"Kacchan!" - Speech
'Dammit!' - Thoughts
"I AM HERE!" - All Might Speech
"Detroit Smash!" - Special Technique Usage
Beta'd by BigCC
Chapter 4: Robot Busting
One Month Before the U.A. Entrance Exam
Principal Nezu's Office
"Toshinori-kun, so good to see you! Come in, come in!" Nezu offered brightly as the skeletal true form of the Number One Pro Hero in Japan stepped into his office. Nezu was…a mammal of unknown origins. Having features resembling a canine, rodent, and even a particularly small bear, no one knew just what the species the Quirked Animal originally was. Covered from head to tail in pure white fur, he was constantly dressed in a specially tailored set of dress pants and a matching vest, along with a white shirt and a set of sensible shoes.
He was currently preparing a fresh cup of tea as his guest arrived, quickly and easily pouring a second cup before manipulating his motorized office chair back behind his desk with a few adept flicks of his tail. "You are doing well, I trust?" the [High Spec] Quirk-holder asked politely as he set the second cup in front of the guest seat.
"As well as can be expected given the state my body is in these days." Toshinori grimaced, one hand automatically moving to rub at his side before he sat down, letting out a small breath. "Honestly, even the little things are starting to get harder and harder these days. Um, anyway, I'm sure you probably already know this by now, but I've taken a couple of talented young lads under my wing to train them for the entrance exams."
"Hm? Oh, yes. Midoriya Izuku-kun and Bakugō Katsuki-kun, I'm aware of them both." the former 'lab rat' nodded as he took a gentle, dainty sip of his tea. "I did a bit of looking in on the two of them once I found out you'd taken an interest in them, and I agree they are quite the fascinating pair. One possesses an Emitter-type that allows them to generate a substance similar to nitroglycerin from the sweat glands in his hands, and the other possesses a Transformation-type with the Mimicry subset that allows its owner to transform their hands into a number of hybridized firearms. And that is just their Quirks, their personalities are also quite…dynamically opposed from what I've found."
"That's putting it mildly." the skeletal man grunted out with a chuckle. "Honestly, the boys are near opposites, but they are actually quite good for each other. Young Bakugō is one of the most fiery, confident, and aggressive young men I've ever met, but his friendship with Young Midoriya has helped temper him a good deal. Likewise, Young Midoriya is one of the most intelligent, empathetic, and analytical young men I've ever found, and his friendship with Young Bakugō helps even out his timid streak and bolster his confidence."
"Yes, an intriguing duo to be sure. I'm sure they'll both make fascinating students." Nezu nodded, sounding pleased. Truly, there were few things more pleasant for the hyper-intelligent animal then students that would provide interesting opportunities and challenges to teach and improve. "Though with the nature of his Quirk, Midoriya-kun has likely had a bit of a hard time in the past due to the odd preconceptions the humans in this country seem to have with anything involving firearms."
"Unfortunately, that is the case. As I said Young Bakugō's friendship has done a lot to offset the worst of it, and my own mentorship seems to have helped quite a bit as well, but the boy still has more than a few self-worth issues due to it." Toshinori agreed with a slightly frustrated shake of his head and a disapproving frown on his lips. "I do hope that that won't be a problem here at U.A. once he passes the exam."
"Most assuredly not!" Nezu responded, a bit of iron in his voice, though that was quickly lost in his usual cheerful tone. "Snipe personally keeps a weather eye out for such behaviour, and we make sure all students are briefed on our school's zero-tolerance program involving any form of prejudice or discrimination during the Orientation at the very start of the year."
"You might have to reiterate it for Aizawa-kun's class then, if any of them manage to survive his test." the skeletal man pointed out dryly. He did not approve of the man's teaching methods. Expelling students before they'd even had a chance to even learn anything because they 'lacked potential' seemed far too harsh in the Number One's opinion.
"Yes, after last year's…incident, I was forced to have a few words with him. He's been made aware that expelling any more than a single student at a time is going to need a far more solid reason than 'they lacked potential.'" Nezu stated with a shake of his head before he took a calming sip of his glass. "Honestly, that man needs to learn a thing or two about the consequences of his actions as a teacher. He might have the best interests of his students at heart, it's why I keep him on staff, but his methodology tends to cause me no ends of paperwork. We're honestly lucky that the school wasn't sued after his stunt last year.
"I'll also be sure that memos regarding U.A.'s anti-discrimination policies are included in 1-A's new student packets as well." Nezu finished, before he turned his attention back to his guest. "Now, I doubt that's the only reason you sought me out today, Toshinori-kun, so what else can I help you with?"
"Uh…" Toshinori paused for a moment before coughing into his hand. "There were two other things. First, in regards to the teaching position I'm taking at the start of the new year. As I'm sure you're already aware, I have absolutely no prior experience with teaching, so I was hoping I could request for a TA or something to help me keep on track and maybe prod me in the right direction on occasion."
"Of course!" Nezu agreed instantly, causing Toshinori to blink in shock. "I was honestly hoping you'd make that kind of request, if not now then within the first few days of your classes starting. I'm still a bit surprised though, I'd honestly thought that your sense of pride would have kept you from outright asking for assistance."
The Symbol of Peace huffed in amusement at that. "You might have been right before I started teaching Young Bakugō and Young Midoriya. I have trouble keeping my attention split between just the two of them, I can't imagine being able to handle twenty students at once. Added to that is the fact that I'm going to need to choose a successor soon. I've had [One for All] for so long that using it has practically become second nature to me, I can barely remember what it was like when I first got it. I'm going t…to have to ask Gran Torino-sensei for h-help with that."
Nezu had to admit that, despite looking terrified at the prospect, the withered man still looked determined. He'd earned a few more points with the Principal for that.
A good teacher had to be willing to admit their shortcomings and seek out help to bring out the best in their students after all. Even if the person in question terrified them to death.
"Good to see you're thinking ahead. I'll have a TA from our Third Year Heroics Course ready for your first class." the Principal pointed out happily, his mind already on a certain trio of third years. All three could aid the new first years in developing their abilities, and the experience could only help them grow and develop as well. "And the second matter? I can only assume it has to do with your successor?"
