10 Month Diary
Month 1: A diary… haven't written in these in a while. How old was I the last time I wrote in a diary? Five years old, I think? Whatever. Not really a diary anyway. A log that the principal gave me. The principal of a school I don't even want to go to. I'm hoping that me and my sisters will be long gone by then. Those scientists at UA haven't come up with anything yet, so I'm working on a solution myself that I hope will take us back home.
Month 2: Hey again. Kinda forgot about this thing, which is something, since I rarely have anything to do with myself anymore anyways. Well to be fair, it's getting hard to get used to things. I always wake up expecting a fully cooked meal from the Professor. Only, he isn't here. I have to make it. All the time, Buttercup nearly flies out of the door, saying that we need to fight crime. Bubbles and I always have to remind her that it's not like that anymore. We fight crime? We get arrested. What a weird thing, knowing that not only the Villains would be arrested for beating up people.
Month 3: Sometimes at night, I think of what's happening in our world. Is the Professor worried? Of course he's worried. We've been gone for 3 months now. Just thinking about him looking for us when we're in another world almost makes me cry. Sometimes it does. It makes Bubbles cry a lot. Buttercup insists she doesn't, but I know she does. Who wouldn't when you miss your dad unbearably?
Month 4: Progress report on the way back home. The scientists haven't made any breakthroughs yet. I've done my fair share of research. Things about portals, rifts, stuff like that. Most of the results are vague news articles. Not really helpful in trying to create another rift back to Townsville. Test runs so far have been unsuccessful. I'm smart. It's my skill. But, I'm not an engineer. Or a professor. … yep. I really do need a Professor.
Month 5: Five whole months… that's how long it's been, diary. Almost half of a year. I'm the only one who remembers it, but there's no way I'm telling my sisters. Let me and you carry the emotional burden for them. Plus, our birthdays are coming up. Lucky 12th!
Birthday Report: Yes, Diary, I'm aware that it is the same month as Month 5. But, I had to vent about my… well, OUR birthday. It was… a little depressing. Kinda saw it coming. We did have fun, went sightseeing around the city and bought all of the things we can carry and stuffed our faces with sweets. But when we got back home, we conveniently remembered how before this all happened, before when we were in Townsville, our dad was planning a birthday bash with just him and us for our 12th birthday. Well, that spurred a lot of crying, which I guess was inevitable. We couldn't sleep that night, lost in memories, regrets, fear, and just plain sadness. Man, who knew that our Lucky 12th wasn't so lucky?
Month 6: I think we're slowly getting into the pattern of things. Which is good, since we can focus on the happy stuff. UA often sends us money and anything we need and want. I know Buttercup's abusing that privilege by asking for video games and chocolate. Mr. Aizawa often swings by to check on us, which is nice since we haven't even had contact with anybody else outside our little family. So far, in regards to training, we train twice a month. But now, we kick it into overdrive. UA's in a few months, and judging from my failed test runs and no updates from the ongoing UA research, we're not getting home anytime soon. At least we haven't sobbed as hard about Dad ever since the birthday fiasco.
Month 7: Recently, I started up research about Heroes. I gotta say, I'm impressed. Their Hero System is clearly different from ours. Popularity and number of Villains you fight push you up the leaderboard, as you become more well known. The current Number 1 Hero is All Might. That guy that saved me and my sisters… was it 6 months ago or 7? Anyways, I'm salty I didn't ask for an autograph. It'd be good to add to my collection of manga and Hero Merch. ...what? Not just Buttercup can ask UA for stuff.
Month 8: At random times, I sometimes remember that Mojo was sucked in that portal with us. To be honest, I get worried about the guy. Don't get me wrong, he's annoying and a nuisance. But, deep down, you get worried sometimes because your "good guy" morals prevent you from hating your enemies. It's hard to explain. But, I think Mojo's gonna be fine. He probably found another active volcano to perch on.
Month 9: One month to the UA entrance exam. I have mixed feelings about it. I want to fail so that I don't have to go through with this. But, what then? Will this be my life? Living in a world where I can't use my powers freely, where I'm doomed to live the same boring routine while writing in this diary? Yeah, I'm gonna have to pass. I'll have to try my best then. I have to set an example. I'm a leader after all. We'll get into Class 1-A. Not "I hope we'll get into Class 1-A". Time to stop hoping and to start doing.
Month 10: This is it. Where it all begins. After a waiting period of 10 months (how fast do the days go?). Do I still worry about my past, present, and future? Fuck yes (ergh, Buttercup's cursing is rubbing off on me). But, I have to leave them behind for a second. This entrance exam is in a few days and we HAVE to pass. I can't go back to this boring life (no offense to you, Diary). Hopefully, if we do get into UA, we somehow find a way to get back home. I'm never giving up on home no matter if I get into UA or not. I guess this is where we part for now, Diary. Maybe if I go through another period of emotional distress, I'll call you up. Count on it.
PS: I'm developing a theory that the rift portal wasn't just a freak accident of nature. Maybe someone caused it? It's a work in progress, so more on that later.
PPS: Hope I see that freckled green-haired boy again. He was nice.
Chapter 4: Sucker Punches
"Come on, Bubbles! Come at me!" Blossom shouted.
