The students were all herded into a crowd. "Woah… there are so many people…" Izuku said. His tendrils writhed a little, but not too much. He was still living off of the feast he got from the summer camp.
A tired man walked up to the podium at the front. "Alright… let's do this exam thing. I'm from the Hero's Public Safety Commission sub-branch of the Heroics Commission," he said, introducing himself.
"...Midoriya?" Stain's voice was calm. Too calm.
'Y-yes?' Izuku inquired.
"...Can I kill him please?"
Izuku coughed to cover his shock.
'W-WHAT!?'
"That… man… works for the single most corrupt organization in history, bar NONE," Stain growled. "I'd show you what I know about them but you'd slaughter your way to him. I'll show you after the exam," the Hero Killer grumbled. Izuku nodded mentally, and returned his attention to the speech.
"My name is Mera," the tired man explained.
"...The fuck happened to you, man? No wonder I didn't recognize you..."
'Huh?'
"He's one of the token good members. I literally can count those people on one hand. The only reason he's so high up is that he's been medically tested as a sociopath. It's one of the rules. The only reason he's one of the few good workers is because the only time he feels any emotion is when he serves justice," Stain explained. Izuku mentally nodded again.
"I'd be more enthusiastic but I can't be bothered… I haven't gotten much rest lately… only five hours a day… I've been so swamped… with that excuse out of the way, I'll explain the exam."
Izuku was, once again, happy that his body only needed four hours of sleep.
"The first part of the exam is simple. All 1540 students compete in a free-for-all. You see, we have a lot of pros, and after Stain was killed by Endeavor, many have expressed doubt in the Hero industry."
'Stain's convictions are still affecting the world… already, several nations have enacted sweeping reforms…' Izuku thought to himself. Stain just smiled, happy that some changes were made.
"It makes sense that Heroes are compensated, in my opinion… God I need some coffee… but whether it's out of a desire for money or duty, there are waaay too many heroes out there right now. That's why, you'll be tested on speed. Only the first 100 out of you all will pass the first round. I could say something about luck, but I'm not going to. I'll just explain the rules. You'll each have three targets placed on different areas of your bodies. They have to be exposed, so no feet or armpits. You'll also get six orange balls. Each ball can be used by anyone, so don't worry about ammo. When a ball hits a target, it lights up. If all three are hit, you're out. The person who hits your third target gets a point. Two points and you pass. Now, you're already in the area. Let me open this container." He pushed a button, and the walls and ceiling opened, revealing the arena.
"I'm sure you all have different terrains that you like or want to avoid, so there are several options to choose from," Mera explained. "Just do whatever you want here," he droned. "I'm gonna take a nap…"
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Up in the stands, Emi was laughing at Aizawa. "Eraser, your fly is down!" she chortled. Aizawa groaned, lamenting his lack of peace. "You know, it's unusual for you to have 20 students at this point!" she said to him.
"One of my students was transferred from General Studies," Aizawa explained.
"So you've only expelled one student?" she asked. Aizawa shook his head.
"All I could do was boot him to General Studies, thanks to his father's connections," Aizawa growled. "And before you ask, I do care for my class. They may be a bunch of little shits, but I'll kill anyone who attempts to harm them… provided Midoriya doesn't beat me to it," he said, although the last part was under his breath so no one heard it.
"Hey, I noticed you haven't mentioned what's about to happen to your class," Emi said to Aizawa. "Every year, the test is different, but one thing's always the same. It's a tradition, really. After all, UA's Sports Festival is broadcast across the country, and it shows off your student's Quirks and fighting styles," she explained. "If you liked your class this year, you should've warned them about this tradition," she said, smirking. She paused for a moment to glance down at the field, where the classes had grouped together.
"...I felt no need to warn them," Aizawa refuted, "they're strong enough to fight back against that kind of attack. And trust me, your students should be thankful it wasn't a free-for-all battle to unconsciousness. And look at them teaming up for a moment. You see those moves?" he asked, pointing down to the students of 1-A, who had deflected the first attack. "They've practiced them. They know how to turn the situation around, just like real heroes."
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"Alright everyone, let's show them what UA can do!" Izuku roared.
Just then, one of the students tapped the balls, making them incredibly hard. He then tossed it to another fellow student, who then tossed them into the air. They then went underground. "I got this, Midoriya!" Jiro shouted. She sent her heartbeat through her gauntlets and into the ground. However, thanks to the kid's Quirk, the balls shot up into the air, and went for Shinso. Before he could try to dodge, Mina shot out a gout of acid that dissolved them.
