The Rumbling Storm

I grit my teeth, as I attempt to stand up and use my quirk only to fail once again, 'Just a little longer… They'll come right?'

After 12 hours of being inside, the seeds of doubt were finally beginning to plant themselves in my mind, 'How many days has it been already? Weeks? Months? Am I even at the Nomu factory? What if this is a different location? What if the operation already happened?'

I try to think as my heartbeat rings in my ear and I slam my fist into the floor, "SHIT!!!"

Then a thought occurs to me, 'How are they keeping my quirk inactive? It has to have been a while since the last dose…'

Panic starts to overcome me, 'Oy oy oy! Do they have a quirk canceller already? No, it can't be. I haven't been involved with Overhaul… unless that bastard Gray did something!'

I pull my knees up to my chest and hold my hands over my ear, trying to block the constant sound of my body, 'Fuck fuck fuck! This isn't how it's supposed to go! Shit! This happened because of that bastard!'

The image of Gabriel pops into my head, 'Because of that fucker, I'm in this shit hole of a mess.'

Then I hear an offended voice, 'I'd rather you not call me that, I have feelings too you know.'

I immediately pull my legs down and look around suspiciously, 'Gabriel… it's been a while, you fucker.'

He laughs lightly, 'Not really, but for you, yes.'

My expression darkens, 'What do you want? I'm in kind of a tough situation right now, thanks to a certain someone,' I say the last part with a venomous tone.

He laughs again, 'Just for the record, I wasn't here. Contact between the directors and the actors is forbidden, but when one of your actors goes missing and is out of action for awhile, people can't help but worry.'

'Directors? Actors! What the fuck are you talking about?'

His tone changes to a slightly serious one, 'Nevermind that. I was able to compromise with the higher-ups because of your popularity. Here's what I can tell you. He injected you with multiple doses so that it works longer. You've been here for twelve hours give or take, and the big battle is coming up soon. I will reactivate your quirks around that time. After that, it's up to you. Be ready.'

I slowly stand up, supporting myself against the wall, 'I don't know half the stuff you are saying, but…' the corners of my mouth move up as a grin appears on my face.

The fire in my chest had reignited itself, 'Don't worry, I will be.'

*All Might POV*

I look over to Enji who is flexing his mechanical fingers as Tsukauchi explains the plan, "Don't worry, Enji. We'll get Natsu and the other back."

But Enji shakes his head, "That's not what I'm worried about. It's that Gray that is a major threat. Whichever team has to deal with him, will not have an easy fight."

I look at him in surprise, "Even if you're against him?"

He looks at me with a serious expression, "I don't know how… but he can move in my time stop."

My eyes widen even more, "Oy, are you serious!?"

He nods, "I wouldn't get caught off guard that easily in a normal fight unless he did something completely unexpected. Like, attack me, while time is stopped."

I stand there quietly absorbing the information that Enji had given me.

Endeavor clicks his teeth, "Tsk, why do I have to clean up after U.A. I am a busy man you know."

The voice of Best Jeanist speaks from the monitor in front of us, "Don't be like that, Endeavor. You went to U.A. too right?"

Tsukauchi explains, "Right now, we cannot call any heroes away from U.A. Please look at the big picture, Endeavor."

Tsukauchi turns to face the rest of us, "It's possible that this incident will become the impetus for the destruction of hero society. We must give it our all to make sure we resolve this successfully."

Best Jeanist says, "In the past, I invited Bakugo to my agency in order to reform his behavior. There are very few men as stubborn as he is. He is probably fighting back right now. The situation requires us to act fast."

Gang Orca looks slightly surprised, "Not even you were able to change him?"

Jeanist covers his face, remembering Bakugo's time at the agency, "He was inflexible with pride down to the roots of his hair."

Tiger from the Wild Wild Pussycats, cracks his knuckles, "My comrade, Ragdoll, was also taken. I cannot overlook this at a personal level either."

Enji also adds, "Those bastards took one of my students… My limbs were bad enough, but this... this is taking it too far"

Tsukauchi continues to talk, "from our investigation, we have figured out where the kidnapped victims are located. We'll send the bulk of our force there and prioritize on getting the victim back. At the same time, we will gain control of the other location which we believe is their hideout. Cutting off all paths of retreat to arrest all of them at once."

Gran Torino calls my name, "Toshinori, since they're calling out the likes of me-"

But I cut him off, "There's nothing to "the likes of you" about you, Gran Torino. With such big developments, that guy will definitely move."

*Deku POV*

"So this is Kamino Ward?"

We all look around the busy street with people walking all around, shopping for whatever they need.

Todoroki mutters, "There's a lot of people."

Kirishima grinds his teeth, "So those guys are hiding somewhere in this city, huh?"

He immediately dashes forwards, "OK! Where are they, Yaoyarozu?!"

