U.A. Transfer Exam II
Word Count: 13,780
TW: Brief mentions of self-harm
—
Previously
-UA's Transfer exam has begun
-We've seen just how far some will go to get ahead
-We've also seen loyalty on a level some aren't even aware of
-Friendships holding true even in the most trying of circumstances
Location - Southeast Side (Suburban District)
Time Remaining - 45 minutes
Genki Hayashi's heart was pounding as he could still hear the whirl of an engine and the sound of the bullets from behind him, the shattering of glass and Koemi's screams were still rattling around in his head. He felt like such a coward, in the heat of the moment, when faced with the reality in front of him he'd fled.
His feet moved without conscious thought as his fight or flight response had kicked in and he'd choose to escape, to abandon the two people who had helped him so far. Even knowing this he'd still kept running, with no true destination in mind but to get away.
He skidded through the alleyway, his panting breaths loud in his ears, his ears that were still ringing with the sounds of the bullet fire, the sound of the bullets shattering glass and the impact as each one chipped away at the concrete walls and the house beyond them. Koemi's original cry had been drowned out by the heavier sound of the whine of an engine as the bullets had continued to fire without pause.
He had only run harder, faster away from the noise until finally, finally he was far enough away that he could hear nothing but his own rapid, panting breaths as he collapsed in the middle of the deserted street.
The black-haired young man couldn't stop his body from shaking, trembling so much that he was surprised he'd been able to run in the first place, that he'd been able to get away at all.
"Running away was surprising…and yet not really."
His green eyes rose to regard his sister's squatted form as she looked at him with something akin to pity. Her matching green eyes were filled with a sadness that he hadn't seen from her before. Her hair was done in a loose low ponytail.
"It wasn't your fault you know," Kozue Hayashi admitted as her thumb brushed along his cheek, wiping at the tear that had trailed down. "I don't blame you," she continued gently.
"But I do!" Genki's savage rebuke came spilling out, the truth hanging between them. He slammed his wooden fisted hands down on the asphalt. "I couldn't do anything! I froze up, I couldn't move, but you didn't…" he clenched his hands tighter, his fingers creaking with the strain.
"I could have reached you, if I had just moved. I could have saved you!"
Kozue stood withdrawing a few steps from him, her features twisted in a frown. "You're not a coward, you were just scared," she said softly.
When he wouldn't look at her, but at his clenched hands. She continued her little pep talk.
"You were afraid, back there and who wouldn't be? If you want to make up for what happened earlier, do it now! Get up and go back!"
The black-haired boy was quietly mulling over her words, but he began to rise to his feet. His voice was steadier. "You're right," he admitted, sounding a little sheepish.
"I'm always right," his twin said adamantly, but she flashed him a wide grin.
He just rolled his eyes and turned back the way he'd come as he began to retrace his steps. It wasn't long though before he regretfully found himself lost, in his panic earlier he hadn't remembered all the twists and turns he'd taken to get away.
Genki had just turned a corner when he found himself faltering back a step, his gaze on the four sleek black armored robots that came drifting around one of the corners of the suburban district. Housed in thick heavy black armor and making nearly no sound at all. They looked like tanks, but they were faster, rolling along smoothly as their red camera eyes locked onto him. Beams of thin red dots were soon decorating his body at vital points. His arms, his knees and at his stomach, his chest and he was sure he even had one sitting between his eyes. He could feel the heat as it settled.
Don't panic, don't panic!
It's fine, you can handle this!
C'mon, you gotta move!
He should have expected robots, it was UA'2s specialty, it was their MO and while it hadn't been mentioned in the briefing earlier, they hadn't said there wouldn't be robots, but then again no one had asked. A lie by omission, it was smart because everyone had focused on the flags and each other; no one had considered what else might be out to get them. He really wished he would have considered this possibility.
"I can take over, if you want." Kozue offered as she stood beside him, her hand outstretched for him to take if he wanted, but her features were twisted down in a frown as though she disapproved of taking over for him. As though she felt he should be able to do better than this.
The dark-haired boy shook his head and stepped back another step, his arms moving watching as the lights moved to follow his movements judging how quickly they handled any sudden movements.
"I can do this, I have to do this…please," Genki pleaded to her. As she stepped back, a small nod in his direction, her belief in him meant everything in that moment.
As he swung his arm out wide watching as his fingers elongated and his arm stretched wider, becoming larger with the movement as his quirk activated, his wooden arm expanded in every way that he wanted. The thick wall of wood that covered the area in front of him saved him just as several loud pops resounded and slammed against the enforced wood that he'd recreated. He frowned to himself as the wall connected to his arm held, but he could feel the impact of each bullet against the extension of his arm.
Think of something; you said you could handle this, so go on!
He felt his breathing increase and his heart pound, sweat beaded at the base of his neck and along his temple, as he felt himself slide back as another round of bullets slammed against his wooden shield. He heard over the whine of the engine, something that made his heart drop and his confidence start to falter, as a heavy crack splintered across his shield. Pain blossomed up his arm and he screamed, unable to hold back the sound as the bullets lodged into the fissures along his shield, they'd lodged into the extension of his arm!
As another high whine echoed in his ears, he threw out his other arm to create another shield in front of the first. Hoping to give himself time, a moment to get his bearings. He clenched his teeth, cutting off the sound, as his own heavy breathing reached his own ears.
"Subject has proven immune to previous attempts, switching to EXP N-25 rounds."
Genki felt his breath catch as the robotic voice reach2ed his ears. He heard the change of the whirling, how it seemed to get heavier, he was just about to turn and run when he heard the sound of whatever had been fired a heavier, deeper noise he couldn't desertion, before it slammed into the second wooden shield, he'd placed in front of his tattered first one, to try and allow himself time to recover.
The shields held, but fire blossomed up and heavy black smoke filled the area. He didn't have time to withdraw, to retreat as another round slammed into his now flaming shield. This time he was thrown back off his feet, his head slammed into the asphalt and for a moment Genki landed there dazed and disoriented.
"Genki! Get up, you have to get up!" Kozue's voice was screeching at him from through the smoke, flames and debris that littered the area. Her form was hidden by the thick black smoke that bellowed around him.
With a lurch, Genki managed to roll himself, his head was spinning and as he tried to right himself. He gave a cross between a cough and a yelp as his right arm spasmed in pain, metal bullets slowly working their way out of the various cracks, as new wood grew slowly in its place. His green eyes were red and bloodshot from the smoke, as he managed to stagger to his feet. The soft tink sound as the impacted rounds expelled themselves from his arm. He was lucky…lucky to be practically unscaved.
He staggered a step or two before he was able to find his footing and he moved at jerky run for the alleyway he'd managed to slip into between what had once been a pretty blue painted house in a well-kept neighborhood, now, it looked like a war zone, half the front fence had been blown inward, the quick glance he'd taken before he'd kept moving was only to show him the destruction in his wake.
The black-haired boy flexed the blackened fingers of his left hand, on a quick inspection he noticed his whole arm was black in color, the discoloration thanks to the fire. He was lucky he'd pulled back when he did, he might have actually caught on fire. He took slow breath in testing his airways as he kept moving further into the suburban area.
