Chapter 3

After a quick train ride, Pony and I find ourselves standing in front of the illustrious UA High School. The property goes on too long for either of us to see the entirety of it, large, tan-colored walls surrounding the perimeter. The academy itself is bigger than anything I've ever seen before. The base of the building looks like a normal yet elegant school building. Though what makes it stand out is the giant "H" of blue-stained glass towering above it.

"Woah. It looked awesome in the pictures but seeing it in person is just…wow."

"It does live up to the reputation. I'm not surprised though. After all, this is the best hero academy in Japan." Pony replied.

We walked up to the blue metal gate, and I had to make sure I remembered to bring my ID. Each applicant was sent a temporary ID in the mail with the rest of the information regarding the entrance exam. The gate at UA is designed to only let faculty and students in, so we need these ID's to actually get past the walls.

"Please tell me you remembered yours, otherwise we'll end up being late to the exam." I asked, sweatdropping as I watched Pony scavenge through her backpack in the search of her ID. "It shouldn't be that difficult…"

Finally, she overdramatically pulled the small plastic card out of her backpack, a big grin on her face. "See? I'm not that forgetful!"

"I know. It was just a joke." I chuckled. "Might as well get in a few jokes before we take the exam from hell." She playfully punched me on the shoulder as we walked through the gate.

"Oh lighten up already! We'll do fine. Remember what All Might said yesterday? We just have to go into the exam with a Plus Ultra attitude!" she said, pumping her fist in the air similar to All Might's signature pose. "You remembered to pack your batteries, right? Otherwise you'd really be in trouble."

I simply patted a small brown satchel attached at my hip. "All ready to go. Even picked out a few different types, just in case I need a bigger boost."

"See? You're all set! Now let's go get signed in. Though I'm…not actually sure where we are supposed to do that." she said accompanied by a nervous horse-like giggle. I was about to make a joke about her getting us lost, but as I opened my mouth to speak, I realized I didn't know the answer to that either.

My face flushing a bit, I reached into my pack and grabbed a map of the high school. "Alright. According to the map, we head into the main building and there should be a check in station near the entrance. From there they'll redirect us to one of the classrooms for the written exam. Once that is done, we'll have to go to the amphitheater to learn more about the rest of the exam." I explained, folding the map back up.

Pony let out a cute little whine. "I can already tell we're gonna be exhausted by the end of the day."

I looked down at my hand, now clenched into a fist. "Maybe. But if it means we get into UA, it'll be well worth it." I replied. "Besides, I doubt we'll be allowed to slack off if we do get accepted. You don't become a hero by taking the easy way out."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. We'll just have to remember to celebrate once all is said and done!" she said, seemingly cheering back up once again.

"We can always stop by Ichiraku's on the way back home." I suggested. The response was almost immediate.

"Let's both do our best today!" she yelled, tail wagging rapidly. Some of the other applicants are looking at us like we are crazy, but I could care less. I let out a snort of laughter.

"If there's one thing to motivate Pony above all else, it would be food." I thought amusedly to myself.

Walking through the courtyard, I looked around in awe. They must have some really good landscapers or something, because there are large, strong trees and colorful flowers everywhere. Probably the doing of a quirk or something.

We were about to head inside to get checked in, when a sudden yell behind us caught our attention.

"Get out of my way! Stupid Deku!"

An annoyed-looking boy with spiky blonde hair wearing a white scarf and black school uniform angrily walked past another boy wearing a similar uniform. The other boy has potentially the curliest green hair I've ever seen, and he immediately begins muttering up a storm after the other boy.

"Well, that wasn't nice at all." Pony said with a small frown. I could only nod my head in agreeance, watching the blonde-haired teen make his way into the building. "He's gonna be an…interesting classmate if we end up passing."

Though it makes me wonder if someone like him can become a hero. Immediate first impressions say otherwise. He might end up having a really cool quirk or something, but from that interaction alone, he looks more like a bully than a hero.

Suddenly someone started laughing like crazy behind me, causing most of the people still in the courtyard to turn and look at the source of the bizarre noise.

I turned back around upon hearing the voice, and I saw a brown-haired girl in a brown jacket and pink scarf walking towards us. She must've talked to the green-haired boy or something, because he is just forward with a weird expression on his face, laughing into the air like a madman.

"Should we uh…go talk to him?"

"I-I guess so? Might as well snap him out of it so that he doesn't end up missing the exam." I responded.

We both walked up to him, and it doesn't even look like he noticed us coming towards him. I waved a hand in his face. Nothing. Not even a twitch of the eyebrow or something.

"Uh, hello? Are you okay in there?" I asked.

He must've heard me, thankfully, because he seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in and calmed down a bit. Though as soon as he did that, he immediately became a bumbling and blushing mess again.

"S-s-sorry about t-that. I-I was just uh, t-thinking about something is all!" He continued to mutter for at least a minute before I finally held up a hand, motioning for him to stop. "I-I did it again, didn't I?"

I raised a brow at him. "If you mean muttering like crazy, then yes. Yes you did."

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, letting out a sheepish laugh. "S-sorry about that. I-I guess I just haven't broken that old habit yet."

Pony, bless her soul, came to his rescue. "Don't worry about it! I'm sure we're all a bit nervous about today. So, what's your name?"

For a second I thought he was about to start freaking out when Pony started talking to him, but it looks like he managed to calm down somewhat. "M-Midoriya Izuku. And you?"

"Tsunotori Pony, though you can just call me Pony. And this is my friend Luca Watson."

Midoriya looked at me curiously, and I already knew what he wanted to ask. "We're from America. Pony's father is from Japan. We're staying with her grandparents while we are attending UA."

