Percy made it back to the box, with just enough time left to see Bakugo win. He shot out an explosion that tripped the speedster, Iida, up, causing him to stumble, before a follow-up explosion tossed him out of the ring. Percy had suspected such an outcome. Several of his classmates were a tier above the others, in terms of brute strength, and combat strategy.

Ashido and Kirishima's match ended rather predictably as well. Ashido had potential, but even her acid wasn't strong enough to tear through a defense like Kirishima. Add to that, the smaller girl was nowhere near as physically strong as her friend, and Kirishima was able to come away with a well-earned victory.

The final match of the second round was one that Percy had been looking forward to. Bakugo, Todoroki, and Midoriya were, in terms of raw power, the strongest in the class. Todoroki had the edge, his two quirks were naturally ridiculously strong, but Midoriya was smart, and he had gotten a strong grasp on his power. It was going to be fun to see what they managed to come up with.

"So," Shoji asked casually, "Who you got here," Both combatants were just then entering the arena.

"It's a close one, and if I'm honest, it comes down to one thing for me," Percy replied,

"What's that?" Asked Momo, she had been riding in good spirits since Percy's little pep talk, something Percy was pleased to see.

"Whether or not Todoroki uses his fire," Percy said, "He's limiting himself by not using it. Don't get me wrong, his ice is strong, but Midoriya is clever, and now that he can use his quirk without killing himself, it levels the playing field. If Todoroki continues to not use his left-side, Midoriya wins this handily. But if he does…I think I give him the slight edge. The right application of both fire and ice can be hell to fight against."

There was no more time for talk, as Midnight began the match, and things went predictably.

Todoroki started as he had in the previous round, with an overwhelming flow of ice directed at knocking Midoriya out of the match in one go. But Midoriya wasn't going to go down easily, he countered. He channeled his quirk, the odd red lines appearing over his body, and he moved, dodging quickly out of the way just in time. The ice tore through the stadium, where Midoriya had been moments before.

"Interesting," Percy muttered,

"What's interesting?" Shoji asked,

Percy started, not having realized he'd said anything out loud, "Oh, just Todoroki, that blast was considerably smaller than the previous one. I guess it stands to reason, he hasn't had the chance to really build up too much stamina for using it yet, but still, if he's getting weaker in using his right side, then this might be over even more quickly than I anticipated."

No one had the chance to respond, because Midoriya was wasting no time. He came to a sliding stop, his right arm outstretched, and his left hand wrapped around his right wrist. He pulled two fingers back, and flicked his pointer finger forward, like he was flicking a bug off his hand. There was an explosion of air, that blasted towards Todoroki.

Todoroki responded in kind, summoning another ice flow that caught the majority of the blast. However, it wasn't enough, as the ice was still thoroughly smashed, and Todoroki was only saved from flying out of the ring, by a wall of ice he summoned behind him to keep him planted.

The exchange went for a several moments. Todoroki sending an ice flow, Midoriya dodging and counter-attacking, neither side giving an inch, and no ground being gained either. However, by the looks on both of their faces, they were starting to feel the brunt of using their quirks at such a high level for so long.

Midoriya was sweating profusely, and Percy could see that his fingers were beginning to turn purple, as the strain of the fighting was beginning to take its toll. Even if his grasp on his quirk was infinitely better, Midoriya had a long way to go before he could utilize even a third of its power effectively.

Todoroki was honestly looking no better, half of his face, and much of his torso, was covered in a thin layer of frost. The exposure to so much cold beginning to take effect, as he shivered and every breath came out in a frosty wave. It was an interesting thing. Percy had figured that, because of his quirk, his body would be naturally immune to the cold, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

"Man," Kirishima whispered, Percy hadn't even seen the boy appear, he had been too engrossed in the battle, "I've never seen anyone push Todoroki like this."

"He's not looking good," Tsu commented, "He's shivering badly, I would have thought he would have been immune to the effects of the cold, given his quirk,"

"I'd thought the same thing initially," Percy commented, and every head turned his direction again, "But I suppose it makes sense doesn't it? Ice is only half of his abilities; the other half is fire. If his only quirk had been ice, his body would have adapted fully to the change, and he likely would have a greater immunity to it, but since half of his body is fire…" he trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence.

