Smoking The Competition

**Users Involved:** User:SamuelGreenawalt, User:Mr.Zeno999
**Date Started:** November 2nd 2023
**Date Concluded:** Ongoing
**Status:** Open
**Setting:**
**Characters Involved**: James Hanlon, Shane Speed

## Drive By

**ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!**

The sound of the race cars flying past the fans at almost 185 miles an hour down the straightaway! The sound of 33 cars driving past each other in the near 2 mile track that consisted of constricted corners and long straightaways in between. The fans were all still there cheering for their favorite driver as they passed the grandstands!

It was a beautiful day for racing, outside of the race track was the beach and waterside attractions that populated Long Beach today in the hot weather.

The race only has a couple laps to go! The race was in competition still between the two drivers in front as they were exchanging the racing leads. One driver was in an all red race car while the other one had a black and yellow race car as they were battling for the lead! The driver in red was Shane Speed, one of the most popular drivers in the racing era currently! As the black and yellow car's driver was his rival, Henry Hornet, and they are not exactly friendly toward each other at all. So this race has been becoming a personal race to them!

"Ugh I can't shake him off!!" Shane shouts into his helmet as he has been trying to block Henry for the past couple laps.

"Keep your head level kid." Shane's crew chief answers back from the intercom headset that was in Shane's helmet, "Focus on the track ahead, you only got 4 laps to go."

"Right.....thanks Buddy." Shane states as he goes on and continues his race in a focused state of mind.

"Is it time, boss?" James spoke into the phone, as a wicked grin dawned upon his face, as he initiated his plan. Using his quirk, a eerie black smoke began billowing out onto the race track, shrouding it in an impenetrable darkness. Panic gripped some of the drivers as their visibility vanished, causing them to swerve erratically off the course.

"Gotcha, boss," James said under his breath. With a snap of his fingers, the ominous black smoke transformed into a raging tempest of powerful purple flames. The sudden inferno sent shockwaves of chaos and destruction rippling through the once peaceful race. The ferocious flames consumed cars, their metal frames twisting and melting as if they were made of wax. Terrified racers desperately tried to escape the scorching embrace of the fire, their screams echoing through the inferno. As the flames raged, James descended onto the track, his malevolent presence unveiled to the racers and the horrified spectators in attendance.

Spectators were fleeing and screaming as the strange smoke and fire consumed the race track! The officials trying to gain back peace but the terror of the stranger was too much for the crowd as they ran for their lives!

As Shane and his rival turn the corner to head into the straightaway, they suddenly see the flames that this sudden arrival has created! Shane's rival brakes hard only to crash right into the flames! Shane's eyes would widen as his car would go right through the fire and flames! He pulls out of the fire before his car veers and suddenly throws a spectacular flip in the air! The car crashed upside down with it in shambles!

"Shane! Are you alright!?!" The crew chief in his intercom asks frantically.

"I'm alright..." Shane responds, "But my car is stuck upside down like a cow that was just tipped!" He pulls himself out of the car, noticing how close the flames are to him before slowly walking back from the fires. Shane removes his helmet, showing his brown hair and aqua eyed features. He looks toward the stranger that was in the middle of the attack, seeing that this guy is the reason behind the smoke and fires as well as the terror of screams from the civilians. Shane then shouts over,

"HEY! If you wanted an autograph from me you could've waited after the race!" speaking with some slight humor knowing it probably wouldn't accomplish much.

"Like anyone would seek an autograph from a racer of your caliber," James sneered, his voice laced with annoyance, as he unleashed more of the inky black smoke. The thick fog encircled him and Shane, swirling into a menacing tornado of obscurity. With a sinister grin, James continued, his words dripping with laughter, "I was offered quite a handsome sum to kill you, Shane. It's not my usual line of work, but the amount that was offered was too much to resist." As he uttered those words, he snapped his fingers, and the swirling vortex of smoke transformed into a seething tempest of eerie purple flames. The sudden burst of flames enveloped the duo, instantly creating a sweltering and stifling atmosphere.

Shane was seen sweating profusely as the flames were surrounding them nearer while the heat seemed to not affect James around, "Well you're probably thinking it's not normal to bounty hunt a race car driver. Which you'd be right! But.....there is something about me you should know..." He then presses a button that was connected to his earpiece, as then a box jumps right out of where Shane's race car was! The box then opens up and Shane touches the box to initiate the armor's activation as the armor goes on him. The suit up started with his fingers that he touched, go through the arms, then down his torso and legs before covering his head with a red titanium alloy suit. It was the signature suit that belonged to **The Racing Hero: CyRacer!**

"Now, that feels much better." The now revealed CyRacer states as he was in the armor, "Even comes equipped with full air conditioning!"

