U.A. High School

Clark Kent

He took a deep breath next to both Diana and Izuku. The green-haired boy took a much shakier breath than the Kryptonian did, but they were both nervous. Diana, unlike the boys, seemed to be breathing normally and seemed as proud as she normally did. Throughout the entire time they were waiting for the acceptance letters from the school, the boys were too nervous to focus on much other than physical labor. Izuku continued to train and Clark would accidentally use his powers occasionally. The self-proclaimed Amazonian had none of the angst; or if she did it was well hidden.

When the letters came in, Diana even suggested that the three of them get together when we all opened our letters. So, Izuku invited both of them to his house where they were able to meet his mother. She was a very kind woman who almost did too much in an attempt to be hospitable.

The entire time, however, Izuku seemed to be out of it. They went into his room, which was covered in All Might posters and other collectables. It wasn't anything new to either of the guests, however, as they had seen plenty of All Might related merchandise during their time together. He still seemed a bit nervous about showing the room, though. He was more distracted by the letter, however, in a way that was unlike him.

He finally gave them the reason when they sat down on the bed, him on his desk chair.

"I'm sorry guys, I'm probably not going to be going to U.A. High School with you." He warned in monotone.

Clark raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean you won't be? You worked hard to be able to enroll like the rest of us."

The shorter boy sighed with a nod, "Yeah, but in the practical exam…" He swallowed a dry mouth before continuing, "I wasn't able to destroy any robot other than the arena trap."

"Oh." In other words, he didn't get any points.

He shook his head before turning to us with a smile on his face, "B-but you two are incredible! I'm sure you both got in s-so we should still celebrate that!"

Diana, however, was stuck on another point. She slammed her hand down on the boy's bed, "You destroyed the big robot?!"

Izuku jumped and began to lean back, "W-well, I guess so. B-but it doesn't really mean much according to the exam."

"But you still destroyed something that large!" She slapped Clark's back hard, "Even Kent here didn't destroy it."

"W-wait, he didn't?"

Clark shook his head, "No, I moved it out of the arena and when it lost connection it shut down. But I never really destroyed it." He smiled and grasped the other boy's shoulder, "You were really holding out on us, Midoriya!"

He began waving his hands, "N-no, not really! I-I mean, I really hurt myself when I destroyed it!" He sighed, looking down, "I didn't tell my mom, but when I used my quirk I broke both of my legs and my right arm." He raised his right hand, which was just as the friends remembered it. "I may have beaten it, but I didn't do much of anything else."

Clark nodded, crossing his arms, "Why did you target it, then?" The Kansas boy felt somewhat hypocritical asking that, considering he did the same thing knowing there were no points in it.

The other boy began to scratch the back of his head, "W-well, Uraraka was in the same arena as me and she was about to be crushed by it."

"So, you did it to rescue your comrade!" Diana crossed her arms and shook her head, "If that isn't something they consider heroic enough, then perhaps their values are simply warped."

Clark placed his fingers on his chin, considering the situation. "They're the best school in the world for heroics with a practical exam to determine who would be the best candidates to become the very heroes they'll be training. It wouldn't make sense for them to not consider that, even if they didn't overtly state it."

"W-what are you saying, Kent?"

Clark smiled, nodding to Izuku, "I'm putting my own attendance at U.A. on the line; if you didn't make it into the school, then I will forfeit going to U.A. myself!"

Izuku was clearly about to retaliate but was interrupted by Diana taking a stand and placing her hands on her hips. "I agree! If they will not consider you being a hero after saving a life, they are not fit to lead thy example!" She turned to Clark, gesturing for him to shake her hands. He took it and shook. She turned to Izuku with a grin on her face, "If you don't get in, we don't go."

Midoriya stood up, shaking his head, "Why would you do that? W-why would you go that far for me? Both of you."

"That's simple." Clark stood, placing both hands on Izuku's shoulders, "Friends stick together to fight for what's right."

The tears began to roll down the boy's cheeks. Another thing both Clark and Diana had gotten used to over the past few weeks. His ability to cry was something that seemed like a quirk in of itself! Once the waterworks halted, the three of them proceeded with the results.

Sure enough, when Izuku opened his letter the hero that was littered around his room, All Might, proved the Kryptonian right. Although he didn't get any points for destroying any robots, he did get sixty points for rescuing Uraraka and inadvertently saving other students that could have been hurt by the arena trap, which was shown on a recording of the practical! He even revealed that Uraraka tried to give the boy a few points to help him out. It was enough to bring him to even more tears. In the end, he placed ninth.

He turned to the other two, "Looks like we all made it in!"

"Steady now," Clark grinned, "We still need to look at our letters."

Diana opened hers before Clark, which instead opened to a Pro Hero Izuku redundantly announced as Midnight at the same time she announced who she was. There were three screens that showed off some of the combat Clark wasn't present to witness. At some point, however, they were shown the instance he joined her fight and they collaborated in destroying the six robots they took down simultaneously! Diana had seventy-five points in total, most of them being points from destroying the 'villains.' That brought her into third place and it was announced by the Pro Hero with something of a subtle potty-mouth that she was accepted to U.A. She closed her hand into a fist with a nod towards the boys. Izuku was in awe looking at the robots still and how she fought.

"It was almost as if you've trained to fight already; it's clear you weren't pulling your punches! How you use those bracelets to deflect the strikes and return one of your own is something you don't see too often, and never as consistent as you fight." He continued to mumble even faster when the scene of her and Clark came up, "Then-there's-how-you-both-fought-together! It-was-like-you-both-were-real-pro-heroes-with-combo-moves-and-everything!"

