Chapter Seventeen: Subduction
Unsurprisingly, Tenya didn't hold up in an arm-wrestling match with Mei, though he did put up a decent effort. Eventually, his strength gave out and the Support student slammed his arm down, then threw her hands up, whooping in triumph.
The match concluded, eyes turned to the scoreboard announcing the next series of matches.
Momo Yaoyorozu (1-A) vs. Itsuka Kendo (1-B)
Izuku Midoriya (1-I) vs. Shoto Todoroki (1-A)
Inasa Yoarashi (1-B) vs. Mei Hatsume (1-H)
Ochako Uraraka (1-A) vs. Sho Hajime (1-H)
As there wouldn't be much time between the first match and his own, Izuku made his way to the prep room. The sooner he set up, the less likely he would miss anything, even if it had to be through a TV screen.
Rounding the corner, Izuku nearly bumped right into Endeavor. The change in his demeanor was instant, and the Flame Hero looked down on him with disdain, as was custom.
This is new, Izuku thought. Normally I have to say something before he does that. Aloud, he said, "Endeavor! To what do I owe this dubious distinction of your company?" The obnoxious smile he shot the Pro-Hero stacked on for added effect.
"Looking for you," Endeavor rumbled, sounding for all the world that he wasn't pleased to be doing so. "I was surprised to see you among the students, Midoriya."
"Surprised I have ambitions besides annoying you, you mean? You were a child once, weren't you? Or did your ego one day coalesce into single point with the goal of becoming the #1 Hero?"
Endeavor ignored the jab, and Izuku smiled a bit wider.
Back a number of years ago, he had written an article under a pseudonym thoroughly critiquing the Flame Hero and his service record. The old man had gotten a good laugh out of it, and it was decent enough writing that the editor had allowed through the pipeline to be published in the next issue, which turned out to be one of their top selling products that quarter.
And ever the litigatious individual, Endeavor, or at least his PR team, had tried suing the magazine for libel. Naturally, the office had kept Izuku's name off the radar due to his status as a minor and as the owner's son, but somehow Endeavor's legal team had learned of his existence through a mixture of bribery, blackmail, and a really obscure Quirk that helped identify authors of written articles.
They were quick to back-pedal when they realized their client was blowing a gasket over an eight-year-old sassing through an opinion piece.
Despite this, All for One had not been happy to learn of the attempt at a legal battle. Or maybe he had been happy, if only for discovering a fascinating Quirk. If Izuku's instincts were right, the poor fool had likely been neutralized after the incident as soon as the old man could stretch a reasonably justifiable alibi without implicating Izuku or the office, stripped of his Quirk and/or used for spare parts for the Nomu.
Thoughts of what ditch an enterprising investigative reporter had been dumped into aside, since then, Izuku has made it a habit of "randomly" bumping into Endeavor every time they happened to appear at the same functions and passive-aggressively needling him, as much he could get away with.
So far, he hadn't budged or snapped. Still made for an amusing pastime, though. And there wasn't a blessed thing the man could to do Izuku that wouldn't hurt him more in the long run, and both of them knew it, though Endeavor didn't likely know exactly how far that fall was.
Many of the folks had gotten on the bandwagon of dissing Endeavor within the confines of the office. A piece of artwork that represented the #2 Hero as a flaming turd was kept in a place of honor in the break room, though the picture of a flaming dumpster with Endeavor's mask photoshopped onto it was a close second in Izuku's eyes.
Ignorant of whirlwind of Izuku's thoughts, Endeavor huffed. "As my masterpiece, Shoto has a duty to surpass All Might. That Kendo girl will be a good test run, but I would prefer if Shoto is fighting at his full potential beforehand. Either snap him out of his foolish thinking or spare us both the indignity and beat him."
Blunt and straight to the point, as always.
Izuku cackled a little, and said, "Oh, you really shouldn't have said anything. Now I have to convince myself to follow through with what I was already planning on doing." He looked over his shoulder where Endeavor had stopped in place. "I'm bad at doing what I'm told. You should know that already." His smile widened a bit further. "But, rest assured, I already made up my mind to give Shoto a thorough wake up call. Just don't come crying to me when the results are not what you hoped for."
If looks could kill, Endeavor was doing his level best to incinerate him on the spot. Too bad Izuku had faced worse. People who could do more than growl and bluster at him, and weren't restrained by notions of ethics, legality, or public opinion.
