Howdy! Chapter 4 is here! Welcome to the entrance exam! Enjoy!
But before, the reviews!
Colossus Bridger: Momo will be equipped with equipement, not necessarily Mandalorian one, but her hero costume won't be the same... AT ALL like said in a previous chapter.
ProlaspseAnoos: Totally not!
Chapter 4: UA Entrance Exam (Part 1)
"COMPANY! PRESENT ARMS!" shouted Lock.
With a resounding clap, sixty pairs of boots struck the ground in unison. To be honest, Momo was awestruck. They did this every morning for their morning routine, but her brothers were always in simple clothes...
There, seeing sixty gleaming white armors, shining in the morning sun, weapons raised towards the sky, in rows, by squad and by rank, aligned, united, it was a magnificent sight.
"SOLDIERS! TODAY, THE BATTLEFIELD CALLS US ONCE AGAIN! TODAY IS A TEST!"
Lock began to walk slowly, inspecting his brothers, hands behind his back, a serious and proud expression. He was the only one not wearing armor, but civilian clothes. Officially, it would only be him who could compete in the UA entrance exam.
"IT MAY NOT BE A REAL BATTLE AS WE'VE ALWAYS KNOWN, BUT THAT CHANGES NOTHING! I WANT YOU ALL TO REMEMBER, WE STAND SHOULDER TO SHOULDER ON THE FRONT LINES. BROTHERS! WE MAY QUARREL SOMETIMES, BUT WHATEVER HAPPENS, WE ARE UNITED!"
The captain struck his chest with his fist, and his sixty brothers did the same.
"RULE NUMBER 1! WE FIGHT TOGETHER!"
The sixty teenagers struck their chests once again, with even more strength, and the resulting clap was even louder than the first.
...
To be honest, Momo had wondered why Lock's decision had changed overnight regarding his career path. The captain had initially wanted to go into general studies at UA, to later become a policeman, which was a good profession in itself, but suddenly, he had switched to the hero course. When Momo had learned about it, she had been very surprised, and when she asked why, the captain had given her exactly the same answer.
"'Rule number 1: Vods always fight together, that's what we've always been taught.'"
And then she had understood.
...
Siblings were always there for one another.
…
"RIGHT FACE!"
In unison, the sixty teenagers turned in perfect synchronization towards the large gate.
"FORWARD! MARCH!" shouted Lock.
The clones marched in slow, steady steps towards the gate. Obviously, as soon as they passed through the gate, they would board no less than two buses that her mother had reserved for them.
Obviously, they were buses with a certain luxury... Lock started marching, and Momo followed him.
"Did you happen to see Focus and Warden this morning?" asked Lock.
Momo nodded.
"Yes, I saw them, they left early in full gear."
Lock grunted slightly...
"Those two... They didn't happen to tell you where they were going, did they?"
The ravenette shook her head...
"No... But they're gone all day on weekends and the entire afternoon on weekdays."
"I've noticed too, I hope they'll show up anyway... They wouldn't want to miss what you've told me about the exam, that's for sure," the teenager replied with a smile.
Momo chuckled.
Indeed, she had spent a lot of time researching about the UA entrance exam. There was a two-hour written exam, and a physical exam where participants faced robots.
"You know vod, I even regret being a recommended student, you guys are going to have a blast without me."
Lock nodded slowly before replying.
"It'll just be a simple target shooting session anyway. The problem will mostly be the written exam with the language part."
"Have you studied at least?"
Lock nodded.
"I even had a headache two days ago from studying... Speaking and understanding is one thing, it's simple, but writing is another."
While the two were talking, the others began boarding the buses, supervised by Torda, Xyomm, and Dengloy, who also ensured that all weapons were set to 'Stun' mode to avoid accidents. Heavy weapons like the Z-6 were placed in luggage compartments. The only small thing that had to be negotiated with one of the drivers who already thought there were far too many dangerous things on the bus was the RPS-6 Missile Launcher that one trooper absolutely wanted to bring just in case. Eventually, the driver had to give in after Momo, noticing the problem, negotiated an additional bonus of twelve hundred yen to the driver's pay. However, the missile launcher had to be disarmed for the journey, which was immediately done by the weapon's bearer.
Lock was the last to board the front bus, right after Momo, and once they were settled, the bus started. The vehicle was quiet, except for occasional satisfied grunts or the clicks of energy cells being connected to weapons. The atmosphere was heavy, tense, but extremely professional. It brought back nostalgic memories to Lock...
Deployments in LAATs...
Diving into the heat of action as soon as the doors opened, brothers by your side, blaster in hand, adrenaline boosting the body...
But Lock quickly shook off his nostalgia to focus on the present. He glanced around the bus. Momo had closed her eyes next to him, resting one last time, and his brothers were making final checks in silence or speaking softly.
They arrived in front of the school quite quickly, and even before the bus stopped, Lock stood up in the middle aisle, waking Momo in the process. Following his lead, in complete silence, the rest of the occupants of the bus stood up. As the bus maneuvered to park, it was slightly shaken, but the clones didn't seem to be affected by that.
