Two Cykas Running [Rimma & Saiko] - Event

Saiko found herself pacing within the waiting area of what would soon be the proving grounds for many of heroes in training, UA or otherwise. Schools across the world were looking to putting on display what their programs had to offer, in hopes of both impressing outside sources, and to establish themselves as the peak of skill and education.

Some fought to till they could no longer stand, while others worked with team members in a show of unity, something desperately needed in this time of division between quirks and non quirks. Saiko was hardly different in looking to solidify her improvement as a hero, through the doubts and disdain for her quirk, she still ultimately came to UA for one purpose. To be like her vigilante father, Ironclad Valor, and protect those that couldn't protect themselves. People like a young Saiko. People with quirks that were alone and afraid in a city of people that targeted them with hate and discrimination.

It might have been a selfish reason, but it was one of the few things keeping her hope afloat. If she lost her cause, if she no longer had the drive to become a hero...what else would she have? By the end of this, Saiko wanted to at least show her father that she was serious about her training, and though she didn't necessarily think she had been around UA long enough to learn a whole lot, Saiko would have to give everything she had to break those limits.

Despite the concern that crept over her skills being put on stage for all to see, it didn't actually bother Saiko as much as it should have. Saiko was one that becomes deathly serious when focused, and focus was never needed more than the given moment. As Saiko cased the starting area in planning, she stared out towards what would soon be their testing grounds. The mock city was familiar to the student, for the most part, as she had lived in Osaka for entirety of her life until moving to UA.

It would hopefully give her a massive boon if she could stick to the layout of the replicated Osaka, though the situation would, of course, mold to whatever suited the moment. Saiko watched the peculiar, puppet like being that simulated civilians that wandered the city in typical daily affairs, finding herself drawn to their oddity.

Saiko had always been interested in the workings of AI, and the ins and outs of how they operated, and seeing these strangely baggy, humanoid creatures trying to enact a normal humans life with the quirks and mistakes that only artificial intelligence can make fascinated her. Perhaps, after all of this was over, Saiko could attempt to seek out the creator of the sentient beings and ask more in detail about it. Or, more likely, Saiko wouldn't bother and it would just linger in her mind because she wouldn't find it in herself to actually try and find out who made them.

With a sigh, Saiko cleared her mind. She had to stay focused above all else. It had come to a surprise to Saiko, and likely many of the other students, that the obstacle course was actually more of a gauge of navigation and decision making over simple mobility, which could have swayed many students selection of what they signed up for.

However, it didn't affect Saiko any. Though the knowledge that she would be gaining a partner during the test, it didn't especially change Saiko's mindset. She had come to win, and to give it her all. Her earlier run ins with both Relena and Rowan, along with her parents, had spurred a sort of fire in her, and she felt that revitalized energy fuel her. Though Saiko still couldn't bring herself to claiming them as friends outright, they were the closest she had now, and it gave her a second outlook of UA. 

Relena claimed to have an strange kinship with her, and seemed drawn to her, whatever that might entitle. Saiko chalked it up to the bokken wielding blond as the type of person that wanted to cheer up sullen people...which Saiko had plenty of. Even through all the odd behaviors of the girl, she never treated Saiko poorly, and was friendly at the very least.

Rowan was almost the opposite in regards to personality to Relena, and that sort of fire and drive that Rowan gave off, despite the normally strenuous subject of Semper Fi and the racism quirkers like herself had to endure, was a breath of fresh air. Saiko was the type to be reserved and keep to herself for the most part, and it was because of this that Rowan helped her realize that her past suffering and ridicule was just that. In the past. Saiko wasn't alone, with many other students likely having suffered similar to her. Though it would be a mountain to climb, at least she realized now that nobody at UA would treat her as such. At least...that was the hope.

This resolve surged in her heart like a source of fuel, and Saiko was ready. Prepping herself, she had consumed plenty of the offered stall foods that contained more than her normal sources of sodium to kick start her quirk, and stretched her body to get her muscles limber while still wearing her UA gym uniform because...she never bothered seeking out getting a hero outfit. To much work for her, and she wouldn't even know where to begin.

