Chapter 45
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST I'll Become a Hero]
As Denki and Mina were leaving the Monetary room after failing their practical exam. Koji and Kyouka were entering the very same room so they could start theirs. The pair saw their fellow classmates watch as they came in and each member gave their own words of encouragement.
"We'll be watching you." Tenya stated. "Lending our emotional support."
"Hope you kick butt Jiro." Ochako said.
"Good luck." Shoto told them.
"Show us that your U.A. material, Koda." Momo spoke next.
"I hope you two win." Izuku added his two cents.
"Ribbit. Make Class 1-A Proud." Tsuyu requested.
Sora was silent for a moment and that somewhat concerned the students, then he spoke up. "Don't let him get to either of you. Okay?"
"...huh?" Kyouka replied, as she and Koji were confused as to what Sora was talking about.
"The guy you two are gonna fight." The Keyblade wielder explained. "He's...bizarre. That's really all I can say."
"Like Moogle said last time, let's just start the next test and not waste any time." Aizawa spoke to the students.
Jiro and Koda then followed their teachers orders as Kyouka said to Sora. "Thanks for the heads up...I guess?" Then she and Koda were sent into the datascape.
[Silence]
"What exactly did you mean by...bizarre, Sora?" Uraraka asked him.
"Well...I can't explain it, so just watch and you'll know what I mean." The Keyblade wielder suggested.
Jiro and Kota materialized inside the datascape and they saw that they were in the middle of a forest area. Most likely a data Ground Omega. The two remembered their last experience here, namely their time as zombies before Sora apparently cured them, but instead of focusing on that, they waited for the announcement to go off.
Elsewhere in Ground Omega, Demyx was just materialized and he looked at his surroundings, seeming very confused. "Huh?" He said out loud. "Wait, I know I was sent on a mission, but...where the heck am I?" He then quickly fidgeted with his coat until he found a pocket and reached into it. "Oh, thank Kingdom Hearts that the guys back at the castle gave me an instruction card." He pulled out the card. "Let's see...guard giant looking exit gate. Let no one through at all." Demyx looked around to see where this gate was and barely managed to see it in the distance. "Well, I mean...I can do that, but...I really don't want to be sitting in the middle of a forest." He then saw that the card has writing on the back of it as well and flipped it over to read the second part. "If you succeed, you will be...allowed to choose your next ten missions and who to partner up with on them?! Okay, I know X face, didn't write this. Did Xiggy sweet talk him? No. Maybe Axel talked to X face and asked him to cut me some slack. I mean those two are friends...I think."
Then an announcement went off. "Team Koda and Jiro. Practical exam. Ready? Go!"
[Play KH BBS OST Secret Whispers]
The Melodious Nocturne then put the card back in his pocket and spoke to himself again. "Well whoever did is gonna be seriously thanked when I finish this mission." He then jogged towards the gate. "DEMYX TIME!"
Elsewhere in the forest, Kyouka spoke to her partner. "Let's avoid combat with this Demyx person if possible and head straight for the escape gate. Sound good?" Koji nodded to her plan, agreeing with her. "Then let's hit it." She instructed as she took point.
Back in the real world, Iida pointed out something. "The practical exam matched students up with Organization Members they're supposed to have a hard time against. That's the whole point, right?"
"Yes." Yaoyorozu confirmed.
"It's hard to know what each team's weaknesses are until we see their opponent's Quirk and how they use it." Midoriya stated.
"That's true." Asui agreed with him. "All we know about him is what Sora said earlier, but that doesn't really say much."
"Well, both of them have sound related quirks." Izuku pointed out. "Maybe Demyx has a way to counteract that?"
Back in the datascape, Demyx had arrived at the gate and was simply standing there, waiting. That was his mission right now. But then he realized something. "Wait a minute. I didn't forget to tune my sitar, did I?" He summoned Arpeggio and inspected the instrument. "Ooooh...no I did not. I better do that now, before anything else." He then started to fidget with the sitar.
[Silence]
The two students continued their way through the forest, and it took them a bit to get to a spot where they could see the exit. Jiro stopped when she saw Demyx at the gate, then used her earphone jacks on the ground to hear what he was doing. In her earphone jacks she heard "hmhm hmhmhm Hmhmhm Hmhmhm HmHMhm HmHMhm HmHMHM HmHMHMhm." A.N. He's humming tension rising.
"Um...ok?" She said as Koda looked at her, wondering what she heard. "He's just humming..and fidgeting with whatever is in his hands." This confused him as much as it did her. "Let's just...see if we can sneak up on him. Maybe fake a rush towards him and bolt for the exit."
Back with Demyx, he continued to hum as he finished up with tuning Arpeggio, but then he heard some rustling and stopped. "Huh...Who's there?" There was no answer. "HELLOOOO? Are you the Koda and Jiro guys that the echoey dude announced earlier?!" Still no answer. "...It's rude to not talk to someone who's talking to you, you know!" Another rustle in the bushes and then the snap of a stick, Demyx turned to see the two students fail to hide in time. "Oh. There you are."
"Crap." Kyouka uttered as Koji began to slightly panic.
The Melodious Nocturne didn't make a move against them, much to their surprise and simply began to ponder the two's appearances. "Wait a seeec...You...the girl dressed like a punk rock fan. I'm gonna guess that you're Jiro?"
The girl was a bit offended at that comment, but otherwise responded "Yes...why?"
