I entered the arena beside Recovery Girl, eyes wide. The model city's main street looked fried, with small bits of electricity still sparking off of the broken edges of metal scattered across the road. In the center of it all, Izuku and Kaminari were laying sprawled out on the ground, eyes shut and covered in injuries. All Might sat on the pavement above them, and I found it slightly scary to see the top hero looking dazed. Kaminari had to have pushed his absolute limit.
"I'll heal All Might, his injuries are comparatively minor," Recovery Girl declared. "You handle your classmates, clear Kurosaki?" When it came to medicine, Recovery Girl was always serious.
I nodded, clenching my jaw. "Got it, ma'am," I confirmed, hurrying over to kneel between Izuku and Kaminari. I reached out, gently tapping them on the foreheads, extending my quirk over. Both boys instantly vanished into a burst of steam, and I swallowed, seeing a lump in Izuku's costume vanish. Had he broken his ribs? What had I just signed myself up for?
I pushed up to my feet, seeing the steam surrounding them already starting to vanish. "Recovery Girl, I'm going back to the observation room," I declared, turning sharply on my heel and darting out of the model city.
I whirled out of the testing ground gates, keeping a mental count of how many seconds had passed. When I spotted a girl's restroom, I darted inside, door slamming behind me as I ran into one of the stalls, taking my scarf and tucking it between my teeth just as I deactivated my quirk.
My chest felt like it was on fire, and my head felt like someone had smacked me with a bat. Izuku had definitely gotten himself some broken ribs and a concussion. I crashed to the floor, unable to feel disgusted when it practically felt like my skin was burning up and peeling off. Sweat beading on my forehead, I panted for air, drool gathering in the corners of my mouth.
"That's fucking disgusting," a gruff voice interjected, and my head jerked up to see Bakugo standing in the middle of the stall, since I'd never locked the door.
My eyes widened in shock, and the only thing I could think to say was, "This is the girl's bathroom."
"Congratu-fucking-lations Sherlock, you're a real genius," Bakugo huffed, crossing his arms. There was a long, awkward pause, where I shakily climbed to my feet and wiped my mouth clean. "This happens every time?" Bakugo asked.
I shrugged, trying to cover my sheepishness up with a giggle. "Sort of. It's kinda like biting a bullet, I guess. It's better than feeling the pain while fighting," I offered. "It's really just circumstantial…"
Bakugo stared at me appraisingly. "Whatever, stupid bitch," he said finally, turning around. "I don't need your fucking help during the test anyway. Keep your goddamn powers to yourself, Ichimi," he ordered, storming out of the bathroom.
I blinked, and then ran after him. "Wait! That doesn't make sense, you can't beat Mister Aiza-" I cut myself off as I skidded to a stop out in the hallway. Bakugo was already long gone. I grit my teeth, narrowing my eyes. "I don't think I'm the stupid one," I muttered, marching back towards the observation room for real.
"Test 5, begin," Principal Nezu's recorded voice announced. The entrance gate slid open, and instantly a blur came flying out. Tenya, with Tokoyami on his back, went charging towards the gate, moving quicker than he ever had before. His training with his family had clearly been very successful.
Present Mic, from his spot across the open, rocky landscape, grinned. His sunglasses flashed as he reached up and turned the volume screws on his amplifier. "HEYYYYYYYYY!" he howled, voice screaming through the air until the soundwaves were almost visible, causing dirt to scatter across the ground.
Jirou, trailing after Tenya at a smooth jog, instantly slid to a stop. Her earjacks plugged into her boots, and with a concentrated expression she managed to overwhelm the incoming soundwaves with her own heartbeat. She winced as several seconds passed, doing her best to protect her teammates from the long range attack.
Tenya, picking up on the opening Jirou had created, tensed his grip on Tokoyami's legs. "Recipro-" he began, as the engines attached to his legs started to glow with blue flames. "-BURST!" he shouted, shooting forward at ridiculous speeds.
In moments, he had managed to cover most of the ground between himself and Present Mic, who was still grinning.
"Agh!" Jirou winced, her own noise-canceling sound waves giving out as she clapped her hands over her ears. She had a splitting headache from concentrating on emitting sound for so long.
Present Mic immediately picked up on the figure falling down across the field. He smiled victoriously. "Looks like the game's changed!" he cheered, turning the volume up even higher on his stereo. "YEAA- holy!" his scream abruptly cut off as Dark Shadow slammed into his speakers, crushing the machinery with prejudice.