"Oh! I see. It's rare to see a foreign transfer student enter UA. I've only heard of a handful doing that in the past." Apparently when talking about other things he is able to relax, because he seemed to lose most of his nervous stutter.

"Well, might as well challenge that. Anyways, we should probably get going. Don't wanna be late for the first part of the exam." I replied. "You wanna come with us?"

"S-sure. Why not?"

As we were walking into the building, I decided to pop the question. So, Midoriya-san, what was with that angry guy earlier?"

Pony nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah. It seemed like he was mad at you just for being here."

Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "W-well, Kacchan and I went to the same middle school, a-and he wasn't really happy when he heard I applied to UA. He didn't appreciate the competition." he said, staring off into space.

"Pft. Well, good luck to him. With an attitude like that, I'm guessing he'll find it hard to become a hero. He'll probably end up exploding on someone he is trying to save."

"Q-quite literally, a-actually. His Quirk is called Explosion." Midoriya added, making me sigh.

"I'm already dreading the beginning of the semester."

It didn't take very long to get checked in. We just walked up to a table that was set up in the lobby area, and one of the faculty members checked our ID's just to make sure we were supposed to be there. They then directed us to a classroom where we will take the written portion of the exam. Midoriya and I were brought to one classroom, while Pony was brought to another. It seems as though UA is attempting to separate anyone who knew each other before taking the exam, so that they can't coordinate with each other.

The classroom isn't much bigger than the ones I've seen in the past. It fits around 30 desks, and that is how many people are currently shoved into this room. The proctor for the exam looks like a…big slab of cement. I think Midoriya mumbled something about Cemontoss, so I can only assume he's a pro hero that works here at UA, though I'm not really familiar with many of the pro heroes from Japan aside from All Might and Endeavour.

The test was passed out, and I was immediately glad I studied last night with Pony. Some questions weren't very difficult. I was able to breeze through the English questions fairly quickly, as well as History. I had a bit of a pause during the Mathematics section when I forgot a couple of equations, but I was thankfully able to remember them before they became an issue.

Now, the real kicker was the heroics session. I wasn't exactly sure how to prepare for this portion of the exam beforehand, because despite heroics being a fairly popular career choice, they don't really talk about heroics in terms of academics in middle school.

"Question 45: What is the proper way for two hero agencies to coordinate a team up, and how is the pay split up between the two agencies? Uh…I have no idea."

This made me realize how little I actually know about being a pro hero. Yeah, there are the parts where you perform rescues and fight the bad guys, but I guess I never really thought about all of the ins and outs of doing hero work until now. On the news, you only see the heroes taking down the villains. You rarely ever hear the heroes mention anything about the process or any of the behind the scenes things.

I ended up just going with my gut for most of the heroics section. There were a few more practical or hands-on questions about taking down villains that I knew well enough, thankfully. Like, how heroes aren't supposed to severely harm or kill a villain unless given no other choice, or about what heroes do when out on patrol.

By the end up the test, I'm not feeling confident, but I don't think there is too much to worry about.

"I think I managed to scrape by thanks to my scores in the general subjects. Japanese and Mathematics were a bit iffy, but not terrible. Heroics though, I was stumped on through most of it." I said to Midoriya as the two of us walked out of the exam room. "Did they teach you about any of that stuff in middle school here?"

He nodded his curly hair-covered head. "Yeah. Middle schools in Japan typically cover it thoroughly, especially in the last year or so, given how many students end up pursuing careers in heroics." he explained, tilting his head a bit. "Do they not teach it at schools in America?"

I shook my head. "Hardly. They touch upon a few things, but mainly the more general things that most people are already aware of like fighting villains and patrols and stuff like that. They never talked about the behind the scenes stuff or things about actually running an agency."

My companion placed a finger under his chin as we continued to walk through the halls towards the amphitheater, where we will be informed about the second half of the exam.

"Hmm…I've heard that some other countries aren't as dedicated to hero studies as in Japan. Not that they don't take it seriously, but heroes aren't as big of a career choice there."

I could see that, honestly. Teachers never discouraged students from aspiring to become heroes, but it wasn't necessarily encouraged. I've actually heard that a lot of people just go to hero academies to get their license, so that they can fight back against a villain without being arrested for vigilantism.

"Well, regardless of how well I did in the written exam, I'm sure that the field test is going to be the real deciding factor in whether or not we end up being accepted or not."

Midoriya seemed to deflate a bit at that statement, and I couldn't help but empathize with him. From the looks of things, one thing he has going for him in spades is intelligence. I can't even count the amount of times I've heard him muttering about one thing or another in fine details, and I've hardly known him for an hour.

"Not confident about your quirk?" I asked curiously.

"W-well, uh. Y-y-you see-!" He was interrupted by Pony running up to us.

"Hey!" she yelled, slightly startling Midoriya. "That test was super hard. How did you think you did?"

I just shrugged my shoulders in response. "I think I did alright. I'd be surprised if this guy didn't pass, though, given how quickly he finished." We were each given an hour to finish the exam, and he ended up finishing in About half an hour.

In Midoriya-like fashion, he immediately began to flail his arms in front of his face madly. "I-it really wasn't anything i-impressive. I just s-studied a lot in preparation for the exam because of how important a situation like this is. I couldn't afford to slack on the written exam in case I ended up doing really bad in the-!" I held my hand out in front of his mouth to stop him.

"Breathe, man. Anyways, we should get going. Don't want them to start without us."

We went down the corridor before turning right into another hallway. At the very end of the hallway is a large doorway and a sign on the floor that says "Hero Course Exam Orientation." When we went inside, there was a large, dark room with tons of bleacher-style desks lining the walls and stretching across the room, stopping just short of the stage. Midoriya was about to go sit where Kacchan, or Bakugo as he said his actual name was, was sitting. Though Pony and I stopped him, insisting he was better off sitting with people who wouldn't yell at him just for being there.

