Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Collector Hero: Synthesis! The Provisional License Exam continues after Class 1-A no sells the ‘U.A. Crush’ of all the other schools. But the Hero Course students aren’t being graded solely off of combat. There are many facets to being a Hero, after all. Some may find certain aspects of the profession harder than others.
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So, without further delay, please enjoy.
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Chapter 55 – Provisional License Exam (Part 2)
As the students in the exam devolved into all out battle with each other in a school versus school dynamic, the watching teachers of the various Hero Schools tried to keep an eye on their students specifically. That was made difficult as Quirks were being used and the entire testing area was now a battlefield, some parts covered in rising dust and smoke, while others had so many people moving about and so many balls being thrown that it was impossible to keep track of any one thing.
“The whole ‘first one hundred examinees’ thing makes you think this test is all about actively attacking, but… Maybe not, right?” Miss Joke asked rhetorically as she was able to keep her eyes on the area where her students were at the very least.
“Unity, cooperation, and intel gathering are the real keys here.” Aizawa said as he took in the chaos that the testing area had become. “Those lured in by the first-to-finish rule will start to panic and get beaten at their own game.”
Down in the test site where the attempted ‘U.A. Crush’ had occurred, the four students of Ketsubutsu Academy eyed the area where Class 1-A had seemingly disappeared.
“They blocked everything and then retaliated.” The boy with the tough blue, carapace-like skin said. “Several people are down to their last target already.”
“Yep. This alone won’t be enough to take down the U.A. kids, Makabe.” Shindo said, a confident grin still on his face.
Makabe took four balls and began to roll them in his hands. “But, well…Now we’ve seen what they’re made of…” He used his Quirk Stiffening to compact the balls a bit and make them angular, similar to D20 dice used in tabletop games. The effect of his Quirk also made the semi-soft balls harder than concrete as well. “Your turn, Tōteki.” Makabe said as he tossed the four hardened balls to his friend and classmate.
Tōteki, Hero Name: Boomerang, had a Hero Costume consisting of a black shirt with elbow-length sleeves, that had two thin pale gray lines circling his shoulders and plain black capri pants with a pair of tights underneath, and black sneakers on his feet. Around his neck, he wore a wide red scarf that covered his chin, and on his hands were a pair of thin red wristbands and dark red, fingerless gloves. “My turn, indeed.” He caught all four of the balls, two per hand, and activated his Quirk, Boomerang, his oval-shaped eyes locked onto the area where Class 1-A had disappeared from. “Gengetsu Kidō (Trajectory: Crescent Moon).” He took control of the four hardened balls with his Quirk. “Apologies in advance for possibly being the first to pass this exam, everyone. But given that I’ll be reducing their numbers, perhaps you can forgive me.” He threw the four balls forward and they instantly shot into the ground, passing through the earth as if it was no more than water.
“Incoming!” Izuku, using Search, could tell what their opponents were doing, even if he couldn’t see them directly. “From below!”
“Taking a shot in the dark, huh?” Camie said with a grin, knowing that her Glamour was perfectly hiding their group.
Izuku put up a Barrier below the group’s feet and four thuds were heard as the hardened balls slammed into it from below, leaving them trapped in the dirt as their forward momentum was stopped. “We need to move while Camie’s Quirk is still hiding us.”
“We’re still surrounded, Midoriya.” Iida called out, having been looking for a clear path out of the encirclement since the combination of Toru and Aoyama’s Quirks blinding the other competitors and then Koda’s control of the massive flock of pigeons to further harass the other exam takers and cause even more chaos and confusion. “Our group is too large to slip past them all.”
“Then let’s pick a direction and move!” Mina declared with a big grin, her acid beginning to build up in her palms. “I’ll open a path!”
Seemingly from nowhere, to several of the exam takers, blobs of what looked like gel appeared flying through the air. But when the blobs hit the ground…or anything else…they hissed and the object in question quickly melted.
“Acid?!”
“Are you crazy?! That’s dangerous!”
The Hero Course students backed away quickly.
“Incoming!” Mina’s voice called out just before a line of pressurized acid sprayed across the area. The ground hissed and smoked as the incredibly potent acid did its work, sending the other exam takers scrambling away as fast as they could, leaving a single wide-open pathway surrounded by two melted furrows on either side that still let off wisps of steam-like vapor.
As Camie’s chromatic mist began to fade, the large group of Class 1-A quickly dispersed in the now open direction. Tokoyami and Ochako took flight, Tokoyami with Dark Shadow while Ochako removed her gravity and used the air jets on her boots to launch herself into the air and then activated her grapple tethers to latch onto the nearest building and pull herself along swiftly. Everyone else ran down the pathway that Mina had made, Iida nearly a blur as he led the way.
