Chapter 16: Dusk Before The Dawn (UA Entrance Exam, Part 4)
Wednesday, August 14th. Time 08:42:00
[Exam_Site_Two]
"You alright Mineta?"
Koda looked towards his fellow examinee as the ground stopped shaking. "Mineta?"
They small boy was staring at the ground, his hands planted firmly against the wall of the building they were beside.
"Mineta?"
"Oh! Yeah. Sorry dude. Just kinda rattled from that."
Koda nodded. "I think the worst of it is over. Probably something they planned."
The purple haired boy stood up and stretched. "You're probably right. If it were a real earthquake the exam would probably be halted."
The two checked themselves for injuries before trning their attention to their surroundings. A few of the buildings around them had sustained damage, whether it was to their foundation or from stress on their supports. Thankfully, it seemed that most of the civilians in the area were unharmed.
"I'm going to start seeing if I can repair some of the damages." Mineta spoke. "You think you'll be good giving first aid?"
Koda nodded and began drawing supplies from his utility belt as the shorter young man went to investigate the nearest building.
"If anyone's hurt, I have medical supplies." Koda spoke to the group of civilians who had huddled together. "I can apply bandages and disinfect wounds. I'm currently not trained beyond that."
"It's quite alright young man." An elderly woman smiled at him. "I believe the worst we have is a few scrapes. It's just our homes that have the worst of it."
Koda nodded. "My associate is assessing the damages now. He should have your homes repaired soon."
"What about the farm?" A young man stepped forward. "The livestock could have been swallowed up by a sinkhole, or worse, caught in a barn collapse."
Koda frowned. "Where is the farm?"
The young man scratched the back of his head. "About a kilometer east of the town. It's just a short walk to get there but-"
"Let me take a look at each of you first, just in case some injuries need treatment. I'll send a friend to check on your farm."
The civilians blinked as Koda whistled. After a few moments, a small bird flitted ot from the roof of one of the buildings. "Hello there friend."
"Is that a robin?"
Koda nodded. "One of my quirks uses is talking with animals. I'm going to ask this little guy to fly over your farm and get a good look at whats going on."
" Hello friend."
"Hello no feather." The robin chirped. " Why are you calling for me?"
"I need a favor, little one." Koda smiled. " Could you fly east and tell me if any of our animal brothers and cousins are trapped?"
"You not hunt them, will you?"
"Never. I wish to help them get to safety."
"I will go."
The robin flitted into the sky, leaving Koda to pull out a small package of disinfectant wipes, along with band-aids. "I'd like to make sure that you're all not hurt. Even scratches should be disinfected and treated with care."
The civilians muttered to each other before lining up and fining into some very fast paced health checkups, courtesy of Koda's minimal first aid experience.
Meanwhile, Mineta had used his quirk to finish patching up a crumbling foundation.
"That should hold for now. Actually, the bonding agent from my quirk should mould to the foundation even after it loses shape. I'll have to get more creative with the other repairs though."
Looking at his next repair, he felt a headache coming on.
"Well, I've done some roof work before. I should be able to fix this with a few hands."
->*<-
"They have quite the handyman on their side, it seems." Present Mic grinned. "What do you think of him, Maijima?"
The Excavation Hero: Power Loader, nodded as he watched the footage of the purple haired boy closely. "He's doing quite well, even using his quirk as a shock absorber for the spots he's patched up. That fence that he repaired, along with the building. Both survived the earthquake without further damages."
Mt. Lady bobbed her head in agreement. "I'd love to see him even as just a sidekick. With the damages I cause, he could be a steady counter for my agency."
"What does his file say about him?" Ryukyu rumbled.
Present Mic flipped through the examinee files until he came to the boys. "Minoru Mineta! His quirk was listed as Pop Off. A few years ago he was listed for bad behavior at a highschool. He wasn't charged with anything specific, but was given one hundred and twenty hours of community service. During that time, he discovered more about his quirk and updated it in the registry."
"Okay. So what does it do?" Mt. Lady raised an eyebrow.
"Pop Off was changed to become "Rubberize". He can create sticky orbs from his head that adhere to almost any surface except for himself. He bounces right off of them. His height is actually a mutation from his quirk that he discovered while doing roofing for a neighbor. His body is just as rubbery as his pop off spheres, meaning he's incredibly bouncy."
"Interesting. I wonder if he could train to stretch out limbs for rescue situations?"
Present Mic nodded. "Back to his orbs. He can actually liquidate the insides of each one into a sort of rubber cement. So as they decay from being off of his body-"
"Look at that!"
The proctors looked at the screen to see several of the purple orbs melt and resolidify around where they were placed, securing the boys repairs even further.
"Remarkable. A quirk like that is perfect for rescue! Even just the repairs to older buildings and accident prevention, like he's doing now." Power Loader smiled. "Though it is a pretty technical quirk… I think Aizawa would have fn with that one."
Ryukyu nodded. "What about the other young man?"
The cameras switched to Koji Koda, who had finished assessing the civilians in the area right as a robin flitted over to him.
->*<-
"Hello again, friend." Koda smiled. " I trust you did as I asked?"
The robin chirped and ruffled its wings. " You have to hurry! There are others in danger. A big building for them is falling into the ground!"
Koda's eyes widened.
"What is it saying?"
The young man turned to the civilians, and shook his head. "She says I have to go. There are others that need saving. HEY MINETA!"
