Chapter 24 - Contestants and Casualties

During the first round.

Todoroki made his way towards the arena. He and his classmate, Sero, were the last fight of the first round. He was still pondering Midoriya's victory over Uraraka. He was foolish to let her get the drop on him like she did. It could have very well cost him the match. Still, Todoroki knew that he would prevail. Even if he was fighting his friend, there was no way Midoriya would lose.

But even he had to admit he was surprised by Midoriya's new equipment. He knew that he favored explosives, but these new gauntlets could give him a significant edge against the other competitors. They seemed to be more versatile, projecting the explosions outwardly from his hands, allowing for better control of the blasts. Not only that, he could use them at close range, allowing him to get in closer to his enemy to deal devastating damage. But Todoroki wasn't worried. Ever since the battle training, Todoroki had underestimated him. Not anymore. He would beat him with his mother's quirk, quickly and efficiently. He would show everyone, especially him that he did not need his quirk to --

Todoroki froze. "What do you want?" He spat angrily. At the end of the hallway, leaning against the wall, stood a powerful, towering figure. Easily over six-feet tall, his powerful, muscular frame was made even more intimidating by the billowing red flames that pulsated across his body. His face, and shoulders in particular roared with orange flame, but even they were too weak to hide the scowl he wore.

"You're acting disgracefully, Shoto," said Endeavor. "If you had simply used the power in your left side, you would have had an overwhelming victory in both of the first rounds. Instead, your stubborn impudence has allowed you to be bested by that quirkless boy twice now."

"That quirkless boy was trained by Batman," said Todoroki.

Endeavor snorted. "Hardly an excuse," He said. "It's time to stop this childish rebellion of yours. You have a duty to surpass that imbecile All Might. Continuing to limit yourself will only result in more defeats."

Todoroki continued walking, past his father, without looking at him. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" Said Endeavor. "You're different from your siblings. You are my greatest masterpiece."

Todoroki clenched his teeth. He hated that name. Constantly bragging about his "greatest creation" or "wondrous masterpiece," reduced to nothing but a trophy and a tool in his father's eyes. It disgusted and angered him. "Is that all you have to say to me, you bastard?" Todoroki snarled. "I'll win this match and advance using only Mom's quirk. I won't give you the pleasure of seeing me use yours."

"Even if that works for you in this tournament, you'll soon find the limits of that power," said Endeavor.

"Enough standing around!" Shouted Present Mic. "Let's welcome our next competitors, the last of the first round!" The four corners of the arena erupted in roaring flames as the crowd cheered. "He's got skills, but at the expense of some really creepy-looking elbows. From the hero course, it's Hanta Sero!!"

"That was uncalled for," said Sero, stretching his arms.

"Verses an early frontrunner in the competition who's way too strong for his own good," continued Present Mic. "Someone who had rightfully got into the hero course based on recommendations. It's Shoto Todoroki!"

Uraraka and Iida sat on the edge of their seats. She wished that Deku was here to see this, but he and Ojiro were preparing for his next match. Uraraka couldn't help but notice something seemed to be off with Todoroki. "Iida," she said, nudging her friend. "Does Todoroki look. . . different somehow?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Iida.

"I mean, he just looks like something's wrong," said Uraraka.

"Now that you mention it," said Iida, looking closer. Todoroki's head was bowed, the shadow from his long hair hiding his eyes. He had a strange aura about him, and looking at him made Iida feel uneasy. "I wonder what could be wrong?"

"Begin!" Shouted Present Mic.

Sero sighed as he continued to stretch. "I don't really think I can win this fight," He said. "But still. . ." in a flash of lightning speed, Sero whipped a long strip of tape from his elbow, wrapping it around Todoroki. With impressive strength relative to his size, he hurled his captive towards the edge of the ring. "I don't feel like losing, either!"

"Whoa!" Said Present Mic. "A surprising move from the underdog! Way to start of strong, Sero!" For a brief moment, it looked as if it was about to be over before it began. But the force of the throw had blown Todoroki's hair from his face, and what Uraraka saw made her recoil.

From the depths of Todoroki's eyes was a boiling hatred that would make the strongest of men falter. Todoroki had always been calm, collected, even in the face of danger. But the person facing Sero in the ring did not appear to be that same Todoroki.

"Apologies," Sero heard him say. He slammed his foot to the ground, stopping him from flying outside the ring. Sero only had an instant to gasp as the ice creeping across the ground quickly encased him. The entire stadium shook around them, the audience crying out in unison in alarm and fear.

