Izuku took a deep breath as he walked towards the battle zone, with Iida Tenya making sure to stay by his side. When the taller boy had said he saw Izuku as a friend and ally, he clearly didn't mean "after the exam".
"You know, you don't have to stay close to me," Izuku remarked looking at Iida.
In response Iida looked at him with an all too intense look on his face, "True Heroes watch the backs of their allies!"
Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes. For the past couple minutes he'd been struggling to connect with One for All. Once the freak out was over in the bus he'd decided to put his mind to trying to feel out his power and much to his own disappointment he was finding it less than intuitive.
He'd do his best no matter what, but without his quirk he wasn't sure how much use he would be.
"Iida-san," Izuku said as the massive door slowly began to close behind him, "Just promise me that you won't fail on my part. Okay? My quirk can be pretty touchy and if it doesn't kick in I don't want you holding back on my account. Be a hero, but don't sacrifice your dream for me, okay?"
The tall boy began to shake and Izuku swore he began to tear up as he said, "Such nobility! You are truly going to be one of the finest heroes of our generation. Very well! Should the situation come to that, I will do my best to honor your wishes."
Izuku blushed. He really wasn't used to getting positive reinforcement and Iida was clearly the type to voice his opinion freely both for good and ill it seemed. He'd clearly come to the rather strong decision that he considered Izuku to be a good guy. It was flattering, and for someone not used to it, maybe a little off putting. But still flattering and honestly, he liked the other boy's earnest nature, even if he wished he'd tone it down a bit.
No matter what happened after this, classmates or no, he'd want to try and still be his friend.
"And start!" Present Mic exclaimed from a podium overlooking the ground.
Izuku blinked and looked up, as did most of the applicants present.
"There's no such thing as a countdown in a real fight!" the Pro Hero said with a laugh, "Consider the baton tossed! Go! Go! Go!"
At that, the other applicants began to run off, Izuku closed his eyes and began to reach inside him to draw off the power that was One for All, but while he could feel the heat, he couldn't grab hold of it. It was like smoke in his hands, but immaterial.
He gritted his teeth and tried harder to, to no avail.
"Are you ready, Midoriya-san?"
And even worse, now Iida, who'd said such kind words about him, was willing to hold back to cover him when he didn't even know if he really could use One for All yet. It filled him with shame and self loathing to think this guy, who was a bit stuffy but every bit the hero might fail because of him.
It made him hate himself.
He opened his eyes and they went wide as he saw a Three Pointer barreling around a corner, moving towards Iida from behind at high speed. The other boy saw his reaction and turned around, just in time for it to rear back and lift its massive arm in a crushing blow.
In an instant Izuku was in motion, cracking with energy as he punched the robot in the chest, sending it flying 20 meters through the air and through a concrete wall.
"What a powerful quirk!" Iida exclaimed as Izuku looked down at his hands.
It was like One for All had responded to his need, cloaking his body in its energy like a cowl. It clicked to him, as if by instinct. A cowl. Full Cowl.
Narrowing his eyes, he nodded to the other boy and entered a full run, powered by the fires of One for All. His guess was that he was operating on somewhere between three to five percent of its full power. Not much, but that was still enough to push him far above and beyond natural human limitations. Enough that it would have been a moderately impressive physical reinforcement quirk even at this level.
Off to the side, he saw the boy with the pompadour who'd called him cool earlier standing in place, his arms in a cross block as a one pointer hammered at him from above.
Diverting course, he rocketed through the air and kicked the robot's head clear off, and moved to intercept the next group that he saw down the street, while off to the side he could see Iida delivering a spin kick to a two pointer using the thrusters in his legs.
"Hey, hold up!" the guy he just helped out called to him, driving him to freeze in place and turn about. "Could you do me a quick favor!"
"Yes?" he asked, looking back.
"Punch me!" the kid exclaimed, pulling back his arms and pointing to his stomach.
