The U.A Testing Field
Shouta was in a shit mood. He had protested Wayne's admittance more vehemently than anyone else, and what did the mouse do? Stuck him in Aizawa's class. This was of course only made worse by the Midoriya boy, and his self destructive crap, and the complete incomprehension of the class.
"A QUIRK ASSESSMENT TEST?!" The unified shouting was making his head hurt more than it already had.
"But what about orientation? Don't we have to go?" Uraraka asked.
Good God these kids are naive.
"Pointless ceremony and bombast," Shouta said. "Time is valuable, and you aren't spending it on that if you want to be heroes. Now listen up. One of the main selling points of U.A is the freedom that teachers are given. I can run my class as I see fit. You all did the standard fitness tests in junior high: softball throw, distance run, standing long jump, sit-ups, fifty meter sprint, seated toe touch, and grip strength. You were not however allowed to use your quirks. For some absurd reason the department of education insists on using basic physical feats as an average. It makes no sense. All it does is hold back those who should be ahead. Bakugo. How'd you score on the ball throw in middle school?"
"Sixty-seven meters."
Shouta tossed the ball to him, "Try it with your quirk. You can do whatever you want, just stay inside the circle."
"Okay… add a blast to it…"
Bakugo reared back like a serpent before the strike, and then snapped forward.
"DIE!"
A blast of heat and light washed over the onlookers as the ball flew high into the sky, a trail of smoke behind it.
Shouta could hear murmurs of confusion at Bakugo's shout but didn't pay too much attention. "Not a very heroic battle cry, but well... if it works, it works." He turned to show the score on his phone to the class.
"Know your quirk. What it can and can't do. That, is the first step to reaching your full potential." He showed the result to the class: 705.2 meters. Then the stupid brats started talking about how the hero course would be FUN. "Not remotely what I meant."
"Fun huh? Is that what you think?"
The class fell silent at his tone.
"Fine. Let's see what you can do. We'll be going through all eight tests today. Whoever has the lowest scores across them will be deemed to have no potential, and expelled on the spot."
"But that's not fair! It's only the first day!" Uraraka again.
"And an earthquake is? A villain attack? A fire? None of this course was ever meant to be fair. Make no mistake: this place will be hell for you all." Shouta paused for a moment to let it sink in before continuing.
"The fifty meter is first. Let's go."
First Test: Fifty Meter Dash
Iida and Wayne were up first. On the signal Iida shot forward, clearing the track in 3.04 seconds, obviously in his element. Wayne wasn't far behind, taking 4.98 seconds. Aizawa's eyes widened minutely. Most of the class was captivated by Iida, and mistakenly ignoring Wayne. But not Iida. The speedster was looking at Wayne with something approaching astonishment. At a glance he could tell Midoriya and Bakugo got it too. Bruce Wayne, by natural physical power alone, had just outperformed all known quirkless times for the fifty meter sprint. In the days before quirks, it would have been a new world record.
Uraraka and Aoyama were next. The latter at least used his quirk fairly creatively. Both times were leagues behind Wayne and Iida, but neither was anything to scoff at. Uraraka did exactly what he expected and nullified the weight of her clothing, whereas Aoyama used his laser as a thruster. The rest of them went similarly, quirks used as expected with a few sparks of creativity here and there.
Finally, the last pair arrived. Kent and Bakugo. This would be an interesting one. Both of them went to the start, Kent down in a traditional runner's stance. When the signal came, a blast of wind knocked Bakugo off his feet, as a small trench appeared where the american had been, and suddenly Kent was at the end of the track. "0.29 seconds!" said the monitor.
Bakugo was still sitting on the ground, staring open mouthed at Kent.
The rest of the class was silent.
"Bakugo," Shouta said. "Reset, you get another turn." Wordlessly, Bakugo obeyed. He had a good time. Damn good. 4.13 seconds. It didn't matter. Just like Iida and Wayne, all anyone would remember was Kent.
"Close your mouths people, we've got more to get through. Next test."
"How are you being so calm sir?!" Kirishima exclaimed. "He blew everyone else out of the water!"
"And? If we stopped to gawk at every impressive score we saw, this test would take days. Move!"
Of course Aizawa was thinking the same thing as his class, but he had to keep them moving. Kent was too strong. A score like this wasn't impossible, even if you ignored All-Might. Edgeshot was just one hero who could easily beat that time. But Kent was a child, not a pro. If his power continued to grow as he aged, he'd be unthinkably strong.
Second Test: Grip Strength
The grip strength test had gone well for exactly twelve seconds.
