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HEROES OF TOMORROW

Issue #29: The Rescue Exam

The moment he saw the buffet at the end of the anteroom, Wade grabbed a plate and loaded it with snacks. He then walked back to the others as they were talking. "So, you actually beat the girls from Seiai Academy," he asked with his mask halfway up until his mouth was exposed and he had a mouthful of crackers. "I heard they're an all-girls school. They must have been very tough to fight."

"Oh, like you wouldn't believe it," Jiro said, grinning at Wade. "You should have seen Yaomomo. She was amazing."

Momo took a bite of a cake pop and placed a hand on her cheek. "Oh, I don't know about amazing," she said humbly as she looked at the floor, feeling embarrassed.

"Not amazing? You completely turned a battle around when you guys were about to lose. That was really impressive," Wade said with a smile and food in his mouth. Hearing her boyfriend praise her made Momo smile and feel so happy.

"We were all amazing out there," Mina exclaimed as she and Ochaco jumped in from both sides and hugged Momo around her neck. "Our entire class passed the test!"

"I know! I'm so excited! Nothing could stop us!" Ochaco added with a big smile. The others with them cheered as Wade watched.

He would have joined in, but he was currently eating his snack. It was hard to believe, but he was so close to the end. He and his classmates made it through the first half of the exam. Whatever came next would be the final step in the Provisional Hero License exam, and they had to be ready for whatever they would throw at them.

However, as he swallowed the chips in his mouth, he noticed a familiar face on his way to the hero. "So, you made it, huh?" Bakugo said with an angry expression on his face. Though that wasn't anything new. Wade thought it was his permanent bitch-face. "How'd you manage that, bug?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Wasn't that hard, but they were pretty tough," Wade said, wiping his hands on his costume. He knew what was coming next. It's been a while since Bakugo took a jab at him or tried to act superior. Ever since Kamino, he hasn't been near as mean to Wade.

"Bet that second Quirk All Might gave you made it easier," Bakugo said, walking past his rival. Wade nearly jumped out of his suit in shock and fear. What did he just say? "I can see why All for One wants it."

Wade stared at the explorer in confusion and anxiety. How did he know? That's when Wade remembered how they rescued him and the story his friends told him about their plan. They were right there, right when he was talking to All for One when he talked about One for All. Meaning they heard their conversation. Did Bakugo piece together the whole story, or is he just going off of what he had heard from him and the ultimate villain? And if so, was that the reason he's been acting strangely lately?

The young Spider was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Mera speaking through the intercom once again. "Alright, for the 100 of you who passed the first test, please turn your attention to the screen," he said, referring to the big screen in the anteroom.

Wade turned towards it and saw it was displaying the battlefield he and the other 99 students fought on not even five minutes ago. "Why are they showing the test arena again," he asked.

"What's gonna happen next," asked Ochaco.

Their answer came when one of the buildings suddenly exploded on the middle floor, causing the top part of it to slide off and fall onto the ground. Then, another building was destroyed by multiple explosions from within and fell over. The oil refinery part of the arena had numerous explosions going off, as well as the mountain range. Everyone in Class 1-A and the other schools was utterly stunned and shocked as more and more explosions occurred in the arena, shaking the floor they were standing on. The only thing going through their heads was one thought: why?

"There's only one more exam to go. Your goal is simple: undertake rescue exercises and save the bystanders who are trapped in these disaster sites."

Wade felt a drop of sweat rolling down the left side of his face. "So, that's it, huh," he asked. This means he'll actually be rescuing civilians from a disaster site.

"Use this time to show us how you will carry out successful procedures once you receive your provisional licenses. Treat this as though it were the real deal."

"On the screen," said Shoji through one of his multi-limbs.

When Sato saw what he was seeing, he gasped in shock. "Little kids and old people?!" he exclaimed, pointing at the hundreds of people, young and old, who were inside the disaster zone, looking injured and frightened.

"That's so dangerous—why are they here?" Mineta asked.

"These specialists have been trained as professional 'person-in-need-of-rescue,' or PINOR for short. They're very popular." The screen then shows a group of the PINORs together, posing like they were heroes. "I'd like to introduce the 'Help Us Company,' also known as the HUC for short."

"So, they're basically actors, I guess?" Sero said with his arms crossed.

Tsu placed a finger on her chin and said, "It's the kind of job you never think about."

"But a necessary one in our world," said Ojiro.

"Especially since they support our Hero Training," Momo added.

"The HUC bystanders have dressed up like injured victims and will be located throughout the disaster site. We'll be judging how well you keep them safe as you go along with your mission. Oh, by the way. We'll be scoring you on a point system. If you have more points than the benchmark at the time the exercise comes to an end, then you pass the exam. We'll start in ten minutes. Take care of any necessary preparations now."

As everyone broke off to prepare for the exam, Iida walked up to his friend and said to Wade, "This looks familiar."

Wade gulped down the dry lump in his throat. "I wish it didn't," he admitted to Iida. "I wonder if they based this test off what happened in Kamino."

"The situations are indeed similar," Momo said to her boyfriend, "but our only goal then was to rescue you from the villains. We left the Pros to handle the search and recovery."

"Well, I was part of the search and recovery part," Wade said, pointing to his spider symbol with his thumb. "I had to rescue Dad and help him recover his memories."

"This is serious, Wade," said Iida with a frown. "Remember, there were many casualties."

Wade sighed and looked down, pulling down his mask over his mouth. "I know," he said, remembering the sights he saw on that morning. Destroyed buildings, hundreds of people dead or dying under the rubble and debris as the Heroes worked tirelessly to save their lives and save their families and loved ones. It was a tragic and horrific moment that still shocked Wade's mind when thinking about it. He felt powerless to do anything about it at the moment. However, memories of the disaster fueled the fire in his heart to give this test his all. If they want him to treat it like the real thing, he'll give it his all.

"WADE WALKER!"

Wade snapped out of his state and looked to his left to see Kaminari and Mineta running toward him. "Yeah? What's up—?"

Suddenly, he was tackled by the two as they grabbed his uniform and hair, glaring at him with jealousy in their eyes. "What were you doing while the rest of us were just trying to stay alive, you bastard!?" Mineta yelled.

"We know you have three girlfriends, but were you just using this test to add more to your harem?!" Kaminari yelled. "Was this all a joke to you?!"

The next thing they knew was Wade zapping. Kaminari wasn't too affected, while Mineta fell to the ground, twitching from being electrocuted. "Hands off, you idiots!" Wade yelled while glaring comically white eyes and sharp teeth. He let out a sigh and said, "Alright, which one of you knuckleheads is going to tell me what the hell is all about?"

Mineta, recovering first, pointed at someone with tears in his eyes. "Don't play stupid with us!" He yelled. "What devious things were you doing with that Uber hottie?"

"'Uber hottie,'" Wade asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked up at what he was pointing at. That's when he realized that he was pointing at Camie, the catsuit-wearing hot girl who got naked in front of him.

Hearing the commotion and realizing that she was being talked about, Camie looked at three boys. At first, she looked at the perverts strangely. However, when Camie and Wade locked eyes with one another, she became happy that he was looking at her. The blonde beauty smiled and waved at him, giggling as he blushed under his mask.

However, Camie's showing Wade affection broke Mineta, and he shrieked. "The casual greeting of a man and woman whose sexual relationship has advanced several bases!" he screamed with tears in his eyes.

"Just how Plus Ultra did you end up going with her?!" Kamiari yelled, ready to pounce on Wade.

BONK

He and Mineta were hit on the head by Mina and Momo, both of them looking at the class perverts with disgust in their eyes. Knocking them out for a few seconds.

Wade sighed in relief as he looked around and said, "Wait until I get my hands on Sero!"

However, he was stopped by a gripping fear when the young man felt two dark auras, and they were coming from his two girlfriends.

"So, you saw that girl in the nude," asked Momo with her arms folded and her face covered with a look of disapproval.

"Well, babe?" Mina grabbed his ear through his mask and pulled on it. She pouted and glared at him with envy in her eyes. "Did you see a girl's most valuable parts? When you haven't even seen ours?"

"Ow! Ow! Wait, stop!" Wade cried in pain as Mina pulled harder on his ear. "Listen, whatever you think you heard is wrong! I didn't see anything! It was a side effect of her Quirk!"

This got the attention of the two girls, and Mina let him go. "Her Quirk?" Momo asked as Wade rubbed his ear.

"Yeah, she transformed into Ochaco to get close to me," he said with his hands up. "She nearly tagged me because of it."

Mina looked over at Ochaco as she stood on the side. "Yo, girlfriend? Is that true," she asked her fellow girlfriend.

Ochaco blushed as she nodded her head in confirmation. "Y-Yes. And he's right," the gravity-defying girl said. "She was naked, but she was covered in some kind of goo. From what he told me, she melted off her disguise."

Kaminari and Mineta bounced back from the ground and glared at Wade. "But that still doesn't change the fact that she exposed herself to you," yelled the blonde boy.

"Hey, I didn't have much of a choice when she was trying to scratch my face!" Wade yelled at Kaminari.

"That's just an excuse!" Mineta said as he and others looked back at Camie, who was still waving for some reason.

"Why is she still waving at you?!" Kaminari yelled.

The two perverts were back on Wade ago, shaking him back and forth with looks of desperation. "Give us details, Wade," Mineta pleaded. "I beg you!"

"Nothing happened, dammit!" Wade yelled as his girlfriends came up to him and pulled the perverts off him.

Meanwhile, just a few feet away from the chaotic scene, Kirishima was eating a donut when he saw a group of people approaching. "Oh, hey, it's Shiketsu," he said, bringing an end to the fight as Wade and the others turned around to see what was going on.

It was just as he said, three students from Shiketsu walked up to Kirishima and Bakugo. Leading the group was Nagamasa Mora. He was a tall student covered entirely by light brown hair, with no distinct features besides his eyes, which only show up occasionally. His hero costume featured only a pair of dark pants, a belt, plus the peaked cap that was part of Shiketsu High's uniform.

Behind him were Yoarashi and Camie. Bakugo's eyes were drawn to the girl until Mora began speaking. "Bakugo."

Turning his attention away from Camie, Bakugo looked at the hairy student. "What?"

"I think you met Shishikura in the test," said Mora. "My classmate with the flesh-molding power?"

Wade walked up to Kirishima and said, "You guys really fought someone like that?"

"Yeah, it was really creepy," said the redhead.

"And I took him out," Bakugo said to both Wade and the Shiketsu students.

"I thought so," said Mora, to the surprise of Wade and Kirishima. "I'm guessing he may have acted rudely or perhaps offended you. He tends to try and push his own personal agenda and values onto others. He probably couldn't help it in your case since you and Walker are pretty famous. I apologize on his behalf. I'd like to build a good relationship between our schools."

"Friends that try and take us out," Wade said, deadpanning to the fact that they were trying to tag out each other in the last exam.

"Yeah, it's kind of hard to do that when we're pitted against each other, huh?" Mora rubbed the back of his head, realizing how far-fetched his intentions were when their classes went at each other with their powers. "Anyways, that's it."

The three students turned away to leave, but before they could get too far, Todoroki came over and called out Yoarashi. "Hey, you, with the collar."

The collar he was referring to was part of Yoarashi's costume, which consisted of a thick burgundy suit pinned together with yellow buttons, a cape draped over his shoulders, which almost concealed the jetpack-like propulsion system attached to his back, and the aforementioned collar lined with thick fur. His left arm was entirely hidden by the thick, brown material, and his hand sported a large tan glove with air pipes on it, whereas his right arm was exposed, other than the skintight blue sleeve that appeared to be a part of his undersuit. Similarly to his left hand, there were several tubes around his torso and ankles. Plates resembling gas masks pad his knees and left shoulder, large brown shoes, and a pair of goggles around his Shiketsu hat.

