And we're back with another "Through the Rough" update! Happy to say that this story's gotten 50 favorites as of this chapter! And we're getting all the closer to catching up!

But first a couple of quick things. For one, my dad wound up catching COVID recently. He's fine, and so am I, but we are taking precautions. I should be updating a bit more frequently in the coming weeks on story stuff, so no worries there. All you guys need to be concerned about is being able to leave reviews when you can so that this story keeps updating frequently.

Last time we left off, things weren't looking so good for our heroes. So let's see if they can turn the tide!

"So you are our opponent? Along with these grotesque monsters?" Homura inquired to Diego while aiming her energy blade at him.

"It would appear so," Shoto confirmed, narrowing his eyes.

"You two defeated the Hero Killer along with Jamilov, huh?" the bulky man inquired as he balled his hands into fists, "It wouldn't be good to let heroes like yourselves just roam free..." he noted, raising his left hand and snapping his fingers. In that instant, the dozens of Nomu charged towards the two U.A. students. Homura was prepared to attack, only to see a large wave of ice get unleashed from Shoto, engulfing the entire hallway and their foes.

"Goodness..." the Soul Blade Quirk user uttered in amazement afterwards as her eyes shook.

"Sorry..." Shoto apologized, igniting his left shoulder with flames to melt off the frost forming upon his right side, "I figured since the Nomu were just walking corpses, there wasn't any need for me to hold back..." he pointed out.

"I'd... say that worked efficiently..." Homura noted, somewhat surprised at how quickly the battle had been settled, "But the villain-" The ice shattering interrupted her sentence as she and Shoto looked over to see Diego step out from the ice. His skin burned a bright red as he glared out at his foes.

"So you're able to negate my ice?" the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user guessed with narrowed eyes, igniting his left hand in fire.

"I saw your battle during the Sports Festival," the villain responded as the muscles in his arms tightened, "Ranged attacks are your specialty, so I assume you're not so good in close quarters..." he pointed out.

Diego Reyes! Quirk: Muscle Augmentation!

He can increase his strength by enlarging his muscles, causing his body to give off that red glow! However, it gets real hot under all that skin!

'So long as he attacks with ice, he'll be my benefactor,' the villain noted inwardly as he charged forward. Shoto swung his left arm and unleashed a stream of flames at his foe, who ducked under them. 'And since his fire attacks are sloppy, he'll have to resort to his ice...' he added to himself. He then noticed Homura lunging toward him with her blade at the ready. 'As for the girl...' he continued through his thoughts.

The ice nearby cracked, causing the Soul Blade Quirk user to perk up before seeing a few of the Nomu burst out from the ice and try to grab her. She quickly maneuvered herself and slashed their arms off with ease, followed by one grabbing her by the neck with its metal arm. Shoto saw and grimaced.

"Homura!" he cried out. In that instant, Diego rushed in and landed a fierce straight punch to his opponent's stomach, causing him to let out a huge wad of saliva from his mouth.

"Shoto!" Homura screamed, forming another energy blade in her left hand before using both to slash off the arm of the Nomu holding her. As she tried to hurry over to the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user's aid, more of the Nomu burst out from the ice and converged onto her. She gritted her teeth, holding her blades in a reverse grip. "Five-Sword Fencing..." she began, "Leopard Claw Frenzy!" she roared, slicing at the bio-engineered monsters to sever their limbs. Nonetheless, they still went toward her, acting as if they were mindless zombies that felt no pain.

"Damn it...!" Shoto cursed as he unleashed another wave of ice onto Diego. He raised his arms up and slammed them against the floor, creating a shockwave that shattered most of the incoming wave before it could reach him. Steam expelled from his skin as he stepped forward.

"The son of Endeavor, hm?" he noted aloud, causing his foe to perk up, "To think that you'd be struggling so much with your flames..." he mentioned, narrowing his eyes, "It's disappointing," he disdainfully remarked. Grimacing in frustration, the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user clenched his left fist tightly as sparks of fire came off from it. In order to beat Diego, he'd have to use his flames... just like his father...

