Kevin, Demetri, and Isaiah reach the center building of the arena.
Isaiah: *tearing up* I can’t believe we made it!
Demetri: *also tearing up* I thought we’d die out there!
Isaiah and Demetri embrace.
Isaiah and Demetri: We’re not failures yet!
Kevin: (That’s how low their bar is?)
Kevin looks at the purple orb in his hand.
Kevin: (I guess Ms. Fatal really wanted to give us a chance to prove ourselves… and I’m thankful she did… I don’t know how we would have gotten out of that mess otherwise.)
A flashback begins.
Fatal: You win.
All three of them are silent for a few moments.
Kevin, Isaiah, and Demetri: HUH!
Fatal turns to walk away.
Kevin: Woah, Woah, Woah! Ms. Fatal, what do you mean “you win”?
Fatal: Exactly what it sounds like. The orb is yours; go pass this exam.
Kevin: B- but… we didn’t beat you!
Fatal smiles.
Fatal: No, but you proved to me that you deserve to continue your education here at U.A., which really matters.
Kevin is speechless.
Isaiah: But… Ms. Fatal… What about Demetri and I? Kevin was the one who stepped up for your test… we didn’t do anything… why should we rewar-
Demetri tackles Isaiah.
Demetri: JUST TAKE THE EASY WIN, DOUCHEBAG!
Isaiah: GET OFF ME!
Isaiah tries to wrestle Demetri off of himself.
Fatal: You both chose a good leader.
Demetri and Isaiah stop fighting and look at Fatal.
Fatal: It may not seem like much, but you’d be surprised how often people get that wrong. Following the right person is a massive part of being a team. You’re all deserving of being U.A. students.
Demetri and Isaiah are in awe. The flashback ends.
Kevin: (I’m not sure if I feel entirely right about how we got this orb, even if Ms. Fatal explained her reasoning. Either way, I’m glad we’ve passed.)
Kevin looks at the green and blue orbs they collected in his pocket.
Kevin: (It feels wrong to let these go to waste when they could help someone else pass…)
Kevin spots a sewer grate on the side of the street. He walks over to it and throws the orbs in the sewer.
Kevin: Alright, let’s head in.
Isaiah: Right.
Demetri: Whatever…
Kevin: Yeah, keep acting tough. We’ll see if that sticks when we see Sydney again.
Isaiah and Demetri tense up.
Isaiah: Oh god… you don’t think she’s finished with the exam, do you?
Demetri: M- m- maybe we should wait for a little-
Kevin drags Isaiah and Demetri into the building as they struggle to escape.
Kevin: Nope.
Isaiah: No, please!
Demetri: I don't want to die!
Hayze looks around at the 1-B students surrounding them.
Hayze: (You can see the wear and tear on everyone after 4 days of surviving in the forest… well… except Saige.) Saige.
Saige: Yes, Hayze?
Hayze: Are you in on this fight?
Saige: Hm…
Blair and Eve both look at Saige through the corner of their eyes.
Eve: (He’s asking her if she wants to fight? Shouldn’t that question be self-explanatory!)
Blair: (She can’t seriously be considering sitting out of this!)
Saige looks around at 1-B.
Saige: Depends. Do you want them to have a chance to pass this exam?
Hayze: Alright, I guess we’ll go with plan B.
Blair and Eve are surprised.
Eve: What do you mean, plan B?
Hayze takes out his bow.
Hayze: You girls grab Jake and head to the center. I’ll run interference.
Eve: What! I’m not running from a fight!
Blair: Me neither!
Hayze: They don’t have any orbs. Fighting them together gains us nothing; our best play is to have one person act as a decoy while everyone else heads to the center.
Eve’s eyes widen.
Eve: (I’ve heard this before…)
“ Hayze: You guys get out of here. I’ll hold them back. “ - Chapter 63
Blair: And why should it be you! Why don’t we leave Jake for-
Eve: Alright.
Blair is surprised.