"That mouth of your will get you in trouble someday."
"Duly noted. Now, would you kindly remove yourself from my presence? I'm sure Todoroki wouldn't be too pleased if he thinks you're interfering with his matches, and I'm sure the media would just eat it up. How does 'Pro-Hero Fixes Matches for Son' sound as a headline?"
"Hmph." Endeavor stomped off to wherever he was intended to loom over the masses.
Hm. No parting shots. Must have gotten under his skin. Giving an idle shrug, Izuku carried on his own way.
Endeavor wasn't his enemy, after all.
[IB]
Tensei stood by the van where someone had been streaming the Sports Festival. As there had been no recent sightings of the Hero-Killer, patrols were still ongoing, but light. And for extra security, they had watches posted nearby. Their radios were still on in case a call came up, but until then, they were conserving energy.
He felt a little bad for Tenya, getting so far only to lose out to an arm-wrestling match.
Still, little brother was smart, and he would be able to learn from this experience. He and his peers still had two more chances, and it's not like any of 1-A would be lacking for interested agencies willing to take them on for this round of internships. He planned on sending some invites to Tenya and Izuku, if they decided to move him into Heroics. Wouldn't hurt to ask in any case.
One of the sidekicks, Sai, came skidding to a stop, panting heavily from exertion.
"What is it?" asked Tensei.
"We found another of Stain's victims," he gasped. "Dazzle's called for an ambulance, but it was just a couple blocks from us."
Tensei's blood ran cold as he broke into a spring after his sidekick.
[IB]
"Next up, a clash of the class representatives, feisty battle lady, Itsuka Kendo. And facing her is her opposite number from the Hero course, the brilliant, the beautiful, Momo Yaoyorozu!"
"A pleasure to face off against, Kendo."
"Call me Itsuka, please."
"I suppose it never hurts to be polite, but are such introduction appropriate before a fight?"
Itsuka shrugged. "I made a good number of friends beating the hell out of each other at the dojo."
"Then please call me Momo."
Midnight smirked at the back-and-forth, and whipped her flogger down. "Begin!"
Momo formed a shield and held it out as Itsuka crossed the arena.
Enlarging her hands, Itsuka threw a rapid series of punches. The shield clanged at the first strike, ringing it like a gong as Itsuka followed up with successive strikes to push her contemporary back. Momo's stance held true, barely rocking her back as she shifted her weight.
One hand pressed to the shield, Itsuka swung her other hand, slamming across the shield. The right hook blew the shield wide, but added to the force when Momo swung the freshly formed staff.
Itsuka leaned back, the shaft of metal whistling past her face, then edged back as the other class rep. made probing thrusts with her staff. After a bit of dodging and weaving on Itsuka's part, Momo rushed forward, bashing her shield against her, then again. And again.
On the fourth shield bash, Itsuka clenched her teeth and pushed off of the shield, flipping back, deflecting the staff and landing near the edge of the ring, sticking the landing, and she let out a sigh of relief.
Her relief was cut short as Momo threw the staff like a javelin. Itsuka leaned away, darting back in when a bright object dropped from Momo's arm, bouncing on the ground.
A Matryoshka doll?
Said doll burst into a cloud of smoke. More impacts indicated additional smoke bombs being could enlarge her hands and blow the smoke away, but there was a chance that something nastier could be lying in wait. Probably nothing permanently harmful, but enough to leave her open for a counter-attack.
Spotting a silhouette in the haze, and Itsuka charged in, glinting teal lightning, striking Momo's shield. Big Hands and One for All rocked her back, but Momo noticed and began circling around.
Itsuka darted for the other girl again, and like a matador, Momo dodged, sweeping at Itsuka's legs, sending her tumbling into a roll to recover.
I need to disarm her, thought Itsuka. Running in again, she grabbed the shield, twisting it around. Momo flipped around with the motion, hitting a quick-release and taking a backswing at the back of her kneecaps, hitting her calves instead when she pulled her leg up.
Flipping the shield around, Itsuka threw it like a Frisbee, and Momo batted it aside and repositioned before Itsuka could exploit the opening, and it left her too close when the soft end of the staff whipped around and nailed her in the solar plexus, forcing the air from her lungs.
