Chapter 7 "Before Dawn"

 Fifteen Minutes earlier

The room was quiet—eerily so—save for the faint hum of machinery and the occasional flicker of static across the dozens of monitors lining the walls. Each screen displayed a different sector of the massive testing field beyond U.A. High's gates.

At the center of the observation room stood a modest table cluttered with folders, tea, and coffee mugs—some still steaming, others long forgotten.

Principal Nezu perched neatly on a cushioned swivel chair, a cup of piping green tea balanced with mechanical precision between his paws. His beady eyes gleamed with interest as he reviewed the profiles in front of him.

Midnight leaned lazily against the back wall, arms crossed, a glossy strand of black hair falling over one shoulder. "So," she began with a smirk, "which one of these bright-eyed kids do you think'll make the biggest scene today?"

Aizawa stood with arms crossed, slouched against the wall. His scarf hung loosely around his shoulders, eyes half-lidded as usual. "Scene-making isn't what we're grading them on," he muttered, though his gaze was already scanning one of the monitors in silence.

Nezu smiled, ever cheerful. "Ah, but sometimes how a scene is made says more than the scene itself." He held up a folder. "For example—Izuku Midoriya. Quirkless. No recommendation, and yet he's the first person to participate in the entrance exam without a Quirk."

All Might gave an awkward smile, his eyes flicking toward the screen.

Nezu continued, "And here… Shoto Todoroki, son of Endeavor. Statistically, he's a safe bet."

Midnight scoffed playfully. "Safe bets are boring."

"Then perhaps…" Nezu reached for another file. This one was noticeably thinner than the others, its details surprisingly sparse.

"Elijah Darkheart," Nezu said, his voice now tinged with curiosity. "From the infamous Darkheart family. One of the most influential households in Japan—perhaps the world. Powerful, well-resourced… and yet this file tells us next to nothing."

Aizawa straightened slightly. "Just says 'Strength Enhancer'?"

Nezu nodded. "Correct. And a perfectly clean slate. Homeschooled. No public displays of his Quirk. Not even as a child."

All Might squinted at the monitor labeled Sector F, where Elijah stood motionless in dark formal attire. His posture was elegant. Still. Unreadable.

"Sometimes, mystery is its own kind of power," All Might said.

"You think he's hiding something?" Midnight asked, tilting her head.

"I think," Nezu replied with a slow grin, "we're all about to find out."

The monitors sparked to life as Present Mic's voice echoed through the speakers:

"Get moving! There are no countdowns in real battles! Run, run, run, listeners! You're wasting airtime here!"

Instantly, the screens exploded with motion. Students dashed across the fields. Robots deployed. Explosions bloomed like fireworks.

In Sector A, Todoroki moved like winter incarnate. A wave of glacial power surged forward, freezing three robots mid-strike. Ice crept outward like living frost, cold and unstoppable.

In Sector B, Iida launched forward, his engines igniting. Blue jets flared at his calves as he weaved through debris—a blur of speed and precision.

Behind him, still in Sector B, Midoriya hesitated at the starting line. Eyes wide. Heart racing. Powerless, yet undeterred. His fists clenched. His legs shook. But his eyes—his eyes burned with conviction.

And in Sector F...

Everyone was moving—fighting, dodging, scrambling for points—everyone except one.

Elijah Darkheart stood still.

Unmoving. Silent. Serene.

"…Why is he just standing there?" Midnight asked, her tone curious.

"I believe he's—" Nezu began, adjusting his teacup—

And then every camera in Sector F flared to white.

A blinding surge of solar brilliance erupted across the monitors, washing out all visuals and sensor data. For one blinding moment, Sector F was consumed—engulfed in incandescent light.

Then… silence.

Slowly, the brightness faded, and a single figure came into view.

Elijah was now clad in resplendent white-silver armor, etched with intricate golden filigree. He radiated heat and power. The armor gleamed like a relic of legend, alive with light and authority.

"Well," Nezu said, blowing on his tea before sipping it, "this is… surprising."

"Is that… armor?" All Might asked, eyes narrowing.

"It appears so," Midnight purred, her gaze lingering. "And he looks quite handsome in it, might I add."

"Please refrain from having such thoughts about my students, Kayama-san," Nezu chided gently.

Aizawa said nothing. He simply stared.

Then—Elijah vanished.

One frame, he was there. The next—gone.

