Their Hero Academia – Chapter 60: Final Exam Part 2: Multiple Choice

Shota took in a deep breath and let out a scream, high-pitched and powerful. The sonic waves passed through the buildings ahead of them and then bounced back, giving him a detailed outline of everything and everyone those waves had touched. It was like seeing a picture in his head, online mostly just in sharp blue outlines. Normally, he couldn't get this good of a picture. Solid objects slowed down the soundwaves and bounced them back. But with so many of the buildings having shattered windows or other hole in them, he could get a much better picture of what was going on.

"I count four people in the buildings," he said, pointing. "Two there, one there, one there. Plus three people outside it and at least four more people up past that building, but it gets fuzzy after that."

"Good job, Shinso," Sora Iida told him. In her red and silver armor, combined with her height, she stood out distinctly in the morning sun. "I can scout ahead and take the far point, while you three work on the closer rescues."

"Who put you in charge?" Aoyama asked. He was lit up like a small sun himself; with his arms and face exposed, his glow made him hard to even look at directly.

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Iida asked. It wasn't a challenge, the way Kirishima-Bakugo might have asked it, but genuine interest. Of course, given Iida's scientific leanings, she would be interested in the best outcome.

"…Non," he admitted. His shoulders slumped and he gave his cape a flick. "Let us do your plan then."

"We must also be vigilant against the presence of Villains, Aoyama," Koda said, cautiously. She usually was the one to rein Aoyama in when he was getting an attitude or pouting. "Iida is the fastest of us. If anyone should be scouting ahead, it is her."

Aoyama crossed his arms, but grumbled his assent. Shota knew he liked to show off and be the center of attention, but now really wasn't the time for it. Not with all of them passing or failing depending on it. Shota was already worried enough that he was going to drag everyone down… He'd kept it together during training since he came back to school, but this was a lot more intense.

"You are correct as always, Mademoiselle Koda," Aoyama conceded.

The matter settled, Iida said, "Remember, we are to check in with Tos—Gravi-Might and the others in ten minutes, unless they contact us first." With the roar of her Jetpack, the wings of her costume snapped up and she took off, quickly speeding into the distance.

Shota, Koda, and Aoyama snapped into action as well. None of them possessed Quirks which granted much speed, but they were all still in good enough shape for a quick jog. On the road ahead of them, a pair of cars had crashed into each other. One had been abandoned, but the other was crushed where a downed electrical pole had landed on it. It showed no obvious signs of still being active, but…

"Hang on, sir!" Shota called out to the robot behind the wheel of the car. "We're going to get you out!"

From the robot, there was no response. Unconscious, then? That meant they really needed to move.

Fortunately, Koda was one step ahead of him. From the seed pouch on her belt, she produced a handful of seeds and tossed them near the car. Once in the ground, she applied her Quirk and they immediately started to grow, becoming vines that wrapped their way around the pole, covering each stray wire, and slowly lifting it off the car.

"My hastily grown friends do conduct a little electricity," she said, "but not enough to do them significant harm. And far less harm than that would do to us."

Aoyama stepped in next. With the car partially smashed, there was no way they were just opening the door to get the robot out. From the mirrored wristband on his right arm, he released a small portion of his stored light, going for a concentrated blue-white laser beam that cut through the car like a hot knife going through butter, leaving an orange-hot line behind it. When he had gone completely around the edge of the door, he took a quick step back as it fell.

"Watch the edges!" Shota said. "They're going to be hot!"

Aoyama shot him a dirty look. "I know that!" he snapped. But the look on Aoyama's face said he didn't. With care, though, he extracted the robot. "Do not worry," he told it. "We shall get you somewhere safe."

Getting it a safe distance away was enough for the robot to tell them they had completed its rescue. The other rescues went just as quickly. Shota was even able to use his Quirk to blast away some rubble, letting Koda and Aoyama finish up the rescue. It felt good. Even if they were robots, using his Quirk to find people, to help them, not to cause harm, was a welcome change. Still, some small part of him still flinched at unleashing the more destructive aspects of his Quirk, even for rescue work. He could still see the Nomu simply disintegrating under his power. Even if it had turned out not to be alive, he hadn't know that at the time…

With a road of jet engines, Iida returned, landing near them. "I was able to rescue two, but I will need additional support for the others," she said. "But first… Loud Kid, another sonar sweep, if you would, in case the parameters have changed?"

Shota nodded. But just before he could let out another sonar pulse, a loud crack sounded, echoing off the buildings. Something struck Aoyama in the head and he went down!

