My Alien Academia

by The Incredible Muffin

Some worthy souls are chosen to carry the mantle of great heroes. Sometimes, this is destiny. Other times, it's all about being in the right universe, at the right time, chosen by the right watch.

35. A Hundred Stars in the Sky

BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY HERO ACADEMIA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. SOMEONE MADE THE MISTAKE OF TRYING TO ROB ME WHILE I WAS DOING SCIENCE. THEY ARE NOW A SMEAR ON THE FLOOR. EXPERIMENT SUCCESSFUL.

One thing I'm really jealous of in the MHA universe is that they can take their tests and have a field trip at the same time. Of course, I never had to contend with super-powered freaks trying to kill me, but, you know, good with the bad.

(Make My Story—Lenny Code Fiction, TV version)

The music starts, and the scene opens from Midoriya's point of view, staring down at the visor in his hands. He then raises it to his face, and the perspective changes to see him in front of his class, all of them in costume, staring off into the distance.

As the music becomes more upbeat, Class 1-A charges, but Midoriya hesitates when he sees Holo-Ben in front of him. The hologram grins, but then vanishes; Midoriya shakes his head, and then follows after his class as he turns into Diamondhead.

Explosions herald the next scene, and Bakugo is standing on top of a pile of debris, laughing at the destruction he caused. Behind him, Kirishima and Kaminari look exasperated. Above them, Uraraka flies to avoid a kick from a blonde girl in a black bodysuit; she draws her metal arm back, and the Brainiac symbol on her shoulder glows through the fabric of her costume. The light covers everything, and when it fades, we see All For One in his cell, smiling as a silhouette grows around him.

The scene shifts to Midoriya, Asui and Todoroki as they face down Gang Orca. In the background, Iida rockets away from a massive tornado, Yaoyorozu's arms glow with her Quirk as she prepares to battle a large group of shadowy figures, and Ashido and Sero dodge falling debris.

As the music comes to an end, Midoriya sits down on a rock and looks at the Omnitrix; the dial starts to turn, and then everything cuts to black.

My Alien Academia

Chapter 35

A Hundred Stars in the Sky

The night before the Provisional License exam should have seen Class 1-A turn in early, but the students were all either too nervous or too excited to sleep just yet. Most of them milled around the lounge, or did some light exercise outside; the Rising Stars decided on the former.

"Do you think Aizawa-sensei was overselling how hard the test was gonna be?" Ashido asked nervously. "Maybe it was one of his 'logical deceptions'."

"Somehow, I doubt it," Yaoyorozu sighed. "He probably expected us to expect that, and decided to tell the honest truth."

Todoroki, who was sitting next to Ashido on a sofa, shrugged. "Unless he was expecting us to expect that, so he expected to—"

"Stop!" Ashido hugged her boyfriend and buried her face in the crook of his neck, uncaring that one of her horns was poking his cheek. "If you guys say any more, my head's gonna explode!"

Sero laughed. "And considering where she is, dude, that'd be a big mess on you."

Despite having her eyes closed, Ashido managed to kick his shin. "Gross! Thanks for that mental image."

Uraraka's own laugh turned into a yawn. "Hey, Deku-kun, any idea what kind of Quirks people from other schools might use on us?"

With his girlfriend tucked into his side and her head on his shoulder, Midoriya couldn't give her the dry look that question deserved. "Only UA has a Sports Festival, and nobody advertises their students' Quirks like that."

"Right, dumb question."

Iida hummed thoughtfully. "What about numbers?"

Midoriya took a moment to rest his cheek against the top of Uraraka's head as he thought about it. "Going by the average drop-out rate in Hero classes between first and second years, the number of schools that have Hero courses, and stats of last year's number of Provisional License holders… I think at least five hundred students will be participating. A thousand is the average, maybe a few hundred more if it's a big year."

His friends all stared at him.

"You just… have all those statistics in your head?" Sero asked.

"Y-yes?" When the staring continued, Midoriya leaned behind Uraraka to hide.

"He's the world's biggest Hero-otaku," Asui said. "We should have expected this, ribbit."

Midoriya whimpered, and his friends laughed.

Yaoyorozu ran her fingers through her hair—which she'd gotten into the habit of letting down in front of others when not in class or costume—as she thought. "Ochako, you asked if Izuku knew what Quirks would be used against us. Do you really think that the exam will involve combat?"

Uraraka shrugged. "With our luck, probably."

"Great," Sero said with heavy sarcasm. "We're gonna go up against students who are way more experienced than us."

"But that is because our teachers believe that we can succeed!" Iida made to chop at the air, but he realized that his arm only had one place to go—Yaoyorozu's head—so he refrained. "Even if we do not pass, we should be honored that we were even considered."

"Then we have to pass," Todoroki mused. "I don't want to break that trust. Besides, I failed the last big test we had, and I refuse to fail again."

"I feel the same, ribbit." Asui leaned back in her chair. "If we don't pass, it'll feel like we wasted all that training."

"It will still be wasted if we're all too tired to perform well tomorrow," Yaoyorozu said as she stood up. "Come on, everyone go to bed."

Ashido groaned. "Yes, Mom." Still, she didn't move until Todoroki slid a piece of ice down the back of her shirt. "Hey! Not cool!"

Todoroki smirked and stole a kiss from her. "I'd say it was."

The other Rising Stars stared at him as he walked off.

"Did he…" Uraraka slowly blinked. "Did he just make a pun?"

"I can't." Sero dramatically put his head on Asui's shoulder. "I just can't."

…

Shigaraki wasn't happy. Then again, he wasn't happy most days; he was usually angry, bitter, or brooding. Today, however, he was particularly unhappy, and he only had himself to blame. Technically, he could have blamed Nine—and a few months ago, he absolutely would have blamed anyone but himself—but he knew that this was entirely his fault.

