A/N: Before we get started, I'd like to apologize for the wait. This ended up taking way longer than I was expecting.
When I first finished the last chapter, I was immediately hit with writer's block that I had no idea how to get through, which lasted about two weeks. After which, I was finally able to sit down and force myself to finish up a rough draft, which was... pretty terrible, in my opinion, but it was enough to work as an outline of sorts to base the rewrite off of. The thing was, before I could actually start working on the rewrite, I went on vacation for another two weeks. Because of that, I was only able to start working on this chapter properly after I came home on the 9th of September. All of that, combined with a bunch of other issues that led to a busier than usual schedule, and, well... Yeah, this ended up taking a while.
That said, I do have some good news. The funny thing was, the original draft of this chapter, which covered the entire practical exam and the aftermath, was just under ten thousands words. The final rewrite ended up being around twenty-five thousand. So, logical solution, I ended up splitting it into two again. So, think of this chapter as a Part Two, Part One kind of deal, whereas the next chapter will be Part Two, Part Two. What this also means, however, is that Chapter Seven is already complete and ready to go as of me posting this. Well, mostly—I'm still trying to decide if I want to keep/rewrite/delete this one scene near the end, but otherwise, it's completely finished. I'll post it by the start of next week at the latest.
I would also like to put up another Content Warning, because this chapter contains a scene that may or may not be triggering to some people. Better be safe than sorry, and all that. The entire scene is italicized, so if you'd like to skip it, you'll know when it happens.
CW: Description of a Panic Attack
Once again, sorry for the wait, and I really do hope you guys enjoy.
Falling Rubble, Shattered Glass
Finishing off the last of her stretches with a low, satisfied sigh, Ume straightened in the morning light with a wide, excited smile. The sun's late-morning rays beat against her skin, keeping the cold at bay alongside the blood flowing through her veins.
Once Present Mic had finished his lecture, they'd started readying themselves for the practical. Unlike the rest of the school, UA's locker rooms were comparatively simple. Nevertheless, they served their purpose; alongside storing any extra supplies she'd brought for the written exam, Ume had used them to change into something more appropriate for intensive activity.
She'd decided to keep things simple. Some sturdy running shoes, a pair of leggings, and a sports bra were all she'd need. Although the splashes of magenta and white thrown over the outfit's black base had helped add some style. Regarding her hair, she'd merely tied it into a ponytail to keep it out of her face.
It was still relatively cold, the morning chill having stubbornly persisted throughout the day thus far. Although, with the sun approaching its midday peak, the air around her had begun to warm. The light exercises and stretches she'd done, having served to get her blood pumping, further helped to keep the cold at bay. By the time the exam was over, she doubted she'd feel it at all.
Though she'd been anxious earlier, consumed by thoughts of imminent failure, that feeling had been washed away with building anticipation having taken its place. Even the anger she'd felt earlier, having been sparked by Present Mic and his idiotic sentiment, had been pushed aside. It merely simmered now, down in the depths of her core.
The opportunity now at hand was one Ume hadn't had within her grasp for a long time. Finally, she'd have the chance to let loose like she hadn't in years, using her power to annihilate everything in her path. Still, this was an important exam; that fact wasn't lost on her. She couldn't afford to screw around in the short time she'd been afforded. Nevertheless, the thought of finally doing something so fun made her blood burn with excitement.
Ume had taken the liberty of sizing up her competition as she'd gone through her preparations. Suffice it to say, she was unimpressed with what she saw; even that was an understatement. She'd gotten their measure with little more than a glance, allowing her to comfortably write most of them off.
To put it bluntly, they were idiots, all of them.
The thing that caught her eye almost immediately was how they held themselves. Their relaxed postures and self-assured smirks revealed a cocky type of confidence that shot well past arrogance and bordered on egotism. It was almost as if the thought of failure hadn't even crossed their minds.
It made her want to laugh; that's just how painfully obvious it was that their confidence was so badly misplaced. It was clear they'd barely put any serious effort into this at all.
Ume, in the year leading up to the exam, had made sure to train day and night. She'd pushed herself to her absolute limit before shattering that limit and pushing herself even further. It'd been hard, even painful at times, but she'd done it all to ensure she would succeed. For that effort, she'd been rewarded.
One only needed to spare her a glance to see the fruits of that labor. Ume had built herself up, leaving her with an athletic, toned physique sporting lean yet strong, powerful muscle coiling beneath her skin. Her complexion hampered by a lack of sleep aside, she looked better than she had in a long time. Not since she'd been reborn, anyway.
The others, on the other hand, didn't even come close. Flabby muscles atop scrawny arms, that's all they had.
Some seemed as if they'd put in a token effort, which was better than nothing at the very least, but the vast majority hadn't so much as tried. It made her wonder; were their Quirks so powerful that they believed they could make up for every other shortcoming? Or was it just their delusion?
She suspected the latter and utterly doubted the former.
Regarding Quirks, those were harder to discern, generally speaking. While many Quirks—notably those classified as Mutant-type, and even some Emitter or Transformation-types—came with mutations of varying subtlety that could hint, or even make it clear what one's Quirk might be, that didn't apply to everyone.
Ume herself was a prime example. If she chose not to use her Quirk and keep her belts hidden within her, it was all but impossible for one to figure out what her Quirk was. That didn't mean there weren't other methods or signs, of course. Just that they were harder to spot.
Support equipment was one such method that immediately came to mind as a relatively reliable alternative. Based on what someone was using, it wasn't difficult to piece together what their Quirk might be.
For example, an arm brace implied a Quirk more powerful than the body could handle. Perhaps a strength enhancer, or something that applied a considerable amount of recoil. That alone was enough to give her a rough idea of not just their Quirk, but potentially their style of fighting, and even their weaknesses.
They'd been given permission to bring in and utilize custom-made support items for the exam, assuming the items in question had been pre-approved by the school. However, few people had taken advantage of the school's endorsement.
With how cock-sure they were, it wasn't hard to guess why.
In the end, only a handful had brought support items with them. It was likely that they had trouble controlling their Quirks in some capacity, or they had Quirks so weak that they needed a crutch to close the gap, as was the nature of support equipment. They wouldn't pose a threat to her, that much was certain.
Of course, not everybody used support equipment, which meant she couldn't judge someone's Quirk based on equipment they didn't have. That's where Quirk Drawbacks came in.
While not quite as reliable, nor as accurate, observing the signs left on someone's body following the overuse of their Quirk was yet another alternative.
An ocular Quirk, for example, often leaves strain on the eyes, and that alone would be enough to narrow down possible options and devise counters if need be. One couldn't use an ocular Quirk if they couldn't see their target, after all.
Still, it wasn't perfect. Then again, neither was anything else. It was enough; that's what mattered.
Between all the signs she'd observed pointing to someone's possible Quirk, it'd been enough for Ume to dismiss them as credible threats almost outright. There were some she wasn't certain about, but even then, she wasn't worried. They were children with delusions of grandeur, each one in over their poor little heads; that was more than clear.