"In a way." Toshinori gave a tight nod, before sighing slightly. "Mirai has put forward Young Tōgata Mirio as his personal recommendation, and, honestly, from what I've heard and seen of him the young man certainly seems like he would be a good fit for it. However, Young Midoriya has also caught my attention and has shown himself to have remarkable potential as well. In the end, we reached an agreement. Should Young Midoriya sufficiently impress me with his progress or ability by the end of the First Year Sports Festival, I will offer him [One for All] when he's physically ready for it. Otherwise, I will offer it to Young Tōgata."
"Hm…tell me, has Sir Nighteye already told Tōgata-kun about [One for All]?" Nezu asked curiously.
All Might blinked before pausing to think for a moment. "No, I don't believe so. Why do you ask?"
"Because I do not believe that Nighteye has considered whether or not Tōgata-kun would accept [One For All] if it was offered." Nezu pointed out blandly, sighing slightly. "Tōgata-kun has put a great deal of effort into training and mastering his [Permeation] Quirk in order to refine it from a near-useless ability into one suited for a top-ranked Pro. Had you offered him [One For All] when he was first starting out, he might have accepted, but as of now, I do not imagine that Lemillion will be willing to accept it."
That made more than a bit of sense once Toshinori took a moment to consider it. Lemillion was already an incredibly capable young hero, who'd likely be in the Top 100 as soon as he graduated U.A. next year and became eligible to participate in the Hero Billboard and who many expected to reach the Top 10 within a decade after that. He'd made tremendous progress after only a single year of intensive training under Sir Nighteye and was practically a shoe-in for a sidekick position at the Nighteye Agency once he graduated, though Toshinori doubted it wouldn't take more than a year or two before the Lemillion Agency would rise to take its own place in the world.
Everything he'd accomplished so far had been through his own hard work and training with his own Quirk (and a few Support-derived costumes to prevent him from flashing people). Toshinori could see why the boy might refuse [One For All], since it could make all of that effort to master his own Quirk meaningless.
"Well…shit." he muttered mildly. "Mirai's definitely not going to be happy if that's the case."
"That would be one of Nighteye's biggest faults coming into play. He is an excellent tactician and his [Foresight] only adds to that, and he's one of the best Heroes in Japan when it comes to orchestrating and planning raids, busts and similar operations. Sadly, your former sidekick believes that, because he can see the future, he always knows what is best, and has gotten far too used to people listening to his suggestions and orders that it has come to the point that he's come to, at least subconsciously, expect people to obey him out of hand." Nezu offered sympathetically.
Toshinori winced but couldn't argue the truth. Even back when Mirai had worked under him, the younger man had always been a bit of a micromanager, which was honestly a bonus for All Might, who'd never been particularly good with managing the finer details.
Sir Nighteye was a good man and an excellent hero, but that did not change the fact that the man could be a bit of a control freak.
"So that leaves your personal choice. How would you rate Midoriya-kun as a potential candidate?" Nezu offered, getting back to the subject at hand.
"He's an excellent choice as far as I'm concerned." Toshinori responded after taking a moment to organize his thoughts. "Before I started training him, I'd have given him and Bakugō even odds against any of U.A.'s current second years in terms of pure combat ability. Since then, I've primarily been working on building up their physical capabilities as well as refining their combat tactics and helping hone their Quirks a bit. Oh yes, there's another aspect of Young Midoriya I wanted your opinion on."
Reaching into his back pocket, the blonde Pro quickly pulled out a pair of thin pamphlets and pushed them across the desk towards Nezu. "Have a look through those and give me your opinion, sir."
Honestly intrigued at the suggestion, the Quirked Animal quickly picked up one of the pamphlet's and began to read through it. As the pages were flipped through and the minutes passed, Toshinori couldn't help but grin as Nezu gently put the first pamphlet down and quickly took up the second. Another few minutes passed before Nezu politely closed the second packet, gently refolded it and placed it atop the first before sliding them both back across the desk.
"Well, well. Toshinori-kun I can honestly say that I've never been both this impressed and this jealous at once before." Nezu offered with a slight pout. "Those were some of the most thorough Quirk analyses I've ever read outside those created by ones written by a specialist with either an Analysis Quirk or one similar to my own [High Spec]. Even then, they'd likely only be able to add a few more details and slightly refine the information that has already been provided. I do hope you're nurturing this particular talent of Midoriya-kun's as well?"
"I've been trying to, which is actually part of why I came to see you." Toshinori responded steadily. "While I'm not as big a meathead as Eraserhead likes to think, I'll be the first to admit that this kind of deep thinking isn't something I've got any talent for. There's a good reason I picked Nighteye as my sidekick after all, he was and still is one of the best planners I've ever met and he could cover most of the weaknesses my bullheadedness could cause. The only reason I've been able to help Young Midoriya with this so far is from going off of decades of experience, but I've got to admit that I'm just not the person to refine this particular talent of his into what it could be. You, on the other hand, could probably teach him to use it in ways I couldn't hope to imagine."
Nezu grinned a bit at that. Heroes were grouped into a number of different fields based on their specialities. Combat Heroes who were the best at facing down villains directly. Rescue Heroes who focused on saving lives and stopping things like fires and building collapses from killing civilians. Disaster Heroes who focused on disaster relief and even preventing disasters themselves. Covert Heroes who specialized in undercover work against villain and criminal groups. Nezu was the top Investigative Hero in Japan and one of the Top 10 in the world, a master of gathering and collating data regarding criminals to plan raids as well as solving criminal mysteries.
To be tutored by him personally was something that was just as much as dreaded as it was sought after.
"Oho! You're certainly full of surprises today Toshinori-kun." the Genius Hero gave a short, excited bark of laughter. "While I'm certainly impressed by Midoriya-kun's analysis of his and his best friend's Quirks, I'll require a bit more proof before I decide whether to take him on as a personal student. I shall keep a close eye on him during the Entrance Exam to see for myself if he's worth teaching."
