Chapter 78 - 4-5

Chapter 4: Heroes of Idols?

Danny groaned as he slowly came too. His mind was fuzzy from sleep, but he didn't want to get up yet. He felt so comfy, and his mind was clear, he felt at peace as he let out a light sigh. But as he laid on his twin bed that had never seemed so soft or so big his mind slowly started to awaken. Despite how he tried to drift back into a nice dreamless slumber.

As he moved to his left side in order to hopefully find an even better position to continue his sleep. A beam of sunlight shone on his face. He squeezed his eyelids shut to block out the annoying ray of light but after a few moments the uncomfortable warm light only further served as a wake-up alarm.

But Danny was stubborn even when fighting to stay asleep. But it was a losing battle as he unconsciously started to focus on his acute senses. First his touch as he felt the soft sheet below his hand. It was weird no matter how much he stretched his arms he never reached the end of his small bed.

Next, his smell, he didn't need to breathe exactly. But it would be a waste not to use his enhanced sense of smell. So, he took a deep breath through his nose. The first thing he noted was that instead of the usual medical and chemical scent he always got due to his house being one big laboratory. It instead smelled warm in an odd relaxing way. But yet again his mind pushed aside the oddness as he continued going through his senses.

His next sense was hearing, he focused on all the noises around him. The first thing he tried to pick out was the usual light hum that always came from the ghost portal two floors below his bedroom. But no matter how hard he listened there was no hum. 'Maybe the ghost portal got shut off', his sleepy mind thought. As he instead tried to discern what the other noises were. He could hear birds chirping and light footsteps. That sounded too big to be his sisters but too light to be his father's, so he guessed they were his mothers. But there seemed to be another set of footsteps that sounded just as light, maybe there's a guest he questioned before moving on.

Lastly as he moved to be laying on his back, he finally decided to open his eyes. What he expected to see was the small expanse off his bedroom ceiling which was filled with glow in the dark stars that Jazz had gotten him. But instead, as he looked up the only thing he saw was a normal white ceiling.

It took his brain a moment to put the pieces together before he quickly propped himself up and looked around the foreign space. There was a window to his left and on the other side a dresser. Then straight ahead was a closed door. 'Where am I?' he hastily questioned as he debated on transforming. But before he went through with his plan, he suddenly recalled the events of the last few weeks. More specifically what happened yesterday or what he hoped was yesterday.

He was in another dimension.

After the halfa calmed down enough from his initial realization at not being in his own bedroom. Then from remembering where he was instead. He slumped back down onto the mattress and pillow. As the adrenaline left him and his ghostly energy which felt completely replenished simmered down.

He once again stared up at the ceiling and asked out loud to himself "How long was I asleep?"

Of course, no answer came and after a few minutes of just laying down in contemplation he got up. He needed to determine his situation.

But before Danny walked to the door from where he stood at the end of the queen-sized bed. He decided to quickly check over his physical condition, mainly his shoulder which he now remembered was still sore when he went to bed. He looked at where the ghastly wound had previously been. He was glad to see that it was completely healed and that it didn't leave another scar, because he already had enough of those, he bitterly thought.

Next, he looked down to the rest of his body which also seemed fine. Of course, he did notice that he was still in his dirty clothes. He really wished that the clothes he wore in his human form also got reset like his suit did when he transformed.

Lastly, he closed his eyes and focused on his core and the ectoplasm that coursed through his body instead of blood. He really did feel amazing; in fact he hadn't felt this good and so full of energy since he first got his powers. It was like he was overflowing with power. I guess that's what happens when you actually sleep.

After checking over his condition he finally decided to open the door and look out to the hallway. He vaguely recalled the small tour Eraser Head gave him, but the layout of the two-story town house was still unfamiliar.

He briefly debated going invisible until he found out who was making the footsteps downstairs. Danny assumed that one of the people must be Eraser Head, but he wondered who the other person was. So, he decided to forgo his precautions as his curiosity got the best of him.

Of course, he still made sure to be quiet as he went down the stairs and to where he could hear the voices coming from which he believed was the living room. He stood outside the doorway and out of sight as he listened to who he could tell was Eraser Head from his tired voice.

As for the other person they seemed very energetic and loud. He was kinda surprised he hadn't woken up because of the unknown man who seemed to not have an inside voice.

"Aizawa, just let me go peek. I want to see the little listener!"

"No, now be quiet or leave." Eraser Head said in response.

Surprisingly the man didn't seem deterred by the curt respond, "Come on it's been days couldn't I at least go make sure he's still breathing!"

Danny felt his eyes widen. Just how long was he asleep? After a moment he decided that the quickest way to have his question answered was to ask.

Aizawa could feel a headache coming on. He was trying to read through the information for the upcoming UA entrance exam. But he was having trouble due to a certain loudmouth colleague who was also supposed to be doing work.

As he was about to answer the man's question with yet another dry 'no'. In the doorway the kid who was the reason for the man's current obnoxious behavior suddenly appeared.

"How long was I asleep?" Danny asked after the two adults noticed his presence.

Aizawa quickly snapped out of his slight surprise at the kid's sudden appearance, and he was glad to see Yamada not overcrowding the kid. "You were asleep for three days."

'Three days', the halfa was a bit shocked. He had guessed that he had been asleep for longer than eight hours based on how much energy he had, but three days was a bit insane.

"I guessed that sleep was a recourse of you using your quirk so much. But it's good to see you finally awake. Had it been any longer I probably would have taken you to the hospital, kid."

"I already told you I'm not a fan of hospitals." But Danny could tell the man dressed in black was only concerned in his own non-obvious way. "But I guess I must've been even more tired than I thought. I don't usually need to sleep much to regain my strength because of my powers… or quirk." he quickly corrected himself.

''Is that so" Aizawa responded.

Suddenly the man who had been unusually quiet finally burst out, "So this is the little listener. I'm glad to finally meet you. I heard about what you did at the warehouse. Super heroic of you."

Danny looked at the overly excited man who was currently giving him a thumbs up. He kinda reminded him of a bird which almost made him laugh.

The man's over-joyedness made him feel relaxed and in his usual element of jokes and humor. So, he couldn't help but smile as he offered his own greeting. "It's nice to meet you and what I did at the warehouse wasn't that big of a deal but thanks."

From what little he knew about the kid's ominous background which he learned from Aizawa. Yamada had expected the kid to be more standoffish. But he was glad to be proven wrong. "Wow, I'm glad to see you haven't taken after Aizawa's doom and gloom already. So little listener what do you want me to call you."

"You can call me Danny. But who are you exactly?" Danny casually answered.

"He's an annoyance" Aizawa said before Yamada could sulk from the kid not recognizing him.

"Don't listen to him Danny. I'm Present Mike, the voice hero you might have heard of me from my radio show." The hero could tell from the boy's face that he in fact had not heard of him but decided to just roll with it. "But you can call me Yamada."

The erase hero stood up from where he was sitting on the couch and put all the papers back into their files. "Now that you two got introductions out of the way. I'm guessing your hungry kid."

Danny decided to just be honest seeing as there wasn't really any point of lying. "Actually, I'm fine."

Aizawa stared at the boy before saying "Kid you've been asleep for more than seventy-two hours there's no way you're not hungry."

"Yoo he's right Danny, there's no need to feign being fine." Yamada basically yelled as a way to reassure the boy that it was fine to admit to being hungry.

"No seriously, I'm fine." But Danny could tell that wouldn't be enough to get them off his back, so he quickly thought of a way to explain. "It's like I told you, Eraser Head, my quirk is ecto-energy and ectoplasm control. Well, my body both generates it and runs on the stuff. So, I don't really need to eat or drink for that matter."

Aizawa could tell by the kid's tone and serious face that he was in fact telling the truth. Which added to the list of things that his quirk did. He could also tell that the kid's habit of always saying he was fine, and his stubbornness could be a problem. "Fine kid, then how about I take you shopping."

"Shopping?" Danny hadn't expected the overly serious man to make such an offer.

"Kid, it's clear you need new clothes," he said while looking at Danny's dirty clothes that didn't even look like they fit properly. "and other things like a phone."

The idea of getting to see more of this new world and country excited Danny. So, after a moment he happily agreed to go shopping with the hero. Plus getting a phone and being able to access this world's media and internet would allow him to learn more.

But he kinda felt uncomfortable spending this guy's money but decided to just go with it for now.

Yamada had glumly said that he wouldn't be able to come along despite his clear desire to. As he apparently had a mission to go on. Which peaked Danny's interests as he really wanted to learn more about the supposed 'heroes' of this world. But he wasn't able to get any information from either of the adults.

