Fourteen year old Izumi and Himiko stood outside of U.A. gazing up at the giant building ready for the upcoming test. Izumi currently had her hair tied into her now normal twin braided ponytails, a light blue short sleeved shirt, black pants and green running shoes. Himi's blond hair was now tied in a single ponytail that went down to the middle of her back, with a couple needles weaved into it so no one would grab it, a black shirt with an open pair of fangs on the front with 'Bite to meet you' written in blood under them, a red skirt that went to just above her knees and red shoes along with her normal lollipop poking out of her mouth.
"Ready for this Himi-Chan?" Izumi asked with a large grin.
"I could say the same to you Izu-Chan," Himiko chuckled. The two high fived and entered the building. After being directed to the rooms where the written portion of the entrance exam would be held the two separated, Izumi was directed to the one on the left side of the hall, and Himiko the one on the right.
An hour and a half later the two reunited in a giant atrium waiting for someone from U.A. to explain the practical portion of the test. "So how'd you do Himi-Chan?" Izumi asked.
"Breezed through it. You?" Himiko giggled
"Same," Izumi replied with her own giggle. Moments later a tall man with his blond hair styled in a tall fin walked out from behind the curtains. He has tan skin, black sunglasses hiding his eyes, gray headphones support gear in the form of a large neck brace with speakers built into the front, a black leather jacket, black and pants, fingerless gloves, a red belt with black boots. "It's Present Mic!"
Himi grinned showing off her fangs, "I know! Shame we couldn't see him in person when he fought that Nue Villain two weeks ago."
"Everybody give me a YEAHHHH!" Mic yelled enthusiastically.
"YEAHHH!" Izumi and Himimo yelled, though were surprised when they realized they were the only ones to reply.
Mic snapped his fingers and pointed at the two with a grin, "Glad to finally get some feedback with that! I'll be keeping my eyes on you Little Listeners!" Grumbles could be heard throughout the atrium. To get the attention of a Pro just for replying to something so juvenile? Most people wouldn't dream of responding in a place like this. "So here's the lowdown on how this test is going to go. If you reach under your seats, you'll find slips of paper showing you which training ground you've been assigned to. Once there, you'll have half an hour to get as many Combat Points as possible. How do you get these Combat Points you might ask? Simple! By smashing apart hordes of robots! Oh and no trading slips of paper to go to a training ground with your friends either! That's an instant disqualification!" Here Mic paused to let everyone get their slip to see which training ground they were going to.
"Too bad we can't work together," Izumi whispered, "But at the same time it makes sense. Heroes don't get to choose who they work with unless they're already on a team."
"Yeah. Shame but what can ya do?" Himiko replied.
Behind Mic, the silhouette of four robots appeared, "There are the Victory Class worth one point, the Imperial Class worth two points, and the Venator Class worth Three Points. As previously stated your goal is to hunt down and defeat as many of these bots as possible…"
"Excuse me!" A blue haired boy with glasses shouted as he stood up, chopping the air as he spoke for some reason, "There are four silhouettes yet you've only mentioned three! I cannot believe that an institution like U.A. would leave out such critical details! And you two!" Here the boy turned and pointed directly at Izumi and Himiko, "Are you trying to distract and sabotage everyone with your mutterings and yelling? If so and you do not plan to take this seriously I highly recommend you leave!"
Silence filled the room, as this young man not only interrupted a Pro Hero, but also drew the attention to two girls who's only 'crime' was whispering quietly to each other. Izumi scoffed, "Really? We are sabotaging people? If those around us were bothered by our whispers they would have let us know, not someone who's three rows ahead of us and sitting five seats to my left!" Everyone around Izumi nodded. Honestly none of them were even paying the two girls whispers any attention being far more focused on Present Mic.
Himiko continued where Izumi left off, "On top of that you interrupted Present Mic who wasn't though explaining the test. Did Izu-Chan and I respond to him at the start? Yes, because he asked for a response!"
Once again Izumi spoke, "So here's someone who not only thinks he knows better than someone who's not only a Pro but also works at U.A. on top of that you intentionally drew attention to two people who were quietly discussing amongst themselves. Are you sure you're here to be a Hero? Because right now I'm seeing someone who might very well be some kind of bully!"
