"Guys, can't we talk this out?!" Izuku shouted.

Neither of the wolf-beasts in front of him were listening, as the Hunter-in-Darkness snapped at the flamboyant false Frenchman's throat and the latter held on to the former, keeping him just out of reach of anywhere dangerous but unable to push him off. The Hunter-in-Darkness growled something in the First Tongue at Izuku, but kept trying.

Aoyama tried to call on his fetish, but being in the world of the Shadow, the spirit was much stronger, much more insistent, and his entire body flared up in pain. Calling on his Agony Gifts once more, he focused them to let him endure it, until he got a better idea. The spirits had recently blessed him with a slightly stronger Gift, in recognition of his Purity.

He imagined his own pain transforming into a barbed arrow, as the visions showed him, and gathered his Essence to share his suffering with the Forsaken trying to rip his throat out. It worked.

The weak and impure slave of the Bitch-Mother whelped out in pain, involuntarily throwing itself before him. Wanting to smirk but too busy ignoring the agony that his Gifts were trying to stop from incapacitating him, he lifted his claws and was about to strike at the poor bastard's throat before the other one decided to stop wasting time talking and save his friend.

"Now why are deuce Forsaken dogs trying become fabulous Heroes? Sac re bleu, shouldn't you be trying to kill the Ridden of this world, not save them?"

"Don't you Pure hate humanity?" Izuku responded. "Don't you want to save the spirits from them?"

"Of course, mon ami, but figuring out why and how humanity has enslaved so many requires angesha in the right places at the right times."

As they argued, the light-spirit in his fetish finally decided to start cooperating again, allowing him to fire off a laser at the two. It missed, which was frustrating, and extracted an even greater toll of pain, so much that he had to extend even more Essence into his Agony Gifts to keep it from incapacitating him, which was more frustrating. When it struck into a technology-spirit and incited all of the others of its kind to turn toward them hungrily, he changed from frustrated to furious to terrified.

He didn't let that show on his face, of course; there was no glory in showing fear before the enemy, and he thought he could work on that Renown. If he survived, that was.

"Maybe we should return to the Skin World…" his distraction was enough for the black Urshu to leap back and grab his throat successfully this time. Aoyama tore at the brute with his claws, but the teeth remained firm, sinking deeper and deeper into the soft flesh of his neck.

The first technology-spirit to attack Izuku while the others were distracted ripping each other apart moved in a very bizarre way that he would have loved to analyze were it not trying to kill him at the moment. On one hand, it acted like a robot, jerky and mechanical. On the other, it was smooth and quick, able to jump about with ease. Thinking about it, Izuku realized that it represented the ideal of a robot, or how someone with only a vague understanding of mechanics might think a robot soldier would move.

Unfortunately, his own understanding of mechanics was insufficient to make use of that, so he instead shifted to Dalu and tried to dodge out of the way, utterly failing when the shift took longer than expected and he couldn't move fast enough. Mighty Wolf might have had a point about teaching himself not to dodge.

Some mystical imitation of electricity coursed through his body, causing him to vibrate violently like some cartoon character in a lightning storm and, to his dismay, shut down his healing factor. Mighty Wolf had really been making a good point about how dangerous his training style was. Not focusing on that for a minute, he glanced around, looking for something, anything, that could save him here.

All he saw were the two other Uratha, still too stuck in their mutual bloodshed to do anything about the group's predicament, and several competition-spirits coming to watch their fight. Maybe there was something he could do there…

"Who is the greatest here?" Izuku shouted out, then repeated the best he could remember of how that translated into the First Tongue. The miniature athletes that made up the nearest competition-spirit's body started running in unison, making Izuku think that it was getting revved up. "Ni gravul," the technology-spirit shouted, its voice sounding like it came from an outdated computer.

Not actually sure what that meant, Izuku turned to his fellow Uratha as the spirit knocked him to ground. Seeing that his fellow Forsaken had broken skin and was tearing into the Pure's throat, he shouted "Imru Ni Fir Imru!"

Koda heard Izuku's reminder of the Oath they had both taken, and shocked himself to looking at what he had done. He had only ever killed rabbits before, and felt guilty about it afterwards. Even when in the thrall of his hunter's instincts, with the hated enemy of his people beneath him, he didn't know how he would live with himself later if he had someone's blood on his hands. Or in his mouth, as he started to taste the coppery scent.

He had almost violated the one part of the Oath he found too disgusting at the time to even consider a future where he could break it, the one about not eating people. Instincts were powerful.

"What does 'Ni gravul' mean?" Izuku shouted at him, bringing him out of his stupor.

"Not important," he answered, before his anxiety kicked in as he realized how that could sound. "I don't mean your question, I mean, I mean, gravul means important, and Ni is a general negative…". He started shaking at the idea of having to explain something important to someone.

