The Hero & The Demon
Chapter Nine
Tenya Iida held high expectations for UA.
He didn't feel that was unusual at all. The school was known for an extremely low acceptance rate for new applicants, only selecting the best of the best who could develop into some of the best heroes in the country. Perhaps even the world, honestly – All-Might did have a certain global appeal thanks to his leaning into American aesthetics. He could only hope to be able to achieve that same kind of recognition.
Not that such was a priority for him, of course. As a proud son of the Iida family, the name Ingenium would one day fall to him, as well as all the responsibility it came with. Such would guarantee a certain degree of reputation for him, so he had an advantage over some of the others present for the entrance exam. He possessed several advantages, in fact. Private education from Somei had honed his mind, whilst his family had helped him to hone his body.
He knew to expect a great deal of difficulty from UA, and he had prepared himself accordingly. If he was to live up to his bother's name, he would have no other choice but to excel.
The other applicants around him seemed to lack this same attitude. Glancing around, a part of Iida wondered if UA was especially judgemental or just had to deal with a huge number of applicants. With so many coming, it was only natural that you would find people who desired the reputation of the school but lacked the commitment to match it.
He shook those thoughts away. It wouldn't do to be too dismissive of others based on immediate appearances. Besides, it was only natural that people seemed more relaxed right now, as they all waited in the assembly stage. This would be the last chance to stay calm before the exam itself began in earnest. It was more likely that people were simply trying to avoid getting too stressed before they needed to act.
Iida could respect that in principle. In practice, however, he had to admit that the sounds of muttering chatter around him was somewhat grating. There were three particular voices that he was picking up from a few rows behind him that seemed oddly loud, despite clearly trying to speak in a hushed whisper.
"I wonder which hero they'll have explaining the exam. UA's staff has so many famous heroes." One voice from the middle asked. Iida had to admit to some interest in the answer himself. He was a professional, but he was also still a boy fond of heroes.
"Keep your damn mouth shut, Deku." A voice to the left of the middle speaker spat out harshly. His demand for silence was a dark reflection of Iida's professional focus. He didn't appreciate it one bit, even if he too could have done with more silence. "Who gives a crap about whoever says the rules? As long as I get to beat all these extras, nothing else matters."
"You'll be disappointed." The third voice, the speaker over to the right, chimed in. His tone sounded faintly smug, an amused air smothering a layer of disdain. Iida had assumed that the three were a group of friends, but it seemed more likely that he was overhearing some group of rivals.
It seemed like a petty thing to be so competitive on an individual level. There was always a place for respected competition, but these three – the second and third speakers especially – sounded more like frustrated school children. Iida found himself bothered with them all.
"What do you know, freak?" The second voice said venomously. Clearly there was even more tension between these two than Iida thought. What was the point in being so hostile at this stage? There was no benefit to being aggressive towards fellow applicants in and of itself.
"A great many things that you don't." Iida overheard the third voice say. It sounded arrogant at first glance, but there was something underneath that Iida picked up on. It wasn't just delight at the other being dumb, the third voice had a hidden, deeper level of amusement. As though this insult was also some kind of joke that only he knew the punchline to. "But most relevant to the present, I know Present Mic is going to be the one explaining the rules."
Iida raised an eyebrow at the certainty in his voice. It was a reasonable guess. Present Mic was known mainly for his successful radio show, but he was also a staff member at UA and had been for some years now. A presenter like him seemed like an odd choice given the gravity of the trials ahead, but perhaps a more reassuring enthusiasm was exactly what the others needed.
As though on cue, the lights all dimmed, save for a set pointed at the podium upon the stage. There was a pause for only a moment before a man in a leather outfit with gravity-defying hair and a speaker upon his neck shot out onto the stage.
Present Mic had arrived. Just as the third speaker had said. Had he noticed the man enter before anyone else did?
