The Ten Elites stood in front of the exam hall, ready for the next step in their journey.
"I can't believe we made it this far!" Izuku said with a smile.
"Seems like only yesterday we were dreaming of being here," Ben said nostalgically.
"It's time to begin our journey to become heroes," Ryu stated.
"I'm pumped!" Bella cheered.
"We should be proud of our accomplishments, you guys." Ghidorah smiled. "We may have powerful Quirks...but we worked hard, all the same, to get here."
"Hey, we're not getting anywhere just standing around. Let's go already!" Tony said.
"Right!" The others all voiced in agreement and stepped forward...
...followed by Izuku tripping over a crack in the pavement.
"THIS IS IT! I'M SO SORRY YOU RAISED SUCH A FAILURE, MOM!"
Before he could hit the ground, he got stopped in mid-air. Confused, he looked around before turning to see a cute girl with brown hair in a bob cut, her hand on his backpack.
"Are you okay? That could have been a nasty fall."
Izuku's freckled cheeks turned red as he was helped to his feet. His friends all noticed this and grinned teasingly as they knew exactly what this meant.
"I stopped you with my Quirk. Sorry I didn't ask first. I thought it would be a bad omen if someone fell on the first day."
"Thanks for catching our pal for us." Bella giggled. "He tends to not look over his own two feet sometimes."
Ryu couldn't help but think about how similar the girl's Quirk was to his Gravity Magic but decided not to dwell on it too much.
"Take care, friend!" Ben said as he helped the others drag the still-blushing Izuku to get to the orientation hall.
The exam orientation was overseen by Hizashi Yamada AKA The Voice Hero: Present Mic. Izuku nearly had a fangasm as he saw another of his favorite Pro Heroes.
"Ohmigosh, it's Present Mic! I tune into his radio show every Sunday!"
Katsuki, who was also at the orientation, gave an annoyed look Izuku's way but said nothing. As for Ben, he noticed that Penny was also present a few seats down but kept his mouth shut, not wishing to disturb her.
"WHAT'S UP, LITTLE LISTENERS!? WELCOME TO THE LIVE SHOW! CAN I GET A 'HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY'?!"
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" Ben, Ghidorah, Bella, Kirby, Katarina, and Maple cheered, standing up and pumping their fists in the air while Ryu, Tony, and Aki gave them deadpan stares.
"You guys are dorks..." Aki sighed.
Present Mic beamed, giving the ones who cheered a double thumbs-up before returning to his presentation.
"LET ME GIVE THE LOWDOWN ON THIS THROWDOWN! THE PRACTICAL EXAM WILL CONSIST OF 10-MINUTE MOCK BATTLES IN SIMULATED URBAN SETTINGS! THERE ARE SEVEN BATTLE ZONES, LABELED A THROUGH G! ONCE I DROP THE MIC, YOU ALL GOTTA SCAT ON DOWN TO YOUR DESIGNATED ZONES!"
The Ten Elites all looked at their cards. Izuku got Zone B, Ben got Zone C, Ryu got Zone D, Ghidorah got Zone E, Bella got Zone F, Tony got Zone G, Kirby got Zone H, Katarina got Zone I, Aki got Zone J and Maple got Zone K.
"So they split us up so we can't work with friends. Must be why Tsunade-Sensei suggested we train individually as well as together." Ghidorah noted.
"Smart move by U.A." Ryu mused.
"Probably for the best. We'd just destroy everything if we were all together in the same zone." Bella shrugged.
"You're not wrong there," Aki replied.
"ALRIGHT, NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS!" Present Mic said as a holographic projector showed the rules in detail behind him. "YOU'LL HAVE THREE TYPES OF VILLAINS IN EVERY BATTLE SETTING! EACH IS WORTH A DIFFERENT NUMBER OF POINTS BASED ON ITS DIFFICULTY! SHRED THOSE VILLAINS HOWEVER YOU CAN LIKE A RAD GUITAR SOLO! BUT REMEMBER TO KEEP THINGS HEROIC; ATTACKING AND SABOTAGING OTHER EXAMINEES IS A BIG NO-NO!"
