[ I've added pictures of the Zero pointer so you can understand where I was coming from for that part. ]
-x-
The rest in the random building did wonders for him. His breath slowed down as the adrenaline began to fade away,
But the pain didn't go away. In fact it just progressed with every breath he took.
"Is this how it feels to break a rib?" He wondered aloud as he winced, right arm holding the left side of his chest. "How do characters just ignore this in games and anime? What the...."
He raised his right hand and let out a sigh of relief, "Ten minutes left. I can do ten minutes. Ten minutes in the building and then I can leave."
But the world wasn't that kind to him.
BOOOOOM
The ground shook.
His shoulders dropped as all hope vanished from his face, "Man. That's real unlucky huh...."
The impact was close to him.
BOOOOM
It got closer.
Rakuro pushed himself to his feet, gritting his teeth from the pain of moving his torso. He shuffled to the entrance and looked out.
BOOOOM
And there it was.
"No way..." He muttered aloud, "This has to be some kind of copyright infringement...."
Walking in his direction was a gigantic robot shaped like a dinosaur. It had two arms that grabbed the nearby buildings as it moved through. Its legs positioned to the side the same way as a dinosaur's. And instead of a dinosaur like head, it was a rectangular box with holes in it.
Rakuro squinted at it, "Its like if Regice and MechaGodzilla had a baby. Wait what's that on its head...." He leaned forward, "Is... that... noooo.... that should be illegal.... no way..." He stumbled out of the building and began running away from the robot. "There is no way they put a massive cannon on that thing! Hell no!"
And he had guessed correctly.
The head was shaped like that because it was a weapon. For a goal of destruction..... what good was a mouth in a beast like that. All it needed was more fire power.
The fear that had sprouted from looking at the robot was enough to give him enough strength to run away from the robot chasing behind him.
A couple turns and he had completely lost the robot. And as he did, his speed began to slow. The feeling of fear began to recede and so did his boost in strength. The shaking of the ground was faint now.
"Pssst!" A voice called out to him from a nearby building, "You!"
Rakuro looked to the source of the voice and spotted a shape staring at him. A white circle with a pointy end that receded into his body.
He looked at the guy stunned at what he was seeing, "Hello?"
The boy waved at him, "Come here!" His words forming literal letters that popped up in the circle where his head should have been.
"A speech bubble?" Rakuro wondered aloud as he began walking toward him, "Is that your quirk?"
The circle flattened itself to a half moon shape, "Yes." The words appeared on it as he replied.
'That was a smile.' Rakuro thought to himself.
"What is that noise?" He asked.
Rakuro looked behind him, "Some massive robot. Its destroying everything in its path."
Bringing a closed fist to his palm, the guy nodded, "Ahhh that's the gimmick Present Mic was talking about then."
"Gimmick?" Rakuro's mouth dropped open, "What gimmick?"
"The zero-pointer boss." He replied, "The one you have to avoid."
Rakuro's eyes widened as he stumbled back, "ZERO POINTS!!!? THAT IS ONLY WORTH ZERO POINTS?"
"Yes." The speech bubble changed to a star shape, "Didn't you hear what Present Mic said?"
Rakuro's shoulders slumped and then took a sharp breath as his chest burned, he placed his hand on it and groaned.
"How did you get hurt?" The boy asked as he stepped closer.
Rakuro lifted his hand and let the boy inspect him, "Slammed into a building and hit a corner."
"Your quirk?" He asked.
"It caused this."
The boy's speech bubble changed to a cloud, "Your quirk harms you?"
"No. I messed up."
The bubble changed back to a circle, "Well it looks like a broken rib. Does your chest feel heavy? Any difficulties breathing?"
"No. I can ignore the pain if I keep myself upright and I can't take deep breaths." Rakuro answered.
The speech bubble bobbed up and down, "That's good. Your lungs haven't been punctured. Anyway you only have...." The bubble looked down at his wrist, "Seven... no.. six minutes left."
"How do you know so much about this anyway?" Rakuro asked as the boy diagnosed him.
"My mom's a doctor and I've broken my ribs a couple times from playing around with my quirk." The boy answered, "I'm Manga. Fukidashi Manga."
