Heroes of Light

by Silverbits

Shadows of the Past, Light of the Future Reboot! When shadows threaten to take over the world, and all seemed lost a new hero appears out of nowhere and chases away the darkness. Izuku Midoriya wants to follow this hero, feeling a strange connection to her and her power. Little did he know that he'd become part of something bigger.

17. Battle it Out!

Battle It Out!

Sora shouted as he brought his Keyblade down on a shadow Heartless and watched it disappear. He didn't get a chance to breathe as he heard the hisses of more Heartless coming up behind him. He whirled around to see more shadows racing towards him.

Sora brought up his weapon and blocked the first swipe, then threw himself to the side as another one leaped over its friend to get at him.

Before the shadows could strike him a bolt of lightning came down and struck the remaining Heartless in front of him. Sora looked over to see Donald had his wand aimed in his direction. The Heartless had disintegrated into nothing but wisps of darkness in front of him.

"You need to pay more attention." Donald huffed.

"I was fine." Sora crossed his arms. "I had it under control."

"Sure you did."

Sora frowned and turned away from the Magician. They were barely into the second round now, and neither of them was exactly ecstatic about the current situation. It was a lot harder to handle the Heartless when it was just two of them, having all four of them together would be easier.

Not to mention the Donald seemed all too eager to complain about it at the end of the round. Muttering to himself as he stomped around and got ready for the next round of Heartless. It hardly felt they got room to breathe, maybe a minute or two at most before the doors opened up again and Heartless came rushing out.

"This would be a lot easier if we had Goofy and Izuku, but no, he had to run off. Who knows if he even made it back yet." The duck grumbled. "I swear if he got hurt running around out there…"

"He's not hurt, and maybe he's already back." Sora cut him off. "Phil mentioned there were like two brackets right? He and Goofy are probably in the other one by now."

"It would be better if we were all together. Or even if we had Goofy."

"And let Izuku just sit on the sidelines?"

"We laid out the rules to you boys, and one of them was to not run off. And with good reason. In Wonderland you two got hurt and were lucky to get back to us. Here, Izuku might be lost or hurt because he ran off."

"You know he left to try and help, so get a sponsorship thing. I bet if we waited, he probably would have come back, and we could have gone into the other bracket."

"But there's no guarantee that would have happened." Donald crossed his arms.

Sora frowned at the Magician before huffing and turning back to look at the doors the Heartless come from. He knew Izuku was back, he had to be. It wouldn't be like him to not make it in time, even if he couldn't participate in this bracket.

He had a lot more faith in his friend than Donald did, that's for sure.

They didn't say anything else to each other, instead, they turned their focus onto the doors on the other side of the arena as they opened up again. There was silence for a moment until flying Heartless darted out of the dark and began to fly around them. They were red and blue, the pair recognized them from Wonderland.

"Try to focus your aim with magic this time." Donald readied himself.

Sora felt his face turn red. "It was one time, and it was an accident!"

"Just be sure to pay attention."

"I will when you stop-"

Sora was cut off when a fiery blaze rushed past him, barely missing him.

Right, I can't get distracted right now!

Sora shouted as he raced towards the flying Heartless. They chirped at each other and began to zip around the arena. The crowd above cheered as fire and ice went flying all over the arena and sent the competitors scrambling.

Sora kept trying to swing his Keyblade at the Heartless when they were near, only for them to dart away at the last second. A few of them circle back to float in front of him and chirp loudly as if to laugh at him.

The one right in front of him didn't fly away fast enough as Sora smacked it out of the air, and cut through it before it could get up again. He didn't get to celebrate his quick victory before even more fire and ice flew in his direction. The other Heartless seem to have taken notice of their fallen brethren and wanted to take it out on the Keyblade wielder.

The teenager ducked and dodged as best he could. Fire would lick his skin as it passed by, and frost would begin to creep across him if the spell got too close.

Thankfully Donald had put an end to the barrage for just a moment. Yellow sparks danced around the area before multiple lightning bolts rained down on the flying Heartless. It didn't do much but stun them for a moment.

"Go Sora!" Donald yelled at him from afar.

He didn't need a cue to start raining down blows on the Heartless. Most of them crumpled easily, unable to handle the brute force of his strikes. Strong in magic but weak in physicality.

The few that hadn't been cut down yet recovered and quickly flew away, now more wary of the pair. Now that they were up again, they began to fly around and barrage the pair with fire and ice spells.

Sora managed to deflect some of the fireballs, he wasn't sure if he could fully block them. With his skin stinging from the near misses of the fireballs he didn't want to risk it.

Meanwhile, Donald had to glance over his shoulder while he tried to deal with one of the pesky Heartless, just to make sure Sora was alright. He couldn't constantly because of one particular Heartless that seemed adamant about bothering him. Needless to say, Donald didn't have a lot of patience for this nonsense.

Even less so due to the fact that the annoying fire Heartless kept dodging his Blizzard spells. The ice magic could only chase it so far before eventually fizzling out. That Heartless knew it, and seemed to take glee in his frustration.

Did they? Donald wasn't even sure Heartless could do that.

While Donald swung his staff and tried to take out the one Heartless that was pestering him, he hadn't noticed one of the few left creeping up behind him.

As Sora cut down another Heartless, he looked up to see Donald was distracted with one. Meanwhile, another was right behind him, building up the magic for a spell. Without thinking, Sora raised his Keyblade and threw it as hard as he could.

"Donald, duck!" He shouted.

The magician looked up before dropping to the ground and watching the Heartless behind him be cleaved through. Shortly after, the Keyblade fell to the ground, but that didn't stop Sora from celebrating his minor victory.

However, he didn't get to celebrate for long before a flurry of ice came barreling toward him. He tried to dodge, but the spell hit him hard enough to knock him against the pillar. He looked over to see his arm was iced over and stuck to the column.

He groaned and tried to pull his arm free, only to see it wouldn't budge. He huffed and tried again until he saw a Heartless across the arena. Staring at him intently.

Oh no…

Sora began to struggle harder before reaching for his Keyblade. Sure, it was far away, but there had to be some way to bring it back. He glared at it from afar, just sitting there on the ground. The Heartless kept chirping and flying around, gathering ice around itself.

Come on, come on!

He continued to reach for his weapon. He could feel it; it was like a simple thread that was slack. He had to tighten it and grab the Keyblade from afar. He could do that, right? He grinned as he saw his Keyblade shimmer and pulled the invisible thread as hard as he could.

Before his Keyblade reappeared in his hand, the Heartless watching him eagerly raced towards him.

"Donald?" Sora called out. He felt his Keyblade reappear in his hand.

"Hey, Donald!" He shouted. "A little help!"

The duck glanced over his shoulder and saw Sora struggling to get free as an ice Heartless barreled towards him.

"Use magic, Sora!" He shouted and blasted another Heartless with a spell.

Sora continued to panic before raising his Keyblade and casting a fire spell as fast as possible. Not much came out, a tiny flame came out. The poor thing fizzled out before it could go too far.

With the Heartless fast approaching, he did the only logical thing he thought to do. He grit his teeth and eyed the Heartless, praying he didn't miss. Them the flung his Keyblade towards the Heartless as hard as he could, he watched as his weapon cleaved through the Heartless and kept spinning through the air.

Donald huffed and smacked the last Heartless away with his staff. He didn't get a chance to breathe though, as he saw a flying Keyblade heading in his direction. He squawked loudly and ducked down. The Keyblade barely grazed a few feathers on top of his head before it buried itself in the wall. There was a moment after where the weapon began to shimmer, glowing a bit before it disappeared and reappeared in Sora's hand.

"Yes!" He cheered.

The magician looked up at the teenager, who laughed awkwardly.

"Uh, heh heh. I got it…"

Donald groaned as Sora was finally able to free himself from the ice.

"You need to be more careful flinging that thing around!" Donald scolded him. "You could have hurt somebody, and then you got yourself stuck and put yourself in more danger!"

"Well, you told me to use magic! And I tried to but it just didn't work out…so I did the next best thing. I mean I got it…and I didn't mean to get stuck. It was an accident."

"An accident that could have been avoided if you hadn't thrown your Keyblade in the first place. Seriously, you boys need to stop doing that."

"I was able to summon it back." He argued.

"After getting yourself stuck to a pillar."

"A Heartless was going to hurt you!"

"There are other solutions than throwing your only weapon, Sora. You know, like magic. Something that I taught you."

Sora felt his face turn red and huffed. "W-Well, magic isn't exactly easy! It's kinda hard to use."

When he thought about magic he thought more about Izuku. He seemed to be able to use it flawlessly, it looked like it came to him naturally. He wished he could do that, it looked cool. But his magic felt so…unrefined. So messy. He didn't understand it. It felt easier to just attack the Heartless head-on.

Like when he would spar with Riku. It was how he fought, that was how he learned.

Sora snapped from his thoughts when Donald spoke up.

"You need to practice it. Magic may seem boring to you, but it's a good tool."

Sora ran a hand through his hair as he turned away. "It's not we have any time to, and you didn't teach me the ice spell. The Cheshire Cat did." He muttered.

"What was that?" Donald raised an eyebrow.

Sora gripped his Keyblade tightly. "It's not like we have any time to practice, Donald. It's a little hard to just 'learn on the spot'."

Donald opened his mouth to respond until he spotted Phil coming from the corridor that led to the arena.

"Alright you two, come on back here. The guys on the other side need a bit of time to wrangle the monsters for the next couple of rounds. So you two get a bit of a breather."

"Really? I thought we wouldn't get one so soon."

"Yeah, yeah, come on kid."

Sora smiled and followed after the satyr into the corridors, Donald followed after.

"Is Goofy still in the lobby?" He asked.

"The tall one? No, actually the green pipsqueak showed up a little bit after you two headed out."

The crowd's cheers grew fainter as they walked into the corridor, away from the loud cries and peering eyes.

"Wait, really?"

Phil nodded. "Yeah, then they headed over to the other bracket."

"Wh-"

"Do you think we can see them?" Sora cut Donald off. "I'm glad Izuku's okay but, can we see them?"

Phil stopped before shaking his head. "No can do kid, last I checked they're in the middle of a match. Besides, it won't take too long to get those monsters ready. You don't have the time to run to the other side of the Coliseum and back."

"Oh." Sora frowned. "Okay, do you think we'll have time to see them later on?"

"Maybe." Phil shrugged. "You might see them later on if you make it that far."

"Which we will." Sora grinned.

"At least you have the confidence kid. Go ahead and wait around here, and don't wander off too far. The next round will be starting soon. Now I've got to go check on some of the other contenders."

"Alright, see ya Phil!" Sora waved him off as he went further down the corridor. Once the satyr was gone he turned around to Donald. "Told ya he'd be back."

"Yeah, yeah." He crossed his arms.

"You know, maybe if you had been a little more patient, we could have entered altogether. It wouldn't have mattered if that pass was for nothing. Because Izuku came back, like I said he would!"

"But we didn't know he'd be back in time. And we need to talk to this Hercules guy, and the only way to do that is to get through the tournament. If we waited around and he didn't show up it would have been an opportunity wasted!"

"You're just mad cause I'm right."

"I'm mad that he ran off, and that you like to be reckless in a fight. Throwing your Keyblade this way and that way…" he trailed off, grumbling to himself.

Sora rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. He hoped he would see Izuku and Goofy soon. As much as he wanted to run to their bracket and see what they're doing, he couldn't. Phil was probably right, there wasn't enough time…but maybe later on there would be.

He wondered what a fight between him and Izuku would be like. It definitely wouldn't be like fighting Riku, who's more straightforward and stronger, plus he can't use magic.

"I wonder what it would be like to spar with him." He wondered aloud. "Maybe we can when we get back to Traverse Town."

Sora looked over his shoulder to see Donald quietly ranting to himself and shaking his staff at whoever he was pretending to lecture.

If Donald will even let us…

Sora tapped on the wall as he waited for the signal to head back into the arena.

He hoped the other two were having better luck than him and Donald. At least they're probably getting along. While they rested, Sora felt someone watching him. He looked up to see someone staring at him.