"Ah, the genius move of putting yourself in an iron suit," James remarked sarcastically, a mocking tone underscoring his words. As he spoke, a smirk played on his lips, revealing a hint of amusement at Shane's choice.

Not content with mere words, James decided to to give his mockery form with action. With a swift and purposeful motion, he conjured a dense tendril of smoke that snaked through the air, homing in on Shane. The tendril, dark and foreboding, moved with an almost sentient quality, aiming to wrap itself around Shane's iron-clad form.

"WOAH!" CyRacer kicks on the afterburners and flies as the tendrils of smoke chased the superhero around! The tendrils kept following him wherever he went! "What are these things?!?! And why won't they stop following me?!" He then circles back toward James who was on the ground, "Perhaps taking out the owner of these things will stop them!" He then points his palms at James, "**Hydrogen Burst!**" CyRacer shouts as he fires off a couple blasts of Hydrogen from the palm of his hands!

Witnessing the hydrogen beams hurtling in his direction, James swiftly evaded the impending blast. Once again, employing his quirk, he generated an additional billow of dense black smoke, shrouding himself from CyRacer's line of sight. "You know Hydrogen wouldn't be the best plan of action against me" James mocked as his voice and his taunts echoed throughout the smoke,as if they were transported into an empty room. "Now I'll love to watch how you'll die" He said as launched more black smokey tendrils at CyRacer while still hidden in his smoke.

CyRacer tries to keep avoiding them before he wasn't able to beat one of those tendrils as he'd get smacked in the armor with a smokey tendril! Sending him down onto the race track asphalt! Good thing he had the armor on, or else that could've been serious damage!

"Ouch...knew I should've had mini shock absorbers somewhere in my armor...." CyRacer comments, "*Dang he is really being a pain in my butt right now...I might have to call in assistance, we'll have to wait and see!*" His thoughts as he was pinned by the tendrils!

"It's been a delight meeting you, but I'm afraid our little playdate ends now," James declared with a sly smile, the air charged with an unsettling tension. With a fluid motion, he harnessed the second nature of his Quirk, commanding the inky black smoke that enveloped both him and Shane to undergo a dramatic transformation.

In an instant, the once ominous smoke erupted into a frenzied dance of raging, hot purple flames. The sudden metamorphosis painted the scene with an otherworldly glow, casting an eerie ambiance over the encounter. Undeterred, he directed the newly-formed flames towards Shane. The remaining tendrils of the once-concealing smoke now took on a more aggressive role, hurtling towards their target with a relentless determination. The heat emanating from the purple flames intensified, creating a formidable assault.

"Blast! Seems like he's leveling up the fight now!" CyRacer rises up and avoids some of the tendrils with dodging speed, "We barely got started!" He comments as he barely dodges another one next to him, "Let's see if I can knock some of those back! **Racing Kick: 2000 RPM!!!**" He shouts as he fires hydrogen air blades that'd attempt to knock back the blasts coming from James!

"Brilliant move, launching flammable gas at fire," James sneered, his voice laced with biting sarcasm, as the intense flames he wielded collided with Shane's hydrogen blast. The meeting of these opposing forces resulted in a cataclysmic explosion that echoed through the arena, engulfing the surroundings in a searing burst of chaos. The shockwave rattled the very foundation of the stands, and unfortunate spectators found themselves caught in the fiery aftermath, their startled screams blending with the crackling flames.

"Some hero you are." James taunted as he seized the opportunity, sending another tendril of purple fire swirling towards Shane.

"Shoot!" CyRacer notices the collateral damage that was caused by the two explosive attacks colliding! "*I was able to stop the attacks from getting me but I got to watch my surroundings. I'm closer to the city than we are the beach. I got to move the fight somewhere else if I want to go all out like that!*" He then starts leaping into the air, "*I'll have to get to him up close to fight!*" He then gets faster in the air, "**Racing Speed: 9,000 RPM!**" He speeds in the air almost as light as a feather, "**Racing Slice: 2,000 RPM!!**" He shouts as got closer to the villain before attempting to deliver a devastating right chop!