The doors opened, and Lock stepped out, followed by Momo. He glanced at the other bus, where Torda and Dengloy were ensuring the troops' organization. He noticed several passersby and exam participants gasping in surprise at the sight of armor and weapons worn by teenagers.
Everyone quickly got off the buses, and after being organized into a single column, Lock shouted,
"FORWARD! MARCH! 1; 2; 1; 2!"
In rhythm, the clones started marching. Momo had a small, amazed smile. Her brothers were making an impression, that was for sure. She glanced at passersby and other teenagers passing by. Many looked at the clones with a certain admiration, even though the weapons caused some recoil. There were also discreetly asked questions among teens.
"Are those real weapons?"
"Whoa... Where do they come from?"
"Are they soldiers? At this age?"
"Maybe it's their quirk?"
"The same quirk for sixty people? No, that's improbable, even impossible..."
"They look badass though..."
"Do you see that? They look like guys from the future!"
"Could they be aliens?"
"No, stop messing around, it's impossible for them to be aliens, they don't exist!"
"They seem young to have such discipline..."
"Are they here for the entrance exam? We're screwed..."
"Maybe they're clones?"
Those were the kinds of things she heard, but at the mention of the possibility that they were clones, she began to hear remarks like 'What a show-off' or 'Clones? That's disgusting! They must be some gelatinous things under their armor!', however, she didn't have to intervene, as the threatening looks from her brothers through their T-visor silenced such comments.
And soon, they passed through the gate... And she saw Lock veer to the right, after speaking to Dengloy who took command of the column, ordering them to halt.
And she saw her vod head towards a group of four people, two of whom she recognized very well...
/
Izuku was ecstatic... His dream could finally come true, to become a hero... He had dreamed of standing in front of the UA building many times... But he was very nervous...
"Hey, Izuku, you can do it, remember what we taught you," said Warden, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving him a slight shake.
Izuku nodded.
He had received One For All earlier that morning, and All Might hadn't exactly explained how to use it properly... Thankfully, Warden and Focus had taught him things that would be very useful for the physical exam... Including what it consisted of...
Izuku couldn't know how they had gotten the information, but at least he could prepare. The two clones seemed well-versed in everything related to strategy and robots.
"Yes... Thank you, Warden..." and he took another step forward... Only to step on his untied shoelaces and trip... His reflexes, trained by the two clones, allowed him to roll into position...
But he never touched the ground.
He found himself floating in the air, as if he were in space, before someone grabbed him by the ankle, stopping him.
"Are you okay?" asked a female voice.
"Yeah... He was going to catch himself, he wouldn't have been hurt... Where did you come from?" Warden's voice asked the person whom Izuku couldn't see from his position.
"I... Uh... Sorry... I was walking past you, and my reflexes took over when I saw your friend fall", the person replied.
"Can I get down?" Izuku asked in a small voice.
"Oh! Yes, sorry!"
Immediately, gravity seemed to take effect again, and the person holding his ankle let go. So, he landed on his two feet smoothly before turning around.
The girl who apparently touched him was a girl with a round face, big brown eyes looking at Izuku, and brown hair cut in a bob with two strands framing her face. Her fingers were pressed together, and Izuku thought he saw some kind of pads. And immediately his habit took over.
Almost imperceptibly, he saw Warden take a step back in terror, knowing what was about to happen. Izuku hadn't pulled this on them the first time they met, but the first time they had come to train him with All Might (who had still been suspicious and surprised that young teenagers could know so much, until the two explained to him that they were a quirk and the reasons why they knew so much thanks to their original creator's passion, the poor man had been stunned by the news...)... He bombarded them with questions for two hours.
"Does your quirk work on objects? Can you lift several things at once? Is there a weight limit? I bet you cancel the gravity of an object... MumbleMumbleMumble..." The brunette looked at him in astonishment as he began to mutter to himself...
Warden sighed...
"His name is Midoriya Izuku... And before you ask, yes, this isn't the first time. His passion for quirks has this effect on him..."
"I... I see," the girl replied, swallowing, "I'm Uraraka Ochako, nice to meet you."
Warden nodded, with a slight bow.
"I'm Warden, and this is Focus."
The brunette gave a warm smile.
"Pleased to meet you," she then looked at the equipment of the two clones, "Are outfits like that allowed? Same for the weapons?"
Warden chuckled.
"Oh, that? Those rules don't apply to us."
The brunette raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
Izuku chose this moment to snap out of his thoughts, stopping muttering to himself to answer with a smile.
"As crazy as it sounds, these two are a quirk! To be exact, the original user can create 143 copies of himself and equip them with weaponry he imagines. These copies are intelligent and independent of the user, which justifies their presence."
Ochako was about to say something, stars of admiration in her eyes, but a voice rang out behind her.
"Presence which will be necessary. I now think I know why you two were leaving without telling anyone..."
In the body language of the two armored teens, they could tell they were about to get scolded...
Izuku glanced over Ochako's shoulder, who turned around.
A teenager with black hair and dark eyes stood there, an authoritative air, arms crossed.
"You were going to train the boy, right?"
The two snapped to attention before saluting.
"Captain!"
Izuku and Ochako looked at each other, not understanding what was happening, a girl joined the newcomer, and Izuku recognized her, just like Momo did.
"Midoriya-san. You're here?"
