Chapter Twentynine - RISE: Izuku vs Todoroki

There was no stopping Izuku's assault. He was going all in right from the start.

Todoroki's breathing was getting a bit heavier, his breath visible and some spots of frost on his clothes from creating so much ice already. He wasn't at his limit yet, not even close, but he knew he had to take it easy unless he wanted to completely incapacitate himself.

I can't stay on the defensive forever waiting for him to slip up, Todoroki thought as his opponent ran right at him.

Raising his right hand in a large sweeping motion, he sent a fast wave of ice ahead of himself. This of course forced Izuku to jump into the air to avoid it. The green-haired boy quickly regretted this though, as Todoroki formed a ramp of ice, running right up towards him.

Surprised by Todoroki's sudden approach, Izuku readied his right leg, firing off a gust of air from his right boot to try and deliver a strong kick.

Crack! Todoroki held his right arm up, a shield of ice forming quickly from it, blocking Izuku's kick, the boy reeling a bit from the pain of hitting it as Todoroki managed to hold his ground from the force.

Crap, gotta get away— The ice suddenly latched on to Izuku's right leg, starting to move up quickly. He kicked the ice shield with his left foot, firing off powerful blasts of air from the boots, sending him flying back and making Todoroki slide down the icy ramp before he formed some ice to stop himself.

Landing a ways away, Izuku shivered as he examined his leg. Most of the ice had shattered off, but the cold mixed with the pain of his attacks hitting solid ice were catching up to him.

This distance isn't good… But getting in close for long enough to do anything is tough too!

Satisfied with the distance now, Todoroki sent a line of ice straight towards Izuku, which enveloped the icy ramp to grow taller and taller, til it was improbable to go over it.

Izuku barely managed to dodge to his right, firing what little air had built up into the Flow. He stumbled a bit and felt a bit of panic setting on as he saw Todoroki readying for another attack.

My ten seconds for the Flow to refill… It won't be quick enough!

Todoroki sent another line of ice spikes shooting up from the ground at a rapid pace. Izuku only had a split second to think of what to do.

The arena had been littered with ice at this point. To Izuku's right was the trail of ice that Todoroki had used to escape from his assault earlier. While it could make for a place to hide, being near Todoroki's ice was never a good idea.

So Izuku did what he and Mei did best— He winged it.

Running forward straight towards the oncoming attack, Izuku jumped right into it, angling himself for the right side of the attack. He let out a gasp as it hit him, a glancing blow that knocked the wind out of him and sent him flying to the side. Some of the ice had latched onto his right arm and leg now, his clothes ripped a bit and some shallow cuts visible, but it was better than taking it head on.

"Has Midoriya reached the end of his ropes?!"

Izuku was slow to get up, and Todoroki was ready to take advantage of this— But he paused, for just a second, and that was enough for Izuku to see it.

His right arm is trembling… The cold must be really affecting him now!

After a slight delay, Todoroki sent another ice assault towards Izuku, but it was just enough time for him to ready himself.

Please work…!

Izuku pulled the cable that he had made to break the Flow's regulator. Instantly he could hear the whirring intensify, the backpack rumbling intensely. As Todoroki sent the ice at him, Izuku readied himself, lurching forward and firing the strongest blast of air from his boots that he could. In the mere seconds the Flow had been overclocked, it had enough to do as well as a normal strong blast, sending Izuku flying up and over the ice, hurdling straight towards Todoroki.

Class H stood and cheered as loud as they could, Yuki, Shiro, and Ken at the helm of the cheers, while Mei had gone into the crowd near the edge of the arena the two were now in to try and get a closer view, joining the cheers by exclaiming, "GO IZUKU!"

Within the faculty room, a table flipped over, and everyone looked over at Power Loader who lifted his arms into the air, feeling a surge of hype that the usually quiet man had never felt beforez

"GO MIDORIYA!"