So, the trip over to the giant shopping center was quiet. For even in the short time that Danny had known the hero dressed in black it was clear that he wasn't much for casual conversation. Of course that didn't stop him from asking the occasional question or cracking a lame joke.

But it didn't take long before he was standing at the entrance to what appeared to be a giant mall where all the walking areas were outside.

Once again, he was taken back by the scale of everything within this foreign city. He had always thought that the mall within Amity Park was decently sized, but it didn't even compare to this place.

Besides the scale of the mall there were two things that he instantly noticed. First the amount of people, a lot of which had odd features. Which was yet another reminder that he was not in his world. Secondly the amount of what seemed to be 'hero' merchandise. During the ride over he had already seen multiple billboards the displayed costumed people. But now as he looked into the different stories and at the various displays the pure quantity of hero-based items was shocking.

Amongst the various heroes the one he kept seeing the most was a guy with a big smile and bright yellow hair, Danny wondered who the man was.

He had previously thought that the heroes in this world would be treated like cops or firefighters but now it seemed like they were more like celebrities.

The halfa snapped out of his sightseeing when the man who he had been mindlessly following stopped and turned to him. "Alright kid, what store do you want to go to first?"

He didn't really know how to answer. He wasn't really familiar with any of the stores or brands he could see and in all honesty he had never really been all that interested in shopping. Since he had neither the time or money to ever really do it.

"I have no real preference for what store we go to and honestly I don't really know these stores." He said honestly.

The hero simply nodded as he responded, "I should have guessed as much. Alright then let's start with a shoe store then we can get you a phone. If you see any place along the way we can go into it."

The two proceeded to walk throughout the mall. Danny, despite his casual attitude, couldn't decide how to feel about what was happening. On one hand getting new things was nice but he also didn't really know this man. So having him buy him things felt weird. Hell, even his own parents never really bought him anything.

After he reluctantly picked out a pair of new red sneakers. He followed along to the next destination. But as they approached what appeared to be the phone store he finally decided to speak up. "Hey Eraser Head, listen I appreciate what you're doing but you really don't have to buy me something so expensive."

The man stopped. "First you can call me Aizawa. Eraser Head is only my hero name and I prefer it if people don't recognize me."

Danny nodded, the concept of having a secret identity and private life were nothing new to him. Plus, he was kinda getting tired of calling the guy Eraser Head. Which while catchy was also a hilarious name that he had to restrain himself from making jokes about.

"Also, while you were asleep Detective Tsukauchi got your identity registered and worked with child protective services to officially place you in my care. Which means that I get a subsidy check for you every month."

"Wait so I now have an identity here?" Danny said, completely getting sidetracked from the original conversation.

Aizawa nodded, "Well not completely kid."

The halfa raised an eyebrow as he waited for the man to continue but it was odd he seemed almost hesitant.

After a moment Aizawa sighed "Creating a full identity from nothing doesn't just happen." Surprisingly the boy didn't seem shocked at all to learn that he had no previous identity like the man had thought. "Currently your quirk has been registered based on the information you gave us, and you have been put in the database. As for the other paperwork it will take time to process, and we need more information about you and your situation. Which is why the detective will be coming over to speak to you later."

"So, what you're saying is I've basically been put in a criminal database. Well, that's just great" The halfa sighed but decided to move on. "Back to my original point, even with a check isn't buying a new phone and a whole new wardrobe going to break the bank."

"Don't worry about that kid." The man simply said as he began walking again.

'Man, this guy was really short with words' Danny thought as he proceeded to follow along.

After Danny picked out the least expensive phone which was a pretty basic model with a bright green case which he jokingly thought fit his brand. The two then went into a few other stores.

Overall, Danny despite his protest of not needing anything now had multiple bags on each arm as he walked behind the man.

In all, he now had multiple new shirts, pants, pajamas, and bedding that Aizawa had simply just got him without even saying anything.

Although Danny wasn't physically tired by any means. But being around so many people and having to walk through the various crowds left him feeling drained. He was honestly surprised that Aizawa was putting up with it. Through the more he looked at the man who had half his face covered by the same gray scarf that he always seemed to be wearing. It was clear he was also struggling to put up with the continuous noise.

Which Danny thought was funny as he watched the crowds of people give the clearly annoyed man a wide berth. Luckily though they were now on their way out of the large mall.

But as they passed by the last few stores Danny stopped as he noticed a model rocket in the window of one of the shops. It wasn't anything special but over the course of shopping he had noticed the lack of space themed things. In fact, it was the only space related item that he had seen. He suspected that this world wasn't as interested in space like his own was.

"Do you want that?"

Danny snapped out of his staring fit with the rocket and looked at the man who was now standing beside him. "No, it's fine, it just made me think. But we can get going now."

The hero just hummed as he stared at the model for a second longer before turning to leave.

The trip back was quiet but as the halfa stared out the window he suddenly noticed a large glass building in the shape of an 'H' off in the distance. "Hey Aizawa, what's that place?"

Aizawa quickly glanced at what the boy was pointing at, "Ahh that's UA it's a hero academy."

"A hero academy? Wait, so people actually go to school to learn to be a hero?"

"Yes, need I remind you that vigilantism is illegal."

Danny laughed at the man's short, dry response. It seemed like he wouldn't be getting any more information out of the guy. But he could always look up the school and more about this hero-based world later now that he had a phone.

After Danny and Aizawa arrived back at the townhouse the halfa put his stuff away, but it didn't take long before he heard a knock on the door and went to see Aizawa letting the detective in.

"Good to see you again Danny. You're looking much better." The man wearing a trench coat said to the halfa.

''I feel a lot better and I'm glad to see you too." Danny joked "I heard you're here to further interrogate me."

"Well, I won't go that far but I am here to ask you a few more questions." Tsukauchi laughed.

With that the three went to the kitchen table. The two adults sat on one side while Danny sat on the other.

"I figured you would be more comfortable to talk here then to have you come back to the police station." He said while opening his laptop.

"So, I know it hasn't been too long but how are you adjusting to living here?"

"Well, it's different from what I'm used to but in a good way." Danny knew that the detective probably wanted more. But in all honesty, he was still at a crossroads about whether he should actually stay here. He would feel bad about leaving, especially after Aizawa bought him all that stuff. But he would probably have more luck figuring out how and why he got here on his own.

"I'm glad to hear that and I heard you even went shopping today with Eraser Head. You know it's quiet unlike him to go shopping or anywhere public for that matter."

Danny couldn't help but laugh as the grumpy man side eyed the detective. "Ya I could tell. But it was nice. I even got to see some of the city."

"That's good." The detective was glad to see that the teen was just as friendly and open as before. "Alright then Danny, Aizawa may have already told you, but I've been working on getting your information and identification figured out."

"Yeah, thanks for that. I'm sure it's a lot of work." Danny responded after nodding.

"Don't worry about it. But it would be helpful if you could tell us more about yourself."

'Crap' Danny thought. He should've prepared a plan for how to explain his past without seeming suspicious or giving away that he was from another dimension. "Ah well what exactly do you want to know?"

Aizawa finally spoke up "Tell us more about where you're from and your past."

'God this guy doesn't mince words' Danny thought.

The detective decided to add to the hero's blunt statement after a moment of silence. "Danny, we don't want to pressure you to talk about something you're uncomfortable with. But anything you are comfortable with sharing would be very helpful."

Aizawa stared at the boy who seemed to be contemplating how to respond. He didn't fully agree with taking such a roundabout method of getting more information about the teen. Who from what Tsukauchi had told him over the phone truly seemed to have just popped into existence. He just hoped that this chat could fill in more blanks about the kid. So that he could feel more confident about going through with his plan.

"Okay well I've already told you my parents were scientists and that they kicked me out of the house…"

Before the halfa could continue the detective spoke up "Danny could you tell us why they kicked you out?"

"Oh well" He wondered how he could explain without telling them he was a ghost. But then he got an idea. "When I got my quirk, I hid it because they've always strongly disliked anyone who had powers…"

'Anyone' being ghosts, he thought as he continued "So when they found out that I had my quirk, well you saw the aftermath" he finished while gesturing to his once injured shoulder.

Both adults grimaced; they were both very familiar with cases where parents neglected their child due to them being quirkless. So, the idea of it working the other way was a bit surprising. But they knew quirk discrimination worked both ways and that hate, and prejudice never really makes sense.