"Yaoyorozu-san. Indeed. Nice to see you again."
"Likewise," the ravenette replied with a friendly smile before turning to Ochako, "And you are?"
"Uraraka Ochako. Are you from the Yaoyorozu family?"
"Indeed, I remember that my parents had a construction contract with yours two years ago. Is that right?"
The brunette nodded.
"That's correct," she then looked at the captain, "Who are you?"
The captain looked at her for a moment.
"Yaoyorozu Lock. Adopted son of the family", he glanced at Warden and Focus, "And creator of these two. At ease you two."
The two clones lowered their hands, before Warden spoke up.
"We're sorry, Captain. We should have informed you."
Lock looked at them sternly for a while before sighing, his gaze softening.
"It's forgiven... At least it was for a good reason..." His gaze hardened again, "But you'll still be on garbage duty for the week."
Warden and Focus grumbled discontentedly, which elicited a small chuckle from Momo.
"Alright. Off you go, both of you. Fall into formation."
The two didn't need to be told twice and went to line up. A line that Izuku admired with a mixture of awe and admiration... Warden and Focus had already told him about what it was like to have so many similar people, brothers, and to have a military organization, but he didn't expect something so impressive... The weapons, the armor gleaming in the sunlight... Ochako also looked on, impressed.
"Why 'Captain'?" the girl asked, giving Lock a questioning look after a moment.
"Our organization. My passion for the army spread to everyone, so we had to find a way to organize ourselves."
Ochako nodded, understanding.
Suddenly, the speakers came to life, and a voice rang out.
"The written test begins in 10 minutes!"
The four looked up at the announcement.
"Good luck to you, vod. Don't miss your targets," exclaimed Momo with a mocking smile before leaving.
"Try not to fail the exam!" Lock replied with a smirk, and the two laughed before parting ways.
Lock then bowed.
"Good luck to you two.", and with that, the teenager turned on his heel to head towards the column.
"Dengloy, Torda, Xyomm! Come here!" he called.
The three lieutenants quickly joined him, and the four grouped together.
"What are the orders, Captain?" asked Torda.
"To be honest, I don't know, so I'm going to ask you to stay here..." he glanced around to see if there was any staff nearby... No one... He briefly saw Midoriya and Uraraka being approached by a blond boy who seemed very grumpy before they entered the building.
"The test starts in 5 minutes!" the speakers announced.
"Okay, stay here on standby for now," Lock ordered. "I'll come get you before we go for the physical test."
"Received," the three lieutenants replied in unison, and Lock headed towards the massive building to take his written test...
/
It wasn't even ten minutes since Lock had left that two people approached the group. Their appearance put everyone on edge.
The first was a man dressed all in black, some kind of gray scarf around his neck, he had long hair and his face showed that the man didn't sleep much.
The second was a man dressed like in... 'cowboy' movies that Gamma squad enjoyed so much, and he wore a gas mask. Two ornate pistols were holstered at his belt. Many recognized Snipe. To learn about the country's culture, they had also had to study famous heroes.
The cowboy approached them before asking. By his tone, everyone could tell he was wary, just like the clones were.
"Who are you?"
It was Torda who replied, stepping forward towards the two.
"I am Lieutenant Torda, pleased to meet you Mr. Snipe."
It was the tired-looking man who asked the second question.
"What are you doing here? And aren't you a bit young to be a Lieutenant?"
"Negative. As for our reason here, we are awaiting our superior officer."
"Who is he?"
"Captain Lock, sir."
The two men looked at each other, confused. Suddenly Snipe exclaimed, which slightly surprised the group.
"Alright, I see who you are..." The tired man looked at Snipe, raising an eyebrow. Snipe looked at him before explaining.
"Do you remember the registration form I got where I was quite surprised?"
"Yes..."
"Well, it's them. Lock Yaoyorozu, adopted child, quirk: Company, the user can create up to 143 copies of himself and equip them with weaponry he imagines, the copies are autonomous and intelligent."
The tired man scanned the group with his gaze...
"In short, a good group of problem childs..."
"That's what you say," Snipe said, casually shrugging, before looking at Torda, "Alright... So you're waiting for him to finish the written exam for the physical one... Is that it?"
Torda nodded.
"I see... Do you have a license to use these weapons?"
"No, sir."
Snipe crossed his arms...
"In that case, you'll have to get one with me after your exam... Your creator too..."
"You can call him brother when you mention him", said Torda.
"Got it. Well, listen, we're not going to let you hang around outside, you're going to wait in the school cafeteria, usually, students who finish their test are supposed to go there... Follow me!"
The group of clones took a few seconds to organize themselves before following the two men...
/
When Momo arrived in the room where the test would take place, she noticed that there weren't too many recommended students this year... There was her, a boy who seemed to have no lips, which made it look like she was seeing a skull instead of a face. A tall boy with short hair. And finally... The ravenette would have to be extremely foolish not to recognize Endeavor's son...
They all looked at her when she entered... And she quietly went to sit in her seat. After a little while, the attention of the others turned away from her... And a silent ten minutes later, the door opened.
"Am I a bear? A dog? A rat? No matter, I'm Nezu!" a voice chirped with a certain undisguised excitement as a strange character entered the room.
