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Present Mic stuck his arms in the air.
"Let's get fired up!"
An icy aroma formed around Todoroki's arm and green electricity was created around Izuku.
"FIGHT!"
Todoroki stomped his right foot and sent a barrage of ice hurtling towards Izuku.
Izuku got in a boxer's stance as he channeled his power.
"This might be tricky, but I gotta hit the weak points of the ice!"
He stood still as the ice came in close enough range.
"Just keep punching forward!"
The ice encaved over him.
"Todoroki just landed a huge attack on Midoriya! It's just like what happened against Sero! Is Midoriya done already!? Lame..."
Compared to when Todoroki had frozen Sero, this time, Izuku was nowhere to be seen. There were only the glistening reflections of the shining ice tips.
Class 1-A, excluding a few, were stunned.
"I-Is he even okay in there!?" Ochako uttered.
Momo looked unsure.
"I saw him before he was covered, he started repeatedly punching the ice fast, carefully aiming his attacks in front of him."
"He's digging..." Enso remarked.
"Eh?" A few people turned to him.
"He's literally digging through."
Todoroki walked towards the glacier, waiting for Midnight to announce his victory before he would melt it.
But instead of hearing Midnight's announcement, he heard some thumping from inside the glacier, making him stop.
"Is he still moving in there?"
The thumps turned to cracks, making Todoroki's eyes widen.
A large segment of the ice in front of Todorki then shattered and sent many jagged pieces right at him.
Seeing this threat, Todoroki was quick to form a small pillar of ice in front of him, blocking the sharp projectiles from hitting him.
But because he had covered his entire front, that also included his line of sight.
"SMAAAAAASH!"
A fist smashed through the ice in front of Todorki, continuing through until it slammed right into his stomach.
"Nani!? Midoriya got out of the ice and managed to land a solid blow on Todoroki!?"
Todoroki was sent flying back, bouncing off the ground before forming ice in his path to stop.
Izuku landed on his feet and panted, a white breath coming out from the coldness of the area.
"I can't let him recover!"
He raised his fingers up, aiming them at Todoroki.
"Delaware Smash 10%!"
He flicked his finger, and a force of wind was sent towards the cold boy.
Being close to the edge of the ring, Todoroki didn't want to risk getting sent outside. He leaped to the side while forming ice, using it to slide away from the edge while avoiding Izuku's attack.
"He's sliding around!?" Izuku thought as he watched the boy skate around him.
"Hey! That looks like fun!" Mic shouted.
Todoroki stopped his slide and jumped off, landing on his feet before sending a wave of ice towards Izuku, this one smaller than before.
Seeing the reduced size of the barrage, Izuku pulled his right arm back and charged up.
"Can take this out in one punch! I just need more power!"
Izuku ran forward and swung it his arm, charging more power than before.
"Detroit Smash, 15%!" When his fist collided with the ice, it stung a little, but in return, he was able to smash away the ice that came at him.
However, he didn't notice that as Todorki sent the wave of ice at him, he ran long it himself, jumping right before Izuku smashed it.
"Todoroki is trying to get in close!"
"He's trying to get from above!" Momo realized as she saw this.
Luckily, Izuku caught the sight of Todoroki's shadow over him, looking up to see Todoroki swinging his fist down at him.
"If I block, then he'll just freeze me!"
Izuku jumped back as Todoroki's fist hit the ground, freezing the part he hit with jagged spikes coming around him.
Todoroki then turned his head and in a glared and spread more ice from his fist spreading right at Izuku, who was in the air from jumping back.
"He can't dodge the ice!" Iida saw with a worried look.
Seeing the ice coming at him, Izuku charged power in his leg.
"15%!..."
He stuck his leg out and performed a 360 spin in the air.
"Smash!" He swung his leg and struck the ice with mightier force than his punches did, breaking away the oncoming glacier easier.
Izuku landed on his feet, slightly sliding before coming to a stop.
He panted heavily, but not because of exhaustion.