"You know, most people prove themselves worthy of being second in command," he said, careful to keep his tone idle. "They don't demand it."

Nine sat across from him in the abandoned motel the League was using as a temporary base. "It's simple logic. You need a right hand, and a successor if the worst should happen."

"I don't plan on the worst happening."

"I'm sure All For One thought the same thing, and look what happened to him."

Shigaraki's only sign of anger was a slight tightness around his eyes. "And why do you want to be my second, and not at the top?"

Nine's face was mostly hidden by his mask, but it was obvious that he was smiling. "Because All For One named you his successor. For now, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are worthy. If you prove incapable, I will step in and assume leadership."

"And you'll have an easier time if you're already right below the top." Shigaraki fumed silently, until a thought occurred to him. "Fine, but I have a condition."

Nine merely gestured for him to continue.

"Unless I actually screw up so badly that the League is in jeopardy, you follow every one of my orders. If you even think that someone in the League is plotting against me, you let me know. Until such time as I no longer deserve it, your loyalty to me will be absolute."

Nine considered that for a moment. "Very well, but if someone is moving against you, why shouldn't I simply eliminate them immediately?"

Shigaraki snorted. "Because most of the people in the League aren't stupid—crazy, yeah, but not stupid. No one will move against me unless they've got support, either from within the League, or a rival from outside. I want to know just how far back a plot goes before I tear it out." He rested his cheek on his fist. "Did I pass your test?"

"Your answer was sufficient." Nine mirrored the younger man. "I will follow you until you no longer deserve to be followed."

"At least you didn't drop this stupid test when everyone was in the room."

"In case you were wondering, I hadn't planned for everyone to be gone. I simply took advantage of their absence today." Nine paused. "I am aware that everyone had errands to run for you, except Toga, yet she isn't here. Why is that?"

Shigaraki chuckled. "I sent her on a special mission. I asked her to retrieve a few things for me; if she succeeds, it'll make ruling this country a lot easier."

Nine raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly will she be retrieving?"

"Let's just say that All For One left me with a few of his plans. I've modified them for my own purposes. All you or anyone else needs to know is that, if we succeed, all who are loyal to me will have a place at the table."

"Well, that's intriguing." Nine rose and bowed; it was shallow and slightly mocking, but Shigaraki could tell that there was a little respect as well. "I suppose I'll have to stay loyal for now, if only to see where this path leads."

…

Midoriya had just gotten used to not wearing his tie so often, and now he was adjusting it nervously as the bus pulled up to the massive arena-like structure being used for the tests. It was impossible to see what awaited them, but it wasn't hard to imagine that it would involve moving around.

If Class 1-A thought they would have 1-B join them, they were mistaken; the other bus kept driving, while they got out.

"I guess they're separating us," Ashido said as she grabbed her costume case. "When are we gonna actually hang out with those guys? It's like UA is trying to make sure we don't get along."

"You want to spend time with Monoma?" Yaoyorozu asked incredulously.

"Well, no, not him, but the rest of the class seems okay!" Ashido spotted Mineta creeping closer to them; he was a few steps away from being able to look up the girls' skirts when Sato wordlessly hauled him off. "Do you think Class B would trade someone for him?"

"I wouldn't subject anyone to that little rat, not even Monoma."

Before Yaoyorozu could launch into a proper tirade about Mineta, Aizawa shuffled over to his class. "All right, listen up. This exam will be harder than anything you've done in class. You may have to deal with situations you'd only ever see as a Pro, and your only saving grace will be that it'll be in a controlled setting. Treat this like you would a life-or-death scenario, remember everything you've learned, and you'll do well."

"Aizawa-sensei is right!" Iida shouted. "If we are to succeed, we must go beyond! Plus—"

"ULTRAAA!"

Everyone jumped when a boy who definitely wasn't from UA suddenly shouted from behind them. He was huge, easily as tall as Shoji, and almost as muscular as Sato; his school uniform was similar to theirs, but with a distinctive hat that most of them immediately recognized. Shiketsu High was UA's rival school; their respective success was so close that some people honestly couldn't tell which was the best at any given year.

"Sorry about that!" the boy yelled, a huge smile on his face. "I just got so excited when I saw UA students here, and then you were about to shout your motto, and I couldn't help but join in!"

Before any of the UA students could reply, more Shiketsu students showed up and started shoving the boy away.

"Sorry about that," one grunted as they moved on. "He gets excited."

As he was being pushed, the boy passed by Todoroki; his smile vanished and he gave the shorter student a piercing stare. Todoroki met it stoically, but if the Shiketsu student found something in his gaze, it satisfied him, and he continued on without further resistance.

Midoriya didn't notice the staring; he was too busy meeting the gaze of a beautiful girl with long blonde hair. She licked her lips and winked at him; something about that sent a shiver down his spine, and not the pleasant kind. Uraraka, who had seen that, glared at the taller girl with such intensity that the blonde actually noticed the killing intent. Rather than flinch or seem worried, she gave Uraraka a wink as well, and then skipped away.

"I don't know her, and I don't like her," Uraraka growled.

"What just happened?" Sero asked. "Who was the crazy dude?"

Aizawa sighed; all the excitement seemed to drain what little energy he had left. "That was Yoarashi Inasa. He's a first-year student from Shiketsu, and held the top assessment score for recommendations. He withdrew after that test and transferred to Shiketsu, though."

"Oh, I remember him now!" Yaoyorozu looked worried. "He even outdid Shoto."

