A/N: Note: I moved the USJ trip to the end of the second week of school instead of being the end of the first week as it was in the canon. Makes more sense to me, giving some extra cushion time for learning the basics of hero-ing before throwing them into the deep end for something like rescue training. Combat training can get away with assessing what they already know, plenty of UA probably took some kind of martial arts or did some sort of training prior to UA. Rescue training is a little more precise and needs a stable, guiding hand to prevent bad habits.
Gohan stretched as he stood beside the UA bus. The testing center for the Provisional Licensing Exam was massive, easily the size of Capsule Corporation, and looked very impressive. He heard a quiet whistle, turning to see Snipe waving him over.
"Yes, Snipe-Sensei?"
"How are those bracers fitting ya? Nezu said that ya ain't need to wear 'em, we all trust yer restraint."
Gohan shrugged, looking down at the bulky red bracers covering his forearms. They were super-dense weights, weighing several tons each. He could feel similar weights on his legs. He based them on a design that Bulma created for training, created to prevent Gohan from using his full power and speed. They partially leveled the playing field for others, keeping his speed equal to All Might while capping his maximum strength at around thirty percent. He could, however, drop the weights at a moment's notice if necessary, just in case.
"They fit fine. I designed them myself, after all. I just want a more level playing field for this exam. I wish I could just make them the size of my wristbands, but I couldn't find a metal dense enough to provide that kind of weight."
Snipe shrugged after a moment's consideration. "Yer choice. Did ya ever get around to makin' an actual hero costume?"
"No, I never got around to it. It's been a busy couple of weeks, doing basic combat training for the first years and advanced combat training with the second years." Gohan looked down at his gi. It was similar in design to his father's gi, but the exterior was purple and the undershirt was red. His shoes were green, much like the slippers he used to wear while training under Piccolo. "This is just one of my regular sets of training clothes. I'm sure I'll think of something for a costume, eventually. Maybe."
Snipe shrugged. "Well, kid, that's ya own choice. Let's go."
They walked into the testing facility, where a couple thousand potential heroes milled about in their small cliques. A large balcony rose over the heads of the test takers, a dozen men and women in suits standing at attention. One woman stood behind a raised podium, dressed in a pink pantsuit. The woman was short and stocky with a broad face, her wispy pink hair piled high on her head. She tapped the microphone in front of her, causing a high-pitched feedback squeal.
"Good afternoon, potential heroes! I hope you are all doing well today! Welcome to the Provisional License Exam for the Spring of 2285. My name is Amaku Akui* and I will be the head proctor for today. I hope that as many of you pass as possible!" She winked at the crowd, causing several students to gag in revulsion. Amaku waved a fat hand to the side, a set of walls sliding down to reveal one hundred platforms spread across a half-mile stretch of land. "This exam will be a little different from past years. We at the HPSC have noticed an increase in the number of less-than-desirable hero candidates passing the Provisional Licensing Exams and have constructed this exam to address that issue. We would like to see candidates who can protect our citizens as steadfastly as our Number Two Hero, Endeavor."
Dozens of people in suits began wandering through the crowd, handing out forms to the competitors.
"These are release forms that say the Hero Public Safety Committee is not liable for injuries sustained in the normal course of this exam. That includes, but is not limited to, burns, lacerations, bruises, and amputation of limbs. You will need to sign to be allowed to take the exam." Akui smiled sweetly, though a small amount of bloodlust lurked behind the smile.
"The format for this segment is simple. A battle royale on each platform, the last hero standing will move on. Each platform has forty contestants."
Gohan furrowed his brow. 'That feels a little overtly martial for a hero test… Aren't heroes supposed to be public servants who save civilians, not soldiers?' Absently, Gohan signed the form passed to him, stepping forward to get onto his assigned platform. A simpering throat-clearing drew his attention back to the podium.
"The elimination methods are equally simple. If you are rendered unconscious, knocked off the platform with no way back,
injured past a certain point, or cause excessive damage to a fellow competitor, you are eliminated. Each platform will allow one person to move on, therefore fifty will move on to the second stage. The battles will occur simultaneously and will last for a maximum of twenty minutes. May the odds be ever in your favor."
