--Sunday, August 30, 2172
"To 'handle' Mirko like that…"
As he watched the beautiful rabbit and the terrifying blue-eyed young man fight, the lion man couldn't help but mutter in disbelief. Though "fight" was something of a euphemism—what was really happening was that Mirko could barely keep pace against that terrifying youth.
Drawing in a lungful of icy air, the lion man shook his head and steadied himself, then spread his legs and stretched as he fixed his feline gaze on the starting point that served as the first-aid zone.
"Well, while Mirko keeps him busy, I should…"
The instant his voice trailed off, the lion man shot forward at a terrifying speed, vanishing from his spot. With his feline eyes focused and his claws slowly extending, the lion man studied his surroundings and quickly formed a mental plan to strike the moment he arrived.
When he was halfway there, moving at a speed no one should be able to react to, the lion man suddenly felt every hair on his body stand on end. At the same time, he felt the world around him slow nearly to a stop as he scanned his surroundings with his eyes, searching for danger.
But as he turned his eyes to his left, the lion man found himself just millimeters from the gleaming edge of a jet-black Jian sword. At the sight of such a terrifying scene, the lion man's feline pupils narrowed to a vertical slit, then dilated to the extreme within milliseconds, and in that instant, the blow landed.
Before he knew it, the lion man was sent flying backward at a terrifying speed, and a moment later he slammed hard into something as two cries of pain rang out simultaneously. Utterly dazed and aching, the lion man tried to shift to one side, which let him see what he'd crashed into: that annoying human killer whale. But before he could make sense of what had happened, a calm, slightly playful voice rang out from where he lay.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
A shiver ran through the lion man's body at the sound of the voice, and he quickly raised his head to look. There, before them, stood Saito Kai with a subtle smile on his lips, holding his two swords with his cats perched on his shoulders, those terrifying blue eyes shining intensely, utterly focused on them.
At the sight of those eyes, the lion man suddenly felt his body go completely rigid and was unable to look away. As a fear born from his very soul began to consume him, the lion man watched those bright blue eyes grow in his field of vision, almost as if they wanted to devour him completely.
Just when the lion man felt his very essence was about to be swallowed by those terrifying eyes, the sound of rubble crashing to the ground rang out, accompanied by a female voice brimming with emotion and euphoria.
"Hahaha, that hurt! I'll make you pay, 'villain'!"
With a pit in his stomach born of the most absolute terror, the lion man watched those terrifying eyes turn away from him, and soon the cheerful, playful voice of the young man rang out.
"Then get ready for a beating, 'hero'!"
When the voice faded, the youth vanished thanks to the terrifying speed with which he shot off to resume his bout with the excited rabbit. In that instant, the lion man was finally able to let out a long sigh that took several seconds, then turned to look beside him as he felt the world around him spinning.
There, the lion man found that human killer whale he didn't like one bit, wearing a solemn expression, fists clenched tightly, and his pupils trembling. At that moment, Gang Orca opened his mouth and spoke in a hoarse, heavy voice that laid bare the profound shock he felt.
"He's dangerous… I saw death in his eyes…"
"Yeah… Only All Might ever made me feel anything like it…" The lion man remarked in a heavy voice. The human orca turned to look at him and commented in a heavy, somewhat apprehensive tone.
"He's more terrifying…"
"He is…" The lion man spoke in a solemn, heavy tone.
Though they didn't specify who they meant, the orca and the lion reached a tacit understanding and rose from the ground together. Just then, a gust of hurricane-force wind and another of fire shot toward them, which somehow made them let out a sigh of relief before they looked at the young attackers and got to work.
…
…
…
"They're… afraid?"
In the sealed room where the government people were gathered, a man in a business suit and sunglasses commented with a solemn expression as he watched the pair of heroes out on the field. Mera, with a serious expression, nodded before murmuring with a trace of disbelief.
"So it seems…"
"Report it." The man in sunglasses announced in a solemn tone. Mera nodded before asking seriously.
"What do we do about the exam? Do we pass him?"
"…Pass him." The man thought for a few moments before speaking seriously, at which Mera nodded again before starting to type on his laptop.
…
…
…
After sending Mirko flying with a swing of his sword, Kai landed on the ground and turned to look behind him, where he could see Todoroki fighting—and getting in each other's way—with the bald loudmouth at the entrance ramp. At that moment, one of Todoroki's flames collided with a gust of hurricane wind from the bald shouter, and the two canceled each other out. Watching Todoroki break into a shouting argument with the bald guy, Kai furrowed his brow in distaste and made a mental note before turning to look at his "dance partner."
"You've gotten quite a bit better these past few days."
Facing a smiling Mirko as she got up off the ground, Kai remarked with a smile, visibly in a good mood, pushing the embarrassing scene with Todoroki to the back of his mind. Mirko laughed cheerfully before speaking with confidence.
"Yeah, the training was really effective. From now on I'll come train whenever I can; make me a place at the table."
"Oh, so you're just informing me, huh? Well, look at that, and here I thought it was my house and my time." Kai remarked playfully. Mirko looked Kai up and down before asking in an equally playful voice.
"What? You don't want to? Got something better to do than train with me?"
"A couple of things, yeah, but since I'm a good person, I'll do you the favor of squeezing you into my schedule; be grateful." Kai replied in a playfully haughty voice. Mirko's smile widened, and she soon shot back arrogantly, subtly showing off her breasts and sensual rear.
