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Chapter 7: Entrance Exam
🕑 Added 2024-05-13 15:04:27 +0000 UTCPart of me didn't feel I needed to write this, as I've written some variant of this scene like 4 times now, but it is important. Also, the first chapter of that OG work should be done in a few days. It will be posted both here and on fanfiction. Still, since I've somehow managed to create 3 chapters worth of content that isn't horny, I made the decision that I'll post the 4 chapters, the 4th being the NSFW one. After that, the rest will only be on my shall-not-be-named place. I'm trying to make this into a hobby that pays for itself and maybe gets me a little extra to pay for commissions for artwork as the person I usually go to is swamped with work, so it would be best if I could get others involved.
“Text” – Normal speech
‘Text’ - Thought
“Text” – Radio/Communication lines
“Text” – None Japanese speech
(text) – Subtext/meaning behind a spoken word
Chapter 7: Entrance Exam
The day had come, and with less than 3 weeks left in high school, it was his time to take U.A.'s dreaded entrance exam. Standing at the gates, watching others walk past, some confident, some nervous, some as cool as cucumbers, he wasn't in the last group. The raven-headed boy understood that the U.A.'s exam was one of the, if not the hardest, exams in Japan, as was expected of a university that has produced some of the best heroes, support engineers, doctors, and other professionals. U.A. didn't just make the best; they only recruited the best.
That was why he spent the last 2 years training both his body and his quirk, as it wasn't enough that he had a powerful quirk; he knew that he needed to be exceptional with it; dark Shadow had to be excellent. Along with training, he ensured that he didn't just keep up with his studies but excelled in them. Did that mean he had the best grades in his class? No, but maintaining a position in the top 50 of his grade since the first semester of 2nd year was nothing to scoff at.
But all that was merely the prelude, steps taken to ensure he had a foot in the door, but today was the day that Fumikage Tokoyami secured his place here.
"We're about to enter halls that were walked by giants. Be ready, Dark Shadow." Tokoyami stated; his quirk, a sentient bird-like creature made from Shadow, popped from his gut, curling around him before offering him a thumbs-up.
“Right.” Dark Shadow replied, but this drew the attention of someone else.
“Hi! Is that your quirk?” They turned to see a green-haired boy wearing a uniform from a school he was pretty sure was private. The boy was also uncomfortable close, with a notebook and pencil out.
“It is.” He answered, leaning back a little, not that this seemed to phase his guest who went on a tirade.
"That's super cool! I never get to see other quirks that appear sentient. Wait, is it sentient? If so, does your quirk need to eat or sleep independently from you? Does it need to be tethered to you, or can it pop up and travel away from you?" He kept asking questions, many of which he didn't even hear as he started to mumble, talking less to him and more to himself as he began to writing God knew what in that notebook.
“Izuku, you’re doing it again.” Someone else walked up, wearing the same uniform as the first. The blonde smacked his classmate and presumable friend's back, drawing him back into reality as others looked on, just as confused as Tokoyami.
Getting a little embarrassed, the boy awkwardly chuckled as he took a couple of steps back and bowed to Fumikage. "Oh? Oh! Sorry about that. I tend to get carried away when discussing quirks; it's sort of my hobby." He stated as his blonde friend walked on ahead, with the green-haired boy waving at him as he rushed to follow. "Anyway, sorry about that. I hope to see you later!"
“What a strange boy.” Tokoyami stated, wondering if they’ll meet later.
Line Break
Fumikage sat in the auditorium; the room was mostly complete, with a few stranglers still walking in. Looking around, he saw the two from before seated a few rows down, the two in a hushed conversation that he couldn't make out much of, but he did hear them mention quirk something and how many they were present; what a strange topic. Of course, there was an abundance of quirks; U.A. attracted the best and brightest; as cruel as it was, to attempt this without one was just foolish.
But the minutes still went by, and the doors were closed; if anyone meant to be present wasn't, that was on them. Tokoyami didn't spare that much thought as the lights dimmed, ceasing conversations in the room before two lights lit up, facing the stage. Along with them, a massive screen displaying the school's logo came on, all of which highlighted the figure that stood front and center on the stage facing the room of hundreds.
