Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Collector Hero: Synthesis! Class 1-A has passed the first phase of the Provisional License Exams! But as the last few examinees pass the exams, they have no idea what’s about to be sprung on them. From combat to a different aspect of Hero work…and then maybe a combination of both right after?!
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So, without further delay, please enjoy.
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Chapter 56 – Provisional License Exam (Part 3)
As the first part of the Provisional License Exam was wrapping up, in the stands where the various teachers from the Pro Hero schools across the country watched Miss Joke shot up from her seat with an excited cheer.
“There they are! My kiddos made it!” Miss Joke cheered as she saw her group of students entering the reception room. “They pulled it off!”
Aizawa glanced at her and managed to raise his arm to stop Miss Joke from glomping him in a hug. “Calm down, Joke.”
Miss Joke just grinned at Aizawa. “Aw, lighten up, Eraser! Our students passed! We should celebrate with a hug!”
“No.” Aizawa denied her flatly.
He didn’t, however, say anything when Miss Joke sat in the seat directly beside him instead of leaving it empty between them as she’d done earlier.
-Examiner’s Booth-
“There’s only a few spots left.” Mera mentioned, having turned off his mic for the moment. “Usually poor U.A. struggles every Provisional License Exam, but this time they exceeded all expectations and not only passed relatively swiftly, they didn’t lose a single member.” He looked over his shoulder at a large group of people, ranging from middle-aged to elderly, with a few younger adults here and there among them. The group even had very widespread body types, tall and lean, short and round, large and muscular, average height but heavyset, petite and thin, not to mention a few even had Mutant type Quirks that gave them extra appendages like two sets of arms or a tail or even wings, some even had animal features and therefore different anatomy than an average person. “You’d better get ready to move.”
“Hehehehe…” One of the elderly men leading the group chuckled. “The livelier the youngsters are, the more fun it is to crush them!”
Mera nodded to the group in thanks. “Round two of this exam is in your capable hands.”
The intensity within the exam site finally ended about ten minutes later as the last qualifying examinee took out their final opponent and all three of their targets lit up green. Not even five seconds later and the speakers blared loudly.
“IT’S OVER!!!” Mera’s cheer was filled with such relief that some of the teachers in the stands deadpanned at the HPSC employee. “One hundred have successfully passed! We’re done! Finished! Hah!” There was a brief moment of silence before the speakers crackled again. “On a less uplifting note, could all those who failed please proceed to the exit?” His tone was at least somewhat somber for the students that had failed.
-Reception Room-
As the last successful examinee entered and moved to get water and sit down for a few minutes, the other passing students continued chatting. They’d have a break for as long as it took to get the unsuccessful examinees collected from the expansive field.
“I’m just glad that everyone in our class passed.” Mina beamed brightly at her friends.
“Right?!” Kaminari agreed with a cheer.
Jiro had a smile on her face as she looked over everyone. “We don’t have any injuries either. That’ll probably help in the next test.”
Izuku had already checked everyone over anyway—except Bakugo, of course—but had concluded that no one was injured. “That’s a good thing. Since we don’t know what the next test will entail, we need to be at our best.”
“The other examinees are still looking at us.” Ochako mentioned, seeing more than a few eyes on the group from U.A. as the most of the other eighty passing students looked at them.
“It’s a little unnerving. Kero.” Tsuyu agreed as a few looked away when the rest of Class 1-A started looking back.
Shoji motioned with one of his six arms, another of them transformed into an ear. “A few of them are discussing the loss of others from their groups.”
Where Shoji was pointing held the remaining members of the Shiketsu group, including Yoarashi.
“Shishikura-senpai really failed?!” Yoarashi said loudly in surprise.
“Pipe down.” The large Shiketsu student covered in thick, shaggy fur from head to toe said sharply. “He rushed off and tried to do things his own way. I expected that from our first year, Yoarashi. But Shishikura made his choice and ended up paying the price for it.”
The large screen flickered on in the room, getting all of the passing examinees’ attention. The speakers in the room came to life a few seconds later with Mera’s voice.
“Now, will all one hundred of you please watch the screen.” Mera instructed the students. The image was the exam site, now cleared of the examinees that had failed.
“It’s just the test area…” Momo didn’t see anything different about it than when they’d last seen it since entering the reception room.
Ochako tilted her head slightly. “What’s happening?” There had to be some reason for them to be seeing this.
