Fiara was watching his students from the tallest building in the area. He saw them start looking around but knew they couldn't find him as human eyes didn't have the ability to see details at his current distance. When he was sure the destructive duo were actually looking for him instead of the exit, he jumped off the nineteen-story building while letting the twenty-five pounds on each of his wrists give him more inertia. When he was halfway down, he heard the end of the conversation the two were having.
"-head-on, we just gotta wait," Nitro stated. The werewolf grinned.
'People seldom look up' he thought as the martial artist saw that he was going to land in between the heroes-in-training.
KABOOM!
The sheer kinetic force caused a cloud of cement dust to envelop the trio. Shouto, who finally decided on the hero name Thermal Shock, created an ice barrier to guard against more dust and the furred monster he was fighting. Nitro knew the advantage Fiara had in low-visibility situations, so he set about causing explosions to clear the air. The eldest felt the blonde's hand in his area, so he grabbed the teen's wrist and threw him through the wall of ice. Both teens regained their footing before launching an assault.
"DIE!" with the unheroic warcry, Nitro used the shockwave of his blasts to try and disorient his opponent while Thermal Shock torched the area. Fiara dodged to the side in an instant before sending a leg-sweep to the dual quirk user before following up with a palm strike at the explosive teen's shoulder, feeling the socket pop. Ice enveloped the area with the hope of catching the multi-century old monster, but he was already gone.
The entire exchange took less than five seconds.
"Come, young heroes; let me show you why my title is Battle Wolf!" the werewolf's voice was guttural, almost like a growl, but it still had the aged power his human voice had. When the teens looked at his lupine face, his eyes seemed to glare at them like mere prey, making them reevaluate their plan. Thermal made the present ice grow around him and his partner to ensure an escape route. That look reminded him of the hero killer and his words brought back the memories of his power at the USJ, making him panic. When he and Nitro felt they were far enough, they sat down in the alley while remaining cautious.
"Fuck," Nitro started cursing. "Fucking, fucker, fucking, FUCK! Can't think with the goddamn pain. Half'n'half, pop my fucking shoulder in the motherfucking socket!" deciding it was the best course of action at the moment, the other teen obliged.
"You may want to bite on something soft; it's gonna hurt a lot." the scarred hero said. "One, two, three!" in a fluent motion that showed familiarity, Thermal pulled Nitro's arm, recentered it, and slammed it where it was supposed to be.
Pop.
"Sonovabitch!" the blond shouted. "I'm going to fucking end that asshole!"
"We'll need a plan, but I don't think it's going to be feasible to catch him in the time frame we have." the dual quirk user stated with another string of curses coming from his partner.
'They still don't get it…' Fiara sighed as they were again searching for him after the fourth encounter. At least they were making their way to the exit this time. He saw Thermal wearing the grenade gauntlets that collected Nitro's explosive sweat, but again, they didn't have the idea he was trying to invoke. The two students flinched while the werewolf charged from the front entice an attack. Thermal Shock used his flames to heat the area around him and his partner to create a shield from his next move.
Freezing the entire street Fiara was on.
"Hopefully that'll hold him while we get to the exit…" the dual quirk user's voiced trailed as the street was shaking from impacts inside the glacier.
"Let's go, dammit!" Nitro called as he started running to the finish line with his partner close behind. They soon found the exit in sight, only a couple hundred meters away. There was a loud crash from behind that told them the last stretch would be the hardest.
"▁▂▃▄▅▆▇▉█!" Fiara's voice strained as he laced chi into his inhuman roar, freezing the teens on the spot; nothing natural should be able to even make a sound like that. Thermal shock created a barrier between him and the monster while raising the temperature for Nitro. The werewolf broke through the ice wall and came after the students. The explosive teen launched blast after blast at their opponent, but they did little. Fiara pinned Nitro by his bicep in under a second.
"You are not understanding the situation." he stated simply. "The two of you are strong, but there are times you can't take on the opponent head-on." his monologue was cut short by Thermal shock pointing a Grenadier Bracer at the werewolf's head.
"Watch us." the scarred teen declared before pulling the pin.
KABOOOOOM!
The martial artist was sent flying with second-degree burns and heavy concussive damage, but the most prominent injury was the portion of flesh that was blown off his face. Coughing up blood, Fiara stood back up before seeing that the kickback from the explosion had launched Thermal Shock through the exit just before the time was up, signaling the teen's win. The monster looked at the camera that had caught footage of his injury.
Izuku saw the explosion from the viewing room and was understandably worried.
"Holy shit that was awesome!" Eijiro shouted. When the smoke cleared, however, the room's mood shifted. Fiara was covered in burnt fur, but the sight of his face made them pale; Toru had even puked in a bin.
"How can he remain composed like that? Unless he can't feel it, I don't think anyone could stay collected with those injuries." Momo asked.
"He can feel it," Izuku clarified. "He just doesn't care."
"You mean he just ignores it? That's pretty manly." Eijiro praised.
"I think it's scary." Tsuyu added. "Ignoring that kind of pain means he's practiced or he's had worse injuries before." The image of worse injuries made the class shudder. When the two teens came into the tent to see the nurse, they acted like nothing was wrong. Soon enough, even Anima walked in like nothing happened. His wounds had completed healing under a minute after he got them, but Recovery Girl didn't let him argue. When Katsuki's arm was in a sling and all other minor injuries were taken care of, Anima, now in human form, spoke up.
"Don't pull that stunt again." although he didn't say which stunt, everyone knew.
