Chapter 13: The Summer Camp is Lit!
There was a child at the training camp. An angry child that kind of reminded Izuku of Katsuki, especially when said child punched him in the balls just because Izuku said hello.
Katsuki laughed his ass off in pure glee.
It was bad enough they'd spent all day hiking to get to camp while being attacked by Pixie Bob's dirt monsters. Izuku had had to rely on Todoroki's fire after his lighter ran out of fuel, and he was already vowing to not go anywhere during this camp without his arm bracers.
He really hadn't needed to get punched in the balls. The kid had looked upset and out of place, and Izuku figured being friendly might help him open up more.
Clearly, the problem wasn't because Kota was socially awkward.
Kota kept his distance during dinner, and Izuku gave him space. He was too focused on the food, anyway. Hiking and fighting all day worked up quite the appetite.
Sinking into the baths later was even better, soothing all the sore muscles and bruises. "I can't believe this was only the first day," Izuku muttered. Aizawa hadn't been kidding when he said this would be hell.
"Yes, this is promising to be an intense training experience," Iida agreed.
"I don't know if I'll be able to handle it if keeps up like this," Kaminari complained, sinking lower in the water.
Someone else muttered something, and it took Izuku a second to see it was Mineta, staring at the wall separating them from the girls and trembling.
Oh no. Izuku recognized those eyes. He'd seen it on plenty of guys before he knocked them out.
Mineta climbed out of the water and padded over to the wall. "Just a few pieces of wood, and heaven's waiting on the other side," Mineta said. "A bath full of boobs and babes, ready to be seen by yours truly!"
"What do you think you're doing?" Izuku snapped, maybe a little more harshly than he needed to. He wasn't remorseful. He'd seen too many girls and even guys barely older than him in the aftermath of perverts who couldn't keep their hands to themselves.
His outburst caught everyone else's attention, and now they were all watching Mineta.
Mineta wasn't deterred in the slightest. He pressed himself against the wall with a dreamy smile on his face. "Angels. How stupid of them not to stagger the times we'd be naked next to each other."
Izuku's fingers itched for some fire, and he was seconds away from demanding some flames from Todoroki.
Iida had apparently had enough as well. He surged to his feet and splashed across the bath. "You're to stop this at once, Mineta. It is demeaning, for both the girls and yourself! It's shameful behavior."
Mineta drooled against the wall before turning around to them with a grin.
Izuku stood up. He didn't trust that grin as far as he could throw it.
"Now I know why I have this quirk." He reached up for a sticky ball. "It's because walls are meant to be climbed!"
The next thing they knew, he was scaling the wall with his balls.
"Hey! Get back down here!" Izuku said, hopping out after Iida. They were too late to stop Mineta, who was already a third of the way up the wall.
Iida shouted after Mineta, which hopefully the girls heard and could take as a warning.
A face appeared at the top of the wall, stopping Mineta in his tracks. "Before you become a hero, you should learn how to be a good human," Kota stated, slapping Mineta back.
Izuku was not a nice enough person to break Mineta's fall. Iida, stunned at the sight of Kota, received the honor, his face getting an unfortunate introduction to Mineta's bare rear.
Izuku winced. He was very glad not to be in Iida's shoes right now.
Kota yelped above him, and Izuku looked up to the see him lose his balance. Izuku was more than willing to catch Kota, and then to carry him to Mandalay when he realized the boy was unconscious with the beginnings of a bloody nose.
He was on the verge of panicking, but Mandalay kept calm and told him to place Kota on the couch. She wiped up his bloody nose and placed a wet cloth on Kota's head. "The rush from the fall likely caused him to faint. Thank you for bringing him in."
"It was no problem," Izuku assured her.
She hummed. "Eraser warned me one of you boys was a little girl crazy, so I posted Kota up there to keep watch. I suppose that's the danger of teaching kids your age."
No, there was no excuse for Mineta not respecting girls. Izuku would gladly argue this point, and he would absolutely be having a talk with Aizawa about this. There was a difference between 'Girl crazy' and 'Pervert in training.'
In any case, the main concern here was Kota. "I'm glad he's alright."
"All thanks to you." Mandalay ran a hand through Kota's hair.
Izuku thought back to what Kota had said when he'd punched him, calling them all wannabe heroes. "Um. He doesn't like heroes very much, does he?"
