Chapter 6. Arrival - Part. 2

AT THE SAME TIME, SOMEWHERE ELSE…

"I want to know."

All eyes turned to Kaminari, who twitched nervously as he and the rest of Class 1-A walked around campus, trying to take their minds off the fun that was being had in the arenas.

"I want to know how the new guys did! Mineta! There's a room in the auditorium that the staff use for instances when the students need to be hidden until the start of the year. There's a vent in the bathroom that leads directly there. I need you to go in, get intel, and come out."

Mineta was all too happy to oblige. Saluting proudly, he proclaimed, "I will do this for honor! For glory! For… Something else that will remain unspecified!"

"Not that it needs to be," Momo sniffed in disgust.

"Shut up! Not like that!" Very much like that…

The tiny lethal grape made his way into the bathroom, determined to fulfill both of his missions. The rest waited in the main lobby of the school, knowing that this was a crime they didn't really want to be a part of at the moment. No one had said that they couldn't peak in… exactly …but it was kind of implied to be a rule.

Besides, they had other things to worry about… things that Midoriya was just itching to get off his chest. Things that he couldn't until the exams were over because All Might was busy judging. However, none of that mattered because Mineta had been given permission to go peeping.

"I don't think that was the wisest decision… maybe Earphone Jack would have been a better choice? She can hear through walls you know…"

Kaminari put his arm around the broad shoulders of his classmate, and smirked. "Midoriya, Midoriya, Midoriya, you just don't understand! Hearing isn't seeing! Seeing is seeing! And seeing is believing! You feel me?"

"I feel your arm squeezing a bit tight, but aside from that, no, I can't say I follow."

"You will once he comes back… trust me you will, innocent Deku!" the blonde said with a sneaky grin.

Deku's stomach churned at that, and he shivered.

MHA-MHA-MHA

ARENA 3

"What I wouldn't give to have a certain blue boy's help right now!" Kitty complained as she phased through another three pointer before panting and leaning against a wall. "I'd even tolerate his relentless summer shedding at this point!"

"Not me!" said Spyke, casually slicing open the motherboard of another three pointer he was on in his armored form before jumping next to her. "You can tolerate that all you want."

"You're right… the amount of allergies!" she said, using him as a springboard to slap a charging robot clean out of sync. "I'd still take his shedding over your spikey sneezes any day though!"

"You gotta admit though," he said, using said sneeze to impale the CPUs of five oncoming two-pointers with deadly precision. "They come in pretty clean."

"Ewww! No way am I EVER going to call them clean! Useful? Yes. Clean?! EW!" she said in disgust and phased through another wall. "Meet you on the other side, Army Dillo!"


ARENA 3

Spyke shook his head, changing back into his normal human form–so to speak–and growing a spike claw from the back of each wrist. A gamesman's look about him, he challenged, "You're on, Kitty! See! I'll even handicap myself!"

"Aren't you already?" she called from the otherside of the wall.

"Low blow kitty, low blow!"


ARENA 3

An explosion rocked a different area, and yet another teenaged mutant turtle spinning like a ufo came crashing down, this time on The Iron Spider.

"Oooooo… my shell wasn't built for mass velocity skeet shooting launches!" Donatello complained as he lifted himself off of the kiddie pool sized crater he'd made using Iron Spider. "I didn't damage your armor, did I, Amadeus?"

"Donny, believe you me when I say that the only thing you wounded today was my pride."

Donatello let out a relieved sigh. "Oh thank goodness! Never been happier to see Stark Tech that actually works!"

Iron Spider stood up and shook the metallic helmet covering his head. "Stark Phone 7?"

"Stark Phone 7," Donatello nodded sadly.


ARENA 3

Iron Spider also nodded sadly, sharing in the disappointment of his sometimes mentor's consumer electronic decisions, even if he was fighting on another planet at the time.


ARENA 3

"Jaime Rayes, the mutated terrapin creature 30.34567 feet to our left poses a threat. I recommend extermination immediately, lest he be flung at you as what happened to the meat in the inferior armor!"

"Kinda in the middle of something here, Khaji-Da!" Jaime said, the hands of his armor transformed into sonic blasters that had stopped a horde of dozens of various robots in their tracks–even a zero pointer all the way in the back–and slowly tore them apart from the vibrations.

"You could be in the middle of an even bigger hole than the mutated terrapin creature made when he collided with Amadeus Cho! The creature had already been propelled through THREE SKYSCRAPERS before hitting the red-gold meat!"

"Uhggg! Are you still mad about the similarities of our suits!? I thought we were over this already! Not EVERY piece of highly adaptable power armor is a knock-off of you! And contrary to what you might think, I REALLY don't want to know the secret identities of everyone I work with! It's basic professional superhero courtesy!"

"Amadeus Cho is ethnically far east asian, as you well know by now! History shows that knockoffs literally run in his blood!'

"Yeah, well, history shows telenovelas run through my brain, but that don't make me Maria la del Barrio, ese!"

"You will regret this, Jaime Reyes!"

"Vato, only thing I'm regretting is talking to you right now!" Blue Beetle said as the robot horde he was facing finally all decided to explode in chain reaction fashion from smallest to largest.


ARENA 3

Elsewhere, surrounded on all sides, three leaders found themselves back to back, weapons drawn. Bo staff backed against katanas backed against fingers on a switch that held back lazor punches from the punch dimension.

"We can do this, we just need to focus!" Robin said in a commanding tone. "High and low, I'll take point."

"Forget it, kid. I'm ranged. You two hit low, and I'LL take point," Cyclops growled.

"How about if you two take point and I just take down whatever I can, then you guys finish the rest?" Leonardo asked calmly.

The robots looked at each other, scratching their heads as best as their designs would allow while the three tried unsuccessfully to devise a strategy.

"I can parkour better than both of you. I'll take high!" Robin insisted, glaring at Cyclops. "Don't you underestimate me! I had enough of that on the carrier!"

"Master Splinter says that the best things in life are shared. So, let's agree to share the points. We need only to defeat them together and then everyone wins!"