"Just asking." Demyx told her. "So that makes the guy with a literal rock for a head, Koda." The boy nodded to confirm the Organization member's assumption. "Cool. So, what are you guys doing here anyway?"
"...What?" Kyouka replied, unsure of what the heck was going on.
"I mean, you two don't look like you came here to camp out." Demyx pointed out. "So what brings you to this oddly gated off area of the forest?"
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Among Kosei]
Back in the real world, Moogle had face palmed. "You've got to be freaking kidding me, Kupo." He uttered out. Moogle was the only one with an earpiece that could actually listen in on the datascape. The reason why only he has one is because he didn't have time to augment the schools other earpieces before the finals, as he was focused on making sure that there were no bugs or glitches that would happen during the production and testing of the datascape. That means he's the only one who's been hearing everything, including this conversation.
"Um...what?" Tenya spoke up, confused at what he and the other students were watching on the screen.
"Is he...having a conversation with them?" Momo asked.
"It looks like it." Midoriya replied, just as confused as the rest of them.
Back in the datascape, the two students didn't even try to hide as their opponent just seemed to not be hostile right now, which really confused them. "Uh...we're trying to get through that gate." Jiro pointed at the gate right behind the Organization member.
"Oh...ooooooh, that might be a problem." Demyx stated. "See, I was given a job to make sure that nobody gets through this gate, and if I get this done, I get to choose my next ten outings and who I get to go with."
"...Huh?" Kyouka replied.
Demyx pulled out the index card with the instructions and then tossed it over to her. "Yeah. The writing is clear as day. Take a look."
Back in the real world. "He just...he gave them his instruction card." Sora said.
"Why would he...huh?" Ochako uttered out.
Back in the datascape, the students read the card, and just looked even more confused. "I...wha...huh?" Jiro couldn't really reply to this.
"I know, right?" Demyx said, sounding a bit happy with his mission. "So I kinda need you guys to go...like somewhere else." He then did the shooing motion with one of his hands.
Back in the real world. "...Is he trying to shoo them away?" Yaoyorozu questioned.
"Is he serious?" Tsuyu also questioned.
The teachers looked at the screen with utter disbelief. They didn't watch Sora do all his matches and didn't see this guy, so this was the most unexpected thing for them as well. Even Nezu was slightly surprised, and he watched all the tests in his office.
Back in the datascape, Kyouka and Koji just looked at him in disbelief as well. "Excuse me?" The girl said.
"Look, I'm not really into fighting. Recon is more my thing, but I'm not gonna risk losing ten days of getting the hard hitters to do my job for me." He then did the shooing motion with both of his hands as he continued to speak. "So can you guys you know...just...you know...like...you know."
"...HUH?" Jiro replied.
Back in the real world. "Oh my god. He's actually trying to shoo them away." Momo said with a deadpan expression.
"This guy is..." Tenya tried to call him something, but he couldn't think of anything.
"Bizzare..." Todoroki finished for the class rep.
"I told you guys." Sora reminded them.
"You weren't kidding." Izuku commented.
[Silence]
Back in the datascape. "We need to get through that gate." Kyouka told him.
"Are you sure it's THIS gate?" Demyx asked her. "This forest is pretty big, maybe they're another gate you need to get to."
"No. It's specifically that gate that you are standing in front of." Jiro stated, getting annoyed with him.
"Why not just, climb over the wall to get out? Or I don't know, cut your way through the wall, just anything other than getting through this gate." Demyx suggested.
"That's no different than going through the gate!" Kyouka yelled out.
"Yeah it is." He corrected her. "You're not going through the gate, and I'll tell them that I let nobody through the gate."
"In order for us to leave!...We have to specifically go through!...That gate!" Jiro emphasized.
"Then just wait until I'm gone." Demyx told her. "I'm here for...probably until the day is over. Just chill out here until after I'm gone and then..."
"Ok! Just stop! Shut up!" Kyouka interrupted him as she just paced towards the gate, almost certain that he won't do anything to stop her. "We're going through this gate, NOW!"
She heard him stroke his sitar and then just as she was about to reach the gate, she felt a splash on her face as a wall of water was formed at the exit, knocking her back by a few feet, wetting her head, and blocking the gate completely. She looked to the Organization member as saw that he was responsible. "Look. I told you, this is my mission, and I'm not botching it to some punk rock chick and her rocky faced friend."
Back in the real world. Present Mic decided to get this announcement over with. "Uh...Okay, well I guess now is as good a time." He began his announcement. "The Melodious Nocturne, Demyx! His Quirk, H Tune O! With certain sound ques, he can control and manipulate water in certain ways!" Nobody had anything to say about that and just kept watching the...events on the screen.
Back in the datascape, Jiro decided that she was tired of the Organization member and used her earphone jack on her speaker, blasting a sound wave in his direction. Demyx saw it coming and stroked his sitar once more to make an extremely dense dome of water that muffled out the sound once it reached him.
[Play KH2.5 Remix OST Tension Rising]
"So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" The melodious nocturne said in an uncharacteristically serious tone, before he then chanted out. "Let's kick to the beat!" And furiously played his sitar, making multiple water blasts and pillars to attack the girl.
"OH...CRAP!" She exclaimed as she played another sound wave to intercept a few, before quickly backing up when she realized that she probably just botched her one chance to talk him out of a fight. The water blasts almost hit her a few times as she retreated back into the trees with Koda. "Okay...aggressive approach. Bad call...I should have taken my own advice."