A blonde man in a flowing red cape, his left hand looked strange. More claw-like compared to the other one. The thing that really caught Sora's attention was the large sword on his back.

Is that another competitor?

He paused for a moment, then gave a small wave to the stranger. He saw the guy huff and turn away, before stalking back down the corridor.

"That was weird." He muttered.

"What was weird?" Donald looked over.

"Uh, nothing. Just saw someone down there. He just left."

"Probably got lost or something." Donald sighed.

Sora nodded until there was a loud cheer from outside in the arena. They were ready to start again.

"Alright, time to get back out there." Donald walked forward. "Be more careful this time alright?"

"Yeah, I hear you."

-HoL-

If Goofy had to describe Izuku, he might say the kid is a hurricane on his feet. He's fast, always moving, always thinking, always fighting. He's always weaving through attacks and managing to dodge things at the last second.

The only trait he doesn't share with a hurricane is the level of destruction. His moves were always calculated, there was never any unnecessary damage. Goofy has seen him fight, and he knows how well Izuku could cut through Heartless. He was like Donald. Magic was always at his fingertips, flowing through him with ease and following his command.

But something seemed off about how he was fighting this time, he used magic yes, but it wasn't as fine as it usually was. His spells seemed more unfocused and crude compared to how he cast them back in Wonderland. It seemed like he was trying do something with his magic, but he wasn't putting in the proper focus.

Most spells fizzled out before they could hit the Heartless, and even then, they didn't carry the same force they usually did.

Goofy bashed a Solider Heartless and quickly ducked to avoid a kick to the head from another one. He glanced back at Izuku to see him casting an ice spell, a lot different than how he'd usually cast it. Small chunks of ice formed around him, the forms slowly twisting and contorting, shaped like crude arrows.

Izuku grit his teeth, held his Keyblade in a white-knuckled grip, and sent the ice arrows flying towards the Heartless. They didn't do much damage; most of them shattered on contact with the Shadows and Soldiers they hit.

A look of frustration lingered on his face before it changed to something more focused, more determined.

Once again, Izuku was back to dodging and ducking around the arena.

Goofy blocked a couple hits from the Heartless before bashing his shield against them. He occasionally looked at Izuku to check on him, and saw his frustration growing more visible. Every once in a while his gaze would flick to the tunnels in the back, where Zack was. Goofy looked back to try and spot him, until his focus was pulled back by the Heartless attacking.

"How ya doin' Izuku?" Goofy asked as he smacked a Shadow Heartless away.

"I'm fine. Are you okay?" He asked, daring a glance over his shoulder.

"Yep, just fine. There are just a few more Heartless left. Let's clean 'em up real quick." Goofy gave a thumbs up. He felt a tinge of worry when Izuku only offered a shaky smile in return.

They split off again, but not too far from the other. They made sure they were within distance to jump in and help the other if needed.

Izuku swung down his Keyblade as hard as he could at a Soldier, making it stumble back before regaining its balance. He panted and swung again, mimicking a move he had seen before. Thankfully the Soldier went down this time, the armor dented and warped. It was starting to fade away into dark smoke.

Goofy let out a yelp as a Shadow jumped onto his back. He tried to reach around and toss it off, but couldn't when another Heartless came bounding over.

"Goofy!" Izuku looked over to try and help, before he could run over the Soldier on the ground, leapt up one last time and delivered a harsh kick to his face. Izuku yelled in surprise, his eyes watered from the pain, and he stumbled back. Before the Heartless could do anything else, Izuku swiped at it with an arc of fire following his blade.

The Heartless hissed and flailed before burning away. Once it was gone, Izuku turned around to rush over. He pulled off the Shadow and cut through it with ease. It vanished into a puff of black smoke.

"Are you okay?" He asked the knight as he bashed the last Heartless.

"Don't worry about me, I'm just fine." Goofy nodded. "That Heartless there just caught me by surprise. Thanks for takin' care of it."

"Y-Yeah."

They looked up as the crowd cheered at the defeat of the monsters.

"Was that our second or third round?" Izuku asked.

"That was your third." Phil shouted from the corridor. He was panting and leaning against the wall. "Get over here you two, there's a small intermission while the other side gets the monsters together."

Izuku and Goofy looked at each other before heading over. Phil was still struggling to catch his breath by the time they walked up to him.

"Are ya okay there?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. You try running across the Coliseum, see how you like it," the satyr wheezed. "Hold on, gimme a second."

While Phil collected himself, Izuku looked around. He had last spotted Zack in the corridor, watching him and giving him a thumbs up.

"Uh, where's Zack?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah he decided to head up to the stands just as I got here. Said something about getting a better view of the action."

Goofy didn't miss how Izuku's face turned red.

"Right, y-yeah." He rubbed his arm. "I guess it's pretty hard to see from here."

"It ain't the best place to look in from." Goofy nodded. "I sure he just wants to see how you're doin'."

"Right…"

"Anyway, just needed to let you two know to keep your heads up. These next couple rounds are gonna be a doozy."

"We'll do our best." Goofy grinned.

"Yeah, you do that. Now if you'll excuse me I gotta run back over to the other side to check on some other fighters. Oh man, I'm gonna feel this in the morning." Phil huffed before running off again, leaving the two alone.

"Must get really busy…running the Games." Izuku mumbled.

"Must be. Phil sure does look tired."

"Yeah. Maybe he can relax after the Games are over."

Goofy laughed. "Sure hope so."

The knight's laughter died down as Izuku peeked out from the entrance, looking for Zack in the crowd. Goofy eyed him with worry before looking out at the crowd, he couldn't see Zack from where he was standing.

"Everythin' okay?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine, just, kinda looking around."

"Are ya sure? You got a pretty nasty kick back there." Goofy walked up to him. "Anythin' broken?"

"No, I'm okay." Izuku held his face. "It didn't hurt too bad. It more surprised me than anything."

"Still though, you should drink a potion real quick. We gotta be at the top of our game if we wanna get through this."

Izuku nodded to himself, half-heartedly rummaging around in his yellow bag for a potion.

"Are ya sure you're okay there Izuku? Ya seem a little off." Goofy frowned. "Is somethin' botherin' ya?"

Izuku quickly shook his head and looked through his bag with more enthusiasm. He knew he had a potion in there somewhere.

Goofy kept watching Izuku, then glanced back to the stands. The teen was a little more jittery than usual, he'd been like that since the start of the bracket. Ever since Zack said he'd be watching them during the fights.

"Say Izuku, does Zack make ya nervous?"

Izuku quickly whirled around. "H-Huh?"

"Does Zack make ya nervous?" He asked again. "Ya've been a little distracted ever since the tournament started. Ya've been acting a little weird. He didn't say or do anythin' to hurt ya did he?"

"N-No! He wouldn't do that…and Zack doesn't make me nervous." Izuku waved his hands around wildly. "I-I mean…it's not that. Really!" His face made Goofy doubtful.

"Are ya sure?"

Izuku's face somehow turned a darker shade of red, and he averted his eyes.

Goofy hummed to himself before it finally clicked. He knew the way Izuku kept looking back at Zack reminded him of something. It was the same way Max would look at him when he was little, and doing something important. Something especially important to him.

"Oooh, I think I get it now. You're trying to impress Zack, aren't ya?"

"N-No! I mean, that's not it." Izuku nearly dropped his bag. "I just…hmm."

Goofy watched him fidget and tug at his hair for a moment before Izuku forced his hands to his side.

"It's just that…Zack gave me this chance. T-To get in the tournament and find Todoroki. I don't want to waste it. I want to show him that I can do this. I mean, when I really think about it, back in the mountains he wiped the floor with me. And It feels…it's not just me that's fighting. I'm showing him what else she's taught me. That she's a good teacher, that she made me capable enough to handle this!"

"Is that why ya've been usin' your magic the way ya have? It ain't really like ya, it ain't as strong as it usually is."

Goofy watched Izuku groan and bury his face in his hands.

"Ya know, last time I checked not even Donald tries to shape his magic like that. He usually just lets it form however it forms. Ya did too, up until the Games. Doesn't seem like your style."

Izuku kept his eyes down, refusing to look at Goofy. He was pretty sure he could guess how the teen was feeling. Goofy knew that feeling, back when he, Donald, and Mickey were barely making a name for themselves. Trying to make others see they were capable, strong, and reliable.

They had something to prove.

Apparently, Izuku thought he did too.

"Ya know, I could keep guessin' but I have a feelin' I'm right on the money." Goofy chuckled.

Izuku sighed, and kept his face hidden. Was he really that transparent?

"Did Aqua use her magic like that?"

Apparently, he was.

Izuku hesitantly nodded.

"Why are ya tryin' to fight like her anyway? That doesn't seem like ya. Is it because of Zack?"

"I want to prove that…I can do this. And she taught me well. That she was right to teach me, to train me." Izuku felt like his face was on fire. "A-And instead I've just been embarrassing myself."

Goofy watched him before frowning. "Well if ya ask me Izuku, ya ain't bein' fair to yourself."

Izuku looked up.

"Ya tend to compare yourself to other people who ya can't compare to. Not yet anyway. I don't think that's a good thing, especially when you're just doin' the best ya can."

"My best doesn't seem like enough…" He muttered.

Goofy sighed. "Well to be fair, ya ain't fightin' like ya normally do. You've been fightin' like someone else, like Aqua. And last time I checked, Zack came over to see you fight, not Aqua."

Izuku frowned.

"I just…I don't want it to seem like he wasted his time by giving me this chance. I can't waste it."

Goofy hummed to himself. "Ya know, I think you're a real smart kid Izuku. But even with those smarts, ya sure like to overthink things don't ya?"

"Huh?"

"Yer really overthinkin' this whole thing. I don't really think ya need to prove anythin' to Zack. He thought yer were good enough to be in the Games didn't he?"

Izuku looked down. "I mean…I guess…"

Goofy paused for a moment before gently patting his back. "Yer pretty hard on yerself, aren't ya?"

Izuku tapped his foot, the fast rhythm acting as a suitable distraction for the time being.

"Ya shouldn't be. Yer doin' yer best, and I'm sure Aqua would think that too. Do ya think she'd want ya to fight like her? Or yerself?"

Izuku looked up at that, then back down. He flet himself flush a little. He could already hear her telling him to be nicer to himself, and that he didn't have to copy everything she did. He was his own person after all, she was there to teach, not to be copied from.

Izuku sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I guess…I should fight like normal then. Huh?"

Goofy smiled. "I think that sounds like a great idea."

-HoL-

Zack looked down at the arena, waiting for Izuku and that Goofy guy to come out for the next couple of rounds. They were 3 rounds in, just a few more rounds, and that's when the fun would begin.

That's when things would begin to ramp up. Whether it be stronger monsters or other competitors. It was going to be wild.

And he hoped, he really did, that Izuku would get to those intense rounds. He wanted to see what he could do. But he noticed something in the first couple of rounds, something that threw him off for a second. He had suddenly changed his fighting style, it wasn't the same as back in the mountains. Sure, the kid hadn't gotten to showcase his magic, but he knew that Izuku was a beginner, a novice. Even if magic was something that came naturally to him, there was still a sort of base style he could recognize.

The kind of casting he was using in those rounds was far above his skill level. He couldn't make it strong enough for the constructs to actually do much damage. He wasn't fighting like himself. He was mimicking someone, using moves that weren't his.

It was clear he couldn't handle that kind of casting, not yet. He knew it too, and he was getting frustrated with himself, which in turn led to desperation, which led to him inevitably exhausting himself.

Frustration, desperation, exhaustion, which would lead to defeat if he didn't set himself straight.

On top of that, Zack noticed how Izuku kept looking back to the tunnel. Where he had been before moving to the stands, looking for him. Trying to gauge some kind of reaction or judgment, not that he would have been able to see Zack from where he was.

He supposed that was one thing he should have expected. Izuku being worried about his judgment, wanting to impress him. Yeah, that checks out, he probably should have seen it coming. Then again…Cloud was the same in a way.

Then again, the kid probably had an extra layer of fear.