"Dammit, he got faster" James thought to himself as frustration crossed his mind before he swiftly raised his hand to intercept Shane's lightning-quick chop. The impact resonated through his arm, but James gritted his teeth, determined not to show any weakness in the face of his opponent's newfound speed. Adapting to the situation, he simultaneously employed his other hand to command his Quirk into action. More ethereal tendrils of smoke and flame materialized at his command, snaking their way towards Shane with a newfound urgency.

"**Support Item: Shield!**" CyRacer shouts as the tendrils slammed right into a force field that was created from a button on his wrists. Despite the aerial shield protecting him, it did create some damage on the force field.

"*WARNING: Support Shield down at 58%!*" A computer inside CyRacer's armor says to Shane.

"*Blast! It took more than 40 percent of the shield; looks like I can't rely on it too much!*" CyRacer then flies back to James as he'd throw a fake punch before ducking and swinging his leg!

"**The Art of Racing: 4000 RPM Hydrogen Kick!!!!**" He shouts as he would fire a back kick with a hydrogen blast from his foot! The blast should hopefully send James farther into the beach and the ocean to avoid further collateral closer to the city!

"Damn it, did he get faster again?" James thought, frustration evident in his internal monologue. Reacting swiftly, he channeled his Quirk, creating a burst of fiery energy to counteract the hydrogen assault. The collision resulted in a powerful explosion that propelled James backward, sending him sprawling farther into the sandy expanse of the beach. "I'm still going to have my fun, hero!" James laughed maniacally at Shane. Seizing the moment while airborne, James unleashed another surge of his malevolent powers. A wave of smoky tendrils intertwined with violet flames surged forth, directed towards the city landscape beneath him.

The cityscape became the canvas for James's chaotic masterpiece. Smoke billowed and flames danced, engulfing buildings and large social sections of the city in a frenzied display of destruction. The once serene urban environment was now a scene of fiery chaos, as James laugh resonated through the air before he landed on the beach.

CyRacer looks over the cityscape and sees the consequences of James' villainous actions. The condos and beach houses burnt to crisps, palm trees becoming forest fires, the race track about destroyed, and some nearby large buildings showing destruction! The frustration was shown as the hero clenched his fist before rocketing his way right for James!

"You will pay for that!!!!" CyRacer boosts his way to meet the villain airborne as he shoulder barges villain in the air! He then uses his hydrogen to boost James and himself toward the ground, "**The Art of Racing: 200 Mile Per Hour Impact!**" He shouts as they both crash onto the sandy beach! A sand bowl would create itself around the beach from the near crater impact!

"Well, I see someone's a little mad," James groaned, a taunting grin playing on his lips as he swiftly placed both hands on Shane's chest. In that moment, a surge of powerful energy flowed through James's fingertips as he harnessed the power of his Quirk once more. The air crackled with power and anticipation as he unleashed a point-blank range fire attack directly at the hero before him.

"GAHHHH!!!" CyRacer screams as he was blasted at point blank with the purple smoke and fire that came from the quirk of this villain! The blast sends CyRacer across the beach as chunks of his armor breaks as he bumps into the ground each time!

"*Warning: Armor at 76% capability*" The computer inside the armor speaks to CyRacer.

"Ah, great." CyRacer tries to sit up from the impact and scan the situation with his internal computer in the helmet, "*Fighting fire with fire ain't beneficial with this guy....*" Shane thinks, "*He's eventually going to try to prick me out of this armor and kill me! Gotta do something....*"

"Shame your armor broke. It was starting to grow on me," James laughed mockingly, reveling in the vulnerability exposed by the shattered remnants of Shane's once-imposing armor. The ominous aura of James's Quirk enveloped him as he seized the opportunity, using the smoke to launch himself towards Shane with a blinding speed. Closing the distance with a predatory like agility, James delivered a powerful punch, his fist wreathed in a combination of searing fire and billowing smoke. The ethereal flames licked at the edges of his fist, leaving a trail of chaotic energy in their wake. The attack was precision incarnate, aimed directly at Shane's ribcage.

The punch was powerful enough to blow off the piece of the armor from the ribcage! With now more pieces of CyRacer's armor failing and exposing Shane, The superhero was now the one taking the damage! He'd make a parry to the attacks, but CyRacer was still dazed from the punch from earlier! So now he can't help but allow this villain to make another barrage at him!