Izuku and Ojiro had finished their meeting, and were making their way back to the stadium when the ground shook violently beneath them. "Is that an earthquake?!" Shouted Ojiro, steadying himself against the wall. The shaking stopped, and they ran at full speed towards the stadium bleachers.

The audience was deathly quiet as the wall of ice stopped inches from their faces. The heroes patrolling the ground froze in collective shock, and even Present Mic was at a loss for words. A giant mountain of jagged ice stretched upward from the arena below, extending at least several miles out of the open roof of the stadium. Todoroki exhaled softly, a small cloud of vapor escaping his mouth. His entire left side was covered in frost and ice, and he easily broke the now-frozen cellophane that was wrapped around him.

"Um," said Sero weakly, encapsulated from the neck down at the base of the ice mountain. "Don't you think you went a little overboard?"

"Tell the truth, Sero," said Midnight, half frozen and shivering. "Can you move at all?"

"Are you kidding?" Said Sero. "Obviously not! My body is freezing!"

"Sero has been immobilized!" Shouted Midnight. "Todoroki advances to the second round!"

There were a bunch of audience members yelling "nice try!" in an effort to comfort the frozen Sero. Todoroki walked towards his opponent, almost sheepishly. "Sorry," he said. "That was a bit much." He placed his left hand on Sero's chest. Immediately, the ice around him began to melt. "I was angry, is all."

Izuku watched curiously as he watched Todoroki melt Sero from his ice prison. For some reason, Todoroki looked very sad to him.

Present time.

Izuku's fight with Shinso marked the beginning of the second round of fighting. The victors advancing included Todoroki and Izuku himself, but also Ashido, who had managed to knock Aoyama off his feet and out of the match with an impressive upper-cut; Kirishima, who in an incredible display of redundancy actually tied his rival Testutetsu, allowing them a tiebreaker match in the form of an arm-wrestling competition, which Kirishima had just managed to win. Iida was also advancing, having "won" his match against Mei Hatsume, who in reality had him wear one of her devices and make him run around the arena while she showed it off to recruiters. She later stepped out of the ring herself after adequately making a show of herself. Kaminari had defeat handed to him easily by the pious Shiozaki. Lastly, Tokoyami had earned an impressive victory against Class 1-A's vice president, Yaoyorozu. He managed to impede her creation quirk through quick attacks, not allowing her to focus long enough to form a strategy. Izuku felt a little bad for her, as she took the quick loss pretty hard.

The battles began again with Kirishima and Ashido. Kirishima's hardening quirk came in handy against Ashido's acid, but in the end, allowing him to get close enough to her to push her out of the ring. Though Shiozaki was strong against Kaminari, she soon found herself outmatched by Dark Shadow (or as she called him, the "shadowy demon"), unable to withstand its speed and ferocity.

With Izuku, Tokoyami and Kirishima advancing to the semi-finals, that left only Todoroki and Iida. Izuku was particularly interested in this match. Though Todoroki was quick, Iida was much faster than, potentially allowing him the maneuverability to avoid his ice traps. Conversely, as displayed in his previous match, Todoroki was able to cover large areas with ice in great speed with little effort. The crowd roared as the two powerhouses readied themselves for battle.

"Begin!" Shouted Present Mic.

Iida wasted no time. Obviously using his speed to his advantage, he decided the direct approach was too dangerous and opted to try and flank his opponent instead, running in a wide circle around him. Todoroki launched himself backwards away from Iida, using his quirk to leave a trail of ice in his wake. Iida managed to avoid it, but only just. If he had continued on his course, he would have slipped out of the ring. Todoroki would have to do better than that.

When Todoroki jumped away, Izuku noticed something odd with his movement. Though it was still quick, he noticed that his movement appeared slightly sluggish and heavy when using his right side. When he had used the ice on Sero, his right side was nearly covered in frost and ice. Perhaps this is a side effect of only using half of his quirk, Izuku thought to himself. He doesn't have the heat to regulate his body temperature, slowing him down. That meant Iida had a huge advantage, and could potentially win if he could exploit this weakness.

But Todoroki was no one's fool. He must have anticipated his disadvantage, because he stomped his foot hard onto the ground below. Ice formed quickly beneath his foot and spread across the entirety of the ring, stopping in a small circle around Iida. in an instant, he knew that his quirk was useless. If Iida tried to run, he would slip on the ice and fall out of bounds. Now it didn't matter if Todoroki was slower than him, he leveled the playing field.

But this didn't mean that he wasn't giving up without a fight. With an eruption of his Reciproburst, he launched himself into a spinning kick towards Todoroki, who ducked just in the nick of time. But Iida's speed proved to be too much, even for Todoroki, as he launched a second kick that landed heavily upon Todoroki's back.

