Green Bean was full of teenage angst as he sat alone in the waiting room. He twiddled his fingers and tried to think of strategies to use against Prince Icy Hot. "Okay maybe I can punch the hell out of him at 5 percent of my true power, and knock him out of the ring. But there's no way he'll let me get close enough to hit him." He looked at his hands. "Great, so that means I'll probably have to break my hand bones over and over and over again to win this match." He scratched the back of his head. "But I'm probably not going to win anyway. I'm just not on his power tier right now. Besides, I want to help him develop his character more than I want to win. Yeah, I'm gonna yell at him so hard—"

His muttering was interrupted by Mic Man's voice over the intercom. "ROUND TWO IS FIXIN' TO START!" He screamed.

"Welp, here we go," Green Boi said as he headed out the door. As he walked down the hallway his eyes started watering. "Dammit why am I crying?" he wondered aloud. "I'm not even sad or anything." He was too busy wiping his face to pay attention to where he was walking, and he accidentally bumped into something big and muscular. He looked up, while apologizing, "Oops, my bad," and saw that he had bumped into none other than, "ABUSIVE FIRE DADDY!" Even though Icy Hot had warned Green Boi about his father, Green Bean couldn't help but fall into fanboy mode.

"Yes. I've been looking for you," the giant fire man replied.

"Oh my goodness I'm standing right in front of the number two hero in Japan and I don't even have my notebook to ask for an autograph and—"

"I was watching your fight against Mind Control Kid and I saw your impressive fingering technique. That power reminds me of someone else. Someone I despise."

"Sorry Daddy I don't want to disappoint you."

"Your power reminds me of All American Blonde Superman."

Green Bean panicked. He looked down. He tried to deflect the question. "Oh does it? Weird, huh?"

"Tell me, are you somehow connected to that guy?"

"No Daddy, I'm not." And he tried to walk away from Fire Daddy as calmly as possible.

"My son will one day surpass All American as the number one hero. That is his duty. That is his sole purpose in life."

Green Boi stopped walking.

Daddy kept talking. "This match with you will be good training for him. So I want you to fight him as hard as you can. Use 100 percent of your power. Don't hold back. Show no mercy. Do you understand, boy? Anyway that's all I wanted to say. Please excuse me for interrupting your crying—"

Green Boi clenched his hands into fists, and tensed his shoulders. "Listen Daddy. I am not All American."

"Huh? I didn't say you were. I said your power reminds me of—"

"And your son isn't you, either! He has hopes and dreams of his own! So don't go telling him that his purpose is to stroke your ego! If you can't beat All American, then that's that! And so what? Second place is just as good, especially when you're compared to a god-tier superhero! How dare you even think that you can come close to the Almighty? Do you want to be god, Daddy?!"

Fire Daddy blinked. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? No, what's wrong with you?! You sinful wreck of a human being, do you actually think that you can raise a son to surpass god? You're delusional."

And Green Boi stomped down the hall. Flame Lord Fire Daddy blinked. "Sinful?" he repeated.

…

Mic Man screamed, "It's about to happen! The animation budget says that this might be the flashiest battle of the entire tournament! Walking on stage now is the boy whose first battle made us all freeze, figuratively and literally! His icy demeanor chills me to the bone! He's the royal heir of ice and fire! It's Half White Prince Zuko!"

The Prince walked up the steps onto the stage and exhaled a breath of cold air. He was focused and ready.

"On the other side of the stage is the kid who almost lost his first match, just to keep us in suspense! He sure knows how to put on a show! He's full of surprises, so let's see how he turns the tables this time! It's Precious Green Bean Child!"

Green Boi was equally as focused. But there were tears in his eyes. He wiped them off.

Mic Man pounded on the table in front of him. "Are you ready for some violence! Who will advance to the next round? Let's find out! Battle…"

Green Bean placed one hand in his other hand, and got ready to flick The Prince off.

The Prince stomped his boot, and got ready to chill out.

