My Hero Academia - Under Pressure - Season 2 - Episode 22 - Unpredictable
Within UA high, the professor and Pro-Hero known as Big Brain gazed upon the students of Class 1-B. Their final exams had just begun, and the students themselves were still a little rattled.
For instead of fighting robots like the entrance exams, or each other like in the various practice sessions with Armed Guard, they were fighting in scenarios crafted by Big Brain especially for them. Each one was tailored to each student, and though they were holographic in nature, as Anno had just found out, they could still hit hard.
"Is that a 'no' for volunteers?" asked Big Brain as he glanced at them all in turn.
In truth, it wasn't as though the students were all scared of the tests, but rather, they had just witnessed a very real scenario of sorts in regards to Anno fighting a monster villain. Anno was still reeling from it despite passing. So if someone like him could be nearly taken out, all of them were in just as much danger of failing the test.
"Fine, a random selection then."
Big Brain brought up a holographic projection from his chair and after removing Anno from the roster, he shuffled up the students to see who would go next.
"Our next participant is...Ueno Gematsu."
"Joy," said Ueno in his usual monotone voice as he stepped forward.
"Remember to stay behind the barrier, students, and no interfering no matter what happens," warned their teacher. "Are you ready, Mr. Gematsu?"
"Eh, why not?"
"Very well, your test begins, now."
With a few strums on his keyboard, the gym they were in shifted in form once more. The hard light constructs grew and expanded until Ueno found himself in a forest area of all things.
"...that's different," he noted as he looked at the terrain he was in.
The forest area seemed peaceful enough, so he shrugged and went down the path that was in front of him.
Not too long into the walk though something came bursting through the trees. Ueno barely got his Quirk to work in time in order to push it away.
"That was not a nice thing to do...come to think of it...what was that thing?"
"You mean this?" stated a voice from within the trees.
Ueno turned to see a series of objects being flung at him. This time though, instead of using his Quirk, he straight-up dodged it to ensure he didn't get hit.
"Who's there?"
"It doesn't matter who I am," said the voice. It came from all around Ueno so he couldn't track it down. "All that matters is that my projectiles can come from all around you!"
Sure enough, before Ueno could even try and react, a bunch of spherical objects rushed out of the trees and drilled Ueno in various parts of his body.
He fell to the ground in pain, his head for once not wobbling, "What the heck? So my test is to stop that guy? Hard to do when you don't even know where he's shooting his projectiles from..."
"Exactly! And that's why you'll lose!"
Knowing another volley was coming, Ueno rose up and dashed down the path in the forest. But that strategy didn't work for long, as he was stopped by another volley of projectiles.
"Did you really think that running would work?" teased the voice.
"It was better than letting you hit me..." Ueno replied slightly-nonchalantly.
"Oh, you think you're letting me hit you? Allow me to dispel that notion!"
Ueno heard a branch breaking and he twisted around just in time to stop a set of spheres from hitting him and pushed them away, but as he stopped to focus on them, another set launched from behind him and blasted his back, sending him to the ground once more.
The hit-and-run game continued for a while, Ueno tried a medley of attacks to try and get the mystery assailant, but he still couldn't tell where he was, and the seemingly never-ending supply of ammo kept hitting him no matter what direction he tried to stop the other objects in.
After getting drilled in the head, Ueno felt the world spin in a much different way, "That sucks...more than usual..."
"Well then," remarked the voice, "if that sucked, then let's end this, wouldn't want you to suffer!"
The assailant laughed, filing up the forest as he did. Ueno grimace and pounded the ground with his fist. He usually took things at his own pace, but even he knew when things were grim. He couldn't see all of them coming at him, thus he couldn't redirect them...or could he?
Ueno thought about it, and he remembered the times he stopped the bullies from hitting him even though he couldn't see them. He did it on instinct, and that's why it didn't click before.
"I wasn't seeing it and moving them, I was feeling the momentum and moving them..." he realized. "So if that's how it works..."
Semi-confident in what was about to happen, Ueno got back up and closed his eyes, waiting for the attack to come.
The laugh from before returned, "Oh how wonderful! Going out with dignity by accepting your beating! Wonderful! Special Move: Infinite Barrage!"
Ueno didn't move, he merely focused on what was about to happen. That's when he felt it. He could sense the objects as they slowly moved towards him. He wondered if this was what Azujima felt like in regards to him using his senses to detect all that was happening around him.
