— — START — —
The room was dark, bathed in the soft glow of dozens of floating screens.
Each one displayed a different corner of U.A.'s replica cities—streets in chaos, robots advancing, examinees sprinting, fighting, failing. The air buzzed faintly with overlapping audio feeds, muted just enough to keep the room from becoming noise.
"My, my," came a light, almost playful voice from a small silhouette perched atop a high-backed chair. The figure's ears twitched. "It seems we've reaped a promising batch of crops this year."
A nearby screen flickered as a tall, bulky silhouette adjusted its posture. The reflective glass of an astronaut-like helmet caught the shifting images."A strict time limit and a vast battleground," the figure said, voice oddly mechanical yet enthusiastic. "Nothing quite like it to force passion into the open and uncover raw potential!"
A rough chuckle followed.
"Just make sure you don't expel your whole class again this year, huh, Aizawa?"
A long-haired man sat slouched near the back, arms crossed, eyes half-lidded beneath messy bangs. He didn't bother responding—just exhaled through his nose.
Before anyone else could pile on, a sultry voice cut in, amused. "Yeah, I'm almost one hundred percent sure he—"
She stopped.
One of the screens had caught her eye.
The camera followed a boy tearing through a city street atop a rolling cloud, laughter sharp and unrestrained. His uniform was torn at the sleeves, dirt smeared across his cheek and jaw. Sweat darkened his collar, eyes bright with something almost feral, and his hair looked akin to a cloud, wisping in the air.
His grin was wide. Unapologetic.
Dangerously alive.
"That's—!"
"Examinee 7112," a calm voice interrupted.
A cowboy-themed Pro Hero tipped his hat back slightly, holding up a sleek tablet. Data scrolled across the screen. "Sorashi Shirakumo. Quirk: Nimbus. Ability to generate and manipulate cloud-like constructs."
"Don't, Kayama," came an exasperated warning from a towering, cement-like figure beside her, expecting her to make a dirty joke.
She ignored him entirely, eyes fixed instead on the tired-looking man at the back.
Aizawa didn't look away from the screen.
"Yes, it's his brother," he replied calmly.
A tall, skeletal man in an ornate gold suit tilted his head. "Who is it, Ms. Kayama?"
Midnight smiled sadly, reclining back into her chair. "I'll tell you later." Her eyes flicked back to the screen. "For now… let's keep watching."
Nezu—head cocked, paws steepled—studied the chaos with solemn interest. After a moment, his mouth curled into a small smile.
"I think," he said sweetly, "it's time to truly test their tenacity."
He pressed a large red button.
...
Across the replica cities—
"ONE MINUTE LEFTTOOOO!!!"
Present Mic's voice thundered from above, rattling windows and nerves alike.
The ground shook. Then cracked.
Steel groaned as something massive forced itself into the streets—each step sending shockwaves through asphalt and concrete. The 0-Pointer rose into view, towering over buildings, its body a hulking mass of armor and hydraulics, eyes glowing with an unfeeling red glare.
Some examinees froze.
Some cheered.
Most stared in sheer disbelief.
'That's ridiculously huge!!!' they all thought.
...
| City Block A
People ran.
Tenya Iida was already in motion, engines roaring as he sped past fallen debris and panicked examinees. As he passed a green-haired boy stumbling in place, he shouted—
"You should run!"
The boy barely registered it.
"Is—is this some kind of sick joke?!" the teen gasped, eyes darting wildly. "If I run, I get no points! But if I stay— I—I'm still at zero! I'm doomed!"
His legs trembled.
'Everything All Might gave me... will go to waste..!' he thought, tears welling up.
"O-ouch!"
The sound cut through his spiral.
A girl lay trapped beneath fallen rubble, the enormous hand of the robot descending toward her like a guillotine.
Tenya skidded to a stop a few feet behind the green-haired boy. His gaze snapped between the crushing hand… and the girl.
"Urgh!" he shouted, decision ripping through him. He rushed back to save her.
And then—
Something passed him.
Fast. No—faster.
A blur streaked forward, wind snapping in its wake. The green-haired boy's body moved on its own.
'Clench your butt super tight, and scream from the bottom of your heart!'
"SMASH!!!"
The impact seemed to crack the air itself.