Isamu skidded to a stop, braking hard with a bit of reverse-thrust. The section of Omega City his group had headed to was a wreck, looking like a tornado had hit it. Robot civilians were running from a Villain, a muscular man with bird-like feet that ended in sharp talons, hair that turned into feathers and spread along his back, and massive wings. He wore tattered jeans and very little beyond that, with tattoos covering the space on his back between his wings. When he flapped his wings, he unleashed massive gusts of wind, blowing over everything in his path. The tornado theory was looking pretty solid.

The Villain hadn't noticed them yet, content in his rampage, with his back to them. His shock momentarily halted, Isamu stood up. Already, he could feel his heart thudding in his chest. Even if this was some Pro-Hero helping out U.A. or one of the other year teachers or something, this felt like a Villain attack. Whoever they were, they were doing a damn good job getting into their role.

Of course, if he was a Hero, Isamu felt like he should have recognized him. But there weren't a lot of Pro-Heroes with wings (Hawks and Kestrel immediately came to mind, but this definitely wasn't either of them) and this guy didn't seem to match up to any of them. Maybe from another country? He wasn't so good with those.

"That's right!" the winged man shouted. "Run! Run!" He flicked his wings forward again, sharply. The wave of air was more compressed this time, slicing through everything in its path. The change in air pressure was intense. Even as far away as they were, even from behind him, Isamu could fell it. This guy's Quirk might make him even stronger than Gale Force…

"…I'm open to suggestions here," Sero said. "I mean, I could probably shoot some Tape at him, but those wings look pretty strong. I'd have to take him completely by surprise and I'm just not fast enough to wrap him up before he notices."

"Yeah, this why I'm going into Rescue Heroics," Ojiro added. "I guess I could go invisible and kick him in the balls…"

"X-Ray," Isamu said, and he had to force himself to say Sero's Hero name, "Stick 'Em Up… Rescue the civilians. Amaterasu and I will get his attention and hold him off."

Behind the clear face plate of his costume, Sero gave him an astonished look, then performed an exaggerated salute. "It's been nice knowing you, man. You ready, Kimmie?"

Ojiro nodded, a gesture only visible because of the visor she wore with her eye-searingly bright costume. Sero wrapped an arm around her and in the blink of an eye, they both became invisible, shielded from view by the power of her Quirk. Isamu heard the "thwip!" sounds of Sero firing off a strand of his Acid Tape and he knew they were on the move.

Tokoyami's expression was more unreadable, but Isamu had known her long enough now to read some of the more subtle movements of her feathers and her eyes. She was uneasy, but ready to fight.

Training had mostly pitted them against robots or, occasionally, each other. And yes, they'd been allowed to engage some very minor level criminals and Villains during their Internships. But this was something different entirely. Who even was this guy?

"Ready?" he asked her.

"Ready," she said.

"Could be bad," he said. "Guy seems pretty powerful."

"So are we," she said. "Have confidence, Haimawari."

She had a point. "I'll go low. You go high."

There was a small nod between them, and Isamu launched himself forward, employing his Quirk as soon as he hit the ground. "Hey!" he shouted, pouring on the speed and trying to get the guy's attention. "How about picking on someone your own size, you big blowhard!"

That got the guy's attention. He turned quickly and Isamu could now see that he had harsh, yellow eyes like a bird as well. "Well, well," the guy said, a trace of a Chinese accent in his voice, "if it isn't the brave little Heroes!" His wings flared out and Isamu felt a massive gust of wind push against him. He poured on the thrust, fighting against it, more grateful than ever for the goggles and bandanna protecting his eyes, mouth, and nose. There was plenty of dust and debris in the air that could have been really nasty otherwise.

Fortunately, he was just the distraction. With the bad guy focusing on him, he didn't see Tokoyami's Frog-Shadow snaking around from above. But suddenly, Frog-Shadow swerved from her path, flying erratically through the air, until she smashed into the ground, leaving a small crater from the impact. Isamu too, suddenly saw the world spinning around him, making it impossible to tell where the street was. He swerved, hard, and saw a wall coming up right in front of him…!

Midoriya had one of the strongest Quirks in the class, up there with Izumi, Shinso, and Tokoyami, and he'd bounced off the Villain like a ragdoll! He was getting back up, but it would take him a minute. That impact looked like it was going to hurt tomorrow.

