With the practical portion of the final exam explained, the students of Class C went in various directions to prepare themselves. Most decided to go somewhere quiet to talk strategy with their partner and discuss what they could do against the teacher they were paired up against. Others saw no possible way to discuss with their partner and simply thought of a plan themselves. The third and final option was observing the matches from a monitoring room. Not having any reason to be in the first two categories, Fujino opted to do the third.
She had seen the other members of Class C in action during hero training, so she had a decent grasp of each of their Quirks. But going up against pro heroes would be a new challenge entirely for each of them, she knew that much.
"This exam seems a little unfair, honestly." Fujino said. "I mean, you're paired up with someone else so if you get paired with someone weak then you might fail just because they can't pull their own weight."
"That is one way of looking at it." Recovery Girl told her. "However, in today's society, it is impossible to do everything on your own. And you don't always have the liberty of choosing who you partner up with in the middle of a crisis. That is why teamwork, no matter the combination, is extremely crucial. Besides, we made sure the test wouldn't be impossible for students to pass."
"Guess all that's left is to see how it goes." Fujino said. She looked up at the monitor, where a video of the first battle was now showing.
An electronic voice signaled the start of the exam. "Team Hiryo and Majo, practical exam. Ready, go!"
Once they heard the buzzer, Dan and Rekka went in running. Their battlefield was a city landscape. Things would be difficult for them here. Not only did it give Cementoss plenty to work with for his Quirk, they had to be careful to keep damage to their surroundings to a minimum.
'We didn't have much time to strategize.' Dan thought to himself. 'But we'll have to make it work somehow.'
As the two students ran through the streets, they soon saw Cementoss in the distance. He was ready to face them. Placing his hand on the ground, Cementoss threw up a large wall in front of his two opponents.
"If we go charging in, Cementoss will beat us for sure." Dan said. "Neither of us has the power to deal with his defense from this distance."
"He can't move too quickly though." Rekka pointed out. "Should we try to escape?"
"That would probably be best." Dan said with a nod.
The pair turned and ran into the alleyways between the buildings near them, out of sight from Cementoss. Dan and Rekka worked their way through the thin alleyways as they began making their way to the other end of the field where the gate was. But with how tall the buildings around them were, there was no way to tell just how far they had gone, or if Cementoss was possibly closing in on them. But Cementoss's speed was rather low, so as long as they stayed hidden in the alleys, Dan figured they would be safe.
"Wait." Rekka said as she stopped running. Dan paused as well to see what was on her mind. "Do you hear something?"
Dan silently listened to his surroundings. Rekka was right. He did hear a low sound. It was… rumbling?
Dan and Rekka came to the same realization as they widened their eyes and looked down, noticing the ground beneath them shifting slightly.
"The ground!" Rekka exclaimed.
There was no time. If they wasted even a millisecond, it would possibly mean the end for them. "Sorry about this, Rekka." Dan said as he ran at her and wrapped an arm around her waist as he brought out his wings. He quickly took off into the air just as the ground beneath them shifted even more and flowed like water. Slivers from the ground shot up towards them, hoping to catch the two.
As they flew upwards, Rekka held out her hand below them and used her Quirk to create several floating embers. They detonated as the inanimate slivers came into contact with them, keeping them at bay. The small explosions shook Dan's flying control, nearly making them fall. But they managed to reach the roof of one of the buildings. Dan let go of Rekka and they both quickly caught their breath.
"That was way too close." Dan said. "Good thinking back there with using your Quirk to slow down Cementoss's Quirk. Sorry I had to get so close though."
"It's no problem! That closeness is a sign of how strong our friendship is!" Rekka told him.
"Our… friendship?"
"Of course! Since coming to U.A, I have lots of new friends now! Everyone in Class C is my friend!"
Dan couldn't recall having any major in depth conversations with Rekka. Most of the class knew she was harmless, but she always seemed rather odd at times. But perhaps all she really wanted was to make friends with everyone.
"In any case, how did Cementoss find us?" Dan asked aloud. He and Rekka walked to the edge of the roof to look down and widened their eyes at what they saw. It hadn't been just the area they were at. Most of the road and alleyways within three blocks of their location were flowing like water due to Cementoss's Quirk.