"What's up?" The purple haired boy peeked out from the corner of a house. "I'm just finishing up with this rotted support."
"When you're done with your repairs, meet me in the eastern part of the town." Koda spoke, patting the robin on the head as he activated his quirk. "There's a farm that's collapsing, and both animals and civilians inside could be compromised."
"Understood. It shouldn't take me too long here. I'll be over in a jiffy."
Koda nodded. "Thank you."
He heard gasps as a prickling feeling spread up the skin of his arms. His body became lighter as his bones became hollow, and with a deep breath, Koda spread two massive robins wings.
With a mighty flap, he leapt skyward, pushing himself higher and higher before circling around and soaring to the east.
->*<-
"That's a familiar transformation." Ryukyu smirked. "Looks just like Fatgum's favorite student!"
"Koji Koda. His quirk is Anima. Once only registered as Anivoice- which allowed him to speak to animals- he discovered he can change his bodily features to those of animals that he is in contact with. Apparently he and his family discovered this when he was petting his pet rabbit, and grew whiskers."
Mt. Lady leaned back in her seat. "A very versatile quirk. But it relies on him always having animals present."
"He'd have to be able to make do with some animals instead of others. In the city, we have pigeons and pets. Some areas you'll find Macaque monkeys too."
"He's better suited for rural areas like these, where there's more diversity." Present Mic nodded. "Though I do wonder if his quirk would work the same way with mutation or transformation type quirks. Could he take on an aspect of your draconic form? These are the questions we need to explore in his studies here, should he pass the exam."
Power Loader nodded. "He and his partner there have passed the one hundred point mark on rescue points and infrastructure points alone. I see no reason why they won't be considered in the running."
"He's made it to the collapsing farm area. Let's see how he handles this."
->*<-
Koda worried at his lip as he landed. He had heard that there was a collapse, but not that it was this bad.
Half of the barn area in front of him was hanging off of the side of a wide sinkhole. Down below, he could see several animals lying in pain, each of them sporting broken limbs, being unconscious from the fall, or a combination of both. Along with the animals, there were also eight men and women, each a bit scratched up but looking devoid of any heavy injury.
The young man cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted down. "Everyone alright down there?"
The civilians looked up in relief. "Oh thank goodness! Help is here!"
"We're fine, young man. Just some scrapes and bruises. Its the animals who bore the brunt of the fall."
Koda looked at one of the civilians, who was busy rubbing the side of a japanese shorthorn with a bloated belly. ' That one's a mother.'
"I'm coming down. Hang in there!"
Koda gently flapped his wings and fluttered down to the bottom of the sinkhole. It was wider than he expected, and smelled damp.
' Probably not a good environment for injuries. Scratches could easily get infected.'
"Oh goodness, young man! Jump right in! But is it only you?"
Koda shook his head. "For now, yes. I have a comrade who will be on his way shortly. He was finishing repairs on houses west of here."
A loud groan brought everyone's attention to the cow that was lying on its side. The young woman next to it looked worried as she did her best to soothe the poor creature. "Jinai!"
One of the others ran over and knelt down. "Shit. Right now?"
"I told you we should have left her at the farm. She's going right now."
Koda let his wings fall away and knelt down with the two. "She's pregnant, isn't she?"
"And ready to pop." The young woman nodded. "We can't get her upright because of her leg. The fall must have pushed her into labor."
Koda nodded and undid his utility belt. "I'm not a med student, and I haven't dealt with animals this big giving birth. But I've helped with rabbits, dogs, and was there with my aunt when she birthed my cousin."
"All due respect, this is a lot different kid. We're going to be hands on helping to work this calf out of her." The one civilian- Jinai, nodded. "You sure you up for that?"
Koda nodded. "I want to be a hero to help in situations like these. Emergencies where no one else can get there in time. Show me what I need to do."
Jinai nodded and positioned Koda next to the other civilian.
"My name's Aoi."
"Koda." He replied. "Let me know exactly how to help."
They sat there for some time as Jinai massaged the cow's neck. "You're doing great, girl. You're doing fine."
"She's getting ready to deliver." Aoi nodded. "Luckily I brought Calving lubricant. But we need to wash our arms first."
Jinai nodded. "Her broken leg is pushing up into her side. It's going to mess with er ability to get comfortable."
Koda reached into his discarded utility belt to pull out soap and a bottle of water. "Here. We can wash up with this. Best to keep the area clean, right?"
Aoi nodded and gratefully took the water, quickly washing her hands and up to her elbows.
"Does UA normally bring expecting cows to the exam site?" Koda asked as they watched and waited.
"Not usually." Aoi shook her head. "But they pay well for those of us who go through the screening and bring in livestock. We're let in on everything around our stationed site. There wasn't supposed to be a sinkhole here."
Koda frowned. "That sounds like something that they would be on top of quickly."
"Camera drones don't register for the sinkholes since there are some planned. And we have no way to send out a signal when our equipment gets damaged."
Koda nodded. "If anyone's watching me now, I'm sure that help will be on the way."
"It won't matter much in the long run. Calpeco can't be moved out of here until she delivers her calf." Jinai said. "We still had a month left until she'd be ready."
"It's Blackburns bull." Aoi shot back. "That beast always has any mother give birth in only eight months. I told you that."
Koda scooted a bit to the side as Calpeco gave another groan.
