A/N: Sorry this took longer than I originally thought it would. Turns out, fight scenes are hard to write, especially when on vacation. I hope you enjoy Gohan's Combat Exams! Please, READ AND REVIEW! Reviews really do help motivate me to write faster.

Six Months Later

Gohan stepped on the campus of UA for the first time since he met with Nezu half a year ago, still wearing the gym uniform that he borrowed when he first arrived, although the uniform was now somewhat ragged. A tattered backpack hung from his back, haphazardly filled with books of various sizes.

As he stepped on the campus, the skeletal form of All Might stepped out from behind a nearby tree and held up a long, thin hand. "Young Gohan!"

Gohan waved to the man, giving him a wide grin. "Toshinori-san! Good morning!" Over the past six months, Gohan got to know the Number One Hero fairly well as he helped train All Might's successor. The man was very similar to Gohan's father, open, honest and earnest in his desire to help people. Toshinori was also had a wealth of knowledge about the world, from anecdotes about his hero work to goofy stories about his time traveling America, a different nation across the ocean to the East. The older hero was always happy to spend time with Gohan, answering questions about hero work or about the world overall.

Toshinori waved Gohan over. "Come, young Gohan, I am to take you to your combat testing grounds!" He led Gohan onto the large campus, the large H-shaped building visible in the distance.

Gohan effortlessly kept pace with the lanky blonde, something that Toshinori appreciated after years of needing to slow down for his shorter colleagues. "So what kinds of tests are they having me do today, Toshinori-san? I know Nezu-kouchou said it would be a combat exam, but what sort of combat?" Gohan looked down, rubbing his chin. "Midoriya-san said that the standard entrance exam might be fighting against robots, though I was hoping for something a little more… intensive. Maybe if you saved some time, we can spar."

The emaciated blonde glanced back at Gohan, reaching up to scratch his temple. 'Perhaps…' Toshinori's greatest strength in a fight was his overwhelming speed, power, and experience. Proper technique has something that he had dropped to the wayside years ago when it was apparent that his power was so overwhelming that technique didn't matter. Gohan, however, had demonstrated his own enormous amounts of power and he had techniques in spades. Toshinori also suspected that Gohan was holding back, something that slightly worried the hero. Gohan had caused minor tremors while training to hold back his punches. He couldn't deny, though, that sparring with the younger man was a tantalizing thought, if only for the novelty of using his maximum power without the stakes of a villain attack.

The pair came up to a small group of people standing in front of UA's main building. Four individuals stood in a fanned out line, quietly chatting amongst themselves. As Toshinori and Gohan reached them, the chatting ceased, and all eyes locked on the pair.

Gohan glanced over the four adults, noting their unusual outfits and relaxed postures. Two men stood in the middle, both thin and relatively tall with overlong hair. One had black lank hair arranged haphazardly across his shoulders, a gray layered scarf settled over a black jumpsuit. He had a bland expression across his face that contrasted with his eyes which, while drooping, were sharp enough to slice through steel.

The other man was blonde, his overlong hair swept up into a single long, spiky swoosh. He wore a black jacket and similar black pants while a speaker-like device hung around his neck. He had a wide grin across his face that belied the watchfulness that his posture radiated. A pair of black sunglasses hid his eyes and headphones adorned his ears. His place closer to the black-haired man showed that the two of them were close allies, if not close friends.

The woman standing by the black-haired man was tall, for a woman, and wore an exceptionally tight outfit that left little to the imagination. Her wild ebony hair framed her face and emphasized her smirking expression. A whip hung from her belt and she wore her sensuality like a cloak yet Gohan could tell that she could wield it like a sword. She was close to the black-haired man, but not as close as the blonde. Obviously all three were allies.

The last man was taller than the rest and had significantly more muscle than any of them. He wore a red spandex suit and had gray hair, his mouth set in a strong scowl that showcased two upward facing fangs. He was younger than the other three, his face less lined with stress than the other three. Obviously, they were colleagues, but he wasn't part of the natural group that the other three formed.

If it came down to a battle, Gohan knew that he would have to exploit the divisions between the adults. Isolate the man in red first, then the woman. The men in the middle would need to be dealt with together.

Gohan opened his mouth to speak but stopped when the black-haired man's scarf moved suddenly. The young Saiyan closed his mouth as Principal Nezu's head popped out of the cloth.

"Young Gohan! Welcome to UA!"

Gohan blinked, tilted his head, and opened his mouth again. "Um… hello again, Nezu-kouchou. Is there a reason that you were hiding in a scarf?"

The spiky-haired blonde raised a fist to his mouth, muffling what sounded like laughter. Nezu outright laughed about the frank question. "It's actually very comfortable! I'd recommend it, but I don't believe you would fit. Too bad, really, Aizawa-sensei really is very comfortable."

Gohan grinned at the white-furred mammal. He'd almost forgotten how much he enjoyed speaking with Nezu. "I'll take your word for it, Nezu-kouchou. What is this combat exam you wanted me to take?"