Their attention was brought back to the match, as Midoriya's voice was picked up by the speakers in the stadium, "You're really starting to piss me off Todoroki," Midoriya growled, and everyone in the box, Percy included, was taken aback by the venom in Midoriya's voice. In the, admittedly brief, time that they'd known him, they'd never heard him raise his voice to do anything other than unleash an attack. To hear him speak with such anger, was shocking.

"W-what?" Todoroki said, taken aback as well,

"I said," Midoriya said, struggling to straighten himself, his legs were wobbling and his arm was shaking, "That you're pissing me off." With his good arm, Midoriya gestured around the stadium, "Everyone here, all of our classmates, they're giving it their all, going above and beyond to prove that they deserve to be heroes. That they can hold their own. Everyone but you."

Midoriya raised a shaky finger to point at Todoroki, "You have the gall to stand there, talking about how you're going to be number one, but you won't even give it your all against me. It's disrespectful to everything we've all been fighting so hard for. How can you be the best, when you won't even go one-hundred percent? You're no hero Todoroki, you're a damned coward!"

"Shut up," Todoroki growled, his right hand clenching, as more frost began to generate around his right side, "Shut the hell up Midoriya, what would you know about this!" He shot another flow of ice, but Midoriya charged through it like a battering ram, channeling more power into his fist,

"You keep screwing around," He roared as he cocked his fist back, "And you look down on the rest of us that are giving it our all, that's why I will win!" He sunk his fist into Todoroki's chest, launching him back towards the edge of the ring. Stunned though he was, Todoroki did maintain enough of his mental faculties to be able to stop himself one last time from flying out of the ring. Though his endurance was clearly running low, his body was simply not designed to rely so much on his right side, and Midoriya had clearly taken notice.

"You keep talking about how you won't be like your father, how you won't bow to his wishes, but you don't realize," Midoriya roared, charging at him once more, his arm channeling more power, even as it turned a sickly purple color, "…That in your resolve not to use his power, you're acting just like him!" Todoroki managed to leap out of the way, as Midoriya's fist slammed into the spot he'd been moments before. But Midoriya didn't let up, as he changed direction, and charge at him again.

"You're arrogant! Prideful! Disrespectful! You only use half your power and you think you're better than the rest of us, than me? Tell me Todoroki!" Midoriya appeared beside Todoroki, grabbing whims he tried to run away and leveling another hard blow into his stomach, "Who's the stronger one!"

Percy furrowed his brow, puzzled at Midoriya's sudden and strange change of strategy. True, he had the edge on Todoroki, whose body was fatigued and his strength in his right side beginning to wane. But Midoriya was chasing him, instead of simply trying to blast him out of bounds as he had been earlier, in that kind of game of attrition, Midoriya would win, so why was he…

Percy smirked, as realized what Midoriya was doing,

He's putting his stake in the tournament at risk to force Todoroki to stop limiting himself. Well played kid.

Midoriya caught Todoroki again, this time on the chin, and the pale boy sprawled across the ring, landing on the opposite side of Midoriya, who did not continue his pursuit, instead choosing to allow his opponent an opportunity to collect himself,

"What's he doing?" Kirishima asked, "Midoriya could have ended this already, but he's drawing it out, why?"

"Because some things are more important than winning a tournament," Percy said, a proud smile on his face, "And Midoriya understands that,"

Todoroki was struggling to get to his feet, his arms were shaking, as he tried to haul himself to his feet. In fairness, Midoriya was not looking much better, his arms looked to Percy like he'd broken it again, and the fingers on his right hand looked almost black. But he was still standing tall, unwilling to allow the pain to override his mission.

"…M-my-my old man…" Todoroki gasped out, as he struggled to get to his feet,

"It's your power!" Midoriya roared, pleading and trying to get through to the boy. Percy wasn't sure what was driving Midoriya to try this hard to save a boy who clearly didn't care for him, but Percy respected the hell out of it.

Coming to the future, seeing the people that called themselves heroes…well, Percy would hardly call them heroes. They cared more for wealth, power, fame, the luxuries of high-society than they actually did about saving people. Sure, there were exceptions, Rumi, for one. The Cat's obviously, but they were overwhelmingly in the minority. It had been disheartening, and then he'd come to U.A. Then he'd met his classmates, and many of them still held onto the naive, optimistic hope that they could make an impactful difference in the world. It was something Percy wanted to nurture, to protect, and perhaps none of his classmates exemplified that drive to be a true hero, than Midoriya.

