7 Exam

Nick was fourteen. He was confident in the level of his quirk and specified knowledge. After all, he had been seriously training it for almost eight years now every day, both external and internal manipulation. With the amount of energy that he could get from his quirk as well, he didn't rest nearly as much as sleep as normal kids his age so his study time increased as well. He was proud of himself, he felt like he was bragging to himself. But he was proud. He had tried hard and managed to get where he was because of his own effort. While overhaul was practically a cheat he had made it his own quirk: Revamp.

Looking at the time he figured he would take a walk into the city. After all, he had been working hard and it had been a long time since he had just gone and bought himself a treat.

So he had done well, he would get some ice cream or something… he would figure it out when he was in the City, maybe a hot chocolate?

With so many options on his mind, Nick found himself wandering the streets and just watching the people pass by him. An amusing thought playing on his mind. He had wandered through the crowds in Osaka after practising in an illegal quirk fighting ring. And yet no one knew the wiser. He wondered where other people in this crowd had been. He had been living in it for years and villains and heroes were very real. People had stories and secrets, and this world made them much more interesting.

As he walked he found himself walking down a small path. Trees on either side of it covered the walkway in shade. As he walked he stopped, his eyes looking around. This scene looked familiar. Looking around himself he saw the white walls of a school. The base was lined with red bricks a few high and glass windows covering the walls that peered into classrooms that hadn't closed their blinds.

Staring at the name on the front gate he scoffed. Aldera Juinor High. He shouldn't be here. Sure he had looked up its location out of curiosity but he shouldn't be here. He wanted to keep his interaction with the main cast at zero until the U.A. entrance exam started, then he would have to be around them.

Just as he was about to leave he heard the faint sound of an explosion, turning his head he saw Bakugo throwing a burnt notebook out of a window. He was a few stories up and far enough away that he couldn't hear what he was saying but he was pretty sure it was one of the first scenes, he was seeing it happen. Watching the book he couldn't follow its full path since the wall blocked his view but he knew where it landed, in a small pond garden.

Shaking his head he turned and walked away. He had come here to relax not accidentally see this. Walking off and back towards the shopping district he kept his head up this time and while the warm sun did make him daydream he kept his focus on where he was going. It was too warm for hot chocolate he would get some ice cream.

Around ten months left until the U.A. Entrance Exam. It was at the end of this year. He still had time to practice. He would focus more so on external manipulation since he had been focusing majorly on internal manipulation since that was what he could use more confidently without being caught by someone for having a quirk similar to Kai… but he died years ago… it would be alright.

---

The year was coming to an end and the U.A. entrance exam was happening in just three hours.

He had finished up his exams for getting into High school and had finished doing whatever work he needed to do for his tutor to give him his graduation papers for Middle school about a month ago. He had to go through the standard curriculum exams for essential and choice classes. After doing that and getting A's throughout the board he had been able to apply to U.A.

He wasn't surprised that he got A's, he didn't get A's on subjects that fourteen year olds were doing then he should be ashamed of himself, it wasn't a particularly incredible feat considering that he was closer to thirty two years old mentally… that was kind of depressing to think about. Putting it into thought made it kind of worse that he was going to be attending a high school with other kids around fifteen years of age. Although he couldn't do High school at home so he had to, even if he was being praised as a genius. He was just really a fraud though.

He had finished the mock exam for U.A. with a perfect score, which was actually harder than he thought it would be, to be honest. He had even had to study a few of the questions. He guessed U.A. applied their motto of 'plus ultra' to their written exams too. Although he could guarantee that people were not meant to get those questions right, there were only a few of them and they were probably to see how you handled complicated and unknown questions. The actual exam was going to have different questions of course but he wasn't worried about it.

Thinking about the time frame as he looked at the sky, the sun had risen over the horizon if things were going according to canon then One for All was passing on his quirk to Midoriya at the moment. He couldn't help but think about it. This was the starting point of Canon really, and now he was in it. He had prepared for eight years. He was ready.

---

Walking towards the campus of U.A. Nicklaus looked up at it, the four glass walled pillars joined by their connecting corridors. He was excited, he had to admit that. But it didn't show. He had arrived early since he didn't want to have to face any canon events such as Midoriya and Bakugo arriving, he didn't know why but it just felt like a bother. As he was walking onto campus he did see a familiar face however.

Seeing Ida walk so stiffly Nick actually froze for a second. He had put mechanical parts him himself and even then he hadn't been that stiff in fact, he had been normal after some training and adjustments but that was just… wow. It wasn't robot walking at all, it was just stiff.

Shaking his head he kept his distance so that he wouldn't be talked to… not at, he didn't want to have to be bothered by Ida. He was already busy enough hoping that he wasn't in the practical exam block with Bakugo or Midoriya. 2 out of 7, that was his chance. And he didn't like them. Since the blocks went from A to G. Cracking his neck he walked into the entrance exam hall and looked around at the incredibly large seating area. A few seats were already filled and everyone was wearing their Middle School uniform.