CRUNCH!
Shouta rubbed his eyes as the grip on Kent's monitor shattered in the boy's hand. The monitor's screen was still intact, and showed a block of zeroes taking up the entire readout. On Shouta's phone however, the actual score read as 20,000 kilograms. Almost twenty-five tons.
The class, of course, reacted with their usual composure.
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT!" Kirishima exclaimed.
Tokoyami, Todoroki, and Yaoyorozu just looked at him appraisingly, and the majority of the class had their jaws so far down they almost kicked themselves in the chins. Like before, nobody even looked at Wayne, with ninety kilograms. Beyond what anyone his age should have been able to manage without a quirk. Wayne didn't seem bothered by the lack of attention.
Midoriya also didn't look away from his monitor. He seemed to be willing the fifty-six kilogram score to go up even a little.
Returning to Kent though. He should have scored higher. Impact data from the robots he grabbed in the entrance exam suggested a grip strength at least twice what he displayed here. He was holding back. Shouta pulled him aside as they approached the long jump sandbox.
"Kent. What are you doing?"
"Sir?"
"Why are you holding back? You beat that score in the entrance exam."
"Well going all out on the sprint would've ruptured Bakugo-san's eardrums, or worse, and the grip monitor might have turned into shrapnel if I'd used everything I had."
Shouta nodded. Such fears weren't unreasonable, or uncommon for those as powerful as Kent. Though those people were few and far between.
"I'll move the class back for the next test. Give me some accurate numbers. Or I'll kick you out regardless of ranking."
Third Test: Standing Long Jump
Shouta had everyone else go first. With the exception of Hagakure, Ashido, and Midoriya, the entire class was able to at least clear the sandbox. Bakugo flew halfway down the field just to prove that he could. Wayne stepped up and launched himself nearly three meters forward. Maybe with these scores Nezu could pass him off to the public as having a low level enhancement quirk. They'd probably buy it.
"Everyone move back," Aizawa called. "Kent is going to need some space."
Katsuki raised his eyebrows at that. He hadn't gotten that distinction. Neither had Laser Gut. Sure Hick had produced a lot of blowback earlier but that was nothing to explosions and laser beams. The class moved far back, maybe sixty meters. He was even more confused when Hick knelt, and placed his fists against the ground. He'd barely be able to put any strength into it like that, at least not for distance-wait… why was that dust swirling up around him?
Clark knew he had to perform here. He had severely underestimated how closely Aizawa would be watching. He wants everything? Fine. When the class had gotten away he took his position. He knelt down to the ground and rested his fists against it. He felt the solar energy begin to flow, and forced it out around him. Gravitons began to coalesce over his body, pulling up dirt from the field into small vortexes around his hands. He hadn't used this kind of power since he last went to the Solitude.
All at once the gravitons he had accumulated about himself shot upward, taking him with them.
THOOOOM!
Clark reached mach two almost instantly, leaving behind a shattered crater, with massive scars in the ground stretching for tens of meters.
The sonic boom deafened Katsuki, just as the American stopped ascending for a split second almost two kilometers in the air, before redirecting down, and with a second sonic boom landing on the other side of the field, in the center of a second crater. The damn Hick stood up and turned around, before sprinting back over to the sandbox in a light rush of air. He was grinning like a moron. Like he hadn't just annihilated everyone else, again. That speed, the kind of power that would require… he had been holding back on the fifty. Bastard, acting like Katsuki wasn't worth his effort.
His hands began to pop, small blasts like firecrackers.
"Humiliating me. Looking down on me with that STUPID FUCKING GRIN. And all of the extras fucking BUYING IT."
Katsuki clenched his fists to suffocate the explosions and restrained himself. A monumental feat to be sure. The extras weren't shouting this time. They just stood there, slack jawed and completely silent with a few exceptions. Deku was muttering again, and moneybags… he was mostly unreadable, but there was something. He was afraid. Of what, Katsuki could only guess.
This was a problem. Bruce knew Clark was powerful. The entrance exam spoke for itself. Or so he thought. Clark's takedown protocol would need to be immediately and drastically revised to accommodate this kind of power. He knew from eavesdropping on Clark and Midoriya that solar radiation provided the energy he used. There might be something Bruce could work with there.