Zack knew Aqua. Even if it was from a long time ago, he still knew her. They were friends, and he missed her every day. Izuku just wanted to prove she was doing something right, not that he had to prove that to Zack, he knew she did everything right in training the kid. She gave him the basics, and before she could give him anymore, she was taken away.

But Zack had come to see Izuku fight, not Aqua.

The hero sighed and rubbed his eyes, in retrospect, he probably should have stayed down in the tunnels and said that. Give the kid a pep talk he probably needed, he was Izuku's sponsor. He supposed he had some sort of responsibility…right? Did he? Then again he was responsible for Cloud too…even if he had run off.

Zack hardly got a second to ponder over it before deciding yes, he did. If he didn't look out for Izuku in Aqua's absence, she'd probably claw her way out of whatever trouble she's in to come for his throat.

Aqua loved her friends deeply, he could only imagine how much she loved her student.

…Yeah, maybe I should go talk to him.

Before he could get up from his seat, the trumpets sounded out, and the crowd began to cheer. The two competitors he was watching walked out into the open. Izuku seemed to have steeled himself, gripping his Keyblade tightly and holding his head a little higher.

There was another round of cheers as the doors on the other side of the arena flew open, and a horde of shadows and colorful, flying Heartless flew out. Zipping around the arena and twitching sporadically, like they were excited.

He saw Izuku ready himself, and as soon as the trumpets sounded off he launched himself at the Heartless.

"Come on, kid." Zack muttered. "You can do this."

He half-expected Izuku to start up the same thing as he did in the previous rounds. Though instead of trying to do a complicated spell, he saw Izuku release a wave of thunder magic. It hit the shadows and a few of the flying monsters. It was enough to stun them for a moment, and Izuku took the opportunity to close the distance.

He aimed for the flying ones first, and got close enough to smack one or two out of the air before firing off a quick blast of ice magic. The cold spell ate through the crimson monster's body in no time and destroyed them.

Zack's eyes widened as Izuku quickly moved to dodge, a shadow jumping towards him. Then ducking and dodging as the flying Heartless gave chase. Flinging spells at him left and right. Goofy was usually there to help shield him from the attacks, but the few instances he wasn't there, Izuku managed to conjure up a half-formed barrier. Weak, but enough to hold up against the spells the Heartless cast.

His fighting was noticeably different, he wasn't mimicking or emulating anyone anymore. This was all him, all Izuku.

He would cast an occasional glance to the stands, but quickly turned his attention back to the battle.

"Attaboy." Zack grinned.

He couldn't help but wonder what happened. Who might have said something or if he figured it out himself. He glanced over towards Goofy, and watched the knight bash the shadows with his shield. It took a few tries but after a moment the shadow he was fighting disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Goofy kept looking over to Izuku now and again, checking on him before returning to the fight. Quick cursory glances.

Zack smiled to himself.

Izuku would be fine, he was in good hands.

"Alright kid, show them what you can do."

-.-

Hades scowled to himself as he stared down at the different arenas. Things weren't going as well as he'd like them to be. The two teams were getting through the rounds, bit by bit. Even if they faltered for just a moment they always managed to grab a win.

A bunch of newbies winning the hearts of all of Thebes, just like that god-brat. It made him seethe, sending blue flames racing up and down his arms. He paid no attention to the imps cowering some distance away, he was too focused on the teams.

He would have preferred to have seen them out of the picture by now, but even then Heartless aren't always the best solution. For a while he had thought the green one would have been taken down without even fighting one of his personal picks. He had been stumbling for a while, barely scraping through each round.

But then the kid just seemed to recover. Like he had some kind of revelation or something, he pulled himself together and started fighting like he actually meant it. On the other hand, the spiky-haired one, and the duck seemed to be on bad terms. Despite that, they seemed to get through each round in one piece.

It was annoying.

Hades huffed and disappeared from the makeshift throne he was sitting at. He had to pay a visit to his favorite competitors, just to make sure they had their priorities straight.

He appeared in one of the many hallways of the Coliseum. He didn't have to look too far in order to find one of his champions milling about. The moody, spiky-haired one, Cloud, if he remembered right, was in one of the corridors that led to the arena. He was finished with his match and decided to watch the kid he was going to go up against.

"So, enjoying the games so far?" Hades asked.

"Hmph."

The god eyed his brooding champion before sighing. "Alright, alright, you seem to want to get straight to the point. Then let's do that. You do know you'll be going up against that key brat right? You're well aware of that?"

"I know." He huffed.

"Good, now when the time comes, just don't blow it. Take him out, no hesitation. Got it?"

The young man shifted and eyed the god, before raising an eyebrow. "The great god of the Underworld is afraid of some kid?"

Hades scowled.

"Tch, sorry cut our contract says-"

"I know! I know what it says, I wrote the thing! I know I just said you had to kill Hercules but think about it. This kid is in the way, you really think he'll go down easy? Best to just get it over with." Blue fire flares out, traveling down his arms as he gestured around.

Hades paused before taking a deep breath, allowing the flames to recede.

"Listen, it's just like the goat says. 'It's all a game. So let loose and have fun with it!'"

"And killing a kid is supposed to be 'fun'?"

The god rolled his eyes. "A casualty or two along the way won't hurt anybody. It's no big deal, as if he would be the first person to kick it in the games. It happens. It's just life."

Hades watch Cloud glare at him, before feeling his temper flare out again.

"Listen, do you want my help or not kid? I am your best shot and finding your way back to…whatever it is you wanted. If you don't want my help you can go crawling back to your dunce of a mentor and-"

Hades was cut off when a large blade came swinging towards him. He watched unimpressed as it stopped inches from his face. He glanced down at the young man and raised an eyebrow.

"Do not talk about him like that."

Hades nearly laughed at that, and pushed the sword away from his face. "I think you should be more concerned about not talking to me like that." He gave a dry laugh before blue fire surrounded them. "You shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you little Cloudy. And you seem very insistent on trying my patience today."

Cloud eyed the flames that crept closer, before looking back at Hades. He held his glare before bringing his sword down and sheathing it. A moment later the fire was gone, leaving the air hot and thick.

"It seems you're a little worked up, huh kiddo? Take a walk, let off some steam." Hades brushed back his flaming hair. "While you do that, I'll go check on the Snowflake. Ciao."

He disappeared in a puff of smoke, traveling through the Coliseum in a dark, heavy mist until he found his other fighter. Like the other one, he was watching the fight with the green-haired one. He didn't seem impressed with what he saw. How he fought and wielded magic with ease. He seemed more bored if anything.

Hades's gaze lingered on the young Keyblade weilder for a moment. There was something about him that seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place where from. He shook his head and turned his attention back on Todoroki.

"Heya, hiya, how's it goin'?" Hades greeted.

Todoroki didn't even jump at the sudden appearance of the god, he simply looked towards him before looking back to the arena.

Hades clicked his tongue. It was a little unfortunate neither of his picks were conversationalists, but he didn't choose them based on that.

"Watchin' greenie over there?" He asked.

"Midoriya." Todoroki muttered. "I wasn't aware he was here."

"Oh, you know the little bugger?"

He nodded.

"Oh, a little friend of yours?" He asked, already dreading the rant he was going to get. How he wouldn't hurt his friend and all that junk. Mortals could be so sappy sometimes.

"No."

"Oh?"

"He's just someone I know."

Hades grinned to himself. "So you shouldn't have any issue with dealing with him, right? Taking him out?"

"Out of the game?"

Hades smiled. "If you wanna frame it like that sure. I just need this to be more of a…permanent solution."

The teen shot him a look and the proposition of murder.

"You want me to kill Midoriya?" He asked.

"Eh semantics."

He narrowed his eyes.

Hades huffed and waved off the look. "Listen, in order to get to Hercules, you have to deal with him. Besides, that kid is going to cause trouble for us down the line, best to nip it in the bud yeah?"

Todoroki watched the god before turning back to the arena, watching his classmate fight through the monsters. He was doing better than he was earlier, but there was still some sort of desperation in his movements.

"Hey, you still want me to get rid of your fire don't you?" Hades stepped closer.

His attention snapped back to the god. "It's not my fire. It's his."

Hades rolled his eyes. "Right, right, yeah. His fire. Anyway consider this another addition to the deal we have."

"And if I don't?"

"Then you can forget about me getting rid of that fire problem for you."

He stiffened up at that.

"I guess the question is, how badly do you want this? How far are you willing to go for what you want? Simple as that."

Hades hummed to himself as he watched Todoroki stare out at the arena. He practically hear the gears turning. He could sense the darkness in his heart, a tiny seed slowly branching out at his orders. Digging in, and rooting itself deep inside.

Darkness, is truly a wonderful thing.

"It's just some food for thought." He turned to walk away. "I'll leave you to it."

He didn't wait for a reply before disappearing and popping back to his throne above it all. He paid no mind to the surprised yelps of the two imps, just watching the arena.

"Come on you two, put on a show."

-HoL-

The teams of the Keyblade weilders fought their way through the games. Facing more and more Heartless each round, sometimes snagging victory at the last moment. The longer the Games went on, the louder and more excited the crowds got. Rooting for the ones that managed to move forward, all in excitement to see how they'd do against each other.

It was the part of the Games everyone looked forward too. Weeding out the weaker fighters and pitting the strongest against each other. Only for the winner to go up against the strongest of them all, Hercules.

With the new competitors suddenly coming into town and holding their own against all the monsters, it was cause for curiosity and excitement. It wasn't everyday someone new just came by and blew the competition out of the water.

By the seventh round the monsters were cleared out, there were no more to fight. All that was left were the champions that came to fight in the first place.

Sora panted as he looked up at the stands, he and Donald stood in the center of the arena and watched as some of the audience began to filter out fo the stands. While a few of them lingered to give out a few more cheers.

"Where are…where they going?" Sora asked. "Is it over?" He asked.

"It shouldn't be, we haven't even seen Hercules yet." The duck muttered.

"Oi, get in here you two!" Phil waved from the corridor.

The two obeyed and hurried over, looking down at the satyr.

"Where's everyone going?" Sora asked. "The Games aren't finished yet right?"

"They can't be!" Donald spoke up.

"Easy, don't get your feathers in a twist." Phil waved off Donald's shout. "It's a quik intermission so the fighters get a breather before going up against each other. You've got a little while until the next match."

"Really?" Sora asked. "Does that mean there's enough time to go to the other side and see how the others are doing?"

"I suggest you fuel up and prep for the next battle kid. This next one ain't gonna be easy. It's not like a bunch of mindless monsters."

"...So there is time?" Sora grinned.

"You're not going over there. Focus on resting up, it's not like we have Goofy and Izuku to help cover for any mistakes."

Sora shot Donald a look before turning away. For some reason the way he said that…stung.

"Well, fine. I guess." He muttered. "So what, are we just gonna sit here for a while?"

"That constitutes as 'resting up' last time I checked."

Sora groaned and leaned against the wall for the time being. He didn't want to just sit around for a while, it was boring. There was nothing to do but…well nothing. Or think, and he didn't feel like getting lost in his thoughts. He was afraid of where they might go this time around.

He really just wanted to see how Izuku and Goofy were doing, wish them luck, and all that.

He didn't really care about Donald's anger, he was always angry. It wasn't like him yelling at Sora was going to do much. If anything it almost made him want to push it. He had no reason to be as mean as he was.

Sora sighed as he pushed off the wall and began pacing back and forth for a bit.

"What are you doing?" Donald asked.

"...Walking around?" Sora said.

"Uh huh."

"I'm just walking around! Is that really so bad?" He asked. "What am I supposed to do? Just sit still?"

"That's what relaxing usually means yes."

Sora rolled his eyes and continued his pacing motion, it was a lot better than just sitting down and doing nothing in his opinion. Plus it kind of worked in his favor. It didn't take Donald too long to stop watching him like a hawk and start to doze off.

He supposed that all the magic casting was bound to tire him out. This really was the best time for someone like Donald to rest up.

Wonder if Izuku is that tired too. He uses a lot of magic too.

Sora hummed to himself before slowly creeping away. He wouldn't take too long, he'd be back before Donald would wake up. It was just a quick check-in with his friends. How bad could that really be?

