AN: Thanks for reading and leaving reviews, everyone!
"It seems we have quite the promising batch of recruits this year," Kan said as he observed the monitor.
"It's almost unfair that we are letting those three take the normal exam," Aizawa said.
"Come now," Nezu chided Aizawa, bringing up the image of Tenya Iida as an example. "Those three aren't the first students who had received more training before the exam, and they won't be the last."
"I know," Aizawa sighed as he looked at the monitors. He knew he should be putting more attention elsewhere, but he was focused on the three girls who had become Eri's surrogate big sisters.
I hope you six can actually achieve your dreams and don't get buried like Oboro was.
Nemuri checked the clock and smiled, giving Aizawa a sideways glance. "Time to focus, the real show is about to begin."
"Of course their ability to fight is only part of it," Nezu said as he opened the hatch protecting a large red button and pushed it. "The true test begins now. Let's see how these students respond when their back is against the wall."
From the safety of the control room, they couldn't hear it, but beneath each training ground, large elevators began to operate, delivering a massive Executor robot to the surface of each training ground.
Kyoka heard the buzzer ring out as it announced the two minute warning. Tilting her head skyward, she practically felt the silence hanging in the air. A momentary reprieve as students everywhere paused to assess the situation.
And underneath the silence, something else. Quickly dropping into a crouch, Kyoka jammed her earjacks into the ground and gasped at what she heard. There, beneath the training ground, was the loud grinding of machinery operating.
"What's that?" Kyoka murmured to herself.
She didn't have to wait long for her answer; as one set of machinery stopped, another started. Then she felt the rumbling under her feet. Pulling her jacks out of the ground, she looked around. She certainly didn't need her enhanced hearing to hear the explosions nor the sounds of buildings collapsing as metal slammed into concrete.
"What's that?" someone yelled out.
"Look at the size of that thing!" another student exclaimed.
Whirling around, Kyoka finally saw what they were talking about. The zero-point robot.
"Would've been nice if they told us how big it was," Kyoka muttered under her breath as she examined the pipe in her hands. While it was helpful in fending off attacks against the smaller robots, it felt miniscule and ineffective against the mammoth machine. Shaking her head, Kyoka tapped her forehead with the pipe. "If I can't face this, then what am I even doing here? My parents, my friends, everyone - I can't let them down!"
Steeling herself, she walked over to a building and plugged her earjacks in. She immediately grimaced as the noise of the zero-pointer threatened to overwhelm her, drowning out practically everything else. But she had to focus! There had to be something out there!
"I don't even know if this will work." Among the din, Jiro picked up a familiar voice. "Jack-girl, if you can hear this, we need help! Students are trapped in a collapsed building! I'd get help, but well - you saw me! I need you to bring help. Ok ok - don't worry! I'll get you out of there. Hey, can anyone hear me? Jack girl - can you hear me? I don't even know if you can respond so I'll just keep yelling for as long as I can…"
Kyoka felt her jaw tense as she pushed through the headache already forming. If I'm going to be a hero, I'll have to deal with worse. Pinpointing the source of the sound, she pulled her jacks out with a gasp and quickly stuffed them into the padded collar of her shirt to give herself a temporary reprieve from the noise.
Quickly gazing around, she spotted another student nearby - a tall boy with multiple arms and a mask that covered his nose and mouth. From the looks of it, he was suffering a similar sensory overload that she was. Jogging over to him, she waved her arms in an attempt to get him to focus. "Hey, I need your help!"
She caught the moment of surprise in his eyes before he shook his head to clear it. To her surprise, he didn't speak directly. Instead a mouth appeared on one of his arms and he spoke through that. "What kind of help? Don't tell me you're thinking of taking that thing on!"
Kyoka's eyes went wide. "No, nothing like that!" She tilted her head in the robot's direction. "That thing's collapsed a building and some students are trapped, I need some help getting them out."
"We have to get past that thing?"
"Yes." Kyoka steeled herself. "Are heroes allowed to run away just because they're scared?"