The two then heard the chant "Dance Water Dance!" and looked back to see Demyx using his sitar to make multiple water clones and notes that began to move towards them. They both ran even further back into the forest, only to see that they were being pursued by the water forms. Koji summoned some nearby birds to distract the water forms while they made an escape.
Once the two were somewhere out of the water forms range, Kyouka asked her partner. "You think you can get some more birds from around here to attack the real guy?"
Koda then signed that "Even if I wanted to do that, He has the dome around him that blocked your sound blast."
Kyouka growled at that info, having no one to blame but herself for that. "Damn it. And he's walled off the exit the same way too. He's not just some pushover like he was acting like earlier...He's like some sort of sitar playing tsunami if you tick him off!" The two went on the move when they saw some water forms coming to look for them. "We can't get close to him again. And even if we somehow did, he'd spot us again! He doesn't even need to leave the gate with all the water he can pull from the air, trees, ground...everywhere!"
The water forms patrolled the forest area and searched for the two kids, while the Melodious Nocturne simply stood where he was, with the water dome around him and the water wall covering the exit. "Come on then you two. You started this dance, so you're gonna keep going till you drop."
[Silence]
The two students managed to find a place that didn't have any water forms close by and they stopped running to take a moment and think about their next move. "If we don't do something soon, he'll drown us out...literally. So what now?" Kyouka quietly asked herself before noticing something on the rock she and her partner were hiding behind. There was an ant there. She then realized something. "Hey Koda. You can control bugs and stuff, right? Look at this." She let the ant crawl onto her hand and she presented it to her teammate. "An ally."
Koji's face seemed to go pale for a moment...then he ended up screaming in response to seeing the bug, which totally confused Kyouka. She moved the bug slightly closer and then Koda screamed again, before running away to the closest tree. He has severe insectophobia, and Jiro just figured that out.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Threat Incoming]
Suddenly, multiple blasts of water came towards her position and she felt that the water blasts were doing a number on her cover. She unfortunately couldn't move from there, because the blasts were hitting around her as well. Once they stopped, she looked up to then see that there were about a hundred water forms making their way towards her, and she knew that she couldn't run from that. "This won't stop him...but hopefully it can deal with these." She plugged her earphone jack into her leg speakers and blasted a full powered sound wave towards the water forms, the sound blast was too much for them and they were eviscerated, however Demyx's water dome and water wall were unphased. "Sounds like she's got some pep in her step...but now she's shown me where she is." He continued his water barrage to make sure that she stays where she is.
Before the girl could move, more water blasts got to her position and she had to take cover again. "Do you have a plan, Koda!?" She questioned her teammate. Koji shook his head in response to tell her no. The water blasts were chipping at her cover even more. "Koda! Just tell me if it's possible for you to control bugs or not! Okay?!" He nervously gave her a thumbs up to say yes. "Good!" She used her earphone jack on one of the rocks on the ground and destroyed it with a sound overload. Under the rock, revealed multiple bugs and Koji screamed again. "Sorry, I know it's scary but...AAAGH!"
She didn't even see it coming, but somehow water was formed where her shins were and they pressurized to the point that her boot speakers blew up, severely damaging her lower legs. She gripped her legs from the pain and continued to talk to her partner. "Our opponent is way too strong! This is the only thing I can think of!" There was pain in her voice as she continued speaking. "If you can pull it off...we still have a chance." Koji opened his eyes and saw the pain that his partner was in as she said "You can do it. You want to be a Hero, don't you? If so, then we gotta pass."
Koda saw what happened to her legs and thought to himself about how she had to fight because he ran away. He looked at the bugs on the ground and was still terrified of looking at them.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST You Say Run]
Koji then remembered something. Something that was very important. He remembered that he got into U.A., the school that teaches the best of the best Heroes, the Heroes that show no fear, and if that's the case, then he needs to show no fear right here, right now. He has to be PLUS ULTRA! He crouched to the floor and then finally spoke out. "Go on, tiny ones! Here my call! Now is the time for you to take out the man who's responsible for stealing the water that you need to drink!"
"You can talk!?" Kyouka realized as Koda gave the bugs order on where to go, to take as many bugs with them and to get to Demyx from under the ground. He even encouraged them while he trembled from stowing his fear of them.
Meanwhile, back at the exit, Demyx was still jamming out on Arpeggio, making sure that he kept the pressure on the two,or at the very least the girl. He doesn't know if his surprise water attack worked on her or not, but he tried to make it so that he could keep her from walking if she somehow didn't pass out from this. As he was jamming out, he then began to feel something on his leg, and he looked down for a moment. The cloak prevented him from seeing what it was, so he stopped playing for a moment to see what was crawling up his leg.
He pulled up the cloak and then saw what it was. Hundreds of bugs came from under the ground, where he didn't fortify the water dome and all the bugs were crawling up his leg. "AH! EW! EW! EWEWEWEWEW!" He freaked out and frantically tried getting the bugs off of him, dropping his sitar and removing his water defences along the way.
Back in the real world, everyone, even Sora, felt a little bad for the Organization member. While it was a smart move, nobody wants to be in a position like that at all, and it just gave them minor jitters.
Back in the datascape, Koji saw that the water attacks stopped and he rushed over to his partner and scooped her up, carrying her towards the exit. "Did it work?" Jiro asked him.
