Chapter five incoming. I can't wait to see what people's response are to this chapter. Now on to the reviews.
Timewarp321: Yes, Renora all the way.
Fictional Fanatic from Fimfic: Yeah Ruby shouting out in response to Present Mic would make sense. The same can be said for Nora. But like you said it would mess up the reunion scene which is why I didn't do it. I felt the that scene was important and I wasn't going to cut it.
Now then, on to the chapter.
New World Arc
Chapter 5: In for the Long Run
The second test of UA Entrance Exam had just begun. Many of the participates with more speed oriented quirks were quickly getting ahead of those who didn't. Despite this even those that had no speed related quirk were running with all their might. However Izuku and Ruby's group remained well behind most keeping up a moderately brisk jog.
"Hey we're getting farther behind everyone." Jaune pointed out.
"That's kind of the plan Jaune." Ruby returned.
"Huh?" Jaune questioned.
"What you mean?" Nora asked.
"You weren't here when we talked about it but we decided to pace ourselves and not go too fast or uses quirks." Itsuka explained.
"I see, this is an endurance run more than anything." Ren noted.
"Precisely," Itsuka stated.
"We shouldn't talk too much either." Izuku pointed out. "It'll only cause us to lose our breathe faster."
Wanting to follow his advice everyone nodded. After a few minutes a rumbling was heard behind them. They looked to see a gate raising up slowly behind them. While no one got cut off it was now more clear than ever if anyone fell too far behind, it wouldn't be long till they'd fail.
20 minutes into the run…
No one had fallen behind and failed the exam as of yet. Many participants were still going strong. Among them was Katsuki using his explosions to try and take the lead. There was also a blue haired boy with exhaust pipes on his calves who was speeding along with easy. A girl with pink skin and horns was sliding along a trail of what appeared to be acid. A small boy with purple balls for hair had stuck himself onto someone's back to move forward. Them along with everyone else were using there quirks to keep going forward. Further back was Izuku and Ruby's group. They have maintained a steady pace and were still holding strong like many others. However many more were starting to fall behind. As they did it didn't take long for the gates to slowly rise up from the ground about to cut them off. As it did many scrambled to get to the other side. Some did, but most were left behind. When the gate had finally shut, the long distance run had claimed its first victims.
40 minutes into the run…
Exhaustion had taken over most of the participants. While only a few had failed at this point it became clear that the number of failed participants was going to skyrocket soon. Even those in the lead with quirks suited for a run such as this were feeling it's strain. However among those in the lead, Katsuki was still pushing as hard as ever. His all consuming drive to win pushed him forward beyond any exhaustion.
In Izuku and Ruby's group, everyone was pushing forward through there ever growing exhaustion. Ruby, Nora, Jaune, and Ren were doing the best of the seven due to their lives on Remnant. Itsuka and Izuku were far more tired than the other four but were still going strong. Ochako on the other hand was the weakest among them and was starting to fall behind the group. Exhaustion was quickly taking hold of her. Her breath became irregular. Suddenly she lost her footing. She started to fall to ground but she was too tired to try and catch herself. No… She thought. I'm gonna fall behind… I'm gonna fail. Suddenly a pair of strong arms caught hold of her.
"Uraraka you have to keep going." Izuku declared.
She looked up to see his determined face looking into her eyes. With a nod she rose to her feet with some help from Izuku. Suddenly the heard the familiar sound of raising gates drew their attention. The looked to see nearly a quarter of the remaining participants slowly get left behind. Quickly realizing that they need to move least the same happened to them, the duo continued forward with new found vigor.
One hour into the run…
More and more participants were falling behind. Those that remained were losing stamina fast. Ruby, Nora, Jaune, and Ren were holding out the best out of the seven. They were the only ones to maintain their pace from the start. Itsuka had fallen a bit behind but kept on going strong. Izuku and Ochako however had fallen behind the most and were at most risk of failing. This was mainly due to Ochako since Izuku would have been able to keep up with Itsuka with little trouble. Soon Ochako finally lost her battle to keep going as exhaustion gripped her. She fell to the ground. Izuku quickly stopped to try and help her up.