"Now it's truly time to bring this to an end," James declared with a determined tone in his voice. His eyes gleamed with a malicious intent as he unleashed a relentless barrage of fists upon Shane. Each punch was intended to carry a progressively escalating force, the impact intensifying with every successive blow. Simultaneously, James heightened the intensity of his Quirk, infusing his fist with a new found volatile combination of fire and smoke.

CyRacer takes each attack like a champ, each blow taking out another piece of armor of his! His armor percentage dropped from 76 to 24% before James smashed the helmet into 2 different pieces! Which made Shane drop down like a rock from a hard hit like that one! CyRacer looks as if he'll be the loser for the day!

"You..." Shane mutters, "Ain't so bad of a fighter....can give quite a lick."

"Surprising, you're still standing. More resilient than I gave you credit for," James remarked as he looked at the hero with a hint of respect. With a predatory focus, he swiftly launched another punch at Shane, the force behind it fueled by a determination to finally end the hero.

"Uhh, yeah I'll be stopping you right there!" As a voice was heard before a hand was able to grab and stop the fist from colliding with CyRacer! The impact was held and sent out an airwave from the impact! Before James stood a hero that looked as if he was a greek god himself. A man that only wore sandals, a red skirt with a belt, he was shirtless, but had a roman helmet and a cape. Now the most noticeable feature was that he has wings that are conjoined to his ankles. Obviously, this man was a hero of speed being able to stop that punch!

"Hermie...." CyRacer coughs up.

"Hey CyRacer....It's Hermes. Don't forget that!" **The Messenger Hero: Hermes** has officially arrived! His quirk is **Winged Feet** where the wings on his feet allow him speed of the wind!

"Couldn't have waited just a few more seconds, could you?" James joked with a sly grin, as he used off hand to become a conduit for the formidable power of his Quirk. With a swift motion, he launches a powerful fireball at Hermes's chest, the flames carrying an intense heat that bore the unmistakable hue of James's violet-infused inferno.

Hermes crosses his arms across the chest and makes them vibrate super fast to shield the heat away from his friend and leader, CyRacer! The gauntlets Hermes was wearing was definitely getting the smoke as it tried to block the heat!

"Yikes, this man is no joke! You should've waited till we got here Cy!" Hermes shouted behind himself as CyRacer tried to crawl out of harm's way.

"Hey! Don't be leaving all the fun to yourself Hermes!" A barbaric shout was heard before a large, burly and muscular man was flanking James with a claymore that was held by one muscular arm! The man wore what would've looked like an ancient warrior's attire compared to an ancient godlike attire Hermes' wore. This man also had one arm that was stubbed at the elbow. It was **The War Hero: Tyr** with the **Barbarian** quirk! The quirk allows him to gain super strength and durability while raging!

"**BattleRager Swing!**" Tyr shouts as he jumps and attempts to swing down at James with brute force!

"No need to yell. We can all hear you," James retorted, his voice laced with a touch of sarcasm as he swiftly evaded Tyr's attack. With a nimble leap backward, he managed to dodge the hero's assault, demonstrating a fluid grace in his movements. In a seamless motion, James managed to mount a counterattack. Conjuring a potent fire blast with his Quirk. The flames, tinged with the distinctive violet hue, surged forth with controlled ferocity, aimed directly at Tyr.

Tyr makes a stand and uses his own body as a shield as he shouts out: "**Barbarian: Unarmored Defense!**" The blast surrounds him as it attacks him with full ferocity. And the blast drags him a few hundred yards as Tyr would be blocking it! At the end, Tyr was still standing, but it did leave him half damage of what it would normally do.

"Ouch...it's almost like it was a warning shot!" The Barbarian Tyr would stretch his muscles from blocking.

Awhile Tyr was blocking the devastating fireball, another ally of Shane leaps in behind James to attack with its claw attack!

"Heeeyah!" The shout was heard from a wolf like beast that leapt behind James! It was Wallabeast! A hero that had a beastly look and beastly performances! He was tracking the villain's movements while he was fighting and was going to block the next calculated move as he'd leap over the enemy and attack with a:

"**Wallabeast Roundhouse Kick!**" Wallabeast shouts as he swings his legs over to hopefully connect to James!

"What the heck!?" James thought, his surprise evident as he deftly intercepted Wallabeast's kick, the hero's attack sending him a few feet back. In that split second, the unexpected attack triggered a swift defensive response from James.

