Chapter Text
Chapter 1 Entrance Exam
The day was young on this particular morning in Japan. This day was a particular day for 14 year old young men and women who hoped to one day become pro heroes. This day was the entrance exam day for Japan’s number 1 hero school Yuei. As expected, around a thousand teenagers applied to have a chance to enter this wonderful school.
A group of seven students were arriving at the school’s entrance, they wore their middle school uniform so one could see they came from the same school. Curiously the group were arranged in a circle around one of their members as if to protect him. The middle student stared up at the entrance deep in thought.
“Here we are, ” Midoriya Izuku said softly, looking at each of his six friends, friends or rather comrades that he’d fight and die for, and they for him. “Let’s do our best and pass this exam.”
“Of course, Juudaime!”
“You got it, Midori!”
“We will EXTREMELY pass this exam!”
“Yes, Bossu!”
“Hmm… I will bite them all to death.”
“As if this will be difficult after what we went through, baka boss!”
“You’re in my fucking way, shitty Deku!”
That last one didn’t sound like one of his friends. Peeking behind them, Izuku was surprised to see his old childhood friend and recent bully, Bakugo Katsuki. With short, spiky, sandy-blond hair, sharp red eyes and a face set in a scowl that only a mother could love, Bakugo walked with a swagger necessary to carry his humongous ego.
“Kacchan,” Izuku stepped forward and greeted his old friend. He hadn’t seen Bakugo since shortly after he and his friends returned from Italy.
Bakugo stopped right in front of Izuku, jutting his head forward until they were nose to nose. “What the fuck are you doing here? I thought I told your Quirkless ass not to bother coming here? I will be the only one to enter Yuei from our shitty school of Aldera you ear me Deku. You and those extra you call your friends will not be part of my backstory as the future number 1 Hero!”
Seeing Katsuki starting to sound like a broken record Izuku sighed “How many times did I tell you that I have a Quirk I just didn’t like using it.”
“A weak excuse from a worthless extra like you Deku!”
“You take that back you Shitty-Pomeranian!” Hayato, the most hotheaded of Izuku’s friends, sneered as he got right in Bakugo’s face. Literally as the two were now butting heads.
“Why should I, Shitty-Knockoff?” Not one to refuse a challenge to prove his superiority Bakugo refused to retreat a single step.
Hayato was equally stubborn, so the two of them were now grinding their foreheads.
“What a good display of friendship!” Takeshi laughed, 100% earnest.
“”We’re not fucking friends”” Hayato and Bakugo shouted in synch then realising what they had done bellowed at each other “”Stop fucking copying me!””
Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose, willing the growing headache caused by the two shouting loudmouths away. “That’s enough Hayato”
Hearing those words Hayato’s attitude did a complete 180 as he quickly stepped away from Bakugo(making the loudmouth stumble from the sudden lack of resistance) and rubbed the back of his head shamefully. “Forgive me Juudaime!”
“Heh, Fucking suck up” Bakugo, having recovered from his nearfall snorted.
“You-!” started Hayato gritting his teeth ready to start this whole thing all over again;
“We’re going to be late at this rate,” Izuku interrupted before another argument could start. Then he turned his focus to his childhood friend. “Kacchan, you can insult me as much as you want, your words mean nothing to me. I stopped caring years ago. But-” he exuded a tiny pressure of his quirk forward, just enough to make Bakugo stagger in shock “I won’t accept you insulting my friends.”
For the briefest of instants Bakugo was confused, unable to accept that the teenager standing before him could have a quirk when he never showed the slight hope of having one before. But then his self-assuredness kicked in, brushing the moment off as a trick of his imagination.
“Like I fucking care what you think, Deku,” Bakugo scowled, shoving his hands into his pockets as stomped forward into the school.
Izuku’s Hyper Intuition pinged, seeing through Bakugo’s childish attempt to knock Izuku over with his shoulder. With a mental shake of his head Izuku casually stepped aside, causing Bakugo to stumble when his roughhousing hit nothing but air. He shot Izuku a murderous glare, as if someone as worthless as Deku daring to avoid his bullying was a crime against the law of Bakugoland.
“You and your shitty extras better stay out of my fucking way, Deku. This is my origin story, and I won’t have you worthless side-characters screwing it up.”
His piece said, Bakugo stormed off towards the enormous Yuei building.
“He hasn’t changed since middle school. He is still a bully. I wonder how someone with such a personality can ever hope to be number 1.” Mikoto growled and the air around her crackled with static electricity.
“A carnivore with blood on his fangs.” Kyoya grinned eagerly “I can’t wait to bite him to death.”
“Fucking asshole, how dare he insult Juudaime!” Hayato seethed.
“His attitude is EXTREMELY unheroic. “Ryohei added.
“That’s just the way he is,” Takeshi laughed. “it’s actually kind of adorable!”
“You are so weird Yamamoto-kun” Chrome said, making said boy’s grin even wider.
Izuku huffed, lips slowly turning into a smile. “Come on, you guys. We have an exam to attend.”
Wow they seem like such good friends, Uraraka Ochaco thought watching the group of seven from afar. She could tell, just from how close they were as they walked, that they were all really dear to one another.
She considered running up and introducing herself, because it would be amazing if she managed to attend Yuei AND got seven new friends all at once, but decided against it. They looked like a close knit group and Uraraka didn’t see any room in it for anyone new and the black haired boy looked quite scary even from a distance.
C’mon Ochako, focus! Uraraka hyped herself up. She was going to ace this exam, and attend the greatest hero school in Japan! If…no, WHEN she got in, then she’d think about introducing herself to those seven, especially if they managed to pass as well.
His name’s Deku. Uraraka memorized it before slapping her round cheeks to get herself focused and marched towards the front doors of Yuei with her head held high.
Now that the written portion of Yuei’s entrance exam had concluded the faculty’s staff members were shuffling into the darkened observation room where numerous screens were relaying footage of the mock cityscapes where the practical exam would be held.
“Sure am lookin’ forward ta seein’ what this year’s crop will bring” Snipe, the Gun Hero, said as he took a seat and got comfortable.
“I’m looking forward to being pleasantly surprised,” Cementoss, the Cement Hero said.
“Ahh hundreds of youthful boys and girls all panting and sweating as they desperately fight for the few available slots in the Hero Course,” Midnight, the R-Rated Hero, cooed while rubbing her legs in a suggestive manner. “It never fails to turn me on!”
“Behave,” Eraserhead, the Erasure Hero, scolded, using an ice cold spray bottle with a label that said “Midnight Extinguisher™ “ to calm the adult heroine down.
“Shouta!” Midnight spluttered through a mouthful of water but nevertheless having been calmed down.
“Nemuri,” Eraserhead dully replied, finding his own seat.
“Now now, everyone,” Nezu, the principal of Yuei High, a professional Hero, and one of the few animals in the world that manifested a Quirk, softly chided. “We’re about to select the next generation of heroes, and I expect you all to give it your utmost attention.”
Sitting in the chair beside the principal’s was a skeleton of a man, wearing a baggy yellow suit several sizes too large and hung loosely from his gaunt frame. His golden blond hair fell across his sunken blue eyes, which were fully focused on the dozens of screens throughout the observation room.
He was All Might, Japan’s number 1 hero, perhaps the greatest hero in the entire world, and his time was running out. Having sustained a life-threatening injury from his nemesis, All For One, years ago All Might’s time as a hero was shortening by the day. By now he could barely perform his duties as the #1 hero for three measly hours a day.