"EEEEEAAAAAAHHH! NO WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Demyx screamed out as the bugs continued to crawl all over his squirming body on the floor.
The two students ran past him and saw that the gate was no longer blocked off by water. "Yes!" Kyouka cheered as Koda smiled, happy that he managed to help Jiro in her time of need.
As the two ran past the Melodious Nocturne and threw the gate, the announcement went off. "Team Koda and Jiro have passed the finals!"
[Silence]
The two were brought back to the real world almost immediately after they passed the gate, and after a brief moment of congratulations from the other 1-A students, Koji carried Kyouka to the temporary nurses office so Recovery Girl could check on her legs.
After a few minutes, Mezo Shoji and Toru Hagakure came through the door and saw the other students who were there to watch their match. They each got their cheers and good lucks, though for the invisible girl, it was a bit more awkward for the boys, as everybody knows what her 'costume' is. The two then stepped on the platform and their practical exam would now be under way.
[Play KH 3 OST Scala ad Caelum]
As the two students materialized inside the datascape, they noticed that this place seemed unfamiliar. It was a fairly large room, filled with many wide pillars that were scattered all over the place. The room was fairly lit and it seemed to go on for quite a distance. As the two students were taking this in, someone else in the datascape was being brought in.
As the Organization member materialized, he spoke up. "Well now." He removed his hood and Xigbar began to take in his surroundings. "This is new. Heh...I wonder what I'm doing here?"
The announcement went off. "Team Hagakure and Shoji. Practical exam. Ready? Go!"
"So that's what's happening." The Freeshooter realized before he let out a bemused chuckle. "I guess this is my 'role' in this place." He then warped himself away from his position.
Mezo had taken point, having his Dupli-Arms form eyes and ears that should hopefully keep him aware of any movement in the area. So far, there was nothing. It seemed to be like that for a while as he and Toru continued their way through this labyrinth of pillars, having yet to find the exit.
Meanwhile, Xigbar stayed out of sight and was completely silent as he observed the two running near his position. He smirked, figuring out that these two were most likely the people taking this 'practical exam'
[Silence]
When the students were just about to reach the pillar he was at, he spoke up again. "Practical Exam, As if. Nothing practical about a place and a person that are only made up of ones and zeroes." Shoji and Hagakure both immediately stopped in their tracks and went to find cover by the closest pillar. As the boy looked around for a brief moment to see nobody around, he was completely caught off guard when the Organization member warped in front of him. Both students ended up falling back on their rears from the scare. "Oopsy Daisy." Xigbar said in his usual laid back tone.
[Play KH3 OST Xigbar -cutscene-]
The two students got up and were ready to fight. The Freeshooter didn't fight, but instead spoke. "Didn't your parents teach either of you some manners, kiddies?"
That comment caught both of them off guard and Mezo asked him "What are you talking about?"
"I mean, look at your girlfriend right next to you." Xigbar pointed at Toru. "Invisible or not, pretty sure that counts as streaking, right?"
Hakagure tried to rebuttal that. "My power works better without clothes."
"So do most women who want to show a boy 'about the town'." The Organization member stated, which offended the girl greatly with that comparison. "At least your deformed boyfriend over here has the decency to cover himself in at least a few places." He then pointed to Shoji. "Though, dressing up in a circus costume isn't much better. So what are you? Some sort of wandering pair of performers?"
"No. We're Heroes." Mezo answered, feeling a bit insulted.
"Ohhh Heroes eh?" Xigbar replied. "So you two kiddies are trying to do that waste of a workline."
"The Hero job isn't a wasteful workline!" Hagakure yelled out, feeling even more insulted.
"Isn't it?" The Freeshooter said back to the two. "It's a job where you run into danger and pull out an idiot who did the same thing before you. You gotta hope that you can handle it, or someone else is gonna have to go in and save you too. You all just line up and doom others to take the fall with you."
"Not every Hero needs help." Shoji rebutted.
"Ah yes. Those Heroes in high places." Xigbar remarked. "The ones who can get away with it because they got the right connections. I can bet all the zeros and ones that make up my code that even your greatest Hero has friends in high places that help him keep up a good public image."
"All Might is not like that at all!" Both students responded to the Organization member, angered at his belittlement of Heroes.
"All I'm saying is that no good will ever come through putting other people first." The Freeshooter stated. "I only put up with someone else's nonsense when I know I can get something good out of it."
"You sound just like every Villain ever." Toru said.
[Silence]
" 'Every Villain ever.' " Xigbar scoffed and rolled his eyes. "As if."
[Play KH3 Re Mind OST The 13th Dilemma ~Xigbar Ver.~]
The Freeshooter then summoned his twin arrowguns, affectionately named Sharpshooter, and got ready to fight. "Now then. Let's see how you dance." He said before warping away from the two.
Both students stayed close to each other and the pillar that they were at. As the two began to look around for the exit or to spot him, Mezo heard something coming towards them and yelled out "Duck!" Hagakure did as instructed and ducked as four red bolts made of light hit the pillar. Shoji then ducked as well to avoid one more red bolt that went for him.
Off in the distance, Xigbar had taken a sniping position with Sharpshooter, right now in it's rifle mode. He had them in his sights still and aimed for the girl first, taking a few more shots before she ran off. Then he went back and attempted a precision shot against the boy. After that second precision shot was dodged, The Freeshooter figured out that the boy could probably hear his shots coming towards them. He split his weapons back into two, as it was time to change tactics.