"Danny did your parents have quirks?" the Detective gently asked.

"No, they don't have any quirks. I'm actually the only one who got one in my family."

Aizawa frowned, "You told us before that a machine activated your quirk, can you explain that."

Danny stared at the stern man. He wished that he would have forgotten that. Because while he didn't fully know how quirks or superpowers worked in this universe, he got the impression that they weren't caused by machines. But it was already too late to turn back.

"When one of my parents' big machines that worked with ectoplasm and ecto-energy didn't work I went into it to investigate. Turns out it wasn't working because it was turned off on the inside. But I only found that out when I accidentally hit the on button…"

He never liked thinking about the accident which had basically killed him. He already had the constant reminder of the ectoplasm humming throughout his body. "Once it was fully switched on, I was blasted with the ecto-energy which basically acted like electricity. Luckily my quirk which allows me to use ecto-energy activated and I survived." he finished while leaving out a lot of the ghostly details.

The two adults were once again taken back by the kids retelling.

"Danny I'm sorry you had to go through that." The detective said in a comforting tone.

Danny waved a hand and gave his best smile as he responded "It's fine besides I got my powers thanks to it. Besides, it's more ironic what happened."

"How so?" Aizawa asked in a neutral tone as he looked at the boy who was clearly not fine.

"Well, my parents' machines always had a habit of not working. So, it's kinda funny that the one time they actually worked was when I was inside one." He finished while momentarily looking down at the table as he reminisced.

Aizawa sighed, it was clear that they had only just scratched the surface about the Hell this kid had experienced. Yet he was still smiling and doing his best to seem fine. It reminded the serious man of another hero who always smiled. "Kid, did you attend school?"

Danny looked up and snapped out of his thoughts at the man's sudden question. "Uhm yeah, I went to school. I wouldn't say I ever did that good but why do you ask?" he asked while raising an eyebrow.

Tsukauchi looked at his friend and colleague who despite his neutral unreadable face was making his intentions clear. At least to the detective who couldn't help but lightly smile at the man's uncharacteristic intentions.

"Since you'll be staying here in Japan you'll need to attend school." Aizawa said.

Danny's eyes widened "What?! I've only been here for like four days and aren't I apart of your investigation. Why do I need to go to school?" In all honesty Danny didn't actually hate school or learning. Despite what his past experiences and his low grades might indicate. But he knew that going to one in this world would only further trap him here.

"Danny as a minor it's expected that you receive some type of schooling." The detective added.

Before Danny could protest more the man dressed in black cut in "I'm not expecting you to start all over again in your schooling. Instead, I want you to try for UA hero academy."

"Wait, isn't that the place I saw earlier? Aren't I a bit young to go to a school that teaches 'heroing' or whatever?"

"Your fourteen, correct?" Aizawa asked. To which Danny simply nodded in confirmation "Then you're at the expected age for first years at UA."

The halfa didn't know what to think about that information. When he had learned about UA and hero schools, he had expected it to be more like a college and for young adults not teens. He knew it was hypocritical but the idea of putting teenagers in a position where they were expected to be heroes felt wrong. He knew first hand what that pressure could do to a person.

Aizawa decided to continue when it seemed like the black-haired boy was lost in thought. "In a week and a half UA will hold its entrance exam. Which consists of a written and physical test. The physical is for those wanting to go into the hero course at the school."

"Okay so you want me to go to this school, why?" Danny gave the man his own serious look.

Aizawa who previously had a serious expression now looked less intense. "Kid, I won't glorify your abilities or your quirk."

Danny looked at the man in disbelief and the detective sighed at the man's blunt statement.

"But from what I've seen you do have potential." Aizawa finished.

The detective decided to continue where the man left off to hopefully further convince the boy who didn't seem convinced by the hero's lackluster statement. Of course, Tsukauchi knew the man well enough to know that 'potential' was high praise. "Danny, we won't force you to try for UA, but you will need to go to some school. So at least at UA you'll be able to use your quirk and within time you could even get a hero license."

Danny thought over what the two men had said and after a moment he reluctantly made up his mind. "Alright if I have to go to school then I suppose a hero school would at least be interesting."

The detective smiled "Great!"

"But there is one problem," Danny said before the detective could continue. "Like I said before I never really had good grades. Plus, with my vigilantism I kinda missed a lot of school back at my old school. So, while I can pass the physical exam. I don't know how I'll do on the written portion."

Danny watched as the scarfed man suddenly smiled and said in an ominous tone "Don't worry about that kid I've already thought that through."

As the halfa processed what the man meant he knew that it wouldn't be fun. A part of himself even wanted to go back on his word and say no to trying for UA. But he knew that he wouldn't. Not when he was already imagining himself going to a school for heroes. The concept of being around other people who were more like him made him genuinely excited.

After all it was what he planned to look for after leaving Amity Park. So, he never would have imagined that that dream would find him or at least suck him into a portal and spit him out in another universe that was straight out of a comic book. Maybe he wasn't as unlucky as he initially thought.

The next week and a half were worse than Danny had expected. After the conversation with Aizawa and Tsukauchi the stern hero almost instantly put him to work. He had given him multiple giant textbooks on all the subjects he would need to understand in order to pass the written exam.

But it didn't stop there; the man had personally ensured that each subject was thoroughly drilled into his skull by giving him lectures and tests on each subject. It almost seemed like the guy was an actual teacher Danny thought as he worked to finish the last test the man had prepared for him.

It was now the day before the entrance exam and instead of relaxing like the halfa wanted to. He was instead at the dining table being forced to finish a Japanese history test which was by far his worst subject. He debated on just looking up the answers since Aizawa was currently out but quickly threw away the idea. Ever since he said yes to going to UA his desire to pass and succeed at getting into the apparently top-notch academy only grew.

And he knew that would only be possible if he put all his efforts into the last bit of studying, he had to do. Overall, he felt pretty confident that he would be able to get above a passing grade on the written exam. As for the physical exam he didn't know what to fully expect since Aizawa had refused to tell him any information about the exam.

In fact, the only thing the man had told him was that he shouldn't overestimate his abilities. But he knew what he was capable of and ever since he first became half ghost he had learned to trust in his powers. So, he felt pretty sure that he could handle whatever the exam had in store.

With that boost of confidence, the halfa focused back on the test and quickly finished it to the best of his abilities.

After Aizawa arrived back at the town house he quickly graded the test.

"Kid, you barely scored a seventy-six." The man said as he held the packet of papers. While giving his usual glare that Danny had gotten used to at this point.

Danny simply shrugged as he responded, "I mean at least it's passing now."

After a moment of the hero giving the boy an unamused look he continued "I'm doing good in all the other subjects. You can't seriously expect me to memorize and understand another country's history in a week." Not to mention that it was another universes version of Japan's history, Danny grumpily thought.

That seemed to be enough of a defense for the scarfed man to relent with a sigh "I guess this will have to do but don't think your lessons will end after your exam. There's much you're still behind on."

Danny decided to not further press the issue even though he wanted to. As he had learned that the hero could be even more vindictive than even, he could be. "Fine, but I have a question now that you're back."

The man simply stared as a way to get the boy to just ask.

"Where exactly have you been going these last few days?" Over the course of the week Aizawa had been following a strict schedule of giving Danny a lesson then giving him a test to complete while he's gone. Which made Danny's curiosity about where the man was going continuously grow.

Aizawa hummed before saying "You'll find out soon enough". With that he began walking to the kitchen and away from where the boy was staring in disbelief.

"Seriously that's all? How nice and cryptic." Danny said just loud enough to make sure the hero heard.

Danny decided to give up on the pointless effort of trying to get information out of his supposed guardian and instead went to his room to finally relax.

As he closed the door to his room, he took a moment to make sure no one was around before going intangible and flying through the roof of the building.

The halfa had spent most of his down time before bed in the skies of the strange city. The open air allowed him to think clearly and funnily enough it grounded him and his rampaging thoughts.

Because as he floated miles above the active city, he could feel the cool wind against his human skin. As if the very sky was hugging him in a light embrace. He let out a breath of air as he closed his eyes and focused.

He could hear the never-ending city traffic and the sound of car engines and the bullet train running at high speeds. If he listened really closely, he could even hear the sound of people talking. Of course, he couldn't make out what anyone was saying but all the noise blended together to create soothing white noise. It allowed his stress and worries to seem far away.

He opened his eyes after a moment and looked down. The view of the city below left him speechless even though he had seen it multiple times over the past few nights. The endless sea of lights was captivating.

