Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If Danny, Sam, and Tucker were asked what exactly was the worst part of exploring an interdimensional freeway they would answer that it was the sudden exits that were created. Sucking them into a dimension they didn't know anything about.

And then suddenly closing to not open for who knows how long, essentially trapping them in said dimension.

Tucker would most likely also complain about the lack of service in the Ghost Zone. Meanwhile, Sam would be annoyed by the lack of vegetation. A small side effect of having been connected to Undergrowth.

And Danny? Danny would just be irritated at the waves of enemies that rushed at them. Seriously! He couldn't make one single step in and stretch his arms in the Ghost Zone before he was swarmed by his enemies.

Skulker sending wave after wave of bullets and rockets, Technus threatening to conquer the world as the master of technology while trying to hack into their cellphones, Johnny and Kitty trying to hit them with the bike, and even the Box Ghost with his usual spiel of being the master of all cardboard and rectangular.

And this time certainly wasn't different.

Danny suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking down he found his girlfriend Sam with a worried expression. "Danny, is everything alright?"

He flashed her a small smile that quickly faded the worry in her eyes. "I'm fine. Just thinking about why we are here."

"Because your sister is terrifying," Tucker said without looking away from his PDA. Sometimes Danny was jealous of how many things his friend could work on at the same time. He had seen Tucker once hack the Pentagon, and code for his college class, all while playing Doom with them and Animal Crossing on his Switch.

The man's mind worked at 1000 miles an hour. No wonder he was almost finishing college for both Mechanical and Software Engineering. Just needed to convince his professor that he was more than prepared to get his diploma.

The three have changed much since their freshman year. Jack Fenton's genes had kicked in, shooting Danny to an impressive 6ft 6in (1,98m). And fighting for his life and city daily made into a great exercise. Danny sure wasn't complaining of leaving his scrawny fourteen year old self in the past.

He wore dark green cargo pants with combat boots and a simple white shirt with a NASA logo on his chest. A rarity in this dimension as he had found out that NASA had been dismantled in exchange for the NAQRD, National Association for Quirk Research and Development, much to his dismay and sadness. He really wanted to discover what humanity had discovered after 200 years.

Tucker, on the other hand, being the "chair guy" as he called himself, had decided to keep his exercises light, keeping a much leaner and scrawny build while hardly growing. But at least he was able to grow facial hair with a tasteful goatee, that wasn't trying to copy Robert Downey's Tony Stark. And his long dreads, put up in a ponytail under his red beret, gave him a charming look.

He wore dark purple shorts that jingled with all the metal parts he kept in his pockets. A yellow tanktop that seemed rather silly for the event they were going to participate in. But it wasn't against any rule and he preferred it. Just needed slippers instead of the shoes and he was ready for the beach.

Sam was the one who changed the least. It turns out that when your parents kept forcing you to maintain a contradictory fashion style, goth kept being a "phase". She kept her hair overall dyed black but had dyed internally a dark purple. Much to Pam Manson's dismay. She wasn't one to use much makeup, but what she wore made quite the impact. The light purple lip gloss, the black eyeliner, and the slight blush all contrasted well with the ever-so-slightly green hue her skin had taken since her abilities had manifested. Ecto-contamination was a bitch.

She wore black ripped jeans and a purple and green checkered sash made from her old skirts tied to her left side. A dark purple crop top under a dark leather jacket littered with pins, from metal skulls to cartoonish green ghosts. A black choker with a metal rose clasp adorned her neck as she didn't like necklaces, most likely Pam's fault as all of her fashion.

"I had just pointed out that she would be disappointed in us if we had decided to stifle our education for a minor inconvenience," Danny said with a huff. "It was you who wanted to come to... What is the name again?" He turned to Sam with a confused expression.

She sighed. "We had this discussion over a hundred times." She complained as they continued their walk towards the college. "It's U.A. U.A. One of the biggest and best hero universities in the country."

"Right," He said with an apologetic expression that had her shaking her head with a fond smile. He then looked back at Tucker."You were the one who wanted to come to U.A."

Tucker shrugged and flashed a smirk at his friends before slinking his arms across his shoulders. Well, Sam's shoulders at least, as Danny was around 11in (30cm) taller. "I mean aren't you guys the incredible Inviso-bill and his lovely companion Vineyard?"

Sam groaned while dragging her hands through her face. "That name is so fucking bad!" She moaned.

Danny cringed internally while sighing and rubbing the back of her head. "Took me a year to get my name changed, Sam."

She glared at him. "Just because I know is going to take long, doesn't mean I have to accept it or even like it."

Tucker bellowed a laugh, almost folding in half. He found it incredibly entertaining using the names given to his friends by the media. No matter how many years pass they would always be haunted by those two nicknames.

The couple glared at their friend before they were overwhelmed with laughter themselves. It was always better to laugh than to mope.

"As fun it was this little trip back the cringe memory lane," Sam said coming to a stop next to the two. "We're here,"

U.A was one hell of a place. Especially the main campus of Musutafu. The central H-shaped building alone made you feel small as you stared at it. But in the distance, you already see the other noteworthy areas. Like the numerous mock cities for urban activities, a dome-like building where they advertised their top-of-the-line rescue lessons and much more.

Danny however had only one thought staring at this expanse of a campus. "How in the Ancients do they pay for all this shit?"

"Several good-natured sponsors with generous donations and government grants." Tucker answered showing them the spreadsheet he had made. Both of his friends turned to him with an eyebrow raised. "I hacked their servers last night," He answered with a shrug.