And that boy was showing Percy that his faith was not misplaced.

"Stop acting like a fool! It's not his power Todoroki!" Midoriya screamed, "It's not his body, it's not his mind, it's yours! It's your body, your mind, your power, no one else's! Now quite disrespecting me, our classmates, and heroes everywhere by not fighting with all you've got, and fight me with your full power!"

Todoroki's entire body shook, as steam started to pool off of his left side,

"Atta boy," Percy muttered, a wide grin on his face.

Then, fire.

A roar, like the bellow from the belly of some great and formidable dragon, accompanied the explosive inferno that discharged from Todoroki, as the ring was engulfed in flames. The remaining ice on the field melted away, as Midoriya had to shield himself and take several steps back to avoid the direct heat of the blaze.

"You talk to me about holding back," Todoroki said, his voice getting picked up from the mics over the roar of the fire, "Yet you screwed around and didn't fight me seriously, all so you could help out your opponent. Which of us is really the fool Midoriya?"

Midoriya, in spite of the slight look of fear on his face, still found it in himself to smirk happily, "Me probably, but if this is the price, it's one I'll gladly pay," Percy wasn't sure when Midoriya had gotten a backbone, but he wasn't going to discourage it,

"I…I want to be a hero, I want to be my own man, and I won't be the tool of anybody else, never again!" Todoroki cried out, his teeth clenched, and determined glint in his eyes.

Pride swelled deep within Percy's chest. Midoriya had gotten through to him, somewhere along the way, Midoriya had gotten into Todoroki's head, and beat the sense into him. Mixed in with that pride, was relief; relief that hopefully, Percy wouldn't be forced to watch as someone else was forced to walk Luke's path. Forced to learn the hard lesson his former friend had needed to learn.

His thoughts were rudely interrupted,

"SHOTO!" cried an annoyingly familiar voice from across the stadium, all eyes turned, and the camera shifted, showing the large frame of Endeavor, as he strode proudly down the steps of the stadium, coming to a rest at the barrier just before the entrance to the field,

"You have finally accepted it! With my blood! With my strength! You will surpass me, surpass all! Your destiny begins to-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Percy couldn't help himself; the man was simply antithesis of what a hero was supposed to be. He had warped his son, could have set the young man down a dark path, and all for the sake of his own ego. His own pride. Percy hated it. He hated him. And he would not allow the man to steal the moment away from Todoroki.

Seemingly emboldened by Percy's yell, other's in the crowd began to join in with shouts and jeers of their own,

"Sit down,"

"Go to hell you jackass!"

"Shut up and stop being a distraction!"

Endeavor stopped, seemingly shocked by the way the crowd seemed to instantly turn on him, the jeering quickly warped into a chorus of boo's, and shouts for the large hero to leave the stadium.

The boys on the field, either too absorbed in their fight, or simply choosing to ignore the interruption, continued their showdown,

"Wow…" Midoriya admired, a grin on his face, watching as Todoroki's right side was engulfed in a coat of fire,

"Why are you smiling?" Todoroki demanded, "With your arm the way it is, and the situation you've brought on, heh, you're crazy Midoriya," Todoroki said, though he too, had a smile on his face.

"Maybe so, but this isn't over yet," Midoriya shot back,

"Then don't blame me for what's about to happen," and with that, Todoroki slammed his right foot into the ground, summoning forth another flow of ice, while he gathered larger and larger flames in his left arm.

Percy saw as Midoriya gathered his energy into his legs, as well as his largely undamaged left arm, and Percy felt his stomach drop out. Science had never been his strong suit, but he did remember one thing from his chemistry classes, simply because it had applied to his own abilities. When something was rapidly frozen, and then heated back up equally rapidly, there was an explosion.

"Oh no…" Momo uttered softly, seemingly coming to the same realization as Percy. Percy leaned to the side, where Jiro was sat next to him, and he calmly cupped his hands over her ears, the girl jumped in her seat at the sudden contact, and moved to get away, but Percy held firm, silencing her with a look. She seemed to get the idea, and relaxed in her seat somewhat, though still looking strangely at Percy.

Like Momo and Percy, Midnight and Cementoss, who was acting as a secondary umpire, also recognized what was about to happen, and they began moving to intercept the oncoming collision of attacks. A glacier appeared, rocketing towards Midoriya, just as he jumped, the power coursing through his legs giving him greater mobility. Just as the glacier missed, Todoroki brought his left hand up, drawing his flames along with him, and sent them after the frozen masses.

