A/N.
~ This novel is a fictional work, all events aren't real, all from imagination.
~ All right to MHA world and its characters belong to the author Kohei Horikoshi, and I also took the idea of rubber from Ichiro Oda, I will only use Gear 2nd And 3rd and then new things.
I own nothing but the event of this fanfic.
Chapter 1: Toga..
The alley was a jagged wound between two crumbling brick buildings, weeping rainwater onto the slick asphalt. Distant sirens wailed, their desperate cries painting the city in strokes of red and blue, but here, in the oppressive dark, only the halo of a single, flickering streetlamp at the alley's mouth provided any light. It was just enough to illuminate the two figures locked in a tense standoff.
He stood relaxed, a casual defiance in his posture, hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans. Lyorio's black hair was matted slightly by the damp air, and his dark eyes, sharp and focused, held a flicker of amusement. A ghost of a smile played on his lips.
"You've got to be crazy, girl," he said, his voice echoing slightly in the narrow space. "Really want to trade this alley for a prison cell so soon? You look a little young for that."
Opposite him, she was a discordant image of schoolgirl charm and feral danger. Her ash-blonde hair was pulled into two messy, almost wild buns, with untamed bangs framing her face. But it was her eyes that truly held the night. They were wide and golden, the color of honeyed poison, and they glittered with a disturbing mixture of glee and madness. Her smile was too wide, a predatory curve that revealed slightly elongated canines.
She tilted her head, a gesture that should have been cute but was utterly unsettling. "You've got a lot of nerve, chasing me all this way," she chirped, her voice a sweet melody laced with venom. "Awww, are you a fan? A stalker? Or just another one of those boring heroes?"
Lyorio's smile widened. He slowly pulled his right hand from his pocket, his left hand coming up to grip his own bicep, anchoring himself. The casual air vanished, replaced by a coiled energy that seemed to press against the very air in the alley.
"Neither," he declared, his voice dropping to a low, confident hum. "I'm the Rubber Nightmare that's about to make your night a whole lot longer."
He bellowed the words, a declaration of power. "Gomu Gomu…"
His arm snapped forward, stretching, distorting, becoming a flesh-colored blur that rocketed through the darkness toward her face.
"...PISTOL!"
There was no thought in Toga's reaction, only pure, terrifying instinct. A flicker of something primal flashed in those golden eyes. As the fist closed the distance, her body dropped with a fluid, inhuman speed, her schoolgirl uniform swirling around her as she crouched low to the ground. In that same impossibly swift motion, a knife appeared in her hand, its blade catching a sliver of streetlight.
The blur of Lyorio's returning fist was met by a silver arc.
SHLICK!
A sharp, searing line of fire erupted along his forearm as it retracted. Lyorio grunted, his arm snapping back to its normal length. A deep gash now marred his skin, bright red blood welling up and tracing paths down to his wrist. He stared at it, the pain a dull throb compared to the shock.
What was that? he thought, his eyes snapping back to the girl. Those reflexes… they weren't human. She's a monster.
Toga rose slowly, a pout on her face as she looked at the blood beading on the edge of her blade.
"Tch," she clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Too bad. I was trying to cut it clean off." Her grin returned, wider and more manic than before, as she brought the knife to her lips and licked the crimson droplet from its tip. Her eyes closed in ecstasy for a single, horrifying moment.
When they opened, they were locked onto him, burning with a new, insatiable hunger. "But this is good, too," she purred, her voice a low, dangerous whisper. "So, so yummy…"
Toga's head snapped back as a cascade of unhinged, girlish giggles escaped her lips, the sound scraping against the grimy walls of the alley. She clutched her stomach, doubling over in laughter. "It's been so long!" she shrieked, her golden eyes wide with manic delight. "So long since I've tasted blood this… this pure! Are you from some special lineage? Oh, you have to be! There's no doubt about it!"
Lyorio's eyes narrowed in confusion, a cold knot tightening in his stomach. What is wrong with this girl? Licking my blood from a knife… Pure lineage?
