ORIGIN STORY, PART V: EXAMINATION
The morning of February 26th, 21XX, Musutafu, Japan…
"...Are you sure you have everything?" Inko Midoriya asked her son. "Extra water, spare fuel cells, a handkerchief, something to eat and an extra handkerchief?"
The younger Midoriya laughed softly. "I'll be fine, Mom" he said. "Mei-Mei, Kacchan and I are going to get into UA...just watch us!"
"I'll hold you to that, son" Hisashi Midoriya's voice spoke from the tablet computer nearby; the man in the middle of his lunch break at I-Island (five time zones ahead of Musutafu) on a video call to see his son off. "You've grown up so well, Zuzu. Make us proud."
"I-I will!" the cybernetic teen responded, hugging his mother and turning to walk out the door.
Out on the street, the greenette turned just in time to see his explosive friend running towards him like a maniac.
"Oi, Zuzu!" Bakugo shouted, a grin on his face. "Are you ready to take second place?"
"In your dreams, Kacchan!" Midoriya laughed back. The two engaged in a staring contest before being interrupted by someone clasping their hands on each shoulder gently.
"Now, now, is this really necessary?" Yaoyorozu asked calmly. The ravenette had been invited to, alongside the other Recommendation Students, view the general admissions practical alongside the heroics teachers, so she had opted to travel to UA with her friends.
"I-I guess not" Midoriya admitted sheepishly.
"W-Whatever, Ponytail!" Bakugo grumbled.
After walking a few blocks closer to UA, a flash of pink signalled Hatsume intercepting the trio. "Good morning, test subjects!" the pinkette said cheerfully. "Are you ready to win this thing?" The other three stopped shivering a few moments after being referred to as test subjects; Midoriya and Bakugo both nodded in agreement as the group continued towards their destination.
Upon arriving at the gate to UA, the four teenagers stared up at the giant building in front of them. "Wow…" Midoriya murmured in awe.
"So this is where all the best heroes went…" Bakugo added.
"Impressive…" Hatsme breathed out.
"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Yaoyorozu agreed. The quartet stepped forward all at once...only for Midoriya to trip over a loose paving stone and start falling towards the ground. The greenette prepared to stop himself, but his momentum downwards suddenly ceased.
"Sorry about using my Quirk on you" a voice said behind them. A brunette girl with round cheeks stood behind them, touching her fingers together. Midoriya felt his mass return to him and quickly got back up. "I just thought it'd be a bad omen to trip before the exam."
"Don't worry about it. Thanks for saving the nerd's ass" Bakugo said. Midoriya reached forward and raised one metal finger in response, earning a snort of laughter from the blonde. Yaoyorozu blushed slightly at the vulgar gesture, while Hatsume merely snickered.
"T-Thank you" Midoriya responded. "Good luck in the exam."
"Oh, thank you too!" the girl responded, waving and walking towards the main building.
"This is where we part ways" Yaoyorozu said, turning to her friends. "While you are all grinding your brains and bodies to the bone...I'm going to spend the next hour and a half in the cafeteria!" An evil grin crossed the ponytailed girl's face before she skipped away from her stunned friends.
"Did she just…?" Midoriya asked.
"Totally diss all of us? Yep" Hatsume answered.
"Fucking recommendation students…" Bakugo growled, though his heart wasn't in it enough to be threatening.
*R-R-R*
After the written exam's conclusion and a two-hour break for grading...
"HEY-O LITTLE LISTENERS!" a voice boomed in a huge auditorium. The Voice Hero, Present Mic, stood at the podium on the stage. "IF YOU'RE HERE, IT MEANS YOU PASSED THE WRITTEN EXAM, SO NOW IT'S UP TO ME, PRESENT M-I-C, TO SHOW YOU THE ROPES FOR THE PRACTICAL! SAY 'HEY' IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!"
The entire room remained silent, and the blonde pro sweatdropped. "Kids these days are so intense. No wonder Nezu foisted this off on me…" he thought to himself, gathering his train of thought and clearing his throat.
"ANYWAY, TODAY YOU'LL BE CONDUCTING MOCK BATTLES IN SUPER-HIP CITYSCAPES! TURN YOUR CARDS OVER AND YOU'LL SEE WHICH TRAINING GROUND YOU'RE ASSIGNED TO!"