That worried more than a few students; Todoroki was seen as one of the most powerful students in UA, so knowing that Yoarashi had surpassed him was alarming. One thing that confused them was that he had withdrawn from UA. Sure, Shiketsu was good, but if he liked UA so much, why leave?

"Huh." Todoroki crossed his arms and looked down. "I don't remember him at all. I guess he didn't leave an impression."

Just as everyone thought the pre-test excitement was over, another bus pulled up; before it came to a complete stop, a woman in a gaudy orange-and-green costume hopped out and waved.

"Hey, Eraser!"

Whoever she was, those two words were enough to make Aizawa flinch in genuine fear. That was such an unusual reaction that even Bakugo paid attention.

"Hurry up," Aizawa hissed to the class. "Get inside, let's go!"

"Oh, come on, Eraser, it's been too long!" The woman grinned and playfully elbowed him. "Let's get married!"

"Not on your life."

"Pfff!" The woman cackled. "Oh, you're hilarious! You just know that our lives would be filled with laughter if we got married!"

"No, your life would be filled with laughter. My life would be filled with the cyanide I'd put in my dinner."

Aizawa's words were so deadpan that no one was completely sure he wasn't serious.

Midoriya had been trying to identify the woman from her costume for a while now, and finally figured it out. "Oh! That's Ms. Joke, the Smile Hero! Her Quirk is called Outburst, and it can cause people to laugh so hard that they can't even move!"

Ms. Joke grinned at him. "Yep! Is one of your students a fan of me, Eraser?"

"He's a fan of all Heroes, don't get a swelled head."

"I'll take it, just like I know you'll take me out to dinner tonight."

"I would rather do literally anything else."

"Hey, kids!" Ms. Joke ignored his griping and waved at the bus. "Come over here and meet some UA students!"

A few students stepped out of the bus; Midoriya didn't know if Ms. Joke's class was small because others had dropped out, or these were the only ones she'd decided would take the exam. One of them caught 1-A's attention by virtue of looking like an older version of Midoriya; the resemblance was so uncanny that even the stranger's classmates did a double-take.

"Hey there," the boy said with a grin. "I'm Shindo Yo; we're from Ketsubutsu Academy. Nice to meet you."

Midoriya's eyes went wide. Ketsubutsu wasn't as prestigious as UA or Shiketsu, but it turned out its fair share of successful Heroes. He recalled that Hawks' Sidekick, Takeda, had been a Ketsubutsu student. The school had also been his backup choice if UA hadn't accepted him; if he had gone there instead, it would have been weird going to school with someone who looked like he could have been his older brother.

Shindo held out his hand to Midoriya to shake. He was about to take it, but Bakugo stormed up; for some reason, Ashido also pulled Midoriya back at the same time.

"Don't give us that friendly act," Bakugo snarled. "I can see that calculating look in your eye a mile away. If you're here to mess around, do it during the test so I can blow you to hell."

A girl with short blonde hair elbowed Shindo. "Looks like you were found out, Yo."

Shindo smirked, and the friendly aspect was gone. "Guess so. See you guys inside."

"Bye, Eraser!" Ms. Joke waved as she guided her students away. "See you later!"

"Preferably never," Aizawa said, and directed his own students towards the entrance. "Come on, before something else happens."

"You're an idiot, Deku," Bakugo growled as they walked. "Not everyone's gonna fall over themselves to be your friend. You should have seen how that asshole was gunning for you."

"Er…" Before Midoriya could reply, Bakugo stormed ahead; instead, he turned to Ashido. "Thanks, I guess?"

"No problem." Ashido kept a firm grip on his shoulder. "Bakugo is an ass, but he made a good point. That Ketsubutsu guy's smile really rubbed me the wrong way."

Sero nodded. "Yeah, for all we know, he was gonna use his Quirk on you to sabotage you from the get-go!"

Ashido twitched. "Okay, I didn't think about that, I just didn't want some creep getting near my twin."

"Yet you didn't do anything when that other girl was eyeing Izuku, ribbit," Asui said.

"Are you kidding? Ochako was ready to tear her a new one. I'm surprised she hasn't come after us if she gets this jealous!"

Uraraka smiled; it was sweet, but the other girls felt distinctly uneasy. "Don't worry; if it comes down to it, I'll make your deaths quick and painless."

The girls of Class 1-A collectively made a note to not risk finding out if she was kidding.

…

Midoriya stepped out of the locker room set aside for the UA students. He was now in his costume, and felt ready for whatever the exam threw his way. He shared a brief nod with the other boys, and joined the girls on the way to the assembly room.

He and Uraraka hadn't been the only ones to change their costumes leading up to the exam. Kirishima now had long sleeves attached to his shoulder guards, Kaminari had a visor on his face, along with what looked like some kind of ballistic weapon on his arm, and Jiro had added small speakers to the backs of her hands. Asui had an entirely new outfit, made of nanotech like Hagakure; it reacted to her skin changing pigment, so it would become camouflaged like her. She had also added black spots to her back, and added a protective headpiece that looks like an angular baseball cap. Yaoyorozu had also decided to change up her look by programming her costume to have a black stripe running up the sides.

Midoriya had never seen any of his classmates' costumes as too outlandish, and when he saw some of the costumes from other schools, he thought his outfit was downright boring. Some of the costumes he saw looked more appropriate as sports mascots!

More than just the variety, he was also intimidated by just how many people were here! There had to be over a thousand!

"All right, everyone settle down." There was a pause as the speakers rang with feedback, and the tired-looking man on the podium on the far end of the room winced. "Really need to get that fixed. Anyway, I'm Mera Yokumiru; I'm from the Hero Public Safety Commission, and I'll be overseeing this test. Oh, god, I'm exhausted; we put in so much time for a one-day test, and my sleep schedule is shot to hell."