He was angry.
"He... He really isn't using all of his power!?"
His thoughts were interrupted as more ice came at him.
Enso narrowed his eyes at the unfolding battle.
"If Izuku keeps punching the ice head-on, then his hands will end up getting numb as the fight progresses... He could've gone a simpler way to win this fight, so why is he resorting to such a brute method to get through?"
He watched as Izuku sidestepped and swung his arm at a small barrage of ice, shattering it, but his fists were slightly shaking.
"Wait..."
He watched as Izuku kept punching through the ice, paying close attention to Todoroki's right arm frosting up.
"Izuku... You're trying to stall him out so that he uses his left side..."
Izuku majestically jumped over a wave of ice, and upon landing, he smashed more oncoming ice with his fists.
Enso sighed, closing his eyes.
"Idiot..."
Izuku dashed at Todoroki once more. The ice teen responding by gritting his teeth and sending more ice at him.
Izuku slightly bent his knees and leaped high into the air, avoiding the ice that came at him.
Todoroki looked up at Izuku's shadow momentarily covering the sun, so he pointed his hand up and created a pillar of ice spreading upward at the boy.
Rather than smashing the ice, Izuku manipulated his body in the air by flipping forward, avoiding it, and letting the barrage go past him underneath. Izuku then spun and landed with both of his feet on the ice, using it to slide down for a moment before leaping once more at Todoroki.
"From above!?" Todororki jumped back and stacked more ice in front of him.
Izuku flipped forward and stuck his leg out.
"Manchester..."
He swung that leg downward in an ax-kick right upon the ice.
"Smash!"
His kick smashed through the ice and continued all the way to the ground, pulverizing it and creating a shockwave that blew Todoroki back a small distance away.
Izuku got to his feet, taking deep breaths as he clenched his hands into fists again.
Todoroki stood up straight and grit his teeth in anger, his right arm clearly frosted over and causing him to tremble.
Izuku glared at him and found his own anger building up as he finally brought up the question.
"Why aren't you using your full power!?"
Todoroki was taken aback by this question, but it also seemed to make him even angrier.
"What?" He said, voice full of venom.
"Why aren't you using your full power like everyone else!? Why aren't you using your left side!?"
"You know why!" As Todoroki shouted this back, he sent another wave of ice forward.
"It isn't as fast as before... The ice is starting to get to him." Izuku thought as he jumped to the side.
Todoroki ran on the offensive, running in closer to Izuku.
"I'm not using my left! Because it's his power!"
Izuku dashed forward as well, but being much faster with his quirk, he got in front of Todoroki in a flash.
"His power!?" Izuku shouted angrily as he swung his right arm and connected right into Todoroki's stomach.
"Nngh!" Despite the pain, Todoroki reached down and grabbed the arm Izuku used, suddenly freezing it in a second before getting sent flying back.
Izuku was shocked to see that his arm had been frozen, jumping back and gazing down at it. His arm had been frozen up to the upper part of it, and he felt it already getting numb, especially after punching ice so many times before.
Todoroki tumbled on the ground before ice stuck up and stopped him. He visibly shook as he stood back to his feet, using a small pillar of ice to support himself.
"You're right side has already taken a toll on you, Todoroki! You can easily solve that with your left side!" Izuku tried to convince him.
Todoroki just scowled at him. "Did my old man buy you off!? Even you?!"
Izuku stood up straight, ignoring the ice on his arm as he shouted.
"No! It's not that!" Izuku's unfrozen hand gripped into a tight fist. "Everyone has been fighting with everything they've got! You saw them!"
Izuku then pointed a finger at him, "Yet, you're trying to win with only half your strength!?"
Todoroki had about enough, "I don't need his quirk to win! I'll beat you with only my right side and prove that I can become a true hero without any of his power!"
Hearing him, Izuku's eyes dilated in anger, his body shaking not from the cold but from the rage he was feeling.
