Clementine followed Snipe towards the arena alongside the others. The first thing that struck her as odd was the ridiculous height of the thick concrete walls. Not even the first stage, which had contained full-scale buildings, had walls this tall.
She silently hoped no climbing would be involved; she'd always sucked at climbing.
'I thought Nedzu was meant to tell us what the next stage was.' Miyuki commented. 'He didn't even guide us to the arena like the third stage.'
'Well, we can't know till we get there, can we?' Viola said.
'Where are the others?'
'Ruby is staying with Rosie in the inner world until she's recovered and Saffron is busy helping Ivy.' Sunila explained.
They approached a pair of metal gates, the silence of the trip remaining undisturbed. Out the corner of her eye, she noticed the others had a similar anxiety to them.
Kiyotaka was scrapping rocky skin off where his fingernails should have been, the quiet clinking noise following the group. Casey was bouncing from foot to foot as she walked, waving her hands about to disguise their shaking.
Sakura's hair was waving in a strange pattern, jerking about from side to side and crackling louder than before. She kept her hands at her sides, her fingers twitching as if overwhelmed with energy. Clementine wasn't sure if this was nervousness, or just a side-effect of her quirk she hadn't noticed till now.
As they got closer, Clementine took note of the strange trolley in front of the gates, a television-like screen sitting atop the trolley. On either side of the screen were speakers, smaller than the fake ones that had been in the faux nightclub arena.
Snipe signalled for the group to stop in front of the screen, moving to the side and pulling out a remote. He clicked on the remote, and the screen flickered to life, leaving the group face to face with Principal Nedzu himself.
"Hello examinees!" He greeted; his voice only slightly distorted by the low-quality speakers. Casey gave an over-exaggerated gasp and one glance at her face showed her clear amusement.
"Before I explain this stage, I'd like to congratulate all of you on making it this far!" Cue smug and bashful expressions all around. "That said..."
He smiled, holding up his cup of tea - 'wait when did he get that' questioned Miyuki - and taking a sip before continuing. "This stage will be the turning point of the exam; things will only get more and more challenging from here. So, without further ado, the fourth exam will involve all of you facing me!"
'Ah, a man after my own heart. Scarring teenagers since 20XX.' Viola snickered.
"A race against the clock! First person to locate and capture me wins!"
'Hey Sunila, quick question.' Miyuki asked. 'Does Saffron's quirk work on animals by any chance?' Sunila nodded.
'She's busy with Ivy though.' Sunila said.
'If I go help with Ivy, then can Saffron front for a little? It won't be long; we just need to locate him.' Miyuki offered.
'But we'll still have to capture him.' Clementine pointed out.
'Just leave that to me.' Viola said. 'Saffron locates him, Sunila gets us there, and I capture him. Stage done.'
'I have a bad feeling it isn't going to be that easy.'
'It'll be fine.' Miyuki reassured.
'Famous last words.' Sunila muttered darkly.
Snipe handed out 'capture tape', just like the ones from the first stage, to everyone. Clementine gripped the red strip of fabric tightly. Snipe pressed the remote again and the gates slowly creaked open, releasing the examinees into the arena.
YOU ARE READING
| Seven's a Crowd, Eight's a Party | BNHA OC Story
Fanfiction(new cover w/ my own art :D) Due to tensions and doubts after USJ, UA decides to hold a second, much harder, entrance exam for the Hero Course. They were almost certain no one would pass, but since when does Miyuki ever follow expectations? Miyuki w...