Once we got seated, the extremely large screen behind the stage lit up, revealing the UA logo, as well as a blonde-haired man standing on the stage. He's wearing some sort of black DJ outfit, big orange shades, and a weird speaker-like device around his neck.

He turned around dramatically as music started to play, addressing the applicants.

"What's up UA candidates?! Thanks for tuning into me, your school DJ!" He threw his arms out excitedly. "Now c'mon and lemme hear ya!"

Like I expected, he was met by a silent room.

"Keeping it mellow, huh? I get it. I'll just skip straight to the main show, how's that? Let's talk about how this practical exam's gonna go down. Are you readyyyyyyy?!"

Once again, silence. I leaned over to Pony and whispered in her ear. "At least we know he's enthusiastic about his job." She let out a small laugh, though she tried to keep it down so as not to be rude. Meanwhile Midoriya isn't being subtle at all and started fanboying about the situation.

"Oh my god. It's the Voice Hero, Present Mic! He's so cool. I listen to his radio show all the time. It's so crazy that all of the teachers here are pro heroes!"

"Like your applications said, you each will be conducting ten-minute mock battles in a suburban setting!" the hero announced, revealing a diagram on the screen behind him. It's showing a group of battle centers from A-G that we will be split into.

Looking at my application, it shows that I am going to be in battle center B. Unfortunately, Pony will be in battle center C.

"Oh cool. I'm in center B as well. Looks like we'll be seeing each other in the exam." Midoriya said with a small smile.

Meanwhile Pony is making a small pouting face. "Dang. I was really hoping we'd be in the same group."

I chuckled. "I'm sure that was on purpose, so that way we can't coordinate and help each other out. It's probably the same for the other applicants." Though I do find it impressive that they were able to separate everyone so accurately.

"Alright! Now let's check out your targets! There are three types of faux villains in each of the seven battle centers." Three silhouettes of what I'm assuming are robots appeared on the screen behind him, each one with a different amount of points attached to it. The one-pointer appears to move on a single wheel with large box-like arms. The two-pointer moves on four legs with some sort of thin tail coming from the back. The three-pointer looks more like a vehicle with two cannons on the top.

"Your goal for this assignment is to navigate through the fake city and wrack up points by taking down villains with your quirks! Just remember that sabotaging or attacking your fellow applicants is strictly not allowed!"

One applicant with short, black hair and glasses stood up, raising his hand. "Excuse me sir. I have a question!"

"Go right ahead!"

"On the printout it shows four different types of faux villains while on the presentation you said there are only three types. With all due respect, if this a mistake on UA's behalf, this is shameful. We are all here to do our best to become heroes, and we should expect the best from Japan's most honorary hero academy. A mistake like this just won't cut it!" He then turned around, pointing a robotic finger at the three of us. "You over there, with the unruly hair. You've been muttering this entire time. If you can't take the pressure, then leave. You're distracting the rest of us!"

Midoriya just mumbled an embarrassed apology from behind his hands while the rest of the applicants began to laugh. I probably shouldn't, but I feel the need to say something. Standing up, I responded to the glasses-wearing teen.

"And with all due respect, I think you've taken this a bit too seriously. Calling out a fellow examinee like that in front of everyone isn't called for, and if there is a mistake such as that in the handouts, then it is probably for very good reason." I said before sitting back down. I almost chuckled when I saw the surprised look on the teen's face.

"Wow. You really told him. Though I'm surprised. What he did was uncalled for, but you normally don't react to things like that." Pony said.

I shrugged my shoulders in response. "We're all nervous here. The last thing we need is to cause more trouble for one another."

After a moment of pause, Present Mic returned to announcing with vigor. "Alright, that's enough. Thank you for your feedback." An image of a fourth robot, much bigger than the other three appeared behind him with a zero next to it. "The fourth villain is worth zero points. It's mainly meant to be an obstacle standing in your path. There is one of these in each of the battle centers. You'd do best to avoid this one folks!"

"Now, that's all I've got for you this time, folks. Let me just leave you with a small glimpse of our school motto. A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes. You all ready to go beyond? Now let's hear a big PLUS ULTRA!"

A few people yelled it along with him, though must of us stayed quiet. "Sheesh! Tough crowd today, huh? Anyways, make your way to the locker rooms to get ready before heading to your designated battle center!"

Everyone began to filter out of the room, and Pony gave me a quick hug before heading to the girl's locker room. "Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great."

"Same to you. Let's both get into UA and become heroes."

The two of us followed a group of guys to where the guy's locker room is. When we got there, I changed into the exercise clothes I brought in my backpack. A pair of dark-brown jogging pants, since it's still cold as hell outside, a black sweatshirt, a pair of black running shoes, and a pair of dark-brown gloves with the palms torn off. I remembered to reattach my satchel with the batteries in it back on my hip before meeting with Midoriya outside the locker room. He's wearing a green tracksuit with white stripes going down the front.

"What's with the satchel?" he asked.

I opened it up and quickly took out one of the batteries. "My quirk requires a source of electricity, so I carry these around. It takes a few to really charge me up, but their convenient and easy to carry around."

"Oh! An electricity based quirk! Can you store the electricity and then release it as a projectile? Oh, wait. You have to be touching the source to absorb the electricity right? That must be why your gloves are missing the palms. Does it hurt when you absorb it or are you immune to electricity? I can see how that would be very useful against villains with electricity-based quirks!"

I just watched as he continued to mutter about quirks and writing this down in his notebook later. "Okay. Now I'm starting to get that other guy's point about the muttering. Oh well. I suppose everyone needs a hobby."