Nezu grinned, his sharp teeth glinting in the morning sunlight as he used Aizawa's scarf to rappel down from his perch. "Oh, I just couldn't decide on a single test, so I decided on three tests!" He gestured to the blonde man to his left. "This is Yamada Hizashi-sensei, better known as the Voice Hero: Present Mic! He shall proctor the first test which is the standard entrance test for our hero course. Some of our faculty have expressed some misgivings as to my proposition for your position, so your testing shall help to put those misgivings to rest. Oh, and before I forget, these are your other proctors: Kayama Nemuri, otherwise known as the R-Rated Heroine: Midnight," the woman cracked her whip against the ground, a massive grin adorning her face; "Aizawa Shouta, AKA the Erasure Hero: Eraserhead," the black-haired man nodded, his expression radiating boredom and apathy; "and Sekijiro Kan, better known as the Blood Hero: Vlad King." The red-clad man crossed his arms and nodded to Gohan and Toshinori.

Gohan raised an eyebrow but bowed at the waist. "It is nice to meet you, sensei's. I am Son Gohan, age 16. This will be my first time in a formal school environment. Please take excellent care of me." He then looked back to Nezu. "What will be my other tests?"

"You'll find out," Nezu said, "as we get to them. For now, please follow Yamada-sensei to the first location."

Gohan shrugged and gestured for the blonde man to lead the way. "After you, Yamada-sensei."

As they walked together, Present Mic peppered Gohan questions. "Where are you from? How did you meet Toshinori-san and Nezu-san? What do you think of the Hero Rankings?"

"I'm from an isolated part of the mountains, grew up in the middle of nowhere. I met Toshinori-san and Nezu-kouchou after an incident brought me to their attention. I don't really think much of the Hero Rankings."

Gohan's last answer brought Present Mic up short. "What do you mean?"

"They don't mean a lot, in the grand scheme of things. When Nezu-kouchou was introducing all of you, he mentioned your hero names." Present Mic nodded, not knowing where this was going. "I've been helping train a kid who is taking the Entrance Exam tomorrow, and he's a hero fanatic. Talks non-stop about heroes. He helped me look into the top heroes and most of them don't impress me. I also had him help me look up the heroes who teach here, none of whom, outside of Toshinori-san, are in the top fifty hero rankings."

Gohan impressed Present Mic with his eloquence and foresight to look up his future teachers but the hero wanted to know if his reasoning stood up to his eloquence. "Go on."

Gohan shrugged. "Well, looking at most of the staff here, they have a spotless record of heroics and are well known for going above and beyond the call of duty. You have your radio show, but you rarely tout your own hero work on that show, emphasizing the deeds that police, firefighters, and EMTs do across the nation. Eraserhead maintains his patrols in the poorest parts of town, even when he has a full class load, while Midnight and Vlad King volunteer as Quirk Counselors to orphanages across the city. These are all things that I would consider when making the Hero Rankings, but they are just afterthoughts. Comparing just the four of you to those in the Top Fifty, I would place the four of you in the top twenty, if not higher. And heroes," Present Mic could hear the contempt dripping from Gohan's voice at that word, "like Endeavor would never make it on the list."

Gohan's reasoning hit Present Mic like a brick, almost tripping over an uneven brick on the walkway as he listened to the younger man. "That's what you really think? Endeavor has one of the highest solve rates of any hero in the country, though I'll admit that his attitude could use some work."

Gohan paused on the walkway, turning to fully face the Voice Hero. "Endeavor only wants the title of being the strongest. From my experience, a hero is someone willing to sacrifice for the common good. That Toshinori is the Number One Hero is regardless of his strength, but instead, his heart and willingness to help anyone and everyone who needs it."

Present Mic could tell that this was the end of the discussion for Gohan, so he barreled on with his questions. "Why do you want to be a hero, Listener-san?"

"My parents raised me to do everything I can to help the most people possible. Back home, that meant following in my father's footsteps. Here, that means becoming a hero."

Present Mic nodded to himself. "So, what's your Quirk?"

"Don't have one. I'm a martial artist, trained from a very young age." Gohan glanced down at the shorter man's surprised look. "Don't worry, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. What can you tell me about this test?"

"Well, you'll be facing various kinds of robots in an urban setting." Present Mic pulled out a sheet of paper. "One type is worth a single point, another is worth two, and the third is worth three points. There is also a fourth robot worth zero points. You following me so far, Listener-san?"

Gohan nodded. "Yeah, I follow. Break the robots, get points. Simple. What's the time limit?"

"Ten minutes from when I say go. The others will watch from the observation room."

"Last question: Does the city need to be standing at the end of this?"

Present Mic blinked and looked up into the face of the younger man. "Yes. We have a lot of funding, but it isn't unlimited. Besides, we use these training grounds for things other than the entrance exams and everyone else has to take the exam tomorrow."