Mandalay's eyes cut across to him. He explained how weird it was to him, since it was all he'd ever wanted to be, and everyone he knew now was trying to be one. In turn, Mandalay explained what happened to Kota's parents.
Izuku couldn't blame Kota for his view on heroes after that. If his mom had been killed and he was grieving, but everyone kept praising her death, he would have become bitter, too.
He only wished there was something he could say to Mandalay or to Kota that would help, but what could he possibly say to help in this situation?
He left the office with a sour, empty feeling in his stomach.
Xx
Training the next morning started way too early, and was every bit as intense as they'd feared. But it was a good kind of intense, the kind where they knew the payoff when it was over would be worth it.
They all had different ways to strengthen their quirks, and the mountainside was never quiet as they all trained. Izuku worked on endurance, maintaining tight control to keep both himself in the air and various other classmates. He also worked on multiple flames at once, manipulating each one differently to give him more flexibility in a fight.
It was mentally draining. He'd never had the chance to learn what pushing his quirk too far would look like for him, usually relying more on hand to hand when he fought. When he'd trained in secret as Alley Cat, he'd never had gaps of time big enough to test his limits like this.
He was not pleased to learn it meant nose bleeds and double vision. A little before lunch, he had to sit in the shade with his eyes closed and tissue pressed to his face. Yaoyorozu had been more than happy to supply him with several boxes of tissues, which was overkill for the moment, but if the training camp continued at this pace he'd probably use them all by the time they went home.
After lunch they were back at it. Their exhaustion didn't matter. The bruises didn't matter, the ache of their muscles, the shortness of breath, the various side effects of pushing themselves too far…none of it mattered.
They were getting stronger, whatever the cost.
Xx
They had to make their own dinner, which was its own kind of torture with how tired they were. Once they found a groove, though, it was almost fun.
Izuku took the lead in his group, since he had the most experience with cooking, and he'd made curry plenty of times.
It had turned into a disaster plenty of times, but he wasn't doing anything complicated and he wasn't cooking alone. It would be fine.
"Oi, what the fuck are you doing to that curry?" Katsuki demanded, peering over Izuku's shoulder as he dumped the chopped vegetables in.
"Um…cooking?"
"Then why the fuck does it smell like that?" Katsuki asked. "Have you stirred it at all?"
Izuku blinked at him.
Katsuki swore again and hip-checked Izuku out of the way, stealing the spoon from his hand. He wasn't part of Izuku's group, and he probably had something he was supposed to be doing for his own dinner.
Instead he was here, adding spices and stirring and muttering. "Honestly, how the fuck did you survive on your own if you still cook this badly?"
"Oh, did you live alone Sasaki?" Uraraka asked.
Katsuki and Izuku froze, their expressions of mild panic mirrored.
"Um. Yeah." Lie, lie, he needed a lie, what would be believable? "My middle school was kind of far away, so I rented a basement apartment from an old lady." Good Izuku, he could pat himself on the back for that one. It was half true, and an excuse he was already used to.
He'd come a long way from the panic that named Alley Cat.
"Oh, that's so cool!" Uraraka said. "I almost got an apartment for high school, since it's such a long train ride for me, but in the end I decided the rent wasn't worth it."
Izuku laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I was lucky my parents could pay it."
Todoroki stilled at a table not too far away, turning towards him with narrowed eyes. Tsuyu asked him something though, diverting his attention.
"There, that should be edible now," Katsuki said. He thrust the spoon back into Izuku's hand, splattering curry sauce on his shirt. "Don't just let it sit there and burn again." He stomped back to his group.
Sighing, Izuku kept better watch over their dinner.
Later, when everyone was mostly done, Izuku spied Kota slipping off into the woods. Mandalay called for him, but the boy didn't turn around.
He probably shouldn't get involved. Kota had made it pretty clear he didn't want anything to do with them, but Izuku couldn't help the need he felt to reach out. To try and sooth Kota's bitterness towards heroes. He was so young to carry all that hate.
So, even though it was probably a bad idea, he made up a new plate and followed the boy's footsteps up a cliff side to a cave opening. Like he'd thought, Kota wasn't happy to see him. He wouldn't even look at the curry Izuku had brought.
Izuku managed to get a little more out of him that night. It wasn't just heroes that Kota hated, it was quirks and their entire society.
In the end, all Izuku could do was leave the curry and hope he could come up with a way to show Kota that quirks weren't all that bad before the camp was over.