“They’re getting away!” Nakagame called out, spotting Class 1-A fleeing and alerting her friends—along with all of the other examinees in the area—to their location.
“Hey!” Sero shot a band of tape at the girl from Ketsubutsu in retaliation, but just as the strong adhesive would’ve hit her, the upper half of her body vanished. “What?!”
Nakagami’s legs and hips stood on their own, only for her head to suddenly pop out of the top and the girl let out a sigh of relief. “That was a close one!” Her torso emerged from her hips and then her arms from her torso in only a second. “Too bad you missed!” She smiled at the fleeing 1-A students, giving them a ‘peace’ sign.
“This isn’t the same Class A that we saw in the Sports Festival!” Shindo had a grin on his face as he saw the U.A. students fleeing. “They’ve come a long way already!”
A crackle came over the speaker system within the arena and Mera’s voice was heard.
“Uh… The event’s at a stalemate… Not a single applicant has passed yet.” Mera said into the headset he was wearing, blinking his eyes twice to keep them from drooping. “Oh, right. Just letting you all know that I’ll be doing a bit of play-by-play announcements from the booth.”
Momo and Izuku shared a glance at the new information as their group made it out of the initial encirclement. ‘No one? Still?’ They shared the same thought between them. It made some sense, sure, given that over fifteen-hundred examinees were all competing simultaneously. No school knew the Quirks of any other school—except U.A.’s because of the Sports Festival.
‘Everyone’s still learning and watching at this point.’ Izuku thought, sharing his hypothesis with Momo through a short glance.
‘The targets are acting as weak points, to make things more reasonable between all the examinees. We have to fight while guarding them above all else. Still, haphazardly thrown balls aren’t likely to hit their mark.’ Momo shared her own thoughts with her eyes, pointing out that they needed to create a scenario where their group couldn’t miss their shots so that everyone could pass.
‘In all likelihood, this battle is about to heat up.’ Momo and Izuku looked into each other’s eyes and nodded. They needed to get to a more advantageous location where they weren’t outnumbered hundreds to fifteen before things got even more difficult.
Shindo put his hands together and cracked his knuckles. “All right!” He wouldn’t let Class A just run away like this.
Up in the stands, Miss Joke looked at Aizawa. “You sure talk like you’re above it all, Eraser. There are thousands of kids hoping to be Heroes every year, you know? And how far their determination will take them has nothing to do with how famous they are. Pretending to be the stars of the show and looking down on others is a good way to get your just desserts.”
Down in the exam area Shindo slammed his palms against the ground. “Everyone, get back! They’re too much together! We’ve gotta split them up!” The three other Ketsubutsu Academy students immediately bolted behind Shindo and didn’t stop, prompting every other examinee to quickly flee as well. “Maximum Force! TREMORING EARTH!!!” Shindo’s body briefly vibrated intensely before the ground shook so violently that the dirt, concrete, and rock cracked and shattered, some large pieces rising up high into the air while others fell to pieces and collapsed into the new voids in the ground from the movement. “You’re not the only ones that’ve been working on Super Moves!”
“We’re not going to be able to outrun that!” Shoji shouted out as the cracks through the ground rapidly closed in on Class 1-A.
“Grab on!” Dark Shadow’s claws extended down from above, letting Shoji, Toru, Aoyama, and Koda grab on and be lifted to safety as Dark Shadow and Tokoyami hovered in the air.
Ochako blasted down to her friends with her boots, holding her hands out. A few swift taps and she’d removed the gravity from Tsuyu, Momo, Kyoka, and Sato. Her grapple tethers wrapped around them as she blasted upwards with a burst of the air jets in her boots.
“Jump!” Izuku yelled to the last four that were still on the ground with him. He quickly compiled a few Quirks together to prevent his friends from being hit by the Super Move. Platform, Amplification, and Enhance Function were stacked and a huge transparent panel appeared beneath the feet of the leaping students. The earth shattered below the floating platform, but only a few of the shifting rocks and small boulders hit the bottom of the panel, making tiny cracks appear, even though it was boosted and strengthen.
“Quick thinking, Midoriya!” Sero said with a half-laugh, amazed that their group had all managed to avoid the widespread Super Move.
Iida nodded, looking below to the clouds of dust and the devastated landscape. “Such a destructive attack… A Hero can’t use such moves so recklessly.”
Mina let out a relieved breath as she saw how widespread the attack had been. “Whew! That was a close one!”
Camie was at Izuku’s side, a smile on her face as she snuck a quick peck to his cheek. “That was awesome, Izukun!”
Izuku wrapped Camie into a quick one-armed hug, smiling at his girlfriend. “The exam is just starting, so I wanted to conserve some energy. This seemed like the easiest solution while keeping that in mind.”
