Chapter 4: Forging a path

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

Barry groggily rose from his bedsheets and frowned in the direction of the angry noise.

His alarm was going off.

Sighing, Barry reached over to turn off the alarm but found he had trouble touching it. Looking he realized his hand was vibrating. Barry looked on at his hand for a moment before getting an idea only a still half-asleep person would get. Crawling over to the alarm clock, Barry stuck his hand into the clock.

Barry then began to concentrate, and his hand slowly began to stop vibrating. He didn't know why he was doing it, He just felt like doing it.

He would regret it a second later.

The Clock stopped beeping before exploding into a shower of parts. Yelping, A startled Barry tumbled backward and fell out of bed, conking his head on the windowsill on the way down.

After feeling the back of his head for bumps, Barry takes a deep breath before standing back up.

Not the best start to the day, but I gotta stay positive, Cause today's the day.

After hastily getting dressed and making sure he was wearing the special boots Iida gifted him, Barry began his walk to the entrance exam location, looking over notes as he walked. His training with Ingenium had greatly increased the volume of notes in his book.

Barry then remembered that Ingenium had written a special page of exam day tips just for him. Flipping to the specific page, Barry peered over a short list.

Tensei Tips

Slide into it (To stop)

Slide into it (to make tight turns)

Just slide into it, it's always the answer.

Don't overthink it, just remember the basics (Slide into it.)

Chuckling to himself, Barry continued his walk to the Entrance Exam.

I've got this.

The Building was larger than Barry expected, with a row of arches constructed over a broad sidewalk. The building itself was a large white complex with rows of windows and a large Golden U fastened above the double doors, a golden A stuffed inside the U.

Noticing people already pouring in, Barry began to follow but was interrupted by someone running into him.

"Oh geez, I'm really sorry." Said a panicked voice.

Turning back, Barry laid his eyes upon the speaker. He was a boy of short stature, he didn't look overly handsome nor unsightly, and his only truly memorable feature was his mass of dark green hair.

"My bad, I was so worried about being late that I wasn't watching out in front of me." said the boy.

"No problem, I do that too sometimes," said Barry.

With the situation resolved peacefully, the green-haired boy nodded and continued on his way, Barry following. As he continued to observe the boy, Barry noticed him stop and put his hand on his mouth.

"Hey, are you sick or something?" asked Barry.

"What? Oh no no no, I just um." The boy continued to stutter through his words. "I uh, ate something awful this morning."

Barry didn't really believe him but didn't exactly care enough to argue, ruling it as something personal.

"Just looking out for a potential classmate," asked Barry.

"OUTTA MY WAY DEKU." Growled a hostile voice.

Doing a 180, Barry found himself face to face with another boy, though he had a far less friendly face. He had dirty blond hair and blood-red irises.

"Kacchan?" said the green-haired boy.

The two boys seemed to have a history.

"Don't stand in front of me. I'll kill you." said the blond-haired kid.

His disposition towards the green-haired boy irked Barry. He remembered dealing with bullies back in the U.S.

"Hey, maybe save those lines for the villains, Slugger," said Barry.

"What did you just call me?" The boy's voice seethed with malice.

"Slugger, It's a positive term if you're worried," said Barry.

"Hrmph, don't patronize me Dumbass." said the blond-haired kid.

As the blonde boy walked away, the green-haired boy began to stutter.

"M-Morning, l-lets both do our best…" said the green-haired boy.

The blonde walked right past him, not even acknowledging his words.

"You know that guy?" asked Barry.

"Umm, yeah, h-he was a childhood friend of mine." said the green-haired boy.

"More like childhood enemy, the guys got it out for you," said Barry.

"I-It's complicated." said the green-haired boy.

Barry immediately understood that there were personal problems behind this particular relationship.

"You must be unlucky for your parents to have named you Deku," said Barry.

"W-What, you got it all wrong, My names not Deku, Kacchan just calls me that." said the green-haired boy.

Barry felt sympathy for the boy, having been a victim of bullying before.

"Sorry about that, honest mistake. Let's start over," said Barry.

Barry reached out his hand, "Barry Allen."

Izuku looked at his hand for a moment before shaking it, "Izuku Midoriya"

"Alright Midoriya, let's do our best, PLUS ULTRA," said Barry.

And with that Barry marched inside the building, leaving a surprised Midoriya outside, shocked by Barry's enthusiasm.

The auditorium was crowded with many entrees, all dying to make It into UA.

As Barry took his seat, he noticed a mass of pink hair further down the stairs.

Mina Ashido was applying for UA, the Same as him.