Mezo and Toru ran from their cover and went for another pillar. Then they saw the Organization member warp in front of them and begin shooting towards the two of them at a much closer range. Shogi was the first to be targeted and as he attempted to dodge the bolts, they began to slightly curve to correct their course and hit the boy anyway. "Ghh!" He grunted in pain before calling out "His bolts have seeking properties!"
As Hagakure heard this, Xigbar fired a burst towards her and she acted fast, diving for cover and getting behind a pillar before the bolts could hit her. She then said "Thanks for the...".
"Heeeads up!" Xigbar interrupted her as he stuck his arms out and the guns as well as his forearms appeared behind the Mezo and landed a few shots, making him stumble and almost fall to the ground.
Back in the real world, most of the students couldn't immediately figure out Xigbar's 'Quirk' until Present Mic spoke up and told them. "The Freeshooter, Xigbar! His Quirk, Distort! He can warp himself and the space around him to his preference! He can use it on other people too, but he's limited to just moving them to another spot in the area."
Back in the datascape, Xigbar then dangled his guns from his fingers while walking around the downed student, as if daring the boy to attack. Shoji pushed himself back to his feet and already knew that this was an unwinnable battle for him. He blitzed for cover, but then he saw white. Toru, who was trying to think of a plan, had also begun to see white.
"NEW BACKDROP!" The Freeshooter cheered out as he warped himself and the students to another spot in the datascape. The two Heroes in training were in the middle of the open and Xigbar was a good distance away from them, as he began to shoot multiple bursts towards them.
Both students bolted for the nearest cover, but as they did so, Shoji noticed something. "Wait...that's the exit behind him."
"What?" Hagakure responded. "He took us to the exit?"
"He either doesn't know, or he's doing this to mess with us." Mezo guessed.
As they heard more bolts hit the pillar, Toru spoke up again. "Shoji. At this rate, we'll be trapped here forever."
"Don't worry. He's only one man." He assured her. "Still. Escaping this will be a herculean task. Our only advantage is that he's not taking this seriously."
The red bolts stopped firing, and Mezo saw the Freeshooter switch to riflemode and charge a shot. He then called out "Let's make it interesting!" Before firing a large blue shot that hit the pillar that Shoji was behind. The boy thought that was it, but was surprised to see the blue bolt ricochet off the pillar and into another, only to go back to the pillar he was at and hit it again. The cycle continued and the pillar began to crack.
Shoji's instincts kicked in and he blitzed to the next closest pillar just a second before the one he was at before was destroyed. He then remembered that he wasn't the only one there and turned back, hoping that his partner followed him. "You all right Hagakure?" He asked, but there was no response. "Hagakure?!" He loudly whispered towards the destroyed pillar, only to see that the gloves and shoes were taken off and left there. "So that's what she's doing." He realized. Now that he knew what she had planned, he's gonna need to make sure that Xigbar doesn't move.
Mezo then ran out of the cover and ran towards the Freeshooter, who responded with another large blue ricochet bolt. The boy held his arms up to block it as he continued to charge, but once he got hit, it made him stagger back a bit as it ricocheted off of him and towards a few pillars, to only hit him again in the leg and make him kneel.
[Play KH3 Re Mind OST The 13th Dilemma ~Xigbar Ver.~ (Showdown)]
Xigbar then warped himself right in front of the boy, Sharpshooter still in rifle mode as he pointed the gun at the student and began charging a shot. "Gotcha now." He cockily said. Out of the corner of Shoji's eyes, he saw a pair of handcuffs coming towards the Organization member.
However, instead of getting outflanked, the Freeshooter jumped in the air, and somehow planted his feet on the air, while standing upside down, pointing the gun directly at Toru, who exclaimed "Ah!"
[Resume KH3 Re Mind OST The 13th Dilemma ~Xigbar Ver.~]
"I can see youuuu." The Freeshooter mocked before releasing the charge shot at her. However, yet another surprise came when the shot ended up ricocheting directly back to his face, which made him lose grip on his gun, which then split back into two as they spun around next to his head.
"Owwwwch owch owch!" The girl exclaimed once more while she seemed to be shaking her palms, which for some reason were now briefly sparkling rainbow colors, from what seemed to be blocking the attack with them. "Huh?" She then realized what she did and was surprised.
Xigbar shook his head for a moment, but before he could grab his twin arrowguns he felt a strong force hit his back which made him stumble, even though he was upside down at the moment. "Gah!...You clever little sneak." He commented before he warped back away and got back to the floor, setting his weapon for a different type of attack.
While the students had time, Mezo spoke "What was that, Hagakure?"
"I...I don't know." Toru answered, just as confused. "But whatever I did, it reflected his bolt back at him."
They didn't have any more time to discuss this as the Organization member came back. Glowing a light blue as he began his next attack. "Look what I saved for ya!" He then began firing many small but fast blue energy bolts towards the pair.
Shoji didn't waste any time and just grabbed his partner, scooping her up and keeping her safe on his back with his Dupli-Arms as he ran for cover, while also making his way to the exit. Once the first volley of blue blasts hit the pillar, Xigbar warped to the side and shot another volley. Mezo heard it coming and got out of cover, sprinting towards the exit. "Hagakure, if he manages to stop or trip me, I'm going to let you out and you need to make for the exit."
"And just let you get shot everywhere?" Toru argued as she felt her partner was moving to dodge a third volley of blasts from the back left side.