The blue haired boy gasped his eyes going wide as if he'd been physically struck but before he could respond Present Mic interrupted, "Ok, ok, I know tensions are high all around but let's dial things back a bit ya dig?" The boy turned around to look at the hero, "First off examinee seven-seven-five, as examinees one thousand-twenty one, and one thousand-twenty two said I hadn't gotten to the last bot. It's called the Executor Class and it's worth zero points! If you know the old school game Mario you can consider it a Thomp, or to those who don't know what I'm talking about but know video games, a stage hazard. It's just an obstacle for you all to avoid. Everybody got that?"
"Yes sir! Thank you for the explanation and I apologize for interrupting!" The bespectacled boy said with a perfect ninety degree bow before sitting back down, but everyone noticed that he didn't apologize to the two girl's he called out.
"Not a problem examinee seven-seven-five! Next time just wait to ask your questions for the end alright?" Mic said with a big grin, "So we have six training grounds for this, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Zeta. Now, if you haven't already checked, pull out your slips to see which one you've been assigned too!"
"I got training ground Epsilon," Izumi said as she looked at her slip, "You?"
"Beta," Himi shrugged, "Not a problem though. We'll pass with flying colors right?"
"Right!" Izumi said with a fist pump, "We worked hard for this!"
"Now are there any last minute questions?" Mic asked, and a teen with purple hair stood up with a raised hand.
"What about those of us with Quirk's that aren't combat focused?"
"Good question examinee four-four-seven, and congrats on being the first person to ask that! For that we have Rescue Points, which can be earned by helping other examinees if they truly need it, but the specifics on how much you get I'll just keep up my sleeve. Can't let out all of our tricks can we? Any other questions?" Getting nothing in reply Mic nodded, "Now there are buses outside ready to take you all to the training grounds! Good luck everyone!"
As Himiko got onto her bus, she noticed the blue haired boy on a seat. Mentally sighing, Himi took a seat, took out a new lollipop and popped it in her mouth since she used the last one up right before getting on the bus, then looked out the window, her left foot bouncing slightly. She felt someone slide into the seat next to her, "Sup? Hope you don't mind if I sit here," Turning Himiko saw a girl with dark purple hair, black eyes, elongated wire like earlobes that ended in metallic looking headphone jacks, wearing a black choker, a dark purple shirt with a flaming skull, a black knee length skirt over black pants, and tall brown boots, "Kyoka Jiro, nice to meet ya."
"It's fine and call me Himiko, Jiro-Chan," Himiko said with a fanged grin, "Looking forward to busting some robots and getting into U.A.?"
Jiro grinned and gave a thumbs up as the bus began to move, "You know it! Should be easy to bust those metal heads once I get my jacks in them," Jiro's earlobes lifted up and posed like snakes ready to strike.
Himiko tilted her head as she examined the girl's natural jacks, "Let's see… from what you said it's obvious you can use those to pierce metal… possibly concrete too. In which case you'll be able to hear the vibrations in the buildings and ground, to know where the targets are and if you plan to use them for offense… can you project the sound of your heart beat through them and into objects?"
Jiro's jaw dropped, "... Holy shit. You figured out how my Quirk works and how I planned to fight just from that one statement?"
Himiko giggled, "Jiro-Chan, my best friend is a giant Quirk Nerd, and my Tōsan has been our private teacher since I met Izu-Chan. I may not be as good at Quirk Analysis as Izu-Chan but I'm no slouch… mostly because I had to learn in order to keep up with Izu-Chan's 'mutter storms'," Himiko giggled as she remembered the first time she saw Izumi really get into a mutter storm. The girl was lost to the world for half an hour before Inko-basan snapped her out of it by announcing that the katsudon was ready, "Though it'll help in the long run when I become an Underground Hero. Being able to figure out the Villain's Quirks and work around them will be a huge advantage."
Jiro nodded, "I can see that. So what's your Quirk if you don't mind me asking?"
Himi gave another fanged grin, "It comes in two parts. First is I'm able to transform into anyone who's blood I drink, though I don't get their Quirks, but Izu-Chan thinks I might be able to copy some Quirks and there's just a stipulation we don't know about. The other part is from Tōsan, and lets me summon monster spirits. Vampires in my case while Tōsan and Izu-Chan get spellcasters. "
"... You're not messin with me are you?" Jiro asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nope! Tōsan is a Wandering Hero and goes by the Invoking Hero: Aleister, and taught Black Sorcerer and Dragovian," Himiko grinned, getting wide eyes from Jiro. The two heroes had once mentioned being tutored by a man named Aleister but they hadn't mentioned he was a Hero…
"What kind of Hero is your Tōsan?" Jiro inquired, "I don't know much about Wondering Heroes, but I do know that Mirkuo is kinda their poster girl in Japan and she's all about combat."