The rules seemed simple enough, and all she had to do was await her team member now. It mattered little who it was, because by the end of this, Saiko would have given it her all. No matter the opponents, no matter the scenario or whom won or lost. This was to show improvement, and Saiko had no intentions of limiting herself.

With her quirk dripping down her form from her hair in a slow, steady flow not unlike an oil slick, Saiko felt more ready than ever before. This was the moment she needed to melt away the fears and doubts. This competition. This victory for UA.

This whole trip had been one big unmitigated disaster! She had committed herself mentally to going out into the festival and enjoy the food, talk up the locals, and maybe make a friend. At least, that was the plan. Upon actually reaching for the door leading out of her room, she froze up and immediately felt the urge to vomit from the anxiety...in the end, she ate in while sitting alone. Wallowing in her own misery and self doubt.

That was how it was leading up to the actual Sports Festival event. Excommunicated from all the happiness and laughter coming from the outside world. Who knew? Maybe all the excitement would have caused her heart to explode and she'd drop dead right there in front of everyone! How embarrassing...

Amanda Chevrolet hadn't gotten much sleep as she lay like a log on her bed, eyes widening as she listened to the tell tale beat of her heart that pounded so hard it threatened to burst from her chest. She wouldn't blame it for wanting to escape. Who would want to live inside a pathetic, weak quirker like her?

So she had decided to get dressed in her uniform that pronounced a simple blend of blue and gold to represent her school. It was a little too snug for her taste and accentuated her body a little too much for her own modest mentality. But there was nothing to be done about it as she looked at herself in the mirror. I swear, a slight breeze could knock me over.

Amanda made her way in the direction of Ground Beta while chewing on a piece of buttered toast, fidgeting at her collar, griping at how tight it was. She felt like it was constricting her, which only made her feel that much more nervous. What if she couldn't use her quirk properly? What if she let her partner down and they end up losing? Oh...I don't want to get yelled at.

At the thought of her partner, Amanda scratched at her chin. It was going to be Manuel! Oh why did they have to put her with him!? She didn't even want to do this Obstacle Course in the first place! But someone had to work with him...and she didn't have the nerve to say no. Her eyes widened at the thought of working with someone so loud. She scratched at her cheeks and then at her neck. Why was she so itchy all of a sudden?

To say that the girl was woefully unprepared for all of this was an understatement. She didn't speak Japanese, her partner was ill suited to her mentality, and she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. Maybe she was thinking way too hard on this. Yeah, she just needed to calm down! After all, her quirk wouldn't work properly if she couldn't maintain her own pulse. 

She stood in front of the doorway leading into the waiting area, breathing in and out in slow and methodical breaths. Amanda shoved the rest of the toast into her mouth and chewed with gusto before grasping the knob and stepping inside. She saw two girls standing there who she didn't recognize and her eyes turned into saucers. The bread slipped down her threat and caught mid way, threatening to choke the girl out.

Amanda keeled over and began hacking violently, slamming her chest so hard that she thought it would cave in. The girl raced over to the water fountain and took several large gulps in between her coughing fits. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she cleared out the residue, but after a few minutes the worst was over.

"Merde! Je pensais que j'allais mourir!" She spouted.

It then dawned on her that she still had one more issue to deal with. Amanda had just made a fool of herself in front of complete strangers. She stood up straight while facing them and began to shake from head to toe uncontrollably. Her lips quivered in sheer terror at them and she wanted nothing more than to bolt from the room. But then, they would start talking about her once she left! They would call her 'weird' or something of the like. But what could she say? It wasn't like she could speak their language!

So the girl just carefully pointed to herself. "A-A-A-Amanda."

Oh dear god, I could really use you right now Manuel. When can we just get this started already? I just want this whole thing to be over with! 

The thing was that he had not much of a choice but simply accept the rules of the game and thus make use of Amanda. "I never said you could not take your quirk serious." The boy said while holding her collar so she would not fall over, thank god she found her own gravity back and did not fall. He definitely could not use a kluntz like her around but again if anyone, he rather had Amanda around than any of the other girls. He immediately let go of her after and watched her lean against the wall, he shook his head and took a deep breath. Wonderful women, the girls in this room, especially from the Japanese girl were crazy. He held up his hands as the blue haired girl said that she rather not be called a chick, right after the red head said that there was no chicken here and he had to resist the urge to facepalm. 