Gohan narrowed his eyes at the plump woman. His instincts were crawling about this woman, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly was wrong. He mounted the platform, still puzzling over what made this woman so distrustful. 'She said that they wanted people like Endeavor. Why not try to encourage candidates to be like All Might, since he's the current Number One Hero?'
—Scene Break—
Hijiri Yuudai stretched as he looked at the competitors on the platform with him, scoffing at them. Hijiri may only go to Ketsubutsu Academy, but his flame Quirk was powerful enough to catch the attention of the Number Two Hero, Endeavor!
The Flame Hero emailed Hijiri the day before the Exam about a new person on the Hero Scene. No one knew his name or his Quirk, but he was a TA/student at UA. Hijiri didn't know how that worked, but it didn't matter. Endeavor made Hijiri a guarantee that the Ketsubutsu student would get a contract as a sidekick with the Endeavor Hero Agency if he could knock out this unknown student. Hijiri grinned as he finished his stretches, his excitement causing the flames on his head to flare bright blue.
"Hey, you! Flamehead!"
Hijiri looked around for the source of the voice. A small girl in a loose yellow jumpsuit and red boots sauntered across the platform, her yellow eyes contrasting with jet black hair.
"Me," Hijiri said, his head tilting to the side.
"Yes, you Flamehead. I know we're competitors, but what do you say about a little team-up in the opening round? Knock out the UA scrub before we get down to beating each other up." The girl put her hands on her hips, a confident smirk stretched across her face. "Those UA types are a little too stuck up for my taste. I always enjoy getting to put them in their place. I'm Izumi Japana from Seijin High School, by the way."
Hijiri shrugged. "Hijiri Yuudai, Ketsubutsu Academy. I'm fine with a team-up, but the minute he's down, I'm coming for you."
A buzzer went off in the background and the HPSC representative's voice came over the intercom. "BEGIN!"
Hijiri and Izumi launched themselves forward, pushing past a girl whose head was a giant snake and a giant boy reaching for a girl in a Seiai Academy uniform. Their target was just standing in his original starting position, arms crossed and watching the chaotic battles going around him. Before they reached him, a firework shot between them, exploding just in front of the sprinting pair. Hijiri and Izumi pulled back from their sprint just in time to avoid a second firework exploding. A multicolored blur zipped past them with a cheeky laugh and another explosion of colorful light.
"Sorry, slowpokes! That sitting duck is mine!"
Hijiri ground his teeth as the blur darted to his target, throwing a burst of Catherine Wheel fireworks in his face. The flame-haired hero-hopeful threw himself into the fray with a shout of frustration and anger, much like his idol Endeavor. No one was going to take his prey and his chance at the Pros!
—Scene Break—
Gohan frowned, ignoring the melee happening all around him while he thought about the odd behavior of the HPSC representative. A firework interrupted his thoughts, exploding just in front of him.
The young Saiyan refocused on the melee just in time to see a girl in multicolored spandex emerge from the firework with a punch. Reflexes born from dozens of battles and years of endless training knocked the punch to the side and retaliated with a left cross. The girl let out a cry of surprise and pain as the punch knocked her off the platform and into a nearby wall. Gohan winced at the sound of impact. He meant to hold back more on that strike.
A flash of flames licked the air where Gohan had been standing moments before. Hijiri shouted in wordless anger as the black-haired man dodged his fireball. A flood of water appeared behind Hijiri's target, forcing him forward into a second fireball. Hijiri's shout of triumph transformed into a scream of anger as his enemy came out of the fireball unscathed.
"Time for your light to go out, kid!" The girl in yellow spandex summoned a globe of water that sealed itself over the UA student's head. "You can't do anything if you can't breathe! UA isn't the only great Hero School in Japan, ya know, and I'm gonna prove it by beating your ass!"
Gohan blurred out of her sight. She looked around wildly, trying to find him. The young Saiyan warrior picked her up by the scruff of her costume and threw her off the edge of the platform. As she fell, the water globe surrounding his head lost its form. He turned just in time to see a third fireball flying at him. He ducked and spun left, avoiding a follow-up fireball.
