The group of young hopefuls made their way to the Simulation Dome. They must have looked like a small army to anyone passing by, though that wouldn't be too far off. Each of these students possessed their own quirk after all, and they doubtless knew how to use them. A shiver went down Luciana's spine, thinking about her competition, both in numbers and in power, she felt miniscule.
The dome itself was as massive as Luciana remembered. The closest comparison Luciana could make was to a football stadium, although the dome still dwarfed that. It was big enough to fit a small city. Completely open, it almost didn't deserve the title of 'dome,' there was no ceiling, merely the circular wall and the sky.
Within the wall, thousands of trees stood tall, some even poking above their confinement. An observation deck was installed along the edge of the wall, probably where the camera footage was recorded and where the pro heroes would be watching from. Luciana could feel dozens of eyes on her, the judgmental gazes of countless heroes and staff members.
"This is so cool! We finally get a mission of our own!" Katarina shouted next to her. Luciana had to admit, it was pretty amazing, to be standing at the edge of this massive forest, the edge of her future.
Miss Blink, who had been leading the group, stopped. "Alright, we'll begin shortly, we just need to roll-out the bounties." She gestured to those in the observation deck, as she did a crew of workers appeared. Each crew wheeled out a cage on a dolly, they each shook violently, holding a deadly creature just itching to escape. A primal roar escaped from a few of them, hearing it, some of the students started looking for an escape route, already deeming the exam impossible, but most only scoffed in the way only reckless high schoolers could.
"As we stated before, your job will be to capture one of these bounties, each representing a specific villain archetype. Stick to your strengths, protect yourselves, and try not to bite off more than you can chew. Oh, and since Darwinian didn't mention, I wanted to tell you all good luck." Miss Blink gave a wide smile. "And now... Three!" She began her count down.
Katarina quickly turned to Luciana. "I'm gonna rush on ahead. Remember, you're not allowed to fail."
"Two!" She raised on hand into the air.
"Wait, we're not going through this together? I thought we'd be working together here." Luciana asked. She was stressed and nervous, she didn't want to fail, but she didn't know if she could succeed all on her own.
"One!"
"Of course not, like they said, this is a competition. Don't worry I have faith in you." Kat smiled.
"But-" before Luciana could stutter out a response, Miss Blink gave the signal.
"Go!" She shouted. The cage doors slid open and the lizard-like creatures charged out.
There were three variants that Luciana could make out. The first were tiny things, the size of chickens, though they were built like little velociraptors. They were the first to escape, they took off at insane speeds, disappearing faster than anybody could react. The second type were mid-sized, about as tall as a normal human, though their lizard-like features eliminated all possibility of being human. They charged away, though as they ran, similar sized creatures began to coalesce into a small group. The final variant was larger than all the others. Stretching to be over ten feet tall, they were massive, and they had the power fitting for their size. These creatures took off on their own, leaping away in a single bound.
Watching all of the creatures disappear into the forest, every prospective hero knew, the placement exams had begun.
The first one to move was Katarina. With a crack of lightning, she was gone, flying away at insane speeds. Almost like a starting gun, that crack signaled every student to begin. Everyone ran at top speed, some being propelled by their quirks, some relying on physical skill.
Luciana wasn't about to be left behind, she ran top speed into the forest, though she had no idea where she was going. She didn't have much of a plan, she had hoped she'd be able to pair up with Katarina or even Antonio if he was around, but she was all alone. All she could do was think about what to do next, make some kind of plan.
She thought as she ran, there were at least three variants that Doctor Darwinian mentioned. She wasn't confident that she could take down a fighter on her own, they were likely geared towards those with very powerful quirks, like Katarina, so Luciana wouldn't stand much of a chance. She could also cross off the gang variants, without someone else to work with, it's doubtful she could take out four or five individual creatures on her own. All that leaves is the runners.
Luciana glimpsed a small figure sprinting, it was a runner, but it was being chased by at least a dozen other applicants. Luciana was behind by quite a distance, but they always said 'slow and steady wins the race,' let's hope that's true. The runner and its trailing hunters were heading west, and Luciana charged after them.
Within the observation deck, Doctor Darwinian and countless campus staff scrambled to analyze the footage as it came in. The observation room was filled with only the cutting-edge of technology. Monitors lined the room, each showing live footage transmitted directly from the cameras scattered throughout the dome, but even with those screens, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Only a few minutes into the exam and nearly half the released creatures had been captured. Normally these exams lasted at least an hour, but one of the students had went a bit... above and beyond.
