Outside UA
After a train ride, Rex walked to the gates of UA where he stared at the school while other applicants walked past him. "Can't get nervous now." He walked past the gate. "No matter what, I got to rock this!"
"Stupid Deku." A rough voice declared. "Get out of my way before I set you on fire."
Rex looked ahead and spotted some spikey haired blond speaking roughly with a green haired boy. Both wore similar attire leading him to think those two might have attended the same middle school.
"That guy seems like a prick." Rex thought.
Rex ultimately decided not to intervene. After all, he didn't have all the details on what the relationship was between them beyond hearing some harsh words. Rather than continue to focus on that, Rex turned his attention to the exams.
UA
Before the practical exam, applicants were taken to an exam room where they were given a standard written test. It was rather easy for Rex, and he was even one of the first to finish. After that, they were taken to the UA auditorium where they'd learn about the mock battle test.
It wasn't long before a tall, slender man with long, spiky blonde hair and a small mustache came out onto the stage. He wore a pair of headphones, sunglasses, and black attire. This was the voice hero, Present Mic.
"Alright, young listeners! Thank you for tuning into your school DJ! Now let me hear you scream!" Present Mic yelled but silence befell the room. "Keeping it mellow, I dig it! Well then let's get started!"
"Oh my goodness, it's the voice hero, Present Mic! I listen to his radio show every week!" The green haired kid muttered. "It's crazy all the UA teachers are pro Heros!"
"Dude is a fanboy." Rex thought.
"Like your application states, you will perform a ten-minute mock battle in a super hip urban setting." Mic informed as the massive TV screen behind him changed from the UA logo to multiple color squares with letters on them.
"Keep your pants on my friends because once I'm done explaining, you will be split into different battle zones, sound good!?" Mic yelled once again only to be met with silence. "Yeah, love that mellow energy!"
Rex took out his exam card to learn he will be in Battle Center C before then noticing the guy next to him would be in Battle Center D. "They're splitting us up to minimize team ups." He nodded. "Clever."
The TV screen behind Mic changed once again. In the middle, there was a small 3D diagram of a city before silhouettes of three robots appeared.
"Okay okay, let's check out your targets." Mic continued. "There are three types of faux villains with each having different points depending on their difficulty."
"No way." Rex's mouth hung open in shock. "I wouldn't have even needed my builds to succeed here. With them, this exam went from easy to no problem."
"Your goal is to shred these villains like a guitar solo." Mic declared as an 8 bit video plays of a version of him beating each robot and getting the requisite points they were worth. "Remember, keep things heroic. Attacking your fellow examinees is a big UA no no!"
"Excuse me sir, but I have a question!" A blue hair, bespectacled teen called out as he stood and rose his hand.
"Hit me!" Mic retorted as a spotlight covered the bespectacled teen.
"On the hand out, there are four fake villains." The boy held up a piece of paper with them on it. "If this is an error on official UA material, it is shameful. We are exemplary students who expect the best from the most notable school in Japan.
A mistake like this simply won't do." Then the bespectacled teen pointed to a boy with green hair. "Additionally, you with the unkempt hair. You've been muttering this whole time. Stop that. If you can't bother to take this seriously, then leave."
The green haired boy covered his mouth. "Sorry."
"Hm, guess I wasn't all that bothered by it myself considering how often I've found Caesar invested in his work." Rex noted.
"Alright alright, thank you for your call dear listener." Mic declared with a thumbs up. "That guy is worth zero points. He's just a hurdle we'll throw your way, so I recommend you avoid him to go for the bigger fish, you dig?"
The bespectacled teen nodded. "Thank you, sir." He sat back down. "Please, continue."
"This entire test is basically one, giant video game where I've got all the cheats." Rex sat back feeling at ease yet knowing he couldn't take it easy. "The examiners will probably notice that, so I should be on top of my game."
"Well, that's all folks, so I'll leave you with a sample of our school motto." Mic declared. "As general Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down, a true Hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes. Mhm, now that's a tasty sound bit, so go beyond, plus ultra!"
Battle Center C's Bus
Almost every examinee changed into workout clothes while Rex was perfectly fine in his present attire. Then, they were loaded onto different buses which would take them to their respective centers. Rex ended up sitting next to a guy who had short gold hair with a black lighting streak.
"Hey." Rex smirked as he noticed his seat partner was rather enraptured by a girl with pink skin and horns atop her head. "Word of advice, staring at a lady isn't the best way to get her attention."
"Sorry." The guy blushed from embarrassment before chuckling weakly. "I just haven't seen anyone like her like her before, and I guess I got carried away."