-.-

"I didn't think we would be fighting other competitors until something like the 10th round."

"Mhm."

"I guess the Games really do move fast then, though it kind of makes me wonder how often they're held. It doesn't seem to be a yearly thing. Maybe once a month or so?"

"Maybe."

Izuku hummed to himself as he paced back and forth in the corridor. Zack had let them know they were in intermission, and this was a small rest period for them. Izuku was half tempted to go over and see how Sora and Donald were doing, but the fact he hadn't seen or heard anything about Todoroki was eating at him.

They hadn't seen Phil, so he couldn't even ask him. Then there was no guarantee he'll find him if he just wanders around and hopes for the best. He had no idea where in the Coliseum he would even be. He could be in a nearby area, or at the far end of this section of the bracket.

Izuku sighed and took a moment to lean against the wall. Goofy was standing by, listening to him ramble on. Patient as always.

"Are ya worried?" Goofy asked.

"A little, I'm more worried about where Todoroki might be." He admitted. "I mean these fights are against Heartless, and he doesn't have a Keyblade. I just hope he's okay."

"Ya said that heroes back in your world could destroy the Heartless right?"

"But then they'd reappear." Izuku sighed. "Then again it wasn't always instantaneous so…"

"I think you're friend might be okay." Goofy smiled. "If he's as tough as ya are, I think he'll be okay."

Izuku nodded. Todoroki did rank higher than him in the Quirk Assessment test, and he was a Recommendation student. There was no doubt that he was stronger than Izuku, so Goofy was probably right. He was probably just fine. Still, Izuku couldn't help but worry.

"Well, worryin' about it ain't gonna help. You're bound to run into him soon, so ya just gotta be patient."

Izuku looked over to him. "That's true…"

Goofy eyed the teenager before giving him a light pat on the shoulder. "Remember what I said about ya overthinkin'?"

"Yeah…"

Izuku looked down and tried to calm his nerves. Goofy was right, he was probably overthinking it again.

"How about this, we can walk around for a bit, maybe find somethin' to snack on before the next part of the Games start. While we walk around we might find your friend too."

"I guess that works." Izuku shrugged. "I guess it's better than sitting around."

"A-yup, and we'll be back in no time."

Izuku paused before nodding. "Alright then. Let's wander around I guess?"

"That's the spirit." Goofy nodded.

With that, Goofy took the lead and tried to navigate the winding halls of the Coliseum. They were mostly empty, save for the occasional sight of Phil sprinting around. They didn't see much of anyone else, none of the audience or even the other fighters.

The two had guessed everyone was in another section of the Coliseum, and walking around in that area. The real question was how were they supposed to get there.

As they walked, Goofy occasionally filled the silence with some thoughts of his own. How interesting this world was and how there must be a lot to see. He says something about vacationing there with someone named Maxie.

Izuku half listens to what he's saying. He feels a little bad about it, but he can't shake the unnerving feeling that someone is stalking them. Following them and watching from afar. He wasn't quite sure when it started, he wasn't paying attention, but he could feel them.

"And boy oh boy, ya should have seen Maxie's face when I went tumblin' out that roller coaster and into that cotton candy stand." Goofy kept rambling on. "He couldn't stop laughin'!"

Izuku was about to snap back to attention to ask how in the world that happened, when he felt the air grow cold. Goofy didn't seem to notice when Izuku stopped following him, and kept walking forward.

A harsh chill raced up his spine and Izuku whirled around to see what had caught up with them. He had been expecting some sort of escaped Heartless, or whatever other kind of creature may exist in this world. Only to find an empty hallway.

Goofy's voice had faded into the distance, leaving him all alone.

Izuku felt his heart hammering in his chest as he looked around. There was something around, he was sure of it. The lits torches along the wall flickered a bit, and began to dim. He swore he saw the growing shadows twisting and warping together. He was about to summon his Keyblade, until a cold hand grabbed his shoulder.

Izuku spun around and jumped back, holding out a hand to summon his weapon. Until the stranger closed in and grabbed his arm.

"Midoriya."

He froze in place, taking a moment to process what he heard. He looked up to see none other than the person he had been worrying about. The torches seemed to regain their spark, all the eerie shadows from before were gone. As if it never happened.

"Todoroki!"

The dual-Quirk user sighed as he let Izuku go.

"You're here! I was worried about you. When I heard you were part of the Games I decided to join too, to try and and make sure-"

"I'm fine." He cut Izuku off, uninterested in his words.

"Oh…well, that's a relief." Izuku smiled. "I'm sure a lot of what's happening is confusing, but I promise to explain everything once we get out of here. But I found Iida, I'm not sure where Uraraka is but-"

Izuku paused mid-rant to see Todoroki wasn't really paying attention. He wasn't paying attention, even when it was news about their friends…maybe 'friends' was stretching it. Classmates, people who had also survived. They had all been together when they were separated. Instead Todoroki was glaring at him, like he was trying to pick him apart.

"Right, I'm going off on a tangent. Sorry about that. But still, I'm glad you're okay."

He kept his glare, looking Izuku up and down before huffing and turning around. "Follow me." He muttered.

"What? Where are…" Izuku tried to question him, but Todoroki was quick to walk away. He followed after him, not wanting to lose him so soon after finding him.

A tense silence settled between them, only their footsteps and the crackling of the torches filled the air. Occasionally the torches would dim, then brighten up again once they passed.

"Who was that you were walking with?" Todoroki asked. "He looked strange."

"That was Goofy he's…he's a friend. He's helping to fix the whole…everything. He uh, offered to be my partner in the Games. Since the others went in the other bracket."

That seemed to garner his attention, at least enough to get a glance over the shoulder. "Others?"

"I-It's a long story. I promise I'll explain later, but more importantly, where are we going?"

Todoroki suddenly stopped walking, prompting the other teen to stop as well. He was quiet before turning around to face Izuku. "This should be a fine spot."

Izuku felt another chill run up his spine. "A fine spot for what?" He asked. He almost wanted to kick himself, he suddenly felt like he was back in middle school. Lured, or in some cases dragged, to a quiet, secluded space before he got beaten up. He took a step back, ready to put some distance between them.

Looking at him now, Izuku realized that Todoroki was the opposite of Katsuki. He was intimidating as well, a force to be reckoned with. But he was quiet, if anything that was even more unnerving.

"A chat."

"About…?"

Todoroki watched Izuku, taking in his defensive stance. Like he was ready to run away if he had to.

It was pathetic.

He sighed before continuing.

"I saw you fighting in the arena, against those monsters."

"Oh, y-yeah?"

"There was something I noticed, about your Quirk."

Izuku looked up at that.

"You could only use elemental abilities, until that strange key-shaped sword appeared. Which was in the battle trials."

Izuku bit his lip. "Uh huh?"

"It reminded me of someone else, a rather infamous character back home. And it got me thinking."

He gulped. "Y-Yeah?"

Todoroki's glare intensified.

"Midoriya, tell me…are you really Guardian's secret love child or something?"

Izuku's mind went blank at the question. He stared at Shouto, absolutely dumbfounded as his brain processed the question.

Am I…what?

"Guardian's secret…n-no. No! Oh my god, no!" Izuku waved his arms frantically. "N-No, I'm not her…no! She's my…she's the one who trained me. She's my master!"

Todoroki raised an eyebrow. "Master?"

"Y-Yeah! No relation!"

"Hmph." He crossed his arms. "I thought someone like Guardian would have done a better job in training someone."

Izuku went still, quick to stop whatever nervous fidgeting he had. He looked up at Todoroki, looking at his face for any hint of what may be considered a bad joke.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Yeah…I did. But I would like you to elaborate, if you don't mind."

"I saw how you fought out there, with your friend and that strange weapon of yours. Your Quirk. In the beginning, you did nothing but make mistakes, you were so desperate for something. It's obvious and pathetic. Even with your sudden improvement, I could still see it. That sad desperation. As if you're trying to prove yourself."

Izuku frowned. Looking back, it was true. His fighting was sloppy, and he was desperate. Trying not to embarrass himself, hoping that Shouto was okay, a little worried about Sora and Donald in the other bracket.

Still, it didn't give him any excuse to say that. Not about his Master, not about Aqua.

"Guardian is arguably one of the most powerful people out there." He continued. "If she were a pro hero, she would most likely be in the Top 10. Perhaps even dethrone Endeavor from his Number 2 spot. She is one of the only criminals or vigilantes to get a solid hit on Endeavor. For that, I commend her."

"Hold on. Endeavor, his last name is…yeah you're a recommendation student. That makes sense. Still, you commend her for hitting him?"

"He deserved it. In fact, it's only a fraction of what he deserves."

"That so?"

He narrowed his eyes. "My father," he spat out the word like it meant something foul, "is an ambitious man. I suppose that's easy to see. He aims for the top, but when it really matters he loses at the last minute. Always in second, always number 2, never good enough. Even with all that power, he was never able to best All Might and take the Number 1 spot. He was never able to catch the most troublesome vigilante, Guardian. No matter how hard he tried. All Might, the Symbol of Peace; and the vigilante Guardian, the Hero of Light, both are living proof of his failure. One more so than the other."

Izuku's irritation had fizzled out to confusion and morbid curiosity.

He saw Todoroki clench his fists for a moment, before relaxing, steadying himself. Before he could continue there was a noise at the far end of the hallway. They both snapped their attention to the disturbance, but saw nothing.

The dual-quirked boy was about to walk over to investigate until Izuku caught his attention again.

"I'm not sure what you're getting at, why are you telling me this? What are you trying to say, Todoroki?"

Todoroki eyed the hallway for a moment before turning back to Izuku. He stared at him before looking away again, then back.

"Have you ever heard of…Quirk Marriages?"

Izuku paled, a sinking feeling filled his stomach.

"Yeah…yeah I've heard of them."

"Then you know how much of a problem they were in the beginning of Quirks. People seeking complementary and stronger partners in order to have powerful children. It's unethical, it's-"

"Disgusting." Izuku agreed. His stomach churned with every word that fell out of his mouth. He forced himself to look Todoroki in the eye. "Todoroki, don't tell me…"

"As the Number 2, he obviously has plenty of money to throw around. Bribery, hush money, enough to let him get away with whatever he wants. He used that money to get ahold of my mother's Quirk. And he used her like some sort of breeding stock until he had the 'perfect child'. Someone who could usurp All Might, someone who could make up for his failures."

"The perfect child? T-Todoroki…" Izuku trailed off, stopping when he saw the shadows around them. The torches began to go dim, and Todoroki's shadows seemed to writhe and contort behind him.

"He expects me to just go along with it. Like some sort of tool to get what he wants. I refuse!"

Izuku could see ice slowly spreading from his right side and across the wall and floor. He didn't flinch as some of it began to creep up his leg.

"Whenever I think back, I can only remember my mother crying. One day she had called my left side unbearable, before pouring boiling water on my face. And she wasn't far off, it is unbearable. I refuse to use that side, to use his fire."

"His fire?"

"I'll show him that I never needed his damned fire, and I never will! But you Midoriya, you stand in the way of that."

Izuku stiffened up. "What do you mean?"

He scoffed. "Someone here can remove my fire, take it away so I only have my mother's ice."

"Someone who can…Todoroki that's impossible! You can't just rip your Quirk in half, t-that's not how that works! Who told you that? It's impossible, they're probably ly-"

"Somebody named Hades."

Izuku felt like a bucket of cold water was dumped over him.

"What?"

"He's the one who found me, and promised he'd take away his fire. But he can only do that if I beat someone named Hercules, and you're in the way of that. Unfortunately, this will have to be a per-"

"Hades won't help you!" Izuku cut him off. "Listen, I've heard things about him. Bad things, apparently he fought my Master. And he lost. He's not trying to help you, Todoroki he's lying and-"

"It is not my fire." He stepped forward into Izuku's space. "It's his."

Izuku had been taken aback by his snap, but frowned. "No, Todoroki it's yours. And you're letting yourself be used by this guy."

"It is not mine." Todoroki glared at him. "Do you not know how to listen?"

"But it is your fire." Izuku snapped back, stepping forward. "You know Todoroki earlier you said I seemed desperate. Are you sure you weren't talking about yourself?"