"I still can't believe that Eldingar girl was able to take out a gang of six group variants." Darwinian murmured to himself, clearly upset his creations had fared so poorly against that lightning girl. After the exam had started, Katarina Eldingar had charged the largest group of creatures she could find. She had taken out a group of six all on her own, and participants that followed her lead had snatched the unconscious creatures up while they had the chance.
Of course, there were a few other exceptional applicants. Darwinian surveyed the live feed coming from the cameras hidden about the dome. A few of the fights breaking out caught his eye; a six-armed woman dueling a fighter variant to a standstill, a man ricocheting off trees as he chased a runner, even a contingent of pixelated soldiers combatting a duo of large, fire breathing creatures. It was chaos, but it was entertaining chaos.
With a flash, Miss Blink appeared back in the observation room. She wasn't wearing the suit anymore, she had managed to change into her official hero costume, a tight and armored, blue and white suit, with two retractable batons hanging off her hip. As the only hero with an extraction-oriented quirk, it was her duty to run interference, whether that included picking up those who captured a bounty and transporting them out of the dome, or breaking up fights between applicants. It was a tiring job, but she was the only one who could even attempt it.
She grabbed a bottle of water off of a nearby table and took a drink. "Ah, how's it looking Charles?" She asked Doctor Darwinian.
"Didn't I tell you never to refer to me as Charles? I am a doctor after all, it's not just a stage name."
"Right, right, it's Dr. Zeal at least. Jeez, you try to build a bit of familiarity among coworkers and this is what it gets you."
"Yeah, right, and I'm sure you'd love it if Mr. Cólera had called you Maria?" He raised an eyebrow.
"You're right, if he called me that I might involuntarily gag on instinct." She laughed. "So, Dr. Zeal, what's going on?"
Zeal directed her attention to the screens. "Well, we might get a school record for shortest placement exam in history, but other than that nothing too special."
She watched the footage herself, and Maria couldn't imagine how this wasn't special. She was rather new to the Northpeak staff, this was, after all, her first year as an instructor. There were hundreds of students, each wielding unique quirks, some with incredible results, others with more bizarre effects. "Is that fighter being drowned in pasta?" Was all she could stutter out. It was almost too much to take in all at once.
"Ah, yes, the Fink boy, you should probably prepare to retrieve him." Zeal told her, but before she could leave, something unexpected happened. Out of nowhere a large number of screens suddenly went dark. At first, they were one at a time, but soon enough, an entire quadrant of the dome had gone dark. "Hmm?"
One of the staff members called out. "Sir, the cameras along the western edge of the Simulation Dome have gone dark!" Two other staff members confirmed their report. "Twenty-three cameras confirmed destroyed or inoperative!" "No information revealed through last second transmission!"
"Impossible." Darwinian shouted back. "each of those cameras are hidden, not to mention it would be impossible to destroy them without appearing the footage. How can you tell me they didn't see anything?"
"Not completely impossible, a wide-ranging quirk, like an emp blast, would fry the systems. Is it possible one of the applicants is responsible?" Maria asked.
"Hmm." The doctor thought for a moment, before arriving at his verdict. "No, the cameras are shielded and made to withstand over one ton of crushing force. Plus, look out the window, there isn't a single indication of excessive force. It's not possible that this was an accident, and that means someone deliberately and discreetly identified and destroyed each camera they came across. Not to mention such an act would require expert control and skill most of these novices could never possess. The only possible conclusion I can draw is that there is an intruder."
"An intruder?" Maria said in astonishment. Northpeak wasn't secure by nature, it was a school after all, not a military base, but she'd never imagined someone would infiltrate the Simulation Dome. "Then I've got to get out there, the applicants are in danger!" She made her way over to the window.
"Wait, the intruder is likely very dangerous, if you rush ahead without a plan, you might be injured. I'll send a security team, as well as call in any heroes left on campus."
"They won't get here fast enough. I'll at least be able to buy enough time for them to arrive." Maria said. Charles really didn't have to worry, she wasn't planning on throwing her life away, but he was always kinder than he let on. "Don't fret, after all, I'm Miss Blink. I'll be back in the blink of an eye."
And with that, she disappeared in a flash of light. Charles couldn't help but chuckle, like always she charged off without a thought in her head. Welp, better make good on my promise. "You heard the lady, contact any nearby hero, and send a security team to skirt the western edge! Let's move people!" Let's just hope this bravado of hers doesn't get her killed.