Despite the lack of serious competition, that wasn't an excuse to take things easy. Ume didn't doubt that she would do well, but merely doing well wouldn't be enough.
The thought soured her mood, causing her smile to wilt as she was reminded of the reality of her situation.
It hadn't even been half an hour since then. The faculty hadn't even begun going over the tests. And yet, Ume was certain, her performance during the written exam had been terrible.
For that reason, she'd have to pull out all the stops. Even getting the top score on the practical wouldn't be enough. Ume would need to go above and beyond, blowing everyone else's scores out of the water. If she wanted even the slightest chance of getting accepted, she had to bring her best.
Would her best be enough, though? It would need to be. Otherwise, everything she'd done to prepare for this day would've gone to waste.
Shaking her head, Ume released one last breath to soothe her worries, then pushed said worries aside. As calm as she could be at the moment, Ume stepped forward. She weaved through the crowd as she approached the battle center's massive gate, only for someone to suddenly slam into her, their elbow digging into her side.
'God, what is it with people bumping into me today?!'
Ume wheezed synchronously with the distinctly masculine grunt that reached her ears. Her brow furrowed and a scowl formed on her lips as whoever had bumped into her growled. She would have said something then, but whoever had crashed into her beat her to the punch.
"Watch where the hell you're going!" he suddenly yelled at her, loud and grating.
Her scowl morphed into a full-blown snarl, leaving her fangs bared as Ume turned to face him with a retort on her lips.
"You ran into me, moron!" she shouted. "Are you brain-dead, or do you just need to get your eyes checked?"
The way his expression tightened almost made her smirk.
"Damn extra, what'd you just say to me?!"
"Huh?! Extra?!" she screamed, her amusement drowned out by a sudden surge of fury. "Who the hell are you calling an extra, you overblown imbecile!"
"What'd you just call me?!"
Ume let a wide and vicious smirk grow on her face. "Not only are you mentally challenged and visually impaired, but on top of all that, you're hard of hearing as well? It's almost enough to make me feel sorry for you," she said softly, her words dripping with pity. If it weren't for the malicious glint in her eye, one might have mistaken her words as genuine. "I'll repeat myself then, and I'll even say it nice and slow so your poor little head doesn't get confused, okay?"
"You—"
"Alright, here I go!" With a bright, cheery smile, she sounded out every syllable of every word as if speaking to a toddler. "You're an imbecile. Now, did you catch that, you retard, or would you like me to say it one more time?"
The look on his face was fucking priceless. His eyes were blank, his mouth held open; she'd never seen someone so utterly baffled. Still, despite the smirk growing on her face and the urge to laugh building inside her, she couldn't help but note that, when he was calm, at least, he wasn't all that unbearable to look at.
His skin was nice and smooth, and his blonde hair seemed vibrant and healthy, complimenting his bright red eyes. His facial features, though—possessing a roughish sharpness she couldn't help but admire—those in particular caught her eye.
Then there was his figure, which was another matter entirely.
Unlike the rest of the idiots who probably hadn't performed a single push-up in their lives, this guy was different. The black tank top he was wearing didn't do a thing to hide the impressive and undeniably powerful physique he'd developed. That had to have taken months of hard work, at least.
Maybe she'd been wrong about him. Well, whatever. Even if he wasn't as worthless as she'd assumed, it didn't change a thing. There wasn't a chance in hell that he could hope to match her.
She was brought out of her thoughts when a sudden popping sound reached her ears, almost like a firecracker had gone off. It didn't take long to find the source; her gaze flicked to his hands where bright sparks popped and crackled as they leaped from his palm.
That was his Quirk no doubt. Perhaps it had something to do with combustion? Interesting.
"You think you're hot shit, don't you?" he growled venomously, his anger resurfacing with a vengeance. "You're nothing! All you are is a worthless extra, someone for me to trample over on my way to the top! Don't even think about getting in my way or I'll blast you to hell and back!"
Ume snorted, a sudden rush of air leaving her lips. Then she began to snicker. "Oh, wow... Sorry, just... Do you actually expect me to take that seriously? Really? You do, don't you? Oh, God, that's rich," she giggled. "Since it's clear nobody's told you this yet, I'll do it instead. You're really not as special as you think you are, hon. All you are is a hotheaded moron who's too big for his boots. I mean, really, can you even back up your words? Honestly, I doubt it. You seem like the type who's all bark and no bite, just like the rest of these idiots."
The idiot gritted his teeth then, and Ume couldn't hold back a smirk. His jaw was clenched so tightly she was half expecting him to break a tooth.
"Oh my," she said airily as she raised a hand to her lips. "Did I strike a nerve?"
"You... piece of shit," he snarled. "I'll kill you!"
"I'm sure you will," she snickered dismissively. "Who knows, maybe you'd even succeed. In your wildest fantasies, I mean; I hope I've made that clear. There's not a chance in hell I'm letting a loser like you lay even a single finger on me. Do you know how pathetic that'd be?"
In an instant, the look on his face went from furious to downright murderous. His pupils shrunk and his breathing grew labored as his chest and shoulders began to heave. There was even an annoying whistling sound that reached her ears every time air passed through his gritted teeth.
He was hideous like this, resembling a beast more than a man. God, what a joke.
She sighed, projecting as much disappointment through the action as she could. "So, was I right? I mean, you were going on and on about how amazing you were, but I don't see it. So, why don't you prove me wrong?"
The boy froze suddenly, and Ume forced down her urge to grin.
"Your Quirk's so amazing, right? Then why don't you use it? Don't you want to put me in my place and prove you're as good as you said you were? Come on," she all but purred. "Do it. Prove me wrong."
Then, he finally began raising his hand. The sight sent a thrum of something akin to ecstatic satisfaction shooting down her spine. Her glee bled through, and a massive grin grew on her face. His Quirk crackled atop his palm as faint streams of smoke wafted through the gaps left by his fingers.
'Go on,' Ume thought gleefully. 'That's it. Don't even think about anything else. With how satisfying it'll be, why worry at all? Why worry about something as trivial as consequences? Those don't matter.'
Ume tensed as anticipation and excitement filled her, causing adrenaline to surge through her veins. She could feel her heart begin pounding in her chest alongside the blood rushing in her ears.
Then, she realized she couldn't hear anything else. The only sound that reached her ears was a dull ringing sound, accompanying the now-rapid beat of her heart.
