Am I late? A bit. Did the hot weather melt my brain? That too. Not having air conditioning is a nightmare this summer, especially with all the fires that happened around my area (don't worry, I'm fine).
I have to add that writing this chapter was harder than the previous one, and I wasn't expecting it to be, lol.
Enjoy!
The room was noticeably emptier than it has been in the morning. The success rate for their session had been 40%, as they were told soon enough, well within expectations, at least that's what Tomonaga-san said when she entered the room with the same perky step of the first announcement.
«To all of you, congratulations on passing the first phase! Now, for the next, things are going to be a little harder, obviously» she pushed a button and the screen lit again «You're going to face a scenario in which there are civilians...» a dummy dressed in a shirt with a large red target mark appeared on the screen «... in need to be saved.
Every individual is worth a variable number of points. You have to accumulate points to pass. It's allowed to work in teams, but in this case, you'll have to share the points and they will be divided equally among the team members. The exam is over when all the civilians are saved, which means brought to a safe location,» the screen showed the same fake hospitals from the previous scenario «... where you or your team, if you chose to make one, will be registered as the rescuer. You can, of course, go back to try and save more civilians to gain more points»
«The number of civilians to save must be limited, so time is of the essence, regardless of the absence of a time limit» Mercury reasoned «And they didn't tell us how many points we need to pass»
«Not only that. It sounds like it won't be counted if you took one out of danger, only the ones you bring back. This means you can have saves stolen from others. Again» Jupiter's brows furrowed in displeasure.
«It's just like the actual business» Mercury observed «Agencies are paid depending on the number of cases solved and not by the singular interventions made. It often happens that a pro who took out a Villain last minute takes most if not all the recognition and awards, even if others were there to do damage control, research, or fought it before, that part is only accounted as support»
«That's unfair!» Sailor Moon fussed.
«That's how a business is like» Mars replied in a flat tone. Despite that, her friends knew she shared the feeling.
The Senshi exchanged a quick look with Zazie and Barbara, who nodded as if to confirm they were still on board even with the unexpected conditions.
It made a weird feeling. They weren't exactly used to people relying on them, they always put all their efforts into defeating the enemy at hand without waiting for thanks nor collaborating with anyone, now those two girls would work with them, count on them to be a team, to pass their own exam.
Would it work that way once out there, when working with pro Heroes? Or would the pros look at them upside-down and refuse? Was it even wise to work with Heroes, and not keeping them on the sidelines, instead?
Not questions to be answered right then: once again, the participants were grouped in the middle of the arena, with the order to wait for the signal.
All of sudden, chaos ensued: several of the buildings that looked intact until moments before crashed fully or partially, many caught fire, the mountain on the side collapsed and so forth.
«Woow»
«Seems a little excessive»
«There aren't real people out there, right?» Barbara murmured, her eyes starting to scan the area as much as she could «As controlled as they can make it, there is still too large a margin of real wounds...»
«Stop worrying and start doing» Zazie cut her off, but she had a scowl of her own while perusing the scenery.
«Exam, second phase. START!» the buzzer went off and the Hero-hopefuls scattered, each towards the direction their individual abilities would be most effective.
The Senshi turned to Mercury, who already scanned the area and discretely pointed in a direction «That way. There's a collapsed building south-west, with a large number of targets, that should be enough for all of us»
The others nodded: «Let's head there» and ran towards the place Mercury suggested.
Zazie immediately went to flank Venus during the run and asked: «Now, can you tell me what in the world are those chains of yours made of? Don't give me the bullshit of love again, please»
«You're no fun» Venus pouted, then caught the unimpressed stare of the other and sighed «Honestly? I have no idea. I suppose it's condensed light or something»
«What?» the other shrieked «That's why I couldn't cut it?!»
«Is it that strange?» Moon wondered.
«Well, yes!»
«You mean you can cut everything? Absolutely everything?» Chibi Moon asked.
«Not everything everything, but pretty much all I tried so far at least was damaged. It's the first time I can't even land a scratch» Zazie replied «My quirk is Diamond Nails, pretty self-explanatory, but I made them even more efficient than real diamonds and I can extend the mutation to my whole arm now. My goal is to coat my whole body in it, one day»
«That's cool!»
«What about you, Barbara? I'd like to know how to incorporate you two into our usual strategy» Mercury required.