A robot got tired of waiting and charged, starting the attack. Robin was the first to move, flipping off Leo's shell to bash the nearest threat with his staff. Cyclops followed suit with a blast that finished the thing off, while Leo took point and covered the X-man's back, killing a two-pointer that would have fried the older teen like a steak.

The three then looked at each other, dumbfounded at how smooth that went, and then charged, each taking point, striking, and landing stunning blows in tandem until all there was left were mountains of scrap metal.


ARENA 3

In the skies above, Jean and Gwen were patrolling, the former flying and the latter platforming on her purple energy constructs. They looked for any three pointer they could find, raining down overwhelming psychic or magic might, and avoided the rest if they could, working their way down the robo ladder whereas most of the others were working their way up it. They took turns defending the other while the one being defended focussed on pure offense. Using this system they had devised during the crash course aboard the tri-carrier, they were slowly but steadily racking up the kills. So much so that, in their estimation, they would not just have the highest score in their arena group, but out of the entirety of the Foreign Legion.

This pleased both of them, and for the most part, it worked in their favor.

Now, if only their tempers weren't as hot as their hair

A Zero Pointer came straight at another group of candidates, Japanese ones, determined to mow them down. The girls were in prime positions to defend and destroy, but the Zeros did nothing for their scores, which lead to a bit of a… heated debate.

"Jean, I'm telling you there's no point!" argued Gwen. "Every second we lose not getting points, is another second Scott and Kevin have to get the higher scores and lord it over us for years! Years!"

"And I'm telling you, Gwen, that if we do nothing, those kids down there are gonna be flatbread! Forget about them failing the test, they're going to die!"

This argument continued for several more seconds before the cries of the Japanese students as they begged for someone, anyone to save them from the metal, fire, and smoke storm the Zero raised wound up deciding the matter.

"Alright, alright! Fine! I'll do it!" Gwen said, throwing up her hands defensively. "But if we mess this up, Kevin is YOUR problem whenever he talks smack to me!"

"Okay… how?"

"YOU have to be the one to embarrass him back whenever he does that."

Jean scoffed. "Ha! Like that's a punishment? I'd do that for free!"

"Awesome. Good to know. Then we have an accord?"

"Shake on it."

They shook on it.

They then proceeded to interfere in the worst possible way.

For the bots.

Jean held the Zero in place, while Gwen got the crowd out of harm's way, scooping them aside with a giant purple spoon construct. Then the two took turns carrying and lifting the giant bot up and up and up until they let go and watched it tumble like Kevin's face whenever his car got totaled in the myriad ways it got totaled. It landed with a satisfying crash, followed by an even more satisfying explosion, in which both girls basked in joyously.

"You're quite the overachiever, red," said Gwen.

"Right back at ya, red," said Jean

The two leaned back and laughed in redhead.


ARENA 4

Squirrel Girl, contemporaneously with the carrottops' vocalized frolic, bounced from tree to tree in pursuit of her own strategy in one of the mock city parks below.

Beneath the streaking contrails of missiles and said missiles themselves, she one tapped every one pointer she came across with her squirrel like claws or else made strategic slashes to the breeds of bots who wouldn't fall in one swipe for later while expertly dodging all the ridiculous firepower.

She even managed to get the odd point or two or sometimes even three by catching a missile and swiftly chucking it vaguely in the direction of a mechanical menace and lucking out on her proverbial critical hit roll.

On the subject of said missile snatching and sending, sometimes she scored a direct CPU strike. Sometimes a blow to a missile rack that started an instant and explosive chain reaction or a more gradual cooking off of the other missiles yet to fire. And one bot she managed to destroy by accidentally launching it into the air right in the path of Nova, who being so busy flying through the air at that moment and focusing on hurling cosmic energy bolts at other bots elsewhere in the park as he was, didn't notice the bot Squirrel Girl had launched in his way before crashing through it so hard that exploded and sent him crashing down upon a giant decorative stone on the park floor below.

Squirrel Girl was mighty confused about how she managed to get three points for that last bot's destruction, but figured the shock from the blast must have caused enough internal damage that it was already good as totally wrecked and that Nova causing it to literally break into a million pieces really wasn't the real final blow she thought it was at the moment.

"Squirrel Girl!" Nova called as he picked and dusted himself off from the smoking crater where the aforementioned giant decorative stone had been. "You know you're supposed to forfeit right!? Not show me up!"

Leaping high into the air thanks to using her bushy, prehensile tail as an impromptu super pogo stick, Squirrel dodged a missile from a one-pointer. Using the wake of the blast to her advantage, she tilted herself claws first and pierced straight through the bot at an angle that the resultant explosion caused her to sail into a nearby tree line where her tail managed to catch a branch. After spinning around like she was on a swing for a few moments, she managed to slow herself down enough that she stepped onto the branch, turned around, and plucked an acorn that she casually munched on before sitting down on the branch and regarding Nova.

"Huh?"

"Huh?" Nova asked, rhetorically and incredulously. "What do you mean, huh?"

Her eyes widened in realization. "Ohhhhh… is this about launching that three-pointer your way? Because if so, I'm super sorry about that!" she said, arms thrown up and waving defensively. "Didn't mean it. Was sorta, kinda busy at the moment. I can only focus on so many friendlie at a time while in the heat of battle, you know?" She licked an index and thumb and used both fingers to pinch out a couple of embers still singing both her eyebrows. "Especially when the heat of battle is so literal right now!"

"No! I mean, yes. I mean, sorta. I mean–" Nova stroked his chin and looked titanically thoughtful for a second before shaking his head and sighing, arms thrown up in frustration. "You're supposed to be losing and losing BIGLY, girl! Not racking up DOUBLE what I got so far! Hello! The short straws! Back at the tri-carrier? You drawing one? You agreeing to flunk out this exam? Ring any acorns up in that belfry you're working with there?" He rapped a fist against his helmet for emphasis.

Squirrel Girl raised an eyebrow on the teen space cop before he grumbled irately and pointed up quite forcefully towards the sky with both his hands. Following where they lead, she looked to the holographic scoreboard up above as best she could through all the dense canopy to find that she was sitting pretty on a cool 202 for her score count while Nova was at 101.

Looking back down at Nova, who was now tapping his foot impatiently, Squirrel Girl grinned nervously. Rubbing the back of her head, she said, "What can I say? Sometimes I'm a little… squirrely."