Up in the stands, Emi smiled. "So, they've been working on Ultimate moves already, huh?" she asked.
"Of course they have," Aizawa droned.
Mera decided to add in his own thing over the intercom. "It seems like there's a stalemate. No one has passed yet," he sighed. He had been woken up after his five minute nap. "Oh, and I'll keep you updated whenever a few students move on," he said in a monotone.
'What's our strategy?!' Izuku thought to himself. 'It'll nearly be impossible to hit the targets by chance, so you'll have to break through defenses…' a ball almost hit one of his targets, and he dodged. Then he noticed something. It was the kid Stain had warned him about! "HEY UA! We've got ultimate moves too!" He shouted, slamming his palms into the ground. "MAXIMUM FORCE!" he roared. Suddenly, the Earth began to split apart!
"RUN!" Iida ordered. And then, out of the blue, Mera screamed.
"HOLY CRAP! 120 students were taken out at once by one attack! That'll speed things up!"
Izuku groaned after the earth stopped shaking. "This is bad… they're targeting us because they know our Quirks… we need to team back up!" he said aloud. He then twitched, and dodged. One of the Shiketsu girls was headed right for him!
"Huh. How'd you dodge?" she asked, landing in front of him. "I'm here because I'd like to know more about you. Since people know about UA's Quirks-" Izuku cut her off by flinging a ball at her, hitting one of her targets. She tried to disappear, but Izuku tracked her. He wasn't entirely sure how he was, but he managed it.
"Seriously! Talking isn't a free action!" he deadpanned. He suddenly shot up in the air, dodging the girl again. However, he was a bit too slow. She grabbed his arm and flung him onto his back.
"Nice try," she told him. "Tell me, do you think my Quirk is the ability to vanish? It isn't. I've just trained at hiding. Touching him, however, was a bad move. Izuku scraped some of her skin off of her, and absorbed it. The girl noticed this, and gained a confused look. Izuku, however, gained a horrified look.
"You…" he gasped.
"Have we met?" she girl asked, faking confusion.
"What did you do to her?" Izuku snarled, hand rippling. It ended up as his blade. "WHERE IS THE REAL STUDENT!?" he roared.
"I am her! Camie!" she pleaded.
"DROP THE BULLSHIT!" Izuku screamed, sprinting at her with the intent to kill.
"SHIT!" Toga cried, dropping the disguise in panic. This was caught on the screens.
"Is that one of the villains who attacked UA!?" Mera shouted. "What's she doing here?!"
Toga lunged at Izuku, knife in hand. Izuku wanted to dodge at first, but then… a dark thought crossed his mind. First, he hefted three of his balls, and hit all three of her targets, scoring him a point. Then, he let her knife scrape his arm, causing some of his 'blood' to come out. Toga gained her aroused look, and eagerly scooped it into a container, before dashing off. Izuku wanted to chase her, but he figured that it wouldn't be a good idea. He got back into the game.
"Deku!" Izuku whipped around, blade still activated.
"Uraraka!" he shouted, turning to her. "Wait! Let me get a skin sample!" he told her. Uraraka spat into her hand. Izuku pressed a finger into the spit. "Good. You're you. You heard the announcement, right?"
Ochaco nodded. "That's why I came here! Did Toga get you?!" she exclaimed.
Izuku gave a wicked grin. "I let her take some of my biomass. I can still control it… so if she tried to eat it… I'd have a way in. My biomass could infect her."
"Dude, that's a bit much!" Sero shouted, landing next to him.
"It's either that or it's used as a bioweapon," Izuku explained.
"You could've just… you know… not let her get your blood?" Sero told him.
Izuku nodded. "And let her kill again?"
"I'm not sure killing her is a good idea…" Uraraka said.
Izuku's eyes widened, and slammed his head in a rock. "I'm becoming my dad…" he groaned.
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In Tartarus, All For One suddenly felt a massive rush of giddiness.
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"Alright, Midoriya, do you have any ideas?" Sero asked.
"We need to stick together," Izuku told him. "Sero, you immobilize them. Then, when we have five, you will tap all three of two and I'll tap all three of one- I got Toga," he told them. He then perked up. "More people are coming. I'll lure them into your range, Sero."
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In the stands, Miss. Joke looked at Aizawa. "Hey, are you worried about your students?" she asked.
"No."
"They just said that Toga was here! A villain!"
"If she ran into Izuku, she's either dead or going to die."
"Ah."
