Hey guys. Thanks for continuing this far. Thank you to my 77 followers. Get ready for lots of familiar faces in the next few chapters, both good guys, and bad guys.
Sorry about the wait for this chapter, I've been writing the events as I think of them and I got distracted writing the rough draft of the Kamino Ward battle. I currently have an outline of the events from now through the Joint Training Arc, and am writing as I get time between classes and work.
It's been two months since Midoriya was first introduced to Mirio, and eight months until the entrance exam, and it was absolute hell so far, but things were getting easier. His combat lessons with Mr. Aizawa and All Might were getting more intense, but he was still getting hurt less often. The combined quirk control lessons he had over the week helped him gain access to both his explosive quirk, and "One for All" as All Might had called it, but the latter of those still damaged his body with every use so he focused mainly on explosions. He had also discovered two other quirks he could use, both of which he used on accident at first, and they helped confirm All Mights theory. He gained the ability to attract small objects to himself, just like his mother, and he could temporarily erase peoples quirks, just like Mr. Aizawa. He discovered that quirk on accident in a two on one fight of both his trainers against him. He had finally managed to pin Mr. Aizawa when All Might surprised him. The only reason he managed to escape unscathed was the lucky appearance of his new quirk, which was then added to his training regimen. He was careful not to use it on All Might in public though because they found out the hard way that it deflated him.
Now Midoriya was on his way back to UA, it's a Wednesday so he would normally be going to the beach after school, but he received a phone call the night before from a rather nervous All Might telling him to come to UA after class. He was going to have a special lesson today.
Even over the phone I could tell All Might was worried, I've never heard him sound like that, even when he was telling me about One for All. What kind of lesson am I going to be in for today?
Midoriya walked through the gate of UA as a familiar blonde was walking out of the school.
"Midoriya!" Mirio waved at Izuku the got closer.
"Oh, Mirio? I thought you would be in class right now." Izuku stopped and looked his energetic friend.
"Normally I would be, but today I start my workstudy with Sir Nighteye." Mirio showed Midoriya the case with his costume in it.
"All Might's old sidekick? Awesome! I'm sure he'll have plenty of advice on how to improve even more!" Midoriya exclaimed, thinking about Night Eyes quirk and how it could be used to help Mirio.
"That's what I was thinking, I still don't know why he wanted me specifically, but it must be for some reason. Anyways, what are you doing here Midoriya? It's not the weekend." Mirio asked.
"Oh, I got a call last night telling me to come here for some sort of special training." Midoriya quickly explained. He still hadn't told Mirio about his training with All Might.
I know it's not a lie, but it still feels wrong.
"I see, well, good luck with your training. I'll see you later Midoriya!" With that Mirio turned and started making his way towards the train station. Izuku took a deep breath and turned back to the entrance of UA, unsure of what this special lesson would be.
Midoriya made his way to Gym Gamma, a large empty gym made constructed for the UA students to practice with their quirks, and made entirely of concrete so Cementos could use his quirk to reshape the interior to their needs. Izuku paused before entering, taking a moment to collect himself.
It's just training, why am I so nervous? I can do this.
Izuku forced a smile on his face and stepped inside, but the sight he was greeted with wiped the smile off his face as quickly as it came. In front of him was not just All Might in his skinny form and Aizawa, but several pro heroes. There was the R Tated Hero Midnight, the Rescue Hero 13, the Blood Hero Vlad King, the Voice Hero Present Mic, the Cloning Hero Ectoplam, Cementos. There was also a hero Izuku didn't recognize that was shorter and older than the others, who wore a gold and white outfit with a black mask over his eyes. They all stood between him and what looked like a giant maze made of cement.
"What is this?" Izuku said looking at the pros, some of which were sizing him up.
"Midoriya, relax, you aren't in trouble. Nezu and I discussed the way your quirk has been developing and decided to test a theory." Aizawa said stepping forward.
"For the record Young Midoriya, this was not my idea." All Might scratched the back of his head. At this the short hero spoke up.
"Young man from what my former student has told me you had the ability to copy other peoples quirks, but it's clear from his description that you have no control. I knew I had to step in because while he's a great hero I know Toshinori is a lousy teacher." Surprisingly All Might took a step back away from the old man.
Wait, did he say former student? Who the hell is this guy?
"There also is a secondary purpose for today, but that will be revealed later." A familiar voice came from behind Izuku, he turned to see Principle Nezu walking in with Power Loader, Snipe, and Recovery Girl. "Good we're all here, so let's get started." Nezu said with a devious smile creeping across his face.
"Wait, what exactly are we doing?" Izuku said, quickly panicking as he saw the Power Loader and Snipe join the other Pros while All Might, Recovery Girl, and Nezu went over by the wall near the entrance.
"Oh just a little combat test. The objective is simple. Hidden in that maze of concrete is a hostage in need of rescuing. You need to get to the hostage and remove whatever restraints are on them without being captured by the villains yourself. You have fifteen minutes to complete the objective, and will receive a point for every second you have left on the timer. You also have two optional objectives. For every villain you successfully incapacitate you will receive an additional minute on the timer and another point. You will also receive ten points for every villain you successfully copy the quirk of. If they take you down, or the hostage dies, you fail the test."
He keeps mentioning villains, but the only people here are me and the faculty. Don't tell me.
"Sir, the villains wouldn't happen to be..." Midoriya gulped and pointed at the group of pros before him. Present Mic took a step forward and grinned at Izuku.
"That's right little listener, we, the totally awesome teachers of UA, are your opponents!" Midoriya looked at the teachers, some of them seemed to be excited, while others seemed less than pleased with the idea of all of them facing a middle schooler. Midoriya felt like he was going to pass out as he looked at his opponents.
I've barely had two months of training, and I have to take on nine pros with years of experience. What the hell am I gonna do?
"You all have five minutes to take whatever positions you desire in the maze before I send Midoriya after you. Remember, don't hold back against him. We need to have a solid idea where he's standing, otherwise this evaluation will be worthless." Nezu said as he looked at his watch. "Go on, whenever you're ready."
"Young Midoriya, while they set up can I have a word with you?" All Might looked at the shaking boy before him. All Might led him outside. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you a heads up about what was going to happen when you arrived. Listen to me, you'll do fine. You just need to relax, this is just an evaluation of your progress, there's no pressure whatsoever." All Might said, his smile faltering for a brief second at the end.
There's more to this, why else would he be so nervous?
"I'll do my best All Might. I know I can do this." Midoriya loudly exclaimed, trying to make himself seem more confident than he really is as he smiled yet again.
"That's the spirit kid. Now go get ready, you're only going to have fifteen minutes after all."
I'm sorry Young Midoriya, but I can't tell you what the real stakes are, no matter how much I want to.
AT THE END OF THE FIVE MINUTES
Izuku finished stretching out and was waiting for the signal from the principle. The evil grin on his face got even wider as he spoke out the next sentence.
"Izuku Midoriya, hero course recommendation exam, begin!"
Surprise! Welcome to the next story arc everyone.