'So he didn't know our exact location. He just estimated it based on where we fled and the time that had passed since then.' Dan realized. 'But still, to control his Quirk to such a degree… he's not a U.A teacher for nothing.'
Not wanting to be in view of Cementoss if he looked up at them, Dan and Rekka moved back and kneeled down to stay out of sight. They were in a bind. There was no way they could go from roof to roof without being seen. On top of that, the ground below them was no longer safe either.
"So what do we do?" Dan questioned. "At this rate, there's no way for us to avoid a confrontation."
Rekka tilted her head. "Why not just do what we did before?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"We got away last time with you flying and me holding off Cementoss's Quirk. We can just do it again as we make our way to the goal."
Dan rubbed the back of his head. "I guess, but my control on it is pretty shaky, and that's without carrying someone with me. Between that and all the bursts from your embers, there's a good chance I could lose control and both of us would fall."
"That won't happen. I know it." Rekka told him. "Our strong bond of friendship will win the day and see us through to victory!"
'She's still going on about friendship, huh?' Dan thought. But she really did have a lot of faith in him. He'd be lying if he didn't feel at least a little happy about that. "Alright then. If you're really ok with it, let's give it a shot."
Cementoss stayed put on the ground as he waited for any developments. 'Those two… I wonder if they got away. I know I had their general location pegged down. But they couldn't have escaped without me noticing yet. Then why haven't they made a move?'
The wait finally ended when Cementoss saw a figure flying off the rooftop of a nearby building. He quickly discerned it to be Dan and Rekka. Keeping his hand on the road, Cementoss sent a series of tendrils made from the road up at the two students.
"Incoming!" Dan warned.
"Leave it to me." Rekka grinned. She created embers from her hands as they flew, forming a protective barrier in their wake. As the tendrils came into contact with them, they detonated. The shockwaves from them were small, but Dan could still feel them due to how close they were. Each impact shook him and forced him to descend more and more. But at the rate things were going, they would still be able to make it to the goal, which was in sight.
"As if I would make it that easy." Cementoss said to himself.
Dan looked back when he noticed the shockwaves were no longer happening. The tendrils from the road that Cementoss had been using were no longer moving. "Did we get past the range of his Quirk?"
Looking ahead of them, Rekka gasped. "Look out!"
Dan took a look ahead of them after hearing Rekka's warning and widened his eyes. A large wave of road was forming up ahead of them, cutting off their path. Dan quickly tried to fly to the side and go around it, but it was curving and cutting them off from there too. Dan and Rekka soon realized that Cementoss was attempting to trap them within one giant dome made from the road.
"Not good!" Dan exclaimed.
"There's only one option now!" Rekka told him. "Charge at Cementoss!"
"What?!"
"We have to! It's our only chance!"
Dan wanted to argue, but he knew Rekka was right. Escape wasn't going to be possible at this rate. They had to confront Cementoss directly now. Dan turned around and flew directly towards their opponent. With the speed they were going at, they would just barely make it before the dome closed up on them.
"Throw me at him!" Rekka told her partner.
"What?!" Dan exclaimed.
"Trust me! We're friends and friends trust each other!" Rekka said. "Throw me, then try to escape straight up and go for the gate!"
Dan had no idea what Rekka was thinking, turning herself into a human rocket when he was the only thing allowing them to move around in the air. But if Rekka had a plan to get them out of this jam, then who was he to argue.
Dan shifted the propulsion of the vapor from his wings so it spun him around like a tornado. They began to descend due to the vapor being aimed more horizontally than vertically, but the rapid spinning began to gain in speed. Once he felt there was enough momentum, Dan threw Rekka with all his might directly at Cementoss. After he did, he took a brief moment to steady himself out and shake the dizziness from his head before flying upwards before the dome could close on him. His speed and control were a bit better now that he wasn't carrying Rekka around.
Cementoss widened his eyes as he saw their maneuver. Controlling such a large area with his Quirk was taking most of his concentration. He couldn't effectively protect himself from Rekka's incoming attack while trying to seal up Dan. He either had to try and stop Dan from getting to the goal and struggle with holding off Rekka, or focus everything on keeping Rekka from getting to him and let Dan escape.
