What If Deku had a Tiger quirk

The human body is an adaptable machine, but when it is forced to rewrite its own genetic code overnight, the process is rarely gentle. 

For four-year-old Izuku Midoriya, the awakening of his Quirk did not come with the sudden, effortless manifestation of fire from his fingertips or the ability to float his toys. It came with a fever that burned so hot his mother, Inko, thought he was dying. 

It started on a Tuesday evening. Izuku had been sitting on the living room rug, clutching his favorite All Might action figure, when a violent shiver wracked his small frame. Within hours, his temperature had spiked to 104 degrees. Inko panicked, rushing her lethargic, weeping son to the emergency room at Musutafu General Hospital. 

As they sat in the sterile white room, Izuku thrashed on the exam table. He was crying, his small hands clutching his head, complaining of an agonizing pressure at the base of his spine and the top of his skull. 

"Please, you have to do something!" Inko begged the on-call pediatrician, a bald, bespectacled man named Dr. Tsubasa. "He’s burning up!"

"We’re administering a mild sedative and fever reducers, Mrs. Midoriya," Dr. Tsubasa said, adjusting his round glasses. He looked down at the boy, his brow furrowing. "But I don't believe this is a standard viral infection. Look at his hands."

Inko gasped. Izuku’s small, chubby fingers were trembling, the skin peeling back slightly around the nail beds to reveal hardened, dark keratin pushing through. With a sickening little pop, razor-sharp claws extended from the boy’s fingertips, slicing cleanly through the paper covering of the examination table. 

Izuku cried out again, hands flying to his head. "Mommy! It hurts! My ears!"

Inko watched in terrified awe as the hair on the top of Izuku’s head shifted. Two triangular appendages, covered in messy green and black fur, pushed their way through his messy curls. At the same time, the hospital gown bulged at his lower back. A long, muscular tail, striped in dark green and vibrant, autumnal orange, burst through the fabric, wrapping instinctively around his small leg.

The fever broke almost instantly. The boy’s crying subsided into heavy, exhausted pants. He opened his eyes, and Inko stepped back, her hand flying to her mouth.

Izuku’s normally wide, innocent green eyes had changed. The irises were a brilliant, glowing emerald, but the pupils had narrowed into vertical, predatory slits. Faint, dark stripes—almost like birthmarks—now traced the edges of his jawline and shoulders.

"Well," Dr. Tsubasa muttered, staring at his clipboard before looking back at the exhausted child. "I believe we can rule out the flu."

An hour later, Izuku was sitting up, happily chewing on a hospital-grade ice pop, occasionally pausing to reach up and touch the soft, fuzzy ears on top of his head. They swiveled like radar dishes, tracking every footstep in the hallway. 

"It’s a Mutant-class Quirk," Dr. Tsubasa explained to a dizzy but relieved Inko. He pulled up an X-ray on the monitor. "A massive physiological shift. It’s incredibly rare for a child to undergo a full-body mutation post-birth, but not unheard of. Usually, these traits are present from day one."

"But neither my husband nor I have anything like this," Inko said, her eyes darting to Izuku’s tail, which was currently thumping happily against the mattress. "My husband breathes fire. I can attract small objects. Where did… this come from?"

"Genetics are a funny thing, Mrs. Midoriya. I dug into your family history. Your great-grandfather on your mother’s side possessed a minor feline-mutation quirk. It seems Izuku here is a genetic throwback. His body bypassed the immediate parental genes and latched onto a dormant, predatory lineage, amplifying it tenfold."

The doctor looked at Izuku. "Tiger ears, a prehensile tail, retractable claws, slit-pupils. His bone density has already increased by thirty percent to support the added muscle mass. He's going to be remarkably strong, Mrs. Midoriya. But you’ll need to prepare for a drastic change in his diet. His metabolism is going to skyrocket."

Inko didn't care about grocery bills. She just cared that her son was safe. She rushed forward, wrapping her arms around Izuku’s small body. 

"Izuku, my baby," she cried softly. 

Izuku hugged her back. And then, a strange sound filled the room. It was a deep, rumbling vibration that seemed to emanate from Izuku’s chest, vibrating against Inko’s sternum. It sounded like a diesel engine idling in the distance. 

Rrrrr-rumble. Rrrrr-rumble.

Izuku froze, his face flushing crimson. "M-Mom? Am I… making that noise?"

Inko pulled back, blinking through her tears, and then let out a watery laugh. "Oh, Izuku. I think you’re purring."

Izuku’s tail puffed up to twice its size in embarrassment. But as he looked down at his new claws, extending and retracting them with a thought, a massive, fanged smile broke across his face. 

I got a Quirk, he thought, his young heart soaring. I can be a hero just like All Might!

The playground dynamics shifted exactly three days later. 

Before the awakening, Izuku had always been the timid shadow trailing behind Katsuki Bakugo. Katsuki was loud, confident, and possessed a flashy, powerful Explosion quirk. He was the undisputed king of the sandbox.

When Izuku returned to the park, he was different. He wore a custom-tailored pair of shorts with a hole cut for his tail, and a sunhat that awkwardly accommodated his new ears. As he approached the sandbox, Katsuki and his lackeys stopped what they were doing. 

"What the heck is wrong with you, Izuku?" Katsuki demanded, pointing a small, spark-popping finger at his friend. "You look like a zoo animal!"

"I got my Quirk, Kacchan!" Izuku beamed, his tail swishing behind him in wide, excited arcs. "The doctor said it’s a tiger mutation!"

Katsuki’s red eyes narrowed. He didn't like the sudden change. He didn't like that Izuku was suddenly the center of attention, as the other kids crowded around to touch the striped tail and marvel at his claws.

"Tigers are just big, dumb cats!" Katsuki sneered, pushing his way to the front. He slammed his palms together, letting off a loud CRACK of an explosion. "My quirk is way better! I’m gonna be the number one hero, and you’re still just Deku!"

Normally, the loud noise would make Izuku flinch and cower. But this time, something strange happened. 

At the sharp, sudden sound of the explosion, Izuku’s instincts bypassed his conscious brain. His pupils dilated into wide, black orbs. His ears flattened against his skull. Before anyone could blink, Izuku dropped to all fours. 

Katsuki lunged forward, aiming a shove at Izuku’s chest to assert his dominance. 

He never made contact. 

Izuku moved with terrifying fluidity. He dodged beneath Katsuki’s outstretched arms, his padded hands hitting the sand silently. With a speed that defied his age, Izuku lunged, tackling Katsuki to the ground. 

OOF! 

Katsuki hit the sand hard. He looked up in shock to find Izuku pinning him down. Izuku was significantly heavier now, his dense muscles pressing Katsuki into the dirt. Izuku’s upper lip was curled back, revealing slightly elongated canine teeth, and a low, warning growl—entirely involuntary—rippled in his throat. 

The playground went dead silent. Nobody beat Katsuki. Nobody even challenged him.

For a moment, Katsuki looked genuinely terrified. The boy above him didn't look like crying, timid Izuku. He looked like a predator. 

Then, the feral haze snapped. Izuku blinked, his eyes returning to normal, and he scrambled off Katsuki as if the blond boy was on fire. 

"I-I’m so sorry, Kacchan!" Izuku shrieked, his tail tucking firmly between his legs, his ears drooping in absolute terror. "I didn't mean to! I just moved! Are you okay? I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Katsuki sat up, spitting sand out of his mouth. He stared at Izuku, who was currently bowing so rapidly he looked like a blurry metronome. The blonde boy looked at his own hands, then at Izuku’s claws, which had instinctively gouged deep trenches into the sand where he had been standing.

Katsuki stood up, brushing off his shorts. He scowled, his pride bruised, but a new, strange gleam of respect shone in his crimson eyes. 

"Shut up, you stupid furball," Katsuki grumbled, crossing his arms. He looked at Izuku’s faint facial markings. "You aren't Deku anymore. A Deku is useless. You’re just a freak."

Katsuki smirked, a competitive fire igniting in his chest. "From now on, I’m calling you Stripes."

Izuku stopped bowing, looking up in surprise. "Stripes?"

"Yeah, Stripes!" Katsuki yelled, stomping his foot. "And don't think just 'cause you tackled me once that you’re stronger than me! I’ll still beat you and be Number One! Come on, we’re playing Heroes and Villains, and you’re the villain!"

As Katsuki ran off, Izuku smiled. His tail slowly uncurled, swishing happily. 

It wasn't a perfect friendship. It would grow complicated, fierce, and borderline feral as they aged. But as they grew up, Katsuki Bakugo never bullied Izuku Midoriya. You couldn't bully someone who could bench-press a car by the time he was fourteen. Instead, they became something else: rivals. Two apex predators circling each other, constantly pushing the other to be better, faster, stronger.

Ten Years Later.

Aldera Junior High was loud, but to Izuku, it was deafening. 

Fourteen-year-old Izuku sat at his desk, his pencil moving a mile a minute across his notebook titled Hero Analysis for the Future, Vol. 13. He was a towering figure for his age, standing at five-foot-ten, broad-shouldered, and packed with lean, dense muscle. He wore a modified school uniform; he eschewed the traditional stiff shoes for flexible, black slip-ons that allowed his padded feet room to breathe, and his pants were tailored to allow his heavy, striped tail to hang freely. 

Faint, tiger-like stripes adorned his jawline, neck, and the exposed skin of his muscular forearms. 

Despite his intimidating, beastly appearance, Izuku was currently hunched over, muttering a mile a minute.

"—Mount Lady’s gigantification quirk is incredible for crowd control, but the infrastructure damage is a massive liability. If she were to adapt her fighting style to utilize grappling rather than blunt force, she could minimize collateral damage, though her caloric intake must be astronomical, much like my own, honestly I wonder if she has to eat whole cows—"

"Hey, Stripes! Shut up, you're giving me a headache!" 

Izuku snapped his mouth shut, his tiger ears swiveling forward. Katsuki Bakugo was leaning back in his chair, glaring at him. Bakugo was lean, explosive, and perpetually angry. 

"Sorry, Kacchan," Izuku mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck, his tail flicking nervously. 

"You're going to UA, right?" Bakugo demanded, ignoring the teacher who was currently trying (and failing) to hand out career aptitude tests. "You better not fail the entrance exam. If I’m gonna be the only one from this crappy school to make it into UA, I need you there so I can publicly crush you in the Sports Festival."

"I'll pass," Izuku said, a competitive grin pulling at the corner of his mouth, showing off sharp fangs. "But you're the one who needs to watch out, Kacchan. My agility scores have been climbing."

"Bring it on, furball!" Bakugo sparked a small explosion in his palm. 

"Boys, please!" the teacher sighed. "Yes, you both are aiming for UA. You both have incredible Quirks. Midoriya, your physical specs are off the charts, and Bakugo, your offensive capabilities are stellar. Just… try not to destroy the classroom before graduation."

The bell rang, saving them from further scolding. 

Izuku packed his bags, his stomach letting out a loud, rumbling growl that sounded like thunder. He grimaced. Being a Mutant-class with a predatory physiology meant he burned through calories like a furnace. He needed meat, and lots of it. 

"Mom's making katsudon tonight," Izuku muttered happily to himself as he walked out of the school gates, leaving Bakugo behind to argue with some of their classmates. 

He decided to take the shortcut under the overpass. It was quiet, and Izuku liked the quiet. His heightened hearing meant the city was a constant barrage of sensory overload—sirens, car horns, shouting people. 

As he walked into the cool shade of the tunnel, his ears twitched. 

Drip. Drip.

It wasn't water. The consistency of the sound was too thick. Sludge? 

Instantly, Izuku’s nose wrinkled. A foul stench hit his highly sensitive olfactory receptors. It smelled like raw sewage, stagnant water, and rotting garbage. His body reacted before his brain fully processed the threat. His pupils dilated into slits, his fur bristled on end, and a low growl vibrated in his chest. 

Danger.

"A medium-sized meat suit…" a gurgling, wet voice echoed from the manhole behind him. "And quite muscular, too. Perfect!"

Izuku spun around just as a massive wave of dark green sludge erupted from the sewer. It lunged at him, aiming to envelop his body. 

If Izuku had been a normal human, he would have been caught. But the Apex Tiger quirk granted him reflexes that bordered on precognition. 

Izuku didn't just step back; he dropped low, his powerful thighs coiling like springs. He launched himself sideways, clearing fifteen feet in a single bound. The sludge crashed onto the concrete where he had been standing a microsecond before.

"Slippery little brat!" the Sludge Villain roared, reforming his liquid body into a massive, looming figure with two bulging eyes and a jagged maw. Tentacles of slime lashed out like whips. 

Izuku landed on all fours, his claws digging deep grooves into the concrete of the tunnel. His heart hammered, pumping adrenaline-laced blood through his veins. 

Analyze, Izuku’s mind raced. Fluid body. Blunt force attacks will be useless. Slashing might temporarily disrupt him, but he can reform. His eyes are solid. The mouth is solid.

"Hold still!" the villain yelled, launching three tendrils at Izuku. 