“Indeed! Meeting force with force is often the least effective method of confrontation!” Iida agreed with Izuku, having learned that while on his internship at his brother’s agency.
All of the other examinees that had managed to get out of the range of Shindo’s Super Move all looked surprised that not a single U.A. student had been caught up in the widespread devastation.
None more so than Shindo himself as his body shook, both inside and out, due to the aftershocks of his Quirk. “Y-You’ve got…to be…k-kidding m-me…” He managed to get out as his brain stopped vibrating.
Mera’s voice came over the speaker with a yawn. “Does anyone actually feel like passing the test today?”
Over in the city area of the expansive exam site, one female examinee felt the tremor in the ground and blinked. “An earthquake? Is it someone’s Quirk?”
“Focus on the battle at hand!” Her male classmate called out as he leapt upwards and kicked a flying ball away from her.
The girl dodged a metal whip that was clearly being manipulated by the Quirk of the one holding it as it moved in a prehensile fashion.
The entire area was a warzone of examinees fighting with their Quirks and throwing balls at any available opening. The mix of melee and ranged combat, and all of the unknown Quirks flying around, was quickly damaging the buildings around the area. A crash of breaking glass got a few people’s attention as an examinee charged through a window from inside the building to outside, getting the jump on two other examinees that had been on the roof of a shorter building.
“Nothing good can come of this chaos!” Someone yelled out, but it was almost impossible to figure out who. “Start cooperating! Take a step back and observe the enemies’ Quirks!”
Several examinees felt a sudden shift in the wind.
The breeze kicked up into a gale that dragged hats off heads and any loose ball on the ground or flying through the air. Dozens and then hundreds of balls went flying high into a swirling current of air all throughout the cityscape area.
“W-Whoa! This wind…!” One examinee cried out as the ball he’d thrown flew straight upwards. “The balls are…”
“Huh?!”
“What the hell?!”
The examinees all looked up and spotted the massive swirling wind that was now littered with hundreds and hundreds of the red balls. The one controlling the powerful wind was Yoarashi Inasa. He was decked out in his Hero Costume: a thick burgundy suit pinned together with yellow buttons. A cape was draped over his shoulders, the collar lined with thick fur, and it almost concealed the jetpack-like propulsion system attached to his back. His left arm was completely concealed by the thick, brown material and his hand sported a large tan glove with air pipes on it, while his right arm was completely exposed other than a skintight blue sleeve that appeared to be part of his undersuit. Similarly to his left hand, there were several tubes around his torso and ankles, which were used to expel wind power to aid with his Quirk. Plates that resembled gas masks padded his knees and left shoulder, and he completed his costume with large brown shoes and a pair of goggles around his head. Like the other Shiketsu High students, he wore the school’s familiar black cap upon his head.
Holding up his right arm, hand above his head to control the swirling gale, Inasa had a wide smile on his face as he looked down at the briefly paused mass battle. “I believe Heroes should be hot-blooded! So good job with this hot-blooded battle, guys! I freakin’ love it!”
“He’s from Shiketsu High!”
“What’s he even talking about?”
“Wait… Without the balls, we can’t pass the exam!”
Many of the examinees didn’t realize what was about to happen at all.
Inasa, with his wild smile still wide on his face, threw his head back and yelled to the sky. “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to join this white-hot battle!” he leaned forward and dropped his arm, as if he was throwing something. “Please and…” The swirling wind became a jet stream, carrying the hundreds and hundreds of red balls with it as it howled and slammed into the street below. “…thank you!”
Nothing could be heard over the roaring wind.
In the booth with Mera, the computer let out a beep to notify the head of the Exam of a passing student.
“Finally. Looks like somebody’s passing this thing..” Mera groaned out as he looked at the computer screen. “WHOA!!!” The exhausted man’s eyes opened wide, nearly bugging out, while his jaw dropped in shock. “One-hundred-twenty examinees are out! All taken down by a single person!” His voice was heard throughout the entire arena.
Inasa cheered from where he stood atop the building he’d attacked from. “All right! I win!”
Mera’s voice crackled over the speaker again. “Nothing beats a surprise to wake a guy up. Keep up the pace, ladies and gentlemen!” The sooner the exam was complete, the sooner he could sleep.
In the area where Bakugo, Kirishima, and Kaminari were, the expected explosion came almost instantly.
“WHAT?!” Bakugo bellowed, twin snaps of explosions coming from his palms. “Someone took down over a hundred of these extras in one shot?!”
“They must be super powerful to do that.” Kirishima said as he looked up at the nearest speaker.
Kaminari rubbed the back of his head. “At least we weren’t caught up in whatever just happened, right?”
Bakugo scoffed and continued onward, heading up a set of stairs to get onto a higher street. “It wouldn’t matter. I’d never get wiped out in a wave like that!”