A smile played across Gohan's face. "Good to know. Minimal collateral damage. See, that's valuable information."

Present Mic nodded, concern emanating from him.

They arrived at the gates of a training ground after a few minutes of quiet. Present Mic quietly spoke into a microphone attached to his sleeve before nodding and turning to face Gohan.

"All right, Listener-san, it's almost time to go! Anything you need?"

Gohan shrugged off his backpack and handed it off to the older hero. "Just hold on to that. I need to return the books to the library when we finish up the testing."

Present Mic took the bag and gestured towards the open gates. "If you're ready, GET GOING, LISTENER-SAN!" The Voice Hero shouted the last part through his speaker, helpfully (but unknowingly) directed away from Gohan's sensitive ears.

TEST NUMBER ONE

The tall Saiyan jogged through the gates, though it looked like a run to an outside observer. As Gohan entered the makeshift city, he saw four robots on the first street, three one-pointers and a pair of three-pointers. A negligent flick of his wrist and a small, invisible pulse of ki destroyed the one-pointers while he kicked through one three-pointer with enough force to launch shrapnel through the second large robot. Gohan raised an eyebrow at the robots.

"You know, I knew the robots would be fragile. I didn't think they'd be that fragile, though…" He shrugged. "Whatever." The Saiyan continued blitzing through the course, destroying every robot that came near him. After a while, Gohan began to just use the invisible ki pulses to destroy the robots, a bored expression on his face.

A sudden rumbling stopped him. He looked up as he heard something hit a building and saw what could only be the zero-point robot that Present Mic had spoken about. A grin spread across the fighter's face. Gohan launched himself into the air, soaring high above the robot. He raised his hands over his head, placing one palm over the other just above his forehead. A yellow sphere of light emitted from Gohan's palm, hovering just over his spiky black hair. "Masenkooooo…" Gohan thrusted his hands forward, aiming at the boxy head of the massive robot. "HA!"

A beam of yellow light screamed out of Gohan's hand, blowing through the large robot and rocking the ground with an explosion that took out its tank-like treads. The robot teetered and fell, crashing into the ground in a cloud of dust.

Gohan flew down to a nearby roof and took a seat. His sharp eyes spotted a single one-pointer that he had somehow missed on his run through the city. A small yellow ki blast solved that problem, just in time for a loud buzzer sound to ring out along with Present Mic's voice.

"AND THAT IS THE FINAL VILLIAN BOT! COME ON BACK TO THE BATTLEGROUND GATES, LISTENER-SAN!"

Gohan grinned and flew over to the gates, touching down beside the blonde Pro Hero.

"How'd I do?"

Present Mic just stared at him. "Listener-san, I thought you said you didn't have a quirk!? What do you call flying and shooting beams of light from your hands!?"

"Manipulation of life energy, called ki. Anyone can use it, given enough effort and practice." Gohan looked down the road, seeing the small group of adults coming up the road.

Present Mic grinned wildly, his mind racing. 'This kid might just change the world with that kind of power and mindset.'

"How'd I do, Nezu-kouchou?"

The unusual creature had a grin full of sharp teeth. Aizawa kept his face blank but the other three Pros had wide grins on their faces.

"You did well, Young Gohan. Very well! You cleared the bots in record time and are the first to destroy the Zero Pointer robot in several years. If you were taking the standard first-year entrance exam, I would say that you were more than qualified to begin the heroics course!"

"Qualified? He shattered course in a way that most of our graduates couldn't," grunted Sekijiro. "I can only think of a few heroes, all in the top hundred or working as Underground Heroes, who could do something like that in the time you took. Including taking out the Zero Pointer with minimal effort."

Gohan shrugged. "They were robots. They aren't that big of a threat, really. If they were faster or used tactics, they might pose some kind of threat." The young Saiyan looked over at Nezu. "So, what's the next test, sensei?"

"Next is more… evasion-based. Aizawa-sensei," Nezu gestured to the black-haired man beside him, "will administer this test. He will explain it on the way to your next exam site." Aizawa began walking down the path without a word. Gohan rolled his eyes at Toshinori, getting a grin from the older hero, and followed the man.

The pair of black-haired men strode purposefully down the walkway, neither exchanging a single word. They finally arrived at another enormous gate, similar to the gate they had just left. At the entrance of the gate, Aizawa turned to face Gohan.

"This is your next test. Personally, I think this is a waste of everyone's time." Aizawa glared at Gohan, his black eyes turning ruby red as his hair floated. "If Nezu thinks you're strong enough to blow through testing, then he should just get you into the licensure test. It is irrational to keep you tied down here at UA, even if you're young. However, it is also illogical to treat you special, since you are just a student. Either way, I hate it."

Gohan continued to meet Aizawa's gaze evenly, obviously unimpressed by the attempted dominance display. "I'm not here to for popularity. I'm just to become a hero, like anyone else. Age rarely means anything important, it is maturity that is important." The Saiyan teen looked up at the gate. "So what is this test?"

