It's time to see Izuku's portion of Phase one and how they handle Phase two. Phase two is a bit short as the tests are used again later in the story and this time is more to give a baseline to show how they have grow when they do the test again.
As Always I do not own MY HERO ACADEAMIA or any of their charaters.
With that, let's start off with a bang
At Izuku's comment, Bakugo began to growl, but since he knew it was all in good fun he didn't do much. Mareo looked over the graph that recorded Bakugo's quirk for a few seconds then he closed it. He then turned to Izuku and said "Young Midoriya, now for your turn."
Izuku turned and nodded to Mareo, who grabbed a black briefcase from the desk and handed it over to Henkito. Henkito took the briefcase from her boss with a nod and then headed over to a spot clear from the group. Izuku followed behind her, already knowing what was in the briefcase. Once they reached the spot, Henkito set the briefcase down on the ground while Izuku knelt with his right leg down and his left leg up.
As Henkito opened the briefcase and began to pull out a device. Izuku rested his left hand on his left knee as he brought his right arm forward and rested into his left hand. Izuku then flexed his right forearm, and his fingers lengthed and then curled and narrowed as they morphed together, taking the shape of a hollow cylinder. His wrist inflated a bit then narrowed on the forstock of Izuku's weapon. Finally, his forearm expanded out into the shape of the grip and stock of a sniper rifle. Izuku's entire forearm and hand pulsed as it told on a metallic texture and began purple, while at the elbow, the purple color outlined Izuku's veins before disappearing into his bicep.
At the sight of Izuku's arm, Madam President looked up and a smirk appeared on her face. It was different from Lady Nagan, but the same nonetheless. Anyone who saw would only be able to see Lady Nagant and they would call Izuku a villain. And to the malleable mind of an eight-year-old, no matter how much Izuku was told by Inko and Mareo, he would eventually begin to believe that voice that was louder. Madam President won't have to do anything, she simply needs to abide by her time and wait.
Even if Izuku survived to high school, his skills, his name, and his quirk would force him into the spotlight. Then the world nation, not the whole world would see him and see him for who he was. And when the people called for Izuku to be arrested, Madam President would have the perfect hero to take him down. Then Madam President would be able to show the world how evil Izuku was, now corrupt Project Velocity was. Then she would be able to form her hero training program.
But for now, she will be patient, and she was nothing if not a patient person.
Once Izku's arm was done transforming, Henkito had finished setting up the device that turned out to be a chronograph. She extended the bottom legs until the dive was level with Izuku's arms. Henkito locked the two metal antennas into place and then turned the device on. Once the green light of the screen turned on and the reading appeared, Henkito turned back to Mareo. Mareo looked down at his laptop and then flashed a thumbs up to show he was receiving all the data.
With everything set, Henkito turned to Izuku and nodded, who nodded back. As Henkito returned to the group, Izuku took a few deep breaths and began to build up the pressure within his forearm. As he continued to slow his breath, Izuku brought his head down to look down at the sight of his rifle. As the range came into view, Izuku smirked as he saw a target down range, hovering in mid-air.
Mareo was already testing Izuku.
"On your time," Mareo said, not noticing that Izuku was already beginning to align his shots.
Izuku took a few seconds to align his shot with the target, and then with an exhale, he flexed his entire right arm. Immediately, everyone covered their ears from the bullet breaking the sound barrier. He had learned that while the motion of flexing his right arm was not needed to fire a bullet, Izuku had found when he focused on his right arm, he could fire a bullet at a higher speed.
Izuku's arm was kicked back a bit as the bullet went rocketing out of his arm and through the chronograph. Izuku didn't move to see the score as he watched his bullet hit a target Mareo had secretly put up on the other side of the building. Once the bullet hit the target, Izuku exhaled as he sat up and began rubbing his right shoulder a bit. While training his right shoulder had got used to the kickback, but the higher pressized shots still left his shoulder feeling a bit sore. Izuku continued to rub his shoulder as he stood up and looked over at Mareo, who winked and then looked at his monitor.
"You clocked in at 6,000 feet per second, that's around Mach 5. Well done, Young Midoriya." Mareo said, then pressed some keys on his keyboards, resulting in more targets appearing from the ceiling and floors, "You have fifty targets to hit, the moment you get down to 15, they'll begin to move, On your time."
Izuku nodded and turned back to all the targets; they were all varying distances from Izuku. It was similar to how Mareo had first tested his quirk, but this time it actually meant something. Izuku had three years of training now and it was expected he would do well on the test. As Izuku looked over the target, he thought about all the training he had had and what made this training exercise harder.
It was obvious that a normal person would go for the closer targets first, then work their way up to the harder targets that were further away. Normally that would be fine, as Izuku had made that mistake the first time only to learn the last fifteen targets would move. After learning that Izuku trained to be fine hitting the furthest targets first, as there wasn't a need to make it more difficult for him than it needed to be.
