The following day after All-Might had revealed the truth about OFA to Izuku and friends, Aizawa made an announcement.
"Summer vacation is coming up. But you won't have time to relax. You'll be given training at a special summer camp. This is going to be important for you since it will allow you experience in variable terrain. However... Those of you who don't pass the final exam... Will not be going."
"Think this is another of his 'logical ruses'?" Hilda whispered to Izuku.
"Knowing Aizawa-Sensei, most likely. After all, to him, it's the best way to get us to do our best."
"You have one week left before final exams. I'm sure you're all studying hard for the writing portion, but remember to also keep training for the practical portion."
After class had ended and Aizawa left the room, everything fully sank in for the students of Class 1-A.
"I BARELY TOOK ANY NOTES THIS SEMESTER!" Denki and Mina called out, though Mina seemed weirdly cheerful about it.
"It's true that we haven't had much free time," Fumikage admitted.
"We barely learned anything when we took midterms, so they didn't seem that hard," Rikidou noted. "But still, I'm worried. They likely won't pull any punches."
Kouji nodded in agreement. Both he and Rikidou were average grade students but he shared his friend's concern.
"I'm not that worried. I actually ranked up in the top ten." Minoru smugly said.
"What?! I thought you were one of us, Mineta!" Mina cried.
"Yeah, where's the demand for that kinda crap?!" Denki called out.
"I don't know, the whole world?"
"Hey, come on guys! We still have time to study!" Hilda said, trying to lift her classmates' spirits. "That way we'll all get to go the training camp together."
"Indeed, you can rely on us!" Tenya added helpfully.
"It's pretty hard to fail if you just pay attention in class," Shoto said, which only succeded in depressing Denki and Mina further as Eijirou tried to console them.
"Dude, we gotta work on your people skills..." Ben dryly said.
"If you need help, I can get you up to speed on the important topics," Momo said while eating a bag of potato chips. Ever since her internship, she had become much more comfortable with her new large rotund frame. It helped that a lot of people told her she looked even cuter with the extra chub.
"Yaomomo!" Mina cried, hugging Momo's big plush body tightly.
"Think you could help me out too?" Kyouka awkwardly asked. "I'm having trouble understanding quadratic functions."
"And Classical Japanese is killing me," Sero added.
"I'm falling behind a little myself," Oujiro sheepishly admitted.
Momo's eyes sparkled and her adorable chubby cheeks glowed pink, touched that so many people were turning to her for help.
"Yes, let's do it! We'll hold a study session at my residence! I'll need to call Mother and have her prepare the great hall! What sort of tea does everyone like? By the time we're done, I'll push you all to become model students!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot she's loaded." Hilda said in a playful sarcastic tone.
"I think it's really cute!" Penny smiled. "She just looks so genuinely happy it's hard not to smile!"
"Word on that, sister!" Kirby beamed in agreement.
Eijirou chuckled. "Man, maybe we should study with her."
"Because she's one of the top scorers or because you're simping for Raccoon Eyes?" Katsuki asked.
"Take your pick, Baku-Bro."
Yuuga giggled. "Everyone's panicking right now. But it won't do any good to cram this late."
"You say that, but you didn't do so well yourself, did you?" Shouji pointed out, making the Franco-Japanese boy wince.
"Touche..."
The gang was having lunch at Lunch Rush's Eatery, discussing the finals.
"The practical's going to be the real concern," Izuku admitted.
"I'm hoping you can help me through the written portion," Ochako said, "I only got 13th in the midterm."
"They probably won't do anything in the practical that we can't handle," Tooru said.
"We should still be careful though-Kero." Tsuyu pointed out. "Those Nomu that appeared in Hosu surely mean the League of Villains were still around."
"Yeah, our teachers might train us harder to get us prepared," Kirby said.
"Kirby and Tsuyu are right on that front." Izuku added, finishing his fourth bowl of Katsudon. "Even if we're confident, it's best not to-."
The greenette's words were cut off when something rudely bumped into his head, making him reel in surprise
"Oh sorry, your big head was in the way…"
Everyone in Class 1-A groaned in annoyance when they realized it was Monoma, having since been demoted to General Ed after his poor showing in the Sports Festival.
"I saw on the news that some of you ran into the Hero Killer. Even saw the footage; I'd say good job but I can only really say it to one of you."
"I had really hoped that you being demoted would get you to see the light of your errors..." Ben growled as he began to stand up, but Penny stopped him, shaking her head.
"You know that people don't like you because you're good heroes, right? Because, let's be honest, you could be doing a lot better." Monoma continued. "You only get their attention because you're always in the spotlight, they'd give anyone under that light the attention you're getting."
"He's not even trying now..." Kirby said flatly and quietly.
"Honestly, it's a shame that the Hero Killer only got in a few scrapes and stabs." Alright, he's no longer trying. "A bit more damage might have let reality kick in and show you that you're nothing but-"
A symphony of Quirks activating cut the blonde off and he soon found himself held in place before receiving a well-placed – but non-fatal – palm to the nose.
No one had seen them move.
