Joint Training: Class 1A VS 1B
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Hailstorm Vol. 2! And sorry about the minor delay, got a little busy over the weekend. But hopefully you'll like what you see in this chapter as we begin the Joint Training Arc! So as always, a shout out to you, my fellow readers, for continuing to support this story. And since there appear to be no guest review questions this time around, let's head on in!
U.A. Dorms: Nighttime
Under normal circumstances, Clay would be tired and more than ready to be laying on his bed right about now, especially after the latest session of training. But tonight was different, and not just because it was music night. One of the first major differences was that it was just him and Jirou alone in her room which, while not totally abnormal, was a rare occurrence. The next major difference was the reason Clay was here tonight: the kiss at the festival. They'd tried talking about it before, but it was always too awkward or there were too many people present. That had to change soon or the rest of the class would start to notice and Clay knew neither one of them wanted that kind of attention.
And judging by the rapid way Jirou's hands were moving across her guitar strings, she was pretty nervous about the whole thing too. In fact, she seemed to be stretching her current tune out almost as if she wanted to delay the discussion. But even playing the riff from 'Sweet Home Chicago' got old at some point as the rocker girl at last brought it to an end. "That was a solid couple of minutes," remarked Clay, "I probably should've timed it."
"You know me," said Jirou, "music is my hobby and it helps me destress, though it seems there won't be enough to help me tonight."
"Well we have to address the elephant sooner or later," said Clay as he crossed his arms, "so let's just go ahead and answer the big question: why did you kiss me at the School Festival?"
"Guess you really are gonna make me say it," replied Jirou with a sigh as she put her guitar back on its stand, "I did it because I like you, Clay, and I want to be more than just friends with you."
"Well now," said Clay as he let out a breath, trying to hide his own nervousness by leaning back a bit, "isn't that something else. Don't get me wrong, I'm beyond flattered that you think of me that way but I gotta ask: why me? I'm sure there are plenty of other guys in this school who'd be more worth your time." Jirou snorted at that before speaking.
"Wow," she said, "there's being humble and then there's just being downright self-depreciating, and guess which one you're being right now?"
"I thought I was being honest," said Clay, "a pretty, talented, music-loving girl like you has got plenty of things going for her and you seem like you'd be bored with a guy like me."
"You know that deadpan act I put on is to keep idiots like Kaminari at bay, right," said Jirou, "but if you're not convinced, let me tell you what I see when I look at 'a guy like you'. You're tough, you're cool-headed, you're funny enough when you want to be, you're considerate but also unapologetic when someone's being an asshole to you, you're up there with some of the best students in class in terms of ability and you're enough of a hero to risk your life for someone without hardly a second thought. You helped me and Momo at that villain's bar, you flat out saved my life at the training camp when that Ballistic M guy bombed us and you were one of the ones to encourage me that my hobby playing music could be used for something other than a hobby. So the better question is, why in the world wouldn't I want to be with a guy like you, because I can name three other girls who'd love to be having this talk with you right now!"
"Now I know you're pulling my leg," said Clay, "four girls interested in me? I mean I guess I can see Mina given the way she's been acting, but who else is there?"
"Yeah, Mina likes you," grumbled Jirou, "and Pony Tsunotori, and even Nejire Hado seems to like you."
"What," said Clay with a confused expression on his face, "I help Pony with her Japanese, she just happens to be very friendly and enjoys having another fluent English speaker to talk too. And what in the world has Nejire done to indicate that she likes me?"
"Well, I just heard from Mina, that you might've been flirting with her," said Jirou with an embarrassed flush appearing on her face, "you called her cute and bubbly."
"I thought that's what everyone called her," said Clay, "and it is admittedly true if we're both being honest. But she's an upperclassman and even if she wasn't, I doubt I could keep up with the energy of someone like that. Really, I prefer girls who are a little more down to earth and more, your speed."
"'My speed'," repeated Jirou, "are you implying that I'm a slow person, Clay Cero, or is there something else behind the meaning of that?"
"What I mean is you're able to take a breath and relax every now and then," said Clay, "you're not only able to enjoy the sound of music but also the peace and quiet when you get it. People like Mina and Nejire are always moving or at least find it hard to sit still and that makes them impossible for someone like me to keep up with. It's not that I wouldn't be willing to make the effort, it's just that I doubt my ability to keep the effort going forever."