Suddenly, her vision narrowed, and she couldn't see anything else, either. All she could focus on was the idiot's palm, on the sizzling, jumping sparks as they burst into crackling roaring flames, growing larger and hotter as they steadily swallowed everything around her. She tried to tear her gaze away, but she couldn't even feel her body anymore. It was as if she were merely a passenger observing through someone else's eyes. She couldn't move at all. Still, she tried; she tried to move something, like a finger or a toe, but she just couldn't. It didn't matter how badly she wanted to run, she wouldn't be able to because she couldn't so much as twitch—
The heat was all she could feel now; the heat, the pain, and the unbearable tightness growing in her chest. She opened her mouth to take a breath, but she couldn't do that, either. The pain in her chest just kept growing; she couldn't speak, she couldn't breathe, her heart was pounding and it felt like it was seizing up, her eyes stung so horribly she wanted to cry and it all just felt so tight—
Why couldn't she breathe? She didn't get it. She just wanted to breathe, so why couldn't she? She tried and tried but she just couldn't. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, or as if she were inhaling smoke, coating her lungs with ash and soot. She had to get it out, she had to cough it up; she had to breathe, she'd die if she didn't, but she couldn't do anything—
It was so dark, despite the flames burning around her, growing closer and closer. They probed relentlessly, licking at her skin painfully; it made her want to scream and cry as the agony built in her chest, but she couldn't even do that because she couldn't even breathe—
Pain. She could still feel the pain. That was all she could feel, next to the unbearable heat. It hurt. It was agony. It was as if she was being torn apart from the inside out, claws of molten iron carving at her insides. They tore at her heart, and at her lungs, and it hit her then that she was going to die. She was really going to die because she couldn't breathe. Her lungs were filling with ash, she was choking to death and burning alive. She didn't want to die; she had to run, she had to get away, but she couldn't because she couldn't move at all, and— and—
She didn't want to die again, she really didn't want to die again. Burning up the first time was enough, it had to have been enough. Why wasn't it enough? Why was she burning again, she didn't want to burn again. Someone was laughing at her, she could hear it. It was cruel and mocking, taunting and familiar; they laughed as they watched her burn, as they watched her die. She didn't want to die again. She wanted someone to find her, someone to save her; she wanted Mom and Brother to make everything better again, but they couldn't because she was all alone, so now she was going to die again— Not again, please, anything but that; she didn't want— she didn't want that, but it didn't matter what she wanted because she was going to die—
"And... Start!"
Then it all came rushing back.
Ume gasped violently as she broke through the haze that'd settled across her mind. Immediately, she registered everything, the way her eyes stung, the way her lungs ached, and the sharp, stabbing pain centered on her heart.
Almost instinctively, she desperately drew in as much air into her lungs as she possibly could, until it felt like they'd burst. One hand shot to her throat, clawing at the skin as if to clear up her airways, while her other hand clutched the left side of her chest, directly over her heart, in a vain attempt to just make the pain stop.
It hurt; everything hurt so badly. She just wanted it to end but she could barely even focus. Hacking coughs spilled from her throat, so intense that thin streams of saliva began dribbling down her chin. She tried to stifle them, but she just couldn't. She felt dizzy, too; her world spun as a sudden sense of vertigo and nausea washed over her. Ume stumbled and swayed before falling to her knees, her trembling hand cradling her head. Bile crawled up her throat and Ume gagged, only just managing to keep herself from vomiting.
Distantly, at the very edge of her awareness, Ume heard the sounds of hurried footsteps growing fainter. It only took her a second to put the pieces together. The other examinees had already begun moving.
The exam had already begun.
Desperation and panic scrawled across her face, Ume tried climbing to her feet, but she was still in so much pain, and she still couldn't even breathe. She barely made it a handful of steps before she collapsed, her shaking legs having been unable to support her weight.
She caught herself, if only barely, on her elbows and knees. There was a flash of pain as they scrapped along the asphalt, but she couldn't even wince before another fit of gasps and coughs flew from her throat. Her hand clamped over her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle them, but then it hit her.
She was going to fail.
If she hadn't been too busy coughing up a lung, Ume would have begun to wail. Still, tears sprung from the corners of her eyes as she desperately tried to push herself up, but no matter what she did, she couldn't get to her feet.
There had to be something she could do! She couldn't just lay here, she had to pull herself together and move already! But, she couldn't even stand up, let alone breathe, while lingering feelings of terror and fear bubbled beneath the surface.
'I... I have to— to calm down,' she thought. 'I need to calm... calm down, I need to— breathe! I have to breathe!' Despite everything, Ume gave it her best. She closed her eyes and focused on trying to get her breathing under control.
It felt like it was impossible. Her thoughts raced, reminding her that with every second she wasted pulling herself together was another second she wouldn't get back. It took everything she had to push those thoughts down. But eventually, she managed it, and a rhythmic, even breathing pattern began to fill her aching lungs with air. The pain in her chest began to subside, her thoughts began to clear, and her limbs soon stopped trembling. And though she still felt worn out and weak, a renewed sense of energy surged through her veins. It was just enough for Ume to finally haul herself to her feet.
The first steps she took were uneasy. Ume stumbled and nearly tripped, undoing all the progress she'd made right then and there. Nevertheless, she remained standing. That unsteady gait then turned into a light jog, and then a brisk run. Finally, Ume shifted into a dead sprint, her legs carrying her toward the battle center's gate.
Her belts sprouted from the skin along her back, arcing through the air before hammering against the asphalt beneath her with enough force to make it crack. Ume leaped into the air, then her belts, having coiled like a set of springs, catapulted her into the air, through the gate, and into the battle center proper.
"The clock's ticking, people! There're only eight more minutes left!"
Ume wanted to scream. Tears streaked down her face, her lips twisting into a murderous snarl filled with fury, frustration, and utter loathing.
'You stupid, fucking moron!' she shouted in her mind. 'What the hell is wrong with you, getting distracted like that?! You're useless, Ume! Do you hear me?! You're completely fucking useless!'
Fuck, she wanted nothing more than to collapse into a pile and scream her heart out, but she couldn't. Two minutes had already gone down the drain, and she wasn't getting that time back. She could always hate herself once the exam was over and done with.
Right now, it just didn't matter.
The clock was ticking. She had to make what little time she still had left count.
Ume had a problem. It'd made itself clear as soon as she'd passed through the gate. It wasn't destroying robots that'd be the issue. Finding them, on the other hand? That'd be a concern.
The area immediately inside the battle center was littered with smashed-up robots, their wrecks having sustained varying levels of damage. Some were whole and undamaged, having either been pinned or otherwise trapped in a way that made it impossible for them to move. Others, however, had been reduced to little more than heaps of scrap.
It was surprising, loathe as she was to admit it. She just hadn't expected this level of firepower from that group of moronic halfwits. It was all too possible she'd been wrong about them, even if only a little.
She'd be lying if she said she wasn't worried. While she didn't know their exact number, the amount of robots positioned throughout the city would be limited. With the vast majority near the gate having been destroyed, there wasn't any point in sticking around. She had to find some more.
Though she growled and gnashed her teeth together due to a combination of anger and fear, she didn't let herself hesitate.
The trail of destruction led further into the city, presumably toward the city's center. With that in mind, it only took her a second to pick a different direction.
