There And Back Again [Black Clover x BNHA]

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"You gonna let us just walk on out of here, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?" Dabi drawled, shoving his hands into his pockets while a slight smirk crossed his face.

"You're a wanted criminal. We obviously can't just let you leave." Todoroki replied icily, taking a fighting stance. Kirishima grabbed his arm, gaining his attention.

"Dude," he started in a whisper, "You don't have your license yet. Now I'm all for stopping them, but I don't want to see you get in trouble."

"I think the police will have to find it in themselves to understand that we weren't given much of an option." Was all the reply he got as a streak of blue flame came flying by them.

"Consider that a warning shot." Dabi lit up a small ball of blue fire in his hand, Toga happily pulling out her knives. "Now be good little heroes and run away before this becomes messy."

"Maybe if I can capture one of them the boss could use them for something." Mr. Compress stuffed the parts he had gotten into his pockets, idly twirling a little marble in his fingers. "Two of them I don't recognize. I'm sure there's lots of fun things we could do with them." The older villain chuckled darkly.

Shit shit shit shit shit, Vanessa thought to herself, wishing that Nemuri and her hadn't split up the kids. She didn't know who these people were, but she knew trouble when she saw it. Glancing at the kids in front of her, she knew she had to be careful as to not let them get hurt. Rouge appeared on her back at her silent beckon and hid in her hair as to not be seen.

"Alright," she said sternly, "I need you boys to get behind me. I'm currently the one in charge so that means you have to listen to me."

"Miss, you don't know who these guys are! They're serious trouble!" Kirishima said, eyes not leaving the villains in front of them.

"I get that, but I don't want you three to get hurt."

"I don't think we're getting a choice!" Asta yelled as Dabi unleashed a surge of blue flames towards them.

Without a moment's hesitation Vanessa used her thread to yank back the three boys, sending them flying behind her and out of reach of the flames. The tips of the flames danced along her skin as Rouge was currently going for Toga who was lunging for them. Hissing in pain, Vanessa stood strong and watched as the girl was thrown off balance, missing her by inches. Looking down at her arm, she saw ugly burns beginning to form. However, she ignored it, the boys being more important to her.

By this point, screams of panic had begun to sound in the store, civilians running for their lives. The flames caught onto the shelves and goods, growing strong. Nemuri's group quickly dashed towards the direction of the smoke, pushing past the crowd of frantic people.

This isn't good! Nemuri thought. I'm glad Aizawa had the sense to send me, but dear lord I wasn't expecting this! Thinking quickly, the R-rated hero threw a plan together in her head.

"Uraraka! Mimosa!" The two girls looked at her, coming to a standstill as she did. "I want you two to protect the innocent civilians. Tend any wounds that they may have received from the burst of fire and keep them away from this area. And don't fight me on this!" She added when she saw Uraraka open her mouth to protest.

Both girls nodded their heads, taking off towards the front of the store, calling out for people to come with them for protection. Nemuri watched for a brief moment before hurrying towards the others. What she came upon was not what she wanted to see.

Todoroki had tried using his ice as a barrier, trying to cut off them from the villains while also making sure the civilians wouldn't be trapped with them. However, Dabi's flames easily melted the walls he made, forcing the teen to use his own flames in defense.

Kirishima had completely hardened, dodging Toga's knives while trying to get a hit in. Rouge was also aiding by tapping the girl occasionally, although the cat was also trying to interfere with Mr. Compress who was hellbent on capturing Vanessa.

The witch was trying to tie up the villains, but was mostly focused on the boys, making sure they weren't going to get hurt. More burns began to decorate her skin as Rouge was not protecting her but Vanessa couldn't care less. The kids didn't have any serious injuries yet and that was all that mattered to her at the moment.

Asta had drawn out his greatsword, using it as a means to deflect the flames back towards the villains. He and Todoroki had come up with a method in the process where the dual teen would shoot flames at him and he'd send them flying towards Dabi. The three moved in a deadly dance, avoiding flames at all costs.

Nemuri swore under her breath, checking the surrounding area as she did so. Seeing some civilians who had been trapped by debri, she dashed over to them, leaving the villains to the others as she couldn't leave these people in trouble.

"Kirishima!" Asta called out, sending blue flames back at Dabi.

"Yeah!" The spiky-haired teen called back, blocking one of Toga's jabs with his hardened arms.

"Switch with me for a second! I have an idea!"

Without missing a beat, Kirishima dodged the girl's next attack, sprinting over to where Todoroki stood. Asta slid with ease under a stream of fire, using the momentum to nail Toga in the back with the blunt side of his sword. The girl went flying, crashing through the stocked shelves.

"How dare you?!" Mr. Compress raged.

The man dashed towards the mage, now intending to capture him instead. Rouge jumped onto his back, throwing the man into nearby shelving, giving Asta a chance to get back.

Dabi took this opportunity to send flames towards the anti-magic user, finally understanding how the damned cat worked. Since it was focused on Mr. Compress he used this chance to burn the annoying mage.

And he did.

Asta screamed out in pain, Kirishima having been a second too late to interfere. Finally, he hardened himself to his unbreaking form, taking the fire head on. Todoroki used his ice to knock Dabi straight into the back wall, the villain grunting in pain from the collision.

"Oh dear." A voice calmly said, watching the havoc halt in front of him. "It's time for you three to come home now, I believe." Kurogiri stepped out of a portal that had formed behind Vanessa while she was focused on Mr. Compress.

"That bastard hurt Toga!" Dabi snarled, hands itching to ignite. "He can't get away with that!"

"He won't." Was all the wisp man replied. "None of them will."

Purple portals appeared underneath each of the villains, slowly taking them away. A larger one appeared on the back wall. Inching further and further away, the heroes and mages shuddered at the inhuman screech that came out of it.

"Have fun." And with that the villains had disappeared, but not before carressing the witch's head in what could only be a warning.

From the largest portal though, a Nomu stepped out, crawling on its hands and feet like a rabid beast. Wings protruded from it's back, broken and tattered. As usual of its kind, brains were exposed on the top of it's head while razor sharp teeth stuck out from the mouth.

Standing on its hind legs, the Nomu unleashed a deafening roar causing the mages and heroes to cover their ears. Nemuri looked on in fear as she joined the group having just freed the trapped civilians.

The battle was only now getting started.

Question: are you guys ready for some angst???

~Zelinith