Strike of the Black Whips

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter for Hailstorm Vol. 2! And also the announcement of the poll results. The winner is Option A with a vote of twelve against Option B's vote of ten. This means Armory of the Forgotten Hero shall be resuming shortly after I finish Breath of the Rifleman. But for those who voted for Option B, fear not, for your voices have still been heard and will be taken into consideration when I write my next story. So thank you all again for your input on that matter and for all the support you've given this story up to this point. Now then, with no apparent guest review questions to answer, let's dive on in!

Unknown Location by the Docks

"Wait, please wait a minute," begged a woman with pointed hair resembling cactus needles as she found herself at a dead end inside one of the dock warehouses, "I didn't tell anyone about the samples, I promise!" She received a light chuckle in response to that as a figure stepped partially out of the shadows in front of her.

"Oh I'm certain you didn't," said the figure as his face became visible, revealing a brown-haired individual wearing a mask that covered his eyes and nose. The creepy thing about the mask, was that it was characterized with three beady eyes, each one connected to the other which created the illusion of six eyes all focused in the same direction. "And even if you did, they'd just wind up like this guy." The sound of crunching was heard then as a tendril with a toothy mouth on it came into view, currently devouring what remained of its owner's most recent victim, their hand, "you'll recall it's my job to tie up loose ends, or rather, dispose of them. And you, unfortunately, have run out of usefulness to our mutual employer."

The woman's response to that was to grit her teeth before lowering her head and firing the needles on them. But despite the close range, the needles were still deflected by the appearance of a large and lengthy scorpion-like tail with a diamond-shaped stinger on the end. The cactus-haired quirk user tried using that moment of distraction to run towards a nearby door but only got a few feet before feeling a sharp pain in her back as the spiked part of the tail stuck out of her front. "Ordinarily I'd take my time when chowing down on a woman, but I'm in a hurry today."

As if on cue, the phone he had in his pocket began to ring. "Well speaking of employers." As he went to retrieve his phone from his pocket, two more tendrils sporting large, fanged mouths came out of his back and started tearing his prey apart in short order like a pack of wild animals. "Hey Doc, is that you? I was just wrapping things up over here."

"Of course, I was hoping not to interrupt your latest meal," said the man on the other end of the line, "but there's been a change of plans. I've gotten a message from the Master himself, so for now I'm calling off your next mission in lieu of a more pressing one."

"The Big Boss is calling on us," he repated, "that is big news. Does that mean it's finally time to set his next plan in motion?"

"Indeed," said the Doctor on the other end of the line, "not long from now, Gigantomachia will be making contact with the Master's successor. I'd like you to drop down there and give him and his team a hand, given that you yourself are familiar with what Gigantomachia is capable of."

"I remember enough to know how hard he can hit," replied the Tendril-Wielder, "any idea what's brought this sudden course of action on from the Big Boss?"

"The Master simply feels it is time," replied the Doctor, "and it's past time that you became acquainted with the League anyway. So congratulations, Chimera, because starting today you will become the newest member of the League of Villains."

"So this is a promotion," said Chimera, a smile spreading across his face as his tendrils ripped apart the last of his victim and swallowed them before retreating into his back. "I can make it work. Just send me the location and I'll swing by that way in just a bit."

"See to it that you contact me again before revealing yourself," said the Doctor, "I'll give you the full briefing then."

"Sounds good to me," said Chimera as the call ended. He pockted his phone then as a pair of large, bat-like wings shot out of his back, "I'd best be sure to remember my table manners when I meet them." He flapped his wings then with plenty of force to shoot up into the air before orienting himself and taking off towards the mountains and his next destination.

