Internships: Round Two

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Hailstorm Vol. 2! And wow did it turn out longer than I anticipated, though I still feel a mild apology is in order for getting it out a bit later than I meant to. Despite that, hopefully you'll all enjoy what I've come up with for this chapter. And as always I'd like to give a shout out to you, my fellow readers, for supporting this story and others up to this point. And with no review questions this week, let us waste no more time and dive right in!

The Night of New Year's: The Cero Residence

"So you're going to Gang Orca's agency again," said Clay's mother as they all sat around the table watching the ceremony to rein in the new year. "I know he's one of your favorite heroes, but you really shouldn't let that keep you from branching out."

"He's in the top ten in the hero rankings," Clay pointed out, "I mean he's at the very bottom of the top ten list, but that's out of hundreds of heroes. With his experience there's plenty he can still teach me and given that I was transferred temporarily to aid with that Yakuza raid, I didn't get the full benefit of working for him the whole time. Just the tips he gave me on how to avoid getting dehydrated have proven pretty effective."

"Granted," said Clay's father, "we're not doubting his capabilities, we're just wondering if you realize there are other heroes further up the rankings that could offer you advise on other aspects of your quirk. I remember you telling me that your classmate, Tokoyami, had an internship with Hawks where he learned how to fly with his quirk."

"I did consider Hawks, I won't lie," said Clay as he took a bite of his food, "but that guy's been really preoccupied with something lately. I hear he hasn't even been to his own agency office in a while. No doubt I could learn from his sidekicks but based on what Tokoyami told me they do good just to keep up with Hawks most days."

"His ability to locate and react to things is top tier," said Aizawa, who'd been quietly sipping his tea up to this point, "it's a skill you'd do well to learn no matter where you end up in the rankings."

"Perhaps we should call up Ms. Joke and see if she'll consider taking Clay on," suggested Clay's Mother, "no doubt she'd enjoy having you around the office again." The response she received to that was both Clay and Aizawa groaning while her husband chuckled at the idea.

"As amusing as it would be to torment my nephew in such a way, it'd be best to take this more seriously," said Aizawa, "remember the only reason Clay can even be here this evening is because I'm acting as an escort."

"You'd be here whether or not you were his escort," pointed out Clay's mother, "you got to take some time off being a hero and a teacher every now and then."

"As you've said many times before," replied Aizawa in his usual monotone.

"He is right though," said Clay's father, "we're lucky to be related to the escort so you're only half-working this evening as opposed to the others who are still technically on duty while keeping watch over the other hero course students."

"I'm honestly kind of jealous of Hagakure right now," said Clay, "she got Snipe for her bodyguard."

"We didn't match up students with their favorite heroes," said Aizawa, "it was either the luck of the draw or convenience that determined who went with who."

"Yeah sure, that's why Uraraka got space hero Thirteen," quipped Clay, "though Slade didn't get Ectoplasm as an escort, so I guess he'll be quizzing Mina on what that was like the next time he sees her."

"I'm personally just happy they let you come home at all," said Clay's mother, "the dorm system has been nice for security, but I wasn't expecting you to be out of the house this much until after graduating from the school."

"Yeah, it's been one heck of a semester," said Clay, "and way above the usual kind of stuff that U.A. is supposed to churn out. But at least we'll be getting a break after the internships."

"Just remember to keep your guard up while you're out there," said Aizawa, "Gang Orca's good but we still don't know the whereabouts of the League of Villains. If they pop up again, there's a high likelihood they might be gunning for U.A. students like they have in the past."

"I will," said Clay with a nod, "I might make it my New Year's resolution to kick their asses when they show up."

"Well pick your resolution quick," said his father as they all turned to look at the TV, "because the new year is starting now." As soon as he said it, the clock struck twelve as the monk on the TV rang the massive bell with one of the suspended logs, ushering in the start of a new year for everyone.

The Next Day: Near Pro Hero 'Majestic's' Agency

"Are you sure this isn't a bit much," said Slade as he peered out the window of Momo's limousine, "this guy might get the wrong idea about your dedication to hero work if we pull up in something so fancy."

"Don't worry, I've accounted for that," said Momo with a reassuring smile, "I've asked my driver to drop us about a block away. We're running fairly early so it shouldn't pose any problems if we walk for a bit."

"It won't," said Slade, "but we also could've just rented a taxi. I remember Aizawa saying we needed to keep a low profile whenever we go out on our own."

