The halfa reacted by throwing both of his arms forward and launching a pair of energy blasts to the oncoming opponent, who was, in turn, forced to react with an aggressive pull on the line of his tape in order to shift to the side fast enough to avoid the full impact.
But, the blast had been a bit faster than he would have thought. And the reaction wasn't enough to stop one of the ghost energy blasts from hitting his shoulder, taking the tape hero's attention away from Danny. And giving him the chance to counter.
He flew up from the pavement and soared towards the distracted Sero in mid-air, rearing back his fist as he did so. Not the face, right? His friend turned just in enough time to look on in shock as Danny launched his blow forward and to Sero's side.
The impact produced a grunt of pain from the tape user, as well as a falter in the air as Sero lost his momentum and his grip on his swinging tape.
"Not the face," Danny said with a smile. "You're welcome."
The tape hero coughed as his elbow dispenser broke away from the tape he was swinging from and crumpled onto Danny with his full weight, which was what the halfa had hoped for.
Taking Sero by the arms and aimed to toss him outside the fence, he stopped as his arm was halted by a violent pull on his right arm and an onset of pressure.
"Yeah, thank you for that," Sero wheezed for a moment, but his voice soon took on a full mocking tone. "I can still see how to properly dispense my tape thanks to that rule."
Danny spluttered. He tried to turn to see what Sero had done to his arm, but was unable to as the tape hero quickly delivered a punch to the halfa's gut, doubling him over and giving him the chance to shift himself onto Danny's back.
As he did so, he quickly slung Danny's already taped hand and his free hand into a strip of tape torn from the line of tape he had swung in on, effectively binding the halfa's hands in the blink of an eye. And leaving the stunned ghost boy unable to properly react as he shot two new rows of tape directly down to the pavement below and pulled forward.
They rocketed towards the pavement, Danny's eyes widening as he saw exactly how close he was to defeat. He gritted his teeth.
"You're not winning yet!" Danny yelled out above to Sero. And, even though his body had begun to ache already, he activated his intangibility.
Immediately, the tape hero fell right through Danny and found he was only pulling himself towards the ground now. With a confused "Guh?!", Sero righted his fall and loosed in on his tape, turning the plummet into a fall he could more easily roll out of.
As Sero cluttered and rolled to the ground, Danny ran through his head what he could play next. It was obvious that Sero had the advantage at range. But if Danny got close again, he couldn't underestimate the tape hero.
"So…" Danny clenched his fists. "Let's give him a disadvantage to work with." With that, the halfa launched himself forward, fist raised for another hit. "Incoming, Sero!"
Sero, who was standing at this point and breathing slightly heavier then he had been before, made eye contact with the advancing ghost and smiled.
"You shouldn't announce your attacks, Fenton!" He flipped both of his dispensers forward and fired another line of thick tape towards the ghost. "It gives enemies an easier target to hit!"
"If you can still see the target!" Danny called out before funneling his ghost energy around the entirety of his body and flipping on his invisibility.
At the same moment, he banked hard to the left in mid-air, shooting around the tape at a breakneck pace and zooming towards his unaware friend.
Meanwhile, the haughty smile Sero once wore faded, now replaced with genuine confusion.
"What the hell?!" He exclaimed as he looked wildly around. "Invisibility?! Now that's just not fair!"
"It's called an advantage!" The ghost boy called out at the same moment he became visible once more and his fist connected with Sero's shoulder, sending the boy tumbling back. "And there's no such thing as an unfair advantage!" And Danny vanished once more.
The tape user straightened and yelled out as he shot another line of tape where Danny used to be. But, with invisibility still up, the ghost hero held all the cards when it came to the turn of the battle.
He had already moved around Sero in the time it took him to recover and fire. And had already delivered another hit to his back.
Danny's breathing was beginning to heavy already as the switch offs of invisibility seemed to stack on. But he was still holding his own in the fight at hand, which was good. His worst fear was that he wouldn't be able to at all. But he was holding.
And he hoped he would hold long enough to finish this fight.
Dodging another rampant swing of tape from Sero, Danny delivered another hit. This time to the tape man's right dispenser.
Bruises now prominent on both sides, Sero heaved and groaned as he rubbed at his arms.
"Call it, Sero!" Danny called as he swung around and readied himself for a charge to carry his friend outside the fence limit. "I'm one hit away from winning!"
"That is some big talk," Sero wheezed, but a smile was prominent on his sweat streaked face as he searched the air for the invisible Danny. "But I'm sure you thought that when you had me in the air last time. And I still haven't run out of tricks!"
"We'll see about that." Danny replied, his own smirk traveling across his expression. That was Sero for you: no matter what, he wouldn't give in till he gave his all.
Aiming his wisp like tail to the side to gain the momentum he needed to swing down and up with enough force to finish this fight, Danny shook off the bruises and tiredness from his body… and charged.
The wind whistled around him as he arced down and up with both fists out, ready to hit his friend out of bounds.
Or at least, that's what he thought was going to happen.
"You're too predictable, Fenton."
In a flash, Sero threw both of his arms forward at almost the same time Danny dropped invisibility and intangibility. And he produced what could only be described as a widespread arc of tape. Connected by the two ends of the rolls on both of his arms, this ring bounced forward and around the tape master as he spread his arms far and wide, throwing the sticky cage a distance out and around him. And, more importantly, towards Danny, who couldn't stop in time.
Immediately, the tape's stick slammed into his chest and arms, molding them to the substance as a whole and weighing him down at the same time. Thanks to the slips, Danny plummeted directly down, following the falling tape to the cement below.
Adrenaline kicked into high gear as Danny swiveled to kick the tape off, his mind quickly focused on intangibility.
But his thought wasn't even fully produced before he felt two hard slaps on his back and a violent pull down. This was followed by a hard knee to the back, which threw Danny forward and tumbling to the ground.