Momo knew perfectly well who it was, but she still couldn't help but look with surprise at the small white mammal, dressed with a certain style, who entered the room.
Nezu, the principal of the school. One of the few cases of animals acquiring a quirk.
She had to restrain herself from getting up and hugging the principal because he was so cute.
The white chimera climbed onto the stage in front of the four, right next to the desk, and stood there, hands behind his back, a smile on his face.
"Welcome, dear students, to this written exam. As you know, you are recommended students. The best of the best according to your school. Know that it is a great honor you have here... It's an advantage... But also a disadvantage, if your physical test will be less difficult than that of your classmates, your written exam will be more complicated... So, your exam will last for 3 hours."
The principal took some papers that had been placed on the desk.
"Here are your subjects. Good luck to you four. Ah. Also, I'll be monitoring you for most of the test, until your classmates' physical exam to be exact."
The mammal jumped off the stage, placed the papers on their tables, before returning to sit on the stage. However, he decided to climb onto the chair that went with the desk, and climbed onto said desk, sitting on the edge, before pulling out a cup of tea out of nowhere and started sipping it quietly...
Momo focused on her paper... Oh boy... 8 pages... She felt a drop of sweat run down her temple...
It wouldn't be easy even with her intense revisions.
But really not easy...
Kriffing hell…
/
Lock could have let out an exclamation of relief when he finished his exam... There were still about ten people in the class, so he got up silently, turned in his papers, and left the room... There were still thirty minutes left out of the 2 hours...
The hardest part had obviously been the language section, writing Japanese wasn't really easy...
There were at least fifty letters to learn, three different alphabets, and that's not even counting all the variations, punctuations, and possible combinations... In short.
He had a slight headache.
Math, science, history, geography, went by fairly easily. He had memorized everything important in those areas, so he didn't have any problems...
He let out a sigh...
Alright. Just the physical test left.
A shiver of excitement ran through him, one he didn't bother to hide. It would be a piece of cake. Just a simple target shooting session. If Momo was to be believed, the robots were indeed large and imposing, but they were just there to impress. He didn't know the capabilities of the robots, or if there were different models, but it didn't matter. They were used to fighting machines, and the Separatist droids were the deadliest in the galaxy, dumb as B1 or B2 droids may be, they were still deadly. And he wasn't even talking about the BX or Magnaguards, who were anything but dumb.
He arrived at the cafeteria, where they had been instructed to go after finishing. It was quite crowded, with many participants already present, but it wasn't hard to find his brothers. They were all gathered in a corner, isolated from the rest, and... they were the loudest group.
As he approached, there was a cheer and applause, no one paid attention when he stood behind his brothers, but he found a way to see through. He had a little smile.
And there was groans at the same time. Arm wrestling competition, a classic within the unit. And it was Mirage and Dozer, a member of Gamma Squad who had the same habit as Fearless, namely charging straight at opponents.
The only difference was that Dozer was beefier than Fearless, due to the fact that he spent a lot of time lifting weights in their squad's barracks. The two clones were evenly matched, although Mirage seemed to have a slight advantage. Being a gunner and carrying a Z-6 everywhere helped a lot.
The two remained locked for a long moment, pushing with all their might, but gradually, Mirage began to gain the upper hand, inch by inch he pushed the physical limits of Dozer's arm...
-BAM!-
There were cries of surprise, a brief silence... And then the whole group began to applaud and congratulate Dozer, who, in an extraordinary feat, managed to turn the situation around and win.
Lock caught glimpses from the corner of his eye of the sideways glances some students were giving them, with sometimes unfriendly looks. Some seemed to be curious or even impressed, but they were few.
And then suddenly, someone shouted.
"ATTENTION! THE CAPTAIN IS HERE!"
In complete disorder, his brothers ceased their noise and lined up at attention. Lock cast a glance, realizing it was Xyomm who had shouted, the three lieutenants were a bit to the side, probably discussing officer business, and Lock, although he would have preferred his men to relax a bit before the exam, nodded at him in acknowledgment, thanking him.
"At ease, soldiers. Are you all ready for the physical exam?"
His brothers nodded in complete synchronization.
"Get ready, the written test will end soon, I'll be absent for the briefing of the exam, during that time you'll wait for me outside. As soon as I come out, you follow me. I'll brief you on the field. Did anyone bring a datapad?"
A trooper stepped forward, a hand reaching into his back, opening his bag, and pulling out the requested item after rummaging inside.
"Thank you, Derac. Do you all understand me well?"
"SIR YES SIR!"
Lock nodded.
"Perfect. Dismissed."
/
Unidentified building, Musutafu.
"PLEASE CLEAR THE AREA! PROFESSIONAL HEROES WILL HANDLE THE PROBLEM!" shouted a policeman into his megaphone, as a security cordon formed to prevent civilians from approaching the intervention site.
The place in question was a large multi-story building, occupied by a tourism agency. A shootout had been reported by passersby, caused by an unknown number of criminals.
Seven people stood in front of the entrance. 5 heavily equipped policemen, and two heroes.
"Are you ready, gentlemen?" asked Star Sentinel.