"This definitely isn't a walk in the park," he muttered, it hurt to talk, but he wanted to test out how damaged his voice was, he didn't think with the smoke inhalation that he'd be able to scream for help anytime soon. He cradled his arms closer to his body as he jogged away. He was healing, but the process was slow and he was honestly surprised he wasn't being hunted down…this little reprieve allowed him to work out a few things. He didn't think they were aiming to kill them, but injuries weren't off the table. The robots were engaging them, but they gave them time to formulate defensive or offensive maneuvers.
"Secure the perimeter!" The same robotic voice from earlier echoed outward into the surrounding area.
I can't run…
I can't give up…
So – what if I go on the offensive?
It was a dangerous plan, but Genki knew he couldn't keep running. There had to be more to this test than a few flags…he was outnumbered, but all wasn't lost yet. He still had hope, he wasn't going to give up without a fight.
"You're bleeding!"
Kozue's sharp voice reached his ears and he turned to look at her as he moved to the mouth of the alley, carefully looking around before he raced across the open street, slamming his shoulder against the front door of the house he had picked to take shelter in.
"Smooth move, Casanova," she told him with a whistle as she looked down at him from where he was spiraled on the floor of the Entryway.
He ignored her as he picked himself up and quickly and quietly shut the door carefully behind him, his original amount of momentum had been pointless and the empty house had been left unlocked.
"Shut up!" he hissed lowly with a glare that didn't last as his whole body heaved with a couple hacking coughs.
Kozue only held her to hands with a worried look twisting her features. "You did better than I expected, but they're trying pretty hard to take you out,"
Genki shrugged, moving slowly to finger the back of his head, that gash on the back of his head wouldn't heal all that quickly. He frowned feeling his arms throb in pain, it would be a bit before he could use his right arm. His left, although blackened from the fire, wasn't hurt as severely as the other. In a crisis2 he could use it, and he knew he would have to if he wanted to make it to the next round.
"They aren't actually, if they really wanted to kill us, they had a lot of better chances. This is another part of the exam, I'm sure of it." He rotated his right arm inspecting what he could see, as he moved to the hall bathroom and closed the door before hitting the light.
"If you say so," Kozue told him as she sat on the tub's edge. Genki hadn't paid much mind to her when she'd passed through the door when he'd shut it. He spent a few minutes pressing a hand towel to the back of his head, blinking away the spots that lingered at the edge of his vision.
Genki Hayashi poked carefully at his right arm with his blackened fingers, prodding gently at the cracks, wincing at the pain it brought him, but he breathed through it. It didn't hurt as badly as it had earlier.
"What's your plan?" she wondered as she caught his gaze in the mirror.
"Sabotage," he answered simply.
Black hair fell over one shoulder, as she cocked her head to the side, watching him curiously. Her green eyes are so much like his own. "Oh?" she murmured as she leaned her chin on her hands, her fingers spread along her cheeks.
"Yeah," he muttered, giving another look toward the mirror watching the way the fissures along his arm were filling in slowly with a new set of growth. He flexed his fingers and then clenching his hand into a fist. He knew a close quarter fight wasn't what he would want, it wouldn't benefit him, not when this was a numbers game.
"How do you plan to win?" Kozue asked him again, her lips twisting down in a frown at having to repeat herself.
For a few moments Genki went over the plan in his mind, as he pressed the towel to the back of his head applying pressure, as he let his finger press to the wound on the back of his head, letting his quirk seep carefully into the wound, it wouldn't hold by any means, but it would at least give him a little wiggle room, if he could stem the blood flow.
Kozue let him work out his plan, in silence as she watched him use his quirk in ways she'd never considered when she'd been alive, and to be fair really, her quirk didn't offer her such versatility.
"You know how the roots of a tree stretch out underground?" he asked her as he set the towel on the counter and looked at her with an unreadable expression.
Kozue sat up, her gaze locking with his as she easily followed his train of thought. "Yeah," she agreed, waiting to see where he was going with this. When he moved from the bathroom, she followed after him as he cast a look around the living room before settling himself in a seated position in the middle of the room.
"What if I tried the same thing?" he asked her, as he spread out each of his hands, fingers pressing against the ground, but his palm was raised in the air not touching the floor. "But with a twist," he added, watching her from where he sat.
Her green eyes glittered excitedly at what he was suggesting. "You don't have anything to lose," she admitted with a small smile. This sort of out of the box idea, might just work to his advantage. "Do it, I dare you!" she challenged with a devilish grin, she could only imagine what would happen.
Taking a slow breath in, careful when he felt his throat begin to tickle, a cough nearly there. Genki paid attention to what it was clear that he wouldn't be able to do. He let his green eyes fall shut, listening to the sounds that he could hear. With the silence and the safety at least for the moment he could hear the tanks as they lumbered along.
He took another small breath pressing his fingers a little firmer against the floor before he let his energy, his quirk travel down his arm, to each finger. For a few moments it seemed as though nothing was happening, but eventually his fingers elongated, twisting into smaller wedge-like pieces that pulled at the floorboards of the house, before burrowing into the cracks in the foundation, to the earth and dirt underneath. With every breath in, his focus turned, his attention drifted to his hands, each finger as it expanded outward through the dirt. Seeking the vibrations that gave away the locations of those who had attacked him only a short time ago.
The outside world fell away and Genki let his senses take him away. He couldn't see in the same sense of the word, but it was close to that. His roots followed one of the tanks as it paused at the bend in the road. The roots thickened at the base, but grew sharper as they gathered momentum before shooting out of the grassy pathway between the sidewalk and the street. Five thick wooden stakes drove through the plating on the tank's under belly, the gas tank was pierced and the tank cannon had been severed.
The roots withdrew back into the ground before the first explosion had sounded. With a surge of elation and relief to know that it had worked! HIs plan had worked, he'd succeeded! "Don't get too cocky, you've still got three more," Kozue reminded him from where she lingered against the kitchen doorway. Genki kept his fingers pressed against the ground, but his green eyes clashed with her own from the distance between them. "I know, I know," he muttered, before his eyes shut once more and he exhaled slowly going back into his meditative state, as he went back to finding the others.
While Genki's exchange seemed normal to the fifteen-year-old, the sole occupant who had been monitoring his feed since he had run away at the first life threatening event and now from the various hidden cameras throughout the house, seemed to think otherwise as he twirled a strand of long white hair along his index finger, as he jotted down a few notes with his other hand in a fancy, leather book at his side.
Location - South Side (Suburban District)
Time Remaining - 40 minutes
"Komei," the sound of her name low in her ear, had her bright blue eyes snapping open from when she'd instinctively closed them when she'd been taken to the ground.
The arms of her best friend had curled around her, ensuring he had taken nearly all the damage of the fall. Her heart was pounding in her chest as the bullets continued to wiz over her head, the hail of gunfire was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
She could feel herself trembling, and it took a moment for her to hear the words he had to repeat as the ringing in her ears had slowly subsided. She swallowed and shook her head to answer him when he'd asked if she was hurt. "No," she muttered, realizing he may not be able to see her.
"Are you?" came her soft question, as she tried to get some distance between them, but her back hit a rough bark wall only a hair's breadth behind her. It was also now that she noticed how dark it was, the only light coming from a few patches of moss which gave a faint glow, and Moritsu's glowing green eyes.
"Fine," he told her, forcing the lie from his lips.
