"Why can't I sense it?"

"Hm?" Prompted by his words, Frieren glanced at the willowy scarecrow a short few steps away.

"I mean... my mana encompasses everything around me. It isn't like eyesight, where something can hide behind bushes or a wall; it passes through everything, touches everything."

Frieren smiled. He was getting close—just a small nudge should be enough to steer him to the answer. She tapped his shoulder then pointed to a nearby microwave, lying dented and broken on the soft sand. "Run your hand past the top."

He stared at it for a moment before moving to do just that. Sweeping the metal surface, he could feel the dents, the specks of rust staining it, and a few jagged edges. "I can feel the contours." He explained, continuing to rub his hand on it.

"Can you feel every grain of texture? Split them from one another?" She added, to which his brows furrowed downwards. "The things imperceptible to your touch? Your senses?

"Mana detection is much the same. It is akin to a smooth plane of water, almost like glass—that is the natural mana around you. When an individual's mana fluctuates, no matter if it's merely a drop, it causes ripples across the surface. The scarecrow lowers its mana to a level that barely disturbs this metaphorical pond. I can go even lower."

"Then when I look at it now," He spoke, turning his gaze back to the straw-filled being. "why can I see the mana clearly?"

"I said the ripples are small, not non-existent. The person is the epicenter—when you know where that is, it becomes even harder for your senses to not notice it."

The sun loomed high above. To the young test-takers, it felt like they were in a boiling pan, their breaths rapid. It seemed odd to the students that today would be so hot, especially just before the long rainy season predicted to come.

Though, perhaps the scorching sun was the calm before the storm.

A creature of steel crawled, following stealthily, making sure she was not seen by the teenager she was following. Her red gaze attached itself to the mop of green, hiding whenever he turned, only to follow once more when the boy moved away.

Fortunately, he continued to remain oblivious to her presence.

"Follow." The voice ordered a bellow so powerful, so grating in her mind—like the yell of a drill sergeant amped up to 11—that she had little else choice but to do as she was told.

A speckled ray spilled into the damp underground hollow. The moderately large space—perhaps half the size of a football field and around 3 stories tall—was only a single room painted with black ink. Dotting various points were thick pillars and slight depressions on the concrete. Huge, blocky forms draped in darkness stood motionlessly around the room. Attached to their heads were red orbs, casting visible beams throughout.

That was their vision, they assumed.

In the middle of it all was a cluster of smaller robots, dim lamps blinking atop each of their heads.

Izuku could even hear whimpers from them, bouncing along the walls.

Of course, a moment was all he needed to realize that it was all just a recording playing on repeat, but nevertheless, it still sent a chill down his spine.

"What should we do?" Uraraka whispered.

"We can either save the hostages without being noticed until we reach the hostages for 30 points each or we can quickly swoop in and save them," Iida murmured. "though that would be more difficult, more dangerous, and reward us with 10 points each.

"Besides, if one of the robots gets killed, it'll further deduct the points by 10." He continued.

"So a 3 to 1 ratio..." She frowned. "But wouldn't the latter option be quicker?"

"That's true." Iida nodded. Faced with an impasse, he sighed. "We should go with that, then–"

"No." Izuku firmly interrupted. The pair turned to him, surprised. "This may be a test but we need to do it as we would in real life—no cutting corners. We need to prioritize their safety," Izuku said as he clenched his fist, fingers digging into his skin. He stared at them, his green eyes burning with determination. "They are lives. Not points."

A heavy silence hung between them. Izuku continued to peer intensely toward the collection of robots, his eyes flickering to and fro as he tried to find the best path. In the meantime, the boy and girl beside him appeared stunned by his words.

When he did notice the silence a short second later, he blinked owlishly. He blushed. "U-Uh... I-I mean, this is a test though and I-I'm not trying to set myself up as a lead–"

"Mm!" Ochako hummed, shaking her head. "No. You're right."

He faced her with surprise, which grew even further when he then found Iida nodding along. "I am ashamed to have not seen that. Like Uraraka here said: I wholeheartedly agree with your approach."

Feeling their approval, he took a deep gulp. What was he supposed to say? To do?

"I..."

Yet he felt their gazes, how they seemed all the more dependent on him than before. For this moment only, they saw him as a leader. He felt his insides rattle at that newfound understanding. Why did it happen? Why was he, of all people, the one saddled by such a position?

It was almost too much.

But the situation called for it and the clock continued to tick, an uncaring hand that forced his lips to move. "Okay. I-I'll lead the way."

A plan had been made between the trio with Izuku placed on the helm. One thing he noticed with the robots was that, though they may be many, their viewpoints only scanned the ground, making the high ceiling the most optimal route.

And so, he made Uraraka the main force of their rescue operation. She would float up, hold onto the pipes running along the roof, and noiselessly push herself down amidst the civilians. Moving them through the horde of robots without being detected is simply impossible, so to make sure the hostages are safe, Izuku would bring down a frozen wall from the very same pipes over their heads.

The three would then lay waste to the Villains. After all, defeating all of them would lead to additional points.

With a plan in mind, they readied themselves at the entrance. Izuku breathed in, trying to calm down his hastily beating heart.

It was not just his position as their de facto leader but also his current condition. Without his staff, all his spells would increase in their casting duration and their mana expense. He did try to learn Frieren's spell where she could store objects—such as her staff—in a... pocket dimension of sorts but, for now, at least, he could not vividly imagine that.

The trio glanced at each other for one last time before they separated into two teams.

He felt his and Uraraka's fingers touch, causing him a blush and a feeling of lost gravity. They met at the ceiling, where they crawled silently along the pipe's length—it was stained with rust, he now noticed.

There wasn't a hindrance as they made their way above the huddled civilians. Planting their feet against the roof they pushed, floating down onto the robots.

That was when their first problem began.

The soft whimpers emanating from the bots quickly died out. They froze, feeling naked now that they were surrounded by a deathly silence. A red haze drifted to cover their tense forms.

Chaos broke loose.

The once silent, dark room was now awashed by a long swath of gold. It shed some light on the ensuing chaos.

The litany pipes above—below, as well—had already broken loose, forming a wave that ran through the area and smashed machines apart. On another patch of broken concrete, a blurry figure ran through the horde, sending chunks of steel flying as Iida sped to the hostages—where Uraraka awaited, having already negated the gravity on the bots—and returned to the entrance, his weight remaining the same. They worked together like a well-oiled machine.

Yet still, it wasn't a walk in the park by any means.

They had to whittle down close to four dozen Villains while also making sure to civilians were safe. Iida was mainly stuck protecting the ones at the entrance, only able to secure more when the enemies near him were momentarily gone.

As for Izuku himself...

He let out a yell, punching his hands into the air while two jets of water burst forward, cutting through a few robots at once. Frustration began to build up within as he felt a large chunk of his mana sapped away by that attack.

'Around 4 percent in that alone...' He gritted his teeth. 'With a staff, the cost would only be almost half that.'