"Well I also had another reason for wanting to take the limo," said Momo as she fiddled with the small scarf around her neck. She and Slade were both dressed in their U.A. uniforms but with some added winter touches such as a red scarf or, in Slade's case, a neck warmer of sorts. "The limo is a lot more, private, than a taxi."

"Something you want to tell me Momo?" Questioned Slade with a raised eyebrow as he noticed the quickly forming blush on his friend's face.

"It's actually something I've been wanting to tell you for a while," said Momo, "we've just been so busy with everything and one emergency after another has been happening. But now that the new years rolled in and it seems like we're finally back on track for a moment. It just feels like I should say this now or I might not get the chance again."

"Well I'm all ears," said Slade as he crossed his arms confidently, "so don't be afraid, just speak your mind."

"I'm actually speaking for my heart right now," said Momo as she leaned towards him, "I like you Slade, and after thinking about it for a bit I realized I like you so much more than a friend. You've been there for me through thick and thin and I've felt more comfortable with you than any boy I've ever known. You've given me confidence and strength when I needed it and protected me when I was in danger. I honestly feel dumb for taking this long to figure it out, figure out that I…..am in love with you."

"Momo," said Slade, more stunned than he thought he'd be. He'd imagined saying these same words to her on a number of different occasions. Funnier still, he'd actually planned to make this very same confession to her at some point during this same week! But she'd beaten him to it. The U.A. student honestly had no words for her at the moment, so he let his actions speak for him as he leaned in. Momo met him halfway, her eyes closing as their lips met with a contented hum coming from the dark-haired girl.

They stayed like that for several moments, or was it minutes? For all Slade cared it could've been years and yet it still felt too soon when they were forced to separate for some much needed oxygen. "In case it wasn't obvious," said Slade slowly, "I'm fairly certain I'm in love with you too, for a long time now." Momo's eyes seemed to sparkle with happiness at hearing this news, her face lightning up with one of the brightest smiles he'd ever seen the girl wear.

The two leaned in again for another kiss, before quickly jumping at the sound of the limo's intercom. "Mistress Yaoyarozu," said the Driver, "we're about to reach our destination." Momo sighed before hitting the button to answer back.

"Understood," she said, "thank you again for driving us here."

"Of course," replied the Driver before switching off the intercom. Slade readjusted himself as he spotted where they were about to depart.

"Guess we'll have to pick this up a bit later," he said, "but on the upside, it gives us something to look forward too at the end of the day." Momo giggled at this, wholeheartedly agreeing that she was looking forward to their next moment alone. For the time being, however, they steeled themselves for what was to come as the limo stopped by the curb. Naturally the driver offered to take their luggage for them, but Momo assured him they'd be fine and even granted him permission to take the rest of the day off for his help.

The two hero course students then made the walk to Majestic's agency which seemed more or less like a regular office building at first glance, until one noticed that it was a bit more rounded than the usual building. "I wonder if this is supposed to be him referencing his quirk," mused Slade aloud before another voice caught their attention.

"Hey, is that 1A I see over there," said a voice that they both recognized as another U.A. student. They turned to see none other than Setsuna Tokage walking towards them with her own bit of luggage slung over her shoulder.

"Oh, you made it Tokage," said Momo with a friendly smile, "you didn't have any trouble getting here, did you?"

"Just the usual stuff you'd run into on the bus," she replied with a dismissive wave, "no big deal. I'm more excited to see what this Majestic guy is like up close. He's supposed to be pretty good despite not being in the top ten."

"Miss Midnight said he actually has a lot of potential," added Slade, "he might not be top ten now but he could get there at some point in the future."

"Well we won't find out either way if we just keep standing here," said Setsuna as she turned to head towards the door, "so let's get moving!" Slade and Momo were quick to follow the excited girl as they entered into the building, noting the interior had something of a theme going on: circles. The lights were all circular, the tables were circular, the stairwell leading up was a spiraling staircase. 'I guess he really does like his ring producing quick,' mused Slade as they entered what looked like a conference room.

"Ah, so you've arrived," said their apparent host as everyone got a good look at him. His outfit was very reminiscient of the stereotypical wizard's outfit. In this case, he wore a frayed, orange robe top with a black body suit underneath, grey boots, a green sash around his waist, two grey scarves with black triangular patterns on them, one of which he was wearing as a blindfold, and a pointed scarlet wizard's hat. Though what really caught the hero course student's attention was the fact that the blond-haired man was levitating Indian style on two, rainbow-colored rings.