Finally, he looked up at the endless void of the night sky. He wished that he could see the stars but the lights that he had just admired made it almost impossible. But even without the stars he still felt relaxed as he looked up.

But the stillness in the halfa's mind didn't last long as the picturesque scenery reminded him of the night he first arrived in this new world. Over the past week he had been stuck between his excitement at being in a world with actual superheroes and at the prospect of going to a school for heroes.

While the other half of his mind was still stuck on the reality of his situation and the fact that he didn't belong here. That no matter how interesting and thrilling this world seemed to be it was still not his world. He was lost, more so than he had ever been before and that thought scared him.

He knew that it was silly to be so distraught about a situation that he had previously dreamed about. That whether he had fallen through that portal or not he still would have left Amity Park. But even though he had always wanted to leave his hometown to find his own place in the world he still wanted to be able to go back and visit his sister and friends. But now he didn't even know where to begin with trying to get back home.

Since he arrived, he hadn't picked up on any ectoplasm or ecto-energy. It felt like this world was completely disconnected from the Ghost Zone. Which made sense as he already knew that only his world had ever breached an unnatural hole into the interdimensional plane or existence.

Which meant that the only ways to get to the Ghost Zone and back to his own world were to somehow locate a natural spawning ghost zone portal. But he knew that they were both extremely rare and only lasted for a miniscule amount of time.

Another option he had would be to somehow make his own portal which he could do by building a machine like his parents did. But he quickly crossed off the idea of creating a ghost portal machine. As it would be both too complicated and he didn't want to introduce this world to the threats and power of the Ghost Zone. Especially if he planned to leave it defenseless by going back to his world.

The other way would be by creating a portal using his powers. He looked down at his hands as he pondered whether it would even be possible. Theoretically he should be able to do it since other ghosts could. Like Wulf and even Skulker of course he used his suit to do it. But still, he should be able to also make a portal somehow.

He clenched his fists as he focused on the ectoplasm and enormous amount of ecto-energy that had built up within his core. After a moment he extended his hands and tried to channel the energy to create a portal. But after a moment of tensing his hands and focusing nothing happened like he had expected.

He would've been more disappointed, but he knew that it was a half hearted attempt. Hell, he hadn't even transformed into his ghost form to attempt creating his first portal. Because in all honesty he wasn't fully sure he wanted to succeed, at least not yet. Not when his exam that he had been working hard for was tomorrow and not when he still wanted to learn more about this strange world and why and how he came here.

So, with that he let out a sigh and decided to finally call it a night and promised himself to continue trying to create a portal in his free time.

Line Break -

Within the Ghost Zone, Clock Work floated within his giant clocktower. His form and age continuously changed every few moments as he watched all of reality and the stream of time flow.

But his attention stayed mainly transfixed on the young lost halfa who slept. The boy despite his confusion and apprehension had not disappointed the guardian of time. As he had watched the halfa start to mesh with his new strange reality.

The forceful transition that had been forced on the ghostly teen was not completely seamless and far from over. As there were still many hurdles the boy had to face. Both mental and physical threats and challenges lurched on the horizon. Gnawing at the bone to rear their ugly heads against the halfa.

Clock Work despite himself and his position as an omniscient being watched in anticipation. For while he saw the paths time could take, the different ways that the branch could grow. It was still yet to be determined which was the ultimate future. And currently its fate rested squarely on Danny Fenton's shoulders. A burden that sadly could not be removed or transferred but at least it had been lessened.

Although more specifically postponed, Clock Work thought. But Clock Work knew he was limited in how he could interfere. That ultimately, he could not stop the inevitable. That he would have to remain as yet another on looker to see if his belief and gamble that the boy would be the savior rather than the realms destroyer truly came to fruition.

But the guardian knew that the scales were now at least tipped more in favor of the teen. Which was sadly the best the ghost could offer, and he just hoped it would be enough.

Chapter 5: Test

The night went by quickly and before the halfa knew it the sun was already out. He had spent most of the night trying to sleep but failing. As he had both too much energy and too much excitement and even a little anxiety about the exam.

But now as he stood at the entryway of the town house, he felt more than ready to take on any challenge.

Aizawa had left earlier in the morning saying that he would be going to work. Which Danny had questioned since the man typically did his hero work later in the day. But the scarfed man had just avoided the questions like he typically did.

The hero had previously offered to take Danny to the UA campus. But the halfa had turned down the offer by saying that he wanted to go himself. The man had questioned him and had said that he was still unfamiliar with the city and would get lost. But Danny had just laughed him off by saying he would rely on his phone to give him directions. That it wouldn't be that difficult to find the school that was relatively close by.

The participants of the exam were expected to wear their middle school uniform. But since he didn't have a uniform, he had decided to wear a white hoodie with a pair of nice jeans and just hoped that no one would question him or his laid-back fashion choice. So, with that he walked out of the town house with a black backpack full of what he would need for the exam and began what he thought would be an easy and quick journey to the UA campus.

But after ten minutes of walking, he was starting to think that he may have taken a wrong turn at some point. He stopped and looked around at all the big buildings that all looked very similar.

During his walk he had continuously been distracted by the foreign environment and by the people which only made it harder to stay focused on going the right direction through the various streets and side roads.

Another thing he noticed was that he wasn't really seeing any other students or teenagers. He had expected to see others on their way to the hero academy for the exam. But he was mainly seeing adults as he walked further and further in the direction, he believed was right.

Finally, as he walked through an alleyway that he was pretty sure he had already been down. He decided to just pull out his phone and look at its GPS map. But as he examined the overly complicated map his confusion only grew. In all honesty the half ghost had never really used a GPS before since he never got lost in Amity Park. But now it seemed like he had somehow gotten farther from the school then closer.

He looked at the clock on his phone and tensed as he realized that he was running out of time and that he would miss the check in for the exam. After a moment of debate Danny looked around him to make sure he was alone in the alleyway and went invisible.

Danny quickly took off into the sky and high above the buildings. Once high enough in the air he scanned the city below for the giant 'H' shaped building. Luckily, he quickly spotted it and hit himself in the head as he realized just how far he was from it. If Aizawa ever found out he was sure the man would give him another glare of disbelief.

With that though he quickly took off at high speeds and in less than a minute he was about half a block away from the entrance. He landed in another alleyway and dropped his invisibility and walked the rest of the distance to the school.

As he approached the entrance his expectation for how many other applicants there would be was severely blown out of the water. It seemed like every kid in Japan was here.

'Just how popular is this school?' he asked himself as he walked through the big archways to the main glass building. That he did admit was quite the sight to behold and nothing like any other high school he had seen before.

But just as he was a few meters away from the steps that led to the main door. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as a green hair kid tripped. He instinctively reached out to hopefully catch the poor kid before his face kissed the walkway. But before he could, a brown-haired girl who had been behind the boy touched the boy's backpack.

Danny watched in amazement as the once falling boy began to float. 'What a cool power' he thought and watched for a few more moments. Before deciding he had stared for probably too long and turned to walk the rest of the distance.

After checking in he was directed to a classroom where he would take the written exam.

The written exam lasted two hours and afterwards Danny felt pretty good about how he did. The endless studying that Aizawa forced him to do actually paid off. As he was able to understand and answer almost every question. The only section he struggled on was the Japanese and quirk history sections, but he knew he at least passed. Which was good enough for him.

Now the only thing that was left was the physical exam. He was excited to finally see how this school was going to test a person's ability to be a hero.

He was directed along with all the other applicants to a large auditorium. He quickly sat down in the middle seating section only one row down from the top. He watched as the various students filled in. Some of them had more interesting features like bat wings or extra arms but at this point he had gotten fairly used to the strange people he kept seeing. So, after a moment he instead directed his attention to the empty stage.

It didn't take long for the numerous applicants to sit down and for the lights around the stage to come on. Danny watched in anticipation but what he saw was unexpected.

'Is that Yamada?' Danny thought as he stared at the man at the center of the stage. But he didn't get long to contemplate why the man was here. As the yellow haired hero began loudly talking in an energetic voice to the crowd while rock music played in the background.

"What's up, UA candidates! Thanks for tuning in to me, your school DJ." The man then raised his arms to the crowd while yelling. "C'mon. And lemme hear ya!"

Danny had expected some response but couldn't help but cringe as the entire crowd remained silent. 'Poor Yamada' he thought.

But the man didn't seem deterred by the unresponsive crowd of teenagers as he continued without pause 'Keeping it mellow well that's fine, I'll skip straight to the main show. Let's talk about how this practical exam is gonna go down, Okay."