He groaned. "That… was clever. And what is that move?! I've never seen you pull that before."
"Never had a reason to before," Sero replied as he approached. "But your tricks there made it kind of necessary." He said that with more praise than Danny could have imagined.
The ghost boy tried to concentrate on his intangibility once more. "It was because I talked before attacking, right?"
"Actually, it's because you're kind of easy to predict." Sero said with an exhausted smile. As he advanced, he pulled out two slips of tape in preparation for rendering Danny immovable and ending the match. "You were pulling a lot of quick jabs in there that you could quickly move away from to try and make yourself harder to catch. And it was giving me a hell of a time!"
But also, in order for that to work, you would have to keep close to me every time. So I just had to time your strikes just right. And…" He motioned to Danny. "Results."
Danny cursed himself. He WAS kind of used to pressing his advantage when it came to previous fights. And, in fairness, it did work out in his world. But it really didn't work here and now.
"You're going to have to change up strategies if you want to become less easy to read, Fenton." Sero said as he bent down to tape down Danny's arms and legs.
Change up strategies.
Danny's eyes hardened. Sero was right. He had to switch plays.
"Fair enough, Sero," Fenton admitted as he swapped his ghost energy from intangibility to focus on his palms. "Thanks for the advice."
"Hey, it's the least I could do after a match like this. You really kept me on my toes!"
"That's good to hear." Danny said, his smile growing. "But, we aren't done here yet."
Sero cocked his head in confusion, but couldn't even get the words out for a question before a green bolt of energy shot out from the mass of tape around the ghost boy and struck the tape hero in his center chest.
A massive "OOF" left his lips as he had the air knocked right out of his lungs and was launched back towards the fence line.
Not wanting to waste his opportunity, Danny arced the energy across the entirety of his arm and launched it in a wide arc across both arms, burning away the tape holdings and giving him some much needed breathing room.
His arms were now completely encompassed in the flowing green ghost energy, which shot almost electrical jolts throughout the lengths of both limbs. His chest and heart beat so fast, he thought they were going to pop out of his chest. And his breathing was now heavier then ever.
He knew that he had poured a good amount of energy into the funneling power in his palms. And it was a risk. But at this point, he knew Sero knew how to counter past his intangibility/invisibility. And he couldn't risk another capture by him. Not now.
So, with a grit of his teeth, Danny swung his arms out and, while Sero stumbled to a stand about fifteen feet away, fired another powered blast towards him.
Sero, now visibly at his own point of exhaustion, quickly reacted. He shot his tape to the immediate left and took himself out of the way of the green beam. He hit the ground running and circled around the side of Danny at the same time the ghost boy ran to get on his side, as well as create momentum to try and jump and fly once more.
"Man!" Sero half-laughed, half-yelled as he rapidly fired tape balls towards the ghost boy. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?!"
"Look who's talking!" Danny countered at his own half-laugh/half-yell as he fired green energy shots right back at the tape boy and slapped away oncoming tape attacks with his energy embroiled hands. "I've never seen someone fight so hard in a fight they were about to lose!"
The halfa's mind was only half into that insult, instead furiously racking into his own thoughts and strategies.
His energy was pretty much spent at this point. Lack of practice and use was probably a factor in all of that. And the last of it was powered into his arms for blasts and defensive moves. If he tried anything else, he didn't even know if he could summon it forward. Or if it would just flicker out if he did.
That being said, it was obvious Sero was running out of steam as well. The hits he had taken had obviously made movement hard with the bruises he sustained. And it looked like he was just about at his limit tape wise, seeing as how he spent two pretty big moves recently.
Danny couldn't attack at range out of risk of Sero picking him out of the air if he had the tape. And he couldn't just keep running circles around him and hope for a lucky blow. What he needed was a solid, clean hit. Something that could make Sero drop his guard. And a move that could halt the tape user in his tracks.
But move wise, he had thrown pretty much everything forward at this point. There was really nothing else he could-.
His thoughts stopped. And, all at once, focused on the very name he had given his powers. The one that had made Sero so envious before.
He had a chance.
Quickly, Danny halted his running and slapped a few more oncoming slips of tape out of the way, facing his opponent with determination.
"Alright." The halfa called out. "I'm tired and so are you. We're both on our last legs here." He raised a glowing green fist. "So how about we decide this already? You give your all, I give mine."
Sero, who had had both dispensers out and rolling as he cut away ammo for their back-and-forth, had stopped when Danny had stopped running. And a tired smirk appeared on his sweat stained face.
"You want to end this here and declare me the winner already? I'm all for it." Sero reached out and fired one line of tape to the side of Danny, planting it firmly on the fence behind him. At the same time, he lowered his free fist and wrapped a ball of tape around it, moving it into what looked to be a makeshift cast so he could punch without fear of breaking anything. "I'm getting tired of running too."
Danny laughed. "Then let's hurry up and end this, Tape Boy." And the ghost boy launched himself up from the ground and soared directly at his friend, his fist cocked back and ready to deliver a seemingly final punch.
Sero responded with the screeching whine of his dispensers as he pulled himself forward on the length of the tape and flew towards Danny, his fist raised and ready to meet his opponent.
Time seemed to slow for the two friends as the distance between their strikes lessened and their anticipation grew. Neither of them were backing down. And both know that. This strike would be the deciding factor. The one that determined the winner and would decide once and for all who was stronger among the two.
This is something they had to put their everything into. And Danny understood that perfectly. Moments before each of their hits made, Danny turned his left shoulder to take the full force of the blow from Sero there while he curved his glowing fist up to make impact with the center of the tape boy's chest.
There was an audible THWUMP as Sero's fist slammed into his shoulder, rattling waves of pain throughout his side. But his own punch impacted as well, causing his friend to falter and begin to fly back from the force of the blow.