That’s why he was here at Yuei : to find a worthy successor for his Quirk, One For All, the greatest Quirk in the world and the power that allowed him to become Japan’s Symbol of Peace. Yuei was filled with hero-hopefuls with boundless potential, and surely one amongst them embodied the heroic qualities All Might was searching for in his successor.
If not, he might have to swallow his pride and go with his former sidekick’s recommendation.
“And….BEGIN!” Present Mic, the Voice Hero’s voice roared from the speakers. The English teacher was this year’s entrance exam referee and as such was absent from the room.
“It’s starting,” the Space Hero, Thirteen, said as her knees bounced excitedly.
All Might watched the many screens closely as hundreds of examinees frantically rushed into the mock cities Yuei prepared for their practical exams. They were seven cities in total, each the size of a busy metropolitan, filled with robots that the examinees needed to destroy for points.
The #1 hero’s attentive gaze flickered from screen to screen, already spotting many young men and women with fantastic potential and excellent Quirks. There was a young lady with orange hair and a side ponytail crushing scores of robots with her enlarged fists; the younger brother of Ingenium shattering test-bots with his engine-powered legs; a young man with an explosive Quirk and an equally explosive personality wrecking devastation upon his targets; another examinee was shrinking every robot she came across into the size of pebbles before crushing them underfoot; there was even a boy who had the head of a raven while his sentient Quirk, a living shadow extended from his stomach to smash apart robots with its deceptively powerful shadow claws.
All of them would surely grow up to be powerful heroes who’d easily break into the Top 50 of the ranking charts when they graduated.
But All Might was looking for something more than just brute strength. He was searching. He was searching for those who had the heart of a hero.
“Intriguing,” Ectoplasm, the Haunted Hero, spoke up.
“Someone caught your eye?” the Excavation Hero, Power Loader, asked.
Ectoplasm nodded “Exam Site F, camera 122.”
Everyone turned to the aforementioned screen, including All Might. The camera attached to said screen was zoomed in on an examinee. It was a fairly tall teenager with an athletic build and short but spiky black hair. Unlike most of the examinees, this young man was positively beaming as he decapitated a 2-point villain robot with his… sword?
“Is that allowed?” All Might asked.
Power Loader scrolled through the electronic pad in his hands. “Yup. The kid had it registered beforehand as a support weapon.”
“What’s so special about the boy?” Vlad King, the Blood Hero, asked
.”Keep watching,” Ectoplasm said.
They did, and the Haunted Hero interest became self evident as the young man cleanly executed robot after robot, divesting them of their heads and limbs with but a single slash each with incredibly smooth and precise movements. This boy wasn’t toying around with a sword for the heck of it; he was trained, extremely well trained.
“Wow, those’re movements I usually see in movies.” Midnight exclaimed impressed.
“He’s experienced,” Eraser Head said, tired eyes narrowed. “Too experienced. Those aren’t movements learned in a dojo. We might have a vigilante on our hands.”
“If he passes we’ll do a thorough background check,” Nezu assured.
“What’s his Quirk? Increased proficiency with bladed weapons?” Snipe asked curious.
That question answered itself when the young man suddenly found himself surrounded on all sides by test-bots. They attacked simultaneously, and where an ordinary examinee would’ve panicked this young man did not. Instead he practically gleamed with excitement as he held his sword in a reverse grip.
“Shigure Soen Ryu,” the microphones picked up “Nana no Kata Shibuki Ame!”
Cerulean water erupted from the katana’s blade as the young man spun in a tight circle, launching a wave of rippling water into the encroaching robots. Instead of blasting the robots away, the conjured water enveloped their frames and the staff of Yuei watched in interest as the movements of the robots slowed to a crawl.
“Hachi no Kata,” the boy all but laughed. “Shinotsuku Ame!”
With speeds so fast All Might nearly missed it in his unpowered skeletal form, the young man executed a rapid series of slashes that utterly diced the barely-moving robots, reducing them all to scrap in the breadth of a second.
“Ha!” the boy grinned brightly “This is fun!”
“What was that?” Midnight asked the question many of them were wondering.
“Yamamoto Takeshi, “Nezu said, pulling up the young man’s information on his own pad. “Quirk : [Tranquility]. It allows him to produce waters that slow down and weaken anything they touch. My, how fascinating!”
“Wait, doesn’t that mean his Quirk has nothing to do with swordmanship?” Thirteen asked in surprise.
“It doesn’t,” Erasedhead confirmed. “His sword skills are something he learned to supplement his Quirk. A logical approach.”
“High praise coming from you, Shouta.” Midnight said cheekily still upset about the water incident.
“But he’s taking this exam way too lightly, “Eraserhead continued, his tone hard. “He won’t get far as a hero with such a flippant mindset.”
All Might didn’t mind as much. After all, that’s what Yuei was for: to take these unpolished gems and transform them into magnificent heroes! Plus, young Yamamoto’s Quirk intrigued him! It wasn’t a direct combat Quirk like many of his fellow examinees’, but the boy hadn’t let that slow him down! Instead he supplemented his Quirk with his skillful swordsmanship, which surely took many years of hardship, practice, and training!
Fantastic!
“Look at Site B, camera 33,” Hound Dog, the Hunting Hero, said, drawing their attention away from Yamamoto Takeshi.
Nezu used his controller to enlarge the aforementioned screen, showing a tanned skin teenager with striking gray eyes and short unkempt ashen colored hair. His upper body was larger and more defined than Yamamoto’s, and his fists were blurs of expert jabs that pulverized every test-bots he came across. He’d just demolished a robot that nearly snuck up on another examinee with an uppercut.
“Sasagawa Ryohei,” Cementoss read the boy’s name from his electronic pad. “Quirk : [Activation]. Increases the efficiency of any type of activity.”
“Explains his strength,” Eraserhead noted, eyeing the robot that was literally punched into unrecoverable scrap. “He’s using it to improve his own combat ability.”
“A basic but good all-round Quirk,” Vlad King said with a nod.
“And he didn’t hesitate to save that black-haired boy,” Power Loader pointed out “That earns him some Rescue Points right there.”
Until Sasagawa Ryohei suddenly decked the boy he’d saved right across the face.
“I stand corrected.”
“What’s going on? Why’d he attack him?” Thirteen wondered.
“Do we need to disqualify Sasagawa for assaulting a fellow examinee?” Cementoss asked.
Nezu fiddled with his controller to bring up the relevant audio.
“... giving up?!” Sasagawa’s loud voice, one that’d make Present Mic both proud and jealous, boomed from the speakers, causing Nezu to adjust the volume. “You made it this far haven’t you?!”
“But… I don’t…. I don’t feel like I belong here,” the black-haired boy weakly admitted “I thought I could man up if I forced myself to attend the Yuei entrance exam… but it’s no good! Ever since that day I ran from that damm villain, I….I learned what kind of a fraud I am! I am not manly, not manly at all! All I can do is talk big! I don’t deserve to attend Yuei, much less be a hero!”
“Oof, that kid’s got baggage for sure.” Snipe sighed.
“A traumatic incident in his past.” Hound Dog assumed.
“Does anyone have any idea what villain he’s talking about?” Thirteen asked.
“Not with the information given.”
“Oï, grit your teeth.”
“Huh?”
“ORAAA!” Sasagawa roared as he socked the black-haired boy in the face, this time on the opposite cheek, knocking him off his feet.