Barry considered speaking to her but still felt a little bitter with her attempt at a pity party. Looking to distract himself, Barry turned to his right and observed his neighboring attendee. He had black hair that was combed to perfection and an extremely blocky face/body, but what made Barry interested were the glasses. They were in mint condition, and very shiny.

As Barry took a closer look, the boy abruptly raised his hand, palm open, and pointed it in Barry's direction.

"Sir, could you please stop staring, your distracting me." His voice was clear, loud, and very eloquent.

"Sorry, I just thought the glasses looked cool," said Barry.

The boy placed his hands back at his sides.

"Thank you" He quietly whispered.

The lights in the auditorium then began to brighten, revealing a large screen at the front.

As the lights continued to brighten, a man who Barry assumed to be a pro hero walked out to the podium.

He was dressed in a costume covered in speakers and wore headphones over his blonde hair, "For all you examinee listeners tuning in, welcome to my show today!"

Bit of a showman isn't he.

"EVERYBODY SAY HEY" he whooped in English.

Nobody took the bait, and the silence showed it.

Not a very effective showman is he.

"What a refined response," the man muttered.

"I guess I'll quickly present to you the rundown on the practical exam!" said the announcer.

Going for one last response from the audience, the man, who Barry now recognized as Pro Hero and Podcast runner Present Mic shouted, "ARE YOU READY, YEAH!" In English.

The outcome was the same before.

Well, He's no Freddie Mercury, But I can at least appreciate the effort.

"As it says in the application requirements, you listeners will be conducting ten-minute mock battles after this." said the announcer.

The screen above Mic suddenly lit up with various charts and graphics.

"You can bring whatever you want with you. After the presentation, you'll head to the specified battle center, okay!" said the announcer.

Nobody responded

"OKAY?" said the announcer.

Seeing as nobody responded, Barry took a look at his pamphlet. It appeared that each battle center separated schools, so nobody from a specific middle school could team-up. Barry felt a certain feeling of relief at that revelation. He didn't have to deal with meeting Mina on the field.

Barry looked up to see that Mic was continuing his presentation.

"Three different types of faux villains are stationed in each battle center. You earn points for them based on the level of difficulty. Your goal, dear listeners, is to use your quirks to earn points by immobilizing the faux villains."

Seems simple enough

"Of course, attacking other examinees and any other unheroic actions are prohibited." said the announcer.

Suddenly, the boy next to him rose from his seat and raised his hand.

"May I ask a question?" said the boy.

"Okay!" said the announcer.

"On the Printout, there are four types of villains. If that is a misprint, then U.A., the most prominent school in Japan, should be ashamed of that foolish mistake. We examinees are here in this place because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes."

The Boy then pivoted to point at a familiar mass of green hair.

"In addition, you over there with the curly hair." said the boy.

Midoriya, Slightly panicked, pointed at himself in order to make sure the accusing finger had the right person.

"You've been muttering this whole time, it's distracting. If you're here on a pleasure trip, then you should leave immediately." said the boy.

Midoriya only managed to get out an "I'm sorry" before falling back into his seat, having tanked a nasty verbal lashing.

"Okay, Okay, examinee number 7111, Thanks for the great message." said the announcer.

I wouldn't have called it great.

"The fourth villain type is worth zero points." said the announcer.

As if on cue, the screen lit up with the outline of a large robot.

"That guy is an obstacle, so to speak. There's one in every battle center, an obstacle that will go crazy in narrow spaces. It's not impossible to defeat, but there's no reason to defeat it, either. I recommend you listeners try to avoid it." said the announcer.

The boy with glasses went into a bow so deep you could place a coffee cup on his back.

"Thank you very much, please excuse the interruption!" He shouted before sitting back down.

"That's all from me! Finally, I'll give you listeners a present, our school motto!" said the announcer.

Taking a deep breath, Mic began the speech.

"The Hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said: A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes. Go Beyond, PLUS ULTRA." said the announcer.

The screen behind flashed his final saying in big colorful text.

"Now, everyone, good luck suffering!" said the announcer.

With a wink, Mic left the stage.

Everybody proceeded to leave the auditorium and take the bus to their assigned battle center. Barry found his and sat down in the window seat.

"A-Allen, Right?"

Barry turned his head to see Midoriya, shaking from either excitement or fear, standing next to Barry.

"Is this seat taken?" asked Midoriya.

"Nope, Sit right down," said Barry.

Nodding, Midoriya sat down next to Barry.

"That was Present Mic down there, do you know him," said Midoriya.

"Kind of," said Barry.

"He's so cool, I listen to his podcast every Friday," said Midoriya.

"I don't really listen to those kinds of podcasts," said Barry.

"Oh, well what do you listen to," said Midoriya.

"Science lectures," said Barry.

Midoriya stared for a moment.

"Really?"