"That's perfectly fine, sir. I'm sure Young Midoriya won't fail to impress." Toshinori agreed with a nod, it was honestly more than he'd expected to get. "Well, I'd best be heading back to Dagobah Beach; Young Bakugō and Young Midoriya should be finished cleaning it within the next few days."
"Ah, public service. Excellent exercise and a good way to help ground them in the basics of heroics." Nezu nodded approvingly. "Well, I shan't keep you. I look forward to seeing how your young projects do at the General Entrance Exams next month."
"Honestly, so am I." the skeletal man agreed with a grin as he gave his future boss a final nod before getting up and heading out the door.
"Midoriya Izuku-kun…" the principal mused to himself, once again alone in his office. "I wonder if you'll manage to impress me? Oh, it's been ages since I've looked forward to an exam so eagerly. Hehehe…."
Elsewhere, Midoriya Izuku felt a chill run down his spine.
The Day of the Exam
Gates of U.A. High
"…we're really here." Izuku whispered out in wonder, eyes wide and sparkling as he tried to take in all of U.A. at once.
"Damned straight we are." the blonde boy by his side was grinning ferally, eyes roaming over his and his partner's future domain.
The two young men had just passed through the infamous 'U.A. Barrier' that kept both invading villains and overeager press and sightseers from interfering with the illustrious institution of Heroics and both were just taking a moment to soak in the view.
Katsuki then playfully reached out and punched his best friend in the arm. "We're here at fucking last! Ten months of goddamned community service training from hell, but it'll be worth it after today! Let's go!"
As Katsuki marched forward, smile feral and bloodthirsty at the thought of the carnage to come, Izuku stayed back a moment longer to keep basking in the feeling of standing in the presence of Japan's greatest hero school before moving to follow his friend. He took an absent step forward…only to suddenly trip due to a slightly raised brick, which quickly sent him careening down toward the ground.
'Well, this can't be a good sign.' he deadpanned as he braced himself to kiss brick as his body descended…until he suddenly stopped mid-fall and abruptly began to float through the air.
As his mind caught up with reality, there was really only one thing he could do…
"Eh?!" he squealed out as he began to flail in mid-air.
…react like an idiot.
"Sorry about using my Quirk on you like that without permission." a female voice suddenly offered cheerfully from behind him. A moment later Izuku suddenly felt gravity reassert itself and he fell back to earth and landed with a stumble.
Catching himself before he could fall again, Izuku could only blink in surprise as he turned to catch sight of the speaker. She was a cute brunette with what looked like a pair of permanent blush marks on her cheeks. She was wearing a dark brown coat and had a slate-grey backpack on her back. A dark blue skirt, black tights and black shoes finished her ensemble. One thing he noticed was that she seemed to have pads of some sort on her finger-tips. Related to her Quirk, perhaps?
"You looked like you were about to take a nasty spill." she continued, a smile on her lips. "I thought it would just be plain bad luck to fall like that right before a big test, so I couldn't help but step in. You okay?"
"Y-Yeah….th-thank you…" Izuku managed to stutter out, a blush quickly rising to his cheeks. He wasn't accustomed to talking to girls, nearly every girl since Elementary School had treated him like the plague because of his Quirk. "Ah…y-you're h-h-here for the E-Exams t-too?"
'Way to state the obvious, idiot!' he mentally scolded himself.
"Yup, the Hero Course!" the girl agreed cheerfully. "You?"
"S-Same." the verdette answered, managing to work up a nervous smile. "W-Well you're certainly o-off to a g-good start. You certainly s-saved me from having to g-go through the exams with a broken nose. I hope y-you do well. I-I'm Midoriya Izuku."
"Nice to meet you Midoriya-kun." the girl seemed to beam at him, her blush marks deepening slightly at the praise. "I'm Uraraka Ochako! Let's both do our best to get into the Hero Course!"
With that, the brunette charged past him and headed for the exam halls.
Katsuki, who'd been watching the whole thing with a mix of disbelief, annoyance and amusement, simply shook his head as Izuku just stood there stunned for a long moment. Patience quickly fading, the bomber quickly stepped up to his childhood friend and provided a light slap to the back of his head to restart his brain.
"No time for daydreaming nerd, we've got a fucking exam to kill!" he barked out, before snorting as he started walking towards the exam hall. "That's just like you, literally falling head over heels for a pretty girl."
"Kacchan!" Izuku squeaked in embarrassment as he moved to follow his friend, being much more careful to watch his step this time.
One Mind-Numbingly Extensive Exam Later
Auditorium
"Holy fuck, and I thought Aldera's tests were piss easy!" Katsuki grunted as he flopped down into their assigned seats in the main auditorium after being dismissed from the testing rooms. "That exam was a fucking cakewalk, but it was so damn long. There were moments I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish the damned thing in time."
"Maybe, that was just another part of the exams?" Izuku hummed thoughtfully as he took his seat next to his friend. "Heroes need to be able to quickly prioritize and assess information in very limited spans of time, so the size of the test could have just been just another part of the exams."
Katsuki mulled that over for a moment before leaning back in his seat. "Shit, that makes a twisted kind of sense. Guess that's part of the reason U.A.'s known as the damned best of the best, they make everything a test." removing his hand from his face, Katsuki grinned ferally at his partner. "That's why we fucking belong here after all. We both aced that freaking test in every sense of the word and now all we've got to do is curb-stomp the practical and we're good as shittin' gold."
Fist-bumping, the two settled down and waited for the rest of the applicants to arrive. The clock clicked down as the massive room quickly filled up with students before an alarm suddenly buzzed, signalling the break was over. Instantly, the lights in the auditorium dimmed as the doors automatically slammed shut. A moment later a new figure stepped onto the illuminated stage and up to the speaking podium.
Someone that Izuku instantly recognized.
"Kacchan, look!" he whispered out excitedly. "It's the Voice Hero: Present Mic!" he whispered excitedly.
"Calm the fuck down already!" Katsuki growled out while rolling his eyes. Even after ten months of being trained by the freaking Number One Hero himself, his childhood friends still got excited about meeting any two-bit extra in a costume.
"LET ME HEAR YA ALL SAY YEEEAAAHHHHH!" the Voice Hero called out, using his Quirk to boom across the entire auditorium.
