After one month of preparations as well as helping Marco get settled in as an official citizen of Japan, Izuku and his friends were now at the front gates of UA High, their dream school.

"Master Hisashi told me about this place. He said that he had many friends here." Marco said. "I look forward to seeing what this school has in store."

As everyone headed inside, Marco bumped into somebody, who merely grunted and gave him a silent dirty look before walking off. Izuku's eyes widened when he recognized the person as Katsuki Bakugou, his former friend before Twilight came along.

"Kaachan...?"

"Hey, was that Bakugou?" Twilight asked curiously as Izuku frowned and nodded. It had been years since he last thought of the explosive blonde.

"Well, he didn't seem to be in a good mood," Marco noted.

Izuku sighed. "From my memories of him, he was hardly ever..."

Suddenly, Izuku tripped over a crack in the pavement. Before he could hit the ground, he got stopped in mid-air. Everyone looked and noticed a cute girl with a bob cut, her hand on Izuku's backpack.

"Are you okay? That could have been a nasty fall." She asked. "Sorry for using my Quirk on you, I thought it would be a bad omen if someone actually fell."

"N-No, you were just helping..." Izuku awkwardly said as he was helped to his feet.

"Are you nervous about the exam?" The girl asked. "Cuz I sure am. Anyway, guess I'll see you inside."

"Yeah, inside..." Izuku numbly said as Rainbow Dash laughed and slapped him across the back of his head.

"Come on, Lover Boy! Let's get moving!"

The exam orientation was overseen by Hizashi Yamada, also known as the Voice Hero: Present Mic. Izuku was practically geeking himself out in excitement as Twilight did her best to settle her friend down.

"HEY, WHAT'S UP, LITTLE LISTENERS?! CAN I HEAR A 'HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY'?!"

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash both shouted together with their fists pumped up. A girl whose body appeared to be made of orange slime also mimicked their motion.

"I LOVE YOU, KIDS!" Present Mic smiled, giving them a double thumbs-up before clearing his throat and starting his presentation in a smaller but nonetheless loud and bombastic voice.

"Each and every one of you here is a potential hero in the making, and it is a hero's duty to take down villains! For the practical assessment, you will be up against four different types of robots!" Present Mic swung a hand towards the screen behind him. It lit up, displaying the silhouettes of the four robots, "Each robot carries a different number of points, one to three, and it is your job to take down as many as you can within the stipulated time limit of fifteen minutes. Don't forget, the more points you score, the better your chances of getting in!"

"EXCUSE ME!"

All eyes turned to several rows behind Izuku's group. A bespectacled teenage boy with navy blue hair and a broad muscular stature.

"YOU DID NOT DIVULGE ABOUT THE FOURTH ROBOT! AREN'T THE STAFF OF UA SUPPOSED TO BE EXTREMELY THOROUGH WITH THEIR PRESENTATIONS?! AND YOU!" he suddenly turned on Izuku, who pointed at himself in confusion. "DO YOU THINK THIS IS NOTHING BUT A JOKE?! THIS IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT OCCASION, AND YET THERE YOU ARE, MUTTERING UP A STORM AND DISTRACTING EVERYONE! YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE IF YOU THINK HEROICS IS A GAME!"

"BACK THE FUCK UP, FOUR-EYES!"

Suddenly, a massive wave of killing intent flooded the whole auditorium, causing everyone to nearly fall over from shock. They then realized the killing intent was being directed at the loud boy as everyone looked to the source.

He was a giant boy, practically almost 7 feet tall with a lean but muscular physique, he had dark blue hair in a style like Sasuke Uchiha's with two crimson streaks in it. His eyes were red with black pupils, and he had a pair of beastly horns protruding from the sides of his head. He also seemed to have a brown monkey tail like a Saiyan, which was wrapped around his waist currently like a belt.

"WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, CALLING THAT KID OUT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE?! HE WAS JUST ANALYZING WHAT PRESENT MIC WAS SAYING! NOT ONCE DID HE CAUSE A FUCKING DISRUPTION LIKE WHAT YOU JUST DID. YOU DIDN'T EVEN RAISE YOUR GOD DAMNED HAND AND WAIT TO BE CALLED ON! IF ANYTHING, YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE, YOU MOTHERFUCKING EGOTISTICAL SNOB!"

"YEAH, HE'S RIGHT, YOU FUCKING SUCK-UP!" Katsuki suddenly shouted, sitting a seat in front of Izuku. "DEKU'S MUTTERING MAY BE AS ANNOYING AS SHIT BUT THAT GUY'S RIGHT, HE'S ACTUALLY ANALYZING EVERYTHING PRESENT MIC IS SAYING!"

"Kaachan...is defending me?" Izuku thought in shock, trying to make sure he heard the explosive blonde's words correctly.

"And there was no error on the handout." Came the voice of a boy with reptilian skin, a wild mane of black hair, amber eyes with snake-like slit pupils, and razor-sharp teeth. "The fourth type of villain isn't worth jack."

Izuku frowned as he noticed the reptile boy. Hadn't he seen him from somewhere before?

"Now, now! No need for shouting, little listeners!" Present Mic immediately tried to apply damage control. "We're not here to get at each other's throats. As for Candidate 435 over there, I was about to get to the fourth robot!"

The bespectacled teen, properly chastised, bowed deeply and sat back down. As for the horned boy, he merely huffed in vindication and sat back down. Katsuki gave Izuku a passing glance before turning his attention back to Present Mic while the reptile boy scoffed.

"The fourth robot is what we call the zero-pointer," Present Mic continued as if nothing had happened. "Basically, there is no reason for you to take down this robot. It won't add to your score and is basically your cue to make a run for safety. And that's it! We've come to the end of the briefing! Just remember one thing; as Napoleon Bonaparte once said, a true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes. So with all that said... Let's hear a Plus Ultra!"

"PLUS ULTRA!" Most of the examinees exclaimed, including Izuku and his friends.

Izuku had slipped into a tracksuit and was now standing with several dozen other candidates outside Zone B, one of them being the girl from before as well as the young man with the glasses.

"I wish I was with Twilight and the others but UA apparently wants us to get in on our own merits. Maybe that's why Celestia suggested we train individually as well as together." Izuku thought before noticing the girl who had helped him back outside the exam center. She looked nervous, so Izuku decided to go over and give her some encouragement, but he was stopped by the glasses-wearing young man.

"That girl is trying to focus! What do you think you're doing? Trying to distract her and harm her chances of success?"

"Excuse me..." A polite voice said as both boys turned to see another young man. He had slicked black hair, red eyes with black pupils, pale white skin, and a slender build with sunken cheeks yet a still handsome face.

"From what I saw, he was looking to encourage her. Do you always expect the worst in everyone? Why are you even trying to become a hero?"

The bespectacled boy faltered. "I am here to carry on the noble legacy of heroes that has been in my family for generations!"

"Sorry, but legacy means nothing here at UA. You need to become a hero on your own merit, or you won't get very far."

Suddenly, the massive gates opened up, allowing the examinees entrance into the urban simulation.

"ALRIGHT, GET MOVING! THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL LIFE, SO MOVE IT OR LOSE IT!" Present Mic shouted from a nearby tower.

Izuku was off like a shot, surprising the young man with his incredible speed.

"Well, well, he's quite the quick chap." The black-haired young man who came to his defense said with a smirk. "Tally-Ho, then!"

He gave a mocking wave to the bespectacled young man before running into the city after Izuku. It was then the rest of the examinees got it into their heads that they needed to get moving and followed their examples.

As Izuku ran through the urban jungle, he found his first target; a one-point robot. As he dodged the first attack, he noticed a switch on the robot's back.