"Is this guy okay?" Uraraka asked worriedly. "He makes Aizawa-sensei sound happy."

"Moving on, you might be surprised by the number of you trying to get Provisional Licenses. That's because we've actively encouraged schools to send any and all students here to try out. With All Might retired, criminal analysts have predicted that Villain-related incidents will skyrocket. You might think that we could counter that by flooding the streets with Heroes, but you'd be wrong… god, I need a cup of coffee." Mera paused and rested his head against the stand for a moment. "Okay, ten-second nap is over. As for that assumption, you'd be wrong. All Might was able to lower crime all by himself, so we're going to get as many of the best into the field as we can.

"In previous years, this exam had about a fifty percent pass rate. This year, we're only taking the top one hundred. That's right, out of over fifteen hundred, only a hundred will pass today."

More than a few of the fifteen hundred students present gasped. Suddenly, this exam looked a lot more intimidating.

"As for the content of exam, I'll start by saying that it's a free-for-all." Mera nodded at the small group of men in suits, who moved out and handed each student three silver disks, and six orange balls. "You'll attach the disks anywhere you want on your bodies, as long as they're not hidden—no armpits, no feet, or anywhere else that isn't easily visible. Your goal will be to tag the targets with the balls; if all three of your targets are hit, you're immediately eliminated. Oh, and you have to eliminate two other students to secure a spot, and only the person who tags the third target will actually get credit."

Midoriya was given his targets, and after a moment to consider, he placed them in a line going up his left arm. If he was going to be a Pro Hero, people would know that he used the watch as part of his 'Quirk', though they wouldn't know the whole truth. Either way, he'd have to get used to defending his left arm.

"One last thing," Mera said. "We'll give you a few minutes to get situated once we open up."

Before anyone could wonder what that meant, the room shook, and the walls split apart. They were now in the middle of the arena, which reminded Midoriya of the USJ. It was filled with samples of different terrain, from urban to industrial to open water.

"Some of you may favor certain environments. We'll give you time to find your favorite spot. Good luck."

"What should we do, Deku?" Uraraka asked; Midoriya wondered why she didn't use her usual suffix, until he realized that she was using his Hero name.

"We should stick together," Deku said. The other schools had already broken away, leaving 1-A in an open, rocky area. "I wouldn't be surprised if other classes went after us first. We're first-years, and they probably saw what we can do from the Sports Festival. Our best chance is to weather an all-out attack, then counter one group at a time."

"Screw that!" Ground Zero shouted and stomped off. "You wanna play it safe and wait for these shits to come after you, be my guest! I'm gonna find some punks to kill and be the first one to pass!"

Before Deku could protest, Chargebolt and Red Riot chased after Ground Zero, leaving the class at seventeen.

"Don't worry," Genesis said calmly. "The rest of us are more than capable of passing. Just stick together, and we'll be fine."

"You heard the Class President!" Alien Queen did some light stretching as she waited. "We've got this!"

Then the bell rang, and all hell broke loose.

…

When she wasn't trying some ridiculous prank or flirting with him, Aizawa would—begrudgingly, and only to himself—admit that Ms. Joke wasn't terrible company. She even made sure to stay out of his personal space by sitting several feet away.

"So, did you tell your students?" she asked.

"Tell them what?"

"Leave the jokes to me, Eraser; you're only cute, not funny." Ms. Joke was focused on the test below, and thus missed the way Aizawa's eye twitched. "I'm guessing you didn't tell your class about this exam's little tradition."

"What, that everyone always takes UA out first, or that it's so blindingly one-sided that UA students have to take a make-up exam so that the proctors can actually see if they're worth getting a Provisional License?"

"Yes."

"No, I didn't." Aizawa crossed his arms and leaned back; his head dipped into his scarf, carefully hiding his smug smile. "These students might be first-years, but they've handled things that would throw off some Pros. They're used to unwelcome surprises; if anything, I almost feel sorry for whoever decided to piss them off."

…

Deku didn't recognize the first wave of students who tried to ambush them, and half of them didn't even use their Quirks. The powers that did get used were fairly direct—one propelled a ball on a jet of water, and another surrounded two more in a blue aura to remotely fly them at Class 1-A. There were others, but all it did was send a few dozen balls at the class.

"Triumph, Alien Queen, block our flanks!" he snapped out, even as he turned into Water Hazard. "Everyone else, support or avoid as needed!"

Triumph created a wall of ice to cover their right side, while Alien Queen melted the balls on the left. With Tentacole calling out strays that made it past, it was easy for Cellophane and Grape Juice to create a sticky web to catch them.

Genesis created a handful of smoke grenades to block their attackers' view, but between Tentacole and Earphone Jack, Class 1-A had a good idea of where they were. More importantly, Water Hazard was able to soak a large group, with a long trail of water connecting him to them on the ground. He then turned into Brainstorm and fired a sustained bolt of electricity into the water; he was rewarded with several screams of pain.

"Those who are unsuited to large-scale melees should tag those reprobates," Brainstorm said. "The sooner you are safe, the sooner you can pass to the next stage of the examination."

Froppy used her tongue to catch a ball that slipped the net. "You think there's going to be another stage, ribbit?"

"Undeniably; it would be absurd for all of this to be set up for what amounts to an overcomplicated game of dodgeball."

"He's right," Genesis said. "And those students he took down are going to get tagged by someone else soon. Who thinks they need the win first?"

…

"First of all, what the hell?" Ms. Joke stared at Aizawa, then back at the small tablet she'd been given to observe the test. "Second of all, are they actually offering a win to their weaker classmates?"