Izuku didn't look offended in the slightest. He merely nodded. "Got it."

He then tried to shout in the First Tongue at the spirit that was currently trying to kill him, saying that it was important; if the competition-spirits were greater, then the competition to destroy the robots in the Skin World mattered more. If the technology-spirits were greater, then the robots mattered more and the competition to destroy them must stop.

Koda was a bit impressed; this Izuku kid had managed to read the spirits' mindset and take advantage of it. Even knowing that Elodoth were meant to be better at that, it was something most Uratha, including Koda himself, struggled with.

"Who deserves to rule this territory?" Izuku asked, the only sentence in the First Tongue he spoke that wasn't riddled with grammar errors, and the one that really got his opponents thinking.

Ignoring the Uratha, the spirits turned on one another. Electricity and bits of metal flew as weapons from a technology-spirit, while a competition-spirit roared in a way that sounded just like a cheering crowd but seemed to strengthen its brethren. Izuku had apparently managed to start an all-out Choir War in the region.

--

No one in the crowd had come into this fight lacking determination. They were all planning to do their best. Suddenly, with no explanation, that feeling exploded. Where they wanted to prove themselves before, they could think of nothing else now.

The exception were those that had brought support items with them; they were filled with both an appreciation and obsession with the mechanics of their devices, as well as the robots they were fighting, but not enough to avoid smashing them.

Not that there was a whole lot to smash, as whatever intense feeling had overcome everyone meant that robots went from being destroyed left and right to being destroyed left, right, up, down, and sideways.

UA's instructors watched the phenomenon with some degree of puzzlement.

"Wow, they're really gettin' into it," Snipe noted.

"It feels me with so much joy to see the passion of youth!" Midnight hugged herself.

Nedzu simply smirked. If anyone besides himself knew what was really happening, there might be an argument that three of the werewolves, or at least whichever got the spirits riled up so, deserved partial credit for all of the points being scored now. He might insist that they get in regardless of score; he had that authority, no matter how much capital it might end up costing him to use with inevitably no real explanation. Rather than waste time contemplating that at the moment, he merely pointed out that they should introduce the Zero-Pointer at this time.

--

Neither Koda nor Izuku were certain about which side of the battle they had started was winning, nor did they particularly care. It was time to leave the Shadow and head back for the Skin World; clearly using this place to help Izuku with his exam was a bust. Do that they would, if only they could agree about what to do with the rapidly healing Pure.

"We can't leave him. I don't care how bad the Pure are, I'm not abandoning someone to these things."

Koda wrapped his arms around himself in a protective gesture, struggling to sputter out, "spirits like the Pure, they might not kill him, and he'll…be strong enough to…fight them off…and escape by himself."

Izuku wasn't sure how to deal with the Hunter-in-Darkness's constant flinching and suppressing of his own words. He wondered if they were all like that.

"Then he'll be a threat to us, more than if we helped him," he argued, trying to use pragmatic reasoning if moral reasoning was going to fail.

"Pure don't show gratitude to Forsaken!" The other boy forced out before yelping at his own outburst and hiding his face behind his hands. Was this really the person who just tried to rip another's throat out the second he discovered said person's politics?

Izuku grabbed Aoyama's body rather than respond, which prompted his fellow Uratha to do the same, until they were both shocked by the boy in question opening his eyes and questioning what was happening in a loud, whiny voice.

As a computer with mechanical legs was tossed over their heads until it landed and fired a lighting bolt that prompted something immediately behind them to turn into a mass of melted trophies, the three agreed to resolve the matter elsewhere and forced themselves to step sideways. Unfortunately, the surrounding chaos was very distracting, and they barely managed after thirty seconds of concentration, allowing something to strike into Koda.

Koda squealed in pain as they returned to the physical world, gripping some invisible wound on his side.

"Are you okay, uh, I never got your name," Izuku demanded. The situation was serious enough that he felt no need to be sheepish.

"Koji Koda," the Hunter-in-Darkness responded.

"Well," the Pure spat in disgust as his own wounds were just about closed, "I'm glad that that resulted in nothing; helping a slave of the Bitch-Mother would have been a mistake I'd never see enough Penance for. Give thanks to Deuce that the Herd's eyes mean I can't deal with you here!"

"I'm not sure you'd be the one doing out the dealing," Koda responded as Izuku tried to figure out what was causing him so much pain.

Any response that Aoyama could have given died on his lips as a massive machine, bigger than any other robot they had seen in the exam, towered over them.

"Sac rei bleu!" He shouted before running in the opposite direction.

Koda and Izuku moved to follow him before they heard a girl screaming for help. Izuku panicked. There was no way that he could avoid trying to help, but he also had no idea how he could go about doing so; his only powers that could possibly be useful were those that he shouldn't be using in front of the Herd. Koda might know more, but he was currently panicking. Think, Izuku, think, he glanced around, looking for something, anything.

