(IMPORTANT) The lore of the three pointer bot has been changed for this story, instead of it being on treads and stuck to the ground, I've changed it to a flying robot, since it's a higher point robot, and that flying quirks have been a thing for years. So yeah, the one and two pointer are the same, but the three pointer, they fly now! So no need to comment about it. BTW Hey, I'm back! It's me! LOL. I'm finally back with a proper chapter 3 for yall, so if you enjoy please do let me know! I hope you enjoy this beefy chapter!
Although Jayluf was aware of Miss Hunee's instructions from earlier to stay focused, he still couldn't help but let his eyes wander around. After the presentation had ended and the students had been excused to head to their respective battle zones, Jayluf had only a few moments to say his farewells to his new Midoriya and "Kacchan".
Kacchan had seen fit to snarl at Jayluf and push him aside, but Midoriya had nervously smiled and waved, an expression Jayluf had not been familiar with. Waving was apparently a greeting and a way to say farewell without having to speak.
Having absorbed the new information, Jayluf had "waved goodbye" to Midoriya, and had watched as his new friend walked away.
When they'd been let back outside, Jayluf had been directed towards a giant car that was very tall, long, and square. Upon inquiring on what it was, Jayluf had immediately received strange looks from the students around him, but they eventually had told him it was called a "bus". Buses were giant machines built to transport a large amount of people at once, using an apparently much more powerful engine to move. While cars could allegedly fit a decent amount of people, buses seemed equipped to be able to carry up to ten or more people, maybe twenty!
The inside was quite different compared to the limo. While the limousine prioritized comfort, the bus focused only on being able to have seats at all. It sported a very metallic inside, with hard plastic seats and steel handlebars on the sides of the seats closest to the automatic door.
The automatic door was quite interesting to Jayluf, who intentionally let everyone before him enter first just so he could climb on, turn around, and watch it slide shut.
Although the seating was not comfortable, Jayluf did not care for comfort. After all, not many things bothered him. His focus was more on the fascinating sensation of the bus's giant engine revving to life as the entire bus seemed to rattle, it was much more prominent than the limousine engine, and to feel and hear the power was quite exhilarating.
Although it did not go as fast as the limo, it was still hypnotic to look out the window and watch the world move while he didn't move a muscle. Jayluf made a mental note that he would not mind going on a bus again. Unfortunately the bus ride did not last very long, and had stopped. The students had been ushered out in front of what was presumably the battle zone. The battle zone seemed to be a giant city encapsulated by giant walls on each side, effectively preventing anything from escaping. The towering barriers had reminded Jayluf of the same walls at base back home.
But although his interest was in the wall, he quickly found himself being disoriented by the other students who were now less spread out than before. There were so many different students, all unique with both look and scent. Some looked completely normal, some had animal attributes on their bodies, either prominent or barely noticeable. Others had bizarrely shaped heads, or elongated fingers.
Everyone slowly moved in the direction of the gate, which was the entrance to the faux city.
People simply stood and continued to idly chatter amongst one another, causing Jayluf to feel slightly confused. Were they not supposed to go when it opened? Or was there a countdown?
"Okay!" Present Mic yelled through a loudspeaker. "Start!"
Upon hearing the command, Jaylufs conditioning kicked in, and he obediently began to sprint forward past the other students. Passing through the entrance gates, he decided to take a sharp left.
"W-What?" said a student.
"Did he just?" said another.
"But Present Mic did say-"
"What are you waiting for?!" cried Present Mic. "There are no countdowns in real fights!"
Ignoring the sound of other students scrambling behind him, Jayluf continued sprinting forward, intent on scoring as high as he possibly could. However, he was somewhat uncertain how he'd accomplish it. He'd used his quirk on punching bags, but never on an actual moving thing. But then again, it was a robot.
"Jayluf!"
If he had been capable of being scared, Jayluf might have fallen on his face at the sound of the very familiar voice seemingly coming from nowhere. As he continued running, he glanced left and right in an attempt to deduce where the sound had come from. No one was near him.
"Jayluf!" The voice repeated. "Down here, on your collar!"
Wait a second, he recognized that voice! His eyes searched frantically for his caretaker. "Miss Hunee? Where are you? I cannot see you. Have you changed size?"
"I'm not actually here Jayluf, I'm contacting you from the radio inside the collar we strapped on you! I'm here to help you! It's actually more than just a tracker, we can also monitor your life signs and stuff, pretty high tech!"
Jayluf risked a glance behind him to see that no one was following him. "Is that allowed?"
"Considering the fact they said you were allowed to bring whatever equipment you wanted, it's obviously allowed! Even if they said that you can't help each other, they didn't say anything about radio contact! It's what we call a loophole! Something Nohken specializes in! Now focus up! You've probably got bots near you!"
Increasing his pace, Jayluf readied himself to follow whatever commands were given to him, just like they trained him to do. "I'm ready."
"We have a rough idea of where you are, satellite imaging is very handy! You've got a giant wall to your left, right? Then you probably should only worry about bots coming from in front or to your right!"
The sound of something whirring made Jayluf look to the right to spot a giant one eyed machine a good distance away. It had two metal arms, an elongated neck with a small angled head at the end. It balanced itself on one wheel, its red glowing eye glaring at him as it started to move towards him.
"I've spotted a one pointer." Jayluf said, eyeing the giant number painted on its side.
"You'll have to use bio-form Jayluf!" Miss Hunee called. "I know you don't like to, but it's the only way you're gonna be able to take down these bots!"
Gritting his teeth, Jayluf knew he had to obey his superiors. "Yes ma'am."
Channeling all his focus into his cells, he flexed his arms and hands to give the mental "okay" for his cells. Claws out.
Upon receiving the instructions, his cells near his hands began to move quickly, vibrating violently as they rewrote the genetic structure of muscle, bone, and flesh of his hands.
His pale hands quickly turned a shade of dark red from the sudden increase of blood, swelling and swelling like a balloon until finally, the skin burst open. His fingers and nails deformed, morphing and stretching themselves out longer and longer, until they resemble thick black claws. His hands were now swollen red clawed weapons, glistening with exposed muscle and blood red flesh.
