Chapter 25: Ice, Robots, and the Sky Battle.
The Obstacle Race. The Starting Gate.
BEEP!
The signal to start didn't just sound; it pierced the air.
Instantly, the narrow tunnel entrance became a suffocating crush of bodies. Hundreds of students from every department surged forward, elbows flying, shouting, and shoving. It was a bottleneck designed to weed out the slow and the weak.
"It's too tight!"
"Move! Get out of my way!"
The temperature in the tunnel dropped twenty degrees in a split second.
From the back of the pack, a wave of frost raced along the floor, freezing everything it touched. Boots were cemented to the concrete. Legs were encased in jagged crystals. The students gasped as their momentum was instantly halted by the bitter cold.
At the front, Todoroki Shoto lowered his hand, his breath visible in the freezing air.
"Sorry," he muttered, his voice devoid of emotion. "But this ends here."
He ran forward, gliding effortlessly over the ice path he had created.
But he wasn't the only one moving.
"Hah!"
A burst of steam erupted from the frozen mass of students.
Natsu Dragneel stood with his boots encased in ice. But the ice wasn't holding him. It was hissing, cracking, and turning into puddles of boiling water.
Heat radiated from his body in waves, distorting the air around him. His skin wasn't just warm; it was a furnace.
"You call this cold?" Natsu grinned, stepping out of the melted slush as if it were nothing. "You'll have to lower the thermostat a lot more to stop a Dragon!"
"Damn right!" Kirishima shouted, shattering the ice around his hardened legs.
"How naïve, Todoroki-kun," Yaoyorozu added, vaulting over the frozen students with a metal pole she had created.
"OUT OF MY WAY!" Bakugo roared, blasting himself over the heads of the trapped crowd.
Todoroki glanced back, his eyes narrowing slightly. More people got through than I expected. Class A is persistent.
He turned his focus forward. The tunnel opened up into the first true obstacle.
The Robo-Inferno.
The ground shook. A rhythmic, heavy thumping sound vibrated through the soles of their shoes.
Emerging from the dust were nightmares of steel and wire. The Zero-Pointer Villains from the entrance exam—massive, building-sized robots painted in ominous green—blocked the path.
"Targets acquired," the lead robot droned, its mechanical voice booming like thunder.
Most students froze in terror.
Todoroki didn't break stride. He swept his right hand upward. A massive glacier of ice surged from the ground, freezing the giant robot in a precarious, off-balance position.
"They went through all this trouble?" Todoroki sighed, running between the robot's legs. "I wish they'd prepared something harder."
The robot groaned. The ice cracked. The massive metal titan began to topple over, threatening to crush the students behind Todoroki.
"It's falling!" Kaminari screamed. "Run!"
But one student didn't run away. He ran toward it.
Natsu Dragneel leaped into the air, propelling himself with a burst of fire from his feet. He flew straight at the falling face of the frozen giant.
"You're just a big toy!" Natsu roared.
He pulled his arm back, flames spiraling around his fist, melting the frost in the air.
"FIRE DRAGON'S... IRON FIST!!"
CRASH!
His fist connected with the robot's face plate. The impact was devastating. The combination of the brittle, frozen metal and Natsu's explosive heat caused a catastrophic structural failure.
The robot didn't just fall; it shattered.
Massive chunks of ice and steel rained down from the sky like a deadly hailstorm.
"EEEEEEK!" Mineta screamed, covering his head.
WHAM.
A shard of metal the size of a car door slammed into the dirt, inches from Mineta's nose. It stood upright, quivering like a thrown knife.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!" Mineta shrieked, tears streaming down his face.
High above, Natsu flipped in the air, landing gracefully on a piece of scrap metal.
"Oops! Sorry about that, Grape-Boy!" Natsu laughed, scratching the back of his head. "I didn't think it would break that easily!"
"Show off!" Bakugo yelled, blasting past Natsu.
Behind them, Yaoyorozu created a massive cannon. BOOM. Another robot fell. Sero swung through the air with his tape. Tokoyami's Dark Shadow slashed through the debris.
Present Mic was losing his mind in the commentary booth. "LOOK AT THEM GO! THE OBSTACLES ARE NOTHING TO CLASS 1-A! IT'S A TOTAL SMACKDOWN!"
The Canyon (The Fall).
