As the bus came to a halt and examinees began pouring out, whispers of awe and speculation quickly arose amongst the populace. For Sarina, she, along with a number of others, was left speechless once she saw the size of the city that would be her exam. Even as she walked, Sarina could feel an atmosphere of arrogance of the majority overpowering the fear of the minority. To her, it seemed like people didn't quite realize how hard the exam must be.
Only one in 500 people get into the hero course leaving 499 without. Multiply that by the forty seats between the classes of 1-A and 1-B, and you've got 20 000 people trying out in one day. This was a do or die scenario and the majority will die.
"Alright Sarina, you can do this. Quick on the mark, get in fast and score as many points as possible." She muttered to herself with a deep breath in and out.
Grabbing her scythe in one hand, Sarina kept it compact for now. With a rudimentary three piece telescopic shaft and a blade that was folded against the shaft. It was hard for an outside observer to figure out what she had and impossible to see that it was a weaponized farming tool. In her other hand, Sarina readied a Grimm puddle that will summon Fenris once the alarm goes off.
"Ozpin launched Ruby and company off a cliff without warning, I only need to run when the doors open." Sarina thought. "It's not like their going to-"
"RIGHT, LET'S START!" The voice of Present Mic screamed, everyone looked back, squinting to see the man standing atop a watch tower of some kind.
"... They are!" Sarina yelled. Just before the interruption, this was exactly what she was thinking about. Not wasting a moment more, Sarina spiked her Grimm pool to the ground.
"GET MOVING! THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL BATTLES!" Mic continued.
As everyone was distracted, Fenris jumped out of the pool and grabbed Sarina with her maw. The wolf Grimm tossed her mistress onto her own back just as the other contestants were beginning to understand.
"RUN RUN RUN LISTENERS! YOU'RE WASTING AIR TIME HERE!"
Leaping through the gate, Sarina and Fenris led the charge into the city before anyone else could react. The others were however quickly brought out of their momentary trance as they saw the two rush past.
"Okay Fenris..." Sarina said with a smirk once they were safely inside and away from the crowd.
Swishing her scythe handle downwards, Sarina let it's momentum carry it, unfurling the shaft to it's full length. With a flick back up right as the handle fully extended, the blade jolted outwards and locked in place, open and ready to cut through whatever it came across.
"Let's do this!" She yelled.
Fenris howled with her mistress, pushing herself faster. Farther and farther away from the rest of the pack. Not ten seconds later the pair ran into their first robots. A one and a two pointer. Sarina was quick to raise her scythe to the one pointer's 'neck'. Metal met metal and in accordance with their mental plan, Fenris continued forward. Sarina was lifted off of her Grimm as her momentum carried her around the robot's neck. The green painted metal was strong, but not strong enough to survive several spinning cuts as after three rotations, the head came clean off.
Sarina landed in front of the bot in a sliding crouch, Scythe outstretched when the metal beast fell. Looking towards the two pointer, she smiled as she saw Fenris tearing into the robot's circuitry. It itself fell a second later as the Grimm wolf returned to her Mistress.
"Good girl." Sarina rubbed her ears. "Now that we know that Grimm beats bots…" She trailed off. Pools of darkness gathering in her hand. "We can kick things up a notch."
Hurling the pools out and around her, Sarina was surprised with herself. Appearing from her hands were the largest Grimm Pools she's ever created. It was a shock but it was also an opportunity to see just what she could do.
When the main pack of students finally caught up with the Grimm controller, where they thought they'd only see a girl and her Grimm, they were greeted however with a rising army. Beowolfs, Ursa, Boarbatusk, Nevermore and Deathstalkers, they all rose around their mistress waiting at her beck and call.
"Fan out and destroy any robots you find." Sarina ordered. Noticing the others watching in shock, she continued with a slightly cheeky smirk, "But do leave some for the others and keep them alive, I will want some classmates this year."
With her words, the Grimm began their hunt. Screeches, howls, grunts and more reverberated throughout the city for as their mistress has said, they were on the hunt. Every Grimm Sarina had summoned began fanning out to the four corners of the city. Her few Nevermore's even taking to the sky, swooping low over the streets at a speed near incomprehensible to some.
