Chapter 26: Midoriya vs Todoroki: Winds of Change!
"With Jotaro's fight against Bakugou, we are now ready to move on to the semi finals," Mic announced. "For the first semi final, in the blue corner, we have the man that has exploded his opponents with his quirk and his personality, the second strongest of class 1-A, Katsuki Bakugou. And in the red corner, we have the person that had hardened his way through the sports festival, even going against the person that is his literal copy, Kirishima Eijiro." Mic announced. The 2 boys walked out from opposite ends of the stadium, glaring at each other. Taking a stance for the fight.
"CLASH!"
As soon as the bell rang, Kirishima dashed at Katsuki. He shot an explosion at Kirishima who hardened himself to lessen the damage. "You can't make me flinch when I'm as hard as a rock," he said. He dashed near Katsuki and Katsuki dodged every punch that was thrown at him. Kirishima kept coming at him while taking the hits. However, the more hits he took, the weaker his hardening shield got. He finally reached his limit and was released.
Katsuki threw one final explosion at him and he was sent flying out of the ring. Katsuki smirked.
"Kirishima is out of bounds. "Katsuki Bakugo advances!"
Later it was the second match of the finals.
"We have the strongest person, both physically and emotionally, the boy who stood up for his girl and even took a beating for her, from class 1-A, the class rep, Izuku Midoriya. In the right corner, we have the man who has ended his matches in mere seconds, the son of the number 2 hero, the boy who has made it till here with just his ice, Shoto Todoroki."
The 2 boys were walking out from the 2 different ends of the stadium, when Izuku was stopped mid-way by the flaming piece of shit, Endeavour, technically, he walked right into the huge man. "I'm so sorry, sir." he told the large man.
"You're Midoriya right, All Might has his eyes on you. But I'm afraid I cannot allow you to interfere with my son's destiny." Izuku gulped.
"So I need you to lose to Shoto and get him to use his fire in this match. He is in a rebellious phase and I need him to get out of it to be my successor." Izuku was shocked.
"You wanna use him as your tool?" Izuku asked. "To surpass all might."
"Look, Endeavour, I am not all might." Izuku stated. "of course, you're not." "exactly, and Todoroki is not you," Izuku said standing up to him, "I will get him to acknowledge his fire, but it will not be for you, it will be for himself." Izuku told the man before leaving, "I may not know about Todoroki, but I won't force him to use his quirk for your own benefit."
Izuku walked out of the stadium, keeping his eyes on Shoto.
Midnight takes the mic, "Are you all ready!?" she shouted. "Fighters ready….. Fight!"
Todoroki immediately jumped away making some distance between the 2, launching a barrage of ice on the green haired boy which he dodged. Todoroki threw more pieces of ice at Izuku to which he dodged channeling Power Stack into his legs.
"Midoriya proves that Leg Day isn't a bad thing!" Present Mic said, "Look how he narrowly dodges those pieces of ice with ease!"
Todoroki did another ice attack.
Izuku responded to the attack with a smash breaking the ice. All Might was watching. "Power Stack+ strikes again," he said.
Izuku was noticing what Todoroki was attempting to do. "It looks like he's trying to keep his distance against me," he said to himself, "Fortunately I can break his ice at 10% otherwise I'd be in trouble."
He then threw another punch that missed the ice coming at him and a sudden burst of air that missed Todoroki by a foot.
The piece of ice hits Izuku which he has to punch away, the punch causes Izuku's arm to slightly sting as he overcharged his quirk, but the pain quickly went away thanks to his fast healing. All Might was surprised by this. Izuku smirked. "Maybe I can use this," he said.
Katsuki, Ochako and Camie were watching him. "Deku is full of surprises," Katsuki, "now he can use air?" "You can do it Deku!" Ochako screamed. Inko was watching from home. "Izuku, baby…."
OFA Vision-Scape
Izuku opened his eyes and found himself in the same area. "What just happened?" Izuku asked himself. Nana Shimura appeared in front of him once again. "Grandmother?"
Nana smiled. "It seems you've been able to tap into your own quirk while channeling it with One For All," she said. Izuku was confused. "What do you mean?"
Nana walked over to him. "One For All not only grants users with quirks of various users, but in turn it enhances the ones they were born with," she explained, "Your quirk for example; It allows you to enhance your strength and speed. And now, it grants you with stronger wind pressure."
Izuku started to explain. "So when I threw that punch…." "You threw a gust of wind that shattered Torodoki's ice," she explained. Izuku was amazed. "You have other ways of controlling the air around you, and you might even inherit a stronger version of your mother's quirk," Nana said, "With these abilities, you will no doubt become a strong hero!"
Izuku woke up from his vision to see Torodoki shivering. "Wha…." he said. "Those pros now see that I'm more than the son of the no 2 hero," Todoroki said, "And thanks to you Midoriya, that guy's face makes him look like he is put in his place." Todoroki walked closer.
"I'm not sure what tricks you're hiding, but I think we should end this right here and now."
Izuku walked forward.
"I couldn't agree more. But I noticed something about your quirk. There's a limit to how much cold your body can take."
"What?" Todoroki asked.
"Look at you, you're shivering Todoroki, any longer and you will be risking hypothermia. You need to use your fire. You believe you can take me on with only half of your power, but you haven't been able to even scratch me once. So get over here and fight me!"
