Hello again, everyone. It's been quite the ride for all our young Heroes, hasn't it? Through backbreaking trials have Nikolay and his classmates finally earned their Provisional Hero Licenses. So now even those of you who are well-versed in the original MHA storyline may be wondering just what I have in store next to break from the mold? Well, for starters, I decided to try my hand at envisioning something that hasn't been explored that I'm sure all us MHA fans have wondered to ourselves more than a few times: what exactly does the official PRO HERO LICENSE EXAM look like?

If Horikoshi were to ever shed light on that for us, then my idea may prove to be completely and utterly wrong, there's no harm in that. I just wanted to reach out some and delve into something brand new. I can only hope it satisfies and entertains you all to read, as much as it did for me to write.

And so, with that, if you like what you read here today, please be so kind as to leave a review.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters, the original events surrounding them, and the alterations of established events that occur as a result of their existence.

A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian.

Chapter 59

Professional Hero

(Профессиональный Герой)

In an Unknown Location, July 19th

The hidden away office of Pietro Dobrynich Granin was quieter than normal, which was saying something, since the older, military coat-adorned man was hardly the celebratory or overly expressive type. By all definitions, after hearing how successfully the first field mission he'd given his six soldiers had gone, he should've been in a very celebratory mood; he realized that. And yet, try as he might, he simply couldn't work up the energy for it.

Because Pietro was a practical man, a realistic man before anything else; and that sense of realism was always there to remind him that there was simply no going back for any of them anymore now that they had slapped the Russian government in the face right in its own backyard. There was no trace of doubt that they'd had it coming for well over a decade, but that didn't make the inevitability of the consequences any less nerve-racking.

He had been talking of one day giving his most loyal followers amid the commune the skills and mentality necessary for them to finally take the fight back to the tyrants that had driven them away, and at last start securing a foothold on home soil again. This was the first step to them finally reclaiming their rightful homes; this was what he had been assuring himself of ever since the beginning, since the first day he and so many others had come here in search of refuge.

However, for as resolved as he and they now were in their one remaining purpose, that didn't make Pietro any less concerned about their potential ranks, not to mention how they were to obtain the resources they would need if they wanted any hope of mounting any more than a measly one-day skirmish before being wiped out.

Knock, knock

The heavy wrapping at the steel door didn't carry the kind of youthful vigor of many of his younger compatriots, as well as the sheepish light-handed tapping of Alyosha, which meant there was only one possible person it could have been, hence his lack of hesitation to answer: [[Come in.]]

With a metallic groan, the door opened to reveal the domineering tinted dome-headed figure that always stood out among Pietro's soldiers. As the door eventually slammed shut behind his sudden visitor, the latter simply took in the morose atmosphere of the office, ultimately taking a spot at the corner nearest Pietro, all without saying a word; a habit he had taken up that Pietro had grown tired of admitting his aggravation towards.

[[I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you're not taking the time to recoup, either. I can't imagine it was entirely a pleasant feeling, setting foot on our Motherland's soil again after all these years… although I suppose it's inaccurate to say it was on your own two feet at this point, eh?]] Even Pietro couldn't bring himself to even sarcastically chuckle at such a tasteless joke, already cursing whoever had told him that humor could lighten any mood. The dome-headed figure physically reflected neither amusement nor frustration that it was ultimately at his expense; although the question was at least enough to get him to speak up.

[[In the sense that I was at least getting to see even a speck of home with my own two eyes again, it was pleasant… but in the sense that it ultimately had to end in shedding the blood of our countrymen… not so much.]] This left both men bowing their heads in deep regret; ultimately capping off in Pietro venturing towards a nearby aged cabinet, and pulling out a decanter of scotch.

[[I regret that things ultimately had to end this way; not just for you, me, or even those kids, but for every last one of us that built this commune together. I know many of the people would demand we take some kind of responsibility for doing things this way. They didn't come out here looking for a fight; they just want to be able to live.]]

The dome-headed man finally stepped forward from his corner; a visible rise in intensity in his body language as he answered: [[That's just it, though; this is no way for those people to live… at least not on a permanent basis. They may not want to accept it; none of us wants to, but we know it for a fact, because this is simply the way of the world when a people are united against a common other.

[[Even if they were to have chased every last Quirk-user out of the entirety of the Soviet Bloc territory, it wouldn't be enough. There will one day come a moment when they decide: to hell with international relations, this group of people is too much of a risk to our future to be left unattended to. When that day comes, that will be the end for all of us.]]

Pietro downed his first shot of scotch just like that, letting the burn down his throat fuel his own frustration: [[Don't speak to me as if I don't know this! I've been telling those kids that every single day once we started their training! I tell it to myself every day to make sure I know and remember that we're doing what is best for us, no matter what it is. This is for all our survival, this is how we make sure everything and everyone we've lost up until now hasn't been in vain… but that still does nothing to alleviate the fear.]]

Knock, knock, knock, knock

[[Sir, are you awake in there? It's Petto and Knot. We have something important to talk to you about.]] The unmistakable youthful female voice of the red-and-gold-haired girl nicknamed Petto diffused Pietro and his compatriot's nerves, as the former man voiced permission for his two female soldiers to step inside.

Without hesitation, they were now joined by her, and a slightly taller and pale-skinned girl with turquoise-colored semi-long hair with a texture resembling dried melted wax atop her head, tied into a short ponytail; with eyes of both pink and blue at the tops and bottoms of her irises respectively. With their arrival, Pietro wasted no time: [[You both should still be resting, but I know you're at least smart enough to not come this way unless it's really something important and timely. So what is it?]]

Just waiting for that cue; Petto quickly stepped forward, a considerable spring in her step. [[Well, while I was controlling the one soldier I did to scope out that R&D lab, I ended up overhearing something very interesting, but the physical toll of keeping up that control for that long is the only reason I didn't tell you earlier when we got back. For that I apologize.]]

[[I understand all of that, Petto. You all did so much for your first mission, and I can't express my gratitude and pride in you all enough for that. So please, what did you hear?]] Glad that she clearly had their leader's undivided attention, Petto made her way towards the map behind his desk displaying the entirety of the Russian sub-continent, looking it over intently before ultimately smacking her pointing finger against one specific spot on it.

[[A couple of times over those few days, I overheard some of the military higher-ups that came through that lab talking about some kind of top-secret government installation up in the northern portion of the Ural federal district, just a little ways northeast of Salekhard in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. I figure you'd be familiar with the geography, since they never bothered to rearrange the federal lines over all those years. I didn't hear anything about whether it's a military base or not, but it didn't sound that way from the way these people were talking.]]

Pietro and his silent compatriot took in everything Petto told them with a discerning eye, and even sharper ears. It hurt to have to do this, considering how optimistic she sounded about it, but there was no earthly way either of them could just say nothing, with the dome-man speaking up first: [[It sounds very risky, and not just for the sake of how long the undersea travel would have to be to get any of us over there from here.]]

Petto was already looking very wary about where her two elders were going with this, before Pietro let out a weary sigh. [[You both need to understand that caution and a natural grain of salt with every piece of new information is key to our continued survival, let alone our being able to operate as we have been. Even before those Anti-Quirk tyrants took over, the Russian government and every one of its divisions have been notorious for deliberately spreading misinformation in order to root out potential moles and spies. The fact that you heard about a potentially high-priority secret government facility through the ears of a common grunt… surely, you must realize why that simply sounds too good to be true; because more often than not, it is.]]

Petto looked visibly torn on whether to keep pushing, or to actually take their leader and mentor's words into consideration. However, Knot didn't look nearly as conflicted, as she imploringly stepped forward. [[But Sir, if we're going to be trying to gather as many recruits from the commune as you suggested, and especially if we're going to make this campaign last as long as possible, then you know we need resources; whether it be equipment, food, or at least the money to get those things. If there is indeed a place we can go to with the kind of monumental value that Petto made it sound like, then don't we at least have some kind of obligation to check it out for ourselves?]]

[[Nobody is arguing that point, Knot. However you both need to learn to pace yourselves and be patient; that's why I'm emphasizing our boosting our numbers before we try anything overly risky like this. Let's not forget that your mission required killing a fair number of what were still ultimately government and military personnel. There's no way in Hell the government isn't going to be having every single border and coastline in the entirety of the Bloc under a magnifying glass, just waiting for the first sign of us poking our noses out. Besides, we're not doing anything of this sort without some kind of definitive proof you all wouldn't just be walking into a killing field.]]

To his visible surprise, this actually seemed to embolden Knot more than anything else, as a hopeful smile spread across her face. [[Actually, sir, this was my personal reason for joining Petto here. You see, I've been keeping a thumb on the pulse of some of the more underground passages of the internet, and I've been hearing a few scattered whispers about someone well versed enough in hacking, probably through a Quirk, that they might be able to get us through the safeguards in the Russian government's networks. They could be able to help get us eyes in the sky and prove whether or not this place is real without us having to even set foot anywhere near there.]]

The office went especially silent, with Petto even looking especially driven by her ally's possible contribution. Pietro not immediately shooting it down was as good a sign as any, as he contemplatively took another drink before setting his scotch glass back. [[By the fact that you sound so convinced of this, am I to assume this means you've already reached out to the individual you have in mind, Knot? We all know that if anyone has that kind of reputation within the criminal underworld, they make a point of not being easily found.]]

Knot's eyes slowly fell to the ground, knowing she couldn't rightfully lie, but the confidence in her smile somehow didn't falter. [[Well… no, I haven't reached out to them, yet. I was just thinking that if I were to lay a few breadcrumbs of information here and there within those same back channels, before too long, they might even reach out to us.]]

Pietro and the dome-headed man exchanged silent yet knowing glances, before the leader let out a tired sigh and placed an affirming hand on Knot and Petto's shoulders; looking both girls in the eye. [[If you really believe that this could help us get the information we need without putting any of our people at unnecessary risk, Knot… then I won't stop you. Just stick to throwing a few key hints around every three or four days. The last thing we want is for some half-assed opportunist to come along thinking we're desperate and risk screwing everything up for us.

[[And Petto, until we get the results for this set in stone, I don't want to hear anything about you trying to push this potential mission into action any sooner than absolutely necessary. For now, we still need to focus on shoring up our ranks and resources as they are.]] Despite his stern tone, neither of his two young compatriots and followers looked at all perturbed that they were essentially being told to wait further still.

[[We understand, sir. Thank you for listening to us. Yes, we won't let the cause down, that's a promise!]] With those mutual declarations of intent, Knot and Petto both gave Pietro and his dome-headed ally a stalwart salute and quickly took their leave; once more leaving the two older men in the overbearing silence.

As soon as both girls had left, Pietro quickly downed the rest of the scotch in his glass before collapsing back into his chair with a truly exhausted sigh. [[Those two… them and their friends alike… still so young, and yet already so eager to just get right back into the fight.]]

The dome-headed figure began approaching Pietro's desk; every footstep carrying a pronounced weight to it. [[From the moment we took those kids under our wings, we knew this was the inevitable road they would be going down. I know it's not the same as having command over a traditional army; it's so much less formal, and the risk for growing attachments is that much stronger. But, if anything, that attachment you feel for them is what makes you so much better of a leader than most; because you want to see the job done, but you don't consider your soldiers to be just another number.]]

Pietro let out a wry chuckle as he poured another glass and offered it to his friend; who silently held up a refusing hand. [[Yes, these last thirteen years really have changed me, haven't they? I don't even recognize the man in those old photos from before anymore. I don't know why I'm letting this get to me like it is. With all the time that had to go into their training before finally sending them out; for them to see that they could actually pull it off and leave a mark on the face of the bastards that chased us out of our homes, it's only natural they would want to go for it again. Such is the curse of every over-ambitious new grunt in the battlefield.]]

The dome-headed man, already able to see that Pietro was nearing a state where he would want to be left alone, began making his way for the office door. [[Yes… which is why they're lucky to have us watching out for them, making sure they're always reined in and cool, even at the worst of times. As long as we're working together, Pietro Dobrynich, we can take care of them and anyone else that comes into the fold in the times to come.]]

[[Even if we know how it may ultimately end.]] Pietro muttered reluctantly to himself; leaving his ally's hand hovering just over the door handle. He didn't speak, nor did the military coat-clad man staring forlornly at the map. Nothing needed to be said, as far as they were both concerned, for they both knew it to be true. It didn't matter how much planning, resources or army solidarity one could build before a great campaign. It was foolish, if not utterly detrimental, for them to think they could somehow be able to pull off this campaign that had already been years in the dreaming, without suffering at least a handful of casualties by the end.

Such was the burden carried by those blessed and cursed with Quirks, and those that cared for them in these dark times.

Musutafu City Train Station, September 1st

Oleg had to get the earliest start that he had in years for this day in particular, not only because it was the long-prepared-for day of the students and their Provisional Hero License Exams, but it was also the day of one of the biggest event of his life since he and Nikolay had come to Japan; the biggest event that he couldn't risk telling his son or his classmates about for their own sakes.

Today was the day of the next official Pro Hero License Exam. At long, long last, all his efforts outside of being a teacher and father had arrived, and it was officially time for him to step into it and put his knowledge and refreshed skills to the test.

He had been greeted just in time by Toshinori Yagi and Naomasa Tsukauchi outside the front gates of Yuuei Academy, for the former Symbol of Peace had his own personal business that needed to be attended to, just as the detective himself did, hence they could help each other accomplish their goals; at least once they finally dropped All Might's Russian compatriot at the train station so he could get to Tokyo where the exam was going to be held.

Now that they had come to a stop, and Oleg knew he was officially going to be on his own once he stepped out of Tsukauchi's police car, he found his feet being weighed down by emotional bars of lead; a hesitation that was far from lost to either of his two present companions.

"Nervous?" Toshinori asked from virtually out of nowhere. The moment Oleg turned back to face him, he could see the thankfully good-intentioned humor in his sunken blue eyes, which did quite a bit to help ease at least a touch of the tension that had been building in Oleg's chest after since his friend had been forced to retire as All Might.

"Oh, not at all. I'm only going for the test I've been preparing for, for months now at this point; the test that will help decide whether I really have what it takes or not to be a Pro Hero again after I'd gone so long thinking I'd never pursue such a role again, and actually truly earn the title this time by something beyond simply Hero school grades and family lineage. Of course, if the government decides that I'm not good enough, then that will just make for one less able-bodied Hero to help fill the void with your retirement. So no, I'm not nervous at all."

The greatly sarcastic laugh that Oleg let out to emphasize the disingenuousness of his laughter communicated all the reality of his words to Toshinori and Naomasa, before the Russian Hero just as quickly turned his attention back to Toshinori himself. "What about you, tovarishch (comrade)? Are you nervous too?"

Even despite the barely discernible smile on Toshinori's scrawny face, his tone didn't even try to convey the same kind of sarcasm as Oleg did: "What's even the point of saying otherwise? Frankly, I'm nervous as hell… but that doesn't change the fact that this is something that absolutely needs to be done… just as this test is for you, Tunguska-san."

"So then, if these matters weren't of such necessity, would I be correct in assuming you'd both be observing Class 1-A's Provisional License Exams right now otherwise?" Naomasa suddenly asked with a slightly bemused smirk as he observed the two men in his passenger seat and rear passenger seat altogether.

Both men were already scratching the backs of their heads; embarrassed that the detective could read them so easily. "Well, I wouldn't object to seeing Class B's License exam, either. Those kids work just as hard; they deserve just as much support." Oleg answered rather quickly, with Toshinori instantly nodding in agreement. "That's right; they're learning to become Heroes just as much; and the last thing I'd ever want to be accused of is favoritism with these students."

Nodding with visible approval of their answer, Naomasa continued: "So then, hypothetically speaking, if our visit to Tartarus could be rescheduled, as well as the Pro Hero License Exam, would you both be going to 1-A's exam right now, or not?"

Toshinori bowed his head; not surprised that Naomasa could be so clever with manipulating the direction of the conversation, but hating the fact that he and Oleg were the targets of such mental skill. "Honestly… no, Naomasa-san. This exam is the culmination of Midoriya-shonen… of all those children's training, and the pain they've put themselves through to get that far. If I were there… I fear it would break any one of their concentration at the time they need to maintain it the most."

Oleg pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out a tired sigh, nodding in full agreement with his friend. "He's right… that's why I'd have to say 'no' to your question, as well. Kolya has pushed himself so hard to get to this point alongside all those kids… this test is their chance to prove to themselves and each other that they can count on one another, and that they're truly good enough for those licenses. They don't need us there distracting them, now of all times."