Unfortunately, the impressive (loud) display was met with silence.
"Jeez, tough crowd." Mic muttered under his breath, before speaking up again, quickly regaining his usual enthusiasm. "Okay all you eager young listeners. Keep your eyes on me and your ears open, because I'm about to lay out the ABCs of the practical exam! All of ya are going to be split up between four distinct Testing Sites: Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma!" On the screen behind Mic, a map of U.A.'s campus appeared, marking the four Testing Sites. "There should be a paper packet attached to the bottom of each of your seats, go ahead and grab that and open her up to find out which testing ground you've been assigned. Once there your exam is simplicity itself: Beat those baddies!"
The screen suddenly shifted, this time showing the shadowy outlines of four different robots.
"Here we have the Victory-class, the Imperial-Class, the Venator-class and the Executor-class Villain Substitution Bots!" Mic declared. "There's a certain number of each at the various testing grounds, and each one of these nasty little stand-ins is worth a certain number of points if you take them down! Victories are One-Point, Imperials are Two-Pointers, and Venators are Three-Pointers! You'll have ten minutes to hunt down and beat as many as you can to wrack up your high score!"
"So it's a game of search and destroy?" Bakugō smirked, a hungry gleam in his eyes. "I like it."
"Huh, looks like we're assigned to different grounds." Izuku muttered as he scanned the sheet he'd found beneath his seat.
"Tch." Katsuki clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Probably as a way to keep friends from the same Junior High from teaming up together." He was honestly a bit disappointed. He'd honestly wanted to see how much carnage he and his partner could dish out if they were allowed to really cut loose together.
"Now let's set some ground rules!" the Voice Hero continued. "There is to be no usin' your Quirks on or otherwise attacking a fellow examinee with the intent to harm! Nor are you allowed to attempt to set them up to be attacked by villain bots! Any attempts to play anti-hero will earn you an immediate disqualification and you'll personally be tasting my boot leather as I kick your rear to the curb! Other than that, anything goes! Yes Examinee 7111! You have a question?"
A boy with blue hair and glasses suddenly shot to his feet, standing rather stiffly and chopping his arms robotically through the air as he answered the clearly amused Pro. "Yes sir! You mentioned four different classes of these Villain Substitution Robots, but only mentioned the point value for three! I would hope that an instructor for a prestigious institution like U.A. would not forget such an important detail!"
Then, much to Izuku's shock, the boy rotated around at the waist to glare at him and Katsuki. "Any you two! Cease your chattering and muttering this instant! This is an important examination; if you will not treat it with the seriousness required you should simply leave!"
Katsuki growled, slamming his palms into the desk as he stood up. "Oi, Glasses! How about removing the rod from your ass! We don't give a shit that you're anxious as hell, so don't try taking it the fuck out on us!"
The other boy recoiled back at that, though whether it was from Katsuki's language or his glare Izuku couldn't be sure, but Present Mic luckily decided to intervene.
"Calm it down listeners and save that wicked energy for the exams!" the Pro called out, getting both boys to turn their attention back to him. "And good observation, 7111! The Executor…is a Zero-Pointer! It's worth absolutely no points, so its best you simply try and avoid it."
"I see! Thank you for the clarification!" the stiff boy stated, bowing deeply before sitting down.
"Alright then, if there's no other questions, please make you way through the marked exit. There are buses waiting, each marked with your assigned Testing Site." Mic's sunglasses seemed to flash in the ambient light. "Hope you all enjoy your suffering kids!"
Twenty Minutes Later
Testing Ground Beta
Izuku gulped slightly as he stared up at the massive concrete gates that surrounded the exam area. Behind it, Izuku could just make out a myriad of rooftops seemingly taken right out of some cityscape, and he could easily make out the dim outline of three others just like it in the distance. It was still utterly mind-blowing how large U.A.'s campus was, given the price of land in Japan these days.
How exactly the cityscapes had been built was simple enough to answer if one knew anything about the staff currently employed by U.A.; Ishiyama Ken, more commonly known as the Construction Hero: Cementoss, possessed the [Cement] Quirk that let him manipulate and reshape any cement-based substance that he touched. Putting together a number of false cityscapes like this would be a simple, if lengthy, task for the man.
Looking around, he quickly noticed that everyone, aside from himself, the glasses guy, and Uraraka, were all dressed in casual clothes rather than gym wear. They'd been given an opportunity to change be the practical exams, so they should at least be wearing gym wear.
The tall boy with glasses was wearing what Izuku would have liked to have worn himself, some sort of tight blue bodysuit that left his arms and legs exposed from the upper arms and upper thighs respectively. It would allow the boy complete freedom of movement without worrying about flapping clothes getting in the way. He, and Uraraka for that matter, were both wearing normal tracksuits, which would at least not get in the way too much.
"You there! The mumbler from before!" the tall boy suddenly seemed to notice him and quickly started to march robotically toward him. An idle part of the verdette's mind noticed what looked like exhaust ports emerging from the back of his calves. Some kind of Mutation Quirk?
"Ah, the nervous guy!" Izuku responded, causing the other boy to sputter for a moment before slumping in defeat.
"Is it really that obvious?" he asked sheepishly.
"K-Kinda." Izuku offered with a wince. "You're moving like a robot in need of an oil can and the way you were lashing out at anyone who didn't seem worried…"
"Ah, I see. I will need to work on improving my composure." the bespectacled boy let out a sigh, before stiffening up again. "However, you should do the same! Your mutterings could easily distract the other applicants!"
Izuku shrugged. "You c-can't really expect everything to be quiet and calm if you're trying to be a Hero. Anyone who'd be distracted by me muttering to myself really needs to learn to focus if they want to get into U.A.."
Nearby, many of the other applicants who'd been eavesdropping rather than preparing for the test to start suddenly felt an arrow labelled 'needs to learn to focus' pierce their hearts…metaphorically speaking.
The others simply kept their focus on prepping for the exams and calming their own nerves.
"AND START!" Present Mic's voice echoed across the area as the doors into the testing ground swung open, causing most of the students to simply blink in shock. "Did I stutter!? There ain't no countdown in real life kiddies! Get your rears in gear!"