"So I'm guessing you're Majestic?" Questioned Setsuna, personally already ninetynine percent sure it was him.

"Indeed I am," he said while taking his hat off for a quick bow, "The Magic Hero: Majestic is at your service. And starting now, you shall be learning under me."

At a Similar Time: Near Gang Orca's Agency

"Hey, Jiro," said Clay softly as he nudged his sleeping companion, "it looks like we're about there." The rocker girl groaned in minor annoyance at having her sleep interrupted.

"Already," she said as her eyes slowly opened to look up at Clay, "are you sure we don't have one more stop to make?"

"Afraid not," replied the Cloud Wielder, "and believe me I'm a bit disappointed too. Being like this is kind of a first for me." He was referring to the fact that Jiro had fallen asleep resting her head against his shoulder. It wasn't uncomfortable or anything, quite the opposite, it just wasn't something he'd been expecting to happen on the ride up.

"One day I'll figure out how you haven't had a girlfriend before me," said Jiro with a yawn as she rubbed her eyes before sitting up, "but that's a mystery for another day. How far are we from the agency, anyway?"

"About a minute out from the bus stop, give or take," replied Clay, "from there it's just a short walk."

"Guess that's not so bad," said Jiro, "by the way, what's Gang Orca like? He all business or is he actually really relaxed?"

"Kind of depends on his mood," said Clay, "he might look like he has a temper but he's more professional than anything. Be careful if you bring up any topics about hero behavior, though, he'll launch into a lecture real fast and they ain't typically very short."

"Guess there's a reason he's on our teacher's recommended list," said Jirou, "would probably be a teacher himself if he ever retires from hero work."

"Uncle seems to think so," replied Clay, "he was running the remedial exams for the provisional licenses after all." Jirou might've said more about the matter, but it was at that moment that the bus came to a stop. The two grabbed their luggage and climbed off the large vehicle, followed shortly after by the dupli-armed Mezo Shoji.

"So Clay," said Shoji as one of his 'arms' grew a mouth to speak, "which way is the agency supposed to be?"

"This way," replied the Cloud Wielder as he began walking. Under ordinary circumstances, the 1A student wasn't so great with directions. Unless they were flying directions. But in this case, he'd been around this part of town enough times during his last internship that he had the basic layout memorized. And as promised, it took only a few minutes to reach the large building that served as the headquarters of Gang Orca's agency. "Whelp, here we are, our new training ground for the next several days."

"It's a pretty good size," admitted Jirou as she looked at the large complex, noting it had multiple floors, "how many people work here, anyway?"

"Quite a few," said a voice that was familiar only to Clay as a man dressed up in the same uniform as Gang Orca's other sidekicks walked up to them. Though there was one obvious difference between him and the other sidekicks, his seal-shaped head.

"Ah, Sergeant," said Clay as he shook the man's hand, "hard to believe we were patrolling together not too long ago."

"Quite a lot's happened since you were last here," agreed the Sergeant, "Perhaps this time you'll be able to spend the whole internship here. But before that, why don't you introduce your classmates."

"Right," said Clay as he pointed to the dupli-arms student first, "this big guy here is Mezo Shoji, a man of many arms, eyes, ears or whatever else he might need them to be. And this," he said as he put an arm around Jirou's shoulders, "is Kyoka Jirou, a woman with ears like no other and whose sound is like no other. Guys, I'd like you both to meet Sergeant Seal, one of Gang Orca's top sidekicks."

"Pleased to meet you," said Shoji as he shook hands with the sidekick.

"We're, uh, looking forward to working with you," said Jirou, slightly embarrassed by Clay's introduction for her.

"Likewise," said the Sergeant before turning his attention back to Clay, "though I got to ask, where's your other big friend, the Mason boy? You two seemed the type to work together pretty frequently."

"Slade wanted to try a little something different," replied Clay, "so he decided to go to Majestic's hero agency. According to him, he believes he can find new ways to use his quirk if he studies the gravity-defying properties of Majestic's rings. It's a lot of physics stuff that went right over my head, so you'll have to ask him for the full details." For obvious reasons, Clay didn't add that Slade also chose that agency because that's where Momo was going. Not that he was one to talk.

"Well maybe we'll bump into them for a teamup or two," mused Sergeant Seal before signaling them to follow him inside, "but first, let's get you three settled in. Clay knows what to expect but you two will need a bit of an overview on how the boss operates."