The student shot another hesitant glance toward the robot before he looked at Kyoka, resolve also building in his eyes. "You're right. Lead the way."
Flashing a grateful smile to the student, Kyoka took off running toward a side alley. He easily kept pace and followed her as she slid out the other end and took off running. A pair of one-point robots stood in their way, and they didn't even bother to slow down as they each chose one and smashed through them. Moments later, they passed the zero-pointer and dashed down another alleyway, emerging in the wake of the robot's path.
Kyoka quickly surveyed the area before she pointed with her pipe. "There!"
With a nod, the other student took off and Kyoka followed, seeing a now-familiar floating set of clothes as they approached.
"Heyyyy! You heard me!"
"Barely," Kyoka remarked. "It was like picking out a voice in a hurricane."
"You actually heard her?" the student asked in surprise.
Kyoka flashed a confident smirk. "I've been training to isolate and pick out noise. It's going to come in handy."
"I guess I'd better start that," the boy mused. "It sounds handy."
"Talk about training later!" the invisible girl said, pointing to a pile of debris. "We need to clear this first! I saw some students run into that building to take shelter, but then the entrance collapsed when the zero-pointer came through."
Kyoka looked at the debris then back to the other students. "Well, what are we waiting for?"
Working quickly and efficiently, the three pulled rocks, beams, and pipes away. It didn't take long for them to open up a hole and make contact with the three students inside, and with their help, they soon had a hole wide enough to pull them out.
"Thanks for the save," one of them gratefully said as they grasped the large boy's massive arm, using it to steady themselves as they came out of the entrance.
"I know we're supposed to be competing against each other, but I couldn't just leave you trapped in there!" the invisible girl said. "Who knows how long you would have been stuck in there!"
Kyoka opened her mouth to respond, but then they heard the loud buzzer announcing the end of the exam. Looking at her companions with a weary smile, she dropped the pipe from her hand, thankful for her training and years of instrument lessons building up the callouses on her hand. "And that's a wrap."
Helping the one injured boy, the six made their way toward the exit of the training grounds.
Himiko raced through the streets, scanning for more robots when she was suddenly halted in her tracks by the sound of a buzzer.
"Shit! I've only got two minutes," Himiko exclaimed, mentally tallying her points. "And I don't think I have enough…"
She didn't have time to worry about her total, however, when she felt the ground quake beneath her. Looking around frantically, she quickly identified the source - the titanic zero-pointer robot.
"Damn it Izu, why didn't you warn me how big it was," Himiko cursed under her breath. It certainly was something to be avoided, but judging from how big it was, that would still prove to be a challenge. "Think Himi. What would Izu do? Probably something that would get Ocha to yell at him." She giggled at her own joke, her face screwed up in concentration.
What would piss Emily off the most?
The answer to both questions was obvious - an attempt to bring the robot down.
Himiko gave a pained sigh. "Izu is never going to let me live this down."
Looking down at her knives, they suddenly seemed small and insignificant in her hands. Sure she's taken down a bunch of robots with them, but they all had weak points.
Wait! That's it!
Himiko's face split into a grin. They had to have some sort of weak point on the thing. Examining the machine, she decided it was probably near the top where its 'head' was. But how to get up there?
Himiko looked around for a solution, her grin turning predatory as she noticed one of the other examinees standing there, paralyzed in fear. A short girl with long blonde hair, large blue eyes, and a pair of horns that sat atop her head. Earlier, she saw that the girl's horns were strong enough to lift the robots in the air - which meant they'd be more than capable of lifting her own lithe frame.
Racing over, she grabbed the other girl's arm, causing her to jump in shock. "Hey, how far can you shoot your horns?"
"Why?" the other girl asked suspiciously.
Himiko pointed to the zero pointer. "I need to get on top of it."
"You what?!" the other girl exclaimed, certain she heard Himiko wrong.
"Yep!" Himiko chirped. "I think I can stop it, but I need to get on top of it first!"