Almost as one, the crowd of examines surged forward into the testing area before quickly splitting to search for their targets. Among them was a green-haired boy with blue hands.
With Izuku
With a thought, Izuku shifted his right hand into the Light Buster as he spotted a One-Pointer charging down the street towards him. The machine was close to ten feet tall, with a large humanoid torso, an ostrich like head and neck, and a pair of gatling guns arms all mounted on top of a motorized unicycle.
Izuku really had to wonder who had designed these things.
Shaking the stray thought off, the teenaged blaster quickly raised his arm and, with a speed that was almost reflexive at this point, took aim and fired a single shot toward the machine's torso. He'd meant it to simply test the machine's armour so he could get a read on its durability, but much to his surprise the single, glowing pulse of concentrated energy punched clear through the machine's undercarriage, causing it to collapse to the ground.
Izuku couldn't help but pause for a moment in shock. Either these machines were incredibly substandard (not likely given U.A.'s resources) or his training under All Might had increased the punching power of his Buster shots by even more than he'd thought.
All Might's training had been gruelling in several different aspects. While the Symbol of Peace had largely focused on building up their physical fitness (A Hero needs a Strong Body even more than a Strong Quirk) and honing their, admittedly amateurish, fighting techniques, he'd also helped refine their Quirks by quite a bit. For Kacchan, that had mostly revolved around better learning to concentrate his explosive sweat into specific parts of his hands, creating stronger explosions for less effort. Izuku's training had largely concentrated on building up the speed he could charge up his Mega Buster attacks, which had had the added benefit of increasing the potency of his normal Buster shots as well.
The training had also helped built up the ammo capacity for all his Busters, with the Light and Air Busters now holding a thousand rounds apiece, so he doubted he'd need to switch to a different Buster Mode for the test.
Shaking his head again, Izuku forced himself back to the matter at hand. "One down." he grunted, before racing off to hunt more robots.
All across the four Testing Sites, student candidates were doing everything they could to either destroy or immobilize the robotic villains.
An all-but-invisible girl used the fact that the robots' scanners couldn't seem to lock onto her floating clothing as a target to get in close and use a scavenged metal rod from an already downed bot to assault any weak points or gaps in their armour.
A pink-skinned girl was sliding across the ground thanks to some form of liquid being released from her bare feet before displaying surprising agility to get in close and blast the various machines with acid generated from her arms.
A fawn-haired girl breathed out a large plume of chromatic mist to distract or disorient the villain droids with illusions, causing the two One-Pointers she'd been targeting to crash into each other.
A red-haired boy somehow managed him with enough force that his rough, stone-like skin managed to pierce straight through a Three-Pointer before body slamming into the One-Pointer that had been directly behind it.
Bakugō Katsuki was barely managing to swallow the urge to cackle maniacally as, for once in his life, he was allowed to run rampant. However, the manic grin on his face was still most unsettling as every release of his Quirk either launched him toward a different target or blasted another villain bot into scrap metal.
An orange-haired girl smashed the head of Two-Pointer into a pancake with a downward punch from a fist that was as large as she was.
A green-haired girl with vaguely frog-like features launched herself forward, delivering a double-heel kick to a Three-Pointer's head that tore it straight off its body.
"Ribbit." she let out a small croak of satisfaction before leaping off again.
A purple-haired girl with long jacks dangling down from her earlobes launched both steel-tipped jacks into the side of a One-Pointer before her eyes narrowed in concentration for a moment. A second later the machine seemed to shake from within before collapsing to the ground, the girl smirking in victory as she withdrew her jacks.
A pair of blonde-haired boys stood back-to-back as they carved through a small pack of One- and Two-Pointers with blasts of electricity and a sparkling laser beam.
"Magnifique!"
"Wheeeey!"
Teacher's Observation Room
"Well now, it looks like we've got a fairly good crop this year." Ectoplasm noted amicably as he and his doppelgängers monitored the various feeds. Thanks to his [Clone] Quirk, the mathematics teacher was able to monitor far more students than any of his co-workers. Currently the ones closest to him were observing several different screens: one showed Uraraka Ochako floating and then dropping several robots at once, another showed a six-limbed young man leaping across the rooftops with several additional sensory organs growing from his limbs to aid in his hunt for more targets, and a third was showing a bird-headed boy manipulating a dark, shadowy entity emerging from his stomach to rip through several bots in rapid succession.
"Hmm, quite. We've got a real talented bunch this year." Midnight, the 18+ Hero purred from nearby. "But you have to admit that these Entrance-grade bots are a bit on the flimsy side. Even the Three-Pointers are a bit weaker than most F-class Villains out there."
"Come on now partner, you can't honestly expect us to send out Third Year or even Graduation-grade bots against a bunch of greenhorns just out of Junior High now can yeh?" The Wild West Hero Snipe drawled out lazily, before his eyes were quickly drawn to one screen in particular. "Say Nezu, care to give me the low-down on that particular cowpoke with the gun hands Transformation Quirk? Little fella seems to have quite the set of hot irons on him, he's already managed to wrangle himself up a good forty Villain Points."
"Ah, I expected he'd catch your interest Snipe." Nezu grinned as he clapped his forepaws together. "That would be Midoriya Izuku-kun. Quirk: [Buster Hands]. It apparently allows him to transform his hands into various forms into several unique forms of firearms. He can alter the resulting guns' functionality to mimic any form of firearm that he has sufficient mechanical knowledge of and even gain additional augmented weapon modes by mimicking other Quirk Factors through physical contact with his hands."
"Well I'll be." the gunman whistled, now suitably interested. Bringing up his personal screen, he began to look back through the footage of Midoriya's test so far. He was quite pleased to see the boy take out several Villain Bots before they could ambush or otherwise attack his fellow competitors with a single well-placed shot each. "Looks like the little gunslinger's even managed to pull a few of competitors out of the fire so far, that's got be worth a few Rescue Points."
"Don't start rushing things just because you've found a new favourite, Snipe." Midnight teased her fellow teacher, a catty grin on her lips. "We don't assign Rescue Points until after the Exams end and we start reviewing the applicants' footage in more detail."