Midoriya cocked his arm back, prepared to meet the blast head on, however, just before the attacks could collide, five large cement pylons rose from the stadium floor, intercepting the attack. The resulting explosion nearly tore Percy and the others from their seats. He felt Jiro clasp her own hands over top of Percy's. The noise was loud enough that even his ears were hurting, and he couldn't imagine how painful it was for someone with advanced hearing.

He hoped Rumi had though ahead like he had.

Soon enough, the explosion settled down, and Percy removed his hands from Jiro's ears, with her murmuring a soft thanks as she rubbed at her lobes.

"Aizawa," came Present Mic's voice after the dust had started to settle. "What the hell is wrong with your class,"

"They're determined," Was the man's simple response, which might have been the closest thing to a compliment Percy had ever heard from the man.

"Better question, who the hell won!"

The dust finally settled, revealing the scope of the damage between Midoriya and Todoroki. The entire ring was gone. The cement floor torn from the roots and blasted to smithereens. However, that wasn't the most eye-catching thing on the field. In either corner of the stadium, lying prone on the floor, were both Todoroki and Midoriya.

The stadium broke out into excited murmurs, as the spectators guessed and gossiped over what they thought the result was going to be. Even Midnight looked confused for a moment, before bringing her hand up to her ear, Percy guessed she had an ear piece there, likely connected to Nezu who had to be monitoring all three stadiums.

After a moment's consideration, Midnight announced the results, with a crack of her whip.

"As both contestants have been knocked out of the field of play, the result of the match is a draw. Since both combatants are unable to continue, Kirishima Eijiro will be automatically advanced to the final round. We will recess for an hour to rebuild the field of play."

"What!" Kirishima squawked, Percy couldn't help but laugh. Out of everyone in the stadium, Kirishima was likely the person to be least excited about that kind of a prospect, "I don't have to fight in the semi's! Man," the boy whined, bringing a palm to his face, "That's so unmanly,"

"I don't see why you're complaining, you get a free pass to the finals." Tsu commented idly, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth, Percy just chuckled,

"I'm with ya there bro, I'd rather earn my way to the finals. But don't worry," He gave the boy a cheeky grin, "This time, you won't have to get your ass beat to a soundtrack."

Percy was only comfortable teasing the boy about being in the finals, since Bakugo had opted to stay in the waiting room for the next match. As much as he was a fan of talking some smack, he wouldn't discredit Bakugo's skill to his face like that.

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?" Uraraka asked, a worried look on her face, "You still have to fight Bakugo, and take it from," she said, with an awkward laugh, "He's no pushover,"

Percy shrugged, "Bakugo's got talent, and a versatile quirk, but I feel good about my odds," Percy watched as Midoriya's limp form was carted off the field, Todoroki not far behind. He stood up, "I'm going to go check on the boys if anyone wants to join me."

Several of them stood up to follow.

BREAK

It took Izuku a minute to remember where he was and what had happened. He'd passed out after the fight, One For All taking a painful toll on his body. He realized that he must have been in a hospital room, or the makeshift infirmary that Recovery Girl had put together. It explained why his arm felt numb, instead of throbbingly painful. Also, why he felt comfortable, the beds in the infirmary were always surprisingly comfortable.

He blinked, his eyes feeling heavy, and tired, likely an after effect of whatever drugs had been pumped into his system, or maybe just an after effect of Recovery Girl's quirk. When he finally managed to open his eyes, his hypothesis was confirmed, and he was indeed in an infirmary. He could blearily make out a pair of voices, speaking in hushed tones. It took a moment, but eventually his vision focused enough that he was able to make out the forms of Recovery Girl and All Might, talking about something…he strained his ears, and tried to listen, but they were being stubborn, and he couldn't understand what was being said.

It became a moot point however, when the door slid open, and Percy's large frame lumbered into the room, his ears finally decided they felt like working again,

"Is he awake?" Percy asked, his low voice soft,

"He's coming to right now, might take him a moment to come to his senses however," Recovery Girl stated simply,

"How's he doing?" Percy asked, and Izuku could hear the clatter of several pairs of feet, but it hurt too much to crane his neck to see, and just getting his eyes to stay open was too much of a chore.

