Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry this took a while, I rarely have internet or wifi since my job takes me around the country often. But that doesn't mean I have writers block, I just have weird times when I'm able to work on it. Hope you like it.

The millisecond the battle begun, Todoroki Took a rough stance and the air chilled around him.

'No time to think!'

Without a shred of hesitance or mercy, a massive wall sprouted from under his feet, covering a wide portion of the arena as it shot out into the sky, once again creating a mountain of ice just like before.

…

Not a sound could be heard. Though he was not so easily fooled, from the start he wasn't totally sure if a single attack would be enough, and he had much more in the tank just in case.

Bang

Then they heard it, like the sound of bullet proof glass being hit with a hammer, only on a much bigger scale. Again and again, it drew closer, and with it the ice ridge shook harder and harder.

'Here he comes' Todoroki thought about letting another attack loose, but at this point it wouldn't do much, he had to wait for a clear shot.

When the ice finally broke open, the only thing visible at first were blue eyes, then a hand reached from the impromptu cave and grabbed onto the side, pulling his entire body out.

'His knuckles are bleeding, did he use his bare hands?'

After only a few seconds of watching, Todoroki let off yet another massive wave of ice. Though this time, pulling out a pair of daggers, Jin-woo stopped it midway by simply slicing the ice into chunks with sheer speed.

"Is that all you got?"

"Not even close."

Like a surfer catching a wave, he shot into the air with a quickly made board of ice and began sledding on top of a circular wall he formed around the arena. Jin-woo nearly dropped his guard, somehow sure that there was nothing else that could actually hurt him within his opponent's repertoire, until a blast of ice, the size of a basketball touched ground near him and exploded with massive frosty spears in all directions, forcing him to jump back as a near miss left a small cut on his arm.

"I wouldn't sit still if I were you."

One after the other, icy shrapnel bombs went off left and right as the half and half son of Endeavor started mixing in small waves of ice with the shrapnel attacks. Not only pressing an aggressive attack, but cutting off avenues of escape.

'Jin-woo excels at war styled combat with the numbers of summons he can produce, and his speed makes close combat unfavorable. My only chance is to maintain both high speed movement, and area of effect style attacks. If I wear him down to a certain point, he'll have trouble stopping my larger attacks later on'

Though to his chagrin, despite a few more cuts landing on his opponent, Jin-woo did not slow down, in fact he seemed to be enjoying the game of cat and mouse, as if he was still not truly giving his all.

"You have an interesting plan here, keeping me trapped here while you bombard me, however…"

With a tugging motion, Shoto was suddenly thrown off his path and pulled all the way to the ground like a piece of hail. He got up too slow and felt a fist enter his lower gut, sending him flying until his back hit the ice wall he erected, leaving a massive crack in the exterior.

"Forgot I could do that huh?"

Wiping some spit from his mouth, Todoroki got to his feet with some struggle. Each breath visible as his very exhale was chilled. Though not a moment was wasted. Despite his arm succumbing to numbness he went through strategy after strategy in his head, something had to work here.

"Your attacks aren't bad, but I bet using too much of one side has some sort of side effect on you, am I right?"

"..."

"You're shivering, your arm is turning blue, and your speed dropped every time you attacked. But I bet that's a problem you can solve with some fire, isn't it?"

"What are you blabbering about?"

"The entire class is fighting with every drop of effort inside them, Uraraka left her match covered in burns. And yet here you are, thinking you could slack off over a personal dispute."

"Shut up."

"What about when you become a hero? Will you be able to explain to the family of dead loved ones that they had to die because you didn't want to give it your all?"

"My bastard dad must have paid you didn't he?"

"You couldn't imagine the things I've seen Todoroki. Out there is the real world, and when the time comes, if you hesitate you die! Just watch!"

All sense of stoicism left the boys face, replaced with pure contempt. "Now you've pissed me off!"

Despite already confirming in his head he would be no match in close combat, his blind rage forced him into a full sprint at the necromancer, who did the same at a much higher pace.

His hastily, and angrily made plan was simple, if he wasn't fast enough to properly block or hit back, he would focus on freezing his limbs one by one as he took the blows. It would have worked on many other opponents.

Unfortunately for him, Jin-woo didn't care if his arm was turned into an ice cube, as he simply crashed it over the boy's head to free it once again, his latent healing abilities rendering any possible hypothermia a non-factor.

The Crowds watched as Todoroki refused to back down or go down, taking hit after hit like a punching bag, his anger and determination keeping him from accepting his bodies ever growing fatigue.

"I'm the villain here Todoroki. I'm going to kill you and destroy this entire arena. And you're telling me you can't stop me because you hate your dad? How many lives will it take for you to realize."

He got no response, grabbing the half and half nuisance by the collar and throwing him a good dozen yards away.

"For you to realize that your power is not their tool."

