The ground shook with a violence that wasn't the product of any of the applicants' explosions. It was a low, deep rumble, the kind of vibration you feel in your bones that announces something immense is approaching. The students' shouts of effort and combat turned into exclamations of surprise, and then into murmurs of pure panic.
"What is that?" a boy with cat ears shouted, looking toward the end of the street.
"It can't be..."
The head of a gigantic robot peeked over the five-story buildings. Its single red eye swept across the testing area with a terrifying, mechanical indifference.
"It's the Zero-Pointer!" someone shrieked. "The obstacle they told us to avoid!"
"We have to get out of here!"
"It's not worth any points! It's just a trap!"
The panic became contagious. The students who had been confidently fighting the one, two, and three-point robots were now running in the opposite direction, a stampede of justified fear. The metal giant took a step, and the building next to it crumbled, raising a cloud of dust and debris that choked the screams.
It was then that a different cry cut through the air, a sharp one full of pain. "Help! I'm trapped!"
In the midst of the retreat, three girls stopped almost in unison: Melissa Shield, Ochako Uraraka, and Ibara Shiozaki. Their gazes met the source of the cry: a boy with a partial hardening quirk lay on the ground, his leg trapped under a huge concrete slab, a result of the collapse. The Zero-Pointer, with its slow, unstoppable pace, was heading directly for him.
"Damn it, it's going to crush him," Ochako said, the color draining from her face.
"We have to help him," Melissa affirmed, but her mind was already working, calculating distances, weights, and speeds.
Ibara simply nodded, her serenity a stark contrast to the chaos. "To abandon him would be a sin."
"Forget him! Save yourselves!" another student shouted as he ran past them.
But none of them moved. The robot took another step. The ground shook again.
"We can't destroy it!" Melissa's voice was a firm shout that cut through the general panic. "It's too big! A single blow will just make it fall on us and on him!"
Ochako, her eyes fixed on the concrete slab, nodded, her face pale but determined. "I can lift it. The slab, I mean. But it's going to take everything I've got. One touch and I'll be out of commission. And I'll need time!"
"Time we don't have," Melissa retorted, looking at the approaching giant. "That thing will be on top of us in less than twenty seconds."
Ibara, her eyes fixed on the robot's enormous legs, added her part of the plan. "I can slow it down," she said, her voice strangely calm. "I can unbalance it to buy you those seconds."
Melissa took the lead, her voice leaving no room for doubt.
"Perfect! That's the plan! Ochako, focus on the boy! Don't look at anything else! Ibara, aim for the ankles, immobilize it with everything you have the second I give the word! I'll create the initial distraction to get its attention!"
And with that, the team sprang into action.
****
In the observation deck, the scene unfolded in tense silence. Most of the teachers watched with impassive faces, evaluating the applicants' reactions.
"There it is. Most of them are running, as expected," Cementoss commented in his deep voice. "A logical reaction."
Mirko snorted, propping her feet up on the console in front of her. "Logical and boring. None of these bunnies have any guts."
But then, three small figures on the main monitor stopped.
"Wait," Midnight said, leaning forward. "Those three..."
All eyes focused on the same monitor. They saw the trapped boy. They saw the Zero-Pointer.
"No! Girls, fall back!" All Might roared, his protective instinct overriding his role as a mentor. He jumped to his feet, his massive figure casting a shadow over the room. "It's a design trap! You're not supposed to fight it!"
"Run, you idiots! It's not worth any points!" Mirko yelled, this time with no trace of mockery in her voice.
"Calm down, both of you," said the quiet voice of Principal Nezu, who watched from his chair, his small black eyes fixed on the screen. "Let's see what they do. Heroism doesn't always follow the most logical path."
Izuku leaned even closer, his green eyes fixed on the monitor, a strange calm on his face as the chaos unfolded. "They're not going to run," he whispered, more to himself than to the others. "They've already made their decision."
****
Down on the battlefield, the rescue plan was set in motion.
"Now, Ibara!" Melissa shouted, running at a wide angle to get the robot's attention.
Ibara was the first to act. She focused all her power. She slammed both hands on the ground, and the concrete at the Zero-Pointer's feet erupted. Two enormous, thick masses of vines shot out and wrapped themselves around the robot's metal ankles.
The mechanical giant took a step and stopped abruptly, its advance halted with a jolt that vibrated its entire frame. The sound of living wood splintering against steel echoed down the street. Ibara's vines creaked and splintered under the immense pressure, some fibers snapping with sharp, loud cracks, but they held.
****
In the observation room, Mirko's jaw went a little slack. "Hey, not bad. The plant girl knows what she's doing."
"She's focusing her entire quirk on two specific points," Izuku murmured. "The energy cost must be enormous. She won't be able to hold it for long."
*****
With that brief opportunity, Ochako sprinted. She ran straight into danger, ignoring the monster looming over her, her eyes fixed solely on the trapped student.
"Hey! I'm going to get you out of there!" she yelled to the boy.
"Get away! That thing is going to break free!" he yelled back, his face contorted in pain and fear.
"No time to argue!" Ochako panted, reaching his side. She placed both hands on the concrete slab, and a cry of effort escaped her lips. "Hnngh… NOW!"
The massive piece of debris slowly rose into the air, defying gravity. Without wasting a second, Ochako grabbed the injured boy under the arms and dragged him out of danger. The moment they were clear, a few feet away, she touched her fingertips together and shouted, "Release!"
The slab crashed to the ground with a boom that shook the earth and kicked up a new cloud of dust.
