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1 Point Faux Villain - Victory
2 Point Faux Villain - Imperial
3 Point Faux Villain - Venator
0 Point Faux Villain - Executor
If he's learnt anything whilst training with the orphans, it was that in a battle, victory only went to those with courage, and right now… Yosetsu was chock full of it.
That wasn't to say that he was unafraid of conflict, to say that would be to tell a bold face lie… but even so, Yosetsu much preferred facing off against these simple AI-ed machines than against another child kidnapper or, god forbid, Mikazuki once more. Their simple yet functional chassis made them easy to bring down, and yet although they proved to be a good enough challenge, their movements were so telegraphed and their tactics were so simple that Awase reckoned that Yamagi, who, barring the much younger members of Tekkadan, could defeat them, and that was saying a lot!
Case in point, a Victory class bot was rolling up to him on its one wheel, and upon getting up close and personal with him, it raised its arm unit back and attempted to strike at Yosetsu. In response to this, the Welder simply dodged to one side and swung his arm down onto the exposed joint of the mech. Awase had long since Welded a few chunks of scrap metal onto his forearm, with him using the sturdiest scrap he could find to do so, turning the welded-on metal into a deadly makeshift weapon, and its sharpened, if somewhat jagged edge, combined with Yosetsu's natural strength, allowed him to slice the Victory's arm unit off at the elbow with minimal issue.
Recoiling in simulated pain, the Victory bot attempted to swing its other arm unit at Yosetsu, who ducked under that poorly timed attack and swung his makeshift arm blades at the machine's waist. The relatively thin part of the machine, held together by a series of pistons and joints, fared poorly against the powerful slash from Awase, and upon swinging his makeshift weapon at it, the Victory bot was sliced in half, causing it to fall to the ground. The machine writhed on the ground for a few seconds before Awase jumped up and swung his makeshift arm blade at its elongated neck, with the jagged edge of his weapon shifting between the armour plates and beheading the machine in an instant.
Almost immediately thereafter, Yosetsu ducked under a swing from behind, and without pause, he spun around on his heel and brought his arms up in a defensive stance, just in time to block another punch from another Victory class bot. Though relatively weak, these things still hit decently hard, and Awase had to dig his heels in to stop himself from being sent to the ground, with him thanking his physical training with Chryse all the while, though he quickly dismissed that thought when he saw the Victory bot rearing up for another punch, prompting him to jump back before it could send its other arm at him.
Whilst the machine took a moment to recover, Yosetsu did so almost immediately as he planted one of his feet back down onto the ground within a moments notice, and without pause, he jumped back towards the Victory bot and swung his other leg up at it in a high, arcing kick that would've (probably) made even Miruko proud. On impact, the titanium shin-braces wrapped around his legs folded the aluminum chassis of the Victory bot something fierce, causing it to roll backwards on its one wheeled leg before coming to an awkward stop a few metres away from Awase.
"ACCURSED HERO, YOU WILL PA-"
And it didn't even have the luxury of finishing that statement as, mere seconds later, the Victory bot's chassis suddenly locked up as its limbs flailed about wildly, and moments later, a spinning fist emerged from its chest, with it holding onto the mech's power core, only to retract back into it as its owner ripped their arm out from the Faux Villain's back, causing it to fall to the ground in an instant.
(No one in the observation booth commented on how Power Loader let out a wailing scream at the sight of such a gruesome display by Examinee 1568)
As the Victory bot fell, the Spiral user turned and threw the power core of the mech at another Faux Villain's head, causing it to fall backwards in an instant, and as he did this, Yosetsu stepped back towards him with a smile, impressed by his compatriot's abilities.
"Not bad," complemented Yosetsu with a grin, to which the dull yet pumped up boy hummed. His lips twitched upwards a tad at the complement, though he otherwise remained neutral.
"You're not too shabby yourself. Your name?" asked the boy, to which Yosetsu chuckled.
"Awase. Awase Yosetsu."
"Kaibara. Kaibara Sen."
And with their introductions complete, the two dodged in opposite directions as a Venator class bot came at them both, with it attempting to run them both down with its massive frame. It had missed them completely, prompting it to turn around and make an attempt to run them over once more, though right as it had turned around, both Awase and Kaibara had recovered from their respective dodges and were already upon it, with the former swinging his armoured leg towards one side of the machine's head unit whilst the latter sent a spinning fist towards the other, and on impact, they mangled the machine's head unit beyond repair, causing it to go limp in an instant.
"... who do you think gets the point?" asked Sen curiously as he retracted his fist, to which Yosetsu shrugged, though not long after, the duo had to pause when they heard a nearby explosion, prompting them to turn around… just in time to see an Imperial bot running away from something be blown to smithereens. Gasping as a the smell of melted metal, smoke and nitroglycerin invaded their nostrils, both Awase and Kaibara raised their arms up to shield their eyes from the inbound blast, with Yosetsu shielding his eyes with his makeshift arm weapons/shields, and after a few moments, the smoke around them settled, allowing them to see the slagged remains of the Imperial bot.
"Jeez.." muttered Yosetsu as he glanced up to see the culprit behind this; that vaguely familiar blonde guy with spiked hair and a fierce expression. His hands smoked with the stench of scorched bananas, and his sweat fell from his body in disgustingly thick globs, though he didn't seem to care much about this as he ducked under a strike from a Venator and began pummeling into its side.
