A.N: Hello once again, and Happy Father's Day! We've officially reached 100 Reviews, and for sharing your thoughts, criticisms and excitement alike, thank you all. Onto the reviews, shall we?

SkeenTheDream: Glad the fight was enjoyable my man! It's been so much fun altering Rappa's character while still trying to keep faithful to his original version. We can all see it now, Rappa's hands rated-E for e=Everyone XD. Thank you once more for the support my man, and I'll be sure to pump out even more!

Longnose: Always a pleasure to put out another chapter dude!

ChernoAlpha117: Thanks dude! Indeed, the quality of Rappa's punches has improved, but further improvement will come along. By this point in time, Earth's greatest boxers have long since died... though, that isn't to say that their clips and videos don't exist ;D. Thanks for the love dude!

God Doesn't Love You: Nah, it won't be Gran Torino. While the story in a sense mirrors Izuku's rise to be a hero, not everything is going to be exactly the same. Though, his mentor is gonna be a familiar face, that I can confirm.

Seeker of Immortality: (I'll be covering both of your reviews in one reply, hope you don't mind) Glad to have a new face aboard dude! Honestly, the Advance is technically no different from Gear 2nd, only that Rappa increases his heart-rate rather than using his arms or legs as substitutes, not to mention the potential side-effects for someone not made out of rubber. I'm happy that you're enjoying the story so far dude! I do understand your criticisms, and I really don't blame you for having them. The philosophy (bit over the top, but I'll roll with it) behind the majority of characters during this day and age, specifically during the prime of All Might's hero career, is that they go on to hit that hard-cap in terms of their Quirk earlier than expected (kinda bullshit, especially with how Devil Fruit-like my ideas run with their quirks admittedly). This is part is again because of All Might: he's the shining beacon of hope, and everyone is rushing their development and forcing themselves into new levels of power that they really aren't ready to handle yet to try and match that image of power, Tetsude and Kendo especially. (On the topic of the former, his Razor is actually really simple, and it slipped my mind that I never bothered to explain it: he just maximises the strength in his arms and swings with tensed fingers. That's literally it XD) In short, you are absolutely correct in saying that Yu, Tetsude, Shinji, Rappa and others don't have the necessary training, but it is their effort that lets them peak into this new level of Quirk usage. They all are improving much faster than normal though, and the Quirk improvements have gotten noticeably wacky, there's no denying that. I admit that I'm more of a 'rule of cool' (god it's been so long since I ever thought of that XD) kinda person when it comes to writing, and it has landed me in situations like this.

On the topic of 1-B members, yeah, that one's another folly of mine too. I sort of went into the story blind and never really considered the wider cast-members, so I just picked around for easy character inspirations, and voila, half-baked characters with Quirks that don't really feel like Quirks. The only person from the bunch that I'm planning to have any more actual screen-time is Kaiten, because in this version of my story, he's the canon character Sen Kaibara's older brother (hence the last names), and I wanted to open up a bit of character-development in his area, always found him to be a pretty cool character in the manga.

I apologize for the INSANELY wordy reply, but it would be rude of me not to fully address your thoughts. With that being said, I'm still incredibly thankful of your honestly and courteousness in giving me your thoughts and (frankly correct) criticisms, and above all else I'm happy that you're enjoying the story so far! Thank you once more for sharing your thoughts and your support!

Galaxy Knight: Thank you dude, glad you loved the fight! Also, nice picking up on Kendo's adaptation of what he currently has rather than trying to use something new and risky. Thank you again for the support!

With that being said, thank you all once more for helping me reach 100 Reviews, Follows are up next hopefully! Onto the Show!

Rumble, Young Man Rumble!

Chapter 21

Lightning-fast Dragon-slayer!

Tetsude Ken's eyes snapped open, his body lurching up from the bed as he cried out in panic. For a split second, he swore that he was still in the arena, his legs swept out from under him and a fist descending towards his face. When he realized that he was safe, he calmed down and winced: he was in pain. His face literally throbbed, his ribs and arms groaning, and muscles that he didn't even know he had were sore to the point of numbness.

"Ah, good. You've woken up right on time young man." He turned to see Recovery Girl doing her final checks on him, a rather calm look on her face. "Your injuries were quite severe, but nothing that I couldn't handle. Still, it's best for you to heal the rest of the damage up on your own. You'll still undergo pains for a week or so, but it isn't anything debilitating. Now if you excuse me, I have another boneheaded patient to take care off.

