Chapter Five: Entrance Exams Pt. II

"Minami Shiro, I understand you have quite the Quirk, from what I've been seeing," Paper Mache stated praisingly, before motioning impatiently with a hand and continuing, "Well, what have you got for Death Arms?"

Izuku watched intensely, his arms crossed as he was intent on not incurring anymore negative flak from Paper Mache.

Shiro chuckled and lifted a device that Izuku hadn't gotten a good look at before. It was a sort of cylindrical metal piece with two open ends, one end had metal and wires in the shape of a glove protruding from it. Paper Mache took it and examined it, peering inside of the device and feeling the weight of it.

"Since I've been watching everyone close, I've got a hunch— But explain it," he told the girl.

"Gladly! I call this a Strength Turbine. It uses the force of their punch to—"

-create a shockwave of air currents! Izuku thought, perfectly finishing what Shiro said. The girl flashed him a look and a smirk.

"Go ahead and try it out!"

"Ehh, well I'm not one for strength, but if it blows my arm off I guess I can retire," Paper Mache grumbles. He slid the device on, his hand going into the metal that fit along his hand.

He turned away, facing empty space before rearing his right arm back. When his hand curled into a fist, a noise could be heard as the cylindrical part of the device on his arm began to spin. When Paper Mache threw his punch forward, a shot of air accompanied his fist, firing out quickly and blowing a hole in some floor tiles he had been aiming at.

"Oh, well that seems quite effective."

Shiro laughed and stood confidently, pointing to the device. "That's right! This is just a prototype too, imagine what I could make with much more time and resources!"

Izuku had expected her attempt at outdoing his specialty, but it was still too impressive of a device to disregard. In fact, he realized that something was a bit off.

I don't remember her having all of those parts, so then…? Izuku looked over to others nearby. A couple of them seemed to be giving Shiro a sour look of contempt. No way! Did she play others too while I wasn't paying attention?

"Well it's needless to say that it's practical and functional," Paper Mache commented with a nod. "Definitely passes."

"Thank you sir," Shiro spoke, turning and sticking her tongue out at Izuku, who clenched his fists.

I'll show her…!

"Alright, Izuku Midoriya, right? Your quirk is, well…" Paper Mache trailed off, but Izuku could tell that the man must've known somehow, and was just sparing him the exposing that knowledge. "Anyways, show me what you've got."

Izuku took a deep breath. It was time to really show the fruits of his training with Mei. Everyone in the group had their eyes on him now, and he didn't want to fail her.

"I-I think I should show you first," he spoke. Izuku slid on two metal bracers that fit on his forearms, ending in thick cuffs at his wrists. They were mostly pure metal, but the wrists showed exposed metal coils and wires beneath.

This is going to work… It has to! Testing the device while working on it was one thing, but doing a true test of it was a whole other beast.

Izuku took a step back, making sure he wasn't too close to anybody. Then, he slowly raised his right hand forward, and lifted his left one up into the air. Then, in one fluid motion, he brought down his left arm with all of his strength, hitting the cuff of his creation onto the other.

There was a flash as a visible aura of electricity emitted from the device in the blink of an eye, enveloping a wide area around him—

Then the lights above burst and left them in darkness.

Mei looked over across the workshop, seeing that a section where one of the groups had been was now in darkness after something caused the lights to burst.

"Wow, someone really made something cool over there," the pink-haired girl commented excitedly.

"Hmph… Says you," came the tall, broad-shouldered boy named Adatari Yuki who had been her opponent.

The two had already been assessed by Drama Boss, and Mei had won easily. In fact, she had made something so great that Drama Boss actually broke down and cried at the magnificence—

But this story is about Izuku, of course, so there's no need to see what she had created.

After a few minutes, backup lights were brought in via a couple of the candidates under the instruction of Paper Mache. A lot of the group had their hair sticking up straight from the electric current, so the man could only be thankful that his Hero costume included a hat.

Paper Mache sighed and looked over to Izuku, who was sitting on the ground, looking down at the device he had created on his wrists.

"So it emits a strong electric pulse," he stated. "Effective at killing lights, maybe startling people, but what else?"

Shiro was leaning against the workbench, watching the scene with a heavily smug expression. I've got this for sure, there's no way to make himself look better after that display!

Izuku smiled to himself. This took Shiro off guard, as the boy got up to his feet and pointed to Shiro's device that was still on Paper Mache's arm.

"Try using that again. If it still works, I lose," he said confidently.

"Hmm?" Paper Mache turned and repeated what he had done earlier, preparing and throwing a punch— Only for the device to do nothing. "Huh, well it's dead in the water for sure."

"Mine too!"

"Hey what the hell—"

A few others were complaining as they realized their creations had been fried as well, making Izuku gasp.

"I-I'm sorry…! It uses kinetic force to power the emp blast, I guess I just… Used too much power," Izuku said nervously with a smile, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

The idea had been sparked from the first encounter Izuku had in Mei's workshop, with a device that sent out jolts of electricity all around. Since then, alongside his studies of aerodynamics and how to use air to his advantage, he had thought about a way to create something involving electricity— And here, he had managed to create it when it mattered most.