Yoarashi stopped but didn't look at Todoroki. "Did I offend you in any way," the duel Quirk user questioned the taller boy.

Wade was wondering what was up with his friend. However, he then saw Yoarashi turning around to face Shoto. It was a look of disgust and disdain for the boy with two-tone hair. The two stood a few feet away from each other, staring at each other as they remained silent. Sensing the tension between them, he stood on standby.

"Oh no, I'm sorry. Did I hurt your feelings?" Yoarashi said sarcastically with a mocking tone of voice. This response surprised Shoto as he was given a cold look. "Well, the thing is, son of Endeavor…I just can't help but hate you and your father. You've changed a little bit since the first time our paths crossed. But you definitely still have your father's eyes."

Shoto gasped.

"Hey, back off," Wade said as he walked into the conversation. However, before any more conflict erupted in the room, Mora was there to stop it.

"Something wrong, Yoarashi," he asked.

Yoarashi instantly turned his personality back around and said, "Nope! Not a thing, sir!"

Wade watched in bewilderment as the hulking boy turned his back to him and Todoroki and walked away to rejoin his team.

"My father's eyes?" Shoto whispered.

Wade turned around and looked at him worriedly. "Hey, buddy, are you okay?"

"See you out there~." Wade yelped and looked around at Camie as she smiled seductively at him and walked away. Why did she give him the creeps?

Before he could hypothesize why, the room was filled with the sound of a fire bell ringing.

"Villains have performed a large-scale terrorist strike against all of [insert city name here]. Since most buildings have collapsed, there are many injured."

"He couldn't even come up with a name for the background story," Wade asked. He cracked his knuckles and crouched down a bit. "Alright, let's do it!"

Just like the last time, the anteroom flowed out and opened to the outside world.

"Due to heavily damaged roads, the first responders have unfortunately been delayed for the time being. Until emergency services arrive, the heroes in the area will lead the rescue efforts. Your task is to save as many people as you can and help the injured. And with that…BEGIN!"

The moment the airhorn blared, the heroes-in-training rushed out onto the field. Wade, just like the first test, stayed with most of the class. "Saving lives is the greatest ambition a hero can have," exclaimed Iida as he ran alongside Wade.

"We'll have to do this properly," Wade said. However, he started thinking about how they would be scored. They were given no information, meaning they were in the dark and would have to rely on their training. "What's the first move, Class Rep?"

"Let's start by heading to the closest urban area," Iida said, leading the others through a large, ruined area filled with destroyed buildings that were reduced to rubble. "We'll work as a team as much as possible."

The other students said, "RIGHT!"

Mina was running alongside Bakugo when she noticed him running off on his own again. "What? You're going on your own again," she asked the explosive blonde.

Wade growled in annoyance. "Dammit! Kirishima, Kaminari, go after him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid!"

"SHUT UP, BUG!" Bakugo roared.

"You got it!" Both boys said, breaking away from the team to follow Bakugo.

"Even though this is just a test, it feels pretty real," Tsuyu said, hopping like a frog instead of running.

"Yeah, it does!" Wade said, gritting his teeth under his mask. "Be careful for falling debris and explosions."

However, he gasped when he heard a voice in the distance and turned his head to look in the direction it came from. It sounded like a child crying. Turning his head to the left, he saw it was coming from a partially destroyed building that was still standing.

"What's wrong, Wade?" Iida said, coming to a stop with the others looking at Spider-Man in confusion.

"There's someone over by that building!" Wade exclaimed, shooting a web-line at the nearest building and started swinging over to the crying child.

A moment later, Wade landed on a still-standing lamp post and looked down at the ground. From his perched position, he saw the boy who was crying for help. "Help me, please! My grandpa! He's been crushed! I think he's hurt!"

"I've found him!" Wade yelled over to the others, who all came running toward their position. When Wade landed on the ground in front of the kid, he looked at him and saw that his head was bleeding under his hat and headset.

However, there was one thing about the kid that didn't make sense.

"Wait, is that a kid or just a tiny man," Wade asked, having never thought he would have to ask that question.

Suddenly, the guy looked up at Wade and yelled, "Seriously?! That's what you're concerned about?! You're just standing around, doing nothing as I bleed here! That's points off your score!"

"What the!?" Wade yelped in shock.

"The first thing you should do is see how bad my injuries are and if I can walk. I'm breathing kind of weird, aren't I? And didn't you notice that I'm bleeding from the head?" The HUC person yelled, lecturing the heroes-in-training as they looked at him in shock. "People with Hero Licenses should be able to judge a victim's condition in an instant!"

That's when Wade realized how this test was going to be graded.

They were all going to be scored by the HUC members!

"Your gross lack of training is all too apparent right now," the small man berated the kids. "You better shape up and pay attention, newbies! You're not just here to provide aid. Until the police and firefighters show up, you need to exercise authority and make sure this goes off smoothly. Think of the victims here. They must be terrified. There are many aspects of being a Hero. But take note. There's one thing to keep in mind above all else.

"Anyone who needs rescuing is having the worst day of their lives. And the first thing that you want to know is if I'm a kid or not. Seriously?!" The HUC member pointed at Wade.

Wade's eyes widened a bit as he realized his mistake. Despite what he told himself before the test began, he was still treating it all like it was a simulation, not as the disastrous event that it was. He had to get back into that mindscape. People could be dead or dying right now. Wade had to pull himself together if he wanted to get that license. Not just so that he could succeed at school, but so that he could succeed at becoming a real hero.

"Right! It's going to be okay! We're here to save the day!" Spider-Man exclaimed. However, the moment he said that, his spidey-senses were triggered. Instinctively, he shielded the HUC member with his body. "GET DOWN!"

BOOM!

All of a sudden, another explosion was set off on the ground floor of the building in front of them. The explosion came out of the front of the building, forcing the kids to shield themselves. Everyone else around the building gasped and looked at it in horror as the building shook. The structure crumbled and creaked, but it remained intact for the most part.

Pulling himself away from the small man, Wade looked at the building, staring at the fire bellowing from the first floor with growing concern. "That…wasn't part of the test, right?" Wade looked at the HUC member worriedly.

And to his horror, the little man looked horrified by the explosion going off. "No…that wasn't…" He quickly pulled out his radio and hit the button. "Hey! Was anyone on the first floor of building 16?!"

"What? No, we're on the 7th floor! What was that?"

"One of the faulty detonators just went off! The building's becoming increasingly unstable!" the man yelled into the radio. "Get out, now!"

"Roger, we—AAH!"

"Hey! What's going on?!" The man yelled into the radio, only to see another explosion going off on the 9th floor, causing the interior to collapse. "Dammit! Okay, that's it! I'm letting Mera know to cancel the test."

"Wait, what?!" Wade exclaimed in shock. "What about our licenses?"

"Sorry, kid, but you're going to have to come back next year and try again," the small man said, pulling out a radio.

Wade's eyes widened under his mask. Retake the test? After they've come so far? They didn't even have a chance to really show what they've got when it came to rescuing. And now everyone, not just UA, was going to have to start all over just because of the Hero Public Safety Commission's incompetence. And for some, this test was likely their last chance to make it and get their license.

The small man was just about to radio in and demand that the exam be canceled when Wade took the walkie-talkie. "Wha—hey!"

"They were on the 7th floor, right," Wade asked the small man.

"What? Yeah, but—"

"And we're here to rescue people, right?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Then let us do what we're here to do!" Wade said with determination. Behind him, the others were standing, ready to spring into action. "I'll take a small team into the building and get them out. Everyone else can get the rest of the people around the area out and stabilize the building. I know I'm asking a lot, but just give us this chance."

The actor raised an eyebrow at the young man. What he was asking was an extremely risky gamble. The building was now extremely unstable, and the imbalance in the support structure meant that it was going to collapse at any moment. It was far too dangerous for them to go inside. Then again, even for ordinary Heroes, it was too risky. In some circumstances, Heroes are forced to perform the same tasks that ordinary people, firefighters, do. They go into unstable and burning buildings to rescue people. So, the fact that these kids were willing to do the same thing is remarkable.

"It's extremely reckless what you're asking to do, but then again, Heroes are forced to do reckless things to save lives," he said, impressed with Wade. "If you can rescue them before the building collapses, I'll reward you all with additional points. Now get in there and do your job before I dock more!"

"R-Right! Tell your lead what's going on and tell him to give us the positions you had your people placed in," Wade told the man. He then turned to the others. "Momo, Iida, you guys handle things out here! Shoto, if that building starts to become unstable, use your ice. Shoji, Mina, Ochaco, you're with me. I'll need you four to help clear out the building."

The building started crumbling and cracking again when Wade said, "Alright, enough talk! Let's do this!"

"Right!" Everyone else yelled before breaking off.

Wade, Shoji, Mina, and Ochaco hurriedly ran together and rushed into the building's main entrance. The interior was a complete wreck, with debris everywhere and most of the support structures having been blown up. There was no point in taking the elevator, not with the building having already been destroyed in the explosion. So, they took a right and ran towards the emergency stairs.

"HELP! SOMEBODY!" The four of them heard the sound of people on the other side of the door, which was blocked by a large, long piece of debris.

"I've got it!" Ochaco said, placing her fingers together. Running over to the debris, she touched it and activated her Quirk, allowing Wade to pick it up and toss it to the side effortlessly.

Opening the door, Wade saw multiple HUC members on the other side. Some were injured, with bruises and blood on them. Whether or not they were indeed injured or just put on makeup didn't matter right now to Wade.

"Everyone, clear out! Evacuate the building!" Wade yelled, standing aside to allow the people to run towards the exit.

"We have Heroes outside waiting for you!" Mina yelled.

One of the HUCs stopped and looked at Spider-Man in despair. "There are still some people on the seventh floor! They're trapped, and there's a fire!"

"We'll find them. But first, you need to go with the others and get to the Heroes. They'll know what to do," Wade said with two hands on the man's shoulders. He gently pushed him towards the exit, encouraging him to run for his life.

"We'd better hurry. I don't think this building's gonna last long," Shoji said, to which Wade nodded, and the four Heroes-in-Training quickly ran up the stairs. Wade could have easily gone ahead and made it to the 7th floor in seconds with ease, but he didn't want his friends to be left behind.

However, on the third floor, the building started shaking again, nearly throwing Wade and his friends off balance before they grabbed the railing.

Suddenly, they felt something hitting the side of the building, causing a large crack to form on the wall next to them. However, it stopped the building from shaking.

"What was that?" Mina exclaimed.

Wade looked around before realizing that it was not only colder but that the wall the crack was forming on was facing the outside world on the other side. He smiled, knowing what had happened.


Outside, there was a giant ice pillar pushing against the building's side, thanks to Todoroki. However, there was no telling how long it would last.

"Hurry up, Wade," he said, frowning at the building.


When they made it to the seventh floor, Wade kicked up the door and called out to the remaining people. "HEY! ANYONE HERE!?"

"Wade! I'm hearing voices coming from that second hallway!" Shoji said with ears formed on some of his tentacles. The taller boy pointed toward the hallway in question, where smoke was coming out, caused by the secondary explosion two floors up.

"Alright, let's go!" Wade said, running towards the smoking hallway.

However, when they turned into the hallway, the four heroes were shocked to see that there were not only multiple fires going on, but a large steel beam blocking their way. On the other side were people crying out for help.

"Help us!" One of them cried out.