The three stopped as they came face to face with another Shiketsu High examinee.
The narrow-eyed and purple-haired teen’s Hero Costume was a black overcoat with red trimmings. Its collar covered his entire neck, only stopping just below his mouth, and there were two red-rimmed flaps folded over the top. The sleeves of his coat reached down to his elbows, cut off by two large red cuffs which were strapped onto the upper part of the sleeves, and on his right arm, he wore a smaller white armband with a black stripe through the middle. On top of his coat, he wore a black apron that reached down past his knees and was rather plain apart from the red strings threaded twice through that went around his neck. He also wore a peculiar set of gloves that only covered his thumb, index and middle fingers, and black boots. Just like Inasa, he two wore the familiar cap of Shiketsu High.
“Shiketsu.” Bakugo narrowed his eyes at the other examinee, slipping into a ready stance. He noticed the odd lumps of slightly wriggling meat around the other teen and started trying to parse out what kind of Quirk his opponent might have.
Kaminari looked grossed out by the wriggling lumps of flesh and what appeared to be clothing mixed in. “What in the heck are those?”
Kirishima was already in a fighting stance, his Hardening activated. “Are those other examinees?!”
“My name is Shishikura Seiji, Hero Name: Shishikross, a second year student at Shiketsu High.” Shishikura introduced himself, his hands behind his back.
Bakugo let a small crackle emit from both of his palms. “Didn’t ask, loser.”
“Wait…if those ARE other examinees…” Kaminari did a quick count, even though just two would have let Shishikura pass the exam. “Why haven’t you already passed?”
Shishikura didn’t answer Kaminari’s question as he stared the three U.A. students down. “We students of Shiketsu feel it is our duty to wear these caps during any and all public events. Why, you might ask? Because our every action reflects back on the legacy of Shiketsu High School.”
“That doesn’t tell us why you haven’t already passed, bro.” Kirishima said as he looked at the Shiketsu student and all of the examinees that were wriggling lumps of meat at the moment.
“This is a demonstration!” Shishikura said as he moved his left arm from behind his back and motioned in the general direction of several of the lumps. “A demonstration to show the sheer difference between us, who cultivate that sense of duty and pride, especially in a public setting, and the rest of you, a mere mob of roughnecks who think you have what it takes to be heroes.”
Bakugo looked annoyed, even as a smirk spread across his face. “I freaking hate his type.”
Kaminari looked between Shishikura and his friends. “I can’t even tell what he’s trying to say, honestly. What does how he sees a Hero have to do with us?”
“A lot of people have their own ideas about what makes a good Hero.” Kirishima said while looking at Kaminari and Bakugo. “I like manly Heroes that charge into the fray, even if they’re scared!”
“It’s people like him that get up on their soapboxes and deride others about their work that usually end up going nuts.” Bakugo said harshly, clearly implying that Shishikura wasn’t any better than fanatic idealists like the Hero Killer: Stain. “But with those squinty eyes, he’s already got the look of headcase.”
His eyes proved to be a touchy subject for Shishikura.
“My eyes are big and handsome!” Shishikura roared out, and from behind his back five large lumps of flesh appeared and shaped themselves into floating, disembodied fingers.
“What the heck kind of Quirk is that?!” Kirishima and Kaminari yelled out at the same time.
Shishikura glared at the three U.A. students. “I respected U.A., you know? I thought that it might even measure up to Shiketsu. But everything that I’ve seen from you has eroded that respect!”
Bakugo glared right back. “Duty? Pride? Blah, blah, blah… Enough talk. Try showing us what you’re made of, sir.” He made the respectful address a mockery with his tone, his palms facing towards Shishikura.
“You’re the most unheroic, Bakugo!” Shishsikura declared loudly as he moved his right arm from behind his back and charged forward, the five, huge, disembodied fingers flying ahead of him.
“Don’t let them touch you!” Bakugo yelled out as he charged in, his hand flashing forward to unleash an explosion that forced Shishikura and his weird Quirk backwards.
Kaminari’s body sparked and he blurred to the left at speed. “Blitzing Ya!” He was on the other side of the street only a second later, aiming the large gauntlet on his right forearm and wrist at Shishikura and fired an orange disk at the Shiketsu student.
Shishikura easily dodged the projectile and sent two of the five disembodied fingers at Kaminari. “You’ll be the first then!”
“Gross and weird!” Kaminari yelled out as the two large fingers ‘pinched’ him between them. He poured his electricity into his suit and the interwoven wires let off a low hum.
ZZZZZTTTTT
The two huge floating fingers twitched and swiftly retreated from Kaminari as they were shocked.