Since he was the only one that was wearing casual clothes he had dressed in a collared short sleeve shirt and tie as well as black pants, so that he wouldn't stand out, too much as least.

Finding a seat he just sat down and waited for the rest of the applicants to trickle in. Arms crossed over his chest as he waited for it to start.

As the auditorium filled with students, slowly almost every seat was taken before Present Mic, front and centre stage, started to yell at the top of his lungs. Actually lowering the sensitivity of his ears Nick blinked a few times. Damn, he was loud…

The events that unfolded next didn't surprise Nick, they went the same as he remembered. Present Mic explained how earning points would work and what the goal was defeating 'villains', of course, he didn't reveal the other way of getting points but that was to be expected. Soon Ida spoke up, speaking in a raised yet sensitive voice, unlike the announcer in front of them.

Pointing out that Midoriya was a distraction and that he should leave if he wasn't going to take this seriously. Turning his head just enough he saw that the boy was here and beneath his middle school uniform there was muscle. Good. He had gotten One for All. He knew it would happen but the nagging doubt of anxiety was something that wouldn't settle down sometimes. Luckily he was sensible enough to ignore it instead of listening to it and making trouble because of it.

With the questions about the mystery fourth robot being answered he turned back to Present Mic who finished his explanation and dismissed them to go get changed.

Going to his assigned zone, area E, he was relieved when he didn't see either Midoriya or Bakugo. He didn't want to be with either because of clear reasons, the end of the exam for Midoriya and Bakugo being just a douchebag who would probably try to get in his way if he noticed Nick doing well.

Nick had changed into grey track pants and a white tank top that loosely hung off his shoulders. This was so his mechanical arms would not tear the shirt when he made them since he was planning on building them from his shoulder up. He was taller than the rest of the participants standing at six feet and four inches because of his enhanced body.

Watching the U.A. building he saw Present Mic emerge onto a balcony as he stood there. His hands spread wide as using his quirk he called out.

"AND START!!!"

Without missing a beat, Nick who had prepared himself at the front of the pack dashed forward and into the city, he wanted to get away from other participants. He didn't want them getting in his way. This was his first real combat experience other than training with Kendo so he wanted to give it his all. He didn't care about standing out to the teachers at U.A. when he was limiting his quirk to just his body.

He wasn't going to choke his training just because he didn't want to stand out. They were teachers and despite his mental age they had been using, practising and training their quirks and guiding the hero's quirks for longer than he had been in this world. They could help him get stronger. That he did believe. He truly did.

Dashing into the city he pushed his hearing and sight up a notch, using his skills to adapt his ears and eyes to take on some properties from animals. His ears grew longer like that of an elf's and eyes grew slits in them and his pupils narrowed into a vertical line.

Surprised by his actions some people dashed forward, although others still had to wait for Present Mic to give them another push.

He needed to find a robot fast. Hearing the sound of mechanics behind a wall he leapt into the air and flipped over so that his feet were above his head and he could reach his hands down to touch the emerging robot. He saw it emerge from the building, a robot barrel out of the wall like expected sending concrete flying everywhere. Because of his movement, the robot's beady red eye locked onto him. A one pointer.

As he was already above it when it came out the wall despite its nimble nature it couldn't react to his hand as he laid his fingers and palm flat against its head. When the manga said brittle it meant it. As he felt the structure of the metal he saw that it was an alloy made to break apart easily. Because of that, it was very VERY light and nimble though. Mainly because it wasn't dense at all. The wires inside the robot were more dense for god sake.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance he had hoped that he would be able to obtain his full getup with just one robot but with how he had to condense down the structure that was hopeless now.

As he thought this through the robot's entire body dissolved into parts that turned into dust that flowed over Nicklaus' skin. He had to focus to make sure that his deconstruction wasn't explosive like Kai's since if the visuals were different it would be much harder to recognize. Not that he thought anyone would recognize them he would still put in the effort to be a bit safer.

As he felt the metal flow over him he finished his flip and landed running. His enhanced legs, both augmented and extended to have another bottom leg section, take the impact without any effort whatsoever. The shock absorbed up his spine as the specially built mechanical spine that emerged from his back to both balance and spread forces, worked its mechanical genius.

With his legs bulked out and his height increased by almost a foot he sprung off the ground with enough force to shake the concrete beneath him as he launched himself forward and into the city.

Every robot he found he would touch before it could react and as soon as his hand landed on its surface he would deconstruct it, taking the time to be careful and make sure that all the machine parts were going to the right spot he soon had his two extra arms although unlike the original they had an extra joint inspired by Shoji. He wasn't in this area but he still remembered the character's arms and their utility.