Iida forced himself to tune out of the conversations around him and focus on the man. Fortunately, Present Mic was an easy target for focus. He drew the eye just as much as he drew the ear with his dramatic entrance.
"Welcome to today's live performance!" He yelled out. He placed a hand over his ear. "Lemme hear you say HEY!" Iida did not respond. Even if the teacher was demanding it, surely it would be unprofessional for a student to shout at a teacher in a situation like-
"HEEEEEYYYYY!" The third speaker from before had not only yelled, but had stood up out of his seat in order to do so and reach the man's ear. Iida was aghast, and stared at him. The boy looked unremarkable in appearance – spikey black hair that faced the front and an ordinary-looking middle school uniform, though his school blazer was unbuttoned and showed off a white shirt beneath that, as far as Iida was concerned, was far too messy to warrant display.
"Nice one, number 2235!" Present Mic shot finger guns to the boy who had yelled. 2235 responded by shooting some back, as though this was some casual greeting and not a teacher at Japan's most prestigious hero school here to explain the exam that would define all of their futures.
Present Mic may have found this level of unprofessionalism endearing, but it was utterly baffling to Iida. Even the two boys next to him who he had been speaking to seemed shocked. One, a mean looking blond, glared harshly and incredulously at him, whilst the other – a meek looking boy with curly hair – tugged on his shirt frantically as though to pull him down.
"Lovin' the enthusiasm!" Present Mic cheered, undeterred. "That's the kind of energy we're looking for here at UA. Now, I'm sure y'all know what you're here for. It's time to get into the nitty gritty details of our practical exam! Are you ready?!"
"HELL YEAH WE ARE!" 2235 pumped his fists into the air and grinned as though this was a concert. Surely, Iida thought, he would have known better than to use profanity or references to hell in front of a school teacher? What sort of mad person was he? He didn't behave at all like he was here for an exam.
Only one conclusion made sense in Iida's mind. This boy must have been a plant. He must have been hired specifically to distract the other applicants.
It made sense. Heroes would face all manner of diversions and struggles, and it made a good example of how not to behave. Present Mic may have seemed appreciative in the moment, but upon thinking, Iida realised it had to be fake. This was testing the other applicants, looking for signs of weakness. UA would then be sure to write off any applicants who behaved similarly to this boy.
Iida felt reassured by this conclusion. He was clearly passing the test by maintaining his cool, collected focus, even whilst struggling with the sheer absurdity of this deceitful actor's behaviour. UA was truly an exceptional school to be testing people so thoroughly at every possible moment.
"Whoa, what a cool audience! I feel blessed!" Present Mic practically danced on the spot, spinning around for a moment with an ecstatic grin on his face before steadying himself at the podium. "That's enough warming up though, time for the main event!" He turned and pressed a button, activating a large projected screen behind him. The first image shown was that of a city, with several points shooting off from it. The end of each point was labelled with a letter.
"You'll all be going up against some real bad 'bots in mock cityscape manoeuvres!" Present Mic explained. As he did so, three silhouetted images appeared on the screen. Next to each of the silhouettes were a set of numbers – 1P, 2P and 3P respectively. Iida frowned and looked down.
As he thought, his handout depicted a fourth silhouette that wasn't on the screen. Another test from UA, it seemed, to ensure attentiveness from its applicants. Or so he hoped. The alternative was that it was a printing error.
"You'll be up against these guys for ten minutes!" Present Mic explained. "You'll all be split up into different battle centres for the test once we're done here. Feel free to bring any gear you want, too! Just make sure to register it as soon as we're done here if you haven't already."
"I guess we won't be able to help each other out." The meek boy from behind Iida muttered to his friend, 2235. Was he also planted there by UA? Perhaps their whole group was there to show different sets of poor behaviour that was to be avoided. Either that, or the poor young man had been duped int thinking he was talking to a fellow applicant. Whether a victim or an accomplice, Iida felt sure it was a trap.