U.A.: Training Field Gamma

'That, is not something his quirk should be doing,' thought Clay as he, along with the rest of Class 1A and 1B stared in mild shock at what was happening onscreen. Midoriya had just been about to fire off another Delaware Smash when his quirk suddenly went wild and caused greenish black, tendril-like energy to shoot out of his right arm. What was even odder, it bent and twisted almost like a living creature as it grabbed onto nearby structures and swung Midoriya around, including into walls, while also whipping all over the training area. Neither team was safe as the black and green energy stabbed into the ground or slammed into nearby objects, causing debris to fall.

Clay and Slade picked that time to move over towards Aizawa and Vlad at nearly the same moment as All Might. "Aizawa, Vlad," he said, "you need to stop the match, now!"

"He's right Uncle," added Clay, "whatever's happening right now is something Izuku clearly doesn't have control over." Aizawa found their sudden concern a little odd, as if they knew more than they were letting on. But one look at their eyes and he could tell how serious they were about the current situation. So he agreed to head in with Vlad and All Might but ordered Clay and Slade to stay behind. Obviously the two wanted to argue against such a decision, but All Might quickly reminded them that it would look odd if the both of them were allowed in on this matter.

So the two returned to the viewing area while trying to hide their irritation. Fortunately, it was quickly replaced with hope when they caught sight of what was going on. Uraraka had managed to maneuver through the web of tendrils Midoriya was currently producing with her quirk and had grabbed onto her friend, desperately pleading with him to calm down. But it seemed such a thing wouldn't be so simple for the green-haired boy as the gravity girl was forced to hold on as tight as she could to keep from being flung away. Despite such circumstances, however, she was able to keep a cool head and came up with a plan upon spotting Shinso.

"Shinso, use brainwashing to stop Deku!" Ordered Uraraka as she continued to cling to him. The Brainwashing student seemed reluctant at first, but he soon removed his Persona Cords and called out to Midoriya, reminding him that the two were supposed to have a rematch. When Izuku answered that he remembered, the tendrils froze in midair as his eyes took on the look of one who'd fallen under the influence of Brainwashing. The tendrils retreated back into the One for All Holder's arm then as Uraraka used her quirk to gently lower them to the ground, though she had to slap Midoriya to get him to wake up from the brainwashing.

"Whew," said Slade, "that was some fast thinking on her part. Kind of ironic that the one thing they were definitely trying to avoid in this match was what wound up saving them."

"Life is full of little ironies," affirmed Clay with a nod, "but the big question now is: whether or not they'll stop the match?" A question it seemed the 1B students didn't feel like waiting on as Monoma and the remaining members of his team arrived and attacked using floating debris like nuts, bolts and barrels which they rained down on the two. Thankfully, Izuku and Uraraka were able to avoid the brunt of the attacks by jumping out of the way. It was a good thing, too, given that all the projectiles had been enhanced with a quirk known as 'Twin-Impact' which caused a second, more powerful hit at whatever time its user determined.

Fortunately, this was also the time Mina and Mineta showed up and drove some of them away using a combination of acid attacks and a sticky ball barrage. The scene quickly devolved into a brawl as acid, purple orbs and random materials were sent flying everywhere by the two team's respective quirks. It was also about this time that Shinso leapt into the fray against Midoriya and Uraraka. "Guess we have our answer," said Slade, "how much you wanna bet it was Aizawa's idea to continue the match?"

"Yeah, that'd be something he'd do," admitted Clay, "as far as he's concerned, as long as that was just a one-time occurrence then there's no reason to really stop the match."

"Let's hope a one-time occurrence is all that was," said Slade, "if that weird technique or whatever is anything like the rest of his quirk, then it's quite possible he wasn't using it at full power."

"Either way, it looks like he's decided against using his quirk for now," observed Clay as Midoriya tried and failed to yank Shinso down by his binding cloth. He also noted that Mina and Mineta were holding their own thanks to the grape-haired student's ability to bounce off the balls he'd thrown and Mina's impressive mobility from skating on her acid.

"Hey Clay," said Jirou as she slid in next to the two, "I thought the teachers went to stop the match? Isn't that why they're not here?"