"…Fine," He muttered, stifling a groan as he managed to get to his feet. Just as he was about to walk to the exit, his eye caught the person that she was treating, and he felt himself almost break with rage. Kendo was currently lying down, his eyes closed as Recovery Girl slowly healed him, a serene look on his face bruised and scarred face.

"Wanna take a picture?" Kendo chuckled, his eyes opening. "It'll probably last longer like that." Kendo only laughed harder when he saw the look of rage on Tetsude's face. "Why'd you look so surprised dude?"

"How did you beat me?" He asked simply, still in disbelief at his loss. "Knowing you, you… you must've cheated or something! My strength… should've been more than enough to blast your head off. Hell, my Razors are just me pumping all the strength I can into my arms and swinging as hard as I can with tensed fingers. Blast Core should've pulverised you on the spot! So why are you still here!?"

"Idiot," Kendo scoffed. "I thought you would've learned by now. How long have you had that Muscle-Density aspect of your quirk?"

"… about a week or so. Why?" He ground out.

"Lemme guess: you found out about it while you were training and that that would be enough to win the tournament. You didn't bother to test it out or try and get it under control, you just slammed the gas as hard as you could when the time came. Am I right?" His silence spoke volumes, and Kendo hummed. "Thought so. Not that I can blame you though, I was pretty much the same when it came to using the Advance, just a trump-card that I can go wild with whenever I had the chance. But at the same time, that's why you lost, and why I almost lost."

"What do you mean? I'm the strongest out of the both of us!"

"See, that's the issue that you can't get through your damn head!" Kendo barked. "You think a fight boils down to who's the strongest and who can lift the most and who can punch the hardest. Congrats, you can do all of the above compared to me! And you still lost. Why? Because I'm just a better fighter than you. I knew the moment that you couldn't move properly when you increased your muscle density that you didn't bother to improve yourself. You could've screwed me over in so many different ways in that fight. Break the ground and make me lose my footing before launching me out of the ring. Hit me with your Razor and I could've bled out, especially while I was in the Advance. Hell, you could've literally just sat on me with your Muscle-Density and forced me to stop moving. The moment I had my head back on my shoulders, you lost, regardless of how strong you are. Now, 'scuse me. I'm healing up right now, plus I'm tired as hell, and I'm watching Usagi's fight. So, you got anything else to add?"

Tetsude's body trembled with rage, heat pooling in his eyes before his head dipped, all the tension suddenly leaving him. "N… no."

"Alright then," Kendo sighed as Tetsude made to walk away. "And Tetsu!" He stopped, though didn't face him. "For what its worth… you did put up a hell of a fight. I'll never deny that. Thanks to you, I think that I've improved. I hope that we can fight again, sooner or later."

"…Tch. Whatever," The larger boy croaked before he left, slamming the door. He stood on the hallway before making his way to the bathroom. There, he cried openly, frustration welling up and spilling over, his body hunched over a sink.

…

'Holy crap, I've never been knocked around this much!' Rumi thought as she took another devastating back-hand to her guard, her arms groaning as she was launched across the stone floor. 'I guess I let my easy win in the Quarter-finals get to my head. Ryuko is no joke!' Rumi couldn't help but grin as she sprung to her feet, leaping right at Ryuko and leading with a flying roundhouse kick. 'Still, it's nothing I can't handle!'

"Three minutes into the first Semi-final match and things are looking pretty even between Rumi Usagiyama and Ryuko Tatsumi! It looks like we're in for an intense battle of attrition!" Present Mic called out.

Indeed, the two of them were proving to be some of the most competent fighters within the entire division, Rumi hopping over a low sweep to launch an axe-kick right at Ryuko's head. The draconic girl swayed back in time, Rumi's heel scraping past her scaled cheek before she retaliated, cartwheeling back with a whirling kick from below, forcing Rumi to shoot to the side, avoiding her chin being caved in. Just as Ryuko's feet were about to touch the ground, Rumi lunched herself forward with every ounce of speed she had, her right leg shooting out like a bullet.

"Luna STRIKE!"

Her heel smashed into Ryuko's ribs with a sharp *BANG*, her body being blown backwards from the sheer force behind the kick. "Heh, point blank! How's that?" Rumi laughed for a moment before her grin was wiped right off her face. Ryuko casually stood up, dusting off her side. The area that Rumi kicked literally disintegrated the fabric, revealing the flawless scales underneath.