“What?!” Shishikura blinked as he withdrew the floating fingers a bit further away from Kaminari. “So, your costume has built-in defensive capabilities.” He easily parsed out the sudden shock to his transformed fingers.
“Where are you looking?!” Bakugo exploded forward, coming at Shishikura as nothing more than a blur, a large blast being detonated nearly pointblank at the Shiketsu student.
BOOM
A ball of smoke flew backwards from the blast, revealing Shishikura had used his massive floating fingers as a shield and was mostly fine. Kirishima came at him with his hardened fist cocked back and ready to lay out the other examinee.
Shishikura’s fingers were much faster though as they wrapped around Kirishima. “Brutes that try and solve everything with their fists are normally low-brow Heroes.” He said with a grimace at the easily dealt with opponent.
“What about All Might?” Kirishima questioned as he was lifted off the ground by the disembodied fingers.
“The exception that proves the rule.” Shishikura said simply as he worked his Quirk on Kirishima…only to find it much more difficult than normal. “Durable, aren’t you?”
Kirishima grinned, showing of his even sharper than normal teeth thanks to his Hardening. “You haven’t seen anything yet! UNBREAKABLE!!!” He activated the full power of his Quirk and his entire body became jagged and sharp, his visage nearly terrifying as even his eyes seemed to have hardened along with everything else.
Shishikura’s narrow eyes widened more than they probably ever had before. “What the?! Why can’t I change you?!” His five fingers were wrapped around Kirishima’s body and moving like they were trying to mold clay, yet Kirishima’s body didn’t change in the slightest.
“I think Camie would call it a Skill Issue?” Kirishima said as his sharp body tore the large fingers up and forced them to drop him back to the ground. “Red Gauntlet!” He lunged forward and slammed his fist into Shishikura’s gut, only to find that one of the fingers had just barely managed to get in the way. The solid, powerful blow still sent the other teen skidding backwards a fair distance though.
“Gah!” Shishikura gasped out. ‘Even defending…it’s like getting hit with a sledgehammer!’
“Stun Grenade!” Bakugo was right behind Shishikura, his hands held out at eye-level as the other examinee turned to look at him. A blinding flash of light and a loud bang was heard, but very little heat or concussive force was produced. ‘Can’t hit the extras that’ve already been turned into those meatballs. So this will have to do!’ As much as Bakugo wouldn’t have cared even a month or so ago, and even if he wasn’t willing to admit it aloud, what Izuku had said to him at the end of their exam against All Might had stuck with him. ‘Fucking Deku… I’m not letting anyone die because of me! I’ll save those that need saving and beat down any Villain that gets in my way to being the Number One Hero!’
Shishikura reeled back in agony, seeing nothing but white and various colorful spots in his vision while his ears rang and disorientated him. He felt something soldi hit him in the back and stumbled a step forward.
“Target Electo!” Kaminari held up his right hand in the classic ‘finger gun’ position and a spark covered it. In the blink of the eye a bolt of electricity hit the orange disk attached to Shishikura’s back and lit him up like a lightbulb.
Steam and light smoke wafted off of Shishikura as he wavered on his feet before falling to the ground with a thump, completely unconscious.
Kirishima and Kaminari quickly approached Shishikura, checking to make sure that their opponent wasn’t severely injured or anything. When Bakugo came over, he looked down at the defeated Shiketsu student with a scoff.
“For all that talk, you went down pretty easy.” Bakugo said as he glanced at the other lumps of meat scattered on the street. They were all starting to tremble and grow bigger.
“So… Do we each tag one of his targets, or does one of us tag all three and pass?” Kaminari asked both Kirishima and Bakugo, wondering how they wanted to handle defeating Shishikura together as a team.
“I don’t think we’re done here, bro.” Kirishima said, noticing the same thing that Bakugo did about the meatballs.
Bakugo smirked widely, light crackles coming from his palms. “Take the pity win, Dunce Face. I don’t need any help to secure my win!”
The meatballs grew and stretched back to their original proportions now that Shishikura’s Quirk was no longer in effect. Over a dozen other examinees were now looking at each other and the three U.A. students.
“Oh…” Kaminari said as he saw a few of the other examinees grabbing their own red balls, prepared to try and take each other out. He quickly grabbed one of his own and tapped all three of Shishikura’s targets, made easier by the fact that the Shiketsu student wore them vertically down his chest.
“Bring it on, extras!” Bakugo roared out as the free-for-all started.
Over in the industrial area, a large group of examinees were pinned to the ground and walls in one corner of the site. Needles and spikes of water stuck through capes, loose clothing, and even special gear, in some case, to pin them down. A few were held down by dozen of large needles, while others were trapped by huge, cone-like spikes that trapped limbs between them.