Danny watched as the man suddenly pointed to the crowd while yelling "Are you ready?!" Once again, the crowd remained silent. Except for a teen who was sitting in front of him. Danny looked at the boy who seemed to be geeking out and quickly realized that it was the same guy from earlier.

The halfa couldn't help but listen to the green haired boy as he began quickly mumbling in a not so quiet voice.

"Oh, my goodness, it's the Voice Hero, Present Mic. So cool! I listen to his radio show every day of the week."

So, the guy actually does have a popular radio show, Danny thought as he looked at the boy who sounded like he could faint from excitement.

"It's so nuts that all the UA teachers are pro heroes."

Danny was kinda surprised by that information. Heroes were the teachers; it did make sense why Yamada was here then. Since the loud man was apparently a hero from what he had been told. Also, who better to teach aspiring heroes than actual heroes, the half ghost thought.

He wondered why Aizawa never told him this before. 'Unless… no that can't be' he quickly stopped his train of thought and instead focused back to the stage.

"Like your application said, today you rocking boys and girls will be out there conducting ten-minute mock battles. In super hip urban settings. Gird your loins, my friends. After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle center, sound good!?"

Danny watched as the screen behind the yellow haired hero changed to what seemed to be a map showing where the different 'battle zones' A-G were located. He looked down at the card he was given when he first signed in and quickly noticed that his card had the letter 'D' on it.

"Okay, okay, let's check out your targets. There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty, so better choose wisely"

The halfa watched as the screen showed a small picture of a city and then three silhouettes of what looked like robots with different point values ranging from one-three underneath them. Danny was happy to hear that he wouldn't be fighting people.

"Your goal in this trial is to use your quirk to raise your score by shredding these faux villains like a mid-song guitar solo. But check it" The yellow haired man proceeded to point at the audience once again. "Make sure you're keeping things heroic. Attacking other examinees is a UA no-no, ya dig?"

Danny was starting to get more excited as he watched the screen basically show a video game version of defeating one of the robot silhouettes. But suddenly before the hero could continue a person in one of the front rows suddenly stood up while raising his hand.

"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question."

Danny was taken back by the tall blue-haired guys forwardness. The idea of standing up in front of such a huge crowd being the last thing he would want to do.

Present Mic energetically pointed to the boy "Hit me!"

A spotlight suddenly shined on the guy as he began to talk. "On the printout, you've listed four types of villains. Not three…"

'There was a printout?' Danny quickly thought to himself as he continued to listen to the guy apparently complain.

"With all respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful. We are exemplary students. We expect the best from Japan's most notable school. A mistake such as this won't do."

'Wow' was all Danny could think as he hoped that he would never have to talk to the uptight guy. But to his surprise the guy suddenly turned around and pointed in his direction. Danny began to question what he did to make the guy want to single him out. Before quickly noticing that the man's finger was actually directed at the green haired guy below him.

"Additionally, you with the unkempt hair. You've been muttering this entire time. Stop that, if you can't be bothered to take this seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us."

Danny couldn't help but feel bad for the boy who had just been called out. While the muttering had been slightly annoying there was no reason to call him out and embarrass him like that.

With that the halfa's desire to avoid the pompous guy grew.

Luckily though, Present Mic quickly got the crowd's attention back as he began answering the blue haired boy's question. "Alright, all right. Examinee number 7-1-1-1. Thanks for calling in with your request."

The screen then changed to show another larger silhouette of a robot. "The fourth villain type is worth zero points. That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center. Think of it as a hurdle you should try and avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's kinda no point. I recommend my listeners try to ignore it and focus on the ones topping the charts."

Danny watched as the blue haired boy bowed while saying "Thank you very much. Please, continue." to the hero.

"That's all I got for you today. I'll sign off with a little present. A sample of our school motto! As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down. 'A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes' Mhm now that's a tasty soundbite. Now you ready to go beyond? Let's hear a Plus Ultra!"

This time Danny was amazed as the previously silent crowd shouted the phrase "Plus Ultra" back at the hero. He briefly wondered why everyone seemed to be so enthusiastic about the phase.

But he quickly moved on as he followed the crowd of candidates who were quickly directed to changing rooms where they were to change into active wear. Danny quickly followed suit and changed into a pair of white sweatpants with a black line going down the sides of each pant leg. As for the top he wore a matching white sweatshirt that also had a black strip going up the sides.

Once changed Danny followed the crowd of people who were also assigned to his battle ground and got on a bus. 'Just how big is this school?' he wondered as they passed by what appeared to be multiple different training grounds and large buildings.

Finally, after a few minutes Danny found himself staring at his designated training ground. The closed gate was large, and the tall walls seemed to go on for longer than they reasonably should. He was starting to understand why this school was so desirable, but he was really wondering where they got the money for all this.

After momentarily admiring the ridiculous scale of the school's facilities he quickly looked around at his fellow examinees. A few appeared nervous but surprisingly the majority of them looked pretty confident. He knew that they weren't exactly normal teens like he was used to and that they all had their own superpowers or quirks. But he still expected them to seem a bit more nervous. But he was at least glad to see that the blue haired guy from earlier wasn't in his group.

Danny quickly shrugged off his inner monologue about the other teens and instead focused on himself and the challenge before him.

He was questioning whether or not he should transform. On one hand he was pretty sure even without the full access to his stored up ecto-energy. That he would still be able to easily take down the robots that he had been shown. Since he didn't think, he would need to use his high energy abilities like his ghost ice or god forbid his ghostly wail.

In fact, his initial plan going into this exam was to stay in his human form but that was before finding out that he wasn't facing other people. Because although he had plenty of control over his powers. The idea of using his power on someone who wasn't as durable as a ghost. Just didn't sit well with him even if the people had superpowers. But since his opponents would be robots, he felt more comfortable allowing himself to have fun and more access to his core's unbridled energy.

With that thought he decided that he would transform when the exam began. Which happened with little to no warning as suddenly Present Mic shouted from a tower. "Right, let's start!" with that the giant door quickly opened. But the crowd of contestants seemed to be frozen by the sudden unexpected start.

On the other hand, Danny quickly took action and allowed the energy that was humming throughout his body to surge. Bright white rings appeared around his torso and moved up and down his body. Almost all the people who had been looking up at the yellow haired hero turned to look at the unexpected flash of light.

Within a moment the light dissipated, and Danny smiled as he quickly looked down at himself. He was glad to see his idea had worked.

Before transforming he had focused his energy to not transform him into his usual black and white suit. Since he didn't want people to see his hero costume and assume he was some vigilante even if he technically was. Instead, he managed to remain in his jumpsuit. The only difference being that the colors had been inverted. With the white turning to black and the previously black strip turning white.

The white-haired ghost boy quickly took to the sky and flew into the battle zone. Just as Present Mic shouted again to the still frozen crowd of teens. "Get moving! There are no countdowns in real battles. Run, run, run, listeners!"

Just as Danny flew past the open entryway and into the city, he could finally hear the multiple footsteps of the people stampeding into the testing ground. But he didn't bother to look back. Instead, he focused on the task at hand.

He looked down at the ground and already saw a few one pointer's. But since he had the advantage of speed, he decided to ignore the first few robots. As he wanted to get away from the ensuing crowd. So, he quickly flew further into the fake city to where he believed more robots would be.

He didn't have to fly long before he came across a swarm of three pointers. They kinda reminded him of something Technus or Skulker would create. So, he decided to do what he normally would with their robotic creations.

As he floated above, he extended his arm and channeled the same amount of power he would normally use to his hand. Which glowed an intense toxic green as the energy built up to the level he normally used and shot a single ecto-blast at the walking tank. Before it even had time to lock onto him with its two-giant gun-like weapons that were mounted to its shoulders.

What he hadn't expected though was for the robot that was bigger than a truck to instantly be incinerated and destroyed. Along with all the ground around where the robot had previously stood.

He stared down at the crater his single ecto-blast had created and frowned. He hadn't expected the robot to be so breakable. But then again, they were designed to be destroyed by teenagers and not imbued with ectoplasm or controlled by a ghost.

He ridiculed himself for not thinking before acting and for causing so much property damage even if it was unintentionally caused. Because even if this was a fake city he had long since learned that no one appreciated having to repair stuff just because he couldn't control his abilities. In fact, that was one of the first reasons why the people of Amity Park wrote him off as a monster.

So he quickly came up with a less destructive and honestly quicker way of dealing with the robots.

