Ch 35 - Sounds Like the Provisional Licensing Exams I

After long weeks of training and prepping, the day of the Provisional Exams arrived. The exams were open to all the hero schools around the country so it was set in a central location, which was about a two-hour drive from school.

"You nervous?" Todoroki asked on the bus.

Neon nodded. "Aren't you?"

Todoroki shrugged. "I either pass or I don't. Being nervous doesn't change any of that."

Neon smiled. "I'll take that as a yes but you don't want to admit it."

Todoroki's stony silence only made her smile even bigger.

"You'll be fine, Cool Hair. I've only ever seen you breeze through an exam...Unless you messed up on your entrance exam but it wouldn't have been that bad since you clearly passed and got enrolled into the hero course."

Todoroki shrugged again. "I don't remember all that much but I did okay."

If it was anyone else, Neon would've suspected they were being falsely humble but she knew Todoroki well enough to know that he meant what he said. He truly did not recall much from his exams. He was probably too focused on actually passing and getting through it than what other people were doing and how he did in comparison to them.

When the bus finally pulled into the parking lot of the National Dagoba Arena where the test was being held, they all filed neatly out with their briefcases in hand. The arena looked like a concrete circus tent with red and yellow striped outer walls and a metal roof that came together at a tall point in the center.

"Ah...I'm getting nervous," Jiro gulped, when the whole class filed out of the bus.

"I wonder what we'll have to do…" Mineta whispered, "Ah...I wonder if I can get my provisional license…"

"Mineta!" Aizawa said sternly, dropping down so that he was eye leveled to the grape boy, "It's not about whether or not you can. Go and get it!"

"R-Right. Of course!"

Aizawa stood back up and he looked at his class. "If you can pass this test and get your provisional licenses, then you novice eggs will become chicks. You'll hatch into semi-pros. Do your best!'

"All right! I'll become a chick!" Denki cheered.

"Careful," Jiro snickered, "If you overcharge yourself, you'll just be served over easy."

"Alright! Let's all call out the usual," Kirishima said with an enthusiastic fist pump, "Go beyond..Plus-"

"ULTRA!" a tall, muscular boy shouted as he raced to the center of the group and thrust his hand into the air. He had on a white collared shirt, black pants, and a black captain's hat with a red line across the brim and a yellow S at the front.

A boy with purple hair and a girl with long honey blonde hair, both in the same uniform as the intruder, walked up to their school-mate.

"You shouldn't just barge in on other people's huddles, Inasa," the boy with purple hair said.

The boy identified as Inasa gasped. "Oh no!" His arms slapped to the side and he bent low and hard, hitting his head sharply on the ground, "I AM SORRY!"

"What's with this guy trying to get by with just his enthusiasm?!" Denki exclaimed while the entire class of 1A took a step back from this bizarre person.

"Wait! That school!... It's from that famous school in western Japan!" Jiro said, "Shiketsu!"

The boy stood back up with blood streaming down his face. "I wanted to try saying it just once! Plus Ultra! I love UA! I am extremely honored to be able to compete against UA students," he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Too loud," Neon mumbled, "Aizawa Sensei, can I-"

"No, you can neither bubble Yoarashi Inasa or yourself. Do not use your Quirk until the test officially starts," Aizawa said sharply. Although, internally, he was slightly taken aback that Neon had even bothered to check for permission first. Maybe she had finally learned to play by the rules?

"Eh? You know him, Sensei?" Hagakure asked.

"Ah. He's strong," Aizawa said as they watched the boy rejoin the rest of the Shiketsu test takers and enter the building, "First year, the same as you guys. He tried out the same year too. Yoarashi got the top scores of those admitted through recommendations, but for some reason, he turned down his acceptance."

"What? So he's a first-year then?" Midoriya asked.

"He...beat Todoroki and Momo?" Mina asked at the same time.

"Whatever," Todoroki mumbled.

"Eraser? It's you, isn't it?! ERASER?!"

Neon's eyes went back and forth between her teacher and her friend. She couldn't tell who looked more uncomfortable and tense. She understood Todoroki's stance but why Aizawa's? A woman was approaching him with an orange bandana tied around her green hair and a sash of smiley faces around her waist.