Aoi pulled out a jug of calving lubricant from a bag on her back. "Glad I thought to put this in our kits. The calf is coming. We have to make sure it isn't breach."
Koda nodded as Aoi gently shifted Calpeco's tail and leaned down. "I've got a hoof. Dammit!"
Jinai shook her head. "It's fine. Don't yell or you'll scare her Aoi. Koda, right? I'm going to move Calpeco's leg. You help Aoi turn the calf."
Koda nodded and wet his hands with the calving lubricant. Aoi reached down. "Put your hands here and here. I'm going to push the hind legs down. When I tell you, reach in and try to find the upper end of the calf. We're gonna go back and forth to turn her."
Koda nodded and did as he was told, just as he heard a shout from the top of the sinkhole.
"Koda!"
One of the others looked up and called back. "He's busy right now! Are you the friend that he said was on his way?"
"That's me!" The voice called back. "And I brought some help!"
"Hey all! We saw how fast that young man flew away and all followed along to help!"
Jinai finished moving Calpeco's leg. "One of you tell them what's going on. We can't afford to move her. Not like this."
"I've got it." A young man nodded. "We've got a situation down here! One of the cows is giving birth. Koda's helping with the breach delivery and we can't move them!"
"We'll stabilize the area around to make sre nithing collapses on you." Mineta called back. "Do you happen to have anything we could use later to hoist the other animals up?"
"There's a winch at the back of the barn. If you can make a platform to get on, we can ride that up with the other animals."
"We'll look for it. Hang tight down there!"
"Now Koda. You need to reach in now." Aoi whispered as he pushed her arm forward.
"On it."
Koda reached in and felt the ridge of the calf's back. Gently, he worked his way around it and began to pull.
"Steady now. We'll go in shifts. I push, you pull."
Jinai nodded. "You two are doing great."
Calpeco groaned loudly as Aoi and Koda gently rotated the calf. As they worked, Koda could pick out the other group starting to escape the sinkhole.
"We're taking up the heavier loads first to give you more space."
"Go right ahead," Jinai called back. "Alright. Just a bit more."
Time seemed to drag on as Koda gently pulled. He found a steady rhythm with Aoi as Jinai soothed the expecting mother, until finally-
"Here it comes!" Aoi smiled. "Excellent work Koda!"
The hero examinee's eyes glimmered as he watched the head of the calf appear, followed by its neck and upper body. Aoi quickly pulled out a small towel and set ut under the calf as it slid from the depths of Calpeco's birthing canal. The Japanese shorthorngave a final groan as she pushed out her calf. Jinai quickly moved to help Koda and Aoi catch the baby cow and motioned to move it closer to its mother.
"She'll clean it off while we help finish the delivery. We shouldn't separate them yet."
"Understood."
"You did amazing Koda. Just a bit left to go." Jinai grinned as she patted his back. "Stick with me, okay? Aoi is gonna help those two get acquainted while we help with the placenta."
"I understand."
Aoi sat next to the calf as Jinai helped Koda deliver the placenta. It came quicker than the calf, and Jinai smiled as Koda reattached his utility belt. "Thank you for your help."
"It was a very educational experience!" Koda smiled, using the last of the water in his bottle to clean their hands. "Thank you for allowing me to help."
"Koda, if you hadn't been here, Calpeco and her calf would likely be dead." Aoi spoke as she helped the others slide the winch platform under the mother and child. "You were a hero today."
Jinai grinned. "You, and your friend there. I'm gonna have a chat with the UA exam proctors. You deserve to pass for this alone."
"Please. I'm just doing what anyone would do."
"Haven't met many people willing to jump into a calf delivery with almost no prior experience." Aoi smiled. "I'm gonna head up with these two. I'll see you up there."
Jinai nodded. "Seriously, kid, you did good."
Koda nodded. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it kid. Now how about you and I get the hell out of this sinkhole?"
->*<-
Wednesday, August 14th. Time 16:32:37
[Proctors_Room_ _ _ UA_ Grounds]
Nezu hummed at the recording of exam site two. "Well, that is certainly interesting."
"Those two deserve a spot in the hero course, no matter their history. Especially that young Koda." Toshinori nodded.
"I agree." Aizawa typed away at his keyboard. "I'm putting their names down on my list. Their creativity and quick thinking were instrumental in that situation. Especially with the Mineta kid using pieces of that collapsed barn to build a platform for their winch."
"Seems that you're up to four kids now, Shota. Do try not to fill your class with children you actually like."
Aizawa smiled. "I don't know, Nezu. Maybe I could actually use a good class for once."
The Dean of UA grinned in response. "Next up is zone three. Let's see what happens."
Chapter 17: Dusk Before The Dawn (UA Entrance Exam, Part 5)
Wednesday, August 14th. Time 0833:37
[Exam_Site_Three]
Life is simple at the top. People worship and grovel at your feet, knowing that you're going to be the best of the best. Because that's the thing, you already are the best of the best.
Then you get a wakeup call.
Something happens to knock you down. Something leaves you hanging from your place at the top by a thread. You watch as those extras who groveled at your feet whisper behind your back. As they give you pitying looks.
You don't need pity. You're strong.
But you aren't are you? You're not strong. You needed a useless little shit from the bottom of the ladder to run in and give you a leg up. Those idiots you used as stepping stones are learning that they're a part of your greatness.
Or… only one is.
