The heat was unbearable. Every time a new cobalt eruption came his way, Shoto thought it his last. Time after time, wave after wave, his body was paradoxically frostbitten by the walls of ice he created, yet simultaneously conflagrated.

"What's wrong Shoto? You can take it, can't you? You must be used to being burnt by now!"

It took every ounce of willpower the half-and-half hero had to restrain himself.

"Enough, Dabi. You won't get a reaction from me."

"C'mon, we don't need to use villain names, you're family." The villain held a dull sort of venom in his voice, sounding completely disinterested yet every word making Shoto want nothing more than to strangle him. Don't let him get to you. He's lying. He has to be.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm gonna put dear old dad six feet under, then I'll bury the rest of our worthless, enabling family with him."

The bluntness of the statement sent chills down Shoto's spine. "...they weren't enablers. You don't know that!"

Touya scoffed. "You just don't get it. I don't even know why you're defending them. Whatever."

With a halfhearted wave of his hand, Dabi sent another searing azure wave towards Shoto, the latter only barely reacting in time to block the attack. All I've gotta do is wear him out. The flames did not relent.

"Think that's enough bonding time for one day. See you on the other side."

The stream of fire required the younger Todoroki to constantly replenish the frozen barrier separating him from incineration. Every muscle in Shoto's body was tensed, his head splitting from sheer concentration. Dabi's distorted visage through the heat haze gave the impression of putting in no effort at all, hand lazily outstretched with palm facing his brother. A thin sheet of rime began to form across Shoto's face. Can't keep this up forever...

A blue ring of fire encircled the two, sealing any chance of escape, smoke rising imperceptibly into the night air. The pyres flickered and danced in the wind, their violent beauty somewhat entrancing.

Slamming a palm to the ground, Shoto created an expanding glacier in an attempt to calm the raging blaze. The ice raced outwards, advancing ever so slightly faster than it was consumed. For the first time since the skirmish began, Touya's face showed hints of concern. He hopped backwards, calling off his assault before quickly throwing out a vast, rippling burst. The growing ice was consumed and destroyed, the flames petering out and a quiet stillness overtaking the battlefield.

Just as Touya stopped to catch his breath, orange flames surged forth, forcing him to leap aside for fear of overexerting himself. He's no joke. Can't screw around here.

Shoto stood, arms splayed, the left side of his body alight. "You can surrender now, or I can show you what Endea-... what dad has taught me!"

Touya blinked. A smirk began to tug at the corner of his lips. "How're Natsuo and Fuyumi?"

"If you really were Touya, you wouldn't care. You abandoned us."

"Abandoned? Tough talk coming from the guy who thought I died!" Dabi became gradually more animated as he rambled, "And now you wanna get all buddy-buddy with the hero who made us miserable?" He stopped, inhaling deeply and closing his eyes, chin angled skywards. "They'd be, what, 20 and 25 now?"

"Natsuo is 21." Touya's eyes shot open.

"And you?"

"18."

"Time flies, huh?" He took a long look at his brother. "I'll be sure to visit your grave, Shoto."

The siblings each drew an arm back and fired blazing streams forth, clashing in mid-air. Blue began to eat orange, seeming to literally feed off of the opposing heat source. The air grew oppressively warm, the deep wailing of the warring fires shattering the prior tranquil silence.

Shoto gritted his teeth and increased the output of his attack, seemingly to no avail. His stream doesn't feel particularly forceful. Something's different between our abilities.

Dabi followed suit, causing the flamethrower to take on the shape of a veritable tsunami. It was Shoto's turn to take a deep breath. Ice formed around the young hero's body, creating a sort of makeshift armour. Slowly, with purpose, he marched forward meeting his brother's hate-fuelled bombardment head on.

The initial impact was deafening. The warmth failed to reach him under the thick sub-zero protection, though it required total focus to maintain. He walked, pushing through. Dabi did not relent.

The skin began to blister and burn on Touya's palm as he caught his second wind. The tidal wave grew in size yet again as it was powered up further. The armour shielding Shoto melted faster and faster, requiring more and more effort to keep up. Frost was starting to coat the lungs of the youngest Todoroki, his breathing increasingly laboured. Can't... give in... now!

At last, Shoto persevered long enough to reach Dabi, grabbing hold of his wrist. The villain's eyes widened as he attempted to activate his quirk, nothing short of pure disbelief evident within them as he failed to produce anything.

"Flashfreeze!"

Despite his armour having completely melted, Shoto was able to muster one last attack, instantly encasing Dabi's body in ice from the neck down. Burning away the remnants of Quirk overuse, Shoto spoke after catching his breath.

"It seems Cremation relies on combustion. You won't be able to burn anything while the air around you is frozen. You've lost... Touya."

Touya eyed the ground in resignation. "Heh. You got me. Now you can throw me in some cell and parade your victory around. Hope you're proud."

"...what happened to you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know. Run along now, I'm sure your friends will have died by now. You wouldn't wanna miss the postmortem, now would you?"

Todoroki gave a solemn gaze to his frozen enemy before turning back to join his friends. I'll set this right. We'll be a family again... I promise.

AN: I hope to elaborate on some aspects of the heroes that came about during the timeskip in a few chapters from now, so apologies if you've been wondering why they may not be totally in-character. If it still doesn't address that please do yell at me. Oh, and sorry for the long delay on this. Don't really have an excuse in honesty. Hope it's worth the wait~