As Izuku looked over the target, his mind mapped out a pattern for him to follow. A pattern that allowed him to move quickly from target to target while leaving the fifteen closest ones untouched. As his eyes landed on the last target, he stepped forward and raised his right arm out in front of him. Then as it transformed, a bullet was shot out, catching everyone off guard. The bullet flew through the air and hit the first target in the middle of the bullseye. Izuku didn't waste time and moved down and to the right and hit his second target: another hit.
With this monument, Izuku quickly picked off each target, moving a seemingly random pattern, and when he passed a target and didn't hit it, Madam President smirked. To her, it seems Izuku was randomly picking off targets and had missed one as he was moving too quickly and seemed to be more worried about having a good time. She was not the only one to notice this.
Prime Minister Renzo had kept a close eye on Izukus as he moved from target to target and his seemingly random pathing got a lock of acknowledgement. His past in Japan's Military had given him the skills to recognize Izuku's pathing. Izuku could have gone for the closest target first and worked his way back, was it not for the last part of the last fifteen moving. While it was still unclear what kind of man Izuku would grow up to be, at this moment, Prime Minister Renzo could appreciate the amount of skill Izuku had at such a young age.
As Izuku hit the 34th target, he took a small pause in his firing and looked over the last fifteen targets. The last fifteen targets shook and then began to move around the room, their patterns seeming to be random. Izuku waited for a few seconds, watching the targets' seemingly random movements. Yet Izuku began to see their pattern and smirked as he suddenly fired at one of the moving targets. His shot appeared to go low and to the left, but suddenly the target moved down and to the left, allowing Izuku's shot to hit.
Izuku then moved his arm around and then fired three bullets, and hit three more targets. Izuku then paused for 5 seconds then, without moving his arm, fired two bullets. The two bullets moved in line with each other, but then the first bullet hit a target. It created a hole that the second bullet used to fly through the target and hit a different target that moved behind the first target.
Izuku grinned at his shot but then noticed the last eight targets had begun to move more quickly, and their pattern had changed. Izuku looked over at Mareo, who kept a straight face. Izuku shook his head, Mareo was always looking for new exercises for them to do or making their exercises harder. Izuku moved back to aiming, but this time it took nearly a minute before he took another shot. Then as Izuku tracked the last seven remaining targets, his vision began to go blurry. Izuku wanted to blink, but then his vision went clear, and his field of vision expanded. He did not have to move from target to target to keep track of them; his eyes were able to keep track of them all at the same time.
Izuku's eyebrow lifted at this sudden vision. He knew he had enhanced vision which allowed him to see further distances but being all make all this information at once. It was new to him, yet Izuku's arm was slowly moving into position. Once his arm stopped moving Izuku didn't hesitate to take a shot knowing it was going to go right where it needed to. Yet Izuku was still a little surprised when the bullet hit, but then his arm began moving again. In each position, he fired a shot and then quickly moved to the next one. As he fired the last bullet, Izuku blinked, and the last few seconds became a bit of a blur.
"Well done, Young Midoriya. You complete the course in 3 minutes and 31 seconds, a new record." Mareo said, then looked over at Prime Minister Renzo, "I find myself feeling the need to point out that Young Midoriya here was able to hit bullseyes on everything."
"A point that did not need to be made and does not affect my decisions, but one that is greatly appreciated." Prime Minister Renzo said, "Now I believe you stated the second phase would be showing their physical strength."
"Yes. As it is standard in Japan, beginning in middle school, yearly every student is required to complete eight tests without their quirks. These tests are used to mark and track their growth through middle and high school, and to test different strength attributes, strength, speed, flexibility, though for the sake of time we'll be removing the endurance test. We'll begin with the 50 meter dash." Mareo explained and then turned to his employees and nodded. They all quickly began setting up the needed equipment for the different testing. For the 50 meters, they placed two laser sensors 50 meters apart that would begin a timer when someone broke the first laser and stop the timer when they broke the second one.
Once this and more were set up, Mareo called the two boys up and had them line up at the first laser. Bakugo was first, and when the starting gun went off, he took off down towards the second sensor. He flew down the track and managed to earn himself a 45.4 called out by the machine at the end of the 50 meters. Bakugo cheered a bit as he flashed a grin at his best friend. After Henkito reset the timer, it was Izuku's turn. He walked up to the first laser and looked down the 50 meters to the second laser.
He took a deep breath, and when the starting gun went off, Izuku exhaled and pushed off the ground as hard as he could. He shot forwards and quickly got his left foot out and front and, when he landed on it, shifted his weight forwards. This allowed him to keep his speed near his highest, earning him a 44.5.
