The entrance exam.
Clark was now standing in front of the entrance gates of U.A. In the months that had passed, he had worked hard to be prepared for today. Clark couldn't say that studying for the exam had been difficult due to his rapid learning, but he wasn't one to boast about such things.
"I... did it..." said a voice next to Clark. It was Izuku's voice, who despite all the preparation they had done in the past months, was now nervously sweating next to Clark.
Clark looked frustratedly at his friend. They had trained so hard for this—couldn't Izuku give himself a bit of credit? This self-deprecation from Izuku was starting to irritate Clark; he was already tired of seeing his friend go through this over and over again.
But despite this, Clark didn't let those feelings take hold of him.
"Let's go, Midoriya. I don't want to end up being late," Clark said, pulling his friend out of his state.
"O-okay," said Izuku as they both started walking towards the entrance.
"Go to hell, 'Deku'!" shouted a voice from behind them, which Clark immediately recognized.
As they turned around, they came face to face with Bakugou angrily approaching them.
"Kacchan!" shouted Izuku, surprised.
"Don't get in my way, or do you want to die, damn it?" Bakugou shouted at Izuku.
"Do we really need to do this today, Bakugou?" Clark said, rubbing his eyes, already tired of the situation.
"Shut up, Kent! Today you're going to see what a real hero is. I'll rub it in your faces when you don't even pass the written exam!" Bakugou shouted as he stormed past them, knocking shoulders with Clark on his way.
"He never changes," Clark said, looking at the blonde who was walking ahead.
"Well, if he changed, he wouldn't be Kacchan, right? Let's keep going," Izuku said, as he started to walk but then tripped and began to fall face-first towards the ground.
But as Izuku fell, he stopped mid-air. Clark saw a brown-haired girl approaching, but he chose to let things unfold. He wanted to see how Izuku would react to this.
"Are you okay?" asked the brown-haired girl, while Izuku was still suspended mid-air.
Receiving no response, the girl slowly positioned Izuku back on his feet.
"Sorry for things getting crazy with my 'Quirk' here," said the girl, smiling at Izuku and Clark.
"I just thought it would be a shame if you tripped, you know?" the girl explained, clasping her hands together to deactivate her Quirk and allowing Izuku to regain his balance.
"No need to worry. If you hadn't done something, I would've. Thanks for the help," Clark said, smiling back at the girl.
"I'm so nervous, I bet you guys are too!" said the girl, starting to walk away.
"You could say that," Clark smiled, agreeing with the girl. Meanwhile, Izuku was ecstatic from having interacted with a girl.
"Well, good luck to both of you! Until later!" said the girl, bidding farewell to the two and returning to her path.
Clark waved back at the girl and then looked back at Izuku.
Izuku was still static from having "spoken" to a girl.
"Man, that's embarrassing. You should have at least thanked her," Clark said, clicking his tongue and shaking his head, "disappointed" with Izuku.
"What?!" said Izuku, looking bewildered at Clark.
~~~Time Break~~
"WELCOME EVERYONE TO MY LIVE SHOW!! EVERYONE SAY HEEEYYY!" shouted the hero Present Mic. Now all the candidates were gathered in a large auditorium, including Clark, and upon hearing the musical hero shout, everyone remained silent.
"I GOT CHILLS TOO, LISTENERS! OKAY, CANDIDATES... I'M GONNA LAY DOWN HOW THIS IS GONNA WORK, ARE YOU READY?!" The hero continued shouting excitedly.
Clark smiled at the hero's enthusiasm. Beside him, Izuku was thrilled to see the hero up close and began muttering to himself.
"Shut up," said Bakugou, who was sitting next to Izuku.
'Seriously? An auditorium with space for over 2000 people and he sits right next to us? What luck,' thought Clark, frustrated.
With this, Present Mic began explaining how the test would unfold: they would be assigned to an area where they had to destroy as many robots as possible. Clark was paying attention to the explanation until a guy with glasses and blue hair stood up.
"Excuse me, may I ask a question?" said the guy with blue hair.
"In this pamphlet, they clearly list the four types of villains!" the guy began, pulling out a pamphlet given to all the candidates. "Such an error could be very embarrassing for one of the top national academies like U.A!! The reason we came here today is because we want to be guided to become model heroes!" he exclaimed.
