Thorny Path of a Pro-Hero

Musical Accompaniment: Scream A Bike With No Brakes - Kach

https://open.spotify.com/track/2GkSqRomgLGgHKOuUZSGPJ

So yeah, I sprinted toward it without even thinking about what I was doing.

A moment later, just to be sure, I cross-checked the distance and position of the marker ahead with the ones I had left behind—back in the auditorium, at the entrance before the test began, while fighting the robots, and back in the locker room… Even though I already knew what I would find—that right next to this robot was Yui, not, say, my bag with the watch. The only marker ahead was Kodai's.

While running, I yelled over my shoulder to the guy controlling the mist, who was staring after me in confusion:

"Finish them off for me!" I meant the pile of robots I had stacked on top of each other.

Why let good points go to waste?

And maybe this guy will earn enough points to at least catch the eye of some non-combat admissions advisor, like Shota Aizawa, the boogeyman for criminals and villains—Eraserhead, whose Quirk literally shuts down almost any other Quirk. Incidentally, he’s the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A. Makes sense: who better to handle a dozen monkeys with grenades?

I shoved Aizawa, the robots, and the guy out of my head.

So, why am I sprinting forward, toward another Training Grounds?

Because an enormous robot, enlarged by Yui's Quirk, is far more dangerous than the teachers and professionals think. It could cause a tragedy if I don’t reach it in time. If U.A. hasn't shut it down yet, they probably won’t be able to shut it down in time at all—either because they don't want to or simply can't. Sure, the heroes likely won’t let any students die—they wouldn’t want that scandal—but if the magnification messes with the electronics? What if the robot is no longer following commands? What if it has a real combat mode and starts seriously attacking students? What if it can't be shut down now? Nobody besides Yui and me knows about these properties of her Quirk. I have to at least warn… someone.

I accelerated and leapt over a random robot, who was inexplicably alone in the back streets of my Ground’s arena.

I'm running because I know Yui's Quirk: she can't safely enlarge a robot of a comparable size to a human to such a scale. She’s probably unconscious right now, which means she’s in danger, unaware that there are two robots, and can’t deactivate her Quirk! And it's likely still draining her… maybe Yui is already…

Damn it. Damn it!

I reached the wall, clapped my hands "cheerfully," and, slowing myself with braking impulses from my hands, frantically looked around for some kind of ramp. No robots, no ramp either, but a Japanese-style "Khrushchyovka", a type of Soviet-era apartment building, was almost flush against the wall.

Alright, that’ll do.

I jumped toward it, dove into the alley, and leapt onto the building as if trying to run up its side. Pushed off. Amplified. Jumped higher, kicked the outer wall of the Training Ground with the other foot. Pushed off. Amplified. Jumped higher…

And I’m running there because something isn’t right about this situation. Why would she magnificat a robot in the first place? To gain an advantage, pit it against another big one? No… pure recklessness, completely unlike Yui. Maybe she got distracted, pushed, lost focus? Just a tragic accident?.. Or maybe some idiot copied her Quirk? But in that case, she would have canceled the effect. Either way, while she's unconscious, she won't be able to fix anything.

Should’ve grabbed some ammonia, like that mist guy carries around…

And finally, the last reason: a hero, as I understand it, wouldn’t stand aside when someone close… hell, just a good person might get hurt. A hero…

No.

I won’t stand aside.

Within ten seconds, I was already pulling myself up to the top edge of this great, almost-Chinese wall.

There was, of course, the risk that the surface would be too well-polished and the soles would slip… and there was also the risk of pushing off too hard and shooting myself into the stratosphere.

But it worked out.

Moreover, I have my own way of dealing with heights, and I’m confident I could survive even such a…

A sudden reality check cut my self-assured musings short: just as I was nearly at the top of the wall, the ground and everything on it started shaking like crazy. Nearly falling off to test my method of dealing with heights, I grabbed onto the edge of the wall with my entire body—like a man, but not a spider.