"DIE! DIE! DIE!" chanted the pomeranian, with each punch going in sync with his words, and his last strike had blown a hole on top of the machine, obliterating it, before he punched it one last time with an explosive haymaker, sending it soaring towards another Faux Villain, a Victory bot, colliding the two with one another. Both Yosetsu and Sen had to do a double take at this, with them staring at one another in disbelief all the while. That guy… didn't seem all that heroic, but that didn't really matter to either as they quickly snapped out of it and grimaced.
"Kh, c'mon, we need to find more bots to smash! We've only got, like, four minutes left!" stated Yosetsu, with him motioning for him and Sen to get a move on, eliciting a confused blink from the Spiral user as he followed him on instinct.
"How do you know?" inquired Sen, to which Yosetsu grinned and tapped the side of his head.
"I picked up a thing or two from some of my trainers."
In all honesty, Shihai should've seen this coming.
With a Quirk as strange as his, the boy wouldn't have been able to do much against these machines, but even so… he had expected the U.A Entrance Exam to be less about brute strength and more on helping others… and so, he had come woefully unprepared.
The ability to slink into the shadows was a useful one, but when the field he fought in was laced in nothing but sunlight and explosions, Kuroiro couldn't make use of his Meta-Ability all too well, and his physical strength was… laughable to say the least, meaning that he was unable to do anything more than act as a bystander for a good majority of the exam.
That wasn't to say that he was useless, of course. From time to time, Kuroiro was able to bring a machine down, typically via blind, dumb luck. Through careful observation and methodical patience, the Shadow Walker was able to piece together how the Faux Villains, primarily the 1 and 2 pointers, all possessed weak points in their armour that he could exploit. 3 pointers had no such weakness, so he actively avoided confronting them.
It had taken him all of four minutes… but by then, he had his first confirmed point; an Imperial class bot that had chased him into a darkened alleyway. A foolish mistake in hindsight, really, as, upon turning into it, Shihai disappeared, confusing the machine as it squeezed in after him, and once it was in, Kuroiro reappeared from the shadows above it and landed atop its back, with him worming his hand into the gap between the Imperial's neck and body and grabbing onto the wires within. With a powerful yank, by his standards at least, the Shadow Walker ripped the wires out, causing the mech to short circuit before it went limp, and upon doing so, Shihai grinned to himself.
He had found his plan of attack.
Over the course of the next two-or-so minutes, Kuroiro was able to disable a few more Faux Villains, with him using the same tactic repeatedly, though he wasn't always successful, nor did he rely too much on darkened alleyways to initiate his attack. At one point, he had disappeared into the shadows of a building that the sun didn't shine down on and used it to launch himself skywards, allowing him to land atop another Imperial class bot and dispatch it in the same manner as the first. The examinee he had saved from it had thanked him before running along, much to his delight.
Unexpectedly, to him anyways, Kuroiro had ended up saving other examinees from the mechanical menaces more than he had fought them, and in many cases he himself had to be saved from them. Say what you want about his less than ideal-for-combat Quirk, but being able to pop out of the shadows in a very literal way was very useful in rescue work, and he had already lost count of just how many people he had tackled out of the way of Faux Villain attacks whilst he ran around, looking for an opportunity to strike.
Narrowing his eyes a little, Shihai took stock of a nearby brawl with several combatants present, prompting him to slink into the shadows once more as he moved towards the fight. As he did so, he slithered up the side of a building's dark spot and peered out into the chaos below, only to frown when he saw that it was a 13 against 2 situation going on down below, and against most odds… the 2 were winning. One with Spinning fists and another with makeshift weapons tacked onto his arms… not bad.
A small part of Shihai had considered jumping in to assist, but even so, he was quick to reconsider when he acknowledged just how many bots there were around there. If he took one down, another was bound to notice, and in these sunny conditions, he wouldn't be able to retreat effectively. Better to let those two mop up their points than to risk his own neck in a battle his fellow examinees were clearly winning.
"DIE!"
"...?!"
Right as Kuroiro was about to retreat, however, the black skinned boy widened his eyes when he heard an inbound boom, and moments later, he turned to see a blonde pomeranian burst onto the scene in a very literal way, pinning a Venator down and pummeling it with a series of explosive punches. Shihai flinched a little as his Quirk made him somewhat wary of strong light sources, though he could at least respect the strength behind the punches as he observed all this for the briefest of moments.
His brief stint as an observer was quickly brought to an end, however, when Kuroiro noticed how the blonde had turned towards the crowd of Faux Villains that were surrounding the two boys from before. Shihai watched as his focused grimace became a deathly sneer as he held a hand up towards the small crowd, seemingly not noticing the two at the center of the crowd, as a few smaller explosions began building up in his outstretched palms, and although he never claimed to be the smartest person ever, the Shadow Walker found himself realizing what the pomeranian intended on doing…
… and before he could even stop himself, Shihai shifted his body back into the shadows and slid down the side of the building he had latched himself on, and moments later, he moved to the center of the crowd of Faux Villains. Right as he was about ten metres away from them, the blonde let off a massive blast from his hand, sending a massive blast careening towards the crowd of robots and the two boys fighting at the center of the crowd, and when he saw it careening towards them, the Shadow Walker picked up his pace and moved faster through the shadows.