Izuku was falling apart. As Clark and even the quirkless Wayne continued to thrive, he was falling further and further behind. He had no control over his power, and unlike Wayne-san, he was definitively not physically perfect. The tests continued like this. After hearing whatever Aizawa had to say it was obvious that Clark had started trying. His scores kept becoming more and more absurd as it went on. Wayne-san as well, had excelled, achieving near superhuman scores across all the tests, yet nothing so absurd it could suggest a particularly powerful quirk, or any at all. Before Izuku knew it, the last test he could use his quirk in had arrived.
Fourth Test: Ball Throw
Wayne. Shouta was simultaneously terrified by the boy's success and ecstatic over it. He absolutely had the potential to be a hero, and Shouta was kicking himself for what he had said at the entrance exam. And yet… he had still been right back then. The public would not see it the way U.A did. If he got hurt, really hurt in a way that Recovery Girl couldn't immediately fix- the school's reputation would be decimated by outrage that a "poor quirkless child," had been let in. Shouta was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice Wayne had already thrown until his phone beeped. "140.7 meters!" That settled it. Wayne was interning with him after the festival. Most currently active pro heroes wouldn't let him do much of anything, or understand how to apply him in combat, if he even got any offers. Hizashi could handle organizing the finals. That man had too much free time anyway. Most of the class, including Kent (who hurled it over a kilometer before taking off to catch it so it didn't hit someone), performed exactly as Shouta had expected. Which, in Midoriya's case would mean pathetically. So far the boy hadn't used his quirk. Obvious enough why, he only had one shot.
"But why the pointless effort? He has to know how this ends." Even as Shouta thought on the subject Midoriya stepped up and reared back. Shouta barely caught the glow emanating from his arm in time.
"No."
Shouta's eyes flared as the ball left Midoriya's hand.
"46 meters!"
The boy looked more heartbroken than surprised.
Aizawa couldn't help but pity the boy at least a little. He knew what it was to watch a dream die. Best to put it down quick. "That exam was not thought out anywhere near enough, if someone like you was able to pass it."
Midoriya didn't seem to hear him, rather focusing on his neck.
"Those goggles… you're Eraser Head!"
"Eraser Head?" Kirishima said, "Wasn't he in your letter Wayne-san? Why didn't you tell us it was him!?"
"You didn't ask."
"That's not a good reason!" The class exclaimed.
Ignoring them, Aizawa made to continue before he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A flash of yellow. What on Earth was he doing here? Whatever, figure that out later.
" You can't control your quirk. What do you hope will happen? At best you'd be incapacitated after saving one person. You would not be an aid in the field, you would be a liability at best."
"But-"
"You cannot be a hero, Izuku Midoriya."
Shouta could practically hear Kent seething. "I'm not exactly enjoying this, kid…" he thought.
"I've returned your quirk. Get it over with," Shouta said as his scarf settled back into place.
Katsuki was largely feeling quite a bit better. Obviously Aizawa had called the hick on his bullshit and he wasn't holding back anymore. So he was outmatched. Fine. That'll make it all the more satisfying to beat the American into the ground. Watching Deku stumble through the tests didn't hurt either.
"Looks like he's getting some last minute advice," Four-Eyes said.
"Nah, quirkless bastard is getting expelled in advance."
"Quirkless!" Four-Eyes sputtered, "Has nobody told you about the practical?!"
"Huh?"
Deku reared back.
BOOOOM!
A blast of sound and wind washed over the class as Deku's ball sailed high into the air.
"705.3 meters!""What."
Ten centimeters. Deku beat him by ten centimeters.
"Sensei, I can still move!"
"What?"
It had all been bullshit! All these years!
"WHAT?! Just like Hick earlier, DEKU WAS FUCKING PLAYING WITH ME!"
"DEKU YOU LYING BASTARD! EXPLAIN THIS!"
Between Hick and Deku, Bakugo had had enough. Fire blossomed from his hands before Aizawa could stop him.
BOOM!
The explosion was small as far as his power was concerned. He expected to see Midoriya knocked on his ass at most. When the blast faded instead saw a blue-clad chest, only inches from him. He looked up. Kent was floating maybe a foot off the ground, eyes quite literally on fire, as tongues of red energy fluttered up to his forehead. All at once Katsuki was yanked back by something wrapping around his chest.
"Bakugo, Kent, both of you stand down." Aizawa said. He never seemed to yell, yet it was obviously not a request. "Bakugo, stop trying to use your quirk already, I'm getting dry eye."
Katsuki finally let his arms fall to his sides, as the scarf released him. Hick stayed where he was for a moment before descending. His eyes clamped shut for a moment, and were blue again when he opened them, though small pinpricks of red remained briefly before fading. The American walked past Katsuki without even glancing at him.