"Word of warning, he doesn't hesitate to call you out on mistakes," said Clay, "so make sure you got your game faces on when we're out on patrol."

"He's starting to sound like Death Arms," commented Jirou as they entered the agency building.

"He kind of is, but less running around from block to block," said Clay as the group was led through the building, passing a massive pool that was used for training purposes until they finally reached the enlarged door that was modified for the over six and a half foot tall pro hero.

"The boss is in a good mood right now," said Seal as he knocked on the door, "try to keep it that way if ya can." A gruff voice said 'enter' then as the door was opened to permit the three students. The interior of the number ten hero's office was a bit on the larger side, again to accommodate for its occupant's quirk. There was a large bookshelf on the left side full of numerous maps, encyclopedias, legal procedures, some of the hero's personal favorite works of fiction, and volumes of books on sea life.

The decorations were sparse save for a few placques commemorating Gang Orca's heroism, some pictures of his family, a news snippit or two about some of his greatest successes and, of course, a large picture of a killer whale. The office also had something of a humid feel to it thanks to a personal humidifier in the far corner on the left side of the room. "Ah, Clay," said Gang Orca who was currently seated behind a large desk very reminiscient of the type of desk a Mafia boss would use, "back for a second helping, I see, and you brought two more fledglings with you. Though I don't see Slade with you this time."

"He's taken an internship at Majestic's agency," answered Clay as he shook the Orca hero's hand, "as for my other friends here, this big guy is Mezo Shoji, and this lovely lady is Kyoka Jirou." The two students bowed in greeting.

"The guy dressed like a wizard," said Gang Orca, "yeah he's a bit odd but he's better than the media gives him credit for. Your friends will be in safe hands."

"Well that's good news," said Jirou, "I hadn't heard much about the guy before we were told to do more internships."

"You'd do best to worry about yourselves," said Gang Orca, "I'm sure Clay's already mentioned this, but I run a pretty tight ship. So first things first, get your belongings stowed and get into costume. We're going to be heading out on patrol within the hour. The Sergeant can show you where to store your things."

"We look forward to working with you," said Shoji as the group bowed one more time before exiting Gang Orca's office. As promised, Seal showed them to the rooms they'd be using before departing with another quick reminder that they'd be heading out within the hour. "I can easily see why he was selected as the villain for the provisional license exam."

"He might be the number ten hero," said Clay as he was in the process of slipping on his hero costume, "but he still holds third place on heroes that look like villains. Personally, the contrast is part of the reason he's my second favorite hero. He's scared more than a few villains shitless."

"Hmm," Shoji thought aloud, "perhaps he could teach me how to intimidate villains. I might finally get some use out of this odd appearance of mine."

"You say that," said Clay, "though I've seen way scarier guys than you walking around. Remember a mantis girl once tried to eat my face."

"Well not every villain has had such an experience," said Shoji, "though that's also an idea. I could try a more insectoid-like appearance."

"Hey if you can make it work, have at it," said Clay as he slipped on his mask and goggles, "just try to do it when Gang Orca isn't around. Hard to beat the fear factor of a killer whale about to give someone an ass kicking."

"I'll remember that," said Shoji as he finished pulling on his boots, "now where are we going to patrol first?"

The Next Day: Near Majestic's Agency

"I could use a little bit of backup over here," called Slade as he kept his body at maximum density to withstand the assault from a red-haired villain with bullets coming out of her fingers.

"On my way," said Momo as she finished knocking out a villain with crab claw hands using her staff. Naturally the bullet flinging villain wouldn't have any of that and turned her left hand towards Momo, only for it to be stopped suddenly by a flying object.

"What in the world," said the Villain as she looked down and noticed a floating hand was clamped around her wrist.

"Nice try," said Setsuna's floating mouth, "but I can see everything going on around here." The villain never got a chance to retort before taking a rather nasty blow to her head from Momo's staff.

"Thanks," said Slade as he lowered his density before sending the mother and son he'd been protecting with his body away to a safer location, "she managed to catch sight of those two right before I was able to knock her out. I think I've got bullets in my pockets now."

"Better your pockets than somewhere else," said Setsuna's floating mouth, "now we need to head over and help Majestic. He's taking on the other three and one of them is kind of big."

"Guess that figures," said Slade as he lowered his density and readied to fire his wrist cable. "Care for a ride, Momo?" The Creation Girl nodded before putting her arms around his neck while he put an arm around her waist. He then fired his cable into a nearby building before reeling in his cable, pulling them both off the ground.

