chapter 19

The green scaled student stepped out into the light of day, surrounded by the muddy landscape. Hills of dirt and mud encircled their position with trenches and ditches everywhere. The terrain they were given as a battle grounds was more like a crater with mini sink holes inside of it rather than an actual terrain. The other landscapes their classmates received were much more manageable.

Miyata raised her armored hand above her head, shielding her eyes from the harsh sunlight. Her classmate and present teammate walked up next to her, surveying the ugly scenery. Miyata picked up her foot to see the bottom of her green boots covered in a thick layer of mud.

She sighed. "Alright, Shima. Let's do this."

Shimamura nodded. The nerves were starting to build up within her. A final exam against her aunt... with all of her classmates watching. Just the description of the whole thing confirmed her fears that this wouldn't end well.

"So here's the plan—"

Shimamura raised an eyebrow at Miyata as she started to explain some extravagant plan. And to be completely honest, she only heard and understood about 25% of it. They didn't have time for plans. To be fair, Shimamura already had another plan in mind.

"Now, I know we don't know a lot about Miss Arima's quirk..." Miyata thought out loud, "But if we stick together we can overpower her no problem. With my tendrils and your Taekwondo kicky kicks, we'll make this a piece of cake!" Miyata grinned and pounded her fist into her palm.

Shimamura blinked at her, then shook her head. No. Miyata's smile dipped down.

"Wah...?"

"Right now, Miss Arima isn't Miss Arima. She's Clockwork. What we need to do is stay as far apart from each other as we possibly can. If we can avoid staying out of her single line of sight, then we might have a chance. That's her only weakness. She can't take both of us if we do this."

Miyata just stared at her in surprise. "How do you know all that?"

Shimamura looked away, frowning. "It doesn't matter. Let's just pass..."

Miyata nodded, not asking many questions. When she needed to, Miyata could get serious in a hurry. A lot hinged on whether or not they passed.

From above them, they could hear the horn go off—signaling the start of their Final Exam. The two pro-heroes in training bolted off into a sprint, each running in a V shape towards the center. Shimamura ran up over one of the dirt hills that had blocked their vision... and it was then that she finally understood why this sinkhole was considered a fighting gym/terrain.

Stretching out for at least a mile was a giant sinkhole... bigger than the one she thought she was in before. There were little mounds in the hole that expelled jets of brown water up into the sky like geysers. They went on and off again, exploding upwards with immense force whenever they activated. Overall, the pit was disgusting. But it was obvious it'd be hard to cross. The exit seemed so far away...

Standing in the very center of the pit was none other than Irisa Arima herself—dressed in her Clockwork costume. A light blue trench coat with a pause button as a belt buckle. She had on a silver visor that formed a straight line across her eyes and forehead, reflecting everything like a mirror. She usually never wore her mask. But today was a special occasion.

Clockwork looked up at Shimamura from afar. Shimamura could see that cold smirk painted on her lips.

From the corner of her eye, Shimamura saw Miyata running down the side of the pit, making her way towards their enemy. Shimamura followed suit.

She jumped upwards and skipped a few feet off the ground. Upon landing, she skidded on the damp mud, sliding her way down as if she was on a snowboard. Miyata's purple braided tendrils untangled themselves and flexed downwards, picking her feet up off the ground, flinging her the rest of the way down. Shimamura hopped upwards again towards the bottom of the slope, somersaulting on the flat ground.

Miyata yelled as she ran at Clockwork. Her three tendrils swarmed around her and extended towards Clockwork at lightning fast speeds.

From the other side, Shimamura dashed forward, readying herself for a kick. They had her pinned. She can't attack them both at the same time. Shimamura knew. Shimamura knew her Aunt too well.

But maybe not well enough.

Clockwork suddenly ducked down, pressing her hands onto the ground. She bounded off the ground and kicked her legs upwards, dodging Miyata's stabbing tendrils. Shimamura simply stopped in her tracks and raised her hands, thinking Arima would land some sort of attack. But she didn't.

Clockwork landed gracefully on her feet, her trench coat whipping around behind her. She had her back to Miyata and Shimamura. Shimamura took a few steps backwards, making sure she and her teammate were far enough away from each other. Miyata flung another tendril in Clockwork's direction.

