"Wow, UA is really a top notch university if they can afford to have these massive test sites…" Itsuka let out a whistle as she looked at the gate before her, the faux city beyond it and then to the other test sites she could make out in the distance, each one similarly walled off to Test Site A.
It was a distraction and quickly proved to be a short one as her mind went back to her earlier thoughts on the bus ride to the testing site.
What had happened to Izuku? How had his quirk samples been destroyed?
She had felt some relief when she had seen the texts that Izuku had managed to copy Tsuyu's Frog quirk, but that still left Izuku short of her and Kamakiri's more aggressively inclined quirks. Would he be able to copy new quirks from his testing group? She internally sighed at her worries and calmed herself by pushing them away.
Itsuka had her own worries, like the incredibly important practical exam fighting robots that she was about to take, but still she couldn't help but put herself on the line for others - every time. She had always been the "Big Sis" to her peers throughout Middle School and High School, her classmates had always told her that it just seemed to come naturally with her personality. Whenever she saw the people close to her struggling she always, ALWAYS stepped up to protect them or help them in any way she could. Sometimes it was as if her body moved on its own.
It had been what had drawn All Might's attention to her in the first place after all.
This time though it was different than acting as Class Rep at her school...it was personal.
Izuku was...Izuku was...her first real friend in a long time. A thought which made her smile just a tiny bit bitterly.
Big Sis Mode was great for getting people to feel confident that should could help them, but it wasn't always the best for keeping some friends.
Not to mention! Izuku had worked his ass to get here for this exam! She had witnessed every single drop of blood, sweat and tears he had shed to get this far! She was rooting for him every step of the way, and she knew that whatever or whoever had tried to mess with her friend had better watch out for themselves.
"Tch! What the hell? Why are you here getting in my way, you freakin' extra-sized extra!" Angry Boy's sharp voice absolutely grated on Itsuka's already thin nerves. His shout made several of the other examinees turn their way, one was a boy wearing a headband while another had strange-looking ear lobes that looked like wire jacks. Fortunately Itsuka was made of much stronger stuff than whatever Angry Boy's ego was made out of. Instead of shouting or making a threatening move she simply turned her head and looked down at him, her position on their height difference was vastly superior to his by at least a foot.
She kept her voice calm and her expressions neutral, she had dealt with hot heads like Angry Boy before - they thrived on confrontation and escalation, "I'm here to take the exam. Same as you."
"What, you think I'm too stupid to know that?" Angry Boy growled, sparks flying from his palms as his face became a new shade of red while glaring up at her.
"I already answered your question. I'm here for the exam and obviously UA placed me here for it." Itsuka replied tersely again, using her willpower to not roll her eyes but she did place her hands on her hips. She didn't insult him, she didn't curse him, and she certainly didn't move closer toward him in a threatening manner but all the same he continued to take offence at her existence at that very spot in time and space.
"Do you even have a quirk or are you just naturally goddamned tall and roided out?" Angry Boy continued his verbal assault, it wasn't the worst comments she had received after her growth spurt from One For All but maybe it was just his voice and hyper-aggressive attitude that made it more annoying? "You BETTER have a strong quirk, otherwise you should just get out of my way and out of here."
Angry Boys' eyes turned away from her for the first time since he had arrived and he glared at the other examinees with them, his face still a violent red, "That goes for the rest of you extras! If you have a lame ass quirk just quit wasting everyone's time and leave! You'll only get in my way."
His words earned him angry and worried glances from all of the other examinees at the site, notably a deepening scowl from Itsuka at his disparaging words. He was like a self-sustaining forest fire, no matter how she had reacted to him he just continued to make himself angrier and more aggressive. Who was he to just come in here and tell anyone else they shouldn't compete for a spot in UA's coveted Heroics' Course? What kind of hero did that?
For Bakugo he meant every single word, his scowl deepening as he returned every look at him with a sneer. Have they just been day dreaming up to now? If you don't have a strong quirk you shouldn't be a fucking hero at all! It's just how the world works, no matter how much you try and cheat your way through it. You need a strong quirk to stand on your own as a hero.
After all, he reasoned, All Might and Endeavor had been the top two heroes for decades - everyone worshipped them for their strength. He had lived with the consistency of how he knew the world worked practically ever since he had first got his quirk - and he was happy with it.
If it wasn't true that would just mean he was a horrible person.
"ALRIGHT, Y'ALL READY FOR THIS?"
All of the examinees at Test Site A looked up toward the oddly accented voice that had shouted. Craning her head up toward the top of the gate she could just make out the figure of the Pro Hero Snipe standing on a small platform, one hand on his holster and the other clutching his iconic American cowboy hat against the wind.