Twisting my head around, I saw a giant robotic monster behind me, the same size as the ones I’d seen ahead earlier. This robot, rolling past on its tracks, was truly intimidating. It was taller than the buildings. Much taller. And it nearly brushed me with its huge claw.

And it was heading toward the square I’d just left.

Alright, so this isn't just an "obstacle," but a planned exercise to test the applicants for… something.

These exams and this Academy are scaring me more and more.

After waiting for the world to stop shaking so violently, I pulled myself up again, did a pull-up, and flung myself onto the flat surface. I wanted to spread out on the "floor" like an amorphous, sweaty puddle, but instead, I jumped to my feet, looking around.

No worries, I'll jump into a building on the other side, quickly check on Yui, and maybe even make it back...

“Oh, shit!!”

On the other side of the Training Ground, it wasn’t another Ground, not even another city—there was a lawn! A damn lawn ten meters below, maybe a hundred meters long, separating one arena from another!..

Which, of course, makes sense.

Well, shit. Logical shit.

And the main thing is, I should have understood this with my markers. But—I forgot.

So, now I have to jump from the height of a three-story building, run a hundred-meter dash, climb back up—this time on a bare wall—and then find Yui and pull her out from under those two oversized robots.

I rotated my wrists and ankles, hopped on the spot, looked down…

It increasingly seemed like I had planned a reckless, self-assured folly… maybe my exam results will be declared invalid altogether… and I haven’t scored many points, and surely leaving the test location is forbidden… and what about the future, which might suffer just because I over-read The Little Prince?

I didn’t let myself think about it any longer and jumped down.

Jumped… if I’d had even a little more time, I would have turned my butt toward the abyss below and slowed my fall by bracing my gloved hands and feet against the grooves that separated the wall sections. But there was no time.

Taking a leap, I straightened up, slightly bending my knees and extending one foot a little forward, with my arms half-bent and parallel to the ground, palms open and facing down.

When I told Yui I went somewhere, even if not to parkour, I wasn’t lying. I had experience with skydiving and wingsuit flying from my past life. Here, I hadn’t had a full opportunity to do that yet… one of the reasons to join U.A. But I had theoretical notes on braking upon landing from a height, and I had even tested them a few times. Though, jumping from much lower.

Unfortunately, I’ll have to try it out now in combat conditions and without a safety net.

About eight meters to the ground…

Issued the first braking impulse—from my right foot, the one in front. It jolted, I leveled out. The fall began to speed up again.

I bent my arms and legs to avoid breaking limbs from the rebound. I think Iron Man flew in a similar pose in those movies I watched to death. Didn’t remember exactly, but I think fire shot from his palms…

Six meters…

Issued two braking impulses with both hands, caught the balance again. Dangerous to do one, might spin me mid-air…

Though, if he's Iron Man, I mean, in armor—why would he need to bend anything? On the contrary. He probably falls from the sky like a brave tin soldier, stiff as a board. I want that kind of armor too.

Three meters…

Issued a second brake from the leg, from behind. Damn, tipped forward, nearly headbutted the ground… but the fall slowed down again, and at two meters it wasn’t scary anymore. I tucked in, absorbed the impact with my legs, dissipated some of the momentum, and redirected some when I rolled. The roll, though, was rough. But here, fortunately, it wasn’t concrete—a soft lawn.

Okay, we’re alive…

Coming out of the roll, I literally sprung off my hands, slapping the ground and pushing myself off, and threw myself forward, immediately breaking into a run. New markers were placed on my palms and soles almost automatically, without conscious thought. The third step—Quirk activation—a small springy ball seemed to explode underfoot, and I propelled myself forward again.

“Bunny hopping,” or simply “Bhop”. A funny word. Harmless. It poorly conveys the essence of the movement method I managed to develop. In reality, I… essentially bypassed the limitations of my own Quirk, though with a risk to my life. I can’t multiply my multiplication by placing markers from enhanced strikes.

