The four friends, Izuku, Mina, Toru, and Eijiro, emerged from the UA written examination like a group of beaten zombies. They collapsed on the ground, moaning and whimpering as if they had just survived a nuclear blast. The sun felt too bright for their eyes, which had been strained by the endless questions and problems. Despite diligently following Izuku's strict 'Ten Steps To Academic Success' regime, nothing had prepared them for the torture they had endured.
Eijiro curled up into a foetal position and rocked back and forth, muttering to himself, "I'm done... Just leave me here to die..."
Slumped against a low wall, Toru tried to speak but only managed to produce a weak, "So... Many... Numbers..."
Nearby, Mina squinted and reached a hand out to touch Izuku's face as if she were on her deathbed. "Izuku...? Is that you...? It's been so long..."
"I can still see the language exam when I close my eyes... I think I've forgotten what a noun is..." Izuku mumbled, staring off into the middle distance.
The four of them wailed and sobbed, waving their limbs in the air as they sprawled on the floor. They were being very overdramatic, but that's what true friendship is about - supporting one another through challenging times, even if it meant pretending like you're on the verge of death from a demanding exam.
Their Oscar-winning performances were cut short by a certain loud-mouthed, loud-quirked, loud-haired teen strutting his way out of the examination hall, his head held high, and his expression exuding an air of confidence. Even if he found the exam difficult or taxing, there was absolutely no way he'd let anyone else know that. As far as anyone else was concerned, Katsuki Bakugo knew every answer and was always one step ahead. Any answers he didn't know were because the questions were written wrong, as a trick. He barged straight through the four of them, without so much as a glance, yelling "MOVE IT, EXTRAS!"
Izuku snapped out of his misery upon seeing Bakugo and miraculously reverted back to the picture of perfect health. As Bakugo continued his brisk walk, never looking back, Izuku waved and said, "Good luck with the rest of the exam, Kacchan!" with a bright, genuine smile.
In the distance, Kacchan snarled, "We're not friends, you sticky nerd!" as he turned a corner, probably heading to the practical exam briefing.
"Hah, such a kidder," Izuku said, smiling and nodding as if it were a private joke between the two of them. "He's always saying stuff like that; he has a brilliant sense of humour."
Toru folded her arms and frowned as the explosive teen disappeared from their view. She shook her head, baffled by the whole Bakugo situation. "Why is that guy so mad all the time? Every single time we've seen him around the city, he's looked like he's about to blow!" She emphasised this by spreading her arms wide, as shown by the wristbands she had started wearing so people knew where her hands were.
"Maybe he did really poorly on the exam?" Eijiro suggested. "You did tell us he was a perfectionist, right Izubro?"
Izuku tried his best to explain his childhood friend's emotional state, understanding Bakugo in ways that others often failed to. "He's just passionate, that's all!" He shrugged, knowing that his explanation might not convince them, but he was always ready to defend his friend. "Oh darn, I meant to ask if he'd come training with us sometime..."
"Haven't you asked him that every week for like, 10 years?" Mina asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I think he's just shy about meeting new people. Kacchan doesn't really have any friends other than me; the other kids always stayed away from him for some weird reason."
Toru frowned. "Yeah, I can't imagine why."
"Right?!" Izuku said, "It might be because he's busy so much of the time; he doesn't get a chance to meet new people that often. Oh! If we all pass, maybe he'll be in our class at UA!"
Far away, Bakugo's voice could be heard in the distance, " Outta my way, losers !"
Rolling her eyes, Toru said, "Oh yeah, great, can't wait."
—
The practical examination briefing turned out to be quite uneventful, at least until a very brusque boy decided to repeatedly interrupt Present Mic with snarky remarks, seemingly suggesting that the pro-hero was doing his job poorly. Izuku also found himself briefly glued to an information leaflet as he attempted to pass it along to his neighbour in the adjacent seat, pre-exam jitters getting the best of his quirk. Fortunately, apart from that minor mishap, he was relieved to have avoided any major embarrassments and managed to keep the serious teen from turning their attention toward him in irritation.