After a couple minutes of walking, we finally arrived at battle center B. Already, I can tell what Present Mic meant by suburban. Though most of the battle center is still blocked by the two massive steel doors the size of buildings, I can already see the beginning of a city. Where everyone is gathered is surrounded by several buildings, and it looks like we are standing in the middle of a street, potholes and all.

Though what really surprised me was how many people there are gathered in this one place. I know there were several thousand applicants, but this is still at least a couple hundred people in one battle center.

I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm my nerves. "Alright. The time has come. You can't afford to choke here, Luca. Just do your best."

I turned over to Midoriya. "I'm gonna go do some quick warmups before the exam starts. Good luck, Midoriya-san."

He gave me a small, nervous wave as I began to jog over to a somewhat empty spot to warm up. I hope he makes it into UA. The muttering gets a bit annoying after a while, but he's a pretty nice guy aside from that.

I stopped underneath a small tree to shade myself from the sun as I did my warmups. I let myself slip into the familiar rhythm of doing stretches and jumping jacks. If anything, I want to get my legs all warmed up, since I'm probably gonna be doing a whole lotta running to get points as fast as possible.

"Hopefully I won't do too poorly. The fact that I'm up against robots is probably a plus. They're programmed to act a certain way, so as the exam goes on, I'll be able to predict their patterns. I might be able to scrape through this after all."

Suddenly, All Might's words from last night flashed in my head.

"With the right attitude, you too can become a hero!"

I shook my head clear of my thoughts, looking ahead determinedly. "I can't aim for "just good enough." I have to aim for Plus Ultra." I muttered to myself.

Looking up, I see a timer on one of the buildings counting down. We have about a minute left before the exam begins. Moving as quickly as possible, I got as close to the gate as I could get before taking out a handful of batteries.

Placing them in my palm, I clasped my fist around them and closed my eyes. It took a brief moment, but I then began to feel the familiar surge of energy flood out of the batteries and into me. It travelled from my hand down my arm, then throughout my torso and to the rest of the body. Static slowly crackled across my skin, an invigorated smile on my face.

"I'm all charged up now."

Luca Watson-Quirk: Supercharge

By absorbing the electricity from any source, he can then channel the electricity into his muscles, increasing his strength and speed depending on how much energy he feeds into his muscles. He can even supercharge a single point on his body to increase the effects tenfold. However, the more he uses his quirk, the stiffer his muscles become, making it hard to move.

As the seconds ticked down, I was almost tempted to look around for Midoriya. Technically, there are no rules against teaming up with someone, but I don't want to risk ruining either of our chances at getting in by splitting up the points.

As the timer reached ten seconds, the large metal gates slowly began to open with a loud clunk. Light peaked in through the crack in the gates, and I got in a runner's position.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…There was a loud horn that went off, signaling the beginning of the exam.

Without hesitation, I lunged out of the gate and took off in a sprint. Apparently, most of the others hesitated, because I heard Present Mic yell out to them through the loudspeaker.

"What are you waiting for?! The test began already!"

"Welp, thanks for the head start. Now I just gotta make sure I don't waste it."

I ran as fast as I could, hoping to come across the faux villains before any of the others. The faster I can get to them, the better chance I have at getting enough points to pass. I'd add power up the muscles in my legs, but I don't want to use up my quirk too soon. I need it to take down the robots, and if I go wild too soon, I'll hardly be able to move.

Moments later, a medium-sized green robot came into my line of vision. It has what looks like two tails or stingers of some sort from behind, and the number two painted on the two shield-like legs in the front.

I let the power surge through me, my body lighting up with sparks of electricity. Channeling a small amount into my legs, I launch myself towards it, fist pulled back and ready to punch. As I got closer, it moved to counter.

"Target acquired."

I got right up on it and took a swing at it with my right arm, but it moved one of its shield up to block. My fist connected, the cold metal clanging against my clenched fist. I winced a bit, but it didn't hurt too badly. My fist left a dent in the shield, but otherwise the robot seemed unphased by my attack.

While I was still right next to it, it raised its other leg down in an attempt to bash at me, but I ducked before it could reach me. The street cracked underneath the force of the strike, shaking a little.

"I need to get it off balance and then strike it's weak point."

Squatting, I kicked at one of the robot's legs, causing it to stumble and try to reorient itself. However, before it could, I launched another punch directly into the front of the robot, busting one of the three red, robotic eyes in the center and knocking the robot back. Its body sparked for a few seconds before exploding and falling into a heap of scrap metal in the middle of the road.

I took a second to regain my breath, only to do a quick spin on my heel and smash my fist into the head of a one-pointer that tried to sneak up on me from behind. The one-pointer looks like a miniature version of the two-pointers but mounted on a wheel instead of having legs. The circuits connecting the head to the rest of the body snapped, causing it to sever and fly off, resulting in the rest of the robot to spark and spasm for a few seconds before crashing to the ground.

"These things are programmed to get the jump on you, but it doesn't help that they aren't exactly the quietest things around." I said to myself.

Looking up, I see that the time it took me to take down both robots was enough time for the rest of the pack to catch up with me. Several of them are taking on one and two pointers as well. The teen from before with the glasses used the engines in his legs to kick a hole straight through a three-pointer.

"I gotta start picking up the pace."

Once again sprinting, I do my best to avoid getting involved in the skirmishes of other applicants. As much as I want to get into UA, I'm not going to mess up someone else's chance by stealing their points.

Finally getting past some of the destruction, I come across a group of three robots coming out of an alleyway. A three-pointer and two two-pointers. The three pointer looks like a mini tank of some sort with two cannons mounted on the back.