Xx
They had stew for dinner that night, and Izuku had a chance to ask Todoroki for advice about Kota. He brought up good points about actions being louder than words, which gave Izuku something to work with. Not much, but he'd keep brainstorming.
After dinner was the Test of Courage the Pussycats had put together, pitting the two first year classes together. It was supposed to be something fun to help them unwind from the intensity of training, but Izuku didn't see how scaring each other in the dark was supposed to be fun.
Honestly, considering his reflexes, they'd be lucky if he didn't accidentally set someone on fire. He half considered passing off his lighter to someone, but it was just his luck he was the odd one out in the pairs. He wouldn't have a partner to walk with, and he couldn't stand not having a lighter at least near him.
While he waited his turn, the screams of his classmates drifted through the trees. Sounded like 1B really knew what they were doing.
And he was going to experience it alone. The wait beforehand wasn't helping, either. It gave him time to work himself up even more. The other class wouldn't even have to try by the time he finally started.
"Are you going to be alright, Sasaki?" Iida asked.
Izuku jumped. "Oh, yeah, I'll be fine, just…nervous…" He drifted off, his gaze caught on the skyline. Was that smoke?
Pixie Bob sniffed the air, and no sooner had she stated something was wrong than she was dragged back through the air and knocked out. Two villains stood just inside the tree line.
"We're supposed to be safe here!" Mineta cried, backing away. "Why are there villains here?"
That was an excellent question. The school had taken every precaution with the location of the training camp. Even Hizashi didn't know where they were right now.
So how in the world had the villains found them?
Izuku shook his head. That was a problem for future him. Right now, he needed to protect his classmates. He knew he should have worn his arm bracers tonight…
"This is bad," Mandalay said, standing in front of all of them with Tiger at her side.
Izuku glanced at her, and then another thought flashed through his mind. "Oh no, where's Kota?" Had he ever come back from his secret hideout after dinner? Was he still up there all alone? Would the villains go after him?
Mandalay gave him a quick look of panic before she could control her face. "He must be at his hideout, but I don't know where it is."
Izuku did. Izuku was probably the only person there who did, which meant he was the only one who could find Kota and get him to safety.
"Get back to camp," Mandalay instructed. "Class rep, you're in charge on the way there. Don't engage."
"You can count on me," Iida assured her. He started leading them off.
Izuku couldn't go with them. "Go on without me. Mandalay, I know where Kota is!"
She looked over at him in surprise.
"I'm going to get him and bring him to camp!"
She gnashed her teeth together, eyes glancing over to the villains again. "Please, keep him safe. But do not engage with any enemies!"
Izuku promised no such thing, but he took her permission and sprinted off into the woods, ignoring Iida calling his name.
He didn't like leaving his class right now, but they at least had some training to defend themselves. Kota didn't have any. If a villain went after him, he'd either be killed or taken hostage. Neither option was appealing. Prioritizing was an awful part of hero work.
He charged through the forest, unable to tell if his heartbeat or his footsteps were louder. When he reached the cliff-side path, the sight of the forest almost made him stop. Blue flames burned in the night, and some kind of purple fog drifted through the trees on the other side. How many villains were they dealing with?
God he hoped Kota was okay.
The good news was Kota was okay when Izuku reached him. The bad news was that he wasn't alone.
There was one good thing about the forest being on fire: it gave Izuku plenty of fuel. It was just barely within his distance limit, and the blue flames were harder to control than normal flames. Was that because of the quirk used to create these flames, or was Izuku so distracted his mind couldn't focus?
He'd meant to make it solid when he plowed it into the villain, but the flames wouldn't cooperate. They felt wild and untamed, and he kept losing his grip on it.
The villain had been forced back, at least, and Izuku planted himself between the villain and Kota. Thank goodness he'd used it on the villain and not to grab Kota.
"Damn brat," the villain said, tearing off his flaming cloak and revealing big muscles. It looked like his left arm was nothing but muscle, without even skin to contain it all. "Oh, wait, you're on the list. Izuku Midoriya, right?"
His body locked up. Not his real name…don't tell him these villains had been sent by his father? Had he missed a bounty going out for him? Was this attack his fault? Were people getting hurt because of him?
Kota whimpered behind him. His face was a mess of tears and snot.
Izuku didn't want to imagine how scared he was right now. "It's alright, Kota. I'm going to save you."
