A.N: Aaand back again! Don't wanna waste too much time, let's just hop right into the reviews!
Kenrio: Nah dude, that ain't askin' for much at all! I will get to Omakes like that, but it'll be some time before I get to that one specifically. It's a funny one that I've actually had in my head for a while now! XD
SkeenTheDream: Thank you my dude, glad to know someone else feels my frustrations XD. The action is gonna be be quick and intense, I'll give you that much at least! Once again, I'm grateful for your support and love my man!
ChernoAlpha117: Happy to by back man! Unfortunately, L.o.L isn't my type of series and I know next to nothing about it, so the reference falls flat for me, sorry XP. Regardless, thank you for the support bro!
Alright, now without further ado, Round 1 of the final exams starts now!
Rumble, Young Man Rumble!
Chapter 37
The Original!
So far, the exams had been going quite well for all the students involved. Shinji and Ryuko had opened the game with very good performances, Yu having followed after and doing quite well herself, even when hindered by her environment to prevent her from going to her maximum size and outright crushing the competition. With class 1-A being so small, some of 1-B was allowed to join the group in order to save time. Needless to say, nearly everyone was in high spirits.
'Gloves? Check.' She pulled them on, flexing her fingers to ensure they fit properly. 'Iron toes? Still completely fine. Shoulders, hips, knees, legs, ankles, spine…' She breathed in and own, her eyes closed before she gnashed her teeth together, eyes flying open before she slammed her knuckles together. 'I'm in top condition. Now let's fucking wreck this thing!'
"Rumi looks… scarier than normal today," Yu noted, shuddering at the almost furious look on Rumi's face. "I get that this is an exam, but she looks like she's ready to off someone right off the bat."
"I'd say that you're overthinking it," Ryuko said, the two of them looking at Rumi angrily warm up. "… but this is the first time I've seen the gal look so… pissed. And… is it just me, or do her legs and arms look a little more toned than usual?" Both girls looks at Rumi's arms closely, finding that Ryuko was indeed correct. Rumi's legs were already incredibly well-defined and muscular, no thanks to her Quirk's natural affinity to increase her leg-muscle's power. However, for her arms to be noticeably more muscular in terms of size and definition in comparison to a week and-a-half ago spoke of some intense training. Muscle rippled under her skin, rock-solid abs shifting and pushing against her costume. Most wouldn't blame Kendo, or any other guy for that matter, for looking at her every now and then, yet he too had laser-like focus, throwing sharp punches and kicks in his own warmup routine.
Then again, considering the contents of the exam, it seemed that there was no surprise that some of the students were more hyped up than usual. The task was simple: start at one end of the randomly selected artificial environment and make your way to the exit. There was the alternative route, however. A single robot was placed within the environment, representative of a villain, and the other two options to pass were either by restraining it or destroying it. With each respective bot tailored to fight specific students, carrying unique features for that same purpose, this made the following fights and escape attempts… very interesting to watch.
"OURYAAAAA!"
*BOOM*
Everyone's eyes snapped to the closest gate seeing two bodies come flying out of the exit. A squat and extremely armoured crashing to the floor in a twisted heap of scrap metal before bursting into flame. Kaiten slowly stood up and walked away, breathing heavily and covered in cuts and bruises, smiling nevertheless. In one hand, a green ball spinning and crackling with pinkish energy gently slowed down before coming to rest in a holster on Kaiten's side, the boy chortling as he took off a cowboy-style hat and fanned himself.
"Welp… that's that, nyo-hoh!" He said proudly. "You guys are gonna have to work pretty hard to beat that time and that stylish destruction!"
"I can."
"As can I."
"Shut up Dio, Gil."
A round of laughter went around before they looked to Aizawa and Sekijiro, eagerly waiting the next person to be called up.
"Okay, next Environment is going to be… the City-Centre. Rumi Usagiyama, you're up." At that, Rumi and Kendo stopped their warmups, Rumi almost casually walking up to the cart that would automatically drive her up to the testing area. Before she got there, she and Kendo bumped fists.
"Knock em' dead babe," He said with a grin, "And don't forget the plan."
"Got it," She said, grinning right back as she hopped onto the cart, everyone's eyes now on the screen of the destination.
"So Kendo," Tetsu said as he walked up to him, "I overheard you and Rumi. You two come up with a plan for the exam… you ain't exactly the type to plan, so call me surprised."