The three-pointer is the first one to spot me, and it start rolling over with the other two robots not far behind it. I see several small rockets load up in the cannons, making my eyes go wide. I know that they are cannons but are they seriously gonna fire rockets at us during a school exam?!

The first five rockets came at me faster than I was expecting them. I managed to doge three of them with ease, though the last two whizzed past my arm, exploding a couple feet behind me. I added some more electricity into my legs, hoping to rush it before it has another chance to launch the missiles.

I reached the three-pointer just as it was about to fire another round of missiles, ducking down and sliding underneath it. Unfortunately, the other two robots were waiting for me.

The one on the right slammed down at me with one of its legs, but I thankfully managed to sidestep and avoid it. Though I wasn't able to avoid the second one. It swung hard, hitting me directly with its shield. I went flying backwards, past both of the two-pointers, causing me to knock over a trash can.

Sitting up, I reached for my head, and my hand came away with a bit of blood on it. Unfortunately, the three robots weren't going to wait for me to get back up to start coming at me again. Standing up, I winced when I felt a sharp pain in my back.

The two-pointers were descending upon me again, and in the back I could see the three-pointer readying up several more missiles. My eyes widened as I suddenly got a good, or potentially really stupid, idea.

Right before it launched its missiles, I ran up close to one of the two-pointers, increasing the strength of the muscles in my arms and catching the shield of the two-pointer directly in front of me. Moments later, several explosions pelted the two-pointer in the back, causing it to spark. Seeing an opportunity, grabbing onto it's leg and straining hard, I was able to rip it off. I then spun around, building up momentum, and brought the shield down on the other two-pointer, slicing into it and sticking into the ground beneath it.

"As helpful as those rockets were just now, I'm gonna have to finish this quickly." I said, partly to the robot, but mostly to myself. Channeling more electricity into my legs, I launched myself at the three-pointer once more. It began to charge towards me as well. "Perfect. Less time for you to reload your missiles." I thought.

Once it was right on top of me, I clenched my fist, channeling as much electricity at I could there without hurting myself. Unlike the small sparks that were dancing across my skin earlier, this time a large amount of sparks visibly gathered around my hand, creating a loud chirping sound.

With a battle cry, I launched my fist into the robot's head, causing it to fly several yards backwards from the force of my punch. Electricity crackled around its metallic body until it finally short-circuited and blew up.

Slightly hunched over, I am breathing heavily. I looked down at my hand, and thankfully it wasn't burnt from using too much electricity. Though I can definitely feel it starting to get numb already. "Well, at least I know for the future."

After quickly recharging, I ran back in the streets, albite at a slower pace then before. As much as I'd like to take a breather right now, I can't afford to. I've only got 10 points, and I'm already all beaten up. I have to keep going, otherwise I'll start losing steam.

The next couple robots I came across were all one-pointers, thankfully. Without too much trouble, I was able to wrack up another five points, adding on another two when I rounded the corner and nearly ran smack-dab into the thing. I had an opportunity for another two-pointer, but the know-it-all from the amphitheater took it before I could get there.

"Five minutes remaining!"

"Alright. That's not too bad. 17 points in five minutes. I just need to keep up the pace and-"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

I turned my head in the direction the scream came from and ran as fast as I possibly could. Destroyed robots litter the city streets, and occasionally I see some building damage.

Unfortunately, when I rounded the corner, I came across two three-pointers chasing a short boy with what looks like big purple balls on his head. They're red eyes shined when they spotted me, immediately beginning to load more missiles.

"I'm starting to get really tired of these things!" I screamed, already running towards the two robots.

As expected, they fired a barrage of missiles all at once. A couple of them fell a little short, falling and exploding several yards in front of me. Though the smoke from the explosions caused me to not see the rest of the missiles. So, when they finally came out of the smoke, I barely had any time to react.

I sidestepped, causing one missile to just narrowly miss one of my legs. I ducked under another one, then jumped while still running to dodge several more. Though as I came back down, the ground shook from one of the explosions, causing me to stumble and fall flat on my stomach. When I tried to push myself up, I felt something crumble underneath my hands. It was a section of the road.

Standing back up, I kept a large piece of the cement in my hands. Instead of charging the robots, I waited. I knew they would reload and fire again, which is when I'd react.

It was a couple of seconds until they fired again, but I didn't hesitate when they did. As soon as they fired, I lobbed the piece of cement towards the missiles. Since there were so many of them, it was bound to hit one of them, and it did.

A missile struck the cement midair and exploded, causing a chain react with the rest of the missiles still in the air. It resulted in one, very large explosion with enough force to knock me off my feet and back a couple of steps.

Taking a knee, I tried to look through the smoke. I couldn't tell what happened to the robots through all the smoke, so I had to be prepared for another strike at any moment.

When the smoke finally cleared, it revealed two severely damaged, sparking robots. Deciding to take matters into my own hands and not let them get another attack in, I rushed both of them, turning on my heel and running around the one on the left. I planted my feet firmly on the ground, reeled my fist back, and punched as hard as I could.

My fist collided into its side, thankfully, the force behind which caused it to be launched backwards and into the other three-pointer. After sparking a little bit more, both collapsed to the street in a heap of metal.

I looked around, trying to find the boy that was running away from the robots. Though from what it looked like, he just booked it out of here without even trying to help.

"Well, I guess I know who is going to fail this exam."

Alright. With those two down, that brings me up to 24 points. Though from what I heard as I passed people, some were already in the 30's. Maybe I'll be able to scrape by with 24…but I don't want to take that chance!

As I started to move again, I could tell I wouldn't last for too much longer. I've used my quirk too much, and my muscles are beginning to get kind of stiff. My arms are relatively fine, but my legs are the issue.