One of the two boys, a nondescript kid with spinning fists, took notice of the inbound projectile and dodged to one side, with him yelling for his acquaintance to do the same all the while, though he was just a little too late on that account as his voice had only caused the vaguely familiar guy wearing a headband to turn… and widen his eyes as he froze like a deer in the headlights when he saw the inbound projectile.
By all means, the headband wearing kid would've been hit by the projectile had Kuroiro not jumped out of the shadows in the nick of time and slam into him, sending the two careening to one side as the fiery projectile just barely missed the two of them. Kuroiro felt some of his hair getting singed by the close proximity as the kid he just saved fell onto his back, with him falling atop him moments later, and though they had evaded the blast, they weren't out of the danger zone just yet.
The blast itself was incredibly powerful, with it melting through the Faux Villains as it passed them, but it had also hit the side of a building not too far from them, and on impact, the structure shook as the vibrations broke off several large chunks of concrete from its side. The guy with the spinning fists managed to dodge out of the danger zone as he scrambled out of there, but as for Shihai and the headband wearing kid, they were unable to do so as the former was unable to get off him fast enough, and just as their luck would have it, a sizable chunk of debris was falling towards them!
"FUCK!" yelled the headband wearing kid as he panicked and tried to get up to his feet, though he was unable to do so as he remained pinned under the Shadow Walker, whose limbs refused to move as he remained paralyzed in panic.
And yet… as luck would have it, before the chunk of debris could come close enough to land on them, it stopped mid-fall… and if they were more focused on it, the boys could see that there was a faint aura of purple, though right as the headband wearing kid took note of it, the debris was moved to one side telepathically before it was set down onto the ground a few metres away from them.
"Gh…!"
As soon as it hit the ground, the three boys heard a mild grunt of exertion, prompting them to turn and spot the one that had saved two of their numbers; a pale skinned girl with light-grey hair covering her left eye wearing average looking sportswear. Her face was beet red as she knelt down to catch her breath, though as she did so, she did glance up at the two to ask about their wellbeing.
"You two… are well, yes?" asked the ghostly girl as Shihai awkwardly got off the headband boy, with him nodding all the while.
"Yeah, thanks to you, of course," responded Kuroiro, eliciting a simple nod from the ghostly girl as she wiped the sweat off her brow and shook her head to regather her bearings. As she did so, Shihai glanced down at the headband-wearing boy and offered him a hand, one that he readily accepted as he allowed himself to be pulled up to his feet. "And you… you… hey, didn't we meet back at the entrance?"
"We did…?" hummed the headband wearing kid as he gave Kuroiro a quick once over, and when he was done… he blinked in recognition. "You're Kuroiro-Kun…!"
"And you're Awase-Kun. It seems as though I was correct to have considered you an ally back then," smiled Kuroiro, with him grinning as he released Yosetsu's hand. As he said this, the Spiral fisted boy got up and moved to check on the still recovering ghost girl, eliciting a worried look from both Shihai and Yosetsu as they moved to assist.
"Are you alright…?" asked Yosetsu as he crouched by the girl. Shihai remained at a respectable distance as he didn't wish to overcrowd the recovering girl, though thankfully enough, she was able to get back up to her feet, albeit somewhat wobbly, as she nodded. Glancing up between Awase and the boy with the spinning fists, she sighed and bowed her head, seeming grateful towards their worry.
"Yes, I am quite alright. I simply overexerted both my body and my Quirk. Rest assured, this is not the first time it has happened, and I highly doubt that it will be the last," assured the ghostly girl as she took in a deep breath and shook her head.
"Hmph. Thanks for the assist, by the way, Awase-Kun would've been blown to bits if you didn't intervene," thanked the kid with the spinning fists, with him gesturing towards Shihai as he spoke. Thereafter, he turned back towards the still unsteady girl and bowed his head. "And thank you for stopping them from becoming a stain on the ground as well."
"Think nothing of it. A Hero should strive to protect others, and I was simply acting in line with the situation," stated the girl humbly, eliciting a smile from the bland looking boy as he opened his mouth to say something, though before he could do so…
"Yanagi-Kun… what are you-" came a new, albeit somewhat familiar sounding to two of the four gathered kids, voice, prompting everyone to turn towards it and spot a bob-haired girl running at them. Yosetsu and his Spiral fisted acquaintance both widened their eyes in recognition whilst Kuroiro appeared more confused than anything, and likewise, the inbound girl seemed somewhat taken aback as well, as she had cut herself off before finishing her sentence, though not long after, she shook her head and simply jogged towards the ghostly girl, Yanagi, as quickly as she possibly could.
"You… you're that girl, the one that can change the size of things!" recalled Yosetsu, with him speaking as the newly arrived girl stopped in front of them, and when she did, she simply gave him a neutral nod of her head, though not long after, the newly formed group of five had to cut their little meeting short when they heard several and saw several Faux Villains closing in on them.
"Yeah, that's me," hummed the bob-haired girl as she began to move, with her using her Quirk to shrink several objects down to the size of her palm. The boys watched on curiously as she shrunk anything she could get her hands on; debris, chunks of metal, if she could touch it, she would shrink it, and once she was done, she turned towards Yanagi and nodded at her. "I'm Kodai. Kodai Yui."