“Shouldn’t we stop this? At this point it’s abuse,” All Might said worriedly, seeing how the poor examinee was now bleeding from a split lip.
“Not yet,” Nezu said, watching intently. “Keep watching.”
“So what if you were afraid?! Everyone gets afraid:” Sasagawa roared “I know what you’re going through. I have been afraid too. I’ve seen monsters disguised as men, and the fear of just standing in front of them damn near killed me. But you know what? Seeing my bestest buddies and my little sister almost die in front of my eyes was a fear that eclipsed everything else. yeah I was afraid, but I couldn’t let that feat keep me down! Not when my buddies and my sister were counting on me! So I stood up and fought, because like my little bro’s always saying, ‘courage ain’t the absence of fear but the willingness to fight in spite of it!’ You say you’re not manly? Yet here you are, fighting the good fight despite your fear!”
“Bro…” the black haired examinee was staring up at Sasagawa in wonder.
“Ask yourself this : ten years from now, if you looked back to this very moment, would you regret running away? Would you regret not giving this exam your all?”
“....I would….. I definitely would!”
“Then stand! FIGHT!” Sasagawa bellowed. “You’re worried about not being manly? You’ve already taken the first step! Being MANLY is about putting your life on the line for the things important to you without regret! And if you still think you can’t do it” Sasagawa jabbed a thumb at himself “then just follow me! Watch my back, and I’ll show you how to be a MAN!”
Sasagawa held out a hand for the other examinee, who stared at the open palm with teary eyes before grabbing it. Sasagawa suddenly began to glow, and many of the teachers tensed seeing the activation of a Quirk. It steadily enveloped the black-haired boy with the soothing light of the sun, concentrating around the cuts on his face.
All Might, along with many others, went bug-eyed witnessing the boy’s wounds closing.
“[Activation],” Recovery Girl, the Youthful Heroine, gasped in delight. “He’s increasing the rate of cell regeneration, healing the boy! He can use his Quirk to heal! He is a healer! Oh Happy day!”
Several of the staff members sweat-dropped at Recovery’s jubilation
“What’s your name?” Sasagawa asked, pulling the other boy to his feet.”
“K-Kirishima Eijiro!”
Sasagawa nodded. “Follow me Otouto! You’re going to pass this exam, and become your ideal hero!”
“Y-Yes aniki! I’m going to be as manly as you!”
“You’re wrong, otouto, I’m not manly… I’M EXTREMELY MANLY!”
With that the two examinees joined forces against the exam’s robots.
“....well that just happened.” Eraserhead huffed
“Ooooh!” Midnight wriggled in her seat. “So youthful: It turns me on!”
“We’re accepting that boy,” Recovery Girl stated “Sasagawa Ryohei will become a student of Yuei, and that is final.”
“Let’s be fair, the exam isn’t over,” Vlad King said, trying to be the voice of reason in this room of craziness. “There’s no guarantee he passes.”
“I don’t care.” the Youthful Heroine dug in her proverbial heels. “If he doesn’t make it into the hero course, I’ll take him as my personal student.”
“But such a thing doesn’t exist?”
“Then I’ll create one!”
“Now, now ” Nezu bade everyone, Recovery Girl in particular, to calm down “Sasagawa Ryohei has done more than well enough for himself. He already has 32 Villain Points, and I say his interaction with Kirishima Eijiro earns him a healthy amount of Rescue Points! Unless something goes drastically wrong Sasagawa-kun is an easy shoe in.”
“Good” Recovery Girl huffed giving Vlad King a look that promised full physical in unhealthy amounts in his future.
“You feel quite strongly about this,” All Might said cautiously.
Recovery Girl turned her glare to him. “And why wouldn’t I? You know, as well as I do, that healing Quirks are phenomenally rare, and despite my title I am not getting any Younger. If I can train the next generation healer who’ll look after doofus like yourself then I can retire in peace.”
All Might chortled, while Nezu laughed uproariously. It was thanks to Recovery Girl’s Quirk, [Heal], that Yuei could hold practical exams like this without worry. Additionally there was nothing wrong with having more trained healers.
But All Might was far more impressed by young Sasagawa’s spirit. He not only saved young Kirishima with his actions, but took it a step further and inspired him to keep pursuing his dream to become a wonderful hero. That was exactly the sort of trait All Might was searching for in a successor.
Thus he mentally added Sasagawa Ryohei to his short list of potential inheritors.
“Whoa, we’ve got a dangerous one over here,” Ectoplasm said, beckoning at screen 99 at Exam Site E. The screen was blown up and relevant audio switched on.
“FUCKING DIE!”
The Yuei staff watched as a half Japanese teenager of average height, mid length silver hair and an impatient scowl that was fed up with the universe, fire a plume of bloody crimson flames from his hands that lashed out erratically before consuming the robots before him.
Everyone was both awed and horrified as the flames devoured the exam robots until not even ash remained.
“A fire Quirk?” All Might asked, his gut warning him that those flames were more dangerous than Endeavor’s Hellflame.
“No,” Nezu replied with utmost seriousness as reviewed the examinee’s file. “Gokudera Hayato? Quirk : [Disintegration]. He produces flame-like energy that decays and breaks apart whatever it touches.”
“What a terrifying Quirk,” Thirteen whispered “His potential for sheer destruction is horrifyingly high.”
They watched as a trio of 3-pointers, robots thrice the height of an average adult and far more durable than their one and two point counterparts, charge at Gokudera, only for the boy to fire another blast of disintegration at them and reduce them to stray atoms. Even the concrete road underneath them was affected, leaving behind large gouges where [Disintegration] had haphazardly erased solid matter.
“I’ll be a monkey’s uncle,” Snipe whispered, propping up the tip of his cowboy hat to get an unobstructed view of the unmitigated damage Gokudera caused. “That right there might be one of the most terrifying Quirks I’ve ever seen. ‘Bout as dangerous as yer own [Black Hole], Thirteen.”
The Space Hero didn’t deny that fact.
“I shudder to think of a Quirk like that in the hands of a villain,” Midnight said as Gokudera deleted a 2-pointer from existence, along with the building behind it. Worriedly she asked “He hasn’t injured any of the other examinees with friendly fire, has he?”
As all footage was being recorded so the teachers could review each individual examinee more thoroughly afterwards, Eraserhead brought up the recordings of Gokudera’s progress on his personal pad and carefully watched the footage on fast-forward.
“He hasn’t,” the Erasure Hero concluded, much to everyone’s relief. “The first thing Gokudera did when the exam started was to distance himself from the other examinees before cutting loose. Even now, he’s taking great care only to use his Quirk when the coast is clear. He’s being cautious and careful. A good attitude to have with a Quirk as dangerous as his own.”
Power Loader checked his own electronic pad. “49….53 now. The exam's not even halfway done and he’s still raking up points. He’ll get in even if he doesn’t earn a single Rescue Point.”
“A powerful and flashy Quirk, exactly what the public and media loves,” Eraserhead scoffed. “You can have him, Kan.”
Vlad King rolled his eyes. “Already handing over your problem children off to me?”
“I’m sure I’ll get my fair share.”
“Oh! Look at that,” Thirteen pointed.
Everyone paid attention as Gokudera attacked a 3-pointer at the same time the boy with the Explosion Quirk did, and they were treated to an astonishing sight. Gokudera’s flames of [Disintegration] overwrote the other boy’s explosion, eradicating it and the 3-pointer at the same time.
“I’ll say it again: That’s a terrifying Quirk” Snipe laughed without much humour.