I started running slower, focusing on keeping my eye out for any robots hiding around the corners. I kept running for about a minute, only running into one two pointer along the way. At this point, I was able to look through its pattern of movement and strike it down with minimal effort. As I got to the end of this particular street, I saw the familiar head of curly green hair.

"Midoriya!" I wonder how he's doing. He doesn't look injured, so that's good at least. Though when he turned around, I could see the nervous look on his face. "Damn. He must not be doing too well. Maybe I should-!" Before I could finish that thought, a one-pointer zoomed out of an alleyway towards Midoriya, and he couldn't see it coming for him.

I turned my attention from Midoriya to the robot, charging to meet it head on before it reaches him. Before I could reach it, a bright, sparkly blue beam of light tore through the armor of the robot. I traced it back to the source, and I saw a blonde-haired teen with…lots of sparkles and some kind of belt with a mirror wrapped around his stomach. And it looked like he was in a pelvic thrust pose…

"What a strange quirk."

The boy gave a mock salute. "Merci for the points, Monsieur!" he said before turning and running off.

Choosing to ignore him, I ran of to Midoriya, only to see how startled he was by that ambush. "Are you alright, man?" I said, reverting back to English a bit. I'm not good enough to speak Japanese well in tense situations like this, so I often revert back to English a bit.

As soon as he saw me, his eyes widened. "I should be asking you that! You're bleeding!" I simply shrugged it off.

"Happened a few minutes ago. My head doesn't really heart too badly, but my back is starting to get kind of annoying. Anyways, I'll be fine. How many points do you have? You seemed pretty nervous. If you want we can team up. I've already got 24 points, so I should be alright if I help you for the last couple minutes."

"B-but that would only lower your chances of getting in."

I shrugged my shoulders in response. "Maybe, but I'd feel bad if I had the chance to help you but didn't take it, and you end up failing because of that."

For a second, it looked like he was going to cry. Must not have too many people sticking out for him. Though soon enough, his face became more resolved, though still slightly nervous.

"No. I…I have to do this myself. If I can't get in on my own, then how can I expect to become a hero? I have to prove to him that I can do it."

I'm not quite sure who he is referring to, probably a father or brother or something like that. Either way, if he is that resolved in doing it by himself, as much as I want to help him, it would be rude to go against his wishes.

I sighed. "Alright. Just make sure to pass. I don't want to get into UA and see that you ended up failing, you hear me?"

He nodded, a small smile on his face. I started running again, trying to find a few more robots in the final 3 minutes or so. I'm still not sure if I made the right choice back there, but it's what Midoriya wanted. I just hope he's not too far behind everyone else.

As I was running, I heard explosions coming from my left. I went to get closer and see if I could find out what was making the noise, when suddenly the wall of a convenient store blew open, a spiky, red-haired teen flying out of it and slamming into another building across the street.

When I went to check on him, I heard him start yelling. "That thing is lucky it was me! Someone could've died! That's not manly at all!"

When the dust settled a bit, I saw that his skin has become hard, resembling rock but still retaining the color of skin. Whatever his quirk is, it must've cushioned the landing. Suddenly, two more one-pointes and a three-pointer came out of the busted wall he just came through.

"Hey. Do you think you could use a bit of help?" I offered.

He came up to me, grinning and raising his hardened arms. "Sure thing. Names Kirishima by the way."

I got into a fighting stance, my legs spread out slightly and my fists in front of me. "Luca. Now let's hurry up and deal with these things. These three-pointers are really starting to get on my last nerve."

We both charged at the robots, only pausing when the three-pointer fired its missiles at us. We managed to avoid most of them, though one hit Kirishima directly. He would've flown back a couple feet, had I not gotten behind him to stop him. We slid a couple feet back, but we were able to hold our ground.

"Thanks for that, man. How about we each take down one of the smaller ones then we both take down the big one?" he suggested, receiving a nod of agreement.

"Sounds good to me."

Separating slightly, I ran up to my one-pointer of choice. It raised one of its arms, trying to bring it down on my head. I simply jumped to the side, causing the shield-like arm to get stuck in the ground. With a quick punch, I was able to severe the arm from the rest of the robot, causing the rest of its arm to start sparking. I then kicked it in the stomach, creating a small hole before it crashed to the ground.

Looking over to my right, I watched Kirishima slice through the other one-pointer with his sharpened hands before dealing the final blow directly to the head. With that done, both of us started running directly towards the three-pointer. Though with the time we gave it, it was able to reload its missiles and it was about to fire.

"Hey, Luca!" I turned to my right, and I saw Kirishima kneel down with his arms above his head. "You take the air and I'll get it from the ground."

I nodded, understanding his plan. I ran up to him, jumping and landing on top of his hardened arms. With a slight boost to my legs and Kirishima pushing, I launched myself several yards up into the air. The wind tickled my skin and made my shirt and hair flutter.

Below me, I could see Kirishima rushing the large robot. He got nailed with a couple of missiles, but this time he did his best not to let them knock him back. I angled myself downwards to speed up my descent, and it looks like both of us will reach it at the same time.

Just as I was about to land pretty much on top of the robot, I reeled back my fist. I punched forward, and my fist met the back of the robot, just in between the two cannons on its back. At the same time, Kirishima plowed his fist into the robot's head. The two powerful attacked combined caused the robot to spark, exploding from the inside. The explosion knocked me back slightly, and I winced when I landed hard on one of my legs, but I managed to stay standing.

With the robot defeated, Kirishima walked towards me with a grin on his face. "That was pretty manly, dude! Thanks for the help! Though I wonder who actually got the points for that thing back there?" he said with a laugh.

I grinned, not really caring too much. "Maybe both? After all, we did both take it down at the same time."

"So, how many you got right now? I have 39, if we both get the points for that last one."