«Crab physiology» was the answer «I can make most my body similar to crab shell and my hands turn into claws»
«So, this new setting is not ideal for you?»
«I can do rescue. Actually, I prefer it» she said «I thought you'd like more another setting»
Jupiter shrugged «Rescue is good for us too»
«No, I mean...» Barbara hesitated for the jump and reprised when they landed «I thought you were fighting-based»
«We're saving-people-based» Sailor Moon replied «We do what it takes to keep people safe»
«As all Heroes should» Zazie cut off «We're slacking off»
At that, the Senshi picked up the pace.
The building they aimed for wasn't too far away at that point: having picked a faraway one, there were fewer chances of interferences and a good amount of points to gain. Moreover, the Yuuei Hero-hopefuls and their pursuers went another way, so the area was left uncovered, just as Mercury expected.
The save in itself wasn't going to be hard: the semi-collapsed building had structural problems and high chances for gas leaks or even explosions, but Mercury was able to instruct them and a mixture of good reflexes and the intensive training they got from Nedzu would do the trick.
«Wouldn't it be better if we did a complete evacuation?» Venus wondered, towards Mercury «In real life, we would»
«We start getting out those in the most dangerous situations» she replied «The ones who would, realistically, be put on high priority in a triage, hence need immediate attention, we can assume the highest points will be given according to that. We can come back later for the rest»
«We could split up, bring those to the hospital and save the others at the same time»
Mercury shook her head «In a realistic situation, that would be the best option, this or give first aid right here, but that's not the case since we'll be given points only for the ones we bring back. Plus, it's better for us not to split»
«I agree» Mars added «There's something that worries me, let's all go and we come back later, if we have spare time, or find another area to act in»
They all seemed to agree, except...
«No»
«Sailor Moon...»
«We need to show we're capable, that we will save people with all we have. We wouldn't leave anyone behind if it was real, no? So we won't here either»
«Can't say if you're naive to the point of stupid or a genius»
«Z-zazie-san!»
«We don't use the "san" with Hero names» she corrected, then nodded towards the building «Fine, let's do a complete evacuation and we'll try to carry as many as we can immediately. Where do you want to start?»
«Uhm...»
«I said I'd work with you, didn't I? There's more than enough for all of us here, so stop worrying about my intentions and let's finish this exam»
«Agreed! The more people we save, the more points we'll get» Barbara chimed in.
Mercury assessed the building, split them for maximum coverage and calculated routes for each team in seconds, pairing Barbara with Jupiter and Zazie with Venus, in a way she could instruct the teams through the comms and not leave their new allies out.
Before they went in, Mars took a hold of the fire and nodded, eyes closed in perfect focus «I'll keep it as stable as possible from here. If there are gas leaks warn me, I'll try to keep the fire away and in check»
«So cool!» Barbara said, in her intentions under her breath but everybody heard it.
All things considered, it was a quick operation, working in pairs sped up the work and helped to avoid crowding as well as accidents, save for Sailor Moon tripping on her own feet while getting out, but the weight of the puppets was that of real-life people so she was somewhat justified there.
In a handful of minutes, they had the life-size puppets of different "ages" and "injuries" lined up at safe distance from the building and started to separate those in "critical conditions" from those who could wait. The puppets were made to similar enough to real humans to be unsettling, plus they had recordings of voices that asked for help or lamented injuries, added to fake wounds made with rough accuracy, so the applicants could know where to go and what to do not far different from real humans.
«If this was real we wouldn't need to do this» Chibi Moon muttered, hands on her hips while she watched the others "stabilize" the fake civilians with first aid techniques «We could just heal them and send them their way»
«That's your quirk?» Barbara asked without diverting her attention from the task at hand «You're a healing type?»
«Sort of» the younger glossed over.
«Can't we say so to the examiners?» Venus suggested. She and Jupiter had just finished twisting her chain into a hammock to transport the puppets in the direst conditions - one showed several bones broken, other two had the eyes blocked and had no sound on so they assumed it meant "passed out, probably from the smoke", plus another with seemingly internal injuries - and had turned to Mercury for confirmation.
«Say what? "We already healed them, give us double points, please"?» Zazie shook her head and pulled a couple of puppets on her shoulders.
«Why not?»