Claws are out, his cells informed him cheerily.
The skin of his hands hung loosely from his wrists like popped balloons. Hissing, he quickly flicked his hands to where the skin would slap against his clawed palms, allowing for quicker reabsorption by his cells for use later. "I'm ready Miss Jayluf."
"Great! Now swing!" Cheered Miss Hunee from the radio. "Claw it to pieces! Rip 'em to shreds!"
Now that the training bot had gotten close enough, Jayluf brought up his right arm, waited until the one pointer was in just the right spot, and swung as hard as he could.
The sensation of his claws tearing through metal was a very peculiar feeling, but it definitely was not an unsatisfactory one. He'd aimed right for the exposed neck, which seemed to be its weak point. Sure enough, his claws had ripped straight through, thoroughly decapitating the bot and ending its artificial life.
Jayluf made a mental note of how it had been weaker than he expected it to be, perhaps because these machines were built to be destroyed?
"It's down."
The sound of Miss Hunee clapping her hands together was audible. "Great job Jayluf, but that was only a one pointer! Get to scrapping more of them, before the other students get their hands on them!"
Continuing to hug the giant wall, Jayluf kept passing alley after alley until he was surprised by a bot literally lunging out at him from behind a corner of the building in front of him. It sported four stubby legs, two glowing eyes, and a bizarre tail that arched upwards. The number two was painted boldly on its body.
It threw itself at Jayluf too quickly for him to react, slamming the blunt end of its tail against the boy's chest. He tumbled backwards, groaning as he idly instructed his cells to numb the sharp pain in his ribs and sternum.
This one appears to be more aggressive. Getting back to his feet, Jayluf eyed the bot preparing to lunge once more. And lunge it did, lashing with its tail the same way it did before.
However Jayluf had been expecting this attack, and threw himself to the right to dodge the aggressor's tail.
Using his legs to propel himself, Jayluf lunged towards the two pointer that still was in the middle of retracting its tail. Seizing the opportunity, he brought his claws down, and sliced through the tail. The bot stumbled back in surprise, as its only offensive weapon was now gone.
Taking advantage, Jayluf dug his hands into the robot's head, and tore out what he presumed was the head.
Indeed it was, for the machine had stopped moving as it sparked and fell over to the ground, signaling its defeat.
"Another robot has been disposed of," Jayluf said.
"Good, keep going Jayluf!" Miss Hunee said. "You've only gotten two!"
Stepping up the pace, Jayluf proceeded forward, and took a right as the alleyways had ended in favor of the street that separated the blocks of buildings which would lead deeper into the maze of a city.
Peering around, Jayluf failed to spy any more machines for him to destroy. However, he did hear a sound that was new to him. He focused on it. It sounded like a humming, or whirring?
A shadow above him made him abruptly aware of the fact that a large object was coming towards him at a rapid speed.
Before he could even raise his arms, the metal arm struck him in the face, sending the boy flying backwards and landing on his face.
"Is everything okay?" Miss Hunee squeaked. "Your vitals jumped up!"
Jayluf noticed a tooth had been knocked out of his mouth from the attacking robot. Picking it up and pressing it back into his gums, he glanced up at the machine. "I'm functioning. I just got surprised by a flying bot. I believe that is the three pointer."
"Are you able to take it out?"
"If I am able to bait it down, yes."
The three pointer whirred loudly as it flew around for another attack, its red eyes glued to Jayluf.
Just a bit closer…
Picking up speed, the robot began to move down towards him, intent on using the same swooping move from earlier.
Now!
Angling himself backwards, Jayluf thrust his clawed digits upwards to the sky, catching the three pointer on its underbelly, slicing through metal like butter. Mortally wounded, the three pointer sputtered and beeped as it carried toward the ground, crashing into the wall.
While the students in the battle zones smashed as many bots as they could, they were all under the watchful eye of several Pro Heroes gathered in a dimly lit room, with several screens, each displaying a different student currently in the exam.
Principal Nezu, a small rodent-like creature, sat in the middle of the front row, sipping a cup of tea cheerily. "In this practical exam, the students have not been informed of the number of villain robots, or their locations. They have a limited amount of time to use in a huge area."
The screen closest to him flickered to show a panicking green haired boy running for his life.
"Their only choice is to lead the villains out in the open for them to dispose of," he continued, "or try and hunt them down themselves. They have to use everything they have. Either their ability to gather information, or mobility to use in different situations."
The screen changed to show a boy with multiple arms on top of a building, and changed to a student wearing glasses.
"They must also be able to keep calm in the face of danger. And of course, their ability in combat. These are things every hero needs in order to be able to keep peace in the streets of society. Those who are able to show these traits in this test are given points based on their performance."
"This batch of students seem to be quite promising, and interesting, like that one that seems to be using a radio." a female voice said from behind.
Cementoss, a Pro Hero sitting beside Nezu, raised an eyebrow. "One of them is using a radio?"
The female Pro Hero Midnight, pointed to the screen adjacent to her. "It seems that way. The short one with that weird brand name uniform wearing the strange collar. I saw him talking, and since he constantly looks down to that collar while it flashes, I'm guessing that it might be some sort of radio device."
"Is that even allowed?" Cementoss said as he squinted to get a better view of the boy in the frame, who was using his claws to rip the wires from a One Pointer. "Getting assistance from the outside is surely against some kind of rule, isn't it"
Nezu chuckled to himself, stirring his tea with a small metal spoon. "Well… I suppose we did say any equipment is allowed. I'm actually somewhat tickled that someone really tried to exploit this previously undiscovered loophole."
A gas mask wearing cowboy hero to the right of Nezu tilted his head curiously. "You don't seem very bothered by it."
He could only shrug. "Like I said, it amuses me. What interests me though, is that company name. I'm betting that same company might have provided that student with the radio collar as well."
Other teachers looked closer at the monitor, barely being able to make out the blurred logo on the erratically moving student.
