Chapter 25: Rescue

Ashido was frozen. She was afraid to open her eyes. The gun had fired, but she was okay, leaving only one option left, and it was terrifying. It was hard to breathe, and she clung onto Bakugo's shirt. She was trembling so much and heard her own heartbeats so loud. She almost didn't notice a noise of something substantial hitting the ground.

"Are you okay?" Ashido heard a male voice right beside her. The girl slowly opened her eyes, and red wings caught her attention.

Midoriya sat up, trembling, not sure if he saw things. He opened his mouth but couldn't get the words out at first. "H— Hawks?" The sight brought tears in his eyes. Ashido and Bakugo were okay, neither of them was shot. Púca was on the ground, red feathers pinning him to the grass, the elk was lying beside him, motionless. The man's pistol was out of his reach.

Hawks turned to Midoriya's way and grinned happily. "Sorry, it took a while to find you. The sea is a vast place, but when a torch as big as that burning building is shining in the night, it becomes a lot easier." He looked at the winged noumu that was staring at him. It let out a loud shriek and was suddenly filled with feathers sticking from its skin, most in its head. Black matter ran down its canine-like face, and it collapsed to the spot.

The students just stared at the pro hero in disbelief, who had appeared out of nowhere. They were too shocked to speak. It was so sudden. It took no time for Hawks to take care of the enemies.

"How?" Púca asked in confusion. "You shouldn't be here!"

"Don't underestimate the police and pro heroes," Hawks said, and his grin vanished as he pierced his eyes on the villain. "These students don't seem to be doing well. Some guys are coming, who won't take this lightly. You'll have a lot to explain later." He took a flare gun out of his pocket and pointed it to the sky. With a pull of a trigger, a bright red light flew up to the night sky. Púca stayed silent, glaring at the hero with a hint of fear in his eyes.

"Are you all alive?" he asked the students, carefree smile returning. Some of the teenagers were almost crying from relief.

Iida was the first to recover from the surprise. "Yes! Yes, we are, but everyone is hurt more or less," he explained quickly. "I can't thank you enough for coming to our rescue."

"Did you say that more people are coming?" Yaoyorozu wanted to ascertain that she'd heard right.

"That's exactly what I said," the pro hero nodded. "Can you walk? We should go to the shore, that's where our ride will come to pick us up," he examined the injured and tired students. "I mean, which ones of you can walk?"

Midoriya tried to stand up, but his legs didn't have any strength left. He struggled for a short moment, then Iida came and grabbed his arm. The boy smiled at him. "You must be exhausted," he said to Midoriya. "I'll carry you. I have more energy left in me."

He wanted to refuse Iida's offer because he knew his friend was just as exhausted as he was, but Midoriya was too tired to walk by himself. "Thanks," he smiled, and Iida gave him a piggyback ride. Midoriya took a look around. Hawks walked around to check on them one by one. Jiro and Asui helped Uraraka and Yaoyorozu, and though they could stand, they were in a bad state. Ashido lifted the uncharacteristically quiet Bakugo onto Kirishima's back, Midoriya wasn't sure if his childhood friend was even conscious. The pro hero said something to Ashido and Kirishima, and the two looked so gloomy. It made Midoriya feel bad; those two were usually so cheerful. Tokoyami was talking to Kaminari, who was very pale. His bandage was dark red, soaked in blood. Todoroki was next to them, lying on the ground silently, though his eyes were open.

"How are you feeling?" Hawks asked Iida and Midoriya. "Help should arrive soon. You'll be okay," he smiled reassuringly. "Are you sure you have enough strength to carry him?"

"I'll manage," Iida replied, holding his friend firmly. "Todoroki is in bad shape; he has broken bones. Could you help him?"

Hawks nodded. "I'll take care of him, don't worry."

When the hero left, Iida sighed. "I can't describe in words how fortunate we are."