With a chuckle followed by a sigh, the Kryptonian decided it was time to see how he did. He had saved plenty of people and destroyed a lot of robots, but he honestly didn't keep track of them. And at no point did he save anyone from anything life threatening either. When he opened the letter and powered on the hologram, a man with the resemblance of a cowboy with a gas mask saluted Clark. Again, Izuku redundantly announced it was Pro Hero Snipe at the same time as the hero gave his name. It was funny to Clark how forced the western accent was, granted his time being around the very folk it came from. He had been told upfront that he had a few penalties for scattering glass on the ground at the beginning of the match and for moving out of the city with the arena trap, something that once it was shown put Izuku in awe again. However, that was hardly an issue as it was revealed that even after the penalties he had accumulated a hundred thirty-five points, with three quarters of the points being the 'villain' points and the other quarter being rescue points after the penalties. This put him in first place and ensured his place in the academy, as well as beating the record!

Upon hearing the last portion of the recording, the green-haired boy looked like he was about to have a panic attack. He couldn't help but stare at Clark with a finger pointed at him. "Y-you… You broke the record?"

The Kryptonian scratched the back of his head with a nervous laugh, "Yeah, I guess I might have gone overboard with the exam, huh?"

Izuku rushed over to Clark and grasped his shoulders, "Overboard?! This is incredible! Just how strong is your quirk?"

Diana leaned towards them, head cocked to the side, "What's gotten you so worked up, Midoriya?"

The boy rushed over to his computer, making a mad dash over the keyboard with his fingers and pulling up the U.A. rankings. He pointed to a specific box for the exams.

"The last record was held by All Might with one hundred sixteen total points!" He pointed at the Kansas boy again, "You beat the Symbol of Peace's record, Kent!"

Now they stood at the entrance, dressed in their grey suit jackets, red ties, and black pants, although for Diana it was a skirt and stockings. They took their steps forward, getting ready to find their class. Luckily all three of them were part of class 1-A, the top class of the grade. It was while they were all going up the stairs and had finally made it to the class's respective floor that Clark had a call to nature.

"Hey, guys, go on ahead. I need to find the restroom." They nodded and went their separate ways.

It didn't take long for him to find the bathroom and to relieve himself.

Not that it was surprising, but Clark was quite impressed by how clean the bathrooms were. Up until then, he was used to the restrooms in Smallville, which half of the time didn't even have soap to wash your hands. Because of that, he would usually carry his own travel-size bottle of hand soap to use in its place. Here, however, there wasn't a hint of wear in any of the ceiling panels, even if he focused with his enhanced vision.

It was while he was washing his hands that he heard a few voices through the walls. It was an argument. He knew it was bad to listen in, but in complete silence it was still hard to control his ears to cancel out other outside noise.

"I thought we had an agreement for you coming here." The voice was older and sounded tired.

"I've followed that agreement so far." This voice was younger but deep. He was less angry than the previous voice, but still obviously annoyed.

"Gordon told me you got involved in the Ace Chemicals robbery and you broke the legs of a lieutenant under Penguin's regime. What part of that was following our agreement?" Some paper slammed on a table, "You weren't supposed to get involved in any heroics until you got your hero license!"

"The agreement was while I was attending U.A. High School I wouldn't get involved in any crime fighting." There was some shuffling. Clark began to make his way out of the bathroom at this point, moving in that direction towards the classroom. Now he could hear it through the open door, "Between when I took the exams and when I got my acceptance letter, I was not officially enrolled."

The boy finally stepped out of the room, turning in the same direction Clark was moving. He ended the conversation without looking back, "I have to get to class, Aizawa. Maybe you should do the same."

The blonde boy was someone Clark had seen before, though he couldn't put his finger on it. He tried not to stare at the boy as he walked, but he was curious. He tried to open his mouth, but the boy turned back with a frown, staring directly at him.

"Clark Kent, you were eavesdropping."

The Kryptonian took a step back, the memory finally connecting, "Oh, the entrance exams! That's where I saw you from." He scratched the back of his head, "If you don't mind me asking, how did you know I was listening?"

"You were walking slower coming back from the bathroom than you were walking to it. You also took an excessive amount of time washing your hands." The boy placed his hands in his pockets, "Either you're just slow, or you were listening. We both know the former isn't true."

The Kansas boy raised his hands in defense and smiled, "You caught me red-handed. What was that about, anyways? You were fighting crime without a hero license?"

His eyes narrowed in on Clark, which honestly startled him, "A word of advice, Smallville." He turned away from the taller boy, "Forget what you heard."

"Are you threatening me?" It was less hostile and more inquisitive on Clark's end. He couldn't really tell if the blonde was being hostile.

"Let's just say," the boy looked over his shoulder with a scowl, "I'll teach you the downside of enhanced hearing."

The Kansas boy's eyes widened, and his hand crunched into a fist. It didn't seem right how quickly this other student was able to figure out one of his abilities. It wasn't as if Clark had said anything that would have overtly tipped anyone off! His old classmates in America never even suspected that ability in all the years he had been there.

The scowl on the student ahead of Clark turned to a smirk, "An ability you just affirmed to me." He turned away and proceeded. "I have my eye on you."

The worst part about the boy was that he turned into a doorway that was marked above. Class 1-A.

"How did he know I was from Smallville?"

Michael Lane

The last thing the billionaire wanted to deal with was a rowdy student as soon as he stepped foot in the room. He let the figure grab him by the collar of his dress shirt. He wasn't able to pick him up too much, due to the assailant being shorter than he was, but Bruce was off of the ground. Bruce's prosthetically altered face was unchanged, leaving a scowl pointing at the other student.

His assailant was blonde with red eyes and a scowl that was less calculated than Bruce's was. He wore the uniform, albeit in a lousy way with the tie being missing altogether and the suit jacket not being buttoned all the way. His black slacks were also sagging a bit. Overall, Bruce's first impression of this boy read one word: thug. He knew the boy's name, however, from reviewing the data retrieved from the school's servers.