Frankly, she had no idea how the robots had been grouped up. Had they been spread out or concentrated in certain areas? Were their point values consistent or did those vary, as well? She didn't know, nor did she have time to try figuring it out. Instead of heading in the same direction as the others had to have gone, Ume veered left and took off down a subsidiary street, moving as fast as her belts allowed her to.
Still, even as her gaze flitted about, searching for even the slightest sign of nearby robots, she couldn't help but notice just how massive the mock city was.
It shouldn't have been surprising, and in a way, it wasn't. With how many people were taking the exam all at once, it'd been expected they'd need the space. She'd known the place would be large, but what she hadn't expected was the level of detail everything had been afforded.
She caught glimpses as the various buildings passed her by. Instead of bearing witness to nothing more than cardboard cutouts and mere hollow shells, every window she soared past beheld rooms that were fully furnished. Whether they were offices, apartments, restaurants, or stores, everything seemed as if it were currently in use.
If she hadn't known this was the sight of an exam located on UA's campus, she might have actually thought people were living here. It just seemed so real.
This one wasn't even the only one. Altogether, there were several of them, each one just as large.
Ume couldn't wrap her head around it. What was the point of it all? Why put in so much effort? What reason was there to justify going to such lengths for an ultimately meaningless end?
It wasn't just the battle centers, either. From the extravagant main building to the massive campus and everything that'd been built upon it, the entire school just seemed so damn excessive.
Was it meant to be impressive? Had that been the intent behind it? A way to prove they were superior to anyone else hoping to match them? Or was it merely a display of wealth and resources, little more than a petty power play?
Maybe it was a mix of both.
Regardless of what the answer might've been, UA having that much wealth in the first place utterly infuriated her.
What had it taken to build this school? How much funding did they have? How much did they spend annually, not merely on upkeep and salaries, but altogether? How much money did they throw away like garbage? How much did they waste on useless inessentials just because they could?
The thought alone made her sick.
If only they'd managed to get their hands on even a fraction of that amount... Then maybe their lives would've turned out differently.
She was shaken out of her thoughts suddenly when something caught her notice out of the corner of her eye. It was barely even a glimpse, something hidden in the shadow of an alley. The only thing she'd managed to make out was a glowing red light.
It only took a fraction of a second for her body to catch up to her brain. In a blink, she'd twisted in the air, her belts having slammed into the corner of a building, anchoring her as she bled her momentum. Then, she reeled herself in before swinging herself into the alley.
She heard it before she truly saw it. Its low, monotone, mechanical voice bounced off the alley walls, followed by the ominous whir of machinery.
"Target acquired! Engaging!"
It was instinct that made her react. Ume dropped to the alley floor just as a series of bangs reached her ears, and she felt something whiz over her head. In the enclosed space, the sound of a machine gun emptying its magazine was unmistakable. Her belts whipped forward as her feet touched the ground, blocking the rest of the projectiles.
She felt every impact as they bounced off her sashes, muted and light as they were. Briefly, as one tumbled away, she managed to catch a glimpse. Rubber bullets. They weren't exactly the real thing—they didn't have the stopping power or speed real bullets had—but if she got hit, they'd still leave a painful bruise at least.
Eventually, it stopped shooting. Whether its ammunition ran dry or something else didn't matter, Ume threw herself forward before it could regret its mistake.
She was in front of the robot in a flash, her belts having propelled her down the alley. And now that she was closer, she could make out the robot more clearly.
The first thing she noted was its size. If it were any bigger, it'd have gotten stuck in the alley's relatively tight space. Even as it was, it'd have trouble maneuvering, which would work to her advantage. However, despite its size, its model was surprisingly sleek, its singular red eye staring at her from atop its angular head. Instead of legs, it had a single large wheel mounted to its torso, and its pair of machine guns were mounted to the underside of its arms, which were reinforced with a set of metal plates marked with a large number one, painted in white.
Surprisingly, it tried to run. With a shriek of its tire upon the pavement, it began reversing away from her.
It didn't get far.
Ume's belts streaked through the air, carving through the robot with the ugly sound of tearing metal. It was over in a second, its ruined torso and severed arms falling to the ground.
The soles of her shoes slid against the concrete as she landed. Her momentum carried her to the other end of the alley before she finally stopped.
She glanced over her shoulder at the robot's scattered remains. It sparked, some of its servos whirred, then with a final garbled line she couldn't even understand, its glowing eye dimmed, and the robot shut off.
For a moment, it was quiet.
Then the world around her erupted into sound.
All around her, robots crawled out of the woodwork, practically appearing out of nowhere. They came racing out of alleys and bursting through walls, some even perching themselves atop nearby buildings. Some were the same as the one she'd just destroyed, their machine guns already brought to bear. Others, however, were different.
Alongside the one-pointers, there were two new robot types. The numbers along their bodies, painted in bright yellows and reds, marked them as the two and three-pointers they'd been told about.
The two-pointers, with their round, bulbous bodies and long, spindly limbs, would have greatly reminded her of an arachnid if it weren't for their serpent-like heads and long necks. There was a set of nozzles within a cavity at the front of its torso, as well as an extra one at the tip of its tail. It had more armor as well. Most notably, the large, thick, reinforced plates bolted onto its front legs.
The three-pointers, on the other hand, were even bigger, bulkier, and further reinforced, like a cross between a robot and an armored fighting vehicle. Its head, which was tiny compared to the rest of its body, was placed at the front and low to the ground, hidden behind an armored visor, through which its eyes peeked through. It sported two tiny stabilizing wheels attached to its front-most limbs, as well as two massive ones at the back. As for weaponry, it had a pair of six-barrel rocket launchers, one mounted to each shoulder.
She'd taken in all that information quickly, filing it away in the back of her mind before she'd abruptly thrown herself aside, narrowly avoiding the overwhelming opening barrage.
Rubber bullets pelted the section of the street she'd been standing on only seconds prior as rockets flew through the air. Instead of crashing into the ground though, they pulled up at the last second, reorienting themselves to follow her movements.
Her belts streaked forward, smacking them out of the air, sending them crashing into the buildings around her where they exploded into clouds of bright pink smoke. She winced suddenly when a bullet glanced off of her arm, leaving the skin raw, only for a one-pointer to burst through the smoke cloud to her side.
The robot raised its arm and brought it down, but her belt was faster. It snapped like a whip, severing the limb in one clean strike. The limb sailed over her, clattering to the ground behind her before a second sash shot forward, cleaving the robot in two.
It hadn't even hit the ground when she was shot once more, another pair of bullets having bounced off of her shoulder and lower back.
Stifling a shout of pain, Ume leaped to the side, avoiding another volley of bullets that whizzed past her, only for a two-pointer to blindside her. She barely dodged the attack, its frontmost legs missing her by a hair and slamming down against the street.