Paper Mache moved closer and grabbed Izuku's arm, examining the device.

"Someone as strong as Death Arms could definitely use something like this to an even bigger extent," Paper Mache commented with a nod, before sighing and looking to the others. "But you did interfere with the others' creations, and that's a real problem. And hey, what if someone had something important like a pacemaker or somethin'?"

Izuku dipped his head a bit, clenching his fists. He knew he needed to do all he could to move on, but he also wanted to be true to himself. It was

"I-I take full responsibility," Izuku said.

"Well of course you do. No way could I not pass something this great though," the man said. "You win against Ms. Shiro, but you both get to continue on. As punishment, you won't get your advantage next phase. Got it?"

Izuku lifted his head in surprise. Shiro audibly gasped at the words too.

"G-Got it!"

I did it…! I can move on! he thought excitedly, until he noticed the cold stare of Shiro as the short girl approached him.

"Y-Your creation was very—"

Izuku was cut off as the girl passed by him briskly, her hand shooting our and grabbing his butt and squeezing it intensely before letting go. Izuku could only freeze up at the sudden unwelcome touch, his face twitching a bit.

"You're lucky you're a cute doofus, Midoriya," Shiro spoke happily as she practically skipped away, like a school girl who had talked to her crush for the first time.

Izuku had never felt so confused and violated before in his life.

Mid Chapter Break~

Name: Devlin Ghander 'Paper Mache'

Age: 38

Quirk: Paper Control - Can control paper(and things similar to paper) and see through it (like a camera.)

Personality: Irritable, self-conscious, always gathering intel.

Power: 2 / 5 D - Speed 4 / 5 B - Technique 5 / 5 A - Intelligence 4 / 5 B - Cooperativeness 3 / 5 C

"Y-You made something that crazy in one hour? Amazing," Izuku exclaimed in surprise.

Izuku and Mei were walking near the back of the pack of remaining hopefuls as they headed for the second phase of the exam.

"Yup! But it seems like you did something cool too, huh," Mei commented, grabbing his arm and looking at the bracer he had made.

"Well it was only possible because you helped make my Flow tamper-proof," Izuku said with a smile.

"Oh so your baby still works after that? That's great!" Mei let go of him and stretched her arms out. "Seems like there's plenty of great thinkers here for sure, I've already seen some cool stuff!"

The group of potential new students had dwindled down to roughly 70 now, from about twice that number. A few who Izuku's EMP had wiped out their creation couldn't recover from it, but most of them had managed to salvage the situation, though now Izuku felt like he had a target painted on his back.

Due to the second phase being more physical in nature, they had been allowed to change into more fitting clothes. Deku wore a turquoise tracksuit with his Flow still on his back, while Mei had changed into a more familiar getup of cargo pants and a black tank top, though Izuku didn't think that was much of an improvement for mobility.

The group was taken to one of the many training grounds that U.A utilized, all of which depicted different city designs and different scenarios for the Heroes to train in.

"This is a training ground usually utilized for escort operations," Power Loader explained as they reached a large wall with a looming door. "Here you will be tasked with assisting a Hero and getting them to the end of a dangerous area."

A hand shot up, and Power Loader nodded to them.

It was Adatari Yuki, who stood over most of the other candidates. He was a well built and broad guy with neat blonde hair and a stoic attitude about him.

"This seems more like a test for a Hero," he commented. "Not that I'm complaining, but you sure most of the people here can do something like that?"

A few murmurs of anger rose from the others, but Yuki paid them no mind. Power Loader shrugged at the question.

"You won't be put into any danger, but the Hero will. You will have to show your creativity and your quick thinking— These are two very essential components that a true star of the Support class should have," Power Loader explained.

Yuki dipped his head respectfully at the answer and took a step back to show he had nothing more to say.

"Anyways, this facility is quite the maze, so you'll need to figure out the way to the rescue zone. Leaving the walls of the training ground," Power Loader explained.

Paper Mache spoke up now. "The three of us will be creating obstacles and dangers for the Hero. You aren't to do anything incredibly reckless— You aren't trying out for the Hero course here," Paper Mache said. "But we can't just let anyone who can make a fancy gadget into U.A! Use what you've created and what you've brought and bring out your ingenuity, and just don't be stupid!"

The large doors began to open up, showing the mock city within. A woman on the shorter side in a skin-tight white suit with red markings all over stepped into view, approaching the group. Her deep red hair was swept to one side, and her expression was one of heavy disinterest.

"Ah, this is a fairly new Pro Hero Miss Negative," Power Loader said, motioning to her. "She'll be the Hero you will be assisting."

"I'm expecting to be disappointed," Miss Negative spoke with a scowl, looking over the group. "Theres almost nobody here who seems interesting at all."

The woman's eyes specifically fell onto the largely built Yuki, who didn't falter under her gaze. She smirked a bit at him, before turning back to Power Loader.