"I've got this!" Mina exclaimed with a grin as she rushed towards the beam and placed her hands on it. Using her acid, she started melting down the beam in two. Usually, she would have just thrown her acid at the debris, but with civilians behind it, the pink girl didn't want to risk hitting them and getting them hurt.

Within seconds, she melted through the steel beam and made a path for them to go through.

"Let's go, people!"

"Minus points for recklessly using acid that could've melted the room," one of the HUC members said as they ran past her, making Mina look at them in shock.

"Huh?! We're still being tested?"

"There's still more people back that way!" One woman pointed down the hallway they came from.

"We'll find them," Wade vowed to her as she ran towards the stairs. "Shoji!"

"I'm hearing people in three of the rooms, but I'm also hurrying two people further down the hallway. It sounds like they're trapped," Shoji said.

"I'll get the people that are trapped. You three get the other people," Wade said, before jogging down the apartment's hallway, with the others following behind them. All four of them were determined to save the people trapped.

"That one!"

"I've got it!" Mina exclaimed with a grin as she opened the door Shoji pointed out. She rushed into the apartment to see what appeared to be a mother and an old-looking baby pinned under some rocks.

"Ochaco, go into that room!"

"Right!" Ochaco quickly entered the apartment that Shoji said to go into and looked around. The sound of crying brought her to a broom closet. Opening the door, she saw a little girl inside. "Don't worry, sweety, I'm here to get you out."

Back in the hallway, Shojo stopped at a door and looked at Wade. "This is the last person. All that's left is your people," he said.

"Alright, I'll be back," Wade said, turning and running down the hallway and making a left.

Making that turn brought him to where the other people were pinned down. The ceiling had given way and collapsed down onto the hallway. There was an opening that would allow him to crawl under the rubble. Seeing it, Wade rushed over to the opening and crouched down.

"Please, help us!" One of the two women pinned down cried out to Wade. "We can't move, we're pinned down!"

Spider-Man nodded and quickly crawled over to them. When he reached the two civilians, he stood up and placed his hands on the rubble above himself. It was a giant piece of the floor from the 8th floor that fell and pinned the two women under it.

"I'll lift it," Wade said, looking down at the two desperate actors. "When you're free, get out, fast! If you can walk, help the injured. Got it?"

"Y-Yes," said the other woman.

Sucking in a breath of air, Wade started to lift with his superhuman strength. However, that didn't make it any easier. Yet despite this, Spider-Man lifted the debris off the woman, giving them some room to reveal the weight of their bodies.

However, just before they could get free, someone else made their presence known.

"Hey, handsome~." Wade gasped and looked up when he heard the familiar voice. Looking up, he saw Camie through a hole in the ceiling, sitting on the edge as she gave Wade bedroom eyes. "You look like you can use some help~."

"Uh, yeah! Quick, get down here and help pull them out of the rubble!" Wade said, believing that Camie had come to help them.

However, Camie didn't seem all that eager to help out, though she was happy to see Wade. Dropping down to the 7th floor, the bodysuit-wearing girl swayed her hips as she approached the boy. Spider-Man and the two women didn't know what was going through Camie's head, but Wade's eyes widened as she pulled out a syringe from behind her waist.

"Actually, I was thinking you could help me out with something I need," Camie said with a seductive voice.

Wade's eyes widened as his spider-senses alerted him the moment before Camie rushed at Wade with the syringe. Thinking quickly, Wade took his left hand off the rubble he was holding up, causing it to fall down onto his shoulders. Then, he grabbed Camie's wrist and stopped her from sticking the needle into him.

However, Camie wasn't stopped by him. Letting it go, the blonde girl let it drop before catching the syringe in her other hand. Then, she stabbed Wade with it.

"GAH!" Wade yelled in pain before kicking Camie away. She was still holding the syringe in her hand. "What the fuck, girl!?"

The building started shaking again, making Wade look up. Suddenly, two broken pieces of the 9th floor came down onto the rubble over Wade's head. Smashing down on him and adding more debris that he would have to lift up and off of the two pinned women.

"Wade! Are you okay!?" Wade heard his girlfriend, Ochaco, calling out to him.

"O-Ochaco! Help!" Wade yelled.

On the floor, Camie looked at her syringe and pouted at the drop of blood she'd gotten from Wade. "Well, that should be enough," she said, standing up. Camie then winked at Wade and blew him a kiss. "Bye~!"

And with that, she jumped back through the same hole she came from and walked away, leaving Wade to his fate with the two pinned women.

"Wade!" Ochaco and Mina yelled as they rushed over to their boyfriend with Shoji behind them.

Pushing his wonders about why Camie would stick a needle into him into the back of his mind, Wade called upon One-for-All and activated Battle Focus. As his body started glowing, Wade grunted and yelled as he used his powerful and godlike strength to lift the debris over his head. Finally, allowing the women to move free.

"Go, go, go!" He yelled through gritting teeth.

Both quickly crawled out from under the rubble and made it to the other three heroes. Once they were out of the way, Wade threw the rubble up and flipped out of the way. Allowing the debris to crash down on the floor, blocking the way to get to his girlfriends and Shoji.

"Thank you," one of the women said through a space between the cluster of rebar and concrete.

"Go down the stairs and get out of the building!" Shoji pointed down the hall they came from. Both women nodded and ran.

"Wade! Are you okay?!" Ochaco yelled, worried for her beloved boyfriend.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Wade said, looking behind himself to see that he'd cornered himself. However, there was still the hole that Camie came from. "Shoji, was that everyone?!"

"Yeah! I can't hear anyone else!" The tentacle boy said.

Wade nodded as he sweated under his mask. "Alright, go out the way we came! I'll find another way," he said.

"Are you sure?" Mina asked, just as worried at Ochaco. "I can melt the debris."

"There's no time!" Wade yelled. "Not when the building's gonna collapse at any moment. Now go!"

The three students looked at one another in shock, not sure what to do. However, they knew that if there was anyone who could find a way to make it out on his own, Wade was that one.

"You better come out alive!" Ochaco said. With that, she and the others ran down the hallways toward the emergency stairs. Wade then turned and jumped up into the 8th floor. It was time to try out one of his suit's newest features.


Outside, Momo had successfully led the rescue of everyone in and around the area. It was pretty impressive to the HUC actors, who saw her leadership skills as those equal to that of a hero team leader. Directing who would go where, how they should use their powers, and having some students take "injured" civilians to safe spaces. However, they still had to move quickly and get everyone away from the building, as the ice pillar Todoroki had made started to crack and break under the weight of the building.

Momo was standing on a rock, still directing the rescue operation, when she turned back to the building. She saw the last two actors running over, as well as Shoji, Mina, and Ochaco. However, there was still someone missing.

"Where's Wade," she asked when three ran over to her.

Suddenly, on the 8th floor, Wade jumped through an opened window. As he started falling towards the ground, he straightened out his body and placed his arms against his sides.

And then he pulled his arms away, revealing a pair of web-like wings, just like the ones on a wingsuit.

"WWWWHHHOOOOOOOAAAAA!" Wade yelled at the top of his lungs as he glided across the sky above the others. Flying as free as a bird, as the observers were just as shocked and amazed by Wade's new ability. His girls were cheering and waving to him, along with some of his friends.

As he smiled at them, Wade's attention was caught by the sight of a familiar-looking girl. He saw Camie, having somehow escaped the building, walking away as if nothing had happened. Wade frowned, wanting to know what the girl's deal was.

However, his attention was brought back to the apartment complex when the ice finally broke and gave way. Wade gasped and looked back. He landed on a nearby building and watched as the building started moving again. Then, the building toppled over like a tree. It was slow, but soon, it smashed down onto the ground, breaking apart into hundreds of pieces as a giant dust cloud erupted from it.

Wade's wide eyes watched the event unfold, realizing just how close he was to having been killed in that building if he hadn't gotten out as soon as he could. Spider-Man would have to remember to thank Melissa for the upgrade.

Placing his hand on his ear, Wade took a moment to contact Momo. "Girls! Are you okay down there?" he asked on the phone inside of his mask as he looked down at the girls.

On the ground, Momo held her phone to her ears as she smiled up at Wade, once again being amazed by her boyfriend. "We're okay, Wade," she said. However, Mina cut in when she grabbed the phone while Momo still held it.

"You can fly now?!" Mina screamed into the phone with a giant grin on her face. "When were you going to tell us?!"

Wade chuckled for a moment and said, "I wanted it to be a surprise. So, what's the plan now?"

Momo wrestled the phone away from Mina and cleared her throat. "Everyone made it out of the area safely before the building fell. But we've still got a lot of work to do," she said, pacing a bit. "Iida and Todoroki have already taken a small team to other locations of the arena. I'll send Mina, Ochaco, and I will stay in the urban area."

"I'll go to the safe area and see if the students there need help," Wade said, looking over at the safe area on the other side of the arena. Hopefully, there won't be any more surprises.

BOOM!

Wade gasped when there was a massive explosion a mile away from the safe area. Creating a hole in the arena's wall that now had smoke billowing from it. "What the hell?!"

However, that wasn't the only explosion. The explosions detonated from various areas across the ground, sending everyone into a panic as they ran to escape.

"Wade! What was that?!" Ochaco yelled on the phone.

"I-I don't know! Something just set off a bunch of explosions!" Wade said on the comms. That's when Mera came onto the intercom.

"A villain has completed another large-scale attack."

"It's part of the exam!" Wade said on the phone, still alarmed by this new development in the test's storyline.

"You think you're right," Momo asked, becoming worried. "That means…"

Wade looked back toward the hole that was made in the initial explosion. That's when his eyes widened when multiple bad guys came walking out of it, following their leader.

The Number Ten Hero: Gang Orca.

With a simple snap of his fingers, Gang Orca unleashed his men onto the battlefield. All of them rushed out to fight the heroes.

"The terrorists have appeared and are swiping the area. Hero candidates at the scene should continue their rescue efforts while also suppressing the newly-arrived villains."

"They're really pushing us," Wade said, even though he was nervous. Even for a Pro, this kind of fight would be difficult.

"We're really going to have to fight villains?!" Mina exclaimed on the other line. "Aren't they going a little far?"

"Apparently not," Wade said, getting ready to jump off the building. "Can you girls handle the villains and keep the rescuing going?"

"You can count on us, Wade!" Ochaco said with a grin, holding a thumbs up at Wade. "Go and be a hero!"

"Aren't we all trying to be a hero?" Wade quipped, earning him a giggle from the girls before hanging up. Activating Battle Focus, Wade concentrated his power on his legs and took a deep breath. "Alright, here I GOOOOOO!"

Wade yelled as he jumped off the building using 30% of his power, destroying the spot he was on and sending him rocketing across the sky. In the air, he opened his web-wings, allowing the wind to carry him across the arena within seconds. And it was a good thing he acted quickly, as Gang Orca and his men were charging the safe area. The heroes that were there stood no chance of beating that many of them, never mind a Pro Hero.

"Oh no, you don't!" Wade yelled, closing the wings of his suit. He pulled his legs to his body and then kicked them back out, creating a shockwave that sent him flying towards the ground. At the same time, he charged a Venom Slash into his right leg.

Landing in the middle of the pack, Wade stumped down on the ground, destroying the ground around him and sending out a wave of electricity. Shocking all of the goons as they were ragdolled into the air, yelling in pain.

"Get out of here!" Wade yelled at the heroes-in-training behind him as they hurriedly gathered the injured people. "Get them as far away from the villains as possible! I'll hold them off."

Wade turned around when he felt his spider senses…

…only to see Gang Orca in front of him.

"Hold this off," the Hero said.