"Honestly? Pretty solid," Ryuko admitted, "My bones actually felt that kick too. Let's get back to it then."

"…yeah," Rumi sighed, seemingly relaxed before she suddenly became a blur. "LET'S!" Ryuko quickly put her guard up as another roundhouse kick shot for her head, taking the full impact of the even more intense blow. Still, her calm grin remained perpetual as she fired off her fists in a quick combination, her right fist catching Rumi across the cheek. Rumi saw it coming though, twisting her head with the punch to divert as much force as possible before returning right back with a blazing right hand of her own, her fist like a streak of light as it crashed into Ryuko's jaw, the draconic girl's head whipping to the side. Yet, it was Rumi who stumbled, her face twisted in pain at the shattered bones in her hand. 'Shit, even her face his armoured!'

While she stumbled, and it was an opportunity that Ryuko didn't miss. She struck her with a furiously calm combination, right-hook, left-hook, tail-sweep flowing into an uppercut, her knuckles crashing into Rumi's solar-plexus. Her eyes widened as she felt an ironclad grip on her wrist, looking up to see Rumi's legs suddenly shoot by her and lock around her neck, pulling hard as she straightened out her arm. 'Damn, she actually got me in an armbar!' Ryuko thought as she grit her teeth, initially struggling against it with brute strength to ensure that her arm didn't snap like a twig. 'I'm in a rough spot… sorry Rumi, I have to do this!' Her talons on her free hand pierced and sunk into the flesh of Rumi's right thigh, the sudden shocking pain making her cry out and loosen her grip, enough that Ryuko could grab her leg and bodily slam her into the floor, the ground shaking and cracking.

"YAAH!" Rumi yelled as she blasted another kick into Ryuko's stomach, knocking the other girl away from her as she quickly got to her feet. She openly winced as her right leg buckled from the onslaught of pain. 'Fuck, this is pathetic! I gambled on trying to break her arm in one shot, and I payed the price! Even if she was kind enough to make sure it wasn't that deep, now my footwork and speed is gonna suffer the longer this match continues. Pathetic, pathetic, PATHETIC!'

"Sorry about that Rumi, are you-?" Ryuko instantly clammed up as she saw the look on Rumi's face. Her teeth bared, red eyes damn near on fire, every single muscle tensed up. In spite of her bleeding leg and broken hand, or maybe even because of it, she had just turned even more dangerous.

'FUCK IT!' Rumi's mind roared, her body crouching as she shifted her leg forward. 'No more fighting for fun or glory. I'll go top speed, and fight to WIN!' The floor under her feet cracked as her form became a dizzying blur, running literal circles around Ryuko as the dragon-girl gawped.

'Holy crap, she's moving so fast it's like there's four of her!' Her eyes darted all over the place, trying to find her position with her sharp eyes. 'The ground! She's kicking off with so much force that the floor is breaking, so all I have to do is time it!' Watching the sudden burst of cracks, she tried to read the rhythm for the footfalls.

"THERE!" She shouted, shooting her hand out and hitting air.

*BANG*

Her head was whipped into the air and her body followed, Rumi's flying elbow shaking Ryuko's brain in her skull. Even as she landed, trying to get her feet under her, Rumi didn't stop there, launching off the floor and ending up right in front of the dazed girl with both fists drawn back. Another rhythmic *BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG* of both her fists drumming into Ryuko's chest before a final explosive left-uppercut sent her flying backwards. Rumi didn't stop there, flashing across the arena faster than Ryuko's flight, abruptly turning and launching herself at the dragon-girl. Ryuko tried to put ger guard up, but with her awkward (not to mention airborne) position, it left her wide open for the flying knee to her nose. Even armoured, her force was more than enough to burst a few vessels, blood spurting out as her eyes teared up. The follow-up kick to her jaw sent her body flying straight up, Rumi following with one powerful leap right above Ryuko, her left leg raised high.

"LUNA FALL!"