"Nohken Industries…"
Midnight raised an eyebrow. "Does the name sound familiar to you Nezu?"
"Perhaps. But it's not the first time companies used entry students as a product placement. Sponsorship isn't exactly unheard of. But this is a discussion for another time, as we should get back to the rest of the students in the exam. I believe it's time to release the zero pointer."
"Indeed. Their true test is yet to come" said Cementoss, reaching forward to press a shiny red button on the console.
Jayluf was starting to feel rather confident that he would be able to pass this test. He'd destroyed several bots by now, and was moving on to look for more nearby.
Miss Hunee seemed to feel the same way. "Good job!" she said. "With how you're doing now, I'm sure you're going to pass this test no prob-"
Whatever she was going to say was abruptly cut off by the loudest crashing sound Jayluf had ever heard in his life. His head whipped in the direction of the sound, spotting large plumes of smoke coming between the giant buildings in the city.
What was that?
He stared blankly for several moments before realizing that Miss Hunee was still hollering at him from the collar. "W-What was that, Miss Hunee?"
"I said what in the world was that noise?! There was a boom sound and then you stopped responding!"
"I don't know what caused it…" He glanced down at the ground as it vibrated. "But I have a feeling it is something rather large in size."
"Crap!" Miss Hunee cursed. "They must have released the Krak- I mean, the Zero Pointer! Make sure to steer clear of it!"
Jayluf began to back up slowly as the zero pointer appeared from the smoke.
It was colossal. Perhaps the biggest thing Jayluf had ever seen in his entire life. The Zero Pointer was nothing like the pixelated display during the presentation earlier. This machine was several times larger than advertised, dwarfing all the other robots, and was so large that it actually was taller than the BUILDINGS surrounding it.
"Steer clear. I can accomplish that." Jayluf said as he turned to run, but halted in his tracks when he had glanced behind him for a final take.
He saw students running for their lives from the giant, but the students also happened to be ignoring a few point bots that weren't in the direct path of the zero pointer. Extra points that he could obtain, if he was quick enough!
"Miss Hunee." Jayluf said as he turned and began to jog in the direction of the mayhem, "I have to get near the zero pointer, there are several bots still functioning, and it would be in my best interest for me to destroy them while the other students are distracted by the zero pointer."
"You're gonna what?!" Cried Miss Hunee in disbelief. Several moments passed until she sighed in defeat. "Ugh! Alright, fine! But don't let it see you!"
Jayluf nodded. "Got it." Turning around, he decided to backtrack towards the giant wall and hug left in order to go behind the zero pointer that way, to ensure that it would not spot him. Even if he couldn't see it through the ridiculous amount of smoke and dust it kicked up on occasion, the noise made it quite easy to guess where its current location was. Exiting a nearby alley, he was now in a large street a bit deeper in the city, with the zero pointer in front of him, its back thankfully turned as it appeared to be searching for students.
He had managed to run into two bots, both one pointers. Both were disposed of rather easily, and he could now see two more bots squeezed into an alleyway with a dumpster. Sprinting into the alley, he impaled the one pointer with a clawed hand, leaving it to crumple to the ground. The three pointer was unfortunately just a bit too quick, for even though Jayluf managed to score a hit in, it wasn't enough to bring the bot down. Sparking, the damaged but still functional bot hovered upwards out of reach, its navigation systems somewhat intact.
Staring, Jayluf decided to ignore it. I will not be able to waste time trying to climb after it. I should head back out into the street, and search for any stragglers for me to take down.
Searching even proved to be a challenge, for when Jayluf had exited the alley, there was so much smoke being kicked up that anything outside of a twenty foot radius was practically invisible to him. He needed to be doubly aware now if he wanted a chance to scrap any more bots.
He didn't need to look long for bots, because the sound of crashing and groaning metal gave Jayluf pause, causing him to angle his head upwards…
To see six glowing eyes staring right at him.
"Miss Hunee," Jayluf quickly reported, "It appears the zero pointer has spotted me. What should I do?"
"What should you d- Run you dolt! Run away to the nearest place you can squeeze into!"
"The alleyway."
"THEN GO!"
Not needing to be told twice, Jayluf quickly spun around and retreated towards the alleyway that he came out of, the zero pointer hot on his tail. The machine's massive body smashed into the sides of buildings and crushed the ground with its treads as it pursued the much smaller human.
Reaching his destination, Jayluf squeezed himself into the alleyway and quickly turned around to see that the giant bot had been right on him. He quickly took several steps back in caution as the giant robot glared down at him, as if it had a certain distaste for him.
But it didn't stop there. Pressing its face against the top of the other buildings, the zero pointer attempted to fit its massive head between the two buildings into the alleyway. After several moments of it not working, it brought its massive head back up, and reached forward with its massive right hand.
But even that proved too narrow for even the hand, as the sides smashed against the corners of the buildings, preventing the zero pointer access to Jayluf.
It cannot get me.
But as the machine retracted its claw, the still circling three pointer was unfortunately in the direct pathway of the claw, smacking into it and causing to to spark even more, black smoke spewing out of its head.
It began to fall.
Right towards Jayluf.
Eyes widening in surprise, Jayluf began to back up as quickly as he could, realizing the damage that could be done if that bot landed directly onto him. Sure he could heal smaller injuries but he had no clue what would happen if it was a serious injury like a giant robot falling on him.
He managed to take five steps back in slight panic before he felt himself falling backwards. But how? He wasn't one to fall over on nothing.
Unfortunately for him, he'd forgotten that the one pointer that he defeated earlier, was still lying down on the ground, and when its elongated neck caught the back of his heel, it caused him to plummet to the ground.
Smashing the back of his head against the pavement, Jayluf's vision went fuzzy, his head throbbing in pain as his cells became very active to alert him of the damage to his head.
But he didn't have much time to recover, for several moments later, everything went from bad to much, much, worse.
Although Jayluf had put enough distance between him and the robot to prevent it from smashing into his torso or head, he hadn't backed up enough to save himself entirely.