Danny groaned as they entered the school. "Of course you did. At least you made yourself not known this time around."

Tucker suddenly stopped in his tracks before giving them a weak chuckle. "I might have been caught?"

"Tucker," Sam said with a dangerous edge to her tone. "What did you do?"

"Lo-Look it was not my fault," Tucker said shrinking himself under her stare. Sam could be especially threatening when she wanted. Especially when she let her eyes glow flooding you with an eerie feeling. "It was just that the principal was better than I expected."

"I sure hope I made a good impression,"

A three flinched at the sudden voice that had appeared behind the group. Staring down they found themselves staring at the small form of the dean of U.A. University. He was a small creature, as he didn't resemble any animal they knew. He had a white fur that seemed to glisten under the sun, showing the great care his owner took of it.

He had black beady eyes that could easily change expressions in a matter of seconds. A rather large scar ran through his right eye.

He wore a stylish suit tailor-made for his size and a red tie in a simple knot. All of which contrasted with the yellow sneakers he wore on his... Legs? Hind paws?

"Am I a dog? A mouse? Or a bear? It is I the dean of U.A!" He exclaimed with a polite smile. Well at least for Danny and Sam. As when he turned to Tucker, the young man recognized those eyes. It was the same whenever Danny had a crazy idea and was going to drag him together. "If you would accompany me, young Foley"

Danny and Sam snickered at his misfortune. "Are you going to hunt me for sport?" Tucker asked for trepidation. The last time he was caught hacking something, Skulker kept chasing him for at least a month.

The dean laughed, cackled would be a better description. "No nothing of that. I just wished to have a small discussion about your future with our honorable institution."

Tucker chuckled nervously not liking where this was going. "Is there no way for me to dodge this exclusive interview?"

"Unfortunately no." Nedzu said still with that charmingly dangerous smile of his. "unless that is you wish for the police to be involved."

"Congratulations Tucker," Danny said with a smirk while patting his friend on the back. "You are now the record holder for the shortest time that took to get us in trouble. Beating my own time. I'm impressed."

Tucker sighed. "Fine but at least give these two a fair chance." He said pointing to his two friends. "I did it myself of my own volition."

Nedzu didn't show but was deeply impressed by his words. He would rather be shot down than attend the best college in Japan if it meant his friends weren't punished for something they didn't do. "There is no need to worry, young man," The dean said putting his hands on his back. "We will be fair with our assessment of your friends,"

Tucker nodded while staring at the big building, the feeling of smallness growing further. "Are you sure that we can't dodge this interview?"

The dean cackled as he rapidly climbed the young man and perched himself on his shoulders. Tucker would be off put by the random action if it wasn't for the fact he had met several inhabitants of the Ghost Zone. "No. Now let's go to my office."

Tucker resigned to his fate as he looked to his friends pausing as they took their phones. "Seriously?" He asked with incredulity. "I'm here about to have a meeting with essentially the eldritch abomination of this place and you guys are seeing this as an entertainment. No offense Dean Nedzu."

He waved dismissively, preferring to watch what was unfolding between the trio of friends. "None taken,"

"C'mon Tuck," Danny said with a mischievous grin. "Live a little. Is not always you suffer the consequences of your poorly planned actions."

Sam snickered while taking Danny's hand on her own. A small action not unseen by Nedzu. "Mostly because you are there to save his ass."

"I won't be hearing this slander," Tucker said leaving the two to go their exam while flipping the bird at both of them while Nedzu let himself another burst of laughter to escape. "Pricks both of them," He grumbled under his breath. "Especially since they started dating."

" They do look good." The dean commented. He might not be an expert at human relationships, but he could give a comment or two every now and then.

Tucker groaned in exasperation. "That's the worst part. Can't even be mad at it," A small smile growing on his face. "Where's your office?"

It didn't take long to reach the principal's office. It resided in one of the rooms on the ground floor of the main building. Nedzu apparently didn't like having to go to the highest floor every single day, so he opted to build his office on the first floor.

It also let him greet his staff before they went up to the teacher's lounge on the second floor. And if a part of those greetings meant he scared them for a good wake-up call, who was he to complain?

His office was rather bare. His chair, as comfortable as money could buy, from his own reserves of course. He wouldn't have spent the college's fund for such ostentious spending. A large table with his personal computer and some files on top of it that he hadn't come to look at yet. And lastly, the shelf with books on education, business, cooking, funnily enough, and some ludic novels when Nedzu had a break now and then.

The dean quickly jumped from Tucker's shoulders and sat on his chair while pulling a small file from a cabinet. "Please sit. Thank you,"

"I'm assuming this is about my hacking from last night, right?" Tucker asked while tumbling with his fingers beneath the table. A small tick he had developed. he needed to be doing something with his fingers. Be it using his phone or fidgeting with the gears and wire in his pockets.

Nedzu hummed in agreement "A part of it yes. Let's see," He quickly opened the file and sprawled the papers on the table. "Tucker Foley, born on February the 2nd of 2214. Correct?"

"Yes,"

Nedzu nodded before turning back to the papers. "Your Quirk is listed as an Emmiter, named Pharaoh. It allows you to create and control sand as I am to understand?" Tucker nodded knowing exactly what was written in those papers as he was the one to write them. "May I see a demonstration,"

He shrugged and let his abilities come forward. One of the perks of being the reincarnation of an ancient pharaoh was the lovely ability to control sand.

He let it appear first in his hand a small sandstorm contained in his palm before he let grow further and further. Nedzu narrowed his eyes not wanting to have to explain that he had been injured because of a Quirk that one of his potential students didn't have control over.