“Hello, party listeners to my special yearly show, the U.A. hero entrance exam, so make some noise for the one and only Present Mic!” The voice hero: Present Mic yelled out, not needing a regular microphone when his quirk made him louder than a rock concert should he wish. There was a single cheer from the ground, the green-haired boy from before waving a hand and yelling yeah.
“Loved the enthusiasm, my wonderful listener, so let’s get to the meat and potats, are you ready?" Present Mic thanked his single participant before trying again.
"Yeah!" He got double the feedback, but when the first was just the one, that only meant that along with the green-haired boy, his blonde friend was waving a hand as well. The two seemingly did not notice or care how the rest were looking at them, leaving Tokoyami wondering if they were merely those eccentric types.
“Yeah, come on, party listeners, where’s that spirit?! This is U.A. you gotta have some passion if you want to pass this test.” Present Mic wagged his finger at them before leaning back. “Well, we'll see if you're saving that energy for the exam. Speaking of, the hero course has a 2-stage exam. The first will be a written exam covering everything you learned in high school. I hope you paid attention as it'll cover stuff from Japanese, math, sciences, social studies, and my favorite, English.”
Hearing that made many in the crowd sweat, groan, or mumble that they were in serious trouble. Tokoyami found it foolish on their part, as while the hero course prioritized hero-focused subjects, that didn't mean they slacked off on other stuff.
Besides, heroes worthy of the name needed to be well versed in other subjects; things like Japanese and English meant that they could have better communication skills; social studies like history and geography could prove essential when searching for people in a crisis or for villains if you understood the area. In contrast, things like science proved especially valuable if your quirk worked with such fields, or could be affected by them. He imagined that pros like All Might and Endeavour needed to know a lot about air pressure, trajectory, and fire.
“But that’s just part one! Part two of the test will be a 15-minute mock battle. You’ll be grouped up and taken to one of many areas to fight against some enemies we arranged just for you.” The screen behind him split to show a center circle labeled 'you right now' with 7 other differently colored spots connected to that circle, labeled A to G. Looking at his card, Tokoyami saw that he was group D, with chatter from people around him speaking to confusion. Through it, he heard the green haired boy telling his friend that they must have intentionally broken up people from the same school to ensure that they didn’t work together.
Also, when he looked at the two, even in the dark, his crimson eyes saw how they looked around the room, as if they were little more than excitable children taking in all the sights. But there was something off about them, as it never seemed like they were looking at the students, just in their general direction. Were they concerned that someone else would notice them?
Before he could ponder that further, Present Mic continued to speak. “Each place will have 3 kinds of villains worth a point value from 1 to 3! Your job is to use your fancy quirks to take out as many of them as possible to score the best you can. Of course, the higher the point value, the more dangerous it'll be so if you can't handle them, no probs-just focus on the weaker ones!” As he spoke, the screen behind him changed to show the silhouettes of 4 different kinds of enemies, 3 of which had the assigned point value he had mentioned.
"Of course, attacking other examinees and other unheroic actions are against the rules. If we catch you doing it, you can say goodbye to U.A.!" Tokoyami thought that would be a given, as they were aiming to be heroes, but perhaps some needed to be reminded, or U.A. had to say it for legal reasons, as some might make that easily spotted mistake and attempt to bring legal action to the school after the fact.
“Excuse me, I have a question!” Fumikage turned to see someone standing up, holding something-maybe the info form they had been given.
“Okay, listener 711!" Present Mic also noticed them as he pointed towards them, which got one of the overhead lights to turn on and direct to him, allowing them to see that it was a rather tall boy with a muscular build and glasses.
Holding up the info card, the student began to ask his question. “The printout clearly states there are 4 types of villains. You only mentioned 3. If this is a misprint, then surely U.A., the most prominent hero school in Japan, should have caught it before it ever reached our desks!” Tokoyami raised an eyebrow at that. Was the student asking a question or trying to shame the school for what he believed was a mistake?