A heartbeat later, a sonic boom tore through the room's audio feed. The shockwave rippled across Sector F, fracturing the ground where he had stood. The concrete shattered like glass, forming a crater of broken stone.

"Did he just—" All Might began.

"…Move faster than our cameras?" Aizawa finished, his voice sharper now. "Tch. "Just" strength enhancement…sure."

Nezu was already typing furiously.

Midnight let out a low whistle. "Oh my. U.A.'s never had an entrance exam like this."

For the next several minutes, Sector F became the only screen anyone cared about.

The other sectors—Todoroki's frozen battlefield, Iida's trail of motion, even Midoriya's raw determination—were all but forgotten. They flickered quietly in the background.

Because Elijah Darkheart was redefining the word "power."

They had to slow the footage by 150x just to see what was happening. Without it, it looked like robots were simply falling apart—smashed, melted, or obliterated by an invisible force.

"He's not just fast," Aizawa muttered, arms now tightly crossed. "He's precise. Lethal. Every movement is calculated."

Midnight glanced at the file again. "truly magnificent?" she said as her cheeks started to turn more and more red.

Nezu nodded absently. "kinetic acceleration, heat projection, durability… and even some form of summoned armor. Fascinating."

All Might leaned in, studying the slowed footage. Elijah spun mid-air, cleaving through three robots with a single flaming kick, then landed in a crouch that shattered pavement.

"He's not improvising," All Might murmured. "Every strike is deliberate. He's done this before."

"Or trained like it," Aizawa added. "Who the hell taught a teenager to fight like this?"

Nezu smiled. "The Darkheart family is known for many things. Transparency isn't one of them."

Suddenly, a dozen robots surrounded Elijah, unleashing foam bullets designed to immobilize him. In moments, he was encased.

But then—

Heat vision erupted from his eyes, carving through the air like molten blades. The foam evaporated in an instant. Robots in his path melted, crumpled, or exploded. Those still standing were obliterated by a shockwave from a casual flex of his arm.

Metal shrieked. Concrete cracked.

And at the center of it all—Elijah stood. Calm. Unstoppable.

Then—

The ground began to shake.

At first it was subtle, a faint vibration…

But within seconds, the quake became impossible to ignore.

And from the center of every sector, they emerged.

Zero Pointers.

Massive. Towering. The final challenge.

"Oh my," Nezu said, his paws clasped. "It seems the final act has begun."

"They're not meant to be fought," Aizawa said. "They're meant to be avoided."

"I wonder," Nezu whispered, adjusting the volume. "What will he do?"

Elijah looked up.

He smirked.

And then—he rose.

Not jumped. Floated. Effortless.

Silence overtook the room.

While the other students screamed and fled below, Elijah hovered high above—still, glowing faintly in his luminous armor.

His white-silver plating gleamed in the light. Golden lines pulsed across his frame like circuitry made of sunlight. The air shimmered around him. He looked down at the rising titan.

"I've never seen anything like that," Midnight whispered.

Nezu set his cup down. "Brace yourselves. This… will be loud."

Up above, Elijah's form began to glow.

The energy radiating from him warped the light. His armor pulsed like the core of a star. His eyes lit up like miniature suns.

A solar corona erupted from his chest, blinding and golden. His body was wrapped in flame and brilliance. He wasn't just glowing anymore—he was blazing.

Elijah became a living star.

And then—he dived.

A streak of pure light fell from the sky. A comet of power.

The microphones crackled. Windows trembled. Monitors flickered.

The Zero Pointer turned its head too late.

Impact.

BOOOOM!!

The screens went white.

A dome of golden energy engulfed Sector F. Light and Heat.

The shockwave shattered glass across the campus. The seismographs peaked. Smoke spiraled into the sky like a volcano had erupted.

As the brightness faded, silence returned.

The crater was enormous. The ground scorched and broken.

And at the center stood Elijah Darkheart.

Unharmed.

Steam rose from his gauntlet. His chestplate glowed faintly. His left fist remained clenched, still raised. His hair now black again. But power radiated from every fiber of his being.

Around the crater's edge, the other examinees watched in silence—wide-eyed, shaken, reverent.

"…I believe we've found our top scorer," Nezu finally said, voice calm but awed.

"…Yeah," Aizawa agreed quietly.

And All Might watched in silence 'Midorya-shonen you will have to work very hard if you want to be the number 1 Hero…ifyou want to surpass that'