Luciana had been chasing after the runner for the past five minutes, and she was getting sick of it. It had run out of sight, but Luciana still managed to keep up. Luckily running away in a wild frenzy and being trailed by nearly a dozen other humans didn't leave much time to cover their tracks.
Some little part of her felt it was foolish to keep chasing when she was so far behind, but she really had no other choice. She was committed to this path, and if it didn't work out, then she'd just have to twist the outcome to her desire. She couldn't get left behind, she had to catch up to Katarina. It was her dream to become a hero, and she wouldn't abandon it for anything, so she had to catch this runner, she couldn't accept any other possibility.
A scream cut through her thoughts. A wretched "Gah!" escaped the woods ahead of her, alongside the sound of flesh being torn. She thought she was running at full speed before, but a sudden burst of adrenaline pushed her even further beyond her limits. As she drew closer to its source, the cacophony of screams grew louder and more numerous, before falling silent.
Luciana could hear the sound of combat, as well, but it was short lived, like anyone who dared to fight was quickly dispatched of. As she drew closer, she caught a glimpse of the ongoing scuffle, though it was mostly over. Luciana hid behind a tree, hoping to keep the advantage of stealth.
The scene that laid before her was terrifying. The area was rather open, a small reprieve from the abundant greenery. Nearly a dozen people, most the same age as her, scattered the field, lying face down in pools of their own blood. They could've been dead for all she knew, the only thing that soothed her mind was the ragged way their bodies heaved, desperate to draw breath.
There was one person standing. He was a man, or at least that's what Luciana thought, with long, silver hair that stretched the entire length of his back. His clothing was overly elaborate and fancy, like a strange cross between a businessman and a matador. In one hand he held a curved sword, while in the other he gripped the runner they had all been chasing by its tail.
There was one applicant left conscious, a girl who must have stumbled backwards. She stared up at the man with fearful eyes. "S-stay back!" She raised her hands. As she did, her fingernails extended, like razor-sharp blades piercing towards him. But he didn't even look threatened.
With a slight swing of his sword, he slashed the nails to ribbons. No, it wasn't that he slashed them, it was more he just swung his sword and they were cut. There were parts that were cut without his sword even coming close to them, like an invisible blade followed his commands and protected him from danger.
The girl was stunned speechless, it was ability that defied reason, one that seemed unbeatable. He drew close to her, his blade poised. "My apologies, but I've been ordered not to leave any survivors. Curse me in the afterlife." He raised his blade.
For a moment, Luciana thought of running. This was a villain, and not one like the T-rex man she had run into previously, this was a true force to be reckoned with, a man who thought nothing of ending another human's life. She thought to herself, how could I hope to stop someone like this, if she fought someone like this, she knew she would die. Those thoughts clouded her mind, and for that moment, she felt so powerless.
She hated that moment.
She'd decided long ago that she would never let anyone die in front of her. That as long as she could move, she would do everything she could to save everyone in front of her, no matter what. So, without thinking, she charged out of her hiding place.
She couldn't risk using her quirk, if she did, the girl might be caught up in the blast, so there was one way she could fight him. Somehow, he didn't notice her as she ran up behind him, and, with as much force as she could muster, she roundhouse kicked him in the side.
The impact was outstanding, she could feel the man's body curve around her leg as it crashed into him. He was sent stumbling only a few feet to the side, but it was enough to build some distance between him and the girl on the ground. Now Luciana stood between them, and she wasn't going to back down.
"Get out of here, go get a hero!" Luciana shouted to the girl. She was hesitant at first, maybe she was just surprised anyone had come to save her, but she eventually stumbled to her feet and ran away. Luciana made sure she was gone before she turned her focus to the man. "Who are you? What have you done to these people?" She could barely hide the anger in her voice.
"What have I done to them? I cut them, obviously." He laughed to himself. "Look, it's just business, I don't particularly enjoy it, but it's part of the job. As for who I am, I guess you could call me Sabre. Fitting, considering..." He gestured to his sword.
"Don't treat this like a joke!" Luciana's temper flared. Her hands began glowing as her quirk began to activate. "These people could be dead!"
"You have my condolences. Though, you won't be missing them long..." He raised his sword. "I'll send you to them soon." He swung his sword forward.
At first, Luciana didn't think much of it, he was a decent distance away after all, but then she remembered how he sliced through that girl's quirk. Stepping back out of instinct, she quickly found out that she made the right call. A small rush of wind confirmed her suspicions as it passed just by her neck. Had she not pulled back; her throat would've been slashed open. She couldn't tell his quirk on her own, but it had something to do with his sword. Some kind of invisible extension? His attacks definitely had a presence, but there wasn't a single indication his sword had gotten longer. It was as if his attack had simply been transferred over.
