20/07/2024
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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 38 - Interschool Training
Inasa was watching as the first two groups' scenario ended. Objectively speaking, the villain team had the better strategy. The villain, Yuuna Akamatsu from Kiita Koto High, had gotten into her role well and thought about the weaknesses of her team. Yuuna had found one of the secure rooms in the scenario early and thrown her hostages in there. It appeared she'd gotten two helpers in the draw, because she'd then sent one of the helpers out to search for the hero team. That action had told those watching she was going for the better success outcome.
She hadn't ended up with the better success outcome but Inasa thought it might be a draw. When her helper found the hero team, she'd moved out with her other helper, and attacked. Inasa thought Yuuna might have 'taken out' one of the hero's civilians but the teachers would assess that. But, something had happened to her hostages too.
He now understood what 'expect the unexpected' meant.
The instant Yuuna and her helper had disappeared to face off against the Hero team, something had crept out of the shadows and released her hostages from the secure room. The only way in and out of those rooms was if someone opened the door. Inasa almost hadn't seen it, since that particular action occurred on one of the smaller side screens. The main viewing screens were focused on the action. But he had seen it, and so had Shouto but the UA student had shook his head, indicating he'd explain later.
Inasa wasn't sure if the other team, their opponents, had seen the shadow, which had resolved itself into a person. It was someone dressed in a UA sport's uniform and some fancy face covering gear. Whoever they were, they'd gotten the hostages out and directed them to the exit, which meant they were 'rescued'. Then the person had disappeared back into the shadows. Inasa was pretty impressed with their ability to hide, especially given the white, stylised UA emblazoned on their uniform.
"Time's up!" Meiwaku announced over the loudspeaker.
The still fighting hero and villain team looked surprised about that and it took them a moment to pull apart. "Come to the exits," Meiwaku instructed. "We will discuss the whole class's performance after the second teams go," he added and then turned off the loudspeaker.
"Come pick your positions," Aizawa told the teams, jerking his head towards the boxes of balls with the roles on. During the scenario he'd wriggled into a yellow sleeping bag and appeared to go to sleep.
Inasa wasn't fooled. The underground hero appeared asleep but he was paying attention to everything, including their reactions to what the other teams were doing. He was a formidable hero.
He grabbed his role token and headed to the corner, waiting for the others. Inasa looked down at his token and felt a burst of relief to something he hadn't even realised he'd been tense at. He had the Hero token. These were school exercises. He shouldn't worry too much about the task he was given but-
Ishina was grinning as she joined him and flashed the token in her hand to display a support role. Jozu was the next to join them and he just rolled his eyes as he displayed a civilian token. Fumikage and Shouto joined them last with the Todoroki having an air that was distinctly unimpressed. Inasa could sympathise but he wasn't trading tokens.
"Who was that?" Inasa demanded of Shouto as the other teams returned.
The other members of his team looked at them curiously and again, Shouto shook his head instead of answering. "We should get in position," he said.
They moved out, going to their assigned entry. "Well?" Inasa asked again.
"That was Aizawa's apprentice," Shouto explained.
"What?" Jozu frowned as he asked the question.
"Yuuna's hostages got released by someone who isn't in our class," Inasa told him. Given the surprise on his team's faces, it appeared only Shouto and he had seen that footage. "What is his quirk?"
After a moment, Shouto shook his head. "I don't know. I do know he was one of Izuku's friends though," he added.
"He's in a General Studies class," Fumikage supplied helpfully.
"Err, guys, does it matter?" Ishina asked pointedly. "We know he's in there now," she added, gesturing towards the cityscape. "He might help us, or he might be a hindrance but we know that Kamakiri's team are going to be against us."
That was true and Inasa forcibly pushed thoughts of Aizawa's apprentice from his mind. "We need a plan. Our objective is to keep the civilians safe, rescue Kamakiri's hostages, and if possible, capture Kamakiri and his supporters," Inasa said, outlining what they all knew. "I don't know if anyone on Kamakiri's team saw Aizawa's apprentice so I'm not sure if he'll repeat Yuuna's plan but maybe leave one of his supporters there. And for the moment, we have to assume that anyone is a supporter." They knew who the villain was, they didn't know which of the team was his supporters, and which were his hostages.
"We can either wait for them to come to us," Jozu said, "or look for them."
"Is waiting a possibility?" Inasa asked.