'So they make sure the robots can be disabled even if an examinee doesn't have a Quirk capable of outright demolishing them. But why aren't there simulations of people to rescue? That's a big part of being a hero too. Oh well... Time to put my training with [One For All] to use!'

He flipped in midair, bringing the heel of his right foot down on the robot's head.

"MANCHESTER SMASH!"

Another robot came up behind Izuku, only for it to be blasted apart by a blonde man with flamboyant air around him, a sparkling blue laser having shot out of a fancy belt he was wearing.

Izuku was prepared to thank the boy but then noticed a three-pointer barreling down on them and grabbed the boy to get him out of the way.

"Merci, we seem to make a great team, you and I." The boy said with a wink.

After letting the boy go, Izuku turned to the three-pointer and pulled back his arm.

"DETROIT SMASH!"

With a massive left hook and resulting shockwave, Izuku wrecked the robot. Nearby, the black-haired young man who had come to Izuku's defense earlier had blocked the attack of a two-pointer with a buckler shield he pulled out of a pouch strapped to his hip before evading its next strike and hitting the off switch, deactivating it.

"Alright, this should be easy enough, Click!" Marco said as he ran through Zone A. "Just gotta smash some robots and get points! Let's see what we can do!"

Marco soon came across some robots gathered around some examinees and decided to help them out. Channeling fire through his hands, Marco sent fireballs at the robots, smashing into them as they stumbled back before Click jumped off Marco's shoulder and transformed into a bladed shield, which the Toa used to tear apart the stunned robots.

One robot had managed to avoid being smashed and moved to attack Marco from behind, only for the attack to bounce back and destroy it. Marco turned to see a young man with dark tanned skin, light blue markings on his forehead, and what appeared to be cybernetic arms.

"I hope you're not hurt."

"No, barely felt a thing!" Marco smiled, giving a thumbs-up.

Twilight was flying through the air with her wings, looking around for any robots to destroy. She soon saw one looming over a familiar figure and zoomed down, firing a magic blast from her hands that tore through the robot like a hot knife through butter.

"Wait...Twilight, is that you?"

Twilight turned and her eyes widened in recognition as she saw who she had saved. She was an old acquaintance of hers and a fellow protege of Celestia; Asahi Nichibotsu, who preferred to go by the nickname of Sunset Shimmer.

"Sunset?! I didn't know you were aiming for UA too!"

"What can I say? I'm ambitious!" The girl whose hair was colored like a rising sun smirked before noticing a robot looming behind Twilight and swiping her arm, sending fiery feathers that wedged into the robot before exploding, destroying it.

"I see you've been training your [Phoenix] Quirk since we last saw each other."

"Oh, you know it."

Applejack had just finished kicking a three-pointer robot into several more of its colleagues, smashing them all like bowling pins. The farmgirl stretched her toned legs as she clenched her fists, which sparked with yellow energy from her Quirk, [Core].

[Core] allowed Applejack to harden her cellular structure, increasing her body's tensile strength. In addition, her body's natural pain trigger was removed. The result let her perform superhuman feats of strength and speed.

"Wow! That was so cool what you did with that kick!"

Hearing the excitable voice, Applejack turned to see the girl whose body was made of orange slime. She had turned her hands into hammers and was using them to smash a pair of one-pointers into the ground.

"Heh, somethin' tells me you'd be great pals with my friend, Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie Pie grinned as she managed to get a bunch of robots following her. Moving to a nearby building, she painted a door and opened it up, using it to step into the building. When the robots tried to enter, they smashed into the wall of the building as if the door was just a fake. Pinkie then stepped out from the alleyway of the building and grinned as she looked at some confused examinees.

"Watch a cartoon once in a while, sillies!"

Pinkie's Quirk was called [Toon Force] and it basically gave her all the powers of a cartoon. She could also apply the cartoon effects to other people, meaning she could drop a piano on someone and they'd be fine, if not dazed and their body smashed like an accordion.

"Awww yeah! This is awesome!"