The other girl put an index finger to her lips as she seemed to weigh the decision before deciding at worst she wasted a precious few seconds to help Himiko. And since the robot was worth zero points, it didn't matter if she destroyed it or not. Bobbing her head, she looked Himiko in the eyes. "Okay. I shoot, you grab my horns."
"Got it!" Himiko replied, grinning. As she felt the thrill settle in, she started to realize how Izuku must feel when he does his crazy schemes.
Taking a deep breath, the other girl aimed her horns near the head of the zero-pointer and fired. Himiko reacted instantly, her honed reflexes letting her easily wrap her hands around the horns as she found herself airborne. She felt a thrill run through her as she watched the training ground get further away. And the robot got much closer.
As she approached, Himiko felt herself slowing down slightly and suspected that was part of the other girl's quirk - she'd have to thank her later if she ever saw her again. Taking a deep breath, she released her grip, dropping onto the titanic head of the machine. Looking over the edge, she saw the same thing in all of the other training grounds - a massive robot rampaging through. Idly, she wondered if anyone else would attempt an assault on the robot or if suicidally crazy ideas came with her now-green hair.
Keeping a low profile to minimize the risk of falling, Himiko searched around for something, anything that could be a weak point. It took her a few seconds, but she eventually found familiar yellow-and-black stripes outlining a square of space. Smiling, she quickly went over and began feeling around. It didn't take long for her to find a depression. Inserting her finger and tugging caused a panel to slide away, revealing a small handle. Her smile broke out into a full grin; she pulled the handle and was rewarded as the square opened up, revealing an access corridor.
"Of course something this big would have something like this!" Himiko said triumphantly. Even though she didn't watch many science fiction animes, the ones she did always had the heroes sneaking around in cramped corridors and hidden tunnels on ships, so it would make sense that giant robots would have them too!
Himiko grabbed the ladder that revealed itself to her and quickly slid down it until she ended up in the 'heart' of the robot. There, she saw a small panel filled with controls and readings that were meaningless to her. The many exposed wires behind the panel, however… With a manic smile, Himiko drew her knives and slashed the wires, watching as sparks flew and lights flickered.
She felt a sense of satisfaction as the robot grinded to a halt… only to immediately have that sensation replaced with panic when she felt the robot starting to tilt and sway.
"Shit!" Himiko swore before she turned around and grabbed the ladder, pulling herself up as quickly as she could.
The square of light was quickly growing in size when she felt an explosion below her. With an uncharacteristic yelp she clung tightly to the ladder, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood as she tried to keep herself from falling down. Seconds later, she breathed a sigh of relief, quickly hauling herself out.
As she poked her head out, her fears were confirmed as she saw the robot falling over and rapidly gaining speed as gravity asserted its dominance over the immobile form. Flipping herself out, she clung to the ladder like a safety net as she frantically looked around for a solution that didn't involve her splatting against the pavement.
There!
There was a nearby office building that she was going to pass really close to. It would be risky, but the odds were better than getting thrown into the ground. Taking a deep breath, she released her grip on the handle and slid down the robot. As she neared the lip at the end, she kicked off, launching herself at the glass windows that made up the side of her building. Ducking her head and wrapping her arms around it, she felt herself slam into the wall.
Fortunately the gambit paid off, and Himiko felt the glass shatter all around her, sending her through the window where she rolled unceremoniously through the office until she slammed into a desk.
"Ow."
Dragging herself upright, Himiko could feel numerous tiny cuts all across her body, and she knew she would be nursing a massive bruise later. "Maybe I can visit Recovery Girl before I leave?" she asked nobody as she nursed her side.
Walking back to the window, she surveyed her handiwork. The robot lay on its side, a large cloud of dust settling around it. It was then that the final buzzer sounded, announcing the end of the exam.
Without anything else to do, Himiko let herself collapse, sitting down in the middle of the broken glass. She knew she needed to eventually leave, but as the adrenaline drained out of her, she didn't trust herself to stand right now, let alone walk.
"Maybe I'll leave the insane heroics to Izu after all."
Aika was riding the explosion upward when she heard the buzzer go off. At the same time, her view in the air offered her a clear picture of a massive zero-point Executor rising out of the ground.
