Chapter 12: 1-B To the Rescue

All of Class 1-B were abuzz with excitement to have one of the Top Ten Heroes there to supervise their training.

"She's got it going on!"

"Do you think she'll sign my outfit?"

"Love that thickness."

"Did you know she would be here?"

"Hell no I didn't!"

"I hope I don't screw up in front of Uravity."

These and other things the students all said as they walked into the USJ. They arrived and looked around at the surrounding areas, amazed at the sheer size and spectacle; it was like a miniature world of its own with numerous zones like nothing they had ever seen before. "Alright everyone! Listen up!" Uravity called, and the students immediately turned their attention to her and Thirteen. Thirteen announced, "Your test for today is a Rescue Mission! That means that you'll be teaming up in groups of four in order to rescue four hidden people in danger. In each of these zones are four robots who will be acting as your civilians to rescue. Your job is to find them and bring them out of danger as quickly as possible!"

Uravity picked up where her former teacher left off, "Your teams will be selected at random with these boxes." She showed a blue box and a red box on a platform, "There are balls with numbers 1-5 on them inside the blue box, pick a ball and find your classmate with a matching number. The purpose of this is because when you're Heroes, you never know whom you will have to work with. You need to be able to think on your feet and be adaptable to whatever your situation. Afterwards, you'll pull out a ball from the red box that will tell you the Zone you'll go to rescue the robot civilians. But be warned, there are also some enemy robots lurking around. Be careful, and remember, your mission is to rescue the civilians."

All of the students lined up and pulled out a ball from the blue box and got together with their teams as assigned by their numbers, and then one student from each team pulled out a ball from the red box to determine the Disaster Zone they were going to. Team 1 was Josuke, Tamanaha Kin, Jiro Akira, and Saito Kentaro, they were assigned to the Downpour Zone. Team 2 was Ojiro Haruno, Komori Fujio, Nogai Taro, and Oishi Sayo, they were assigned to the Ruins Zone. Team 3 was Honenuki Akiko, Jason Rin, Kato Shiro, and Matsuru Leiko, they were assigned to the Conflagration Zone. Team 4 was Hado Kentaro, Akiyama Kaya, Hirose Rei and Juba Takashi, they were assigned to the Flood Zone. And finally Team 5 was Hana, Goto Nami, Iida Tenko, and Fukushima Mugen, they were assigned to the Landslide Zone.

Everyone was loaded into small buses driven by robots that dropped all the teams off at the entrances of their respective Disaster Zones. Thirteen-sensei's voice sounded over speakers throughout the USJ and announced, "Alright everyone, get ready! And! GO!"

Josuke and his team ran into the Downpour Zone, and Josuke quickly yelled, "My Quirk lets me hear good, I can find the 'Civilians' we need to rescue!" Jiro Akira and Saito Kentaro both said, "Take the lead!" Josuke said, "Alright, everyone, hang on while I focus. The rain in this Zone makes it a little hard to hear things." Team 1 stopped and Josuke closed his eyes and focused. The rain covered sounds, and he had to mentally block out the sound of the rain. His Mom had trained him in this, to focus his mind to block out any sounds or smells he didn't need to look for so he could find whatever he was hunting. After two minutes, he heard it, a robotic voice that said over and over again, "Please help us. We are in danger. Please help us. We are in danger."

"I found them, to the Northeast, third floor, maybe fourth. Keep your eyes open for enemies, let's go!" Josuke said, and took the lead into the Zone, his team following behind him. They had to avoid various obstacles and debris in the way, and it slowed them down. Josuke kept his ears open anyway, searching for enemy robots. He saw the building and heard the enemy robots along with the 'Civilians'. "They're coming! Get ready to fight folks!"

Tamanaha Kin quickly got in front of everyone and raised her hands. Once the robots were in sight, she unleashed two dozen golden balls from her hands. The balls tore through the robots like they were made of paper-mâché. "Holy cow," Saito Kentaro said as he watched his teammate destroy the robots. The golden balls returned back into Tamanaha Kin's hands, and she sighed, "That was pretty difficult." Jiro Akira asked her, "Think you can carry a 'Civilian' robot?" She shook her head in answer. Josuke then piped up, "I can carry two. My Quirk makes me ten times stronger, and even without it I can bench press 200 pounds, like 91 kilograms, I think. Carrying two human-sized robots will be easy for me."

