The Power to Torment
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Hailstorm Vol. 2! First off, a quick apology that this is coming out a day late but as they say life comes at you fast and I needed to attend to a quick family matter. Now, no guest review questions to answer this week so without further delay, onto the story!
Underground Lair of Shie Hassaikai
There was little time to think as the group of heroes rushed through the hole Midoriya had just made in the wall, with the One for All holder flying straight at the plague-mask wearing Yakuza leader and managing to land a powerful blow on his left arm. The force was enough to send the surprised villain sliding several feet across the floor as Aizawa used his gaze to erase his quirk at the same time. "Nighteye, secure anyone that needs medical treatment!" Eraser Head called out. The clairvoyant did as instructed and rushed over to his tattered and bloodied protégé and the little blue-haired girl wearing nothing but rags with a horn growing out of her right temple.
'So that's Eri,' thought Clay as he and the remaining heroes turned their attention to Chisaki who was currently slapping the ground with his hand in a vain attempt to activate his quirk. "This is our chance, let's take him down!" Ordered Aizawa as he, Midoriya, Clay and Slade all ran, jumped or flew towards the desperate looking man.
"Dammit, wake up Chrono!" Yelled Chisaki with a manic glint in his eye. Aizawa realized what his intentions were and managed to push Midoriya out of the way, but in the process he was cut by an arrow that resembled a hair-like protrusion.
"Sensei!" Exclaimed Clay as he just barely dodged one of the appendages himself and located the source. One of Chisaki's main underlings, a man in a white, hooded robe wearing goggles and his own plague mask had fired his attack from his head. 'Shit, that's Chronostasis,' realized the cloud wielder. He'd written him off as out of the fight upon seeing his unconscious form during their entrance.
"I was hoping to pierce at least most of you with the long hand to slow your movements," remarked Chronostasis as he struggled to his hands and knees, "but I suppose I shouldn't expect anything less from heroes." Clay wanted to strike back at the Yakuza member until he saw Chisaki move out of the corner of his eye. 'Got to be quick about this,' he realized as he sent a number of cloud platforms across the room.
"CHISAKI!" Yelled Midoriya as he rushed towards the man, realizing almost too late that his quirk was active again. The Yakuza leader slammed his hand on the ground right as Midoriya was on top of him, causing the surface to shatter and reshape into a collection of massive spikes that towered several feet in the air while scattering the gathered heroes.
"Is everyone okay," Slade called out from between one of the spike formations, having sustained little damage thanks to raising his density.
"We're okay up here," Clay called out from his cloud perch as he had Midoriya on one cloud and Nighteye, Mirio and Eri on another, "but I don't see Aizawa anywhere."
"I think I might know where he went," said Slade as he noted a large hole in the ground.
"I won't let my plans be ruined by people like you!" Kai Chisaki called out suddenly as everyone noticed him approaching the body of another one of his followers, a man in a black cloak with a bird mask and wide-brimmed hat, Shin Nemoto. "I won't let it all end here!" He proceeded to grasp the face of his follower as the two of them were suddenly engulfed in a flash of light and swirling dust. "I can admit, with my own dignity still intact, that Lemillion was stronger than me. But it all comes to nothing now, so I'll have you return Eri to me!"
Clay hadn't thought it was possible, but the man had actually torn apart his subordinate's body and his own with his quirk before pulling it back together into a grotesque monstrosity. Now he had four large, fleshy red arms and his bulk had increased by a fair bit, not to mention all of his earlier injuries from Mirio were all healed. "That was the worst feeling ever for a moment," said Chisaki, "but I feel much better now than I did before."
"While I now feel like I want to hurl," quipped Clay, more to hide his nervousness and to take stock of the situation. Lemillion was too injured to fight while Nighteye was protecting him and Eri. That left the three of them, but someone needed to find Eraser Head given that he'd also noticed Chronostasis was gone too.
"I'm something of an obsessive about cleanliness," said Chisaki, "It always makes my blood boil when someone touches me, so this is the first time I've ever been forced to this point. But it's worse for you isn't it, Lemillion? If you hadn't gotten involved with Eri and by extension me, you'd still have your quirk. But now it and your dream are lost forever, because you are all going to die!" The man-made monster charged forward as he attempted to use his powers on the floor again.