However, when I run using my Quirk, placing markers on my foot and throwing myself forward with a sort of explosion, each subsequent step becomes more powerful—because before I set a marker on the other sole, I touch the ground with it. That means each subsequent marker, essentially, absorbs a significant portion of the acceleration of the previous one.

Unlike punching with the same fist, I have two legs, but the direction of movement is one, so it works. At least, the direction is one, and there are still two legs until I activate too powerful an enhancement and one of them gets ripped off.

The consequence is that I gain speed with each step, pushing off further, faster… on the battlefield, in a confined space like a gym or city streets, my “bunny hopping” is limited; I can move quickly; I’m quite mobile. But truly gaining speed is not possible, and I wouldn’t risk it.

It’s different—when in a hurry, on a green lawn, in a huge, empty, and deserted place…

Figuratively speaking, I was pressed into the seat.

Never accelerated like this before. The world began to blur.

The wind whipped my face, causing a sting in my eyes. Absentmindedly made a mental note that I needed to buy myself protective glasses and embed something like them in my costume.

Honestly, I also had some groundwork for, let’s say, a “second-level” enhanced running technique, which should have sped me up almost twice more, simultaneously creating something like a shockwave behind me. I tested this move on a couple of cautious jumps, everything seemed to work—I flew up four meters even without any initial acceleration. However, I didn’t risk using it here. For now—too early. I need protective gear for my legs, armor, and a suit from U.A. And more space. I won't be able to help anyone if I turn into a thin layer of pâté.

Two cybernetic colossi towered over the wall, which I was almost close to reaching.

And yet, I had to cross only one hundred, well, maybe one hundred fifty meters. That is, I would have crossed this damn lawn in thirty seconds even without my Quirk, and in reality, I was flying at great speed. Amazing how time perception can stretch…

A shadow fell over me. The robot heads, whatever their gigantic size, disappeared behind the wall. Alright, time to brake before I crash and splatter all over the lawn.

I was about to slow down, which in my situation involved a gradual change of trajectory, a cautious disengagement from using markers on my legs, braking impulses on my hands… ultimately, I’d lose another half a minute. Why the hell?

And how am I, damn it, going to climb up a sheer wall?

No, this won’t do—this is U.A., they have Recovery Girl.

If nothing works out and I smash myself against the wall, she’ll piece me together. Maybe.

Practically without losing speed, I straightened up (during my accelerated run, I took a position like a speed skater—almost parallel to the ground, otherwise the acceleration would push me not forward but upward—which is what I needed now), pushed off the ground, and additionally propelled myself up with impulses from both hands, which I initially planned to stop with. It was as if I struck with wings—and flew into the sky.

About seven, maybe eight meters to the wall. I reckoned that gravity and air resistance, while I was "flying," would dampen the accumulated speed, but I’d already be high and would just run up the wall to the edge.

From the outside, the spectacle must’ve been comedic—a guy flying in an arc, feverishly clapping his hands to throw himself even higher and reach the… throw even higher, I said… higher still!... brake, brake, mama!

Too low a trajectory, I’m about to smash into the wall at a right angle and slide down like a broken doll!

Apparently, today is just the day for testing all my moves and ideas in real-world conditions.

Having used up all the markers on my hands and feet, throwing myself up, I activated the fifth marker, which I habitually placed on my back—during rolls, one of which I’d done when landing on the grass. I was thrown up again—I gritted my teeth, as the sensation from this is no good, like being hit with a sack of rice on the spine—even despite the thick hoodie I specifically wore for this occasion.

Then, flailing my legs wildly like a cyclist on energy drinks, I finally reached the wall—not at a right angle but tangentially.