Aizawa's eyes returned to normal, his hair falling back in its normal limp state. "This is a set of exercises and then a final large-scale exercise." Aizawa produced a ball with a band around it. "How far can you throw a ball without your Quirk?"

Gohan blinked. "Without my Quirk? What do you mean?"

Aizawa narrowed his eyes, an edge coming to his voice. "Your Quirk. The one that allows you to move the way you do and manipulate energy."

"Sensei, I don't have a Quirk. I move the way I move and manipulate energy because of years of intensive training. I thought Nezu-kouchou told you about my circumstances…" Gohan furrowed the skin between his eyebrows. "I'm technically Quirkless. I'm… not from around here. I use energy called ki, life energy. I can't just turn it off, I use it subconsciously in my muscles and bones."

Aizawa turned his eyes red again, his hair floating. "Try to float like you did during the last test."

Gohan shrugged, channeling his ki under his feet. The tall Saiyan floated above the concrete walkway. Aizawa's eyes flickered back to black once again, a scowl on his face. He tossed the boy the striped ball.

"Throw this as far as you can."

"Umm… ok." Gohan looked down at the ball and back at Aizawa. He tossed the ball up and down in his hand for a moment, then turned to face away from Aizawa. Thinking back to the times that Yamcha taught him how to play baseball, Gohan set his feet and threw the ball as hard as he could. A windy backlash blew Aizawa's limp hair back, his black eyes wide. "Um, you didn't want that back, right?"

"No, we have plenty." Aizawa looked down at a screen he pulled from his pocket. He showed Gohan the screen. It had the infinity symbol under the heading 'Distance Traveled.' "The rest of this segment of the test is a series of exercises that you would have done in middle school. First is a fifty-meter dash."

As Gohan went through the various exercises, Aizawa was becoming more amazed by the minute. This kid could run fifty meters in a literal blink of an eye, launch himself across a soccer field without breaking a sweat, make literal afterimages during the repeated side steps, and broke the grip machine with two fingers.

"Gohan-san, why are you here as a student? In terms of sheer physical ability, you are head and shoulders ninety-nine percent of the heroes active in Japan today."

Gohan raised an eyebrow at the question. "I'm here to learn, sensei. I'm powerful, but that's not the only thing that makes a hero. Nezu-kouchou seemed to think I could learn about the legal and non-physical aspects of being a hero while lending some of my experience to students. One reason that he wants me as a teaching assistant, not an actual student." Gohan rolled a shoulder, stretching the joint. "What's this last part of the exam?"

"Simple." Aizawa pushed open the gates they had been standing beside during the entire fitness test. "I give you a two-minute head start and then give chase. You must either evade me or capture me within ten minutes." The older man tossed Gohan a roll of white tape. "Use this to show that you've captured me."

"Fine," Gohan said, slipping the tape into his pocket. "When do you want me to go in?"

Aizawa gave the younger man a wide toothy grin. "Now."

TEST NUMBER TWO

Gohan blurred away, shooting through the open gate. He darted down several alleyways and jumped to the top of a nearby building. The young Saiyan waited for a couple of moments, listening to the silent urban landscape. His head jerked to one side as a gentle scuff sounded off the roof behind him. Gohan jumped to the side, dodging a spear of red liquid, a grin spreading across Gohan's face.

"So that's the deception that Aizawa-sensei likes so much, huh?" Gohan lunged at the red-clad figure that appeared in front of him. "I'm not just fighting him, I'm fighting all of you."

"He likes his mind games," the red-clad figure said as he dodged Gohan's opening salvo, ducking under the last kick. The gray-haired man threw out his own punches, growling as he missed every attempt. "I am the Blood Hero: Vlad King! You'll find that I'm a lot harder to put down than those robots from earlier!"

"I hope so." Gohan flickered out of Vlad's sight, but no immediate attack came at the Blood Hero. Vlad looked around, finally spotting Gohan standing cross-armed a few feet behind him. "Though this is getting a little boring if one of us doesn't do something interesting soon."

Vlad growled and began throwing rapid-fire punches, lashing out with short red spears at irregular intervals. Gohan dodged languidly, side stepping the spears while pushing aside the punches.

"I know that Midnight is standing on a roof two buildings over and Yamada-sensei is with Aizawa-sensei three streets over, ready for me to jump down into a nearby alley. So why did they send you out as the opener?"

Vlad grunted and sped up his punches, tossing in a few attempts at grappling at the same time. He waited for the boy to push aside another punch, then emitted a wave of red liquid that captured his opponent's forearm. "Because I'm physically the strongest! Midnight-san! Now!"

The woman darted over from her rooftop, tearing a section of her sheer sleeve off to emit a purple smoke directed at Gohan. The Saiyan held his breath the moment she moved from her rooftop perch, surprising the Blood Hero by swinging him at the approaching woman. The sudden motion took him off his feet, Gohan using him as a flail against his comrade, smacking the slim brunette off the roof he occupied. The swing had the secondary effect of blowing Midnight's sleeping gas away from him. "You should have considered if you were physically stronger than your opponent."