He didn't wait for an answer.
In one fluid motion he drew his pistol and shot it into the air, the sound of the gunshot echoing above them with a sharp crack that gradually petered out into silence.
Itsuka and everyone else on the ground continued to stare at him.
"THAT MEANS GO, YAH' LITTLE VARMITS! THE EXAM STARTED!"
"COME ON! THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL LIFE! GET MOVING! THE EXAM HAS STARTED!"
Izuku stared up at Present Mic. The Pro Hero's words still ringing in his ears.
"Wait. Is he seriou-?"
Before he could finish his sentence the crowd of other examinees charged forward into the testing site in a mad rush. The Interrupter spared him a glance, seemingly caught between wanting to berate him some more and take the exam - but the latter looked like it won out as the blue haired student sped off. It was then that Izuku noticed the same protrusions in his legs that Izuku now had...and they were awfully similar to the ones that the Pro Hero Ingenium had as part of his quirk, Engine - though those were located in his arms. Were the two related somehow?
"Ahhh! No time to analyze that! Test now! Ask later!" Izuku slapped his cheeks and bent his knees downward, putting his hands on the ground - getting into a jumping position. If this quirk IS anything like Engine then it will need fuel and if the Interrupter seemed half as serious as he appeared then he would have fueled up before coming into the exam. Which means Mutate should have copied at least some of that fuel...yes I can feel it!
He could feel the new mufflers protruding from his legs and a sort of knowingness on how to activate them almost as well as if he had, had them all of his life. He got the sense that his 'tank' for his fuel was perhaps at a quarter of what it should be when fuelled up completely. What he did not know though was how long it would take to run out of said fuel - that sort of feeling most likely came from trial and error. Still, he felt like it would be good enough for what he needed - which was to get ahead of the other examinees.
He flexed his legs and jumped high into the air using his increased leg strength from Frog, but he felt like it had become even more powerful than normal - a side benefit of having Engine no doubt - so his initial leap brought him up and forward much more quickly than he had expected - but it still wouldn't be enough to get ahead with the other examinees let alone past them. As he felt he was close to the apex of his leap he breathed out the words, "Mutate: Booster Leap!"
He felt the sudden eruption of heat from the mufflers in his calves but wasn't burned by them even as he felt the metal protrusions heat up - perhaps a minor quirk benefit was resistance to heat in his legs? With the sudden eruption of power he soared higher and faster, rocketing through the air and past the other examinees, he barely caught a few glimpses of their shocked expressions - he was too busy changing the angle his body differently so his posture was straighter, like a runner than an animal on all fours. He looked down and with a thought cut off his engine and let gravity take its hold on him - it was his first time using Engine but he had months of training with Frog to know how to angle his fall - to get the drop on an opponent.
"A 1-Pointer!" he muttered as he fell, it was easy to tell given the large "1" painted on its shield like arms. Fortunately for him the bot wasn't focused on him but the other oncoming examinees, it moved its shielded arms in front of itself to block an attack from that direction - it was defenseless against one from above. Time to see just how strong my new legs are!
He wrapped his arms around himself like he was a diver doing a jack knife but feet first instead, he even held his breath as he slammed into the villain bot - and completely shattered it!
His feet went just past its head and into the robot's shoulder, he felt a moment of resistance before the metal buckled and was crushed under the force of his impact. Were his new legs that strong or were the robots designed to be easy to tear apart? Either way he followed his legs, ripping through the upper torso of the bot and coming out the other side, he held up his arms and rolled protecting his head as he felt the concrete of the faux city street. Using Frog's agility he kicked his body into a standing position, his shoes skidding for a moment but he had come up at the right angle to just be able to witness the villain both crumble to the ground, its single red eye devoid of any light or power.
Izuku had done it! He'd gotten a single point!
His joy at his victory was short lived as the rushing tide of other examinees swept into the other villain bots around him, quirks flying off to his left and right destroying the machines around him in a few seconds. Most of them barely stopped, sweeping into the city in search of more points and leaving a stunned Izuku to stare at the wreckage "Ehhh! Kero!"
Oh wow, I can't forget that I'm not the only one here! Izuku thought. He needed to get moving if he wanted to pass the exam, but now he was behind the other examinees again. If he wanted to get more points he needed to find a way past the other students. Frantically searching the street he saw a familiar sight that he had been focused on earlier before the exam had started.
The other examinee with the obvious Mutation type quirk, the tall man with multiple arms.