"Come on Uraraka you have to get up." Izuku expressed.
"I know but… I can't my body won't move." Ochako whined, her accent really coming through.
"You have to push through it Uraraka. You want to be a hero right!" Izuku shouted.
"I do… I wanna to be hero. I need to be one, to help ma and pa." She cried as her eyes tear up. "They's always doin' so much for me. We're poor we ain't got much. Even though I wanted help at their work they pushed me to follow my dream of being a hero. I just want to give back to them."
Izuku looked at the crying girl before him. He saw the same heroic spirit that dwelled in him. They both wanted to help others as heroes. With his mind made up, he moved quickly to pick up the girl.
"Midoriya what are you, AHHH!" She cried as Izuku practically threw her onto his back.
Compared to all those times carrying All Might, she's as light as a feather.
"LET'S GO!" He shouted.
With all his might he pushed forward. While he earned a few confused stares from fellow participants. He ignored them and keeped on going.
"W-w-w-w-w-what are ya doin'?!" Ochako questioned with a bright red face.
"I'm helping you pass this exam." He declared.
"B-b-b-but why? Ya should be focusin' on yaself. Even if we do pass ya might be too tired to pass the other exams." Ochako pointed out.
"I want to be a hero Uraraka. A hero like All Might. A hero who always smiling and helping those in need no matter the cost to themselves." Izuku declared before looking back at Ochako. "How can I call myself that if I don't help a friend in need when there right in front of me?"
He gave her a big bright smile. She stared wide-eyed at the boy before wiping the tears from her eyes and putting on her own bright smile.
"Thanks Midoriya," She replied.
"No problem, now… LET'S GO, PLUS ULTRA!" Izuku shouted.
"Yeah!" Ochako cheered.
One hour and 30 minutes into the run…
Ruby had just reached the end of the long distance run with Jaune Ren and Nora in tow. Many other participants had already finished and were resting while waiting for the exam to end. Also there were the pro heroes Midnight and Recovery Girl.
"We did it!" Ruby cheered before falling back in exhaustion.
"Yeah… we did it." Jaune let out between pants.
"It looks like we got ahead of Kendo and the others." Nora pointed out.
"That's to be expected compared to some of the stuff we did back home this wasn't that difficult." Ren added.
In that moment and exhausted but smiling Itsuka came running across the finish line. She hobbled up to them.
"Hey guys… I made it." She moaned before falling over in exhaustion next to Ruby.
"Hey Itsuka." Ruby expressed tiredly. "Is Izuku with you?"
"No… he and Uraraka were a little ways back… It shouldn't be too long before there here." She answered.
As if on cue Izuku could be seen a small distance away running up to them, pushing through his ever growing exhaustion.
"Hey I see him now." Jaune observed.
"I think there's someone on his back?" Nora pointed out.
"Is that… Uraraka?" Ren questioned.
Both Ruby and Itsuka got up to see that sure enough Izuku was carrying Ochako on his back and rushing to finish.
"Is that allowed?" Ruby questioned.
"Well… they never said we couldn't." Itsuka pointed out.
Suddenly the gate slowly began to rise up.
"Oh no…" Ruby expressed.
"There not gonna make!" Jaune shouted.
Meanwhile…
"No! The gates closing!" Ochako shouted.
"Dammit!" Izuku shouted.
We're so close there has to be something I can do… Wait I could try using [One for All]. But I've never used it I don't even know if I have it yet. Even if could I don't know if I could hold the power back. I have no way of gauging it. There has to be a way… wait… that's it! It's a gamble, but it might just work!
"Uraraka I have plan!" Izuku declared.
"I'm all ears, tell me what it is!" Ochako shouted in panic.