"Agreed, now I believe it's time we put our applicants through their true trial." the skeletal form of Toshinori butted in. "We've only got a few minutes left until the end, so I think its about time we see how our candidates react to a sudden change in the battlefield."
"Couldn't agree more, Toshinori-kun!" Nezu agreed with a laugh. "Majima-kun, if you would?"
"You've got it boss!" the Excavation Hero: Power Loader complied, quickly flipping the protective cover off a single large red button with the words 'PLUS ULTRA' written across it in white block capitals.
With a grin of his own, U.A.'s resident gear-head pressed the button and unleashed robotic hell on the would-be students.
"Now it's time to see who is really worthy of earning the title of hero…and who still needs to be taught what the word truly means." Toshinori stated softly as, one by one, the Zero Pointer robots, each a massive machine larger than any of the building in the mock cityscapes, erupted from their underground bunkers concealed directly at the centre of each Testing Site.
With Izuku
As the massive robot (which the unfrozen portion of his mind noticed looked almost identical to the fourth silhouette from the auditorium) reared up before slamming one of its arms into one of the nearby buildings, completely demolishing it and sending large chunks of debris flying in all directions, Izuku only had a single cognizant thought echoing through his head.
'Isn't something that big a bit too much!?'
The Executor-class was simply gigantic, towering over the four-story buildings that made up the largest part of the cityscape. The massive tank tracks that propelled it seemed to shake the very earth as they rumbled forward, and each swing of its massive arms caused another nearby building to disappear in a cloud of dust and debris. The eight mechanical red eyes scattered across its head seemed to glow demonically as it glared across the Testing Site.
Naturally, in the face of such a threat, many of the examinees did the natural thing…
"Run! Run for your lives!"
"Crap! Crap! Super-Crap!"
"MOMMY!"
…i.e. they panicked and ran for the hills.
Fighting down a growing sense of panic of his own, Izuku suddenly noticed that the monstrous machine was chuntering in his general direction. He was about to turn and make a break for it himself when he suddenly caught a familiar voice shouting weakly from where some of the rubble from the first building had landed, barely audible over the panicked cries of the fleeing applicants.
"HELP!" Uraraka Ochako's voice shouted out again from amidst the rubble.
Izuku's eyes instantly moved to scan across the fallen debris, quickly finding the girl. She was pinned, stomach-side down under a large slab of concrete, with both her arms out of position. He remembered from their brief meeting that her Quirk had seemed to be touch-based.
There was no way she'd be able to reach the rock like that.
She was trapped; there was simply no way she could escape like that. And she was right in the path of the incoming Zero-Pointer as it slowly trudged forward.
"You looked like you were about to take a nasty spill. I thought it would just be plain bad luck to fall like that right before a big test, so I couldn't help but step in."
Any sense of hesitation or fear was suddenly smashed into smithereens as Izuku's near-instinctive desire to protect and help others rose to the fore. With a roar, Izuku surged forward toward the fallen girl, both hands shifting into Explosion Launchers in a flare of green light. Still running, he brought both grenade launchers up and fired off all twelve shots in a single rapid flurry.
The shots all flew true, striking and detonating against the Zero-Pointer's head in a tight group near the middle of its face.
Unbeknownst to Izuku that little display of marksmanship had earned him some bonus points with Snipe.
"Damnit!" Izuku bit out as the smoke enveloping the robot's head cleared, revealing that his entire barrage hadn't been able to do more than dent and scratch the armour coating the monstrous machine's face in several places. "Its armour is on a whole other level than the rest of the Villain bots!"
Dismissing one of the Explosion Launchers with a thought, Izuku fought to ignore the sudden surge of dryness that ran through his throat as he reloaded the other one. That was the Explosion Launcher's biggest demerit, reloading all six of its chambers with nitroglycerine sweat, much like Kacchan's own, drew out a lot of moisture from his own body. If he used it too recklessly he could easily end up collapsing from dehydration and be rendered helpless.
He'd have to be sure to rehydrate thoroughly if he managed to survive this.
Raising the Explosion Launcher, Izuku showed the fruits of All Might's intensive training. In less than two seconds, the entire drum mag was glowing with an inner light as all six rounds were combined into a single devastating payload.
"MAXIMUM EXPLOSION BUSTER!" Izuku roared out, firing off his strongest attack directly at the head of the massive machine once again. The force of the shot nearly sent him stumbling back a step, the glowing white projectile streaking through the air fast enough to leave a small jet trail.
It impacted with a heavy splat that was followed half a second later by a truly monstrous detonation that shook the air and sent the towering behemoth reeling backward from the force of it.
Ochako, who'd managed to twist her head around enough to watch, could only gape at the sight of the robotic monstrosity being pushed back by the boy's attack. Had he actually…?
Sadly, it wasn't to be. As the smoke cleared away, the machine began to quickly right itself, revealing that while the exterior armour had indeed been badly damaged by the blast, with several sections ripped completely clear of armour and the rest of its head sporting several cracks and rents, it was still far from out.
'Dammit! That was my best shot!' Izuku thought furiously. He'd tried to copy All Might's Quirk, with the man's permission of course, but had just received a throbbing headache as a result. It had felt like he'd slammed head-first into the wall, or maybe like he'd just tried to use his Quirk on a dozen different people at once…
An idea suddenly hit him, and he quickly darted toward Uraraka, skidding to a halt next to her.
"Uraraka-san, quick! I need to know how your Quirk works!" he pleaded quickly as the giant robot quickly began to recover its balance and resume its thundering approach.
"Whu? My Quirk?" the brunette blinked, still a little stunned by the earlier display. "I-It's called [Zero Gravity]. I basically negate the gravity of anything I touch with all five fingers."
Izuku's eyes seemed to shine for a moment, his mouth absently working at his lips as he quickly processed that with everything else he'd seen so far. "That…that may be just what we need to stop that thing." he muttered, eyes hardening with resolve. "Can I please use my Quirk on you?"