Izuku pushed off the ground, moving with blistering speed. He leaped onto the curved wall of the tunnel, his claws finding purchase in the concrete, allowing him to sprint horizontally across the wall for several paces, completely dodging the sludge. 

He vaulted off the wall, flipping through the air. "Get away from me!" Izuku yelled. 

He extended his right hand, his sharp, dark claws gleaming in the dim light. He slashed horizontally through the air, carving a deep, ragged gorge through the center of the villain's mass. 

The villain shrieked, recoiling as the sheer kinetic force of the swipe scattered parts of his liquid body across the tunnel. "You little pest! I'll drown you!"

Before the villain could retaliate, the manhole cover they had emerged from exploded upward. 

A massive, towering figure stepped out of the sewer, radiating an aura of pure, unadulterated power. "FEAR NOT, CITIZEN!" a booming voice echoed, shaking the very foundations of the tunnel. "FOR I AM HERE!"

Izuku landed gracefully on his feet, his jaw dropping. His ears stood straight up. The scent of sandalwood, sweat, and ozone. 

"All Might?!" Izuku gasped. 

"TEXAS SMASH!" 

All Might threw a punch. He didn't even make contact with the villain. The sheer wind pressure generated by the strike created a localized hurricane within the tunnel. Izuku had to dig his claws into the ground and cover his face to avoid being blown away. The Sludge Villain was completely obliterated, blown into hundreds of tiny, splattered droplets. 

When the wind died down, All Might was standing there, laughing heartily as he began scooping the villain into two empty soda bottles. 

Izuku stood frozen. His idol. The Number One Hero. He was right there. 

"Are you alright, young man?" All Might asked, turning his bright blue eyes toward Izuku. He paused, taking in Izuku’s intimidating stature, the ears, the tail, and the shredded concrete under his feet. "Oho! A powerful Mutant Quirk! And excellent reflexes, avoiding this villain! Well done!"

Izuku’s brain short-circuited. The Number One hero had just complimented him. 

Without meaning to, a sound began to rumble in Izuku’s chest. It grew louder and louder, until a deep, booming purr filled the tunnel. 

Rrrrr-rumble. Rrrrr-rumble.

Izuku clamped both hands over his mouth, his face turning the color of a ripe tomato. All Might blinked, clearly amused. 

"Can I—can I get an autograph?!" Izuku suddenly squeaked, shoving his notebook forward. He opened it, realizing All Might had already signed it in massive, sprawling kanji across a two-page spread. Izuku’s tail waged so hard it was a blur. "Thank you so much! It’ll be a family heirloom!"

"Well, I must be off!" All Might announced, patting his pockets to ensure the bottles were secure. "A hero's work is never done!"

"Wait!" Izuku stepped forward. "I have a question!"

"No time! Pro heroes are constantly fighting time as well as enemies!" All Might bent his knees, preparing to jump. 

Izuku panicked. He had to know. For ten years, despite his power, people had told him his Quirk was more suited for a villain. You look scary, Midoriya. You're too aggressive. Heroes are supposed to be comforting, not predatory. 

As All Might leaped into the air, Izuku leaped too. 

With his enhanced leg strength, Izuku easily cleared fifty feet, grabbing onto All Might’s thick leg just as the hero cleared the city skyline. 

"Hey, hey, hey!" All Might shouted, feeling the sudden weight. "Release me! Your fanaticism is too much!"

"If I let go now, I’ll die!" Izuku screamed, his claws hooking into the fabric of All Might’s cargo pants to keep from falling. 

"Oh, right!" 

They landed roughly on the roof of a three-story office building. Izuku collapsed onto his hands and knees, panting heavily, his tail wrapped securely around his own waist. 

"That was incredibly dangerous, young man," All Might scolded, though he suddenly hunched over, a strange cough racking his body. 

"I'm sorry," Izuku said, standing up. "But I had to ask you something. Everyone says my Quirk is scary. They say I look like a monster, like a villain. Even when I try to save people, I end up terrifying them because of my instincts." 

Izuku looked down at his clawed hands, balling them into fists. "Can someone with the body of a beast… still become a symbol of peace like you?"

Smoke suddenly billowed from All Might’s body. Izuku’s nose twitched at the sudden smell of blood and burning flesh. 

When the smoke cleared, the towering hero was gone. In his place stood a skeletal, emaciated man in baggy clothes, coughing blood into his hand. 

Izuku’s fur stood on end. His ears flattened. "W-Who are you?! Where is All Might?! Did you eat him?!" Izuku’s claws extended, ready to fight this imposter. 

"I am All Might," the skeletal man sighed, sitting down heavily against the rooftop railing. 

For the next ten minutes, Izuku listened in horrified silence as All Might revealed the truth of his injury, the battle five years ago, and his failing body. Izuku’s sharp eyes caught every detail: the labored breathing, the scent of fresh blood, the sheer exhaustion in the man's posture. 

"To answer your question, kid," All Might said softly, looking out over the city. "Can you be a symbol of peace? Pro heroes have to risk their lives every day. A strong body is a good start. But if you can't control the beast within you, if you let your instincts rule your mind… you’ll only cause fear. You have to be a human first, and a tiger second."

All Might stood up, opening the door to the stairwell. "It’s not bad to dream. But make sure your dreams are attainable. Maybe look into police work. They can always use someone with a good nose."

The door clicked shut. 

Izuku stood alone on the roof. His heart sank. The words felt like heavy stones settling in his stomach. Even All Might thought he was better off as a bloodhound for the police rather than a hero. 

BOOM!

The sound of an explosion echoed in the distance. 

Instantly, Izuku’s ears swiveled toward the noise. The sound was distinct. The concussive blast, the specific pitch of the shockwave. He’d heard that explosion every day for a decade. 

Kacchan.

Izuku ran to the edge of the roof. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose, opening his mouth slightly to utilize his vomeronasal organ—a feline trait that allowed him to essentially "taste" the air. 

Smoke. Burning plastic. 

And beneath it all, the sharp, unmistakable scent of caramelized sugar. Nitroglycerin. 

Without thinking, Izuku moved. He vaulted over the railing of the roof. He didn't take the stairs; he dropped three stories, landing on the hood of a parked car with a heavy crunch that spider-webbed the windshield, absorbing the shock with his powerful legs. He sprinted down the street, moving on all fours, dropping into a terrifyingly fast gallop. 

He didn't care about his dream being crushed right now. His pack was in danger. 

Izuku arrived at Tatooin Shopping District in record time. A crowd had gathered, held back by police tape. Fire raged through the alleyway, catching onto the awnings of the shops. Pro heroes Death Arms, Kamui Woods, and Mount Lady were standing around, looking completely helpless. 

Izuku pushed his way through the crowd, his height allowing him to see over the onlookers. 

In the center of the inferno was the Sludge Villain. He must have dropped the bottles, Izuku realized with a sickening jolt. 

But worse, the villain had a hostage. Trapped within the suffocating, suffocating mass of green slime was Katsuki Bakugo. Katsuki was struggling furiously, firing off massive explosions that only fueled the surrounding fires, unable to get a breath. His red eyes were wide with panic. 

"It's no good!" Death Arms shouted, shielding his face from the heat. "None of us have the right quirks to grab the kid out of that liquid!"

"We have to wait for someone with a suitable quirk!" Kamui Woods yelled. 

Izuku watched as Katsuki’s eyes locked onto his. In that single glance, Izuku smelled the acrid scent of pure, unadulterated terror radiating off his childhood friend. 

The heroes were doing nothing. They were waiting. 

Izuku’s mind went blank. The civilized, muttering, over-analytical part of his brain shut down entirely. The Apex Tiger took over. 

Before Death Arms could even blink, a massive, green-striped blur shot past him. 

"Hey! Kid, stop!"

Izuku didn't hear him. He was entirely focused on the prey. 

He moved in a zig-zag pattern, faster than the eye could track, dodging a sweeping sludge tentacle. He closed the distance in two seconds. The villain’s eyes widened in recognition. 

"You! The brat from the tunnel!" 

Izuku didn't speak. He leaped, propelling himself fifteen feet into the air. He twisted his body, using his tail for perfect aerodynamic balance. He brought both of his hands back, his claws fully extended, gleaming like obsidian knives in the firelight. 

SLASH!

Izuku descended like a meteor, his claws tearing through the villain's eyes and the thick sludge holding Katsuki. The villain screamed in agony as Izuku’s claws found purchase on the solid mass around Katsuki's collar. 

Izuku grabbed Katsuki by the collar of his uniform with his teeth and his left hand, and used his immense weight to rip the blonde boy entirely out of the sludge. 

They crashed onto the pavement, rolling away from the flames. Izuku shielded Katsuki’s body with his own, taking the brunt of the harsh landing. 

"Stripes?!" Katsuki hacked, coughing violently as he sucked in greedy lungfuls of air. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"My legs moved on their own!" Izuku snarled, turning back to face the villain, dropping into a defensive crouch over Katsuki. His fur was singed, his lips pulled back to expose his fangs in a terrifying display of aggression. A monstrous roar ripped from his throat, a sound so loud and primal it shattered the glass of the nearby storefronts and made the Pro Heroes flinch. 

The Sludge Villain, blinded and enraged, reformed his mass, rearing up to crush them both. "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU STUPID CAT!"

"DETROIT SMASH!"

The air pressure changed violently. Blood sprayed from the sky as All Might, forced out of his weakened state by the sheer inspirational bravery of the young mutant, delivered a devastating punch that completely obliterated the villain, changing the weather and summoning rain to douse the fires. 

The aftermath was exhausting. 

The Pro Heroes spent a good twenty minutes chewing Izuku out. Death Arms tapped Izuku’s chest aggressively. "What were you thinking?! Running in like some wild animal! You could have gotten yourself and the hostage killed! Leave the fighting to the pros!"

Izuku sat on the bumper of an ambulance, his ears pinned back in shame, his tail wrapped tightly around his ankles. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, staring at his clawed feet. 

Conversely, the heroes were praising Bakugo. "Your quirk is incredible, kid! Once you learn to control it, you'll be an amazing sidekick!"

As the sun began to set, Izuku walked home alone. His body ached, and his stomach was loudly demanding sustenance. 

"Hey! Stripes!"

Izuku turned. Bakugo was jogging up behind him, panting slightly. He stopped a few feet away, hands shoved deep into his pockets, scowling at the pavement. 

"I didn't need your help," Bakugo growled, his voice tight. "I had him right where I wanted him. You just got in the way."

Izuku sighed. "I know, Kacchan."

"But…" Bakugo’s jaw clenched. He looked up, his crimson eyes locking onto Izuku’s slit pupils. "You moved when the pros didn't. You’re a freak, and you acted like a rabid beast. But… you were a hero today, Izuku."

Izuku’s eyes widened. It was the first time in ten years Bakugo had used his real name. 

Before Izuku could respond, Bakugo spun around and marched off, his ears completely red. "Don't let it go to your head! I’m still gonna crush you at UA!"

Izuku smiled, a soft, involuntary purr starting up in his throat. 

"I AM HERE!"

Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin, his claws extending with a snikt as All Might suddenly slid out from an alleyway, striking a dramatic pose. 

"All Might?!" Izuku gasped. "What are you doing here? How did you lose the press?"

"I stand for justice, not soundbites!" All Might laughed, before hacking violently and shrinking back down into his skeletal form. He wiped the blood from his mouth and looked at Izuku, his expression turning deeply serious. 

"Young Midoriya," All Might said softly. "I came to apologize."

Izuku blinked, his ears swiveling forward in confusion. "Apologize? For what?"

"For telling you that you couldn't be a hero. For letting my own cynical view of my failing body blind me to the truth." All Might stepped forward, placing a skeletal hand on Izuku’s broad shoulder. "Out of everyone there, the pros, the police, and myself… it was a timid, quirk-heavy teenager who acted. You didn't think about the danger. You saw someone in trouble, and your body moved on its own."

Tears pricked the corners of Izuku’s eyes. 

"That is the essence of a true hero," All Might smiled. "You have the instincts of a beast, young man. But you have the heart of a savior."

Izuku couldn't hold it back anymore. The tears spilled over, and he dropped to his knees, covering his face with his large hands, weeping loudly in the middle of the empty street. 

"You can become a hero," All Might declared. "In fact, I deem you worthy to inherit my power."

Izuku stopped crying, peering through his fingers. "Inherit… your power? But quirks can't be transferred. And I already have a Quirk!"

All Might chuckled. "My quirk is special. It is a torch, passed from generation to generation, stockpiling power. It is called One For All. And I want you to be my successor."

All Might looked at Izuku’s muscular, beastly frame. "Normally, a vessel must undergo ten months of rigorous physical training just to handle the baseline power of my Quirk. If a normal, weak body were to receive it, their limbs would blow completely off."

Izuku gulped, his tail puffing up in alarm. 

"But you," All Might grinned, a manic glint in his eye. "You are already a physiological marvel. Your bone density, your muscle mass, your natural shock absorption… Young Midoriya, layering the sheer kinetic power of One For All over an Apex Predator mutant body? You won't just be a hero."

All Might pointed a finger at the sky. "You will be an unstoppable force of nature."