It turned out that six groups of examinees would be tested simultaneously in various areas of the sprawling UA campus. The sheer size of the school left Izuku in awe, he knew UA was big, but not six enormous testing locations big. Despite the likelihood of being separated, Izuku and Mina learned they'd be competing together. Both of them had been assigned to the City B testing area, which they found comforting. Unfortunately, their contentment was dampened by the presence of the same brusque boy who had been causing a scene during the briefing. Thankfully, it seemed that he was presently keeping to himself, which was a relief.
Warming up with a series of exercises to prepare for the event, Izuku asked his friend with interest, "So, Mina, what's your strategy for the exam?"
Mina thought about it for a moment, her head tilting slightly before she finally shrugged and replied, "I was kinda thinking I'd just blow up the robots!"
Izuku laughed at the straightforward response, "Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. I think I might try going for their-"
"Excuse me!" Before Izuku could share his own thoughts, they were rudely interrupted by the tall and serious boy from earlier. He'd marched over to them with a misplaced air of authority, and sternly addressed them, "Your gossiping is distracting the other students! If you are not here to take the examination seriously, then I suggest you leave at once!"
Mina jabbed her finger into his chest and shot back, "We're brainstorming, you big jerk, the only person distracting anyone today is you! They're probably going to grade us on how well we cooperate with others, and if I were a teacher, I'd give you a big fat zero!"
The boy appeared shocked, staggering back slightly as if struck by a surprise attack. Automatically, he held a hand to his heart, as though the mere idea that a teacher would be disappointed with him was akin to being stabbed. "I was only-"
"GO! GO! GO! THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN THE REAL WORLD! GET GOING!"
The tall boy suddenly perked up like a rabbit on the lookout for predators and bolted into the city proper. Mina grabbed hold of Izuku's arm to urge him to follow, but he tripped while trying to untie the knot in his shoelaces. "Crap, crap, crap! Why didn't I think to take these off before I came here?!" Finally, he managed to fling off his shoes and hurled himself forward. The gravel of the city prickled only slightly, as he had long gotten used to running barefoot. He knew the temporary discomfort was worth it if it helped him use his quirk.
It didn't take long at all for the sounds of destruction to ring out as students launched themselves at the robot villains. One that resembled a huge sphere with legs, with the number 1 spray-painted on its chest, lumbered its way toward Izuku and Mina. If they didn't know any better, they'd think it was trying to avoid the excitement further into the city.
Izuku squatted lower to the ground and ran toward the robot, jumping onto it and activating what he had named Snail Style: Wall Slide Technique, sliding up the body of the robot. At the top, he suddenly glued his hands down, causing a slight change in momentum that was just enough to topple the machine, sending it crashing to the ground. If he could keep this up, he might even break the school record!
"I just scored another 8 points, Izuku!" Mina shouted with a cheer, standing on top of a heap of rubble. "How are you doing?"
"Uh, awesome thanks!" he replied. Okay, maybe he won't break the school record. With the stickiness of his hands, he grabbed a piece of metal and attached it to his forearm like a shield, and ran full speed into the legs of another 1 pointer down the street. Like dominoes, it fell right on top of one of the scorpion-like 2 pointer robots.
Noting the new attachment, Mina got an idea and shouted out to him, "Hey! Give me a boost!"
Izuku, intuitively knowing what she was planning to do, banged on the front of the metal to get the attention of some more villains. He then knelt down and held the shield above his head, waiting for Mina to run over and jump up onto the metal. At the exact moment she jumped off, Izuku acted like a springboard, giving her a huge mid-air lift above the robots. In flight, Mina sprayed corrosive acid down on the robots, earning her another nice bunch of points as they collapsed in on themselves. Izuku had no idea if that would count toward his own score, but it looked really awesome, and sometimes that's the really important thing.
In giving Mina a congratulatory thumbs up, Izuku almost missed the 3 pointer smashing down on him. After managing to slide away horizontally just in the nick of time, he firmly pressed his hands directly onto the robot's red glowing optic array, jumped up so his feet were on its face, and pulled. Surprisingly, the eyes came out with ease, probably because most people wouldn't be able to get any kind of grip on them. The tangle of wires that came out with the eyes must have held some importance because the robot immediately folded.