While the other examinees were left stunned at the black mass spreading from the girl in its center, Sarina casually returned to her spot atop Fenris. "Alright girl, let's not let them have all the fun."
Fenris smirkingly growled as the two were off again. And this all happened within the first minute.
Off far away and within a viewing room watching all the battle centers, the teachers and faculty of UA observed their prospective new students. Each screen flipping between different students and their robot kills, tallying up points and showing the highlights for those who deserved them.
"Clearly the examinees have no idea how many villains are present or their locations." An animal hybrid of some kind spoke. "They have limited time, must cover a vast area and hunt down every last target."
As the main screen flipped through some specific applicants, the creature continued. "Some use information gathering abilities to plan out strategies." The screen showed a boy with many appendages connected in a wing-like structure. "While others rely on speed to pull ahead of their peers." The next person was the one who spoke up during the orientation who had a pair of engines in his legs. The screen changed again to that of a flamboyant Frenchman with a belly laser. "Of course remaining calm under pressure can be a huge advantage, as can pure power and combat ability." Bakugo was the one on screen now. "The most successful students use a combination of all these tactics." Lastly Sarina was shown riding atop Fenris with more Grimm at her side. "They're the ones who wrack up the highest scores."
The screen then returned to its multiple views even as the other teachers remained silent but impressed.
"Hmm, I'd say this year's group looks promising." Another teacher finally spoke up.
"Very diverse quirks too." Came another voice.
"I'd say. How many years has it been since we've had a summoner of some kind?" A fourth teacher voiced.
"I think never." Yet another noted, "They be mighty rare, even before becoming heroes."
"Yes, Sarina Yoru." The animal hybrid said, pulling up her file. "Quirk: Grimm. The ability to summon and control the mythical creatures of Grimm."
"Never heard of them."
"Neither have I. It is a mystery." The creature agreed with a chuckle, "And I do like myself a good mystery."
"Even without her, things are looking quite interesting."
"There's still plenty of time before it's over," Another voice said, raising the cover to a big red button, "The real test is yet to come." He pressed it, "Let's see how they react."
Slicing through her twenty second robot personally, her point total reaching 46 without the help of her Grimm, Sarina was feeling good about her chances. With only two and a half minutes remaining and what she was hearing from the other examinees, she was well in the lead for her battle center.
"And that's twenty THREE!" Sarina called out for her own count as she uppercut a one pointer with her scythe.
Moving with her momentum, Sarina spun around on her heel and performed a downwards slash against a two pointer that Fenris had corralled towards her. It wasn't a clean slice and took some more effort than she was expecting to cut through which was understandable due to her blunt blade. She really was getting good at this. Looking around, Sarina found herself in another cleared out area. Right on her mental cue, a nevermore landed before her and Fenris.
"Alright, Storm, where to next?" Sarina asked him without a moment's hesitation.
The Nevermore which she had named Storm cawed towards the west. Listening in that direction, Sarina could barely make out the sounds of fighting.
"Right, keep it up. We're almost the-" Suddenly she was cut off.
The ground began to shake and the buildings around threateningly creaked. Explosions were beginning to be heard. Had they really put actual gas lines in here? Sarina would never know as she was preoccupied with something else. A big something else. The Zero pointer.
The monstrous machine slowly rose above the city's skyline in the west. Cries could be heard as more and more people looked up in fear at the beast they were beholding. When the bonafide autonomous battle mech reached its apex, it stood at twice the height of the surrounding buildings.
"Holy mother of Monstra..." Sarina uttered in stunned disbelief. Thinking back to the orientation presentation, she could see why this was an obstacle to avoid.
Thankfully for her, both Fenris and Storm became defensively aggressive at the sight with barks and screeches that broke Sarina out of her stupor. Shaking her thoughts clean, it was clear this was a beast no one could beat, not now anyway. All you could do was run. But Sarina was different in that regard.
"Storm," The Nevermore ceased its caws and looked to his mistress, "I'm gonna need a bird's eye view. Fenris," She said to her wolf, also listening, "Bring the Grimm to my position, we're getting everyone out of here."