The training began the next day at Dagobah Municipal Beach. 

It was an illegal dumping ground, piled high with years of accumulated garbage, rotting appliances, and rusted cars. 

"Your body is already strong," All Might explained, dressed in a baggy tracksuit as he stood atop a pile of broken washing machines. "But to properly wield One For All without it tearing your muscles to shreds, we need to push your mutant limits. I want you to clear this entire beach before the UA Entrance Exam in ten months."

Izuku looked at the mountains of trash. He cracked his knuckles, rolling his shoulders. "Right."

He walked up to a rusted-out pickup truck half-buried in the sand. He dug his padded feet into the earth for leverage, grabbed the bumper, and pulled. 

With a sickening crunch of metal, Izuku hoisted the back end of the truck into the air, the muscles in his back and arms straining against his shirt. He dragged it fifty feet to the pickup zone with a furious roar of effort, dropping it with a massive crash. 

All Might whistled, impressed. The boy is a powerhouse. His baseline strength is already comparable to some lower-tier pro heroes. With One For All... good lord.

The next ten months were a blur of blood, sweat, and raw meat. 

Izuku’s metabolism, already high, went into overdrive with the physical labor. He was consuming close to ten thousand calories a day. Inko bought a second refrigerator just to hold the chicken breasts, steaks, and fish required to keep her son from passing out. 

At school, Bakugo watched Izuku carefully. He noticed Izuku getting broader, his posture changing from a slight hunch to a confident, predatory stalk. When they sparred in gym class, Izuku was no longer just relying on instinct; he was calculating, anticipating Bakugo's explosions and moving with a fluid, terrifying grace. 

By the dawn of the UA Entrance Exam, Dagobah beach was spotless. 

The sun rose over the sparkling ocean, reflecting off the clean, pristine sand. Standing at the water's edge was Izuku Midoriya. 

He was shirtless, sweat gleaming on his heavily scarred, muscular torso. The faint tiger stripes on his skin seemed darker, more pronounced. His tail lashed lazily behind him, a testament to his suppressed, coiled energy. He had grown another two inches, standing at an intimidating six feet tall. 

All Might arrived, stepping out of his truck, and stopped dead in his tracks. 

Izuku didn't just look like a kid who worked out. He looked like a warrior forged in a primal jungle, refined by modern iron. 

"You did it, young man," All Might said proudly, stepping onto the sand. "You exceeded my expectations. You didn't just clear the beach; you practically terraformed it."

Izuku turned around, a massive, fanged smile on his face. "I feel amazing, All Might. I can feel every muscle, every fiber. I’m ready."

All Might pulled a single strand of golden hair from his head. He held it out to Izuku. 

"Then it is time. Eat this."

Izuku’s ears dropped. He stared at the hair. "Eat… hair?"

"You have to ingest my DNA to inherit the power! Come now, it’s not that bad! You eat raw steak for breakfast!"

"Meat is different from hair!" Izuku gagged, but he took the strand, closed his eyes, and swallowed it dry. 

He waited for a moment. He checked his hands. He swished his tail. "I don't feel anything."

"It takes a few hours to digest and integrate into your cellular structure," All Might laughed. "Just in time for the exam this afternoon. Remember, Midoriya. The power is immense. Do not use it unless you absolutely have to. Your natural strength is formidable. Use One For All as a trump card, and even then, clench your buttocks and yell SMASH from the bottom of your heart!"

Izuku nodded firmly. He looked down at his clawed hands. 

He was the Apex Cub. And today, he was going to show UA exactly what kind of beast was entering their halls.

Izuku Midoriya stood before the towering, H-shaped gates of UA High School, his heart hammering a frantic, erratic rhythm against his ribs. 

He took a deep breath, his vomeronasal organ automatically tasting the crisp morning air. He smelled cherry blossoms, the faint ozone of the city, and the sharp, nervous sweat of hundreds of teenagers. He adjusted the straps of his backpack, his broad shoulders shifting beneath the dark fabric of his middle school uniform. 

I’m really here, Izuku thought, his vertically slit pupils dilating with awe as he stared at the glass facade of the main building. The top hero academy in the nation. The place where All Might became a legend.

As he took a step forward, the crowd of students around him instinctively parted. It wasn't intentional on their part, but a subconscious reaction to his presence. At six feet tall, packed with dense, functional muscle, and sporting dark, tiger-like stripes along his jaw and neck, Izuku looked intimidating. His large, furred ears swiveled in every direction, picking up whispered conversations from fifty yards away, while his thick, striped tail swayed in a slow, rhythmic pendulum of suppressed nervous energy. 

“Whoa, look at that guy,” a boy with a rock-like head whispered to his friend. “Think his quirk is some kind of beast transformation?”

“Whatever it is, I don't want to get in his way. He looks like he could eat a car.”

Izuku’s ears drooped, pinning themselves flat against his messy green hair. He hunched his shoulders, trying to make himself look smaller. Despite having the physique of an apex predator, internally, he was still the same anxious, muttering fanboy he had always been. 

Lost in his own self-conscious thoughts, Izuku’s padded foot caught the edge of a raised paving stone. 

Normally, a trip like this would result in a face-plant. But Izuku’s mutated physiology simply wouldn't allow it. As his center of gravity shifted, his feline righting reflex engaged before his conscious mind could even process the fall. His spine twisted with liquid grace, his tail snapping rigidly to one side as a counterbalance. He rotated in mid-air, his hands and feet hitting the concrete simultaneously, absorbing the kinetic energy in silence. 

He was crouched on all fours, completely unharmed, when a soft voice called out. 

"Wow! That was amazing!"

Izuku snapped his head up. Standing a few feet away was a girl with a round, cheerful face, large brown eyes, and permanent rosy blushes on her cheeks. She had her hands raised, as if she had been about to catch him. 

"I was going to use my Quirk to stop you from falling," the girl smiled, rubbing the back of her head. "But I guess you didn't need it! You move just like a cat!"

Izuku scrambled to his feet, his face erupting in a violent blush. His tail puffed up to twice its normal volume, bristling like a bottlebrush. "I—uh—y-yeah! Th-Thank you! I mean, I didn't mean to trip, my spatial awareness is usually better but I was distracted and—"

"Are you nervous?" the girl asked, leaning in slightly. "I'm super nervous. But we're going to do our best, right?"

Izuku’s brain short-circuited. A girl is talking to me. A cute girl is talking to me. 

"Y-Yeah! Good luck!" Izuku squeaked out, bowing so quickly he nearly headbutted her, before turning and speed-walking toward the auditorium, his tail tucked firmly between his legs. 

The girl blinked, watching the hulking, striped boy hurry away, before giggling quietly to herself. 

The written exam was a blur of complex mathematics, hero law, and ethical scenarios. Izuku breezed through it. His analytical mind, honed by years of writing detailed hero notebooks, made the theoretical portion practically effortless. 

But the practical exam orientation was a different story. 

Sitting in the massive, darkened auditorium, Izuku had to clamp his hands over his sensitive ears. When Present Mic, the Voice Hero, hit the stage and screamed, "EVERYBODY SAY HEYYY!", the sheer decibel level felt like physical daggers driving into Izuku’s skull. 

As Mic explained the rules of the practical—a massive urban combat simulation against robotic "Villains" worth one, two, and three points—Izuku began to mutter. 

"So it's a straightforward search-and-destroy objective," Izuku whispered, his pencil flying across his notebook. "Urban terrain. That gives me a massive advantage in vertical mobility. But my quirk is entirely close-quarters. If the robots have ranged weaponry, I’ll need to rely on stealth and ambushes. Furthermore, the point distribution suggests..."

"Hey, Stripes," a dangerous voice hissed from the seat next to him. 

Izuku flinched. Katsuki Bakugo was glaring at him, his red eyes narrowed in absolute fury. 

"If you don't shut up and stop that creepy muttering, I'm going to blow those stupid ears clean off your head," Bakugo threatened, small sparks popping from his palms. 

"S-Sorry, Kacchan," Izuku whispered, closing his notebook. 

"And another thing," Bakugo sneered, leaning closer. "Don't think just because you bulked up at some garbage dump that you're in my league. I'm going to get the highest score in this exam. You just try not to embarrass yourself."

"Excuse me!" a tall, blue-haired boy with glasses suddenly stood up, pointing rigidly at Izuku. "You, the boy with the tail! You have been muttering this entire time! If you are not taking this seriously, then leave! And you, with the blond hair! Stop playing with your quirk, this is a place of learning!"

Bakugo looked like he was about to murder the boy, but Present Mic intervened, explaining the final element of the exam: the massive, zero-point obstacle robot. 

A zero pointer, Izuku thought, his ears flicking forward. So it’s just an obstacle. Like a bear on the trail. You don't fight it, you just avoid it.

Scene 1: The Hunt

Battle Center B was a breathtaking, terrifying marvel of engineering. It was a fully realized mock city, complete with skyscrapers, alleyways, and functional traffic lights. 

Izuku stood near the back of the massive crowd of examinees gathered before the colossal metal gates. He had changed into his middle school gym uniform, heavily modified to accommodate his tail. He wasn't wearing shoes. Over the years, he had found that standard footwear cramped his padded feet and severely hampered his agility. Instead, he stood barefoot on the pavement, his toes flexing, feeling the vibrations of the massive engines warming up on the other side of the wall. 

He closed his eyes. He didn't focus on the chatter of the other students. He focused on his senses. 

He smelled motor oil. Copper wire. Burning ozone. 

He heard the whirring of servos. The hum of battery packs. The heavy, metallic clanking of tank treads. 

"Right, let's start!" Present Mic’s voice boomed from a speaker tower. "There are no countdowns in real battles! Run, run, run!"

The crowd hesitated for a split second, confused by the lack of a formal timer. 

Izuku did not hesitate. 

His eyes snapped open, the emerald irises dominated by razor-thin vertical slits. His body dropped low to the ground. 

BOOM.

The concrete beneath Izuku’s bare feet shattered. He launched himself forward like a cannonball, a blur of green, black, and orange. He bypassed the opening gates before they were even halfway open, leaving a gust of wind that rustled the hair of the stunned students behind him. 

"What the hell was that?!" someone yelled. 

"He's already inside!" 

Izuku sprinted down the main avenue on all fours. His movements were terrifyingly fluid, his spine acting as a shock absorber, his tail acting as a rudder to navigate the sharp corners at breakneck speeds. 

A Three-Pointer rolled out from an alleyway, its red optical sensor locking onto the fast-moving target. "TARGET ACQUIRED," it droned synthetically, raising two massive missile pods. 

Izuku didn't slow down. As the robot fired, Izuku leaped. 

He bounded off the hood of a parked car, soaring fifteen feet into the air, the missiles passing harmlessly beneath him. At the apex of his jump, Izuku brought his right hand back. With a sickening snikt, five pitch-black, diamond-hard claws extended from his fingertips. 

Gravity pulled him down. He landed squarely on the robot's optical sensor. 

"GRAAH!" Izuku roared, his feral instincts taking the wheel. He swiped his claws in a brutal, cross-body slash. 

The sound of tearing metal shrieked through the street. Izuku’s claws sheared through the reinforced steel plating of the robot's head as if it were wet cardboard. He severed the main processor array in a single strike, kicking off the falling chassis and landing silently on the pavement. 

Three points, Izuku thought, his heart pounding with primal exhilaration. 

He didn't stop to admire his work. His ears twitched. He heard the metallic clanking of two One-Pointers a block away. 

For the next ten minutes, Izuku became an absolute nightmare for the robotic forces. He didn't fight like a traditional brawler. He fought like an ambush predator. He scaled the sides of buildings by driving his claws into the concrete, waiting on fire escapes and rooftops before dropping silently onto unsuspecting Two-Pointers. He used his immense strength to rip their weapon arms out of their sockets, using the severed limbs to bash other robots to pieces. 

To the observers in the teacher’s lounge watching the monitors, Izuku Midoriya was a terrifying spectacle. 

"Look at candidate number 7111," a muffled, exhausted voice said from the shadows of the viewing room. "He hasn't used a flashy emitter quirk once. He's relying entirely on mutant physiology and kinetic force."

"His spatial awareness is off the charts," another hero noted. "He moves silently. Even when destroying them, he minimizes his time in the open. A true predator."

Down in the city, Izuku stood atop a pile of smoking wreckage, panting heavily. His knuckles were bruised, and his claws were nicked, but his stamina was holding up. 

Forty-five points, Izuku calculated, wiping sweat from his brow. That should be enough to pass the baseline, but I need to be sure. I have to find more!

He was about to leap to another rooftop when his nose caught a scent. It wasn't oil or ozone. It was dust, blood, and the sharp, acidic tang of fear. 

Izuku looked down. A boy with a laser-navel quirk had been cornered by three Two-Pointers. The boy fired his laser, but clutched his stomach in pain, unable to sustain the blast. The robots raised their blasters. 

Without a second thought, Izuku dove off the roof. He landed between the boy and the robots, letting out a deafening, localized roar that actually made the robots' audio sensors glitch. Izuku grabbed the closest robot by its torso, hoisted its massive chassis into the air with a primal grunt, and swung it like a baseball bat, obliterating the other two. 