"Well, she is cute." Rex admitted before shrugging. "Just remember, staring open mouth isn't the best first impression if you want a potential shot. Maybe if you got the chance to explain it like you did to me, you'd get a pass…maybe."
"Right." The guy rubbed the back of his head. "Uh…who are you?"
He was clearly hoping to move away from this embarrassing moment.
"Rex Salazar." Rex responded figuring this guy was alright. "You?"
"Denki Kaminari." Denki introduced. "So, you excited for what's to come?"
"I'd say I am." Rex replied with an easy laugh. "Being a hero is all I've ever wanted since I can remember. Now, I could enter the best school in all of Japan."
"I know, right?" Denki clearly liked his answer. "You got a good outlook. Maybe we could hang around one another if we get into this school."
"Sure, you don't seem like that bad a guy." Rex responded.
Denki smiled at that since this Salazar guy seemed cool in his opinion. The two of them soon fell into easy conversation unaware that the pink skinned girl was now looking back at them.
Battle Center C
Rex and Denki kept casual conversation even as their bus arrived at their battle center; however, it wasn't long until they were interrupted.
"Hello there!" It was the girl with pink skin and horns approaching the two of them which made Denki blush a bit. "Are you two excited about this, or what?"
Rex softly elbowed Denki getting him to speak. "Yeah, I think we both are."
"Thinking you are? That isn't a certain response." The pink girl commented. "If your friend here is up for it, I think we'd both help you be a little more certain. Anyways, my name's Mina Ashido. What are yours?"
"Fairly certain that's not what he needs exactly." Rex commented before smiling. "As for my name, it's Rex Salazar."
"I'm Danki Kaminari." Denki answered. "If you don't mind me asking, what kind of Quirk do you have?"
"Acid." Mina answered proudly before holding out a finger and letting a drop of pale green liquid fall onto the pavement disintegrating a speck of it. "I've got more, of course, but I don't want to accidentally melt someone, ya know? How 'bout you two?"
"Electrification." Denki answered now more confident as the conversation went on. "I can generate electricity and cover my body in it. Though, I shouldn't be around anyone unprepared to handle it since I have little control the further from my body it gets."
"Oh, then you must have worked on a killer close combat style of fighting." Mina declared.
"That's actually a good idea." Denki chuckled weakly. "I have general ideas, but I haven't cemented anything." He quickly looked at Rex to avoid follow up questions. "What about you, Rex?"
"I have…" Rex was fully willing to tell them until he noticed the doors opening. "Sorry, you two can come find me once the mock battle is over, and I'll tell you. Right now, I got to get moving."
He lowered his goggles and built his Boogie Pack before taking off over the crowd.
"Whoa, now I really want to know what his Quirk is." Mina/Denki thought.
This was followed by confusion as to why he suddenly left. Many other examinees were just as confused while others were shocked, and a few were angered he didn't wait for a countdown. Rex simply hadn't cared about waiting and wanted to take off the moment the doors opened.
"Right, let's start!" Present Mic yelled over the speaker system. "Why are you all standing around!? There's no count down in a real battle! RUN RUN RUN RUN!"
Battle Center C
Rex noticed a robot, about twice as tall as he was, shooting out of an alleyway. On several plates of its body, he noticed the number 'one' which indicated its point value. Rex swopped down palming the robot and letting his nanites do the work to shut it down.
The guy then flew back up and took stock of his surroundings. He could now see many robots rampaging and destroying buildings. It likely wouldn't be long before the other students caught up, so Rex decided to targeted the largest group of robots he could see.
He flew in and palmed robot after robot using his nanites to shut them down. Each one was worth one to three points, and he would not stop there. Rex merely flew on working to truly garner all the points he could.
Of course, once he saw the other applicants, Rex took care in not getting in their way. He didn't want them to potentially strike him by accident. Eventually, he came to a stop in midair as he noticed several buildings collapsing nearby, as if being shoved aside.
From the debris this caused, a gargantuan robot, taller than the buildings around it, emerged. There were no markings to indicate its point value, which meant that was the zero-pointer. That kind of seemed like a raw deal to Rex. The hardest one to beat, yet it's worth nothing.
"Maybe this is to test on knowing when to retreat." Rex reasoned.
That seemed the most likely explanation, and while Rex would have loved to see about taking that thing down, it wouldn't prove anything given its lack of a point value. Ultimately, leaving it to take down the robots with points would be best.