Star Sentinel: Pro-Hero; Quirk: Comet: With a flick of a finger to a small pebble, he can turn it into a very hot and fast projectile.
The other six nodded, with Axeblade even responding with an excited smile.
"Hell yeah! We're ready!"
Axeblade: Pro-Hero; Quirk: Axe: He can transform his forearms into large axe blades by using the iron in its mineral state accumulated in his body. He can also manage the blade's solidity and sharpness, making it harmless or very sharp.
"Perfect, then let's go," indicated Star Sentinel, before entering the building...
The hero was immediately struck by the fact that there was no light... The generator had in this case been destroyed or deactivated...
"Flashlights," one of the policemen ordered his colleagues, and five lights illuminated the area...
There were burn marks, impacts, Star Sentinel noted as he examined one of the marks on the walls. They passed by the reception. The two security guards were dead, riddled with shots... From an energy weapon... The receptionist still had her hand on the phone, slumped behind her counter, her face a burned ruin. The cash register seemed untouched... So they didn't want the money?
Axeblade grimaced as he looked at the bodies of the two guards.
"These guys showed no mercy... At least half of these impacts are already fatal, and yet they kept shooting. What a bunch of psychopaths..." he grumbled, angry...
The silence inside the building was oppressive... A deathly silence... They swept through the ground floor, no survivors, all staff members were found dead, shot or with deep lacerations...
They then swept through the first floor. Same as on the ground floor, office doors had been broken down, and their occupants killed as they hid, lockers filled with files seemed to have been ransacked, but the money some had, or even piggy banks, hadn't been touched or taken... They found a security guard killed in a morbid position, and it even made the group jump, thinking they had found a survivor for a moment. It was when they shone a light on him that they discovered the grim spectacle.
The man had been shot in the middle of the forehead, with such precision that he remained standing, albeit with his shoulders slumped, and his legs slightly bent, but he was still standing. He still had panic-wide eyes, and his hands were still emitting smoke after he had probably tried to use his quirk.
The third floor was more interesting for the group. Some employees had been found in their chairs, most with marks of a gun pressed against their temples. They had been interrogated before being killed. No survivors, but this time, the offices hadn't been ransacked for anything... The security guards hadn't, like everyone else, survived.
"They didn't touch the money... What were they after exactly? Maps?" asked one of the policemen.
"No idea, but they certainly combed through everything expertly.", remarked another. And he was right, the attackers, whatever they were looking for, seemed to have rummaged through everything.
The group ascended to the top floor...
"Hush. I hear something," Star Sentinel suddenly said, indicating to the others to make no more noise... Indeed... If they kept silent...
-Clang... Clang... Swish Swish...-
Footsteps, the sound of rustling papers... Then...
"Your maps are not in this drawer," a mechanical voice said coldly, before a terrified male voice responded to it.
"N-n-not in th-that drawer, th-that one to the r-right... right of th-that one..."
-Clang... Clang... Scrrr... Swish Swish...-
There was a moment of silence...
-Clang... Clang... Clang... Clang...-
The man made a panicked sound of surprise before yelling in a stuttering voice.
"Y-YOU-YOU PROMISED TO... TO... TO LET ME LI-LIVE!"
There was no response for a few seconds...
"To find the maps, indeed, I never stipulated that you would be alive after,"
-PEW!-
-Plof...-
Axeblade made a hand gesture, and the policemen turned off their flashlights... They then moved... Silently... They were going to capture these bastards...
The criminal resumed rummaging through the papers... Or the maps apparently, he was thus distracted...
Star Sentinel approached the door of the office and opened it slightly to peek inside...
The sound of rustling papers ceased... Everyone froze in the darkness...
Star Sentinel moved slightly, and the leather of his costume made a tiny sound...
-Criiik...-
The door of an office they had just passed was ripped off its hinges, causing two policemen to fall, as a silhouette, blurred in the darkness, emerged, grabbed one of the policemen on the ground, lifted him in his momentum, and slammed him against the opposite wall.
The policeman felt something round and hot pressed against the base of his helmet and head...
-PEW!-
There was a flash of light that illuminated the dark corridor, but too brief to see anything of the criminal, and the policeman fell, dead on the spot.
There were cries of surprise from the other officers, and Star Sentinel turned his head, eyes wide, surprised by the sudden noises.
-Phewww...-
A faint whistling in the air...
And not even a second after the policeman's body hit the ground... The hero's head was severed from his shoulders in a spray of blood. The blade that decapitated him continued its trajectory, leaving a deep gash in the wall. Flashlights flickered on the next moment, illuminating the corridor, as pistols were drawn and aimed...
The attacker who had killed the policeman turned around, almost doing a 180-degree turn, to immediately dodge two bullets aimed at him. He seemed to bend and contort himself with abnormal skill and speed for a human body, unless he possessed a quirk that allowed him to do so, dodging between the bullets before firing his own gun.
A red laser shot out with a flash, killing one of the policemen with deadly precision. Meanwhile, Axeblade charged at the criminal who had killed Star Sentinel, his forearms transforming into sharp axe blades, the hero solidifying them to the maximum he could. He raised one arm high in the air, ready to strike his opponent, and thanks to the light, he could finally see him...