So what to do? Prove yourself? Go and kick the ass of the kid that saved you? No. No, because you're strong. You know how to learn. How to get stronger. So strong that nobody can catch up. That idiotic, useless piece of dirt that was just enough to tilt the scale shows you something. They're not as useless as you think. They have their own strength. A strength that brings people together.
How?
And how does that compare to your strength?
How does that feeble groveling actually stand up to your power?
It takes a while, but you realize. Strong people don't need to look out for themselves. They're strong for other people. That useless bug in your path is actually stronger than you because he's always been looking out for other people.
' I need to use my quirk to help others.'
Katsuki coughed as he did his best to shield himself from the flames around him. Smoke filled the hallway he had leapt into, hampering his vision and eliminating the ability to take a full breath.
' AND THIS IS NOT THE BEST PLACE FOR IT DAMMIT!'
"[Directive 1001- H E L P R E Q U E S T]"
The young man cursed and tore open a burning door to his left, wincing back as unbearable heat blasted him from the room behind it.
Inside, a civilian robot was trapped under a collapsed bunk bed. Its legs and part of its chest were beginning to melt from the heat, damaging its processors and internal wiring.
Katsuki quickly pushed the bunk bed up and pulled the robot out, right as the far wall of the room began to crumble from the heat.
Swearing loudly, Katsuki heaved the civilian bot onto his back and ran to the window he had jumped through earlier. A choir of screams greeted him as he plummeted down, and in a split second, he used his quirk to cancel out his velocity, landing safely with the civilian on his back.
Not bothering with the idiots screaming around him, Katsuki quickly laid the civilian bot on the ground and began assessing damages. The legs were in need of repa- in need of medical attention.
' And I'm no doctor…'
"EXCUSE ME!"
Katsuki looked up to see a trio of individuals in white uniforms. "We're medical responders. We can take it from here."
Katsuki nodded. "What do you need me to do?"
One of the medical responders took his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Just keep getting in and saving civilians. We'll take care of the rest."
Katsuki nodded and turned back to the burning building, just to be stopped by a tall young man with arms covered in rocks.
"Hey, why don't you just sit tight?"
Katsuki's brow furrowed. "Why? We need all the hands we can-"
"With your quirk? You're more likely to blow up another building." The young man growled. "Some of us are still wondering if you blew up these ones."
Katsuki growled, but stayed his hand as he remembered Deku saving him from the sludge villain.
' Anger isn't the strength I need here'
"Fine then. I'll help carry the civilians to the med squad." He huffed, kneeling down and taking a few extra rolls of bandages from his utility belt.
"Try not to cause any more injuries." The examinee scowled, turning around and running into the building.
->*<-
"Well, that's not going to help his score." A woman with green fire for hair grinned. "That other examinee, though. He knows when to hold his tongue!"
"Katsuki Bakugo." A man in casual wear spoke as he thumbed through the boy's file. "His quirk is Explosion. It allows him to detonate his sweat, which is a mixture of flammable compounds including nitroglycerin. So far, it seems he can make those explosions in the palms of his hands, or on the bottoms of his feet."
The green-haired woman hummed. "It takes some special training to be able to sustain those kinds of explosions without liquifying your muscles. Especially if he's using them to fly."
"He might have a minor mutation that helps with that." The man replied. "Either way, he helped when it was needed and is now staying out of the way."
"But that's what he might have to do. We can understand where others are coming from. Fire quirks can cause a lot of accidents. You especially should understand that, Burnin." A man in a red hero suit spoke. "But still, with that first introduction being him jumping out of a building to save someone, he should have won their trust."
"It's a tough situation, right place at the right time, but also at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"But he's still moving forward. Look, he's helping to space each civilian bot out for proper care. He's learning from what the med students are doing and applying that to bots with less damage."
"He might be hot-headed, but that kid has a good eye for useful information."
"And the heart of a hero. He's piling up points for his assistance in the rescue. Others aren't as they keep pushing him away. They keep losing the points that they're gaining."
"Ironic. They think they're keeping the best card out of play when in reality, they're helping him to pass."
"They've got more work than they think. Let's see what happens when the real villain reveals themselves."
->*<-
Katsuki ducked as an explosion went off down the street. Turning and spreading his arms wide, he used his body to shield the medical personnel working on an injured robot.
"What the hell was that?" One of the young men exclaimed.
"Kibo, we can't worry about that; we have to stabilize this one." The other spoke. "We have a hero here to protect us if we need it."
"DUCK!"
Bakugo barely had time to respond to the warning, tackling the two medical responders out of the way as something sailed right through the space they'd been occupying.
"WHAT THE HELL?"
Katsuki had no time to listen to the shock of the paramedics. The civilian robot that they had been working on had been pulverized by a thrown car. A car that very nearly pulverized them as well.
A voice called out from behind him. "MOVE THE INJURED! THERE'S ANOTHER INCOMING!"
His eyes instantly locked onto the next projectile. The front end of a semi-truck, flying at high speed towards their location.
' Is UA trying to kill us?'
Leaping up, the young man clenched his fists, forcing his palms to pool with sweat. "DON'T EVEN TRY IT YOU BASTARDS!"
The explosion that met the truck turned it into tiny pieces of scrap, which scattered harmlessly onto the ruined street below. Katsuki landed, his palms shaking from the force of the explosion.
"NICE ONE!"