'Clever move.' Cementoss thought. 'Hiryo lacked the power to break through my defense, and Rekka couldn't use her Quirk to the fullest with her partner right next to her. This was supposed to be their challenge, but they managed to find a way around it. But I still won't let myself go down so easily.'
Cementoss put up a short wall between himself and Rekka, about 3 meters tall. But Rekka wasn't about to let herself simply crash into it. Moving her hands, Rekka created a pair of embers in front of her. She came into contact with them almost instantly, detonating them. The small shockwaves and their positioning allowed her to propel herself upwards and over the wall. Cementoss gasped at seeing the girl evade his barrier and land inches from him.
'My suit can take the hot temperatures of my embers. I realized I could use them like this after watching Bakugo in the Sports festival.' Rekka quickly brought out the handcuffs and attached them to Cementoss before he could stop her.
"Yahoo!" Rekka cheered. "Nothing can defeat the power of friendship!"
A buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the test. "Team Hiryo and Majo have passed!"
With the exam over for them, Dan flew over to Cementoss and Rekka. Once he landed, Rekka lunged at her partner and gave him a big hug.
"We did it! This is the result of our immense friendship!"
"Okay! I get it! But can you back up a little! Personal space!" Dan told her. "Rekka, are you even listening?!"
With the first team done, the final exam proceeded onto the second match. This one would feature Kenji and Merci against Midnight. The two of them were complete opposites in terms of personality. Kenji was a quiet and reserved person who tended to vanish without a single person noticing. Merci on the other hand was flashy and loved to talk even when it wasn't wanted.
Finally the buzzer sounded. "Team Boqu and Shinobunta, practical exam. Ready, go!"
Merci and Kenji wasted no time in moving out as they entered the field. Fujino and Recovery Girl had a perfect view of the exam from the monitoring room. They were soon joined by Dan and Rekka as the pair entered the room.
"Seems the next exam already started." Dan said, looking up at the screen.
"That was a pretty reckless stunt you two pulled at the end of your exam." Fujino commented.
"To be honest, we had to get reckless there." Dan admitted. "If that stunt Rekka came up with failed, we were pretty much screwed."
"I knew it would work in the end." Rekka grinned. "The power of friendship is unstoppable."
Dan looked up at the screen to watch the second pair in the middle of their exam. "Well we passed. Now we just need to hope the others pass too. Though this is going to be pretty tough for those two."
"Why's that?" Fujino asked.
"Oh right, you wouldn't know." Dan realized. "Midnight's Quirk secretes a fragrance from her body that makes people fall asleep. And it's rumored to work better on boys than girls."
"Yeah, but Kenji can just escape into the shadows with his Quirk, can't he?" Rekka pointed out.
"Yes, but he can't travel outside of shadows without leaving them. If he hides in a shadow, that's just going to give Midnight a chance to cover the area even more. Then he'll succumb to it the second he leaves. And if he waits too long the clock will run out." Dan explained. "And as for Merci, he can fight mid range with his flower whips, but Midnight's weapon is also a whip, and she's got a lot more combat experience than he does. One wrong move and he'll be finished."
"So basically his Quirk is useless." Fujino realized. "That's some really bad luck."
"I don't think it's luck." Dan said. "In our exam, Rekka and I were both put up against an opponent that we had a disadvantage against. The same is true in this case."
"So they're purposely giving us matchups that put us at a disadvantage?" Rekka questioned.
"Most likely." Dan nodded.
"You're exactly right." Recovery Girl confirmed from her seat. "It's to see how you all will manage to overcome your weaknesses in order to pass."
"That's pretty harsh." Fujino commented.
Up on the screen, the exam continued for Kenji and Merci. Unlike the urban landscape Dan and Rekka had been in, this one was a rocky area, likely modeled to be similar to a mountain or wasteland. They cautiously made their way forward, making sure to be careful for any surprise attack by Midnight.
"Any sign of her yet?" Kenji asked.
"No, but do not worry, monsieur Kenji." Merci said. "Midnight is a woman of entrancing beauty. My senses, capable of finding all things beautiful, will tell me when she is nearby." He took a whiff in with his nose. "Ah yes, I can smell her now."