"Hey, brat, answer me," the villain said. "You are Izuku Midoriya, right? I don't want to go through the hassle of bringing you back alive if you're not the right guy."
So his father wanted him alive, still? Maybe he could work with that. "Am I the only target tonight?"
The villain cocked his head. "No. We're also after Katsuki Bakugou. If you know where he is, I'd really appreciate it."
Katsuki? What did his father want with him? Crap, this was getting worse. If they'd just been after him, he might have gone with this guy to try and protect Kota and his classmates. Since he was just one of the targets, getting captured now would make him a hostage to drag Katsuki out. And it would probably work. Plus, he didn't trust that going peacefully would actually guarantee Kota's safety.
"I don't know where he is right now."
The man nodded, clearly not expecting anything different. "That's fine. You're still coming with me, though."
Izuku pushed the blue flames between them again. "Not a chance." It was unfortunate this guy was in between them and the path back to the camp. He was going to have to find a way to switch their positions and then hold him off so Kota could get away.
Muscular rushed through the fire, new muscle racing forward to cover and repair what he burned.
Izuku had a moment of despair. If fire wasn't going to stop this guy, he was well and truly screwed.
"Thanks, I was hoping to do this the hard way. It's more fun for me!" Muscular shouted, rearing his arm back for a punch.
Izuku leaped back. Trying to block one of his punches would be suicide.
Muscular's fist raced past him and smashed into the ground, leaving a crater where Izuku had been standing.
Yeah, he was screwed in this fight.
Kota grabbed onto the back of his shirt. "Mama, Papa…he killed Mama and Papa…"
"What's that?" Muscular asked, shaking dirt from his hand.
Kota tried to take a step forward, but Izuku blocked him with his arm. "He killed them."
Ah, great, like this situation wasn't bad enough as it was.
"Really? Which heroes were they?" Muscular asked. He phrased it like they were old friends he'd gone to school with, not two heroes he'd murdered in cold blood.
"They were Water Hose," Kota said, latching onto Izuku's arm.
Muscular grinned. "Is that right? You know, I owe this ugly eye to them." He gestured to the prosthetic in his left eye socket. "It still pisses me off, so it must be fate that I run into their kid out here."
"Leave him alone," Izuku said. "He has nothing to do with any of this!"
"Don't start sounding all noble." Muscular rolled his eyes. "Nothing pisses me off more than so-called heroes getting all self-righteous."
"Why?" Kota demanded. "Why did you kill them?"
"Huh? What kind of question is that? They were heroes, and they got in my way," Muscular said.
Kota trembled next to Izuku. "You had no right!" He tried to burst past Izuku, but Izuku caught him around the waist.
"Kota!"
"He killed my mom and dad! It's his fault they're gone!" Kota struggled in Izuku's grasp, clawing through the air in Muscular's direction.
"You better shut up, brat. Your mouth is starting to piss me off, and I already want to kill you."
Izuku took a few steps backwards. The edge of the cliff was barely five feet behind him. If they jumped, would Muscular follow? He looked crazy enough to attempt it.
Kota elbowed Izuku in the face on accident and slipped out of his grasp. Muscular surged forward, pulling back his hand for a big right hook.
Izuku snagged Kota's shirt and yanked him back, stumbling the last few feet off the cliff. Blue fire raced to meet them, but it wouldn't hold a solid form beneath his feet.
He'd been afraid of that. He poured all his will into solidifying the flames, barely managing to make something of a board to slow their fall. The heat melted the bottoms of his shoes, which was really unfortunate because he hadn't packed an extra pair.
The fire slowed their fall, but they still mostly crashed through the trees. Izuku pulled Kota close and angled them so he took the worst of it, landing with a hard 'Oof!"
He didn't have time to get his breath back and take proper stock of his injuries. Muscular's yelling was getting closer, which meant he'd jumped, too.
"Come on," Izuku said, pushing himself to his feet. He carried Kota, who seemed to have finally given up on fighting Muscular and now clung to Izuku.
"You're running away?" Kota asked.
"Just until I get you somewhere safe," Izuku said. "If I get you back to camp, Mr. Aizawa might be able to help. If we could cancel Muscular's quirk, that would make him easy to take down."
"I wish quirks weren't real," Kota said. "None of this would be happening, then."
Izuku grimaced. He might have a point, but it didn't help their situation right now.
"Look out!"
Turning back, Izuku barely had time to dodge the log Muscular hurled at them. He dived to the side, tumbling over roots with Kota pressed to his chest.