“That about wraps this up.” Chikuchi said as she floated down from the roof of the mock warehouse that she’d rained down her attack from. The water stored in various parts of her costume was under her control within their containers, allowing her to move them and herself since they were connected.
“Yeah.” Todoroki agreed, another dozen examinees trapped in ice from their feet up to their chests on the other side of the same street.
One of the examinees struggled against the ice binding her with a growl. “Damn it! This is so cheap!”
Another examinee echoed her sentiments from where he was pinned to the ground by large water spikes. “Come on! Fight us fair and square!” He kicked his legs about, but it did nothing to free him as his torso was pinned down.
“A Hero that’s worried about flashy fights and looking cool isn’t paying attention to what really matters.” Chikuchi said with a flat expression as she took out all six of her red balls.
Crack
“I’m not losing!” A large examinees roared out, having activated some kind of gigantism Quirk as his body rapidly grew to five times its size and shattered the ice that Todoroki had trapped him in. He charged towards Todoroki with his massive fist cocked back, ready to put the fire and ice Quirk user out of commission.
Three balls flew through the air at speed and the giant instantly shifted to guard the two targets on his chest with his huge arms. But the balls swerved through the air unexpectedly, as if they were being guided.
Bing
“Ah!” The giant spun around, placing one hand on the glowing target at his left side.
The other two balls suddenly zoomed forward at high-speed and hit both of his chest targets at the same time.
Bing
Bing
“NOOOO!!!” The giant examinee cried out as he was eliminated. He dropped to his knees and shrank back down to his normal size in defeat.
“Thanks.” Todoroki nodded to Chikuchi, seeing the three red balls flying through the air, each of them impaled by one of her water needles.
Chikuchi waved it off. “No problem.” She walked over to the other trapped examinees and stopped at the guy that had demanded a fair fight.
“H-Hey… Come on! We’re second years! We need these Provisional Licenses way more than you first years do!” He tried to reason with Chikuchi.
“Do better in six months then.” Chikuchi said as she swiftly tapped all three of his targets, eliminating him.
The trapped examinees in the ice all eyes Shoto warily, knowing that two of them at minimum were about to be eliminated.
“Stay away, damn it!” The trapped girl that had called Todoroki’s strategy with Chikuchi ‘cheap’ growled at him.
Todoroki held up one of his red balls. “Sorry, but I need to pass.” He tapped her three targets while she tried to thrash in the ice encasing her and even cussed him out. With one eliminated, Todoroki simply turned to the nearest trapped examinee after the girl and tapped their targets too.
“Hah… I was hoping to pass on my first try.” The guy exhaled heavily at failing, but he was much more graceful in his defeat.
All three targets on both Todoroki and Chikuchi lit up in green.
The targets beeped before a message played from them. “You’ve passed, so please proceed to the reception room.”
“I could use a break.” Chikuchi said as she finally let go of all the water she was controlling with her Quirk. The trapped examinees got soaked a little, but they all quickly scrambled away so as to not get eliminated before they could regain their bearings. “That’s better.” She sighed in relief. While her control had greatly improved since joining the Hero Course—and especially during her internship with Backdraft—the quantity of water she could control had also increased, but took an equally greater amount of focus for her to maintain.
Fwooooom
Flames covered the ground and moves between all of the frozen examinees. The ice trapping them began to rapidly melt away until it was thin enough for all of them to simply break out of and start brushing the slush off their bodies. Much like the ones that had been pinned down by Chikuchi, the group quickly dispersed to warm up and not be sitting ducks.
“Done.” Todoroki said as he followed after Chikuchi towards the reception area for those that had passed.
Mera’s voice crackled over the speakers again. “Things’re moving right along now! At present we have fifty-two…no, fifty-three passing examinees! One after another at this point! Many are even eliminating more than two examinees since we have two-hundred-thirty eliminated participants!” Everyone could hear Mera typing on a keyboard for a second. “Over halfway there now, so let’s hurry and wrap things up!
As Chikuchi and Todoroki entered the reception room for passing students, a loud voice got their attention.
“Seriously?! I freakin’ love Stampman too! He’s one hot-blooded Hero!” Inasa declared loudly while talking to another successful examinee.
Todoroki looked at Inasa as he moved to sit down on a bench along one wall. ‘Given his special recommendation acceptance, I would’ve met this guy at the entrance ceremony…’
Inasa noticed Todoroki looking at him and cut himself off mid-sentence. A glare was sent the hybrid Quirk user’s way, looking fierce on Inasa’s face as if Todoroki had personally offended him. A second later and Inasa turned away to continue his conversation. “What was I just saying?!”
The other examinee shook his head once. “I don’t know, dude. You just started talking to me.”
Todoroki was confused about the glare, not understanding why it had been directed at him.