Explosions suddenly went off in every part of the test site. Some buildings collapsed in on themselves in controlled demolitions, while others toppled over and slammed into the ground, crushing smaller buildings beneath them. The small mountain and ridges erupted into multiple explosions that became a landslide and covered the nearby buildings at the base of the rocky area. The industrial area was blown apart and several parts of it remained burning in a faux gas leak turned into an industrial accident.
‘WHY?!’ Most of the one hundred examinees wondered at the same time in their minds as they saw the devastation of the test site.
“Round two is the last one! You examinees will venture into the ruins as bystanders and prove your worth when it comes to rescuing innocent victims.” Mera explained through the speakers.
Izuku’s eyes were locked onto the screen, the destruction reminding him of the state that part of Kamino Ward had been left in after the fight with All for One. “It was rescue…”
“Bystanders, huh…” Kirishima blinked at the destruction.
“It means we just happened to be on the scene when the emergency went down.” Toru reminded with an upbeat tone. “We learned about it in class.”
Camie nodded as she glanced around the now destroyed test site. “But that term also refers to innocent civilians that get caught up in Villain attacks or other crimes.”
The speakers cracked to life again. “You will not act as ordinary civilians, but as those who have hypothetically earned their Provisional Licenses. You’re being tested on how well you respond in rescue operations.” Mera explained to the examinees.
“Hm?” Tokoyami’s eyes narrowed slightly as he saw movement amongst the rubble of the exam site. “Look! There are people down there…”
Sato gaped at seeing how many people were moving INTO the rubble. “Huh?! Hey, that’s dangerous!”
“Old people and kids?!” Sero exclaimed in confusion.
“What’re they doing down there?! That’s dangerous!” Chikuchi saw the areas that the people were entering and immediately wondered if they were going to be okay.
As more and more voices of concern rose up from the examinees, the speaker came on again.
“The people entering the exam site are highly trained Professional Rescuees and have been in very high demand as of late.” Mera explained to the students. “Please welcome the good people of the Help Us Company, or H.U.C. for short.”
“Pro Rescuees?” One examinee looked perplexed by the title.
“Who knew that was even a job?” A different examinee asked no one in particular.
Another examinee shrugged. “Heroes are such a large industry nowadays, so it makes sense.”
“The members of H.U.C. will be feigning injuries all across the field. It is your task to rescue them. You will all be scored on how well you perform these rescues. Those who attain the required points at the end of the test will pass. We’ll start in ten minutes, so take your bathroom breaks now.” Mera laid out the second phase of the Provisional License Exam for the remaining examinees.
Iida stood next to Izuku as they both looked at the screen. “Midoriya.” He recognized the look of someone that was recalling something horrible. That same look had been on his face every single day after he’d seen Tensei laid up in the hospital after being attacked by Stain.
Izuku looked away from the screen and towards Iida. “Yeah… It reminds me of Kamino Ward on that night.”
“That time you were dragged into a fight you should never have been a part of.” Iida placed his hand reassuringly on Izuku’s shoulder, giving his friend a look of support. “But remember, this time we are all here with you. We’ll work together, just like before, and we’ll pass this exam.”
“Thanks, Iida.” Izuku gave his friend a smile, getting one in return from Iida.
Camie patted Iida strongly on his armored back. “Good pep talk there, Iida!” She smiled brightly at another of their friends looking after their boyfriend.
Tsuyu nodded and hugged Izuku for a moment, nearly nuzzling into his embrace. “We’ll all do our best together, Izukun.”
“Right.” Izuku nodded with a smile.
“Are you okay, Izukun?” Ochako asked quietly as she hugged him next.
Izuku took a breath, held it, and then exhaled slowly before he looked into Ochako’s warm brown eyes. “Yeah. Just seeing this level of destruction again brought back the memories.”
Ochako smiled at him and squeezed him a little tighter for a moment before letting him go.
“We’re right here, no matter what, Izukun.” Momo said as she got her hug from Izuku. She could only imagine what Izuku had experienced in Kamino Ward that night that the League of Villains had been defeated and arrested. He’d shared it with them, of course, but it was the kind of experience that changed a person and Izuku had experienced it way earlier than most any Hero Course student should have to.
