Chapter 7: At Home
After the Quirk Apprehension test, I met up with Pony. Of course, the first thing she asked was why I hadn't been at the orientation the rest of first-year classes went to. So, I told her.
"Waaaa," Pony shook her head as we walked to her house, eyes wide. "That sounds so crazy! I thought my teacher was weird, but yours sounds crazy."
"You have Vlad King, don't you?" I asked her. "I thought that guy was pretty cool."
"He is! But he started growling when he saw Class 1-A didn't show up," Pony said. "I don't think he likes your teacher… Oh, but I made friends with one boy! He seemed excited when I told him I had a friend in 1-A! He taught me a Japanese phrase to share with you!"
"Oh really? What was it?"
She pumped her fists excitedly. "I'm going to destroy your idiot ass!"
"...What was this young man's name?"
Pony frowned, touching a finger to her lips. "Neito Monoma. Why?"
"Oh… I'm just… Excited to make a new friend."
"Bowser-kun… your smile isn't very happy."
"Oh believe me. I'm ecstatic."
------
"Aizawa," Tauren sighed, shaking her head. "Well, I can't fault him. I do think he's way too harsh, but I've seen a few heroes get beat up because they never learned the big lessons early. At least no one got expelled."
"Apparently when he does expel students, he just brings them back in after. Better they 'die' by being expelled instead of actually dying. His way of nailing them with the seriousness of all this I guess," I said slowly.
Granted, it was likely others would still have issues with it, but that was fair. In the end, we were all okay. I'd rather just move on with life rather than talk about it any longer.
We were all in the kitchen of the Tsunotori household, eating a big meal for the night. I'd pitched in the allowance I got from the government to add to the meal. Tauren tried to get me to hold off, since she made plenty of money from the government, but I always felt bad if I didn't at least make an effort to help out.
We were just finishing up our meal when someone knocked on the door.
"Now who could that be?" Tauren asked herself, walking over to the front door. I could hear her open it, talk briefly, then walking back to us, another person's footsteps following. She came in. And a familiar face followed.
"Ranma-san?" I was surprised at the sight of my social worker, who was carrying a box in his hands. He smiled at me, eyes crinkling. "What are you doing here?"
"I went to your apartment, but you never seem to be there when I visit nowadays," he joked lightly. "And you are terrible at answering your messages."
I winced. Yeah, that was pretty consistent with my human life. "I'm sorry, I-"
"Do not worry about it," he said in very good English. He'd been practicing it for as long as I'd been pushing myself to learn Japanese, and had gotten a real mastery for it. He lifted up the box. "For now I would like to celebrate. I brought cake. Had them make it special for you."
Ranma opened the box. I looked inside. Pony giggled. "It looks just like your shell!"
It did indeed. It had green frosting separated by varying lines, with spikes poking upwards.
I shook my head, smiling. "How much did this cost?"
"It was really not a big deal," he said humbly. "So, may we eat it together?"
Tauren chuckled. "Sure thing, sugah. Have a seat."
We gathered around and cut up the cake. Felt a bit weird, cutting into a cake that looked like my shell, but the taste of frosting helped me get over it real quick.
"So, UA," Ranma said, not noticing the bit of green frosting on his dignified nose. "How does it feel? Entering the best hero school in the nation?"
Pony touched a finger to her cheek thoughtfully. "It doesn't feel real. I'm very excited though! I can't wait to start classes! I hope we can get a lot of training on our powers. Bowser-kun has helped me think of some fun techniques, but it's not as useful as a teacher helping."
"I still say you're going to be able to make giant constructs made of horns one day," I said. "You already can make a small storm of the things. Once you start being able to control enough of them, you'll be a horn Green Lantern."
"You make very outdated references for such a young man," Tauren said with a shake of her head.
"And I can only control three of them so far," Pony pointed out. "Still… that could be so cool," she had a cute look on her face as she tried to imagine it. "I could make a big hand and grab bad guys to throw them away!"
"All jokes aside, you don't even need to do the whole construct thing if it takes a lot of focus to bring the individual pieces together to make a complete image."
Pony took in that comment thoughtfully.
"Maybe you could practice art that deals with that?"
We looked over at Ranma, who was stroking his chin. "Something like pixel art? I am not familiar with heroes, but I know that artists find it easier to do complex art when they practice it consistently. If you get used to the idea of putting many small parts together to make a larger image, that might help."
I hadn't thought about that. Seemed like a good idea, and Pony was humming to herself in thought.
"I did want to ask," Ranma looked over to me. "How are you adjusting? I remember in the past that some tried to dissuade you from becoming a hero."
"What, a bunch of my fellow middle schoolers and teachers who don't know anything about me beyond 'spiky monster?" I asked sarcastically.
Ranma frowned. "I'm being serious," he leaned forward. "Despite living in a world full of heteromorphic quirks, many with mutations as heavy as yours have to fight an uphill battle just becoming normal members of society. Let alone as a hero. The job may be based on saving others, but you get more money when the public loves you. And you will be fighting an uphill battle."
"I'm okay with that," I took my fork and sliced through my cake. "I'm actually planning to lean into it."
"Lean into-" Ranma frowned. "Is this another American thing?"
"Tauren and Pony gave me the idea," I smiled at them. "Acting like a heel, like Gang Orca or Endeavor. I can't exactly be super-cuddly, but I can act like a big bad ass wrestler smashing people apart just for the fun of it! Draw in the crowd that loves a pun badass!"
I clenched my fist, grinning.
Pony giggled. "No. You are super-cuddly."
"I am?" I blinked at her.
She nodded wisely, while Tauren chuckled. "You can never hide it when you're happy."
"I can't? What do you mean?"
Ranma opened his mouth, only for Tauren to quickly get up. "I think ya' can do it. Just work hard and learn how ta' act. If you want to be a 'heel' people will like, ya need to learn to balance it, sugah. Be a hero, while acting like an asshole."
"Momma!" Pony held a hand to her mouth, shocked at the language.
"Sorry dahling," Tauren said, chagrined.
Ranma chuckled at the little play-by-play before focusing on me. "I'm glad you are doing well, Bowser-san."
"Thanks, Ranma-san."
"Though, please let me know if you won't be home more often please," Ranma smirked. "Or let me know if you need adoption paperwork."
Pony blinked, looking over at me, while Tauren chuckled, and I sighed.
Ranma… why must you make things awkward?
------
When I got to my home, I opened the front door and entered. The room had changed over the past months. There was a pile of dirty clothes in the corner I had yet to clean. In the back was my shell scrubber. I'd had to save up money and order it from a company called Detnerat, a place that had gained a lot of money by creating specialized lifestyle products for people with quirks that made it so a simple comb wouldn't do the job.
So when I ended up needing a way to scrub my shell, they were the ones who I went to. Got a good deal on it as well.
