The next day, Aizawa had an announcement.
"Summer vacation is coming up. But you won't have time to relax. You'll be given training at a special summer camp. This will be important for you since it will allow you experience in variable terrain. However... Those of you who don't pass the final exam... Will not be going."
"I'm betting you it's another logical ruse," Twilight whispered to Izuku, who nodded.
"No doubt this is actually an incentive for us to train our hardest for the Final Exam."
"You have one week left before final exams," Aizawa said. "I'm sure you're all studying hard for the writing portion, but remember to also keep training for the practical portion."
"I'VE BARELY TAKEN ANY NOTES THIS SEMESTER!" Mina and Denki called out, though Mina was more cheerful about it.
"Between all the insanity that's been going on and the Sports Festival, I didn't have time to read the textbooks!" Denki called out.
"It's true that we haven't had much free time," Fumikage admitted.
"Yeah, it hurts to be reminded that this is still a high school at the end of the day." Terumi winced.
"We barely learned anything when we took midterms, so they didn't seem that hard," Rikidou noted. "But still, I'm worried. They likely won't pull any punches."
Kouji nodded in agreement as Rainbow Dash groaned, slamming her forehead into her desk.
"Ugh, studying! Why?!"
"I'm not that worried. I actually ranked up in the top ten." Minoru said rather smugly.
"Seriously? I always pegged you as being a perverted dumbass." Tempest noted with a raised brow.
"Ladies love a smart brain, remember?" Mineta pointed out. "I need something to make up for other deficits."
"Oh really?" Jotaro noted.
"Come on you guys, we still got plenty of time to study," Starlight said. "If we work together, we'll all be able to go to the training camp!"
"Indeed. We can all pitch in our brain power together to achieve a desired result!" Tenya said.
"It's pretty hard to fail if you just pay attention in class," Shoto added.
"Easy for the higher-ranking students to say..." Elleanor grumped.
"If you need help, I can get you up to speed on the important topics," Momo said.
"And I can help!" Twilight added.
"Yaomomo!" Mina, Denki, and Elleanor all sobbed, looking at her like a guardian angel.
"Maybe you can help me out too," Kyouka said. "I'm having trouble understanding quadratic functions."
"And Classical Japanese is killing me," Sero added.
"I'll admit, I myself am having a hard time with Geology." Jotaro pointed out.
"I'm falling behind a little myself," Ojiro admitted.
"Same here," Tony added.
Momo was amazed at so many people asking her for help. "Yes, let's do it! We'll hold a study session at my residence! I'll need to call Mother and have her prepare the great hall! What sort of tea does everyone like? By the time we're done, I'll push you all into becoming model students!"
"Is she... humble-bragging?" Sunset asked awkwardly.
"I dunno, but she's so excited and bouncy that I can't even bring myself to care," Kyouka said.
"STUDY PARTY!" Pinkie Pie cheered, throwing confetti in the air.
Eijirou chuckled. "Man, maybe we should study with her."
"Because she has a higher grade? Or because of your crush on Ashido?" Junko asked.
"Take your pick."
Yuuga giggled. "Everyone's panicking right now. But it won't do any good to cram this late."
"You say that, but you didn't do so well yourself, did you?" Shouji pointed out as he walked by.
"Oooooh! Burn!" Flash laughed as Yuuga immediately deflated.
"The real concern is definitely gonna be the practical exam," Izuku admitted as everyone was having lunch together.
"I'm hoping you can help me through the written portion," Ochako said. "I only got 13th in the midterm."
"They probably won't do anything in the practice that we can't handle," Tooru said.
"Not necessarily. The incidents at the USJ and Hosu might make the teachers push us a little harder than normal." Ghidorah pointed out, Tsuyu nodding in agreement.
Izuku was about to speak up when he felt something hit him in the side of the head, making him yelp and drop his utensils, which Twilight quickly caught with her magic.
"Oh sorry, you're big head was in the way…"
"Oh god..." Tetsutetsu groaned as everyone looked to see it was Monoma.