«We can assume they didn't think of healing quirks as a possibility»
«Which is stupid» Chibi Moon muttered.
«And yet we have to adapt» Mars shrugged and hoisted up her assigned "civilian", more annoyed than upset by the sounds of pain coming from it, at which she had to adjust her grip to avoid "aggravate" the injury.
«Healing quirks are rare, it's even rarer who has one tries to become a Hero» Barbara frowned from under the weight of her charge «They're usually pushed to go into medicine»
«I know and that's unfair»
«Not the best time to speak about those things, Sailor Moon» Jupiter more or less slammed an "elderly woman" on her back to carry, then swiped up one end of the hammock, Venus and Mercury on the other end of it.
A little slower than before, the team moved towards the closest fake hospital. The other applicants, all over around, were busy with their own puppets, which were likely enough so no one needed to steal, at least in that first stage.
They put down the registration as a group, finding out they had, this way, fourteen points each, which didn't help much since they weren't told how much they needed to pass.
Nevertheless, out they ran again, to get the last "victims" they left behind and, possibly, to find more.
Suddenly, a buzzer went off, announcing half the victims had been rescued, followed by a sound of... water?
They looked at their feet, where the soil was getting muddy and heavy. A little forward, it looked like a giant mirror of dirty water was forming out of nowhere.
«They're flooding the arena now?!» Moon fretted.
«A mid-phase extra challenge» Zazie shrugged «It's pretty normal. Didn't your teachers warn you about it?»
«No!»
Barbara frowned «Funny, Yuuei kids didn't know either about...»
«And they swept the floor our classmates anyway» Zazie cut her off, then turned at Mercury «No time for chit chat, where do we go next?»
«For now we'll head back to our previous site, maybe there will still be some of our saved victims there. Then, if we consider the places already evacuated and the areas of greatest affluence...»
«Wait. Isn't that an electric train?» Chibi Moon pointed up. There was, in fact, an elevated railway running over most of the scenario, damaged by the new seismic shock, it was now dangerously close to the newly-formed water body.
«But if it comes in contact with water...»
«Let's head there!»
Mercury looked a bit disappointed at yet another plan of hers overlooked.
«She's right, this counts as a greater emergency. I bet the train is full» Jupiter reassured her, then prompted her to follow.
The mouldy soil had gotten even worse, making it harder to run.
«Sometimes I really hate I don't have boots too» Venus huffed.
«Same» Mars sighed.
«Can't you request an upgrade of your Hero suits?» Barbara asked «I mean, even a school like ours, and we're not as high budget as Yuuei or Shiketsu, lets us alter the design if we need to»
«We're not allowed» Mars replied, avoiding any explanation. It wasn't like they could explain their fukus didn't come from a company of sort, nor they wanted to.
«Well, I bet once you'll go pro and you'll get your hands on the royalties of your merch you'll be able to change it» Hanadera happily said, only to squeal and cover her mouth with her free hand.
«Barbara!» Zazie scolded.
«Sorry!» she shrieked, her face completely red «It's just... I've been a fan for a while. I got all the best bootleg dolls that came out and other stuff, but you're a lot prettier and cooler in person»
The Senshi didn't have time to be properly floored - because sure, they knew there was unofficial merchandise of them but never met anyone who owned any, especially not an aspiring Hero... - they had reached the train, along with some more applicants, and had to work on the evacuation.
It was a good thing everyone was more preoccupied with the saves than the stealing - which would probably come later - and everyone was more or less collaborating in keeping the train in place, carrying out the fake victims and so forth.
The girls scored a puppet each, two in Jupiter's case because she picked two small ones, supposedly children, but didn't intend to stop until the whole train was put in safety. Not everyone agreed with the sentiment, and among all the applicants who came to the rescue, several had already left with their points.
One of the cars was still high up, but applicants with flying quirks, including the hummingbird boy, were dealing with it.
«You think we can leave too?» Jupiter wondered, trying to figure out whether the ones on the upper car needed help or not.
A new shockwave ran through the arena and the train shook out the rails. Several of the flying ones tried to hold it up but were swatted away by repeated high-pressured jets of water.
«What the...?»
Barbara managed to protect herself and the ones behind her by using her claws together to re-direct the water.
«It seems like we need to choose, fight or save»
«But fight who?»