And yeah. I had to scrub my shell. Whatever species Bowser counted as, I had a series of issues I had to deal with that I had to learn about as I went.
My shell was tough as hell. I had yet to get hit by anything that could damage it. But it was still a part of my body, and soil, oil, or other materials ended in an itchy shell among other things. My shell still felt things, though they were more like muted sensations. I was fireproof but could still feel warmth through my shell for example.
And my god, my shell getting itchy was torture. I had a small brush that I used to use, but I could never reach the hard sections with that thing.
So I needed a large wall made of wire brushes to rub my back against to make sure I wouldn't end up dealing with that shit anymore.
It wasn't the only thing I had to deal with. I had to sharpen my claws and horns with a big metal file, clean the inner portions of my shell with a pressure nozzle when I could, and using the bathroom took a lot of getting used to.
I deliberately ignored the section of broken counter in my kitchen, a plate-sized hole in the marble, right next to a section of wall similar in size that I'd painstakingly filled in with plaster. I'm ashamed to admit it but those came from the same incident. In point of fact, there was similar damage in the bathroom, a piece of the tub I'd kicked apart.
I was more used to it now, but… When I was just getting used to my body, I lost my temper a few times. A lot of times. I'd been in a human body for so long, that even after a year, I still had to calm myself when I saw my Bowser form at times. And in the beginning, when tasks as simple as wiping my ass became an embarrassing and hard to figure out puzzle, I'd wanted to scream.
The internet helped. I wasn't the only person in this world with those frustrations. I had forums I could visit where people with similar issues shared their pain, and their solutions. Pony and Taurus had helped as well. While our problems weren't all the same, they had torn some things on accident when they misjudged their horns, something I'd had to deal with my own horns on top of my spikes.
Pony once told me about a time her mom found her crying when she'd accidentally shot a horn into her stuffed panda. She'd shown me the little guy, a large stitched scar across his abdomen, a proud memoir of his survival.
I walked over to my desk and sat down on the industrial bench right in front of it, grabbing the notebook sat there. I opened it up, grabbed my oversized pen (giant novelty pens were just regular pens for some people nowadays), and thought to myself outloud while looking at the words there. Written in my scratchy hand was a bunch of timeline things, written in the form of an outline for a comic book I was writing. I'd made Pony the hero and wrote it with a bunch of random bull. Never know when someone might find the thing.
"Made it into UA. So that's good. But now I have some… really big issues that follow," I rubbed my chin. "First, the Battle Trial. Doesn't really matter how that goes down. Then I have classes and such. But the big things will be…"
I tapped one sentence on the page. Infiltration of assholes happens.
"That decay guy is going to show up and turn the security doors to ash. Then he'll sneak into the school and find out when All Might goes to USJ. Which leads to…"
A few sentences down, after describing the heroine joining Wonder Woman as her apprentice, was the words, big battle while rescuing civilians. I thought that was a good explanation for the USJ, since the whole point of it had been to train to rescue civilians.
"USJ…" I looked at my notebook for a bit. I had some ideas for that, things I'd prepared. None of them were perfect. I couldn't just not interfere with those assholes attacking the class. If I could do something, anything, then I would. But I didn't want to expose myself either.
Well. If worse came to worst, I could simply run into the office and scream about how I was from another universe and that the bad guys were coming.
Not exactly plan A, but it was an option.
In the meantime. There was something way more worrying me.
I turned the page. And it was an absolute mess.
First, there was a list called 'AMVs?' While I had seen only one season of My Hero Academia, I'd managed to watch some music videos of things that happened later. The only problem, all of that shit was near useless without context. Some clips of Deku and Shoto fighting. Another of Bakugo fighting the decay dude and some sort of Harley Quinn type. I thought I could remember something about Deku surrounded by lightning? But none of them were that useful.
In other words, once we got to the USJ incident, I was no longer psychic. I'd be just as blind as everyone else to the future. And that was worrying. Because, when I'd started watching the show, there had been three seasons. So whatever happened in season 2 and 3, I'd need to depend on my own knowledge and skills to counter it.
The big pen in my hand cracked a bit when my grip on it began to tighten on it. I tried to relax.
Well. That would suck. But people existed with that sort of uncertainty every day. I'd work with it. Namely, by building my information network another way.
In this world, I was starting young. That worked against me, but it also meant I had time. If I started working hard, learning what I could, I wouldn't need to know the future. Knowing the present would do the job.
That was honestly just a random idea though. I didn't know anything about building a spy network. Might be worth looking into. UA did have a division of the school-based on business. And what was business but building connections and establishing a network? That seemed like such an impossibility for the future though...
For now. I had two things to prep for. The Infiltration. And the USJ Incident.
There was also the other big thing. Izuku Midoriya. Namely, how goddamn cringe I'd been acting around the kid!
I sighed, rubbing my head. With the benefit of hindsight, I realized I'd been way in his business. I couldn't help it though. I was always awkward around people I admired. In my own world, I'd been an absolute mess when I met Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, or Jessica Nigri. Compared to that, I'd been cooler with Izuku than with those guys. But even so. I needed to calm it down. The kid had his own path in life. He didn't need some random guy stalking him and trying to help.
I sighed, scratching my chin with my pen. I wish I was better. I had the powers of Bowser, sure. But I was still learning to control those powers. I had knowledge, but I wasn't a superspy who could apply it super effectively. And I might have been more mature than my fellow students, but that didn't mean I was able to handle every situation with perfect emotional control.
Of all the problems to deal with, right?
Tomorrow, I'd have the Battle Trial to deal with. For now… Hmm.
I opened up my laptop and hit the internet. I did a couple of searches. Building an information network among idiots who thought villains were cool. Maybe I could do that. But I needed to figure out how…
I looked up the Hero Killer. And it didn't take long for me to find his fans.
Chapter 8: Battle Trial Day
The next day, I jogged to UA again, meeting Pony on the way. We made plans to meet a certain someone during lunch, then headed into our classes. After 10 minutes in homeroom with our exhausted sensei, it was off to other classes.
First, English. For everyone else. After all, I already mastered English very well.
I instead took Japanese as a second language. So I ended up seeing Pony earlier than I thought I would. It was there that she introduced me to one of her fellow Class 1-B students. Which was interesting for one reason.
"Lóngguī," A black-haired Chinese boy who had his hair pulled back into a ponytail said with a smile. "They're famous in my country!"
"Thank god, because some people keep thinking I'm just a spiky turtle," I said with a sigh.
"My mom talked about them sometimes," the kid said with a shrug, looking a bit bashful. "But I don't really remember any stories."
"It's fine, Rin," Pony said excitedly. "It's nice to learn more about them either way."
