Entrance Exam time! The quarter have their work cut out for them, with Nezu expecting much of them...and maybe switching the exam up just a little bit.


Ochako would normally be much more nervous about tomorrow, it being the entrance exam and all, but right now? She really couldn't find it in her to be nervous. The quartet of friends had decided to have a night hanging out together, the two girls crashing at the Bakugo's for the night. Mitsuki and Masaru were out on business, so the four had the house to themselves.

For all the fact they were unsupervised teenagers, they were dedicated to being prepared, so they hadn't done anything wild. Merely cooked a lovely dinner (well, the boys did), and had sat down to watch some movies together. Katsuki had left earlier though, insistent on his bedtime being exactly nine like some old man, leaving the two girls and Izuku to watch a couple more before heading to bed themselves

Which was how Ochako found herself in the position she was. She was snuggled into Izuku's side, her head resting on his shoulder as his arm was wrapped around her opposite one. Curled up on their laps was Himiko, the blonde girl's head laying in Ochako's lap and her lower body over Izuku's. Ochako had her free hand buried in Himiko's hair, gently running her fingers through it as Himiko quietly purred. She noted Izuku's free hand was resting on Himiko's lower leg, nothing inappropriate, just simply laying there and holding it gently.

Moments like this had somehow become more common over the last three months before the exam, times when the three of them found themselves tangled together. Sometimes they had Katsuki with them, but the boy wasn't entirely comfortable with that level of touch and preferred his personal space. Though he'd often just be a foot or so away, still with them, still part of the group, just not quite as cuddly.

On some level Ochako understood his reasoning. He never lied to them about how he felt about touch, the fact he was always cautious about it due to his sweat getting to places that wouldn't be safe for others. But she also knew, from the way he'd look at Izuku and his gaze would soften just a tiny bit, how he'd study her and Himiko, like he was waiting for them to do something wrong, that he really was trying to encourage…whatever this was. What this was was something she wasn't quite ready to say out loud, but…

"Hey Izu? Himi?" Izuku turned to her, arching an eyebrow as Himiko, eyes closed, gave out an assenting sound to indicate she was listening. Ochako gave a soft, small smile, one unlike her normal sunshine grins, and spoke into the quiet of the late night. "After the exam…I have something I want to talk to you two about, if that's okay?"

Himiko's eyes flickered open at that, rolling over slightly so instead of being curled inward towards the two of them and their body heat she was laying flat as she looked up at Ochako with a searching gaze. Izuku's look was almost blank, but there was a sense she got from his wide, guileless eyes that he understood what she wasn't saying.

"Okay 'Chako. That's good with me. I…wanted to talk to you two about something as well. After the exam," Himiko said quietly.

Izuku nodded slowly. "Y-Yeah. Sure. We can talk. But it is kind of late. Maybe we should get ready for bed? Tomorrow's going to be a big day."

Himiko stretched, arching her back and spreading her arms and legs out wide, barely avoiding smacking the two others in the face. Her mouth opened in a wide yawn, eyes blinking slowly. "Fine, but only if you carry me!"

Izuku rolled his eyes fondly and shared an exasperated glance with Ochako, the brunette's smile slightly wider. He lifted her in his arms with ease, the training he'd gone through making it so the fit Himiko was barely an afterthought of weight in his arms. Ochako stood with him, following behind him as he carried Himiko to the guest room that had been setup for the girls, already having some of their personal effects from how often they stayed over.

As he lay Himiko down gently, the blonde smirked at him. "Gonna tuck me in too?"

"Behave," he admonished her, tapping her on the nose with his own smirk. Ochako chuckled as Himiko playfully snapped at his finger, clacking her fangs together loudly as she did so. The brunette rolled her eyes as she clambered into her side of the bed, letting out a quiet 'oof' as Himiko immediately latched onto her side and cuddled her aggressively. She shared another commiserating glance with the standing Izuku, the green-haired boy taking pity on her and lifting the blanket she now couldn't quite reach and placing it over the two of them.

Himiko giggled, having gotten what she wanted, Ochako shushing her fondly. Izuku stepped to the door, flicking the lightswitch to turn off the lights and began to shut the door, but not before stopping and looking back at the two girls. "Goodnight, Ochako, Himiko. See you tomorrow morning. Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams Izuku, see you in the morning," Ochako replied.

"Mmhmm, g'night Izu. Get sleep, we're gonna kick ass tomorrow," Himiko muttered, her voice already muffled and fuzzy as she began to drift off swiftly. Izuku gave the two one last smile, before shutting the door and heading off to his own room.


Katsuki cracked his knuckles and grinned, standing before the testing grounds entrance. The quartet had arrived together and taken their test (with Katsuki still snickering at how Izuku had managed to trip within the first ten seconds of entering UA, saved from an embarrassing fall by Ochako's Quirk), and then ended up in the auditorium with Present Mic explaining the rules. After breaking Izuku out of his fanboying over the hero, the four had compared cards and realized they'd all been sent to different testing grounds. Izuku figured this was to separate those from the same school, to prevent them from teaming up. Which was fine with Katsuki…he wanted them all to do their best, but he also wanted to shine by himself, and intended on it.

Some uptight punk had yelled at them for talking quietly and lambasted Present Mic for the 'mistake' in the exam parameters brochure, but Mic had explained the premise of the Zero Pointer. Idly, Katsuki wondered how hard it would be to blow up, but dismissed that. Points were what mattered and he was going to get them. Not only that, with the opponents being robots, he only had to be careful he didn't hit the other examinees…he could go all out on the robots. He was looking forward to showing off what he'd been able to learn over the past ten months, especially the final three.