"Your parents must think they are funny huh.." Rakuro grunted as he held out his hand, "I'm Hizutome Rakuro."
The two shook hands.
BOOOM
"Shit. Its close." Rakuro peeked outside before turning back and frowning, "Wait..... Present Mic said to avoid?"
"Yes."
"Start running." He spoke as he began to move, "It can probably track us. Hiding is useless. We need to put more distance between us and that thing. Do you know where the entrance is?"
"We are close." Manga said as he followed close, "I've been staying close to hunt for points. The robots came to the entrance to smoke out those hiding there and then spread out. Free points for me."
"Then how far are we?"
"Four... maybe five minutes away?" He replied, a little unsure.
Rakuro glanced back as the robot came into view far behind them, "Then lead the way. As long as we can get to the entrance we can stall for time."
"How?"
"We won't be alone."
Now that the initial fear had run out, a thought appeared to Rakuro, one he had been putting off unconsciously for a while, "This does feel like a runner game."
"Who even plays those anymore?" Manga asked as he huffed beside him.
"I could only play games on my phone for a while." Rakuro explained, "The endless runner games were pretty fun. Good for training your reactions when it gets real fast."
Manga shrugged, "Never thought of it that way."
"HELP!" A voice echoed through the street.
The two boys spun around and immediately caught sight of a someone with their leg stuck under the rubble.
"We have to help!" Manga yelled before turning toward the person, "I'm coming!"
Rakuro froze for a second before following.
"Lift the other side." Manga said as he grabbed onto one side.
Rakuro did as told and grabbed the large piece of rubble and pushed against it.
"Pull your leg out!" The two yelled as they strained against the rubble, barely lifting it.
"I CAN'T!" The person yelled, his body fully covered in fur.
BOOOOM
"Its getting closer." Rakuro grunted, as his chest began to throb.
Manga's speech bubble turned into an exclamation mark, "Hold it up. Let me try something." He let go of the rubble and moved toward the fur covered boy.
Rakuro strained against the rubble, his chest suddenly burning in extreme pain, "ARGGHHH!" He screamed.
"SQUELCH!" Manga yelled, the words literally forming in front of him, dripping with some sort of liquid.
The word soared into the rubble and suddenly, the bottom of the rubble was slippery.
BOOOM
The boy struggled to slid himself out but there was visible progress.
The robot locked in on them.
Rakuro looked up at it.
BOOOOM
Fear coursed through his veins.
In response strength filled his body.
BANG
The rubble flew off completely and landed onto the street behind them.
Manga's speech bubble formed a question mark momentarily before changing into a spiky shape, "Lets go get up!"
The boy struggled to get himself up.
Rakuro spun around and began to move.
His legs refused.
In fact, his entire body refused.
The downed boy dragged himself across the ground.
Rakuro's body took a step.
"Oh no..." Rakuro muttered as he watched Manga slide an arm under the boy pulling him up to his feet.
Guard Dog.
It wouldn't let him move away when he was actively helping or protecting someone.
And in response to that, he gained strength when he faced something causing him fear. Like an actual guard dog.
"Help lift him!" Manga called.
Rakuro shook his head, "I can't! I can't come closer!"
"What?"
"My quirk isn't letting me!" He yelled.
BOOOOOM
The robot was right on top of them now.
Its foot rose in the air.
"Just go!" Rakuro yelled, "I can follow i you make it further!"
"I'm not leaving you behind!" Manga refused.
The foot began to fall toward them.
Rakuro's mind began to work overdrive in order to figure out a way to escape.
'Protecting...' He looked up at the falling foot and then toward the two in front of him. The foot would fall on all three of them. 'That would be in direct violation of the ability's laws, if he had interpreted them correctly.'
That meant....
He stared at the falling foot, feeling his fear increase and the very moment it hit the peak, he leapt toward the two.
His arm grabbing them and dragging them all out.
The group slid across the ground, Rakuro screaming in pain as they landed skidding.
He looked up at the robot that continued to advance, "Man.....I shouldn't have listened to those two..."
BEEP
BEEP
BEEP
"THE HERO COURSE EXAM IS OVER!"
Present Mic's voice erupted from every single speaker, right as the robot began to power down, the lights on its body fading.
"How... lucky...." Rakuro muttered as he lost consciousness.