Bubbles looked uneasy as she stood still, jumping a little in place. She, along with her sisters, were in an empty arena. They were in Gym Gamma, a gym facility on UA school grounds. They were allowed temporary access to it, so that they had a place to train.
After all, the girls were going to need it. The entrance exam was tomorrow.
Blossom was in the middle of the gym, tense and ready to battle. In her hand was her signature Hyper Yoyo, which was spinning as she threw it down beside her and pulled it up again effortlessly. Buttercup, meanwhile, was leaning on the wall, watching her two sisters stand off with boredom on her face. It was a one-on-one mock battle between Bubbles and Blossom, so she wasn't allowed to fight this time. So far, neither of them had moved since the battle started.
"Way to kick ass, guys." Buttercup called to them, sarcasm heavy in her tone.
Bubbles shushed her. "Please and kindly shut up! I'm trying to think of a strategy!"
Suddenly, a red blur whizzed past Bubbles's vision, as the yoyo came hurling towards her. With a gasp, she quickly sprang up, as the yoyo hit the ground where she once stood, cracking the concrete. Blossom started to run as she called up the yoyo, and sprang up into the air as well, floating to the same level as Bubbles.
"The more you think of strategies, the more you hesitate!" Blossom warned as she threw the yoyo again at Bubbles.
Quickly, Bubbles's eyes started to glow red, and she shot laser beams out of her eyes, which deflected the yoyo mid-course. With the attack now useless, Bubbles blasted towards Blossom, aiming a kick at her head. But, even with one hand calling back the yoyo, Blossom deflected the attack, by knocking Bubbles's foot down with one hand.
After that, it was a blur of pink and blue, as the two girls clashed, using their powers to try and get a jump on one another. As Blossom managed to force Bubbles out of the sky with an energy-fueled punch, Bubbles activated her force field bubble before crashing into the ground. After she deactivated her force field, Bubbles charged at Blossom, who just landed, and engaged her in hand-to-hand combat, all of their attacks fueled by their signature colored energy.
Eventually, Blossom threw a kick, to which Bubbles immediately brought her arms up over her face to block. While she took the hit, Bubbles skidded back a considerable distance, allowing Blossom the opportunity to regenerate her yoyo again and throw it at her. Almost immediately, the yoyo wrapped around Bubbles, the string trapping her and binding her limbs to her body.
Finally, Blossom grabbed the string and swung it around, taking Bubbles with her. After a few spins, Blossom put the string over her head, jumped up, and yanked the string to her front. This caused her to bring Bubbles flying into the air before smashing her into the ground.
Even though the impact created a comically large crater in the concrete, Bubbles stood up while rubbing her head, as if she simply bumped her head.
"Okay, I surrender." Bubbles sighed, rather annoyed.
Buttercup pushed herself off the wall, and walked to her sisters while slowly clapping.
"What a terribly boring battle that was," Buttercup said bluntly, before lighting up and shouting, "NOW, IT'S MY TURN!"
As Buttercup said this, Blossom tossed the yoyo up into the air, which exploded in a mini, glittery pink, firework explosion. She then turned to Buttercup with a deadpan expression.
"Buttercup. You fought like 5 times already." Blossom sighed.
Bubbles pouted, still rubbing her head. "And beat us both."
Buttercup grinned. "You know what they say. 'There can be no such thing as too much training'."
Blossom rolled her eyes. "No one says that. By that logic, everyone says, 'There can be no such thing as too many stretches'. Which is what we're doing now."
Even though both Bubbles and Buttercup groaned (they hate stretches), they obeyed as they and Blossom did some light stretching. As they did, they stretched in silence for a few minutes before Bubbles broke the silence.
"Ten months… can't believe it's BEEN that long…" Bubbles sighed.
Buttercup shrugged as she did some arm stretches. "It's been horrible, but we did it. At least things will be interesting for the remainder of however long we stay here."
Bubbles looked sad, as she stretched her legs. "But, how long will that even be?"
"It won't be long, Bubbles. I bet the scientists are closer than ever to getting a breakthrough!" Blossom said cheerily.
For a few more moments, the girls stretched in silence. But, just as they finished them, Blossom and Buttercup heard sniffling. It was coming from Bubbles, as she was starting to cry.
"Bubbles, what's the matter?" Blossom asked, alarmed.
"Yeah! Is something wrong? Or is it someone? DO I GOTTA BEAT SOMEBODY UP?!" Buttercup added, flaring up at the last sentence.
Bubbles shook her head, as more tears streamed down her face.
"I just feel guilty…" she said softly.
Before they knew it, the girls were sitting on the floor. Blossom and Buttercup shared a confused and concerned glance before looking at Bubbles.
"What do you mean you feel guilty?" Buttercup asked more softly.
Bubbles sniffed as she wiped her face, new tears replacing the ones she tried to wipe away.
"We've been gone. For almost a YEAR. We haven't been to Townsville since. We haven't been PROTECTING Townsville ever since. What if Villains are already overrunning it? What if they destroyed Townsville by now?! We vanished in Townsville's time of need, and they're paying the price for it. And it's our fault…"
Bubbles seemed like she wanted to say more, but her crying had become too strong for her to utter another word. As she broke down into tears, Blossom and Buttercup looked down, having no way to comfort her. Because they thought of the same things.