Camie wrapped Izuku in a hug from behind and gently rested her chin on his shoulder. “You did incredible back then and you’re going to do even better now, Izukun.” She assured him with a warm smile filled with her belief in her boyfriend. “We’ve got your back too, so you don’t have to try and do things alone.”
“Thank you, Camie.” Izuku gently leaned his head against hers with a smile. “All of you…thank you.” He smiled at his girlfriends as they stood close to him, giving him all of the love and support he could ever need. The brief flare up of the memories from Kamino Ward made Izuku think that perhaps he should talk more about that night with his parents, and probably Hound Dog too.
A minute or so later, while everyone was getting a snack and water from the large table on one side of the room, Kirishima perked up.
“Shiketsu is headed our way.” Kirishima called out so that the rest of his friends could hear.
The tall student covered in fur approached the U.A. group with the other Shiketsu students behind him. “Excuse me, Bakugo?”
Bakugo looked at the taller guy, noticing that his long, thick fur left the other teen’s eyes visible. “Yeah?”
“Shishikura…the shifty-eyed one…he came after you, right?” The fur-covered teen asked.
“Yeah and I crushed him.” Bakugo said bluntly.
The large teen let out a short sigh. “I thought so… He was probably terribly rude to you. You must have been offended. He has a bad habit of trying to force his values on others. He couldn’t contain himself after seeing someone like yourself that is so different from his ideal of a hero.” He gave Bakugo a short bow of apology for his wayward classmate. “We’d really like to build a good relationship with U.A. going forward. So please accept our apology.”
“A good relationship…” Kaminari shared a look with Kirishima. “…it didn’t seem that way.” He said under his breath so only his buddy could hear him.
‘A good relationship… With that face?’ Todoroki thought to himself as he recalled how the wind Quirk user had glared at him. Deciding to alleviate the curiosity that had been building within him, Todoroki took a step forward.
The large teen covered in fur turned away from the U.A. group. “If you’ll excuse us.” He said politely as the remaining Shiketsu group began to walk away.
“Hey, crew cut.” Todoroki called out to Yoarashi, not remembering the other teen’s name right off the top of his head. “Did I do something to offend you?”
Yoarashi stopped in his tracks. “Oho…?” He turned to face Todoroki, a small breeze kicked up for a second. “Nah… You’ll have to forgive me, but it’s because you’re Endeavor’s son. I hate all of you.” Todoroki blinked at that, not used to someone so blatantly stating their dislike of him because of his father. “You’ve changed a lot since then, but those eyes look just like Endeavor’s.” Yoarashi said while pointedly looking Todoroki in the eye.
“Something wrong, Yoarashi?” The large, fur-covered teen that was clearly the leader of the Shiketsu group called back to the straggling student.
“Nothing at all!” Yoarashi said as he pivoted and quickly walked towards the rest of the Shiketsu students.
Todoroki’s expression was cool and his eyes were narrowed slightly. ‘My father’s eyes…?’ While he and his father may have started the long and slow process of reconciliation, he very much still disliked being compared to the man in any way, shape, or form.
“Todoroki?” Izuku lead, trying to open up a dialogue. Unfortunately, the hybrid Quirk user didn’t respond at all.
BRRRRR
A loud siren went off, stopping any further conversation.
“Terrorists have launched a massive attack!” A prerecorded announcement blared out of the speakers.
“So that’s the scenario they’re going with?” Tsuyu remarked as the siren continued to go off.
Jiro had been startled by the sudden loud noise, but had recovered quickly. “O-Okay!”
“There’s wide-scale destruction throughout the city! Buildings are collapsing and people are hurt!” The alert continued to give the examinees the situation they were being tested on.
“It’s starting!” Momo declared loudly to be heard over the siren.
The prerecorded announcement continued. “With most of the roads out of commission, rescue and relief squads are having a hard time reaching the scene! Until they arrive, it’s up to you Heroes to take charge and rescue civilians!”
The reception room unfolded, the ceiling and walls falling away to slam into the ground with heavy thuds.
“Another unfolding room?!” Toru cried out in surprise.
“Save every life you can! Start!” The speakers began the second part of the Provisional License Exams.
All one hundred students rushed towards the devastated test areas not a second later.
‘We gotta do this right! Let’s go!’ Izuku thought, using Telepath to pass his encouragement to his classmates.
He wasn’t the only one having thoughts about the nature of the second phase of the exam.
‘They mentioned a scoring system, but didn’t explain the criteria…’ Shindo thought about the vague ‘grading’ that they were all under.