"If one of us gets through the gate, we both pass." Mezo pointed out as he dodged a fourth volley of blasts from the back right side. "We don't know how you did that reflecting thing, and I don't want to risk it in a fight."
"But..." The invisible girl wanted to protest, but he was right. After her partner dodged a fifth volley of blasts from the right, she said "Ok Shoji. I'll be ready if that happens."
Mezo then thanked her before dodging a sixth volley of blasts from the front. He then solely focused on running towards the exit, only paying attention to Xigbar when he had to dodge another volley from the left side. This guy had to run out of ammo in his clip at this point. Either that or just one more small burst.
The Freeshooter then warped directly above the gate and twirled both his arrowguns around his fingers before he yelled out. "Start dancing!" and aimed Sharpshooter downwards, shooting directly into a portal.
Shoji wasn't prepared for this final barrage as multiple portals opened from multiple spots and through each one came a blue bolt that either just barely missed him or managed to hit him and make him stumble, but continue. He couldn't do this for long though and when he was beginning to trip, he opened up his arms around his back and had his partner jump off of him. "GO!" He ordered her.
As Toru ran, she realized that the bolts stopped going after him and were now being aimed at her. She picked up the pace as fast as she could, but she couldn't out run them all, multiple bolts were hitting her and she began to sting everywhere, but she still kept running.
Xigbar looked slightly surprised and a little shocked. He's fought invisible enemies before, namely heartless, but none could bend the light around them to redirect his shots, and that's exactly what he saw the girl doing, as she sparkled rainbow colors in the spots she was getting hit. "So...this is your power." He realized as she passed through the escape gate.
[Silence]
Back in the real world, everyone was surprised to see what just happened with Toru, but then the students were even more surprised when they saw her come back to the real world, still slightly sparkling rainbow colors, and ended up running right into Sora, who kept himself upright, but was now super flustered, because Hagakure's body is technically visible, thanks to the sparkles. At least her femanine figure was. "Huh? What?" The invisible girl was slightly confused as to why everyone was looking away from her, until she saw the rainbow sparkles herself, before they quickly faded away. "Whoa...oh, um...the rainbow stuff is gone, so...I'm fully invisible again." Everyone except Sora turned back around. He was still a bit flustered, but she couldn't blame him.
After that, the announcement went off "Team Hagakure and Shoji have passed the finals!" And then Mezo, and Toru's clothes came back from the datascape. Sora decided to help Shoji up, while Momo gave Hagakure her gloves and shoes. As the invisible girl put them on, Sora got Mezo to the temporary nurses office.
During that event, the teachers and principal were discussing what they just saw Toru do, and agreed to discuss it with her after the finals. There was definitely more to her Quirk than just invisibility, and in order for her to master it, she needs to know how her Quirk works fundamentally.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Professor Aizawa Theme]
Most people didn't even notice the next pair of students come in the room, as they were still talking about what happened at the tail end of the last match. Then Hanta spoke up, to acknowledge their presence. "Uh...hey guys. What's everyone talking about?"
"Oh. Sero. Mineta." Izuku was the first to respond. "Sorry, we didn't see you two come in."
"So what exactly is so important that you didn't focus on the next two students that are gonna pass the practical?" Minoru asked, sounding a bit annoyed.
"Oh, well. We were discussing the last match." Midoriya explained. "We ended up seeing Hagakure do something pretty amazing at the end of the match."
Before Mineta could respond to that. Sora spoke up. "If you say anything inappropriate, I will not stop Tsu from smacking you with her tongue. I would normally do it myself, but since you're on a team with Hanta, I don't want to handicap him before the match starts."
"Well, what did she do, exactly?" Sero asked.
"I was able to deflect some of his laser bolts off of me." Toru replied. "I didn't even know I could do that."
As Midoriya ended up going into a muttering spree about how her quirk might work beyond just turning invisible, Moogle spoke up again. "Step on the platform please, Kupo." He pointed at the platform. "We're almost done with the 1-A battles, Kupo. After this and the next one, we can move on to 1-B, Kupo."
"What about Sora's match?" Ochako asked the chibi merchant.
"He goes last, Kupo. Remember, Kupo?" He reminded her.
"Oh, yeah." She sheepishly remembered.
After that brief moment, the two students who were up to take their exam had stepped onto the platform and were sent into the datascape. As the pair materialized, they saw that they were in the middle of a rocky area. The two boys didn't recognize the area, as they never trained here yet, but since they were thankfully generated on a more elevated part of the area, they could see their escape gate from the vantage point.
[Play KH Re:Chain of Memories OST The 13th Floor]
Elsewhere in the datascape, Larxene had just been formed and took in her surroundings. She was unfamiliar with this place, but that honestly hardly mattered to her. She was here on a mission that involved guarding something. That was all she knew. "Eugh. What, do I look like a maid or something to them? Let Demyx handle the boring jobs like these and let me go cut up a person, or even a Heartless."
Then the announcement went off. "Team Mineta and Sero. Practical exam. Ready? Go!"
"...Excuse me?" She said. "Practical exam? There's no way I'm gonna be a test monkey for some...wait a minute..." The woman then had a slightly sadistic smile on her face. "I can just use those Mineta and Sero people to keep me entertained." She then shrugged her shoulders and played along. "Ok then. Time to find my new toys."
