— 3rd POV —
The crash of metal and the echo of distant explosions rolled through the mock city as Ryo dashed across rooftops. He kept his gauntlet off, its pulse still too volatile from the earlier fight, and used pure agility instead.
Below him, a one-pointer robot, three meters tall with long, thin limbs, zigzagged through a street with surprising speed. Despite their size, they were quite brittle, and one good hit could shatter them.
Ryo dropped down from above.
WHAM!
His heel smashed the robot's head clean off. The machine collapsed with a hollow clang-clang-clang as he landed lightly beside it.
He dusted off his hands."One point. Fast, but flimsy."
He extended his right arm forward
shrrp!
The gauntlet briefly emerging just enough to stretch his reach. He grabbed a broken balcony rail and retracted
fwip!
slingshotting himself upward to the next building.
The movement became a rhythm.
Extend—grab—shrink—launch.
Shrrp—fwip—WHOOSH!
It was faster than running, and it kept him above the chaos.
Ryo landed on a tilted rooftop and froze.
Ahead, in a wide street intersection, rolled a towering three-pointer robot with tank-like treads grinding against the ground. Mounted on its shoulder were small rocket pods glowing with red targeting lights.
GRRRRK!
Beside it stood two 2-pointer scorpion bots, tails swaying in anticipation.
Ryo narrowed his eyes.'Alright… careful now.'
He slid down the roof silently and vanished behind a toppled truck. Guerrilla tactics again.
One of the scorpion bots clicked closer.
tik-tik-tik-tik
Ryo activated the gauntlet for only a split second, dashed out, and delivered a sharp hook to the joint of its tail, then backed off as it spasmed and collapsed.
CRACK!
The other scorpion whirled and fired its tail like a spear. Ryo rolled aside
shff!
The tail is stabbed through a metal pole. He jumped in, kicked off the pole to gain height, and struck downward with a gauntlet-cloaked fist.
BOOM!
Sparks flew as the robot exploded beneath him.
That left the three-pointer.
Its missile pods spun toward him.
"Here we go!"
FWOOM! FWOOM! FWOOM!
Small missiles streaked toward Ryo in a fan pattern.
He sprinted, zigzagging.
Left—boom!
Right—KA-THOOM!
One missile curved toward him, too close to dodge.
'Tch—fine!'
He raised his right arm just as the gauntlet instinctively formed over shielding him
SHLKK!
The missile then hit
BA-DOOM!
sending him skidding back across the pavement.
He clenched his jaw."That stings…"
He turned the gauntlet off again. Its pulse was getting wild
He sprinted straight toward the machine.
Missiles fired againFWOOOM! FWOOOM!
Ryo slid under the first, vaulted over the second, and leapt onto the three-pointer's body as the third exploded behind him. His movements were sharp, acrobatic, instinctive.
He climbed the robot's chassis
clank! clank! clank!
dodging the turret's attempts to shake him off.
When he reached the head, he muttered"Sorry about this."
He activated the gauntlet.
SHHRRRK!
The Living Gauntlet roared to life with a heartbeat-like thrum. Ryo grabbed the robot's head with one clawed hand
He squeezed and ripped it off with a metallic
RRRRAAANK!
The machine's body whirred down, collapsing in a heavy THUD.
Ryo landed on his feet, breathing hard."Three-pointer down."
Without waiting for the smoke to clear, he took off again.
—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~
As he traversed the ruined streets, Ryo encountered more examinees.
Some were working together, forming small teams, supporting each other's blind spots, combining quirks.
He nodded to himself.
'Heroes need teamwork in the field. I'll take note of this.'
In another street, he paused to watch a tall student with multiple, flexible arms smash a robot apart with efficient, practiced movements.
'That guy's handling himself well' Ryo thought.
Further down, he spotted a red-haired boy slamming his fist into a robot, his skin turning as hard as stone.
Crack!
The robot shattered.
Ryo blinked."…did he just turn himself hard? Pfft HAHA, that's actually a great quirk."
He shook his head."Okay focus, let's get back to business."
He dashed onward.
— 3rd POV —
UA Teachers' Monitoring Room
A wall of screens displayed every examinee in the field. Teachers watched closely—some concerned, others excited.
Present Mic leaned forward, shouting even though he didn't need to
"YO! Some of these kids are killin' it out there!"
Cementoss nodded calmly."We'll need more medbots. The students who underestimated the exam are getting knocked out at an alarming rate."
Midnight twirled her whip lazily.
"Well, what did they expect? Becoming a hero without training? Some of these kids can't even dodge." She sighed. "Honestly, it's getting tiring watching them get flattened."
Ectoplasm made a clone to take notes.
"Observation: Several examinees demonstrate promising tactical awareness."
Then one screen caught their attention.
"Ah, there," All Might said, his voice solemn despite being in his weakened form. "Ryo Takatsuki. The boy who sprinted out the second the exam began."
Present Mic tapped the screen.
"He's already got waaay more than enough points, baby!"
Cementoss adjusted his glasses.
"It seems that he limits his quirk usage and only activates it when necessary."
Midnight leaned closer.
"His quirk file says: Living Gauntlet. Why 'living,' I wonder?"
Ectoplasm answered, "I've been analyzing it. After extended use, the gauntlet becomes… erratic. As if it has its own instincts."
Present Mic snapped his fingers.
"Oh! Like the student Fumikage Tokoyami's Dark Shadow! Yo, that's wild!"
All Might smiled faintly.
"A dangerous quirk, and yet he controls it with restraint. That shows discipline."
Cementoss folded his arms.
"Let's see how he grows. UA tends to attract interesting futures."
Midnight smirked.
"And potential troublemakers. But that's part of the fun."
The teachers returned to monitoring, and while a large yellow caterpillar was listening in the corner
—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~