Ume didn't let herself hesitate; she threw her belts forward and wrapped them around the robot's limbs, lifting the machine into the air. It squirmed for a moment, then stopped when her belt skewered it all the way through.
She shouted again when another bullet glanced off of her calf, then whirled, spotting a pair of one-pointers at the mouth of an alley on the other side of the street. Hurling the destroyed two-pointer with a frustrated scream, it careened into the pair. They crumpled like tin cans underneath the thrown robot's weight.
More and more bullets were fired at her. She deflected most, her belts whipping and whirling as quickly as she could make them, but some still slipped through her guard, badly bruising whatever they hit. Snarling, Ume launched herself upward, then reeled herself in, setting herself down on a nearby rooftop.
Panting, Ume took a moment to get her bearings and catch her breath when she caught sight of her arms. The skin was covered in numerous bruises, some of which were bad enough that they'd begun bleeding. She accidentally brushed a finger against one of them, earning a painful hiss through her clenched teeth.
If her arms were as bad as they were, she could only imagine what the bruises along the rest of her body looked like.
Gritting her teeth, she let out a frustrated snarl when it suddenly hit her, her eyes flying wide open as a gasp let her throat.
She'd just walked right into an ambush.
That one-pointer from the alley, it'd used itself as bait! She'd thought it'd been trying to run, but it'd been trying to lure her in! She'd even destroyed the hunk of junk and she'd still fallen for it hook, line, and sinker!
She'd been so concerned with finding robots that the thought of getting ambushed hadn't even crossed her mind. She hadn't even thought they could coordinate an attack like this. Even now, she could hardly believe it.
On the bright side, she didn't need to waste time trying to find robots anymore, but that didn't matter when she could barely keep up with this many in the first place. Individually, they didn't pose any threat. But in a group as large as this one, things changed drastically. It was almost overwhelming; she couldn't deal with all of it at once!
What she didn't understand was how she'd run into so many. Having been the last one to enter the mock city, it didn't make sense that she'd come across such a large concentration of robots.
Except the other examinees hadn't split up; they'd all stuck together for some reason. They were all in one spot, somewhere around the mock city's center by the trail they'd left. That meant they were fighting over however few robots they'd found in that spot alone as they tried to steal each other's points. It was all too possible there were robots scattered around the entire battle center, but because no one was willing to risk wasting time trying to look for them, they'd all gathered up, waiting for some moron to walk into the trap they'd set!
If Ume could deal with them all, she'd rack up a bunch of points, and if she could do it quickly, she'd still have time to find more robots, which would let her bump up her score even further. The thing was, she had no idea if she'd actually be able to! She'd managed to take a few of them out, but there were still so many, and she'd already wasted so much time...
Ume shook her head and pushed down her doubt. 'It doesn't matter if I can't! I still have to try!'
She was snapped out of her thoughts when a two-pointer suddenly threw itself over the roof's edge, landing right before her with a crash.
'Shit!'
It immediately settled into a stance before a white, foamy substance suddenly began spewing from the nozzles in the opening along its front.
Thinking quickly, Ume leaped backward and threw herself off the roof. Before she could fall, one of her belts hooked into the wall, and she swung herself back around, launching her into the air above the robot.
"Go to hell!" With a shout, she let her belts fly. Their sharpened edges cleaved through its armor, turning it into little more than a sparking pile of parts.
A dull pain shot up her leg as she landed, but she ignored it and took off at a run, leaping onto the nearby rooftop as a whistling sound suddenly reached her ears.
Thinking quickly, Ume hurled herself off of the roof for a second time, wincing as the rockets exploded behind her, the blast buffeting her form. Her belt snapped out, swinging her down the street as another batch of rockets trailed behind her.
Glaring over her shoulder, she knocked each one out of the air. They slammed into the sides of buildings, shattering windows and showering her with broken glass.
On their own, their explosions weren't so powerful. They'd barely do any damage. How they'd managed to make an explosion non-lethal, she didn't understand. That didn't mean they weren't a cause for concern.
If one were to crash into her head-on, at the speed they were going, Ume would be left with broken bones at the very least. Even if she dodged, the shockwaves they released were more than enough to knock her on her ass if they ended up exploding too close, which would leave her open for the other robots to attack.
There weren't as many three-pointers as there were one and two-pointers, but they were the most difficult to deal with regardless. Ume would have to deal with them first to alleviate the pressure they put on her so she could take out the other bots without worrying.
Spotting a small group at the end of the street, Ume prepared to launch herself forward when the wall of the office building she'd been swinging across suddenly collapsed, showering the street bellow in debris as a two-pointer barreled through it.
Ume reacted immediately, using her belts to try and push herself away, but she wasn't fast enough. The nozzle on the robot's tail erupted, spewing the same white foam from before.
She managed to avoid the worst of it, but two of her belts were caught in the spray. When the foam suddenly started expanding, they were rapidly covered in the substance. Her other two belts streaked forward, cleaving the robot's legs from its torso. The greater whole fell to the street below, letting out a satisfying crunch as it shattered into bits.
With the threat gone, Ume tried to leap away, then let out a surprised yelp when she felt her belts snag. She whirled, her gaze falling onto the two belts in the foam. She tried to tear them out, but to her shock, she couldn't. They didn't even budge.
'Shit, they're stuck?! You've gotta be kidding me!'
She was interrupted when another bullet suddenly bounced off of her palm, with more still pelting the glass around her. Using her belts, she managed to deflect most of them, but just like before, there were too many. The few that slipped through struck her painfully, each earning a pained hiss.
Snarling, Ume gave up on trying to free her sashes. Instead, she decided to sever her connection to them, separating them from her body entirely, which would finally allow her to move.
The process was over quickly. After, however, Ume felt light-headed and drained. That feeling only intensified when two new sashes sprouted from her skin. Through the haze, she was barely able to keep herself from getting shot. Preoccupied as she'd been, however, she didn't notice the volley of rockets heading her way until it was too late.
When she finally saw them, Ume panicked. Torn between leaping away and avoiding the imminent explosion or trying to destroy them before they could land, her indecision made her freeze. The rockets continued forward unimpeded and smashed into the office building she'd been hanging from.
Blinded by smoke and disoriented by vertigo, Ume was thrown through a window, which shattered as she crashed through it. Shards of glass showered her form, cutting shallow divots into her skin. Idly, she felt a pain flare up along her arm, sharp and intense, yet dull and distant at the same time, before she finally hit the floor, collapsing into a heap amidst an office filled with overturned desks and chairs.
The sound of clinking glass quickly faded away, replaced by the flutter of scattered papers. Ume wheezed, a cough leaving her lips. Blinking the dust and tears from her eyes, she tried to stand up. She'd nearly pushed herself to her knees when she suddenly put pressure on her arm.
Ume let out a raw, blood-curdling shriek as her vision went white with pain coming from her arm, completely overwhelming her.