Itsuka righted herself, coiling tightly with sweat beading on her brow. One for All was raring to fly from her grasp, and the longer she held back the harder it became to keep that hold. Imagining her enlarging fist mid-punch, the force multiplied exponentially by One for All reducing Momo's arm to a soggy noodle, or blowing it off entirely, momentarily broke her focus.
How is she keeping track of me? She wondered. Momo had no goggles or optics to see through the smoke. And she kept spamming smoke grenades, so she wasn't being constrained by it nearly as much as Itsuka was. How-?
Full Cowl! With the smoke, she was telegraphing her movements by the light of Full Cowl, so all Momo had to do was wait and react accordingly.
Releasing the technique, Itsuka bounced on her toes a few times, hands brought up to block.
Momo tilted her head, slowly dragging the staff along the ground, sparking as she circled around the clearing smoke.
One for All safely contained for the time being, Itsuka lunged in, letting Momo swing against the backs of her hand as they enlarged. As the staff pulled back, Itsuka grabbed the staff, pushed a foot against Momo's midsection, leaned back, and enlarged her hand, yanking it free.
Twirling it around, Itsuka channeled One for All enough to drive the metal shaft into the concrete, then frowned when Momo formed another identical weapon a second later, bringing it around for a swing.
Again, Itsuka caught it in her grip, only for Momo to slide along the shaft, using her body as the leverage the throw Itsuka back. The end of the staff came to rest against her back, and Itsuka pushed off by enlarging her hands again, snagging the staff.
Momo pulled her in, elbow up while Itsuka retaliated by kneeing her in the side. Neither of them let go, and a flurry of blows passed between the two; punches, kicks, knees, and elbows, even head-butting the other class rep., Itsuka finally pried it from Momo's grip, getting a rubber stamp to the face for her troubles as Momo dove to reclaim her shield.
Her new weapon in hand, Itsuka twirled it around a few times then went ham against the shield, slamming it repeatedly against an unyielding defense until it was a bent and twisted mess. Smiling to herself, Itsuka expanded her hands, snapping the battered staff in two, then threw both halves at the shield, followed by throwing herself against it.
"Yaoyorozu is out of bounds! Kendo moves to the next round!"
Momo straightened as she checked where she was standing, then sagged and grimaced before discarding her shield and massaging her arm.
"Sorry!" said Itsuka, jogging up to check on her counterpart. "I just saw you near the edge and I needed to keep you distracted until I could push you out of the ring."
"It was an intelligent move." Momo winced a little, glanced to the stands, and then said, "Let's see ourselves to Recovery Girl. I get the impression that the next set of participants are chomping at the bit."
[IB]
Teruko stirred from unconsciousness, eyes opened to an unfamiliar ceiling.
"What happened?" she wondered aloud.
"Your Quirk swung back at you, sweetie," said Recovery Girl. "It's healed, but do give it and yourself a chance to rest."
Rolling over, Teruko saw Recovery Girl helping her assistants clean up. That blond kid from Class 1-B was still out, though looking less like a starving refugee than he had when he had been carried off of the field.
"That last impact cracked your jaw. Midoriya said to convey his apologies. I would have kept him here, but he had few injuries and he believed his presence might be upsetting for you."
"I see," Teruko murmured. How thoughtful.
Midoriya was a mystery. With the benefit of hindsight, she could admit she had made gross error in judgment
She had gone looking for an adversary where she could have had a friend. She wasn't blind to the group that had been gathering around him, and that was just from the start of the school year. Whatever the reason, and regardless of her own pride, she decided she should make amends.
The question was: how could she possibly begin reaching out?
[IB]
Tensei had seen some terrible things in his time as a pro-Hero, in and out of costume. The many ways the human body could be mangled and twisted with a little bit of thought, Quirks or no.
As it was, Native was lucky to be alive. His heightened senses allowed him to stay awake long enough to be found, and Dazzle and Sai stumbled on him by chance, but by then, the worst of the damage had been done.
It looked so simple, something that virtually anyone with some sharp implements could have pulled off with some good timing. The gangs of copycats that followed in the Hero-Killer's wake were proof of that.
Tensei had met the Sensing Hero a couple of times before. He had been excited talking about reconnecting with his roots, even how he had based his entire Hero identity off of his discoveries. And there he was, left in the alley like trash.