"Quirks are so strange sometimes," Rin said thoughtfully. "I wonder why yours would make you a dragon turtle. Although, you don't a lot like the ones I've seen. Too spiky."
"Godzillo looks like an old Toho Kaiju, so I figure that quirks might have some sort of tie to the greater human consciousness or something?" I said with a hesitant shrug. "I mean, some of the powers we have just don't make sense biologically. I swear I met a cashier who had a speaker for a head once."
This was an old conversation. Quirks had been around for over a century at this point, the topic of how weird they were was around forever. It was like talking about how expensive things were or something. Just something you talked to people about in day-to-day life that didn't really need to have a conclusion to it.
Rin nodded, then chuckled. "I guess that if you're a dragon turtle, then we might be cousins. My name means 'flying dragon'."
"Doooope. I think mine is some kind of Korean soup," I noted. "So, are all of the Class 1-B kids pretty chill like you are? I was a little worried about this one," I pointed over at Pony, who pouted.
"They're all very nice! Even Monoma. He just hates 1-A."
"She's not lying," Rin chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "He once spent class glaring at the wall that separates us until Vlad-sensei hit him with a blood ball to get him to stop."
"What, he hates us? Do we get first dibs in the cafeteria or something?" I asked the two.
"It's more that Class 1-A has a reputation for stealing a lot of attention I think," Rin rubbed his chin. "Although I don't know how he found that out on the first day of school. I wonder if he's just making things up…"
Considering that the whole show revolved around 1-A, Monoma might have a point.
Before we could keep talking, the teacher came closer. We went back to practicing our Japanese sentences.
After this, we would have Math, Computer Tech, and Hero Lessons, which were all about the laws and such for heroism. Then Lunch. Then Hero Lessons again, but that would have a focus on using our abilities. In other words, it was when we would go for the Battle Trial.
Then Science.
Science was likely not going to be the highlight of the day.
------
Pony Tsunotori
It was lunchtime! The best time of the day!
Right now though, Pony was leading her new friends to her oldest friend. She had gotten her food already and was not walking with them, looking around curiously.
"I can't believe we're going to talk to one of those 1-A bastards," Neito Monoma was a young man with blue eyes and slick blonde hair, currently pouting. "Oh, but Pony! Remember to tell him what I told you, okay!"
"Okay! I'll tell him as soon as I see him!" Pony played along. When Monoma began to cackle maniacally, it was all she could do not to giggle herself. Boy was he going to be surprised!
"Oh, grow up," a hand dropped on Pony's head, rubbing her hair lightly. Pony looked over at the girl in question. Itsuka Kendo, a pretty young woman with orange hair put into a side ponytail, bright teal-colored eyes, and a powerful build. "I'm excited to meet your friend, Pony. Do you see him?"
"I should be able too," Pony frowned, turning around. "Maybe I can call hi- Ah! Bowser-Kun!"
Monoma and Kendo turned around. They found themselves face to chest with a school uniform. A school uniform wrapped around a chest the size of a truck. They craned their heads back, Monoma becoming paler and paler as he stared up at the face above. Bowser was staring at him, his chest vibrating with a low, intense growling sound like a car engine starting. A small lick of flame slipped from the left side of his face. Bowser leaned forward.
"Hi. I'm Bowser. Nice to meet you," he said in English and it didn't look like he was happy. Pony giggled internally. She liked Monoma, she really did. But she didn't like that he tried to teach her to say mean things.
Speaking of which.
"Hi Bowser-Kun," she bounced over to him. He stopped glaring to give her a kind smile. "This is Neito Monoma and Itsuka Kendo!" she said, pointing to the respective person.
"A pleasure," Bowser held out his hand to Kendo. She hesitated before shaking his hand when he smiled encouragingly. Then he looked back at Monoma. "So… You're Monoma."
"You're in high school!?" Monoma squeaked.
"I know, I look a lot younger than I really am," Bowser joked before becoming serious. "I hear you've been teaching Pony more Japanese."
Monoma had enough time to realize what was coming before Pony chimed in. "Yes! He taught me another phrase!"
"Uh, Pony-chan, m-m-maybe I should go over the pronunciation again-" Monoma began to say fruitlessly.
"Anata wa mottomo hikui, ningen no sukamudesu!" Pony said proudly. Then she looked over to Kendo. "How did I do?"
Kendo blinked at her, then seemed to come to a realization. She smirked. "Oh yes. You did it exactly how Monoma taught you too."
The young boy stared at Kendo with betrayed eyes, then looked at Bowser weakly. "Um… How good is your Japanese?"
"You're the lowest… human scum," Bowser said in accented but still good Japanese. "You taught her, one of the kindest and sweetest people I know, a girl I consider practically family... to say that. To me."
"Aw… fuck."
Bowser leaned in close, fangs flashing as his jaws opened, fire flickering in the back of his throat. Monoma raised his hands to defend himself.
Bowser then just gave Monoma a gentle punch on the shoulder. "I'll let it go."
"Eh," Monoma sagged, staring at him. Then he scowled. "Then what was the point of all this!?"
"Because I'm guessing you're just a punk, instead of someone actually trying to hurt anyone," Bowser said casually. "Besides, Pony told me not to toss you onto the roof and leave you there. Which was plan B."
"What was plan A?" Kendo asked.
"Thrown into the ocean. Most of my plans were throwing related since legally I can't do too much to him," Bowser said with a worrying casualness that left Monoma pale.
Monoma looked over at Pony, who nodded, before raising a stern finger. "But you aren't allowed to tell me to say bad things anymore! If you do, I'll give you a wedgie with my horns."
The blonde scowled, though he also looked partially relieved now that he knew he wasn't going to be eaten. "It's not like she doesn't know worse cuss words than anyone in class."
Pony felt a shot of embarrassment. "That's Bowser-Kun's fault!" she said, waving her arms for emphasis. "He keeps on saying bad words in English and Japanese around me, so I keep-"
"Mastering them."
"Mastering them!" Pony finished. Then she blinked and spun around to Bowser. "That's not what I wanted to say!"
"It should be. You're getting really good at saying 'fuck'. Putting the right emphasis on the 'ck' part of it," Bowser teased.
"Muuuuuuu…" Pony pouted up at him as he chuckled.
"Come on, let's grab a bite together," Bowser said.
"Ha! As if we would sit with Class 1-A scum! You can just- Wait, where are you going?" Monoma ran to follow when he realized Kendo and Pony were following Bowser.
"You were going to sit by yourself?" Pony asked as Bowser led them to a table with a larger seat on one side for bigger students.
"Nah, I was going to sit with you," he said, moving his tray, stacked high with rice covered in curry, enough for three people. "And I didn't want to bother my classmates yet."
"So you decided to bother a different class?" Monoma said sourly, though he seemed to have calmed down.