For when he had just almost gained his bearings from the blow to his head, the three pointer had finally landed. And unfortunately for him, his leg had been sticking out just a little too far.
And then…
PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN his cells screamed.
Jayluf's eyes went huge as his entire world was filled with the most horrible pain imaginable. The sensation of his leg bone suddenly snapping and puncturing his flesh was agonizing, forcing him to open his mouth to let out a raw scream of unfiltered agony.
As tears ran down his cheeks, the boy lashed out in pain and panic, desperately trying to pull his leg from under the offending deactivated robot that was pinning his limb to the ground.
His cells were firing every neuron and pain sensor they could as they rattled around in panic. MAJOR DAMAGE! LIMB FUNCTIONALITY COMPROMISED! they screamed in warning. As if he didn't know that!
"JAYLUF?!" Cried Miss Hunee. "YOUR READINGS JUST WENT OFF THE CHARTS! REPORT!"
Jayluf was only able to say one thing. "IT HURTS! IT HURTS MISS HUNEE!" He sobbed. "IT HURTS IT HURTS!"
He needed to get out of this place, but his leg was still trapped! The robot had to be dealt with NOW. Sobbing as snot leaked from his nostrils, Jayluf blindly began to claw away at the robot, using his right leg to push against the side of the robot.
After what seemed like long minutes passing, he laminated to dig through enough solid metal to pull his leg free from under the robot. Or at least, what was left of his leg. The sensation of his leg being moved caused even more pain to flare up, as he felt the exposed bone drag against the ground, forcing Jayluf to let out another scream.
His cells were flying around inside his leg. They didn't know what to do. NUMB? HEAL? NUMB OR HEAL? They couldn't do both at once, and they've never regenerated an injury like this before, at least as far as Jayluf could remember. They needed to be given an order. WHAT IS PRIORITY?!
"NUMB!" Jayluf cried pathetically, his voice several octaves higher than usual. He didn't care about how badly he'd bleed out, he just wanted to escape this pain, this horrible, indescribable agony. It felt like his entire leg had been set ablaze
Upon receiving the command, his cells went to work, soaring through his body to silence and muffle any pain sensor or pain related neuron in his body that could possibly give Jayluf any discomfort.
Several seconds passed by before Jayluf's gasps of suffering simmered down to only quiet sniffles. Although the horrible pain had been dimmed significantly, his leg still throbbed in pain.
"JAYLUF!"
Oh. How long had she been yelling? "M-Miss Hunee… I…" he sniffled. "I'm here."
"Jayluf, thank God! I was freaking out when you started screaming! Wait… do I hear you crying? What happened?"
"R-robot landed on my l-leg."
"How bad? Can you look and tell me what it looks like down there?"
Trying to crane his neck forwards without moving his leg too much, Jayluf leaned forward to inspect the damage.
God, where wasn't the damage? The robot's weight had caused his leg bone to literally give out and snap. The skin color on his leg had gone from his normal pinkish pace to an ugly yellow and dark purple bruising. And the back of the limb was the worst, his leg bone sticking out and completely exposed, the jagged edges of the snapped bone were in plain view. The flesh that had been torn open and displaced from the bone slicing through now hung loosely like loose meat on a drumstick. The wound was still spurting out blood, due to Jayluf's cells currently being occupied by keeping him from passing out in pain.
"M-Major damage to left leg, m-my ability t-to walk has b-b-been compromised. Th-The bone is sticking out of the back of my leg."
What's happening…? Why is water coming out of my eyes? Am I feeling… an emotion? I don't like this. I need help.
"P-Please send help. I need urgent extraction. P-please…?"
"D-Damn it! Okay Jayluf, we're on our way! Just hang on! Dammit, where are the teachers for situations like this?!"
Unbeknownst to both parties, the smoke from the zero pointers mayhem was blocking some of the cameras, and even if they hadn't been obstructing the view, the Pro Heroes were currently being distracted by a monitor displaying certain broccoli haired teen leaping up hundreds of feet in the air directly towards a zero pointer with his fist raised for a smashing punch.
"Jayluf! We've gotten clearance to enter on UA property, and are getting directions to your battle zone. Can you at least try moving towards the entrance gate of your battle zone? Doesn't matter if you drag yourself or hobble on one leg, we need to get to you as soon as we can."
Slowly turning himself over to rest on his stomach, Jayluf let out a small whine of agony as his pain receptors vehemently protested the slightest movement of his broken leg.
"I… I don't know if I can…"
Miss Hunee wasn't taking no for an answer. "That's an order, Jayluf."
Even though he was completely off his game, his training still was burned into his mind, and he knew he had to follow orders. "Y-Yes ma'am."
Hissing in pain, Jayluf reached forward and dug his claws into the ground, pulling himself slowly out of the alley way, letting out a gasp of pain every few seconds as he moved towards the giant wall that would lead him right back to the entrance.
A few moments of him slowly dragging half crawling passed by when he heard a whirring noise.
Eyes widening, Jayluf turned his head
Oh no. Not now! He couldn't defend himself from this! He was too exposed and in too open of an area. Panic bubbling in his chest, he started to hyperventilate in terror as he watched the one pointer roll towards him, its metal arms raised to attack.
Only for a flying horn to suddenly impale the offending bot in the head, killing it instantly.
"Oh mai gawd, ar yuu okey?" asked a feminine voice that Jayluf did not recognize.
From what he could tell in his dazed state, it was a voice with a very broken accent, as if the words being spoken were one the speaker was unfamiliar with.
Swiveling his head around to the other side, Jayluf spotted his rescuer running towards him in full view.
It was a female teenager, sporting long flowing blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a rather round face. Her round hourglass figure led to her legs and feet, or hooves. From her hair were two massive horns that were pointed upwards.
"Yur leg looks relee messed up!" She spoke once more, her broken accent being painfully thick.
Jayluf glanced down at his leg. "Y-Yes…"
"Jayluf, who is that? I hear someone talking!" Miss Hunee said through his collar. "Is it a teacher?"