Fortunately his concerns weren't needed as he showed his prowess as Tucker condensed the sand into a copy of himself. "I can do more but we would need a larger space." He said with a nervous chuckle.

"That is quite alright," Nedzu said before folding his hands in front of him. "Now may I perhaps inquire on why you have tried to invade our servers?"

Tucker sighed. "Me and my friends have quite a bit of history with shady organizations. Many that had posed as beneficial and willing to help." He explained with his nervous tumbling coming back with a vengeance. "So having information beforehand has become a necessity that we are unwilling to compromise on."

It wasn't exactly a lie, but surely not the whole truth, and Tucker had practiced lying so many times that it came as naturally as breathing.

Nedzu showed a solemn expression of sympathy growing on his heart. "Is that why your files are fake?" A soft tone in his voice.

Tucker's eyes went wide as saucers. How did he? "Ho-hw did you find out?"

A short chuckle escapes his lips. "It wasn't really hard. Just had to take a better look at past entries on the government database. I had a friend who owed me a favor on the CIA. A small cross reference and sure enough I was able to find the small breach you had created. I must say taking the time to make it seem your files existed since the beginning was quite clever."

Tucker smiled confidently. He might not have much to brag about or even be confident of. But hacking and coding was sure one of those things. "Thanks. It took a while and I had to basically fire bomb their servers to make the files seem genuine when they recovered their files."

"You just didn't expect to anybody to cross-reference with the past backups right?" Nedzu inquired amused at the young man who had decided to admit how he had just hacked the United States of America's government.

"No," He said dejectedly. "They were going to have to restore the files on millions of people from all across the country. So three teenagers appearing from Illinois, California, and Ohio would just be completely glossed over if it was even discovered. Why did you search me specifically?"

A grin appeared on Nedzu's face. "I am a man that knows when he has made mistakes. Your hacking last night would have gone completely unnoticed if it wasn't for my impromptu night shift. And there is hardly if ever someone bold enough to try hacking into my university. So I had to know more about such an interesting individual."

"So you countered and found out about me." Tucker said with a neutral expression. "And that took you further in trying to know why a student was trying to hack into your servers."

"Indeed!" Nedzu exclaimed. "And is it possible to explain what exactly happened to you three that you had found that hacking into one of the biggest nations in the world was a better plan than anything else?"

Tucker stared at the dean, analyzing the small creature, trying to find any intent to harm. Any evidence that he was prepared to hurt them. They knew that Nedzu had been experimented on in the past since he was one of the rare Quirked animals. A fact that Danny could sympathize deeply.

Finding nothing that would call for an immediate evacuation, he nodded. "I can't really speak for Danny and Sam. You'll have to ask for their side yourself." He glared at Nedzu, who nodded, and Tucker relaxed on the seat. "We had been taken in by an organization known as GIW," He explained.

"I don't recognize those." Nedzu hummed questioningly. As unfortunate as it was, it was impossible to know everything that was happening across the globe.

"Unfortunate," Tucker said with a shrug. "Besides, they don't use any known technology. Not leaving a single digital footprint of their actions." A small fact that had Tucker in a depressed state only thinking of it. It also made it a lot harder to destroy any files of theirs. At least it was fun to burn their buildings.

Nedzu hummed accordingly while taking notes. "I see. It certainly would make things harder to track in this day and age." Ironic, huh? How have so many developments led to so many breaches?

"Us three were taken young, basically from birth," Tucker frowned as he told his story. "And us three..." He huffed and turned away from Nedzu's stare. "Well. you can guess what happened from there."

Tucker jolted when he felt the dean's paws on his hand, a comforting smile on his face. "I understand enough, young man. You may leave. I don't want to be the reason why you would miss your exam. Support course, right?" Tucker nodded meekly. "Then off you go, Powerloader will be the one to supervise your exams."

Tucker, not one to overstay his welcome, quickly decided to head back to the exam area, leaving Nedzu alone to collect his thoughts.

"You can't possibly believe that sob story," He turned from his musings to the source of the voice.

Aizawa Shota, pro hero Eraserhead, was the resident hobo who had, for some reason, accepted the teacher's calling. He was a common-height man with shaggy and long black hair that had seemingly not been washed for the last week and a half. His black eyes had this emptiness to them, especially when he hadn't had his morning coffee, which, unfortunately, was the situation they found themselves in.

He wore a baggy black jumpsuit, which Nedzu hardly, if ever, saw him out of it. His capture weapon, a fascinating mixture of nanotechnology and microfibers, was around his neck. Why he had decided to make a scarf of all things was a mystery that Nedzu couldn't bother trying to solve.

The dean chuckled as he pulled a cigar and a lighter from inside his vest. "Of course not, Eraserhead!" He exclaimed as he gave a big huff of the cigar. "It was a lie through and through but..."

"But,"

"Either we have the greatest liesmith in the country capable of not even looking the faintest bothered as he created those tales," He explained as he showed his pad to the teacher. "Or whatever he told us had just enough truth to make it seem plausible."

Aizawa hummed as he read the notes the dean showed him.

"They must have created those tales expecting to be questioned sometime in the future." Nedzu said, puffing another cloud of smoke, "Truths and lies mixed enough to seem believable while explaining major aspects of their lives. Why do they live alone all three together? Where are their parents? Why they haven't gone to the police? So many questions could easily be brushed aside due to those explanations."