"Oh, pipe down," Kendo said to Monoma, turning a smile to Bowser. "Still, Pony has a point. You haven't made any friends in your class?"
"I think I have," Bowser said, frowning. "But I'm trying to give them some space. The only reason I'm hanging with you two is that Pony asked me. Well, that and so I could scare the shit out of this guy."
He gestured to Monoma, who gave him a dark leer. "I didn't shit! I knew you were joking the whole time!"
"Uh-huh," Kendo and Bowser sarcastically said in unison.
Pony peeked at Bowser out of the corner of her eye. He was like that in their old school too. He didn't really make friends. He wasn't lonely or anything, and he wasn't mean. But he was so focused all the time. Always working out, studying, reading. He never really played or watched things. Not unless he was with her. He knew a lot about movies and video games, but it was like he'd just stopped watching them.
Bowser thought he had made friends with her. Pony sometimes thought it was more like her mom and her had befriended him when he wasn't looking. She made the effort, and eventually he started showing up on his own.
She put the thought aside though. For now, it was time to eat. Then they had Hero Lessons with Vlad-sensei! She was super excited about that. Oh, actually…
"Bowser-Kun, are you going to have Hero Lessons after lunch too?"
Bowser took a big scoop of food and took a big bite. "Yeah, we do. Which I'm excited for. We get to finally use our powers in a fight together."
"You think we'll be fighting?" Kendo asked skeptically. "Not training?"
"What's the difference?" Monoma and Bowser said in unison, sharing a surprised look before Monoma scowled.
"Boys," Kendo rolled her eyes before continuing. "I thought we would be going over our powers, figuring out our weaknesses and strengths, that kind of thing."
Bowser hesitated. Kendo and Monoma didn't notice, but Pony did. He shrugged. "I'm going to say we're more likely to have some freeform stuff happen. Fighting against each other, maybe doing fake rescues. After all, there's no point in training us if they don't know what our baseline is in all facets of things."
"Wasn't that the point of the entrance exam?" Kendo pointed out.
"Against robots. Dumb machines, with basic combat skill, and based around a free-for-all point battle," Bowser pointed out. "There's a difference between that and actual people with quirks and personalities. People get mad, determined, they swing out of panic. And of course, hell is other people."
"I feel like I am in hell," Monoma mumbled.
"Monoma-Kun," Pony said sadly. He looked up at her. She tried to give him a look that conveyed all her feelings. That she wanted him to be friends with her friend. That he was making her sad. She tried her best to put all of that into a look.
He suddenly looked as horrified as though he'd killed a puppy. Monoma straightened his stance. "Well, you may have a point, as horrible a person as you are! So we will likely have some sparring?"
Kendo smirked at Pony, who hid a smile. Boys were so fun to tease sometimes.
"I hope so," Bowser grinned. "I really want to fight. Some of the guys in my class are real badasses. Oh! Speaking of, Pony," she perked up. "Do you want to invite some of your classmates if we can get permission from the teachers?"
"Oh, that would be great!" Pony clenched a determined fist. "Let's go to the office after school and ask!"
"Wait, what are you inviting people to?" Kendo asked.
"Training sessions!" Pony unclenched her fist to take Kendo's hand. "You should come! You're so strong Kendo-chan! You too, Monoma-Kun!"
"That would rule," Bowser said in agreement. "Pony and I have been training together for a while, and we wanted to make a small group who could meet up after school and train together, maybe trade tips and ideas. There's no clubs for it, so maybe we can figure something out? But if we can get one of the training areas or something; we can do spars, mock battles, and rescues together."
"A chance to humble you and learn your weaknesses, how could I refuse?! You 1-A's will soon regret your decision! HAHAHAH-" Monoma started, only for Kendo's hand to grow huge and then chop him on the head, causing him to faceplant on the table.
"That's him saying yes, we would like that," Kendo said calmly as Bowser gaped at the weakly twitching form of Monoma.
"Did you kill him!?" Bowser said.
"Oh, he's fine," Pony said helpfully. "Monoma-Kun just needs a firm hand sometimes."
"Anime shenanigans," Bowser mumbled under his breath.
The rest of lunch went well. Still, Pony couldn't help but worry. She'd like it if Bowser could make friends with people. He just needed to let more people in. Maybe make friends with someone as nice as him! A good person!
That would be nice.
------
Koopa Bowser
I found him as I was going back to class after lunch. It was while I was going up a set of stairs, following a group of female students. They'd given me a terrified look when they saw me in the halls and kept glancing at me suspiciously. Which was kind of annoying. Most other students got over my appearance after the initial surprise, but these three seemed to think I was about to rage out. I let it go, just heading to class when I saw it.
The girls were just headed up the stairs. And under them, attached just in the center, a flash of purple could be seen, right where the girls were going to head.
"...Seriously?" I mumbled. Okay, I didn't care how annoyed I was at those three, this wasn't happening.
I called up ahead. "Oy!"
The three girls froze, spinning around to face me on the stairs. One of them, a girl with dark hair set into ear-length bangs and a pair of ponytails, took the lead.
"What do you want?" she asked suspiciously.
"To warn you about the idiot," they stared, confused, as I stepped around them, approaching the spot of purple. "Mineta. What the hell are you doing?"
The stairs didn't answer, but I could imagine the sweatdrop.
"...What is he doing?" one girl whispered.
I sighed. "Mineta, I know you're there. Now run for it."
I reached around the stairs, pulling hard at the small figure I found there and pulling him out.
"Eep!" the girls squealed when someone in a school uniform appeared in my hand.
"Eep!" a voice under the stairs squeaked as well. In a flash, the purple little perv dropped from the stairs, landing on the floor. He gaped at me. "What the hell!?"
"Is that really what you should be focused on?" I pointed out.
Mineta blinked, confused. Then he saw the girls. The girls who had just realized he was trying to get an upskirt look at them.
They were staring at him, eyes dark with rage.
"Uh… later ladies!" the little dude bolted, zipping around me to run up the stairs, the round orbs on his wiggling as he ran like the devil. "You'll pay for this, Koopa!"
"That little creep! Get him!" the lead girl shouted, raising her fist.
"Or, not," I said.
"What, you're defending him!?" one of the girls shouted, though she hid behind the lead girl when I arched my eyebrow.
"No way. But we have class," I pointed out.
"Damnit," the lead girl said reluctantly, scowling even as she nodded. "He's right… What is your name?"
"Bowser."
She eyed me for a moment, then bowed. "I'm Chikuchi Togeike. Thank you for that."
"No issue," I went on my way.
When I got to the class, Mineta was waiting. "I can't believe you would do that!" he shouted up at me, betrayal in his eyes. "Don't you have any loyalty as a man!?"
"I do. I'm masculine enough to treat women with respect," I scowled at him. "Seriously dude, if you want wank fodder, why don't you just get a magazine?"
