Chapter 6: The Eye of the Storm
The exam didn't just escalate; it devolved into a war zone.
After Kuma's initial display of power, he became a locomotive of rejection. He ran through the concrete labyrinth, his large, bare hands moving in a blur of motion.
A 1-Pointer, a swift wheel-based unit, lunged at his flank. Kuma didn't even turn his head. He simply extended his left arm, the pink pad catching the robot's nose. Pop. The machine reversed direction instantly, crashing into a lamppost and folding around it like wet cardboard.
But the machines were relentless.
Two 2-Pointers—heavy, tank-treaded units—blocked the road ahead. They fired rubber bullets in a suppression volley. Kuma crossed his arms, shielding his face, taking the sting of the rounds on his forearms. He charged.
He didn't stop to repel them individually. He barreled between them, throwing both arms out in a clothesline motion. His pads connected with both chassis simultaneously.
Double Pop.
The two tanks were blasted sideways into the storefronts lining the street, burying themselves in rubble.
"Behind you!" a student screamed.
Kuma pivoted, but the swarm was too thick. A 3-Pointer had dropped from a fire escape. Its metallic arm swung down, catching Kuma in the stomach.
Thud.
He grunted, the air leaving his lungs. He wasn't made of steel; he was flesh and blood. He staggered back, gasping. Another robot, a smaller 1-Pointer, took advantage of his stumble, its manipulator claw grazing his face.
It stung. A stream of blood trickled from a cut on his forehead, winding down his cheek to his jaw. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, his breathing heavy.
Then, the world shook.
It wasn't a vibration; it was a geological event. The asphalt under Kuma's feet rippled. The glass windows of the surrounding skyscrapers didn't just crack—they shattered simultaneously, raining down like jagged hail.
From the main avenue, a shadow eclipsed the sun. The Zero-Pointer.
It was colossal, a green titan that dwarfed the buildings around it. But it wasn't alone. Around its massive treads, a legion of smaller robots scuttled like soldier ants protecting their queen.
"You... you gotta be kidding me," Tetsutetsu gasped, stepping up beside Kuma, his metal skin dented and scratched. "They say that thing is worth zero points? It's a monster!"
Kuma looked at his silver friend, then looked behind him.
The situation was dire. The students of Battle Center K had been corralled. They were backed against a dead-end building, forming a terrified semi-circle. Every street leading to them was choked with advancing robots. They were trapped.
In the Observation Room, the mood was tense.
"The AI in Center K has adapted aggressively," Principal Nezu noted, his eyes narrowing. "Due to the lack of long-range firepower among the examinees in that zone, the robots have overwhelmed them. This is a catastrophic result. Should we abort?"
"Wait," Midnight interjected, her eyes glued to a specific screen. "Look at the front line. The Panda Boy and the Metal Boy haven't broken formation."
Back in the dust and noise, panic was setting in.
Kuma turned to Tetsutetsu. His voice was calm, despite the blood on his face.
"Can you cover me?" Kuma asked. "If I can reach the main body of the giant, I can end this. But the swarm on the ground is too dense."
Tetsutetsu smashed his fists together, sparks flying. "You want a path? I'll make you a path! Rely on me!"
"Wait!"
A shaky, high-pitched voice came from below. Mineta was trembling so hard his legs looked like jelly. He looked at the swarm, then at the giant robot, and finally at Kuma.
"You need height, right?" Mineta squeaked. He grabbed his head with both hands, straining and grunting. "HRRRGGH!"
His scalp seemed to bubble. Instead of plucking the balls off, he forced them to grow rapidly, piling them on top of each other without detaching them. In seconds, his head was covered in a massive, dense, purple afro of sticky spheres.
"My scalp is bleeding!" Mineta screamed, tears streaming down his face. "This is my limit! It's a super-bounce cushion! Step on my head! Just do it!"
Kuma nodded once. "Understood."
"Let's GOOOO!" Tetsutetsu roared.
The steel boy charged. He didn't dodge; he became a battering ram. He threw himself into the horde of twenty robots blocking the street. Lasers pinged off his skin; metal claws raked harmlessly against his chrome chest. He punched, kicked, and headbutted, holding the line through sheer grit.
"Now!" Mineta screamed, running forward behind Tetsutetsu. He stopped, planted his feet, and braced his neck, the massive grape-afro wobbling.
Kuma sprinted. The ground shook with his strides.
He reached Mineta. With a grace that belied his size, he leaped. His sneaker landed squarely on the mass of purple spheres atop Mineta's head.
BOING.
The recoil was violent. Mineta's face was smashed into the asphalt with such force that his eyes rolled back white, foam forming at his mouth. He was out cold instantly.
But the launch was successful.
Kuma shot into the air like a rocket. The wind roared in his ears. He soared over the heads of the smaller robots, rising higher, and higher, until he was face-to-face with the Zero-Pointer's central lens.
The giant robot raised a hand to swat him, but Kuma was already there.
He pulled both hands back. He didn't just touch the surface; he pressed his palms against the air inches from the metal, compressing the space between them.
"Ursus... Reflecting Cat Slap!"
He thrust both palms forward. The pink pads made contact.
Pop.
It was a small sound. A whisper.
Then, reality distorted.
The Zero-Pointer did not explode. It simply... vacated the space.
In a blink, the colossal machine vanished from in front of Kuma.
BOOOM!
Hundreds of meters away, the air shattered. The Zero-Pointer reappeared instantaneously, flying backward horizontally as if struck by an invisible titan. It crashed through the first skyscraper, turning concrete to dust. It didn't stop. It punched through a second building, then a third, carrying the momentum of the rejection.
It finally came to a rest four blocks away, a twisted heap of metal buried under a mountain of urban rubble.
The shockwave of the displacement blew the clouds away from the sky.
Kuma began to fall, gravity reclaiming him.
Below, the students watched with mouths agape. The robots had stopped moving, their central command unit offline.
Tetsutetsu looked at the destruction in the distance, then up at the falling figure.
"Holy..."
The buzzer sounded across the city.
"TIME'S UP!"
Kuma hit the ground. He didn't land on his feet. He was spent. He landed flat on his belly with a heavy THWUMP that shook the pavement.
His arms flopped to his sides. His glasses sat crookedly on his nose. His eyes rolled back into his head, turning completely white.
Beside him, Mineta lay face down, eyes also white.
The gentle giant and the grape boy lay side by side, both unconscious, victorious, and utterly defeated by gravity.
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