Rather than dodging again, Clockwork suddenly shot her hand out. Her palm smacked the side of Miyata's tendril and backed off of it. The tendril narrowly missed her, grazing past Clockwork's blonde hair. The skin shivered and sent a reverberating shock wave straight back to the base of Miyata's skull.

She winced and staggered slightly. But that didn't deter her.

Miyata shot another tendril out again and Clockwork did the same action, facing the two students this time. The tendril shook like a seizure and she retracted it.

Clockwork smirked at Miyata, forgetting about her niece.

Shimamura took this to her advantage. She dashed forwards and loaded onto her back foot. She spun on her opposite heel and kicked in a semicircle, aiming directly for Clockwork's head. Clockwork bent forwards at a right angle, dodging.

Shimamura was quicker. She swiftly put her foot back down then immediately kicked again with her opposite foot, landing a back kick to Clockwork's center.

The blonde staggered back and groaned, but not coughing or falling. When Shimamura went for another attack, she flipped out of the way. Things were getting too close.

Miyata whipped her neck forward, flinging her three tendrils at Clockwork, all coming at her at different angles.

"That's enough."

Arima calmly extended her hand towards Miyata, facing her palm to her. Miyata's tendrils suddenly came to an abrupt halt. Her focused, fighting frame frozen in place. Even the muddy geysers just next to her stopped. Water floated in the air like all gravity had just disappeared. The smallest speck of dirt, halted in time.

Arima scrunched up her nose in disgust at how easy her job was.

Irisa Arima, aka Clockwork! Her quirk: Freeze Frame! Clockwork has the ability to pause anything in front of her in a cone shaped area from where her hand faces! Everything in her range pauses completely! Any attack or projectile that enters the field will also be paused as soon as it enters. While activating her quirk, however, she cannot move from where she stands. So, she needs some extra special help to make her quirk useful in a fight!

That's where her partner, Sensori, came in! Whoo, the epic battles they had!

Shimamura heaved, still moving. She stood out of Arima's field of attack. That was the main reason she wanted to separate from Miyata. It was the perfect strategy.

She kicked off on her back foot and lunged through the air to land another kick onto Arima. Aiming for her head this time.

This is it. This is where we win. We've done it—

SSSCCCCCCRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE—

A piercing sound ripped through the air. High pitched, loud, annoying, and painful as hell.

Shimamura screamed and clasped her hands to her ears. She fell through the air, tumbling to the ground. Her body contorted as she landed with dust and dirt fuming up around her, covering her body as she rolled through the mud. She writhed, gritting her teeth together in agony.

Her brain wanted to shut off. Everything about that sound was excruciating. It sent her into dramatic shifts of pain and confusion and fear. Her fingernails began to dig small crescents into the skin around her black temple covers, the only things keeping her grounded right now.

"I'm disappointed in you, Tikki," Arima shook her head.

The teacher stood a few feet away from where Shimamura writhed in pain. The sound emanated from a small device in Arima's other hand. She held the device above her head while her other hand was still extended towards Miyata's frozen posture. She wouldn't even look in Shimamura's direction.

"You should've known that I would have expected your little plan of staying separated so I couldn't target you both. It was futile, really. You should've known that by knowing me, I know you just as well. If not better."

Arima finally looked towards Shimamura. Her frown apparent even through Shimamura's pain. Perhaps that was the only thing she could see in these moments. The sound hurt. Everything hurts.

"You should have known better." Arima scolded. "Have I taught you nothing as your mentor?"

Her thumb shifted on the control of whatever she had emitting the sound. The screeching, debilitating sound heightened. Shimamura screamed in agony.

"STOP!" She screamed out, almost subconsciously.

Arima grimaced. The disappointment visible.

No... I can't lose. I can't lose to her... I can't...

"Maybe if you'd use your damn quirk, you might actually win for once, loser..."

Shimamura's eyes shot open. Her clouded, dim, blue eyes. Bakugou's advice wasn't completely insane. It's the only thing she could hear in her head. Her own thoughts were of his voice. There's only one way to win this...

I won't lose to her.

Shimamura shakily pressed her hands to the ground. Her shoulders quaked as she bent upwards. Her legs barely worked... but it was enough to allow her to stand. Her hands reached upwards and unhooked her black, mesh, temple covers from her temples. The choker around her neck came off with them. She tossed them to the side, hearing them clink as they fell against the dirt.