I sighed. "30. Better than I was expecting to do, but I don't know how well that is compared to the others."

"Hey, don't sweat it man! With moves like that, I'm sure you'll get in. So, you wanna keep going like this? We work fairly well together."

I know I should probably keep going by myself to get as many points as possible, but it's nice having someone to watch your back. It will also help me not overuse my quirk as much. "Sure. Why not?"

Although, before either of us could get moving again, the ground began to tremble. It immediately reminded me of the golem villain from yesterday, but even worse in comparison. A shadow began to block out the sun, making the fake city much darker.

Looking up, my eyes widened in shock at the massive, green robot that towered far above the highest building in this city. It rested a hand on the roof of a building, crushing it and sending the debris into the streets.

"W-woah! That must be the zero-pointer Present Mic mentioned!" Kirishima said.

The titan of a robot lifted its arm, and I already knew what was about to happen. Grabbing Kirishima, I jumped into one of the alleyways, dragging him along with me. As soon as I did, the ground shook, much harder than it was before. The road was all torn up, buildings shattering and collapsing into the damaged road as well.

I heard glass begin to break in the buildings on either side of us, but I just focused on not getting crushed by falling debris. Thankfully, it didn't seem to last for long. When the shaking finally stopped, I peaked out of the alleyway, and I saw just how bad the damage was. Several buildings were basically levelled, the roads torn up and covered in debris. Several cars have been either crushed or sent flying from the force of the impact.

"That's insane, man! This is a test! Are they trying to kill us or something?" Honestly, at this point, I don't have an answer for him.

The robot started coming closer, which meant it's our cue to get the heck out of here. Just as we were about to start running, we heard a pained cry coming from the pile of debris. Turning around, we saw the brown-haired girl from this morning. Her leg is stuck underneath the debris.

"Two minutes remaining!"

Everyone else is running away from the robot, but if no one helps that girl, she'll be crushed by it! My legs are becoming number by the second. If I don't get away from this thing soon, I may not be able to get out of the way in time, nor will I have the chance to collect more points. But...

Taking a deep breath, I ran out into the street and towards the robot, leaving a surprised Kirishima behind.

"How can I call myself a hero if I don't try to help someone who is in trouble?!" I yelled at myself.

As I was running, there was a bright, green blur soaring above me. Taking a quick glance up, I almost stopped in my tracks at seeing Midoriya launch himself several stories into the air after the massive robot. I refocused my attention on getting the girl out. He might be able to stop the robot, but if it falls the wrong way, it still may end up hurting her.

When I got close enough, I kneeled by her and started lifting the rubble off her leg. "Don't worry. I'm gonna get you out."

Another pair of hands soon got to work, as Kirishima finally caught up with me. "I'm not gonna let you be a man all by yourself! Let me help you!"

With the two of our efforts combined, we were able to get her out fairly quickly. We both helped carry her away on our shoulders, when suddenly there was a loud scream. Looking up, I watched as Midoriya punched a giant hole in the robot, making it fall back several feet before exploding from the inside out.

"And to think I thought he needed the help. He's as strong as freaking All Might!"

I'm not really sure where all that strength came from. For someone so powerful, Midoriya couldn't be any more nervous. Although, as he continued to fall out of the sky, I realized why he didn't use his power until now.

"Shit. I think his legs might be broken. They look like they are flopping around like crazy."

"Did his power do that? That must be some really crazy strength enhancing quirk." Kirishima responded.

"I'm not sure, but we need to do something, otherwise he's gonna crash straight into the ground. Do you think you can launch me again? I can catch him and land somewhere safe."

Kirishima just shook his head. "I'm not sure about that. If he's all busted up, we can just grab him like that. We'll only end up making it worse."

"I have an idea." the brown-haired girl said.

"What is it?"

She pointed over at a fallen chunk of a building. "I'll get on top of that, and you two lift me up. I can handle the rest."

Kirishima and I shared a brief look with each other but did it anyway, knowing we didn't have many viable options. She hopped on top of the cement, and we both strained our muscles as hard as we could, lifting the slab up as high as possible.

Midoriya just kept descending faster and faster. It looked like he was going to try and punch the ground in some kind of attempt to stop his fall. However, before he could…

*SMACK*

We both watched in surprise as she smacked Midoriya in the face, causing him to simply float above the ground before making a softer landing onto the ground. With him safe, we placed the slab of cement down, right in time for the girl to…start puking up rainbows? You know what, I'm not even going to question it anymore.

Looking over to Midoriya, I saw he was trying to move with only one of his arms. "Even now, he's still trying to get more points. Talk about determined."

Though before he could make much progress, another horn went off, marking the end of the exam. Although right now I'm more concerned with getting Midoriya to a doctor or something.

"Does anyone have their phone on them?! We need to call for a hospital!"

"There's no need for that." a soft, elderly voice said. Looking down, I watched a small, older women wearing a nurse's outfit and a helmet with a red cross on it walk towards us. She looked down at Midoriya, frowning.

"Your body can't contain its own power." She said before puckering up her lips and kissing him on the forehead. I was about to say something, until I saw his legs and arm begin to twist themselves back into place, regaining their normal color.

"Oh! I've heard of you! UA's school nurse, Recovery Girl!" someone in the crowd of applicants said.

Ah. So she's got some sort of healing quirk. That's why UA wasn't afraid to put us in a dangerous situation like this, because they've got someone on hand to take care of any injuries we might receive.

She then walked up to me, seeing my injuries. "Those look pretty bad. Do you need my assistance as well?"

I just nodded. As much as I'd like to just tough it out, I'm starting to feel really sore. My stiff muscles aren't making it any better either. Though after a quick kiss to the forehead, the soreness and stiffness began to fade away. Although the soreness was replaced by a wave of exhaustion.