But she hisses at him, "Wait a minute! From here on out, we must be very very careful. The villains know what we look like, remember?"

The rest of us quietly listen as Momo explains, "We must also consider that we may be attacked at any moment."

I nod, "Got it! Gotta be covert!"

Iida puts his hand to his lip, "But at this rate, we won't be able to scout properly."

Kirishima sighs and scratches the back of his head, "Then what are we supposed to do?"

Momo points over to the Donki Oote supermarket nearby, "I have a suggestion."

A few minutes later, we are all walking in various assortments of clothing.

Todoroki pulls on the wig that covered his hair and one of his eyes, "Disguises, huh?"

Momo nods her head enthusiastically, "Exactly."

Then Iida points out, "If we were doing this, couldn't you just make it all for free?"

She starts speaking hastily, "B-but that would be wrong. We need to circulate money. Yup. As a citizen of the nation, I need to increase the flow of money in the economy."

The rest of us are thinking, 'The rich girl just wanted to go inside Donki, right?'

Momo regains her composure and looks at the tracker that led to the Nomu, "Everyone, our destination is thi-"

"Oh, it's UA!"

We all turn quickly, panicking at how our disguises have been seen through so quickly, but then we look at the large screen on one of the buildings. Aizawa, Vlad King, and Principle Nezu are all bowing in front of the reporters.

"And now please watch a clip from the U.A. High school apology conference that just occurred."

We walk closer to the screen to get a better view, "Aizawa sensei."

Momo mutters, "Even the principal…"

Aizawa starts speaking, "We deeply apologize for the incident that allowed harm to come to 26 first years of the hero course because of our unpreparedness. We apologize for the unease in society due to our negligence in properly defending ourselves as a place of learning."

All three of the U.A. staff bow, "We are truly sorry."

Kirishima looks up in mild shock, "Aizawa Sensei, who hates being on TV, is…"

A voice off-screen speaks up, "I'm from Yomiuri TV. Since the beginning of the year, U.A. High School students have had four encounters with villains. This time, there were even students who were severely injured. To top that off, three students have been kidnapped with reports of the third being mortally wounded. How did you explain to their families, and what are some specific countermeasures you are taking?"

I clench my fist, 'From the sports festival, they should know what U.A's basic position is. Is he still going to make them say it?'

Iida looks conflicted, "Treating them like the bad guys…?

Principle Nezu speaks up, "We will increase policing in the surrounding areas and review security within the school, ensuring the student's safety with a strong position. That is what we told them."

The people start complaining, "What the hell are they saying?"

"They're not being protected at all."

"Hero schools aren't usually defeated by villains."

"That's disappointing, U.A."

We quickly get out of there and keep on moving towards the target.

*Bakugo POV*

The man called Shigaraki turns off the TV and spins towards us, "It's so strange… Why are the heroes being criticized? The way they were dealing with things was just a little off the mark."

I grit my teeth and Tokoyami glares at him while Shigaraki sighs and shrugs his shoulders, "Is it because it's their job to protect? Everyone makes a mistake or two. Are they supposed to be perfect? Man, Modern-day heroes are so uptight. Don't you think, Bakugo? Tokoyami?"

The lizard man glares at us, "Once heroes receive compensation to protect people, they aren't heroes anymore. That is Stain's teaching."

"The society that sticks to these tight rules… The citizens blame the losers rather than encourage them… Our fight is to question: What is a hero? What is justice? Is society truly just? We'll have everyone thinking about it."

His red eyes stare at us from behind the hand covering his face, "We're planning on winning. You like winning, too, right?"

There is a moment of silence as we glare at each other before Shigaraki points at us, "Dabi, release his restraints."

Dabi turns and looks at Shigaraki like he's dumb, Huh? This guy's gonna fight you know."

But Shigaraki ignores it, "It's fine, We need to treat them as equals since we're scouting them. Besides… you can tell if you'll win or not if you fight in this situation, right, U.A. Students?"

Dabi looks at Tokoyami and me before glancing at another member, "Twice, you do it."

Twice holds his hand up, "What, me? No way. He's scary."

But Dabi pushes him forwards, "Just do it."

"Man…"

Mr. Compress shakes his head, "I do apologize for using such forceful methods. But please understand that we are not just a mob trying to commit crimes. We didn't kidnap you by accident."

We both stay quiet listening to the Leagues speech as the man named, Twice releases our restraints, "Even though our situations differ, everyone here has been restricted and suffered because of people… rules… and heroes…

I roll my wrists and Tokoyami stretches out as Twice finishes up the ankle restraints.

Shigaraki walks forwards, "I'm sure that-"

But the moment, Tokoyami was free, we both kicked our chairs out and I shove my hand in front of Shigaraki, "Take this!

An explosion occurs and Shigarkai gets knocked back, with his hand mask getting knocked off.