Nova rolled his eyes. "Yeah, apparently so squirrely that even you can't catch yourself being squirrely all the time and lose sight of how squirrely you're actually being!"

"I know, I know!" she yelled back, gesturing with her hands as though they could cool the fire in his voice. "But after my powers flooded me with all the fear and sadness and just general not-good-times the squirrels living in this fake park feel with all bots stomping and shooting around, I couldn't just let that continue! I had to do something! I wasn't just going to look and walk away and do nothing! They're my babies!" Just then, a Japanese squirrel exited the knothole below in the tree whose branch she was sitting on and scurried up onto her shoulder. Grabbing it and rubbing her face against it affectionately as it returned the gesture of affection just as affectionately while affectionately chittering, she said, "Even if they are from a different country!"

Nova opened his mouth to speak, then apparently thought better of it. Then opened his mouth to speak again, then apparently thought better of it again. Then he opened his mouth to speak yet again, but this time, he actually said something. "Okay, okay. Fine. You were motivated by being an eco-warrior, NOT an insubordinating grandstander. I gotcha. Just… just promise me you'll go into the actual proper city part of this mock city and find someway to fail this test like you're supposed to and that you promised you would, and in return… I promise to patrol around this park and keep anymore from robots or anything else from disturbing the peace of your little friend over there and his little friends. I'll even make it a package deal and toss in a little extra care and precision on my part when bot-busting, okay?"

Squirrel Girl put the Japanese squirrel back on her shoulder, clapped her hands with glee, cried out in giddiness, jumped down to the ground, and rushed to hug Nova. When said hug connected with its intended, cosmic beat walking target, she lifted him off the ground and twirled him around for seven whole revolutions before putting his now dizzy form back on terra firma and planting a brief yet tangible kiss squarely on his lips.

"Thank you SO MUCH for obliging little old me, Sammykins," Squirrel Girl said, briefly yet tangibly nuzzling her face against his, the Japanese squirrel joining her more briefly yet just as tangibly. "I know me being your squirrelfriend isn't always easy, but I really didn't mean to put you on the spot like that."

Blushing and sighing, a little more happily than he probably intended, Nova coughed into a fist a little more reprimandingly than Squirrel Girl liked, even if she did understand it.

Swiftly, Squirrel Girl let him go and took three paces back. "Oh. Right. Gotta maintain professionalism in the field so no one suspects we're secretly dating and because it just makes sense on its own. Sorry."

Nova chuckled, surprisingly—thought not unwelcomely—warmly and gently. "It's fine. They're all focussed on fighting killer robots anyways. Plus, the treetops here are thick and clustered closely together, which is also a big help in secret keeping, naturally."

Squirrel Girl giggled. "Naturally. Literally naturally."

Nova smiled and nodded. "Just keep your end of the bargain–and PLEASE stay away from any more parks with squirrels in them you want to hug and protect–and we'll be goochie, alright Doreen?"

"Right." She nodded, but then frowned, hand on her chin. "Wait… oh no! But what about your bet with Spidey and… and all the rest!? If you're helping protect my new babies, how are you gonna get a higher score than them and not have to be their manservant for the entire whole rest of the OP!?"

"It's fine."

His tone of voice told her it was the exact opposite of fine. Shaking her head with determination, the Japanese squirrel mimicking her motions, she said, every bit as determinedly, "Nope. No. Nah ah. Nuh uh. Negatory. No way, Samuel-ay! I will NOT under these circumstances let you take a dive for me when I'm the one supposed to be falling and not you! I know I'm packing up my bags after this, but who KNOWS how long you'll be stuck here being their errand boy!?"

"Really, it's not that big a deal, Doreen. I'm mexican. The service industry is kind of built into the BIOS up here–" He rapped his helmet with a fist again for emphasis. "For better or worse." He sighed and threw his head back and grumbled at the torment he knew he was likely to endure in the near and for the foreseeable future. "Ayúdame por favor, papa Dios…"

As resigned as Nova was to being consigned to so wretched a fate, Squirrel Girl was having none of it. A spark of inspiration twinkling in her eye, she asked, "Well, what if papa Dios were to use me to ayudarte?"

Nova's eye didn't twinkle, at least not immediately. Instead, he just made it lift its attendant brow.

"Earlier when I sort of lost track and kinda got carried away trying to clear this here park for the squirrels, there were a lot of two and three pointers my claws couldn't easily bring down in one go while I was on the move and dodging every which way, this way, and that way." She smirked, devilishly like the Cheshire cat. Or Cheshire squirrel, in her case. "However… I was able to at least leave a noticeable opening in each of them. Big enough for, say, Bana here–" she pointed at the Japanese squirrel still on her shoulder before petting him lovingly, "or any of his friends and families to… say… enter and take the bots down from the inside out sometime later. Say… when all the bots in this park weren't actively gunning for me."

Nova's eyes widened, finally getting it.

"Of course," she began, playfully tapping her chin and looking away from him, "I had originally planned for my big squirrel sneak attack to disable the bots completely, but I suppose I could be convinced to ask my new babies to only disable them partially to let you come in and kick them while they're down once and for all so that you get all the points and a giant leg up on everyone else." She looked back at him. "Say, one smooch for five sec–"

Before she could finish, Nova grabbed her hands tenderly with his own and kissed her.

A lot longer than for a measly five seconds.

So long, that Bana felt he had to look away and cover his eyes with his front paws out of basic common courtesy and sciurine decency.

So long, that Squirrel Girl felt she probably needed to order Bana's fellow Japanese squirrels to launch their vengeance assault on the two and three pointers still roaming the park with at least squirrel sized holes in them before some other UA hopefuls decided to muscle their way in.

So long, that Nova and Squirrel Girl were still kissing even after she heard hundreds of small explosions and electrical crackles sound off one after the other like synchronized fireworks and her telepathic connection with the squirrels told her the bots were all the equivalent of knocked out but not technically out of the fight in robot terms for the purposes of the exam.

Finally, after a full 21 seconds, they both departed the simple comfort of the other's lips and came back up for air. Or just Squirrel Girl came back up for air since she was the only one out of the two of them that even needed to breathe thanks to his handy, dandy Nova Corps powerset.