Suddenly, a young man with navy blue hair and glasses stood up and raised his hand, the spotlight shining on him.
"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question! The printout clearly lists FOUR types of villains, not THREE. If this is an error on official UA materials it is shameful! As exemplary students, we expect the best from Japan's most notable school!"
He then pointed at Izuku, the spotlight shining on him as well as he pointed to himself in confusion.
"And you! You've been muttering the entire time, it's distracting! If you think this is just some pleasure joint, then leave!"
"BACK OFF, FOUR EYES!" Ghidorah snarled as he stood up, unleashing a blast of [Conqueror's Haki] at the boy.
"As much as Deku annoys the shit out of me with his muttering, back the fuck up, Four-Eyes!" Katsuki joined in, much to the Ten Elites' surprise. "If you were really paying attention as much as you say, then you'd realize that the damn nerd was analyzing everything Present Mic was saying!"
"Did Bakugo just defend Izuku?" Bella said shocked.
"Yes, he just did." Katarina said she was equally gobsmacked.
"And there was no error on the handout, either." Tony pointed out. "The fourth enemy is worth no points at all."
The glasses-wearing boy was in disbelief.
"You are too impatient, being reckless like this is unbecoming of a future hero," Ryu said disapprovingly. "Perhaps it is YOU who does not belong here."
"HE'S ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!" Present Mic said. "THE FOURTH VILLAIN IS WORTH NADA, ZILCH, ABSOLUTE ZERO! YOU'LL FIND ONE IN EVERY BATTLE CENTER AND YOU CAN SMASH IT IF YOU WANT TO, BUT IT WON'T ADD UP TO YOUR SCORE!"
The glasses-wearing boy, properly chastised, sat himself down. Izuku gave Katsuki a passing glance as the explosive blonde huffed, refusing to make eye contact.
"Maybe Bakugo isn't completely hopeless." Ghidorah mused.
"ALRIGHT, KIDS, THAT'S ALL I'VE GOT FOR TODAY! JUST REMEMBER THIS AS YOU BEGIN THE EXAM; NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ONCE SAID THAT A TRUE HERO IS ONE WHO OVERCOMES LIFE'S MISFORTUNES!"
Izuku had slipped into a light green tracksuit and was now standing with several dozen other candidates outside Zone B, one of them being the girl from before as well as the young man with the glasses.
"This is it. Time to go beyond. It's time to show what years of training can really do. Wait for me, guys. We're getting into UA together!"
Many of the other students were talking among themselves about how the urban environment looked like a whole city. Izuku then noticed the girl who had helped him back outside the exam center was looking nervous, so he decided to go over and give her some encouragement, but he was stopped by the glasses-wearing young man.
"That girl is trying to focus! What are you intending to do? Distract her and harm her chances of success?"
Izuku looked at the boy like he was the biggest idiot on the face of the planet before sighing.
"I was intending to encourage her. What's with you, anyway? Do you always assume the worst of everybody? Why are you even trying to become a Hero?"
The young man looked taken aback. "I am here to carry on the noble legacy of heroes that has been in my family for generations!"
"My teacher told me that legacy means nothing when it comes to being a Hero," Izuku said, recalling Tsunade's words. "People need to become Heroes on their own merits or else they'll never get anywhere."
Before the boy could muster up something to say in response, the gates swung open.
"LET'S GET MOVING, ZYGOTES! HEROES DON'T WAIT FOR COUNTDOWNS!" Present Mic shouted from afar.
Izuku was off like a shot, surprising the young man with his incredible speed as he made his way into the urban city, looking around for any targets when he finally found one; a 1-Pointer robot. As he dodged the first attack, he noticed a switch on its back.
"So they make sure the robots can be disabled even if an examinee doesn't have a Quirk capable of outright demolishing them. But why aren't there any simulations of people to rescue? That's a big part of being a Hero too."
Deciding to save those thoughts for later, Izuku used 3% of [One For All] to kick the robot, blasting the machine to bits in the process.
Another robot came up behind him, only for it to be blasted apart by an effeminate blonde-haired young man wearing a belt with a glittering core, a laser having blasted it out.