The effort left her pale. A powerful wave of nausea hit her. She leaned against a wall, panting, her vision blurry. "Are you... okay?" she asked the boy.
He could only nod, staring wide-eyed at Ochako and then at the robot struggling against its bonds.
Her mission was accomplished.
"Impressive!" All Might exclaimed from the deck. "That's the spirit, young Uraraka!"
"But she's at her limit," Aizawa pointed out in his monotone voice. "She's no longer a combatant. A risky decision."
Now, it was Melissa's turn.
With the other two safe, she ran toward the robot, which was struggling to break free from Ibara's tenacious vines. The vines were snapping. She knew her one percent would do nothing. She needed more. Much more.
She closed her eyes for an instant, blocking out the noise and the fear.
She channeled One For All. The exact point between effectiveness and self-destruction. Seven percent? Maybe ten? No, too dangerous.
Eight percent.
A percentage she knew would hurt her but wouldn't completely incapacitate her. A controlled strike. A single point of impact.
Her right arm lit up with crackling veins of red energy, the power flowing in a contained manner. She aimed lower. For the left knee joint, the point that, if damaged, would cause maximum instability with minimum destructive force.
She jumped, using a piece of debris as a ramp, twisting her body in the air, putting all her weight and acceleration behind the punch.
"This ends now!" she shouted, more to steel her own resolve than to threaten the machine.
The impact was a dull, metallic BOOM that was absorbed by the metal.
The robot's steel kneecap buckled inward with a horrifying screech. The mechanical giant was thrown violently off balance, its leg bending at an unnatural angle.
The recoil from the punch shot up her arm with brutal force. A sharp, white pain exploded from her knuckles to her shoulder. She heard a clear, sickening CRACK that wasn't the robot's metal. It was the sound of her own bones.
On the deck, All Might shot to his feet, a hand covering his mouth where a trickle of blood threatened to escape.
"She controlled it..." he whispered, his voice a hoarse murmur that only Izuku, beside him, could hear.
Izuku watched with silent intensity, his knuckles white from how tightly he gripped his notebook. His respect for the blonde girl he had just met skyrocketed.
Mirko, who had been expecting a big, senseless explosion, was silent for a moment, genuinely surprised. Then, a slow, respectful smile spread across her face. "Wow. The girls have brains, after all... Not bad at all."
The Zero-Pointer, with a damaged knee and completely unbalanced, staggered backward, its enormous weight carrying it away from the students. Ibara's vines, having fulfilled their mission to the last second, snapped under the final strain with a collective crack.
Melissa landed on her knees, the momentum making her skid a couple of meters across the asphalt. She clutched her right arm with her left hand. It was bent at an odd angle just below the elbow and was already beginning to swell and turn an ugly purple. The pain was so intense it blurred her vision, black spots dancing in her sight. But through the pain, her eyes shone with a fierce, triumphant satisfaction.
Ochako, leaving the injured student safely by a wall, ran to her new companions. Her nausea was replaced by a new surge of adrenaline when she saw Melissa.
"You're hurt!" she exclaimed, her voice full of genuine concern as she reached her side and knelt. "Oh my god, your arm!"
"I'm fine," Melissa gasped, clenching her teeth so hard her jaw ached. "We did what we had to do. Is the boy okay?"
"Yeah, just his leg, but he's conscious. I got him out in time," Ochako said, not taking her eyes off the broken arm. "But you... that doesn't look good at all."
"The pain is... manageable," Melissa lied. "I just need a second."
Ibara joined them, her breathing a little ragged, but otherwise she was unharmed. The exertion had left her hands with a slight tremor. "It was an act of true virtue. The protection of the innocent is the highest of callings. I am honored to have fought by your side."
They stood there for a moment, the three of them together in the middle of the ruined street. The Zero-Pointer had collapsed at a safe distance. They had saved someone. They had done what a real hero would do. A silence of relief and success settled between them.
"We did it," Ochako whispered, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. "We really did it."
"Good teamwork," Melissa said, managing a small smile despite the pain. "You were incredibly fast, Uraraka. And you, Shiozaki, that restraining force was perfect."
For the first time, they looked at each other not as competitors, but as comrades.
"Well, Shield-san, your arm is definitely broken," Ochako said, her tone becoming more practical. "We have to get you to the nurse's office as soon as this is over."
"I'll be fine. I've had worse in my dad's workshop," Melissa replied, though the cold sweat beading on her forehead told a different story.
It was then that Ibara heard it.
Distant, but unmistakable. A series of rapid, violent explosions, coming from a couple of streets to the north.
BOOM. BOOM. KRA-KOOM!
Her head snapped in that direction, her serene expression hardening with new determination. The memory of her coach's voice, her final mission for the exam, came back to her with crystal clarity.
Katsuki Bakugo
She had fulfilled her sacred duty to protect the innocent. It had been an honorable and just distraction. But now... now it was time to stop wasting time. The exam wasn't over yet.
It was time to get back to work. It was time to carry out her coach's will.
She looked at her new allies. "Your company has been a blessing, but I must go."
Ochako looked at her, confused. "Go? Where? The test is almost over! And Melissa's hurt!"
"We should stick together," Melissa added, trying to get to her feet with difficulty. "It's safer."
"There are still many lost souls that need to be guided onto the path of righteousness," Ibara declared, her solemn tone leaving no room for argument. "And one particularly loud soul requires my immediate attention."
Before Melissa or Ochako could respond, Ibara turned and took off running, straight toward the sound of the explosions.
"Loud... soul?" Ochako murmured, watching the green-haired girl disappear around a corner.
Melissa shrugged, or at least she tried to. "She's... intense."