"Damage wasn't too bad this time, whatever you've been doing with him to control his quirk has been working. Just a few minor fractures this time, but he nearly destroyed the bones in his fingers. You need to teach him to stop being so reckless, there's a time for going all out, and a time for subtly,"

Percy laughed softly, "Barking up the wrong tree there ma'am."

Recovery Girl harrumphed, but didn't respond, there was another soft pattering of footsteps, and Percy's face came into focus over Izuku, a proud smile spreading over his lips,

"Hey there bud, how ya feeling?" he asked,

Izuku tried to answer but it came out as a groan, Percy laughed, "Been there bud," he said, patting Izuku's leg comfortingly,

"Who…won…" Izuku finally managed to rasp out, his senses were finally starting to clear fully, and he was almost able to turn his head,

"Draw," Percy said easily, his smile growing wider, "Hell of a show you put on for 'em kid." He then jerked his head backwards, "Some of the other's wanted to come to check on ya too," He craned his neck, and saw that Uraraka, Iida, Momo, and Tsu were all standing awkwardly by the doorway, leaving Percy the job of talking to Izuku. At seeing Izuku managing to look at them, the group seemed to take that as their cue to approach,

"Guys…" Izuku said groggily, confused as to why they were all there, "Why are you here, what about the next match,"

Iida answered, "They needed to rebuild the arena so they're taking a recess to fix the damage that was done."

"That was an impressive display Midoriya, you've grown even stronger than we realized," Momo said, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Deku!" Uraraka cried out appearing at his side in a flash, "I was so worried, you weren't moving and that explosion and-"

Percy placed a calming hand on the panicking girl's shoulder, calming her down slightly,

Tsu took up a position on his other side, "You managed to take down Todoroki Midoriya, you must be feeling proud,"

He knew that it had been meant as a compliment, but Izuku's stomach clenched painfully. It hadn't been a victory, he'd been foolish. He wasn't even sure why he'd done what he'd done. He could have won, he'd had the opportunities, plenty of them, to catch Todoroki off-balance and end things. But he hadn't, he'd drawn out the fight, fought, pushed, and prodded Todoroki until the boy managed to snap.

Midoriya…Thank You

Todoroki's final words, right before their final attacks, echoed in his mind. A small concession that his sacrifice play hadn't been for nothing. That he had managed to get through to the bullheaded boy, but at the cost of Izuku's victory.

His one good hand clenched, and he felt tears sting the corners of his eyes.

He just couldn't help himself. Seeing Todoroki attack, just using half of his power, when Izuku had fought and trained so hard for everything. Seeing Todoroki so casually throw away his quirk, acting as though his power was a curse when Izuku had gone the majority of his life, hoping for something even half as useful, it had infuriated him. He had needed Todoroki to understand, he'd needed the boy to see sense. It was driving Izuku mad.

He just wished he'd been able to stop himself, maybe then he wouldn't have been such a disappointment.

"Deku?" Uraraka asked tentatively, "What's wrong?"

That opened the flood gates, and the tears rolled hot down his cheeks, shame and guilt building up in his chest. Here were his friends, coming in to talk to him, as though he hadn't let them down. Hadn't let All Might down.

That's what stung the most, that he'd let down his mentor. The man who had single handily given Izuku the opportunity to achieve his dream. And he'd let him down on the grandest scale.

He wasn't a worthy successor, he wasn't a worthy hero, after all, what kind of hero helps their opponent to use their full power? Bad heroes, that's who.

A comforting hand found purchase on his head, and rubbed soothingly through his sweaty and dirty hair. He blinked back tears, and looked up, bleary eyed, at the still smiling Percy.

"You did the right thing Izuku. You, more than any other person in the stadium today, showed the world what a hero really is."

Izuku blinked, his mouth agape, "W-what?" he stammered, unable to comprehend what he was hearing. Percy was…proud of him? But, why? He'd lost, he'd allowed his opponent to use his full strength, he put himself at a major disadvantage for no reason.

Percy just nodded, "Of course I am," he responded with a wide grin, "I heard Todoroki's little speech to you at the break before the tournament. Heard what he said to you, and I had my own little talk with him. He needed to realize that he was not bound by the expectations of his father. That by refusing to use his natural gifts, he was allowing the man to continue to rule over his life. You showed him that. You got through to him. You saw someone who was hurting, who was in need, and you stepped in to help. If that's not heroic, then I don't know what is."