He was climbing one of the fake buildings.
The man was pulling himself up with all six arms, the ends of which Izuku had seen changed to mouths, eyes, and ears all now had hands at their various ends. So he can not only replicate sensory organs but also limbs? Could he turn his hands into feet or is this just their default state? Izuku thought before once again he had to shake himself out of his analysis. Again, the wrong things to be focusing on here and now. The Mutation type quirk user had a good plan in mind, going over the other examinees rather than through them was a great way to get ahead. He could leap between the buildings, get deeper into the faux city and then ambush villain bots before the other test takers could get to them. For Izuku and his copied quirks it would also be a perfect plan for him and he resolved to copy the young man's actions - but that wasn't all he could copy would it now?
I can easily reach him with my tongue thanks to Frog, ah but should I just copy his quirk without asking? W-what if he gets mad at me? What if the judges get mad and disqualify me? The thoughts raced around and around in Izuku's head, even as he watched the other examinee get closer and closer to the roof of the building and once he was up there he would be as good as gone! He could pass with just Frog and Engine, right? After all Tsu and the Interrupter are working with just their quirks - why do I need more?
Then a thought struck him just like one of Itsuka's punches.
Because you CAN do more. Just like All Might does every day.
He thought if Itsuka, Tsu or Tokage had his quirk they wouldn't hesitate to use it to the best of their abilities, wouldn't they? If Izuku had All Might's all-powerful quirk then he would use it to its fullest extent to save everyone and anyone, wouldn't he?
What would happen if there was a life on the line and he hesitated to use his quirk? Sure, now there were no lives on the line - other than his heroic career - but there would be ones in the future.
If he did not save lives now just because he refused to use his quirk could he do it in the future? Could he even call himself a hero?
Was he here just to show off how many robots he could destroy or was he here to be a hero?
"Kero. Kero." he croaked worriedly before he swallowed hard, "I'll apologize later."
Opening his mouth he let his tongue shoot outward toward the other examinee, he was just on the edge of the sixteen meters that his tongue could stretch but it was enough to lick their bare ankle.
Replication. Appendage. Division.
He felt his upper torso start to shift, and quickly realized what was about to happen - he grabbed his tracksuit jacket and tore it off just as he felt something, or somethings, new burst from his body. He felt the bones and muscles in his shoulders widen and split to accommodate, becoming broader as four new arms erupted from his body, a curious membrane connecting all of the new limbs - almost like a bat's wing. He couldn't stop himself from ripping through the back of the white shirt he wore underneath it though so he just tossed the shredded rags aside and looked at himself. The quirk was definitely a Mutation type as he felt the strange instinctive knowledge on how to move his arms, and how to shift them from one body part to another. He held up one of his new limbs and the hand there changed, sinking into the tip of the limb before popping out again as an eyeball with a bright-green iris - suddenly he was looking at his eyeball and also looking at his own face at the sametime.
"W-wow!" He blinked his original eyes, watching himself. He noted that his vision appeared to be much clearer and focused on his new point of view. Perhaps in addition to replication his new body parts were also enhanced more than the original ones? "Let's try something?"
Picking up his tracksuit jacket and tying it around his waist he looked up at one of the buildings and he saw a fire escape built into the side, it was too far to jump without using Engine but he did not want to waste his remaining fuel just yet. However, he thought he did not need Engine this time. He stuck up two of his new tentacle-limbs and changed their replications from hands to two identical mouths, he felt an added weight in them that he only felt in his own mouth and throat when he copied Frog. Which meant…
"Mutate: Dupli-Tongue Lash!" He opened his two new mouths and from each one a powerful frog tongue shot out, spearing through the air and wrapping around the railings of the fire escape ladder. With a short jump he flexed his mouth muscles and retracted his tongues - that he now had multiple tongues felt weird to think about - pulling his body up and through the air to the fire escape. As soon as he got close enough he let go with his tongues and grabbed onto the metal ladder and pulled himself up, kicking off the fire escape he leapt onto the side of the building, using his original hands to stick to it and then kicked off again, shooting his tongue out to grab the lip of the building opposite of him and pull himself over the edge and onto the roof, rolling onto the flat surface he congratulated himself, "I did it! I can't believe I just did that! I can't believe-"
"You're dead, meatbag." a robotic voice growled.
A flurry of large rubber bullets shot at him, the sound of a machine firing accompanying them as he scrambled to the side, skidding across the roof, the space where had been standing becoming absolutely riddled with a deluge of shots. He really had to thank Tsu after the exam for the agility boost from her quirk. He looked up - there were three 3-Pointer robots on the roof with him, the large barrelled armaments on their 'shoulders' smoking. What were they doing here?
