[Third Person POV]
Tony looked toward Aizawa, his brow twitching in clear irritation, and jabbed a finger toward the field where the other students were training. "You know this is strictly unfair," he said, his voice sharp with exasperation. "Everyone is allowed to use their quirks and yet I'm forbidden from using my armor—and you still expect me to join in? How does that even remotely make sense?"
Kota, who had been lingering nearby beside Mandalay, perked up at the raised voices. His small face scrunched in confusion as he turned his head to watch, curiosity pulling him closer to the exchange.
"That's nobody's fault but your own," Aizawa replied flatly, his tone carrying a dry bite, "No one told you to create something so strong it slows your personal growth. I don't deny that with your armor you're practically indestructible, but the same can't be said about your physical body. I refuse to let you become overreliant on a tool, no matter how brilliant it is. I already know you're abnormally strong for someone without a quirk, but you can still improve—"
"WHAT?!"
Kota's sudden shout cut across Aizawa's words like a thunderclap. Several heads turned in surprise, even as students from both Class 1-A and 1-B went tumbling through the air from their sparring matches, their shouts and impact thuds echoing in the background.
"What do you mean he doesn't have a quirk?!" Kota demanded, eyes wide as he jabbed an accusatory finger straight at Tony.
Tony turned toward him slowly, arms folding across his chest in deliberate defiance. "It means," he said evenly, "that I wasn't born with a quirk factor. No flashy powers. No secret mutation. Just me."
Melissa, who had been standing a few feet away, couldn't resist a mischievous grin. "Tony was born with so much ego in his body there just wasn't any space left for a quirk," she quipped, her voice lilting with playful amusement.
Aizawa actually had to turn his head aside, the faintest tug of a smile threatening his otherwise impassive face.
Tony shot Melissa a flat, unimpressed look. "Oh yeah? Then what were you born with? Last I checked, you don't have a quirk either."
"What?!" Kota's eyes darted between the two of them, his shock only deepening. "You both don't have quirks?! Then how—how are you even in the hero course? That doesn't make any sense!" His voice cracked with disbelief as he glared at them.
Melissa stepped forward with a calmness that contrasted sharply with Kota's agitation. She crouched down until she was at his eye level, her warm blue gaze softening. "Tell me, Kota," she asked gently, "what do you think a hero is? Do you believe that simply having a quirk is all it takes to be one?"
Kota froze before he looked down, lips pressing together as he struggled for an answer.
Melissa's smile grew faintly wistful as she shook her head. "There are millions, most likely billions of people out there with quirks," she said, her voice quiet but carrying an undeniable conviction, "and yet only a rare few have the heart to become heroes. A powerful ability means nothing if you don't have the will to help others. Being a hero isn't about what power you're born with; it's about what you choose to do with what you have."
Her smile warmed, luminous and sincere, and it made Kota's cheeks redden despite himself. "The heart and will that Tony and I carry," she continued, "are strong enough to overcome any obstacle placed in our path. Where others might see the lack of a quirk as the end of their dreams, we see it as one more challenge to rise above."
Kota's blush slowly faded as his brows furrowed, his expression hardening into something far more serious. "You're going to get yourselves killed," he said bluntly. "You should quit while you still have the chance."
Melissa tilted her head slightly, her blonde hair glinting in the sunlight. "Nah," she said, the single word delivered with a dismissive ease that only irritated him more.
"What do you mean, 'nah'?!" Kota shot back, his voice rising. "There are heroes out there with powerful quirks and even they lose their lives! You'll just die faster without one!"
Melissa only laughed, the sound light and teasing. "You are just so adorable!" she exclaimed, reaching out to gently pat the top of his head. "Tony and I aren't going to die. Of that, I'm absolutely certain."
Kota crossed his arms and gave a sharp, disdainful scoff. "And how can you be so sure?"
Tony's grin spread slowly, a spark of challenge flashing in his eyes as he stepped up behind Melissa. "Shall we demonstrate?" he asked, extending a hand down toward her.
Melissa's own grin blossomed, bright and confident as she tilted her head back, she looked up at him and nodded. "I was about to suggest the same thing," she said, raising her hand to meet his.
Their hands clasped together firmly.
The two of them walked with confidence, their steps were unhurried, each stride carrying a quiet certainty that turned heads even before they reached the center of the field.
They came to a stop before Aizawa and the other pro heroes stationed along the perimeter. Without breaking eye contact, Tony tilted his head slightly, a faint grin pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Would you let us go all out for a moment?" he asked, voice casual but threaded with anticipation.
Aizawa stared at them in silence, his tired eyes narrowing ever so slightly as he weighed the request. He flicked a glance toward Kota, who stood a few paces away wearing a look of pure confusion. Around them, chaos still reigned: mushrooms sprouted over half the field from Kinoko's quirk, while a few unlucky students were sinking knee-deep into Quicksand's traps before Sero and Asui hauled them free with tape and her tongue.
Finally, Aizawa checked his watch and exhaled through his nose, the faintest sigh of resignation escaping him. "…Fine. You have five minutes. Make them count."