Not done in his tirade, the tall, spectacled boy turned towards where the two students Fumikage had a run-in with earlier were seated. "In addition, you with the curly hair, your incessant mumbling is distracting, if you think this is some pleasure tour, leave now!" Tokoyami remained silent, but his eyes narrowed as people laughed at the two. It seemed that the boy wasn't taking the comment lying down as he jumped to his feet.
"If it's such an issue, why are you the only one complaining about it?" Tokoyami was impressed. Before, the boy had been jovial but a little scatterbrained, but now he was confident and sturdy.
Before the spectacled boy could respond, Present Mic broke it up. “Alright, break it up, gentlemen, save that passion for the exam, yeah? As for the issue with the 4th type of enemy, it’s the last and most dangerous of them all, but it’s worth nothing, just there to be an annoying obstacle. It’s not impossible to beat, but when you gain nothing, why bother?” With his explanation, the screens changed again to highlight that mysterious 4th target, with a large 0 underneath it.
With his answer addressed, the spectacled boy bowed and sat, the same being true for his would-be argument partner. “Thank you!” The light over his head shut off, leaving only Present Mic with any focus on him.
“That's it for me, folks, but before I go, I'll leave you with our school motto, as Napoleon Bonaparte once said: 'A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes.'” Tokoyami could firmly agree with that statement, both in his past and in his future. He had endured, and he would continue to, for the sake of protecting the innocent and punishing the wicked.
" Go beyond: Plus Ultra! "Present Mic jumped off as the robot took his place to manage this part of the exam. Tokoyami placed his bag on his desk and grabbed everything he would need for this part. Once he had everything, including double-checking that he had spared all of it in his bag, he waited for the written portion of the exam to start.
Line Break
5 Gruelling hours later, Tokoyami felt like that written portion had been more to torture them than anything else. They had been given just 4 hours to go through 30 pages worth of questions on topics ranging from geography and proper English sentence construction to the periodic table, complex mathematical questions, and Japanese history. The raven-headed boy had barely finished the test with time to even check half his work before the time ran out, many others sullen as they handed over what must have been incomplete answer sheets.
Afterward, they were given 30 minutes to relax and either buy lunch or eat what they had packed, many being too mentally drained to carry much of a conversation in the interim, but he did note the boys from before being the exception, laughing about something he didn't hear. He wasn't the only one who picked up on their merry mood as another blonde approached, seemingly shocked to see them before getting progressively angry with the two. He eventually marched off right as Fumikage thought they'd start to fight.
After lunch, the attendees were given 10 minutes to change into their exercise clothes, separated by their groups, and loaded up into busses, which led to him being here. Looking up at the daunting walls around zone D, he wore simple red and black sweats, as he didn't need special equipment for this. Having had time to rest up, many had regained their confidence as they waited on the countdown, talking with others or merely showing off their physical prowess or quirks.
As if it were fate, he spotted the green-haired boy from before off to the side, wearing the strangest workout clothes he had seen to date. For some reason, the boy had decided to wear a white shitagi(undergarment) underneath a black kosode(Sleeved top) and hakama(Pants) with white tabi(Toed-socks) with the look finished off with a pair of waraji(sandals). Fumikage saw others also wondering about the eccentric dress code of their mysterious member, who rocked on his heels, looking to the side.
“He’s talking with his quirk.” Dark Shadow informed him, popping out slightly while maintaining its gaze on the other two.
"Is his quirk similar to you?" Fumikage asked, thinking that perhaps that was why the boy was interested in Dark Shadow, a fellow attendee with a sentient quirk.
Dark Shadow shrugged. "I don't think so. She ain't tethered to him, and you and the rest don't seem to be able to see her." Truthfully, there was something off about that dog girl, but he couldn't put his finger on it. As he continued to watch them, she seemed to notice him and pointed them out to her holder. The boy turned and smiled when he saw them, waving as he jogged over.
"What luck, a familiar face happens to be here as well." The green-haired boy clapped his hands together, appearing to be pleased with the development, while dark Shadow kept his eyes on the boy's quirk, which was latched to her holder with a smug smile.
"I would hesitate to call us familiar," Tokoyami replied, which was met with a laugh from the boy, who was back in his previous happy mood.