‘Until we know more, we’ll do it just like in class…’ Todoroki thought to himself, trying to put Yoarashi’s words out of his mind.
As Class Representative, Izuku took charge of where Class 1-A would head first. “Let’s head for the main metro zone for now! Stick together as a team!”
“Waaaahhh!!!” The cries of a child rang out, getting Class 1-A’s attention.
“There’s a kid!” Izuku called out to everyone. A second after looking at the ‘kid’, Izuku realized that it wasn’t an actual child, but a man using his Quirk to shrink himself down to the size of a child.
The ‘kid’ launched into his role as soon as he saw the arrival of the examinees. “Waaahhh! Save me!” He cried out, breathing laboriously and interrupting his ability to talk. The fake blood running down the side of his head really made it look like the H.U.C. member had crawled out of the rubble. “Over there! Ah! My grandpa’s trapped! Ah! He’s getting crushed!”
Izuku looked at the collapsed building and rubble all around the ‘kid’. “Whoa! That’s bad! Where is he?!”
That proved to be the wrong response.
“What the heck was that?! Points off for you!” The ‘child’ yelled at Izuku in his real voice, sounding like a grown man now.
Izuku flinched back at the sudden change.
The H.U.C. member began to list all of Izuku’s failures in his first encounter. “First, you should check if the victim can walk! Also, didn’t you notice my irregular breathing?! And what about the copious blood pouring from my head?! Those with licenses know that assessing the victim’s condition comes first!”
‘So H.U.C. is doing the scoring themselves?!’ Izuku realized too late just how each and every examinee was going to be scored.
“You’ve already proven how unprepared you are for this! Open your eyes and take a look around!” The H.U.C. employee yelled at Class 1-A as a whole, easily seeing that they were first year Hero Course students.
The Second and Third year students from the other Hero Schools clearly had more advanced rescue training as they were all cooperating between themselves.
“Let’s designate this area as a danger zone for now!” One examinee called out after taking in the surrounding area.
“Make the zone bigger! The terrorists could strike again at any moment!” A girl that looked to be a Third Year from a different Hero School held out her arms and they flowed and molded into multiple strands—almost like dough—and moved to pick up debris and rubble, moving it aside to clear out the area.
The fur-covered Shiketsu student moved to the center of the main road and his fur rapidly lengthened and thickened from his arms. “First, let’s try to open up the roads and create a landing space for rescue choppers! Clear the way!” He began to spin his thick fur, becoming a super-powered street sweeper, easily clearing the road of rubble whether it be concrete, metal, glass, or anything else…all while perfectly controlling the speed of his fur and making sure that none of the debris was launched away to potentially hurt someone. The road towards the reception room was rapidly being cleared, leaving a wide open space.
“The road is clear, so let’s use the reception room as the first aid station!” An examinee suggested to others as they moved through the rubble to look for civilians to rescue.
“I think it’s big enough to use as a full-blown evacuation center!” A different examinee said as he used his Quirk to precisely cut away a section of the rubble blocking the way into a partially collapsed building where calls for help could be heard.
Another examinee called out to everyone. “I’ll take care of setting up triage! Bring the civilians to the reception area to be taken care of!”
In the stands Aizawa rubbed the back of his head. “When it comes to advanced rescue operations, my students might be lagging behind.” The Second and Third Year students simply had more training from their schools than his First Years, even if they hadn’t been repeatedly attacked by the League of Villains.
Miss Joke agreed with a small snicker. “Well yeah, Eraser, two and three are larger than one.” She joked with him, making Aizawa give her a deadpan stare.
Back in the test field, the H.U.C. member looked at Class 1-A. “It’s more than just the literal rescue and evacuation. Licensed Heroes are also supposed to fill in for fire brigades and police officers until they arrive. They keep everything running smoothly until other professionals can take over. Heroes have to perform all sorts of tasks to rescue people.” The ‘kid’ wiped his eyes. “But first and foremost…we’re worried. In pain. Scared. The first thing we hear from you shouldn’t be ‘Whoa! That’s bad!’, that’s no good at all.”
“You’re okay, because I am here!” All Might’s voice filled Izuku’s head. The videos he’d watched of his idol over the years throughout the man’s Hero career filled his mind. All the people he’d saved, the smile that he always wore, it was the ideal that Izuku aspired to and he hadn’t thought about it going into this test at all.