They looked in the direction the water came: a bulky man with long liquid hair and a diving mask was spouting water jets from his hands at anyone in sight, a group of people in black diving suits followed with powered-up water guns or something similar.
He was threatening, or should have been, except the girls couldn't feel any malicious intent behind him beyond his hostile attitude.
«That's Jogfalls!» Barbara muttered after they took cover behind a boulder.
«He's a pro Hero from her birth area» Zazie explained «It's more than likely another part of the exam, the fake flood must be his doing too»
Despite knowing they were there to be tested, Mercury had gotten weary of the methods used by the Hero Public Safety Commission to test their examinees. It wasn't a good criterion in any way, they already checked combat prowess in the first phase, they surely had enough data to judge their abilities in that sense, now they were supposed to focus on their practical ability to help others, not shift the topic midway! That was not how an official exam was supposed to be led!
«Let's not waste more time» she affirmed, pushing gently aside a rather confused Jupiter and leaving her puppet with her to get out their temporary cover and charge her own signature attack: «Mercury Aqua Mirage!»
The water blasts of the Senshi of Wisdom were stronger than those of her opponent and just as controlled, and he was overpowered. The other examiners, likely sidekicks of the Hero, were too busy with the rest of the participants to interfere promptly. The surprised pro was down in two seconds flat, blocked to the floor by the now frozen water jets.
«I'm sorry, Jogfalls-san» Mercury formally bowed at the incapacitated but perfectly conscious Hero.
The man looked her way in a strange way, then laughed «It's the first time in 20 years of my career that I experience something like that»
«I'll take it as a compliment, sir. If I may, I'd put forth a complaint...»
«Not now, Mercury!» Venus pushed her away before she could begin a tirade on what she didn't like about the methods or whatever because she knew how long Ami's speeches could get and they didn't have time for that, not if they wanted to pass the exam and not be kicked out before they could even finish it.
They were back on track soon, after having recovered their "civilians" and some more on the way, when, without warning, Mars stopped in her tracks, almost sending Moon to tumble over and lose the grip on her puppet.
«Why did you stop like that?»
«This energy» she replied, looking left, right and up «It's similar to Eudial's. I think felt it this morning too, but I'm sure now»
«You mean...?»
«The Death Busters?!»
On their heads, a dome had appeared, seemingly made of glowing numbers or a scheme of the sort. Outside, barely visible from where they stood, more than a few of the teachers had gotten up in alarm.
«Aaah!» Sailor Moon screeched, kicking away whatever had grabbed her leg from below and sending it to tumble further down the road.
It was then that they realized the puppets had buzzed to life and started to move, gripping the applicants from everywhere, their recordings going on like crazy in a cacophony of screams, requests for help and more.
Zazie and Jupiter were the quickest to react, smashing the ones closest to them to pieces, soon their example was followed by nearly everyone around. The puppets weren't made to withstand long fights and were overpowered with ease for the most part.
«Damn, that was scary!»
«I don't think it's over» Mars warned «I can still feel that presence»
«Let's get out of here and warn the exam commission there's something wrong»
They nodded in agreement and started to run towards the main entrance, but once there, they found the gate blocked by the barrier and someone in front of it: a girl with white hair and an outfit in ice-blue and black was hovering half a meter from the ground, the same golden staff with the black star Eudial carried was in her hands, the symbol of the Death Busters, the confirmation of their suspicions.
«Well, I didn't expect people with such strong souls to be so careless! This is the longest you've been exposed, out in the open and easy to find. And now I, Viluy, level 202, will bring your heads to our Magus and turn all those measly, imperfect life forms into receptacles for our Master!»
She swung her staff and black stars appeared on the foreheads of several of the people around, whose eyes went empty.
«Zazie, Barbara, get away from here!» Venus urged.
«What are...?»
Jupiter positioned herself between Viluy's line of fire and their allies «This is not part of the exam. This is a real attack»
«All the best reason not to run» Zazie replied, switching to a fighting stance, her hands glittering from their diamond form.
Similarly, Barbara had her claws out «What kind of Heroes would we be if we ran from Villains?»
Viluy smirked «How quaint! And illogical. But strong, and daimons made with strong Hosties are more effective, maybe I'll get you too. Go, my nanomachines!»
Jupiter pushed away Zazie and parred with electricity Viluy's attack.