Sir Nighteye may have been a slave driver, but damn if the man didn't know his Quirk training. Between Izuku's ideas and new Quirk vision (they really needed to come up with some badass name for it), Katsuki had been able to pretty much perfect his Stun Grenade and Howitzer Impact moves, and was working on a new shot he called AP Shot, something with a much smaller explosive radius but would drill through armor and shields much easier. And finally, he now could pretty much fly without issue, able to maneuver in the air quickly enough even Izuku with his barriers he flipped around on couldn't quite match his speed (though it was close).

And now, now he was ready to fucking prove himself to the world, to UA, and to All Might, making sure the hero knew he hadn't made a mistake when choosing to train all four of them. They'd separated at the busses, and Katsuki demanded the other three promise him they'd pass. He intended all four of them to live up to his promise to Toshinori, top four spots in the exam. The written exam had been easy, the studying they'd done paid off. Now it was time.

He glanced about, taking in his fellow competitors. None of them really stood out to him much, save the one redhead with the very spiky hair who was practically vibrating in excitement. He couldn't see many details of the other boy, with his back turned, but the hair was rather eye-catching. He shrugged internally, dismissing him from his mind. He had a test to beat, just as soon as-

"And start!" came the shout from the proctor (Snipe, his mind reminded him). Katsuki wasted no time, throwing his hands back and rocketing into the air and over the other students. He'd let them have the first robots around the gate, he wanted to be free to let loose. He launched himself rapidly down the street, the sudden rush of other students fading into the background as he saw a group of bots just ahead. He smiled wide, his teeth bared, as he rocketed into the group of them.

Slamming into the ground with an explosion empowered punch, the concrete cracked around him and flew up, clipping some of the bots. He cackled and spun in place, arms akimbo, and blasted explosions out, breaking each one around him into scrap metal. "Pathetic," he remarked to himself as he glanced about at the smoking ruins. "Too easy." With a grin, he rocketed back up into the air, looking for his next victims.


Okay, this wasn't actually that hard, Himiko mused as she ran across another rooftop, leaping down onto a crumbling fire escape. She bounced down to the ground, almost flipping from wall to wall, before she fell into a roll. Coming up from her roll, she threw two pieces of pointed scrap metal she'd grabbed early on, easily bullseyeing the two robots before her in the bright red 'eye' they had, sending them into shutdown mode.

She'd been really worried when she heard the opponents were robots, considering her Quirk wasn't really suited for it. But once she realized how weak they were, how easily she could break them just with her base strength and a couple pieces of scrap she grabbed as they went, she lost all worry. She was faster than most of the examinees by far, and her ability to scale the walls as quickly as she could let her get far ahead of them, finding groups by herself and tackling them without issue.

And it wasn't like her Quirk was no help, she just was…waiting until she needed it. Izuku had been right…kind of. She could use other people's Quirks, but it was very limited. She couldn't use One For All at all, nor could she really use Izuku's original Quirk because it required her to absorb energy, and by the time she grabbed enough, the transformation would time out. For Katsuki's, it worked, but it was much much weaker than his.

However…Ochako's, that one she could use at about what Ochako's limit was before they started their ten months of hell. Izuku had theorized on what the major difference was between Katsuki and Ochako, and he had come up with a theory…but when he'd said it, even she was too flustered to let him continue down that train of thought and no one spoke about it again. Not until after the exam, they were going to pack that away and not touch it until it was all done.

She shook her head to clear it. Not the time to get wrapped up in her own mind. She looked around for her next bot, scanning quickly. Not seeing anything, and hearing some examinees approaching the area she was in, she ran to the nearest building and began to scale it again, looking to get a better vantage point.


Ochako was grinning widely, not entirely unlike Katsuki (although if you pointed that out she'd likely try to punt you into the stratosphere), but she couldn't help it! This was actually fun! After ten months of training, now she was finally putting it into practice, and with the help of Izuku's knowledge and Nighteye's training, she had become an expert at using her Quirk in practically any direction, matching the force of gravity. Now she could even do it vertically, horizontally, diagonally, any direction she chose, she simply had to touch the object.

Since she couldn't bring any items into the fray with her, she hadn't been able to bring a rope or line of some kind to use the other technique she'd gotten a handle on, but she didn't need it once she ripped a cable out of one of the two pointers (to the consternation of the examinees around her, witnessing the sunshine smiling brunette rip into a robot and pull out it's internals without breaking a sweat). Now she was flinging it about as she went, crushing robots left and right with simply the cable in her hands.

Tapping herself on the wrist, she leapt up, getting to a higher vantage point. She didn't bother landing on the nearby rooftops, instead, gripped the roof edge as she passed it and redirected herself, looking like she'd practically flipped over the rooftop as she spun to the other side. Though her stomach was getting nauseous between the spinning and her own Quirk, she only had to hold it for a few seconds at a time and she could manage that no problem.

She spotted two three pointers by themselves. Grinning even wider than before, she snatched up a couple pieces of rubble on top of the roof and flung them at the two robots, launching herself off the roof and releasing her Quirk as she went. Though both robots noticed the coming rubble and shot it out of the air, they didn't react in time to her falling on top of the one. She landed on one knee, inwardly wincing at the impact, but didn't let it slow her down. She removed gravity on the one she landed one, grabbing it with her other hand and leaping to the ground with it in her arms. Spinning once for momentum, she smashed it into the other bot, giggling as the two broke into pieces. She rolled her shoulders, taking a quick breather, before running forward, looking for her next target.