The second obstacle was a vast chasm. Rock pillars stood isolated in the void, connected only by thin, tightropes. One slip meant a long fall into the darkness below.
Students approached cautiously. Tsuyu began to crawl along the rope like a frog. Iida used his engines to grind across the wire. It was slow. It was tense.
"This is boring," Happy yawned.
The blue cat, who had been running alongside Natsu, suddenly sprouted white, feathered wings from his back.
"Aye!" Happy chirped. "My turn, Natsu!"
Happy flew up, grabbed the back of Natsu's vest with his paws, and lifted him into the air.
"Woah!" Natsu grinned, dangling his legs. "Nice lift, buddy!"
They soared over the canyon, bypassing the ropes entirely.
"HEY!" A student from General Studies pointed up, outraged. "That's cheating! He's using an item! He's using a pet!"
In the referee booth, Midnight watched the blue cat carrying the boy with a flush on her cheeks. She pressed her hands to her face.
"So cute..." she squealed. "Whatever! It's adorable, so I'll allow it! The Principal approves!"
"THE PRINCIPAL ISN'T EVEN HERE!" the students yelled back. "DON'T DECIDE FOR HIM!"
"Don't worry about the small stuff!" Present Mic shouted. "It's a race! Anything goes as long as you don't leave the course!"
"Don't get cocky, you damn cheating cat!"
A roar cut through the wind.
Bakugo Katsuki was propelling himself through the air with rapid-fire explosions from his palms. He wasn't using the ropes either; he was flying by sheer force of will and nitroglycerin.
He banked hard, intercepting Happy's flight path.
"I'll blow that fur right off you!" Bakugo screamed, aiming his right gauntlet directly at Happy's terrified face.
Happy's eyes widened, his pupils trembling. "Natsu!"
"I got him!"
Natsu didn't panic. Hanging in mid-air, he used his core strength to swing his body upward.
With the precision of a martial artist, Natsu unleashed a high, vertical axe kick.
WHAM.
His heel struck Bakugo's forearm just as the explosion ignited.
BOOM!
The blast was deflected upward, exploding harmlessly into the blue sky instead of hitting the cat. The force of the kick knocked Bakugo's aim wide, sending him spinning for a second before he stabilized himself with another blast.
Natsu glared at Bakugo, dangling upside down for a moment before righting himself. His eyes were sharp, dangerous.
"Hands off my partner," Natsu growled, his voice low enough to be heard over the wind. "Unless you want me to drag you down into this abyss right now."
Bakugo stabilized himself in the air, hovering with small pops from his hands. He looked at Natsu's fierce expression, and a wide, arrogant grin spread across his face.
"Hah," Bakugo scoffed. "I'd like to see you try, Salamander."
Sparks flew between them. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"Natsu!" Happy cried out, flapping his wings urgently. "We can't fight here! He can fly better than me! We'll lose time!"
Happy didn't wait for Natsu's reply. He banked sharply to the left, diving toward the far edge of the canyon.
"Hey! Get back here!" Bakugo yelled, but he looked ahead. Todoroki was already clearing the canyon. "Tch. I'll kill you later."
Bakugo blasted forward, chasing the ice user.
The Minefield.
Happy landed on the solid ground on the other side of the canyon. He dropped Natsu and collapsed, panting.
"Safe..." Happy wheezed.
Natsu dusted himself off, looking back at the chasm with a scowl. "What was that, Happy?! I could have taken him! I wanted to teach him a lesson!"
"Not now!" Happy pointed a paw toward the horizon. "Look!"
Natsu turned.
In the distance, the final obstacle awaited. A field of overturned dirt.
Todoroki was already there, moving cautiously. Bakugo was closing in fast, flying over the ground.
"If we fight Bakugo here, Todoroki wins," Happy explained, catching his breath. "We came here to win the race, right? Not just a brawl!"
Natsu stared at the backs of his rivals. The scowl slowly faded from his face, replaced by a focused, predatory stare. The fire in his gut settled into a steady burn.
"You're right," Natsu said, cracking his knuckles. "First place. That's the only thing that matters."
He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the upcoming danger.
"I smell... gunpowder," Natsu grilled. "A whole field of it."
He smirked.
"Let's eat."
He sprinted forward, leaving the canyon behind, charging straight into the explosive chaos of the minefield.
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