A.N: Wow... yup, I'm going insane. This thing is blowing up like I never imagined, and I have to thank you all for the support once more! Two more reviews came in, and I am happy to answer!

JaxTheGamer: Ahh, a man of culture I see! Funnily enough, I already have an alternative Theme for Rappa much later down the line that is ALSO composed by Mick Gordon. I'll definitely find a way to work this theme as his main one, so thank you! Hope you keep enjoying the story as well!

Guest: Funny enough, Rappa would probably love that: loads of guys to just brawl it out with!

Either way, back into the story!

Rumble, young man Rumble!

Chapter 3

The first step forward

Today was the day. Kendo Rappa was on his way to the entrance exam, an all-too massive grin on his face as his feet pounded off the floor. "You know, I swear that wherever we end up going, we're always in a dead-sprint for some reason," He called over to Rumi, the girl easily keeping pace with him.

"Hell if I know!" She called back, "But we've both been looking forward to this shit for months now, I think we've got the right to sprint." It didn't change the excited grins on their face as their feet roared across the pavement, nor did it take long for them to finally reach their destination. They skid to a stop and stared in awe at the looming entrance of U.A, a stone arc as a gate and the towering buildings of glass done in the shape of an 'H', the English alphabetical symbol for the word 'Hero'. They stood there for a good while, just staring and basking in the raw feeling washing over them.

"…You getting cold feet Usagi?" Kendo chuckled, glancing at her.

"Me? Nah. Just… taking it all in," She breathed, almost in a trance. "You?"

"Same," He admitted, clenching his fist and grinning. "We ain't gonna get anywhere standing around, right? Let's ace this shit and crush the exam!"

"Shit, now we're talking!" She laughed, cracking her knuckles. She was ready to take a step forward before someone roughly bumped her out of the way. "Oi, the hell?" The girl that bumped into Rumi looked to be a slight bit taller than her, and considerably beautiful: shoulder-length blonde hair, stunning purple eyes, fair skin, and perfect lashes.

"Sorry about that," The girl scoffed, immediately giving off a haughty, nasty vibe as she smirked. "Didn't really see you down there." The girl whistled as she skipped off. Kendo raised a brow before he looked at Rumi. A vein had popped up on her forehead, her muscles tensed as she did her best to hold herself back. "…Usagi?" He asked gently.

"Shut the fuck up. We're wasting time. Let's crush these weaklings." He swore that he could see a dark aura rising off of her, but ultimately not thinking anything about it, shrugging to himself. 'It'll probably help her kick ass when the time comes.' Needless to say, U.A Academy was extremely large and expansive, and it took them quite some time to find the hall that hosted the examinees.

"Though we were never gonna find this shit," He sighed as he plopped himself down into a chair (though it was rather small for his size). Rumi did the same with a grunt, her expression still stormy. Even moreso when her eyes landed on the girl sitting a few rows in front of her. Before she could say anything about it, the lights in the room everywhere except the stage cut out, a youthful looking man with slick, yellow hair, a very faint moustache, and dressed in punk-rocking clothing stepped onto it. Kendo heard a few excited whispers, and for good reason. "So it's true, Present Mic is a teacher here," Rumi muttered, her usual grin on her face. He walked up to the podium with a giant smile, breathing in and yelling,

"HOW'RE Y'ALL DOIN' TODAY!?" The reverb on his booming voice actually caused a sharp pain to ring through Kendo's, and especially Rumi's ears (all four of them), a small cry of "Ah!" as she curled up and covered her ears, her body shaking. It wasn't noticed by anyone else except Kendo himself, unhesitant to check on her, genuine worry shooting through him. Worry turned to anger as he turned to shout at the Hero on the stage. He clammed up though when his gaze met Present Mic's own, guilt and surprise in his eyes before he began talking again… albeit, at a more reasonable tone. "It's great to see the next generation of Heroes following in my footsteps!" He laughed light-heartedly. "Anyway, I, Present Mic am here to tell you more or less what to expect from your exam, and how you are graded on it. Everyone here has already done the written exam, and those grades will be combined with your results in the Practical Combat Exam to determine whether or not you pass! Everyone following so far?"