Pushed off, flew up a little more… oh-uh-oh, the momentum is gone… for a moment, I hung in the air as if in zero gravity… then gravity took over, my boots slid down the wall surface with a nasty screech. I stretched out like a string, trying to reach the edge with my fingers… ouch, ouch, almost-almost reached, just a bit more…

For a couple of seconds, I hung there, dangling under the edge of the wall, then remembered I actually knew how to do pull-ups. Straining my spaghetti arms, I crawled up.

“Oh, dear Kami-sama…”

I looked down, somewhat in awe. I had just made a jump… well, or its multi-component likeness, to a height of ten meters. Ugh… and even stayed whole, well, except for the shriveled and tightly clenched testicles.

Adrenaline and mindlessness work wonders.

How nice it would be if this were my exam today… I grew somber, and, somehow getting up, turned toward Training Ground "B."

Only now did I notice how much my legs hurt. And my palms. But… later, everything later.

I peered between the buildings of the Ground. Saw a broad avenue where students, like ants, were scattering.

What am I going to do next? And what happened to Yui?

***

A minute earlier.

Training Ground “B” of the U.A. Academy.

Yui Kodai.

Yui felt confident and calm.

In fact, more like overconfident. Niren wouldn't have praised her for that.

But what to do if fighting robots, which supposedly represent real criminals—the villains she would defeat in her future professional career—turned out to be embarrassingly easy?

And the computer test turned out to be a piece of cake.

As for the robots…

She simply shrank the first lamppost she came across and then, encountering mechanical opponents, used her makeshift weapon as a spear, jabbing it between armor joints and manipulators. After that, the task was easy—just enlarging the pole to rip off heads and limbs. She’d already scored at least thirty points…

She even smiled a little, echoing her thoughts: just a bit more, and she would finally be closer to fulfilling her dream of becoming a hero! And Niren’s dream… and Setsuna’s too, who had become her, Yui’s, first real friend.

And most importantly, her dad’s dream.

Maybe this will finally pull him out of his depression…

Everything was fine. Everything was under control.

And then it all went sideways.

When a loud explosion sounded behind her, the ground shook, and screams of terror erupted, Yui was just sizing up where to drive her metal pole into the next robot. Or maybe it’d be better to enlarge a tilted road sign so it’d crush several at once? She touched the sign. Yes, exactly, she’d just…

And then someone shoved her hard in the back—a hysterically screaming dwarf, all covered in big purple balls, like fish eggs. Yui stumbled, fell right onto the arm of a fallen robot, a “Light Villain”—flailing on the ground in an attempt to get up because the rest of its body was pinned under the rocket block of a “Heavy.”

At the last moment, her focus shifted, and when her hands touched the wrong object… her Quirk began to enlarge the mechanical manipulator. Oh no, the scientist-san warned that this could happen! Can't get distracted!

Shaking her head, Yui tried to push herself up and roll away, but then she immediately felt a sharp weakness, dizziness added to numbness and cold in her legs. She directed her blurry gaze past the robot's arm and, with horror, saw that the entire bot, now reaching the size of a truck, was enlarging along with it. She tried to cancel her Quirk and move away, but her hands slipped, buckled, her heavy head fell on the sharp metal. “Ohhh…” she needed to stop… st… sto…

Yui lost consciousness.

***

Currently.

Training Ground "B," U.A. Academy. Outer wall.

Niren Shoda.

Looking back, analyzing the situation, I realized with surprise that everything took just a few minutes. But then... then time flowed differently.

When I stood frozen at the top of the wall, surveying the scene, I caught sight of a mass of panic-stricken candidates running away from the giant robot, heedless of their path. Likely, the same chaos was unfolding in my own Training Ground "C."

Survey the surroundings. Minus thirty seconds.

The trap robot had a massive, hulking form and a rectangular head dotted with a multitude of red visor-eyes. It deliberately and slowly pressed its hand down on a building, crushing it, sending debris tumbling to the ground. Distant screams echoed.

