Chapter 35: Final exams Part 1

The examinations were approaching 1A students. Mina was silently crying over her not studying while Bakugo claimed that it's her own fault. Momo offered to help her fellow classmates prepare for the theoretical part at her home, to which most people agreed. They spent the next few days at her mansion preparing. At last, the written tests were over, and teens were gathering near a battle center to receive instructions on their practical exam. They were greeted by the entire faculty of UA.

"Hello, students!" Nezu greeted his audience. "For practical part of the examination, you will be divided into pairs and forced to face off against one of the teachers. You must either arrest the teacher or let at least one you leave through a specialized door. To make this a bit fairer, each teacher will be weighed down by heavy restraints."

"Sir, will Eraserhead expel us if we fail?" Mina was wondering.

"No, but you will be prohibited from going to I-Island and the forest training camp."

"That's a bummer."

"Today's tests were designed with your strengths and weaknesses in mind. You must cooperate perfectly to come out on top!" Midnight cracked her whip.

"Indeed! Here are the matchups!" All Might proudly pointed a hologram.

1 week ago.

"I should be the one facing Midoriya and Todoroki. No other teacher can effectively counter them, especially since Erasure does not disable vampirism." Yagi claimed to the rest of the teachers.

"Makes sense. They were the top performing students during Sports Festival, so their opposition must be tough as well."

"Just don't break them, okay man?" Hizashi pointed at Shota. "The last thing we need is more vampires. Or corpses."

"*Gulp* Yes, I will try to control myself."

"Don't be a slouch either." Eraserhead countered. "Your task is to push them to their limits, not give them false sense of invulnerability."

"There's no pleasing everyone, huh?"

Present.

"So, Midoriya, what are our chances of defeating All Might in a fight?"

"Call me Izuku. As for your question, I'd say 20%, 25% if I had Killer Queen."

"You're overestimating the old man, kiddo."

"No. YOU are underestimating him, Dio-san."

"If KQ has better chances, why not use it?"

"Because then I would be pigeonholed into fighting, since kitty doesn't provide utility for movement."

"And because I don't want to reduce his time limit further."

"I think you give our teacher too much credit. Surely you can arrest him using stopped time?"

"He knows I can do it, and he's not stupid. I think his strategy will revolve around throwing debris and generating shockwaves to harm us. Plus, time stop has a cooldown, albeit a short one. He could possibly bait it and then rush us right after it ends. No, our best bet is to get the hell away from him and use The World's ability as ace in the hole."

"Understood." Shoto looked around. "Look, I know I've told you about not using my father's fire in the past, but that Nomu incident has changed my outlook on things. If All Might can surpass even those creatures, I cannot afford to hold back against him. So, if we get desperate, I will try to burn him."

Izuku nodded in agreement.

"Good to know he's over this."

"Kid reminds me of you when you just learnt about out past. How you wanted to reject us."

"Well, that didn't stop from trying to be a hero, and we've come to an agreement."

Midoriya and Todoroki were moving through the "streets" of a Battle Center. Dual hair was creating ice to slide on and green head was getting thrown by TW constantly. It was only a matter of time before they heard ground shaking. All Might was standing on top of a building with his iconic pose.

"You must fear, for I am here!"

"Run!" Both teens kept moving. All Might was pursuing them from the rooftops. Suddenly, he jumped down from a building and towards the students.

"Texas Smash!" He punched the ground, causing rubble to fly out in all directions. It was even flying through the ice structures made by heterochromatic teen. Izuku got piggybacked by Shoto so that his quirk could act as a repellant.

"Muda!" It punched away a giant piece of concrete.

The Pro Hero started throwing cars, food stands and a road roller grabbed from a nearby construction site.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!" The World's barrage sent all of those objects away.

"This brings back memories" The old vampire got nostalgic.

"It appears my plan A is not working. Time for plan B." Number One Hero rushed towards their side while keeping distance from the duo. Despite Todoroki's best effort, he couldn't hit All Might from such range.

"Crap! He'll try to blow us away!"

"Detroit Smash!" All Might sent a massive shockwave towards students and then jumped to follow up.

"Za Warudo! Toki wo tomare!"

Everything stopped. Toshinori was too far to be arrested. Izuku knew that he would try to harm him before the next time stop, so this could have been his only chance. He grabbed Shoto and tried to get as close to the exit as possible as 5.5 seconds allowed him.

"Toki wo Ugokidasu." Everything resumed its motion. All Might kicked against a nearby wall to quickly approach the pair.

"Do your best, Todoroki-kun!" The World threw the boy with all of its strength and turned towards the hero.

"New Hampshire Smash!" The weight of All Might's body got pressed against Midorya and his quirk, crushing them. They flew through a window and crashed into a random shop. Izuku ended up losing his ankle against sharp glass. All Might swiftly left the shop to chase young Todoroki. Izuku got the blood vial from his pocket.

"Thank God for super regeneration!"

"You are welcome." DIO let out a sarcastic laughter.

"Now I just need to crawl and get my foot within 10 meter range."

