Black_Paladyn
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MHA Paragon Rewrite 8
🕑 Added 2024-12-26 17:31:19 +0000 UTCFor a moment, a line seemed to divide the sky as the stream of flux wrapped around the skyscraper and Zero Pointer tightened, turning into a solid wire no thicker than a fishing line. Logic demanded that the wire snap as it attempted to bind the structure and mechanoid. Then suddenly, the wire went slack, losing all tension before streaming back through the air and gathering in my hand.
"What was that about showing off?" the explosive girl shouted mockingly as the Zero Pointer continued advancing with its glowing red eyes, my flux not slowing the machine down for a second.
Despite my apparent failure, a massive grin spread across my face, "Don't worry, the world just needs a moment to catch up."
"What are you talking abo-"
Before the living firework could finish her sentence, the hair-raising sound of nails on a chalkboard rang out along with a noise that could only be described as two mountains grinding against each other.
The Zero Pointer's glowing red eyes flickered before dying as the top half of its massive frame slid off, revealing a clean cut that had completely bisected its armored body. The building next to it shared a similar fate as it toppled over diced into pieces.
Unfortunately for logic, I hadn't designed my flux to bind or restrain but to cut with unparalleled precision and sharpness.
The upper half of the Zero Pointer hit the ground with a bang, crushing some of its smaller brethren. But I considered them fortunate as a shadow fell over the rest of the army, and a meteor shower of glass, steel, rebar and concrete rained down on the remaining Villainbots.
The impact sent a plume of dust flying up into the air, and I was right in its path of destruction, quickly falling as it rushed up to meet me. Throwing out my hand, I tried to command my flux, only for my entire body to cramp up as the aches returned with a vengeance, and my black veins disappeared.
'Shit,' I thought sourly as I was rendered completely helpless, stuck a few hundred feet above the ground. Fortunately, before I could disappear into the plume of debris-filled dust, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my midsection, carrying me into the air.
I blinked, taking a moment to realize that I was being carried over-shoulder like a sack of potatoes, "Damnit, you're heavier than you look."
As I draped myself over the explosive girl's back, I stared at the back of her head and suddenly realized how short she was. "We'll; I am like a foot taller than you."
"Do you want me to drop you?!" The girl shouted back, still using her free hand and legs to carry us through the air.
"Not really, but I think we're low enough to the ground that I could walk away with only a few broken bones," I replied cheekily, deriving immense joy from teasing the girl who could probably burn me to a crisp.
"Shut up," The girl grumbled in response before falling silent as she focused on flying.
"Has anyone ever told you that you got a great ass?"
The words left my lips before my brain could register them.
The girl stiffened before I felt her body trembled with rage, "That's it!"
I was then unceremoniously dumped off her shoulder, but fortunately, I only fell for a few seconds before my back hit the pavement, though the impact still hurt like a bitch, "Ow."
I rolled over with a wince before slowly pushing myself to my knees, but before I could stand up, a hand grabbed me by the hair and pulled me up as if trying to lift me off the ground.
I didn't even have the strength to fight back at the explosive girl who stared into my eyes with a destructive fire blazing in her gaze, "Well, hello there. Do you need something?"
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't burn your eyes out," the girl growled, holding up the hand that wasn't full of my hair, which sparked threateningly.
"Listen, Firecracker-"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
"Well, I don't know your name, so what else am I supposed to call you," I asked helplessly as I tried to shrug my shoulders, only for a sudden ache to cause me to reconsider.
"You don't call me anything!" The girl roared, her teeth gnashing together with rage, but despite her threatening visage, all I could do was smirk, "Has anyone told you that your nose twitches when you get angry? It's like a little bunny rabbit."
Firecracker froze as her eyes glazed over, and the fire in her hand was snuffed out.
"Hello...anybody home?" I asked as I reached out to tap her, only for her hand to clamp around my wrist with bone-crushing force.
"Ow."
"You just don't know when to shut up, do you?"
"Ow!"
"You're not even worth using my quirk on!"
"OW!"
"I'm going to break every bone in your-"
I tapped the ground in surrender as Firecracker bent my arm back, threatening to snap it from its socket. But before she could fulfill her promise, a blaring announcement rang through the air, "One hour has elapsed; this brings an end to the Practical Exam. All who can, please move towards the entrance gate. Those with substantial injuries, please remain put and wait for EMS."
"Damnit!" The grip on my arm loosened, and I quickly pulled it free before springing to my feet, "I should have been out there getting points instead of wasting my time with your dumbass!"
"Oh, come on, name-calling? I thought we were bonding." I replied with a wince as I rolled my shoulder, trying to ease the pain, "Yep, that's definitely sprained."
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Firecracker roared as she lunged at me, only to fall face-first onto the ground.
Staring down at her, I watched her calf muscles spasm along with her forearms and biceps. Crouching down beside her, I gently prodded her back, "Can you move?"
"What does it look like jackass!?" Firecracker screamed back as she turned to the side to glare at me, "Just wait until I can move again I'll!...Hey, what are you doing?! Put me down!"
I let out a grunt as I stood up with Firecracker cradled in my arms, "What, I'm just returning the favor?"
She fell silent for a second before letting out a disgruntled sigh, accepting the situation but clearly not happy about it whatsoever, "Fine, but if you start frisky, I will blast your dick off."
"Well, don't threaten me with a-" My snappy reply was cut off as she glared at me, promising violence if I finished my sentence, "I-I understand."
---
As the practical exam ended, the screens in front of Nezu changed to display a ranking list calculating the point totals for all the examinees based on the number of Villain Bots they destroyed and points awarded for what the algorithm Nezu designed counted as heroic acts.
Eventually, the list condensed to display the top ten; most had a mix of villain and hero points, though the ratio for each was different. But Nezu's eyes widened as he spotted a few irregularities.
The first was that Izuku Midoriya had managed to secure seventh place with zero villain points and sixty hero points. The algorithm for awarding Hero points factored in the number of people rescued and the risk involved. So it wasn't a surprise that Midoriya had managed to score so many hero points by defeating the Zero Pointer and saving a girl who had been trapped by debris.
Yagi let out a booming cheer, "I knew you could do it, Young Midoriya! Displaying such a selfless act is what being a hero is all about."
But as his friend celebrated, Nezu's eyes shot up to the second and first-place rankings, 'That can't be right.'
Second place went to Kastsumi Bakugo, whose scoring was almost the exact opposite of Midoriya's: seventy-seven villain points and one rescue point. But what truly made Nezu pause was the first place.
"Kenji Atoma, two hundred thirty-six points," Nezu muttered in disbelief, "127 villain points and 109 Hero points."
Yagi paused in his celebration as he heard Nezu's muttering, only to look at the ranking list and freeze on the spot, "How is that possible?"
"Let's find out, shall we," Nezu replied as he pulled out a keyboard and started to type away. A second later, all the screens combined to display a single video focused on the gate of Battleground A just as the practical exam started.
As the gates swung open, a crowd stormed through, but after a second, a few individuals sped ahead using their quirks. Still typing away, Nezu focused the footage as it froze and zoomed in on one individual in particular.
As the image came into focus, it revealed a teenage boy with long black hair, pale skin, and an exhilarated grin on his face as he shot across the ground, propelled by a dark black fluid coating his feet.