"It's been awhile!" the woman called out cheerfully, "Hey! Let's get married."

Mina gasped and grabbed the nearest arm to her while Aizawa's expression did not change a bit.

"No."

The woman clutched her sides. "Ha! Good one!"

"You're hard to talk to, as usual, Joke."

"Ha. Black Kettle..." Neon chuckled and next to her, Todoroki gave a small smile at their inside joke. Then Midoriya started to spew all the facts he had collected on this particular pro hero.

It turned out that the woman was the Smile Hero: Ms Joke, whose Quirk made her targets laugh hysterically, dulling their thoughts and movements enough for her to defeat them. She was there as a teacher to a class of second years at Ketsubutsu Academy.

"I'm Shindo!" introduced a boy, who had curly black hair that stuck upwards much like Midoriya's. He clapped his hands over the green hair, "UA this year's had trouble after trouble, so it must've been tough."

"Huh? Yeah…" Midoriya said.

"But even so," Shindo continued, moving down the line to shake Denki's hand, "You all are still aiming to be heroes like this, huh?" He moved to Jiro. "That's wonderful! A heart of fortitude is what I believe all heroes should heave from now on!"

He took a step back and smiled at the group. "And one of you is Bakugo, right? The one who experienced being the center of the Camino incident?"

"Ah?" Bakugo asked.

Shindo walked over to him. "You have an especially strong-"

"With no due respect…" Neon interrupted as she put up her hand so that he knew who was speaking, "Can you shut up so we can leave?"

"Ah?" Shindo turned to face her and she stuffed her hand back in her pocket.

"Your voice reeks of insincerity," Neon said.

Bakugo smirked while Kirishima glared at Neon. "Don't be rude! Sorry, about that. She's just a little anxious."

"It's okay," Shindo said. His expression changed into a haughty smirk, "I didn't recognize you at first because of the face mask and new hair but you're Neon, right? You're on tv a lot. Like to be the center of attention, don't you?"

"Neon-san is not like that!" Tenya shouted.

"Don't talk like you know her," Todoroki said lowly at the same time.

Neon rolled her eyes and turned to the teacher, "Sensei? Can we please go in now or is having our own meet and greet session part of the exam?"

"Yeah...Sorry, Joke, but Nagano is right. We should head in," Aizawa said and then he nodded at his class, "Change into your costumes and go to the orientation room. There will be signs telling you where to go. Don't waste time."

"Whew...it's like...contact with people outside of school reminds me..' Jiro said.

Denki puffed up his chest. "We're pretty famous from the sports festival. Aren't we? We're like celebrities!"

We're big, fat, sitting ducks...Neon thought.

30 minutes later, over 1,500 examinees found themselves crowded into the lobby of the arena where a wary middle-aged man named Mera from the Public Safety Commission resided as their proctor. He started the day by dropping a bomb.

"Only 100 of you will pass."

"WHAT?!" the examinees exclaimed in horror.

"Well...a lot's happened out there in the world," Mera sighed with his eyes drooping dangerously to a prolonged closed state, "And you know...about luck and everything...So anyways…"

"That's...That's his explanation?" Neon asked from under her helmet.

"Here are the requirements," Mera said as he held up a ball in one hand and a metal disk in the other, "The examinees will put three of these targets on his or her body, They can go anywhere as long as it's an exposed area. You can't put them on the soles of your feet or on your armpits. Everyone will also get six of these balls. The targets are made to only light up if they're hit by these balls and if all three of your targets light up, then you're out. The person who lights up your third target will have it count as their defeat. You get through this round by defeating two people."

"So at best take out two people without missing...Or have six opportunities to light up the last target of two people…," Neon murmured.

"Alright...after we open, we'll pass out the targets and balls, and then we'll start one minute after we've gotten to everyone," Mera grumbled.

"Open?" Todoroki asked.

Creaaaak!

The ceiling above them split open and then all four walls came down, opening up the entire room into a large dirt field with various settings lined around the arena. There was a large urban setting, an industrial zone, a mountainous terrain, a stretch of highway, and even a forest complete with a lush waterfall.

"It's like...USJ…" Neon breathed.

"I believe you all have terrain that you like and dislike," Mera said, "Use your Quirks well and do your best."