They continued to battle, despite their exhaustion. Servos and steel plates continued to leap around the room; concrete pillars continued to get dismantled, broken into chunks that were broken again into mere dust in the wind; a red eye of a small build continued to watch through the gaping crack, silent and hidden.

After an arduous period, the field was finally left in a state of relative peace. The trio took this chance to have a much-needed rest.

Izuku let out a sigh. Beside him, Uraraka seemed to be cosplaying a boneless mess as she sat on the floor, her back resting against a scarred concrete wall. Near a pile of broken machines was Iida, hands on his hips. He was walking around, likely intending to keep his legs warm and ready for the next fight.

Admirable, he thought. In fact, he could feel a question prodding at the edges of his mind. "Iida?"

"Yes, Midoriya?"

"How long have you been training your Quirk?"

The boy tilted his head, seemingly mulling over that inquiry. Exhausted yet lucid brown eyes stared, waiting for his answer as well.

"Since I first got my Quirk, I suppose." Iida finally said. "Me and my brother, we were trained by my father in a local Hero Gym which was owned by a friend of his. It started off light, of course. He wanted us... or, well, me, to first be familiar with my Quirk. As the years went on, the training grew in intensity, especially after I told him that I wished to be a Hero. When he retired, my brother took the role of mentor for me." He explained, bringing up his finger to adjust his glasses. His friends had that widened look in their eyes, glimmering with bright speckles.

"That's... amazing," Uraraka murmured. She bit her lip, looking away as she did.

Izuku continued to stare straight at the tall, blue-haired boy. His gaze regarded him in a new light. While he had initially always seen Iida as someone who was somewhat similar to himself—both sons of Heroes, both seeking to become one themselves—his words showed that they were anything but. It was like a layer of mist had dissipated, revealing the gaping ravine that truly stood between them.

He clenched his fist. 'I still have a long way to go.'

Keeping his eye on the prize, Izuku turned to the group of civilian bots huddled together near the entrance. The boy took notice of a pair of distinctly broken machinery just a few meters away—it was the corpses of two of the hostages. His jaw tightened.

'A really long way to go.'

They had to escort the rescued hostages—four in total—to one of the checkpoints. Besides safeguarding them, doing so would reward the three with 10 points each. It was unnaturally high but they weren't about to complain. Iida, being the sole close-quarter specialist among them, trudged on in front of the robots. Izuku and Uraraka were near the back, forming a triangular shape.

The trio walked in remarkable comfort.

Within the hollow chambers of the civilian bots, there were packaged bottles of water ready to be consumed. It was lukewarm, offering little comfort, but it was something to be cherished in the hot, nearly blinding day, and so it was consumed eagerly by Iida and Uraraka.

Izuku kept the rest of the other two bottles to himself. He merely took a small sip before pocketing them in his pockets.

As they were about to round a corner, however, they were taken aback when a group of other students emerged. Four pairs of avaricious eyes stared at them.

"Hand me over those points!" Said the forefront teenager—a rather pudgy boy with steel arms.

"Us," Corrected a narrow-eyed girl beside him. She had especially long fingernails.

Iida quirked up a brow. "This was the result of our efforts. Why should you be the one to submit them?"

"Besides," Izuku added, having circled the small robots to now stand beside his bespectacled friend. "it's not befitting for Heroes to do this. How about we just team up? Having more people to help could ensure that we rescue more."

"And split the points further?" A boy with long, rigid, and sharp hair scoffed. "As if."

"Come on." Spoke a girl with a brown bush for hair, her hand extending out to them. A scar decorated her lower lip. "You already got plenty of points from rescuing those bots in the first place. Surely you wouldn't miss a few more, would you?"

"Yes," It was Uraraka who said that having come to stand alongside the rest of her team. "we would."

The bushy-haired girl pursed her lips. Her fingers gathered into a fist and retracted back. To her right, the silver-armed boy shot an annoyed glare her way. "I thought your Quirk was meant to mind control people to do your bidding. I see none of that." He spat.

"It... doesn't always work."

"What's with you and your useless fucking Quirk?" He hissed an uncouth language.

A boyish yelp came from a head of spikes. "She's... not in her best of mind. Leave Haruki-chan alone."

The one with lengthy nails bristled, though much of it was aimed towards their steel-fisted teammate. "Focus!" She yelled before lowering her voice into a whisper. "There's only three of them. We can win."

Following her words, the group of four nodded with sardonic expressions. There was a hint of apprehension in their furrowed brows, but for one reason or another, it was overwhelmed with determination. The long, sharp hair on one of them—which was previously set down—began to flare up into a ball, imitating a porcupine. The others, though showed no further transformations, similarly slipped into a fighting stance.

"They're inexperienced fighters," Iida murmured. "Well, except for one, but I think we can still handle them." His green-haired friend nodded; though he rarely went close quarters, he could at least identify what shoddy form looked like.

His former No. 1 idol often stressed how important a good foundation was, after all.

'I need to save my water.' Izuku thought. He took one bottle, poured out around half of it into a state where it floated in the air, before pocketing the plastic once more. "You ready, Uraraka-san?"

The girl didn't respond. She looked around the bright expanse of asphalt and concrete yet found herself despondent in what she found—nothing.

Her Quirk would be more or less useless here. 'I just have to touch them once.' She thought, though even that was laced with doubt as she stared at the long, sharp claws, then the needle-like strands, then the firm, steel fists. If she was hit even once...

She shivered as she imagined herself lying amidst a pool of red, wafting iron.

"Uraraka?" Shaken out of her rumination, she glanced up to find a pair of concerned, green eyes. "Are you okay?"

A disgruntled sigh escaped her lips. "I'm... fine." After a short silence, she added, "Just don't know how I'm supposed to use my Quirk in this situation."

"You should stay back then, Uraraka," Izuku said softly.

Iida gave a curt nod though he did not let his vision of their foes wander away. "I agree. There is no shame in backing away when you are at a disadvantage—that's one of the first lessons my brother taught me."

"But..." She pursed her lips. "Wouldn't that make me–"

"You're not." The green-haired boy interrupted, already knowing what she was about to say. "You're still protecting the civilians, aren't you?"

"That's... That's right." She said, smacking her cheeks as she did.

As she said that, their opponents—having waited out of nervousness—finally tore apart their moment with a resounding cry. They charged, splitting into two groups, each aimed towards the boys.

Iida stifled back a curse as he dodged iron fists. He had little reprieve, soon having to twist out of the way of deadly claws– he blinked, glancing down at his forearm. It had been scratched, but unlike the crimson mess he had anticipated, the only sign of damage was on his skin. That was when he realized. Those nails may have been long, sure... but they were just that—nails. Even the one with steel balls for fists posed little issue. Apparently, they weighed as heavy as real, steel spheres would, making his movement much more sluggish and wild.

The pair were hardly a threat.