"Where do you think you're going?" Muscular demanded.
"Can you make it back to camp from here?" Izuku whispered to Kota.
Kota nodded.
Izuku set him on his feet. "I'm going to hold him off, okay? You get back to camp, and tell them the villains are here for Bakugou."
"What about you? Your attacks didn't do anything earlier!"
"It's alright. I'm faster than him, and I can fight from a distance. I'll be fine, promise."
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Muscular taunted, voice way too close for comfort.
"Go, Kota!" Izuku pushed.
Still teary-eyed, Kota nodded and took off.
Muscular cried out and started after him, but Izuku hurled blue flames into Muscular's face.
"I told you to leave him alone," Izuku said. Hopefully, Kota could make it through the forest without running into more villains.
"You shouldn't have done that," Muscular growled. "Now I'm really mad." More muscles grew over what he had.
Izuku attacked again, pressing fire against his neck and into any weak points he could find.
Muscular kept regenerating whatever muscles Izuku burned, and he was fast. He punched Izuku so hard he broke Izuku's arm. When Izuku tried to jump back, he caught Izuku's foot and hurled him into a tree. Something cracked, and Izuku couldn't say for sure if it was the tree bark or his ribs.
He pushed himself onto his good hand and knees. It was hard to catch his breath. Had he given Kota enough time? They couldn't have been fighting for that long, yet.
The fight definitely wouldn't last much longer if Izuku didn't get out of there.
"What happened to all that hero talk on the cliff?" Muscular said.
Izuku peered up at him. Twitching his fingers in the dirt, he made a burning cage around Muscular's head.
The man screamed.
Izuku could only stomach it for a few seconds before loosening the flames. The air reeked of burned flesh, and Muscular's face and hair was a mess of blisters and burns. His right eye was shut in pain, but the left eye glared at him.
It was mechanical, so it didn't hold the same terror that Stain or his father had. But somehow, with the mess of twisted flesh around it, the intent was still clear.
It didn't matter if Izuku's father wanted him alive.
Muscular was going to kill him for that.
For a moment, it was like Izuku was twelve years old all over again, staring into the eyes of a man who had just decided to kill him. It was like the last two and a half, almost three, years hadn't happened. Izuku was a kid staring death in the face.
Muscular took one step forward, and Izuku bolted through the forest. Blind terror drove him on. He didn't even know what direction he was going in, he'd lost track during the fight. Hopefully he was going towards help and not away from it.
"We're not done!" Muscular yelled.
Izuku glanced back to see how much distance was between them, and he didn't like what he saw.
Muscular lunged, hands only feet away from closing around Izuku's neck.
Izuku stumbled over a root and landed hard on his back. He called for his fire, but he'd accidentally released it at some point and it wasn't there.
Hands grabbed his arm and yanked him sideways, pressing him against a tree and covering his mouth. Some kind of beast roared, and Muscular screamed again. The scream was cut short.
"Are you alright?" It took a second for Izuku to recognize Shoji.
"I'll live," Izuku said. "What was that?"
"Dark Shadow." Shoji kept his voice pitched low, peering around the tree. His eyes twisted at whatever he saw there. "Once we were attacked, Tokoyami lost control. He's attacking anything that moves."
Right, Dark Shadow was stronger at night. But that meant his weakness was light.
Izuku reached for his lighter. "I think I can calm him down."
"Please," Shoji said. "I've been trying to reason with him, but he's like a wild animal right now."
Izuku nodded and Shoji let him up. Once he had the space he needed, he called for Dark Shadow's attention.
The response was instant. The darkness in the trees shifted, reaching for him.
Izuku drew out a steady stream of fire.
Dark Shadow howled but shrank back, leaving Tokoyami panting on the ground. Shoji rushed forward to check on him.
Izuku chanced a look backwards to see what happened to Muscular. His limbs were twisted unnaturally, and he wasn't moving.
In a way, it was probably a good thing Tokoyami had lost control of Dark Shadow. Izuku wasn't sure they would have been able to bring Muscular down any other way.
"Thank you," Tokoyami said.
"I think I should be the one saying that," Izuku said. He let his fireball hover at his shoulder.
"We can worry about it later. Right now we need to get back to camp," Shoji said.
"I have to check on Kacchan, first. He's one of their targets," Izuku said.
"At least he's usually easy to find," Shoji muttered, creating more ears on his duplicate arms. "Wait, one of their targets? Who else?"