"Ya know," said Jirou as she moved and sat down next to Clay on her bed, "some people would say that means she 'completes' you. And if I'm being honest, I'd understand if you didn't like me the same way I like you. You might not think you're amazing, but you are, I see it in you almost every day in class, and that means you deserve someone amazing too."
"If that's the case," said Clay as he turned her face towards him and pecked her on the lips, "then I've already found a girl like that."
"Wha-wha, but I-," Jirou started to say before Clay held up a hand.
"Just give me a sec to explain," he said, "I might not look it but I'm doing my best not to freak out right now, so here goes. You are amazing, Jirou, and that is something I see every day in class. You're smart, you're tough but kind, you've got more musical talent in your two hands than I have in my entire body and you sing with the voice of a rock and roll angel. You're also mature, managing to keep this kind of thing under wraps between you and Mina couldn't have been easy and I've been able to trust you with several secrets, secrets that someone like Mina or Nejire probably would've blabbed on accident by now. So don't you go and self-depreciate yourself after telling me not too, because I know I'm not making a mistake in liking you, Kyoka Jirou."
"You," Jirou said as her heart seemed to skip a beat, "you like me….me?"
"Did I not just go over all the reasons there were to like you," questioned Clay as he turned away from her to hide his own blush, "I know I didn't stutter, so please don't make me repeat it all."
"I…..won't," said Jirou after a moment, "but could you repeat something…..else?"
"What would that be?" Questioned Clay as he glanced at her.
"Could you," Jirou said, tapping her jacks together in nervousness, "could you, kiss me again."
"Um…sure," said Clay, "just…...try to kiss me back this time." Jirou rolled her eyes at that but smiled before the two of them leaned in, their eyes closing almost instinctively as their heartbeats skyrocketed. It was a moment which seemed to stretch on forever as their lips brushed against each other, before abruptly ending with the sound of shattering glass.
"What in the world," said Jirou as she stuck her jack into the wall behind them. It only took her a moment to determine the source of the noise from the sound of flowing curtains still settling in the room where the incident was occurring. "That came from Midoriya's room!"
"Shit," said Clay as the two of them shot up and raced out of her room, taking the stairs as opposed to the elevator. By the time they arrived, Midoriya was already out of his room trying to explain things to Aoyama, who for some reason had a night cap on of all things.
"Maybe you haven't had enough cheese," said the blond student as he was pointing down towards Midoriya like he was in a dancing pose.
"That might be the case," said Midoriya with his hands raised defensively, "sorry for waking you up."
"Izuku," said Clay, using his friend's first name out of concern, "what happened?"
"Oh, I just rolled over in bed and knocked over a few things," replied Midoriya, "but since you're here Clay, I just remembered you left something in my room on your last visit. Would you mind helping me look for it, I kind of misplaced it." Clay's answer to that was a sigh.
"I guess since I'm here I might as well," said the cloud wielder before turning to Jirou, "you might as well head off to bed. This will probably take a minute and four people poking around in a small room like that will just make an even bigger mess."
"You sure you don't need an extra hand," asked Jirou as she raised her jacks up, "if it's in a tight corner then these just might do the trick."
"It'll be fine," assured Clay, "I've kept you up late enough as it is, so why don't we pick up our discussion tomorrow. Hopefully there'll be no interruptions then."
"Alright," said Jirou after giving it some thought, "but if you do need help, feel free to knock on my door or give me a call."
"You'll be the first one to know if I need help," said Clay with a nod. Jirou gave a small smile before turning and heading back towards the stairs.
"I shall go and prepare more cheese then!" Declared Aoyama before proceeding back into his room. Both Clay and Midoriya let out a sigh at that before entering the green-haired student's room. The cloud user immediately noted something was off given the fact that Izuku's window had been completely shattered.
"We don't have any uninvited guests tonight, do we?" Questioned Clay as he kept his hands at the ready.
"No," replied Midoriya with a serious expression, "this was my fault. One For All activated while I was sleeping."
"Ya know," said Clay as he took a seat in Midoriya's desk chair, "I'm certain I warned you about trying to jerk off with One For All active, right?"
"It didn't happen like that!" Exclaimed Midoriya before composing himself, "I saw the vestiges of the previous One for All holders in a dream. That's what set it off."