Fumikage, Shoto, and Ben were all behind the blonde, holding his right arm, left arm, and neck respectively, a cold but burning fury in each of their eyes. Momo was on the blonde's left side, her arm transformed into a cannon aimed at his face with Katsuki on the other side holding the same stance; both of their arms twitched to activate.
Around them, all the other 1-A students stood in a circle, Quirks activated and snarls on all of their faces. Even the normally kind and gentle Penny and Kirby had looks of righteous fury.
"Listen here you loudmouthed little troll!" Tenya said, his politeness never wavering in spite of his anger. "Do you honestly think we enjoyed almost getting killed when the League of Villains attacked us in the USJ? Is your mind so clouded with jealousy that you interpreted our joy at being alive once we came back from that hell as being happy that we were noticed by the media? Thinking about how good we were going to look on the news wasn't at the top of our list of priorities!"
"This kind of attitude is exactly why you were punted down to the General Ed course in Shinso's place." Hilda pointed out. "The fact that you antagonize people over such perceived petty slights is just so pathetic."
"And here's the thing about your Quirk..." Izuku said with surprising coldness. "Despite all your bluster, you know damn well you can only do something when you have someone else to copy their Quirk from. The harsh reality is that you cannot do anything until you can leech off someone stronger than you."
"Class 1-B should be glad they don't have you in their class anymore to drag their name through the mud." Ben finished. "They're better off without you. You don't even deserve to be a Hero with that attitude. Hell, you don't even deserve to be a student at UA PERIOD."
Monoma's legs were shaking, his face was pale, his normally smug grin had vanished and his eyes dilated with terror, shock...and pain. Katsuki smirked as he lowered his arm and leaned in closer.
"How's it feel to be put in your fucking place, you Copycat Faggot?" The explosive blonde taunted. "In the end, you're nothing but a weak loser who shoots off shit he can't flush!"
"Students, while Monoma's behavior is indeed intolerable, I would kindly ask that you release him." Nedzu's voice suddenly chimed over the intercom. "Let the teachers handle this, please."
The students of Class 1-A were surprised at how Nedzu was able to figure out what was going on. Then again, UA's security was top-notch and the principal had his eyes everywhere because of that. Reluctantly, they released Monoma as he stood there, still catatonic.
"I'll take him to the principal's office." Itsuka sighed as she came over along with the others of Class 1-B before dragging Monoma away, a deeply disappointed look on her face. "I agree with them on one thing at least; I hoped you'd have learned some humility after being kicked down to General Ed..."
"I kinda feel bad for him..." Hitoshi sighed.
"I don't. He should have learned that fat mouth of his would get him into trouble sooner or later." Rebecca snorted.
"I don't think he'll learn from this." Nia said. "Knowing his ego, he'll just double down or something."
"Still, it seems unfair..." Mipha pointed out, ever the benevolent soul.
"Hey, Shinso!" Hilda greeted the indigo-haired boy. "How're things in the Heroics Course?"
Hitoshi shrugged. "About as hard as I expected. But it's not all bad. Since finals are coming up the teachers gave us special permission to practice our Quirks."
"A shame you weren't with us in Hosu." Ben noted. "You would have been a big help in taking down Stain with how he ran his mouth."
"Speaking of that, you were training under Aizawa-Sensei, right?" Shoto added. "Any insight on what he might have planned for the finals?"
"Couldn't really say, but I can tell you he'll be working with the other teachers to make it harder than the entrance exam, so don't expect an easy ride with combat training robots." Hitoshi said.
"You know, I've noticed him taking notes on everyone, though I will say that the notes seemed to be on the students before internships." Nimona pointed out. "He may be trying to incorporate that into the finals."
"And how do you know this, Lady Nimona?" Jurota Shishida asked.
"I was just sneaking through the vents~!" The girl replied with an impish grin.
Soon, Saturday rolled by as Denki, Eijirou, Mina, Kyouka, Sero, and Oujiro stood outside the Yaoyorozu estate, looking awed at what they saw. They couldn't even see the manor from the gated entrance at first glance, allowing them to know just how rich she was. And considering that this was merely one of the lands that the family owned... it was overwhelming for them.
"I knew she was rich, but I didn't think she was this rich..." Denki gaped.
"Wow, we should start hanging out with you guys more often!" Setsuna Tokage giggled, having joined the group along with Reiko Yanagi.
Class 1-A and Class 1-B had agreed to all merge and split off into various study groups, with the smarter students working to help improve the lower-scoring ones. Like in a normal Japanese school, the exams were four days long. However, UA included a practical course its Hero Course students on the fourth day instead of just having four days of written exams.
Soon, they were sitting in the dining hall, all with their notebooks out.
"I could not feel any more out of place," Oujiro said.
"I hear ya," Eijirou said. "I'm actually much simpler in my tastes."
Momo showed up with a tea cart that was fully stocked, including dessert.
"Is something wrong?" she said with an innocent smile on her cute chubby face
"NO, EVERYTHING'S PERFECT!" the group said, not wanting to hurt her feelings.