Townsville wasn't the type of city to hold its own against Villains by themselves. That was the main reason why the girls were heroes in the first place. So it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Townsville was being attacked the longer the girls stayed in this world. But, it was hard to think about. It was hard to even consider what is happening in Townsville right now. And the feeling of knowing that was sickening.
Slowly, Blossom pulled Bubbles into a hug, tears filling her own eyes.
"We don't know that for sure…" she whispered, "Who really knows what's happening in Townsville? Maybe, time never passed there. Maybe the Villains never even noticed we went missing."
Bubbles sniffed, but stopped crying a little less. "Even with that in mind, it doesn't make me feel better. Just makes me feel… forgotten."
Buttercup slid to sit on the other side of Bubbles.
"Look. We don't know at all what's going on outside this reality. So, the best thing we should do… is not focus on it."
Both Bubbles and Blossom gave her bewildered looks, which prompted Buttercup to glare.
"I'm serious! So what if Townsville's being attacked? It won't last, THAT'S for sure. Those wannabe lameos can cause as much chaos as they want. But, I KNOW that as soon as we get back, we'd beat their asses so bad, they'll take off running. They'll be out of Townsville's hair so fast, you won't be able to tell if they were there at ALL!"
Now, Buttercup was really into her speech as she stood up and placed herself in front of Bubbles and Blossom.
"And I know that Townsville can stay safe until that day. You gotta give them more credit. Imagine it. Right now, they're hiding in bunkers and whatnot, knowing and hoping that we'll come back soon to give those Villains hell. They're COUNTING on us to get stronger until then. But, we can't keep doing that, if we're sobbing like babies. Until those science dudes get the portal up and running and step up their game, we have to step up OUR game too! Because as soon as we get the chance, we're busting out of here and we're gonna be ON their asses!"
As Bubbles and Blossom stared at her, they were shocked.
"I… never thought of it that way…" Blossom admitted.
"Me neither." Bubbles added.
Buttercup nodded, while rolling her eyes. "No shit, Sherlocks! I'm the smartest of the group after all."
As Blossom and Bubbles stood up, the former scoffed.
"Okay, you're pushing your smart statements. But… you're right. We need to be prepared, and be even stronger. We're gonna have to do our best to pass the entrance exam!"
Slowly, Buttercup and Blossom looked at Bubbles anticipatingly. While Bubbles looked nervous for a second, she then glared in determination, wiped her face one last time, and grinned as she curled her hands into fists.
"You're right! Let's do this! For Townsville!"
Together, the girls put their hands in the middle, and after 3 brief seconds, threw their hands up into the air.
"FOR TOWNSVILLE!"
Today was the day. The long awaited practical portion of the entrance exam. This wasn't a big deal for nothing. UA High, as the girls learned, was the top Hero Academy in all of Japan. That was probably why people of all kinds were flocking to the tall glass building, determined to get into UA.
Slowly, the girls stepped onto the sidewalk leading up to UA. It all felt unreal. If none of this ever happened, then Blossom guessed that her and her sisters would be flying through the city in their colorful dresses, ready to fight crime. And now, here they were, in casual clothes, ready to… take a test to get into a school that will allow them to fight crime after they graduate.
As they stood under the harsh glare of the sunlight, Buttercup grinned and did a fist pump in the air.
"YEAH! LET'S GO KICK SOME ASS!"
As she said that, Buttercup started to sprint towards the building. But almost immediately, Blossom grabbed the back of Buttercup's shirt, keeping her in place.
"Slow your roll, Spice." Blossom said calmly as she let go, causing Buttercup to stumble and almost fall on her face, "We need to think of a plan first before we do anything."
Buttercup glared at Blossom, as she fixed the cap on her head. "It's always 'plan, plan, plan' with you! Would it KILL you to just not think for once and go POW, POW, POW?!"
Bubbles looked at Blossom with confusion. "Plus, how can we plan? We have no idea what UA has for the entrance exam."
Blossom crossed her arms. "Which is why we need to think of as many plans and strategies as we can, so that we're prepared for anything. This isn't a spontaneous monster fight. This is a complex and carefully executed exam that some of the brightest Heroes in this universe came up with-"
Buttercup waved a hand dismissively, while interrupting Blossom.
"Yeah, yeah. I have a suggestion. Why don't we just… I don't know… KICK ASS AND WIN?!"
Before both Bubbles or Blossom could offer a rebuttal, Buttercup started to walk away with her hands crossed behind her head, while glancing back at them.
"You guys worry too much for your own goods. You can go ahead and do that. I, meanwhile, am gonna have some FUN when I'm here."
Suddenly, Buttercup ran into someone in front of her, who had their back turned. Quickly, Buttercup jumped back while rubbing her face and widening her eyes.
"Sorry, man. I wasn't paying attention to…"
Buttercup found herself trailing off, when the guy turned around to face her. Red and angry eyes. Messy blonde hair. Face twisted into a bewildered scowl. The girls haven't seen this guy since that day 10 months ago. But now, he was standing here and glaring down at them.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Buttercup yelled.
Bakugou was surprised for a moment, but that moment quickly ended, as his eye twitched.
"Not you fucking tiny tots here again… WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS?!"
Buttercup growled, as she looked like she was growing angrier and angrier. But then, she sighed and closed her eyes.
"Okay. This is good. You know what? It's good that you're here…"
Bakugou and the girls stared at Buttercup with bewilderment. Suddenly, Buttercup's eyes flashed open, as she looked angrier than before.