"They did," affirmed Clay, "but just as me and Slade finished discussing earlier, I believe Sensei decided to let things play out."

"But why would he do that?" Questioned Jirou, "Midoriya, Uraraka, Mina and the others looked like they were in actual danger."

"He's probably confident he can stop it if it happens again," surmised Clay, "so he's letting things proceed for now to see what Midoriya's quirk will do. I imagine he also doesn't want to stop the match with everyone fighting so hard right now."

"But do you think Midoriya and Uraraka are going to be okay?" Questioned Jirou.

"Not sure if I'm being completely honest," admitted Clay, "but-." He stopped speaking for a moment as he caught a view he wasn't expecting in the cameras. Monoma was charging Ochako and Izuku, with green glowing electrical energy surrounding his body! 'No, he couldn't have,' thought the Cloud Wielder as the Copycat student came within striking distance, only to be quickly grabbed and thrown to the ground by Uraraka's Gunhead martial arts. "Given the way things are going, I think they'll pull through just fine." Though inwardly he was breathing a sigh of relief at the fact that Monoma's attempt to use One for All failed.

Jirou didn't seem entirely convinced but decided that she'd trust her boyfriend on this one and wait to see what happened. In this case, what wound up happening is Uraraka used her quirk on Midoriya to quickly get him up to where Shinso was before releasing it on him. After that, she wrapped up Monoma with the new cable upgrade in her costume's gauntlets and took off for the jail. But all eyes went back to the other screen as Shinso attempted to fight off Izuku by using his scarf to pull down several large pipes towards the green-haired boy. And then it happened again, the black tendril-like energy emerged from the One for All Holder's hands as he crossed his arms.

Unlike before, however, they weren't moving eratically and only extended far enough to grasp two of the large pipes that were falling towards him. It was a tense moment then as everyone looked on, wondering what would happen next. When the two tendrils disappeared and dropped the pipes on either side of Midoriya, Clay let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It was then that Shinso decided to beat a hasty retreat by leaping off the platform he'd been on, using his scarf to swing from pipe to pipe.

He was quickly pursued by his green-haired opponent who was using his Full Cowling now at what appeared to be eight percent. At about the same time, Uraraka had finished throwing Monoma in her team's jail before quickly heading back towards the others. Despite a moment of hesitation, she decided in the end to heed Midoriya's request that he'd made earlier and continued on to Mineta and Mina's location. This would turn out to be a good call as the black battle-suit wearing student, Nirengeki Shoda, had managed to interrupt Mineta's bouncing pattern with a well-placed punch while a grey kimono wearing student, Reiko Yanagi, was able to better bombard Mina with debris via her Poltergeist quirk now that the other 1A student was rendered immobile.

Thankfully, Uraraka was able to show up just in time to deliver a surprise chop attack to the back of Reiko's neck, knocking her out. The white and red-suited 1B student, Yui Kodai, didn't have time to react as Ochako charged and shoved her against a pole covered in Mineta's sticky balls, rendering her immobile with her arms trapped behind her back. This turn of events distracted Shoda long enough for Mina to leap up and slam a powerful uppercut into his chin, knocking him off the upper level and to the ground below. The entire exchange was over in less than a minute, leaving Midoriya to deal with Shinso by actually catching and wrapping his binding cloth around him to reel in the Brainwashing student.

He finished him off with a takedown kick in midair before pinning him to the ground. 'So that's it then,' thought Clay with a slight smirk as he watched his classmates quickly transport the 1B team to the jail, 'it got off to a rocky start there, but by the looks of it things turned out okay after all.' Midnight announced the results then, having taken over for Vlad due to his clearly biased commentary, and they went as followed. Class 1B won the second match, while Class 1A won the first, third, fourth and fifth matches.