A swift strike from the young Saiyan shattered the hardened liquid connecting Vlad to his arm, forcing the red-clad hero to catch himself before Gohan used a front kick to knock Vlad off the roof. He leapt across to the next roof where Midnight was trying to stand. Gohan wrapped a length of the white capture tape around Midnight's wrist before she could stand up. A blast of a horn echoed across the arena, signaling that she was out of the fight.

Gohan backflipped off the roof, aiming for the woozy Vlad King laying on the fire escape. The young Saiyan checked him over for injuries, then wrapped another length of capture tape on his wrist. Another horn blast echoed in the distance.

"There's two down, at least two to go. Sorry, senseis', I gotta go. Talk later!" With that, Gohan jumped backwards, planting a foot on the rail of the fire escape to push off towards Yamada and Aizawa.

"How do you think he faired against Vlad and Midnight? He did really well against the robots, but people are a lot different." Present Mic hunkered down beside Aizawa, the pair observing the rooftops for any sign of Gohan or their comrades jumping off to escape trouble. A pair of horn blasts caught their attention and Aizawa grimaced.

"He got the two of them. Those two had an excellent chance of taking him down, since he knew nothing about their Quirks. I'm going to go scout, see if I can find him."

Aizawa jumped away, using his capture scarf to swing around the corner away from Present Mic.

A voice came from behind the Voice Hero. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Pretty good. We're just waiting for the kid to come by so we can surprise him," Present Mic said with his eyes glued to the rooftops.

"Neat." The voice had a laconic drawl to it.

"Yeah," Present Mic said, "he'll never see it com…ing… oh."

An explosion launched the blonde hero out of the alley into the principal street. He coughed, the thick smoke choking him while he lay on the ground. The Voice Hero could hear an amused voice coming from the smoke.

"Looks like that even works on heroes. Good to know."

Present Mic propped himself on his elbows, watching Gohan saunter out of the destroyed alley with a smirk playing across his lips.

"Aizawa-sensei, I hope you weren't planning for me to do that to Yamada-sensei." The younger man tilted his head out of the way of a gray scarf that came slicing down. "That would just be cold, using your best friend as bait. Not to mention it didn't work, which has to just add salt to that wound." He grabbed the scarf, pulling as he spun on his heels in a tight circle, whipping Aizawa around him to throw him into the prone Present Mic.

"Eraser Head, how do we keep getting into these situations?"

Aizawa groaned from his place on top of Present Mic. "Fifteen years of friendship and I still don't know." He looked down at his wrist, which sported a brand-new capture tape bracelet. "And we lost." The black-haired hero laid his head back on Present Mic's shoulder. "You pass, Son-san. Go back to the entrance to Nezu to get the information for your last test. I'm going to take a nap."

Gohan chuckled and started walking towards the entrance. He had one last test to complete.

MEANWHILE, DURING TEST TWO

Toshinori and Nezu sat on a pair of chairs at the entrance of the urban battleground, a stand filled with screens in front of them. "Toshinori-kun, how has your successor been coming along with Young Gohan helping," Nezu questioned, his eyes trained on the screen showing Gohan engaged in combat with Vlad King.

"He's doing well," Toshinori said while he continued to watch. "Young Gohan helped to change my original plan for Young Midoriya, adding some basic fight training that I was remiss in not including originally."

Nezu hummed in acknowledgement, wincing at the last kick that knocked Vlad King off the roof. "I have some concerns in how he will be received by the upperclassmen. Aside from the Big Three, many of our hero course upperclassmen are rather… full of themselves. Presenting someone younger to be an authority figure will be a challenge for them to accept."

Toshinori snorted, holding back a laugh as Gohan surprised Present Mic. "Have anyone who objects fight Young Gohan. If they have trouble accepting that age is only a number, they will not go far in our field. It might be better to have that attitude beat out them here rather than risk their deaths on the outside world."

Nezu glanced over at Toshinori, a grin slowly spreading over his face. "I had a similar thought, especially after this display. I'll wait until after his last test to make my decision."

Toshinori coughed violently into a handkerchief, wiping away stray blood droplets. "What is his last test?" The grin that crossed the small mammal's face unsettled him.

"How much hero work have you done today?"

Toshinori raised his eyebrows in surprise. "None. Every call this morning that I saw was already being taken care of effectively." He looked back at the screen for a second, his eyebrows shooting up as two more blasts of the horn went off. "Wait. Why?"

"I'd like to have him fight you."

Toshinori coughed in surprise, splattering his fist with speckles of blood.

"Me?! Why me? Isn't that a little much for an entrance exam?"

Nezu shrugged.

"One would think so, yes. However, his acceptance is not predicated upon defeating you. I would like for you to push him as far as you can in the allowed time-span. Let's say five minutes, shall we?"