Images flashed in the Korean's mind. He could no longer even be considered human. For all intents and purposes, he was a monarch. A Spiritual deity of pure magic seemingly existing for the sole purpose of chaos and destruction. That was the path set for him, to become the new monarch of the dead, that was the sole reason he was chosen. The architect saw him as nothing but a hollow shell with which to fill his desires. A perfect vessel.

And now Todoroki faced that same dilemma. A vessel for a bitter mans dreams, his power's nothing more than a means to an end to accomplish those dreams.

"Shut up, I, will deny him everything, no matter what it takes."

'My power, isn't the architects anymore, it's not the other monarchs, it's not even Ashborn's. It's…'

"It's your power! Just yours alone! And if you don't realize that now, you'll never get stronger!"

That finally got him thinking. He froze for a few seconds, as if he had his whole world view turned on its head in a single moment. Words from a distant memory welled up, like the tears he fought back.

He wasn't in the arena anymore, he was in a bittersweet home. His dad was away today, and so he got to enjoy some time alone with mom watching All Might on television.

He remembered how warm All Might's words felt. His messages reaching deep into his core, he reaffirmed in his small head that this was what he wanted to be.

"I think it's ok for you to want to be a hero Shoto! You don't have to be tied down by him, we are who we choose to be!"

'How could I have forgotten those words…'

Then his eyes grew wide and the air got warmer.

'Finally'

And like an incendiary bomb going off, Todoroki's entire body exploded with flames, thawing out his other half as they flowed around his arm. He probably didn't notice it, but he was now smiling, for the first time since Jin-woo met him. And for reasons he wasn't completely sure at the moment, the Korean joined him.

"So, you've finally come out of hiding." He definitely felt his heart beat slightly faster, his power doubled, or even more than that.

"Didn't you say you never lose? And here you go, pushing me this far when you could have taken the win several times over. Aren't you the one slacking now?"

"Go on then, show me what you got."

All Might watched from the sidelines, awestruck at the sight before him.

'Jin-woo purposefully held back to open Todoroki up. I can't believe it, were you trying to save him young man?'

"SHOTOOOOOO! HAHA! FINALLY, YOU'VE FINALLY DONE IT! NOW YOU CAN BEGIN THE ROAD I PAVED FOR YOU! TO FULFILL THE REASON FOR YOUR EXISTENCE!"

Todoroki couldn't even hear his dad anymore, in fact all outside thought was erased as his world became the arena, the opponent standing across from him was his only true focus.

"Smiling like an idiot, just like I am. With my body back to normal, and my weakness nullified, for you to be so excited…you look crazy."

"Guess that makes two of us."

the fire burning around him intensified as he began to collect it into a single point.

'Guess this is where I do my thing too'

Jin-woo crouched down and readied himself like a spring. With the amount of power he felt from the charging attack, he had no choice but to face it himself with a physical attack, as he was sure his shadows would get blown away like gnats.

"Cementoss we have to stop this before they kill each other!"

"Roger!"

"Here I come Todoroki!" Jin-woo's entire body became engulfed in a torrent of wind as his latent magic leaked out.

'If I use my daggers I might kill him, I'll have to knock him out of the arena with a single punch!'

In response, a blockade of ice far larger than his first attack, sped towards the monarch like a falling skyscraper, prompting him to release from his position, the power in his thighs breaking the arena floor beneath him.

Cementoss rose five thick walls between the two boys, but he soon realized it was no where near enough.

Todoroki's flames, starting at the palm of his hand, flared beyond belief, even looking at it was enough to hurt the eyes. Many in the stands held up a hand as the heat was palpable, and at such a range!

"Hey…Thank you."

Piercing through each wall like a drill, Jin-woo saw a glimpse of his opponent before the attack was released and his field of view became blinded in a red tsunami of searing flames, and when he felt his fist make contact, the resulting wind force and heat combined to essentially create a bomb that detonated point blank, sending not only cement debris, but smoke and dust all the way up into the upper stands.

"Auuugh! What the hell is going on!?"

Both proctors were knocked off their feet and whipped into the air by the sudden boom of air pressure. The crowd watching had to shield their eyes and hold on for dear life, with those of smaller size nearly being lifted off the ground.

Class 1-A froze for a bit, before shaking themselves of the shock.

"I guess that's what happens when the strongest in the class face off."

"The strongest in the class is right here!"

"Guess we'll see about that in our match!"

"I'll destroy you weird hair!"

Present mic struggled to get up from the floor as he raved on.

"What the heck is up with your students!? Do they even have limits? Regardless, is this match over!?"

Midnight coughed up a storm as she tried to get a good view of what was left of the arena. All over the grass, pieces and chunks of rock and cement made it annoying to traverse. At the very least, the dust cloud finally settled enough to see what had actually occurred.