As Naomasa took another sip from his coffee, the electronic announcer voice on the train station intercom sounded out, spurring Oleg to dig out his train ticket he'd reserved the day the date for the practical Pro License Exams had finally been given. Realizing they were finally announcing the departure for his train, the larger Russian nearly threw the car door open off its hinges, he made his way out so fast.

Oleg nearly turned on a dime on his right heel to finally formally address Toshinori with great expediency in his every move. "Toshinori-san… one more time, just for good measure… ya blogadaryu (I thank you). Thank you so much for… everything you've done for me and Kolya over all this time… for giving us each a chance to even have an experience like this again."

Toshinori's smile seemed to warm up that much more as he placed an understanding smile on Oleg's broad left shoulder. "I must thank you too, Oleg-san… for giving me the benefit of the doubt when you had every reason not to, and for… for being a good compatriot, ally and… and a good friend, in a time when I genuinely felt I didn't have that many left.

"I believe in you; you are good enough to earn the Pro Hero License of your own merits, Tunguska-san. And I know that, if they knew this was what you were doing, every one of the students would be telling you the very same, so carry that with you when you're out there, all right?"

Oleg had to suck a breath in to keep his more emotional side in check, as he gave Toshinori another grateful nod, as well as one out of respect and appreciation for Naomasa's similar support, and with that, proceeded to rush the rest of his way up the steps to the train station, effectively leaving the former Symbol of Peace and the detective to their own devices, as Naomasa proceeded to drive, beginning the long trek to their ultimate destination.

The entirety of the train ride from Shizuoka Prefecture to Tokyo Prefecture, no matter how much he kept trying to remember all of Toshinori's supportive words, as well as all the moments of admiration and encouragement from Nikolay and so many of his classmates; Oleg could not, for the life of him, do away with the tension in both his hands, real and prosthetic alike. Half the time he feared he was at risk of tearing the seams of his dress pants from how tight he was gripping onto his pant legs in anticipation.

However, it was far from only for himself, but for his son and all his classmates as well. Today was going to be a major game changer, one way or another.

Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo

After the over hour-long train ride, the rest of the directions Oleg needed to follow to get to the venue for the Pro Hero Exams were surprisingly easy, thanks in no small part to the increasingly dense crowds of much younger but no-less powerful-looking individuals of varying sizes and shapes he was gradually beginning to notice were all going in the same direction as him, and all lugging similar hefty briefcases with them; the containers for all of their Hero costumes.

Before too long, Oleg finally could see just where their exam was actually going to be held: if his studying of the Japanese government as it stood today was correct, this was right next door to the location of the headquarters for the Japanese Self-Defense Force, but it wasn't the headquarters for the Hero Public safety commission.

It was a towering ivory monolith that almost looked as though it were piercing the deep azure sky; it contrasted so greatly against it. From its wider base to its piercing top, the whole thing almost resembled a geometrically imagined rendition of a single mighty arm pointing confidently up to the heavens. If Oleg hadn't known better, he almost would have wanted to bet they had personally designed this building after All Might's mighty pointing arm whenever he told people not to fear for he had arrived.

The more he took in the sheer scale of this place, all while still not knowing just what the exam itself was going to consist of, Oleg could once again feel that weight start forming in his feet. It had been so long since the last time he'd taken anything close to this, and that was ultimately little more than a formality after how well he'd proven himself all throughout his own school life.

"Hey, you see that tall foreigner up ahead? Yeah, he looks familiar, doesn't he? How many foreign Heroes do you know taking the Japanese Pro Hero Exams? I think that's that guy who was fighting with All Might during the Kamino Incident. Oh shit, for real? If he was fighting alongside the Symbol of peace, what's he doing here? Probably getting his license like the rest of us; I mean, I heard the chat rooms keep calling him 'Tunguska,' but I don't remember seeing someone with that name or face anywhere on the Top Hero rankings."

This side chatter was growing more and more noticeable with each passing second as Oleg tried to ignore all of it and just focus on the task at hand. It was only natural his presence here would draw attention from the younger newcomers, especially after his face had been all over TV and the internet with All Might on the single most shocking night in the world's recent memory.

"He seems pretty old to be going for the License Exam now, don't you think? If he was fighting with All Might, you'd think he'd be some big shot, but I never heard of him. What chance is an old foreigner going to have working as a Pro Hero here in Japan, huh? Didn't he lose an arm during that fight? It looks like he's got two hands again. It's probably a fancy prosthetic; they've been making big advances ever since the I-Expo, you know? Not like it's gonna do him any good, surely."

Steeling himself, clenching the grips in his hands and clenching his teeth, Oleg forcibly shut all the condescending voices out, as he began urgently making a beeline for the entrance to the building; ready to prove all the nay-saying voices wrong; primarily his own that had started to awaken in the wake of everyone else's, and prove that he still had what it took to be even a fragmentary beacon of hope in All Might's absence. That's what this day was ultimately about from where he currently stood, and he wasn't about to let anything make him forget it.

Tartarus

The journey from Musutafu all the way to the supreme-level security prison in the country was expedient, but that didn't make it any easier for Toshinori to truly get the brunt of his emotions fully bolted down, even after they had been let in through the gates, and they were met with the imposing sight of a massive cube-shaped building surrounded by a veritable rib cage of steel girders, with each tower topped with what looked like anti-aircraft turrets, all for the sake of preventing any potential break-ins or break-outs.

Sadly, Toshinori was still silently trying to get himself all together by the time he'd finally been guided to the interview room near countless stories underground; a sterile place with only a single chair, split in half by a sheet of the thickest shatterproof glass.

As soon as he had sat himself down, using the precious time he had left to prepare, the silence was ultimately broken by the electronic ringing, followed by the mechanical whirring of the single triple-reinforced steel door on the other side. Taking a deep breath, Toshinori never broke his gaze as a single prison guard dutifully stepped in on the other side of the glass, pushing along a heavily restrained and wheelchair-bound man connected to multiple IV bags and a respirator.

It seemed unreal that there was ever once a day when anyone could have looked at this individual and deemed him to be anything but a threat. It didn't matter how beaten down he still looked; for Toshinori, he might as well have still been looking upon the Devil himself. This only was reinforced when, once the guard had set the man in place, he actually slowly lifted his head, as though knowingly looking Toshinori in the eye, and formed only the faintest upturned corners of his mouth under his oxygen mask.

"Well now, and here I was beginning to think you'd already decided to forget me and move on with your life, I've been waiting so long for this moment, All Might. I can only imagine revisiting the past must really hurt; a constant reminder that you're no longer the Hero you worked so tirelessly to be for everyone anymore."

Toshinori gave no visible sign of emotional reaction; instead continuing to give his now-imprisoned lifelong nemesis that same furrowed brow and smoldering glare. "I probably would have come to finally see you behind bars with my own two eyes much sooner, All For One. Although, with the state that all the other Heroes and I left you in, I knew it would be a while. I didn't want to have this little talk until I knew for a fact you were fully lucid again."

All For One could already see just how much Toshinori was trying to maintain a calm demeanor and state of mind in his presence. Pity, then, that he had gone and made the mistake of bringing up said 'other Heroes', then. "Ah, yes, after seeing how glued at the hip you two became over the last several months, I'm actually surprised that lumbering oaf, Tunguska, isn't here with you. What, did my severing his arm really take so much out of him he had to be bedridden for this long? I wonder how long he'd have been out of the picture if I'd repaid him for my own hand in kind. It doesn't matter if I could grow mine back; such a sleight can't possibly go unreciprocated."

Toshinori was silently grateful that his hands were sitting on his lap, out of All For One's view; otherwise he would have doubtless seen just how tightly he was gripping onto his pant legs in silently seething anger at his mockery. However, the tiniest twitch of a nerve in his neck was in plain view of the master Villain; leaving him mentally smiling to himself in smug, self-satisfaction.

Despite this, however, Toshinori still refused to break eye contact; regardless whether All For One even had eyes anymore or not under all that scar tissue. "You can't get under my skin like that anymore, All For One. If you really have to know, not only is Tunguska-san alive, well and back on his feet already, but even as we speak, he's currently undergoing the exams needed so that he can finally step out into the open, and start restoring and embodying the very same hope that I once did for the world at large, just like the rest of those Heroes working so diligently and selflessly out there. The only difference this time, is that there's nothing that even scum like you can do to destroy that hope."

All For One, surprisingly, didn't say anything at first; nor did he even avert his gaze. To be honest, it left Toshinori feeling increasingly apprehensive, unsure just what, if anything, the dastardly criminal was planning. In the end, though, he simply let out a tired sigh. "Fair enough, I suppose I have no choice but to give you that. Say, it's about time for the second semester at Yuuei to start, right? Or has it started already? Here, I thought you'd especially be completely absorbed in overseeing their education, while your one-armed fill-in wastes time trying to fill even a smidgeon of your shoes. However, that's obviously not the case, which tells me you came here for a very important purpose. So, what exactly is it you seek from me, All Might?"

Toshinori's brow furrowed even more so than they already had. This was it, the time to finally voice just what exactly it was he was even hoping to accomplish by having come out here while no longer being able to use One For All, and while his nemesis was now well and truly going to spend the rest of his unnatural existence as a prisoner in this place. With a steely blue gaze and a deep breath of unshakeable resolve, Toshinori Yagi, the former Symbol of Peace known as All Might, stated: "I'm here to settle things, All For One."

The idea that, even after all the years they had been actively trying to respectively destroy and stop each other, All might could still somehow think there was anything between them that needed to be settled, nearly made All For One want to laugh harder than he'd ever laughed before. After all, how could a Hero of such immeasurable experience, especially firsthand, of just how truly evil this man was, possibly still be so naïve?

Perhaps, though, that naiveté in the wake of it all was what diffused the momentary mockery All For One initially wanted to answer such sentiment with. Instead, he simply breathed deep and sat back, meeting Toshinori's gaze in kind.

"This place is a bit stiff, you know, All Might; I was thinking that even before my injuries had started to heal. For example, let's say your back is itchy, and you try to scratch it by rubbing your back against the chair. The moment you do, all of the guns in this place will be pointed right in your face. Your vital signs, your brain waves, they're monitoring them at all times."

While explaining all of this, however, he was once more mentally sighing in relief to himself. 'Truly, I'm quite fortunate to have found myself a Telepathy Quirk that didn't actually rely on projecting brain waves in order to communicate when I did. Having found an ally like Vukodlak, with such unshakeable resolve and focus as to not let any of his vital signs waver even slightly when regaining his eyesight was a stroke of immeasurable good fortune, as well.'

Not missing a beat and risking Toshinori or the guards assuming he was silently cooking something else up inside, All For One continued as ruminatively as ever: "If you so much as even think about activating your Quirk, their hands will already be gripped around your throat. To be imprisoned deep underground, covered by so many levels of security… this place is built for the complete and utter exclusion of the wicked. They have modeled it after a Greek legend…they call it 'Tartarus.' It is the name of their God of Hell. It is fitting that the fate of those who betray the gods has befallen me."

Despite this verbal admission of defeat on All For One's part, Toshinori immediately answered by leaning forward, as though to try and further emphasize how serious his words now were: "It doesn't matter if you've somehow even managed to figure out the unofficial name of this place; it amounts to nothing more than luck on your part, for whatever that's worth."

The sudden wry chuckle that he was answered with, nearly made Toshinori flinch, even if only slightly. By now, All For One wasn't even trying to hide the smile on his face. "Well, now… if someone who always advised against relying on things like luck, like you, is saying such things, then the world really has changed for good, hasn't it, All Might?"

Ignoring his further taunting, Toshinori finally brought his hands together, as one often would when expressing they were deep in thought. "There's no way you're getting out of here, you know."

Still, that same infuriating smile never faltered. "Let's assume that to be the case. So, I'll ask you once more: what do you want from me? What on earth would make you come all this way just to see your most hated enemy, All Might? If Tunguska isn't with you, then is Gran Torino, perhaps? Did you really come here of your own accord?"

At that point, All For One couldn't help but really look at the particular bright red getup Toshinori was currently wearing, making his amused smile that much wider. "My, that's quite the nostalgic getup, isn't it? Why would you go wearing that pitiful old thing for my sake, All Might? You don't seriously mean to imply you're still going to keep working as a Hero, do you?"

Bringing his clasped together hands up onto the desk on his side of the glass, Toshinori narrowed his sunken eyes; really exercising every bit of willpower he had to not let All For One's taunting questions get to him. "You really love to run your mouth, don't you?"

All For One laid his head back, chuckling bitterly to himself. "Come on now, you can sympathize with me a little. It's been so long since I've last had a proper conversation."

The silence that now hung between the two men couldn't be justifiably described with words. Even the guards silently observing the whole conversation from behind the two-way mirrors could just feel the tension rising; all capped off as Toshinori finally spoke up with no build-up: "Where is Shigaraki?"

All For One's answer came with just as surprising speed and no hesitation: "I don't know. Unlike you with Midoriya Izuku, and the rest of those foolish Hero teachers and all those other Yuuei students, I've already let my successor carry on entirely on his own."

Toshinori sucked in a resolving breath and ever so slightly bowed his head. "You bastard… what are you after? What were you trying to do? Against all reason, you managed to keep your body alive… you were able to endure and live for this long. And all the while, you dedicated yourself to exploitation, manipulation and controlling others. What were you trying to accomplish?"

No mocking laughter this time. No, now All For One could initially answer his old enemy with was a sigh of complete boredom. "This is an unproductive discussion topic. Even if you listen to my explanation, you wouldn't be able to understand. There are always going to be people who can't see eye to eye."

Now it was the Villain's turn to start leaning his head forward; letting Toshinori know that what he was about to say was as serious as it came, and that even if he couldn't physically do so, he was looking the former Symbol of Peace right in the eye. "We're the same. You and I, we're the same. In the same way you aspired to be the Hero of Justice, I yearned to be the King of Evil. Simple as that. Look at any country and its Heroes and Villains, at any generation since the onset of Quirks, and you'll find the exact same dichotomy. Each one has its individuals that want to be that supreme authority on their respective sides of the good and evil spectrum.

"Unlike all those others, however, I had the power to really embrace these ideals and embody them. If I can live on eternally through these ideals, then no effort is too great for me." Such a declaration felt like it was tailor-made to be accompanied by the kind of pompous boasting that would have greatly befitted a Villain like All For One, from where Toshinori was currently sitting. However, the fact that he was saying it so matter-of-factly somehow made it feel all the more threatening than if he'd been shouting it from atop the highest mountains.

As unsettling as it was, though, he didn't let that stop him from seeking the answers he wanted most today: "If that's really the case, then why go to all the trouble of finding and grooming a successor?"

The filtered effect on the laugh that All For One gave him through the respective speakers on their sides of the room, already affected by the tube in his throat and the respirator on his face, gave his laughter a far more inhuman tone to it. "You, of all people, really have to ask me that?! Interesting! It's because you took everything from me, All Might! Look at this body of mine. It's with this tube in my throat that I'm barely able to continue living. All because of you, my ideals, which I thought were limitless, suddenly became limited. Now, because of you and all the other damned Heroes out there, I can't even continue to carry out the execution of my ideals from the shadows like I could before."

As All For One continued, his head slowly began to rise, as though he were now not simply looking upon his most detested opponent in exercising his evil will, but was now gazing upon some glorious unseen horizon. "When people know that there will be an end, they entrust. It's like that with everything. The houses and buildings we construct, even the very food we put in our mouths. Everything has been made by humans to be entrusted to other humans. You entrusted One For All to Midoriya Izuku, just as your oafish foreign replacement is ultimately entrusting his legacy to his boy; just as every Hero out there is essentially entrusting society to the very kids you're both teaching. I'm just trying to do what you both and everyone else is doing."

BZZT

"All Might, in three minutes, we have to cease this meeting."

The sudden intercom disruption of the guards sent a spark of surprising urgency through All For One for the first time that Toshinori could ever clearly recall. "Wait, wait. That's not all! I still have more to say!"

Just as quickly as his voice had gone momentarily impatient, did All for One reclaim that familiar unsettling ever-present calm. "Yes, that's right… I thought the world would be pretty shaken up by the news of your retirement. How is it out there?"

BZZT

"He is completely cut off from all information regarding the outside world, All Might. Please refrain from any imprudent disclosures."

"Just as they said." Toshinori stated as blunt and apathetically as All For One deserved, leaving the ultimate Villain to bow his head with another tired sigh.