It could have been worse, Tensei reminded himself as Native was slid into the back of an ambulance and raced off to the hospital for treatment. It could have been a body bag and talking to a coroner. Even with the blood loss, Native still had a shot – an incredibly long shot, and almost certainly crippled, but still a chance at surviving.
When people thought of villain attacks, especially from the upper-tiers, they think of the big confrontations in the streets. The epic showdowns between the forces of Good and Evil, with the Heroes standing triumphant in the end. In either case, it resulted in high repair costs for the general public, and large body counts for morbid thinking. Whatever Stain's Quirk was, it didn't leave massive piles of rubble, and almost surgical in precision, so there was little to no collateral damage that left bystanders outraged. He could move anywhere, strike when they least expected it, then disappear into the shadows before anyone knew what had happened.
Questioning could wait until later. Native had been delirious when Idaten had found him, but he had been conscious, so he might be able to glean offer more details on his encounter, possibly enough to capture the Hero-Killer before he struck again. It was a sick and sad sort of reasoning, but Tensei had to hope something positive would come out of this so that Stain's spree could be brought to an end.
[IB]
"The top scorer from the general admissions and the first place of the recommendations." Present Mic boomed over the loudspeakers."The lean, green, fighting machine of Management Class 1-I, Izuku Midoriya versus the ice king of Heroics Class 1-A, son of the Number Two Hero, Shoto Todoroki!"
Shoto's mouth twitched in irritation, but set the feeling aside.
He would have preferred fighting Kendo, but she could wait. For now, Shoto watched his next opponent lazily step up to the ring in a slouch, hands thrust into his pockets, a smirk tugging his lips.
Appearing disinterested, Shoto reviewed what he knew of the other boy. A telekinetic type of Quirk, with considerable mobility. Coming at the top of the general admissions had surprised him, but not as much as learning he had survived a close encounter with the Nomu, while wounded at that.
All told, a good challenge to overcome with his right side.
"Got anything to say, Todoroki?" Midoriya asked, wearing a smirk that radiated smugness.
"Don't expect me to go easy on you," Shoto answered.
"A bit late for that, don't you think?" Shoto kept his emotions from reaching his face, but Midoriya kept talking. "As powerful as you think you are, you. Can't. Beat me."
"Awfully bold talk for a Management student."
"I go exactly where I want to go, whereas you…remind me: who here got in Endeavor's recommendation, again?"
That veil of apathy cracked. Heat welled in the pit of Shoto's stomach, fighting against his efforts to smother them out. Any hope that the struggle was kept from his face died when Midoriya smiled mockingly at him, the message loud and clear: "I have agency, and you do not".
Midnight cleared her throat. "As much as I enjoy the pre-fight trash-talk, you boys might want to get started."
Midoriya inclined his head at the referee, then turned back to his opponent. "Alright, Todoroki. Let's dance."
The cat-o'-nine-tails raised to start the match, Shoto shifted his footing, bracing for the referee's signal. Temperatures dropped around Shoto as he prepared his attack.
And Midoriya's stance had barely changed, save for standing a little taller.
What are you playing at? Shoto fumed inside his own head.
"Begin!" Midnight called.
Without hesitation, Shoto launched his offensive, ice surging across the ring. He hadn't wanted to repeat his outburst from his previous match, but anything shy of a one-shot knockout wasn't likely to stop him. Wiping the smug satisfaction from Midoriya's face just happened to be a side benefit.
The glacier exploded, a shockwave rocking Shoto back a step as Midoriya emerged from the shower unscathed. Pieces of ice swirled around him, his right hand directing them, his left hand still in his pocket.
"Thanks for the ammunition," said Midoriya.
Flicking out his wrist, the swirl of ice shards coalesced, flowed, and then shot back to Shoto and a hastily formed wall of ice that shuddered under the bombardment. Cracks formed and were filled, and for a brief moment, Shoto believed it had held when a follow-up burst shattered it entirely.
Shoto caught himself with his ice and threw out another iceberg, watching it shatter like the one before, all the way down to the foundation, and again, Midoriya flung the chunks of ice back one by one. Each shammed against his defenses with a force of a point-blank shotgun blast-
What?
Though the first blow had been a titanic shock, the second one had been weaker, if not by much. And through the mass of shattering ice, he saw Midoriya watching him lazily, a hand held behind him, glowing faintly.
There's a charge time.