Tenya skidded to a stop as his engines gave out, dropping Tokoyami to the ground. Dark Shadow ripped the smashed stereo away from the Pro Hero, sending it flying before lunging forwards again.
Present Mic grinned, but with a hint of nervousness. "Well if that's how it's gonna be, I can still use my quirk!" he yelled. "YEEAH!" he hollered, sending out a wave of violent sound, that nearly knocked Tenya and Tokoyami over.
"Shut up, blondie!" Dark Shadow snarled, rocketing towards Present Mic and forcing the Pro Hero to weave out of the way. "Your ugly voice is making my damn ears bleed!"
"Thanks for the credit, listener!" Present Mic said, accepting the insult with a wide smile. "Now, YEA-" he froze as a loud bell chimed throughout the entire testing grounds.
Tenya panted for air on the other side of the exit gate. "Group 5 passes," Nezu announced. Tokoyami bowed his head, cloak spreading as Dark Shadow reeled back in to its host.
Present Mic pushed up his glasses. "Well, this is embarrassing," he commented to no one, as Tokoyami turned around to help Jirou stand up.
Tenya entered the observation room a few minutes later, and I was in front of him in seconds. "That was amazing!" I complimented, eyes bright. "I didn't even expect you to run for it like that - you made him focus on your quirk, and then sneaked past him! Talk about mind games," I smiled happily.
Tenya chuckled. "Thank you, Ichigo," he said warmly. "In all honesty, I did not expect my plan to be as successful as it was," he continued. "When I ran for the gate without my quirk, I was fully convinced Dark Shadow would not be enough of a distraction…"
Izuku stepped forward, grinning brightly. "It was awesome regardless," he declared, stepping beside me. "You really thought that out quickly. Stationing Jirou at the entrance gate to wait for Present Mic's attack was brilliant. Good quirk usage, you make a great leader!"
"You should've seen them," Ochako laughed, slinging her arm over Izuku's shoulders and patting me on the head. I wrinkled my nose, because that made me feel short. "They were so excited, they were practically finishing each other's sentences running commentary."
Tenya pushed up his glasses calmly. "My plan was fairly simple, I don't think that it was worth that much praise," he said humbly.
"Simple, but effective," Shouto added from his spot in front of the screens. "Efficiency is better than complexity."
Tenya looked surprised for a moment by Todoroki's words, before finally nodding in acceptance. "Thank you," he said, smiling gratefully.
Ochako squirmed in between Izuku and I, hands outstretched. "Let me try on your helmet," she demanded, snatching it from Tenya's surprised hands. She popped it on her head, and crossed her arms. "I'm keeping this for my test!" she declared, wheeling around towards the door.
"I don't think you are allowed!" Tenya protested, trying vainly to retrieve his helmet as Izuku and I laughed in background.
Momo faced Kirishima and Ochako, face solemn. "Ectoplasm's quirk allows him to create nearly unlimited clones of himself," she began. "It is likely this will be a battle of attrition."
Kirishima held up his arm, skin rock hard. "I'm the stamina king!" he declared. "If you need to outlast him, count me in!"
"That is the problem," Momo said, shaking her head. "We cannot allow Ectoplasm to control the pace of this fight, or we will inevitably lose," she pointed at Ochako. "Ochako, please lower the gravity on Kirishima. I will attach weights to his ankles. Kirishima, when the time comes and we near the gate, I need you to be prepared to be sent flying," she ordered.
Ochako nodded, confident in her friend's abilities. "You got it!" she agreed, reaching forwards and lowering the effect of gravity on Kirishima easily.
The redhead's eyes widened as he felt his feet hover over the ground lightly. "Woah!" he gasped, arms wheeling in shock.
Momo crouched down, hands holding the weights she'd just created. "Here," she said, buckling them around Kirishima's ankles. He lowered back to the ground immediately. "Be ready to take them off," she cautioned.
Kirishima shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, before nodding. "You got it!" he confirmed, grinning at Momo toothily.
"Good," Momo said, meeting both her teammates eyes. "Kirishima, you will lead the way. Ochako, you must be ready to dispatch any opponents that get close enough to attack us," Momo held up her hands, and the skin of her palms shimmered for a moment, before pistols appeared. "I will eliminate the most I can long range."
Kirishima's jaw dropped. "Are those actual guns?!" he gaped, staring in shock at the (highly illegal) weapons.
"They are part of my quirk, and therefore legal," Momo offered in explanation.
Kirishima gave her a thumbs up. "Super manly!" he complimented, ignoring Momo's baffled expression.