Izuku slapped his cheeks with his hands to force himself to refocus on what he needed to do. ‘Get it together! What am I doing?! Flip that switch! Passing this test and earning our provisional licenses isn’t some stepping stone! This is all about the dream that we’re all pursuing!” He smiled brightly and reassuringly at the ‘child’, his green eyes bright and warm. “It’s okay! You’re going to be fine!”
“Waaahhh! Over there! My grandpa!” The H.U.C. member cried out, pointing over to an area of the rubble.
‘Annnd he’s back.’ Most of Class 1-A thought of the sudden return to acting.
“Don’t worry! We’ll save him!” Izuku assured the ‘kid’ with a smile. “I’ll make a communication and transport network!” He looked back at his classmates while holding his hands out to his sides. ‘Enhance Function, Amplification, Double!’ Izuku compiled the three Quirks in only a second. Everyone caught on instantly as they saw a copy of Izuku form from each hand as their Class Rep used Double.
Even the H.U.C. member couldn’t help but blink in surprise as the doubles each made two more copies from their hands. One became two, became four, then eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, and finally one-hundred-twenty-eight.
The copies already knew what they needed to do as they started spreading out, meeting up with other students from different schools and informing them of their connection to the other copies now spreading out throughout the devastated exam site and able to relay information as well as open warps gates to evacuate the civilians faster.
“Can you walk?” Izuku was already kneeling next to the ‘child’ as he checked him over. “Show me your head for a minute.” He activated Healing Aura—even though he knew the injuries were fake—and passed his hand over the injury on the H.U.C. employee’s head. “I’ll take him to the evac site. You guys spread out and save everyone!” He told his classmates with a smile.
“Got it!” Sero gave him a thumbs up, following along with one of the copies.
“Good luck!” Shoji nodded to Izuku before taking off as well.
Toru and Aoyama went with one of Izuku’s copies. “To the rescue!” The duo cheered, wanting to bring positivity to the ‘injured civilians’.
Bakugo went off on his own with a scoff at Izuku’s copy that was nearby.
“Bakugo!” Kirishima ran after him.
“We’ll help him!” Kaminari called back to the others as he followed after Kirishima and Bakugo.
Izuku watched everyone spread out, some following after his copies while others went to help other students from different schools to make the rescue efforts easier. “Let’s get you to safety!” He smiled as he gently picked up the ‘kid’ and held him securely.
“B-But my grandpa!” The H.U.C. member cried with real tears, showing quite the skill at acting.
“He’s being saved!” Izuku moved so that he could show the man that Sato and Koda were already moving to rescue the ‘grandpa’ beneath the rubble, using Sato’s strength and Koda’s ability to communicate with animals. The mice that Koda was controlling easily made their way through the rubble and led them towards the man within the collapsed building. “You’ll see him soon!” Izuku assured the ‘kid’ just as a Warp Gate appeared behind him and he stepped through it, instantly stepping out of the connecting gate and into the evac area that was being manned by ten of the examinees and four of his own copies that were using their medical skills—taught by Recovery Girl—to help stabilize the ‘injured’ civilians.
“What’s his condition?” A girl from a different school asked as soon as she saw Izuku with the injured kid.
“Small injury to the head, already healed with my Quirk, labored breathing but no broken ribs, probably dust inhalation.” Izuku reported swiftly and clinically, just as he’d been taught. “His speech is coherent
The girl gently took the ‘child’ from Izuku. “Thanks. I’ll check his breathing and get him some water.”
Izuku nodded and smiled at the H.U.C. member. “His grandpa should be here shortly. Make sure they get reunited, please.”
“Of course.” The girl smiled at Izuku before he stepped back through the Warp Gate and it closed behind him. “That guy has so many helpful Quirks.”
The H.U.C. member nodded in the girl’s arms as she carried him. “He fumbled at first, but I think he’s got it now.”
-Collapsed Ridge Area-
“We hurt our arms!” A man cradling his arm cried out, looking up the collapsed ridge at Bakugo, Kirishima, and Kaminari.
“Save us, it hurts so bad!” The woman with him begged as she staggered along.
Bakugo saw that they could both walk and that neither appeared to be bleeding. “Shut up! Save your damn selves!”
“Dude…” Kaminari and Kirishima both looked at Bakugo in shock that he’d yell that at civilians.