Wade gasped and jumped into the sky at the last moment before Gang Orca unleashed hypersonic waves that would have paralyzed Wade if it had hit him. One of the many abilities that were attributed to the Hero by his Orcinus Quirk, which not only granted him the appearance of an Orca but also their abilities. Gang Orca can do anything a regular orca can do, even on land.

Landed on the ground behind Gang Orca, Wade took some deep breaths, feeling more than lucky to have managed to get away from the waves. "Whoa, Shamu? I haven't seen you in…well, actually, I've never been to a Seaworld before. But you're looking good, man," Wade quipped. "Have you been working out?"

"Heh." Gang Orca chuckled as he turned around to look at Wade, rubbing his head. "I was told that you were a bit of a joker. But I also know that you're powerful and with excellent reflexes. It's why I don't have any problems using my power at full blast."

"Aw, for me? You shouldn't have," Wade said, acting touched. "Tell you what. I'll return the favor!"

With Battle Focus still activated, Wade dashed to the right. He was moving so fast that it was as if he were a bullet. Wade stopped himself a few feet away from Gang Orca's left side. Before the Hero could react, Wade shot a ball of webbing at his face.

Gang Orca, however, held up his hand and blocked the attack with his hand. "Too slow!" The Hero then fired another hypersonic wave at Wade. However, the young hero quickly dashed away again before the impact.

Still going fast as he flew over the ground, Wade fired two web-lines at Gang Orca's back. Feeling them hit him, the Hero grabbed the lines, ripped them off, and turned around. Having seen the videos of Wade's fight with the League of Villains, Gang Orca was expecting the young man to slingshot himself at him for a powerful kick. And so, Orca fired another hypersonic wave.

However, that's not what happened, and he ended up missing. Wade, instead of doing his typical move, hung onto the web-line and allowed the momentum of his dash to carry him. As Gang Orca stood in place, still holding the webbing, he found himself being wrapped around by the line of webbing as Wade circled his body at high speeds, nearly throwing the man off balance.

When the Hero acting as a villain was nice and tied up, Wade cut the lines and flew away from Gang Orca. However, Wade wasn't finished yet. Firing two web-lines at the ground, he stopped his momentum and slingshot himself back at Hero, kicking him in the face and sending him flying across the ground, making him bounce a few times before he came rolling to a halt.

Wade panted for a moment before standing up, smiling under his mask at his work. "Whoa! That actually worked," he asked the Hero. "Honestly, I thought of that one walker from Empire Strikes Back and thought, 'Sure, why not?' But I didn't think that it would work."

Hearing this, Orca let out a laugh as he tried to roll on his side and look at Wade. "Indeed. That was quite impressive," he said with a strained voice. Eventually, he snapped the webbing around himself with his impressive strength and stood up. "You fooled me into thinking that you were going to use a standard attack of yours."

"Yeah, figured that I would have to try some new moves," Wade said, getting in a fighting stance again.

"You can fight me, but you'll still have to defeat my minions," Gang Orca said as more of his men showed up behind their boss.

Wade gritted his teeth. He could handle the lackeys, but Gang Orca would make the fight just as tricky, especially when he's supposed to hold them off and protect the civilians. Spider-Man knew that he was going to need help.

And that help came in the form of a wall of ice rushing at Gang Orca. Sensing it, the Hero quickly turned to his left and destroyed it with a hypersonic wave.

Shocked by the attack against Orca, Wade looked to see where it came from. Upon seeing his friend, he grinned under his mask. "Well, look who showed up!" he called out to Todoroki.

Todoroki was in the middle of rescuing civilians when he saw Wade flying over the safe arena. Thinking that this friend would need help, he left Hagakure and Tsu to continue with the rescue operation while he assisted Wade. As it turned out, he was half right, having seen Wade take down Gang Orca. However, when the goons showed up to defend their boss, the duel Quirk user quickly jumped in to help his friend.

"Wade!" Spider-Man heard another familiar voice and turned around. He was surprised when he saw Ojiro and Tokoyami running over to him. "Are you fighting the terrorists?"

"No, I'm just standing around, looking like I'm going to fight them," Wade retorted as they approached the web-slinger. "Wait, where've you two been?"

"We found hurt people over by the river. Everybody else ran to the city first, so we were searching the outskirts," Ojiro said, pointing with his tail in the direction he and Tokoyami came from. "But we couldn't stand by and watch these villains attack the injured."

"That's what I like to hear. Alright, get to the evacuated people and protect them from any more villains," Wade said, looking back at Todoroki. His friend unleashed another ice attack at Gang Orca, but the Hero blasted it away with his hypersonic waves. "I'm staying behind and keeping G.O. and his goons occupied."

"Right," Tokoyami nodded before he and Ojiro took off.

With the two of them gone, Wade turned his head to the right and saw Gang Orca's sidekicks trying to surround him. All of them were wearing black skin-tight bodysuits that covered them entirely, including their faces and hands, which were decorated with thin white lines over their torsos and various pieces of tan-colored armor pads. Their masks included six diamond-shaped eye holes arranged in a somewhat circular dice pattern, and they're each equipped with a blue and gray Cement Gun on their right arm.

Cement Guns were one of the most popular types of capture weapons in the Hero world, as they allowed sidekicks like Gang Orca's to be still able to immobilize their targets without resorting to lethal force. They were large, round, blue-tinted weapons attached to the arms of their user. They have several holes that fire out streams of liquid cement that dry quickly on contact. They effectively immobilize their target by weighing them down with the cement.

"Alright, ladies. Let's not crowd. There's plenty of me to go around," Wade said, holding up his hands. He walked up to the terrorist with a swagger in his steps, thoroughly confusing the men with how little Wade seemed to be taking this test. "Of course, there's only one me and more of you…and Gang Orca."

"That's right! I would be taking this test more seriously!" One of the sidekicks said, pointing his Cement Gun at Spider-Man. "We've got over thirty guys surrounding you!"

However, Wade simply shot a web-line at the gun and pulled back. Yanking the man off his feet and pulling him towards Wade. The young hero then clotheslined him, causing him to flip in the air and then land on the ground, unconscious.

"Minus one," Wade quipped.

As the other sidekicks got ready to attack, Wade got into a crouching stance. However, Wade felt the wind and air around him beginning to pick up speed.

"Huh?" Wade looked around, trying to find the source of the phenomenon. When he saw nothing, he looked skywards. "What the?"

"I'm gonna blow you evildoers away!" Yoarashi yelled, seemingly standing on air as he displayed the full might of his Whirlwind Quirk. As the name suggested, it granted the user the ability to control the air around them, allowing Yoarashi to manipulate gusts of wind with little to no movement from his body at all, letting him create strong gales and small tornadoes that he had total mastery over.

He unleashed that power by sending down a blast of wind straight into the middle of the battlefield, destroying Todoroki's ice and blowing away some of the terrorists. Gang Orca stood firm against the winds, however. Raising his arms and shielding himself from the intense fight.

"A second villain attack," Yoarashi said, sounding excited. "Man, they really pulled out all the stops for us, didn't they?"

Wade smiled at the taller student who turned down UA, happy to see that his job was about to get a lot easier. Now, there were three of them, all strong attackers. "Hey! Wind guy!" Spider-Man yelled up at the flying boy, getting Yoarashi's attention. "You and Todoroki take on Gang Orca! I'll deal with his goons!"

When he said Shoto's name, Yoarashi's eyes widened as he looked down at the boy he hated. At the same time, Todoroki was just as surprised that Wade would think of such a team-up. Likely thinking that with their shared goals, they would have to work together.

Meanwhile, watching the three students were Aiwaza, Ms. Joke, and Mirko. The three of them were still in the stands together, right above where the fight was taking place. Around them were members of the Hero Public Safety Commission evaluating the test. And just like the agents, Mirko was impressed with Wade's performance in this half of the test.

"Not a bad move," Mirko said with a grin. "He's prioritizing the safety of the first-aid station, which is the cornerstone of the entire rescue effort. Not only that but he's pitted the two most powerful students against Gang Orca as he takes care of the lower villains." She turned to Aizawa to ask him something…

….only to find both him and Ms. Joke looking at her strangely.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's…just…rare to see you say something smart," Ms. Joke said.

This comment pissed off the tomboyish heroine. "Hey, I say smart things!"

Back on the battlefield, Wade was making quick work of the sidekicks. The first three that came at him were quickly knocked out by Wade's spider legs rapidly striking them with lightning-fast speed and zapping them. Another villain came running at him, and Wade responded by jumping over him. Landing behind the man, Wade kicked him in the back, sending him flying. These guys weren't that strong, so using Battle Focus wasn't needed, unlike with Gang Orca.

Speaking of the Hero, the two that were supposed to be holding him off were doing anything but that. "Of course, you're here, too," said Yoarashi in disdain for the son of the new Number One Hero.

Todoroki thought about what the bigger kid had said earlier to him, and it made him angry. But he couldn't afford to be distracted. Turning back to Gang Orca, Todoroki said, "Why don't you go help with the first aid station instead? Your Quirk would be good for that."

Wade heard this as he landed on the ground. "Wait, what?!" He yelled at Todoroki. His sense alerted him before one of the villains could fire a burst of cement at him. Acting quickly, Wade jumped back and shot a burst of webbing at the guy's face, blinding him for a moment. "Dude, just work together!"

Another villain charged at him, but Wade slid under him, tripping one of his legs. Seeing that he was still standing, Wade fired two web-lines at the ground on both sides of the man's legs. Pulling back on the webs, he slingshot himself at the sidekick and punched him in the face with a Venom Punch.

"I can handle Gang Orca," Todoroki insisted, raising his left arm to unleash a blast of fire. However, Yoarashi wasn't going anywhere and prepared to attack. Gang Orca saw this and prepared for what was to come next.

Simultaneously, Todoroki fired a column of fire, and Yoarashi let loose a burst of his winds. Both attacks went straight for Gang Orca until they touched. Suddenly, both attacks veered off course, leaving the Hero with nothing but a hot breeze.

Wade knocked down one of the terrorists and covered him in a sheet of webbing when he saw the winds and fire going off in different directions above his head.

"What the hell? Where are they aiming," he asked. Turning to the two, he called out to them. "Hey! What's the big deal?!"

"It's his fault for using his flames!" Yoarashi yelled, glaring at Todoroki. "The heat makes the air rise up!"

Wade's eyes widened, realizing that he was right. Todoroki's flames caused it because hot air was less dense than cold air. Hot air was less dense because the air molecules were flying around faster, and therefore, a lower number of them exerted the same pressure. It's the same kind of science that allowed hot air balloons to float.

"It's because he didn't fall to my ice earlier," Todoroki said in frustration. "You ruined my shot on purpose, didn't you, when you used your wind to blow away my fire."

"What?!" Yoarashi yelled, making Wade and even the villains stop and watch the argument. "You blocked me so you'd get all the glory!"

"What? Why would I do something like that?"

"Are they…are you two really doing this?!" Wade yelled at Todoroki and Yoarashi, unable to believe that they were really arguing like children in the middle of a battle.

"Why wouldn't you?!" Yoarashi yelled at Todoroki, ignoring Wade. "Hatred's in your blood! You are Endeavor's son!"

That struck a nerve. Todoroki turned his head to glare at Yoarashi out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, he did not just go there," Wade said, knowing that Todoroki was still really sensitive when it came to his father. However, his moment of watching the Hallmark Channel drama was interrupted by shots of cement being fired at him, forcing him to jump away to dodge them.

"What the hell has been up with you this whole time?" Todoroki demanded to know, finally reaching the end of his patience with Yoarashi's attitude towards him. "My old man's got nothing to do—"

"WATCH OUT!" Wade yelled, but it was too late.