More banging and clanging sounds echoed, and Izuku turned his head, half expecting to see Mina scoring another dozen points. Instead, he saw the boy from earlier, moving at high speed and effortlessly kicking his way through robots, using the jets coming from the backs of his ankles. Everyone else seemed to be slicing through the enemies like they were nothing! Another entrant, gulping down packets of what Izuku really hoped was sugar, uppercut a 2-pointer into the side of a building, as another punched a 1-pointer to pieces with her giant hand.
Izuku needed to try harder, to really give it his best! He scowled and clenched his teeth; speed was what he needed now, and speed was what he was going to get! Running straight toward a group of robots, he slid under one's legs, sticking his hands to both legs at once and bending them inward. The fall caused it to knock another backward, and using his quirk, Izuku grabbed hold of the falling robot and flung himself skyward angled toward a building.
Sticking his feet, he wall ran along the building before jumping off toward a two-pointer, grabbing the scorpion tail and pulling it down directly into its own body, destroying it. Wasting no time, and in a move he was sure only worked because it looked cool, he pulled out the robot's stinger and threw it at a 3-pointer. It went right into its eyes, destroying it from the inside.
—
Elsewhere, the UA staff kept a clear view of the students' actions from their observation room, a hub of surveillance and assessment for the aspiring heroes below. It was a spacious chamber, lined with floor-to-ceiling screens that displayed live feeds from cameras scattered throughout the various training grounds. Every angle and movement of the applicants was projected here, allowing the teachers to scrutinise their every move.
Near the front of the room were two central screens, where Vlad King and Midnight took charge of watching the student hopefuls in City B. With a discerning eye, they judged their skills, strategies, camaraderie, and potential for heroism.
Further back, Principal Nezu held his station, though he didn't have to be confined to a single screen or testing area, thanks to his quirk - High Specs. It allowed him the ability to process multiple streams of information at once, shifting his attention from one scene to another in the blink of an eye.
As the staff observed, they kept track of the points earned by each entrant for their heroic feats. Some of them voiced the scores out loud, creating this constant background noise that was incredibly irritating to Vlad King. There was no need to say the points out loud every time; they all have notebooks and computers, just write them down !
"7 points to #117" "15 points to #34" "1 point to #212"
Vlad King tried to ignore the noise around him and focus on the monitors in front of him, eager to see how the aspiring heroes performed in the city scenario. His interest was piqued when he saw a green-haired boy jump from the side of a building and smash a 2-pointer and a 3-pointer robot in a matter of seconds.
"Hm," he muttered to himself, "This one seems to have improved a lot in a short time."
Midnight shuffled through her files and pulled out the student's profile, which had a Polaroid picture of him nervously smiling, paper-clipped to it. 'Oh yes, applicant #56, Izuku Midoriya. Isn't that Green Magnet's son? It seems like we have more children of heroes applying than ever before, don't you think?'
Vlad King snorted, "The boy has potential, but I hope he doesn't rely on his mother's reputation to get ahead. What's his quirk, some kind of physical enhancer?"
"It's registered as Stickiness; he can adhere to any surface. It looks like the description has been changed a few times over his life… Oh, the poor thing! When he was younger, he couldn't deactivate his quirk at all!" Midnight read the file, feeling a surge of pity for the 4-year-old boy who had no control over his powers.
The blood hero raised his eyebrow, "Stickiness? That's all? How did he manage to do all that with such a simple quirk?"
"Training, I suppose!" Midnight dramatically tossed her hair over her shoulder, "Or a hidden potential that has just been revealed! Oh, it's so thrilling!"
"Indeed!" A voice joined in from behind them. It was Principal Nezu, who had been observing along with the others. "But let's not get too fond of any of the applicants yet! We still have the next phase of the test to go."
Midnight and Vlad exchanged looks; they both knew what the next part of the exam was. They also knew their boss was a bit mad and liked to test boundaries to their breaking point.
As Nezu opened the arm of his chair and pressed a big red button, a countdown timer started to flash on the screen. The next stage was about to start.
—
City B shook with a deafening blast, and the test-takers froze in fear. Even their robotic foes paused, sensing the impending doom. The screech of metal gates cutting through the air was followed by a shower of dust from the crumbling buildings. They all gaped at the sight of the monstrous zero-pointer robot, far bigger than anyone had expected. The silhouette they had been shown in the briefing didn't hold a candle to the real thing.
