Chapter Fifty-Two: The Tower
"The radio tower?" Aisla asked in disbelief. "Aren't we supposed to be doing something stealthy now?" Not that she was prepared for that sort of thing. Her ankle hurt and was made worse from walking around on it for so long. Plus, she was freezing. If she had to sneak around in this weather, she was going to get hypothermia before she even reached the tower.
"You heard Mr. Aizawa," Bakugo said, turning back to face them. He wore one of his determined expressions that she always found to be amusing. Except for today. Today, it was annoying.
It was true, Mr. Aizawa had told them that the exam field was designed to guide them toward the tower, and they had already made the wrong move by choosing to explore the sewers rather than follow the obvious guideposts. But it was that failure, along with her performance underground, and the generally unpleasant weather, that had Aisla feeling a little extra combative about their next decision.
She sighed. "I don't think he meant that was where we should go now," she argued, knowing her tone was verging on bitter. "He told us that was where we were supposed to go before!" Their first test was over, but they still had to rack up enough points from the next objective to pass. As far as Aisla was concerned, Aizawa's advice had been in regards to the first test, not the upcoming challenges. The tower wasn't relevant anymore.
"But, Aisla, it does make sense," Shoto said thoughtfully. "Think about it: Why would Aizawa mention the tower after we already failed to notice it? If it wasn't relevant anymore, there would be no need to point it out at all. I think he was directing us back to the right path for the next challenge."
"He was telling us to point out a failure," Aisla protested. "He was teaching us, you know, like teachers are supposed to? He wouldn't just give us a clue about where to go next."
Shoto frowned and spoke again, carefully. "I…really think we should take his words at face value and just go to the tower."
"Well, I don't think so," she stubbornly disagreed. "I think we should go back to where we started."
Bakugo's eyes widened. "That's miles away!"
"It makes the most sense!" she insisted.
"It makes no sense, Aisla!" Bakugo snapped, leaning closer to yell in her face. "Stop being so damn stubborn about this!"
"Uhh…guys?" Shoto tried.
"I'm not the one being stubborn, Bakugo!" she shrieked at him, ignoring Shoto's attempt to reign them in. "You're just too proud to admit that maybe someone else is right for a change!"
Aisla watched a roller coaster of emotions pass over Bakugo's face. Rage made his eyes gleam a brilliant crimson then, all at once, the emotion evaporated, replaced with shock and disbelief, then he visibly deflated, bit his lip hard, and turned away from her. She wasn't sure why, but the fact that he didn't explode like a live grenade made something suspiciously like guilt rise in her throat.
Shoto placed a hand on her arm but she barely felt it through the numbing cold. "Let's just check it out, okay? If there's nothing there, then at least we can get out of the rain for a moment."
Aisla let out a reluctant sigh. "Fine, if you insist." She didn't like admitting defeat, but deep down she knew her comrades were right. And Bakugo's reaction—or rather lack thereof—to her attitude had sobered her up. She was in pain, cold, and tired. Not to mention, she was feeling more than a little bad for herself after her failure thus far in the exam. She had no hope of passing if things continued the way they'd started.
They made their way toward the towering building, and Aisla tried not to limp on her sore ankle. It still hurt, but adrenaline was masking some of the pain for now. She knew it would probably hurt worse tomorrow, but that was something she would deal with when the time came. Worrying about it now wouldn't help anyone, especially her two teammates who were counting on her to pass this exam. Even so, she could feel the pain biting into her with each step and had to suppress a whimpering cry as they continued walking.
"I'm such a fucking idiot," Bakugo was snarling to himself. "I should have known Aizawa would pull a stunt like this! Of course, that bastard would put all three tests into one huge event!"
"All of us could have been much more prepared," Shoto said glumly. "We should never have assumed the three point-challenges would give us time to rest between them. But it's too late for that now. We should focus on getting inside before we get sick."