Hundreds of spheres raced towards Ueno, and as he flashed his eyes open, they all stopped dead in their tracks, "Nice throw, my turn."
With the smallest movement of his head, he returned the spheres into the trees at high speeds, shattering trunks and branches as they collided. Even going so far as to hit the perimeter wall of the projection.
Ueno looked around at the carnage he had caused. He waited for the voice to come back, but it didn't.
"...did I get him?" Ueno asked, back to his usual self.
"You did," came the voice of Big Brain as he emerged before him, "see for yourself."
Big Brain pointed to one of the fallen sections of trees, and to Ueno's surprise, there was someone slightly buried beneath a tree trunk. He had a ninja-like garb, and a peculiar-looking slingshot in his hand.
"That is the former villain known as Slingshot. He had the ability to control various spherical objects and launch them even without his device. He was known for his prep skills in regards to seeding an area with his projectiles so he never was at a disadvantage."
"You said former, where is he now?"
"In jail, he was caught by Athena...she was not amused by his tricks and was able to do something close to what you did."
"You mean a return to sender?" joked Ueno, head wobble back in effect.
"...something like that. Let's just say she wasn't as kind to him as you were. But enough, you proved a point that was being made. Principal Ayatsune and I realized that your Quirk was more than you had noticed or shown, this test was to see if you could realize your potential. You have, you passed."
"Cool."
Big Brain rolled his eyes at the nonchalant nature of his student, "...indeed, shall I go to the randomizer for the next one?"
Ueno rejoined his class, getting praise from many as he did. Before anyone could volunteer, Big Brain brought up the randomizer and another student was chosen.
"Ikaim San, come forward, you're up."
Nervous, Ikaim stepped forward and after his own projection came up, the test began. To the surprise of all, especially Ikaim, the scenario was one much different than the previous two.
Because instead of a fighting scenario, he was in a rescue one. He was in an enclosed area where people were begging for his help. The rescuing that needed to be done was from a massive fire. And this seemed to seriously freak out Ikaim.
"He seems scared," Ebirima said as she noticed his expression.
Doza grunted in disapproval, "That's because his ink is flammable."
"Seriously?" questioned Fenella in disbelief.
"Yeah, he told me that in confidence after the USJ session. Not all inks are flammable, but his is non-water based, making it very flammable. He almost set his house on fire once as a kid because he accidentally squirted his ink at a lit candle. He's never forgotten that, and apparently, the teachers know about it too..."
"That's messed up..."
"Yeah Fenella, it is, and apparently his mission is to save everyone without having his Quirk light everything else on fire."
The others didn't comment, but watched as their classmate immediately struggled with the challenge. Ikaim made motions to use his Quirk, but immediately stopped himself as he knew what would happen. At one point he even tried to touch the flames with his hand and instantly regretted it as he could feel the burn.
"How does that even make sense?" he wondered to himself as he shook off the pain the hard light construct gave him.
Ikaim took a breath and looked around. The holographic people were still asking for help, but he knew to block that out as they weren't going to help him in this test. Instead, he looked around the room and tried to find a way to fight the fire.
"Ok, look for the obvious, are there any fire extinguishers?"
He did a quick turnaround but nothing was around. He grimaced heavily at that.
"Of course not, too easy. Ok, sprinklers!"
Ikaim looked up and saw there were sprinklers, but they weren't going off despite the fire and smoke that was filling up the room.
"Oh come on!" he shouted. "You're supposed to work when there's a fire! Wait, maybe that's the test, I have to get them to work. Maybe they're just jammed, hitting them might do the trick."
He aimed his finger at the sprinkler, but hesitated and decided against it.
"If it doesn't work I'm adding more fuel to the fire. Literally. Is there anything I can use to poke it?"
Again he looked around and noticed a small mop, its handle was plastic and thus he knew he could use that without fear of getting immediately burned. He grabbed it and unscrewed the handle and started bashing the various sprinkler heads. But despite the jolts, the sprinklers weren't working.
"Come on, already!" he again shouted. Then looked around the room to see that the smoke was filling up the room more as the fire spread. "Gosh dang it, me passing this test is a pipe dream!"
The light bulb went off in his head.
"Pipes...the sprinklers aren't working, but the pipes still will have water in them! I just need to overload them and cause them to burst!"
Grabbing a nearby hard light chair, Ikaim stood on it and put his finger on the sprinkler nozzle head.
"Ok, a focused burst...please work..."