"... SO THAT I CAN KICK THE SHIT OUTTA YOU!"
After she said that, Buttercup started to lunge at Bakugou. Quickly, Blossom and Bubbles grabbed her and restrained her, as she thrashed around.
"Can we PLEASE go through one interaction without you trying to punch a person's face in?" Blossom groaned to Buttercup.
"We aren't being good examples of potential UA students, Buttercup!" Bubbles squeaked.
As this went on, Bakugou seemed to not care, as he simply scoffed and walked away. As he did, Buttercup slowly stopped moving and stared in confusion as he walked away.
"Did that son of a bitch just walk away?" Buttercup asked, blinking in indignation.
As Blossom and Bubbles let go, Blossom hit Buttercup on the back of the head, prompting her to yelp and cover the back of her head immediately with her hand.
"Yes. He's focused on the UA entrance exam. Which is what WE'RE supposed to be doing!" Blossom scolded.
Buttercup sighed. "I really hate it here, you know…"
With that, the three girls walked towards the entrance, and went inside the building. Inside the lobby, there were signs that pointed towards the auditorium, where the debrief on the rules of the exam was taking place. As the girls joined the crowd of teens heading towards there, Blossom turned to her sisters.
"Okay. Remember what Mr. Aizawa told us…" she asked.
Buttercup groaned. "YES! We went over this at least like 400 times already. When we're here in this reality, we go under fake names."
Bubbles frowned a little. "I still don't know why we gotta do that…"
A week ago…
"Wait… we have to do WHAT?!" Buttercup asked, shocked.
In the girls' apartment, the three were sitting on a couch. On the opposite side of them was Aizawa, as he repeated what he said before for a second time.
"During your time in Musutafu, you go under fake names."
Blossom looked as equally shocked as Buttercup.
"We know what you said. But… why?! Why can't we just keep our names?"
Aizawa sighed. "I'm not saying that you have to change your names permanently. You're still Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. But, to the Musutafu government and everyone else but me and Nezu, you will be known by fake names. It's a safety precaution."
"Safety precaution for what?" Buttercup asked, still frustrated.
"Just imagine, girls. So far, you are foreign and undocumented children. People have enough questions about your presence. So, you must have a fake record of information, so that nobody suspects that you're not from this world."
"But… can't we just tell everyone what we told you and Mr. Nezu?" Bubbles asked.
Aizawa shook his head. "There are 2 problems with that. One, not many people will believe you. Two, if they do believe you, that will be worse. There are bad people here, people that will want to know more about how and why you came here, along with what exactly you are. And they will do bad things to get that information. You can only tell the truth to people you can trust. Otherwise, everything personal stays hidden."
Bubbles looked sad. "So, we're no longer Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup…?"
Aizawa thought for a moment before saying, "Not necessarily. You can still have those names as Pro Hero names. Plus, only your classmates and adults will be calling you by your fake names. But, it's important that nobody knows you by your real name. Got it?"
The girls hesitated before nodding slowly, looking disappointed.
"Got it." they said in unison.
Present Day
Soon, the girls were in the auditorium. At the entrance, there were cards with people's names on it. The girls were supposed to grab the card with their fake name on it.
"What's our fake name, again?" Bubbles asked a little too loudly.
Quickly, Blossom shushed her, looked around so that no one was looking at them, and lowered her voice.
"I'm Momoko. You're Miyako. And Buttercup's Kaoru." Blossom whispered.
Buttercup grumbled as she picked up her card. "How come you both have names that start with M, but I just have 'Kaoru'?! At least our real names all started with the same letter."
Blossom shrugged as she and Bubbles picked up their cards.
"I didn't come up with the names." Blossom said matter-of-factly.
As soon as they took their cards, the girls made their way to their assigned seats and sat down. As they did, Bubbles looked around at the full auditorium.
"There sure are a lot of people… are you sure that we can get into Class A-1?"
"Class 1-A," Blossom corrected, "And yes. We've trained all these months for this. We're prepared."
After she said that though, Blossom leaned back into her chair, looking worried. At least, I HOPE so…
Soon enough, everyone was seated and the lights above the stage lit up, signaling the start of the ceremony. Just then, a person strutted onstage. He looked like he had jumped straight out of a comic book, with his overly slicked up hair and DJ outfit. Then again, the girls were more or less in a comic book-esque world.
Just then, music from an unseen speaker blared, startling everybody except for the guy on stage, who shouted in an inhumanly loud voice.
"AH YEAH! WHO'S READY TO ROCK THIS EXAM?!"
As Bubbles covered her ears, she looked at her sisters, bewildered.
"No one told me this was a death metal concert!" Bubbles yelled, trying to make herself heard over the deafening music.
Soon, the music stopped, prompting everyone to slowly uncover their ears. But then, they covered their ears right back up again as the guy shouted.
"WELCOME, YALL! NAME'S PRESENT MIC, YOUR ANNOUNCER FOR THIS PRACTICAL EXAM! ARE WE READY TO RUMBLE?!"
After he said that, Present Mic leaned forward, obviously expecting the crowd to shout back. But, the silence present seemed to be even louder than Present Mic's yells, as no one made a sound. The more that the silence stayed, the more Present Mic looked disappointed.