"For the record, if you asked me too, I would have kissed you like that for free. No strings attached." He then hugged her and shouted, proudly, "I've also never been more stoked to be dating a real life Disney Princess than I am now! Hot dog! Squirrel! Whatever! You know what I'm saying! I can't even form proper thoughts I love you so much Doreen!"

Squirrel Girl, heart pounding, hugged him back with just as much warmth, feeling his heart beat in rhythm with hers. "I know. Ain't love… nutty?"

Nova laughed. "I love you so much, I don't even care about the groaner squirrel puns anymore right now!"

She laughed back. "Well, it's like I said: sometimes I'm a little… squirrely."

"Yeah." He sighed contently. "You are."

Before they could enjoy the moment any longer, sadly, Squirrel Girl felt it was time for him hop on to it. Breaking their tender embrace, she chucked him high into the air and shouted so loudly that Bana had to cover his little squirrel ears, "Now get a move on, Human Rocket! Because if you let anyone gyp you out of what's supposed to be your score, I promise I'll personally douse you in gasoline and turn you into The Human Torch when we're both back in NYC, ya hear me!?"

"Loud and clear! Love ya!"

"Love ya too!" she said a little forcefully, giving a cutesy little wave to her secret boyfriend as he began to blast the downed bots, Bana dizzy from all her decibels.


ARENA 4

As Squirrel Girl ran out of the park, told her new squirrel babies to go back into hiding, and left their defense in the capable cosmic energy slinging hands of Nova, things started heating up elsewhere in the very same arena.

Proverbially.

Literally, they were cooling off.

For a flood tore through certain streets closest to the mock river splitting the mock city in two, kicked up by the aquatic sonic booms of a certain scaly green Inhuman New Warrior constantly swimming back and forth as fast as possible. A flood that swept dozens of faux villains away straight into the waiting fists and claws and paws of Power Man, Kazaar, White Tiger, and Ben 10 as Spider-Monkey– all four happy as clams to destroy the villainous automatonal monstrosities and throwing themselves a 110% into achieving that goal.

Power Man and Spider-Monkey would topple a point with strength and the latter's tail-webs, White Tiger would dig her claws in to gut the thing, and Ka-Zar and his saber-toothed partner would bash and slash until it was scrap. The four took turns with the finishing blows, so as not to hog the points, and everything was going so well.

So well that after getting his latest coup de grace, Ben stood triumphantly upon its mechanical carcass, all four fists proudly on his hips as he declared, "And a three pointer makes 110! Ha! Eat your heart out, Levin! Man, I can't wait for you to be my own personal packmule when this is all over!"

"Same," said White Tiger jumping up next to him. "You already clear your phone out to get all the pics and vids of that?"

"You know it!"

The two high fived.

"Personally, I can't wait for Nova to be my butler," Power Man said.

"That too," Ben and White Tiger said in unison.

Zabu roared and Ka-Zar translated. "Zabu says he too looks forward to Big Chin's humiliation and to seeing it on phone when we home."

"What about you, Ka-Bar?" Ben asked.

The savage land survivalist glared upon Ben. In much the same way Raphael had made a habit of doing. Remembering that the normally quiet and stoic caveman only regarded Ben with any particular malice when he got his name wrong, the ultimatrix wielder's two pairs of arachnichimp eyes widened in frightened realization.

About to open his big mouth, and doubtlessly about to get his name wrong again time tens in a row or more, White Tiger covered his maw and whispered in his ear, "Ka-Zar! Ka-Zar, Ben! Say it with me: Ka-Zar. Start with a Kay as in Kate, and end with a Zar as in bizarre."

Taking a breath and nodding, Ben whispered back, "Right. Gotcha." As White Tiger withdrew from Ben's personal space, the teen super alien wielding hero of Bellwood coughed into both of the fists on his right side and said, "I'm sorry Kate's-Bizarre. It won't happen again, I swear. Getting your name wrong, I mean."

Immediately, White Tiger groaned and slapped herself in the face as Power Man grabbed his stomach and fell over on his back belly laughing.

"Uggghhh… I can't! I just… can't with this guy!" White Tiger said, throwing her arms up in frustration and giving-up-ness.

"What? What'd I do?" Ben asked, genuinely confused.

This made Zabu fall onto his back and laugh, which sounded both really cool and really terrifying coming from a sabertooth tiger of all things. Zabu then roared something that made Ka-Zar look less angry per say and more embarrassed/annoyed.

"Greeny boy's dumb-dumb brain no funny, Zabu! No funny at all!"

Zabu roared out what everyone else who couldn't communicate with him thought was a single syllable word.

This only served to fluster Ka-Zar even more. "No!"

Zabu roared the same roar again.

"No!"

Zabu roared the same roar yet again.

"No!"

This went on for sometime, Power Man's laughter only increasing as it went on.

Ben for his part was confused, scratching his head with all four of his hands while White Tiger just shook her head at him in disapproval much like his cousin would.

Before anymore hi-jinks could ensue or any passing robot could launch a missile based sneak attack on them, however, all of their concentration was broken and refocused skywards. For a single lone battle cry that none of them had been expecting at that moment suddenly sounded out.

"CANNONBAAALLLLLL!"


ARENA 4

"CANNONBAAALLLLLL!"

With a significant splash, A-Bomb landed smack dab dead center in the river, causing a localized tsunami that swept away literally everyone and everything immediately on either of the banks. Murder bots. Prospective students. Old, outdated poster ads for Lil Romeo's latest Japanese tour. It was all rendered impromptu flotsam and jetsam and washed away like, well, Lil Romeo's global popularity.

Sadly.

What wasn't sad, though, was A-Bomb. The blue hulk, rolling out of the ball-form he'd rolled into before causing the literal tidal wave of destruction he had, climbed out of the crater he'd made in the now COMPLETELY dry riverbed and looked up. He found on the scoreboard above that he was now in third place in his arena, right behind Jean and Gwen, yet still a far cry from the near insurmountable commanding lead now lead by Nova of all people.