"And furthermore, what's your problem?" he said, turning to look at Izuku, who was taken aback by the sudden attention. "You with the messy hair!" he pointed at Izuku.
"You can't sit still for a second... you're distracting everyone!! If you think U.A is some fun ride, then leave immediately!" he finished, looking angrily at Izuku.
The people around Izuku started laughing at the situation, and Izuku himself shrunk back in embarrassment.
"Hey! He was just a little excited, you say he's disturbing others, but what stopped the explanation and stopped her from continuing was you! Tone it down a little and let the examiner continue!" Clark shouted angrily at the boy.
The guy was about to retort indignantly to Clark's tone of voice when he was cut off by the hero.
"OOOKAYY, OKAY, THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION, MUCH APPRECIATED, CANDIDATE 7111!" said the hero, referring to the guy with blue hair. "THE FOURTH VILLAIN YOU'LL ENCOUNTER IS WORTH ZERO POINTS! LET'S CALL THEM 'SAND TRAP'! HAVE ANY OF YOU PLAYED 'SUPER MARIO BROS' BEFORE?!" the hero asked the candidates.
"REMEMBER THOSE THINGS CALLED THWOMPS?" asked the hero. "THERE'S SOMETHING SIMILAR IN EACH AREA! THESE PUPPETS ACT UP WHEN CORNERED!" The hero finished explaining, causing a wave of understanding among the candidates.
"Thank you very much, and I'm sorry for being rude!" said the guy with blue hair, bowing apologetically.
"WELL, THAT'S IT FROM ME FOR NOW!! I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH THIS 'SCHOOL RULES' PRESENTATION OF MINE FOR THIS ACADEMY!" said the hero. "AS A CERTAIN 'HERO' NAMED NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ONCE SAID, 'A TRUE HERO NEVER STOPS OVERCOMING THE MISFORTUNES OF LIFE'!!" shouted the hero.
"NOW, ONTO THE MAIN EVENT 'PLUS ULTRA'! YOU MUST BRAVELY FACE WHATEVER CHALLENGES COME YOUR WAY!" Shouted the hero, starting the written test.
~~~Time Break~~
After finishing the written exam, the candidates were assigned to their respective test areas. Clark ended up in a different area from Izuku and Bakugou. Now, he just had to focus on passing this test. Upon arriving at the location, the candidates were faced with a massive replica of a city. Looking around, Clark could see various people with diverse Quirks—a guy who could generate electricity, a girl with pink skin, black eyes with yellow pupils, and golden horns, among others. In front of the candidates stood a large iron gate that would open at the beginning of the test.
Clark, observing his surroundings, noticed a slender guy with purple hair and a weary expression. Feeling concerned, Clark decided to approach and try to understand if something was wrong.
"Hey man, everything okay?" Clark asked, a little concerned, as he stood beside the guy with purple hair.
"That's none of your business. Now leave me alone and focus on your own test," said the guy with purple hair, looking at Clark with an indifferent expression as he walked away.
"Okay, I guess," said Clark, feeling a bit confused by the guy's reaction.
"EEEHH START!" Clark heard Present Mic shout over the speakers as the gates opened simultaneously.
Upon hearing that, Clark didn't hesitate for a second before sprinting into the "city" ahead of him.
The other candidates, still confused by the sudden announcement, stood still as they watched Clark disappear into the distance at high speed.
"WHAT'S THE HOLD UP!? THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A COUNTDOWN IN A REAL BATTLE! RUN! RUUUUNNN!!" shouted the hero, snapping the remaining candidates out of their stupor as they began to run towards the test.
Clark stopped running and found himself facing a robot marked with one point and two robots marked with two points each.
"Target acquired! Eliminate!" said the three robots together as they targeted Clark.
Clark, moving at super speed, didn't give the robots time to react. He appeared behind them and crossed his arms through the middle of the robots, thus securing his points.
Thus the test continued, with Clark barely being seen by the robots and only reappearing to destroy them with punches and kicks.
A red-haired guy was destroying some robots with his Hardening Quirk, unaware that a two-point robot was on top of a building, aiming at him. With the target locked, the robot jumped from the building onto the red-haired guy.