"It is, but it's possible to avoid everyone too," Jozu told him. "It happened once in our training. Boringest match ever."
"Let's look for them, but keep an eye out for cover," Inasa decided. "Ishina, you are support, so if we are attacked, I want you to retreat with Shouto and Jozu, and keep them safe. Fumikage, you will be with me to take out the villain."
"Are there any special instructions about your role?" He asked, realising that should have been his first question.
That caused everyone to look at their tokens and unfortunately both Shouto and Jozu nodded.
"We are not allowed to use our quirks," Jozu said with a snort. Shouto simply sighed and Inasa could tell by the way his shoulders were set that he wasn't happy with it.
"We'll just have to make sure there's no need for you to use your quirks," Inasa announced. If he'd gone through everything Todoroki had been through recently, he knew he'd feel pretty upset at being told he couldn't use his quirk.
"Yep!" Ishina agreed. She probably knew even better than he did the stress that Shouto had been under.
There was no time to say anything more because the siren to begin sounded and the gates to the cityscape opened.
-ted-
Hitoshi was reasonably proud of his performance during the first scenario. He'd managed to free the villain's hostages and get them to safety, without giving away what his quirk was, or what his support equipment could do. He hadn't been able to do it without being seen but he was pretty sure he'd only been on camera briefly.
The next teams would know there was an extra player on the field but they wouldn't necessarily know who he was or what he could do, and they had no idea what his goal was for the scenario. Based on what he'd done last time, they would assume he was there to help the hero but that wasn't actually the case, though most of his 'success' requirements did help the hero.
Hitoshi would admit to a certain amount of anticipation for the next scenario, based on who had been in the first round. Shouto Todoroki would be in one of the next teams, and while Hitoshi didn't know what role he would have, he did kind of hope that Shouto would be on the villain side. He probably wasn't that lucky, but he could live in hope.
Between the rounds he moved to a new vantage point. This one could see the villain team entry and would hopefully allow him to gauge their plan so that he could put his in motion. And anyone who had seen him earlier wouldn't know where he was.
The scenarios were limited to a half hour each and on some of the larger training grounds it was possible for the teams to completely avoid each other. To avoid that, this time, the cityscape was actually quite small. It was two blocks but one was half covered in a park. There were six buildings in the area, with laneways between them all. None of the buildings were higher than five storeys which meant they didn't have elevators but they were not all the same height. One of the buildings next to the park was set up as if it were apartments, because it had balconies. The others were office blocks.
There were four secure rooms in the area. One in the basement of the apartment building and the other three on floors of the office blocks. Hitoshi wondered if either team would try that. For the villain, caging the civilians wasn't a bad strategy, and if they'd left a guard, he would have had to show more of what he could do.
Hitoshi heard the villain group gather. It was a good lesson for him in how far noise travelled. It was a lot further than he thought. It was partially because the noise from the team wasn't competing against the normal background noise from the city.
"She had the right idea," one of them was saying.
Hitoshi eased to the edge of his vantage point and looked at the group. He recognised two of the former 1B students and one 1A student in the team and didn't recognise the two external members, though one was male and the other female. He did recognise Monoma and grimaced. He could be painful to deal with. Hitoshi hitched up the scarf around his neck. The less exposed skin he had the better.
"But I'd like you to stand guard, Choukyori," the other former 1B student was saying.
That probably meant he was the villain. Hitoshi wracked his brain. Ah, it was Togaru Kamakiri.
"Yeah, it's better if Neito goes with you," the male student, not from UA said. "We all saw the Sport's Festival," he added the explanation.
Hitoshi winced in sympathy. He knew exactly who they were talking about. Shouto wasn't on the villain's side and Hitoshi knew that they were hoping Shouto was a civilian for the scenario. He kind of wanted to encounter Shouto but he already knew what Aizawa would say about that. Going after someone for personal reasons was not professional and was a fast track to death.
They didn't get any further time for planning because the siren to start sounded. The villain group moved into the cityscape and Hitoshi saw a change in Togaru. It was just in the way he held himself and that made it clear that he was the villain in the scenario. Knives appeared on his arms and legs and with the shadows they cast, he really looked the part.
"Let's get you civilians to the secure room," Togaru announced and began hustling them towards one of the apartment building. It was the building with the secure room in the basement. It was a good choice given what Hitoshi knew about the quirks in the other group, though if Fumikage was able to use his quirk, the relative darkness would favour him. But for Shouto and the large student from Shiketsu it would limit them. Hitoshi didn't know what the girl from Ketsubutsu's quirk did.