Toshinori stared at Nezu, his electric blue eyes glinting harshly in the daylight. The pair maintained eye contact for several seconds, expressions blank, before the emaciated blonde broke the stalemate, looking at the ground with a grimace. He raised his head to look back at the small principal.

"Fine. On one condition."

Nezu raised an eyebrow and waited patiently. "Yes?"

"If he has a good enough display against me, you will pull some strings to have him take the provisional license exam coming up in April."

Nezu stared into the intense eyes of his newest teacher, his expression blank. After a moment, a massive grin burst across his face. "Of course, Toshinori-kun. He has truly impressed you, hasn't he? What is it that makes you trust him so much?"

Toshinori turned his face up to stare at the sky. "Have you ever been around a person whose sole motivation is to help others?"

Nezu tilted his head. "Among humans, no. Even you, the one who embodies the spirit of heroics, has other motivations, few that they may be. True selflessness is not a trait that I particularly associate with humans."

Toshinori nodded. "True, humans have a habit of being fickle and complex, driven by many motivations. However, Young Gohan seems motivated entirely by his desire to help others. He has even helped me, reminding me that in my zeal to stop crimes, I am doing a disservice to the world and my fellow heroes."

"How so?"

"As Gohan put it," Toshinori drawled, his gaze still locked on the sky, "I was taking the entire burden of the world on my shoulders even though I know that I will not be there forever. I only have to access my powers for a few hours a day, therefore I have a responsibility to make sure I don't waste that time with problems that others can deal handle. As the Number One Hero, if I waste my time with minor robberies and thugs, then I may not have the time to spare if something major happens that others cannot handle." Toshinori sighed, looking down to see Gohan walking up the path toward them. "Even worse, I was creating a dependence upon me and projecting that dependence upon Young Midoriya. Even though he hasn't taken my power yet, I can see the future weighing on him in a way that it did not weigh on me for many years into my service as a hero. If not for Young Gohan's guidance, I would be fearful of Young Midoriya's future wellbeing if that prediction came to pass. I now know that no matter what happens to me, there will be someone to be a rock for the world to rely upon."

Nezu stared at the young Saiyan walking up the path to them, looking utterly unruffled even after engaging four powerful Pro Heroes. "Toshinori-kun, are you saying that Young Gohan is to be the new Symbol of Peace rather than your successor?"

The emaciated blonde shook his head, a smile flickering across his thin lips. "Oh no, Midoriya will be the next Symbol of Peace. I'm certain of that. I believe that Gohan shall be revered as the pinnacle of Justice and Hope, the true embodiment of heroics. He is a bright spotlight for future heroes to follow."

Gohan strode up to the two older heroes sitting behind a set of screens. He met the intense blue eyes of Toshinori over the top of the screens while he walked, giving the emaciated man a grin as he approached, giving the emaciated blonde a confident grin.

"Young Gohan," Nezu said with a wide grin. "You passed with flying colors! Although I expect Aizawa-kun to dock you points for not ending the encounter as soon as possible."

Gohan shrugged. "If I ended it immediately, you never would have gotten to see my abilities, which defeats the purpose of the test. Besides, isn't the unspoken part of this test checking if I can draw back my power enough to train students?" Nezu's grin grew, signaling to Gohan that his guess had been correct. "So, what is this last test?"

Toshinori stood up from his seat to look Gohan in the eye, his form bulking to full-size. "A one-on-one battle with me! Five minutes, no boundaries, the only restrictions are no killing or permanent injuries!"

The young Saiyan felt his mouth stretch into a grin. While he was not as battle-crazy as his father, Gohan enjoyed testing his limits. And All Might was definitely THE challenge on Earth.

"All right, Toshinori-san, when and where?"

"We're going out to where you first arrived! Seems fitting to have your last exam in the same place that you entered to our dimension! Meet me there in an hour!" Toshinori shrunk down to his skinny form, handing Gohan a folded stack of bills. "Go grab lunch and we'll see you there."

Gohan launched himself into the air, speeding out of the visual range of the two older Pro Heroes. Nezu glanced over at Toshinori.

"Did you ever discover exactly where he has been living since he arrived here? And how he has been making money?"

The emaciated blonde shook his head with a sigh. "No. Unfortunately, he always disappears at the end of his sessions with Young Midoriya. He always knows when I'm at the end of my time limit and makes sure he only disappears when I can't follow. I'm sure he would answer if you asked, sir."

Nezu shook his head. "I highly doubt it. I've only spoken to him a few times, while you have built a significant rapport with him. Perhaps if you ask him during your spar, he might be more inclined to answer."

Toshinori nodded as he stood, stretching his long limbs across his emaciated torso. "I can try, Nezu-san." The lanky blonde motioned towards the main building. "Shall we grab some lunch before this last test?"

Nezu nodded with a smile, hopping down from his chair. "Of course, old friend. Lunch Rush should have something nice for us today."