[Silence]
Minutes of eerie silence went by as the two boys were making their way towards the exit of the area. They didn't run into the Organization member while they descended from their vantage point. In fact, they didn't even see any trace of anyone at all right now. The pair continued their way forward, going around any jagged rocks that were in the way, and then they managed to see the exit dead ahead. "Hey. There it is!" Minoru stated.
"Yeah, but...where's the Organization member?" Hanta pointed out. "There's no way that it can be this easy."
"Does it really matter if it's easy or not?" Mineta replied. "The point is the member is not here and the exit is right there."
[Play KH3 OST Shaded Truths (Arendelle Ver.) -cutscene-]
"Actually, diaper boy. The Organization member IS here." Came a female voice as a small orb of electricity was bolting it's way towards the pair.
Sero saw it coming and used his tape to grab his partner. He attempted to throw Mineta up into the air. But then the lightning orb suddenly formed into Larxene as she summoned her knives and threw one at the tape line, cutting it before he could throw him up. Before the tape themed boy could try something else, he barely managed to dodge a punch that was aimed for his face, but he couldn't dodge her next attack as she kicked him in the stomach and pushed him back. Hanta wasn't going to just take that, as he made more tape while he was kicked away and managed to wrap it around the woman. "Not so tough now." He spoke up.
"AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!" Larxene laughed, in spite of being wrapped in tape. "You're so stupid." She then turned herself back into a small orb of electricity, which freed her from the tape as she bolted towards the boy again. He flinched and covered his face with his arms, but then he felt a pair of hands grab his head from behind. "Let's see how much pain you can take before you pass out." Hanta then began to scream in pain as the Savage Nymph began electrocuting him while Minoru ended up watching in absolute terror.
Back in the real world, most of the students were taken aback by the sudden brutality, but then Present Mic began his announcement. "The Savage Nymph, Larxene! Her Quirk, Livewire! She can conduct and control electricity that she generates from her body. She's a literal living lighting lady!"
Back in the datascape, Larxene kept the shock treatment coming until her victim lost consciousness. After that was finished, she then slammed the front part of his helmet to the ground, breaking the visor, and let out a sadistic giggle before she watched the other boy run away. "Aww...look at the little baby running away." She taunted before she summoned the whole set of Foudre. "I'm gonna break you." Once he was far enough away, she turned herself into the electric orb and split herself into two. One of the Larxenes stayed with Sero, sitting on his back, while the other began to chase her prey.
[Silence]
Back in the real world, most of the students were very surprised to see that she could do that, realizing that this challenge was now even more difficult for their perverted classmate. Then Recovery Girl spoke up. "It might be hard for a kid like that to make it out of this school."
Izuku then turned to the nurse. "Wait, what do you mean? I get that the test is hard, but what do you mean by making it out of the school?"
"U.A. is constantly creating new obstacles that our students have to overcome." Recovery Girl explained. "In order to keep moving forward successfully, students need to have a concrete goal to focus on. If your desire is just to be a Hero for no reason, your path isn't going to be easy. If someone who's only wish is to become a Hero reaches their goal, then they have no real future."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Self Analysis]
"I wonder..." She continued to speak. "Is there a goal in that child's heart he can focus on to win?"
Back in the datascape, Minoru was almost completely exhausted from fleeing, so he had to stop and take a moment to breathe. As he caught his breath, he knew why he was doing this in the first place. "I want girls to love me...so I can touch them."
Back in the real world, Moogle planted his face on the edge of the console, making sure not to hit anything important as he heard that goal. "Ugh...Kupo. I guess that's a goal, but it's so dumb, Kupo."
Back in the datascape, Mineta was frustrated. "What's their problem? Why is my exam the only one this hard? She can't get stuck in place, so my quirk is useless against her, and she's so fast that I can't outrun or out maneuver her. And if I even touch her, she'll shock me until I pass out, and our team will be failures!" He vented out. "...It's impossible." He was deep in thought as he popped off one of his sticky balls and held it in his hand, realizing that being here wasn't enough to make him a good Hero.
[Silence]
He was taken out of his train of thought when he heard footsteps rapidly approaching him. He turned around and was met with a swift kick to the face, which launched him back a good few feet away.
[Play KH3 Re Mind OST The 13th Struggle ~Larxene Ver.~]
"Boy, you're a lot of fun." The savage Nymph commented as she watched her prey get back up. She let out another sadistic laugh as she glared at him with the eyes of a predator.
"Oh god." Minoru uttered. "She's got the eyes of a predator who's cornered her prey. It's like something out of a nightmare with Midnight..." He briefly realized something and then got himself to run again.
"What's the matter?" Larxene mocked as she threw some of her knives in his general direction, playing with her prey. "Does the whittle baby boy need a diaper change?"
Mineta seemed to have an epiphany of some sort, or at least remembered something that managed to give him the serious and determined look he was now sporting. He either had a plan, or had enough of a level head to think of one. He managed to run behind some cover, and began popping off more hairballs out of her sight.
The Organization Member then spoke up. "You know, for someone as tiny as you, half pint, you can run for a quite a while." She tossed a knife at the cover he was hiding behind. "I like that. It's so unsatisfying when a toy breaks so easily."
"You think that I'm just some toy?" Minoru spoke up, still hiding behind his cover. "Even though I've only met you a few minutes ago and you don't have the same quirk as her, your sadistic personality is just like Miss Midnight, who I know all about."
"Yeah, so what?" Larxene replied, sounding unimpressed.