"We won't need to, anyway." 2235 replied. "You've got this in the bag." False support? An interesting tactic, Iida thought. Perhaps there was more to his little performance than he realised. Perhaps there was something that the applicants were supposed to learn from it hidden within the distraction.
Being more observant seemed the crux of the matter to Iida. Heroes had to be perceptive enough to pick out true allies from pretenders, and to remain focused even in the face of chaos and distraction. Yes, that made sense to him.
"Each of the bots – or faux-villains as they're called," Present Mic said. Iida nodded, registering immediately the implication that the machines were meant to be treated as a threat like any true villain would be to a hero. "Has a point value assigned to it based on the level of difficulty. Your job is to earn points by disabling these faux-villains however you can! Just make sure you're only hitting the metal out there. UA doesn't do any of that anti-hero stuff, so no going after your fellow examinees, ya dig?"
That much seemed obvious, though Iida heard a few groans and uncertain sounds among the crowd. Were they really expecting to have to treat each other like enemies? The blonde from behind seemed particularly disappointed by this.
Was that whole group a trio of actors?
Iida dismissed the thought. If he kept going with this line of thought, he would surely conclude he was the only real applicant. He couldn't dismiss everyone he disapproved of as a fake just because they were unprofessional. He raised a hand into the air.
"Excuse me sir, may I ask a question?"
"Hit me!" Present Mic said. Iida took that as permission and stood up, picking up the exam handout he had sitting on the desk. He pointed to it.
"The official handout you provided us with lists four total faux-villains, not three." He explained, keeping himself firm and focused. "With all due respect, if this is an error it is simply unacceptable. We are here to receive the best possible education from this prestigious school. Clerical discrepancies like this cannot be tolerated." Having made his main point, Iida realised he had an opportunity.
If he called out the poor behaviour from the actors whilst he had the teacher's attention, surely that would demonstrate his focus and attentiveness even further. That would work to his benefit.
"Additionally, you with the curly-!" He selected the boy in the middle. He had been maintaining a constant muttering throughout the explanation that Iida had been doing his best to tune out. However, before he could even finish drawing his attention, 2235 stood up.
"That's enough."
"P-Pardon?" Iida asked. The boy's gaze was determined and focused. His expression was a fine line, not quite aggressive but definitely displeased. It seemed so alien compared to his earlier behaviour that Iida almost wondered if this was still the same boy.
"I said that's enough." He repeated. "You've made your point about the exam. Any further comments should be kept to yourself, because clearly, they aren't relevant to the actual test. If you're trying to antagonise a fellow examinee for being nervous, that speaks poorly to your character. If you're trying to say that one boy muttering is enough to distract you from your real task, that's even worse. Sit down before you waste everyone's time."
Other students started muttering to themselves for a moment, discussing the clear tension between the two. Iida looked at 2235 with confusion, whilst 2235 maintained his firm gaze that bordered on a glare. Present Mic drew their attention back to him.
"Alright, alright, simmer down." He said, gesturing for them to be seated. 2235 did so, but Iida noted his expression remained unhappy as he turned back to Present Mic. "Thanks for the question, examinee 7111! The fourth villain on your handout will be present, but they're not worth any points. Think of it more like an obstacle to avoid rather than a foe to face. You could take it down, but it's probably not worth it."
"I see." Iida nodded before giving a dutiful bow. "Thank you, sir! My apologies for the interruption!"
"You're all good!" Present Mic gave him a thumbs up. "That's about everything wrapped up anyways, so why don't I leave you all with some nice wisdom and our school motto? It was Napoleon Boneparte himself who once said 'true heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life.'"
"We've got a punchier sound-bite, though." Present Mic said.
"PLUS ULTRA!" He cried out dramatically. "Break a leg out there, everybody!"
Izuku Midoriya found his eyes wandering to Kage as students began to file out of the exam hall. His friend's behaviour had been unusual to say the least. Currently, he had his face set in a frown and hands stuffed into his pocket.
