Flames of Hope

Chapter 3

I'm ready for this, I have prepared since I was 8 years old, this is nothing. I did basic stretches for my back and legs, making them nice and loose, preparing. I saw Present Mic climbing up to a small platform, only I noticed, so I moved to the front. As soon as the gates opened, I was off.

Pulling myself into the air, I felt the cool breeze whip my face as I glided into the fake downtown city, with large metallic beasts roaming for prey. One-pointers look easy, just a bit bigger than me, carrying a Gatling gun with rubber bullets, but the plates of armour look weak, and the joints in the legs and arms barely kept the thing upright. Two-pointers looked a little more dangerous, as they have an arachnoid looking design with 8-legs and the body looked heavily reinforced. Three-pointers are similar to the both, probably a combination of the both, having a stinger like tail, a cyclops crimson eye and pincer claws with a small gun on its shoulder.

Diving down, I formed a jade green blade with my fire and sliced the joints of a one-pointer, and it collapsed and I gained a point. My mind buzzed, as more robots approached, most being the two-pointers, so I grabbed in innards of the mechanical monstrosity and ripped them out, totalling me at 19. By now, the others had run into the city after my stunt, but finding the main street filled with my wreckage. As they gained more points, I had gained over 48 by now and as the time ticked down, I stopped to let the others gather points, as I sat at a comfortable 80 points.

(Nezu looked at the green haired boy walk around the tangled mess of robots parts grinning, this one is smart, he thought, before he announced,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the real show is about to begin!" a maniacal grin spread on his face as a paw hit the big red button on his chair. The zero-pointer is here...)

Soon, the zero-pointer was released. It was massive, at least 50 meters tall and look too strong to deal with along, maybe with time to analyse it for the weak spots, but time is of the essence, I turned for a moment, then I head multiple shouts of pain. My eyes scanned the ground, 5 people are trapped under rubble, the zero-pointer closing in fast. With a war cry, I shouted,

"ULTIMATE PHOENIX!" Golden flames flooded out of my body, wrapping around me like the warmth of a blanket, and wings formed out of the fire, then I burst out more flames that spit towards the enormous hunk of metal, melting the plates of armour as it sparked and stuttered then exploded, molten metal dripping like water to the ground below. Shrapnel flung all over the area, almost hitting some of the other examinees, or they would have if I hadn't caught it all with my telekinesis. People looked at me wide eyed, as I not only had defeated the zero-pointer, but also stopped people from being injured by stopping the scrap in the air. My ears picked up the sound of the ending horn, so I moved to help everyone who was trapped up.

It took some time, but eventually, I got them all out and free, with the help of the Youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl. I left soon after, not wanting to speak to anyone about what happened, I dislike getting praise for something that everyone should be doing. The ride home was uneventful, I just sat down with my notebook, writing about the pro heroes that work at U.A and their quirks. Soon I reached the apartment, pushing open the near rotting door and made my way inside, preparing for my letter from U.A.

Two weeks passed since the entrance exam, I kept up with my exercises and training, as well as my cleaning job of the apartment block. I only stopped when I saw a letter slip into my mail slot after cleaning next doors apartment. I wasted no time collecting it, taking it to my room and in ripping off the red seal that held the envelope together, and a metal disc dropped it onto my desk. Said disc then opened to form a hologram, were a tall, muscular blonde stood in a proud pose.

"All Might," I thought, "why is he here?" The projection answered my unasked question, telling me, "IZUKU MIDORIYA! I BET YOU ARE WONDERING WHY I, ALL MIGHT, AM PRESENTING YOUR SCORES! FEAR NOT, AS I AM A NEW MEMBER OF THE FACULTY AT U.A! HA HA HA! FOR YOUR SCORE YOU HAD 80 VILLAIN POINTS, HOWEVER! THIS WAS NOT THE ONLY PART OF THE EXAM! FOR THE SECOND WAS RESCUE POINTS! YOUR END STUNT EARNED YOU 75 RESCUE POINTS! YOU EARNED FIRST PLACE IN THE U.A ENTRANCE EXAM!". Beaming proudly, his smile shone like the sun, before becoming softer as All Might spoke up,

"COME, YOUNG MIDORIYA! THIS IS YOUR HERO ACADEMIA!!!" All Might shouted before the hologram disc detonated itself. I couldn't help the tears that streaked down my face, my foot at the starting line to becoming the Symbol of Hope.

Unbeknownst to Izuku, during his exam he was being watched by the teachers at U.A. They chatted idly as the exam had progressed, commenting on the examinees, noticing a tall, green-haired flame wielder cut the robots down with a flaming sword, and literally tearing robots apart, while also giving out tips to the other examinees, in Zone B. Nezu, the principle, called out,

"Hmm I do believe that we have a truly heroic spark amongst the exam takers!" Jovially spoke as he sipped on a random cup of tea he pulled out of thin air. The rest of the staff nodded, but one hiding in a dark corner, black eyes gleamed with interest, asked out loud,

"What's his name Nezu?" With a monotone voice. No one spoke as the creature principle handed over the file silently to him. A beat of silence, then Nezu spoke up once again,

"His name is Izuku Midoriya, age: 15, Male, Quirk: Adstrum, a powerful combination of pyrokinesis and telekinesis, no known emergency contact information, no parental information as it was left blank on the application. However, he doesn't even need to complete high school as he has done online courses for college and university, in Mathematics, English, Heroic Histories and Combat courses too for the military and his own P.I licence" The info drop garnered the focus of all in the room. Before the black-eyed man spoke up tiredly,

"Seems like a problem child to me, but he does have potential, only a small amount. what of his parents? Orphan?" Once again, a silence swept the room, no one said a word, until the man continued, "What if this Izuku Midoriya was abandoned and left alone? A background check may be the best shot, if he was left alone for how long?" A Problem Child indeed, he had thought silently. He wanted him in 1-A, the vibes that Midoriya gave off were like a well-known vigilante once called Crimson Blaze, who disappeared 10 months before the entrance exam.

Shouta Aizawa, or Eraser Head has an issue with this Izuku Midoriya. He always trusts his instincts, and they are telling him that this boy was not right. It didn't sit right with him, no not at all. See he is a worrier, he hides the fact very well with his emotionless façade and cold demeanour, but he worries about things, and this boy has something to hide, in his past. Shouta immediately jumped to the worst conclusion in his mind which is that Midoriya is abused by a parent or both. His gut tells him to investigate, to see if Midoriya is safe, but he can't, not until he is part of U.A, so he stepped back into his sleeping bag in the corner, napping away the worry that settled in him.

Standing next to Nezu, a tall, frail blonde with drooping bags looked at the greenette on the screen, as dull phantom pain echoes through what was once his stomach as he thought,

"Can he be the one to carry the torch?" His time is decreasing faster each day, the torch must be passed on, and this boy is his best bet, also, One for All seems to be pulled in by the boy, maybe he can be the new symbol that the world needs. After All Might retires, the world will need a new pillar, and this boy, this green haired, plain boy might just be that. Blue eyes looked around the room, the rest all started to file out, going back to the main building, until only two remain, a sickly blonde and tired cat like man. It was a tense silence until the Aizawa spoke up,

"This Izuku Midoriya, there is something wrong with him, he is hiding something, watch him" That was all Aizawa said to him before leaving All Might, or Toshinori Yagi now, to his own devices. He could do that, he already did it before until he was noticed, the green headed boy had good instincts, but he wasn't a master, and Toshinori still had to see if he could be the Ninth holder, the new torch bearer.