Hailstorm Vol 2

by Masked Spider

The second semester at U.A. has begun for Clay Cero and Slade Mason as they gear up to take on new assignments, new villains, the more advanced internships known as work studies and, the most evil of all, school work! So come along as these two friends continue their journey to become pro heroes! (note: read My Hero Academia Hailstorm first).

31. The War Began in the Mountains

The War Began in the Mountains

Hello everyone and welcome back at last to Hailstorm Vol. 2! It's been a while so a bit of a heads up if my writing seems slightly off at first, gotta get reacquainted with the world of My Hero Academia. Also, for those who don't know by now the voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy, passed away recently. He was a part of my childhood and I imagine many of yours as well, so I've put a little tribute to one of my favorite Kevin Conroy moments in this chapter. See if you can spot it. And don't forget to check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited! Now then, I've already kept you all waiting long enough, and with no review questions to answer let's fly on in!

One Month Ago: Gunga Mountain Villa: Paranormal Liberation Front Base

Quiet, yes, that seemed an appropriate word to describe the last few months. Ever since the Meta Liberation Army had fallen under control of the League of Villains and been rebranded as the Paranormal Liberation Front, things had been quiet as far as major activity went. Mr. Compress and, surprisingly, Spinner spent day after day in meetings with Re-Destro and his lieutenants while Dabi and Toga acted like they didn't much care what was going on, which was admittedly normal. Strangely the blackmarket dealer, Giran, also acted like he didn't care much about what was going on.

'Guess he's just waiting to see which way the wind blows,' Chimera mused, 'as for Twice, he's spending a lot of time hanging out with that hero, Hawks.' The villain felt a slight frown form over his features as he was reminded of that fact. The number two hero in all of Japan had been allowed into their ranks and was walking around with less supervision than more than a couple people would like. In the cannibal's opinion the risk far outweighed the reward of allowing someone like that into their midst, but the decision had been made before the League took over.

Sure they could've just killed him, but the prick was smart and he probably knew that his sudden disappearance would draw a lot of attention, attention they didn't need right now. Fortunately, they kept their most sensitive secrets locked up tight, like the location of Tomura Shigaraki. That brought a smirk back to the villain's face as he finished securing a couple of straps on his costume and headed for the door. His exit would turn out to be perfectly timed as no sooner did he walk out than he was greeted by the high pitched yet husky voice of his now subordinate, Chitose Kizuki, also known as Curious.

"There you are darling," she purred before pecking him on the cheek, "you'll be happy to hear that the regiment is ready and the requested materials were sent out along various routes."

"Good, the doctor's been hounding me about that second one," Chimera commented as they started walking down the hall. Much of the base's main structure was underground, built in a military style that was meant to withstand bombardment. Even better, there were multiple exits in the underground sections that led to nearby entrances in other parts of the mountain. "As for the regiment, you're certain they'll follow my orders if you happen to get incapacitated?"

"Absolutely," Curious replied as she grabbed onto his arm lovingly, "I emphasized to them several times that no form of harm should come to you, that your words carried as much weight as mine. Should you need to order them to their deaths, they'll proceed without question. It's the other regiments who might give you a bit of trouble." And it was a valid concern. The Paranormal Liberation Front had been reorganized and split up into five regiments over the last few months, each with its own flashy name.

There was the Vanguard Action Tactics Regiment, the Vanguard Action Guerilla Warfare Regiment, the Vanguard Action Intelligence Regiment, and the Vanguard Action Support Regiment. Each group fell under the command of at least one member of the League of Villains and the top three most skilled Liberation members in the regiment served as aides to the commanders, or more accurately Lieutenants, of the Liberation Army. In Chimera's case, he was part of the Action Tactics Regiment alongside Twice and Curious worked as his aide alongside her two best fighters.

"Little surprise there," the cannibal villain mused, "several members of the Liberation Army still don't trust us given how our hostile takeover went. But once they see what the boss can do after his little nap, I'm certain they'll be more than willing to fall in line."

"You really think that doctor will be able to keep his word on that?" Curious couldn't help but ask, "I know you told me he created the nomus, but even with skills like that can he really implant quirks into a living body without turning our new leader into another mindless monster?"

"The doctor knows what he's doing," Chimera assured, "and I know the big boss wouldn't allow Shigaraki to undergo something he didn't think he could handle. Trust me, just another couple of months and the leader of the liberation will be unstoppable. All we should worry about right now is getting and keeping organized while making sure none of the heroes or proper authorities finds out what we're doing. Because once we finally get the ball rolling, this country will never be the same."