“HUH?!” Both of the H.U.C. members cried out in disbelief.
Kaminari looked at Bakugo like the other blonde was an idiot. “I know that’s your style, but come on…”
“They could really be hurt!” Kirishima chastised Bakugo as he prepared to climb down the edge of the shattered rocky ledge.
“They’re walking around fine and they’re talking clearly! They can make their way to the evac point on their own!” Bakugo shot back instantly.
The two H.U.C. employees made a mental note of Bakugo’s swift assessment of their ‘injuries’, but that wasn’t enough to save him.
“Point deduction!” The man shouted up at Bakugo. “Even if a civilian seems okay, it’s a Hero’s duty to check on them to be sure!”
“In this scenario, there could still be terrorists around! Are you telling civilians to walk to the evac point when the danger hasn’t passed yet?!”
Bakugo flinched just slightly at the sharp and accurate critiques.
Kaminari nodded in agreement with the two rescuees. “Seriously, Bakugo…we’ve gone over this in class.”
Kirishima was already climbing down the ledge. “I’m coming to get you two! Don’t worry!”
“Tch!” Bakugo tsked at his choice of action being wrong.
Hearing the ‘tsk’ from the student, both H.U.C. members looked up at him sharply. “You’re recuse manner is horrible! Point deduction!”
-Industrial Area-
“Control the fires!” One Third Year from a school that Chikuchi couldn’t recall at the moment called out.
“Got it!” Chikuchi used some of her limited water to douse the spreading fires that kept popping up from the larger fire burning in the center of the destroyed facility. After putting out a swath of the fire, three more examinees carried out more ‘injured’ civilians, taking them to the Warp Gate that a copy of Izuku was maintaining. “I need more water!”
“Me too!” Another student called out, the large tank on his back empty.
The fire crackled loudly and the heat was intense as it continued to spread.
“Togeike!” A second copy of Izuku rushed forward while pulling water from the air with Water Gun and then using Tactile Hydrokinesis to send it towards Chikuchi and the other student in thin streams that remained connected to his hands.
“Thanks!” Chikuchi took control of the water, feeling a brief interference from Izuku’s Quirk before he released his control. With a huge volume of water, she made large cones from it and launched them against the blaze, putting out a large section.
The guy with the tank on his back gave Izuku a thumbs up. “Thanks, man!” With his tank full his boots erupted in a burst of water that launched him into the air. With a spin and his hands held out, he became a miniature rainstorm that drenched the flames.
“That’s cool…” Chikuchi and Izuku both said at the same time.
With the copy of Izuku supplying water, the fire was being beaten back while other students saved the H.U.C. members that were trapped in the rubble and twisted steel pipes of collapsed sections. With the Warp gate being maintained at the edge of the area, evacuation of the civilians was instant and the other students could return quickly to continue rescue operations.
-Main Metro Area-
“There’s a person back there, but they’re unresponsive and the space is too narrow!” A Second Year student called out. “It’s too dark for me to see if they’re bleeding or injured in some other way!”
A girl from a different school rushed over, her hand and forearm detaching on what looked like metal cables. “I can at least check their pulse and breathing until we can get them out!”
A large and muscular Third year put his hands on the rubble blocking the area around the trapped person. “I’ll clear the space so we have somewhere to put them once we can get them out!” He easily bulldozed the rubble aside, safely pushing it into a spot free of bystanders caught up in the destruction.
“These guys have definitely done this stuff before.” Toru commented as she saw how swiftly the older students worked to handle the situation and rescue the H.U.C. employees.
“Too dark, you say?” Aoyama was already rushing over to the other student’s side. “Allow moi to illuminate the way forward!” He held up one of his Sparkle Gauntlets and the lens shone brightly as he channeled the energy from his pack into it, but didn’t fire, making a bright flashlight from his gear.
The older student blinked behind his mask before giving Aoyama a thumbs up. “Thanks! That helps a lot!” He looked into the now lit up space beneath the rubble and didn’t see any blood on the trapped civilian. “He’s not bleeding from what I can see! We just need to open up this wall and we should be able to pull them out!”
“Their pulse is fine and they’re breathing.” The girl with her hand and forearm separated from her arm by metal cables said as she used Aoyama’s light to see where the trapped person was and find their neck and face. “I can pull them out if we can open an exit.”