"Oy, Iida-kun," Neon said as she saw several people starting to hand out the targets and balls to the examinees, "Get everyone together and tell them...We're going to run it like the Forest of the Beast…"

"Forest of the…" Tenya whispered and he gasped, "The training camp?"

"Neon-san, you thought that too, huh?" Midoriya asked, "We need to move as a group."

"Yes. I'll gather everyone, right away." Tenya said. He hurriedly whispered into Jiro and Ochaco the plan and soon, all of Class 1A were huddled together as they received their equipment. Well, almost everyone.

"Tch. This isn't a field trip. Count me out," Bakugo growled as he stormed off.

"Oy! That guy...Wait!" Kirishima shouted, running after him.

"Same. I can't use my Quirk to the full extent with this big of a group," Todoroki said as he left too.

Neon ignored the sting that came from the latter not participating, despite his sound reasoning, and she waved it off with a flick of her hand. "It's fine. We'll improvise."

"So what do we do?" Ochaco asked.

"Tokoyami and I will head up the front to replace Todoroki and Noisy Boy. Iida-kun, you take the rear this time and make sure no one falls behind. Everyone else remember their places?" Neon asked.

"Yes!"

"Everyone, go to the mountains! Get to higher ground," Neon said as soon as everyone got their stuff. She started to run ahead but not too fast so that her classmates could catch up. They barely reached the foot of one of the mountains when an alarm blared overhead.

Byuuuuuuur!

"Ready? Test, start!"

Immediately, Ms. Joke's class came flying through the air with their balls in hand and Shindo smirking at the front. "Looks like we got the famous first years. This should be easy."

Neon pulled out two, thick black tubes that were dangling off of a new holster she had wrapped around her waist. It was the latest invention of Mei Hatsume with some strict guidelines from Neon.

"SOUND SWORDS!" Neon shouted as she pressed a yellow button on the tubes.

WUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUB!

Sound blasted forward from the ends of the tube towards Shindo, pushing not just his ball but himself back. Neon waved her arms around, letting the sound blast away the majority of the projectiles.

"DARK SHADOW!" Tokoyami roared as his inner creature soared into the air, grabbing any of the balls left in the air from their side while tape, grapes, and acid shot out from Class 1A, blocking out all the projectiles swiftly and succinctly.

"Good job, everyone!" Momo said as she created a bunch of shields and guarded Tsu, Hagakure, and Koda in the middle. She even gave Hagakure and Koda tennis rackets, "Hold this formation!"

"Look up ahead!" Midoriya shouted. From the top of the mountain, a boy with a long, black bob and a leather vest threw his balls down onto the ground. They glowed purple and disappeared under the dirt.

"What?! Where'd it go?" Ochaco asked as she looked nervously on the ground, "Who's it going for?"

"Stand back! Let me handle this!" Jiro said as she plugged her headphone jacks to her new gloves, "Amplifier jack...Heartbeat DIstortion!

Kaboom!

The sound broke through the dirt, breaking up the earth and even cracking the side of the mountain. Half of the second years lost their footing and started to fall into the rubble.

"Nice one," Neon said as she gave Jiro a high five.

The balls resurfaced through the earth and raced towards Mineta.

"I got this!" Mina said as she flicked her acid towards the balls, "Maximum viscosity and solubility...ACID VEIL!"

An acid wall streaked across the sky, disintegrating the projectiles and dripped back down to the earth.

"Everyone, fall back!" Shido shouted as he got to his knees and put his hands to the ground, "Their defenses are strong...so let's break it up! Maximum Force...Tremoring Earth!"

Neon felt the earth shake beneath her feet and then she quickly Double Bubbled her hands. "Everyone, watch out!"

The ground broke from underneath them, splitting the earth, creating canyons, and destroying what was left of the mountain.

"AHHHH!" Class 1A screamed as they fell. Hurriedly, Neon grabbed the nearest person within reach, which was Tokoyami. From the corner of her eye, she saw him reach out to someone but she couldn't see clearly. She hurriedly bubbled them as a group and moved so they hovered just above the sinking ground but not too high as to expose themselves to anyone who could possibly still be on their feet. When everything stilled and all was quiet, she lowered them down along with her cargo into the newly formed canyon.