"Grrrrr!" Mineta shook his fist, eyes closed. "Daaaaamn it. So close!"
I scowled at him. "Really? That's your takeaway from this? Do you have NO redeeming features at all?"
He stared up at me. Opened his mouth, closed it. For a moment, he seemed… sad. Like I'd pointed out something bigger than I'd expected to.
"Um," we turned to see Mina. She wasn't the only one in the class who was staring at us, but she was right next to us. The pink girl was looking between "What happened?"
"Some bullshit," I glared at Mineta. He winced, then hurried to his seat. I went to my own seat.
I'd comment on it to Aizawa later. Maybe he'd give him a talking to. That kid.
Still. There was that little look he gave me. And right now the kid was staring at his clenched fists.
I rubbed my face. Whatever. Deal with it later. For now, I had a fun day ahead of me to look forward to. The school bell rang.
And a voice came from the hall.
"I AAAAAM!" the doors slid open, and All Might busted in proudly. "COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"
As the class gasped in awe, I coughed, trying to hold in my laugh. That was simultaneously dorky, awesome, hilarious, and badass all at once.
Also, as he strode in proudly in his Silver Age costume, a blue cape flowing behind him, the voice of Edna Mode filled my head shouting 'No capes!'
Granted, I personally love capes. But I did hope he was wearing one he could detach when needed.
As I was musing on that, All Might had gotten to his spot in the room. He stood there, arms at his hips, and began to speak in those bombastic tones.
My eyes flickered to the right side of his stomach. The most powerful man in at least the country if not the world was standing in front of us. With a wound more grievous than could be believed. A man on death's door, trying to help as much as he could before he passed.
I looked up at his smiling face and felt more respect for him than I had for anyone in my life.
He was talking the whole time I was thinking about that. "-of being a hero! You'll take the most units of this subject! Let's get right into it!"
He got into a bodybuilder pose, muscles bulging with power. "This is what we'll do today-- COMBAT TRAINING!"
He spun back around to face us, the word 'BATTLE' emblazoned on a card he thrust out at us. The class stirred with excitement at that, Sato next to me pounding a fist in excitement.
"Awesome!" he turned to me, grinning. "Can't wait to let loose!"
"Same, Pillar Man," I told him with a grin.
He frowned. "Wait, Pillar Man?"
"It's a Jojo thing, ya know?"
"A what?"
Before I could explain I was just making a (motherfucking) Jojo reference, All Might continued. "And to go with that, are these!"
He pointed at the nearby wall. Sections of it opened up, long narrow shelves coming out to reveal compartments with our class numbers on them.
"Costumes based on your Quirk registrations and requests you sent in before school started," All Might explained.
As the rest of the class replied to that, I thought of my own costume.
------
Before Enrollment
In Pony's house, the two of us were in the kitchen. When I had trouble with designing my costume, she was the one I went to. Mostly for one specific part.
I asked her if she had a suggestion for something I could add to represent Tauren.
"Mom?" Pony asked curiously. "I might have something. But why do you want to add something like that to your costume?"
I winced. "Well… I just," I looked down at the piece of paper I'd placed on the table. "I don't really need armor. I might ask for a cool hammer just so I have a mid-range weapon that won't turn people to ash. But most of the stuff I asked for is just so I look cool. So I wanted something that has meaning to me."
Pony swung her hooves back and forth, waiting for me to continue as she sat there.
"... She had my back for a long time. Both of you did, but she's a hero. She's someone who saves lives. She already had you if she wanted to teach someone. Even if we aren't similar, power-wise, I can't ever forget how much she did for me. She trained me, fed me, took me into her home, taught me so much. So I want to carry something to honor her."
Pony had started smiling in the middle of that little dumb rant and had moved up from there somehow. "Okay! Well, I have an idea! Here," she took the piece of paper and a pencil, biting her bottom lip. "You need something tough. And there is this big blank space… Okay, let me put this here, and then it can hang off of this…"
I stared at the drawing. Then I glanced at her, watching as she talked and drew.
Sometimes, I missed my family from my old world. Scratch that. I always missed them. But I was glad I'd found something like them in my new one.
------
Locker Rooms
In the UA locker room, I stared at myself in the mirror for a moment. I had a pair of black shoulder pauldrons with large round studs, a pair of studded wristbands as a tribute to the OGBowser, and a belt made of the same tough metal, with a shield-shaped piece of segmented armor covering the side of each leg and a pale white piece of pointed armor in the center. Around my neck though was a thick steel chain.
And in the center of that, hanging off by a metal line, was a pair of golden horns pointing towards the ground.
Maybe Bowser would have had a different symbol. But I was pretty proud of the one I picked.
I played with the necklace for a moment, then smiled.
Felt good, looking at myself in the mirror. For months, it had been almost torture. Seeing a face that wasn't my original one, dealing with a body my brain kept screaming was wrong. But somehow, wearing that costume with that necklace?
Looking in the mirror didn't suck quite as much.
Time for the battle trials.
Chapter 9: Battle Trial Day
We strode through a hallway as a group. I ended up next to Aoyoma, who I immediately found something to talk about with.
"Indeed, mon ami, I have seen Incredibles," the blonde laser shooter said primly. "Yet, I could not help but appreciate the splendor of a cape! It gives me a certain élégance, wouldn't you say?"
To demonstrate he spun in a circle, raising a hand to his face and smirking at me.
"...You know what. I'll admit it dude, you make this whole 'flamboyant living Jojo reference thing' really work. It fits you," it was true. Somehow, while it was weird, it wasn't as weird as it should have been. "Is it at least a clip-on one?"
"Indeed, it does. It is also fire resistant, so I may wrap it around a damsel-in-distress in case the occasion calls for it."
"Hey," Sato came over, looking curious. While Aoyoma looked a knight in sparkly as fuck armor with a flowing purple cape and sweet swooping red shades, Sato looked more like a classic superhero, with a yellow bodysuit, white gloves and boots, and a series of pouches around his waist. "You said that again. Jojo. What is that?"
"Wait, seriously?" I was genuinely confused. "Dude, Jojo has been around for centuries. It's still ongoing."
I tell you what, Jojo had had its stalls. It came back, left, but it was always around. The original author had long since left, but the series continued in some fashion or another. Funny enough, Jojo was kinda comparable to Sherlock Holmes. An old legend, retold a thousand times. It even had a modern update with the series taking place in a world of quirks. Terrible reviews, but still in existence.
"Is it a movie?" Sato asked curiously.
"It's a lot of things. Anime, movies, games. And it's great. Hell, I'll introduce you to it. My friend Pony and I watch anime together all the time, so inviting others will be good. Aoyoma, have you seen it? You wanna come watch it?"