"I'll beat you, and reject him right now! So go, DOWN!" More ice froze over Todoroki's own arm as he sent the most significant wave of ice he could throw at once at Izuku, aiming to finish the match.
Izuku looked down and clenched his teeth, hating everything he was hearing from his opponent.
"Is he really… not gonna use his quirk?"
"Todoroki keeps attacking with overwhelming power! Is this the finishing attack!" Present Mic yelled.
Izuku's mind could only flashback to Todoroki's claim.
"Without using my damn old man's quirk... No... I'll reject him completely by winning first place without it!"
Izuku didn't even notice when the world turned slow around him, the ice slowly making its way towards him.
All sources of sound had been cut off from his mind, his eyes were wholly shadowed, and his blood boiled.
"Everyone is trying so hard..."
He thought about Kendo fighting against him, he thought about Momo crying upon losing, he thought about all the pain Ochako went through just trying to beat Bakugo.
"They're all trying their best, they all wanted to show that they would be willing to give their everything to be number one..."
Izuku could feel something building up.
"And yet..."
He saw flashes of news broadcasts depicting murdered heroes and victims.
"He thinks he can become a hero like this?..."
His mind was getting cloudy in black.
He snapped.
"You'll never become a true hero!"
Todoroki felt a chill that wasn't from his ice for the first time ever, his eyes widened and he took a step back in shock.
Before all the ice that had been charging towards Izuku suddenly exploded in an explosion of black from the boy, abruptly being sent back at Todoroki in shattered pieces and with more powerful winds than ever before.
"Nani!?" Toshinori's eyes widened.
Mina and Hagakure shot up from their seats with gaped expressions.
Momo and Ochako couldn't help but feel scared when they saw a familiar color around Izuku.
Tsu and Jiro stared in stun silence.
Bakugo grit his teeth.
Enso narrowed his eyes.
The force of this explosion of darkness forcefully pushed Todoroki back, his feet dragging against the ground as he struggled to form ice behind him in a desperate plea to stop moving.
Right as he got near the edge of the arena, Todoroki just managed to stop moving with ice finally being able to slow him down into a stop.
He had his head down and used his ice to support himself.
"What... the hell was that?"
Todoroki pulled himself up, leaning against his ice.
"I heard... two voices?"
He raised his head up but was shocked to see a black aura surrounding Izuku.
Enso leaned forward in his seat, "He activated it... He activated Ikari and created an explosion of force to shatter the ice... Even the ice that was on his arm is gone."
Todoroki's glared tried to drill holes through Izuku.
"You bastard… You bring out that power of yours now...?"
The black aura around Izuku almost seemed flamed like, but it was also able to be seen through to the boy's body.
"Why...? Why now is it coming up!? Why are you going soo far?!"
Izuku lifted his head up to Todoroki.
Todoroki recoiled back as he saw a more than just angry glare from Izuku. His innocent green eyes had changed to a devilish red, his scleras had turned black, and red veins boldly shown in his eyes.
"I'm going far because I actually want to become a true hero." He said in a chilling mixture of voices.
Izuku's aroma was overwhelmingly intense, the people in the arena could feel themselves shivering from it rather than the cold temperature.
Izuku rose his arm in front of him, clenching his hand tightly into a fist.
"You're going to hold back your power, even when someone can die because of it?!"
"What the hell is with this guy!?"
"Shut up!" Todoroki sent another barrage of ice headed towards him.
Izuku slowly pulled his right arm back, and the black aura around it started vibrating intensely.
"WHAT KIND OF HERO HOLDS BACK THEIR POWER!?"
He swung his arm and punctured through the ice, shattering the front and creating a powerful air force that pierced through the ice and made its way right at Todoroki.
Todoroki saw himself as a child again, hugging his mom with tears in his eyes.
"I don't wanna mom... I... I... I don't wanna be like dad!"
He snapped out of his thought just in time to slide to the side right before the force of air came at him. It collided with the ice he left behind, causing an impact that shattered it and creating a shockwave strong enough that blew the cold teen off the ground and to the side.