"No time, just use your quirk to make both of us weightless." Izuku order.
"But if I make myself weightless I'll get nauseous really quickly." She pointed out.
"Then just use it on me it should still work." He directed.
"O-okay." Ochako replied, doing as Izuku directed.
"Good, now… hold on tight." Izuku ordered.
Both mentally and physically, Izuku prepared himself for what he was about to do. This is a gamble just remember what All Might said… Izuku thought as he felt power build up in his right foot. Clench your butt cheeks and from the bottom of your heart yell…
"SMASH!" Izuku shouted.
In an instance, Izuku burst both forward and upwards at incredible speed. All the other participants stopped and looked in awe as Izuku and Ochako flew through the air. It worked I managed to keep the power in my right foot. If I used my whole leg we'd risk smashing into the ceiling. A little less would have been prefered but this isn't bad for my first time. The gate was slowly rising up coming ever closer to closing as Izuku and Ochako flew towards it. In the moments right before the gate would close they flew over it. Their sudden arrival earned looks of shock and awe from their friends, fellow participants, and examiners alike.
"We made it!" Ochako cheered.
"Y-yeah, I can't believe that worked!" Izuku cheered. "Hey Uraraka, release your quirk!"
"R-right!" Ochako returned, touching her fingers together.
Gravity took over and they began to plummet towards the ground.
"Midoriya, I hope you have some sort of landing strategy!" Ochako shouted.
"D-don't worry we just need Kendo to…" Izuku began until he noticed who was below him.
He saw Itsuka looking up, mouth agape in shock. Izuku's confidence soon gave way to terror.
"AHHHHH… I OVER SHOT!" Izuku shrieked.
"Don't worry I can just use my quirk to stop us!" Ochako pointed out.
"That's not gonna stop our forward momentum!" Izuku shierked.
"Ahhhh… your right, what do we do?!" Ochako screamed.
Meanwhile…
"They're gonna crash!" Jaune shrieked.
"I could catch them, but there's no way I'd reach them in time." Itsuka pointed out.
"Maybe you can't, but we can." Ruby asserted. "My quirk should be fast enough to get us there."
"But won't that tire you out. What about the other two tests?" Itsuka noted. "Surely we can…"
"We don't have time, now get ready!" Ruby ordered as she stepped back a bit.
She wound herself up, ready to go full speed. Itsuka also quickly braced herself as well.
"I won't be able to gauge where they are when I'm focusing on not running into anyone. I'll need you to let me know when to stop." Ruby noted.
"Got it, ready when you are!" Itsuka declared.
In a burst of rose petals, Ruby shot forth at incredible speeds. Even after bracing herself, Itsuka was still caught off guard by the speed at which Ruby was traveling when she picked her up. Despite this Itsuka remained focused and didn't get disoriented. The two were quickly catching up to the falling Izuku and Ochako. I need to time this right. If not Midoriya and Uraraka will be lucky to survive. Itsuka mental noted. As Ruby weaved them through the crowd of participants, Itsuka's mind raced to approximate where to stop in order to save the falling duo.
Not yet… The duo were ever nearing the ground. Not yet… Panic continued to course through Izuku and Ochako. Not yet… The duo were mere seconds from going splat on the ground.
"NOW!" Itsuka shouted.
Ruby threw herself forward and let her boots skid across the ground to help stop the duo as well as brace Itsuka. While dazed from this, Itsuka quickly recovered and enlarged her hands. Lifting them just over her head, She braced herself for the impact. Mere moments later, Izuku and Ochako crashed into Itsuka's hands. Slowly Itsuka pulled her arms back to help slowly there momentum. In the same moment she and Ruby leaned back to further help this. With all this working in tandem, they were able to save Izuku and Ochako.
"They did it!" Nora cheered.
"Thank gods." Jaune let out.
"Impressive teamwork." Ren noted.
The three began to head over to them. Meanwhile, Itsuka gently set the two of them down. Everyone was breathing heavy from the ordeal they just went through.