"Quick! They are coming!" the girl from Toui High School announced.
"Let them!" Neito laughed.
"Move!" Kamakiri yelled at the hostages. They ran and got into the apartment building just as the hero team rounded a corner.
It was for the best, because as Hitoshi watched, the Shiketsu student sent great gusts of wind down the short road. The hero team had obviously been hoping to catch the villain team quickly. Hitoshi's vantage point was above the wind but he could still feel it. The hero team probably had the raw fire power but fire power meant nothing if you didn't hit the target, and the villain team had gotten into the building safely. They didn't venture out.
He couldn't hear anything so Hitoshi figured that Togaru's team was going down to the basement to secure the hostages, and then they'd either come out to fight, or wait in ambush.
Knowing what he did about the quirks of the hero team, Hitoshi would wait in ambush. The villain team may not know what the Shiketsu or Ketsubutsu student's quirks were but they definitely knew about Shouto, Jozu and Fumikage and at least one of them would be in support. It appeared his ambush thought was going to be the plan and Hitoshi sighed. It was a good plan for the villains but not for him. He needed the hostages freed and, if possible, the hostages away from the hero too.
As he watched, the hero team split up. The girl from Ketsubutsu led Shouto and Jozu into the park until they were standing in the open. Hitoshi narrowed his eyes as he looked at that… One of them was the support, and the other two were the civilians. Given the way they'd walked, Hitoshi figured the girl was support. Shouto would love that.
He watched as the other two went into the apartment building. Hitoshi waited, counting out three breaths before he backed away from his vantage point and ran towards the stairs on the building. He ran down them and to the corner of the office building he'd been watching from. Carefully, Hitoshi peered around it just as a crash came from the apartment building.
He pulled back, and angled himself to see the building. There was another crash. That did not sound good. The hero's civilians started towards the building but the Ketsubutsu girl held them back. "You're civilians, remember?" she hissed.
That deflated Shouto and Jozu but they stayed where they were. Hitoshi checked his watch. They were only five minutes in. He had to decide if he would make a move because if he was going to, it had better be fast. Another crash came from the apartment building and Hitoshi took a deep breath. Technically the civilians were safe, so he shouldn't interfere but he was meant to be acting as a vigilante, and Aizawa had told him often enough that they wouldn't be sensible.
He moved out, running towards them. Hitoshi managed to get behind a tree and peered around it. His movement had been noticed because Shouto was frowning at him. Before the hero student could say anything, Hitoshi walked out from behind the tree. "Hi there," he said conversationally. He didn't want to show this off, but his best beat was to get them to answer him and then tell them to leave, like he had with the previous scenario.
"What th-" He took over the girl.
"Hitosh-" Shouto spoke to him. It even sounded civil before Hitoshi cut him off.
He cocked his head at Juzo, who had, so far, been silent. "Nothing to say?" Hitoshi teased.
"What are yo-"
Hitoshi grinned and extended himself. "Shouto and Juzo, please go to the exit," he instructed. The two of them began moving but before they got out of the park Hitoshi felt his stomach drop to below his feet as they left the ground and he was hoisted into the air.
"What are you doing?"
He didn't recognise the speaker but Hitoshi turned in midair to see that the Shiketsu student was leading the way out of the apartment building. Togaru was follo- Technically Togaru was following behind him but the villain of the team was stiff, and his arms appeared to be trapped at his sides and his clothing was pressed hard against his body. It was pretty easy to put two and two together and Hitoshi knew Togaru was being held by the effects of the Shiketsu's student's quirk.
"Just getting them to safety," Hitoshi said with a grin that was hidden by his scarf.
"You are-" He took over the Shiketsu student.
"Just put me gently," Hitoshi ordered.
"No don't!" That was Tokage.
"Why not? Hitoshi asked her.
Tokage stared at him with wide eyes.
"Aren't you one of the civilians?" Hitoshi asked.
"She is," Monoma answered and Hitoshi could see that he was similarly restrained as Togaru. While he was looking at that though, Fumikage moved, or rather, Dark Shadow did and extended to Inasa and shook him.
The touch broke Hitoshi's control.
"What did you do?" Inasa demanded.