"Midoriya…" He scowled.

"You're desperate enough to trust some random guy in order to get rid of your fire. You're just going along with whatever he says. Anything to get what you want. If that doesn't define 'desperate' then I don't know what does. You don't even know what kind of consequences you'll be dealing with if you tear your Quirk in half. Again, if even possible!"

"All that matters is that I won't have his fire anymore, and I can prove I can be a hero without it! That I never needed it."

Izuku bit back a remark that he was starting to sound like a broken record.

"Who are you even trying to prove yourself to in this place? Nobody even knows you your father is, nobody knows about his status or anything. If anything you have more free reign here compared to back home!"

The ice around them flared, and more began to crawl through the hall. Izuku eyed the shadows around them and watched them twist and writhe.

"You don't get it." He hissed.

"You're letting your hatred for your father act some sort of shackle. And you're messing with something that's way out of your depth." Izuku shot back. "Todoroki, nothing good will come from any of this."

"I beg to differ."

The ice continued to spread, creeping up his waist now.

"You're Guardian's student. If anything beating you with just my ice would just prove my point. That I don't need his fire. Looking at how you fought, it shouldn't be too hard. Your Master didn't do the best job, now did she?"

Izuku grit his teeth and glared at Todoroki, he could feel himself shaking. Whether it was from the cold or his anger he wasn't sure. He watched his shadow grow larger and distort even further.

"Todoroki…"

"Hey!"

The both looked up at the voice, and saw none other than Phil standing at the end of the hallway.

"What are you two doing?" He asked and walked towards them. "If you're gonna fight, save it for the ring. No fighting in the halls, ya hear me?"

The two teenagers stared at each other before Phil spoke up again.

"Today you two, separate from each other. Go on, get. Shoo, be on your way."

"Fine." Todoroki muttered,

"Okay." Izuku answered.

They slowly walked away from each other, keeping each other's gaze until they couldn't anymore. Phil watched them and made sure they wouldn't make any attempt at fighting. Once they were both out of the hall he went off on his own, he still had plenty of things to do himself.

Izuku didn't even know where he was supposed to be going, he was just walking in any direction. He was still reeling from everything Todoroki had told him. Quirk marriages, Hades, that Darkness that was taking a hold of him. He supposed that's where the unease came from, he could practically feel it rolling off of him in waves.

He was going down a path that wouldn't end well. Not at all. If he was being used, who's to say that this Hades guy wouldn't outright kill him once he's outlived his usefullness. Not to mention that this 'taking away his fire' business could actually kill him. He wasn't sure, but still…

Izuku and him weren't friends, that was clear. Even before their world fell they weren't close, Izuku hadn't been sure if they would ever have a friendship. They weren't friends, but even so, Todoroki was going down a destructive path.

He was in trouble, whether he knew it or not. He was hurting himself, he was hurting in general.

Admittedly he resented what he had to say about his Master. That felt like a line had been crossed.

Still it didn't change the fact that he needed to step in. Whether he liked it or not, Izuku would stop him. Stop his deal with Hades, make it void. Drag Todoroki out of the darkness that was starting to seep in, even if he went kicking and screaming.

He had to save him.

He was going to save him.

Whether Todoroki liked it or not.

"Oh there ya are!"

Izuku froze in place and looked over to see Goofy making his way over to him. He was holding something in his hands.

"I'm sorry I lost track of ya, musta happened in all those twisty halls. They get kinda confusion'."

"It's okay Goofy." Izuku said quickly. "What uh, what have you got there?"

"Oh these? I managed to find someone selling somethin' called Gee-ro. Or was it Gi-ro. Hmm, I'm pretty sure I'm off on the name, but it sure looks good." He held out one of the gyros out to him.

"Thanks…"

Izuku smiled and looked down at the wrapped up food. It smelled good, but he couldn't quite bring himself to even try it. As opposed to Goofy who was happily digging into his. He stopped eating when he realized he wasn't eating.

"Izuku, is everythin' okay? Do ya feel alright?"

Izuku nodded. "I'm fine, just don't have much of an appetite. I'm sorry."

"That's okay, maybe we can save it for later."

Izuku nodded, but kept a hold of the food. He could see the corridor they had left from, and the bright sunlight from the arena at the far end.

"Ya look a bit upset there, are ya sure you're okay? It's okay if ya ain't."

"Yeah." Izuku answered again. "I'm fine. I just…I had a run in with Todoroki."

Goofy beamed at that. "Really? That's great! I bet it makes ya feel a lot better to know he's doin' okay."

Izuku sighed. "Sort of yeah. I'm glad he's alive…but he's not okay."

Goofy frowned. "What? What do ya mean? What's wrong?"

He watched Izuku glare out at the arena before ducking his head. "N-Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Goofy moved to stand in front of him. "That don't make me feel any better Izuku."

Izuku took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"I know what I'm doing. Trust me."

-.-

Sora panted as he ran through the halls of the Coliseum, trying to get back to where he was supposed to be. He was starting to recognize some of the decorations and statues, but it did nothing to make him feel better.

"Have you heard of…Quirk Marriages?"

"And he used her like some sort of breeding stock until he had the 'perfect child'."

He hadn't meant to listen in, he really didn't. He had just seen Izuku and some other guy walking around. He had figured that was the person Izuku was looking for, his other friend. He wanted to go over and say hi, maybe introduce himself, and ask if the new guy had seen any sign of Riku or Kairi.

He had followed them to that quiet hall, but before he could pop in and say hi they started talking. He figured he'd wait for a second or two, just long enough to find a good spot to appear and interrupt.

Instead he sat through that entire conversation and listened in.

He probably wasn't supposed to hear any of that, nobody was. But he did, and now he couldn't get it out of his head.

"One day she had called my left side unbearable, before pouring boiling water on my face."

He shook his head and turned a corner. Even when he started to insult Izuku, he wanted to jump in, but he couldn't. There was something about that guy that scared him. A strange sort of intensity that made him feel unapproachable, that feeling was only amplified by the way his shadow contorted and shifted.

Darkness, raw and untamed, it felt like a smaller scale of the kind of presence that giant Heartless had, the one from his island. The memory of that thing made his heart skip a beat. He had felt so small against that thing, he got a similar feeling from that new guy.

He was trying to remember what his name was, he really was.

…Todoroni?

Sora was half tempted to laugh at himself, but couldn't bring himself to do it. The conversation still bounced around in his mind.

He wasn't stupid. He knew what he heard was a admittance to abuse, and from his parents. It was the worst kind in his mind.

"It's unethical, it's-"

"Disgusting."

He heard of arranged marriages, not that they were common on the islands. But Quirk Marriages…for the sake of having powerful kids? Then using them?

He didn't know a lot about Izuku's world, there was only so much he had told them. But this felt like another glimpse into it, a world that seemed so cool at first. WIth powers and good guys, and bad guys, it sounded like one of those comic books he read when he was little. But this unintentional look?

It was horrifying.

It made his stomach turn.

Still, he wasn't supposed to hear any of that. So it's not like he could do anything about it, not to mention that if he did say something that half and half guy might be mad at him. Izuku too…maybe. He wasn't sure.

Above all else, he wasn't exactly sure who he could tell or what he could say about it.

"Where have you been?!"

Sora paused his thoughts to look down at Donald who was fuming. He glared at Sora and pointed at him with his wand.

"I thought I told you not to go wandering off. You were supposed to stay here and rest up. Instead you bolt the minute I doze off what do you have to say for yourself?"

Sora stared at Donald, genuinely tempted to tell some kind of adult what he heard. That was what you were supposed to do right? That's what his parents would say, if someone was hurting him or someone else he was supposed to tell someone. An adult, a grown-up.

But it's not my secret to tell…and Donald would probably be more mad at me for walking off than…that.

So he'd keep that secret for now. Lock it up tight and bury it deep down, so no one would have to know.

"Hey! Are you listening? You should be paying attention when I'm talking to you Sora."

No frowning. No sad face.

He was quick to switch gears, and shook his head.

"I just went to walk around, it's not like I did anything bad." He crossed arms. "I just wanted to take a look around, besides it's boring to just sit around and do nothing."

"You were supposed to be resting."

"Taking a walk is sort of like resting." He shrugged. "I feel a lot better."

Donald grumbled and shook his head. "I swear it's like you never listen. What if you had gotten yourself into trouble huh? Who would have helped you out of that?"

"I can take care of myself Donald. I do have a Keyblade, it's not like I'm helpless. And Phil is walking around too, if I got lost he probably would have found me and pointed me in the right direction. But I didn't get lost."

He almost stuck his tongue out at Donald, as if that'd prove a point.

The magician groaned and rubbed his temples. "You boys, I swear." He muttered. "Well don't go wandering off again. Next time you might not be so lucky."

Sora rolled his eyes and faced the arena. The intermission was sure to be ending soon, which meant they'd be going up against the other fighters. He wasn't sure who he and Donald were up against, but they had to go through them to get to the next round.

Preferably he'd be facing Izuku next round…

He fidgeted with his gloves, tugging and pulling at them as he peeked out to the arena. He could see a few people were already starting to file back into the stands. Ready to see this next showdown. He faintly wondered how many people were rooting for him, and how many were betting on the other guy.

He took a deep breath as the noise outside began to escalate.

Right now he had to focus on getting through this round, and then he'd focus on the next one. But he knew, deep down, he was going to fight Izuku and Goofy.

"He's the one who found me, and promised he'd take away his fire. But he can only do that if I beat someone named Hercules, and you're in the way of that. Unfortunately, this will have to be a per-"

Sora shook his head. Izuku had cut him off before that guy could finish, but he was pretty sure he was trying to say that it would have to be a…permanent kind defeat.

Something in his chest twisted at the thought.

"He won't lose. He won't lose. He won't lose." He muttered to himself. "I'll see him in the next round."

He took another deep breath and breathed out. He put all those scary thoughts in the back of his mind for now. Shove them in a box that wouldn't be opened again.

"Nervous?" Donald asked.

Sora waited before laughing it off. "Nope, you?"

"More worried about you being reckless."

Sora rolled his eyes and continued to eye the crowds outside.

He would win this round, and then he'd go up against Izuku and Goofy.

Definitely.

He and Izuku would win their rounds and face off with each other.

They had to.

-.-

Zack whistled as he strolled through the halls, he was well acquainted with the maze like corridors of the Coliseum. He spent enough time there, of course he should know it by now.

If anyone were to say he still gets lost now and again he'd call them a liar.

But he wasn't lost, not this time. He knew exactly where he was.

He grinned to himself as he approached a door with a nameplate on it. He knocked on it and waited, hearing shuffling inside.

"Who is it?"

"It's the plumber." Zack said. "I've come to fix the sink you messed up."

The door flew open.

"It was one time!" Hercules defended himself. "You are never going to let that go, are you?"

Zack laughed as his old friend shoved him out of the doorway. "No! I never will, because to date that is still one of the funniest things I have ever seen."

Hercules tried to be upset, but eventually gave in and started to laugh alongside Zack.

"Are you still banned for janitorial duties?" Zack asked. "After uh, turning the place into a swimming pool."

"Yes." He groaned.

Zack smiled and pat his shoulder. "Well in a way that's a good thing. For both yourself and the public."

Hercules rolled his eyes and shut the door to his room. "Alright, alright, enough of my inability to fix stuff. I'm a little more interested in why you're here." He crossed his arms. "I thought you said you weren't joining the Games this time around."

Zack sighed and nodded. "Yeah, well I'm still not. I'm actually here as a spectator."

"Showing support?" Hercules smiled. "Thanks."

"Actually, Herc, I'm not here to watch you. I'm a sponsor this time."

The demigod stopped in his tracks before turning around. "You're sponsoring someone? That's great! Are they still in the Games?"

Zack nodded. "Yup, he sure is. He was struggling the first couple rounds, but he's doing good now. I think he's a shoe-in for the finals."

"Yeah?'

"Mhm."

"Well, I think you're a little biased." Herc raised an eyebrow.

"Oh I am, but with good reason. Izuku's gonna go far."

