove it, we've tried before and it just made things worse, I'll find a way to save Djinn". Trace spoke with such conviction, much to Hado's surprise.
Hado didn't know what to say. He couldn't just get rid of the stress, so he has to bottle it. He must have a lot built up if it has gotten this bad.
Trace walked through the door on the roof, heading back downstairs. He knew tomorrow was gonna be a long day.