For a moment, both girls forgot they were supposed to be working together. All that mattered was watching their classmates clash. Even if they were technically opponents in this survival exercise, Hanna couldn't help but silently cheer for Raiden, while Aoi's support clearly leaned toward David.
Out in the distance, beneath the crashing waves, Raiden let himself sink deeper into the water, allowing the momentum from the shockwave to carry him down.
As he descended, he sent a brief mental message to Chopper—his partner for this match—telling him to wait and not get involved just yet.
It had been a long time since someone had put him on the back foot like this. Two consecutive clean hits? Only a handful of people had managed that in the last time in the U.A, and most were either professionals or his top-tier classmates. He wasn't about to spoil the fun by turning it into a two-on-one.
Besides, he was genuinely curious about David's abilities.
The way David moved was unlike anything Raiden had encountered.
He could replicate shockwaves to some degree using his own powers, but that teleportation—appearing and vanishing in the blink of an eye—was something else.
Raiden found it both fascinating and infuriating. If there was even a chance he could learn how it worked, or mimic part of it, he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.
Floating beneath the surface, Raiden waited for another attack—but it never came. That alone told him something useful.
David wasn't pursuing him underwater. Either he couldn't—or he didn't want to. Chopper—well, Wendigo—had mentioned that David used finger snaps to activate his abilities, both for teleporting and for his shockwave attacks. That detail could mean he was unable to trigger them effectively beneath the surface.
If that was true, it gave Raiden a narrow but exploitable advantage.
Still, hiding underwater forever wasn't an option. He'd need to resurface eventually—and when he did, he wanted to make a statement.
An idea formed.
Extending his telekinesis outward, Raiden connected with the water around him. Slowly, carefully, he began moving a large mass of it, shaping it with force.
A vacuum formed momentarily in the space he displaced, only to be instantly refilled by more seawater. Using both hands now, he directed the energy with focus and precision.
He molded the water into a massive sphere overhead—an enormous globe of seawater suspended just above him, glistening in the moonlight. It was easily ten meters across.
He attempted to compress it into a smaller, more concentrated form, but quickly realized something frustrating: water was nearly incompressible. Not without massive pressure.
With a quiet shrug, he changed tactics. Maybe finesse wasn't the answer here—maybe brute force was.
Rising from the ocean in a burst of energy, Raiden emerged with the colossal sphere of seawater levitating above his shoulder, held aloft by sheer telekinetic control.
Scanning the beach, his eyes locked onto David, who stood staring back—mouth slightly agape, clearly not expecting a counter like this.
Raiden hurled his improvised water attack with a sharp, fluid motion. From the distance, Aoi and Hanna watched as the massive sphere split mid-air into dozens of smaller orbs, each one darting like a missile toward the last spot David had teleported to. The precision was impressive—Raiden wasn't just lashing out wildly; he was tracking his opponent.
Watching David get pushed onto the defensive, Hanna smirked and crossed her arms. "Told you," she said with satisfaction.
"Just wait," Aoi replied calmly, eyes locked on the scene unfolding before them.
As Raiden launched his counter, the girls noticed something strange. A rapid series of flashes pulsed around him—faint glows of blue energy lighting up one after another across his body. And then, in an instant, he vanished.
At the same time, David reappeared several meters away from his last position, but before he could even get his bearings, Raiden came crashing down from above. His fist was cocked back, his entire body descending like a bolt of lightning, and his eyes were glowing with an intense, electric blue.
David reacted on instinct, snapping his fingers to teleport again—but nothing happened.
His eyes widened.
He tried again, panic flickering in his expression. Still nothing.
He looked up just in time to see Raiden's glowing fist closing in fast. There was no doubt anymore—this wasn't a normal punch. No regular attack burned with that kind of energy.
He braced for impact.
But just before the strike landed, dozens of white threads shot out from somewhere in the trees, latching onto Raiden's arm and yanking it to the side. The punch veered off course and slammed into the sand with devastating force, leaving a crater where David had been standing a heartbeat earlier.
Even from afar, Aoi and Hana both stared at the small crater in stunned silence.
David's mind raced. If that hit had landed… He could've been seriously hurt. That wasn't just a flashy move—Raiden had thrown a blow powerful enough to knock him out, maybe worse. And he'd done it casually, without hesitation.
David quickly created some distance, retreating several steps as he watched Raiden's tail begin to glow. The boy didn't seem bothered by the threads at all. His tail whipped forward like a whip, charging with energy.
Reacting fast, David pointed his hand at the incoming strike and snapped his fingers. A concussive shockwave burst out, launching him backward while deflecting Raiden's tail mid-swing. The force of the tail still carried through, slamming into the ground off-target and carving another crater into the sand.
For a moment, the battlefield was quiet.
Raiden straightened and turned his glowing eyes toward David, who stood across from him, breathing hard.
Raiden paused for a moment, his breathing steady as he glanced to the side. His eyes flickered with a brief, intense glow before he turned back toward David.
"Taro," came a voice—not spoken aloud, but directly inside David's and Taro head. "Looks like we're on opposite sides now."
It was Mewtwo's voice. David frowned, instinctively looking at Raiden, even though the boy's lips hadn't moved. The sensation was strange—like a thought that wasn't his own had slipped into his mind.