"Katsuki Bakugou," Michael Lane growled, "I'm going to tell you once to let me go."

"Who the hell are you, huh?! Did you get pass me on the practical?!"

Bruce grabbed the boy's right wrist, then pulled his legs up to take hold of his head. Then, he threw his weight down, pulling the boy with him. Using his left elbow as a pivot, he threw Bakugou against the wall on the other side of him!

The Gothamite was already on his feet, standing tall, "For your information, I wasn't part of the normal exams so I wouldn't have been on the scoreboards regardless." Bakugou was up again, hunched down with a growl as he stretched his hands out, "Next time you charge at me, I won't give you a warning."

The boy was about to charge, practically choreographing that he was about to use his explosion quirk but was stopped when Clark Kent entered the room.

"If you're wondering who placed first, I suppose that would be me." He raised his hands with a smile, "There's no need to get into any fights over it though."

The angry blonde's scowl shifted towards Clark as he took hold of the taller boy's collar, "Are you mocking me or something?!"

"W-what? I wasn't-."

At this point, Bruce didn't care what happened. The heat was off of him so he continued to his seat as they argued, unnoticed by anyone in the group that was forming. Along the way, he surveyed the room and made mental notes of all the students in the class, remembering their quirks that were written on their records and how they used them during the practical exams. The only person he hadn't seen the extent of their quirk was Shoto Todoroki. It was only a matter of time until he would see it and learn how to overcome it, too. Though, he already had a few hypotheses about how he would go about it.

He sat in the back row in the column closest to the door. From there, he had a decent view of all the students in the classroom. Later on, he would want a few other measures taken place for when he isn't in the classroom to know what was happening at all times. For now, however, he simply watched the argument at the front of the classroom take place. Bakugou was barking at Clark until a boy with green, curly hair stepped up to try to stop him.

That boy was something of an oddity. Bruce had searched through his records like everyone else's, both school and medical. His quirk was powerful, it allowed him to create a force that was powerful enough to launch him above skyscrapers and to take down the arena trap, which were nothing to scoff at. As amazing as it was, he saw the footage and he saw the effects it had on his body. On top of that, his medical record showed he was quirkless; never once was there a mention of his quirk before the date of the practical exam. Most people would stumble it down as a late bloom. Bruce was not most people.

Bruce Wayne knew something was wrong with the situation, something that Katsuki Bakugou knew as well, given his stark reaction to Izuku being in the classroom. As he yelled at the shorter boy, he mentioned something about hiding his quirk and showing Katsuki up. They both went to the same middle school, something Alfred had pointed out when reviewing their records. The same went for Mina Ashido, the girl with pink skin and hair and Eijirou Kirishima, a boy with natural black hair dyed red and gelled into spikes. It was obvious the former pair knew each other quite well, even if Bakugou didn't want to admit to knowing him.

Bruce pulled out his PDA, sending a task to the supercomputer at home to create a new file for Izuku Midoriya's Quirk Anomaly. With Katsuki's secondhand account of the situation and his experience with knowing the boy, Bruce knew now that an investigation was warranted.

Aizawa finally made his appearance, scaring a few of the students at the doorway including a new face to the classroom, Ochaco Uraraka. He was huddled in a yellow sleeping bag, much like he was when Bruce left him in the faculty lounge. He was on the ground and moved on the ground like a worm, which to the billionaire seemed like more effort than walking.

"If you're all here to make friends, then you should leave now. We're here to train to be heroes, not chit chat." He pulled his hand out of the sleeping bag and with it came a blue uniform that was vaguely designed to form a "U" and an "A" underneath it in white accents outlined in red. "We're doing physical evaluations in the courtyard, so get your gym uniforms on immediately and get there. If you're late, you get detention."

The students immediately began to work their ways towards the locker rooms. As Michael Lane marched with the rest of the students, he was approached by Kirishima and Denki Kaminari, a boy with yellow hair and a black streak which resembled a lightning bolt, a homage to his quirk: Electricity.

The red-haired boy smiled, showing off his sharp teeth which seemed to be shaped like a shark's, "Hey, that move you did in the classroom was manly as hell man!" He pumped his arm in the air and flexed his bicep, "Where'd you learn to do it?"

"It's better you don't know."

Kaminari chuckled a little, nudging Bruce in the torso, "C'mon, you're making it sound like it was some sort of underground group, like ninjas!"

Bruce didn't respond or even acknowledge their attempts to talk. They eventually got the message and began to stall behind him. He could hear Kaminari mumble in the background, "Sorr-y, you don't have to be such a grouch about it."

Bruce grunted in frustration but was otherwise unaffected.

They finally reached the locker rooms, where they found their names on the locker doors and began to strip to change into their other uniforms. There weren't any stalls to change in either. Something that Bruce had to sigh in contempt for.

"Hey." It was Clark. "I just wanted to apologize about earlier, I didn't mean to listen in on your conversation. It was wrong. Let's start off fresh."

"Don't apologize, just drop it." Bruce took off his dress shirt and began to raise his white t-shirt as Clark was unbuttoning his own dress shirt.

"Right. My name is Clark Kent, I'm from Smallville, Kansas. Though, you already knew…" Clark replied as Bruce had gotten his own shirt off. "That. Michael, what happened to your back?"

Bruce's backside showcased the layers of scarring around his torso and upper arms. To him, it was something he was used to over the years of training. But for anyone else, especially at his age, it wasn't normal.

The disguised billionaire scowled up at the boy, "My name is Michael Lane, I'm from Gotham City." He finished changing. He turned to Kaminari and Kirishima, who stopped changing to take notice of the old lacerations Clark pointed out. "It's better you don't know."

He left the changing room.