"It's actually quite logical," Aizawa said. "None of them are the type to abandon someone, but they can't fight at their best if they're protecting classmates whose Quirks aren't suited for combat. The sooner they're safe, the sooner the rest of them can cut loose."

"That's… actually not a terrible idea."

"Of course it's not. I taught them, after all."

Ms. Joke continued to stare at him. "Did you just make a joke?"

"Never."

"Oh my god, you did!" She pulled out her phone. "I'm telling everyone!"

Aizawa tried to grab the phone, but she held it out of reach. "Don't."

"What will you give me?"

Aizawa closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. "What do you want?"

When he opened them again, Ms. Joke was smiling—not in an attempt to make him laugh, but in genuine delight.

"One date," she said. "We go out on one real date, like normal people. I know you're not the type of guy to lie to yourself, so if you honestly, honestly, don't enjoy yourself, I'll never ask again."

He should have seen that coming. She'd been trying to get him to date her for years; he'd always found an excuse, or, failing that, flat-out refused. This time, though, he was cornered, unless he was willing to sacrifice his dignity. Aizawa was silent for a moment, and turned to watch the exam. He nodded to himself as Triumph cleared a path to the students Deku had downed.

"Fine," he said. "Next Saturday, no earlier than seven. You pick the place, as long as it's not too… high-profile."

Ms. Joke nodded so fast that her bright green hair fanned out in all directions. "Got it! Thanks, Shota!"

"Please just focus for today," he said.

"What the hell!?" Mera shouted over the intercom. "Someone just eliminated over a hundred students in a single shot! Who is this Shiketsu kid, and why is he so powerful!? Holy crap, I'm actually awake!"

Even Ms. Joke was startled out of her excitement; she and Aizawa had been to plenty of these tests before, but no one had ever pulled a move like that.

At least it wasn't anywhere near my kids, both Heroes thought to themselves.

…

In the end, there were only enough points to pass Invisible Girl and Anima; the former's invisibility was ruined because her sensors and container of balls didn't disappear with her, and the latter refused to endanger animals with so many Quirks flying around.

It had been difficult getting them to their targets, even with Triumph covering them with walls of ice—at least until Deku turned into Armodrillo and made an earthquake strong enough to throw their attackers off-balance.

Deku was glad that his own sensors didn't disappear when he transformed. He was positive that that would have disqualified him.

"We need to get out of here," he said as he turned into Diamondhead. "We're still in the open, and we're surrounded. Triumph, clear a path into the industrial or urban settings; we can fight with our backs to a wall."

Triumph only nodded, and drove back a small crowd of students with a torrent of fire. Diamondhead formed large plates of crystals to cover their retreat; a moment later, Dark Shadow was at his side, occasionally pulling back to energize himself with the shade from a slab of metal, created by Genesis and held up by Sugarman.

"We have a similar problem," Genesis said as they moved down a street. "There are a lot of us, and any fight could leave us with little room to maneuver. I suggest we split up."

Diamondhead didn't like the idea, but he knew she was right; their best defense was also a weakness.

"Okay, group up; no more than five per team." He was unsurprised when Uravity was the first at his side. They were joined by Cellophane, Froppy, and Tsukuyomi.

"Good luck, guys!" Alien Queen said as she, Triumph, Twinkling Knight, Virtus and Grape Juice broke away.

"Be careful," Genesis cautioned as she led Earphone Jack, Tentacole, Sugarman and Tailman down another alley.

"Maybe we should stay on this street," Cellophane said. "There's room for me, Froppy and Uravity to maneuver, and Deku can use his bigger forms."

"Good idea," Deku said, though he only turned into Eye Guy. "Froppy, go stealth; you're our surprise backup."

"Got it, ribbit." Froppy concentrated, and then seemed to blend in with her surroundings. Her sensors were still visible, but her bag was concealed by her long hair, making her difficult to see.

Unfortunately, a pair of eyes was already on them.

…

"Hey, how come you didn't go after the UA kids, Yo?"

Shindo smirked at Nagakame Tatami, his blonde-haired classmate and girlfriend. "We both studied that Midoriya kid from the Sports Festival. I figured I could hit him with my Quirk so that we could knock him out of the fight first, but then I saw how he transformed. Before, he had to mess with his watch, but he didn't even touch it this time."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Nakagame peered out over the cover her class was using. "You said that his Armodrillo form could cancel out your tremors, right?"

"Yep. I thought if I could get him before he turned into that one, I'd be golden, but if he can transform instantly… yeah, I think we should find easier targets."

Nakagame pointed to a small crowd of students from another school, who seemed less concerned about their surroundings, and more that they'd missed out on taking down UA. "How about those guys?"

Shindo grinned. "That'll work."

…

"Better hurry up, everyone," Mera called out. "We now have twenty people who have passed!"

"That small window is most vexing," Tsukuyomi commented. "We must hurry, but we also cannot act with haste."

A few of Eye Guy's eyes looked up at a nearby office building. "Uravity, get some air; I don't see anyone by the windows, but fly low, just in case."

Uravity nodded and put her hand to her shoulder; her wings unfolded a moment later, and she took off. "I'll scout ahead!"

The others followed after her, quickly but cautiously; with so many people competing for the dwindling number of spots, they expected an attack at any moment.

A cry of surprise from around the corner made them tense, especially when they recognized the voice. At least Uravity didn't sound hurt, but they hurried regardless; they found her wrestling in midair with a familiar girl in a black bodysuit. Uravity managed to bring up one foot and kicked the other girl in the chest, but she hardly reacted, easily flipping through the air and landing in a crouch.

"Hey," the girl called out; she sounded almost bored, but her expression suggested she was almost too excited. "Wanna play with me?"

"Sorry, we're busy," Cellophane said. "Can you ask again never?"