"Are you alright?!" Izuku asked, offering a clawed hand to the boy. 

"M-Merci," the boy stammered, staring at Izuku’s fangs before scrambling away. 

Izuku didn't care about the thanks. He just wanted to make sure everyone was safe. 

Then, the ground began to shake. 

Scene 2: The Beast and the Titan

It started as a low tremor, vibrating through the pads of Izuku’s feet. Then, the windows of the surrounding buildings shattered in unison. 

At the end of the main avenue, the buildings were suddenly blown apart as a colossal, olive-green monstrosity broke through the concrete. It was the Zero Pointer. It was easily the size of a skyscraper, its single red eye glowing like a malevolent sun through the dust cloud. 

"LESS THAN TWO MINUTES REMAINING!" Present Mic announced. 

Panic erupted. The examinees, who had been confidently battling the smaller robots seconds before, turned and ran in absolute terror. 

"Run away!"

"That thing is way too big!"

Izuku took a step back, his ears flattening entirely against his skull. His primal instincts were screaming at him. Threat level absolute. Unbeatable. Flee. Flee now. 

He turned to run with the others. But as he turned, his enhanced hearing picked up a sound beneath the crunching concrete and screaming students. 

A pained gasp. 

Izuku froze. His head snapped around. Through the dust, he saw her. The nice girl who had caught him at the gates. Her leg was pinned beneath a massive chunk of debris that had fallen from a building. The Zero Pointer was advancing slowly, its massive treads crushing everything in its path, heading directly for her. 

She was looking up at the robot, tears in her eyes, paralyzed by fear. 

The flight response in Izuku’s brain evaporated. It was instantly replaced by something much deeper, something ingrained in his very DNA, amplified by the teachings of All Might. 

A hero protects. 

Izuku stopped running away. He turned around, facing the mechanical titan. 

He didn't have the strength to destroy it. Not with his natural body. He could maybe dent it, but he couldn't stop it from crushing her. He had to use the power. The power he had ingested just hours ago. 

All Might said to clench my buttocks and yell smash, Izuku thought wildly, his breathing ragged. But if I use 100% of this power in my arm, I'll shatter my bones. I need to move. I need to get up there.

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut. He imagined the stockpiled energy of One For All—a swirling galaxy of raw, untamed power—and pictured it flowing out of his core. He didn't let it flood his entire body. Instead, he forced the energy downward, visualizing it pooling into his already incredibly powerful mutant legs. 

Red, glowing veins pulsed beneath the skin of his thighs and calves. Green lightning crackled around his lower half, arcing wildly and scorching the pavement. 

The sheer pressure of the power felt like his legs were about to explode. 

Izuku dropped into a deep crouch, digging his claws into the concrete to anchor himself. He locked eyes with the head of the Zero Pointer. 

Now!

Izuku leaped. 

The resulting shockwave was apocalyptic. The concrete beneath him didn't just crack; it vaporized into a massive crater, throwing cars and debris into the air. 

Izuku shot upward like a surface-to-air missile. The G-force pressed his skin back, the wind roaring in his ears. He ascended hundreds of feet in a matter of seconds, easily clearing the height of the surrounding buildings, until he was completely level with the colossal face of the Zero Pointer. 

Time seemed to slow down. 

Izuku hung suspended in the air. The robot’s massive red eye locked onto him. 

Izuku let the power flow from his legs into his right arm. The red veins traveled up his torso, illuminating his tiger stripes in an ethereal glow. His arm swelled slightly with the sheer, unadulterated power of One For All. 

He pulled his arm back, his five claws fully extended, gleaming against the sunlight. He didn't ball his hand into a fist. He was a tiger. He would strike like one. 

"SMAAAAAAAASH!" 

Izuku swung his arm down in a devastating, feral swipe. 

His claws met the reinforced steel of the robot's faceplate. For a microsecond, there was resistance. Then, One For All activated. 

A localized hurricane erupted from the point of impact. The air pressure alone sheared the metal away. Izuku’s claws dug deep into the machinery, tearing downward with such immense, god-like force that the entire front half of the robot's head caved in on itself before exploding backward. 

The shockwave blew the clouds away in a perfect circle. 

Down on the ground, the examinees—and the trapped girl—stared up in absolute disbelief as the monstrous machine was decapitated in a single, brutal strike by the boy with the tail. 

But gravity is a cruel mistress. 

As the Zero Pointer began to fall backward in a shower of sparks and explosions, Izuku’s momentum stopped. He hung in the air for a second, and then the pain hit him. 

His right arm was completely shattered. The bones were pulverized, turning a sickening shade of purple, his arm flopping uselessly at his side. The backlash of the power had bypassed his mutant bone density. 

Worse, the power he had channeled into his legs to make the jump had wreaked havoc on his muscles. They were completely cramped, tearing from the inside out. 

He was falling. Fast. 

I can't use my legs to land, Izuku panicked, the wind rushing past him as the ground rushed up to meet him. Even if I twist, my legs won't absorb the shock. I'm going to die!

Suddenly, a sharp slap across his face snapped him out of his panic. 

"Release!" a voice yelled. 

Izuku felt the sensation of gravity instantly vanish. He floated in mid-air, mere feet above the pavement, before dropping the rest of the way with a soft thud. 

He rolled onto his back, gasping in agony. Standing over him was the round-faced girl, panting heavily, her fingers pressed together. She had slapped him to use her Zero Gravity quirk on him. 

"Th-Thank you," Izuku wheezed, his tail lying limply on the ground, completely devoid of energy. 

"No," the girl said, looking at the flaming wreckage of the Zero Pointer. "Thank you."

"TIME'S UP!" Present Mic screamed. 

A siren blared across the fake city. The exam was over. Izuku closed his eyes, the pain overtaking him, and passed out. 

Scene 3: First Impressions

Two weeks later, the physical damage had healed, thanks to the miraculous (though exhausting) quirk of Recovery Girl. The old heroine had berated him endlessly for breaking his body, warning him that his mutant healing factor only went so far, and forcing him to consume his body weight in raw meat to fuel the regeneration of his bones. 

The emotional damage of the waiting period, however, had been agonizing. Izuku had been convinced he failed. He had sacrificed the final minutes of the exam to destroy a zero-point target. 

But then, the hologram projection from All Might arrived. Izuku had scored 45 villain points. But more importantly, he had scored 60 Rescue Points for saving Uraraka—the girl from the exam—placing him firmly at the top of the leaderboard, beating even Bakugo. 

Now, Izuku stood before the towering door of Class 1-A. 

He took a deep breath. He checked his uniform. His tie was neatly knotted, and his blazer fit snugly over his broad shoulders. He had meticulously groomed his tail that morning, ensuring the fur was sleek and presentable, hoping it would make him look less intimidating. 

He slid the massive door open. 

"Get your feet off the desk!" a familiar voice barked. 

"Huh? What's your problem, four-eyes?" Bakugo sneered, leaning back in his chair with his feet firmly planted on his desk. 

"It is disrespectful to our upperclassmen and the craftsmen who made this desk!" the tall, blue-haired boy from the auditorium lectured, chopping his hand through the air. 

Izuku sighed. Of course Kacchan is here.

As Izuku stepped fully into the room, the arguments ceased. The idle chatter of the other students died down. Every eye turned to him. 

Izuku shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. His ears twitched nervously. He recognized a few faces from the exam. 

The tall boy with glasses immediately marched over. He stopped a few feet away, eyeing Izuku’s imposing height and the sharp claws resting against his blazer. 

"I am Tenya Iida, from Somei Private Academy!" Iida announced, bowing stiffly. "I must apologize to you! I misjudged you during the orientation. You realized there was a hidden metric to the practical exam, didn't you? Your performance against that behemoth was truly heroic!"

"Oh, uh, no!" Izuku stammered, waving his hands defensively, his tail wrapping around his own leg. "I didn't know about the rescue points! I just... saw someone in trouble and my body moved on its own!"

"Such humility!" Iida gasped, adjusting his glasses. "You are truly a paragon of heroics!"

"Hey! It's you!"

Izuku turned. Standing in the hallway behind him was the round-faced girl. She bounded into the room, beaming brightly. 

"You got in!" she cheered. "I'm Ochaco Uraraka! I never properly thanked you for saving me!"

Izuku’s face flushed rapidly. He was currently standing between a very intense, loud boy and a very cute, smiling girl. It was entirely too much social interaction for his introverted brain to handle. 

"Oh, it was nothing," Izuku managed to squeak out, rubbing the back of his neck, accidentally brushing against one of his fuzzy ears. 

Uraraka’s eyes widened. She leaned in, staring intently at the top of Izuku’s head. 

"Wow," she whispered, her eyes sparkling. "Your ears are so fluffy! And your tail!" She pointed to the appendage currently swishing nervously behind him. "They're incredibly cute!"

The word echoed in Izuku’s mind. 

Cute. 

A girl just called him cute. 

Izuku’s brain completely shut down. The embarrassment overloaded his nervous system, bypassing his human restraints and triggering his feline biology. 

A sound began deep in his chest. It started as a low vibration, barely audible, before swelling into a massive, rumbling resonance that vibrated through the floorboards of the classroom. 

RRRRRRR-RUMBLE. RRRRRRR-RUMBLE.

The entire class fell dead silent, staring at him. 

Izuku clamped both hands over his mouth, his eyes wide with absolute horror. His tail puffed up into a massive, bristled cylinder of fur. He was purring. He was purring at top volume in front of his entire new class. 

"What the hell is that noise?" a boy with half-white, half-red hair muttered from the back of the room. 

"Is he... purring?" a girl with pink skin and horns giggled, covering her mouth. 

Bakugo slammed his hands on his desk, small explosions popping from his palms. "SHUT UP, STRIPES! YOU'RE EMBARRASSING YOURSELF BEFORE WE EVEN START!"

Izuku wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole. He backed away from Uraraka, still covering his mouth, shaking his head frantically. 

"If you're just here to make friends and act like a petting zoo, pack up your stuff and leave," a tired, raspy voice said from the floor. 

Izuku looked down. Lying in a bright yellow sleeping bag outside the door was a man with unkempt black hair and stubble. He unzipped the bag, stepping out and pulling a juice pouch from his pocket. 

"It took you lot eight seconds to quiet down," the man sighed, walking to the podium. "Time is limited. You kids are not rational enough."

The class scrambled to their seats. Izuku hurried to an empty desk near the back, desperately willing his purring to stop, though his chest still rumbled with residual embarrassment. 

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa," the man said, looking over the class with half-lidded eyes. He reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out a stack of blue gym uniforms. 

"Put these on and head to the training grounds. We're doing a Quirk Apprehension Test."

Scene 4: Unleashing the Beast

The training grounds were bathed in the warm morning sun. The class stood in a loose gaggle, dressed in their UA tracksuits. Izuku’s suit had been customized with a reinforced opening at the base of his spine for his tail. 

"A Quirk Apprehension Test?" Uraraka asked nervously. "But what about the entrance ceremony? And orientation?"

"If you're going to become a hero, you don't have time for leisurely events," Aizawa said coldly. "UA is known for its unrestricted traditions. That includes how the teachers run their classes."

Aizawa turned to face them. "You kids have been doing these physical fitness tests since junior high. But you were never allowed to use your Quirks. That's highly irrational. The Department of Education is dragging its feet. Bakugo."

Bakugo stepped forward. 

"You finished first in the practical exam," Aizawa said, looking at a clipboard. "What was your farthest softball throw in junior high?"

"Sixty-seven meters," Bakugo grunted. 

"Try doing it with your Quirk." Aizawa tossed him a baseball. 

Bakugo stepped into the throwing circle. He stretched his arms, a wicked grin spreading across his face. He wound up, and as he threw, he unleashed a massive blast from his palm. 

"DIE!" Bakugo roared. 

The ball shot into the sky like a rocket, leaving a trail of smoke. Aizawa held up a digital device. 705.2 meters.

The class erupted in excitement. 

"700 meters?! That's awesome!"

"We can really use our Quirks as much as we want? This looks like fun!"

Aizawa's eyes narrowed. The air around him suddenly felt heavy, oppressive. 

"Fun?" Aizawa whispered. "You have three years to become heroes. You think it's going to be games and playtime?" He smiled, a dark, terrifying expression. "Right. Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential, and will be punished with expulsion."

The class gasped. Izuku’s ears flattened. Expulsion? On the first day?

"Welcome to UA's hero course," Aizawa said, brushing a strand of hair from his face. 

The tests began immediately. 

Test 1: 50-Meter Dash.

Izuku was paired against a boy with tape-dispenser elbows. 

As they lined up, Izuku didn't take a standard runner's stance. He dropped to all fours, digging his bare, padded toes and clawed fingertips into the dirt track. 

The robotic camera beeped. Ready... GO!

Izuku exploded off the line. He didn't run; he bounded, his powerful hind legs propelling him forward in massive, twenty-foot leaps. He crossed the finish line in a blur of green and orange. 

3.01 seconds, the machine announced. 

