A/N: Updates on Sundays
Recap:
He looked at Todoroki, ready to gamble with the gods again.
"Let's finish this."
Silently, the boy agreed to Suijin's proposal, standing up, brushing off the dust on his clothes, readministering the ice on his shoulder, and preparing.
"So once again, they rise. How many times have these young warriors faced the harsh hand of defeat, not merely today but throughout the intricate tapestry of their lives? How many scars, both seen and unseen, have they amassed to stand proudly on this precipice, under the scrutiny of all these watchful eyes?"
President Mic, opting for a more subdued resonance, underscored the gravity of this moment.
As a commentator attuned to the rhythm of a battlefield, he sensed it keenly.
This, ladies and gentlemen, was the culmination, the grand finale of their Sonnet.
"These two titans, weathering a storm of trials, now find themselves here, standing across from each other, wearied and marked by the unforgiving hands of the contest. Yet, in this arena, only one shall emerge victorious, and both warriors grapple for that coveted pedestal. The question looms — who shall claim the triumph? The clash of glory or the sting of defeat—the verdict awaits, hanging in the air like an unspoken decree. Now or never, the final chapter unfurls."
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No words were spoken; none had to be, as by now they were in tune with each other's rhythm.
Todoroki shot first, and Suijin retreated before countering.
Yet, a deviation in the script occurred—Suijin, instead of retreating like he usually does, rushed ahead.
He didn't know why; it was the height of stupidity, but Todoroki wouldn't miss his chance.
A jagged wave of ice, the width of a car, headed towards the boy, and Suijin accepted it?
In exchange for this gift, how could he not return one of his own?
A thin shot, using almost all of his current water reserves, was sent out, bursting through the shards of ice and homing in on Todoroki.
He set up an ice wall to protect himself, but one mishap with him closing his eyes doomed him.
How could Suijin only have enough energy for one measly shot? This was his ENTIRE current supply.
Thus, due to his conservation, Suijin managed to create a concentrated torrent, relentlessly pushing up against and breaking the ice shield.
The continuous stream of water eventually broke through and followed Todoroki as he tried to escape, not wanting to be hit for fear of there being any acid.
He created an iced armor on his body, constantly reinforcing it before being hit by the beam.
It sent him towards the edge of the platform, but expert use of his quirk as a railing kept him in bounds, though at the cost of his limited energy.
Suijin, stopping the torrent, seemingly ran away!
Sprinting in the opposite direction from Todoroki, the boy arrived at a bunch of chunks of ice big enough to hide from the view of their creator.
Then the boy used his fist, punching the ice until they were in about as small pieces as they would get.
Blood dripped down his hand as countless small cuts opened, but he didn't have time for that.
Suijin unfurled his fist, putting his fingers in front of the small shards of ice before using his unique biology to suck up the small bits through the opening between his fingers.
The experience of engulfing countless small ice shards was nothing short of an agonizing symphony of sensations.
The initial contact is a biting cold, as each minuscule ice shard pierces through the surface layers of his skin.
The pain was sharp and immediate—a relentless assault that seemed to sear through his nerve endings.
Icy pricks danced along his fingertips, a thousand needles of frozen torment weaving into the fabric of his being.
The cold quickly transforms into an intense, pulsating ache, radiating from the affected fingertips and spreading through his hands into his body.
The sensation is not just physical; it's a jarring assault on his senses. Suijin can almost taste the bitter chill as it invades his body, a biting reminder of the frozen shards embedded within him.
The discomfort intensifies with every beat of his heart, each throb echoing the relentless pain.
Yet, as time passes, a subtle transformation begins. The ice shards, once piercing and unwelcome, gradually succumb to the warmth within Suijin's body.
It's a slow, almost therapeutic process as the ice begins to melt, the pain giving way to a soothing release.
As the ice transforms into liquid, a sense of relief washes over Suijin.
The cold agony diminishes, replaced by a gentle warmth that spreads through his fingertips.
The once-frozen shards yield to the natural temperature of his body, becoming part of the internal flow.