' I'm not done yet'
Another missile. This time, a chunk of debris roughly the size of a street vendor's cart. Katsuki gritted his teeth and forced his body to intercept, blasting the debris apart again.
This time, he couldn't land properly, as his palms stung too much to use explosion and right his trajectory. He fell to the ground with a hiss of pain, clenching his fists to make the pain ebb away.
"ANOTHER!"
' Fuck'
->*<-
"Good speed. And those explosions are definitely powerful."
"But look at his hands." One of the proctors leaned forwards. "The skin of his palms looks red and rubbed raw. He definitely can't keep using his quirk like that."
Burnin leaned forward as the video feed showed the boy leaping up again, this time swinging his legs upwards to release an explosion that stopped an incoming trailer.
"What's gettin' to me is that the others aren't helping. They're letting him tear himself apart so that they can safely help more civilians."
"Even that guy with the rocky arms would be of use. He could tank the hits while Blondie here went to find the attacker."
"If he starts breaking bones, I'm going in." Burnin huffed.
"Wait. Look there. We've got movement."
->*<-
Mezo Shoji grunted as he laid three civilians down on the street. The metal robots were heavier than normal people, and he was definitely not used to carrying that weight two-handed.
"INCOMING!"
The young man's attention was drawn to the shout of what could only be a fellow examinee. Looking up, he was met with the sight of a blonde man intercepting a crumpled-up ball of scrap metal, which was moving at high speeds.
' What is going on out here?'
He was cut from his thoughts by an impressive explosion, which was accompanied by an angry scream. The blonde who had stopped the ball of scrap landed on his chest from ten feet up, clenching his fists as he rolled onto his back.
"SHIT! WE'VE GOT ANOTHER ONE!"
Shoji ran forward to help the young man, who slammed his fist into the ground and leapt up again. Another explosion intercepted a crushed-up car, but only enough to reduce its size. A sizeable chunk of the car's engine connected with the blonde man's chest and sent him flying backwards.
Right towards Shoji.
Planting his feet, Shoji spread all six of his arms and caught the blonde, feeling his breath leave him as the weight of the car engine hit him at high speeds.`
"Hey*" He wheezed out, helping the blonde to stand back up. "You okay?"
The blonde nodded. "Thanks for the catch. I have to get back-"
"Woah woah!" Shoji spoke as the young man stumbled. "You should take a second to catch your breath."
"No time." The young man tried to take a step forward.
Shoji jumped in front of the young man and caught the next missile, turning his weight to shrug it off to the side. "You're tearing yourself apart for only a few seconds of spare time. Let me handle interception. You take a breath and go figure out what's throwing this stuff at us!"
The young man nodded and fell to the ground. Panting, he flexed his hands, rubbing his wrists for a few seconds before getting to his feet and limping forward.
Shoji watched as the blonde staggered out of the way of another projectile- a dented up dumpster- by just a hair. Using two of his arms to give himself more purchase on the ground, he pushed his energy into rapidly growing two more arms, which he used in tandem with his remaining four to stop the dumpster with ease.
The membrane between each of his arms tingled as he sensed more of the civilian robots being moved.
' Just a little bit longer…'
->*<-
"Now that's one big guy!"
"He's almost as tall as Endeavor is," Burnin smirked. "Taller, actually."
"And that quirk of his seems quite useful. How far do its capabilities go?"
Burnin kicked her feet up on the desk as she searched for the file. "Mezo Shoji. His quirk is called "Dupli-arms, though it seems he put forward a request to have it changed in the quirk registry. Oh my! How interesting~"
"What's so interesting, Burnin?"
The woman grinned. "Says here his quirk provides an odd adaptation factor. He can change the tips of his arms into any organ. Ears, eyes, and even internal organs like lungs. He can also generate more arms, and as he does, he grows bigger. Not too big, mind you. Apparently, his maximum size is three hundred sixty-five centimeters. His minimum is two hundred twenty centimeters."
"So he is taller than the boss."
"Yes, he is. Pretty great quirk, and a good head on his shoulders. Did you see how he just used his stomach to melt down that thrown car? Now his hand is back to normal. He's building a wall to protect the injured."
"And while he does that, our other kid gets closer." The screen switched to Katsuki Bakugo, who was now back to dodging as he got closer to the recovery site attacker.
Burnin leaned in. "Keep the cameras on these two. I want to see exactly what happens."
->*<-
Katsuki let another small explosion ripple in his palms to numb his skin. As he stalked forward, he began to lessen the pain from a burning sting into a minor tingle.
Ducking down, Katsuki managed to avoid another car that had been thrown. And now, he was close enough to see the culprit.
A large robot with green metal-plated armor used two giant arms to load anything and everything onto a massive rail on its back. Once it was set, it's eyes glowed, and its ammunition was launched forward.
Bakugo leapt under another dumpster and rolled over his back to get back on his feet. Using his momentum, he set off two explosions on his feet to push himself into the air.
"I HAVE YOU NOW!"
The robot's eyes blinked as it turned its head quickly. An arm snapped up quickly and, with a hiss, unveiled several rocket launchers, which it promptly unloaded in his direction. Katsuki swore as he used an explosion from his palm to dodge out of the way in mid-air.
The rockets collided behind him, sending out blasts of smoke wish pushed Katski off course and obstructed his vision. It was just enough for the young man to be caught unawares as the robots other arm swung in, catching him in the side and throwing him to the ground.