But Midoriya was quicker, leaping off of Clay's clouds and kicking one of the spikes towards Chisaki. The Yakuza leader managed to halt it with his hand before reforming it into spikes aimed at the hero-in-training. Clay reacted swiftly and yanked him away with his clouds as Nighteye launched his weighted seals at Chisaki, knocking him back slightly. "I shall be his opponent!" Declared the pro hero as he threw even more seals at his target, "You get Mirio and Eri out of here and find Eraser Head!"
The deformed man moved surprisingly well despite his size, dodging out of the way of the projectiles before swiping at Nighteye with his four large red arms. The pro used his foresight quirk to predict his opponent's movements by a short margin, just managing to avoid his blows each time. "Slade, find sensei!" Ordered Clay, "We'll take care of things here."
"On it," said Slade as he leapt down the hole he'd spotted earlier while Clay and Midoriya regrouped near Mirio and Eri.
"Togata," said Izuku, "is it true, is your quirk really gone?"
"Not important right now," said Mirio as he held a hand over his bleeding side, "what is important is that we get Eri here away from this place."
"Right, let's get out of here," said Midoriya as he kicked a hole in the wall, "this is the way we came to get here. If we just follow it, we should be able to find our way out."
"You go on ahead and get Togata and Eri out of here," said Clay as he started walking back with his clouds swirling around him.
"But what are you going to do?" Questioned a concerned Izuku.
"Obviously I'm staying and helping Nighteye," replied Clay, "his foresight is good but he can't do any lasting damage to Chisaki. I'll back him up while you escape." Midoriya seemed to consider this idea for a moment before Eri suddenly spoke up.
"You're….hurt," said Eri suddenly as she looked at some of Mirio's blood that had gotten on her hands, "I'm….sorry…..that's enough."
"Hey now isn't the time to be-SHIT!" Clay moved his clouds towards Nighteye as Chisaki managed to find an opening and slam both of his hands downwards, causing the ground to reshape into a practical forest of spikes which came racing towards them, too fast for even the cloud wielder to pull Nighteye to safety in time. The trio could only watch as the pro hero's arm and leg were skewered while another spike tore into his side.
"NOOOOOO!" Exclaimed Izuku as he slammed his foot on the ground with the energy of One for All crackling around him far more intensely than before. Clay didn't have time to comment on this as he pulled Nighteye's injured form towards them and set his body down next to Mirio and Eri. "Take care of them, we've got this!" The big three member nodded his head as his two fellow students rocketed forward.
"How impertinent," said Chisaki as he reshaped the ground and caused more spikes to come stretching towards them at high speed. Clay avoided them by moving upwards while Midoriya had a harder time dodging side to side, giving his friend the lead. Clay fired off his own set of cloud spikes at Chisaki, forcing the villain to block them with a wall of stone. Deku then slammed his foot on the ground again, forcing the villain to use his quirk to rise up on a stone pillar to avoid the destructive impact as Clay reformed his clouds into a massive hammer which he sent plummeting downwards.
Chisaki managed to leap out of the way of the colliding pillars as he reached for the cloud wielder, only to be foiled in his attempt as his opponent moved back while also blasting a shroud of mist in his face. "Blasted insect," he remarked as he waved his hand to disperse the mist screen before looking up and realizing it hadn't just been an escape tactic. Midoriya had used his moment of distraction to leap all the way up before pushing off the ceiling, falling at high speed with a powerful heel drop maneuver.
"MANCHESTER SMASH!" Yelled Midoriya as he brought his One for All powered foot downward and cratered a large section of the ground. If Clay had to guess, his friend was somehow running at twenty percent despite the pain, but that wasn't the biggest issue right now. His attack had missed Chisaki's head by just the barest margin.
"You may be fast but in comparison to the last two," said Chisaki as he moved back and put his hand on some rubble, "Your moves are simple and easy to read!" Another group of spikes raced towards Izuku, but just as he was about to be impaled, a large cloud hand grabbed him and pulled him backwards as Clay tagged in.
"Try reading this!" Exclaimed Clay as he sent out a pair of cloud buzz saws at the Yakuza boss.