"I don't get sick!" Bakugo snapped defensively. "Only idiots catch colds!"
Aisla thought that might actually be true, if for no other reason than he was too stubborn to get sick. Aisla, on the other hand, was almost definitely going to get sick from this rain. She could feel it already, creeping into her bloodstream and making her skin burn even in the chill of the rain. Fortunately, neither of her companions had noticed yet, so she could keep going without fear of worrying them.
"Almost there," Shoto said as they approached a massive wall encircling the tower. They all looked up at it in awe as they walked around in search of a gate.
"Impressive," Aisla observed. Lightning flashed behind the building, briefly illuminating it in an eerie glow. She shivered. "Kind of creepy, though."
"I think you mean 'awesome!'" Bakugo disagreed, striding forward without pause. "Found the gate! Get over here and help me open it, Icy Hot!"
They rushed over and stared up at the massive, wrought iron gate.
"Let's blast this thing to hell!" A sparking fist lit up a demonic expression.
"I don't think we should—"
BOOM
"—do that," Aisla finished lamely when the whole gate flew inward and slammed loudly onto the ground. These two idiots were going to be the death of her for sure. They could have just opened the thing normally, but noooo, they had to make it difficult and blast it off its hinges.
"Animals," she muttered under her breath as she strode past them, sore ankle forgotten in her irritation.
"Hey!" Bakugo barked. "Wait for us!"
"Let's go this way," she suggested, leading them toward the door they'd almost broken with the gate. "It's probably locked but we won't know until we try it."
"Even if it is, we can just blast the thing down!" Bakugo shouted.
Aisla elbowed him in the ribs, making him grunt. "Shh!" she scolded. "There could be any number of traps in this place. Who knows if we're even supposed to be here."
"Wait." Bakugo grabbed her upper arm and pulled her to a stop. "Do that thing again, the thing you did in the forest? With the light?"
Aisla slumped. "I can't. Do you see the moon?" She gestured grandly at the storm clouds overhead, still pouring rain. "I can't exactly reflect moonlight right now."
"So?" he pressed. "Reflect the lights! Give us something to work with once we get inside."
"My quirk doesn't work on artificial light!" she snapped. "I already told you that!"
"Oh, shut up, both of you!" Shoto hissed, pushing past them to try the door. It was locked, of course, but one solid kick sent the door crashing inward. It hung loosely on two hinges, creaking loudly as it swayed in place.
"Well, that's one way of opening a door," Aisla commented dryly. "You guys do know this is a stealth test, right?" They both glanced at her with mirrored expression of incredulity.
"Shit," Bakugo breathed.
"I forgot," Shoto moaned. "We'll just have to make up for it now. We'll be silent as mice."
Aisla and Shoto both looked over at Bakugo, who gave them an irritated glower. "I can be quiet!" he hissed. "Come on. Follow me."
"By all means…" Aisla muttered with an eye roll. If he wanted to be the first one to get them caught, then he could take the responsibility for their loss.
Guilt sprang up inside her chest at the unbidden thought. She didn't really mean for him to take all the blame. If anyone was the cause of their failure, it was Aisla. She hadn't done anything during their first test except get caught by Mr. Applesauce Pouch. Even her "distraction" hadn't been very useful or heroic. She knew her teacher could have easily subdued them all if he'd wanted to. Aisla shouting at him couldn't have been all it took to distract the Eraser Head. Sure, he wasn't usually the type to go easy on students, but…he could still be trying to make up for scaring her in the forest with that faux villain attack.
She contemplated this as they stepped silently through the door and up a long flight of stairs. She wondered what else they would face during this test. The only instruction they'd been given about the covert ops portion was that their goal was to find the missing person before time ran out. If they didn't find this person before then, they'd all fail instantly. And without the points from this operation, they'd never pass the midterms. The faster they were able to rescue the hostage, the more points they'd receive. Unfortunately, Aisla was pretty sure their time was wearing thin as it was, which didn't bode well for their final score.