Up in the seating area, Midoriya and Bakugo flipped their cards over and examined them; Bakugo was assigned to Training Ground D, while Midoriya was assigned to Training Ground B. "Looks like I can't crush you directly, nerd" Bakugo muttered.
"More like you won't have to play second-fiddle to my performance, Kacchan" the greenette snarked back.
"YOU'LL FACE THREE TYPES OF MOCK BADDIES WORTH ONE, TWO AND THREE POINTS DEPENDING ON THEIR STRENGTH!"
"Excuse me!" a voice called from higher up in the room. A glasses-wearing teen - unbeknownst to the two friends, this was the same one who appeared at the Recommendation Exam alongside Yaoyorozu - stood up, his hand raised as a light shined on him.
Without waiting for Mic's acknowledgement, the blue-haired boy launched into a lengthy series of interjections. "The handout shows four types of villains, yet you mentioned only three! If this is an error on official UA materials, it is a disgrace to this institution!"
Then, the teen turned his ire elsewhere. "And you two!" he stated, pointing at Bakugo and Midoriya. "All you two have done is chatter amongst yourselves, distracting other contestants! You should not be here if you cannot take this exam seriously!"
Midoriya impassively raised an eyebrow, while Bakugo casually flipped the teen off. Before he could respond, however, Mic cut him off. "THANKS FOR CALLING IN WITH A QUESTION, APPLICANT 7111!" the pro called out. "THAT ONE IS AN ARENA TRAP TO AVOID FIGHTING - IT'LL GO BERSERK IN TIGHT SPACES, SO JUST STAY OUT OF ITS WAY - IT'S WORTH ZERO POINTS ANYWAY."
The glasses-wearing teen bowed and sat back down. "NOW, LET'S LEAVE OFF HERE WITH THE SCHOOL MOTTO! YOU'D BETTER BE READY TO GO BEYOND…!" Mic began.
"PLUS ULTRA!" the Voice Hero shouted, joined only by Midoriya. "I LIKE YOUR STYLE, APPLICANT 3568! GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE!"
Outside the auditorium, Bakugo and Midoriya were met by Hatsume. "My work here is done!" the inventor announced cheerfully. "Power Loader was impressed and scared by the EMP capture device I built from a toaster and a microwave for my exam."
"That's good, Mei-Mei" Midoriya responded, looking down at his right hand.
Noticing this, Bakugo stated his piece. "You sure you won't be given any trouble for those, Zuzu?" he asked.
Midoriya nodded. "I've already cleared it with the Board of Admissions and asked Ectoplasm-sensei" the greenette responded. "They all said I could bring my prosthetic legs, a prosthetic arm, a spare arm and the arm-guard for my left arm."
"I trust you won't be taking Breaker One into battle?" Hatsume asked.
The cyborg shook his head. "Breaker One is strong, but I need both strong and versatile. I'm using Incinerator and Overture for this one" Midoriya stated, looking at the backpack he wore and thinking of the contents within.
"You'll do great then," Bakugo said. "That being said...I'm still winning this."
"Oh yeah, Kacchan?" Midoriya challenged. "We'll see who comes in first place then."
"Bring it! If I win, you'll have to do my workout routine for a day!" Bakugo wagered with his friend.
"Oh, it's on! If I win, you'll have to come up with an invention that's actually worth something!" Midoriya retorted.
As the two solemnly shook hands, Hatsume cleared her throat. "If you two are done with your gentlemen's wager now, I need Zuzu to know that he has to do his best. I told Power Loader to watch you specifically as a practical example of my work!" the pinkette signsonged before skipping away.
"...Shit" Midoriya said, the pressure of Hatsume's expectations on him now.
"It's your funeral, Zuzu. Try not to lose too badly" Bakugo chuckled, walking towards one of the locker rooms.
*R-R-R*
As his shuttle bus ferried him and the other examinees towards Training Ground B, the green-haired cyborg surveyed the other students on the bus, idly analyzing their mutations inside his head. "Mantis-like mutations, but that may not imply what his Quirk is. I'll bet it has something to do with blades though, unless he can turn into a more insectoid form at will…"
Most of the bus couldn't hear his muttering over their chatter, their internal panic, or the music they were listening to in order to calm down. The exception to this, however, tapped him on the shoulder.