He'd requested that the cables be able to hold his weight when he was almost at full density, so holding his currently low-density body and another person was no problem for his hero support gear as they swung around to the scene of chaos happening on the other side of the building. The two students quickly took in the situation as they say Majestic flying around, casting his rings on multiple bystanders to levitate them upwards before he pushed them out of the way. He was doing quite well in that regard as there were hardly any people left on the streets.

So the only problem was the three villains attempting to swat him out of the sky. One was a flyer with batwings while the other apparently had a quirk that required a whip to work as that was what they were using to attack him. The third and final villain was a large one who seemed to have a turtle-shell like body with impressive strength, but fortunately moved slowly like the animal he resembled. They took all of this in within a few seconds as Slade increased his density at the apex of their next swing, breaking his cable from the wall as it quickly reeled in.

He allowed Momo to drop from his arm then as she quickly formed a riot shield that she slammed into the whip villain's face to soften her landing. At about the same time, Slade drop-kicked the large turtle villain, staggering him with the force of the impact before flipping and landing on his feet. By this point, they'd attracted the attention of the batwinged villain who turned to go after them, only for his eyes to be covered by both of Setsuna's floating hands. The airborne villain panicked as other pieces of Setsuna's body impacted against him, causing him to spiral into a nearby wall which he cracked with the force of his impact before collapsing into a heap on the ground.

"Nice one," said Majestic as he finished placing another few people out of harm's way, "now we just got one to go."

"Dah, I don't need help to take you down," growled the turtle-like villain, "bring it on!"

"Since you insist," said Majestic with a grin as he flew low to the ground towards their foe. The turtle villain tried to swipe at him but was far too slow as Majestic cast rings around both of his feet, causing him to levitate into the air as he flailed wildly in an attempt to keep his balance.

"Slade," said Momo as she conjured a grenade and tossed it to him.

"On it," said the Density Shifter, understanding immediately what she had in mind as he lowered his density and raced forward. The flailing villain's eyes widened before he pulled his head into his shell, but his need to balance kept him from putting his arms over the opening for his head as Slade jumped up. A few bits and pieces of Setsuna flew in as he jumped up, acting as stepping platforms for the 1A student as he pulled the pin on the grenade and flipped over the villain. He dropped it into the hole where the criminal's head had retreated before grabbing onto Setsuna's floating hand which carried him to a safe distance just as the grenade exploded.

The villain groaned loudly in pain as his head reemerged, his eyes struggling to stay open as Majestic released his rings, dropping the lawbreaker to the ground with a thud. Their foe went unconscious then, signaling the end of the fight. "Nice work," praised Majestic, "you complemented each other quite well in that approach. I'm also impressed that you used the right blast yield on the grenade."

"He appeared to be a tougher villain," said Momo, "I reasoned one of those wouldn't be too excessive. The rest was just-."

"Absolutely awesome teamwork!" Exclaimed the now reformed Setsuna as she threw her arms around both Momo and Slade, "I mean we figured out that maneuver yesterday just throwing around ideas before bed last night."

"Yes, your teamwork was certainly good," said Majestic as he used his quirk to levitate the villains into a pile, "given that one of you is from a separate class, it's quite impressive you've learned to work together so well in such a short time."

"Basic hero training," said Slade, "learning to work together with people whose quirks we're less familiar with is part of it. Though I didn't move as fast as I should have at one point."

"If you managed to save some lives then don't be too hard on yourself," said Majestic, "we'll review today's battles when we get back to the agency. For now, let's work on getting these villains ready for the police to pick up."

"Right," replied the three students before heading over to retrieve the villains they'd taken on earlier.

"As much as I hate to say it," said Momo, "I'll need to stop for something to eat after this. My lipid stores are getting low."

"Guess it is about lunch time," mused Slade aloud, "I think Majestic will be willing to accommodate us on that."

"He's been nice enough so far," said Setsuna as she brushed some of her hair back, "makes me wonder how our other classmates are doing."

A Few Minutes Earlier: Near Gang Orca's Agency

"Man these guys are dicks!" Exclaimed Jirou as she blasted away a couple of villains with speakers on her earphone jacks before returning them to her wrists, "how many are there anyway?!"

"These guys are mostly low level thugs," Said Shoji who currently had two more of the villains in headlocks, courtesy of him producing even more arms. So far their quirks hadn't been anything special, mostly ranging from smoke to flares to firecracker-like quirks. Not a huge problem for one with a combat quirk. But for those with powerful sensory quirks, it was a massive irritation. "The ringleaders are still around here, though."