«You don't have long-range attacks, get out of here» she warned again the non-Senshi.
«Jupiter Coconut Cyclone»
«Venus Love Me Chain»
«Mars Snake Fire»
Viluy was incredibly quick, disappearing from the trajectory of their attacks with too much ease.
«Eudial's loss to you was obvious, but I am different» Viluy bragged «I studied you and you'll never be able to beat me and my nanomachines, nor my daimons» she waved her staff and some of the people with stars on their foreheads started to change into daimons.
The shrieks of the transformed people could be heard coming from different areas of the arena, mixed up by the valiant attempts of the still conscious participants to fight. The puppets had started to reanimate again too and the chaos increased tenfold.
«Mercury!»
«Seven daimons, all human-based» was her quick reply «We need to contain the people controlled too!»
They jumped away from the human attackers, who the daimons weren't going to touch, but even then Viluy appeared at Chibi Moon's back, palm outstretched.
«Go, my nanoma-»
Venus kicked her in the face, the Witch tumbled away, but got up soon, rage on her reddened face «That's impossible. You use longe-range attacks, that's not...»
«Burning Mandala»
It wasn't exactly the fairest to attack from behind, but didn't the Witch ambush them first? Mars had no qualms of fairness when it came to this and aimed the fire spheres in complex patterns against the enemy. If she dodged, Mars redirected them to the daimon closest, to add help to Jupiter, Moon, Barbara and Zazie who were facing it.
Mercury was still on the sidelines, shouting indications and trying to control the situation through her visor, until...
«Upwards! You need to break this dome!» she indicated.
«What?»
«Her powers are emphasized by the nanomachines that compose the dome. It's possible she won't be able to sustain this large-scale attack alone without it»
«On it! Sparkling Wide Pressure» Jupiter was the quickest to launch her attack upwards, followed by Sailor Moon's Moon Spiral Heart Attack and even by many quirks from the participants who, even if they weren't sure what was going on, gave it a try.
Under the pressure, the dome cracked and soon the cracks started to form even in points not touched by the people in, as if there were attempts from the outside too.
Viluy looked up wide-eyed when she realized it, but Venus and Mars were still keeping her busy.
At last, the dome shattered.
Mamoru jumped in among the first, throwing around his roses to clear his way and get to the girls. Tomonaga came in too, on the back of what looked like a ghostly tiger, roaring so hard it made the glass around it rattle and the teachers and pro Heroes poured inside from the bleachers, to assist their students in subduing the other applicants and even contain the daimons.
The daimons seemed nonplussed by the turnaround, but Viluy's face sported a belligerent frown and a bit of fear in her stance.
The puppets were out of her control now, and most of the applicants she had under control had stopped moving too, either because they had been blocked by their peers, or just because they weren't reacting to her commands any longer.
In dismay, Viluy looked around and, after a few seconds of consideration, she clenched her fists and shouted: «This is not over, Sailor Senshi!» then disappeared, leaving the arena to its destiny, including the controlled people who, away from her influence, started to fall to the ground like marionettes whose strings had been cut.
«Damn it! She escaped!» Jupiter cursed.
«Don't worry about that, we have to deal with this now» Mars exhorted her, pointing at the still raging daimons who, unlike the rest of the victims and pawns, were still active.
Ignoring the questions coming from left and right, the Senshi left behind Barbara and Zazie to split and purify the daimons first, finding many had been captured by the combined efforts of aspiring and pro Heroes who witnessed the transformation firsthand and were unwilling to hurt people they knew, ending up more grateful than questioning once the healing was done.
When that last part was solved, the Senshi regrouped at the center of the arena, taking in the aftermath situation.
A lot of people were still unresponsive, the black stars have disappeared from their foreheads but their eyes were still vacant and lifeless despite the many attempts to wake them up from friends and classmates.
«I think this is up to us,» Sailor Moon told Chibi Moon, showing her staff «Are you ready?»
The younger nodded and grabbed her baton tighter, then together they pointed their scepters upwards and shouted: «Double Moon Princess Halation!»
The purifying flood of colourful lights was always a spectacle, the way it invested people and things, revitalizing what was drained, healing and fixing all that was possible, even more so with the power of the Silver Crystal Chibiusa owned added to it, and people in the arena tried to look at it as much as possible, mesmerized and reassured by it all.