"...Have you seen me?" he said with uncharacteristic sarcasm, waving over his costume. "Of course I've seen it. I would love to watch it once more!" he did an over-the-top pose, flicking his hands over his chest.
"Uh, I'm not sure it'll really be my thing?" Sato said nervously, leaving unsaid that Aoyoma and he might have different tastes in media.
"Then just try one episode," I encouraged him.
He hesitated long enough that we exited the hallway. There, All Might was waiting. We stood there in a badass lineup. I looked across the costumes, my eyes tracing the kids.
All Might complimented the group and Izuku joined us, while I ignored him to think for a bit. Not to insult him, but I HAD heard all these speeches before, so I might as well use the time.
Last time, with Ojiro in the class (still having trouble finding him, since hunting down high schoolers wasn't my forte) the teams had been… Well, basically, I wasn't sure how the butterfly effect would work. Would the teams be the same as before? Shifted around a bit? Would I be teamed with the invisible girl? Then again, it wasn't like I was his replacement in the universe… OH GOD, WAS I HIS REPLACEMENT IN THE UNIVERSE!? Did I existentially kill Ojiro!?
I dismissed the thought even as I ignored the kids asking All Might questions about the current exercise. All Might explained the exercise. Draw lots, split into teams of two villains and two heroes, try and steal a payload/defend it within the time limit.
Even as he broke that down, I had sat down with my legs crossed and stroked my chin, thinking deeper. Ojiro wasn't erased from this timeline. I may have been isekai'd here, but I didn't replace the kid. So he must be around.
That said, I needed to focus. We'd be heading into battle soon enough. Time to let loose! Hopefully, my partner would be someone cool, like Kirishima. Or Aoyoma. Or-!
------
I stared at the lot in my hand. Team I, villains. Then at the lot in Mineta's hand.
Team I. Villains.
"Oh come on, not him!" we said in unison, spinning to All Might and pointing at each other in unison.
"I'm afraid that the drawing of the lot is final, zygotes," he said with that wide grin of his. "This is good practice as well! After all, you won't always be paired with someone you like in the field!"
"Yes, but at least they won't be wearing a diaper," I snarled.
"Hey, this is battle armor!"
"You look like you're about to take a shit and ask for momma's breastmilk."
"At least I'm wearing something, you nudist! You have a loincloth on!"
"It conforms to the school rules."
"You might as well be wearing a metal napkin over your crotch!"
All Might sweatdropped at the side. "Boys, enough. You have the partner you have. Work together. Or lose together."
"Well of course I'm going to work with him," I turned to All Might, scowling. "Kid's got a crazy powerful quirk that works well with mine. I can still complain though."
"Wait, you are?" Mineta asked, anger turning to confusion.
"Yeah, if you don't run away at the first sign of trouble," I mumbled.
"I heard that you son of a bitch!" Mineta cursed. I sighed.
The other teams were interesting, if not as much as ours.
Bakugo and Iida were still going to fight Deku and Ochaco. I think that was just meant to be. A fated battle.
Shoji and Shoto were teamed up as well. But everyone else was mixed and matched.
For the heroes:
Izuku Midoriya & Ochaco Uraraka- Team A
Shoto Todoroki & Mezo Shoji- Team B
Fumikage Tokoyami & Mina Ashido - Team H
Kyoka Jiro & Hanta Sero - Team G
Eijiro Kirishima & Koji Koda- Team E
For the villains:
Katsuki Bakugo & Tenya Iida - Team D
Koopa Bowser & Minoru Mineta - Team I
Momo Yaoyorozu & Toru Hagakure - Team C
Rikido Sato & Yuga Aoyama - Team F
Tsuyu Asui & Kamanari Denki- Team J
Which meant then, that we would be fighting…
I looked over at him. He met eyes with me at the same time.
Shoto Todoroki and I stared at each other. His eyes were calm and cool. But there was a fire to him as well. Dude wanted to win.
Too bad. Because I wanted to brawl.
I flashed my fangs, giving him a slow smile. You can't imagine how excited I was when he didn't show the slightest bit of fear.
-----
The first fight began, and let me put it to you straight.
You can do amazing things with animation. You display awesome fights, powers, and emotions.
But none of the anime matched a single bit of seeing how things went down in reality. And Izuku, Bakugo, Ochaco, and Iida, battling it out in that building, putting their hearts and souls into the fight? It was more breathtaking than you could believe.
Bakugo's explosions, Deku's determination and hurricane punches, Iida's super-speed and 'villainous' acting, and Ochaco's creative use of her anti-grav.
All that said… Bakugo was fucking annoying. Seriously, the entitlement of that guy. The way he kept acting like Izuku owed him anything at all. The kid was a good fighter, but a real shitheel of a teenager.
Still, it made that dopey look on his face when little ol' Izuku pulled off the win despite getting his ass kicked all the sweeter.
Izuku and Ochaco won, same as the old universe, which meant the kids could react to it.
"What the heck?" Kamanari mumbled, staring at Ochaco being comforted for her nausea by Iida while Bakugo stood stunned over the unconscious Izuku. "The losers are practically uninjured and the winners are on the ground…"
Tokoyami hummed through his beak. "They lost the battle, but won the war, huh?"
"This is training though," Tsuyu pointed out.
Others had a different opinion on things.
"Oooooo!" Kirishima clenched his fist, eyes closed with tears at the corners. "What a manly fight! What a manly ending!"
"Hell yeah," I agreed. "They all laid it out on the line. If part of being a hero is putting everything you have into things, well..." I waved a hand.
"Don't you think it was a bit much, kero?" Tsuyu asked, turning to look at me with a finger to her cheek.
"Yes and no," I said. "Yes, they all went super hard for what is essentially an exercise. But still, Izuku, Ochaco, and Iida leave with the satisfaction of knowing they put everything they had into today's exercise. Hell, Iida showed off his acting chops to boot!"
"He sounded like a Kamen Rider villain," Mina mused behind me.
"And that's a bad thing how?" I asked the pinkette with a grin. "All I'm saying is, I don't want to leave this exercise unless I know I've done everything I could to win. And come on, we might as well have some fun with the acting. This stuff will SUCK when real lives are on the line."
Tsuyu hummed.
"I will be back momentarily," All Might told us, bringing our attention back to him. "I'll need to get Young Midoriya some medical attention and bring the others in, but continue this discussion. It is good to see such young heroes taking these lessons to heart!"
He turned and strode out the door.
"Man, that Bakugo guy really had it in for Midoriya though. Wonder what's up with that?" Jiro asked from somewhere behind me.
"Repressed sexual tension, probably," I joked.
"Oh god!" Kamanari stared at me, horrified. "You think so!?"
"No. And if you make the same joke to Bakugo, he'll turn a city block into ash to get at you," I said seriously.