"START!"

Ice ran across the stage. A gust of wind shattered the ice into snow cone shavings that whipped the audience. It felt like a blizzard had hit the UH Sports Tournament. "I'M FREEZING!" screamed the people closest to the impact.

Well they shouldn't have paid all that money for those court-side seats because, WHOOOSH, another vicious blizzard swept across the stadium. Green Boi had flicked off another attack from Ice Prince.

Up in the stadium, Explochan couldn't believe what he was seeing. He's creating so much wind pressure from just a flick of his fingers! When the hell did he get so strong?

Mic Man screamed, "Holy shit this is wild! Bean Child is countering Prince Zuko's ice attacks!"

Yes, but that's not enough, Green Boi thought as he noticed a wall of ice behind The Prince. As long as he keeps that ice wall up, I can't knock him off the stage. And I only have six more fingers left to break with my Super Finger Attack. Just then, Ice Boi launched another attack, and Green Bean countered it. Five. Dammit. Dammit. I need an opening. I wish I knew more about his fighting style.

Up in the stadium, Class 1-A was blasted by a gust of cold air that tossed their hair about. Red Head Spikey Boi just then returned from the nurse's office, and asked, "What'd I miss?" as he sat down between Sparky Shock Dude and Explochan. Tape Boi was sitting on the other side of Explochan. Tape Boi answered, "Blushy-chan got wrekt by Explodey-Boi. Now it's Green Boi vs Ice Prince."

Red Head winced. "Why did the weak characters go against the strong characters?"

Explochan shouted, "Don't call that Gravity Bitch weak! She tried to kill me! In fact, when she gets back up here I'm gonna choke her out!"

"RELAX DUDE," Spikey Red said. He petted Explochan's head. "I'm guessing she put up a good fight and you didn't expect it, huh?"

"I'm gonna kill you."

"Haha, only in your wet dreams," teased Spikey Red. The rest of the boys laughed at the stolen catchphrase, but Explochan got really angry. "Anyway," continued Spikey Red, "it's too bad my battle was a double knockout, or I'd be the one battling you next round. Haha, that'd be so fun." He leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. "I hope I got scouted by some good agencies during my fight. My super power isn't as flashy as yours or Prince Zuko-kun, so I don't know if I stand out. You guys are so lucky."

"It's not luck, you rock bastard. Quirks are physical abilities, so they can get worn out too. Just like with running or jumping, if you overwork yourself, you get tired." He looked at his hands. "There's only so much power I can produce at once. And if I overuse it, I hurt myself."

"That's true…" Red Head said, as he thought about it. Then they were all hit by another gust of cold air. Red Head looked to the stadium to see that Green Boi had just countered another one of Ice Prince's attacks. Tape Boi realized, "So that's why they pause between attacks. They're reserving their stamina. That means either Green Bean's gonna run out of energy, or Prince Zuko is."

"Doesn't Green Boi hurt himself when he uses his quirk?" Static Shock asked. "It looks like he's in pain right now."

"Oh yeah," Red Head said. "Why is that, Expodey Boi?"

"I DON'T KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HIS DAMN QUIRK!"

…

By now, Blushie was returning to the stadium. She sat between Glasses Boi Engine Legs and Bird Guy. Her eyes were still puffy from crying, but after talking to her Daddy on the phone, she felt much better.

"Sup guys?" she said, trying to pretend that she hadn't been crying. She wasn't very good at that because Engine Legs exclaimed, "There's something wrong with your eyes!"

"Nope, I'm fine. I just was kinda maybe crying maybe a little tiny bit, but fuck it, whatever."

Bird Guy felt sympathy for the poor moe-chan and said, "Tears shed today will become the backbone of your strength for tomorrow."

Glasses Guy and Blushy were genuinely inspired by his poetic words. Engine Legs was so inspired that he too started crying. But their moment of inspiration was cut short when Green Boi smashed the hell out of Ice Prince's large ice attack. The wind whooshed all over them, sending goosebumps down their entire bodies. "Damn, he's strong!" exclaimed Blushy.