Izuku's eyes teared up once more, only this time, not in sorrow. He knew on a subconscious level that he had friends. That things were different at U.A. as opposed to his life before. But hearing the pride in Percy's voice, and the confirming looks on his classmates, just reaffirmed it for him.

Izuku had friends.

People who were proud of him. Who liked him for who he was. Who wanted him to succeed, and reveled in his victories and wanted to cheer him up in his defeats. It was such a novel and welcoming experience. It was something he'd been wishing for, for years. To have people outside of his mother who liked and cared for him.

"Thank you," he managed to whisper, his voice watery and wavering, as he shielded his eyes, unable to stem the new flow of tears as they rolled down his cheeks.

"Always Izuku," Percy said, patting him comfortingly on the shoulder, "Yeah, yeah, Recovery Girl, we'll get out of here, I wanted to check in with Frozone anyways." Percy said, seeing the looks that Recovery Girl was giving him, "We'll see you after you get healed up back in the box, c'mon guys." Percy waved his classmates off. They all gave Izuku a parting farewell, and once more congratulated him on his performance. As they left, a smile found its way on his face, and as he met All Might's skeletal face, and saw the equally proud smile,

Izuku, for the first time in a long time, felt truly happy.

BREAK

Percy shut the door to Todoroki's room behind him. He'd told his classmates that he wanted a private word with Todoroki, and that he'd send the boy up before the next match when he was done.

Todoroki was awake, staring at the ceiling absently, not bothering to look at Percy as he walked over to his bedside.

Percy pulled a chair over, and sat down next to him, and for a while, neither one said anything. Todoroki just stayed staring at the ceiling, and Percy sat there waiting. Eventually, his inability to sit still got the better of him,

"How're you doing?" he asked,

Todoroki took a few moments to reply, his eyes still staring unblinkingly at the ceiling, "I am, uncertain." He said finally, still not looking at Percy, "Part of me, a large part, is absolutely livid that I used…it." He fell silent again, raising his left hand into the air, so that it was in front of his face, and clenching it, steam coming off the knuckles. "I used it, and it still wasn't enough. I still wasn't strong enough to win, and I'm equally elated and annoyed by it. There's just so much noise in my head and I don't know what to do with any of it. But there was a moment, right before our attacks hit, where…where I didn't think of-of him. My mind was clear, and all I could think about was giving it everything I had to win. Looking back, it feels…liberating."

Percy smiled, he'd been doing a lot of that today, and it was something he felt he could get used to.

"That's a good thing, right?" he asked,

Todoroki fell silent again, his eyes scrunching tightly in thought, "I believe so. I want to believe you and Midoriya. I want to believe that it really is my own power, that it belongs to me, and only I control my destiny."

"I'm sensing a but,"

"But," Todoroki confirmed, "I have felt this way for so long, it will be…difficult, to change that."

Percy nodded, more than anybody he could relate to that sentiment, "Believe me, I understand. Change doesn't happen overnight, it comes gradually, and it helps to have people on your side willing to beat some sense into you once in a while. Took me a while, and a lot of people reminding me, before I realized that I was allowed to have friends beyond those I left behind."

"Will you…" Todoroki began, biting his lip self-consciously before finally turning to look Percy in the eye, "Will you be there, to remind me?"

Percy's grin threatened to split his face,

"Always kid,"

CHAPTER BREAK

AN: A bit of a shorter chapter this time, but this felt like more a natural end, and next chapter will have a lot of action in it. Hope you guys have been enjoying Papa!Percy, because I really enjoy writing it. I always like to see Percy as a mentor figure to the younger generations, he always struck me as the type to want the next generation to be even more successful, and especially this one, who he see's so much of his former life in his classmates.

I was a little torn with what I wanted to do with Todoroki, part of me really wanted a showdown with Percy, but I felt like that would have been less impactful on the whole, for Todoroki's character arc. And moreover I felt like it would more effectively hammer home how much he'd been neglecting his own power. How even with his full strength, he's not strong enough, because he's been slacking. And how if he can't beat Midoriya, he's years away from beating Percy. IDK, just my thoughts on it, if any of you care.

As always, thanks for the incredible support, you all have been awesome! Hope you all are enjoying the ride as much as I have been. As always, love you all, stay safe, and hope everyone is doing well! See you tomorrow for the finale of the tournament!

Love,

LilDB