"Huh. Well. That's kinda sus, ngl." Shrugging, he then threw his arms up into the air in triumph, shouting, "But I don't care cuz I'm still in the bronze! W00T, W00T!" He then proceeded to dance the cabbage patch, moving his massive arms around in clockwise fashion as he stepped in place.

His celebration was cut short, however, when he heard the scream of a familiar Inhuman drawing ever nearer. He tilted his head skywards just in time to catch Triton in freefall a second before landing face first in a mud puddle right in front of him, the impact kicking up lots of the wet dirt around and splashing A-Bomb from the spikes on his head down to the two toes on either of his feet.

"Aw, dude! Look what you did!" A-Bomb shouted in protest. "Watch where you're swan diving next time, whydontcha!? Look at me! I'm a mess now! A total mess!"

Triton carefully extracted himself from the mud puddle, his usual sleek appearance now marred utterly by splotches of brown. He blinked his green eyes at A-Bomb, his thin lips pursed in annoyance.

"And whose fault is it that I was hurtling through the sky in the first place you… you… brutish blue boor!?" he spat back, shaking the mud off his sea-green scaly skin as best he could, getting even more on A-Bomb, much to his annoyance. "Always must you make so grand an entrance! Always must you declare to all and sundry that you are here and magnificent beyond compare! Yet have you ever once paused to consider who gets caught in the blast, my good A-Bomb!?"

A-Bomb's accusatory glare softened suddenly, his face twisting into a guilty grimace. "Aw man. I didn't... I didn't think about that. Really!" He put his hands up defensively. "I was just trying to do my thing, you know?"

"Your thing," Triton repeated flatly. The look he gave A-Bomb could have curdled milk.

"Yeah, my thing!" A-Bomb squared his shoulders defensively. "I'm all about the big splash! Always have been! Of all muh peeps, you should know that by now since I was the first bonafide, Grade A superhero you ever met, dude!"

"Grade A in power, maybe," Triton said, turning his nose up haughtily at him as befitting a highborn Inhuman in ire. "But certainly not as it pertains to keeping collateral, minimal."

A-Bomb through his head back and huffed. "Oh, this again? I told you guys days ago that I'm not used to working with light weights, alright!? The usual homies I roll with eat bullets for breakfast, bombs for lunch, and knuckle sandwiches from the baddest hombres around for dinner! Something that, again, you of all people should be comfy with, considering me and the other Hulks saved Attilan's butt first time we ever met!"

Triton's eyes narrowed at the immense audacity in A-Bomb's words.

He clenched his fists, clearly struggling between the desire to turn this verbal spar into a physical one and with his duty as both a noble Inhuman and superhero to maintain decorum.

"Your hand in saving Attilan does nothing to absolve you from the havoc you wreak every time you descend like your namesake on unsuspecting bystanders," Triton retorted, accentuating each word with a jab of his finger towards A-Bomb.

"But–"

"And another thing!" Triton interrupted, stepping closer until he stood a foot away from the blue hulk. "Even if you are used to partnering with 'heavy weights', it does nothing to take away from your duty to ensure that us lightweights, especially civilians, are unharmed by your decision making!"

"But–"

"Hear me and listen!" Triton interrupted again. "As both a royal of the Inhumans and as one who has been trained by SHIELD for far more than a paltry five days, however intense they were." He placed a hand on A-Bomb's shoulder, his look softening. "More importantly, listen to me as a friend who cannot help you once this day is done and who is every bit as invested in its success as yourself."

A-Bomb now stood silent, his face displaying the quiet contemplation of a student hearing wise counsel from his teacher… and taking it to heart. Even if it meant he had to admit he was wrong.

Sighing, his shoulder's slumping, A-Bomb began to say, "You're right, Triton. You're right. Uhhhggg… stupid short straws!"

Triton. "Yes. Yes they were, with the benefit of hindsight." He shook his head. "But that metaphorical fork in this proverbial road is past. What matters now is that, going forward, you must not permit yourself to get so caught up in this adventure's thrill that you forget you've more than enough power to kill. Whether you intended to or not. Especially in a land like this… Japan."

"Yeah. Yeah. I gotcha, I gotcha," A-Bomb nodded, sadly yet determinedly. "Gotta always be on my tippy-toes and be looking out for the little guy."

"And the little gal."

Before A-Bomb could turn around to see who had said that, who he presumed to be the new voice's owner jumped onto his back, wrapped an arm around his neck, and pressed a decidedly ungloved hand onto the top of his head. The fact that he felt his power slowly yet painfully draining out of him coupled with the fact that voice was definitely feminine and southern confirmed said voice's owner was none other than Rogue.

"Or better yet, don't! Makes getting my little boost here all the easier, sugah!"

"Ah! Rogue! Stop it, stop it, stop! Please!" he begged, running around in a circle as frantically yet gently as he could to shake her off him without hurting her.

Yet as time wore on, the infamously stubborn southern gothic belle kept her hold on him tighter than a tick on a hound dog, doubtlessly aided by the fact she was getting mightier by the tick while he grew more feeble.

"Nah uh, Rick! Your little mega Olympic diving board stunt done went and soaked my outfit and me to da bone! And cost me big time points! Ain't NO WAY am I losing! Ain't no way am I gonna be watching all episodes of One Piece subbed in Japanese! Pirates just ain't my speed, and neither is anythang in any language that only gots the metric system!"

"But we're still supposed to be learning the native tongue! How can you do that with English subs and dubs!?" A-Bomb shouted, having to take a knee it was getting so hard for him to stand."

"I concur!" agreed Triton, kicking Rogue off of him now that he finally had a clear enough shot with A-Bomb standing still. "Since you are to learn Japanese in this school in any event, would it not behoove you to—"

Before he could finish that sentence, Rogue—now noticeably more muscular, bluer, scalier, spikier, and with yellow eyes, three fingered hands, and two toed feet—lunged at him with a roar.

Naturally, this forced him to stop speaking and sidestep her, lest he be tackled by an opponent with a not insignificant portion of a hulk's power.

"Don't know, don't care! Because for one, like I said, it ain't goin' down like that!" Rogue said, standing frighteningly still right where Triton had been a moment earlier. "And two—" She turned her head in his direction, the poor guy sweating up a storm somehow through his piscine exterior. "You're next! And unlike Rick, I'm taking all your power, fish fry!"