Glasses Boi nodded. "It seems like they're both going all out on this battle."

"I hope Green Boi will be okay. He looks like he's in pain."

"I'm sure Nurse Kisses will heal him."

"I dunno. Nurse Kisses told me that she can only heal so much. She can't heal you all at once if you really hurt yourself, because it'll drain your lifeforce."

"That's not good. But I'm absolutely positively sure that Bean Child-kun wouldn't ruin his body to win the Sports Festival. It is just a Sports Festival after all."

The two kept their focus on Greenie.

…

Another ice rush. Another wind storm. Another blizzard of snow. Green Bean only had four fingers left.

Ice Prince scowled deeply at the whimpering boy standing in front of him. He didn't want this match to drag on. Mic Man was screaming about how Green Boi was countering Ice Boi's attacks, but the opposite was also true. Ice Boi was using the full extent of his ice powers to combat Green Boi's super strength. Which meant Ice Boi was chilling his body temperature to dangerous levels. He'd collapse from hypothermia if this battle lasted much longer.

So he ice rushed Green Boi again. As expected, Green Boi SMASHED the ice with a flick of his fingers. But this time Ice Boi ran on top of the pillar of ice he'd created, and jumped in the air. He dropped down, punching the stage beneath him, growing a crystal of ice from the point of contact. The crystal grew fast, nearly capturing Green Boi. But, "SMASH!" Greenie smashed the ice apart. He smashed it apart so hard that it sent both him and Ice Prince flying in opposite directions.

That much wind pressure was painful. Ice Prince felt his stomach drop as he was thrown to the other side of the stage. He smashed through three walls of ice before he finally caught himself in a strong crystal. It felt silly to trap himself in ice, but if he didn't, he would have been knocked off the stage. He looked up to see if Green Boi was still standing. Yes, Greenie was still standing, but he was screaming in pain and holding his left arm. That attack hurt his arm from the recoil, Ice Prince realized. But of course it did. That attack was way too powerful. How is he capable of so much power? And if I don't beat him soon…

Ice Prince struggled to stand up. He pushed away a chunk of ice that had fallen on top of him. The right side of his body was burning. Burning from the cold. He felt numb and heavy. But he couldn't let Green Boi know that he was reaching his limit. He had to be stoic. He had to feign strength. "That attack was stronger than your previous ones," taunted The Prince. He could see the panic in Green Boi's eyes. Green Boi was at his limit. Any moment now, Green Bean would collapse. Although Ice Prince couldn't feel his left hand, but he could feel a sense of victory.

He took a deep breath, and exhaled. He usually did that to gauge the temperature difference between his body and the air around him. Since he could see his breath like a thick fog, he knew he couldn't last much longer. He could launch another three, maybe four attacks. But that was it. After that, he'd completely freeze. He'd pass out and look pathetic.

It'd happened to him many times before. Five years ago, when he first told his daddy that he'd never again use his fire side, his father had said, "Good luck warming yourself up when you're at your limit."

"Fuck you," he had replied. And he had trained. He had trained his body to withstand the cold. He only took cold showers. He only bathed in ice water. He would roll around in the snow wearing only his boxers. He would meditate inside the refrigerator. He would cover his entire body in ice for as long as he could bear it.

And more than once, he'd been rushed to the hospital for hypothermia. He'd suffered mild frostbite several times. Once, he got so cold he fell into a coma for a day.

"Use your fucking fire!" Fire Daddy had yelled at him just last year. And he punched the boy in the face. "Or else you'll kill yourself!"

"Then I'll fucking kill myself," he had replied. He felt that same way now. He'd rather die than please his father. From his peripheral vision, Prince Zuko could see Flame Lord Fire Daddy in the stands, looking down on him with that condescending scowl. He hated that look. He hated his father. He hated his life. He hated everything. And the hate hurt worse than the spasms of his muscles on the ice half of his body.