Suddenly, the silence was broken by a person suddenly clapping. It was Buttercup as she was enthusiastically clapping and cheering.
"WHOO! YEAH!" Buttercup cheered.
Due to the growing attention on them, Blossom quickly signaled to Buttercup to quit it, to which she did after a few seconds. As she sat down, Bubbles looked at her curiously while Blossom glared at her.
"What? It was good music!" Buttercup protested.
Onstage, Present Mic smiled, looking both grateful at the fact that Buttercup cheered and awkward at the fact that ONLY Buttercup cheered.
"Much thanks, little girl! And as for the rest of you… who knows, maybe you're saving your hype for the practical exam. SPEAKING OF THE PRACTICAL…"
At his words, the wall behind him lit up, showing a slide show presentation. The title said, "UA'S ROCKIN' ROBOT RUMBLE".
"... I'M HERE TO TELL Y'ALL HOW THIS IS GONNA GO!" Present Mic declared.
After he said that, the slide switched to a slide with rules on it.
"Now, if you were to look at the title, you might conclude that this practical's gonna be about robots. And you are ABSOLUTELY correct! That's right! This isn't a free-for-all battle to the death. Nope, it's a free-for-all battle to the death… AGAINST ROBOTS!"
At this, the girls blinked, confused.
"Wait… they have ROBOTS here?!" Bubbles asked timidly.
"How futuristic IS this place?" Buttercup added with wide eyes.
Before the girls could mumble to each other more, Present Mic continued.
"Now, the rules are simple. There are 4 kinds of bots, or Villains, situated across a mock battle site of a city. What YOU gotta do is use your Quirks to decimate as many as you can! The number of points you get is based on the type of robot you destroy, as you can see HERE!"
As soon as Present Mic said the last word, the slide switched to one that had 4 silhouettes of robots, with one number listed above each silhouette, each one of them different. One had a 1, one had a 2, one had a 3, and one had a 0.
As the girls looked at the slide, Blossom especially noticed the 0, which confused her. Why was there a zero above one of them? Was it worth no points? If it was worth points, what's its actual point value? If it wasn't worth points, then why is it included in the first place?!
And apparently, Blossom wasn't the only one to wonder about it, as she and her sisters suddenly heard mumbling.
"So, this is a 'earn points by destroying' type of thing. Interesting. I'm guessing that the number of points means the difficulty of the robot, meaning that the one with 1 point is the easiest, while the 4th is hardest. Maybe I could…"
Soon, almost everyone in the surrounding area was looking around, confused. The girls looked around too, until Blossom spotted the person who was mumbling. A boy, with green hair and eyes, as well as freckles. He seemed to intend to just speak to himself, but he didn't notice that he was speaking so loud that people could hear him.
Soon, Bubbles spotted him too. "Oh! It's that boy! From the monster attack. What's his name, again? Dee-Dee? Danny? De-"
"Deku." Blossom replied, still staring at him.
"Oh yeah!" Buttercup exclaimed in realization, "The one with the weird name."
Just then, someone raised their hand high up over the crowd, drawing everyone's attention, including Present Mic as he pointed to the hand.
"You sir, in the back! Have a question?" Present Mic asked.
After the hand came down, the owner stood up for everybody to see him. It was a tall boy, with black hair and glasses. He looked kind of strange to the girls, due to the fact that he was moving so stiffly, even as he bowed momentarily.
"Thank you, sir. I have 2 things to address. Firstly…"
Just then, the boy pointed to where the girls were, which made all 3 of them freeze.
"Is… this guy pointing at us?" Buttercup asked, bewildered.
"Oh no… did we get caught?!" Bubbles whimpered.
But after a moment, the girls realized that the guy wasn't pointing at them, and was pointing at Deku instead, which made him look up with confusion.
"This question is directed to you! Yes, you. Gentleman with the unnatural green hair and freckles. Why are you mumbling incoherently?! You are distracting the people around you. If you are to only distract others and not take this seriously, then I suggest you leave!"
Immediately, Deku looked panicked as he yelped.
"Oh! No, no! I wasn't trying to distract anybody. I'm sorry if I disturbed you…"
Everyone who was looking at him looked at him for a few more seconds before turning to face the front. It was as if the crowd didn't really care all that much about his apology. Meanwhile, the girls were surprised, mainly at the boy who called out Deku's mumblings.
"Was that REALLY necessary? To ask a person to leave because he was mumbling too loud?" Buttercup said, as she raised an eyebrow.
"I guess that guy's really strict. Like Blossom." Bubbles added, being blunt without meaning to.
Blossom prickled as she frowned. "Excuse you! I am NOT that bossy!"
Before the girls could continue talking among themselves, the guy was asking his second question.
"And regarding the battle rules, there's a zero above one of the Villain robots. Why is that?"
Present Mic smiled. "I'm glad you asked! That's exactly what I was going to tell you next!"
After he said that, the slides switched to show a video game animation of a person defeating robots.
"As you probably concluded by now, the amount of points a robot has determines the difficulty of the robot's fighting style. The one with 1 point is the easiest, while the one with 3 points is the hardest. As for the 0 pointer robot, this is simply an Arena Trap!
