"Ladies and gentlemen! Take your seats, so I can hit you with the deets! It's almost time to throw down, hero style!"

"Oh no! Am I late? Are we late!?" Izuku cried frantically as he arrived at the end of the line of students funneling into the auditorium. "Are they starting already?"

"Mais non," came the reply from a familiar blond boy standing just in front of him. The hopeful that had identified himself as a member of the Aoyama family turned to face Izuku, a slender hand alongside his chin. "We are precisely on time, so far as I know."

"Oh! Good!" Izuku replied as he doubled over to try to catch his breath. "Nice to see you again…"

"Hm?" Aoyama asked as he tilted his head. "Do I know you…?"

Izuku blinked, unsure of what to say.

"I… never mind, I guess it's not important."

"Perhaps not," Aoyama replied with a shrug as he turned and began to move forward with the line.

"Yes, good, keep moving!" Tenya Iida instructed from his place next to the doorway. The boy was gesturing rapidly, whirling an arm as he funneled people into the auditorium. "Right this way! Please, try to pick up the pace, we're two whole minutes behind schedule!"

"Midoriya!"

Izuku whirled, nearly running into a taller student who had wild, dark colored hair in a style somewhat similar to his own. The boy had tired eyes and an expression of perpetual boredom plastered upon his face as he slowly stepped to the side to give Izuku a clearer view of the space behind him.

"S-sorry!" Izuku called as he craned his neck. "It's… it's getting a little crowded! How'd the line get so long behind me so fast…?"

"…indeed it is," the boy replied. "I think she's waving for you," he added as he nodded his head off and to the left.

Off to the side, Ochaco was frantically flailing her arms, barely visible behind the wide frame of a student who had what appeared to be barnacles growing along his neck and shoulders.

"Uraraka!" Izuku called as he waved back. "I… excuse me, I should probably go and try to get to her…"

"…hold that thought," the other boy replied before nodding to the barnacled student. "Excuse me? Is this the correct auditorium?"

"What?" the unusually large boy replied. "Why, is there another one?"

"Move to the side and let that girl over there into the line with us," the wild-haired boy replied.

Almost as though he was possessed, the student with barnacles stepped off to the side and reached a hand out to Ochaco. The girl hesitantly accepted the offer and allowed herself to be pulled into the line, just between Izuku and the taller student with tired eyes.

"Wh… how did you… that's amazing!" Izuku praised with a smile. "Your Quirk is mind control…?"

"Is that what just happened?" Ochaco asked.

"…in a sense. Hitoshi Shinso," the boy replied. "Think nothing of it."

"Izuku Midoriya."

"Ochaco Uraraka. That really is incredible, though! And thank you!" the girl added with a small bow of her head as the trio made their way into the auditorium.

"…we'll see how incredible it is soon enough," Hitoshi warned as he lightly pushed the barnacled boy upon the shoulder. Near immediately, the larger student blinked rapidly, as though he was suddenly unsure of where he was. "I have a feeling that whatever this 'physical exam' entails will not align well with my abilities…"

"Oh?" Izuku asked. "Why's that?"

"…physical exam," Hitoshi deadpanned. "Unless I can make someone else take it for me, I don't see much promise."

"Well… just try to stay positive," Ochaco encouraged. "Maybe we can help each other out? We don't know if it's individual."

Hitoshi didn't answer as the sound of echoing taps rang out within the auditorium.

"Aaaaaaaalright, people! Take your seats! Time for a little show!"

"Ochaco!" Mina called as she waved from her seat, desperately trying to be heard over Present Mic. "We're over here!"

"I don't think she hears you," Eijiro tried as he rubbed Mina's shoulder.

"She definitely doesn't," Katsuki growled. "Everybody just shut up and listen to the instructions. This isn't a game!"

"Check it out!" Present Mic called as he hiked a thumb over his shoulder. "For your physical entrance exam, you're gonna be fightin' some robots! Killer twist, huh!?"

Katsuki narrowed his eyes as he watched holograms of various mechanical constructs flicker into existence, spinning in midair along with a human for scale. Various point values popped up above each of the automatons, including a giant "0" above the largest of the set. Katsuki looked over to Amaya, who had propped an elbow up on the armrest of her chair while cupping her chin and looking incredibly pleased with herself as she checked her nails.

"Told ya."

"…huh," Daisuke mused as he rubbed at his chin. "Thanks, Kan. So, there is something more going on than just these machines, then…"

Present Mic did a totally unnecessary spin as the last of the robots popped into existence, before throwing his arms outward with a smug look upon his face.

"Wa-POW! These babies right here are gonna be your opponents!" Present Mic exclaimed, before tilting his glasses downward and offering the audience a rare glimpse of his eyes. "And as of the start of the clock, there should be nothing else on your mind. You've only got 25 minutes to rack up those points, so don't get distracted by anything less heroic!"

Katsuki narrowed his eyes and exchanged a suspicious look with Daisuke.