Darn, Izuku had been hoping they wouldn't catch that. "Me."
Both classmates stared at him. "In that case, we're escorting you back to camp. If we find Bakugou along the way, we'll grab him, too."
"Fine, but can we hurry?"
The two nodded and flanked him as they ran.
Izuku prayed as they ran that Katsuki was alright.
Xx
This whole situation was Aizawa's worst nightmare. The summer training camp was supposed to be safe. Hardly anyone had even known where it was.
As soon as he got his hands on one of these villains, he was going to punch them until they told him how they'd found the camp. And he was going to enjoy it.
A villain with blue flames attacked him the second he stepped outside, reminding him he needed to focus. Panic and all other useless emotions could wait until later. Right now he had to stay calm and level-headed.
That was easier said than done, especially when the flame villain melted in front of him, and a handful of his students stepped out of the tree line. Iida carried little Kota with him.
"Mr. Aizawa!" Iida yelled, eyes flickering between the goop of the melted villain and him.
"Get inside," Aizawa said.
"Sasaki's in trouble!" Kota said. "He was fighting this really big muscle guy, his flames weren't working, why did he fight him?"
His heart dropped to his stomach. Izuku could handle himself in most situations, but he wasn't invincible. It was just like him to bit off more than he could chew in the name of protecting someone else.
No wonder All Might had his eyes on him…They were cut from the same cloth.
"I'll go after him. You all need to get inside, now."
"They want him!" Kota said. He rubbed furiously at his eyes. "They wanted to take him, but they called him something else, Mido-something."
Aizawa's heart continued its descent to his feet. Midoriya. If they were calling him by that name, then this had something to do with Dragon.
Iida made an aborted sound, glancing down at Kota in shock before looking at Aizawa with pleading eyes.
Aizawa didn't have time to question what he knew.
"And they want some other kid, Bakugou?" Kota added.
Because this night couldn't get any worse.
"I'll handle it. Now get inside with Vlad!" He sprinted into the woods, mind racing. There were god knew how many villains attacking them right now, and two of his students were confirmed targets.
Worst of all, they were all spread out through the forest because of the damn courage test. Had the villains deliberately watched and waited until they were separated, or had their attack just been lucky timing?
He continued swearing until he reached the clearing Mandalay and Tiger fought in. His quirk wouldn't work on the mutant with the sword…made out of other swords? Why were villains so weird…? When he tried to erase the other villain's quirk, nothing happened. The big one was just that strong, which was annoying.
His appearance distracted the mutant one at least, long enough for Mandalay to land a solid hit. He wrapped the villain in his scarf and barked at Mandalay, "Send a message to the students. Tell them they have my permission to fight. And warn them that Sasaki and Bakugou are the targets."
She bit her lip. "Sasaki went after Kota, if I'd known…"
"Kota is fine, he's back at camp."
She visibly relaxed, and then she sent out the message.
Xx
"Attention everyone, Eraserhead has given you permission to use your quirks. Use your training to defend yourselves."
Katsuki grinned, explosions immediately popping in his hand.
"Also, we know two of the targets are Sasaki and Bakugou. You two need to get back to camp as fast as possible."
Todoroki's eyes were on him immediately.
"Don't give me that," Katsuki said. He kept his own eyes on the weirdo in front of him. He was wrapped in his own jumpsuit, wires pulling his mouth open. "They're finally letting us fight, you think I'm about to back down?"
"You can't use explosions here, you'll cause a forest fire!" Todoroki hissed.
The villain in front of him staggered forward, muttering something about feeding. Then his teeth grew out of his mouth, shooting towards them like some kind of spears.
Katsuki pulled his hand back with an explosion, but Todoroki stomped his foot and caught the teeth with an ice wall.
And really. Katsuki had seen a lot of weird quirks, but teeth? What the hell?
More teeth shot over the ice wall, and Todoroki blocked them again.
"Damn it, stop that!" Katsuki yelled.
Todoroki glared at him.
Teeth-guy didn't give them a chance to bicker. He hauled himself up into the air on his teeth and swung towards them, like some kind of demonic spider.
He was going to be an annoying fight, wasn't he?
Not as annoying as Todoroki blocking Katsuki with ice again. Seriously, if Icyhot did it one more freaking time…
Teeth-guy flipped over them, cornering them against all the ice Todoroki so thoughtfully created. They dived into the trees to avoid the spear teeth. The teeth bent and followed after them.