Josuke led them to the building and quickly found the 'Civilians' gathered in the third floor, huddled together. "Please help us. We are in danger," they all said. Josuke went to them and said, "It's alright now, the Heroes are here to take you to safety." That seemed to be a password, and the 'Civilians' all started saying, "Thank you, Heroes. Thank you, Heroes. Thank you, Heroes." Saito Kentaro commented as he lifted one robot up, "That could get annoying. Let's go." Josuke lifted up two robots and carried them on his shoulders, and together the four of them all left the Downpour Zone peacefully.

Meanwhile, Team 2 in the Ruins Zone was having a harder time of it. There were a lot of robots, and they also had to keep their eyes open for falling debris in the Ruins Zone. "This is nuts!" Nogai Taro said as he barely avoided another robot, then used his Quirk to stretch out his arm and punch it hard enough to knock its head off. "Problem is none of us has a Quirk that will help us track the 'Civilians' down!" Oishi Sayo said. "Ojiro, turn invisible and try to find them. We'll keep the robots distracted!" Komori Fujio said. Ojiro Haruno said, "Alright, just, don't look. My costume doesn't turn invisible with me, so I gotta strip down."

The boys managed not to look as she stripped down behind them and then headed off. Oishi Sayo activated her Rock Armor Quirk and charged into a crowd of robots, while Komori used his Mushroom Quirk to plant mushrooms in the robots' joints, making them slow down for the Oishi and Nogai to destroy them. There were no other robots coming, so they waited for news from the female Ojiro twin. After ten minutes they watched her invisible put her costume back on before turning visible and she said, "I found them, we completely missed them! They're in a building near the entrance of all things! Let's hurry!"

The four of them ran for it, and quickly reached the building, where they heard the robot civilians state, "Please help us. We are in danger," like a broken record. They found them and Nogai declared as heroically as he could, "The Heroes are here, everything will be alright now!" The civilian robots started saying over and over again, "Thank you, Heroes." Everyone grabbed a 'Civilian' and made their way through the rundown building, only for them to run into more robots. "Oh crap!" Ojiro yelled, and then they were all immediately captured with heavy nets, their arms to weighed down for them to defend themselves.

Team 3 in the Conflagration Zone were in hot water as well. "Holy crap!" Matsuru Leiko yelled as she looked around at the incoming robots. "Just stick behind me and you'll be fine," Kato Shiro said, "I can take their hits all day." Honenuki Akiko stepped up and said, "Jason, get ready." Jason Rin smiled as he pointed his arms forward, "Got it, Akiko." Honenuki Akiko walked up and as soon as she saw the robots were in range, she put her hands on the ground in front of her. The ground rippled like it was a pool that was disturbed, and the robots went right into it. They were immediately trapped, and Jason Rin unleashed the scales from his arms and the horns from his head, destroying the robots.

"Whoa…I take it you guys know each other," Kato Shiro said. Honenuki Akiko smirked, "You must be pretty dumb not to realize that my Dad is Honenuki Juzo, Mudman. And Jason's parents are Hiryu Rin, Dragon Shroud, and Pony Tsunotori, Rocketti. We practically grew up together since our parents met in UA a long time ago. We've been practicing ways to use our Quirks together forever." Jason Rin then said, "Let's go guys, we got civilians to look for."

Kato Shiro then flew up and said, "I'll scout ahead and look for them." He then flew off, moving at a decent but not too fast speed so he could search the area. He looked down and spotted a group of five robots not too long after taking flight. He smirked and sped up, flying down and through the robots like a hot knife through butter. "Heh, Hell yeah, I'm the man," Kato told himself before continuing his search. After five more minutes of looking he found them to the Northwest of the point where he left his team. Kato flew back to his teammates and said, "I found them. If you can fly, then that'll make it easier for us." Honenuki looked to Rin, who used his horns, shooting four out of his head and making two of them float over to her. Meanwhile, Matsuru Leiko said, "That I can't do."

Rin stepped onto his horns while Honenuki held on to the two he gave her, and Kato held Matsuru in a princess carry as he led his teammates to the robots. Kato quickly said, "The Heroes are here to save the day!" and the 'Civilians' broke out into robotic cries of, "Thank you, Heroes. Thank you, Heroes. Thank you, Heroes." All of them took one 'Civilian' and flew all the way back to the entrance easily, though all of them were sweating from the heat of the Conflagration.

In the Flood Zone, things were more difficult. "Well, this is a fine kettle of fish," Juba Takashi said. They were now five minutes into the test and figured that the 'Civilians' were on the boat in the middle of the lake. The problem was, how to reach them. There were robots shaped like shark people swimming all around the lake in the Flood Zone. They needed to figure out how to get to the boat and secure the 'Civilian' robots without getting them hurt by the shark people robots. The shark robots would occasionally jump out of the water, ten meters into the air Hirose Rei guesstimated, Akiyama Kaya's Enlightenment Quirk allowed her to fly, but not fast enough to avoid capture by those robots. She also couldn't lift the ship either in time for them to complete the test before every other team.