"Uh…!" Uraraka hesitated for a brief moment, unsure of what was going on. So far all she'd seen of the green-haired boy's Quirk was that he could turn his hands into laser blasters. But the shadow of the Zero-Pointer slowly moving to overshadow both of them quickly made up her mind "Sure, do whatever you need to!"
"Thanks!" Izuku quickly yelped, reaching forward with his left hand to grasp her own hand. The instant his own fingers made contact dozens of thin lines of vibrant pink energy raced up from his fingertips to spread across his hand. A second later his right hand was engulfed in a bright pink glow for a brief moment as it extended and morphed, transforming into a long barrel ending in a 40mm muzzle.
'An M79 Grenade Launcher!?' he thought in disbelief. 'It's a single-shot weapon!? Oh man, I hope this works, cause if the first hit doesn't win this, we're toast!'
Standing back up, Izuku gripped his new weapon by the base with his left to help brace it as he took aim at his target. Information slowly trickled into his brain; rather than having a normal preset amount of ammo, his newest Buster Mode worked like a Mega Buster, building up a shot within the gun and then firing when it reached a sufficient charge.
Gritting his teeth, Izuku began to charge. As he did a bright pink light began to build within the gun's circular barrel. He kept it building for a long as he could, the end of the muzzle soon glowing like a pink-white star even in the midday light, even as the Zero-Pointer drew ever closer.
Soon they were within the massive machine's reach, the monstrous robot rearing back a massive arm; its intent clear as day. As it brought its massive fist forward, Izuku realized he was out of time.
He mentally pulled the trigger.
"Null Gravity Buster!" With an explosive roar, an orb of brilliant pink and white energy burst from his Buster's muzzle with enough force to throw Izuku backwards off his feet hard enough that he landed several feet away sprawled on his back.
The round itself however, shot straight and true, slamming into the Zero-Pointer's descending fist. On impact the orb flared in a blinding flash of pink light that quickly engulfed the entirety of the massive machine. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, the robot merely froze mid-punch, its entire body simply glowing with a vibrant pink sheen for a moment, before…
WHOOOOSH!
"Kya!" Ochako let out a small shriek she was suddenly buffeted by a massive onrush of winds as the Zero-Pointer was launched skywards at immense speeds, blurring through the air like it was a rocket rather than a massive robot.
"W…Whoa!" the brunette breathed out in awe as she watched in stun amazement as the villain bot vanished into the sky
Teacher's Observatory
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Ectoplasm roared, eyes darting between the various monitors as he tried to make sense of what he'd just witnessed. "Did that examinee just send an Executor-class into orbit!?"
"Actually, according to geosynchronous satellite that last year's 3rd Year Support Course launched as their Finals Project, it's already left orbit." Nezu offered glibly, the mad grin stretching across his muzzle at odds with his congenial tone. "Given its current trajectory and launch speed, I'd say it should be impacting the moon within the next two to three days."
Leaning back in his chair, Nezu took a sip of his tea. "Well now, I don't think something like this has ever happened before. What an interesting young man."
"Well, it looks like the kid's newest trick comes with a few negative side-effects." Midnight pointed out dryly, indicating the main screen that was still focused on the two students.
It showed a clear image of Izuku Midoriya, flipping over off his back, only to become violently, physically ill.
"Hm." Nezu tapped his own computer for a moment. "Ah, that appears to be a side-effect of Uraraka Ochako's Quirk, [Zero Gravity]. Overusing her Quirk seems to cause her to become violently nauseous, much like Midoriya-kun is right now. It seems that some of the weakness of a mimicked Quirk also seems to transfer over to the weapon forms they create. Fascinating, simply fascinating."
At the back of the gathering, a single tired-looking man who looked like he needed a caffeine IV just to stay upright gazed at the multitude of screens with a mix of dread, disbelief and disapproval on his face.
"Great, another damn problem child." he groaned under his breath.
Back With Izuku
Quickly managing to recover from his bout of violent sickness, Izuku pushed himself to his feet and quickly made his way over to where Uraraka was still pinned. Now that the looming threat of the Zero-Pointer was gone, he could concentrate on getting her free from there.
With a thought his right arm shifted again, transforming with a pale green glow to take the form of the Attraction Shot. The gun formed from his mother's Quirk (very) loosely resembled a long-barrelled Smith and Wesson Model 686, complete with a small iron sights above the muzzle as well as a revolving chamber holding it's 'ammo.' However, the chamber was significantly large than the classic six-shooter, instead holding sixteen rounds at once.
Raising it with a quick and practised motion, Izuku took aim at one of the closest, still-standing structure and quickly fired off six shots in rapid succession. Each impacted with pinpoint accuracy along the wall, saturating it with a pale green glow. Instantly, all the nearby dust, debris, and rubble began flying toward the marked wall like they were being drawn in by a vacuum cleaner, including the chunks of debris that had been pinning Ochako to the ground. An interesting factor he'd discovered soon after gaining the Attraction Shot was that, rather than being based off a base size or even Izuku's size, the maximum size of the matter drawn in via the Attraction Shot was based off the size whatever object or person he shot.
With his mother's original Quirk, the size was limited to anything she could fit into both her hands. For a four-story building, the resulting attractive force was strong enough to lift and pull in a car.
The [Zero Gravity]-Holder let out a brief sigh of relief as she was finally able to move and breathe freely again, only to be forced to bite down on her lip as she tried to rise and her right ankle flared painfully in protest. Thankfully the pain vanished quickly as she took her weight off it and, glancing down, she let out a breath of relief when she noticed that her ankle wasn't bending at an odd angle so she'd hopefully only sprained it.
"U-Uraraka-san? Are you…alright?" Izuku asked nervously as he quickly made his way over to her, his right arm quickly reverting back to his normal hands.
"I…I'm fine." she managed to grit out, her voice tight as she worked to brush off the pain. "Just think I twisted or maybe sprained my ankle is all."
Suddenly a loud buzzing filled the area.
"AND TIME IS UP!" Present Mic's voice roared across the site.
"Hup we go." Izuku stated simply, reaching down and quickly picking the girl up in a bridal carry. "Let's get you to Recovery Gil and she'll have you back on your feet in no time flat."