Before he could fly off to continue securing points, something caught his attention as every other applicant was panicking. He noted how the gargantuan robot was locked on them. That alone meant leaving this was more of a danger than he thought.
"I haven't tried my technopathy on something that big, but my builds seem good at tearing through robots." Rex thought. "Might as well go with the sure-fire thing."
Granted, he hasn't used them on something that big, but he had something in mind that should ensure he takes the hurdle off line. Rex flew back a bit before blitzing towards the gargantuan robot at top speed while throwing in a barrel roll.
This drew the robot's attention to him as it prepared to punch him with its giant fist. Rex pressed on, and once he was certain the momentum was there, he shifted builds to the Smack Hands before having them perform the Combat Drill.
As the robot moved to punch Rex, he tore through the fist like paper and kept moving through the arm. All his prior momentum, coupled with having something solid to move through, helped him drill through the robot faster than the electricity could shock him.
When he eventually judged it was time, Rex moved up drilling clean through the head of the robot and popping back out in the air where he shifted builds back to the Boogie Pack. The robot powered down and became stationary as applicants stooped panicking.
"ONE MINUTE REMAINING!" Present Mic boomed.
Rex lowered closer to the ground before addressing everyone with a smile and crossed arms. "Provided none of you go messing with the hurdle, you should be good to finish racking up points." He flew off. "I know that's what I'm going to do!"
Many of the applicants were simply stunned one of them managed to seemingly take that thing down easily, but it wasn't long before Rex's words sunk in. They started moving to garner as many points as they could. Especially with competition like him around.
With the remaining time, Rex took down as many of the remaining robots as possible before Present Mic's voice rang out. "THAT'S IT! TIME IS UP!"
Rex sighed as he landed near the gate and moved his goggles back to his head. The guy then took out a piece of jerky from one of his pockets and began munching on it. A snack certainly wouldn't suffice to satiate his appetite, but it'd tide him over until he got something filling.
"Rex!" Mina/Denki called out.
Rex looked to see the pair running up to him.
"We saw what you did to the large robot, and it was amazing!" Mina exclaimed.
"Yeah man." Denki nodded. "Are those builds your Quirk?"
"They're part of it." Rex answered with a smile. "My Quirk is called 'Evo'. I have some durability, a minor healing factor, technopathy, and those builds. Though the last part consumes energy hence the snack."
"That Quick is awesome!" Denki exclaimed. "A real Hero's Quirck if you ask me!"
"Yeah, I bet you racked up the most points in this whole exam." Mina added.
"I honestly lost count of how many I got." Rex responded. "Though, you're probably right. What about you two?"
Even though he had just met these guys today, Rex would have been sad if he took too many points from them.
"I think I kept track well enough and earned a good 31 points." Denki informed.
"I believe mine should be somewhere around forty, but I lost count after seeing you stop the hurdle." Mina confessed. "Still, I feel confident about my chances when it came to the practical exam. The written part though…blech!"
"Yeah, that was rough." Denki agreed.
Both made an exaggerated face.
"Don't like test on paper, huh?" Rex chuckled. "If we get in, I wouldn't mind helping you two study."
"Well, aren't you confident?" Mina giggled as she gave him a light shove.
"Eh, it's how I roll." Rex responded. "Hey, it should be easy for you to feel the same since the test is over."
"Nah, not as easy as it is for you." Denki commented.
Mina nodded in agreement. "The suspense is gonna kill me until I get my results!"
Salazar Residence: 1 Week Later, Night…
The letter from UA High arrived, and the whole family gathered in the living room eager to discover the results of Rex's entrance exam. Upon the youngest Salazar opening his letter, he found a holoprojector inside and activated it.
"Hello, Salazar!" A booming voice they recognized declared as a video began to play on the living room wall. "I am here to announce the results of your exam!"
"Hm, it makes sense they'd have All Might do this since he'll be a teacher this year." Caesar noted.
"That's right!" All Might continued, obviously oblivious to what was said within the room. "You're looking at the newest faculty member of UA. From here on out, it will be my privilege to teach the next generation of Heroes.
Now, I'm sure you're dying to know how you did, so let's get on with it!" He laughed, bringing grins to the faces of his audience. "Salazar Rex, as you know, we receive many applicants each year, and select only those that show the highest promise.
Regarding your written exam, you passed with a near perfect score showing you got the brains to be one of the greats!" Rex's family cheered and clapped at that before quieting as All Might spoke again. "Now, for your practical exam.
The huge man's grin widened. "You were made aware that points would be awarded for every robot you faced, and in that alone, you scored the highest of anyone in the whole exam with a whopping eighty-seven points."