Shoto didn't have the most comfortable landing, but he was still able to move. The exit was so close, and yet... He could hear All Might approaching him from behind, getting closer by the second.

"You will fail, hero!" He charged at the boy.

"I don't think so, All Might." The dual haired teen let out a flaming burst, blinding The Number One Hero for a moment. This temporary confusion let Shoto barely dodge the giant's leap and get through the exit. He immediately fell down and started panting from tiredness.

"Congratulations on escaping!" Nezu's voice came out of the speakers on the gate.

"I believe that my proficiency in ranged combat and my acute senses make me a suitable challenge to Ashido and Hagakure. Anyone got objections?" Masaki Mizushima was doing his best southern US accent impression.

"Don't you think guns are overkill against them? They don't wear armor." Midnight was concerned about students' health.

"I hit what I'm aiming at, and I won't be aiming at their vitals. Besides, it's their own fault they have very little protection. If USJ attack and Sports Festival couldn't give them ideas to improve their suits, I don't know what can."

"Please, don't aim for their faces either. They are too pretty for scars." Nemuri knew how important beauty is to female heroes.

"Don't worry, Midnight. Medical bots and Recovery Girl will be on standby to treat any injuries." Nezu reassured his colleague.

Snipe was guarding the only exit from the building. He was keeping Mina at bay by shooting near the column she was hiding behind and throwing sticks of dynamite. The dust placed near the door would ensure he could notice invisible girl's footprints.

"Sensei!" The alien girl shouted from behind cover. "You suck! Your obsession with cowboys is cringe!"

"Are you trying to make me lose composure? Nice try, little lady." The hero opened up his 6 shooter to load more bullets.

"You think you are being cool, but in reality people see you as pathetic westaboo! It's like you couldn't grow past watching children's cartoons!"

"Hey, I'm not a westaboo!" The cowboy sounded offended. "And I DON'T watch children's cartoons anymore."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire! At least our homeroom teacher can fight like a man! I bet you'd fumble if someone got too close you!" Pinky laughed as loud as she could.

"Little lady, I must say that I will not feel bad about putting some lead into you, if only to shut you up." Pro Hero looked at the exit and saw no footprints. He decided to move forward and smoke Mina out of cover. As soon as he took a dynamite stick with his dominant hand, he heard a clicking sound on his side. An invisible handcuff was placed on his other hand.

"Congratulations on arrest!" Principal announced the end of the test.

"Sorry for being mean, sensei." Mina came from behind the pillar with a guilty look on her face. "We just couldn't think of a better way to distract you."

"Yeah, we don't think you are cringe. We like cowboys too! You can lasso me anytime!" Hagakure gave Snipe the most uncomfortable hug in his life. Mina could barely contain her giggles.

"Appreciate the honesty, partner, but you are invading my personal space right now." He gently but determinately pushed the girl away.

"Tell me if you change your mind." A floating glove blew a kiss to embarrass the hero even further.

"Tokoyami's Dark Shadow allows him to fight and observe opponents from afar. Its downsides are that it is weaker under bright light and he isn't used to fighting up close. Let's pair him with Ochako Uraraka. Her quirk gives her some vertical mobility and lets her incapacitate opponents in close quarters. She'll have to cover for Tokoyami's weakness with her own strength if they want to succeed." Ectoplasm concluded his decision on the pair.

The students were surrounded by a platoon of Ectoplasm clones almost immediately after round started. Thankfully, they did have a way out. Brunette got grabbed by the bird boy and put him into no gravity state. They flew upwards and Dark Shadow pulled them onto the upper floor. More clones emerged from thin air. DS took out the furthest 3, while Uraraka used Gunhead's moves to avoid the attacks of the closest 2 and quickly tapped them. There were still 7 clones approaching. The duo had to retreat to a higher floor yet again. They ran through a narrow corridor with half a dozen Ectoplasms and methodically cleared the way out from two sides.

The (presumably) original Pro Hero was standing near the exit door.

"Congratulations, students! You've managed to get past my army of clones. However, your triumph is short lived, as now you will face my most powerful ability!"

A giant clone appeared to and tried to bite the students. Ochako activated her quirk on herself and her teammate to jump away. There was only one problem: she was unable to move. All of her muscles felt as if they were paralyzed. She couldn't even more her eyes.

"Deku-kun told me that my quirk can interfere with time stop. He must have stopped time now. May be I if I try really hard I could at least move out of the giant's way."

After considerable effort, she managed to barely push herself forward. As time went back to normal, Ochako and Fumikage managed to dodge the bite. The students jumped down using Dark Shadow as improvised rope. The big Ectoplasm tried to stomp them, but the duo avoided his feet completely. They were now between two versions of the Hero. Uraraka grabbed her partner, made him weightless and threw him as far as she could. Ectoplasm's attempt as intercepting the flying bird was stopped by the sentient quirk. Brunette released Zero Gravity and the boy landed right outside the exit, finishing the assignment the very next moment.

Principal announced the end of their exam.

Author's note: Ochako can have a little bit of moving in frozen time as a treat.

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