Death arms were in near tears at this point. These two just kept taking his money! "You were completely right, you know, Vine girl did wonders out there." Mt Lady counted her bills. "Maybe my luck is rubbing off you."
"I just looked at the facts. She can make her vine traps as thick as possible, so I figured it would take a while for the acid to eat through it. Although again, bias against plants." Kamui smirked.
"You two think you've won." Death Arms growled. "But just you wait, Todoroki is gonna freeze the whole arena solid and take out Suzuki!"
"In your dreams, if the kid's crazy enough to run across a giant robot, he can totally do the same with an iceberg." Mt.Lady gleamed. "And he broke out of that brainwash trance, so that determination to win is practically endless."
"How DID he do that?" Kamui muttered. "Even strong wills have issues when it comes to mental manipulation that requires specific triggers or attachments."
"Like I said, it was a fluke. That Gen Ed kid probably hadn't trained his quirk to be strong enough to keep hold or something." That was the only explanation he could think of, the only other being Suzuki had a quirk, which again, he highly doubted. "In fact, I guarantee the fight's going to end in five seconds."
"Triple or nothing then." Mt Lady gave her condescending smirk, holding out her open hand. "That also means half of your own pay for this gig."
"Deal!" He accepted. "You're going to be eating your words shortly, newbie. Who actually thinks anyone has a chance against the son of Endeavour?"
==
"So am I the only one who thinks Suzuki has a chance against Endy's kid?" Miriko smirked at the others.
"I will burn you alive, there won't be bones left." The man growled.
"Didn't take you for the underdog type." Hawks smirked at her with a shit eating grin.
"Yes, I admit while his evasion is impressive, taking on someone with this level of power may be out of his capabilities." Edgeshot agreed.
"Hey, I had to get my shit down for years! Do you know how many people laughed at the idea of me being a hero? 'Oh, you're just a little bunny, you can't do anything that special.' Ha, jokes on them, my quirk is rabbit, and I get shit done." She laughed. "If the kid's instincts are as strong as I think it is, he'll find a way to get out on top."
"Just count to ten Todoroki … count to ten and they'll stop bothering you." The man muttered, clearly close to snapping … so it was obvious they should keep going.
"I still say Todoroki will win this." Best Jeanist raised his collar higher somehow. "We have seen his precision, skill, and power all at once."
"It's a match of wills, the strongest may succeed and the hope of the next generation shall rise up!" Shouted Crust.
"I'm fine either way." Gang Orca just munched on some shells like popcorn. "Gonna give them both an offer since I can afford two."
"Forget it." Endeavor spoke up. "He'll be interning at my agency, I won't stand for anything less." Aww, does the big man wanna spend quality time with his little boy? "I'm the only one capable of maximizing his full potential. Not like this school has been doing so at the rate they've been going about it."
"It's only been a month. There's not much they can offer in that timestamp unless you're deranged, like most of the UA alumni." Hawks spoke up. "Ain't I right Jeanist?"
"True … only the most driven can rise up." That wasn't what was said and they know it.
"So the big match is coming up, surprised Toshinori slipped." Miriko glanced around. "You'd think he would be here and that you-" She pointed at Endeavor. "Would be giving your son a pep talk."
"There's no need for encouragement of one's full power on someone that fragile. Just look at what he did to that Sero kid." Yeah, she had to actually duck for that one.
"I still say there's a chance. Wouldn't be the craziest thing that's happened to the world." She thought it over. People suddenly getting powers, being an underground cage fighter, the occasional time she beat people looking like and claiming to be demons. You couldn't anticipate what happened next, you just had to dive right into the madness.
==
Fuyumi sat with her brother as they watched the next match get called out, a while before fighters would make it there. "You think he'll make it there?" She asked him. "To the end?"
"Of course he will. He's father's 'perfect creation' after all." Natsu rolled his eyes, and she had to send an elbow to his stomach. "Sorry, don't mean to sound like I hate Shoto, but...you know no matter what happens today, Endeavor's going to get what he wants."
"But we can't just …" She sighed. "Why can't we just have a normal family …" She laid down. "Why can't we all just get along?"
"You think that can happen after everything he put Touya through!?" He yelled at her, and her flinching made him reel it back just a little. "After what he did with mom, hell, normal went out the window when he bought her like a house ornament."
"We can't just spend our lives living in hate!" She yelled. "It's going to drive us insane and into the ground."
"Anything's better than giving that bastard the satisfaction that everything's okay." Her brother grumbled. "The only reason why I don't tell the nearest tabloid rag about it is because our lives will get dragged into that mud too."