Hercules paused before looking back at Zack in confusion.

"Izuku? Who's that supposed to be?"

Zack beamed at the question. "Thank you for asking! He's this green kid, about this tall. Kinda short, but he's a pretty solid fighter. And get this, Aqua trained him, he's only been training with her for under a year but he's pretty good."

He stared at Zack for a long minute. "There is a lot to unpack in what you just said. But…Izuku? Phil and I thought…"

Zack's smile disappeared. "What? You and Phil thought what?"

Hercules bit his lip before sighing. "Are you…still looking for Cloud?" He asked.

"What? Y-Yeah! Yes, I'm still looking for him! Why, did he stop by here?"

"Zack…Cloud is in the Games." Hercules said. "He had a sponsorship, an anonymous one. Phil mentioned it, and we thought that was you. Though I didn't find out until after the Games started."

The hero shook his head. "No. No I didn't, I didn't even know he was in Thebes! I thought he skipped town. That's why I wasn't going to come today, I was going to look for him. Then Izuku showed up, and I'm pretty sure Aqua would kill me if she found out I left him alone, so I came. And then…"

Hercules watched his friend hiss through his teeth and begin to pace up and down the hall.

"Who would have given him a sponsorship? Who in the hell would…" He stopped. "Hell…Underworld…he wouldn't…oh but he would. That idiot!"

"What is it?"

Zack whirled around. "Herc! Do you know what bracket he's in?"

Hercules opened his mouth, then closed it. He stared at the wall before shaking his head. "Sorry, I don't. I don't think Phil told me."

Zack stared at Hercules, then flinched as the trumpets sounded off.

"The round is starting."

The two looked at each other before sprinting down the hallway.

"I can check the East and you can check the West!" Hercules said.

"No, go to your match, I'll check the fights." Zack nearly fell over as he rounded the corner. "Just go, I can handle this!"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, go!"

They split off, with Hercules going to the West, and Zack heading to the East.

Hercules looked over his shoulder before ducking into a different hallway. Heading to a different arena. Phil was probably going to kill him for skipping out on this match, which was fine with him.

"Sorry Phil, but this is a lot more important."

-HoL-

Sora and Donald stepped out into the arena and walked towards the center. The crowd cheered and whooped at the sight of them, excitement buzzing around in the air.

Across the way, walking to the center of the ring was that guy Sora saw from earlier. The moody guy that had been lurking around the corridor, he had just walked off after Sora waved.

He had an impassive look on his face as he unsheathed his broadsword. It made a heavy clang as it hit the ground, cracking the stone beneath it.

Sora summoned his Keyblade on instinct and and stared at the stranger. There was a tense silence between them, even the crowd had gone quiet. Neither of them moved at first, just staring and sizing each other up.

It was Sora who broke the silence.

"So, I saw you in the hall earlier. I-I never got your name. I'm Sora, and this is Donald." He gestured to the duck.

"Sora!" Donald scolded him.

The stranger was quiet before tightening the grip on his sword.

"Cloud."

Sora didn't get the chance to say anything in response before Cloud closed the distance in just a second. He saw the sword right in front of him, but couldn't move his body. He felt like he was frozen in place.

"Sora!"

A barrier appeared in front of him, but shattered as soon as the sword hit it.

Sora stumbled back, shaken out of his stupor and snapped back into focus. This Cloud guy wasn't messing around, he had every intention to win.

Too bad Sora did too.

"Pay attention, you could have gotten hurt!" Donald scolded him.

Sora didn't respond as once again Cloud moved forward, raising the sword high and bringing it down. A harsh clang rang out as his sword connected to the Keyblade. Thankfully Sora's weapon held true, no amount of force was going to break it.

Sora quickly pushed back and swung at him, but missed as the young man jumped back. He had no intention of leaving him be though, and chased after Cloud.

"Sora get out of the way!"

He looked over his shoulder to see Donald casting a fire spell. He ducked down as a large fireball flew over his head and into Cloud.

"A little more warning?" Sora asked.

"I told you to- look out!"

Sora ducked low to the ground again as the large sword swung for his neck, instead only shaving off a few hairs. He rolled to the side as the blade swung down and broke apart more of the ground.

He stumbled back and put some distance between them, watching Cloud for a bit. It was starting to hit him just how hard this would be.

Cloud wasn't some Heartless he could smack around until it disappeared, he was a human. He was smart, and was going to learn all of their tricks if it meant winning the match. And the way he swung that sword…after blocking that first hit his arms were already stinging.

He suddenly wished Goofy was there with him instead of Donald, at the very least he could take the swings with ease with that shield.

They circled each other. Sora looked Cloud up and down, trying to think of a way to fight him. He couldn't help but wish Izuku was there too, he was smart. He could probably figure something out in a snap.

"So do you have a plan or something?" Donald muttered.

"Uh, well…"

Cloud interrupted them by running up and swinging towards Sora. He responded in kind and swung as hard as he could at Cloud's sword. He didn't expect it, and was thrown off balance by the sudden force.

Sora grinned to himself as he saw his opening and moved forward. He shouted and brought down his weapon as hard as he could, forcing Cloud to stumble back. He grinned and kept at it, keeping Cloud from hitting back.

"Enough!" He regained his balance and blocked Sora's next hit. While the teenager stumbled back he swung his fist and caught Sora in the face. "Don't get cocky kid."

"Thundara!"

He yelled as a bolt of lightning struck him and forced his body to lock up as sparks danced over his skin.

"Don't get cocky." Donald repeated to him.

Sora took the chance to back away and hold his stinging cheek, he could tell it was going to bruise later. He huffed and held up his Keyblade as Donald stood beside him.

"So, do you have a plan?" He asked.

"Uh, don't get stabbed." He turned his attention back to Cloud. "And fight until we win this round?"

Donald stared at him before sighing. "Better than nothing."

-HoL-

Izuku was quiet as he marched into the ring with Goofy in tow. He glared straight ahead at their opponent walking in from the other side of the ring. He ignored the cheering crowds and the excited shouts. He couldn't even bring himself to look for Zack in the stands.

"Izuku, are ya sure everythin' is okay?" Goofy asked quietly. "Ya look a little upset."

"I'm fine, really." He was quick to reassure him. "I'm just focused on this next fight."

Goofy looked up to see their opponent, a boy about Izuku's age. Todoroki if he remembers right. He had a determined, yet angry look about him. He glared straight ahead at Izuku and paid no mind to Goofy at all.

They all came to a stop, keeping a good distance from each other.

Goofy felt out of place as the two focused on each other. Neither said a word to each other, only bracing themselves for whatever the other was going to do. He watched the two for a bit before looking at Shouto.

"Ya must be Izuku's friend." Goofy tried to break up the silence. "It's nice to meet ya, my name is Goofy. You must be Todoroki, right?"

Neither of the two acknowledged his words, instead tensing up. Izuku summoned his Keyblade and Todoroki braced himself. Goofy gasped as the air suddenly chilled and ice appeared out of nowhere in front of the bi-colored teen. He instinctively held up his shield, until Izuku leapt in front of him and pointed his Keyblade at the ice barrage.

"Fira!"

A fireball crashed into the ice, shattering and melting the assault.

Izuku stumbled before straightening up, he saw Todoroki using a small wall of ice behind him to stay on his feet.

Fira was the right choice. If I used the base spell, it wouldn't have been strong enough. And I can't use Firaga yet, not without running the risk of losing control.

Izuku grit his teeth as Todoroki sent another ice barrage towards him. He took a deep breath and raised his Keyblade again.

"Fira!"

The ice broke apart and melted under his spell, just enough to avoid him and Goofy. Todoorki had clearly put a little more force into his attack this time.

I can only do so much with a regular spell like this…and I don't know a lot about how he fights. I haven't seen enough of his fighting style yet.

Izuku gasped and dodged a smaller attack, then turned and hurled another fireball at him. It crashed into a wall of ice, leaving Todoroki unscathed.

Then I have to worry about backlash, I'm not bare-hand casting so I have a little more leeway. But still…

"Izuku-"

"Goofy, you have to stay behind me." Izuku hissed.

"But-"

"Fira!"

He stumbled back as the two elements collided, forcing steam to billow out of the clash. Goofy was there to push him up and keep him on his feet.

"Listen, I may not know much about what's goin' on between the two of ya, but ya need to be careful!"

Izuku kept his gaze forward, but nodded. He felt the chill before he saw it, and gathered up more magic in his weapon.

"Fira!"

The crowd shouted as the attacks cancelled each other out, sending more steam and air whipping around them. Izuku slumped forward for a moment, sweat poured down his face. A painful sensation began to gather somewhere in his chest, it felt like a fire began to burn through his insides.

No way, I can't be getting backlash now! I should still be fine! But then…I've been using the same 2nd tier spell consecutively, and so close together. I don't have any time to recover from the last spell I've cast. I can't cool down!

From afar they could see Todoroki was standing upright, he hadn't even broken a sweat. He raised an eyebrow at them and exhaled, releasing steam.

"Are you trying to turn this into an endurance match?"

"I will if I have to!"

"Then let's continue!"

He sent another wave of ice forward, and Izuku glared ahead.

"Izuku!"

"I've got it!"

Find a way to counter without being too reliant on the bigger spells. Find a way to boost the base spells.

He took a deep breath and braced himself.

"Aero, and fire…"

Wind began to gather around his Keyblade, as bits of flame sparked before burning and following the flow of the wind.

"Fire Burst!" He sent a ball of fire, spinning around itself and bursting apart as soon as it hit Todoroki's attack. The flames spread and ate through most of the ice and disappeared after a moment.

He stared at the remains of the attack. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't…that. Even so, it would be enough for the time being.

It's enough, for now it's enough!

Todoroki scowled and used his ice again, the same old attack.

"You know, you shouldn't be so reliant on one trick! Fire Burst!" He cast the combo spell again and dispersed the ice, the steam obscured his vision, but when it cleared Todoroki was gone.

"Where did-"

"Izuku, look out!"

He was shoved to the side as Todoroki descended from above. Goofy couldn't get out of the way as the boy slammed a palm onto the ground. The knight yelped loudly as he was covered in freezing ice.

"Goofy!"

Todoroki looked his way, and the ice began to spread in his direction. Izuku tried to dodge but the ice followed him, catching his legs.

No!

He sent fire surging through his Keyblade and slammed it into the ice. He ignored the hiss of steam and forced even more magic into his weapon. He looked up as a wall of flames surrounded him, melting through the ice and freeing him.

Todoroki saw the flames somehow latch onto the ice and began to melt through it. Crawling along the ice and towards him. His eyes widened and he backed away, watching the last of his ice melt.

His surprise didn't last long as he caught sight of Izuku again. He was panting, it almost looked like he was struggling to stand and keep himself steady, if the shaking of his hands were anything to go by. He was about to look away when he caught sight of burns marking Izuku's hands and arms.

"That was much stronger than your previous attacks, but clearly it's taken a toll on you."

Izuku glared at him through his bangs, the edges of his vision were starting to blur and the world was spinning.

He's right, I'm starting to deal with backlash. I'm overheating, I don't have time to cool down. And on top of that, I can't even replenish my magic.

The strange sensation in his chest pulsed and churned, humming under his skin. It was familiar, but he pushed the thought down and focused on Todoroki. He could see he was starting to shake, and thick frost was sticking to his right side.

He wasn't the only one with a limit then…good.

"I can see you trembling." He couldn't help the manic grin appearing on his face. "Quirks are physical abilities, and that means there's a limit to the cold your body can take right?"

Todoroki scowled at him.

"You'd usually use your left side to balance yourself out, but you're refusing to."

"And why should you care about that?"

Izuku grit his teeth and looked up at him. "Back home, everyone was giving it their all to become heroes. Here, everyone gives all they have to win this thing. Even me, I'm using all that I've got to fight you. And look at me, you haven't even put a single scratch on me."

Todoroki growled as a dark aura began to surround him. "Midoriya…"

"You really think you can win using half your strength? Stop screwing around, and come at me with all you've got!"

Todoroki began to shake even harder, and the aura flared out. "You really want me to stop screwing around?" He asked. "Fine then."