"Thanks… Ruby… Kendo… I… owe you one." Izuku breathed out.
"Yeah… we owe ya guys big time." Ochako expressed.
"Hey… what are friends for… right." Ruby let out before collapsing to the floor.
"Just stop of pulling reckless stunts like that okay?." Itsuka sighed.
"Y-yeah… I'll try and… do that." Izuku expressed as he tried to get up.
However when he went to put pressure on his right foot, immense pain shot through him.
"GAHH!" Izuku cried out as he quickly fell back to the ground.
"Midoriya! What's wrong?!" Itsuka expressed.
"My foot, I must of hurt it using my quirk." Izuku grunted in pain.
"But how did you overuse your quirk or something?" Ochako asked worriedly.
"N-no, not exactly." Izuku expressed in pain as he struggled to get his right shoe and sock off. "My quirks… new… It awakened late and I'm not use to it yet so… I don't know how to properly control it. I was lucky to only keep it in my foot."
At that moment Jaune, Ren and Nora finally caught up to them. Not long after, Izuku managed to get his shoe and sock off. Everyone was shocked and slightly disgusted to see his now purple broken foot. However Ochako held a downcast look along with this.
"Oh… gods." Ruby gasped.
"I was expecting some backlash from it but… I never thought… it'd be this bad." Izuku expressed.
"Well that's definitely some backlash." Nora joked.
"Some backlash!? Your foots are broken!" Itsuka shouted.
"Hey Jaune think you can heal him up?" Nora asked
"Not fast enough to be of any help." Jaune pointed out.
"But with his condition being like this, the other two events are sure to be difficult." Ren observed.
"I-I'll manage, somehow." Izuku expressed.
"Sorry Midoriya." Ochako expressed sadly.
"Huh… f-for what?" Izuku questioned.
"For falling behind like that. If I could have kept up with you guys you won't have had to carry me." Ochako expressed. "And then you won't have hurt yourself just so we could pass."
"H-hey don't worry about it Uraraka. I'll be fine." Izuku tried to assure her to little avail.
"He's right deary so don't you worry." An old woman spoke up.
"Huh?" Everyone expressed.
They all looked to see Recovery Girl walking up to them.
"With a little bit of healing from me he'll be up and ready for the next test." Recovery girl added.
Once she was close enough, Recovery girl's lips stretched out and kissed Izuku on the check. Suddenly a bright green glow enveloped Izuku's foot as they began to heal. Bones set themself back into place as purple skin gained back it's normal color. With in seconds Izuku was fully healed.
"W-wow, I feel all better, a little more tired but better, thanks Recovery Girl." Izuku expressed.
"Of course deary just try not to make a habit of injuring yourself. Remember I speed up the bodies natural healing process greatly but it uses up your own energy. If I drain too much energy you could die so try not get hurt too much okay." Recovery Girl explained sweetly.
"Ahh… y-yes ma'am." Izuku expressed fearfully.
"Good, now enjoy some gummies and take care deary." Recovery Girl stated as she handed Izuku a few gummy bears before leaving to check on the other participants.
"How do you…" Jaune began.
"It's a long, embarrassing story." Ruby sighed
"A-anyways it looks like I'll be fine for the next test now." Izuku pointed out.
"Yeah… I guess but I still feel bad about it. If I had been more trained up for this you won't have had to do all that to help me pass." Ochako expressed.
"H-hey I didn't have to help you I wanted to. I'm sure you would have done the same if you were in my position." Izuku pointed out. "S-so cheer up o-okay."
"Okay," Ochako returned with a small smile.
From a distance Midnight watched as Izuku and his new group of friends continued to banter with one another. A smile found its way onto her face. This is shaping up to be an interesting exam. I don't think I've ever seen someone willingly carry another participate before. Not in recent memory at least. Not only that his little stunt to pass got my heart racing. It was reckless but it worked out in the end. I wonder if he had a back up plan if his friends couldn't make it in time. Not important now time for stage three. Midnight turned on her microphone so everyone could hear her.
