A few minutes before—
Class 1-A Campsite
Mandalay's telepathic message had just informed everyone of the Villains' presence in the forest and of them having the Quirk Amplification Device, as confirmed by Midoriya on-site.
Aizawa had just rushed out of the campsite to go after the students.
The remaining students had just gotten rebuked by Vlad King…
…when the BOOM shook the entire building.
Layers of paint and cement rained over the students as they lost their footing, even Vlad King barely managing to keep himself upright using his Quirk.
The walls only gained cracks, but the windows plainly shattered, pieces of glass scratching the students who were attending extra lessons.
"What…?" Kirishima said as the shockwave and earthquake died.
Monoma of Class 1-B finished the thought. "… the hell was that?!"
Luke and Todoroki shared a shocked, nervous glance between them as well.
The boom hadn't followed a flash of light, which meant that it wasn't an explosion. That realization didn't make it any less threatening, though.
Not only Luke and Todoroki, but Vlad King had concluded the same.
He was barely holding himself back from running out to see what was going on, but he had a job to do, his eyes reflecting the students. In a way, this job was much more important than joining the battlefield with the other Pros.
"Is everyone okay?" Vlad King asked, noticing a touch of fear on a few faces.
Kirishima seemed fine, as he had activated his Hardening Quirk involuntarily when the earthquake had rocked the building before the shockwave had shattered the windows.
Monoma, who had been standing next to Kirishima, had copied his Quirk, allowing him to survive the rain of glass.
Sato had gained a minor scratch as he had activated his Sugar Rush Quirk.
The rest of them weren't so lucky.
A shard of glass was embedded deep into Mina's shoulder.
Sero and Kaminari both had many tiny pieces lodged in their arms.
Todoroki had covered his right side in ice, but was scratched by shards of windowpanes on his left, blood dripping down his fingers.
Nyx had hidden herself behind Luke, but he had been forced to grab a head-sized piece of glass in his hand, which was running through and through his palm. And that was after Danger Intuition had warned him, letting him dodge a dozen more.
"… I have a deep enmity with ice and glass," Luke lampooned, pulling out the glass with a squelch. "If one misses, the other will definitely get me…"
Vlad King winced as he saw Luke.
Not only the Hero, but Mina, Sero, and Kaminari—who were about to complain—shut their mouths as well when they saw the smile on Luke's face.
How could he act so… nonchalant at a time like this?! They thought together.
Luke looked at Vlad King, then. "Sir, I will heal everyone with Spot Heal," he said, misdirecting his thoughts. "Can you please check up on Ai… Snappy?"
Vlad King's eyes suddenly widened.
He had completely forgotten about Snappy, who had been admitted to the Infirmary Room.
Nodding, he blasted toward the door, hoping he wasn't already late. However, just before he could walk out the door, he paused and looked over his shoulder. "Luke, you are in charge," he said. "Make sure no one leaves."
"…" Luke stared at the place where Vlad King had disappeared, stunned.
"Even if you use misdirection," Nyx cawed slowly in his ear, "it's difficult to make the Pros forget their ideals, huh?"
Luke nodded in agreement, activating Spot Heal.
He walked toward Todoroki and found the boy staring at him.
"… What?" Luke asked.
"… Heal yourself first," Todoroki reminded.
Holding back a twitch on his mouth, Luke let Nyx heal him before passing from Todoroki to Sero, Kaminari, and Mina.
"Damn!" Monoma commented, looking amazed. "That's so OP! And you have a bunch of these, right? I wonder if I can copy them…"
Luke's eyes stirred at that comment.
He appeared next to Monoma in one large step, making the boy flinch.
"… Wha… What?" Monoma asked.
"Try it," Luke said, smiling. "Copy my Quirk."
Behind Luke, Todoroki, and the other Class 1-A students' eyes narrowed, as they knew that Luke's Quirk—Raven—was tied to Nyx's existence.
Surprisingly, Monoma smiled wryly at Luke's suggestion. "You don't remember, but I tried to copy your Quirk during the Sports Festival last year," he said. "But you are a Blank to me… meaning, I cannot copy it."
Of course, Luke knew this. It had happened during the Cavalry round when several students had surrounded him and Toru.
Asking Monoma to copy his Quirk was just Luke's way to show others that he was willing to let the boy copy his Quirk… but it was impossible.
[…]
Don't say it, Luke warned Miss Justice, knowing well that she was about to comment on him being a natural Swindler. I do wonder one thing, though… Monoma cannot copy Bioalchemy, but… can he copy the individual Quirks?
Thinking in that direction, Luke was about to ask Monoma to copy Nyx's Quirk when another message rang in their minds.
"We have discovered one of the Villains' targets!" Mandalay's voice echoed, carrying an urgency. "It's one of the students—Momo Yaoyorozu!"
"What?!" Mina gasped.
Kirishima, Sato, and Sero balled their fists as well.
Monoma, oblivious to the terror standing beside him, looked pale-faced at Mina, confirming if Momo was the one with the Creation Quirk.
Only Todoroki reacted fast enough.
A cyan-colored blur upended the benches, throwing the students off, as it went for the door.
Simultaneously, with a chilling hiss, a wall of ice covered half of the classroom, blocking the door.
Coming to an abrupt stop, a reinforced Luke, with Nyx on his shoulder, looked behind.
A chill ran down Todoroki's spine. So… he thought, gulping. That's the Luke Midoriya met in the Sports Festival. Something must be done…Or…
Luke turned around completely, already eyeing the shattered windows.
"Calm down!" Todoroki shouted suddenly, doing his best to ignore the blankness on Luke's face. "… Trust your friends, dammit!"
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