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Uraraka and Sero combined their Quirks to use tape and lack of gravity to launch taped rocks over the advancing students. They soon had five students wrapped up. "Alright, let's finish this," Izuku instructed. He tapped one of the students, while Uraraka and Sero tapped two more. "And now… we've passed the first round."
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It took some time, but one by one the others who passed the exam filed into the room they were instructed to go to. However, when the 100 were done… 1-A had all passed. The class celebrated. However, the Shiketsu students were distraught. "T-that villain… was disguised as Camie?!" their big star, Inasa, gasped.
"Come on, focus!" one of the students who didn't pass told him.
"One of our classmates has vanished, and could be dead!" the student wailed, freaking out.
Before anyone else could say anything else, a loud beep rang out.
"Attention to the 100 who passed, please look at the screen," Mera said.
"It's the battlefield… what are we supposed to be looking at?" Uraraka asked. Just then, there were several explosions, and the buildings in the arena collapsed into rubble.
"The second part of the exam isn't a battle royale. It's a rescue mission!"
Izuku had a sudden burst of insight. "There w-were live explosives in the battleground!? W-what if someone set them off!?" he exclaimed in terror.
"Well then, you would all have less competition," Mera said.
Everyone gasped, before nervously chuckling at the joke.
"It's no joke," Stain said. "They would do that, and laugh. Trust me. There was one exam where that happened. The 'Black Semester' scandal One of the kids caused a building to fail, killing three dozen kids. The kid's father was investigating corruption. They clicked a detonation switch, and presto! Kid has multiple counts of murder. He got off, thanks to 'new evidence'... that just happened to show up the exact day the father dropped the corruption case," he informed Izuku.
"Now then, you'll be rescuing actual people here. We hired from the company called 'Help Us Incorporated.' They're trained actors, so while they won't actually be in any danger, they know how to act like they are. Now, this isn't an easy pass. Your rescuing will be scored on a point system. When the exam is over, all points will be added up, and an average will be found. Those who are above the average will pass, while everyone else will fail."
Izuku thought about this information. "They're modeling this after Kamino," he said.
"What do you mean, Midoriya?" Iida asked.
"It's a ruined city center, and after All For One's attack there were a lot of civilians that needed to be rescued from damaged urban areas. There are obviously those who are worried that with this potential situation, there will be an uptick of city battles, especially with the retirement of All Might, so this actually makes sense," He admitted.
"I see. Thank you, Midoriya."
As they were talking, a rather hairy boy from Shiketsu came over to Bakugou. "Bakugou… did you run into Shishikura?" he asked.
"Yeah. Meatball man. Second most powerful Quirk I've seen that involves body horror," he said.
"Second most?"
Bakugou turned to Izuku. "Hey, Deku! Can I brag about you?" he asked. Izuku sighed, but nodded. "See him? He's literally IRL Alex Mercer," Bakugou said.
"Wait… as in…"
"As in Blacklight? Yep," Bakugou said.
"...Wow… anyways, that's not what I'm here to talk to you about. Most of us want to have a good relationship with UA."
"A good relationship, huh?" Shoto asked. He then looked back at the kid who had gotten first, and had been glaring at him. "You… with the crew cut… Did I do something to you? You seem to not like me," he said.
The taller kid sighed. "No… no you didn't. I'm sorry. Your father, however…" the kid's fists clenched. "I… I always had wanted to go to UA… and when I got the first pick, I was so excited! I even beat you!"
"Indeed. You were a great fighter. I would've loved to have you as a friend," Shoto answered honestly. "Why didn't you come, though?"
"Your father. That's why."
"My father?" Shoto asked.
"He cornered me, and do you know what he told me? He told me that if I joined UA, my parent's house would 'spring a gas leak'..."
Izuku heard that. "He threatened you?! Why didn't you report it to the police!?" he exclaimed. The rest of the class was mingling.
"So you have good hearing… well… I did. Tenth penidict, in fact. And what would you know? A villain attacked it, and Endeavor just happened to be the hero on scene, and the building, along with all the evidence, were… what's the word… oh! Right! 'Accidental losses'," the kid scowled. "He came to my house when my parents weren't home, and shoved me to the wall. He told me… h-he w-w-would burn m-my entire neighborhood to the ground if I t-tried that again…" the kid was crying now. "I went to Shiketsu… and he sent me a 'congratulations' letter! Wanna know what he wrote?! 'You get to live'!" he spat.
"It appears you hate him as much as I do," Shoto mused. "So, as a 'fuck you' to him… shall we be friends?"
The wind user nodded. "It's a start." They shook hands.