"Yanagi. Yanagi Reiko," added the ghostly girl, Yanagi Reiko, as she activated her Quirk, in turn levitating all the objects that Kodai Yui had shrunken down all the while. Thereafter, she made use of her Quirk to fling the shrunken down objects towards the inbound Faux Villains, and before they made contact with them, Yui deactivated the effects of her Quirk by pressing her fingers together, and when that happened, all the thrown objects returned to their original size, devastating the opposition and granting both herself and Reiko a solid chunk of points in the process.
"... damn," muttered the Spiral fisted boy as he watched how easily the girls had managed to total the opposition, though before he could say much else, a few more Faux Villains rushed out from behind the debris. It seemed as though the combination attack between Yui and Reiko hadn't destroyed all of them, and with that in mind, Awase and his pal stepped forwards to spearhead another attack. "Think you can cook up another one of those attacks again?"
"No… it takes time to prepare. You'll have to give us a while…" answered Kodai, with her shrinking a chunk of debris down to the size of her palm as she spoke, and at that, Yosetsu grimaced as he nodded in acknowledgement.
"Alright then… we'll cover you two! Kaibara-Kun and I will keep the Faux Villains at bay and buy you guys some time to attack again!" offered Yosetsu, with him holding his arm blades up to show that he was, well, armed. Kaibara Sen mirrored the gesture by making one of his fists spin like a drill, and to that, the girls nodded, though Reiko did step forwards, with her levitating several small chunks of debris and metal with her Quirk all the while.
"I will provide support from the rear," said Reiko, with her swinging her arm out towards the inbound Villain bots in a wide arc, and as she did so, she threw the debris at a Victory bot, tearing it apart with scrap metal in an instant. Yosetsu found himself grinning a little at this while Sen blinked in surprise, though neither said anything as they turned towards Yanagi and nodded…
… and as for Kuroiro…
"Kuroiro-Kun, do you think you can help out too?" asked Yosetsu, catching the Shadow Walker off guard as he recoiled at the inquiry.
"Perhaps I could… though I won't be of much use-"
"Everyone has a purpose, Kuroiro-Kun! It doesn't matter if your Quirk's weak or whatever! After all, a real Hero will persevere, regardless of the situation, and we're all here to become a Hero, aren't we?"
And with those words uttered, Kuroiro blinked in surprise as he felt something well up in his chest. It was… unfamiliar to him, and he needed a moment or two to fully process it, though not long after, he could only blink in surprise as he watched Yosetsu make use of his makeshift arm weapons to block a hit sent at him by a Venator class bot. The side of the Venator's fist scraped against the metal of Awase's makeshift arm weapon as the Welder exploited this to get closer to the machine's head, and once he was close enough to it, he used his other arm mounted blade/shield to slash at the Venator's head, beheading it in an instant.
At the same time, Sen ducked under a strike from a Victory class bot and sent a drill punch straight at its waist. The metal bent and folded beneath his fist as he tore a hole in its waist, and moments later, he ripped his arm out, pulling out a fistful of wires in the process. Upon doing so, the Victory class bot went haywire as it began to zip around the battlefield in an uncontrollable manner, though before it could (unintentionally) injure anyone of importance, Reiko made use of her Quirk to levitate it before, with no small amount of exertion, she telepathically tore it in half, destroying it in the process.
'They're all so strong, one way or another… there's no way for me to compare…' thought Shihai, with him frowning as he felt a pit of hopelessness form within him, though not long after… he found himself realizing that the Faux Villains had all done something rather… unexpected. Their AI systems were simplistic, incredibly so, and as such, they all shared some form of hive mentality. Attack the ones that were giving them the most problems… kill the strongest and work their way down from there, even if they were massively outmatched… and thanks to this pre-programed flaw… they had dismissed Kuroiro almost entirely.
And when he realized this, the Shadow Walker found his frown turning into a grin when he realized that he might have a way to help out after all…
For all it was worth, Reiko, Yosetsu and Sen made for an incredibly competent team.
Awase and Kaibara were deceptively strong in spite of their age, with the former moving with much more agility than his somewhat slender frame would imply, and the latter, whilst not as reactive as his compatriot, was more than strong enough to compensate for his slower reaction speed. And, with Yanagi bringing up the rear with her Poltergeist abilities, the group was practically untouchable as they defended Kodai from the inbound mechs.
That was the issue, however… they could only defend her from one side, and although they were holding their own, it didn't take long for the Faux Villains to come at them from multiple angles, starting from behind, where Yui took note of three Faux Villains rolling at them at maximum speed. Glancing behind herself, the girl saw that her three compatriots were still holding back a sizable amount of Faux Villains, prompting her to sigh as she reached behind herself and grabbed onto the shrunken objects she had in her back pockets. She was meant to save these for a combined assault with Reiko, but she supposed that was out of the question now.
With a powerful forward-swing of her arms, Yui flung the shrunken objects out towards the inbound mechs, and as they were in flight, she tapped her fingers together, causing them to swiftly revert back to their original size and mass. Upon doing so, the various objects smashed into the inbound mecha, destroying them in an instant.
"Hmph…" hummed Yui, with her taking some satisfaction in obliterating these machines, though she didn't get to feel too satisfied with herself as, moments after, she was forced to dodge backwards as a Venator bot, one that was hit by her initial barrage but still survived it despite the loss of its right arm unit, lashed out at her from the dust with its one remaining arm. Kodai grimaced as she flipped backwards, with her expertly landing upside down on one hand and pushing herself back up to her feet, with her glaring up at the damaged Venator all the while.