She collapsed all over again, landing roughly on her shoulder. Clenching her jaw to stifle her scream, Ume glanced down at her throbbing limb. When she saw the extent of the damage, a horrified gasp slipped past her lips.
On the back of her forearm, nearly spanning from her elbow all the way to her wrist, was a massive, bloody gash. Her blood oozed from the wound, staining the skin red as it rolled down her limb, dripping onto the floor next to a large, bloodstained shard of broken glass.
She whimpered involuntarily as her eyes filled with tears anew. It took everything she had to keep from sobbing; that's how much pain she was in. It wasn't just her arm, either. That only happened to hurt the most. Her entire body, having been covered in an assortment of bruises, cuts, and scrapes, felt like it was on fire.
Shaking her head and trying to ignore the pain, Ume tried to stand up again. She put pressure on her legs as she tried to climb to her feet, but her legs were trembling. Everything hurt, and she just felt so weak...
"Come on... Get up already! Get up!" she muttered. "I can't... I can't give up now! Have to... keep going!"
She'd almost managed to push herself to her feet when, out of nowhere, her foot slipped. All her progress was erased just like that, and she crashed back down.
Such a tiny thing, slipping on a piece of glass, when combined with the burst of pain when she hit the floor, along with the fear and frustration that'd been steadily building since the exam had begun...
It was enough to make her snap.
Ume curled up from where she lay on the floor. She pressed her forehead against the ground, then let loose a heart-wrenching wail full of desperation. From there, she began to sob, each one jolting her injuries, which only made the pain worse.
'I'm going to fail,' she realized. 'I'm actually going to fail. I never had even the slightest chance of passing. And here I'd thought I might've been able to accomplish something for once in my life...'
Unable to help it, Ume started laughing. Her bitter chuckles spilled from her lips pathetically, mixing with her sobs until she could barely even tell them apart.
'It doesn't matter. I'm going to fail... I was always going to fail... So, what's the point in trying at all? Wouldn't it be easier... if I just gave up? I just... I can't... Sorry, Mom... I'm so sorry...'
She gasped when something suddenly flashed through her mind, and her thoughts returned to what her mother had told her only a few hours ago.
"I believe in you. All you need to do now is believe in yourself."
Breathing heavily through her clenched teeth, Ume wiped her eyes and finally struggled to her feet. Another sash burst from her skin, about the width of a bandage, which she tightly wrapped around the gash along her arm.
She didn't let herself scream or cry, no matter how much she wanted to or how badly it hurt. Ume forced herself to keep going until the wound had been completely covered. As soon as it was, she cut her connection to her sash before she tied it off.
Her arm hurt like hell. Every movement had her biting her lip to keep herself from whimpering. She knew she wouldn't be able to use that arm for the rest of the exam, but that didn't matter.
She wouldn't need it.
'Ignore the pain! Ignore it! Just until the exam is over,' she thought. 'You've felt far worse before. Compared to that, this is nothing! I'm not giving up! I can't! I made a promise, one I refuse to break! I said I'll make you proud of me, so that's what I'll do!'
With her resolve reaffirmed, Ume charged forward, leaping through the same window she'd crashed through before gravity took hold, leaving her to plummet toward the street.
The robots on the ground below noticed her immediately. The air was quickly filled with the sounds of gunshots and discharges as bullets and rockets flew straight toward her.
Her belts whipped forward with several loud cracks, deflecting the bullets and slicing through the rockets before they could even touch her, filling the air with smoke.
Rebounding off of the building behind her, Ume shot forward. She landed roughly, her belts cracking the ground as she cushioned her fall before they streaked forward. They cleaved through metal like scissors carving through parchment paper, tearing the robots around her to pieces. Bits of scrap rained down, clattering against the ground loudly as she splattered the street with wreckage.
Using her belts, she snatched up several chunks of scrap, then hurled them like shrapnel. They crashed into a set of oncoming missiles, which exploded harmlessly still a fair distance away.
Ume launched herself into the air. She barreled through the smoke left behind by the rockets' explosions before she let her belts fly. They cut through the air, parting steel as they speared the robots below through one end and out the other, splintering the ground they stood on. Her belts wrapped around them then; she raised them into the air and flung them down the street. They careened forward, smashing into several more robots, the force she'd thrown them at crushing them completely.
Still, some robots survived the attack. Their retaliation was swift, but Ume was already moving, having swung herself down the street, hooking her belts into the buildings on her sides. Bullets and rockets screamed through the air, but the level of firepower had dwindled immensely. Compared to before, it was child's play to knock everything away.
She smashed every robot she passed by. Some Ume cleaved in two, some she tore to pieces, and some she used as improvised weaponry, as cudgels with which she flattened the rest. Eventually, she found herself in the air above the gathering of three-pointers, her teeth barred in a vicious snarl.
"You're dead!" Her belts fell forward, their sharpened edges meeting steel and slicing through with a loud, unholy shriek. The robots exploded as her belts tore through their undersides, shattering the street beneath them and kicking up mountains of dust.
Those few that still remained, scattered about the street amidst piles of their fallen brethren, didn't pose any threat. Her belts tore down the street like a massive set of claws, plowing through the ground and throwing up rubble and dust. Her ears were filled with an indistinguishable cacophony of noise as scrap and debris showered the street below, her belts cleaving through everything they met—concrete, brick, iron, steel. It didn't matter what it was.
Everything fell apart.
Once all was said and done, it was quiet again.
Sagging, Ume lowered herself to the ground, her legs nearly giving out on her as he feet touched the street. Covered in dust, dirt, and a plethora of various injuries, she staggered forth, her stumbling feet inadvertently brushing against and kicking away the numerous shards of metal covering the floor.
Eventually, she stopped beside the office building she'd originally been smashed into, where her belts were still high up, half-buried in the pile of foam.
The foam was clearly an adhesive. Or it acted like one, at least. That said, it wouldn't be a good idea to let her other sashes come into contact with it. So, she'd have to cut her losses.
With a quick, clean swipe, Ume cut away what she could, the parts of her belts that hadn't been touched by the foam limply falling to the ground. Everything else she'd have to leave behind.
Reabsorbing them took the rest of her meager concentration, but eventually, she managed it. Her fallen belts rose, then rocketed through the air, violently—though painlessly—piercing her skin before quickly burrowing inside.
Once inside her, they dissolved, her body reabsorbing the blood she'd used to create them. The sudden surge of energy that washed over her had a shiver racing down her spine as a relieved groan slipped past her lips.
It wouldn't be enough to rejuvenate her completely, but it'd likely be enough to get her through the rest of the exam at the very least.
Present Mic's voice suddenly echoed through the city streets, grabbing her attention.
"You boys and girls better get a move on! The halfway mark came and went; you've got less than five minutes left! Go, go, go!"
She didn't know how many points she'd gotten from all the robots she'd destroyed, and she didn't have time to count them either. It didn't matter, anyway. That could always come later. For the moment, finding more robots and earning more points took priority.