The metal man grinned in a way that vaguely reminded Chihiro of Kirishima-Bakugo, the same kind of "this is gonna be a fight and I'm gonna enjoy it" sort of smile she got before she punched someone. It was made all the worse by the truly massive underbite the guy had. His bottom jaw was huge, like the scoop bucket on a steam shovel. Where the hell had U.A. found this creepazoid? It was part of the exam, right? It hadn't been crashed by some real Villain, had it? No, if that was the case, Aizawa and the other teachers would be intervening already…

"You going try and fight me like the green kid there?" the metal man asked. Despite looking like a thug, he didn't sound stupid or uneducated. The voice was deep, rumbling, and confident like a champion fighter. "Nothing wrong with running. I've fought plenty of Heroes before and come out on top. I don't like fighting girls, but if I have to…. Well, I'm not leaving without the doc."

"Girls"? Mika repeated. She stamped a hoof on the ground and pointed an indignant finger. "The nerve of this guy! We're Heroes in training! And he's trying to softball us? I demand the right to be fought just like a guy!"

Anybody else, Chihiro would have thought they were babbling. But among Mika's many skills was provocation. It had worked well for her during the Sports Festival and judging by the guy's expression, it was working now.

"I mean, really," Mika went on, "what rock did they find you under? Haven't you heard of women's liberation? Have you even talked to a woman in the last twenty years..?"

The metal man let out a roar and charged, smashing his metal fists down. Mika dodged out of the way and his fists hit the ground. Or rather, they hit what was on the ground: Mika's sticky balls, the trap she'd seeded earlier.

He tried to pull his fists back but was unsuccessful, the sticky balls adhering quite well to his fists and the ground. His eyes widened in surprise as he realized he was trapped.

"Shock-Jock!" Izumi called out. "Now!"

Which was when Chihiro and Izumi let him have it. Her Cords slinked down and plugging into her bracers and she brought her hands up, sending out dual blasts of electricity. Bless Aunt Momo and Mrs. Hatsume, they did their job well, specialized circuits in the bracers and gloves directed the electricity in a straight line. Izumi, meanwhile, released some of the heat she had stored up from building the ice walls, projecting yellow-orange blasts of flame at the guy.

Her electric attack hit first, setting the guy twitching and screaming, before Izumi's flames washed over him, turning some of his metal body white hot. Chihiro actually felt kind of bad. This was still just the exam, right? She had to take it serious, but she didn't want to give the guy permanent nerve damage or anything.

Izumi ceased her fire attack and held up a hand. Chihiro caught the signal and let up on her electric one. The guy stood there, groaning, his metal skin making a slight pinging sound as it cooled.

"That hurt," he snarled. "But this is going to hurt more!" With a massive grunt, he freed his arms, not by removing Mika's balls from them, but instead simply being strong enough to tear the sections of ground they were attached to up with them.

"…That's new," Mika said, quietly.

Fortunately, by this time, Midoriya had recovered. "GRAVITY...BOOSTER!" He shot forward like a rocket, then hit the guy with an uppercut that made her ears ring. The metal guy was in motion this time, not braced like before and went flying high into the air from the force of the blow, disappearing from sight.

Still, Chihiro couldn't help but stare, wide eyed. "You sure All Might is only your step-grandpa?" she asked.

He didn't bother answering her question. "See if you can get any of the other teams on the comms. Mine got smashed when I hit the wall."

Kenta had been exploring the inside of the building with Tensei Iida, looking for people to rescue, when something had taken them by surprise. Or rather, someone: a massive, muscular woman who looked like she could snap you in half just by staring at you hard enough, the kind that Mineta would say could crush your head between her thighs. And for just a moment, Kenta had frozen, the memory of the Nomu rearing up over him playing on a continuous loop in his head.

Iida had saved him, rushing in with his Jetpack to shove him out of the way. The woman had hit Iida instead and seemingly forgot about Kenta. He hoped Iida was okay. It would be really bad if he had to tell Takuma he'd gotten his boyfriend killed or put in traction.

Great. He was making jokes at a time like this. Takuma really was rubbing off on him.

He forced himself to get moving, heading back out the way he had come in. Outside, he could see all three of his classmates (Iida was upright, that was good!, even if he was sporting a nasty dent on his armor!) fighting with the woman. Her costume left a lot to be desired, being only stylized biker gear, with heavy spikes on the shoulders of her jacket.

Kirishima-Bakugo fired off a round of disks from her gauntlets, peppering the ground with a series of small explosions that kept the woman off balance, while Iida flew around behind her and snagged her with a capture-line from his gauntlet. After they'd taken her off balance and restrained her, Shoji moved in, swinging all three of his right-side arms.

Great. He was definitely going to fail the exam and make everyone else fail. Because he'd frozen up like a damn coward. Maybe one bad moment wouldn't be enough. But he needed to make himself useful somehow…

Shoji's blows connected, but they didn't rock the woman back even an inch. Thought the bottom half of his face was covered, Kenta could see Shoji's eyes widen in surprise. The woman just laughed.

