College hates me, but it's fine.
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Astolfo had to hand it to the other schools— they were tough. With so many students after U.A.'s own, one would have expected the twenty-two of them to get overwhelmed and for a number of them to drop out quickly
But if that were to happen, how could any of them call themselves students of the Great Sage of Centaurs?
Astolfo grinned as Gray held onto his waist. The weights on their wrists barely held them down (the Embassy would have to try harder next time) as Hippogriff took off across the skies. It was certainly unfair for the two of them to even be in the exam— when debating it with the staff and the Embassy's representative, Chiron had stated as such. Weights would only do so much against the Rider who captured a Giant and the Flesh of King Arthur.
Chiron, of course, had been scoffed at and the Archer just sighed and shook his head. Astolfo knew that centaur was used to it, but it still bugged him that he and Gray weren't being taken seriously.
"Where are we headed, again?" Astolfo asked as he guided Hippogriff down for a landing. Both of them had scored their two "takedowns" in the first few minutes of the exam. It didn't help that it was going to be a new moon tonight.
A fully reasonable Astolfo was more of a terror than a full moon inflicted one.
"There," Gray said, pointing at a sign that read 'Anteroom' with an arrow pointing to a door in the wall of the stadium. Astolfo nodded, landing the Phantasmal Beast and vanishing it.
"Oh, you two are done already?" a voice asked and the two turned, seeing Todoroki walk up.
"Hey, Todo," Astolfo greeted and the boy nodded to them. "Yep, we're done. You were quick too, color me impressed."
Todoroki hummed as the three of them walked in. "Chiron-sensei's training helped. I'm still sluggish when it comes to using both sides of my Quirk, but I'm getting there."
"Maybe one day you'll learn how to move water too," Add snarked and Gray shook him to shut him up. There were quite a few others in the room already and Astolfo glanced around. He spotted Inasa talking to another applicant excitedly but the dark-haired boy stopped mid-sentence upon seeing Todoroki.
Astolfo raised a brow.
It seemed the boy had a strange grudge against Todoroki.
"Hey, did you like, give Inasa frostbite or something?" he asked as he sat by the half-cold, half-hot boy. Todoroki shrugged.
"I don't know."
"Well..." Gray sighed, glancing over. "Watch your back then... he seems to have it out for you."
The boy nodded. "Okay..."
She smiled before she stretched. "Thirsty? I'm going to grab water."
"Ooh! I am!" Astolfo chirped, standing up and Todoroki stood as well, nodding.
(x)
All the U.A. students had passed the first half of the exam. Of course, that meant that only one part of the battle was over and Gray worried for her classmates.
The next section was rescue-based instead of combat-based. Between she and Astolfo, they had enough experience with helping others and making sure they were okay, but the rest of the class?
They weren't exactly the best at it, she noticed. Especially Bakugou.
At least they weren't going to be worrying about Shiketsu or Ketsubutsu teaming up against them again and Todoroki and Inasa were going to be as far away as possible if Astolfo and Gray could help it.
The one hundred applicants had split into groups as soon as they were released and Gray found herself working with Todoroki while Astolfo acted as the applicants' eyes in the sky.
"Did you figure out why Inasa dislikes you?" she asked as she checked the vitals of an older woman. Todoroki hummed.
"Sort of... my father, as usual, was the culprit," he grunted, moving out of the way as Gray picked the woman up. She just nodded in understanding, slowly and carefully shuffling out of the rubble they had rescued the older woman from.
"Alright, I've got you," she told the woman, who pat her cheek in return.
"Very good, you have had training in rescue before, girly?" she asked and Gray nodded.
"And one of my teachers drilled it into me to always check everything. Though it was more or less in a detective sense. Whydunnit and whodunnit," she admitted as they walked to the First Aid station that the others had set up.
"And the boy?"
"Not to the same extent," she said, "He's a bit rough when it comes to comfort, but he's my back up." she gave the woman a smile.
"Besides, he's a bit useful when he uses his ice."
The woman guffawed, patting her arm as she and Todoroki brought her back to the First Aid station.
"Todoroki!" Astolfo called from above, "Got a situation! Mind helping me out?'