"Your attacks are a little repetitive, aren't they? Is your quirk just throwing fireballs? Or is it actually fire creation?" His only answer was another scream of rage, followed by a gout of flame. "Oh, that's warm."
The Saiyan dodged around the streams of fire, swerving between contestants who panicked at the sudden flames. After a few minutes of weaving between contestants and redirecting mis-aimed attacks, Gohan completely circled the fire user and stood on the edge of the platform.
"Stand still so I can hit you," Hijiri screamed, sweat pouring down his body. "I have to eliminate you!"
Gohan shrugged and stood still, his arms spread wide. "This feels counterproductive, but sure. Take your best shot."
Hijiri roared as he sent a stream of flames at his target, the heat bloom washing over every competitor on the platform. The sudden heat staggered the other hero hopefuls on the platform and the flame user yelled in triumph. That yell trailed off as the smoke cleared, revealing Gohan standing with his arms still wide open.
Gohan noted, as the flames cleared, that of the forty contestants on his platform, twenty-five were still standing. The young Saiyan floated up and backward off the platform. He grabbed the edge of the platform and ripped it off the spire that held it, tilting it ninety degrees so most of the competitors just slid off. He placed the platform back on the spire, frowning at the four students who held on.
Hijiri panted from the exertion of holding on to the platform. He had melted handholds into the surface of the platform, burning his hands badly. He stood up shakily to face Gohan. Another student with a Gigantification quirk loomed high over everyone else, a third made a dozen copies of herself while the last student pointed at Gohan.
"ATTACK!"
Gohan rushed the attacking students, targeting the gigantic student first. Although the student stood forty feet tall, Gohan grabbed the girl's boot and swung her around like an oversized baseball bat. He hit the human copier with the first swing, the second swing missing the fire user and smacking the other student off the platform. Gohan gently tossed the giant student off the edge of the platform, keeping his eyes on the fire user.
"So, is there a reason for this animosity? As far as I know, I've never met you. Somehow, I don't think it's a hate boner for UA, you haven't gone on a rant about beating UA like the last one. But you seem to be specifically targeting me, which is strange."
Hijiri ground his teeth, his eyes flashing with anger. "My name is Hijiri Yuudai and my mission is to make sure you don't move on!"
He threw a brace of fireballs around Gohan, trapping him into a single lane while Hijiri rushed in. The fire user sprayed a stream of fire down the lane, expecting to either launch Gohan off the edge of the platform or force him into submission. What he did not expect was Gohan walking through the flames like they weren't there.
"Sorry about this." Gohan picked Hijiri up by the back of his costume and dropped him off the edge of the platform, wincing at the crash of the boy hitting the ground. A buzzer went off over the top of the platform. "Still don't know what your issue is with me, but that's not my problem."
"Applicant 442 moves on to the next round! Please move to the anteroom on the left-hand side of the room!" The loudspeaker drew some attention from the other contestants. Many other platforms were just beginning the first stages of their major battles.
Hijiri glared up at Gohan as the man hopped down from the platform. The flame user had failed his mentor and just destroyed his chances of signing on as a sidekick for Endeavor. All because of him!
—Scene Break—
Gohan sat in a Lotus position by a wall, floating several feet off the ground while he meditated. He flinched as a squeal of feedback suddenly erupted from the speaker over his head.
"Congratulations to all of our applicants who made it past the first screening! We of the Hero Public Safety Commission want to make sure that only the best of our applicants are entrusted with the safety of our beloved citizenry. For the next stage, please proceed to the double doors at the end of the hall." The voice of the HPSC representative was just as sugary and insincere as before.
Gohan followed the other hero hopefuls through the double doors, his eyes flicking around in case of threats. Small booths covered the room, each set up with bright lights and a person in a suit sitting in a chair with a small clipboard. The sickeningly sweet voice of the HPSC representative came back over the speaker.
"Dealing with the media is a major part of the hero's life, so it is the media who will grade you on the second stage of the Provisional License Exam. They will interview you and your ability to interact with them will determine if you pass or fail this segment of the Provisional License Exam." Gohan blinked at the instructions. Why would this be part of the exam? He still wasn't terribly familiar with this new world, but surely an official license for heroism wouldn't involve public relations as a major component.