A plan forming in his mind, Shoto steeled himself for a contest of endurance. He just needed to make Midoriya reach his limit before he did.
[IB]
Thunderous cracks echoed through the stadium. Again and again as the clash between titans continued, shattering ice crashing around the arena.
Tenya and Momo both watched, unconcerned. At least, no concern for Izuku. Both were reasonably confident in his capabilities. Todoroki, on the other hand, was another matter. With what their friend had promised beforehand, the fighting was going to continue until Izuku was satisfied with the results.
Mineta shivered behind the benches in front of him. "So scary…"
Ojirou "What? The fact that Todoroki's getting beaten around like an unwanted stepchild, or that might've been anyone us down there instead?"
A rather visceral, if not entirely accurate description. Only now did Momo wonder what exactly Todoroki had said to Itsuka that Izuku had overheard. It was difficult to rouse any strong feelings in any direction on an average day with the green-haired teen, and
"How long do you think he will keep going?" asked Kyoka, focused on the display unfolding on the field.
Momo exhaled slowly through her nose, enough of a pause for Mineta to voice his opinions.
"Why doesn't he just smack him out?" he griped, though that was counter-balanced by him cowering behind the seat in front of him. "He fought a Nomu, no trouble at all!"
"Really?!" Kaminari yelped through coughing up his drink.
"I'd hardly say no trouble," Momo corrected, "but he did walk away from fighting a construct intended to stop All Might."
"Damn. No wonder Todoroki's having trouble."
"Mineta is correct that is Izuku is using sub-optimal strategy."
Everyone looked at Tenya.
"Why would he do that?" asked Satou.
"While I cannot say with utmost certainty, I would presume Izuku is conducting a test, both of his own abilities and where Todoroki's limits lie. Though, I would venture to guess that Izuku can last in his defensive posture until Todoroki's stamina is depleted, his current methodology is likely intended to feed his opponent's hubris, goading him into breaking the stalemate."
Kyoka's jaw dropped. "He's going to sucker him into over-committing."
"At which point, Izuku will spring his trap," Momo finished.
The rest of their class, and a couple of students from 1-B listening from the other side of the divide, digested the information, then turned their attention to the battle raging below.
[IB]
Ignoring the numbness enveloping his right side, Shoto threw out wintery surges, one after another, waiting for any sign of Midoriya faltering. Successive icebergs went from being shattered entirely to simply cracking and flying apart, the chunks becoming progressively larger and ill-defined. And then…
One blast and two. No more prepared blasts.
There!
Midoriya held both hands to his sides, green light indicating the charging of another set of attacks, but that meant he wasn't sitting with a blast in reserve. Todoroki took a deep breath and threw everything he could spare into his next wave. When he exhaled, the release blanketed the field, catching the ice chunks that were coming his way.
His opponent brought both hands together in front of himself, emitting a green glow as he fired off another blast, weaker than any of his previous attempts, but sustaining against the encroaching tide of ice. At first, it looked as if Midoriya would break through again, but the iceberg quickly encircled and encased him.
Tension bled off and Shoto took deep breaths, desperately trying to warm himself up, allowing the heat from his left side to suffuse his ice-encrusted right. That last iceberg had nearly shut him down, but it looked like he won after all. All that was left was matching Kendo.
Midnight stared at the iceberg, having avoided the winter storm the two boys had whipped up. A couple of heartbeats passed, and she gave him a withering glare despite shivering from her place on the sidelines. He was about to ask her about calling the match when another green glow built up inside the iceberg.
By the light, Midoriya was still standing, having formulated a hollow in the iceberg. Enough room for him to move freely...and to prepare a charged blast without fear of interruption.
Shoto threw himself to the side as it exploded out- and upward, Midoriya flying out and above the ring, raining the chunks of ice down on Shoto before swinging down for a landing, ice shattering upon impact.
Midoriya's fist passed over Shoto's head, punching a hole into the iceberg, pulling it free in the same breath, flinging chunks of ice out at Shoto. Shoto formed icicles while sending a thin wave to slow his opponent down. It barely fazed him, Midoriya charging through without hesitation, snapping the spear in two, then crumpling it up in his palm and blasting it back at Shoto.
Closing the distance, Midoriya's fist snapped against Shoto's jaw, banishing all of Shoto's earlier plans. Years of Endeavor's brutal training regimen came to fore, and Shoto did is best to defend himself and retaliate.