"Incredible," Iida muttered, watching Izuku stand up and dust off his hands. "His biomechanics are perfectly adapted for short-burst acceleration."

Test 2: Grip Strength.

Izuku held the digital grip meter. He didn't use One For All. He simply squeezed, utilizing the dense, hardened muscles in his forearms that allowed a tiger to drag prey twice its size into a tree. 

CRACK. 

The machine groaned, the digital display flashing 410 kg before the plastic casing shattered in his hand. Izuku sheepishly handed the broken pieces to Aizawa, who merely sighed. 

Test 3: Standing Long Jump.

Izuku cleared the sandbox easily, his tail acting as a perfect counterbalance to ensure he landed gracefully on his feet. 

For the first four tests, Izuku was dominating. His natural mutant physiology put him firmly in the top tier of the class, effortlessly rivaling Bakugo, Todoroki, and Iida. 

But as they approached the fifth test—the softball throw—Izuku felt a knot of anxiety tighten in his stomach. 

I need a standout score here, Izuku thought, holding the small white ball. The others have emitter quirks that are perfect for this. My raw strength is good, but it won't get me 700 meters like Kacchan.

He looked down at his arm. He remembered the pain of the entrance exam. If I use One For All, I can throw it a mile. But my arm will shatter. Recovery Girl said she wouldn't heal injuries I inflict on myself on purpose.

Izuku stepped into the circle. The class watched in silence. 

I have to do it, Izuku steeled himself. I can't let Aizawa-sensei think I'm holding back. I'll just have to deal with the pain.

Izuku took a deep breath. He channeled the raw, stockpiled power of One For All into his right arm. The familiar, terrifying red veins illuminated under his skin. Power surged through his muscles. He reared his arm back, preparing to unleash hell. 

But as he threw, the power suddenly vanished. It was like a plug had been pulled. The glowing veins disappeared, and his arm went limp mid-swing. 

The ball plopped pathetically onto the dirt, a mere forty-six meters away. 

Izuku blinked in confusion. He looked at his hands. "What? My Quirk... I tried to use it..."

"I erased it," a cold voice said. 

Izuku turned. Aizawa's scarf was floating around his neck like a nest of angry snakes. His eyes were glowing a bright, menacing red behind a pair of yellow goggles. 

"I watched your performance in the entrance exam," Aizawa said, stepping toward the circle. "You have a powerful mutant physiology. A terrifying one, honestly. But that energy you just tried to stockpile in your arm? I saw what it did to you two weeks ago."

Aizawa stopped just inches from Izuku. "You were planning to shatter your arm again, weren't you? Let me ask you something, Midoriya. If you break your limbs to unleash one powerful attack, what happens next? You're a close-combat fighter. A predator with broken claws is just a target."

Izuku looked down, his ears drooping in shame. 

"You have two Quirks," Aizawa analyzed, his eyes never leaving Izuku. "A mutant body, and whatever that power-stockpiling emitter ability is. But you have zero control over the latter. You let your instincts drive you, hoping sheer power will solve the problem. If you can't use your head, you cannot become a hero."

Aizawa blinked. His hair fell back to his shoulders, and his eyes returned to normal. "I've returned your Quirk. You get one more throw. Get it over with."

Izuku stood in the circle, staring at the ball in his hand. 

He's right, Izuku thought, his analytical mind kicking into overdrive, pushing past his anxiety. If I break my arm, I'm useless. A tiger doesn't use all its energy thrashing wildly. It waits. It strikes with precision.

Izuku picked up the ball. How do I use One For All without destroying my body? My body can handle my natural strength. It's the stockpiled power that breaks me. So I shouldn't use 100%. And I shouldn't put it in my whole arm.

Izuku adjusted his grip on the ball. He let his claws extend just slightly, hooking into the seams of the leather for maximum grip. 

He didn't activate One For All in his arm. Instead, as he wound up to throw, he concentrated the power entirely into the tip of his right index finger, right at the base of his claw. 

He threw the ball, utilizing the immense, natural torque of his mutated shoulder and core muscles. At the exact millisecond the ball left his fingertips, he activated One For All at 100%—but only in that single finger. 

SMASH!

A sharp shockwave ruptured the air. The ball shot into the stratosphere like a bullet, leaving a vapor trail in its wake. 

Izuku gasped, clutching his right hand. His index finger was broken, the skin bruised and swollen, the claw cracked down the middle. But the rest of his arm was perfectly fine. He had combined his natural mutant strength with a concentrated burst of stockpiled power. 

The digital device in Aizawa's hand beeped. He turned the screen around for the class to see. 

705.3 meters.

Izuku looked at Aizawa. He was panting, sweating, and in pain, but a fierce, predatory grin broke across his face, exposing his fangs. 

"Aizawa-sensei," Izuku breathed, his tail lashing behind him. "I can still fight."

Aizawa stared at the boy. For a fleeting second, a terrifying, massive tiger seemed to superimpose itself over Izuku’s form. Aizawa smiled, a genuinely chaotic grin. 

"This kid..." Aizawa muttered. 

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" 

Izuku turned just in time to see Bakugo charging at him, small explosions popping from his hands. "YOU'VE BEEN HIDING THAT EXTRA POWER THIS WHOLE TIME?! EXPLAIN YOURSELF, STRIPES!"

Before Bakugo could reach him, a gray, cloth-like material wrapped entirely around him, binding his arms and stifling his explosions. 

"What the—is this carbon fiber?!" Bakugo struggled against the capture weapon. 

"It's a specialized alloy woven with carbon wire," Aizawa sighed, yanking the scarf to pull Bakugo off balance. "Stop making me use my Quirk. It gives me dry eye. We're moving on."

By the end of the day, Izuku was exhausted. 

The class stood in front of the scoreboard. Izuku scanned the names, his heart in his throat. He had done exceptionally well in the physical tests thanks to his mutation, and secured a massive score in the ball throw. 

He found his name. Rank 3. Right behind Yaoyorozu and Todoroki, and one spot ahead of Bakugo. 

At the very bottom of the list was Minoru Mineta, a short boy with purple balls for hair, who was currently weeping profusely. 

"By the way, I lied about the expulsion," Aizawa said casually, turning to walk away. "It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your Quirks."

The class erupted in shock, while a tall girl with a ponytail sighed, "Obviously it was a lie. Didn't any of you think it through?"

Izuku let out a massive breath he didn't know he was holding. His ears drooped in sheer relief, and his tail slumped to the dirt. 

As they walked back to the classroom to change, Uraraka fell into step beside him. Iida joined them on his other side. 

"You were incredible today, Midoriya!" Iida praised, chopping his hand. "Your physical capabilities are astounding, and your tactical use of your emitter power was brilliant!"

"Yeah!" Uraraka beamed. "You're like a super-strong, super-fast hero! Oh, wait! I heard Bakugo call you 'Stripes' earlier. Is that your nickname?"

Izuku rubbed his neck, his face flushing again. "Ah, well, Kacchan calls me that to be insulting. He used to call me Deku before my quirk manifested, which meant 'useless.' But since I got my quirk, he calls me Stripes because I look like a freak."

"A freak?!" Uraraka gasped. "No way! I think it's a great name! 'Stripes' sounds like a pro hero! It sounds strong, and fierce, and..." She smiled playfully. "Cute."

Izuku stopped dead in his tracks. 

His ears flattened. His face went completely red. 

He pressed his hands tightly against his chest, desperately fighting the biological urge welling up inside him. 

Do not purr. Do not purr. Do not purr.

"Midoriya?" Iida asked, adjusting his glasses. "Are you experiencing cardiac distress?"

"I'm fine!" Izuku squeaked, power-walking toward the changing rooms as fast as his legs could carry him. "Just hungry! Need meat! See you tomorrow!"

Uraraka laughed, watching him run away. 

From a window above, watching the students depart, stood Toshinori Yagi—All Might. He leaned against the glass, a proud smile on his gaunt face. 

The boy had done it. He had navigated his first day at the toughest hero school in the country. He had faced down his limits, outsmarted his own destructive power, and proven that the beast inside him was guided by the mind of a hero. 

But All Might knew the real tests were yet to come. Tomorrow was the Battle Trial. And Izuku would have to face the one person whose very presence brought out the most volatile, primal instincts the young tiger possessed. 

He would have to face Katsuki Bakugo.

The atmosphere in Class 1-A’s homeroom was practically vibrating with nervous anticipation. The morning classes—English with Present Mic, Modern Literature with Cementoss—had passed in a blur of mundane normalcy. But it was the afternoon that everyone had been waiting for. 

Hero Basic Training. 

"I AM HERE!" 

The door violently slammed open. "COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" 

All Might stood in the doorway, clad in his Silver Age costume, his massive cape billowing behind him despite the lack of wind in the hallway. The sheer presence of the Number One Hero sent a shockwave of awe through the teenagers. 

Izuku sat up straight, his large, furred ears standing at strict attention. His tail gave a rhythmic, excited thump against the back of his chair. It really is him. He’s our teacher.

"Hero Basic Training!" All Might boomed, marching to the podium. "The class that will put you through the wringer and build your foundations! And today, we are jumping right into it! Combat Training!"

At the word combat, Izuku saw Katsuki Bakugo’s shoulders tense. The blonde boy turned his head slightly, a terrifying, feral grin stretching across his face. 

"And to go with it," All Might pointed a remote at the wall, prompting sections of the wall to slide open, revealing numbered, metallic briefcases. "Costumes made based on your Quirk registrations and requests! Get changed, and gather at Ground Beta!"

Scene 1: The Apex Suit

Ground Beta was a sprawling, hyper-realistic replica of a dense urban district. Concrete buildings, paved roads, and alleyways created a labyrinth of potential battlefields. 

Izuku emerged from the tunnel with the rest of his class, stepping into the afternoon sun. He felt incredibly self-conscious. While many of his classmates had bright, flashy costumes—like Iida’s full-body armor or Uraraka’s pink-and-black space suit—Izuku’s design was meant to complement the realities of a mutant-class ambush predator. 

He wore a sleeveless, dark green combat suit made of a specialized, high-tensile poly-aramid fiber, designed to stretch without tearing under his massive muscle expansions. The suit hugged his broad chest and torso, accented by thick, burnt-orange utility belts crossing his waist. His forearms and hands were covered in rugged, fingerless tactical gloves, leaving his razor-sharp claws exposed. 

At the base of his spine, a specialized reinforced grommet allowed his thick, striped tail total freedom of movement. But the most unique aspect of his costume was his footwear. He wore dark green boots, heavily armored around the shins and ankles, but the soles and toes were completely exposed, allowing the thick, black pads of his feet and his toe-claws to make direct contact with the ground. 

He didn't wear a mask. A mask would restrict his vision and his enhanced olfactory senses. Instead, he wore a dark green cowl pulled down around his neck, framing his striped jawline. 

"Whoa, Midoriya!" Uraraka jogged over, her eyes wide as she took in his towering, imposing silhouette. "Your costume looks so cool! You look like a jungle commando!"

Izuku instantly hunched his shoulders, his ears dropping defensively as his face flushed. "O-Oh! Thank you, Uraraka. Yours is really nice too! The... the aesthetic is very cohesive!"

"I should have been more specific on my request, though," Uraraka laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's a little tight."

Before Izuku could respond, his nose twitched. The scent of nitroglycerin and burnt sugar hit the back of his throat. 

Bakugo stalked past them, his costume a terrifying display of militaristic aggression. Massive, grenade-shaped gauntlets weighed down his arms, and a black domino mask swept over his red eyes. He glared at Izuku, his lip curling into a snarl. 

"Don't think playing dress-up makes you a hero, Stripes," Bakugo muttered, bumping his shoulder forcefully into Izuku's chest as he walked past. 

Izuku didn't budge an inch, but his tail lashed angrily at the provocation. 

"Now then!" All Might announced, drawing their attention. "It’s time for the Battle Trial! The scenario: Villains have hidden a nuclear weapon inside a hideout. The Heroes must either secure the weapon or capture the Villains before time runs out!"

All Might pulled a yellow box from his cape. "Teams and opponents will be determined by drawing lots!"

The results were instantaneous. 

Team A: Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka. 

Team D: Katsuki Bakugo and Tenya Iida. 

Izuku’s breath caught in his throat. He looked across the crowd. Bakugo was already staring at him, a psychotic, bloodthirsty grin plastered across his face. He punched a grenade gauntlet into his open palm, letting off a muffled explosion. 

"Fate," Bakugo mouthed silently to him. 

"Wow, what are the odds?" Uraraka said, nervously clenching her fists. "We're up against Bakugo and Iida. Bakugo seems really strong... and he really has it out for you, doesn't he?"

Izuku’s emerald eyes darkened. The slit pupils narrowed. He looked away from Bakugo, his demeanor shifting from the anxious schoolboy to something much older, much calmer. 

"Yeah," Izuku said, his voice dropping an octave. "He does. But he’s making a mistake."

Uraraka blinked. "A mistake?"

"He thinks this is a sparring ring," Izuku said, turning toward the designated building they were meant to assault. "But it's not. It's a closed environment. A labyrinth. Come on, Uraraka. Let's make a plan."