"Do you think Genki's ok?" she found herself asking him into the silence as she noticed the high whine had stopped and in its place was a couple of click clicks but nothing else happened. The silence was almost worse than the gunfire.
She heard him groan softly as he shifted his weight and it caused her anxiety to rise. "I saw him run off," he muttered angrily.
For a moment Koemi could only stare at him, not sure what to say to this news…but knowing that he had run away was better than knowing that he was hurt, or as she hoped hadn't been hurt, even if he had run, he seemed genuine, and kind, a little quirky…but reliable. "Maybe there was a reason…" she started gently trying to give the benefit of the doubt to what Moritsu had seen.
At her best friend's stony look, she bit her lower lip for a moment before she looked away from him. "I'm just saying," she muttered, but frowned as she felt something fall on the back of her hand, it was wet and sticky.
It was by the faint green light that she could see that whatever had hit her hand was a dark, thick liquid. Her gaze shot to his face catching the tightness in his features, the grimace that twisted his lips and had him shifting away from her, attempting to hide something from her. She reached out for him again and it was at this moment that her fingers brushed down his side and came away wet and sticky. Her blue eyes filled with concern as she tried to move to get away from him, but whatever he'd covered them with didn't leave much room for her to get a better look.
"It'll stop bleeding in a few," his voice was low and strained now that she could hear it better. She felt her powers pulse along her hands and she activated her powers letting the bright white light give her a better view as she let her index finger point toward the tear in his shirt along his side, it was too far over to be labeled a graze. Koemi worried she already knew what it was.
She watched as the skin wasn't tan, but green as it rippled with such clarity she could see it before two small vines expelled a blood soaked, tiny metal object from his body.
Her sharp intake of breath didn't stop him from covering her eyes as though that would make the horror go away.
"Mori!" she whispered, hating the way her voice thickened with emotion. Her fingers curled along his hand as another soft pang sounded as another bullet was expelled from his body, this time from his right shoulder, the third one came from somewhere on his leg, she could feel the heat of his blood as it pooled where her other hand had been pressed down into the asphalt.
"Just a little longer," he told her as his hold tightened on her own. They could do little more than wait and she listened to his breath as it evened out going into something less painful as he used his powers to seal the wounds shut, it would be a little while longer until he could pull back the barrier between them and the enemy. It hadn't been more than a few minutes by her calculations.
His words didn't make her feel any better, as her eyes filled with tears and her throat got right. He'd have been seriously hurt and it was her fault, she should have been ready for anything.
"I'm s-sorry," she cried, her eyes squeezing shut as her free hand balled into a fist. "It's my fault; I-I wasn't p-paying attention. Y-you got hurt protecting me," she hated the watery edge to her voice.
"Hey now!" Moritsu growled his amber eyes, tracking the tear he could see traveling down her cheek. "It wasn't your fault, we all came into this expecting the usual capture the flag, this isn't normal," His voice had softened considerably as the words hung between them.
"But -" she began in refutation of his words.
"Koemi!" He called sharply, his anger bleeding through as his temper so usually in check leaked out and he immediately regretted it as her gaze skirted away from him.
"I'm sorry," he whispered with a low sound as he cupped her scraped cheek with his palm, his thumb brushing away the tears that had trailed down her pale cheeks. "I didn't mean to snap," he said gently with a breath.
"It's ok, Mori-kun." Her soft words washed over him, as her fingers brushed against his hand that still cupped her cheek.
He knew he needed to turn his attention to what they needed to focus on right now. He didn't have time to let his worries override this exam all together. He had to pass, there was far more riding on this exam, then merely a spot at U.A.
"I know you won't be a disappointment." The words of Koshaku Koibito echoed in Moritsu's ears. His father liked to dig against his quirkless, reject of a son whenever he was able to do so. It had been a terrible disappointment to find that his eldest son was so useless. It was only natural that he'd point the finger at his wife, after all it couldn't possibly be his fault. That wasn't his favorite thing to do though, when Koshaku wasn't sure that dragging up Fumeiyo would work well enough to instill his son's cooperation, he used Moritsu's love for his mother against him. "Your failure may result in some…unfortunate accidents." He tried to push those thoughts away, he couldn't let them intrude. He couldn't lose himself in his own despair.
"You've been on edge since this whole thing started and you won't tell me what's wrong," the white-haired girl whispered as she wiped at her eyes and carefully sat up as much as she could, in the small protective shell he'd created. She hadn't noticed that her words drew the other out of his dark thoughts.
She missed his guilty look as his hands balled into fists, missed the white knuckled grip that would have told her just how hard he was digging his nails into his palms. "I'm sorry Mei, we'll talk after this is over, but we can't stay cooped up like this. We need flags to pass. Right now, we aren't getting anywhere staying here," he took a breath as he let those words hang between them.
Koemi had almost thought she might have imagined what he said, but she knew she didn't, she'd heard his trembling voice as he muttered under his breath that he had to get into the U.A.
Guilt settled in her chest as she looked at him, her blue eyes wide, fearful for a moment as this admission caused her heart to pound. She'd always wondered about his home life, but he'd never let on about anything…but this sort of desperation worried her, but she swallowed down any sort of conversation she might have had with him, now wasn't the time. They didn't have the time to waste.
His urgency spurred her into action as her fingers condescended the light into a tighter beam at the edge of each of fingers. She wouldn't be the reason they failed here, she would do all she could for him. "Then let's not keep them waiting. Can you tell how many there are?" she asked him.
She didn't need to watch him to see that he was pressing his hands flat against the ground feeling the vibrations of the root system of the trees in the area, using them to get a picture of what they would be facing just on the other side of the barrier.
"There are four of them; it's hard to get a definitive physical form…but they've stopped moving – almost like they're waiting for us." Moritsu explained as he removed his hand from the ground and took a moment to mentally prepare for what they were about to do. The moment he pulled back the tree that had stretched out to protect them, he wasn't sure what would happen. What they would be facing.
Koemi took a few deep breaths as though that would somehow make the trembling in her hands lessen, but it didn't. It was almost as though she were readying for whatever was to come. "Ready?" she asked softly.
"Always," the red head muttered as he shifted and pressed his hand flat against the smooth circular wall to his right. He forced the barrier to lengthen in height, allowing them a little more room to get into a better position to get away once he let it fall. "I can open the back if you want to try and get around them," he offered.
"A sneak attack might give us an advantage," she agreed as she felt her fingers burn at the tips of her fingers the longer she held onto her condensed light.
"I'll see what I can do about a diversion," Moritsu offered as he let his other hand stretch outward toward the fence of the house that was just outside of the mouth of the alleyway. The seed he'd planted there was still safe and sound hidden among the weeds. "On three," he told her before he began to softly count to zero.
He did two things simultaneously, a small whole opened in the barrier, large enough that she could squeeze through and be out in the alleyway and he coaxed the tree roots to shift just a little to give her a little more time to run before he had the cocoon fall away just as the first seed he'd thrown early exploded in a mass of wiggling vines that curled outward and expanded in size to cover the street as it's large thick vines slithered and moved with an incredible speed to the first enemy it could reach.