"Well, that can change, especially if we both manage to pass. We could end up in the same classes." Tokoyami nodded, though he assumed that it would just be the hero-focused ones. Outside of that, he had selected different classes to take up his time, and he doubted that his…acquittance made the same choices.
“Speaking of which, what do you think of Faunalution? Not many people can normally see or hear her?" He seemed happy as if this was a rare chance to talk about his quirk in a way that most couldn't. Tokoyami suspected it was, but sadly, he couldn't answer.
"I'm afraid I can't answer that question, as I can't perceive her." His response dampened the other boy's mood, though his brow creased slightly in confusion.
Leaning his head to the side, he asked a follow-up question. “Then how did you know I was talking to her?”
Before Fumikage could explain the situation, Present Mic yelled at them.
“Okay, start!" Fumikage and the rest turned up to the massive tower where Present Mic stood, swinging his arm at them. "Come on, there's no countdowns in real life; get moving if you want those points!" He yelled again, with Fumikage not needing to be told twice and turning to rush in, only to see the green-haired boy far ahead, his limbs covered by the flowing robes he wore, his speed much greater than he had anticipated. But he looked different, as his form shifted as he ran in a flash and burst into flames. People had been shocked by this before, but before anyone could question that, in the next moment, he re-emerged.
The boy looked completely different, as his skin had taken on an orange tint, with dark orange fur jutting out on their hands, ankles, and neck. Atop their head, their hair had also shifted color, matching his new fur, while he gained a pair of long rabbit-like ears. Seeing a 1-pointer, the lead attendee didn't slow at all; if anything, his speed increased as he kicked off and, with a flip, brought his heel down on the robot's head, smashing through it with ease and crashing into the road, leaving a small hole in his wake.
Not even waiting for the bot to fall, he was off, charging a 2- and 3-pointer by leaping into the air and coming down with a swift, piercing punch to the back of the 3-pointer and a fire ball thrown into the face of the 2-pointer. With them defeated, the lead continued his onslaught; even as Fumikage and the others caught up and started fighting to destroy points, Fumikage couldn't help but marvel at how the other boy moved.
He seemed to jump, leap, and dance through the targets like he was born for it, his kicks, knees, and elbows denting or smashing through their cheap metal armor while fire flowed off them like water off rocks. At some point, his limbs burst into flames, increasing the speed and power of his strikes, and yet, despite it all, his clothing didn't catch light, merely fluttered and danced with his motions like he was not fighting but dancing tribute to some Kagutsuchi.
Such movements, the precision, and the timing of the attacks dwarfed the rest of them, and even as Dark Shadow tore through bots, he couldn't help but feel like a novice watching an experienced professional. Was this kid one of those who had training before this? How extensive was it to create such a result? Two 3-pointers rounded the corner and to confront them, the flames around his shins concentrated into fireballs, rolling to their feet as they bounced and juggled them as if they were soccer balls before sending them both into the air, spinning on his heel and kicking both of them towards the robots, the first striking a 3-pointer in the head, the other just above it for the second.
Seemingly satisfied with him, the figure bounced off, leaving the rest wondering what they had seen.
“What the hell?”
“He…he did all that?”
“I could barely keep up with his moments.”
'Those defeats must have netted him a score of at least 40 points already." Fumikage thought to himself, impressed and intimidated by such an elegant yet decisive performance from the boy who turned out to be an enigma. But Present Mic announcing that 5 minutes had passed got him and the rest to focus on their battles. He'll worry about that gree-orange furred boy later. He had to secure his spot in U.A. first.
Line Break
Running past another 2 and 3-pointer, Uraraka tapped both with all fingers and thumbs, a pink flash emanating from the point of contact between the cold steel and her finger-tips, her primary quirk activated and negated gravity’s effects on the two machines, meaning just a gentle nudge was enough to send them flying upwards, unable to counter or fight back. Taking a couple deep breaths, he brought her hands together, with the ends of her digits touching.