Midoriya turned around in his seat and immediately grimaced, as he was staring into the stern face of the same glasses-wearing teen who had reprimanded him earlier. Looking down, Midoriya noticed long pipes sticking out of the other's legs. "An engine mutation? I wonder if he's an Iida…"
"Can I help you?" the greenette asked.
The other applicant spoke up. "You're being rather distracting with your mumbling...are you a plant by UA to get us to slip up?"
Midoriya blanched. "Oh no, I'm sorry, I thought I was finally getting that habit under control" he said in embarrassment. "And no, I don't work for UA. Still, it wouldn't be surprising if they did employ people to pose as applicants in order to add pressure in the exam; that's honestly brilliant."
Looking down at the pipes on his legs again, Midoriya looked the other teen in the eye. "Are you a member of the Iida family? Those pipes in your legs remind me of the ones in Cambio's back and Ingenium's arms."
The other teen coughed in surprise. "You're very astute. My name is Tenya Iida; I'm the youngest son of the Iida family" he said, introducing himself. Looking down at Midoriya, the bluenette's eyes widened. "Good heavens, what happened to your arm?!"
Midoriya pondered his right arm - currently just an empty stump, since he'd left Breaker One back in his locker with his regular clothes. The cybernetic teen had changed into a pair of jeans and a dark grey tanktop - rather unorthodox exercise clothing, but Midoriya thought it would suffice.
His left arm was equipped with a defensive gauntlet with no special abilities other than extreme durability and shock absorption - properties of the special alloy it was created from. Hatsume had theorized about the possibilities of creating with it for years, but until she met Yaoyorozu, it was unfeasible to make. It still cost a lot of calories for the heiress to create though - most of the world's supply of the so-called "Hatsumetal" had been used to create the gauntlet, while all the prosthetics were steel or titanium.
"I keep forgetting that this freaks people out" he laughed slightly, reaching down to his belt and grabbing what looked like a large canister with blue metal highlights on it. Slotting it onto the adaptor where his elbow once was, the greenette held the arm up for Iida to watch as it opened up and unfolded into a blue and silver mechanical hand with golden metallic fingers.
"Izuku Midoriya at your service; nice to meet you, Iida-san. Let's both do our best in this exam" the cybernetic teen said, smiling at his new acquaintance.
Iida blinked a few times. "I trust you filed all the proper paperwork for this support equipment, Midoriya-san, and that it is truly necessary for your Quirk?" he asked.
Midoriya grimaced. "I don't actually have a Quirk" he said, causing Iida to pale significantly. "I would have been wheelchair-bound after a villain attack on my seventh birthday if it wasn't for the fact that one of my friends is a genius inventor who created prosthetics that not only gave me back my mobility, but also my dreams of heroism. So yes, they're necessary."
After a few moments of silence, the glasses-wearer started to applaud. "I salute you, Izuku Midoriya; your tenacity and drive clearly knows no bounds. I hope we both can pass this exam" Iida said, with respect in his voice.
"Thank you, Iida-san. Good luck in the exam as well" Midoriya responded as the bus stopped and both teens rose to step out of the bus.
Spotting the round-faced brunette who stopped his fall earlier, Midoriya walked over to her. "Thank you again for preventing me from falling earlier" he said, startling her slightly.
"Oh, it's you, the robot boy!" she responded.
Midoriya chuckled at this. "You're not too far off - I'm a cyborg though, not a robot" he explained.
"Oh, my bad!" the girl giggled. "Nice to meet you; I'm Ochako Uraraka."
"Izuku Midoriya; I hope you do well in the exam, Uraraka-san" the cyborg responded, looking towards the gate. "I can see the gates starting to open...it looks like we're about to start."
"Thanks, you too-!" Uraraka began, before everyone's train of thought was cut off by Mic's shout.
"GO! THERE'S NO COUNTDOWNS IN REALITY!"
While most of the applicants remained in stunned silence for a few moments, Midoriya engaged his leg servos and shot forwards, running as fast as he could. Just before he could make it through the gate, Iida passed him, now running his engines to hunt down robots. The two contestants respectfully nodded at each other, reaching the first intersection and turning in two different directions.
The lens on his headband slid down to cover the greenette's left eye, scanning for electrical signatures. "There, on my left!" Midoriya thought, rounding a corner and coming face to face with one of the One-Point bots crashing through a storefront and turning on its lone wheel.
"TARGET ACQUIRED. ELIMINATING."
