Breathe... Just... Just breathe...

Mia let out a soft sigh as she tried her best to steel her raging nerves, but her anxiety continued to rear its ugly head. Her fists clenched and unclenched, the muscles in her fingers spastic in a restless fit. At least other people in the crowd looked as she felt.

Right next to her, another teenage girl, a brunette with the cutest little blushies, fidgeted where she stood, hands clasped together at her chest as though she were praying. Mia's gaze softened just a tad and, before she knew it (because obviously, she was trying to psych herself up just like Mia was, and she would be throwing off her groove, and disturbing that would more than likely be rude), reached out to touch her shoulder. The girl jumped, a soft squeak, and looked down at the shorter teen. Mia's fair cheeks flushed just a tad before removing her hand. "Eh-heh... Sorry. I just.. You just looked so nervous right now. I didn't mean to disturb you. I just wanted to say... Good luck."

The other girl immediately beamed a bright smile. "You, too!" she said with a giggle. She opened her mouth and was about to say something else when-

"Right, let's start!" Everyone's attention, Mia's included, turned to the top of a nearby building where the Pro Hero, Present Mic, stood, his voice obnoxiously booming and demanding. "Get moving! There are no countdowns in real battles!"

That was all Mia needed before she quickly raced towards the giant doors as they crawled open, leaving the brunette behind her as well as her nerves. Her peers were not far behind her.

Almost immediately, one of the robots, a large number one painted on one of its arms, that emulated villains swooped in on the small child. Her eyes narrowed, and she promptly jumped out of the way as the hulking piece of metal swung one of its arms right where she stood. The concrete cracked under pressure.

"The hell? That thing coulda crushed me!" she yelled, straightening up. Which made sense. The examinees needed to give it their all to come out on top, and something that wasn't going to be an actual threat just wasn't going to cut it.

Several examinees stopped just behind Mia, some even looked like they were about to take out the robot. It's mine.

"Commencing attack," the one-pointer announced just before it charged at her once more.

Mia's lips curled into a wicked grin, and her right hand twitched. Her fingertips began to glow, and she yelled, swiping her hand upwards into the air, five thin trails of lavender light trailing in her wake. At the ends of the light strings, they rippled and twitched, connecting to dark shapes that began to form a large mass. Suddenly, a body shot out of the mass, a trail of black fur all that you could see. "Bunni Slash!"

A loud whistle sounded through the air, followed by a harsh clash! Above the one-pointer, a large figure hovered, a sword in each hand, both drawn together. Matching slashes could be seen on the robot's face.

Mia was quick to react once more, her hand and fingers twitching as she swung her arm back down, the being following her command, much like a puppet obeying his puppeteer. Swords faced downward, the being lunged at the robot, digging its duel blades into the base of the neck. Another flick of the wrist and the being gave a harsh twist and a slice. The head came right off, sparks and loose wire flying from the mechanism as the rest of the body crumpled to the ground. The being reached up with each blade in its hand, and promptly stuck both at the top of its head. Those swords were freaking bunny ears!

And the being? A puppet. A humanoid, bunny puppet with hollow, glossy black eyes and silky black fur.

Loud gasps could be heard behind her, and Mia couldn't tell if it was because they were surprised that someone as small as she was capable to take down a robot like that, or the fact that her Quirk was just so dang cool, if she could brag a bit. Probably a bit of both.

She looked back at any lingering bodies foolish enough to waste ten seconds watching her. Her eyes fell on a green-haired boy who looked like he didn't even belong here. But, then again, neither did she. He was quaking in his shoes. Her eyes narrowed even more and held up a finger. "One point. Good luck." And she was off. After all, they had less than ten minutes to get as many points as they could, and she was going to do just that.

28…30…33

In quick succession, Mia took down each robotic villains with relative ease. Time was quickly crawling to a close, and there were fewer and fewer robots in the area. At least, ones that would offer anyone anymore points, the scattered remains of hundreds of robots littering the battlefield. Quickly, she needed to find more. Preferably a few three-pointers. She feared she was running low on stamina, and keeping Lulu up and running was far more draining than she realized. Wisps of white hair clung to her forehead, damp with sweat.