Fenris gave an affirmative nod before dashing off, barking up a storm to call on the remaining Grimm. Seeing her loyal wolf go without hesitation, Sarina turned back to the Nevermore who lowered its wing for her. Stepping onto its back and getting as comfortable as she could, the pair prepared for takeoff.
"Okay, Storm, nice and easy." Sarina nearly whispered. "Don't get too carried away."
Was this a good idea, no. Was this at all safe, no. Would UA like it, probably not. Was she batshit crazy, quite possibly. Has she ever flown before? Absolutely not!
As the Nevermore shifted itself, it's wings slowly raising, Sarina knew this was it. In less than an instant, they were sent shooting into the air. The flaps of the wings, the wind rushing past her and the force unlike anything she's ever known took her higher and higher into the air.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Sarina yelled at the top of her lungs for what felt like an eternity but was actually only a few seconds. Once their ascending stopped, Sarina took a number of deep breaths, grasping onto Storm for dear life. Reorienting herself now that she wasn't at an immediate risk of death, she looked around and eventually found herself eye level with the Zero pointer and worst of all, they were high in the air. "Eugh, n-not doing that again. How did Ruby and Weiss do this?" She muttered, trying to keep breakfast down. "Alright Storm, to the Zero pointer." Sarina slowly commanded.
The Grimm had other ideas as before she knew it, they were gone. Once again, a few seconds of travel was all it took for Sarina to feel queasy. As they came to a stop again, the pair were much closer to the zero pointer now, slightly above it and beginning to circle it. Looking down, people were running. Completely understandable if you asked her. There was nothing they could do. Moving her gaze from the other students and towards the Zero Pointer, Sarina could see her Grimm forming a rearguard for the teens' retreat. All but the Nevermores were down there corralling them away. The birds remaining in the air, circling with her and storm.
"LESS THAN TWO MINUTES REMAING!" Present Mic called out.
That wasn't what Sarina wanted to hear. Even though the Zero pointer wasn't moving yet, it's tracks looked to be able to move it's massive frame at a decent pace. All that was standing between it and leveling everything in its path was the buildings it was currently punching its way through. For now it seemed to be holding and Sarina was about to count her blessings but some god had other plans for her as all of a sudden, a burst of wind sent dust and debris flying into the air.
"GAHHHH!" Sarina yelled as the force of the wind hit Storm and her. Covering her eyes to protect herself, she was blinded. As if things could go from bad to worse, she heard something that made her heart drop.
"THREAT LEVEL FIVE IDENTIFIED; INITIATING LAST STAND PROTOCOL."
The Zero Pointer, now free and looking straight at Sarina, threw an uppercut towards her who was still blinded by the cloud of dust.
"GET US OUTTA HERE!" Sarina yelled frantically, pulling on Storm's inky black feathers as he tilted down and away from the punch. The pair flat spinned for a moment, before Storm could regain control. Luckily for Sarina, their little maneuver blew all the dust away as the girl could finally open her eyes again.
Momentarily stunned, Sarina found herself slightly below the robot's chin with all the other Nevermore scattered about above her and Storm. Looking up to the robot, Sarina was confused by what she saw. Instead of it looking at her, the bot was looking skywards. Following its gaze, her eyes bulged at what she saw arcing through the sky. Debris the size of cars, racing high through the sky, was quickly returning to earth. Right in the path of the evacuating students.
"No… DIVE DIVE DIVE!" The blonde was stunned but hastily ordered. The Grimm banked downwards at her command. If she didn't stop them, they'd be crushed.
The pair raced with the wind making it nearly impossible to see. Gaining speed as they approached the ground. Each flap pushing them harder. Right before they would splat on the ground, Storm pulled up and raced towards the examinees.
For the others, they were running in terror. They were supposed to be taking out villain bots to gain points to get into UA and now they were all running from a gigantic mech from the pits of hell.
A screech that sounded like a jet roared above all the students. Everyone stopped once they heard the demonic call and looked up to see a monstrous black bird race above them, spinning around in midair and steadying itself just in front of them.
"Feathers, NOW!" Someone yelled from behind the beast.
On command, the beast with a mighty flap of its wings sprayed out a line of razor sharp feathers that blocked everyone's path, much to their own confusion.