The day of the practical exam soon arrived, sooner than some thought would. All the students from both 1-A and 1-B were gathered at the Practical Exam Area-Central Plaza, all wearing their hero uniforms. Aizawa, Present Mic, Midnight, Captain Falcon, Psy-Brina, Cementoss, Ectoplasm, Snipe, Power Loader, and Thirteen were also there.
"Now I'm kinda nervous," Tsuburaba Kosei said. "Isn't Power Loader supposed to be teaching the Support Course?"
"Yeah, this is way too many teachers for the Final Exam." Kyouka agreed.
"Very observant!" Nedzu's voice chimed in as he popped out of Aizawa's scarf. "For various reasons, the exam will be different starting this time!"
"In order to test your skills to their limit, the practical will be focusing not just on hero work, but also on teamwork and live combat situations." Captain Falcon said. "Each of you students will be working in pairs and pitted in combat against one of the faculty members."
"Your partners and opponents have already been chosen based on various factors," Aizawa explained. "Please note that the factors that led to our decisions were based on everything prior to your internships, so I hope you learned a lot.
"There will be some students from 1-A teaming up with 1-B," Midnight notified. "This hasn't been done either, but we as a staff decided to do so since we plan to get most of the exam done."
"Midoriya, you, Yasakani, Bakugou, and Torekuroshi are arguably some of the strongest students here," Nedzu said. "So, we've prepared a special opponent for you."
To the class's shock, All-Might leaped down, landing hard with a mighty tremor.
"I AM HERE! TO FIGHT!"
"Oh FUCK YEAH!" Katsuki grinned. "Challenge fucking accepted!"
"Don't die!" Kirby said to her boyfriend, kissing him on the cheek.
"I'm kinda nervous now..." Hilda whispered to Izuku, who nodded.
"Yeah, even with my various powers and you inheriting OFA, All-Might is still a powerhouse for a damn good reason."
"Alright, with all that settled, let's show you the teams!" Psy-Brina cheered.
1st Match: Cementoss vs Eijirou, Rikidou, Nimona, and Tetsutetsu
2nd Match: Ectoplasm vs Tsuyu, Fumikage, Penny, and Itsuka
3rd Match: Power Loader vs Tenya, Oujiro, Rebecca, and Tsuburaba
4th Match: Eraserhead vs Shoto, Momo, Kinoko, and Reiko
5th Match: Thirteen vs Ochako, Yuuga, Manga, and Bondo
6th Match: Nedzu vs Mina, Denki, Setsuna, and Kuroiro
7th Match: Present Mic vs Kyouka, Kouji, Jurota, and
8th Match: Snipe vs Tooru, Shouji, Shouda, and Ibara
9th Match: Midnight vs Minoru, Sero, Hitoshi, and Sen
10th Match: Psy-Brina vs Juuzo, Awase, Togaru, and Yui
11th Match: Captain Falcon vs Kirby, Mipha, Nia, and Pony
12th Match: All-Might vs Izuku, Hilda, Katsuki, and Ben
"Now for the rules; You'll have thirty minutes. To win you must either tag your teacher with a provided set of Quirk Suppressant Cuffs or have one of your team escape the combat zone through one of four provided gates." Nedzu said.
"This is a little different from your combat training, ya dig?" Present Mic said. "After all, you're up against seasoned pros way better than you."
"Yeah, don't go dissin' Uncle Hizashi," Ben said. "He may seem like an ordinary announcer/DJ, but he's a lot more powerful than you give him credit for!"
"That's my honorary nephew!" Present Mic proudly said, giving the Elementalist a thumbs-up.
"The exam is meant to simulate a real battle," Thirteen explained. "It might seem strange, but you'll have to think of us as attacking villains."
"As soon as you come across your enemy, then if you think you can win, by all means, fight to the best of your ability," Snipe said. "But if you have any doubts, or you know you're outmatched, then it might be best to retreat and go for backup. The choice is up to you."
"So it's either fight to win, or run to win." Nia realized. "Seems simple enough, eh?"
"It's meant to test our decision-making as well as the trust we can put in our allies on the field," Penny noted.
"Of course, in order to make sure your options aren't limited to just fleeing, the Support Course made something to even the odds." All-Might said as he and the other teachers revealed special wrist and ankle straps with weights added to them.
"These are ultra-compressed weights. They're designed to add half our body weight to our physique." Power Loader explained. "That way our stamina will be lowered faster and make it harder for us to move around."
"It's especially hard for me considering there's so much of me to love." Psy-Brina giggled, rubbing her big belly.
"We had a contest to come up with these designs. The winner was a joint effort by Young Hatsume and Young Germi." All-Might said as he finished putting on his own weights. "These are heavier than I thought..."
"Now that we have everything explained..." Aizawa said as he turned to four of the students. "Sato, Kirishima, Nimona, Tetsutetsu, you four will be going first against Cementoss. The rest of you can either watch the match or strategize with your teammate."
"Metal!" Nimona grinned as she and Tetsutetsu nodded their heads excitedly.
"With all that said...LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" Nedzu cackled in delight.
Figured I'd give Class 1-B some love in the Final Exams. Also, FUCK Monoma Neito, I feel like I need to say that every time he shows his disgusting face.