But Danny didn't stop there. He couldn't. He knew Sero would recover if he didn't act now. His instincts and intuition on how to use his Quirk were top notch. There was no way he wouldn't find a way to recover from this height. So he had to stop that from happening.
Using the last of his strength, he funneled his final push of ghost power to the entirety of his body. Exhaustion slammed into him like a truck, but he didn't stop as his body took on a partial blue glow. And, leaning entirely into the hit as well as the tape hero's body, the halfa vanished into Sero's body.
The glow briefly took on Sero before the boy opened his eyes with a gasp, his eyes now a glowing green.
Danny was now possessing his friend. But didn't have time to feel proud of himself. He could already feel the sense of confusion bubbling up from Sero's mind. He didn't have long until the tape boy recovered enough to push him out.
More than that, he didn't have that much time till exhaustion pushed him out altogether. And, as nostalgic he felt for the sense of possessing someone again, he couldn't wait any longer.
Still being thrown back from the blow, Danny leaned Sero's body back and offered no resistance to the force of the hit, sending the tape hero careening just over the fence without any resistance.
"Sorry, Sero," Danny said as they fell. "But, at this point, this is the only way I can win. And told you that I was going to win over you for once!"
The possession was able to hold till just before Sero passed by the top of the six foot fence. Then, Danny felt his body give out.
He was thrown from the tape users body and sent just toward the other side of the fence, leaving Sero dumbfounded and more than confused as he fell. Utterly exhausted and breathing heavy, Danny knew he couldn't even hope to fly out of there safely. But he could, at least, land on the other side and secure a victory at-
SLAP
The halfa felt a force on his leg, followed by a violent pull. His guided fall was thrown off course and the ghost boy soon found himself hurtling towards the other side of the fence. And there, pulling Danny towards him as he fell, was Sero.
He had launched one last line of tape up in the air and had managed to catch the halfa's ankle. And with resilience and determination shining in his eyes, the tape hero clutched the line with such force, his knuckles turned white.
"I'M NOT DONE YET!" Sero yelled out. And he pulled down with.
Immediately, the tape snapped rigid and Danny, with a yelp of surprise, was pulled to the ground with such force, he actually tumbled through the air. The world became a tumbling load of colors and light as he continued to fall. His powers refused to respond, his body ached more than ever and he could do nothing as he fell to the ground.
THUMP
The halfa impacted the ground back first against the grass lawn surrounding the arena. He let out a gasp of shock as his body rattled from the landing, knocking every ounce of air from his lungs and adding pain to the bruises that were already forming.
His ghost form had dissipated already and his black hair and, no doubt, blue eyes had returned.
His arms and legs flopped and remained unmoving beside him. He couldn't move. He couldn't even think. He just felt tired.
Danny couldn't have begun to say how long he laid there for, just trying to recollect his thoughts as he stared at the fading skyline as the Sun began its first steps to setting. Once he did, he quickly remembered that he wasn't the only one on the receiving end of this.
"Sero?" He called out in a cracked voice.
No answer.
A little worry hit his mind. He didn't injure him badly, did he?
Danny tried again. "Sero? You there?"
A response finally came from a voice just as strained and pained as his was. "Hold on! Let me remember how to breathe before I answer."
Danny smirked. "If you're talking, you're breathing. You're fine."
"What are you, my doctor now?" Sero replied humorously from what Danny could now tell was maybe teen feet away from him. He guessed. There was no way he was going to turn his head and check at the current moment. Not when his neck was still, to his best guess, vibrating.
"So," Danny started with a groan as he tried to make any kind of movement. "I guess we can call this my win?"
"Your win?" Sero laughed, then audibly winced. "No way, Fenton. You hit the ground before me."
"What do you mean?" The halfa asked incredulously as he tried to move his arm. "You were on your way to the ground well before I got pulled. I know you hit the ground first."
"But I pulled you forward! And I threw you down a lot faster! You definitely hit the ground before me!"
"I'm having a hard time believing that," Danny said with a laugh as he finally somewhat moved his bruised arm. "Considering how far you were thrown down by that last move."
"Not by choice!" Sero accused. "I would have recovered from it with what was left of my tape and my arm strength. The same strength that threw you down before me!"
Danny sighed. "Well, I was too busy tumbling to really get a good look. And I have this feeling you didn't see much either. So…. draw?"
There was a pause, as Sero seemingly thought it over. Then he chuckled. "Well, I'm down to call it a draw. Even though I totally won."
The halfa rolled his eyes, but he didn't argue. Honestly, he was just happy over the fact that he was able to fight Sero to pretty much a standstill after only a day of having back his powers. He had gotten some good hits in and, in his mind, did pay back the tape user for the one sided combat they frequented in. So he was more than willing to call it a draw.
Disregarding the fact that he still totally won.
"Hey!" Sero exclaimed suddenly as, based on the groan in his voice and the fact that the sound of his voice changed slightly, he came to a shaky stand. "Since we're on the topic, what the hell was that move you pulled on me last minute?"
"Which move?" Danny knew exactly what he was referring to, but he just wanted to hear Sero's description to make sure he didn't hurt him.
"You hopping into my mind or whatever." The tape hero defined. "And forcing me to fall. Since when could you do that?"
Internally, the halfa sighed in relief. It didn't sound like Sero was hurt in any way from it. "Since I got my Quirk back. I told you about a month ago that I had a possession Quirk."
"Yeah, but the way you were flinging that Quirk around between energy shots and flying and invisibility," Sero let out a whistle. "You kind of forget about that power going on. And that possession was a hell of a surprise in the moment. That is one versatile Quirk you got."
"I'm just glad it's in full working order," Danny said honestly and laughed. "Working enough to get the job done, at least. I don't have to start from square one after all."