Green Boi was trembling, squeezing his face in pain, staring at the ground. So Ice Boi taunted, "What's the matter? Are you really that worn out from defending against my attacks?"

Green Boi glared at the Ice Prince.

Ice Prince once more glanced at his father. That bastard is furious. He hates that I'm not using his power. To Greenie, Ice Prince further taunted, "With your hands like that, you can't fight anymore, can you? Why don't we end this?" VROOOM! Ice Prince created a massive ice attack that zoomed toward Green Boi. I'll end it. I'll use everything I've got and knock him out of the ring. Green Boi stood there, head down, trembling in front of the attack. It's over. He's given up. I've won.

Nope.

Green Boi looked up. He said, "I'm not done yet."

Green Boi's counter was so strong. Ice Prince didn't expect it. The wind broke the ice apart, and even worse, pushed Ice Prince to the very, very edge of the stage. Ice Prince almost didn't have enough energy to create ice behind him to stop his momentum. His back slammed against the ice wall that he finally did muster. And he was shocked because, "How did you attack with that broken finger?! Why are you going that far?"

"You're trembling, Prince Zuko."

The gritty way Green Boi said it make the Prince's heart skip a beat.

"I've figured it out. And it makes so much sense now. I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner. Quirks are physical abilities, with limitations. I break my fucking fingers when I smash. You have a limit to the amount of cold you can handle. And I'm sure there's only so much heat you can handle as well. That's why your father made you that way. He wanted to create a version of himself who could regulate the temperature. That's actually really brilliant. He figured out his weakness and sought to solve it."

The Prince didn't know what to say.

"He's an asshole, but he blessed you with a great quirk. If you get too cold, warm up. If you get too hot, cool down. Genius, actually." Green Boi struggled to clench his broken fingers into a fist. Ice Prince heard the grinding of Green Boi's bones as he did so. "That's amazing. You have an amazing quirk. So use it. Use your entire quirk against me."

"What the hell—"

"Because I'm giving it my all. All of us are. All of us are giving it our all to be the best. So how dare you think you can win with only half your strength? I want you to fight me with all your strength Prince Zuko!"

This is emotional warfare. Prince Zuko thought. He got angry. "Daddy bribed you to say that, huh?" He got so angry that he just started running at Green Boi. He didn't even know what his plan was. He just wanted to hit Green Boi across the mouth. He was moving slower that his normal speed because one leg was numb. But he was still fast. He thought he would be able to land a hit.

Wrong. Green Boi punched Ice Boi in the gut. Pain. Ice Boi found himself on the floor. Dizzy. But somehow he had managed to coat Green Boi's broken arm in ice. Standing up, Ice Prince coughed, and once again used ice rush. But the ice was so slow that Green Boi dodged it. Dammit. Ice Prince ran toward Green Boi again, but this time with a plan. He side stepped and tried to reverse behind Green Boi. Green Boi pivoted.

Ice rush.

Wind smash.

Again, both moves cancelled out.

This is bad. I'm worn out.

Ice rush.

Smash.

Ice.

Punch.

Smash.

Ice.

I'm losing focus.

Ice.

Ice.

Punch.

Green Bean flicked his thumb on his mouth. Smash. Ice Prince took the brunt of the attack, and smashed the back of his head against his ice wall. His vision went blurry. Shit. He needed a second to breathe. He shouted, "Why are you putting yourself through this?"

"Because I wanna be a fucking hero!"

For some reason, Ice Prince had a flashback of his mom.

He was about 7 or 8 years old, and they were watching television together. This, of course, was before the boiling water incident. The memory was hazy, but she said something along the lines of, "Do you want to be a hero, Halfie?"

"Yeah," he replied happily, as he snuggled against her. He could almost feel her warm touch. Then Green Boi hit him with a headbutt and shouted, "That's why I'm giving it my all!"