"Alright all you fine young participants make your way to the exits. There you will be assigned to battle centers for the mock battle test." Midnight explained. "Do be ready. This will help determine whether you get in the hero course or not."
She liked her lips and began to grin sadistically.
"I hope you enjoy yourselves. I know I'll enjoy seeing you all suffer." Midnight expressed sending chills down everyone spine.
After getting over Midnight's chilling declaration, everyone made there way to the exit where they received a paper with there battle center letter written on it. Izuku and Ochako were assigned to battle center B, Jaune and Ruby were assigned to battle center E, Kendo and Nora were assigned to battle center A, and Ren was assigned to battle center C. After saying their goodbyes they headed off to their respective battle centers.
"So… what do you think the secret test for this one is?" Ochako inquired.
"I-I'm not sure, but if I had to guess it be something to do with the Zero Pointer." Izuku explained.
"Well, it seems I'm not the only noticed the more subtle natures of these test." Someone spoke from behind the two.
"Huh?" The duo expressed as they turned to see who had talked to them.
When they did they saw a rather tall boy with navy blue hair. He was dressed in a pair of blue shorts and matching blue t-shirt each with black and white stripes along various areas his outfit. Around his waist was a black belt. While not visible from the front, on the back of his calves we're exhaust ports, three per leg.
"Uhh… who are you?" Ochako asked.
"Sorry for the intrusion, my name is Tenya Iida. I overheard your conversation and figured I'd chat with you. Perhaps we could share ideas." The now named Tenya greeted.
"Oh… uhmm… sure I don't mind. What about you Uraraka?" Izuku inquired.
"I don't mind, the more the merrier you know." Ochako pointed out. "By the way I'm Ochako Uraraka."
"A-and I'm Izuku Midoriya." Izuku added.
"Nice to meet you two and sorry for eavesdropping earlier." Tenya returned.
"H-hey it's okay we were talking out loud so it's not like we were being discreet." Izuku pointed out.
"Even still it was a rude thing for me to do so again I apologise." Tenya returned."Now then, for the exam, I've noticed that they're putting a lot of emphasis on endurance over everything."
"Y-yeah I noticed that too. Everything they're doing from the written exam all the way up to now have been putting our endurance to the test." Izuku noted. "Make sense given what hero work often requires."
"Yeah but there has to be more to this. I'm with you guys everything had to have be set up for a reason." Ochako added.
"I was thinking along the same lines but what could it be?" Tenya expressed.
At that moment the trio neared the battle center along with everyone else.
"Well whatever it is, it'll have to wait. For now we should focus on the task at hand." Tenya stated. "We've…"
"AND START!" Mic shouted.
Near everyone suddenly stopped, confused by the suddenly announcement. They look to see Present Mic standing atop a tower.
"What are you waiting for there's no countdowns in a real battle get moving!" Mic shouted.
"What, but we aren't even near the gate yet!" Everyone collectively exclaimed in their heads.
"Better hurry some your fellow examinees already have a pretty decent head start on ya!" Mic pointed out.
Confused, they all turned to the gate to see Izuku, Ochako, and Tenya racing towards the battle site. Realizing how far behind they were, everyone raced to catch up. The mock battle test of the UA Entrance Exam had begun.
Ruby: Man what a run. Can't believe you almost died back there Izuku.
Izuku: Don't remind me I just hope this doesn't become a trend.
Ruby: Oh I'm sure you'll be fine. Anyways we got get on with the preview.
Izuku: Yep next time we fight our way through the third test.
Ruby: I can't wait to ace this test.
Izuku: I just hope I can at least get a few points.
Ruby: Oh you'll be fine.
Izuku: Next time, Chapter 6: To Battle
Ruby: Break a leg Izuku, just not literally.
