Previously in Dragon Boy;
Nasto began his journey toward the U.A. entrance exam. On the way, he encountered Kyoka Jiro on public transportation without either of them recognizing the other, and he nearly threw up on her, leaving the worst possible first impression. After that, the written exam began, and then he headed to Zone B for the practical test.
Chapter 4: The Salamander and the Explosion Murder.
The buzzer had barely ceased its echoing wail when the stampede began.
"Move, move! Out of my way!"
Natsu Dragneel was laughing, a wild, infectious sound that was almost lost beneath the thundering of footsteps. He was in the thick of the pack, his orange tracksuit blurring as he weaved between hesitant students.
"Bring them on!" he shouted, vaulting over a concrete barrier. "All the robots!!"
But before Natsu could even ignite a single flame, the world behind him erupted.
BOOOM!
The students' eyes and ears trembled at the sound of the explosion.
Soaring above their heads, propelled by continuous, deafening explosions from his palms, was a blur of black and orange.
Katsuki Bakugo didn't run; he flew, from the back of the crowd. His face was twisted into a rictus of pure, unadulterated aggression. He zoomed past the lead runners, banking sharp in the air as he spotted his first targets.
Two jagged, green metal robots—Three Pointer and two pointer—emerged from an alleyway.
"DIE!"
Bakugo didn't hesitate. He spun in mid-air, using the centrifugal force to amplify his swing. His palms lit up with a blinding flash. A massive explosion engulfed the robots, shredding their chassis and sending shrapnel flying. He landed amidst the burning wreckage, his boots crunching on the asphalt. He didn't check his score. He didn't look back. He simply launched himself forward again, hungry for more prey.
"Five points," he growled, already locking onto his next target.
Natsu skidded to a stop, his scarf whipping around his neck. His onyx eyes widened, reflecting the fading embers of Bakugo's blast.
"Whoa..." Natsu grinned, his competitive spirit spiking. "That guy is explosive!"
To Natsu's left, a redheaded boy with spiky hair charged past him. "Manliness is about not hesitating!"
It was Eijiro Kirishima. As a One Pointer robot lunged at him with a mechanical claw, Kirishima didn't dodge. He crossed his arms. CLANG! The metal claw bounced off his skin, which had taken on the jagged, rock-hard appearance of a boulder.
"Hardening!" Kirishima roared. He stepped in, delivering a devastating straight punch to the robot's central unit. His fist punched clean through the metal plating. The robot sparked and collapsed.
Kirishima pulled his fist out, grinning. "That's just the start!"
Natsu watched them, his blood pumping hot and fast through his veins. The chaos, the noise, the destruction—it was music to his ears.
"Alright," Natsu whispered, clenching his fists. The temperature around him began to rise. "That's how it should be!"
He looked down at his feet. At the new sneakers his father had bought him—reinforced, heat-resistant soles.
"Let's see if these hold up!"
Natsu channeled his energy downwards. The caloric heat in his stomach surged to his legs.
WHOOSH!
Jets of concentrated fire erupted from his soles. Unlike his failure four years ago, this was controlled. It was powerful. He shot into the sky, vaulting over a three-story building in a single bound.
From his vantage point in the air, Natsu scanned the mock city. He spotted a cluster of robots bottlenecking a street below, trapping a group of terrified examinees.
Natsu smiled. He took a deep breath, his lungs expanding, sucking in oxygen to fuel the furnace inside him. He cupped his hands around his mouth.
"FIRE DRAGON'S... ROAR!!"
He didn't shoot a fireball. He unleashed a torrent.
A massive, swirling vortex of orange and yellow flames erupted from his mouth. It spiraled down like a fiery tornado, crashing into the street with the force of a bomb. The robots didn't stand a chance; their circuits fried, and the green of their metal armor shifted to a metallic hue as the heat's pressure tore them apart.
The students on the ground scrambled back, shielding their faces from the sudden inferno.
"What the...?!" one boy screamed, covering his eyes. "Is that a flamethrower quirk?! It's huge!"
"Whoa! That's hot!" Kirishima yelled, shielding his eyes with his hardened arms.
Further down the street,
Bakugo froze for a brief moment. Just seconds ago, his focus had been locked on the robot in front of him, lining up his attack—only for flames to erupt without warning, surrounding the area from every direction. Heat crashed into him like a wall, the air itself trembling as it burned. His eyes narrowed, irritation flashing through them as a single thought cut through his mind.
Indiscriminate attack… It doesn't distinguish between humans and robots.
He swiped his hand through the air, creating a shockwave explosion that blew the encroaching flames away from him. It was a display of impossible skill—using an explosion to cancel out fire.
The fire cleared. Bakugo looked at the robot he had been targeting. It was standing, but it slumped over. It hadn't been blown apart, but the biological components—the wiring and sensors inside—had been completely fried by the intense heat.
"Tch," Bakugo spat. "That one should have been mine.."
Suddenly, the system announcement blared near Aizawa's observation post:
Natsu Dragneel. 0 to 21 Points.
The students on the street gasped.
"Heeeh?! Twenty-one already?! We have to keep up!"
Natsu landed on the street, his knees bending to absorb the impact. Steam rose from his shoulders. He looked around, beaming. "That was fun! Where are the rest?"
About thirty meters away, a Three Pointer robot emerged from an alley, heading straight for Bakugo.