When the light dissipated, Sailor Moon turned left and right, upset at the fact the mock city was no better than before even if the people were now waking up, confused but unharmed.
«Uh? It didn't work?»
Jupiter shrugged «I suppose the scenario was built to become this way, so there was nothing to fix for real»
«Oh!» she seemed eased by that. For a moment, she feared it was another sign of the Silver Crystal being weakened, but this made more sense. In all honesty, the whole ordeal had been hard on her strengths and she worried her powers wouldn't be enough for so many people. Seeing the situation under control and slowly going back to normalcy was a great relief.
As it often happened, the few injuries coming from the fight had been healed by Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon's Princess Halation, so no one needed to be hospitalized or even brought to the infirmary.
What wasn't in line with their habits was to be forced to wait at the scene of the incident: the Senshi usually left as soon as possible to avoid leaving any trace, but they knew that wasn't opportune at the current moment.
Many - as in a whole lot - of the applicants and pros had tried to approach them, but Jogfalls put himself in the middle and made sure the girls wouldn't be swamped.
«You alright there?» he asked over his shoulder.
The Senshi nodded, a bit surprised by the gentleness of the question.
«Not sure what happened, but good job. No matter how many points you got, what you did for real was more important, don't forget that»
Tomonaga arrived immediately after, not giving them the chance to answer, and she called to her Jogfalls, who joined the line of the examiners. After a brief talk among them, her assistant held a microphone in front of her and she spoke without waiting for the podium to be brought again.
«If I can have your attention,» she started and everybody turned her way and quieted «It was decided to assign the points according to your behaviour previous to and during the attack. You'll know soon if you passed or otherwise, in the worst-case scenario we'll only have to rewatch the footage. In the meantime, you are free to get changed and regroup with your schoolmates and teachers, but please, do not leave the premises just yet»
Many of the students rambled, but ultimately no one opposed. Some of the teachers, instead, were more vocal.
«What about making them reprise the exam?»
«The time wasn't over yet!»
«You can't change the rules midway...»
Tomonaga clapped her hands, but when it didn't have any effect, her tiger quirk showed up with a roar and a shade of angry red. More than a few, even if they were seasoned Heroes, jumped back at that, most with defensive stances and glares, until Tomonaga called it off.
«Now, please be quiet and let me explain» she shook her head «This attack was not, in fact, part of the exam, although it gave us excellent grading material. In fact, I believe that watching the aspiring Heroes deal with a real situation and not a mere simulation gave us more than we hoped for. That's why every action will be taken into account. For the ones who were rendered unconscious or else, they'll be able to attend makeup classes and the relative exam, earlier than the next official one planned for September»
«Why not now?»
The tiger roared again from behind Tomonaga's scowl «Do you care at all for those kids' wellbeing?! I know the Hero profession exposes people to trauma, but they're just teens! Right now they need to recover from the stress and wounds sustained, the rest will come later. Honestly, if pros got in their head they need to watch their health from time to time we'd have fewer problems!» she added with her hands on her hips.
Before another ruckus could rise, the Tiger intervened again, pushing away the protesting teachers with its girth, although most of them resigned to her decision and urged their students to move on and get changed.
Similarly Mamoru, despite his lingering worry, started to walk away. There was no telling what the examiners would do about the girls, so the only option was to wait.
«Excuse me?» Tomonaga's assistant stopped Mamoru «Tomonaga-sama would like to have word with your class, would you please call them? We'll be on the second floor, room 203»
Although puzzled, Mamoru nodded and called for the girls with the comm, and they showed up immediately, still in their official fukus and not the fake uniforms which they hadn't had the chance to change in yet.
«Are you alright?» he worried.
«We're fine» was the collective answer. They were well aware of the cameras still recording from every corner, so Mamoru limited himself to tell them about the head examiner's request.
When they reached the second floor, Tomonaga was speaking with the other examiners with an evident frown on her face «It was a turn of luck that the Help Us Company was understaffed and couldn't be part of this exam session, or the situation could have turned even worse...»
Mamoru cleared his throat to get her attention and the woman dismissed the ones she was talking with to approach the Senshi.
«Did you want to see us, Tomonaga-san?» Venus took the initiative.
«Yes, I've been meaning to speak with you girls for a while now»
«Us?»