Diana Prince

One of the blonde boys that fought earlier was standing with the teacher, as well as another girl with long, black hair much like Diana. The Amazonian waved at the boy, then the girl. The boy didn't respond, preferring to keep his hands in his pockets and wait for the others to arrive. The girl on the other hand gave a small wave and a gentle smile. So, the Themysciran sided with her instead.

They greeted each other with formalities that Diana hadn't seen returned to her since leaving her people's island.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Momo Yaoyorozu!" Momo bowed.

Diana returned her greeting with a bow all of her own, "And a pleasure to meet you, Yaoyorozu. My name is Diana Prince."

Momo nodded, "I've heard of you. You scored high on the practical exams, from what I heard. Congratulations!"

Diana nodded, flexing her bicep, "I was simply showing my courage in battle, as we all were!" The princess placed her hands on her hips, nodding towards Momo, "How did you do on your examination? You seem to be agile like Artemis."

The girl shook her head, "Actually, I wasn't in the normal examinations. Much like Todoroki and Lane," she gestured toward the blonde, "I was in the recommendations."

"I heard of that system; the most impressive students enroll that way."

Momo nodded sheepishly, "In most cases, yes. If a student catches the eye of a Pro Hero, especially a well-established hero, they can recommend them to a school. The tests taken are generally more difficult, but most, if not all students that take them get in."

"Even the written exams?" Diana asked, getting a nod from Momo. "How did you fare on those questions? The examination on our side of things were something of a task if one wasn't careful enough."

Yaoyorozu scratched the back of her head, "I apologize, but I cannot speak for everyone. I studied a long time for that exam and had plenty of resources to refer to in order to get as high of a score as I did."

"Are you saying you were the top examinee?"

"Unfortunately, no. I missed three or four questions due to my recklessness." She sighed, "Apparently, someone managed to get a perfect score. That hasn't been done in a very long time according to my parents."

By now, the students were piling out and into the courtyard. The girls were talking amongst themselves, but as the boys approached, they began to get more and more quiet. Izuku, Clark, and Ochaco eventually met up with Diana joining as one group. Diana asked them if something happened, but Clark shook his head.

"I'll explain later." He responded.

She left it at that.

The teacher began to give the instructions once everyone had gotten to attention, which took a bit longer than usual due to a boy with hair that looked like rubber balls. He was short, so he took longer to get to the courtyard even at a sprint.

"Today we're going to be doing an Apprehension Test."

There were a few quiet groans coming from other students, something Diana didn't quite understand. These groans didn't last too long when the teacher gave the students mean look. Once they stopped, he continued.

"However, U.A. Academy is the number one school. The only way to become the number one is to do something the others don't. That's why class 1-A will not be going to orientation and it's why this is going to be your official Quirk Apprehension Test!"

The groans turned into smiles and excitement, and Diana was especially happy to be able to be able to compete with everyone at their fullest! This happiness leaked out of the students, as one girl with pink skin and pink hair sighed in relief.

"Ah, this is going to be so much fun!"

The teacher scowled at the student, "Fun, eh? If you're here to have fun, then you're sorely mistaken." The man sighed to himself, "This proves that the practical exam was irrational; it was nothing but a playground to all of you. Therefor," The man pulled a device out of his pocket, tapping it and pulling up a holographic projection with all of the student's names, "Whoever comes in last place in the Quirk Apprehension Tests accumulative score will be expelled!"

Glee turned to tension and nervous glances. Diana and Clark especially had to turn to Izuku, a boy whose quirk broke his bones beyond normal repair. It was clear that his heart sank into his stomach. Diana felt sympathy for him, but ultimately, she knew there wasn't much she could do but pray to the Gods that someone in their class would be able to mark lower than he. However, even this she didn't allow herself to do.

This was a test of strength, of everyone's abilities. If she prayed to the Gods to intervene now, she would be doing a disservice to Izuku, to the rest of the class, and she would be disrespecting the establishment. Worst of all, it would show that she didn't have faith in her friend and what he could do.

No, she knew Izuku was a smart boy, someone who could figure out something to give him the leg up! She trusted him with himself, it was the best thing a friend could do to just give him moral support.

Izuku Midoriya

I'm doomed! I'm doomed! I'm so doomed!

These were the only thoughts that were able to escape his mind. He only barely passed the entrance exams, and to him it still seemed like a fluke! The two people he decided to make friends with was a boy that seemed to be the next All Might without even being gifted the powers of One-for-All and a girl that claimed to be a Greek Amazonian warrior with the skills to prove it! Yet here he was, standing in between both of them as if they were equals. It was painstakingly clear that this was not the case!

"Midoriya!" Diana called out. Izuku slowly turned towards her, unable to remove the worry from his face, "If your heart is true, follow it to victory!" She bolstered just before hitting her chest with a fist.

Easy for you to say! Was what he thought but he attempted the best smile he could manage before nodding, "R-r-right!"

The teacher turned his head to Clark Kent, pulling a baseball out of his pocket. "Record Breaker, you were first in the practical exams, so you'll set the average in the first test. Throw this as far as you can." He pointed to a baseball diamond, which was painted in a radius in a single direction with outlines of general distances to an extent.

Clark scratched the back of his head, "Um, sir, I'm not so sure if I'm a good pick for average."

"HUH?!" An unfortunately familiar voice picked up. Kacchan marched toward Clark, getting in his face with a sneer, "You chickening out now, farm boy? Don't get so cocky just because you got first in the exams! Throw the damn ball so I can prove that I'm better than you!"

This was the first time Izuku had seen the American frown. He didn't turn away from Izuku's childhood friend.

"You know what, nevermind. I'll throw first after all."

The other blonde began to walk towards us as Clark took the ball and began to march towards the diamond. He didn't stop walking, but he turned towards us as he marched by, looking at each of us in the eyes. He almost looked annoyed at the situation.