"Yeah. He's fucking with us," Amaya declared confidently. "That's his style, and an obvious hint. Stay frosty out there, boys."

"So, kiddos!" Present Mic continued. "Be on your best behavior out there and stick to showing off your heroism! As you can see, certain robots are worth specific amounts of points! Get familiar with 'em now, or take a picture! It'll last longer! An automated system will be tallying who earns what, and who knows- maybe there are some bonuses for pulling off certain moves! Anyone who participates in a takedown gets the points associated with that robot, but don't share too much unless you've got a good squad lined up! Otherwise, you might just be damaging your own potential at reaching the top of the leaderboard! That being said… the big boy over here is worth zero points. If you see him comin', you'd better run!"

"…so, take it down," Katsuki muttered. "What a stupid twist. Zero points my ass…"

"…I'm not so sure," Amaya warned. "That seems too obvious. Then again, we could just wreck it anyway for fun. Not like it's negative points."

"Sounds like way too much effort for zero points," Daisuke observed with a weary sigh. "But if it is the 'something else' going on…"

"Something else is going on?" Eijiro chimed in, looking confused. "For real? For sure?"

"Gotta be," Mina added. "This is too straightforward…"

"Oh yeah," Present Mic interrupted with a wide smile. "One last little detail- you'll be fighting in U.A.'s own Replica City, located out on the east side of campus! That means you'll have to thrown down on the mean streets, weave between buildings, and deal with everything that fighting in a real city entails! Show us your moves, keep it heroic, and do your best to show us you know how to operate in and around a city! Good luck out there, kids, and may the best 16 win!"

"The best 16, huh?" Daisuke said as he leaned forward in his seat and rolled his shoulders. "I mean, we all knew that was coming, but… look around us. This auditorium is full."

Katsuki snorted as he stood and cracked his knuckles, letting small wisps of smoke rise from between his fingers.

"…top 15, for all of you. You'd better hope you can keep up."

"Alright, hopefuls!" Present Mic's voice boomed throughout the area, resonating from loudspeakers attached to the lampposts and sides of buildings in the sprawling faux city ahead. "Get into position, and get ready to rock!"

Katsuki kept his eyes closed as he stood amongst a scattered crowd consisting of about a quarter of the student body. He kept his mind entirely clear as he focused only upon breathing. After the mad rush to exit the auditorium and make it to the city, he had been given a choice of where to enter. Katsuki had waited until late in the selection process to choose, aiming to place himself as far away from unnecessary distractions as possible.

"Kacchan!"

The sound of Izuku's voice hit Katsuki's ears like nails on a chalkboard, causing him to tense his shoulders and bristle as he let out a small growl.

"On zero, kiddos! 10… 9…"

"Hey!" Izuku called from somewhere behind Katsuki. "Finally found you!"

"6… 5…"

"Hey, man," Daisuke called from Katsuki's other side, causing him to open his eyes in surprise. "Thought we could team up. How about it?"

"3… 2…"

For a split second, Katsuki hesitated. Time almost seemed to slow as he considered the offer, only to turn his head and look straight ahead once again. A sprawling, glittering cityscape of false skyscrapers and office buildings laid out in a grid pattern with streets between them extended as far as the eye could see. Though the roads were completely clear of traffic, lights were on in some buildings, and mannequins had been posed along the sidewalks and in storefronts to give the place a sense of life.

"…1…"

Katsuki whipped his head back around to Daisuke, his expression furious.

"I don't need extras! Get bent!"

"GO!"

The very second the word had left Present Mic's mouth, Katsuki took to the air with a series of blasts aimed diagonally downwards. He put everything he had into the initial launch and sent himself flying, hearing only the first syllable of his name from Izuku's mouth as he left the other two boys in the dust. Without looking back, he fired off several more explosions from his palms, boosting along at a height midway up the tallest of the buildings as he began to scan the city streets for trouble.

Various other heroic hopefuls appeared on the scene shortly thereafter, their Quirks causing all sorts of unusual effects upon the ground far below. Sections of pavement were torn up as someone tunneled underground, a student leapt from the side of a building with his body encased in shimmering glass, and billowing smoke rolled along the road as it rushed across an intersection. Katsuki paid the newcomers no mind as he continued to fly along, his eyes frantically searching every inch of space he could see from his vantage point. Suddenly, the glimmer of deep blue metal caught his eye on a street corner, and he angled a boost to propel himself downward at furious speed.

The small, quadrupedal spider-walker robot never stood a chance as it swiveled its long gun toward Katsuki several seconds too late. By the time the targeting laser was upon the boy's chest, he had already clenched the top of the mounted turret with his fingers and let off a furious explosion. Debris and fire rocked the area as scrap metal went flying, and a sizeable crater manifested in the asphalt of the nearby street.

"Applicant #118 has drawn first… oil! That's Katsuki Bakugo, with a cool 500 points!"