It was an average-sized man, 6 feet tall, dressed in simple clothing. Blue jeans, red and white sneakers, and a sweater with the hood covering his face... He held a firearm... The same weapon that fired those lasers, in one hand, and a strange blade in the other. The man remained still...
Not moving an inch...
And Axeblade brought down his arm. In a blurred motion, the sword's blade met his forearm, locking the two blades in a duel of strength... Axeblade felt himself losing ground, as the other blade sank relatively easily into the metal as seconds passed, his opponent seemed to have no difficulty pushing on his blade. The hero exerted all his strength, and for a moment, neither of them could gain the upper hand... The hero tried to peer into the hood, attempting to make eye contact with his opponent, but it was as if the inside of the man's hood was nothing but darkness... Suddenly, with a sweeping motion, the criminal shifted his stance after deflecting his forearm, and delivered a powerful uppercut to the hero's jaw. Axeblade felt his teeth and jaw shatter, the unbearable pain arriving at the same time as the taste of blood. He staggered back, dazed, before tripping over his own legs and falling onto his back...
And he witnessed the carnage...
The second criminal leaped into the air, sword poised at his chest, before performing a 360-degree spin and landing while slashing his blade at one of the remaining policemen... The man fell, seemingly in slow motion, a large gash extending from his shoulder to his ribs, and it was only when he hit the ground that the blood spurted. The criminal got up...
-BANG!-
A close-range shot hit him straight in the chest...
The criminal arched his back at an improbable angle, shoes still glued to the ground, before straightening up and bringing down his sword on the neck of the brave police officer who had fired. Blood sprayed again from a pierced artery, and the man fell like a rock. Only one policeman remained, the man fired his gun, but the criminal sidestepped, turning his torso slightly so that the bullet grazed him. The policeman panicked, and pulled out his radio as the killer slowly approached him... He pressed a button, turning it on, and opened his mouth to scream at the top of his lungs...
But he let go of the radio a quarter of a second later, collapsing to the ground without a sound, a smoking hole on the side of his head, as the last echoes of a gunshot faded away. A third criminal stood at the other end of the corridor, the barrel of his gun emitting a thin wisp of smoke...
But Axeblade couldn't see anything more, he felt the collar of his costume being grabbed, and he was lifted... He looked ahead of him, still dazed by the uppercut. But this time... He could see something of the man's face. At first, he thought the man had a vocoder in front of his mouth to mask his real voice and transform it into a mechanical voice, but the white optics that met his eyes were anything but human...
Terrified, he deactivated his quirk, but attempted to strike this... thing. His fist crashed into the thing's face, its eyes turned from white to red for a second, before Axeblade felt a piercing pain in his solar plexus and between his shoulder blades, before everything turned black and empty...
/
There was a bell, signaling the end of the written test, and Lock stood up from the bench where he had been sitting. The rest of the company was feverish and impatient.
Finally some action. It had been a while since they had fought.
He wasn't bored, but the fact that he hadn't seen action when he had known nothing but that felt weird. He was actually the most impatient among them, even though he was holding back his excitement.
"Remember guys, wait for me outside."
His brothers nodded, and Lock left, following the bulk of the students to the auditorium, which was indicated by staff members. When he entered the gigantic room, he was almost tempted to go up on the stage...
It looked a bit like a typical briefing room... Even though there were more rows than usual... Lock sat in the front row, so he could better catch the details and see. And it took an additional five minutes for everyone to find a seat or sit down... Pressing a button, his datapad lit up.
The man who stepped onto the stage was a pro-hero. No doubt about it, Lock had seen him on the internet before... And the captain slightly regretted his decision of sitting to the front...
"HELLO HELLO LITTLE LISTENERS!"
Goodbye eardrums from the first four words, Lock winced at the loud volume of the man's voice. He regretted not being allowed to wear anything other than the given uniforms... He would have brought his helmet. The audio system would have lowered the volume of the voice...
"I HOPE YOUR WRITTEN EXAM WENT WELL, AND NOW, WE MOVE ON TO YOUR PHYSICAL EXAM!"
Despite the ear-splitting voice, Lock listened very carefully.
"YOUR TEST WILL LAST FOR 15 MINUTES! YOU WILL BE ASSIGNED TO AN AREA FILLED WITH VILLAIN BOTS! YOUR GOAL WILL BE TO NEUTRALIZE AS MANY OF THEM AS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE TIMER RUNS OUT! THE VILLAIN BOTS EACH HAVE A DIFFERENT POINT VALUE!"
A screen lit up behind the hero, revealing a 3D map of an urban environment... And four silhouettes of different machines...
"EACH VILLAIN BOT HAS A DIFFERENT POINT COST! SOME ARE WORTH 1 POINT, OTHERS 2 POINTS, OR EVEN 3 POINTS! HOWEVER, KNOW THAT THE HIGHER THE POINT VALUES, THE MORE POWERFUL THE VILLAIN BOTS ARE! ANY QUESTIONS? YES?"
Lock noted down everything that was said on his datapad.
"But it's showing four types of robots, not three!", Lock turned his head to look at the person, lifting his eyes from his screen... He was a tall boy, with blue hair and glasses, however, Lock noticed something else... He groaned... Oh no... He could see what kind of person this was...