It makes sense. It would be a great deterrent for someone with a flying quirk. Maybe even a reward for examinees that thought outside of the box and got off the streets?
Seeing that Izuku had not been obliterated, the boxy robots began to shift on their wheels to face him again, the same metallic voice saying, "Stand still. This will be over soon and there will be cake."
"The cake is a lie." one of the other robots droned.
"Not-good-not-good-not-good!" Izuku cried, and held up his arms, all six of them - he paused and looked at them before a new plan came to mind. It was time to see if these robots were made of the same materials as the one he had already destroyed.
"Mutate: Tongue-Tongue Gatling!" Izuku shouted and thrust all six of his arms forward, the four arms that had come from the copied quirk shifted into frowning mouths before opening wide. Four massive tongues shot out punching into the first robot with enough force to crumple the metal of its cannon-armaments and its face. Izuku didn't stop, he quickly whipped the tongues back into his mouth and shot them out with the same force and speed, repeating the process with the second robot which was flung to the side.
Bringing his tongues back for one more burst he looked at the last robot and realized it was already revving its armament to fire, instead of attacking again Izuku bent his knees and leapt into the air - just in time as he felt another barrage of rubber bullets just barely miss him. Still in the air he aimed his four mouths at the robot and this time he wrapped them around its bulky torso and HEAVED it across the roof-top sending it spinning end over end until it lay broken in a heap.
"T-ten points!" he mumbled to himself as he forced his nerves to calm down. He looked out across the city and saw more robots waiting on other roofs. "I'm just getting started though."
"10% Okinawa Chop!" Itsuka cried out as she brought her hand down in a knife-striking motion, the force of One For All made her hand glow a bright orange for a moment before the air pressure she created sliced forward and tore two of the 1-Pointers in half. Moments later the broken remains of both robots were strewn across the street, electronics sparking weakly. She muttered to herself, something she knew to have picked up from Izuku, "That's...what, eighty points? Ninety?"
Honestly, she had lost count. The last few minutes since the Pro Hero Snipe had announced the exam had begun were a blur. She remembered using One For All: Battle Stance to leave Angry Boy and the other examinees in her literal dust and from there it was just a blur of broken robots and increasingly mounting points for her. She had not wanted to accidentally destroy the faux city and maybe hurt the other examinees so she had largely kept her move set simple. Simple but less destructive yet still VERY effective.
She used her variation of All Might's Detroit Smash, Okinawa Chop, mostly but she also activated her original quirk to scoop up robots and hurl them across the testing site - and occasionally to protect the other test takers from the Villain Bots when it looked like they were in over their heads - or from the debris Angry Boy created from his explosions.
Speaking of whom…
"Die! Die! Die! Die!" Angry Boy shouted as he blasted through another set of point bots, it kind of seemed like he was actually following her because no matter where she went he seemed to be either right behind her or right around the corner. Occasionally she caught his angry red face glaring in her direction, in fact shouting out her latest point tally seemed to make him even more red in the face. She guessed his plan was to rub in her face how many more points than her he had scored, but that plan wasn't going so well for him.
Above them she heard Snipe's voice call out that there were only a few remaining minutes in the exam. Itsuka felt confident that she had enough points to pass the exam, but chided herself from thinking she could slack off. UA's motto was 'Plus Ultra' after all.
Before she could begin her search for more robots the entire city seemed to shake, a rumble hit her and the other examinees before two of the buildings not far from her suddenly collapsed in on themselves without warning. She brought her hands up to shield her eyes from the sudden surge of dust as tons of concrete came crumbling down -
-what she had not expected was for something else to rise up out of the rubble.
"Oh shiiiiiit! Is THAT a 0-Pointer?" one of the other examinees nearby cursed as what could only be a massive robot larger than many of the buildings around them emerged from the dust. It was a behemoth! Its multitude of red-lens eyes looked down at her and the other students impassively, as if they were insects. Without any warning it brought up one of its fists, the size of a city bus, and slammed it into the ground creating a shockwave that caused the ground to split and buildings around them to crumble.
"Plus Ultra, indeed." Itsuka gasped, standing still as the other insects around her scrambled and ran for their lives away from the gigantic robot. She was tempted to do so too but just as she turned away she heard a familiar, unpleasant voice curse out.