The woman nodded «I spoke with some people in high place about your situation, when we got your application, and I've been told you've been Vigilantes, so far»
The Senshi froze. What was she going with this? Were they going to be disqualified? Or worse, arrested? That was why they were allowed to take the exam even if they knew they were Vigilantes?
«In theory, you should first pay for the times you broke the law... but since you came here to regularize your position, I've been allowed to let it slide»
They all didn't bother to hide their relieved sighs at that.
With a face that hinted she was holding back a snicker, Tomonaga gestured for her assistant to come forth and took from the box her he brought a group of plastic cards to show them to the Senshi «It's a pity your photos are so grainy. Nevertheless, I suppose congratulations are in order»
The girls looked at each other with growing smiles and relieved sighs.
«Thank you, Tomonaga-san» Sailor Moon said for all of them, accepting the cards.
Their hard-earned Provisional Hero Licenses.
The woman shook her head «No, thank you» she said softly, then looked back, at the window from which the arena could be seen. If if the signs of the attack had been erased from sight, they all knew what happened and no one would forget it anytime soon.
«We're glad it all turned out alright, Tomonaga-san» Sailor Moon said.
«So am I» was the reply, the woman looked back at them at last, this time with a firm stance «But what happened here today is grave. You'll be needed to explain to the Hero Public Safety Commission all about it, since you seem to know more than anyone, sure, but your intervention was indispensable today and, from what I heard, in other occasions too»
Mars put a hand on her hip «Is it really necessary? Speaking with the Commission, I mean»
«I'm new to the system, I only volunteered today because of a request from a friend, but I think you'll have to» she grimaced a bit «For what it's worth, I don't like how the Commission works, but right now they make the rules for the whole system. If it can help, I can say they'll be more interested in covering up everything possible and avoid panic, than in outing you. Plus, you're legally allowed to act now, so they won't bother you too much unless the situation gets out of hand»
«This is why we did all this. We only want to help people»
«I could witness that, today» the woman smiled softly once again «Well, I'll let you go now, I'm sure you're tired after such a day and I still have to officially close this exam» she gave them a business card and one last nod «Should you need my help»
Mamoru took it and nodded back, and the group watched her walk into the staff room.
On their side, they went down to the entrance, unsure whether they could leave at that point or had to wait for the exam to be officially over to do so.
After a bit of wait, they were joined by a happy Barbara and a now-relaxed Zazie, in their school uniforms instead of their Hero suits.
«We did it!» Hanadera cheered, showing her brand new card «We really did it!»
«You didn't get changed?» Kenzaki rose a brow.
«Tomonaga-san had something to tell us» was their only explanation. It wasn't entirely true, they were still on guard just in case, but they didn't want to alarm their new friends with that.
«You've been amazing! So freaking great! I'm so happy I got to work with you! You think you could give me an autograph now?» Hanadera took a small notepad from her pocket in a way that reminded the girls of the constant appearances of Midoriya's notebook.
«Emiru, you're such a fangirl» Kenzaki muttered with a badly concealed grin.
«Aww, sure sweetie! Me first!» Venus volunteered, and put down a perfect signature, with a little note for future luck added.
Mars looked skeptically at the page before adding her own beside it «Please, tell me you didn't practice that»
The blonde smiled «Of course I did! A future star needs to be ready for autographs!»
«You're impossible»
«Nah, she's right: I bet you're going to be very popular from now on» Kenzaki smiled a bit.
Once she added her own signature, Jupiter had to elbow at Moon who had started writing her actual name, and soon enough they could give back the notepad to the gushing girl.
«Cards down now, there was another reason I wanted to work with you,» Kenzaki said, more serious now that Hanadera's fangirl moment was over.
«What is it?»
«Those things, and the Villain, you've been fighting that kind of stuff for a while, no? Is it the same as last year?»
The Senshi exchanged a quick look.
«No, that's gone for good. We can't speak of what's going on here, but it's not the same at all»
The other shook her head «I don't need to know more. I trust you know what you're doing. And if you need help...»
«Well, see you out there, Kenzaki-san»
«We'll be looking forward to working with you again» Hanadera bowed with a bright smile.
Their teacher calling for them was the signal the conversation was over. The girls cheerfully said goodbye to each other and it seemed like they could - finally - go home.
