A bestial force erupted from him. The primal rage took full control.
Natsu smiled..
"Now I got a fire in my belly!"
Flames wrapped around his entire frame. The earth trembled beneath him. Heat distorted the air.
They moved at once. Two fists collided with a deafening shockwave. Both staggered, then retreated. Natsu shot forward again, flames concentrated at his forehead. They slowly took the shape of a flickering horn.
"Sword Horn!"
Black Leopard intercepted him mid-charge. His arms locked around Natsu and he threw him over his shoulder. The ground cracked as Natsu slammed down. But before Black Leopard could strike again—
"Fire Dragon Roar!"
A blast of fire exploded upward, engulfing the villain and tearing him away. Natsu chased through the smoke, relentlessly.
Black Leopard regained his footing and disappeared into the trees, leaping from trunk to trunk at blinding speed. He struck from behind, but Natsu flipped and drove him down into the earth with another kick.
"Fire Dragon Talon!"
The forest lit up with fire.
Black Leopard's tail lashed out and caught Natsu, yanking him into the air and hurling him through several trees. Branches shattered. Bark burned. Natsu rolled, then rose again, chest heaving.
They clashed again, speed against speed. Fist against claw. No wasted movement.
"Flame Lotus: Fire Dragon Fist!"
The flurry of punches came fast, each one stronger than the last. At first, they were matched.
But Natsu began to gain ground.
Blows slipped through Black Leopard's guard. His ribs took a shot. His jaw snapped back. He stumbled. A lone blow to his chest sent him hurtling towards a boulder. The blows were heavy, and it left a stinging burn on his face. He was shocked at his opponent's control over the temperature of his fire. He knew the kid was holding back.
He bounded off the boulder, using it as a springboard while crushing it completely, and launched himself back with everything he had.
"Crimson Reaping Claw!"
A gash appeared across Natsu's chest. Blood hit the dirt.
Black Leopard stood still. His eyes narrowed. "It's over."
Then the heat returned.
Natsu didn't fall.
Flames poured from his body. A red aura burned away the blood on his chest. His eyes glowed like molten gold.
Black Leopard's heart dropped. Every instinct screamed.
He blinked and saw it. Behind Natsu, in the fire and smoke, the silhouette of a massive dragon. Its jaws were open. Its eyes glared straight into his soul.
"I miscalculated…I should've run." For the first time in a long time, he felt like prey.
But he didn't run. There's no way he could run now. He roared and charged again, rage overriding fear.
His claws however, did not strike true. Overwhelming pressure coming from Natsu started to form a crater in the dirt. It was like an invisible force of heat was pushing back against him. Black Leopard's claws suddenly started burning and cracking. He roared in pain.
Natsu's aura melted the air. Heat coiled into the ground as he punched downward. The earth split. Lava like cracks raced beneath Black Leopard's feet.
Flames burst upward, engulfing and trapping Black Leopard in a massive pillar of fire, trapping him.
Natsu launched into the sky. A sphere of fire gathered around his arm. It expanded until the entire forest glowed red.
"Thanks for the great fight." Natsu had a huge grin on his face. His hair waved widly as he descended. Fire Dragon King's Destruction Fist!!"
The punch landed, and the explosion swallowed everything.
A dome of flame towered into the sky. The shockwave reached the city. Surrounding trees were reduced to ash. The battlefield went still.
—
The forest blurred past as Mirko bounded across tree trunks and leapt through low branches, the wind howling in her ears. Her long white hair whipped behind her like a banner, and her sharp crimson eyes locked onto the trail ahead, fresh scorch marks, broken branches, and the smell of smoke. Her prey wasn't far, but where did the fire come from?
"You're mine, Black Leopard."
Then she heard it, an explosion, not massive, but enough to rattle the leaves. Her ears twitched. A fight.
She accelerated.
Clearing a final thicket, Mirko landed on a thick branch and crouched, eyes narrowed.
Below, in a natural clearing of shattered stone and smoldering roots, a battle raged.
"What the hell...? Is there another hero here?"
It wasn't a Pro Hero fighting.
It was a kid.
A teenager, still in what remained of his uniform, his body moving like a beast, unpredictable yet strangely precise. The fire that danced off his fists wasn't normal either. It was perfectly controlled by his hands.
She recognized the opponent instantly.
Black Leopard. A-ranked villain. Fast. Lethal. Quirk-enhanced agility and claws sharp enough to carve through reinforced steel. The person she was after.
Yet the kid was matching him, no, overpowering him. He had a wild look in his eye as he overpowered his opponent with ease.
Mirko took a step forward, preparing to jump in—
—and froze.
The air changed. Heat rippled out. She watched as the kid soared into the sky, flames building around him like a miniature sun. Her instincts screamed that this was the moment.