Todoroki was hit in the right shoulder by a burst of cement, which quickly hardened. Making the use of his right hand impossible.

"How do you like that?" said the sidekick that shot him. "Good luck trying to move—"

Wade appeared out of nowhere in front of the villain and uppercut so hard he was sent up into the air. Wade then charged his bioelectricity into his arm and waited for the guy to come back down, where he punched him in the gut with a shock that knocked him out.

"Todoroki, get your head back in the fight!" Wade yelled at his friend before rushing at the next villain in his line of sight, which he took out quickly with a swift jumping roundhouse kick to the head.

However, that's when the villains started a barrage of cement that was fired at Wade, Todoroki, and Yoarashi. Wade quickly jumped from side to side, dodging each of the shots fired at him before disappearing with his camouflage ability. Now, he could attack without the villains seeing him.

Todoroki, on the other hand, formed an ice wall in front of him. Shielding himself from the barrage.

Yoarashi just flew away from the shots fired at him as he continued the argument. "This has everything to do with your cold-blooded father," he said with hatred in his voice as he remembered the first time he saw Endeavor. "To me, Heroes should be full of passion. They bring hope and inspiration to people with the fire burning in their hearts. They care! However, it was a shock to meet your father, because the only thing that I could see in his eyes was an insatiable anger aimed at the entire world. And then, at the entrance exam, I saw you, and I knew who you were immediately. I knew because when I said hell… your eyes were the same as his."

Now, Todoroki's attention and anger were focused on Yoarashi. Who does this guy think he is, thinking he could mouth off about him and his father? The thought that he and Endeavor were the same in some small way made his blood boil. "You think we're the same?" he said, glaring daggers at Yoarashi. "Don't be ridiculous. You're a fool. I'm nothing like him."

Wade, after having reappeared, punched another villain in the face. "Shoto!" he called out to his friend. More of the sidekicks shot at him, forcing him to take more evasive action. "Dammit!"

Todoroki heard him and knew he had to stop listening to Yoarashi. He's just someone who hated his father, and chose to associate him with Endeavor without really knowing the son. He had to focus on the test.

He had to keep his cool, even as a flame was lit inside of him.

He had no feelings about his old man anymore, even though the thought of him poured on the coil.

That's right. There was still some hatred inside of Shoto. Feeling that anger had him cursing himself in fury as his left hand ignited.

This was seen by everyone watching the test, with the agents writing down what they saw.

Even as Wade took down more of his men, Gang Orca was focusing his attention on the other two most promising candidates. They were truly impressive during the first part of the exam, but now he was disappointed. "A villain's in front of you, and you've done nothing," he said. "Walker wouldn't have hesitated to attack."

"Jeez, what's with these kids," Mirko said, raising an eyebrow. For her, she could not understand why Endeavor's kid would get all worked up. But Aiwaza knew why, having witnessed Todoroki's anger during the Sports Festival. And yet, he still felt disappointed in his student for allowing anger to get the better of him again.

"You and your father are the only Heroes I can't accept. You don't deserve the title! Understand?! NOW MOVE!" Yoarashi roared as he unleashed another mighty gale wind at Gang Orca.

Todoroki whipped back around and fired another column of flames at Gang Orca as well.

The two opposing elements, trailing alongside one another, split apart just because they could land a hit on Gang Orca.

"Again? Are you kidding me?!" Yoarashi yelled at Todoroki. That was until he and Todoroki saw where his flames were going.

"Wade, watch out!" Shoto yelled, watching as his friend was about to be incinerated.

Sensing the flames coming before he felt the heat, Wade turned around to see the fire rushing towards him. Acting quickly, Wade jumped up into the air and dodged the flames. This shocked the two boys as Wade landed back on the ground. He pulled his mask off, leaving it hanging for the back of his neck, and glared angrily at them.

"Dammit! What the hell are you two doing?!" Wade yelled, surprising Todoroki and Yoarashi. "This isn't the time and place to be talking about stuff that happened in the past! We have a job to do!"

Wade pointed at Todoroki.

"I thought we had gotten over this, man! You can't let your father control your life. I know that's not something that can be easily done after what he did, but you're not him. No matter what anyone else thinks! Don't let their judgment of you because of Endeavor affect you!"

Wade turned to Yoarashi with glaring eyes and gritted teeth. "And you—shut the fuck up about things you don't understand!" Spider-Man yelled at him. "What? Did Endeavor not want to give you an autograph because you were in his way during a villain attack? Get a life! So what if he doesn't have that passion that you love so much? Passion isn't what makes a Hero. It's a duty that we must take up to protect the people we inspire, but here you are, bitching about how one hero didn't live up to your image of him. And so what if you don't like Shoto's father? Hell, I hate the guy! What's your reason for hating his son?! His eyes?!"

That made the flying boy's eyes widen. For a moment, he pondered. Yoarashi had never been afraid of anything. Even when he was a kid, he was fearless. He didn't even need a reason to like just about anything. That's why, the minute he understood what a hero was, Yoarashi knew what he was going to be when he grew up. Tackling crises, rescuing people, and risking their lives for the sake of the world. That took real passion for Yoarashi.

That's why he could never understand Endeavor, whose eyes burned with hatred for everything he laid them on. He was the only Hero that Yoarashi couldn't stand.

And there was Shoto.

The two were together on the same testing ground for the entrance exam. Shoto dominated the test with his ice powers. Yoarashi admitted it was brilliant, but he didn't like the look in his eyes. Then, he believed that if they became friends, his eyes wouldn't bother him as much.

However, after winning against Shoto, Yoarashi mentioned that he was Endeavor's child. After that, it was all downhill. The hatred in Shoto's eyes increased. And that hatred was targeted at something that wasn't even there.

"I don't really care what your reason is," Wade yelled, bringing Yoarashi back to reality. "If you can't look past that and focus on what's in front of you—a villain that's going to hurt people if we don't stop him—then you don't deserve to be a Hero!"

Shoto and Yoarashi looked at Wade with wide eyes, as everyone watching the fight had their eyes on him, too.

Mirko smirked at Wade as she leaned forward. "Your student's got a way with words, eraser," she said, grinning at Spider-Man.

"It's not like what he's saying isn't true. This will push their scores down," Ms. Joke said as Aiwaza looked frustrated. So much for having all of his students pass the exam.

Back on the battlefield, no longer blinded by his anger, Todoroki started to remember. He did remember a Quirk that used wind. One look at Yoarashi finally brought back his memory. He was in his way when Yoarashi beat Shoto during the recommendation exam. Why didn't he remember him? Yoarashi was so loud and obnoxious. Then again, he wasn't really seeing him back then. Shoto was so focused on rejecting his bastard father that he wasn't thinking about anything else.

And then Wade came along. This reckless boy with a heart of gold helped him in ways he never could have imagined. However, ever since their battle, Shoto did everything he could to ignore who he was. And now, it was catching up to him. His past and his blood are things about himself that he can't just bury and forget.

"I've had enough of this."

Todoroki gasped when he realized that Gang Orca was right in front of him, reaching out to grab him.

"Todoroki!" Wade yelled, about to rush in to attack, until more of Gang Orca's goons started shooting at him. Forcing Wade to jump away from them.

"I'll deal with the spider last. First, I'll stop the wind," Gang Orca said, turning to Yoarashi and shooting a hypersonic wave at him. The boy tried flying out of the way but was hit in the chest by one of the Cement Guns. Pushing him back into the path of the hypersonic wave.

Yoarashi screamed in agony as his body was hit hard by the hypersonic wave, rattling everything inside his body and setting off all of his nerves before falling out of the sky. Todoroki, when he saw this, was going to rush in to help. However, he didn't get far when Gang Orca grabbed him by the neck with his massive hand.

"You reap what you sow," said Gang Orca as he pulled Todoroki close to his head. Then, he unleashed a blast of his hypersonic wave at point-blank range, causing so much more damage to Todoroki's body.

"NO!" Wade yelled, preparing to run to help out the two of them.

However, that's when one of the terrorists said, "Let's go destroy the evacuation shelter while the boss deals with the spider kid."

Wade gasped and turned back around to see a large number of Gang Orca's sidekicks going not for him but towards the evacuation shelter. Having used the distraction of seeing his friend getting hurt to try and slip past him. Now, he was trapped between a rock and a hard place. If he goes after Gang Orca and saves Todoroki and Yoarashi, Wade would be putting the lives of everyone at the evacuation shelter in danger. If he goes after the terrorists, he will be leaving his friend and the other boy to their fate.

And Todoroki and Yoarashi knew this, cursing themselves out while still twitching in pain. This couldn't be how they lose the exam. And yet, it was going to be how they caused not just themselves but a lot of other students to fail the exam. Yoarashi hated himself for becoming everything he hated by allowing his passion to turn to hatred, and Todoroki felt so disappointed in himself. They were in this mess because of their actions. All they could do now was fix what they started.

"W-WADE, GO AND SAVE THEM!" Shoto yelled at Wade. Gang Orca responded to this by slamming the boy into the ground.

Wade nodded and turned back to the terrorists running towards the fleeing people and the Heroes-in-Training leading them away. He had to be the frontline of defense, and to do that, he had to be at the frontline.

Shooting a web-line from each hand at the ground in front of him, Wade pulled on them as he took a few steps back, deploying his spider arms in the process. Then, he kicked his feet up and slingshot himself forward at high speed while spinning. Creating a small vortex in his path before he slammed into multiple enemies at the front of the pack, shocking the other terrorists as they stopped and looked at Wade passing by.

Flipping himself around, Wade landed his feet on the wall of the arena, cracking the wall as he did so. Then, he activated Battle Focus and began charging a Venom Beam. Upon nearing completion, he jumped away from the wall, sending himself flying across the front of the terrorist group.

"Venom Beam!" He yelled, thrusting his fingers forward and releasing the electricity in a beam of lightning. Watching as something amazing happened.

As the lightning hit one of the bad guys, zapping him, it split apart on the other side of his body. Both bolts slammed into two more villains behind him. Those two then split up into two and hit more villains, and the process repeated in this chain reaction until the last splits were powerless to hurt the other sidekicks.

Wade shot a web-line at the ground and stopped himself while still in Battle Focus. "How do you like them apples?!" Wade yelled with a grin on his face. "I'm not out of the fight yet!"

Spider-Man rushed into the fight and started taking down more of Gang Orca's men. At the same time, the Pro Hero started walking towards Yoarashi. "I'll take down the wind user, then the spider boy is mine," he said in a villainous tone. "I'll crush him and continue with the attack."

Hearing Gang Orca's plan, Todoroki gritted his teeth as he tried to move on his stomach. However, it was no use. His body was still paralyzed from the pain inflicted upon him by the hypersonic wave. And yet, he had no one else to blame but himself. Todoroki and Yoarashi competed with each other for no reason. Their Quirks were incompatible, and they had zero teamwork. There's no way the two of them could be a top Hero, not at odds like right now.

This reality was something Yoarashi understood and felt the same way Todoroki did. His body was so numb that he couldn't put up much of a fight or into his Quirk. And yet, he wasn't going to let it stop him.

At the same time, with one little strength they had left, they acted together. Todoroki used his left side and released a massive column of fire that rose up into the air. Yoarashi then called upon the air around him and sent a stream of wind at Todoroki. The wind pulled the fire away from the boy, swirling around it, as Yoarashi pushed it towards Gang Orca's legs.

The result was a fire and window vortex that trapped the Pro Hero.

Gang Orca shielded his face from the flames and rushing winds. He saw how Yoarashi didn't even move himself; however, his strength and accuracy decreased. The taller boy was further away from where he was when he knocked him out of the sky, meaning he wasn't completely incapacitated. He's able to control his Quirk, but barely.