Before the One-Pointer could make good on its threat, however, the cyborg dashed straight up to it and, his fist crackling with faint hints of electricity, plunged the appendage through the robot's eye, ripping out its internal circuitry as the machine died in front of him. "One point...I think I need thirty to be safe, and forty to know for sure."
Rounding another corner, the teenaged cyborg spotted a blonde kid who seemed to sparkle in the light. He'd just dispatched a Three-Pointer with two shots from what appeared to be a laser emitted from an odd belt on his midriff, but a Two-Pointer was rapidly sneaking up on him and he appeared to be having some kind of stomach cramp.
"Watch out!" Midoriya shouted, activating one of the two the secondary features present in all of Hatsume's Hero Breakers - a grappling line that shot out of the palm of his hand, wrapping around the robot's head. Giving a great heave with Overture's other secondary function - super-strength - the greenette yanked the scorpion-like robot high into the air, then leapt towards it as his arm unfurled into a more combat-oriented firing mode. The second he made contact with the bot, a hand-shaped electrical blast completely fried the machine.
The teenaged cyborg landed next to the blonde and nodded at him. "Are you alright?"
Regaining his bowel control, the blonde nodded. "Thank you, mon amie; you have a fabulous sparkle to you."
A small smile crossed Midoriya's face. "Merci beaucoup" the greenette responded; the blonde's eyes widened slightly in response.
"I see you are a man of culture as well. I hope to see you again when the school year begins!" he said, turning to run off.
"Likewise!" Midoriya shouted, shooting his grappling hook into an antenna atop a nearby building and reeling himself up four stories to get a better vantage point. From there, he spotted a large central square where a lot of robots were being wrecked, a few back alleyways where some enemies clearly lay in wait to surprise applicants, and a multi-armed teen on a nearby rooftop, growing ears from his arms. The greenette waved to the other boy, who waved back respectfully.
Spotting a nearby alleyway containing at least one Three-Pointer, the cyborg decided his target, leaping across several rooftops and then plummeting downwards into the alleyway towards his quarry. Detecting him, the Three-Pointer angled its missile launchers upwards, but it was too late to avoid being drop-kicked through the head.
"Six points" Midoriya muttered, whirling around in time to duck the rubber bullets of a One-Pointer, before shooting a blast of electricity that fried its circuits. A whirring sound alerted him to another active Three-Pointer entering the alley, attracted by the commotion, prompting Midoriya to unfold Overture into its firing mode again. "Going for ten now…"
*R-R-R*
"Thank you, Recommended Students, for joining us in this viewing today" Principal Nezu spoke, sitting in his chair alongside the other faculty members. While all four students - Yaoyorozu, Tokage, Honenuki and Todoroki - noticed the skinny blonde man sitting in one of the chairs, none of them commented on him - not even Yaoyorozu, who had met him and his disciple once during a Dagobah Beach training sessions.
"As you can see, there are many traits that make a great hero" the animalistic hero continued, gesturing to a screen displaying the multi-armed teen. "The forethought to determine an objective's location."
Gesturing to the blonde Frenchman's screen. "The ability to keep a cool head under pressure."
"Mobility that proves crucial in any circumstance" the Principal continued, pointing out Iida.
"Pure combat ability" this time, the screen in question showed Bakugo standing in the ruined remains of a Three-Pointer. Yaoyorozu nodded approvingly.
"And perhaps most crucially, the willingness to protect others without expecting anything in return" Nezu finished, gesturing to footage of Midoriya eliminating the Two-Pointer that threatened Aoyama. "The best heroes combine all of these traits in perfect proportion to each other."
Tokage and Honenuki nodded in agreement with this sentiment, while Todoroki remained cold and aloof. Yaoyorozu was beaming internally. "Kacchan and Zuzu are doing incredibly well in this exam. If they can keep this pace up for another seven minutes, they'll be shoe-ins!"
"The true test has yet to come, however" the skinny blonde teacher said, gesturing to a button labeled "KAIJU SWITCH". Turning to the Excavation Hero, Power Loader, the blonde spoke up again. "Five more minutes, Maijima?"
"Five more minutes" the other man affirmed.
*R-R-R*
"RRRRARGH!" Midoriya shouted, unleashing an enormous blast of electricity down a side street, frying a squadron of four Two-Pointers. "That's eighteen."