To the side, Izuku beheld a similar realization. The teen with sharp hair seemed to be unable to shoot out those needle-like protrusions of his, causing him to have to charge straight toward Izuku with his head ducked down like a battering ram.

Could be dangerous, but a quick swipe of his water whip at the boy's feet was enough to send him sprawling across the ground.

Leaving the girl with thick, bushy hair—Haruki—remaining. Witnessing the rapid fall of her teammates, she let out a low growl. She spontaneously twisted on her heels, facing away from the greenette to head towards the girl closest to her.

Ochako.

The gravity girl appeared taken aback by the sudden change. She didn't let it get to her, though, and leaned to the side, allowing her foe's—surprisingly quick—to just graze past her cheek. Uraraka lashed back, throwing a wide swing toward the other girl. Haruki easily swerved under it, twisting into a horizontal leg arc against her ribs. She was sent stumbling to the side.

"Uraraka–!"

"I-I can handle her!" She shot back with a reassuring grin. It didn't change the fact that she was being pushed back, though.

Every time she did dodge a move, she would already be caught in the next barrage. Her opponent was silent throughout, only letting out sounds of tight breaths whenever she struck against Uraraka. There were a few red welts left on her flesh, big and small; both a low hum and a constant throb in her mind.

But after some time, Uraraka smiled internally, having found an opening in her unrelenting offence. Outwardly, she capitalized on it, ensnaring it with all the speed of a snake's lash.

Having grown frustrated by her slippery evasions, the unknown girl had thrown a committed straight from her right hand. Uraraka ducked down, feeling the knuckles graze her cheek, putting herself closer to her foe, right before she—with slightly twisted hips and awkwardly bent knees—she turned and aimed an uppercut towards her jaw.

Just like with Uraraka, she leaned her body away from the incoming fist, letting it fly past her nose.

Just like with Uraraka, the contours of her clenched fingers barely grazed past her skin.

But unlike with Uraraka... a single touch was enough to seal the winner.

A subtle pink hue wafted from her pores. Overwhelmed by the unexpected loss of her footing, the bushy-haired girl could do nothing but choke on spit as Ochako's knuckles rammed into her gut. Thrown a decent way up the air, she pressed her fingers together, causing her foe to slam down onto the ground from the sudden return of gravity.

She was left breathless, more out of surprise rather than exhaustion.

"You did it!" Izuku said smilingly. Iida ambled over to his side, their lips posing like twins.

"T-Thank you..." She whispered, unable to believe it herself. Uraraka had been overwhelmed throughout their fight and, even in her last-ditch effort, wouldn't have been able to harvest a victory if not for her Quirk.

Running along that line of thought, a small seed of confusion planted itself in her mind. Why had her foe not used her Quirk? Even if it wasn't all that useful in combat—as the steel-armed boy had so eloquently said—surely it could still have some sort of effect on the fight.

But a mix of the test's clock ticking, hovering over their minds despite lacking a physical form—thus further pronouncing their paranoia—and the fact that Haruki was merely a stranger in the end, led Uraraka to yell out, "We need to go!'

Her teammates nodded, sharing her sentiment. So they went away, stringing the bots alongside them...

Leaving behind three unconscious teens and one Haruki, whose palms dug against the sweaty folds of her face. A stifled whimper choked its way out of her throat, soon devolving into the sounds of a broken record.

"No, no, no, no..."

The trio arrived at Checkpoint-1, the closest one to their location—or at least, the point they chose to go to. Since their raid had been in the middle of the city's square walls, the Checkpoints designated on every corner would be of equal distance to them. There was no particular, well-thought-out reason as to why they chose this spot.

The number 1 simply held an enchanting allure to it.

Judging from the crowd littering the area, which was made up of almost half of the site's test-takers, it was clear that they were of the same mind.

They proceeded towards the tall and large tent by the corner. Attached to one side of the towering walls of the site, shaded under the woven fabrics that formed the vibrant blue and yellow canopy, was a digital timer—it showed that they still had 41 minutes remaining until the end of the test. Jutting out of the adjacent wall was a thick white square drawn onto the rough asphalt, where various bots sat silently, their eye-lamps blinking awake. Izuku's mana sense also leaped happily as it sensed a large body of water nearby. It took the form of a water tank almost fifteen steps away from the tent's outskirts, standing tall on four thick trunks.

Glancing around, Izuku felt no small amount of relief grow inside of him. The contestants here were all divided into clusters, likely their own individual groups. Some of them were larger than theirs; others were smaller. The number of civilian models they had in tow would swell according to the size of their team. Fortunately—after doing some quick math in his head—it didn't seem like any of them held an advantage against Izuku and his group.

For now.

Already he could see several of those clusters move away, rushing towards the next clandestine hideout.

So they hurried their steps, trudging the wafer-thin line between a walk and a jog, and in a hasty moment found themselves standing in front of a familiar figure. His skin, draped in the potent shadow of the tent, appeared like lusterless onyx. Ectoplasm crookedly twisted his lips upwards. "Izuku Midoriya, Iida Tenya, and Ochaco Uraraka. You three make up Team 16." His tone belied not a question, but a matter of fact. "Let me receive those robots from your hands."

As the four waist-high machines lumbered into the same space as their brethren, the Hero listed off their points. "120 initial points, another 40 for delivering them safely here, but since you lost a pair, 20 points will be deducted. The remaining 140 will be spread among you; the percentages will be mulled over by our staff later."

His words caused a shift in Uraraka's expression. Her frown appeared worried but she remained silent, merely bowing in thanks to the Hero alongside her team. Just as they were about to leave, Ectoplasm had one last message for them. "Fight well out there—there's a chance you can still lose these points of yours." He said cryptically.

They aimed questioning gazes at the Hero, but he remained still, betraying no emotion in his inhuman face. Not wanting to waste any more time, they set off.

What felt like more than half an hour quickly went away.

The incandescent star up above had moved away from the centre of the sky. Its radiant light was largely swallowed by bulbous fingers, fat and purely white, replacing the unrelenting heat with some much-needed shade—temporary as it may be.

In the cooler air, Izuku, Uraraka and Iida walked down the long road. They were once again in a small triangle shape with five robots gathered in the middle—already it was their third batch in total, drawing their streak as a 4-2-5. Their eyes still flickered to and fro, making sure no one would attack them, but their shoulders were much less tense; their steps were done with increased leisure. This reprieve allowed their minds to wander.

For Izuku, he continued to be perturbed by the oddity of the point system—mainly, surrounding the reward for successfully returning the hostages to a Checkpoint. In and of itself, he understood why it was a viable criterion to base points off of, but what about all the other facets of it? Why would they enable other students to essentially steal points from others? They even seemed to encourage it since no other obstacles were impeding their way back besides the occasional group of students. It seemed... odd at best and worrying at worst.

To his right, the buzz of his two teammates rang like a long line of static. He heard them, heard their words, but they left just as quickly as they came. Izuku decided at that moment that he wanted to join in.