"N-No" said the girl, brows furrowed in concern. "Im nadah teecher! Imma nuther stoodint!"
"Please, can you help Jayluf?" Begged Miss Hunee. "Just to the entrance, he can't move on his own and we're running out of time-"
"Uv coarse I can help!" The girl cried. "My quirk let me moof mai hornz! I can carree people with it no problum!"
"Do it then! And Jayluf, hang on!"
"O-Okay…" whispered Jayluf, his cheek now resting against the ground from exhaustion.
Suddenly, her horns shot out of her head, and impaled the sleeves of his shirt. Two more did the same for his pant legs, although thankfully the one supporting his injured leg had simply placed itself under it, to prevent his leg from hanging limply.
"Eye can moov yu with my hornz, but it might hurt! On tree. Won, too… TREE!"
Jayluf let out a yelp of pain as he felt himself being elevated into the air by his limbs, his body still very much against any movement of his leg at all as blood still freely leaked out.
"S-Sorree!" Squeaked the girl.
And then Jayluf felt himself being moved forward, the girl sprinting as the four horns floated behind her, carrying him along.
"Th-thank you…" he said.
The next few minutes became somewhat of a blur to Jayluf as he was being transported. He fell into a trance of a sort as he watched the ground move in a blur, feeling the wind blowing against his face as his mind went blank from focusing on making sure his cells dulled as much pain as possible. If not for the still stinging pain in his lower limb, he could have said being carried like this was somewhat pleasant.
The sound of a distant horn being blared made Jayluf faintly aware of the exam officially ending. He didn't really have the strength to dwell on it too much, the only thing he wanted to do was sleep.
However he was lucid enough to feel a small pang of regret at the blood trail he was leaving behind. The cells being left behind would dry up and die under the sun's merciless rays.
It was a waste, and while he knew he could have focused on healing, he didn't want to feel pain. Right now, pain was a very scary thing.
"Okie," said the girl. "I think this iz the entrance!"
Sure enough, it had been the entrance, and as soon as they stepped outside, the girl spoke once more. "Whoa! Izzat a limozeen?"
Faintly grasping her words, Jayluf summoned the strength to move his head up to look to see a familiar looking car pulling up towards them.
And strangely enough, a sound to his left made his ears perk up. A new sound that was increasing in volume. It sounded… like an engine?
A glance to his left revealed a rather bizarre sight. It looked like the same student from the auditorium during the presentation, the one who had inquired about the supposed error on the cards and had accused Jayluf and Midoriya about being tourists or something.
In the students arms was what appeared to be… a small old lady?
"Jayluf!"
The sweet sound of Miss Hunee's voice brought him from his dazed state, causing him to look back to the stopped limo and see Miss Hunee climbing out of the vehicle.
He'd never felt so relieved in his life. "Miss Hunee," he whispered, "you're here… I request assistance…"
"Oh god," Miss Hunee said as she spotted what was left of his leg, "it's worse than I thought. We need to get you medical attention as soon as possible, help me put him in the car and we can-"
She was abruptly cut off by the student from before coming to a screeching halt near them, kicking up gravel and some dust.
"That won't be necessary," said the old woman as she was gently placed down by the student carrying her.
"Look whoever you are, Jayluf is in urgent need of medical care, if you want to say something it'll have to wait!"
"Pardon my interruption!" Said the glasses student. "But this woman here is a Pro Hero! Her name is Recovery Girl, and her quirk can heal almost any wound, even being able to fix broken bones! I've seen it myself! Please allow her to heal your friend!"
"She's a Pro Hero?" Echoed the horned girl.
Miss Hunee stared for a few seconds indecisively before clenching her fists. "Fine! Do it now!"
"Of course of course. Young lady, hold him closer would you?"
Jayluf felt himself being moved to the left, presumably where the alleged Pro Hero was standing.
He didn't know her quirk worked, but when he heard the sound of stretching skin, he looked up.
Only for a pair of lips to press directly against his forehead.
He blinked.
Um, what?
"Eh?!" Cried the horned girl.
Jayluf was about to question what the nurse had done, only to feel a brand new sensation he never thought he'd feel. His cells were moving on someone else's command. He felt his leg move and twist, and he hissed in pain, but the pain lessened more and more as flesh was sewing itself back together and broken bone was knit.
His cells were baffled as well. Although they cooperated and followed the orders without question, they still rattled with confusion and uncertainty from the fact that they had been given instructions from an outside force that was alien to them.
The green glow stopped, and Jaylud realized the pain was gone. Looking at his leg he saw that his leg looked brand new. "I-It worked…" he said.
"Now that the life threatening issue is solved." Recovery Girl began, "would you like to tell me how you got that Injury? So many broken limbs today…"
"A flying robot was hit by the zero pointer, it fell and landed on my leg after I tripped." Jayluf spoke plainly, thoroughly exhausted from the whole experience. "It had been hurting too much for me to try and heal."
"Falling robot… ugh, I always knew flying bots would be trouble, I'm going to speak with Nezu after this about those things… Anyways, you said something about healing? Is that your quirk? I had assumed it was your… claws that was your quirk."
"I… guess?" Jayluf replied. "My quirk is Cellular Command, and I can use it to command my cells to do things like heal me faster, or to numb pain. It also lets me change body parts at will. I call that ability Bio-Form."
Upon the mention of his claws, he focused on reverting his meat hands back to small human sized hands. Boosted by the kiss, the skin wrapped itself over muscle and flesh almost immediately, and his hands were back to normal.
"I see…" said Recovery Girl. "Fascinating."
The horned girl waved in front of Jayluf's face. "Hello hi! Do yu want mee to poot you down now?"
"That's fine." Jayluf said, relaxing as he felt himself being lowered to the ground. "Thank you for saving me."
"O-Oh, no problim! My name iz Pony by the way!"
"Jayluf. Do you want to be friends?"
The sudden question seemed to catch Pony off guard. "R-Really? I mean uh, uv coarse!"
"Okay."