"Are we all allowed to go that over the top?" Sato asked. We all unintentionally got into a semi-circle of sorts, with Shoto the odd man out. "Seems like a bit much if we all can just break whatever we want."
"According to the terms All Might gave us, as long as the damage we cause does not threaten the fake weapon's integrity, we will be allowed to do as we wish. Within reason I imagine," Momo said.
"Which means no making room-sized bombs with your cool as fuck powers," I told her gravely.
Her cool demeanor cracked. "Wha-What, I would never make such a thing! That's too dangerous!"
"You can make a room-sized bomb?" Sero the tape kid asked her, stunned.
"In theory, but I wouldn't!" she sounded much less composed now, more like the teenage girl she really was. Blushing, stuttering, eyes wide. It was pretty cute, and I could tell the others felt the same.
"Anyways, I guess that we know what we'll be in for. Should be fun," I glanced at Mineta. He glanced back at me. We looked away to focus on Shoji and Shoto.
The multi-armed hero gave us a nod of acknowledgement. Shoto didn't even look our way, as though we weren't worth noting.
Fine by me. My future knowledge might end, but I still had enough to throw some surprises at people.
"So I guess we're all gonna need to figure out how we work out best together, huh?" I asked the class while we continued to wait. That's when I remembered the conversation Pony and I had. For a moment, just a small moment, I hesitated.
I picture the look on Pony's face if I told her I didn't even try.
Goddamn it.
"Speaking of figuring things out," I scratched my chin. "One of my friends from Class-B and I wanna put a hero study group together. Basically, she and I wanted to get some of us together and trade notes after class, maybe spar and practice working together."
"Class 1-B?" Sero asked.
"The other hero course class," someone explained. Jiro, I think.
"Wait, she? Is she cute?" Mineta asked, coming out of his funk.
That annoyed me more than I would have expected. I looked at him. He stepped back, then scowled. "Fine, don't tell me!"
There was a brief awkward silence.
"...Well, I'd like to come," Kirishima said, clenching a hard as stone fist. "I'd love to train with other students!"
"And doing our schoolwork in a study group would be logical," Momo agreed.
"Eh, I don't know," Mina said casually, raising a hand behind her head. "We already have homework and training, ya know? I want to have some fun after school! I'll say no, but thanks for the invite, Bowsa-kun!"
Fair enough.
"Well, open invitation then. I'll pass a sign up sheet once we get back to class. Just let me know if you guys are down, okay?"
All Might came not long after that, followed by Bakugo, Iida, and Ochaco. We all turned to watch as All Might led them in. Bakugo looked like someone had told him he wasn't the center of the universe and that answer had surprised him. Ochaco was still looking a little nauseous, poor girl. Maybe there was something she could do for that? I remembered a Punisher comic where he mentioned using what he called a 'Coast Guard Cocktail' to help with motion sickness.
Then again, maybe just a simple energy drink to perk her up and wash the taste of the rainbow from her mouth would do the job.
In the meantime, All Might gave the good news.
"-the MVP for this battle was Young Iida!" he declared proudly, surprising everyone in the class.
"It's not either of the winners, Ochaco-chan or Midoriya-chan?" Tsuyu asked.
All Might smirked. "Hmm, well... Why is that? Does anyone know?"
"Yes! All Might-sensai!" Momo stepped to the plate, breaking down why Iida was the MVP in a pretty logical way. She was a little bit stiff in saying it, but I didn't find anything to disagree with.
Except for the last part. "The hero team only won because they took advantage of the fact that this was training. They were practically breaking the rules," she ended solemnly.
I frowned. I don't know about that. Granted, Deku did wreck several floors, risking the bomb, against All Might's instructions… Okay, fine.
Once she finished, All Might was staring at her, trying to hide how stunned he was, while Iida looked touched beyond words.
"So yeah, nice job dude," I held out a thumb to Iida. "Especially that whole villainous thing. You'd be a great evil mastermind!"
"Thank you, Bowser!" he said proudly. Then he frowned. "Wait, I don't know if that's a compliment."
"Hey, some of the best evil masterminds are good guys. I'm sure All Might knows a couple."
We all looked over him. He coughed awkwardly, blonde antennae waving. "A-Anyways! You are absolutely correct young lady! Although, young Iida could relax some parts of himself."
"You hear that dude?" I said to the speedster, walking over to gently punch his shoulder. "You did good. Same to you, Ochaco-chan. Secured the win and everything."
"It wouldn't have worked without Deku-kun," she said, walking over to join us, Bakugo still sulking by himself.
"And it also wouldn't have worked without you. Just because one gear doesn't work without the other doesn't make one more integral than the other."
"All right everyone," All Might said, cutting us off. "Let's change locations and start the second match!"
------
We went to the second location, Mineta and I entered the building. I walked up to the 'bomb', a big missile of a thing, and frowned at it. "You know, real-life bombs aren't this big unless you're trying to blow up a city. This thing is nuke-sized."
Then I turned to look at Mineta. I sighed.
"Can you stop doing that?" he said.
"Stop what?"
"Stop doing that! Taking a big sigh every time you see me," he grumbled. "I can hear it when you do that, it's super-annoying."
I sighed, rubbing my face. He grumbled again. I dropped my arms and finally faced him. "Okay dude, fine. How do you feel you'll handle combat? Can you handle Shoji or Shoto?"
He stopped grumbling to think carefully. "Can't I just lay traps everywhere? If I can stick them to the walls, then they won't even be able to get to the bomb!" he clenched a fist. "And then we'll win."
That wasn't a bad plan. In theory. But...
The bell rang. I looked around. "Mineta. I'm going to do something crazy. I want to have your back, but if Shoto is the kind of over the top that I think he is… Then I'll need to handle him," god, I felt so reluctant. But the little guy had pulled something together during USJ. I had to hope I could pull something else off. "Can you handle Shoji?"
He smirked, raising a single thumb. "Of course I can!"
"The dude can toss fridges like frisbees."
Mineta paled when he remembered that. "...I can still do it!"
That response was so weak. So lackluster… I shook my head. "All right… well, clench your buttcheeks, man up, and let's get ready for a fight!"
Before he could say anything else, I grabbed his head. "H-Hey!" his legs wiggled as I lifted him up, letting out a squeak when I plopped him on my head. I felt a pair of hands grip onto my horns. "What's the big idea!?"
"There's a chill in the air," I explained softly.
Through the door that led to the hallways outside, a wave of ice was rushing towards us with insane speed. I raised my head high. Deep in my body, the spark was lit.
And I unleashed hell.
------
With Class 1-A and All Might
A blast of flame erupted from Bowser's lips. It left his mouth like the exhaust of a rocket ship, smashing into the wave of cold air coming towards Mineta and him. The heat and cold hitting each exploded into waves of steam, cracking the concrete around the impact point when the concrete went from freezing cold to boiling hot in mere seconds.