"Oh, so I'm getting jumped now. No problem for me," James declared with a confidence that matched his unpredictable demeanor. Reacting with speed and confidence, James took control of the situation by manipulating his Quirk. In an instant, the entire area was engulfed in a thick shroud of smoke. With the snap of his fingers the smoke transformed into a frenetic dance of flames, each flicker casting an eerie glow across the battleground. The sudden ignition turned the once-obscuring smoke into a formidable weapon, creating an inferno.

"Ah shoot! He made this beach into a thunderground!" Tyr shields himself from each flame that violently strikes.

"They're kinda hard to avoid!" Hermes shouts as he was speeding around to avoid each dancing flame from the inferno!

CyRacer could only watch as he was slowly suffering from overheating and dehydration from the drawbacks of being near open flame with the hydrogen quirk....

"Someone get CyRacer out of the flames!" Wallabeast would command around to his comrades.

"On it!" Hermes replies as he tries to get to CyRacer and get themselves out!

"Time for the power of Pixie to chime in!" A short, blonde girl in a fairy dress suddenly speaks as she was flying through the air with magic sand/dust that kept her up! It was PeriWinkle, the Pixie hero with the quirk called Magic Dust! She was then seen summoning a large wave of magic dust as it is attempted to crash on the villain and the inferno to succumb the heat!

"**Pixie Dust Bowl!**"

"These heroes just keep getting more ridiculous," James muttered in exasperation, his disdain crystal clear in his voice. Faced with yet another unconventional attack, this time from PeriWinkle and her magic dust, he reacted with a wave of his hand. More smoke billowed forth from his command, summoned with a little strain. The dark tendrils twisted and interwove in a choreographed dance as they intercepted the incoming wave of magical particles.

Resourceful as ever, James split the summoned smoke, diverting one portion to counteract the magical onslaught while utilizing the other half to persist in his relentless offensive against Shane and the other grounded heroes.

Hermes tries to get all the pieces that belonged to CyRacer's armor; And trying to put it together like lego pieces as Wally and Tyr were trying to face off against James.

"My armor doesn't exactly work like what you're thinking Hermes..." CyRacer tries to stop Hermes from attempting to fix the suit up.

"Don't worry! I just want to see you playing your best with the armor on!" Hermes replies as Tyr and Wally were tag teaming to fight James but were kept blocked by the smokes to even touch James.

"Talk about crafty! UGH it's annoying me!" Tyr rages as he tries to get to James but the tendrils keep preventing him from getting there.

"Good, maybe get angry enough and you'll get to him!" Wally says as he keeps facing the smoke with his martial arts!

The fight continues on as suddenly a big wave from the ocean comes rushing right toward the heroes. The wave was rushing with a dramatic speed as it continued to race to the shore! And as the wave crashes right in front of our heroes and the villain, a great white shark jumps out of the waves along with flying fish soaring through the skies with an army of crabs charging toward the villain! And then on a great dolphin was the last hero of the group! The Aqua Hero: **Ocean Pearl** has arrived! With her quirk: Mermaid, she can turn into a mermaid as well as speak with marine life!

"**Army of Atlantis!**" Ocean Pearl was shouting as she came out of the waters, the waters splashing covers up some of the smoke and tendrils that James had created.

"YES! Welcome to the battle Pearly!" Tyr shouts.

"Pleasure is mine, but my main point is to see my husband be safe." Ocean Pearl responds as she looks over to CyRacer, "He's been hurt badly, make sure we don't let this villain get away!" she points to James.

"You got it!" Wally replies with a shout.

"Disciples of Justice fight!" PeriWinkle states as she summons more magic dust, "**Magic Dust Shower!**" as more dust drops down on James and the battlefield!

"I better get paid extra for this job," James grumbled as he made his dissatisfaction evident, swiftly moving from his current position. A large amount of magic dust rained down from above, an attempt to hinder his movements. In a display of speed, James quickly dodged the onslaught, avoiding the potentially harmful effects of the magical particles.

Surveying the assortment of heroes arrayed against him, James decided to fortify both his defense and offense. Summoning more smoke, he enveloped his limbs, shrouding his arms and legs in the black and purple fumes. The smoke twisted and coiled around him, forming a protective armor that enhanced both his defense and his already great offense.

"Come at me, you sons of bitches," James taunted the heroes with a maniacal laugh.