ATOMIC STRUGGLE

9「gym gamma」7

"I believe I mentioned this already, but your main focus this summer is obtaining provisional hero licenses," Aizawa reminded his class a few days later. Everyone had settled into their new dorm life, and now it was time to get back on track. "Do not take this lightly," He stared his class down. "A hero license means you're responsible for human lives. You can imagine the exam to receive one is very difficult. And no, you cannot rely on Morgan during the exam for anything because he will be doing his own personal exam during that time."

"Oh, then..." Uraraka looked at Izak with furrowed eyebrows. 

"I assume his personal exam is going to be less about his quirk and more about his character?" Iida raised his hand, and Aizawa sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I have no idea what sort of test they'll give him to be honest, but you're right that his quirk will not be a factor in it, unlike all of yours," The teacher explained. "The rest of you will be taking the test together as a class, so you can choose to work together or not, it's up to you. Now then. back to what I was saying, only fifty percent of students pass the test required for these permits each year."

"It's that hard to get a provisional license?!" Mineta gawked, and Aizawa's eyes narrowed further. 

"In order to prepare, today you'll concentrate on creating something new..." He paused as the door opened, revealing Midnight, Ectoplasm and Cementos. "Two ultimate moves," Aizawa finished, and the resident idiots parroted it back disbelievingly. 

"An exam is a normal school thing!"

"But this is total hero work!" 

"When we say ultimate," Ectoplasm took over from Aizawa as the excited students calmed down enough to not be interrupting. "We mean a move that will ensure your win against your opponent."

"An action so unique to your identity that no other person could hope to copy it," Cementos continued on. "Simply put: you must learn to lean into your strengths."

"Your moves represent who you are," Midnight added. "These days, most pro heroes have an ultimate move, those who don't are fools."

"This may sound abstract, but we'll explain more as the day goes on. For now, change into your costumes and meet in gym gamma. Morgan, you can come, but you won't be doing anything, unless someone specifically asks for your help," Aizawa pointedly told him, so the maroonette nodded. 

"Then I won't change, if it's all the same to you."

"Whatever." Everyone went to do as they were told, and headed over to gym gamma when they were done changing. When they gathered there, they stood before their teachers as their homeroom started talking. "Gym Gamma, also known at the academy as the training dining land or TDL."

"...huh?" No one seemed to know why UA liked acronyms so much. 

"This facility was my idea," Cementos said as he brought up a mini structure with many levels on it, looking kind of like a mountain or a mountain-like city. "We could prepare unique terrain and obstacles for each student here. Here, you will learn to serve up justice, hence the name."

"That's pretty cool," Kaminari said before Iida's hand suddenly shot up into the air. 

"Please allow me a question!" He requested, but went on with the asking before anyone actually gave him permission. "What is the advantage of having ultimate move for our provisional exam? May we know your reasoning?"

"That's two questions, calm down," Aizawa deadpanned at the class president. "The job of a hero is to save people from all sorts of dangers: crime, accidents, and natural or man-made disasters. Of course, the licensing exam analyses how well you're able to deal with such things. It won't just be fighting, your ability to gather information and make quick decisions will be judged, in addition to how you communicate, cooperate and lead others. Every year, a new test is used to evaluate these qualities."

"One thing is especially important," Midnight stepped forward, one finger up. "If you want to be a pro hero, you must be able to prevail in battle. The only one here that can claim certain victory in any scenario is Morgan, so the rest of you have a long way to go, and must prove yourselves capable of such feats. If you're prepared, you won't have to worry, and those of you with an ultimate move will have stronger results."

"Your circumstances should not dictate the result of your future battles. Learn to be consistent and you will be a great asset on the front lines," Cementos smiled. 

"Your ultimate move doesn't necessarily have to be an attack," Ectoplasm went on. "Take Iida's resipro burst for example. This sort of temporary boost in speed is valuable enough that it falls under the category of excellence we're looking for," He explained. 

Iida clutched his heart and shook like a branch in the wind. "You mean I've been doing an ultimate move all along?!"

"So it's basically our secret weapon, something that gives us the edge so that we can win no matter who or what we're facing," Sato summarised, causing Midnight to wink at him. 

"There's a smart boy," She smirked. "For example, how Kamui Woods is able to use his Lacquered Chain Prison to capture opponents in an instant. That is exactly what we want to see," the R-rated hero told the class.

"The training camp was interrupted, but the practice you did get in to develop your quirks was part of the process needed to create these defining abilities," Aizawa said as Cementos activated his quirk. "Now that you're caught up, you'll be working hard to create powerful moves of your own for the next ten days or so. This is how you will spend the remaining days of your summer vacation," He said. As he was talking, Cementos had built several pillars and Ectoplasm had produced several clones, one for each pillar peak. "Prepare for intensive training," Aizawa warned as the students gawked at the change to the plain room. "In addition, you should think about how you can improve your costumes, especially now that you have a better understanding of your quirks," He looked around with that serious expression. "I expect each of you to go plus ultra, do you have it in you?"

"...I can never take you seriously when you say plus ultra."

"Morgan, shut up and go sit in the corner."

"Okay."

[Hey guys, this will be the last update for a while. School is hitting me hard this semester, so my next updates will probably be in May when the semester ends. Until then, I wish you all the best! If you like this story, consider tipping me on Ko-Fi, where you might get a surprise~! Link is on my profile. Thank you for reading my story!]