And it was going to be quite a sight. Everything had been planned down to the last detail and was simply awaiting a few more key factors to fall into place. Then they would strike, hitting all major cities at the same time with their forces, preventing them from functioning and effectively creating a lawless zone throughout all of Japan. Then the more boring part would come, moving on to the political world, a task which the League was more than happy to leave in the hands of Re-Destro and the Hearts and Minds Party leader, Koku Hanabata. Using their positions, the two of them will distribute weapons to the common people while also extolling the merits and freedoms of self-defense.

According to All for One, it would be just like his time: laws no longer holding meaning and chaos reigning in the streets. And just like in his time the man himself will rise again, standing atop the debris of the old world, ready to rule a new one of his own making. The cannibal could feel his mouth water just thinking about the killing field it would be for him. The next two months couldn't go by fast enough as far as he was concerned.

One Month Later: The Forest Outside of Gunga Mountain Villa

'This….is not just some joint operation,' Clay thought as he looked around at the mass of gathered heroes who'd shown up, 'the raid on Shie Hassaikai, that was a joint operation. The assault on the original hideouts of the League of Villains, that was a joint operation. But this, is an all-out assault by a small army.' And it was a small army.

Heroes from multiple parts of Japan had shown up such as Gang Orca, Kamui Woods, Fat Gum, along with more distant heroes like Majestic. Several of U.A.'s own teachers were involved as well including Cementoss and Midnight. Clay had stopped trying to count the official number a while ago when he realized there were dozens of heroes in this location alone. But what really sold him on how seriously they were taking this threat was the hero's willingness to involve classes 1A, 1B, and the Big Three.

Up to this point they'd been doing all kinds of things to keep them out of danger due to their status as students and in-training heroes, but now they were willing to put some of them on the front line. The Cloud Wielder glanced over at Kaminari and Tokoyami, quickly noting how nervous the former was. Tokoyami was probably feeling a similar bout of trepidation but he hid it a lot better. Two students from class 1B, the mushroom sprouting Kinoko and the soften quirk user, Honenuki, were also present and looking somewhat nervous.

Not that he could blame them. This wasn't even the entire group of gathered heroes, there was a middle and back line too. What exactly did they expect to be facing? "Holding up alright over here, Clay," came the voice of Ms. Joke as she put a hand on his shoulder, "I can always give you a good laugh with my quirk if you're nervous."

"I'll admit I am a little worried," Clay replied, "but the thing is I don't know how worried I should be. We got some top-notch heroes out here and a solid plan of attack thanks to some surprisingly good info. But are we sure they don't already know we're here?"

"We've taken a lot more precautions this time around and we know how all of their sensor type's function," Ms. Joke replied, "so long as we move in and take them down fast, those liberation guys won't know what hit 'em."

"In theory," the cloud wielder said, "how often does that work out in practice?"

"You should know that already, Clay," Joke pointed out in a more serious tone, "when a fight starts all kinds of things can happen. I know you're worried about a lot of people here, but we're professionals and you and your friends will only be needed for a short time."

"Go in, hit 'em with our large area attacks and then get out," Clay repeated the plan he'd gone over numerous times in his head already, "if all goes well we catch 'em by surprise and neutralize the majority of their big guns before they even have a chance to hit back."

"Yep, simple right," Joke said, "you just worry about playing your role and we'll play ours."

"I guess when it comes down to it I'm more worried about my friends than me anyway," the cloud wielder admitted as he glanced towards the forest far in the back.

"All the more reason to do a good job up here," the pro heroine encouraged with a smile, "if we take all the villains down before they can get too far, the rear guard won't have to worry about a thing." Clay nodded in understanding, though he glanced one more time at the forest behind them before turning back to the front.

At About the Same Time: Team Edgeshot: Rear Guard

'This is kinda unreal,' Slade thought to himself as he leaned against a tree while looking in the direction of the Liberation Front's base, 'when was the last time a mass of heroes was gathered like this for a single operation? And the way we're organized, it's practically military in formation.' "Slade," the voice of Momo sounded, breaking him from his thoughts as she slid her arms around his left arm, "how are you holding up?"

"I should be asking you that," the density quirk user replied, "I was part of the Shie Hassaikai Raid so this isn't completely new to me. But just about everyone else here hasn't been part of an operation like this. And everyone else that has isn't even here." It was true, Uraraka, Midoriya, Bakugou, Todoroki, Tsuyu, and Iida along with Kota had all been sent to the nearby city to start evacuating the populace in case the fighting somehow spilled out of the mountain once the operation began.