"Ha, Kacchan, looks like I won that time." Izuku said as he slowed, then turned and walked back to the group. Bakugo had his arms crossed and didn't look too pleased, he wanted to be the best, be number 1. To him that meant being the fastest, the strongest, the best at everything.
"Don't get cocky, that's only one out of six." Bakugo pointed out, he would make sure to get back and win the next test.
"Yes, Young Bakugo, now it is time for the grip strength." Mareo said, walking up to the boy, holding out two grip strength testers, "You will each grip this device with your right hand, holding it for 3 seconds. You repeated this three times then switched your left hand."
Bakugo and Izuku nodded, taking the devices. They held them in their right hand, and Mareo said, "Begin." Bakugo and Izuku pulled down on the handles as hard as they could; after three seconds, Mareo said, "Release." Bakugo and Izuku released their devices, and Mareo read their number, "Bakugo you got 50 kilograms, Midoriya 75 kilograms. And again."
Izuku exhaled and closed his right hand as hard as he took; his knuckles immediately turned white from how hard he was pulling. During the next three seconds, Izuku could feel how tight the muscles within his fingers were coiled to push all the power they could. After three seconds, Mareo said, "Release." This time Bakugo got 58, and Izuku got 78. "Again."
Izuku closed his right fist for a third time, and his entire hand turned white as he pulled down the handle. Izuku could feel his hand shake a bit, but he refused to release his finger until time was called. It felt like a whole minute before Mareo took them to release. Izuku looked down at the device in their hands and saw he had gotten an 80 while Bakugo had gotten another 58.
"Young Bakugo you averaged 55 and Young Midoriya you averaged 77. Now for your left hand." Mareo said as Bakugo and Izuku shook their right hands to see the blood flowing again while switching over to their left. After repeating the exercise, Bakugo averaged 51, while Izuku's score did drop to 45. This drop in score earned Izuku a smug smirk from Bakugo.
Next was the standing long jump; this time, Izuku went first. He stood at the edge of a sandpit. "On your time," Mareo said. Izuku did a few short jumps and kicked his legs up to warm them up a bit, then began to swing his arms back and forwards. Then as Izuku swung his arms back, he squatted down, and when he brought his arms back up, he jumped forward as far as he could. In mid-air, Izuku took the pose of an Olympic long jumper and once he landed in the sand pit, he rolled to keep himself from twisting an ankle.
Izuku quickly hopped up on his feet and saw he had jumped a little under 3 meters, well above the average of someone his age and height. However, when Bakugo stepped up and launched himself into the sandpit, he beat Izuku with a 3.4-meter jump. Izuku smiled and dropped a bit as Bakugo stood up and brushed himself off.
Bakugo gave his best friend a massive grin while Izuku reciprocated by sticking his tongue. Their rivalry was stopped as Henkito walked up and handed them two gray balls. "Alright for this test you are to throw the balls as far as you can," Mareo said, earning him a confused look from Izuku And Bkauog. Neither of them could really believe this was an actual test, it was so simple.
And as with everything Bakugo had to turn it into a competition. Bakugo twirled his ball in his hand as he looked at Izuku and said, "The one that throws it further gets lunch free from the other."
"Looks like Aunt Mitsuki is buying me lunch," Izuku said as he lightly tossed the ball up into the air before catching it. He let the ball roll down his arm before popping it back into the air and catching it again. Izuku then stepped forward to a line Henkito had placed on the ground. Izuku stood at the line and then drew his right foot and arm back while bracing his left foot against the ground. With an exhale, Izuku shifted his weight forward while throwing his right arm forward. At the last second Izuku whipped his wrist forwards and threw the balls into the air.
The ball went soaring through the air, spinning as it arced until it began to slow down and eventually gentling falling back down to the ground.
"18.3 meters." Henkito said, looking down at her tablet.
Bakugo laughed as he stepped forward. In a similar fashion, Bakugo threw the ball into the air, where it had a longer hang time than Izukus. This made it appear that it would go further, but it suddenly lost all momentum. This caused the ball to fall to the ground and bounced a bit.
"17.9 meters." Henkito said as Bakugo's score appeared next to Izuku on her tablet.
"Good job, you two; next is sit-ups," Mareo said. Izuku and Bakugo immediately dropped to the floor and got ready. Mareo started the timer, and Izuku and Bakugo began to sit down. Bakugo was going faster in the beginning, easily getting in more reps faster than Izuku was. But by the 2-and-a-half minute mark Bakugo was beginning to slow down, while Izuku kept his steady pace and became too slow to catch Bakugo's count.
The moment Mareo called five minutes, Izuku and Bakugo fell to the ground, gasping for air. Mareo gave them a few seconds to catch their breath before asking, "What's your count?'
"102." Izuku and Bakugo said at the same time. Mareo didn't question it as he had also been counting and was not all surprised that they had the same score as they trained together and had similar levels of strength.
