A month had passed since the island test.
The sun lit the city with a warm glow as the students of U.A. rode through the bustling streets in a large school bus. This time, there was no eerie silence, no looming dread—just the gentle hum of chatter and laughter.
Unlike the entrance exam that brought them to U.A., this was different.
This was the Provisional Hero License Exam.
They were nervous, of course. But everyone knew staying relaxed would help in the long run, so they allowed themselves this moment of peace—talking in clusters, teasing one another, and exchanging last-minute tips.
After nearly an hour of travel, the cityscape began to thin. Eventually, the bus pulled up to the edge of town. Before them stood a colossal stadium—wide enough to swallow whole blocks of buildings. The place felt less like a testing ground and more like an Olympic arena.
Raiden, seated next to a trembling Tamaki curled into a fetal position by the window, broke the silence with a breathless, "This place… it's the size of a small town." He gazed out the window, eyes tracing the structure's outline. "Imagine how many houses could be built here instead. All this…"
It was just a fleeting thought, a half-joke. But those around him paused. The idea stuck in their minds, especially Tamaki, who peeked up from his arms, his anxiety briefly interrupted.
Once they disembarked, both Class 1-A and the eleven surviving members of 1-B who passed the island test lined up. No one knew what lay ahead, but most agreed—nothing could be crazier than being thrown out of a plane without warning.
Then they saw them.
Hundreds of students swarmed the area, each wearing a uniform from a different school. The sea of faces stretched in every direction. Compared to the two small U.A. classes, they were vastly outnumbered—at least 1,500 students, all across Japan, here for the same goal.
Snipe walked ahead, barely nodding to a few of the other teachers. "Follow me," he said, firm but calm.
As they moved, the U.A. students couldn't help but notice the stares. Curious at first... then colder. Sharper.
Where U.A. looked with interest, the other schools looked with hostility.
"Ne, ne… Rai-kun, Tamaki-kun, Mirio-kun…" Nejire began to say, eyes darting across the crowd.
Before she could finish, Raiden spoke, tone sharper than usual. "Yeah. Whatever it is—it's not good."
He could almost hear it. Even without activating his Quirk fully, the thoughts bled through the tension. Judgment. Envy. Resentment. Hatred.
They weren't hiding it.
Raiden's expression darkened. "If I transformed right now… I think I'd could actually hear every curse they're muttering."
The rest of the U.A. group noticed too. Even the usually boisterous ones from 1-B had gone quiet, eyes narrowing.
Then, like a gunshot cutting through the air, Snipe's voice boomed.
"Ignore it."
He didn't turn around. "Your focus should be on passing the test, not the opinions of other schools. I need all of you sharp and focused. Got it?"
No one argued.
They moved into the stadium, still feeling eyes on their backs. Inside, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-B Ectoplasm stood waiting with a large black duffel bag.
"I requested everything we needed," he said, holding it out. "Here—take these."
Ectoplasm handed each student a sealed plastic bag. Inside were multiple adhesive patches (stickers) and a folded instruction sheet.
"These are your health monitors," he explained, voice even but stern.
"You'll need to apply them before putting on your hero costumes. The two large rectangular stickers function as screens—place one over your chest and the other on your forearm. They'll display your health as a percentage, from 100% to 0%. Just in case, the bag includes instructions."
He paused, letting the weight of the instructions sink in.
"Once you're ready, head to the arena. The entire stadium is marked with boundary signals—you won't get lost. You'll receive your final test briefing inside."
As Ectoplasm stepped back, Snipe moved beside him. The two teachers spoke in unison, voices echoing across the hall:
"Good luck. The next time we see you… we hope it's with your licenses in hand. Now go and give it your PLUS ULTRA!"
The students responded with nods, No more words were needed—they filed into the changing rooms and began preparing.
Soon after, the students emerged, now clad in their hero suits, stickers in place, their health displays shining a pristine green 100% across every chest and forearm. some of them even walked carefully to not "hurt" themselves.
Raiden, now fully transformed into his Mewtwo-like form, walked silently beside Tamaki and Mirio. His imposing figure naturally drew attention, but today, it wasn't just his aura.
Strapped to his back was a giant spoon—larger than he was tall.
It looked bizarre to anyone unfamiliar with him. it wasn't the average support item.
After the island test, Raiden had worked with Power Loader and a partnered company specializing in a Quirk-enhanced graphene-metal composite. Stronger than steel, though less flexible, it was one of the few materials durable enough for Raiden's psychic strength.
Swords and blades were banned in the hero career—except for a few rare cases like Yoroi Musha whose Quirk demanded it—but nowhere in the rulebook did it say anything about spoons.
As Raiden marched into the arena with his team, eyes fell on him from every corner—some mocking, some impressed, many simply with an u.
underserved hatred, but those looks were directed at all of his classmates from the U.A.
They reached a wide circular space just before the arena—an antechamber lit by industrial lights. When the last student crossed the threshold, the heavy doors slammed shut with a thud.