As there was a momentary lapse in movement, he took that hair's breadth of hesitation to dart forward out of the mouth of the alley, leaping up along the fence as he used one the vines to propel himself up along the cinderblock wall just as another seed from early joined the first in seeking out the robots, that looked like military tanks about the size of a large SUV only black with a gold logo he couldn't make out. He clenched his hand as the vines tightened their grip on two of the robots as they curled all around them, attempting to rush the tanks with brute force alone.
Moritsu sailed onto the roof with another leap taking a moment to survey the battle from his vantage point. He didn't get but a quick glance before he pushed forward as the spray of bullets came from just behind him as he booked it across the shingled tiles, his leg throbbing in pain with every step.
Koemi had never appreciated her gym teacher's push for stamina training, when they had been practicing for a charity 5k run last month until this moment. She looped around the alleyway going up two blocks before she made her way back through a couple of side streets that placed her at a better position than she would have had had she tried to stay grouped up with Mori.
This gave her a far better attack position than she could have hoped for. With a running leap she curled her body tightly together as her hands struck the fence she pressed down with her hands and pushed upward one more time landing on the roof as she twisted around, brushing back strands of white hair that had fallen loose out of her ponytail with the back of her wrist. I'll never complain about gymnastic classes again! She thought with a small smile to herself. Her blue eyes skirted over the robots she could see; she ignored the ones she could see spinning their wheels as they tried to escape the large veins that had curled along their shiny black bodies.
As the first pop of sound reached her ears she flinched her body instinctively lowering as her gaze darted around taking a second to figure out what was going on, for her to realize they weren't aiming at her as the whirl of gun fire sounded in a rapid fire cadence she was getting too used to hearing and a blur of red was racing across the rooftop about twenty yards away from her current location.
No! Oh God, No!
Her mind's eye played the scene from earlier in her head, only this time his powers didn't expel the bullets and heal him; no, it was so much worse. His body was riddled with bullet holes, too many to heal from. A mistake…a miscalculation in the robots programming.
They said it would be safe…
This isn't safe…
Something's wrong…
Why aren't they stepping in?
She focused her light at the tips of each finger on her right hand; she'd let the energy slide away when she'd been running here. The white light swirled at the end of each finger, the light becoming stronger, harsher, flaring out to engulf the back of her hand as she curled the fingers of her left hand along her wrist as though steadying herself, ensuring her aim was true. The sun hadn't begun to set just yet, allowing her an unexpected element of surprise.
The sun's rays glittered between herself and her target. There was a faint hum of sound as the light swirled, what had earlier looked like wisps of liquid light had solidified and heated the tips of her fingers as she held it back moving to place her eye level with her hand to line up her shot, it was tricky with a moving target, but she had to get this right.
The smaller drone was hovering just level with the building Mori was perched on, she couldn't quite see all of its body from this distance, but she could see the flashes of light that fired from a end of a machine gun that had been attached to its underside and the sound of the bullets being fired was something she could hear even from here.
The blonde forced her mind to quiet, she inhaled, drawing her breath through her nose and holding her breath as she moved her hand the tiniest fraction to the left. She exhaled just as she let her quirk fly, the sound was a zing as the condensed light, which she had hardened flew with such a speed, as the brightness told any who could see it what was coming, each beam of light from the tips of her fingers spiraled around the middle blast as they combined together just as it collided with the drone's hard exoskeleton shell. Sparks erupted as the two forces converged, falling to the streets below.
The drone seemed to twist in the air, the bullets abruptly ending, it had almost seemed as though it would survive the blast, but as the beam of hard light flared with her own expansion of energy, the first crack appeared, before other's spiderwebbed across it and the drone disintegrated as the blast went through it's core and moved across the sky another several yards before it faded entirely.
Koemi lowered her hand to her side, the skin along her fingers was a waxy white color, what you might see from someone who had experienced a burn. She took a slow breath and let her gaze dart across the area looking for Mori but she couldn't see him on the rooftop anymore, but she knew he was ok, that he had to be because she could see his vines moving for their next target.
The two of the tanks Moritsu had ensnared earlier were piles of condensed metal, as the large, heavy vines had managed to take crush the smaller, more vulnerable connections along the underside, before curling with such intensity, such ferocity that it was able to break the protective shield barrier they had been equipped with.
Focus. She reminded herself as she raised her left hand, curling her middle finger down as she began to charge the light along her index finger and her ring finger. Her blue eyes lining up her next shot. So far Mori was keeping their attention on him, giving her time to do what she did best.
Location - South East Side (Urban District)
Time Remaining - 40 minutes
Akimitsu Maki's frustration began to mount as he pressed his fingers against the small white bandages at the edge of his lips. His blue eyes roamed the lower buildings from where he crouched on the upper ledge of what had been crafted into an apartment building. Nothing even remotely resembled a flag from what he could see.
Akimitsu Maki hadn't expected this to be an easy task, but he had been expecting to find at least one flag in his literal twenty minutes of searching.
Instead of being dismayed as he could hear from the others a few streets over, he was only getting more frustrated as it felt like his possibility of getting into U.A was sliding through his fingers like handfuls of sand.
Who didn't have their reasons for attempting this once in a lifetime opportunity of getting into the great Hero School known as U.A. High? Like so many others he had his reasons, had proven himself, after all he'd been nominated by his professors at Ketsubutsu Academy.
While he appreciated Miss Fukukado's support it wasn't the main reason he'd decided to take a chance at U.A. The letter had arrived at his home and while it had been addressed to him, he'd not yet returned home for his classes, so his mom had opened it, curious to see why her son had received a letter from the prestigious U.A. High, the school that had been all over the news this last week when their school had been attacked by Villains…and several of their staff and their own Hero course students had been hurt.
He, like many others at his school, had been sent home for a few days. The rumors were flying, but it was a little too obvious that Ketsubutsu Academy wanted to ensure its own defensives, should the attack at U.A. not be an isolated incident.
Aki could still remember what had solidified his own reasons for being here today, his own reason for competing to get a seat in U.A's next hero course.
It was her; it would always be her.
For a moment his fingers drifted to the black tie on his wrist, the beads a bright purple, white and black, if one were to look closely they would see that it was something out of one of those make-your-own bracelet sets for little kids.
Her image flashed through his mind, her normal black locks now highlighted with light pink strands, her once dark eyes, had turned a bright light green color. His nails bit into his palm as he recalled her small trembling hold on his hand, as though terrified she would hurt him too.
Suzu was his little sister, and she meant everything to him.
A strange low buzzing noise filled the area around him. What's that? No sooner had he thought that, before he was looking for the source of the noise, his eyes narrowed as he caught sight of what it was just a few feet below where he stood, about half way between his position on the roof and the street below. Frowning he cocked his head to the side watching the softball sized machine curiously as it buzzed around almost like one might see a dragonfly or a hummingbird as it beat its wings to stay afloat and in one place for only a short amount of time before it was moving again to a different spot but still in the same vicinity. As though it didn't want to leave its perch of sorts in the air.
Aki raked his fingers back through his hair, the strands standing up a little as he ensured his bangs didn't get in his eyes. He kept quiet and watched as the drone gave off a series of beeps and other computerized noises before something seemed to open out of small body, a long, black muzzle that looked like the barrel of a gun. A dart gun? Probably.