"Meep!" Ochako squeaked blushing scarlet, even as he arms automatically went around Izuku's neck to keep herself stable. This consequently let her get a very good feel of just how…developed her rescuer's chest was. 'Dang, Midoriya-kun's got some serious muscles! You really can't tell just by lookin' at him.'
Meanwhile, Izuku was doing everything to keep his focus away from the fact that Ochako's breasts were now pressed firmly against his chest. He was just barely keeping himself from overheating by focusing on the fact that he needed to get her to Recovery Girl to be healed. Still that did not stop one thought from pervading his mind. 'S-She's…b-b-big!'
Izuku might be a cinnamon roll, but that did not make him asexual. He was just as capable of admiring the…uh…finer points of the female form as any teenage male.
"Oh dear, these dang tests seem to get more dangerous with every year." a little old lady dressed in an oversized doctor's lab-coat and carrying a syringe-shaped cane muttered as she quickly noticed them. "What seems to be the damage here, dears?"
"Uraraka-san was caught by some of the falling debris. It looks like she either twisted or sprained her ankle, along with some nasty bruises from being hit and pinned by the debris." Izuku offered as he gently set the girl down, before he let out a light hacking cough. "I'm just a bit dehydrated and a little woozy from pushing my Quirk too hard."
"Tsk. Alright then, we'll settle up with the young lady first, should be a quick and easy fix." the Youthful Heroine: Recovery Girl stated simply before she leaned forward slightly, her lips extending and gently kissing Ochako on the forehead. Instantly a green light spread over her entire body and she quickly noticed the swelling in her ankle instantly fading away as well.
Hopping back to her feet, she couldn't help but grin. "My ankle's fixed, but I'm suddenly feeling really tiiiiyaaahh!" the sentence quickly dissolved as she suddenly let out a jaw-cracking yawn, causing her to blush scarlet.
Recovery Girl merely chuckled good-naturedly. "That's the downside of my Quirk there, dearie. [Heal] can fix up most any injury that'd heal normally over time, but it burns through that person's stamina something fierce to fuel itself." she informed Uraraka helpfully, before turning to face Izuku. "Now what about you, sonny?"
Izuku easily waved her off. "I'm fine ma'am. Worst I've got is a bruise or two from some random debris. I'm just a bit thirsty and a bit on the woozy side." he offered with a tired smile. "The Null Gravity Buster I got from copying Uraraka's Quirk was a lot more powerful than I thought it'd be and it really took a lot out of me."
"Hmph, well you certainly put on quite the show. I'm pretty sure the whole staff was watching when you sent that oversize tin can into orbit and beyond." Recovery Girl let out a small snort of amusement. "Heck, it's been near-on a decade since an applicant's been able to damage one of those things like that big ol' firecracker of yours did."
Izuku knew Kacchan would be pleased with the compliment to the Explosion Launcher's destructive power, but his mind was stuck on another matter. "I-I actually sent that thing into orbit!?"
"Wow." Ochako was just as shocked. She'd never been able to do anything close to that with her Quirk before. "I-I honestly can't believe that my Quirk was able to help you do that, Midoriya-kun."
"I think it has to do with how my Quirk adapts other Quirks to form a new weapon." Izuku muttered absently, clearly operating on autopilot as his mind churned and analysed everything that he'd seen. "It tends to loosen certain restrictions based on the Quirk's nominal functions. You normally need to touch something with all five of those pads on your fingers in order to activate your Quirk, right? That means your Quirk normally follows a 'five points of contact' activation precondition, as well as being limited to your body's physical stamina. My Quirk took the base power, along with the associated weakness if my sudden bout of nausea afterwards was any indication, without copying the restrictions that it normally operates under. That in turn unlocked your Quirk's full inherit power, altering it from simply [Zero Gravity] into [Null Gravity]."
"Eh!?" Ochako blinked, trying to follow along but having trouble keeping up at the moment. "T-Then what does my Quirk actually do if it doesn't negate gravity?"
"Your Quirk definitely does negate gravity, just not completely." the verdette explained. "[Zero Gravity] likely works by negating a specific gravity field, likely the Higgs Field, causing anything affected by it to become weightless, but they are still bound to the Earth's gravitational axis, keeping them mostly anchored to the earth unless they are forced outward. My Null Gravity Buster instead completely severs an affected target from the Earth's gravitational field. This results in them being catapulted into orbit by the momentum of the Earth's rotation and air buoyancy. Your Quirk certainly has a lot of hidden potential, Uraraka-san."
Uraraka didn't respond, she just stared at her hands as if she'd never seen those particular limbs before.
"My, that was quite the breakdown there, sonny. Thought I was listening to the rodent monologue there for a second." Recovery Girl offered with a blink, before shaking her head. "Anywho, I think it's time you to get to getting. You should get your exam results within the next couple weeks."
That reminder seemed to snap Uraraka out of her Quirk-based fugue. "I'm so, so sorry Midoriya-kun." she apologized forlornly as Recovery Girl headed out to see to any other injured examinees. "If you didn't need to save me, you'd have probably managed to earn a bunch more points."
"D-Don't worry about it Uraraka-san." Izuku offered her a slightly pained, but honest smile. "I made my own choice, and I'll never regret trying to help someone when they needed me."
The two lapsed into silence for a long moment after that before parting ways, but not before trading numbers at Ochako's sudden suggestion.
'He…He really is a hero.' the girl from Mie thought sadly, before a determined frown formed on her lips. 'I'd have ended up flatter than an okonomiyaki if he hadn't save me. Someone like that deserves ta get in, and I ain't gonna' be the reason he doesn't.'
With an aura of determination forming around her, Uraraka Ochako stomped forward to where she'd last seen Present Mic.
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Next Chapter: First Day in 1-A
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Izuku's Gun Files!
Gun Name: Attraction Shot
Original Quirk: [Attraction of Small Objects]
Gun Based On: Smith and Wesson Model 686 Revolver
Ammunition: Weak Gravity Energy
Magazine Size: Sixteen Rounds
Stats
Power: 1/5
Range: 3/5
Ease of Use: 4/5
Adaptability: 3/5