Launching two strikes at her, the damaged Venator attempted to crush Kodai beneath its manipulator, though it didn't get too far as Yui was able to read its movements decently well, and after it tried a third time, Yui had managed to scuttle backwards and place her hand against a sizable chunk of debris almost as large as she was, which she shrunk down to the size of a pebble and held tightly in her hand. Thereafter, she dodged one last punch before she ran forwards and jumped onto the mech's back, using its recovery time to her advantage all the while. The Venator had attempted to pry her off its back, though Kodai managed to stay out of its reach as she glanced down at its chassis.
Good… her initial barrage had opened a few sizable holes in its chassis, key of which being one not too far from where its neck was. Without pause, she dropped the shrunken piece of debris down into the opening before jumping off its back, and upon landing in a kneeling position in front of it, Kodai pressed her fingers together, reverting the debris back to its usual size, and upon doing so, it exploded out of the Venator bot, destroying it from the inside out.
For her part, Yui didn't even acknowledge how the lubricant and mechanisms of the Venator had flown past or onto her as she sighed and stood up, frowning all the while. She didn't exactly show it… but she was, admittedly, having a blast right now. It was always nice to get the adrenaline pumping through her veins, and it was a sensation that she so rarely got to feel…
"INCOMING!"
… though that feeling was quick to dissipate, however, when she heard Yosetsu yelling out at her from the side, and at the same time, she turned to see a Victory class bot rolling towards her with an arm unit raised. Kodai didn't even get a chance to acknowledge its approach as she stood frozen in surprise, though thankfully enough, before it could get into combat range, something, or rather someone appeared on its back, and without pause, they wormed their fingers into the inner workings of the Faux Villain's back and grabbed onto a handful of wires.
It took Kodai a fraction of a second to realize that this person was none other than Kuroiro Shihai, and by the time she had noticed him, the Shadow Walker had already gone to work, with him leaning to one side as he pulled on the internal mechanisms of the Victory bot. As he did so, and as the aforementioned bot attempted to pull him off its back, the two were sent rolling to one side as the mech's equilibrium was thrown off kilter. This had the upside of Kuroiro saving Kodai from being struck down by the Faux Villain, but at the same time, he was sent on a wild ride alongside the Victory bot as the bob haired girl stared on in bemusement.
Yosetsu, who had watched all this happen at a distance, could only gasp in shock when he realized that Kuroiro, who didn't seem capable of controlling the Victory, beyond unintentionally pointing it in a specific direction to roll to, barreling towards both him and Sen at mach speeds. Without thinking, he moved and tackled Kaibara to one side, in turn pushing him onto his back, right as Shihai and the Faux Villain he had commandeered came barreling past them, and as it passed them, the Shadow Walker had enough sense to jump off the machine's back before it crashed into a group of Faux Villains, demolishing them like a bowling ball would a stack of pins.
Shihai had expected his fall to hurt, though he was surprised to feel a sense of weightlessness as he was slowly brought back to the ground, and upon being set down on his rear, the boy turned to see Reiko sitting down, breathing hard as she shook her head, seeming amused by the Shadow Walker's tactics all the while.
"It seems as though we have found your speciality, Kuroiro-Kun," smiled Reiko as she took a moment to recuperate, eliciting a faint blush from Shihai as he nodded in acknowledgement, and at the same time, both Sen and Yosetsu took a moment to scan their surroundings to make sure that they wouldn't be snuck up on any time soon, and once they confirmed this, the duo promptly collapsed onto their rears, with the former dropping down onto his backside while the latter fell to one knee, in exhaustion. Although they had been full of energy minutes prior, the constant fighting had taken its toll on them, and now that they weren't in any immediate danger, the adrenaline rush began to rear off, causing their fatigue to slowly set in.
"Fuck…" grumbled Yosetsu, with him unconsciously unwelding his makeshift arm weapons/shields from his forearms, causing them to fall to the ground with twin, unceremonious clangs, as he leaned back and dropped down onto his rear as well. With a frown, he wiped a layer of sweat off his forehead before bringing his arm behind him to prop his body up, and as he swore, Yui snorted whilst Sen rolled his eyes.
In the distance, the sound of combat could most certainly be heard, with explosions, yelling and roaring audible in the background. Despite this, however, the small group of five couldn't be asked to continue on, as their fatigue from fighting non-stop had begun settling in by now. From her spot, Reiko glanced between the individual members of their little band with a neutral look on her face, and after a few moments of consideration…
"Sixty-three."
… she spoke up. Her sudden bout of words had caught the attention of everyone present, all of whom glanced over at her with expressions of confusion. In response to their confused looks, the ghostly girl huffed and leaned back a little, propping her body up on her arms as she elaborated.
"I got sixty-three points," stated Reiko, sounding more obvious as she spoke, and at that, Yosetsu whistled.
"Damn. I think I've got like… sixty-two," smiled Yosetsu, impressed as he leaned forwards, bringing a leg up to rest his arm atop as he spoke.
"Sixty-six here," added Sen, seeming somewhat satisfied that he got a higher score than Awase all the while. Yosetsu took note of that vaguely smug look on his face as he rolled his eyes in bemusement, though he didn't let it remain for long as he glanced over at Yui, who shrugged.