Kenji narrowed his eyes. "Wait, you do?" His eyes widened when he noticed the faint trace of an odd fragrance enter his nostrils as well. Acting on pure instinct, Kenji quickly dashed away. His mask covering his mouth and nose helped him get away just before he could inhale enough of the sweet smelling aroma. He turned around to see Merci collapse with a smile on his face as Midnight emerged from behind a rock.
"My, my, someone has sharp reflexes." Midnight said with a smirk. "But your partner is out of commission. What will you do now?"
Kenji made sure to keep a safe distance from Midnight, not wanting to fall victim to her Quirk. He was at a complete disadvantage. Most of his combat arsenal consisted of martial arts, but that was useless against someone like Midnight. His only chance was to get out through the exit gate, but Midnight was blocking his path to it.
From the monitoring room, Dan rubbed the back of his head. "Well Merci's out. This just got a lot tougher for Kenji."
Kenji slowly backed away as Midnight approached him. It was putting him further and further away from the goal. He knew he couldn't afford to let that happen. Finally, his eyes caught sight of a certain spot. To Midnight's surprise, Kenji sped directly towards her.
"Oh, you're coming to me then? Planning to hold your breath long enough to get past me I assume?" Midnight guessed. She cracked her whip before sending it his way. "I don't dislike that straightforwardness from a man, but I'm afraid it won't work."
Kneji managed to just barely avoid Midnight's whip as he held his breath to avoid breathing in the aroma of Midnight's Quirk. He lunged to the shadow of a nearby rock and dove into it.
Midnight narrowed her eyes, wondering what Kenji's plan was. Did he plan to move from shadow to shadow while holding his breath, letting him catch his breath while inside the shadow? He had to know that Midnight was more than experienced enough to stop that sort of plan. Then what was he thinking? As she tried to figure out his strategy, her eyes caught sight of multiple small orbs scattered near the shadow Kenji went into. She gasped, realizing what the orbs were, but it was too late. They burst and smoke flooded out from them.
'Smoke bombs!' Midnight thought as she covered her mouth to avoid inhaling the smoke. But it wasn't a smokescreen Kenji was going for. The explosion of the smoke bombs blew the aroma from Midnight's Quirk away from the area of the shadow.
Almost immediately after they detonated, Kenji emerged from the shadow. With Midnight's Quirk not in effect in the small area around him for a few brief moments, now was his chance to slip past her. Midnight attempted to catch him with her whip, but missed her strike due to the smoke lowering her visibility.
"Damnit." Midnight cursed. "He got me."
"That crafty ninja did it! He found a way to get past Midnight!" Dan exclaimed.
Between Kenji's agility and Midnight having the weights on her, there was no catching up with him. Kenji passed through the gate and a voice sounded.
"Team Boqu and Shinobunta have passed!"
Rekka showed a big smile. "Yay! They did it!"
"Except Kenji basically did all the actual work." Dan noted. "I'm not sure how that'll reflect for Merci."
"If he actually got his head out of the clouds, he might have actually noticed his opponent coming in time." Fujino commented.
The third match of the practical exam featured Marcus and Fiona against their homeroom teacher Yamagori. Their setting was in an urban neighborhood, filled with houses, and telephone lines along the sides of the streets.
Both Marcus and Fiona knew their chances of taking their teacher on in a fight and winning were slim. The second she made eye contact with them, it would be over. Their best option would be to try and escape out the exit gate.
"Man, this sucks." Fiona said as they snuck through the alleyways. "We won't even be able to prepare ourselves once Ms. Yamagori is in sight. She'll paralyze us the second we see her."
"Can't argue with you there." Marcus agreed. "For now, we just need to try and sneak our way as close to the gate as possible. Once we do, we'll both make a mad dash for it and try to avoid her getting both of us."
Fiona nodded as she followed Marcus through the alley. Marcus peeked his head out to check if the coast was clear before the two of them ran down a nearby road. While both of them were at a disadvantage against their homeroom teacher, being close-range fighters, Fiona was at the bigger disadvantage between the two of them. She could use her fins as blades on her arms, but only as long as they stayed wet. And with there not seeming to be a single body of water on the field, she was forced to rely only on the water she had on her.
