Chapter 25 : The Volcano's Rampage and the Dragon's Roar

I stepped out of the tunnel, and the roar of the crowd hit me like a wall of sound. The sunlight felt hot on my skin, and across the wide concrete stage, my opponent was waiting. Katsuki Bakugo was not standing still. He was stretching his neck, rolling his shoulders, a grin that was more of a savage sneer plastered on his face. Tiny sparks popped from his palms, a sign of the coming storm. He didn't see me as an opponent; he saw me as an annoying obstacle, an anomaly that had to be destroyed to prove his superiority to the world.

"IN THE RED CORNER, WITH EXPLOSIVE POWER THAT COULD LEVEL A MOUNTAIN, THE MOST FIERY KID IN CLASS 1-A, BAKUGO KATSUKI!" Present Mic yelled, his voice filled with excitement. "AND IN THE BLUE CORNER, THE MAN WHO HAS KEPT US ALL GUESSING, THE STRATEGIST WITH A HIDDEN POWER, TATSUMI!"

I took my position, planting my feet firmly on the stage. I calmed my breathing, trying to feel the dragon's heartbeat in my chest. It was there, steady and strong, waiting. I knew I couldn't start this fight on the defensive. Against Bakugo, to defend was to lose.

"ARE YOU READY?!" Present Mic roared. "FIRST SEMI-FINAL... BEGIN!"

Bakugo didn't wait a single second. Coinciding with the cry of "BEGIN!", he blasted himself across the arena. He moved like a rocket, his body spinning in mid-air, preparing a right hook powered by an explosion. He wanted to end this with a single, humiliating opening blow. He wanted to show the true difference in our power.

I had no time to dodge completely. I had no time to think. I could only react. 'Defense!' I thought, sending a desperate command inward.

The familiar heat exploded from my chest. This time, it felt faster, more directed. The Incursio armor burst forth from my skin, no longer at random. A jet-black chest plate formed over my gym uniform, and a jagged right gauntlet materialized just in time to meet Bakugo's approaching fist.

BOOM!

The explosion was far more powerful than I had anticipated. The impact sent a shockwave that made my teeth rattle. I was driven back several meters, my feet scraping against the concrete, but I stayed standing. My armored arm trembled from the force of the blow, and a sharp pain shot up to my shoulder, but the armor held. It didn't crack.

Bakugo landed lightly, his sneer fading slightly, replaced by a look of surprised annoyance. "Hoh... so you finally show your fangs, Number One," he growled. "Good. That means I can crush you with my full power and no one can complain."

He gave me no time to answer. He launched himself again, this time not in a straight line. He used small explosions to maneuver in the air, attacking me from multiple angles like an angry missile. I was forced completely on the defensive, parrying blasts with my gauntlet, dodging bursts of fire, and constantly moving backward. He was too fast, too mobile. I was a besieged fortress, and it was only a matter of time before my defenses broke.

I took an explosion to my unprotected side, sending me flying. I rolled to absorb the impact, but my lungs felt like they were on fire. I couldn't keep this up. I couldn't win a defensive battle. I needed speed. I needed mobility.

While blocking another assault, I gritted my teeth against the pain and focused inward again. 'Partner,' I thought, my breath coming in ragged gasps. 'I can't keep up with him. I need speed! Give me your legs!'

I felt the response instantly. A second wave of hot energy shot from my chest, down to my legs. With a tearing pain, shin guards and armored boots of the same black material formed around my legs, planting themselves on the concrete with a satisfying click. The pain was excruciating, but it was accompanied by a sensation of raw power flowing through my entire lower body.

In the observation room, Momo gasped. "He... he did it again," she whispered. "He's manifesting different parts of the armor according to his tactical needs. He's not just activating his Quirk; he's allocating his power specifically. That level of control... it should be impossible."

Aizawa leaned forward, his usually bored eyes now glued to the screen. "He's adapting. He's fighting a high-mobility monster by becoming a high-mobility monster. He's learning and evolving in the middle of a high-level fight. This is insane."

In the heroes' lounge, Ryukyu smiled. "There it is," she murmured to an awestruck Nejire. "That's not just raw power. That's instinctual combat adaptation. Like a dragon growing thicker scales where it's being attacked."

In the arena, I felt the new power in my legs. I bent my knees and pushed off the ground. The result was an explosion of speed. I shot forward, not flying, but my speed on the ground was now phenomenal. I could cross the arena in a flash. The fight had now been evened.