The girl flipped over the lines of tape Cellophane shot at her, then twisted away from several bolts of energy from Eye Guy. She kicked him out of the way, then darted towards Cellophane, but Tsukuyomi blocked her path.

"Dark Shadow!" he shouted. "Black Abyss!"

"You got it!" Dark Shadow placed himself above and behind his partner, and then seemed to surround him like a cloak.

Tsukuyomi's friends were just glad that he finally settled on a name for his move that was simple to say. Tokoyami had gone through several long-winded names that were just edgier and edgier, until it was pointed out to him that by the time he'd finished even saying the name, his opponent would have either escaped, or hit him.

Dark Shadow's claws extended around Tsukuyomi's arms, and he lashed out. If he'd actually connected, the blow would have easily broken a few of the girl's ribs. As it was, she nimbly ducked under his slash, and staggered him with a quick kick to the jaw and danced past his guard. She then ran up to Cellophane and stabbed out with her nails; he threw himself to the side, but not before taking a scratch across his forearm.

Froppy wrapped her tongue around the girl's arm before she could attack again, but she yelped and withdrew her tongue when the girl used her free arm to scratch it. With a wink, she then dashed away, leaving Deku's team stunned and confused.

"What the hell was that about!?" Cellophane demanded, even as Deku turned back to normal and handed him a bandage for his arm. "She didn't even try to tag our targets, just… she just attacked us!"

"Let's just be happy none of us got eliminated." Deku held out a bandage to Froppy.

"I'm fine, ribbit," she said. "My tongue heals fast, and it's just a scratch."

"Okay, now I really don't like that girl," Uravity hissed as she landed on the ground. "If I see her again, I'm sending her into space."

"I wanna see that," Dark Shadow grumbled, partially emerged from his partner's chest. "She kicked us in the face!"

Uravity patted him on the head. "I'll make sure you've got a front-row seat."

Dark Shadow turned to Deku. "Your girlfriend is cool."

"I agree," Deku said, and Uravity lightly punched his arm.

"No flirting during the test!"

With the adrenaline still coursing through him, Deku couldn't stop the words that came next. "D-does this mean I can flirt as much as I want after?"

Even through the tint on her helmet, everyone could see Uravity's blush, and they all shared a quick laugh.

"Okay, I think we've got it out of our systems," Cellophane said. "Let's see about getting those points."

…

"This isn't what I expected," Triumph said quietly.

"Oh, really?" Grape Juice screeched. "Because I was totally expecting ninjas today!"

"Please stop screaming in my ear!" Virtus called out as he carried Grape Juice out of the way of another attack.

None of Triumph's team recognized the school the dozen attacking students came from. They were sure that Deku would know, but all they could tell was that there were a bunch of ninjas with uniforms all dedicated to one color or another. They also seemed dead set on taking down Triumph and Alien Queen, to the point that they ignored the rest of their team, unless they got in the way.

"Why do they keep going after those two?" Grape Juice asked, quietly this time. "Don't they know that that's only enough points for one of them to pass?"

"I believe that they see those them as them as the biggest threat," Virtus said. "They must believe that we will rely on them to carry us to victory, so they can ignore us."

"Oui, that does seem correct," Twinkling Knight agreed. "But it is quite irritating to be seen as lesser, non?"

Virtus had long since gotten used to Aoyama's frequent use of French, though it had never been adequately explained and continued to confuse him.

"We must swallow our pride," Virtus said. "We can use their own focus against them. All Triumph and Alien Queen have to do is not get tagged."

Grape Juice watched as Alien Queen gracefully dodged a boulder hurled by one of the ninjas, who apparently had a strength-enhancing Quirk. "I don't think that'll be a problem."

"All right, we wait for an opening." Virtus smiled behind his helmet when his teammates nodded. "We must trust our friends to create that opening."

Sure enough, the opening came when Triumph created a wave of ice that caused the ninjas to jump into the air. Grape Juice didn't need to be told, and hurled as many of his balls as he could at their legs. All his training at UA paid off, and all but one of the ninjas was tagged; the last one tried to flip out of the way, but a well-aimed blast from Twinkling Knight hit him in the chest and sent him sprawling. A moment later, all of them were frozen to the ground by Triumph.

"Nice work, boys!" Alien Queen grinned. "Come on, let's get those points and get outta here!"

Virtus took two of the rubber balls from his container and approached one of the downed students. The girl, dressed in a green version of her peers' uniform, freed her arm and aimed her palm. Virtus had no intention of discovering what her Quirk was, so he used his Recipro Pulse to get in close and clocked her across the jaw.

"My deepest apologies," he said quickly, then tagged her targets. Another student followed suit, and a minute later, the rest of the team had passed.

"All right!" Alien Queen hugged her teammates, except for Grape Juice; still, after a moment's hesitation, she held out her hand for a high-five. "That's all you get, okay?"

Grape Juice grinned. "I'll take it!"

"Just an update, kids," Mera announced, "at this point, another fifteen students have passed! Only forty to go!"

Triumph took a deep breath as his fire-side warmed him up. "Now we just need to wait for the rest of our class to pass."

…

Genesis barely managed to create a buckler over her arm in time to block a small projectile; she hadn't properly braced, however, and her arm smacked against her face.

"Are you okay?" Earphone Jack asked as they ducked behind some industrial equipment.

"I'm fine," Genesis said, then rubbed one eye with her free hand. "I really hope that doesn't turn into a black eye…"

"I see them," Tentacole reported, two spare sets of eyes staring off into different directions. Genesis often wondered how he did that without getting a headache. "On top of two different hills. Two groups of people, but they're both wearing the same kind of uniform."