"Tōsan's a mix of Underground and Detective," Himiko replied.
"Makes sense I haven't heard of him then apart from a single mention from Dragovian and Black Sorcerer," Jiro said thoughtfully, "Most Underground Heroes avoid the spotlight and media so they can focus on their jobs… apart from Edgeshot. Poor guy got dragged into being a Limelight Hero by a group from a Ninja Fan Chat Group."
Himiko winced, "Oof. Hope that doesn't happen to me."
Jiro grinned and poked Himiko in the cheek with one of her jacks, "Oh? So Little Miss Vampire plans to avoid the sunlight? How cliche," Himiko rolled her eyes and the conversation changed to what kind of music the two listened to.
While Himiko was making a new friend, Izumi was chatting with a high energy girl named Mina Ashido who has pink hair and skin, yellow horns, black sclera, yellow eyes, wearing a dark pink shirt with 'ACID' written in lime green, jean short-shorts with a black belt, and sandals, "I can't wait to bash some bots and get into U.A.! This is going to be a blast!"
Izumi giggled, "Ashido-Chan you do remember that the main job of a Hero isn't to 'have fun' but to help people right?"
"I know but that doesn't mean we can't have some fun along the way right Midoriya-Chan?" Ashido giggled.
"Fair point but I doubt the teachers will see it the same way," Izumi shrugged, "So if you don't mind me asking what's your Quirk?"
"I make acid!" Ashido said with a large grin, "Not just that but I'm able to control its solubility and viscosity too! So I can make anything from a simple lubricant to something right out of a cartoon but damn does the cartoony acid sting! Even with how resistant I am to acid."
Izumi tilted her head in a way that made Ashido mentally squee at how cute the green haired girl was, "Does using too much acid dehydrate you? Or perhaps wear down your natural resistance so you can hurt yourself if you're not careful?"
Ashido blushed purple, "How the hell did you figure that out so quickly?!"
Izumi grinned, "I'm a Quirk Nerd who gets new Quirks to analyze rather often as homework."
"... What kind of school gives Quirk Analysis as homework?" Ashido asked, her blush long gone.
"I'm Homeschooled," Izumi shrugged, "My best friend Himi-Chan's Tōsan is my tutor, and started assigning Quirks to analyze not long after he learned I was already doing it as a hobby."
Ashido grinned, "So he turned your hobby into a lesson? Nice," At this point the bus slowed to a halt, "Huh. Guess we're here. Good luck Midoriya-Chan!"
"Good luck Ashido-Chan!" Izumi returned. Once everyone was out of the bus they saw the training ground was a replica of a city's entertainment district full of tall buildings covered in attention grabbing lights, bill boards and what could be the glass roof of a mall was seen poking over the walls. Most of the group took to chatting to others or stretching, Izumi being among the latter, the girl ignoring some of the more unwelcome glances as she did so. As she stretched Izumi went over her options and decided she'd have to keep moving once the exam started, and stick to the outer areas at the start to get the best chance of finding bots. After a couple minutes, the doors swung open and a deep masculine voice shouted through the speakers, "GO", Izumi shot off like a rocket though she was the only one who did, everyone else was looking at each other unsure if the test had truly started, "Well what you all waiting for a second invitation? Get moving!"
Just as Izumi shot through the door's she clapped, and upon pulling her hands apart revealed an emerald green staff that was a little taller then she was, the top of the staff capped with soft yellow orb that has a shield cut emerald gem inside, "Come on Lemon Magician Girl! Let's smash some bots!"
In an explosion of bright yellow sparkles, a tanned woman who looked to be in her early twenties, with sky blue eyes, very light blonde hair, wearing a bright yellow multi-tiered hat with orange highlights, two earrings in the forms of large red balls with a single yellow star on each, an orange choker, a shoulderless outfit that at first glance was similar to a one piece swimsuit, with an orange arrow pointing down between her breasts towards her heart shaped buckle that was being used to hold together lime green ribbons around her waist, yellow gloves, white thigh high socks, bright yellow boots, large butterfly like wings, and in her hand was a yellow wand with a red gem on the bottom with a yellow diamond in the center while at the top was a yellow blade-like top that curved around a second red gem.
"Oh yeah!" Lemon cheered as she flew above Izumi, making all the other test takers pause at her sudden appearance, "Let's make some noise!"