"If that set it off then it'd be best to talk to All Might about it in the morning," said Clay, "for now, explain to me what you can."
The Next Day: U.A. High
"One for All activated while you were sleeping?" Said All Might with more than a hint of surprise in his voice, "I told you not to jerk off with it active."
"Oh come on!" Exclaimed Midoriya as Clay and Slade sat laughing off to the side. They were currently in the teacher's lounge where they normally discussed private matters relating to Midoriya's inherited quirk.
"See, I'm not the only one who said it," quipped the cloud wielder, "but in all seriousness, he saw some weird shit last night."
"The memories of the first holder of One for All," added Slade. That sobered the mood up quickly as All Might fixed Midoriya with a serious expression.
"You saw the memories of the very first holder of One for All," he repeated.
"Not just his, but some of All for One's memories too," explained Izuku, "you saw the vestiges of One for All when you were younger, right, All Might?"
"I did indeed," affirmed All Might, "I learned from my teacher and predecessor about the existence of the shades. It was because I saw them that I was able to tell you about the origin of this power."
"I only saw up to the point where the power was given to him," said Midoriya, "but after that, the first holder said something about how I'm only at 20%, and something about a singularity. He spoke to me directly when he said that." This more than caught All Might's attention as the green-haired boy continued. "During the sports festival, you said there was no intent behind it, but this time I think there was."
"This," said All Might after thinking for a moment, "is not something I experienced, and I told you what my master told me. Based on everything I know, this phenomenon you are experiencing now, has only happened to you."
"So, what?" Questioned Slade, "it's possible the quirk is taking on a life of its own after being passed down through so many users?"
"All I can say right now is that something happened that not even I understand," said All Might after a moment, "I can't offer anything more for the time being. Though we should also be concerned about what this 'singularity' is."
"I wonder if it has anything to do with the quirk singularity theory," mused Midoriya, "if I remember it correctly, it states that from parent to child, quirks mix and evolve as they're passed down through the generations. The theory is that they will create more powerful and complex quirks until, someday, no one is able to control them."
"I hope that doesn't mean you're losing control of your quirk," said Clay, "you only recently got it to a state where it doesn't break your bones with every use."
"All that I can really say right now is that it's unclear whether or not you were the cause, Midoriya, or some other external force," said All Might, "do you remember anything else from the dream?"
"There were two holders of One for All that I couldn't see clearly," replied Midoriya, "and you were kind of blurry too."
"Not to sound grim, but that may be because he's still alive at the moment," suggested Slade.
"Once again, all I can really say is that I don't understand what's going on either," said All Might, "but I have no doubt that that power is your ally. So let's continue to investigate this power together."
"Right, I'll do my best, also," said Midoriya, "your former master was very pretty!"
"She certainly was," said All Might with a smile, "now then, you three have got practical training in the afternoon, right? We'd best get going." The three students and their teacher got up and left the room then. "By the way, I'm coming down to watch today since it sounds like this one is going to be fun."
"Fun to watch might not be the same as fun to do," commented Clay before they stopped at the sight of Aizawa stepping out into the hall.
"You all look like you're getting along like usual," observed the Erasure Hero.
"What! It's not like that Aizawa!" Exclaimed All Might in a mild panic.
"Don't make it sound like I caught you having an affair," deadpanned Eraser Head, "it's not funny."
"And it seems like you're being blunt as usual, Uncle," said Clay in his own deadpan manner.
"Did he have to say it so directly?" Slade and All Might wondered aloud before someone unexpected stepped out from behind their teacher.
"Shinso," said Midoriya happily, "you were here with Mr. Aizawa before too, huh?"
"Making any progress?" Clay asked, seeming to be aware of why Shinso was speaking with Aizawa.
"I'm getting there," he said with an actual smile while rubbing the back of his head.
"Enough of that," said Aizawa as he fixed them with a scary stare, "you three should get back to class early to warm up. We'll be busy today."
"Yes sir," the three of them said before picking up the pace back to Class 1A.
Later: Field Gamma
All of Class 1A was currently standing in the faux factory training ground known as Field Gamma. They'd changed into costume long ago, with a few wearing updated looks designed for the winter months. "It's finally time!" Cheered Hagakure as she danced around in her new long, white boots and blue gloves, "aren't you excited?!"
"Aren't you cold, Hagakure?" Asked Jirou as she and a few others looked at the invisible girl dancing around.