"No bad, kid," she said. "That was a nice gift. Let me return the favor!"

She flexed her arms and snapped Iida's capture line like it was made of string, then hit the six-armed boy with a blow that sent him flying.

"Finally!" Kirishima-Bakugo shouted, throwing her head back and laughing. "A challenge!"

She charged, lashing out at the woman with a series of close-range blows. Every time a blow connected, she fired off an explosion. Some kind of contact transfer from her gloves, if he remembered right. It was hard to keep up with everyone's costume and Support Gear updates. Maybe he needed to invest in something if he wanted to keep up.

The woman may have been sent off balance by the explosions fired at her feet, but this time, they didn't seem to do anything. They didn't even singe her skin.

Kirishima-Bakugo took a step back, fists still at the ready, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "What the hell, lady? What're you made out of?!"

"Can't stop everything by hitting it, girl," the woman sneered. She swung her fist in a wide arc, but Kirishima-Bakugo was lighter on her feet, dodging out of the way. Iida swooped in, striking out at high speed. The blow clipped the woman's chin, knocking her back for a moment and spinning her head around, before she struck out, faster than anyone that big should be able to move, swatting Iida from the sky.

What the hell was he supposed to do against that?

Wait…

She'd gone from being thrown off balance by Kirishima-Bakugo's explosions to being unaffected. She'd shrugged off blows from Shoji but gotten her head spun around by Iida. Even with Iida putting his speed behind it, Shoji had a lot more power to his punches. What if she had to know a blow was coming to block it?

Hang on guys, he silently pleaded. He had an idea… he just needed her to stay in one place long enough.

He'd say this for all three of them, they kept taking her hits, but they kept getting back up again. And the huge woman gave as good as she got. She'd called Shoji's blow a "gift" too…

But there, a telephone pole, right across the street…

As he ran towards the telephone pole, Kenta did a little math in his head, grateful for the fact that unlike Takuma and Kimmie, he actually paid attention in class. There was lots of math involved in baking and he was good enough at helping his dad to do some calculations on the fly. If she didn't move too much, it would be just about right.

CHOMP! Kenta's jaw muscles were strong and he could open his mouth wider than a normal person could. Combined with the fact that his teeth were incredibly tough, he could bite through anything very quickly. He bit, chewed, and swallowed as fast as he could, feeling like some kind of beaver as he worked his way through the wood. He kept his eye on the fight and the woman was still in just about the right position. In seconds, the telephone pole started to pitch forward. "TIMBER!" he shouted, giving it a strong push to finish the job.

He saw Shoji backpedal out of the way and Iida grab Kirishima-Bakugo (who protested that she wanted to stay and fight), and the woman try ineffectually to hit them as they fled.

THUMP!

The telephone pole came down on her hard, driving her into the ground. She'd started to turn, but hadn't had time to fully do… whatever it was she did. For the moment, she was trapped.

"Sato!" Kirishima-Bakugo shouted. She looked mad. Probably about him "stealing" her victory. "How the hell did you do that?" When she couldn't was left unsaid.

He ran across the street to join the others. "I think… I think she can absorb whatever force you throw at her. But she has to know it's coming. I just got lucky."

Kirishima-Bakugo scowled. "Yeah, okay. …Not bad, Lips."

"As soon as I get out of here," the woman yelled, "you're dead! You hear me! You're all dead!" Already, she was struggling and working her way out.

"We'll see who's deader, ya witch!" Kirishima-Bakugo shouted back. "I'm gonna explode you so hard your grandkids will have burn marks!" She brought up a gauntlet, ready to fire it.

"Ah," Shoji began. He put a hand on her gauntlet.

"What?" she demanded.

"Perhaps we should continue our rescue work while she's trapped?"

"I agree," Iida added. "She is quite capable of neutralizing our attacks and is more than ready to anticipate them. We should rescue who we can, retreat, and fight another time."

Kenta raised a hand slightly.

"You're gonna agree with them, aren't you?" Kirishima-Bakugo demanded. Her teeth were gritted in anger, her body language tense. She was not exactly the type of person who ran from a fight.

He gulped, then nodded. "Maybe we can get somebody like Kaminari or Todoroki or even Takuma or Minet to fight her. Somebody more zappy or who can restrain her."

"AAAAARRRRGH!" Kirishima-Bakugo let out a scream of frustration. "Dammit, you're right. Fuck!"

She gestured off in the opposite direction they'd come. "Iida, get eyes in the air, get on the comms and get somebody we can use. The rest of you, move!"