“I don’t think he likes you very much.” Chikuchi said as she sat down next to Todoroki, having seen the glare as well. “Did you do something to him?”
“I don’t think so…” Todoroki couldn’t recall doing anything to warrant such a glare.
In the stands watching over the ongoing first exam, Aizawa grumbled as Miss Joke snickered quietly.
“Want some gum?” Miss Joke held out the small package to Aizawa with a grin.
“The prank kind that traps your finger? No thanks.” Aizawa replied flatly, his arms crossed over his chest. “It’s frustrating that we can’t see who’s passed and who’s failed.”
“Nope, just normal gum.” Miss Joke grinned as she took a wrapped stick out and opened the foil wrapper before popping the gum into her mouth. “Shindo made it harder to keep track of anything when he split the ground. Wait!” She turned to look at Aizawa with a teasing smile. “Don’t tell me! Are you worried about them?!”
Aizawa was silent for a moment, but when he did speak, he ignored the question entirely. “When it comes to Class A, one thing becomes obvious after watching them long enough. They’ve probably only barely realized it themselves, but the class revolves around a certain student. It’s not that he brings everyone together or serves as a pillar or anything like that. In fact, one of them very much dislikes him, but at some point, he inspired the rest to have the same passion and fervor as he does.” He looked down at the area where he’d last seen his class in the exam site. “It’s odd, but he’s sure to be at the heart of every storm going forward. So no, Joke, I’m not worried. I’m expecting big things. The very presence of that one raises the bar for the entire class.”
“If you love ‘em so much, why don’t you marry them? Gross!” Joke pouted as she blew a bubble with her gum and then let it pop.
Aizawa merely rolled his eyes at the pouting.
Down in the exam site, the group of fifteen Class 1-A members had switched to an offensive strategy as more and more of the other schools tried to surround them again. But it didn’t look like it, just yet.
“Get them!”
“They’re running to the left! Cut them off!”
“Can anyone take down the two fliers?!”
Class A was rushing through the devastated area, using the rocks and boulders around to weave in and out of sight from the pursuing examinees. The constant blocking of the pursuers’ line of sight made it hard for any of them to keep track of all fifteen members of the group. The fact that both Tokoyami and Ochako were still flying in the air above, further split the pursuing groups focus as to not lose sight of either of them.
The chase went on and on for a bit, the occasional announcement from Mera calling out how many other examinees had passed and how many of the shrinking number of spots were left. However, the chase came to a sudden halt as a everyone came to a wide open space outside of the area that had been destroyed by Shindo’s miniature earthquake.
“Now!” Izuku called out loudly.
Momo’s back glowed a vibrant shower of lights before six tubes shot from her bare back, rocketing through the air and leaving thick clouds of smoke behind.
“Smokescreen!”
“I can clear it!” One of the examinee’s said, only for a blur from behind to strike them with a powerful kick and send them rag dolling forward before they could use their Quirk.
“What the?!”
A lashing tongue smacked three more examinees aside, knocking them on their asses as they yelped in shock and pain.
“When did they get behind us?!”
It was a valid question, as it seemed that all of Class 1-A had been fleeing this whole time. But Iida had simply used his speed to circle around the area and come up from behind the pursuers. Tsuyu had used the constantly breaking lines of sight to stick to the top of one of the boulders and make use of her camouflage, blending in and allowing the entire group of examinees to simply run right past her.
Bing
Bing
Bing
Bing
Bing
Bing
“Ack!”
“What the hell?!”
Two examinees were eliminated without even seeing anyone or anything touch their targets.
Camie smiled at them both as her chromatic missed appeared and she faded into view. “Sorry, but we all plan to pass, fam!” All three of Camie’s targets lit up green and the message instructing her to head for the reception room played.
“Get out of the smokescreen!” Someone yelled and everyone charged forward to confront Class 1-A.
Only a lot of them didn’t get very far.
“Hey!”
“My feet!”
“What is this?!”
“OOF!!!”
A lot of people suddenly found their feet stuck to the ground, or took one step, and felt something stick to their foot and then their leg before they tripped.
“Is this tape?!”
“I can’t get it off!”
The panicked cries of the examinees were getting louder now.
“Dupli-Muscle Whips!” Shoji called out and through the smokescreen three lashing, corded muscular tentacle-like whips slammed into the still standing participants and knocked them all to the ground.
Bing
Bing
Bing
Bing
Bing
Bing
“What the?!”
“My targets!”
Two more examinees were eliminated as Toru tagged them with one of her red balls.
“Sorry about that!” Toru apologized with a cute voice, her Hero Costume fading into view again as her three targets lit up green.
“You’re not getting me so easily!” One of the guys yelled as his entire arm was covered in rock from the ground and then a huge copy of his limb made of stone formed as he cocked back his arm for a punch.
