[Third person POV]
"I don't know where that battle cry came from, but I'm pumped up! Let's go!!" Kirishima roared, his teeth bared in an adrenaline-fueled grin. His skin hardened in an instant and he launched himself forward with a powerful leap that cracked the ground beneath his feet.
The rest of Class 1-A surged forward with him, a storm of movement and color. Their combined shouts blended into the chaotic chorus of battle, each of them using their quirks to propel themselves ahead. Across the clearing, a wave of dirt constructs—hulking beasts with jagged claws and twisted, earthen bodies—charged toward them, their eyes glowing with unnatural light. They moved with a relentless momentum, like a landslide that had grown teeth, and there was no sign they would stop.
Tony hurled his shield with a snap of his arm, the metallic ring cutting through the air like a thunderclap. It slammed into one of the charging monstrosities, shattering the creature's torso into a spray of soil and rock that collapsed with a rumble. Without slowing, the shield ricocheted off the broken remains, smashing through another construct's head, then rebounding off tree trunks in a chain of bone-rattling impacts. Each strike sent more monsters crumbling back to dust. Finally, it ricocheted in a wide arc—right into Melissa's waiting hand.
She caught it mid-jump with practiced precision, spinning in a tight, graceful circle, she harnessed the momentum and flung the shield again.
"Woah!" Toru gasped, her voice filled with awe as she caught sight of the red-and-blue blur slicing through the battlefield like a living boomerang. It zipped between friend and foe alike, never once touching an ally as the team worked in a seamless rhythm to take down the dirt creatures.
Tokoyami's Dark Shadow erupted in jagged, winged fury, slicing enemy after enemy into drifting clouds of debris. Uraraka sent another cluster of monsters floating helplessly into the air, Toru, meanwhile, snapped the grappling hook from her bracelets—(Made by Tony)—and snagged the air born beasts by their necks, yanking them together in a brutal mid-air collision.
"Momo! Nine o'clock!" Melissa called out with a grin.
Without hesitation, Momo extended her arm blindly to the side, catching the incoming shield with one hand. She leveled it in front of her like a battering ram and charged, slamming through the dirt creatures with enough force to send chunks of earth scattering in all directions.
Leaping high, she brought the shield down in a clean, slicing arc, decapitating one monster mid-roar. Its body dissolved beneath but never she could fall she flipped forward into the path of another, landing on its back as it barreled recklessly through the melee. Wrapping her legs around its thick neck, she locked the shield to her forearm and raised her hands to grab a thick branch overhead.
In one fluid, powerful motion, she swung herself—and the struggling beast—completely around the branch. The momentum hurled the creature downward into another, the two smashing together in an eruption of dirt that sprayed the nearby fighters. She released her grip, flipping through the air before landing in a low crouch. Without missing a beat, she sprinted forward again.
"Momo…" Mina said slowly, melting a hole straight through another monster's chest with her acid.
"What?" Momo asked, genuinely puzzled.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Mina blurted, her voice full of shock.
"What was what?" Momo tilted her head, her expression still calm.
"Don't pretend like that crazy move you just pulled was normal!" Mina shouted, jabbing a finger at her in disbelief. Around them, several of their classmates nodded in wide-eyed agreement.
Momo smirked faintly, tilting the shield on her arm. "Well, for me, it was normal." She whipped the shield toward a nearby tree, where it ricocheted hard and flew forward again.
The sharp whistle of slicing wind caught Midoriya's attention. He spotted the shield and instantly shot out a tendril of his Blackwhip, wrapping around its edge. "Hope you don't mind if I use this, Tony!" he shouted.
Across the battlefield, Tony flipped an enemy over his shoulder in a clean judo throw, smashing it into another. "Go right ahead!" he called back.
Midoriya grinned, spinning the shield in his grasp until it became a blur. With each twist of his hands, he built momentum, turning it into a whirling saw blade. With a swift, controlled swing, he sent it slicing through a straight line of monsters, each one bursting into dirt. A sharp tug of his Blackwhip shifted its path mid-flight, allowing him to redirect it at will. His eyes darted across the battlefield, tracking threats and adjusting the shield's deadly trajectory with flawless precision.
"You want to try a combo move?" Tony called out over the chaos, his grin widening like he'd just thought of something wonderfully reckless.
Deku's eyes lit up instantly, a matching grin stretching across his face. "Let's hear what you got."
Tony leaned closer as they jogged forward, rattling off the plan in a rapid but confident tone. By the end of it, Midoriya was laughing under his breath, nodding like a kid about to try something dangerous for the first time. Without hesitation, he flicked the shield back to Tony.
Tony caught it with a sharp smack, tightened his grip, and suddenly broke into a dead sprint. His pace outstripped the rest of the class, his boots pounding against the churned earth as he tore straight into the thickest part of the enemy horde.
A snarling stone wolf lunged from his right, jaws wide enough to crush steel. Tony dropped low into a slide, the beast soaring harmlessly overhead before crashing into a tree.
By the time he came to a stop, the clearing around him swarmed with earthen monstrosities—towering bears with stone fangs, snorting minotaurs with horns like jagged stalagmites, and wolves as tall as trucks.
But Tony didn't flinch. Instead, he planted one knee to the ground, braced his circular shield above him.
Then came the sound—sharp, electric, alive. The air crackled with power, and a green flash cut through the battlefield. Midoriya appeared above, a blur of motion that barely looked human. He was spinning in a tight arc, his body wreathed in streaks of emerald lightning until he was nothing but a blazing green orb.
He came down hard, his leg whipping into a devastating axe kick that smashed into the face of Tony's shield.
BOOM!
The impact erupted into a blinding green shockwave. The wave tore through the surrounding beasts like a bomb blast, reducing them to crumbling rubble in an instant. Trees snapped like twigs, dirt blasted into the air, and the very ground heaved and split under the force.
Midoriya flipped away midair, landing lightly in a low crouch before straightening up. Both he and Tony froze, their eyes sweeping over the smoking aftermath.
They slowly turned toward each other, expressions identical—wide-eyed, slack-jawed, and absolutely stunned.
"Pfft—" The sound broke from one of them first, and then both snickered before dissolving into uncontrollable laughter. "Hahahahaha!"
Midoriya extended a hand, still grinning ear to ear. Tony grabbed it without hesitation, letting the younger hero haul him up.
"That was awesome!!" they shouted in perfect unison, stars practically sparkling in their eyes.
Before they could bask in their moment, a blur of blue armor and white exhaust streaked past them—Tenya Iida—his engines roaring as he kicked a monstrous bird in the beak with enough force to snap its neck clean.
Momo was right behind him, swinging a freshly created metal staff in a vicious downward strike that caved in the skull of a half-formed stone brute clawing its way out of the ground.
"As much as I love your little bromance moment," Melissa's voice rang out as she dashed by, "keep your eyes on the fight! There's still more ahead!"
"Sorry!" they both yelled automatically—only to glance at each other and chuckle again.
Tony gave Midoriya a playful smack to the chest with the back of his hand. "Come on," he said, giving a small bop of his head before breaking into another sprint.
Midoriya leaned forward, green arcs of lightning dancing across his frame, and tore off after him.
---
By 11:34 a.m., the forest fell into an eerie silence. The only sounds were the faint crunch of boots on dirt and the distant rustle of leaves.
Near the lodge, the teachers were already assembled, keeping an eye on the treeline. A sudden ripple of movement caught Pixie-Bob's attention. She leaned toward Aizawa with a wary grin. "Just what the hell are you feeding those kids, Aizawa?"
Aizawa's mouth curled into an unsettling smirk. "What can I say? This is simply the next generation of heroes."
Branches parted, and the first figure emerged—Tony. His uniform jacket was tied loosely around his waist, the white dress shirt beneath dirtied and rumpled, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A combat harness crossed his chest, and his shield hung on his back, still faintly dusted from battle.
Melissa came next, her own jacket tied around her hips. She tightened the straps on her fingerless gloves, her fists still stained with dirt and mud, her blonde hair now gathered into a sleek ponytail.
Momo followed with her shirt open, revealing the crimson suit beneath. Her staff rested across her shoulders, her arms draped over it casually, a confident smirk fixed on her face.
The rest of the class trailed behind—some with hands stuffed in their pockets, others walking arm in arm, a few still chatting casually like they'd just come from a friendly sports match rather than a full-scale battle. Dirt streaked their uniforms and faces, but not one of them looked tired or discouraged.
If anything, they looked like they'd had the time of their lives.
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