Katsuki coughed p blood s he felt his back impact the pavement. Growling, he pushed himself back up to his feet and flexed his hands. "Yeah right…"
A feral grin stretched across his face as the smoke cleared, revealing the robot with a freshly loaded car on its back.
"LIKE I'M GONNA GO DOWN THAT EASILY!"
->*<-
* BOOOOOM*
The explosion ripped through the exam site. Shoki looked up in horror to see the blonde man with the explosion quirk sail overhead along with a car and smash into the crumbling wall of a burnt-out building. The blonde held his head up and grinned even as the car pinned him to the wall.
"Heh… at least I got the fucker."
Shoji's eyes went wide as the wall around the young man crumbled, and the building above tilted .
Shoji's legs moved .
->*<-
Katsuki could hear the building groan as he hit it, but couldn't find the energy to care. He was pretty sure he had multiple broken ribs, along with a dislocated arm from the stunt he pulled to blast the villain robot apart.
"Heh… at least I got the fucker." he grinned as he felt the cracked bricks under him give out. A roar filled his ears as fifty thousand tonnes of metal and concrete began to tip down to snuff out his pathetic life.
"ATLAS MANE: HECATON!"
The extra who had come to his aid with the thrown cars and other shit burst upwards, his body expanding as arms multiplied over his torso. Eight became ten, and then twenty, then fifty.
Mezo Shoji stood at his full height of three hundred and sixty-five centimeters, a hundred hands spread wide as he caught the full weight of the ten-story building that had fallen over. Bakugo's eyes glimmered as he saw the man bow his head.
"I… Will… Not… YIELD!"
The young man's roar shook the city as he stood up. His knees shook as he pushed the building up and up. Arms grew and touched down on the ground, pushing with legs as other arms pushed skyward, impossibly holding the weight of the sky on his shoulders.
' And I thought… I was the strongest…'
The last thing that Bakugo heard as his vision faded was the triumphant shout of his co-examinee as the exam bell rang, drawing the test to a close.
->*<-
Nezu scratched his neck as the footage came to an end. "That was a nail-biter."
Toshinori nodded. "That young man held up an entire building for twenty minutes before Cementoss made it over to stabilize the area."
Aizawa leaned back and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want both of them. That Atlas kid and the grenade."
"Atlas?"
"The titan that held up the sky? Please tell me that you know who I'm talking about."
Toshinori chuckled. "I know the myth. It is an apt title for the young man."
Nezu clapped his paws together, silencing the two adults conversation. "Right then! Katsuki Bakugo and Mezo Shoji both pass. Bakugo with a total of four hundred and eighty-six points, and Mr Mezo Shoji with five hundred twenty-three. Congratulations on your next two additions, Aizawa."
"I demand a private coffee maker if this class gets worse."
Nezu chuckled. "We will see. We will see. For now, let's go to exam site four. I heard good things from this one."
Toshinori pursed his lips as Aizawa brought up the footage.
"Roll it."
Chapter 18: Dusk Before The Dawn (UA Entrance Exam, Part 6)
Wednesday, August 14th. Time 08:32:59
[Exam_Site_Four]
It all happened so fast. At one moment, he was helping to set up flood barricades. Next thing he knew, he was watching a massive surge of water tear through the city limits, swallowing up buildings and chasing down civilians and examinees alike.
By the skin of his teeth, he had managed to get to higher ground. But now? Now he was stuck watching the water move through the streets. His eyes widened as he saw who was going to be hit by the floodwaters.
He didn't have time to think. He had to move. Feeling the telltale itch of his quirk in his fingertips, Sero leapt forward.
Threads of thin epoxy tape flowed from his fingertips, latching onto the rooftops and giving enough purchase to pull himself forward.
Reeling in the tape was faster than pulling, and with ten points of contact, he had solid purchase, even if the surfaces weren't prepped for tape.
One couldn't expect a city to prepare a swinging skyway for them.
Grinning to himself, Sero popped on the balls of his feet as the itching became a burn. Reeling in tape redigested it, and typically hurt quite a bit. But he didn't have time to care.
It was time to be a hero.
His speed went from nothing to ninety kilometers an hour in less than a second. Rocketing forward, he closed the ducts on his fingertips, slicing the epoxy and letting himself loose.
"HEY PINKY! LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!"
The girl he had worked with ushered civilians down the road before turning. Her eyes immediately caught the water just as he passed it.
"THOSE IDIOTS FORGOT A-"
The rest was drowned out by the roar of the water. Sero knew he wouldn't be able to get everyone out of the way in time.
He had to trust the pink girl.
' Gotta open enough ducts to pull some of them to safety.'
Sero twitched his wrists, feeling the itch of his quirk. Pushing further, he felt the itch spread to his palms, up his arms to his elbows, and onto his heels.
' Forty. I hope it's enough."
Subconsciously, he knew he couldn't use all of his tape on civilians. He would need at least six strands to winch himself back up to the rooftops, and at least ten to quickly make a makeshift crashpad.
Tape burst out of every part of his body. Duct tape from his ankles wrapped around antennae on the rooftops as the young hero hopeful twisted sideways and reached out. Long strands of tape wrapped around a dozen civilians as he tore through the air, lifting them up as he swung back above the rooftops.
' Too fast-'
Thankfully, the ducts on his palms, wrists, and fingertips were unused. So, pulling inspiration from one of his favorite superhero comics, he generated latticed drywall tape in tandem with epoxy tape to make a makeshift web. The twelve civilians landed in the safety net softly as it negated all of the speed he had built up from becoming a human whip, and they all rolled down onto the safety of a rooftop.
