That morning, Ochako Uraraka felt truly motivated. The day of the UA entrance exam had finally arrived! She had been training daily to do her best on the exam, and she certainly wasn't going to let her mom and dad down.

She got up early, had a light breakfast (as she couldn't afford anything better), and took the underground train to get to the UA academy building on time. The exam started at 9 o'clock, and all those who arrived after that were rejected immediately.

With 10 minutes left before the exam, Uraraka walked towards the main building, a mixture of excitement and nerves in her stomach. It was not uncommon to observe the other candidates on the exam, wondering what their quirks would be, and who could become her future classmates. At the same time, she felt being watched.

Ochako looked around her, but she could not see anything suspicious... alas, being surrounded by people with various and extravagant quirks, it would be impossible for only one of them to stand out. "I'd better hurry..." she said to herself, heading towards the main door. A few meters away, hidden behind the foliage of a tree, a pair of bright, yellowish eyes looked in her direction.

Once inside the main building, Ochako along with all the applicants went to the auditorium for the orientation test of the Hero course. Once everyone was seated, a man with an exaggerated hairdo and a loud voice addressed the teenagers in the room: it was none other than Present Mic, one of Japan's best-known Pro heroes.

"GREETINGS, BOYS AND GIRLS! Welcome to the orientation course for UA's new class of heroes!" Said the hero to his audience, in a powerful voice that echoed throughout the room without the need for a microphone or amplifier. "I hope everyone is ready to do their best, because only the best will be able to belong to the UA elite! ARE YOU RREAADY, KIDS?!"

Everyone was quiet. None of the attendees made a single noise.

"Ok... As mentioned on each one of your applicant's sheet, the exam will take place in one of our combat simulation city facilities." Present Mic indicated, as a graph appeared on the screen behind him. "As you see, there are 3 types of runaway combat robots. Your duty will be to use your quirks with cleverness and practicality, and for each robot you defeat, you will score combat points!"

Ochako froze. She didn't know they would have to do a combat exercise so early in their exam. Her quirk, 'Zero Gravity', allowed her to remove the effect of gravity from any object that she touched with her fingers, and although it was practical for rescue matters, she would have to use it to somehow defeat the robots and escape unscathed. She at least was grateful for having had a light breakfast so she could use her quirk to the fullest without worrying about throwing up.

"One moment!" A voice was heard from across the room, as a blue-haired boy with glasses raised his hand. "Is it a mistake, or why is one of the robots marked 0 points? That would not make sense!"

"Oh, it's a perfectly valid question! You see, as heroes you must decide whether to fight or seek refuge. 0-point robots are the most dangerous ones and completely indestructible, so you are advised to focus on robots that are worth points!" Present Mic explained.

"I see ..." Ochako said to herself. That meant that the robots increased in difficulty according to the number of points. If she played her cards right, she could rack up a good amount of points by defeating the weaker robots.

"Well, if there are no more questions, head to the area marked on your application form. But before we go, I want to hear loud and clear... PLUS ULTRA!"

Everyone was quiet. Nobody seemed to want to go along with it.

15 minutes later, Ochako, along with some thirty applicants, found themselves in front of a huge walled city, with a large metal door in front of them. Ochako had heard of these training cities, of course: ghost cities built for the sole purpose of conducting safe training drills for hero courses.

Ochako looked around her, and was reassured to see that other applicants were just as or more nervous than her. However, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone in the distance was watching her closely. "No... I should be focusing on the test." Ochako said, and she began stretching and performing breathing exercises to prepare for the test.

"Alright, group B! Time to start your test! Get inside the city, go go go!" Present Mic indicated, at the same time that the doors were flung open. All the applicants looked at each other, confused. Usually there would be an announcement prior to the start of the test, but apparently it had been planned that way to catch them off guard.

Without thinking, they all ran for the gates and scattered throughout the city. Ochako was so shocked that she decided to run in a straight line for a few blocks, until she decided to stop for a while and catch her breath. Her heart was beating fast, while the adrenaline rush woke her up and alerted her to the surrounding danger. It was certainly what a professional hero should feel when facing a threat.

She did not have much time to recover when one of the 2-point robots appeared, chasing after another of the applicants. "Well, let's begin!" She ran towards the robot, and before it could recognize her presence, Ochako touched the robot with the tips of her fingers, and activated her quirk. The robot rose into the air, and after levitating for a couple of seconds, Ochako deactivated her quirk. The robot thundered to the ground, destroying itself in the process.

"Good, 2 points ..." Ochako congratulated herself. "Now let's hurry up for more points!"

Meanwhile, in a control room far away, UA teachers analyzed each of the training cities. The goal was to be able to identify potential candidates for the UA hero course. Although both written and practical exams were used to easily rank which candidates could qualify the teachers would have the last word in that regard.

The central computer, enhanced with artificial intelligence and an advanced face recognition system, provided teachers with real-time data on the candidates: their scores, minimum distance to the next hostile robot, and interactions between the applicants.

"That Katsuki Bakugo is quite a savage ... but he's leading the competition." said one of them.

"Tenya ida is speeding through the city, very good job!" said another.

"Yuga Aoyama is going slow, but steady," commented a third.

"Well, it's time to move on to the next phase of the..." started to say one of the teachers, but she stopped in her tracks, while she looked at the monitor. "Wait ... who is that?"

On the monitor was a tall figure, clad in black armor, with a wolf-shaped mask covering his face and a long horn protruding from his forehead. No one in the room could believe it. Had someone inadvertently breached their state-of-the-art security perimeter?

"It seems like he's a villain ... Headmaster Nezu, should we alert the authorities?" asked one of them.