The halfa turned himself intangible and flew directly into one robot after another and pulled out various important wires as he went. For once he was glad for his basic understanding of robotics and machinery which he had gotten from his parents. As he watched and heard the robots shut off and simple slump over without any further damage to the street.

He continued on his intangible rampage and quickly shut down multiple robots of various point values. Eventually after taking down the last robot within his area, he looked around and couldn't help but admire his work. What appeared to be a whole army of robots were now sitting lifelessly on the streets below.

He didn't stay long though as he quickly flew off in search of more robots. But as he flew around to find more robots it seemed that the others were already being destroyed by his fellow contestants. And he didn't really want to steal the points even if it was in the spirit of the exam.

So instead, he decided to watch for a moment since he was pretty sure only four minutes had gone by and he was really curious to see quirks in action.

He was honestly pretty impressed by the variety of powers he was seeing. Although he had to admit that the people were being rather destructive. But he couldn't really judge seeing as he was responsible for creating what looked like a meteor crater just minutes ago.

After a moment of observing he began to hear the various people shouting out and saying the number of points they had collected. The majority of the scores were within the thirties, that's when he realized that he hadn't really been keeping track. He wanted to hit himself for not thinking about keeping count, but he had to have at least thirty with how many robots he had taken down.

But instead of trying to figure out what his score was he decided that he should just get more points to hopefully boost whatever he currently had. So, he quickly flew away from the crowd and up the main street of the fake city. But no matter where he flew it seemed like all the robots had already been destroyed.

'Crap I'm too late' he thought as he looked down to the ruble below him. That's when he noticed a guy with yellow hair standing on the street. With what appeared to be a bunch of fried robots around him.

He was about to fly off in search of more bots. When he noticed a two pointer quickly sneaking up on the guy who seemed completely oblivious to the impending danger.

"Hey, watch out!" he yelled as he quickly crossed the small distance right as the robot was about to crush the guy who had a weird look on his face. As he touched the man, he turned them both intangible. The robot went right through the two of them and due to its momentum away from them.

Danny stopped his intangibility and took a step back from the guy and sighed out "That was a close one. Are you okay?"

"Ddduuuhh…"

Was all he got back in response along with a weird smile, a double thumbs up, and 'is he drooling?' Danny questioned.

"Okay dude I think you might have head trauma." The halfa slowly said in a lower voice. Once again, he got no intelligible response which made him sigh again.

He really didn't want to have to babysit this guy. But he knew his conscience wouldn't let him just leave a person in an active battle zone who clearly couldn't put up a fight.

But before he could do anything else he heard a shout from behind him "Hey man watch out!"

He quickly turned his head to see the same two pointer coming at him. He quickly held up his hand in the shape of a gun. "Bang" he said mostly for his own amusement while from his pointer finger a small ecto-laser shot out. The neon green beam went right through the speeding robot's metal head which instantly killed the thing.

"Wow man, that was incredible!"

Danny turned around to see the man who had given him the warning. "Thanks for giving me the heads up," he said while smiling.

The man with bright red spiky hair smiled back while walking over "No problem, man but hey is he okay?" He asked while pointing to the yellow haired guy who was still giving them double thumbs up with drool coming from his mouth.

"I got here a moment before you. So, I didn't see what happened, but I think he got hit on the head or something." Danny said while crossing his arms as he further examined the guy before turning back to the red-haired newcomer.

"That's not good, hopefully it's nothing serious."

Danny nodded, "Yeah, well I'm gonna stay here with him to make sure another robot doesn't try to make the damage more serious. Then I can get him help once the exam ends."

"Really man that's like super manly of you!"

Danny was surprised by the guy's sudden burst of excitement "Oh it's nothing really" he casually said while smiling "But you should probably go get more points."

"Nah man if you're gonna sacrifice your time to make sure he's okay. Then it wouldn't be very heroic of me to just leave you!"

"You really don't have too," but he could tell by the man's determined face that he had already made up his mind. "But if you want to, the company would be more than appreciated."

"Alright then" the guy gave a toothy grin "In that case I guess I should introduce myself I'm Eijiro Kirishima."

Danny briefly remembered what Aizawa had told him about last names being used instead of first names in Japan. Before he quickly responded with his own introduction "Nice to meet ya Kirishima. I'm Danny Fenton."

"Yeah, you're the guy who transformed at the start. It totally took me by surprise."

Danny couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about that, I really wish my transformation was a little less flashy."

"No man, it was super cool and it will totally help you stand out." Kirishima responded.

Before Danny could respond the ground began to shake. Danny turned his head, and his eyes widened as he saw a giant robot emerge from a building.

"Holy crap! Is that the zero pointer?! Isn't that a little overkill! That thing could actually kill someone!"

Danny didn't bother to respond as he stared at the massive machine that was already beginning to smash its way up the street.

The two boys watched as a bunch of the teens who were around where the robot emerged. Began to run away from the ginormous robot who had begun to march forwards while destroying everything in its path.

That's when Danny noticed that many of the contestants had not been so lucky and had been trapped by debris.

"All those people are gonna get crushed!" Kirishima yelled in horror.

Danny knew he had to go stop that thing before it killed someone and so he turned to Kirishima and quickly said. "Can you protect him," while gesturing to the yellow haired boy "I have to go stop that thing!"

Kirishima instantly nodded while saying "Of course, I was made to be a shield. But how are you going to stop that thing?"

Danny didn't bother to respond as he quickly flew off as fast as he could to where the zero pointer was about to put its foot down on four examinees. But even with how fast he was going he knew he wouldn't have enough time to move all of them out of the way. So, he quickly extended his hand and created a giant ecto-shield around them. Just as the giant robot put its foot down.

The halfa could feel the enormous weight pressing down on the green shield. He clenched his teeth together as he focused on keeping the shield up. Until the foot which now had a crater in it finally lifted.

Danny landed in front of the people and faced the robot that had luckily stopped in its rampage. As it seemed to be processing what had caused a massive crater at the bottom of its foot.

He quickly turned to look at the four people who were behind him. He was relieved to see that all of the teens appeared to be relatively fine and only had a limb stuck under some pieces of rubble. Although they did all look terrified but that was understandable, the halfa thought.

Danny extended his hand which began to glow its usual ectoplasm green. He focused on the different pieces of debris which began to glow the same toxic color. He lifted his hand and at the same time the pieces of rubble lifted off the people who appeared to be stunned.

After setting the debris off to the side Danny turned back to face the threat as he said in a loud voice. "If you are able to move then run away but don't worry if you can't. I won't let this tin-can take another step." He hoped that sounded reassuring enough to hopefully prevent the people from panicking.

But he didn't bother to look back and gauge their responses as he glared at the robot that no longer seemed to be processing.

The giant machine's large metal head looked down at Danny. It raised its arm and appeared to be about to slam down its hand on top of the halfa.

But Danny had other ideas as he quickly put his hands out in front of himself, pointed right at the robot's big head. He felt his energy course through him and to his two outstretched hands. Which once again began to glow an intense toxic green.

Then as his energy finally built up to the proper amount, he released it, and a giant green beam shot through the air. It went straight through the zero pointer's head and into the sky which seemed to darken in contrast to the sudden bright, burning green light.

Various contestants within the different battle zones looked up in surprise as they watched the sky dim from the sudden bright green laser. Present Mic who was still standing on the tower watched with his eyes and mouth wide open. As his sunglasses slid down his nose as the intense beam shot through the sky.

Danny watched as the blast left a giant hole through the building sized head. Once again, he appeared to have miscalculated the amount of energy to use. But it was better safe than sorry, he thought.

Of course, he didn't think his plan fully through as he watched the gigantic lifeless robot begin to fall backwards.

"Crap" he said to himself.

He couldn't let that thing fall and cause another tsunami wave of debris. Especially when there were so many people behind him.

Danny channeled more energy into his hands and focused on the falling robot. He once again used his telekinesis to stop the giant's rapid descent as it began to glow green.

Once again Danny clenched his jaw as his ghostly telekinesis required a lot of concentration. Plus, he had never had to use it on such a large, heavy object. But he concentrated on gently putting down the robotic carcass.

After finally stopping his telekinesis once the robot was laying relatively safely on the street. Danny took a step back and couldn't help but smile as he admired his work.

As he stood there triumphantly, he remembered that he hadn't gotten any more points in the last like five minutes and he began to mentality freak out. But before he could fly off to search for any remaining points a sudden buzzer went off and Present Mic's voice could be heard "And that's it! Time's Up!"