Todoroki scowled, shakingly clenching his right fist. He brought it up to ready a retaliation, but in mid-air, Izuku clicked his fingers again, the Flow firing another powerful blast, sending him rocketing right into Todoroki before the boy could react.

Todoroki was sent tumbling backwards from the full-body attack, bringing his right leg back to create a barrier of ice to stop him from going out of bounds, gasping as the air was knocked out from him—

But that wasn't the end. Izuku recovered from tumbling quick, continuing his momentum as got up to his feet and kept running, his breathing intense.

Todoroki started to bring up his arms defensively, but Izuku was quick to throw a punch, managing to hit him right in the face with his half-frozen right hand, the ice shattering from it. He then followed it up by clicking his left pinky finger and readying his knee, the Flow firing air from his boot to let him deliver a powerful knee to Todoroki's gut.

It hurts… But I can't stop…!

Izuku was ready to bring his left hand in for a punch, but Todoroki suddenly grabbed it, sending ice up it that enveloped it completely. Izuku gasped from the pain and brought his right hand up to Todoroki's chest.

"Just… get out!" Izuku's yell was followed by him clicking the two middle fingers in of the Flow glove, sending a gust barreling out of it right into Todoroki.

The ice wall Todoroki had been using as a brace shattered as he started to fall through it, letting go of Izuku's arm.

I… I did it—

Todoroki was dangerously close to the edge of the arena, but he gritted his teeth and went beyond his limit, the pain and numbness starting to overcome his body as he managed to send out ice all around, not caring as he encased himself within it to stop his fall. Izuku was sent flying back, more ice starting to cover his body.

So cold…! I can't….

A few moments later, the ice ceased. Izuku was on his hands and knees, ice covering a lot of his body and even half of his face. He was shivering hard, his body failing to move like he wanted it to at this point. He could feel the pain from bruising and the cold consuming him, making him want to just drop down and lie still.

There was a cracking noise as Todoroki broke out from the ice he encapsulated himself in, which almost looked like a cocoon. He stepped out, his breath raspy, the right part of his body nearly entirely covered in frost as he was shivering hard.

He's still able to move…

"They're both heavily damaged! Whose going to finish it?!"

"If you paid attention more, you'd realize one of them's suffered much more," came the voice of Eraser Head from the booth.

"Ehh? You really think so?"

By now, the crowd had gone quiet besides Present Mic's quips and Aizawa's retorts. Endeavor trudged down to the wall of the stands and held onto it, leaning over as he shouted.

"It's time boy! Enough toying around!"

Hearing that voice was the last thing Todoroki wanted to hear. His lips trembled a bit as he started to speak softly.

"I… won't… be…" Todoroki trailed off as he tried to focus on moving, but his body didn't want to listen to him.

Izuku could see the struggle, and the flaming figure of Endeavor behind Todoroki in the stands offered a stark contrast between the two. Izuku slowly tried to get up, trembling intensely as he failed to do it, but he was going to try anyways.

"You're not defined… by your Quirk," Izuku managed to speak breathlessly. "You decide… your own path… Todoroki…"

Todoroki watched Izuku's futile attempts at trying to move and get up, shaken a bit and unable to even respond as the cold felt like it was wrapping around his mind.

Izuku fell down again, and lifted his head up slowly, looking at Todoroki with a determined expression.

"You aren't… Your dad… You're… Way stronger…!"

As the cold overtook Todoroki, it changed from a dull pain into a slight hint of warmth. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them to a familiar scene.

His mother stood above him, smiling down at him.

"But you want to be a hero, right? That's fine. You're not bound by his blood... Decide who you want to become. And be all you can be!"

The pain he had been carrying around for years had seemingly been momentarily lifted from him as he remembered better times, when his Mother would protect and comfort him from his Father's cruelty…

But he then remembered the anger and frustration of his Father's abuse, and his Mother whom had broken down and scarred him. The pressure that had been placed on him his entire life, and the weight of the burden he carried around of being the #2 Hero's son, had caused him to believe that he was the cause of his own suffering.