He squirted a controlled burst right into the valve, and didn't stop as he noticed that the ink was clearly going in.
"Come on...come on..."
At first, nothing happened, but then, a noise filled the room, and a series of creaks and moans followed them. Suddenly, the sprinklers not only went off, but the pipes that were apparently all over the ceiling area burst and started spraying water.
The fires got caught in this and eventually died down.
"Wow...that worked," Ikaim said shocked.
"Indeed," said Big Brain as he powered down the simulation.
When that happened, the chair Ikaim was upon disappeared, sending him to the ground in a tumble.
"You could've waited for me to get off!"
"You could've gotten off when the fires dissipated, it's not my fault you were slow to react. Regardless, you passed, albeit barely."
"How's that? The fire was out!"
"Yes, but you panicked multiple times. What's more, the fire almost reached the people you were trying to save, which would've been an instant loss if they died. Not to mention, while your stunt did work, it also could've backfired if you weren't within a contained scenario. As you likely would've caused serious structural damage to the building. However, there was a little wiggle room within the code apparently and you passed."
"...yay?" Ikaim said, not sure whether to take the compliment or the insult that was mixed in there.
"The correct path was similar to what you did, but with more finesse. You should've busted open the pipes within the ceiling in a more controlled manner, something you could've done your Quirk if you controlled the amount just right. But again, you did enough to pass...this time."
"Sure...whatever you say..."
Big Brain's eye twitched at the disrespect, "Something to say, Mr. San?"
"No...I'll take my victory and walk away...this time..."
The class snickered at the joke, making Big Brain angrier as a result, "I'm glad your classmates near-failure is amusing to you. Had this been a real-world scenario, he could've died very easily, as would have the people hoping for his help. Yes, this is a test, but this is a test that mimics real-world scenarios. Your lives, or the lives of other are affected by what you do...SO REMEMBER THAT!"
His roar sent a shockwave to the class, who sobered up quickly.
"Good. Now, onto the next test."
He again brought up the randomizer, and soon it showed the face of Kanagita.
"Kanagita Amame, come forward, it's your turn."
Kanagita was very much rocked by Big Brain's words and outburst, she didn't step forward at first. But Kuroda put a hand on her shoulder and whispered to her, "You got this, don't let him rattle you. I know how tough you are."
She turned to her friend and smiled, then took a deep breath and entered the stage area.
"I'm ready," Kanagita said to Big Brain with a nod.
"We shall see," he said testily as he brought up the scenario.
The room shifted once more, and Kanagita found herself on a street, not unlike the one from Anno's test, but a slightly different setting overall.
"This is nice, kind of reminds me of home. What does this-?"
Before she could respond, a sonic boom caught her ear, and as she turned, she saw a missile heading for her.
"Oh no."
She stayed in place and the missile hit the ground right in front of her. Kuroda and Tonen were stunned by this, as they hoped her test wasn't over before it began.
To their relief though, she was fine, as Brick Break emerged from the smoke with a roar, "You think a missile can hurt me?"
"That was just the start..." came a voice.
Brick Break turned and saw a robot approaching. It was large, almost as large as Brick Break herself. It was heavily armored, yet had many weapons adorning its various body parts.
"I am the G.I.G.A.S. Mach V," the robot claimed, "I am designed to handle the strongest of fighters. You will fall."
"Brick Break doesn't fall!"
With another roar she rushed at the robot and punched it square in the chest, but to her surprise, it didn't budge an inch. Instead its eyes glowed brighter and it returned a punch in kind. It hit so hard that Brick Break was shot backwards and skidded across the ground.
"Your strength fuels me, so you will fall."
Angered further, Brick Break got up and tried again to hit the GIGAS robot, but no matter what she did, it took very little damage. Yet every time the robot hit back, Brick Break got rocked.
As the others watched it, Kuroda got more and more tense, "I don't like this..."
Tonen made a small noise of acknowledgement next to her, "Same."
"What's this test supposed to prove? That her strength isn't enough to win?"
"That doesn't sound like a win scenario though, there's something else going on here."
"Indeed," chimed in Eri, "and I know what it is."
"What?" Kuroda asked eagerly.
"Sorry, can't tell you."
"Why not, Eri?"
"Because you might accidentally tell Kanagita and that'll get her disqualified. She says she's grown from her internship, right? Let's see if she means that."
Kuroda made to get the answer from Eri, but Tonen stopped her and gave a look to show that he sided with Eri. This was about more than friendship, this was about personal growth, and these tests had proven that they were indeed about that, one way or the other.