"They're trying to keep us pinned down." Genesis created a smoke bomb and hurled it. "We need cover and elevation!"

After creating several more smoke bombs to cover their movements, Genesis led her team to a small group of hills—hills that were closer to one group of attackers.

"Can you tell where they are, and how many?" she asked Earphone Jack.

"I can try." The shorter girl plugged one of her jacks in the ground and concentrated. "I can hear four—no, five different heartbeats. One of them is really calm, but two are going fast. They either shot at us with their Quirks, or they're nervous."

"The calm one is almost definitely the leader," Tailman said.

"Of that group, if not both," Genesis corrected. "Either way, we need to take them down as quickly and as quietly as we can. Once we do, we can draw in the other group, and that should net all of us the points we need to pass."

"Only twenty-five slots available!" Mera suddenly announced.

Sugarman stuck his head out from what cover he had, and ducked when a sphere, no bigger than his thumb but crackling with energy, passed through the space his head had occupied a second ago.

"How are we gonna get over there?" he asked. "I'm kinda useless this far away."

"Same here," Tailman admitted.

Genesis frowned as she gave the situation some thought. In terms of capabilities, only one of their opponents seemed to have a ranged Quirk, though she couldn't discount that they had others in reserve. The other hill had at least one other ranged fighter as well, but the angle of the UA-held hill meant that they were safe from that location.

If the enemy organized their team to a standard level, they'll have a planner, between one and two ranged fighters, one close-combat specialist, and an all-rounder. Our advantage is that we have two close-combat fighters, and Tentacole has incredible strength and awareness. Earphone Jack is both a sentry and ranged specialist, and I can support her if I have to. Our problem is that we need to get closer to effectively utilize our Quirks. Think, Momo, think!

Genesis crossed her arms; one of her fingers brushed against her tablet, and she paused. She then glanced down at her costume, and remembered something Hatsume had said regarding the nanotech.

I can make the material look however I want. What if…

She then turned on her tablet and began looking up what she had in mind. It was complicated, more so than anything she had ever made before, but its small mass meant that it wouldn't significantly drain her lipids.

"Give me a minute, please," she said. "I think I have an idea."

…

Intelli smiled and leaned back in her chair. The UA students had chosen a good defensive position, especially with only a few seconds to react, but her team only had to keep them pinned until the rest of her class could flank their position. It was a shame that there were only five targets, but her class had already decided on the order of who would pass first.

"Excuse me?" one of her classmates, the girl who had been pinning down UA with her Quirk—charging up small objects with energy, which she fired from her arm-mounted slingshot—called out.

"What is it?" Intelli asked.

"Something is happening at the enemy position."

Intelli raised an eyebrow. "Elaborate, please."

"Of course, my apologies. The Yaoyorozu girl must have created more smoke, but when it cleared, I couldn't see any of them. Not even the brute with the strength Quirk."

"Interesting." Intelli removed her monocle and cleaned it as she thought. "They can't have gone far; if they leave the hill, they will be in the open. None of their Quirks could be used for digging, so they aren't underground. They could be going in a straight line backwards, but we will still see them soon, if that is the case."

"Wait." Intelli paused when her classmate interrupted her. "I thought I saw something."

"Define 'something'."

"It was like… a shimmer in the air, but it's gone now." The girl shook her head. "I have no idea what's going on."

Intelli frowned. "We were observing UA when they split up. The only ones with invisibility are that girl, and she was allowed to pass already, and the Midoriya boy, and he's not with this group. How could—" she jumped to her feet as a thought struck her. "Yaoyorozu! She must have created some kind of camouflage!"

"Too bad for you!" The echo of Earphone Jack's voice was drowned out by the cracking of earth as she sent sonic shockwaves through the ground. Most of Intelli's group stumbled, so they missed Sugarman toss away a shimmering cloth to allow his teammates to attack.

One of Intelli's peers stepped forward to try and block them; her arms split apart into dozens of fleshy tendrils that lashed out, but Sugarman crashed through them with a primal roar. A sugar-enhanced punch struck her in the stomach, driving the air from her lungs. Before the other girl could aim her slingshot at him, Genesis stunned her with a quick blow to her temple. A few seconds later, the rest of Intelli's team was overwhelmed by more sonic blasts from Earphone Jack.

"I really need to remember this," Genesis commented after she tagged Intelli and another of her class, and examined the cloth that seemed to shimmer in the air.

"What…" Intelli shook her head in a vain attempt to clear away the ringing. "What is that?"

"A nanotech camouflage fabric," Genesis explained. "My costume was created with a similar material, but I made this based on the costume of one of my classmates. It mimics the light and color of the environment, but I programmed it to ignore anything human-shaped."

Intelli took a moment to process just how smart Yaoyorozu had to be in order to create and program something like that in such a short amount of time. Even though she had failed the test, she was still impressed.

"You failed to take the rest of my class into account," she said, as she noticed that only three of the UA group was present. "They'll overwhelm your rearguard any second."

She jumped when she heard an explosion not too far away, and glared at a snickering Earphone Jack.

"Sorry," the petite girl managed through her laughter. "I think your friends just ran into the minefield we left behind."

"That will stun them long enough for Tailman and Tentacole to take them down." Genesis smiled happily. "Speaking of which, Earphone Jack, you still need one more target. Why don't you head back?"

"Sure thing, Yaomomo."

Intelli shook her head again. "I'm impressed. UA likes to boast about its students' abilities, but you lived up to the expectations."

Genesis helped her to her feet. "If it makes you feel any better, if you had attacked us immediately, instead of waiting for us to get into position, you probably would have defeated us. I needed time to think, and you gave it to me."

Intelli laughed. "I suppose I should be happy that you passed; this means that I won't have to contend with you next year."