"Yeah!" Izumi cheered, as the two ran down an ally, as she figured most of the others went straight ahead so they might as well head to less populated areas. As the exam continued, Lemon blasted apart robots with bolts of lightning or pure magic, Izumi using her staff to fight off the bots, and even defeating some one and two pointers. They also helped other examinees when they could. Izumi wasn't keeping track of her Combat Points, why bother when Rescue Points was also a thing? She'd do her best and if she didn't get in… well she'd figure something out.
In the observation room, most of the teachers were watching various screens showing different examinees roughly a few like Mic were at one of the training grounds in case something went wrong, "Good batch of students this year," One of Extoplasim's clones said, each clone was wearing a pitch black helmet with pure white eyes, gold colored metal ear and jaw guards showing his wide lipless grin, and a large armless light brown trench coat. This clone watching a screen showing Himiko using some metal she'd gotten from a destroyed two pointer as a dagger to fight off more Villain Bots, while a monstrous dog made of shadows accompanied her, the beast having flaming red eyes, incredibly sharp fangs, bat like wings, and long dagger like claws. "Some are more interesting than others. Looks like we have a pair of Summoners this year," Here the clone looked at a second screen showing Izumi and Lemon Magician Girl decimating some Three Pointers to save a pair of examinees who got in over their heads. The clone glanced over his shoulder to the back of the room where Aleister sat with a calm smile, "You wouldn't happen to know something about them would you Aleister?"
"Of course I do," Aleister chuckled, "They're my students. It's one reason why I'm not assisting in assigning Rescue Points."
"Oh one of them is more than just your student Aleister," Nezu chuckled, "Himiko-Chan is his adopted daughter."
"How come she's got a Summoning Quirk then?" The Blood Hero: Vlad King asked, the man was very muscular and rather tall with white hair, an orange visor covering the top half of his face, small tusks poking out of his mouth, his suit was mostly blood red with black accents around the shoulder, silver gauntlets, belt and boots with a wire going from the base of his neck to the left gauntlet.
Aleister's expresion turned serious, "What I'm about to tell you cannot spread outside this room. Understand?"
The various heroes in the room consisting of Vlad King, Ectoplasm, Hound Dog, Midnight, and Eraserhead looked at each other before nodding, while Nezu sat back sipping his tea and keeping an eye on the screens, "My Ivocation and therefore Himiko-Chan and Midoriya-Chan's Summoning abilities aren't Quirks. It's a power that was ancient before the Pre-Quirk comics showing a world like ours was even a daydream. Himiko-Chan's Quirk is useless against robots like these, however her skills with small blades, and Summoning abilities more than make up for that weakness."
"And what of Midoriya's Quirk?" Eraserhead asked as he pulled a small juice box out of a hidden pocket.
"Quirkless, like me," Aleister said with a proud smile, "And I just know she's going to go far with how hard she's been working towards her goal since I met her."
Most of the teachers of U.A. simply nodded and looked back at the screens. Quirks were weird so hearing that there was a power that was far older than Quirks? Surprising, interesting and something to talk to Aleister about later. For one however there was a deep frown, but turned back to the screens, as there was nothing they could do about it now.
"Well I believe it's about time for the real test to begin," Nezu grinned his beady black eyes gleaming with chaotic joy, "Midnight? I do believe it's your turn."
Midnight cackled, "Alright kiddies! Which are you going to?" She slammed her fist down on a large red button, "Heaven or Hell? Either way let's rock!"
"Oh god. She found out about Devil May Cry," Vlad muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Every time Midnight found out about a Pre-Quirk series that caught her interest she would quote the damn thing for weeks when she wasn't on duty or teaching. Even after working alongside Midnight for a few years it still surprised him how much of a nerd the woman was.
"Ok… I think that should be enough Combat Points," Izumi said, wiping a bit of sweat off her forehead. She and Lemon had just scraped a group of two Three Pointers, three Two pointers and a whopping ten One Pointers, and saved a teenaged boy who'd just been knocked out by a Two Pointer at the same time. Why such a large group of bots had gathered and hadn't been noticed by more people yet she wasn't sure but she wasn't going to complain, "See any more bots Lemon?"
"Nope," Lemon called down as she hovered just above the nearby buildings, "Everything seems to be quieting down. Wanna head back to the mainstreet?"
"We probably should," Izumi nodded, "If only to see how everyone else is doing. Perhaps we'll even see Ashido-Chan," Izumi ran through the streets with Lemon flying next to her while carrying the young man.