"I heard from the grapevine that a few of you fought the Hero Killer." Monoma sneered. "Just like in the USJ and the Sports Festival, you guys aren't happy unless you have all the spotlight. You do know that if you keep this up then other classes will get in trouble because of you guys?"
"Says the guy who got kicked out of the Hero Course for unheroic conduct." Tempest pointed out. "I was hoping you being shafted would teach you some humility."
"Well, it won't matter in the end!" Monoma mocked. "I'll claw my way back to the Hero Course even if I have to dethrone one of you in the proce-"
Monoma was cut off when he was slapped hard across the face by Twilight, who was glaring at him with fury as her eyes seemed to literally burn with anger.
"Listen here you stinking little sycophant! If you strike one of my friends again, I will make sure you suffer the consequences!"
"I don't understand you, Neito..." Tenya growled as he stood up next, refusing to let Izuku be talked down to either. "Do you honestly think that we enjoyed almost getting killed when the League of Villains attacked us in the USJ? Is your mind so clouded with jealousy that you interpreted our joy at being alive once we came back from that hell as being happy that we were noticed by the media? Thinking about how good we were going to look on the news wasn't at the top of our list of priorities!"
"I don't know what sort of inferiority complex you harbor against us but it must stop at once. I recognize that Bakugou isn't the most cordial of students but aiming your vitriol at anyone else in this class won't accomplish anything." Twilight said.
"Oy! I'm plenty cordial, Sparklebutt!" The explosive blonde in question snapped.
"And you want to know something else, Monoma Neito? Despite all your bluster about being superior, the harsh reality is that you cannot do anything until you could take a Quirk from someone who is stronger than you. How pitiful…" Tony said, standing up to glare down at Monoma. "So why don't you slink on back and hide with your tiny-ass monkey dick between your legs. Because all you can do is run your mouth about how better you are than others when all you really are is a parasite that needs to be scraped off our backs."
Monoma backed away slowly, turning pale as Tony's reptilian slits bore into him. Suddenly, a hand was placed on the arrogant blonde's shoulder, making him turn around to see Hitoshi there.
"You should do as the man says, pal."
"How dare you-!" Monoma was about to say to the one who took his place in Class 1-B when his eyes glazed over.
"Good boy. Now do us all a favor and punch yourself in the balls as hard as humanely possible. Save the world from having to ever deal with another of your kind."
Monoma obliged and punched himself hard in the nuts. Everyone in the cafeteria winced when they heard a pair of tiny things rupturing. Monoma's eyes rolled into the back of his head as foam exploded from his mouth and collapsed like a ragdoll, Hitoshi scootching him away with his foot as he sat down with everyone else.
"Hey Shinsho, how are things in the Hero Course?" Izuku asked.
Hitoshi rubbed the back of his head. "About as hard as I expected. But it's not all bad. Since finals are coming up the teachers gave us special permission to practice our Quirks."
"No shit, considering what you just did to that little copycat bitch." Katsuki smirked.
"Man, it would have been nice to have you in Hosu. Considering how much the Hero Killer loved to hear his own lips flap, you could have taken him down without a sweat." Tony noted.
"Speaking of that, you were interning with Aizawa-Sensei, yeah?" Shoto asked. "Any insight on what he might have planned for the Final Exam?"
"Couldn't really say, but I can tell you he'll be working with the other teachers to make it harder than the Entrance Exam, so don't expect an easy ride with combat training robots," Hitoshi said. "I've actually noticed him taking notes on everyone, though I will say that the notes seemed to be on the students prior to internships. He may be trying to incorporate that into the finals."
"Heh! They haven't gotten even 20% of how cool we all really are!" Rainbow Dash proudly bragged.
Later, Oujiro, Mina, Kyouka, Denki, Sero, Derpy, Flash, Junko, Terumi, and Ghidorah arrived at Momo's mansion estate. Eijirou and Minoru had decided to go as well.
As the friends sat at one end of the table in the great hall, they felt nervous.
"I could not feel any more out of place," Ojiro said.