"Could this be a mistake?" the boy asked, waving his arm with the same motion as a cleaver... Exactly what Lock thought... Kriff... Even Commander Bacara and his Galactic Marines weren't as strict about regulations... Present Mic didn't seem to be bothered, and instead, with a smile, made finger guns.
"THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION! NO, IT'S NOT A MISTAKE! THE VILLAIN BOTS WORTH ZERO POINTS ARE ABSOLUTELY USELESS! THEY'RE JUST THERE FOR DECOR AND TO PREVENT YOU FROM DESTROYING TOO MUCH OF THE TERRAIN! YOU'LL HAVE TO BE CAREFUL AROUND THEM!"
He was wary of what the hero had just said... The captain looked at the silhouette... Hmm... It didn't seem like it was only there 'for decoration' as Present Mic said...
"I apologize for my stupidity," the boy apologized, sitting back down after a bow.
"NO WORRIES, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?" Lock raised his hand.
"YES?"
The 'yes' hurt his already painful ears even more because of the voice even higher pitch.
"What exactly are the robots armed with, and can we enter the buildings?" Present Mic nodded appreciatively, then clapped his hands.
"THAT'S THE FIRST TIME I'VE BEEN ASKED THOSE TWO QUESTIONS! NO, YOU CAN'T ENTER THE BUILDINGS, JUST LIKE THE VILLAIN BOTS CAN'T EITHER! AS FOR ARMAMENT, OUR VILLAIN BOTS ARE EQUIPPED WITH MACHINE GUNS, CANNONS, AND ROCKET LAUNCHERS."
There was a movement of surprise and fear through the room.
"NO NEED TO WORRY, NOTHING'S LETHAL, THEY SHOOT ENERGY BEAMS THAT WILL GIVE YOU AN ELECTRIC SHOCK IF YOU'RE HIT. THE ONLY THING YOU MIGHT END UP WITH WOULD BE A BROKEN BONE IF YOU FALL WRONG OR IF A VILLAIN BOT HITS YOU TOO HARD."
Lock nodded slowly... Alright... He was already organizing a strategy in his head... And he obviously noted down the answers on the datapad.
"ANY MORE QUESTIONS? CAN I GET A REEEAAADY?!"
Lock winced... He thought he heard teeth grinding next to him... Fortunately, no one screamed in the auditorium, much to his eardrums' relief...
"VERY WELL... HEAD TO THE LOCKER ROOMS, YOU'LL BE GIVEN SUITABLE ATTIRE FOR THE PHYSICAL EXAM," the hero indicated, pouting slightly.
That was the only time during the entire briefing that Lock was glad he had chosen the front row as a place to sit, he stood up as soon as the hero finished speaking, and sprinted to the door. He got out very quickly, looking at some kind of paper signs that had been placed to indicate where to go. Behind him, in the room, he heard the rumble of hundreds of feet hitting the ground as the other participants stood up and left. Lock sprinted, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the first students leaving the auditorium.
Thus, he arrived first at the locker room, not even out of breath; grabbed his uniform, which had been neatly stacked at the entrance to the locker rooms. In his haste, he almost went into the girls' locker room, but realized his mistake in time.
He opened the door to the boys' locker room and entered just as the first students began to arrive. The captain changed very quickly, after all, even if it wasn't a real battle but a test, he wasn't going to let that affect his efficiency. And so he exited as the first other boys were entering.
"Jeez man, calm down!"
Someone said to him, but Lock paid no attention to it. He started running again and finally emerged at the location where they would be taking their test. The captain looked up to see the size of the walls... Wow... Such structures... It slightly reminded him of the Kamino facilities in miniature form. Even though the Kamino installations didn't have that arena-like aspect he felt when looking at these walls. His vods were waiting for him, lined up tightly on the side, weapons presented as they always did before a mission briefing.
Lock smiled. He was glad to see that his vods were taking this seriously too. He approached and stood in front of the ranks, turning on his datapad. He quickly reviewed his notes before beginning.
"Alright. Here are our mission objectives, gentlemen! Behind these walls lies an urban environment where we'll be facing machines specially created to simulate the enemies we'll have to face in the future. Our objective is the same as the Citadel test, with the only difference being that we won't have a point to capture. No. Our objective will be to destroy as many enemies as possible. Aim only for those marked with numbers 1, 2, 3; the 3s are our top priority targets and the most resilient of all, the 2s and 1s can be ignored as long as a 3 is present. Those marked with the number 0 are to be completely ignored," as he spoke, students began to arrive and looked at them with a certain disdain, a haughty air, or as if he and his vod were completely disturbed and playing soldiers, but Lock paid no attention to it, "Watch your shots, you're allowed to use lethal mode shots, but be sure you won't hit another competitor. Am I understood, gentlemen?"
The sixty-two other clones responded in unison.
"YES, CAPTAIN!"
Lock nodded with a smile.
"Perfect. Let's show these rookies what we're capable of!"
"OYA!", his brothers shouted in response.
/
Nezu smiled...
"We have quite an interesting group this year... The adopted son of Yaoyorozu, if I'm not mistaken?" the white chimera asked.