A final axe-kick crashed into Ryuko's dome, the force sending her shooting down into the ground with the sheer destructive force of a bomb, the stage riddled with cracks and loose debris. The dragon-girl was buried out to her ankles, upside down, and appeared to be weakly struggling. Rumi finally landed, swallowing a cry of pain as her adrenaline faded, her body tired from pulling off all those manoeuvres at top speed and hindered with injuries. Blood gushed from the holes in her leg and she fell to the floor, her eyes still trained in on Ryuko's feet. 'That had to have been it,' Rumi thought, 'I put all my speed and strength into those attacks. She must have a concussion after all the blows to the head, so there's no way that she'd be-!' Her thoughts were suddenly cut off when she felt the ground rumble violently underneath her feet. On raw instinct, she backed away in time as a massive tail whipped through the air, almost clipping her across her injured leg. Two massive hands bearing thick grey talons burst from the ground, the stone heaving as a massive figure blotted out the sun, a pair of leathery wings extending in their full glory.

"Almost got me there," Ryuko said as she stood on her hind legs, teeth and talons bared, "But that won't be enough. The real fight starts now!"

'FAST!' Rumi could barely think as Ryuko's body raced right for her, far faster than her size could have suggested, a *BOOM* rocking the ground as she slammed her claws into the floor. 'She isn't as fast as me, but her size alone makes her movements a threat by themselves! I can't afford to get hit at all, or even clipped or else I'm screwed!' She barely managed to duck underneath another terrifying swing of Ryuko's massive claws before vaulting over a tail-swipe. 'How the hell do I deal damage to her like this!? Aiming for the eyes is unfair, and everywhere else is armoured, so how…?' Her mind raced as she scanned Ryuko, constantly dodging her shockingly precise attacks. Looking closer, she finally saw a metaphoric chink in her armour: Ryuko, before transforming, looked completely fine, but now, Rumi could see the strain in her eyes and the sweat on her face (apparently dragons can sweat, who knew?).

'That's right, she can't maintain this for long. If I can keep moving, then I can wait for her to change back into her human form and safely take her out!' Rumi continued to dodge for thirty seconds straight, her feet pumping as she constantly flipped, dived and jumped away from the hail of blows coming her way. Side-stepping a straight palm-strike, vaulting over a tail-sweep and rolling away from another swing, 'Come on, just a bit longer-!' Just as she moved to side-step once more, her leg was finally unable to take the growing pain, locking up and cutting her evasive short. Just the barest clip of a giant knuckle on her left shoulder was enough to send her careening through the air as if she'd been struck by a car. Her back crashed into the floor and she cried out in pain, still forcing herself to roll to a knee, looking up to see Ryuko's outstretched hand reaching for her.

'SHIT! I HAVE TO MOVE!' She felt everything slow down, her body like lead as she saw those massive claws getting closer and closer, inch by inch. 'Move, move, MOVE DAMN YOU!' Her mind screamed. The moment felt like it was stretching on for eternity, her pleas thrumming through her body more and more, until finally she moved.

"Hmm?" Ryuko stood there for a split second, her grab attempt meeting only air. In that second, her eyes bulged as he felt something similar to a bullet attempt to pierce right through her throat, like a point-blank bolt of lightning hitting her with a thunderous *CRACK*. The shock and pain was enough to immediately make her revert into her hybrid-state, massaging her throat for a moment before her eyes snapped up. Rumi had… changed. Her hair seemed to be flowing unnaturally in a non-existent breeze. Tiny sparks leapt from her faintly glowing eyes. She looked as if she had actually grown… thinner? No, more compact, her muscles smaller but denser. Most shocking of all was what appeared to be happening beneath her own skin, at least where it was visible: jagged, tick vein-like lines had appeared just under the surface of her skin, pulsing with a pure white light in fast, rhythmic strobes, like lightning.

'Her blood vessels…?' Ryuko wondered, before the strange shape of the lines banished the idea. 'No, not with that form.' Rumi seemed just as baffled, examining her exposed skin in awe and wonder. She suddenly hissed in pain, and Ryuko flinched in surprise. She swore that she didn't blink, but it was as if time had skipped a frame between Rumi standing up and kneeling to inspect her leg. 'Did… did she just move that fast?' She swallowed, nervous but curious. "Hey!" She called out, suppressing another flinch as she just appeared to skip between kneeling and standing back up. "You still good to fight, or what?"

Rumi paused, a vein popping up on her forehead as she very, very slowly looked at her hand before shifting into a fighting-stance. The glowing lines in her skin suddenly began to pulse faster and faster, even faintly glowing beneath her uniform. "Y…eah…" Rumi forced out, "LET'S!" She suddenly disappeared from sight entirely, Ryuko unable to react as the hair was blown from her face. She tensed up in fear of an attack, only for none to come. Confused, she looked around, before turning to look behind her. Rumi was at the very edge of the ring, struggling not to fall over and lose by ring out, the pulses of light under her skin very slow now. She forced herself to turn around, a frustrated look on her face before she moved to step forward, again suddenly appearing right in front of RYuko, the dragon-girl leaping away in shock.