Izuku wouldn't be surprised to know that all four of them had been using the same basic tactic…get to a high point, find a space with few other examinees and more robots free roaming, and drop in on them to get the points. Nighteye had been very insistent about the idea of gathering intel in any battle, so it should have come to no surprise that they'd take advantage of that. And it being an urban environment would help Himiko immensely, as she'd been practicing endlessly her parkour abilities to traverse cities with ease.

He mused to himself that it almost felt unfair…few of the other examinees could keep up with him, and he assumed the same of his friends. Their training was showing, as very few others seemed to be keeping pace. The one blue-haired boy who'd shouted at them in the auditorium seemed to be doing fine (considering the engines in his legs that made Izuku want to reach for a notebook), but otherwise few were standing out.

Almost idly, he formed a glowing green disc in hand, the edges sharpened down to a millimeter, before throwing it like a discus at an approaching three pointer. The razor sharp energy construct cleaved through the metal like a hot knife through butter, dissipating into nothingness moments later at Izuku's mental will. One of the new abilities he'd been able to unlock with Nighteye's help, now that he understood how One For All impacted his original Quirk.

As far as the two of them could puzzle out, while he was still limited to his own energy pool (which he could grow slowly over time with effort, but it was still rather slow growth), One For All seemed to act as a cost reduction in the energy expended. Now, what would cost him a good five or ten percent would barely be half a percent at best, at least for smaller constructs like the disc. Making more complex constructs or larger ones drained a larger proportional amount, but he wasn't in danger when he did it, only if he overdid it (which his three friends were very insistent he never do).

He still could only hold a few constructs open at once, which included the platforms he used for movement. Right now, he was limited to six total, but he was close to getting a seventh he was sure of it. And his constructs were pretty limited to objects that didn't have moving parts…making a sword or staff was no issue, but he couldn't form a launcher for the discs, and while he could form a 'bow', he couldn't make the 'string' move which basically made the concept useless. But the discs were fine enough for a mid-range attack.

Not that he needed a ranged attack right now, considering what else the now eighteen percent of One For All he could use safely. His fists and feet were crumbling the robots within seconds, and while it was clear the engine boy was faster on the ground than him in bursts, he could outmaneuver him by using his platforms to launch himself about. A loud crash down a dark alley had him glancing to the left, seeing a trio of bots closing in on a tall, slender, purple haired boy holding a broken piece of pipe and snarling. He stood protectively in front of another examinee, a blonde boy with a weird grin and thumbs up who was swaying in place.

Izuku didn't hesitate, slamming his foot down onto the ground and sending a line of green energy along the ground rapidly. As the line reached right before the purple-haired boy, he called up a barrier, a much larger one than normal, internally wincing as he felt his pool drain further, but blocking the multiple lasers that were being fired at the two boys. The bots apparently noticed him, spinning about and firing at him instead. He ducked beneath the shots as he dropped the barrier, rolling forward and leaping up at the tail end of the roll, spinning about with a kick as the green lightning of One For All sparked across his skin.

He smashed one into the other, sending the two of them careening into the wall. A loud clang behind him made him glance back, seeing the panting purple-haired boy having slammed the pipe into the red 'eye' of the third bot, disabling it. Izuku took in a breath, swiping at his forehead. He nodded his head to the blonde boy still swaying in the back.

"What's up with him?"

Purple hair shrugged. "No clue. Found him wandering around like this."

Izuku wanted to try to puzzle it out, but the exam was still going on. He wasn't entirely sure what to do though…he couldn't just leave the blonde. And the purple haired boy had sacrificed his weapon to stop the third bot. Izuku switched on his Quirk vision…even if he couldn't see the color, he could still see the 'shape' of the energy. And that was some weird energy he witnessed…sparking and cracking, reminding Izuku of lightning (and no, he was not internally cringing away from the thought). But weirdly, it seemed oddly faded, disjointed, dull. Hmm.

"Let me try something," Izuku said. Purple hair just arched an eyebrow at him, his stoic expression slightly ruined by how hard he was breathing, but he made no move to stop Izuku. Izuku grabbed the blonde by the shoulder and tried giving him just a small jolt of energy. The jolt seemed to snap into the boy, his energy jumping into action and brightening up almost immediately. The weird smile and fogged eyes faded as the blonde shook his head rapidly, one hand reaching up to rub at his temple.

"Aww man, did I overdo it again?" the blonde said plaintively, almost whining.

"Hell if I know, you were just acting like an idiot and almost got hurt. I was trying to get you back to the gate but we got trapped by the robots, " the purple haired one deadpanned.

"Yeah, but he protected you! Good job, um…I didn't catch your name?" Izuku said, grinning weakly at the purple-haired one.

He stared back blankly at Izuku, before sighing. "Shinso. And you saved us, so don't give me your pity. I couldn't beat back all three of them."

"I'm Midoriya! Don't say it like that, I couldn't do anything if you hadn't kept him safe as long as you did."

"I'm Kaminari! Thanks guys, I woulda been lost if it weren't for you! But we should get back to blowing up these bots! We can catch up after the exams over!" the blonde boy interjected with a big smile.

"He's not wrong. We should get going," Shinso said.

Izuku nodded. He paused for a moment, before reaching down into the broken bot and pulling out the remainder of the broken pipe Shinso had been using. Concentrating, green energy flowed from his hands onto the pipe and beyond it, spinning about and spiraling until it formed into a blade-like shape, the pipe acting like a hilt. He spun it once in hand, nodded, then held it out to the confused Shinso. "Here! I'm guessing your Quirk isn't super combat oriented if you were using this. Kind of unfair for UA to rely on combat tests for the exam, but whatever. This could help!"