"Ah, fucking damnit. That hurts. Godsdamned hunk of metal crap!" Angry Boy cursed from beside a pile of rubble. He was laid out on his stomach, his hand and one of his legs pinned beneath the rubble around him - there was no way he could angle himself enough to use his quirk and even if he did he risked shredding himself with shrapnel from the concrete around him. The proverbial cherry on top of everything was that the 0-Pointer was heading their way, its treads grinding the rubble it had already made to dust as it lumbered forward unstoppably.
He was still cursing when Itsuka appeared next to him, bending down to grab one of the slabs of rubble and heave it off of him as if it weighed like a sack of rice.
"What the hell? I don't need your help!" Angry Boy growled, his crimson eyes on her.
"Doesn't matter. I am here and I am helping you." Itsuka grunted, using Big Fist to brush away the last chunks of concrete that had kept him pinned. He tried to get to his feet angrily but before he got on both legs he cried out in pain and toppled back to the ground clutching his leg that had been trapped.
"For fuck's sake! I'll blast that thing until it's slag!" Angry Boy continued to curse, Itsuka guessed he must have broken his leg which left only one option for him if he was going to get out of there.
Well, two options but she was feeling just a tad petty enough to not lift him up and carry him to safety. When he noticed her walking -toward- the 0-Pointer he questioned, "Where the hell are you going?"
UA is Plus Ultra...but...
Izuku cringed as he watched the gigantic 0-Pointer robot emerge from the ground, he had been so stunned by its arrival he had nearly forgotten about the 2-Pointer in his grip. He had ambushed the bot as it had waited in an alley for an examinee to no doubt rush into its scanning range. Just as Izuku had done to six others of its kind he had leaned over the edge and shot out two of his Frog quirk tongues down, wrapping it up and hauling it toward the roof top so he could drop it and break it.
It was a great stealth skill and was a much easier strain on his copied quirks than going all out in an open brawl - he was already starting to feel fatigue from using the quirks in tandem. It had also been useful in helping a few of the other examinees, pulling them out of the way of an ambushing bot for the most part. He had been halfway through reeling this point bot skyward when the 0-Pointer had emerged and distracted him, now the 2-Pointer was thrashing in his grip trying to get free. Izuku gritted his teeth, "Oh no...you don't…"
Izuku huffed as he swung his tongues away from the building and slammed them back toward it, smashing the bot against the brick before he let go and retracted his tongues - it still felt like a weird thing to think about. "I have somewhere around thirty-points, right? Is th-that enough to pass the exam? I S-should probably get some m-more."
It was on the same street that he was on but several buildings away. It raised one of its fists and brought it crashing down creating a shockwave and causing the building Izuku was standing on to shudder.
"Though, probably far away from that thing."
"H-help!" Izuku's ears twitched at the familiar voice and his head snapped in the direction it had come from. It was that girl he had met Itsuka with at the entrance way, Uraraka. Her leg was trapped underneath some rubble, UA should really have programmed the 0-Pointer to be more careful - what if more students got hurt or worse from all the destruction it caused. That did not worry Izuku now, what did worry him was the sight of Uraraka still struggling to get out of the rubble and failing and she was right on the path of the 0-Pointer which from Izuku's point of view did not seem to notice her.
"I-is there such a thing as being too Plus Ultra?" Izuku muttered, he could flee the robot and make sure he passed the exam with a few more points - but no, he couldn't turn away now. His body was already moving, he raced toward the edge of the rooftop and leapt from it, sailing across the street he shot out two tongues to grab a window sill and swing his way down to the street level. In another leap he was at Uraraka's side, "A-are you okay?"
"O-oh it's you!" Uraraka looked up at him with surprise, she hadn't seen him since before he had copied Tsu's quirk, then she blushed and shook her head, "My ankle. I-I think it's broken...it hurts. M-my quirk makes my bones kind of weaker..."
Which would explain her looks, wouldn't it? If her quirk let her negate the effects of gravity than possibly this was a side effect?
"O-o-okay. L-l-let's get you out of... here." With the extra strength granted from his duplicated arms he grabbed a hold of the slab of concrete that had Uraraka pinned down and heaved it up, missing how Uraraka caught sight of his bulging arms and started to blush. With a loud grunt he heaved the concrete aside and bent down scooping her up in his two original arms. He expressly ignored the feeling of the taller woman's body pressed against him, though that wasn't stopping his heart from pumping faster like it wanted to rip itself out of his chest all the same.
He felt his fingers tingle, looking at one of his hands he saw small pads form on his fingertips. There was no accompanying rush of 'feeling' that he had a new quirk or knew how to use it. Her quirk then definitely had to be an Emitter Type. While he could copy some of the minor mutation properties of Emitter quirks he could never copy the ability behind them.