In the air, his mind just went back to that same moment as a child, his mom gently caressing his hair.
"But you want to be a hero, don't you?"
He bounced off the ground.
"It's okay for you to become one."
He tumbled along the ground before slamming into ice he brought up to stop, then falling to the ground on his chest and visibly shaking.
"Why...?" Todoroki struggled to get up, he used his right arm to get up, despite it frosting with the rest of his right side.
He saw his mom in the kitchen, talking on the phone.
"I'm going crazy... Every day, the children are becoming more like him! Shoto... His left side scares me, a-as if he's going to become another one of 'him'! I-I can't do this anymore..."
"Mom...?" The small Todoroki called out, slightly trembling.
His mom flinched and slowly turned around to face him, a terrified look in her eyes.
He heard a boiling pot of water.
Todoroki got back up to his feet, his teeth grinding as he thought about it, putting his hand on his scar.
"He... He made her do this to me... I will reject using-!"
He saw a flash of black appear in front of him, his eyes widened to see Izuku's threatening eyes in front of him.
"It's not... HIS POWER!"
Izuku swung his leg and slammed it right into Todoroki's stomach, causing the boy to cough out the air from his lungs.
Todoroki was sent back several yards away once more, feeling tears starting to form in his eyes.
"Who chooses when to use it, who decides how much power to bring out?!"Izuku screamed.
Todoroki landed in a crouching manner, holding his stomach in pain.
"I..." He whimpered, not even knowing what to say.
Izuku let out one last line.
"IT'S YOUR POWER! ISN'T IT!?"
Those words hit Todoroki harder than any attack Izuku did.
He saw his childhood flashing by, finding himself sitting beside his mother. The two of them smiled as they watched the television where All Might had just saved several people once again from a fire crisis.
But it was the voice of All Might himself commentating over that event that was important.
"Children can inherit quirks from their parents. But that connection doesn't matter, what does matter is recognizing your own flesh and blood! Recognizing yourself!"
The screen showed All Might giving a thumbs up.
"That is what I mean when I say... 'I Am Here!'"
"WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE TODOROKI!? WHY ARE YOU HERE!?" Izuku shouted.
He remembered his mother's words again.
"But you want to be a hero, don't you? It's okay for you to become one."
"How...? How could I...?" Todoroki thought, tears going down his eyes.
The rest of her words came flowing in.
"You don't have to be a prisoner of your blood. It's okay for you to become… who you want to be."
Todoroki felt the ice shields around his heart melt, delivering the first warm feeling that he had ever felt in so long.
His pupils shook as his left side erupted in flames.
"Th-This is-!?" Present Mic shouted.
Iida and Momo were shocked, remembering when Todoroki claimed that he wouldn't use his left side in battle.
"H-He used it!"
Ochako smiled, "Deku! You... You wanted to make him use it!"
"He actually got him to use his left side… that's so manly!" Kirishima yelled as he clenched his fists.
"Won't that make the battle even harder for him now!? Was helping Todoroki use his fire really worth it!?" Mineta yelled.
Momo turned her head with a smile, "Izuku knew that Todoroki has to learn to use his left side... Otherwise, he'll never become the hero he wants to be."
"I still think Midori is gonna win!" Mina yelled with a grin.
Toshinori stared in wonder. "You made him use his left side..." He grinned. "You wanted to save young Todoroki after all..."
"I... I want to be a hero, that's why I'm here!" Todoroki shouted, smiling despite the tears coming down his face.
Izuku stared in awe at the beautiful assortment of flames in front of him, feeling all of his previous anger disappear. Along with his rage, the black colors around Izuku faded away, changing his eyes back to their brilliant shining green color.
Enso stared down rather curiously, "Izuku doesn't even seem to realize that he activated Ikari again... Just because he felt angry at Todoroki for not using his flames. Now that he is using it though... He calmed down and it stopped."
Endeavor had an evil grin, "He... He finally used it!"