"Then why aren't you bringing those three here and having them explain things to you?" Aizawa questioned. He had seen Nedzu take people for questioning for much less.

"He sighed and patted the cigar on the ashtray. "Frankly, for three reasons. One, they would be on edge, and we would have to tip-toe around them. One small slip and they would disappear. And with young Foley's hacking skills, they wouldn't just disappear physically. That boy hacked this server that I myself had created, Aizawa." A serious expression on his face. "We were lucky that I was working for today's exams, or else he would have unlimited access to U.A. servers."

Aizawa shifted uncomfortably. It was rare to see such seriousness and concern on Nedzu's countenance. "Makes sense," He conceded with a sigh. He had to give it to the kid. Skills like these would take him far in life. In any path he decides to take on.

"Second is one you clearly already thought of." Nedzu said, looking at him expectantly

Aizawa sighed and put the paper down. "We put them on the run, and there goes three kids jumping straight into villainy. And if the other two were as capable as him, we would be creating 3 of possibly the scariest villains in a good time."

Nedzu nodded. "And that takes me to the third reason." Aizawa felt no shame for flinching when he stared at the grin on the dean's face. It was as if Nedzu let his instincts free and became the base animal many felt fear of. "It will be rather fun to discover what exactly is going with those three, no?"

The teacher just sighed at the mad cackle the rat started letting out. He knew there was no point in trying to stop Nedzu when he got that way. He just hoped those students wouldn't turn into a new project of the mad rat.

Or worse, become one of his students.

Chapter Text

Sam had walked out of the class with an empty look in her eyes.

She knew the Japanese took their exams seriously, but this was ridiculous! It was a damn miracle she even finished the thing in time.

120 questions of all matter of subjects, ranging from mathematics to history, in under 3 hours? Absolutely insane.

If it weren't for sheer fear and pettiness towards Jazz, she would be more than happy to give up and decide to live in the middle of nowhere waiting for Danny to learn to create portals to the Ghost Zone.

"How sure are we that we can't become globe trotting criminals?"She turned to look at her boyfriend sitting on one of the benches with an empty gaze toward the sky. "And then we lie to Jazz? Say this was a dimension without education."

Sam gave a small laugh at that. She would be lying if she hadn't thought of giving up in the middle. Especially when she reached the essay. "I'm all up for it if you think you can lie to her," She teased plopping down next to him with a smirk. "Take it things didn't go as well as they could?"

He just groaned knowing that he couldn't lie to his sister. Not because he would feel bad, but because she has somehow developed a sixth sense for their bullshit. "It was a disaster, Sam! The only part I know I did well was the grammar and vocabulary,"

She chuckled taking his hand unto her own. "Ghost speak is bullshit. Took me years to become fluent in the language while you." She glared at him playfully. "Just learned every single language under the sun."

"What?" He asked looking at her as if she had grown a second head. "I mean English."

She blinked a few times before laughing at him. Only Danny would be clueless enough to "Well then!" She said getting up from the bench. "I'm sure you'll be happy at whatever school you'll be going to."

"Woe is me!" Danny called dramatically with his hand over his heart. "Even my girlfriend has no trust in me!"

She rolled her eyes before giving him a kick to the shins. "Stop it, you drama queen. Just get up and let's get to the practical already."

He groaned and reluctantly got up from the bench. "I hate school so much,"

She grabbed his arm and put it around her shoulders with a smile. "First this is a university," He huffed out indignantly earning a small elbow strike from her, not enough to hurt, just get him to stop being annoying. "Second, it's practical, we probably just have to show what we can do and leave for the day."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Isn't this the best university in the country?"

"It is" She nodded, "But what else can they do? Make us fight robots or something?"

Both of them laughed as they entered the auditorium where they were sent for the practical portion of the entrance exam.

And once again Danny was left wondering how they had this much money for things like this. The auditorium was more akin to a stadium with the number of people inside. He couldn't help but immediately focus on his surroundings. A total of 12,345 souls were present. And the number kept growing with each arrival.

"Ancients," Danny said surprised with how many students came to this place. If it wasn't for his height and strength he would have already been sent to the ground together with Sam. "Is U.A. the best because is the only one?"

Sam shook her head. "The thing is the time of each exam." She explained using it as an anchor to not get bulldozed by the crowd. "U.A. only accepts 40 students into their hero course. 4 from recommendations, and 36 from normal exams."

Danny whistled at that information. No wonder there was so much competition. "Only the best of the best, huh?"

"Yes," She responded, "But the dreams of every hero hopeful of this world is getting to U.A's course. So other schools do their entrance exams after U.A.'s to not be completely forgotten by the students."

"How did you know all this?" He asked surprised at how much she knew about this world.

"Simple internet surfing," She said with a shrug. "You should probably know these types of things."

He rolled his eyes. if it isn't Jazz annoying him because he is too much on the internet, is Sam complaining that he is oblivious because he hasn't spent enough time on the internet? That's bullshit. He can't win. "Well, excuse me, princess. Next time I'll let us be swarmed by the spirits of this world,"

He had spent at least 2 weeks since they had been in this world discussing with the ghostly residents of this world. Some discussions went peacefully, but some like the ones he had with some spirits of dead samurai... He had never used so much of Pandora's teachings before.

"And the other week you wasted on your phone?" She asked finally sitting down on the corner right on the back.

He pouted with a small blush on his face. "Tha-that was my break," He said with uncertainty in his tone.

She just hummed indifferently letting him huff indignantly when she noticed that the lights had been dimmed and spotlights were shone into the front of the auditorium. They really were making a big show out of this it seems.