"Super cold!" She exclaimed in reply. 'Little wonder when you're still ninety percent naked in a chilly climate,' thought Clay.
"You've got guts, that's for sure," complimented Jirou as Mina also popped onto the scene.
"I'm wearing my winter version too! Isn't it cool?!" She exclaimed while striking a pose. It was admittedly different with sleeves added to her dark yellow vest and a furry scarf was now hanging around her neck.
"I'll admit I've always been partial to the furred neckline look," admitted Clay as he adjusted his gloves, "and Jirou, what do you think of this, too much?"
"You're asking me if I think adding a little white fur to your neck, sleeves and boots is too much?" Said Jirou as she raised her eyebrows in a teasing manner, "not hot under the collar already, are you?"
"You know me, I'm more of a function over form guy," said Clay as he adjusted his collar, "but Cirrus the artic explorer doesn't have quite the same ring to it either."
"I could think of worst titles," quipped Slade as he stretched in his winter styled outfit with longer sleeves than the usual one.
"And I think you all look great," said Momo, her winter version being a red, hooded cape over her usual costume.
"It has gotten colder recently," observed Ojiro, "though even before that everyone's costumes were changing."
"I still think it's amazing Iida lasted through the summer in the heavy outfit he had," commented Sato as Bakugou, Kirishima and Kaminari came walking up.
"Oh, you've changed up your costume too Kacchan," said Midoriya, noting his new outfit came with long sleeves and a high collar which mostly covered his mouth.
"What's that?!" Said Bakugou, "if you've got something to say then say it to my face Damn nerd!"
"Yeah, does the new suit come with a volume control?" Quipped Clay, "that'd be Hatsume's greatest feature for it yet."
"It's way cooler than yours, fuzz cloud!" Exclaimed Bakugou as he pointed a finger at Clay, "and it's got way better features too!"
"Oh, like a heat generator that protects from the cold and helps you produce sweat, which is your weapon after all-," Midoriya said excitedly as he started to go into rambling hero mode but was quickly cut off.
"Don't praise it!" Yelled Bakugou. 'Just ain't no pleasing some people,' thought Clay.
"But hasn't your costume changed the most, Midoriya," said Ojiro whose winter version sported a larger fur line around the neck and a black under layer, "you've added quite a few new things now, right?"
"It's because I can do more with my quirk now," explained Midoriya as he held up his air force gloves, "these are actually the second version of these after Hatsume made some adjustments-."
"Get back!" Exclaimed Uraraka suddenly as she punched herself in the face.
"Uraraka!" Exclaimed Ojiro and Midoriya. 'Huh, weird,' thought Clay, 'and she did it when Hatsume was mentioned. Guess that figures.'
"Hey, hey, hey," said a rather annoying voice from the distance, "you all seem pretty relaxed, are you underestimating us?"
"Oh you're here," said Kirishima as he brought his fist to his hand, "we're just excited is all."
"Huh, are you really?" Said Monoma as the entirety of Class 1B came into view, wearing their own costumes, "well too bad, because the wave is on our side. So come on Class 1A! Let's settle this once and for all today!" He said the whole thing while posing like a maniacal villain.
"Hey Pony," said Clay in English, "class been treating you well?"
"Hey Clay, and we've been working really hard, so best watch out," she replied in English, "by the way, how are things with Jirou?"
"Well they're-uff!" Clay started to say before Jirou gave him a quick elbow in the ribs.
"Are you really flirting in front of your girlfriend," said Jirou with a raised eyebrow.
"Girlfriend," said Clay, now back to Japanese, "does that mean we're official? It was kind of up in the air last night due to an interruption."
"Oh it's official," said Jirou with a smirk, "which means you're gonna help me learn English. Knowing another language looks kind of fun." Clay was about to reply when Monoma spoke again.
"Hey, hey, look at this survey!" He said as he held up a sheet of paper with a bar graph on it, "I took it at the school festival, asking which ones the people liked better! And as you can see, our super high quality play won over your concert by two votes! You guys have been super conspicuous in a bad way since school started but that's changing now!"
"Oh is he still talking," said Clay, "I kind of tuned him out and-what's the issue?" For whatever reason, Kirishima, Sero and Jirou were looking at the survey with expressions of worry.
"I haven't been paying attention so there's nothing I can really say to this," said Kirishima.