Juba's Ten Men Quirk could create copies, but he would be overrun by the shark robots. Rei's Quirk could let him fight the robots, but the water would still slow him down, it would be a close battle. And finally Hado Kentaro's Intangibility Quirk wouldn't let him hold any of the 'Civilians' while it was active, meaning that even if he reached them he couldn't deliver them to safety. They sat and discussed these problems for five minutes before Akiyama Kaya said, "I believe I have a solution. The three of you must distract the robots, and I can deliver the 'Civilians' to safety."

"How?" Rei asked her. "Hado-san, how much can you spin your body? Can you twist your spine as well?" Hado smirked and stood up and then his upper body spun around like a buzzsaw while his lower body was perfectly still. It then spun again the other direction. Akiyama nodded, "Hado-san and Hirose-san will swim together. Juba-san, use your Quirk to draw the enemy robots to them. Hado-san will grab Hirose-san's ankles and spin around underwater, creating a vortex, while Hirose-san uses his Energy Claws Quirk to destroy them. I can rescue the 'Civilians' while this is going on." Rei nodded, "Sounds good to me. This is a Team Test after all, as long as we succeed, that's all that matters."

Hado nodded, "Sure, let's do this." Juba quietly nodded, and instantly made nine copies of himself and the three boys dove into the lake. Juba and his copies swam ahead to get the enemy robots' attention, and they swam right at his copies, giving Juba time to reach his comrades. "Get out now, Juba," Rei told him, "Once Hado gets me spinning, I won't be able to see what I cut. If you're caught in the vortex, I might slice you to ribbons." Juba nodded and got out of the lake while the shark-people robots focused on Hado and Hirose.

While all this was going on, Akiyama floated through the air in a meditation pose and floated up to forty meters before heading for the boat. She watched below as her teammates drew the enemy robots to them, and then Hado grabbed Rei from below and started spinning around, sucking the robots into a vortex. Akiyama then saw something she had forgotten, and the boat started getting pulled in as well! "Oh no, I have to act fast," she said to herself as she started descending. She descended too fast though, and two straggling shark-robots sensed her in the air and sprang out of the lake! Akiyama focused and with a loud "HYA!" raised a forcefield that stopped the robots in their tracks, making them blow up on contact. Akiyama plummeted, and barely slowed her descent before she landed with a hard THUD on the boat.

"Please help us. We are in danger. Please help us. We are in danger," the 'Civilian' robots on the boats said. "Calm yourselves, for I am a Hero her to save you," Akiyama declared. "Thank you, Heroes. Thank you, Heroes. Thank you, Heroes," the robots all started saying. Akiyama had to take deep breaths to concentrate her power as she lifted herself and the robots into the air, her aura shining brightly as she focused more than she ever had to before. It took ten minutes for her to reach land, and by the time she had, Akiyama Kaya's body was covered in sweat from the intense strain she had put her mind and soul under. "We'll take it from here, Akiyama," Rei assured her as he lifted two robots on his shoulders. Juba carried one with his copies while Hado took one, and they all headed for the exit of the Flood Zone.

Hana looked up at the Landslide Zone and focused her hearing. This was going to be difficult, because she knew she could hear the 'Civilians', but they weren't in open air at all. Her hearing was only slightly greater than average, but she and her siblings had been trained to use everything to their advantage. She had honed her senses and her body along with her Quirk to be as good as she could be. "I think the 'Civilians' are underground," Hana told her teammates, "I can hear them, but it doesn't sound like they're in open air. Fukushima, what about you?" Fukushima nodded, "I agree. I can hear them, but I can't pinpoint them exactly. We need to split up and look for them."

Iida Tenko said, "Agreed. I'll go with Kaminari. Goto, go with Fukushima. If someone finds them, make a signal, what should it be?" Goto Nami spoke up, "Can we all whistle, really loud?" She then put her fingers to her lips and whistled so loudly that it hurt Hana's ears for a second. "Good idea, Goto. Alright, let's head out!" Tenko said, and the team split up into pairs, Hana and Tenko to the East of the landslide while Goto and Fukushima went West. After five minutes walking, Hana thought the sound was louder, and she motioned for Tenko to wait. Hana laid down and put her head as close to the soil as she could, it was difficult because her wolf ears were on the top of her head, but she managed and was used to it.