"Figured you could use some assistance, mon ami."
Izuku then spotted a 3-Pointer barreling down on them and grabbed the boy to get him out of the way. After getting up, Izuku stretched his arm back and channeled 5% of [One For All] into it.
"DETROIT SMASH!"
With a powerful left hook and resulting shockwave, Izuku wrecked the robot.
"Merci, we seem to make a good team, you and I." The blonde boy commented.
Ben was walking through the streets of the urban area, whistling to himself before finding himself surrounded by four 2-Pointers, all of them poised to attack him.
"Man, can't a guy just walk in peace?"
Ben thrust out his hand at the robot in front of him and it seized up before he made a clenching motion with his fist, causing it to crumble into itself until it was a tiny ball, which he then stepped on for good measure.
Tapping his foot against the ground, three sharp stone stalagmites shot out and impaled the robot behind him, pinning it as he then coated his arm in a hammer of stone before smashing the pinned robot. For the finishing touch, he thrust his hands out to either side of him at the two remaining robots and massive bursts of wind sent them flying and crashing into the nearby buildings.
"It's a good thing I made and stored those Elemental Quirks." He thought.
"Oh, is that you, Ben?"
Perking up at the familiar voice, Ben turned to see Penny there, a 3-Pointer moving toward her before she aimed her arm behind her as it turned into some kind of electricity cannon and fired a burst of lightning that shocked the robot so badly that it exploded.
"Some kind of Technomorphic Quirk? Izuku would freak if he saw that." Ben thought, impressed at how in control Penny had been there.
"Shall we procure more points together?" Penny asked as Ben smiled.
"Why not?"
Ryu used [Requip] to summon a claymore which he then used to slice apart multiple 1-Pointers and 2-Pointers. Ryu suddenly detected a 2-Pointer attempting to sneak attack him but before he could retaliate, a giant humanoid dog tackles the robot and mauls it to pieces. Ryu raised an eyebrow at this when an auburn-haired girl came up next to the dog.
"Good job Koro!" She said while petting the dog who suddenly shrinks.
"Hey there, I'm Ryu," Ryu said introducing himself.
"Oh, I almost forgot you were there! I'm Seryu Ubiquitous, future guardian of justice!" The girl cheerfully said with a cute little salute, the dog mimicking her motion.
Ryu notices a large group of 1-Pointers and 2-Pointers charging at them.
"Want to team up?" Seryu asks.
"Is that a question?" Ryu smirks as his body became covered by lightning.
Seryu giggles before Koro grows in size again, growling at the approaching robots as he, his master, and Ryu lunge forward.
Tony coated himself in an armor of hard scales to reflect the rubber pellets fired at him by a 3-Pointer. Grunting in annoyance, he powered through the onslaught before slamming his arms down on top of the robot, smashing it to bits.
"Fucking annoying piece of shit!"
He then swung his arm and sent a hail mary of scales that cut through a few more robots, slicing through their inner workings.
"Okay, who's next?"
"EL THOR!"
Using the power of the [Rumble-Rumble Fruit] Ghidorah sent a massive torrent of lightning down on a group of 1-Pointer robots, frying them all to crispy husks. Chuckling, he then spun around, a bone blade sprouting from his left arm as he sliced a 2-Pointer in half like a hot knife through butter.
More robots began moving in as Ghidorah smirked and suddenly transformed into a hulking Wolf-Human hybrid using the power of the [Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Wolf].
"COME GET SOME!"
Bella was inspecting the urban area around her, trying to find the right alien to transform into for this case. She soon smirked and she decided on who she would transform into and in a flash of green light, she had become...
"CANNONBOLT!"
Curling up into a ball, Cannonbolt rolled in place to build up momentum before shooting off like a rocket-powered bowling ball, ricocheting off the side of a building and then smashing into a horde of 3-Pointers like bowling pins.
Uncurling, Cannonbolt smirked as she surveyed the damage.
"Oh yeah, I'm the girl!"
Katarina laughed haughtily as she turned her hands into those of a robot and fired bullets from her fingers while Kirby inhaled a robot into her mouth, swallowing it whole as she transformed into metal and jumped forward, turning into a steel boulder to crush more robots.