"Pot calling the fuckin' kettle black," Kendo pointed out, both boys chuckling lightly.
"Okay, fair enough," Tetsude agreed, "But still doesn't change that I'm surprised. We gonna see somethin' special today?"
"… I dunno," Kendo admitted, "And I'm gonna be honest, I hope not. Rumi and I always have the initial instinct to jump into a fight. There's… a lot riding on her pulling the exam off, and her best shot right now is for her to get out of there as fast as she can."
"Huh. Is… is everything alright between you two?" Tetsude asked, confused and concerned at the tone of Kendo's voice.
"Between us, yeah, we're doin' great," He said, smiling a bit before it was wiped from his face. "But Rumi's in a tight spot right now, and I wanted to give her the best possible chance to get a perfect score on this. Hell, its super-last minute, but I helped her come up with a cool-ass finished. Besides that though, there's not much I can do to help her…" his expression slowly changed, lips peeling back to bare his teeth, veins popping up on his forehead as every single muscle in his body coiled like a spring. For a split second, everyone felt how drastically Kendo's aura had changed. "…unless I wanted to gut that fucker alive…"
…
Rumi bounced on the spot, eyes darting around her immediate area. It was almost a straight shot to the exit, minus the buildings in the way.
'It'd be so much better if I just had the chance to pound away,' She thought, looking at the timer at the top of the gate, with thirty seconds left to go. 'But I can't risk that. Let's just get out of here and bag the win.'
"3… 2… 1… START!"
She didn't take off right away. Instead, she calmly looked at her surrounding area as she walked in. 'Streets are narrow and cramped. Not bad at all for me, but I don't know what I'm up against here. Up-top!' She launched off the ground, shooting towards the closest wall before kicking off of it, bouncing from wall to wall before she ended up on top of one of the highest roofs. She quickly double-checked her surroundings, making sure that the exit was essentially straight ahead. Her first instinct was naturally to make a straight beeline for the exit, though she grit her teeth and fought against the urge, instead taking off to loop around. She sprinted across the roofs, sometimes launching herself high into the air to cover more distance, other times going lower and springing from wall to wall. She constantly changed her direction, never going straight for long.
'I've got no idea where this robot is,' she thought as she did a tight front-flip, 'And it's better if I never run into it. Gotta pick up the pace and shift into third gear!' Her next leap caused the ground under her feet to crack and heave, her form a blur as she blasted through the streets. 'Huh… it's nothing insane, but I'm faster now! The exit shouldn't be much further-!'
And then her foot slipped.
She yelped as her world flipped upside down, her body flailing through the air for a moment before her expression hardened, leg whipping out to right herself and land smoothly on her feet. 'Of fucking course.'
Slim, feminine, almost dainty was the best way to describe the humanoid robot. Its plating was a dull grey, faceplate baring a simple vertical slit with its glowing blue optics underneath. Regardless of how dainty it looked, it still stood a head taller than her, limbs long and spindly: that armour was strong, and its wearer stronger, Rumi knew that much. Not to mention, she could see the small holes in its armour, tiny little spouts that dispensed steam and water everywhere.
'Figures, I at least know what I slipped on. I'll see if I can get away, I just need to stay out of its steam-range.' Her body shot backwards, launching into the air and onto one of the roofs again as she sprinted towards the exit. 'Good, now that I've put some distance between us-!' Her instinct screamed at her and she yelped as she ducked, feeling something cut through the air right where her head was. Panic sharpened to focus as she pivoted on the spot, a roar of "HAYAA!" as she lashed out with a back-kick. Her eyes went wide as pain shot up her leg, the kick having slipped right off of its armoured stomach and almost hyper-extending her knee. It grabbed her by the thigh yanking her closer as its fight fist shot towards her face, Rumi barely able to get her guard up as her back crashed into the floor. Her arms rung from the impact, her leg still throbbing slightly, yet she couldn't help but smile. "This is fine by me!" She shouted, blasting her heel right into its knee and causing its legs to buckle. She rolled to her feet, taking the opening to dash in with her fists clenched. 'If each of these were created to fight us and put us at a disadvantage, then this thing would have the lack of friction…' She grinned in triumph as it put its guard up and dashed in at the same time as her. 'Then of course you'd test my close-range ability!' It seemed almost surprised as they crashed their guards into each other, the robot almost reeling back in surprise.