Ice Prince stumbled backward. He was really dizzy. His stomach hurt like hell. He stared at Green Boi, who was staggering on the stage. "Give it your all, Prince Zuko! I don't know what kind of trauma you're dealing with, and I can't even begin to understand what your life is like! So if you want to reject your father, then fine! Do it! But not at your own expense! Don't limit yourself because of your piece of shit daddy! If you want to be a hero, fine! If you want to be a number one hero, you can! You have a great quirk, and it's yours! Not his! It's your life! Not his! It's your power! Use it! It's your life! Live it! I swear I won't lose this battle to you if you can't realize that! That's why I'm going to win this!"

Green Boi made a fist. He was ready to smash.

Maybe it's because Ice Prince hit his head against his ice wall too many times, but he suddenly flashed back to his childhood again.

…

Ice Prince's father had hit him in the gut so hard that he had vomited. Ice Prince couldn't remember why. Was it combat training? Either way, he was on his hands and knees, retching. And his mother had stepped in to protect him. "No, please, he's just 5-years-old! You don't have to train him so hard! Please just—" Flame Daddy hit her too. She fell to the ground with a thud.

"M-mommy?" the young prince whimpered. She was quiet. Daddy had knocked her out.

…

"M-mommy!" he sobbed in her lap. "P-please, I don't, I don't wanna! I don't wanna be like he is! He hits you!"

"You don't have to honey," she said calmly as she stroked his hair. "You don't have to. You aren't him. You can do whatever you want."

He looked up into his mother's sad, bruised face. Her left eye was blackened from where her husband hit her. The little boy told her, "I-I want to protect you."

"Don't worry about me. Please don't worry about me." She started to cry. "I wish I was the type of person who could protect you." She hugged him. "I'm so sorry."

…

His mother was laying on her futon, staring at nothing in particular. "Mommy?" He shook her shoulder. "Mommy?"

"I… I just can't today," she whispered to her son. "I just… I just can't get up… I'm sorry." She blinked back tears.

"Did he hurt you? Did he hurt you again?"

"It's just so hard to get up sometimes…"

"Mommy?"

Fire Daddy threw open the door to the room. He marched in and announced, "Time for your training, Son." He grabbed the boy and dragged him out of his mother's room.

…

Ice Boi was being dragged away by his father. He struggled against the huge man's grip, but he couldn't pull away. He looked over his shoulder and tried to see his older siblings. They were playing games on the lawn. They were laughing. He desperately wanted to laugh. He wanted to play. "Daddy I want to play…" he begged.

"Ignore them Son. They live in a different world than the one I'm training you for."

…

The tea kettle was screeching.

Mommy was crying.

She was squatting down in the kitchen. Crying.

"Mommy?"

She turned around. She screamed, "Get away from me!"

"Mommy?"

She looked around for something to throw at him. She grabbed a plate. She chucked it. She missed. "GET AWAY!"

Ice Prince ran.

…

Green Boi punched the fuck out of Ice Boi. He felt himself fly through the air.

…

Maybe he should have stayed away. But he really wanted to talk to his mother that day. So after a little while, he peaked into the kitchen again. She was speaking on the phone. "I feel like I'm going crazy. I can't take it anymore." She was crying. "I'm screaming at the children. I hate him, but I'm taking it out on the children. And I know it's not their fault, but they look so much like him. Especially Halfie. He looks so much like his father. That left side, I just… I can't. I hate it. I hate him. I hate him so much. I just… I want to kill him. I want to kill him. If I see him again, I'm going to kill him."

"Mommy?"

She turned around. She dropped the phone. She stared at him, her mouth ajar.

"Mommy?" He walked into the kitchen.

"Stay back!" she screamed.

He didn't. He came closer. He held up his hands. He wanted to hug her. She looked for something to throw.

The tea kettle was screeching.