Aoyama stood up and drew his saber, channeling the energy of his pack into it and making the blade light up with the familiar energy of his Navel Laser. “This Chevalier will open the path!” He carefully cut through the concrete wall with the blade, following the older student’s instructions so as to not upset the integrity of the collapsed building any further.
Several seconds later, Aoyama and the other student pulled the cut piece of wall away and the girl took hold of the trapped person and slowly reeled them in. Once the man was out of the collapsed building, the trio checked him over.
“Uhh…” The H.U.C. member played like he was being roused from unconsciousness. “Where am I…?”
“Everyone! Come this way, quickly!” Momo called out to her nearby classmates.
A man that was trapped in the rubble of two buildings that had collapsed onto each other was barely able to be seen. “Oww… Somebody get me out…”
Momo, hearing the man’s words, updated the situation. “There’s a man in there! He’s still conscious!”
“The rubble is blocking the way, I’ll move it!” Ochako rushed over to remove the gravity of the large rubble.
‘That decision is gonna cost her points…’ The man thought to himself.
A padded pole with the word ‘Stop’ on it formed from a glowing and sparkling point on Momo’s shoulder, nearly clotheslining Ochako. “Wait a moment! Take a good look at the surroundings!” She cautioned her girlfriend. “Part of another building is leaning against that wall, and it all just happens to be balanced! Move anything too hastily and the entire structure might collapse!”
“Right… that would be bad.” Ochako said after taking a look at the collapsed buildings. “How should we get him out then?”
Momo’s back glowed as a steel support beam was created and then fell to the ground behind her. “I’ll make supports for the structure. We can execute the rescue once construction is complete, though it will take time. If we had Sero…”
Ochako blinked and quickly caught on. “Got it!” She removed her gravity and flew into the air with a combination of the air jets in her boots and the grapple tethers in her wrist bracers. “Izukun! We need Sero!” She called out to the copy that was looking over the area and managing both Telepath—for communication—and Warp Gate—for transport of the civilians to the evac site.
“Got it!” The copy of Izuku nodded and sent the message to Sero and all of his copies. Only a handful of seconds later and the copy perked up. “He’s on his way!”
Not even ten seconds later, Sero stepped out of the Warp Gate that the copy was maintaining. “I’m here! Where do you need me?” He asked Ochako quickly.
“Down here. The rubble needs to be reinforced so we can rescue a man.” Ochako led the way as Sero attached his tape to a nearby wall and swung after her.
In only a few moments, Sero was at Momo’s side with Ochako.
“I’ll reinforce the wall!” Sero said as he began firing his tape with accuracy at the areas that connected the rubble together. “Do we have anyone that can move those supports?”
Ochako was already removing the gravity of the steel supports. “I’ve got them!”
In only a couple of minutes the balancing act of rubble was reinforced by Sero’s tape and the steel supports. Momo created a spotlight to illuminate the narrow space so that Ochako could see what she was doing as she removed the gravity of the rubble one large piece at a time and let it float over to Toru, Momo, and Sero as the four of them worked together to unbury the trapped man.
-Business Area-
“Shiketsu High School First-Year, Yoarashi Inasa! Hero Name: Gale Force! Reporting for duty and ready to rock some rescues!” He unleashed his Quirk, blowing away rubble and rescuees alike. “I’ll do my freakin’ best!”
“Inasa!” The fur-covered leader of the Shiketsu group called out loudly, his tone sharp and reprimanding.
“Oh ho ho… Wind is it?” A H.U.C. member dressed as an infant said as he floated on the powerful breeze with his small body.
An elderly man floating on the wind near him grunted. “Seems a bit sloppy.”
The baby H.U.C. employee agreed, but also noticed the control that Yoarashi was showing. ‘He’s sorting people and debris by shape and size, using countless separate airstreams. What unbelievably delicate control.’ He pulled the pacifier out of his mouth. “BUT STILL TOO SLOPPY!!!” He yelled at Yoarashi to be heard over the wind. “POINTS DEDUCTED!!!”
Yoarashi gaped at the point loss, even as the wind floated the ‘baby’ and the elderly man into his outstretched arms.
“You shouldn’t make a move before confirming safety conditions and the status of anyone injured.” The fur-covered leader of the Shiketsu group reprimanded Yoarashi for his reckless action. “That will only make things worse.”
“I see! Pardon my mistake!” Yoarashi apologized loudly.