When he turned around, the boy saw the robot falling towards him, but he wasn't fast enough to escape at that moment. Then using his individuality to become resistant to impact, the boy closed his eyes waiting for the robot to hit him.
The next moment he heard the noise of metal being ripped apart, when he opened his eyes he saw a boy with black hair and blue eyes with one of his hands across the robot's head.
"Are you okay?" asked the black-haired with concern in his voice, addressing the red-haired guy.
"Y-yeah, thank you for the help," said the grateful guy to Clark.
"You're welcome," said Clark with a smile. After making sure the guy was okay, he disappeared again at super speed.
"Who was he?" wondered the red-haired guy, looking at the robot on the ground with a hole in its head.
~~Examination room~~
In the examination room, several heroes who were also the current teachers of the academy were watching the test through computers. And among them was a white being with a scar on one side of his face, wearing formal clothes and drinking a cup of tea, Nezu, the director of U.A., was he a bear, a dog, a weasel? Nobody can say.
"We have some really good candidates this year," remarked Ectoplasm as he watched on one of the screens a blonde guy destroying robots with explosions from his hands.
"They're quite creative in their Quirk usage," added Power Loader as he watched on one of the screens a pink-skinned girl with golden horns creating an acid thread that hit three robots at once.
"And good control of strength, precision, and speed," remarked a weary-looking Eraser Head as he watched a video of Clark destroying several robots at high speed. "And his attitude in helping other candidates isn't too shabby either," he continued.
"I have to agree with you, Eraser Head," said All Might, who was also in the examination room with his colleague. He was there to observe Izuku and Clark and ensure that everything went smoothly. So far, he was quite pleased with Clark's performance.
"For sure. I must say, all the candidates this year seem very promising," added Nezu, sitting in an armchair as he took a sip of his tea.
"I think it's about time we release the big one, don't you think?" Nezu said, looking at the teachers around him. Seeing several nods of agreement, he extended his paw and pressed a red button on the control panel.
~~With Clark~~
Clark was sitting atop one of the buildings, observing the other candidates go through the exam. He had already accumulated a significant number of points, so now he decided to rest until the end of the test, letting the other candidates handle the remaining robots.
A thunderous noise reverberated as the ground of the test site trembled. Looking towards the source of the sound, Clark saw a colossal robot emerging from the ground. It was Point Zero.
Upon seeing this, the candidates began to run in the opposite direction of the robot, desperate to save their lives. However, Clark smiled at the sight.
'Now things get interesting,' Clark thought with a smile as he jumped from the top of the building and landed in a crater on the ground.
Upon reaching the ground, Clark sprinted at super speed towards the robot, dodging candidates who ran away. At super speed, Clark positioned himself behind the giant robot and used his X-ray vision to locate what appeared to be the core at the center of the robot.
Clark contracted his legs and jumped like a bullet towards the robot's back, passing through it as if it were made of glass. Landing by sliding on the ground in front of him.
He looked back at the robot, now with a hole in its chest, emitting a few mechanical sounds before exploding. The explosion caused a small shockwave that made the candidates' hair flutter in the violent wind. With the explosion and shockwave from the robot, a curtain of dust and smoke formed, obscuring the candidates' view of the robot's remains.
Candidates and teachers, shocked by the scene they had just seen in the examination room, after a few moments began to worry about not seeing the boy who had caused all this appear again. The teachers began to move to help Clark, with All Might also very concerned among them. When the deathly silence in the test area was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps coming from the smoke, making the teachers stop to look at the screens.
Clark calmly emerged from the midst of the smoke as if nothing had happened, looking confusedly at the other candidates who were staring in shock and confusion at the young man who had emerged from the smoke.
"What?" Clark asked the motionless crowd in front of him. He looked down at himself, searching for something, only to find his shirt now torn, exposing his physique to everyone. "Oh, it's the shirt, isn't it?" Clark said to the candidates, thinking that was why they were reacting strangely. "Don't worry, I'll get another one."
'Who is this guy and how strong is he?' was the thought that crossed everyone's mind.
In the examination room, All Might was surprised by Clark's display of strength and was pleased with Izuku for also managing to defeat Point Zero.