When they got to the mainstreet the earth shook and an announcement from hidden speakers could be heard over the entire training ground, "Two minutes left!"
The mall which was in the center of the training ground and had every entrance blocked off with heavy metal sheets exploded as a giant robot with treads for legs, large fists that were as big as some of the two story buildings, a squarish head with six large red eyes appeared in its place. The Zero Pointer was now active.
"A Twomp? Yeah right that's a freaking beast that chases you through the level! Everybody run!" Someone yelled as all the test takers scattered.
"Let me take him to the exit!" A tall male teen covered in fur offered as he ran up to Izumi and Lemon, "That way you won't be weighed down."
"Thanks," Lemon said as she handed the unconscious teen to the furry kid, "The weight reduction spell should last for another three minutes," The beast man nodded and ran off, making sure to try to keep people from trampling each other in their fear, "Good kid. Now then Izumi what's the plan for that Ancient Gear wanabi?"
"... I have an idea but you're not going to like it," Izumi stated as she scanned the area looking to see if anyone was in trouble.
"Izumi… I swear to Ra if you're thinking what I think you're planning to do… Kiwi-Chan and Verre-Sama are going to tear you apart before letting Aleister-San takeover," Lemon deadpanned before a wide grin appeared on her face, "But you only live once so… Let's Do This!"
"Lemon-Chan I swear you're a bad influence," Izumi giggled.
"Oh shush. I'm a great influence!" Lemon replied with a small laugh, "So… See if you can get Mirror Force to work?"
"See if I can get Mirror Force to work," Izumi nodded, "I wonder how Himi-Chan is dealing with the Zero Pointer."
"BAD DAY! BAD DAY! BAD DAY!" Himiko yelled as she booked it away from the Zero Pointer with a brown haired girl who'd tripped and sprained his ankle on her back, Himi's summon right beside her.
"She's most likely avoiding it," Lemon shrugged.
"Alright It's going to take a bit to cast the spell. Think you can keep it distracted?" Izumi asked with a smirk.
"Oh please," Lemon scoffed, "It'll be easy. Who knows you might not even need Mirror Force~" With that Lemon shot off, flinging spells at the Zero Pointer to get its attention. She stayed above the giant robot for the most part trying to prevent it from moving. Izumi moved back around the corner, held her staff upright, and closed her eyes to focus. She hadn't gotten this trick to work on command yet, and even then it took time to gain the proper amount of power.
"Ok Izumi. Cut out the sounds around you," She muttered to herself the gem in her staff began to glow, at first faintly but slowly the glow brightened, "Ok… almost there…"
"FUCK!" Lemon yelled as she crashed onto the ground and slid into the building Izumi was hiding behind having been slapped out of the air, "Shit that hurts!" As Lemon tried to get up she slumped back down. Glancing over her shoulder showed her right wing was bent, "And my arm's and wing are broken… great. The others are never going to let me live this down…"
Izumi's eyes shot open as she darted out of the alley, "LEMON!" She shouted as she got between her friend and the fist of the Zero Pointer. Holding up her staff she released her stored power, her staff shining brightly creating a semi-visible barrier just before the giant robot's fist collided with it. Izumi grit her teeth trying to keep the spell up. Sweat poured down her forehead, "Can't… back down… Need to concentrate…" The barrier began to bend under the power of the robot's fist, small cracks began to appear, I won't back down… NOW BACK THE FUCK OFF!" With a monumental effort Izumi pushed the fist back three waves of energy shooting up the arm, making the head explode the moment the energy made contact with it, before the energy shot away in several small bolts, scattering over the training ground seeking out and destroying the other Villain Bots, sending her Combat Point score sky high.
"I… did it," Izumi said as she staggered from side to side before collapsing unconscious.
Lemon looked on with a fond smile as she began to glow, returning to her realm now that Izumi was unconscious, "Heh. Figures you'd get it to work defending someone. You'll go far Izu-Chan…" Lemon then collapsed as she vanished into small yellow balls of light, the few remaining nearby students having dropped jaws at the power the verdette just displayed. Even the teachers in the observation room were floored, most of them were excited about such a promising student, wondering what else her Summoning can do, while one in particular subtly grit their teeth.
Aleister meanwhile was wondering if Izumi-Chan's 'Summoning' should be reclassified to 'Magic'.
Author's Notes:
Honestly calling them Combat points makes more sense then Villain Points to me.
I feel like parts of this chapter is a little rushed but not gonna lie. I'm exited to get to U.A.