"Please locate the booth with your name on it. You have five minutes. If you cannot locate and sit in your booth at the end of the five-minute period, you will fail this portion of the exam." The applicants began running around, checking the nameplates on the front of the booths in a panic.
Shaking his head, Gohan put his questions to the back of his mind. He walked out and looked at the nameplates on the booths in front of him, then stepped to the side to see the nameplates on the booths in the second and third rows. 'Ah! The booths are in syllabic order, but the order is vertical instead of horizontal.' The simple switch had caused chaos with the examinees.
Gohan walked to his assigned booth. He sat in the remarkably comfortable chair, giving the reporter a bland smile. The timer went off, and the reporter leaned forward, locking eyes with Gohan.
"So, first off, what's your hero name?"
"Saiyaman, ma'am."
"That's an unusual name," the reporter said. "What does it mean and how did you pick it?"
"Well," Gohan said as he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, "I just thought it sounded like something my little brother would like. It really doesn't mean anything to society at large." The reporter narrowed her eyes slightly but moved on to her next question.
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen. Seventeen next month."
"I don't recognize you from last year's UA Sports Festival. What Hero Course did you transfer in from?"
Gohan scratched the back of his head. "My mother actually homeschooled me for my entire life. I already passed my high school exit exams and I'm doing coursework with Nezu-kouchou in the meantime."
The reporter raised an eyebrow. "Wow, you've already done your exams and you're taking private lessons with Principal Nezu? You must be quite the student." She blinked and sat back. "But if you've just gotten to UA, how did you get to take the Provisional License Exam? Most students have at least a year under their belts before they can attempt the exam for the first time."
Gohan shrugged. "Because of my unique circumstances, the UA staff tested me privately and deemed me ready to take the exam."
"And what are those circumstances?"
"Unique," Gohan said with a smile that flashed a hint of his elongated canine. "Please move on."
"A little over six months ago, an event happened near Shizuoka province. An incident which left a gigantic crater in the ground. According to public records and a couple of sources in the HPSC, you just sort of appeared out of the blue the very next week."
Gohan blinked and cocked his head to the side. "Was there a question in there? I don't see how that applies to this interview or this exam."
The reporter said, pointing her pen at Gohan. "There are some rumors going around that the crater which suddenly appeared in the forest outside of Shizuoka was from an experiment gone wrong or a villain attack. Citizens who were nearby said they heard a crash and saw All Might flash past a few minutes later. When officials arrived on-site, they found a crater and no sign of the Number One Hero."
Gohan maintained his confused gaze, even as he began swearing internally. The reporter continued, waving her pen around in emphasis.
"You turned up in the public records just days after the mysterious crater incident. The principal of UA, Nezu, covered it up the same day that you appeared in the records. That is pretty suspicious, since you weren't in the records before the incident, according to some high-level sources. So, one of two things is happening here: either you are a government experiment who has escaped and Nezu is helping you to cover it up."
Gohan blinked at the random turn. 'Is that the insane option? Is there a sane option?'
"Or you are a villain who has somehow gotten dirt on Nezu and possibly All Might so that they would help you infiltrate hero society with a provisional license!" The reporter sat back, a satisfied smirk on her face. "If you want to pass this test, you'll give me the scoop on exactly what's going on."
'So, no. There wasn't a sane option. I can work with this.' Gohan leaned back in his own chair and gestured to the reporter. "Let me get this straight. You think that I'm either a secret escaped experiment or a villain. And Nezu and/or All Might are helping me because they either want to help or because I'm blackmailing them with something?"
"Yes."
"And your plan is to blackmail me into telling you what is going on."
"I wouldn't say blackmail, but you're on the right track."
"Alright," Gohan said as he shifted in the chair. "What makes you think that's a good plan? If Nezu, the government, or any number of other entities were running an experiment that either succeeded or failed, wouldn't it put your life in danger to do something like blackmail?"
The reporter paled, but doggedly stared at Gohan.
