A/N: While the LoV's plan is to assault the Sports Festival, a couple… preludes seem like something they might try and do. Obviously they're not revealing the traitor, but messing with files, systems, and the like? Absolutely. And here's stage one.
It was now a week into Tenko's time at UA and things had mostly settled into routine: every day they had their morning classes and in the afternoon it was heroics, then rescue training. But on their first day headed to the USJ, there seemed to be something off about the famed mock rescue facility.
For one thing, some of the lights were off. Given that UA was large enough to afford its own power supply, this would already be cause for concern, but for another, the door was open. Which definitely should not have been possible, given that Thirteen was supposed to be outside waiting for them.
Speaking of the Space Hero, she was also nowhere to be seen, which given the USJ had been her chosen training ground was ludicrously concerning. Aizawa had ordered 1-A to hang back while he went inside to investigate the problem. He'd handed Kochi, 1-A's class president, which they'd only decided ended up deciding yesterday, a walkie-talkie, then walked in.
Unfortunately, said walkie-talkie immediately got jammed as soon as Aizawa had gone into the main section of the building, prompting Kochi to start producing a blueprint of the USJ to figure out where their teacher could actually be. Suddenly the walkie-talkie came online as Aizawa ordered 1-A to retreat due to the USJ growing structurally unsound. With no time to lose, Kyofu launched everyone back with a gust of wind that carried herself to a safe distance, before the class watched a torrent of water rush out of the massive complex. Retsu got to work, using her Quirk to create a chasm for the water to pour into, in effect generating a massive lake outside the entrance. As a section of the roof began to cave in, Jiki carried the support beams while Ugoki shifted the glass away from the rest of the structure, allowing it to fall harmlessly in the middle of the forest. For a moment things looked calm, but then a massive pillar of flames shot out from the building, threatening to light the entire forest on fire. Shooting into the sky with her flames, Neppa began attempting to redirect some of the massive flames in a safe direction… except there was no safe direction. That was when Kochi had an idea.
"Alright, this is going to sound crazy," he said, "But Jishin-san, I need you to close the chasm. Start from the bottom and work up. Eikyo-san, Kogeki-san, you two need to push the water back inside the building with as much force as you can. Shimura-kun, get inside and get the doors open. Ai, keep watch and make sure the water's going where we want it. If it's not, No-kun, Inryo-san, build a barrier to redirect it once it's inside. Shoyu-kun, you'll need to keep that barrier steady; Omo-kun can help. Aki-kun, you're on signal duty; flash some light if someone needs assistance, and you're also our main timer. Arashi-kun, make some hail for Ishi-kun to use with his Quirk. Warame-kun!"
The boy in question turned. "What is it, Sekkei-kun?"
"What happens to any split off body parts?" asked Kochi.
"Uh, if I'm not focusing on them they basically just turn into fleshy chunks, why?" asked Katsu.
"We can use that. Or rather, Ishi-kun can." Kochi said. "Juji-kun, work with barrier team to make that thing as big as you can. Rasen-kun, see if you can curve the water flow slightly with your Quirk. If you can, great, if not, Ishi needs as much material as he can get, so be a drill."
"What about the rest of us?" asked Henko.
"Choku-kun, you have the best mobility in an urban environment," Kochi said. "Work with Awata-san to keep everyone out of the way and get Hou-san inside; there's bound to be some kind of circuit breaker her Quirk can mess with."
"Got it!" said the three in question.
"Is everyone clear?" Kochi asked.
"Yes, president!" was the reply.
"Alright, everyone get in position, and on my mark, Jishin-san close the chasm," Kochi ordered, and after everyone was ready, Senko let out a burst of light, giving Kochi the signal. Turning to Retsu, he then ordered, simply, "Go."
In moments the massive chasm began to fill back in, with Kyofu and Chikara giving everything they had to send the water back where it came out of. As Kochi had predicted, it wasn't going toward the source of the flames, something Neppa was being very vocal about, but Kyo managed to subtly curve it in the right direction with his own Quirk. With the massive barrier acting as a channel, the water shot toward the Conflagration zone, nearly bowling over Kyo before he was caught in a bubble and lifted to safety. For a short while, the barrier held, but Ai noticed part of it was failing. Shouting to Senko, he let out a brilliant flash that got Kochi's attention, and the obligate planner gasped.
As his mind raced as to how to fix the problem, the barrier began to come down, and Kaoruko worked overtime to make sure absolutely everyone was out of the way, with Namiutsu flinging a few chunks of loose dirt in a last-ditch attempt to keep the barrier up. It didn't work, and soon the water was beginning to flood the entire entrance area.
At that moment, Aizawa burst out of the Downpour Zone, Thirteen unconscious but otherwise safe on his back. He glared at the students, but said nothing, instead opting to take over. "Alright, who here knows CPR?"
"Uh, would CPR work with a suit like that!?" asked Tenko.
"I'll do it," said Ugoki. "Just… give me a second…" Concentrating on Thirteen, the slightly shorter than average boy began performing chest compressions, and once all the water was out of the chasm Kyofu flew inside and started very gently supplying air. The combination worked, and Thirteen was soon back in action, and her first order of business was to vaporize what water remained. With the fire almost fully extinguished, Neppa guided the rest inside, and tired, but safe, she began to drop. Ugoki being too distracted to grab her, Kyofu instead created a wind current that both slowed her down and guided her back into the main entrance area. Once everyone was accounted for they headed back outside, where Aizawa began to lecture them.