While that may have been the goal, it seemed very out of sight for Kanagita and Brick Break, who were still getting decimated by the robot. Brick Break herself was seemingly getting more powerful the angrier she got, but it didn't matter because the GIGAS robot kept taking it in stride and dishing damage back twice as hard.
From within her second body, Kanagita's voice barely spoke, but this time, it did, "This should be working..."
The voice of Brick Break boomed around her, "It will work! We just need to punch harder!"
"I'd agree with you usually, that's why I don't speak while we're transformed, but this is different! This robot is stronger than us!"
"NOTHING IS STRONGER THAN BRICK BREAK!"
"You know that's not true! Anno could take us if we wanted to, those two girls from 1-A beat us with a laser, we're not invincible Brick Break! Our strength won't always been enough! We need to think of another way!"
In the fight, Brick Break bared her teeth as she lunged at the robot again, "This is the only way we need!"
The robot grunted before it punched Brick Break again, sending her into the ground with such impact that her body formed an outline in the ground.
Kanagita pleaded with her other form, "We're going to lose if we just keep rushing in like this! It's like this robot is...oh my gosh, that's it...don't remember what it said? It said our strength fuels it, so let's not use it!"
Brick Break grumbled, "We are strength...what else is there?"
"Think about it! Every time we hit it, it hits back twice as hard! So let's not hit it! If it's fueled by our attacks, let's make it attack us and tire itself out!"
Brick Break didn't respond as she slowly rose from the ground.
"Please! We connected so much because of our Pro-Hero mentor, trust me like you promised you would! This isn't just your body, or mine, it's ours, so let's work together and beat this thing! ...unless you WANT to lose..."
Seeing what Kanagita was doing, Brick Break smiled and grunted, "Never."
The robot was amused as Brick Break popped some of her body parts to show she was ready for another round, "You don't learn, you will fall."
"You talk too much. Hit me! We'll see who's strongest."
"Gladly."
The robot threw a punch, and Brick Break crossed her arms and took it without fighting back. Immediately the difference was realized by them both.
"I knew it!" said Kanagita's voice with glee, "That wasn't nearly as hard as before! Let's keep goading him, it'll drain his energy supply!"
Brick Break dusted off her arms, "That it?"
"Smug creature."
For the next minute, Brick Break did nothing but defensive moves. Never hitting the robot directly, but letting it take all the offensive moves, and only blocking or parrying.
The robot realized what Brick Break was doing and tried to goad her into striking back, even using its medley of weapons to provoke a response, but even the strongest ones couldn't crack her skin.
"Cute toys, lack punch."
The GIGAS kept trying to force the issue, but in the end, it wasn't able to break the trust between the two personalities. As it tried for one last punch, it shut down just before it landed.
Brick Break looked at the robot to make sure it wasn't about to do something else, then with a laugh, she flicked its head and knocked the whole thing over, "You fall."
"Most impressive, Brick Break," Big Brain said as he shut down the simulation. "That robot caused quite a few problems years back, no one could figure out that it was fueled by energy imparted to it, kinetic or otherwise. It took Mythical to bring it down by literally overloading its limits of energy absorption. Something you wouldn't have been able to do on your own, so I'm pleased you realized the truth."
"Wrong."
"Excuse me?"
Brick Break reverted to Kanagita, who was looking both confident and pleased, "We figured it out. I came up with the idea, but Brick Break made it work. Two minds in this form, you forgot that."
"...indeed. Either way, you passed, well done."
Kanagita gave a small bow to her teacher and rejoined the others, and was met with an immediate hug from Kuroda, "You were wonderful out there, Kanagita, though you had me worried at the beginning."
"Trust me, I was worried too," she admitted with a big sigh. "But I got through it because she trusted me...that's a nice feeling."
"If you all are done, let's continue," called out Big Brain. "Since I doubt there are any volunteers I'll-"
"I volunteer!" interjected a voice.
Every turned to see Eri stepping onto the field of play, this impressed Big Brain slightly, "Ms. Ogata, I wondered if you would volunteer eventually."
"As I'm sure you surmised, some of us wanted to see what we could expect from these challenges before going in. I'm done with my observations, and I want to get this over with."
"Very well, let's begin then..."
He started up her program and to Eri's surprise, she found herself in a dojo-like setting.
A familiar smell caught her nose and she turned to see a man kneeling in front of a small alter of sorts. He was burning incense and took deep breaths to inhale the calming scent.