Gohan looked around the cleared land surrounding the crater that his pod had created half a year ago. He could feel the miniscule ki of the many creatures that occupied the area along with the few humans who were walking the nearby trails. As much as Gohan would like to just let the animals stay where they were, they would be in danger from the aftermath of the upcoming spar, as were the humans nearby. A quick burst of intent-filled ki caused all the nearby wildlife to scatter. The humans walked a little faster, their ki spiking slightly in a fear response to Gohan's negative intent.

Gohan took off his backpack and set it aside as he stretched. He shadowboxed, throwing kicks and punches in increasingly complex combinations. After several minutes of warming up, he could feel the dense ki of Toshinori approaching. It always fascinated Gohan, the ki of the Number One Hero, as it held a strange quality compared to everyone else. Gohan could get a general sense of what Quirk people held based on the feeling of their ki signatures, such as an intense heat from Endeavor the one time that the Number Two Hero had chased a villain near Dagobah Beach. Toshinori, though, felt as if there were multiple Quirks stacked on top of one another. The Quirk almost felt… clumped, like it was a collective instead of a distinct individual. It was none of the young Saiyan's business, so he never pressed the issue with the older man and just continued to analyze the odd phenomena silently.

Toshinori landed in the center of the clearing, his muscular form clad in a tight red and white spandex suit while a blue cape flapped behind him. Nezu was riding his shoulder, clutching the cape tightly with one hand. The taller hero reached up to allow Nezu to step on his massive palm, bending down to place the small Headmaster on the ground. All Might stood, his trademarked grin splitting his face.

"Young Gohan! Are you prepared to battle for your last test? For I am here!"

Gohan gave the older man a wide grin. "How far do you want to push this? Usually I'd start slow, but I know you have a hard time limit."

All Might laughed, his hands on his hips. "I want to see your full strength, Young Gohan! Nezu-sama will record us so that my colleagues can review your performance! Are you ready, sir?"

Nezu had somehow climbed up a nearby tree and wedge himself into a corner of several branches. He gave the pair a thumbs up with one hand while the other held a small video camera. "I am ready when you are!"

All Might looked over at Gohan and gave him a thumbs up. The teen grinned at him and balled his hands into fists. He had a look of concentration on his face before giving a loud shout. A burst of wind erupted from around Gohan, bending some smaller trees nearby with the force of the wind. The teen's black hair waved in the wind, the color suddenly changing to a deep yellow-gold color while his eyes flickered to a teal color. All Might could feel the power emanating from Gohan until the teen reigned in his powerful aura.

"Is this far enough, All Might-sensei, or should I take it to the next level?" Gohan grinned at the look on All Might's face in response to his transformation.

"Next level?" The massive blonde struck a heroic pose, his grin splitting his face. "That means I won't need to hold back!"

Gohan concentrated again, focusing on the well of power within him. A shout of effort blew another gust of wind, this one bending every tree around the open field, as his golden hair grew longer and spikier. A golden aura surrounded Gohan while sparks flickered around his body, his hair moving in an ethereal wind while his muscles bulged. The teen took a fighting stance opposite of the Number One Hero. "I'm ready when you are, All Might."

The large blonde hero shouted, "I am here… TO BATTLE! BEGIN!" With that, All Might sprinted at Gohan and threw a massive haymaker at the younger man. A burst of wind followed the lunging attack, battering Gohan even before the physical strike landed.

Gohan blocked the opening attack, maintaining his block through the lightning fast follow-ups. He shifted left, pushing the last punch away and forcing All Might off balance. He followed up with a straight punch to All Might's cheek, knocking the larger blonde into the ground. Gohan pursued the larger blonde, not allowing him to recover his bearings before launching into a series of punches.

All Might took the punches for a moment before rolling to the side, dodging an axe kick that split the ground where he landed. "Young Gohan, you are truly a powerful fighter!" All Might drew on the memories of his time training with Gran Torino, tightening his stance and throwing less linear punches at his opponent. "How has Young Midoriya's training been coming along?"

Gohan smiled as the large blonde suddenly changed up his fighting style, throwing punches with far less telegraphing. "It has been going well. Izuku has little to no talent for martial arts, but he has grit and work ethic. That is far more important!" The smaller blonde grunted as All Might landed a straight punch to his floating rib followed by a jab to his jaw.

The large blonde threw another haymaker at Gohan, his grin getting wider as the younger man dodged his punch. All Might paid for his lapse in concentration as Gohan kicked him in the head. The large blonde tanked the hit so he could land a shot in Gohan's gut, launching the smaller blonde through several trees. "I noticed that his habit for overdoing his exercises has stopped! I take it I have you to thank for that?"

Gohan laughed as he got to his feet, trees falling around him. "Don't tell me that's your best shot, All Might? But now I know you can take a hit, at least!" That said, Gohan launched himself back into the fight, kicking All Might up into the air. The young Saiyan boots the larger blonde further skyward, using his speed to disappear and reappear behind the Number One Hero. Gohan slammed a hammer blow down on the rising hero, rocketing him down to the ground into a gigantic crater. "And yes, I stopped his habit of overworking. I literally trained him to where he couldn't move for a day to get it through his head that it was doing more harm than good."