The air around him chilled and he slammed his foot down. "No more games Midoriya!"

The crowd screamed as black ice charged forward and built upon it self, each spike becoming denser and thicker. Unyielding as it went straight for him.

The crowd was all shouting, some in horror, other in excitement. But one voice cut through all the rest.

"Izuku get out of there!"

He looked up to see Zack screaming at him, before the world went dark.

-HoL-

"Sora move!"

The boy ducked as a large fireball over him and crashed into Cloud. Their opponent didn't even flinch when he blocked the spell with his sword. Instead he huffed and glared down at the one in front of him.

"Not even close." He muttered.

Sora gasped and rolled to the side as the sword crashed into stone. When he was back on his feet he closed the space between him and Cloud, shouting as he struck him with the Keyblade. Once, twice, but before he could hit him again, Cloud deflected the next blow and grabbed his weapon.

Sora tried to pull away from Cloud, only to get pulled closer and get kicked in the ribs.

"Sora!"

He crashed to the ground and gasped for air, holding his chest where he could feel bruises forming already. He looked up to see Cloud holding the end of the Keyblade. He glanced at the weapon before it disappeared and reappeared in Sora's hand.

"You know I was expecting more from the kid Hades seemed to be so scared of."

Sora coughed and looked up at him.

"H-Hades?"

"Who is that supposed to be?" Donald demanded.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at the magician before turning back to Sora. "None of your business. Though it doesn't really matter, since you'll be seeing him soon anyway!"

Sora brought up his Keyblade in an attempt to block.

Before Cloud could bring the sword down, Donald shouted and ran up to him. Jumping up to hit him across the head as hard as he could with his staff.

"Don't you touch him!" He squawked and continued to smack Cloud again. He ducked under Cloud's swipe to get him off, and continued to hit him.

Sora watched as Donald ruthlessly attacked the frustrated fighter. Donald continued to avoid Cloud's attempts to get him off and kept smacking him with the staff. Yelling various things that Sora couldn't understand.

While Donald distracted him, Sora got his second wind. He winced as he slowly got to his feet, holding his ribs. It hurt to even breathe after what Cloud did.

Still, Donald was giving him an opening and he couldn't waste it. He huffed and started running towards Cloud, shouting as he raised his weapon.

Cloud took notice and growled.

"Get off of me!" He shouted, managing to grab Donald mid-rant and throwing him off. Sending the duck flying into a nearby pillar. He squawked loudly as he smacked into it and fell over, stars dancing in his vision.

Cloud ran up to the dazed magician and raised the Buster Sword, ready to get rid of the nuisance.

Donald looked up and managed to cast a barrier around himself before slumping over. His magic energy was spent, and he was out of Ethers.

Sora shouted as he nearly tripped over himself, his breathing stuttered painfully. He glared up and gasped when he saw Cloud about to bring his sword down.

"Donald!" He shouted.

Without a second through he threw his Keyblade at Cloud.

He noticed and jumped away from the flying weapon, allowing a small smirk to grace his face. Sora had just thrown away his only weapon.

Sora grit his teeth, he still held his hand out from where he threw his Keyblade.

He had been able to call it back by will once, he could do it again.

He ignored the rising panic and pulled on the invisible string he felt between himself and his Keyblade. Pulling and winding it back as fast as he could.

"Last I checked, throwing away your only weapon is pretty stupid!" Cloud shouted as he ran towards Sora.

Sora grinned to himself as he spotted his Keyblade flying back towards him.

"It's not stupid if it comes back!"

Cloud didn't get a chance to register what he saw before the Keyblade smacked into his head and forced him to stumble forward.

"Yes!" Sora cheered at his minor victory. He knew he could do it! Even so, he didn't let himself celebrate for long. He was quick to push himself forward and gathered crackling energy around his Keyblade.

He was gaining ground again, but he needed to finish it. He was hurting, and he wasn't too sure how much longer he'd last with what he was sure were broken ribs.

Just before he could strike Cloud, he recovered and swung the Buster Sword at Sora. As soon as the blades collided the energy from the Keyblade exploded out. The energy ran wild and spread throughout the arena.

The crowd roared at the display, cheering and waiting for the dust to clear. Slowly it cleared, and everyone could see the two competitors fully now.

Sora panted and looked at Cloud, who was still standing. He was shaking, and glaring straight ahead at Sora. Yellow sparks danced over his skin and made him jerk every other second.

Sora glared back at him, his arms and legs felt like jelly. He hadn't meant to make that Stun Impact that strong. He wasn't sure if it was some kind of rebound or if it just took all his energy. He wasn't sure…

"You…"

Cloud tried to step forward, only to fall to his knees. He was barely able to keep himself upright by holding onto his sword.

"I…I win."

Sora looked up to hear Donald shouting and jumping from where he had fallen. Cheering for him and their victory. Sora smiled, triumphant, but couldn't revel in his victory for long, not when the ground began to shake and rumble. A dark behemoth rose up from the ground behind Cloud. Without a warning it roared and stomped on Cloud, kicking up dust and debris.

Sora gasped at what he saw, a giant, three-headed dog. Black as night and sporting burning red eyes, all of them honed in on Sora.

Sora looked at the beast in front of him, trying to decide what to do. Whether to run away, or try his hand at fighting it, or even just run forward to save Cloud. He looked hurt. While he looked around he spotted a familiar face near the corridor Cloud came from.

"You…"

"You! What are you doing here?" Donald raised his voice and shouted at their anonymous sponsor.

The god hummed and gave Sora a smirk. "You know you should really read all the rules before you go entering the Games. One of my particular favorites is, 'accidents happen'." He shrugged. Without another word he snapped his fingers and turned to walk away.

They all barked and howled, snapping their jaws as a dark smog poured from their mouths. All three heads roared and lunged towards him.

"Sora!"

Sora couldn't move at first, still trying to think of what to do. As surprising as it was to realize the one who had gotten them in the Games in the first place was the one to do all this, his thoughts went back to Cloud. He could see him twitching still, trying to get a grip around his sword.

He was alive!

Without a second thought, and probably against his better judgement, Sora felt his body run forward. Towards the danger, toward the three heads that wants to rip him to shreds. He could hear Donald shouting at him, just barely over the terrified screaming of the crowd in the stands. He was more focused on getting Cloud out of there.

He ducked under the first set of jaws, barely avoiding the sharpened teeth that would have bit his head clean off. He gulped and jumped back, grunting at the movement. His chest was aching, and it turned into a sharp pain everytime he took too deep a breath.

It doesn't hurt! It doesn't hurt!

Sora still ran forward, he was almost there. Until the middle head lunged towards him. It went straight for him, giving him no time to dodge away from it. He begged his body to move faster, just enough to get away from it, and get to Cloud.

He kept his eyes on Cloud, refusing to look at the imminent death about to hit him. At the last minute he shut his eyes, and braced himself.

Only to feel nothing.

He tripped over himself and looked up in confusion. Right in front of him was a tall, muscular man. He had just punched that monster in one of it's faces, and sent it reeling back while the other two heads roared in anger.

"Herc!" Sora heard Phil shout from somewhere.

"You two need to get out of here!" He looked at Sora, then at Donald. "Go, I can hold Cerberus off!"

"But…" Sora struggled to his feet. "But what about Cl-" He yelped when Donald grabbed his wrist and began to run.

"He'll take care of that other guy! We just need to get out of here!"

"But-"

"Now Sora!"

Sora didn't have a choice and was forced to follow Donald.

He couldn't help but look over his shoulder, worried about Cloud and that new guy Phil called Herc. If he was busy fighting that dog thing, how was he going to save Cloud?

As they ran further inot the corridors, the arena faded from view.

-HoL-

Goofy stared in horror at the giant glacier made of black ice. It filled up over half of the arena, some of it creeped into the stands as well.

The boy they were fighting, Todoroki, glared at the iceberg. The dark aura that appeared around him never left. If anything, it seemed to get worse as it flared out.

He was faintly aware of Zack screaming in the stands, shouting Izuku's name. Yelling for him and begging him to answer. Looking for any sign of life. The crowd was silent beside him, listening to him scream.

Goofy had stopped chipping away at the ice with his shield and could only stare. A pettrifying, frightened feeling settled in his chest. A parent's worst nightmare, anybody's worst nightmare. He slowly looked over at Todoroki and watched him slowly turn to walk away.

"W-Wait!" Goofy shouted. "Todoroki! Aren't ya, a-aren't ya gonna unfreeze him? Ya won! So you-"

"Unless you want to see his corpse. I suggest leaving him trapped in that." Todoroki brushed him off.

"What? No, no ya have to unfreeze him!"

He never had the best authority voice, he never seemed to command much respect to those around him unless it was people who knew him well. People who knew what he was capable of. But this boy saw nothing in him, just a concerned party that was knocked out of the match early. In his eyes, Goofy was nothing at all.

Todoroki didn't even give him a second glance and continued on his way. Content in his victory, that was all that mattered.

While he strolled away, Goofy hurriedly shipped away at the ice with his shield. He hoped that somehow, in some way he could get Izuku out of there.

Before he could get to work a loud crack came from the glacier. The audience went still, eyeing the dark ice. Even Todoroki paused.

Another crack was heard, and could be seen spreading around. A faint light could be seen within the dark ice, slowly growing brighter and brighter. The ice groaned and and began to crumble and melt, until the fire inside intensified.

Goofy gasped and raised his shield just in time to block a few chunks that went flying once the glacier was shattered. He snapped his gaze over to the center of it, and beamed at what he saw.

Izuku was there in the middle of the melting iceberg. A bright red aura surrounded him, with small flames following his movements. The fire surrouding him slowly ate through the black ice that clung to his skin.

He exhaled, and a few flames followed his breath.

"Todoroki…" He muttered. "Thanks for that. I was starting to overheat."

Todoroki scowled at him, and his dark aura flared out. "How did you survive that?"

"It's going to take a lot more than that to keep me down Todoroki." He huffed. "I told you to come at me with everything you got!"

Todoroki grit his teeth and slammed a foot down, sending more dark ice his way.

Izuku swung his Keyblade forward, sending an arc of flames at the ice. The ice and flames exploded on impact, sending ice, fire, and steam blowing around the arena. Izuku didn't stay still though, he couldn't.

He wasn't sure how long he could hold this new ability, it was similar to the one he used in Wonderland, Diamond Dust. But this one used fire. It was similar to the other one with how much it took to keep the gathered energy together, to keep this power on a leash until he was ready to let it go.

Izuku raced towards Todoroki, sidestepping another ice barrage before sending his flames to destroy it.

The closer he got, the more powerful Todoroki made the barrages. Expecting at least one of them to finally stop him. Every time Izuku cut through them he felt the power he harnessed grow a little wilder.

Before he realized it, Izuku was right in front of Todoroki.

"I told you, to stop screwing around!" He shouted, raising his Keyblade high.

Todoroki braced himself to be hit with the weapon, only to see Izuku throw it away.

While Goofy continued to wear down the ice around him he heard a loud shout from afar. He looked up in time to see a flaming Keyblade spinning right towards him. He yelped and held up his shield, only to see the weapon land at his feet. The flames around it began to spread and melt the ice that was trapping him.

Todoroki had watched where he threw his Keyblade, confused when he saw it land at the stranger's feet.

"Why would you-"

Izuku cut him off with a punch to the gut. He didn't flinch as he felt Todoroki's right hand graze his shoulder before he fell to the ground. He felt the ice spread up to his face and down his arm, but paid it no mind as he approached Todoroki again.

"You're too reliant on your Quirk!" He swung a fist that Todoroki narrowly dodged. "When it really comes down to it, close quarters combat is where I've got you beat."

"Tch, what happened to giving it everything you had? Why throw away your weapon?" He tried to send another wave of ice, but Izuku closed the distance too fast.

I don't want to hurt you…

"I don't need it to beat you." He dodged a clumsy punch and kicked out, catching Todoroki at his left side. "Even without it, I'm still using everything I've got! Unlike you!"

Todoroki didn't dodge the next swing, but managed to catch his arm in a tight grip. "Shut up!" He brought his head back to headbut Izuku.

