An hour later, they were finally ready to start the exam.
The sun, already beginning its descent, hung right before them. Its gaze, blocked by the giant black-metal gates of Battle Center E, casting a long shadow over the group of students eagerly waiting for the gates to open before them.
"Are you ready?" A tall boy asked the kid next to him.
"Man, this exam is gonna be a piece of cake?"
"I can't believe we get to finally use our quirks."
"I know, right? Hey, what's your quirk?" A green haired boy friendly threw his arm around another kids neck.
"Ugh, I think I ate too much."
A mutli colored haired girl whined to her friend next to her.
"Girl, that's why I told you to hold back; don't be throwing up on my brand new shoes either. My parents bought these for me just for today. So that I can kick ass in style."
"Hey, is that-"
"Yeah, it's the idiot that was eating during Present Mic's presentation."
"How crazy do you have to be to do something like that? I could barely stop shaking from just seeing Present Mic in person." A blonde haired kid sneered.
"Ignore him; he's American."
"Freakin Ganji, why the hell do they have to try and take our spots? What, is the school in America not good enough for him?"
"Come on, man, you know UA is the best in the world. "
"Look at him, sitting down on the ground like a bum when everyone else is taking this seriously."
Still buzzing from meeting Present Mic in person, many of the students immediately formed groups in front of the gates, talking and laughing with each other.
These were the confident kids, so sure they were gonna make it in that they barely did any preparation before the start of the exam. Choosing to ignore the more skittish and nervous kids off to the sides and instead make friends with the ones who they thought were gonna pass.
Though, from what he could hear, Alex suspected that for some of them, being friends was the last thing on their mind. Especially when quirks suddenly started being part of their conversations.
But Alex didn't care about any of that right now. He didn't have time to listen to their inane conversations.
He didn't even care that they were talking badly about him to his face, though if he sees them after the exam, he'll definitely have some words with them.
No, right now he was busy.
Sitting off to the side on a bench, Alex held onto one of his antlers tightly, keeping it steady. Holding a heavy metal file with his other hand Alex slowly filed down any sharp points on his antlers.
His rainbow glasses glittered under the sunlight as sweat dripped down his face.
He had to be careful now; he'd already shaved one side, so if he didn't make them match exactly, his head was gonna look lopsided. And if that happened, then he'd rather just cut the whole thing off.
And there, taking one last swipe with the file Alex pulled his hand away, finished.
Just need to double-check. Taking out a mirror from his pocket, Alex angled it in front of him. Holding it there, Alex did a once-over of his antlers before nodding. Yep, that was the last one.
"Hahhh"
Letting his arms drop, Alex sighed. He hated having to shave his antlers. It always takes too long, and he always gets so scared that he's gonna mess up somehow.
The only reason why he's doing this is because Ryuko forced him to. It was either he shave them himself, or she was gonna get Rumi to do it, and that wasn't gonna happen.
Last thing he needs is Miss Thunder-Thighs herself getting anywhere near his head with a saw.
He wished he could just not care about it and let them grow out like he did back home. Unfortunately, because of Japan's stupid laws, he can't do that anymore.
Why? Because under their stupid laws, things like fur, nails, tails, milk, horns- all the things that are basically the hair and nails for heteromorphs- are actually seen, under the law, as part of your quirk, and any damage caused by them could, thereby, be classified as assault with a quirk.
That's crazy, right? Do you know how insane that sounds?
In Japan, by law, if your claws accidentally scratch a lady on the train or if your horns damage parts of a building, you could be sued or charged for illegal quirk usage depending on the type of judge you get.
Alex even heard that some heteromorphs with fur can't apply for apartments with no-pet policies. Or that you can be asked to leave if someone around you has an allergy.
Can you believe that?
Pushing his glasses up onto his forehead, Alex irritably rubbed his face. If he knew Japan was going to be this annoying, he might have just stayed back home.
Not that Japan is the worst, compared to some parts of the world. But the way heteromorphs were treated in this country, compared to America, left much to be desired.
Hell, they're not even called heteromorphs here, Alex found out. Apparently, they're still officially registered as Mutants.
A term that, fifty years ago, was deemed derogatory in America.
Alex fixed his glasses. Putting his file and mirror back into his bag Alex threw his arms behind the bench and let his head fall back against the wood.
Looking up at the sky, Alex let out another sigh before smirking.
Well, now use crying now. The only thing he could do now was have as much fun as he can. And if someone pisses him off, then they're going straight into the punch list.
Alex's ears twitched. He just heard something.
Slowly, sliding his eyes over towards Battle Center, Alex watched the still gates out of the corner of his eye.
A second later, a deep, heavy groan of large gears and pistons from within rang out across the field. Everyone stopped talking; they heard it now. The kids off to the side stopped stretching and got up, joining everyone else.
Turning towards the front, they saw it; the gates were opening.