"I didn't call you psycho." He pointed his thumb at Aki, "She did. But a pleasure, Saiko." He had no idea about the way the Japanese used the titles or whatever you wanted to call it, so he did not even try. "So rude." He said but he grinned, he absolutely did not care that she acted like that, a bit of fire power, nice. He watched how she walked towards Amanda and raised his eyebrow as she spoke in the language Amanda would understand, friends? Really? He looked at Aki for a second but dismissed the strange girl. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and just shook his head, could they not hurry up? He leaned against the table next to him as Ningyo walked in and looked at them with a puppet... was that a puppet? "Tch." He started to dislike this excercise a lot more, at least the teacher was pretty, so he could look at her. But he listened because well that would work fantastic if he understood what they at least wanted from him. 

He closed his eyes and started to think, of course, they were the villains. Well, let's go all out in that case. He opened his left eye and looked at Amanda who stuttered at him. "Ha, you think I will eat you or something?" He said grumpy, "Amanda," He lingered on her name, "We are a team, you and I have to depend on each other." At least she said she took her quirk very serious, that was the only thing he had to count on. He pulled her towards him, "We better work this strategy thing out, I am depending on you." Liar. Well, if it would let her work better, he would offer it. 

He watched her explain, not saying anything inbetween, just staring, "Hm, sounds like an idea. How much havoc we create right? Second area sounds the best in that case." 

---

Quirk - Extreme Momentum, an emitter quirk all about getting faster and faster with minor movements. Manuel is able to do consecutive punches one after another and only getting faster and faster. In other words, if he repeats same thing over and over again, he gains the greatest forms of momentum. This is often referred to him as 'building a combo.' (D-rank)


Parkour ability - F-rank

He stared at her with a very visible look of annoyance on it as she trembled. He wasn't a monster and besides, what use would it be if he fought her while he had to be a team with her. For god sake Amanda, make up your mind. She seemed to take the upperhand now and jogged out towards the area, while he just simply followed her, hands behind his head and just slowly walking there, albeit fast enough to keep up with his fellow student. He nodded, yes he had heard the teacher, fifteen minutes. "Ha that means you want to get the easy way out, I just want to burn their points down." The thing is though that he wanted to win so if Amanda her strategy worked better than his own, he would listen to it. He did not like it, fifteen minutes could take a while though but he did not like how it worked. He wanted to show how badass he could be. Because he wasn't keeping up with her, she took his hand. That could be the only logical explanation and he turned to look away from her, what a ridiculous idea. Surely, she was pretty enough but this was just awkward okay. To keep her secure and satisfied, he did not pull his hand back. "What?" He turned his head back at her when she said that he could use her as he wanted. "You-you, yea sure." What the hell was this girl talking about. Man this made it too distracting, his mind only looking for excuses what she meant with all that. She ran though, so he could only follow, noticing them pasing a lever. He felt full adrenaline and couldn't wait to get all out on this.

They wanted him to be the villain, than he would be the villain. 

He waited for Amanda to give him the good to go, half knowing what her quirk meant. He did blush when she stuttered at him, "Get over it, we need to get going." He said embarrassed at her as well and nodded when she finally stopped talking. "Yes, let me fix this. So wait here." He pushed his right leg behind and grinned while looking at a lever right in front of him, he only had to run past two dolls, piece of cake, they did not wear the unifrom that the teacher had showed him before, so he sprinted towards it and pushed the lever before running back. While he did that he heard the loud crashing of the sound of a building, it was collapsing on his now right side, original his left when he faced the lever. "That's a start, I hope there were some pe- eh dolls in there." It seemed to fall a bit more and he looked at the debris, "We could get that," He ran towards it, grabbed a bar and a piece of wood and ran back. Giving her the bar so she wouldn't get any splinters from it and worried about the wooden board himself. He could handle it. 

---

Manuel ran towards a lever that collapsed a building, he waited seconds to grab a board and a metal bar to use as weapons for later. Standing back next on Amanda's right side.