All of Todoroki's feelings coagulated into a single point— And exploded.

Everyone was shocked as flames burst out from Todoroki's left side, enveloping his left half. The ice around him all melted away quick, his right side starting to defrost rapidly as he began to breathe steadily.

"Yes! Show everybody what you are," Endeavor exclaimed with a wicked grin on his face.

Izuku watched, surprised at the sheer power of Todoroki's flames, able to feel the warmth even from a little ways away.

Th-There it is… The dual Quirks..

Izuku knew he needed to get up, or it was all over. If he didn't move, Midnight could possibly even call it before any harm could be done.

Come on…! Move! Move!

Todoroki took a step back, lifting his left hand up towards Izuku. He gazed at the flames leaping out from his skin, his face a mix of sadness and anger, the duality of his existence consuming his mind, angering him.

He took another step back.

"This power… Isn't me!" Todoroki yelled as he slammed his right foot down, sending a massive torrent of ice forward, straight towards the downed Izuku.

~Mid Chapter Break~

A/N: Thanks for reading this far! We're getting into the nitty-gritty that I've been wanting to write since I started. Hope everyone has a great holiday, for anyone that celebrates them!

As the large wave of ice overtook the arena, a mist covered the area, making it hard to see what had happened. Todoroki fell to one knee, breathing heavily as his flames pittered out.

Midnight lifted a hand, the handcuff at her wrist jingling.

"Todoroki has stepped out of the arena! Midoriya is the winner!"

His eyes widened. He looked down and saw that, in fact, the last time he has stepped back, he had stepped out of bounds. The ice began to crack, and part of the cement arena rose up, covering the downed Izuku. The cement covering moved back, and Izuku looked around, confused by what had just happened.

"Good grief, Midnight didn't even have time to call it before he attacked again," Cementoss spoke, having moved from his seat to touch the ground in order to create a barrier to protect Izuku.

The crowd absolutely exploded into cheer.

"AHHHHHH! Midoriya has done it! He's defeated Todoroki by the skin of his teeth!"

Hearing this, Izuku's eyes widened. He slowly got up to his knees, barely able to do so as he looked all around at the crowd, who were going ballistic over his win.

"I… won…?

"Todoroki was too caught up with his personal issues. He didn't care to check where he was stepping," came the commentary from the usually-silent Aizawa from the booth.

It was impossible to truly take in. Todoroki as well was shaken, looking down at his left hand as he remembered the feeling of using his left side's Quirk. The fact that he had gone back on his beliefs, even for a moment, made his mind stir.

He had lost every battle today, physical and mental.

As some medical robots came out to help Izuku, Todoroki slowly stood and began to walk towards the stairs. Izuku saw him going and wanted to say something, but at this point he felt like he could barely move his body.

"Does this hurt?" One of the robots twisted his arm a bit, making him gasp and flail.

"AHH yes!... It hurts a lot!"

"Oops."

They put Izuku on a stretcher and began to rush him off. Izuku's eyes never left Todoroki until his head began to spin, the noises around him drowning out as he slowly closed his eyes and welcomed unconsciousness.

Though the ramifications of the previous match were still echoing through the stadium and those watching at home were talking excitedly about it, the battles were due to continue on.

Shiro was very hyped up as she made her way into the arena that had been fixed up fairly quickly.

Time to show off my stuff again! I can't lose after that last o—

The froze as she saw her opponent walking up onto the stage as well. It was Iida Tenya, of course as she had known, but watching him from afar was very different from seeing him in person.

Flutter flutter flutter flutter

Shiro felt herself melting at the sight of her ideal man— Tall, broad, dependable looking. And his eyes were trained on her with serious intent.

"START!"

The girl didn't even hear Present Mic. Before she realized it, Iida had already rushed over to her in the blink of an eye, grabbing her shoulders from behind and pushing her towards the edge of the arena.

"Sorry, but this should end quickly," the ever serious Iida spoke to her.