Katsuki allowed himself a victorious grin before taking off immediately, blasting his way down the street with his feet nearly touching the pavement. He expertly weaved his way through a crowd of other students fighting before launching an angled blast to fling himself up and over the crowd. Farther down the road, several more spider-walkers were approaching, flanked by upright, humanoid robots marching in a row. Just as Katsuki began to strain his pores for a chain of explosions, a series of odd purple spheres flew into the fray, adhering themselves to the walkers. The orbs stuck to the metal of the automatons immediately, fusing some of them together and others to the pavement itself. The balls held the majority of the crowd in place as Katsuki spun through the air directly toward the machines.

"DIE!"

An entire series of explosions went off as Katsuki threw his arms out in front of himself in a crossing pattern. The initial row of walkers was utterly obliterated, sending torrents of scrap flying backward and destabilizing the gunners in the back. As Katsuki worked his sweat glands and readied for another blast, a small, toddler-sized student slid along the ground just before Katsuki, one of the purple spheres in hand and an entire row of them upon his head in place of where hair should have been. The student touched the sphere to one of the walkers' machine guns before yanking hard and ripping it straight off the mount and skidding to a stop.

"What the hell!?" Katsuki roared. "Outta my way!"

"No can do!" the diminutive figure replied with a wide grin before opening fire upon the machines with a crazed yell.

Bullets screamed through the air, toppling two of the humanoid robots as Katsuki leapt the twisted remains of the walkers and began fighting hand to hand with two of the remaining robots.

"You're stealing my points, asshole!"

"All's fair in love and war!" the unfamiliar student quipped, only for his eyes to widen as he looked up. "Dude, look out!"

Katsuki looked up in time to see a massive green crescent of rushing wind flying toward the ground from on high. The wave impacted a pair of the upright robots, ripping straight through them and sending their remaining parts hurtling down the road. Katsuki angrily grasped the neck of his own remaining robot and blew the head clean off before turning just in time to see Daisuke land before him.

"Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me!"

"What's up?" Daisuke said good-naturedly before brushing off his jacket and looking down at the sphere-headed boy. "Hey, little dude."

"Hey yourself, lizardman," the student remarked.

"Stay outta my way!" Katsuki yelled as he balled his fists, arms shaking furiously. "Those kills w-"

"Holy crap! #17, Amaya Kan, is leading with 25,000 points! What could she be doing to have such a score so early!? Who knows? Certainly not me… and if I did, I wouldn't tell!"

All color drained from Katsuki's face at the announcement. In a panic, he mentally tallied his points, only to realize that while his total might not be exact, it was nowhere near the woman in first place.

"25,000?" Daisuke balked. "I'm not even… oh, shit, we've gotta pick up the pace!"

"Maybe she showed the judges her boobs," the other student said with a shrug. "I ran into Amaya earlier. She's stacked."

From somewhere above, a minor explosion blew out a window on the side of one of the buildings. A small plume of flame shot sideways out from the structure before a feminine scream began to call out from inside.

"Huh…?" the short student questioned, quirking a brow. "There aren't any people in here, and I doubt the buildings are stuffed with robots…"

Katsuki looked on toward the voice for only a moment as it called out something unintelligible again. After a brief internal debate, he cast his eyes down the road and saw a massive robot approaching with a giant "0" painted upon its chest in red. An entire horde of smaller automatons were marching just beneath its feet, and the sight caused Katsuki to inhale sharply before raising an arm behind himself and widening his pores. Almost immediately, he felt a hand grip his wrist and snapped his head to the side to see Daisuke giving him a serious look.

"…she said there was something else going on here, and now she's way in the lead," Daisuke reminded. "Those screams… they're the same every time. That must be the extra opportunity. She's finding something in the buildings. The robots are a distraction from the real opportunities for points!"

Katsuki immediately wrenched his hand away, spittle flying from his mouth as he bore down on Daisuke.

"Don't you ever lay a hand on me again with your bullshit!"

"Hey, I'm just sayin' th-"

"I don't care!" Katsuki interrupted. "I see a ton of guaranteed points coming our way right now, and I intend to tag each and every one of those robots to get my share! Back off, Reptile!"

Daisuke frowned, looking a little disappointed as gentle swirls of green-tinted air began to manifest around his hands and feet.

"…fine. Have it your way, dude. Just trying to help."

Just as Daisuke left the ground and began to ascend, the remaining short student nodded and offered Katsuki a grim frown.

"…I'm counting about 12,000 points in that crowd, at best. Even if we wipe 'em all out, we're not even halfway there, and who knows how m-"

"Like father, like daughter! Miss Kan is now sitting at a clean 32,000! How does she do it!? Twenty minutes remain!"

Something snapped within Katsuki, and he looked skyward just in time to see Daisuke's gargantuan tail slip through the window high above. He took several deep breaths as he looked back and forth between the opening and the approaching fleet of robots, which several other students had already started to engage. With a low growl, Katsuki blasted himself into the sky and began to head toward the window.

"God damn it, Reptile! If you're wrong on this one, I'm gonna fuckin' kill you!"

Author's Note:

Part two of the physical entrance exam next week…

-RD