"What's an Arena Trap, you might ask? Why, its purpose is basically what it's named after. An Arena Trap weeds out contenders and tries to prevent others from freely beating robots up! And, between you and me, I would avoid these guys. Not only are they worth absolutely no points, but they're pretty big. So even if you were able to strike down the mechanical hunk, you'd receive no points for it!"
Buttercup scoffed. "That sounds stupid. Why even include a big robot like that if it ain't worth any points?"
Blossom shrugged. "UA's very strange when it comes to organizing exams, probably."
"Alright!" Present Mic exclaimed, not hearing any of the girls' complaints, "Any more questions?"
When no one raised their hand, Present Mic clapped his hands together.
"Awesome! Now, if you are to take a quick peek at the card you grabbed on your way in here, you can see your assigned test site! That's right! This whole auditorium's gonna be sent to different test sites. They all look the same of course; a replica of a city! But, you are going to be with different people you don't know. And don't try counting on your buddies to help you with the practical. Everyone who went to the same middle school has been sent to different locations, to prevent cheaters!"
Bubbles froze at that. "Does that mean WE'LL be separated?"
Blossom glanced at her sisters' card, as well as her own. All of them had the same test site.
"I guess not. We'll still be together. But, we're scoring points individually. Not as a team."
Buttercup grinned. "Pssh! I can handle THAT. I'm gonna be the best fighter at our test site!"
Just then, Present Mic yelled, "SO WHAT ARE YALL WAITING FOR? HEAD ON OUT SO THAT YOU CATCH THE BUS TO YOUR TEST SITE! LET'S DO THIS THING!"
And with that, the slideshow turned off, and all of the lights came back on. Simultaneously, everyone got up, including the girls.
"This is it, I guess." Blossom sighed.
Bubbles gulped. "I'm kind of nervous…"
Buttercup hit her lightly on the arm. "Don't be, Bubs. We'll be fine! We TRAINED for this!"
Quickly, the girls rushed to move in the surging crowd heading outside the auditorium. Soon, they were able to go outside and get on their assigned bus, where they all sat next to each other. And then, finally, they were off, and the bus drove them to the test site. Blossom leaned against the window and stared outside as the bus moved.
She shared Bubbles's feelings. But, she was more than nervous; she was also scared. Scared that she and her sisters might fail the practical, and go back to Musutafu with no chance of getting into UA. Mostly, she was scared of the possibility that this path that they're taking won't ever lead to a chance of going home.
Blossom didn't ever want to consider such a thing. But, she couldn't help it. There was a bigger chance than she thought, of her and her sisters not getting home. For all she knew, this could be the girls' life from now on. Even if they were to get into UA and graduate, the girls would just become Heroes with limited privileges and costly fame. Blossom didn't want that, and she knew that her sisters didn't either.
Soon, Blossom's thoughts were interrupted as the bus pulled into the destination, and she sighed. She hoped that the trip was longer. But now, the bus was parked, and everyone was getting off. After leaving the bus, Blossom and her sisters stepped out into the sunlight, only to stop and stare in awe at the test site in front of them. Present Mic wasn't kidding. The site looked identical to an actual city, with towering buildings and winding streets and sidewalks. In a way, the city looked familiar, like the city that the girls unwillingly left all those months ago.
Around the girls, people were preparing by doing warm up stretches. As they walked farther into the crowd, the girls got ready too.
"Okay. You guys know what to do. Destroy as many robot Villains as we can. It's important to destroy the ones with higher points. Also, avoid Arena Traps." Blossom warned her sisters.
Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I think we all heard Present Mic back at the auditorium."
Just then, laughing caught the girls' attention and they turned around. A mini crowd was forming around someone, as people teased and laughed. As the girls got closer, the person they were crowded around was Deku, as he looked nervous and intimidated, as people teased him.
"Izuku Midoriya? Why are YOU here?"
"Yeah, aren't you Quirkless?"
"You can't even bother to win the practical if all you can do is STUDY!"
"Hey, at least we have less competition to worry about!"
As people laughed more, they started to walk away, giggling and whispering, as they left Deku, or Izuku as people called him, standing there, looking sad. As people went around the girls, Buttercup glared.
"Man, what is WITH the people being such huge pricks in this world?"
"Yeah! People are so mean!" Bubbles sighed.
Blossom looked to be deep in thought as she frowned. "They called him Quirkless… I wonder what that even is."
Just then, Present Mic's voice spoke through a nearby intercom, startling everybody.
"EVERYONE! WHAT ARE Y'ALL DOING, JUST STANDING HERE?! WAITING FOR A COUNTDOWN? WELL, NEWS FLASH, LIFE DOESN'T HAVE COUNTDOWNS! GET A MOVE ON UNLESS YOU WANT TO END UP WITH NO POINTS! GO, GO, GO!"
Immediately, everyone started to run into the city, harried. Buttercup snickered as she pushed off the ground and floated in midair.
"Why run when you can fly?" Buttercup said snidely.
With that, she blasted away, leaving a green trail behind her. Bubbles gasped.
"Hey! Wait for me!" she shouted after Buttercup.
As she said that, Bubbles pushed off the ground and flew after Buttercup, prompting Blossom to fly up and follow them. The girls jetted through the streets, separating to go and find their own robots to destroy. Buttercup turned down a corner, her eyes narrowed and searching places as she flew by.
"Now, where are you, you robot bastards…?" Buttercup mused to herself.