Not that she was complaining, a smile growing on her face. This might be a university to train the future generation of heroes, the people who will protect those who can't protect themselves. But it was good to see that they didn't decide to become a boring institution.

"Hey, Hey!" The entire auditorium became silent when they noticed the person in the front. "How's everybody doing?!"

Present Mic was one of the pro-heroes who also worked as a teacher at U.A. He certainly had presence especially when he used his Quirk to make his voice reach everybody in the massive auditorium. Danny didn't like it very much since his enhanced hearing was more of a cursing than a blessing in situations such as these.

And that much leather couldn't be good on a hot day. Although since today was rather chilly he was probably fine. Sam liked his hair at least, even if it made him look like a blonde cockatoo.

"Pshh!" Both turned to a girl next to them. "You okay?"

She was quite a strange person. Starting with the natural purple hair that she kept cut short. It surprised Danny and irritated Sam how many hair colors humanity started to show in this world. Her eyes were a common black seen in everybody else. Honestly, if it wasn't for the obvious mutation on her ears, they were elongated ending in aux cords, Danny wouldn't even be able to discern her from anybody else in the street.

Something none of the Phantom Team's members expected in this world were the mutation-type Quirks. They had seen a lot in the Ghost Zone, but using ghost standards for reality was a bizarre and frankly useless endeavor. So seeing humans that looked like cats on their hind legs, one that looked like a humanoid orca, and the many other mutations, was quite a surprise for them.

Danny groaned as he kept fussing on his ears. "Just that my hearing is a bit better than normal, and being in the same room as a human amplifier is certainly not helping."

She winced in sympathy. "Man don't I know it"

"Oh?" Sam asked turning to the girl. "How so?"

She pointed her jacks that waved energetically. "My Quirk gives me enhanced hearing too."

"My condolences," Danny said with a solemn expression.

The girl giggled extending her hand. "Jiro Kyoka,"

"Danny Fenton," He answered taking her hand. "Or is it Fenton Danny?"

"Sam Manson," Sam answered with a polite smile, "And I don't think we have to change the order of our names,"

Her eyes widened as she stared at the two of them. "You are foreigners?!" Danny and Sam nodded, not really understanding why she was that excited. "Oh, that's so cool! I always wanted to travel abroad myself, but I-"

"ARE YOU ALL READY FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR LIVES!!!" She wasn't able to finish her sentence before Present Mic decided to blow up with one hell of a shout, much to Danny's and Jiro's dismay. "LET'S THIS PARTY STARTED YEAH!!!" Present Mic waited for the response from the crowd receiving only deafening silence. However, he didn't let that get to him. "Tough crowd huh?"

"Next time don't blow our ears," Danny mumbled under his breath with a frown. His ears still rang from that shout.

"Alright listeners," He called this time in a much more manageable volume. "There is no secret to our exam. It will be a simple 20-minute run in our state-of-the-art mock cities." The screen behind flashed to life showing 8 squares with the letters A to H. "Each one of you has been located in one of these urban areas. Check-in your application card for the area you have to be present. There will be no complaints of technical issues if you have gone to the wrong show,"

Danny pulled his card to look where he was designated:

"You're in D, huh?" Sam asked after glancing at his card. "Shame, I'm in H," She showed him her card.

Danny still couldn't believe she was able to put her name legally as Sam in this world. And why wasn't Danny allowed? bullshit that nobody is legally called Danny. There has gotta be someone out there.

"It's so friends can't help each other," Jiro commented. "Apparently a few years back some students in a class tried to get them all in the school,"

"Shouldn't such ingenuity be instead rewarded?" Sam asked. It wasn't as if they were going against the rules.

Jiro nodded in agreement. "Everybody also thought that, so Nedzu and the school board accepted the class. They turned out to be one of the best of their generation. But we can't deny that it was unfair to the other applicants, so that was why from following years there was this separation between students from the same high schools,"

"Then we just took the shortest straw," Sam commented with a click of her tongue.

"What do- Ah!" She noticed that Danny and Sam were wearing casual clothes, instead of their uniforms like the rest of the students. "You didn't go to high school"

Both chuckled nervously averting their face from the girl. "Not really, we did online classes due to us traveling around," Danny answered, lying as easy as it was breathing, not that he was doing much of it.

Stars grew in Jiro's eyes. Besides becoming a Hero, something she really wanted to do was travel. Seeing new places, meeting new people, and learning new cultures. New music.

She could always hear it on YouTube, but there was something special I heard in person. Music to her, especially with her Quirk, resonated through her entire body. She didn't just hear the music, she feltit. Didn't help that her parents were musicians who supported her in all endeavors. Be it musical or heroic.

"That must be something quite special," She said with a small smile. "I always wanted to leave Japan at least once."

Danny chuckled at that. "It is something else. But it is rather boring when you do so many times,"

Jiro just scoffed and sunk into her seat. "Easy for you to say."

Sam let a small giggle. That had been a discussion the trio had with almost everyone they knew. It was easy to see a life of traveling around the globe, constantly changing homes, and seeing the beauties of the world, and think that it was all rainbows and sunshine.

Unfortunately, social media lied to people. The life of traveling, constant traveling that is, is not a sustainable lifestyle. Can you make meaningful relationships when you barely stay in one place? And if you do, what's the point? You would be gone in a matter of weeks or even months. There was no way for you to know that you would keep in contact with them or even ever visit again.

"Believe us," Sam said with a comforting smile on her face. "We don't really want to make you not want to travel."