"Damn it!" Katsuki used small explosions to leap over them. And he did it without setting the forest on fire, so there, Icyhot.
"I see ice!" someone yelled in the distance.
"More, more," Teeth-guy muttered.
This guy seriously creeped Katsuki out. He'd never wanted to punch someone's teeth out so badly before.
"Dark Shadow!"
Tokoyami? Alright, Katsuki didn't mind him so much.
Dark Shadow passed over the ice and threw itself at Teeth-guy. Tokoyami himself ran around the ice on the ground, followed by Shoji and Izuku.
"Are you guys okay?" Izuku asked.
Todoroki nodded, struggling to his feet with the 1B student on his back. Shoji took him and wrapped him in his dupli-arms. "We're fine."
"What about you? The fuck happened to your arm? And your shoes, fucking hell?"
Izuku shifted his feet, scraping his messed up shoes in the dirt. "That blue fire is weird, okay? It's hard to control."
Dark Shadow finished with Teeth-guy, leaving the villain unconscious against a tree, wrapped in his own teeth.
"Blue fire is usually hotter than normal fire," Todoroki supplied.
Realization dawned on Izuku's face, and Katsuki knew from experience a quirk rant was about to follow. But they didn't have time for that right now.
The others seemed to agree with him.
"Alright, we found Bakugou, so now we need to get both of you back to camp," Shoji said.
Todoroki nodded. "You two walk in the middle. Shoji, Tokoyami, and I will surround you."
Katsuki gnashed his teeth. "I don't need fucking bodyguards."
"We should cut right through the trees, too," Izuku said, completely ignoring Katsuki. "It's faster than the path, and we're probably less likely to run into more villains."
Yeah, fine, whatever. These assholes wanted Izuku, too, so whatever got him back to safety fastest. He took his place next to Izuku while the other three surrounded them, and they set off into the trees.
"So why the fuck do these fuckers want us, huh?" Katsuki asked.
"I'm curious about that, too," Tokoyami said.
"I think…" Izuku started before cutting himself off and biting his lip.
"You think what?" Katsuki demanded.
Sighing, Izuku finished. "I think my dad sent them."
Oh.
Shit.
Todoroki looked back in surprise, and Katsuki was going to have to ask later how much Icyhot apparently knew.
"Your father?" Tokoyami asked.
"Yeah…he's a villain. We're not on the best terms," Izuku said.
"That fucker shouldn't even know where you are, you've been careful," Katsuki hissed. He moved a little closer to Izuku. Nothing, absolutely nothing, was going to happen to his best friend.
"I don't know how he found me," Izuku hissed back. "I figured I'd worry about that later."
Yeah, that was fair. At this point it didn't matter how Hisashi had found him. He had, and they had to deal with that first.
"I hear someone ahead of us, keep it down for a second," Shoji warned.
Katsuki and Izuku shut up immediately. With Izuku's father involved in all this, he wasn't taking chances.
He hoped Hisashi was hiding out somewhere in these woods. He had an explosion with that man's name on it waiting for him.
Xx
The scuffle Shoji heard turned out to be Uraraka and Tsuyu against a crazed villain in a school girl outfit. When Shouto and the others burst onto the path, they scared the villain off and she disappeared into the trees.
"Thanks, guys," Uraraka said. Tsuyu helped her to her feet. The girls seemed okay for the most part, nothing worse than a few scratches.
"We need to hurry and get back to camp," Shouto said, glancing back to check on Sasaki and Bakugou.
Except they weren't there, and neither was Tokoyami.
"Shoji!"
Shoji followed his line of sight, swearing at the empty path behind them. "What happened?"
"You didn't hear anything?" Shouto asked.
"No, I swear I didn't," he said.
"What's wrong?" Tsuyu asked.
"Sasaki and Bakugou, and Tokoyami…" Shouto trailed off. "They were right behind us." They'd been there not even a minute ago.
The villains had spirited away three of his strongest classmates right from under their noses. That kind of power was a little terrifying.
"Nice trick, eh?" someone called from above.
Shouto and the others whipped their gazes up to see a villain standing on a sturdy branch. He had a black and white mask and a top hat, like some kind of magician. He even had a cane
"I took the lads you're talking about with my magic," he went on, bouncing a marble in his hand. "Talents like these would be squandered with you heroes. We'll provide them with a grander stage where they can truly shine."