A copy of Izuku moved over quickly. “Is anyone injured? I can heal them if so!”
The leader of Shiketsu students was already checking over the two H.U.C. members in Yoarashi’s arms. “They seem to be alright. We need to transport them to the evac area.”
“Got it!” The copy opened a Warp Gate and Yoarashi walked through it with the elderly man and the ‘baby’ in his arms.
-Examiner Booth-
“That Midoriya kid is making things run a lot smoother than normal.” Mera commented as he saw how quickly communication and transport were being handled between the one hundred examinees. “But the H.U.C members aren’t having to detract nearly as many points as I thought they would.” On the screen were a list of students, many with deductions already taken from their total scores for the second part of the Provisional License Exam. “Still, if they keep up as they are, a lot of them won’t make the cut.”
A voice came over the headset that Mera was wearing. “Sorting the injured before giving first aid is a job for Heroes at the scene before the ambulances arrive. Being able to hand over operations to the professionals as smoothly as possible in a danger zone is the real challenge.”
“But things don’t always go so smoothly in real situations.” Mera said factually into the mic.
“When it comes to protecting people in cities, a Hero’s job is multifaceted. There’s the actual rescuing… Plus…”
BOOM
The wall of the arena surrounding the expansive test site exploded in a huge blast not too far from the evac area.
“What?!” The Izuku copies at the evac point all cried out at the same time at the sudden explosion.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
At various places around the devastated exam site, more explosions went off.
“Another attack?!” Izuku saw the multiple explosions around the area from where he was standing atop a mostly collapsed building, having just rescued a person trapped on the top floor. Seeing silhouettes moving through the smoke in groups, Izuku sent a message to everyone in the exam site with Telepath. ‘The terrorists have attacked again! They’re near the evac point, the collapsed mountain area, the end of the main metro area, and on the edge of the industrial area!’
-Evacuation Location-
“Even more for us to do!” Shindo declared as he got back to his feet from the sudden blast.
A large man with a head of a killer whale and wearing a white suit stepped out of the dissipating smoke. “Dealing with enemies! Can you really handle both situations?!” With him were dozens and dozens of men in black full body suits with masks over their faces and some kind of large device strapped to their arms.
“Gang Orca?!” The copies of Izuku at the evac site instantly recognized the current Top Ten Hero.
The speakers all over the arena blared to life.
“The Villains have shown up, and they’re on the move! You Heroes on the scene must stop the Villain incursion while continuing rescue operations!”
Camie, currently carrying an injured civilian on her back while Shoji carried four more in his multiple arms right behind her, let out a beleaguered sigh. “So now we have to fight while still rescuing people?”
“Seems like it.” Shoji said as he created eyes and ears on his Dupli-Arms to get a three-hundred-sixty degree field of view and listed intently for any sound of approaching Villains.
Up in the stands, Aizawa leaned forward a bit. “A scenario that would even give Pro Heroes some trouble. They’re going this far for provisional licenses now?”
Miss Joke was also leaning forward. “This is way more intense that it’s been in previous years.”
“What’s your move, Heroes?!” Gang Orca bellowed loudly as he waved his arm and the dozens and dozens of masked men started rushing forward.
A Warp gate opened at the evac area and Izuku stepped out, letting it close behind him.
“We protect the people and defeat the Villains!” Izuku declared with such power and resolve in his voice that one might think he was using Empathic Force with how it roused the examinees’ spirits and boosted morale.
-End Chapter-
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Rescue operations began and with Izuku’s copies managing Telepath communication and Wrap Gates for transportation, the H.U.C. members are being rapidly saved!
However, the methods used can get points deducted from your score! Even not having a good handle of rescue manner to assure the scared, injured, and confused can see points being deducted!
Working together is the best bet, but as soon as things were looking good, Gang Orca—acting as the Villain with all of his many, many Sidekicks—appears in multiple explosions!
Can the Hero Course students manage to finish saving the civilians while fighting off a Villain attack led by the current Number Ten Pro Hero?
Izuku is damn sure going to try!
When Synthesis goes all out, most people should get out of his way!
But will he be enough when attacks are coming from all directions simultaneously and his copies get less durable when made by other copies…while having to maintain the Warp Gates and communication. Or is that asking too much of one Hero-in-Training?
Keep reading to find out!
Until I get your reviews, later!