Izuku blinked. Did this guy just ask what he thought he asked? "Wait, what?"
"My quirk lets me absorb and redirect Kinetic energy!" he exclaimed, "But these robots are kinda weak and aren't enough to give me a real charge. By the time I've got enough juice to cut loose, the test will be over! You got a super strength quirk, right? Think you could give me a quick pick me up? Please?"
Izuku paused for a moment and then nodded before pulling back his arm, and punching the other boy square in the gut while drawing on as much of One for All as he could without it being outright painful.
The young man's eyes went wide and he gasped at the impact,his feet lifting off the ground. He clenched his stomach for a second and looked at Izuku with a mixture of shock and admiration. "Crap, man! I actually felt that. Holy shit! Thanks bro."
With a nod and a smile he was off to start earning his own points while Iida looked at Izuku with clear pride.
"Very heroic, Midoriya-san!" he exclaimed before looking at the street and the robotic villains lining it. "So, how about I take the left?"
Izuku grinned, feeling a sense of pride swelling within him as for the first time in his life he felt like he was for real. That he was a hero. That he could do this.
"Right!"
And together, they were off in a blast...
"That kid of yours is something else," Shota said to Toshinori as they watched him and the Idaten's youngest working with impressive synergy.
While the two's number of villain points were on the strong side of average, they were racking up Rescue points by an exceptional amount. Whenever they could, they would always be there to back up another prospect, sometimes even pausing for a moment to offer a word of encouragement to one of their fellows. In all ways both of them were acting in a manner that very much fit the model of the ideal Pro Hero.
"I know," All Might said with a proud smile. He'd honestly feared that young Izuku would hurt himself, but instead he was latching onto One for All with an adeptness that rivaled his own. When he'd met the boy he had a good feeling about him, and it more than pleased him to know that his choice in successors was ideal, even if he'd technically hadn't passed One for All onto him due to the small girl's intervention.
"This entire year is looking impressive," added Vlad King as he looked over the other cameras. "Those two aren't the only ones who seem to be cooperating."
Toshinori nodded as the display showed several team ups. On one screen he saw a girl with massive hands throwing a boy with a hardening quirk into a cluster of villains like a human missile. On another, a pair of girls seemed to have synergized their quirks, with one having generated a speaker stack and a wheelbarrow while the other combined her quirk with the creations to use as a sonic cannon. Arena D had a pink haired and skinned girl with horns holding onto the flying horn fired from the head of a hooved girl, using it in order to maintain a height and mobility advantage while literally raining acid on a field of enemies.
"The rescue point numbers look like they're going to be the highest they've been since I've been teaching," Midnight said as she nursed a cone of soft serve ice cream, courtesy of Lunch Rush.
Toshinori felt slightly guilty. He'd warned her, but she still looks a little out of sorts due to the spicy chili. What he really pitied her for though was the experience to come. If you weren't used to that level of heat, it could be worse going out than going in... he made a mental note to warn her of that when the exams were over.
Returning his attention from Midnight to the task at hand, he looked on with a smile at many of the student prospects. A purple haired boy who, while completely lacking in Villain points, had seemingly dedicated himself to getting injured and frightened applicants out of the line of fire. A young man with steel skin who seemed to have decided to use himself as a human shield for more vulnerable students. A short kid with purple balls on his head who seemed to run interference every time one of the villains tried to attack a girl in his presence.
Even Midoriya's young school friend was impressive in his own way, standing amongst a scattered field of burning wreckage, his eyes all but glowing with the excitement of battle.
"This has actually given us a bit of a quandary," Nezu admitted. "We don't really have anything in place to reward cooperative behavior during the exam. And while Midoriya-san's words seem to have motivated the crowd quite nicely, but it really would be something of a push to call them rescue points now wouldn't it?"
"I had an idea about that," offered Thirteen.
Snipe nodded. "Let's hear it."
"I've been wondering about this for years. Perhaps we should consider adding a third qualification," Thirteen replied, "Hero points."
