(Izuku POV – Training City)
The training city felt like a tomb… quiet enough that every step seemed to echo back to us. Bakugo and I walked along the main road, the tall buildings casting long, narrow shadows. There was no sign of Lady Nagant to be seen. Her absence makes my stomach tighten more than seeing her ever could.
"Kacchan… we can't just be out in the open like this." I say, keeping my voice low, feeling exposed and vulnerable.
"Shut up and stop tailing me, Deku." He doesn't bother to look back, his jaw set like a stone. He keeps walking as if everything is beneath him.
My words come out faster. "I really don't think we should be out like—"
"I said SHUT IT!" Bakugo snaps, whipping his head around. Tiny explosion burst from his palms to punctuate the order. His glare lands on me, carrying physical weight. "I ain't no coward. I'm taking her down alone. If you wanna run for the gate, fine. Just don't get in my way."
I flinched, then square my shoulders, before meeting his eyes. "This isn't about cowardice. Lady Nagant's quirk is Rifle. She can pick us off from a distance. If we stand in the open, we'll be hit before we even see her—"
Before I could finish, a gloved fist slammed into my cheek so fast I had no time to react. I crumpled to the pavement, hand going to the sting on my face as my heart bangs against my ribs.
"You looking down on me?" He hisses, voice low and cold. "Don't lump me in with you. Just because you're too scared to fight doesn't mean I'm weak."
I get to my feet, swallowing down the pain. His words burn, but they aren't what hurts most. It was that he couldn't see why I was saying it. "This isn't about being weak!" I say, my voice trembling. "If we do this your way, we'll definitely fail!"
He steps closer, eyes flashing. "You think you're all that now? You've got a half-decent quirk, but you're still the same pathetic kid, getting scared by everything." His hand shoved my chest roughly, his words meant to cut deep into my heart.
"I'm not—" I start.
"And are you calling me dumb?" He cuts me off, gritting his teeth as ember-smoke curls around his fingers. "You think I'm not smart enough to figure out how to pass on my own?" An annoyed laugh escapes him as he closes the distance.
I take a step back, then steadied myself. I swallow my fear and speak clearly. "If we want to pass, we need to work together. If you go all alone, she'll best us easily."
His face contorts, partly from anger, and partly his wounded pride. "You're pissing me off." He says.
Then he swung his arm. I barely rolled out of the way.
'I can't fail this exam!' I think, ready to try convincing him, when something catches my eye.
With no time to react, I launch forward, tackling him. He reacts in the only way he knows how, pushing back with an explosion that slams into me as we both fly across the pavement in a shower of dust and cracked concrete. We tumble for a moment, before scrambling to our feet, breathing ragged, Bakugo's crouched low and ready for combat.
"Ready to fight? Let's settle this once and for all!" Bakugo snarled, wild eyes daring me to take him on.
But before I can defend myself, a voice cut through the chaos, in a flat, bored tone, like speaking is a great inconvenience.
"Fight if you must, but I won't show you mercy."
The sound didn't come from any roof or alley. A small purple and pink bullet with a tiny speaker embedded in its base, pinged out of the ground between us, a neat, deliberate placement. The voice had come from that device, recorded or remote, with Nagant's dry cadence attached to it.
"We were told not to hold back, so I'm shooting to kill." Her tone was conversational, but her statement made my blood run colder.
'Kill.' The word slammed into me. Buildings seemed to press inward, and for a moment the world felt far away, like everything became an illusion.
"But Kata made sure they heal any damage they cause. So they won't actually harm you." And finally, it concluded in the same time, but felt mocking. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger… these just won't kill you. Good luck."
Relief and dread war in me. Relief because the rounds wouldn't maim us, and dread because she'd said she would aim to kill if she could. Fatal or not, she's taking this seriously.
Bakugo's face twists in rage. "That red-eyed bastard's screwing with me again." His chest heaves, as fury slides across his features. Gone was any strategy or reason… and in its place, incandescent rage remained.
"You're messing with me too." He snarls at me, his anger bleeding into each word. Then a crazed grin split his face. "Fine. Why don't I just…"
He raises both hands. Sparks burst along his palms, bright and hungry. I braced myself, every instinct screaming.
"BLOW YOU ALL TO HELL!!!"
"Huh?!" I exclaim, and then an explosion blossomed.
(Nagant POV – Training City)
They don't go for the gate. Of all the predictable things they could do, that's the least predictable.
I'd set up my position with an unobstructed view, the escape gate framed in sight like a target painted on the horizon. I planned to pick one and take them out, before handling the other… Instead, they bicker and fight amongst each other like little children.
Midoriya pushed Bakugo, in response to my warning shot, which was never aimed to hit either of them… but being able to react in any way was already impressive.
I recorded the warning on the round while they fought as a polite heads-up before I began in earnest. It's professional courtesy, and it changes nothing whether they're prepared or not. I slide the purple-and-pink cartridge into the chamber on my palm, cock my elbow as a rifle barrel extends from it, and adjust my aim to Bakugo's arms.
'Best to take those out first.'
But before I can…
A boom rips the street as Bakugo fires a huge explosion at Midoriya. Smoke erupts everywhere obscuring my vision.
'Was that intentional?' I narrow my eyes, partly to keep the dust from stinging my eyes, and mostly from suspicion, wondering if he aimed to actually attack Midoriya, or create a smokescreen.
Then Midoriya screams from within the smoke cloud.