"That's more than enough," Melissa replied smoothly, her eyes glinting as she and Tony turned away and began walking toward the center of the training ground.
"Everyone—stop," Tony commanded, his voice carrying across the field with a crisp authority that immediately froze movement. Conversations died mid-sentence. Even Baymax, who was dangling Mineta and Nirengeki Shoda upside down by their legs, paused mid-swing, his sensors flickering as he registered the command.
"Eh? What's happening?" Kendo called out, her giant fist shrinking back to normal size as she and the others mirrored her confusion.
Melissa and Tony offered no explanation. Instead, Tony pivoted to face only Baymax and raised his voice, the grin sharpening across his face. "Activate full-body Armament."
The air seemed to vibrate for a heartbeat before a soft chime echoed from Baymax's chest as he lowered those in his hands.
"Huh?" several members of Class 1-B exclaimed at once, eyes widening as a symbol flared to life across the robot's torso. The unmistakable glow of an arc reactor pulsed brighter and brighter until it bathed the field in a red-violet hue.
Then it began. Swarms of crimson and violet nanobots rippled outward from Baymax's core like a living tide, crawling across his limbs in a seamless cascade. The metallic swarm clung to his frame, layering plate over plate until his once-round silhouette hardened into something sharper, more imposing.
"What's happening?!" a few Class 1-B students asked toward their 1-A counterparts, but the first-years were just as stunned, their own eyes wide with equal parts awe and confusion.
Momo, however, exhaled a knowing sigh. "What we were fighting before," she said, her voice carrying a weight that drew everyone's attention, "was only Baymax's base form—the version where he's at his weakest and most vulnerable."
Her words landed like a thunderclap.
"…"
"WHAT?!" came the collective cry from both classes, their voices overlapping in disbelief.
Before their eyes, Baymax's entire frame expanded. His shoulders broadened and his chestplate thickened, his once-rounded body now reinforced with muscular contours of alloy and energy. Twin mechanical wings unfolded from his back with a sharp metallic snap, scattering dust as they spread to their full span. The soft, inflatable caregiver they had faced only moments ago was gone—replaced by a gleaming titan of steel and light.
Kota's eyes widened until they practically sparkled. "…Awesome…" he breathed, barely able to contain his excitement. "A mecha…"
"That," Momo continued, her tone both impressed and resigned, "is Baymax's hero form—a configuration designed to perform at full capacity. At this level, his power could rival that of a top-ranking pro hero."
Aizawa shifted his attention toward Kota, his voice low but deliberate. "Are you paying attention?"
"W-What?" Kota startled, snapping out of his trance.
"Don't miss this," Aizawa said, his gaze sharpening as he swept it over the assembled students. "What you're about to see isn't just strength, or some flashy display of tech. It's the stubbornness of two people who were told, from the moment they were born, that fate had already decided their limits. No quirk. No special gift. No easy path. The world told them 'no' before they even had the chance to start."
The tired hero paused, letting the words sink in before continuing, his voice edged with a rare, quiet intensity.
"Most people hear that kind of 'no' and stop. They accept it. They call it reality and settle for whatever small corner of life they can cling to. But every now and then, you meet someone too damn hardheaded to listen. Someone who takes that 'no' and treats it like a challenge. They don't just endure—they fight, they claw, and they grind their way past every wall put in front of them. Not because it's easy. Because it isn't."
A flicker of something—respect, perhaps—lit Aizawa's usually tired eyes as he glanced back at Tony and Melissa.
"These two don't have quirks. But what they do have is the refusal to let the universe decide who they are. They take the same weight that crushes others and turn it into fuel. And that… that's something even the strongest quirk can't give you. Power fades. Talent can fail. But stubbornness—the will to keep moving forward when everything tells you to quit—that's what makes a hero."
The training field fell silent. Even the distant sounds of sparring had died away.
Tony turned to Melissa, a spark of excitement flashing in his eyes. They shared a single glance, the kind that carried years of unspoken understanding.
"You ready?" Melissa asked, holding her fist to the side.
"Let's give them a show to remember," Tony replied, his grin widening as he met her fist with his own.
A sudden surge of energy pulsed around them. Liquid steel swirled violently around their bodies, spiraling upward in a storm of nanites that shrieked like a rising wind. Their suits responded instantly, nodes of light flaring to life across their limbs as blue circuitry traced glowing patterns beneath their skin-tight armor.
Tony's mask slid seamlessly over his face, locking into place with a metallic hiss, while Melissa's newly generated cape snapped in the gusts of displaced air, billowing like a banner. The ground beneath their feet cracked from the force of their synchronized step forward while grinning ear to ear, twin shockwaves rippling outward.
And then—
They vanished.
One instant they were standing shoulder to shoulder, and the next they were blurs of motion, streaking forward in a burst of speed so sudden it left afterimages hanging in the air. Baymax's eyes lit up in response as he launched himself toward them, his wings flaring wide and engines roaring.
The collision of titans began.
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