"What a shame… although, if I had to make an educated guess, I'm sure it's something like this…" Toshinori's brow twitched with apprehension as he lifted his gaze to see just what bile his old enemy was about to start spewing out so carefree.

"Right now, with the anxiety caused by your departure, and the concerns caused by the Heroes' new leader and Number One, Endeavor, I'm sure the media is appealing to the whole of Hero society. On the other hand, sensing that same growing insecurity in the world, the so-called outcasts of society who don't support Heroes will begin to take action. Thinking that they may be able to shape the way society behaves, they are beginning to organize amongst themselves.

"Tomura will likely continue to keep himself concealed for a while, so that he can continue to see to the organization he's building, and can expand their influence. I'm sure that there's dissension among Villains as well."

As stubborn as ever, Toshinori was refusing to give All For One the satisfaction of a verbal reaction, but he could still see the single bead of anxious sweat running down his sunken cheek as he listened. That was all the proof that the Villain needed to know that he was hitting the nail on the head, much to his inner delight, and he could just tell that Toshinori was aware that he knew, as well.

Of course, with the guards counting down every second, he cursed the fact that he couldn't take this moment to simply rub the fact that he was right directly into the former Hero's face. Instead, he would at least take the opportunity to just keep feigning ignorance and mock Toshinori's intelligence. "If the scenario I'm illustrating for you is actually unfolding in that manner, then that's more or less how I thought things would turn out. And if things are really as I say they are, then the reason will have been because of your retirement and the lie that is your appearance."

Toshinori finally slowly began to rise up from his seat. All For One couldn't have asked for a better sign that he had left his old enemy at a loss of any of his go-to retorts or counter-arguments; leaving the imprisoned Villain as the ultimate winner of their latest duel of wits. "Moving forward, now that you are no longer able to save anybody, all you can do is sit and look on at these Villains that you were responsible for creating. I believe you will spend the rest of your life stricken by your powerlessness and inability to do anything. All the while, you will waste your foolish hope, convincing yourself that people like Endeavor, Tunguska or even Midoriya and your students will be able to carry the weight…only to inevitably watch them all get ground into dust under the boots of Tomura and his League of Villains.

"That's what I believe, but I really want to know, coming from you… how does it all feel?" The glare that Toshinori was shooting down at All For One as that question echoed between them was the perfect visual representation of that old saying: 'if looks could kill.' If only they could, even All For One could imagine he would have already been killed a hundred times over in this second alone.

The fact that this was the kind of impression he was getting, only made the Villain chuckle in bemusement to himself once more. "Yes, that's what I thought. People do tend to get upset when you guess their feeling correctly, after all."

BZZT

"All Might, please get back.."

However, neither Hero nor Villain broke their piercing gazes from one another for those few intense seconds, before Toshinori finally took a heavy and affirming breath to regain himself. "You, of all people… don't go around presuming everything, All For One."

All For One cocked his head the slightest bit in curiosity, while Toshinori's blue eyes lowered in thought. "Believe it or not… I actually understand how you think quite well. Shigaraki, the blood relative of my master… I… no, both the boy and I, all of us Heroes are destined to be killed by him, by your own perspective. That's about the gist of it, right?"

The smirk on All For One's face was nothing short of blood boiling in the wake of this burgeoning new resolve he could see was starting to take hold in Toshinori's chest. "And?"

What other answer could there possibly have been for Toshinori to give his old enemy in this moment? Right now, all he could think about was what Gran Torino had told him that day in the hospital after he had officially lost One For All; those words of warning now that he knew just who Tomura Shigaraki truly was. Was his old mentor truly right; was he completely incapable of seeing Shigaraki as a full-on Villain now?

He didn't have the answer to that, and surely he would have gotten a reprimanding smack to the back of the head for it if he'd said so. However, that didn't change the fact that, even for lack of a true answer, there was a new course taking shape before Toshinori Yagi that he would take after this day. He may not have been able to be the Symbol of Peace anymore, but he wasn't about to let that be the end of his time served ensuring there would still be hope for all the people in the world; and he reflected this with a determined clenched fist and an especially bright blaze of azure in his eyes. "I will not die. I will not allow Shigaraki to kill me. I will not be killed! The future you envision will never come to pass, you bastard!

"And it won't just be me! My fellow Heroes, that boy, and every single one of those aspiring youths and those to come after; they will all continue to smash down your vision of the future from now until the end of time! They will all ensure that the light of hope never goes out for this world no matter how much you will it!" The room could almost be felt shaking from the sheer conviction with which Toshinori made this declaration of intent.

In the end, however, it did nothing to dissuade the apathetic smirk on All For One's face, as he stared back defiantly into Toshinori's eyes. "'I came here to settle things.' Is this what that looks like to you now? Did you really come all this way just to tell me that?"

BZZT

"Time's up. All Might, please exit."

With the electric whirring of the door opening behind Toshinori's back, he finally began to turn his back on All For One; for what he personally hoped with everything he had, would be the final time. "We will all smash the future you have in mind as many times as it takes… and you can sit here, spending the rest of your life looking on. Goodbye, All For One."

As the doors began to close on him, cutting off the hated visage of the ever-persistent former Symbol of Peace before him, All For One slowly bowed his head in contemplation, laughing softly to himself: "The rest of my life, huh?" 'You may or may not be right about that… if I can't be the one to finally put you and everything you cherish in the ground, then Tomura certainly will, All Might. None of you even know just how far ahead the gears have already started turning; inching along ever further towards my inheritor's ultimate awakening, and the end of every last one of you and everything and everyone you hold dear. There's nothing any of you can do anymore to stop it.'

The process of leaving the prison was far less obstructive than it had been going in, but that didn't make the tense air between Toshinori and Naomasa any lighter as they once more began to drive down the bridge back for the mainland, with the detective ultimately breaking the silence with a regretful sigh. "Sorry for forcing you to pick between this and the school's schedule for the exams, All Might. The procedures around Tartarus are especially troublesome, and it's not often we're given a chance to actually conduct interviews with any of the inmates one-on-one. How'd it all go?"

Toshinori let out the sigh of pure exhaustion that had been building in him ever since they'd started this trip. "If you were hoping for any semblance of useful information… then I'm sorry to disappoint."

Despite this, Naomasa gave no indication of disappointment. "Well, I never really expected it to be anywhere near that easy, to be honest. We've still got quite a long road ahead of us."

Toshinori couldn't have personally agreed more, already thinking back on that infuriating surmise of the future All For One had taunted him with. "His take is that Shigaraki will remain concealed and work to further expand his power."

Naomasa's grip on the steering wheel only barely tightened enough to be physically visible, but the grimness in his usually unreadable eyes said much more. "If we're to take that seriously, then carrying out another hideout raid seems like a fool's errand. Oh, one last thing: I wasn't able to secure an interview with Vukodlak, since he reportedly responds to no one and says nothing, no matter how the guards have tried. However, while I wasn't able to actually record anything or take notes due to procedures, my interview with Stain was—

VRRRM

The sudden buzzing of Toshinori's cellphone rendered the driving detective silent as he hurriedly began fishing through his pocket, apologizing for the interruption all the while.

What he was greeted with, over and over and over again with nearly every passing second, was more and more photos and attached text messages from nearly every single student of Class 1-A, all showcasing their newly obtained Provisional Hero Licenses, and all with messages expressing countless different ways of expressing their gratitude for his teachings.

Every single one lifted Toshinori's heart more and more, and further reinforced the faith he had in every defiant word he had thrown in All For One's face back in that room. The final one to come, and the one that hit him the hardest emotionally, however, was the one from Izuku, displaying the same kind of license as everybody else, with a picture of the boy trying to maintain a clearly very nervous smile the entire time.

And underneath, in a single text, was simply written: 'Thanks to you, I was able to take another step forward!'

The sight of this brought a deeply touched smile to Toshinori's skull-like face; a sight that Naomasa didn't miss, catching it just in his peripherals, and finally being able to smile in kind. "Give what today is, I can imagine what that smile's about. So, are you thinking of forwarding the news to Tunguska-san as well, then?"

Looking over Izuku and the whole classes' new licenses and their messages of heartfelt gratitude, Toshinori let out a deep, grateful sigh. "No… no, if I know those kids nearly half as well as I think I do, they're already well ahead of me on that…if not, perhaps, planning something just as personal for a later time."

With his own already-indomitable spirit lifted that much higher, Toshinori was able to take in the rest of the journey back home much easier; radiating pride in the accomplishments of Izuku and his class the entire way.

Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, Pro Hero License Exam Grounds

Oleg had to constantly keep reminding himself to block out the observant voices of all the other future examinees around him every step of the way; from changing into his Hero costume and going over the specs of his prosthetic arm based on everything the developers had told him when they'd first planted it on him; and all the way down from the changing rooms down to the conference hall where everyone was being directed to.

Following the procession, it was quickly becoming apparent that they were heading deeper and deeper underground. Oleg could only imagine the Hero Public Safety Commission had designed their testing grounds like this to accommodate for the potential devastating power of whoever walked through its doors.

That assumption seemed to be all the more justified once he stepped into the hall, and was now finally able to get a good view of the over two-hundred different Pro Hero examinees; all of them people of countless shapes, sizes and colors, with some wearing costumes that made guessing their Quirks that much easier, while others were far more subtle. If anything, depending on how this exam was going to go, Oleg decided those ones were going to be the ones worth keeping a close eye on.

It wasn't long after his arrival that the last of the examinees had stepped inside, and soon the whole hall was abuzz with all kinds of chatter; and while Oleg was simply trying to keep his mind focused on the task at hand while waiting for the exam overseers to arrive and get things started, he could still feel the growing number of eyes taking note of his presence and whispering to each about as much; most of it no doubt being about who he was, why he had two arms again, and why someone clearly as old as him was here on the ground with the rest of the fresher meat.

There was no question when looking everyone around him over, that they were all at least twenty years younger; and he hated the fact that he stuck out so poorly for that reason. Had circumstances been so much more different, he never would have argued that this was strictly a young man's game. However, he knew there was no point ruminating on hypotheticals. He was here, he'd made the decision entirely of his own volition to be here, and by God, he was not about to start backing down for the sake of saving himself from the judgment of a few overly confident young bucks.

The sudden activation of the intercoms lining the ceiling silenced all the chatter, as all eyes soon rose up to the podiums standing at the end, now occupied by nearly a dozen people in pristine government official-esque suits; looking each and every one of the two-hundred gathered potential Heroes before them over with individual consideration. On the outside, however, they looked as though they were simply looking at some distant horizon, reflecting a kind of detachment as though this were simply procedure for them.

"Good morning to you all. We of the Hero Public Safety Commission would, first of all, sincerely like to thank you all for putting forth the effort towards proving yourselves qualified to take this year's second Pro Hero License Exam. We would also like to take this moment to apologize to some of you who may have noticed the absence of a certain individual we had all previously expected to be here.

"For years, it's been customary at every Pro License Exam for the currently ranked Number One Hero in the country to attend and give our examinees a speech as to just what challenges now await, both today, and every day for the foreseeable future if they earn their licenses. Up until now, All Might filled that role, and he carried out that ceremonial duty admirably every time.

"However, with his retirement, that role has now gone to our previously ranked Number Two Hero in the country, Endeavor, who has unfortunately refused to attend today's exam. With All Might no longer being able to serve his role as our Symbol of Peace, and with the increasing numbers in organized Villain activity across the country, it only stands to reason that all active Pro Heroes have found their workloads immeasurably increased. Which is why we are hoping that those of you who have come here today, either for the very first time, or who are looking to return to the field; those of you who prove deserving of the license and title of Pro Hero will further prove yourselves to be capable of helping restore the peace that All Might provided us, piece by piece."

The atmosphere in the whole conference hall could be felt growing heavy, as the officials were clearly not in the mood for mincing words as to just what kind of serious responsibility awaited everyone here. The reminder of All Might no longer being there to urge them forward and inspire them was a painful detail to take into consideration, too.

For Oleg, however, his ears couldn't help but pick up on the fact that the officials were actually referring to any number of examinees here as 'returning to the field.' For some reason, he couldn't help but think, even for a moment, that they were deliberately referring to him specifically among the crowd with that, no matter how much his more rational self wanted to discount that as just picking threads.

"Now then, in comparison to something like the Provisional Hero License Exams that are likewise being held today throughout the country, you may be surprised to see relatively so few fellow examinees amongst yourselves today. Well, first of all, these exams are formatted very similarly to the aforementioned, in that it is also simultaneously conducted at different times on the same day in two other separate locations in different parts of the country. Second, you will come to find that the Pro Hero License Exams are far more exclusive in picking the ones who clearly understand Japan's Heroics-based laws in the written exam well enough to qualify for the practical exam today. Everyone here today has been personally selected for having satisfied those requirements.

"As for exactly what the practical exam you're all going to participate in will consist of; rather than consisting of two back-to-back exams like for the Provisional License, this is going to instead combine aspects of both, without the need for something like an elimination exam. After all, every one of you here has already gone to earn your Provisional Hero Licenses when you were of age, so you already have some rudimentary understanding of the responsibilities that are expected to be upheld by all of you here today."

Mumblings of agreement began echoing from across the crowd, while Oleg was simply taking every word into consideration, clenching his fists anxiously. If only Russia's Hero education system had been similarly formatted like this, he wouldn't have felt so out of place. Instead of things like internships or license exams, they instead simply had the students of the Hero schools of each respective region exercise their training and studying on the field, with the ones who had earned the highest marks stationed as team leaders. For the most part it actually worked out, especially in Oleg's case. That still did nothing to make him feel any less like a fish out of water among everyone here.

Suddenly, the wall behind the official opened up to reveal a massive screen, which suddenly illuminated the entire hall; revealing to all of the examinees what looked like a life-sized major cityscape under an open sky, complete with a bustling active populace of civilians and public transport.

"This is going to be your testing ground today, everyone. The exam is going to be comprised of both Battle and Rescue statistics. For the duration, your task is going to be doing battle against an army of our most advanced Hero-training robots, while also ensuring that as few civilians get hurt as possible. If the damage to the city reaches a certain extent, then your rescue statistic will change from solely protection, to both protection and evacuation to a designated rescue site on exam grounds. Any examinees that manage to surpass the average score requirement for both fields will be considered to have officially passed the exam, and receive their Pro Hero Licenses. If this is understood to you all, then we will commence transporting you to the exam grounds, and you can all proceed to formulate your strategies with one another. We of the Hero Public Safety Commission hereby wish you all to do your very best to your abilities and more."

All of a sudden, all of the examinees could feel the ground beneath their feet start to shift, and with a clamorous mechanical hum, the very room itself seemed to start ascending above their heads, before it just as quickly became apparent that the 200 examinees were actually on a massive sloped industrial elevator, taking them even further underground than they already were.

Knowing now just what they were expected to do, every second was mounting the anticipation and accompanying anxiety in Oleg's chest as he began trying to employ what breathing exercises he could recall for calming one's nerves.

"Looking pretty tense there, old man. Need an aspirin before heading out into the field?" "Can you really blame him? I mean, this is for our damn licenses, after all. I'm surprised you're not just as anxious."

The sudden intrusion of two especially younger voices; one brimming with cocky confidence, and the other comparatively calmer, broke Oleg's concentration as he now found himself being rapidly approached by four fellow examinees: the one with a smirk to match the arrogant tone dressed in a bodysuit primarily black, with numerous pads on the elbows, knees and shoulders decorated with electric motifs, and a yellow lightning-styled domino mask; and the calmer one in what looked like an industrial-style jumpsuit with a army-style helmet and black makeup smudged around his dark blue eyes, with a sledgehammer emblem on the chest, and red lines ended with downward arrows lining the sleeves and pant legs.

They were just as quickly being joined by another two; one male in a Hero suit that consisted primarily of tight black leather pants and studded suspenders, with numerous tiny angled smoke stacks jutting from along his back and shoulders, with four others protruding from along the top of his head in a style resembling a Mohawk, with a veil of dark smoke deliberately formed around the lower part of his face. The last one was a young female with short pixie-style white hair and red eyes, dressed in what almost resembled a more form-fitting hazmat suit, with a hood/visor mask combination hanging off her back.

"Seriously, Ryoku-kun, you can't even wait for the exam to start before you give everybody a hard time?"The female examinee already began scolding the cocky-looking one, leaving his smirk momentarily flinching with annoyance. "Dammit, I thought we agreed we don't use our real names here!"