And somewhere, in a dark room filled with glowing screens, several Pros leaned forward at once.
- - - -
In City Block C, just moments before...
[1st Person POV: Sorashi Shirakumo]
"What the hell is that?!" I said, forcing a laugh as I stood atop a flattened car.
The laugh didn't last.
The 0-Pointer was massive—easily taller than the surrounding buildings. Its tank-like tracks chewed through asphalt with a deafening grind, every rotation shaking my bones. The torso rotated slowly, heavy and methodical.
A few examinees were frozen in place near a collapsed storefront.
They weren't even screaming.
They were just… staring.
The robot rolled forward.
"…Crap."
I leapt down, summoning a cloud beneath my feet and skating toward them. "MOVE! NOW!"
That snapped them out of it. They scrambled away as the robot's massive shadow swallowed the street. It seemed to be locked onto me now.
Okay, can I fight this thing?
Should I fight this thing?
"I really shouldn't fight it... But I will!" I shouted, smiling like an idiot, before quickly disappearing.
Yeah, I must be an idiot.
I drowned out everything and used my cloud to move backwards, gaining some distance between the robot and me to think of a plan.
I can't break that thing, and I sure as hell can't topple it like I've been doing to its little cousins.
My eyes scanned the machine desperately, and that's when I noticed it.
As the robot adjusted its weight, a panel on its lower torso slid open briefly—gears shifting, pistons rotating, the inner framework exposed before sealing again.
In..side..?
A reckless idea formed inside my big brain.
If I couldn't stop it from the outside… maybe I could do it from the inside.
My smile returned—tight and nervous.
"…This is a terrible idea. But then again, this is what Ant-Man should have done in that famous 21st Century Superhero movie."
The robot advanced again. The hatch opened once more, and I didn't hesitate.
A cloud formed under my feet, launching me upward. I barely caught the edge of the opening, fingers scraping metal as I hauled myself inside. The hatch slammed shut behind me with a clang that echoed far too loudly.
Darkness. Heat. Vibration.
The inside of the robot was chaos—moving pistons, rotating joints, thick cables pulsing with energy. Everything shook with each roll of the tracks below.
I clung to a metal brace, heart hammering.
Okay. Focus.
My cloud control was strongest within twenty meters or so—smooth, responsive, precise. Anything past that, my clouds got sloppy, weak, and unreliable.
But in here?
I was well within range.
And so, I spread my hands.
Dense clouds formed instantly, packed tight instead of fluffy, forced into every open space around me. They expelled from my body, and swelled between pistons, wrapped around support beams, and clogged its mechanical joints.
Warning lights flashed.
The robot lurched.
"Oh, that's a good sign," I muttered.
The interior groaned as the machine tried to compensate. Metal strained. Gears ground against resistance they weren't designed for.
I pushed harder.
More clouds. Thicker. Heavier.
My head throbbed as I compressed them, forcing pressure to build instead of disperse.
"Okay," I breathed. "Big finish."
My eyebrows furrowed as I condensed everything into the robot's core. I turned my extended arm slightly, and with what little focus I had left, I coated myself with some of my clouds.
It wrapped and thickened, forming a cocoon around me.
And then—
I released my hold on the robot's core.
The explosion was immediate.
A deafening BOOM ripped through the machine as the compressed clouds expanded violently, blowing outward in every direction. Metal plates tore apart. Internal components shattered like glass. The force hurled me backward as the robot's torso ruptured from the inside.
The entire machine seized.
Then collapsed.
I must have been ejected out of its chest, tumbling through the air before landing hard on the street. My cocoon rolled, skidded, and finally stopped.
I quickly released my control as my head felt as if an elephant was stomping on it.
I was left on my back, staring up at the sky as debris rained down around me.
Smoke rose from the fallen giant.
The 0-Pointer didn't move.
"…Hah," I laughed breathlessly. "Explosions... are awesome."
Nearby examinees stared at the wreckage—and then at me—with wide eyes.
I just lay there, arms spread, clouds slowly dissipating above me.
"Worth it."
I closed my eyes, and everything went dark.
— — END — —
A/N: I hope y'all don't think that this Entrance Exam arc was "dragged out"... (ᵕ—ᴗ—)
Also, keep them reviews comin'! Tell me what you think of this so far!