Shinso's confusion faded as he narrowed his eyes at Izuku. "I don't need pity," he said, his voice barely above a growl.

"It's not pity. I know how much pity sucks. It's just trying to even up the playing field…and you really were heroic, trying to defend Kaminari when he was helpless. No harm in accepting help, right?"

Shinso's expression didn't change much, but it softened just enough for Izuku to notice (well used to Katsuki's resting angry face and microexpressions). He sighed and grabbed the pipe from Izuku's hand. "Fine. Enough talk then. We have an exam to get through."

"You got it Shinso! Thanks again, I'll pay you back someday!" Kaminari shouted, running out of the alleyway into the fray.

Izuku nodded at him. "Good luck with the rest of the test!" Not waiting for a reply, he forced a platform beneath his feet and leapt straight up, deciding to go back into the rooftops for a new vantage point.


"What an interesting batch we have this year, don't you think?" Nezu said to his fellow instructors, taking a sip of tea as his eyes remained locked on the varied monitors.

"Hmph. Half of them stumbled over each other at the start. I'm not impressed," Aizawa, known as the pro hero Eraserhead, remarked.

"Perhaps, but some of them have shown remarkable combat ability," Cementoss said, pointing to the screen showing Katsuki currently wrecking another horde of robots with a cackle.

"That's at best one tenth of what it means to be a good hero. We need to see much more to know how well he can do," Aizawa shot back.

"Hmm, that young man there helped two other examinees in that one alleyway. Midoriya, was it?" Midnight remarked. "He seems to have decent instincts."

"Perhaps. But it was also reckless, and he gave something to the one who looks like a purple Sho. I still can't tell what it is though, looks like a support item, but he's got no papers for any other than some type of monitor," Present Mic commented.

"Oh it was no item, Mic. That is one aspect of his Quirk, the ability to form energy into small constructs," Nezu replied.

"Ah, you know him Principal?" Cementoss asked.

"Oh yes, he and his three friends, of whom you can see the monitors there, there, and there," Nezu pointed to three screens showing Katsuki, Ochako, and Himiko, "visited UA a few months back due to extenuating circumstances with their education."

"Oh that's right, I remember them! We signed a notebook for the blonde boy and those two girls!" Midnight smacked her fist into her palm.

"Yes, it was for Midoriya, he likes to analyze Quirks. I found his ideas…interesting."

A collective shudder went through the room at the small traces of excitement in the headmaster's voice. Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the white-furred mammal. "No taking over the world while I'm still teaching. At least let me quit before you start."

"Now now Aizawa, no need to be so concerned. I have no intentions on such things. I simply would like to learn more about the boy, assuming he gets in."

"He's doing very well, all things considered. I don't see many issues with his performance so far. Although, we haven't begun the real test yet," Cementoss said.

"Yes, that is true. Perhaps it is time to begin phase one of the new testing system, yes?"

"You're sure about this, Principal? You know the Board will throw a tantrum if they realize you changed the test without consulting them."

"Oh, I'm not worried. Our newest teacher gave me enough clout to let them have five minutes of fame and they will kowtow without issues just for the sake of looking like they were part of the decision making process."

"Whelp, then guess it's about that time to send in the 'victims'. Hit 'em up, Majima," Snipe shrugged, looking over at the hero Power Loader.

"Sending the signal…now."


'The fucks that noise?' Katsuki asked himself, confused. He'd taken a moment to stop breaking more villain bots, and somewhere nearby there was someone…crying? Did one of the examinees get hurt? Ah fuck, if he didn't check on them Izuku would be on his ass for not 'helping'. And he guessed it wouldn't be heroic to ignore someone in trouble, even though it made little sense. This might be an exam but accidents happen.

He launched himself into the air once more, wincing slightly at the ever growing ache in his arms and shoulders. He'd been at this continuously for longer than he normally was, Nighteye tended to stop him to give pointers periodically. Orienting himself midair, he shot towards the noise, which was on the next street over. As he flew over, he noticed…the red-haired boy from earlier? Standing in front of a store front, arms raised, as multiple villain bots shot at him, their lasers seeming almost to deflect off his strangely angular shaped physique.

Katsuki wasn't the type to hesitate, and this was no exception. He rocketed out of the sky into the back of the bots, sweeping his arms out wide to use his explosions to clear some space, sending the ones directly to his left and right flying. The red head looked up at him in shock, his face angled and rocky, throwing Katsuki off but only for a moment. Swiftly, he leapt into action, demolishing another three bots.

He clocked the redhead taking up the other two on the left, covering his back, and decided to trust the other examinee for the moment, moving with precision, trusting him to have his back. It only took another thirty seconds or so before the remaining bots were thrashed, Katsuki letting his arms drop and breathing heavily. He wiped at his brow, annoyed at the sweat practically rolling off him as he turned to the redhead, only to freeze in place.

The redhead's angular face and arms had dropped, instead, leaving a brilliant white smile, sharp teeth, and red eyes the same shade as his brilliant red hair. His shirt was ripped open, revealing a washboard stomach and toned chest to rival Katsuki's own. But it was the teeth, sharp and sharklike, with a sunshine grin that was somehow familiar and different. Idly Katsuki's mind drifted off to those teeth biting-nope we are not fucking thinking about that right now!