That made the other Salazars cheer even more for Rex's success. Caesar gave him a fist bump, Violeta wrapped him in a hug, and Rafael hi-fived him. As if he had expected there to be some kind of delay, All Might had paused for a few seconds. Now, he continued.
"Not only that, but there were other factors we did not reveal in the briefing." All Might continued. "During the exam, a panel of judges observed students and awarded what we call 'Rescue Points' for heroic acts. After all, what good would a Hero Academy be if we did not look out for those who seek to protect and inspire others?"
"Is this about what I did to the zero pointer?" Rex questioned internally.
"You noticed the panic brought on by the zero pointer and did not hesitate to act in ensuring the safety of your fellow examinees when they needed it. Through your words and actions, you inspired them to push harder with what little time remained. Because of this, you earned yourself a further thirty-three rescue points!" All Might exclaimed.
"Salazar Rex, your villain points alone would have made you the top applicant this year, but your added rescue points enables me to say you are the most qualified to enter my Alma Mater!" Taking a step forward, as if to approach the dumbstruck teen, All Might held out a hand. "It is my pleasure to welcome you, Rex. You are now part of the Hero Academia!"
The video froze, and the Salazar family were quiet for a few moments.
Then, Caesar hugged Rex. "Way to go hermano!"
"Just as I said, he crushed the exam." Rafael declared proudly.
After Caesar let Rex go, Violeta captured him in a bone crushing hug. "Well done, hijo."
Rex was happy to finally have solid proof he could be a Hero. Any lingering doubts from before he developed the ability to make builds was eradicated. He was now solidly on the path to becoming a Hero.
From here on out, he'd work to one day take over as the number one. Of course, that was for tomorrow while tonight was about celebrating the fact that he made it into the best Hero Academy in all of Japan.
UA: Day's Later, Morning…
Rex was dressed in his uniform and making his way to Class 1-A earlier than he normally headed to any class prior. Considering this was his first day at Hero Academy, he was more than willing to make an exception. Given his excitement, it didn't take long to reach the door.
"This is where it all begins." Rex thought before he pushed it open.
Class 1-A
Even though Rex had arrived earlier than normal, there were already a handful of students here. Two of them were girls talking quietly to one another, one with long black hair done up in a stylish ponytail, and the other with short hair of the same color.
Neither of them looked too odd, though the one with the short hair did have what looked to be an auxiliary jack hanging from her earlobes. Three boys were in the classroom, though none of them were speaking to each other. The one that grabbed his attention first was sitting in the back.
His expression was completely passive. The right side of his face was framed by pure white hair and had a brown eye while the left side contained a sky-blue eye framed by red hair. Perhaps even more startling than the variety of colors was the nasty burn scar on his left side.
"How did he get that?" Rex wondered before looking at the other two guys.
The next student was a blond with a thick, muscular tail that reached up to rest on his left shoulder. The tail was hairless, save for a small tuft of blond hair that matched the student's head. The last student had spiky red hair.
He flashed a large grin before getting up to greet the new arrival. "Hey there!" He stopped a couple feet away from Rex. "You here for the Hero Course?"
"You know it." Rex responded before holding up a fist.
"Nice to see this class will have a chill guy." The red head bumped fists. "My name's Eijiro Kirishima."
"Name's Rex Salasar." Rex declared, which caused Kirishima to look at him in awe. "What's up?"
"Are you that guy who took down over half the robots in your Battle Center, including the zero-pointer?" Kirishima asked excitedly.
"Is that how many robots it took to get the points I did?" Rex shrugged genuinely. "I kind of lost count as the time ticked by."
"Dude!" Kirishima laughed. "I've heard some of the students saying you'll be the next All Might."
"I could believe that." A familiar voice spoke up from behind them causing both boys to turn and see Mina Ashido at the door. "I watched him drill right through the zero-pointer like it was paper."
"Yo, Ashido!" Kirishima greeted before moving forward to hi-five the pink girl. "You saw this guy in action? What was he like?"
It was apparent from the familiarity of his tone that they knew each other. Rex decided to bow out of the conversation and took his assigned seat. Though, he had to admit it was nice to hear people talking about him this way rather than how good his Quirk was for the Support Course.
The class quickly started to fill over the next couple of minutes with that blue-haired guy arriving. He soon started lecturing people about the proper treatment of their equipment. As tempted as Rex was to purposely ruffle him, he decided to instead observe his classmates.