"Tokoyami…" Neon groaned.

"I know...I wasn't thinking," Tokoyami said with his head lowered. Even Dark Shadow had his wings tucked under his chin guiltily. "I just grabbed the first person I saw."

"You were right next to Midoriya…"

"I know."

"Shoji was right there too."

"I...I know...I'm deeply ashamed of my choice."

"OY! What the hell is wrong with me?!" Mineta shouted indignantly.

"Shh! Keep your voice down?" Neon snapped, "We don't want to reveal our location! We're still surrounded, you know?"

"Fine. Just let me feel a boob and we'll call it even."

Neon grabbed all three of her balls. "Nobody said I couldn't take out my own classmate."

"DING DING!" Dark Shadow howled as he swooped in between Neon and Mineta and pulled them apart, "Everyone! To their own corners!" .

Neon eyed the creature, who had grown considerably in size. "Hrmm...This isn't a bad thing. Dark Shadow isn't under direct sunlight anymore. There's more shade now."

"That is coooorrrrect!" Dark Shadow said and gave her a winged thumbs up.

"AH! 120 people have just been taken out simultaneously in one blowwww!" Mera screamed through the intercom.

"What?! 120? All at once?" Mineta gasped, "Shoot! What do we do?! Find everyone else? Go find people to take out? Wait here?"

"Whatever we do, we'll need to stick together," Tokoyami said.

Neon blinked. "What did you just say?"

"We'll need to stick together?"

"Yep…" A smile stretched across her face, "Guys...I have an idea."

After explaining her plan, the group sprang into action. They moved through the canyon until they found a wide enough space with at least 4 different pathways leading to it. It took a while to find a suitable location and by that time, over 56 people had already passed the exams.

"Mineta! Talk," Neon hissed.

"Eh? Me? Why me?"

"Just do it. Talk about anything!"

As Mineta talked, Neon cringingly formed a sound bubble, amplified it with a touch of her finger, and sent it right at the top of the canyon so that it was high enough for the sound to carry but still kept the bubble hidden from plain view.

Pop!

"You know….If you think about it. Grapes are just like boobs. The best ones are perfectly round and with the right amount of squish to them. That part is important. You can't have it too soft or too firm. It has to be just right. And...it can't be too old too. There is no juice in an old grape. That's just a raisin!"

Tokoyami's head hung in shame. Once again, he felt responsible for his impromptu save. He dared not think about what the impression of their class was now.

"God! That is disgusting! DIE!" a girl shouted as she jumped out overhead with her balls in hand with two other girls alongside her. Four other students raced behind her.

"There they are!" a group of students called out as they ran through the passageway as well.

"Now!" Neon said.

"Black Ankh!" Tokoyami shouted, becoming one with his dark creature, and extending his winged claws out towards their foes, "Covert Black-Ops Arms!"

"Ah! Watch out!" the examinees screamed as Tokoyami swiped at them. He covered them in darkness, holding some of them back, while knocking the rest forward.

Squish!

"Eh?!" gasped the examinees that were herded directly into a whole valley dotted with sticky, purple balls.

"HAHA! THIS DISGUSTING THING HAS CAUGHT YOU!" Mineta cackled as he continuously threw his balls forward.

"Good job," Neon said, "Now get behind me!"

Hurriedly, both boys retreated and just as they ran past Neon, who stepped into the open space, she put her hands to her throat and she looked at the ones, who had not been caught yet.

"CLASS 1A!" she shouted as the earth trembled once more but did not break. However, her voice did travel through the pathways, bouncing off the stone walls with a natural amplification that deafened everyone who had not yet covered their ears, "TOKOYAMI, MINETA, AND I ARE MOVING ON NOW! WE'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU GUYS! YOU CAN DO IT! GO BEYOND...PLUS ULTRA!"

She lowered her hand and picked up her three balls.

Bing! Bing! Bing!

Tokoyami, Mineta, and Neon all tapped their balls on the nearest examinees, who were dazed and dizzy from Neon's sound.

"Those who have passed, please proceed to the waiting room," came a tinny voice from their target disks.

"Ah...59...60...61 have passed," Mera announced.