The boy in question glanced at Gray, who nodded and he ran off.
"That won't cast him, will it?" she asked the woman, who shook her head when she was set down.
"No, girly," she assured her and Gray smiled, grabbing some first-aid supplies and starting to tend to her cuts. She saw Midoriya out of the corner of her eye as she worked.
A rumbling made her blink before a wall close to them exploded and shook the entire stadium. Gray shielded the old woman with Add's shield form as smaller blasts went off around the stadium.
She briefly heard Midoriya yelling but she wasn't listening as she gazed up at the figures in front of her.
"Enemies," the large and imposing figure of Gang Orca growled. "Can they all be taken care of in parallel, I wonder?"
"With the appearance of the Villains, the pursuit has begun!" the announcer of the exam said. "Hero Cadets who are on location, you must surpass the villains and continue to carry on your rescue efforts!"
Gang Orca flicked his wrist, his cloak flaring out behind him as other 'villains' flooded into the arena.
"How will you respond, Heroes?" he growled and Gray stood up, shifting Add into a scythe and giving the elderly woman a smile.
"We'll protect you all," she assured before she moved towards the front where Midoriya was standing ready to defend. The green-haired boy glanced at her as she and a Ketsubutsu student (Shindo, she believed his name was) rushed past him.
"Start evacuating!" Gray ordered as she passed him. Midoriya nodded and turned. Shindo's arrogance would be the end of him, Gray knew, as Gang Orca seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of him. The Orca-Hero blasted him with his echolocation and Gray vaulted upwards as the boy collapsed back, eyes wide and blank.
"You think you can hold me alone!?" The hero playing villain snarled, gazing up at her and readying another blast. "You underestimate me."
She only swung Add down and he dodged by a hair, rearing his head back in order to fire off a supersonic blast. She tensed, preparing for the attack before Gang Orca pivoted, stopping his attack in favor of slamming his fist into a wall of Ice as it was blasted towards him. The hit stopped the ice from continuing its course, it wasn't enough to shatter it entirely. Gray landed before quickly leaping up and landing on the ice as Todoroki arrived on the scene.
A number of their classmates had followed the half-cold, half-hot boy, some waiting on the defense for Gang Orca's next move while others started helping Midoriya with the evacuation. Astolfo and Hippogriff circled above, the Rider gazing down at them with his lance ready. Gray spun Add in her hands, shifting her footing before a blast of wind threw her up and off her feet as the ice underfoot was obliterated. She gasped, hitting the ground hard, feeling her ribs crack and her vision blacking out for a moment.
"Gray!" Astolfo cried from above, the boy watching as the fellow Servant landed with a thud behind Gang Orca. The larger man seemed unimpressed as Inasa arrived as well and the pink-haired boy could already tell he was docking points for the attack. Gray, on the other hand, was shifting, hands clawing the ground as she made an attempt to get up. She was conscious at least, and as impressive as it was that she was, Astolfo had a feeling she wasn't unscathed.
Had Gray been a normal human, a fall from that height would have gravely injured her more than she probably was already. Furthermore, to toss her in the middle of villains?
How reckless.
"Just my luck that you're here," Inasa growled when he saw Todoroki.
"Hey, next time check your surroundings," was the response from Todoroki as he pointed to Gray. The Assassin had given up on hauling herself to her feet, instead choosing to crawl over to Shindo. She was holding her side and Astolfo's gaze flickered to where Chiron and Aizawa were sitting. Chiron's eyes were trained on Gray, glowing slightly. He seemed to be assessing the damage from where he was and judging by how Gray was holding her side... well, Astolfo feared the worst. He tore his gaze from the Assassin as a yelling match between Inasa and Todoroki broke out.
He really needed to take one of them away and separate the two.
"Gray, how are you doing?" He asked her through the link.
"I've been better. I think I cracked some ribs, Shindo's starting to come to," she responded. "I'm sorry I was useless...."
"It's not your fault," he sighed in response before he startled, feeling flames blast past him and he glanced down to Inasa and Todoroki.
Of course, wind and flame never mixed well.
And the two were still arguing.
He cracked the reins and Hippogriff dove, shooting past the two and startling them.