"Anyone with a sadistic side likes to watch their prey run from them." The grape themed boy stated before he ran out with multiple sticky balls in between his fingers, similar to Larxene and her Foudre set. "But rarely do they ever expect their prey to fight back!"
The Savage Nymph looked at him, unamused. "Really? Do we have to do this?" She asked him, seriously wondering if he actually thinks he stands a chance against her. The boy threw all the balls in his hands and then she threw her knives at the projectiles. "Ok then, have it your way." She sounded a bit annoyed, but decided to go along with it. She'll break his spirit either way, might as well let him try to fight back, only to fail.
Minoru pulled more balls from his head and then threw them at the woman as he continued to charge forward. Larxene just laughed as she easily dodged most of them, before catching one in each hand. "Got you." He muttered to himself.
Larxene kept that sadistic grin on her face until she extended her arms to the side, attempting to summon more knives in her fingers, only to realize that the balls were still in her hands. She looked confused and then shook her hands, seeing that they weren't coming off. As she was distracted by that, she didn't see multiple other sticky balls coming towards her. "What?!"
"It's time to taste my special move!" Mineta yelled out as he threw multiple more sticky balls on her as he ran past her. "GRAPE RUSH!"
Larxene was stuck where she was, and no matter how much she struggled, she physically could not pull any of these balls off of her. She then began to emit sparks all around her body, yelling out "YOU WORM!" Before turning herself into the small electric orb to free herself from the balls and then bolt towards the student. She reformed into her human form as she called out "HEY!"
Minoru turned around, and attempted to stick her with another ball, but she jumped over him as he threw the ball, and when he turned back to face her, she grabbed him by the throat. "Gah...oh crap..."
"You're getting on my nerves now." The Savage Nymph told him, before letting out a discharge on his throat, electrocuting the small student. "You don't seem to get that you're just a toy." Mineta was barely able to fight through the pain and grabbed a ball on his head with one of his hands. He went for her face, but she grabbed his wrist and then amplified the shock, making him hurt even more and began to scream in pain.
"Ghaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahaaaaaa!" Minoru yelled out as he reached behind his back and under his cape with his free hand while Larxene was busy enjoying the pain she was giving him. "Aaaaaaaaahahahaaaa!...Ghhhhhhhhhhh!..Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngh!"
The savage Nymph then figured that he was finished and commented. "What a dumb way to go."
Mineta then managed to utter out. "I eeeeeeeeeeee...agreeeeeeeeeeee!" He got the cuffs on the wrist that was in front of his neck and then she suddenly stopped emitting electricity and he dropped to the floor, slightly smoking from the amplified shock treatment he got.
[Silence]
Minoru groaned as he was very much dazed and unable to move right now. During that, Larxene growled out. "Are you kidding?" She was very angry. "I lost...to a loser like you?!"
Mineta heard that and he uttered out. "God...you're as bitchy as Mount Lady was during my internship."
"Does it look like I asked for your garbage opinion!?" Larxene yelled out.
[Play KH3 OST Larxene's Demise -cutscene-]
Then the announcement went off "Team Mineta and Sero have passed the finals!" And the two boys were taken out of the datascape and back into the real world. Neither boy could pick themself up. Hanta was still unconscious, and Minoru only barely managed to power through the same shock treatment that his partner went through.
Sora was the first to get over to them, and he was actually impressed. "Wow, Minoru." He said. "I didn't know you could take that much punishment." He carefully picked up the grape themed student and got him onto one of the stretchers that was brought out. "I also didn't think you could beat Larxene by yourself. I gotta say, I can respect that."
Mineta ended up having a triumphant smile as he then stated. "You know...if I could move, I would totally be standing proud right now."
"Just so you know, I'm not going to tone down on punishing you if you do any perverted stuff in the future." The Keyblade wielder made clear
"Damn it." Minoru cursed as Sero was put on another stretcher and the two were wheeled away to the temporary nurse's office.
Ochako then turned to Izuku. "Deku. It's your turn now." She pointed out.
"Yeah. I know." Midoriya said, feeling both inspired by everyone else's ability to pass, but also intimidated, because unlike the rest of the class, he knew that these guys were very tough, thanks to Sora's history with them. He also had another thing to worry about during his practical.
Katsuki Bakugo then entered the room, not even bothering to look at anyone as he walked to the platform, ready to do the practical. Izuku then hesitantly went onto the platform as well. Sora then spoke up. "Good luck." Even though he didn't say a name, everyone knew who he was talking to. After that was said, the two boys were transported into the datascape.
And here we are. Nine out of ten 1-A fights finished. First, let's talk about the nerfs. Demyx was nerfed so that he couldn't move during Dance Water Dance and that's really it. Xigbar was nerfed so that he couldn't use his bow DM from 3 or alter the terrain in any way to trap the students. He could move them, and himself, but he couldn't make a hole in the ground or wall off another area. Larxene was nerfed to only have two of herself instead of eight and that was it. This chapter was tricky to write because Xigbar, no matter how many scenarios I thought of, was not going to get cuffed. Same for Larxene, as no matter how many scenarios I thought of, Mineta was not going to escape her, so I switched it. I am very thankful that Toru's quirk has light reflecting capabilities that I could use to partially reflect Xiggy's shots and reduce the damage. I was also glad that Larxene was just as cocky as she is sadistic, so Mineta getting her while she thought she already won would work. We all know what's coming next, so I don't need to tease anything. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and until I decide to upload again ;)