"What are you two talking about?"

Iida was the first who answered. "Just about our points. I was curious how we would fare compared to the other students..."

"We're hopeful!" A chirpy Uraraka answered. She had been in that state ever since the last two bases they raided. Those areas had been filled with scraps, large and small alike, so they had been a great boon to the girl.

They eventually arrived back at Checkpoint 1 and filed away the robots for points. Gathered together, they stared out into the tall, buttressed walls of the concrete maze, bathed in blinding rays. The clouds had parted so the city was once again a dreadful battlefield to return to—so much so that a few students were already lounging about under the flared-out canopy.

"Do you two think we should go out there again?" The green-haired boy asked, turning to his comrades.

"What do you say?" Iida asked intently.

"We should," Izuku replied almost instantly. "though since we only have... 12 minutes left, we should launch a straight-on attack to the base. We'll talk about the specifics as we try to find one." With that agreement speedily born, they went back to explore the sprawling mock city.

It didn't take them long to find a hidden base. It had been well-hidden beneath a hulking dumpster situated in an alleyway. It must have been sinking in deep shadows cast by the towering buildings, obscuring its figure from all eyes barring the most keen of them. Now that the sun had moved slightly, however, sizeable swaths of the shade had been swept aside from the dumpster's sharp edges. Pushing it revealed a steel trapdoor, blinding them for a moment as the surface glinted in the light.

And like a cold splash of water, the sight underneath had dampened their excitement.

The robots underneath had all died out and the hostages, supposed to be in the middle of the wide room, were gone as well. Someone else must have gotten there before them.

Climbing out of the hole, Uraraka huffed in frustration. "Who's the jerk that decided to push this stupid dumpster over the entrance? Giving us false hope, I tell you that."

"Still," Izuku chuckled, feeling amused by her harmless rage. With her round, pouting cheeks, she just sold herself as a hamster, and those rodents could never look scary—unless they were yawning. "the state that room was in had me curious."

"I, too." Iida chipped in, having climbed up last. "None of the robots were damaged. As if they were... switched off, just like that."

"Still!" Uraraka grumbled. "Doesn't change the fact that they're still a jerk. I swear, if I find the culprit, I will–"

The trio had only turned when the earth suddenly shook strongly. Instinctively, they ran out of the alley and into the hot radiance, their eyes wide and full of confusion. Another rumble, fainter than the last yet still mighty, was the only warning they got before the ground quaked with all the force of an erupting mountain. In the distance, they could see a grey cloud of dust and rubble infecting the sky, casting a deep shadow to crawl over the various roads. Across a brief moment, every student on every street thought the First Ashes had finally decided to cross over to Japan; at the time, that seemed like the only logical explanation.

Then, they emerged.

Bright red fireflies slowly began to decorate the undulating fog, grey and suffused with light. They then morphed, wisps rolling outwards as figures churned beneath the dust, revealing themselves as a whole other type of beast—Villanous machines peeked out from beneath the earthbound cloud. Then, as it billowed outwards, more and more of those cold, inhuman faces emerged. Most of them were familiar, having served as the robots they'd been tearing apart during the test. A few, however, were newcomers. They were larger, bulkier, and beheld a pair of turrets on their shoulders and a long scorpion-like tail that whipped harshly against the ground.

"What on earth..." Uraraka whispered, her voice cracking.

"It's a horde." Iida elaborated, his voice seemingly calm—yet his fingers twitched as his apple swallowed spit mixed with a dose of anxiety.

They stood there, frozen. When the closest machine snapped its head to them, the others followed suit with an eerie sync, only then did one of them break their stunned silence.

"We need to go!" Izuku yelled out as he took an instinctive step backward.

"Ah– Yes, we should make haste," Iida admitted. He let out a sharp breath, and by then, what little nervousness he showed had faded. "But to where?"

The greenette snapped his head back towards the incoming giant. "It's coming for us– no..." He squinted his eyes, discerning where those six red orbs were aimed at. "It's going to Checkpoint 1!"

"Then we should move away to a safer location," Iida remarked, already lowering himself with bent knees. "Hop on!"

As Uraraka jumped on outstretched arms—much to the boy's embarrassment—Izuku shook his head. "No. We can't leave the civilian-bots behind. Those points are only valid if they're delivered safely, remember?"

"Even if we've already handed them in?"

"Think back to what Ectoplasm-san said." He continued while climbing onto Iida's firm back. "Those points we've gathered aren't permanent."

"I see..." The runner whispered, his eyes narrowing past the sweltering air. He could see a familiar bright blue and yellow dot in the distance.

Convinced, the trio decided then and there that they would head towards Checkpoint 1. For the moment, the decision of what they should do when they arrived quite simply—freely—lingered in the air.

The earth rumbled like a hungry bear's gut, uprooting surrounding light poles and sending a web of cracks through the buildings. Izuku half-thought the aforementioned would topple over quickly, but it appears that he was oblivious to how firm their foundations were; aside from a soft wiggle they barely groaned.

Except if you were in the walking horde's way, of course. Even now, he could feel those steel bodies whizzing past him just beneath the concrete, all of them heading towards the centre. In spite of the city-like surroundings, it felt like he was standing amidst a frozen lake, dark and dreadful piranhas swimming under.

When they arrived at the tent, it was a shadow of what it once was. The steel beams supporting it had already keeled over, causing the brightly coloured sheets to pool on the ground. Ectoplasm was nowhere to be seen but they weren't the only ones here. There were the robots, having been left there, their forms bulging like high mountain ranges on a plateau. To the side, the timer embedded into the wall continued to count down.

Tick, 09.41, a tick, 09.40, and a tick, 09.39.

Izuku burned away little time gawking.

He walked close, heaving up the silver rods that were all still connected to the tent's roof, and—with the help of his teammates—shoved them away. With that, the sheets followed, swept away to reveal the group of robots that awaited rescue. Their wide, singular eyes blinked innocently.

The asphalt continued to tremble.

The three hastily pressed the studs hidden in the thin alcoves behind the robots' necks—careful not to accidentally punch in the deactivation button—so as to link them towards Izuku, Uraraka and Iida. Only when the machines trudged away at a walking pace, however, did Izuku realize the glaring issue of their operation.

The escorted were far too slow. Not enough to escape the incoming wave, that was for sure. Faced with this dilemma, he stared off into the distance; at the lumbering slabs of steel and destruction.

What should he do?

'Think... Think! Use the resources you have on hand.' He bit his lip. Izuku turned, regarding his surroundings with an analytical eye. 'Uraraka can make the bots lighter but they still won't be fast enough. If I freeze the floor for them to slide on, maybe they can escape, but what if something obstructs us? What if we have to make a sharp turn? Iida... He's the key to this but he can't possibly carry all of us.'

'Or... can he?' He blinked, his face lighting up as if he had just splashed with a bucket of cool water.