"I hear ya. I'm actually much simpler in my tastes." Eijirou nodded.
Momo showed up with a tea cart that was fully stocked, including dessert. She had a perfectly innocent look on her face that just made her glow radiantly.
"Is something wrong?"
"Naw, everything's good over here!" Ghidorah smiled as the others were just beaming blissfully at how adorable she was.
The class had all split off into various study groups, with the smarter students working to help improve the lower-scoring ones. This made all of them confident going into the written portion of the exam. Even Mina and Rainbow Dash felt the answers just flowing onto the paper.
Like in a normal Japanese school, the exams were four days long. However, UA included a practical exam for its Hero Course students on the fourth day instead of just having four days of written exams.
The students were allowed to don their costumes and were brought out to the practical exam area. Aizawa, Midnight, Cementoss, Ectoplasm, Thirteen, Snipe, Present Mic, and Power Loader were there. The Pillars and Celestia were also present.
"Now I'm kinda nervous," Denki said. "Isn't Power Loader supposed to be teaching the Support Course?"
"Yeah, this is way too many teachers for a Final Exam." Sunset voiced in agreement.
"Very observant of you."
Nedzu suddenly popped out of Aizawa's scarf and jumped down to stand in front of the other teachers.
"This final exam is going to be different from previous years. In order to test your skills to their limit, the practical will be focusing not just on hero work, but also on teamwork and live combat situations. Each of you students will be working in groups of four and pitted in combat against one of our esteemed faculty members."
"Your partners and opponents have already been chosen based on various factors," Aizawa explained. "Please note that the factors that led to our decisions were based on everything prior to your internships, so I hope you learned a lot."
"Oh boy..." Starlight gulped.
"This is gonna get ugly, isn't it?" Marco noted.
A holographic chart of which teams would be pitted against which teachers manifested above everyone as they looked at it.
Vs. Aizawa: Shoto Todoroki, Momo Yaoyorozu, Tempest Shadow, and Lor D. Ghidorah
Vs. Principal Nedzu: Denki Kaminari, Mina Ashido, Elleanor Yagami, and Pinkie Pie
Vs. Midnight: Minoru Mineta, Sero Hanta, Flash Sentry, and Junko Asahi
Vs. Present Mic: Kyouka Jirou, Kouji Kouda, Trixie Lulamoon, and Starlight Glimmer
Vs. Thirteen: Ochako Uraraka, Yuuga Aoyama, Fluttershy, and Kira Kobayakawa
Vs. Cementoss: Eijirou Kirishima, Rikidou Sato, Applejack, and Marco Nui
Vs. Ectoplasm: Tsuyu Asui, Fumikage Tokoyami, Rainbow Dash, and Sunset Shimmer
Vs. Snipe: Shouji Mezo, Tooru Hagakure, Derpy, and Jotaro Narukami
Vs. Power Loader: Tenya Iida, Oujiro Maishirao, Terumi Haiiroiwa, and Rarity
"Of course, for the remaining four students, considering how powerful you are, we have a very special opponent in mind for you," Celestia said with a smirk.
Izuku, Katsuki, Twilight, and Tony were confused before a very familiar jovial laugh was heard, followed by All-Might crashing down.
"YOU'RE OPPONENT SHALL BE ME!"
Izuku paled. "This is bad..."
"The four of us make a pretty good freight train..." Tony noted. "But All-Might can destroy freight trains in real life with just his pinky finger."
"I'm not threatened! This is a dream come true for me!" Katsuki grinned excitedly.
Twilight took a deep breath. "Well...it's double or nothing for us..."
"Now for the rules," Starswirl said. "You'll have thirty minutes. To win you must either tag your teacher with a provided set of cuffs made from telekill alloy or have one of your team escape the combat zone through one of four provided gates."
"This is a little different from your combat training, ya dig?" Present Mic said. "After all, you're up against seasoned pros way better than you."
"But aren't you just the announcer?" Kyouka asked skeptically.