"Square one?" And a shadow loomed in Danny's sight as a limping Sero stood over him. He was clutching his side and his eyes broadcasted that he was just as sore as the halfa, but he still boasted a smile and a hand to help Danny up. "Fenton, if there's anything we can both agree on today, it's that you're definitely not at square one."
The ghost boy smiled at that. "I'll take that compliment before you take it back, Sero." And he took his hand. He was quickly hoisted up, despite his bodies cries of pain, and shook out the spasms of soreness. "Thanks for the help. And I'm sorry if the match got sore of…" He motioned to the bruises prominent on Sero's dispensers. "Intense."
"Oh, I don't mind." Sero said nonchalantly. "I imagine things would be even tougher at elite hero schools. So a match like this is fine in my books."
"That's good to hear," Danny confessed with a wince as he tried to straighten up. "I want to get to where I was with my po… Quirk. Especially for where I want to go. And I think the only way to do that is to kind of pick up the pace of the training we've been doing and have it faster. Like what we did now."
"Where you want to go?" Sero cocked an eyebrow. "You've mentioned that before. And you said you would talk more after you 'mopped the floor with me'. Is that still something that's going to happen? Because I don't remember getting mopped with."
"Man you just LOVE driving the wounds home, don't you?" Danny retorted. But he nodded. "But I do want to talk to you about that still. Especially now."
Sero looked even more curious than before. "What's going on? You're not going back to America, are you?"
"No," The halfa quickly assured."Nothing like that. It's actually a lot more local." He sighed. "I got to take a good look at myself recently, Sero. And exactly what I want to accomplish, you know? And I guess you could say I kind of had a revelation. About what I really wanted to do here in Japan to make sure I could move on from everything that happened before."
Sero said nothing at that and seemingly waited for him to continue, which gave Danny some relief. The tape hero never really pressed the fact of what exactly happened in Danny's past. He was one to focus on the present and continue to move forward. Which was good. The halfa would probably never feel ready to fully talk about what happened.
"And I came to the realization that what I really wanted was to become the strongest I could be power-wise. And help people keep away from what happened to me. And, with that in mind, one place stuck out to me above all else. One place that you kind of drilled into my head above all else."
All of the sudden, the tape hero's eyes glowed with excitement. "You don't mean…"
Danny smirked before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a ruffled form of paper. The heading was outlined with the firm words "First Choice School Selections" and presented about eight lines to fill out. On the top, prominently displayed and boasting its name above the seven blanks, was UA.
Sero's eyes widened. And his cheshire grin returned in full prominence.
"Honestly, I still have my own reservations when it comes to what heroes do," The halfa admitted. "But I still want to get stronger and use my Quirk to help people. And UA is one of the top schools here for learning how to do that, according to you. So I figured why not start there. First I wanted to see if I could use my power combat wise. And that was kind of the reason I challenged you."
"Kind of?" The tape hero asked.
Danny sighed. "Alright. And a little revenge, but that's not entirely what it was about. I figured that kind of training could really test what I could do with my Quirk and we could hopefully work from there. I know it's different from what we first agreed on, since I didn't have my Quirk to fight back with, but I was hoping for your help in this. You know more about UA then I do and you know how to train and at least part of what to train for. So I kind of…"
"I'm in!"
Danny looked up in surprise at the smiling Sero. "You are?"
"Hell yeah, man!" Danny's friend nearly yelled out. "Fenton, we've been the dynamic duo here! We've been training and dodging with each over for the past few months! If you think I'm not going to help my friend and training partner get into UA so we can ace that school together, you are a whole other type of crazy!" He held a finger up. "Of course, it's still going to be hard. Trying to get into an elite school like UA is bound to be. And it'll be even tougher to graduate." He snorted. "But with a Quirk like yours and a Quirk like mine, there's no way we can't try! Let's up the training and get to work then!"
The ghost boy was a bit shocked. At first, he thought Sero would have reservations about this, since he was the one who crafted the single type and rigid training exercises they had been going through. And he thought that the inclusion of his Quirk would kind of disrupt the focus on Sero's Quirk training and he wouldn't be all on board with that.
But it seemed Sero was just as hyped at the idea as Danny was. And feeling anticipation surge within himself, he laughed.
"Sounds like a plan!" The halfa said with a laugh. "Thank you, Sero."
"No problem at all." Sero responded genuinely. Then he smiled a sinister smile. "Although you're going to have to get ready. Because I'm definitely bringing full force to this now."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." Danny replied with an equally sinister smile. "If you're struggling this much against me when I don't have a solid hold on my powers, I think you'll be even easier to fight the stronger I get."
"Ohhh," The tape hero exclaimed. "Man. That's boasting if I've ever heard it. For that, you'll be getting ALL my improvised ultimate moves next time around."
The halfa shrugged, unafraid. "Well, I guess this means I'll have to come up with my own improvised ultimate moves, too."
"What?! Your whole Quirk is an ultimate move already!" Sero accused. "I'd say you already have enough power going on."
"But it can always be improved on," Danny teased back. "And, more importantly, really effective in combat."
The two friends argued their points back and forth as they both struggled out of the school yard and back to the Main Street, the glow of the dipping Sun lighting their path along the way.
They argued, but under their words they were both more excited than ever at the prospect of UA. They both held goals that can only be achieved by attending the academy. And they were both well aware of that.
But in that moment, the prospect seemed a little less intimidating for both of them. They had boosted each other up here, after all. And if they were both to make it in, or even have either one of them get in, they were confident they could aspire with each other's help.
So the two friends moved forward. Towards home, towards hope and ever closer towards their dreams.
"UA is a VERY prestigious choice, to say the least." The surprised voice of Tsukauchi said from the other side of the line. "And one with a low acceptance rate at that."
"I know." Seicho assured. "But it's the one he wants. And the one that I think, personally, will help him the most."
The nurse currently sat in the empty hospital break room, finishing off the last of his lunch and leaning heavily onto the table as he internally stressed the current call even further.