"Yeah," Midoriya said, resting his head on Iida's shoulder. He could fall asleep right then and there. Then he remembered the villain and tensed up. Púca was still pinned down tightly. He seemed to have accepted his fate very quickly. Well, one of the top pros was here, so maybe he knew better to stay silent.

"Okay, are you ready to go?" Hawks asked the students. He carried Todoroki on his arms. When he got positive replies, he turned around to head deeper into the forest. The pro hero's dark red feathers took the silent villain, who seemed to have accepted his fate. It got darker and darker as they were further away from the fire, but soon the ocean came into view.

The shore was extensive, and there was much open space. Dark waves hit the sand slowly one after another. Jiro glanced around, but there was nobody here. She looked up. "I hear something coming from the sky," she informed the others. "Helicopters. Hey, I can see them!" The girl pointed to the night sky. Small lights were shining among the countless stars.

"That's our ride," Hawks stated. "There's a flare in my pocket. Could you use it to pinpoint our location?" he requested. Jiro did like was asked, and carefully took the flare from his pocket. She walked a little further away from the others for safety so she wouldn't somehow accidentally hurt anybody. Then she remover the cap from the flare and used it to ignite it.

A bright red shine shed light on the shore. Jiro rose the flare up and waved it from side to side, trying to catch their rescuers' attention. She felt weird. They had thought it would be almost impossible to escape, and now she was sending a signal to their rescuers. She almost cried from relief.

Suddenly blinding beams of lights were pointed at them, forcing them to cover their eyes. When the helicopters got closer, they saw three heavy vehicles.

Hawks had a relaxed smile on his face. "Get back, boys and girls. They need space to land, and this shore isn't that spacious", he instructed, and the students obeyed him without a word. They backed to the edge of the forest.

Soon the three helicopters got so close that they created a strong wind, throwing sand all over the place. There was just enough room for them to park on the shore, but they were close to each other. There was one medical helicopter, one passenger transport, and one military helicopter, all of them were heavy models, indicating that they had lots of space.

The passenger helicopter's door opened first, and a character dressed in all black jumped down onto the sand. Aizawa ran to them, dark hair swirling around. Right behind him came Present Mic and Midnight.

The students' homeroom teacher stopped right before them and scrutinized them. He seemed to count them to make sure everyone was present. Then he closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Thank goodness," was all he could say.

"Mr. Aizawa!" some of the students exclaimed, voices full of emotions. It pained Aizawa, how they had suffered while waiting for help. But seeing them alive in one place was more that he could wish.

"You're all here!" Present Mic announced aloud, hands in the air. "You found them! Well done, Hawks!"

Midnight cringed. "You've been through a lot, I see. I believe they are all alive?" she glanced at Hawks.

"More or less," Hawks said. "I mean, they are, but some of them are in a terrible state. They really need treatment. And quickly."

The passenger transport still had more people in it, and Thirteen came out. The military helicopter's door also opened, and Ectoplasm exited the vehicle together with Tsukauchi. Behind them came a group of policemen.

Thirteen went over to the medical helicopter, and its door opened. The pro hero said something to the people inside the aircraft, and soon medical troops with stretchers and first-aid-kits came out. They sprinted to the students and the pro heroes waiting for them.

They came to a halt, and a tall man took a look at the students. "Which one of you need the help most?" he asked firmly. "We have six stretchers."

"I'd say that the students in worst conditions are Midoriya, Bakugo, Uraraka, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, and Todoroki," Hawks pointed out the teenagers he meant. "The others are wounded too, but they'll manage, right?" he looked at the students, who nodded in response.

"Okay," the medic said. "You all should come to the medical helicopter. We'll patch you up, so you can get on passenger transport. Unfortunately, we don't have enough space for everyone in the medical helicopter," he explained. "Please, bring us those who need stretchers."