"Might want to take a few steps back."

Everyone in the group was hesitant, but once the other girl with black hair began to follow his lead, they followed suit. They finally stopped behind the groups of students, who all looked at the group in confusion. The three of them would be very happy that they followed the blonde's instructions.

The American blonde yelled to Kacchan, "Bakugou, you stand back, too!"

The sagging blonde turned back with a sneer, "Eh? Don't tell me what to do, background character! Go die!"

"Background character?" The other blonde raised an eyebrow, before grunting.

The teacher started the device and cued for the American at the plate to begin. Then he began walking back. He kept walking, until he was about ten meters away from the plate. He crouched down, placing the ball behind his back and staring down the throwing zone with an intense focus. Izuku thought he was going crazy, he could have sworn he saw Clark's eyes begin to emit a red shine…

Then, he was off! It was so fast that Izuku didn't even have time to blink before he was already at home plate! There was a shockwave that struck the air and pushed against the students that stood closer to Clark at the start of his approach. The majority of them were shoved to the ground by the blast! The shockwave sounded like a cannon or a gun being fired, or at least what Izuku imagined was a gun being fired. Then, there was the debris.

The ground behind where the farm boy started had nearly exploded, sending fragments of dirt and dust behind him and creating a storm of dust in the eyes of all their peers. As the cloud dissipated, and the dirt landed on the ground, there was a clear parting of the dirt so large it almost looked like a meteor had crashed into the earth! At the end of it was Clark Kent, without a ball in his hand and floating two meters off the ground staring right at Kacchan.

"Set the average." He remarked.

The teacher was laying on the ground, scowling at the boy with glowing, red eyes and his hair defying gravity!

Wait, that's where I knew the teachr from. The Pro Hero, Erasurehead! His quirk, Erase, is the ability to disable other people's quirks as long as he sees their quirk and keeps his eyes open! Izuku would have wished he had his notebook if it weren't for something else taking his attention. The fact that Clark wasn't falling to the ground. B-but, how is that possible?

It apparently startled the teacher, too. His hair fell back to the grasp of gravity, his mouth agape as he attempted to regain his bearings. Once he stood up, Clark was finally back on the ground. The Kansas boy turned to the teacher.

"How did I do?"

"How-?" The teacher snapped back to reality, looking down at the device. He turned the device over to the rest of the class, who didn't pay it any mind apart from Izuku's group. It was infinite.

Clark turned back, peering in the sky. "My bad. On the bright side, it didn't hit any satellites."

He turned to the teacher, who grasped him by the collar, "After the Quirk Apprehension Tests, we're talking." The farm boy nodded silently. The man sighed, turning to the destruction that laid behind the boy and began to scratch the top of his head. "Everyone head to the next testing area for now while I go call one of the construction heroes to help fix this."

Everyone nodded and headed to the next spot. Meanwhile, Izuku's ears and mind were still ringing. The ears ringing from the shockwave and the mind ringing from the overload of questions.

I knew Clark was strong, but that… That was more powerful than what he did in the practical! Was that even his full strength? Why was Erasurehead unable to disable his quirk? It's clearly something that must be activated, there's no way a quirk that strong wouldn't be an activation! That shockwave, too, I've seen that before. He broke the sound barrier, going from a halt to supersonic speeds in less than a fraction of a second! Is that a third quirk? But two quirks are rare enough, any more than that has almost never been heard of.

These were just the questions and comments that kept coming back to him. There were lots of other questions that began to plague his mind, but without a good way to answer the questions he was simply left wondering and mumbling.

The other students seemed to not be bothered so much with the questions, but rather just excited about the power behind the American. The red-haired boy with spikey hair was the first to jump up next to him, clearly hyped up on adrenaline. The other students eventually swarmed next to him as well, excluding the blonde in Izuku's group, Kacchan, the black-haired girl, and Ochaco. Diana was especially pumped, flying over Clark and practically gleaming in excitement.

The girls moved ahead of the two boys, eager to get to the fifty-meter dash. Izuku shook his head, turning to the blonde with a nervous smile, "G-guess we should get going, t-too, huh?"

The American turned to him, "You saw it, too."

The green-haired boy paused before he nodded, relaying what he thought he saw, "Eraserhead used his quirk on him." He turned back to Clark, who was laughing with other students and waving them away from giving him the attention, "But it didn't work. How is that possible?"

"Izuku Midoriya, wasn't it?"

The shorter boy nodded.

"You can't exactly act too surprised at something like that though, can you?"

Midoriya raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" The blonde just stared down at Midoriya without saying a word. Then it clicked. His throat frogged up. There's no way it is what I think it is! He isn't talking about me being quirkless, right?

Izuku stepped back, doing his best to frown back at the other American, "W-w-what's your name?"

"Michael Lane." Lane turned away from Izuku with a smirk, marching forward, "You should work on your poker face."

Out of everything that's happened, there was one thing that was conclusive for Izuku. Michael Lane terrifying!

The rest of the tests went on and one thing remained consistent. Clark and Diana remained at the top of the board.

During the fifty-meter dash, Clark was across the finish line in what was marked as less than half a second with Diana close behind at a little over one second. A boy in glasses with short blue hair, who earlier in class greeted me as Tenya Iida 3.04 seconds with Kacchan not far behind with 4.13 seconds to the finish line. Izuku was only able to manage 7.02 seconds, only slightly faster than Uraraka even after he had worked so hard training with All Might! In hindsight, it was a grim foreshadowing of the future of the tests.

They continued to the grip strength test, where both Clark and Diana legitimately broke their machines! The standing long jump was useless since they could both fly. The repeated side steps became a cloud of dust when they went to their respective stations. When the dust settled, the amount of side steps counted were in the hundreds, with Clark leading by a little over fifty over Diana. Meanwhile, Izuku couldn't manage anything meeting mediocre!