She looked at Lulu, who stood battle-ready, waiting for her master to command her once more. "I'ma do something really stupid," she announced to the bunny puppet. Mia made Lulu nod as if she were agreeing with her. But, the youth thought it was safe enough to be... Somewhat reckless.

Without another thought, Mia flung Lulu high into the air, as high as she could go and yelled, "Theatre Lights!" Her eyes closed for a second, and when they opened, they weren't her eyes anymore. Glossy, lifeless...

Black.

In the air, the hovering Lulu looked around, scanning the area, her eyes lifelike, irises lavender, just like her master.

Mia could see the expanse of the mock city, smoke rising from above the buildings from the battles that took place the past seven minutes. A few blocks away, she could see a few more robot villains scurrying about the city, untouched by the wannabe heroes.

Blinking rapidly, Mia's eyes returned to normal. In front of her was a boy with a tuff of messy green hair.

Him again?

He looked like he was about to burst into a fit of tears, looking around frantically at the scattered mess that laid at their feet.

"I need just one…" It was faint, but she heard his desperate, helpless plea. Tears started pouring from his eyes, and Mia was instantly plagued with memories of herself, huddled in a corner as fear flooded over her body, helpless sobs as she watched the man before her, covered in blood, edge closer towards the frightened child before him...

"Hey!" she yelled, causing the boy to jump right out of his skin. He looked her way. "There's more that way." She pointed in the direction that she saw the other robot, and the kid, rightly so, blinked in confusion. A rival, was, after all, helping him.

Unfortunately, several other examinees heard her and started running towards more points.

That was when the ground began to shake. The buildings around them trembled, and the ground ahead of them buckled.

"What is going on?" Mia hissed, bringing Lulu in close.

She would get her answer.

Concrete and robots shot up into the sky, clouds of smoke debris wafting into the air, blocking everyone's vision for a moment. Until a giant hand swooped down and swiped at the ground. The burst of wind from the hand cleared the air, revealing a monster robot, far larger than any of the small fry. And far larger than the tallest building the mock city had to offer.

Mia took a step back, Lulu disappearing into a cloud of dust that blew away into nothing. There was no way any of them would be able to take that monstrosity down... There was no way...

That was when it hit her. That was the zero-pointer Present Mic had mentioned... This was the one that they should be running from.

Quickly turning away, Mia ran, pushing through the crowd of terrified examinees, who all seemed to have the same thought as she did. The top half of a freaking skyscraper fell in their path, the monster's movements creating destruction that rained from above to block their escape. Large pieces of rubble began to crumble from the building and began to fall, and several teenagers began to scream, trying to move back to keep from getting crushed.

The crowd behind wouldn't budge... These kids were gonna die, flattened like pancakes...

No. No, they weren't.

Letting out a ferocious yell, all of Mia's fingers began to glow, much brighter than before. Her fingers curled as another mass began to form, swirling and waggling. Her nose dripped scarlet, her hands shaky from the strain. Like before, a figure shot up from the dark portal, massive compared to Lulu, albeit a lot slower than the previous puppet. Another yell, strained and worn. This one put one hell of a toll on her. She never used him. Not unless she needed to.

She only ever needed to once before...

With both hands, she flicked and twitched. The new puppet reared back, and, with one, two, three punches mighty enough to make All Might proud, broke apart the falling piece of rubble, sending smaller, more manageable pieces raining down on the would-be heroes. Other kids used their Quirks to do away with the rest of the falling rubble.

The puppet disappeared, and as he did, Mia slumped with a soft groan, her vision growing blurry. She began to fall to the ground.

"I got you!"

She didn't know who had her, but she was mighty grateful that he did. Shame that she wouldn't be able to properly thank him, as she never found out who he was, finally succumbing to her fatigue.