The Zero Pointer howled—a metallic wail that rattled the mock city to its bones. Its metal limbs shrieked and groaned as it rolled down the main avenue of Ground Beta, each step cracking the concrete and flattening anything left in its path. Sunlight gleamed off its armor, a warning flash that flickered over the chaos below. Mock cars and debris were nothing to this thing; its treads crushed everything with lazy contempt.
Kael didn't hesitate. He sprinted straight for the machine, mind cutting through the panic like a blade. The avenue was choked with scattered examinees: some glued to the walls, paralyzed with indecision; others cowering beneath scaffolding, waiting for a miracle or too scared to make a move. Most had already figured out trying to fight the Zero Pointer was pointless. The rest? Seconds from being flattened.
He ran faster.
Darkbind flashed from his hands, deep blue tendrils trailing like shadows that refused to be erased by the sun. Even in the glare, there was no doubt about their strength. He lashed a tendril out—hooked a streetlight—and swung up to a second-story ledge for a better view. The Zero Pointer's cannon locked in place, the barrel humming as it tracked for a shot.
Kael didn't go for the bot. Not yet. He targeted the scaffolding above a frozen student. Darkbind shot out, snapping taut around a support beam. With a tug, he pulled the structure sideways, sending it crashing into the wall right beside the student.
The noise jolted them awake. They then bolted, Kael dropping beside them, landing hard.
"KEEP MOVING IF YOU CAN'T FIGHT!" His voice cut like a siren.
No time for standing in shock. No time for questions. He spotted two more students—one with bulky armored arms, the other a girl with fins instead of arms—trapped behind a warped streetcar. They weren't pinned, but they were definitely stuck between the Zero Pointer's shadow and a tangled barricade.
Kael vaulted the debris and fired Darkbind again, tendrils wrapping the nose of the streetcar. He yanked, wheels screeching, and dragged it just far enough to clear a path.
"Go!" he barked. They scrambled through, eyes round with shock.
Metal screamed overhead.
The Zero Pointer's massive claw swung down, aiming to clear the entire street in one sweep.
A sudden flare of cosmic blue slammed into its elbow joint. The impact sent a scatter of glowing motes ricocheting across the bot's plating—tiny stars burning for a breath before fading.
Yumi landed across from Kael, boots skidding across the pavement. Her eyes sparked with energy, a faint corona of light dancing around her fists. "This thing is tough! Feels like im hurting myself more than its hurting me."
Kael didn't waste a smile, but his chest loosened. "We got this, Yumi. Now that most of the examinees are out of the way, let's..."
Yumi grinned. "Give it a show."
No more words. She charged the Zero Pointer, hands wreathed in spiraling cosmic energy. With a snap, she hurled two discs of compressed energy—each one spinning so fast the air shimmered. They hit the bot's shoulder and chest, the force shuddering through its frame and making it lurch sideways.
Kael seized the moment. He lashed Darkbind up and over, catching one of the bot's exposed support struts. With the machine's focus on Yumi, he ran along its flank, feet barely touching the armor before he hooked onto a shoulder seam. He scanned: panels, vents, sensors—searching for anything that looked remotely vulnerable.
There—at the base of the neck, a seam pulsing with heat.
He let go, dropped straight down, and swung a tendril like a grappling hook into the exposed vent. The momentum spun him in, and he slammed both heels into a junction of armor, jarring one of the panels loose.
He didn't linger. The Zero Pointer's claw swept by, nearly clipping him mid-air. He disengaged, tumbling to the street.
On the ground, Yumi was already in motion. She traced a burning circle of glyphs in the air, her hands weaving patterns of light that seemed to hang in space. With a sharp thrust, she launched a pillar of cosmic energy into the bot's undercarriage, making it stagger again.
Kael landed beside her, winded but grinning. "There's a weak point—back panel. I'll tear it open."
"Get me a clear shot and I'll turn it to slag."
Kael bolted for a collapsed overpass, using Darkbind to vault himself to the top. From his perch, he lashed out, swinging behind the Zero Pointer as it tried to realign. His tendrils snaked around the loosened panel at its back. He braced, dug in, and ripped it away with a brutal snap.
A vent port, glowing red and pulsing with heat, was revealed.
'Jackpot.'
Yumi didn't hesitate. She leapt, weightless as stardust, gathering a swirling sphere of energy between her palms. Kael dove clear, rolling as the bot's arm swept overhead.
"Cosmic Lance!"
Her star-spear flashed through the opening—a perfect shot—detonating in a burst of blue-white light. The blast made the ground shake, dust and bits of metal rained down. The Zero Pointer staggered, its frame spasming from the inside out.
But it didn't fall.
Its red sensor flared bright as an angry sun, and it let out a roar—part siren, part beast it seemed—then spun, treads tearing up the street. Both arms came up, claws open wide.
Kael felt his heart stutter. "Still not enough!"
Yumi's voice was tight. "That wasn't enough to take it down? That means we'll just have to slow it—stall for time! The test is almost up anyways!"
He nodded, sweat stinging his eyes. "Then let's make it count."
Kael snapped Darkbind out, anchoring lines to buildings and streetlights. He wove the tendrils into a thick, webbed barrier, crisscrossing the avenue. The Zero Pointer barreled forward, smashing through, but the drag slowed it—just a little.
Yumi seized the opening. She dropped to one knee, hands pressed to the ground, and conjured a gravity field beneath the bot's treads. The machine fought for balance, its weight suddenly doubled, servos whining as it struggled to move.
Kael's arms trembled, the force nearly yanking him off his feet as the bot tore at his bindings. The street buckled. Asphalt cracked under the strain.
Yumi hurled another blast—then another and another—aiming for the bot's joints, trying to freeze one in place. Kael shifted his tendrils, looping them around the Zero Pointer's arms and wrenching them back with everything he had.
Time was shrinking. A faint mechanical voice echoed over the chaos, counting down.
Thirty seconds.
Yumi's breath hitched. "Just a bit longer!"
Kael dug his heels in, anchoring another line, his whole body locked with effort as the machine thrashed.
Twenty.
A fresh burst of cosmic energy lanced out, knocking the Zero Pointer sideways. Sparks geysered from its chassis.
Ten.
The bot pushed forward, roaring, but the combined assault was finally taking its toll. Its left tread buckled, frame sparking.
And then—
BOOM.
A shockwave tore through the air, not from their battle, but from somewhere in another training ground. The sound was enormous, rolling over the exam field like thunder.
Kael and Yumi both froze, heads snapping toward the distant blast.
"What the hell was that?" Yumi's whisper was barely a breath.
Kael's answer was lost in the sudden silence.
The Zero Pointer jerked, seized, and went still. The countdown hit zero.
A shrill BEEEEEEP rang out across Ground Beta.
The robot powered down, its giant frame crashing to the pavement in a final, earth-shaking collapse.
Sudden quiet fell. The battlefield was a graveyard of shattered machines and trembling students.
Kael let Darkbind fade, arms dropping, every muscle aching. Yumi slumped to one knee, her hands buzzing with starlight, breath coming in ragged bursts.
Neither spoke. They were too tired for words. But they knew. They knew that U.A wasn't just a dream for them anymore.
It was their future.
…