Shiro didn't care, feeling bliss from being touched by his strong hands. As she ended up outside of the arena, everyone was a bit perplexed and disappointed after the results of the previous match.

"Uh…. Iida wins?"

Despite being completely fine, Shiro had to be hauled off of the field on a stretcher as she wouldn't move, feeling her heart soaring.

Izuku opened his eyes slowly to the light of a room above him. As his vision became clearer, something suddenly popped in front of the light, and he soon saw Mei's piercing yellow eyes staring at him.

He gasped and sat up quickly, regretting it as his body felt numb and he accidentally headbutted Mei. Of course, Izuku rubbed his head and complained, while Mei didn't seem to take any damage from it.

"I see you're trying to copy Bakugo now!"

"What…? Oh.." Izuku had to think for a moment, remembering how Mei and Bakugo's fight went. Then it slowly dawned on him, his eyes widening with realization. "WAIT… I… I beat Todoroki!"

Mei nodded excitedly. "Yup! That happened!"

Looking around, Izuku realized he was back in the Nurse's station, with Mei sitting in a chair beside the bed he was lying on. He let out a loud yawn and rubbed his eyes, feeling intensely groggy.

"Oh yeah, Recovery Girl said you needed to eat a bunch or you'll be too sleepy for your next match," Mei explained, pulling a tray of food nearby that included a large cup noodles and some takoyaki brought from the vendors outside the stadium. "Say 'ahh'—"

"Mei—" Izuku was interrupted as the girl popped a takoyaki into his mouth. He sighed and ate it, feeling a smile appearing onto his face. "Ahh... I never thought food could taste so good."

"Well, you gotta eat quick. I dunno how long the next matches will go on for," Mei told him, standing up.

"D-Did I miss anything?"

"Shiro lost, but she was entranced by her opponent to do much," Mei explained. She clasped her hands together. "Maybe now she understands how I feel when I'm around my babies!"

Izuku chuckled. "Unlikely."

"Well in any case, I'm going to do some work. They sort of banned me from interfering with things so the rest of this festival is kind of boring to me," Mei said as she started to walk off.

Izuku watched her go, unable to say anything before she was gone. He sighed, being left alone with his own thoughts.

I did it… Everything I've strived for, everyone's encouragement, it all paid off.

He shakily lifted his left hand, the pain from the fight gone but the memories of the intense cold still lingering. Izuku remembered Todoroki doing the same, gazing at the flames leaping out from his hand. The expression was very confusing, scarily so, showing a totally different life from Izuku's.

That look… It was so… Sad.

Somehow Izuku didn't feel like celebrating his victory. He instead wolfed down all of the food and a bottle of water and swung his legs around to the side of the bed, ready to try and stand up.

Suddenly though, the door to the Nurse's station flew open, and Recovery Girl was there pointing her cane at him.

"Not so fast! You need to recover more!"

"B-But—"

"No buts! I won't heal your recklessness forever you know!"

"Ah… I-I'm so sorry for the trouble!"

While Izuku delt with trying to recover for upcoming matches, Shoto Todoroki sat alone outside of the stadium, collecting his thoughts away from all of the noise.

He had refused to go and see the Nurse, so the old woman had come to him a few minutes ago to check up on him. After seeing he was mostly fine, she let him be.

I nearly lost the will to ignore my left side, Todoroki thought. Without it melting my ice, I would've lost, maybe even died…

As he remembered his father's excitement at the flames erupting from his son, Todoroki clenched his fists tightly, feeling the surge of anger starting to rise within him again.

Am I that limited? That weak? If I have to use my fire then…

He took some deep breaths, trying to calm himself as he stood, holding his stomach which was still a bit pained from Izuku's knee.

I'll only use it to strengthen my right half. That's my resolve.

Within the stadium, cheers could be heard as another match concluded. Todoroki slipped his hands into his pockets and slowly strolled back towards the entrance.

I think I finally understand what I have to do…

Mom.

To Be Continued

Next Chapter: Deku and Kacchan