Even though he was home schooled his tutor still had him do the physical examinations, although he never really took them seriously he did very well. Thinking back to his last test he responded, "I think it was somewhere between 80 and 90 meters."
Nodding Aizawa tossed him the softball that he was holding, catching it Nick made his way into the white painted circle that his teacher motioned to. Following the instructions to step inside, explaining Aizawa said, "toss the ball using your quirk this time, as long as you don't leave the circle anything goes." His voice was a tired drawl, unconcerned about anything. "Don't hold back."
Nodding his head Nick made his way to the back of the circle as he thought about what to do. Unlike Bakugo who could make his hand a cannon, he didn't have any good propulsion options without being able to touch any machines or metal. He would have to make do with organics and throwing.
The thought to make something akin to a crossbow crossed his mind but he thought a whip would do better. After all, the end of whips could break the sound barrier with just normal human strength. With his enhanced strength and a specially designed arm? Why couldn't he do that even while holding a softball?
Crouching down he touched the floor and suddenly all the grass around him dissolved. All the roots tired and tangled under the soil as he felt the web of grass beneath his palm. Extra organics for him to use. As the grass broke apart flowing up his arm in a coiled green trail that transformed to a flesh red he stood up as he felt his arm start to bulk up. Despite taking all the grass within his effect range of 10 meters it really wasn't that much. He would tap into his reserves and his other arms muscles if he had to.
Laying his other hand on his chest he felt his body start to shift as his bones reshaped themselves to better suit his needs. His right arm now had more than one joint as a spine appeared along the backside of his arm. It looked more like a tendril than a limb now as the muscles that were in plain sight got covered by a wave of skin. His other arm and left leg shrank a bit as he used some of his own mass.
It didn't look as grotesque as he thought it would to be honest. It was more like his arm just became a 3 meter long octopus arm. The muscles shifted under the surface as the end of the tendril wrapped around the softball.
Spinning around like a hammer throw he did three complete spins before reaching the other side of the circle, using the gained momentum he flung his modified arm over his head and at the peak of its swing let go of the ball. As the end of his arm sped up towards the floor in the final movement of the throw he couldn't help but feel the edge of his lips tug up as the whip-like crack was heard from the end of his arm. The arm which he couldn't slow down. The movement resembled a catapult, but instead of weight, he used momentum.
As the ball vanished from sight, soaring through the air faster than they could all follow with their eyes Nick was forced to continue the motion as he felt his arm slam into the floor with enough force to crack the spine along the back of the arm in multiple places. Feeling the pain shoot through it he put his other hand on his chest and felt his body return to normal.
Crouching down he put his hand back on the floor and the grass returned as his right arm shrunk to its normal size. As he looked at the dent left in the dirt he also fixed that as well, the earth shifting back into place.
Staring at the distance he thought he saw the ball reach the peak of its throw before it started to make its way down towards the earth. He didn't think the angle of release was optimal but at least it wasn't terrible, it was hard to control an arm that he had never made before. He did well enough however.
Turning back to Aizawa he saw the teacher looking at his measuring device as he said, "before I start to teach you all, I want to know if you're capable. What you can do. If you're even worth teaching." Looking up at them he continued saying, this is a rational metric that will form the basis of your 'hero foundation.' I can also see how hard you have all trained before being here too." His words made the back of some of the students stiffen.
Looking back down at the device as it let out two small beeps he turned it towards the students letting them read the measurement of 2137.7 meters.
"Softball pitch, standing long jump, 50 meter dash, endurance running, grip strength test, sustained sideways jumps, upper body exercises, seated toe-touch. These are all activities that you did in middle-school, physical tests that didn't permit the use of quirks. The country shows negligence in not keeping better track of the performance level of quirks… you will be using your quirks to do these eight tests and get the best results you can. So I can measure your performance level myself." Aizawa spoke, his voice containing some edge to it now, concentration. He was paying attention to them waiting for something, and he got what he wanted.
As they all heard this Ashido spoke up, her outgoing personality meaning she voiced her opinion. "This looks so fun!" A few other voices chimed in about how they could really use their quirks and that U.A. really was special.
As they all felt a wave of something missing, some deep sense of loss Nick felt a shiver down his spine and the rest of the students felt it too. His eyes glowing red Aizawa looked up at them through his long fringe and said, "oh fun? So you were planning to spend your three years here having a good ol' time? What happened to becoming heroes?" His voice contained clarity, none of that tired drawl from before. "All right then, in that case, new rule: The student who ranks the last in the total points shall be judged 'hopeless.' And instantly expelled."
Multiple responses came from the students as Nick made his way back over to them. The only people that didn't react much were Todoroki, who was looking at Aizawa as if he expected something like this. And Bakugo who was glaring at Nick. Matching eyes with Bakugo he just tilted his head to the side, not bothered. Causing the other boy to clench his teeth, hard.