Tokoyami grabs Twice using Dark Shadow and holds a sharp claw to his neck, "Don't move."

I roll my neck, a grin forming on my face, "I listened quietly to your endless talking… Idiots can't get to the point, so they're always talking for a long time. Basically, you mean, "We wanna harass people, so please join us," right?"

I smirk at the people in front of us, "Don't bother. I want to win like All Might. No matter what anyone says, that will never change."

'They bothered to launch a huge operation, but they only got Me and Tokoyami. On top of that, they told us what they wanted. To them, we are important that they can potentially use. Since they're trying to turn us to their side, they won't try to kill us seriously. Plus we have a hostage, they won't make the preemptive strike. With the two of us, we can take down a few before we escape.'

I grin yelling out, "Just so you know! I'm still allowed to fight!"

There is a black flash and I hear a quiet voice behind me, "Oh, is that so? Then you don't mind dying then, do you?"

A piercing cold starts to spread from my neck, and my world flips over. A second later, I land on the floor, and I am looking at a headless body.

'That's… my body…'

Then I blink, and my head is still on my shoulders. I still feel the cold feeling on my neck and I slowly turn my head to stare into the eyes of a man with spiky black hair and dark marks covering parts of his face. I look at Tokoyami and his eyes are also wide, and we both see the icy knife at the other's throat.

'If I move… I will die…'

*Gray POV

Bakugo slowly says, "Y-You bastard… When did you get here?"

I smirk, "Easy, I walked over."

Shigaraki mutters, "Gray… take your knives off of them."

I lay my eyes on Shigaraki and release killing intent at him, causing him and the rest of the League to freeze up, "What are you gonna do about it?"

No one says anything for a few seconds and I sigh, looking at Tokoyami, "Let go of Twice, boy."

Tokoyami slowly releases Twice and pulls Dark Shadow back into his body. I keep both knives against their throats as Twice walks away.

For a few seconds, I glare at the two of them before pocketing my knives, "They're all yours, Shigaraki."

I scratch the back of my head and move to the bar and order a gin.

Shigaraki recovers and picks up his mask, "Too bad, I thought that we could have come to an agreement. Master… I need your power."

Bakugo furrows his eyebrows, "Master? You're not the boss around here?"

A voice from the monitor chuckles, "Hehe, that's a good decision, Tomura Shigaraki.

Shigaraki points to the pair, "Kurogiri, Compress makes them go to sleep."

I smile lightly, "I could do it you know."

But he glares at me, and I chuckle, "Uwaa, scary."

Mr. Compress starts moving forwards, but then we hear a knock on the door, "Hello, this is Pizza Cabin, Kamino."

Immediately, I glare suspiciously at the door and draw my knives.

Everyone else just looks at the door in confusion and Spinner gets up, "Who ord-ARGH!!!"

"SMASH!!!"

All Might busts through the wall and sends Spinner flying, "What th-!"

SHigaraki yells out, "Kurogiri! GATE!!!"

Another person swung through the hole that All Might had made, "Pre-emptive Binding: Lacquered Chain Prison!"

I smirk and cut the wood easily as the rest of the league gets captured. I pull my arm back and throw a knife at All Might.

But everything else freezes and a grin appears on my face, "So, your back for round two… Enji!"

An old man in traditional Japanese clothing walks through the hole All Might made, "Where is my student you bastard?!?!"

Meanwhile at a different location.

*Izuku POV*

My hands are still shaking from seeing the number of Nomus that were sitting in containers when Kirishima looks to the side and points out, "What the- look out!"

A loud crash could be heard and blasts of wind knocked off our balance. We look over at the wall, surprised to see not only Mt. Lady but a large assortment of other heroes and police.

The gears in my mind are spinning, 'Mt. Lady? Best Jeanist? Tiger? Even the police? Could it be… The police were already moving?!'

Momo sighs, "Oh, thank god. They're already acting. That means we don't need to do anything."

Then… traces of flames could be seen out of the cracks in the ground. Followed quickly by explosions, then screaming.

The pro heroes look around confusedly, Best Jeanist pulls some of the police out of the way from the fire, "This fire… could it be?"

An area near them explodes as fire bursts out of the crevice, and Best Jeanist yells, "MOVE!!!"

He pulls everyone out of the way and then moves himself out of harm's way, as the whole area lights up, with fire erupting from the ground, followed by a burst of insane laughter.

A tall boy with spiky salmon-colored hair, hops out of the hole, slightly skinnier than I remembered, laughing his head off, "AHAHAHAHA!!! GUESS WHO'S BACK MOTHER FUCKERS!!!!"

AN: Almost to 5k collections, and I am working as fast as I can to get Chapter 50 out, cause that would be satisfying as hell.

The thing between Gabriel and Natsu… let's just call it plot armor.

Also, I am very excited to write the next fight scenes. Group battles, rematches, and a huge boss battle coming very soon!