"That was manly as hell, the way you shot in and blew up those bots! Freaking awesome man!" the redhead cheered, his enthusiasm practically rolling off him in waves.

"Y-yeah, well, of course it was, I'm that fucking awesome!" Katsuki sputtered, trying to get his balance back. He didn't know why this guy was throwing him off, he wasn't the first hot guy he'd met but dammit he had to get his head in the game! Shaking his head to clear it, he asked "Were you the one crying?"

"Nope, it was this kid here!" the redhead pointed behind him, into the wrecked storefront he was standing in front of. Katsuki glanced past him, seeing a small, brown-haired boy in a white shirt standing there, crying, rubbing at his eyes.

'Fuck,' Katsuki cursed internally. He wasn't great with kids. And how did a kid get here anyways?! Ugh. Okay, he had to deal with this asap.

"Hey uh, kid? You uh…okay?"

"H-hic, n-no, I got l-lost and I can't find my mommy and there were these scary robots and and and-"

"Woah now there kiddo, it's okay, we got you," the other boy. "My names Kirishima, I'll keep you safe!"

"Kirishima?!" Katsuki echoed, incredulous.

Kirishima turned back to look at him and blink. "Yeah?"

"That's my best friend's doctor's name, the one who helped him after he got hurt."

Kirishima grinned. "Yeah, my mama is a great doctor! I can't believe you met her, haha! Small world!"

"Um, Misters?" the kid asked, his gaze affixed over the buildings down the street.

"Sup?" Katsuki asked, looking back at the kid. The kid didn't speak, pointing in the direction he was looking. As Katsuki and Kirishima turned to look, their eyes went wide.

"That's the fucking zero pointer?!" Katsuki shouted, jaw dropped as he saw the building sized robot begin to trample the buildings down the street. He picked up on screams from the other examinees, and the loud sound of stampeding people as they fled from the massive robot.

"Bro, we best get moving, and quickly," Kirishima said, his body reflexively hardening out of concern.

Katsuki glanced at the kid, frozen in terror, and back up at the approaching robot. He looked back at the fleeing students, noticing some were moving very slow, clearly exhausted and unable to really run. With a deep sigh, he let a feral grin overtake his face. He looked back at the redhead. "Grab the kid. I'm gonna slow that thing down."

Kirishima's eyes went wide, his arm reached out to grab Katsuki's arm, but the blonde took a couple half running steps away before launching himself off the ground, narrowing his explosions as tightly as he could to avoid sending any spray back at the two others. Not his best idea, but he didn't need to defeat it, just delay it…okay who was he kidding, he wanted to blow the fucking thing up but he wasn't stupid and wouldn't go nuts if he couldn't. But he sure as hell was going to try!

As he flew at the zero pointer, he took stock of his condition. His arms hurt, pain radiating through them in such a way he found himself flinching every time he launched another blast. He had sweat so much he was pretty sure he was dehydrated. His shoulders felt like they were going to rip off his body. He could barely catch his breath, his heart was beating as rapidly as he'd ever felt it.

Katsuki had never felt more alive! His feral grin stretched further as he saw the bot approaching rapidly, its glaring red 'eye' zeroed in on his form. Katsuki spared a glance back, making sure all the other examinees were out of the bot's range. Seemingly safe, he decided it was time, he could finally let loose.

His arms shot out to the sides and he began to rotate, blast after blast after blast propelling him faster and faster and faster, the winds picking up around him, drawn in by his motions and spiraling. His eyes were alight, burning red as he stared at the robot before him, teeth bared and snarling, rotating faster and faster and faster! As the bot's arm came up to try to swat him from the sky, he reared back with his right and thrust forward, every ounce of his explosive force coming to his call.

"Howitzer…IMPACT!" he roared, the force slamming into the zero pointer, a massive burst of flame and smoke flaring out in all directions. The groaning of metal a cacophony of sound as he hit, his own eyesight practically blinded by the sunburst he'd just let off. But he never took for granted his strikes, and it was a good thing he didn't. He felt the air moving rapidly, not caused by himself, and with his right currently in absolute agony, he used his left to launch himself higher, barely being missed by the bot's other arm swinging where he had been.

He could see he'd nearly ripped the zero pointers left arm off, but the other one was still functioning. He snarled at the bot, rearing back to throw another explosion when the sound of a bell rang out across the battlefield.


"Nope nope nope nope," Himiko chanted as she bolted across another rooftop, a small girl in her arms and a purple-haired examinee with earphone-like jacks dangling from her ears clutching her back. Himiko had stumbled across the other examinee while she was trying to carry the little girl to safety, having hurt her leg diving in between the child and a villain bot. Himiko had disabled the bots still there, and though they were about to begin introductions (and questions of how the hell that kid got there!), that's when they noticed the zero pointer heading towards them.

"It's getting closer!" the purple-haired girl shouted in Himiko's ear, the blonde gritting her teeth as she leapt across another gap.

"I can see that, thank you very much!" she hissed back. Carrying two people and running full speed, even if one was a kid, was not exactly easy for her, even with all her training. Unlike a lucky, muscular, hot, green-haired boy she knew, she did not have any strength based Quirk powers, and she was already exhausted from the exam. She noticed a fire escape to her left and ran for it, figuring if they got to the ground maybe they'd find other examinees and be able to do something.

She practically flew down the escape, skipping half the steps and just accepting the very painful aches in her knees as she landed roughly, almost falling down but managing to keep her balance. She spotted a tall, multi-limbed boy with a mask on his face staring at the zero pointer as he fled, and tried to catch up to him, shouting at him to get his attention. One of his arms popped open an eyeball on the end of it and turned to face her, another opening a mouth as it spoke.