Jin-woo, standing and breathing slightly heavy, was no longer wearing the pt outfit, but had changed into his hero costume, similar to the obstacle course. Legal as it was part of his quirk to do so.

'If I recall, his cloak has the ability to…'

"Ah! Todoroki, has been knocked out of the arena! Sung Jin-woo wins!"

Standing all alone in a near vaporized arena, the Monarch watched as his former opponent roused awake on a bed of ice.

'He created a barrier to try and catch himself on. He reacted that fast to my attack? Or did he create that when the walls went up, fully knowing he might lose the exchange?'

After blinking his eyes a few times, Todoroki got a good look at the different set of attire. "You, when did you?"

"The moment I launched myself, I morphed into it."

"But that cloak."

"Kinda like you" Jin-woo hastily looked over at the multiple barriers of ice meant to protect from a ring out. "I didn't leave any chance that I wouldn't win."

Despite the disappointing circumstances, Todoroki let out a chuckle. He's never seen Jin-woo breathe heavily like this. Maybe for now, that was enough.

All Might rose his arms in cheer, relieved that even after a much more dangerous change of events, and an intense finale, he still proved victorious and uninjured.

Meanwhile a fiery haired rival of All Might smashed his fist into hand rails. All near him slowly leaning away.

"You didn't use your head."

"..."

"You can barely control your flames, you have a far way to go. But at the very least you've finally put aside your childish rebellion. Under my tutelage, and with more experience, you won't suffer another defeat like this again."

"Your tutelage? I'm not putting anything aside."

"Huh?"

"It's not like I can just turn that easily, its just that…in that moment, with everything he said to me, I forgot you existed. All I could think about was me, and what I wanted to be. I don't know what to make of it yet but, I'm going to figure that out for myself."

Endeavor stood stunned as his son walked deeper into the halls, shirt completely torn open and singed. He wasn't sure what to feel, a mix of frustration and satisfaction, all replaced by confusion. Was this progress or not?

Inside one of the waiting rooms, All might waited patiently, then nearly had a heart attack as his own shadow split in two. One of the now disembodied globs of darkness taking a spot in the middle of the room. Then from the center it pushed outwards and into the air, dispelling itself to reveal his successor in the flesh.

"I think I'd prefer it if you just walk through the door next time young man."

"So, what did you think?"

"Well, I wanted to know why?"

"...why what?"

"After you lost the obstacle course, and given how you handled the cavalry battle, I thought you'd focus on just the victory."

"Yeah, I think that was my plan going into it. But I guess when I looked at him, and ran into his dad, it just felt like a waste for someone to see their own body that way."

"I understand what you mean young man."

"Although, I can't lie, I also was personally curious to see how strong he could be."

"It's good to keep a competitive mindset, but I'd suggest keeping that here, to push your peers and only your peers further. Many heroes fall into over confidence and allow villains to get an upper hand on purpose, to fulfill their own pride. It rarely ends well."

"Yeah, I guess I'm relearning that myself."

"Relearning?"

"...I'm, nevermind." 'not yet, not just yet'

When the Korean returned to the stands, he was met with the congratulations of most of class 1A, who all once again lauded his power. Which got him thinking, just where did he stand?

If he had to put a scale to it, his speed at absolute maximum was still his strongest asset, when combined with the agility based skills he's learned, he would say he's near All Might, if not slightly faster.

His durability was leagues below for some reason. Without the cloak, Todoroki's ridiculous fireball attack would have done some serious damage. Even Bakugo's gauntlet attacks could hurt him quite badly. Meanwhile his striking, he'd say if he didn't pull his punches, they were approaching All Might's.

Against a brutish, rather unintelligent enemy such as the Nomou, using his stronger shadows as a means of distraction and extra support gave him chances to slice him to ribbons over time. Todoroki or Bakugo on the other hand, their strong AoE attacks made using shadows tricky, they were better used on larger numbers such as the cavalry battle where they could use the chaos to their advantage.

Although, if he really wanted to, he could bring out all several thousand shadows out at once and nearly guarantee a victory through sheer numbers and attrition if he ever needed to, like in USJ.

Contemplating all of this, he missed nearly the entire current fight, and only looked up in time to see Bakugo blast Kirishima out of the ring with a mighty yell.

"WOAAAH! Looks like that's it! We have our final four competitors people!"

Iida and Jin-woo stood up at the same time, mere inches away from each other and gave each other a competitive, but friendly stare, before shaking hands. Though no words were exchanged, perhaps for the better.

"Both of these competitors have shown a talent for speed, it's a battle of the two fastest in the class! But who here will drop out of the race, and who will leave their rival in the dust!? It's Tenya Iida vs Sung Jin-woo!"

'If I had to say it bluntly, I think i'm objectively above him. Though that reciprico burst might be annoying. If I was him in this situation, I would-'

'Go full burst at the start and win with a knockout!' Iida adjusted his glasses.

"STAAAAAAAART!"