"Give them back," Shouto demanded.
"Give them back?" the villain repeated. "What an odd thing to say. These lads don't belong to anyone. Don't be so arrogant."
"They're not yours to take, either!" Shouto retorted. He twisted his right foot and sent a narrow glacier up to the villain, hoping to at least catch his foot or something and trap him. With Uraraka's quirk, they should be able to get up there…
The villain leapt off the branch and flew through the air. So he had some kind of flight quirk? "Why the aggression? We merely wish to show them that there are other options beside the heroism they're drowning in."
Shouto was pretty sure Sasaki had seen his other options, and he'd still chosen heroics. But if his father really was behind this attack, he might not care what Sasaki wanted.
"It's important to choose a profession that aligns with your core interests, after all," the villain went on.
"If you're monologuing because you think you've beaten us, you're wrong," Shouto stated more confidently than he felt. They couldn't reach him up there, and he had their classmates as hostages.
"Ah, a bad habit on my part. I used to be an entertainer." He played with the marble in his hand, until there was a second one, and then a third. "Though, I admit taking your third classmate was a bit of improve on my part."
The villain went on about how Dark Shadow beat some Muscular guy, but Shouto had had enough.
He raced forward and stomped his right foot, shooting out a massive glacier even bigger than what he'd done at the sports festival.
There. If that didn't stop this guy in his tracks-
"Apologies!"
No.
"But sleight of hand and escape-ology are my specialties, not combat."
No way.
"I'm not foolish enough to fight hero candidates from UA."
He floated above Shouto's glacier, radioing in to the other villains that he'd acquired their targets.
Shouto had trained relentlessly for years, and when the time finally came for him to step up and be a hero, he was helpless. Three classmates were in a villain's hand, and he couldn't do anything about it.
"We have to get them back!" Uraraka said, jolting all of them out of their shock.
They chased after the masked villain. Shouto's heart raced against his ribs. Sasaki was one of the few people he actually considered a friend, one of the first he'd ever had. He was the only person who even remotely understood what Shouto meant about his father. And if this attack was Sasaki's father trying to get him back, when Sasaki said he hadn't seen him in a few years? And his father was a villain?
Shouto didn't want to imagine what this reunion would be like. He had to get his classmates back.
But they were never going to catch this masked guy on foot. None of them could fly after them, or propel themselves like Bakugou with his explosions. The closest was Uraraka's zero gravity, but she couldn't control herself in the air, just float.
Could they still use it, somehow? Could he use his flames to boost them forward?
"Uraraka, can you make us all float? I think I can use my flames like a booster," Shouto suggested.
"Yeah, okay! Everyone grab onto each other!"
It was a little messy, and Shouto definitely left a few trees on fire trying to get them high enough. It took more fire power than he'd expected, but it was better than running.
"There's too many of us," Tsuyu said, ever the practical one. "You'll go faster with fewer people. I'll stay back with this one." She pulled the 1B student from Shoji and broke off from their little group.
They did go a lot faster. Shoji used his arms to guide their course, and they closed in on the masked villain.
Uraraka released the anti-gravity and they plowed the man into the ground.
There were more villains. Everything became very chaotic, very fast. Shoji had the three marbles, but then they were fakes and Mask-man still had their real friends. A warp gate appeared behind the villains, too far away for any of them to reach, but damn it, Shouto had to try.
Then Aoyama shot a laser at Mask-man, and the marbles were flying through the air.
All three of them lunged.
Shoji's longer arm snagged the one on the far left.
The scarred villain snagged the other two right out from under Uraraka and Shouto. "Aw, that's too bad, kiddies. Compress, make sure we got the right ones."
The marbles burst, and their friends stood before them. Tokoyami sat in front of Shoji.
Bakugou and Sasaki stood in front of the villains, hands around the back of their necks. They were being pulled into the warp gate.
"No!" Shouto yelled, making one last attempt.
His hand closed around air.
Silence deafened them all.
Uraraka choked on a sob. "Oh no."
Frost crept up Shouto's right arm, and his left arm steamed. They'd been right there. How could he have let this happen? How could he have let them slip through his grasp like that? How could he have been so useless?
"Todoroki?" Shoji called.
Shouto forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down. He settled his quirk and turned back to the others. "Let's find Aizawa. We need to tell him what happened."
Because the sooner the adults knew, the sooner a rescue could happen.