"The hell does he mean by the truth?" Mirko inquired back to Endeavor as they faced down Gowen and Hyoga.

"Denatsu..." the Flame Hero uttered out, taking on a hardened expression.

"Like the bossman said, I used to be a sidekick of his," Hito told the heroes, "I was pretty peppy despite the overbearing atmosphere at the agency..." he noted while putting his hands onto his hips and grinning, "Moe's still there, right?" he guessed. Endeavor didn't respond, keeping himself in a ready stance. "Huh..." his former sidekick sighed out, "You were a dick of a boss, but you always had your eyes set on doing the job..." he pointed out, "I just never knew what you were so fixated on doing... especially with your family..." he mentioned as anger built up in his tone.

Enji said nothing, remaining stagnant. But inwardly, he was shocked. How did Hito know about what had happened in his past? Who could've told him?

"Wait..." Mirko uttered, arching an eyebrow in confusion as she looked over to Hyoga, "then who the hell are you?" she asked. The ice villain stepped forward as he raised his gloved right hand.

"I'm the brother of his wife," he answered. Endeavor didn't even have a millisecond to gasp before ice slammed into him, knocking him back.

"Endeavor!" Mirko cried out, seeing Gowen rush forward and land a flaming punch to the hero he once worked under.

"How could you do such things to your own family, you bastard?!" he roared angrily, "Tormenting your own wife, abusing your children, and even letting your eldest son die!" he listed off in rage.

"Those offenses really aren't forgivable..." Hyoga growled, waving both of his arms up to make waves of ice surge up and crash down onto the Flame Hero, "My sister deserved better than a scumbag hero like you!" he shouted angrily.

"That's enough!" Mirko yelled, hopping over and readying her right leg to kick the pair of villains. However, she noticed the flames flickering from the ice before it burst in a cloud of steam. She landed down and blinked in surprise, seeing Endeavor emerge from the veil. His expression was what surprised her the most. It wasn't as fierce as she normally remembered, but was determined.

"Mirko, go on ahead," he insisted, "I'll deal with these two myself," he decided, letting his flames burn brightly.

"But-!"

"GO!" the Flame Hero roared, interrupting her. With a scoff, the Rabbit Quirk user turned and hopped off, not being followed by either of the villains.

"Facing us by yourself?" Gowen guessed as he glared at Endeavor, "Think you're getting a little too cocky, bossman..." he remarked disdainfully.

"Indeed," Hyoga agreed. Their foe took another step towards them.

"This is my endeavor," he confirmed, "So I'm only one who should see this through," he stated firmly.

"If that's so..." Gowen began, "then my endeavor's to take you down..." he decided, igniting his fists with flames as he raised them up.

Hito Denatsu, AKA Gowen! Quirk: Flame Manipulation!

He can harness and control flames throughout his body, using them as he sees fit! However, he overheats if he uses them for an extensive period of time!

"We're going to take him down, Gowen," Hyoga corrected firmly.

Samui Himura, AKA Hyoga! Quirk: Ice Manipulation!

He can harness and control ice throughout a given area, using it as he sees fit! However, his body temperature and movements will drop drastically if he uses it for an extensive period of time!

'Fire and ice...' Endeavor noted inwardly, closing his hands into fists, 'They're a perfect combination... but...' he continued through his thoughts, thinking about Shoto and his matches in the Sports Festival against both Izuku and Homura, 'Shoto...' he uttered to himself.

"Ergh...!" Homura growled out, slashing back a few more of the Nomu converging onto her. She glanced back for a moment to see Shoto struggling to hold his ground against Diego, with his ice attacks being blown apart instantaneously as he was being closed in on. He narrowly moved aside to avoid a left hook, followed by striking the villain back with a wave of ice. However, he endured it as he slammed the ice with his fists, shattering it.