“Release.” Another pink flash occurred as she deactivated her quirk, sending the bots crashing down and leaving them little more than a pile of spare parts. "That's 28 points…!" She counted, not feeling nearly as drained as she used to, thanks to the 10 months she had spent rigorously training with her master, but despite that and having his quirk, she hadn't found a chance to use it. Looking around, she saw another horde of villain bots coming right for her and the rest that had made their way to the plaza area of zone B.
“Solar Beam!" Two beams of bright yellow sunlight raced out from the side and struck most of the bots, piercing through them to strike at others. Looking to the side, Uraraka saw that the source was a foreign-looking boy dressed like a samurai or something. He also seemed to be a mutant as his body was covered with feathers like plums made up of reds, yellows, and blues; at least his chest was while his head was crowned by 3-large rainbow-colored feathers that constantly shifted color while his eyes were kaleidoscopic of bright colors. Lastly, he had a sizeable peacock-like tail seemingly made from a rainbow with its many feathers and constantly shifting colors.
He wasn't unarmed either, as in his right hand, he held a massive two-handed blade made from yellow sunlight, and in the other, he held a smaller dagger-like blade made from yellow sunlight. Resting the larger blade on his shoulders like it weighed nothing, he shot her a wink and an air kiss. “Merci! We made a great team just now, leaving me with 24 points. But I must say, merely dropping your targets is such an inelegant art." The boy shook her head, with Uraraka only taking some offense to where he got off when he had fewer points than her.
"I bid you adieu!" Before she could say anything, he was gone, sprinting off low to the ground before those feathers she had seen before burst forth and carried him into the sky, at least until he vanished from her sight.
"That was strange, but he must be strong if he did that." Uraraka wondered about that, but she had other worries, namely getting more points as the competition around that was already hard enough. Just to the side, she saw the taller glassed dude from earlier sprint towards a 2 pointer and destroy it with a kick. "45 points!" Uraraka flew into a minor panic, 45?! How did he score that much already? It hadn't even been half the time yet!
Running around, she did her best to add to her score but found the pickings to be few and far between as she mainly had 1-pointers and a couple 2-pointers. Around her, it seemed that the speedster and the rainbow bird boy were leading in that front, using their superior speed to target robots and move on before most could even try.
But there was a difference between them as the speedster rushed about, attacking whatever he could get his eyes on. In contrast, the rainbow guy struck like a bird of prey she would see on nature documentaries, picking his targets and swooping in for a quirk, graceful strike from his blades or firing a blast of yellow sunlight from a distance. More than once, he struck bots that seemed to be trying to get the jump on people, and whenever he did get in close, his movements were graceful and…well, elegant.
Swinging his great sword like it was little more than a stick, he buried it halfway to the hilt in the body of a 3-pointer before throwing his dagger into the face of a 1-pointer a distance away. Jumping off of his defeated foe, he left his weapons behind as he saw another group of machines heading right for them. Landing in the middle of the street, he brought his hands together, gathering light between his palms before holding up the gathered light for all to see and be blinded by.
“Reflect!” He cast as he set out the ball of concentrated light, which flew towards the incoming 2nd wave, only to burst into a giant glass wall blocking the entire road and both sidewalks. The villain bots, undeterred, rushed right into it, but instead of smashing through what looked like glass, they smashed right into a hard light construct; many were sent back, damaged. The rainbow boy didn't wait as he was already in the air, his tail and arms out, their feathers stretched as he gathered white light, not yellow, in his two hands.
“Moonblast!" He fired off the attack, and unlike before, where it was a straight strike, the white light curved and twisted mid-flight, striking almost every single bot as the boy shifted his hands like a puppet master, directing the duel blasts to snake their way through the horde, punching through limbs, heads and chests before a moment later, the light faded away, leaving nothing but scorched and shattered debris in his wake as the rainbow slowly landed atop the pile, his rainbow peacock tail remained standing and open, shining its multi colors light on them.
Turning to face the rest, he cupped his face and smirked at their awe of his power. “Style and magnificence, ladies and gentlemen. If all the world's a stage, one must be an exceptional performer." He told them as he swiftly left to find more targets, leaving the rest wondering if they could match that, as that single strike could have easily been worth 25 points!