Taro who came out walking from the woods, let out a quiet sigh. "Yeah… seems like it. Your partner nearby?" he asked, his voice calm and steady, as always.
"He is," Raiden answered mentally, his tone level. "But he's not going to interfere. We're taking turns for now—that was the agreement. If we lose this point, we've still got six days to make up for it. Just giving ourselves a little room to breathe."
David arched a brow slightly. "Pretty confident, huh?"
Now that the fight had paused, Raiden took a better look at David. Up close, he could see the boy was built strong—lean muscle wrapped in a well-trained frame. His hair was a sharp blonde, eyes a piercing green, giving him the look of someone straight out of the northern regions. Nordic, maybe.
"He can suppress Quirks for a few seconds. Don't let him look straight at you," Taro warned from Raiden's mind, this time speaking directly to David. "Be careful. You're strong, but so is he."
David's eyes narrowed slightly. He finally understood what had gone wrong earlier. That moment he couldn't teleport—Raiden had stopped him with a glance. Deactivating his power.
Then, without warning, Raiden's body surged with light again—this time focused around his leg. He slammed his foot into the sand, launching a cloud of dust into the air and leaving a deep crater where he had stood.
In the blink of an eye, he shot across the beach and appeared beside Taro, already charging a shadow ball in one hand.
As the dark energy swung forward, Taro raised his arm to block. The force of the attack pushed him back several steps.
Since the start of the fight, Taro had kept his Quirk active—a defensive strategy drilled into Class 1-A to counter Raiden's own abilities.
One of the core rules of fighting him was simple: never let your guard down. Disable your power for even a second, and you'd lose.
Raiden's shadow ball missed, shooting past Taro and streaking into the forest beyond. It crashed through several trees before exploding in a distant blast of energy and smoke.
Silence followed—just for a second.
Then, behind Raiden, David appeared again.
But this time, Raiden, no, Mewtwo was ready.
Mewtwo caught the movement from the corner of his eye, and their gazes locked. In that instant, Raiden shifted to the side and executed two actions at once. With one hand, he launched a double shadow ball toward Taro, forcing him to leap back twice to avoid both strikes. With the other, he countered David's snap with a Confusion burst, their energies clashing in mid-air with a sharp shockwave.
Mewtwo, used to that kind of impact, held his ground.
David wasn't so lucky—he was thrown back, airborne for a moment before regaining control.
Raiden didn't hesitate. He hurled two Psyshocks at David mid-air, but both attacks missed as David vanished again—only to reappear beside Raiden with his fingers aimed straight at his face.
Mewtwo head flared with light. He activated Zen Headbutt just in time, the energy surging through his skull as the two collided. The strike caused him to flinch, but he held firm, powering through the hit.
He twisted immediately into a roundhouse kick aimed at David's head—but missed by inches as David ducked and rolled to the side at the last possible second.
"Your power really is a pain to deal with," Mewtwo said mentally to both of them, his voice echoing inside their heads with a calm tone that barely masked his focus.
"And your Quirk is just ridiculous," David replied, cracking his neck with a sharp twist. "It's like you've got a thousand abilities packed into one."
He and Taro walked steadily toward Raiden, who stood still on the sand, his expression unreadable. A faint blue aura shimmered around his body, casting a soft glow in the sunlight. His eyes were locked on them, calm but calculating.
Then, in an instant, all three of them burst into motion.
Taro launched himself forward using his web threads, propelling through the air at high speed. He aimed a spinning kick at Raiden's side, but Raiden simply tilted his head, letting the attack pass harmlessly beside him. Taro didn't stop—mid-air, he redirected his momentum and swung his leg again, aiming at the back of Raiden's head.
But Raiden's tail moved like a whip, intercepting the kick with a clash of energy.
At that same moment, David snapped his fingers—his Quirk triggered instantly.
A shockwave surged toward Raiden. His eyes glowed a vivid violet as he reacted in a heartbeat, responding with a Confusion pulse. It was one of the first psychic abilities he'd ever mastered—fast, instinctive, and precise. He didn't need gestures or focus to use it anymore.
The three clashed in a chaotic exchange of force. Shockwaves collided mid-air, pushing and pulling, exploding in bursts of raw energy. Raiden danced between them, his body weaving through attacks with perfect timing.
He engaged Taro at close range, the two exchanging rapid strikes. Meanwhile, David attacked from different angles, trying to catch Mewtwo off guard.
Despite being outnumbered, Raiden didn't falter. If anything, he seemed to thrive under pressure.
Mewtwo's movements were fluid, almost effortless—dodging in three dimensions, countering with precision.
Each strike, each psychic blast, sent ripples of energy across the beach, slowly tearing up the ground beneath them. Trees bent under the force, sand scattered in clouds, and the once-quiet shoreline had become a battlefield.
It was two against one, yet Mewtwo didn't look the slightest bit worried.
In fact, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. His posture was relaxed, as if he was enjoying the challenge.
Farther away, Aoi and Hanna stood frozen, eyes wide as they watched the fight unfold. Their classmates gathered beside them, silent in awe.
The teachers, equally focused, monitored the situation closely. Across the island, an intricate network of sensors and high-resolution cameras had been set up to observe the students during these simulated combat exercises. Every movement was tracked, every surge of energy recorded to ensure safety.
At that moment, only one battle was still active—Raiden versus Taro and David.
End of the chapter.