When Fenton had told his guardian that he wanted to attend UA last night, the first thing Seicho had done was let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He didn't know if it was relief or stress, but he also couldn't blame himself if it was both.
Relief for the fact that Fenton was taking steps to benefit himself as opposed to diving deeper into his own self-doubt, but stress at the choice of school. UA was definitely not one of the easiest schools to get into. And the fact that Fenton had been so determined to go…
If UA rejected him, it would just be another punch to the gut that Fenton didn't need. But he also knew that he couldn't and wouldn't stop the black haired boy if this is what he thought could help him.
That's why Seicho was doing everything he could to clear the way for the ghost boy to at least have an easy time getting there.
He was putting more of his free time to helping Fenton study and learn for the academic half of the exams, but also towards trying to ease the ridiculous amounts of paperwork coming from a person with a relatively unknown background into a top notch school.
And it all started with the passing of the information of Fenton's decision to the officer in charge of his case, Tsukauchi.
"Help him in what way?" The officer asked, genuinely curious. "I thought he disliked the idea of heroes and wanted to stay away from the schools that trained them."
"At first, yeah," Seicho agreed. "But, even though he still doesn't exactly connect with the aspect of being a hero, he still wants to get stronger and keep moving forward, you know? And he thinks that UA will help him get stronger than he is and train him to use his Quirk better. And I agree. Out of all the schools for him to pick, UA may be the best choice."
"Maybe." Tsukauchi replied after a beat. "But you know there are qualified schools that can accept him besides UA. Ones that are less strict and offer more in life skills as opposed to hero work."
"Yeah, I do." Seicho confirmed. He should know. He had gone through the list with Fenton beforehand. "But those schools aren't what Fenton is looking for. He really wants to thrive and aspire to the best of his ability. And get a good handle on his Quirk again. And I honestly think that the teachers at UA can offer everything like that."
"The path is going to be hard," Tsukauchi warned one last time. "Not just the test, but the curriculum. It'll be hard."
Seicho nodded. "Yeah, no doubt. I didn't go myself, but I did hear the rumors."
"And you think Fenton can succeed?"
Seicho pursed his lips. He had seen Fenton go through thick and thin in the over two months since he had taken him in. He had seen him fall over and over. Break down. Get angry. Get sad. Just try and deal with everything that's been happening around him.
But, above all else, Seicho had always seen Fenton do one thing more than any of the others: get back up. Get back up and keep going. He didn't always know where he was going or where it would take him, but he always kept moving. And he always stood back up.
Now, with the ghost boy standing taller than ever, there was no doubt in Seicho's mind.
"I don't think he can succeed, Officer Tsukauchi," Seicho replied. "I know he can succeed. Especially if we give him the chance."
There was another moment of silence, almost like the officer was taking in his words. Then he sighed.
"I still think there are much easier schools for him to get into to improve himself," Tsukauchi said seemingly more to himself than Seicho. "Because UA is not an easy school whatsoever. But you've kept an eye on him all this time and it seems Fenton is locked on this. So I'll trust your judgement as always, Seicho."
Seicho had to resist the urge to literally leap out of his chair in joy. "Thank you so much, Tsukauchi!" He was so excited that he had managed to help that he had forgot to attach the formal "Officer" title to his wording. But that was all a million miles away in his mind. "So that means you'll…"
"I'll pass the appropriate papers forward and ease the tape line that Fenton will get thanks to his limited background," Tsukauchi confirmed. "He has nothing to worry about. Though I really hope he knows what he's getting himself into if he gets into UA and gets properly prepared."
Seicho chuckled. "Agreed. Though from what I've seen with what Fenton can do? I'm hoping UA is the one properly prepared."
Five months later…
The day of the UA Entrance Exams
"The bank robbery squad was only able to make it about as far as the roundabout street." The reporter continued as she motioned to a corner of the street now swarmed with police cars and ambulances. "There, they were cut off and desperate enough to begin to pull out their heavy duty Quirks and threaten the people around them." All of the sudden, the red haired woman smiled. "But they were only able to shoot off the beginnings of their full power before the Number One Hero arrived. And, true to his own power and position, All Might disarmed and rendered them unconscious within moments!"
The screen flashed and it switched to a small slideshow of images from the incident, showing the five man group making their way down the roundabout with bags of cash in hand. The next, they were surrounded by the police and fighting. The next, they hesitated as the hulking form of All Might appeared in front of them, but they still looked ready to fight. And the last picture was of All Might, massive arms holding the unconscious forms of the four robbers as he laughed on in triumph.
"The four robbers have been taken into custody by the police with only minor injuries. And the recovered money has been safely returned to the bank by the Number One Hero. Thank you once again, All Might, for keeping our streets safe!"
The screen switched once more to the reporter, though this time around, the UA Symbol shined brightly beside her.
"In related news, the UA Entrance Exams to decide this year's fledgling hero class are beginning this morning! The most elite hero school in Japan sees a swell of well over five-hundred aspiring heroes every year, but only about forty on average make it into the prestigious halls of UA. Those who do attend are taught the basics by the elite heroes that once attended this school themselves. Every hero we know today has attended UA at some point in their lives. And I expect we can see no less from those who make it in today! Good luck to those trying out this morning! And we all look forward to seeing what kind of potential UA brings out of all of you!"
"Yeah, no pressure there." Sero called out from behind the driver side chair. "'Every hero we KNOW has been to UA! Better make sure you're in those halls! Otherwise, what the heck can you be?!'"
"It sounds like you're still a little nervous, Sero." Danny said with a sympathetic smile from the passenger side.
"I'm not!" There was a beat. "... But if I was, she's definitely not helping! She could have made that good luck a lot less ominous. That's all I'm saying."
"Fair point, Sero," Seicho piped up from the driver's seat. "It's usually a good idea not to psych yourselves out before this sort of thing. The news may not be the best choice of watch right now."