“What the hell was that, Shitty-Knockoff?” the boy (All Might checked for his name : Bakugo Katsuki) demanded, barely getting the words out past his shock.
“That was me earning 3 more points, Shitty-Pomeranian.” Gokudera snarked, chin jutted up.
“Since when do you have a fucking Quirk?!”
Gokudera rolled his eyes, his derision plain for all but Bakugo to see “Since always dumbass. Unlike you who like to show off with weak explosions, I obey the law when it says not to use our Quirk in public unless carrying a license that allows us to do it.”
“Do they know each other?” Midnight asked as two young men traded barbed insults.
Nezu brought up their information “They both attended Aldera Junior High.”
“Don’t we separate examinees who attended the same school so that they can’t work together?”
“Usually yes, but this year many students were from Aldera and we couldn’t separate them all.”
“I don’t think we have to worry about them” Vlad King pointed at the screen, where Gokudera and Bakugo were standing close enough to bite each other’s throats out “trying to work together.”
“You stole my fucking kill, you shitty extra!” Bakugo howled.
“I wouldn’t have been able to if your quik wasn’t so fucking weak.” Gokudera taunted.
Bakugo’s expression became downright murderous, making All Might and several other teachers fear an actual fight might break out. That was until a 2-pointer skid around the corner and barrelled towards them both. Gokudera didn’t even turn his head to look, holding out his arm and blasting the exam robot with his [Disintegration] before it got close.
“58 points” Gokudera goaded, causing Bakugo’s face to slacken in disbelief. “From the look on your face, I’d say I’ve more points than you, Shitty-Pomeranian.”
“No way….no fucking way a damned extra is doing better than me!” The palms of Bakugo’s hands began crackling threateningly.
“Careful,” Gokudera drawled, taunting mockery lascing his every words “Attack me and the cameras will catch it,” he pointed straight at the camera All Might and the others were watching through. “and I don’t think the teachers of Yuei are like the spineless dipshits at Aldera that let you do whatever the hell you wanted. Plus the more time you waste with me, the less time you’ve got to improve your pathetic score. Wouldn’t that be a laugh? Mr ‘Future No. 1’ not even earning first place on a fucking entrance exam!”
“Shitty….Knockoff…!” Bakugo grit his teeth so hard All Might heard it from here. Regardless, his decision was already made as Bakugo used his explosions to propel himself away from Gokudera to find more villain bots to destroy.
“Heh, dumb motherfucker,” Gokudera snorted. “Don’t get what Juudaime sees in that bastard.” He continued searching for villain bots on his own, and with each one destroyed Power Loader lamented the extra workload increasing before his eyes.
“Did anyone else catch what they said about Aldera?” Midnight pointed out.
“We did,” Ectoplasm confirmed. “I don’t like the insinuation. It’s not uncommon for teachers to grant leeway to students with flashy Quirks, and Bakugo’s Quirk definitely applies.”
“That and the comment about the Quirk law made me think that young Bakugo might have used his Quirk on other students before.”
“He’ll get a rude awakening if he tries any of that nonsense in Yuei.” Snipe said arms crossed. “We don’t tolerate that bullcrap here.”
“I’ll look into it.” Nezu promised. “For now, any other standouts?”
“Exam Site D, camera 61” Hound Dog said, eyes wide.
Nezu brought up the relevant screen, and everyone’s eyebrows reached the sky.
It was an average looking teenage girl, with medium chestnut hair and equally chestnut coloured eyes, she had small hairclips in her hair shaped like frogs. She was sitting on top of an operational 3-pointer. Yet the bot wasn’t following its programming and unseating the girl. No its was carefully and deliberately carrying the young woman like she was its queen and it was a servile mobile throne. Not only that but there were another six 3-pointers that surrounded them almost like an honor guard.
“How is she doing that? Did she reprogram the bots?” Midnight asked as it wasn’t often you saw something like that.
“No, I think she is directly controlling them,” Eraserhead said, having noticed the occasional static electricity bouncing between the girl and her bots. “Who is she? What is her Quirk?”
Vlad King scrolled through the files. “Misaka Mikoto. Quirk [Electromaster], capable of generating and manipulating electricity.”
“Nothing about hacking? Or overriding technology?” Cementoss asked, surprised.
“It’s an aspect of her Quirk,” Power Loader said, leaning forward in his seat as Misaka directed the 3-pointers under her control to surge forward and attack a pack of villain bots. The regular villain bots ran on a rudimentary operating system, so while thay appeared big and intimidating their attack patterns were basic enough for a kid with a useful Quirk to take them down. Misaka had replaced the attack system of her 3-pointers with a complex algorithm of her own, allowing them to move and execute advanced offensive patterns vastly outstripping the efficiency of their counterparts. Needless to say Misaka’s 3-pointers tore apart the villain bots with ludicrous ease.
“Her control over electricity is so precise it can bypass the firewalls on our villain bots and overwrite their operating system with one of her own,” Power Loader continued. “Hot damn, the absurd level of control that would take, along with the mental acuity to rewrite their programming from the ground up with her Quirk alone. Jesus, her brainpower must be off the charts.”
“So she’s a genius?” Vlad King asked.
Power Loader snorted. “To put it lightly.”
“She’s not taking this exam seriously,” Eraserhead said, glaring at Misaka’s screen. The young woman was propping her head up with one hand where she sat, and fighting to keep a yawn off her face.
“In her defence, the exam’s villain bots are powerless against her.” Midnight pointed out. “This practical test was practically made for her.”
“Doesn’t mean she should be slacking off.”
“How many points does she have?” Thirteen asked to keep Aizawa and Nemuri from going at it again.
“30,” Ectoplasm replied, having already thought of checking the records. “Probably not enough for a top 10 spot but probably enough for the hero course.”
“That is without counting her Rescue Points.” Cementoss said, as the enlarged screen showed Misaka ordering one of her bots to protect another examinee that had been knocked over by a bot. The 3-pointer made short work of the weaker bot allowing Misaka on her mobile throne to approach.
“Are you okay?” Misaka asked the young woman with short violet hair and earphone jacks hanging from her earlobes.
“Peachy,” the examinee, Jirou Kyoka, groused as she hobbled to her feet. Then she saw Misaka’s ride and gasped. “Holy…How’re you doing that?”
Misaka tilted her head like a curious cat “With my Quirk?” she said, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
Jirou palmed her face. “I get that Athena but what kind of Quirk?”
“An electrical kind.”
“You don’t say.” Jirou deadpanned
Misaka chuckled lightly “As fun as it is, don’t you have some bots to break?”
“Oh crap, you are right!” Jirou’s head whipped left and right searching for bots in the vicinity and finding none. “ I can’t be wasting time like this! I don't have a ton of points!”
“Want some help?” Misaka offered to the surprise of most of the staff.
Jirou stared at her, like she was trying to decipher her motives. “Why would you help me? Aren’t we enemies?”
“We are?” Misaka said guilelessly. “I don’t recall you ever swearing death and vengeance against me or mine. I’d definitely remember someone as cute as you ever doing so.”
Jirou spluttered, cheeks starting to turn red. “What the… You can’t just call someone cute like that out of the blue.”
“Why not? It’s just a fact.”
The poor girl's face got even redder making the watching Midnight coo at the scene. “S-Screw you, you damned Aphrodite. When I said enemies, I meant that you’re part of the competition! We’re all trying to get accepted into Yuei, and that makes us enemies! You have no reason to help me.”