Aisla couldn't hold back an exhausted sigh as she found Bakugo at the top of the landing waiting next to another door. She frowned when she realized that, unlike the one her friends had kicked in, this one had been left slightly ajar as if someone came through in a hurry and forgot to close it all the way.
A trap, she thought.
Astoundingly, Bakugo had waited patiently for them and hadn't gone barging in with fists blazing. He was looking to her for permission now, eyebrows raised in an unspoken question. "What should we do?" they seemed to ask.
Aisla shook her head. She had no idea what they should do next. All she knew for certain was that the door in front of them had been left like that purposely. Whoever was on the other side was likely to ambush them the moment they stepped inside the room.
Bakugo took a step forward and leaned close to whisper in her ear. He was so close, in fact, that his cheek brushed hers and hot air coated her ear. Despite the situation, she couldn't stop the shaky breath she let out in response to his proximity.
He froze for a second before finally speaking. "Aisla," he sighed into her ear, making an involuntary shiver run down her spine. "Use your quirk. We need you."
She stiffened. "I don't think—"
"You can," he whispered firmly. "You can do this, Aisla. Without you, we'll fail this part of the test. I'm no good at stealth shit, neither is Todo. If we want to get points for being stealthy then… We. Need. You."
Aisla shivered in pleasure that had nothing to do with this boy's presence. He believed in her; he needed her. Someone needed Aisla's power. That wasn't something she felt very often. Her quirk wasn't useful or powerful like her two teammates. There wasn't much she could offer anyone, muchless someone as capable as these two.
"We need you, Aisla…"
Pride made her braver than she normally felt. She squared her shoulders, concentrated on activating her quirk, then pushed through the door as quietly as possible. If she made a sound, the illusion would be shattered, but if she could make it across the room without attracting attention, then no one would even know she was there.
She moved forward with slow, careful steps, keeping her quirk active as she scanned the cluttered room. It was dark, but she could just barely make out the shapes of boxes and desks and chairs. She couldn't tell what anything else was in the poor lighting and just prayed none of the lopsided shapes were people posing as villains.
Or actual villains, she silently added as another shiver passed through her. She concentrated harder, keeping the façade around her so she would appear as nothing more than a shadow drifting by. Her quirk wasn't suited for indoors or enclosed spaces like this, but if she was somehow able to reflect the empty room and conceal herself, then they wouldn't notice her at all.
Aisla had been training for this moment for the last two months, working every night with Mr. Aizawa and Shinso to perfect this very move. At first, all she could manage was a little change in scenery. She could hide herself from anyone walking by, so long as they didn't look directly at her.
After several sessions of this, Mr. Aizawa helped her to redirect her concentration so that she not only created a false world made of refracted images from the things around her, but also concealed her own body entirely so that anyone could walk right up to her and not notice a thing. Illusions were tricks of the light, after all, and what was a mirror for if not to reflect and bend light? It turned out to be a natural extension of her quirk. She'd been pretty pleased with her progress, but then her teacher wanted her to try and take it a step further. He encouraged her to move while she did this, to essentially become a part of the illusion she imagined.
"You're being too rigid when you think about your quirk," he said one evening. "I've told you before that it's limited only by your imagination. Instead of thinking of it as a solid glass mirror, try thinking of it like a clear lake." He'd made her sit on the ground and go into a meditative state while he spoke. "Picture yourself looking at your reflection on the water, then seeing what lies beyond it, like you do when you create the illusions. Only, this time, I want you to step into the water, immerse yourself in what lies beneath the reflection. It will be like stepping through a mirror."
"I can't," she'd protested softly. "I don't know how."
"But you do, Aisla," he'd said. And the way he'd said it had seemed so sure, so confident in her abilities that Aisla knew he must be right.