Aki, having copied Katsuki's [Explosion] Quirk, turned his arms into grenade launcher-like cannons and fired lobs of explosive nitroglycerin that ignited on contact.
Maple switched to a [Fire Shield] and used it to block incoming robot attacks before retaliating with waves of fire. Smiling proudly to herself, she continued onward to procure more points.
Meanwhile, the teachers were watching the students in the various battle zones on a large bank of monitors. Principle Nedzu, a rodent-like animal with the Quirk [High Spec], which gave him an unparalleled amount of intelligence, observed the exam.
"They don't know how many villains there are or where they are, so they use everything they have at their disposal to find targets. Some use overwhelming power, others use intelligence gathering, and still others unbridled speed. Some simply remain cool under pressure as they search. The best use a combination of all of these."
"But of course," Said Kamikaze Shishigami, the Hero known as Atomic Samurai and a member of the S-Rankers. "Fighting villains is only half the exam. We didn't tell the students about the other half. After all...Their actions in that regard must be genuine. Fortunately, we do have a few promising students in that regard as well. But the real test is still to come."
"Indeed..." Nedzu said with a glint in his beady black eyes as he opened a glass case guarding a red button, then slammed his paw on top of it.
Sudden explosions caught everyone's attention. Izuku was the first to notice the giant robot.
"HOLY CRAP, IS THAT THE 0-POINTER?! NOBODY SAID IT'D BE SO HUGE!"
The 0-Pointer's attacks were already causing the students to scatter, and those that got trapped were helped by a few others.
"There are only two minutes left," Izuku noted. "They must have unleashed this villain to really test the candidates."
"Ow!
Hearing the familiar voice cry out, Izuku looked and saw the girl from before, her leg trapped under some rubble. And she was uncomfortably close to the 0-Pointer, in danger of being crushed under its treads.
Once again, Izuku found himself moving without thinking as he used [One For All] to leap high into the air before channeling [One For All] as much as he could handle into his arm….
"The 0-Pointer may not give any points to the villain score, but that doesn't necessarily mean it shouldn't be fought, contrary to what the proctors say to the examinees. For that mighty beast can provide opportunity. A chance for a young up-and-comer to show what he's really made of. Isn't that right...All-Might?"
This was said by another Pro Hero who was a member of the S-Rankers, Bang Silverfang, who said this to Toshinori, currently in his normal form.
"Indeed. Young Midoriya is showing the true character of a Hero. Not running when another is in danger, but facing that danger head on."
"It seems all five of your successors are showing commendable efforts to put a stop to the 0-Pointers in their areas," Nedzu noted.
"100% Detroit Smash!"
The girl looked on in awe as Izuku's fist smashed the 0-Pointer right in the face, its head getting blown clean off. However, that had been more powerful than Izuku was used to, and he wound up falling uncontrollably with his right arm badly broken the backlash from using so much of [One For All] left his other limbs flopping uselessly.
Luckily, the girl was able to tag him as he neared the ground, letting him fall more gently. He noticed that she had reached a piece of debris, likely when she saw he was falling and was using it to levitate. As she released her power, she wound up heaving rainbows.
"You okay?" Izuku asked, struggling to get up despite temporarily being out of commission.
"Yeah... I'll be fine..." The girl muttered. "Overusing my Quirk tends to make me nauseous. I have a high tolerance for motion sickness, but not immunity."
Izuku smiled. "That's the second time you stopped my fall."
The girl smiled back. "That's what a Hero does. You said so yourself."
Ben was sitting on top of the trashed remains of the 0-Pointer in his and Penny's area.
"Well, that was a surefire exciting experience," Ben said.
"Indeed, it was sensational!" Penny cheered.
"We make a good team," Ryu noted as he, Seryu, and Koro stood in front of the battered remains of a 0-Pointer while piles of scrap from 1-Pointers, 2-Pointers, and 3-Pointers surrounded them.
"We're unstoppable!" Seryu grinned with Koro barking in approval.