"You doin' okay Usagi? How're your ears?"

"They're… I'm good," She hissed, massaging her head. "It's not like they're direct passages into my head, but they've got organs that act like super-improved eardrums. Shit, I guess that's kind of how all ears are. Still hear twice as good… clearly," She chuckled.

"The exam is going to take place in a couple different locations, with each group of people given one specific area to conduct the exam in. Of course… this is a combat exam, BABY!" A screen lit up behind him and displayed three shadowy, vaguely mechanical figures. "Since U.A's recently received a lot more funding, we're now able to use what we like to call Faux-Villains, the first of their kind! Perfectly intimidating enough to get your blood pumping and armed to the teeth! Don't worry though, the guns shoot rubber bullets, so you shouldn't die."

"This is more my speed," Kendo chuckled, Rumi nodding in agreement with a grin of her own.

"Each Villain is worth a different number of points, the most difficult ones worth 3 and the weakest worth a single point. To pass, a minimum of 60 is required, the equivalent of a C-minus. You'll have a 10-minute time-frame to reach this goal, so go all out!" He could feel it: his shoulders were warming up on their own, his blood pumping a bit faster. He was ready and waiting. "Oh, one final warning! Again thanks to our budget, we now have one final Villain, worth zero points!" This one caught Kendo's attention, the screen pushing away the other villains to show a giant ball of darkness, the number '0' planted right in the middle. "Think of it more like a wildcard that wreaks havoc, and you really shouldn't be taking it on."

"Totally kicking its ass," Rumi and Kendo said at the same time, snickering.

"Anyway, with that being said, good luck on the exam, and PLUS ULTRA!" People started to file out afterwards, though the feelings of excitement were raw in the air. Before people left the building to go to the changing-rooms, everyone was handed out a slip of paper, groups A, B, and C respectively. "What group did you get?" Rumi asked, waving her piece of paper. "I got group A."

"Damn, Group C," He sighed, "Now I don't have the honour of seeing your face when I completely top your score."

"Cheeky prick!" She laughed, slapping his arm, "I promise that you'll cry in rage when you realized that I've blown your ass sky-high with my points! For real though," She said, a bright smile and an outstretched fist, "Kick ass out there, alright Meathead?" Kendo smirked and bumped his massive knuckles against hers.

"Make sure you do the same on your end. Hunks of metal ain't nothin' compared to that damn tree."

"Got that right!" She laughed, "Good luck, and see ya on the other side!" He chuckled as he watched her hop off, all too eager to get started. He didn't stand around idly though, quickly making his way to the changing-room and taking out his gear. There wasn't much that was noteworthy: a white shirt, black pants, tough combat boots. The only interesting thing in his 'arsenal' was a pair of red hand-wraps, similar to a boxer's, though the knuckles were studded with tough steel, just so that his punches could have a little extra kick to them. 'No need for some bullshit like a knife or some other weapon,' He thought as he fastened the wraps, flexing his fingers. 'That shit's for weaklings.' As soon as he was done, he made his way out of the room and jogged over to his exam-site, surprised at just how large it was. It was similar to an open forest, a few hills and to his surprise, actual mountains. "God, how much of a budget do these guys have?" He muttered to himself, just as he reached the entrance. Needless to say, he got a few stares: after all, it wasn't very often that you had a six-foot six person stroll in with muscles almost comparable to other strength-quirk users. 'Huh, it's the snobby girl from before,' He thought as he laid eyes on her blonde hair. 'She's gonna be so pissed when she realizes how outmatched she is!' He went back to sizing up the competition, yellow eyes darting around. Whoever he did make eye-contact with tended to just falter away in fear.

"Tch," he kissed his teeth, both amused and annoyed.