"Aoayama!" Koda cried out. The glowing boy went down, smacking his head on the ground, before any of them could react. But they had little time to panic. More shots followed the fist, one several impacting into the ground, others ricocheting off the building behind them. One even stuck Iida, making a clang where it hit her armor.

In response, Shinso screamed. But it was not a scream of panic, instead, he directed the soundwaves outward until they formed a protective, shimmering dome around three of them. Akaya said a small prayer that their classmate was all right. It may have only been an exam, but students had been greatly injured in training and exams before.

"Is he…?" she began, softly, bending down to examine Aoyama.

Around them, shots bounced off of the force field dome Shinso was screaming into existence. They came quickly and from multiple directions. Was there more than one person shooting at them? Guns were a rarity in Japan to begin with, even more so among Villains and Heroes, unless that gun augmented or worked with an existing Quirk, such as their teacher Hawkeye and her Super-Accuracy.

"Breathing," Akaya continued, after taking his pulse. A nasty bruise was forming along the side of his head, one she could see even through his glow.

"Then we must move," Iida said. "As soon as we can. I will distract them, while you three get to cover."

The urgency was apparent. Shinso's shield was already weakening. He could not sustain the scream for much longer. He held up a shaky thumbs up to say he agreed.

Akaya scooped up Aoyama. He was a fit boy, but slender and not as muscular as Midoriya or Haimawari, let alone Shoji, and while hers was not a strength Quirk, her size and rocky countenance did make her stronger than many. Despite his glow, his skin was not hot, but soft against her rocky one.

"Go!" Iida shouted. "Now!"

Shinso stopped screaming and the dome dropped instantly. He took off and Akaya followed close behind, while Iida rocketed into the air. Shots rained down around them, one narrowly missing her.

Slinging Aoyama over her shoulder instead and apologizing for the rough treatment, Akaya reached into her seed pouch with her now free hand and dropped seeds behind them, using her Quirk to make them grow rapidly. Trees sprung up like lightning behind her, offering temporary shielding from the gunfire.

She kept her eyes on the road ahead, but she could hear the sounds of gunfire still, hear it bounce off of Iida's armor.

"I cannot see them!" Iida's voice rang in her ears from their communicator headset. "Shinso, can you pinpoint them?"

Looking around, Akaya and Shinso came to a stop, sheltering behind a car. Shinso looked around, cautiously, then let out one of his sonar screams, casting it in various directions. When he stopped, he made a confused face. "I keep getting something, but it disappears as soon as I make contact. I guess it could be a teleporter, but those kinds of Quirks are, like, super rare! I mean, other than that kid who won the obstacle course, and we probably wouldn't be fighting him…"

For a moment, the gunfire went quiet. Worryingly quiet. On her shoulder, Aoyama started to stir. Unconscious, the arrogant boy looked much smaller and vulnerable than usual, as though he puffed himself up like a hissing cat when awake.

She wondered sometimes why she tried so hard to be a friend to him. He was a walking tribute to the sins of pride and envy, and just as often prone to wrath. But there was something behind his eyes, a sadness that touched her deeply. There was a pain he carried with him he did not share, but which fueled his vices and she wished she could ease.

Aoyama groaned. "I… claim this land… for France!" he exclaimed, one arm shooting straight up into the air. "Ugh… what hit me?"

"Some kind of projectile," Akaya told him, helping him get on his feet. "Iida attempted to draw their fire while we escaped."

Aoyama frowned. She should tell his pride was hurt. "Merci," he said, simply.

Around them, the world had gone deathly silent, save for a lingering echo of Shinso's screams. Akaya quickly wished that she had chosen a different word to describe it than that. But it was apt. The strike had come out of nowhere and wasn't even from a Quirk. They knew less than nothing about who was attacking them.

Iida's voice again filled their comms. "The shooting seems to have stopped," she said. "Like it or not, we must continue our mission. I will try to apprise the others of the situation and then join you."

"She wants us to go on with some maniac with a gun out there?" Aoyama hissed. "Is she crazy?"

"We've… we've got to rescue people," Shinso insisted. "Even if it's dangerous. We're Heroes. We can't let everybody down.

It made sense, however dangerous it was. Real Heroes couldn't just huddle and hide until the danger passed. They had to move on. As they got up to go, something made Akaya stop. There was the slightest of sounds, like a window shade being drawn back. Behind them, rising up from the shadow of a building like a swimmer appearing out of the water was a woman, her features plain and ordinary, especially for this day and age. She wore a black catsuit and carried a dangerous looking rifle.

"Then prepare to disappoint everyo—" the woman began.

"Hey!" Shinso called out, suddenly sounding excited for some reason. "I know you!"