'This isn't good...!' Homura inwardly realized as she cut down another Nomu, 'If Shoto can't stop that villain, we're going to be overrun!' she noted to herself, bisecting one monster's head from its body.

"Shoto!" she called out, rushing over in an attempt to aid him. However, Diego took notice as he slammed his right fist against the floor, creating a shockwave that blew her back.

"Homura!" the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user exclaimed in fright. Before he could even attempt to rush over to her aid, the villain grabbed him by his neck and pinned him against the wall.

"You beating the Hero Killer was just dumb luck," he remarked, taking a tight grip onto his foe's neck, choking him as he grimaced. Noticing, Homura gasped.

"NO!" she screamed, only to get tackled down by a couple of Nomu that she hurriedly tried to slash off of her body.

"Ergh..." Shoto growled out, gritting his teeth. He batted his eyes open and noticed the steam coming off of his foe's form, causing him to blink in surprise. On the other side of the wall, Endeavor found himself backed against it as he took flames and ice attacks from his pair of foes.

"What's the matter, Endeavor?!" Gowen yelled in question as he landed flaming punch after flaming punch, "Afraid to hurt your old sidekick?!" he guessed before landing a strong left hook to his opponent's crossed arms, resulting in smoke coming off from them. Hyoga followed by making a large wave of ice crash onto the Flame Hero, causing a burst of steam to erupt.

"...Huh..." he exhaled afterwards, uncrossing his arms and rearing his right fist back, "Burnin's been well, Gowen," he pointed out to his former sidekick, who blinked. All of a sudden, flames surged into his fist, causing the steam to blow away as his two foes gasped in surprise. Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, Shoto grabbed Diego's arm.

"I figured it out..." he noted aloud, causing the villain to blink in confusion, "You were avoiding my flames, but kept taking my ice attacks head on... because they were helping you," he realized as his opponent gasped, "But now that I'm this close..." he continued, igniting the left side of his body, "you won't be able to dodge this!" he exclaimed as the fire erupted onto Diego.

"AAAGGHHH!" he screamed in agony, stumbling back and releasing Shoto from his hold. Getting back onto her feet, Homura stared on in amazement. She watched her classmate condense his fire around his arm, thrusting it forward and unleashing a powerful blast of flames that struck his foe. At that same moment...

"Flashfire Fist..." Endeavor started to bellow.

"Oh shit...!" Gowen cursed out.

"Don't worry, my ice'll be strong enough to-!"

"JET BURN!" the Flame Hero roared, interrupting Hyoga as he unleashed an orange beam of fire from his fist. It pierced and burned through the ice wall the cryokinetic villain had conjured, striking both him and Gowen as they yelled in agony, falling down to the ground as smoke wafted off from their bodies. On the other side of the wall, his son stood over an unconscious Diego as he breathed heavily in exhaustion. He looked up and saw that Homura had dealt with the last of the Nomu, letting her energy blades disappear from her hands. She looked back at him and gave off a small smile, which he returned. In the end, his flames triumphed. And with them, he would endeavor onward.

"So what do we do now?" Rebecca inquired, still gathered with Izuku, Momo, Itsuka, Setsuna, Holy, and Gran Torino in the hallway.

"Best call is to get you kids as far away from the fight as possible," the Light Quirk user replied seriously, "Müller was one story, but Elsie Crimson's another..." she pointed out with a grimace.

"I'll get 'em out," Sorahiko decided, "You stay and get to that bastard," he insisted.

"Are you gonna be okay, Miss Holy?" Setsuna asked out of concern.

"Don't worry, kids," the I.U.A. Hero responded with a wink, "This lovely lady's more than just a pretty face," she pointed out before heading off.

"Let's go," Gran Torino insisted of the interns, enticing them to nod as he led them away down the hall. They had yet to realize that they were still being watched across the security cameras. Though not by Müller...

And Shoto and Endeavor triumph! But they're not the only ones who were separated from their groups... Next time, we'll see how Weisz fares in his own battle! Thanks for reading!