The sound of another small explosion lent to that statement as they caught sight of Gang Orca tangling with a villain who'd turned themselves into some type of viney, tree monster. And they weren't small either. "Where's Clay at anyway?" Questioned Jirou, "I've lost track of him."

"I imagine he's zipping around somewhere," said Shoji as he finished choking out his two villains, "so we'd best go find him and make sure he's okay." Jirou nodded and was about to head that way when a large shape came barreling towards them out of the smoke and debris, with a villain hanging off of it who was trying to use what appeared to be a a shotgun barrel popping out of his right arm. He never got the chance, though, as he was slammed into a nearby streetlamp, peeling him off of what Jirou now could identify as a cloud speedboat.

"Good news," said Clay as he moved around to hover his 'boat' near his friends, "that smokescreen guy was exactly where you said he'd be, so that's one problem we don't have to put up with anymore. I did have a little bit of trouble with shotty here, though."

"It looks like he's out cold," noted Shoji as he hurriedly restrained the villains they'd taken out so far by tying them to the nearby lampposts, "that should mean the majority of them are down in this section. Though we still need to find the other ringleader that Gang Orca isn't fighting."

"Already on it," said Jirou as she knelt and plugged her jack into the ground, "gonna take a moment with all of this other noise going on."

"Just focus on that and we'll keep you covered," said Clay as he hovered up higher to get a better look at the surrounding area, "Shoji, give her what help you can."

"Thanks to you clearing out the smoke guy I might actually be able to see now," commented the dupli-armed student as he created multiple eyes and ears on his stalks to begin sweeping the area. Naturally he kept some regular hands ready just in case they needed to fight at a moment's notice. A possibility, they'd find, wouldn't take long to realize.

"I got a fix on him," said Jirou, "and he's right around…..shit, he's coming this way!" No sooner did she say that then a nearby building's front seemed to explode with several of Gang Orca's sidekicks going flying onto the street or into other nearby buildings. What emerged was a villain with a large body that stood easily seven feet tall if not more with a number of curved tubes sticking out of his body.

"What a bunch of annoying pests," he grumbled, "the moment we get his patrols down he picks this week out of all of them to suddenly change his schedule!" Clay rolled his eyes at the complaining villain, deciding to attack quickly before they were noticed. But the villain say him coming at the last moment and raised his arms to block the charging cloudboat.

"If you put half the effort into getting a job and working your way up as you do to complaining and villainy," said Clay, "then you'd have been pretty well ahead in life by now."

"I don't want to hear that from some bratty teenager!" Exclaimed the villain as he angled his tubes towards Clay. The cloud wielder knew something was off the moment he felt the air pressure changing around him and leapt off of his boat construct just as it was blown apart. 'High-powered air cannons,' he surmised while using the clouds in his suit to stay airborne, 'that's gonna be a problem.' And the villain obviously wasn't worried about property damage as he fired even more shots from the tubes on his body while Clay both dodged and moved the clouds from his dispersed boat construct around.

'One upside, though,' he thought with a slight smirk, 'since there's no massive heat output from those cannons, it won't evaporate my clouds if they get blown apart.' An advantage he capitalized on by using his Cumulus Combat formation above his head to fire several fist-like projectiles at his opponent. The Villain continued to fire airblasts from his tubes, tearing apart the constructs but only temporarily as Clay reformed them over and over again. "You really think this smokeshow is enough to bring me down?!" Yelled the villain.

"No, but it works great for a distraction," quipped Clay as he watched Jirou place her fists on the ground.

"Special Move: Heartbeat Distortion!" Said the rocker girl as the vibrations produced by her wrist speakers caused the ground to fracture and break in a line towards the villain. The air cannon man attempted to turn around and face them, only to stumble as he lost his foothold.

"Now you'll deal with this," said Shoji as he formed a mass of fists on his dupli-arms and moved in. "Octoblow!"

"Nora, Nora, Nora, Nora, Nora, Nora!" Added the Cloud Wielder as he added his own barrage of cloud fists to the super move, effectively raining an enormous number of blows on their opponent like a machine gun.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Was the only sound the villain was able to get out as the onslaught of blows succeeded in pushing him back all the way into another building, bashing him into the wall which partially collapsed on him. But even if it hadn't, it was clear the villain was done as he laid on the ground groaning.

"Alright, multi-five," said Clay as his cloud hands high-fived Shoji's multiple hands while Jirou went over to check on the villain.