A beeping noise alerted him to his prosthetic arm's condition. The glowing lines on Overture dimmed and slowly died out, before the arm automatically folded back up into a canister-like state. "Aw man, I used up Overture's batteries!" he complained, removing the inert prosthetic and replacing it with a black canister with red lines from his left hip.
The new canister unfolded into an arm made from dark grey, almost black metal with four glowing orange lines that resembled tubes running down its sides and a hole in the palm. "Looks like I have to use the Incinerator Arm from here" he said, turning onto a larger street and being greeted by five One-Pointers.
The first bot rushed him, only to be firmly grabbed by its neck and have its head torn off, what appeared to be a spine-like structure coming with it. "Nineteen."
Leaping off its corpse, the teen used the first one as leverage to attack the second, crushing its head with an axe kick. "Twenty."
The third attempted to surprise him from the left, but the shock-absorbent Hatsumetal gauntlet stopped the blow short and repelled it (much to Midoriya's surprise), leaving the bot's guard open for the cyborg to punch straight through its chest. "Twenty-one."
Tearing the third one's shield-like right arm off, the greenette used the edge of the shield to cleave the fourth one in half where its arms met its body. "Twenty-two."
The last one was bashed in the face with the shield, then had its head torn off in the same manner as the first. "Twenty-three" Midoriya noted, using its corpse as a platform to leap into the air from, using the grappling hook in Incinerator to reel himself to the top of a water tower.
Looking down into an intersection below, the cyborg saw Iida disassembling a Three-Pointer with rapid-fire kicks, not noticing the squad of three Two-Pointers speeding towards him from behind. "I've got to stop them!" Midoriya thought to himself, the tubes on his arm glowing as he took aim at the villain bots.
"Incinerate."
A blast of heat behind him surprised Iida, causing him to whirl around in time to watch a bolt of plasma melt a squadron of Two-Pointers sneaking up on him into slag. Looking towards the roof of a nearby building, he spotted Midoriya atop the water tower, seemingly cold, emotionless and willing to destroy at a moment's notice.
The sight sent a chill up his spine, before Midoriya dropped to the street. "Are you alright, Iida-san?" the greenette asked, and the feeling of fear dispelled in an instant.
"I am, Midoriya-san! Thank you for your assistance!" the bluenette proclaimed in a stiff manner, before spotting a One-Pointer creeping up on Midoriya. "Behind you!" he shouted, launching forward at the same time Midoriya did.
The two passed each other, Iida delivering a powerful kick that destroyed the villain bot. Turning around, the bespectacled teen saw Midoriya rip the head off of another Two-Pointer that had tried to sneak up on Iida. "Thirty-one" the greenette said, before jumping backwards over Iida's head and landing in a one-armed handstand on a Three-Pointer that had disguised itself among the wrecked bots. "Incinerate."
The blast of plasma melted a hole roughly half a meter in diameter all the way through the villain bot's steel body, while Midoriya whirled around to fire one last bolt of plasma at a One-Pointer emerging from an alleyway. "Thirty-six."
Before Iida could thank Midoriya again, the ground began to shake and an enormous dust cloud exploded on the other side of a large plaza. The dust cleared to reveal an enormous robot riding on a tank-like base, peering down at them from above the rooftops. A large number zero was painted on its body.
"Where the hell do they get the funding for stuff like this?!" Midoriya wondered aloud, staring upwards as a horde of other students began to book it right past him and Iida, as far as they could from the Zero-Pointer. The greenette was also turning to run, when a cry of pain alerted him to trouble.
*R-R-R*
Meanwhile, up in the control room, Toshinori Yagi spotted trouble in Training Ground B. "There's a girl trapped directly in the Zero-Pointer's path" he said, alarm present in his voice.
Nezu grimaced. "Then shut it down. Maijima-san?" he asked, turning to Power Loader. However, the orange-haired teacher was furiously typing on his tablet. "Maijima-san?"
"I can't shut it down! It won't let me!" the panicking Support Teacher said, holding the tablet up for all to see. The screen was nothing but white static, except for the stylized black "X" in the middle.
"Oh no" Yaoyorouzu thought, recognizing that symbol as the same one on the G2 robot piece from several years earlier.
"I need to go-!" Yagi began, but Nezu cut him off.
"Wait, look there!"