"I see another has come to face me," said the man without looking at Eri.
Eri wasn't fazed by him, "I'm guessing I have to beat you in order to pass a test."
"If you only guess, then you've already lost. For certainty is the mark of a master, like myself."
The man stood up and turned to Eri, she now saw him in his full outfit, one that befit a martial arts master.
"I think you'll find that though I'm young, I'm quite skilled."
"I think you'll see that while I'm old, my experience is more than enough to handle any skill you think you have. You may have the first strike."
The master went into a fighting position. Eri held her stance for a second before going into a fighting pose herself.
The two stared each other down for a few moments, then Eri rushed in and let loose a barrage of precise strikes. But to her surprise, as well as the others watching, the master blocked them all with ease.
Despite his victorious defense, he looked pleased at Eri's attempt, "You are indeed skilled for being so young, those strikes were perfectly unleashed. But you'll need more than that to be me."
Eri scoffed, "Then let's stop talking and continue!"
With a slight push back at the master, Eri went back to work, trying to get the upperhand on the man. But even when she started using different styles for different flurries, nothing she did could land on him outside of him blocking or parrying the strikes itself.
She tried going low, going high, aiming for pressure points, trying to break his stance, but every time, he foresaw what she would do and countered with minimal effort.
At one point he blocked an attack and did a palm strike on her chest that sent her to the ground.
As Eri got up, he again looked at her impressed, "As I said before, you are skilled, rare is it that one masters so many martial arts. But it is not enough, can you guess why?"
Eri was displeased with her situation, but did her best to not show it, "Because your Quirk is a kind of foresight?"
This shocked many in the class, but the master smiled, "Very good, your insight is spot-on. My Quirk is that of muscle perception. I can tell what a person will do simply by how they move their body. I can read a person like a book, and that's why I am beating you. Your movements are predictable due to how you use your styles. It is efficient how you use them, but I can see your moves coming a mile away."
"Then I'll just have to compensate!"
The master smirked as Eri again rushed at him, doing all she could to try and land a blow on him. But despite her adeptness, and even using some of his own moves against him, they didn't land.
"He's good, sister," noted Ryu as he watched the fight.
"Indeed, brother," agreed Ryo as she marveled at the spectacle. "But is the challenge just to overcome his Quirk? That seems a little simple."
"You're thinking too linearly," spoke up someone from behind them.
They turned and saw Chuya watching the fight with great interest.
"How so?" wondered The Twins.
"It's as Eri said, some of us wanted to watch some of the matches to see what the kinds of test were. So far we've seen two. Fights and rescues. But the message has been dual-based as well."
"Huh?"
"The intent is to push us, that's not surprising. But how is the question. For some, it's about using our minds and not just our strength, like with Anno and Kanagita. While others, like Ueno and even Ikaim to a degree was about pushing our Quirks to new levels, or using them in ways we hadn't thought of before. Eri is the most skilled person in our class in terms of raw ability because of her Quirk. But that doesn't help against a person who can read her moves. So what she needs to do is push her Quirk in a way she hasn't before. Then she can win."
The Twins were in awe of the insight, then quickly turned to the fight once more.
Eri was still going at it, switching up when she could and going from fighting style to fight style in various sequences to try and overwork the man's Quirk. But it didn't succeed as she hoped.
The master delivered several blows to her, and for the first time, showed frustration, "Stop being so rigid, child! Did no one teach you that there is more to fighting than just knowing the moves?"
Eri made to bite back, but in that moment, she realized that someone did try and teach her that.
During her internship, Eri worked with the Pro-Hero known as Contro. A contortionist of incredible skill and ability. Eri had noted to the class that he had a unique fighting style that she wanted to copy. But she didn't mention the lesson he tried to impart on her...but she didn't feel she could do.
She and her mentor were sparring early in her week of interning with him, and to her surprise, his combat style allowed him to defeat her easily.
"I believe that's five in a row," joked Contro as he helped Eri up.
"Your fighting style is much grander than I realized," Eri admitted as she dusted herself off.
"Oh, is that why you think I won?"
"Isn't it?"
"No, I won because my style is versatile, but more importantly, it's adaptable. I've faced many martial artists who felt they had the upperhand against me, then when I do my thing, they're flabbergasted. Because they can't understand how their style could lose to my...well...weirdness."
"It's not weird to be able to do things others can't."