"Uraraka!" He quickly called out. The girl had been herding the bots, her back facing him, but hearing his yell made her turn. "How much can your Quirk carry?"

"T-Three tons." She stuttered out with a slight tint of pink adorning her cheeks. "Why?"

"Is that enough to cover all the robots as well as us two?"

She mulled for a moment, glancing over to the more than two dozen robots. They were small, yes, but they were made up of heavier meat and bones than regular men. Nevertheless... "I-I think I can."

Izuku nodded. "Get at it then, if you will." Meanwhile, he turned his gaze along the foot of the concrete wall, towards where he sensed a well of water churning atop four hind legs. At the next moment, the steel container exploded and, with it, a fierce torrent rolled through the air.

Rows of figures, all with vastly different silhouettes, raptly watched a series of screens. Cities wrought with smoke and rubble backdropped these sights while innumerable teens ran through these haphazardous roads. An oblivious eye would see it as a scene of war, desperation and misfortune; even an eye that was aware of who they were would feel apprehensive.

But of course, the danger was merely a veil. Pull back the curtains and you would see all the hidden machinations; all the robots hidden within the buildings, ready to dig out and save students in mortal peril; all the ambulances and medical staff awaiting just beyond the iron gates. Even the ever-constant rumbles were a facade. There was no way they were going to actually endanger the students with an avalanche, so they used a sophisticated network of pistons and rods to simulate an earthquake—albeit one that is barely noticeable.

They couldn't stop injuries—that was more or less an assured thing—but they could prevent anything life-threatening.

With that knowledge, the figures draped in dark watched with remarkable calmness. Their eyes darted from site to site, following whatever incurred their interest the most. Right now, that was towards the leftmost camera. A tangle of vines covered the gaping hole in the middle of the city, trembling yet managing to maintain their form as they snapped away at fellow students and dragged them to safety, all the while huge explosions tore the Villains still on the surface into splinters.

"Are vines supposed to be fire-proof or something?" A sultry, womanly voice asked.

"No," Answered a high-pitched voice, seemingly emanating from a small, sharply dressed animal. "but they are more fire-resistant than other plants. They'll still burn but not against those explosions of..." He paused, perusing over his memory. "Katsuki Bakugo."

"They seem to have done this before." Accused a gruff, muscular man. He had tubes jutting out and back into his body.

"Must be those gyms then, hm?" The first voice spoke again.

"Must be," He sighed. "They never share data with us."

"Likely because–"

"There." A sudden voice interrupted. This time, it came from someone who had been wholly silent, a man with bundled cloth around his neck. He pointed to a screen near the middle.

It took a moment until the shadowed forms trembled lightly. A low, soft chuckle escaped a man with a heavy Western accent. "Seems a bit like they know of the knowhows of our upcoming school festival?" Barely a second went by before he already regretted his words; a litany of glares punched away at his gut, so visceral they were.

From above his seat, raised above the others to compensate for his height—or, as a few of his staff liked to say, lack thereof—the animal-like figure echoed out a laugh that seemed disproportionately large compared to his body.

"Oh, indeed, indeed!" The midget chuckled. "Perhaps I should change that round? Just a tad?" No one deigned a response to his statement. Despite his tone, they all knew it wasn't a question.

No one denied U.A.'s Principal from getting something he's already set his eyes on.

A peculiar sight ran through the mock city's cracked streets.

Three figures—two of which wafted a subtle pink hue—blurred, swerving past the rubble and fallen light poles. Or, more accurately, only one of them ran. The others were carried by a lone boy, serving as a steed to the girl in his arms and the teen on his back.

The latter kept looking back, one hand wrapped around Iida's shoulder as the other was kept outstretched towards the sky behind them; towards a large blue-white sphere, rippling as it went against the harsh gale while small yet clunky machines swam around within. They emanated a soft hue as well, the pink darkened and slightly dimmed by the thick layers around it.

Izuku felt thankful that the robots were water-proof. If they weren't, his plan would have failed.

In all honesty, however, none of this would have worked if any one of them were gone.

Izuku could hold up the water but it would've been naught useful. If he was the only one here, the robots would simply sink out of the sphere he made. After all, still, water couldn't make things resist gravity's hold; Uraraka's Quirk, however, could entirely erase it. And without Iida, they wouldn't have been able to even get away from the massive horde's similarly massive strides.

Tenya opened his mouth, the wind instantly lashing into the narrow tunnel. "Where should we go?" Reverberated his voice.

Izuku looked away from the floating sphere, turning to the boy. Already he could see his neck glistening, his lips constantly open as rapid breaths went in and out, in and out. "I... Let's go to Checkpoint 3, first. It should be on the end of this road."

"What about the horde?" Iida asked. He dared not look back, in fear of what it would do to his already burning legs; the sun wasn't helping either.

This time, it was Uraraka who responded. "They're still following..." She said as the ground shook, once amidst an increasingly quick period. The machines rushed, bounding across dozens upon dozens of meters in mere seconds.

"Must be programmed to follow the largest cluster," Izuku commented with a bite.

Soon, the familiar blue and yellow dots began to appear in the distance. Slow at first, it rapidly grew until a number of colorful figures were seen.

Iida started to slow down as they approached. From his place on Iida's back, he took the time to observe the students waiting there. He found himself particularly struck by their faces, all of which bellied a sense of confusion. As the youngest Tenya came to a screeching halt, Izuku was privy to a few of their whispers.

"What's going on? Why do they have so many robots?"

"Who cares? I'm more concerned about that smoke in the middle of the city."

"And is there an earthquake going on? Shouldn't U.A. be evacuating us?!"

It didn't take long for Izuku to realize that they lacked the knowledge of what was going on.

Gulping, he stepped forward, attracting the previously scattered gazes of the students to him alone. He felt their sharp stares; their hushed echoes, melding into one; the ground, how it shook and trembled with urgency. He opened his lips yet his words were stuck, unable to get out.

"We need to get ready!"

At that moment, those innumerable gazes faded, and without even realizing it, Izuku let out a breath of relief. That lasted for a brief moment before he bit his lip, his eyes scrunching down.

"The robot horde is heading here soon," Iida explained, having gained all their attention. "They're following the largest cluster of civilian-bots. We need to protect them! Otherwise, the points we've all gathered would be for naught." Izuku and Uraraka stepped forward, already herding the aforementioned targets towards the Checkpoint. Meanwhile, yells were already being shot across the area.

"Then why did you lead them here?!" One girl shrieked, her face drained of colour. "Now, it's guaranteed that they're going to come here!"

"Well, they were going after our Checkpoint, so we had to bring them away." Iida elaborated, pushing back his glasses. He kept a firm stance even as their complaints only grew.

