Todoroki leaned against the tunnel wall, arms crossed, posture relaxed but deceptively tense. He’d been dodging everyone since the last match. He wasn’t in the mood for pity, encouragement, or conversation. It wasn’t nerves either. He felt... nothing. A quiet, measured emptiness. His eyes traced the smooth stone wall in front of him, focusing on tiny scuffs and flecks in the material, anything but his own thoughts.

  Then Present Mic’s voice echoed from the stadium, thunderous and distorted by the mic system. The match was starting.

  Sunlight greeted him with an unwelcome glare as he stepped into the open, shielding his eyes with one hand. The arena buzzed, crowd roars rumbling through the stadium. It didn’t energize him. It didn’t distract him. If anything, it made the emptiness louder.

  Across the field, Reibach was climbing the opposite stairwell. They locked eyes as they ascended, something rigid and electric passing between them. Present Mic’s introduction blared behind it all, distant and irrelevant.

  He only focused when she spoke.

  “So have you stopped underestimating others?”

  Her voice cut through the haze like cold metal. Mocking, controlled. Not friendly. Not even neutral. It jerked him back to awareness.

  “I’m not sure if I have,” Todoroki answered automatically. “But I need to win this.”

  She took a step closer, hands still in her pockets, tilting her head with something between curiosity and disdain. Her stance was relaxed... too relaxed. Confident and provoking.

  “So you wanna win to piss off your dad, huh? Such a lame motivation.”

  That hit like a slap. She wasn’t wrong, but hearing it from her, in that tone... His composure slipped. Eyes widening slightly, he stepped back, part strategy, part instinct, trying to reset the space between them.

  When Midnight signaled the match started, ice erupted instantly from beneath Todoroki’s foot. A jagged sheet launched toward her like a wave.

  She didn’t even transform. Just bolted sideways, running in a wide arc with fluid precision, her path curving to flank him.

  Reibach excels in close combat. I can’t let her get close.

  He threw up another wall and retreated, buying distance. He hesitated, should he go all out? Use more power? Use fire?

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  But there was no time.

  She punched straight through the wall like it was drywall. Her fist gleamed, metallic, and a second strike blasted the ice apart. Her entire body glinted now, reflecting the sun like polished armor. Fully transformed into metal.

  Didn’t she say she couldn’t hold metal for long? Her whole body? She’s going to wear herself out. And she’s supposed to be slow like this.

  But she wasn’t. She charged.

  Todoroki fired a wider sheet of ice, aiming to freeze her feet mid-run... but she tore through it without slowing. The heavy clangs of her footfalls echoed over the cracking ice, unnatural in both weight and speed.

  He backed up farther, glancing over his shoulder to check the boundary line.

  She kept coming.

  He created another wall. Then another. She smashed through each with mechanical rhythm, momentum rising. His hands were going numb, breath sharp in his chest. He was being hunted, cornered... and she wasn’t letting up.

  She should be tiring. Why wasn’t she slowing down?

  The arena looped as they moved, a deadly carousel. He was burning stamina fast, ice splintering underfoot, forming and shattering within seconds, and still she didn’t let up.

  Then... A shard of ice caught his foot and he slipped. He reacted instantly, forming an ice ramp beneath his body to carry him backward. Just in time.

  Her fist struck the exact spot he’d just vacated, shattering ice with the force of a wrecking ball.

  This wasn’t working.

  Todoroki dropped one foot, planting it with force. A massive glacier surged up, swallowing her completely. The whole stadium gasped. The ice shimmered like glass, rising over the battlefield like a wall of frozen time.

  He stared at it, panting. Mist curled from his lips. There was no way she could punch her way out if she couldn’t move.

  Stillness.

  Then hissing.

  Water began to pool. Steam curled from the base of the glacier. Cracks lit up with a red-orange glow. A shape moved inside, glowing faintly, radiating heat.

  Robinn emerged from the ice like a molten sculpture, metal skin glowing crimson, steam rolling off her like smoke from a forge. She didn’t stop to punch. She just walked forward, ice evaporating before contact.

  Todoroki’s eyes widened. She’s melting it. Not punching. Melting.

  She broke into a run.

  He panicked. Sent another blast of ice forward, then another, larger. Each hissed uselessly, vaporizing before reaching her. The steam was everywhere now, clouding the air with rising heat.

  How in the world did she heat up?

  His left side erupted with fire, a reflex. His body was protecting itself.

  It wasn’t enough.

  She closed the distance in a blink and at the last second, her arm shifted into stone, not metal. Her fist collided with his jaw like a meteor.

  The impact launched him backward, skidding through his own fractured ice and crashing into the hard floor.

  He didn’t get back up.

  Robinn stood over him, steam hissing from her skin as her red-hot body cooled. Her form shimmered, slowly reverting to normal, her stance still tall even as her breathing came fast and ragged.

  “Todoroki is unable to fight! Reibach advances to the finals!”

  Present Mic’s voice boomed, triumphant and stunned.

  Above the stadium, a furious voice broke through the tension.

  "SHOTOO!”

  Endeavor, leaning hard against the railing, eyes ablaze... literally, was shouting, fuming, roaring across the arena.

  Robinn tilted her head up toward him. Just briefly.

  Then turned without a word and walked toward the tunnel, steps slow and deliberate, steam trailing behind her as the spotlight faded.