Nezu cocked his head. "Interesting, concept, Thirteen. Explain please?"
"Well, if a young applicant behaves in a suitably heroic fashion, we award them Hero points to reflect their good nature and positive attitude. Sportsmanship, cooperation, encouraging others. These are all important facets of heroism. If we want to cultivate a noble, heroic spirit, we should show favor to those whom it seems to be a natural inclination."
"I like the sound of that," replied Ectoplasm.
Hound Dog nodded. "Me too."
Midnight took a long, lick of her cone then said, "Why not? I'm in."
Nezu looked over the group. "Good idea. Anyone have any concerns?"
"I do," cut in Eraserhead, "First, it's not fair to previous years. I'm sure there's plenty of kids who would have qualified by these standards who were either dropped or were sent to General Ed."
Nezu grinned, "And I am more than willing to personally review the exam results of our previous years to see if any would qualify for the Hero course under these new standards, but as it stands, all we will be doing in this case is making an unofficial policy official. We have allowed exemptions before. This would just be codifying it."
All Might nodded. He'd heard of this. Of good natured but borderline students being given overly generous rewards of Rescue points to make the cut, or of students who outright failed, but managed to catch the eye of one of the proctors, being invited to test again as a recommended student in spite of their grade.
"Alright," Shota replied, "That's fair, but I need to point out that with the numbers we're seeing, unless we raise the cut off, both Hero Courses are already going to be oversized as is."
Nezu scoffed. "Really, Eraserhead? What does it say about a hero school if our greatest problem is that we will have too many worthy prospective heroes? It is a problem we must tackle with pride. If need be, we shall designate 1-C as a third hero home room this year. See? Problem handled."
He smiled and it was an evil smile. "But enough of that. We've seen how these kids handle themselves when they're on top of things. Let's see how they work... under pressure."
He walked over to the console and began to laugh maniacally as he pressed the activation button for the Zero Pointers.
"HAHAHAHA!"
"Does he seriously need to laugh like that EVERY year?" Aizawa asked no one in particular.
Tenya knew something was wrong when he felt the rumbling. It was a base sensation that traveled up through your legs to the tips of your fingers before reverting to settle in your stomach like a pit of dread. Even the familiar, comforting rev of his Engine was lost in it. Instead all he felt was the sort of primal terror that he imagined his far distant ancestors had faced when forced to confront a lion without the power of a quirk to see them to safety.
And this was why, he imagined, that Midoriya started running towards the danger. After all, if they were feeling this fear then he knew that others were too, and it was the duty of a hero to assuage the fear of others, even if they were terrified themselves.
Between the power of his Engine, and Izuku's most impressive physical renforcement ability that actually allowed him to keep pace with Tenya, at least in these confined conditions where he wasn't able to go all out, they were able to clear the distance in moments.
As they entered the clearing they saw a handful of frightened students run past them, away from one of the most terrifying things that Tenya had ever seen.
Technically, the term 'skyscraper' refers to any building taller than ten stories high, and using that traditional definition he could say without a moment of hesitation that the massive robotic villain bearing down on them was easily 'the size of a skyscraper'. It looked like it should have been set against a monster like Godzilla, rather than highschool students. No wonder they'd refrained from telling them any details. If they wanted to see how perspective heroes felt in the face of existential dread, well, they had it.
As he recoiled he was shocked to see Izuku spring off into motion, his face one of mute horror and desperation.
"What is it?"
"That girl!" he exclaimed frantically.
Iida's eyes went wide with shock and horror as he saw the sweet, rosy-faced girl from the bus sitting in the machine's path, seemingly trapped under debris. This was it, he realized to himself, his moment of truth. He had come here, to UA, to learn what it was to be a hero. And now he was faced with a decision: he could risk his life and leave the girl to die, or he could live by his own words.
There was only one answer.