"I thought I told you kids to stay behind," he said, "But you disobeyed orders the first chance you got."
"There was a tsunami coming out of the building, Aizawa-sensei," said Retsu, "What were we supposed to do then?"
"Alright, I'll give you that one," said Aizawa, "But you did not have to deal with the fire."
"Were we supposed to just set the entire forest on fire!?" shouted Neppa.
"There are several pros on campus well-versed in fire safety," Aizawa explained. "The moment that fire tornado showed up they would've been on their way over."
"We didn't have that much time," Kochi said. "I ran some calculations based on the size of that fire and it would've had the entire campus burning down in minutes."
Aizawa groaned. "Alright then, if you were so dead-set on stopping it, you could've come up with a significantly safer solution than this jury-rigged barrier setup, for reference."
"We… really couldn't have," said Kochi. "Ai took a look at the USJ and realized that even the slightest bit of force on some sections would send the whole building toppling down."
"And water doesn't count?" Aizawa asked.
"Not the way we used it, no," Kochi explained. "I assume you figured Kogeki-san's air currents would've been able to redirect the flames as well, but that would a) run the risk of shaking the roof too much, and b) would've been just as likely to send the flames flying off into the woods somewhere else."
"You are way too smart for your own good," Aizawa grumbled. "I'll give you all points because the plan worked, but failing to even consider other options is also on you. Why did nobody object?"
Katsu spoke up. "Well, Sekkei-kun included all of us in ways that just… made sense, even those who normally would've just been bystanders. I didn't even think about using my cloned arms and legs as bricks, but damn if it didn't work."
"Hm. Fair enough, then," Aizawa said. "But in future, no Quirk usage outside of the training grounds unless I or another staff member explicitly says so. Anyone who disobeys gets detention and is writing me a paper on Quirk usage laws. Repeat offenders will be expelled. Am I understood?"
Class 1-A nodded.
"Alright, that concludes this week's USJ trip," said Aizawa. "Thirteen will be leading an investigation into just what went wrong with this place. In the meantime, all of you have a paper on vigilantism due next week. This paper cannot be turned in late. I will not accept any extension requests either. Is this clear?"
Once again, 1-A nodded.
"Class dismissed," Aizawa finished. They all filed onto the bus then, and got ready to go home.
As 1-A walked out of UA at the end of the day, all of them began to wonder just what had happened at the USJ to cause such rampant destruction, as well as who could've possibly overpowered Thirteen given her supremely dangerous Quirk. With no real ideas, they dropped the issue, but the staff were significantly more concerned.
"I propose, everyone," said Nezu in that week's staff meeting. "That there is a traitor."
"A traitor!?" shouted Present Mic. "Do you know who it is?"
"As of now, they have only struck the one time, so I do not," Nezu said. "That being said, they targeted the USJ the day 1-A was supposed to use it."
"So they're in 1-A then," said Midnight. "It's always the youngest… So impressionable…"
"Wouldn't say that," said Eraserhead. "Those kids are pretty adept given their lack of skill. I'm inclined to think it's the Blueprint kid, since he'd have the plans…"
"His blueprints require insider information, however," Nezu noted. "Something he himself is not very adept in acquiring."
"What about the Inspector girl?" asked Vlad King. "For that matter, what if it's a duo?"
"Ah reckon that's most likely, given 'ow attached at the darn hip Kagi and Sekkei are," added Snipe.
"No, no," said Nezu, "I am very positive this traitor is working alone."
"How can you be so sure?" said Ectoplasm. "And even then, 'working alone' can mean a lot of things. I usually work alone, technically."
"Overpowering Thirteen is admittedly rather simple," Nezu explained, "No offense, Ms. Thirteen."
"None taken, Mr. Nezu," replied Thirteen. "And he's right. I don't like using my Quirk much for offensive purposes, and against a kid? I don't even think I could."
"Indeed…" Nezu said. "It is obvious the traitor would not have some flashy or notable Quirk, for that would reveal them much too early. Aizawa, what did you see when you found Thirteen?"
"Not much, if I'll be honest," said Eraserhead. "No burn marks, nothing knocked over or smashed, honestly the biggest thing off about the scenario was the weird sparking of the lights."
"An electric Quirk, then?" asked Nezu.
"Don't think so," Eraserhead said. "I bet the sparks are a red herring, actually, since there's only one kid in my class that has an electric Quirk."
"Too obvious then, yes," Nezu noted. "Thirteen, what do you remember of your encounter?"
"Not much… I didn't see them at all, but I do remember a hit to the head…" she rubbed the back of her head thinking about it.
"So, some Quirk capable of noticeable blunt force trauma," said Nezu.
"Doesn't exactly narrow it down," said Present Mic, "Most Quirks can do that."
"Might not e'en be a Quirk, actually," said Snipe. "Ah should know."
"Snipe's right," said Aizawa. "Although I am inclined to think it's a Quirk given Thirteen's helmet is reasonably sturdy."
"This discussion's just going to go in circles, isn't it…" Vlad groaned. "We need more evidence."
"That we do, Kan," said Nezu. "Very well, this meeting is adjourned. Please report to me about any findings you have ASAP."
With that, UA's staff filed out of the conference room. There was a lot to think about.
A/N: Well, UA's onto the traitor, and a couple kids are already out of the running! I won't say who, obviously, and reviewing with your thoughts is a bit spoiling, but feel free to check out the poll on my profile and place your votes! When the traitor is revealed, the poll will be closed, and you will all get to see whether you were right!