Thoroughly stopped, the bird creature pushed itself back just in time as not a second later, massive blocks of stone and steel crashed through where it once was.
With a deep breath, Sarina wiped away some sweat from her brow. Gazing down from her spot atop Storm, she was relieved when she found that no one seemed hurt by the debris, luckily stopping before the feathers just as she hoped. Looking up though, her relief caved to a look of furious determination.
The Zero Pointer continued it's slow march forward towards the examinees and there was still a minute and a half left. A minute and a half where, if anything, it would try that again.
"Ozpin at least warned them they could die and UA couldn't even give us the same courtesy." Sarina grumbled to herself, "Alright Storm, it's time to deal with this bucket of bolts." She calmly said with a burning fury in her eyes.
Right now, there was only one thing to do. Storm pushed them both high into the sky. Faster than anyone on the ground could see, they disappeared from sight, reappearing a second later in front of the giant bot. High in the air, wings flapping, they waited, challenging the mechanical beast. The robot locked eyes with them again and Sarina could see it silently mocking them all with it's unmoving mechanical façade. The other Nevermore around her quickly came to their side, filling the robot's field of view with a black void of darkness. Dozens of bone plated grimm rose in unity all at their mistress' will.
All she saw through, was red. Unperturbed by the speeds she had just gone, she had one goal. Her fury was clear yet calm. When she spoke, she spoke as if she had eons of experience and faced hundreds of lifetimes of struggle. "Even after all this time, you train your guardians still." The words naturally rolled off Sarina's tongue, "You praise their achievements," It felt right, "raise those above everyone else even higher," It felt powerful, "And put strength above all else." It was… intoxicating, "But there will be no victory in strength." She growled out as her skin started to turn white and her hair paled. Both starting from where she sat upon the Grimm and moving out from there.
The control room took note of Sarina's action, concerned with what they were seeing. She sounded as if she spoke from experience, from countless years of fighting, and was being spoken by someone to be feared. Even then, it said nothing about her changing appearance. The teachers that were warily watching held their tongues as she continued her speech and one was silently freaking out at what he was seeing.
"While looking out for the strong," Sarina spat, "You ignore the weak." She glared back down to the other examinees, "Leaving those who don't meet your expectation to die." Sarina thought back to if Izuku had competed without One for All.
The viewing room was shocked as the cameras showed what she was gesturing to. The street, completely blocked by debris and a line of feathers that guarded the way for numerous students looking up in awe. As the small creature in charge rewound the feed, they saw just what she was ranting about. That brought even more concern, not to the girl but to themselves.
"It is you who lead these children," The white of her skin grew faster and her hair reached a similar shade, "You who are to keep them safe," Her eyes turned red and her sclera grew black. "But in this, it will not bring you victory."
Raising her Scythe forward, all the surrounding Grimm pushed off from where they were. Flying straight for the Zero pointer, taking its attention off Sarina. "I will play your little game for now, but take heed,"
She lifted herself to stand atop her Grimm,
"I will watch,"
Her Grimm finally flew forward,
"You,"
She raised her scythe as if she was death incarnate,
"Fall."
SHIIIIIING
Everyone was stunned. With an elegant twirl and a jump, Sarina had slashed right through the neck of the Zero pointer, decapitating it with a single strike.
Landing back on the Nevermore, now at the Zero's back, the fullness of her skin and hair began to recede. Her normal blue eyes and blonde hair coming back without Sarina even realizing it. Once the transformation was complete, she began looking around.
"Huh, what the?" Then she took notice of the destroyed Zero pointer behind her. "Whoa."
"And that's that. TIME'S UP!" Present Mic yelled and was succeeded by an alarm blasting through all the battle centers. Everyone, regardless of the arena, let out a collective sigh of relief.
Sarina just stood there for a moment, before speaking, "Okay Storm… Let's… Let's get down now." She muttered, shaken from what she saw. Pushing the question of what happened out of her mind, the Grimm wearily followed her command but not without a concerned look back to his mistress as she sat back down.
As the pair descended, Sarina released her grip on the Grimm as all but two began evaporating. By the time they reached the ground, all the Grimm were gone. Meeting them however was Fenris with a piece of robot in her mouth. The sight brought a sigh of relief to the girl and a small giggle following.