A man stood at the center, half-lounging on a podium. He adjusted his tie lazily and yawned before tapping the mic.
"Welcome, welcome... to the Provisional Hero License Exam," he said with the tone of someone who had given this speech far too many times.
"I'm Yokumiru Mera, and I'll be overseeing your trials today. Now, I'd love to give a long, motivational speech, but… I'm sleepy, so let's get to the point."
He straightened a little as the murmuring died down.
"First test: a Battle Royale."
The students tensed instantly, all of them knew what a battle royal was, if they were going to fight against everyone, they would need to plan carefully and team up otherwise it was pretty impossible to pass for everyone.
"To pass, you need to score 105 points. You gain points by knocking out other participants. Each person is worth 7 points."
He gave them a moment to let that sink in, then continued.
"There are 1,670 of you in this room. Do the math: that's enough for 238 people to pass... but we're only accepting 100 of you this round."
A wave of whispers and gasps spread across the room like fire.
Mera smirked.
"That's right. Not only do you have to fight—you have to fight better, faster, and smarter than almost everyone else in this arena."
He paused for effect, then pressed a button on his remote.
The walls began to shift. Floors slid open. A low mechanical hum rose as platforms descended, revealing a massive landscape inside the arena: mock urban ruins, forest sections, open arenas, narrow corridors—each designed to test different abilities.
Mera gave a lazy wave as the doors ahead groaned open.
"You see the health bar on your chest and forearm? When someone brings you down to zero, that person earns seven points, and you're eliminated," Yokumiru explained, his tone casual but firm enough to command silence.
"The health bars are set to a safety standard, so don't expect any serious injuries before you're out. Still, don't get careless—if you take too much damage too quickly, you might be knocked out before you even realize what happened. The test lasts one hour. If fewer than a hundred people pass by then, we'll move on to the next round with whoever did make it—even if that number is only ten. Any questions?"
No one spoke. Not a single hand was raised, no voice cut through the silence. Just the electric tension in the room.
Yokumiru nodded, then stepped off to the side. As he moved away, a massive door slowly opened with a low, mechanical hum. At the same time, a large screen flickered to life above them, displaying a countdown in bold letters:
THE FIGHTS CAN ONLY START IN:
1:59
From the moment the numbers began ticking down, chaos erupted.
Quirks activated in rapid bursts—flashes of color, streaks of energy, bursts of wind. Everyone surged forward in a mad rush for the exit. Some flew, others bolted on foot, some even phased or zipped through the air with incredible speed. The ones without mobility quirks ran with everything they had, pushing themselves to keep up.
Staying behind would've been a death sentence. With so many combatants packed into a single room, a full-blown battle inside would've turned into a brutal free-for-all—too chaotic to control, too unpredictable to survive. They needed space.
By the time the countdown hit 0:58, the room was nearly empty.
Except for two people.
Mewtwo remained exactly where he had been, floating just above the ground. When he turned his head, he found Alice standing beside him. He spoke without moving his mouth, his words echoing directly in her mind: 'Why didn't you run?'
Alice shrugged and replied aloud, her voice light but honest, "Because my Quirk works better when there are more people around. I was hoping some would stay behind so I could use it immediately… but looks like that didn't happen." She glanced sideways at him. "What about you?"
As she finished, the timer flashed 0:30.
'I figured I might catch a few off guard and rack up some early points,' Mewtwo admitted through their mental link. 'But clearly, we're the only ones still here. Want to team up?'
Alice laughed softly. "Nah, come on, where's the fun in that?" Her grin was audible in her tone. "Let's make a bet. Whoever gets the 105 points first, the loser has to buy whatever the winner wants—first paycheck, hero salary."
Her words caught him off guard, and he chuckled, the sound quiet and contained but genuine.
'Deal. I want whatever version of Switch is coming out that year,' he said just as the countdown reached 10
"hahaha, in that case I want a leather jacket, and I'm talking about real leather, no that thing made of plastic," Alice said as the countdown reached zero.
0:00
Without another word, they both launched into motion.
Alice sprinted ahead, her body blurring with the sheer force of her speed. Her Quirk had long surpassed normal human limits—every muscle in her body coiled and released like a spring-loaded with power.
Mewtwo soared upward with a burst of psychic propulsion, cutting through the air in a streak of violet and gray, scanning the vast arena below for clusters of participants.
The place was full of groups, most of them were making their plans or still running to find a good place to start their fights, and only a couple of them were already engaged in combat against each other.
Alice (Revery) and Mewtwo rushed in opposite directions, looking for the ideal place to strike, and that meant the place with most people they could find, none of them had the intention of taking too long in this test.
And in less than a minute, they each found their first targets.
Mewtwo found his targets in a simulated mountain and Revery in a simulated bridge.
Without any intention to wait both of them rushed towards their selected targets, they had a bet to win, a expensive one.