Suddenly, something jumped out into Buttercup's way, which prompted her to skid to a stop. Buttercup then found herself looking up at a robot, who loomed over her and seemed to be at least 5 feet taller. While she was stunned for a second, Buttercup found herself to be underwhelmed, as she chuckled.
"That's it? I fought scarier Villains in Townsville-"
Just then, the robot suddenly moved as it threw a punch at Buttercup. Although she was surprised by the sudden attack, Buttercup caught the punch, holding the robot's arm inches away from her face. As she stared at the fist, Buttercup dug into the metal, leaving noticeable dents, as she looked furiously at the robot.
"You bitch…"
Then, with a war yell, Buttercup swung the Villain around with ease and slammed the bot into the ground. Before the robot could recover, Buttercup was on top of it and decimated it in 3 punches.
Just as she finished caving the robot's head in, more bots emerged from alleys, their attention on her. Buttercup turned around to look at them, before grinning and moving her cap so that it faced backwards.
"Alright, you dickwads. You're in for a BEATING!"
Meanwhile, Bubbles wandered around, skipping on the sidewalk. Around her, she could see various people destroying robots. She watched them as she skipped, admiring their skills and Quirks.
"Wow… those guys are really good!" Bubbles remarked.
Just then, a 2 pointer robot popped up in front of her, aiming its barbed 'tail' at her face. Quickly, Bubbles did a backflip, dodging the jab. When she recovered, she looked up, wide-eyed, as the robot pulled back its tail.
"Don't worry, Mr. Robot! Don't try and attack me, 'cause I'm not here to hurt you! I'll just be immobilizing you." Bubbles said, greeting the robot as if it was a normal person.
Of course, the robot didn't understand or hear any of what Bubbles said, and attacked again, jabbing its tail at Bubbles. Easily, Bubbles caught and held onto the tail, yanking it forward after she had a tight hold on it. As the robot slipped and fell, Bubbles put a foot down firmly on its chest, and looked down at the robot with curiosity.
"Now, where are your rainbow wires so that I can yank them out…?" Bubbles mused, mostly to herself.
Despite being pinned to the ground, the robot shot a laser beam out of its face, which almost got Bubbles as she rolled off the robot. After she did, the robot wasted no time as it got up and lunged at her. As it did, Bubbles sighed.
"Guess we do this the hard way."
As the robot got close, Bubbles grabbed its tail, yanking it close enough for her to land a powerful kick on its face. This sent the robot flying into a building, destroyed by both Bubbles's kick and the impact. Bubbles then resumed her route as if nothing happened.
In another part of the site, Blossom was busy taking on a couple of 3 pointers. As the robots shot missiles at her, Blossom dodged them easily. She then sprang to one and grabbed onto it, pink electricity swarming her hands. The electricity caused the bot to short-circuit.
"Four!" she shouted as it was destroyed.
She quickly pushed off the bot's destroyed body towards another one, flipped in the air, and pushed her heel forcefully into the top of the bot's head, resulting in the bot getting crushed into a flat piece of metal.
"Eight!"
After Blossom said that, 4 robots sprang at her from all directions. But, Blossom didn't bat an eye at this as she rapidly spun around. As she spun, her eyes glowed red and laser beams blasted out of them. This resulted in laser beams going everywhere, puncturing every robot in Blossom's surrounding area. Once every robot fell down, Blossom stopped spinning, panting a little.
"Twenty-four." Blossom whispered, as she ran off.
As she ran around, looking for more robots, something suddenly rammed into her side, making Blossom move a few inches to the side. She jumped to the side and turned around, expecting a robot. But, what she was was Buttercup, looking dirty and pissed. 2 robots emerged into the alley, presumably the ones that blasted Buttercup out of the alley.
Blossom looked at her sister, worried. "Need some help?"
But, Buttercup simply took off her cap and pushed it into Blossom's hands.
"They're mine." Buttercup growled in a dark voice.
Before Blossom could say anything, Buttercup jetted towards the robots like a green bullet, grabbed the robots' heads, and rammed them into each other, blasting them into pieces. Soon, Buttercup came back, looking much more composed and holding pieces of metal and wires in both of her hands. Nonchalantly, Buttercup dropped the metal in her hands and took the cap back calmly.
"Thanks." Buttercup simply said as she put her cap back on.
Blossom, for a moment, looked like she wanted to address what just happened, but in the end, decided not to.
"Have you seen Bubbles around?" Blossom asked.
Before Buttercup replied, a blue blur flashed in both of their visions before Bubbles was in front of them, smiling.
"I destroyed my 47th robot!"
To show them proof, Bubbles tossed something in her hands down on the ground, which looked at first to be a spiky green ball, but was actually a crumpled up robot. Blossom nodded slowly as she looked at the robot remains nervously.
"Okay. I guess it's safe to say we're doing fine." Blossom sighed.
Just then, a barely recognizable rumble echoed throughout the city. While Buttercup and Bubbles didn't hear it, Blossom did as she frowned and straightened upwards.
"Did you hear that?" Blossom asked.
Bubbles tilted her head a little, confused. "Hear what?"
After she said that though, a louder rumble echoed, just audible enough for Buttercup and Bubbles to hear.
"Another portal?" Buttercup asked, brightening.