Repeatedly, both Diana and Clark proved themselves to be in different playing fields than the other students. No one could manage to get close to them on the scoreboard! Between the two of them, Clark was ahead of Diana on a majority of the tests which ultimately placed him at first place by the time all of the students made their way back to the ball throw, which was now back to its former glory. Everyone began to take their turns, giving Izuku time to think. The only thing it did, however, was give him enough time to realize how much trouble he was in!

He realized this was the last test he could get a good score on in order to pass. If he couldn't get a score that placed him above last place, which would have to be a throw that was able to outpace Mineta's sidesteps, which were out of place for him if you compared him to the other tests, it was over! The dream of becoming a hero would be crushed, and all the hard work he put in, the faith his friends had in him, it would be for nothing. His chest began to tighten as he looked down at his arm, considering the option of using his quirk, to break his arm in order to get one good score. There was one thing that kept racing through his mind, something that gave him the confidence he had, as little the amount it was.

Will it be enough?

He was snapped out of his trance by a hand on his shoulder. He jolted his head up, finding the culprit to be Michael Lane. He shook his head.

"If you think Aizawa is going to let you do that, you're mistaken."

Izuku stepped back, fidgeting, "W-what are y-y-you talking about, Lane-kun? I-I'm perfectly f-fine."

"Scratch what I said about working on your poker face. That's a lost cause." He crossed his arms, coldly staring at the shorter boy. "When you activated it in the practical exam, your muscles and veins tensed unnaturally before you used it. Take deep breathes and concentrate on where it's going to tense before you throw."

"H-how would you know a-about that? Even if you were in t-the same arena, you-."

Michael looked away, walking ahead, "By my count, you're after me. Focus."

He took the baseball from the teacher but stopped just short of the plate. He placed the ball behind his back, moving into a pose which resembled a professional baseball player. Rather than throwing like one, however, he jumped forward, spinning in the air and gaining momentum before finally landing on one foot and pulling his arm forward. The ball was released, flying forward in a spiraling motion in the air! It took a little over 11 seconds before it landed on the ground, granting him 545.6 meters as his final score.

The blonde let out an almost inaudible "Tsk." As if the throw was less than he had anticipated! Even in a world of quirks, a throw like that would be considered impressive as not many people have strength quirks. Then again, he didn't know if Lane had that quirk either. It was clear in the locker room from his muscles and his scars that he had some form of training; whatever it was, it was too much for someone his age to have dealt with in Midoriya's opinion.

He didn't have time to think about any of that now as it was his turn to throw the ball. He marched forward, legs shaking in anticipation to find out if he would or would not make it into the school for the long term. He grasped the ball, holding it tightly with his right hand and closing his eyes as he stepped onto the diamond. He inhaled through his nose, then exhaled through his mouth.

Feel the tensing of the muscles before I throw. That's what Lane suggested. Another deep breath in resulted in another deep breath out. He searched his muscles for the tensing. It started in his chest, moving down like a slow jolt of electricity. It took a lot of effort not to accidentally lose the tension it when it flowed from his bicep to his forearm. But, eventually, he let the dormant power find its way to the right place.

There! Izuku maintained the tension. He reeled the ball back slowly, taking one more deep breath. He began to combine his peer's advice with that of his mentor's.

'Squeeze your butt cheeks, and yell SMASH from the heart!'

His butt tensed, he gritted his teeth, and he pushed forward bursting his eyelids open! "SMAAAAAASH!" Air circulated around the index finger and with a sudden burst of pain, the force from his quirk, passed down from his idol, All Might, One-for-All, shot the ball into the air and carried a whirlwind of dust and air with it! The ball soared, taking its time settling on the ground at a distance of 705.3 meters.

Izuku couldn't help but grin from ear to ear, turning back to the blonde who gave him advice. Lane nodded to him, not giving in to a smile. Then he turned to the teacher, who crossed his arms.

"You've learned how to use your quirk and not become useless after one strike?"

Izuku reluctantly nodded, pulling the hand with the broken finger into a fist, "After all, if I'm going to become a hero, I have to be ready to improve myself!"

The teacher nodded with a grin before turning to the scoreboard, "That is a naïve mentality to have. One that I can't help but to agree with, either."

Looking at the scoreboard of the ball toss, he could see that he scored pretty high compared to the others. Uraraka had managed an infinite alongside Clark, something Izuku hadn't witnessed due to his own worries. He even managed to score higher than-.

"DEKU!" Kacchan. The green-haired boy turned to see the blonde he was more familiar with a step away from frothing at the mouth. His hands began to flicker and pop with the nitroglycerin activated explosions. "What the hell are you trying to pull, huh?!"

He was stopped by the Lane, who grabbed the approaching blonde by the shoulder. Kacchan turned back, ready to launch a strike at the other, but no explosion came through. The American blonde didn't even look at the hand, but simply stared down the assailant. Kacchan growled, turning back to the teacher with a scowl before turning back to the boy.

"I don't care that you came from that slum of a city, Gotham. Stay out of my business!" He pressed his knuckles against the palms of his hands, popping the joints, "And remember that we have unfinished business from earlier."

Lane stood still as stone, unfazed by the invasion of his personal space. "You and I can hash that out in the Sports Festival if you want. For now, you'd better behave yourself."

"Or what? Are you going to do something about it, huh? Just who do you think you are!"

Aizawa began marching towards the boys, ready to break it up.

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Cut the shit! Don't act like just because you came from the worst city in the world that you're so stronger than me!" Now Clark was even stepping forward, but neither aggressors seemed to notice the two entities, "What, did your mommy and daddy not show you enough attention as a kid?!"