"And now today, with Class A going up against Class B in our first joint combat training, we'll-GAAAAH!"
"Be quiet," said Aizawa, shutting the 1B student up by wrapping his scarf around his neck right before Kendo got there.
"Thanks sensei," said Clay as he turned back to the others, "by the way, are you guys really taking that survey seriously?"
"Well I mean if this is official-," Jirou started to say.
"It's 'official' by Monoma standards," Slade pointed out, "you really think that guy's not gonna have a biased survey where Class 1B doesn't come out on top?" The three tried to think of an answer for that, but ran out of time as Class 1B's teacher, Vlad King, stepped up.
"We have a special participant today," he said, "one who wants to transfer into the hero course."
"Please try not to embarrass yourselves or the rest of the class," urged Aizawa as said special participant stepped forward.
"From Normal Class C, Hitoshi Shinso," said Vlad, though the introduction was unnecessary for many of them. The dreary-eyed student had some additions this time with a type of black mask that looked like it would cover his nose and mouth, along with a familiar looking scarf around his neck.
"Shinso, why don't you say a few words," encouraged Aizawa. The purple-haired boy nodded before speaking.
"I'm Hitoshi Shinso," he began, "I've already fought against some of you at the Sports Festival, but we can't really say we're friends just because we've fought before, or at least I'm not into good sportsmanship like that. I'm already dozens of steps behind the rest of you, so sorry to say, but I'm desperate for this. I want to become a proper hero and use my quirk for helping others, which means all of you here stand as walls that I must overcome, so I'm not planning on being friends. Despite that, thanks for having me."
The gathered students all clapped at his speech to one degree or another with the occasional comment about how he seemed like an early Todoroki, which got a raised eyebrow from the dual quirk user. "Now that that's out of the way, shall we start," said Aizawa.
"Yes, it's time for combat training!" Said Vlad, "as you've heard, this will be a battle between Class A and Class B! Our fighting ground for you is here in the corner of Field Gamma. Each class will break up into teams of four and compete against each other one at a time."
"But doesn't having Shinso mean there are 43 people," pointed out a hairy, beast man looking member of Class B known as Jurota Shishida, "and even without him there are two extra people in Class 1A, so how will we resolve that?"
"Shinso will participate four times," explained Vlad as he held up four fingers, "two times in a Class A team and two times in a Class B team. In other words, two of the matches will be 5 on 4 matches."
"Won't the team with fewer people be at a disadvantage?" Questioned Hagakure.
"Ordinarily," said Vlad, "but in this case it's almost a disadvantage given Shinso's inexperience in both combat and teamwork. While the five person team will have the advantage in numbers, it shall also be a handicap. Moreover, a member from Class A will be part of one of the Class B teams."
"WHAT!" Exclaimed more than a few of the students from each class.
"The scenario is heroes acting to surround and capture a group of villains," explained Vlad, "and in one case, you'll be dealing with a traitor. So think of the other teams as villains, and you'll win when you capture four people or have more people in your jail when time runs out!" This was agreeable to most of the two classes given how simple and straightforward it was, relatively speaking. Save for one student.
"OH NO!" Exclaimed Iida with his hands on his head, "we're heroes but we're villains to the opposing team! Which one should I be theeeen!"
"It should be fine to just be a hero," suggested Momo before Iida over thought the whole situation.
"Now then, in each team's base camp is a super cute prison," explained Vlad, indicating a rectangular cage on the viewscreen with the head and arms of Principal Nedzu on top. And a regular, blue house door for some reason. Clay guessed it was supposed to look 'homey'. "It will count as a capture once you imprison your opponents there."
"It's times like these I wonder how seriously we're supposed to take these things," commented Slade.
"The most efficient approach would be to incapacitate our opponents near the camp," observed Jurota, "though I doubt it'd be that easy."
"Is this 'handicap' the fact that we only have to capture four people?" Questioned Bakugou.
"Yeah," affirmed Aizawa, "having a teammate unused to combat and having a loss for the five person teams if four are captured."
"So you're telling us to fight with a piece of excess luggage?" Questioned Bakugou darkly, "that's bullshit."
"What's the problem Bakugou," said Clay, "aren't you the type to try taking on a whole team by yourself anyway? If anything your attitude will be even more of a handicap."
"What'd you say?!" Snarled the explosive blond as some sparks shot out of his hands.
