Chapter Text
Arlo just stares down at Todoroki, a half smirk on his face. The dark circles under his eyes disappear in an instant.
"I'll give you the honor of taking my stress out," Arlo calls, his hands shoved into his pockets. Todoroki just stares back, unaffected. "Bold of you to think that I will go down easily," he replies. His tone isn't condescending but flat. Arlo stares back, his head tilting up ever so slightly.
"I'll see if you're worthy to be called the number 1 highschool of Japan," he says.
"Both schools are down three members! The next match will be against UA's Jack and Wellston's King!" Elaine calls. Her fingers curl into themselves behind her back. She takes a deep breath, knowing that Arlo would probably be fine.
"And.. BEGIN!"
Her voice cuts through the turf, shattering through the glass barrier that was between them.
Arlo just stands there, hands shoved deep into his pockets. His eyes glowing a bright blue, illuminating the shadows and highlights of his face.
Todoroki takes a low breath, the temperature around them dropping. He braces his arm back, twisting his body to the right.
John nods, looking at the two of them. He felt the faint flicker of Todoroki's aura tense. "It's about to start," he murmurs, nudging Seraphina. She nods, leaning forward. "I'll admit, I'm curious to see the strength of UA's Jack. He beat Remi, but Arlo's around half a level stronger than Remi," she says, eyes scanning the boy up and down.
John nods. "Then it'll be one of us next," John says, eyes glowing a faint gold before flickering out. Seraphina notices, gently placing a hand on his thigh. She leans forward, her eyebrows raised slightly. "You don't think I'm going to lose, do you?" she smiles teasingly. John blinks once before grinning.
"Nah."
"Hm, that's what I thought."
"Daihyoheki!" Todoroki yells, slamming his fist upwards. The huge glacier rockets into the heavens, each jagged edge of the ice glittering dangerously. Frost and shards of flaking ice scatter across Ground Gamma, obscuring the viewer's vision.
Todoroki exhales, a long wisp of frost leaving his lips.
It scatters, the white frost disappearing into the air.
Elaine just stares, eyes wide. Being the closest one to the battle, the frost dusts her face, dusting her upper ears and cheeks in a soft pink.
He places his hand on his chest, heat flaring from his palm to regulate his body temperature.
His eyes go wide, the blue and grey flashing over with a strike of pain. Todoroki suddenly coughs, jerking backwards.
The ice suddenly crunches, a bright gold flare slowly shining through the translucent blue ice.
Arlo stands in the middle of the golden barrier, the thick dome sparkling around him.
Todoroki takes a step forward, placing a hand on his chest.
Reflective damage, he guesses. It feels like a sledgehammer just took a blow to his chest. Or a giant block of ice...
Arlo just raises his eyebrows, as if condescending Todoroki. His barrier shows a small splinter, the mark running across the golden bubble in a sharp, jagged arc.
"Is this the best you can do?" he calls.
Todoroki doesn't reply. He runs forward, ice forming in a smooth path under his feet. He waves his right arm as he goes, shards of ice shooting form his palm to the ground. The ground ices over, propelling him forward.
He throws the arm up in a heave, a large slope of ice raised from the ground. He slides off of it, body flying towards the direction of the barrier.
He yells, whipping his arm backwards. Columns of fire twists around his arm, the hungry flame coiling around the edge of his uniform.
He throws it forward, a huge blast of fire smashing towards Arlo's barrier.
Arlo raises his arm, eyes flaring a brighter blue as he prepares to tank it.
The blaze smashes into his barrier with full power, the bright red and orange billowing around the dome.
The ice that was stuck around Arlo's barrier hisses, evaporating into steam. It almost screams as it disappears from the intense temperature change, condensated water droplets flying away into the air.
"Argh," Todoroki grits his teeth, embers brushing along his skin. Wisps of black smoke rises from his skin. He just brushes it away, fire still blazing in a rough arc around his left arm. It doesn't do anything but feel hot though, his body being resistant to fire. He raises his right arm, a block of ice coating over his chest.
Arlo's barrier holds steady. Although the fire sends an intense burning heat around the barrier, he doesn't feel it as strong inside the dome. The fire doesn't directly force his barrier to be smashed.
If he was going to keep using his fire, Arlo would easily tank each blast.
Arlo takes a step forward, reaching the edge of his barrier.
He stays in thought, eyes flickering between the bright blue and a slightly dimmer one.
From what he saw, the Jack was fire resistant. Even if he were to cast his barrier around him, it wouldn't be as useful. The only alternative was to wait for the ice attacks.
Todoroki pivots, noticing this as well.
He spins his whole body, a spear of ice rising from the ground into Arlo's barrier.
Arlo raises his arm, barrier holding steady. The spear shatters against the bubble, fragments of ice exploding around him.
Todoroki's eyes narrow, small cuts and strikes appearing across his skin.
Arlo's grin widens. His barrier was superior after all.
It was hard to appear confident with it when people (namely John and Seraphina) kept shattering it.
It was nice to see that it was actually substantially powerful with people who weren't gods.
"What a shame. I did think you were quite strong," he says, tilting his head.
He waves his arm, the golden barrier around him disappearing and appearing around Todoroki instead.