Blair: What do you mean “alright”! Weren’t you just opposed to this as well!
Eve: Hayze has got this. We should go along with his plan.
Blair: But… Fine!
Hayze reaches into his pocket and pulls out the blue orb Saige gave him.
Hayze: I’ll meet you guys at the center. Stay safe.
Eve: Right.
Eve grabs Jake and carries him over her shoulder.
Blair: You too… Hayze.
Hayze looks at Saige.
Hayze: And what about you?
Saige: I already gave you my thoughts back at the hill.
Hayze: Right.
Hayze turns to 1-B.
Hailey: Are you guys done strategizing?
Hayze: Yeah, thanks for waiting patiently.
Talon: Pfft, you don’t scare us.
Hayze: Considering you all just stood there twiddling your thumbs while we had an entire conversation, I’d say we do.
Talon and Hailey: *frustrated grunt*
Verity spies the orb in Hayze’s hand.
Verity: I see you’ve decided to give up. Unfortunately, we know you have more than just one orb in your possessions, so we’ll need all of them.
Hayze: I don’t think you’re in the position to be making such a request.
Hailey: What are you on about?
Hayze: You’ve all been defeated already, meaning that none of you have anything outside of a few white orbs, and you need ten of those to pass. This single orb would cut that number by seven…, which could be the difference between passing or failing this test.
The 1-B students are very quiet.
Hayze: You’re all working together now… but not all of you can pass if you pass up opportunities like this… so… do you want the orb?
All of the 1-B students look at each other with more distrust than before. Hayze’s eyes change to red.
Hayze: Well, then come get it.
Fabio attempts to rip the orb from Hayze’s hand using his fair, but Hayze blasts his lochs with a fireball.
Fabio: NOOOOOOO!
Hayze points his right palm toward the ground.
Hayze: Boost!
Hayze blasts himself into the air and onto a building.
Sydney: Get that orb, Desiree!
Desiree: Right!
Desiree starts scaling the building using her web quirk while Sydney launches herself into the air using her water quirk to simulate a burst fire hydrant.
Hailey: Fabio! Use your-
Fabio is weeping over his scorched hair.
Hailey: We’ll… we’ll leave you to it.
Hailey grabs Verity and uses her elastic arm to repel them out onto the roof to chase after Hayze.
Talon: Ester!
Ester: You got it!
Ester transforms into a scythe, and Talon grabs her. He then flies after Hayze and the others.
Eve: Well, that was surprisingly effective.
Blair: What about this bitch?
They all look at Fabio weeping.
Eve: Eh, leave him.
Saige makes an electric razor using her quirk.
Saige: No.
Hayze leaps from rooftop to rooftop, running away from his pursuers. He draws his bow limb.
Hayze: Well, I never thought I’d be doing this today!
Hayze looks over his shoulder and sees Talon flying at him.
Talon: Give me that orb!
Hayze ignites his bowstring.
Hayze: Nah, I think I’ll hold on to it.
Hayze spins around and shoots a fire arrow at Talon, who quickly dodges the attack.
Talon: You’ll have to do better than that-
Hayze is gone.
Ester: Wh- where did he go?
Talon: I don’t know… weren’t you supposed to be watching him while I evaded…
Ester: I was distracted!
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Talon: Of course…
Talon flies around looking for Hayze but doesn’t see him on any rooftops.
Ester: His quirk doesn’t let him disappear… Does it?
Talon: No, it definitely doesn’t.
Hayze hangs on to one of the buildings using the alleyway’s shadows to conceal himself. He’s melted a small divot in the building wall for him to hold on to.
Hayze: (Come on… just fly away…)
Talon continues flying around, trying to spot Hayze.
Hayze: (Dammit… I can’t hang her that much longer!)
Hayze looks down at the long drop beneath him.
Hayze: (I can heal, but I can’t heal that…)
Desiree: Hanging around?
Hayze jerks his head in the direction of Desiree’s voice and sees her hanging from her web.
Desiree: This was clever, but too bad I’m not as dumb as them.
Hayze: (Shit…)
Desiree fires off a wad of glue at Hayze. He immediately leaps off the wall to dodge and begins falling.
Desiree: Not so fast!
Desiree spits a stream of glue from her mouth and creates a spider web that catches Hayze’s fall.
Hayze: Ugh!
Hayze struggles but is completely stuck in the web’s grasp. He lights a fire in his hand.
Hayze: This won’t work on-
Suddenly Hayze is soaked by a rush of water from above. It douses his flame and dampens his entire body.
Hayze: *coughing* What the hell?
Hayze looks up to see Sydney standing on the edge of the building.
Hayze: Oh…
Sydney jumps off the building, and Desiree catches her hand. She then lowers Sydney down onto the web and releases her.
Sydney: It’s about time.
Sydney starts walking towards Hayze.
Hayze: How are you-
Sydney: These special shoes that Desiree carries around for her teammates allow me to walk on her glue.
Hayze: Seems handy…
Sydney stands over Hayze.
Sydney: How does it feel being trapped like the insect you are?
Hayze: How does it feel losing to Demetri and Isaiah.
Sydney’s face turns red.
Hayze: I really thought you were tougher than that, but come on, Sydney, really-
Sydney kicks Hayze in the head.
Hayze: *groans* Ow…
Sydney: THEY BEAT ME USING A DIRTY TRICK!
Hayze: Those two tricked you? What, did they pants you?
Sydney is silent, and Desiree snickers.
Hayze: Oh god…
Sydney: It was humiliating!
Desiree: And tell him the best part!
Sydney: NO! DON’T YOU DARE!
Desiree: She made a bet they couldn’t beat her, so now she has to kiss them.
Sydney: WHAT DID I JUST SAY!
Hayze: Oh… sorry to hear that…
Sydney: Desiree! You are a terrible teammate!
Desiree: Me… you’re the one who lost to two losers.
Sydney: AND WHERE WERE YOU!
Desiree: On the sidelines with my pants up…
Hayze looks around at his stuck body.
Hayze: (My fire quirk is useless while I’m wet…)
Hayze sees Desiree and Sydney still bickering.
Hayze: Anyway… you mind getting to your point here?
Sydney: R- right! I want my rematch!
Hayze: Your… rematch?
Sydney: We fought, remember!
Hayze: Oh, I remember… I’m usually not one to hit a girl but you kind of tried to kill my friend, so I made an exception. I’m wondering why you want one.
Sydney: To get revenge! My defeat was humiliating!
Hayze: So you don’t want the orb…
Sydney: No! I mean, yes, I want it! But I want a rematch first!
This gets Hayze thinking.
Hayze: Here… I’ll tell you what, I don’t think this is the best time for a rematch for either of us, but if you let me go, I’ll give you the orb, and I promise I will fight again at a later date.
Sydney: No! You humiliated me, and I will not wait any longer to make you pay! Nothing will make me-
Hayze: I’ll get Demetri and Isaiah to call off the deal.
Sydney is silent.
Desiree: Oh, that’s all it takes?
Sydney: How would you feel if those deviants were running around bragging about taking your innocence!
Desiree: Aroused.
Sydney: What?
Desiree: What?
Sydney stares at Desiree for a moment.
Sydney: Anyway… That’s not going to cut it! I may not be a fan of my deal with them, but that’s not enough for-
Verity: *offscreen* She’s looking forward to the kiss.
Sydney: No, I don’t!
Sydney looks up and sees Verity and Hailey standing on the edge of the building.
Hailey: Man, Sydney… and I thought you were cool…
Sydney: SHE’S LYING! SHE COULDN’T EVEN SEE MY EYES!
Hayze’s hand dries, and he lights a fire that ignites the entire web, causing himself and Sydney to start falling.
Sydney: Wh- AHH!
Hayze lands safely while Sydney lands ass first on the ground.
Sydney: AHHHH!