"We won, didn't we? Half'n'half knocked you away and got to the goal. I don't see what the problem is?" Katsuki was calmer, whether due to the adrenaline crash or painkillers for his shoulder he didn't know.
"May I?" he pointed to a tablet before going through the video and showing the destructive duo the injuries he sustained. They paled.
"Heavy burns, broken bones, ruptured organs, and facial avulsion. If anyone else other than myself, or maybe All Might, was hit with that, they would have died. I'm not deducting points because it was me you blew up, but take heed; you two currently have the most destructive capability. Don't forget that." from the expressions of the two teens, nothing more needed to be said.
The next day, everyone was excited about the summer camp. With everyone passing through the gate or capturing the "villain", the only thing they had to worry about was the written exam. When Shouta walked in the room, everyone went to their seats quietly.
"Alright, for your exam results; everyone passed." his dead words made the class roar in joy.
"I'm not done." the teacher stated, making the class go silent. He passed a list of papers to Tenya to pass out. The papers were how well the students did and what they could do to improve.
"Now then, the camping trip is actually a boot camp to help you get better with your quirks. I'll be passing the guides for your guardians to sign to the front row, so pass them back." The class continued until the bell rang. When everyone thought of what they needed to but, Toru gave the idea of a class shopping trip. Everyone thought it'd be fun, so they all planned when and where they'd meet up.
Fiara was going on patrol once again. It was nice, being able to be a hero without repercussions from the government. Even before quirk laws, he had to be careful not to go too far out of the legal grey area; now, it was his job. The werewolf's musings were cut short as he heard a scream a block away. He dashed to the source to help, and there it was.
Wearing a bone or keratin mockery of plate armor that clacked against itself, the being had clawed hands and was standing 6' 7", only a few inches taller than Fiara. What worried him though, was that it had no scent. If it had no natural scent like some quirks that would have been reasonable, but it didn't even smell like the area it was in; it was just a void. He could only think of one thing that could break natural laws that thoroughly.
Magic
Fiara closed in and pinned the monster by its shoulders to protect the teen it was attacking. The abomination reacted by bending the natural plates it wore and bending its boy at an angle that no human would be capable of without a quirk, and throwing the werewolf across the alley. Getting up instantly, Fiara saw it trying to run out to the streets. The martial artist tackled it to the ground again and held it in a bear hug that would have broken most people's bones. Knowing it was caught, Fiara called the authorities to ask for a capture. He wondered why the creature was cold to the touch.
It took less than two minutes before the police arrived with restraints. The creature was bound tightly in quirk-suppressing equipment. Not a second after the equipment was turned on, the abomination went limp like a puppet with its strings cut. The police officers panicked and turned the machine off, but nothing changed. Soon, the magic dissipated and revealed what its scent was.
Rotting Flesh
Some officers went green and a couple vomited, but Fiara was familiar with the stench enough that he was in control. The hero walked over and detached the capture equipment before laying the body down and walking to the officer in charge.
"The suspect seems to have been dead for a long while, but something was keeping it moving. Call the Forensics team; this turned into a murder." the chief officer nodded before grabbing his radio and calling the necessary procedures.
"No offense Fiara, but with you touching a rotted body, let my men take you to the station for a shower." he said politely. The hero in question looked grateful.
"Thank you…"
"Setsuzoku, Setsuzoku Ichigo." the officer gave.
"Thank you, Setsuzoku-san." as Fiara was put in a car with a trash bag lining, he added a small line after seeing the head officer calming the crowd.
"You live up to your namesake. 'He who protects', I mean." the martial artist didn't see the smile on the policeman's face, but he did hear him mumble something about "finally not strawberry". On the way to the station, Fiara was lost in thought.
'Didn't you die decades ago, Archibald?'
"That was cool~!" Himiko sing-songed after the flesh golem's connection cut off. The mage smirked at her praise.
"O-o-of course. With-with the-the-the pro-proper t-tools, ma-magic can d-do any-anything."
"And how many can you make 'till the deadline?" Dabi asked bluntly.
"It-it's eas-easier t-to m-m-make them with-with human pa-parts than-than ani-animal l-like the t-test we lost. Fif-fifteen t-to twenty with-with g-g-good mat-materials." the mage took silent pride in the surprise the teenagers gave. Kurogiri came in the door to the study.
"Good news; we have the corpses you need. Their quirks have been removed, if that won't hinder you." the mist-covered man received a nod of confirmation. "If you need any more things or some workforce, then ask. Shigaraki wants enough to, and I quote, Zerg rush the heroes to hell and back."
"Z-z-zerg r-rush?" the mage asked, unfamiliar with the term.
"Have you heard of Starcraft?" Dabi asked. Seeing Archibald shake his head, the teen gave a small grin.
"It means attacking with large numbers rather than quality troops. Your golems would be the quantity while the vanguard is the quality." Kurogiri stated. "Speaking of, Mr. Compress wanted to talk about learning real magic after the assault. He's in the bar." Archibald nodded before walking to the stage magician.
'It looks like you have your work cut out for you, Battle wolf.'
This chapter took longer than it should have. Yeah, everyone working together sooner made them all succeed in no one getting remedial lessons. I find it hard to balance Anima's scary abilities with the world he's in. He's not invincible, just really, really hard to take down. Looking at Katsuki's gauntlets again gave me the idea of how he and Shouto would win. If you're curious about what Anima looks like in werewolf form, google "crinos" and think of it as a dark grey. Other than that, the villains are preparing for the invasion at camp. With more threats, how will our heroes fare? side note; Setsuzoku means 'connections'. If you have something you want to say, leave a review; I have still read every one of your comments. Till next time!