Whipped Cream {Sequel to Marshmallow}

Chapter Twenty-One

Izuku was going to have to think. Hard.

Shoto Todoroki had an advantage over any usual student, two Quirks at his disposal. However, his fire Quirk was inactive, mostly. Izuku had seen a glimpse of it during the Human Cavalry. Katsuki had annoyed him enough to allow a single flare, and Izuku had used it.

He predominantly used his Ice Quirk, though. During his fight with Sero, he'd encased the boy completely. No doubt he'd try that again, but Izuku couldn't count it as his only trump card. He had to avoid becoming an icicle, whilst watching for any other difficult attacks.

That was already an cooperation in Izuku's mind - his moral compass was spiralling. The chances of him winning this were slim, and it was tactical to take that in his stride. He couldn't get cocky the second he had the upper hand - he needed to keep a level head the entire time. 

Izuku needed to have time to persuade the boy not to limit himself - not to let his hatred and spite for his father prevent him from saving people. 

Izuku licked his lips, flexing his aching wrist and letting his eyebrows furrow in concentration. He took to signing his free hand slightly, mentally documenting the notes he couldn't write. 

Izuku needed to be close. That was his strong point, but evidently Todoroki's weakest. He fought at a distance, allowing his ice to do the brunt of the work whilst he waved an arm or two around. No one had gotten within two metres of him - even in the Cavalry he remained back, group huddled afar. He wad stumped when they were close.

Bearing that in mind, Izuku thought through all the problems. 

To be close, he needed to get there. If he took too long, Todoroki could wipe him out, and if he was too slow the boy would move. But Izuku lacked that speed currently - he was exhausted and recovering from a panic attack that had his muscles stiff.

Izuku felt the stiff cheers as he stepped forward at the call of his knees, eyes narrowing on Todoroki as he did the same. 

The countdown began, and Izuku lowered into a crouch, grabbing a subtle fist full of dirt and holding tight. He may need it. 

His teeth grit as he slid back, a line of ice heading towards him. When that wasn't enough, he jut to the side, ducking beneath the shards and heading towards Todoroki. He yelped, rolling to the side as it expanded.

He stopped moving then, eyes narrowing on the cracks in the ice. It was thin - half attempted. Izuku was being half-arsed at. Using his free hand, he grabbed the other chopstick (ha to you Unkie Sho!) and jammed it in, the whole thing cracking and exploding.

Izuku rolled back into a crouch as he saw Todoroki jump above, ice encasing his palm, and threw the dirt in his hand at him. His classmate crossed his arms to protect his face, and Izuku launched forward, ploughing into him and knocking them both to the ground.

He ignored the ice encasing his arms, biting at the skin and sending shocks through his nervous system, and scowled. His wrist had twisted again, throbbing, but he supposed he was lucky. The ice had formed a sort of cast.

He jumped back, narrowly avoiding shards sticking towards him from the ground. When his head flicked up, he saw the ice sticking to Todoroki's arm, the shaking in one side of his body, and the hinted anger in his eyes. 

"The-There's a limit to ho-how much chold your bo-body can take? Isn't there?" Izuku wasn't so lucky moving this time, a shard impaling his calf. He ignored it for the time being. 

"Ev-Everyone's fighting wi-with everything th-they've got ... to be-become number On-One ... so Co-Come at me with ev-everything you've got!"

He ended in a yell, fists clenching the bets they could as he glared at his classmate. He received a glare back.

"You haven't put a single scratch on me yet, you know!" 

Izuku ground his teeth as ice embedded in his thigh, but didn't let it faze him. A grin spread over his lips, eyes zoning on the cut beneath his eye. "No, I have, yo-you're just too co-cold to feel it."

He burst forward. "Now I'm angry!"

Izuku dropped into his stance a little more. He clenched his fist, jutting forward and slamming it into Todoroki's stomach, yelling as his hand exploded in pain. Todoroki fell back, on his feet without seconds to waste. 

Izuku dodged punch after punch, careful not to slip too much on the ice covered ground. The pain was numbed, adrenaline spiking his body and pushing him past his limits. He felt the ice crawl up the side of his neck, the Hearing Aid meeting the cold and cutting off in his ear immediately. He didn't have time to remove it, jumping back to avoid a hit. 

"S-Stop screwing ar-around! Use ev-everything you c-can to sav-save people! To wi-win!" 

Izuku launched forward, shoulder knocking into Todoroki with his scream, before returning a small distance back. 

He kept screaming. "It's your po-power, isn't it?!" 

And that's all it took. Izuku was hit with a blast of heat, fire flying from one side of Todoroki's body. 

"Don't blame me for what happens next."

Izuku grinned, falling into his stance once again. "Bring it on."

And he did. 

Izuku went running forward, as Todoroki took a step, ice spreading across the floor as blocks of ice shot towards him. Past that first defence, Todoroki brought his arm up in a swing, fire swarming his body. 

Before either could make contact, walls of cement sprung from the floor. That didn't stop the force of the attack from reaching through, pushing gusts of winds in every direction. And as the dust cleared, everyone watched with wide eyes.

As an exhausted Todoroki fell to his knees, and a passed out Izuku lay out of bounds.