He sucked in a sharp breath as a sound reached his ears that didn't sound like a dart gun and what came out of the end of that barrel was a strange flash of bright blue color that left an after image along his eyes. He jerked his gaze toward the sound of crumbling concrete as the building just a block up from him gave a groan as the support beams were exposed out of the left side, before it began to tilt precariously toward the street level.
He'd not intended to do anything about it, if it wasn't for something that caught his attention. A boy had just come running out of one of the side streets, his legs struggling to keep him out of harm's way of the falling chunks of debris as it rained down on him. He must have been hiding there the whole time. It was all too easy to see the exhaustion clinging to him.
There's no way he can get out of the way!
"Shit!" Aki growled, as he found himself moving forward his black combat boots slamming against the divider on the roof as he pushed off, letting his body gather speed, his fingers weaving a thick web between his outstretched hand, before he threw it out, the sticky web slamming against an adjacent building. He'd only done this a few times at his school and he'd found a pretty good success rate. He just had to make sure he timed things just right or he'd not get enough air, or hit the ground.
His fingers curled along the web and he let his momentum carry him forward, his other hand already forming another web as he twisted to ensure he could keep moving through the urban city streets. His next set of webs curled around a metal balcony and he let his body go lower to the ground, his body's momentum sending him shooting through the raining debris.
He would only have one shot at this.
"Hey!" Akimitsu called loudly, watching as the kid darted startled green eyes in his direction, as he looked up at him. "Grab on!" he told him, his free arm outstretched, as his fingers met a blackened set of solid wooden fingers that clasped his own and the two of them went sailing past the building.
The boy's added weight caused a problem in compensating correctly for the next swing, and instead both of them hit the ground at a hard roll.
They both lay in a heap, safely away from the collapsing building, but that didn't give their immediate problem.
Akimitsu rolled over as he pushed himself to his feet, his back tingling telling him that what pushed him to his feet were not his own human legs but rather the dark purple, fine coated legs of what he was. What he so desperately tried to hide most of the time.
As soon as he righted himself, he concentrated, forcing the long limbs back along the edges of his spine. He was lucky that the other boy hadn't noticed yet, hadn't seen what he could become.
He clenched his hands, forcing himself to relax to keep focused, keep his cool…if only he were better
"Disgusting, vile," the whispered words were nothing to the thin lines being drawn across smooth pale skin, as it within moments began to stitch itself back together.
"Wh-what are you —"
"I'm a monster! I'm–" Suzu's breath hitched in her throat, her small hands tugging at her highlighted pink hair. "I hurt her Aki, I hurt her so much. It's all my fault!"
His little sister's confession, caused his heart to clenched painful, his hands to tremble as he remembered her words, her actions — and how he'd covered it up.
"You ok?" The soft hesitant tone caused the taller boy to jerk his blue eyes to meet the boy he'd saved.
Genki stood carefully a few feet from him. He'd hit his head on the landing, but it hadn't been that hard. He'd spent more time with his eyes closed and catching his breath. He thought he was a goner for sure.
"Yeah," Aki answered quickly, the lie falling too easily from his lips, as he ran his trembling fingers down the edge of his mouth, checking to ensure he looked human, as human as he could. "I'm good." He blinked, realizing he probably should have asked him how he was doing, but he'd let too much time lapse.
"I owe you one, you totally saved my bacon back there," Genki was doing his best to keep the conversation going, but he was getting a little nervous, not sure what to make of the dark purple haired teen who'd helped him out.
He wasn't sure why Akimitsu had put himself out like that, but then again this was their exam to get into the best Hero School in the country…but still. He couldn't help how his other hand lowered to rest slightly on the bag at his side, the bag that housed the flags he'd found earlier. He'd intended to go back to try and find Koemi and Moritsu, but he'd never gotten the chance, the house had taken an explosive round that blew out the kitchen and the half of the living room he hadn't been in.
Genki had done the only thing he could and fled once more, he wasn't able to stay in the suburban area, no he was being herded toward the city away from his earlier counterparts. He'd been forced to duck into one of the alleyways as a soft patter of something was hurled toward him, it didn't sound like bullets but he didn't dare look behind him.
"Don't mention it," Akimitsu told him, his blue eyes narrowing at the movement of his left arm, it was only now that he got a good look at the other boy, his left arm was blackened, charred and the other seemed to be riddled with cracks that traveled all up his forearm. "Geez, what happened to you?" he couldn't help his question.
Genki rubbed absently at his right arm as though it hurt, it probably did, but there was no time to worry about his own injuries. "The robots, you've seen them right?" he asked him, looking back over his shoulder surprised to find that things were a little too quiet if he was honest. "They're brutal," he added, unable to keep the admiration out of tone.
Aki furrowed his brow, his own gaze shifting toward the leaning building and peering through the smoke that still lingered as though he might be able to see through it. It wasn't a surprise that he couldn't, but the stillness was almost too unnerving. "Yes, I've seen 'em." Little did he realize he hadn't seen anything yet, that tiny little thing wasn't what would put the nail in his coffin.
His chest was tight, as the sensation settled fully there and it was as the hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle, the first waves of danger were flooding his body, that he found himself moving again without thinking, his own form slamming once more into the kid whose name he still didn't know, just as a several blue beams of light sliced through the air where they had been.
The silence was shattered by the feedback of that attack, and underneath that he could hear was a heavier set of buzzing as though there were a swarm of bees about to surround them.
"We gotta move!" he was surprised his voice sounded loud enough that he could hear it.
Genki wished he could say that he was tired of hitting the ground today, but he couldn't say that he didn't mind being alive. "There's nowhere to go!" He hissed as he started to get to his feet, but the boy once again jerked him roughly back down, just as a laser whizzed right over his head. "Arg, c'mon!" he snarled, more than a little annoyed at how this whole exam was going for him.
Akimitsu felt his lips twitch into something almost resembling a smile as he moved, keeping low to the street, keeping a firm hand on the other's jacket. "The smoke's giving us a little cover, c'mon!" He urgently said as he kept his voice low enough so that if didn't carry too far, but loud enough, Genki could hear him.
There was too much going on, too many things to avoid, he couldn't disconcert one danger sense from another and it was only a matter of time before reality caught up with him.
A laser hit Akimitsu's left leg, and he gave a startled yelp of pain as he fell to his knees. his whole body spawned, the muscles tightening up so he couldn't hold his own weight, as his chin slammed against the asphalt, blood filling his mouth as he'd bitten his tongue.
He tried to move his body; all his muscles were in a spasm still; it was like he'd gotten hit with a giant electric shock. He imagined this was what being hit with a bug zapper felt like.
Genki was suddenly screaming, the sound enough to cause his whole body to tense, his eyes to dart toward him. He'd gotten caught in what could only be a net of electricity that was already causing his skin to sizzle where it lay. His jaw clenched shut, but his screams still came.
The sound made Aki's heart pound painfully in his ribs, the sounds bringing up what happened with Suzu, causing images to flicker behind his eyes, as the two scenes overlapped each other, and he felt the beginnings of panic begin to overtake him.
You're not done yet! Get up, c'mon – move, do something!
Aki felt his hands clench ever so slowly as he strained to get his body to obey his command; it got easier as the seconds ticked by and the effects began to lessen. He felt the first flutter of his powers activate, the eruption of spiked barbs along his back as he shed the fine hair like blades, their poison in each tip as they swelled in size fluttering in the air around him.