"Hey Fenris, what've you got there?" She asked, causing the wolf Grimm to drop the arm mounted gun she had. "Good girl." Sarina congratulated. Fenris jumped atop her, tackling her to the ground. "Ow, I love you too."
While this was going on, the other examinees were watching the girl and Grimm cuddle, the Nevermore evaporating behind them and whispering amongst themselves at what they saw.
"Did she really slice through the Zero pointer, just like that?"
"You saw what I saw."
"Yeah but I still can't believe it."
"What were those things?"
"Demons against the Lord."
"They are very intriguing."
"Ehh, they helped me out, they're all good in my book."
"But were they even allowed?"
"I'm more concerned with the scythe."
"Yeah, only Quirks are allowed."
"What is this?!"
As the crowd was beginning to get more and more aggressive, Sarina took notice as did Fenris who released herself from her mistress and lowered herself to the ground and let out a defensive growl. Before any fights could break out, a short lady made her appearance known.
"Leave the girly alone. She filled out the appropriate forms." The woman, UA's head nurse, Recovery Girl, who wore a lab coat and had a cane in her hand, approached. "Is anyone injured?"
As someone got the nurse's attention, Sarina looked back to those around her as she got back up after her reunion with Fenris. Everyone was giving her a wide berth when she and her Grimm began walking. Other than that lapse in her memory, Sarina felt today was a good day. The only one who had a lick of knowledge for this sort of thing watched on with skeptical curiosity. A boy with purple hair and a villain's Quirk who knows a thing or two about memories and the mind.
A few days later, Izuku and Sarina met after everything had died down. They both shared what happened to them. Sarina recounted her time using both her Grimm and scythe to make her way through the exam. She also mentioned that once the Zero Pointer appeared and she was in the air on the Nevermore, something Izuku immediately wrote in his notebook, she blanked out for a minute with no idea what happened. Izuku himself speculated what could've happened before she dismissed it for what happened with him. He mentioned his heroic moment of sacrifice to save the girl the pair met earlier in the day but that led into his lack of points that brought the pair's mood down in an instant.
"So what about All Might?" Sarina asked.
"I haven't heard from him since that morning." Midoriya replied, just as confused as her.
"That's… Odd." Sarina mused, "We've never been out of contact for this long."
"Yeah… Hopefully I can talk to him soon." Izuku dejectedly said.
"I'm sure you will."
It was now a week after the entrance exam and Sarina was eating dinner with her parents. They ate in silent anticipation for that sacred letter to arrive.
"So you should be getting your letter any minute now." Eisig said as she finished her meal.
"I'm really, really nervous," Sarina shook, "I know I did well but just… ugh! You know?" Said Sarina through her conflicting emotions. It made her parents chuckle as a way to relieve the tension in the room.
"So long as you did your best, I know you'll get in." Anomeshi reassured.
"Thanks dad, but I'm stil-"
DING-DONG.
"It's here!" Sarina shouted, jumping up from her seat and racing to the door.
Running down their front hall, Sarina slid to a stop as she saw the UA stamped symbol sealing a thick envelope. Quickly taking the letter from their mail slot, Sarina raced back to her parents in the dining room.
"It's here! It's here! It's HERE!" She yelled as she reappeared.
"Well don't keep us waiting, get over here and open it up!" Eisig cheered, pulling out her daughter's seat who quickly took it.
"Okay." Sarina breathed, "UA high." She tore the letter open.
Instead of a letter like two of them were expecting, a small metal disk clinked and rolled around the table.
"EEP!" Sarina cried as the disk fell off the table before she caught it. "What is this?"
"Put it down and find out!" Her mom said with a big smile.
Realization dawned and Sarina did so in an instant. A light came from the disk and the image of All Might soon appeared. All three of the Yoru family's daws dropped. Two at the sight of the number one pro Hero and the youngest at the realization that this came from UA.
"HAHAHA! I am here, as a projection now!" All Might's holographic image cheered.
"All Might!?" The three said as one.
"I knew he was getting up there in age but to think..." Eisig gasped.