Holy crap! What am I supposed to do against that?!
The distraction cost her, and she was unprepared for the landing, smashing into the ground. Once again thankful for her quirk, she paused her song long enough to stand up and dust herself off.
"Well, nothing's broken! Any landing you can walk away from…" Aika said nervously as she rubbed the back of her head. Opening her eyes, she saw the massive robot rumbling toward the main plaza.
"It must be going toward the other students! But what can I do against something like that?"
Aika groaned in exasperation until she saw a large pack of robots heading in the same direction. "Oh no! Everyone's gonna be distracted by the big guy. Someone could really get hurt if those robots run into other students." As she worried, she felt a piece of a puzzle click into place. She snapped her fingers. "Of course! I could do what Blasty did! If I distract them, I'll keep the others safe! And earn some more points in the process!"
With a fierce smile, she punched her fist into her palm. "Alright, let's do this!"
Aika ran toward the robots, singing at the top of her lungs as she activated her quirk for hopefully the final time. It did the trick, and a pair of Imperial robots began to turn around to face her. Refusing to back down, she planted her feet and threw a punch, her fist impacting the metal and causing it to collapse under her assault as the first robot exploded. It did the trick, and the remaining robots began turning toward her.
Bring it on! I'm not scared of a few robots!
Aika stood there, dancing between the robot's limbs and attacks as she launched her own counterattacks, trying to be as loud and obnoxious as possible. It was less efficient than her previous battles, but if she destroyed the robots too quickly, they might ignore her and attack the other students. In many ways it was practice for singing at a concert. If she wanted to be a famous singer, she needed to be able to keep all eyes on her, after all.
It was harder than she expected, each second stretching on for an eternity as the timer counted down, but Aika refused to back down! She failed to get into UA in both Izuku and Ochako's previous timelines, but both of them worked hard to help her this time. She refused to let them down!
As the crowd of robots grew thick, she became more aggressive, throwing out a flurry of punches and elbows in an attempt to shatter as many robots as she could. She lost count of how many she took down, but it didn't matter - she had achieved her goal and pulled a large crowd of robots, she just had to hope that she bought the other students enough time.
After what felt like an eternity, the final buzzer rang out. It was like a switch was flipped as the lights on the robots grew dim and they stood down. Aika watched cautiously as the robots all began backing away and turning around, leaving her alone surrounded by a circle of scrap - the remains of their fallen brethren.
Breathing out a huge sigh of relief, Aika collapsed to her knees. "That was hard work!" Her face scrunched up in concentration as she tried to add up how many robots she destroyed. With an exasperated groan, she admitted defeat. "It's no use, I can't remember past fifty-five points. I just hope I have enough points to offset the written exam!"
"Wow, you two are amazing!" Nejire exclaimed, a serene smile on her face as Izuku and Ochako landed in front of her.
"Thanks!" Ochako flashed a bright smile. She knew the other girl was probably reaching her limit after that last barrage of attacks - they just had to hold out a little bit longer!
"We should train together sometime," Mirio said from behind Ochako.
"Only if we get into UA!" Ochako reminded as she ducked underneath Mirio's blow, a green glow emanating from her hand and cracking the concrete beneath her as she used her quirk to drastically increase its gravity. "Why don't you be nice and back off?"
Mirio chuckled as he adjusted his footing, but it gave Ochako the moment she needed to take off. "Sorry, they told us not to hold back. Now I can see why!"
Instead of going upward, Izuku launched himself forward, aiming at Nejire. Without hesitation she took off, using her Wave Motion to carry her upward and out of Izuku's reach. "What Mirio said! You two are giving it your all, and we are too!"
Raising her hands, Nejire fired a blast of energy at the wall where Izuku was aiming for, damaging it. She had gotten better at predicting their movements and had adjusted her shots in an attempt to slow them down, forcing the pair to split up. But Izuku was learning too. Throwing out a tendril of Blackwhip, he pulled himself upward, landing just above the damage before he jumped to the floor and finally upward in a series of maneuvers to correct his trajectory.