"Oh please, Tunguska here has clearly gone through more than his fair share; didn't you watch him and All Might fight that Villain before? Haven't you been reading up on him online after? He can take a little ribbing," the smoke-centered examinee shrugged off her admonishment. All the while, the more it was becoming clear that Oleg was being singled out of their four-way conversation, the more his annoyance visibly grew. "If you're all making the effort to engage someone in conversation when they said we should be planning, then please don't talk about them like they aren't there."

Despite Oleg's initially stern tone, it didn't seem to off-set any of his four sudden companions, with the calmer second taking that chance to step forward and greet the towering Russian with a respectful bow. "I couldn't agree more, and I apologize for my friend's approach, he doesn't mean anything by it. It's an honor to finally meet you in-person, Tunguska-san. You can call me Hammerfall."

As soon as Oleg's face began to soften and he bowed in return, the female likewise did the same. "I'm Miss Downsize; the name's a bit of a work-in-progress. Don't mind Ryoku-kun; he gives that attitude to everybody."

The cockiest of the four once again shot another frustrated glare at their one female compatriot: "Don't think I can't speak for myself, dammit! And stop using my real name; it's Blackout Man, already!"

Out of nowhere, the smoke stack-covered examinee nearly keeled over laughing. "'Blackout Man'? That's the best you can come up with? No wonder your friend here doesn't call you by it. You should take an example from me, Enkami, and just go old school Japanese with it!"

"'Enkami?' Smoke God? That's so stupid! Maybe take your own advice and come up with something less obvious, asshole!" With that spiteful retort from Blackout Man, he and Enkami were clearly getting ready to start throwing hands at each other, only for Hammerfall and Miss Downsize to get in between both.

"That's enough!" Oleg suddenly shouted; thankfully keeping his voice low enough so as not to draw the attention of the entire crowd, but still powerful enough to get his four hanger-ons to stop their bickering. "I don't know why you all decided to come to me, but we're supposed to be getting ready for a test of fighting Villains and saving people. If you'd rather be fighting each other, then maybe you should withdraw from the exam and wait till next time, and grow up by then."

Oleg couldn't even figure which part of himself he was speaking from right now; the weathered old veteran Hero, the father, the teacher, or some strange amalgamation of all three. Either way, it was certainly effective, as while Blackout Man aggressively pulled himself away from Hammerfall; Enkami stepped back much calmer. With that, Miss Downsize let out a relieved sigh and turned her attention back to the foreign Hero standing more than a head taller than them. "Sorry about all that, Tunguska-san. I can't speak for Enkami-san; never met him before. Hammerfall and Ry—I mean, Blackout Man, on the other hand; we all went to the same Hero school together. This isn't really anything new for us, coming from him. I guess you could maybe credit it to over-eagerness."

Thankfully, Oleg didn't look to be much in the mood for yelling further, as he just let out a calming sigh. "I can certainly understand that. An exam like this is what all the years of effort everyone here put forward has been for. It's both exciting and nerve-wracking at once, even for an old former Pro like me."

At the mentioning of that, Blackout Man finally stepped forward, trying his best to stare Oleg down. "Yeah, speaking of that; why is an old foreign Hero like you suddenly popping up and trying to get a Pro Hero License now? I mean, pretty much everyone here saw you and All Might together on TV; surely you must have been somebody somewhere if the Symbol of Peace himself had you fighting alongside him in a fight that huge; and especially for you to actually hold your own even a little bit like you did."

Now it was Enkami's turn to step in: "Seriously, have none of you been reading about this guy online? This guy's apparently some big Hero from Russia, former Number One over there from what I've heard. From the sounds of it, though, something really bad happened that a lot of people blame him for, and that's why he and that kid of his from that Erubi City incident several months ago suddenly turn up here. You trying to get a fresh start?"

Oleg really had to swallow his instinctive emotions to hear the truth so watered down and simplified; especially when it was clear that the smoke-based examinee was trying to get under his skin with such a prodding tone. "All Might brought me and my boy here; gave us a second chance… gave me a second chance to try and make things right where I couldn't before. Now that he's retired, I'm just trying to do my best to make it up to him; carry my share of the weight that everyone else out there is, just like everyone else here, even if they wouldn't say so."

Even if Enkami and Blackout Man couldn't visibly reflect it with their own faces; Hammerfall and Miss Downsize could both clearly see there was a fair deal of emotion behind Oleg's blue eyes, hence why the former decided to step in, once again acting as the peacemaker. "Well, I can certainly agree with that sentiment. Whether it's simply wanting to be a Pro Hero in general, or trying to become the next Number Two, and potentially Number One; the fact is we're all essentially picking up where All Might left off. I can respect thinking like that. So, with that all being said, especially since some of us just kind of forced this discussion on our veteran fellow Hero here, what do you say we start over and at least give Tunguska-san and Enkami-san a rundown of our Quirks? I mean, if circumstances during the exam force it, it couldn't hurt for us to know in case we have to team up later, right?"

More and more, Oleg was finding Hammerfall to be his most preferred of this unlikely quartet of young potential Heroes; reflecting as much as he decided to be the one to break the ice himself: "Very well, then. My Quirk is Solar. My body essentially acts like a solar panel, in that it absorbs the energy provided by light, and I can channel it either into boosted speed, strength, and even pure energized beams from my hands… although that arsenal may have actually grown with this prosthetic arm. If I channel enough energy into one, I can also produce a flash of light from my eyes to stun Villains, or even use this disk behind my head like a discus."

He couldn't have been less surprised that none of what he'd described really seemed to wow anyone here, since they'd already made it clear they'd at least seen him in action on TV by now.

However, his actually agreeing to be cooperative brought a grateful smile to Hammerfall and Miss Downsize's faces alike, as the peppy white-haired girl nearly sprung right back into the conversation with a smile. "My Quirk is just like my namesake: Downsize! It's essentially a shrinking Quirk, but as to specifically how… well, you'll just have to wait and see for yourselves."

Blackout Man just rolled his eyes, hating the fact that even now she still loved to be vague about her Quirk just for the sake of surprising people the first time they'd see her use it. However, now that two people had actually decided to go with Hammerfall's offer of cooperation, he begrudgingly stepped in too. "Mine's a sort of EMP Quirk. I can suck out the electrical energy of anything I touch that uses it, and either channel it into an electromagnetic pulse, or I can use it to likewise increase my speed and strength."

Hammerfall now had a veritable spring in his step as he finally stepped in. "My Quirk is Weigh Down. I can basically increase the density of any pocket of air I focus on, and therefore weigh down anyone or anything that gets caught in it. I know that doesn't really have anything to do with hammers, but I just thought the name sounded really cool, you know?"

Now all eyes were on Enkami, who kept his arms crossed, but ultimately relented with a roll of his eyes. "Fine; my Smoke Quirk acts as both a blinder for Villains, but I'm also able to produce smoke copies of myself to act as decoys, as well as to actually act within spaces I can't personally reach. But don't think that just because I'm indulging you all means that I'm just gonna be hanging onto you during this thing. If I'm gonna become a Pro, I'm gonna earn it myself."

Before anyone could answer Enkami's standoffish words in kind, the elevator finally came to a stop as it reached the bottom of the ramp, quickly followed by a massive set of reinforced double doors sliding open, momentarily blinding the examinees as the interior light broke through the industrial cold and darkness.

However, as soon as their eyes adjusted and they stepped out, they once again found themselves now staring upon the same massive cityscape they had seen on the screen up above. In the strangest way, it still felt as though they were outside, the crispness of the air and the ambient sunlight feeling so real. Oleg had no doubts when looking at the clear blue sky that it was simply a vast assortment of screens projecting the illusion on the ceilings, but it was all arranged in order to make it look as much like the real thing as possible.

As soon as they began to step into the outer borders of the city, looking and listening to the multitudes of civilians all around, more and more of the examinees began to break away from the initial mass, until what had once started out as a procession of Heroes had quickly been reduced to barely more than a dozen. However, Tunguska wasn't ignorant to what many of them had to be thinking by doing so. If this city was anywhere as big as it seemed already, then their best bet would be to split up into even small groups, at least to make sure no part of the exam ground wasn't being actively covered once the action started.

Tunguska now found himself virtually on his own, none of the four that had approached him before anywhere to be seen, as he continued to patrol down the sidewalk of a bustling inner city street lined with storefronts; keeping a discerning eye out for the first sign of trouble. None of the civilians around him seemed to be paying him any mind. As he soon reached a street corner, watching the procession of traffic, both of cars, buses and feet, he soon felt the tiniest tug at his right hand hanging at his side.

Looking down, Tunguska now found himself looking in the eyes of a couple of small children, all looking up at him as though he were a veritable fairytale giant, rather than just the literal one he was in comparison to them. "Excuse us, Mr. Hero, but our kite got stuck on that lamppost up there. Could you please get it back for us?"

Following the lead child's pointing finger, Tunguska looked up to the street lamp nearest him, and found that, indeed, a single stray kite was snugly tied around it, being blown by the wind. In the back of his mind, a spark of realization: 'Of course; it's easy to gauge a Hero's effectiveness as a protector when things get bad… but it's just as important to see if they really embody the spirit when dealing with the public in different circumstances. Very thorough.'

"Of course, kids. Step back, please." Given how young they clearly were, and how big he was, Tunguska made sure not to speak too loudly in risk of frightening them. Thankfully, they didn't hesitate to do as the foreign Hero advised, and once they did, he gave the slightest enhanced hop, propelling himself to where he could cling onto the street lamp, and quickly proceeded to untie the kite string and pull it right back down to where he handed it to the wide-eyed children. "There you go. Now don't go flying it until you get to a park. You wouldn't want to risk flying it out into the middle of the street, would you?"

To his amusement, the children enthusiastically agreed and were soon enough on their way laughing, leaving the old Russian Hero smiling in genuine accomplishment to himself. All things considered, it actually felt really nice to be stepping into this kind of Hero's role again. It felt both nostalgic and new all at once.

BKOOM!

The distant rumble and cracking boom of an explosion suddenly got Tunguska tensed up with expectation, as he and all the other civilians stopped to look in the direction it had come from, further down this same city street.

Just then, a multitude of similar explosions began to sound out from numerous other parts of the city, with no pattern or path to be determined. However, soon the explosions were being followed and accompanied by the sounds of further bursts and whistles, before Tunguska could just barely make out the glimmer of something small flying through the air in his direction, and catching the sunlight.

The sound of this small object whistling through the air as it flew his way put Tunguska's defensive reflexes into overdrive, as he realized this wasn't debris: it was a deliberate projectile. Only spending a fraction of a second to kneel down to build up the energy in his legs, the Russian Hero kicked off with sudden power, flying straight for the object he could now clearly see was a rocket.

Knowing that simply meeting it with his fist would result in a detonation, he quickly fired a concentrated beam from his reared back right fist, burning straight through the length of the rocket, and causing it to instantly lose its momentum and come plopping down harmlessly to the nearest rooftop, now nothing more than a few scraps of half-melted metal.

As soon as Tunguska took care of this threat, he could hear the sound of something else considerably bigger flying in from his left. Before he could fire another beam, however, he found himself suddenly getting plowed into by what looked to be a white-colored humanoid-shaped robot with thrusters firing from its feet, and a black screen for a face. Before he could even try to fight back, he could already feel a multitude of restraining metal wires projecting from its chassis and binding around his arms, legs and midsection.

However, even if he couldn't brute force his way out, he knew he still had a distinct new advantage. Remembering what he'd been instructed before, he began focusing on his prosthetic arm, specifically on channeling a build-up of his solar energy to a certain number of parts of it thanks to the neural connection that had been given with it.

Within seconds, he could feel several of the small plates lining the forearm portion suddenly open up, and immediately be followed by a similar number of his solar beams firing out, burning straight through the binding wires, and allowing Tunguska to break free and immediately follow up by driving a devastating knee into the robot's side, nearly folding it in half, before then plowing his right fist straight through its head, reducing the whole thing to a now lifeless pile of scrap.

Without the robot keeping him trapped, Tunguska was now in the middle of freefalling back to another nearby apartment rooftop, but he was thankfully able to reclaim his posture and momentum, bending his knees at the right moment before landing, meeting the surface with a harsh roll, but he was nonetheless left unharmed once he came to a stop.

Hurriedly getting back to his feet and rushing to the edge of the roof to get a scope of the danger, Tunguska was now met with the sight of numerous examinees already engaged in heated battle against multitudes of similar robots, either flying in squadrons or alone, as well as others acting like infantry on the ground alongside spider-like robots firing rockets and lasers. These enemy forces all together were forcing the examinees in their sights to move with all their strength and speed to destroy the robots as quickly as possible, or to get civilians either out of the way, or to intercept to keep them from getting hurt.

A particular mechanic whirring sound drew Tunguska's attention, just in time to see one of the spider tanks aim a turret atop its body before firing a single laser shot. The shot tore through the corner of the nearest building, blasting away one of the supports to a large sign on the face of said building. Within seconds, its last support gave, and the whole thing came toppling down, just as two elderly people were running out of the building amid the panic.

With his pupils contracted and his body tense with sheer focus, Tunguska leaped from atop the building, driving his whole body into the face of the sign, clutching onto it with all his strength as he knocked it off its trajectory, saving the two elderly civilians, and landing flat on his feet.

With the sign still in hand, and hearing the mechanical whirring of the turret once more, Tunguska quickly lifted the sign over his shoulder, and proceeded to throw it just at the moment of it firing once more. The sign took the entirety of the damage, reduced to pieces within seconds, but the moment it had wasted its shot, Tunguska came flying in with another leap, tearing the turret right off its mount with a single well-placed high kick, and the moment he landed atop the spider tank, he proceeded to fire a continuous pair of beams from both his hands, melting right through its whole body, leaving it to topple lifeless in the middle of the street.

The sound of numerous incoming flying robots from behind sent Tunguska turning on his heels in preparation to fight, but just before impact could be made, a handful of robots were suddenly stopped from advancing any further by an array of multiple clumped together strands of black hair. Following each one, Tunguska was met by the sight of a single woman dressed in what looked like a unitard made of the same hair, while her own was extending from her own head not only to several street lamps to keep herself anchored, but also to restrain the robots.

Without missing a beat, Tunguska proceeded to fire a single carefully aimed solar blast from each of his hands, destroying each robot one by one within seconds. With this threat now neutralized, the female examinee gave him a single nod of acknowledgment before rushing elsewhere, and Tunguska just as quickly rushed over to help a couple civilians crying for help from atop a building that was now on fire.

As the exam carried onward, all of the officials that had welcomed the examinees before, were all studiously watching the events on a multitude of different screens, observing the actions of every single one of the two-hundred.

"When All Might had been around, many Pro Heroes went around feeling like they could simply worry about their own backyards, and that he would take care of the majority of other Villain-related problems."

"Now that he's no longer a viable option, we need to not only emphasize their willingness to work together and their compassion for people, but also their ability to adapt to their environments and make the best use of their abilities with them, for both fighting and rescuing."

"The examinees that prove worthy of their licenses today will be the ones who show a strong understanding of all these things. Those are the kinds of Heroes the people need more than ever right now."

After using his Sun Wheel move to blast several flying and ground-bound robots to smithereens in order to keep them from further attacking any more civilians in another part of the exam grounds, Tunguska now currently found himself in the process of digging his feet into the asphalt as he caught an empty bus that had been thrown by a much large bipedal robot; effectively saving a number of civilians that had been caught right in its trajectory. Thankfully, the Russian Hero's miraculous save bought them all the time to continue running further down the street and out of harm's way.

As soon as he knew they were safe, Tunguska immediately proceeded to throw the bus right back at the robot, and while it was distracted with crushing the vehicle between its hands, Tunguska rushed in and used his powered-up speed and strength to effectively tear away the hydraulic tubes lining its legs, causing the whole thing to come crashing down, just in time for another examinee with spiked wrecking balls on chains in place of hands to come in and finish the job.

Tunguska knew he couldn't afford to stop just yet. Seconds ago, the announcement had been made that the city had been damaged enough to call for simple saving to now have evacuation included. They had thankfully been kind enough to inform the examinees which areas around the grounds qualified as rescue stations, and having taken into account just where he was, Tunguska knew he needed to keep an eye open for any civilians he could get to the nearest one.

As he leapt up onto another rooftop to further examine the scene, Tunguska found himself before a couple other flying robots, who already had him in their sights. Fortunately for him, however, he had that split second in advance to his advantage; already aiming his hands even as they hung at his hips, and firing another set of solar blasts at them in rapid succession.