His thoughts were cut short as she straightened up, her unnerving smile softening into something eerily placid. His eyes began to tremble as he watched the impossible happen. Her features began to melt like hot wax. The sharp angles of her face softened, the ash-blonde of her hair darkened, sinking into her scalp as strands of pure black sprouted in their place. Her bones seemed to shift and reform under her skin, her frame broadening, growing taller, until a perfect, breathing replica of himself stood where she had been. Even the casual jacket and jeans he wore rippled into existence over her schoolgirl uniform.
It was flawless. A mirror image born from madness.
The transformation completed, the copy of himself tilted its head. When it spoke, the voice was a chilling, melodic echo of his own.
"Now then…" the impostor purred, taking a step forward. "Could you please give me some more of that wonderful blood?"
Lyorio was frozen, his mind struggling to process the violation he had just witnessed. A single drop of his own blood fell from his wounded arm, striking the wet ground with a faint pat. A bead of cold sweat traced a path down his temple. A slow, anxious smile stretched across his face, a mask for the storm of shock and adrenaline raging within him.
How… utterly exciting…
But that thrilling, terrifying encounter was still two months away.
Two months ago, Lyorio faced a monster of a different kind. A monster made of metal and circuits.
TWO MONTHS EARLIER..
CRUUUNCH!
The sound of tortured metal screaming its last echoed through the sprawling, artificial cityscape of Battle Ground Beta. Lyorio stood in the center of a small plaza, the concrete littered with the shrapnel of his recent conquests. The acrid smell of ozone and burnt wiring hung heavy in the air. In his right hand, he held the severed arm of a two-point robot, its metallic fingers still twitching as faint sparks fizzled from its mangled shoulder joint.
With a sigh, he tossed the heavy limb aside. It clattered against the pavement, joining the rest of the robotic graveyard around him. His expression was calm, focused. "I can handle robots of this size," he murmured to himself, his breath fogging slightly in the cool air.
He tilted his head back, his gaze traveling upwards. The perspective shifted, pulling back like a dramatic shot in a video game, revealing the true scale of the arena. And in the background, dwarfing the four-story buildings it moved between, was the true king of this battlefield.
The Zero-Pointer.
It was colossal, a titan of chrome and steel that moved less like a machine and more like a tectonic plate given malevolent life. It didn't walk; it rolled forward on massive, tank-like treads that cracked the very streets beneath its weight. A fly would have looked more significant next to it than he did.
The U.A. Entrance Exam, Lyorio thought, a grimace touching his lips. I thought I was ready for any obstacle they could throw at me. But that thing… His eyes followed its path of casual destruction. The moment I saw it, I knew. Getting anywhere near it was a fatal mistake.
The deafening GRIND-CRUNCH of its treads was a constant, terrifying baseline to the chaos. Buildings it brushed against by accident groaned and shed concrete dust. The air was thick with the chorus of panicked shouts and the frantic pounding of feet as the other examinees scattered like ants.
Everyone is avoiding it, he observed, his eyes scanning the area. Running, dodging, hunting for smaller robots to rack up points. My gut told me that giant was worth zero points for a reason. A realization had dawned on him early in the test. This isn't an academy for fools. This stage isn't a test of defeating the obstacle, but of recognizing an unwinnable fight and surviving it. And that's exactly what I did for ten minutes.
Suddenly, a new sound cut through the noise, a voice amplified a thousand times, booming from unseen speakers across all the battlegrounds.
"TIIIIIME'S UP!!!"
Present Mic's signature scream signaled the end. In that exact instant, a collective mechanical sigh seemed to pass through the city. The Zero-Pointer, its massive arm raised to smash a building, froze in place. Every smaller robot, in mid-stride or mid-attack, powered down, their glowing red eyes fading to black. They became an army of inert statues in a city of ruins.
Silence fell, broken only by the ragged panting of exhausted teenagers.
Lyorio began the long walk through the wreckage towards the massive gates of the exit, joining the stream of other hopefuls. He flexed his fingers, his gaze falling to his own hand. A seed of doubt planted itself in his mind.
What could I do if I faced something that big in real life? Something without an off-switch?
He clenched his fist, the knuckles turning white.
Is this rubbery punch… really enough?