Todoroki grinned. "As you wish!" He dashed at Izuku who dodged.
He channeled Power Stack and OFA together at a small percent. He then punched Torodoki hard, sending him flying the opposite direction. His arm felt a bit of pain. "Why are you going this far?" Todoroki asked.
"I wanna live up to All Might's expectations," Izuku said, "To be a hero like him, and save people with a smile on my face! How the hell can you expect to be no 1 if you're only using half of your strength?!"
Those words brought back memories.
Even as a child he was trained by his father. But his training was beyond extreme. "Now stand up and fight!" Endeavor said, "If this is all it takes for you to fall, you have no chance against All Might." His mother didn't want to see this anymore.
"Don't do this, he's only 5 years old!" she pleaded.
"Don't get in my way!" Endeavor shouted. He slapped her.
Todoroki hated every minute of the training he endured. He believed his father was attempting to turn him into a clone. "I hate it," he said crying into his mother's chest, "I never wanna be like my papa…. I don't wanna be somebody who bullies others." His mother comforted him. "But you still wanna be a hero don't you?" she asked.
Some days he would look and see his older siblings playing. "Stop looking Shouto!" Endeavor said pulling him from the window, "Those people should not be affiliated with someone like you."
Then one day. Something terrible happened. Todoroki looked to see his mother talking on the phone. "I can't take it anymore," she said, "Every day, those kids… they turn out to be more like their father…. And Shouto… his scar looks unbearable. It reminds me of him…"
Todoroki was shocked to hear this. "If I raise him the way he is…."
"Mama?" Todoroki asked. She was startled and accidentally threw hot boiling water on his face. The next day Todoroki was wondering where his mother went. "Where is she?" he asked.
"She ruined my masterpiece so I had her sent to the hospital," Endeavor said, having no regret for his action. "That…. Was your fault!" Todoroki shouted.
Flashback Over
Izuku was running at Todoroki. From his point of view, it was as if time slowed down. "The fire is your power, not your father's!" Izuku yelled. Those words reminded Todoroki of words that he heard All Might say on TV, about an individual's quirk being their own unique quirk. "You're not a slave to Endeavor," Izuku said, "Be the hero you wanna be!"
Todoroki made his decision. He created a fire wave. People were watching. All Might was surprised. "I'm gonna be a hero!" Todoroki said.
Izuku smirked. "Alright, finally some excitement!" He channeled up energy. "Power Stack+ Full Cowling!" They clashed at each other with their quirks. The battle was intense as Izuku and Todoroki refused to back down despite their injuries. Todoroki shot huge fireballs at Izuku and he narrowly dodged them. He channeled up energy to his arm and delivered a punch.
Todoroki blocked using Ice.
"Getting me to use my other side of my quirk in your current state, you must be out of your mind. But whatever happens, I'm happy as I am now." He charged up for a powerful quirk using both fire and ice. Izuku stood there waiting for him to attack.
As the fire and ice came towards him, Izuku put his arms together. Inko was watching the events unfold. "Oh my baby Izuku…." she said, "Get outta there!" Izuku was channeling Power Stack into his arms, and air was flying around his fingertips.
"Carolinaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…. SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
He moved his hands away unleashing a powerful gust of wind in the shape of an X. The blow was so hard it unleashed a shockwave blowing all around the stadium. It even knocked Present Mic out of his seat. Literally. "What the hell kinda kids are you teaching?!" He asked. "Looks like he applied heat to the air which expanded." The smoke started to fade away and a show was seen by Midnight. The smoke cleared. Izuku was still standing, even though his uniform was completely screwed up. Todoroki was knocked out of bounds.
"Midoriya advances to the finals!" Midnight said.
The crowd went wild after seeing such an incredible performance. Ochako and Tsu hugged each other and jumped for joy. Kirishima cheered loud for his pal.
Inko was crying a big river of tears seeing her son still alive.
"IZUKU MY BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU, YOU WORKED SO HARD FOR THIS!"
Izuku was walking back to the recovery room to get his injuries healed. "That was quite a show you put on, son," All Might said from behind. Izuku smiled.
"Thanks Dad, but I had to get someone else to give it 100%," Izuku stated, "This whole day I've seen people giving it their all in their matches. I bet you were one of them back in your day."
All Might looked down to his son. "This may surprise you Izuku, but I was actually quirkless when I started." Izuku looked at All Might in disbelief. "You? Quirkless?" All Might nodded. "Your grandmother trained me regardless, and told me that I still had what it took to be a hero. She knew I would achieve great things in the future. I can tell you'll achieve greatness with your quirk as well." Izuku nodded.
"Though next time, when you want to pull off a more successful Carolina Smash, channel your quirk, and then the wind into it," All Might suggested. "Huh, I guess that explains why I used more power than I intended," Izuku said, "Other than that, I was spectacular!" Todoroki approached them both.
He then bowed to Izuku. "Thank you," he said, "Because of you, I finally accepted my other side of my strength and can use it for me now." Izuku looked to Todoroki.
"Don't thank me," he said, "You made the choice." Todoroki smiled.
"If anybody deserves to be the next no 1 Midoriya, you do. You don't fight only for yourself, you fight for others. I see that now." Izuku nodded. "Don't expect me to go easy on you the next time we fight each other," Todoroki said, "Next time I'll go all out."
Izuku grinned. "I'll be waiting.