"I suggest getting home to rest as soon as possible. My quirk uses a person's reserve energy to heal them, but it makes them tired after the fact."

I nodded in understanding. It makes sense that a powerful quirk like that has drawbacks. Otherwise, there would be no limits to what she can heal.

After everyone was healed up, we all began to head home. I made sure to say goodbye to Kirishima and Midoriya though, and we also exchanged numbers. It'd be nice to have a few friends I could talk to aside from Pony once the school year starts. Unless I failed, in which case, at least I'd have a few new friends before having to go back to America.

I met with Pony near the gates of UA. She seemed just as exhausted as I am. I'm sure she gave it her all. I'm just hoping that she was able to pass as well.

"Hey Luca! So, how did you do?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Alright, I guess. I managed to get 30 villain points. I also helped out a few people and made a new friend, so I suppose things went alright." I responded. "How about you?"

She sighed. "I only managed to get 23 villain points. I did help a few people out here and there, and I also saved this one group from getting crushed by the zero pointer. Nobody got seriously hurt, so that's good."

I nodded in agreement. "You should've seen Midoriya though. He launched himself at the zero pointer and took it down with a single punch! He broke his legs and an arm afterwards, but that was still impressive. Thankfully Recovery Girl was there to help out."

"Woah. I wasn't expecting him to have power like All Might." she replied. "Well, hopefully we all passed. Now, let's celebrate not being killed by robots with Ichiraku Ramen!" she said with a raise fist.

I sighed. As much as I want to just go home and take a nap right now. I did make the suggestion earlier. So, with a small smile, I agreed. "Sure. Let's go get some ramen."

A week passed, and I was starting to get kind of nervous. We still haven't received a letter from UA yet, so either we failed, or they just haven't sent the letters yet. I really hope that we didn't fail.

Since coming to Japan, I've really enjoyed myself. Exploring the city has been fun, I've found myself enjoying going to Ichiraku's every other day, and I've even had the chance to hang out with Kirishima for a little bit. He's a pretty cool guy. It's be a shame if I had to leave all of that after a week.

"Maybe I can enroll in the general studies course?" Apparently if you fail the hero course exam, you can be placed into the general studies course and have a chance at being transferred to the hero course if you are deemed to have enough potential. I highly doubt my chances of that happening, but at least I wouldn't have to leave Japan just yet.

I'm currently laying in bed, texting with Kirishima.

Kirishima: Hey man! I just got my acceptance letter! I ended up with 74 points!

Luca: 74?! How the hell did that happen? You only had like 39 before the exam was over.

Kirishima: Apparently there was another method of earning points they didn't want to tell us about beforehand. Anyways, did you get yours yet?

Luca: Not yet. I'm starting to think that I failed.

Kirishima: You kidding me? You weren't that far behind me! I'm sure it just didn't arrive yet. Mine just got here, after all.

I sighed, looking up at the ceiling. He's probably right, but I'd rather not get my hopes up.

Suddenly, by door burst open, and Pony came running in. She's got two letters in her hand, her eyes shining. "They came!"

We both agreed to open our letters separately, so that we could surprise each other with the news. Sitting at my new desk, I looked down at the letter with the UA seal. I almost don't want to open it. I'm not sure if I can handle finding out if I failed. Though…if I never open it, then I'll never know if I passed.

Lifting it up, I carefully broke the seal before emptying it of its contents. The only thing in the envelope was a small, silver disk with the UA logo on it. Before I could do anything else, a hologram lit up above it, revealing the smiling face of the Symbol of Peace.

My eyes widened in shock. "A-All Might?! Since when did you work for UA?!"

"Ah! We meet again, Watson-Shonen. I recently took on a teaching job here at UA!"

Someone must've been telling him to speed things along, so All Might got straight to the point.

"Anyways, as you probably already know, you scored 30 villain points during the practical exam. I'd also like to inform you that you passed the written exam as well."

I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that I didn't do too terribly. However, I was surprised when All Might had more to tell me.

"However, that is not all. You see, as a hero, you will have to make tough choices, putting the well-being of others above your own. So, who would we be to ignore those with the heroic spirit for saving others instead of going after villains for more points?!"

He showed a scoreboard behind him, making my eyes go wide. "No way."

"Luca Watson, 40 rescue points! With a total of 70 points, you have passed. Congratulations, Watson-shonen. You are now a proud student of UA academy!"

At this point, I couldn't help but let the tears flow loose. I never thought I'd actually be able to do it, but here is All Might, telling me himself that I have been accepted into the number one hero academy in Japan. My dream is just that much closer to becoming a reality. I've still got a lot of work to make it there, but this is it. This is my starting line.

The hologram turned off and as soon as it did, Pony came crashing through my door once more.

"I made it in!" she announced, her tail waggling happily behind her. She stopped for a moment when she noticed me crying. "D-did you not make it in?"

I responded with a wide, toothy smile. "We did it! We both made it in!"

With an excited squeal, she tackled me out of the chair, giving me a big hug. I can't blame her. This is a moment not many people get to see.

Today is only the beginning. From here on out, things will only get more challenging. If I can overcome those challenges, I will rise and become the hero I've always wanted to be. If not, I'll be stuck at the bottom of the barrel. Looking at Pony, my confidence grew.

"Together, we'll become heroes."

AN: I'm a bit surprised that I was able to finish this next one so quick, but I enjoyed writing it. This now marks the end of the UA Entrance Arc of sorts. This will probably be my last update for a bit, but I'm hoping to get back to updating as soon as possible Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed! If you did, please leave a review! Any feedback helps! Anyways, with all that said and done, I hope you all have a good rest of your day/night!