As the two classmates ran, both of them couldn't help but feel on edge. They had yet to even spot their homeroom teacher. And knowing her, it wasn't due to a lack of skill on her part. She had something planned and they had no way to know what it was.
Silence was beginning to gnaw at the nerves for Marcus and Fiona, so Fiona decided to speak up with a question that had been on her mind. "Come to think of it, I've never seen Ms. Yamagori's hero costume. Have you?"
"Not really." Marcus said.
"I wonder what it's- Woah!" Fiona was cut off as she felt something wrap around her right ankle and tug at it, making her fall over. When she tried to get up, she quickly found herself turned over. She gasped when she saw the one pinning her down was none other than their opponent for the exam. Not even having the time to think, one look at her teacher's eyes caused her entire body to go numb.
'Crap! I looked into her eyes!'
"Fiona!" Marcus gasped as he turned and saw his partner down. He barely managed to take his gaze away from his teacher's face before she could turn to look at him and make eye contact.
Rather than the light brown dress she usually wore when teaching in the classroom, Yamagori was now wearing her hero costume, which consisted of a pale violet outfit with white trim. Marcus didn't dare look further than the neck, but on Yamagori's head were a pair of goggles with a yellow frame and a black strap wrapping it around her head. In her hands was a green whip, the weapon she had used to cause Fiona to trip just now.
Marcus felt himself sweat. Whatever happened, he couldn't let himself look into Yamagori's eyes. Normally the best option would be to escape as quickly as possible. But he couldn't afford to leave Fiona like this. If he did, then he would be completely on his own.
"I'm glad to see you have the common sense to avoid looking at my eyes at least, Cersy." Yamagori said as she got up off of Fiona. "But what will you do now? Do you think you can fight me while avoiding my eyes?"
"Guess we'll find out." Marcus said.
"I guess we will." Yamagori smirked.
The fight began quickly as Yamagori sped at Marcus. She moved side to side in a smooth fashion, similar to a serpent, making her movements hard to follow. Yamagori bent her knees and lowered her body, attempting to get her eyes low enough to lock with Marcus's gaze. Marcus saw what she was doing just in time and closed his eyes to avoid getting paralyzed.
"Closing your eyes may make me unable to use my Quirk on you. However..." Yamagori told her student as she moved in and sent a swift punch to his gut. "It's a double edged sword for you!"
Marcus felt the air rush out of his lungs from the punch. But he stood his ground and attempted to hit his teacher with a counter. Yamagori easily dodged it however and delivered a swift uppercut to his jaw, knocking Marcus off his feet and making his back slam onto the ground. He still kept his eyes closed, not daring to risk getting parlyzed. He shifted his arms into wyvern talons with his Quirk. He had to stay calm. He couldn't use his eyes so he had to try and sense his opponent with his ears.
Yamagori had little difficulty telling what Marcus was up to. "Using your ears over your sight. It's not a bad strategy, Cersy." she told him. "But can your ears pick up on this?" With a flick of her wrist, she attacked with her whip, striking Marcus's cheek.
Marcus flinched from the stinging pain. With the whip being such a long weapon, it allowed Yamagori to attack safely from a distance. And its flexibility made it difficult for Marcus to track with his eyes closed. Lash after lash struck him as Marcus put his arms up to go on the defensive.
'If he's trying to stall for time for my Quirk to wear off from Mizune, he must be pretty desperate.' Yamagori thought. 'The paralysis effect can last up to five minutes. It'd be less if I used it on multiple people in a short stretch of time, but the only one I've used it on is Mizune. And it's barely been one minute since then. He can't hold out for another four minutes like this.'
As Marcus tried to endure the pain from the barrage of lashes from Yamagori's whip, he did his best to concentrate. Yamagori had the advantage here, but she had made one mistake. She had spoken to him, letting him get a read on her position with his ears. And he hadn't heard any footsteps to suggest she moved since then. Trying his best to recall the picture of his surroundings and how much he had moved since then, Marcus made a mental landscape in his head. It wasn't very detailed, but it would have to do.
'Here goes nothing.'