Danny shook his head. "Alright, fine. I can check out the weather later." And he closed the news feed on his phone.
They were all currently en route to the UA Entrance Exams, courtesy of Seicho and his car.
Danny could have very easily flown and Sero could have swung, but they didn't want to take any risk when it came to the rules about Quirks. The last thing either of them needed was an arrest at this crucial point in time. So they opted to take the safe route and just get someone to take them.
Sero's parents both work early morning so that was out of the question, but Seicho was willing to take a sick day to get them where they needed to go, which Danny was thankful for. He would owe him yet another one after this.
"I mean, you guys have every right to be nervous," Seicho said as he continued his drive. "But you both put your all into this training and made sure you were as prepared as you can be. And, at the end of the day, that's about as prepared as you can get. So don't feel nervous that you're unprepared."
Sero nodded at that. "True. I don't think there was a way we could've gotten MORE training in. But we still have no idea what's on that exam. And I think that's what makes me more nervous."
Danny nodded as well. "I'm nervous about that, too. But we did train pretty extensively with our Quirks and made sure to adapt them well enough to account for speed and strength. We should be good."
For the first time, the tape user snickered. "Yeah. But that's coming from the guy who phases through anything to the guy with tape coming out of his elbows. Bit of a difference."
Sero was probably expecting a retort along the lines of "Nah man, your Quirk is fine". Danny internally laughed as he differed the route.
"Well…" Danny started, feigning a thoughtful scratch of his chin. "When you put it that way, you're not exactly wrong."
Sero immediately kicked the back of Danny's seat. "You're the worst, Fenton."
Danny laughed, but he hoped his friend knew that he was underestimating exactly what they had accomplished. Alongside a host of new moves and old moves learned, they readily increased the time limit of their Quirk. Or, in Sero's case, how much tape he could produce at one time. Before he could only produce enough to line a small trashcan. Now, Sero could produce enough to fill about a small pool's worth. It was a heck of an improvement from where he was before. And that worked both ways.
Danny could use his powers at a much more ready pace then he had been before. He no longer got so winded after one fight. In fact, he was at the point where he could jump into another fight after finishing one. He had also began to familiarize himself with his old moves, which had brought him back to the movement speed he had been before. But that's not where the change stopped.
Danny had begun to build some muscle. Not prominently, like bulging abs like All Might or anything like that. Instead, he had noticed that his biceps had begun to straighten and there was definitely muscle definition on his legs. He even noticed that he had begun to build up a lot more energy than he had before. And that his chest had begun to define itself as well, with any fat giving way to leanness that one would expect from a runner.
He didn't go into the training expecting a regiment in physical exercise, but it's what he got. And, he had to say, he wasn't complaining.
Sero was having the same result. All the tape pulls and swinging he had been doing had upped the muscles in his arms and chest. And he was visibly bigger than he had been before. Of course, Sero being Sero, he used that to try and up his popularity with the ladies at Kaizen, though he hadn't had any luck.
On more than one occasion, he had asked Danny to help him by being his wingmen, but Danny didn't have any experience with that back in his own world. He didn't think he would have much luck here.
"Honestly, it seems like you've both made some serious progress with your Quirks," Seicho said reassuringly. "I don't think you guys will have trouble standing out."
Danny thought back to the pro heroes he had seen in the news and the examples they set with their Quirks. "Well, we can. But there are going to be a whole lot of different powers going off during this exam. So it might be a little hard to stand out against the crowd of people standing out, Seicho."
"Especially if the crowd's Quirks are a lot flashier than ours." Sero added.
"Which is why, regardless of how powerful the Quirks are of those around you, you have to keep your eye on the goal," Seicho relayed as he pulled off to the sidewalk. "Don't worry about the others. Keep doing what you can do to the nest of your ability. And you may stand out more than you think." The nurse shrugged. "Of course, I wouldn't know. I never did the Entrance Exam for UA before. But it's just something to keep in mind. Especially because we're here."
Danny jumped. "What?! Really?!"
He was so caught up in the conversation and words at hand, he didn't have the chance to really see that the car had pulled up to the entrance of UA. Though now that he was here, the halfa found himself wondering HOW he had missed.
The complex outside the car windows was MASSIVE, sprawling the length of of about a full football stadium. Four skyscraper like buildings lined two by two in front of the main gates, almost looking over the whole area. Each building was a literal ocean of windows, shining under the glare of the Sun and presenting itself as almost a shining beacon in the city. There was a small connection bridge between the first two structures that stood proudly in front of the blue gates, almost like a walkway that was shrouded in the gleam of heroics and mystery.
In front and behind the open gate was a crowd of different students from different schools, each sporting their required uniforms as they talked and chatted and yelled, all while firing off or showing off Quirks that Danny had never seen before.
It didn't look like a high school to Danny. To him, it looked more like a college for superheroes.
"Whoa." That was truly the only word that Danny could emit to describe the awe and shock he had felt upon looking at the school.
"We're here!" Sero's reaction differed greatly from Danny's. The tape hero immediately straightened, an onlooker of fear and nervousness sparking in his pupils as he stretched. "Okay. It's just a test it's just a test it's just a test. We try our best. That's all we can do." He let out a breath and nodded to Seicho. "Thank you for the ride, Seicho. And thank you for the advice."
"No problem, Sero! Good luck on your test!"
With another nod, Sero opened his door and stepped out.
Danny, on the other hand, remained in the car for a moment, feeling the buildup of getting here beginning to hit. When he first got here, he thought barring himself from any kind of hero stuff would bring him some kind of peace from what he lost.
Now, his life had taken a completely different turn. And he was on the steps to one of the most prestigious hero schools in Japan, about to try to gain entrance through a test.
It was such a flip over the course of several months. Was he doing the right thing? The appropriate thing?
