Welcome back to another chapter of Chessmaster. Before I begin, here are some responses to comments that I especially enjoy:

MosesArk Reborn2000: Thank you for your support. As for your final comment...I've always been more partial to villains like David Xanatos over Lex Luthor.

Shin: For most of your comments, my response is to wait and see. As for the Apotheosis, you are correct. This version of Quirkless Midoriya is not going to be as...omnipotent as Apotheosis is, at least on an intellectual level. He's good at technology and planning, but he's not say...Nedzu or All for One. Better than Shigaraki or Overhaul, but not quite top tier.

Fox Boss: Sorry bro. Maybe for other characters who become a part of Midoriya's group, but for the core three, they have their weapons set. And I love them.

ProjectIceMan: Agreed, and that's one of my biggest issues with the world Horikoshi has created. Do I love MHA faults and all? Yes. But by leading with Midoriya being bullied - quite harshly - for one reason only implies that there is a very clear case of societal division. And for all intents and purposes, Horikoshi never really looks back on that. Which is disappointing. This is also apparent with characters like Toga and Shinshou, except again, not too much depth is explored.

With that out of the way, let us begin.

Chapter 5: Potential

Izuku Midorya sat in the designated chair in front of his supercomputer, typing away at the keyboard. He had been working since Giran left, trying to break into two of the most secured networks in Japan. He had already accessed one and was saving that for when Jin and Iguichi returned from their shopping trip.

Hey, even revolutionaries need to eat!

Pushing all thoughts of that aside, Izuku smiled as he broke through the last firewall to the creme de la crop, the thing he had been after for several hours: the UA School Severs. This had data on all current students and staff, as well as those looking to take the entrance exams for the upcoming school year. It also contained ways in which he could access the school's cameras and even other electronics which the school employed - their security gates for instance.

"Hmm, let's see." Izuku muttered, sipping a cup of coffee - which he was pretty sure he was becoming addicted to - as he scrolled through the list of prospective hero students. The entrance exam was today, in about an hour, and he needed to look for those whose Quirks were less than flashy, people who, while having talent, were shoved to the side for those who had flashy Quirks.

Izuku made notes on another screen as he looked at individuals with potential - a boy with a mind control Quirk, another with a quirk which allowed him to use sticky balls from his head, one with the ability to copy other Quirks, all very interesting.

'Well, I have the names now. I'll just tap into the feed and look at the practical. Don't really need to focus on the written exam.' Izuku thought, changing the screen to a feed of students walking into UA. One boy in particular stood out to Izuku.

"Of course they let him take this. He'll probably pass this no problem." Izuku snarled to himself, seeing one Bakugou Katsuki strut through the gate as though he owned the place. Switching frames, Izuku began to look for the objectives of the practical.

"The records say that Hero course potentials have to fight some sort of enemy...aha! Robots," Izuku smirked "how quaint." Flexing his fingers, Izuku began to type rapidly, finding a way into the mainframes for the robots. "What moron has all of their robots connected to the same mainframe? The arrogance is astounding."

Tapping the keyboard a few times, Izuku laughed, having implemented a digital backdoor pass into the robot's controlling code, allowing him to rest control from UA at any given time. Checking back in, Izuku noticed that the written exam had finished and the hero incharge - 'Present Mic! That's cool!' - explained the practical for the students. Frowning at the notion that the potentials would be separated - that just made his job harder - Izuku began to narrow down the areas to watch.

'The boy with the mental Quirk is in the same group as the boy with the balls. And the one with the copy Quirk is in the same one as Bakugou. Ugggh. Ah well, beggars can't be choosers.'

A hiss echoed through the room as the doors opened, revealing Jin and Iguichi, both drinking from coffee cups. "Yo Izuku, watcha looking at?" Iguichi asked walking to stand by Izuku's left, while Jin stood by his right.

"The UA entrance exam. I'll be pulling up three different areas, and I need you two to keep an eye on the third. I've got potential recruits in two others and I need to study them more." Izuku asked, pulling up the three areas. The older men nodded, paying close attention to the group Izuku specified.

The group watched the exams with interest, noting how the boy with the copy Quirk quickly got the hang of other's Quirks, while also forming strategies to use in battle with other students. 'Hmm, another strategist. The possibilities are endless.'

The boy with the mind control Quirk was having a more difficult time, as he wasn't using his Quirk, and was trying to take on weaker robots. 'Not bad.' Izuku noted. 'But he clearly hasn't been working his body as much as his Quirk. Disappointing, but nothing we can't fix.'

The last boy, the one with the balls, was actually turning out to be a disappointment. While the technique he employed with his Quirk showed off his ingenuity and adaptability, Izuku had found that the boy got easily distracted by the female students, and had a lecherous look in his eyes every time he saw one.

"Looks like we might have a second Captain Celebrity." Izuku remarked drawing growls from his companions. Even amongst those within the underground, Captain Celebrity was not much respected - at least among the respected members of the underground. They could, at least, respect most of the heroes for their drive and the fact that, for the most part, left the underground with minor injuries, but a predator like Celebrity was hated amongst the high ranking members.

Sighing, Izuku placed his hands behind his head. "Well that looks like the end of the exams. I've found some potentials, but we'll have our work cut out for us. What about you two?"

"Some interesting Quirks, but I can't really see any of these kids joining us." Iguichi said.

"Agreed, we should look at some of the other schools as we- HOLY SHIT THAT'S A BIG ROBOT!" Jin shouted as the so-called 'Zero Pointer' was unleashed upon the prospective hero students.

"Damn…" Iguichi said, staring at the robot while Izuku brought his hands back to the keyboard and began typing furiously. "Izuku what are you doing?"

"That robot's on a collision course with that girl!" Izuku pointed out, drawing attention to a girl around his age with a bob cut and a permanent pink blush. "And...done!"

Pressing one final button, Izuku and co. watched as the robot seemed to shudder, before its top part began to spin violently. Sparks began flying from the robot, before the spinning stopped and the robot fell back, away from the mass of students and from the trapped girl.

Sighing, Izuku quickly began typing, leaving UA's system, while also placing a few...surprises for the hero school. 'Can't wait to see what happens with those.' Izuku thought with a smirk.

"Why did you do that Izuku?" Iguichi asked, looking at his young leader out of the corner of his eye.

"I think it was very heroic. BUT ALSO KINDA STUPID!" Jin said, his personalities acting up again.

"I...I saw someone in need of help. I understand it was stupid and illogical, but-"

"But that's your hero's heart." Iguichi said with a small smile. "I think we understand. But please be careful. If UA were to be able to track us here-"

"They can't." Izuku replied, gesturing to his screens. "I've been running the signal through several hotspots nearby, switching to each one every couple of minutes. Even if someone was able to decipher that, our base is underground, undetectable from the surface. And, you'd have to have one of our access cards to even gain access to the facility. Nobody is going to be finding us for a long time."

"Alright Izuku. By the way, we got a call from Detnerat. They've finished the weapons we requested, and are looking for 'Prince' to come and get them." Iguichi said.

Smiling, Izuku nodded, before pulling up one final screen. "I'll go after this. For now, I need the two of you to memorize every piece of information on these files."

The two nodded, before they spluttered at the information presented. "Izuku...how the hell did you get this?!"

"Their cyber security was not as tricky as UA's, despite being more up-to-date. Regardless, we now have the names, addresses, Quirks, family information, records of previous injuries, and other such information…

On the Top Ten Heroes in Japan."

CUT! Short yes, but the next, let's say three chapters will be where the meat of the story picks up. Thank you all for sticking by for this, and until next time, peace.

TheSaintsFollower, signing off.