Ochako met him on the ceiling and wrapped her arms around him before the pair took off. With the amount of damage and debris around the arena, it was risky for them to be together, but it was one they were willing to take.
"You think there's enough debris?" Izuku asked as he surveyed the ground around the arena.
"Yep!" Ochako flashed a cheery smile. "You ready?"
"Mhm." Izuku bobbed his head.
Without another word, Ochako let go of Izuku, the two slightly separating as they approached the ground. As expected, Nejire shot a Wave Motion blast at the ground, exploding the area Ochako was aiming at. It would be enough to throw her off if she was planning on using the ground as a springboard, but she wasn't. Smirking, she flipped herself over and landed on the ground in a crouch, smoke expanding outward as she touched the ground with both hands.
A pulse of pink light spread out from her hands, using her quirk to remove the gravity through the ground in an area around her. An evolution of her quirk thanks to One For All's influence. Ochako had discovered that she can chain zero gravity through objects, affecting everything in an area with her quirk without having to touch each object individually. After she had discovered the evolution by accident, she had begun to train it, developing new special moves to use both by herself and when partnered with Izuku.
"Izuku," Ochako called out. "Combo attack: Shooting-"
"-Stars," Izuku finished as he slammed into the ground behind her and unleashed his tendrils of Blackwhip. Using the quirk, he swatted the air, launching all of the projectiles toward the waiting Nejire and Mirio.
Both second-years were caught by surprise as they watched the debris come flying at them. Nejire raised her hands and launched Spiral Waves at the debris, but their curved nature wasn't enough to stop them as she found herself getting pelted by the debris. Mirio tried to relieve his partner by phasing through Nejire and taking the brunt of the blows for her, which proved to be his undoing.
In the instant Mirio felt the first rock hit his chest, a pink comet came flying out of the smoke, punching him in the chest and knocking him backward, landing into Nejire and sending both flying across the room.
At that moment, a loud buzzer rang out, announcing the end of the exam. Ochako relaxed her stance as she turned and saw Izuku emerging from the smoke, a large grin on his face. Her grin grew to match his own as she jogged over, pulling him into a hug that he quickly reciprocated.
"Ow, you pack quite a punch," Mirio said as he walked back to the center, his arms wrapped around Nejire as the two supported each other. From the other side of the room, they watched Tamaki emerge from the control room alongside Nighteye and Ryukyu.
"Thanks," Ochako said cheerily. "I've had to train a lot to control the amount of gravity behind my attacks."
"No wonder they called us in," Nejire remarked as she stared at the two in awe. "You two would have destroyed the normal exam."
"Precisely," Nighteye interjected as he joined the four students. "And even with the restrictions placed on them, they have shown themselves to be promising students."
"Imagine if they learned under you, Sir," Mirio said as he turned to his mentor.
Nighteye pinched his chin as he appeared to think about that. A ruse, Izuku assumed, but important nonetheless. Bobbing his head, he looked at his student. "Perhaps I may make an offer to one of them when it comes time for internships. What do you think, Ryukyu?"
"I'm wondering why wait." Ryukyu smiled at Ochako. "I might talk to Nezu about offering one to Uraraka as soon as school starts."
"Really?" Nejire asked, looking at her mentor in excitement.
"I- you don't have to do that!" Ochako protested, raising her hands defensively.
"Oh this is so exciting!" Nejire floated over to Ochako and wrapped her arm around the brunette's shoulders. "You can be my kouhai this year!"
Mirio laughed at the antics of his friend before he turned toward Izuku. "Well I guess that makes you my kouhai then!" He gave Izuku a bright smile and a thumbs up. "What do you say?"
Izuku felt an excited grin spread across his face. Mirio's personality was always infectious, and he had admired the older student in the past - even if he didn't get to spend much time with him due to the loss of his quirk. Even with the added knowledge he had, he still felt like he could learn a lot from him. "That sounds great!"
"Well then," Nighteye began, "it appears your test is concluded. We will give our report to Nezu, but I suspect you two won't have anything to worry about."
