The Harbinger (My Hero Academia OC)

Chapter 6

"This exam simulates the sort of extended mission a professional hero might undertake. The scenario is that a master villain has abducted a civilian and is holding that abductee in an isolated, abandoned factory. You receive word on the location of that factory and have decided to go and rescue the victim yourself." the Principal explained. "There are several parts to this rescue mission. First you will have to get by the guards outside the factory. You can use stealth to sneak by them, fight them directly, use trickery to convince them to let you in, or take some other action. If they spot you, they will try to prevent you from entering the building and they will report you to the villains inside the factory. Either being reported or making too much noise outside will cost you any element of surprise and possibly give the interior guards the opportunity to move the abductee."

"Second, you will have to deal with the guards inside the factory who will try to stop you from reaching the civilian. Again, you can use any tactic you think will be effective, but you must get the victim out of the factory. Once you have the civilian free you will need to determine their condition and do what is necessary so they are safe to move. When you are ready to proceed, you will press the button on your communicator to call in an airlift that will pick up the abductee from the roof and take them to the hospital for medical attention and reuniting with their family."

The Principal looked at each of the five applicants and said seriously, "Just as in life, actions and decisions have consequences. In this examination everything counts. You will be evaluated not just on whether you were able to complete the mission but on how you do it, and why. There is no one right answer to this puzzle. We are judging your performance, but also the attitudes and thoughts as revealed by what you do. So, give this your all. Plus ultra!"

Jack looked at the other four applicants. He was told there were originally six students offered the opportunity to compete for the seat opened by Mineta's expulsion for slipping into the showers with the American Cheerleaders during the first day of the Sports Festival. Rumor said he'd done much more than that, but the golden teen thought most of the gossip was exaggeration. Hatsume Mei was the sixth candidate, but she had refused the offer, preferring to stay in the Support course. That made sense, given what Jack knew of her, or her alternate's, future.

He had met two of the other competitors before – Shinso at the Sports Festival and Basilisk in the Business program. The other two were unknowns. Given that the candidates were not going to be competing directly against each other his not knowing their quirks, skills, or personalities was not a disadvantage. He did not have to worry about them at this time, only about what the teachers had planned. If the staff were playing true to form, the students would be more of those robots they had used in the entrance exam. They seemed to have a surplus of them.

But the fact that the school had used the machines twice against the first years already made him think it was unlikely the teachers would find it appropriate for them to make a third appearance. So, the guards would probably be students as there were not enough teachers to play as opponents in five simultaneous simulations. Jack decided they would probably not put upper-classmen against untested first years, so it was likely the guards would be members of Class 1-A and 1-B. There were forty of the first-year Hero students, thirty-nine now, so there should not be more than seven, likely fewer, guards in each factory – especially if the civilian victims were also played by students.

Fighting five- or six-to-one odds, what could go wrong? Jack thought sarcastically. Why am I doing this again?

# # # # #

The final day of the Sports Festival started with a nationally broadcast apology from Mineto Minoru, the bubble-haired kid from Class 1-A. He was surrounded by his parents, Aizawa-sensei and the Principal. After the kid told everyone how sorry he was for his bad behavior and for besmirching the good name of UA they all bowed low. Nezu-kocho voiced his regret for UA failing to inculcate proper behavior into the boy and let it be known Mineta had been expelled from the school. Jack, who was watching from the stands surrounded by his classmates, commented, "Seems a bit much for a school offense. I wonder what he did?"