"Stop jumping around, you bastard!" Bakugo roared as I dodged another volley of his explosions.

Our fight turned into a three-dimensional dance of death. He would fly through the air, launching explosions like artillery. I would run beneath him, leaping off the arena walls, using the power in my legs to launch powerful kicks that forced him to change direction. The concrete arena beneath us began to crack and shatter from our constant impacts. Fists met explosions. Kicks met bursts of fire. We both started taking hits. An explosion grazed my left shoulder, burning through my uniform and blistering my skin. I managed to land an armor-clad kick to his ribs, making him cough and lose his balance slightly in mid-air. We were both starting to tire, our breaths heavy, our bodies screaming.

I knew I couldn't maintain this partial manifestation forever. The pain was steadily increasing, and my stamina was draining with every passing second. Bakugo seemed to realize this as well. He paused in mid-air, panting, sweat pouring down his face. He looked at me with a gaze filled with rage, frustration, and... a hint of reluctant respect.

"You're… you're pretty tough, I'll give you that," he said, his voice hoarse. "But playtime is over. I'm ending this with one attack."

I saw him begin to spin in the air, using small explosions to create a tornado of fire and smoke around him. He was preparing his ultimate move. Howitzer Impact. I felt a chill run down my spine, despite the heat from my own armor. I couldn't dodge it; the area of effect was too large. I couldn't block it; its power would shatter my partial armor and my body along with it.

I was faced with an impossible choice. Retreat and lose, or risk everything on a single chance. I looked up at Bakugo, who was now a fiery comet ready to strike. I remembered Midoriya, his sacrifice. I remembered my promise to my parents. I remembered the trusting gazes of Momo and Toru. I would not lose here.

I stopped running. I stood tall in the center of the arena, planting my feet firmly. I closed my eyes and let go of all control, all fear, all doubt. I no longer asked or negotiated. I roared in the silence of my soul.

'GIVE ME EVERYTHING!'

And the dragon answered.

The pain I felt next was beyond anything I had ever imagined. It felt like my entire being was being ripped apart, atomized, and reforged in the fires of hell. A wave of reddish-black energy exploded from my body. The rest of Incursio's armor—a draconic helmet that covered my entire face, large, jagged shoulder pauldrons, plates that covered my entire torso—erupted from my skin, fusing with the existing parts with a sickening CLACK. For the first time, I was encased in the complete Incursio armor. A red, eye-like gem on my chest began to glow with a dim, dangerous light. I could feel a limitless ocean of power, but also a murderous rage that wasn't my own, threatening to swallow me. With a great effort, I held onto my sanity, clinging to my own consciousness.

"DIIIIIE!" Bakugo roared from above.

"HOWITZER IMPACT!"

He hit me like a meteor. The entire world went white and hot. The explosion was so powerful it shook the entire stadium to its foundations, creating a mushroom cloud of smoke and dust that covered the entire stage.

Silence. The entire crowd held its breath. No one could see anything inside the thick cloud of dust. Had I been vaporized? Was the fight over?

Slowly, very slowly, the smoke began to thin. A silhouette was visible in the center of a giant, newly formed crater. It was me. I was on one knee, my head bowed. The Incursio armor all over my body was cracked and smoking, some parts even melted from the incredible heat. But I was still there. I was still whole. I had withstood it.

On the other side of the crater, Bakugo lay panting, completely spent. His grenade gauntlets were shattered, and his arms were trembling uncontrollably. He stared at me with wide, disbelieving eyes. "You... should be... dust..." he whispered, his voice barely audible.

With a monumental effort, I forced myself to stand. Every joint creaked in protest. I raised my head, looking at him through the visor of my draconic helmet. I took one heavy step toward him. Just one. It was enough. Bakugo, having spent every last ounce of his strength, saw his opponent still standing, and his eyes rolled back as he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Midnight stared at the scene, mouth agape, before finally finding her voice. "B-Bakugo... is unable to continue!" she cried, her voice trembling slightly. "The winner... and first finalist... is Tatsumi!"

The cheers that erupted from the crowd sounded like a distant echo. I didn't hear them. I just felt the armor all over my body begin to recede, the agonizing process starting again. My vision started to blur. The world around me began to spin and turn to black. I had won. But the price... the price was so very high.