"Forty-two," hummed Yui, who didn't seem too enthusiastic about her lack of score, though she didn't voice that out as she turned her attention over to Shihai, who winced as everyone followed her in doing just that.
"... twenty-one," muttered Kuroiro meekly as he slouched his shoulders in a somewhat defeated manner. The amount of points he had obtained had really put a damper on things, as, even when compared to Yui, the Shadow Walker was really lagging behind, and if Yosetsu had remembered correctly, they had less than two minutes to recuperate and get out there to get his points up… something that seemed close to impossible at this point.
"... let's go. We should find some machines for you to destroy, Kuroiro-Kun," said Reiko, with her standing up as she spoke. At that, Shihai blinked a little as he watched Yosetsu and Sen stand up as well, with Yui following soon thereafter.
"I… I'm sorry, what?" muttered Kuroiro as he glanced up at Yosetsu, who had offered him a hand to help him back up to his feet. He was hesitant at first, though he took it and was immediately taken off guard when Awase pulled him onto his feet, surprising him with his strength. "Gah! You guys… don't have to do that, you know? It feels like cheating if you do, and that's if we can even find any of those machines in the vicinity before our time's up!"
"Perhaps… but still, it's honestly the least I could do for saving my ass back there," stated Yosetsu, with Sen remaining silent as he had nothing to add on. Yui hummed a little in agreement, with her agreeing on the fact that she too owed Shihah quite a bit for saving her skin not too long ago as well, and although Reiko seemed somewhat disinterested as well, the pale ghost girl still nodded in agreement as well. "And besides, Heroes are meant to help others, aren't we? We're meddlers! We meddle in other people's business."
"Even if they sometimes didn't ask for it," hummed Sen, with him resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he recalled how he had met Yosetsu and Yui just a few minutes prior. Awase himself had the courtesy of appearing mildly sheepish as he looked away whilst grinning awkwardly, though Kodai did no such thing as she maintained her neutral gaze. "By the by, Kodai-Kun… where did you disappear to, anyways? You kinda just helped us for a bit before vanishing…"
"You and Awase-Kun were handling the situation well enough. I didn't need to stay behind," stated Yui, with her frowning as she spoke. Yosetsu couldn't help but get the impression that she didn't think she was welcomed to help them out, but even so, he didn't let that thought out as he exhaled sharply and shook his head.
"Well, that probably doesn't matter, not now, anyways. We've got like, a minute left, so we should-"
And before he could even finish that statement, the Welder was cut off when he, alongside everyone else in Battle Site F, felt the ground beneath them shudder momentarily… and seconds later, the ground shook with the force of a tidal wave as the five examinees present were all thrown off their feet. Yui, Yosetsu and Sen all managed to land in crouched positions while Reiko and Shihai landed on their rears, though that didn't really mean much in the long run, as they were quick to recover and get up in an instant.
"What the fuck was that?!" proclaimed Yosetsu, with him grimacing as he turned towards the source of the rumbling, which happened to be at the center of the Battle Site, and when he did, he, alongside the rest of his compatriots, all widened their eyes when they saw a titanic cloud of dust and smoke rising skywards, with it rising higher than the walls surrounding the battle site with relative ease, and within moments, the cloud was dispelled when a massive figure walked out of it, and just the sight of it alone was enough to make the team pale.
"...Executor…" muttered Yui, shocked beyond words as she watched the aforementioned Faux Villain, an Executor class Zero Pointer, walk out of the cloud of dust. Its beady green optics scanned the ground ahead of it silently as it slowly advanced forwards, leaving so many of them stunned beyond words all the while. Shihai felt his knees quivering as he nearly loss his balance, and his only source of comfort at the moment was the fact that the Executor wasn't comin towards them. Its current course seemed to be towards the southern end of the Battle Site, which just so happened to be where the gates were located at, and currently, the small group of five were located at the western quadron.
"What a monster… I do not think it is wise for us to take it on," stated Reiko, with her voice breaking a tiny bit as she felt a small sense of fear making its way into her system. Sen readily agreed to that as he nodded in affirmation, and whilst Yosetsu was equally as intimidated by its presence… the Welder's fears were quickly replaced with terror when he heard several screams echo from where the Executor was located at.
And without even thinking it through, Yosetsu Awase began to run.
"HEY!" proclaimed Shihai, with him gasping as he watched Yosetsu make a beeline for the Executor's general location, eliciting a bewildered gasp from Sen and Yui whilst Reiko simply raised her brows in surprise. "WHAT'S HE DOING?!"
"... being an idiot, perhaps," hummed Sen, with him, begrudgingly, finding some respect in Yosetsu's apparent willingness to put his life on the line as he watched him charge onwards, and just seeing him do something so reckless… well, it made him feel like doing the same as well, as he dug his heels into the ground and willed himself to stay in place…
He didn't get far, as, exhaling sharply in annoyance, Kodai Yui bolted forwards, chasing after Awase Yosetsu with little to no hesitation whatsoever.
"Or perhaps, he is being just a Hero," offered Yui, with her darting forwards mere moments after saying this, and at that, Reiko ran after her as well, leaving Shihai and Sen behind in the chaos. Kuroiro didn't seem too keen on following him as he gulped, knowing that, despite his wishes to become a Hero, he wasn't sure if getting into U.A was worth this level of risk, though after Kaibara groaned to himself and darted forwards, the poor Shadow Walker, in spite of his fears, felt compelled to chase after him out of a misplaced sense of obligation.