"It's fine Clay," said Shinso, "he's telling the truth."
"And you're way ahead in ways of respectableness!" Exclaimed Kaminari at how the brainwashing student let such a comment slide.
"Now," said Vlad as he and Aizawa held up red and blue boxes each with a letter denoting the classes, "time to draw lots." The class did as instructed as they lined up and pulled out a number before joining up with their respective groups. As it turned out, one of the ones in the Class A lots denoted who the traitor would be, and they weren't happy about who they were going up against. Then it was Shinso's turn to draw a lot and he pulled out four numbers.
"I know what you said about not being friends," noted Kirishima as he saw that Shinso would be on their team, "but let's have fun with this."
"Please, tell me more about your quirk," encouraged Asui who was also on Kirishima's team. The rest of their team which included Koda and Kaminari also welcomed him happily. Though Clay felt more than a little sorry that Shinso also happened to wind up on a team that had Monoma on it. What was more concerning, however, was that said team would be going up against Midoriya's team.
'The first time Midoriya mentioned seeing the vestiges of One For All was while he was under the influence of Shinso's quirk,' recalled the cloud wielder, 'and given that this is the first rematch they'd had since the sports festival, it's no doubt going to prove interesting.' "Now then," said Vlad as the first two teams headed into the training ground, "you'll start at your base camps, and the time limit is twenty minutes!" While the rest of the class was watching the screen, Mina happened to notice some new arrivals.
"Wow, All Might and Midnight are here," cooed Mina, "are they dating?!"
"Oh stop it," said Midnight, "I don't have a thing for older men." 'That statement just makes it even more suspicious that you want to teach at a high school,' thought Slade as he looked back up at the screen, deciding to focus on something else instead. While he'd like to say it was a sure win for his class, there were just too many unknowns and even without talking to Kendo he knew of the differences between their two classes.
Class 1A had definitely gotten strong after going through crisis after crisis and it made them the more experienced fighters in that regard. However, it also meant they spent a lot of time playing catch up when it came to schoolwork. If they were going by grades alone, Class 1B had them beat in terms of improvement given that they'd actually been able to go through more of the school's curriculum. It was a question of which one was better, Class 1A's experience of turning crises into strength, or Class 1B's steady improvement through more proper training. And that was only accounting for those two factors.
"Now let the first match," Vlad practically yelled into the microphone he'd brought with him, "START!" 'He's really into this announcer thing,' thought several of the students as the first match began. The Class 1A team consisting of Tsuyu, Kirisihima, Koda, Kaminari and Shinso started by making their way slowly from the base camp and navigating the many twists and turns of the training area. Koda had already told some birds to begin searching for the other team.
On Class 1B's side, Shiozaki had gone out more or less by herself and took a position that looked like she was praying. Though anyone who got close would be in for a nasty surprise as the vines which made up her hair began extending and reaching all throughout the pipework, feeling around further and further away from her position. 'Interesting,' thought Clay, 'so she can feel what her vines are feeling and doesn't even need to see someone in order for her vines to snare them. But something's bugging me. I recall that furry guy had a beast-like quirk which almost always means enhanced senses, so if he isn't helping Shiozaki search right now then-oh boy.'
Clay's fears were confirmed in short order as Jurota Shishida, now in a much larger and even furrier form, pounced from seemingly out of nowhere, grabbing and throwing Tsuyu, despite her camouflage, and Kirishima before they had a chance to react. Kirishima crashed into some pipes while Tsuyu was flung into a wall. Worse, it seems he brought some reinforcement on his back in the form of Kosei Tsubaraba who quickly trapped Kota in a box made of air with his quirk, or as he called it, his new move air prison. 'Shit,' thought Clay, 'it looks like this joint training is definitely going to be an uphill battle.' He glanced at where Shinso was on the screen then, noting how he was adjusting the shape of his black mask with a dial on the left side, 'guess it's time for you to show us what you got, so try not to disappoint, Shinso.' And the following, most certainly did not disappoint.
And with this, we have marked the beginning of the Joint Training Arc! Now for those wondering, I do plan on speeding things up a little so that we can get to Clay and Slade's fights sooner, so worry not. In the meantime, I hope you liked this latest chapter and again, sorry for the delay. 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 the first match comes to a close and the second match begins with a twist of its own. 'Til then.