"I think not!"

A-Bomb figured that the reason he thought so was because he thought he could outrun her long enough to get to one of the flooded portions of the mock city and swim to safety before she caught him.

"Boy, if you don't mosey on back here, I'll—"

He was wrong.

"Ahhhhh!" Triton yelled in agony as Rogue, amped by A-Bomb's power, held him aloft by his neck and drained him of a considerable portion of his powers, certain characteristics of his physical appearance being added to her form as well.

"MUAHAHAHAHAHA! YO-HO, YO-HO, NO PIRATES LIFE FOR ME!"

A-Bomb looked on, utterly helpless as Rogue stole the powers of one of the best, if not the best teacher figures he had during the crash course on the tri-carrier. Then, he suddenly remembered that he had invisibility powers and slapped himself for forgetting that so often.

Turning on his active camo ability, he quietly tippy-toed away from the fearsomely terrifying scene. He was grateful that Triton's screams muffled the sound of his heavier than usual footfalls as his central nervous system slowly returned back to normal.

A swift, cool breeze swept the mock city streets, raising goosebumps on A-Bomb's skin as he felt the chill of fear.

He told himself that Triton's lot after the drawing of lots the entire Legion had done was to lose this contest any who, so what did it matter if Rogue sucked out all of his powers through a figurative bendy straw?

Just so long as A-Bomb could remain conscious, he was home free even if Rogue's current power combo made her super OP in this scenario and she eclipsed his score.

He just needed to get away undetected and find a few more bots to kill so that he wasn't stuck having to partner with Jake and his friends on a collab. He liked Jake a ton, especially his donations to the , but when it came to cinematography, he much preferred the setup he was rocking with his drone cameras and not having to fight magical creatures because of how inherently crazy they could be.

"Just a couple more bots. Just a couple more bots," he said to himself as he clandestinely climbed the seawall by where the river used to be dived into an alleyway just as Triton's screams suddenly died down. Sprinting now, he continued to repeat to himself, "Just a couple more bots! Just a couple more bots!"


THROUGHOUT ALL THE ARENAS…

"ATTENTION LISTENERS! THERE ARE TEN MINUTES LEFT! Please begin making your FINAAAAAAAAAAAAL POINTS! Then you. Are. DISMISSED!"

The announcement was obnoxious and aggressively engrish but clear.

As was its intended effect.

The candidates all scrambled to scrounge up those last couple of points before the bell tolled. Students rushed against the clock, and against each other in the madness, until, finally, the entry exam was declared over by a loud bell ringing.


T-T-T

As the students trickled out of the arenas, the judges began conversing amongst themselves. The diminutive yet brilliant principal leaned in, getting the other main facility members' attention. He hopped from the shoulder he was sitting on, onto the table that sat in the room. Pacing, Nezu began to speak calmly and precisely, replaying several clips showcasing the candidates.

"The foreigners have proven themselves quite competent, in my opinion. We have several new school records set thanks to them. We will see how they perform academically, but there is no denying their talents in the field. Especially after the Diet finally sprung for Project Missile Spam™ this semester."

"Yes, yes, that's all well and good, but can they perform well in a foreign environment? We have enough young upstarts trying to say that they are superior powerwise to what we locals can accomplish." Endeavor spat. "I'm sick of it. If they were so superior, there would be harmony in their countries concerning quirks, at least more than us, which there isn't."

"Regardless, they will find it safer here than most new students because of this fact," Midnight commented. "I say we make our picks carefully though. What we are throwing these untrained youths into is nothing short of outright war. Even we pros need to take caution."

Toshinori put a hand on his chin in thought as he observed the recordings. "I see great potential in the clear leaders of the group. I think we would do well to listen as well as teach. Who knows, they could prove to have valuable insight as to where their comrades need to be in order to best serve the cause."

"I say we of the hero course need to discuss this further. For now, we must focus on dividing these young bloods into their proper classes. Let us go down the list, and place each accordingly. To make it easier, we'll do well to start with the local candidates first, then move on to the foreigners," Aizawa said boredly, though he too was beginning to be genuinely curious about how things would turn out.

"It's rather obvious to me," Endeavor said with his arms crossed. "Everyone clearly using support items anyway would be naturals for the course that emphasizes heroic engineering. They invented their gear, did they not? In the entrance exams, the rules are if your quirk is powerful enough you are unable to use support items, and any items you use have to be made by hand."

"Weapons not included," Snipe clarified, even though it was obvious and didn't really need to be said.

"I don't much care who goes in 1B or Support and Business," Aizawa complained. "Just don't send me zeros this time. 1A is under enough pressure without having to wipe up bloody noses. We need the Best of the Best of the Best."

Toshiniri nodded. "I couldn't agree more. The class is just too stressed out right now. New comrades are fine, but we need them to help, not hinder." He looked pensive. 'Not to mention young Midoriya will doubtlessly be excited and distracted by all the new quirks and new faces that belong to said quirks.'

Nezu smiled and placed his paws behind his back. "That being said, boosting your numbers is hardly a detriment. It's what got us the money to afford the hologram scorekeeper system this year, after all. Now then, shall we begin?"

The teachers nodded and got to work.

MHA-MHA-MHA

Mineta, meanwhile, was still crawling through the ventilation system. He tried not to make it rain drool through the many other vents aside from the one he was ultimately looking for as he passed on his admittedly long and winding way to his final destination, but his palpable excitement made it difficult.

Especially after he finally passed by a spot that looked familiar. 'A left, a right, straight on til morning!' he thought with tongue sticking out like an overheated lapdog. 'There it is! Just a few meters closer! A few meters closer to–' The light… the light of a room! 'Heaven!' He heard them! He… he SAW them! Straight ahead! Well, he saw what he could see of them… and the closest one was….

"Jackpot!" he whispered as he fixed his gaze on what to him was a bronzen, almost orange angel.

And a certain, rear facing part of her that was front and center… or should he say… back and center, was close. Very close..

His finger twitched, being too big to poke through the vent.

But he could imagine…couldn't he?

A boy could dare to dream of her as part of his har–wait...