Luciana wasted no time in her response. Raising her hands, her quirk charged and fired off. Scorching rays lit up the forest, each directed straight towards Sabre. However, he didn't flinch, with a single step, he bypassed the first blast. When the second and third came his way, he dodged around them, though only barely. In an instant he charged straight towards Luciana.
She tried to stop him with another blast, but it was pointless. He moved insanely fast, and his reactions were top-notch as well, she couldn't hope to stop his advance. When he was within range, he slashed forward, as before, his attack wasn't limited to just one slash. His attack multiplied itself dozens of times over, slashes crossing over one another and expanding towards her.
Luciana had learned her lesson; she couldn't hope to defend from something like that. Harnessing her quirk once more, she pointed her hands to the ground and fired, the force of her attack pushed her into the air, dodging straight over Sabre's sphere of slashes. With another pulse of light, Luciana blasted down on Sabre from above, but once again he stepped back, just avoiding the scorching light.
This man fought like no one she'd ever seen, even Katarina took more care in avoiding attacks. He avoided each blow by only a hair, he performed every strike with unflinching killing intent. He didn't fight like a human, more like a vicious wild animal, a creature fighting on instinct, yet with the poise of a master swordsman.
As she landed, she took another step back, building as much distance as she could. She didn't stand much of a chance, and both her and Sabre knew it, but she didn't have a choice, she had to hold out as long as she could.
"Interesting, you put up a bit more of a fight than the others, I may have to start getting serious." He held up the still squirming runner. "I'd have to drop this though, and it would be quite troublesome to catch it again."
"What... Why do you even need that thing? Why are you breaking into the placement exams?" Luciana asked, bewildered.
"Hmm... thinking about it, I wasn't sworn to secrecy or anything like that. But, if I tell you, the boss will scream my head off... What to do?" She couldn't tell what he was rambling about. Was this organized? Were there other villains around the dome? He cracked a smile as he turned his attention back to Luciana. "You know what, survive this next attack and I'll tell you-" He stopped.
His eye darted to the side, like he spotted something moving quickly towards the two of them. A moment later, Luciana spotted it as well. The figure of what looked like a woman in blue and white was moving through the forest at incredible speed. She disappeared and reappeared with flashes of light. Miss Blink had arrived.
Within moments she was on top of Sabre, teleporting directly over him. Wielding two batons, she smashed down on him. In response, Sabre brought his sword up to block. The two blows collided with massive force, creating an echoing shockwave.
Sabre pushed her off and counterattacked, but his slash never connected. As he swung his sword, Miss Blink teleported away, not even his quirk could reach her. He had missed his chance to kill her, and he wouldn't get another.
As she landed, she turned her attention to Luciana. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yes!" Luciana stuttered.
"Good, I'm glad." Her eyes turned to the field of bloodied bodies. "I'm sorry I... couldn't be here sooner."
Sabre addressed the new arrival. "You. You're Miss Blink, aren't you? The pro hero? Interesting, so can I assume more heroes are on their way? You heard that, right Nat?" Luciana got the feeling that last bit wasn't directed towards either of them. "Wait, what? You didn't think to tell me that earlier! Oh, you bastard!" He was talking to someone else, without a doubt. Maybe he had some sort of communication device?
"What are you talking about? Who are you speaking to?" Miss Blink demanded answers.
"Ugh, so I've done nothing but waste my time. And after I went through the trouble of catching this little bugger," he held up the runner he had caught. "Only to learn they'd already got their own! Can you believe that!"
"Caught their own?"
"Oh yeah, you probably weren't supposed to hear that. Oh well, I was going to kill you both anyway." He dropped brought the sword against the throat of the runner. With a quick action, he slashed the throat of the lizard-like creature. It spasmed and struggled for a moment, but he quickly bled out and went limp. He threw the corpse to the side and took the sword in both hands. His disposition had changed almost immediately, like he had become a new man, all of this achieved by merely changing how he held his sword.
Miss Blink turned to Luciana again. "I'm sorry, this wasn't how your exam was supposed to go. I'll handle this joker; you get back to your test. I'd hate for you to end up failing because this guy got in your way."
"Wait, but I can help! I can fight-" Luciana tried to stay, but she wasn't having it.