Unsurprisingly Bakugou had been pissed about the fact he wasn't on the front line, even more so when he learned Kaminari, Tokoyami and Clay were going to be there. "I would be more worried if they'd sent you up there," Momo admitted, "as the rear guard we're just here to make sure no one sneaks up behind the main force or gets through them and escapes. In theory, we might not even see any action at all."

"I think we've both seen enough of what the League is capable of to know things are almost never that simple," Slade pointed out as he wrapped his arm around the creation girl's shoulders.

"You can say that again," Jirou commented as she and Mina both approached, "if the League really is in there they won't be happy to see any members of Class 1A running around."

"I still don't get why they sent Clay, Kaminari and Tokoyami up there," Mina said with her hands on her hips, "Amajiki makes sense because he's a member of the big three who's about to graduate but everyone else?"

"Not many other members of U.A. have the wide range attacks that those three do," Momo pointed out, "and don't forget that they have Honenuki and Komori up there as well."

"Jirou and I can do wide range attacks too, so what gives," Mina questioned irritably, "sure my acid might be a little dangerous to our allies but it's not like I'd burn any of them on purpose!"

"That's kinda the problem," Slade said with a sigh, "in most cases the ones they picked can control their quirk with more precision and even if they miss it's unlikely to be accidentally fatal. Jirou technically meets all of those criteria but we need her and Shoji's scouting abilities here to know what's going on."

"But the good news is Midnight promised they wouldn't be on the front lines long," Momo reminded them, "as soon as they complete their jobs Fat Gum will bring them right back and Clay and Tokoyami can fly them back if that somehow doesn't work out."

"That's the part that worries me," Jirou said, "I'm confident most of them will get the job done at least. Kaminari should make it if he can get his knees to stop shaking long enough. But with all that forward momentum happening will they even have a window where they can head back this way?"

"They'll find one," Slade assured as he clenched the fist of his other hand, "if there's one thing we learned in U.A. it's how to get ourselves out of sticky situations. Isn't that right?"

"Won't lie, we have done a lot of that," Mina admitted, "so I guess the best we can do is have faith. Also, can you cool it with the PDA, Momo, we already know how relieved you are that your boyfriend isn't out there." It's not that she and Jirou weren't happy that the two had finally gotten together, but the best they'd been able to do with Clay before he left was each give him a good luck kiss.

"Aw, but we have five more minutes until the operation starts," Momo replied in mock innocence, "would you deny this fair young maiden time with her prince?"

"NOW YOU'RE JUST RUBBING IT IN!" Jirou and Mina both exclaimed at the same time. Momo and Slade chuckled at this and before long the other two were giggling as well. It was true, all their nerves were on edge right now. But all they could do was have faith that the others would pull through.

"Everyone," Shoji announced suddenly as he spotted something with one of his eyestalks, "the front line is moving and the support line is dispersing towards the city!"

"It's time," Slade stated as everyone turned their game faces on. Whatever was going to happen now they would have to be ready for. The two-pronged assault on the Paranormal Liberation Front had begun.

At the Same Time: On the Front Lines

"Here we go!" Clay couldn't help but say aloud as his signature cloud gauntlets formed on his hands and his usual riding cloud was produced under his feet. He quickly lifted off the ground and floated forward, matching Kaminari and Tokoyami's running pace. The stampeding sound of numerous moving feet again reinforced to the U.A. student just how big this operation was. Even crazier was this was one of two teams. There was another team assaulting Jaku hospital at this very moment, being led by Endeavor.

It was believed that was where the major production of nomus was occurring and why Aizawa was also accompanying the team headed there. Clay also knew there was a personal reason he was there along with Present Mic and multiple other high-ranking heroes, like Mirko. Yet even with the number one hero leading the charge their assault paled in comparison to the size of this one, being led by the numer four hero, Edgeshot. There were so many in fact that they'd been divided into three main units.

There was the rearguard, where the majority of class 1A and 1B were stationed. There was logistical support, where Midoriya, Uraka, Iida and a few others from U.A. wound up. And then there was his unit, the advance guard. Well, perhaps he shouldn't consider it just his unit. "This is scary!" Kaminari exclaimed, "I want to be with everyone else!"

"You had the chance to say no," Tokoyami pointed out as he ran beside Kaminari and Clay.

"Like I'd just refuse when everyone was watching!" the electric quirk user replied in slight panic, "Do you think I want everyone to see my shameful, cowardly side?!"

"It's not exactly a secret," Clay pointed out, "you, Sero and Mineta are all kinda cut from a similar cloth. Probably why you get along so well."

"And I think he underestimates himself," Midnight said as she came running up alongside them, "I recall Mineta managed to pass his exam when he went up against me. And what we need from you, Chargebolt, is something that only you can do. Just think of it as helping us useless adults."

"But I don't think of you guys as useless adults!" Kaminari exclaimed back.

"What I think she means is that you're more amazing than you think," Tokoyami explained, "remember some of our early prep for the school festival?"

A Few Months Ago: Nighttime: U.A. Heights Alliance

"Am I bluuuuuue," Clay sang as he tapped out a slow rhythm on his keyboard, "you'd be toooo. If your dreeeeaaaams and your scheeeeeemes do-hu-ne fell throooooooough." He shifted to the next verse then as he continued playing a slow tune on his keyboard. "Am I bluuuuue? Am I bluuuuue? Ain't these teaaaars in these eyeeees tellin' youuuuuuu?"

"You know if you're gonna sing while warming down," Slade commented as he sat in a chair he'd brought in Clay's room, "at least pick something a little more upbeat. And ya know, actually sing it good."

"I guess I'd take more offense to that if I was gonna be the one singing at the festival," Clay replied good naturedly without stopping his keyboard playing.

"It's better than whatever Mineta had been screeching-ow," Kaminari stopped strumming his guitar as he put his hurt finger to his mouth.

"Guitar playing is hard on one's fingers, especially starting out," Tokoyami said, "should we stop for the day?"

"Naw, we can do a bit more," Kaminari assured, "I mean Jirou acts all embarrassed about loving music, so we should do our best to make it great for her, right?"

"That's the plan," Clay announced, "so if you guys are good we can go a bit longer."

"You know it!" the electric quirk user agreed as they continued.

Flashback End

"You're an amazing guy, thinking of your friends in your heart," Tokoyami encouraged, "just focus on what you have to do."

"And the people you want to protect," Clay added, "that's what's really gonna pull us through to the end here."

"Got it," Kaminari said as he took a breath, "Let's go!" The electric blond broke into a sprint then as the hero in the very front, Cementoss, reached the Gunga Village Compound and slammed his hands on the ground. The concrete pathway liquefied in rapid succession and rushed towards the building like an out-of-control wave before slamming into it. Like a normal wave its force split open the entrance to the building as if it was an egg, but unlike a normal wave the cement started flowing up and around the building's structure.

More entrances were torn open before the cement hardened, now acting as a support to hold the structure stable so that it wouldn't collapse on anyone inside. On the outside it looked like a massive, grotesque model of a building held together with way too much visible glue. "Don't let a single one of them get away!" Ordered Edgeshot as the advancing heroes charged towards the newly created pathways, "these are the kinds of people who will put their lives on the line for their goals! If we let even one of them escape, they'll become a threat later, so attack to protect!"

A cry rose from the other heroes as they moved to do just that. "Chargebolt!" Midnight called, "the first of the enemy leaders is out in the open!" And he was hard to miss. Even among the many individuals with odd quirks he stood out with the long black coat on his shoulders, a ponytail of black hair, save for a small sliver with a yellow lightning bolt hanging in front of his face and a long-sleeved button-up shirt with some kind of black stars on it.

This man was the user of the quirk amplivolt, and one of the big obstacles that needed to be cleared for this operation to be a success. That fact became evident quite quickly as he pulled out a taser and lit it up. Using his quirk, the normally small amount of electricity generated by the personal defense weapon skyrocketed, lightning up the area around the Paranormal Liberation Front leader. "Supreme Discharge," he began with a smile as an enormous web of electricity sprang from his hands, "Thundernet!"

The tendrils of lightning arced towards the group, threatening to fry the whole front line in short order. "No you don't!" Kaminari exclaimed as he held his finger up in the air, generating a charge of his own. Several heroes looked back in astonishment then as the electricity actually twisted away from them and all headed towards Kaminari who stood tall with his finger still raised in the air. "Yes, one Liberation Leader rendered powerless!" He proclaimed as he continued to absorb electricity like a lightning rod.

"Amazing Charge!" Cementoss complimented with a thumbs up from his spot out front.

"Thanks," the electricity wielder replied with a wide smile, "now let's finish this up quickly so that the guys in back won't have to worry about a thing!"