Suddenly, the robots' firearm hands suddenly and rapidly changed into hands lined with what looked like the same kind of material as solar panel; instantly sucking in the energy of his blasts and being left no worse for wear. Seeing this immediately put Tunguska on even greater alert, having not expected a change like this in the slightest.

Before he could fly in to try and smash them all normally, the robots suddenly began to spark and subsequently explode from the inside out, one after the other, before they were all quickly dealt with. Before Tunguska could even ask what had just happened, he was suddenly greeted by the sight of Miss Downsize, as she suddenly appeared before him from seemingly out of nowhere, as if she'd just sprouted up from the ground at his feet, all smiles as she removed the visor/hood from over her head. "Hope I didn't just give you a coronary there, Tunguska-san. Bet you didn't expect that from my Quirk, did you?"

"I… wait, you did that? I didn't even see you, though." Before he could ask the obvious, the female Hero proceeded to hop up, and instantly her whole body retracted into itself until she was once again nowhere to be seen. Then, just as quickly, she sprouted up from the ground again like normal.

"That's my Quirk! I can shrink down to the microscopic level and back, but no matter how small I get, I retain my normal speed and strength as though I were regular size. I just slipped underneath the armor for those buckets of bolts, kicked a few circuits around, and voila! You're welcome, by the way."

Tunguska didn't even need to say he was impressed, the look on his face said it all for her, to her amused delight. However, the sudden sound of a concentrated barrage of laser fire quickly snapped them both to attention as they began hpping from one rooftop to another, before they finally reached the opposite end of the block, and now found themselves observing a desperate standoff between a handful of examinees and a growing number of robots and spider tanks.

What was more, despite the clear number and variety of Quirks the examinees were clearly throwing their way, it looked as though the robots were actually blocking every single one specifically, much to both Tunguska and Miss Downsize's surprise.

"Looks like the robots are focused on those guys down there instead of us. We could probably take 'em," she expressed with exceptional confidence, but before Tunguska could tell her not to do anything, she was already running for the edge of the roof, leaping before suddenly shrinking herself down and out of sight.

Realizing he had no better ideas for a plan, he just as quickly took off in the same direction, launching himself off the roof to the next one on the other side of the street, and using that as a springboard to finally come crashing down from above onto the first spider tank in sight, driving his powered-up fists straight down into it, smashing it like a mechanical fruit under his strength and momentum.

At the same moment the robots had realized the Russian Hero's arrival, several of the airborne ones once again began to spark and immediately explode from the inside out, buying Tunguska the chance to rush from his landing point and start driving his fists and feet into the nearest infantry robots and the legs of any spider tanks unlucky enough to get in his way.

However, after three robots in the air exploded, the fourth one suddenly swung its arm through the air with surprising precision and swiftness, forcing Miss Downsize back to normal size just as she crashed into the ground. Realizing his last-second ally had just been hit, Tunguska quickly sprang up and tried to fire a quick draw solar blast from his finger right for its head, but it once again brought its arms up, covered in that same solar panel material, and took the whole thing for everything it was worth, with not a scratch on it.

Tunguska realized he'd just used his momentum on that sneak attack instead of with his fist, and he didn't have the time to reel one back that would have the power necessary. Just before the robot could proceed to attack him likewise, though, it suddenly got swatted straight down into the ground atop another spider tank that had been right beneath it, effectively flattening both into useless obliterated hunks of metal.

As Tunguska landed back on his feet, he looked up in surprise to find the examinees he and Miss Downsize had just helped, accompanied by a clearly grateful-looking Hammerfall. "Well, definitely can't say I was expecting to run into you two again. Thanks for the assist; those robots were really giving us a hard time, all of a sudden. A lot of us were handling them fine for a while, but once we all got together, they suddenly started being able to work around all our Quirks."

As Tunguska already got to helping Miss Downsize back to her feet, and she assured him and everyone else she was alright, he turned his attention back to the Gravity-Condensing Hero. "The same thing happened to us. They suddenly started being able to deflect my Solar Blasts, and it looks like they were able to zero in on Miss Downsize-san even in her shrunken state."

Many of the other examinees began to voice similar stories as well, even from before ultimately grouping together, before Hammerfall motioned for everyone to quiet down. "It sounds like this is what the Hero Public Safety commission meant when they said these are their most advanced training robots yet, then."

Tunguska gave a solemn nod, having clearly come to the same conclusion. "Indeed, they must all be connected through the same network. They're observing our Quirks and learning how to counteract them. They're forcing us to improvise; really test and see how adaptable to certain situations we are."

It was soon decided they needed to stay on the move in order to help rescue all nearby civilians they could. As they moved across the rooftops, with several examinees grabbing whichever civilians they could find along the way, though, Hammerfall still chose to continue the discussion: "That's the funny thing, though. Before you showed up, I'd tried my Quirk on some of those robots more than a few times, and they were able to somehow reinforce themselves against the weight. But when they started focusing on you, I was suddenly able to flatten them again. What's the deal with that?"

Before he could sufficiently answer, Tunguska's focus landed on another robot currently in the process of cornering a helpless civilians on the corner of a nearby roof. In that moment, he had the advantage of being in the lead of the rest of the examinee group, and thus proceeded to launch himself off the corner of the roof he was on at that very moment. The white-and-red-clad Hero came flying in, and the robot didn't look to have noticed his presence.

With surgical precision, he proceeded to fire a single solar blast from the tip of his pointing finger, blasting a hole straight through its head, and in the moment his feet landed on the rim of the roof, he took the civilian into his arms and jumped further, just before the robot exploded mere feet behind him.

With that last save, his feet finally met with solid earth again, just on the border of the nearest identified rescue station, just at the same time the rest of his surprise companions had. After making sure the civilians they had all saved along the way were okay, they were quickly transferred over to the examinees attending to their injuries.

While many of the examinees couldn't help but chatter amongst each other of the similarities between this and their own Provisional exams, Tunguska returned his attention to Hammerfall and Miss Downsize. "I wasn't sure what to make of what you said until that last rescue just now. That robot fell for my most standard Quirk attack just like that. Pairing that with what you described, Hammerfall-san… it sounds to me like these robots have a limited memory capacity for how many Quirks they can memorize defenses for. It's almost like their weak spots are on some kind of loop, depending how many foes they're up against at once."

Hammerfall looked pleased that the older Russian had come to the same conclusion he clearly had, while Miss Downsize was fairly more impressed, both with such a stroke of luck on their part, as well as such a precise guess. "So what does that leave you guys thinking right now?"

Tunguska couldn't help but furrow his brow just the same as Hammerfall, as there was only one logical conclusion he could come to: "If this exam has some kind of real fancy final card up its sleeve, my guess is that if we're going to have any real chance at passing this exam, we're going to need to ultimately gather up as many of the examinees together as possible in order to work together to defeat whatever it is."

Of course, it made perfect sense now that he thought about it. After all, it was exactly what he did to his own boy and the rest of Class A for their final exams so long ago.

FWOOOSH!

Before they or any other examinees could say anything, the sound of several fast-flying objects drew all eyes to the sky, with Tunguska quickly jumping into action by leaping onto the nearest rooftop. The moment he landed, he instantly spotted a half dozen robots flying in formation right for a collection of smoking skyscrapers near the center of the grounds.

Remembering what he had seen happen to the robots even after suffering what should have been an instant shut-down attack, it all suddenly clicked in his head as he quickly called back down to the other examinees: "These robots have explosives built into them, even when we think we've destroyed them! They could be programmed to try and detonate themselves when flying into buildings! I'll intercept these ones! You all keep your eyes open for others!"

With that, he broke into a mad sprint, nearly launching himself into flight as he reached the edge of each one. As he kept his eyes on the ever approaching robots, he was grateful to see a couple other examinees manage to either wrangle one out of the air, or blast another with a laser vision Quirk.

With two taken out, and only four left, Tunguska leapt onto an approaching billboard, using that as a springboard to launch himself higher and further, aiming a glowing hand for their backs, ready to cut through all four at once.

Only for a suddenly electrical bolt to come ripping up from out of nowhere, quickly revealing itself to be Blackout Man, who suddenly planted his hands on two of the robots heads, sucking away all their power in an instant and sending them crashing and exploding down on the thankfully empty street below.

With his momentum interrupted, Tunguska had to hurriedly get back into focusing on moving, as he met the next roof with a roll and quickly began to get back into running and leaping from rooftop to rooftop, with Blackout Man soon running right alongside him, but with nothing resembling pleasantries on his face.

"Would you get out of here, old man? You're stealing my thunder, go focus on saving the civilians, I've got these buckets of bolts covered!" However, for as confident as he sounded in that statement, Tunguska was infuriatingly unconvinced from his perspective.

"Listen to me, these things are learning how to deflect our Quirks if they fight us for too long, your friends came to the same conclusion! There's no telling when the next one you fight will have you figured out. They've seemed to loop my Quirk out of their defense pattern right now, though, so let me take care of this!"

To his own frustration, however, Blackout Man was far from convinced. "Oh, please, how can robots possibly expect to defend themselves from a Quirk literally designed to suck out the power they need to even do that? Watch and learn!"

With that, he took off into another electrical bolt of a charge, tearing through the air right for the last two robots. Tunguska could see by now that they were just about to meet the building face of the nearest skyscraper. This was far too dangerous to leave in the hands of someone so reckless.

And so, Tunguska finally launched himself from atop the latest roof, and came roaring in with his fists aglow, sending a devastating laser through the midsection of the robot to the right, just as Blackout Man finally emerged from his electrical flurry and planted his hands on both sides of the final robot's head… only for it to keep flying like nothing happened, much to his shock. "Wait, what the hell?!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Tunguska roared as he used a piece of the previous robot's debris as a stepping stone to keep himself airborne, plowing his whole mass straight into the last robot with an obliterating punch that nearly tore it in half, just as he grabbed onto Blackout Man's arm, and the two came crashing right through the window; their built up momentum causing them to go tumbling and rolling through multiple rows of abandoned cubicles, and nearly out the other side of the whole building, as Tunguska could hear another window crash by the time he'd finally managed to dig his feet in and stop his own roll.

His head was spinning and his ears were ringing, but Tunguska's sense of alertness was still as sharp as ever, as he was quick to remember just where he was, and more importantly, the condition of his cocky fellow examinee. When he initially found no sign of him, his worry was already beginning to skyrocket. But the momentary sound of physical struggle from nearby drew his eyes to the broken window on the other side of the building from where they'd come in.

Rushing over and ignoring the sharp jolts of pain flaring up in both his sides, his face and his left shoulder, Tunguska was simultaneously shocked and relieved to find Blackout Man looked to be in one piece, even though he was currently hanging onto the edge of the floor of this level of the building by one hand, with several glass lacerations on his face and arms. "Goddammit… I think I dislocated my shoulder somewhere back there… could you stop staring and help me back up?"

With the adrenaline helping to numb the pain of the numerous small glass pieces embedded in him throughout, Tunguska hurriedly grabbed onto his wrist and pulled him back onto the safety of solid ground. Before Blackout Man could either express thanks, or spout off another reminder that he could have handled himself after all, his eyes momentarily glanced back the way they had crashed in, just in time to find one robot flying in at breakneck speed, right for them.

"LOOK OUT!" With that warning shouted at the top of his lungs, Blackout Man hurriedly threw his body weight forward around Tunguska's mass, and threw the free hand that wasn't being held forward with all his strength, channeling the focus for his Quirk to the fullest extent just as the robot was about to collide with him hand-first.

BWOOOSH!

With a physical wave rippling through the air from his whole body, not only did the incoming robot instantly come crashing lifelessly to the ground, but so did the power to this floor and the next three floors above and below them.

As he let out a sigh of great relief, he turned back and instantly noticed a look of surprise on Tunguska's face… but not pleasant surprise, for his eyes were focused on his prosthetic arm, which was now hanging at his side with a limpness he clearly wasn't accustomed to. All too quickly did it become clear to Blackout Man just what the use of his Quirk had unintentionally done.

However, just before he could proceed to apologize, Tunguska's blue eyes instantly refocused on the robot itself, and with shocking swiftness, he sprang forward, grabbed onto it with his one functioning hand, and threw his body into an insane spin before letting go, sending the robot flying through the air just before it suddenly exploded harmlessly, leaving both Hero examinees breathing heavy.

"Is there a way you can use your Quirk to get the power back into my arm here?" Tunguska finally asked once they were sure no more robots were pouring in. Unfortunately, Blackout Man looked down with actual shame on his face.

"I'm afraid my Quirk doesn't work both ways. I'm sorry." While Tunguska was silently grateful to see the young man was self-aware enough to recognize when he screwed up, he also knew they couldn't afford to dwell on it for long, especially as his ears picked up the distant sound of a metallic banging coming from nearby; a sound which his careless companion thankfully picked up on as well.

Keeping their ears open to follow the sound, the two men rushed for the nearest set of elevator doors, where it was now coming louder and clearer. However many civilians were in need of help were here. With Tunguska's prosthetic arm out of commission, he and Blackout Man worked together to pry the doors open, and upon looking down into the elevator shaft, they were met with the sight of a multitude of tiny spider-like robots lining the walls, shooting tiny lasers into the emergency brakes keeping the elevator car from freefalling.

"I can't use my Solar Beams to go full circle and take those things out. If they end up severing the brakes and I accidentally cut the line, the whole thing will fall." Tunguska realized, before Blackout Man's head perked with the beginning of an idea. "I still have a little electrical energy in me, enough to put into my fists. You use your beams to take out the ones on your left and right, and I'll take care of the ones on the top and bottom from us."

With an agreeing nod from Tunguska, they both leapt down, with the Russian firing a concentrated continuous beam from the tip of his pointing finger, burning through every one of the robots on the right wall.

As they both landed, and the robots stopped firing their lasers upon the realization they were now under attack, Tunguska quickly turned and fired another beam to take out the rest of the robots on the wall to their left, while Blackout Man, with surprising speed and precision, began swinging his fists and feet, crushing one robot after another against the wall, until all robots on the left and down walls had been taken out, and they were both now focusing on removing the rest from the wall directly ahead of them.

Within seconds, the last of the spider robots had been taken care of, and both Heroes could breathe easy again, with Blackout Man hurriedly opening the emergency hatch on the elevator roof, catching the attention of a handful of visibly panicked civilians. "Don't worry, everyone, the threat's been taken care of. We're going to get you all out of here and to the evacuation site safely."

Once he and Tunguska climbed down into the elevator and once again worked together to pry the doors open and let everyone out, it was a miraculously easy way down the rest of the nearby emergency stairwell to the ground floor and back out into the open, just in time to run into another bunch of civilians being guided to the nearest rescue station by a handful of other examinees, including Hammerfall; who was visibly glad to see both still in one piece, while several others proceeded to rush into the same building the duo had just left to look for any remaining civilians inside.

"Well, if the building's still standing, then clearly you guys were able to take care of the threat. We just finished clearing out the robots up this street and saving the civilians that were stuck there. The nearest rescue station is just a few blocks down this way through an underground road tunnel."

As Hammerfall explained this, Tunguska and Blackout Man both looked, and could just barely make out the aforementioned dip in the road far ahead. "are any of the examinees in this area standing guard over it? A tunnel isn't going to stop the robots from trying to attack once the civilians are down there." Tunguska explained, but Hammerfall didn't look worried whatsoever.

"We're in luck there; we ran into Enkami a little earlier, who's already gotten some civilians down there ahead of us. We've got an examinee with a Magnetic Quirk barricading the entrance with steel debris to keep any enemies from getting to the civilians, but opening up for any new arrivals. I'd dare say we've got things in this section covered already."

Despite his confidence, however, he was quick to notice the guilt-ridden look in Blackout Man's eyes, and when he noticed how lifelessly Tunguska's prosthetic arm was hanging from his left shoulder, he likewise was quick to piece together what must have happened.

The sudden sound of electrical buzzing registered just as Hammerfall was about to speak up, and as all three examinees looked back, they were met with the odd sight of a progressing bunch of electrical sparks emanating along a nearby set of power lines, coming right for them. All three naturally tensed up in preparation for some other kind of fight, but in a sudden flash of light erupting from the power lines, they were now finding themselves greeted by a new examinee, a young girl barely in her twenties from the looks of it, dressed in a purely yellow reflective bodysuit with a series of crosshatched lines running across it that looked to be glowing bolts of electricity in and of themselves, while her short blonde hair looked to be continuously glowing as well.