Turning to Todoroki, Gang Orca saw that he couldn't move either but made up for it by adding his raw power to Yoarashi's attack. It won't make up for their foolishness from earlier, but it's not a bad start. They realized their mistake, and as such, they're trying to make up for it. Their persistence is to be admired.

Meanwhile, some of the other terrorists that were around saw the fiery tornado that their boss was trapped in and started to become worried.

"Some kind of fire tornado is trapping the boss!"

"Isn't that bad?"

"He's an orca, so he's super weak when he's dried out!"

"Forget the wind. Stop the flame!"

The terrorists raised their guns and fired a volley of cement at Todoroki. However, the fire/ice user called upon his mother's Quick and formed a wall to protect himself.

"What?!" One of the terrorists yelled upon seeing how cement blasts were blocked. "He's using both sides?!"

"Should we go back and help," asked another terrorist.

"Focus on me first!" Wade yelled as he came flying down from the sky, bioelectricity coursing through his body. When he crashed into the ground, he unleashed a wave of electricity that zapped everyone around him.

"It's Walker! Keep shooting!" One terrorist shouted as he aimed his weapon to fire.

However, before he could do just that, Ojiro suddenly showed up. The young man wrapped his tail around the guy's arm and pulled him away, resulting in the bad guy shooting one of his comrades. Letting go, Ojiro punched him in the face, knocking him out.

"Whoa, nice moves!" Wade said as Ojiro rushed to his side.

"Thanks. The injured have all been evacuated," Ojiro told Spider-Man. "Reinforcements should be here any minute now."

"Try right now!" Wade gasped and turned around to see not only Tokoyami, but also Mina rushing in to assist. "Hey, babe! You miss me," the pink girl asked teasingly as she threw globs of acid at the cement guns, burning them as the terrorists quickly tried to get them off their arms.

"We're here to help," said Tokoyami as his Dark Shadow arms made quick work of the villains in front of him.

"Mow them down!" One terrorist shouted as he and his teammates fired at the young heroes. "Don't let up!"

However, they were knocked off their feet when Tsuyu's long tongue stretched out and whacked them in the legs. Seeing this, Wade looked in the direction that the tongue came from, but saw nothing. That was until Tsuyu materialized out of thin air.

"Tsu?! How did you do that?" Wade exclaimed in awe at his friend's abilities.

"Your power really inspired me, Wade," she said, retracting her tongue back into her mouth. "I've been training my frog skills, and I've finally reached a new level of control over my body. Now, both of us have the same camouflage ability."

Wade grinned and said, "That's amazing! We're now invisible buddies! We can totally team up for stealth missions!"

"Asui, are you done with the search and rescue already?" Ojiro asked the frog girl.

"For the most part," said Tsuyu. Then she gasped. "Ribbit! Look out!"

Ojiro turned around and saw the remaining terrorists charging in from behind. However, they were knocked away by a large mass of hair. Entangling them in its locks and preventing them from escaping.

"What the hell?" Wade looked in the direction the hair came from and gasped. "Mora!"

The hairy student from Shiketsu High School had come to save the tailed boy, using his Quirk: Extend-o-Hair. This ability didn't just cover him in hair, but allowed the young man to manipulate the growth and movements of all of his hair. His hair was unusually resilient and indestructible, making it impervious to any harm or damage.

"I sent Inasa here to help, but he disgraced our school's name. There should be no enemies left!" Mora exclaimed, shouting his hair out in all directions, much to the awe of UA's students.

"So strong," said Ojiro.

Tsuyu nodded. "Yeah."

"We're not done yet," Tokoyami yelled, rushing past them and jumping into the air. This brought the two of them back to their situation and back into the fight.

Upon hearing Yoarashi's name, Wade looked back at the fire tornado, which was still raging with great intensity. But he knew it couldn't last. So, he stood ready to attack the moment the fires died down.

"A cyclone prison of wind and fire," Gang Orca said from within. "Not bad. An ordinary villain would give up. Would weep and beg for your mercy."

Within the flames, Gang Orca pulled out a few bottles of water and poured them all over his head, keeping himself from drying out.

"But what would you do if your desperate trap wasn't enough? You must always be planning your next move," he said before looking up at the sky, which was only visible at the top of the swirling cyclone. Then he unleashed a powerful hypersonic wave that dispersed the fire and winds around him, finally freeing himself from the prison the two students trapped him in.

"So…What now?!" Gang Orca shouted at both boys, showing his sharp teeth.

But there was nothing left. Todoroki and Yoarashi were finished and at the mercy of Gang Orca.

"Now you fight me!" Wade yelled as he slingshot himself at Gang Orca, still in battle focus, and threw a Venom Punch at the Pro Hero.

BASH!

The punch landed on his face, and Gang Orca was sent off his feet once again by the young back. At the same time, he was zapped by volts of electricity that were much more painful due to the water on his body.

"Walker!" Gang Orca said before crashing across the ground, kicking up dust and dirt.

Yoarashi was shocked to see the young man who called him out coming to the rescue. At the same time, Todoroki could only wonder how Wade could always do it: How could the boy always go in at the last moment, when all hope seemed lost, and save the day?

BRRRRR!

Wade landed on the ground the moment the buzzer blared across the battlefield. "Huh?"

"Um, yeah, so at this time, all of the HUC members who were deployed have been rescued from the disaster zone. It may seem anticlimactic, but with this, the Provisional Licensing Exam has officially been completed. After we tally the scores, we'll announce the results here in the arena. Anyone injured should go to the infirmary. The rest of you are free to change clothes and wait wherever you like."

"So, that's it? It's over," Wade asked before seeing Gang Orca standing back up. Feeling a bit concerned, he approached the orca man. "Uh, hey, man, you cool? I didn't hit you too hard, right?"

"I'm fine," Gang Orca said, scratching his head. "Even with the restraint gear, I was still able to put up more than a fight. Your friend's tower of flame was genuinely inspiring. You, on the other hand, lived up to what I expected you to be. My sidekicks and I could have had a hard time if the test went on. Who knows, you could have beaten all of us."

Wade's eyes widened. "For real?"

"You should go and take care of your friends," Gang Orca said, nodding to Todoroki. "They could use some help getting to the infirmary."

"O-Oh, right!"

Wade quickly turned and ran over to Todoroki and Yoarashi. At the same time, Gang Orca watched him. The boy was worried for the Pro, even though he was his enemy just a moment ago. It was a very rare quality thing to see in Heroes these days. As their job is to fight villains and stop them from hurting people, rarely do Heroes show concern for the bad guys.

The concern shown by Wade could have stemmed from the fact that Gang Orca was a Pro Hero and that this was a test. Would this sense of concern continue as Wade gains his Provisional License and gets closer to becoming a Pro Hero? Gang Orca hopes so. Some villains were vile men who didn't deserve sympathy, and yet some were victims of their circumstances. Given his Quirk, Gang Orca could have been one of those victims had he not chosen the Hero's path.

He hoped that on his journey, Wade wouldn't lose sight that not all villains are monsters like All for One.


"Okay, everyone, thank you for your hard work in today's exam," Mera said, standing on a podium on a stage in front of the students who participated in the exam. All of them were back in their uniforms and were eagerly awaiting the results of the exam. But first, they had to sit through the speech. "Now, before I announce the results, I should probably explain the way we evaluated you. Between HUC and those of us at the Heroes Public Safety Commission, we have a two-fold demerit system that we use to determine your total score. In other words, we were evaluating you based on how few mistakes you made in a crisis situation."

Wade gulped nervously.

"Anyway, the names of the students who passed are listed here in alphabetical order," Mera said, holding his arm out to the jumbo screen behind him. "Keep my words in mind as you search the screen for your name."

After he said that, the names appeared on the screen. Everyone quickly looked for their last name's first initial. Wade promptly went to the Ws, and looked for Walker.

As it turned out, there was only one name on that list with W initials.

And it was his name.

Wade's eyes widened in shock as his jaw dropped down. "I…I did it…I passed…" Unable to hold in his joy, Wade threw his fists up with a giant smile on his face. "YEEAAAH!"

Ochaco ran over to him with a more giant smile than her usual one. "Did you pass," she asked, eager to know how her boyfriend did.

"Heck yeah, I did! Did you?" Wade asked before Ochaco jumped into his arms and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, I did!" Ochaco exclaimed as Wade held her in his arms, laughing before Mina came over and jumped on his back, hugging him from behind.

"We're all on the board!" exclaimed the pink girl.

"Another small step towards being a pro," Momo said to her boyfriend with a hand on her ample breasts. She, too, had passed the grueling exam that tested her like no other.

"So did I!" Mineta said, throwing his hands up.

Jiro sighed in relief. "Made it."

"There I am!" Iida announced.

Shoji said, "Alright."

"Thank goodness," Sero said in relief.

Tokoyami nodded with a small smile.

"What a relief," Ojira said as he whipped the sweat from his forehead.

Aoyama was, as usual, twinkling when he saw his name on the board. "Magnifique!"

"Heck yeah, I did it!" Sato exclaimed with joy as Koda smiled a big grin.

Tsuyu placed a finger to her smiling lips. "Ribbit!"

"I passed! I passed!" Hagakure squealed.

Kaminari exclaimed, "Killed it!"

"Right on!" Kirishima said when he saw his name. But then he looked to his left with a wary expression. "But, uh…"

Bakugo looked like he was just about ready to blow up as he gritted his teeth and glared at the board with bloodshot eyes. "No!" he strained to say, realizing that he had failed the exam. Wade beat him again, and he failed again.

A few feet away, Yoarashi looked through the Ys on the board. "Yo–Yoarashi! Yo—" he stopped himself when he reached the bottom of the list, and the hard reality hit him. "It's not there…I failed. It's over."

"Hey, looks like everyone but Bakugo made it!" Wade said to Todoroki, which just made the explosive blonde even angrier when he heard him.

However, Bakugo and Yoarashi weren't the only ones who were suffering defeat. "Not just him," Shoto said with misery.

"Huh?" Wade looked back up at the screen again, hoping to find his friend's name. However, he gasped when he reached the place where Todoroki's name should be.

It wasn't there.

Todoroki had failed the exam, too.

"Oh no," Wade whispered sadly.

"Todoroki!" The two boys looked behind to see Yoarashi approaching them, glaring at the boy he'd called out as towering over them.

"Oh, great! What'd you want?" Wade said, glaring at the other young man. Yoarashi didn't answer Wade. He only glared down at Todoroki, who looked up at him.

And then, he bowed down and hit his head on the ground, just like the first time.

"I'm sorry!" He shouted, much to the surprise of Wade and Todoroki. "It's my fault that you didn't pass the licensing exam. My focus was too narrow-minded. Forgive me!"

Todoroki looked away from Yoarashi, deep in thought about his failure. It wasn't just the wind user's fault, but his as well. He's tried to ignore the fact he's Endeavor's son. But maybe he's been going about it all wrong. There was no changing where he came from. It's something that he had to come to terms with if he aimed to be a hero.

"You're fine," said Todoroki, holding up a hand to Yoarashi. "I was the one who got us off to a bad start.

"But still—!"

"And thanks to the things you said to me, I have a lot to think about," Todoroki said, their conversation gaining the attention of the others in his class.

"Holy crap. Did he really fail," asked Mina, unable to believe what she was hearing.

Sero nodded and asked, "How could two of our top classmates not pass the exam?"

"Shoulda been more careful what you said," Kaminari told Bakugo with a wink, referring to how rude Bakugo was to the people he was supposed to be rescuing. "Words are important, you know."