The medical team and the pro heroes helped and led the students to the flying vehicles, while the policemen guarded the coast. Hawks rose Púca in the air using his feathers so that Tsukauchi could put handcuffs on him. Aizawa glared at the villain, silent rage gleaming in his eyes. The quiet villain didn't resist at all; he just kept his eyes on the ground.

The winged hero glanced at the villain and Aizawa. "I'll stay with Tsukauchi and the police, and keep an eye on the villain. Eraser Head, you go with the kids," he gave an encouraging grin. "I think they'd appreciate your company."

"Yes, I'm sure they would like that," Tsukauchi agreed. "We'll take care of him."

Still glaring at Púca, Aizawa sighed. "Contact me immediately if something goes wrong." He turned around and slowly walked away.

The medical team was already treating the teenagers' wounds while asking them questions. Soon they were covered in bandages and patches, and Todoroki, Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, Bakugo, and Kaminari were tied safely onto the stretchers. Uraraka had insisted that she didn't need to be on the medical helicopter because she wasn't as hurt as the other five. The medics had eventually accepted her request.

Thirteen was allowed to stay with the medical team, though the helicopter didn't have much space for extra passengers. The pro heroes talked a bit before they boarded the helicopters. Ectoplasm and Hawks went into the military helicopter with Púca, Tsukauchi, and the policemen. Present Mic and Midnight made sure that the students were sitting comfortably on their seats. Then Mic sat next to Aizawa, facing the exhausted teenagers, and Midnight went to talk with the pilot. In a few minutes, the three helicopters were rising to the starry sky.

Present Mic looked outside the window. The fire was still burning strong, illuminating the forest and the castle further away. "Too bad we have no way of putting out that fire," he said and squinted his eyes. "Hey. What's that over there?" He pointed at the sea behind the burning building.

Aizawa looked at the way he pointed and saw two large ships going in the opposite direction of the helicopters. The ships with little lights were almost invisible against the dark water. "I can't tell. But this is a place that will be investigated."

"Maybe these students have some information," the blonde hero though out loud, eyes still on the barely visible ships.

"Don't bother," Aizawa stated, closing his eyes. "It has to wait."

Mic turned to the students and smiled. "I guess so," he agreed. Every single teenager was in a deep sleep, completely unaware of what was going on around them. It's not like anything was happening anyway. "We'll talk later. When they're all better."

Aizawa didn't notice the small smile that had emerged on his face.

Midoriya sat down onto a soft and comfortable couch in class 1-A's dorm. It was early midday, and the sky was clear, and the sun was shining. The dorm was quiet because most of his classmates were still in school. Only four days had passed since they'd been rescued from the mysterious island. The twelve abducted students had had the next two days off, but on the second day, most of them were able to attend the class. Only Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugo, Kaminari, and Yaoyorozu had to stay longer in an infirmary located inside the U.A. campus. Everyone from their class had visited them as many times as they were allowed. They had been worried sick the whole time, and they couldn't have been blamed for it. The green-haired teenager would've lost it too if his classmates suddenly got abducted.

Today Midoriya had been released from the infirmary together with the other four. Bakugo and Todoroki had headed straight to their rooms, but Kaminari was lying on the next couch to the freckled boy. Yaoyorozu was in the kitchen, making tea for the two boys.

After the incident, for the next two days, there had been several people checking in on them and asking questions about the events. Even the chief of police had visited them in person together with Tsukauchi. They had told the students that the incident would be kept secret from the public if the students or the U.A. staff didn't have anything against it. With so little information on what had happened back on the island, they had agreed on keeping it secret, so the public wouldn't become confused and start to spread false information.

The investigation was still underway, so Midoriya and the others had only a vague picture of what was going on. There had been a gathering of villains and people working on criminal matters. And when the students had told the police and the U.A. staff about the substance that was able to copy its target, they had found nothing regarding it. The fire in the factory building had utterly destroyed any evidence, but Iida had explained what he had seen back there. Aizawa and Present Mic had also backed him up by mentioning that they had seen suspicious ships leaving the island. The villain, Púca, couldn't expose his employer's scheme, the police had made clear that the villain didn't hold much information.

