The stadium had never been this loud.
Not during the opening ceremony.
Not during Bakugo's explosions.
Not even during Todoroki and Midoriya's clash.
This was different.
Because this time, it wasn't just a spectacle.
It was a statement.
UA Sports Festival — Final Match
Ren
vs
Todoroki Shoto
Two names hung on the massive display board above the arena.
Two students who shouldn't have been here—
not like this.
Ren stood at the edge of the arena, breathing slowly. The stone beneath his feet was warm from earlier matches, cracked and repaired dozens of times over the day. He could feel the echoes of past battles through it—residual vibrations, stress lines, pressure points.
Across from him, Todoroki stood perfectly still.
Half-white hair, half-red.
Cold eyes, unreadable.
Steam rose faintly from his body where the chill met the warmth of the air.
Between them stood Midnight.
Before she could raise her whip, Ren lifted a hand.
"Sensei."
The crowd murmured.
Midnight paused, eyebrow rising. "Yes?"
"I'd like to request my gloves and my liquid nitrogen cartridges."
The stadium went dead silent.
Even Todoroki turned his head slightly.
Midnight looked toward the judges' booth. Nezu was already leaning forward, eyes gleaming with interest. Aizawa's visible eye narrowed. All Might crossed his arms, serious.
Midnight smiled slowly.
"Reason?"
Ren didn't hesitate.
"I won't beat him without them. And my quirk and means are limited without them"
A ripple of surprise went through the audience.
No arrogance.
No bravado.
Just fact.
Nezu's voice crackled through the speakers.
"Request approved."
A small service drone descended from above, carrying a sealed case. It landed beside Ren, opening smoothly.
Black gloves.
Cryo-cartridges.
Familiar weight.
Ren slipped them on carefully, snapping the cartridges into place at his waist.
He looked up.
Todoroki was watching him intently now.
"…You're taking this seriously," Todoroki said.
Ren met his gaze. "And i hope So are you."
Midnight raised her whip.
"FINAL MATCH—BEGIN!"
The temperature dropped instantly.
Ice exploded outward from Todoroki's right side, racing across the arena like a tidal wave. It wasn't aimed to freeze Ren directly—it was meant to claim the battlefield.
Ren slammed his foot down.
The earth surged upward, forming a jagged wall just as the ice struck. Frost crawled up stone, cracking it, freezing moisture inside. The wall shattered under the pressure—but it had done its job.
Ren burst through the debris, body reinforced, wind curling around his legs.
Todoroki didn't retreat.
Fire roared from his left side, evaporating ice, flooding the arena with steam. Visibility dropped to near zero.
Ren snapped his fingers.
A spark ignited.
Liquid nitrogen vented in a controlled release, supercooling the air around him instantly. Steam condensed violently, dropping the temperature and clearing his vision in a sharp radius.
Todoroki was already moving.
A pillar of ice erupted beneath Ren, launching him upward.
Ren twisted midair, slicing downward with compressed energy. The blade carved clean through the ice, momentum carrying him forward—
—and Todoroki met him head-on.
Fire and cold collided.
Ren hit the ground hard, skidding backward as ice raced toward him again. He punched the ground, earth buckling upward into staggered plates, redirecting the freeze just enough to buy space.
He's faster than before, Ren thought.
Stronger. More controlled.
Todoroki wasn't holding back.
Good.
The arena became chaos.
Ice spires.
Cracked stone.
Scorch marks.
Ren moved constantly, never staying in one place long enough to be trapped. Wind boosted his movement, earth reshaped terrain beneath his feet, sparks snapped to regulate temperature when fire surged too close.
Still—
Todoroki was pushing him.
A massive glacier surged forward, wide enough to cover the entire field.
Ren braced.
"Fine."
He slammed both hands into the ground.
The earth rose.
Not a wall—
a wave.
Stone and soil erupted upward, colliding with the ice head-on. The impact shook the stadium. Cracks raced through both formations as pressure mounted—
—and Todoroki added fire.
The sudden heat caused explosive thermal stress.
Ice shattered.
Stone fractured.
Ren was thrown backward, hitting the ground hard enough to knock the air from his lungs. Pain flared through his ribs.
Todoroki advanced, ice forming beneath his feet as he closed the distance.
"You're adapting," Todoroki said. "But you're still reacting."
Ren coughed, pushing himself up.
"Yeah," he admitted. "That's kind of my thing."
He snapped both hands.
Sparks flared.
The air temperature plummeted.
Liquid nitrogen vented in precise bursts, flash-freezing moisture across the arena. Ice crept outward in erratic patterns—not Todoroki's control, but Ren's interference.
Todoroki faltered for half a second.
That was all Ren needed.
Earth surged upward beneath Todoroki's feet, unbalancing him. Ren lunged forward, reinforced fist slamming into Todoroki's guard, sending him skidding backward across the ice.
The crowd roared.
Todoroki stopped sliding.
Steam poured off him now, heat and cold warring violently.
"…I see," he said quietly. "You're forcing instability."
Ren straightened slowly, chest heaving.
"Your quirk's amazing," he said honestly. "But it's rigid. Predictable."
Todoroki's eyes hardened.
"Then I'll overwhelm you."
The temperature spiked.
Fire erupted—not a wave, but a focused blast. Ren barely managed to raise stone defenses before they melted, slag dripping down like rain.
Ren screamed as heat scorched through his suit.
He snapped desperately, sparks flying as nitrogen vented to counteract the fire—but his cartridges were draining fast.
Too fast.
Ice followed the flames, freezing molten stone mid-drip, creating jagged shrapnel that exploded outward.
Ren was hit.
Hard.
He crashed into the arena wall, vision swimming. Blood trickled down his forehead.
For the first time—
fear crept in.
I might actually lose.
Todoroki approached slowly, breath steady despite everything.
"You're strong," he said. "But you're burning through resources."
Ren laughed weakly.
"Yeah… that's fair."
He pushed himself upright, legs shaking.
"But you're tired too."
Todoroki paused.
Ren could feel it now—microfractures in the ice, subtle inconsistencies in flame output. Todoroki was pushing himself past his comfort zone.
This was it.
Ren planted his feet.
All remaining energy surged inward—not outward.
He reinforced everything.
Bones.
Muscles.
Nervous system.
The ground beneath him cracked under the pressure.
Todoroki launched one final attack.
Ice and fire together.
Ren ran into it. With a barrier of negative energy of course
But he still felt the pain due to heat
Heat scorched. Cold numbed. His vision blurred.
But he didn't stop.
At the last possible moment—
He slammed both hands into the ground.
Earth didn't rise.
It collapsed.
The ground beneath Todoroki gave way instantly, swallowing his footing. Before he could react, Ren released the final burst of nitrogen, flash-freezing the collapsing earth into a solid, uneven mass.
Todoroki fell.
Ren leapt.
With everything he had left, he struck.
Not Todoroki.
The ground beside him.
The impact sent a shockwave through the frozen earth, launching Todoroki backward—out of bounds.
They both hit the ground.
Silence.
For one terrifying second, no one moved.
Then Midnight's voice rang out, sharp and clear.
"OUT OF BOUNDS!"
She raised her whip.
"WINNER—REN!"
The stadium exploded.
Ren lay on his back, staring at the sky, chest heaving, body screaming in protest.
He laughed.
Softly.
"I… really shouldn't have won that," he muttered.
Todoroki sat up slowly, breathing hard. He looked at Ren for a long moment.
Then—
he smiled faintly.
They stood together as the cheers washed over them.
Not rivals.
Not enemies.
Just two students who had pushed each other to the edge.