As the gates slowly swung open, a small crack appeared between them, letting in a sliver of light that cut the shadows in half. Gradually, that sliver of light widened to an inch, then a foot, until finally no shadow remained, only sunlight.
Battle Center E stood before them under the sun, empty save for the sound of metal machinery clanging just out of sight.
A black and yellow strip on the ground marked the boundary into the city.
"Finally."
"It's open."
"Come on, I want to be first."
Like excited little puppies being let off their leash, half of them surged forward, battling their way to the front of the line. The other, more skittish half hung in the back like ducklings.
And Alex, well, Alex stayed seated on the bench. Resting, he watched everything unfold.
Above, the intercoms turned on with a sharp whine.
"HELLO! HELLO! HELLO! LISTENERS!" Present Mic screamed over the intercoms. His voice, carrying from every Battle Center, echoed for miles.
"Agh!" Alex shot forward, curling himself inward as he winced, grabbing the side of his head. Damn him and his voice!
"In just a moment, the practical exam will begin, and you will have ten minutes to find and destroy as many villains as you can. Good luck and remember Plust Ultra!"
The air above the examinees got serious.
"Ready…"
Bending their legs, they got ready for the countdown.
"SET GO!"
Everyone stumbled. What was that? Did they hear him right? Where was the 3-2-1? Did they miss it?
"What did you think? There would be a countdown in real life. The exam has started, go Go GO!!"
"Argh, whatever." Someone cried.
"Let's go!"
Confused and thrown off their game, the only thing they could do was run and hope those few seconds of fall start didn't mess up their chances.
Watching them run in the Battle Center, Alex waited for about two minutes, until the last person disappeared from his view and the sounds of battle started to become clear.
Dusting off his jeans, Alex got up and walked over to the middle of the field.
"Ahh, that should be enough of a head start, I think. Don't want to ruin their chances after all."
Stretching his legs out to the side, Alex kicked off his shoes and dropped down into a runner's pose.
Looking up, his glasses glossed over. A wide smile spread across his face as Alex placed his hands on the ground and sank even lower. His legs tensed as small cracks formed under his toes.
"Ok, let's go."
Boom
With an explosive push, Alex shot into Battle Center E like a cannon.
Arms tucked against his side, Alex flew through the air, flying higher than the buildings for a second.
Up in the air, the entire cityscape of Battle Center E spread out in front of him like a painting. For the first time since coming here, Alex relaxed his ears, letting the sounds of the Battle Center come to him.
The whole world opened up to him. Everywhere around him, he could hear sounds of battle. Of tank treads and heavy stomps drowned out by yells and explosions.
The other examinees had already spread out in a circle from the gates. Covering every direction, except one.
As he fell, Alex kicked off a building, turning left toward an alleyway. There, further in, Alex saw two 1-pointers and two 2- pointers hiding in the shadows.
'There you are'
Letting out a feral smile, Alex kicked off an air conditioning unit hanging out a window and went down.
[Warning: Presence detected]
[Ready ammunition]
[Prepare to die, hero]
Their processors must have noticed his shadow cause they looked up, but by then it was already too late. All they saw was the black silhouette of a kid with antlers and rabbit ears descending towards them with a white smile and glowing glasses.
Before they could bring their guns up, Alex twisted himself and spun through the air with his leg stretched out. His heel crashed into the 1-pointer's metal skull and flattened it to scrap.
Landing on his knee, Alex fished out his file and plunged it into the second 1-pointer's head.
[Aiming]
Not giving them a chance, Alex thrust his hands forward and speared the remaining 2-pointers in the chest.
[Error-Error]
[Malfunction]
Yanking his hands back, Alex pulled out two round metal spheres from their chests. Ripping the wires attached to them as they came out.
By himself in the alley, Alex watched as the three robots collapsed to the ground. Dropping the parts, oil dripped from his hands. Alex looked back towards the street.
"Where to next?"
(\YY/)
( -.- )
0_(")(")
Kicking off the side of a building, Alex used it as a springboard to the next one. Pinballing off each building and building up speed as he went.
Honestly, doing this was super hard. Like way harder than people realized. As Alex not only had to be careful where he kicked off from so that he wasn't breaking any glass, but he also had to be mindful of where he was going so that he didn't run into any wires or stray missiles flying through the air.
Like that one right now.
Jumping into the air, Alex grabbed the cartoonishly red and white missile and spun with it. Turning around, he threw the missile back down at the 3-pointer below, fighting a pair of examinees.
Not even looking back, Alex kept going as the 3-pointer exploded behind him.
Yes sir-e, this was not as easy as Alex made it out to be.
Thankfully, he had enough practice in Wonderland. Running and dodging from quirked animals aiming at him.
Rounding the next corner, Alex looked down at a squad of 2-pointers and a single 3-pointer leading them in the middle.
"Jehahaha." Laughing out loud, Alex kicked off the building, launching himself straight toward the 3-pointer in the back.
Bending his legs, Alex landed on the 3-pointer's shoulders, crushing it flat beneath his feet as he landed.
