Chapter 15: The Weight of Steel and Soul
"Now that..." Zoro whispered, his hand gripping the white hilt of the Wado Ichimonji, "...looks like a real test."
The dark green bandana sat tight across his forehead. Above him, the Zero-Pointer blotted out the sun. The colossal machine wasn't just big; it was a moving mountain of hero-grade steel. Its mechanical treads ground the fake city into powder.
"TARGETS ACQUIRED."
The robotic voice vibrated Zoro's ribcage. All around him, the remaining applicants were fleeing in absolute terror.
"Oww! My leg! I can't move!"
Zoro didn't look away from the machine, but his ears picked up the cry. A few dozen yards away, the girl with the round face was pinned under a massive slab of debris. The robot's right tread was rolling directly toward her.
Standing just a few feet away from the trapped girl was a boy with messy green hair.
Zoro recognized him instantly. The crying kid from Takoba Beach. The one who spent ten months dragging refrigerators through the sand. Right now, the kid was shaking like a leaf, his eyes wide with pure panic.
He's frozen, Zoro thought, his jaw tightening. Just a coward after all.
There was no time to wait for a hero.
Zoro pushed the Wado Ichimonji open with his thumb. He pulled the white scabbard up and bit down hard on the grip. The blade rested securely in his mouth.
His hands instantly dropped to his waist. He drew the two generic steel katanas simultaneously, crossing them in front of his chest.
Three swords.
Up in the observation room, the teachers held their breath.
"Is he crazy?!" Present Mic screamed. "He can't fight that thing!"
Aizawa leaned closer to the monitor, his bloodshot eyes unblinking.
Down on the street, Zoro dropped his center of gravity. His leg muscles coiled so tightly the fabric of his trousers threatened to tear. He didn't have magical shockwaves. He couldn't cut a skyscraper in half.
But he could cut its legs.
Zoro exploded forward. The asphalt spider-webbed beneath his boots. He blurred across the street, moving faster than the eye could track.
He reached the massive right tread of the Zero-Pointer in a fraction of a second.
"Santoryu..." Zoro growled around the blade in his mouth. He twisted his torso, pulling the crossed swords back.
"Oni Giri!" (Demon Slash)
Zoro unleashed a blinding, three-way diagonal slash directly into the thick, rotating joints of the colossal tread.
CRUNCH!
The sound was deafening. The sheer physical force behind Zoro's muscles forced the blades deep into the military-grade joints. The massive steel gears screamed in protest, then violently snapped. Sparks erupted like a volcanic explosion.
The Zero-Pointer lurched heavily to the right. Its destroyed tread ground into the dirt, halting its forward momentum entirely.
Zoro landed a few feet away, exhaling a sharp breath. Got it.
But physics was a cruel master.
The robot stopped moving forward, but it lost its balance. The skyscraper-sized machine groaned, its colossal weight shifting. It began to topple face-first.
Directly toward the trapped girl.
Zoro instantly turned, bending his knees to launch himself toward her.
CRACK. SHATTER.
Zoro froze. The two generic steel katanas in his hands violently exploded. The metal couldn't handle the monstrous pressure of the Oni Giri against the armored tread. They shattered into dozens of jagged fragments, leaving Zoro holding nothing but two broken, useless hilts.
Worse, the violent recoil shot up Zoro's arms. His muscles completely locked up. Numbness paralyzed his shoulders.
He couldn't move. He couldn't reach her in time.
The shadow of the falling metal mountain swallowed the girl. Zoro gritted his teeth around the Wado Ichimonji, fury burning in his chest. Damn it!
Then, a blur of green shot past him.
It wasn't a pro hero. It was the crying kid from the beach.
Midoriya wasn't running away. His face was twisted in pure, unadulterated resolve. His legs smashed into the concrete, launching him into the air like a human missile. He flew higher than the streetlights. He flew right up to the face of the falling Zero-Pointer.
Zoro's eye widened in absolute shock.
Midoriya pulled his right arm back. Glowing red lines surged under his skin.
"SMASH!"
Midoriya punched the colossal robot.
The sound barrier shattered. A terrifying shockwave of devastating wind pressure erupted from the boy's fist. The entire face of the giant machine caved inward. The sheer force of the punch completely reversed the robot's momentum, throwing thousands of tons of steel backward into the fake city.
BOOM!
The explosion shook the earth. The Zero-Pointer was completely annihilated.
Down on the street, Zoro stood perfectly still, the broken hilts still in his hands. The violent wind from the punch tore at his clothes.
He slowly looked up at the sky.
The green-haired kid was falling. His right arm and both of his legs were completely crushed, twisting at horrifying angles in the wind. The boy had sacrificed his own body to throw a single punch. To save a girl he didn't even know.
Zoro slowly took the Wado Ichimonji out of his mouth. The fierce, demonic glare in his eyes melted away. It was replaced by something entirely different.
Deep, absolute respect.
So, Zoro thought, watching the broken boy plummet toward the concrete. There are still real monsters in this world.