"DIE, DEKU!" Followed by a pillar of flame that slams into a building with such force, it destroys the supports. Concrete groans as the building collapses, crashing into another building and setting off a domino reaction knocking multiple buildings down.
Through the destruction, I catch movement as Midoriya dashes out of the smoke, as though fleeing. Burns cover his costume, making it clear he was the main target of the previous fireball.
And, without hesitation, I fire.
The bullet slices through the air with purpose. A second later, it punches into his calf, and Midoriya goes down, tumbling along the ground while grunting, but there's no wound where he was hit.
In its place, pain blossoms as he clutches his uninjured calf in agony.
As Kata explained it, the rounds do not leave damage, but to keep it fair, the pain remains. All tissues are intact, but the nervous system remembers every bit, generating more pain than an actual bullets wound.
'Is this why he smiles when explaining it?' I wonder idly, as I shoot another bullet at him.
But, Midoriya manages to roll away at the last second, before dashing for cover amongst the debris of the collapsed buildings.
'Smart.' I praise internally while trying to track his position.
And before I can…
Another large explosive fireball breaks through the smoke, aimed directly at my position.
'Midoriya was a decoy after all.'
It's not very heroic, but it accomplishes the goal.
I aim my rifle at the incoming fireball, loading a bullet, and activating my quirk to the max. My arm tenses, bulging momentarily before firing the bullet at insane speeds, as the force generated a huge shockwave.
The bullet spins and smashes into Bakugo's explosion, dispersing it in a whirlwind of flame and smoke, while burning up in the process.
Before I can catch my breath, Bakugo rips through the remains of his attack with a manic grin on his face. He propels himself through the air, surging towards my position.
"Bet you didn't see this coming!" He laughs as he finally gets close, he flips midair and comes at me, palms pressed together and aimed at me as they begin to glow from whatever attack he's building up for. "DIE!"
I don't flinch. If he'd stayed at range, it might have been less painful lesson.
"Your first mistake…" I tell him, my voice flat, "Was assuming you could outsmart me." My rifle unfolds even further as the barrel extends. "Your second was assuming I'm only deadly at long range."
But he's too absorbed in his certain victory to heed my warnings. I feel the heat building on his hands and find it amusing.
'Beware of overconfidence.'
I strike before he does, thrusting my elbow forward as the muzzle of my rifle slams into his torso. The force knocks the breath out of him, but he grits teeth as the explosion in his hands ratchets up to a crescendo.
"I… win…" He barely managed to wheeze, while grinning, and his explosion goes off.
Sadly, his plan was doomed to fail, as I push the rifle to max power and fire the next round at point blank range.
The cartridge leaves the barrel with obscene velocity and cleaves through his torso instantly.
There's no blood, or splattering guts… but it generates a concussive shockwave as it leaves the barrel, and Bakugo is flung backward like a ragdoll, his palms unleash a devastating explosion that seems to blanket the sky, but he's already a few metres away from me, the blast unfocused.
He slams into the opposite building, smashing through the concrete wall, before stopping inside.
I stand relatively unharmed. A few singes and burns on my outfit, but nothing too harmful.
Bakugo is alive, also unharmed, but is screaming while clutching his chest from the pain, and spectacularly defeated.
"Sometimes, people's best effort is simply not enough." Often they forget that skill, timing and control beat fury and momentum every time. "Having a powerful quirk doesn't mean you should just charge head-on." I say, though I doubt he's listening.
'I can't let up now.' I think, aiming for his legs and arms, and after a few more shots, Bakugo is rendered unconscious from the pain.
'And then there was one.' I think, wondering where Midoriya is hiding, since I made sure he didn't sneak towards the gate.
**************
A/N: Hello Everyone. How are you? If you've enjoyed the chapter and book thus far, please consider leaving me some comments, reviews, or power stones. It really helps the book out.
So, yeah, this is the chapter. I tried taking the advice from the last one to heart, and sped up the pace, so I'm wondering if I did it well? The fight will definitely conclude on the next chapter, then Kata vs All Might.
Besides that, a few things to explain, I guess. Kata didn't modify her quirk. I imagine it as him adding Healing TK energy to her hair, and it instantly heals the damage the bullets cause. The pain is a side effect (intentional), otherwise, she'd basically be doing 0 damage with her quirk, which is quite unfair given how strong they are.
And, in case you're wondering... I didn't Nerf or power anyone up. Even Deku, who was using 45% OFA, couldn't dodge her bullets much. And that was final war arc Deku! I think I even boosted him by letting him roll out of the way🤣. Nagant is much stronger than I thought. Damn.
The move Bakugo used for the fireballs was his gauntlets (those grenade support items), and the attack against Nagant was the same one used during the sports festival. And yeah... The pain from these hits is insane. They're suffering quite a bit.
And, I suppose, my only complaint, towards me, is that it feels flat🫠. I don't know what happened. I guess I was trying to mix her assassin calm, analytical mind and experience, and it was kinda like she was reading them like a book (which she was). That, and the fact that Nagant isn't that talkative, meant fewer dialogue, and I couldn't even give Bakugo and Deku dialogue since they're so far away from her.
Her internal thoughts are also quite minimal as she's hyper focused. And it annoys me since there was so much action too...😭 On the bright side, I can make up for it super easy with the next POV. Ready to give some people trauma🤣🤣🤣.
You can also read 10 chapters ahead and support me at [email protected]/AMV_WEAKLY
Anyway, that's all from me. Happy Halloween!