"Well I'm glad you two are friends and all," Recovery girl started. She turned to the woman in the lab coat. "But I must ask, you're 'Miss Hunee', right? How did you get here without having a visitor pass?"
Miss Hunee immediately placed a disarming smile. "Well, I look after Jayluf! I'm a representative of Nohken Industries, and when I heard he was injured, I made sure to let the person at the intercom know that if they didn't let me save Jayluf's life, I'd see them in court."
The nurse seemed to bristle at the casual mentioning of a court threat. "So you threatened one of U.A.'s employees? Am I correct?"
Miss Hunee shrugged. "Look, I had no idea that U.A. had a hero that can magically fix any injury. All I knew is that Jayluf was bleeding out, crippled, and far away from any medical assistance. I won't apologize for trying to save his life when he got injured from YOUR school exams. Flying robots? Giant robots? Seriously?"
"I will concede on the three pointers, as I always disliked them," Recovery Girl said. "But the zero pointer was always meant to terrorize, if it actually was risking killing or severely injuring a student, its programming would stop it."
Miss Hunee said nothing as she helped Jayluf back to his feet.
"But if you're a representative of that company, why are you interested in U.A.? Are both of you just representing your company?" She turned to Jayluf. "Tell me young man, why did you apply to become a hero? Money? Fame? Attention for that company that made that shirt? Was it your dream?"
Jayluf faintly remembered Miss Hunee's words of wisdom from yesterday. "Dreams are silly," he parroted.
Recovery Girl blinked. "That's not exactly an answer." She sighed. "Oh well. Here…"
Jayluf's eyes widened in curiosity as he felt something being placed into his hands, looking down to inspect the objects. "What are these?"
"Those are gummies, Jayluf." Miss Hunee said quickly. "It's food, eat it." She turned to the shorter woman. "Sorry, we've never given him gummies before, candy in general, actually?"
The old Pro Hero raised an eyebrow. "A kid never having eaten candy before? That's a first."
Jayluf plopped the gummies into his mouth, chewing and moving them around in his mouth experimentally. They were squishy, sweet, and took no effort to break up between his teeth. The soft texture and the fruity flavors produced a rather pleasant experience.
"FEEZ ARE GUD," He said.
"Jayluf, chew with your mouth closed." Miss Hunee reprimanded. "Well, now that's out of the way and the exam is over, I think it's time for us to head out. Thank you for helping him get out of the battle zone miss uh, Pony, was it?"
"Y-Yeah! Noh problum!" Pony said bashfully. "It wuz nice meeting you Jayluf! I hope we both pass! But Maybe we could exchange cell phone numbers in case one of us doesn't pass? I'd like to see you again!"
Jayluf stared at her blankly for several seconds. "What's a cell phone?"
Shota Aizawa had assumed that now the entrance exams had ended, he'd be able to go home and sleep. He hadn't had to do much while the exams had taken place. (Why had they even asked for his input on that anyways?) But to his displeasure, he'd found himself being summoned with a handful of other teachers by Nezu. Upon entering, he saw that Midnight, Snipe, Present Mic, Cementoss, and Nezu himself were already in the room and seated.
"Ah, Eraser! Nice to see you arrive! I apologize for the sudden summoning nearing the end of the work day, but I figured it best to do it now while some of the other teachers were still here. It's unfortunate I missed All Might and the others, but I suppose I can discuss it with them the next time they're here."
Aizawa sighed as he plopped down in the nearest open seat, which was unfortunately right by Mic. "What's going on Nezu? Why did you call us here?"
"Well, I wished to make you all aware that I've taken an interest in a certain student, one I think you all should do well to keep an eye on. He's a student related to the minor breach earlier today.
Snipe sharply looked up towards Nezu. "There was a breach today?"
"A minor one, yes. Allow me to explain. During the exams, a corporate car not associated with U.A. had threatened the door security to let them in, because apparently the people in the car were associated with this student. The alarm didn't go off, but I was made aware not long after the exams ended."
"And which student is the one you find so interesting?"
Nezu simply produced a tablet from under the table, and tapped a few times before flipping it around to show the rest of the staff. A picture showing a short teenager with black hair that covered his eyes and ears presumably speaking to the green haired boy that had punched the zero pointer. "His name is Jayluf Viller."
"So, were the people in the car his parents?" Midnight wondered. "If so, that's a probable factor in this. A rich parent being snobby, scaring one of our newer employees into letting them in. It's not the first time we've had to handle something like this."
"Agreed," Aizawa said boredly. "It's probably just an idiot citizen assuming they have power over others."
"Surprisingly, no, they're not his parents." Nezu countered. "In fact, he doesn't even have any listed parents. The woman in the car had dubbed herself his 'caretaker', and nothing else. And it also appears that he has no real birth records, only forged ones."
That had gotten Aizawa's attention. "Okay, I'm listening."
"When I found out about the fake birth records, I decided to do some digging. I'll show you what I found, starting with the company name on the limousine, and on Jayluf's clothes."
"Nohken Industries…" Snipe said.
"That's them." Nezu said, turning the tablet back around and tapping it again. "Nohken Industries is a rather large company that had originally began as a humble pharmaceutical company, providing both prescribed and over the counter medicines. They managed to make a small fortune with their success, big enough to the point that they branched out their pharmacies to multiple cities."
Mic frowned as he idly scratched his chin. "So, they're a pharmacy?"
"They once were. When they began to grow in popularity over the decades, they expanded their product line to other things, like clothing, groceries, and even military related products."
"Military related?" Aizawa questioned. We're not talking tanks, are we?
Nezu pushed the tablet back out as he flipped it back to show the other teachers the screen, which now was displaying an old photo of construction being done in the middle of what appeared to be a forest. "A few decades ago, they managed to become so big that they had the money to legally purchase a large chunk of land to build a nicely sized base. A headquarters, if you will. If I recall correctly, it was heavily scrutinized by other countries and was accused of trying to become a military power."
"Are you saying that they have their own private military?"