Bakugo gave Kaminari a death glare that would've killed him a hundred times. Making the electric blonde turn white as a ghost with his eyes filled with fear. "Shut your mouth before I murder you," Bakugo warned the other boy, which was more than enough to get Kaminari to zip his lips.

Then Mineta butted into the conversation. "Those entitled people at the top think so highly of themselves, don't they? Their own egos are their worst enemies," he said before looking at Todoroki with a smug look on his face. "Looks like our class hierarchy is collapsing—!"

Wade shot him in the face with his webbing.

As the little pervert rolled around on the grow, trying to get the webbing off his face, Iida picked him up and carried him away from the scene. Meanwhile, our young hero and his girlfriends looked at Todoroki. All four of them worried for the duel Quirk user.

"I just…can't believe it," Wade said, looking sadly at his friend.

"Poor Todoroki," Momo said.

The moment was cut when Mero got back on the microphone. "So, next, we'll give you the printouts of your results," he said, as agents with stacks of paper spread out across the crowd. "They include a breakdown of your scores, so you'll know exactly what areas you'll need to improve going forward. We lopped off points whenever you did something wrong. Fall below 50, and you are done. These demerits are itemized on your results forms, as you'll see, so I'd look at them. Some of you received special points for your participation in the unplanned rescue; of course, these points could still be lost if you did something wrong."

"Let's see…" Wade said, looking at his paper after receiving it. "I got a few points knocked off because of the stupid things I said at the beginning, but then I got back…20 points for going into the building? So that means…95 points?!" Wade's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he looked at his score.

"I got 20 points, too," Shoji said, showing Wade his paper.

"Me too!" Ochaco said, waving her paper.

"So, that means that all four of us got 20 extra points?" Mina said in wonder. She thought the little man lied to them about the extra points they would get, but he kept his promise.

"Yeah, but it looks like those of us who were evacuating the area only got ten extra points," Momo said, looking at her score of 94, just one point under her beloved.

Ojira held his chest in shock. "Whoa! Tokoyami and I were really lucky! We didn't go into the city with you guys!"

"Yeah, but…" Wade trailed off as he thought about the exam.

"What is it?" Momo asked.

"Well, this was a demerit system, right? When we were at the apartment, we were able to get back points and earn more for our heroic actions. However, if our scores were taken away during the exam, there's no hope of anyone passing if they fell below 50," Wade said, before looking at Todoroki, who had 49 points. He'd gotten 10 points for his effort to keep the building from falling over, but then he lost those points and more for his foolishness. "So, why let those people continue to fight until the end? Why not take them off the battlefield when they fail?"

Mera answered that when he spoke again. "Anyways, moving forward, those of you who passed can exercise the same authority as Pro Heroes, but only during emergency situations. In other words, when fighting villains and saving the victims of criminal acts or accidents, you may act using your best judgment without direct orders. Keep in mind that your every action from now on carries with it a profound responsibility towards bettering our society, and that the world is watching you. I'm sure you're aware that All Might, our greatest hero, no longer has his incredible power. One of the reasons crime in our country has been so low is because of his presence. With that deterrent gone, criminals are sure to become bolder and more widespread. Expect the balance we currently have in our world to be destroyed and for things to change quickly, if not violently. You young people will be the hope for our future. It's imperative that you become exemplary Heroes. That your reputations grow to suppress crime as did his. Remember, the license that you earned today is provisional, and you still have much to do. I would like for you to think of yourselves as fledglings and be even more diligent in your studies.

"And as for those of you who fell behind and didn't pass, we don't have time for you to feel bitter about your loss. Instead, we offer you a way of redeeming yourselves," Mera said, gaining the attention of Bakugo, Todoroki, and Yoarashi. "After you attend a three-month-long special course and pass an individual test, we plan to issue a provisional license to those of you who failed as well."

This lifted the spirits of everyone who did fail the exam. Cheers rang out from the crowd as Mera continued with his speech.

"In order for us to reach our idyllic future that I just spoke of, we're going to need as many good Heroes on the streets as we can get. The first round was one to weed people out. But we would like to grow the 100 selected in that test as much as possible. That's why we watched you all until the end. So we could see for ourselves that each of you has promise. That once your shortcomings are corrected, you have the potential to be as great as your fellow classmates. This special course will keep you busy, as it will run concurrently with your normal studies. You're welcome to retake the exam in April if you prefer to wait."

"Oh, like hell!" Bakugo yelled.

"Special course!" Yoarashi cried as well.

Wade chuckled as he padded Todoroki on the back. "Alright, man! You're getting a second chance!"

Mineta popped back into the conversation. "You don't have to," he said nervously. "Just…take it easy! Relax! The hierarchy is collapsing—"

Wade punched him in the back of the head, knocking him down onto his face.

"With the exception of the pervert, we'll be rooting for you all the way, man," Wade said to his good friend as the others in their class smiled and nodded. All of them want Todoroki and Bakugo to succeed and become Pro Heroes together.

Seeing all of the support he's been given, Shoto gave a small smile. "Thank you. I'll work hard."

And so, with that, the Provisional Licensing Exam was finally completed. Wade and his classmates were now all one step closer to becoming Pro Heroes.


Wade had a big grin on his face as he looked at his new provisional license. He almost couldn't believe that he had gotten it, and there it was, in his hands. With his student picture displayed on the right-hand side and his hero name proudly printed.

"Are you okay, Wade?" Ochaco asked her boyfriend, snapping him out of his state. "You've been looking at that card for a long time now."

The two of them were with their classmates outside of the stadium as the sun started to set on the horizon. They were waiting for their turn to get on their bus to return to UA.

"Sorry, sorry, I was just…It's just so hard to believe this is happening," Wade said with his hero suitcase sitting next to his legs. He looked back down at his card and smiled again. "So many people have helped me get to this point, and some of them went through a lot of trouble to do so. I guess, in a way, this is proof of how much I've grown and matured. And it makes me feel so happy."

Ochaco smiled and walked up to her boyfriend, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Yeah, I get it," she said, watching as Wade's cheeks blushed.

"Aw, aren't you two cute," said an unfamiliar voice coming from behind. The two of them turned around and were shocked to see Mirko, one of the new top Heroes of Japan, standing behind them. She was giving the boy that caught her interest a smile as she walked up to him. "You did pretty good out there, Walker. So much better to watch in person than on TV."

"Really? Thanks, Mirko," Wade said, recognizing the Rabbit Hero.

Mirko winked at the young man and pointed to herself with her thumb. "If you're looking for a Hero Agency, look up mine. I could use a sparring partner," she said before walking off.

"Look at that! You've got an offer from one of the top ten Heroes!" Ochaco exclaimed, shaking him back and forth as the other girls walked over to him.

"HEY! HEY!" The UA students heard the voice of Yoarashi and turned around to see him running to the class, waving his hand around.

"It's that Shiketsu guy," Tsuyu said.

"You sure? I thought he was another Shiketsu guy," Wade said jokingly.

Yoarashi ran past Todoroki, and he said, "Todoroki! I'll see you at the special course, but here's the thing. Honestly, nothing's changed! I still don't like you! Sorry!" He then turned around and ran back to his fellow classmates. Leaving the UA students baffled at his actions. "That's all for now!"

"That was...nice of him, I guess," Kirishima said, sweatdropping.

Todoroki said, "We'll just have to make the best of it."

Aoyama, who was standing next to Endeavor's son, looked at Yoarashi with an intrigued expression on his face. "Interesting. He's someone who is both bold and sensitive. Kind of like you, Wade. I admire such joie de vivre," he said, twinkling.

"Uh, thanks," Wade said, raising an eyebrow. That's when he looked back at the Shiketus students and remembered something. "Hold on, I've got to do something."

"Huh?" The girls looked at him in confusion as Wade ran over to the nearest Shiketsu student, which was Mora. Wondering why Wade was going over to them, they stood by and watched.

"Hey! Wait!" Wade called out to the students of the other school, getting Mora to stop and look over his shoulder at Wade. Upon looking at him, the hairy boy saw Wade pointing at him with a glare. "Alright, where's Camie? I wanna talk to her!"

"Huh? How come," Mora asked as the other students around them, both from Shiketsu and UA, turned their attention to Wade.

"Your classmate nearly got me killed in the apartment when she stabbed me with a needle. Took a bit of my blood, too," Wade said, still angry for what Camie did to him.

Shocked to hear this, Mora held up his hand and said, "Whoa, wait, Camie tried stabbing you? That doesn't sound like her. She said she wasn't feeling too well and took a cab to the station so she could go home."

Wade sighed in annoyance upon hearing this news. "Great."

"Actually, come to think of it, she's been acting strange for the past few days," Mora said, placing his hand where his chin should be. "A little different from her usual self, I'd say."

For a moment, Wade was going to ask that he elaborate on what he meant. However, before he could say anything, a black car came racing through the parking lot of the stadium. It rushed to an open space where the buses were parked. The driver slammed on the brakes and came to a shrieking stop, parking diagonally. From the driver's side came a business-dressed woman, looking very worried and scared, as she jumped out and ran towards the entrance.

"Isn't that the teacher from the other class," one of Mora's classmates asked as they watched the woman run past them.

"Hey, everyone~!" Wade and the other kids looked back at the car. They were shocked to see Camie stepping out of the passenger side door and walking over to her friends. "I'm, like, so totes ready for the exams today!"

This confused the other members of her class, who glanced at one another before turning back to her. "Uh, Camie, the exams are over," Yoarashi said. "You just left to go home, didn't you?"

Camie blinked and placed a finger on her lips. "Huh? No way, for realzies? Oh man, I, like, don't even remember taking the exams... or anything before a few days," she said, which got the attention of UA's best Hero. Camie then noticed Wade looking at her funny and turned her attention to him. "Oh hey, cutie~. Wow, you're totes hottie boyfriend material. Wanna hang out sometime and like get a smoothie?"

Blushing with embarrassment, Wade held up his hands and said, "I have three girlfriends."

"Wow, you got three girlfriends at once," Camie asked, looking at Wade in awe for a moment. "You got room for one more?"

"Focus, you fool! This punk said that you stabbed him with a needle!" Shishikura yelled at her, which didn't faze her in the slightest. Wade gave him the bird for that punk comment.

"I did? I don't remember doing that," Camie said. "Or meeting the cutie."

"W-What do you mean you don't remember me?!" Wade yelled, throwing his arms up with big eyes and sharp teeth. "We fought in the first exam! You tried drawing blood from me in the second exam! You got naked in front of me!"

"She did?!" All the boys of Shiketsu yelled with blushes on their faces.

"I did?" Camie asked, naively pondering again as everyone looked at her in disbelief. "Well, I can do it again in private."

"What? No!" Wade said vehemently as he blushed again. Shaking his head to be rid of the redness in his cheeks, Wade continued. "How could you not remember it? It happened less than an hour ago! You were disguised as one of my girlfriends, and then it melted off you, leaving you naked…and…"

Wade trailed off when he saw that his words weren't registering with Camie. "I don't know what to tell you. I just got here," she said, placing a hand on her wide hips. "Also, that's so not how my Glamour Quirk works. It's more like a mist."

Upon hearing about how her Quirk worked, Wade's eyes widened as a feeling of dread and terror rushed into his boy. The Camie that he faced in the exam wasn't anything like this Camie: bubbly, very laid back, straightforward, and quite talkative. Both this Camie and the other one were flirtatious toward Wade; however, the real Camie wasn't as intense with Wade.

And then there was the feeling that he got from her. The Camie he was speaking to didn't set off any alarms or make him feel uneasy. The one in the exam, however, did.