"Yeah, my favorite is a really old scientist, his name was Neil deGrasse Tyson," said Barry.

"Wasn't he an astrophysicist?" said Midoriya.

"Yeah, He pioneered the Mars mission," said Barry.

"Oh, you mean the one that the movie, MARS is based on?" said Midoriya.

"No, that's a different movie, though I do like that one," said Barry.

"Have you seen the movie MOON?" said Midoriya.

"No.," said Barry.

"You should see it, it's really good," said Midoriya.

The boys continued to trade opinions and movie recommendations.

I hope this guy's my classmate; we really get along well.

The bus finally arrived at the destination, a massive battle center where a fake city has been constructed. Barry was impressed by the sheer size of the compound.

Meanwhile, Midoriya was shaking out of sheer nervousness.

"Hey man, it'll be alright," asked Barry.

"But, how can everyone be so confident."

"They're all probably psyched up from Present Mic's enthusiasm," joked Barry.

Midoriya didn't laugh but made a small grin before apparently noticing someone in the crowd.

"Oh, sorry Allen-Kun," said Midoriya.

"Barry is fine," said Barry.

"Sorry B-Barry, I gotta go meet with somebody," said Midoriya.

Watching Midoriya go, Barry was about to move to his own spot when he noticed the boy with glasses grab Midoriya by the shoulder.

"That girl appears to be trying to focus, what are you doing here, are you taking the entrance exam to interfere with everyone else." said the boy.

"N-N-N0, of course not," said Midoriya.

Barry noticed the rest of the examinees smile, at which point Barry realized that they had discounted Midoriya as a threat. They didn't think he had it in him to be a hero. The thoughts were weighing down on Midoriya and Barry could see what little confidence he had was seeping out. He knew he had to do something.

Walking behind the boy with glasses, Barry poked his shoulder.

"Yes?" said the boy.

"Can you maybe lay off the guy, you're clearly making him uncomfortable," said Barry.

"He's disrupting the rest of the examinees." said the boy.

"You're disrupting him, you think he's gonna have any confidence trying to apply if you're throwing accusations at him," said Barry.

The boy was appalled by Barry's argument, but before he could give a response. A voice came over the speakers.

"Okay, START."

Barry recognized the voice as Present Mic's and immediately bolted off into the compound.

As he ran, he looked back at a specific conversation he had with Ingenium during training.

"I have a theory that your quirk works like it's got its own power source."

"Right, so when I run, I can't really limit how much energy I output."

"That's because you let your speed control you, you let it take the wheel and drive and it doesn't want to stop. You gotta learn how to limit that speed and keep yourself in the driver's seat"

Limiting his thoughts on speed and momentum, Barry cruised through the city with great control and relative ease.

I'm not as fast as at the track, but I don't need to be, I just need to be fast enough to fight the bots.

Racing ahead, Barry came across his first robot. It rounded a city block corner on one wheel with 2 appendages and a head with a single red sensor. Barry slides to a stop.

That feels so awesome. OK now how do I get this thing to go down, I could try and find a weak spot and hope for the best but I would just hurt myself trying to punch it like a strength quirk user would, I could find the little screws and try to disassemble it really fast but that would take to long. What can I do?

Barry looked down at his hands.

Wait a minute, what if…

Smiling, Barry began to vibrate his hands.

As the robot charged ahead, Barry charged forward as well and stuck his hands inside the robot's head. Letting his hands relax, Barry smiled in satisfaction when the robot exploded into spare parts.

"Quick and easy, I can keep this going for 10 minutes," said Barry.

Barry then went to work, speeding around the compound and destroying various robots in a rinse and repeat pattern.

He was confident, that was until he felt the ground shake.

Turning towards where the quaking was, Barry was shocked to find a massive robot moving down the street away from him.

"Oh mon"

Barry looked behind him to find a distinctly French boy, staring in shock at the large robot.

That thing must be the 0 point obstacle, glad it's not heading this way.

As if on cue, The robot was suddenly thrust backward by an overwhelming force. Even worse, it was on a collision course straight for Barry.

On that note, Time to split.

Barry began sprinting away and made it 3 blocks before realizing something.

The French guy

Looking back he saw that the French boy hadn't moved an inch. In a few seconds, he was gonna get crushed.

"HEY DUDE GET OUT OF THE WAY" Shouted Barry.

It was no use, the French boy was frozen in fear.

I gotta save him.

Barry raced back towards the robots impending death zone.

I'm not gonna make it, even if I get to him I won't be able to get away…. Unless.

Barry entertained what could be the stupidest idea he had in life yet.

This could easily kill him, but it's my only chance.

Reaching the French boy and scooping him up into his arms bridal style, Barry began to vibrate his molecules. He held the boy as tightly as he could, hoping he was right in his theory.