"I…can…see….weak spots," Koda barely managed to spit out.

"Where!" Izuku shouted, but his raised voice only pushed the other further into his shell. Well, this sucked. It seemed that only fighting the Pure got this guy past his anxiety.

"Point them out to my dazzling self," a voice that they both thought had just run away spoke to them. "So that I never delude myself into thinking I owe either of you a favor later," he clarified.

Koda was too overwhelmed by the situation in general to help Izuku and too entrenched in his hatred of the Pure to help Aoyama. In the seconds that passed with his non-response, that became perfectly clear, until one of the competition-spirits faded in at the sight of the locus.

Izuku was a little worried about that, but not too much until it spoke to his mind. He was flooded, not with the knowledge of competing, but of how it could be used to inspire others. The Uratha came to understand inspiration, not as a human concept but as the spirits understood, knowing how to manipulate and control it…or not, as the knowledge slipped from his grasp as too much, until the last sliver showed him how to find the right words.

Pulling on the Inspiration Gift he had apparently just learned, Izuku spoke to Koda.

"Saving her is the work of a Hero. Isn't that worth more than a simple grudge?"

Koda, gulping, directed Aoyama where to fire. Sure enough, the machine slowed down. They didn't destroy it, but with the two's attacks it halted before crushing the girl in front of it. She looked very grateful toward the trio.

--

"How should we divide the rescue points between them?" One of the teachers asked.

"Well, the one with the laser stomach seemed to do all of the work. I mean, sure, give the ones who talked to him about it whatever credit they deserve, but this 'Aoyama' kid certainly deserves most of it."

Nedzu smiled. Peace between the werewolf factions? He saw the twinkling of something, a plan for a better world forming within him.

"I am about to give orders that I don't want questioned. I will not explain them."

All of the staff members stiffened as they looked toward their principal.

"Izuku Midoriya, Koda Koji, Yuga Aoyama, Jurota Shinshida. I want them all passed, and in the same class. That is, once all four have had a personal interview with me."

They stared at the principal warily. "I mean, three of them were probably going to pass anyways, but the Midoriya kid…"

"I already told you that I won't explain it," Nedzu answered. "Grade the rest of the hopefuls as normal."

--

As Izuku rapidly pulled the rocks off the girl's legs, making sure that she was alright and learning that her name was Uraraka, he was glad to accept her thanks until he remembered how few points he still had and started to run to search for more, unfortunately finding that somehow all of the robots had gotten themselves smashed. Before he could despair over this, an alarm sounded to let them know their time was up. Izuku started to cry.

His tears were eventually interrupted by someone placing their hand on his shoulder and informing him that the principal requested to see him.

--

Juroto Shinshida was not expecting to smell so many of his kind here. But as he sat, sniffing at the other three also brought before the principal of this school, he noticed their scents and wondered if the one they were about to speak with knew. As the man with a quirk that made him look like an enormous rat…no, as Shinshida sniffed again, he was shocked to find…"you're a shard of the Plague King."

He bowed in respect, as did the one in the ridiculous cape beside him. The one whose Hishu form held a mutation quirk's remnant looked upon the rat-spirit in horror, while the final one was simply confused.

"Yes, and it's strange to see ones who respect Father Wolf so much show me respect, considering how many times he tried to kill me," the principal said with a smile.

"You're a….spirit?" Izuku Midoriya asked. "But you're wandering around in the Skin-World without a host…".

"I have a host," Nedzu corrected, "it's this wonderful rat-bear-mouse-body I've found and mutated to my heart's content after eating enough Knowledge-Spirits to change my outlook on life."

Koda was panicking about something. "If you're a Beshilu, then does that mean….you're going to…."

Nedzu smiled at the terrified boy. It was not comforting in the slightest. "While the rest of my body still absolutely wants to gnaw apart the Gauntlet, at least which pieces of me can still think, as I already said this particular shard has been rethinking things."

Aoyama gasped, "but your duty as a spirit-"

"Urfarah, as you call him, thought I was a menace to be destroyed. I don't see why you should start working with me now, but that old fight is thousands of years late. I want to talk about the fight between the four of you happening today."

Shinshida looked confused, until Aoyama turned to him and said, "these two are Forsaken."

"I would put those claws down before you fail whatever mission the Confederacy had you join this school to perform," Nedzu noted politely while sipping tea.

Izuku hadn't even noticed the hand about to slice into the back of his neck before the other boy pulled it back.

"Is that why you didn't kill them before, Ivory Claw?" Shinshida spat out in disgust rather than respond to Nedzu directly.