And yet, it was all Shoto could do to not be overwhelmed entirely.
Every punch and kick was anticipated and redirected, and answered with punishing brutality. A punch reversed and met with an elbow to his cheek, only a split-second judgment diverting it from throat. A knee came up next, crashing into Shoto's left side, lifting him to his toes. A driving punch nearly broke his arm, throwing him back and scrambling to maintain his footing.
In other circumstances, Shoto might have been able to put up a better fight. Using his right side so much had rendered him sluggish, and each impact accentuated the numbing cold. Under the stress he was being subjected to, the fires from his left side had been doused, and the brief respite he had gotten had not been enough to do more than blunt the cold, which was rapidly reasserting its presence while Shoto kept his footing.
Pain, mental and physical, Shoto could weather through, but this was the first time he could remember being utterly overwhelmed in a fight where Quirks were involved. And Midoriya wasn't letting up the pressure.
Finally, he managed to catch deflect Midoriya's palm strike, blocking the follow-up punch aimed at his throat, then locked other boy in to throw him over his shoulder. Seeing black sclerae and glowing green eyes up close, Midoriya hadn't lost the vague amusement and boredom, breathing steady.
Midoriya was holding back. He wasn't taking this seriously.
Incensed, Shoto executed the throw, only for Midoriya to exploit the momentum and return the favor, planting his feet onto the ground and swinging Shoto overhead, landing him none too gently on the ice. The wind had been knocked out of him, but he was still conscious, coherent, and nothing had been broken.
Seeing as Shoto wasn't moving, the other teen lazily predated around him.
"You know," said Midoriya, looking around at the ice piled around them, "if we keep this up, we could probably make a killer amount of money making snow cones."
Shoto scoffed as ice ensnared Midoriya's shoes. Not enough to cause any serious damage, but enough to keep him still as it climbed up his legs.
"You talk too much," said Shoto.
Rolling his eyes, Midoriya stooped down and pressed a hand against the sheet of ice, breaking it apart. That was enough time for Shoto to get back to his feet, charging in for another round when something akin to a punch the gut threw him across the ring, forcing him to form another wall to keep himself from crossing the boundary line.
Midoriya smiled, shaking his head. "You know, for one of the best students in his class, I was expecting more out of you. I'm not angry, just…" He made a show of searching for his next word. "Disappointed. Yeah, disappointed is about right."
Pain lancing up his side, Shoto coughed as he stood back up. "What's it to you?" he hissed.
"Well, I'm just curious as to why you're crippling yourself like this." Wind whipped around Midoriya, playing at his hair. "I mean, it's not like your beef with your father has any bearing on me, or anyone else here."
Shoto glared at his opponent. How dare he? Wait. How did he-?
"…You were listening in on my conversation with Kendo."
"I'll admit that your little talk confirmed my suspicions," Midoriya answered, smiling and waving his hand. "But that's beside the point." Amusement gave way to anger as he stepped forward, wind intensifying. "Everyone here is giving it their all. The Heroics students, the General Ed. kids, Support, and Management, all of them are doing their best, and here you are, half-assing it."
"Like you're doing any better!" Shoto snapped, sending another wave of ice, nearly seizing up at the cold clawing at his right side.
And for once, the ice didn't immediately crack or shatter.
"I'll put my full effort when you do." Shoto looked up to where Midoriya had relocated, perched neatly on the tip of the iceberg. "It's only fair, after all."
Midoriya slammed a hand down, a resounding, ear-piercing screech blasting the glacier into a blizzard in a flash of green light. Shoto was lurched off of his feet into the cloud, smacking back to back with Midoriya, the other teen keeping him pinned despite his attempts to break free, and a foot kicked his right leg out from under him as an arm wrapped over Shoto's neck.
"You're full of openings," he sneered into Shoto's ear, pulling him up as the green-haired teen leaned forward, and a telekinetic push sent him flying into the air, only to be jerked back into his waiting grip. "Mental and physical!"
Thrown along the ground, Shoto searched for Midoriya. The cloud of mist and ice particles made it hard to see anything beyond his face.
"So, what?" Midoriya asked, mockingly, "You have daddy issues?"
Shoto barely managed to brace as Midoriya leapt out the mists and clipped him, then bounced away with a pulse of green light.