He would show them, he would show them all what sort of Monster lurked within.
Location - Central Point (Urban District)
Time Remaining - 35 minutes
The slam of feet across the concrete had him twisting around to face who had come to find him. His heart pounding as adrenaline flooded his system, unable to quell the momentary fear that seized him as he remembered how the Nomu had gotten ahold of him, that fear that it would hurt his students and he would be unable to save them. They were just kids, kids with grandeur ideas of being a hero.
His fingers released the binding cloth that he'd grasped around his neck, his red eyes locking with the blue eyes of Alexis Knight; his hair fell back around his shoulders as he deactivated his quirk. He took a moment to steady the rapid beating of his heart. Pleased she hadn't commented, instead she let her gaze sweep their location giving him a few moments to maintain his dignity.
Their relationship, even now was strange, time had passed, so much time, so much loss and both had grown in various ways, but still, there was a connection, an ability to read the other without having to try.
The fact that she'd sought him out in the middle of the exam wasn't surprising, but he'd hoped she'd curb that impulsive behavior of hers.
He supposed it was part of her charm.
"Was this your idea?" Alexis demanded angrily, her lengthy hair pulled back, but a few strands of pink hair were left to frame the left side of her face, keeping her right open to expose the tattoo across her cheek, her form of remembrance for what had happened six years ago. She'd taken a threatening step toward him across the expanse of the small rooftop that separated them, feeling enough time had elapsed that she could continue as though nothing had happened.
The dark haired man regarded her from where he stood, as he watched her stride ever closer to him. He held up a finger to his lips, watching as her gaze met his own from behind a pair of light pink glasses he'd never remembered being part of her costume before, it was just another mark of what had changed. His finger reaching up to his ear and brushing over the device seated securely in his ear, as he cut his personal feed to the others.
She made no move to do the same and he was pretty sure she'd shut off her own comms after what had happened earlier with their boss. Nezu had pressed along with his comment about paranoia, an obsession he supposed; he could see why others might get the wrong idea. Everything she'd been involved in was wrapped so tightly no one could see the records.
"What was my idea?" he wondered, his attention moving back to the cityscape watching for anything that might need his attention, his hands sliding into the pockets of his hero suit as he gave her his back.
"Larkin Enterprises," she hadn't realized; no one had dropped her a line about just who they would be working with. She realized that it wasn't really any of her business who Principle Nezu chose to work with, but that didn't make it any easier.
Why did it seem like everyone was converging in a twisted game of fate, as though the world wanted to toss nearly everyone she didn't like into her supposed new life, she'd been trying to build. She'd been putting things behind her, letting things go…but this wasn't something she could just let pass as though it had never happened.
Out of everything he'd expected her to say, complaining about Larkin Enterprises, hadn't been it. He frowned as his attention moved toward the second explosion he could see from the Suburban area.
"What's wrong with them?" He decided to keep her talking, it was better that she talk to him, then run off and cause more trouble for herself.
He waited her out, as he leaned forward on one of the railings letting his attention shift to what he could see of the urban area. He'd been quietly listening to the play-by-play given to them by none other than Mic as he told them how some of them were doing.
When she was still quiet, he looked over, not surprised as his dark eyes found her looking toward the suburban distract. Concern in her eyes, she had shoved her visor back on her head.
"Alexis, they'll be fine, we have contingency plans in place."
"Contingency plans," she said with a sneer as though she believed whatever plans they had come up with wouldn't be good enough. "Is that what you call rittling those kids with bullet holes?" she growled her knuckles white. "Sending buildings crumbling around them?!" Her next exclamation was a little higher than the last.
"They need to be pushed, challenged!" He counter his own temper flaring, as he rounded on her. He didn't appreciate her believing they didn't know what they were doing, but he also knew that it wasn't black and white with her. She needed to trust them. Trust him.
When she didn't cut him off, he pressed forward.
"There are other measures in place. We have healers should things escalate, should any mistakes arise."
"Recovery Girl, can't handle something like this, not alone; who else is on U.A's retainer?"
He ran his hand through his black strands as he took a breath to calm his temper. He knew better than to play into her hand. She was rattled, upset, and he didn't need to feed off her.
"Amaya Ayatsuri and – "
"Ayatsuri?" Lexi cut in with a slight tremor to her voice, but it was almost hidden as she pressed her fingers to her chin and tapped it as though trying to place the name. "Why does that sound so familiar?" She asked, her tone a little too light, too forced.
Had he been anyone else, she might have been able to fool so many. He frowned, confused why the name would draw such a reaction from her.
Aizawa didn't call her out, he didn't ask. It was just another thing he filed away to discuss later. When they had more time.
"She's a battle medic, does a little traveling when necessary."
Lexi didn't seem awed by this news and instead she looked away, hiding her features from him. Looking out toward the battle, watching as one of the buildings began to tilt, falling until its body rested on another and held. She'd never met her in person, but Kugutsu Ayatsuri's mother was one of the reasons that boy was in the situation that he was. It was hard to have much sympathy for her, when she wouldn't leave such a toxic environment, such a dangerous place.
Love…love was never a reason to stay. If her husband had loved her, had truly loved her and their son, he would have never put his hands on his family. Amaya was a fool and had no one to blame but herself.
Lexi was being unfair, how could she understand the situation, when she was never put in a similar one. It was all too easy for someone never put in that position, to talk like it was so easy to leave, perhaps she just wasn't raised that way. it was far too easy for her to throw stones.
Although Jin Kaname allowed them some very good insight into the seedy underworld that went from beyond what the media would ever portray. Kugutsu's father was a deadbeat, abusive and controlling. When he'd been presented with paperwork showing his son wasn't his own, he sold him off. The paper was a forgery and a good one, they might have believed it too, if it weren't for a small inconsistency. The lengths this Ghost team would go too, was unlike anything they had seen before…but eventually every trail ran cold, and the Bloodlines Investigation Unit (BIU) was left to flounder as everything went dark.
"Who else?" she asked him, unable to keep the edge out her voice.
"Witch Doctor," he said the name with a grimace as though he didn't exactly approve. He watched her wide blue eyes clash with his as she caned her neck to look at him.
"But she's –"
"Ya, I know, but given recent events -" He trailed off as though letting it all sink in. "Principle Nezu believes it's a good idea."
He saw her stiffen at his words, when he mentioned the USJ, not by name, but it was clear what he was referring to.
Alexis let her eyes meet his own, and for a moment Shota was sure he saw fear, a fear so ingrained in those who had lost loved ones, who had lost people close to them, that he wasn't sure how to interpret the fact that she was afraid of losing him.
Then again there was something to be said about shared trauma.
As his fingers settled on her arm, he didn't take it personally when she stepped away from him, and she tried to smooth over the reaction by brushing her hand under the roman numeral six on her cheek. For a moment he wondered where she'd been, what she might have said if she hadn't latched onto their earlier conversation as the lifeline that it was.
"You don't know what he's like!" Her voice was soft and quiet with a mixture of anger and an almost desperate plea as though she wanted him to understand.
Had he been anyone else he might not have followed just who she was talking about now, but he did. "Trust me." the words came out softer than he'd intended, but he watched her falter. "Everything is in place."
