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On the tallest tree in the jungle, Akira opened his eyes.
"Here we go."
He closed his eyes again as Thermal Sense activated.
The world behind his eyelids exploded into colour. The cool indigo of the air, dull purple of the soil, faint orange warmth of animals in the undergrowth. And further out, scattered across the jungle in every direction were the bright signatures of human bodies.
He scanned the area around him. One hundred metre radius with no signatures.
Good.
He didn't want to hurt anyone who wasn't ready.
Akira stood up on the branch as the wind caught his hair. The jungle stretched out below him in every direction, dense and green and full of people who had no idea what was about to happen.
He took a breath.
And.... let go. (Elsa would be proud)
BOOOOOOOMM.
Red flames flared from his body.
It was like a detonation. A wave of crimson fire that exploded outward from his position in every direction simultaneously, rolling across the jungle like a shockwave. The flames moved fast, tearing through the canopy, consuming leaves, branches, vines, and undergrowth in a single, overheated pulse.
And in just 10 seconds, the fire spread in a perfect circle. It devoured the forest floor, turning everything into ash.
Fifty metres, the trees were gone. Seventy-five metres, the ground was black. And at the one hundred metre mark, the fire stopped.
It hit the edge of its radius and died. A clean line where the inferno ended, and the jungle continued, as if someone had drawn a circle on a map.
And in the centre of it all, hovering above the destruction, was Akira.
Massive wings of blue flame spread from his back, as his eyes glowed, looking at the masterpiece he had just drawn.
He looked like a phoenix that had just been reborn from the ashes of its own making.
***
On every side of the clearing, at the edge of the surviving jungle, students stood and simply stared.
They had been fighting, running, hunting, and then out of nowhere, the sky had turned red, and the world was set on fire.
A team of General Studies students at the southern edge had dropped to the ground when the shockwave hit. They were on their knees, staring at the clearing through the smoke.
"What... the fuck... was that?"
A Business class student near the eastern edge was pressed against a tree, breathing hard, eyes wide.
"He just... burned the entire forest. In one move."
A pair of hero course students from Class 1-B had been mid-fight when the detonation happened. They had stopped punching each other and were now standing side by side, staring at the hovering figure in the centre of the clearing.
"That's the Akira guy?" one of them whispered.
"That's no student! That's a walking disaster!"
A solo Support class student had been tweaking her equipment for the final fight. She had dropped her tools, as her hands were shaking. She looked at the clearing and then at her unfinished gadget and quietly set it down.
"I'm an engineer," she said to nobody. "I build things. I don't fight... whatever that is."
Near the northern perimeter, a team of General Studies students stood frozen. Their leader, the one who had said "forty minutes sounds manageable," was staring at the clearing with his mouth slightly open.
"So," one of his teammates whispered. "Still manageable?"
He didn't answer.
In the stadium, the crowd lost their minds.
The screens had caught the entire thing. Every camera drone in range had recorded the detonation from multiple angles. They all saw the expanding ring of fire, the forest being stripped to nothing, the ash cloud rising into the sky, and the boy hovering at the centre with wings of blue flame.
The stadium shook as the crowd cheered.
A hundred thousand people were on their feet, screaming, stomping, losing their absolute minds.
"HE JUST BURNED THE WHOLE FOREST!!"
"THOSE WINGS!! LOOK AT THOSE WINGS!! THOSE ARE SO FIRE! I NEED THEM ON MY HOODIE!"
"THAT'S THE SYMBOL OF FEAR RIGHT THERE!!"
Present Mic had given up on professional commentary. He was just yelling.
"AKIRA SHUZENJI HAS ENTERED THE BATTLEFIELD!! AND HE DID IT BY ERASING A HUNDRED METRES OF JUNGLE IN A SINGLE BLAST!! THIS KID IS NOT A STUDENT!! HE'S A FORCE OF NATURE!!"
Aizawa, for once, said nothing. He just watched the screen.
In the VIP box, Honoka was slamming both palms against the glass panel.
"GO AKIRA!! THAT'S MY BOY!! SHOW THEM WHAT YOU'VE GOT!!!"
Nia was right beside her, tiny paws pressed against the glass.
"GO DADDY!! BURN EVERYTHING!! BURN IT ALL!! NYAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Wei, still holding Nia, was grinning. "Like father, like daughter."
Back on the battlefield, the remaining students had gathered at the edges of the clearing.
Sixty-eight of them. Scattered around the perimeter of the scorched zone, standing in the tree line, looking at the monster hovering in the centre. Some alone, some in teams, some in good shape, and some barely standing.
All of them were staring at the same thing.
The thousand points.
However, nobody attacked. Because every single student there was asking themselves the same question: Can I actually fight that?
Then something shot out of the sky.
A figure, clad in sleek armour, dropped from above and hovered in the air at the edge of the clearing. Micro-thrusters in the boots and gauntlets fired in short bursts, keeping her suspended.
Momo Yaoyorozu had arrived.
She hung in the air, facing the gathered students.
Then something activated on her suit. Panels on her shoulders and forearms opened, and dozens of miniature drones launched outward. They scattered across the perimeter of the clearing, positioning themselves at even intervals, forming a ring around the students.
Momo's voice, amplified through the drone array, carried across the entire clearing.
"I know all of you must be scared to face him."
The students looked up at her.
