Luke and Momo vs. Shoto Todoroki (II)

With half the tail of the cat out of the bag, Luke needed to be very methodical about showing what Quirks Nyx possessed.

As the layer of ice froze him, reaching his calves, Luke silently stood there in the room, thinking hard about it.

Meanwhile, who had made herself hover at the right moment, landed on his shoulder.

I can't be diverse with the Quirks, Luke thought, holding his chin. Nyx now holds a Gigantification Quirk in the eyes of others. It would be best if I limit the Quirks to some ordinary transformations.

This way, even if someone were to find similarities between me and Dr. Blessed, there would never be convincing evidence. Hmmm…

Not only that, but he could also give a false impression to everyone that he could only control one Quirk in Nyx at a time.

Then, with time, he could start letting Nyx use two and then three Quirks at a time as part of his natural progression to keep the UA teachers in the dark.

This would also lay down a solid ground for his public identity as a Pro Hero.

If Luke ever wanted to unearth the dark secrets of this world, he couldn't afford to remain a Vigilante, Villain, or Hero alone. He needed to be active in all parts of the society.

Sighing, Luke told Nyx the plan to deal with Todoroki, making her nod at him.

Through the earpiece, Momo too learned what he was telling her, grunting in agreement.

Then, he put his palm on Nyx for a few seconds. Meanwhile, he noticed the CCTV cameras inside the hall had also gained a layer of ice over them, blurring what he was doing.

Knowing that Todoroki could be coming anytime, Luke crouched and punched the thick slab of ice on his legs.

The alloy-reinforced knuckles, backed by the strength of a Marauder, shattered the ice instantly.

Then, taking a deep breath, Luke reached out toward the floor as if he were opening a door, letting his spirituality flow out of him.

Suddenly, a corporeal outline of a door materialized on the floor itself, glowing ethereally blue.

This was the core power of a Sequence 9 Apprentice, Luke had learned — Door Opening.

As long as the thickness of all things that could still be termed as walls wasn't too much, he could form a door there.

Holding a non-existence door knob, Luke pulled up.

Noiselessly, the door-sized section of the floor literally lifted as if it was a door with hinges and everything, showing the hall underneath.

As Luke's Danger Intuition triggered, sensing Todoroki coming, he jumped down through the door, snapping his fingers.

…

Shoto Todoroki walked into the hall, wearing his Hero Costume, his breath misting with coldness.

He found Luke standing in a frozen hall in front of the payload.

Surprisingly, there was no sign of the bird. As if that wasn't enough, Luke's legs weren't pinned down by ice, either.

Uncaring, Todoroki walked in, smiling.

"I wasn't expecting you to be here," he said casually. "Did you send… Nyx? Did you send Nyx to distract me from behind, knowing that your Quirk was useless in such tight spaces?"

Todoroki stopped a few steps away from Luke.

"You are strong," he said, his smile vanishing. "You were just unlucky enough to be paired against me. It's not your fault. We just… play at different levels."

Todoroki took another step forward, spewing out shards of ice that rushed toward Luke.

However, even now, Luke didn't move at all, making Todoroki raise his brows.

With the minuscule distance between them, he couldn't stop the attack, either.

Todoroki decided to just freeze Luke entirely and then unfreeze him right after winning the battle instead.

So, when the blocks of ice reached Luke, and he exploded, Todoroki's eyes went wide with shock.

Caw!

Caw-Caw!!

Caw-Caw-Caw!!!

Dozens of ravens came blasting out of the exploded Luke as if it was all an illusion.

In no time, the enormous number of ravens painted the entire frosty hall in black, the sound of their cries and the flutters of their wings deafening Todoroki.

However, in the eyes of Nyx, perched on the tip of the payload, Todoroki was flailing his hand at absolutely nothing and the hall couldn't be any more empty.

…

[

Quirk: Illusion

Complexity: B

Consumption:

 — Spirit 47

 — Stamina 16

Contact Time: 4 seconds

Activation Time: 17 minutes

]

…

From behind, Momo came rushing inside and found Todoroki throwing his hands, freezing nothing but air.

It wouldn't be long until he realized that it was all an illusion, she knew.

Holding the white strip of cloth in her hands, she charged forward, following the plan.

Meanwhile, after failing repeatedly at freezing so many birds, Todoroki had already guessed that he had been fooled.

Luke's Quirk wasn't what he'd thought it was!!!

The birds trying to claw at him were nothing but a big illusion to distract him!!!

From the corner of his eyes, Todoroki noticed Momo coming at him. So, ignoring them, he blasted a wave of icicles at her.

Suddenly, one of the ravens cawing madly around Todoroki suddenly descended upon him.

Taking advantage of the fact that he must have realized all the birds were an illusion, Nyx had joined the flock.

However, just before she could hit him, Todoroki snapped his head toward her. "That's so basic…"

With a wave of his right hand, he froze Nyx in midair with an icicle rising from the ground. The illusions disappeared right after that.

Meanwhile, Momo ran around in circles, trying not to get caught by Todoroki. Simultaneously, she kept generating tiny steel balls and throwing them at Todoroki.

What's she trying to do? Todoroki asked himself as he saw the balls leaving an impression on ice, but failing to crack it. Where's Luke?

Of course, now knowing their strategy, Todoroki was on guard against the sudden appearance of Luke.

He had never underestimated or overestimated Luke.

However, if what he had found about his Quirk was true, he knew he had grossly underestimated what Luke was capable of.

Still, Todoroki had full confidence that he could take on both Luke and Momo.

Even though Nyx could use more than one Quirk, as long as she was pinned down, there wasn't much Luke could do by himself.

But there was no shame in being cautious, right?

With a shift of his right foot, Todoroki froze the entrance to the hall, locking Momo in.

"Give up," Todoroki said, inching toward the payload as Momo kept running around, dodging ice. "You cannot win this battle."

"Now!!!" Momo shouted.

With a puff, all the steel balls she had been throwing at Todoroki exploded, spewing out a white gas, clouding his vision.

At the same time, Nyx's figure, still pinned down by the icicle, blurred, before disappearing altogether.

…

[

Quirk: Exchange Positions

Complexity: B

Consumption:

 — Spirit 45

 — Stamina 15

Contact Time: 4 seconds

Activation Time: 18 minutes

]

…

In Nyx's place, Luke appeared, breaking free of the ice around his foot effortlessly.

Like a black blur, he tore through the cloudy fog and appeared right next to Todoroki, making his eyes pop out.

As his instincts took over, tongues of fire flickered on Todoroki's left part of the body, while the right side exploded with ice.

In a fraction of a second, he froze Luke to the neck, his hand still reaching out for Todoroki's throat.

Unfortunately, despite being frozen, Luke's face held a victorious smile.

With a blank face, Todoroki looked down and found Momo tying the white cloth to his ankle.

Battle 2 of Combat Exercise, Luke and Momo as Heroes vs. Todoroki and Shoji as Villains — Winners: Heroes!

*************

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