"I hope so," she muttered before turning away from him, her arms hanging over the railing.
Shota settled into the silence that surrounded them, waiting her out. Some things hadn't changed, and he'd always been someone she could talk to; now was no different; all he had to do was wait.
Women. He thought ruefully, as he remembered more than a few of Hizashi's rants on the subject, which caused his lips to tilt upward slightly, his amusement peeking through.
Lexi's fingers curled into fists as she pretended to watch the kids she could see, but her mind was already drawing her back to a meeting that happened nearly six years ago.
"Cassian, we've been over this!" A large, bulky man with long red hair snarled, his lips pulled back exposing a vicious set of canines as he slammed his hand down on the desk that separated them, a sign of his level of control that it wasn't damaged despite his rising temper. "You could help us save lives!" he spat the words through, it was nearly impossible for him to get them out, he was so angry.
"Markus," a smoother voice cut in before the other man could say another word. "Mr. Lark, We need your help, time is of the utmost importance, children's lives are at stake, as you are already aware." The calmer voice belonged to Addison Walker, the American Pro Hero Phantom ranked among the top ten, but his rank hadn't declined in the last few years…if anything it had risen a little higher with his creation of the Bloodlines Investigation unit.
The young man only shrugged looking smug, as he leaned his elbows on the desk, his gaze drifting for a moment to the silent young girl standing at the doorway, as though guarding it from intrusion. He felt his lips stretch into a grin, as his gaze locked with hers. He'd been about to ask about her, but after a moment decided against it, he really didn't care, but she did look a little familiar. Instead he let his dark blue eyes move back to the heroes seated in his office. Cassian Lark was a young man who hadn't yet realized his own mortality, greed had taken its hold.
"Mr. Steele, Mr. Walker, while I understand your predicament. I must once again refuse on behalf of Larkin Enterprises. we cannot enter an alliance, it would be bad business practice to limit our possibilities."
"Limit your possibilities?!" Markus hissed his fangs visible as he curled his lip, large hands balled in his lap. Trying to keep his composure.
"Yes, my good man," Cassian Lark responded, his voice patronizing as though he were talking to someone inept. It was all to clear his opinion of Markus Steele. "We are determined to stay neutral, in all world events and while it is a tragedy what has happened on American soil, we will not get involved."
"You will regret your choice, Mr. Lark. It may not be today, but it will be one day." Addison's words hung between them as he stood up, giving the signal that it was time to leave.
The larger man rose and headed for the door in quick angry strides, his long elegant mane of red hair flowing behind him.
Markus Steele had every right to be angry, to be upset. For Lark's refusal to help them meant that his son slipped further and further from their grasp. He'd lost his wife in his abduction, and had all but thrown himself into every possible lead of the group that had taken his son. So far there were sightings, strange events, whispers of child soldiers, more abductions and most recently, the remains of those who clearly hadn't survived, returned to their loved ones as though to taunt them all.
He knew he wasn't the only one upset, the only one angry for Addison had been the first in the string of abductions, his little girl pulled right out her mother's hold, without being the wiser.
The young wisp of a girl slipped out after Markus, shooting Cassian a murderous look before she shut the door with barely a whisper of sound in its wake.
It was the older black-haired man who lingered at his desk, pulling a small stack of what looked like cards from his suit pocket and setting them on the desk, making sure the first picture was angled so the other wouldn't not be able to see it. They were wallet-sized, colored pictures of each child taken by the group many had dubbed Ghost.
"If you change your mind, you know how to get in touch."
With those lingering words between them, he too left the room to follow his companions.
Lexi returned to the present as Mic gave a loud cheer through the comlink. She reached up, wrenching the Bluetooth from her ear. She clenched the device in her hand, muffling the sound even now.
"Cassian is a man filled by greed; he holds no value for lives he could save, for-" she paused, taking a breath as though to steady herself. " – human life, for anything that doesn't garner him money or power."
Lark had the power, the ability, the resources to find those ripped from their families and he chose instead to do nothing. She remembered visiting a family whose little girl had been taken while they were on vacation in New York, how distraught they had been. How Ayaka Kazama's mother had begged them to find her little girl, as she clutched the fingers of her other daughter. She could still remember the vacant stare of the remaining twin as though everything had shut down.
Aizawa frowned, noticing the slip, the change in the way she'd spoken. He was an observant man after all. "Why do you say that?" He had an idea, or two, but he knew that the last thing they needed was her holding a personal grudge that would place U.A. in an even more precarious situation than they already were.
"You've never met him in person, have you?" Alexis asked, casting him a dubious sidelong look.
Eraser could only hold his tongue at her retaliation, and wonder when she had possibly in the last six years run into him. She wasn't exactly wrong either. He, like those privy to the inner workings of the school, had met him over a video chat to discuss what he could bring to the table; he'd been very convincing, almost too convincing. Still, there was little that could be denied about the way they could both help each other.
U.A needed to enhance their Entrance Exam and what they did as a whole to allow students into their classes. This Transfer Exam, while a rather unusual method, allowed them to do just that. Mr. Lark needed a safe environment to test out his security robots, in various scenarios. They could both benefit from each other. U.A with some positive publicity given their partnership with the highly sought-after Larkin Enterprises.
And Cassian Lark got to test his newest prototypes against super powered obstacles.
"No," he said tartly as he frowned, his attention drawn to the suburban distract, it was the first area that the robots would be released into, the others would be set in stages. The children could capture the flags placed in the urban areas, but they wanted to make things a little more challenging and with the partnership with Larkin Exc it had certainly allowed them to do just that. Inside each robot, was a flag for those who had the ingenuity to be able to destroy them.
"How did you meet him?" When? Was something he hadn't asked, but it was clearly implied. She had met him during her internship with Addison Walker, the ringleader of the Bloodlines investigation Unit. She'd escape one tragedy, only to run headlong into another, into something far more devastating, far more cruel.
Alexis sighed softly, her cheek resting on her arm as she bent her body over the railing. It wasn't hard to see how tired she was. "It was a long time ago, nearly six years. Only once, so I suppose he might have changed over the years — but a man like that usually doesn't."
Whatever Eraser had been about to say, it was cut off as a blinding flash drew their attention to the east, to see a white beam of light traveled through the air, smash into something large and dark that hovered in the air before it collided, seeming to take the impact before it exploded and the beam continue to travel at such an angle he was sure the news would be running something on what they had seen. He frowned to himself at the thought of having to deal with reporters all over the grounds again. He really hated the media.
"Damn!" Lexi exclaimed with a low chuckle as she lifted her comlink back to her ear, whatever conversation they had been about to have, was obviously cut short. She stepped back from the railing, her gaze sliding to his for only a moment.
"Well –" she let the word hang there as though debating in her head to linger a little longer, before deciding it wouldn't be a good idea. "I've gotta head back,"
"Be careful," he couldn't stop the words, but instead of being offended, she flashed him a small smile as she pressed her index and middle finger to just above her eye in a half salute as she turned to leave him.
"You too."
Location - South Side (Suburban District)
Time Remaining - 25 minutes
Moritsu had just finished brushing back his red hair, away from his face, wincing at the cut along his forehead, he'd received that after just barely getting out of the way of a small pebble that had been kicked up by the tracks of one of the tanks he'd been in the middle of keeping in its place, as it had strained against his vines, but it wasn't long before it too was dispatched like all the others. Their success was obvious as the various machine parts littered the once peaceful streets of the quaint suburban area.