*R-R-R*
Spotting Uraraka trapped under fallen concrete debris, likely with a broken ankle, Midoriya knew he had to act immediately...and do something really stupid that all three of his friends would berate him for later. Taking aim directly at the Zero-Pointer's face as it began to raise its right fist, the greenette fired his grappling hook upwards and speared the mechanical monster directly through one of its optical sensors. With a jet-boosted jump from his leg prosthetics, the teenage cyborg rocketed upwards and planted his fist firmly in the face of the giant robot.
"It's not enough...I need to draw out more power!" Midoriya thought, recalling something Hatsume had told him about; a special feature built into every Hero Breaker after Breaker One. Gripping the unlocking mechanism where his prosthetic met his original arm, the greenette shouted at the top of his lungs. "Code: Midoriya 1-2-9!"
Bringing his legs up as the tubes on the Incinerator Arm began to glow brighter than before, the cyborg unlocked his arm and leapt backwards into the air, away from the beeping, glowing prosthetic he left lodged in the Zero-Pointer's face. The beeping grew more intense as the tubes glowed brighter and brighter.
"BREAK AGE!"
The entire face of the Zero-Pointer exploded as the Hero Breaker fulfilled its final purpose, detonating in a magnificent fireball and throwing the enormous mech backwards and away from the applicants. In the viewing room, several teachers all breathed a sigh of relief.
As he fell backwards, Midoriya curled into a ball in order to regain his balance, hoping to land safely without destroying Hatsume's leg modules. To his surprise, however, his downward momentum halted barely three meters off the ground as Uraraka slapped his shoulder, activating her Quirk on him from atop a floating robot piece. The duo descended slowly to the ground, and Uraraka immediately threw up everything in her stomach.
"TIME'S UP!" Mic called as Midoriya wiped his brow in relief.
"Thank you, Uraraka-san" he said, before looking back at the fallen corpse of the Zero-Pointer. "Damn, Mei-Mei is going to kill me for this."
*R-R-R*
Two weeks later, The Lair, Yaoyorozu Estate, Musutafu…
"So am I going first, Kacchan, or are you?" Midoriya asked.
"I'm going first obviously!" Bakugo retorted, reaching for the envelope addressed to him on the table. Before he could open it, however, Hatsume shoved him out of the way.
"I'm the only Support Course student, so I should go first."
Midoriya and Bakugo shot each other a glance, both shrugged, and acquiesced. Hatsume tore open the envelope, and a small metal disc fell out, projecting a video of Power Loader above the table.
"Mei Hatsume, Support Applicant 8200, you scored in the top ten on the written exam across all courses, which made you eligible to take the Practical Exam for Support. You showed great ingenuity in your invention of an electromagnetic capture device for robotic enemies, which you created by cannibalizing a microwave, an electric toaster and a TV remote" the Excavation Hero stated. "This alone was impressive, but when combined with the practical performance your inventions demonstrated in the hands of Heroics Applicant 3568, you earned an unprecedented 125 out of 100 on the Practical Exam. I hope to see you bright and early in Room 1-H at 8:00 in the morning of April 8th. Welcome to UA High."
The projection shut off and Hatsume was immediately tackled in a hug by Midoriya. "Good job, Mei-Mei, I knew you could do it!" the greenette cheered. Yaoyorozu and Bakugo also offered their congratulations, which culminated in Hatsume breaking down crying happy tears for the first time any of them could recall.
"I'm going next" Bakugo said, opening his envelope before Midoriya could protest. The holographic projector revealed…
"All Might?!"
"Greetings, Young Bakugo! I am here to deliver your exam results as the latest addition to UA's faculty!" the Symbol of Peace boomed, wearing a horrifically bad yellow pinstripe suit. A hand reached onscreen, gesturing at All Might. "Yes, yes, I'm showboating - wait, I have to do THAT many of these things? Jeez, a hero's work is never done…"
Returning to the topic at hand, All Might continued. "Anyway, Young Bakugo, your written exam was impressive - you placed in the top fifteen, which made you more than eligible to take the Practical Exam. In the Practical, you earned 80 Villain Points, which alone puts you far above the rest."
"Naturally" Bakugo said, pride in his voice.