Kicking off the ground, Marcus lunged forward, bringing out his wings to give him a burst of speed. Yamagori quickly evaded the attack, but she soon realized he hadn't been aiming for her. Marcus stopped right near Fiona and opened his eyes briefly to see her exact position. He grabbed his partner and flapped his wings to take off before Yamagori could move on them.
'Trying to escape, huh? Not on my watch.' Yamagori thought to herself as she attacked with her whip once again. The whip struck Marcus's back, but he managed to endure the pain and take off into the air, out of the range of Yamagori's weapon.
Marcus flew as fast as he could, making his way to the exit gate with Fiona in tow. However, his mobility was far from perfect. Between the damage he had taken so far and the fact that he had to carry the weight of another person, he couldn't fly as fast or as far without landing. Deciding to use the terrain to his advantage, he used the roofs of the houses as landing spots, jumping off and flying as far as he could before landing on another and doing the same thing over again. But it wasn't long before he could hear Yamagori hot on their trail, running down the streets below. And from the sound of the footsteps getting louder, she was catching up to them.
From the monitoring room, Fujino and the others watched the match go on. Yamagori used her whip to hook around a telephone pole and used it to pull herself up to the rooftops in an instant. She was then running along the roofs right after Marcus. Sensing the danger closing in, Marcus took a detour and moved to the side rather than making a beeline for the gate. The students watched as the exam quickly turned into a high stakes game of tag.
"We haven't seen her in action that many times, but Ms. Yamagori's a serious badass, isn't she?" Dan said. "She's not giving Marcus any chance to escape."
"Her hero name was Medusa due to more than just her Quirk." Recovery Girl explained to them. "The way she moves in a fight. It was constantly compared to a snake."
"I can see why." Kenji noted.
Back at the urban training field, Marcus continued to do his best to evade his teacher's pursuit. But no matter what he did, he couldn't manage to lose her.
Finally, Fiona spoke to her partner. "Marcus…"
Marcus looked at his partner and nodded, knowing what she meant. He jumped to the next roof and gently put her down before taking off.
'So in the end he decided to give up on his partner in order to escape. It's a tough choice, but sometimes you have to make a sacrifice in order to avoid total failure.' Yamagori thought to herself, ignoring the paralyzed Fiona in order to go after Marcus.
As Yamagori passed by her, Fiona showed a small smirk. She quickly got up, showing she was no longer under the effect of Yamagori's Quirk and ran at her teacher from behind with the handcuffs in her possession. She would capture Yamagori from behind with a surprise attack.
But Yamagori wasn't someone who could be fooled that easily.
Yamagori quickly turned and grabbed Fiona by the arm before the female student could cuff her. "Nice try. But I'm not that dumb."
Fiona kept her gaze down to avoid locking eyes with her teacher. Now was the moment of truth. "Didn't think you were, Ms. Yamagori."
Using her free hand, Fiona threw the handcuffs up into the air. With the momentary distraction from Yamagori looking up at the cuffs, Fiona used a sweep kick to knock her teacher off balance and grab her from behind, restraining her.
"Marcus, now!"
"Already on it!" Marcus said as he came flying down from above, grabbing the cuffs midair. He landed and hooked the cuffs to Yamagori's wrist, all in one swift motion.
With Yamagori captured, a buzzer was heard throughout the field. "Team Cersy and Mizune have passed."
"Woohoo!" Fiona cheered. "We did it!"
Yamagori let out a sigh. "So you planned for me to realize Mizune wasn't paralyzed anymore."
"Fiona actually came up with most of it." Marcus admitted. "She figured it was best to have a plan in case one of us got hit by your Quirk before our original plan of splitting up when we neared the gate. If she was the one, I had to grab her and take off until she could move. Then I place her down with you thinking she was still paralyzed and she gets you from behind."
"Marcus thought up the backup plan though in case you saw through the ruse." Fiona added. "With him able to fly, all I had to do was keep you from moving while he grabbed the cuffs and got you."
Yamagori cracked a small grin. Her students were learning one of the most important lessons she kept trying to impart to them. Nothing in life ever goes exactly as you expect. Always have a backup plan. "Not bad you two. Not bad at all."
A/N: Three matches down, seven to go. How will things progress from here? you'll have to wait and find out.