"Are you okay?!" the boy shouted, still running as Himiko tried to pace him.

"I-I am," she gasped, glancing back at the steadily gaining building sized robot. "B-but she hurt her leg and we found this kid! Can you take them?"

The tall boy reached out a half-dozen arms, snatching the child and the other girl off Himiko's back. "That's fine, do you need a lift as well? I can probably carry you too."

Himiko waved him off, gasping for air. "No, no. I need to slow that fucking thing down before someone else gets hurt. Just run, I'll try to distract it. Go!" Before either of the other examinees could speak, she'd already begun climbing up the nearest building to the roof. As she got to the top, she glanced over at the now very close giant robot. She bit her lip, unsure what she could do to distract it, but…she had to try. She glanced down to see the multi-armed boy running, now carrying a third examinee as the purple-haired one was apparently blasting robots away with soundwaves (since the villain bots hadn't stopped acting just because the zero pointer was moving, but with the fleeing examinees more people were getting hurt).

Okay. They had this. She just had to somehow get a building sized robot to ignore them. Well…she was an expert at ticking people off after all…Himiko smiled, showing her fangs at the zero pointer, before running towards it, looking for the closest roof near it.

As she got to the building it was about to pass, she glanced over to its swinging arms, mentally calculating the distance. She knew it was too far for her to leap, but…She bolted across the rooftop, calling upon her Quirk, upon the blood she'd tasted more than any other, that of a certain lovely brunette with a sunshine grin. She felt her form shift, her body morphing to match the blood of the first person she'd ever fallen for. With the patented grin of Ochako on her face, she tapped her arm, feeling the nausea take hold as soon as she did but ignoring it, launching herself off the rooftop and towards the zero pointer.

It didn't even seem to notice her as she flew over the nearest arm, reaching out to latch onto its chest with one of the sharpened pieces of metal she carried, giving her just enough grip to catch it. She flung herself up its front, using the combination of Ochako's Quirk and the sharp metal she carried to almost run up it. As she reached the head of the bot, she grinned at its glaring red eye.

"Hey, anyone home?" she giggled, tapping on the optic. When it failed to react, she tapped harder, this time with the sharp metal in hand. She didn't bother waiting for any further response, rearing back and with all her might trying to shove the scrap into the spot where the optic met the socket, feeling it dig in just enough to give a tiny bit of purchase.

That seemed to get its attention, the massive machine groaning as one of its arms began to reach up to try to smack into her. Exactly what she was waiting for. She felt the familiar sensation of her Quirk sliding off her and shifted as quickly as she could into another form, the spiky blonde hair of Katsuki taking form. Though she could not use his Quirk well…she still could use it. And she had been sweating a lot.

The explosion she let off had little force or flame, but what it had was light and smoke and enough force to propel her up and over the robot's head, blinding it just enough that it smacked itself with its own hand. She giggled, her giggle sounding odd coming from Katsuki's form, but it was enough for her as she landed on the back of the robot, just behind its head. She was about to dance around to the front once more to try to keep it focused on her, but a loud ringing bell made her wince and nearly lose her balance, the robot ceasing to move as the bell went off.


"How the hell do we distract this thing again?!" the pink-skinned girl shouted as she threw globs of some type of grayish fluid at her feet, skating along down an alleyway next to the fleeing Ochako.

"I don't know but we can't let it reach the others!" the brunette shouted back. "I've no idea where those twins came from but those two boys should be able to keep them safe if we can keep the big one on us!"

"You're nuts!...which is kinda cool," the pinkette said, a tired smile on her face.

Any response Ochako wanted to give was interrupted by a loud crash behind her, the building to their right being smashed by the massive tank treads of the zero pointer. She wracked her mind for a solution, as while they had it's attention there was no guarantee they could keep it.

She thought back to her friends and what they would do in this scenario…Katsuki would try to blow it up, Himiko would try to taunt it, and Izuku would do something self-sacrificial that she'd want to strangle him for. Yep. That's who she chose to spend her time with. Okay, this wasn't helping. She shook her head to clear it as she ran, breath escaping her lungs in puffs as she silently thanked Toshinori and Nighteye for their insistence on stamina training.

As she scanned the area, she saw ahead of them one of the large pieces of a wall that the zero pointer had smashed, just off to their left. Glancing at it, thinking of her friends, thinking of how she needed to keep the zero pointer on her and not the others…oh fuck it. "You go on ahead, I have a plan!" she shouted to the pink-skinned girl with the glittering black eyes, the other girl opening her mouth to protest but not getting the chance as Ochako veered off towards the rubble.

She gripped it with her fingers, allowing her 'normal' method of force manipulation to take effect, reducing its gravity (yes she knew now that wasn't exactly what she was doing but damn it, this was easier to think about!). It was definitely on the upper end of her limit, the familiar roiling in her stomach taking effect and making her clench her jaw, but it should be enough. With a loud growl, she spun about, the massive piece of wall she'd gripped following along as she completed a full rotation to gain momentum, and then launched it towards the zero pointer.

The rubble smashed into the giant machine's lower body, just above it's tank treads, and though it did not seem damaged, it sure got its attention on Ochako. Which she grinned proudly about for a brief moment, until she noticed it coming full steam ahead at her and her eyes went wide. Well, she accomplished goal one…what was goal two? Right…somehow delay it?

