Bakugo clicked his tongue, blasting backward to avoid a gnarled, patchwork fist that cratered the metal flooring. Even for him, his breathing was growing heavier—not out of fatigue, but pure, grinding frustration.
"Damn, you feeling tired yet, four-eyes?"His tone was sharp, but the grit behind it made it clear: he needed Iida sharp, or they were dead.
Iida wiped the sweat dripping down his jawline, posture still upright and disciplined despite the bruises forming along his ribs.
"I feel right as rain, Bakugo! I can't let our classmates down after all!"
The Nomu shambled forward, its body dragging like a marionette made from leftover parts. Every explosion Bakugo fed it—every engine-powered kick Iida slammed into its joints—meant nothing. It didn't scream. It didn't flinch. Its pain receptors might as well have been carved out and thrown away.
Bakugo pivoted, palms blazing.
He inhaled.
Exhaled.
And his voice thundered with a wild grin:
"AP — KÖNIGSTIGER!"
A super-condensed explosion roared from his palms, a spiraling lance of orange-gold light that ripped through the Nomu's torso like a meteor.The impact punched through black flesh, shattered bone, exposed sickly yellow muscles and cyan arteries. Bits of stitched skin and metal plating scattered into the walls.
For the first time, the Nomu made a sound.
Not a growl.Not a roar.But an unsettling, weak mewl—a sound that carried a faint echo of humanity behind it.
And then—
Its skin shivered.Its bones re-knit.The hole closed.
With a sickening crunch, it snapped its head back into place and slowly re-focused its dead glassy eyes on them.
Bakugo grit his teeth.
Iida swallowed hard.
Three Minutes Earlier — FLOOR 131
Todoroki ran a gloved hand across the trembling ground.
Kurokami Tenshin stood beside him, hands behind his head, rocking back and forth on his heels with the casual energy of someone waiting for a bus rather than standing above a battlefield.
"Okay sooo… this is it, right? We just drop in? Just—boom, surprise entrance?"
Todoroki gave him a flat stare.
"If breaking floors were that easy, this wouldn't be I-Island. They reinforce everything."He pressed his palm to the ground."But if I freeze the structural support… it becomes brittle."
A wave of white-blue ice spread in an instant, crawling across the floor with a crystalline whisper.
Kuro blinked, paused for half a heartbeat, then lit up—literally—his entire body shimmering with that vibrant violet aura.
"So I break it?"
"Please do," Todoroki said simply.
Kuro raised his fist.The air shifted, vibrating with compacted energy—
And with a jubilant shout, Kuro punched downward.
SMASH!
The reinforced floor detonated beneath Bakugo and Iida, ice shards spraying like shrapnel as a crater erupted above them. Bakugo's face went pale white for half a second—just enough to register the surprise.
Then it rearranged itself back into familiar irritation.
"—Oh, you've gotta be joking."
Kuro popped his head out of the dust cloud like a cheerful gremlin.
"Bakugoooo! Heyyyy! Fancy meeting—"
A massive Nomu fist rocketed across its body's height and smashed directly into Kuro's face.
Kuro stopped mid-sentence.
Then he stopped flying too—because he blasted into the ground, carving a fresh crater right next to the first one.
Bakugo stared.
Then he smirked.
"—HAHAHAHA! Nice entrance, dumbass!"
Todoroki descended the staircase of ice with all the emotion of someone stepping off a city bus. His calm gaze swept the room once before landing on the boys.
"Bakugo. Iida. I assume you're not dead."(He didn't sound particularly invested, merely checking.)
Iida straightened reflexively, engines humming.
"Todoroki! Kuro! You're—quite timely! We've engaged a Nomu of unknown variant. It recovers from damage rapidly and exhibits unpredictable—"
Bakugo cut him off.
"He's basically saying I was about to kill it before you two dropped in like idiots."
The Nomu staggered upright, its torso still half-regenerated.The exposed muscle pulsed.A metal spine jutted out at an uneven angle, sparks dancing along the grafts.
Todoroki narrowed his eyes.
"This… is sloppier than the USJ model. Like it was rushed."
Behind him, a purple blur launched upward.
Kuro shot into the air from his impact crater, blood trailing from his nose but eyes sparkling like a kid at a festival.
"THAT WAS AWESOME! Dude, that punch? Strongest one I've taken today! My head's still ringing!"
He landed next to Todoroki, fists raised eagerly.
Bakugo snorted.
Iida exhaled with relief.
Todoroki didn't even blink.
"Try to avoid getting punched again," he said.
Kuro wiped the blood with his thumb and grinned wide.
"Not a chance! I wanna see how hard it can hit when I'm ready this time!"
The Nomu let out a wet, choking growl.
All four boys turned toward it.
The patchwork creature raised its arms, sinew crawling across its wounds as it began to charge.
Bakugo cracked his knuckles.
Todoroki exhaled frost.
Iida revved up, sparks flying from his engines.
Kuro's aura blazed a brilliant amethyst.
Round Two was about to begin.
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[Auther: Konigstiger means Tiger II or 2. It's the name of a German Tiger tank, the second generation. The principle behind it is a larger version of AP: SHOT. I just have various names for Bakugo's moves that are all based on bombs. Just as Kuro's attacks are all just based on Fused Zamasu's moves, and Iida has moves based on Car gears, and Todoroki has really corny-sounding moves.]