"You want to show your old man up by denying him at every possible turn? Boo-freakin'-hoo!"
Still hunting for the source of Midoriya's voice, he was blindsided when he jumped out again, sweeping Shoto's feet out from under him, disappearing as before.
"The people you're supposed to rescue won't care about your daddy issues."
In the fog, one light became two, barreling at him from opposite directions, spinning Shoto around, Midoriya's fist meeting his face.
"And the villains you face out there will outright exploit the very weaknesses you're showing me right now!"
More green lights split off from the first, flickering to and fro, too many places for Shoto to get a fix on his opponent as he rebounded off of the ice, striking him again and again, each blow forcing every ragged breath out, leaving him no time to recover.
That same invisible force yanked Shoto off of his feet, right to where Midoriya's arm was waiting, clotheslining him.
Shoto slid into a block of ice from before. The fog was beginning to disperse, but his sense of direction was a little fuzzy. Still, he could see Midoriya standing tall and unbothered. But Shoto…he could see his own breath. Everything ached. It was nothing Endeavor hadn't done before, he reminded himself. And yet Midoriya was pushing him further, pushing him harder than he could ever remember.
Midoriya could have ended the fight at any point. That had been made abundantly clear.
The only question was why?
"Looks like you're on thin ice there, buddy," said Midoriya, cracking a smile. "If you want to win, you're going to need to use your fire."
Shoto clenched his fist, willing his arm to stop shaking. Across from him, Midoriya had returned to his starting position, still smirking in spite of the carnage their battle had left. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Shoto forced himself to stand yet again.
[IB]
Izuku brushed off his shoulders, a touch exaggerated for dramatic effect. The sight before him was unspeakably ugly. Having been on both sides of the equation, he didn't like prying into people's psychological wounds, even if it had proven a great strategy in the past. But if nothing was done, Todoroki would die in the field. Or worse, someone would die because of him. That outcome was unacceptable.
It was rather silly, if Izuku was any judge for it. Todoroki had the right family, the right background, and the right Quirk. Endeavor had likely spared no expense in training his "masterpiece", and hadn't neglected his skills in close quarters. He had the talent, buried as it was under trauma and insecurities. Battered and conditioned, his focus was oriented in all the worst ways that he couldn't see the real problem, much less the choices and options he had right in front of him.
To solve this, he needed a serious wake-up call. He had a shell built up so far and wound so tightly around him that the only way out was to break it open. If Izuku had to play the villain in this narrative, if pushing him to his limits and beyond snapped him back to reality and tore the blinders away, it was a burden he would shoulder gladly.
Izuku scoffed, loudly. "Seriously, I might have broken a sweat if you had pulled out your fire. Besides literally, I mean." He shook his head, smiling lightly. "Shackling yourself the way you are, it's disgraceful. I'd laugh if it weren't so pathetic."
Todoroki wiped his mouth, frowning at the blood smeared over his hand. "When you first met me, did you see me, or did you just see Endeavor's son?"
Blowing last remnants of the flurry out of the way, Izuku fixed Todoroki with a stare.
"Frankly, I found you to be your own uniquely annoying person," he answered. "But I get the feeling that's not the question you're asking. And believe me, if I saw you as an extension of Endeavor, we wouldn't be having this conversation." He eyed Todoroki's shaking arm. "You've got to be close to empty with all that ice you've been throwing around. Light up before you give yourself frostbite. I won't judge you for it."
"I refuse to use his power!" Another wave of ice surged forward, and like almost every other attack preceding it, it shattered in a thunderous crash.
"Then make it your own!" Izuku's lips drew back into an angry rictus.
He knew what it was like to be saddled with a power he hadn't asked for, What it was like to wish for anything else, or even nothing at all, if only to spare himself from endless demands and expectations.
He knew what it was like to fight those expectations, feeling as if you were fighting in vain, because no matter what you did, no matter how many differences you tried to find or create, the similarities you found always seemed outshined and eclipse them.
He knew the feeling of being judged for your associations, and he dreaded the day the truth would leave him utterly alone.
He also knew what it was like to look in the mirror and only see the person you hated most looking back at you.
Izuku raised an arm, knocking Todoroki back into another of his barriers. He was slower to rise this time, the ice thinner.