"Look out!" Uraraka suddenly shouted, pointing up, he followed her finger and saw the descending fist of the 0-Pointer as it came down to swat them like they were insects!
"GAH! Go, go Dupli-Tongues!" two of his hands morphed into mouths again and shot out at the closest building, sticking to it he pulled himself and Uraraka out of the way of the oncoming hand just seconds before it slammed down. He stuck to the building but immediately felt something was wrong as the concrete he was sticking to shifted. He looked up and saw spider webs of fractures crawl up the wall as pieces began to fall out. The shockwave from the attack had compromised the building's integrity and it was falling apart - on top of them!
Before his eyes a section of the outside wall came loose from the building and toppled downward. Thinking frantically he had his hands stuck to the part of the wall that wasn't coming loose yet while also activating Engine to kick his legs upward with a burst of combustion flame, shouting. "Mutate: Turbo Kick!"
He felt like he was doing a handstand as his body twisted to face upside down, still holding Uraraka she gripped tighter onto him as his legs came up and into the concrete wall, pushing it with enough force so it fell away from them both. That maneuver came with a price though as he felt one of his arms suddenly light up with pain, letting it fall loose as he came back to an upward facing position against the wall.. "I-it hurts! I-I think I dislocated it."
"T-then we should. P-probably get out of here, huh?" Uraraka replied shakily, doing her best to smile bravely as she brought up one of her hands and touched herself - immediately feeling lighter than a feather in Izuku's grip - and then an Izuku was amazed by the sudden feeling of weightlessness. He didn't think about not flinching at her touch..
Her quirk! It's called Zero Gravity! She can negate the gravitational field around objects - and people. I-I I can use this!
"Hold on, tight." he gently ordered her as he brought his legs into a crouch against the face of the wall, she nodded to him and got a better grip holding onto his shirt. He leapt from the building - away from the 0-Pointer robot. Where normally he would almost immediately begin to feel the effects of gravity on him after a frog leap he felt nothing now. With the boost behind his jump the two of them shot through the air like a rocket, out of reach from the monstrous bot.
"You'd have to be crazy or crazy powerful to take on that thing."
Ignoring Angry Boy's words of protest she sped up toward the 0-Pointer, leaping over the rubble as she activated One For All, becoming a minor orange blur as she dodged past one of its gigantic fists that tried to grab her. Rolling underneath its arm she found herself just underneath the bot's extended torso - just where she wanted to be.
Dipping into the power of One For All she felt her body heat up and begin to glow with a red energy, as if her muscles and bones were igniting in fire and were trying to tear themselves apart at the sametime. Calmly, she activated Big Fist and pumped the power of One For All into her enhanced fists, right now she could only handle upwards of 30% in Battle Stance but combining it with her original quirk shot it upwards of 80%! She felt the pain in her body melt away as it all seemed to pool into her fists which glowed as brightly as the rest of her body had been moments earlier.
Looking upward she could just see the 0-Pointer's head look down at her. Giving it a wink she moved her arms down and crouched before jumping into the air, copying just as she had seen Tsu and Izuku practice dozens of times before. She swung her arms upward in a classic uppercut punch, "RISING FIST..."
She clenched her butt as the power of One For All surged ahead of her, the air pressure of the blow slamming into the robot's torso with enough force to lift it off the ground. The sound of groaning metal and exploding machinery filled the air as the behemoth bot came apart like it was a shoddy, cheaply made toy. A split of destruction ploughed through its chest, nearly chopping it in half, the head flying backward over its torso before ploughing into the ground several dozen meters behind its main body. The newly made scrap metal flung outward, the vast majority impacting harmlessly into the faux buildings to either side on the street even as more explosions rocked what remained of the 0-Pointer. "...SMASH!"
With a crash it's now torsoless lower half fell back to the ground, it seemed to twitch for several seconds before it too toppled to the side, smoke pouring out of it in a rising plume. Smiling to herself, Itsuka let go of the power of One For All and her own quirk, wincing as she had to shake her hands which felt like she had got them caught in a laundry press. They looked a little bruised but no worse for the wear. She would be sore for a few hours but she was satisfied that she had saved someone, even if it was Angry Boy.
"TIIIIIIIIMES UP!" Snipe's voice called out, followed by a loud horn that echoed across the exam site. That was it then, the Practical Exam was over.
"I should probably get Angry Boy back to the entrance. UA is sure to have staff on hand to treat wounds. Then I can meet up with everyone else." Itsuka hummed and skipped back toward where she had left Angry Boy.