"Kage, are you okay?" Izuku asked. Kage glanced over and forced a more pleasant expression onto his face. Izuku could recognise an 'I'm fine, no further questions' smile. He had worn one plenty of times himself.
"Yeah, I'm cool." He gave a relaxed shrug, as though he was unfazed. "Just got a lot of energy, you know? I'm ready to go." He bounced on his feet, and it was there that his true feelings seemed to seep out. There was a distinct tension in his movements. Izuku hoped he wasn't reading his friend's body language correctly, because there was a slight hint of aggression, as though he was a little to ready to start a fight.
Kacchan had dismissed himself from their company as soon as Present Mic had asked them to leave. He didn't even try to shove his way through them. He too had a cold focus about him, but Izuku didn't get the same sort of tense vibe from him.
Bakugou was always ready to fight. This sort of test almost seemed relaxing to him, or so Izuku thought.
"How about you?" Kage asked, flipping the question. "You think you can get your Quirk working yet?" Izuku thought for a moment, trying to focus on what was going on inside of him. He was sure he would have digested the hair by this point, but he found it hard to tell if there was anything different going on in his body.
He didn't wish to voice that worry, however. To voice it would turn it from paranoia to a legitimate possibility that the power didn't transfer properly. That somehow, All-Might's powers would have realised they were going to a Quirkless nobody and decided he wasn't worth it. That he wasn't worth anything.
"I-I'm sure it'll work out." Izuku lied. Kage raised an eyebrow, but he gave an easy smile. It seemed he believed Izuku, as he usually did. It was nice that one of them did. "But even with all this power, there are a lot of people."
"Yeah, it's a lot more than I expected." Kage admitted looking around the area as they walked to the buses to their respective battle centres. They would soon have to split up, but Kage at least seemed determined to stay supporting Izuku for as long as possible. Deep down, Izuku was sure he needed the support just as much.
The cynical part of Izuku that he often tried to ignore told him that Kage felt reassured to be around someone weaker than he was. He dismissed that thought as often as he could. It was rooted in Bakugou's fixations on strength, and whilst that mindset carried him to admirable heights, it wasn't one Izuku wanted to emulate.
"But there's not many we need to worry about." Kage continued, smiling. "I doubt any of these people have cleared an entire beach with their bare hands. For them, being a hero is gonna be a want."
"And we're different?" Izuku asked. Kage nodded.
"For us, it's a need." He said. "There's just no other option. You wanna save people with a smile on your face, and I get the sense it's all you've ever really wanted. There's no chance for failure when you've got an unshaken conviction." There was a strange echo to Kage's voice as he finished his statement. Black veins danced briefly across his throat.
Izuku didn't ask how Kage could tell his own conviction and desire to be a hero. It was pretty obvious, and the fact that he had been seen with All-Might earlier that day had to make it clear enough even if it wasn't before. But it did raise a question, one that had been on his mind for some time.
Kage had never gone into any detail about why he specifically had wanted to be a hero.
This wasn't too strange at first. Izuku could count the number of people he knew that didn't want to be a hero on one hand. It was pretty much just his mother, as far as he knew. Everyone on the planet in this day and age held a great fascination with heroics. Some of them wanted to get rich, and the money to be made from even middling heroics was nothing to sneeze at. Some wanted fame, and being a hero was an easier field to become a celebrity in than many others. In theory, all one needed was to be good at the job.
Endeavour was a fine example. Despite being second only to All-Might, the man did few public appearances and was known among his fans for his stand-offish attitude and rigid focus on the job. He was a bit like Kacchan, Izuku thought, if Kacchan's anger was more cold than hot. Ironic, given the man's Quirk.
The third main reason people strived to become heroes was the category that included Izuku himself – people who wanted to save people. It took on other variations, of course. Some people valued defeating villains or the general pursuit of justice more. Izuku had heard of a few more personal origin stories for heroes. Those who had lives they cared about claimed by villains and sought revenge, or were simply inspired to ensure it didn't happen to anyone else.