"Get out of here! This is the job of a real hero!" She shouted. She was clearly afraid as well, this man was dangerous after all, but she forced herself to soften. A hero had to stay smiling, even in the direst of circumstances. "I'll tell you what, go and pass your exam, and next time we find this guy, I'll make sure you're strong enough to face him alongside me."
Luciana didn't have much choice. In a fight between heroes and villains, a student like her would only get in the way. "Fine, but remember, I'm going to pass, and you'll be my teacher, so you better not die here." Luciana ran back east into the woods.
She chuckled to herself. "Jeez, who'd have thought we'd have such a problematic student." She turned back to Sabre. "And you. I'll make sure you tell me the whole story about whoever 'they' are."
"Well, if you think you can handle me on your own, then come on."
As Luciana hurried her way back to the exam, Miss Blink and Sabre would meet each other in battle, blade to baton.
As The hero and villain clashed, Doctor Darwinian ran interference inside the observation deck. They had tried to continue the placement exams while Miss Blink and security, but that villain's interference had caused more issues than was expected. With the death of that runner, there was now one fewer bounty in the forest, not to mention the dozens of applicants who have been incapacitated... Or worse.
They hadn't planned on something like this happening, so there were no backup bounties, well, none that these applicants could face. Though, the options were quickly running out, as the sixteenth bounty had already been captured. If the last available bounty was captured then there would be hundreds of applicants running around without purpose.
One of the staff members ran up to him. "What should we do Doctor? Can we postpone the exam results until later?" It wasn't surprising they'd defer to him; he was the one who created these creatures. Maybe they imagined he could whip up another one no sweat, but that wasn't how his quirk worked, to create a creature as advanced as these, he'd need time.
"Defer the results for one slot? No one would accept something like that." He shot back.
"Then can we just randomly select an applicant and just say they passed? We have had a few promising applicants who haven't caught anything, that could work."
"No, can you imagine the lawsuits if someone found out."
"Then what can we do?"
He thought to himself for a moment, but there wasn't much to consider. There was an option, though an incredibly poor one. "Unfortunately, it seems the only option is to unlock the natural disaster class."
There was a general uproar from the observation deck. "You're a madman!" "Are you insane?" "You'll kill them all!" The comments were basically what he had expected. The natural disaster class wasn't made for the placement exams, it was made to train professional heroes, and even they struggled with its strength.
But like they said, there were plenty of promising applicants this year. They could probably handle it, right?
"Ladies and gentleman, we can stand and argue for ages, but the facts won't change. Besides, only the greatest challenge can bring out the greatest results, and this will be the greatest possible challenge."
As he spoke, a new report came in, which was relied by one of the staff. "Sir, Suu Aye has captured the last runner! A security team has been dispatched for extraction!"
"Ahh, and like that the final bell has been rung." He went over to a nearby console and inputted a special code. "This'll be an exam to remember." He laughed to himself, clearly enjoying this more than his coworkers.
Luciana had run from the villain and Miss Blink, determined to capture another bounty and pass, but she soon found out there was nothing left. She hadn't been gone very long, but during that time, nearly all of the bounties had been captured. She had heard rumors and shouting that there was a girl chasing a runner, but it wasn't long until even that lead was gone.
She ran and ran, but she couldn't find a thing. Luckily for her, the test wasn't over yet. One last sliver of hope had emerged in the form of an ear-splitting alarm. Lights along the top of the dome's walls began to shine, spinning like hazard warnings. The ground beneath her feet began to shake and shift. It was a long shot, but she tried to find the origin of this shaking, which led her near the center of the dome.
She still had some distance, but she could see it all, the ground had split. Below them was a large, open complex, though Luciana couldn't spot much before something emerged. A large, scaly, clawed hand gripped the ground. It was massive, and it soon pulled up a much larger figure. Soon, its owner had fully revealed himself, a colossal lizard-like creature, bigger than any living creature she had ever seen. So large it could easily peak over the dome walls, it must have been taller than the Empire City skyscrapers. Luciana had heard of old movies, pre-quirk humans that imagined huge monsters fighting each other, but she never thought she'd see one of those off the cinema screen.
For a second, the entire forest was silent. Applicants everywhere stared in awe at the creature, even the staff in the observation deck must have been stunned speechless. That silence didn't last long. The creature let out a great roar, a demonstration of his power. His roar echoed throughout the entire campus, even the civilian back in Empire City must be looking over in shock.
It was clear this was the last test. The last bounty. Everyone knew this was their last chance, and so, they opened fire.