Pushing her pain and lingering fatigue aside, Ume pulled herself onto a nearby rooftop. She took stock of her surroundings, settled on a new direction, and then shot forward, soaring through the air.
Ume hadn't forgotten her worries or fears. She hadn't truly let go of her doubts either, but... For now, they'd been pushed aside—tempered by her renewed sense of confidence.
She could do this. She knew she could.
Today wasn't going how he'd thought it would.
Oh, don't get him wrong, everything had mostly turned out just fucking fine so far; that wasn't the problem.
Admittedly, the written exam had tripped him up; it'd turned out to be more difficult than he'd thought, but he'd still done great. He'd easily outperformed the other extras taking the exam even despite the unexpected difficulty. He wasn't worried, not at all.
When it came to the practical, things were a little different. Much as Bakugo hated to admit it, he was struggling. He was doing better than any of the other losers here, but even then, he still struggled. Despite having already massacred scores of robots, turning each one he'd come across into a smoldering pile of scrap, everything felt... off for some damn reason.
He didn't really know how to describe it, but whatever it was, it left him distracted and confused as shit! He'd already caught himself making mistakes—the stupid kind he shouldn't have ever made in the first place—and it was really starting to piss him off.
The first thing he'd noticed were his explosions—they were off-fucking-target! Not by much, granted, but it cost him all the same, all because he hadn't hit their center mass the first time even though that'd been what he'd been aiming for. It was forcing him to waste time dicking around with the mock villains when a single well-placed blast should've—would've—been more than enough to murder them!
Because he was just acting like a moron today for some fucking reason, he'd also slipped, tripped, and nearly eaten shit enough times to be equivalent to the number of fingers on one of his hands. He'd paid the price for his carelessness every single time. There was a massive bruise on his chest from where a one-pointer had slugged him and several smaller ones along his arms from those shitty rubber bullets they shot. They didn't really slow him down, but they still fucking stung, dammit!
He'd even failed to pay attention to his surroundings on more than one occasion, allowing one of the mock villains to get the drop on him rather than the other way around. He'd mostly come out of those interactions just fine, minus another bruise or two, but that didn't make it any fucking better.
Every mistake he'd made so far had been small. But even then, they were numerous and sure-as-shit noticeable in how they affected his performance. It was enough to make him grind his teeth together, and he knew exactly when it'd started, too.
Bakugo had told Deku not to apply. He'd said it straight to that stupid face of his, but even still, he'd shown up.
It'd pissed him off like crazy, but in the end, he'd brushed it aside. The nerd wanted to take the exam, huh? So what? What did he care? The guy was wimpy enough that a stray gust of wind would blow him away and enough of a coward that a glance in his general direction would turn him into a stuttering mess.
That alone was enough for Bakugo to write him off, but on top of everything else, the idiot was Quirkless, too. Regarding the written exam, Bakugo wouldn't be surprised if Deku managed to pass. Sure, he was a Quirkless loser, but as far as losers go, the nerd was pretty damn smart, even if he couldn't hold a candle to Bakugo himself.
But there wasn't a chance in hell Deku would earn even a single point on the practical exam, let alone be able to pass.
And yet, for some fucking reason...
"L-Let's just do our best out there, okay? G-Good luck!"
...he just couldn't keep the nerd's stupid fucking face out of his mind.
He'd thought that'd been it, that he was letting the nerd rile him up for no damn reason, but that wasn't it. Deku never would've been able to throw him off balance like this. If it'd been the nerd on his own, Bakugo would've been fine.
It was because of that damn girl.
Bakugo still didn't know her name. When she'd bumped into him outside the arena, she'd seemed familiar, but he hadn't been able to place her. Once she'd started shouting at him, he'd finally recognized her. She was the same girl who'd torn that four-eyed extra a new one during Present Mic's lecture.
He wasn't going to lie. That'd been funny as hell to watch.
That said, there'd been something different about her. Something that set her apart from the rest of the extras who were taking the exam. The realization of what that something was had hit right as he'd recognized her.
Whoever she was, she was strong. Stronger than the other idiots could ever hope to be. And not just because she'd actually bothered training for the exam, unlike most of the other morons, but because, when he'd thrown his weight around, she hadn't backed down.
Everyone Bakugo had ever met had only ever done one of two things.
As soon as they saw how amazing he was, and how he was destined for greatness, most people latched on like parasites in a vain attempt to curry favor. They'd never admit it outright, pretending they were friends when they were anything but, but the idea was that when he finally made it big, some of his greatness would rub off on them. That was what they were hoping for, that by association, they'd finally be people worth knowing.
The others, though—the cowards, the weaklings, and those too pathetic to stand up for themselves—were the opposite. Instead of being awed by his power and drawn to it, they feared it. They did their best to make themselves look small, unnoticeable, in the vain hope he'd pass them by, that he'd deem them beneath his notice.
He didn't have any respect for the suck-ups and boot lickers, but it was the cowards who couldn't even look him in the eye that he actively despised. Between both groups, there was one thing that tied them together, something that'd mark them as extras in his eyes for the rest of their lives.
They had never tried to challenge him. Not even once. The moment they'd laid their eyes on him, they'd decided then and there, however rightfully, that he was better than them.
They'd just given up.
How was he supposed to respect people like that? They didn't respect him, never had, and never would. So, he wouldn't respect them, either.
That girl, though...
As soon as she'd rammed into him, he'd blown up at her. But instead of shying away like so many had before, she did the one thing no one had ever done.
She'd challenged him.
Anyone else would've folded like a house of cards, but not her. She'd stood tall and met his gaze unflinchingly. It'd pissed him off that she'd thought she was better than him, he wouldn't lie, but deep down, he respected it, even if she was wrong.
That was the whole point. Bakugo was the best. He knew it, and so did everyone else, but just being the best wasn't enough. If he couldn't prove that he'd earned the top spot, then it didn't mean shit. He had to show the world, and himself, that he wasn't standing where he was just because of some damn fluke. There wasn't any damn point otherwise. Bakugo had to climb to the top, and then he had to stay there, all on his own merit.
She'd given him the opportunity no one else ever had, to prove he was the best, that he deserved to be on top. He'd respected her for it, even as her words had cut deeper than he'd expected, even as his anger had climbed until it'd hit a boiling point.
Bakugo had always had a short fuse. It was something even he'd realized, even if he'd never admit it. It'd been like a switch had been flipped—one moment, he'd been pissed, and the next, he'd been apoplectic. He hadn't cared about anything else then. All he'd wanted to do was to make her hurt.
He'd been completely blind to the vicious, goading smile on her face. He'd only realized after the fact what she'd been trying to do, what she'd nearly succeeded at making him do.
Present Mic's words had flashed through his mind, slamming into him like a freight train and shaking him to his core.
