The next morning, I went to get my provisional license. Technically, I should have been in the same class as Todoroki and Bakugou, but after bugging Bruce and All Might to some strings, that wasn't happening. Money and influence really did do a lot for a guy.
Oh no, I was starting to become like those schmucks who use money to get what they want.
"Don't you love money, Todoroki? It's what makes the world go round and round." I asked him, Bakugou sulking that it was Bruce and All Might, and subsequently me, who convinced the hero commission to let them and the rest of the students who failed to pass the first time have another shot. Times were tough. Heroes weren't as plentiful since Darkseids army had attacked. They needed to get their numbers up. This way, it just seemed like it wasn't their idea.
Todoroki didn't say anything, but I swear Bakugou being pissed gave him life because he gave me a strange smile.
"Okay, not a talker? Great, that leaves me to fill the silence."
"You could also not talk." Shishikura spoke, hair covering his eye as he glared at me.
"But then who would the crowd cheer for?" I replied as I floated towards him, splitting as I passed around Bakugou and got in his face.
"Not you. Denki told me about you. You were a bitch. But me?" I switch to English. "You've seen the news lately, haven't you? Your countries villains, my cities. I'm just that guy."
Holding out my fist, I feel someone pound it, and Bakugou looking at me with a cocky smile. It seemed like giving this guy shit was more important than his own dislike of me giving him a second shot.
"Now that's what I'm talking about."
Touching the ground, I punched the air a few times, pumped up as some guy came out to explain the first half of the test. Put targets on and let pro heroes try to stick a ball to them. Easy enough. We just had to survive for ten minutes or eliminate two heroes.
"Isn't that just what you had us do last time? Why not have us do it against those wishing to pass again?" A kid from another high school asked, and the commission guy yawned before he replied.
"Because this second chance won't be that easy. These are actual heroes you'll be facing, and they're all going to give their all."
"BRING IT ON!" I cheered and quickly bunched all of mine together on my chest.
As soon as the others were ready, the exam started, and I turned into gas, watching them fly right through me an
"Is that fair?" One of the masked heroes asked, and the guy presiding over the exam nodded.
"I DON'T NEED HACKS TO WIN!" Bakugou roared loudly, rushing the heroes and hitting one of their targets before they could dodge, then another as she tried to eliminate him.
"THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE!" He told us, as he walked off.
"You have to attack like that. I choose not to." I tell him, and I can see the others moving in to eliminate a few of the heroes.
"But I guess I can give it a try." I mused, vines coming up and dragging a few heroes my way before I pressed a ball to their targets. I loved having chlorokinesis. It made things so much easier.
Waiting for the others to finish, I floated around, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. It didn't make sense that the exam would be so easy. They didn't even give us good heroes. They threw us sidekicks to fight.
As soon as Shishikura finished, explosions came from all around, and the hero commission guy explained that this was now a rescue operation.
Of course, it was too easy. They wanted to keep us on our toes. But they did the test already, and I was used to this kind of thing in Gotham. Hell, we evacuated the city bi-monthly for Joker or Bane or whoever else wanted to fuck around.
"Alright, lady and gentlemen and me. Two to a team." I told them, and I could see Bakugou roll his eyes, but he knew as well as I did that it was the best option.
"Oooh~ I wanna hang with the hunk." Utsushimi jokingly flirted, putting her arm around a bored looking Todoroki.
"Bakugou, you stick with Shishikura. You're both skilled enough for when shit hits the fan. Tall guy, you're with me."
"Alright, let's do this!" He cheered, and I had to admire his outlook. He was a bit weird, but so were most of the people I met here.
"Move out." I told them, the whole conversation having taken less than ten seconds, Bakugou yelling at me.
"WHO MADE YOU BOSS!?"
Answering wasted time, Yoarashi and I moving to the ruins to help move rubble, rescuing a few people who had severe "injuries" and pointing the others who weren't too badly injured to the safe areas. It wasn't too hard since vines could stabilize rubble while we pulled people out.
At least, it wasn't too hard until the heroes pretended to be terrorists, and we had to rescue and stop them.
"Keep helping. I can keep them in one area until everyone is safe! Just keep moving!" I yell to the others, flying towards the old guy with weird boots, turning solid just in time to crash into him. I didn't have time to worry if he was hurt or not, digging deep into the power of One-For-All. It was supposed to boost all my natural abilities, so I hoped it could boost my plant creature making, a dozen or so tree beings growing and making a line between the "villains" and those who needed rescuing.
"I don't care if this is just a test! Right now, people need help, and I won't let you hurt them!" I yelled, moving around and dodging attacks, using vines to hit the old man while my tree creatures fought the others, a wave of explosions ripping through the fodder.
"Didja think I'd let you have all the fun!?" Bakugou yelled, giving me a second to duck, aiming a blast at the old man, who moved out of the way, bouncing off surfaces like a pinball.
"No way. I was banking on your help!" I called back, the two of us keeping the old man moving while my tree creatures held their own against the other heroes.
"We've got to stop him before he can do more damage! TODOROKI! ICE WALL US!" I yelled, my freezerburnt classmate doing as I asked, before he did as I asked and i grinned.