A grain of self-doubt had inserted itself in his thoughts. And it looked ready to stay until Seicho's voice jolted the halfa out of his stupor.
"Fenton." His guardian asked cautiously. "Are you okay?"
Danny didn't know what to say at first, but as he thought back to everything he had been through and everything Seicho had done for him, he felt his resolve steel. He knew he had to be making the right choice. For both himself and his family.
"Yeah," Danny replied with a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Seicho's expression seemed to relax at that and he nodded.
"Like I said, don't be nervous. You've got your moves down, your powers back. And now you just need to show off, which you're already a professional at, if I do say so myself." Ignoring Danny's look, he continued. "Look, no matter what happens, you persevered through a dark time in your life and you made it here, despite all the doubt. Always be proud of that, Fenton. Keep that in mind, and go conquer this test."
The halfa nodded. "I will! Thank you, Seicho."
The ghost boy held up a fist and Seicho smiled as they shared in the American custom that Danny had passed to him: a bro fist.
With that, Danny grabbed his bag, opened the car door and stepped out onto the grounds of UA Academy.
The first thing that came to the ghost boy's head was how welcoming it all seemed. From everything he had been told, he thought it would be some exquisite place that gave off the air that only the truly elite belonged here. Like Vlad's Mansion, almost.
Instead, the atmosphere was brimming with excitement and knowledge. And there was almost a unanimous feeling among those around the ghost boy, as he rushed to catch up with Sero, that they were all cheering each other on in one way or another.
It was a very different feel then one would imagine first looking at the towering structures of UA, but it all complimented each other expertly.
The next thing that caught Danny's attention was the absurd amount of different Quirks around them. Back at Kaizen, there were Quirks around, but they were ones that you would get used to or feel comfortable around after about a month.
Being in a new environment, exposed to different powers was a restarting shock to the halfa.
Everywhere he looked, he saw colored beams, flowers growing, dragon wings, trumpets in mouths, scopelike eyes, slinky bodies, large hands, rock bodies, giant noses. All in different school uniforms and different walks of life.
It was a display of powers Danny could only reel from. And he felt the nervous spike of energy that Sero had no doubt been feeling before.
"Alright, I get why you were nervous," Danny said to Sero as they navigated their way through the forwarding crowd. "Some of these Quirks are pretty flashy."
Sero scowled. "Why is it the one time you say I'm right, it only makes me more nervous than before?"
"I'm not taking it back."
Sero laughed at that, which helped clear the air. "Yeah, it's nerve-wracking and all. But like Seicho said, we just have to stand out above them our way, right? We trained enough. We have the chance. We can do this."
Danny exhaled and nodded, shaking some of his building nervousness off. "You're right. We can. It's just a little new to me is all. A whole competition of people with different Quirks is… never something I've never done before."
Sero shook his head. "Neither have I. But chances are, neither have any of them. We're at least all in the same boat in that way."
Yeah, but you've seen competitions happen with multiple Quirks going on on TV, Danny thought to himself. I never got to see any of that. Or any of this. I'm at a bit of a disadvantage here.
Regardless, Danny didn't feel any want to leave. He had made it this far and he wasn't wasting that opportunity. Especially when that opportunity was to improve himself and prevent anything like what happened to him from happening to anyone else.
He continued to follow the crowd and Sero up into the main area and towards a filing line into what looked to be the main auditorium, a massive complex that, while not as big as the main towers of UA, still presented itself as a towering area that shrouded over the advancing students.
Danny wouldn't doubt if the whole area could fill most of the population of Amity Park. And that thought was only heightened as he and Sero entered.
"Holy crap!"
Danny couldn't help the words leaving his mouth as he and Sero exited the main entrance hall alongside many other hopefuls and stepped towards the massive concert hall like area.
Seats surrounded the area like they were about to collapse in on them. Hundreds and hundreds of them lined the bottom and top of the auditorium, all trained on the performing area in front of them all, with spotlights, microphones and a DJ box.
Person after person mulled in the seats, socializing, yelling and generally just being a crowd minus the Quirk usage. The atmosphere around the two was PRIMED with an overwhelming excitement. All around them, the middle schoolers were practically jumping with excitement as they reveled in the fact that they were at UA.
And Sero was no exception.
"We're HERE, Fenton!" Sero enthused as he took in the auditorium, his awe overwhelming any remaining sense of nervousness he had. "Man, we're finally here! All our work is about to pay off!"
He shouted like him and Danny already had one foot in the door.
"Let's save all that excitement for after the test, Sero," Danny said with a laugh. "We still have to take the thing first."
"I mean, I know that!" Sero corrected. "But still! It's pretty damn exciting to be here at UA! You hear so many things about how it looks and all… but all this!" The tape user smiled. "It's cool as hell!"
Danny nodded as he took in the auditorium once more. "Well, you're definitely not wrong about that." As the halfa's eyes scanned the full area around them as they walked, he suddenly realized something. "But I think it would be even more cool if we could find a place to sit."
Sero's smile faltered. And his eyes immediately dropped to the crowd as well.
There was a sea of people in sight, but a lack of free seats within view. All the rows on the bottom level were crowded beyond belief. And those that were empty were being saved by other students for their friends. And those on the top level were already filling in the last seats.
"Oh crap, you're right!" Sero exclaimed as he whirled around. "Where are we going to sit?!"
Danny didn't have an answer. He wasn't really seeing an available seat for both of them. And, since this area was relatively Quirk free, he didn't want to take the risk of using his powers and getting kicked out because of it. He was about to suggest he and Sero bite the bullet and go to separate seats when a soft voice spoke from his side.
"Kero. I have two open if you guys are looking for seats."
Danny turned and met eyes with who was perhaps the strangest yet most innocent and friendly looking girl he had ever seen.
She had big, round curious eyes that seemed to regard the halfa in a questioning nature, helped by the curious pose of a wondering finger to her chin.