He unfolded his arms and looked up with his own flames bursting up in excitement.
"SHOTOOOOOOOOO!"
"Huh?" Present Mic, along with nearly the entire audience, thought as they heard the number two hero's rather excited yell.
Endeavor made his way down the stairs. "Have you finally accepted yourself!? Good! It all starts from here on out!"
Todoroki nor Izuku bothered to listen to him.
Todoroki just grinned as he spoke, "You were talking about using my full power just now, so why did you suddenly stop using yours?"
Izuku's smile faded as he realized exactly what had happened a moment ago.
"I-I did bring it out, didn't I!? I-I brought out Ikari!?" His eyes stared down to his hands for a brief moment.
Todoroki chuckled, "Judging by that look on your face, you didn't even realize you used it. This will be twice as hard for you now, you know?"
Izuku returned his concentration on Todoroki and chuckled as well, "Yeah... You may be right, but..." He got into another fighting stance. "I don't plan to lose!"
Todoroki stomped on the ground and created the most tremendous bombardment of ice he could create, sending rapidly to Izuku to finally finish this match. The ice covered the entire field and rose higher than Izuku's height, many jagged spikes within it as well.
Izuku just grinned.
"Full Cowling 5%!" He leaped over the wave of ice as it came at him.
He wouldn't be able to reach Todoroki in one jump, so instead, he improvised by sticking his legs down and started surfing on the ice under him.
He leaned left and right to avoid the jagged ice spikes in his way, making his way towards Todoroki.
"One punch..."
Todoroki saw him and raised his newly flaming left arm up. The ice blindingly reflected the light of his flames as they came out bursting at Izuku.
"One punch is all I need!"
Seeing these flames reaching him, Izuku pointed his finger to the right.
"Delaware smash 10%!"
He flicked his finger to the right.
The force caused Izuku to slide in the opposite direction and out of the path of the flames.
Going the wrong way, Izuku jumped and used his feet to land on top of one of the large spikes, using it to jump off and head at Todoroki again.
"Todoroki must be thinking the same thing! He wants to finish this as fast as possible as well! So..."
Izuku landed on ice only for a moment before leaping up in the air again.
"COME AT ME WITH EVERYTHING TODOROKI!" Izuku shouted, pulling his arm back for a punch.
Hearing this, Todoroki raised his flaming hand at Izuku, smiling peacefully.
"Of course, Midoriya..."
All the flames he could bring out suddenly blasted right at Izuku.
"Detroit Smash..."
Toshinori saw Izuku's entire right arm light up, making him shoot up from his seat. "Don't tell me he's gonna-!?"
Izuku was already throwing his arm forward.
"...100%!"
"MIDNIGHT!" Cementoss shouted as he started frantically sending cement to intercept the two.
"I KNOW!" Midnight tore a piece of her sleeve to try to get her aroma to them.
But by then, the two were already unleashing everything they had.
Todoroki closed his eyes.
"Midoriya..."
Izuku's punch met with Todoroki's barrage of flames.
"Thank you..."
The cold air was heated and suddenly expanded, the two forces of attacks met in the middle of the stadium, resulting in an explosion that spread through the arena.
"KYAH!" Midnight was sent spiraling in the air like a ragdoll.
Powerful winds gusted through the crowd, forcing everyone to either shield their faces or hold onto their belongings in fear of having them blown away as well.
"What the hell!?" Kaminari shouted over the winds blowing against him and his ears.
"What happened!?" Momo shouted as she shielded her eyes.
"THIS IS AWESOME!" Mina shouted louder than anyone else while covering her own ears.
Todoroki effectively kept himself in place by continuously creating blocks of ice behind him, forcibly getting pressed up against them from the force of his own attack. He only saw a wall of mist and smoke covering his line of sight.
"I've won this... Midoriya was in the air when our attacks collided! He must've gotten launched back and out of the arena! He-!"
Suddenly, from the wall of mist, two legs came out.
Todoroki's eyes widened, "What!?"
"SMAAAAAAASH!"