Scene 2: The Stalking

Five minutes before the match began. 

Inside the fifth-floor payload room, Bakugo and Iida stood over the papier-mâché nuclear warhead. Iida was fully immersed in his role, monologuing about the evils of heroism and organizing the room's defenses. 

Bakugo completely ignored him. He was stretching his arms, staring intensely at the door. 

"Bakugo," Iida chopped his hand through the air. "We must coordinate. Midoriya's physical capabilities are monstrous, and Uraraka's zero-gravity quirk makes her a highly evasive target. I propose we barricade the door and hold a defensive position."

"Shut up, Four-Eyes," Bakugo growled, walking out into the hallway. "You guard the stupid bomb. I'm going hunting."

"Wait! Our objective is to protect the core! Wandering off is highly irrational!" 

"Stripes is mine," Bakugo snarled, the air around him heating up with his rising temper. "I'm going to show that oversized furball that a strong right hook means nothing against absolute firepower."

Outside the building, Izuku was kneeling on the pavement, unbuckling the armor plating around his shins. 

"What are you doing?" Uraraka asked, watching him slide the heavy boots entirely off his feet, leaving him completely barefoot on the asphalt. 

"Adjusting my loadout," Izuku said softly. He stood up, testing his weight on the balls of his padded feet. "Tigers are apex predators, Uraraka. But they don't fight like bears or wolves. They are ambush hunters. They rely on the element of surprise. In a dark, enclosed building, my boots are a liability. They echo. Without them, my padded feet make zero sound."

Uraraka shivered slightly at the intense, focused look in Izuku’s eyes. "So, what's the plan?"

"Kacchan is going to come straight for me," Izuku explained, tracing a rough map on the ground with his claw. "He has an inferiority complex that won't let him ignore me. He's going to leave Iida alone to guard the weapon. I will intercept Kacchan and draw his fire. You use the distraction to slip past him, find the weapon, and secure it."

"Are you sure you can handle Bakugo alone?" Uraraka asked worriedly. "His explosions are devastating."

Izuku smiled, a terrifying flash of white fangs. "I know everything about his Quirk. He doesn't know the first thing about how I hunt."

A buzzer echoed across the training ground. 

"HERO TEAM, ENTER THE BUILDING!" All Might's voice blared through the comms. 

Izuku and Uraraka slipped through a first-floor window. The moment Izuku crossed the threshold, his posture changed. He dropped low, his spine parallel to the floor, moving on all fours with a fluid, liquid grace. His tail hovered just inches above the ground, acting as a rudder. 

Uraraka followed, doing her best to be quiet, but next to Izuku, she sounded like a marching band. He moved like a ghost. There was absolutely no sound of footfalls, no rustling of fabric. It was deeply unnerving. 

"Head up the left stairwell," Izuku whispered, pointing a clawed finger down the corridor. "I smell him. He's coming down the right side. Go."

Uraraka nodded, activating her quirk on her own boots to make her footsteps lighter, and scurried away. 

Izuku turned his attention to the dark hallway. The building was dimly lit, shadows clinging to the concrete walls. To a normal human, visibility was poor. To Izuku, whose tapetum lucidum reflected the ambient light, the hallway was as bright as day. 

He didn't walk down the center of the hall. He leaped, catching the support beams of the ceiling. His claws dug silently into the concrete overhead. He hung upside down, waiting in the shadows. 

A floor above, Bakugo stomped down the corridor. 

Clack. Clack. Clack.

His combat boots echoed loudly. He was seething. He wanted Izuku in front of him. He wanted a straight-up fight to prove, once and for all, that his explosions were superior to Izuku's brute strength. 

"Come out, Stripes!" Bakugo yelled, his voice echoing off the walls. "Stop hiding like a scared little cat!"

Silence. 

Bakugo turned the corner, entering the third-floor maze of corridors. The lights flickered slightly. 

He paused. He listened. 

Nothing. 

No muttering. No heavy footsteps. No sound of breathing. 

A bead of sweat rolled down Bakugo's cheek. He was inherently aggressive, but he wasn't stupid. The total lack of auditory information was starting to mess with his nerves. 

Suddenly, a shadow shifted at the far end of the hall. 

Bakugo raised his right gauntlet, pulling the pin with a vicious grin. "THERE YOU ARE!" 

BOOM!

A massive explosion ripped down the hallway, blowing out the windows and scorching the walls. Smoke filled the corridor. Bakugo coughed, waving the smoke away, stepping forward to look at his handiwork. 

The hallway was empty. There was no one there. 

Bakugo's breath hitched. He spun around. 

For a fraction of a second, in the darkness behind him, he saw two glowing, emerald-green eyes with vertical slits staring at him from the ceiling. A long, striped tail flicked lazily in the peripheral gloom. 

"DIE!" Bakugo fired an explosion upward. 

The concrete ceiling shattered, raining dust and debris onto his shoulders. But when the dust cleared, the eyes were gone. 

"Stop running!" Bakugo roared, his heartbeat accelerating. The adrenaline was pumping, but a primal, reptilian part of his brain—the part that feared the dark and the predators that lived in it—was starting to scream. 

He moved faster, descending to the second floor. He rounded a corner and stopped dead. 

Sitting in the middle of the hallway, directly in his path, was one of Izuku's armored boots. 

Bakugo stared at it. It was a taunt. A psychological ploy to let him know Izuku was watching him, entirely unfazed. 

Creak. 

The sound came from directly above him. 

Bakugo looked up just as a massive, heavy shadow dropped from the ceiling. 

Izuku didn't yell. He didn't announce his attack. He fell in complete silence. 

Bakugo only had time to raise his arms in a cross-guard before Izuku crashed into him. The sheer kinetic force of a two-hundred-pound mutant landing on him drove Bakugo straight to his knees. The floor beneath them cracked. 

"Found you," Izuku whispered, his voice a low, terrifying rumble that vibrated through Bakugo's skull. 

Scene 3: The Clash

Bakugo reacted purely on instinct. He ignited an explosion directly into Izuku's chest to break the grapple. 

Izuku anticipated it. He didn't resist the blast; he used the concussive force to propel himself backward, flipping elegantly through the air and landing smoothly on all fours ten feet away. 

Bakugo stood up, panting, his gauntlets smoking. "You sneaky bastard. Finally decided to show yourself!"

"You're too loud, Kacchan," Izuku said, standing up to his full six-foot height. He rolled his shoulders, his ears twitching as he monitored Uraraka's progress via his earpiece. She's on the fourth floor. Almost there. I just need to keep him occupied.

"I'll show you loud!" Bakugo charged, using explosions from his palms to propel himself forward at blinding speed. He closed the distance in a millisecond, swinging a devastating right hook aimed directly at Izuku's face. 

Izuku's reflexes were inhuman. He ducked under the swing, his torso bending backward at an impossible angle. As Bakugo flew past him, Izuku pivoted, swinging his thick, muscular tail like a baseball bat. 

SMACK!

The tail caught Bakugo square in the ribs, knocking the wind out of him and sending him crashing into the wall. 

"Gah!" Bakugo spat, recovering instantly. He planted his hands on the wall and launched himself off it, firing a barrage of rapid-fire explosions. "Stun Grenade!" 

A blinding flash of light erupted in the hallway. 

Izuku cried out, his sensitive eyes searing with pain. The flashbang tactic was incredibly effective against a mutant with night vision. Blinded, Izuku stumbled backward. 

Bakugo capitalized. He came in low, delivering a brutal, explosive-enhanced knee to Izuku's stomach. 

Izuku coughed blood, the air driven from his lungs. He flew backward, crashing through a wooden door and rolling into a vacant office space. 

In the monitor room, the rest of Class 1-A watched in horrified silence. 

"Bakugo is ruthless!" Kaminari winced. "He's not holding back at all!"

"Midoriya relies on his senses," Todoroki noted coldly. "Taking away his vision was a smart tactical move. But he's angered the beast."

Back in the building, Bakugo stalked into the office space. The room was littered with desks and overturned filing cabinets. 

"What's wrong, Stripes?!" Bakugo yelled, sparks flying from his teeth. "Can't fight when you can't see?! You're just a glorified housecat!"

Izuku knelt behind a desk, blinking furiously. His vision was swimming with purple spots, but it was slowly returning. However, he didn't need his eyes to know exactly where Bakugo was. 

He smelled the sweat. He heard the heavy breathing. He felt the vibrations of Bakugo's boots on the floorboards. 

"Uraraka," Izuku whispered into his comms. "Status."

"I'm at the payload room! Iida has removed all the loose items. I can't use my quirk to distract him. I'm waiting for an opening!"

Izuku wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth. I need to end this now. But if I hit Kacchan with my full strength, I could seriously injure him. If I use One For All on my limbs, I'll break them. I need to incapacitate him without a strike.

Bakugo raised his right arm, wrapping his left hand around the pin of his massive grenadier bracer. 

"Hey, Deku," Bakugo said, his voice dropping into a terrifyingly calm register. "They loaded these gauntlets to store my sweat. If I pull this pin, the blast will take out the entire floor."

Izuku's vision cleared. He looked at the gauntlet. His eyes widened in horror. He's insane. He'll destroy the building!

"Bakugo, stop!" All Might's voice blared over the PA system. "Are you trying to kill him?!"

"He won't die if he dodges!" Bakugo screamed, his finger hooking the pin. 

Izuku’s brain raced. If he dodged, the blast would tear through the building and potentially bring the ceiling down on Uraraka on the floor above. He couldn't run. He couldn't dodge. 

He had to stop Bakugo from pulling the pin. But he was thirty feet away. He couldn't close the gap in time. 

I need a ranged attack, Izuku realized. Something to stun him.

Izuku stood up, stepping out from behind the desk. 

Bakugo grinned. "Checkmate." He pulled the pin. 

Izuku didn't brace for impact. Instead, he drew in a massive, lung-expanding breath. He channeled the stockpiled power of One For All, visualizing the swirling green energy. He didn't route it to his arms or legs. 

He routed 5% of the raw, kinetic power directly into his vocal cords. 

Just as the firing mechanism in Bakugo's gauntlet clicked, Izuku opened his mouth and unleashed the Predator's Roar. 

It wasn't a sound. It was a physical event. 

The roar erupted from Izuku's throat with the force of a sonic boom. The sheer decibel level shattered every window on the second floor instantly. The sound wave was laced with a terrifying infrasound frequency—the exact biological frequency that tigers use in the wild to paralyze prey with primal terror before the kill. 

The roar hit Bakugo like a physical wall of force. 

The shockwave disrupted the ignition spark of the gauntlet, extinguishing the explosion before it could fully leave the barrel. 

But the psychological effect on Bakugo was far worse. 

Bakugo's body seized. His brain, flooded with the infrasound frequency of an apex predator, instantly engaged an involuntary freeze response. His muscles locked up. His pupils dilated in sheer, unadulterated terror. For a terrifying two seconds, Katsuki Bakugo could not move, breathe, or think. He was prey. 

In the monitor room, the students covered their ears, screaming in pain as the audio feed clipped and blew out the speakers. All Might staggered, genuinely shocked by the creative, horrifying application of One For All. 

Scene 4: The Pin

Two seconds was all Izuku needed. 

Before the echo of the roar even faded, Izuku crossed the thirty-foot room in a single, explosive bound. 

Bakugo snapped out of his paralysis just as a massive shadow descended upon him. 

Izuku tackled Bakugo to the floor with bone-rattling force. Bakugo tried to ignite an explosion to push him off, but Izuku was too fast. 

Izuku slammed his heavy, padded knees into Bakugo's biceps, pinning the blonde boy's arms completely to the floor, neutralizing the explosions. He leaned forward, utilizing every ounce of his two-hundred-pound frame to hold Bakugo down. 

Bakugo thrashed wildly, bucking his hips, screaming in fury. "GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME, YOU FREAK!"

"Stop fighting, Kacchan!" Izuku yelled, struggling to maintain the pin. Bakugo was insanely strong, fueled by absolute rage. 

Bakugo managed to wrench his right arm free by a few inches, sparking a small explosion near Izuku's face. 

Izuku's feral instincts flared. 

With a terrifying hiss, Izuku grabbed Bakugo's wrist with his left hand, slamming it back into the floor. He leaned down, his face inches from Bakugo's. His lips pulled back in a vicious snarl, exposing his elongated fangs. 

And then, Izuku pressed the razor-sharp tips of his right-hand claws directly against the soft, pulsing skin of Katsuki Bakugo's throat. 

Bakugo froze. 

The room went dead silent, save for their heavy, ragged breathing. 

Bakugo stared up at Izuku. The boy above him wasn't the crying, quirkless Deku. It wasn't even the awkward teenager who purred in front of girls. 

It was a monster. The slit pupils were completely dilated. The muscles in Izuku's arms were coiled as tight as steel cables. A low, warning growl vibrated deep within Izuku's chest, entirely involuntary. 

One twitch, one explosion, and those claws would sever Bakugo's carotid artery. 