"Indeed," hummed Nezu. "They do have their own small force, but they claimed it was merely security for protecting company secrets. It's amazing that it's still legally standing, they have armed guards, helicopters, military grade Humvees, stuff you'd see at a USA air base. However, it's still not very large, as it's only large enough to protect their property, and nothing else."
"I highly doubt their company secrets validate them having an armed force, that kind of military force like that is used for stuff like guarding Area 51." Aizawa said humorlessly. A store brand arming themselves to the teeth? Give me a break.
"I'm inclined to agree with Eraser," Cementoss said, clasping his hands together. "With such a large base, military presence, and countless stores, how on earth did it manage to slip under the radar? Shouldn't it be a prominent topic in news articles online?"
"A very astute observation," Nezu said. He turned the tablet back to him to tap a few times once more. "That's the interesting part, because when they had almost finished their headquarters, they abruptly made the bizarre financial decision to close all other stores across Japan at the exact same time, selling it to other pharmaceutical companies and grocery store brands who had sought their locations for ages." He showed the screen once more, which displayed a before and after image of the Nohken Pharmacy and the modern one being a generic brand that had bought the space.
"Strange, is it not?" Nezu hummed thoughtfully. "They had taken all of their stores, resources, and money, and squeezed it all into a single chunk of land. They still sell their products, but they only ship it to other stores. A rather risky move from a financial perspective."
"But… why would they do that?" Mic said. "You said their corporate power was all over Japan, it could have completely taken over as the main brand of stores, but they decided to just abandon ship? Why destroy all those sources of revenue in favor of a gamble like that?"
"My theory is that they wish to stay under the radar," Nezu said as he brought the tablet back, tapping away on the screen yet again. "Decades ago when they had gotten national attention from the purchasing of weapons and military grade equipment while they finished their headquarters, that was when they had decided to suddenly close every store they had to huddle up behind their walls. And judging from our and presumably the public's lack of knowledge, it has worked to an extent. So far, the only drama they've faced recently is them being under fire for how much gas or diesel is wasted by their transport trucks, the ones that deliver their products to other stores across the country." He flipped the tablet to show the others several headlines of articles publicly shaming Nohken for their lack of green energy. "Apparently it's a rather lengthy drive to their headquarters, since it's in the middle of a forest and miles away from any city in Japan. Doesn't matter what type of energy is used, gas or electric, it doesn't change that quite a lot of energy is being burned. " The tablet was flipped away again. "Of course, some people have energy related quirks or can produce biofuel, but I don't think Nohken will ever be able to escape from being under fire from green or earth activist groups."
"So… do you think that this Jayluf kid is like, a criminal? An immigrant?" Mic questioned. "Because although the display earlier was pretty suspicious, I don't know if it means we should all be focused on that. Why do you find it so interesting, besides the weird history?"
Nezu spared a glance up from behind the tablet. "Well, because they've taken a sudden interest in hero society."
Aizawa frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, remember everything I've told you about Nohken Industries, do you remember a detail being missing? Nohken Industries has never been associated with anything related to the Hero side of society, and they never made any brand deals with hero groups or companies, either. Now suddenly, after over a hundred years of existing as a company, do they take a sudden interest in U.A."
"I will admit," Cementoss began, "that is rather… odd."
"Quite. They have Jayluf Viller, who as you saw in the security footage, apply for the entrance exams. They drop him off via a limousine while having him wear an outfit that is sporting their brand name for everyone to see, practically making the boy a walking advertisement."
"Well, that isn't exactly unheard of," Midnight said. "We've had students be sponsored by other companies to test out their gear in either the entrance exams, or during their entire stay at U.A. in general. There is a chance that the fake birth records are from illegal immigration, which at worst, would get the kid deported."
"Possibly. But I have a feeling this Jayluf boy is something they value greatly. I believe that Jayluf is not merely a walking advertisement to them, but something much, much, more. So important to them, to the point where they're willing to put a tracker on him."
All of the teachers' eyes widened at the same time in surprise.
"A tracker?" Aizawa repeated.
"Yep!" Nezu said cheerfully. "Take a look here!" He flipped the tablet back around to show a video feed showing a limousine. "Our security cameras picked this up at the beginning of the day."
Aizawa and the other teachers leaned forward to observe the footage being shown. A small limousine pulled up, the door swinging open and Jayluf climbing out, only to be stopped and turned around, and an arm from the rolled down window reached out, placing a metal collar with a red line going through the middle around the boy's neck.
"The woman that had been in the limousine from later that day had placed this metal collar on him." Nezu continued as he turned the tablet back around. "The very same metal collar that we saw earlier and had simply believed to be a fancy radio. I now believe it is also a tracking device, and possibly a way to monitor his vitals, depending on how paranoid these people are. But I can safely assume it is both, because at the presumed time Jayluf was injured, did the limousine attempt to enter past the road entrance gate that led to the battle zones."
"Well, it's not exactly illegal to have that sort of gear…" Mic said.
"Perhaps, but here's something interesting that happened roughly an hour ago. I received an email from Nohken Industries themselves."
The revelation piqued Aizawa's interest. "Personally?"
"Personally," Nezu echoed. "Not the U.A. public address on our website, my personal email. It was an apology from Nohken explaining their shame in how one of their employees acted on our property and for how Jayluf had gotten himself 'into trouble' with our robots. Along with it, was a check, they claimed it was to cover for whatever money that they apparently thought we spent when tending to Jayluf's wounds." He turned the tablet to them. "Odd, since their employee knew that Recovery Girl was the one who fixed him up in near seconds, as you can see here in the footage. Most companies would just send a simple thank you card, or a gift basket out of professional courtesy. But most companies wouldn't apologize for someone under their employment getting injured by our legal property. It's bizarre, isn't it?"
"Bizarre, yes." Snipe said. "But not exactly suspicious."
"I'd agree, if it wasn't for the final part of the email, where they attempted to subtly urge me to accept Jayluf into our school."
"They did what?" Mic said in disbelief.
"You heard me right. The final part was them explaining how although they regret what happened, they still hoped that Jayluf would be accepted, claiming he'd be able to become a great hero, change the world, that usual kind of drivel."