"That's correct, I was quite surprised by the boy's quirk, and even more so when I saw his copies in person when I took them to the cafeteria.", Snipe replied.
The observation room was filled, with all staff gathered to observe potential candidates for the hero course, some had already been eliminated on arrival due to quirks not very useful in many situations, those kids still participated, but it had already been decided that they wouldn't be in the hero course. However, even though that eliminated some, there was still a large group of potential students.
"Any favorites?", Nezu asked, looking at the teachers. Most shrugged, others did nothing. Nezu gave a small smile to All Might before turning to Snipe.
"Young Yaoyorozu Lock, I presume?", Snipe widened his eyes behind his gas mask.
"How...?"
"It's easy to know. You keep looking at the screens they appear on.", the mammal replied calmly. The gun hero remained silent before admitting.
"... They're not exactly favorites... They interest me. Especially by the fact that they use firearms..."
Power Loader joined the conversation.
"Speaking of their weapons, I've never seen such designs... Normally this kind of equipment created by a quirk is based on existing technology, but here, that's not the case. Nothing is based on an existing base. And if they work, the kid must be a genius."
"That's probably the case.", objected Present Mic, "The little listener asked quite interesting questions, to be honest, it's even the first time questions like that have been asked to me. He's clever."
Nezu smiled.
"These questions will soon have an answer. All participants are present. By the way, Yamada-san, aren't you the one who should give them the start signal?"
The hero looked at him, confused.
"But I... It was Kayama-san's job to do it!"
"Nezu decided to make a last-minute change," the woman in question replied, pouting slightly.
"Indeed, it is likely that our participants will be distracted by... our colleague's appearance.", replied the mammal, also implicitly implying something.
"Please?", asked the heroine with a puppy-dog look.
"No", replied the principal, "You're already assigned as the presenter for the sports festival."
Midnight remained silent for a while... Seeming to weigh the words...
"I'm fine with that," replied the heroine with a smile.
/
Unidentified building, Musutafu.
"Entry team! Respond! We heard gunfire! Entry team, are you there?"
Three mechanical fingers grabbed the radio, lifting it from the blood-red floor before activating it.
"Affirmative, we encountered the criminals, there were three of them and armed, we neutralized them. We're finishing clearing the last floor, and then you're good to come in.", replied a police officer's voice.
"Understood, we'll still send a team, they'll stay on the ground floor until you give us the green light."
"Roger Roger."
A mechanical finger pressed the button to turn off the radio, after recording the frequency number, before crushing the device in its hand. Next to him, the other two criminals finished stripping the police officers of their equipment, donning the gear themselves, heavy helmets, bulletproof vests, and trading their simple clothes for police uniforms. Once done, they approached.
"What are the orders?" asked a mechanical voice from behind the visor of a heavy helmet.
"We're leaving. We've acquired the geographical data we needed, and we've also retrieved useful equipment... Additionally..." the human voice turned into staticky, cold, mechanical voice, white optics turning red, shifting across several spectrums... Thermal, night vision, UV, auditory, until reaching the one he was seeking.
-Ba bum... Ba bum... Ba bum...-
Repetitive beeps appeared in the field of vision on the first floor and outside, the heartbeats of the humans nearby... Statistics began to be calculated by a mechanical brain, series of complex numbers to calculate the probabilities of staying discreet, even winning... The optics returned to their original white color.
"Our chances of victory are slightly below 50% despite our skills, and our chances of going unnoticed are at 0% if we decide to confront the humans. We'll go through the rooftops."
The weapons carried by the attackers were magnetically attached to their bodies, the magnetism even acting through the fabric of their clothes between the metal exoskeletons of the attackers, the three turned towards an emergency exit and set off, one dressed in civilian clothes, two others dressed in the uniforms they had stolen.
-Beep-
The radio frequency was activated, and instantly voices filled the audio systems.
"Darn it, are they sending that signal?"
"Be patient officer, Entry Team didn't specify how long they would take."
"I'm telling you, there's a problem, they're taking too long."
"I repeat, be patient. They'll send it to us when they're done."
"They've captured the criminals at least? Who's to say they haven't been taken out and some guy with a quirk capable of mimicking a voice didn't answer you?"
With a punch, one of the attackers smashed the door handle, breaking it with disconcerting ease.
"It doesn't matter if they suspect something now. We'll be gone by the time they get here."
And the three killers left the scene of their crimes.
The nightmare had only just begun for Musutafu...
In the shadows, their eyes gleam coldly, menacingly.
They, nightmares of steel, without souls in their cold bodies, them, mechanical tormentors, programmed to kill.
Pain and torment mechanized.
Silent infiltrators, whether it's you, me, them, him, stealing identities, voices, appearances, with the ease of a killing machine.
In the darkness they creep, discreet saboteurs, their footsteps echoing like ominous echoes, shadows of metal, monsters of cold steel relentlessly tracking, accomplishing their missions without emotion.
Their steel hands sow death and fear in the hearts of their enemies like a dark curse programmed to deliver a grim fate...
The small question at the end of Chapter 3 is still active! Hope you have fun trying to find what the 'villains' are!
Notes:
Yeah... I kind of quoted Colt at the start of the chapter... Couldn't resist!