"I think we're getting closer," Hana told her, "We need to head up higher on the mountain." Tenko nodded and asked, "Should we use the signal?" Hana shook her head, "Not yet, we should wait until we actually find them." Tenko agreed and they climbed up higher on the mountain. "So, Tenko-san," Hana said as they walked, "What's it like being a serious legacy? I mean, yeah, my grandparents were Heroes, and my parents, and my Uncle and Aunt, but we're not like The Ingenium Family. We're all a mish-mash of Quirks, themes, and stuff. If we didn't tell people we were related, you wouldn't guess it. But your family, THE INGENIUM, they're almost like royalty in Japan, aren't they?"

Tenko was quiet for a minute before saying, "Well, it is nice to have plenty of family to talk to, ask them about training and how to us my Quirk, since we all have similar Quirks. Uncle Tensei taught me how to use my arm thrusters while Father helped me with my leg thrusters. And Father encouraged me to try new things as well, since my Engines are like a combination of theirs. I want to make all of them proud of me. It's a big responsibility, to have such an amazing legacy to live up to." Hana nodded, "I bet it is. Hold on, I think I hear enemy robots coming."

Tenko and Hana got ready, Hana could hear engines revving in Tenko's body as the robots came at them from higher up on the mountain. "Ten, that's five for each of us. Let's see who can destroy them first," Hana said with a smile. "Indeed," Tenko said, and yelled out, "Recipro Burst!" Tenko ran at the robots with superspeed from the thrusters on her legs, her elbows level to increase the thrust. Hana ran as fast as she could and let loose two bursts of lightning. Two robots quickly exploded from her lightning, and less than a second later, Tenko reached the robots and kicked two of them so hard that they went flying back, hitting two robots behind them and destroying four robots in one strike.

"Hot damn!" Hana yelled out loud as she focused her lightning. She had better control than her Father did, her Quirk was an evolution of his, because of this, she could focus her lightning to take forms if she concentrated. Hana focused her lightning into a ball and threw it at the three robots in front of her, and then unleashed it, causing a large electric explosion that zapped all of them at once. Unfortunately, Hana saw that Tenko was already done with her last robot as she knocked its head clean off with a thruster powered uppercut. "Now that's hot," Hana said out loud, then shut her mouth.

Meanwhile, Goto Nami and Fukushima Mugen also found robots waiting for them. Goto quickly blasted water out of her fingertips like they were handguns, destroying two of them. Fukushima ran at them and tackled one robot to the ground and ripped its arm off and destroyed another with the severed robot arm. He yelled like a rampaging gorilla and knocked the head off a third, and Goto blasted another with a large deluge that ran right through it and the robot behind it. Fukushima continued his rampage and soon the robots were all destroyed. Fukushima then listened, and said, "I think I hear them, just a little further down. Let's go."

Meanwhile, Hana and Tenko stopped, and Hana listened to the ground again. She faintly heard voices right below her. "They're here," Hana said, and then whistled loud enough that her own ears hurt. In response she then heard a similar whistle. "Huh, what? I think they found them too," Hana told Tenko. "Could the 'Civilians' be separated?" Hana nodded, "Must be. Well then, let's focus on what's in front of us, and hope they can handle their own problems." Hana and Tenko bent down and started digging like dogs.

After ten minutes of digging, they uncovered two 'Civilians'. "There's no need to worry now," Tenko said, "The Heroes are here." The 'Civilians' started saying, "Thank you, Heroes. Thank you, Heroes. Thank you, Heroes." Hana and Tenko lifted up the robots and headed in the direction of Fukushima and Goto. They found them on the way, all of them were covered in dirt from digging up the robot 'Civilians'. "Well, no one said you'd be clean doing Hero work," Goto pointed out as they left the Landslide Zone.

All the students were picked up by the vehicle driving robots and met Thirteen-sensei and Uravity. "You all did what you could. While one team didn't succeed, this is a test, to help you learn from your mistakes," Thirteen-sensei told the students. Uravity then turned to them and said, "Even if you didn't succeed, you all have amazing potential to be Heroes. And I'm here to help you. If there's one thing I learned from my husband, it was how to take notes and help people learn about their Quirks." Uravity pulled out a notebook, and for the rest of that class explained what they could improve on.

By the time it was over, everyone was smiles, even Team 2. The fact that everyone got Uravity's autograph helped. "Can't wait to tell Kaoru and Mysa about this," Josuke said as they headed back to the Main Campus. Hana meanwhile had other things on her mind. I think I'm in love…

Meanwhile, in America

A small drone, no larger than a common fly, left the USJ. It's video feed almost instantly reached its creator. A woman watched the screen and smiled, "What great material to work with."