Bakugo swallowed hard. The fight left him. He didn't surrender verbally, but his hands relaxed, the sparks dying out. He was pinned. Completely and utterly defeated. 

Izuku's earpiece crackled. 

"Midoriya! I got it! I used the pillar to swing over Iida and secured the weapon!"

"HERO TEAM WINS!" All Might's voice echoed through the building. 

The buzzer sounded. 

The feral haze instantly vanished from Izuku's eyes. The slit pupils widened back into innocent green orbs. The growl died in his throat, and his ears drooped in sheer exhaustion. 

He quickly retracted his claws and scrambled off Bakugo, sitting back on his heels and wiping sweat from his forehead. 

"Good match, Kacchan," Izuku panted, offering a hand to help his childhood friend up. 

Bakugo lay on the floor for a long moment, staring at the ceiling. His chest heaved. He had been outmaneuvered, overpowered, and completely terrified. 

He didn't take Izuku's hand. He slapped it away, rolling over and standing up on his own. He didn't yell. He didn't spark any explosions. He just kept his head down, the shadow of his bangs covering his eyes, and walked out of the room without a single word. 

Izuku watched him go, his tail wrapping slowly around his own waist. It was a victory, but it felt heavy. 

Scene 5: The Aftermath

Back in the monitor room, the atmosphere was tense. 

Izuku and Uraraka stood before the class. Uraraka was beaming, but Izuku looked exhausted, his uniform torn and scorched. Bakugo stood in the far corner, his back to the room, staring at the wall. 

"Well!" All Might clapped his hands, trying to dispel the heavy tension. "The best in this match was actually... Young Midoriya!"

Izuku blinked in surprise. "Me?"

"Can anyone tell me why?!" All Might asked the class. 

Momo Yaoyorozu raised her hand. "Because Midoriya was the only one who adapted to the scenario. Bakugo acted purely on personal vendetta, launching a large-scale attack indoors that could have destroyed the payload. Iida rigidly defended the core but failed to anticipate an aerial assault from Uraraka. Uraraka succeeded, but her approach was reckless."

Momo turned to look at Izuku. "Midoriya, however, played to his Quirk's strengths. He altered his costume on the fly for better stealth. He drew the most dangerous threat away from his teammate. And, most impressively, he neutralized a lethal attack using a non-lethal sonic disruption, securing the capture without severely injuring his opponent."

All Might gave a thumbs-up. "Exactly! You used your head, not just your claws, Midoriya. Excellent work."

Izuku flushed, rubbing the back of his neck, his tail swaying happily. "Thank you, Yaoyorozu."

As the class moved on to the next matches, Izuku stood near the back, watching the monitors. He felt a presence approach his side. 

He looked down. Aizawa-sensei, who was not supposed to be teaching this period, was standing there, his hands in his pockets, watching him with half-lidded eyes. 

"You didn't break your arm," Aizawa noted quietly. 

"I found a different way to use it, Sensei," Izuku whispered back. "Sound waves don't break bones."

"It was a smart move," Aizawa admitted. "But be careful. That roar tapped into a deeply primal fear response. You paralyzed him. If you do that to a villain, you might save a life. But if you do that in a populated area... you'll terrify the civilians you're trying to protect. A hero must inspire hope, not fear."

Izuku looked down at his hands, extending and retracting his claws. The burden of his terrifying mutation weighed heavily on his mind. 

"I understand," Izuku said softly. "I'll learn to control it. I won't let the beast win."

Aizawa huffed a quiet laugh, turning to walk away. "See that you do, Midoriya. Because the real jungle out there won't be as forgiving as a training exercise."

As the day wrapped up, Izuku walked home beneath the orange glow of the setting sun. His body ached, and his stomach was loudly demanding a massive steak dinner. 

He had won the battle. He had proven his strength. But as he looked at the burns on his forearms from Bakugo's explosions, he knew this was just the beginning. The world of pro heroes was a vicious, unforgiving ecosystem. 

And the Apex Cub had officially entered the food chain.

The bus ride to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint was supposed to be a reprieve, a brief window of calm before another grueling training session. 

Izuku Midoriya sat near the middle of the bus, his long, striped tail curled neatly in his lap to avoid tripping anyone in the aisle. He was currently hunched over his notebook, furiously muttering about the optimal rescue tactics for zero-gravity environments. 

"Midoriya," a blunt, croaking voice interrupted him. 

Izuku blinked, his large, furred ears swiveling forward as he looked up. Sitting across from him was Tsuyu Asui, a girl with a prominent frog mutation. She had her finger resting thoughtfully on her chin. 

"Yes, Asui?" Izuku asked, his posture straightening instinctively. 

"Call me Tsu," she said flatly. "I say whatever comes to mind. Your Quirk is really similar to a tiger, right?"

"O-Oh! Yes!" Izuku flushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's an atavistic mutation. A genetic throwback. My bone density, muscle mass, and sensory organs are all heavily modified to mirror an apex feline."

"It's a really flashy Quirk," Eijiro Kirishima leaned over the seat, grinning, his jagged teeth on full display. "You were like a total beast during the Battle Trial! Pinning Bakugo down like that? Super manly! My Hardening Quirk is great for taking hits, but it doesn't look half as cool as you."

Bakugo, sitting near the front of the bus, let out a venomous "Tch," crossing his arms and glaring out the window. 

"I don't know," Izuku mumbled, looking down at his dark, sharp claws resting against his knees. "A lot of people think my Quirk is scary. It's not exactly... heroic. When I lose control of my instincts, I just look like a villain."

"Are you kidding?!" Mina Ashido cheered from the back. "You have fluffy ears! And a tail! The other day when you purred in class, it was the cutest thing I've ever seen!"

Izuku’s face instantly burned a violent shade of crimson. His tail puffed up like a bottle brush, and he slapped both hands over his mouth as a low, traitorous vibration began to hum in his chest. 

"See?!" Uraraka giggled, pointing at his reddening face. "He's doing it right now! It’s adorable!"

"SHUT UP ABOUT HIS STUPID PURRING!" Bakugo exploded, leaping out of his seat and sparking his hands. "HE'S A FREAK, NOT A PETTING ZOO!"

The bus erupted into laughter and bickering. Izuku sank lower in his seat, mortified, but beneath his hands, a small smile tugged at his lips. For the first time in his life, people weren't looking at him like a monster. They were treating him like a classmate. Like a friend. Like part of a pack. 

The bus finally rolled to a stop outside an absolutely massive, domed facility. 

"We're here," Aizawa announced, stepping off the bus. "Stop messing around."

Scene 1: The Scent of Danger

The inside of the USJ was a marvel of modern hero engineering. Massive zones dedicated to shipwrecks, landslides, fires, and windstorms stretched out beneath the glass dome. 

Waiting for them at the entrance was the Space Hero, Thirteen. Izuku’s inner fanboy instantly took over, his ears standing straight up as he vibrated with excitement. But as Thirteen began a poignant speech about the deadly nature of Quirks and the responsibility of using power to save lives, something shifted. 

Izuku’s ears suddenly twitched. 

Not the forward-facing twitch of excitement. They swiveled backward, flattening completely against his skull. 

His breathing stopped. His vomeronasal organ—the specialized scent gland on the roof of his mouth—flared to life, tasting the air circulating through the massive dome. 

Something is wrong, Izuku’s internal monologue went completely silent, replaced by a cold, primal static. 

The air in the USJ was supposed to smell like chlorinated water from the flood zone, burnt wood from the fire zone, and the sterile hum of air conditioners. 

But Izuku smelled ozone. He smelled the sharp, metallic tang of unwashed bodies. He smelled rust, dried blood, and malice. 

Before the lights even began to flicker, Izuku’s body reacted. He dropped from a relaxed standing position into a deep, defensive crouch, his hands hitting the floor, his claws extending with a sharp snikt that echoed on the concrete. 

"Midoriya?" Uraraka asked, stepping back in alarm. "What's wrong?"

Izuku didn't look at her. His slit pupils were completely dilated, staring fixedly at the empty plaza down below. The fur along his spine and tail bristled into rigid spikes. 

"Get back," Izuku snarled. It wasn't his normal voice; it was a guttural, vibrating rasp. "GET BACK!" 

Aizawa whipped his head around, his capture weapon instantly unfurling. "Midoriya, what do you—"

Before Aizawa could finish the sentence, the lights in the dome violently surged and died. 

Down in the central plaza, a pinpoint of dark purple mist appeared. It expanded rapidly, swirling into a massive, swirling vortex. From the center of the warp gate, a pale hand reached out, followed by a gaunt man covered in disembodied hands. 

Behind him, dozens—no, hundreds—of terrifying figures poured out of the mist, brandishing weapons and mutated limbs. 

"Villains," Aizawa realized, his blood running cold. He looked at Izuku in shock. The boy had sensed them before the warp gate even opened. His sensory capabilities were far beyond what UA had documented. 

"Gather together and don't move!" Aizawa ordered the class, pulling his yellow goggles over his eyes. "Thirteen, protect the students!"

"What is that?" Kirishima asked, his voice trembling as he peered over the ledge. "Is this like the entrance exam? Has the training already started?"

"Don't move!" Aizawa roared, a terrifying intensity in his voice. "Those are real villains!"

The temperature in the dome seemed to plummet. The pale man in the plaza looked up toward the entrance, scratching his neck furiously. 

"Where is he?" the man muttered, though in the quiet dome, Izuku’s ears picked up every word. "I went through all the trouble of bringing this whole crowd... and All Might isn't here? I wonder if he'll show up if we kill some kids?"

Izuku’s heart hammered against his ribs. The sheer volume of hostile scents was overwhelming his senses, making him dizzy. He forced himself to stand up, his rational mind fighting to suppress the overwhelming instinct to either flee or charge. 

Aizawa leaped down the stairs, engaging the villains in a flurry of martial arts and binding cloth. 

"We need to evacuate!" Thirteen shouted, ushering the students toward the heavy steel doors. 

But the purple mist suddenly expanded, materializing directly in front of them, blocking the exit. The mist solidified into the shape of a man with glowing yellow eyes. 

"I am afraid I cannot allow that," Kurogiri spoke, his voice polite but chilling. "We are the League of Villains. We have come to UA to ensure that the Symbol of Peace takes his last breath."

Bakugo and Kirishima didn't wait. They lunged forward with an explosion and a hardened punch, striking the mist. But the attack did nothing, passing harmlessly through the villain's ethereal body. 

"My job is to scatter you," Kurogiri said, his mist exploding outward like a tidal wave. 

"Everyone, run!" Izuku screamed, reaching out to grab Uraraka. 

But he wasn't fast enough. The purple mist enveloped him. The ground beneath his feet vanished, replaced by the sickening sensation of zero gravity, and then he was falling. 

Scene 2: The Flood Zone

Izuku plummeted out of a portal in the sky. Beneath him was a massive, artificial lake. 

Water, Izuku's mind processed rapidly. 

To most people, feline mutations implied a severe aversion to water. The villains waiting beneath the surface of the lake certainly thought so. As Izuku fell, he saw half a dozen aquatic-mutant villains circling like sharks, waiting for the "helpless cat" to drop into their jaws. 

They were gravely mistaken. Tigers are native to the dense jungles and mangrove swamps of Asia. They are not just capable swimmers; they are aquatic predators. 

Izuku didn't flail or scream. He shifted his body in mid-air, bringing his arms tight against his sides and pointing his toes. He entered the water with barely a splash, breaking the surface tension perfectly. 

The cold water was a shock, but his dense muscles immediately went to work. He opened his eyes, the tapetum lucidum allowing him to see perfectly in the murky depths. 

A villain with a shark-like dorsal fin shot toward him, jaws wide open. 

Izuku didn't retreat. He propelled himself forward with a single, massive kick of his powerful hind legs, his tail sweeping side-to-side like a crocodile's. The sheer speed of his underwater acceleration caught the villain completely off guard. 

Izuku darted underneath the shark-villain, grabbing him by the ankle with a clawed hand. With a violent jerk of his entire body weight, Izuku spun and hurled the villain directly into the concrete pillar of a submerged building, knocking him instantly unconscious. 

Above him, someone screamed. 

Izuku looked up. Mineta had been dropped directly into the water, thrashing wildly. A villain with webbed hands was swimming rapidly toward the small boy. 

Izuku kicked off the submerged pillar. He closed the distance in a second, wrapping his left arm around Mineta's waist. He broke the surface of the water, gasping for air. 

"Tsuyu!" Izuku yelled, spotting his frog-quirk classmate clinging to the side of a partially submerged boat. 

"Midoriya! Throw him!" Tsuyu croaked, extending her incredibly long tongue. 

Izuku tossed Mineta through the air. Tsuyu caught the screaming boy with her tongue and hoisted him onto the deck of the boat. Izuku swam to the hull, sinking his claws deep into the fiberglass, and hauled his heavy, dripping body out of the water. 

He landed heavily on the deck, shaking himself violently like a wet dog, sending a spray of water over Mineta. 

"T-This is crazy!" Mineta sobbed, clutching his purple, ball-shaped hair. "Those are real villains! They're going to kill us!"

