Izuku The Fusion Hero

CHAPTER 20

Todoroki had never created this much ice before. Even in all the... practice she had done, she'd only every focused on how to use her ice. How fast she could make it, how she could shape it, how quickly she could change what direction she was sending it; all skills pounded into her head as the most important thing. She'd never just... cut loose, pushing herself to create a single piece of ice with no limit to its size.

In any other circumstances, she'd have been impressed with herself. And a small part of her was.

However, that part was completely drowned out by the rest of her screaming in raging disbelief that the ice was still cracking, despite being nearly twenty feet thick.

Todoroki sucked in a harsh breath, her breath coming out in a cloud of steam. She'd completely lost feeling in her right arm, her right leg not too far behind as the cold spread across her chest. Her whole body was shivering, her knees beginning to shake from the strain.

She ignored the warmth she could feel flickering in her chest, aching to rush through her left side and remove the cold. She wouldn't give in. She didn't need that warmth. She didn't need-

A sharp yell tore itself from her lips as her right leg finally gave out. She tried to catch herself as she fell, but the moment her right arm hit the ground, pain erupted in the limb, paradoxically freezing and burning at the same time. The ice on her right side fell away, revealing too-pale flesh that was starting to turn purple in places.

Todoroki curled up around her injured arm, gritting her teeth against the pain. She squinted up at the iceberg she'd created, Nomu nothing more than a faint outline buried in the center of it. It was almost thirty feet across, nearly forty feet high of layer after layer of ice encased over itself. At how dense she'd made it, it would be like being encased inside a mass of solid steel.

And it was still cracking.

"No..." Todoroki tried to push herself up, refusing to believe what she was seeing. No one... nothing could be that strong. Yet, as the seconds ticked by, the cracks grew wider and wider. And with her arm and leg in the shape they were, all Todoroki could do was lie there and wait for the inevitable.

There was a loud crack like a gunshot. Then another. And another. Soon the whole structure was covered in jagged lines of broken ice, shaking and shuddering as the being inside strained against its bonds.

When Nomu got free, it didn't just escape the ice block; it shattered it. Chunks of ice several feet across were sent flying into the air, crashing into the surrounding landscape with enough force to dig trails through the rock and dirt. Todoroki shielded her eyes against the explosion of air that followed the ice block's destruction her ears ringing as a bone-chilling roar filled the air.

There Nomu stood in the middle of an icy crater, completely healed and looking one the worse for wear. Its flesh had healed, its eye regrown, and both blank, beady orbs were staring right at Todoroki. The beast sucked in a deep breath, a roar building in the back of its throat as it prepared to charge forward.

Todoroki swallowed hard, mind racing as she tried to think of what she could do to-

Her thoughts came to an end as Miyuki saw the side of the Nomu’s head caved in and was blasted away from a figure that held power as the force pushed the Nomu away.

Todoroki's eyes widened, trying to process what she was seeing as Nomu bent to the side, its head injured. It looked up at the sky, screeching in rage. A shadow fell over it and Todoroki, making the teen look up as well. Her mouth fell open in shock.