Mina grabbed Izuku and yanked him away from the path of the giant menace, but Izuku resisted and lunged at more of the smaller robots.
"I need more points; I'm not done yet!"
"Forget being done, you could be done for!" Mina screamed at him, pulling him back. "And is that worth your life?!"
Another boom sounded, causing both of them to halt their argument. The scream that followed a moment later was enough for both of them to start running directly toward the giant robot causing the destruction.
"Someone must have been too close when it appeared!" Izuku panted out as he ran.
"What should we do? We don't even know where that scream came from." Mina, being able to slide on her acid, was less out of breath than Izuku.
As they got closer to the robot and had a better view of the situation, Mina pointed upwards and shouted "There's someone up there, on the hand!"
Squinting his eyes, Izuku confirmed "Is this part of the exam?!" Sure enough, there was a girl who seemed to be holding her breath from time to time, and scaling the robot's arm.
"I think she must have gotten picked up by accident when the robot attacked! What should we do?"
"I have to get up there somehow!" He scanned the buildings for his best option, "There!" he pointed, spotting a tall building near the giant robot. It was the least wrecked of the street, but bits of rubble still rained down from the roof as the zero-pointer wreaked havoc.
"Are you nuts?!" Mina exclaimed. "That's suicide!"
Izuku was only half listening. "Mina, do you think you could melt the robot's feet to the ground?"
"Sure, if I have to! But what are you going to-"
Izuku had already activated his quirk to his hands and dashed toward the skyscraper. He was ready to use Snail Style: Wall Slide Technique! With the adrenaline surging in his veins and a huge burst of effort, he dug his fingertips into the brickwork and flung himself upward. The stickiness of his quirk held him to the wall, but by lowering its power output he was able to soar upwards like a vertical air-hockey puck. At the peak of his climb, he did it again, gaining even more speed.
On ground level, Mina created acid slides to move faster on the ground, listening for any clues of whoever it was that screamed.
Calculating that he only needed one more push to reach the rooftop, Izuku kept chanting to himself "FASTER! GO FASTER!", he gritted his teeth and felt his arm muscles ache, as he dragged himself upwards one last time.
"IZUKU! LOOK OUT!"
Izuku barely heard Mina shout to him as the wind whipped past his ears and the robot's powerful swing demolished the building he was climbing. It had slashed upwards, sending debris flying into the air - one piece of which had Izuku clinging on. The chunk of wall spun through the air, eventually levelling out and giving Izuku seconds to realise just how high up he'd been thrown.
This was higher up than he'd ever been before in his entire life! He'd never even been inside a skyscraper before, this was too much! All these thoughts raced through his head and more. Probably the most important one being "How do I get down without being horribly killed?"
There was no way out, this was the end for him. Killed, during an entrance exam. The lawsuits were going to be huge, that was for sure…
No! No he wasn't going to die here! Maybe if he clenched his muscles really hard the impact would just break a few bones? It was worth a try at least. Izuku tensed his whole body, his quirk in full effect as a result of the tension, and he felt the breeze and air around him start to fade, then he waited.
And waited.
…Why wasn't he smashing to the ground?
With a cautious breath, he opened his eyes, one after the other, and glimpsed below. He was suspended in mid-air, dozens of feet above the ground, the robot still wreaking havoc in the street beneath him. His legs felt tense, yet somehow steady, as if he were standing on an invisible surface. "No way," he whispered to himself, testing the air's resistance by moving his arm through it, feeling like treacle. "Impossible... it can't be."
But he couldn't resist trying. He made a bold decision and dialled down his quirk output in one leg, daringly moved it forward, and then turned the power back on. To his astonishment, he walked. In mid-air!
"O-oh my god" he gasped, his heart racing. "I'm stuck... to the air?! HAH! HAHA! This is insane! I'M WALKING IN MID-AIR?!"
He took another step, then another, each time mastering the timing of activating and deactivating his quirk. He even experimented, letting himself drop a few feet before activating his Stickiness, and it was like landing on a very soft mattress. This was, without a doubt, the coolest thing that ever happened to him.