Pushing his hair out of his eyes Aizawa stood straight as he looked at all of them, glowing eyes on clear display as he said. "U.A.'s freedom means that we can expel students as we want! Welcome to the department of Heroics class 1-A! His voice was genuinely as excited as the smile that he was now showing.
Looking at the teacher Nick couldn't grin a little, the pressure wasn't that much for him but he felt like he was getting fired up. The desire to stay in the school caused the other kids to adopt much more serious looks, apart from Bakugo who was looking like a rabid dog and Midoriya who looked like he had just seen a bunch of rabid dogs running at him.
Uraraka was the first to speak up, voicing the apparent unfairness of the situation that other students nodded along to. "This is our first day here! Even if it weren't this is too unreasonable!"
"Everything is unreasonable," Aizawa retorted. "Natural disasters to villains. Calamities happen when we least expect them. Japan is covered in unreasonable. Do you want to be a hero? Restore reason and order? You won't have time for fun after class. The next three years will be hell, and that is what you can expect, class. U.A. will be hardship after hardship and if you can't deal with this how will you deal with being a Hero. When you step out in your costume your life is on the line and the lives of others. THAT is unreasonable. Plus Ultra, overcome these trials and climb to the top. Or get out of my sight."
Looking at the fired up faces of his students Aizawa smiled a bit, this might just be a class worth putting through the wringer. He would refine them, or they would break to refine those that deserved the title of Hero.
And so the trials started.
50-meter dash: the top spot was Nick once again as his upper body condensed down into his legs and in an instant, shooting from the spot he was standing with enough force to leave dents in the floor, the ground almost breaking with the force of each of his feet landing. It was less like running and more like bounding as it took him three steps to clear the distance. Reverting his body he looked at his time, 2.78 seconds followed by Ida at 3.04 seconds.
Bakugo propelled himself with explosions, his face pissed as he crossed the finish line at 3.94 seconds. He was motivated by rage at being beaten the first time. Rage towards Nick was driving him to push harder than he had originally. He was MAD.
Grip strength. Enhancing his arm he managed to get a score of 570 Kilos. Closely followed by Shoji at 540 Kilos.
Long jump. Same process as the sprint, just different purpose. Bulk up legs, jump. Honestly, he could have made wings but that would take time and mass.
Sideways jump, he couldn't sustain his rate for long as the constant force tore his enhanced muscles and he had to slow down to heal them, falling short of what he could have gotten, he had tried too hard. Bakugo glared and grinned at him for finally winning something.
Once more at the throwing pitch, they all got ready to wait for their turn. Uraraka got infinity like before but this time Bakugo was going as well with all the 'extras' as he told them to shove off and went up for his turn before Midoriya.
Getting into the circle he squeezed the ball and then glared at Nick as he remembered the bastard's score. He could do fucking better than that! HE would get a kilometre! He was Katsuki fucking Bakugo and he was not going to be done in BY SOME DAMN FUCKING EXTRA!
As he thought that and swung his arm with all his body yelling, "BASTARRDDDD!!!" As he released the ball. An explosion went off with enough force to send a wave past the waiting students the ball took off trailing smoke like it had been launched from a cannon.
756.8 meters. That was the score. Looking at it Nick raised an eyebrow, that score was higher than the original… Bakugo must be pissed.
"FUCK!" He heard yelled as Bakugo let off countless firecrackers in his palms.
Yep…
Yaoyorozu did really well too. She did make a cannon getting over three kilometres… if only he had machine parts when he was doing his. Maybe he should have gone with an organic based cannon. He didn't know much about making one so he would have to look into it.
Realizing he was getting needlessly competitive he just turned back to the next student. Midoriya.
Seeing him walk up to the circle events unfolded as he expected them to. As Midoriya tried to throw the ball his arm started to light up before he just threw it normally. Aizawa's eyes glared at the poor kid as he said, "how did someone like you managed to get into this academy, you're completely hopeless."
Seeing Midoriya start to nerd out in a mixture of terror and awe he just shook his head. The kid should be focusing on his current problems, not that his teacher was a Hero, of course he was. This was U.A.
"Do you really think you can be a hero if all you can save is one person before you ruin yourself, how many more times can you break your body before you become crippled! Can you heal yourself like Hendrix or do you have resistance to your own powers like Bakugo? No. You can't." His scolding was harsh as Aizawa ripped into the foolish kid before him. It had to be done, he had to learn before he got himself killed just to save a single person. The kid was a hero to heart, he would do it without thinking and cause more people to be in danger when no one was there to defend them.
Continuing Aizawa said, "your power won't help you become a Hero as it is Midoriya. Try again." Finishing his sentence he threw the ball back to Midoriya as he waited for the kid to go again.
Seeing Midoriya stare at the floor, clearly thinking to himself it really looked like the kid was going to cry, then give up. But as the boy clenched his jaw and steeled his resolve he wound his arm back for another throw.