Why was the darkness around him getting… "Darker!?"

He slowly turned around, seeing only pitch black darkness… and four demonic eyes staring down at him, before he saw nothing. Absolute fear encased him, then yeeted him straight back to where his ventilation adventures had begun. He emerged a terrified Minetta, a humble and sorry Mineta. A 'please don't make me go back into the void again' Mineta.

"I beheld Heaven… and Hell spat me back out…"

A moment passed.

He took in a deep breath.

And then he proceeded to turn tail and hightail it right outta UA, screaming at the top of his lungs in pure, abject terror all the way back to his home, not caring or daring to talk about recent experiences with any of the classmates that he passed on by them.

Especially not Kaminari, the lousy jerk!

For although Mineta's web browsing history may have been mostly focussed on a particular subject matter, he'd seen enough horror films produced by his own country and abroad on his computer to know where this was going if he dared to push his luck.

MHA-MHA-MHA

"Is the local peeping Tom out of our hair?" Jean asked telepathically to Raven as she conversed with Scott about their recent experiences in the arena.

"Yes," Raven said as she idly maintained the hamster wheel construct Rufus was running in while also talking with Team Possible about their recent experiences in the arena.

"Good. Think he'll be back?"

"Jean, you caught the same peak into his twisted, charred psyche I did. Stop hoping. There is no hope. He will be back, and we WILL have to deal with him again."

Mentally, Jean sighed. "I know, I know. A girl can dare to dream…"

"So, think we left an impression?" asked Iron Spider aloud as he reclined on a sofa in his JID civvies.

"I think you left an impression… on my shell, Iron Spider…" Donnie said in pain as he helped tourniquet himself and Raph and Mikey on the ground next to said couch.

"I think it went well, actually," said Kevin after soaking his head in water from his sports bottle in one of the corners. "I did better than Tennyson, my girl was tied for second best score, and the green goober over there got humiliated. Life is good!" Kevin said, putting his arm around Gwen. She pushed him off as he was now soaking wet, but gave him a kiss on the cheek anyway.

"Hey! That's green booger beast, thank you very much!" Beast Boy said, as he sat in the opposite corner with Cyborg picking out shrapnel fragments embedded in his hair with a pair of tweezers. "And I'm not green right now! I told you, my disguise is more turquoi–OWWWW!"

"Sorry! Not my fault you're still such a crybaby after all these years, BB!" Cyborg grinned.

Toad hopped to the refreshments table and snagged a cookie with his tongue. "Well, I thought all of us X-men did aight. But those turtle guys? Barely noticed em!"

"Somebody here REALLY wants to be battered with a side of fries," Raph snarled.

"Hey man, I'm just bein' honest!" the mutant protested. "Right, Summers?" He handed Scott a new cookie. "I mean come on, team's gotta stick together!"

Iron Fist sat down with a steaming cup of Jasmine in his hands,"Yes, they do. But I was mostly alone."

Close by, Dagger grumbled, Cloak resting a gentle hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Not that it bothers me, but how will I rank with my solo performance against all of the teamwork you pulled out?" Iron Fist asked humbly, taking a sip of the complimentary tea. "I am under no illusion. If I score high, it'll be a miracle." Danny glanced at the ghost in the room and sighed. "Many could learn much from the wisdoms I employ. Humble thyself, and things may turn your fate in a desirable direction. I sense you did a fair amount of grandstanding, Phantom. That will cost you greatly in life. You are not the most powerful being in the world, so stop acting like it before you are humbled."

Jake nodded in Danny Phantom's direction, mouth stuffed full of mochi bites. "Word, bro. You got some serious ego issues."

The ghost boy of Amity was having none of it, however. "Okay, I can take that coming from him," Danny said, pointing at Iron Fist, "because he actually seems like he knows a thing or two about things, like staying out of people's way, but no way am I taking what's coming out of your trap as Gospel, lizard breath."

"Why? Can't stomach the wonderful, asian flavor?" Jake asked before shifting his human tongue into his dragon tongue and showing for all the assembled teens, especially Danny, the mochi bites he'd been chewing.

Most of the Legionnaires groaned in disgust at the display.

Not a certain chi infused martial artist, though. "The words of a Dragon are not to be so easily discarded," Iron Fist warned. "Even if the dragon is… less than polite. Phantom, I advise not to disturb this one's peace."

"Yeah Phantom, quite disturbing my peace," Jake said as well he could with his tongue still lolling out with foodstuffs stuck to it.

"I apologize in advance for his disrespect," the zen master said to Jake with a bow.

"It's cool. Really," Jake said, reeling his draconic tongue back in and swallowing heartily. "I'm just joshing."

Danny Phantom frowned. "Yeah. That better be all you were doing."

"What was that?" Jake asked, hand to his now draconic ear.

"Uggghhh! Forget it! I'm going to talk to someone less aggravating!" he yelled, storming off to chat with Stoppable.

"Zis vas a total DESASTER!" Kurt wailed. "Mine Goght in Himmel, zee amount of times I nearly died! And peopl sink getting into ze mansion is tough!"

"Hey, lighten up fuzzy-face!" Kitty encouraged. "I'm sure you did just fine! Giant robots are nothing we haven't beat before! Kinda wish I coulda seen you in action though. "

"I vish you coulda BEEN in my action! Seriously! Whoever thought Sentinels prepared us for GOJIRO SIZED KAIJU BOTS individually vas crazy! Ve do make a goot team, zo, and I missed zat."

Rogue snorted. "I don't know what y'all are complain' about. I worked by myself an' I did fine."

Both A-Bomb and Triton gulped. The latter quickly shuffled away, but the former proudly stood his ground, reminding himself that they weren't competing anymore at the moment and summoning up his reserves of joviality.

"Yeah, with a cool 33.3334 percent of ya boy's power," A-Bomb gleefully chided as he proceeded to gorge himself on the rest of the spread in the room that hadn't been eaten or drank already. Table clothes and all.

"Awe, look who's saucy!" Rogue shot back. "Be glad I only took a couple legs of ham and not the whole hog!"

"Speaking of, do they have any whole hogs in the back for us just in case, because I'm still REALLY hungry!" A-Bomb asked before belching up a mini hurricane in the room that genuinely knocked some people off their feet.