"He can breathe fire!?" Kamanari asked, stunned.
"He did it during the exam as well," Iida explained, though he still looked surprised. "I didn't know it could have such power…"
When the fire and ice stopped, Bowser and Mineta stood in a cone of dry concrete, surrounded on all sides by ice.
"Kero…" Tsuyu shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, eyes sleepily. "So cold."
All Might stared at the screen. As impressive as it was that Bowser had managed to stop the ice, more impressive was that Shoto even had the power to turn an entire building into an ice trap.
Now though, Shoto was striding into the building, confidence in every step he took, his half-ice costume striking in the dark hallways. Soon, he would have to contend with Bowser and Mineta. That would be interesting to see…
------
Bowser
The room around us was chilled. I took a steady breath, my heated lungs cooled by the air around us. "Damn, Shoto. You have no chill, kid."
Oh hey, pun.
"I didn't know you could breathe fire," Mineta whispered. "And that was Todoroki!? He can turn a building to ice!?"
"Yeah. Which means I'm up," for the first time, I actually felt nervous. The fact he could turn a space so large to ice was pretty insane. Granted, it wasn't really 'turning' it into ice, more just covering it in a layer of the stuff. Still impressive. "Mineta. When I go out, I'm going to do what I can to distract Shoto. Maybe beat him. But the second he's distracted, Shoji comes after you. Understand?"
I reached for my head and grabbed him, pulling him off.
The kid was shaking in my grip, eyes wide, jaws clenched in fear. "Y-Y-Y-Yeah! Ahhhhhhh, I can do it!?"
I held back a sigh. Kid was terrified. But fine. That was fair.
"Okay. I'm headed out then-"
"Wait!" still nervous, Mineta reached for his head, popping off two of his sticky balls… Fuck me that sounded wrong. "I have an idea! It might help against Todoroki?"
Oh? Well this should be interesting.
------
I roamed the halls of the building, taking my time to listen closely. I didn't seem to have enhanced senses, but I could at least hear pretty damn well. My big clawed feet were scratching against the ice. I was forced to sort of dig in as I walked, using my claws to create purchase in the ice. As I walked, I eventually heard the gentle footfall.
I turned a corner. And Shoto was there. He seemed surprised to see me. The younger student was at the other end of the hallway, dressed in that half-ice costume of his.
"Well… hello there," I said slowly, unable to hide my eagerness. I reached for the wall and began to walk towards him. The claws of my right hand cut into the wall, sending up a loud screeching sound into the air as I approached him. I grinned slowly. "Look at you, little hero. Here to save the day! But you're too late!"
For just a moment, Shoto's serious demeanor cracked. Instead, he looked bewildered. "What are you doing?"
"Playing my role," I explained. "Iida kind of inspired me. So I'm rolling with it! Today, I am the Demon Koopa King, here to destroy this city!"
I felt ridiculous, but god it was fun saying these cringe villain lines.
"I am the one! The one who will rule this world! Once I have ended you!"
I leaped forward. And a wave of ice struck me in the face.
"...Foolish," Shoto said as I stood before him in an ice block, like a frozen statue, in mid-roar. He walked towards me, confidence in every step.
So when the ice began to crack, his eyes widened in shock.
Then I shattered the ice apart, sending chunks of white exploding outward, reaching for him. The kid reeled back, ducking under the massive claw that tried to grab him.
"Did you think freezing me would actually freeze me!?" I snarled aloud, Shoto narrowing his eyes.
"The strongest forms of ice in the world, impressive as they are," I said, growling while I slowly approached him. "Cannot match my claws! You lose today, young Todoroki!"
"Why are you talking like that?" he asked in true befuddlement.
Wow, kid really didn't know how to have fun.
"Because I'm a villain, now have some fun and let's brawl!" I rushed forward. When another wave of ice flew at me, I breathed fire into my claws. His eyes widened in shock as my palms came alight in flame, before I smashed bodily through his attack, sending shards flying about. "Really kid!?" I reached for him again, claws burning fiercely, and he leapt back.
"A wave of ice, again!? Do you know the definition of insanity?" I said, feeling less awkward.
Shoto didn't respond, only gritting his teeth and pressing his hand against a wall. A wave of ice smashed into me from the right, sending me through the left wall. I rolled briefly before rising up and breathing a fireball. The thing shattered apart as I launched it, but the brief burst was enough to keep him from coming at me, flames exploding between us.
"It's trying the same thing, over and over. Expecting different results. Wave of ice, wave of ice," I rose to my feet, flame coming from the corners of my lips as I glared at him. "Insanity isn't going to cut it! I'm the fucking demon king here. Try something new."
He looked more annoyed than impressed. Rather than talking, he slapped the floor. Before I could respond, ice spread across the floor to me, before snapping upwards into a pillar that uppercut me in the face. He ran into the room, sliding across the ice and creating a wave to 'surf' on, getting behind me as I stumbled. His hand reached out for me.
For a horrific moment, I thought of the Nomu. Half his body frozen, breaking apart. Intellectually, I know Shoto wouldn't do something like that to me. Which meant the rest of me was allowed to lose it's shit.
"GRAAAUGH!"
My voice echoed. The frost and fire around me was visibly pushed back. Shoto staggered in shock, hand barely scraping against my shell. I felt an immense chill across my back. I spun around, punching at him. He made an ice wall to block it. I smashed through the wall, hitting him in the chest, but his instinctive block made a knockout into a graze. Which still sent him flying.
A cold weight on my fist drew my eye. He'd managed to surround my claw in ice up to my elbow. I breathed a burst of flame on it, melting the ice away. When the fire got to the mass of purple in my fist, it lit up like napalm, drawing Shoto's eye as he staggered forward.
"Like it?" I said smugly, raising a burning claw. "Mineta stuck me with those grapes of his. Turns out they burn REAL nice."
I snarled, stepping forward. "Come on, Shoto. You're out of your league! You're a grain of sand blown by the wind!"
The kid clenched his fist and snapped his right hand forward. I rushed for him. "And I'm the goddamn Sahara! LETS GO!"
He created another wave of ice, pouring it on. I raised my claws, breathed out my flames and went to work. My claws and strength tore through the ice, the purple napalm on my claws and the fire blazing from my lips melting the ice just enough to let my claws rip through that much easier.
He unleashed more and more ice, forcing me to keep slashing and clawing. I could see him through the ice, his teeth grit, right foot on the floor and a torrent of ice crystals pouring forth from where that foot met the concrete. Chilled shavings of ice bounced off my yellow scales. I breathed fire, my body warm despite the ice around me. The feeling of my strength crushing and shattering the ice was intoxicating.
Shoto and I met eyes. I laughed.
Could anything be more fun than this!?