Watching the self-assured teen, Izuku couldn't help but feel awed. Full of intent, he straightened his back and brought up his shoulders. He tried to maintain that as he turned towards Uraraka—she had already ushered the civilian-bots into the chalk-made square. "Regardless of whether or not Iida succeeds in convincing them, we need to make sure these robots are safe." He glanced at the clock. "There's a little more than 7 minutes left. We don't need to beat the horde; we just need to stall them." Izuku smiled wide. "Besides, we're not alone–"

"Fuck this, then." One voice yelled out, freezing Izuku's words. An empty laugh followed. "My points won't ever be enough to get me into the Hero Course, anyway. You can just do it on your own."

It was as if his statement kickstarted a snowball effect amongst the morale of the teenagers. More and more joined up, their voices bounding like wildfire throughout the vicinity. It wasn't long after that before the first student left, carrying their hopes of entering U.A.'s Hero Course with them, followed by the next, then the next five, and so on. Iida tried to stop them, his words quickening—rushing—to send his point across, but it wasn't like they didn't understand.

They did. They simply saw no worth in it.

In the wake of their leave, Izuku recognized a group of faces. They were speaking in hushed yells, hidden behind the few other students who were still indecisive.

"You can't just leave!"

"Come on, Haruki-chan. There's no point." The porcupine-haired boy murmured.

"So what? We have to fight until the end! We wanted to be Heroes, right?"

"You wanted to be one, Haruki." Now, it was the girl with long nails who said that. "Honestly, I don't know why you of all people wanted–"

"Fine!" A scowl laced her words. "Go, then. See if I care."

After a bout of silence, gleaming past the gaps of the remaining crowd—a resounding thirteen people—Izuku saw their forms moving away; leaving the so-called Haruki alone. She shifted, allowing him to see her face, downcast eyes adorning a forlorn expression. He didn't know why but, at that moment, she looked... vaguely familiar. Had he seen her before? Before the test?

Donning a soft frown, Izuku tried to forget that odd feeling as he did a quick headcount. Within those few seconds, several students once again left, leaving them with only two others; that of Haruki, the bushy-haired girl and someone who they would have entirely missed if she hadn't spoken up. The latter was called Toru Hagakure, someone whose Quirk made her invisible.

Still, the once bustling tent now appeared almost desolate; even more so with Toru's invisibility.

"This is disheartening." Uraraka attempted to smile. "But at least there's more of us than before. The more the better, right?"

"I suppose so." Izuku sighed. Dragging his gaze somewhere else, he saw a silent sentinel standing in the corner. 'He's still here, unlike before.'

Walking over toward the cloaked teacher, he smiled pleasantly despite his current mood. "Ectoplasm-sensei."

The man grinned widely—toothily, roguishly—or perhaps that was the only way he could smile. "Student." He greeted back, genteel. "I notice you haven't transferred the ownership of any of the additional robots you brought here."

Izuku shook his head. "It wasn't I nor my teammates who saved them." If it was even possible, his grin began to encompass the full width of his head; the part visible to the boy, anyway.

"Mainly," He breathed. "I want to ask. Is it possible to survive this horde?" Izuku said, searching for an answer in those cold, milky-white slits of his. They neither widened, nor did they twitch, nor did they soften.

They were as sharp as they ever could be.

Yet still, the edge in his voice noticeably dulled. "That is up to you. Will you succeed? Will you fail? Regardless of all those possible results, a Hero would never back down." Despite the inherent coldness of his eyes, for that moment, they seemed to burn like twin embers. "Are you one of us, student?"

His eyes widening, Izuku simply stood there, still as a statue. Then, in a stiff motion, he turned his neck to look back at his teammates; they appeared even more disheartened than he was with the exception of Iida. He had his hands folded, stalwart, though his brows were furrowed down.

'Heroes don't give up,' He reminded himself. "When are the robots arriving?"

"Approximately two minutes." The Hero stated, firm of voice.

Staring at Ectoplasm, he gave an understanding nod, before twisting on his heel towards the other students. His mind was already racking up ideas. If they were going to succeed, they needed to have a plan of defence; they couldn't go into this blindfolded.

For now, as he stepped near Iida and Uraraka, he needed to gain more information as to what their Quirks were. Acquitting himself calmly—something he found easier now—Izuku said, "The horde should be arriving here any minute now. Before that, we need to have a plan. Can I have a gist of what your Quirks are?" Purely so that the other two would know, Izuku began to explain his first, followed by Iida and Uraraka.

As their gazes turned to a floating set of clothes, a highly-pitched voice squeaked out. "I'm Toru Hagakure." She repeated. "My Quirk makes me invisible and– that's about it." It was followed by a quick laugh from her as if it was already planned. "I can't control it or anything." Her words were met with nods from the trio. They turned their gaze away, now aimed at the girl with large, twisting locks of hair, and Toru found herself fidgeting uncomfortably.

"I can influence people with my words. It's a Quirk called Silver Tongue." Haruki rapidly explained. "Practically, it's useless against those robots, though, so don't expect it to do much. I can fight, however."

"Very well, I might add." Uraraka attested.

"I can fight too!" Toru chirped out of the blue.

"Haruki-san," Izuku called out. "Is your Quirk able to enhance someone's physique? For example, if you tell me to 'Push harder!' or 'Run faster!' will it make my body subconsciously do that?"

"I..." She paused, thoughtful. "No." The girl bluntly stated.

"That's a pity." Pursing his lips, Izuku turned back to face the roads around them, unaware of how she let out a breath of relief.

There were three roads from his perspective; two of them ran along the sides of the towering walls, while the last was drawn down the middle, a long, diagonal stretch in the square-shaped site. It was there that a green haze dotted the distant horizon, growing ever so quickly. He needed to think of something to deal with the impact the horde would bring...

'What if we just continuously distance ourselves? No... the run here already took all of our strength. We can't just keep doing that.'

'But... then what are we left with?'

Staring at the road, where cracked rubbles, uprooted lamp poles, and other such scraps were littered, a light bulb came to life in Izuku's mind.

The horde has arrived. At this distance, he could already feel their eerie, lifeless eyes boring down on him.

Izuku licked his dry lips, trying to distract himself from the strange butterflies in his stomach. He wasn't sure what it was; it couldn't be anxiety, that was for sure.

After all, since when did that feel pleasant?

"All the preparations are ready!" Iida called out. Nodding thankfully, Izuku let himself smile.

The robots ran on the familiar, sun-kissed ground, yet not too far ahead was a peculiar phenomenon. A long stretch of it was decorated with dark patches, like the inky fur of a Dalmatian. Some of the patterns were small or spread apart, while others were large or formed closely knit clusters. Looking up with a sense of marvel, he relished the sight of their concoction. Hovering far above were specks of rubble and light poles, ready to rain down on the incoming army. They were covered by a soft pink hue.

This was the plan he had come up with. Admittedly, it was rough around the edges but it didn't need to be perfect. It only needed to thin out the first volley, allowing them to deal with the rest.

That was why he spread out the hovering traps. If he gathered them all in a single file line, perhaps it could completely wipe out the robots at the front row... but that would leave them completely exposed to the full strength of the Villains right after. The way he did it made sure that, while no single row would be annihilated, it would thin out the next dozen or so rows, enough for them to survive longer...