"I owed them a favor when they saved me from an aggressive spirit, and I haven't had a chance away from the Herd's sight since then," Aoyama tried to defend himself, but the Predator King was having none of it.

"If a spirit managed to kill you, you were too weak to be among us."

"Those with pure blood who understand the agony Silver-Wolf goes through for us should preserve their lives!"

"Only the strong live their own lives! The weak live at the strong's whims!"

Nedzu did not think his current goal would have been easy under any circumstances, but being reminded of how much the Tribes disagreed with one another even within their own factions briefly made him reconsider.

"Aren't you guys coming to this school to be Heroes?" Izuku interrupted. "What kinds of attitudes are those for someone who wants to save people?"

Aoyama actually did look a bit uncomfortable at the question, but Shinshida merely adjusted his glasses before responding.

"I will, of course, live according to the standards of the human profession I adhere to. Additionally, I will, just as Heroes claim to, strive to make the world a better place for all." His expression darkened. "However, saving everyone doesn't make the world a better place. You are attending an elite school, so you must have done well in science class, correct? You understood the principals of natural selection, right? It is nature's way to cull the unfit. By ensuring the best survive to pass on their genes, the species as a whole gets stronger, faster, or otherwise better. A species that doesn't evolve, that rejects nature's ways, grows weak and miserable. It doesn't improve life for anyone to do things that way. For an example, look at the only species that has managed to consistently reproduce without improving themselves or needing to let the weak die."

He gestured to the window facing outside, where several people were gathered discussing something or other, probably the recent test.

"Humans are the most disgusting and miserable creatures that there are, precisely because of generations of living this way."

Izuku was almost too horrified by what this man was saying to notice what his Half-Moon Gift was telling him. He's repeating a line. It's not that he's lying, it's that he himself is uncertain.

Before he could try to counteract that, however, Nedzu interrupted.

"You say that you want to live in accordance with this profession, right? I'd be very interested to hear you sell that line to the public." The apparent Rat-Spirit chuckled as he continued, "as you can see, you four disagree on a lot. I know very well that you probably disagree to the point that words are utterly meaningless and only blood can resolve things. I brought you four here today to let you know that the only blood being spilled on my campus will be accompanied by sweat and tears from your hard work. You four are going to work together, and you will resolve your philosophical differences peacefully, both on and off campus while attending as students. Hint at disagreeing with this, especially through your actions, and not only can I expel you on a whim, I also know of an easily accessible yet rather hefty supply of silver weaponry and some men who know how to use it."

The tone of the latter was exactly the same cheery one he'd been using the whole time, yet none of them doubted the veracity of the final statement.

Shinshida wanted to rip the spirit apart right then and there, but besides having no knowledge of how strong it actually was, he also knew that he would be in a better position if he played along. The time to strike the prey was not now. He had to wait for the proper moment to pounce.

Aoyama told himself that this was an unclean abomination, but his heart wasn't really in it. The two Forsaken had saved him, and he didn't feel nearly as dirty as he thought he might have. Oh well, while he was always taught to keep himself pure, he was also taught to bear pain for a greater reward, and that original mission of getting into a more influential position meant that there was a reward here.

Koda thought back on all of the horrible stories he had heard about the Pure growing up. Of Fire-Touched burning him up inside until he was just as crazy as them. Of Ivory-Claws pointing out his every imperfection as they slowly ripped him apart. Of Predator-Kings dropping the corpses of his loved ones in front of him week after week, tormenting him until they finally made him their prey. Nothing he had seen of these two convinced him the stories were lies. He hadn't thought his anxiety could get any worse, but this…maybe his uncle was right. How could he share a class with such people and still call himself a Hero? Then he looked to Izuku, saw no hesitation in the boy's eyes, and decided that if his fear of his family's judgment hadn't stopped him, then this little issue wouldn't stop him either. He was going to save people. He was going to be a Hero.

Izuku only knew what little Mighty Wolf had told him about the Pure, and that didn't paint a flattering picture. This Shinshida kid had not made it any better. However, a Hero was supposed to save everyone, and Aoyama had shown that side of him in the Exams. Whatever else they were, they were clearly people, and it was his duty to try and save them, even if might be from themselves. Thinking on his role as Elodoth, he was always to see both sides, and judge accordingly. What the Half-Moon Gifts told was that these two weren't as dedicated to their ideals as they appeared, and he was more than ready to work on that.

All four, with varying levels of reluctance, agreed to to not rip each other apart, on or off campus, for the entirety of their stay at UA.

--

Izuku Midoriya-Elodoth Ghost-Wolf, Half-Moon (1) Inspiration (1)

Koda Koji-Irraka Hunter-in-Darkness, Nature (2), New Moon (1)

Yugi Aoyama-Ivory Claw, Agony (2)

Juroto Shinshida-Predator King, Strength (2), Savagery (1)