'Jesus! What the hell is going on with me!?' Rumi thought, trying not to grimace in pain. Everything around her felt so slow. Not to mention, she could see so much more, feel so much more. The way a tiny pebble slowly rolled off the edge of the ring. The way her shirt slowly brushed against her side because of a specific movement. The sharp sensation of the open air scraping against the hundreds torn fibres that was the skin and muscle in her right thigh, and the exact places in which the bones in her hand were broken. And yet, her body had never felt so light before, so alive. 'This insane awareness…' Rumi wondered, slowly coming to a conclusion. 'Reaction-Speed that I can barely control. Extreme sensitivity… this is…!'

'Those are her nerves!' Ryuko realized. 'They're literally engorged, I've never seen nerves that big! But how…?!' She wasn't given time to think as Rumi suddenly appeared in front of her again, grinning this time. Her stomach felt like it was hit with an armour-piercing bullet after being launched by a cannon, her scales cracking from the force as her body was blown back. No, not a single bullet, but rather… 'She hit me three times in a row, in the exact same place!' On instinct, she threw out a sharp punch, only for it to whiff a hairs-width by Rumi's cheek as she appeared in front of her again, two near simultaneous impact on both her sides driving her back even further. This one launched her off of her feet and onto her back.

"Winner by Ringout, RUMI USAGIYAMA!" Midnight suddenly called out as the crowd went wild. Surprised, Ryuko looked down to see that she had indeed been knock out of the ring, sitting right outside the white boundary. Laughing, she reverted back to her human form as she got up and dusted herself off, wincing at the pain in her sides. Rumi currently had her hands on her knees, hunched over as she heaved for air.

"Nice shot Usagiyama! Never knew you had that up your sleeve, that form of yours packs a punch."

"Th-thanks…" Rumi groaned, massaging her head. "Oooh goooood. My brain feels like its been deep-fried…" Ryuko laughed and slung Rumi's arm around her shoulder, carrying her off to the infirmary.

…

"…Mental exhaustion," Recovery-Girl summed up with a small laugh. "You didn't really suffer that much damage, so your stamina is just fine. It's such an interesting evolution to your Quirk!"

"How the hell is my nerves getting huge and my body getting thinner part of my Quirk?" Rumi wondered. "I'm literally part Rabbit. Wouldn't I just transform into… more of a rabbit?"

"Well, consider it like this," Recovery girl said, "Rabbits are normally prey, and as such, their senses are attuned to avoid danger at all costs. Extreme hearing and sensitivity to detect threats, highly stimulated fast-twitch muscles for incredible speed. Sound familiar?"

"…huh." Rumi said, surprised. "So that time I fought Tetsude a month ago, those moments where everything slows down…"

"Was you first tapping into it," The elderly lady confirmed. "Still, use it sparingly. For so much mental exhaustion to be placed on you after only using it for under a minute… I'm not quite sure what the repercussions may be."

"Yeah, fair point," Rumi said. Inwardly though, she was excited. A new level of combat-prowess that she could reach, right at her fingertips. 'The gap just closed between us again, Kendo.' She thought, smiling giddily, something that wasn't missed by Recover Girl. She chuckled to herself, remembering something.

"Oh, speaking of Kendo…"

"I-I never said anything about Kendo," Rumi stuttered slightly, her face a bit red. She got a raised eyebrow in response and relented.

"…He said to 'watch him' this round, and after that to 'get ready for the finals.'"

"Heh…" Rumi chuckled to herself, leaning back and gluing her eyes to the screen. "Yeah… I'm watching. And I'll be ready."

(To Be Continued...)

A.N: About six hours later, and I now remember to put in my ending notes XD. Anyway, we finally get to see what I've had in store for Rumi and her Quirk Evolution! Rabbits by nature are prey, and have senses attuned to avoid danger at all possible costs. I wanted to take the 'senses', 'nerves' and 'reaction-time' as large inspirations to Rumi's new form. She becomes more like a rabbit, just not in the way you would've expected. And of course, now both her and Rappa have a final trump-card to utilise! As for using it in the tournament? Well, Rappa's just gonna have to get past hos own Semi-final match, now isn't he? That being said, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and see y'all next time! Peace!