…

Ice Prince was all bandaged up, but it still hurt. It hurt so much. And she wasn't there to comfort him. The only person in the room was his father. So he asked, "Where's Mommy?"

His father replied, "Don't worry about it."

But the little prince insisted, "Where's Mommy?"

"She's in the hospital."

"When is she coming home?"

The older man ignored the question.

"She wanted to hurt you."

"What?"

"She thought I was you," the little boy explained.

…

Ice Prince hit the ground. "Mommy," he mumbled. Green Boi was panting. Green Boi was in pain. Ice Prince was in pain. "Mommy, I'm not him. I refuse to be him. So I won't use his quirk."

"You aren't him! And it's not his quirk!" Green Boi screamed. "It's your fucking quirk, godammit!"

…

He was definitely eight years old. Ice Prince and his mother were watching television together. This, of course, was the day before the boiling water incident. Ice Prince clearly remembered the program. All American Blonde Superman had been a guest on an episode of a Half White's favorite TV show, Sesame Streets.

All American was talking to Big Bird and Elmo about quirk inheritance. "Children can inherit quirks from their parents, or develop similar power sets," he said.

Elmo, the red fluffy monster thing, asked, "So does that mean Elmo's quirk is Elmo's parent's quirk?"

"Nope. Your quirk is your quirk," All American explained. "The most important thing to remember is that your quirk belongs to you. So even if your parent was a villain, you can use your quirk for good."

Big Bird asked, "So can I use my quirk however I want to?"

All American nodded. "Yes. No matter what, only you can decide who you want to be. Only you can decide to be a hero. Take this to heart kids!"

Half White was smiling. His mother petted his head. She chuckled, and asked, "Do you want to be a hero, Halfie?"

"Yeah," he replied happily, as he snuggled against her. He could feel her warm touch pulling him in closer. "So I can protect you. I want to protect you so you don't cry anymore."

She smiled at him. She told him, "Then stay true to yourself, okay? I love you just the way you are."

"And I love you just the way you are, Mommy."

…

Fire Prince burst into a flame cloud.

Mic Man screamed, "Holy shit he's using his fire!"

Many, many eyebrows were singed off that day.

The icy numbness melted off of Fire Prince's body like the years of pent up rage melted off of his heart. "You know what, I too want to be a fucking hero."

"YES!" cried Green Boi, his face decorated with a huge smile.

"Why are you smiling, you idiot?" Fire Prince asked, smiling as well. "I'm about to wreck you."

But before he could, up in the stadium, Daddy screamed, "THAT'S MY BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOI!" He marched down the steps, his arms spread out in pride. "That's good! Show them your true power! Show them how my blood flows through your veins! Show them how you will surpass me, and then even All American Blonde Superman as the number one hero! You will live up to the reason I created you!"

Fire Prince looked at his father and smiled. "I'm not doing this for you." And he started fire bending and ice bending.

Green Boi super charged his smash muscles.

You know, Sensual Sadist Lady had really been enjoying this fight until now. "No no no no no they're gonna kill each other!" she shouted.

"Holy shit," Tofu Block Guy jumped onto the edge of the stage and erected seven pillars of his premium grade tofu in-between the two boys.

There was a flash of white light, and then—

BOOM.

The stage exploded.

The stadium went up in smoke.

The crowd went silent.

Everything went silent.

"Jesus Christ, he killed him," Blushy muttered, breaking the silence.

Fortunately, she was wrong. Green Boi had been knocked into the wall of the stadium by the explosion. His body was burnt up all over, and his bones were all broken. He fell to the floor with a pathetic thud.

The Crown Prince of Fire and Ice had lost half of his clothing to his fire attack, but other than that (and his previous injuries) was unharmed. He breathed heavily.

Sadist Woman had been knocked down by the blast. When she got up, she looked around to see what the hell happened. She saw The Prince, and for a long moment, gaped at The Prince's abs. Then she regained her senses and said, "Bean Child is out of bounds. The winner is Half White Prince Zuko!"