Iida had only seconds left of his Reciproburst. Grabbing Todoroki by the back of his shirt, he launched forward towards the edge of the arena, ready to throw him out of bounds.

He never made it.

His speed reduced instantly, stopping Iida in his tracks. He looked in horror as ice formed around the muffler of his calf. He Todoroki had used his own attack against him, and the ice continued to grow rapidly as Todoroki seized his chance, encasing Iida up to the neck in ice.

"Iida is incapacitated!" Said Midnight. "Todoroki advances to the semi-finals!"

Izuku made closed his notebook. It was an impressive fight, and he learned a lot. He was proud of Iida. He fought gallantly, but the odds were stacked against him, even with his speed. Izuku stood and made his way towards the preparation room. He was up next against Kirishima, and he had to get ready.

The crowd roared as Izuku and Kirishima had stepped onto the ring. They both had become crowd favorites, and everyone was looking forward to their match. Kirishima looked ready to explode with excitement. This battle would determine who would be the first contestant to advance to the finals.

"All right, Midoriya!" He said, cracking his knuckles. "I've been so pumped for this rematch. No shadows to hide in this time!"

Izuku smiled, tightening his belt. The truth was, he had been looking forward to this too. He still felt a little bad dropping him down several stories during the training battle, and wanted to give a decent battle this time, one-on-one.

"Begin!"

Kirishima wasted no time. He immediately rushed Izuku, hardened fist at the ready. Izuku was ready for this, standing his ground. Kirishima was a brawler, tried and true, and his quirk allowed him to get in close to his enemy without fear of injury.

"Kirishima is already off at full speed!" Said Present Mic. "But Midoriya doesn't look fazed at all. This should be an interesting match!"

"Take this!" Shouted Kirishima, throwing a punch. Izuku dodged effortlessly. Kirishima continued his barrage, undaunted, each blow being parried or dodged by Izuku.

"Looks like Midoriya is playing it safe this round!" Said Present Mic. "Kirishima just isn't landing any blows. You have to admire Midoriya's dexterity."

"You'll have to fight back eventually, Midoriya!" Said Kirishima. Izuku bounded over his head, avoiding a sweeping kick to his feet. While in midair, he placed an explosive disk on Kirishima's back, blasting him forward.

"Nice try!" Said Kirishima, getting back up. "Your bombs can't get past my quirk!" The battle continued this way for several minutes, Izuku dodging Kirishima's attacks and taking pot-shots at him with his explosives.

"You know, Kirishima," said Izuku. "I've always admired your quirk."

"Really?" Said Kirishima.

"Yeah," said Izuku, bounding over his head again. "Its really cool! What Hero Agency wouldn't want an intern with a sturdy quirk like yours?"

"Thanks, Midoriya," Said Kirishima cheerfully, throwing a punch and narrowly missing Izuku's head.

"But the thing about quirks," said Izuku. "As mighty as they are, they are still rooted in biology, and are subject to the same strengths and weaknesses of our bodies. Which is exactly why you attacked first. You wanted to avoid a drawn-out battle with me. But I've been making sure your quirk stayed activated this whole time with my explosives. And now I think I've waited long enough."

Izuku immediately went on the offensive, using his gauntlets to launch immense explosions at Kirishima. The sudden change in tactics caught Kirishima off guard, trying to protect himself from Izuku's onslaught. He cried out as he felt a sharp pain from his side, looking down to see a large crack in his hardening quirk. The attacks continued, and the arena around them filled with smoke.

Eventually, the explosions died down and the smoke cleared out, revealing Izuku standing over a charred and smoking Kirishima. "Kirishima is incapacitated!" Shouted Midnight. "Midoriya advances to the finals!"

Izuku knelt down next to his friend. "Sorry about that," he said, helping him up. "Might have went a little overboard. You okay?"

Kirishima grunted has he raised his shaking hand, placing it on Midoriya's shoulder. "That was so cool!" He said, smiling weakly.

Hosu city, miles from the UA Sports Festival.

A dark figure stood triumphantly over the bloodied, broken remains of a fallen hero. Ingenium, the Turbo Hero, as the world knew him, but the figure knew better. To him, the dying scum that lay at his feet deserved but one name:

Fake.

Fame. Money. That's what all who call themselves heroes are really after. But he knew better. Those bastards couldn't dare call themselves heroes.

Except one.

The only one who could stand against him. The only one who had the honor of killing him and ending his crusade: All Might. A true hero. Only All Might is worthy.