"Shut the hell up!" he yelled as he flew past them. "If you're gonna argue, then do it somewhere else!" he added as he flew low to the ground. He swung up with his lance, slashing at Gang Orca. The Hero dodged before firing off another sonic blast and Astolfo just grinned viciously as Hippogriff vanished. He landed with a roll, grabbing the horn at his waist.
"You call that noise?" he asked as Gang Orca backed up, eyes narrowed. Astolfo twitched before he leaped up suddenly, dodging a blast of flames and wind. His eyes widened as he noticed the direction the flames were heading. Out of control, they were rushing towards Gray and Shindo. The Assassin's eyes also widened as she tuned. She grabbed the other boy, pushing off the ground before a flash of green made Astolfo sigh in relief. Midoriya had grabbed Gray's waist, thus dragging Shindo out of the way as well.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" the green-haired shouted as he set Shindo and Gray down. That was a good question, Astolfo decided as he turned back to Gang Orca. It seemed as if the hero's patience had run out as he loomed over Todoroki.
"First of all," the Orca Hero growled before rearing his head back and blasting Inasa with a blast of echolocation. "That wind's a pain in my ass!"
The wind Quirk-user fell from the sky and not a moment later Todoroki had been blasted as well, collapsing back. Gang Orca's hand twitched before he swung up, batting away arrows from Gray.
Right, those two were still here.
Gray lowered her bow, eyes narrowed as Astolfo just grinned at him, that Midoriya kid standing behind the two of them. The two Servants were crafty, resilient, and no doubt stronger than he was. He didn't need to worry about the other boy, but with the two of them...
He would have to tread carefully.
Gray moved first, shifting her bow back into a scythe before she shot forwards, swinging at him. He dodged easily, rearing back to blast her before she ducked under his arm, shifting the scythe into a cube and sticking it into her cloak. She grabbed Todoroki and Inasa before she took off.
Gang Orca made a swipe at her before a flash of white made him pull his arm back and doge a swipe from Astolfo's lance. He knew what that lance could do, he had been given a rundown by the Servant on the way to the warehouse. He knew better than to get even a scratch from it.
He 'tsk'd as Gray vanished out of sight and Astolfo leaped away from Gang Orca's immediate range.
The boy dropped his lance with a ferocious grin, a black horn materializing and wrapping around him.
"I promised you real noise, didn't I?" he asked and Gang Orca braced himself.
"La Black Luna!" The Rider cried before he took a deep breath and blew into the horn. Instead of the noise he expected, a roar that sounded almost draconic burst from the horn. A blue light appeared from it, traveling with the noise and Gang Orca found himself momentarily frozen as he was forced back. The noise shook him to the core before he snapped out of it, rearing his head back and firing off his own blast of echolocation, the ringing combating the roar before it stopped suddenly and the 'villain' startled, feeling suddenly unbalanced.
He only had a moment to recover and take note of Astolfo leaping onto Hippogriff and taking off before a column of flame and wind entrapped him.
Astolfo landed next to Gray, who was keeping a hand on both Inasa and Todoroki's backs as they lay face down on the dirt.
The two boys were surprisingly cooperative at Gray's order, though considering how she probably threatened each with bodily harm, Astolfo wasn't surprised. She could be surprisingly terrifying when she wanted to be (which was almost never).
The flames and wind were suddenly blasted away by Gang Orca's ringing again and red eyes gazed at the four of them.
"Well?" he snarled, showing off three sets of teeth, "What do you have planned next?"
Astolfo shifted, summoning his lance as Gray stood up with Add in his Scythe form within seconds.
A flash of green and then Midoriya had appeared, slamming a kick into Gang Orca, who blacked with an arm. "Get away from them!" he yelled and Gang Orca threw him off, leaping back to dodge Gray as she swung Add down at him. A loud buzzing noise made them both stop.
"Erm— If I could have your attention please...." the announcer said as Gang Orca straightened back up. "All stationed members of the HUC have been rescued from the crisis area. This may be considerably selfish of me, but with that, I must bring these provisional license examinations... TO A CLOSE!"
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yes, yes, very quickly done, but once again, I sorta hate writing this arc. Always difficult for me to do so.