She spent their last few training sessions working on this very move, smoothing out the kinks as she got more comfortable with it. It wasn't perfect, and she still got caught almost every time, but she was doing better with it. She'd managed to trick Mr. Aizawa once, and Shinso twice. It all depended on her level of concentration, and her ability to be silent. Every time her boot crunched a twig or kicked a rock, it was all over. If her quirk was like a lake, then the smallest ripple would break the image on the surface completely.
There were no twigs or rocks here, but there was the possibility of a creaky floorboard. If that was the case, there would be no avoiding it. She couldn't see a noise before it happened. Maybe she could anticipate which boards would creak, but that in itself would take a lot of energy, and she was using her entire supply on the illusion she'd created. Besides, her ankle was throbbing so badly, she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up this position. Crouching put a lot of strain on her injury and it took all of her willpower not to let out a whimper.
She crept forward, moving in front of a large pentagonal window bathed in silvery light. Rain pelted the glass, creating a soft drumming that helped mask her progress. Thus far, she couldn't see anything suspicious, but part of the reason for that was the simple fact that Aisla couldn't see at all. The room was nearly pitch black, with the occasional flash of lightning illuminating the space around her and bringing more shapes into view. None of them moved, but that didn't mean no one was around. Now, more than ever, she wished her flashlight trick really would work like Bakugo had suggested. Although, then again, that would mean drawing attention to herself.
Fortunately, Aisla's concentration was a lot stronger than it used to be, so she was able to keep a firm grip on her quirk, barring any groaning floorboards. She wished she could also mask someone else's presence as well, but no matter how hard she'd tried to do that, it never worked. She didn't have that kind of range. That skill would have made this so simple. She could have simply hidden them all, and they could have waltzed on through.
Just as she thought that, a floorboard creaked, making her freeze up and nearly let out a squeak of surprise. The sound hadn't come from her, but she wasn't sure whether that made her feel better or worse. For a brief moment, she thought it must have been Bakugo coming in after her. He was always the impatient one, and she wouldn't put it past him to grow bored waiting around for Aisla to be useful. So far, all she'd done was crawl halfway across a room in the dark.
Another creak brought her attention back to the task at hand. She made sure her quirk was still active, then turned toward the sound and inched forward, careful not to make any sounds of her own. The noise had come from the room directly across from them. There was a large window covering part of the wall next to the door, allowing a clear view into the room beyond. Unfortunately, that room appeared to be just as dark as the one Aisla was in. Still, if she could peek over the edge of the sill, maybe she could see whoever was inside.
When she reached the window, she carefully lifted herself up just enough so she could peer into the room. It was dark except for a small orb of light that appeared to be floating mid-air. A shadowy figure moved behind the tiny light, pacing and mumbling something she couldn't make out. They didn't look human, but so many quirks made people look abnormal, Aisla couldn't be sure whether it was a person or some demonic creature. All she could see of it was a dark shape with piercing red eyes and black horns that curled slightly at the top.
Like Lucifer, she thought with a shudder, silently thanking the gods that she hadn't been given a physical attribute to go along with her quirk.
She watched him for a long moment, waiting to see what he would do. She thought she might have heard a curse, but the sound was lost in a sudden crack of thunder. Aisla ducked, and hastily blinked her eyes several times to moisturize her abused corneas. This put her at risk of detection, but she knew she was alone in this room. At least, she hadn't seen anyone on her way through and hadn't been attacked. She could take a moment to clear her mind before activating her quirk again.
She noticed Bakugo poking his head out through the door across the room and sent him her best death glare. To her surprise, he instantly disappeared back behind the door. With a silent breath, Aisla concentrated on bringing back the façade around her as she crept toward the door. She couldn't make herself invisible and she couldn't walk through walls, so getting through the door and into the other room would be impossible to do without making some amount of noise. With the knowledge that the demon-thing in the next room would be made aware of her presence the moment she pushed open the door, Aisla needed to have a plan set in motion.