Hayze starts running.
Hayze: We’ll have a rematch later, cya!
Hayze leaves the alleyway.
Verity: Let’s follow him.
Hailey: Yup!
Hailey grabs Verity and uses her elastic arms to start swinging from building to building. Talon sees them and starts flying after them. Desiree lowers herself to the ground and walks over to Sydney, who is in pain.
Desiree: Are you doing okay?
Sydney: I think I broke my ass…
Desiree: Man, karma hates you a lot.
Sydney: This is karma for what!
Desiree: You really can’t figure that out…
Hayze continues running through the street and sees the center tower in the distance. He looks over his shoulder and sees Hailey, Verity, and Talon in hot pursuit.
Hayze: (I’ve gotta keep moving, I have to lose them somehow, if I bring them to the center, they could try to stop us from entering!)
Hayze looks down at his pocket containing the blue orb.
Hayze: (If I threw it away, they would certainly stop following me… but Saige gave it to me for a reason, it was hers and Blair’s… I can’t just throw it away.)
Hayze creates two fireballs, one in each hand.
Hayze: (Two targets, two shots.)
Hayze spins around and points the fireballs at Hailey and Talon.
Hayze: Helix Hellfire!
Hayze blasts off a beam of fire in the shape of a DNA helix, the speed of the attack catches them off guard. Hailey narrowly dodges the side of the beam aimed at herself and Desiree while Talon tries to spin out of the way of his side of the beam. However, the fire clips his wing, setting it ablaze.
Talon: AHHH!
Ester: OH NO! Stop, Drop and Roll!
Talon careens to the ground in a panic and slams into the ground wing first, putting out the fire but damaging himself.
Talon: *groans* Why do we keep fighting firefighters!
Ester: It’s just our luck…
Hayze spots an alleyway and runs down it.
Hailey: He went down there!
Verity: Head to the ground. We’ll follow him on foot.
Hailey lowers herself and Verity next to the alley. They look around, trying to spot Hayze.
Hailey: I don’t see him.
Verity: He couldn’t have gone far.
They walk down the alley cautiously.
Verity: I didn’t take him for the cowardly type.
Hailey: Verity, look!
They see a door into the building that is slightly open.
Verity: I’ll investigate inside. You watch the outside and follow him if he runs.
Hailey: Wh- what? You wanna go in there by yourself? Are you sure you can take him? He beat Sydney, you know.
Verity: All I need to do is see into his eyes.
Hailey is reluctant but shakes her head in agreement. Verity enters the building.
Verity: I know you’re in here…
No response.
Verity: Okay then…
Verity starts walking through the building, unaware that Hayze is waiting around a corner with a pair of heat grenades ready.
Hayze: (Okay… I’ll use these to create a distraction and escape out of the front entrance. If they were smart, then one of them is keeping watch outside, but after the explosion, they’re probably going to be pressed to make sure their teammate is okay, giving me an opening.)
Verity: Hello.
Verity has snuck up on Hayze, startling him to the point that he falls over.
Hayze: Someone needs to put a bell on you!
Verity: I get that a lot.
Verity gives Hayze her hand.
Hayze: Wh- what?
Verity: I’m helping you up. This is a very easily identifiable gesture; I shouldn’t have to-
Hayze: Alright, alright, I’m getting up.
Hayze grabs Verity’s hand and helps him to his feet.
Hayze: So, why are you-
Verity: I’d like to make a deal.
Hayze stares at Verity for a few moments.
Hayze: What kind of deal?
Verity: Hailey and I will escort you to the center building in exchange for the orb you’re carrying.
Hayze: Ok… but why would I want to bring you to the center? Sure, you get this orb, but what’s to stop you from trying to get our other-
Verity: We already possess three white orbs.
Hayze is surprised.
Verity: My group, Sydney’s and Talon’s, worked together to secure three white orbs each. That’s why we’re all so gung-ho to get this orb. We all pass with it in our possession.
Hayze: So it’s a win-win for both of us.