"Sorry to drop in without warning like that. I've been running around, checking to see if any other civilians or examinees needed help. Oh, name's Powerline. I know, on the nose, but it's a work in progress. You guys got everything under control here?"

Having been the one to help organize the rescue efforts while others dealt with the scattered rest of the fighting, Hammerfall stepped forward: "We've cleared out the civilians from most of the central part of the city, and taken care of nearly all the robots in the same area. However, Tunguska-san here accidentally got the core power for his prosthetic arm sucked out."

Upon seeing the limply hanging piece of equipment on the large foreign Hero, Powerline gave a hearty laugh, as though she were trying to even remotely channel All Might. "Well then you guys are in serious luck. My quirk doesn't just allow me to ride the power lines. I can absorb energy from my time in there and channel it into whatever or whoever needs it; provided they have an electric-based Quirk like I do. I just used it to restore power to a folding bridge in the southern section to help evacuation efforts there. Just hold still and I'll have you back up and running in no time."

Without warning, her right fist began to turn into a veritable glowing ball of lightning before she suddenly threw it in a jab right into the side of Tunguska's prosthetic. The jolt it sent through his whole body was far more intense than he could have braced himself for, to the point his beard was nearly standing on end, with several locks of his long hair doing the same. However, the fact he could once again feel his nerve endings of his actual arm reconnect with the prosthetic and have its fingers move and hand clench and open was the best sign he could have asked for that her Quirk had actually done the trick. Even Blackout Man let out a deep sigh of relief that his mistake hadn't crippled Tunguska full-time anymore.

"Guys, we've got company," another of the examinees further down the road suddenly exclaimed in surprise, and the quartet quickly looked up to the direction they were pointing, just in time to find over a dozen robots flying in a kamikaze course right for them.

With the energy to his prosthetic restored, Tunguska quickly jumped to the frontline of this little group, and focused on opening as many parts of his arm as he could, he threw his left arm forward, and the instant he reached the length of his punch and channeled all the solar energy into it in those few precious seconds, multiple plates up and down his arm and in every one of the joints and knuckles of the fingers simultaneously opened up, emitting just as many blinding beams of his energy straight for the robots.

In the blink of an eye, four were instantly blasted right out of the sky, but the rest suddenly managed to either swerve out of the way, while others were once more producing those solar-absorbing hands, just as Tunguska had dreaded they eventually would go back to.

However, following his lead, Powerline and Blackout Man were already on the move themselves, using his broad back as a springboard to launch themselves into the air. Using herself as a conduit, Powerline had her left hand reaching for the powerline, siphoning the very electricity from it into herself, and then at the same time reaching her right hand toward her fellow examinee, sending that same energy right into his body in kind.

With his own energy stores refilled, Blackout Man focused, and as soon as he knew he was as close as needed before impact could be made between himself and the robots, he swiftly threw his hands and feet out so he could make contact to four at once, and then channeled his EMP attack into all four at once, sending them all collapsing lifelessly to the asphalt.

As soon as he was similarly clear of the last remaining robots, Hammerfall used that moment to focus his Quirk and weigh down the air around the remainders, flattening them all to the ground in an instant, while Tunguska quickly leapt backwards and nearly clothes-lined Hammerfall to get him out of the radius of the following explosion of the robots Blackout Man had managed to neutralize.

As Powerline and Blackout Man quickly rejoined their comrades, Tunguska and Hammerfall looked back to make sure there weren't somehow any more stragglers for them to deal with. After a good handful of seconds without any surprises, Hammerfall let out a shaky sigh of relief. "Just a few moments to catch my breath so we can reorganize our efforts for the rest of the city is all I need."

"Agreed. Let's focus on getting those civilians the rest of the way to the rescue station and then head further north. Whoever's still there may need our help." As Tunguska suggested this, thankfully nobody looked to have any reason to disagree, not even Blackout Man anymore. As simple as it was, the fact that Tunguska had gone to the effort of saving him from a spot of trouble and then never even lost his temper with him even after his Quirk had crippled his arm; and all after the downright crappy attitude he'd given him up until then; had been unexpectedly humbling for him.

With nothing further needing to be said, the four Hero examinees continued rushing down the rest of the street to catch up with the examinees busy escorting the civilians to the rescue station.

"This is proving to be a very promising bunch of examinees this time around. They seem to have figured out the inherent flaw in the robots' Quirk-defense memory loop." As one of the exam officials commented this as they all continued to watch the exam unfold, many voices of varying agreement began muttering in response.

"In so little time, our forces have already been reduced by 70%." This little summation of the reality of the exam had the anticipation of many of the officials reaching a fever pitch.

"Well then, with the Villain neutralization going so far already, as well as the civilians rescue going surprisingly smoothly, I'd say it's time we enact the final phase for this exam already." Looking around amongst each other, it quickly became apparent that everyone was in agreement with this plan. And so, they all simultaneously worked through their respective computers, effectively activating the finale phase.

The moment the last of the civilians had been led into the tunnel rescue station, and the Magnetic Quirk-user re-sealed the entrance with multiple heavy pieces of steel debris, Tunguska, his small group, and the other examinees that had led the crowd were already turning back, ready to head elsewhere to try and help.

However, that was when a loud klaxon alarm suddenly began echoing from all corners of the exam grounds, soon followed by a booming electric voice announcing: "Attention, examinees; the final phase for your practical exams has now begun! The objectives to ensure your victory have not changed!"

As soon as the alarm had begun to ring, they could all clearly see something visibly changed around them: every one of the airborne robots that had been flying around I in search of new victims before, had all suddenly diverted their course, and were now all flying towards the same centralized location, like a gathering point. Whatever was happening, none of the examinees across the grounds liked the feeling it was giving them. Following all their gut instincts, they all began to follow; bracing themselves for whatever new threat was waiting for them.

Once it became clear the robots were all directing themselves to the northern section of the grounds, everyone's anxiety grew that much more. From what they had gleaned from other examinees, that was already one of the only parts of the grounds left that had a considerable number of civilians left. Knowing this, and that they had no time to lose, many began taking to the rooftops that were still standing, leaping from one to another, while those that were able were even managing to fly.

What they were greeted by, however, somehow managed to exceed all their worst assumptions, as before all their very eyes, every single one of the remaining robots were actually interlocking with one another, building up in size until what stood before all of the Hero examinees was a colossal singular mecha that towered up to just about the height of the second tallest buildings in the entire exam grounds.

As soon as its construction had completed, it let out a bellowing mechanical groan that seemed to shake the ground beneath the Heroes' feet, before an imposing robotic voice emanated from within: "COMMENCING FINAL ATTACK PHASE! ALL-QUIRK DEFENSIVE MODE ENGAGED!"

As soon as a multitude of red glowing lights suddenly activated all over the mecha's body, every one of the gathered Heroes quickly leapt into action with their Quirks going off all at once; their shared idea being that if they were to pile onto the mecha with their Quirks all at once, it couldn't possibly be able to defend against every single one of them at the same time. Even Tunguska, despite his inner better judgment, couldn't think of a better strategy just yet. They had no idea just what this new form of the enemy was capable of or how it operated, and sometimes, the best way to find out was the old-fashioned way.

This was a mentality that all the examinees quickly learned to regret, as just as quickly as they had all leapt into action side by side from all around, the mecha began to fire a multitude of different lasers, rockets, fire, gas of who-knew-what kind of effect, as well as firing binding ropes, constricting nets, and even having its arms break apart into large whipping mechanical tendrils, swatting several of the Heroes out of the air like pesky insects… including Tunguska himself.

The Russian Hero took a whipping blow to his solar plexus so powerful, not only did it knock every ounce of air out of him, but it sent his large frame flying straight through an entire building, before ricocheting off the corners and faces of five more, all before finally crashing straight through two legs of a water tower, and finally bouncing off the face of the building right behind it, and unceremoniously crashing onto the unforgiving ground of a small back alley, scaring the ever-loving daylights out of a single haggard homeless man who had been hiding there for shelter.

As the Russian Hero didn't move for a good few seconds, laying carelessly splayed out like a dead animal on the side of the road, the once terrified homeless man cautiously began to approach. "O-Oi, Mr. Hero… a-are you alive? Can you hear me?"

The weariest groan answered the startled homeless man, as Tunguska slowly but surely managed to open his eyes; his head utterly pounding with agonizing pain, quickly mirrored by just about every inch of his body, as he slowly began to move a couple fingers of his right hand, before trying to clutch his hand into a fist, and then try tucking his legs in to try and get up.

Already he could feel several ribs of his had to be broken, and his whole back up to the base of his neck was killing him. He could already feel a pronounced warm wetness somewhere in his suit; the kind that could only indicate he was bleeding from more than one place, and badly. The fact half his eyesight was considerably blurry could only have meant he was dealing with a considerable concussion as well.

"Hello? Are you all right, Hero? You look like hammered shit right now." He could somehow still hear the homeless man before him almost entirely clearly; that was about as good a sign as any that his senses were coming back to him, even through this full-body pain he was in.

"It's not safe for you to stay here, civilian. Can you… can you tell me if this is still the northern section of the city? Getting thrown like I just was, I lost my sense of direction somewhat." The homeless man couldn't decide whether to look upon Tunguska sympathetically or incredulously, but considering the scope of his injuries and the harshness with which he'd suddenly appeared, it was only natural he be somewhat confused, especially once he could see a trail of blood running down the foreign Hero's forehead was already turning the white of his left eye a dark pink color around his blue iris.

And so, he gave a feeble confirming nod, and that seemed to set Tunguska mentally back into full Hero-mode as he quickly stepped forward and took the homeless man into his arms, rushing as fast as he could in his condition for the rescue station he knew to be near here. "I'm going to get you to safety, sir, you have no need to be afraid."

As he emerged onto a bigger road and could soon hear the sound of examinees' voices guiding civilians along nearby, Tunguska quickly ran for the source of it; his eyes the definition of focus, while the homeless man quickly realized the blood getting on him from the injuries all over Tunguska's body. "Holy hell, you're leaking like a sack, man! You go much longer, you're gonna keel right over!"

However, Tunguska showed no signs of slowing down, let alone stopping, as he rounded the corner when the voices sounded nearest. "I'll be all right, sir. Believe it or not, I've had worse. My left arm on your upper back can attest to that. The only thing that matters right now is getting you to safety with everyone else."

Instead of reassuring the homeless man, however, this sentiment only seemed to leave him greatly confused: "But why go out of your way for me? I'm just a bum, no good to society or anybody. What difference would it make if you saved me or just left me to fend for myself? Wouldn't it make more sense for you to go rejoin the fight with the rest of the Heroes?"

Once Tunguska emerged from the exit of the latest side street, he looked down this new road, just in time to find the tail end of the crowd of civilians he heard being escorted into another underground rescue station by another handful of examinees. As he rushed over, he answered the watchful homeless man: "It makes a world of difference to save you, because your life is just as precious as everyone else's. A Hero's first and foremost duty is to protect and save everyone they possibly can, before literally anything else. This is the sacred oath of a Hero to uphold, even at the cost of our own lives. Real Heroes don't do what they do for recognition or fame or even a sense of self-accomplishment. We do it so that we can inspire hope in people, and by embodying the better elements of human nature even in the darkest times, if we can inspire just as positive a change in society, and inspire the natural goodness in people so that they can give that hope to each other as well, then no risk is too great. That is why true Heroes do what they do for all."

The homeless man was completely speechless, even when Tunguska finally reached the entrance to the rescue station and handed him off to the examinees manning things. Turning down their insistence to check his injuries, Tunguska quickly leapt up to the nearest rooftop. As soon as he spotted the distant form of the mecha ahead, he once again proceeded to leap from the rooftops the whole way across, ignoring the flashes of ungodly pain tearing through his body with every extraneous movement.

Spotting some distant observing figures atop a nearby roof, Tunguska quickly diverted course to rejoin them, pleasantly surprised to find it was Hammerfall, the newly returned Miss Downsize, Blackout Man, Powerline, the similarly returned and visibly frustrated-looking Enkami, and a handful of other unfamiliar examinees; all of them clearly having been watching the battle with the mecha carry on, and only the ones he recognized visibly relieved to see him still on his feet, even if he did look like total hell.

"Have you all really just been standing here and not trying to help through all this?" he asked in a momentary bout of incredulity, only for Enkami to quickly step up into his face.

"Hell no, we've all been trying to get close enough to bring this damn thing down, but nobody can even get close! One guy managed to actually land a really powerful punch on it, but the whole thing is super-reinforced, way more so than the robots that are making it up were before, that's for sure."

"Nobody's tried to hit it from behind, in its blind spot?" Tunguska asked as he quickly joined them all at the rooftop edge, watching the mecha be sufficiently kept in place by the multitude of examinees swarming around it, but even from here it was obvious that none of them could actually land a definitive hit on the damn metal behemoth.

"That's just the thing, though. It has no blind spots! Since it's made up of all the robots that are left, it has all their sensors, so they see all in real time." Enkami fumed, with a regretful Miss Downsize quickly joining in.

"I tried to shrink down to see if I could get inside and try to dismantle it piece by piece, but the thing as a whole is airtight. No way for me to get in under the armor."

"Plus, when Enkami-san tried to use a huge smoke plume to blind it from all around so the rest of us could hit it with an all-side sneak attack, it still managed to hit us." As soon as Blackout Man mentioned this, Tunguska's head perked with noticeable interest in his eyes; looking to him and anyone else to elaborate.

One examinee in a heavy-duty black trench coat with an even heavier-looking hood nearly obscuring his entire face then spoke up: "When his Smoke Quirk didn't pan out, I assumed it must have some kind of thermal vision mode. I wasn't sure what else to do, so I thought I could use my Darkness Quirk to completely blind all its sensors, but it was still able to fight off everyone that moved in after."

Tunguska could feel the gears in his still throbbing, painful skull turning as he took this information in. "Then on top of multi-directional simultaneous sensors and thermal vision, it must have night vision, too. They said these were their most advanced robots to date, so I guess this shouldn't be that surprising anymore."

"If there were some kind of way to stun all its different ways of seeing altogether, we could provide an opening for a lot of the other examinees to come in and whittle away its defenses, and we could all destroy it." Powerline noted, with Tunguska and soon everyone else nodding in full agreement.

Tunguska quickly observed some of the other examinees among them: a man with fiery hair in a bright red bodysuit with what looked like small volcanoes protruding from his shoulders; a shorter young woman with icy blue eyes and what looked like snowflake-shaped and colored marks on her cheeks, dressed like an especially bulkily dressed Eskimo; another young man in a suit of armor that looked to be made of welded together rusty metal pieces with a rust-like skin tone to boot; and finally another young woman with shoulder-length black hair and black eyes with plus-shaped pupils, in a surprisingly casual-looking excuse for a Hero suit, resembling that of a delivery driver, but adorned with nothing but plus symbols.

Taking into account everyone that was here right now, Tunguska took a deep, resolving breath. After what had happened thirteen years ago, he never wanted to be in a position of leadership as a Hero again. He had lost all confidence in his ability to lead.

Which was why, as he knelt down and motioned for everyone else to do the same and listen, he opened immediately with this: "I'm not taking charge here… but I do have something of a plan, and in order to make sure it's one that'll work, I need everyone here to give each other the rundown of their Quirks, and then we all brainstorm together with haste as to what we do once we disrupt that thing's different forms of vision all at once. Do you all understand? I'm not sure how much longer the others out there can keep that thing from advancing."

To his immeasurable relief, he was answered with nothing but nods. And so, with another deep breath through his clenched teeth, Tunguska proceeded to give everyone the quickest yet most thorough rundown of what he was envisioning, while everyone else quickly explained their Quirks, and with each one, everyone soon began to throw in their spontaneous ideas on how to combine each others' Quirks in the best way to take the mecha down. This was about as good a result as Tunguska could have possibly asked for.

With the additional input of their four unfamiliar add-ons: the volcano-shouldered man called Lord Eruptor with his Magma Quirk; the female Eskimo called Stormeye with her Blizzard Quirk; the hooded trench coat wearer called Shadow Keeper with his Darkness Quirk; the young man in the suit of rusted scrap metal called The Scrapper with his Rust Quirk; and the young woman with the plus sign-addled clothes called The Giver with her Add-On Quirk; the whole group was soon on the move towards the scene of the battle within less than a minute.

"Alright, so everybody knows their parts and what they need to do, right?" Tunguska asked as they all kept in formation, never taking his eyes off the mecha dead ahead, just as it seemed to have finally warded off the examinees that had been trying to keep it busy.