"Yep, definitely out cold," she said with a nod, "now we just need to find out how the boss is doing." Clay might've commented on the fact that she was calling Gang Orca 'boss' already but was interrupted by the sudden landing of the vine/tree villain from earlier. He was followed shortly after by their 'boss' who was pulling some of the leftover vines off of his white suit.

"That takes care of that one," said Gang Orca, "how are you kids holding up?"

"This big guy is down, and we rounded up the last of the troublemakers who were causing havoc," said Clay as he landed on the ground, "still can't believe they went through all of that trouble just to try knocking over a jewelry store. One with severely expensive jewels, admittedly, but still." Indeed, the two larger villains had gathered a number of lesser quirk users to create distractions using smokescreen, firecracker, and flare quirks to cause a commotion. The apparent plan, from what they could gather, had been for the two larger villains to blast their way into the store under the cover of all the smoke and noise where they'd grab as much as they could carry before bolting from the scene.

It was a sound plan which took into account Gang Orca's usual patrol schedule. But it overlooked one thing: Gang Orca had been varying the schedules of his patrols more frequently in an attempt to catch more criminals by surprise. And because he'd just gotten new interns and had to take a little time to train them when he could. This proved to work as they were passing by just as the villains set their plan in motion. Now several more buildings were damaged, but the jewels and the civilians were safe and the villains were ready to be rounded up.

"Good work," he said as his sidekicks who were still up started moving in along with the police to secure the villains and anyone in need of medical attention, "you three are able to work as a team quite well so I won't have to go over much of that. What I will go over is this: Shoji, you need to work on stalk formations for your arms that can raise above or see-through smokescreens if possible. If that doesn't work, do like your friend here and continue to improve your hearing."

"Yes sir," said Shoji with a bow, "I'll get on that right away." Gang Orca nodded before turning to Kyoka.

"Ms. Jirou," he said, "you located all the villains quite well in the smokescreen with your jacks, but you also need to work on moving around in a smokescreen with your senses of sight and touch. Your hearing is one of your strongest attributes, but that doesn't mean you can't improve on your other senses as well."

"Roger," said Jirou with a nod. She was admittedly still a little intimidated by the size and appearance of the Orca hero, but she had a better handle on his personality now and knew how she should answer. Gang Orca nodded back to her before turning to the Cloud Wielder.

"Clay," he said, "you've been working on your formations more like I told you about last time. And your aptitude for maneuvering in the air has grown. Though remember, try to keep damage to a minimum when possible and work to take down your opponents quicker. The less time a villain has to cause damage, the better."

"Can do Boss," said Clay with a nod. Gang Orca grinned slightly then before putting a finger to the receiver in his ear.

"Sergeant," he said, "let's get these guys cleaned up as quickly as possible. We've still got another section to cover before the day is out."

"You got it Boss," replied Seal over his earpiece before the transmission ended. The Orca hero looked at his interns then.

"You three help the police load the villains," he said, "then we're back to patrol." He didn't wait for a response as he stalked back towards his other sidekicks. As soon as he was out of earshot, Jirou let out a sigh.

"Well, you weren't kidding," she said, "he ain't Death Arms but this is still pretty rough."

"You don't get into the top ten without working hard," said Clay, "and he doesn't take excuses either. But once you get the hang of it the guy's not so bad."

"Either way," said Shoji, "this is going to be a bit more busy than our usual weeks."

"No kidding," said Clay, "but at least it's hands on experience. Speaking of which, I need to access the hero network when we get back."

"What for?" Questioned Jirou with a tilt of her head as they began dragging some of the criminals towards the police. Clay's answer to her question was to pull the remains of something off of the smokescreen villain he'd knocked out earlier.

"This mask, when it was whole, helped that guy blast his smoke out more quickly by storing it beforehand," explained Clay, "it's some sort of support gear he got from the black market that I yanked off of him before pummeling him with a cloud fist. Funny thing is, it fell apart in my hands afterwards."

"Stuff from the black market is known to be fairly cheap," said Shoji, "in more ways than one."

"Then these guys all went shopping at the same place," said Clay, "because every last bit of support gear they had is now in pieces. Kind of odd if you ask me, especially when you consider the villain Todoroki took down right after getting his provisional license also had support gear that broke apart shortly after his defeat."

"Are you thinking there's some kind of connection to it?" Questioned Jirou with a tilt of her head.