Without an instant of hesitation, he was off, running faster and harder than he had ever in his life. Running as fast as he could, he pressed on. The engine in his legs burned as he pushed his limits into the red and beyond. Yet even then it felt to him as if he was running through snow while the machine was on a well conditioned straight away, approaching her faster than he could respond to.
Tears of fear, pain, and shame ran down his cheeks as he pushed on, he fought through the burning agony in his calves and pushed onward. He was faster than Midoriya, he had to be the one. He was the only one who could, and he would rather die a true hero here and now than watch this girl lose her life and live the rest of his days knowing he was a fraud!
Suddenly a green blur blasted past him and into the air as if shot by a cannon. He couldn't help but gasp as he looked up to see Midoriya rocketing through the air wreathed in power. He'd grown used to seeing the signs of his new comrade's quirk in the mere handful of minutes they'd fought side by side. He'd read many times that it was in combat that you grew to know someone the fastest after all, but this was something else entirely.
Where before the boy had been sheathed in lightning, now there was only fire. He cleared the distance from himself and the villain in the blink of an eye and even over the noise he could hear the Izuku scream All Might's iconic battle cry at the top of his lungs as he kicked the giant machine in the chest.
"SMASH!"
The result was mind blowing. Tenya was almost pulled off of his feet by a high pressure wave generated by the sheer force of the impact as the upper half of the villains body, a mass that had to weigh hundreds, if not thousands, of tons was torn from its lower and sent flying into the distance by the sheer power that Midoriya possessed. It was a humbling sight, one that normally would have sent him into a state of mute shock, but he had other, far greater concerns.
Managing to regain his footing he continued onto the girl only to find her already pushing the debris off herself. Or rather, the debris floating away as if weightless drive by the force of her kicks as she freed herself.
What an amazing quirk!
"Are you alright?" he asked, doing his best to channel his elder brother's character and spirit.
She nodded. "Thank you for helping me. I..."
Her eyes went wide and she pointed up. "Oh no."
Following her vision he went wide eyed to see Izuku falling limply through the air, the crackle and glow of his powers absent. Iida went numb with shock in the realization that whatever Izuku had done had clearly expended the totality of his stamina. He was helpless, and at this height, such a fall would undoubtedly be lethal.
It was a thought the girl clearly shared as she limped towards the broken shoulder of a three pointer, her face a mask of determination.
Of course, he realized. She too was a perspective hero and as such, she obviously was no more capable of allowing another to fall to his death then he was.
Without a moment's thought, and with a yelp of surprise, he scooped her into a bridal carry and looked down at her. "We'll intercept him together!"
She nodded. "Right!" Then she touched his arm and he experienced zero gravity for the first time. It was a shock, but he'd always enjoyed swimming even if he always needed to wear special leggings to keep the water out of his engines and to counter their mass.
Spinning about he engaged his engines and with their thrust driving him, Iida Tenya experienced the wonders of independent flight for the first time in his life.
As they grew closer he saw that Izuku was utterly limp, seemingly unconscious from whatever exertion had permitted him to strike that machine with a blow that All Might himself would have found impressive.
Increasing his thrust, he knew he only had one go at this as the girl in his arms prepared herself to use her quirk on Izuku.
They had to get the timing perfect. And thank the stars they did. As they rocketed past him she slapped him, canceling out most of his mass and his acceleration, leaving him to simply dangle in the air while Tenya rocketed towards one of the broken buildings the villain had destroyed.
Spinning about, he kicked off of it and shot towards his comrade's limp form.
As his shoes approached the ground, the girl touched her fingertips together and he felt his mass return to him. Throwing on his brakes, he half stopped and turned about, arriving at Izuku's side in nearly an instant.
It was only then that he put her down, and in retrospect, he was glad he hadn't done so a moment later as the second she was on the ground she began to vomit. If he'd waited he'd have gotten it on himself rather than his shoes. He didn't react though, he'd been prepared for this. One thing his parents and brother had both told him was that in his time as a hero he'd get covered with every kind of fluid, hygienic and otherwise. It was part of the job.