With a wave of his hand the thick heavy vines retreated, withdrawing back into the seeds with which he had spurred them from. He let them settle in the palm of his hand, using his powers to sort of sew them to his palm. This sort of thing only worked because he'd ingested the seeds into his body earlier to give himself a fighting chance in this exam.
His amber eyes roamed the bodies of the tanks, his eyes narrowing at the strange lights that seemed to emanate from lifeless forms. Slowly he found himself moving toward the one that was closer, a small body of another drone. Given the scorch marks, he was pretty sure Koemi had taken it out from a distance. He looked for her but knew that she had to still be working her way back to him.
He pushed aside some of the larger metal pieces and was surprised to find the source of the glow as a brightly colored flag lay giving off a faint blue glow in shadow being cast by the slowly setting sun. Out of curiosity he reached out to touch it and gave a startled yelp as he was met with a painful zap as the electric shock traveled down his arm, giving him a strange feeling in his fingers as he withdrew his hand back. He was quiet, thinking about what that could mean as he stood his other hand rubbing out the tingling along his fingers. "Maybe," he muttered to himself as he walked instead toward the resting place of the robot, he'd taken out instead.
Moritsu shifted carefully as he crouched down his leg still throbbed painfully, it left him wondering how long it would take for the fracture to heal, but he knew it wouldn't be instantanous, at least he could maneuver in the competition.
He stretched out a hand, his fingers touching the faint glowing green flag, he was surprised when there wasn't a zap like early, but instead he was able to curl his fingers around it without any issue at all. 20 points…just 80 more. Slowly he tucked the flag into the bag on his left side and moved toward the enemies that he had destroyed personally.
It didn't take long to gather up the flags that had been hidden in the metal bodies. Koemi had joined him not long after he'd been pocketting the last of the flags he could safely claim as his own.
"We're still short," Koemi sighed, her blue eyes lifting to the blimp that circled in a wide arc and the countdown that was ticking away on its screen. She'd taken about ten of the drones that had appeared in their scuffle. While her flags had been blue meaning she'd scored ten points, they were both short points to pass, but she was beating him
"Yeah," Mori tried not to be bitter about this little gap, he didn't mean to let his own feelings take over, he was proud of her, she'd supported him, kept him from getting shot up like swiss cheese…but he couldn't help how he felt.
She turned away from him, her nails biting into her palm. She couldn't ask him the questions that burned at the tip of her tongue. "We've still got time," she forced some energy, some cheer into her voice and hoped that he wouldn't notice the emotions in her eyes. Her Grandma always said she was just like her mom, her eyes gave her away.
Neither of them were saved from having to respond as a shrill alarm sounded, so loudly that they both could do little more than cover their ears with their hands and wait for it to pass, it flared two more times in about three second intervals before it died all together.
Koemi twisted to look toward her best friend, but she was soon brought to her knees as the ground they were standing on gave a violent shudder as though they were caught in the middle of an earthquake.
The rumbling hadn't stopped as the ground under their feet gave another violent shudder, Mori curled his hand around the tiny seeds in his hand. The power pulsing from behind his closed fist was a neon green in color as his energy pulsed from his body into the seeds as he fed them as rapidly as he could.
His instincts were in a strange form of overdrive as the startled feminine gasp had his eyes darting to the location of his best friend, aware of the distance that separated them. If anything happened like last time, he wasn't sure he would be able to get there in time.
He had no time to comprehend his decision, as he jerked his gaze toward the hiss of noise as a section of the intersection began to part revealing a darkness too dense to penetrate.
He frowned, unable to see the bottom as he peered carefully over the edge, motioning for Koemi to stay back, to stay safe. He wished her safety was all that he could say he'd been aiming for, greed and desperation had begun to settle in his heart.
A flash of golden light flickered from below, it was strange it almost looked as though something had been dropped down there. His first thought was a flag, the possibility of more points almost too good to pass up, he had far too much riding on this exam to lose.
Something heavy suddenly collided with his own jerking him back off his feet in a tangled mess of limbs as they both skidded across the asphalt. The road tearing and clawing any exposed skin, leaving bloody tracks in its wake.
With a gasping breath Moritsu shoved at whatever, whoever lay on top of him.
Genki raised his head, scrambling to get off him, to give him some breathing room. "Holy crap," he muttered, his green eyes wide as he looked back over his shoulder where the golden beam of light was still seen traveling further and further into the sky.
"Sorry about that," he said sheepishly as he held out a hand for the taller boy to take.
Moritsu looked at the hand offered and hesitated a moment before clasping his hand, allowing the other to pull him to his feet.
"I guess I owe you one."
"Nah…really I shouldn't have ditched you earlier—"
"— As cute as this is -" Another voice cut in with a sneer. As though he couldn't believe what he was seeing right now. "We've got bigger problems, save your lover's quarrel for later!"
The two boys watched Akimitsu gesture with a wave of one muscular arm toward the hole in the ground, and more importantly what was coming out of it.
Koemi's startled cry had Mori instinctively darting a glance her way, but she was alright, shaking but fine, he hadn't missed the way the newcomer had looked her way too.
A large metal hand curled along the edge of the opening, it's metallic hand the same obsidian black as the tanks they had fought, before, but this was different far more advanced as they watched the fingers flex and another hand and then a large arm slam into the ground as a giant head began to appear out of the darkness, the fading light of the sun being blocked out by its massive frame.
"What is that?!" Genki squeaked, his green eyes unable to look away as the eyes of the robot burst to life with a bright blue glow.
"What the fuck's it look like?" Akimitsu snarled his teeth bared as though he were holding himself back from ripping it to shreds, which was impossible, there was, there couldn't possibly be a way for them to take on this monstrosity.
"Dude!" Genki shouted as though offended. "It was a rhetorical question!" Genki countered, with a sharp laugh, humor clearly how he handled stressful situations.
"Focus!" Moritsu called sharply, watching as the robot began to hoist its way completely out of the tunnel. "Get back!" he ordered, surprised as he retreated at a run to get some distance, that the others had taken his cue and booked it too.
They hadn't run more than a few steps before a robotic voice filled the air.
"Targets acquired. Permission to use deadly force has been authorized."
A/N: School's just ended for a month or so before it ramps up again in an even more intense way than it was…but until then I've got some writing time, between my full-time job. I hope you all enjoyed Part 2 of 1Z's exam and getting a little more insight on a few of the kiddoes and seeing a new face in action with Akimitsu Mika!
I tried to make this chapter a little easier to follow given who you saw. I didn't toss in everyone, but there will be time for that once the exam is over. The next few parts of the Transfer Exam will be set up very similarly to this one to allow everyone to see those I've hinted at already and to finish up a few pre-written scenes I had. I want to say the Transfer Exam will have five parts, the last one being how everyone handles Larkin Enterprises new and improved replacements of the Zero Pointers!
I have so much planned! I really hope you liked this one!
Share your thoughts, opinions and whatever else you would like. Reviews mean a lot and help with motivation to finish everyones stories.
Thanks for your patience!
~AJ Aviary