Kage had never made it clear where he stood on the subject. He had insisted that he had to become a hero, and more specifically that he had to go to UA. But he hadn't expanded on that before.
"Kage," Izuku figured now was as good a time as any to ask. "Why do you want to be a hero?" Kage looked at him with a strangely thoughtful expression. He didn't answer immediately, seemingly struggling to find the right words. He opened his mouth, but glanced around and moved to say something else instead.
"Ah, that's our buses." Kage pointed. Izuku was set for battle centre D, whilst Kage was off to battle centre F. He split off from Izuku and began moving towards his own bus, waving at him as he did so.
"Good luck, buddy! You got this!"
"Y-yeah. You too!" Izuku called back. Kage gave a wide grin in response, and this time it seemed distinctly genuine.
Izuku was still bothered by how he hadn't answered the question. He had described his becoming a hero as a need. What compelled him to that extent?
It could have been tied to his amnesia. Perhaps some shattered piece of a memory was what drove him onwards. Izuku made a note to try asking again later.
Some part of him twisted, and there was a strange certainty that he wouldn't like the answer.
The bus ride to the battle centre was short, only taking about fifteen minutes. UA had built the facilities reasonably close to their own school, though they still needed some distance to account for the sheer size.
When Izuku heard that they were doing mock cityscape manoeuvres, he was expecting essentially a large diorama sort of environment. Instead, he found himself looking at what seemed like an actual city district carved off and placed into the UA campus area. Every building looked entirely real, to the point that he was almost surprised to not see anyone living there.
Would they be expected to search the interiors for enemy machines, or would it be safe to assume the villains would be rushing to them? Heroes most commonly were seen engaging villains outdoors, but there were always villains who stayed hidden in the shadows. How much would observation of these surroundings play a role in the test? It made sense to assume UA would be paying close attention to everyone's actions, but he couldn't spend too long investigating. Time was limited, and his ability to use his Quirk was uncertain.
Looking around the other examinees, all of them looked notably more confident than he found himself feeling. Many of them even had specialised support gear to augment their Quirks. Izuku wondered if he should have tried registering a weapon, but the odds of actually getting something through seemed unlikely. The items people had seemed based on supporting their existing Quirks, and Izuku doubted he could take a sword or gun or club and justify it as a necessary component to his fighting.
As he scanned over the applicants, he saw someone he recognised. The girl from before! The one who had stopped him from falling. He had barely managed to say more than a few words to her before. He figured he should probably give her a more proper thank you. That seemed like the right thing to do, right? Besides, maybe seeing one more friendly face at the last moment would help calm his nerves. He raised a foot to walk over to her-
A hand clamped down on his shoulder. He nearly jumped out of his skin.
"That girl looks like she's trying to concentrate on the trials ahead." Izuku saw the young man from the exam hall, the one who had asked about the fourth villain. 7111, right? "Is your intent distracting her? Is that your plan?"
"Wha-no, of course not!" Izuku cried out, his voice cracking slightly. "You've got the wrong idea, I swear! I was just hoping to thank her for earlier." The boy in glasses, 7111, didn't seem impressed.
"Really? And what of your friend at the hall?" Izuku raised an eyebrow. Kage? What did he have to do with any of this? "There's simply no way you weren't trying to cause a distraction. Let me be frank and ask you to do the same – you're a plant from the staff, aren't you?"
Izuku blinked and tilted his head, though his surprise made it feel like it would come fully off of his neck and roll off.
"You think…what?" Izuku couldn't even bring himself to repeat the nonsense he had just heard. What kind of a theory was that? What part of Izuku's behaviour suggested that he knew what he was doing anywhere near enough for it to have been an act?!
"It's the only way he makes any sense." 7111 crossed his arms. "There's no way someone could be so unprofessional at UA and not have it be an act. It's absurd."
Izuku frowned.