Sero himself let his tape ducts close, using his fingertips to once again catch himself before sliding down to the civilians he had saved.
"Is everyone alright?"
->*<-
"What a show!"
The exam proctor for zone four had all stopped to watch the cameras that were focused on the young man with a tape quirk. Gang Orca, a hero with an orca mutation quirk, chirped happily to himself as he continued to watch the replay of the boys' rescue.
"He's a natural. Aizawa would actually have trouble with him with how he could work around a capture scarf."
Selkie nodded as he pulled out the student's file.
"Hanta Sero. His quirk is a doozy. Originally registered as a mutation that he and his family dubbed "tape". Those cylinders on his elbows allowed him to generate any kind of tape. After getting stranded during a rock climbing trip where both of his elbows were injured, he discovered he could open dispenser areas across his entire body. He can also control the type of tape, it's thickness, etcetera. Along with that, his body seems to have an additional mutation that allows him to digest plastics and synthetic materials."
"You're right. That's quite the quirk. He can make any kind of tape?"
"Or length of fabric. Bandages and medical tape are listed as well."
"Jeanist would have a field day if he could get this kid as a sidekick."
An electronic chime brought the heroes' attention to their radios. "Go for Orca."
" Boss, we're running over the area right now, checking monitors. It seems like there's a group that got caught up in the water."
Orca chirped a few times before giving a nod. "Are their monitors active?"
" They're putting up a signal right at the center of the street. Odd thing is, they aren't moving. Water should be pushing them back, but it isn't!"
"They could be pinned…" Selkie murmured.
"Alarms would be screaming at us if that were the case." Orca hummed. "Perhaps…"
" What do we do, boss?"
Orca nodded. "Activate underwater camera nine and send it to the area. I have a hunch."
A video camera activated, showing the waterlogged city blocks as it dove down to the streets. The floodwaters robot began climbing through the undertow, navigating to the area where the civilians were detected.
" What is-"
"As I suspected." Orca grinned, baring his sharp teeth at the image of a large grey bubble. "Someone's already there."
->*<-
GRRRSSSHHHHH
.
.
.
GRSSHSHHSSSH
.
.
.
GSSS-SHHHH-SSHHH
Water.
Strong, powerful, seawater.
It warped the sides of the bubble that one hero examinee had created as a last resort. A Hail Mary to save the dozen or so civilians around her.
Mina hissed as she felt the skin of her palms dissolving with the usage of her power.
' I was lucky enough to get everyone here, but dammit if making two different reactants doesn't burn like a bitch!'
The surfaces of her makeshift shield were being weathered away as fast as she could restore them. After all, it was just basic third-grade science. She was polymerizing liquid rubber with isoprene and sulfur, tempering it by using the water pressure outside, but it still didn't hold well.
She was basically stalling against a tsunami.
' I'm crazy. I must be. Mentally fucked, that's what I am!'
Even as she created more rubber, she could feel her hands start to bleed. Added to the fact, she was running out of oxygen and would have to make some of that soon too.
"This is-"
Right, the civilians. She had to worry and them too. Ten minutes of oxygen just became a lot less. Curse her and her shifty gift for math when it came to chemistry.
"Young lady, you've made a miracle happen!" One of the citizens spoke.
Mina laughed. "I've just delayed the inevitable. Once my quirk lets up, the water pressure is gonna crush us like a soda can."
The others paled as Mina turned her attention back to her bubble. "I'd use this time if I were you-"
"We're not doomed! Don't you see? Your bubble! We just have to separate it from the street! If we can do that, we should float up to the surface!"
Mina bit back more laughter. "That would be like being shot out of a cannon. The impact alone would be enough to kill us."
"We're in a rubber ball. We have cushioning. All we'd need to worry about is getting out once we reach the surface."
Mina ran over the idea in her head. It wasn't a bad one. But her rubber was already fused to the street.
"It would be like a big fishing bobber!" One of the other civilians exclaimed.
"Yeah! That could work!"
"My bubble is fused to the street. Even if we managed to separate it ,I wouldn't be able to seal the bottom in time, and we'd be dragged away by the undertow."
That made everyone go quiet. Mina felt tears gather in her eyes as her hands began to go numb. She was running out of time.
' I acted too quickly. If I had been smarter, I would have put us all in a bubble and let us be slowly carried to the edge of the city. But the fact that I anchored us here is going to be our undoing. My rubber is stretching to the breaking point.'
Looking around, she could see a few spots where the bubble was already warping. They would have maybe three minutes before it collapsed in on them.
"Maybe…"
"What is it?" A young man asked.
Mina let her quirk deactivate, wincing as her skin cracked like dry paper.
"What are you?"
"Huddle up. I have an idea."
The civilians gathered around, and Mina reactivated her quirk, encasing all of them in rubber.
"We have even less oxygen now."
"I needed to cover us quickly." Mina spoke, deactivating her quirk. "I can make elements and compounds, but only in their liquid state. The bubble is made will break soon, but I have time-"
She was cut off by a rumble as they began to rise.
"There. Water is coming in. This is the hard part."
The civilians backed up as Mina cupped her hands together. She screamed as the hellish cold of liquid oxygen poured upwards, dissolving into a gaseous state and inflating the rubber prison she had made.