Her breath hitched.
"No way..."
"Fire Dragon King's Destruction Fist!!"
"A student with an ultimate move?? Is he in a hero course?"
The boy came down like a meteor.
Boom.
A dome of fire erupted, violent, godlike, consuming. The shockwave hit her seconds later, and she had to shield her face with her arms, boots digging into the branch as the blast threatened to knock her back. Trees vaporized. It felt like the sky turned red. A silence followed that could only come after annihilation.
When the firelight faded, Mirko slowly lowered her arms, the air felt smokey and the tips of her ears felt singed. She didn't dare imagine what happened at the epicenter.
Smoke curled from the smoldering crater. And at the center of it… a Silhouette remained standing. To Mirko, for an instant, it looked like his eyes were scorching red and there was a brief instinct in her body to run away. She swore she saw a beast in the smoke. She blinked and the image was gone.
That kid stood alone, his clothes were mostly burnt off, revealing his muscular top and toned abs. HIs eyes were focused.
Chest slightly heaving. His eyes were locked on the villain, now motionless. Was he even still alive??
She didn't know who he was. She snapped out of her thoughts as the smoke cleared. It looks Black Leopard was still breathing, but barely.
Mirko grinned. A hint of fighting spirit burned in her eyes.
"Now that's a fight."
–
Ash drifted down like snow around Natsu. Thankfully, he didn't cause too much of a forest fire. He immediately absorbed the fire back into his body before it started spreading. It was a trick he picked up during his training.
Natsu exhaled, his body steaming from the attack. His knees bent slightly as he landed, hand still clenched in a tight fist. Black Leopard lay motionless in the dirt, claws limp, most of his coat and fur-patterned limbs charred black. There were severe burns on his body, but there was still a faint breath. He heaved a sigh of relief. He got a little too excited during that fight and released his new skill. Thankfully he held back and spread the damage or the villain would've been ashes. He could kiss his hero's life goodbye if he accidentally killed someone. He had to quickly drop this fellow off at a hospital. He was preparing to pick him up.
Suddenly,
A shadow dropped from the treetops.
Instinct kicked in. Natsu spun around, fists lighting with embers again, eyes narrowed.
The woman who landed cracked the earth beneath her with sheer force. Her hair was wild, her physique compact but powerful, and a massive grin stretched across her face like a wolf spotting prey. Long ears flicked as she straightened up, not an ounce of tension in her muscles.
"Easy there, hotshot."
Her voice was cocky, amused, but not threatening.
Natsu didn't relax. He didn't know who she was.
The woman walked past him without a shred of hesitation and crouched next to Black Leopard. Her red eyes scanned the villain's scorched body, lips curling into a smirk.
"Heh. You're lucky," she said over her shoulder, tone casual like she was commenting on the weather. "Black Leopard's got a tough hide. Most villains? They'd be ash."
Natsu flinched. He hadn't meant to go that far. 'Damn adrenaline.'
The woman glanced back at him and raised an eyebrow. She'd noticed.
"Relax," she said, standing up and dusting her hands off. "He'll live. Third-degree burns aren't a death sentence. As long as he gets to the ambulance fast enough, he is extremely durable.he will probably make it."
Natsu heaved a sigh of relief.
She stared at him now, really stared, eyes practically glittering.
"You're interesting."
That caught him off guard.
"What hero agency are you interning for? To them, you must be quite the get. " she asked, clearly expecting a name.
Natsu blinked.
"I'm... not," he replied, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm still in middle school."
A long pause.
Her grin dropped for a split second, just long enough for her red eyes to widen in surprise.
"Wait. What?"
"Yeah," Natsu shrugged. "Eighth grade."
Mirko stared at him for another moment, then threw her head back and barked out a laugh, wild and genuine.
"A middle schooler just whooped an A-rank villain's ass. You've gotta be kidding me!"
She jabbed a thumb at Black Leopard's unconscious body.
"That guy's killed three heroes, and you turned him into a damn barbecue."
Natsu scowled slightly. "I wasn't trying to kill him."
"Good," Mirko said with a snort. "Because if you were, I'd have to bring you in too.
He couldn't tell if she was joking or not. But Natsu tensed. His eyes narrowed.
Mirko's Grin somehow got even wider. The kid was already prepared to attack "Easy hot shot maybe someday. What's your name?"
Natsu panicked, he didn't want to give his real name.
"Haise Todoroki." Natsu lied.
"Okay, little Haise. I should normally bring you in for things, but that sounds like a pain, so I'll just let you go. But you are quite interesting. Stay out of trouble till you become a hero, okay?
Natsu just nodded.
—
Back at the Todoroki household. Gray sneezed. "Hmm, what the heck?"