HEROIC AND AFRAID II: WILDFIRE
Kirishima worriedly backed away from the crocodile swimming towards him. "You really don't want to eat me. I'm super tough, you'll just break your teeth."
The crocodile, mistaking Kirishima's warning for the spurious claims of frightened prey, lunged. It hissed and roared as half its teeth cracked.
"I tried to warn you, my dude. Here, let me see, I'll try to help."
As Kirishima waded towards the crocodile, a python slithered through the water and bit his heel. It thrashed in agony in the water, its fangs snapped in two.
"Oh, crud, did I step on you? That was totally not cool of me."
A spider leapt down and bit his neck. The arachnid hissed swears at him and plopped into the water. Kirishima snapped it up. "I hope you're still breathing. Does anyone know how to do CPR on a tarantula?"
Mineta woke to a suffocating pressure surrounding him. Worming his way towards the light, he poked his head out and took a deep breath.
He looked around. The Australian outback zipped by as two enormous legs bounded underneath him.
"Oh cool. Is this what it's like to be tall?"
Then he looked closer at the pouch he sat in. It was furry, and connected to those two giant legs. Mineta froze, suddenly terrified to turn around. Instead, he huddled back into the pouch and hoped baby kangaroos got snickers bars to eat.
Tokoyami knew that throwing himself between a little girl and four giant angry birds wasn't a smart idea, but he didn't sign up for hero school to do the smart thing.
He held out his hands, stopping the charge in his tracks. The cassowary hissed and pecked at him, but Tokoyami held his ground.
"Whoa, easy. I'm a bird, just like you guys. We're cool, right?"
The cassowary jumped and clawed at him. Tokoyami's cloak tore, and Dark Shadow billowed out of the tear.
"Who dares disturb my slumber?" Dark Shadow boomed.
The cassowary squawked in panic. Then, seeing the giant, nebulous bird shadow looming before them, the cassowary prostrated themselves. Their chirps and warbles sounded ominously like prayer. More cassowary filed in, dragging sheep and goats, shaking incense censers, and donning black robes.
When one cassowary offered Tokoyami a bowl of fruit, he decided that being a god of scary Australian birds might make a nice career change.
Aoyama huddled before a pile of dried branches, shivering in the cold Australian night. "C'est f-f-freezing, but for a dazzling individual such as myself, tis a splendid opportunity to demonstrate both my brilliant Quirk and my brilliant mind. Behold, my navel laser!"
A thin trickle of light hit the twigs, starting a tiny fire. Aoyama's eyes lit up. "And let there be light. Magnifique!"
A spark leapt from the fire to the tall, dry grass. The entire horizon went up like an ocean of gasoline.
As animals stampeded and firefighting helicopters swooped in like hawks, Aoyama curled up and hoped no one would notice him.
498
So, the author's note at the end of the last one might have been a lie, but in my defense, I had to save the best for last.