Rainbow Dash was having the time of her life. Flying all around the area and smashing into robots with her speed and inertia. However, when she wanted to get a little more creative, she harnessed the full extent of her Quirk, [Weather Pegasus].

Not only did her Quirk give her wings of a pegasus for supersonic flight, but she could also manipulate the weather, creating storm clouds, firing thunderbolts, sending down hail and rain, conjuring tornadoes, and more.

"Oy! Are you gonna keep showing off or are you gonna get outta my way!"

Rainbow turned to see Katsuki blasting apart some robots with his [Explosion] Quirk. The polychromatic girl smirked as she and the explosive blonde ended up getting into a little contest to see who got the most points.

"Oh dear, I'm really sorry about all this."

Fluttershy had seen some examinees in trouble and had gone to help them with her Quirk, [Mother Nature], which allowed her to manipulate the elements of nature such as plants and wildlife.

One quick hand to the ground and most of the robots were restrained in giant tentacle-like roots. This allowed the examinees to destroy them without much hassle. They had thanked Fluttershy and most ran off to find more points but one had stayed.

"That's a pretty impressive Quirk you got there." The giant horned boy who had spoken up in Izuku's defense at the auditorium said.

"O-Oh, i-it's not really all that special..." Fluttershy timidly said, a bit intimidated by the boy's height.

"I beg to differ. The powers of nature are a strong element in their own right." The boy said before sprouting a pair of bone blades from his wrists that were at least two meters long, which he used to slice an approaching two-pointer that was trying to attack Fluttershy from behind.

"Honestly, to think I'd resort to such savagery..."

Rarity was casually strutting down the streets. Any robots that tried to approach her were impaled by giant crystal spikes of various colors and facets. Rarity simply smirked as it was an application of her Quirk, [Crystal Gem], which allowed her to create and manipulate gemstones and crystals of all kinds for offense, defense, and support.

She then noticed a tall, lanky yet rugged young man with grey skin, sharp teeth, long sharp claws for fingers, and not a single hair on his head tearing apart a robot as if it was made of paper.

"Darling, if you want to be a Hero, you'll probably need to make yourself seem presentable to others. It won't do you any good looking like a villain."

The young man stood to his full height, which was impressively tall as he looked down at Rarity, who didn't seem all that bothered by the fact he looked like a horror movie monster.

"You do Hero-ing your way, let me do it my way, lady." He said dryly.

"I'm not judging, I'm just giving some advice, is all." Rarity giggled.

Izuku continued to look for more targets, getting help from the blonde sparkling boy and the pale dark-haired man. Along the way, they also aided a number of other examinees, which caught the attention of the man with the glasses.

"I'm sure the others are grateful for your help, but shouldn't you focus on trying to score as many points as possible?"

"Heroes are meant to save people," Izuku pointed out. "That should be ingrained in anyone learning to be a hero. In fact, I'm surprised there aren't any people or dummies to simulate that."

"Yes, that is a peculiarity," The dark-haired pale boy admitted. "But perhaps the school has its reasons, like how they didn't mention the zero-pointer until it was brought up during orientation."

Suddenly, the ground nearby shifted as it morphed into a giant fist that punched a robot into the sky. The four boys turned to see a girl with purple hair that had a light blue streak in it with her hand on the ground, a smirk on her face.

"Some kind of Ground Manipulation Quirk?" Izuku pondered. "And why does she look so familiar?"

Meanwhile, the teachers were watching the students in the various battle zones on a large bank of monitors. Principle Nedzu, a rodent-like animal with the Quirk [High Spec], which gave him an unparalleled amount of intelligence, observed the exam.

"They don't know how many villains there are or where they are, so they use everything they have at their disposal to find targets. Some use overwhelming power, others use intelligence gathering, and still others unbridled speed. Some simply remain cool under pressure as they search. The best use a combination of all of these."