Not even giving the rest of them a chance to react, Alex did a handstand and swept his legs around like a windmill, taking off all their heads in a clean sweep.
Standing in the middle of the wreckage, Alex did the math in his head. Over the last couple of minutes, he's destroyed thirty 1-pointers, thirteen 2-pointers, and nine 3-pointers.
With his ears, it had been easy finding the largest clusters of robots around the Battle Center and aiming for those. Along the way picking off stragglers battling other examinees, though only when they looked like they couldn't handle it.
They were usually thankful for his help, except for that one purple midget, but he wasn't important. What was important was that he had 87 points in his pocket.
It was gonna be hard to get any more than that. Already he could hear sounds of battle dwindling down as more and more 'villains' were destroyed.
This was the last group by themselves that he heard. All the others were scattered by themselves around the edges of the Battle Center. Not worth the effort, especially as there was only a minute left in the exam.
Sighing, Alex ran his hand through his hair. Not caring that it was covered in oil, Alex looked up to the sky.
'Man, was this it?' he thought. 'I had hoped the practical would be more fun, but if this is all, I guess I better stop now. Let the others pick off the rest'
As he contemplated where would be the best place to lay down, Alex felt a tremor go off beneath him.
Curious, Alex looked down. A rock next to him bounced as another tremor hit.
Alex's ears perked up. Down the street toward the middle of the Battle Center, Alex could hear screams along with heavy thumps. Like the ones he'd hear from the big animals back at the Haven.
"Run!"
"What the hell is that!"
"It's the 0-pointer; run, it's not worth it."
There! Alex heard them.
Jumping up, Alex landed atop a roof and started running toward the noise.
Thankfully, he didn't have to run far to see what they were screaming about.
Towering over every building around it, a giant green robot stood by itself. The massive yellow 0 on its head was prominent as it lumbered forward.
Below, everyone was running away, but it was hard. Every casual step shook the ground, and every swing of its arms broke the concrete buildings around it.
Stopping at the edge of the roof, Alex stared wide-eyed at the walking skyscraper before him.
Slowly, a smile spread across his face.
"Jehaha.." A small chuckle escaped from his lips before it turned into full-blown laughter.
"JEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Alex back bent backward as he couldn't stop laughing.
"I THOUGHT THE FUN WAS OVER, BUT INSTEAD THERE'S ONE MORE GIFT LEFT TO OPEN!!"
Ignoring everything else around him, Alex jumped off the building and started running towards the massive robot before him.
"What is that guy doing!?"
"I don't know; leave him!?"
Running forward, Alex started to build a plan. He could try bringing that thing down by force, but with how much it was moving, it'd take too long, and he had less than a minute before the exam ended.
If he had his ink with him, that'd be a different story, but seeing as how he thought it'd be a waste to use his precious supplies that he bought with his hard-earned money on a simple test, he had left everything at home.
Well, Alex canines poked out as he smiled. Only one option then,
Pulling out his file, Alex held out his hand and plunged the dull end into his palm, stabbing through his hand all the way to the other side.
[Enemy sighted - Engaging]
Turning its massive red lenses towards Alex, the 0-pointer took a massive step, shaking the street again as it did.
Not even breaking his stride, Alex slid forward, dragging his bleeding hand on the ground behind him, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Passing through the 0-pointers legs, Alex came out to the other side and raised his bloody hand in the air.
You know, when people hear about his quirk, Inked-Up, people assume that they know everything about it. That they could work out every facet just form it's name alone.
But in fact, his quirk was fairly complex with many facets. Many of which Alex has barely tapped into.
One of them being that his quirk doesn't require ink to work.It can work with anything. Crayons, paint, mud, he just has to be the one to draw it. Ink was just what worked the best.
And the second best.
His blood.
From the ground, red cables of blood rose up into the air. Taking on the hardness of the street that it was drawn on, the blood started wrapping around the robot, starting at its legs and working its way up. Twisting in the air like a tornado.
Tying the robot up and holding it still.
It wasn't gonna last long; after all, it only had the strength of asphalt, but it'd be long enough.
Grabbing one of the strands of blood as it whipped around, Alex climbed on top, riding it upwards as the 0-pointer started to thrash around. Breaking a few of the strands as it did.
[Warning-Warning obstruction detected]
"JEHAHA FALL!" Letting his smile spread wide, Alex leaped up and pulled back his fist.
Boom
Falling down, Alex punched the 0-pointer right in the face, breaking it and cratering it inward.
Crashing it to the ground, Alex dropped down and landed on the fallen robot's head. Standing atop its body, Alex looked down on all the shocked and scared faces below him as the sun stood behind him.
Smiling, Alex laughed. "Jehaha"
*
*
*
*
Happy Halloween, everyone. I hope you like this new chapter
A question. Do you guys prefer the titles as just chapter numbers, or do you want me to name them? As it's still early on, I can do that, but as the story progresses, I won't be able to anymore, so let me know.