"Just do it with moderation," Danny finished.

Jiro huffed indignantly and sank into her seat again. But it got her thinking. It couldn't be that bad, could it? She had never experienced their life, so shouldn't she take their words for it?

"You all now know where your venue is," Present Mic continued before Jiro could immerse herself in her thoughts even further. Right, she had an exam to ace. "But what is a good show without a good contender? Let's meet your opposition shall we?!" The screen flicked to life once again showing the silhouette of four targets. "These are the villains that you would be going to be handling. These three lovely ones," The screen filled flashed and focused on the three ones labeled as:

"Are worth the points that are shown on screen and on the paper in front of you," Present Mic called with a smile. "Destroy them, immobilize, dust'em. We don't care. Make sure that they are incapacitated and the points are yours."

The silhouette of the one labeled Victory reminded Sam of a crab with its large front arms although it did paint a funny picture with the legs being a wheel. Wait it can't be, wheel? She turned to a smug grinning Danny. "So what was that about making us fight robots?'

She groaned as he laughed boisterously, "Shut up, Danny!" She shouted only making him laugh even harder. Her annoyance levels went through the roof, "I said!" It didn't take much for her to hit right on top of his head "Shut up!"

"Excuse me!" One of the students raised from his seat, so perfectly straight that he seemed more like a wooden board than anything else.

He had dark blue hair combed in a way that screamed that he came from money. And if the pristine white suit that was probably his uniform was any indication, he most likely came from some sort of private academy, maybe even private tutors. He had glasses that really didn't help his case against him.

"On the paper, there are four silhouettes but you have only told us about three if this is a mistake on U.A.'s part it shows bad faith on the part of the university. We are here to become exemplary heroes after all. And you two!" He turned with a glare to Danny and Sam, making the two confused ion what he was doing. "We are all here for our futures, if you aren't taking things seriously, you should leave,"

There was a beat of silence before they heard the slam on the table and Sam getting up from her seat with anger clear on her face. She took a breath to calm herself but they could hear her hands digging into the table. "First, you should check with your colonoscopist. Someone impaled a rod so far into your ass that it is sticking out of your mouth.",

His face morphed into anger to match hers, "Who do you-"

"Second of all!" She shouted with a piercing gaze daring him to say anything before she was done. "I'm sure that the best in this fucking country wouldn't make a mistake as grievous as that. So sit back down, swallow that stupid pride of yours, and shift comfortably so that the stick in your ass doesn't interrupt the explanation again, and stay silent until Present Mic finishes his explanation. Are we clear?!"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You can't-"

"I asked," She let her control over her emotions falter intensifying her glare at him. Ectoplasm started to fill the room. "Are we clear?"

The bluenette gulped before hurriedly sitting back down, even if he was still angry at the girl, every now and then shooting a glare back at her.

Danny sighed before pulling her back down and getting up himself. "Sorry for that everybody." He said with a bow, before sitting back down. "W̸̫̼͔̐̒͝h̴̡̘̝͆͑͝a̸̘̙͙̓̾̕ẗ̸̟͙́͆ ẃ̸̢̢͇̐̓a̸̟͖̫͆͐̔ș̸̡̓͊̚͜ t̵͙͙̫̾̈́h̴̠̺̝̓̒͌a̵̢̠̫͛̐͝t̸͓̘͌͆̕͜?̴̦̼͉̈́̈́" He whispered to her in Ghost Speak. She grumbled something that he didn't understand "I̵̝͍͛͘͠f̸̟͉͕̈́͛̾ ÿ̸̼͔́͒͝o̵̡̝̞̾͌͛u̴̞̝͕̿͌͠ d̴͓̪͇̾͊͠o̸͓̘̓̔n̵͕͍͕̐͑͋'̸̢̢͚̓͒͋t̸̙͓͖̐̓͠ s̵͕̫̝̓͛͋p̸̻̪͙̈́͐e̸̺̼͐͊̔a̴̠͇̻̚͘͘k̸͙̻̻̚͘͝ u̴͖̞͔͋́p̴͎̼̟̔̈́͘ I̵͖̼̾̕͜͝ c̴̢̫̺͑͊̾a̸̘͎̓̒͝n̵̙̼͕͒̕͝'̸̡͎͙̾̒̚ț̴͚͚̔̐͝ u̵̢͎͓͊͊͝n̴̡͍̓̔͜d̵͔͉̪͑̚̚è̸̙̦͚͑͝r̵͍͉͕̀́͝s̸̡͙̻̒́͘t̴̼̼͙̀͒a̸͇̠͒̓́n̸̺͍͑͆͘d̴͇͕͇̔̾́ y̵͙͔̫͒͐͆o̸̟̻͙̒͊̐u̸͔͚̼͑̓,̸"

"H̴͙͔͓͊̽̚ë̴͕̼͖́̕͘ á̸͕̺͘͠n̵̢͓̾͊͋n̵͍͚̙̐̕͘ó̵̠̝͕͘͝y̴͍̪̦͛̔e̵̠̠̺͊́̾d̸̪̦͇̀́͝ m̸̫̠̫̽͆̚e̸" She responded with a frown.

"And so you exploded on him?" He continued whispering. "Even Dash or Paulina didn't get that verbal assault of yours?"

She sighed before slumping on her seat. "Probably the stress of the exams," She responded with a frown. One of the unfortunate side effects of ecto-liminality is that her emotions were much more prominent.

The smallest spark turns into fury, and any slight inconvenience turns into hatred. Life had honestly become a tug of war to keep her emotions in check. In Amity, it was easy since almost everybody was either much closer to the other side or lived with someone who was long enough to understand the signs.