She crouched behind the door so that when it opened she would be partially concealed behind it. That wouldn't make a difference if the person knew to look for her, but if she timed it just right, she might be able to get the drop on him. She still wasn't the best when it came to hand-to-hand combat, and she'd never mastered the silent takedown. Midoriya had helped her a lot in this area, however, so she was much more confident in her abilities than when she'd attended Shiketsu High. Back then, the best she could hope for was to not hurt herself when punching another person. Now, she had a much better understanding of how her own body moved, and what to look for in an opponent's actions.
With that in mind, Aisla took the small paper weight she'd found on the floor, and chucked it across the room she was standing in. There was a chance the person on the other side would burst in and the door would slam into her, but she was hoping he would be just as hesitant to make noise as Aisla was. If her gamble paid off, he would ease the door open and glance in the direction of the paper weight. Whether or not he came far enough into the room that Aisla could immobilize him was the tricky part. If he simply stuck his head inside and decided it wasn't worth checking out, then Aisla would have to come up with a better plan.
She could practically hear Bakugo and Shoto screaming at her through the door. She couldn't see them, but she bet they were keeping a close eye on her. She knew they would immediately guess her plan and think it was stupid.
"It's too dangerous for you!" Shoto would chastise, worry creasing his forehead.
"You'll get us all killed!" Bakugo would snap, fists clenching in anger.
Aisla shook off the imaginary conversation and kept her quirk active to try and mask herself as long as possible. A moment later, the door creaked open just a crack.
It's not enough… she thought as he continued to stand there, hidden behind the wood. Aisla wouldn't be able to use her quirk on him, but…
Plan B it is…
She concentrated on amping up the power of her quirk. Just as the door began to close once more, the paper weight rattled, catching the stranger's attention.
"What the—?" came the gravelly, inhuman voice right before her paper weight shot from the ground back across the room before smacking him hard, creating an uncomfortable cracking sound followed by a loud thud as a shadowy body hit the floor.
"What the hell, Aisla?" Bakugo demanded, barging in the second the creature lay unconscious on the floor. Aisla now thought maybe she recognized him as someone from the UA staff. A janitor, maybe? Her attention was only unfocused for a moment before she looked up at the fuming blond. "That wasn't the plan!"
Aisla stood up straight and stretched her aching muscles before applying a few drops to each of her stinging eyes. "It was my plan, though," she said without remorse.
Red eyes blazed.
"It was brave of you," Shoto acknowledged. "But it was kind of a gamble."
"Kind of?!" Bakugo raged in disbelief. "If that ball hadn't hit him exactly right, you'd probably be dead!"
Aisla scowled. "I probably wouldn't have died," she protested. "It's just an exam." And even if it hadn't all been staged, she was offended that he clearly didn't have enough confidence in her abilities as he claimed to earlier. Did he say that just to mess with her?
"Let's just be grateful it worked," Shoto suggested. "How did you do that anyway?"
Aisla shrugged and toyed with the ends of her hair. "Well…remember that move I used at the provisional license exam?" she asked. At their nod, Aisla continued explaining. "I've been working a lot with Mr. Aizawa to perfect that move, but since there's not a lot of opportunities to use something that extreme, he's been helping me to try and make it work at a smaller level."
"Since when can you reflect your own damn quirk?" Bakugo snapped. She thought she might have detected a hint of jealousy in his words, as if he felt personally offended for being kept out of the loop on her quirk's progress.
Aisla frowned. "Weren't you listening? It's the same move as at the provisional license exams. I'm not reflecting back my quirk, only my actions. I threw the ball, and then I…well I rewound its action, I mirrored it back with the same trajectory and force! But, it only works for small actions!" she hastily added when they both gaped at her. "And not all the time. In fact, this is only the second time it's worked successfully. Usually, I end up staring at something for a long time with no luck at all. I was starting to think all the training was a huge waste of time when I finally got it to work." Her face fell. "But…then it didn't work again after that."