"Yeah, thought you'd get to me by infighting huh? Nice try, but I'm beyond that weakness now!" It immediately attacked, a left hook and chopping right hand slicing through the air for her head. Bobbing and weaving, she grunted as she smashed her knuckles into its stomach, kicking at its knee again before upper-cutting it in the chin. 'Good thing I got the padding on these gloves upgraded, now I don't have to worry too much about breaking bones!' It attempted to tackle her, but she was quick enough to slam her elbow right into it shoulder, joints creaking under pressure before a sharp *CRACK* sound split the air. Sparks and metal shards flew from the ruptured joint, the arm itself almost falling off.
"You're not as durable as the other tin-cans! Luna Strike!" Her foot exploded into its damaged shoulder, knocking it off balance and onto its back. 'Luna Arc!' Her axe-kick was like a rocket-propelled hammer, the robot barely rolling out of the way in time as her heel almost came down to shatter the roof. Before her heel hit the floor though, she went with the momentum and flipped into a cartwheel, her entire body becoming a high-speed chainsaw. 'Luna Ring!' It wasn't able to dodge this one unscathed, her attack tearing off its already damaged shoulder and slashing its arm off. She came to a stop right at the edge of the roof, not bothering to stop as she jumped away, laughing with exhilaration. "Eat that, shithead!" Yet again, as soon as her foot touched down on street-level she almost found herself on her face as she slipped and slid as if… "Ice? Really?" She grunted as she stomped her foot down hard, literally blasting off into the air again as something threatened to chop her in half. Landing on another roof, she kissed her teeth as the grey robot touched down, another figure doing the same next to it. A near identical robot, this time pearly white and with a horizontal slit for a visor. "Okay, so there's two of you," She said, trying to buy some time as her eyes quickly darted to where the exit was, just over two hundred meters away from her. "I already shredded Grey's ass up without a hitch, what makes you think that two tin-cans can beat me?" They seemed to be stuck on the comment, looking at each other for a moment, as if contemplating what to do.
"Well, if you're just gonna stand there, then I'll just-!"
They suddenly whirred to life, the twin robots crashing into each other at their plating opened up an wires spewed out, connecting the two of them together before their entire bodies appeared to break down into a mass of wiring and plating. Rumi's eyes went wide again, the sight before her a bit too familiar. 'Hey now… isn't this just like…?' Metal plates lashed and clicked together smoothly, a blasting of frosty mist forcing Rumi to shield herself for a moment. As the mist settled, a monotone, slightly feminine voice whispered through the air.
"White Album Protocol, Successful."
It stood slightly taller than before, is armour noticeably thicker and limbs more filled out with imitated musculature, though its left forearm seemed to be missing armour, no thanks to the arm she destroyed. The cross-shaped visor glowed harshly "…so I'm just gonna guess that you aren't letting me go so easily, right?" It nodded, almost bowing to her. "Fine…" She shifted into her stance, "Let's get this done." Both of them exploded into motion, the robot leading with a straight-right. Rumi slipped right by, pushing off the ground with her toes as hard as she could and slamming her fist into its face. It buckled but didn't fall, and the onslaught began. Right hook, left hook, chopping right, left uppercut. Rumi saw through it all, gritting her teeth as she bobbed, weaved and blocked them.
'Fast, heavy and pretty sharp…' She concluded, 'But nowhere near Kendo. Hell, I can pick up the pace and rip this thing to shreds!' She glanced around for a moment, quickly redirecting a right hook from the robot and kneeing it in its hip joint, the floor underneath her cracking yet again. 'But not here. The roof isn't gonna hold up if I go all out, I gotta take this brawl somewhere more open and on the ground…' A sharp elbow to its fist caused its fingers to break, though the force was enough to send her skidding back again. Glancing again, she spotted the perfect place. 'THERE!' She leaped from the roof off to her right, carrying her high into the air and leaving herself completely vulnerable. White Album capitalised on it, chasing after her with frightening speed and grabbing Rumi by the ankle, flinging her straight down to the ground. Once more, Rumi tucked and flipped, landing exactly where she wanted to, the middle of a faux grassy park, a scant few trees and whatnot placed randomly around her, but with more than enough open space and far enough from buildings as to not cause collateral damage… or at least too much, considering what she was about to do.
