Chapter 226 : The Queen's Checkmate

"Checkmate, Yaoyorozu."

The two words were spoken calmly, but their echo inside the ruined control room was louder than any explosion. The hot, humid night wind blew in through the gaping hole in the window, sending papers flying and creating a wild dance of shadows under the flickering emergency lights. In the middle of the chaos, three figures stood frozen in a tense triangular standoff. Tatsumi, who had just landed, his body radiating an aura of controlled power. Todoroki, who had immediately moved to stand between Tatsumi and Momo, his left side beginning to steam, ready to unleash his fire. And Momo, the commander, whose face showed a momentary shock before hardening into the concentrated mask of a strategist.

For Momo, this was the worst-case scenario and her greatest test. Their strongest enemy had breached their defenses and was now standing in the heart of their command center. But panic was a luxury she didn't have. Her brilliant mind went to work, analyzing the situation in a split second. He's alone, she thought. Bakugo-kun and Mine-san are on their way back. Kirishima-kun and the others are holding his team downstairs. This is a two-on-one fight. We have the advantage.

For Todoroki, this was an opportunity. He looked at Tatsumi, no longer just as a classmate, but as an equal rival, a benchmark of strength he had to surpass. He had witnessed Tatsumi's explosive growth, and now, he wanted to measure his own strength against it. "You shouldn't have come here alone," Todoroki said, his voice cold and flat, ice beginning to creep across the floor from his right foot.

Tatsumi didn't respond. He just looked at Momo, acknowledging his real opponent. This fight wasn't against Todoroki or Bakugo. This was a fight between two strategists.

Todoroki was the first to move. He didn't unleash a large-scale fire or ice attack that could endanger Momo or damage the valuable control equipment. Instead, he showed incredible control. He stomped his foot, and a series of sharp, jagged ice pillars shot out from the floor, trying to impale and trap Tatsumi from various angles.

Tatsumi reacted with a speed honed by real combat. He didn't retreat. He advanced. With a single flap of his wings, he leaped into the air, easily dodging the ice pillars. While airborne, he manifested the gauntlets and greaves of his armor, and with a spinning kick, he shattered several ice pillars into a shower of glistening crystals.

While Tatsumi was in the air, Momo acted. It was a perfect example of their well-honed teamwork. "Now!" she shouted. From her arm, she created a high-tech net cannon and fired it at the airborne Tatsumi. At the same time, Todoroki changed his tactic, unleashing a wave of fire from his left hand, not to burn Tatsumi, but to limit his movement space, forcing him to stay in the path of Momo's net.

Faced with a perfectly coordinated two-pronged attack, Tatsumi showed the adaptability that had become his trademark. In mid-air, he couldn't dodge. So, he didn't. He let the net envelop him, but just before it tightened, he retracted his wings and manifested the entire upper part of his armor. The net tightened around solid metal, not his body. Then, with a roar, he channeled draconic energy into his armor. The carbon-fiber net instantly burned to ash.

He landed back on the floor, now free. The first exchange of attacks had only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to show everyone that this was no ordinary fight.

"He's reading our every move," Todoroki said to Momo, his eyes never leaving Tatsumi.

"Because he knows how we think," Momo replied, quickly creating a large tungsten shield.

Tatsumi knew he couldn't win a battle of attrition against the two of them. Todoroki had incredible stamina with both his Quirks, and Momo could create any weapon she needed. He had to separate them. He had to destroy their synergy.

He did something unexpected. He ignored Todoroki and charged directly at Momo.

Todoroki reacted instantly, creating a thick ice wall between Tatsumi and Momo. "You won't touch her!"

But this was what Tatsumi wanted. With a single powerful punch coated in green energy, he shattered the ice wall, creating a thick cloud of steam and ice shards that obscured the view. He had successfully separated them.

Inside the icy fog, he was now one-on-one with Todoroki. The fight became more brutal. Fire and ice clashed with dragon steel. Tatsumi used his speed and agility to stay in close, not giving Todoroki the space to unleash his large-scale attacks. He parried an ice sword with his gauntlet, dodged a burst of flame with a hair's breadth evasion.

As they fought, Momo, separated by the fog, wasn't idle. She created a sonic grenade and threw it into the middle of the fight. The high-frequency blast was designed to disrupt Tatsumi's concentration. And it worked. For a moment, Tatsumi's head swam, and Todoroki seized the opportunity, managing to freeze one of Tatsumi's legs to the floor.

"I've got him!" Todoroki shouted.

But he had underestimated his opponent. "I don't need my legs to fight," Tatsumi said calmly. Trapped in one spot, he focused all his power. He manifested the spear Neuntote in his hand and, with one powerful swing, he slammed the floor around his foot, shattering the ice and the concrete beneath it, freeing himself.

He then used his spear to push himself forward, gliding past a surprised Todoroki, straight towards his real target. Towards Momo.

Momo, who thought Tatsumi was still trapped, was not prepared. She raised her shield, but Tatsumi didn't attack it. With the tip of his spear, he just flicked the shield aside, making her lose her balance. In one fluid motion, he was behind her, the cold tip of Neuntote now resting gently against her neck.

The entire room fell silent. The fight was over.

They stood there, very close, their breaths ragged. Momo could feel the cold of the metal on her skin and the warmth of Tatsumi's body behind her. Her heart was beating so fast she was afraid he could hear it.

"You... how..." she whispered.

"You're a great planner, Yaoyorozu," Tatsumi said, his voice low and serious, right next to her ear. "But you always place yourself at the command center. You make yourself the main target. Destroying the pawns is pointless if I can just capture the Queen."

His words weren't a taunt. They were an analysis, a lesson from one strategist to another. And somehow, in the midst of her defeat, Momo felt a strange thrill. She wasn't being treated like a girl who needed protection. She was being treated as an equal commander, who had just been defeated by a superior tactic. And that acknowledgment, from someone she respected so much, felt... strangely satisfying.

Todoroki, seeing his partner had been "captured," lowered his flames, his expression filled with disappointment and a new respect.

"DAMN DRAGON! GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!"

A massive explosion ripped through the side wall of the control room. Bakugo, who had finally made it up, shot in, his hands already gleaming with nitroglycerin sweat. Behind him, Mine landed, her Pumpkin rifle already aimed and glowing with an angry pink energy.

"I KNEW YOU WERE CHEATING!" Mine screamed, her anger from her previous defeat now boiling over.

Tatsumi now faced three new, fresh, and furious opponents. The situation seemed impossible.

But he didn't look worried. He just smiled faintly and released Momo. "Look at the main console," he said.

Everyone turned. Behind the partially destroyed main console, a panel on the floor was open. From it, Seiji Shishikura emerged, in his hand he held a small red flag—the "objective" flag hidden within the tower's server.

The faces of Momo, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Mine froze in shock and understanding.

Tatsumi's attack on the control room. His spectacular fight. The "capture" of Momo. All of it... was just a diversion. The biggest, most convincing diversion ever. He had sacrificed himself as bait to draw all the strongest hunters to one place, while his one unseen soldier completed the real mission without anyone noticing.

BBZZZZZZZZT!

"Team Bravo has secured the control point," Aizawa's flat voice sounded throughout the room. "Winner of the second day's Joint Training Exercise: Team Bravo."

The silence that followed the announcement was more deafening than Bakugo's explosions. They hadn't just been defeated. They had been outplayed, outmaneuvered, and out-executed with the precision of a chess grandmaster.

Tatsumi looked at Momo and gave her a small, respectful nod. "Checkmate," he repeated softly. And this time, everyone in the room understood its true meaning.