"All I can figure right now is there must be some kind of new seller in town," said Clay, "that's why I want to check the hero net. See if any of these villains have anything in common or if the support gear does."

"First things first," said Shoji, "we'd best worry about finishing up our patrol." Clay and Jirou both voiced their agreement to this as they helped the police finish loading the villains up. The group continued their patrol with Gang Orca then, wondering what their next encounter would be.

One of Detnerat's Headquarters

Most people expected the number two hero, Hawks, to be flying around his section of the city stopping crimes and being generally helpful to the people. Yet lately, he'd been away from his agency in various other parts of the region. Currently, he was in a place the average person wouldn't think to find him: a dark boardroom in a building out in a more secluded area. Why he was there now was a question he was about to answer.

"Status report," said a somewhat deep voice that one would expect to belong to a businessman.

"Well to put it simply," said Hawks, "I'm working hard spreading Liberation Ideology."

"And about the book you've been passing out to the other heroes," replied the businessman who could be seen wearing a blue suit with white lines running vertically down it, "Not only did you read it quite thoroughly, but you really get the Destro-ness. It's quite obvious you understand it well." Said book he was referring to was 'The Meta Liberation War', which had been written by a man named Destro several years ago.

"Thanks," said Hawks with a small smile on his face, "anything for Liberation."

"Actually," said another voice as the speaker leaned forward, revealing himself to be the villain, Twice, "I still don't get it, like, at all. Mind teaching me some time?"

"Sure," said Hawks in his usual friendly demeanor, "it's not all that hard to grasp."

"With a walking billboard like you," said the Businessman, "Liberation ideology will undoubtedly spread quickly. If you could win over your base of teens and twenty-somethings, it would be a huge boon for us."

"I'll continue my work," assured Hawks before Twice spoke up again.

"Hey Hawks, you're a good guy," he said, "and a really hard worker. You're evil, aren't you?! I want you to work for me!"

"You're too kind," said Hawks as he held up his hands in a shrug, "we're not even on the commission's radar yet. They're currently preoccupied investigating the League's involvement in the Deika City Incident, but the troops are keeping them off our trail. And we've slowly started teaching the next generation-."

"IZUKU!" Exclaimed one of the other occupants at the table, Himiko Toga, who'd just found an image of said boy while scrolling through her compact computer.

"Oh, what a coincidence," said Twice as he looked over at her screen while Dabi gave a quick laugh.

"From what I saw, they haven't grown all that much," commented Dabi.

"Well, they are just 'students'," said Hawks with a similar attitude of indifference.

"Students who managed to cause the League problems on more than one occasion," said the voice of another of the table's occupants as Chimera leaned forward to reveal his visage. "Or is there another reason at least a couple of those students are part of a 'kill-on-sight' list for when our plans are set in motion?"

"You got me," said Hawks, "I'm just the messenger doing what a messenger does. You'll have to ask whoever's in charge of that list."

"It is a matter we can discuss another time," said the Businessman as he clapped his hands, "for now I must commend you on your good work so far, Hawks. You may go now." The winged hero gave a smile and a bow before exiting the room. Shortly after the doors closed, the group resumed their discussion with Chimera taking the lead.

"I'll say it again," he stated, "I don't like that guy. You really think someone who made it that far up the hero ladder would actually want to work for a shady organization like ours?"

"Hawks has proven to be a most diligent worker," stated the Businessman, "and Dabi said he provided him with plenty of proof that he's on our side."

"Yes, a dead hero," said Chimera, "one that I hope he checked to make sure was an actual dead hero."

"You got a problem with my judgement, fleshmonster," said Dabi with a raised eyebrow.

"What about the rest of you," said the Businessman, "do you have suspicions about Hawks?"

"Of course we do," said Spinner, "but for now, he's keeping up the morale of the troops."

"And besides," said Toga, "if he knew our plans, he'd have done something already. And we're going to be doing 'that' soon, aren't we?"

"In four months," confirmed Spinner, "everything will be ready by then."

"Yes," said Toga as she waved her hand in the air dramatically, "in four months, boom! Tomura, will destroy everything."

"Then we'd best get exciting," said Chimera with a smirk, "it'll be here before ya know it."

And so all of the pieces are moving across the board, prepping in their own way for the battle to come. But first, we'll need to get through a bit more background before we reach the main event. In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. And again, sorry for the lateness of this chapter posting. Now be sure to stop in next time as we flashback to the League's first, and gruesome, meeting with the Meta Liberation Army! 'Til then.