Todoroki stays grounded, flicking his arm in a quick circle. An igloo like shape forms around him, pressing against the dome of Arlo's barrier.
Todoroki eyes the done around him, his right hand pressed firmly against the igloo he formed around himself.
Arlo closes his fist, the golden dome creaking as it starts to fight against the ice pressing against it on the inside.
Todoroki grits his teeth.
He was in a difficult situation. His ice was holding for now. He couldn't use his fire without melting his ice. The blast he sent earlier didn't exactly have as a strong effect on the barrier as his ice had earlier.
He kicks upwards, a spike of ice smashing into the barrier from the inside.
Arlo winces, his arm jerking once before the barrier begins to close again.
The igloo around Todoroki begins to groan. He scowls, waving his hands again to ice over the forming cracks.
CRUNCH.
The ice snaps once more, the barrier closing in slowly.
Todoroki smashes his foot down, a huge spear rising into the air. It heads straight up, colliding with the top of the dome. His body's practically pressed against the edge of the barrier, the ice unstably flaking all around him.
The jagged edges of the ice spire glitters. His arm trembles with effort as he keeps it upright against the force of the closing barrier.
Arlo coughs, his blue eyes wide. A thin line of blood drips from the corner of his mouth, his hand pressed to his chest.
A crack forms across his barrier, the ice faltering its descent for a second.
Todoroki gasps, clutching his chest from reflective damage. His other arm shakes, holding up the ice beam.
Arlo's eyes flare a bright blue, sheer will fighting to shatter the beam closed.
Todoroki's arm falls with a final shove.
He yells, ice spears spiking in all directions from his left side.
Each jagged blue spike stabs into the dome, a final effort to get out of it.
Each one leads to a crack across Arlo's barrier, small splinters tracing across the dome.
Arlo yells, swinging his arm down.
The barrier smashes down on Todoroki, the spears of ice shattering away.
The barrier flickers once before blinking away, the frost and shaved ice crystals clearing to reveal Todoroki on the ground.
He breathes heavily, bleeding from deep gashes across his body.
He raises his left arm, blue eye glittering with fight before he shoots a column of fire at Arlo's face.
Arlo calmly raises his arm, a small shield blocking the fire.
He waves his arm with effort, a shudder running through it as he conjured another dome around Todoroki. Todoroki raises his arm, pressing against the dome with his remaining strength.
"Do you forfeit?" Arlo asks. Todoroki grits his teeth, flames shoving at the edges of the barrier. Arlo's eyes narrow, the closing shut against Todoroki.
Todoroki gets shoved to the ground, his arms pinned against his side.
He sighs in defeat, the flames along his side flickering out.
"With UA's Jack unable to move, Wellston's King emerges victorious!" Elaine calls.
The barrier almost instantly flickers off, sweat hidden behind Arlo's curls of hair.
Arlo smirks.
"Number 1 in all of Japan, huh?" he says, eyes flickering bright blue with amusement.
"You're nothing."
"Todoroki!" Midoriya cries, running onto the turf. He frowns at Arlo's digs. He himself wasn't as offended over them. But he definitely was going to get back at them for what they did to Uraraka earlier.
"Here, give him to me," Elaine says, her eyes glowing green with one last burst of strength. Midoriya nods, helping Todoroki's slumped figure over.
Todoroki nods as he sees Elaine. "Thank you," he says. Elaine nods, ignoring the pink flush dusting her ears. From the cold, she reminds herself.
Green aura transfers to Todoroki, his cuts beginning to vanish. She breathed heavily, feeling her reserves begin to run out.
She grits her teeth.
"John!" she calls, sweat dripping from her temple. The dark haired boy looks up, understanding crossing his face in an instant.
Seraphina whispers something to him before they both stand up.
"Please, could you heal the rest?" Elaine asks, the healer side of her taking over her fear of being around John. Sera squeezes his hand lightly. John nods.
John's eyes glow a faint burnt gold, the healing energy dusting across Todoroki's skin. His multicoloured eyes widened as his cuts disappeared in an instant.
"Another healing ability?" Midoriya asks, looking intrigued. His green eyes sparkle with immense curiosity, wondering how their school had two great healers. Maybe healing abilities were more common over at the states.
"Something like that," John murmurs. "Good job," Sera says, leaning against him. He nods. Sera looks over at him, smiling. He's come a long way.
A huge bang sounds from where Arlo was standing. They all look over to see explosions snapping from Bakugo's palms.
"Hah? You've all got a massive ass ego," Bakugo roars, jumping down from his wall.
Arlo cocks an eyebrow. "We have the huge ego?" he asks, the smirk on his face widening as Bakugo scowls. "You might want to check yourself first."
Elaine quickly runs between them, already finished healing Todoroki with the truly last bits of her aura.
"We'll be continuing the next round between UA's King and Wellston's King," she interjects, looking over at Arlo worriedly.
"Oh, just perfect. I've been wanting to smash your smug fucking face since the first second," Bakugo snaps. He smashes his palms together, bright explosions sparking off around him.
"I suppose I'll entertain your clown show," Arlo says, looking aloof despite his eyes flaring blue.
ROUND 8 -- CONTINUED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER