I sped back to the lodge, followed by Kota, Mineta, and Ojiro, trying hard not to worry about Midoriya. Have to concentrate on getting them back, getting these three to safety.
When we reached the clearing in front of the lodge, we saw our Sensei perched atop a subdued villain, tied up with his scarf. The villain had jet black hair, a long black coat, and a patchwork face, almost like one made of stitched together burns.
"SENSEI!" I cried. He turned to face us, and that moment was enough. The villain pushed Sensei back and struggled to his feet.
"I guess you're not a hero instructor for nothing," he gloated, apparently unconcerned that Sensei's scarf was still wrapped around him. "Say, Hero…Are you worried for your students?"
And as Sensei pulled on the scarf, it fell right through him - and his cut in half body disintegrated, as he spoke like a dying curse "I hope you can protect them all, until we meet again."
"What was that Sensei?" cried Mineta.
"Get inside," he snapped back. "I'll be back soon."
We ran upstairs, trying not to think too hard about what was going on outside. Their faces passed before my eyes, my classmates still out in the woods. Midoriya, Uraraka, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, all of my friends and more - what on earth could be happening to them?
Stay focused, class rep.
"Iida, where do we go?" asked Ojiro. I thought it through, and then told him.
"We go to the remedial classroom. Vlad Sensei will be there."
And then as we reached the door of the remedial classroom, Mandalay's telepath echoed in our heads.
Members of Class A and B, I hereby authorize you all for combat!
"Combat?" I tried not to cry out as Vlad King turned to gesture us in. Things are that serious?
And then, We've identified one of the villains' objectives! The student named 'Kacchan!'
Bakugou? I had two thoughts. First, only Midoriya called him that, which meant that Midoriya must have told Mandalay, and learned this from a villain. At least he's alive to warn us though. And second -
They're after Bakugou?
Whoever Kacchan is, as much as possible, avoid combat! Refrain from solo movements! Got that Kacchan?
Kirishima turned to Vlad King and pleaded. "They're after our friend! Please let us out there!"
"Absolutely not." Vlad sensei was firm.
"Given that the villains numbers are unknown," I pointed out, "Wouldn't any extra help on our side be beneficial? Aizawa sensei himself told us to fight."
"Only in self-defense," Vlad snapped back. "Everyone should be making their way back here."
We heard footsteps in the hallway.
"Mr. Aizawa must be back," Kirishima said quickly. "Let's just ask him then."
Vlad turned then shouted "Wait! That's not - "
And he jumped forward and pushed Kirishima and Ashido out of the way.
"Everyone, get back!" I cried, moving to push my classmates to safety.
A villain stood looming in the doorway, a cold smile on his oddly burnt and patched together face. He had black hair and a long dark coat, cold blue eyes, and used blue fire. The exact villain Sensei had beaten in the clearing down below.
"Isn't that the villain who was already beaten?" cried Mineta.
The villain raised a hand full of fire, but Vlad King, with a shout of "Too Slow!" pushed him into the wall.
"You've got some nerve launching this reckless attack here," he snarled as he pinned the villain to the wall with his own blood. "Don't get cocky!"
Kirishima's jaw dropped. "Blood control…he's so strong!" he gasped.
"That's our awesome Vlad King Sensei!" cheered Monoma.
The villain, however, didn't look scared at all. He was smiling. "Why not get cocky? You're playing right into our hands. The second you lost the initiative signaled your defeat. You've got the top hero-training academy, U.A., and the symbol of peace, All Might…the two most trusted foundations of our hero-based society. But now, one mess after another is shaking that trust. Don't you think that loss of faith will spread like wildfire throughout society? Think about it. How your careless administration keeps allowing attack after attack. You're so weak, you couldn't even stop a criminal organization from abducting your students."
Bakugou - did they -
"You…did you…is Bakugou…?!" cried Kirishima.
Kaminari spread his hands apart, casting electricity. "So that's how it is?! Don't mess with us!"
"Take a look," gloated the villain. "Just a few of us have driven you lot into a corner."
He was readying more fire -
Sensei jumped through the door and kicked him in the head. "It's no use, Vlad," he announced, stomping on the villain's head - who somehow dissolved into a puddle of plasma.
"He's just here to rile us up. We won't get any intel out of him," said Sensei as he continued stomping the villain's head in.
Kaminari, staring at him, cried out loud "The erasure hero, Mr. Aizawa!" in awe.
Sensei had finally stopped stomping. "See? He's just a fake. I already dealt with one."
"Eraser, what do you think you're doing?" asked Vlad King.
"Sorry. I ran out to give everyone permission to fight, but I had to bring Kota here to safety first. Please take care of him, OK? I'm heading out to fight. Stay here and protect this place, Vlad." I noticed then that the little kid from before was indeed standing there, looking real scared.
"Hang on, Eraser. Who knows how many more of them might attack here?"
"You can handle it alone, Vlad. Look at this fake. He's tried the same trick twice now. I'm pretty sure those aggressive attacks were meant to keep us pros focused on this spot. It was a strategy designed to make us worry, despite their lack of numbers."
"If there're so few of them, then we should be out there!" cried Kirishima.
"Indeed!" I added. "They can't beat us with our numbers advantage."
"No." Sensei was curt. "You'd get in our way. Besides, they're targeting students. We know about Bakugou. There might be others too. We're overwhelmingly short on intel. In order to win, we've just gotta make sure everyone stays safe." He turned away and ran for it.
There was nothing for it. All we could do was sit down and wait - wait and wonder if our classmates were all right. Just as I had back at the USJ, I felt frustrated. What kind of Class Representative abandons his classmates?
Midoriya, Todoroki, and Uraraka are still out there, fighting….What if something's happened to one of them? All of them?