"Holy shit." Angry Boy said softly, probably the quietest thing she had heard him say since first meeting him. He had propped himself up, leaning against a building even though his one leg was still bleeding and trembling with effort to hold the rest of him up. His awe disappeared soon enough, his face growing red he bared his teeth at her as his voice rose in a shout, "That was…! That was…!"
She sighed and braced for his next protest about how much better he was or what she had done was some kind of bullshit.
"That was...FUCKING HOT!"
Itsuka started. No, no, there was no way she could have misheard him.
"What?"
"Y-your quirk is...is powerful! You blew it the fuck up!" Angry Boy's face was still red but his angry expression had largely dropped, instead it was a mix of shock and awe, he paused as he seemed to think of something and shrugged his shoulders " Shit. I guess that means we should, like, go out or some shit."
Itsuka continued to stare.
"What?"
After getting checked out by Recovery Girl, and getting her autograph, Izuku and Uraraka had left the Testing Site - taking one of the waiting buses back to the entrance. Izuku had tried not to blush or stare too much as the taller woman praised him for saving her from the 0-Pointer. He had tried to brush it off as no big deal and reminded her that she had been the one to save them both with making a get away but she downplayed herself and continued to gush. He thought he might have been seeing things but her cheeks seemed redder than before the exam. He couldn't blame her, he felt like he could sleep for a week.
Once they had returned to just outside the UA entrance way Setsuna was already there waiting with Tsu.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You saved the day Tsu…" Izuku cried to his friend, going down on his knees as he bowed deeply to her.
Tsu must have had a rough exam as well because her cheeks were also looking fairly red.
"I was happy to help, Izu-chan." she croaked, then tilted her head and put a finger to her lips, "What happened to your quirk samples though?"
"Yea? What was the big deal?" Setsuna added, making her hands pop off and float around him, "I wanted you to use my quirk in the practical so I could know how well I would have done in it!"
"Uh...I don't know exactly…" Izuku wasn't lying, per say. He did not see what or who had destroyed his quirk sample bag. He had an insanely large suspicion about who had done it of course - Kacchan being his one and only suspect. He even felt he knew why Kacchan had done it, but that made him just want to prove to his old friend that he was wrong about Izuku and his quirk. "It happened in the changing room. I didn't see any cameras, but it doesn't matter now. What's done...is done."
"You should still probably talk to the university." Setsuna raised an eyebrow at him, she was good at picking up when he wasn't telling the full truth. "I just can't figure out how whoever did this knew about your quirk…"
"Well...uh…" Izuku tried to come up with an excuse but was interrupted as a microphone was practically shoved into his face by a blue skinned hand.
"Hello there! You four must be Heroics Course applicants right? How was the exam? Do you think you passed?" Izuku and the others looked up to see a smiling blue-skinned woman with short lilac colored hair, but what was perhaps most stunning about her were her intense eyes which had blueish-green colored iris and pitch black sclera. They seemed to want to suck Izuku and his friends into them like a black hole. She looked annoyed for a moment when they didn't respond but something seemed to click as she continued, "My apologies, I should have introduced myself. I am Chitose Kizuki, a reporter with Shoowaysha Publishing!"
"Oh, are you interviewing UA applicants or something for an article?" Setsuna replied, her sharp-toothed smile splitting her face as she looked at the woman. For some reason it gave Izuku an odd feeling.
"That's right on the landmine! The world NEEDS to know the thoughts and feelings of you young hero hopefuls! Care to give a soundbyte?" Chitose spoke her words with a passion that Izuku thought if he could see it, it would be on fire. It was kind of like how he was analyzing quirks so perhaps that's why he was first to answer her.
"T-t-the Written Exam was hard, but the P-practical Exam was harder it was really...Plus Ultra!" Izuku replied, smiling nervously as her eyes focused on him.
"I think I did pretty well." Uraraka followed, pressing her fingers together.
"I agree with Izuku, it was very 'Plus Ultra'." Tsu croaked as well.
"I took the Recommendation Exam so I don't know what happened." Setsuna shrugged her shoulders, Izuku noticed an odd strain in her eyes as Chitose focused on her.
"Oh! A Recommendation student? You must have been vetted by a Pro." Chitose hummed into her microphone.
"A friend of my family did." Setsuna replied, much more curtly this time. That was a surprise to Izuku, he did not know the Pro who had recommended Setsuna had any relation to her family. Most cases it was someone from their fan club, but there was the occasional high-profile legacy recommendation.