Suddenly, the gates let out a loud chime, ending their conversation. "Test 6, start," Nezu's recording declared as the grounds opened. Momo slid behind Kirishima smoothly, gesturing for the redhead to move forward. Kirishima gulped, before leading the way forwards, Momo directly behind him and Ochako on their combined heels.
Their testing ground was a large metal facility, with a series of tunnels. Momo directed the group towards the north-most one silently, pointing the way. The team darted forwards in formation, continually scanning for any enemies.
They made it through the first tunnel, when Ectoplasm's first clone appeared. "Prepare your-" the clone began menacingly, only to be silenced by a loud shot. There was a pause, and then the clone collapsed into paste, bullet lodged through it's skull.
Momo scanned the room for more clones, not having hesitated at all. Kirishima exchanged a wide eyed look with Ochako, who only nodded knowingly in response. Momo had undergone some serious training with Gunhead during their apprenticeship.
The nearly invisible fog scattered throughout the model facility began popping out more clones within a moments notice, the various copies charging towards the group. Most of them were eliminated with loud bangs from Momo's pistols, vanishing into the air. Unfortunately, one managed to dodge a bullet, aiming a kick at the resident gun wielder. Kirishima blocked the blow immediately, arms hardening instinctively as he shoved the Pro Hero copy away. Before he could attack, however, Ochako was already slamming her foot in the clone's face, watching it poof into nothingness. Her expression was almost evil.
Kirishima shuddered. "Talk about manly," he muttered, stunned by abrupt show of merciless force.
"Move forward," Momo ordered, all business, and the team quickly started towards the next tunnel.
"She is vicious," I complimented, feeling impressed as Momo gunned down clone after clone. As soon as she ran out of bullets, she simply dropped her current gun and made a new one, not bothering to ever reload.
Tenya glanced at me surreptitiously. "You sound very… happy," he observed nervously.
"Of course I am!" I agreed excitedly. "I wish I could use guns like that! She's massacring them…" I crossed my arms huffily.
"Right…" Tenya agreed cautiously. He clearly hadn't been aware of my admiration for violence. "It is an incredible display of skill." I smiled sweetly in response, just to see Tenya suppress a shudder.
As they approached the final gate, Momo and Ochako battled determinedly to keep Ectoplasm's clones at bay. Kirishima had only had the chance to interact with a few, the girls' being extremely effective guards. Stepping out of the last tunnel and catching sight of the entrance gate, the group froze at the sight of the actual Pro Hero standing in the middle of the room.
"Good job getting past the others," Ectoplasm started, voice sounding almost robotic. "But what will you do against this?" he challenged, fog erupting around him, bubbling and growing until it formed a monstrously large version of the Pro Hero's head, mouth open and teeth bared.
Kirishima recoiled in shock, but Momo was already on the move. "Ochako, now!" she ordered, and the brunette dropped to the floor, shutting the gravity off on Kirishima entirely, including his new weights. A second later, Momo spun around and slammed her foot against Kirishima's back in a perfect roundhouse. Kirishima got sent shooting towards the exit gate at top speed, and also straight for the gigantic clone's mouth.
"WOOAAH!" Kirishima shouted, stunned by abrupt move to sacrifice him. Unfortunately, without gravity he was helpless to stop himself from rocketing forwards, speed unchanging. Just as he prepared to get himself swallowed, he felt something brush his side, and then a cannonball tore through the back of the giant clone's throat, creating an opening for him to fly through.
Kirishima crashed against the wall on the other side of the exit gate, and he heard Ochako shout something unintelligible right before he dropped to the ground. Kirishima took a deep breath, eyes wide in shock as Ectoplasm complimented the two girls on their counterattack. "Holy shit," he mumbled, before grinning with determination and holding up his clenched fist. "That was awesome!" he cheered, eyes shining.
"Team 6 passes," Principal Nezu echoed, ending the second to last exam.
Mailbox
xenocanaan: Thanks! And here it is :)
OTrizy: You're welcome :) And don't worry about it. I've heard many different things, but writing is a combination of effort and talent. I practiced a lot to even reach my current mediocre level, so if you really want to improve, you just need to dedicate your time to it!
Prince: I'm just imagining a pirate ship named the Shouchigo kidnapping people now XD I hope you managed to find the other website. Were you able to? And if you did, did you enjoy the special chapters? I've been considering posting some of them on this site as well, but I'm undecided.
GreenDrkness: I am Recovery Girl and Recovery Girl is me XD I don't have an experience myself, so I can't have an opinion on perversion. Although I have been told I'm oblivious, so...? And yeah, Kaminari and Sero just had serious wake up calls XD