“What if I want to see more of you in class?”
“Oh my, either that girl clearly knows what she wants or she is totally clueless,” Midnight ogled, her smile downright lecherous “but either way that other girls doesn’t stand a chance.”
All Might found himself agreeing, as you Jirou went even redder that the ripest tomatoes and her jacks flailed uncontrollably.
“Are you all right? Do you have a fever? Why are you so red?” Misaka asked as she saw Jirou’s face turning even more red “Wait what am I doing holding you up even more.” Misaka then chided herself, politely ignoring how Jirou’s face became hot enough to fry an egg on, turned to one of her 3-pointers. A line of electricity jumped between her and the robot, and its red optics flickered as its programming was rewritten. “There, this guy will follow every command you give him. Give it a shot.”
Young Jirou needed a handful of seconds to get her scarlet blush under control. “For real? Um, okay. Pick me up?”
The 3-pointer obeyed, although not in the way she expected, as Jirou certainly didn’t expect to be bridal carried by the reprogrammed bot.
“What the hell is this?!” she shrieked.
“I made sure he knew how to treat a lady.” Misaka explained looking very proud of herself.
A few of the staff members felt for the poor girl, while Midnight laughed like a hyena high on laughing gas.
After shouting a few unintelligible words due to her outrage Jirou commanded the bot “Just put me on your back.”
Once she was situated, and fighting to keep the heat from her cheeks she grumbled “Okay… yeah this’ll help. With how fast 3-pointers are I should be able to rack up some points.” Young Jirou then glared at a smiling Misaka. “I still think you're a weird girl but this will really help me out so ….Thanks.”
“You are welcome I am Misaka Mikoto.”
“Jirou Kyoka.”
“See you in class Kyoka-chan”
“SHADDAP!” Jirou screamed, as she tried to hide her burning face with her arms as she ordered her bots to move.
“Shouta,” Midnight said.
“No” Eraserhead denied
“Shouta, please.”
“Nemuri no.”
“You have to put those two in the same class! You have to!”
“No.”
“But think of the fun I’ll have watching them!”
“More incentive not to put them together.”
As Midnight and Eraserhead squabbled, All Might checked his electronic pad to see how well young Jirou was fairing. She’d only amassed 11 Villain Points so far, and the practical was halfway over by now.
“Are we going to allow this?” Vlad King asked the principal. “Any points Jirou Kyoka scores from here on won’t be on her own merit. An argument could be made that she is cheating.”
Nezu hummed in consideration. “Requesting assistance from your fellow heroes when your own strength is lacking is a valuable lesson we teach our students. While Jirou-kun isn’t a student of ours yet, I believe there’s nothing wrong with her receiving assistance from another. I’ll let this pass.”
Vlad King gave the principal a look, but accepted his reasoning with a shrug.
“Oh, what’s this now?” Thirteen said, drawing everyone’s attention back to the screen.
“Hey, lady,” another examinee, one with tired eyes and a mess of light purple hair, called out to Misaka.
“Hmmm? Can I…?” Misaka’s words were cut off as her eyes glazed over, and the purple-haired examinee smirked in triumph.
“Gotcha. Now, give me of your…”
But he never got to finish his sentence as a sudden spark jolted Misaka’s head, causing her to flinch and her eyes to clear.
“What just happened?” Snipe asked nobody in particular.
“What the hell?” the examinee mirrored that thought.
“Shinso Hitoshi,” Eraserhead read the boy’s profile. “Quirk : [Brainwashing], he can place another in a suggestible state if they verbally respond to something he says.”
“Brainwashing, a powerful Quirk,” Hound Dog said, fingers folded. “But how did Misaka escape from it?”
“Ouch that hurts.” Misaka said shaking her head. “Haven’t felt that one in a long time. You’ve got some sort of mental interference Quirk don’t you?”
“How did you escape from my [Brainswashing]?” Shinso demanded, still shaken about what had happened.
“Ah, I once knew someone with a similar Quirk.” Misaka explained, shrugging “She liked making others her thralls so I developed a countermeasure. Whenever I detect abnormal electrical signals in my brain activity, I programmed my subconscious to run a mild shock through my nervous system to reboot myself. Good attempt, though. Would’ve worked on anyone but me.”
“She can do that?” Thirteen asked awed.
“She’s versatile with her Quirk, expanding its applications beyond its common usage.” Eraserhead admitted.
“Feh, just my luck,” Shinso spat with a scowl. “Whatever. I tried, I failed. Piss off and leave me alone.”
“Why? Weren’t you going to ask me to give you one of my bots? Sure go ahead.”
Shinso was understandably stunned, as were most of Yuei’s staff. “What’re you playing at? It it pity? Well you can take your pity and dump it in the trash, because I don’t need it.”
“Less pity, and more understanding,” Misaka said, already reprogramming one of her 3-pointers and directing it to the bewildered Shinso’s side. “You’ve got a nifty Quirk, and the fact that you are here means you want to use it for heroics. I like that. The problem is that your Quirk doesn’t work on machines, does it? If this Exam had been against real people you would have aced it with flying colors, and I think it would suck if you failed just because of a bad matchup. When you saw me give Kyoka-chan her own bot you thought you could brainwash me into doing the same for you. That’s smart thinking.”
“I…I don’t….” Shinso was struggling to find the words to verbalize his hectic feelings.
“Just take the bot and get to smashing,” Misake reproached, frowning as she saw the hesitation in the boy’s eyes. “You are running out of time, and you want to be a hero, right? Then swallow your regrets and fight for what your heart desires. Plus Ultra.”
Those words stirred young Shinso into actions, his hesitation hardening into resolve as he climbed atop of his 3-pointer. “You troublesome girl…. If I make it into the hero course I’ll get you something as a thank you.”
Misaka’s eyes suddenly turned into stars. “Gekota Plushie.”
Shinso could only stare as his 3-pointer led him to bots as Misaka was still day dreaming about drowning into a sea of Gekota Plushies.
The chestnut haired girl recovered and seeing that she was alone directed her army of bots to seek other prey.
“She’s one to look out for,” Power Loader said, impressed “Such versatility from an electricity Quirk? She’ll make it into the top 10 shortly after graduation.”
“She has potential.” Eraserhead grudgingly admitted.
“I bet she’ll have a flock of young boys and girls pinning after her before long.” Midnight squealed.
Eraserheard soured as he imagined that nightmare, and then looked at Nezu. “Can we disqualify her? Right there, right now?”
“I am afraid not Aizawa.” the principal chuckled.
“Then she’d better not be in my class.”
Nezu’s cackling only filled the Erasure Hero with dread.
All Might, meanwhile, was very proud of young Misaka. While her elemental Quirk was a powerful one, the young woman had greatly expanded its parameters with her exceptional creativity. Add in her willingness to aid her fellow examinees and All Might was more than happy to add Misaka Mikoto to his list of potential successors.
It made him wonder how young Sasagawa was doing, and he flipped through the tabs on his pad to check the examinees’ villain scores. He was pleased to discover that Sasagawa Ryohei was sitting comfortably in 5th place with 49 villain points, while young Eijiro had now 28. Misaka Mikoto was now in 6th place with 38 villain points. All in all they were doing quite nicely.
Out of curiosity, he scrolled upwards to see who was in first. The score he saw made him gasp.
“What is it, All Might? Someone caught your eye?” Midnight asked him.
“I believe so,” All Might replied slowly, reading the name currently in first place. “Principal? Can you bring up the screen for Hibari Kyoya?”