He just hoped that nothing bad happened…
This was a bad idea… but even so, Yosetsu didn't regret his decision.
Well, not entirely, at least.
Typically, one would be running away from trouble, and right now, every bone in Awase's body was telling him to do just that. But that was the problem with the mind and the heart. The mind might tell you to do one thing, but if the heart does not agree with it… well, then there would be more than a few complications, and right now, Yosetsu's complication involved him running directly towards the path of the Executor bot before coming to a dead stop when he was in front of it.
Just staring up at it told Yosetsu that he wouldn't be able to beat it. He didn't have any form of strength enhancer built into his Quirk, and likewise, he doubted that he could get close enough to weld it to the ground without running the risk of being crushed, and as such, the Welder did what he thought was right… and he began looking around for any and all injured examinees. His eyes were quick to zero in on a single person, a blonde kid with a black streak in his hair, much like a thunderbolt, trapped under a few chunks of debris, and upon seeing him, Awase began sprinting towards his general direction.
Narrowing his eyes, the Welder saw that the Executor was just about thirty metres away from reaching the guy, and based on how slow it was, he predicted that it would need a full minute before it could reach the pinned boy, but even so, considering how the act of simply moving forwards was causing chaos all around it, Awase knew that to leave the boy there would be a bad move.
And so, with a grimace, the Welder charged on, holding his arm up to shield his eyes from the smoke and dust kicked up as the Executor rolled forwards on its threaded legs, and within moments, he found himself sliding to a halt in front of the pinned examinee. Crouching down, he grabbed onto either end of the chunk of debris stuck atop him and began to lift it, hoisting it up with his legs with all his might. His physical training with Akihiro Atland had really paid off now, as he was able to hoist the chunk of debris up a fair amount with nothing more than the strength of his body… but even so, he was quick to falter when he heard a sudden BOOM come from behind him, and moments later, a shadow loomed over him, prompting him to instinctively glance up…
… and widened his eyes when he saw a massive chunk of debris dropping down towards him!
"FUCK!" proclaimed Yosetsu as he shoved the debris off the blonde/black haired boy's body and grabbed onto his arm. He would've tried to be gentler with him, but the situation entailed a fast retreat, and without thinking, he began to pull the kid alongside him in a hurry. In his haste, however, Yosetsu ended up tripping over one of the many smaller chunks of debris that littered the battlefield, prompting him and the kid he was hauling out of the battlefield to fall forwards onto their stomachs, and at that, Awase reckoned that this was it for him…
… or at least, it would've been, had it not been for the sudden arrival of his team, all of whom rushed at him at top speed. Whilst Sen was the first to reach Yosetsu, however, Reiko was the first to act, as she came to a quick halt and used her Quirk to halt the rock mid-drop. Her face scrunched up with overexertion as she forced herself to keep the massive chunk of debris afloat, though she remained strong as she threw it off to one side, effectively saving Awase and the blonde all the while.
Moments later, the shadowed ground beside Yosetsu shuddered, and in an instant, Shihai emerged from the shadows and moved to help the Welder up. Awase was grateful for his assistance, and before long, he and Kuroiro were holding the injured blonde up, with each of them holding onto one of his arms whilst they dragged him to safety. Awase had enough foresight to Weld his palm into the forearm of the blonde to keep him from slipping off him. Whilst this happened, however, Yui and Sen came to a halt in front of the massive Executor bot, with the two frowning all the while.
"We should try and slow it down," muttered Yui seriously as she glared up at the Zero Pointer, which rolled onwards without a care in the world, and in response to this, Sen turned to her with a confused expression on his face.
"How would we do that?!" asked Kaibara, only to be silenced when a series of explosions could be heard from above them. Turning towards the source, Reiko, Yui and Sen all flinched when they saw a blonde pomeranian, one incredibly familiar to the Gyrating boy, atop a building, blasting the Executor with explosive shots that did little to damage its heavy armour, though the Executor seemed to notice him because of this, and as such, it swung its arm towards where he stood, destroying part of the building he stood on all the while.
Chunks of debris came falling down once more, and Reiko stopped several of them mid-fall before they could drop onto Awase, Kuroiro and the blonde they were dragging to safety, and upon doing so, she dropped them in front of herself with a groan. As she did so, however, Sen got an idea, and with that, he turned towards Yui with a determined look on his face.
"Kodai-Kun! Do you know how a Shotgun works?" asked Sen as he rushed towards the closest chunk of debris, where he used his Quirk to break into it. His knuckles spun wildly before he slammed his fist into the debris, breaking it apart and causing it to fall into various smaller yet still sizable chunks all the while. Whilst he did this, Yui raised her brows, though she ended up nodding when he turned towards her. "Alright… Yanagi-Kun!"
"Hm?" hummed Reiko, with her flinching as she used her Quirk to push some falling chunks of debris away. Her ability to lift them up manually had been hindered by the overuse of her Quirk, and now, she was resorting to simply using it to telekinetically push the falling hazards away, shoving them in front of the encroaching Executor in the hopes of slowing it down or even damaging it. It did neither of those things, however, as her telekinetic shoves weren't strong enough to launch the debris with that much strength, and the chunks that blocked its path were quickly crushed beneath its treads.