"Now, to really make sure we make it. Hold onto your hats. This is going to hurt."
"What is that?" One of the civilians asked as they felt the bubble lurch.
Mina smiled. "That's the elevator." The bubble picked up speed as it rose. Everything became a bit lighter as they got closer to the surface. "And this,"
The bubble breached the surface.
"Is liquid potassium."
->*<-
Sero had been waiting quietly on the rooftop while those he saved watched the floodwaters pass by. With the massive surge now further into the city, the raging gush of the water's surface had calmed down. Still, the water was moving fast, and there was no sign of the girl who had helped him to build the storm barriers.
Flexing his fingers, he forced his quirk to put energy into digesting all of the tape he had reeled back in. Until he got through some of it, his limbs would ache.
"Thank you for the hand, kid. I'm glad that some of us were pulled outta there."
Sero nodded. "I'm worried about the ones that didn't get out in time."
"Well, so far it seems that there aren't any alarms going off. So they're probably safe somehow."
Sero nodded. "I know. But chances are, even if they are safe, they're down there."
"We'll just have to wait and- hold on. What's that there?"
The water in the middle of the street began to bubble. It was only a few bubbles at first. Then the surface began to bubble faster.
Suddenly, a massive grey ball burst from the floodwaters, flying almost ten feet in the air. Sero stood up and opened tape ducts along his arms when suddenly.
*KAPOW!*
With a sound not unlike a gunshot, the ball burst open and flew over to a nearby rooftop. Sero watched it bounce once, twice, and stop.
A handful of people drew back the deflated rubber of the popped sphere they had been in.
"Those are the others!"
Sero's eyes zeroed in on the pink girl, who saw him and flashed a grin. Sticking her hand up and giving him a thumbs up revealed that the flesh from her fingers up to her elbow was black and charred.
"THANKS FOR THE HAND!"
She fell over, unconscious.
Sero took two steps and leapt up, ducts already rolling out bandages as he prepared to check on the injured.
Namely, his friend.
->*<-
"Move all of the medical staff to their location." Gang Orca spoke, watching the replay of the bubble footage.
A massive rubber ball shot out of the water, before flying to the side as an explosion tore it open. The bubble bounced, landed, and deflated, leaving twelve adults in civilian wear and a badly burned girl with pink skin.
The footage paused, and Gang Orca leaned back. "Selkie. Her file, if you would."
The Sea Rescue Hero nodded and pulled out a manila folder.
"Mina Ashido. Originally registered with the quirk 'Acid'. Up until she was sixteen, she could produce acids of varied potency. She gradually experimented with her quirk in controlled settings, coming to the understanding that she could reverse ph to make bases instead of just acids. This further developed into discovering other elements as well as compounds, until she changed the name of her quirk. 'Chemist' allows Ashido to generate any elements or compounds from her skin, with the stipulation that it is liquid. This could be used with nitrogen to instantly freeze a target, or with tungsten to give off burning heat."
"So everything she makes is generated at its liquid temperature." Gang Orca hummed. "Quite the versatile quirk. Though it is dangerous…"
"Her file also says she has a slight healing factor. Her pink skin is due to a mutation that keeps her cells in constant flux. As she heals from damage, she adapts to it and heals quicker."
"So by now, she should have powerful acid resistance."
"Exactly. Ashido's tests report she can generate superacids for up to ten minutes before feeling an effect on her body. The record for a fully sustained generation, even with the pain of overuse, is thirty-eight minutes, during which she constantly generated fluoroantimonic acid. She filled five hundred chemical barrels with it."
"Strong, versatile, intelligent. Especially when it comes to her knowledge of chemistry. I can only imagine that she used something like potassium and water, or aluminum and hydrochloric acid to cause a combustion reaction and pop her bubble."
Selkie flipped through more pages in the file. "Her grades aren't the best, though she seems very accomplished when it comes to sciences. Probably a chemistry background."
"Well, going over her points total, she passes. We'll link her file, as well as Hanta Sero's file. They seem to be the best of this batch." Gang Orca bared his teeth. "I'd love to have either of them at my agency."
Selkie nodded. "As would I. I'll add up their totals and send them to the Dean."
->*<-
"Is there something in your eye, Shota?" Nezu spoke merrily. "Or are you just realizing that your class roster is actually filling up?"
"The young man with a tape quirk. He's perfect for the underground. Acrobatic. Quick. He's the one."
Toshinori chuckled. "Already looking for a protégé? You're not even in your forties yet."
Aizawa leveled a glare at the blonde hero. "And you're barely past your fifties. Yet here you are."
"Point taken."
Nezu chose that moment to chime in. "The girl is prime for rescue. Her usage of different elements and compounds was key in such a high-pressure situation."
Toshinori nodded. "I agree. She has a good head on her shoulders as well. She was able to think through her situation and find a proper solution."
"Though she injured herself, she properly determined exactly what she needed for the task at hand. Additionally, both examinees used their time to build safe spaces for civilians to escape to." Aizawa spoke, still staring at the picture of Hanta Sero. "Two more with incredible quirks, incredible minds, and the outstanding will to do what needs to be done."
"You're going to have a headache this year, Shota." Nezu chuckled. "Especially with students like these."
Aizawa shook his head. "Just put them on my list and roll the next clip."
Nezu clapped his paws. "Well Toshinori? You heard him! Roll it!"