Next was the seated toe touch, and as Izuku was more specialized in Judo, he was able to get 10 centimeters, while Bakugo got 6. Something Bakugo wasn't too pleased with as by his count he was losing overall. Then for the final test, there were repetitive side steps; both of the boys were told to stand between a pair of cones that were a meter and a half apart. As the sound of the starting gun, they began to jump back and forth between the cones.
After five minutes, Mareo asked for their count, and they both gave the answer of, "245."
"Impressive young boys, you have done well and are able to score the same as the average middle schooler. Well done, now for your spar, you have ten minutes to rest and get change." Mareo said, pointing to the changing room behind him.
Izuku and Bakugo nodded and walked to the changing room. While they were resting and changing into their martial arts gi, Mareo looked over at Madam President, and Prime Minister Renzo asked, "Do you have any thoughts you would like to voice."
"You have done well training these boys, there's no question about that. However there was never a question or concern about that. You may not like to believe it is a concern, but no matter how much you deny it. The question of those boy's character, will live with them for their life." Madam President said.
Mareo nodded, then saw Inko's nostril flare and a small glow of green-emitting from her eyes, "Madam President, one's character can not be defined until one has an opportunity to define it. You may not choose to believe that they are different from who you see them as, but there will come a day when your concern is no longer understandable."
Mareo turned to his monitor, but Madam President wasn't finished, "You clearly do not understand what you are doing here. Izuku Midoriya, the more you train him the bigger of an issue he will become in the future. When you learn that, it will be too late to fix it."
Mareo just shook his head as he continued to look over all the data from the test. He glanced over at Henkito and whispered, "Move to Mrs. Midoriya, and stop her from doing anything stupid."
Henkito nodded but began to move. Mareo then turned to Madam President and said, "That may well be true, but I believe on that day it will be you who learns something."
Madam President huffed as she walked up to Mareo, "You forget your place, as your position over Project Velocity has been and can again be revoked. You might be able to pass the benchmark, train those boys into heroes, but in the end you will fail at what you set out to do. Because you chose the wrong person, Tsutsumi was not as great as you thought!"
Mareo wasn't fazed at Madam President's outburst, nor that Henkito had to retain Inko, "Henkito, I believe it would be better for everyone, especially Mrs. Midoriya, if you escort her out of the building for some time being."
Henkito nodded as she began pulling Inko towards the elevator door. As they got close, Henkito noticed Madam President's blazer beginning to glow. Henkito quickly covered Inko's eyes, and the glow disappeared as Henkito used her hip to hit the button; luckily, the elevator quickly opened. Henkito dragged Inko to the elevator and said, "You shouldn't have done that. Madam President might not have noticed, the Prime Minister most certainly did."
Inko continued to struggle but with Madam President out of her line of sight, there was nothing she could do to the wretch of a woman. And with Henkito's strength quirk, Inko was not going to be able to break out. Inko took a deep breath and stopped struggling, signalling to Henkito that she could be released, "I know fully well what they're capable of. But I can't see or talk to the love of my life, my sister is in jail and they're talking as if my son belongs with her. A boy I have lied to everyday, let him grow up in a household that bases on a fountain of lies. If he ever does learn the truth, I'm not afraid of him becoming a villain, but he'll be crushed all the same. I'll lose any trust he has in him."
"Then prove them wrong, as Mareo hopes you can. Build enough trust with your son, that if he does learn, he'll still come to you in his hour of need." Henkito said as she put a hand on Inko's shoulder.
"What?" Inko said, looking at Henkito.
"Mareo approached me a few days ago and asked if it was a wise idea to allow you to come along. He knew that Madam President was going to bring up your sister, she had in every conversation for the last two years. And he knew that you weren't going to like what she had to say. So he approached me and asked if I thought it was a good idea to bring you or if your friend should have been the one to bring the boys into for their exam." Henkito said.
"What did you say?" Inko asked.
"I told him that it shouldn't be a question as you are one of the most level headed people I meet and have the honor of knowing. You might like what Madam President says about your sister and your son, but you should know of all people what she is trying to do." Henkito said.
Inko took a deep breath and was quiet for a bit. When she spoke, she said, "Thank you, Henkito, for stopping me from ruining my son's life. I appreciate the faith, but I believe it would be best if I was outside for the rest of the exam."
Henkito nodded as the elevator dinged and the door opened to the first floor. Inko walked out, and then Henkito called out, "They'll be fine, they just have the spar left."
The door closed before Inko could question Henkito. "Then what about phase three, oh Mareo. You still think you can play that trick."
So Izuku gets to show off his skill and his quirk, then he and Bakugo have a competition over the eight standardized tests. Then Madam President tried to moved one of her pieces, but Mareo see rights through her act and handles it.
Next week: Izuku and Bakugo spar each and we get to see what they're learn from their Sensei's.
Next Time: Evaluation Part 3
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