"Can you still use your Quirk to throw things?" asked Sen, with him grabbing onto the broken chunks of debris and sliding them to Yui, who grabbed onto them and began to shrink them down. She got to about five before Reiko shook her head.
"... no. I believe I am at my limit, Kaibara-Kun. I apologise…" muttered Reiko sadly as she slouched her shoulders, and at that, Sen grimaced in dismay, with him acknowledging how instrumental Yanagi was for his plan, though before he could say anything else, Yui spoke up, with her not even turning towards the ghostly girl as she did so.
"Then go beyond your limits, Yanagi-Kun. We're training to be Heroes, aren't we? We're here to go Plus Ultra," hummed Yui, with her breathing in deeply as she felt the effects of her Quirk taking its toll on her. Overuse of her Quirk was causing her head to spin as she wobbled a little on her feet, though she remained strong as she turned to stare at Reiko. "Go beyond or go home, Yanagi-Kun. If you don't have the drive to improve, then you don't deserve to be here."
If he were to be honest, Sen had found Yui's words to be just a little too cold for his liking, and by all means, they seemed to strike a cord with Reiko as she flinched at her words. But even so… after a few moments of silence, and after Kodai had shrunken down several dozen chunks of debris, the ghostly girl stood up, fists balled tightly as she spoke.
"... what do you need me to throw, Kodai-Kun, Kaibara-Kun?" asked Yanagi seriously as she stood up, and at that, the former motioned towards the latter, who smiled apologetically as he responded.
"Well, are you aware of how a shotgun works, Yanagi-Kun?"
And in response to that, Reiko's eyes simply widened as she realized what the Gyrator was getting at.
"Wheeeeeeey~"
"I don't know what you're saying, but I'll just go with it for now!"
That was all Yosetsu could really say at that point as he and Shihai dragged the seemingly unconscious blonde boy off to safety. Said boy was acting strangely, in that he wasn't fully unconscious. Rather, he seemed somewhat aware of his surroundings, and by all means, he could act of his own accord, but his muscles were all limp, making it difficult to actually move him properly.
Awase himself also noted how the blonde's body seemed to be generating no small amount of static shock, something that made both his and Kuroiro's hair stand on end… not that it made a difference, as their hair was always on end anyhow, though it was annoying to feel the static shock going through their systems.
"Heavier than he looks!" rumbled Shihai as he dragged the boy onwards, ignoring his incoherent babbling all the while, and as he did so, Yosetsu huffed and picked up the pace. At this point, he was dragging both the blonde and Kuroiro behind him as he ran!
"He's not that heavy, now c'mon!" yelled Yosetsu, with him cheering Shihai on as they ran, though as they did so, they paused briefly when they heard Sen yelling from behind them. They couldn't make out what he was saying, but on instinct, the duo did turn to look at what he was up to, and when they did…
"INCOMING!"
BANG!
They were quickly met by an ear splitting sound, something that sounded suspiciously like the sound barrier being destroyed, as Reiko, Yui and Sen worked together to launch a shotgun blast of debris at the Executor bot. Yosetsu himself widened his eyes in shock and awe when he heard this, with him turning around on instinct to see what had happened, and he did so just in time to see Reiko fling several debris that Sen had broken apart with his Gyrate Quirk, and as they were in mid-flight, Yui, who had used her own Quirk on the debris prior, tapped her fingers together and caused the projectiles to return to their usual size, and thanks to the momentum behind the throw whilst they were smaller, they were all flung towards the Executor bot at near-mach speeds.
And, on impact, the debris shots tore several holes through the Executor whilst also sending it careening backwards. Awase and Kuroiro watched in awe as this happened, and upon impacting the massive mecha, the chunks of debris tore through it, destroying it within seconds and forcing it to fall back moments later. Yosetsu's eyes threatened to bulge out of their sockets as he watched the damn thing impact the ground, though when it did, he had to raise his arm up to protect himself from the smoke and dust that had been jettisoned skywards by the impact, and as soon as it settled, he turned towards his teammates and stared at him with no small amount of awe.
"Wheeey… berry… berry… kewl!" murmured the blonde that was in Yosetsu and Shihai's grasp, with the latter too stunned to really say anything as he gulped. And as for the former, he could only nod absentmindedly as he made eye contact with Sen, who grinned and offered him a two-fingered salute, one that he mirrored with an awkward smile of his own.
"Yeah… that was indeed… very cool."
And off in the observation deck, the teachers of UA could only scoot away from their boss as the mammal of unidentified species cackled even louder than ever.
Sup. It's me again.
It's been a bit, but this chapter's been in storage for a while. Renn was… busy with some stuff, so he couldn't proofread it for a bit. So uh… there's that.
There ends the Entrance Exam Arc… in theory, anyways. There's still a bit to cover post-exam, but we'll get there when we get there. For now, I hope you enjoyed!
Uh… review replies?
wd12091111: well I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it
Spyro fanboy: well, all that will be answered… eventually!
Hat109: well depending on your definition of well, I guess it did!
Part of me is considering stopping the review replies, but eh. I'm on the fence on it for now.
By the way, it's come to my attention that a certain Guest is posting reviews asking for Tekketsu No Kyojin to be updated. To that I say it's on hiatus, and for the love of God do not ask about it on my other story review slots. It's… annoying.
By the by, I've been playing Persona V Royal recently. Fun game, I say.
Fuck it's late… see ya'll next time.