The director stood up, moving closer to the screen. "Wait a minute... It can't be, can it?" He said aloud, astonished to see that the computer identified the stranger perfectly. "Is ... Is that an applicant? Where did he come from?"

10 minutes after starting the test, Ochako had already managed to lift and drop a dozen robots. "Well, that should add up to 28 points." She looked around, several robots had already been destroyed by the other candidates. If she wanted to rack up points, she had to get ahead of them. "Maybe if I went around the city I could..." But at that moment, a strong tremor shook the entire city.

"What is happ...?" Ochako asked. Suddenly, giant robots began to emerge from the ground: They were the fearsome 0-point robots. She quickly calculated that it would be impossible to get close enough to those robots without getting hurt, so she decided to run away as soon as possible. However, one of the nearby buildings gave up and collapsed, and Ochako couldn't react in time before a huge stone hit her in the leg.

"H-Help!" yelled Ochako. The rubble had her immobilized, and no matter how much she stretched her arms, she could not touch the stones that held her captive. All the other aspirants fled in terror, and none of them noticed her and her situation. Ochako supposed that the UA academy wouldn't allow something serious to happen to her ... but if she couldn't come out of it, she wouldn't be able to prove her worth as a future heroine.

The 0-point robot was heading towards her position. Terrified, Ochako tried to find some object that she could float to defend herself against the incoming hazard, but she found nothing useful around her. However, when the robot was a few feet away, something incredible happened: An energy attack in the form of a curved blade tore through the robot, splitting it diagonally and causing a huge explosion in its place.

Ochako coughed, while she perceived a shadow walking through the smoke from the explosion. When it finally stopped, she could see more closely: He was a tall and bulky person, wearing dark and intimidating armor, and carrying a huge curved sword in his right hand. On his face was a black wolf-shaped mask with a long horn protruding from his forehead and a pair of yellowish eyes that seemed to glow with their own light.

The masked man approached the place where Ochako was. Without saying anything, he stabbed the huge blade into the ground, leaned in front of the rubble, and grasped the top of it with one hand. Using his impressive strength, he managed to lift the huge piece of stone that was trapping Ochako's leg without hurting her.

Ochako immediately tried to stand up, but a sharp pain in her leg stopped her. Apparently she had not seriously fractured her leg, but the impact had caused a cut along her shin.

"Don't move," said the masked man, with a deep, scratchy voice that resembled the growl of a dog. He immediately took out a strange dagger with holes from his belt, cut a piece of cloth and smeared it with a kind of herbal paste, carefully applying it to the girl's wound. "With that you'll get better." he commented, as he stood up to leave.

"No, wait!" shouted Ochako, as the masked man turned his head in her direction. The masked man looked very intimidating, in fact it could be said that he looked just like a villain, but Ochako was unable to misjudge the guy who rescued her just by his looks. "I just... I just wanted to thank you. For saving me" Ochako said. "What's your name?"

The masked wolf man was unfazed. He turned his head to turn his back to her completely. "My name is Zen-Aku..." he replied, after which he turned into some kind of purple shadow that leapt through the buildings at high speed. Ochako tried to recall, but she was completely sure there was nobody like him riding the same bus on the way to the walled city. Whoever he was, she was grateful that he arrived at the right time.

With some effort, Ochako stood up, taking a nearby metallic rod for support, and began to walk. "There are 5 minutes left to finish the exercise, so do your best! If you need medical assistance, head to the door to be checked up!" announced Present Mic. Ochako sighed, with her injured leg there wouldn't be much else to do. She at least was glad for the points she managed to make.

In the control center, all the teachers watched as the test came to an end. Year after year, UA faculty found real rough diamonds by testing and proving their ingenuity and skill... but it was nothing like what they saw with the aspirant in the wolf armor. With that huge sword, he smashed the robots one after another, then launched energy attacks from a distance, leaping over buildings with great agility, escaping the shots with inhuman speed, and hitting the robots with indescribable force.

"This is awesome... I've never seen someone score so many points!" One of the teachers commented.

"What kind of quirk does this boy have? Some kind of strength-enhancing quirk? Maybe energy manipulation?" Added another.

"It's hard to believe that someone like him exists ... Not even the Todoroki boy has collected so many combat points" Someone else commented.

"It really is a suspicious situation" commented director Nezu, an small animal wearing clothes and able to speak: the strange case of an animal that manifested a quirk. "He's late for the exam, defeated dozens of robots all by himself, not to mention his sinister appearance ... Any thoughts, All Might?

Behind the director was a huge blonde superhero, with an imposing physique and an air of confidence and assurance. "I think ... he should pass the exam immediately!" he exclaimed, with a huge grin from ear to ear. Everyone around stared at him, dumbfounded at the sudden statement.

"Whoa? Are you sure, All-Might?" One of the teachers asked.

"Of course! He not only helped the Uraraka girl, he has also proven to possess exceptionally destructive power! Young people like him must be trained to control his powers in the best possible way!" All Might recounted with all his enthusiasm.

However, the Symbol of Peace wondered where the boy had come from... and why there was something about him disturbed him. Maybe it was that terrifying look, or the precision and cold-bloodness of his attacks. He definitely wanted to know more about that mysterious masked young man.

After typing a few commands on the central computer keyboard, a message appeared on the monitor.

Applicant's Name: Zen-Aku

Status: Approved

Assignment: Hero Class, 1-A

How will Zen-Aku receive the news of his acceptance into the UA?

Will he get along with his classmates 1-A?

Will they let Zen-Aku wear his dark armor in class?

What will be Zen-Aku's plans for revenge?

Coming soon Chapter 3: UA Academy, first day.