Tony chuckled as the giant sword-like claws he had turned his hand into shifted back to normal, having cut through his 0-Pointer like a predator ravaging its prey.
"Heh, nothing but scrap now..."
Ghidorah chuckled as he walked through the burning and half-melted scattered parts of his 0-Pointer, cracking his neck from side to side as he walked through the flames.
Bella had transformed back to normal after turning into Way Big and simply stepping on the 0-Pointer in her area like it was a bug. All the other examinees in the area were staring in shock, awe, and disbelief at just how easily she destroyed the giant robot.
"What's everyone looking at me like that for?"
Katarina, Kirby, Maple, and Aki had also easily handled their own 0-Pointers themselves. Though Maple honestly had no idea she had done it, she was just trying to protect some of her fellow examinees when she unconsciously switched to [Explosion Shield] that she got from Katsuki and the impact from the 0-Pointer redirected itself as a mighty explosion which incinerated the behemoth.
By now the exam was over and a short old lady was walking around the area, handing out gummies to the examinees.
"Nice work, everyone. Anyone who has any injuries, I'll be sure to get to each of you."
"I know that mademoiselle. She's the Pro Hero, Recovery Girl, the heart of UA." The blonde boy commented.
Recovery Girl then looked Ochako over. "I'll need to take a look at that leg, dearie. Make sure there aren't any fractures and all that."
Recovery Girl was the school nurse, and her Quirk, [Heal], worked by applying her lips to an injured patient, using their body's natural energy to repair the damage. As Recovery Girl used her power on the girl, Izuku was approached by the glasses-wearing boy.
"I must admit, I'm embarrassed at being reminded of how a real Hero should act. That said, you were quick to rush in to save that girl. I don't know if you were aware of any other hidden factors regarding the exam, but either way, I'm beginning to suspect there was a hidden parameter we weren't told about." The boy then cleared his throat. "My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Tenya Iida."
Izuku smiled. "Izuku. Izuku Midoriya."
A week later, Izuku was waiting for his exam results. He was absent-mindedly poking at his food, which got his mother Inko's attention.
"Is something the matter, Izuku?"
"Nothing, just curious about something that happened during the exam is all."
After dinner, the test results came in the mail. To Izuku's surprise, the letter included a hologram projector.
"BOO-YAH! I AM HERE, AS A PROJECTION!" All-Might said, appearing on the projector. "Sorry I wasn't able to contact you at all this week, my boy, I was caught up in paperwork, since I'm actually going to be a heroics teacher at UA starting this year! And what does that mean for you, you might be wondering? I think you'll be quite pleased, Young Midoriya. You officially earned 77 combat points!"
"Awesome. Looks like I made it." Izuku smiled in relief.
"That number alone would get you into UA without issue, and as a top student, no less! But the practical exam is not graded on combat alone." All-Might continued. "You must have noticed it, yes? The fact that there were no rescue simulations, despite this being an exam to get into a hero academy. Well, there's a reason for that! We can't just offer simulations for rescues, otherwise, we can't be sure the rescue was for selfless reasons!"
He showed images of Izuku's actions, saving people and encouraging others to do the same. It was honestly mind-blowing. The same could be said for the rest of the Ten Elites.
"You not only acted selflessly to save others, but you inspired your fellow examinees to act as real Heroes! The UA faculty was practically begging you to be a student here!" All-Might said. "Altogether, you earned a grand total of 80 rescue points, the highest out of all the examinees! This puts you in the number one spot for this year's exam! Oh, and in case you were curious... The girl you helped, Ochako Uraraka. She also earned a substantial amount of rescue points, 45 in total. What really clinched it for her was when she saved you."
Izuku checked the scoreboard next to All-Might. He, Ben, Ryu, Ghidorah, Tony, Bella, Aki, Katarina, Kirby, and Maple had all ended up tying for first, Katsuki, Seryu, and Penny tying in second, and Ochako in third.
"I did it... I DID IT!"
All-Might held out his hand. "Welcome, Izuku Midoriya. This is your Hero Academia!"
Knightmare Lord A/N:
My name is now Knightmare Lord, I hope that's okay with everyone. I wanted a more simplistic name that got my style across more.