«It sure was a day,» Venus sighed once they got out of earshot «Honestly, I can't stand a train ride back and all...»
«You tell me! I just want to get home and eat and maybe sleep for, like, a week» Moon slumped on her head Guardian's shoulder.
«Uh-uh, this won't do» Jupiter shook her finger «I have a "we did it!" cake almost ready in my fridge, it only needs some finishing touches, and it has to be eaten»
«Cake!» the rest cheered.
Mars rose an eyebrow «What if we failed?»
Jupiter shrugged «I would have turned it into a consolatory cake, duh»
They laughed a bit, then Mercury offered her hand to Chibi Moon «I think we all agree on using the Sailor Teleport?»
«Motion seconded!» Moon exclaimed and grabbed Mamoru's hand on one side and Venus' with the other, while the others closed the chain.
Mamoru hesitated «Wait, I need to send a message to...»
«No need, we'll be home before he sees it» Chibi Moon grabbed his other hand and he had to give in.
In a flash of light, they were gone, disappointing the HPSC agent sent to follow them, the spy from some newly-formed group of Villains not too far, and the not-as-well hidden sidekick of a certain pro Hero, all of whom were set to discover their identities and would leave without a single clue.
Notes:
And this is it for the exam! From now on, our girls will be allowed to be involved with the Hero world, let's see where it'll bring us.
I want to precise Ami's feelings about the exam are her own. The point of having additional tasks and a surprise attack as part of the second phase is to keep up with the realism of the Hero profession, where things can change any minute and they want to test the prowess of the examinees, but Ami is the type used to standardized tests and has her rigid ideas how they should be led.
As for our game... I have to say I never watched Naruto beyond the first ten episodes or so and maybe some bits in the middle whenever it happened to be on tv, so the resemblance to the chunin exam was not intentional, although, after finding out how it was like, I can see why many of you thought about it, so good guess anyway.
BUT! My inspiration was actually from the fourth phase of the Hunter exam in Hunter x Hunter. Initially, in the first draft, I even put down a scoring system like the one in HxH (your own is worth 3 points, others are 1 and so on), but it was making things too hard so I simplified it. Given Kishimoto considers Togashi one of his favourite authors, I'd even say the chunin exam could have been partly inspired by HxH too, lol.
Cameos were (including the ones in this chapter):
- The head examiner, Tomonaga Keiko, and her tiger quirk, plus her assistant, Akito, are a homage to "Barairo My Honey" by Ohmi Tomu (she should be the main characters' descendant; Akito is a Kazamori, obviously... well, it's obvious if you know the manga, I suppose, lol). The friend she mentioned... I'll let to your imagination who it could be ;P.
- The Mokuba kid has the same name as "Yu Gi Oh"'s Kaiba's little brother (I never quite was a Yu Gi Oh fan but my brother is).
- Tsuchiura is the surname of one of the main male interests in the first two instalments of "La Corda d'Oro".
- Yes, the ninja lookalikes Rei beat up are the same who tried (in this case, will try) to trick Todoroki in the September exam.
- A few of the quirks scattered around were copied from the X-Men: the kid with lasers is like Cyclops, the one with metal manipulation who took apart the bridge was inspired by Magneto, telekinesis is a relatively common power in superheroes stories.
- The ones with animal quirks, instead, were simply inspired by real animals. About that, I totally forgot I had to spell "colibrì" as "hummingbird", it should be fixed now but I still have no idea how the grammar check program I use didn't catch that.
- Jog Falls are waterfalls in South India. I couldn't create a decent Hero name (and I didn't feel like using an existing one), so I picked the name of something water-related IRL. Assume the Hero loves that place or something.
- And my personal faves: the Hero names Zazie and Barbara are taken from "The Promised Neverland". For their civilian names, I made a mix of Pretty Cure's names (as someone correctly guessed): Barbara's is Hanadera Emiru, with Cure Grace's surname and Cure Macherie's first name; while Zazie's is Kenzaki Nagisa, with Cure Sword's surname and Cure Black's first name, but I picked Kenzaki because it's also the surname of the main character of "Liar Game".
I don't know yet if any of them will show up ever again in this story, but the two girls were a lot of fun to write so, who knows?
Stay safe and hydrated in this super-hot summer! See you next update!