"We understand, but this plan is ultimately hinging on us getting lucky with our timing! Are you sure you don't have some kind of super strong special move that can just break through that thing's armor right out the gate?" Blackout Man asked, trying and failing to hide his natural sense of skepticism.

With that one question, Tunguska could mentally see himself up so high within the clouds again, hands over his head, with a veritable miniature sun carried in their palms, bring his whole body weight down, and sending that glowing ball of pure destructive power straight into the Earth's face… and with it, he could once again see all the faces of his friends, of the people he had let down, of Nikolay… and of Lyudmila, still smiling at him as though nothing were wrong.

Tunguska immediately began shaking his head with surprising force. "No… I'm never using that move again. I don't need it, anyway. As long as we all do our parts as we understood them, then this will work. There isn't a single one of us here who isn't a vastly significant part of this plan. Only together can we truly make this work! Now get your head back in the game and let's finish this!"

As though those last words were the very signal they had been waiting for, Enkami, Shadow Keeper and Stormeye all rushed forward, leaping from the edge of the rooftop and activating their Quirks simultaneously; with a multitude of black walls suddenly forming in front of every one of the glowing sensors lining the mecha's body; an almost instantly forming icy vortex encapsulating the mecha's whole body, dropping the temperature to a level that even normal human body temperature couldn't be detected through; and finally with Enkami rushing in circles around its feet, with massive plumes of smoke erupting from every one of the smoke stacks protruding from his body, with the wind of the ice vortex picking it up and helping it to rise and swirl all around the mecha within seconds.

As soon as he saw the three perform their share with no flaw as far as he could tell, Tunguska quickly followed suit, leaping from the edge of the roof straight for the air directly in front of the robot's front side. "EVERYONE SHIELD YOUR EYES!"

Everyone instantly did as they were told, and with that, Tunguska opened his own, releasing an all-consuming burst of light that not only managed to disorient the mecha's sensors, but even managed to overwhelm and burn out a dozen or more as well.

With all four of these blinding methods employed all at once, their hope was that they had managed to disorient all of this thing's means of seeing them.

And so, with that portion of the plan having been carried out, Lord Eruptor and The Scrapper were the next ones to fly into action, with the former using the heat of his Quirk to protect them both from the insane levels of cold Stormeye was maintaining, and at the same time shooting a stream of magma from his hands, effectively melting its way through the entirety of the mecha's right arm, sending it crashing lifelessly to the ground.

The Scrapper was not far behind, as once they had cleared the shoulder, he rushed around the back of its neck to the left shoulder, and with the already added on moisture from the building ice of the vortex, he proceeded to plant his hands to the steel, and within seconds, a rapidly spreading and worsening coat of rust began to emanate and consume the mecha's entire left arm, causing the whole thing to come apart and disintegrate in a matter of seconds.

Realizing the mecha's primary means of defense had officially been removed now that it couldn't focus on any of them, Stormeye and Shadow Keeper both quickly got to work, channeling their Quirks from their distraction efforts to now much more focused and combat-oriented means, with the once towering vortex of pure ice and wind now shrinking down to a rapidly spinning disc-shaped blade of pure ice, with Shadow Keeper now emanating arm-length blades of pure darkness from within his coat.

With lightning fast precision, Stormeye began throwing these multiple icy disks like boomerangs, smashing away at the smaller robots that made up the left leg with every hit, while Shadow Keeper was doing the same on the right. Thankfully, Tunguska's use of his Flash Bang move had managed to burn out just enough of the sensors on the leg level so that they couldn't focus and aim their protective counter attacks at the two ground-level Heroes fast enough before they were destroyed.

"That thing isn't going to say upright much longer!" Hammerfall realized with immense relief, while Tunguska was of similar spirit, but still just as determined to make sure of it, looking back to The Giver, standing dutifully behind them as they had agreed when making their plan. "You're absolutely sure your Quirk can help us both like you said it could?"

Without a word being said, she proceeded to clap her hands together hard and start rubbing them together vigorously, before they started to produce a multitude of colorful sparkles from between. Her hands were practically covered in them once she pulled them apart, and without warning, smacked her palms flat to Tunguska and Hammerfall's backs; a big smile on her face. "You may not feel a change, but try hitting something or using your Quirks, and trust me, you'll see the difference."

With the mecha starting to teeter this way and that; its feet just about to break away from the rest of it, the two Heroes knew it was officially time to put the final phase of their plan into action. With fists clenched and eyes focused on the head, Tunguska squatted down, channeling his energy into the muscles of his legs and fists alike, and in the blink of an eye, he suddenly fired up like an artillery shot, far faster than he ever had before. It was fortunate, then, that he'd already gotten his fist thrown forward in preparation, as his added momentum managed to make his super-enhanced punch even that much stronger.

Once impact was made between Tunguska's fist and the robot's head, not only did it knock the entire metallic behemoth right up off its feet like they had originally planned, but it managed to make the entire head explode with a deafening BOOM, sending the countless pieces skyrocketing, to the point several ended up colliding with a few of the screens making up the illusion of the sky, destroying them and thus leaving several black patches in the sky.

With the mecha's now headless and limbless body currently hanging in mid-air, Hammerfall knew it was now his turn, and after seeing just how much The Giver's Quirk had managed to strengthen Tunguska's, he was more than a little excited to see how much stronger she had made his own. He would need it to be so, too, in order to keep the robots comprising the rest of the body from detaching from each other and attacking them all en masse.

With his eyes focused on the airborne mecha body, he brought his fists swinging down, and at his command, the air around his target condensed so much, that the whole thing practically flattened in mid-air, just before it came plowing straight into the ground, leaving a massive crater in the middle of the street, where its crumpled and mangled metallic hulking frame now lay motionless, but with a multitude of sensors still aglow.

However, as Tunguska came back down to the ground, he and the rest of the gathered examinees, including the ones that had been fighting the mecha minutes before, could all see that its once impenetrable reinforced armor had now been left cracked, rippled and obliterated in multiple places; just what they had all been hoping for, as Tunguska now turned his attention to Miss Downsize and Blackout Man standing watch atop the nearby roof. "Now's your chance, you two! Go!"

"Alright, don't let go, Ryoku-kun!" Miss Downsize declared teasingly, leaving her partner no chance to even argue about his Hero name once Powerline had stopped charging him up with her own Quirk; before she grabbed onto his arm and jumped off the roof, using her Quirk to shrink them both down in mid-air to the microscopic level, freefalling right through one of the penetrations in the mecha's armor.

The moment they landed somewhere inside, Blackout Man immediately channeled all the power for his Quirk as he possibly could, and with a bellowing battle cry to punctuate the epic air he felt in this moment, he proceeded to plant his hands onto the circuit boards around them and let loose, releasing a colossal EMP wave that fried the wiring and power sources of every single one of the robots still linking together to keep this much of the mecha built. Just like that, every one of the sensors finally went dead, and the incessant electrical hum that indicated the mecha was alive, could no longer be heard.

For all intents and purposes, the mecha that made up the final attack phase of their practical exam was no more, and Tunguska could just feel the relief wash over every last one of them.

"So if this thing is beaten, and it was the final phase, that technically means the exam should be finished, right?" Stormeye asked as soon as she stopped trying to catch her breath from using her Quirk in such variety so rapidly, only for Lord Eruptor to answer just as quickly: "I'm pretty sure we still need to finish evacuating the rest of the civilians first."

"Wait!" This sudden and especially surprised exclamation came from one of the newly arrived other examinees: a young woman with black hair tied in a bun, with two short funnels protruding from the sides of her head where her ears should have been. She looked to be listening closely in the direction of the fallen mecha itself. "I was trying to listen for the heartbeats of any civilians that might have still been in this area, but I'm picking up something else from inside this thing."

All of a sudden, Miss Downsize and Blackout Man sprouted back up to regular size in the middle of the crater, causing several of the gathered examinees to jump back and exclaim with surprise. However, the first thing Tunguska, Hammerfall, Enkami and Powerline noticed was the looks of mutual panic on their faces. "Guys, we have a serious problem! My EMP didn't knock out all the power to this thing! There's a thermal explosive device hardwired into this thing under a protective casing that renders my Quirk useless! It started beeping once I killed the rest of this thing!"

Miss Downsize just as quickly followed Blackout Man's lead as they both leapt out of the crater and back onto the street. "The thing is hooked up to the main power source. Even if we were to restore power to that to deactivate the bomb, it would just reactivate these robots and start the fight up again. Even with the damage we've done to this thing, who knows what kind of other desperate defense capabilities it could have if we turned it back on?"

All the other examinees around were clearly in agreement, not only that restoring power was a bad idea, but in just what a bind they now found themselves in. As Tunguska looked upon the still mostly-intact wreckage, he clenched his fists in resignation of a last desperate attempt. "Stormeye-san, Scrapper-san, Eruptor-san, if you can all use your Quirks to pry the rest of this thing's armor open, I can try to do something about the bomb that can at least mitigate the damage, while the rest of you work like hell to get the rest of the civilians in this area to the rescue stations."

He didn't stutter or show any signs of lack of faith in his own abilities, which ultimately did wonders for his peers, as Hammerfall, Powerline, Miss Downsize, Blackout Man, and all the others but the three he'd personally named, quickly took off in all directions to try and rescue whoever else they could find.

As soon as the others had gone, Stormeye proceeded to start channeling a large cyclone of frgidi cold in the air above the crater, while Eruptor used his fiery hair to melt the snow and ice within it, resulting in a deluge of water falling down upon the mecha torso below. With that done, Scrapper quickly jumped on and planted his hands to it; all the added moisture allowing his Rust Quirk to work at an increased speed and effectiveness, rendering the armor completely useless in a matter of seconds.

"Great work! Now all of you get to a safe distance and help whatever civilians you can find!" Tunguska ordered as he jumped into the crater next, prying the rusted armor pieces off one after another until he could finally spot the beeping explosive device sitting dead center in the chest cavity.

Grabbing on with both hands, planting his feet down against the rest of the body hard, and pulling with all the strength he could muster now that the effect of The Giver's Quirk had worn off, Tunguska pulled with everything he had, until after a few piercing snaps and popping sounds, he could finally feel the steel framework this thing was attached to start to give.

He nearly went flipping off of his feet and hard on his back when the whole thing finally broke loose. It was practically a miracle he somehow managed to stay on his feet. With the still-beeping explosive in his hands, Tunguska leapt back up onto the street and began to throw his whole body into a blinding spin, until he'd finally built up what he believed to be enough momentum, and with a desperate cry, he threw the device as high and far into the air as possible.

But there was still one last thing he knew he could do, even though he knew doing so would leave him at another complete disadvantage for a short while. Focusing on what he had seen Setsuna Tokage be able to do, he aimed his prosthetic arm for the flying explosive, and with his brain running entirely on adrenaline and any other number of natural chemicals to channel this other function into his arm, the whole metallic limb began to come apart piece by piece by piece, until the entire thing completely came apart into a multitude of self-propelling and aviating pieces, leaving the Russian Hero with one and a half arms again. With his mind still focusing on the task at hand, the neural connection allowed him to send every single flying piece of the prosthetic flying forward, until they all started to collapse into each other from all side, with the explosive device completely trapped inside the makeshift metal cocoon.

BKOOOOOOM!

With only a second left after the pieces had encased themselves around it, the device finally detonated, resulting in a blinding flash that engulfed the entirety of the exam ground, instantly followed by a deafening shockwave of sound that shattered nearly all the windows that had somehow managed to stay intact this far in. As the noise finally died down, every examinee on open ground from all around looked back to the direction the flash had come from, and they could all see a singular ball of fire and smoke hanging in the air.

As Tunguska uncovered his eyes and looked likewise, even if he couldn't see for sure with his own eyes, he could somehow just feel in the pit of his chest that not only had he just saved who-knew how many people in the grounds from potential devastating injury, but that he had managed to safely remove the final threat to the civilians here.

A thought that was miraculously confirmed just then, when as soon as the explosion had run its course, the announcement klaxon suddenly rang from all around again, and the same electronic voice from before spoke out: "Congratulations, examinees. With the removal of the final threat, and the last remaining civilian having been safely delivered to a rescue station, we can officially declare the practical exam portion of the Pro Hero License Exam to be finished. Any examinees that have sustained injuries, please report to any of the numerous medical offices around, and then once you have been patched up, report to the individual office listed next to your name on the registry board in the halls to receive your personal scores and evaluations."

If he had listened closely, Tunguska could have been able to hear the echoing cheers and cries of relief from the numerous examinees from all around the exam grounds. However, the only reason he didn't, was because now that the fight and the test were truly over, he could let his adrenaline finally stop, which forced him to now acknowledge the ungodly pain his entire body had been in since getting swatted like a fly by that damn mecha minutes ago. The sooner he could get to a medical office and get patched up, the better. The stressful realization that he was going to have to ask Headmaster Nezu to contact the Yaoyorozu family's Support Company for a replacement arm didn't ease his nerves any, either.

"Oi, Tunguska-san, wait up!" several voices echoing the same urgent sentiment had the Russian Hero's head perk up at attention, looking back to find the excited faces of Hammerfall, Enkami, Blackout Man, Miss Downsize and Powerline all rushing to catch up with him.

"Man, that's a seriously quick head you've got on your shoulders! Your brainstorming skills aren't like any Pro I've interned under, that's for sure!" Hammerfall immediately complimented as soon as they caught up with Tunguska; his smile stretching from ear to ear, while Miss Downsize was practically skipping along every step, aglow with excitement. "You're telling me, I've never been able to get Ryoku-kun to actually put together a plan with me or anybody else before. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since you already used to be a real Pro Hero, after all; and a Number One at that. Working with teams must be, like, second nature for you."

Bringing up the past like that, talking about his old experiences was the last thing Tunguska wanted to do right now. However, before he could say as much to the two speaking young Heroes trailing behind him, he was soon able to glimpse a contemplative-looking Blackout Man actually walking in tandem at his left side.

The young man looked to be trying to will himself to say something, and it thankfully didn't take him forever to work up the backbone to say it, as he took a heavy deep breath in preparation. "Tunguska-san… I know I gave you a lot of crap at the start. Even though I saw you on TV fighting alongside All Might himself, I didn't recognize you as a Hero anywhere near his caliber, I thought you were just some washed up old has-been who got lucky, especially after what I'd read about you online. But, having actually seen you in action now without him… and just seeing how you've been carrying yourself and working with us… with me, even after all I've been saying up until then… I… I'm sorry I misjudged you like that. I just hope you can forgive me for being such an ass."

While Miss Downsize looked downright flabbergasted that he was actually apologizing for his attitude, Tunguska just gave a tired sigh. "There's nothing for me to forgive. You didn't know me from a hole in the ground; none of you did. Sure some of you thought I was somebody to respect and look up to because I fought along with All Might, and some of you thought I was just some foreign nobody. I'm not going to tell any of you that you were wrong for having this or that impression about me. All that matters is that you learned from what we just experienced, and let that shape you into the kind of Pro Heroes you all really want to be."

This persistent humility of his was downright shocking, to say the least, especially after he'd managed to bring them all together to help vanquish the final foe like he had. However, this surprise didn't stop Enkami from suddenly speaking up: "Hey… earlier, before the exam officially started, on the elevator, you said you were hoping to make things right by getting your Pro License. I'd been wondering what you meant by that, as well as why someone like you would be working so hard to get his license at the age you're at to begin with.

"I mean, first of all, for someone like you to actually fight and hold your own as well as you did alongside All Might is nothing to scoff at, either; but then to find out you used to be a fellow Number One Hero; this scenario just didn't make sense to me. And when I heard whispers online about you having done something terrible by accident, even though the official news sites from Russia just described it as some terrible seismological incident, and that you went and disappeared for years afterwards, I just haven't been able to stop thinking about that on top of your cryptic words, especially since by comparison to what I read, you seemed to show a lot of serious restraint all throughout this exam. So before anything else happens, please, at least indulge me and the rest of us: what exactly did you mean when you said you were hoping to make things right?"

Tunguska came to a stop just before reaching the newly opened entrance to the hall to one of the medical offices, and the way his body slowly stood upright again while keeping his back to them all, momentarily had Enkami wishing he'd just kept his mouth shut instead.

However, instead of the angry tirade to mind their own business they had all started to instinctively expect from a man of this kind of imposing size and build… Tunguska instead let out a sigh that communicated so much exhaustion, and not just from today; far from it.