Wmm
A sound similar to a lightsaber was heard and the stone construct was cleaning sliced in two.
“Non, monsieur!” Aoyama said as he held his ‘Brilliant Sparkling Saber’ in his right hand, having easily cut down the stone construct with it. “There will be no need for that!” He tapped the three targets on the other teen with one of his red balls before the other examinee could recover from his shock at being so quickly ‘disarmed’.
“I’ve got you!” One of the examinees got back to their feet and tried to aim their palm at Aoyama, a glow coming from their hand.
“Quick! Get up!” Another fallen examinee yelled out as more tried to get back to their feet.
“HUP!!!” Sato yelled and all of the tape stuck to the trapped or partially trapped examinees was yanked forward four meters suddenly, sending them all toppling back to the ground and getting further trapped. The super strength Sato gained from his granulated sugar made dragging the multitude of other teens forward rather easy.
“What’s that sound?” Jiro asked suddenly and all of Clas 1-A covered their ears at the same time while the trapped examinees looked confused since they didn’t hear anything.
RRRRRRRRRRRR
A super loud guitar riff nearly rattled the bones of those it was focused on, making a couple of the examinees pass out completely.
What followed was a chorus of ‘Bing’s as Class A quickly got their six targets each, with Izuku clearing away the thick smokescreen a moment later with an amplified use of his Spin Quirk to move the air. Ochako and Tokoyami descended after that and quickly got their own ‘points’ to pass.
“Would you look at that…” Mera’s voice came over the speakers again. “Fifteen more examinees just passed in less than a minute! We’ll be done soon!” He sounded so happy that the first part of the Provisional License Exam was nearly over that many of the examinees gave deadpan looks towards the speakers.
“What do you think the next part of the exam will be? Kero.” Tsuyu asked the group at large as they walked towards the reception room.
“I don’t think it would be fighting again.” Koda spoke up softly, looking around at the even more intense battles going on as the number of available spots shrank further.
Shoji hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “Maybe rescue? It is a big part of Hero work.”
“That’s a good theory. It would behoove the Hero Public Safety Commission to test upcoming Heroes on every facet of Hero work before giving them a Provisional License.” Iida said as he held his chin with one hand, having taken his helmet off as they all entered the reception room.
“Chi-chan!” Mina beamed as she saw Chikuchi siting next to Todoroki, both of them with bottles of water.
Chikuchi smiled at her friend and even accepted the side-hug when Mina plopped down in the seat beside her. “Looks like you all stuck together the whole way through.”
“It was the best and easiest option for all of us to pass by working together as a team.” Momo said with little sparkles around her, clearly thrilled that she and her friends had done such a thing together and everyone had passed.
“No sign of Kirishima, Kaminari, or Bakugo yet?” Ochako asked, not seeing the three anywhere.
Todoroki shook his head once. “Not yet.”
Camie shrugged with a confident grin. “I’m sure they’re fine. Even if he’s a jerk, Bakugo isn’t one to lose easily.”
“Yeah, no way those three would be taken out…probably.” Sero said as he took off his own helmet for the time they had left for the break before the second round started.
“Real convincing there, Sero.” Sato said as he looked at his buddy flatly.
Thankfully, they would be proven correct as Bakugo, Kaminari, and Kirishima would all enter the reception room a few minutes later.
“Now we just have to wait until we know what the next exam is about.” Izuku said to himself, though he was loud enough that everyone heard it.
Momo took one of his hands and Tsuyu took the other, both smiling warmly at him. Camie hugged him from behind, while Ochako hugged him from the front.
“We’ll get through it, Izukun.” All four said to their boyfriend confidently.
“Group hug?” Kaminari suggested with a chuckle.
That got snickers and small laughs from everyone—except Bakugo—even as the idea was turned down.
One exam down, but another was only a short time away.
-End Chapter-
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Class 1-A is unstoppable!
Working as a large group made it almost easy to deal with the large numbers of other schools trying to take U.A. down. The main part of the class showed not only power, but quick thinking, willingness to save and support their fellow Heroes, tactics, and excellent Quirk usage! All things a good Pro Hero needs!
Todoroki and Chikuchi didn’t struggle very much. But when you pin a group of enemies to the ground suddenly, and then the other half of the street gets encased in ice, there’s not much time to react. Even an unexpected surprise doesn’t slow these two down!
Bakugo, Kirishima, and Kaminari fought Shishikura, like in Canon, but differently from Canon…they whoop him fairly easily by working together!
It seems Bakugo has taken Izuku’s previous dressing down to heart…even if he won’t admit it.
With the first part of the Provisional License Exam completed, how will Class 1-A fair in the second part?
Keep reading to find out!
Until I get your reviews, later!