It was already second nature for amity parkers to understand what was really being told and what people meant by their words. It was weird going from being able to speak like she had with the blue-haired man and people understanding that she was annoyed, perhaps even angry at him, but not to the level that she wanted to make him cry.

"Yeah, but start meditating or something before you turn someone into a rose," He whispered again, not wanting to repeat that whole ordeal again. To this day, Star only wears red and green and pupils remind everyone of flowers.

"Thank you examinee #7111 for calling in with your request," Present Mic called with the same smile he hadn't lost. He was a professional Hero and show host, he knew how to keep a crowd's attention. "The last villain you'll be facing is a special case. A loud symphony that nobody expects coming," The screen flashed showing the last robot they were going to be fighting.

"It is like it reads, worth 0 points," Present Mic explained with a flourish. "Think of them as if it was the thwomp when playing Super Mario Bros. They can be defeated but there isn't a real merit in doing so. So my recommendation is to..." He held for dramatic flair scanning through the crowd. "Just ignore it. Focus on the robots worth points and get the best score you can."

Danny thought it made sense. "Probably to simulate focus," He said nonchalantly,

"Huh?" Jiro questioned with a hum.

"When we become heroes one of the most important aspects of the job is to understand priorities. Who to save first, which villain is more dangerous than the others, and several other factors," He explained with a sigh. "So the 0 pointer probably has some gimmick to make sure we know that he isn't really one to be trifled with. Maybe it explodes when it's defeated or maybe is completely indestructible. Something to tell us: 'Don't focus on me. I'm not worth it,'."

Sam couldn't help but show a smile at her boyfriend. It was nice seeing him suddenly become this tactician analyzing his surroundings and making the best of it, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents. If she had to be honest was one of the reasons she had started dating him.

What can she say? She was attracted to intelligence. Even if he didn't show it that much.

"Now you all know where your show is happening, who your backup vocals are, and even your audience, listeners" Present Mic called with his usual dramatics. "Now go there and give a show worthy of an encore! But before you leave for your areas, let me give you one final motivation. A small token of good faith from U.A."

The crowd was already growing in excitement with the ending of the explanation. Danny certainly was no different, a grin appearing on his face as he could feel the adrenaline wanting to kick in. "As a hero of the past, Napolean Bonaparte once said: A true hero never stops overcoming the misfortunes in life. Aren't those some tasty soundbites?"

Sam had to hold back her laughter. Since when was Napoleon a Hero? She turned to Danny seeing him frowning, now she really couldn't hold it back. "What's so funny?" Jiro asked not understanding their reactions.

Danny just frowned even further, he had met Napoleon in the Ghost Zone and the man, just like any other, was complicated, to say the least. "Napoleon wasn't exactly a hero," Sam explained in his stead. "He was certainly a great man who brought prosperity when needed but he was also a dictator, a tyrant even, in a sense."

"He was smart and resourceful, something every hero needs," Danny continued with a small smile. "But no hero declares themselves Emperor. Shame that so much history has been lost due to the emergence of Quirks."

Jiro was quite surprised by this turn of events. She had learned about Napoleon Bonaparte, she knew he was French and some sort of military man, but it seemed that her education was quite failing if this was true.

The auditorium quickly emptied as everybody headed to the restrooms to change into their exercise clothes. "Aren't you two going to change?" Jiro questioned noticing Danny and Sam heading already to the busses that were going to take them to the battle areas.

Both smirked at her, "Don't really make a difference with our Quirks," Sam explained with confidence that Jiro had the sneaky suspicion that wasn't unfounded.

"Shame you won't see it," Danny said with a playful shake of his head. "When we enter we'll show you then,"

Jiro giggled turning back to go to the change rooms. She didn't want to have to use her uniform for 20 minutes while she sweated.

"So any plan, Sam?" Danny asked as the two waited for the rest of the students to come back.

"Besides some exploits?" She said with a smirk. "Just overpower them. This will be basically a Thursday afternoon against Technus. The only difference really is they aren't really trying to kill us and there won't be any monologuing."

"Exploits?"

She nodded pulling the paper it was giving them when they arrived for the presentation. "Here look at the rules."

Three simple rules. They couldn't really score things like property damage reliably so that was probably left out of the rules. "I don't understand?" He said turning to her.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course, we can't attack the other students, but what about controlling them with things like your overshadowing?" The gears on his head started working. "And why only incapacitation? Why not destruction?"

"The test seems really focused towards destructive quirks. Abilities one would commonly associate with a Hero," he mused with a questioning stare at the paper. "But the rules don't say anything against just making sure they aren't moving. Ancients!" He exclaimed with an impressed look. "There is a reason why U.A. is the best huh?"

She hummed agreeing with him. "Now look at the third rule."

He read it and reread not really sure what he should take from it. "Okay? It means that after a villain was incapacitated it doesn't count anymore that's pretty obvious." He then got a slap on the back of the head. "What was that for?!"

"Think Danny!" She snarked at him. "It's obvious that, after a robot is taken down, it is no longer active. So why is that rule there?"

A lightbulb turned on his head. "Because we can find them before they are activated!" She nodded as eagerly as he seemed to be. "And the only time they are activated besides, after being incapacitated, is before the exam starts!"

"We can go to the cities before the exam starts," She finished her explanation.

"I get that now, But," He was confused about one thing. "Why don't just let everybody know from the start? Why make it implicit in such a roundabout way?"