Line Break
As the examinees battled their way through the practical exam in another location, they were all being extensively watched and graded by a panel that included not just the staff of the university but representatives of the Hero Public Safety Commission, though the latter was mainly there to ensure that problematic students could be flagged early. Like with any year, there were some that drew more attention than others for one reason or another, and this year was no different as the cameras in Zone B focused on Aoyama right after he finished wiping out a good chunk of the 2nd wave.
“Quite the stunt from him.” One of the professors noted this with minor approval.
“Seems like it’s putting too much effort into looking good rather than gaining points.” Another countered, their gruff voice carrying how little they cared for such theatrics.
“Perhaps, but he certainly has the skills to make up for that” Another spoke up, a feminine voice contrasting the first two.
Another voice, much chipper than its counterparts, chuckled before speaking. "I have to agree; he's well aware that this is a timed event with a limited number of targets and is acting accordingly. Clique as it might be, he has an eagle's eye for this. His ability to gather and analyze information proves to be a critical skill in his toolset." As he stated this, they watched as Aoyama on screen kept his head on a swivel, his rainbow eyes taking everything around him, even the small details, before he quickly acted on that information, either by blasting enemies with light or slicing and stabbing them with those hard light blades of his.
"He's not the only one that's handling himself well; check out Zone D." One of the other professors pointed out, with the many different screens miniaturizing while one enlarged, showcasing Midoriya battling through the bots, moving in a fashion that reminded a couple of the Rabbit Hero: Mirko. The lad certainly had the bunny look down, though the flames were unique to him. He, too, was performing well, but the fact that he was dressed the same as Aoyama didn't go unnoticed.
“Oh, is he related to the chap in Zone B?” The chipper one asked as another scrolled through their files on the two, pulling up both applicants forms, they skimmed their details.
"Hmm, it seems not, but they attend the same high school. Perhaps they're friends." They replied that both came from a high school that typically produced doctors, engineers, and mechanics. U.A offered all these courses, but neither had put those down even as a secondary option. A weird choice if not for their performance thus far. They aimed for the hero course and showed the potential they looked for in their applicants.
"Oh, adorable. They decided to wear matching outfits for the exam. They probably thought they'd be in the same arena." The woman from earlier laughed, though not in a mocking fashion, as she rather enjoyed the idea that the two were set on being a dynamic duo.
"They have outstanding quirks. That much is clear. And they have a firm grasp of what they can do with them." One of the HPSC members stated, making a note of the two, as they had not been informed that the son of a famous researcher was such a strong hero candidate or that his quirk could function in such a way.
“Where one excels in information gathering and speed, the other excels in keeping a level head and agility.” The chipper voice stated, their shadowy form being the smallest of the gathered as they picked up their tablet to read through the files on the two. Clicking around for a moment, he stumbled onto something. “Oh?”
“Something the issue?” One of the others asked, only for the smaller figure to wave them off.
“Not really, but I would suppose it’s time we up the stakes and give them their final test, wouldn’t you say?” Flipping open the cover, the figure pressed the button labeled Yaruki.
While the screens returned to their normal size, the diminutive figure with beady eyes remained on Midoriya's screen. He had no idea that Inko's boy was here or that he had such a versatile quirk. ‘Let’s see what you can do, Midoriya.’
Line Break
Tokoyami had just earned his 47th point when the explosions rang out across the area, shaking everything. Dark Shadow instinctively retreated to him, wary of any debris, as they both looked around, trying to find the source of this.
They didn’t need to wait long before they saw the cause of the destruction rumbling towards them, the 0-pointer, which wasn't just bigger than the rest; it was colossal as the massive construct of wires and steel towered over them and the buildings. Its hands were so massive that they covered a large portion of the roof of a nearby building and, with little effort, crashed it, sending debris raining down on them. Looking on with wide eyes, Tokoyami recalled what Present Mic had told him and realized why this was meant to be an obstacle. How were they meant to even begin to tackle this?
"Holy crap, that's a big one!" Dark Shadow yelled as the 0-pointer punched down at them, missing them, but the force still rocked the entire street and threw up a large dust cloud. That display of power proved enough to get the examinees to flee, as they had nothing to gain and everything to lose if that beast decided to focus on them. "Less than 5 minutes left!" Present Mic's announcement only made them all the more eager to leave and try and find whatever stranglers remained to be defeated.