The Keyblade wielder stumbled back and looked down to see ice spreading up his arm.

"You don't know what kind of hell it is to live with a Quirk that you hate!" Todoroki shouted. "A Quirk that you never wanted, because it never belonged to you!"

Izuku broke apart another barrage and glared at Shouto.

"You're right, I don't know that feeling. But I do know what it's like to live with no power at all, to hate yourself for something you can't even control!"

Todoroki rolled his eyes and braced himself as Izuku closed in again.

"Like that even matters."

"It does, because where I came from helped me decide to become a hero. It gave me the resolve I needed to do whatever it takes to be a hero!" He cast an arc of flames towards Todoroki. "I know what kind of hero I want to be. I know why I want to be a hero!"

Todoroki glared at the fire that continued to eat through his ice, it's heat was intense. So hot that even being close to it was enough to start melting the frost forming on his body.

"Why do you want to be a hero Todoroki? What kind of hero do you want to be?"

Todoroki stiffened up, and couldn't react as Izuku slammed a fist into him again.

"Are you trying to be a hero just to make your father angry? A hero that uses only half of his power? Last I checked spite is a great motivator, but selfish in the long run!"

Todoroki grit his teeth and worked to dodge his attacks, even with the heat of the flames he was still cold. His moves were sluggish, and only growing slower.

"Why are you going this far? Why do you even care? Did my father speak to you before the school year or something? Offer to not arrest your pathetic master if you got me to use my flames?"

He was sent reeling as Izuku punched him in the face this time, the flames intensifying for just a moment.

"You can speak badly about me all you want Todoroki, but don't you dare say anything about my Master. As for your father, I've never seen him once in my life, but I couldn't care less about what he wants! I'm here for you, and nobody else!"

"Then why-" He dodged another wave of fire.

Izuku panted, he was starting to hit his upper limit. He was overheating, and this new facet of power was starting to go wild.

"I told you I'm here for you, and I'm not leaving until I bring you home. More importantly, I'm doing all this so you don't make a mistake. So you don't tear yourself apart just to remove your fire."

"His fire."

"Your fire."

Todoroki scowled. "It is not-"

"It is. I'll say as many times I have to, but it is. If you want to reject your father fine, but stop letting him hold you back!"

Izuku made himself run forward again, ready to take whatever else Todoroki was going to dish out.

"Shut your mouth!" He shouted swiping at Izuku with his right arm, unconsciously allowing fire to spark and dance along his skin.

Izuku gasped and backed away, feeling the foreign flames lick and burn at his skin. He looked down at the new burns, then back to his opponent.

Todoroki stood still, not reacting to him at all. He seemed to be thinking. Izuku stopped in his tracks when he saw the dark aura surrounding him begin to ebb and fade away.

Did I get through to him? Did he mean to do that?

"Todoroki?"

"No..."

"Huh?"

Todoroki glared up at him and began to shake even worse than before. The dark aura suddenly grew more intense and flared out.

"No!" He shouted, he threw his right hand up and black ice began to crawl across his body before knelt down and slammed it on the ground.

A large ice wall raced towards Izuku, even bigger than the first on he was trapped in. It spread even farther too, across the arena and heading towards the stands. Towards the civillians.

"Todoroki don't!" He shouted and ran forward towards the forming glacier. He tried to call out for his Keyblade, to summon it. He looked over his shoulder to see it was still burning and was almost finished melting Goofy out of the ice.

Izuku looked back to the oncoming attack and pointed towards Goofy, using the Keyblade to cast a barrier around him.

He wasn't sure how well this would go if he couldn't hold off Todoroki's attack.

"Izuku dont! Get back here!" He heard Goofy's muffled voice shout through the barrier.

"Get out of there! Don't run towards him!" Zack yelled out.

Izuku huffed and gathered together all the wild energy that burned through his veins like liquid fire. He just hoped that he could burn through most of the ice if not all, or at the very least stop it from spreading further. He stopped just before the ice his him, and threw out his hands.

"Firestorm: Sun's Flare!"

The audience watched as the arena lit up with a wall of fire. The two elements clashed and ate away at each other. Fire burning through ice and ice smothering the fire. The greater spell stopped the spread of the black ice, just before it could reach into the stands.

Everyone either ducked down or began to flee the arena, terrified of the crazed and wild powers that ran rampant.

Zack felt some of the fleeing citizens bump into him while running past, but his attention was on the fight. He couldn't see either of the kids amidst the elemental barrages. He looked down to see Goofy was free of the ice, but was trapped behind a clear sphere. He pounded against the magic construct but got nowhere.

He watched the fire and ice continue to barrel against eachother, some smaller sections of flames and ice seemed to merge and explode against each other.

He gripped the wall tightly, feeling panic rising with each second. He was worried, and this kid wasn't Aqua. He could hold his own sure, but only to a certain point. And this…this was well over his skill level.

Those two are going to kill each other!

Zack silently apologized to Izuku, and hopped over the small wall in the stands and down into the arena. Before he could get very far it finally happened. The two attacks reached their limit and folded into each other, burning and freezing, churning together into a destructive force.

Zack couldn't take more than a few steps when a large explosion shook the ground, sending shards of ice and bursts of fire flying out. Zack was pinned against the wall from the sheer force the blast, and worked to dodge the shards as they flew at him. One of the shards barely missed his head, burying itself in the wall and missing him by mere inches.

It felt like forever until the chaos finally stopped.

Goofy kept trying to break through the barrier Izuku put up until it cracked, and shattered on its own. Shortly after the Keyblade embedded in the ground disappeared in a flash of light. He took that as a bad sign and immediately began to look through the steam obscuring the arena.

"Izuku! Heya Izuku, can ya hear me?"

He tried to use his shield as a way to fan away the steam, though it only seemed to make it worse.

"Oh gawrsh, I hope he's okay."

Just as Goofy was about to call out again he heard a loud, wheezing cough. He gasped and rushed over to the noise, waving away the fading steam as he went. He ran towards the noise and gasped when he caught sight of Izuku.

He took a minute to breathe a sigh of relief, and hurried over.

Izuku was on the ground, with burns on his arms that weren't covered in remnants of black ice.

"Izuku? Are ya okay there?" Goofy asked. "Come on, I need ya to talk to me."

Izuku coughed again before groaning. He cracked an eye open to look up at him. He didn't answer, but instead tried to sit up.

"W-Where is…Where is he? Where's Todoroki?"

"I don't know, but ya need to take it easy. Yer pretty banged up there." He reached for Izuku's bag and began to rummage through it for an potion or two.

As he looked, the steam slowly cleared out, revealing Todoroki at the other side of the arena; slowly getting to his feet. He looked just as rough as Izuku , with ice over his body instead of burns. The dark aura seemed to have dissipated.

Izuku shook his head when Goofy offered the potion, and tried to get to his feet again. Only for his legs to give out from under him.

"T-Todoroki…are you…are you okay?" He called out.

"Izuku ya need to drink this, or use an Ether. Ya can't even stand right now." Goofy fretted over him.

"N-No…I have to make sure he's okay. Something's wrong." He insisted.

"That was quite a show there Snowflake." A loud voice boomed around the arena.

As they looked for the source of the voice, dark smoke began to filter in the arena. Pooling beside Todoroki and slowly building upon itself until it formed into a person.

"Wait a second, that's the fella that gave us the pass."

"What?"

"As exciting as that was, don't get me wrong loved the fireworks at the end, I notice there's a distinct lack of a dead Key brat."

"I still won." Todoroki scowled. "I'm the only one still on my feet."

Hades rised an eyebrow before glancing back to Izuku and Goofy. As much as he would have wanted this little powerhouse to go up against Hercules, he had to admit that the green one was a bigger problem. So was the other Key brat. The two managed to go toe to toe with his pawns, and if he didn't do something about them now, they'd definitely be a bigger problem in the future.

He had to take care of at least one of them. Both would be ideal, but if just one kicked the bucket, that'd be fine too.

Hades hummed.

"This is true." He nodded. "I will admit, I was pretty impressed with that show. And he is pretty banged up…but it looks like you need one last push."

Todoroki raised an eyebrow.

"How about we move our deal around a bit okay? One last time."

"What do you mean?" Todoroki asked.

Hades chuckled a bit. "How about this, I take your fire now. Give you a little boost, then you wipe this kid out."

Todoroki stared at him for a moment, before looking back at Izuku.

"Don't…Todoroki please."

Hades looked between them before groaning. "Oh come on kid, don't tell me you actually feel conflicted over this. Look at yourself, this kid tried to beat you to kingdom come and for what? To make you use your fire? To do something you really don't wanna do? Not the kinda friend I'd want to keep around."

"Shut up…" Izuku tried to get up again. "G-Get away from him. Get away from Todoroki!"

Hades rolled his eyes and looked down at the teenager. "So, do we have a deal?"

Todoroki frowned and look at his hand, the sensation of fire ghosted over his skin again. It made him feel sick.

"You'll take his fire…for good?"

"Yup, that power you hate so much will be gone. It'll all belong to me from now on, and you'd never have to worry about it ever again. All you gotta do, is get rid of him. Sound like a fair trade?"

Todoroki glanced back at Izuku, looking him up and down.

"Todoroki don't! He's lying!" Izuku shouted.

"Remember what I asked you back in the halls?" Hades grinned. "How badly do you want this?"

Todoroki grit his teeth, he wanted it so badly. He didn't want that wretched power anymore, an awful thing that forced everything in his life to go wrong. He took a deep breath and held a hand out.

"Take it."

"Todoroki no!"

Hades gave a wide, toothy grin and took Todoroki's hand. A blue glow surrounded their hands, and the dark aura that was gone before suddenly reappeared.

Todoroki stiffened up as the dark aura seemed to wrap around him, imprisoning him in Hades's grip.

"Todoroki!"

"You're one heck of a team player kid. Pleasure doing business with you." Hades let him go and disappeared. Cackling all the while.

He left Todoroki to writhe against the dark aura that seemed to seep into him, making his movements stiff and robotic.

Izuku felt his heart sink when he saw a look of terror cross his face for just a moment. He stiffly took a step towards Izuku, flames beginning to spark along his left side. He held out a shaky arm and watched in horror as fire began to slowly burn along it.

"No…No you said you'd take it away!" He shouted.

Izuku managed to get to his feet just in time to see blue fire explode from Todoroki's left side. Raging out of control and sweeping across the arena. Izuku watched the fire race towards him and braced himself for the pain, only for Goofy to jump in front of him to block the flames with his shield.

Izuku looked up in horror, watching Todoroki trying to struggle against the flames that flared out against his will.

The first wave died down, leaving the air around them feeling hot and thick. They could see Todoroki trying to reel the fire in, or use his ice to smother the flames. No matter what he did, it was all out of his hands. Just a puppet being pulled by cruel strings.

"We need to help him…w-we need to help him!" Izuku scrambled to his feet and tried to race towards him. He was stopped by a hand grabbing his arm and dragging him back. He looked up to see Zack glaring ahead at Todoroki, a haunted look in his eyes.

"Z-Zack, let me go I have to-"

"Hades is controlling him kid, and this is way out of your league!" He pushed him back towards Goofy.

"Get him out of here, I can handle this. Just gotta beat some sense back into him."

"But his fire is going out of control! You can't defend against magic."

Zack smiled to himself. "Don't worry, I'm a hero now kid. A hero with just one trick up his sleeve ain't much of a hero. Besides, I've dealt with a situation like this before. You did good kid, I'm proud, just let me handle this one."

"But-"

Another wave of blue fire came towards them, accompanied by a loud, guttural yell from Todoroki. Zack stood there unwaveringly before holding out his sword and cutting through most of the fire. It split off from where he blocked it, leaving sides of the arena scorched.

Goofy grabbed his shoulders and began to pull Izuku away.

"But Todoroki needs-"

"Yer not in any shape to fight him. I'm sorry Izuku, but we gotta listen to Zack."

Izuku was dragged away without another word.

As he passed through the corridor he couldn't help but throw another look over his shoulder.

For once, Todoroki looked scared.

And all he could do was run.