"Easily," said Chisaki as he caught them with his hands and used his quirk to make them burst apart, "Such simple attacks as that won't-GAAAH!" The man cried out in pain as the clouds he'd just torn apart had reformed into bear traps that clamped onto his arms.
"You're quirk's impressive," admitted Clay as he used his control over the traps to pull the villain up into the air, "but it looks like you can't destroy the control I have over my clouds. Tear them apart all you like, I'll just put 'em back or make something new out of the remains."
"Why are you heroes so irritating," spat Chisaki as he reached up and used his quirk to tear apart his arms to free himself before reforming them. "It might heal me, but it still hurts to tear myself apart first you bastards!" He slammed his hands on the ground again as soon as he landed, forcing Clay and Midoriya to take action as they moved out of the way of his apparently signature spike attack. Clay countered with his own set of large cloud arrows that he sent flying at his opponent. "You won't catch me off-guard like that again," declared Chisaki as he rushed forward, tearing through the cloud projectiles with his hands before charging at their wielder.
He was forced to the side, however, as he narrowly avoided a kick from Midoriya which managed to smash part of the ground. Clay acted quickly and reformed his projectiles to drive him even further back as Midoriya leapt up and off some of the rubble to attempt another strike. Chisaki tried to bring his hands to the ground again but was stopped by four, Pacman-like clouds which clamped onto his wrists. He only avoided being knocked out by using his two upper arms to block the blow, breaking them in the process while also disintegrating the clouds on his wrists to free up his movement.
'Izuku can't keep up this level of movement much longer,' thought Clay as he reformed his clouds into two spinning discs to keep Chisaki on his toes, only allowing him to heal himself as he dodged both the discs and another near miss from Midoriya. The result was another broken arm for Chisaki as Clay also managed to embed one of his discs in Chisaki's upper arm. "Miserable vermin!" Yelled the Hassaikai leader as he tore apart and healed his arms before rushing them again.
It became a pattern of combinations and near misses on both sides, with Clay working to keep their opponent from touching the ground when he could while also trying to get an opening for Midoriya. Half the time, though, he had to pull Deku away when the villain managed to dodge his attack by a hair-thin margin before swiping at him or managing to get one of his hands on the ground to use more spike attacks. It stayed like this for a couple of minutes before Clay and Midoriya regrouped with the One for All holder currently struggling to stand due to the repeated strain on his body. "I'm fed up with all of this," said Chisaki as he tore apart his arm and the clouds stuck in it before reforming them into a healed state with a mouth on his hand, "It's about time you realized the futility of your actions." He held up the hand with the new mouth as it shouted at an incredibly high volume, "Eri! Two people are about to die because of you, is that really something you want!"
"Damn dude are you trying to give us an ear ache," questioned Clay as he made a show of cleaning out his left ear, "it's a nice noisemaker you got there but it's not very truthful about our chances. This fight is already over."
"You're quite right," said Chisaki as he pointed behind them, "and she knows it." Clay and Midoriya looked back and stiffened as they noticed that Eri had returned and climbed back through the hole in the wall.
"What are you doing, go back and stay with Lemillion!" Izuku called back.
"But I…don't want….anyone else….to die," said Eri with a mixture of fear and resignation in her voice.
"That's right," said the mouth on Chisaki's hand, "do you really think either of them are capable of winning against me?"
"I d-don't," admitted Eri as she held her hands in a prayer-like gesture. Clay realized then that the villain was somehow making use of Nemoto's quirk, confession, to make her give this admission.
"Then what do you think you should do?" Questioned Chisaki.
"Come…back," answered Eri, "but…in exchange, please put everyone back the way they were!"
"That's right!" Declared Chisaki, "It's much easier to get hurt yourself than to let others get hurt for your sake." He turned to the two students then. "Can you see now that you're both acting in the cruelest way possible for her, giving her false hope? She doesn't want either of you."
"Even if that's the case," said Midoriya with gritted teeth, "we'll still save her!"
"Because that's what the needs," added Clay, "and what's more, she doesn't need a parasite like you in her life! No, what she needs right now is for someone to cover her eyes."
"Also quite right," said Chisaki, "it would be quite traumatic for her to see even more people suffer because of….what is…..AAAAAAHHH!" The Yakuza leader howled in pain as a number of spikes suddenly shot out of his right hand.