The of his body then followed, revealing Izuku grinning madly as his feet both slammed right into Todoroki's chest.
Todoroki's back smashed through his own wall of ice and continued to be sent flying back. Izuku tumbled on the ground with multiple spikes of pain going through his now broken arm each time he rolled on it.
...Then all was silent.
Everyone was quiet as they waited for the mist, smoke, and ash to clear up.
Present Mic had fallen out of his seat when the explosion happened, eyes twitching and legs up.
"What the heck is up with your class, Eraserhead!?"
Momo stood up from her seat and slightly leaned over the edge, anxiously searching for any sign of Izuku.
"Jeez, I can't see a thing! Hey! Who won the match!?"
Everyone waited as the field of vision started returning, the mist clearing up to reveal several things.
The One For All user was lying on his back against the ground, panting hard with his right arm wholly broken. He was drenched in sweat, and his shirt had gotten entirely burned off, revealing his built up, chiseled body to the crowd.
Todoroki, on the other hand, had a hand over his chest and was gritting his teeth in pain from Izuku's dropkick, kneeled over with the left half of his shirt burnt from his own flames. He had landed on the wall and bounced off it before then crouching in the pain he felt now.
Midnight stood up from the ground and held the back of her head, her red glasses gone out of existence as she turned to the two contestants.
She took note of their positions, pointing her whip.
"Todoroki is out of bounds! Midoriya wins!" Midnight stated.
The crowd went ballistic.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Hagakure shouted with invisible fists in the air.
Momo let out a breath of relief, feeling herself smiling ear to ear.
"He did it... He saved Todoroki and still won..."
Enso nonchalantly stood up in his chair. "He made his match so unnecessarily hard..."
He stared at Izuku's relieved expression.
"But..."
He stared at Izuku's glistening smile.
"That's why he's already such a hero..."
He turned and started walking.
"Enso!"
"Hm?" He turned as saw Iida there with a determined look on his face.
"What is it?"
"You're getting ready for our battle, correct?" Iida asked him.
He stared in silence for a moment.
"I'm fighting you?"
"You didn't even check your next opponent!?" Iida shouted.
"Nope."
"I... see." Iida adjusted his glasses. "I just wished to say that I hope that we have a good battle!"
Enso nodded, "I hope so too."
They both left in opposite directions.
Mina's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, but not even from the battle, she was staring at something else that had caught her attention.
"D-Did Midori always have those muscles?"
A few people's eyes blinked as they glanced down at Izuku shirtless.
"Huh? Yeah, we've seen them all the time in the locker room.." Kirishima said.
"He... is more built-up than I thought." Tsu said with a hidden pink blush.
Mina turned to Hagakure and brought her close, blushing as she did so.
"T-Toru... I..."
"Eh?" Toru blinked.
"I-I... wanna ask him out now..."
"...oh."
Todoroki had his head down as he registered what happened.
"I... Lost?"
He sighed, thinking about it.
"But how did Midoriya not get sent out of bounds by the explosion? What could he have...?"
Todoorki raised his head, his question answered when he saw Izuku get up as well.
Along with his right arm being broken, Izuku's left hand had just one broken finger.
Todoroki's eyes widened. "You... You broke your finger?"
Izuku struggled to walk off the arena and approached Todoroki, smiling as he did so.
"I knew that punch wouldn't be enough... So I kind had to shoot for you."
Todoroki realized it.
"You mean you sent yourself flying at me?"
Izuku chuckled, "Yeah... It was kind of a gamble because I didn't know if you would be in the same spot as after our attacks collided, but... I had to finish the fight soon."
Todoroki closed his eyes and leaned his head down.
"I see... I was utterly defeated..."
"I wouldn't say that, you were too strong for me to easily beat."
Izuku offered him his left hand.
"Here."
Todoroki glanced up at Izuku's hand, staring at it for a moment before smiling.
He grabbed it.
Except they both forgot that Izuku had a broken finger.
"OW!"