"But of course," A man dressed as a spartan warrior said. This was the Pro Hero Flash Magnus, who Rainbow Dash was a big fan of. "Fighting villains is only half the exam. We didn't tell the students about the other half. After all... Their actions in that regard must be genuine. Fortunately, we do have a few promising students in that regard as well. But the real test is still to come."

Nedzu smirked and nodded, flipping open a glass case covering a big red button with a white zero on it and slapping down on it with his paw.

Sudden explosions caught everyone's attention. Izuku was the first to notice the giant robot as its shadow loomed over everybody, even in the other zones.

"That's one big robot!" Exclaimed the girl who had joined the four boys, Stella Vaiself, who preferred to go by the nickname Starlight Glimmer.

"Yeow! That thing's huge!" The orange slime girl exclaimed as Applejack bit her lip.

Fluttershy almost looked ready to faint but was caught by the giant horned boy.

The zero-pointer attacks were already causing the students in every zone to scatter, and those that got trapped were helped by a few others.

"AWW HELL YEAH, I WANNA FIGHT THAT THING!" Katsuki and Rainbow Dash shouted at the same time before looking at each other and then grinning evilly.

"There are only two minutes left. They must have unleashed this villain to really test the candidates." Izuku noted.

"An astute observation. Though how are we going to stop a behemoth that size?" The pale-skinned young man asked.

"Ow!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Izuku turned to see the girl from before, her leg trapped under some rubble. And she was uncomfortably close to the zero-pointer, in danger of being crushed under its treads.

"YOU! LAUNCH ME!"

Izuku pointed at Starlight, who smiled and nodded as she slapped both hands on the ground and transmuted it into a giant slingshot with her Quirk, [Alchemy], which let her manipulate the matter of anything she touched, even her own body if necessary.

Izuku jumped into the slingshot and pulled himself back as far as possible before launching himself toward the zero-pointer, who was now getting distracted by attacks from Rainbow Dash and Katsuki, the latter looking in shock as he saw Izuku flying through the air.

"IS THAT DAMN NERD SUICIDAL?!"

As Izuku got closer and closer to the zero-pointer, he pushed [One For All] harder than he had before, green lightning surging around him as his muscles coiled tightly, red marks appearing on them.

From his seat, the Pro Hero known as Rockhoof smiled.

"The zero-pointer may not give any points to the villain score, but that doesn't necessarily mean it shouldn't be fought, contrary to what the proctors say to the examinees. For that mighty beast can provide opportunity. A chance for a young up-and-comer to show what he's really made of. Isn't that right... All-Might?"

He looked next to him, and it turned out Toshinori was sitting there as well alongside Celestia.

"Indeed. Young Midoriya is showing the true character of a hero. Not running when another is in danger, but facing that danger head on."

With all the power he could muster, Izuku pulled back for a right straight, unleashing a tornado with his most devastating move yet.

"MUSUTAFU SMASH!"

Everyone looked in awe as the powerful punch smashed the zero-pointer right in the face, its head caving in on itself. However, that had used more power than Izuku was used to, and he wound up falling uncontrollably. Luckily, the brown-haired girl was able to tag him as he neared the ground, letting him fall more gently.

He noticed that she had reached a piece of debris, likely when she saw he was falling and was using it to levitate. As she released her power, she wound up heaving rainbows.

"Geez, Twilight told me of a guy who tended to rush headlong into danger to help others but...I never realized you were THAT crazy." Starlight chuckled as she made her way over. As it turns out, she was Twilight's pen-pal from a different school who seemed to also be applying at UA.

By now the exam was over and a short old lady approached, passing out gummies to the other examinees.

"Nice work, everyone. Anyone who has any injuries, I'll be sure to get to each of you."

"I know that mademoiselle. She's Recovery Girl, the heart of UA." The blonde boy noted.

Recovery Girl looked the girl over. "I'll need to take a look at your leg, and make sure there aren't any fractures."

"Would you like me to assist, ma'am?" The pale-skinned young man asked. "My Quirk, [Cellular Manipulation], is useful for healing as well."