Tenya did not blame her. The girl must have exhausted her quirk, he realized. His calves literally burned in agony, to the point that it was taking all his willpower not to fall to his knees and cry out in pain, she was vomiting, and Izuku was in a sorry condition all around, but they were all still alive. They'd all faced a deadly challenge and had lived and acted in full accordance with the creed of UA. To go beyond: Plus Ultra.
Gritting his teeth he approached Izuku and was horrified by what he saw. The young man's body was swollen and red, and his breathing shallow yet rapid. Even his eyes were bloodshot, staring into space with a look that bespoke pure agony. It was as if he'd burst every capillary in his body during that display. He couldn't help but wince. The pain must be unimaginable.
He tried to fight the pain in his legs and pick up his new friend and carry him to safety, but his body failed him. The pain in his legs was growing too great and despite all of his trying, the flesh surrendered despite the will's desire to go on. Looking down at his limbs, he could see his Engine glowing through his skin. Even his heat resistant body was being pushed beyond its limits, with smoke wisping from his tortured calves.
"No!" he cried out as he struggled to fight the pain, "NO! Just a little longer!" he hissed to himself desperate to push past the pain and stand on his feet, but he simply couldn't manage to get to his feet no matter how badly he wanted to.
"Help!" he screamed frantically, as he finally conceded defeat, "He needs help!"
"No need to cry out, dearie! I'm coming right there!" a matronly voice said as she approached.
Turning he saw a small, elderly woman walking using a cane shaped in the form of a syringe.
He saw her pause to give one of the other applicants a handful of gummy bears and a peck on the cheek before continuing on.
"Oh my, what do we have here?" she gasped as she looked at Izuku. "Poor thing, it looks like he pushed himself too far..."
She knelt down and kissed him on the cheek. Almost immediately Tenya could see Izuku's angry swollen flesh begin to pale and relax, returning to a normal color while his labored breathing relaxed.
"And you two," she said turning to the gravity girl and himself, "I see your legs are acting up but I can't heal you until they cool down enough that the heat simply won't undo any good I do..." she looked towards the other students and raised her voice. "Does anyone have a water quirk?"
"I do!" called out a short, bald, rather rotund boy in a pink jacket with an almost featureless face just as round as his body.
She smiled. "Deary, do you think you could cool his legs for me?"
He nodded and then turned to Tenya. "Sorry 'bout this..." Then his body distended massively, almost quadrupled in size, before he opened his mouth and...
"BLARG!"
A great deluge of water shot out of his mouth onto Tenya's legs as the boy's body began to deflate back to its previous size.. On one hand, it was absolutely disgusting. This was the second time someone had vomited on him in as many minutes. On the other hand, the sensation of the water on his engines, sucking away the heat and cooling them to manageable levels was just so unimaginably relieving that he simply couldn't summon the energy to care.
She nodded in approval and he could hear her mutter something about 'five to that one' before kissing him on the cheek. Normally a part of him would feel embarrassed at being kissed by a little old grandma, but after the stress he'd just gone through, not to mention being puked on twice, he frankly couldn't summon the will to care about having a mildly embarrassing quirk used on him.
Instead he simply took a deep breath as the pain was banished, and she passed him a handful of gummies. "There you go sweetie..."
He sighed in relief before looking up to her as she tended to the rosy faced girl with the gravity quirk.
"Did we act as true heroes should?" he asked weakly as she began to move on.
She smiled at him. "I'd certainly say so, young man. I'd certainly say so."
Tenya smiled and onto his back, He could only laugh as he felt the stress of the last ten minutes begin to fade. He'd come here to pass a test. His intent had been to attend this school, to become the finest hero he could possibly become. But to pass the test in accordance with his own standards, he had been forced to become that hero. He smiled. And no matter what, he would remain that hero until the end of his days…