"Gluttony is the root of most evil," Iron Fist cautioned. "However, I did hear that there was a massive feast awaiting us in the mess hall after we received our class assignments. Do practice patience until then."

"I hear ya, Fist–especially the part about there being more food later–but seriously? Gluttony? That ain't gluttony. That's me being famished from a workout and NEEDING to carbo-load. You want gluttony? Try FOUR HULKS at a diner in New Mexico celebrating a birthday. Now THAT'S gluttony."

"Four beings eating a restaurant out of stock is one thing. A single entity cleaning out a spread meant for as many as one hundred students is a totally different matter," the Zen Master pointed out.

"Hey man, I get it, but I'm telling you, my biology works weird. I wasn't eating for the joy of it… mostly. Okay, more like 60-40, but still, I'm like a whale. I NEED the calories."

"Self control please. Regardless. There have been three groups who have not partaken. You did not think of them, did you?"

"I… uhhh…" A-Bomb looked pensive and tapped his chin a moment before going, "Okay… fair point." A-Bomb stood ramrod straight and placed his right hand over his heart. "I so solemnly swear to think about the dietary requirements of others before myself next time."

"Don't forget to throw in asking them if they're done eating before gobbling whatever's left on their plate," added Rogue.

"Yeah, dude! Owww!" said Beast Boy, Cyborg still pulling out shrapnel from his hair. "I was still finishing up that tooty-fruity before you just came by and took its deliciousness away from me!" Beast Boy sniffled, shedding a single tear. "Forever… Owww!"

"I also solemnly swear to not do that too… unless I have to."

Again, A-Bomb burped, and again, several people were knocked off their feet or at least stumbled at the intense vibrations.

"And boy, if you don't solemnly swear to quit doing that, I'm taking a hundred and ten percent of your power this time! I don't care if it don't make no sense!" Rogue shouted as she got back up from the ground and dusted herself off.

Hiccuping, A-Bomb blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry."

The rest of the candidates mingled and talked amongst themselves until the bell rang and they were instructed to move into another room to receive their score and class assignments if they passed.

They filed into the room, and were greeted by a giant monitor screen that lit up.

A calm, bored voice said instructions over the intercom system:

"Attention candidates, your scores are featured here on this screen. If you do not see your name, you do not pass. We will evaluate you next year. Now then… here are your results."

Everyone except six of them was on the list with moderate to high to ultra high scores. Nova got gold. Phantom, Jean, and Gwen tied for silver. Raven, Static, Blue Beetle, and Sora for bronze.

Cloak, Dagger, Kazar, Triton, Agent Venom, and Squirrel Girl were not on the board.

34 out of 40 made it through.

Eighty five percent on the dot.

Exactly as planned.

"Don't worry guys, you'll get 'em next time," said Sora, gently patting each of the washouts present on the shoulder.

"Maybe next time, I'll luck out and not draw a short straw," said Cloak.

"Same," said Dagger.

"Maybe next time, you all won't have to test your luck drawing lots against me," snarked Spider-Man, winking.

"Man, taking a dive stinks," Agent Venom grumbled, arms crossed over his chest.

"Hon, you didn't dive though. You face planted in a manure truck headfirst then choked on grass!" joked Rogue.

"Oh come on! We all agreed on the tri-carrier we had to make it look convincing! Plus there was so much flame and high-pitched noises!" He patted his shoulder, the venom symbiote whining like a scared mutt. "That's like Triton fighting in the desert!"

"We didn't need that much convincing if what half I heard from the rest of the folks in Arena 2 was right," Rogue said with a snort. "Now get yer butt on back to Fury! Go on now! Git!"

Iron Fist looked at his score and struck a meditative pose. "I am humbled by the Judge's decision to endow me with such high marks."

"And I'm humbled that everyone who bet against me are gonna have to sing Rocket Man whenever I want now!" Nova said, over the moon that his score left him towering over everyone else, especially the people who actively put their metaphorical money where their mouth was.

Squirrel Girl, curiously, clapped at his jollity.

Quite a few of the Legionnaires groaned at it.

One of them however–Toad–soon hopped right up to the screen and punched the air. "Heck yeah! Tell Mamma, Toady actually passed somethin'! But wait a second, why is there an A on my name and a B on Summers? What the mosquito droppings is goin' on here? And Gear has an S! HA! An S! You so low, yer bologna has no first name!"

"Bruh, we're in Japan! Do you even video-game?" Static asked rhetorically, hands on his hips.

"I mean, I play monopoly…"

"S means the best here. Like, A+++. Dunno why, but it does."

"But the letter S is lower on the english alphabet than A," Starfire pointed out. "Given this, should not the S score be lower than the A score? I do not understand."

"Like I said, I don't get it either, but it's a common Japanese video-game thing where S-rank is better than A."

"Actually, it's your class assignments. A for 1A, B for 1B, S for Support Course." Aizawa came in, making his presence known by striding into the room slowly, and taking a place at the front near the screen.

"Remember everyone, we don't know which of the teachers knows or not yet. So friendly reminder: ALWAYS use your JID's to refer to each other when talking out loud from this point on!" said Jean telepathically in all their heads save for the UA teacher's.

"Or speaking mind to mind," added Raven.

"We don't know which of the teachers knows or not yet!" Jean finished.

"Now then, line up next to me if you're in 1A. Support, line up by the door, and 1B, your teacher is busy, so just sit tight until he shows up." His eyes narrowed on those who didn't make the cut. "To all the zeroes: please, leave. Now. I'd say good luck next year, but I have no faith in your potential. Because you have none."

Spider-Man leaned into Robin and whispered, "Wow, this guy's acting chops are great! I really believe he's a hard nosed teacher with no soul judging a bunch of prospects way too harshly."

"Who says he's acting?" Robin replied back.

"Man… he kinda freaks me out…" Toad whispered as well.

"I freak lots of people out," Aizawa said, causing all their eyes to widen. "Now get a move on. Daylight's burning or something."

The newly minted students hurried to do as he said, and the ones who failed huffed or took their L in silent grace and went to call Stan the Man for an early pickup.