Hundreds of quirks were launched all at once. A barrage of mismatched attacks wracked the creature's body: Fire, ice, lightning, countless unidentifiable blasts of energy. Despite the unimaginable power behind each quirk, none of it seemed to be getting through to him. As the dust settled, the applicants looked up in despair, they had barely managed to scuff its scales, it didn't have a single wound.
The creature struck back, taking only a single step forward. The force was enormous, the ground shook violently, it was like an earthquake. And all it took was a single step. He covered a massive distance with that step, distance straight towards Luciana.
The applicants quickly realized how outclassed they were, most of them turned tail and ran almost immediately. This thing was unstoppable, you'd have better luck fighting a hurricane or an erupting volcano. It was like a living natural disaster.
But while everyone else was running, Luciana didn't move. She didn't stand a chance, she knew that much, but if she didn't at least try, would she ever be able to forgive herself? She wants to be a hero, an everyone knew heroes never ran. It was their job to stand up when no one else would, to fight, even with the odds against them. Besides, she made a promise to Miss Blink, she couldn't fail here.
That's right, she thought, this is nothing. A real hero could take this thing down without breaking a sweat.
She hadn't used her quirk very much today, only a few beams against Sabre. She wasn't sure what she had left, not enough to take down this thing, but she did have one other idea. She felt the light rush around her, coalescing and gathering, flowing into her. It was a sunny day out, plenty of light to draw from. Her quirk was 'light,' it didn't only involve emitting light, but she could also take it in, giving herself an extra leg up in a fight.
The creature turned its attention to Luciana's position. A side effect of taking in light, it essentially made her a beacon, one that was visible for miles. But it didn't matter, she'd charge for as long as she needed to and this thing wouldn't stop her.
It took another step forward. Despite its size, it covered ground incredibly quickly, its colossal legs crossed the field towards her. It took another step, and it was almost on top of her. She'd have to fire, even if it was premature, if she only had a little bit longer, she could use everything she had.
The creatures foot drew back, preparing a massive stomp. Luciana held off firing, determined to charge until the very last moment, but that might have been a fatal mistake. The creatures foot came down at incredible speed, faster than she could have expected.
She flinched, closing her eyes. Even if she fired now, the massive foot would crush her, it was too late, as it closed in.
...
But then it stopped.
Standing in front of her, Antonio Luciano appeared. His hand was raised upwards, and on top of it he held the behemoth at bay. "Sorry, but I'll be borrowing your power." As he had done earlier, a shockwave ripped out from his hands, one so violent even the colossal bounty stumbled backwards. He didn't stop there, Antonio rocketed up into the sky.
The wind violently whipped around Luciana and she lost her balance and her focus. The beam of light she had been preparing fired off into the sky, completely missing the target. It was big, if her normal blasts were like a flashlight, this was closer to an industrial spotlight, one that could engulf the entire creature had it been aimed correctly. But in fact, it was flying straight towards Antonio.
It wasn't an accident, at least not on his part, Antonio Luciano had counted on her missing, the fact that the blast came straight to him was only icing on the cake. Putting his hand out, he stopped the beam... Or rather absorbed it. As it reached him, he didn't burn, instead he took in the gigantic force of energy. With one hand, her strongest attack was nullified, it almost made Luciana annoyed.
However, thinking the energy was gone was a mistake. Antonio lifted his other hand straight towards the monstrous creature. "And like that..." The beam seemed like it had transferred its way through his body, but it came out stronger, more intense, more blinding. The world seemed dim in comparison as the blast eclipsed the sun. "I've passed."
For the first time since she'd seen it, Luciana understood his quirk. 'Reversal,' the power to counter any attack that comes his way, and return it with double the strength. An insane quirk, one that could defeat even the strongest heroes and villains, this boy must have been born with the strongest ability imaginable.
The colossal beam of light collided with the creature's head. It roared, but it was quickly silenced, the lights heat burning through its scales and knocking it off its feet. The beast hit the ground with a crash, though no one could tell if it was alive or dead. Antonio fell to the ground, breaking his fall with a swift application of his quirk.
He swiftly made his way over to Luciana. "Thanks for the power boost." He cracked a cocky smile and reached out his hand. "Couldn't have passed without you."
Luciana was going to shake his hand, but all at once the exhaustion had hit her. An intense wave of tiredness overwhelmed her, her eyes drifted shut, and she fell forward, only to be caught by Antonio.
"Th-thanks." Was all she could stutter out before she lost consciousness.