…

The only warning Deku had that they were under attack was when the ground trembled. Then it exploded underneath them, causing them to scatter around the street. A moment later, at least twenty students charged in a mad rush.

There are only a few slots left, he thought. Everyone must be panicking about getting their points.

Some of their attackers had their Quirks ready, but a few just ran forward with rubber balls in hand in a desperate bid to tag someone.

Thinking quickly, he turned into Articguana and covered the ground in a sheet of ice. Some of their opponents kept their footing, but others slipped and fell, while a few actually leaped over the ice.

It was at that moment that Uravity revealed a secret.

The symbol on her shoulder glowed, and she aimed her right hand at one of the leaping students. There was a click, and then her hand fired like a harpoon, connected to her wrist by a long cable. Her hand connected solidly with a boy's chest, and he stopped falling; she then whipped her hand back and out again, like a flail, and caught a girl on the shoulder. Her hand then withdrew and reconnected with her wrist.

Deku turned into Water Hazard and covered the ice with water, making it even harder to stand on. With the enemy students entirely focused on just standing, they were easy targets for Cellophane, Froppy and Tsukuyomi; in less than a minute, the entire group was stunned, tied up, or floating helplessly in the air.

Froppy quickly counted the number of students they'd caught. "Ribbit, there's more than enough for all of us!"

Water Hazard held up a ball. "Then let's get our points and get out of here!"

It was only a few minutes later, when they had earned their points and were heading to the entrance to the testing ground, that it really hit Midoriya.

"We passed."

His words seemed to trigger the same shock in his friends, because Uraraka and Asui both grabbed him in a hug, and Sero had Tokoyami in a friendly headlock.

"We passed!" Uraraka shouted. She would have kissed Midoriya, but her helmet was still on, so she settled for hugging him even tighter. "And on our first try!"

"Ribbit, what was that thing you did with your arm, Ochako?" Asui let go of Midoriya, but only so that she could hug Sero next.

"Yeah, I was gonna ask about that," Sero said. "You were holding out on us!"

Uraraka scratched the back of her head, which was silly, because she only touched her helmet. "Yeah, Brainiac-san added that, but I wanted to keep it secret until I could surprise you guys."

Sero grinned. "Um, it's a cyborg arm. I was expecting it to do something awesome."

"I was surprised," Midoriya offered, and his girlfriend patted him on the head.

Tokoyami barely managed to refrain from rolling his eyes at their antics. Dark Shadow was not nearly so disciplined.

"You guys are idiots."

Midoriya's laugh was tinged with embarrassment. "Come on, let's go find the others."

…

Ashido's face was scarily blank. "I don't believe it. No, I can't believe it."

"What's so hard to believe?" Kirishima scratched his cheek. "The guy turned us into meatballs, and it was weird, but then Kaminari stopped him and freed us."

Ashido ignored Kaminari giving her a thumbs-up. "No, not that. I can believe that. What I can't believe is that Bakugo said thanks. Like, should we be checking for signs of the apocalypse?"

Thankfully, Bakugo was off brooding in the corner, and didn't hear her. Ashido was still in a good mood, and didn't need the headache of him yelling at her.

Kirishima sighed. "Look, I know you don't like him, but he's getting better. Maybe you should give him a chance."

"I'll consider it, if he ever apologizes to—Midori!" Ashido sprinted away from Kirishima and grabbed her 'twin' in a hug. "You're here! You guys passed!"

Uraraka had hooked her helmet to her belt, and her grin was on full display. "You know it! Did everyone in our class pass?"

"You guys were the last," Todoroki said as he, Iida and Yaoyorozu joined them. "We were starting to get worried; I think you got some of the last slots."

Sero made a show of wiping his brow. "I guess we cut it a little close, huh?"

Everyone's attention was caught by a large screen that showed the testing grounds they'd just exited.

"Well done, everyone," Mera said over the loudspeaker. "But that was just the first step. The second step is to find out who among you is skilled, who was just lucky. You see, the best Heroes can react appropriately to any situation… such as this."

And the explosions began.

I feel that I should apologize for the long wait for this chapter. Things have been a little insane for the last month or so, and it's only recently that I've been able to write. See, first my family got a puppy. He is a high-maintenance dog, and he is teething, so he's doing his best to chew on everything. Including me. My arms look like they were put into a blender.

Then, only a few days after we got the puppy, my brother and I were in a car accident. I ended up with a concussion for almost two weeks, and my brother hurt his back. He is still in physical therapy, and I have to help him do pretty much everything until he recovers. This includes covering him at our shared job (one of two that I now have). While the increased hours are better for my wallet, it's still nowhere near enough for me to live on my own, and I'm under a great deal of stress.

Anyway, that's my excuse: new dog, lots of work, and physical and emotional trauma.

As for the chapter, the Rising Stars have passed the first stage of the exam! Hooray!

If you want more to read between chapters, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find it on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon in both eBook and physical format.

You can also support me on P-atreon (link in my profile). Donations there get me just a little closer to not needing two jobs, neither of which are fun. I dream that one day I can sit in my own apartment and do nothing but write fan fiction, because your generosity means I can.

And I'd like to thank the following people who help make that dream a reality:

Serious Muffins: Nimrod009, Anders Lyngbye, Matthias Matanovic, John Collins, Red Bard, Aaron Meek, Shaolin Khalil, killroy225, Zann Nightroad

Incredible Muffins: RaptorusMaximus, michaelb958, Crazyman844, Ben Stueckle

Ultra Muffins: RangersRoll, Adam Costello

Next Chapter: The second part of the exam begins! If Deku wants to pass, he's going to have to show everyone just what Plus Ultimate means!

Plus Muffin!