"You use his powers, you may lose today. You don't use his powers, you will lose here, tomorrow, and every battle to come. You'll never be free of his influence, dwelling in his shadow until the end of your days. That is, unless you change the rules. Take what he's given you and carve out your own path with it."
The crowd had quieted, or at least it seemed that way. Right now, all of Izuku's focus was on Todoroki.
"Your father will never see you anything more than a disobedient pawn or a defective tool, so who are you trying to convince? It's just you and me in here. Not your old man, not mine, not the audience. Who are you, Shoto Todoroki, and what do you want to be?"
Todoroki froze, not quite literally, but enough that Izuku cracked a smile as the other boy slowly dragged himself back to his feet, gaining a second wind. Whatever place he had gone to in the depths of his own mind, he had emerged with a figurative and literal fire lit his eyes, sparks shooting from his left side before erupting into a blazing inferno, melting the ice away.
"That's more like it!" Izuku shouted over the roaring din. "Now." He slid a foot back, holding his left hand out with a widening grin. "Show me what you've got, Shoto Todoroki."
Wind picked up around them, the temperature spiking. Present Mic was just audible over the roaring crowd, and he could swear he could hear Endeavor shouting…something, but that was something easily dismissed. Todoroki was giving it similar diligence, and that was what was important right now.
"You're insane," Todoroki yelled over the roaring flames.
"So I've been told," Izuku replied with a smile.
"Don't blame me for what happens next."
"I have many regrets, but this isn't one of them." Green light flared off of him as he braced for the oncoming storm. "So, hit me with your best shot!"
In the background, he could hear Cementoss and Midnight trying to end the match, but Izuku ignored them in favor of Todoroki lashing out with an immense blast of fire, the untamed, barely directed force blowing through the cement barriers thrown out between them in the process.
The debris whipped around Midoriya as he leaned forward and let a burst of air halt the advancing flames, then swept back and around him, swirling into a whirlwind that caught the melting ice water in the current, then cut skyward with the thrust of his right fist, the burst of fire following suit in a single gout shooting high above the arena walls.
When the dust cleared, Midoriya was still standing. Across from him, Todoroki dropped to his knees from exhaustion and thermal shock, falling to the ground one more time. This time, he didn't bother to get up.
"Better luck next time, Shoto Todoroki."
[IB]
Rolling onto his back, Shoto blinked as a warm shower of rain pelted his face, gasping for breaths from his place on the ground. He didn't feel the numbing cold anymore, but he did feel the pins and needles from the rapid thaw.
Midoriya leaned over him, casting a shadow and blocking the break in the clouds that had formed in that last clash.
"How did it feel, Todoroki?" he asked.
There wasn't a word that could articulate Shoto's thoughts at the moment, and he doubted he could manage more in his current state.
Midoriya sank into a crouch next to Shoto's head. "You don't have to answer, but I'm making sure you stay conscious until the medics can take over. So, if you've got any insults for me, I'm all ears."
Shoto snorted, coughed, and then winced as his tenderized ribs reminded him of the injury tally he had racked up. For now, he just kept focusing on the sounds of the stadium, Midoriya's, and then Midnight's stream of chatter until the medics hauled him away.
"Todoroki is unable to move. Midoriya wins, and advances to the next round!"
A/N: I've been itching to get to this point for some time now. Not just because it's been a couple months since the last update, but because this chapter contains some of the earliest elements of this project.
A chunk of the Kendo vs. Yaoyorozu match was inspired by the movie Forbidden Kingdom, specifically the fight between Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) and the Silent Monk (Jet Li). An okay movie, mostly an excuse to get two legends on screen together to duke it out, but worth the price of admission. Or you can just find the clip on YouTube or something. I'm not your parental unit. But yeah, as the fight takes place on an open field with no standing objects to jump on, it made for a much shorter fight, which I think is ultimately for the better, because I really want to move the story forward.
Originally, the Midoriya vs. Todoroki match spun off of a thought exercise of "what if Izuku had a better control of One for All in canon". The original result was shelved for another project, but that was also about the time I had first seen the concept of All for One being Izuku's father.
Some more thinking, and some more thoughts spinning off to form their own concepts – Villain!Izuku is extremely difficult to pull off while staying true to character, by the way – and thus, the first inklings of Into Black was formed.
Next Up: The remainder of the quarter-finals!
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know in a PM or review. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.