Arima's eyes widened as she came to realize what her niece was doing.

Shimamura tipped her head back, still staring at Arima. The sound worsened again. But she was too far gone.

Time seemed to slow down. Arima's scream and order of 'STOP—' went unheard. The water fizzled from a geyser next to Shimamura, but didn't explode with power. Arima took her hand away from her quirk and Miyata suddenly went into motion again, but slowed.

Then Shimamura's hands pressed flush against her temples. Skin against skin. She screamed with tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.

A sudden reverberation of pure power echoed off of Shimamura. Invisible waves of infinity. Her screams only heightened the effect.

Pain. Grief. Sadness. Distraught. Nervousness. Overwhelmed. Depression. Fear.

All of it hit Arima like concrete. Her head whipped backwards as if she was hit by a real, physical force. But there was nothing really there. Her eyes jammed shut in pain and she collapsed to her knee.

Miyata's tendrils, which were once aimed at attacking Clockwork, faltered and flung back towards the user. The tendrils quivered and shook and wrapped around Miyata in a protective ball. Her arms hugged her shoulders as her eyes widened and she fell to the ground, writhing like Shimamura had with the sound. The tendrils wrapped around her form, trying to protect her from the physical attack that never came.

Finally... finally Shimamura used her quirk.

Tikki Shimamura. Quirk: Emanation. Shimamura can make anyone feel exactly what she is feeling emotionally—or emanating her mental state onto others. She activates her quirk by touching someone's wrist, temple, or chest (anywhere she can feel their heartbeat). However, there is another way.

Shimamura's strongest attack is her Emanation Wave. When clasping her hands to her temples, she sends a giant wave of her quirk outwards around her, extending almost 65 yards in all directions. The only downside, is everyone is affected when she does this. Even her allies. The only thing protecting her from accidentally activating her quirk are the temple covers Mei Hatsume made for her.

Arima hissed and tried to clamp her hands over top of her temples, like Shimamura's position. But it didn't limit the quirk... not like it usually did. She groaned and fell to her side, putting her hands to the ground to try to help her balance. But it only made the pain worse.

Everything just came crashing through her a million times over.

Shimamura's eyesight grew blurry. Her screams slowly died into silence. Her hands dropped away from the sides of her face. The waves of her emotions died and there was peace in her mind.

At some point during her outburst, Miyata had used one of her tendrils that wasn't wrapped around herself to hook the special handcuffs onto Arima's wrists. Arima knelt on the ground, heaving with her blonde hair now completely disheveled and her hands cuffed in front of her. She seemed angry.

Shimamura staggered. Unable to find her balance.

I can't lose... Not to her... Not...

Reality started fading away. And the floor disappeared from under her feet.

Miyata's tendril swooped beneath Shimamura and caught her just before her head hit the ground. And Miyata, not a second later, painfully limped over to Shimamura. She collapsed to her knees, holding Shimamura in her arms, letting her lay across her legs.

Shimamura's blue eyes stared for a second at Miyata, droopingly. Then her head dipped to the side and she fell unconscious from overuse of her quirk. Miyata took a heavy breath. She shut her eyes as the announcement rang above their heads.

"Congratulations to Tako Miyata and Tikki Shimamura...!" Nezu's voice exclaimed, undaunted by what just occurred. As if he knew exactly what was going to happen.

Miyata sighed, slouching over Shimamura's unconscious form. Her mind ringing from all of those emotions... feelings...

All the power...

Although Nezu was calm, the rest of Class 1-A definitely wasn't.

Silence gripped the viewing area as they stared at the giant screens. They had a clear look at absolutely everything. And now, staring at Miyata holding Shimamura, they didn't know how to feel.

Midoriya's mouth had dropped open as he watched the screen. He had his suspicions and theories for what Shimamura's quirk might be... but this was never what he expected. No one did.

No one except for Bakugou.

He stood, arms crossed, staring at the screen in the back of the pack. His eyes narrowed. He may not have known what her quirk was, but he definitely had an idea after their first encounter. She finally took his advice.

Now that wasn't so hard, was it Whitey?