While not a total and one hundred percent victory, it was still quite clear that Class 1A had won the day in this particular training exercise. "WE DID IT!" Cheered Jirou, unable to restrain herself from hugging Clay. He didn't mind as he quickly hugged her back. Momo was a bit more on the fence about it due to her team being the one that lost, but still smiled when Slade put a hand around her shoulder and pulled her close.

"Hey, don't let it get to you," he said, "I'm one of the people who knows you best and I still didn't see that lucky bag coming."

"Oh I'm not planning on letting this get me down like the sports festival," assured Momo with a small smile, "I just realized I have more to improve on than I thought."

"You're right," said Aizawa, somehow overhearing her as he turned towards everyone. He'd just finished up the critique of the last match, and while several people had questions about Midoriya's supposed new move they were all respectful enough not to pry. Though Clay and Slade knew they were going to have several questions for him later.

"Everyone here has been training everyday to become a hero who can save others," began Aizawa, "Only those as talented as All Might can reach such a level quickly. To do something for someone else, even prioritizing that over everything else won't save other people. In order to protect someone, you also have to have the power to do something on your own. With that thought in mind, I'd like to announce that Shinso earned a passing grade."

'Oh right,' thought Slade, 'this was also Shinso's test to get into the Hero Course, wasn't it? Guess he made it after all.' "I, honestly can't thank you enough sir. But after fighting everyone," said Shinso as he examined his binding cloth, "I realize just how long of a way I have to go. After experiencing how amazing the hero course really is, I won't be satisfied with simply passing. I'll keep working harder and harder and aim even higher."

"And that," said Aizawa, "is what we call a 'Plus Ultra' mentality." The teachers all nodded in agreement with that statement along with a few students. Clay was about to head over then and ask how Midoriya was doing but was quickly stopped as a certain pink-girl practically tackled him with a hug.

"Did you see that Clay, did ya see?!" Cheered Mina happily as she hung off the Cloud Wielder, almost threatening to pull him over.

"Yeah I saw alright, I saw," replied Clay as he managed to get his footing, "you did pretty good out there, especially with that last uppercut."

"I've had lots of practice knocking around Mineta," said Mina with a smirk before Vlad called for everyone's attention.

"Alright," he said, "we'll be having another review after this, but in all probability, Shinso will be starting in the hero course from your second year. So make sure you don't lose to him!" 'Guess that means I'll be helping Uncle out with more practice sessions,' thought Clay while yelling 'Alright' with everyone else. "Now it's yet to be determined which class he'll be in, and for now we have a critique to get through."

"Since we're critiquing," said Mina as she raised her hand, "Mineta is the worst, please punish him."

"WHAT?!" Exclaimed the Pop-off quirk user, "me bumping into you like that was a very lucky accident, and besides I was putting my own body on the line leading Shoda and the others around with my grape combos!"

"And yet I feel as if you knew you couldn't withstand the force of Twin Impact," said Slade with a raised eyebrow.

"And would you like to know something," said Monoma suddenly as he addressed the winners, "Class 1A may have won today, but if you look at the content, Class 1B didn't necessarily lose! If I had known that Midoriya's quirk would be a blank, then we would've had a plan in response to that! In other words, if we have a rematch right now there's no telling who will win!"

"Except for the problem that you don't usually get a rematch out in the field," Slade pointed out, "pro heroes have to be able to adapt to unexpected circumstances when they arise. In other words, had you been fighting villains instead of other students and came up with a blank, you'd quite possibly be dead right now."

"He's right," said Vlad, "and besides, today's class is already over!"

"Though since we're on the subject of the limits of Monoma's quirk," said Aizawa as he turned to the copycat student, "I need you to come by and see Eri tomorrow." Clay shot his Uncle a questioning glance, wondering what in the world a pain in the neck like Monoma had to do with Eri. Though that would be a question for later. Right now, He, Slade and Midoriya needed to have a word with All Might.