“Indeed I can!” Nezu said, rapidly flicking through the screen so fast it was near impossible to see what was on them. Despite this, the principal stopped perfectly on a young man of average height and short black hair. His narrow gray eyes were so intimidating it almost made All Might shiver upon seeing them. He wielded a pair of steel tonfas, which he used to destroy the villain bots with brutal efficiency.
“Whoa, we’ve got a savage one here,” Snipe said, watching as Hibari struck a 2-pointer’s head so hard it flew off and lodged itself in the chestplate of the 1-pointer behind it.
“Look at those moves,” Thirteen admired as Hibari slid beneath the horizontal hammer arm of a 3-pointer, jabbed his left tonfa into an exposed opening in its joint, and tore the mechanical limb clear from its socket. “This boy knows how to fight.”
“Extremely well, at that,” Eraserhead grumbled. “Yet another problem child displaying a level of skill unachievable without real experience.”
“Vigilante?” Vlad King asked.
“Likely.”
“I’ll add him to the list,” Nezu chuckled. “What brought this particular examinee to your attention, Yagi?”
All Might swallowed. “His score. Young Hibari has amassed 90 villain points thus far.”
The other staff members were sufficiently stunned.
“He’s on a roll, “Snipe admitted. “Looks like his time prowling the back alleys of Japan have been good for something.”
“The Exam’s only…”Vlad King checked the time. “Three fourths of the way over, meaning he still has time to improve his score.”
“What was your score when you did the practical?” Midnight asked All Might, recalling he was in fact a Yuei alumni.
“105 villain points, 80 Rescue Points,” All Might answered.
Snipe whistled. “185 points? That’s quite the record, ain’t it? Think Hibari here’s gonna be the one to break it?”
“No,” Eraserhead easily refuted, having checked young Hibari’s progress. “The moment the exam started Hibari went off on his own. He hasn’t encountered any of the other examinees, meaning no chance for him to get Rescue Points. He might beat All Might’s Villain’s score record but not the total score.”
“Still, earning over a 100 villain points is nothing to scoff at,” Thirteen said. “His combat ability is beyond exceptional for his age.” The screen showed Hibari striking a 3-pointer in the midsection so hard he tore it in half. “He’s quite fortunate to have been born with such a prominent strengthening Quirk.”
Nezu started cackling, which was never a good sign.
“Principal?” Vlad King asked warily.
“Delightful! How very delightful!” Nezu threw back his tiny rodent head and laughed maniacally.
“Now I’m worried.” Cementoss admitted without shame.
“Aizawa,” Nezu said, calming down so suddenly it was downright eerie. “You’ve already pulled up Hibari’s profile, have you not? Won’t you please read it aloud for us?”
“What’re you planning, you annoying rat?” Eraserhead huffed, nevertheless fulfilling the principal’s order. “Hibari Kyoya, Quirk…” All Might didn’t miss how Eraserhead’s exhausted eyes widened in surprise.
“Shouta?” Midnight asked worriedly.
Eraserhead swallowed to clear his throat. “Quirk : [Propagation]. He can increase the size or multiply the quantity of a chosen non-living object.”
“Oh, that’s quite the handy Quirk to have,” Thirteen said, admiring the possibilities such an ability brought. “He could propagate the number of relief supplies during a disaster. Can he do the same with food? Can the copy he produces be safely consumed? Does…”
“Hold on a moment,” Hound Dog cut in, getting an inkling about what triggered the principal. “How does that…” he pointed at Hibari eviscerating a 2-pointer of its wires and circuit boards… “come from [Propagation]? Is he multiplying his strength?”
“No,” Eraserhead said solemnly, watching Hibari with keen interest. “His file says his Quirk produces a purple cloud that induces the propagation effect. I’ve checked the recordings, that problem child hasn’t used his Quirk a single time throughout the practical exam.”
A dumbfounded silence fell upon the Yuei staff as Eraserhead’s words sunk in.
“Are you saying…” Midnight struggled to put her shock into words. “...that Hibari Kyoya has earned almost a 100 villain points quirklessly?”
Eraserhead nodded.
“Impossible,” Vlad King gasped. “He’s practically tearing apart the villain bots with his bare hands! Are you saying he’s doing that without a Quirk?!”
“Indeed!” Nezu tittered, looking ready to thank the world for delivering such a fascinating specimen that shattered the mold.
“Pathetic false herbivores,” Hibari Kyoya’s smooth and confident words filtered through the room’s speakers. When an examinee earned far more villain points than their fellow competitors the bots were programmed to start avoiding said individual, not only to give the other hero-hopefuls a passing chance but to see how the over-archiever would adapt to the villain bots fleeing their presence.
The staff of Yuei gawked as they saw how Hibari used that rule to his advantage. Like a predator gleefully hunting his chosen prey, Hibari has chased and corralled a cluster of bots into a dead end alleyway with skillful manipulation.
“I’ll bite you all to death.”
With purposeful steps, Hibari casually walked into the passage with his tonfa raised. The villain bots, seeing their only hope of escape was through Hibari, lunged at him as one.
What came next was a massacre.
“Sweet Jiminy Cricket,” Snipe gaped, taking off his cowboy hat and placing it across his chest as they all witnessed Hibari Kyoya tear through the bots as a whirlwind of destruction. “If that youngin’ can do all that without a Quirk, the hell is he capable of doing with it?”
“Is that bot crying for help?” Midnight asked hesitantly, pointing at the villain bot trying to flee past the devil himself, only for the black-haired Satan to grab its leg and slowly drag it back into the alleyway.
“It’s just your imagination, Nemuri,” Power Loader replied blandly.
“But…”
“Imagination, let’s leave it at that. For the sake of my sanity.”
“Alright if you say so….”
“WHAT THE FREAKIN’ HELL IS THAT?!” Snipe suddenly screamed, startling them all.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” All Might demanded, worried about what could make a Pro Hero react in such a way.
Snipe pointed a shaky finger at one of the screens : Exam Site C camera 42.
Nezu quickly enlarged the display and soon all the other staff members of Yuei became just as baffled as Snipe.
On it was a petite girl with short purple hair, styled in a way that reminded All Might of a pineapple. Her right eye was covered by a black eyepatch decorated with a white skull, while her left eye was a vibrant violet.
Oh, and she was riding atop of freaking Cthulhu! The eldritch monstrosity was the size of a five-story building and was all tentacles, fangs and teeth! Sweet Mother America, so many teeth! Its tentacles writhed, twisted and lashed out in ways that made the law of physics cry in a corner, capturing any and every villain bots it came across and shredding them into toothpick-sized fragments with its millions of teeth! Why did it have so many teeth?!
“...are outer gods allowed in Yuei?” Thirteen asked meekly as on screen Cthulhu bellowed in satisfaction as another group of bots were reduced to scrap metal.
“How would they pay the tuition? With souls of the damned?” Ectoplasm blandly wondered.
“Don’t be so illogical,” Eraserhead scowled. “That thing is probably a creation of that girl’s Quirk.
“How curious,” Nezu murmured, unable to contain his toothy smile as he reached behind him and brought out a device resembling a game controller. He turned it on and an artificial voice said “Manual override engaged.”
“Principal?” All Might asked, wondering what the mad-rodent was up to.
Nezu only replied with a toothy grin that made his expression exponentially creepier. Using his controller, he took control of a 2-pointer and had it scale a tall building Cthulhu was shambling past. He then directed it to leap directly for the one eyed girl balanced on top of the eldritch abomination.