Verity: Yes, indeed it is.
Hayze thinks for a moment.
Hayze: You’re really willing to abandon your classmates for this?
Verity: It’s every woman for themselves right now. I’m sure they’ll understand. If I see them again, of course.
Hayze: And why are you offering this deal to me? You could just continue trying to take it.
Verity: I admire a man bold enough to travel with a harem.
Hayze: H- harem? Do you mean the girls I was with?
Hayze laughs.
Hayze: Eve hates me, and Blair and Saige definitely don’t like me like that.
Verity stares at Hayze.
Verity: I feel bad for those two, although speaking of that, I have one more stipulation to add to the deal.
Hayze: Wh- what is it?
At the infirmary, Wes sneezes.
Wes: Oh, come on! I better not be getting a cold!
Hayze and Verity exit the building together. Hailey comes rushing down.
Hailey: Verity! What are you doing with him!
Verity: We’ve made a deal. We’re working together in exchange for the orb.
Hailey: Oh… really? Sweet.
Talon comes flying in.
Talon: Good work trapping him, Hailey and Verity! We’ll be sure to-
Hailey swats Talon out of the air.
Hailey: Let’s go pass then!
At the center building, Eve, Jake, Blair, and Saige are waiting outside for Hayze.
Eve: You two should go in. You have your orbs, finish the test, and we’ll meet up with you later.
Saige: No, I want to make sure that Hayze gets here alright.
Blair: Yeah… I wouldn’t feel right leaving you guys after all the help you were.
Jake: Do any of you have-
Blair and Eve glare at Jake with the fury of 1000 suns.
Jake: Nevermind.
Blair spots three people approaching.
Saige: We’ve got company.
Eve and Blair both turn their attention to the people.
Blair: That can’t be Hayze.
Eve: Why would he be-
Hayze: *from afar* Hey guys!
The three people come into view: Verity, Hailey, and Hayze. Blair looks afraid, Eve looks pissed, Saige looks gleeful, Jake looks hungry,
Eve and Blair: WHY ARE YOU TRAVELING WITH HER!
Saige: Oh please, Verity, talk to Blair!
Jake: Nuggets…
Hayze walks up to them.
Hayze: Look, I made a deal with them to give them the orb if they help me get to the tower.
Eve and Blair both look at them with distrust.
Eve: Right…
Blair: Well, I guess they held up their end of the bargain.
Hayze: Yeah, so here you go.
Hayze takes out the blue orb and passes it to Verity.
Verity: Thank you.
Eve: How do we know you’re not going to try and fight us when we turn our backs to you?
Verity: We’ll enter first if you’d like.
Eve: Wh- what?
Verity: We now have the orbs needed to pass. We’ll be heading inside.
Eve stares at them for a few moments.
Eve: Hayze…
Hayze: Y- yeah?
Eve punches her palm.
Eve: Why don’t we take their orbs and pass this exam outright!
Hailey steps in front of Verity to protect her.
Hailey: I thought you guys had the orbs to pass!
Eve: Blair and Saige do. Me, idiot and stupid, don’t have any orbs now that you have that one!
Jake laughs.
Jake: She called Hayze stupid… wait.
Eve: So I think we should use our numbers to-
Hayze steps in front of Eve.
Hayze: Eve, I made a deal with these two. I’m not going to let you break it.
Eve: Wh- what! Fuck you! I’m not failing because of your self-righteous attitude!
Hayze looks Eve right in the eye.
Hayze: Eve, we’re going to get this red orb. This exam is about loyalty. Let’s not break that in front of the final building.
Eve stares at Hayze.
Eve: *frustrated grunt* Fine!
Saige steps forward.
Saige: Well, if that’s settled, what do you girls say we finish this exam?
Hailey: Gladly.
Blair: It’s about damn time.
The seven of them step through the doors of the final building.
Hayze: (I asked them to trust me… well now it all comes down to this… one challenge… fail and our dreams end.)