"That's what separates heroes and villains. I'll never stand by when I can help someone! So, with that in mind, it's time to test my new skill!" I pull my arm back and charge power, grinning at the short man who moved so quickly.
"I'M GOTHAMS CHOSEN SON- THE EMERALD KNIGHT!"
I dodged a kick from the old man and aimed my shot at him, the force of my punch knocking him against against the ice, Bakugou pinning him.
"Don't move." He commanded, his gauntlet pressed against the old man's head.
"You've got him? Then I'll get back to stopping those loser minions. If you need help, call me." I tell him, charging up small enough bits of power in my legs and jumping away.
"Not a bad choice." I heard the man mutter as I ran off, my poor tree babies barely standing against the power of dozens of minor heroes.
"Yo! You heard the spiel. You either stand down or you'll taste my shoe!" I threatened the "villains", one of whom took a step towards me. I was out numbered, but not out gunned.
I snapped my fingers, spiked roots and vines shooting up and grabbing them, holding them tight in their grasp as.
"Didn't you hear me? I said stand down assholes."
There were others I needed to help, and my tree babies were healed with just a touch, guarding the "villains" as I helped the others rescue the rest of the wounded.
"The exam is finished. Please wait while we finish our grading." The commission guy said, and I let the heroes I had dangling go, my tree monsters rooting down and turning into normal trees. My beautiful babies could rest.
"The end already? How did anyone fail last time?" I asked, rubbing my head and floating off to find Aizawa. He had our lunches.
"Because they didn't look at the bigger picture. They were too overconfident or lost themselves in their personal issues." I heard from behind me, and I knew that voice.
"You're not here just to see me, are you? B-Man?" I question, and he looked at me with a scowl.
"I'm came on business. Since it's finished, I wanted to see your progress. I'm glad to see you aren't wasting this opportunity. Superman and I didn't recommend you just for you to play around."
A smile grew on my face. Superman really did recommend me? I figured it had just been Bruce. Well, at least now my bus talk hadn't just been a lie.
"You watched it all?" I asked, watching him nod. "I can improve, I know I can. But, how'd I do? Am I Justice League material yet?"
"No. But you're much better than when you started out. With your recently acquired abilities, you have even more skills to fall back on. That's why you need to learn how to fight without them and build skills you can use in the event you can't use your powers."
Made sense. Guess I was too used to being a big fish in a small pond. In the grand ocean, I wasn't even a guppie of a hero.
"Right! You can count on me, Batman. Oh, if you see my mom or Mama, can you tell them I passed?"
"Confident in your abilities?"
"Two of the greatest heroes believed in me. I'd be stupid not to do the same."
Giving a nod, he held out his grapple.
"Next time you're in Gotham, I'll keep an eye out. Good work, Emerald Knight."
I swear, if he was the joking type, he'd be smiling.
"The next time I'm in Gotham, I'll be there to help. See ya, Dork Knight."
My laugh covered his grunt as he grappled off, his jet picking him up as Aizawa walked over.
"Hobo-man. What's up?"
"Why was Batman here?" He asked me, his voice bored.
"In the neighborhood dealing with stuff. Knowing him, he was done with it, but he wanted to see how I was progressing. He's seen more of it than U.A. has..." My voice trailed off, thinking about what Bruce had said. I was nothing without my powers.
"Do you think you could train me to fight, sir?"
It seemed to take him by surprise, but he gave a small nod and handed me a bento box.
"I'll see about fitting it into your schedule."
It was enough for me, going to find a place to eat, turning to see the other examinees staring at me.
"Batman was talking to you..." One of the students I didn't know spoke, and I wondered what other brilliant observations she had.
"Yeah? Do Justice League members not talk to you?" I asked back innocently, scratching my head and doing my best to look confused.
"Well, I'm going to eat lunch. Bye-bye."
That felt good, knowing that so many people believed in me. I wasn't anywhere near to where I could be, but I was getting closer.
After lunch, we got our results on a giant screen, and no one failed this time. We all worked together efficiently against seasoned pros, and our rescue skills were already sharp. This was just proof that we were ready to be heroes.
"Congratulations. This is a big step for all of you, and it shows your improvement on the path you're striving for. It's with great pleasure to tell you that you'll all be receiving your provisional licenses." The commission guy said, dismissing us.
Back to campus to drop off the others and then to Kamino. In a day, they'd already made so much progress, but I could still help. And this time, no one bothered me as I worked. No powers. This was done with quirks, and it'd be cleaned up with muscle and blood.
Back to campus, where I showered and went downstairs to find Aizawa standing there.
"Ah jeez, I didn't do." Came my automatic response, but he just handed me my license.
"Oh. Wow. Now that's what I call efficiency. So I can act in emergencies without worry of being arrested or sued. Cool."
"Congratulations, Midoriya. You've really grown." He told me, and somehow his praise felt better than Bruce's.
"Thank you, Aizawa-sensei. I'll continue to climb." I told him, looking at the license like it held the secrets of the universe.
"You have work to catch up on. Get to it."
"Yeah, I'll finish it within the week. Don't worry, sensei, I won't stay stuck behind."
I meant those words, taking my license and another step to becoming a hero.