Izuku looked around the stadium and gave the battlefield a once over as he stretched his arms towards the sky. The stadium was almost unchanged, aside from the fact that the stadium had a retractable ceiling now. The battlefield was still hard packed dirt and elevated to indicate the boundaries. Endless rows of bleachers that stretched as far as the eye could see surrounded the field.
A torrent of memories flooded his mind. He saw himself scrambling like a madman to complete the obstacle course and make it inside the stadium; and he saw his team doing their best to hold off their competition in the cavalry battle. He and his class had many fierce fights in this stadium.
He could see Ochaco's determination in her battle against Kacchan, he could see Iida's noble effort against Todoroki, and he could see the dreaded mistake he made against Shinso of letting him control him with his quirk.
However, one battle in particular really stood out to him far more than the others. Memories of agonizing pain from his bones snapping, razor-sharp glaciers, and searing heat once he finally talked his opponent into going all out flashed through his mind. Izuku smiled fondly at the flashbacks. It was probably one of the most exciting fights he experienced in his life. There was so much on the line from ideals to both of them trying to prove themselves.
The similarities and contrasting aspects of their life journeys never ceased to amaze him. Izuku was born powerless whereas his rival/ally/friend (he still wasn't exactly sure what to classify him as entirely since technically all three were true) had power from birth. Shoto was tasked with inheriting Endeavor's goal of surpassing All Might in power while he was tasked with trying to be a beacon of hope just like All Might. They both were meant to be heirs of a legacy. They both were bestowed with incredible power.
But most of all they both were practically limitless. While technically their bodies could only withstand so much abuse from the power they could dish out, in theory, the quirks they had were limitless. One for All stockpiled power with each subsequent heir and as a result had given Izuku unfathomable strength and ability whereas Shoto inherited polar opposite powers that complimented their weaknesses. Hypothermia and issues caused by overuse of ice were mitigated by fire's warmth and overheating caused by overuse of fire were mitigated by ice's ability to cool.
"Any particular reason you decided to pick this place?"
Izuku flinched, snapped out of his thoughts by Todoroki's question. "I thought it was spacious enough to handle our abilities at high outputs, besides it's empty right now so we don't have to deal with the public or worry about messing up the room like we would have to if we chose a place like the UA gymnasium. I mean, given our quirks you kinda need a lot of space and don't want to worry about the damage that our abilities at full power can do even if it's just practice and we're not going all out. Although, going all out and using full power would be a whole different issue altogether..." he babbled, a flood of words flowing out of his mouth at a rapid pace.
Todoroki seemingly ignored the long winded explanation. "We are two of the top three heroes, Midoriya. We should not just stand around. If we're going to spar, we should start before we are needed elsewhere."
Izuku nodded to his opponent. "Alright, Todoroki, want to throw the first punch?" he replied.
Izuku shivered from a sudden drop in temperature before Shoto answered with a subtle step forward and the creation of a massive ice floe that took up a quarter of the battlefield. Izuku channeled One for All throughout his body and responded with a quick flick of his finger that demolished the surging glacier with a pressurized blast of air. The ice shattered like glass with a loud crack, sending jagged shards of ice everywhere.
Todoroki followed up his first glacier with a second surging ice floe that moved far faster than the first and ensnared Izuku's ankles. Izuku winced from the chill of the ice against his skin and the jagged edges of the ice cutting into his skin. Shoto shifted tactics and unleashed a surging wave of fire to take advantage of the fact Izuku was immobilized.
He flicked his right index finger again in retaliation, unleashing another gale force wind gust that freed him from the ice's grip before following it up with another Delaware Smash with his left index finger to douse the flames sailing towards him.
Izuku sprinted forward, closing the distance between them and drew his left arm back to prepare a Detroit Smash only for Todoroki to create a defensive ice wall. Detroit Smash cut through the wall like a hot knife through butter, shattering the barrier and sending even more shards of ice everywhere.
Izuku sprung into the air and came back down with an axe kick that Todoroki just barely managed to leap out of the way of. He shifted his weight, staggered his foe with a front kick to the chest, and twirled left to strike again with a roundhouse kick aimed for Shoto's ribs.
Shoto intercepted the kick with his right forearm cloaked in ice and countered with a quick left hook to the face. Izuku stumbled backwards from the unexpected punch only to catch a follow up front kick to his stomach. He sputtered from the kick and hit the ground with a thud, tumbling across the dirt.
He grunted looking up just in time to see Todoroki ignite his left side and swing his left arm, sending flames his way. The One for All user flicked his right ring finger for a blast of air that extinguished the flames and leapt onto his feet. Izuku lunged at Todoroki and nailed him in the chest with a punch that knocked him off his feet and sent him flying through the air.