"Alright examinees, START!" The microphone blared. Almost everyone froze on the spot, shock and surprise rooting their feet to the ground. Almost everyone, of course. Kendo exploded off the ground, sprinting forward at full tilt, his blood singing in his ears. 'A real fight ain't got any warning, it just happens!' He heard shouts and cries behind him before he felt the tremble of the ground, signalling the stampede behind him. He ignored it and pressed on, running around a hill to find a 3-pointer waiting for him. Armoured in green steel and armed with four gatling-guns, it turned to face him quickly. "Die, hero." It said in a mechanical voice, pointing its guns at him and immediately firing.

"Fucker's fast…" Kendo muttered as he crouched low, the hail of bullets sailing over his head. "But ain't nothin' compared to Usagi!" Boots skidding across the floor, he closed the distant in a second, the android visibly reeling away as if in surprise. "URAA!" He bellowed, swinging his fist straight up, and with a mighty *BANG*, he sheared the robot's head clean off in a shower of sparks and metal. "…That's it?" He muttered in disbelief. "The goddamn tree was a hundred times harder to break down!" He stood for a second, looking at his fist before a thought crossed his mind. "Or… did I just get a good deal stronger…?" A massive, bloodthirsty grin stretched across his face. "This knuckles o' mine…" Two two-pointers rounded the corner at that moment, both also quick to fire at him with their longer-ranged weaponry. Kendo was simply quicker, already covering the distance and crashing his fists right into their chests, shattering their power-cores with ease as his fists ended up going clean through them. "Shit…" Kendo chuckled, "I'm SUPERBAD!" He was already sprinting to find the next one, eyes darting all over the place before finding a One-pointer hiding behind a tree. He didn't even bother to go around: he roared and punched straight forward, his fist blasting right through the entire tree and pulverising the robot's head like a watermelon (made of steel, for some odd reason). Yet another Three-pointer raced up to him, swinging a well-formed metal fist for Kendo's face. He pivoted and grinned even wider. "You're a puncher too!?" In a moment of raw adrenaline, he activated his Quirk as he fired his fist right at the robot's own: there was no contest. The metal arm crumpled like a can of soda before being torn right off with zero resistance, his follow-up left swing practically chopping it in half at the waist.

"Who's a man-and-a-half? I'M a man-and-a-half!" He laughed, again running and leaping on top of a two-pointer before it could even retaliate, raising both fists above his head and swinging straight down. Again it crumpled like the last, comically reduced to half its original height. It feebly attempted to fight back before his hand plunged right into its chest, finding the spine-like support and tearing it right out. "Berserkin' man-and-a-half!" A one-pointer tried to attack him from behind, but another wild swing ripped its arm and head right off. "There's nothing wrong with ya that I can't fix: WITH MAH HANDS! DYNAMATE, BABY!" He turned on instinct, only to see that he had already completely wiped out the area. "…huh. Damn this is fun, but I need more!" He broke into another sprint, completely unscathed and full of energy. Seven and a half minutes in, and Kendo had torn through many, many more robots of all point-ranges, the only sign of injury on his being his cut arms from the shards of metal that scraped him, and the thin sheen of sweat on his face. "Finally all warmed up!" He laughed as he pummelled another three-pointer. "I think that's like… eighty points or something? Eh, no stopping now!" He found himself in the middle of the exam-area, a vast expanse of grass with one of the largest mountains at the far end of the field, dozens of robots still roaming around, with just as much students fighting them. "Time to-!"

*BOOOM*

The mountainside seemed to explode all of a sudden, a hail of rocks raining down onto everyone in the vicinity. Kendo was quick to throw out a rapid flurry of punches into the air, his speed and power easily shielding him from harm. When the hail stopped, his eyes went wide and his grin turned wider. Rolling from behind the mountain was the massive Zero-Pointer, its fists easily the size of a small house, the thing easily up to seven stories tall. Its blocky, cuboid head stared down at everyone, multiple red eyes gleaming. "Holy… SHIT!" Kendo roared with laughter, "Finally, a WORTHY OPPONENT! This fight is gonna be LEGENDARY!" He took off right towards the massive robot while several other examinees were running away, understandably terrified out of their minds. The distance between the boy and the robots was shrinking, Kendo's blood burning out of control. Fifty meters in, he started to slow down in confusion when he realized something: it wasn't looking at him. It was looking off more to the left. Kendo's eyes looked in the general direction to see the limp figure of the haughty girl from before, just face-down on the floor. There was a lot of blood streaming from her head. The robot was raising its fist, ready to completely smash her to a red paste.