Meanwhile, the drone altered by Yui seemed to be of the first model. It had grown even larger than the genuine big guy but remained far more fragile in its build, with only a single large visor instead of eight. The enlarged bot slowly swung its head as if trying to understand why the world had become so small… and then, in a voice so deep it made my hair stand on end and resonated somewhere in my chest, it roared, "Kill them all!" before smashing its hand down on a skyscraper. Much faster and stronger than the trap bot. The building crumbled, chunks of concrete flew apart, fortunately over the heads of the fleeing students.

The overgrown robot slowly rolled forward on its single wheel, crushing the asphalt beneath its weight. Moving toward the children running from the first trap bot.

The screams grew louder.

In the face of true disaster—genuine danger, an enormous threat—the real traits of a person come to the forefront, not the mask they wear, but who they are underneath.

I saw several people fall, and no one stopped to help them up.

Among the fallen was the gravity-controlling girl—the very one destined to be Izuku’s classmate (by this point, I had resigned myself to likely being expelled from the Academy before even getting in). I recognized her by the floating debris of robots around her. Her leg was pinned under a chunk of concrete, and she was quietly whimpering in pain.

And there, too, was the protagonist, Midoriya, crawling away in terror from the giant robot with the square head, its hand raised above them. Who would’ve thought I’d end up on this exact battlefield...

I watched the other candidates race past on the broad avenue, not one of them attempting to help, scattering into the alleys at the sight of another robot up ahead.

Iida, that perfect student, athlete, and model citizen who shone his glasses and righteousness during the lecture, flew by on his rocket engines. He didn’t extend a hand to help, either.

And I saw Yui Kodai’s unconscious body a little further down the avenue. She lay on her back, arms outstretched as if trying to push something away. Her dark bob was disheveled like black feathers, revealing a jagged scrape on her forehead. A purple orb, like a grape, was stuck to one of her sleeves. The lagging, slowest, or most foolish runners darted past, but no one helped her.

I felt a dark rage boiling in my blood.

And these are supposed to be the future beacons of the hero community?!

These are my future colleagues and saviors of humanity, symbols of hope and peace?!

Suppressing the urge to growl, I closed my eyes, exhaled, opened them again, banished all emotion from my mind—there was no time for that now—and focused.

Alright. Next steps. Minus ten seconds.

I focused as intensely as I could, my brain switching to calculator mode.

Objective one: get to Yui and make sure she is alive and safe. Run to her, gently lift her while supporting her head—she might have a concussion—pull her away, check for a pulse…

Where’s her marker? She’s lying about fifty meters from the robot, which is currently spinning in place, thrashing its arms around, smashing buildings. Fifty paces from Yui and the anime’s protagonist! Damn it...

Where are all the U.A. observers, the security team, the professional backup?! My eyes darted across the rooftops, but apart from a couple of frozen students, I saw no one. This is bad.

Doesn’t matter.

I can't rescue all three of them. That means I need to distract and lure the robot away.

Objective two: How to get down from the wall quickly while remaining relatively intact and combat-ready?

Solution: already figured out.

I took one last look at where Yui lay, then took a few steps back, sprinted as much as the width of the wall allowed, and blasted forward with full-strength bursts from my legs to reach the nearest building. I caught hold of a balcony railing with both hands, pulled myself in, and clung on like a tick. The iron railing slammed into my chest painfully, but no injuries otherwise.

I straightened my arms, hung from them fully extended, looked down... and let go.

Dropped to the next floor down, caught hold, clung on, hung.

Let go, caught, clung...

Repeated a few more times until I reached the ground. A solid way to descend—some well-known parkour athletes supposedly do this without any safety gear down skyscrapers. At least I have some form of safety.

Minus twenty seconds.

Ran toward the robots and the three unlucky victims of this exam. Just don’t be too late, just don’t...

Running was difficult. My motorcycle boots were fraying and already begging for mercy, though they’d been nearly new just ten minutes ago. I could also feel that tomorrow, my feet would be sporting some impressive bruises. And blood under the nails. I might not even be able to walk properly. I’d had such minor injuries before when I was training my "bunny hopping," but I’d never pushed my quirk this hard.