"O-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i" yelped the french boy.

As the robot came crashing down upon them, Barry closed his eyes and prayed.

A few seconds later, Barry opened his eyes to find himself standing in the middle of a decimated street completely unharmed. Looking into his arms he saw a shivering French boy covering his mouth.

"Put me down please." said the french boy.

Barry obliged and watched as the French boy ran to the side of the street and began vomiting violently.

"Merci" he managed to blurt out between pukes.

Barry looked at himself and smiled. That was awesome.

"Times up!"

Mic's voice boomed as Barry looked up into the sky in victory.

When Barry returned home, He found another letter waiting for him. Curious scanned the envelope to find that it was from the prison his dad was housed. Barry's heart began to beat faster and faster.

Is he dead?

Terrified of the thought, Barry opened the letter and read its contents.

Dear Barry,

My cancer is in remission, God forbid I'm still kicking on this earth. I just wanted to let you know that I'm alive and that I hope you've moved on from me. I'd appreciate it if you sent a letter once in a while.

Sorry for the shorter letter, but I just wanted to let you know I'm getting better.

Yours Truly, Your father Henry Allen.

Barry let out a sigh of sweet relief.

He's alive.

Barry suddenly felt himself going back to his thoughts about his future, he had done his entrance exam and was confident in his chances, but felt he at least owed his father something. He wanted to move on from his personal tragedy, But how.

Barry was suddenly struck with an idea, and he smiled giddily. Taking out a pen and paper, he began to write.

Dear dad,

I'm relieved to hear that you beat your cancer for now, and I'm relieved that you told me about it. On the subject of moving on, I thought about it, a lot actually, and I decided on what's going to happen. I'm gonna be a hero like I've wanted since I was 7 and I'll make you proud.

But I won't give up on you, I will free you, I just won't let it control my every waking hour. I'm gonna take things one step at a time and do both.

I can't wait for your response.

Love, Your Son, Barry.

Packing up the paper and stuffing it into the Mail, Barry felt nothing but contempt, He had taken control of his life, and nothing was going to steer him off the path he made for himself.

A few days later, as Barry checked the mail, He noticed a particular letter with a red wax seal, A UA seal. Smiling, Barry brought it inside.

Sitting down at his desk, Barry opened the envelope to find a small circular object. Inspecting it, Barry wasn't sure what it was. Putting it down to investigate later, the object suddenly lit up and a projection of All-Might emerged from the object.

"I AM HERE, AS A PROJECTION." he announced.

Yelping in surprise, Barry fell backward out of his seat.

"Young Man, Are you alright," asked All-Might.

After laying there for about a minute, Barry realized the projection was live and quickly scrambled to his feet.

"OH, UM Yeah, I'm fine," said Barry.

"GOOD, because you passed with flying colors," said All-Might.

"ALRIGHT," said Barry.

Barry pumped his fist into the air, He was proud of himself.

"While your quirk mystified some of the judges, you were given many points for your ingenuity, and of course for saving your fellow examinee," said All-Might.

"Wait, you guys saw that?" said Barry.

"Yup, we didn't only count villains destroyed you know," said All-Might.

Smiling to himself, Barry looked back at the projection.

"What's next," said Barry.

"What's next is for your education to begin. WELCOME TO UA!" said All-Might.

Alright, We're finally entering the main MHA story, and I can't believe nobody questioned who Napoleon Bonaparte is, That's a real line from the episode, who is he really. On another note, its official DC canon that Barry listens to Neil deGrasse Tyson lectures while running around the city, love the little details. On a final note, MOON is a real movie on Netflix and its great, I recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction.

Review's

TheOKWriter: I don't really think Barry would take that path, He's just a kid with good intentions at this point in the story and I decided to steer away from his kind of depressing outlook in Flash: Year One, Even though I'm lifting a bunch of moments from that storyline. Though what you said about Barry giving up did make sense. That's why in this chapter I gave Barry a reason to keep searching while also pursuing his own goals.

Awesomerebel55: Thanks for the compliment.

Guest DCDGojira: I'm now aware as a new user of the site that you're a guest without an account, But that doesn't change the way I view your reviews.

1. Thanks again for the compliments.

2. Barry will race four eyes in the next chapter.

3. Barry's Hero costume will initially follow his Year One costume (Pictured here: ) But I plan on him donning his classic comic costume further down the story.

4. In terms of villains, The Yellow speedster everyone loves to hate will appear, But much later in the story. In terms of Captain Cold and Heatwave, They will appear, But they won't be alone cause I'm gonna bring out all the rogues. The exact roster will be revealed when they show up.

Next time: Barry's first day, a crucial test, and a confrontation he didn't want.