In theory.

In practice, it was a whole other can of worms, full of unexpected possibilities. There was also the matter of the sheer numbers that awaited them; no matter how he tried to pump himself, he found it impossible to believe that he could come out of this victorious. It was almost assured that he would–

'No.' His voice echoed, firmly trampling down his line of thought. 'As long as you believe in it... magic can make it come true.'

Well, admittedly, that sort of imagination could only feel real when he has plenty of evidence to back it up. But he did try his best to feel optimistic.

Glancing around at his teammates, weighed into silence by their troubles, Izuku mustered up a smile. "We can do this." He said, attracting their gaze. "I know we can." He looked away from them and back towards the horde—now closer than before—afraid to see what he would find in their eyes.

The robots were incoming.

As their feet rumbled against the earth, the sound of dozens upon dozens echoing like the natural force of a harsh river rolling down a dry trough, Izuku told Uraraka to not let go of the rubble just yet. The girl nodded, green-faced, yet she admirably held on. The boy waited and waited, even waited some more, until the first volley was so close it felt as if their fingers could brush against his skin.

"Now!" He yelled out.

With that, the atmosphere seemingly shifted. Sharp whistles began all at once as broken scraps rapidly fell from the sky, soon turning several robots across a dozen meters into their brethren. The remaining survivors, still charging, were greeted by a wall of destruction.

Quite literally.

A wave of water, far exceeding their height, slammed into them. It carried them with it before curving to the sides of the buildings, continuously punching against steel until they were far too mangled to operate.

With that, a sizable patch ahead of them was littered with the corpses of machines.

Toru breathed in awe. "A-Amazing..." They couldn't see the girl, but she was sure to be adorning the same expression as Haruki was—wide-eyed, mouth gaping open. Only, perhaps the invisible didn't grit her teeth right after.

With the short amount of reprieve attained, Izuku quickly snapped his head back towards the screen. '6 minutes...'

He turned back towards the next row. They were closing the distance, fast... and yet, he smiled shakily.

Inko let out a long, relaxed sigh.

Soaking herself in the water—perfectly hot to her tastes—was already taking an effect on her body. She could feel her tight muscles loosening. It felt... amazing. As if the heat allowed her to forget about all her worries of the outside world. For now, there was only herself, alone to enjoy this manmade heaven.

"Ahh~!" A moan escaped the lips of her friend, the woman leaning back against the edge of the hot spring. Her golden hair pooled on the moist stone around her head. "This feels so~ good~"

Inko chuckled. While a visit to the onsen on her lonesome was her ideal heaven, spending it with Mitsuki wasn't a distant second.

"It does." Inko breathed. "Again, thank you so much for offering me this, Mitsuki..."

The blonde woman laughed, her hand slapping against Inko's shoulder. "No need! In all honesty, I did this out of my selfishness. It's been ages since we last hung out together!"

"We did, though. Remember when we went to that café, just a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah. That is ages ago." She said with a roll of her eyes.

Inko smiled softly. Well, it was true that this was a much-needed distraction. Not wanting to let her mind wander to that, she sunk deeper into the water until the mist-spewing surface brushed just against the underside of her lips. She moved her hand up, splashing her face and hair with the comfortable heat of the spring.

"My kid... He's probably taking his test right now." Mitsuki remarked proudly, oblivious to how Inko's eyes soured. "That brat keeps on bragging about how he's gonna get the No. 1 spot in the Practical. Hah! He better get that after all that money I spent on his little ol' gym membership." She laughed, boisterous and impetuous as always.

"I see," Inko murmured. "I hope he does get that spot."

"How about your brat, Inko-chan?"

"Have you heard the news?" She said, a sense of haste in her tone.

Mitsuki quirked a brow at the sudden shift. Shrugging, she shook her head. "Nah. What news?"

"The one by NHK. Apparently, the First Ashes are coming to Japan."

Mitsuki let out a surprised snort. "Talk about once in a blue moon. When's the last time it hit us?"

"It's even rarer than that. And... maybe a few centuries ago? I don't know." She shook her head. Her gaze darted over to Mitsuki, nervous. "It's... It's so odd. So many new things are happening all at once and–"

"Hey. Calm down." Mitsuki sharply said.

Inko went still. When did she start breathing so quickly? Taking control of her breath's rhythm, she looked away. "Sorry."

"Look at me." Inko complied. Wide patches of dark green met two, starkly crimson orbs. "Izuku-chan's going to be fine. This is U.A. we're talking about; regardless of what happens, I'm sure he'll be safe. Just look at the stats—no one's ever died in their tests."

"That shouldn't even be a possibility for a high schooler's exam." She spat indignantly.

"A high schooler's Hero exam." The woman corrected. Seeing that Inko was still far from convinced, she smacked her lips and twisted, bringing her hands up to her friend's cheeks. She gave it a quick, light slap. "Just think of it like this—if Izuku fails, then that's that, but if Izuku succeeds... that means being a Hero is the right path for him.

"Besides!" Mitsuki grinned, letting go of her friend. "He's a headstrong kid, I know that much! He won't crumble in the face of danger."

Inko looked at Mitsuki for a few moments. In the end, she glanced away once more before closing her eyes. With that, she let herself sink deeper into the pleasant heat until the water closed over every part of her body.

The world seemed to go by in a blur.

He could feel his chest being pulled in by firm, invisible claws, making his breaths all the more laborious. The onslaught of robots seemed like little more than green specks marked by wiry red crosses; their numbers were almost always in double digits, where broken machines would be replaced before he could take down another.

How long has it been since he began fighting? It felt like hours, and maybe it was. Maybe the exam was already finished yet he continued to stay here out of his own will; wanting to fight; wanting to never stop until he's defeated all of his enemies.

Because it felt so astonishingly... good.

To feel mana coursing through his Quirkless veins. To watch his enemies—all so much bigger than he was—crumple like wet, soggy paper was a feeling he never knew could be so great. This made his heart flutter in a way that his previous fights were unable to do.

His spars with Frieren, even when she brought up golems he could defeat, would always remain and feel like just that: training.

His battle with Cecile, true as it might be, was weighed by the fact that she was simply much stronger than he was, even with his inherent advantage.

This, however... felt just right.

A voice—distinctly Iida—called out, as if a spear that broke through the haze of his mind. "2 minutes left! We can do this!"

Those words left him just as quickly as they came. He continued to manipulate his leash, crystalline blue glinting in the light and tore open new scars in a robot. The serrated body fell to the ground. Not giving himself any rest, he smiled and broke his leash into multiple threads, right before punching them towards a trio of machines.

Most of the projectiles fell before they reached them, the mana within dissipating into thin air. A few penetrated through, however, destroying the core of one and causing the rest to stagger.

Izuku pulled on a nearby pipe underground. The water tunneled past dirt and minerals, before finally breaking through the asphalt, a stream rising into the air. He brought his hand down, sending the veritable whip to come down on the surviving pair–

But that didn't happen. Instead, they fell harmlessly, raining down on the form of who was once their master.

'What happened? Why isn't it–' His muscles twitched. It was only then did he realized what happened. 'I... I've run out of mana.'

As the strength left his knees and he buckled down onto the floor, so did his euphoria. His breath grew even more rapid. He couldn't even keep fighting for less than 10 minutes. Was he truly this weak without his staff?

No longer blinded by his rapture, the world began to clear out, clearing the fog that had hidden the current state of the battlefield.

Iida was in the best condition. His movements had grown sluggish compared to earlier, but his eyes still flickered about, fully alert. Uraraka appeared even more breathless than Izuku was, her hair sticking to her pale green skin in a messy tangle. She dodged a heavy fist, slipping behind a robot and pressing the button hidden in its slopes. It fell face-first, dead. Likely, the girl already exhausted her Quirk.

Haruki, unsurprisingly, was less exhausted than Uraraka. She swerved left and right, always opting to turn off the larger robots and simply punching the smallest of them open. The carapace on those ones was made up of plastic, after all. Despite that, the corpses around her feet were the least.

As for Toru... Izuku couldn't see where she was, exactly. Judging by the robots randomly dropping left and right, however, he assumed she was still around, fighting.

Finally, he looked back towards the tent, where the clock continued to tick. A little under a minute remained... mere seconds until they achieved what had seemingly been impossible. Yet, with his gaze aimed there, he inevitably noticed something that caused the blood on his face to dry.

"Iida–! Uraraka–!" He gritted his teeth. His leg shifted, lifting himself as he ran towards the figure lumbering under the tent's canopy. "Anyone! Don't let it get any closer!"

Spurred by him, they all looked back, their eyes widening as one of the Villains loomed above the huddled civilians. It was in anything but pristine condition; one arm was mangled, wet scars decorating various spots of its steel muscles, its eye hanging out of the socket by a few wires. Nevertheless, stubborn as a mule, it trudged forward despite the heavy injuries. For it to still function even after all the wear and tear it suffered... it was nothing short of a miracle.

Yet for one Izuku Midoriya, it was a blight. For there was no one else close enough to stop it.

He could only watch with wide, helpless eyes as the remaining steel arm was raised, easily as wide as one of the civilian-bots. When it fell, a sickening crunch erupted from the cluster. It lifted its arm and now did a swipe, destroying even more. The third time it hefted up its huge limb was one too many, as a blur impacted its side, obliterating the machine.

Being the fastest, Iida had arrived first. But still...

Izuku slowed down near the tent. His eyes were stuck to the huddle, where the remains of six—perhaps even more—lay on the concrete.

"They're... probably not ours." Iida frowned. "We shouldn't have lost many points."

Izuku looked up at him, eyes wide. "Oh... t-true, hopefully..." In the distance, they heard the sonorous echo of the bell, yet they couldn't care less. A pair of green orbs scrunched up. "I still failed, though. We're lucky these are just robots but... what if these were real people? Having one of them die is enough for us to lose."

Iida stared at him worriedly. Laying a hand on his shoulder, he said, "It's not entirely your fault. The blame belongs to all of us for not being able to stop it."

"U.A. is there to teach you. To make sure these things don't happen on the battlefield." A voice spoke from the side. They simultaneously turned, surprised. Amidst all the chaos, they forgot that Ectoplasm was still there, watching. "If you were already perfect, then why seek an education?"

"Y-Yeah... You're right." Izuku's jaw tightened as he spoke. "But... does that mean I succeed?"

"Were any of our points taken?" Iida asked worriedly.

Ectoplasm simply continued to smile. "Well... we'll see when the results come out, won't we?"

Somewhere nearby, rapid steps echoed, growing louder by the second. "I-Iida-kun! Izuku-kun! What happened?" Uraraka came forward. Her knees were bent slightly, allowing her arms to rest on them as she tried to catch her breath. Haruki and a floating pink tracksuit followed, the former's eyes wide as saucers.

"That Villain..." Izuku stared at the broken machine with distaste. "It destroyed some of the robots. Not sure who those points belonged to but... it could be devastating."

A heavy silence hung over the teenagers. In the meantime, Ectoplasm watched with quiet amusement, his hands wrapped tightly over the small of his back. Suppressing the chuckle that threatened to escape his gut, the Hero said, "I know you all are worried but you have to get going now. Chop chop."

Spurred by his words, all six of them departed from the area, leaving Ectoplasm in all his lonesome.

The six were quickly split. Haruki merely bid them a goodbye, offering that she had somewhere else to be. Though Toru spoke in a more bubbly manner, she more or less sang the same lyrics. They both did, however, give their phone numbers.

With that, they were down to four.

Izuku watched with silent, pursed lips as the sea of students flowed past the pearly gates. He stood off to the side, standing under the shade of a great tree that rose from a hillock. His eyes darted rapidly from student to student.

"What are you looking for?"

"...Someone." He replied vaguely. Looking down at Uraraka, who sat against the firm bark, Izuku sighed. "Between my exhaustion and the sheer number of students, though, seems like I won't find him."

"I see." She hummed. Tilting her head, she licked her dry lips.

"Here." His voice echoed as a sphere of blue hovered in front of her. "It's from the dirt, but don't worry, it's drinkable."

She gave a thankful nod. Parting her mouth slightly, the water flowed inside, which she eagerly drank. The girl exhaled, her eyes closed as she pressed the back of her head against the tree. Izuku had a glad smile by the end of it.

They waited there in a wordless yet comforting mood. Eventually, Uraraka opened one of her lids, staring at the towering building of U.A. "Iida sure is taking a while in there."

"You shouldn't prod about how people spend their time in the toilet." Izuku chuckled, his gaze boring into the building. "He's probably taking in the sights."

And soon enough they saw Iida, the blue-paned glass doors of the main entrance opening up as he stepped outside. He looked around for a moment, stopping when he noticed a green and brown-haired pair waving for his attention.

As Iida joined them and the trio became a quartet, they stepped down the small mound, leaving the shade of the great tree and then the gates of U.A., as well.

At the same time, when a small, red-eyed figure shimmied away, they were down to three.

Really excited right now; I just bought the entirety of A Song of Ice and Fire, or the novels Game of Thrones were based on, for a remarkably cheap price. I've only read the first of the series—A Game of Thrones—but I already found it to be very engaging. I really like Martin's prose, as well as the shifting perspectives and the symbolisms I've taken note of so far. There are many more things I love, of course, but I don't really intend for this to be a full review.

I've also watched the final episode of The Penguin. That finale geniunely cements the fact that, for me, Oz has become one of my favorite villains of all time. Now, with this masterpiece coming to a close, another masterpiece unfolds: Arcane S2. Really strong start to the season.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully, I can increase my update rate but... no promises.