As she scrambled away from the machine, she tried to focus on what she could do. Launching rubble would keep its attention but not really do much to it. And it was way above her ability to float or crush it. She couldn't even slow it down…or could she?

Even to this day and with Nighteye and Izuku's help, her Quirk could stubbornly be inconsistent. Sometimes she could touch someone's clothing and only float the clothes, other times she was able to float the entire person without even touching their skin. Their best theory was it was all subconscious, that her desire was letting her selectively choose what she affected with her power. Nighteye tried desperately to train her to have conscious control over it, but at best she could just want it really really hard and it would maybe do what she wanted.

But if she could choose what her Quirk was impacting…maybe…for the second time during this exam, she decided…oh fuck it. Instead of running away, she bolted towards the bot, grabbing the loop of cable she'd wrapped around her belt off it, letting it trail behind her as she prepared to try another crazy idea she was pretty sure her friends would strangle her for. Izuku was probably a bad influence on her.

As she neared its tank treads, she dodged to the side, wanting to be out of its direct path. She pulled her arm back, focusing, concentrating, demanding her Quirk work the way she wanted. She whipped her arm forward, the cable flinging out to touch onto the machine's treads and she pulled down, her will focused on the idea of increasing weight onto just the giant tank tread on its left that let it move about.

It was just like the first time she tried to increase force on an object. Her stomach violently rebelled and she felt bile force its way up her throat, practically spilling out of her lips as she trembled internally. But she refused to let go, she could feel it taking effect as the machine stuttered in place, the treads slowing, creaking, the sound of metal shearing and groaning echoing out into the air. The street beneath her feet crackled and grumbled, the concrete buckling.

With a loud, echoing crash, the street beneath the zero pointers left tread broke, the machine tipping sideways as its 'foot' fell into the hole, sending the entire thing into the building next to it, the opposite direction as any of the fleeing examinees. Ochako fell to her knees, wiping at her mouth and the tears that had built up in her eyes, before shakily climbing to her feet. The fight wasn't over.

A loud bell ringing made her pause, looking up as the announcement rang out over the battlefield.


Izuku wasn't sure why there were children around, but he didn't think there was time to worry about the why so much as the getting them the hell out of dodge. He'd already passed a couple off to various other examinees (namely, the blue-haired boy who had lectured him in the auditorium) as he went searching for more, his ability to see Quirk's helping him locate them easier, but he had to assume there were others just in case. He was scanning about, not seeing anyone else, when he heard a loud exclamation of pain down the street to his right. He bolted down it, looking about for someone when he saw a brilliant white glow, a humanoid shape underneath that looked to be beneath some rubble.

Hissing in pain at the light, he flipped his vision off to see…nothing? What the hell?! He flipped it back on and…yep. Humanoid shape of glowing light. Off and nothing? Uh…"Hello? Is someone there?" he said, approaching the fallen piece of wall.

"Y-yes! My leg's trapped!" the higher, feminine voice cried out. He saw the dirt move as if someone was there, and it clicked. He flipped his vision back on and the brilliant white glow shifted to a more crystalline one, shimmering and shining as he realized she was invisible. Wow, that had so many applications! You could do so much with- "Um…are you still there?" the voice said, breaking him out of the muttering he had begun falling into.

"R-right! Hold on, let me move that-"

"Look out!" she cried out as a shadow fell over them both. He looked up, seeing the zero pointer arm coming screaming down at the two of them, his eyes going wide in panic. He threw his right arm up, forcing every ounce of power he could into a barrier, a translucent green dome forming over him and the trapped girl, his arm the focal point. He hissed in pain as the fist impacted, feeling it shoving him down, pushing him back, the barrier already cracking beneath the force.

He grit his teeth and poured more into it, the green dome now dripping, energy falling off it and his body like rain. He couldn't hold this for long, but he also couldn't lift the rubble like this…

"Hey!" shouted a voice, his gaze turning to see Shinso and Kaminari running towards him, the blonde waving rapidly.

He pointed to the rubble with his left, his teeth still grit and his voice strained as he held the barrier. "Help her!"

"Who?" Shinso asked, his worried gaze affixed to the machine Izuku was currently trying to hold back.

"Me!" the invisible girl shouted, scrabbling at the dirt again.

"She's invisible! Just move the wall please! I can't…hold this much longer!" Izuku shouted, straining, feeling the energy draining from his core. He could see his meter draining, ticking down, piece by piece. He poured One For All into his limbs, into his body, calling up the power over his whole body, green lightning sparking off his skin as red lines danced beneath it. He'd named the technique Full Cowling, which Katsuki had rolled his eyes at but said nothing more after it. It helped, a little, but he still knew the energy drain was going to get worse.

The other two boys were pulling, trying to lift the rubble as best they could but it was heavy, and neither of them had a strength based Quirk. Izuku noticed this, and realized this was not going to end well at this rate. He glanced up at the zero pointer, the machine still focused on him and trying to press him down. He felt his entire body creak with pressure, the pain he'd long dismissed from channeling his Quirk coming back as he snarled internally.

He cupped his left hand next to him and focused, creating a cylindrical barrier with a rounded bottom in his hand. The loud whistling of air caught the attention of the other three, visible signs of wind rushing into his hand and swirling at the bottom of the cylinder, the meter on his left wrist draining even faster. 60%...55%...50%...45%...

"The fuck are you doing?" Shinso shouted, his voice strained as he slammed his shoulder against the rubble, trying to leverage it up.