"Or if it's your second theory and I'm a villain who got Nezu on my side for this, what would stop me from killing you and everyone else in the building and walking away? This plan doesn't seem well-conceived to me…" Gohan smirked, showing off an elongated canine.
The reporter squeaked and dropped her pen. Her pale skin become paper white as her mouth opened and closed without sound for a moment. After a few seconds, she seemed to regain her voice. "N-n-never mind. I think this is good. Y-you pass." She marked a card and handed it to him. "Give that to the judges. Have a good day."
Gohan watched the reporter walk quickly away from his booth. He didn't enjoy that sort of manipulation, but it was infinitely preferable to certain groups getting knowledge of his origins. Dimensional travel was usually reserved for the Supreme Kais, but the possibility of someone finding a method of their own was always available once they knew the option existed. Luckily, that reporter wasn't great at blackmail. Or all that bright.
—Scene Break—
A judge walked by and stepped into the booth, taking the card from Gohan. They directed the young Saiyan to the front of the building where the proctor and Endeavour were standing. The Flame Hero glared at Gohan, his bulky arms crossed.
"This is the last stage, boy." Endeavor pointed at a simulation of a street in front of him. Rubble and debris covered the street, with human shaped dummies littering the ground. A figure in red stood at the midpoint of the road, hands on hips. "Your task is to resolve the situation in as little time as possible. The government and society task heroes with stopping villains as quickly as possible, so catch the perpetrator."
"What about the civilians?" Gohan's eyes were flickering around the simulation.
"Do what you like with them. Resolving the incident is the object, which means you must defeat the villain." Endeavor nodded to the official beside him. "Begin."
A gust of wind extinguished Endeavor's flames as Gohan blurred away. His red bracers were now sitting on the ground beside the Flame Hero and the young Saiyan stood at the end of the simulation street, the civilians laid out on one side and the 'villain' tied up on the other side. White energy was flaring out from Gohan as he stared down at Endeavor with a condescending smirk.
"Situation resolved."
Endeavor ground his teeth but nodded. "You pass. Collect your provisional license card from the processing area."
—Scene Break—
As Gohan walked away, the head proctor waddled over to Endeavor. The young Saiyan could clearly hear her whispered shouts, as if he were standing beside her.
"I thought you were going to fail him! We have questions that require continued access to him!"
Endeavor growled at the squat woman, his flames flaring briefly until she took a step back. "I may dislike him, but he accomplished the exercise in under a second. That's damned impressive and someone we need on the streets instead of in a lab. Find someone else to do your damn dirty work. I have work to do, I'm not your damned dog. NEXT!"
Gohan raised an eyebrow at that, never pausing his stride. 'Why does Endeavor dislike me? This is the first time I've run into him, as far as I know. I should probably let Nezu-kouchou know about this when I get back to campus.'
Gohan stood by Snipe, waiting for the UA bus to take them back to campus, when Gohan's watch beeped. The young Saiyan looked down at his watch in confusion for a moment. "Right! I'm supposed to help with some rescue training this afternoon! Aizawa and Thirteen asked just in case All Might forgot about his time limit again." He looked at Snipe. "Is it ok if I make my own way back? I can get to the USJ in a couple minutes."
Snipe shrugged. "Sure. You're at least provisionally licensed now, so there isn't anything stopping you. Make sure you keep that card with you! They'll charge you for a copy if you lose it."
Gohan grinned, turning to bound into the sky. "Thanks, Snipe-sensei! I'll see you back at school!" With that, the young Saiyan sped up out of Snipe's sight. Hopefully, helping with one of the hero classes would be a good way to unwind after that really weird test.
*Sweetly, Malice (Name Translation)
**Fire, Great/Big Hero (Name Translation)
A/N: I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter out. I literally deleted either part or all of this chapter about seven times over the last few months. Also, I'm a school teacher during the worst and most chaotic school year since the Second World War. So yeah, it was a slog. I'm still not super happy about everything in this chapter, but I felt like it was important to put it out there. I'm experimenting with some dialogue writing and fight scenes, so let me know what you think. I have significant amounts of the next couple chapters written from when I was stuck on this chapter, so hopefully it will come out a lot sooner. Likely during the summer months.
Please leave a review, it does motivate me to work more.