As he swung his arm forward his finger launched the ball as his finger shone with red lightning covering his skin. The wave passed the students from the sudden displacement of air from the insane force. Much like Bakugo's throw. As he looked towards Aizawa and said, "teacher, I can still move!"
Smiling Aizawa showed the class the measurement, 705.3 meters.
Cheering the Uraraka complimented him but Bakugo didn't charge, unlike the original Midoriya didn't beat Bakugo's score so he wasn't enraged. That and he was still busy being pissed at Nick. Although he did glare at Midoriya probably thinking something similar to what he did originally as well.
As Uraraka and Ida went over to Midoriya to see if he was alright, his finger was swelling really badly. About to go and get ready for the next test he heard Uraraka call out to him, "excuse me, Hendrix, can you heal others?" Her voice questioned as she looked up at him. Her gaze was unashamed of just questioning someone about their quirk. Although it did make sense.
Nick didn't want to lie and have to explain it later, he also thought that Aizawa might report this to Nezu or Recovery Girl too, which would be beneficial for him. Nodding his head he walked over and said to Midoriya. "Can I have your hand?" His voice was polite as he held out his expectantly.
Clearly nervous and a bit intimidated Midoriya gave his hand to Nick who felt the back of the boy's hand against his open palm. It was clear that the finger was injured. Anyone could tell that but when Nick could actually properly see the structure of the finger he realized just how fucked it was. Honestly, the bullying of Bakugo raising his pain tolerance probably let him even do things like this… he was glad he hadn't stepped in when he could have. Changing things was risky.
Using Midoriya's reserves instead of his own he healed the finger. A small wave passed over the finger as all Midoriya felt was a tingle then the pain was gone. It felt odd. For a second he hadn't been able to feel his entire hand but when he could again it felt like it was… lagging for a second before the feeling went away.
Dropping the boy's hand Nick patted his shoulder and said, "there you go k- Midoriya. Don't overdo it too much though just because I can heal you. Also, make sure to eat something as soon as you can. Your body will need it."
Walking back towards the outer edge of the crowd he matched eyes with Todoroki… was he acting edgy? He didn't want to be. He was just… it just didn't feel right interacting with kids like he was their age, it felt weird.
The rest of the events passed by. Seated toe-touch was easy. He could be as flexible as he wanted. Endurance running wasn't a problem. And finally, upper body exercises just consisted of mostly weights.
With the eight trials done all the students gathered around. It was time for the results to be announced. As Aizawa took out a device and said, "I can't be bothered reading them all out individually nor do I want to so I'll show them all at once. Time to present the results."
As he said that a holographic screen appeared in the air above the device he was holding. Honestly, Nick didn't expect the results that he saw.
1. Hendrix Nicklaus
2. Yaoyorozu Momo
3. Todoroki Shoto
4. Bakugo Katsuki
5. Ida Tenya
6. Tokoyami Fumikage
7. Shoji Mezo
8. Ojiro Mashirao
9. Kirishima Eijiro
10. Ashido Mina
11. Uraraka Ochaco
12. Koda Koji
13. Sato Rikido
14. Asui Tsuyu
15. Aoyama Yuga
16. Sero Hanta
17. Kaminari Denki
18. Midoriya Izuku
19. Jiro Kyoka
20. Hagakure Toru
The results… had changed. He was at the top, something which did surprise him. Looking at Yaoyorozu he saw her looking back at him. While she had been making things to assist her on all the tests he had been forced to use biology. Of course, since he had a lot of mass and knowledge as well as all the tests being physical he could optimize himself for each one doing things that she couldn't be assisted on. She still beat him on some scores. And he messed up on the side to side though. But he still beat her, it must have only been by a fraction. Nodding at her politely he looked back at the board.
Bakugo must be pissed that he wasn't even in the top three. Well, he clearly was if the crackles that were sounding were any sign of it. The most surprising though was Midoriya… he had done terribly because of the pain the first time. But this time he had only been tired. He hadn't done well at the long distance. But he had really pushed himself and hadn't done the worst.
Looking at Aizawa as he looked over at Hagakure, where her invisible self was. He said slowly. "Hagakure Toru, as you got the lowest score, I should expel you immediately as per what I said earlier."
As he said this Yaoyorozu stiffened. She had been certain that it was just a ruse… but Aizawa seemed serious.
"I gave Midoriya a second chance, however. During your first heroics lesson prove your worth, or I will expel you. I do not give many second chances but because you are only invisible I will be forgiving, but that does not mean I will forgive lacking in physical training. This goes for you as well Jiro. Do not disappoint me. Train harder or I will judge you hopeless."
With that, he turned and walked away saying over his shoulder. "Your curriculum sheets are back on your desks in the classroom. Go and give them a once over. Midoriya and Hendrix, go to Recovery Girl and tell her what happened. Make sure that finger healed properly."
Nodding the class began to head back to the classroom apart from Midoriya and Hendrix who turned to head towards the infirmary. However, they were stopped when Bakugo called out. "HEY DEKU!"