"Panic later, Mineta," Izuku said firmly, his voice dropping into a serious, commanding tone. He crawled to the edge of the boat, peering over the side. The water was swarming. At least twenty villains had surrounded the vessel. 

"What are we going to do?" Tsuyu asked, her calm demeanor faltering slightly. "My quirk makes me good in the water, but there are too many of them. And they think they have the advantage."

"That's exactly it," Izuku’s analytical mind kicked in. He stared at the water, watching the ripples. "They don't know what our Quirks are. If they did, they would have sent you to the fire zone, Tsuyu, to dry you out. Sending a frog to the water zone proves they’re operating on blind logistics."

Izuku stood up, shedding his soaked, heavy uniform jacket, leaving him in just his dark green undershirt. His muscles flexed, the tiger stripes prominent against his skin. 

"They also think I'm at a disadvantage," Izuku grinned, a fierce, predatory look returning to his eyes. "They think I'm a cat that hates water. Let's use that."

"Midoriya, you're not actually thinking of going back in there?!" Mineta shrieked. 

"I'm going to act as the vanguard," Izuku explained quickly. "I'm going to cause a massive disruption underwater. Mineta, I need you to throw your sticky spheres into the water. As many as you can. Tsuyu, be ready to pull me out when I give the signal."

Before they could argue, Izuku placed his hands on the railing and vaulted over the side, diving headfirst back into the lake. 

"The brat came back!" one of the villains laughed underwater. "Tear him apart!"

Five villains rushed him at once. 

Izuku didn't fight them. He swam. He utilized his immense physical strength, kicking his legs and whipping his tail, swimming in a tight, rapid circle around the group of villains. He moved faster than an Olympic swimmer, creating a localized vortex in the water. 

The villains were disoriented, caught in the sudden current. Izuku darted in and out of the vortex, using his padded hands and feet to strike pressure points, kicking them in the chest and dragging them violently by the ankles to disorient them further. He was a silent, terrifying shadow in the water, striking and vanishing before they could retaliate. 

"Mineta! Now!" Tsuyu yelled from the boat. 

Mineta, crying profusely, began ripping the purple spheres from his head and chucking them into the water. "TAKE THIS! AND THIS! PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!"

As the spheres hit the vortex Izuku had created, they were pulled inward. The sticky balls attached to the villains. Because the villains were grouped so tightly by Izuku’s whirlpool tactic, the spheres stuck them all together into a massive, tangled ball of screaming limbs. 

Izuku broke the surface, gasping for air. Tsuyu’s tongue wrapped around his waist, hauling his massive frame out of the water and onto the deck. 

"Wow," Tsuyu said, looking down at the giant, bobbing clump of immobilized villains. "That was incredible, Midoriya. You move like a crocodile down there."

Izuku panted, wiping the water from his eyes. "We can't stay here. The boat will sink eventually. We need to get to the edge of the central plaza and find Aizawa-sensei."

Scene 3: Pack Mentality

The trio carefully waded through the shallows, sticking to the shadows of the shoreline until they reached the edge of the central plaza. They hid behind a large concrete barrier, peering out at the battle. 

What they saw froze the blood in Izuku’s veins. 

Aizawa was fighting like a demon, but he was losing. The sheer number of villains was taking its toll. He was bleeding from a head wound, panting heavily. 

But that wasn't the worst part. 

Standing next to the hand-covered man was a monster. It was massive—taller than Izuku, with bulging, grotesquely overdeveloped muscles. Its skin was pitch black, and its brain was completely exposed, pulsating visibly through the top of its skull. It had a beak filled with jagged teeth. 

"Nomu," the pale man, Shigaraki, commanded lazily. "Crush him."

The monster moved with speed that defied its size. Before Aizawa could blink, the Nomu caught his arm. 

SNAP.

The sound of Aizawa’s elbow shattering echoed across the plaza like a gunshot. 

Aizawa screamed. The Nomu slammed him face-first into the concrete, cracking the pavement. The monster mounted the hero, grabbing his other arm, preparing to break it. 

Behind the barrier, Mineta clamped his hands over his mouth to muffle his terrified sobbing. Tsuyu’s eyes were wide with horror. 

Izuku didn't move. 

His rational, human mind was screaming at him. Stay hidden. You can't beat that thing. Wait for the pros. Aizawa-sensei told you to use your head. A hero must survive to save others.

But as Izuku watched the Nomu raise its massive fist, preparing to cave in his teacher’s skull, something inside him snapped. 

It wasn't a conscious decision. It was a complete biological override. 

In the wild, tigers are solitary. But Izuku was human. He had spent his whole life desperate for connection, for a pack. Class 1-A was his pack. Aizawa was the alpha of the pack, the protector. And right now, an unnatural, vile predator was mauling his alpha. 

A deep, violent red began to creep into the edges of Izuku’s vision. 

The muttering stopped. The calculations stopped. The fear evaporated, replaced by a pure, unadulterated, blinding rage. 

His heart rate doubled. Adrenaline flooded his system in toxic amounts. His claws extended to their absolute maximum length, the keratin turning entirely black. The fur on his ears and tail stood up so rigidly he looked twice his size. 

A sound escaped Izuku’s throat. It started as a low, demonic rattle, building into a deafening, earth-shattering roar that shook the very foundations of the USJ. 

Shigaraki turned his head, irritated by the noise. 

He barely had time to register the blur of green and orange launching from the shoreline. 

Izuku didn't run. He bounded across the plaza on all fours, his claws tearing chunks of concrete out of the ground with every step. He covered the fifty-yard distance in less than three seconds. 

"Nomu," Shigaraki pointed. "Intercept."

The Nomu released Aizawa and stood up, turning to face the incoming threat. It threw a massive punch aimed directly at Izuku’s head. 

Izuku didn't dodge. He embraced the impact. 

He caught the Nomu’s fist with his left hand. The kinetic force of the punch sent a shockwave through the air, cracking the ground beneath Izuku’s feet, but the dense, mutant bones of his arm held firm. Izuku didn't flinch. His glowing, slit pupils locked onto the exposed brain of the creature. 

"Get away from him," Izuku snarled, a voice devoid of humanity. 

With his right hand, Izuku slashed upward. His claws tore through the air, sinking deep into the soft, pulsating tissue of the Nomu’s exposed brain. 

Dark blood sprayed across Izuku’s face. The Nomu shrieked—a high, synthetic sound of agony—and staggered backward, clutching its head. 

"Midoriya..." Aizawa wheezed from the ground, his eyes wide as he watched his student stand between him and the monster. Izuku’s posture was completely feral; he was hunched over, his tail thrashing violently, his fangs bared, dripping with the creature's blood. 

"Oh?" Shigaraki tilted his head, scratching his neck. "A secret boss? The brat’s got a strong mutation. But it doesn't matter. Nomu has Shock Absorption and Hyper-Regeneration. Your claws are useless."

Before Izuku’s eyes, the deep gashes he had carved into the Nomu’s brain knit back together in a matter of seconds. The creature lowered its hands, completely healed, its vacant eyes locking onto Izuku. 

Izuku’s feral rage didn't subside. He roared again and launched himself at the monster. 

Scene 4: Tiger vs. Monster

What followed was a battle of pure, brutal attrition. 

Izuku fought like a wild beast. He abandoned all martial arts training, relying entirely on his predatory instincts. He leaped onto the Nomu’s chest, sinking his claws into its shoulders, sinking his fangs into the creature's thick neck. He tore chunks of flesh away, using his powerful hind legs to rake the creature's abdomen in a vicious "bunny kick" maneuver. 

To Mineta and Tsuyu watching from afar, it was a terrifying spectacle. Midoriya didn't look like a hero in training. He looked like a monster fighting another monster. 

But Shigaraki was right. The Nomu was engineered to fight All Might. It felt no pain, and it healed faster than Izuku could damage it. 

The Nomu reached up, grabbing Izuku by the waist with its massive hands. 

Izuku thrashed, slashing at the creature's eyes, but the Nomu’s grip was like a hydraulic press. It squeezed. 

CRACK.

Izuku gasped, a spray of blood erupting from his mouth as three of his ribs fractured under the immense pressure. The feral haze in his vision flickered, pierced by blinding, agonizing pain. 

The Nomu raised Izuku high into the air, preparing to slam him back-first across its knee, a move that would undoubtedly sever Izuku’s spine and paralyze him for life. 

The pain broke through the instinctual override. Izuku’s rational mind slammed back into the driver's seat. 

I'm going to die, Izuku realized, staring down at the vacant, dead eyes of the Nomu. My claws aren't enough. My strength isn't enough. It absorbs physical trauma and heals.

Izuku looked past the Nomu. He saw Aizawa, broken and bleeding on the ground. He saw Tsuyu and Mineta, terrified. He thought of his mother. He thought of Uraraka, Iida, and Bakugo. 

I can't die here. I have to protect them.

The Nomu began to bring him down toward its knee. 

Izuku had a fraction of a second. He couldn't use his claws. He had to use the torch. He had to use the power of the Symbol of Peace. 

He didn't channel 5% into a single finger like he did at the fitness test. The Nomu’s Shock Absorption could tank a minor blast. He needed absolute, overwhelming force. He needed a tactical nuke. 

Izuku pulled his right arm back. He closed his eyes and opened the floodgates of One For All. 

He visualized the swirling galaxy of power, and he poured every single drop of it into his right arm. The arm swelled violently, the muscles tearing under the skin as glowing, volatile red veins illuminated his flesh. Green lightning erupted from his body, arcing wildly, striking the ground and scorching the concrete. 

The sheer pressure of the power radiating from Izuku made Shigaraki take a step back. "What is that?"

Izuku opened his eyes. The vertical slits were gone, replaced by wide, desperate emeralds burning with heroic resolve. 

I’ll heal the broken bones later! Izuku screamed internally. Right now, I have to smash it!

"SMAAAAAAAAASH!" 

Izuku drove his fist directly into the Nomu’s exposed brain at point-blank range. 

The impact did not create a localized shockwave. It created a localized hurricane. 

The air pressure detonated violently. The sound was deafening, a concussive boom that blew the water out of the flood zone and shattered the glass dome of the USJ high above them. Shigaraki was blown backward, tumbling head over heels. The remaining villains across the plaza were thrown off their feet by the sheer gale-force winds. 

The Nomu’s Shock Absorption was designed to take heavy hits. But it was not designed to take 100% of One For All concentrated directly into its central nervous system. 

The creature's grip on Izuku broke. The Nomu was launched backward like a cannonball, skipping across the concrete plaza, tearing a massive trench in the ground before crashing through the steel doors of the mountain zone a hundred yards away. 

Izuku dropped to the ground, landing hard on his knees. 

The silence that followed the blast was absolute. 

Izuku didn't move. He couldn't. His right arm was a horrific sight. The sleeve of his shirt was completely disintegrated. The skin was violently bruised, a deep, sickening purple, and the bones inside were pulverized. The arm hung uselessly at his side, swaying slightly in the residual breeze. The pain was beyond anything he had ever experienced; it felt like his arm was submerged in boiling oil. 

He fell forward, catching himself on his one good left arm, panting heavily, blood dripping from his chin onto the concrete. 

"Midoriya..." Aizawa croaked, staring at his student in absolute awe. The boy had just generated a shockwave on par with the Number One Hero. 

Footsteps crunched on the debris. 

Izuku weakly raised his head. Shigaraki was standing up, his artificial hand clutching his face. He was staring at Izuku, trembling with a mix of shock and absolute rage. 

"You..." Shigaraki hissed, his voice cracking. "What was that? You're a mutant. That wasn't a mutant ability. You hurt my Nomu. You hurt my toy!"

Shigaraki began to sprint toward Izuku, both hands outstretched, ready to decay the boy into dust. 

Izuku tried to stand, but his broken ribs and shattered arm grounded him. He had nothing left. He had used his trump card. He closed his eyes, baring his fangs in one final, defiant snarl. At least... I kept him away from Aizawa-sensei.

"IT'S FINE NOW!" 

The heavy steel doors at the entrance of the USJ were suddenly blown completely off their hinges, crashing onto the stairs. 

Shigaraki stopped dead in his tracks, looking up. 

Izuku forced his eyes open, looking over his shoulder. 

Standing at the top of the stairs, silhouetted by the emergency lights, was a towering, massive figure. He wasn't smiling. The trademark grin was gone, replaced by an expression of pure, unadulterated fury that radiated an aura of terrifying intimidation. 

All Might looked down at the central plaza. He saw Aizawa, bleeding out. He saw the terrified students. And he saw his successor—Izuku Midoriya—on his knees, his arm shattered, his body broken, having sacrificed himself to hold the line against a monster. 

All Might ripped his tie off, dropping his suit jacket. 

"I AM HERE!" All Might roared, his voice devoid of cheer, thick with the wrath of a god. 

Shigaraki smiled beneath the hand on his face. "Ah... the continue screen."

Izuku let out a shuddering breath, the tension leaving his body. The alpha had arrived. The pack was safe. 

His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and the Apex Cub finally collapsed onto the cold concrete, slipping into a deep, agonizing darkness.