Tunguska slowly turned his head to try and address them all, but he simply couldn't bring himself to do it as he tried to put the words he wanted to say together; his blue eyes slowly lowering to the ground the more he thought. "I'll spare you all the details. Frankly, you'd all be far better off not knowing the entirety of the truth. Honestly, part of this is in relation to what you asked me earlier, Blackout Man-san, about if I had a special move that could break through that robot's armor easier. The truth is that I did have something… but the one time I used it, I'd ended up underestimating the sheer extent of the power of my Quirk, and it… it cost me far, far too much in the end."

The handful of examinees could all swear they could have seen the glistening of tears beginning to form in his eyes as he momentarily paused, before he suddenly shook his head and wiped them away with his one remaining hand. "When it finally became all too clear just what kind of damage I had done in trying to save everyone… against the very same advice I'd given young aspiring Heroes in Russia and Japan alike before, about Heroes needing to take responsibility for everything they did and always standing up for what's right when things got tough… instead, I took the coward's way out, and hid myself and my child away from the very same people that once looked up to me for protection and help.

"I was just about ready to ultimately lay down and die in obscurity amid the scorn I'd earned from the people I was supposed to protect… but All Might ultimately came to me, and he gave us a chance at a fresh start for my child…and a chance at redemption for myself. Because of him, we've both managed to essentially find ourselves a whole new family. Because he gave me a chance to, I'm putting everything I have towards making up for all the damage I had caused before, not only by trying to help prepare all those young Hero students to ultimately be better Heroes than I was… but also by trying my best to carry my share of the weight All Might carried on his own for everyone, and being a better Hero myself while doing it. He saved both our lives, and it's the very least I can do in return for him. So that's what I meant, and if that doesn't fully answer your question, then I'm afraid you're asking the wrong one. Now, if you all don't mind, a lot of us need to get patched up, and the rest need to go and get their evaluations. I can only express my thanks to you all for your help, and wish you all my best."

With those tired (both physically and emotionally) final words, Tunguska proceeded down the hall, leaving his handful of examinees frankly shellshocked with the weight of his words, even after he'd spared them the grimy details.

Tunguska had seemed like such an all-together and collected Hero, both when on TV, and just now. Yet, to hear him own up to having made some unimaginable mistakes despite having been a Number One Hero, was nothing short of shocking.

It also was leaving a couple of them, namely Enkami and Blackout Man, especially contemplative about themselves; specifically the mentality behind they both wanted to become Pro Heroes to begin with. For Hammerfall, Powerline and Miss Downsize, it was easy. However, for these two, so much of what had driven them had been that lifelong desire to make it into the top ranks of the Hero Boards, that chance for international fame and recognition and success, just like what all Might and now Endeavor had earned.

To now hear Tunguska simply talk about the influence of All Might as a Hero, and how it now drove him to want to try and repay the favor in the way that only he could, now left Blackout Man and Enkami looking very shaken on a fundamental level. For so long, they had let themselves forget about just how much All Might's example had influenced them when they were younger as well. Now that he was gone, just like he had pretty much proclaimed to the entirety of the country, they were all next to try and fill the void he left behind.

Now, the two found themselves genuinely questioning if they even had what it took, let alone the right, to be able to do any of that anymore, all after having now personally seen the example Tunguska embodied in action, and having his gravely humbling answer echoing in their chests. In the end, even as their companions beckoned them to get patched up and then report to their personal evaluations, neither of the two once-cocky Hero examinees could bring themselves to say anything. All they could do anymore was ask themselves if they even had a fragment of the heart necessary to be able to properly repay and honor the example All Might had given them for years and years.

Minutes Later…

After his wounds were already miraculously and thoroughly patched up by the medical staff just waiting on standby, Tunguska already found himself standing before the door to the individual office his name had been listed next to. Behind this door would be his final score, and the final decision as to whether or not he ultimately made the cut. With fists clenched, he honestly couldn't help but feel like a kid in Hero school after a massive test all over again.

After taking one last deep breath, he finally stepped inside, and was met with a small empty room, headed by a large screen, upon which was a handful of the Hero Public Safety Commission officials. Judging by how they visually seemed to react to his arrival, it was clear that this footage of them was live. "Welcome, Tunguska-san. It's good to see you're still on your feet after your experience with the practical exam. Please, step forward."

The large Russian did exactly as he was told, standing tall and never taking his eyes off the people on the screen before him. The five officials on screen all began looking over matching papers seated before them. "Going over the grades you've accumulated over the course of the Pro Hero License Exams, you've managed to score a 98/100 on your written exam, and after taking in your conduct in dealing with and rescuing members of the public, your efficiency in fighting Villains, and your willingness and quick thinking when working with your fellow examinees, you've ultimately come to earn a practical exam grade of 94/100, well above a passing grade."

Tunguska had to swallow the instinctive gasp of surprise and emotion that came shooting up his throat, but he could feel his eyes beginning to sting with the very beginnings of emotional tears threatening to build up. "Thank you very much. I know my age may not inspire much confidence, as well as my current handicap after helping end the battle, but that will be corrected soon enough. I promise not to let you or any of the good people of this country down as a new Pro Hero."

"I'm afraid the exam, as a whole, is not yet finished, Tunguska-san." This sudden announcement jolted Tunguska out of the grateful bow he had brought himself into, now looking at the five people on screen with total confusion. Seeing his reaction, they continued: "You see, the written exam is meant to test your mental aptitude and understanding of our country's laws, and the practical exam, like its namesake, is to test your practical aptitude and your ability for split-second judgment and decision-making in a time of crisis. These two exams together, for the longest time, were the deciding factors as to who was considered proper Pro Hero material.

"However, with the retirement of All Might, and the massive void that has left in our society, we've come to realize that mental and physical fortitude can't be the only deciding factors as to who we make Pro Heroes anymore. People need Heroes that they know they can look up to, and that can inspire and restore hope. That's why we've now introduced this final third oral exam, wherein we can individually assess the emotional fortitude of all potential future Heroes, and see if they can exude the similar kind of heart as All Might could, as the beginning of forming a foundation upon which we can properly vet all future Pro Heroes properly."

Needless to say, Tunguska was visibly surprised, yet quick to understand the importance of this decision on their part, which they were all immensely grateful for. "Am I to understand that the other examinees who passed the practical exam are getting this third exam at the same time?"

"That is correct, and you're all being given the same question to work with as well, since in these troubling times, we find it to be the most pertinent question right now. So please tell us in your honest opinion, Oleg Bezpalov, Tunguska-san: What, to you, makes a true Hero?"

For a good several seconds that felt like a good several hours, Tunguska was silent; his eyes glued to the floor as he tried to really think about the proper way to answer that. This was no longer him passing the knowledge he always had onto the kids at Yuuei. Now he was the student, and it was time for him to finally put just what exactly he had learned to the final test.

However, just when it felt as though he would be left racking his brain forever and a day, an epiphany came to him at the least expected moment, something that made all the nervous apprehension visible in his body completely disappear. He finally lifted his head, let out a resigned sigh, and when he opened his eyes again, the officials on the screen could all see that intensity in his blue eyes was no longer there. Instead, they were looking into the eyes of a man who somehow seemed so much older than he already was.

"For the longest time in my life, ever since I was a kid, I believed that true Heroes were simply the ones who were strong enough to fight and defeat all the Villains and save all the people; regardless if it was by themselves or with a team. To me, being a Hero simply meant being the one who could do it all, no matter what. However, in all the time that's passed since I fell in my own Motherland… and especially in the time since my son and I came here at All Might's invitation… I've finally come to understand that real Heroes aren't defined solely by their muscles or their Quirks… but by the specific influence they end up having on other people."

The officials on the screen all visibly perked up with intrigue at this initial answer of his, before one finally spoke up: "Would you care to elaborate on that for us, please, Tunguska-san?"

With his heart already filled with the sentiment behind his words, Tunguska took a steadying breath, never broke his focus or his gaze upon their eyes, and continued: "To me, if someone is able to inspire the best in other people, whether they be fellow Heroes or even just regular citizens, then that makes them a real Hero. All Might is a real Hero, one of the greatest, because he wanted to give people a symbol they could believe in, be inspired by; a symbol that could give them hope when there seemed to be none anywhere else.

"With him no longer being able to actively do that, I want to become a real Hero and do my part like all the others out there to restore even a sliver of that same hope for the people; not just to honor and repay everything All Might did for us… but so that all my fellow examinees here today, every single Heroics student across this entire country, my own son included; and every aspiring future Hero to come after across the globe; can all step out into a world where people believe with all their hearts that hope, peace and justice can still be not only attainable, but also cherished and maintained with everything they have, and not just by the Heroes, either."

This sudden change in sentiment had all the on-screen officials' attention, all clearly wanting Tunguska to clarify even further. With a sigh and an accepting nod, he did exactly that: "What I mean by this is that even the most normal Quirkless person has the capability to be just as big a symbol of hope to another person as even the strongest Hero. As Heroes, our responsibility is not only just to fight Villains and save people when danger strikes. When it does, of course that is paramount. But in the times when people are not in danger, our responsibility is to inspire the very best in people, inspire within them the very same drive to inspire the best in others, and so on and so on. As an entire society, we all have to do our part to keep hope alive for everyone; not just the Heroes. Saving society and preserving hope and justice; that power lies in everyone's hands… I only regret that I didn't understand this so long ago. I can only hope that, if I had, it might've been able to make a difference… but I know there's ultimately no point in me dwelling on those scenarios."

The room fell deathly silent for what felt like an eternity as Tunguska had to really fight to keep himself from getting far too emotional the more impassioned he got. All the while, the officials didn't move from their spots, but it was clear even from where he was standing that they were really considering everything he was saying.

Tunguska didn't know why he ultimately opened his mouth again. It felt downright driven by pure instinct at this point: "I've pretty much said everything I can think of that can properly answer your question. I won't say I hope it's enough, for I know the decision ultimately lies with you, as it should be, if I'm truly good enough to be made a Pro Hero by your standards. I know I'm not nearly as young as I used to be, and no matter how strong I believe myself to be, age still effects all of us nearly the same. Arrogance on my part caused my downfall and those of far too many before, so I'm done deluding myself into thinking I'm just as capable as those younger fellows out there. So… with all of that… you all do what you will, and I'll thank you all the same for giving me even this much of your time and consideration."

Tunguska couldn't begin to wonder just what the people on-screen were thinking, but between them all, there was an all-around air of surprise. Many of them had learned much about the Hero Tunguska used to be back in Russia thanks to the influx of information on the internet from self-proclaimed former Soviet citizens. This, alongside the coverage of him in the newspapers after the Vukodlak Incident, and then seeing him fighting alongside All Might on TV, had given them all a pretty clear picture in their heads of just what to expect. So to now hear him speaking with such immense humility was one of the last things they had expected, especially from someone who had once been a Number One Hero.

"Thank you for opening up to us with all of this, Tunguska-san. It will all be taken into consideration while we balance out your answer alongside your previously established grades. Please remain here, and we will be back with your ultimate results in just a few minutes."

With that, the screen suddenly switched to the emblem of the Hero Public Safety Commission, and Tunguska was left with no concrete results, all by himself with every word that had been brewing in the back of his head for weeks finally out in the open.

The wait, he could already tell, was going to be torturous, and there was nothing he could do in regards to himself to change that. The only thing he knew he could do right now to get his mind off of it, was to simply hope to himself, and somehow to Nikolay and the other students, that they had ultimately proven worthy of their Provisional Licenses, if his own exam wasn't going to turn out as he'd been hoping it would. However, expressing his well wishes just made it all the more painful to remember that he had left his cellphone with his civilian clothes back in the changing room, so even if he wanted to, there was no way he could check now to see if they had perhaps messaged him about whether they had passed or not.

All Tunguska could do anymore, even for as restless as his mind was, was to simply wait and hope.

The officials for the Pro Hero License Exam had been quick and sufficient in giving their thanks and compensation to the countless civilians who had stepped forward to volunteer their services in helping provide the challenge the examinees needed for their test, especially since their usual resource of the Help Us Company was currently occupied with participating in all the Provisional exams for the Hero school students.

It wasn't long before they were all making their exit from the underground complex and onto a convoy of buses that would soon take them back into the actual city of Shinjuku, so they could then take their trains and go home.

After that minor ride, everyone bid each other farewell and went their separate ways, but emerging from among the crowd, completely unnoticed by all, was a hunched over, thick bearded old man who would have looked completely like a homeless man if his clothes had been much dirtier and ragged.

It wasn't long until he was officially on his own, passing through the scattered crowds of civilians going about their daily routines this far into the evening; most likely going home from work in most of their cases. Much like the other volunteers, these people paid the old man no mind either. If anything, just from the look of him, many looked to be trying to actively avoid him, as though afraid he would automatically reek up the air.

After a short while of this, the old man suddenly ducked into a narrower back street with no people to be seen anywhere around. Halfway down this road, however, he suddenly turned and disappeared into an even thinner alleyway, once more with nobody to be seen. From this point, the old man suddenly stopped, and then began rummaging through his pockets before pulling out a cheap disposable cellphone and hitting the one number on it on speed dial.

Holding it to his ear, it only rang once for half a second before his ears were met with a piercing click, and the sound of an on-edge voice on the other side: "It's about time we finally heard back from you, today of all days. Does this mean everything went as we'd hoped? I don't want to be the one to tell Shigaraki if otherwise."

Listening to the voice of Spinner speak so urgently, the old man let out a tired and gravelly sigh, before his hunched over frame suddenly straightened up until he was standing tall and upright, more than a foot taller than he previously had been. After twisting a few kinks out of his neck, the old man suddenly spoke, this time in a much younger and thickly accented voice that completely went against his Japanese look: "Relax, Spinner-san, everything went good on my end. You can go ahead and ask Kurogiri-san to take me back to the rendezvous point. Did Toga-san reach out to Mr. Compress yet?"

"Thankfully, yes. You're lucky you got to do field work for this mission unlike the rest of us, Vukodlak-san. Toga's god-awful at keeping in daily contact by comparison, even after she was told to! If not for that, I can't help but wonder if she would just keep going and not reach out to us, period! But, that all aside, her mission was a success, too."

The disguised Vukodlak kept carefully watching the nearby corner and the path of the alleyway he had just come down, just to make sure there weren't any curious passersby at risk of coming his way while he was waiting for Kurogiri's Warp Gate to open. Listening to Spinner explain the success of Himiko's mission, however, did prompt him to dig into his other pocket and pull out his own prized quarry: a small vial with a few threads from his homeless man costume soaked through with Tunguska's blood from when he'd let himself be carried. He was so sorely tempted to run one of them through his tongue so he could get his old foe's scent locked into the banks of his brain once again, but the last thing he was in the mood for was rousing Tomura's ire, since this whole mission had been his and the doctor's idea from the start.

With that in mind, he quickly tucked the vial back into his pocket as he answered Spinner suddenly: "So, now that we've gotten all this finished, I have to ask: does anyone even know just what exactly it is the good doctor is hoping to discover within the blood of Tunguska, Kolya and Izuku Midoriya?"

"Not as of right now, but I think we might just get the answer very soon, Vukodlak-san."

"Oh? You sound quite confident of that, Spinner-san. What's the occasion?" Vukodlak asked with a bemused smirk on his disguised face.

"Now that Shigaraki-san had been informed of both yours and Toga's success, he's actually calling for Kurogiri-san to warp us all together for a debriefing."

As Vukodlak's eyes widened with clear surprise, so too did a large man-sized black Warp Gate suddenly open within the narrow passage before him. As he began to step forward into it, he continued to speak: "Well then, it really must be important, considering he was the one who said for us all to stay separated under any circumstances otherwise. I'm starting to get excited."

Within seconds, the Russian Villain was swallowed up in the thick black mist, and just as quickly did the Warp Gate close right behind him, leaving not a single trace that the escaped Hunter of Heroes had ever even once been there, as a chilling and foreboding wind blew through, as though signaling the beginning of a portent of doom for the Heroes who had unknowingly had their very blood delivered to the League of Villains.

And there you all have it, everyone, the newest chapter for the week! I hope you all sincerely enjoyed what I came up with for the Pro Hero License Exam. I love coming up with original scenarios and new original characters like this to sprinkle into little openings within the MHA canon, especially as a lot of these pieces, I'm planning to include in a very big way coming very soon.

If you liked what you read here today, if you would please be so kind as to leave a review, I would deeply appreciate it. So until next week, all of you stay safe, stay healthy, have a great rest of your week, and I will see you all with the next chapter on 01/15!