"Way ahead of ya," Clay responded as he sent some of his clouds back to slice through a small, nearby tree before yanking it into the air behind him, "one liberation wacko leader going down!" He sent the top of the tree flying at high speed, faster than the villain would've been able to dodge even if he hadn't been staring in openmouthed amazement. Something he most definitely regretted as the tree ran into him branches first before sending the amplivolt user into a wall that cratered slightly, leaving him unconscious.

"Good Cirrus, now observe," Edgeshot said as he used his quirk, Foldabody, to make himself extremely thin, basically the world's most lethal living string that rapidly pierced through the chests of multiple liberation members. "Ninpo: Thousand Sheet Pierce!" The blood flow of everyone he hit was stopped suddenly, causing them to fall unconscious on the ground. "I opened up a small hole in your lung. If you move around too much it may lead to death but stay still and it'll heal quickly."

"Damn, I'm writing that one down," Clay praised as he created more clouds to float over his head in Cumulus Combat Formation. A large mob of liberation fighters were coming out to meet the heroes, so the cloud wielder picked out a section of them and moved in. "Now try this!" The cloud formation moved in front of him and multiple fists formed that began striking out like a fully automatic weapon, pummeling any enemy unlucky enough to be in front of the attack. "Nora, nora, nora, nora, NORA!"

"I still don't know why that's what helps you concentrate for that move," Midnight commented as she flipped by him before jumping into the air. She already had part of her left sleeve pulled open and whipped out a pair of red and black fans before landing on the ground, avoiding a couple of villains and leaping upwards again. The power of her quirk, Somnambulist, spread out behind her with the sleep-inducing aroma knocking anyone unlucky enough to breathe too much unconscious. "But then again, I've heard worse battle cries."

Clay might've replied to that, but a pair of flying enemies came racing at him, forcing the student to increase his altitude. He still caught a glimpse of Kamui Woods wrapping up dozens of enemies in wooden vines with his Lacquered Chain Prison and Honenuki caught several more by softening the ground and causing them to sink all the way up to their waists. Komori ensured they were incapacitated with a healthy dose of her mushrooms growing all over them, including in their throats. 'Airborne quirks like those make me glad I wear a mask with a filter,' Clay mused as he spun and kicked the first of the flying villains, a bird-like man, down to the ground.

They were quickly apprehended by the charging heroes as the cloud wielder worked to deal with his second opponent, a female enemy floating on some kind of disc. "Fall you provoking hero!" yelled the liberation fighter as she pulled out and tossed a couple more discs at Clay who quickly evaded them by twisting and turning in the air.

"I think you mean 'proactive' hero," the U.A. student shot back as he leapt over a disc before grabbing the next one with his clouds and whipping it around, smacking his opponent in the face with the flat side. "You're the ones trying to start a war here." Though his rebuttal fell on deaf ears as his now barely conscious opponent fell to the ground below where she was caught by another hero. 'Seriously, how can there be this many nutjobs in one place,' Clay mused as he looked over the battlefield.

Their surprise attack seemed to be going well so far and he caught a glimpse of Tokoyami and Amajiki following Fat Gum inside the compound. Their job would be to help the pros keep the villains from escaping by sealing up the remaining passages underneath the building that Cementoss's quirk couldn't reach. Naturally there were other passages within the villa itself that led to the outside, but all of those exits were hit at the same time the main assault had begun. If all was as it should be, the only way out of this place would be to go through a mass of heroes.

Speaking of jobs, Clay still had his to take care of, bringing down the few fliers that managed to make it off the ground. A couple of them came up at him now, one with batwings and the other with dragon wings. 'Seems a good time to field test this attack,' he decided as he began spinning his cloud gauntlets at high speed. "Whirlwind Formation."

The first of his opponents came at him with reptilian claws raised, only to grunt in pain as Clay slammed the spiraling gauntlet into their midsection, sending them flying back towards the ground. The batwinged enemy tried coming at him from behind then but Clay quickly ascended to avoid the blow while flipping backwards in the air. His opponent was then surprised by his quick follow up kick to their back which sent them falling towards their comrade below. "Spiral Lance!"

He combined the two twisters on his arms then and shot them forward, obviously keeping the end blunt to dull the impact. Even so, it still slammed into his two opponents with plenty of force and sent them careening towards another group of attackers the cloud wielder just now caught sight of, and found he didn't have to worry about. They happened to be right in line of his new attack and were knocked down or out of the way before it finally dissipated. "Wow, gonna have to work on the delivery of that one a little bit," Clay noted before sending out some spinning cloud blades to cut through a few projectiles that had been aimed at him, "but that'll be for later. Right now, whole lot of business to take care of."