At least I was smart enough not to use my "quick sprint technique" without a protective suit.

Almost there...

I heard Present Mic’s distant shout: “Two minutes left!”...

And then the protagonist surprised me. Or rather, reminded me that he was the protagonist.

With my own eyes, I witnessed an extraordinary leap from Izuku, from the very front rows, and froze for a few seconds. The giant robot—the first one, which by then was nearly upon the petite brunette—was literally thrown back fifty meters, crashing loudly, fortunately in the opposite direction from us. The kid moved at incredible speed; I almost missed his leap, and he struck with a blow of unimaginable strength—the shockwave rocked the robot, the buildings, and even us, as a wave of air whipped through.

I got goosebumps for a moment—until I glanced at the second robot and snapped back to solving the tasks at hand.

Minus five seconds. Move!

But still... is this who I’m supposed to compete with? My current maximum amplification output is at most one-fifth... no, probably even one-tenth of that punch... Then I wondered for a moment: can Izuku’s scrawny body even channel the peak power of One-for-All? Not handle the load, obviously, but actually channel it? Is the "connection bandwidth" wide enough?

I don’t think so—the effects of All Might’s strikes I’ve seen online make even this epic "right hook" seem mild in comparison.

A glance to the side as I ran made me curse: the crash had caught the attention of the enlarged robot, which had been in a daze in its own world. It started moving toward us.

I certainly won’t be able to get Yui off the field in time, so I can’t let it get any closer.

This is bad...

Meanwhile, Midoriya Izuku started screaming and falling down.

Objective three: How do I save him? If I jump up to catch him midway... but damn, if my hands are occupied holding him, I won’t be able to generate bursts... I won’t be able to brake...

But he’s the protagonist!

But then the other robot will just run over Kodai...

Alright, if you can’t handle it alone—delegate!

I dashed across the robot’s path, constantly looking back.

The brunette girl rescued by Midoriya stopped staring, easily slipped out from under the rubble simply by using her quirk that makes objects weightless (facepalm...) and tried to save him now—climbing onto a floating chunk of the "Heavy" robot and preparing to cancel gravity on Midoriya as well.

Why did she make the robot float, wasting her strength?.. probably so the quirk would have time to activate on Izuku—apparently, the effect isn’t instantaneous.

But in the middle of her rescue operation, she saw the second robot, by then nearly upon us. Her eyes widened in horror, her hand didn’t reach Izuku, and the boy plummeted to the asphalt, instantly turning into a bloody mess.

End scene...

...

Just kidding.

Half-expecting something like this, I managed to catch her panicked look towards me—and the second robot—and yelled:

"Save him! I’ll deal with this one!"

I even chuckled nervously: if my interference broke the canon so badly that my training with Yui resulted in the death of the original story’s protagonist, that would be the ultimate irony.

Running, I finally spotted my friend’s body ahead—the robot was still thirty meters away—I rushed to her, managed to touch her neck, feel the pulse on her carotid artery…

Phew. She’s alive.

And then a shadow fell over me.

I looked up.

A giant red eye loomed above us—staring right at me.

Like Sauron's tower had come to life and decided that today it’s not you going to Mordor, but it coming to you.

“I’m fuc*ed :)”

Illustrations:

This is what Niren jumped over and climbed. High, but those buildings are even taller.

These are the lawns separating two Training Grounds from each other.

If the wall is ten meters, the lawn is about a hundred.

This is Iida Tenya, who, as a character, initially didn’t appeal to either the fanfic author or Niren Shoda.

"What are you doing in my fridge?))"

And this is the scale of the robots-opponents in this and the next parts of the chapter :)

Author's Note:

Damn, this October started off rough! I had a trip, then dealt with a bunch of problems that needed immediate attention, and yesterday I just passed out when I was supposed to upload, lol. Anyway, I think I’m back now. So is the fic!