"If you're caught deliberately attacking other examinees, you'll be immediately disqualified!"
Just a moment more and he'd have gone through with it. He would've ruined his shot at going to UA right then and there just because he hadn't been able to reign himself in.
He'd managed to snap out of it at the last second, but not because he'd suddenly scrounged up something resembling self-control.
That girl, she'd just... he didn't even know what to call it. Out of nowhere, she'd just fucking frozen, and he'd barely caught this look on her face he couldn't really piece together even now. She'd gone from grinning to having this blank, vacant look that creeped him the hell out. And it'd just gotten worse from there.
She'd started breathing funny, and as her breaths had grown shorter and more erratic, he'd realized she'd started hyperventilating. Her skin had grown clammy and way too damn pale, her eyes had begun filling with tears, and he wasn't sure if he'd imagined it, but he thought she'd started shaking, too.
She'd looked downright terrified, more so than Deku ever had. And he had no idea why.
No one had even noticed what'd been going on, either. Or, he didn't think anyone had, at least. At any rate, they sure as shit hadn't said anything about it if they had.
When the start of the exam was called, she'd suddenly snapped out of it, gasping for breath before collapsing to her knees, all as her hands clawed at her chest and throat.
He'd thought about doing... Shit, he didn't know what he'd thought about doing, fucking something at least, maybe. But the other extras running off had reminded him that there was more important shit to worry about, like passing the damn exam.
So, he'd left her there, blasting off into the battle center without sparing her a second glance.
That was when it'd started, when that weird-ass feeling had begun churning in his gut, making him feel in a way he couldn't even describe. The only thing he knew for certain was that he didn't fucking like it.
He hadn't been able to get it out of his mind since. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. And he couldn't even release that frustration on the mock villains because he was acting fucking stupid and underperforming.
There wasn't anything he could do about it though. The exam had already passed the halfway point, so that's what he needed to focus on. He could deal with his shitty emotions later.
If he was counting right, he should be sitting somewhere between forty and fifty points, give or take a few. That wasn't a half-bad amount, either. But he just couldn't be satisfied with it when he knew damn well he should've had more.
With the last robot he'd been fighting having been blasted to smithereens, Bakugo took stock of his surroundings. The whole street was a damn mess, almost like an all-out war had kicked off. If the crumpled sheets of metal scattered about didn't clue you in, the damage to everything else would.
They hadn't quite collapsed any buildings, but if this kind of damage had happened in Musutafu or some other city with actual people in it, the repairs wouldn't have come cheap. He knew that much.
His eyes landed on the other morons fighting the few robots still left standing as he glanced over his shoulder, most of whom were actively failing to destroy even one. It was a pathetic sight, one that made him sneer in disgust.
Once the exam had started, he'd immediately charged for the center. It'd made sense that that'd be where he'd find the most robots. He couldn't exactly compare that number to the robots elsewhere. But considering the shitload he'd come across, he'd felt justified in his assumption.
The problem was that everyone and their mother had followed him for one reason or another. There'd been so many of them in one spot that they'd made quick work of any robots they'd found, even if Bakugo had managed to get most of them. Honestly, considering the mock villains had needed to split their attention between them, it'd been less of a battle and more of a race to see who could tag as many robots as possible before they were all gone.
Most of them had split off by now as the number of robots had dwindled, but some were still sticking around, fighting over one-pointers like dogs fighting over scraps.
It was time for him to get a move on, too. There was still some time left, he had to boost his score as much as possible before the exam finally ended. His palms held behind him, a concentrated blast from his Quirk sent him flying down the street, the shouts and cries from the extras growing fainter by the second.
The part of the city he'd soon found himself in was in much better condition compared to the area he'd just been. While the city itself looked pretty similar, basically amounting to one giant downtown commercial district, it hadn't been blasted to hell and back by a bunch of idiots. The difference was nearly night and day.
Eventually, he came across even more robots, the sounds they made filling his ears even before he saw them.
Twisting in mid-air, he shot towards the group, a wild grin splitting his face.
"Die, you bastards," he screamed, then swung his crackling palm down.
Then, something happened. Right before his explosion would have torn the first of them to pieces, some kind of object—bright, long, and colorful as fuck—shot out of nowhere, spearing the robot all the way through.
He blinked, his mind struggling to realize what'd just happened. When several more of those bright objects—obi-sashes, he noted idly—suddenly speared the rest of the robots, destroying them before he could even react, his brain finally caught up.
Abandoning his attack at the last second, he aimed an explosion at the ground, propelling himself over the destroyed robot before roughly landing on his feet. Panting, he raised his head, his lips twisted into a snarl.
It was wiped from his face when he saw who the bastard that'd stolen his kills actually turned out to be.
Her white hair, dirtier than he'd remembered it being, swayed in the wind, and her vicious lime-green eyes seemed to drill into his own, even despite the distance between them.
It was her, the same girl he'd actually come to respect, having perched herself atop a nearby building as those sashes that could only have been her Quirk whirled around her, slithering through the air like snakes.
She was injured too, as far as he could tell. Her body was littered with small cuts and nasty-looking bruises, and one of her arms was stained red. Had she used one of those belts as a makeshift bandage?
What the hell had she run into to end up looking like that?
Then, for only a moment, they locked eyes.
Bakugo saw her flinch as recognition filled her own, laced with a fear that reminded him of what'd happened before, but then it was gone. Her eyes hardened, her lips twisting into a dismissive scowl as she stood. Then, she turned and shot off in some other direction.
"Get back here, dammit! Those were my points!"
With a growl, his palms crackled to life, and suddenly he was flying through the air, tearing after her.
She thought she was better than him, did she? That she could steal his points and get away with it?
He'd show her just how fucking wrong she was!
A/N: If you made it this far, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read my story. It really, really means a lot, I can't stress that enough.
Frankly, this chapter was... hard to write. I was never too great with fight scenes, or at least I never thought so, and so having a massive fight scene in this chapter was a struggle to write. I just didn't want it to be boring, you know? Admittedly, I find myself skipping fight scenes a lot when I read other stories because I just don't like them, so I really tried to make mine enjoyable. I would highly appreciate feedback on it. Anything at all, really. Fight scenes are a huge part of MHA, so having bad fight scenes is just... not an option at all, honestly.
That also goes for Ume's panic attack, actually. As far as I know, I've never experienced a panic attack before, so I did some research in order to make it at least somewhat believable. I looked at examples and symptoms people often experience, and while I do like what I wrote, I have no idea if I did a half decent job or not. if any of you have anything to say about it, good or bad, I'd love to hear it.
And then there's Bakugo. Ho, boy. His POV was one I actually had so much fun writing, I won't even lie. I just hope I didn't make him out of character.
So, yeah, TL;DR: I'd love to hear your feedback. I don't want to suck, so please, I'd appreciate if you pointed out whenever I do.
I think I've said everything I have to say this time around, so, I'll see you next time!