Hitoshi gave him a wide eyed look.
"He brainwashed you," Tokage told him.
"Did I?" Hitoshi slipped in before anyone could reply.
"You did," she said, and then slammed her hands over her mouth.
"Did you?" Inasa asked.
Hitoshi grabbed them both and then turned to Fumikage. "Don't be like that," he told the bird headed teen.
Apparently, he knew better than to reply and again Dark Shadow extended to shake Inasa. "Don't you ever get tired of doing what you are told to, Dark Shadow?" Hitoshi asked. If he could just get Fumikage under control then he could win this since it seemed as if the Shiketsu student had restrained the villain team.
Dark Shadow didn't answer and shook the Shiketsu student again. "I see how that works now," he said, giving Hitoshi a baleful look.
Hitoshi grinned and jerked his head towards the Hero team civilians. It hadn't been that long but Shouto and Jozu had almost made it out of the cityscape, which would give him points.
"Darn it!" the Shiketsu student growled, and flicked out one hand, as Hitoshi yelled "Run!" at the two he controlled.
He heard the burst of wind but couldn't see it, except for the way the grass in the park was flattened in a peculiar line. Then some of the grass broke and the small pieces didn't so much as flutter as were whipped around in the air as if there was some sort of wall there.
No one had time to hold their breath on the outcome and as Hitoshi watched, the ten lights on the entrance that signified how many people were in the scenario blinked down to two. He grinned. Then Shouto and Jozu stumbled as the wind hit them and Hitoshi felt his control over them vanish. But it had held long enough.
"Darn it!" the Shiketsu student muttered.
"Sorry about that," Hitoshi said.
His comment was met with silence, even from the villain team. Hitoshi sighed. This wasn't great for him but he had control of two more people and … maybe that would be enough to do something. Dark Shadow hadn't done anything about them. "You two," he said, knowing they'd know he was talking to them. "Run," Hitoshi instructed.
It was kind of funny seeing the dumbfounded expressions when Tokage and the girl from Ketsubutsu raced away from the group. And thankfully, for Hitoshi, they didn't go in the same direction.
"What the?" the girl from Toui muttered. She was in much the same position as Togaru. .
Hitoshi chuckled.
"Stop that," the Shiketsu student growled up at him.
"You could put me down?" Hitoshi suggested.
There was silence to that and Hitoshi watched as the Shiketsu student tried to stop the runners. He managed to get something around the Ketsubutsu student but Tokage was faster than she looked, and she too disappeared through the entrance gate, making the lights go down to seven.
The Shiketsu student glared at him. Hitoshi grinned back. Three civilians saved was not too bad, though his primary mission of staying undetected was shot. Oh well, he'd emphasise to Aizawa that if this had been real, there was no way he'd have gone in, or he'd have tried to direct them from a distance… Actually that was something he'd need to experiment with. If he yelled from behind the corner and someone answered, would he then have control?
It was something to think about.
"All right, let's get this ov-"
Hitoshi almost burst out laughing when the finishing siren sounded and he waited a few moments after the noise had passed before looking down. "Now can you put me down?" He asked.
The teen sighed, and nodded before making an odd hand gesture that seemed to cancel out the wind holding him up. Hitoshi gave a startled cry but managed to flip in the air so that he landed safely.
One of the students, Hitoshi didn't recognise but thought he was from Niryu High, looked at the Shiketsu student. "Dude. when you said your quirk was Whirlwind, you forgot to mention that it was capable of forming barriers! That was fantastic," he gushed.
The Shiketsu student laughed. "It's all about control," he admitted.
"We should go for debrief," Dark Shadow said but Hitoshi figured it was what Fumikage wanted to say.
"We should," the Shiketsu student agreed. "I want to hear about our unexpected participant."
Hitoshi shrugged, and began walking to the exit. He might have been unexpected to them but hopefully they'd remember that when they graduated. Heroes should expect the unexpected but because most of them were so focused on maintaining the status quo… He shook his head.
Hopefully some of them would learn.
-ted-
I'm definitely not going to be showing every group's attempt at the scenario, just the important people, which is why Shouto, Tokoyami, Inasa etc were all together for the group. Random... Yeah, Random at the Authors preference :D Still, I got to have some fun, and so did Hitoshi and co and everyone has now done their activity and the fall out can begin.
Discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all! Not just about MHA.
-ted-
Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!