"Kage is not a fake." He said, a bitter anger filling him with confidence he had lacked a moment ago. He turned to face 7111 – or whatever his name was, Izuku didn't find himself inclined to care at this moment – and took the boy's hand off his shoulder. "He's my friend, and he's trying to be a hero like everyone else here." 7111 frowned, but then his expression softened.
Pity. He was pitying Izuku. He didn't believe what he was saying.
"I see." He said. "I would advise caution with your friends."
"You don't know anything about my friends!" Izuku snapped. "Don't you dare judge him." He found himself glaring harshly at the boy, who seemed entirely shocked. Izuku tried not to feel good about that – he knew that he was really coming from a position of concern with his words, but it didn't sit well with Izuku regardless.
There were other examinees who were watching their brief encounter now, Izuku's volume having attracted some attention.
"Well, that was unexpected."
"Guess that kid has a backbone after all."
"He didn't look like much a second ago, but now…"
"Standing up for friends? J'adore!"
Izuku turned away from the boy, shame creeping up his spine. Here he was getting aggressive with someone he barely knew, who may have been misinformed but wasn't trying to be hostile. What was he now, Kacchan? He shouldn't have snapped like that.
And yet, he couldn't bring himself to feel entirely bad about it.
"AAAANNNND BEGIN!"
Kage Sekai was struggling to hold himself together.
The exam itself was already going to be a major stressing point for him. Izuku and Bakugou were one thing, but seeing so many canon main characters and participating directly in a major canon event really drove into focus just how out of place he was. How he was forcing his way into this life. He knew that, in order to succeed, he would have to change things. He was expecting that, aiming for it.
It didn't make it any easier to accept. It still felt wrong.
Kage Sekai as he was now had no place standing in a hero's school. This place was like holy ground, and here he was. A monstrous murderer tainting the world he stood upon, standing against its natural path.
"Stop it." He forced the thoughts out of his head. "It's the best way to help people. We don't have a choice." He thought back to the burning building from so many months ago. He had sworn not to let anyone else die if he could help it. He was the only one out of the hundreds of people here, possibly even thousands, who knew there was a war coming. There were things only he could do here, deaths only he could prevent, lives only he could change for the better.
If he was to believe there was some kind of destiny for him, some purpose for his twisted revival, he had to think this was it.
This solemn oath wasn't the only source of his stress, however. He was also dealing with visions.
He sprinted through the battle centre gate before Present Mic had even finished announcing the beginning of the test, giving him a few seconds edge over most of the others, who appeared confused.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO, GO, GO! REAL BATTLES DON'T COUNT DOWN FROM TEN, PEOPLE!"
Kage was sure Present Mic was saying something like that, but he wasn't hearing it. What he was seeing and hearing were not the grounds of the UA entrance exam like they should have been. Instead, he found himself striding across a barren battlefield of cracked rocks and scars across the ground, like it had been brutally carved up by some cruel god.
Kage was sure that, outside of his vision, the weather was bright and sunny. Here, he was seeing a blood red sky that burned with searing storm clouds overhead. He could hear thunderous roars and see distant lightning. It was yellow, which Kage thought was only a thing that happened in cartoons. Then again, that would be fitting given his current lifestyle.
He himself was perhaps a foot and a couple of inches taller than his body as Kage Sekai was, and he was dressed in some strange armour. It seemed like a steampunk medieval knight – fine and intricate armour with pipes and wires cutting across it like veins. He felt filled with adrenaline, surging through the front lines.
Like with the exam that was happening, Kage's opponents were metallic in nature. Here, he thought large skeletal-looking machines that bore into his soul with singular large and bulbous eyes. Each one had a strange hole in its chest. Energy pooled within them and from the holes, coloured blasts of energy fired out. Kage heard groans from those around him. Soldiers, it seemed. He was now experiencing a war.