All Might shook his head as he pushed himself out of the crater. That last shot had rattled his senses in a way that hadn't happened in years. Not since his fight with All For One. The blonde hero looked up at his friend, floating with his arms crossed, and gave him a wide grin. "It's time to declare that…" All Might disappeared mid-sentence, reappearing behind Gohan and hitting him with a massive fist. He launched Gohan at the ground, landing in the same crater All Might had just occupied. "I AM HERE!"

Nezu watched Gohan climb out of the hole to All Might and the blondes exchanged blows faster than the small mammal could see. Nezu had been around for quite a while and had been a new teacher at UA when All Might was a student. He could remember the spars between Gran Torino and a young Toshinori, the vicious affairs that they were, and this was on par with some of those battles. Nezu monitored a timer counting down in the recording's corner screen. The pair had been fighting for just over two minutes, both sides sending only probing strikes against the other. Nezu knew that the two fighters would get serious in the next exchange, so he wiggled his body a little more securely into the crook of his branch.

All Might and Gohan simultaneously threw identical punches, though only Gohan's landed: the young Saiyan had taken advantage of his more compact build to duck under All Might's punch while changing his own haymaker into a forward jab into the hero's gut. All Might folded over the strike, using the momentum from the movement to attempt a grapple on Gohan. Gohan used a small ki blast to knock All Might backwards far enough to avoid being grappled, then spun into a roundhouse kick against the hero's jaw. "So ask what you really want to ask, All Might-san."

All Might spun with the force of the hit, landing in a crouch on the ground. The smiling hero leaped back up at his opponent with a grunt, throwing a faster-than-lightning punch at Gohan. Gohan executed a picture-perfect block nudging the strike just left of the teen, opening All Might to a counterattack that knocked the large man back. All Might held his ribs with one hand while he fended off the follow-up strikes with his other hand. "All right. Where have you been living, Young Gohan?" A missed block allowed Gohan to land a side thrust kick to All Might's stomach.

Gohan pressed his advantage, raining furious blows down on the hero. A quick bob left and a duck forced All Might to miss his own counterattack, the wind from his powerful blow ruffling Gohan's spiky hair. The Saiyan warrior took advantage of the overreach and used a powerful axe kick to drive All Might into another crater in the ground. "Homeless? My home has been out here, in the forest."

All Might grabbed a small boulder out of the ground where he landed, throwing it at Gohan. A yellow ki blast blew up the boulder, a second blast following to knock All Might back into the small crater. "I'm not an enormous fan of living in the city, too many people. Out here is more comfortable for me."

All Might launched himself up at the younger man, landing a kick on Gohan's shoulder. He caught the muscular blonde by the ankle before he could fly away from the hero, swinging him around and throwing him into the crater that All Might had previously occupied. "Ah! I understand, Young Gohan! I only ask that you keep myself or the school apprised of your living situation!"

Gohan nodded as he climbed out of the crater. He disappeared again, reappearing above All Might. The young Saiyan drove his heels down into the crown of an unsuspecting All Might's skull, launching him down to the ground. The older hero caught himself, rolling to disperse the impact and coming back up on his fingertips and toes, ready to get back into the fight.

"TIME!" Nezu shouted from his perch. Gohan and All Might looked over at the principal, confused.

"Already? Hah!" All Might stood up and looked at Gohan. "Young Gohan, you are a fearsome opponent! Perhaps I need to spar with you more often! I believe that I have been remiss in keeping up with the more technical aspects of my martial training!"

Gohan laughed as he floated down to the ground beside All Might. "I'd like that. I noticed that you were getting better the longer we went. I wasn't sure I would find anyone I could use as a proper sparring partner after the Kai left me here."

"Why?" Nezu piped up as he came up to the pair. "There are many martial artists and powerful heroes across the planet here, you must have read about them or heard about them."

Gohan shrugged. "Honestly? Most of the martial artists that I've found here are… rudimentary at bet. I investigated some rumors, but they were mostly just that: rumors. No one seems to have taken their art to the next level."

"Perhaps," Toshinori said, "you can do that after you are an established hero. Teach your art and show that there are higher heights to reach."

Gohan smiled at the hero. "That's not a terrible idea. Teaching Midoriya has been interesting, so it could be a wonderful side project. Thank you." The Saiyan bowed to his elder before facing Nezu, his blonde hair and teal eyes fading back to their usual ebony. "So, Nezu-kouchou, did I pass my exams?"

Nezu gave him a smile full of sharp teeth before answering, one matched by the blinding smile of a newly buff All Might. "Oh, yes. You have most certainly earned your place at UA! UA will be your Hero Academia!"

Gohan grinned and momentarily basked in the glowing approval of his new boss and teacher/colleague.