"Well, let's just get this over this," she said simply. Raising her arms in front of herself, perpendicular to each other to make a plus sign. "My quirk allows me to create clones of myself made of hard light. I'm going to create a copy of myself for each of you, just try not to let them get killed maybe."

Suddenly, a red aura formed around her body, before several blue wisps began to emit from the aura, forming into clones of herself. These clones were a bit different— They had blue hair, blue markings on their outfit, and seemed much more happy and excited. Once Miss Negative had finished, she sighed and sat against the open doorway, seemingly exhausted from the effort.

"Great, even more weirdos being added to the mix," Paper Mache whispered loudly to Drama Boss.

"Haha yeah… Wait, are you talking about me too?" Drama Boss stomped the ground like a kid having a tantrum, and Paper Mache laughed.

"Alright alright, we're heading in. You'll be going one at a time every fifteen seconds, don't forget that no un-heroic actions are allowed, like fighting with other students! Working together is allowed of course, but that might not be wise for this test—"

"Because only the first thirty that make it to the end will be able to make it into U.A."

With those final words, Power Loader motioned to the other two, who followed him inside.

After a few minutes of organizing, they got into a line and began to head in one at a time, each person accompanying one of the clones, each calling themselves "Miss Positive." The air was tense, as everyone thought about the fact that only about half of them could make it.

"I'm totally gonna make it before anyone else!" Mei was confident, though they were near the end of the line of students.

Izuku thought about what Power Loader had explained, and decided on something as they reached the entrance.

"Mei… I definitely want to try and tackle this alone if I can," he told her. "N-Not that I don't want your help, but I have a lot to prove to myself!"

The girl smirked and nodded to him. "Of course! I feel the same way!"

When it was Mei's turn, she stepped forward, sliding the goggles from her head over her eyes and giving a thumbs up to her partner Miss Positive. Then she turned back to Izuku and extended a fist.

"I'll see ya at the end, Midoriya," Mei said with a grin.

Izuku smiled and bumped fists with her. "I'll be waiting for you there, Mei!"

When she had left and fifteen seconds had passed, it was Izuku's turn to go. Everyone who had left was nowhere in sight, having hurried into the city immediately when it was their time.

"Hope you'll be able to keep me alive for a while," the Miss Positive said happily to Izuku, with a big beaming smile on her face.

That's… A little dark, I don't know how these clones work exactly, Izuku thought, chuckling nervously at what she had said.

"Go on," Miss Negative spoke with a yawn, thumbing towards the doorway.

With that, Izuku and his Miss Positive nodded to each other ran into the training grounds. He stayed a bit behind her, taking the chance to look around for anything out of the usual.

Almost instantly, Izuku realized something was off. As they ran, he looked back and saw that the entrance had seemingly disappeared, being replaced with a building almost instantly.

Is this place changing? How? It hasn't even been ten seconds since we entered… He thought. While he was distracted, he heard a rumbling noise ahead. Looking forward, Izuku saw that Miss Positive had hit a pitfall trap and was falling in. O-Oh no!

Izuku jumped forward, diving straight for the deep pit. He reached forward and managed to grab the woman's arm, before clicking in the pointer finger of his right glove, squeezing it tightly before releasing after a second. His Flow made a louder whirring sound than ever as it shot out its strongest possible blast of air from his right boot, giving him the boost he needed to get out of the fall and land safely with Miss Positive on the other side of the trap.

That was close already, he thought, taking a breath. As long as we take it slow this should be-

Izuku gasped as he looked over and saw Miss Positive already running off again.

"H-Hey, wait—!" Izuku got up and ran after the woman, who was seemingly very excited to continue onward.

I-Is this where the real difficulty is, keeping up with a reckless Hero? Izuku sighed as he caught up, shaking his head and focusing himself. This is fine, I can do this!

Heading into the unknown dangers ahead, Izuku could only believe in himself and the months upon months of training he and Mei had gone through.

Meanwhile….

Loud explosive noises echoed through the city, as many traps were set off repeatedly. Through the smoke and dust, Mei emerged, sliding to a halt, catching her balance and wiping sweat from her brow.

"How was that? These traps are easily spotted by my Quirk!"

Miss Positive approached her, excitedly clapping. "Wow! So amazing!"

"There's nothing I can't figure out! Though…" Mei put a hand to her chin and turned to the new obstacle in their path.

It was an extremely tall steel wall intersecting the street, and several streets over, with many wires all over and visible electrical charges shooting off of it. On top of it was what appeared to be a prop cut-out of Drama Boss.

"Hahaha, you're on your way, but what can you do yo surpass this literal immovable wall?" The booming voice Drama Boss had used when he first appeared echoed all around.

Mei examined the wall from a distance. "Too tall to go up, too shocky to touch. Well…"

She looked over to Miss Positive, who was squatting dangerously close to the wall, examining it. Mei smirked to herself.

I've got just the baby for the job~

To Be Continued

Next Chapter: Entrance Exams Pt. III