Danny froze and then let out a sigh as his shoulders slumped 'Well I guess that's it,' he thought to himself. He just hoped he had managed to get enough points at the beginning.

With that he de-transformed and turned around to begin walking towards where he had left Kirishima and the yellow haired guy. He could've flown which would've been quicker. But he didn't know if he was allowed to since the test was now over.

But he didn't make it far when after a few steps he felt like he was being watched. He looked up and was surprised to see that the people he had saved, and countless other contestants were all staring at him.

He awkwardly staree before deciding to just continue walking. As he did his best to try and ignore the odd stares.

Danny quickly walked up the street and saw Kirishima. Who was walking towards him with the yellow haired guy's arm around his shoulder. When the red-haired guy noticed him, he gave him the same look as all the other people.

"Holy crap, Fenton?! I saw what you did, how are you still standing!?"

Danny raised an eyebrow as he casually responded "What do you mean? Why wouldn't I be standing?"

But his response only seemed to make Kirishima even more surprised. "Because you just took down that giant robot. I expected you to be passed out after using your quirk so much. Or at least have some recoil."

Danny was starting to understand. It seemed that quirks had way more limits than his ghost powers did.

'No wonder those people were staring at me like I had three heads' Danny thought.

"Don't worry I'm a lot tougher than I look. Besides, that tin-can was made of the same metal as the little ones. So it wasn't that hard to destroy." He casually tried to explain. Because he couldn't think of anything better to try and make his show of strength seem less odd.

"Wow, that's such a manly response!" Kirishima said while clenching his free hand into a fist while closing his eyes.

"Thanks, I think," Danny said but decided to just move past the guy's continuous use of the word 'man'. "But now that the test is over, we should probably get that guy to a hospital or something."

Kirishima snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at Danny "Oh yeah I was planning to take him to Recovery Girl."

"Whose Recovery Girl?" Danny asked.

"What you don't know? She's the school nurse here but she's also a hero. Her quirk lets her heal people. She's the reason UA's able to hold such dangerous tests." Kirishima enthusiastically responded.

"Huh that's cool" Danny said. Although he had mixed feelings about the school actively putting people in serious danger just because they could later heal the physical wounds.

"I guess we should get this guy to Recovery Girl then," he quickly added.

Kirishima nodded in agreement, "That's probably a good idea."

Danny and Kirishima turned and began to walk towards the exit with the still drooling yellow haired guy being supported by Kirishima.

"If you want, I can support him." Danny offered.

"Nah It's fine," Kirishima said while smiling. "Besides, even though you said you were okay you still must be tired. I mean you destroyed the zero pointer and created that huge laser. I mean that thing was huge."

Danny just laughed and decided to try and change the topic by asking his own question. "Kirishima, do you know how many points you got?"

"Oh well I think I got around seventy. Why, how many did you get? I imagine it must be more than me with all the super manly stuff you can do."

Danny sighed "Well the thing is I kind of didn't keep track. I did destroy a lot of robots at the beginning. But it's kinda a blur on how many I actually took down. So honestly, I'm not too sure how I actually did. Especially since I wasn't able to really get any more points at the end."

Kirishima suddenly stopped walking which made Danny turn to look at the guy.

"Fenton, I may not know you very well. But from what I saw you do. I don't think there's anybody here who's better suited to go to UA."

Danny was taken back by the man's genuine words.

"I mean you managed to save all those people so that must count for something."

After a moment the halfa smiled "Thanks that means a lot. Maybe we'll end up in the same class."

Kirishima laughed, "That would be amazing man."

After that it didn't take long for the three boys to reach the giant door that they came through.

Luckily the nurse was there and quickly came over and proceeded to kiss the yellow haired boy on the cheek.

Danny watched in amazement and surprise as the previously drooling boy glowed a light green for a moment. Before standing up from where he had been sat down.

He appeared completely healed as he looked around confused.

"What happened? Oh, wait crap is the exam over?" the yellow haired boy asked while turning towards Danny and Kirishima.

Before either of them could respond though the old lady lightly smacked the frazzled boy in the back. With her walking cane that looked like a giant syringe. "Calm down sonny. Honestly if you were so worried about the exam. Then you shouldn't have used your quirk to the point where it left you out of commission."

Danny had to restrain from laughing at the old lady's unexpected sassiness. After a moment of watching the lady further berate the now healed guy, he decided that he should get going. But before he could even turn to say goodbye to Kirishima the old lady turned to look at him. "Now hold on young man."

Danny stared at the woman and blinked in confusion as he watched her walk towards him.

"I saw that stunt you pulled off. I was planning to tell you off for using so much of your quirk, but it appears you're fine. But tell me do you need a kiss too?"

"Oh, no thank you, I'm fine, really" he quickly answered while awkwardly smiling down at the woman.

She gave a light huff before responding "Alright then here you go sonny" she then held out a lollipop for him to take.

He decided to just go along with it and took the piece of candy, "Thank you."

With that Recovery Girl walked away to the other injured people.

Danny quickly said his goodbyes to Kirishima and wished him luck on getting in before leaving.

The walk back home was uneventful except for the fact that he kept getting lost but after finally asking for directions he managed to get to the residential district and to the town house.

After looking around the house for the grumpy hero Danny was surprised to find the man still gone. So, he decided that he would just head to bed early.

The following day Danny finally saw his supposed guardian when he woke up and went downstairs. Before he could say anything though the usually quiet man spoke first. "How'd your entrance exam go?"

In all honesty Aizawa had already seen what the kid did throughout the ten-minute physical exam. As he had been in the teacher's observation room during the whole test. But he wanted to see what the boy would say.

Danny took a moment to process the question before responding "Well I don't think I did bad. But I don't think I got a lot of points. So, I'm not sure if I actually passed."

The man continued to stare at him which made Danny sigh. As he had learned that it was the hero's way of telling him to continue.

"Honestly the test was strange."

"How so?" Aizawa finally spoke up.

Danny wasn't sure if he should share his honest opinions with the man, but he decided it was already too late to back out now. "Well, when you told me that the UA physical exam was to assess applicants 'heroing' ability. I kind of expected a more well-rounded test."

"So, the test didn't live up to your standards?" Aizawa asked as he tried to gauge whether the boy was being overconfident. Or if he was actually pointing out the flaws of the one-dimensional test.

"I wouldn't say that" Danny quickly responded. "It's just that simply destroying robots doesn't really equate to a person's ability to be a hero, at least in my opinion. I mean testing for manpower is fine." Especially since it worked in his favor, he thought.

"But I feel like strength or having a powerful quirk is only one aspect of being a hero. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm surprised. That the test didn't have other ways for people to earn points." Danny finally finished.

Aizawa hummed as he took in the boy's analysis. He was surprised by the kid. As it seemed like the boy actually understood the realities of being a 'hero'. At least more than most people in this hero obsessed society did. That raw strength does not equate to being a good hero.

But the man decided to leave out that the test actually did have a hidden element. That made the test slightly more balanced.

"You certainly do have an interesting way of looking at things." The hero decided to simply say in a neutral tone that didn't give away his own thoughts on the matter.

Danny didn't even blink at the man's simple, monotone response as he had gotten used to them. Instead, he sighed as he moved on. "I was told I should receive an envelope in the coming weeks that will tell me if I made the cut or not." He then stretched his arms in a relaxed motion "So until then I guess I'll finally get to chillax."

As he turned to quickly walk away before the man could deny him his well-deserved laziness. The man's odd gray scarf weapon thing wrapped around his torso. If he really wanted to he could've escaped but he let himself be captured as the man said in a scary tone "Not a chance kid".

With that a week and a half not so quickly passed. As each day that went by only made Danny more nervous about whether or not he had truly managed to mess up getting into UA.

It also didn't help that Aizawa didn't lighten up on the excessive studying and tests. In fact, if Danny didn't know better it almost seemed like the man was giving him extra work because of the joke he had previously made about spending all his time relaxing.

But one saving grace was that the grumpy hero spent most of his time out of the town house. Doing what Danny guessed was hero work as the man refused to tell him. But that time allowed him to have some much needed downtime. Which he used very wisely to learn more about this new world. Starting with this world's phone games.

He always made sure to finish the work assigned to him before Aizawa typically got home late at night. So, the hero was none the wiser.

Except today his luck finally decided to run out.

As he was laying on the couch in the living room playing on his phone. While completely ignoring the textbooks and papers that were scattered on the coffee table. He suddenly heard the front door open.

He quickly sat up 'crap' was all he was able to think. Before the man who he had honestly hoped would be a burglar instead stood in the doorway.