Suddenly, the girls heard screams in the distance. After sharing a look, the girls flew off to where the screams were coming from. As they got closer to the scene and landed, they were immediately pushed by hands belonging to terrified and frantic people running in the opposite direction. At first, the girls were confused as to why people were running. That is, until Bubbles looked up, her eyes growing wide and terrified.
"I don't think THAT'S a portal…" Bubbles whispered.
Blossom and Buttercup confusedly followed Bubbles's gaze until they too were taken by shock. That was because a large shadow was coming around the corner of a building. As it appeared into view, it looked like a large robot, twice as large as the buildings. And it was slowly approaching the people who were now running for their lives.
"Is that… the Arena Trap?" Buttercup asked slowly.
Blossom nodded with a gulp. "Sure is."
Buttercup then glared as she threw her hands up in the air. "WHY IS IT SO DAMN HUGE?!"
As the girls looked back down, they saw more and more people fleeing, some of them even abandoning the robots they were destroying. In the distance, they could see someone. It was a girl with brown hair, who was helping up people who tripped or fell, helping them flee.
"Everyone, stay back! It's an Arena Trap!" the girl shouted.
Buttercup squinted, trying to see farther.
"That girl's helping people… but she's gonna get caught by the trap!"
Just then, 3 robots appeared around the girl, catching her by surprise. As they closed in around her, she took action and attacked. She rapidly touched the robots with all of her fingers, which, to the three's shock, caused each robot to float into the air. Looking exhausted, the girl touched her fingers together, causing the robots to come crashing down. But then, as one fell, it took her down with her, trapping her underneath robot debris.
"Wow… how did she lift the robots up?" Bubbles wondered.
"More importantly, SHE'S TRAPPED FROM THE ROBOT METAL!" Buttercup yelled.
Sure enough, the girl was struggling to get out from underneath the destroyed robots. But, due to her exhaustion, she was unable to free herself, as the Arena Trap drew nearer and nearer.
"Someone needs to help her!" Bubbles exclaimed.
But, as the girls looked around, the people who did notice were either slowly backing away or frozen in shock. No one was scrambling to help the girl, who was now calling for help herself.
"The people in this reality really are pussies…" Buttercup said, disgusted.
Blossom looked back at the Arena Trap, who was getting closer, and tensed in a fighting position.
"Guess we have to save the day again. We need to push that robot back!"
"Right!" Bubbles and Buttercup replied in unison.
But before the girls could move, someone else already did. Someone was running towards the robot, prompting the girls to stare in shock.
"Someone is going to help!" Bubbles gasped.
Just then, the person leapt into the air at an abnormally high height. As he did, he started to glow green, as green energy came off of him in waves. Then, he seemed to throw a punch as he shouted something that everyone could hear.
"SMASH!"
And with that, the boy punched the Arena Trap in the face. The sheer force of the punch pushed it back several feet and into a building. The crowd watching gasped, especially the girls.
"WOW!" Buttercup exclaimed.
"That one punch took out the whole bot!" Bubbles added.
Blossom, meanwhile, kept her eyes on the boy as he seemed to float in midair. But, that only lasted for a split second, and he started to fall, which prompted another round of screams.
As the girls' eyes grew wide, they didn't waste another word as they flew away from the crowd and towards the falling boy.
"Bubbles, Buttercup! Grab his legs!" Blossom shouted.
With a collective nod, Buttercup and Bubbles reached the boy and quickly took hold of one foot each. As the boy's upper half still dropped, Blossom quickly caught him, supporting his upper back and head. In the girls' arms, he was barely conscious, his eyes only a tiny bit open.
Slowly, the girls flew down to the ground and set him gently on the ground next to the girl trapped under the debris, who stared at them in shock and amazement. As soon as the boy was properly set down, the girls rushed over to the pile of debris, looking down at the girl.
"We'll help get you out of here!" Blossom said.
The girl's eyes brightened, looking eternally grateful. "Thank you…"
But before the girls could move a muscle, they heard a mechanical groan, as well as more screams. Apparently, with its face caved in and after being blasted into a building, the Arena Trap could still function as it pushed itself away from the building.
"Hold that thought…" Blossom sighed, before looking at her sisters with a determined expression, "Let's go, girls!"
Together, the three blasted up into the sky to face the wounded Arena Trap.
"BULLET FORMATION, LET'S GO!" Blossom shouted.
After she said that, the girls flew towards the Arena Trap, side by side. Moving in a complicated fashion, the girls flew up and around each other so fast that their flight trails became one large rainbow comet.
"NOW!"
As soon as the comet was formed, the girls flew at top speed right through the Arena Trap's chest. This punctured a gaping hole into it, causing the robot to malfunction. Finally, it fell backwards and crashed into the ground, being destroyed with one final explosion. This caused a strong gust of wind that blasted everyone's faces.
After the robot fell, the girls slowed down and separated, flying back to where the girl and Deku were, landing on the ground gracefully. Looking tired, the girls plopped down on the floor.
"We'll free you. Just give us a second…" Blossom panted.
While the girl looked grateful for a few seconds, that look turned into one of nausea, as she quickly turned around and puked.
To the crowd, they were shown a weirdly depressing sight, with three young girls sitting and out of breath, a girl puking, and a boy currently unconscious with a broken arm and broken legs. Just then, Present Mic's voice spoke over the intercom.
"Time's up! That's it for our practical!"