Michael grabbed Kacchan by the throat, kicking the back of his knees and slamming him against the ground and clearly winding him. By now, Clark and Aizawa had rushed in with the farm boy peeling the Gothamite away and Aizawa dragging the downed blonde away.

"Get off me!" Michael yelled, yanking himself away from the other American.

"Not until you calm down." The taller boy responded.

It took a minute before both blondes stopped struggling, but they both eventually gave in. They were both released at the same time, but neither charged the other. They simply glared at each other. Michael began marching towards the next apprehension test, the teacher following suit. After a few awkward seconds,the rest of the class did the same.

In the end, the teacher revealed that the expelling was simply a motivator for us to do our best during the tests. It was a relief on Izuku's part, but the full feeling of satisfaction it should have brought him didn't come. The tension from the fight was heavy and Izuku still didn't know what it was that set the American off. Kacchan had said some nasty things to Michael about his home city, then brought his parents into it. Even without that, he was basically asking for a fight with how he kept pushing him.

The rest of the day was about as mediocre as any other high school would be on the first day, however. Izuku only hoped that once the tension had settled and they all began their training, things would only get better from there on out.

Gotham City

Abandoned Bar

The puff from the cigarette filled the air. The mouth it came from was more like a beak, coming from a shorter man whose entire body seemed to be replaced by a rockhopper penguin. He had a black leather jacket with fur on the collar over a white dress shirt and tailored pants that fit him perfectly.

Across from him was another man, one with a face which seemed to have no skin and no muscles. With a black skull being the only identification for the man, it made the sclera of his eye stand out in the darkness next to his blue irises. After that, he was simply a normal man with a white suit and black dress shirt. He sat with his hands crossed on the table, exuding a serenity that contrasted the smoking man's confidence.

"You've gone to callin' yerself the, what was it, Black Matt?" The short man spouted in a British accent which was tainted by the years of smoking already and the mutation of his larynx due to his quirk. His laugh resembled that of a rockhopper even more.

"Black Mask, actually, Mr. Cobblepot." The man glared down Cobblepot, "But I prefer business partners like ourselves refer to each other professionally, if that's alright with you. Between us bosses, I'm Roman Sionis."

"Fair enough, Sionis. But if you don't mind, only my friends and subordinates call me Cobblepot." He began to cackle, "Then again, what's the bloody difference? I seem to've forgotten myself!" He began laughing again. "You can call me Penguin. What was the deal you was offerin' to make anyways, Sionis?"

"Deal I was offering? Nah," Black Mask pulled out an envelope, tossing it over to Penguin. "This told me I was getting an offer, not you."

Penguin looked over the note, then slammed it down. "That's the same codding note I got!" He pulled up an umbrella, pointing it at Sionis, who was already out of his seat with a desert eagle pointed directly at Cobblepot.

There was an awkward silence before a door swung open. Both gang bosses turned toward the door, showing a man in a red suit and tanned skin. His left hand was already dripping a glowing green acid. He began to chuckle as he waved his hand through the smoke with his free hand.

"Looks like you guys didn't listen about the 'no weapons' rule in the letter." He flicked his fingers towards the gang bosses, where small drops of acid landed on the table between them. It began to steam until the wood eventually caved in on itself. "Good thing I don't need a weapon, non pensi?"

Black Mask growled, "What are you talking about, ya breadstick? You didn't send the letters to make a deal?"

Maroni stepped forward, chuckling to himself before shaking his head and waving his hands forward, "Now why would I do that when you've been going around killing my men?"

Penguin began laughing loudly, "Your boys getting' killed? Ain't surprised, you ain't a popular bloke in this town!" The umbrella opened, making the Cobblepot's black, beady eyes the only thing visible below his flat head. "B'sides, your men ain't the only ones gettin' thrown in Gotham Bay. I found two'a yer men in my territory, dead, along with a dozen o' mine."

Black Mask dropped his gun, "You idiots! Same thing happened to me. Don't look like we gave any of the orders though. That only means one thing!"

"Oh, bloody hell."

"That's right, gentlemen!" The three of them turned to the bar, where a man stood turned away from them, a red blanket covering his head. After that, it was simply a white dress shirt and black slacks. Lastly, his hands were covered by black leather gloves "You all fell for my trap, and now I feel obligated to offer you all a drink for your long pilgrimage to this ditch!"

The man turned, slamming three drinks down on the counter one at a time, with enough force on the last shot glass to crack the bottom. He leaned back and waved his arms to showcase the drinks.

Black Mask was the first to speak up, "Who the hell are you?"

"An interesting question, from such an interesting fellow! Mr. Mask, was it?" He began to giggle before clearing his throat, "You see, I've met one of you already as it would happen! Now it's up to you all to figure out who it is that knows me."

Penguin pointed the umbrella at the man, "Oi, you realize you're outnumbered here, right? Three to one!"

The man hummed before two men burst in from the entrance Maroni took. Another man jumped up from under the bar counter. Two men broke down the door to the left side of the bar which led to the restrooms. Another strolled out of a dark corner.

All four of the groups had different outfits. Men in suits came from where Maroni entered from. Men donning penguin insignias ran from the bathrooms. The man from the corner was wearing black clothes. The man from the bar counter was wearing a purple tracksuit with a paper plate colored red and holes cut out to see. All of them had assault rifles in hand pointed at their respective bosses, the one with the plate mask being the only one pointing at the three of them.

"Oh dear, how the tables have turned!" The organizer laughed, "Well, come get your drinks already. I insist!"

Reluctantly, the bosses put their weapons down and took seats at the bar. Penguin on the leftmost side of the bartender, Black Mask in the middle, then Maroni. Before they could move for their drinks, the bartender swapped the drinks of Black Mask and Maroni.

Sionis jerked up, "What the hell is that for?"