This relief wasn't only physical but also carried a psychological weight. Suijin, who bore the burden of the icy onslaught, now experiences cathartic release as the frozen elements yield to the inherent warmth within him.
It's a moment of metamorphosis, where pain transitions into a subtle, lingering comfort as the last traces of ice dissolve and merge seamlessly with his internal landscape.
The boy would compare this feeling to that when he releases a certain liquid from somewhere, but he'd never physically say that.
As he came down from his high, he saw that Todoroki was getting up.
So, moving the new liquid into one of the empty storage containers inside his body, Suijin looked up.
"Todoroki, you're strong."
The boy stopped his advances, wondering if this was a praise contest.
Suijin should know that his current condition was weak from his previous huge display of saving him from going over, so why would he let him rest?
Todoroki was just about to reply with a similar statement when Suijin spoke up again.
"You're so strong that you probably don't even need your whole quirk to defeat me."
Suijin said indignantly before looking up with clear eyes.
"You may look down on me for being a Mutant Quirk Holder."
The boy clenched his fist before releasing it, along with all of his internal tension.
"Or maybe you're just that confident in your own strength. But…no matter what your reasons are, your actions are an insult to me. You insult everyone who's helped me reach where I am today by denying my efforts. You holding back, no matter what reservations you have, is an insult to me and everything I stand for!"
A gleam could be found in Suijin's eyes as he shouted to Todoroki, "I will NOT allow you to trample on my name. Fight me, SHOTO TODOROKI!"
'T-Thats why?'
The reason Shimizu and Midoriya were doing all of that, the reason why they meddled, wasn't for the selfish satisfaction that came with 'fixing him,' but because they wanted…a fair fight?
'I guess that's still selfish.'
But if that's the case, then him withholding his own quirk, as they have emphasized, was also selfish.
He wanted to laugh; how stupid was that?
Shimizu was an idiot for thinking like that, but, inside his own mind, Todoroki thought he was the bigger idiot for jumping to conclusions.
With a rare smile, he released the pent-up power he'd been suppressing, letting things run amok.
"I'm sorry; I'll oblige your request."
The temperature passively rose by a few degrees as a burst of flame was found on the boy's left side, melting the frost marks on his face.
Suijin felt the heat all the way on the opposite end of the stadium, and looking at Todoroki powering up for one big final attack, he felt like he should finish some preparation.
Like absorbing the water droplets that melted off of some of the ice.
Staying low to the ground, Suijin used his fingers to absorb the water, thankful that there weren't any jagged pieces this time.
But the closer he got, the more intense the pressure and heat got, and the more his heart thumped as his mind reached a conclusion.
'If I don't put all I have into this, I'll die.'
The pressure built up as Todoroki actively tried to increase the fallout damage from the attack he's creating.
First, mess with the temperature by creating a huge block of ice towering so high that it goes out of the stadium.
Secondly, use his fire to rapidly melt the fire, changing its state from solid ice to watery liquid to gaseous steam.
The rapid transformation caused an increase in pressure, and when all that pressure is prodded by a stray open flame?
As everyone realized that this wasn't just going to be a simple attack, a couple of things happened at once.
Walls were erected, blocking the view of the stadium, though there were cameras on the ground floor so the crowd could still see due to the overhead screen.
A cement dome was being rapidly constructed, attempting to block off the result of whatever that is from reaching outside.
Then he tried to erect a wall between the two to stop the collision those two boys were trying to have.
But three things were wrong with his actions.
First, a blur of yellow snuck into his dome before it completely closed.
Secondly, Cementos had started far too late.
And thirdly, why would the two boys wait?
The sound of a sizzle reverberated through the dome and into the stands; it stood for a few seconds before, with a sudden ROAR, a BOOM that shook the entire foundation of the stadium occurred under that dome.
If he hadn't actively added more cement and reinforced the dome, it would've collapsed, and the explosion would've spilled out long ago.
However, even though an explosion occurred, the sound everyone heard clearly didn't come from it.
Almost simultaneously as that BOOM occurred, a HISS and a loud CRACKLE took the auditory battle, with all the audience heard before all screens around the world went static.
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(Extra chapters won't be added until this Volume is over.)
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