Midoriya sank deeper into the couch, letting out a sigh. He had a hunch that they hadn't seen the last of it. The villains would surely use the dangerous substance again sometime. He woke from his thoughts when a cup of hot tea was handed over to him.

"Oh! Thanks!" Midoriya said quickly with a smile, and Yaoyorozu smiled sweetly in return.

"You're welcome," she said and gave Kaminari his cup. "I didn't prepare any tea for Todoroki or Bakugo because they wanted to rest. I wonder if I should have."

"Don't worry," Kaminari stated. "They can get what they need and when they need it. They're in good shape already."

"And we'll have so much to do too," Midoriya noted. "We're going to have to catch up with homework because we've been absent for a few days."

"Why did you have to mention that?" Kaminari groaned.

Yaoyorozu tried to reassure him. "I'll help you if you want." For that, Kaminari's face brightened, and he thanked the girl.

Midoriya sipped his tea, and a sweet taste was almost calming. In a few hours, their classmates would swarm in, and this peaceful moment will disappear in a flash.

In the afternoon, the five absent students were summoned to their homeroom class by Aizawa. Iida had led them there, apparently for no specific reason. Their teacher had asked them questions and explained what they would be doing in the next few days.

"That's all," Aizawa said. "You can go."

When they exited the classroom, Kaminari sighed. "I have so much to do!"

"You're not the only one," Yaoyorozu noted, but Kaminari didn't seem any less gloomy.

Iida swung his arms wildly. "As the class representative, I'll make sure you all will catch up to others! The rest of us also have much work to do."

"Thank you, Iida," Midoriya smiled. "We'll do our best."

"That's the spirit!"

When they arrived at the dorm, it was already dark outside. The building had no lights on so that the students couldn't see inside.

"Why are there no lights?" Yaoyorozu wondered. "They didn't go to sleep yet, did they?"

"I doubt that," Todoroki said.

They went in, Iida first, and looked around. Todoroki reached for the light switch, but right before he could touch it, the spacious room lit up, almost blinding them.

"WELCOME BACK!"

The rest of the class, including Ashido, Uraraka, Tokoyami, Asui, Kirishima, and Jiro, welcomed them wholeheartedly. Colorful ribbons and balloons were decorating the place, and the tables were covered in all kinds of food from salty to sweet. They even spotted a couple of chocolate cakes. It was like they had arrived at a birthday party.

"Wha— What's this?" Midoriya asked in surprise.

"This," Iida explained. "is something we decided to do when we all got back together."

"But shouldn't this be a surprise for you too?" Todoroki asked.

Uraraka jogged to them with Ashido by her side. "We were welcomed too, but we decided to throw an even bigger party now that everyone is here!"

"It's lovely!" Yaoyorozu said, astonished. "Thank you!"

"Yeah! Come on in!" Sero urged and pushed the excited Kaminari and the non-resistant Bakugo toward the tables full of delicious food and treats.

"Guys..." Kaminari said, holding back tears. He had forgotten his worries entirely now. "You're the best!"

"There's lots of food!" Sato announced. "Let's eat before it gets cold." He got excited cheers from others.

Midoriya wiped a tear from his eye. With a bright grin, he joined the others together with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. They were filled with a happy and relaxed atmosphere, and it was almost like nothing had ever happened. Everything was fine now.

They were finally back.

Chapter 25: END

It's finally over. This story became way longer than I had imagined. But now it's finished. I had fun writing it, though there were times when I just couldn't bring myself to write anything. But I really hope you enjoyed this adventure. I'm so glad I'm finally done with this.

But.

A new adventure is incoming! It's going to be much shorter than this one. I can't say when the first chapter will come out, though. I aim for July, but not later than August. I'd be happy if you'll check it out when the time comes! See you next time!