She had long blackish-green hair that stretched down her back, with the end tied together in a bow. She slouched slightly forward, but didn't seem bothered by the stance. Her free hand was out with hand and fingers hung forward, almost like the zombie hand stance, but different.
Her school uniform was a white shirt with a blue collar and a red tie, complemented by the dark blue skirt and black stockings. The whole outfit was something that Danny thought he recognized, but he couldn't quite place his finger from where.
Realizing he may have been staring too long, the ghost boy turned his attention to the fact that there were two empty and free seats beside the girl.
"Are you sure?" Danny asked. "If you're saving it for your friends, we can still find our own seats. No need to sacrifice them or anything."
The girl shook her head. "Kero. The two people that were sitting here moved up to find better seats in the front. And they found them, from the looks of it. If you're looking for seats, you're more than welcome to take them."
Her friendly tone and demeanor sold away the very little doubt Danny had in taking the seats. And he and Sero didn't want to pass up the chance at opportune seating. So Danny sat beside the girl and Sero beside him.
The row they were seated on was about ten or eleven rows away from the front, but that was no bother to Danny. Honestly, he was just happy to be seated and waiting for the beginning of the exam. All he had to do at this point was wait for it to start.
"Well," The halfa turned to the girl and nodded "Thank you for your help. My name's Fenton Danny."
"Sero Hanta!" The tape user said beside him with a smile. "We appreciate your help."
The girl smiled brightly and nodded back at them. "Asui Tsuyu. But my friends call me Tsu. Kero. And it was no trouble to help. We're all working together for the same goals, so there's no reason we can't be friendly to one another."
Danny smiled, surprised by the kindness she radiated. "I couldn't agree more, Asui."
"Hell yeah!" Sero added. "Especially since we may all be in UA together for the semester!"
Tsu ribbited in humor. "I'm so happy to meet people with such enthusiasm about UA. And you can call me Tsu." She tilted her head in curiosity. "Those uniforms… you both went to Kaizen?"
"Yeah," Danny nodded. "We're both transferring from there and, hopefully, to here." The ghost boy regarded the green haired girl. "You know Kaizen?"
The whole area of Mustafu and the cities around it was, as Danny learned, peppered with middle schools that held certain focuses when it came to aspiring heroes. And they all mostly kept to themselves and, more importantly, kept distance to keep their own influx of students in their own sections of the city. So students from different schools interacting with each other or even kind of keeping an eye towards other schools (besides the high schools they aspired to) was surprising.
But Tsu nodded in confirmation, much to Danny's surprise. "Kero. The school I attended, Shinka Middle School, was close enough to Kaizen that I've run into students from there before. Your uniforms are very formal and dark. It's very hard to miss since it looks very broody at times."
The halfa let out a breath. "You're telling me."
"But it's very admirable to see two students from the same non-elite school try out for UA." Tsu looked back towards the stage, almost as if really taking in the thought she had shared. "It makes me feel happier, now that I know there are people coming from regular schools like me."
That gave Danny the answer he had been looking for. The reason he had recognized the uniform Tsu wore was because he HAD seen it before. There was the occasional person who passed by on his way to Seicho's apartment, sporting the same colors and look that the green haired girl wore now. So she was from a school similar to Kaizen in the average teaching style as well.
That also gave the ghost boy his own boost in confidence as well. But that also gave the halfa a realization. One that Sero leaped on quicker than he did.
Sero leaned forward and towards Tsu. "Are you the only person from Shinka trying out to get into UA?"
Asui nodded her head firmly, no hesitance in her expression. "Most of the class assumed they didn't have a chance to get in, which is unfortunate. Kero. I would have liked to see some of them here." She placed her finger to her chin again. "But I still want to try to get in. Kero. UA is open to train anyone to be the best pro they can be." She smiled. "And I think it'll help me become the rescue hero I want to be."
Danny immediately felt his own expression tighten slightly at that. Tsu was just like Sero in the fact that they both wanted to come to this school to become the best hero they could be. They were driving themselves forward.
Just like Danny. And yet, the small piece of doubt within him cindered. Not just like him. There was a difference between himself and them, right? And once they knew…
Danny clenched his fist and took a breath. He was only psyching himself out at this point. He knew already that he didn't think that way. He wanted to move on. He wanted to make his parents proud.
And I want to make myself better.
"Well," The ghost boy said in kindness to both his companions. "That's just as admirable as any of us, Tsu. And I know we'll get that chance." He looked back up. "First things first, we'll have to pass this stupid test."
"...You make it sound easy." Sero said with a chuckle.
"Hey, I never said that. No test I take is ever easy. Trust me As long as we stick to what we know and keep going forward," Danny looked back to his friend. "We can do the best we can, right?"
"Hell yes." Sero agreed with a firm nod and a thumbs up.
"A very good way to put it, Fenton," Tsu ribbited happily before looking at the stage. "And very appropriate words to begin a test with."
"Begin?" Danny looked back to the stage and felt his heart speed up as he noticed the lights darken and the spotlights shine to the DJ booth.
He heard Sero's breath hitch. "Here we go…"
He took the words right out of Danny's mouth. There was itching adrenaline shooting through his hands as he felt his heart begin to thud against his chest. He had worked so hard over the past five months to make this chance happen.
More than anything, he wanted to make up for the time he had assumed to know what was right to do and not what he WANTED to do.
Danny wanted to improve and become better than he had ever been. And the chance was now a test away.
He never thought he would be this excited or nervous again when it came to aspirations around his powers and overall hero work. But like so many times before, this world was changing his expectations. And he found himself looking forward to how it would change it more. Maybe… how it would even change him now.
"WELCOME, FUTURE HEROES!" A booming voice called across the concert hall. "LET'S GET THIS TEST BRIEFING STAAAAAAAAAAARRTED!"