Later That Evening: U.A. Teacher's Lounge

"You're saying that was a previous wielder's quirk," said All Might, pouring himself a cup of tea as he summed up Izuku's explanation on what had happened at the training field, "it seems One for All itself is somehow growing?"

"Do you guys always talk here," said Bakugou with his trademark annoyed expression that crossed his face whenever he was deep in thought.

"Most of the time it's just them," said Clay, "but since we all saw what happened and have an idea as to why it happened, here we are."

"Yes, that's why I asked him to come here along with you two," affirmed All Might, "though it is admittedly a small crowd in here now. I hadn't expected this many people from your class to figure out our secret."

"It's not entirely his fault," said Slade, "Clay and I kinda just stumbled into it after noticing some oddness out of our best friend."

"And speaking of oddness," said Bakugou as he sipped his own cup of tea, "do you know anything about that dark quirk that came out, All Might?"

"Not much more than any of you," he replied, "this is actually my first time hearing about this particular wielder too. I believe young Midoriya described him as a having a shaved head. It doesn't match the description my master gave me of the wielder before her, a young man with black hair. I don't believe she was aware that One for All contained the quirks of the previous wielders."

"So that means you're the first special case this has happened to, scum," growled Bakugou as he glanced at Midoriya.

"It's not like he asked for it to happen," said Clay, "and it's not the most uncommon thing for someone to have a multi-type quirk these days."

"Also, don't call him scum," added All Might, quickly rebuking the explosive blond.

"Well since he's apparently got a new quirk now we might as well ask what triggered it," said Bakugou as he turned to Midoriya, "do you have any clear ideas on what made it come out?"

"No, not really," said Izuku somewhat nervously before his expression turned serious, "but one thing the wielder did say was 'the time is ripe'. It's possible there's some kind of external connection."

"Could it be All for One," said Bakugou, voicing the question the rest of them really didn't want to consider, "you said One for All originally came from him. Now that I think about it, the possession of multiple quirks. It's the same as him-gah." The explosive blond was silenced by the cloth of a rolled up tea strainer hitting his eye.

"They are not the same," said Clay with a serious expression on his face.

"But it's admittedly similar," said All Might, "so similar in fact that I didn't want to mention it out loud."

"There's not as much similarity as you say," Replied the Cloud Wielder, "All for One is a bastard and a thief. Most of the quirks he possesses, to my understanding, are those that he stole from unwilling victims. Even those who willingly gave their quirks or received quirks from him did so for a price. But that is not what's happening with One for All. You said yourself that it's the collective will of all the previous holders that is passed on with One for All, each of whom had a similar desire to help others and 'willingly' gave their power to a worthy successor to continue the work of helping others. So if it's manifesting like this now and All for One is the cause, it's likely because the previous wielders wish to put an end to him once and for all."

"That's definitely an optimistic theory," said All Might as he stood up, "and I hope it's along the lines of that reasoning that this is happening. Whatever the case, we need to prevent it from going out of control like that again."

"What did you have in mind?" Questioned Slade with his arms crossed.

"We need to know more about the power that young Midoriya has manifested," said All Might, "then we need to see what can be done to control it. I have at least a couple ideas we can try."

At About the Same Time: U.A. Height's Alliance

'Well this is….alright if I'm being honest, this was something I should've seen coming,' thought Jirou as she stood in the hallway of the girl's section of the dorm. And blocking her way was none other than Mina Ashido with what passed as a serious expression on her face. "I've got some punishment planned for Mineta, so I'll make this short and to the point," said Mina, "I didn't want to believe it but, are you and Clay really dating now?" Jirou gulped a bit as she realized, this interesting day wasn't quite over yet.

So the mystery of Midoriya's new abilities deepens while the drama between Jirou and Mina seems to be heating up again. And who in the world is this Chimera guy? Well we'll have to find out in the next couple of chapters. Until then, 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 Clay and Slade try to help with Midoriya's new quirk, and try to deal a little bit with their love lives. 'Til then.