Shoto righted himself in midair and changed direction, gliding back towards Izuku on an ice floe. Izuku flicked his ring and middle fingers simultaneously, forcing his opponent to change direction. He followed it up with another and then another and then another, each attack causing Todoroki to veer back and forth wildly with his ice floe.
Growing weary of being on the defensive, Shoto changed tactics and leapt into the air before unleashing a massive stream of fire down upon both the ice floes he glided on and the fragments of ice left on the battlefield.
A massive haze enshrouded the battlefield from the sudden temperature differential and the ice being melted so rapidly. Izuku smirked. It didn't take him long to catch onto Shoto's plan, but he was still very impressed by it since he hadn't seen anything like this before from him.
Blinding an opponent reliant on close range tactics? Very creative.
Izuku punched at the air with a Texas Smash to clear the steam with a massive cyclone, but not before a surging Shoto riding an ice floe slammed a Flashfire Fist into his abdomen that lifted him off the ground before a stream fire engulfed him.
He sputtered from the hit and looked down at his now singed hero costume. His newest outfit designed by Melissa Shield was fairly durable since he needed something durable enough to endure the wear and constant action like rushing into burning buildings. For Shoto to singe the material meant that the flames around his fist generated a lot of heat.
Izuku winced as he tumbled across the ground again before righting himself and skidding backwards.
Shoto went on the attack again. Zipping forward on a wave of ice before swinging an ice cloaked fist at his head. He narrowly dipped to the side in time to avoid getting hit directly and instead only getting his cheek grazed by a sharp edge.
Izuku bobbed and weaved more, dipping away from repeated right hooks before a fist finally connected directly with his jaw.
Izuku stumbled, stunned by the punch only for spikes of ice to rise from the ground and slam into him. He wiped away the drops of blood dripping down his face from Shoto's icy fist cutting his skin.
"You're getting better at hand to hand, Todoroki. Looks like all the training in melee fights with me and Kacchan is paying off. You've never done a combo like that either, incorporating your quirk into close range like that is really cool! And you've even gotten more aggressive and offensive minded in your approach like Kacchan!" Izuku beamed.
Shoto frowned. "Are you even taking this seriously?" he asked, cocking his head
"What do you mean?" Izuku gasped. "Of course, I am!"
"Your reaction time is slower than normal and you have barely scratched me. I know you are much more capable than this. You haven't even tapped into anything other than your strength and speed."
Izuku sighed. "I guess I kinda am, I mean we both have busy schedules and I wouldn't want to hurt you. I can't just go around swinging 100% Detroit Smashes and stuff. Imagine what would happen if they connected or something, what if it took out half the stadium or the punch ruptured organs!" he blubbered, pausing momentarily. "Besides, I've seen way bigger ice floes than that. I can't be the only one holding back."
Shoto glared darkly. "I do not need you to hold back, I am more than capable of holding my own. Villains certainly will not and I thought the whole point of this was to get some training in to improve our fighting skills." he reminded, pausing momentarily and pointing to the stadium itself before giving him a rare almost amused look. "Besides, you of all people cannot hold back here, remember? Not after what you told me."
Izuku chuckled and shook his head before tensing up and assuming a fighting stance again. "Alright, fine, ready?"
Shoto answered with action, sending a wall of ice as wide as the battlefield barreling towards Izuku.
Izuku drew his left arm back and slammed his fist into the incoming wall reducing the glacier into a million broken shards of ice instantly.
Shoto quickly followed up the first massive ice floe with an even larger one that practically took up the entire stadium. Izuku slammed his right fist into the second ice wall and reduced it to a pile of ice debris only for Shoto to chill the air further then he had ever done before to unleash a massive burst of fire much like he had done to close out their battle in the Sports Festival.
"No limits," he reminded him in a strained voice, still continuously fueling the flames for Flashfreeze Heatwave.
Izuku sprung into the air, latched onto the ceiling to pull himself up into the air with black whip, swung forward, and drew back his fist to unleash a massive Texas Smash along with a cyclone half the size of the stadium. "Limitless," he agreed with a grin as the fire blast and cyclone met at the middle of the stadium with a loud whoosh.
Author's Note: Probably very trash compared to my usual work, but I wanted to write a fight to get back in the swing of fanfic writing and some Shoto hype. I personally just love how Hori kind of forgot how strong Shoto was intended to be and how aside from his body's physical limits, he should have had a near limitless quirk since fire and ice balance each other out and were meant to negate the weaknesses of both. Seems like Shoto got nerfed a bit and fell to Katsuki hype. Wanted to rectify that a bit and play around with what he could do.