"Wait, there's someone in danger!" Someone yelled, ignored by most of the people. Still, Tokoyami was an exception. He looked through the fleeing crowd to see who said that before he landed on a redhead rushing towards the threat. Tracking his movement, Tokoyami saw someone trapped by some debris, a white-haired girl who seemed to be trying to free herself but couldn't. Seeing someone in need, he didn’t hesitate as he rushed in to join the rescue effort.
"Dark Shadow!" He ordered, his quirk shooting off towards the debris, which the redhead was already trying to clear, but while the smaller pieces were easy enough for him to toss aside, he had to take time smashing apart larger ones. With Dark Shadow entering, that workload drastically decreased as they worked even faster, but the ever-approaching rumblings reminded them they were on a time limit.
"Hey, we'll get you out of here, don't worry!" The redhead told her, all smiles as he smashed apart pieces of rubble trapping her.
The girl turned a blue eye to him, the only one visible thanks to her bangs covering her face. "Thanks, but there's too much stuff to move. That stupid 0-pointer nearly buried me in debris." She tried using her quick again to make it easier for them, but this much concrete, wood, and steel was far greater than her limit. Even when she tried using it on the stuff immediately touching her, the weight of the rest of it kept it firmly in place.
"Then we just need to work harder," Fumikage responded. He started to sweat as the 0-pointer closed the distance, and while he liked to think that it wouldn't run them over, it certainly wasn't slowing down.
“Betterment!" Someone yelled before Tokoyami felt an energy surging through him, making him feel stronger than before. He wasn't the only one who seemed to feel this surprise buff, as the redhead's strike did more damage than before. Through the dust and smoke, someone else came in from on high, spinning before they whipped at the debris covering their trapped fellow examinee. "Tail Strike!” They called out.
Both boys turned to them, with their appearance being that of a brown-skinned teen, with lighter-colored brown fur covering their clawed hands as well as around their necks like a natural scarf. They had alert red eyes and a dark dog-like nose with large pointed ears jutting out the top of their head, a bushy tail with a white flower-shaped pattern on its tip. If not for the fact that they wore the same outfit from before, Tokoyami would have never realized that this was the same guy from before, only swapped from this flame rabbit to this canine one.
“Hurry up, I’ve increased your strength and decreased the durability of the rubble the best I could!” He yelled at them, his words clear and authorities in this dangerous situation. Neither Tokoyami nor the redhead argued as they followed his words, with even their captive finding that her quirk's limits had been raised, letting her help more. But the mysterious newcomer's help proved invaluable. With mere seconds left, they cleared the debris, with the white-haired girl sending the rest flying off her.
Dark Shadow grabbed the now-freed girl as they fled, all except their brown-furred friend. "What are you doing? We need to run!" The redhead yelled towards them, with Fumikage being liable to agree.
"If this thing isn't stopped, others could be put in danger; go on ahead; I'll handle this!" He didn’t turn to them, just told them to run.
“How?!” The girl asked, Dark Shadow letting her down since she could run on her own. Their rearguard didn’t answer her question, rather Tokoyami saw him reach for his belt and tap what must have been his buckle.
“Bring the wrath of Winter, Hiroyuki.” With that request, the temperature rapidly dropped as a white blizzard burst into being around the transformed boy, getting cries of shock from the two. Still, like Tokoyami, they kept running. Still, they kept their eyes on the swirling blizzard, seeing ice forming on the ground where the source of this stood, followed by snow falling. Waving their arm, the swirling dissipated into nothing, revealing them in their 3rd form of the exam.
Their skin was deathly pale, a shade of blue that one could only find on a corpse, with their hands being the darkest blue. Along their arms, they could make out fur that was a lighter shake to their hands, closer to the shade of blue that now was their skin. Their thick brown curled tails were now straight and had the same color pattern as their arms, while atop their head and forehead rested a 3-point crown made from ice, with the largest piece being center; attached to this were two bangs, part blue fur part clear blue ice. Their dog-like ears were thicker and wider and stood taller on their head.