"Well… people begging for their kid to be accepted isn't new…" Midnight said hesitantly.
"It isn't, I will concede on that. But with all the factors combined, to me, it doesn't add up. Think about it. Nohken Industries, a company that had existed for over a hundred years, suddenly takes a huge interest in the hero part of our society. They roll up out of nowhere up to U.A.'s doorstep to drop off a prize pony child that's probably been trained by them, with a collar being slapped on so they can know his every move. They've forged fake birth records and certificates just for him, and presumably erased any trace of his old self in favor of the new one."
"Okay, yeah that's pretty suspicious." Mic admitted with a scowl.
"And out of all the schools in Japan, they choose U.A. If they had simply wanted to advertise, there's probably two or three hero schools on the way to U.A. from their headquarters, yet they still decide to bring him here, the number one hero school in Japan. After all the years of them trying to keep out of the headlines, they choose the school that gets the most buzz on social media and news websites?"
Aizawa began to think. Yeah… something's not adding up…
"But while they're going for the most popular hero school, they haven't really advertised it at all. Something like this would usually be paraded by the company, a child prodigy that is going to enter U.A.? But they haven't made a peep about it outside of slapping their logo on Jayluf's shirt. It's almost like they don't want too many people taking notice of their sudden shift in business interests, at least, not yet."
"Do you think they have something up their sleeves?" Aizawa said.
"Maybe, maybe not. But one thing I do know is that they seem to think they have control over the situation in itself. Considering the email they sent both apologizing with a check to appear as humble as possible and get on our good side, but also a subtle nudge to allow the kid into our school. Their employee also acted like she was higher rank than one of our own employees on U.A. property. Finally, the fact that they slapped that tracking device on the clueless kid's neck so they'd know his every move. It's clear to me control is a major factor to them. And after everything I've found out today, I think I can say that they might be trouble."
"Then… are you going to expose the kid then?" Aizawa wondered. "Have him get deported?"
"Actually, no. I'm allowing Jayluf Viller to enter U.A. as a student in class 1-A."
The underground heroes' eyes went huge. "W-What? My class? But its already full-"
"We can fit one more desk in there Eraser. It's not the end of the world."
"Why?" Midnight cut in. "I am curious, why reward Nohken for its behavior? They clearly want Jayluf inside U.A. walls, and have acted very suspicious along with the fact they've already committed a crime with the forged birth records. Why give them what they want when we could just stop whatever they're up to here?"
"Because," Nezu said with a smile, "If we rejected him, he'd probably just end up being shipped off to another prominent Pro Hero School. The fact they're trying U.A. first, to me that says a lot about their confidence. And I doubt that whatever they're up to, is exclusive to U.A. itself. I think that it would be better for us to keep their 'prized pony' close where I and other Pro Heroes can keep an eye on him. If they want control, I will grant the illusion to them. But it is only an illusion. So that's why I'd like you all to keep an eye on Jayluf when he enters our school."
"Do you think he's a spy or something?" Snipe said cautiously.
"Honestly, I don't think so. Reviewing footage from when he was here earlier, he's obviously a fish out of water in regards to socializing. I don't think keeping secrets is something he'd be very good with. And if he was a spy, I don't think slapping on a very obvious collar to let everyone know that he was being tracked is something to use for someone trying to be undercover."
Cementoss put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "So, you do not think he is a spy then? Do you believe there's something more than meets the eye to him?"
"Call it a gut instinct. Even if he's not a spy like I'm assuming, it's probably best not to risk that." Nezu shut off the tablet and hopped out of his chair. "Welp! That's it, meetings adjourned! I'll be sure to bring the other teachers up to speed when they return during the next work day."
Glancing at each other cautiously, the other teachers nodded and began to file out of the room, leaving Nezu by his lonesome.
When the door slid shut behind him, his smile vanished. Nezu prided himself as a very intelligent creature, one capable of outsmarting of most humans around him. But he had almost made the same mistakes that his fellow teachers had made. At the beginning when the drama with the woman in the limousine was brought to his attention, he had made the same assumptions his fellow teachers did, and was ready to brush off the whole thing as something that would be forgotten by next week. Even after he had seen the collar during the exams, he'd written it off as a mere radio, a clever way to get assistance without breaking any rules.
But it was only when he'd decided to look at footage from the morning, and saw the electric collar being attached to Jayluf's neck, did his thought process change. The cold metal clamping around the boy's throat, how sometimes he moved his head around and tried to adjust the tight metal object in discomfort.
Something was wrong.
Nezu reached up to his own neck, massaging phantom pains that had suddenly flared up when he'd heard the harsh snap of the collar constricting Jayluf's neck. He'd keep an eye on Jayluf, and Nohken Industries. A very, very, strict eye.
Nohken Industries was trouble.
Even after all this, I'm gonna be honest, I'm not too proud of this chapter. I found the first part very irritating and uninteresting to write, since it's just the entrance exams with robots getting smacked around and nothing else. I felt like it could be better, but I'm not even gonna lie, my brain is fried rn.
I'm also afraid that I maybe might have not portrayed panic and pain correctly, or realistically enough. The final scene with Nezu digging up dirt was inflated too, but I couldn't think of any way to make it less bloated since the story needed to be explained. I'm pretty sure the part I didn't mind writing was Pony's broken speech, it was fun to write.
Even with all my dislikes of this chapter, I do wanna get this chapter out instead of constant delaying. This was a couple hundred words away from being ten thousand freaking words! 9,783 if I'm not mistaken, and here I had thought it would only be 5k or 6k, but the more I proofread, the longer it got! Holy moly. If you happened to like this chapter, please please do comment! I'd like to hear what you liked about this chapter! I'm wanting to hear what you thought about whatever happened, or what part or character you liked/disliked. The more descriptive the better! But all reviews/follows/favorites are really appreciated. I literally refresh my stories and inbox several times a day for comments because stuff like that is so encouraging to me as a writer. If you like what you read, maybe recommend it to a friend or a fellow fanfic writer! :D See you guys next time!