"Kid…"

Before the man could continue Danny quickly stood up while cutting off what he assumed would be some lecture. "Okay listen I know what it looks like but it's not."

"Kid…"

"Okay so maybe it is what it looks like. But I mean, is it really that bad if I relax a little bit."

"Kid…"

"Actually, don't answer that. But come on, I am still a kid. Plus, what does it matter if the work gets done now or later. It still gets done in the end." Danny finally finished.

"Kid, are you done?"

"Uhh time is relative." Danny quickly added on but honestly, he felt like he was digging his own grave. But as he finally took in the man's expression he didn't appear as mad as he had expected. Although it was hard to tell sometimes.

Aizawa sighed as it seemed that the kid's excessive tangent was finally over. "Kid, you got a letter." He finally calmly said while offering the sealed envelope to the boy.

Danny stared at the piece of mail that was being held out to him. 'Who would send me a letter?' But then it clicked as his eyes widened. He finally took the letter from the man who had been holding out his arm for probably too long.

"It's finally here?" he said with excitement and nervousness that he tried to push down. But now that he was holding it his anxiety began to truly spike at the prospect that he in fact did not get in.

He looked up at the man who had crossed his arms. Danny didn't want to seem rude by asking to open the letter in private, but it seemed that the hero understood.

"Kid it's fine you can open it in your room." Aizawa said while stepping out of the doorway to allow the kid to go. Besides, the hero already knew what the letter said.

Danny smiled "Thank you," but just as he was about to leave, he turned back and gave a sheepish smile to the man. "Also, I really will get that done, promise" he said while pointing to the scattered assignments.

"Sure, kid now go. You look like you're about to explode from excitement."

Danny did as he was told and quickly went to his room. After closing the door, he stood in the center of his room staring down at the closed envelope that had a red UA seal on it.

After a moment he decided that it was best to just get it over with and so he carefully opened the envelope. But to his surprise the first thing he pulled out was a weird metal disk.

He examined the disk for a moment but suddenly a small blue light on the top of the strange device activated and started blinking. On instinct Danny tossed the disk on top of his mattress and turned intangible.

But instead of exploding like most devices he handled did. A holographic screen that showed a close up of a man's smiling face suddenly appeared.

"Booya! I am here as a projection now!" the man said in a loud booming voice as he finally backed up from the camera.

Danny stopped his intangibility as he looked at the holographic man who was now better in frame. He had bright blonde hair that had two pieces sticking up in front, a thousand-watt smile, and was wearing a yellow suit the same color as his hair.

It took Danny a moment before he realized it was the same guy who he had seen at the mall. On all the posters and different hero-based items.

"Sorry for the delay in receiving your UA entrance exam score. But with great power comes a great amount of paperwork!"

'Wow this guy is enthusiastic' Danny thought.

"The truth is, I didn't come to this city just to fight villains. You're looking at the newest UA faculty member."

Danny blinked at the information. He guessed that this man must be a pretty famous hero. But to the halfa he was just another guy. So, the information that he would be at UA didn't really matter to him. Although the man's big smile was strangely encouraging.

"With that out of the way young Danny Fenton I am excited to tell you that you have passed the written exam with a score of eighty-six!" The man loudly said while giving a thumbs up.

"As for the practical exam…"

If it was possible for Danny to sweat, he was sure he would be. As he clenched both his jaw and fists in anticipation.

"I am delighted to say that you, Danny Fenton went above and beyond all expectations!"

The tension in Danny's shoulders lessened as he took in what the man said. 'I passed' he thought in relief and with more happiness than he thought he would feel at the news.

Danny watched as a screen behind the smiling man switched from showing a UA symbol to showing what appeared to be footage of him during the physical exam.

"You managed to both quickly and safely disarm the villains in a way that ensured both efficiency and reduced property damage." The screen showed him going through a robot and going out the other end with wires in his hand.

"So, I am glad to say that you rightfully earned 81 combat points!"

Danny tilted his head to the side. The score sounded good and from how the hero was acting it seemed like it was pretty high. Although without anything to compare it to he didn't fully know what to think of the score.

Either way though he was just relieved that it wasn't in the thirties like he thought it would be. Although the more he thought about it, thirty didn't really make sense when he thought back to all the robots he killed during the start of the exam.

But the hero's wording did catch him off guard "What did he mean by 'combat' points?" he questioned. But just as he asked himself that question the man continued.

"But combat was not the only aspect we at UA examined. You see, the practical exam was not graded on combat alone. You were also graded on your ability to save others, in other words rescue points! You see a panel of judges watch and reward points for heroic acts beyond just fighting villains."

Danny was surprised that the test did in fact have a hidden element that made the exam more well-rounded. He wondered how many points he would be given for saving those people from the zero-pointer.

"Danny Fenton, you have been awarded twenty rescue points for saving Denki Kaminari."

'So that's the kids name' Danny thought as he saw the screen change to show him saving that yellow haired kid. He was surprised with how many points he had been given. Especially since it meant his score was now 101.

"But that is not all…" The screen changed again to show Danny putting up his ecto-shield to protect the trapped contestants and then destroying the zero-pointer. "For your acts of heroism in defeating the zero-pointer and saving you fellow applicants. You have also been awarded 55 more rescue points!"

'Fifty-five more!?' Danny thought as his eyes widened even more.

"That means with a score of 81 combat points plus 75 rescue points you have a total of 155 points! Congratulations on placing first!" The smiling man once again gave a thumbs up and an even more blinding smile.

Danny watched as the screen beside the man changed to show a leaderboard with his name and score right at the top. At this point the halfa had his mouth open as he stared in disbelief. At not only placing first but also at the ridiculously large margin that he and second place had.

"Welcome Danny Fenton to your hero academy!" With that the hologram changed from showing the smiling man to only showing the leaderboard.

It took Danny a few moments of just staring before he was finally able to snap out of his stupor.

He let out a sigh as he rubbed his eyes which had been wide open for the last few minutes in disbelief and surprise. Because while being first did stroke his ego. He already knew that the huge margin could cause problems or even raise even more questions about him. He honestly wished he could go back and reduce his score to make it seem a little less ridiculous.

But with all his powers, time travel was definitely not one of them. So instead, he decided that he would just have to live with being first place.

He started to examine the rest of the leaderboard and was glad to see that Kirishima also passed and in third place no less. Danny hoped that the friendly red head would be in the same class as him.

As for the rest of the names he of course didn't recognize them. Although as he went down the list, he was surprised to read Kaminari in twentieth place. But he shrugged it off and eventually decided to stop in his analysis of the list and the different scores.

After figuring out how to shut the device off he went downstairs to tell his guardian the news.

"Hey Aizawa," Danny said to the man who was sitting at the dining table looking at some papers.

"Yes kid?" The man responded while not even looking up.

"Well just thought you would be relieved to know that I passed both the written and practical exam." Danny decided to forgo telling the man of his placement or his outrageous score.

Aizawa finally put down his paper and stared at the smiling boy. He had expected the kid to instantly tell him about his record-breaking score. "Good job kid. I guess that means you do have potential."

Of course, Aizawa knew that 'potential' was a severe understatement now that he had seen more of what this kid was capable of. But he would be the last person to glorify a person simply because their quirk was strong.

Danny laughed at the man's typical dry response "I guess it does. But it sucks that the first day is a month away" he sighed. He couldn't believe that he actually wanted to go to school. 'If only Jazz was here, I'm sure she would be thrilled', he thought.

"That means you have plenty of time to prepare," Aizawa said as he stood up and walked over and grabbed a paper bag. "But before that I got you something."

Danny blinked as he took in what the man said "You got me something? Wait, is it another textbook because if it is, no thank you."

Aizawa didn't respond to the boy as he simply held out the mysterious bag for the boy to take.

Danny took the bag as his curiosity got the best of him. He looked in the bag and his eyes widened "Wait is this that model rocket I saw?" Of course, he already knew the answer as he pulled out the box that had a picture of the finished product.

"Think of it as a gift for passing the exam and it will give you something to do besides play on your phone." Aizawa dryly responded.

Danny couldn't help but smile as he examined the box and already started to read the instructions on how to put together the rocket. He would typically make some joke about the guy being more caring than he lets on. But he honestly felt more emotional than he should as he stared at the gift.

"Thank you, Aizawa really."

Aizawa couldn't help but lightly smile "No problem kid."

With that Danny went back to his room and quickly got to work building the model rocket all while genuinely smiling to himself.