She shrugged, "This is a university for heroes. How many times have we had to think completely outside of the box? I guess is to test like that. If we have the brains for noticing the vague writing, and the guts to follow through."

He rubbed his head in frustration. "Ancients sake! Why is this thing so complicated? Is just a university exam!"

"How dare you!" Both turned to see the bluenette from before now on a blue track and field suit coming at them with a scowl. He looked like an Olympic athlete, especially with his build. Uniforms sure hid a lot. "This is a prized institution of Japan. If you two are here to just make fun of it and us, you should leave."

Sam already raised to start another shouting match with the man, but this time Danny was faster than her, appearing between the two. "Hey!" He said with a polite smile while pushing Sam back to let her calm down and extending his hand in a greeting. "I'm Danny Fenton,"

The boy quickly looked up and down, a quick survey of Danny, but took the hand as he had been properly raised and good manners were drilled into him from a young age. "I'm Ida Tenya,"

"Great! See we already starting better than earlier," Danny said with a small chuckle. he didn't want to admit but the tension was high as the two kept staring at each other. "So..."

Sam sighed and turned to Danny with a smile. "Can I talk to him alone?"

Danny narrowed his eyes at her. "Only if you promise not to turn him into a rose." She opened his mouth to respond but he beat her to it. "Nor any lilac, daisies, sunflowers, lotus, tulips, lilies, peonies, or any flower in the world." She opened her mouth again but was once more interrupted by him. "Nor create any new flowers. I don't want to hear you explain why you created the blue asshole species,"

"Danny!" She shouted putting some of her power behind her voice that had him flinching. "I'm not going to do anything like that, I just want to talk to him," A sweet smile on her face that had Danny sweating buckets. He had already been dating her for 3 years now, he knew when smiles were veils for a more sinister thought. "Okay?"

"O-Okay, loud and cle-clear," He responded, already leaving for his bus. "have a good conversation!" And he was gone.

Sam turned to the boy with her eyes narrowed and he mimicked him. "Sam Manson,"

"At least you have proper manners to introduce yourself," Ida said with his arms crossed. Aggression oozing from him. "After that shameful before of yours, I thought you incapable of being so,"

She sucked in a breath of hair while pinching the bridge of her nose, "Y̵̼̏͒ö̶̯́u̵͚̿̃ ̷̭̚̕ā̴̡͑r̶̡͎̈́̕e̸̳̔̐ ̴͙̟̓͂ĥ̵̘͆e̶̢̾́r̷͖̓e̶̖͈͌̓ ̶̨̢̈͝t̶̨̥͑o̴̻͉̐͒ ̵̛͔̰ǎ̷͈͜p̸͉̻̚o̷̖̅̚l̶̮͙͌͝o̵̹͕͋̉g̵̞͈̏͝i̵̖̮̐̽z̶̹̈́e̴̙͓̅͝.̴̪͌ ̸̡̄̇Y̴̨͠o̶͙̣͑̄u̷̱͛͜ ̷̞̟̚a̴̖̱̎r̶̙͔̈̃e̷̛͍͑ ̶̥̉͗h̷͍͍̀̔ẻ̴̘̫r̴̙̼̓e̴̦̙͠ ̸̳̪͒t̵̺̒o̴̤̓ ̵̰͆̍a̸̛̼̲͒p̵̱̓̋o̵͔͗l̷͓̰̃͆o̸̗͉͝g̴̺̅͘i̷̗̞͐z̸̢̅͐e̴̹̪͑.̴͍̽͊ ̶̥͇́Ḋ̷͉̝o̸̤̚n̸͉̅͝'̷̨̞͐ț̶͊̈ ̴̲̰̒̓t̸̳̟͐u̷̟̅r̷̛̤̂n̶̨̹̋̾ ̶̱͌h̷͖͝î̶̮̤͠m̷̲͘ ̴̠̬͑ì̷͉̙͝n̶̢̪͋͘t̵̰͊͋o̸̺̣͒̃ ̶͉̂a̴̜̺͝ ̸̰̘̔̊l̵̬͝i̴̧̒l̷͍͕̾̕y̷̙̤̌͝.̶̧̖̚ ̷̻͒L̶̢͓͌͑ḯ̷̢̹l̴̙̮̿̑į̵̰́̒ȅ̵̻͎̏ś̵̜ ̴̲͘a̶͔̲̐r̷̜̭͗e̴̖̚ ̴̜̕ĩ̴̪n̶̥̓́ń̵̥̃ȏ̸͔͜c̶̗͍̑ĕ̶̬͉́n̵̢̛̝t̶̡̫̑̚.̶̘̙͊̏" She took a deep breath. "What I wanted to say is I'm sorry. I shouldn't have exploded at you back in the presentation. I know this is not the best excuse, nor am I using it as one, but stress from the exams and the last few weeks has caught up to me. And the result was what happened earlier,"

His eyes widened before he coughed to compose himself. "I see, I appreciate the thought, Manson-san." He gave his hand out in agreement. "And it might not have been the best and most hero-like behavior to call you out in public like that,"

She took his hand with a polite smile. "At least you are reasonable," She joked making him let a chuckle out.

"Now," Sam had to dodge from the hands that started to chop everywhere, "We have an exam to finish and I expect us to put in our best performance. Now if you would excuse me,"

With that he headed out and Sam had to stifle her giggle at how robotic he looked as he walked to his bus. "Should probably go to my own bus now," She mumbled turning to the long line of busses with a wince. She was probably one of the last considering she was in Battle Arena H.