Lastly, their Quirks. Camie said that she didn't have the same disgusting Quirk that Wade saw in the exam. And that's when a new thought entered his mind, as he thought back to seeing the Ochaco disguise melting off her body, as if it were a layer of skin.

What if that Camie was just another disguise being used by the real Quirk user?


The moon was high in the sky as Wade lay awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He and the other arrived back at the dorms not too long ago. Once they took off their uniforms and got into something more casual, they had dinner together, bathed, and then headed for bed. It was already late, and they had regular classes tomorrow, so they wanted to get as much rest as possible.

Wade, however, couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of a villain having broken into the Provisional Licensing Exam. The villains have been bold, but they've never been this daring. Wade had more than a feeling that Shigaraki was involved with the fake Camie. No one but the League of Villains was that audacious to pull off this kind of stunt. Now the question was who the imposter was.

The young man had seen all of the villain's powers, with the expectation of Toga. Was it her under the mask? Given how stabby fake Camie was and how flirtatious she was with Wade, it was likely she was. If that was the case, how did Toga's Quirk work? And what was her deal with getting Wade's blood?

More questions flooded into Wade's head as he sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. However, doing so made him feel even more sleepy than he already was. Reaching over to his nightstand, Wade grabbed the flip phone and opened it. There were no missed calls, which made him sigh in relief. At least he didn't miss talking to his dad.

Closing the phone and placing it back on the nightstand, Wade rolled over and started closing his eyes.

That's when his phone rang.

Wade sprung up and grabbed his flip phone. Opening it, he looked at the screen with a hopeful smile. However, to his confusion, it wasn't ringing.

That's when he saw his standard phone and saw that it was the one ringing. Shooting a web-line at it, Wade pulled it over and looked at the screen. Raising an eyebrow, Wade saw that it was Kirishima calling him. So, he pressed the button and answered. "Hey, what's happened, bubby?"

"Not much, but, uh, just to let you know, Bakugo's…kind of…maybe looking for your room."

Wade got confused by that. "What? Why?"

"I don't know. He came knocking on my door, wanted to know your room number, and just left."

"Well, you didn't tell him, right," Wade asked until he was startled by a loud knocking on his door. It was so loud that Wade wouldn't be surprised if it woke up the whole building.

"...Sorry."

"I'll deal with it. Good night," Wade said before ending the call. Standing up from his bed, he walked over to the door as there was another series of loud banging. "I'm coming, asshole!"

Wade opened the door and saw that it was Bakugo standing outside. However, something wasn't right about him. Usually, he would glare at him like the bug he thought of him as. However, while Bakugo was still frowning, it wasn't like how it usually was.

In any case, Wade didn't really care. "What the hell, man? Are you trying to wake up the building?"

"Get your clothes on and meet me out front," Bakugo said, turning around and walking away down the hallway. "It's time we talked about your secondary Quirk."

Wade's eyes widened when he heard that.

"Bet that second Quirk All Might gave you made it easier," Bakugo said, walking past his rival. Wade nearly jumped out of his suit in shock and fear. What did he just say? "I can see why All for One wants it."

The young hero gulped the lump in his throat and said, "W-Why not talk in here?"

But Bakugo didn't respond. He just kept walking away. Making it crystal clear to Wade what he was expecting him to do. Bakugo wasn't giving Wade a choice. He was going to get answers about One-for-All, and he was going to get them his own way.


Walking out of the front door with his clothes and shoes on, Wade saw Bakugo waiting for him outside. His hands were in his pockets as he leaned against the bottom of the rail, his eyes covered by his hair.

Closing the door behind him, Spider-Man said, "Okay, I'm here. Let's…"

Bakugo, however, turned and started walking away.

"Wha…hey!" Wade called out to him, but the bully didn't stop. So, Wade tried following him.

He followed him as they walked out onto the large paved road that connected all of the dorms to the school. Street lamps illuminated their way as Wade tried keeping up with Bakugo, who walked ahead of him.

"So, how far are we going?" Wade asked, looking around nervously. "You know we shouldn't be walking around in the middle of the night. That's how serial killers get you."

Bakugo said nothing and kept walking.

"Katsuki? Are you even listening to me?" Wade asked, looking worried at the explosive blonde. This wasn't like him at all. Something was really wrong, and it put Wade on edge.


A few minutes later, Bakugo finally stopped.

"Ground Beta," Wade said, looking around at the buildings of the mock city. This was where Bakugo wanted to take their conversation. It didn't make sense to Wade as he looked up at the building Bakugo was facing.

"This is the place where we had our first combat training," Bakugo said, finally speaking to the boy he had tormented for years. "Where I fought you and lost."

Wade gasped, now remembering the building and its significance.

"You've always made me sick. You know that, right, bug?"

Wade frowned at the back of Bakugo's head. Somehow, he knew that this moment would come. He imagined that it would be because Bakugo would one day just snap at how much Wade's been outdoing him. The exam was likely the final straw for his childhood bully.

"You were useless. No power at all. A joke," Bakugo said before turning his head slightly. "And then, all of a sudden, you get some new power from another dimension? So now, you're gonna tell me how you managed to get into this damn school with two brand-new Quirk that appeared out of nowhere."

Wade's eyes widened.

"I didn't want to believe that it was true, but still, you kept climbing higher and higher, always looking so satisfied with yourself."

"Like you're one to talk," Wade said, crossing his arms.

Bakugo turned his head away again. "Ever since the Sludge Villain, no, it started when All Might came to town. Better and better until finally, you passed the licensing exam while I failed," he said, looking up at the sky, wondering if the universe was pranking him. "How the hell is that even possible?"

Wade sighed and uncrossed his arms. "Look, dude, it had nothing to do with abilities—"

"Shut up and listen, you damn bug!" Bakugo yelled, surprising Wade. "It pissed me off that such a pathetic weakling had beaten me. But after seeing what happened to All Might at Kamino Ward, I began to understand. And it was all thanks to that villain. All for One, was it?"

Wade gulped but continued listening.

Bakugo looked over his shoulder at him. "I've been replaying what that villain said over and over in my head." He then said the words that Wade was dreading would come. "All Might gave you his Quirk, didn't he?"

Sweat started forming on Wade's face.

"There are other things that the boss villain said," Bakugo told Wade. "Apparently, he can steal people's Quirks, and he's able to give away Quirks like they're fucking candy. Sounds fucking crazy, but then one of those old cat ladies had her power taken from her and can't work anymore. There's also the fact that your father, who was just as Quirkless as you, suddenly has an ink power after becoming the Ghost. And then you met All Might, got bitten by that spider, and started changing. Then, he lost his power and had to retire, too.

"I remembered what he said on the news after he beat the big bad. We all heard it. Somehow, I knew that you were the only one who really understood what he meant. Your father was there when they were arresting the villain, meaning that you couldn't have been too far behind. There's more evidence, too, like how those Nomu monsters had multiple Quirks, even though it seems impossible."

Bakugo narrowed his eyes.

"Besides, there was that little comment All for One made about All Might getting weaker. Meaning they knew each other before that fight," Bakugo pointed out to Wade. "Quirks can move from one person to another. All Might knew the guy who could do it. And somehow, it's all connected to you. I tried asking All Might in a way, back when he asked my parents to let me live in the dorms, but he wouldn't answer."

Bakugo turned around to fully face Wade eventually.

"That's why you're gonna tell me the truth."

Wade remained silent as he stared at his rival. His mind raced through possible ways to get out of this situation.

"You're not trying to deny anything," Bakugo stated, narrowing his glare at Wade. "Which means I'm right. So say it."

Wade clenched his fists tightly. When Bakugo said that he wanted to talk about his Quirk, Spider-Man knew this was coming. This was it, the moment Wade was hoping never to have come. Not with Momo, Mina, and Ochaco. Not with his friends, Shoto and Tenya. Not with anyone in his life. And yet, it finally came, and it was Bakugo, of all people, who was the one to figure it out.

"...I can't," Wade said in defeat. "I'm sorry."

Wade didn't say what Bakugo wanted him to say. However, he wasn't denying it again. Merely saying he couldn't say it out loud. So, in a way, Wade was still confirming Bakugo's theories.

"You and I both wanted to be like All Might when we were growing up. But I was the one who had the potential. And somehow, a little nobody like you was singled out by the person I admire the most, and I didn't even realize it. That's why we're here," Bakugo declared. Then he held out his hand. "You and I are settling this. Right here, right now."

"You…You can't be serious," Wade said, looking at his old bully in disbelief.

Bakugo, however, stretched out his arms. "That Spider Quirk of yours gives you a heads up whenever I attack, right? Here's a heads up: Punch back if you don't want to get hurt."

Hearing him say that made Wade's eyes widen as he took a step back. "Whoa, wait! Come on, man! Bakugo, this is ridiculous! What would you even gain from this?"

"Are you going to shut up or DIE!" Bakugo shouted as he propelled himself with his explosions and rocketed towards Wade.

BOOM!

Wade grabbed Bakugo's hand, stopping it and locking his fingers with his as it set off an explosion. Burning away the sleeve of his shirt.

BOOM!

Bakugo tried blasting him away again with his other hand, but Wade did the same. Grabbing it and taking most of the explosion point blank.

Both young men gritted their teeth in anger and/or pain as they glared at one another. Bakugo tried pushing back against Wade's slightly burnt arms, but the young Spider-Man held his ground. Using his superior strength, he kept himself in place.

"Alright, you wanna fight, asshole? Fine! I'm gonna beat you into the ground!" Wade yelled, glaring at Bakugo with all the pent-up anger he felt towards him. If his bully really wanted to have a rematch, then so be it.

Bakugo glared at Wade as he grinned. "That's more like it."

A moment later, the two of them jumped back from one another.

Bakugo landed a few meters away before rocketing towards Wade. "No holding back!" he yelled as Wade ran at him, electricity coursing through his body.

Both combatants yelled primal roars as they collided in the middle of the street. Began what was to be their most intense battle to date. The one chapter of these Heroes of Tomorrow's lives has ended. And now, they're coming out onto the next sage with a massive bang.


AN: Man, what a chapter that was, and what a cliffhanger! We're finally at the part where Wade and Bakugo are going back at it again, and this time, it's until the end.

So, anyway, I just wanted people to know that I have played Spider-Man 2 PS5, and I LOVED IT! It was so outstanding! And with the new game out, you know that I've got to use the moves in it, which I did in this chapter. Not only that, but we also got to see the web-wings in action! It is one of the many new additions to the suit that Melissa made when upgrading it.

On that note, I do wish that I had the new suit be the red, white, and black version of the suit in the game, instead of just being an upgraded version of the advanced suit. However, I can change that in volume 4.

The significant change in this chapter was the building incident of the rescue exam, which was a completely unplanned moment that the HUC wasn't ready for. This moment was inspired by the first level of the first game, where Spider-Man had to rescue people. I figured that if this exam was to test the rescuing abilities of the students, then I might as well go all out. Also, Toga Camie came into the building to take another shot at his blood. Getting the drop of blood that she needed.

The fight with Gang Orca is a little bit different, as Wade uses all of his skills to take down the Hero's seemingly endless supply of men. On the plus side, he does get to fight Gang Orca for a short moment until he thinks that Todoroki and Yoarashi would work together.

And he gets twenty more points than Izuku did! Even though it was a demerit system, you better believe those HUC guys are going to be grateful to him and others for saving them from a real emergency.

And then we get to the beginning of Wade and Bakugo's fight, which I'm definitely excited for. Not only because it's another fight between the two of them, but it's also another moment for me to write some character growth for Bakugo. Not only that, but one of his biggest character moments that occurs much later in the story will happen in the next chapter. So be sure to stick around to see it.

Happy Halloween, and thank you for reading.