"And you need to quit your babbling now," said Clay as he clenched his fist, causing even more spikes to shoot out of Chisaki's other arm.
"What in the world, Clay what did you do?" Asked Izuku with clear surprise written all over his face.
"Before I answer that, you'd best do what I said earlier and cover Eri's eyes and maybe her ears too," said Clay, "this next part's gonna get graphic." Izuku nodded and moved over to Eri while Chisaki tore apart and reformed his arms.
"You bastard hero, how did you do that?!" Raged Chisaki as he started to advance.
"Oh, you mean this," said Clay as he flexed his fingers, causing thorny cloud vines to pop out of Chisaki's two upper arms, resulting in the Yakuza leader biting back another yell of pain, "I discreetly slipped in small amounts of my clouds during your little repair sessions every time you broke apart your arms to fix them or escape my cloud's hold. Given that your quirk only works on one form of matter at a time, I'm surprised you didn't notice how they were behaving."
"That's surprisingly clever," said Chisaki as he reached up and grabbed the arms with his other set of hands, "but it's pointless now that I know what's happening." He used his quirk to reform his arms back to their original uninjured state. "Now then, where were w-GAAAAAH!"
"I believe I was tormenting you," said Clay as he flexed his fingers again and caused more cloud thorns to emerge from Chisaki's arms, "but my memory may be a little fuzzy in that regard."
"I-Impossible," spat the villain as he fixed his arms once again, only to have curved blades sprout out of them next. "Your clouds should've separated from me once I used my quirk, so why?"
"If they behaved like normal clouds they would," explained Clay, "but I'm using my quirk to keep them attached on the inside during the rebuilding process. They're basically a part of you now."
"That can't be!" Raged Chisaki as he fixed his arms yet again only to have more spikes erupt out of them.
"As I mentioned before," said Clay, "It's clear to me now that while your quirk is powerful, you can only use it on one form of matter at a time. And, given that you need to have physical contact to use your quirk, you won't be able to reach the clouds as long as they remain buried beneath your skin."
"You miserable piece of shi-AAAAARGH!" Chisaki yelled out as his opponent made sharpened cloud blades shoot out of his hands, keeping him from touching the ground.
"So tell me, what's it like," said Clay as he waited for Chisaki to fix himself before damaging him with his clouds again, "how's it feel to be tormented because of your quirk?" He extended more blades, forcing the villain to heal himself again. "What is it like to be torn apart, put back together, and torn apart over, and over, and over again?!" He flexed his hand each time he said the word 'over', tearing new holes in the Yakuza leader's arms before waiting for him to fix himself.
"It was you who said it was easier to get hurt yourself than to let others get hurt for you right?!" Said Clay as more spikes and blades were brought forth to injure his adversary. "How's it feel when you're the one enduring the pain, torture and anguish?!" The villain yelled in pain once more as he was injured, fixed himself, then injured again. "It's only because of your quirk that I'm able to do this, so let's see how much you can actually take!" The room was filled with Chisaki's cries of agony for the next few minutes as he attempted and failed over and over again to use his quirk offensively, only to resort to healing himself instead as his injuries became too great.
"Clay, that's enough!" Said Deku as he witnessed the villain's deteriorating state, "we're supposed to be heroes, we have to bring him in alive."
"I know," said Clay as he took a deep breath, "I suppose I should go ahead and say this can all be over if you just surrender Chisaki. Or we can keep dragging it out, which, I could do all day at this point."
"Y-You wretched trash," said Chisaki between breaths as he struggled to stand back up, "I w-won't let my ambitions be stopped h-here by the likes of some kids!"
"And here I was told you were supposed to be smart," quipped Clay as he held his hand up to extend the clouds in his body once more. But just as he was about to use his quirk again, the ceiling burst open as the real Rikiya Katsukame came plummeting in along with Ryukyu, Uraraka, and Tsuyu. This turn of events would go on to reshape the whole rest of the battle.
Alternate title for this chapter is 'Clay Gets Savage!' But as stated the battle's not over just yet, they still need to take out the Yakuza leader to make the operation successful. In the meantime, I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter and as always feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as Chisaki pulls out one last transformation against our heroes. 'Til then.