Letting out a breath, what poured from this new wintery fox-person lips was frost, bitterly cold as the temperature around them continued to drop, only now it was to a much greater extent as it wasn't just where they stood that froze over. Still, everything in 2m of them froze over, finding itself covered in at least 2 inches of jagged ice. With his arms out to his side, two brilliant blue orbs of pure cold formed in their hands before they brought them together in a clap.
“Snowscape!” With that command, the ambient heat of the entire area, climbing up the sides of the buildings, nearly instantly vanished, leaving nothing to keep the cold from rapidly filling in that void, creating a localized snowstorm that covered the entire area in ice and snow, Tokoyami and the other two just barely escaping the area of effect but even then, they shivered from just being near it. The 0-pointer took the brunt of it as the intense drop in temperature warped the metal that made its treads, gears, and armor, slowing it down while the ice continued to sink deeper, piercing to its very core.
Not done, the icy student held up both hands over his head and concentrated, allowing them to see ice rapidly forming above them, gaining shape, mass, and intricacy as what started as a simple pole mutated and shifted as it was crafted into a massive finely decorated spear, from the end of the shaft to the tip of the spearpoint, shapes and faces were carved into its very bearing, scenes from battles between heroes and villains, of people being saved, of animals enjoying the wilderness.
All this was there and visible because the finished product was the length of 2 school buses and wider than a bed fit for one person. Breathing heavily, with frost covering their exposed body, the figure shifted his aim with his spear and fired it. "Ice Shard!" With that cry, the massive spear was telekinetically thrown as hard and fast as a javelin, right for the slowly freezing 0-pointer’s chest. The already frost-covered metal stood no chance as the spear pierced through, destroying everything in its path before half its spearpoint stuck out the other side.
Suck a scene stunned the students, seeing the dreaded 0-pointer, something so powerful that they were told to flee not just be confronted, but so thoroughly defeated as it stood, its front nearly entirely encased in a thick layer of ice. In contrast, a gigantic spear of ice remained, piercing its chest, the death blow to it. Tokoyami had only ever seen such power, such a threat cloaked in ice, once before, months ago. Was…was this the same person?
No, no! That was impossible! The heroes caught them. They were surely in prison somewhere, and if not, why would that person who caused that and killed so many be here? Dark Shadow nudged him, and through their link, he could detect his confusion and wariness. "What is it?"
"Fumi, that boy…he has more than one quirk," Dark Shadow said, catching him off guard as he looked at his quirk in shock.
Still, he kept his voice low as he responded. “Are you sure about that?”
"He had the dog lady before…then when he shifted and he was fighting, I saw what looked to be another girl." Dark Shadow gulped, a rarity as while he wasn't at his strongest, he was well above his timid, weakened state. To make his quirk seem this scared wasn't something Fumikage could ignore. Now, right next to him, he has this little kid…and they're looking right at us."
Looking towards them, the shadow quirk saw that the two had turned to him and that they both shared the same full blue eyes. Their pupils were just a few shades darker than the rest, but still enticing…and also dangerous. Soft like snow, but brutal and biting as ice. As beautiful as a snow day, as lethal as a snowstorm.
And that is that! I expected to write more, but this chapter was barely within my word limit. I wanted to add what was happening with Uraraka when their 0-pointer appeared, but I can save that for scenes later where characters there talk about it. Speaking of, it was a little trippy to write an entire chapter from the POVs of Uraraka and Tokoyami, as normally, when I do this, the main lead(s) aren't present, but here, they were still stealing the spotlight.
And yes, since U.A. is a university here, I made it so that hero classes don't take up their entire schedule; they merely are the priority subjects as even in the show, they don't only have hero classes, they have standard classes in the mornings with hero stuff being stuff after lunch. But, with the change, it gives me chances to bunch up characters in ways that they normally wouldn't, as different people would have different classes, with the only times they're all together being for hero-related stuff and homeroom.
Todoroki and Bakugo could share cooking classes, but in the next period, Bakugo will be in geography with Sero, that sort of thing.