"Practice your poker face a little more; that smile gives you away."
…
Meanwhile, in the stands, Joke couldn't help but look at Aizawa and ask with utter disbelief written on her face.
"Is she… flirting?"
"…I hope not." was all Aizawa could answer in a somewhat uncertain tone as his gaze traveled between Kai and the flashy red armor flying back and forth.
…
…
…
"Why don't you go help evacuate the station?! That works with your quirk! Saito and I are more than enough here!"
Standing before the lion man and the orca man, Todoroki shouted in a cold voice at the young man flying above him, surrounded by hurricane wind. Hearing it, Inasa Yoarashi furrowed his brow and quickly moved the air around him to create a powerful hurricane aimed at the orca man. Simultaneously, Todoroki fired a stream of flames at the orca man.
The flames caused the air to heat up and rise, while the air altered the trajectory of the flames, effectively canceling each other out. Indignant, Inasa looked down at Todoroki from the air and shouted.
"Why are you attacking that one, and with flames, of all things?!"
"Because he's a damn fish!! Are you getting in my way on purpose?! Your damn wind put out my flames!" Todoroki shouted back, offended. Inasa soon replied, visibly furious.
"You were the one who did it on purpose to steal my glory!!! You could've attacked the lion with ice this whole time!!"
"Why the hell would I do that?!" Todoroki shouted back with unusual emotion, to which Inasa replied, full of resentment.
"Why not?! You're Endeavor's damn son!!!"
Todoroki's look changed completely upon hearing Inasa, and he soon turned to shout, filled with profound hatred.
"Why do you keep insisting on that crap?! My father has nothing to d—"
Before he could finish, Todoroki fell victim to a brutal attack from the human orca, who appeared in front of him and unleashed a brutal point-blank sonic strike. At the same time, the lion man appeared in front of Inasa to deliver a devastating claw swipe that sent him to the ground at a terrifying speed—enough to create a powerful explosion on impact.
"To think they'd argue under these circumstances…" Gang Orca remarked in a cold tone as he looked at the pair of youths on the ground. The lion landed not far from Inasa before commenting in a cold, contemptuous tone.
"Pathetic. You'll hardly make good heroes like this."
Utterly defeated, Todoroki and Inasa raised their heads as best they could to look at the "villains" before them, teeth clenched. They had failed miserably, and worst of all, they knew the reasons couldn't be more childish and foolish.
Though Inasa had felt infinitely disappointed upon meeting his childhood hero, Endeavor, and seeing the kind of arrogant, self-absorbed trash he truly was, he knew that passing that hatred on to his son was stupid. Yes, the guy had that same hateful, self-satisfied look as Endeavor, but hating him for it was stupid. And yet, though he knew it, he couldn't help it; his guts churned at the mere sight of him.
For his part, Todoroki was torn between rage and regret. He knew perfectly well that Inasa's hatred was directed at the trash he'd gotten stuck with as a father, that the best thing to do was ignore him, but he couldn't. Maybe because the guy had beaten him on the UA exam, or because he reminded him of that trash father, his head stopped working properly whenever he was near. He couldn't concentrate on the exam no matter how hard he tried.
But while Inasa and Todoroki watched helplessly, the orca and the lion began advancing with firm steps toward the first-aid station, and that terrifying Demon King was nowhere to be seen. Even so, in that very instant, a burst of explosive bullets forced the orca and the lion to retreat in a hurry.
As the explosions died down, an imposing red female armor descended to the ground holding an enormous rotary-cannon machine gun, which she dropped to the floor, whereupon it crumbled to dust. In that instant, a female voice—elegant, refined, and slightly distorted—rang out in the area.
[I'm terribly sorry, but I can't let you take another step.]
"That's quite a dangerous weapon."
Gang Orca remarked in a serious tone as he looked at the destruction caused by the bullets. Momo looked at the destruction, then at Kai, who watched her from a distance with a confident smile, which filled her with assurance to respond firmly and elegantly.
[It's simply a tool to achieve an objective. If you stay here, I won't have to use it again.]
"You're a very interesting girl, Iron Maiden." The lion man remarked, visibly intrigued and baring his terrifying sharp teeth. Momo smiled beneath her helmet and replied calmly.
[My official hero name is Creati, but I appreciate the compliment, Shishido-san.]
"A truly interesting girl indeed, but I'm very sorry, Creati, we have to get through."
The lion hero Shishido remarked, baring his enormous, sharp teeth. In that instant, the gauntlets of Momo's armor opened, and a new giant machine gun formed from her skin, along with a small missile, as she spoke with elegance.
[Then a confrontation is inevitable.]
Hearing the young woman in armor, Gang Orca and Shishido took a menacing step forward. But just then, Inasa and Todoroki looked at each other and managed to see the same anger and helplessness in each other's eyes, which somehow led them to a tacit, silent agreement.
Immediately after, simultaneously, Todoroki activated his fire side at full power, while Inasa created the strongest hurricane his condition allowed. As if they'd practiced it for years, the fire and the wind blended perfectly to create a tornado of fire around the two "boss villains," trapping them.
Seeing the terrifying hurricane of fire, Momo couldn't help but smile beneath her helmet and look at Todoroki and Inasa. Then look at the pair of "villains" through the flames and comment confidently as she aimed her machine gun at them.
[And I'm not alone in my attempt; we heroes always fight together, "villains."]
***
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