"I know it's been a while since we last spoke but with great power comes a great amount of paperwork." He chuckled while both of Sarina's parents slowly turned to their preoccupied daughter. "My apologies, young lady. The truth is I didn't come to Mustafu just to fight villains. You're looking at the newest UA faculty member!" All Might cheered before someone facepalmed off screen. "Oh, I'm doing it again?... I still can't say one more thing?... Right. You passed the written test with some of the higher marks of the exam. Excellent job. As for the practical exam. With your Quirk, only the combat points you got personally will count for your score. An amazing 53 points regardless." He explained.
Sarina, while proud of herself, felt bad for Izuku as he got 0 combat points. Wait, "Combat points?"
"Though there were other factors for those who couldn't get the needed number of points. The practical exam was not graded on combat alone. We have RESCUE POINTS!" He began to elaborate, "A panel of judges watches and they award points for heroic acts beyond just fighting villains. Sarina Yoru, for you and your Grimm's actions, 27 rescue points!" All Might exclaimed, "With a total of 80 points, you pass the exam. Welcome, Sarina, to the Hero Academia."
With his parting words, the holographic All Might disappeared. This left the three Yoru's in silence. A silence that was broken after a moment by Eisig with a rising inflection in her voice, "Sarina?"
Said girl remained silent for a moment more before bursting from the seems, "YESSS! I MADE IT!"
"Sarina." Her father said with the same tone as her mother that still wasn't heard.
"I can't believe it, I've got to tell Midoriya." Sarina said as she rose from her seat.
She was caught on the shoulder by her mom however before she could leave the table, getting her full attention, "Sarina, what was All Might saying about it 'being a while'?"
Caught like a deer in headlights, Sarina began sputtering whatever she could think of, "Well, I, It's just, He, We."
"Sarina…" Her mom spoke in a calming tone that released her anxiety. "Just breathe and everything will be okay."
With a deep breath and a clear mind, Sarina said, "Yeah, okay, yeah... So you know how I've been training with Midorya for the last ten months? Well... All Might noticed us and decided to take us under his wing."
It was truthful but wasn't the entire truth. Not like she could tell her parents that. She and Midoriya both decided to keep everything a secret even before All Might inevitably asked them to after a close encounter with some bystanders. For now though, Sarina's parents looked skeptical.
"So let me get this straight," Eisig deadpanned. "You met with Midoriya the day of that sludge villain incident, decided to train together, gained the attention of The All Might, who by the way is one of the most mysterious people in the public eye and are now training under him and will be going to UA, the best academy in the world? Oh please don't let this be another Ruby-Ozpin situation." She groaned.
It was now that Sarina had a look of shock. It remained for a moment before her head found solace in the wooden table beneath it. It all made sense! How could she have not seen that? Now that she's making the connection, things were making way too much sense. First she and Izuku went against the sludge villain, gaining All Might's attention like how Ruby fought Torchwick, inadvertently getting Ozpin's attention. She's going to Beacon's Earth equivalent in UA. One for All, an ancient power that defies all known natural Quirk laws, something to be passed onto a successor like that of a certain Maiden magic. All that was missing now was the immortals, Ozma and Salem. Brothers, she hoped there was nothing like that.
"Yeah." Eisig agreed, noting her daughter's realization, patting her shoulder with a small grin.
"But being trained by All Might himself," Anomeshi brought Sarina into a big side-armed hug, "I can't believe it!"
"Just be careful," Eisig warned as she joined the hug, squishing Sarina in the middle, "Things are about to get much, much more intense."
Sarina just accepted them both, feeling too overwhelmed with emotions to do otherwise. With that, the three stayed there as a family in silence. Each fondly looking upon the disk that sent Sarina her future. Her future as a hero.
A/N: And that's the entrance exam and boy was it something. I truly hope I was able to this fight and the surrounding text justice in the way I wanted it to come across. If anyone wishes, for Sarina's take down of the 0 pointer, Divide from RWBY is what I listened to while writing it. I don't have much to say today so I won't keep you any longer. Follow if you're interested, Favorite if you're wanting more and Review if you want to get anything and everything off your chest. Keep it civil though please. Until next time, for the first day.