"Something really stupid!" he shouted back, focusing as much as he could on the barrier in his left hand. He'd tried smaller versions of this before, but nothing as focused and pressurized as this. With the way his Attraction property worked, he could choose what it attracted so long as he had a clear mental image of it. And he was choosing the air. By drawing in all nitrogen and oxygen around him, the most common gasses in the area and focusing it into a tiny area, not allowing it to spread, he was adding more and more and more pressure to it, giving it only one possible escape outlet once he released the attraction property.

When his hand began shaking from trying to hold the pressure, the barrier itself in his left cracking from the pressure, and the one above him even more strained, he thought this was probably his best chance. He lifted his left hand up, putting it just beneath the other barrier he had and mentally prepared. He had to change the Attraction property to Repulsion at the same time he dropped the Diffusion barrier he'd put up to protect him, and make sure the barrier in his left was very focused so it went the direction he intended. He didn't spare a glance at the others, but managed to growl out "Take cover!" before letting go.

Multiple things happened at once. The zero pointer's fist, clear from the barrier, came closer to him than he'd ever hoped. The pressurized air in his hand exploded out, the backlash dislocating his left shoulder and sending his entire body back, slamming him into the ground with an excruciating impact. He cried out in pain, nearly biting his tongue as he bounced off the concrete.

The air that exploded out sent the other two boys back, skidding along the concrete. It blew clouds of dust and dirt into the air. But most of all, it shot the entire machine's arm off, shearing the metal at the shoulder and sending the broken arm flying off into the distance, a loud crashing echoing from far away as it landed.

But Izuku noted the machine was still moving, still capable, and its red, glowing optics were focused down on his prone form. Gritting his teeth, he leapt to his feet, ignoring the pain radiating from his left. With a grunt, he heaved the rubble off the invisible girl, making sure to turn his vision back on so he could see her. With one hand, he gripped her shoulder and helped her to her feet, his mind dismissing how odd it was he didn't feel any fabric on her shoulder as he pushed her gently towards the other two boys.

"Take her and run. I got this," he said to them, wincing as his left arm dangled helplessly.

"You saved her, let's go!" Kaminari shouted, the odd view of him crouched as if an arm was thrown over his shoulder without the arm visible.

"Thing still can move, can't trust it not to trap someone else. Go!" he shouted. He didn't wait for a response, forcing repulsion barriers beneath his feet and crouching. With a thought, he sent energy flowing up his left, wrapping around it and trying to hold it in place so it stopped moving about. He didn't have the precision to shove it back in place, but at least he could hold it in place.

He leapt up, the force of the barriers combined with Full Cowling sending him rocketing into the sky, just barely above the Zero Pointer's head. He twisted in midair, forming a pair of vertical attraction barriers and letting his feet rest on them. He was now perpendicular to the ground, his knees crouched as he stared down at the glaring red 'eyes' of the massive machine. He noticed the machine's other arm moving towards him, almost as if in slow motion, but he did not care.

He took one deep breath in, cocking his right fist back. Like his left, he wrapped green energy around it, spiraling the barrier like some sort of reinforcement cloth, tightly snapping it to his skin. He ignored the insistent beeping of his bracelet, the color on the meter in the red (20%...18%...15%...).

He channeled every ounce of One For All into himself, the searing pain ignored in the moment as he shifted the attraction to repulsion and launched himself at the zero pointer. He smiled wide, a mental image of All Might in his mind as he decided to show homage to his mentor and the man who had slowly become another father figure in his life, roaring at the top of his lungs "SMASH!" as his fist slammed into the Zero Pointer's head.

The front of the machine bent inward, the entire upper body rocketing back as a multitude of explosions began to fire out from the robot, its internals overheating and reacting poorly to the impact. Izuku felt himself begin to fall, idly realizing that even with reinforcement, he'd definitely broken his right arm. The pain hadn't quite caught up to his mind, adrenaline flooding his form somewhat mitigating it as he fell.

Gritting his teeth, he glanced at his meter. 12%. Oh no. He could feel the blackness creeping into his vision. Okay. He could land and stay conscious, he totally could do that. He just had to be sparing with the barriers. Okay…five meters down, barrier. He hissed in pain as his legs hit it, but let the barrier go as soon as his momentum stopped.

Five meter fall, repeat, pain, let go, fall, repeat, more pain. 10%. Just a couple more, one or two more, fall, barrier, oh…he fell to his knees. Legs couldn't hold anymore. Vision was going dark again. But it was okay, he was only a few meters above the ground now, he could just go.

Izuku's body dropped from seven meters up, falling into the ground with a loud crash. He slumped to the side as his legs hit, managing to roll just enough to avoid breaking his legs. 9%. He let out a deep breath, hearing a ringing sound in his ears…oh wait, no, that was the sound of the test ending. That was okay. 9% wasn't heart stopping, just not great. He could feel his hold on the waking world slipping, but he was sure he'd be fine. Well…until his friends found out what he'd done.

But he couldn't let it go just yet. He had to know, had to see. He managed to lift his head off the ground just enough, eyes blurry, flickering his vision on and looking for the crystalline shimmer he'd seen before…oh, there it was, heading towards him, two more white glowing figures following behind in a hurry. And…ah, in the distance, the dark pink of Recovery Girl approaching him. Okay. He could let it go now…With that, Izuku slumped over, letting his head rest on the cool concrete and closing his eyes, falling into slumber…


Longest chapter I've written for this story yet, but I'm happy with how it turned out! We can see some of the ways the quartet have improved, both as people and as heroes, but there is much more to come. And I just wanted to have fun with them meeting some of their future classmates along the way!