"... It's been years." She muttered, watching as their little brother walked on stage. "When have we ever seen Shoto happy?"
"I assumed he was born miserable. Wouldn't blame him."
"There were times you know." She glared at him. "When we sat together and watched tv with mom …"
"Yeah...that's when dad wasn't around." He reminded her. "As long as Endeavour's around, that'll never happen again."
==
Yagi watched as the boy made his way down the hall. "Young Suzuki." He smiled. "I wanted to check on you, see how it's going."
"It's fine! I know what I need to do!" The boy, no matter how concerning the situation was, greeted everything with that innocent smile of his. "Overcook the chicken bit by bit and get Todoroki to use his fire!"
"... Suzuki." The man slowly started. "You really should try and hold back, risking your body isn't worth the fame."
"But if I don't, Todoroki is just going to keep hurting himself." Suzuki explained. "He's stronger than everyone else here, and I'm the only one who has a quirk to match it." The hero didn't know if that sounded more arrogant or naive.
"Just ,... try and be careful alright. You need to look after yourself too." He tried to help. He understood what the kid was trying to do: save Young Todoroki from himself by getting him to embrace all of his quirk, but he didn't want his successor to start getting reckless, not when he was already so good at avoiding damage.
"Don't worry Bunny-sensei. I'm just doing what heroes do, plus ultra!" There was a difference between going beyond and being a masochist, but the boy's eyes held so much determination in them. "I'll help him and smile and tell him everything will be okay!"
'It'll be okay, BECAUSE I AM HERE.' The phrase Toshi used for most of his career, his dream, his ambition to be strong enough to make the world safe with his mere presence. It was an impossible dream, but it was one that he put his mind, body, and soul into everyday until achieving it, a dream that nearly broke him down to nothing.
For his safety and health, All Might hoped that would be a burden Young Suzuki never had to carry.
==
"Here he comes, the young upstart that's been making waves with everyone he meets, and every challenge he takes, all without a quirk. The one … the only … IRUMA SUZUKI!!" Todoroki listened to the mindless cheering from inside of the tunnel, tapping his foot as he waited out the roars of the crowd. This would be the chance he had to finally put that ridiculous smile out of place.
"Wow, so much cheering." The idiot looked around at the crowd. "No one's cheered for me like this before." There was a reason for that. He was a quirkless moron who barely knew how to breathe.
"And his opponent is a talented son of a pro, who demonstrated plenty of raw potential and power that shook the very stadium." Or nearly destroyed it. "Here he comes … SHOTO TODOROKI!!" He made his way out onto the stage, ignoring the cheers, and especially growling whenever someone said he was 'endeavors son' instead of just a talented individual.
"Last chance to back away." He idly warned the kid. It didn't matter either way, but he didn't think killing a quirkless kid in front of a live audience would be the best way to prove his point to Endeavor.
"Why would I back away? I just walked on stage." True, it would be kind of pathetic to back out here. "Besides, I made you a promise. I'm going to overcook the chicken and get you to use your fire." He could feel his anger boil.
"I will never use my left side." He almost released his ice right then and there, but held it off. It would be even more pathetic for him to be disqualified for firing his quirk before the match started.
"Are the combatants ready!?" Midnight shouted, looking more towards Suzuki in that regard.
"I'm ready!"
"On your marks …" He shifted his body. "Get set …" Suzuki twisted his hand to look as if he was going to flick the air. Was he being underestimated?
"I'll make this as painless as possible." No matter how much he didn't want to.
"And begin!" With the shout he froze over half the stadium in an instant, turning to Midnight, ready for her to call the match here and now.
"FLICK FIRE!" With a stupid shout his pillar of ice was demoloshed, a gust of wind overtaking the stadium as everyone stood stupified. The dust created settled, revealing an uninjured Suzuki … with a purple and bent looking finger. "I told you … I'll overcook the chicken!" And with a second flick, more wind came barreling straight at him, forcing Todoroki to make a wall of ice to block, even if it was shattered.
" WHAT THE HELL! SUZUKI'S DESTROYING THE ICE WITH JUST HIS FINGERS!? HOWS THAT POSSIBLE!?"
"He always had a quirk like he said, you were just too stupid to remember the entrance exam. He can create a massive backlash of force that breaks his own body down, almost as if he has no control at all." Aizawa spoke out.
At this moment Todoroki finally realized that Suzuki was a moron, and thus, far too stupid to tell a lie … meaning his life really did suck, and now he was fighting a guy who's quirk was like All Might's. This was going to be … significantly more challenging than expected.