"Don't judge a book by its cover, dear," Mistmane warned as Present Mic nodded and folded his arms with a pout.
"The exam is meant to simulate a real battle," Thirteen explained. "It might seem strange, but you'll have to think of us as attacking villains."
"As soon as you come across your enemy," Snipe said. "Then if you think you can win, by all means, fight to the best of your ability."
"But if you have any doubts, or you know you're outmatched, then it might be best to retreat and go for backup. The choice is up to you." Rockhoof added.
"So it's fight and win or run and win. Seems simple enough." Marco noted.
"I'd rather fight than run like a coward!" Katsuki said with a huff.
"Of course, in order to make sure your options aren't limited to just fleeing, the Support Course made something to even the odds," All-Might said as he and the other nine teachers put on special wrist and ankle straps with weights added to them.
"These are ultra-compressed weights. They're designed to add half our body weight to our physique." Power Loader explained. "That way our stamina will be lowered faster and make it harder for us to move around."
"These are heavier than I thought..." All-Might grunted before clearing his throat. "We had a contest to come up with these designs. The winner was Young Hatsume."
"Now that we have everything explained. Sato, Kirishima, Applejack, and Nui will be going first. The rest of you can either watch the match or strategize with your teammates." Aizawa finished.
The first match was starting in the city zone, where Cementoss had plenty of resources for his [Cement] Quirk, putting up multiple barriers around the four young heroes.
"He can't move very fast," Eijirou noted. "In fact, he has to stay still in order to use his Quirk."
"Yeah, but at the same time, he can make concrete walls all day while we're saddled with a time limit." Applejack pointed out.
"Guys, I got an idea. Just not sure it's a good one." Marco said. "Eijirou, you and Rikidou smash up the barriers, keep Cementoss distracted. Applejack, you go high, see if you can surprise him from above. As for me..."
Marco used his Earth Element to dig straight into the ground, going for the below approach. Eijirou smirked as he hardened himself as much as he could while Rikidou downed a capsule of sugar, bulking up with his [Sugar Rush] Quirk.
Applejack smirked as she squatted down and charged up her own Quirk before leaping high into the air, scaling the buildings and running across as Eijirou and Rikidou began smashing their way through the concrete walls.
Cementoss was making more walls to box in Eijirou and Rikidou, but he was taken by surprise when Applejack dropped down on him and Marco burst out from below. Applejack pinned the Cement Hero down as Marco slapped the cuffs on him.
"Nice work. You all made sure to keep my attention on one point while attacking from two others."
"Aww shucks." Applejack chuckled, pulling her hat over her face.
"Alright! They did it!" Pinkie Pie cheered, blowing on a party streamer.
"One down, nine more to go," Twilight noted.
We got the first match of the Final Exam out of the way. How will the rest fare, we wonder?
-BIO TIME-
[Rarita 'Rarity' Kagayaku]
Hero Name: The Glittering Hero: Radiance
Quirk: Crystal Gem
Quirk Description: Rarity can create crystals from anywhere. She can summon crystals from the ground, form crystal constructs, and weaponize various different types of gems.
[Shoto Todoroki]
Hero Name: The Icy-Hot Hero: Celsius
Quirk: Half-Cold, Half-Hot
Quirk Description: Shoto is able to generate ice, frost, and cold from the right side of his body, and fire, flames, and heat from the left. However, he is unable to manipulate either element that comes from an external source; he can only create them from his body. The Quirk's power is perfectly divided between the right and left sides of Shoto's body. This gives him two powerful, separate methods of combat that he may use regardless of the other.
[Ken Ishiyama]
Hero Name: The Cement Hero: Cementoss
Quirk: Cement
Quirk Description: Cementoss is able to manipulate cement-based material simply by being in contact with the surface. It does not give him the ability to create new cement, he can only reshape existing cement. Concrete can be molded into any shape Cementoss desires, no matter in what state or form it is found, and he is free to weaponize said material as long as he keeps touching it. In the right conditions, even those with enough power to destroy concrete may easily get overwhelmed.