"Well, that'd be very thoughtful of you, dearie."

Recovery Girl was the school nurse, and her Quirk, [Heal], worked by applying her lips to an injured patient, using their body's natural energy to heal damage. As Recovery Girl used her power on the girl with aid from the other boy, Izuku was approached by the glasses-wearing boy.

"I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Tenya Iida."

"Iida, Iida..." Starlight hummed before snapping her fingers. "Oh! You mean like Tensei Iida, the Turbo Hero: Ingenium?"

Iida nodded. "I must admit, I'm embarrassed at being reminded of how a real hero should act. That said, you were quick to rush in to save that girl. I don't know if you were aware of any other hidden factors regarding the exam, but either way, I'm beginning to suspect there was a hidden parameter we weren't told about. As you said earlier, it's strange that they had no simulations for rescue scenarios."

"Awww man! Izuku, you were so AWESOME~!" Pinkie screamed as she pounced on Izuku and spun around him, causing him to dizzily fall to the floor as she pulled him down. The rest of the Mane 6 and the examinees they'd teamed up with gathered around as well, glad to see everything was going alright.

However, Katsuki had decided to just leave, casting a suspicious look at Izuku and Twilight in particular.

"How did Deku get a Quirk? Feh, probably that chick used some of her freaky mumbo jumbo magic powers to give him one...no matter, when I get to UA, I'll show them that I'm still gonna be #1."

A week later, Izuku was waiting for his exam results. He was busily picking at his food, which caught the attention of Inko and Marco.

"Is something the matter, Izuku?" Inko asked.

"Nothing, just a little nervous about my exam results, is all."

"Hey, I'm sure we both got in and every else did too," Marco said reassuringly. "No need to get cold feet or anything."

After dinner, the test results came in the mail. To Izuku and Marco's surprise, the letter included a hologram projector.

"BOOYAH! I AM HERE, ON LIVE CHAT!" All-Might said, appearing on the projector. "Sorry I wasn't able to contact you at all this week, but Celestia spoke to me about what had happened during the exam. I was caught up in paperwork since I'm actually going to be a heroics teacher at UA starting this year. And what does that mean for you, you might be wondering? I think you'll be quite pleased, Young Midoriya. You officially earned seventy-five combat points, the second highest in the exam!"

"See What did I tell you?" Marco said as he patted Izuku on the back, Click chirping.

"That number alone would get you into UA without issue, and as a top student, no less! But the practical exam is not graded on combat alone. You must have noticed it, yes? The fact that there were no rescue simulations, despite this being an exam to get into a hero academy. Well, there's a reason for that. We can't just offer simulations for rescues, otherwise, we can't be sure the rescue was for selfless reasons."

"Oooooh! That makes perfect sense!" Marco noted but Izuku was staring at the recorded videos of him helping out his fellow examinees.

"I did all that...?"

"You not only acted selflessly to save others, but you inspired your fellow examinees to act as real heroes. The UA faculty was practically begging you to be a student here! Altogether, you earned a grand total of eighty rescue points, the highest out of all the examinees! This puts you in the number one spot for this year's exam! Oh, and in case you were curious... The girl you helped, Ochako Uraraka. She also earned a substantial amount of rescue points, forty-five in total. What really clinched it for her was when she saved you."

Izuku and Marco checked the scoreboard next to All-Might. Both of them as well as the rest of the Mane 6 were all in the Top 10. Tears began to well up in Izuku's eyes as he realized his dream was coming true.

"I did it... I DID IT!"

Marco laughed as he and Izuku hugged each other like brothers, Click chirping excitedly as Inko smiled warmly from outside.

"Congratulations, boys! This is your Hero Academia!"

In the next chapter, Izuku, the Mane 6, Marco, and their new friends all get ready for their first day at UA! Quirks will be shown in more detail, reunions will be had, bonds will be formed, and mettle will be tested! Stay tuned for all that and a bag of chips!