—
On the ground, Mina's horror as she watched her friend get knocked into the air turned to confusion when he didn't come back down again. Since when could Izuku fly ?! But there was no time to ponder the inexplicable. Determination surged within her, and she knew it was time to push herself to the limits. "If Izuku can suddenly do that, then I can go plus ultra too!" she declared, narrowing her eyes at the colossal robot. "Alright, Mr. Robot, prepare to be stopped!"
Mina cupped her hands, summoning the power of her acid quirk, feeling the fluid erupt forth and coalesce into a potent sphere right in front of her.
—
High above, Izuku's attention was drawn to the situation below. The girl he saw earlier had managed to reach the robot's shoulder, but she appeared exhausted, struggling to hold on. He couldn't let her be in danger any longer. He had to reach her, and fast. As he moved, he discovered that trying to run on an intangible surface was surprisingly difficult - it was like trying to run down a hill that couldn't decide how steep it was. His speed increased uncontrollably, but he refused to be deterred. He barrelled his way toward the girl, somehow managing to stay afloat in the open air.
—
Mina gritted her teeth as the ball of acid between her hands grew larger and larger, its intense heat causing her palms to sting with agony. She couldn't afford to hold back – this was her moment to shine, and she knew she had to give it her all.
"This has to work! ACID SPIRIT BOMB!" she roared, hurling the colossal acid sphere straight at the rampaging robot. The projectile soared through the air with deadly accuracy, striking the zero-pointer's leg. The acid erupted on impact, its corrosive nature chewing through the metal like a hot knife through butter.
—
Izuku sprinted faster than he had ever run before, as he saw the towering robot start to topple. Moving at breakneck speed, he accidentally kicked the edge of the robot's shoulder, propelling himself into a high-speed tumble. Just in the nick of time, he managed to grasp the girl's hand as she slipped off the edge. With one hand firmly holding onto her, he slammed his other hand onto the robot's shoulder, intending to glue himself down.
Pain surged through his own shoulders as he performed the move far too quickly for his body, dislocating them in the process. "Aagh!" he hissed, attempting to put on a brave smile for the girl in his hand. "It's fine... you're safe now."
Trembling with gratitude, the girl kept a tight hold with both hands. "Oh my god, thank you! I thought I was done for!"
"Don't worry," Izuku reassured her, his voice strained from pain. "You won't fall..."
She had an idea. "I can get us down, I think! I thought I could stop the robot from up here, but there's no way inside it! It was such a stupid idea..."
Rather than answering her, Izuku's body gave in to the pain, and he passed out. Unfortunately for them, his unconscious state also deactivated his quirk, causing them to start falling.
With a quick-thinking response, the girl held her breath, gripping onto Izuku as she activated her own quirk. They gently floated down to the ground level, where she let out a wave of relief and promptly threw up.
Mina, still nursing her steaming and raw hands, rushed over to them, panicking. "Izuku! Is he okay?! Are you okay?!" she anxiously blurted out.
"I think he dislocated his shoulders saving me," the girl explained, her voice shaky with emotion. "I thought I was going to fall, but he flew over and caught me."
Just as Mina and the girl were catching their breath, Recovery Girl and Vlad King arrived on the scene, finally able to intervene now that the test was over. Quickly, they assessed the situation and saw Izuku lying unconscious, with his shoulders clearly dislocated.
"Oh dear," Recovery Girl said with a hint of exasperation, "What a mess."
Vlad simply nodded in acknowledgement, ready to handle the situation.
Using her quirk, Recovery girl cured the two girls and handed them sweets, then turned her attention to Izuku.
"I'm awfully sorry about this, young man," she said in her motherly tone, "Vlad? If you could?"
With expert precision, Vlad King gently popped Izuku's dislocated shoulders back into place. His eyes shot wide open, his face contorting in pain.
"EEEEEOWWWWWCH!"
Notes: It's not a dynamic I see too often, but Izuku desperately trying to befriend canon-angry bakugo because he feels bad for him ended up being a happy accident while writing, and I'm glad for it because it makes me laugh. I was originally going to have Eraser taking the place of Vlad King here, but I want to save that character for the quirk test. So yeah izuku can fly, (sort of). The physics don't make any sense, but if while reading this you ever think "That's stupid, that's not how it works." Just know it's entirely because of a magical wizard.