And so, he proceeded to fulfill his assigned role, taking out whatever aerial foe happened to get by the heroes before they could get high enough to escape or be a threat. It was probably only a few minutes that passed during this time, but it seemed a little longer than that before his earpiece suddenly buzzed. "Cirrus, all the other student's objectives are completed down here," Fat Gum informed, "I'm Fat Taxiing them to the back lines right now. You'd best head that way yourself."

"You sure I shouldn't hang around a bit longer," Clay asked before a large shape emerged from the forest and started stomping towards the villa. Thankfully, she was on their side.

"Mt. Lady should be able to swat down what's left of them assuming you left any," the pro hero replied, "and if any of them do get past her it'll be the rearguard's job to catch them anyway. You kids have done plenty already, so head back and we'll tighten the net until all these criminals are captured."

"Since you're insisting, I guess," the U.A. student said before turning and starting his flight back towards the rest of class's 1A and 1B. 'Oh well, on the upside I'll get to see Mina, Jirou and the others sooner,' he reminded himself, 'so if I fly a bit faster I should show up well before-BOOOOMM!' "The shit?" He turned to look back at the villa and found that one of the larger windows on the top floor had suddenly exploded.

And flames were spewing out of it, blue flames. 'So Dabi's here,' Clay realized as he stopped in midair, now wondering if rejoining the rearguard was the best thing he could do right now. The presence of one League of Villains member usually meant the others weren't far behind. If that was the case, then the other heroes who'd never fought the league members before might have trouble even with their numbers.

At the same time, he realized that some of the top heroes were here right now in overwhelming force. In theory that should be more than enough. But Clay could feel his old doubts creeping up as memories of the forest training camp and Kamino came to mind. In the end, though, his decision was made for him as Fat Gum's voice came over his earpiece again. "Clay, we got a problem!"

"What is it," he asked while witnessing another blast of flames from the top of the villa.

"It's Tokoyami!" Fat Gum exclaimed, "He's heading towards the top floor of the villa!"

"He's what?!" Clay practically yelled back over his earpiece, "why?!"

"No time to explain," the pro hero responded frantically, "I'm already heading back that way, but you need to try and intercept him too! Then do whatever you have too in order to get him back to the rearguard!"

"On it," the cloud wielder acknowledged before turning around and racing towards the villa at top speed. If it was a straight up race between him and the wielder of dark shadow, Clay would have the advantage, under normal circumstances. The problem right now, though, was how much of a headstart Tokoyami had before Fat Gum contacted him? 'Guess the only thing to do right now is head to where he's heading and find out what the big deal is,' he decided.

Thankfully it was a short trip, and the blue flames made it easy for him to find what he was looking for. Problem was when he arrived at his destination, he didn't like what he found. Tokoyami had made it to his goal, an injured hero who he'd covered with his cape while keeping Dark Shadow out and ready to face the opponent standing several feet in front of them, Dabi. Thanks to the villa's open spaced interior that resembled a hotel, and the fact that it was split wide open, flying in was easy. The hard part would be what came next.

He didn't have time to think or plan and knew that his opponent may have seen him already, so he did the only thing he thought he could strategically: charge straight in. He crossed the open space of the villa in only a couple seconds, forming a mass layer of clouds in front of him as he did so. And just as he feared, his enemy, Dabi, saw him coming and raised his left hand. The next thing the cloud wielder knew, his vision was engulfed.

"CLAAAAAAAYYYY!" Tokoyami yelled as he watched his friend charge in with his clouds ready to smash his opponent, only for Dabi to notice at the last second and fire a torrent of flame at him. The man grinned maniacally, as he'd been doing for some time now, at the fact that he'd incinerated another living person. But then, something incredible happened.

The smile was wiped off of his face, courtesy of a gloved fist shooting out from the steam and flames that nailed him right between the eyes and caused him to stagger backwards for multiple steps. "Long time no see, you charbroiled bastard," Clay said after he landed on the ground a couple feet from his new opponent. "Mind tellin' me why you're pickin' on my friends?"

And we are back at last! Wow it's been a minute on this story so apologies if things seem a little shaky at first as I dust off the cobwebs. Good news is it won't take long to reach the cool parts in this arc, so in the meantime feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked/where the Kevin Conroy tribute was or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Also, check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited! Finally, be sure to stop in next time as our hero squares off against the maniacal pyro that is Dabi! 'Til then.