"Don't underestimate anyone around you.

Everyone has the power to surprise anyone

at any time."

-Unknown

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Present Day- 18 minutes before Present Time:

"...Are you the reason that she actually managed to do it?"

From his corner of the arena, 'Allen' stared at Todoroki with faux confusion. If he was going to waste precious combat time on talking, he wasn't one to disagree. Let it be said that he appreciated proper stalling techniques, as long as the enemy wasn't getting anything out of it, that is. Even now, Todoroki's brain was moving slower and slower as it raced towards a standstill. It would be impossible to make his neutrons cease all activity, (unless he wanted him dead, which wasn't the most productive thing at the moment) but even a millisecond can make a large difference in a fight.

Let alone seconds.

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean..?"

Normal people wouldn't have been able to see past his facade of indifference, but Deku could never be described as normal. He could make out the minute creases and twitches of irritation as clear as day. It was plain to see that he was incredibly surprised by the results that Uraraka had scrapped up with her hard work and effort. He had only provided the ideas, so he wouldn't say that he was actually lying.

He wasn't the reason for Uraraka's achievement; Uraraka was.

(How people sometimes managed to completely miss the point had always befuddled him, in all honesty.)

"If you don't want to answer me or if you want to play dumb, that's fine. I'll just have you tell me later."

Allen let out a light sigh, as he attempted to restart the conversation while jumping away from the ice spikes around his feet. He hadn't honestly expected Mr. Ice Queen to initiate a conversation on his own, but he wasn't letting go of it now. He wasn't a fan of frostbite, (or burns, for that matter) and if he could go this whole fight without actually having to deal with it, it would be a win.

"There you go, attempting to get answers through violence. Not really heroic, I'd say. In fact, I'd say it's more villainous than anything."

His words had clearly surprised the Ice Queen, and he could make out the barest flickerings of rage. Nothing had changed on the surface, but he was a boiling volcano of emotions on the inside. It fit so perfectly with how he used his duality of fire and ice that it was almost funny; a fragile cage of ice suppressing a wellspring of fire. It seemed sturdy and impassable at first glance, but with the slightest prod in the wrong place, it would collapse.

"You're parents must be so proud of you-"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

-He thought of saying, before dismissing the idea. He was trying to stall, not make the kid angry enough to pop out the hot tamales. He needed to choose a less... critical topic, but make it one he would care about still. The only one he could think of at the moment was Uraraka, so he decided that he would just come out with it. He had already done plenty of high-quality stalling, after all.

"It's not worth it, especially when the answer is so simple. I wasn't lying when I said I couldn't understand you. Her achievements are her own, I just gave her some ideas. It was her that transformed those ideas into real results. Her quirk is amazing, so it's not that surprising-"

His mouth rose up in a chilling smile. He had known that Uraraka's quirk had enormous potential, but he hadn't expected her to actualize all of that potential so quickly. He was somewhat bitter about it, in all honesty. He had been hoping to get the chance to fight against that guy himself, after all. But it wasn't that bad, seeing him all beaten up and miserable on the floor... He was getting off-track.

"-that she beat Bakugo, you know?"

Approximately 25 minutes ago:

He just stood there, in abject amazement. He knew what she could do, he had been training with her after all. He had taught her the theories, the science behind her powers. Quirks themselves might not be rooted in science, (the bugged him on so many levels) but their effects were. At least if they were emitter quirks, that is. Nevertheless, the power to negate gravity could only be properly be utilized when one left the bounds of common sense, and instead relied on science. When one left common sense, the results changed radically as well.

He knew all of that perfectly well.

But it was something different right in front of your face.

It was like an ant holding up a car, as he watched her fling around a four-meter sledgehammer with the grace of a ballerina. It was made with some of the heaviest materials on the market (and most expensive). He had pinched in a bit (a lot) of his own budget for the weapon. It wasn't like he really needed any support equipment after all. Nothing they had on the market could hope to affect his backlashes. He had gotten a favor in return for his trouble that he wasn't quite sure the use for. Well, he was sure it would come in handy at some point.

(It was amusing enough on its own to watch her flounder around about all the money being used.)

And then she flung up a piece of tile as a shield. It was brilliant. All of the muscle training that he had forced on her was coming in handy, even if she had to cheat a bit by using the sledgehammer as a plier. The weapon itself was a large blunt weapon at one end, that sharped to a point on the other. The sledgehammer flew into her left hand as she used her right to punt away the shards of pavement.

It was a struggle, that much was sure. Bakugo wasn't just going to give up, and he had more raw power than her. And Uraraka had more adaptability. But the victory was no longer set in stone. It wasn't something with Bakugo's name tag on it, nor did it belong to him.

It was anyone's game at this point.

(And, he recounted later, it ended up being her game.)

16 minutes before Present Time:

"Well, I won't deny that I helped her a little-... Is it finally kicking in? That took a while."

The ice glacier that popped out of thin air wasn't anywhere near his current position, but where he had been five seconds ago. And judging from his delayed comprehension, he had only just realized what was happening to him. His look of utter confusion was almost funny.

He felt more pity than amusement for him, though.

"...What? Todoroki's aim is starting to deteriorate and fast! Gah, Allen has been stalling this entire time! It looks like he managed to get a hit on him with his quirk back at the start! I'm sure you all know, but Allen's quirk, Electric Hex, allows to give all kinds of status effects to his-"

Instead of paying attention to President Mic, all of Todoroki Shoto's attention was solely focused on Allen. He was on a timeline now, and he knew that if he wasted any more time, the effects would only get worse. He wouldn't allow himself to be defeated. He still had cards up his sleeve-

"Sorry, but you lost the moment you let me get a hit in."

He made an elaborate show of patting his limbs, making sure to make it obvious that it was 'required' for him to activate it.

And then he charged.