He could only hope this experience was lining up with what was going on for the exam. It wouldn't do for him to attack an examinee because he thought they were an enemy machine from hell. Was that where he was? Nothing he was seeing was recognisable, and yet there was a distinct feeling of familiarity to it. It was like his spirit recognised where he was, but his head was still clueless. There was no communication between the two.
Kage raised an arm and a familiar block of black energy formed as a shield, blocking an enemy attack. From there, he slammed his way into it. It broke down, and here Kage could faintly hear the real sounds buried beneath this vision. It was one of the exam robots. It was strange that he could differentiate the scraping metals from one another, but in some ways, it didn't surprise him. If some part of him knew what he was seeing, why wouldn't it know what it was hearing enough to know what wasn't right?
"K-!" A voice called out, and Kage looked down to see a smaller man who wore a golden helmet and polished white armour otherwise. The helmet had two eye-holes and carried the impression of a stern face. It looked like it was somewhere between his flesh and his armour. Kage thought it would be disturbing, but the man's presence somehow made him feel relieved. "Don't rush off like that! We can't just go charging off into the middle of the warzone."
"Actually, we can." Kage replied, the words flowing through him without a thought passing into his head. His voice was deeper and clearly that of an adult rather than a child. It had some strange sort of filter over it, most likely from Kage's own helmet. He could feel his power, a cold black energy filling his body and responding to him as though to affirm his words.
"Aye, maybe." The gold-headed figure said after a pause. "But just because you can-" Kage held a hand up. He noticed it only had three fingers and a thumb as opposed to four. Whatever body he was occupying in this vision, it wasn't a human one.
"We don't have time for this." Kage and his vision-self agreed, speaking as one. "The fighting has begun. Lecture us after we've kicked the empire's ass." The gold-headed figure chuckled and pulled out a set of weapons – a long, thin sword that they seemed comfortable holding in one hand despite how awkward it looked, and a square shaped red shield. There was a white crescent shape emblazoned upon it.
"Always impatient, aren't you? It'll get you killed one of these days, friend."
"So long as it's not today." Kage could feel the vision-self smile under the mask. He didn't have weapons of his own, it seemed. But the gauntlets of his armour filled with black energy. Lightning danced its way off of the hands, both from the energy itself and some other source. No doubt the pipes in the armour were channelling it somehow. He adopted a battle stance, like the one Kage had used against Ojiro at the gym.
Here, he realised why it seemed more designed for running rather than fighting. It was designed for making pushes into large groups of enemies so he could fire off larger attacks, not for single combat. But then, why had he gone to use it against Ojiro in the first place?
"Too many questions, not enough moving." Kage hissed in his head. "Whatever's happening here isn't something I have time for. Let me out." He wasn't expecting a response.
He received one anyway.
"You still struggle. Your memory remains incomplete. I only wish to help."
"I don't care. Let me out of this." He found himself speaking aloud. He could hardly imagine how insane he must have looked to any other examinees right now, babbling to himself about nonsense. His body was still moving, still fighting, though even now he wasn't seeing what he was supposed to.
"Very well. You shall learn when the time is right."
Immediately the vision melted away. Kage was back at the exam. He was standing in the middle of a group of now destroyed robots. There were four three-pointers, two two-pointers and four one-pointers. All broken into pieces. Kage looked at himself. His black veins were pulsing and his whole body felt sore, but there were no visible burns. At least, none yet.
That wasn't the first time he had seen some strange vision, but it was the first time it had happened whilst he was awake. They were always deeply concerning for his sanity, but he had felt he could brush them aside so long as they remained nothing more than odd dreams.
Now, he had no such luxury. He had no time to think about what they really were, or about the nature of the strange voice that accompanied them. His best guess was that it was connected to his power, but he had no idea how. Could it have been the original Kage somehow? No, that didn't fit. In his first dream, the voice had said the original was gone. Besides, that vision didn't look anything like the Japan he was in now.