The boys outnumbered the girls by about three to one, according to his estimate. Though there were still a couple of people left that hadn't arrived. Everyone seemed friendly enough if you discounted the half and half guy & the blond-haired guy.
The former kept to himself while the blond, who Rex had seen talk down that one green haired kid, was slouching in his seat. That boy was loud and obnoxious, so it was no surprise the blue haired guy took issue with him.
"Stop disrespecting school property!" The bespectacled teenager demanded.
"Eh?" The other boy drawled. "Did they shove a stick up your ass at whatever prep school you came from, or were you born with it?"
To the blue haired guy's credit, he forced himself to calm down. "Let's try starting over." He extended his hand. "I'm Tenya Iida from the Somei Private Academy."
"Somei, huh?" The blond boy snorted. "That means you think you're better than me, huh? Well, I'm going to enjoy tearing you a new one."
At the last of his words, the boy's face split with what could only be described as a feral grin.
The bespectacled boy recoiled. "You would threaten your own classmate!? Are you sure that you're in the right class?"
"Seriously, what's your problem?" Rex asked.
The blond boy scoffed at the blue haired guy and shot a glare Rex's way. Before he could respond, the door slid open to reveal that green haired kid. He looked a little frazzled when he saw the blue and the blond, but he said nothing as nearly every eye turned to examine him.
The bespectacled boy went over to introduce himself and apologize. They were still conversating when the final member of their class showed up. A short girl with brown hair and rosy cheeks that gave her a cute appearance.
She seemed to know the green-haired boy, who had introduced himself as Izuku Midoriya, and went about congratulating him on getting into the school with an energy that seemed to rival Mina's.
"I wonder if he's the other one people have been talking about." Kaminari commented from his seat next to Rex.
"Oh, what'd he do?" Rex asked interested.
"Supposedly, he took down a zero-pointer as well." Kaminari responded. "From what I heard; it was with quite the display of theatrics as well."
Despite doing his utmost to take it down, Rex hadn't found the colossal robot difficult to deal with. Sure, it was large, but its slow movements provided ample opportunity. Sure, offensive Quirks lent themselves well to that endeavor, but he was certain others could have done the job.
Rex was about to say something back, but everyone's attention was diverted to a bizarre sight. It was a man laying within a sleeping bag at the door. He was staring at the students in his doorway with bleary, uninterested eyes.
"If you're just here to make friends, you can pack up your stuff now." The man spoke. "Welcome to UA's Hero Course." He unzipped the sleeping back and stood up. "My name is Shota Aizawa, and I am your teacher.
It took you all eight seconds to shut up when I first got here which won't do." He dug around in his sleeping back before pulling out a blue shirt with the school's initials done in red and white across the front. "Put these on and come outside."
I'm just going to say I am not going the Rex x Mina route. With that out of the way, Rex takes his entrance exam where he observes some blond being harsh with a green haired guy. I might be wrong in how I portrayed it, but I would like to think Rex wouldn't interject in a situation that is basically already over after mere harsh words. You got to remember that while I am trying to adhere to who Rex is, he's not exactly the same here.
This Rex has never lost his memories, has always had his initial family rather than being with a found family, and hasn't spent the last five years in a world overrun by Evos. Again, I could be wrong, and you are all free to think what you will. Anyways, Rex ends up running into Denki and Mina. The former is mainly here because as you can imagine, someone needs to be dropped from Class 1-A. I know there are other people I could drop, but I just really don't like Mineta.
What I will say is that those who erase Mineta never really seem to think about Kaminari as this essentially loses him the person that was essentially his best friend before he started really leaning into the Baku-squad. I think if you subtract Mineta and give him a better influence, Denki could be a good friend for Rex. Mina is basically here just because I figured why not. While I not going Mina x Rex, maybe a Mina x Denki is in the cards. We'll see.
Guest: Thank you for the review.
Maximum Rhapsody: To first address your ship idea, it is a possibility. Aside from not wanting to do Rex x Mina, as well as potentially Rex x Momo since I get the feeling people might expect that, pretty much any other girl is fair game. Melissa could be a good one, but we'll have to see how things pan out before the events of that movie. Then, see how I feel actually writing that movie provided I don't have another love interest in mind at the time.
As for a potential virus, we'll see what happens. Finally, Van Kleiss. I have plans on how he'll influence the villain's side. Clearly his Quirk here could be quite powerful, but beyond that, his influence, whatever it might be, might just be enough to balance out the tipped balance the heroes have seen in this universe i mean, beyond Rex there is a version of Six who is appropriately the sixth ranked hero.