"However, there was another system - Rescue Points! With the 18 Rescue Points you earned by protecting fellow applicants from surprise attacks and falling debris, you hold a total of 98 points - the highest score seen since Best Jeanist's first-place finish twenty-one years ago!" All Might finished, stunning the explosive blonde even more. "Young Bakugo...welcome to your Hero Academia! Please report to Room 1-A at 8:00 AM on April 8th!"
The projection shut off, leaving the room in silence for a few moments before Bakugo shouted "FUCK YES!" at the top of his lungs, setting off cheering from the other three as Midoriya and Hatsume hoisted him on their shoulders in celebration.
"You did it, Kacchan!" Midoriya shouted, which caught Bakugo's attention and caused an evil grin to cross his face.
"Oh, right Zuzu, since I placed first, you know what that means…"
Midoriya sighed. "Yeah, I have to do your workout regimen for a day, whatever. It'll be good for me anyway."
Letting the explosive blonde down, Midoriya opened his envelope. "Alright, moment of truth…" he muttered, as the disc clattered to the tabletop and shined its light upwards.
"Boo-yeah, I am here as a projection!" once again, All Might graced the room with his visage and booming voice. "Young Midoriya, you scored in the top ten on the Written Exam, which made you eligible to take the Practical Exam. Now, in the practical, you only defeated 36 points worth of villains, although your strength and accuracy in doing so impressed all the judges. Still, that wouldn't ordinarily be enough for admissions…"
Midoriya sucked in a deep breath.
"If it wasn't for our Rescue Point system! How could UA reject an applicant who intentionally acted to defend other applicants, even disregarding your feat of strength and heroic spirit regarding the Zero-Pointer!" All Might finished his lead-up."With 60 Rescue Points, your final tally comes out to 96 points, putting you easily at a competitive second place! Young Midoriya, welcome to your Hero Academia! Please make your way to Room 1-A by 8:00 AM on April 8th!"
The scoreboard for the top 10 appeared in the projection as follows:
1. Katsuki Bakugo: 80 Villain, 18 Rescue, 98 Total
2. Izuku Midoriya: 36 Villain, 60 Rescue, 96 Total
3. Ochako Uraraka: 30 Villian, 45 Rescue, 75 Total
4. Eijiro Kirishima: 35 Villain, 39 Rescue, 74 Total
5. Ibara Shiozaki: 40 Villain, 32 Rescue, 72 Total
6. Tenya Iida: 52 Villain, 18 Rescue, 68 Total
7. Itsuka Kendo: 27 Villain, 40 Rescue, 67 Total
8. Fumikage Tokoyami: 50 Villain, 12 Rescue, 62 Total
9. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu: 50 Villain, 10 Rescue, 60 Total
10. Yosetsu Awase: 51 Villain, 7 Rescue, 58 Total
Midoriya was immediately beset by his friends. "You made it in, Zuzu! You and my babies have made me proud!" Hatsume cheered.
"It seems you, I and Kacchan are all in Class 1-A. May our journey into heroics together be fruitful!" Yaoyorozu added.
Bakugo grinned. "Looks like I can still crush you after all, nerd" he chuckled, grabbing Midoriya in an affectionate headlock and ruffling his hair.
For his part, Midoriya was still processing everything. "I...I actually did it? My dream is going to come true?"
Finally, a grin split his face. "We did it, everyone! Let's see who becomes number one!" he shouted; the other three cheering at his declaration.
NEXT TIME ON REDESIGN, REBUILD, RECLAIM…
The first day of classes at UA arrives! New classmates! New friends! A scary new teacher! Stay tuned for more!
NOTES:
As penance for missing an update, here is a second update covering the entire Entrance Exam! Once again, the mysterious "X" has struck at our protagonists. I hope you were all impressed by Midoriya's skill and strength in this chapter; I've wanted to show this off for a while.
"Overture" is directly taken from Devil May Cry V, while the Incinerator Arm is another homage to Genos from One Punch Man.
I was also legitimately tempted to make the Zero-Pointer a Metal Gear RAY, but I decided to save that shout-out for another time. A question was asked about Midoriya's rescue points, so here's how I did it: he got 40 for destroying the Zero-Pointer, plus four each for the time he saved Aoyama and the four he saved Iida, for 60 total; the 60 in canon seemed to be predicated on the whole "self-sacrifice" thing, which wasn't really an issue here since he walked away from the incident on his own without doing anything more than angering Hatsume for destroying a prosthetic.
As ever, thank you for reading!