"You shouldn't have risked it…" Bakugo muttered quietly, gaze averted and expression unreadable. "Especially with that sprained ankle."
She sighed, but decided not to comment on her injury, or the fact that it had no bearing on what she'd just done. "We should keep going. We need to finish the exam. We don't have much time left."
"Agreed," Shoto said with a nod. "Let's move on before this guy wakes up."
"Are you two stupid or something?" Without waiting for an answer, Bakugo stalked across the room, dug inside a couple of boxes, then produced a ball of string. "Obviously we tie the bastard up before we leave!"
Aisla felt embarrassed for not seeing the obvious problem. If he woke up before they were able to finish their tasks, then they'd be out for sure. "That's smart," she agreed.
They bound his black wrists and ankles, which were surprisingly more skin-like than they appeared, then made their way into the next room.
"Where are we even going?" Aisla whispered as they shut the door behind them and propped a chair against the handle to hold it in place. It didn't have a lock, but with the giant window right next to it, Aisla knew it didn't really matter either way. If someone wanted to come after them, they could easily break the glass.
Bakugo pointed to a stairwell just beyond an open doorway, then gestured to the sign with up and down arrows. "Heaven or hell?" he deadpanned.
Aisla choked on a laugh and had to slap a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. Bakugo's lips twitched.
"Let's keep going up," Shoto suggested, ignoring her outburst. "I'm sure that's where we'll find the end."
Or we'll meet our end, Aisla thought as she suddenly sobered up. She stood up straight and took in a deep pull of air. This was a serious matter; there was no time for laughing!
They all entered the stairwell and made their way up as far as the stairs allowed. After about three floors, the next set of stairs was completely blocked by fallen rubble, meaning they had two choices: go inside the door behind them, or go back down and choose a different floor.
"Obviously it's a trap!" Bakugo hissed.
"Yeah, but that also means this is the right way to go," Aisla retorted. "Like when you suddenly see a bunch of bad guys in a video game."
"This isn't a video game, Aisla!" Bakugo snapped, voice muffled behind the palm he'd pressed against his face. "This is a serious matter."
Her shoulders sagged. "Yeah…"
"Even so," Shoto said, "I think she's right. This is probably the way we're expected to go. The only question now is…"
"What do we do when we get inside?" Aisla finished.
He nodded. "Do we have a plan of action?"
They both looked instinctively to Bakugo, who flushed under their expectant gazes. "Uh…" He thought for a long moment. "Can you still use that quirk of yours?" he asked Aisla.
She nodded. "I still have enough energy to activate it for a little while longer, though it won't really help if we just barge in there."
"I know…" he agreed slowly. "But maybe it could work as a distraction."
"We don't even know what we're up against!" she whispered. "There could be a whole SWAT team in there!"
Shoto frowned. "That's true, but if that's the case, Bakugo and I will be right behind you. If you're uncomfortable straining your quirk anymore, or you're afraid to go in alone—"
"Shut up, she's not afraid!" Bakugo whisper-barked. "Right, Aisla?"
She wasn't afraid, at least, she wasn't afraid of the act itself. She wasn't very confident in her abilities being useful in this situation, but the less attention they brought upon themselves, the better.
"I can do it," she said fiercely. She was determined to get them as many points as possible. It was up to her now. Aisla was the master of stealth, the one that would finish this for them. All they had to do was find the pretend hostage. Once they were untied and 'freed' from their captors, the scenario would be complete.
Unless they throw some other horrible obstacle our way, Aisla thought bitterly.
"I believe in you," Shoto said with an encouraging smile. Bakugo nodded but said nothing else while Aisla steeled herself. She took a deep, steadying breath, then bent the light around her once more.
A/N: The conclusion to this mini arc will be next week if you want to know how they finish the test! I hope you've all been enjoying it so far! Have a great weekend!
Beta: yellowchikadee