"The only people that are mad at you for speaking the truth,

are people who are living a lie."

-Pravine Hurbungs

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Present Day- 14 minutes before Present Time:

"You... When did you? ...Was it when you-"

"Touched your head? Yep. Shouldn't you be attacking and not talking, though? I mean, if you want to help me out..."

The gray-haired teenager stuck out his hand in a provocative gesture, not really caring about stalling anymore. He had already achieved his objective, and it could even backfire on him if he didn't finish this soon. His quirk wasn't really meant for delicate situations like this, it was meant for pure, destructive power. It was tremendously straining to operate it in such a fashion.

The quirk didn't like being forced to just look and not eat. With Uraraka, he just verified that it would work before he instantaneously got rid of the fragment of lightning. But, in an actual combat situation, he had to sustain it and smother it at the same time. If he hadn't been focusing on control even before this whole fiasco, there's no way he could have pulled it off. Even then, it was iffy. He was certain that he wouldn't kill him, but everything else was fair game. In order to reduce the variables, he needed to finish this as soon as possible.

His quirk wouldn't easily settle down after this...

He would have to feed it some of his own thoughts if he didn't find some unlucky scumbag.

"Ughhh... I really didn't want to have to do this..."

But he didn't really have a choice in the matter because Todoroki's quirk was crazy overpowered.

He could flood the entire arena over with ice in an instant if he wanted to.

But with the lightning in play, he was experiencing some nausea from the delay of information. As a result, he couldn't be sure of his aim. Focused attacks were out. Deku was certain that he wouldn't dare fire off random ice spikes in fear that he would miss. His stamina was finite, after all. Random attacks were out now as well.

The only thing he really had to worry about was a stadium-wide flash freeze. Well, if the worst-case scenario came to pass, he could always ditch the Impeded Time, and switch to triggering all of the pain receptors in his body.

Not exactly the most heroic action to do live, but it would be better than facing whatever All for One was cookin' up.

If he didn't take this risk, then he would have to take All for One's punishment. He really didn't want to give that man even more leverage over him. Needless to say Shigaraki. The only reason he was able to survive in a criminal organization where the leader hated him lied in a) Shigaraki not being the only boss, and b) Deku not making any mistakes up until this point. It also helped that he was, objectively, a little stronger than Shigaraki.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

It was nothing that could guarantee his win against the man-child, but it worked rather nicely when intimidating him.

'...I got carried away again. I need to concentrate on this match, not on all the ways Shigaraki wants to stir fry me. At least my head works faster now. But it's not a good habit. No matter, let's just focus on him for now.'

The teen in question had been stationary for quite a few seconds now, with a look of rage on his face. It wasn't directed at 'Allen', but at a person in the audience. Endeavor. The alarm bells grew all the louder, as he remembered that same look of anger on his face during his previous match. It was that match that caused Todoroki's threat level to soar in Deku's mind.

'It seems that Endeavor's mere presence is enough to set this guy off... I hope you don't force my hand, Todoroki. I wouldn't judge you, in any capacity, to be worthy of such treatment. In fact, were I any better of a person, I probably would have tried to save you. From both yourself and that man. You don't deserve to go through such torture, but I don't have the control to do something more delicate to you.'

In the corner of his mind, he faintly recalled stories of people going insane or going into shock because of pain. Needless to say, the effect it could have on a traumatized boy. He sighed to himself, knowing that he couldn't bring himself to go through with it. Not only because it reminded him of her, but because of his ever-shrinking moral compass.

He couldn't let himself break that line ever again.

(He would truly lose himself if that ever happened. It wasn't losing himself that he was worried about, in all actuality. Going insane sounded nice. Never having to experience grief, depression, or his memories ever again would be a blessing. But... That meant that his sense of right and wrong would disappear alongside him. He couldn't do that to innocent people.)

"Shouto Todoroki, if you're planning to deal with me the same way you dealt with Sero, I can only... beg you to reconsider. Not for myself, but for you. At any point in time, I can switch to more... excruciating options," His hand made a loud electric buzzing noise to further prove his point. "That includes triggering all of the pain receptors in your body. Due to extenuating circumstances, it is essential for me to advance further in this tournament. Therefore, if at any point you decide to freeze this entire stadium... I will be forced to do so."

He seemed to have not heard anything, simply staying in place. His eyes seemed like they were melted and forged in the same type of ice that he wielded. Like frozen fire. They were eyes that encapsulated burning flames of agony in a fragile, iced-on image of normality.

"Thanks for the warning, but I need to prove it. That I can reject my left side, and still win. And if I need to freeze the stadium... I'll freeze it."

Allen's, no Deku's face twitched in irritation at the idiotic response.

Did he think he was some kind of shounen protagonist?

"Look, I'm not saying that you can't use your ice. You just can't freeze the stadium. You can't just strong-arm it through the pain, if I was so inclined to activate it, got it? You can't die from the pain itself, but it could trigger circulatory shock. Or maybe you'll get a heart attack. Either way, you'll die because you insisted on being stupid. I have no idea what kind of reaction your body will respond with."

He merely continued to stay silent, neither denying nor reaffirming. His face was cast in indifference. But his eyes, oh his eyes, they told the whole story. For someone so unreadable, his eyes were incredibly expressive. Allen's blood pressure started to rise as veins popped up to compensate. But, he took in a single breath, and his entire presence changed.

"...You seem to think that I won't do it, don't you?"

His arm started to lightly buzz with the promise of action.

"Or you think that you'll be able to stop me before I trigger it,"

His frozen fire-like eyes expanded ever so slightly in surprise.

"Don't look so surprised, eyes are incredibly expressive, you know? Even more so for you."

His foot stepped forward on the icy surface hovering protectively over its' owner.

"...But even if I lay sleepless in the middle of the night, dreaming of this moment over and over again..."

His eyes clouded over with a sad, knowing light. His face hardened in a soft, iron-clad determination.

"I will stand by my decisions. In honor of those who have fallen before them."