At the edge of the clearing, Bakugo stood with his arms crossed. He wasn't scared. But he was listening. Beside him, Todoroki had his hands at his sides, watching Momo with an unreadable expression.
Neither of them interrupted. They knew she was the smartest tactician on the field. If she had something to say, it was worth hearing.
Momo continued.
"I know what you're thinking. That he's too strong. That there's no point. That you should just run, avoid him, fight each other, and try to scrape into the top sixteen without ever stepping into that clearing."
She paused, letting the crowd process it.
"But is that really what you want?"
The students looked at their feet. Some looked at each other, and some looked at the burning figure in the centre of the clearing and felt their courage shrink.
Momo's voice grew louder.
"Is that what a hero is?"
The words cut through the fear.
"Being a hero is not about strength! It never was! It's about who you are and what your intent is! It's about standing up when every part of you wants to sit down!"
She pointed at the clearing.
"That boy in there? He's strong. Stronger than any of us. I know that better than anyone on this battlefield. I've trained with him. I've fought beside him. I've seen what he can do when he stops holding back."
Her voice didn't waver.
"But he's still a student. Just like us. And if we can't face a student, someone our own age, then how are we supposed to face the real threats? How are we supposed to protect this world? How are we supposed to protect the people we love and care about?"
The students were looking up now at her.
"I KNOW IT'S HARD!" Momo yelled as she clenched her fist.
"BUT ARE WE GOING TO LET HIM CHARGE AT US AND TAKE US OUT ONE BY ONE?! ARE WE GOING TO SCATTER LIKE COWARDS AND HOPE SOMEONE ELSE DEALS WITH HIM?!"
"NO!!" A voice from the crowd. A General Studies student. Then another. Then three more.
"NO!!"
"OR ARE WE GOING TO GIVE EVERYTHING WE HAVE AND FIGHT HIM TOGETHER?! ARE WE GOING TO SHOW THE WORLD WHAT KIND OF HEROES WE ARE?!"
"YES!!"
Momo raised her fist toward the sky.
"WILL YOU GIVE YOUR ONE HUNDRED PERCENT TO SHOW THE WORLD WHAT WE'RE MADE OF?!"
"YES!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"THEN HEAR ME OUT!!" Momo yelled. "I WILL GIVE YOU A PLAN! A WAY TO TAKE AKIRA DOWN!!"
The crowd of students walked forward, crossing the burned line, taking a leap of faith.
Momo looked at them. She could see the scared ones, the tired ones, the ones who had been hiding for an hour, and the ones who had been fighting since minute one. Business kids who had never thrown a punch and hero students who had fought villains.
All of them, looking at her, ready to follow.
"WILL YOU FOLLOW ME TO VICTORY?!"
"YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
From the back of the crowd, Izuku Midoriya stood with his eyes wide and sparkling. He was staring at Momo with the kind of awe that he usually reserved for All Might.
"Wow..." he whispered. "That was such a cool speech..."
Beside him, Uraraka nodded, her own fists clenched. "She's amazing."
Bakugo scoffed. But he didn't walk away. He stayed; he had to.
Todoroki uncrossed his arms as he looked at Momo. Then, at the burning figure in the clearing.
He said nothing. But his stance shifted; he was ready to fight against the fire he always dreaded.
Shinso, standing behind his two brainwashed soldiers, tilted his head. A small smile crossed his face.
"Interesting leader," he murmured.
Momo landed on a raised rock at the edge of the clearing. The students gathered around her. Sixty-seven of them, all of them ready.
She took a breath.
"SO LISTEN UP!! HERE IS THE PLAN!!!"
***
In the stadium, the crowd had gone from cheering for Akira to cheering for Momo. The screens showed her hovering above the students, fist raised, voice booming, an army forming around her.
And the reaction was as good.
"THAT GIRL IS INCREDIBLE!!"
"SHE JUST RALLIED THE ENTIRE BATTLEFIELD!!"
"YAOYOROZU FOR PRESIDENT!!"
"Dude, that's not how it works."
"Oh fuck off, don't ruin it."
Present Mic was beside himself. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! MOMO YAOYOROZU OF CLASS 1-A HAS JUST UNITED EVERY REMAINING STUDENT ON THE BATTLEFIELD INTO A SINGLE FIGHTING FORCE!! SIXTY-SEVEN STUDENTS AGAINST ONE!! THE QUEEN HAS TAKEN THE FIELD!!"
Aizawa joined in. "She identified the psychological weakness of the group and addressed it directly. Then she offered a solution. That's not just intelligence, that's leadership."
In the VIP box, Reika Yaoyorozu was on her feet. Tears were streaming down her face.
"GO BABY!!! THAT'S MY DAUGHTER!! THAT'S MY LITTLE GIRL!!!"
Kiyomasa stood beside her. His arms were crossed. But his eyes were smiling.
Nia was bouncing in Wei's arms, paws waving.
"GO MOMMY!! GO MOMMY!! BEAT DADDY UP!!"
Honoka looked at Reika. Reika looked at Honoka.
They both burst out laughing through their tears.
"Our kids are something else," Honoka said.
"They really are," Reika agreed.
In the centre of the clearing, Akira hovered there waiting for the little army to attack.
He had watched the entire speech.
He looked at Momo, standing on her rock, pointing, directing, leading.
He smiled, looking at her.
That's my girl.
Then his wings flared brighter.
Now show me what you've got.
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MOMO YAOYOROZU FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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