It didn’t get far. As soon as the young lady spotted the bot falling towards her, indigo mist pooled in her singular eye. Tree branches as thick as a man’s torso erupted from the building, ensnaring the 2-pointer so comprehensively it couldn’t move a single servo. Then out of nowhere, hibiscus flowers began blossoming all across the bot; flowers were somehow growing out of cold metal! All Might’s jaw fell farther and farther as those same red flowers suddenly erupted into geysers of crimson fire, melting the 2-pointer into slag.
“Wha…” Midnight gawked.
Nezu’s beady black eyes were practically glowing as he took control over a 3-pointer and directed it to ambush the young girl from behind.
A gigantic anvil, one with ‘1,000 TONS!’ engraved on its side appeared over the bot and flattened it with a tremendous WHAM!
“Wha….?!” Ectoplasm said, blinking furiously.
Nezu controlled another 2-pointer to make a leaping ambush at the girl.
Space tore open, and a gigantic seven fingered hand emerged from the tear in reality to reach out, grab the 2-pointer, and squeeze into unrecoverable pieces before retreating back into the void.
“What?!” Hound Dog cried, eyes perfectly round.
Nezu directed a squadron of 1-pointers to take on Cthulhu from the front.
Only for the concrete beneath them to ripple like water before transforming into spikes that impaled each bot.
“WHAT?!” Cementoss shouted, seeing an examinee mold concrete as easily as his own Quirk could.
“Principal, what’s going on?” All Might gasped, arctic dread pooling in his nonexistent stomach. “That young girl…. Does she have multiple Quirks?”
Was she somehow related to All For One? A secret weapon he prepared against All Might but never had the chance to unleash before All Might pulverized the top-half of his despicable head?
“No,” Nezu said, his grin ever-present as he flicked his controller off. “That is Dokuro Chrome, and her Quirk? It’s listed as [Real Illusions].”
“Illusions? Those are illusions?” Vlad King asked incredulously. “She’s been getting points for every villain bot she destroyed! Our cameras are recording the insanity she’s causing! How’re they illusions?!”
“That’s where the ‘real’ part comes in, doesn’t it?” Eraserhead asked, watching young Dokur studiously.
“Indeed!” Nezu cackled joyously. “Dokuro’s illusions are so powerful they deceive the world itself! If she cuts you with a sword she conjured with her Quirk, your body believes it’s actually been cut and wounds itself accordingly! If she smashes an object with a construct of her Quirk the world somehow records it as damage and destroys said object! Why, if she made a bridge with her illusions it’d be entirely possible for people to cross it, because they believe it’s actually here! AH HA HA HA!”
While All Might was relieved to discover young Dokuro had nothing to do with the deplorable Symbol of Evil, the description of her Quirk still sent chills down his spine.
“Can that even be considered an illusion at that point?” Thirteen whispered, watching as Dokuro summoned more tentacles (why tentacles?!) to deal with the villain bots.
“It can!” Nezu assured. “Because at the end of the day, they are illusions! So long as you accept that this is an irrefutable fact, Dokuro-kun’s illusions have no hold over you!”
All Might breathed a sigh of relief, as did many of the other staff members.
“A glaring weakness for such a powerful Quirk,” Snipe hummed, finally getting his metaphorical feet beneath him. “It’s like a fancy parlor trick. Once ya know the gimmick, the magic’s gone.”
“No doubt she’s been heavily reliant on her Quirk to carry her to this point.” Eraserhead hummed. “No self-respecting hero is a one trick pony. If she passes, put her in my class. She needs to learn there are situations where she’ll be unable to rely upon the crutch of her Quirk.”
Nezu nodded, but All Might saw the devious twinkle in the principal’s eyes. There was something he knew that he wasn’t telling Eraserhead. Should he warn his soon to be colleague? But that might direct Nezu’s ire to himself if he ruined the principal’s fun.
In the end, All Might decided silence was golden.
“This year is truly quite the bumper crop,” Thirteen said admiringly. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen so many talented individuals in the same exam before.”
“It’s definitely goin’ to be one helluva year,” Snipe agreed, putting his cowboy hat back on.
“How many minutes are left in the practical?” Midnight asked.
“1 minute,” Eraserhead mumbled, glad it was almost over.
“Then I do believe it’s time!” Nezu said gleefully, flipping up a glass case on dashboard before him and punching the big red button.
The faculty got a front row seat of the examinees’ reaction as the gimmick villain bot, a colossal machine that towered over the faux city’s tallest buildings, appeared in each of the exam sites. The principal laughed in unholy glee as he watched the children scamper in fear like rats, causing several of the staff members to quietly groan at his shenanigans.
“A person’s true colors are shown in the face of overwhelming opposition,” All Might said, doing his best to keep an eye on all the displays. It was disheartening to see nearly all the examinees flee at the first sign of the Zero-Pointern but he didn’t hold it against any of them. They were still children, and fleeing in the face of such a titan was to be expected.
As far as he could tell only six people didn’t flee before the Zero-Pointer : In Exam Site B Sasagawa Ryohei, in Exam Site C Dokuro Chrome and Cthulhu, in Exam Site D Misaka Mikoto and her army of 3-pointers, in Exam Site E Gokudera Hayato, in Exam Site F Yamamoto Takeshi and in Exam Site G Hibari Kyoya.
“Uh Oh,” Power Loader said. “Everybody, camera 1.”
They looked and saw what’d elicited the hero’s concern: in Exam Site A an examinee, with auburn hair and shoulder length bangs that framed her round face, was pinned beneath a pile of debris caused by the Zero-Pointer’s rampage. Even worse, she was in its path, and if nothing was done the gargantuan machine would run her over beneath its tracks and kill her.
“Shut down that site’s Zero-Pointer,” Erasedhead ordered as a girl’s life was more important than a test.
“Will d…”
“Wait,” Nezu cut in, his tail standing straight.
“Principal, with all due respect that girl isn’t getting out of there on her own.” Power Loader objected.
But Nezu shook his head “There is no need. Look.”
All Might barely caught what seemed to be a steam of orange fire jettisonning across on one of the screens. It then appeared in another, then another, and another. The #1 Hero swiftly realized the cause : someone was flying across the faux city at extreme speeds.
The mysterious flame-clad figure skid to a stop before the astonished auburn-haired examinee, one Uraraka Ochaco. With a blast of his beautiful flames the boy blew away the debris pinning young Uraraka, allowing him swiftly to scoop her in one arm while he used the other to expel a torrent of fire to propel them skyward.
“He’s flying,” Ectoplasm said, impressed.
“He’s totally flyin’.” Snipe agreed.
The young man landed on a faraway rooftop, allowing camera 3 to zoom in and give the Yuei’s staff a proper look at his appearance. He had a mop of fluffy dark-green hair, with bright irises of a similar color. His cheeks were dotted with four symmetrical freckles shaped like tiny diamonds. All in all, All Might would’ve said the young man was rather plain looking.
Yet he carried himself with the surety of a professional while his eyes burned with quiet confidence, inevitably drawing in one’s attention like a force of gravity.
“Are you allright?” the boy asked Uraraka, who was still stunned by her instantaneous rescue.
“I-I am, “Uraraka stammered, her heart doubtlessly trying to beat its way out of her chest from the rush of adrenaline. “Thank you for saving me. I-I am sorry you had to waste your time with me.”
“Don’t be. Saving you was never a waste of time and besides: as soon as I saw you needed help my body simply moved on its own.”