Had he gone between worlds before? Were these visions of a past or future? The voice had said his memory was incomplete. What did that mean? He couldn't remember his old name or those of his family, but this seemed to be entirely unrelated. And what was the voice itself? How was it connected to any of this?
He tried to push the questions far out of his mind, but they pooled and swam through his head and filled him with frustrated confusion. There was no clear route to answers, so he knew he had to focus on the task at hand. But that failed to make things any easier.
"Raaaah!" He let out some of his rage, screaming as he fired a series of energy blasts through more robots. It seemed his vision had let him push further than most anyone else, because he didn't see another person anywhere close to him. He could hear sounds of battle going on in the distance, but he had found himself tucked away in a more secluded part of the city.
Good. He didn't have to hold back, didn't have to worry about hurting anyone. He didn't even have to worry about killing anyone – he was facing robots. They could be rebuilt, and he was expected to destroy them.
All this time, Kage had been struggling with how his very existence had made him a murderer. He held so much guilt and pain from that alone, never mind the ways in which he had caused so many problems for those around him. How he constantly felt the need to rely on them when he couldn't be honest about anything with them. How he had to live a lie so he could be the person they needed him to be.
A good student. A kind friend. Someone who wouldn't be a burden.
Here, Kage had no such obligations. In this single-minded brutality, he was allowed to simply be himself. It didn't matter that someone was dead because of him. It didn't matter that a family was missing its son. It didn't matter that he was such a burden for Tsukauchi, or that he couldn't be fully honest with Izuku even though he wanted to be.
Nothing mattered but the fight. There was nothing else.
Kage formed twin blades in his hands and danced through the machines. He stopped paying attention to their point values. Anything would do. It felt like only seconds before he ran out of targets, leaving only torn up messes of scrap that might once have been body parts for the machines.
Kage was grateful that the mysteries around him granted him this innate combat skill. The gym had helped him hone it, but one of his greatest strengths was being able to let loose and let his body do most of the work. He just had to make sure he didn't lose himself completely in it when up against any skilled opponent. A mad frenzy against machines, however, was practically what he was made for.
"FOUR MINUTES REMAINING!"
Present Mic's voice rang out, but even louder was an incredible scraping sound. The earth beneath Kage's feet seemed to open up slowly, a giant maw unfolding. The piles of scrap metal began falling as Kage tried to move back, but attempting to outrun the motion was more difficult than he expected. He heard the scrap bang against something below. Something large, solid and metal.
"Oh no." Kage realised what was happening, but it was too late as he found himself falling. Fortunately, something else was rising to meet him. He found himself laid upon cold metal, a dark green in colour much like the other exam robots. This one was bigger, though.
Much bigger.
Its head alone was practically as wide as one of the buildings around the city, buildings that Kage quickly realised were getting smaller. The machine was being elevated, fired up upon a large platform. Now it made sense why no one else was in his area – they must have seen that this was an opening and thought better than to get too close.
Not Kage, though. Wasn't it great that his body just flowed through motions without him thinking about it? Yeah, he was really appreciating that as well as the mysterious visions that left him flung somewhere else with no hope of properly orienting himself. Everything about his situation was just great.
As the machine fully rose, Kage felt as though he was near the damn cloud barrier. One jump would be all it took to touch the sky, it seemed.
It would also only take one slip to seal his death.
The machine stepped forth, and Kage quickly stabbed a sword down and held on for dear life.
Well, that was the easy part. What next?
AN: Ahh, it's good to have Kage back. Been a while since we last saw his POV! And even now, someone else is there! Darn mysterious visions, always blocking off our main hero. I had a lot of fun with this chapter! Especially Kage's section, though Iida and Izuku's were pretty fun too. I hope I've done a decent job of showing Izuku with slightly more confidence now that he has an actually supportive friend without making him seem OOC. Also, fun fact, did you know that Izuku and Bakugou's examinee numbers are only shown in one shot in episode 3 of the anime? Getting those numbers right was tricky because of that, so y'all better appreciate it. See you all next time!