"There's an order to these things, you know." The man pulled out a revolver, pointing it at the middle man, "Trust me, you don't want what he's having." He looked over to Penguin's cup, "Or was it that one?"

"Wait a minute, what was that? There's an order to this but you don't know it your damn self?" The short bird man recoiled.

With a shrug, the man stood back, "I'm not too particular. In fact…" He brought out a new cup, placing it in front of himself, "It might even be this one!"

Maroni scrunched his eyebrows, "You mean you didn't pour them yourself?"

He shook his head, pointing to the man with the plate mask, "He did. Never told me which one had the secret ingredient!"

"What's the secret ingredient?" Sionis asked.

This only got a finger waved in his face, "It's a secret! Shhh…" The shush turned into another cackle.

All four of them took ahold of the shot glasses, the bartender moving it under the blanket to drink it.

"This is a nutter if I ever seen it." Penguin remarked.

The glasses were thrown back and the drinks dove down their throats. Straight whiskey. Nothing seemed off by the bosses. Penguin began to laugh.

"Nothing happened t'us! Looks like you might'a gotten the secret ingredient, you lunatic!" He clapped his hands.

The man put a finger in the air, "It takes a minute. So, let's just relax and chat for a bit."

"Like Hell, I got business to take care of." Black Mask began, pointing a finger at the bartender, "Starting with getting my dogs to chew off ya ballsa-!"

The bartender brought out a knife, slamming it against the counter at Maroni! The bosses noticed it immediately, he was sweating profusely and gagging. The tanned skin was pale, like he'd been sick.

"Looks like we have a winner!" The bartender looked at the others with blood-red eyes. "The audience may want to stay for this part of the presentation."

The two looked around at the men following the masked host, who all gestured toward Maroni with the guns. With no other choice, the two complied.

"Now, Maroni, about two weeks ago, what was your big scheme for Penguin's new, luxurious Iceberg Lounge?" The blanketed man took hold of the choking man's face, squeezing his cheeks together and pulling him so he faced Cobblepot. "Don't leave out any of the details."

He tried to resist, but it just made him sicker. He had to turn away from the counter, vomiting over the table they were previously sitting at. He was grabbed by the man on the other side of the counter, pulled back so the back of his head crashed and broke the shot glass on the counter he had originally drank from.

"NOW! These gentlemen have things to do, after all." He got closer to the red suited man, giggling as he elaborated, "Next time you resist, you might just choke to death. Can't have that ruining the reputation of this fine establishment!"

Maroni grunted, but no longer had the stamina to resist. He went limp, staring straight at the assailant. "I… I was planning on gassing your clubhouse. B-but, I needed the chemicals, so I kidnapped… It was you!"

The bartender picked up the head and slammed it against the counter again, this time getting a scream out of Maroni. "Leave your personal revelations until the end of the story, boss!" More giggles came from the bartender as he closed in on his face, "How did you do it? I'm sure Black Mask is dying to know." The former Red Hood gestured to the other bosses; whose arms were crossed towards Maroni.

He grunted in pain, "It… A con we pull some… sometimes. Red Hood. Steals things we need… Seems random, throws cops off the trail. We grab a worker that knows his way around Ace Chemicals, make him the Hood… Thought the Bat killed your humorless-!"

The knife came down this time, taking off Maroni's ear! Blood began accumulating on the counter, sputtering around the head and some managing to reach the floor. "I said, revelations are at the END!"

"Was… planning on using the chemicals… Sionis Steel Mill… Two in one go."

The bartender let the Italian go, pushing him off the stool and sending him to the floor.

"Let's give a big round of applause to Macaroni, here! He was such a good sport with the truth serum I doused on his cup!" The bartender began laughing loudly now, pulling the blanket off his head and tossing it to where the Italian's stool was. His green hair, white skin, and now red lips painted in such a way the lipstick extended past his lips and painted the scarring on his cheeks. A permanent smile.

Penguin laughed with him, "I ain't never seen a serum do a thing like that! Where'd you get it from… Red Hood, was it?"

"Oh, please, that was my father's name!" The green haired man jumped on the counter, so he was sitting on top of it before he giggled, "My boys here call me the Joker."

"Well, Joker," Black Mask began, "Before we begin discussing the deal you mentioned, we gotta confirm one thing. You killed our men, right?"

"Y-your men! Hahahaha! That's funny."

"What's so funny, freak?"

"Well, from what I understood, those men you claimed as 'yours' were running their mouths off to ol' Maroni here!" Before Penguin could laugh at Sionis, the clown turned to him, "Same goes for yours, Cobblepot."

"Eh?" The Penguin jolted back, then pointed at Maroni, "What about his blokes, then? Don't tell me you was killin' our men spying on him, too!"

"Heavens, no! I'm not an animal!" Joker slid over the countertop, so he was now on the boss' side. He shuffled over to Maroni who was struggling to pull himself toward the exit. The clown grabbed the acidic hand, which was still dripping. He placed the hand on the opposite shoulder, burning his way past the suit and shirt mumbling something before responding to the others, "They were talking to the good cops. You know, the ones that would rather crash our parties uninvited and make a ruckus of the place!"

Black Mask cocked an eyebrow to the clown, "So, what do you want for us? If what you say is true, I can't imagine you did all that for nothing."

The Joker nodded, grinning back at them, "At first, it was a simple revenge thing. But, I realized there was a greater goal I had to seize and I will need some help from some good friends of mine. Although, I'm not exactly sure what I want yet. After all…" He let go of the arm, taking hold of the other and pulling on it while pushing off Maroni's body. The crime boss seethed in pain, no longer able to manage a full scream. The arm snapped, then when it was twisted the tendons began snapping. Tears were rolling down the mob boss' cheeks. The arm finally tore off which Joker slung over his shoulder, ignoring the blood dripping on the white shirt, "…I still don't know where the Batman ran off to."