Contro laughed heartily at this, "Thank you, Eri. It's good to know your mind is as sharp as your skills, but don't lose the message here. I won because of their rigidity."
This phrasing confused her, "How so?"
"Well, let's apply it to you. You have the ability to copy any physical movement you've seen before, right?"
"Right."
"In fact, you copied my contortionist skills without you yourself being one naturally. That shows your Quirk is much stronger than either of us likely realized. But even with that, and all the mastery you have...you've lost to me five times. So if I say to you you're 'rigid', what do you think I mean?"
Eri paused and thought about it, "That I'm too stiff in my movements and need to be more flexible?"
"Yes and no. Yes, you need to be more flexible, but no, it's not about stiffness of movements, more about stiffness of mindset."
"I still don't understand."
This time it was Contro who paused and tried to think about how to explain it, "If I taught you how to do a punch, you would mimic it perfectly, right?"
"Right."
"So if I told you to hit me with that punch, would you hit me?"
"Depends on the situation."
"Exactly! Your copy ability is great because it lets you skip the training and go right to the mastery. The catch is that you didn't learn the flow and skill and even art that goes into that technique. You know the moves, but you don't always know when to use them in the right capacity."
"I can use my fighting styles as good as any master of them," bit back Eri.
"Oh, so you've never lost a fight outside of me?"
He smiled at her, as he could tell the truth immediately, Eri had to bite her tongue as she remembered her being depowered by Iha, blasted away by Tonen, had her synapses nearly fried in the Sports Festival, or how she went up against her equal when rescuing Tonen via the villain, M.A.
"That's what I thought. I'm not saying you're not good, but I want you to be better. When you switch styles in a fight, you do so rigidly. You start with one style, see if it works, then stop and start with another, then repeat. It leaves you open, and it makes you predictable. My Quirk and skills allow me to be unpredictable because I can bend myself in a way that goes beyond style and technique. It's hard to counter, and that's why I can beat you repeatedly despite all you've learned. You need to learn to be like that."
"I'm honestly not sure if I can. I'm a mimic, not someone who uses moves creatively."
"How can you know if you don't try? Come on, let's go back to learning some of my moves, and then we'll see if we can teach you some moves that are original to you..."
Snapping back to reality, she understood now more than ever what Contro was trying to convey to her. Just like before coming to UA, she had relied too much on what her Quirk allowed her to do, instead of seeing the nuance of what it brought.
Eri straightened up and got into a stance, ready to strike against the master once again.
He was amused by this, "Ah, your fire has returned, that's good. Perhaps you are willing to learn."
"I'm The Copy, I'm always learning," Eri said with full confidence.
"Then come, show me what you think you've learned."
Like before, Eri went in to strike at the master, starting with a standard punch, which he blocked easily. But to his surprise, she then twisted her body irregularly, and wound up spinning her knee right into his shoulder. The hit made him stutter-step to his side.
"Your first hit, good, let's see if you can do more."
With full focus, Eri did her best not just to use the moves she knew, but to mix them up as best she could. Whether it was contorting her body, or doing a large variety of feints to throw off his Quirk, Eri started to land hits.
Not all of them worked, but even she got caught, she used it to her advantage and countered in a very unique way.
The fight was still long, as the master and Eri were both still very skilled, and able to go the distance. But Eri knew that failure couldn't be allowed, so with a flurry of contortionist-style blows worthy of her mentor, she was able to clock the master in his head and send him to the ground defeated.
He laughed as he got up, "You are indeed skilled, child. I hope one day we can fight again."
"I would like that," said Eri with a smile.
The two bowed to one another. Seeing this, Big Brain ended the simulation, "Well done, Ms. Ogata. I'm glad you passed with such finesse."
"My bruises from early in the fight would say it wasn't a flawless victory."
"Few victories are flawless, and even without the master's suggestion you would likely have pieced together the truth on your own, and that is what mattered here."
"Who was he? If I may ask?" she wondered to her teacher.
"You may," he answered with a somewhat smug smile. "He is one of the greatest fighters to have ever lived, and he trained many Pro-Heroes in various fighting styles. Including...your Pro-Hero mentor, Contro."
"...I had no idea."
"So it seems. I actually have met Contro and asked for his permission to use his old master. When I told him it was for your final exam he was more than willing. You should let him know how you did."
Eri nodded and went back to her classmates, many of whom congratulated her.
Big Brain went up to them and then asked, "5 down, 15 to go. Next?"
*credits*