"And that would be…?" Chitose pressed on, her eyes becoming wider as she stared at Setsuna.
"None of your business!" Setsuna laughed, her smile was practically taking up her entire face but it looked like anything but happy at the reporter's line of questions. There was a gleam in Chitose's eyes for just a moment before she let out a loud, full body laugh and relaxed,taking on the air of a professional again.
"Very well, very well. Keep your little secret, I apologize I just get very...enthusiastic about my line of work!" Chitose brushed off the confrontation with Setsuna like it had been nothing. "I'll take my leave of you kids, but good luck I hope you ALL passed and we will see much MORE of you soon!"
With that Chitose waved them good bye and zipped off to interview another gaggle of applicants that were leaving UA. There was an awkward silence for several moments, before Setsuna rolled her eyes and then popped her head off rolling it as well a full circle. "Jeez. The press are a bunch of vultures these days. It wouldn't surprise me if they tried to storm the walls of UA for a juicy scoop."
"Yea, she was pretty, um, downright rude to you Setsuna. Are you alright…?" Izuku looked at her sympathetically, which Setsuna seemed to catch as her smile faltered. It returned as she reached around and wrapped an arm on his shoulders.
"Ooooh? What's this? Feeling protective of little old me, are we now, I-zu-ku? Perhaps you'll want to stand guard at my apartment all night long?" she hummed, giving his shoulder a squeeze which only made Izuku's brain start to fry.
"Enough." Tsu sighed, lashing her tongue out at Setsuna's head and making it float off her shoulders which instead of being hurt or insulted only made their friend laugh.
"Haha! That's fair, I should let Moptop at least rest after the brawl everyone had today." Setsuna's eyes shifted to something in the distance, "Speaking of everyone, here comes Big Sis!"
"Hey guys…" Itsuka smiled as she walked up to them, out of everyone she looked like she did not have a scratch on her but at the sametime she looked like she was the most exhausted. Her posture was bent and her shoulders slumped. An annoyed look on her face.
"Oh, are you alright Kendou-san?" Uraraka looked at their mutual friend with worry. "Did your score…?"
"Hm? Oh, no, no. I think I passed." Itsuka waved her hands at them as if to brush aside their concern, "Just...sore from using my quirk and dealing with...an annoying guy."
"Well, uh…" Izuku coughed into his hand, he wanted to shift the subject away from whatever was bothering Itsuka on top of what had just happened with Setsuna "W-why don't we go out and have some dinner?"
"Dinner sounds great right now." Tsu nodded her head up and down.
"Yea, I'm starving!"
"Oh, well if you don't mind me joining you…"
"Not at all, the more the merrier. We were all in this together after all."
Nedzu hummed to himself as he sat at his desk, going through a stack of rejection letters for those who had already failed the Written Exam portion of UA's Entrance Exam. He felt like such correspondence needed a special touch and he was more than happy to explain their failings and the brutal expectations of how they could turn their lives around if they wanted to reapply next year.
It was also fun.
A knock on his office door drew his attention away from his work, a moment later a disheveled looking Shota Aizawa stepped into his office. If it was anyone else Nedzu would have asked politely what had happened to them to bring them to such a dreadful state - but this was Eraserhead. Nedzu would only worry if the man ever came into his office looking chipper and smartly dressed - then something terribly wrong must have occurred.
"Ah, Aizawa. I assume you've come back from my little errand I sent you on?" Nedzu asked, a gleam in his eyes.
"Dean Nedzu. Do I need to remind you that I am a Professor and Heroics Course Advisor ontop of being a Pro Hero? Not a dumpster diver." Aizawa sighed, his voice was always this exasperated at how 'illogical' Nedzu's actions could be - or at least seem at first glance. Not that most people could tell the difference between Aizawa's current tone and the tone he used with most people - everyone either annoyed him or made him tired.
"No, not really. It says so on the nice little plaque outside your office after all. Which I should remind you is an office, not a studio apartment for you to sleep in during AND after school hours." Nedzu cheerfully replied and laughed to himself before taking a sip of tea.
"No…" Aizawa sighed before lurching closer to Nedzu's desk and retrieving something from his pocket. "I have what you sent me for...can I ask you why you wanted this?"
He pulls out a plastic evidence bag, inside of that is a smaller plastic bag - or the remains of one as it looks to be mostly melted.
"Aha, thank you Aizawa. Though I can say it involves not just one but two of our promising looking applicants to UA University! It will help in a particular proposal for a lesson plan for one of them."
"So. Blackmail then?"
"Of course!"
I'm thinking Izuku should intern with Ryukyu.