All Might’s heart hammered in his boney chest, and he sat a little straighter.
The young man and Uraraka looked towards the distant Zero-Pointer, whose rampage continued to topple the buildings around it while filling the air with screams of terrified examinees.
The young man immediately stepped forward.
“What’re you doing?” Uraraka asked.
“Stopping that machine.” the young man answered immediately.
“But Present Mic said that it isn’t worth any points! And that it should be avoided.”
“So what? It’s a danger to others regardless. Besides…” he turned to Uraraka and gave her a small but assertive smile “I can’t stand by when I see others in danger.”
Emotions surged across every fiber of All Might’s being, so intense he nearly buffed up on accident.
That young man…!
Holding out his hands behind him, the Yuei faculty witnessed the boy fire twin streams of fire from his palms. The thrust was so great it instantly propelled the young man skyward, rocketing over the empty buildings of Exam Site A at an incredulous speed.
He’s almost as fast as Hawks! All Might thought, hands clenched.
In a matter of seconds the young herp was flying directly above the raging Zero-Pointer. Firing another explosion of orange flames upwards, he used that force to boost himself straight down…
“Big Bang Axle!”
…and smash a flame wreathed fist into the top of the Zero-Pointer’s central processor (aka: its head). But he didn’t stop there. The heat of his flames were so great it burned away the gimmick villain’s metal exterior as if it were made of paper, and his speed so overwhelming he plowed straight through the rest of the Zero-Pointer’s body and caused it to explode catastrophically.
A few teachers instinctually leapt to their feet, worried for the young hero’s wellbeing. Yet when the dust and debris settled they saw him standing tall and unscathed amongst the Zero-Pointer’s wreckage.
At the same time the other Zero-Pointers were neutralized in the other Exam Sites.
“TIME’S UP!” Present Mic’s voice echoed across all the Exam Sites, signalling the end of Yuei’s practical exam.
“Holy Smokes,” Snipe breathed “Did you see that?”
“Obviously,” Eraserhead drawled, even though he was totally focused on the main screen.
“We’ve had others stand against the gimmick in the past, but it’s been a while since one’s been destroyed. Let alone five of them.” Ecoplasm said, impressed.
“Look at him! He’s not even tired!” Midnight gestured. Indeed, the young hero wasn’t even breathing heavily, nor did All Might see a single drop of sweat anywhere on him.
He destroyed Yuei’s Zero-Pointer as easily as All Might would have.
“Who is he?” All Might asked, hoping he didn’t seem too giddy. He succeeded for the most part, although from the look Principal Nezu gave him the Quirked animal discerned his interest.
Hound Dog brought up the young man’s information. “Midoriya Izuku, Quirk : [Harmonization].”
Thirteen blinked beneath her astronaut-themed helmet. “It’s not a fire Quirk?”
“And here I thought we were seeing the next Endeavor.” Cementoss hummed.
“What does Harmonization do?” All Might asked.
“...I don’t know.” Hound Dog admitted, scrolling through young Midoriya’s application. “The boy didn’t add any details about his Quirk, only its name.”
“Is he trying to keep it under wraps?” Vlad King puzzled.
“It’s illogical of us to waste time puzzling out the ins and outs of his Quirk before he’s even been accepted,” Eraserhead said, standing up and shuffling towards the exit. “If he becomes an official student of Yuei, then we will ask.”
“Do you really think than that boy won’t get in after a performance like that, Shouta?” Midnight asked.
Eraserhead shrugged “Nothing is certain until all the points are tallied. I’m going to sleep for a while before patrolling.” The automatic door slid open as Eraserhead approached, briefly flooding the dark observation room in light as the Erasure Hero left.
All Might, on the other hand, could barely contain the trill of excitement surging throughout his veins.
I finally found you my successor!
Examination Results :
1 Midoriya Izuku / Villain Points : 80 / Rescue Points : 65 / Total Points 145
2 Hibari Kyoya / Villain Points : 130 / Rescue Points : 0 / Total Points : 130
3 Misaka Mikoto / Villain Points : 50 / Rescue Points : 75 / Total Points : 125
4 Dokuro Chrome / Villain Points : 105 / Rescue Points : 10 / Total Points : 115
5 Gokudera Hayato / Villain Points : 90 / Rescue Points : 15 / Total Points : 105
6 Sasagawa Ryohei / Villain Points : 64 / Rescue Points : 40 / Total Points : 104
7 Yamamoto Takeshi / Villain Points : 81 / Rescue Points : 22 / Total Points : 103
8 Eijiro Kirishima / Villain points : 55 / Rescue Points : 40 / Total Points : 95
9 Tetsutetsu Tetsutsu / Villain points : 54 / Rescue Points : 40 / Total Points : 94
10 Fumikage Tokoyami / Villain Points : 49 / Rescue Points : 30 / Total Points : 79
11 Bakugo Kastuki / Villain Points : 78 / Rescue Points : 0 / Total Points : 78
12 Shiozaki Ibara / Villain Points : 36 / Rescue Points : 35 / Total Points : 71
13 Kendo Itsuka / Villain Points : 30 / Rescue Points : 35 / Total Points : 65
14 Ida Tenya / Villain Points : 50 / Rescue Points : 10 / Total Points : 60
15 Awase Yosetsu / Villain Points : 50 / Rescue Points : 6 / Total Points : 56
16 Mezo Shoji / Villain Points : 44 / Rescue Points : 10 / Total Points : 54
17 Ashido Mina / Villain Points : 25 / Rescue Points : 28 / Total Points : 53
18 Togaru Kamakiri / Villain Points : 46 / Rescue Points : 5 / Total Points : 51
19 Jirou Kyoka / Villain Points : 25 / Rescue Points : 25 / Total Points : 50
20 Uraraka Ochaco / Villain Points : 15 / Rescue Points : 34 / Total Points : 49
21 Asui Tsuyu / Villain Points : 24 / Rescue Points : 24 / Total Points : 48
22 Shishida Jurota / Villain Points : 30 / Rescue Points : 15 / Total Points : 45
23 Komori Kinoko / Villain Points : 44 / rescue Points : 0 / Total Points : 44
24 Kodai Yui / Villain Points : 21 / Rescue Points : 21 / Total Points : 42
25 Yanagi Reiko / Villain Points : 20 / Rescue Points : 21 / Total Points : 41
26 Tsonotory Pony / Villain Points : 20 / BRescue Points : 20 / Total Points : 40
27 Hiryu Rin / Villain Points : 10 / Rescue Points : 29 / Total Points : 39
28 Fukidashi Manga / Villain Points : 19 / Rescue Points : 19 / Total Points : 38
29 Koda Koji / Villain Points : 0 / Rescue Points : 37 / Total Points : 37
30 Nirengeki Shoda / Villain Points : 18 / Rescue Points : 18 / Total Points : 36
31 Monoma Neito / Villain Points : 20 / Rescue Points : 15 / Total Points 35
32 Shihai Kuroiro / Villain Points : 10 / Rescue Points : 23 / Total Points : 33
33 Hagakure Tooru / Villain Points : 15 / Rescue Points : 17 / Total Points : 32
34 Mineta Minoru / Villain Points : 5 / Rescue Points : 26 / Total Points : 31
35 Aoyama Yuga / Villain Points : 20 / Rescue Points : 10 / Total Points : 30
36 Shinso Hitoshi / Villain Points : 10 / Rescue Points : 19 / Total Points : 29