Chapter 2: Fire, Ash, and One-Upmanship
The second Natsu cleared the gate, the world erupted into chaos.
"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"
Natsu inhaled deep, his chest expanding, and let loose a torrential, cone-shaped blast of pure fire. The attack wasn't just hot; it carried concussive force. It slammed into a group of 1-Pointers, melting their armor and sending them skidding back into a 2-Pointer that had been rounding the corner.
BOOM!
The robots collapsed in a heap of molten slag.
"Three points!" Natsu cheered, landing lightly on the pavement. "This is awesome!"
A high-pitched whine sounded from above. A 3-Pointer, a sleek, scorpion-like machine, leaped at him from a nearby rooftop. Natsu didn't even look up.
"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"
He spun on his heel, his right fist igniting in a roaring blaze. He met the robot in mid-air with an uppercut that punched straight through its chassis, sending it flying back onto the roof in pieces.
"And that makes six!" He cackled, a plume of smoke escaping his lips.
He was in his element. This wasn't a test; it was a feast. He bounded from street to street, a whirlwind of destruction. His Quirk, Dragon Fire, supercharged his body. He scrambled up the side of a building with animalistic agility, his fingers and toes digging into the concrete. From the roof, he could hear the grinding gears of a robot three streets over.
KABOOM!
A massive explosion rocked the street to his left, shattering windows.
Natsu skidded to a stop. "Whoa! That was a big one!"
He perched on the edge, his scarf fluttering in the updraft. Down in the next avenue, the ash-blond kid was carving his own path of destruction.
"DIIIIIE! DIIIIIIE! DIIIIE!" Katsuki Bakugo screamed, using his explosions to propel himself through the air in a dizzying, unpredictable pattern. He was a master of his Quirk, using smaller bursts for maneuverability and massive, concussive blasts to annihilate entire squads of robots.
"Get out of my way, you tin-can losers!" he roared, blasting a 3-Pointer to bits without even slowing down.
Natsu watched, his grin growing wider. "He's not bad. He's really loud."
Another 3-Pointer burst from an alleyway, aiming its cannons at Bakugo's back.
"Hey, Spiky! Behind you!" Natsu yelled.
Bakugo didn't even turn. He simply angled his left palm backward and let off a pinpoint explosion. POP! The blast struck the robot's "eye" sensor, staggering it. He spun in the air, planted his feet on its chest, and unleashed a massive explosion at point-blank range.
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO, YOU FLAMING IDIOT!" Bakugo screamed back at Natsu, not missing a beat before launching himself toward the next target.
"Hah! What a hot-head!" Natsu laughed. He was starting to like this guy. He was angry, loud, and strong. It was a great combination.
A challenge.
"My turn!" Natsu yelled. He spotted a dense cluster of 1- and 2-Pointers at the end of the block. He crouched, fire erupting from the soles of his shoes. "FIRE DRAGON'S TALON!"
He shot forward, his feet wreathed in flame, and scythed through the group like a fiery tornado. He didn't just punch or kick; he tore them apart with "claws" of solid fire, sending sparks and shrapnel everywhere.
In a darkened observation room, the Pro Heroes watched.
"That kid in Battle Center B... Bakugo. His Quirk is flashy, but his control is impeccable," one hero noted.
"Indeed," Principal Nezu said, sipping his tea. "He has 45 points. A potential prodigy."
A tired-looking man, Shota Aizawa, pointed a pen at another screen. "What about that one?"
The camera zoomed in on Natsu, who had just suplexed a 2-Pointer into the pavement for no reason other than it seemed fun.
"Ah, Natsu Dragneel," Nezu said. "Quirk: Dragon Fire. A powerful Emitter/Mutation hybrid. Superhuman strength, senses, and, of course, fire. His file is... normal. Lives with his parents. A bit of a troublemaker, but no permanent damage."
"He's reckless," Aizawa grunted. "He's using overwhelming power, but there's no logic to it. He's just... rampaging."
"His score is 44 points," Nezu said, a thoughtful gleam in his eye. "He's keeping pace with Bakugo. They seem to be... competing."
"This is going to be a headache," Aizawa muttered.
Back in Battle Center B, the seven-minute mark passed. The city was burning. Natsu was sweating, his hoodie long since abandoned, leaving him in a black t-shirt. He was panting, but his smile was wider than ever.
"Man, I'm starving," he said, wiping soot from his cheek. He looked at the flames guttering on a destroyed 1-Pointer. He leaned down and, to the horror of a nearby examinee, took a deep bite out of the fire.
"Aaaah!" Natsu sighed, energy surging back into him. "Much better! It's not high-quality fire, but it'll do!"
The ground groaned.
It wasn't a rumble. It was a deep, tectonic shift.
A shadow fell over the entire block. From behind a row of skyscrapers, the Zero-Pointer rose. It was impossibly massive. Its arm, swinging loose, pulverized the corner of a 50-story office building. Debris rained down.
"THAT'S THE ZERO-POINTER!" a student screamed. "IT'S WORTHLESS! RUN!"
The panic was immediate. Everyone turned and fled.
Natsu... Natsu didn't move. He stared up. And up. His blood was singing.
"No... way..." he whispered. A slow, terrifying grin spread across his face. "NOW THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" he roared, slamming his right fist into his open left palm.
"What is that idiot doing?" a fleeing girl yelled.
Natsu crouched, his body exploding in a crimson aura. "I'M ALL FIRED UP!"
He shot up the side of a building, running vertically, and aimed himself at the giant.
A few streets over, Bakugo saw him. "That idiot! Is he trying to...?" He saw the Zero-Pointer raise its massive left hand to swat Natsu out of the sky.
Bakugo's eye twitched. "DON'T YOU DARE TAKE ALL THE GLORY, YOU PINK-HAIRED BASTARD!"
With a furious scream, Bakugo launched himself, a spiraling comet of orange explosions. He was faster than Natsu. He used a series of AP Shots to rocket past, aiming for the descending hand.
"DIIIIIE!" he roared, unleashing a massive, concentrated blast that tore through the robot's metal fingers, blasting three of them clean off.
The hand recoiled, exposing its arm. Natsu, right behind him, saw the opening Bakugo had created.
"NICE ONE, SPIKY! MY TURN!" Natsu yelled, converging all his power into one devastating, two-handed hammer blow.
"CRIMSON LOTUS: EXPLODING FLAME BLADE!"
He smashed into the robot's elbow joint.
CRUNCH! The metal screamed. Natsu's fire, forced deep into the joint, ruptured its hydraulics. The entire arm, from the elbow down, cracked, shuddered, and tore loose. It fell to the street with a CRASH that shook the whole city.
"YEAH!" Natsu cheered, landing on a nearby roof.
But the robot wasn't done. Now off-balance and enraged, its "eye" glowed red. It swung its remaining arm wildly, smashing it sideways into a 20-story building. The entire building began to topple.
"Uh oh," Natsu said, his eyes wide.
"Tch! This is a waste of time!" Bakugo yelled, already blasting away as debris rained down. "It's not worth any points!"
Natsu, annoyed he didn't get to finish the fight, scrambled to avoid the falling concrete.
BZZZZZZZZT!
"TIME'S UP!" Present Mic's voice echoed over the ruined city.
Natsu panted, looking at the one-armed, still-twitching giant. "Aww... and I was just getting warmed up."