With his new arms, he focused on destroying the robots rather than deconstructing them and as he did he started to break them apart. Unlike his cautious in and out tactic, deconstruct before the robot could react method he was fighting them head on now. His extra mechanical arms focused on blocking and defending as his enhanced arms would do the killing since all he needed was to graze the machines to bring them down.

Ten minutes felt like a while. He felt the rush. It was easy, the bots were made to be beaten, and he was on a rampage. It was the first time he was letting himself just destroy. His mind and body focused on the task although the massive use of his mechanical limbs was causing him to get a headache he paid it no mind. A small ache wouldn't stop him from finally letting himself loose. And he was still getting the results he wanted with negatable risk.

As the timer in his head ticked to two minutes he changed his direction to the centre of the city. His ears already picking up the quaking of the ground as suddenly from one of the central buildings a giant robot broke through the concrete. The Zero Pointer.

Dashing towards it before it had risen forward. Back still hunched over closer to the ground Nick pushed off the ground. As he felt the concrete crack beneath the force of his jump. The mechanical parts of his legs shifted and changed for one purpose. To jump.

Soaring through the air he let the mechanics from his arms flow down to his legs and replace the broken parts from the inhuman leap. And just in time too. As the legs reassembled he crashed into the back of the Zero Pointer with enough force to dent the metal. His hands immediately latched onto the creature's gargantuan spine and activated his quirk at the same moment. Pushing his power through it he felt that it couldn't spread through the whole creature. Not even the vertebrae of its constructed spine. Although it was dense metal. It was enough.

As it exploded Nick no longer cared about focusing on deconstructing smoothly, he had to focus on this and the impact of his landing would be an excuse if he was questioned. It would be unnoticeable in the destruction. As the metal and wires reassembled he soon had mechanics covering his entire legs not just augmenting and extending them like before.

An extra two sets of arms breaking through his shoulders as his extra muscles and nerves went up through the constructed arms. His focus was heavily maintained as he wired his nerves and controlled muscles through the joints and parts. The open vertebrae gave him a path inside the machine's shell. Dropping into it he wrecked all hell on the 'menace of supreme dread' as it was called.

Scaling up through the internals he finally got to the head. His mind wearing thin as he felt his nose start to bleed. But he made it. Destroying all the processing and through from inside the creature's head he felt the power shut down inside it as the hulking figure started to collapse forward.

Busting through the front of its face between its six eyes he plummeted towards the ground as he saw three students running away from the falling robots like idiots. He supposed the rubble and destruction blocked off most paths so he wasn't surprised. He wasn't worried about them getting hurt, he was sure a hero would be on standby in case something went wrong.

But he figured the hero thing to do would be to solve the problem he created. Gritting his teeth he dropped three of the mechanical arms to lighten the strain on his mind as he impacted the road. The growing shadow of the machine showed that it was falling towards them as he dashed forward and picked up the three students, two guys and a girl on the way past.

One in each of his arms and the other in his mechanical arm he still had. Nose bleeding and eyes bloodshot he ran forward and as the robot crashed into the ground behind them he slid to a stop as he dropped the students. Holding his hand up to stop the wave of dust from hitting him in the face.

As soon as he had stopped the mechanical parts fell off him and using some of his energy he recovered from the brain stress and light bodily injuries from where the mechanical parts had been attached. Looking at the three students that were looking at him like he had just grown an extra head. Which wasn't far off. He just nodded and started to walk away slowly. Taking deep breaths. God he wished he could heal headaches more easily…

The falling of Zero Pointer was probably a negative to his points, to be honest. He probably should have just left the giant robot alone and let the exam play out. Gathering points for the last part of it as well while everyone ran. Looking towards U.A. he wondered where the teachers watching were currently. Was it worth it? Or did they just think he was a show off… despite his mental age he still got carried away sometimes. As cool as superpowers were he needed to keep a level head. He wasn't mad at himself, it did have a purpose showing his strength. But he also needed to make sure not to overdo it.

Deciding he would think about it later, he made his way over to the exit area. All the other kids milling around, some staring at him although he ignored them all. Recovery girl was probably taking care of Midoriya right now so she would be at his sight later. Although some medics were already going around and checking on the wounded, although there were only light injuries and a few breaks no one was that worried, villains would be tougher on people anyway.

As he was thinking this he heard footsteps approach from behind him. His gaze looking over his shoulder he saw a medic run up to him and ask. "Are you alright sir? You have some… injuries on you?" His gaze went over his body as he was left stunned. The boy was unhurt apart from dried blood below his nose.

"I'm fine thank you," Nick said bowing politely. "Please take care of the other students." His voice was dismissive as he stood up straight again.

Nodding silently the medic just turned on his heel and ran back off towards a student nursing a scrapped elbow…

Sighing a bit Nick looked over the practice area. Things were just getting started.