Bakugo didn't even look stressed. BOOM! He blasted the robot's head off. But he didn't stop there. In the same motion, he grabbed a large, jagged piece of the destroyed robot's armor plating.
Boooom!!
With a grunt of exertion, Bakugo hurled the heavy metal debris directly at Natsu with a blast.
The metal plate spun through the air with terrifying speed.
Natsu reacted instantly. He dropped one hand to the ground to balance himself and swung his leg up, his foot engulfed in flames.
"FIRE DRAGON'S... TALON!"
WHAM!
He kicked the flying metal plate. He didn't just stop it; he redirected it. The heavy iron slab shot off to the side like a bullet, smashing directly into the cranium of a robot sneaking up on another student.
CRUNCH. Blue sparks flew from the robot's shattered brain. It collapsed.
"Three points," Natsu counted. But the smile dropped from his face.
He stood up straight, dusting off his hands, and looked directly at Bakugo, who was standing over twenty meters away.
"That didn't look like a mistake to me," Natsu shouted, his voice echoing in the street. "You got something to say?"
Bakugo glared back, his eyes narrowing. "Keep your damn flames away from me. If you do that again, I'll blast you along with the robots."
Natsu's annoyance shifted into a smirk.
"Hoooh..." Natsu paused, tilting his head. "I'd like to see you try."
Bakugo's eyebrows twitched aggressively.
SMASH!
Nearby, Kirishima demolished another robot. "Alright! That's 13 points!"
Bakugo gritted his teeth. Not the time to deal with this weirdo, he thought. I need points.
He turned his back on Natsu and blasted off to find more targets. Natsu cracked his knuckles. and ran down a different street.
For the next few minutes, the exam turned into a frenzy of destruction.
Approximately seven minutes later.
In the observation room, Aizawa looked at the scoreboard.
1. Natsu Dragneel - 96 Points.
2. Katsuki Bakugo - 82 Points.
3. Eijiro Kirishima - 64 Points.
In the battle zone, sweat dripped from Bakugo's forehead, sliding down to his chin. He was panting, his eyes darting around wildly.
"More..." he screamed. "BRING OUT MORE!"
Suddenly—
CRASH!
The sound of a building collapsing drowned out all other noise. Time seemed to slow down. Debris flew through the air. The wind from the impact ruffled Bakugo's, Kirishima's, and Natsu's hair.
The Zero Pointer had arrived.
It was colossal, a true monster of metal.
Panic erupted. The other examinees screamed and turned to run.
"It's huge!"
"Run away!"
Even Kirishima stepped back. "There's no use fighting that thing! It's zero points and a waste of time!" He turned and sprinted away.
Bakugo stood still, frozen. He stared up at the giant robot. For a split second, an unwanted memory flashed in his mind—the sludge villain from a year ago. The feeling of helplessness. He didn't know why he remembered it now, but his feet felt glued to the asphalt.
No one is stuck, Bakugo reasoned, his eyes scanning the area. Everyone is escaping. There is no point in fighting.
He was about to take a step back.
Then, a blur of pink and white rushed past him.
"HAHAHA!"
Natsu Dragneel sprinted past Bakugo, heading towards the giant robot. Bakugo's red eyes widened as he watched Natsu's back—the pink hair and the white scale-patterned scarf dancing in the wind.
"What is this thing?!" Natsu yelled, laughing maniacally. "I'm all fired up!!"
He leaped into the air, propelling himself toward the behemoth.
"Dragon's Fist—"
Natsu pulled his arm back, wreathed in orange fire. But before he could finish the move, the Zero Pointer reacted. It swung its massive arm.
SLAP!
It was like a tank hitting a fly. The robot swatted Natsu out of the air.
Natsu flew sideways and crashed straight through the wall of a nearby building. The sound of stone shattering and glass breaking echoed loudly as Natsu tumbled across the concrete floor inside.
Bakugo stood there, shocked.
Inside the ruined building, Natsu lifted his head. A stream of blood ran from his forehead down to his chin. He wiped it away, grinning through the pain.
"Damn it... haha!" Natsu winced. "That actually hurt!!"
He didn't stop. He scrambled up and sprinted to the edge of the broken floor. Fire exploded from his feet.
He jumped again, flying straight toward the robot's head.
"FIRE DRAGON'S... IRON FIST!!"
BAM!
Natsu punched the side of the Zero Pointer's metal face.
The steel buckled. The metal twisted and deformed under the heat and force, creating a large dent. But... it didn't pierce. He couldn't punch through it.
Natsu's eyes shook. "Damn."
The robot raised its massive fist again. It was about to crush Natsu—and the building he was near—into dust.
Natsu crossed his arms to block.
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
The siren wailed.
"THE EXAM IS OVER!"
The Zero Pointer froze instantly. Its red eye dimmed.
Natsu dropped from the air, landing hard on his butt. "Ouch."
He exhaled, his chest heaving. "I'm alive..."
The announcement repeated. The exam was finished in all zones.
Bakugo stood in the street. He clenched his fists tight, looking down at his own feet.
Could I not move? he thought, his mind racing. While he just rushed in without a care...
Natsu lay back on the ground amidst the rubble, staring up at the clear blue sky. He was sweaty, bloody, and exhausted.
"It's over..."
Medical robots began to swarm the area as the dust settled.
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