"How'd you think everyone did?" Ochako asked Izuku as she stepped out of the locker room.
"Why don't we go find out?" Izuku replied as their hands found each other.
The pair fell into an easy pace as they navigated the familiar halls of UA to its exit and stepped out into the afternoon sun. Along the path, they noticed small groups of students clustered in twos and threes talking about the exam as they looked around.
"There!" Izuku pointed when he found the familiar color of Montross uniforms crowded around a bench.
The two made their way over to their friends, hearing Aika's voice as she excitedly recapped her own exam.
"And before I knew it I was surrounded by robots! But I kept singing up until the very end!" Aika said proudly.
Jiro smirked at her friend before she turned to see Izuku and Ochako. "There you are. We were wondering what happened to you."
"We had to fight some second years," Izuku began to explain.
"Wait, you fought other students?" Aika asked.
"Mhm," Ochako said with a weary smile. "We had to survive as long as we could. But we did it!"
"Sounds rough," Kyoka said sympathetically. "But I can see why - you guys would have destroyed those robots!"
"Speaking of," Aika said as she turned toward Himiko. "Tell them what you did!"
"Do I have to?" Himiko asked. When she lifted her head, Izuku noticed just how tired she looked.
"What happened to you Himi?" Izuku asked, suddenly concerned. "Did Recovery Girl have to use her quirk on you?"
"Yes." Himiko glared at Izuku. "This is your fault."
"My fault?!" Izuku took a half step back at the accusation.
"When I saw the zero-point robot I asked myself 'What would Izu do?'-"
"Oh no." Izuku paled.
Beside him, Ochako burst out laughing. "You didn't!"
"I did!" Himiko chirped. "And I succeeded! But well-" Himiko felt her permanent blush spreading. "-the fall kind of sucked."
"Oh no!" Izuku exclaimed. "What happened?"
"I managed to land in a nearby office building, but it still hurt." Himiko frowned. "Considering how tired I am, I must have cracked a few ribs or something."
"Still puts you ahead of Izu," Ochako smirked.
"Wait, what?!" All three of the other girls suddenly stared at Izuku with laser-focus.
"Ocha-" Izuku whined.
"Sorry Izu, time to fess up."
"What happened?" Aika asked.
"Yeah, tell us Midoriya," Jiro crossed her arms.
"Umm…" Izuku looked around to make sure nobody could hear him. "I actually destroyed a zero-pointer but well… I kind of broke both of my legs and my right arm in the process? And I almost died if it wasn't for…" Izuku's eyes drifted over to Ochako, hoping they would get the point.
Himiko groaned. "I should have known." Pushing herself upright, she wobbled unsteadily until Aika came up beside her, allowing her to steady herself. "Let's go, Emmy's waiting for us at the cafe and I could use some caffeine right now."
"Are you sure you don't want to go home?" Izuku asked.
Himiko winced. "No, I'm not ready to face mom until I've regained some energy."
Izuku shot his sister a sympathetic look, trying his hardest to ignore the laughter from his girlfriend as the five of them left the school grounds to celebrate finishing the exam.
AN: "You and Hado seemed to take to those two rather quickly," Mirai commented as the five of them exited the Gym to begin the journey back to UA's main building.
Mirio laughed. "You were the one who asked us to test their resolve."
"We did," Ryuko agreed.
"What's so special about them?" Nejire asked. "Their quirks worked so well together!"
"I agree!" Mirio said."They're ignoring the idea of heroes competing against each other," Tamaki explained. "Unlike most of us, those two fight as a single entity.""Maybe we should do that!" Nejire exclaimed, a look of excitement in her eyes. "We've gotten so good this year, imagine what would happen if we had that level of coordination!"
"That sounds like a great idea!" Mirio flashed a bright smile. "Imagine the combo attacks we could come up with!"
As the three began discussing ideas amongst themselves, Ryuko turned to Mirai. "You'd better not plan on stealing my student."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Mirai replied before his gaze turned to the trio of students. He didn't need his quirk to see that Japan's future was in good hands.