'She'll die.'

He didn't think that he'd ever moved faster in his entire life. His heart was racing, and for the first time in his life, he felt genuine fear. Not for himself, he wasn't afraid to go out swinging. But if he stood by and did nothing… "Too big to grab her and dodge…" He said, skidding to a stop right over her limp form. He looked up at the descending fist, clenching his own so hard that they shook before he stomped his feet as hard as he could into the ruined grass. "I'LL TAKE IT! COME ON!" He roared, arms outstretched, as if taunting death itself. He felt the wind-pressure blow the sweat away from his face, and he bellowed as he shot both open hands straight up, just as the fist came crashing down with an ear-ringing *BOOM*. Immediately, his arms trembled and the ground beneath his feet gave way, boots sinking a solid feet into the dirt. His body screamed at the sudden agony, but he ignored it, pushing back with everything he had. It was trying to crush the both of them now, constantly applying more and more pressure. "FUCK, I WON'T… GIVE IN!" He screamed. A sharp *SNAP* echoed in his mind, and a hot, molten pain spread through his left thigh. 'Did… did this thing just fracture my femur?' Still he sank further, his leg struggling to support the weight. His eyes glanced behind him: the girl was still unconscious, though the small movements told him that she was alive.

'…I didn't come this far…' He felt his heart squeeze almost painfully. 'I didn't bust my ass…' His entire body grew warmer and warmer, blood suddenly spurting from his nose. 'I didn't lose to the strongest man in the world…' The metal groaned under his grip, inch by inch being pushed back. 'TO FAIL WHEN SOMEONE'S LIFE IS ON THE LINE!'

Que Music: You Say Run, starting point 2:01

"UUUWWWOOOOOAAAAAH!" He let his quirk loose, screaming like a madman as his arms seemed to disappear, the machine-gun like *BANGBANGBANGBANG* booming through the area. The giant arm began to tremble, the metal rattling as Kendo Rappa unloaded the fastest, most powerful storm of punches he's ever done in his life. The thick metal started to cave under his punches, the damage starting to pile up so rapidly that the sheer impacts send shockwaves up the robot's arm, its integrity breaking and falling apart. His leg broken, his body visibly steaming, the whites of his eyes a bloodshot-red: those who had fought Kendo in the past would have only ever seen him like this once, if somewhat briefly, when a poor person attempted to make fun of Kendo's parents. He was an incarnation of carnage itself, yet here, he became something else: the embodiment of Wrath defending the innocent. Then, now, and even years into the future, a nickname would be whispered by Heroes and Villains alike, even with his established Hero-name.

"ORAAAAA!" He screamed one last time, throwing his right hand up as hard as he could. The robot's arm could take no more, the final impact completely tearing its arm from its massive socket, the arm itself falling apart around Kendo and the stirring girl, both of them unharmed by the falling debris. When the thirteen year old prodigy, Yu Takeyama, opened her eyes, she saw the unconscious form of Kendo Rappa, his bloody fist raised high into the air and his body still standing, the sun shining brightly down on them. Truly, there was never a more fitting nickname for someone like him: The God of Wrath…

Ashura.

To be continued…

A.N: So, I've got a biiit of bad news. Exams are coming up, so I won't be able to rapidly upload these chapters like I normally do, so I apologize for that. On the bright side, I REFUSE to just drop this story, so I will certainly update it whenever free-time comes my way, don't worry about that too much. I thought here would be a good point before I focused entirely on studying, along with completing a chapter for my other project. Either way, I hope you enjoyed Rappa's story so far as he finally reaches the starting-line to become a Hero.

Peace out!