White Album touched down, both of them in their fighting stances before Rumi breathed out, standing up straight. "Y'know, you're pretty unlucky," She called out to it, Snow White tilting its head in curiosity at the sudden change of tone. "If I wasn't put in such a tough spot, I might've drawn this out a little longer. But that ain't the case here. Someone special already helped me come up with a plan in case something like this happened." Her expression turned hard, a scowl on her face as she closed her eyes, jagged lines of white light suddenly blooming to life right under her skin. Her hair rose up and writhed around in the air on its own, glowing slightly as her eyes snapped open, sparks flying from them. Muscles tightened, growing slimmer and more compact as she stared at Snow White, a burst of brilliant sparks zooming through the air for a split second. "Prepare yourself. This is me at my max… this is Kengan."
*BOOM*
It wasn't even able to react in time as Rumi vanished, the ground she once stood on exploding before it was struck across the face, its entire body whipping back from the sheer speed behind the strike, Rumi poised behind it with an outstretched punch. It recovered quickly, lashing out with a whipping roundhouse kick for her skull.
"Dreamwalk."
The kick passed through what looked like a blur of motion, Rumi already behind it. "Three-Point Kick." Its vision nearly shut down as three simultaneous impacts blasted into its head. A right cross tore into the base of its spine, a front-kick punching through its lightly armoured left arm, tearing through the limb completely, a final left uppercut literally punching a hole through its abdomen, Rumi standing there and glaring at it. "Game over."
"Not quite."
It surged forward and grabbed her arm, gripping tightly as it stared at the mildly surprised Rumi. Surprised turned to shock and intense pain as a blindingly sharp sensation ripped its way up her nerves, the temperature around them dropping like an anvil. The grass instantly frosted over as the air turned misty, Rumi crying out in pain at how poorly her heightened senses responded to the situation. "Emergency Measure: Gently Weeps." A panicked stomp to the chest sent the robot flying backwards but even in its damaged state, it still moved with incredible grace, staying upright and returning to its combat stance.
Growling, Rumi blasted forward and went to kick its head clean off, only to freeze up in pain as soon as she entered its range. Its movements were still just as sharp an accurate, almost cleanly landing on her face. She sped around the attacks, thinking that cold-attack was directional and trying to get it from behind, only for her keen senses to pick up on the biting cold once more and barely let her dodge the next kick, the robot blocking her from running towards the exit.
Rumi shook off the biting cold, glaring at the robot distastefully. 'Of course, how could I forget my last weak-spot: I don't have any ranged attacks. Can't get close to attack with Recoilless, I'll literally freeze up again. If I turn off Kengan, I'll be vulnerable and slow. Can't just run either, this thing is blocking my way.' She sighed before a hungry grin stretched across her face. 'Owe Kendo for this one.'
"UoooaaaAAAAAAAGH!"
She roared into the sky as forks of lightning seemed to burst from her skin, slicing through the air before they seemed to dip lower and lower. The lights under her skin seemed to die down slightly, though lightning appeared to be practically pouring from her right leg, her hair writhing more violently.
"You thought I didn't have a ranged attack, huh!?" She shouted, a terrifying smile on her face. "That's gonna be the last mistake you'll ever make!" Sensors and warnings going off wildly in White Album's head, the robot immediately dashing forward to try and smother Rumi with its frost and subdue her entirely.
"Rumi Usagiyama, ORIGINAL!"
As if in slow motion, her leg lifted off the floor, the lines of lights glowing brightly even through the leggings on her costume. This was something of a collaborative effort of both Kendo and Rumi, a new, devastating weapon in her arsenal that can be thrown from range. It was incomplete, imperfect, and arguably an unnecessary risk, one she was all too happy to pull off.
"Kick of the THUNDER DRAGON!"
The air itself screamed as she whipped her foot in a wild roundhouse, a bolt of lightning and air-pressure piercing through the robot's chest and power-core like a bullet through wet cardboard. It was flung backwards, an arm and leg tearing away and flying off elsewhere before it landed in a smoking heap, unmoving and unresponsive. For a moment, Rumi stood there, breathing heavily before she collapsed right onto her back.
'Can't feel my goddamned leg, my head's all messed up, but…' She was laughing hoarsely before she thrust both fists into the air. 'This win is MINE!'
The loudspeaker crackled and blared to life, hearing those all-too relieving words."Rumi Usagiyama, PASS!"
(To Be Continued…)
A.N: Started off with a bang, in my humble opinion! Again, I understand that things may seem a little absurd, but just as a reminder, kinda playing off the seat of my pants here XD. Hopefully, it comes across as badass rather than too silly. Either way, hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know how you felt about it and peace out!